Homily Delivered at Lazica

^A is broken for you; do this in remembrance of me." And taking the cup, after giving thanks, he gave it to them saying: "Drink all of you from it; for this is my blood of the New Testament, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." And the Apostle: "For as often as you eat this bread, and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord." What then are these words, and what is their benefit? That, as we eat and drink, we may always be mindful of Him who died and rose again for us, and thus be taught that we must necessarily keep that apostolic command given to us, which says: "For the love of Christ urges us on, having judged this, that if one died for all, then all have died; and He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again for them." For he who eats and drinks, clearly does so for the sake of preserving an indelible memory of the obedience of the Lord and Creator, which was made even unto death, who for my sake became that which I was, a created being. Nor indeed are we commanded to eat simply, but we are also exhorted to discern such a body of the Lord; clearly, by putting aside the defilement of flesh and spirit, and by preparing ourselves as a vessel for the spiritual ointment, so at last we may approach the pure sacrifice, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power now and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

HOMILY DELIVERED AT LACIZIS

1. The enemy contends, endeavoring ^C to outshout our discourse with external clamor; but we, not being ignorant of his designs, let us turn our ears and minds to the things being said here, pitying those who are absent from this audience, not going away with them in mind who are outside; but where we are in body, let us be there also in heart. Call to mind, I beseech you, the spiritual oracles which were read to you this morning, teachings profitable to the soul, the healing of souls. Remember the teachings in the Psalms; gather for me the proverbial precepts; search out the beauty of the histories; join to these the apostolic admonitions. Above all, as a finishing touch, add the memory of the evangelical words, so that having received some profit from all, you may return home, each having obtained the utility from the Spirit for that to which he is well-disposed. ^D In every way, the situation is thus in the most crowded church: as many as are the differences of faces, so many are the differences of minds; as many as the ages, so many are the sins. For the devices of the devil are manifold and varied; he leads one man astray in one way and another in another; toward whatever he sees anyone more inclined, to that he applies his own enticements.

^A 2. Is there anyone here whose soul is ravaged by envy? Would that there were no one; and this is a fitting prayer for me. But since it is difficult in human nature for there to be no vice, whether small or great, let each one choose for himself the benefit from the things that have been mentioned. Are you envious? Accept the remedy. Are you irascible? The cure lies before you. For it discourses concerning all of these. And, if possible, we shall say a few things, plucking them from each of the things we have mentioned. Are you avaricious? Here you have the remedy. Are you proud? Here you will tame your arrogance: here, if you wish, you will repress the exaltation of the soul. Draw all the goods of spiritual teachings as if from a gushing fountain, and having thus drawn them abundantly for yourself, return home.

The first sermon has been spoken in Proverbs in the manner of a proverb, with a certain obscurity added, for the exercising of our mind, namely: ^B "He who looks upon smooth things shall find mercy." Have you grasped, by your own effort, the understanding of this saying, or do you inquire, as a diligent listener, how it is that he who looks upon smooth things is to be praised? For those things which depend upon the will deserve praise. But we human beings see not as we would wish, but as is the nature of the things which are seen. Wherefore, if there is anything rough on its surface, as it exists by nature, it is given to be seen as such. But if we cast our eyes upon smooth things, whence does praise accrue to the one who sees the smooth things? Smooth are those which have a level surface; rough, however, is that which is at first sight unevenly composed. Since, therefore, the nature of the things seen is uneven, how does Scripture praise him who sees smooth things above him who looks upon rough things? ^C And does it condemn him who sees mountains, and crags, and chasms, and dense thickets, and vegetation cohering together which presents a rough surface, or even the sea often roughened by winds, or even the earth cut by a plow and, in place of smoothness, divided into rough parts? Shall he who sees these things be condemned? And where, I ask, is the righteous judgment of God, if we are condemned for those things which happen to us against our will? If I see some land which is by nature uneven (for such as it was created, such is it seen), am I condemned on that account?

But let me direct you to a higher meaning regarding "He who looks upon smooth things." There stand before you brothers of different conditions: one is poor, another is rich; one is a stranger, another is a kinsman, who must either be judged by you as judge, or who are in need of your largesse. ^D If you sit as a judge, do not look at uneven things; do not see the rich man as exalted or the poor man as lowly. If there stands at your door one who seeks for his own need to be corrected, do not look upon such things as uneven. Do not say: "This man is a friend, this one a relative, this one a benefactor; that one is a stranger, an alien, unknown."

If you look at things as uneven, you will not receive mercy; look upon things as level. Nature is one: both this man and that man is a human. One is the need, the poverty in both is the same. Give to the brother and to the stranger. Do not turn away from the brother, and make the stranger a brother and a kinsman. Therefore, it is necessary to look upon things as level. Do not rank the friend above the stranger, for the sake of correcting your own ^A need. He wishes you to be a source of comfort to those in need, not a respecter of persons, not one who gives to the relative while thrusting the stranger away. All are relatives, all are brothers, all are children of one Father. If you seek a spiritual father, He is the heavenly One; if you seek the earthly, earth is the mother, and we have all been fashioned from the same clay. Thus, nature according to the flesh is a sister, and generation according to the spirit is a sister. They bear the same blood as you from the first man; they received the same grace from the Master as you did. Look, therefore, at things as level, that you may receive mercy. Do not say: "This one is rich, and worthy of honor; that one is poor, and I despise the poor"; nor distribute honors unevenly according to these ^B ranks. For there is the rich man who is a liar, the rich man who is a robber, the rich man who is a fornicator, and the poor man who is righteous. Do not, therefore, pay heed to the outward appearance, but entering into what is hidden, distribute the distinctions there. Honor the one who possesses those things which are worthy of honor. What is more precious, virtue or wealth? Why do you judge a man by outside things, not investigating what is hidden? You see that Bel possessed bronze on the outside, but underneath he had clay concealed by the gleaming bronze. If you see those who are prominent in the world, know that bronze shines around them, but within they are clay, with the bronze ^C supporting that which is rotten. Many indeed have gold within, but have an earthen vessel wrapped around them on the outside. This is the treasure hidden in an earthen vessel. This one lives a chaste life; that one is a fornicator. Which is richer, he who practices chastity, or he who has money gathered from injustice? The memory of the former is indelible; the wealth of the latter is temporary. This [the former’s] the thief does not dig through; that [the latter’s] flourishes today, but tomorrow it withers. Therefore, look at things as level, equally and in the same way; yet do not destroy the discernment of those things which are worthy of honor, so that you may obtain mercy.

3. "And do not dwell with a man given to anger." ^D

^A Are you a lover of glory? You do not see small matters. Are you quick-tempered? "And do not dwell with an angry man." Do you see how the correction of sins is given in brevity, if we do not perhaps strike them with our voice, but fail to send the thought of what is spoken down into the heart? But examine: where was mine read? Recognize the things concerning the irascible, you who are irascible. Say: "This is my affliction; I recognize my infirmity; take the healing." If you stand before a physician and see the abundance of medicines stored away in many-folded scrolls, look around to see what is appropriate for your own affliction. For he who has stumbled his foot does not seek a cure for his eye; but he who has the eye afflicted seeks the remedy proper to that malady. Therefore, let each one take from Scripture those things that are related to his own affliction. Are you quick-tempered? "Restrain your anger" (98). ^B "For an angry man," it says, "is unseemly."

Learn from Scripture.

Flee his company; for you must needs learn some of his ways. He said something insulting, and moved the anger within you. Just as the barking of one dog provokes a commotion in another, so too his voice aroused your anger, which had been resting and quiet until then, and you fell to barking back at each other; then, taking your stand against one another, you hurled shameful words like stones from a sling. ^A He said something abusive, and you answered back with greater excess, imitating him who began it. Having received the response to his insulting speech, that man did not check his impulse, but turned and heaped up his own sin. He wished to become the superior by saying something more bitter. You, in turn, having received that, were puffed up even more; and so the strife of evils came to be. But he who wins in a contest of evils is the more miserable. ^B "A man of wrath is not well-favored," and, "Do not dwell with an angry man."

4. "Neither dine with an envious man." There is another passion that dwells in the life of men and clings perpetually to our souls, and consumes the heart more than rust does iron, and that is envy—in which, while there are many evils, one thing at least is useful: that it is an evil to the one who possesses it. For the envious man harms the one being envied but little, but destroys himself with grief and groaning over his neighbor's good fortune; he has not diminished the neighbor's field, but has utterly consumed himself with envy.

5. "Do not remove the eternal landmarks." Do not enter into the inheritance of orphans, so that you may enter into your own inheritance. Your inheritance is the prepared kingdom of heaven. Do not move the landmarks of the fathers. Do not covet the field of your neighbor. Do not, by adding furrow to furrow, increase yours little by little. ^C For as much as you widen your land by the addition of another's, by so much the more do you prepare sin for yourself. And the land indeed remains here, having come to you little by little and been acquired through greed; it is no longer yours, but belongs to those after you, and you leave unjust riches to your successor: "The earth stands forever," but sin will follow you, like a shadow following the soul. For just as the shadow follows the body, so too sin is grown together with the soul. Do not be someone who multiplies sin for himself. For the disease of greed never stands still anywhere, but is like the nature of fire. For when fire catches upon something flammable, ^D it hastens to consume all the material, and no one can stop it until the material runs out. Likewise, what can restrict the greedy man? He is more than fire itself.

^A devouring everything continuously. He has taken the things of his neighbor; another neighbor has appeared, and he has appropriated his things too. He does not pay attention to those things he has already acquired, because they are many, but to those that are lacking, because he has neighbors. He does not rejoice in what he possesses, but he grieves for what is lacking. He does not pay attention to the possession of gathered goods, but consumes himself with the desire for greater wealth. Hence arise vigils, cares, and anxieties. As much as wealth increases, ^B so much the burden of the worries of life is brought upon him. A judge is expected, and the greedy man looks all around him with fear that he might be dragged into court, that an orphan might make his tears known in the marketplace. He deliberates by night as to which bitter advocates he might suborn, how he might hire false witnesses for a price, how he might conquer the man who is desolate, and how, having hidden the truth, he might oppress him even in the court of law; how, finally, by deceiving the judge and despoiling the orphan of his goods, he might devour both. These anxieties consume the soul of the greedy man. A dog barks, and the rich man thinks it is a thief. There is a noise in the walls, and the heart of the rich man leaps; he suspects his servant, everything is suspect to him; he sees his sons as they grow up as if they were conspirators, ^C because their age presses for the succession. The greedy have yet another disease. The greedy man places his living on his fingers; he displays some money in public, while he keeps other money buried, setting it aside for uncertain hopes—hopes, I say, that are not hopes at all. For if they were stored up for hopes, their preparation would have been made for the sake of eternal hope. But now he hides his uncertain wealth under his bed, thinking he is averting a future loss. But whether the need to use it will ever come is uncertain; on the contrary, the time will come in which he will repent that he did not dispense his money. This is certain and indubitable, and I am the sponsor for it. For it is necessary for me to warn you and to discourse ^D concerning all vices; it is for you, however, to pay attention and to gain profit from my words, so that each one, casting off sin like the slough of a serpent, may thus return truly stripped and clothed with flourishing justice, having become another person instead of his former self. For this is what a gathering is. For this reason our fathers instituted these assemblies, that those things which we are unable to learn every day, through our lack of teachers and those to remind us, we might, being assembled in a common gathering once a year, receive, and afterward keep as provisions for the time that follows, and, holding each thing in our memory as if still ringing in our ears, we might flee from sin and pursue the work of justice.

^A “Enter not into the possession of orphans.” Do not make your children a pretext, O greedy man. Are they children? Treasure up for them an eternal treasure. For piety is a treasure more precious than money. Leave to your children a good reputation rather than great wealth. Make all men fathers to your child through [your] acts of kindness. ^B There is a necessity that you will some day depart from this life; then you will leave your child behind in an immature age, in need of guardians. For if you are honorable and good, everyone will nurture your offspring as their own; for it will come to their mind that you also became a father to orphans. But if you have lived in wickedness, and have caused many to grieve, and have been more savage than any wild beast to those you encountered, then when you depart from this life, you have left your offspring as a common enemy to the living. For just as one who sees the offspring of a scorpion fears that, when it reaches maturity, it might imitate its father, so also for your children, as heirs of paternal wickedness, before they reach maturity, snares will be set by everyone. Why, therefore, do you amass many plotters and enemies for your own children? Yet, even if you were to live for all time, it was your duty rather to have the goodwill of the many as an aid. Since, however, your affairs are uncertain, leave behind many protectors through acts of kindness, so that when you have departed from life—and the wealth which you amass might not be able to be passed on for their benefit—everyone may shake his head and say: “How were those things, which were acquired by evil means, not transmitted to grandsons and children?” I say these things to you following the human mode of speech; but those things which are spoken by the Lord (and such are those which the Gospel will announce to you), these you know.

7. Do not make your children a pretext. Why do you offer a fair-seeming cause for sin? For He who created the child, also created you. He who provides you the means by which you can live will also provide the necessities of life to your child. Each one shall give an account of his own life to the Lord. Do you know for whom you are treasuring up? “He stores up, and knows not for whom he shall gather these things.” ^C Often the child is the excuse for the treasures being gathered. But the things which you have amassed have been either the plunder of a robber, or the consumption of a slanderer, or the booty of enemies, or have vanished because of a plague that has descended. For there are many ways in which wealth takes flight from one’s sight. Tell me, I pray, when you were asking for children from God, when you were desiring to become a father, did you add this to your prayers: [the next page begins here].

"Give me children, so that, having become a greedy man, I may be delivered to hell under the pretext of my children? Give me children, so that I may not keep the commandments? Give me children, so that I may despise the Gospel?" These were not the things you said then; rather, you were seeking children as helpers in life. You have received helpers and companions in life; teach them, both with good words and useful examples, what manner of men they ought to be in those things that pertain to God, such as you have often seen. For this wealth is more precious than much money. This is a good inheritance, passed on from father to children. "And do not enter into the possession of the fatherless."^A

8. And, "Do not join yourself to an envious man." We have already spoken of envy. But that this evil may be the more guarded against, let us add that envy is a vice proper to the devil. For the devil was not created the devil from the outset, but, having received the power of an angel, he was turned into the nature of a demon. And he who was infected with this wickedness became a wicked demon, having been alienated from his kinship with God and turned toward the side of apostasy, because he saw man, a small creature, yet more honored than all creation. Being older than man, he saw that all things were created by the Word. For He says, "Let the waters bring forth reptiles of living souls." By the Word He made the sea monsters that dwell in the Atlantic sea. By the Word He made the land animals. By the command of God they were brought into being. By commandment the great sizes of elephants and camels came about; horses and oxen and all animals differing in size and strength were created in herds by one command. And, what is more to be wondered at, by command the heaven, by command the sun, by command the grass, by command the nature of the waters, both that which was spread out above the heaven and that which had been poured into the hollows, were all made by command; but man was fashioned by hands. The devil saw the honor bestowed upon man, and he envied him. He saw him preferred before the sun. For the one came into being into this life by command, but the other was fashioned by the hands of God. And the one was created for the sake of man, but man for the sake of God; man, that God might be glorified; the sun, that it might serve men. He understood the honor given to man. He saw that other things were created first, but man later, because He had prepared a full house for him as for the head of a family. For He did not create man first, lest he should be poor, but He made heaven as a kind of roof. ^{B C D}

of its own making; He spread out the earth as a solid floor, preparing it for the feet of man. He caused it to flourish with all manner of herbs and fruits. Everything was made ready for man: the beasts were provided in flocks; the creation was fashioned. Some things were prepared for daily needs, others were wild for the exercise of the body. Some things were to be acquired by labor, that they might be more cherished; others were ready at hand, that they might at once be subservient to the creature. He saw that the earth had produced fruit for them spontaneously. All creation was waiting for those who were to enjoy it, and man was brought forth for the banquet.

He saw that the merciful God was not content with the enjoyment of the earth alone; but desiring that man should be his own special dwelling-place, his own ornament, ^B He placed him there in paradise. The devil acted maliciously when he saw much pleasure flowing to man, angels as tutors attending him, and God speaking the same language as men, conversing with his own voice, instructing the little child in every way, that he might rise to the likeness of God; since he had come to know man, since he saw that the Lord was calling this little animal to an equality with the angels, leading him by virtue and temperance in his life toward the perfection of the soul. For as long as man was alone, the devil had no handle; but when woman was created, a tender creature—to whom the Creator necessarily imparted a natural tenderness, that she might, because of her kindness, ^C readily rear children. For if the woman were austere, she would not embrace the crying infant in her arms, nor would she, neglecting her own food, offer her breast for the convenience of the suckling child. But as it is, that motherly affection often drives sleep from the eyelids, whenever the infant is ever so slightly disturbed. Therefore, in order that the infant might be reared, the female sex was fashioned tender, tender, I say, and humane. Wherefore, the devil, intent upon that tender and soft disposition, rendered the character which was prone to virtue, prone to vice. This, then, is the specific evil of the devil: envy—envy which cannot be expressed in words, which admits of no remedy. He who suffers from a headache declares his headache to the physician; ^D [the one who is] sick with envy, what shall he say? Do my brother’s blessings pain me?

^A This is indeed the truth, yet each person is ashamed of the words. Why do you sigh? Is it your own misfortune, or another’s blessing? For by feeding them we make dogs gentle; but by conferring benefits upon an envious man, we make him more difficult. For he does not rejoice in the goods that he might happen to have, but is pained by your abundance, because you possess the material from which you might satisfy his need. Do not then fall into the deception of the devil; he envied you, he envied you, he cast you out of paradise. On account of him [there are] thorns, on account of him sweat, on account of him the place of exile, into which having fallen, do not forget the ancient fatherland. Remember your own nobility; remember the fatherland from which you were exiled. Remember the one who visited you with such great losses; do not strike a bargain with him, nor ever enter into conversation with him. For he has done two injustices: he cast you out from the beginning, and now he blocks the return. He envied you your first blessings through a woman, and again, using artifices through a woman, he prevents you from being restored to your pristine state. He devised fornication, so that you might not enter into paradise. It did not suffice for him to have inflicted the first injury, namely that he subverted you, but he contrives other frauds and arts, to check our course. He deceives and circumvents by a lie; for a lie is a wall to those who are making their way to paradise.

9. His arts are countless. His offshoots are cruelty, harshness, avarice, reviling: whatever the word of truth hates, these are the work of the devil. He is a hater of mankind, since he is also a fighter against God. ^B He hated first, he became stiff-necked against God Almighty, he despised the Master, he was alienated from God. But after he saw man made in the image and likeness of God, since he could not attack God, he poured his own wickedness into the image of God; just as if some man, becoming angry, should attack an image with stones, since he cannot [attack] the king, striking the wood that has the representation. I have seen, not rarely, the most hostile of animals to man in the arenas, or I have seen or heard—for let our speech be safe. At any rate, there is in panthers themselves a certain natural anger toward man, and they are wont especially to spring at the eyes of men. Those, therefore, who make sport of the fury of the beast, display to it an image ^C on paper as if it were a man. But that [beast], through excessive impulse, thinking nothing, tears up the paper as if it were a man, and there displays its hatred toward men. Thus also the devil reveals his hatred toward God in the image, since he cannot reach God. Thus war brought against us makes it clear that the wicked one is an enemy of God, and first wars against the Master. He led down the man from Jerusalem to Jericho, from the high places to the low. Jerusalem [is]... ^D

^A is situated in a mountainous region; Jericho, however, in a depressed and lowly place by the Salt Sea. If any of you knows the place, he knows that what is said is true: that Jericho, indeed, is located in the hollows of Palestine, while Jerusalem is firmly established upon the summit, occupying the peak of the mountain that rises throughout all that region. Therefore, the man descended from the heights to the depths in order to fall among thieves, having departed from the security ^B of Jerusalem, so that he might become vulnerable to the thieves in the wilderness, who inflicted wounds upon him and stripped him. First the wounds, and then the stripping. The wound of the soul is sin; the stripping of the soul is the casting off of the garment of incorruptibility. But sin destroys the grace given to us through the laver of regeneration. Fornication is a wound, adultery is another wound, envy is a wound; each of these is a wound, a wound beating at the very vital parts, ^C a wound inflicted by thieves, that is, by the demons who are our collaborators in sin. After the wounds, the one who was beaten was stripped. If what is being said were corporeal, they would have stripped him first to spare the garment, and then inflicted the wounds. Or, having stripped him, they would have inflicted the wounds so that the garment might be preserved while the one beaten was wounded. But in this case, the wounds precede the stripping, so that you may learn ^D that sin precedes the casting off of the grace given to you through the Lord's kindness. To Him be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.

HOMILY ON THE HOLY NATIVITY OF CHRIST

1. The generation of Christ, its proper and primary ^A divinity, let it be honored in silence; or rather, let us command our own thoughts not to inquire into these things, nor to investigate them curiously. For where neither time nor age has intervened, nor any manner been conceived, nor any spectator was present, nor is there any to recount it ^B, how could the mind imagine it? And how could the tongue serve the understanding? Yet the Father existed, and the Son was begotten. Do not say, "When?"; but let that question pass. Do not seek, "How?"; for the answer is impossible. For "when" refers to time; and "how" ^C creates a slippage toward the bodily modes of generation. I have the ability to say from Scripture [Hebr. 1, 3] that He is as splendor from glory, and as an image from its prototype. Yet, since such a form of answer does not put a stop to the curiosity of your mind, I take refuge in the mystery of ^D the majesty, and confess that it is incomprehensible to human thought