they might extend their gaze straight forward. On the other hand, the hearing is not opened in a straight line, but through a winding passage it apprehends the sounds in the air: a point which also arises from the highest wisdom, so that the voice may indeed pass through quite freely, or rather, it may resonate, being bent by the convolutions and tortuous recesses, and yet nothing of those things which are accustomed to slip in from the outside can be an impediment to the sense. Learn the nature of the tongue, how tender it is, and versatile, and sufficient for every use of speech by reason of the variety of its movements. Consider the teeth, which, as they are instruments of the voice, strongly providing support for the tongue, so too are they ministers of food, some of which cut it, while others grind it. And thus, running through all things with fitting reasoning, and learning the drawing-in of air through the lungs, the preservation of heat in the heart, the instruments of digestion, the channels of blood: so finally, from all these things, you will have a clear view of the inscrutable wisdom of your Creator, so that you too may be able to say with the Prophet: "Your knowledge is become wonderful from me" (Ps. cxxxviii, 6). B Pay attention, therefore, to yourself, so that you may pay attention to God; to whom be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.
ON THANKSGIVING, Homily.
1. You have heard the words of the Apostle, by which he discourses to the Thessalonians, prescribing a law for all human life. For the teaching was indeed for those who at any time happened to be with him, but the utility which is derived from it extends to the whole life of men. "Always rejoice," he says; "pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks" (I Thess. v, 16-18). What, therefore, is this joy itself, and what is its usefulness, and how is it possible to perform unceasing prayer, and to render to God thanksgiving in all things, we shall explain a little later as we are able. C But it is necessary to anticipate those questions which come to us from our adversaries, who slander the law as being impossible to fulfill. For what is this virtue, they say, of passing night and day in an outpouring of the soul, cheerful and radiant? And how is it possible to accomplish this, when ten thousand involuntary evils surround us, D bringing about an inevitable dejection for the soul, from which to rejoice and be of good cheer is more impossible than for one being fried in a pan not to feel pain, or one being pricked not to suffer? Or perhaps here also there is someone among those who surround us who...
A, laboring under this sickness of soul, pleads excuses for his sins, and because of his own negligence in observing the commandments, attempts to render the Legislator Himself liable to censure, as if He were ordaining things that cannot be done. And he says: "How is it possible for me to rejoice always, when the causes of joy are not situated within me? For the things that produce gladness are from without, and are not stored up within us: the presence of a friend, long-lasting fellowship with parents, the discovery of riches, honors from men, recovery of health from a grievous illness, and the rest of the prosperity of life. A house abundant in all good things, a table overflowing, companions who are suitable for mirth, things pleasant to hear and see, the health of those most closely bound to us, and the rest of their well-being in life. For not only the afflictions that befall us are grievous, but also those that grieve our friends and relatives. Therefore, joy and cheerfulness of soul must be gathered from all these things. And in addition to these, whenever it happens that one sees the ruin of enemies, the scourging of those who plot against us, the repayment of good deeds, and, in a word, if neither any present difficulty nor any expected trouble at all disturbs our life; then it is possible for joy to come to the soul. How then is a commandment given to us that is not accomplished by the will, but depends on other causes previously mentioned? And again, by what reasoning shall I pray without ceasing, when the needs of the body necessarily draw the attention of the soul to themselves, since it is impossible for the mind to be divided into two cares at the same time?"
2. Yet it is commanded me to give thanks in all things. C Shall I give thanks while being racked, tortured, stretched upon the wheel, my eyes gouged out? Shall I give thanks while receiving a shameful blow from one who hates me? While being frozen by the cold, stifled by famine, bound upon the rack, suddenly bereaved of my children, or even despoiled of my very wife? By having my abundance of goods overturned because of a sudden shipwreck? What if I should fall into the hands of pirates at sea, or robbers on land? What if I am wounded, attacked by slanders, a wanderer, confined in prison? These things and even more than these, those who accuse the Legislator gather together, and think they are excusing their own sins, while they slander the commandments given to us, as if they could not be fulfilled. D What then shall we say? It is surely this: although the Apostle looks to other things and attempts to raise our souls from the earth on high and to transfer us to a certain heavenly way of living, yet those men, having not reached the deep meaning of the Legislator, but being wallowed in the desires of the body, just as worms in the mud, about the earth and the flesh—could they truly fulfill the apostolic mandates?
A The Apostle, however, invites to perpetual rejoicing not just anyone, but one who is patterned after himself, no longer living in the flesh, but having Christ living within him, since such a union with the absolute Good admits no sympathy from the afflictions of the flesh. But even if the flesh is lacerated, the dissolution of continuity remains in that part of the body which suffers, and the communication of pain is unable to reach the rational part of the soul. For if we have mortified the members which are upon the earth, according to the exhortations of the Apostle, and are "bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus," it is necessary that a wound of the mortified body should not reach the soul, which is set free from union with it. B Dishonors, losses, and the deaths of relatives will not rise to the mind, nor will they cast down the exalted soul into sympathy with things here below. For if those who have fallen into difficulties have the same mindset as the virtuous man, they will not cause grief to another, since they themselves do not grievously bear what befalls them. But if they live according to the flesh, even then they will not cause grief, but will be judged pitiable, not so much for the circumstances they are in, as for the fact that they have not proposed to themselves to do what is necessary. In sum, a soul that has once been bound by the desire for the Creator, and has been accustomed to being gladdened by the beauties there, will not exchange its abounding joy and cheerfulness because of the varied shifting of carnal passions; C but it will make the things that are painful to others a cause of rejoicing. Such was the Apostle, who "took pleasure in infirmities, in afflictions, in persecutions, in necessities," making his needs his boast; "in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness, in persecutions and distresses," in which others are despondent and despair of life, he himself exulted. Those, therefore, who are ignorant of the apostolic mind, and do not understand that he is calling us to the evangelical life, dare to accuse Paul, as one who prescribes things impossible for us. But let them be taught how many just occasions for rejoicing are set before us through the great generosity of God. We were brought into being, when we were not; we were created after the image of Him who created us; we D possess mind and reason that complete our nature, through which we have known God. And by expertly studying the beauties of creation, through them, as if through certain letters, we perceive the great...
A providence and wisdom of God. We are gifted with the ability to distinguish between good and evil; we have learned from nature herself to choose useful things and to flee from harmful ones. Alienated from God through sin, we have been called back again into intimacy and communion with Him, having been delivered from shameful slavery by the blood of the Only-Begotten. We have the hope of resurrection, the enjoyment of angelic goods, the kingdom in the heavens, and the blessings promised to us, which surpass the power of both mind and reason.
3. How is it reasonable to believe that perpetual joy and gladness cannot be created from these things, but rather that one should imagine that he who serves his belly, who is entertained by flute music, and who lies stretching himself out and snoring on a soft bed, B lives a life worthy of joy? For my part, I would say that such men are worthy to be wept over by those who are endowed with a mind; on the contrary, we should rightly call blessed those who, because of the hope of the future age, endure the present life and exchange present things for eternal ones. For whether those who are united to God dwell in the flame, as the three children did in Babylon, or are shut up with lions, or are swallowed by a sea monster, they are still to be proclaimed blessed by us, and it behooves them to pass their lives in joy, not grieving over present things, but rejoicing in the hope of those things which are stored up for us in the hereafter. For I believe that the noble athlete, having once stripped himself for the stadium of piety, must C bravely endure the blows of his adversaries in the hope of the glory to be obtained from the crowns. For indeed, as many as are accustomed to gymnastic labors in the contests of the wrestling schools do not lose heart because of the pain of a blow; nay, rather, having spurned present labors for the desire of the proclamation, they rush upon their adversaries at close quarters, disregarding the immediate pains. In this way, if anything harsh should happen to a man dedicated to virtue, it will not cast a shadow over his joy. For "tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed" (Rom. V, 3). Wherefore we are also commanded by the same Apostle in another place to be "patient in tribulation" and to "rejoice in hope" (Rom. XII, 12). D Hope, therefore, is what causes joy to dwell as a companion in the soul of the godly man. But the same Apostle also commands us to weep with those who weep; and writing to the Galatians [Philippians], he wept for the enemies of the cross of Christ. And what need is there to mention Jeremiah weeping, or Ezekiel writing the lamentations of the princes by the command of God, and many other of the saints mourning? "Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me!" (Jerem. XV, 10); and, "Woe is me, for the godly man hath perished from the earth, and the upright among men is not; and, Woe is me, that I was born as one gathering the chaff in the...
A harvest" (Mich. VII, 2). And in a word, examine the utterances of the righteous, and if anywhere you find one uttering a gloomier voice, you shall be convinced that all of them lament this world and the miserable life that is led within it. "Woe is me, for my sojourn is prolonged" (Ps. CXIX, 5). He desires, indeed, "to be dissolved and to be with Christ" (Philipp. I, 23). Therefore, he bears the delay of this sojourn with difficulty, as one which is a hindrance to his joy. David also left behind for us in songs a lamentation uttered over his friend Jonathan, in which he also lamented his enemy at the same time: "I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan" (II Reg. I, 26); and, "Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul" (ibid. 24). The latter, indeed, he laments as one dead in sin; Jonathan, however, as a man who had been most closely joined to him throughout his whole life. But what need is there to recount the rest? For the Lord Himself even wept over Lazarus B (Joan. XI, 35), and He wept over Jerusalem (Luc. XIX, 41). Yet He also declares those who mourn, and again those who weep, to be blessed (Matth. V, 5; Luc. VI, 21).
4. And, they say, how can these things be reconciled with those words, "Rejoice always" (Philipp. IV, 4)? For neither do tears and joy have their origin from the same principles. For it is natural that tears are born as if from some blow, when the onset of an involuntary event strikes and constricts the soul, and the spirit about the heart is oppressed. But joy is, as it were, a leaping of the soul exulting over things that accord with its will. Hence, even the symptoms regarding the body differ. For those who are grieving have a complexion of the body that is pallid and livid and frigid, while in those who are gladdened there is a certain blooming and reddish constitution of body, with the soul C all but leaping and pushing outward because of the pleasure. In reply to these things, we shall say that both the lamentations and the tears of the saints were occurring because of their love toward God. Therefore, with their eyes ever fixed upon the Beloved, and increasing for themselves the joy from thence, they administered the affairs of their fellow-servants, mourning for those who were sinning and correcting them through their tears. Just as those who stand upon the shores, sympathizing with those who are being baptized in the sea, do not forfeit their own security because of this their care for those in danger; so too do those who are saddened at the sins of their neighbors not destroy their own joy. On the contrary, indeed, they even make it greater, for
by the joy of the Lord, having been deemed worthy A because of the tears shed for a brother. Therefore, blessed are they who weep, and blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted, and they themselves shall laugh. By laughter he does not mean a noise issuing forth from the cheeks due to an ebullition of blood, but a pure mirth, free from all sadness. Therefore, the Apostle permits mourning with those who mourn, since this tear becomes, as it were, the seed and interest of eternal joy. Ascend with me in your mind, and contemplate the angelic state, and see if any other state suits them besides joy and rejoicing; for they have been judged worthy to stand before God, and to enjoy the ineffable beauty of the glory of our Creator. Therefore, urging us toward that manner of life, the Apostle has commanded us to rejoice always.
5. Regarding the fact that the Lord shed tears over Lazarus B and over the city, we have this to say: that He also ate and drank, not that He Himself was in need of these things, but so that He might leave to you the measures and limits by which the necessary affections of the soul should be contained. Thus, therefore, He also wept, so that He might heal the immoderate propensity of complainers and those in mourning to weep, and the despondency of their minds. For if anything else does, tears especially have need of the regulation of reason: for whom it is proper to weep, and how much, and when, and how. For that the tear of the Lord was not C due to passion, but for our instruction, is clear from this: *Lazarus our friend sleeps, but I go that I may wake him*. Who among us mourns a friend sleeping, whom he expects to awaken a little later? *Lazarus, come forth*. And the dead man was being restored to life; and, bound, he walked. There was a miracle within a miracle: his feet were bound with burial cloths, yet he was not prevented from moving. For a power greater than the obstacle was present. How then could the Lord, who was about to do such things, have judged that case worthy of tears? Is it not manifest that He, supporting our infirmity on every side, D confined those affections which are inevitable and necessary within certain modes and limits? He avoided "apathy" as something beastly: yet He did not wish to be given over to grief and sadness, or to weep profusely, because this would be ignoble and cowardly. Therefore, by weeping for His friend, He showed the communion of human nature, and at the same time He freed us from excess in either direction, permitting us neither to be broken too softly by adversities, nor to be devoid of feeling amid troubles. Just as, therefore, the Lord sustained hunger after solid food was digested, and admitted thirst when the moisture of the body was consumed, and
A allowed the event to happen to the flesh, so He also allowed tears, permitting to the flesh what is natural to it. This happens when the hollows of the brain, filled with the vapors from sorrow, cast off the burden of moisture through certain canals, namely the ducts at the eyes. Whence come certain ringings, and vertigoes, and dimness of sight at the hearing of unexpected and grievous things, as the head is whirled about by the vapors which the contraction of heat towards the depths sends up. Then, I think, just as a cloud dissolves into a light rain, so the thickness of the vapors dissolves into a tear. Hence, too, there is a certain pleasure for the sorrowful in weeping, as that which burdened them is secretly emptied out through the act of crying. The truth of this account is established by the experience of what happens. For we have known many who in incurable calamities have forced themselves to refrain from tears, and then some have fallen into incurable maladies, such as apoplexy or paralysis, and others have even utterly died, because their strength, as if deprived of a weak support, was broken by the weight of sorrow. For what we see occurring in a flame—that it is smothered by its own smoke, if it does not go out but rolls around it—they say happens also to the power which regulates the living animal; for it is withered away by grievous things, and extinguished, if no outward breathing is provided.
6. Let those who are fond of mourning, therefore, oppose the Lord’s tears as a defense for their own infirmity C. For just as the food which the Lord ate is to us not an occasion of self-indulgence, but rather the supreme rule and form of temperance and self-sufficiency, so also the tear is not a law for us to mourn, but a very seemly measure proposed, and an accurate rule, according to which it is proper for those remaining within the bounds of nature, with gravity and decorum, to endure grievous things. Thus, it is not permitted either to women or to men to be fond of grieving or to be very tearful, but only to be so much as to be sorrowful at grievous things, and to shed a small tear, and this quietly, not roaring, nor wailing, nor rending one’s garment, nor covering oneself with ashes, nor D doing any other such indecorous thing as is practiced by those who are uninstructed in heavenly matters. For he who has been purified by divine teaching must be fenced about by correct reason as if by some strong wall, and must manfully and strenuously repel the assaults of such passions; and not like [one who is defenseless]—
A a spiritless soul, possessing no strength from the hope placed in God, be utterly broken and yield to sorrows. For just as worms are bred most especially in the softer kinds of wood, so do griefs grow within the softer characters of men. Was Job, then, of an adamantine heart A? Were his inward parts fashioned of stone? Ten children fell in a brief moment of time, crushed by a single blow in the house of joy, in the time of delights, the devil having shaken the building down upon them. He saw the table mingled with blood; he saw his children born at different times, but meeting one common end of life. He did not wail, he did not pluck his hair, he did not utter any degenerate cry, but spoke that celebrated thanksgiving, chanted by all: The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so has it come to pass; blessed be the name of the Lord. Was that man devoid of affections? But how so? when he himself says concerning himself, I wept for every afflicted one. Was he lying in saying this? Nay, but truth testifies that besides his other virtues he was also truthful, saying: For he was, it says, blameless, just, pious, truthful. B But you, by means of certain songs composed for sorrow, abuse yourself to weeping, and strive to consume your soul with mournful melodies; and just as it is the peculiarity of tragedians to use simulation and equipment with which they go upon the stage, so you think that a fitting habit for one who mourns is a black garment, disheveled hair, darkness in the house, filth, dust, and finally a mournful song, by which the wound of grief is kept ever fresh in the soul C. Leave these things for those who have no hope. You, however, have been taught regarding those who have fallen asleep in Christ, that It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power: it is sown a soulish body, it is raised a spiritual body. Why, therefore, do you lament a man who draws near to a change of habit? Nor should you lament yourself, as if you were bereft of D a patron in this life.
For it is good, he says, to hope in the Lord, rather than to hope in man. A Nor should you lament him, as if he had suffered dreadfully. For a little while later, the trumpet from heaven will awaken him, and you will see him standing at the judgment seat of Christ. Dismiss, therefore, these lowly and uneducated cries: "Woe is me for these unexpected evils," and, "Who would have thought that these things would come to pass," and, "When could I have expected that the head dearest to me would be covered by the earth?" For if another should say these things in our hearing, we ought to blush, having learned from the memory of things past and from the experience of present things that these sufferings of nature are inevitable.
7. Therefore, neither untimely deaths nor any other B unexpected calamities will ever stun us, if we are imbued with the doctrine of piety. For instance, I had a son, a youth, the sole heir of my goods, the consolation of my old age, the ornament of my lineage, the flower of his contemporaries, the pillar of my house; he was of that age which is by far the most delightful; this one has been snatched away and is gone; he has become earth and dust, he who a little while before was uttering things pleasant to hear, and was the most delightful object to the eyes of his father. What, then, shall I do? Shall I tear my garment, and choose to roll C on the ground, and lament, and complain, and show myself to those present as a child crying out and leaping about because of the blows he has received? Or, rather, by attending to the necessity of things that occur, that the law of death is inescapable and passes through every age alike, and dissolves all composite things in their turn, shall I not be surprised at what has happened? Nor shall I be troubled in my mind, as if struck by an unexpected blow, since I have long been pre-educated that, being mortal, I had a mortal son, and that nothing human is stable, nor is it of such a nature that it can remain forever with those who possess it. Furthermore, great and illustrious cities, D both in the splendor of their structures, and in the power of their inhabitants, and in the rest of their prosperity regarding both the countryside and the marketplace, now bear the tokens of their ancient dignity only in their ruins. And a ship, often saved from the sea, and having made its swift voyage a thousand times, and having carried an infinite cargo for merchants, has vanished from sight by the single onset of a wind. Armies also, which have often been victorious in battles against their enemies
A, having had their prosperity overturned, have become a pitiable spectacle and a fable. Whole nations and islands, too, which had attained to great power, and had raised many trophies on land and many at sea, and had gathered great wealth from spoils, have either been consumed by time, or, having been taken prisoner, have exchanged their freedom for slavery. In short, whatever greatest and most unbearable evils you may put forward, the age already past has examples of them.
Just as, therefore, we distinguish weights by the movements of the scale, and test the quality of gold by rubbing it on the touchstone; so, by bringing to mind the limits and measures established for us by the Lord, we shall nowhere fall outside the boundaries of temperance. When, therefore, something unwelcome befalls you, first of all, with your mind already well-prepared B, do not suffer turmoil, and then, by the hope of things to come, make the present things lighter. For just as those who have weak eyes turn their gaze away from things that are too bright, and refresh them by the sight of flowers and herbs: so also the soul ought not always to keep the painful thing before its eyes, nor hang upon present miseries, but should turn its gaze to the contemplation of things that are truly good. In this way, you will be able to rejoice always: if your life is ever looking towards God, and the hope of that reward lightens the sorrows of life.
Have you been insulted? Then look toward the glory which is kept for you in the heavens through patience. Have you suffered a loss? Then look fixedly at the heavenly wealth and the treasure which you have laid up for yourself C through good works. Have you been cast out of your country? But you have the heavenly country, Jerusalem. Have you lost a child? But you have angels, with whom you will dance around the throne of God, and you will rejoice with everlasting joy. Thus, by opposing the expected blessings to present sorrows, you will preserve for yourself the untroubled and undisturbed state of soul to which the commandment of the Apostle calls us.
Let neither the bright aspects of human affairs cause excessive joy in your soul, nor let the sorrowful ones bow down its proud and lofty spirit with gloom and dejection. For if you are not thus well-instructed regarding the things of this life, you will D never live an untroubled and undisturbed life. But this will be easily attained by you, if you have the commandment as your inseparable companion—the one that exhorts you to rejoice always—by sending away the burdens of the flesh, and gathering the joys of the soul; and by rising above the perception of present things, while straining your mind toward the hope of eternal goods, the mere contemplation of which is sufficient to fill the soul with rejoicing, and the
angelic gladness to bring into our hearts; in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power unto the ages. Amen.
ON THE MARTYR JULITTA, and on the remaining parts of the previously delivered homily on thanksgiving.
1. The design of this gathering is the proclamation made regarding the blessed martyr. For we announced this day to you as one that keeps in memory the great struggle which, in a female body, most manfully—and to the total amazement of those who were then present at the spectacle, and of those who later received the report from the accounts of those who experienced it—the most blessed of women, Julitta, endured B (if indeed it is proper to call her a woman, who with the greatness of her soul concealed the weakness of the female nature); by which, I believe, our common adversary was most struck, for he bears with great difficulty the defeat he has suffered at the hands of women. He, who braggingly vaunts those great things—that he would shake the whole inhabited world, and take it as a nest, and seize it as if it were left-behind eggs, and lay cities waste—appeared conquered by female virtue. He had attempted, in the time of trial, to prove that she was unable, due to the weakness of her nature, to preserve her piety toward God to the end; but he found, through the testing, that she was stronger than her nature, and that she mocked his terrors as much as he had hoped that she would be terrified by those cruel things. C For when a lawsuit was pending for her against one of the powerful men in the city, an avaricious and violent man, who had gathered wealth for himself through rapine and pillage—who, having cut off a large portion of land, had transferred the fields, villages, livestock, servants, and all the rest of her life’s possessions from the woman to himself—he had taken hold of the courts, supported by slanderers, false witnesses, and the bribery of the judges. But when the lady was present, and the herald was calling, and the advocates were ready D to begin to teach of...