BY THE SAME: ORATION ON THE HOLY SPIRIT: OR, ON PENTECOST
A David himself renders the subject of any festive celebration more illustrious, as he always adapts that most sweet harp of his, fittingly, to the occasion. Therefore, since the Spirit is struck by the plectrum of wisdom upon the lyre, may the same Prophet also illuminate for us the great feast of Pentecost by playing, through the movement of the Spirit, the melody upon the strings of wisdom. B Let him therefore say, from that divinely-inspired melody, what is appropriate for the present grace: "Come, let us exult in the Lord" (Ps. xciv. 1). But first, it is necessary to know what this benefit of God is, and then the prophetic words must be applied to the theme of our oration; and may you allow me, in order, to explain as well as I am able those things which pertain to this subject.
At the beginning, mankind had wandered away from the knowledge of God; and having abandoned the Lord of all things, some through deception were bowing down to the cosmic elements, others were considering the nature of demons worthy of veneration, and to many, even the hand-made forms of idols appeared to be divine entities, to whose worship they had dedicated altars, temples, sacred rites, victims, shrines, and other things of this kind. C The Lord of nature, therefore, looked upon the corrupted nature of mankind with kind eyes, and by certain degrees, as it were, recalled human life from error to the knowledge of the truth. For, just as those who restore people who have been worn down by long-term famine according to the prescriptions of the medical art, and out of concern for their weakness do not immediately provide them with food to the point of satiety, but after they have recovered their strength through a moderate diet, they then finally grant them the power to fill themselves at their own discretion: so too, when the human race had been consumed by a horrific famine, so to speak, Divine Providence dispensed the food of the mysteries in this manner, so that day by day, little by little, and
by means of an orderly succession, we might always participate in the perfect until we arrive at the goal of perfection. For the power that saves us is the life-giving power, believed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. But since men—incapable of grasping the whole because of the infirmity of their souls, which had been contracted as if by famine—had been turned by the prophets and the law from the prior worship of many gods, they were accustomed to look to one divinity and to perceive in that one divinity only the power of the Father, being incapable, as I said, of the perfect food. Then, through the Gospel, the Only-begotten Son B is revealed to those who had been perfected by the law; after this, the perfect food of our nature arrives for us: the Holy Spirit, in whom is life. This is the theme of the festival; and for this reason it is fitting that we, having become dancers for the Spirit, should obey the leader of this spiritual 6 dance, David, who says: "Come, let us exult in the Lord." And "the Lord is the Spirit," as the Apostle says.
For today, as the annual period of the year completes the fifty days, at this very hour—if we are indeed at the third hour of the day—the indescribable grace occurred. For the Spirit was again mingled with men—the Spirit that had previously departed from our nature because man had become flesh—and by that violent wind, the spiritual powers of wickedness and all the filthy demons were scattered from the air. In the descent of the Spirit, those who had been left behind in the upper room were filled with divine power in the form of fire; for it is not possible for anyone to become a participant of the Holy Spirit unless one dwells in the upper room of this life. For those who set their minds on the things that are above, having transferred their citizenship from earth to heaven, and being inhabitants of the upper room of the exalted life, become participants of the Holy Spirit. For the history of the Acts C says that when they were gathered in the upper room, that pure and immaterial fire was divided into the forms of tongues, according to the number of the disciples. They, therefore, spoke to Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the other nations, adjusting their own voices with authority to every native language. But I, as the Apostle says, would rather speak five words in the Church with my mind, so that I might also benefit others, than ten thousand words in a tongue. For at that time it was useful for the speaker to be of one voice with those of different languages, so that the preaching might not be ineffective for those who did not understand, hampered by the sound of the preachers; but now, since the D uniformity of language…
A is no longer present, we must seek out the fiery tongue of the Spirit, by which we may illuminate those who wander in darkness through error. And here let David take the lead for us, and join the Apostle to himself as his companion. For in this psalm, whose beginning provides us with a pattern for exulting in the Lord, saying, "Come, let us exult in the Lord," we are not only moved to celebrate the praises of the Holy Spirit; but rather, we are taught about his divinity from the things that follow. I will bring before you the very words of the Prophet, to which the great Apostle also gives his assent, and they are these: "Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the desert, where your fathers tempted me" B. Making mention of these, the divine Apostle says, "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says" 5; and having prefaced this, he immediately brings forward these words of the Prophet, attributing them to the person of the Holy Spirit. Who then is it whom their fathers tempted in the desert? Who is it whom they provoked? Learn from the Prophet himself, who says: "They tempted the most high God" 6. Yet the Apostle, having introduced the person of the Holy Spirit, assigns these same words to him, saying: "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: According to the day of temptation in the desert, where your fathers tempted me."
Whatever most high God the Prophet named, therefore, this the divine Apostle asserts to be the Holy Spirit. And if you do not believe that this is true, consider again what has been said: "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, Do not harden your hearts, as in the C provocation, according to the day of temptation in the desert, where your fathers tempted me." If, therefore, the Holy Spirit says, "Your fathers tempted me in the desert," and the Prophet testifies that he who was tempted in the desert is the most high God, then the mouths of those who rashly oppose the Holy Spirit and speak iniquity against God are stopped, since clearly both the Apostle and the Prophet, in the things we have spoken of, proclaim the divinity of the Holy Spirit. For the Prophet, while he says, "They tempted the most high God," and, as if putting on the person of God, addresses the Israelites with those words, "In the desert your fathers tempted me," and the great Paul, while he attributes these same words to the Holy Spirit, so that from these it is plainly manifest that the Holy Spirit is the most high God. Do they then see, those who oppose the glory of the Spirit, the fiery tongue of the sacred D oracles, which illuminates what was obscure? Or shall we, like those filled with new wine...