receive the royal purple dye. Once you attain the bridal chamber of the Spirit, once you rush into the bedchamber of grace, once you reach the pool that is at once fearsome and desirable, cast yourselves down like captives before the King; cast yourselves all alike upon your knees, and lifting your hands to heaven, where our King of all sits in royal state, and fixing your eyes upon the sleepless Eye, use such words as these toward the Lover of mankind: "Open to us thy vineyard, O Lord, even though we have arrived at the eleventh hour; be not angry with us, Master, for having been slow, nor close the doors of thy loving-kindness to our gaze. We condemn our past sloth, we condemn the laziness of the day that preceded this; we were harmed by failing to listen, we were disadvantaged by sleeping, we were shipwrecked while enjoying ourselves, we were stripped bare by playing and being played with, we were destroyed by being entertained by empty things. With difficulty have we awakened, with difficulty have we become sober, with difficulty have we found what is beneficial, with difficulty have we escaped the war; we have renounced the wicked one entirely, we have renounced wasting time with destructive evils and ephemeral pleasures; henceforth we enlist with the Savior, with the only God. Receive the document of our confession, so that, fearing the penalty, we may remain in what we have agreed upon; receive the pledge of the covenants made with thee, so that, feeling shame for the pledge, we may firmly establish our manner of life. Show pity on thy servants, the captives, the naked, and the dead; restore to us our ancient kinship; clothe those whom the devil stripped; anoint us with the oil of thy holy chrism, so that we may not be harmed if we are bitten again by the serpent. We wish to work thy commandments, we wish to be found within the vineyard, we wish to exercise the office of laborers by drawing near to thee; we have lived all our days poorly, we wish to live the remaining ones well. Thou wishest to forgive as to harlots? Forgive. Thou wishest to deal as with tax collectors? Thou wishest to show kindness as to thieves? Thou wishest to save as to persecutors? Save us, as thou wilt; have mercy on those who repent, whom thou didst endure while they were sinning; have mercy on those who fall down before thee, whom thou didst pity even while they were spurning thee; have mercy on those who supplicate thee, whom thou didst bear while they were insulting thee. Open to us, who are being tossed by the tempest, the harbor of the pool; open to us, who are wounded, the painless infirmary; open to the aged, the gentle refiner; open to those who owe a debt of death, the safe grave; open to us the life-giving imprint of thy three-day entombment; open to us the virgin womb of regeneration; open to us the incorrupt mother of adoption; open to us the gate of immortality; open to us the door of the heavens; for thou didst say, 'Knock, and it shall be opened to you.' What thou hast said, fulfill in truth; what thou hast spoken, accomplish, as thou who art without falsehood. We believe that thou canst do all things; we believe that thou canst wash away the filth of our sins; we believe that thou canst regenerate through Spirit and water those who have grown old in sins; we believe that thou canst accomplish a strange birth; we believe that thou canst bring up women and infants and youths and men and aged ones from the waters as newborn babes; we believe that thou canst drown our sins in the waters, just as thou didst submerge Pharaoh and all his power; we believe that thou canst find a way of salvation, as thou didst once create a way in the midst of the sea for the Israelites; we believe that thou canst do as many things as thou willest." Saying these things to the Lord, be constant, so that the Savior may also say to you: "Believe you that I can do this? According to your faith be it done unto you." To Him be the glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.
NOTICE
The same person as above thought that this homily also belonged to Severian, bishop of Gabala; and perhaps not without reason. For the style is very much like the homilies of Severian: an eloquence that is, in Savile's words when speaking of Severian, "altogether iron-like." Everything is rugged, whether you look at the invention or the tropes and figures.ON THE PARABLE OF THE FIG TREE, HOMILY I.
A man’s eye, when it sees either a flowering tree or a water-bearing spring, is drawn by the very sight and turns the mind of the heart to it. Likewise, he who hears deeds and histories through words directs his thought toward them, so that such a person is in this place in body, but in that place in mind, where the narrative of the history leads the subject. Something of this sort has happened to me, beloved. For having heard the evangelist recount the events that happened in Bethany concerning the fig tree, I am here in body, but in mind I imagine myself to be there; and I suppose myself now to be following the Master Jesus, and to see the fig tree before the Master's command flourishing and leafy, and after the Lord's command, gloomy and dried up. "In the morning," he says, "as Jesus was returning to the city, he hungered. And seeing a fig tree, he came to it, and found nothing on it but leaves only; and he said to it, 'May no fruit ever come from you hereafter.' And immediately it was dried up." For this was just now read to us. The miracle strikes me; my mind is divided. For when I wish to recount the matter of the history, immediately along with the history, the miracles present themselves. And just as when someone sees a golden jar containing precious stones within, which bear mysterious symbols written upon them, he wishes to see the jar and the splendor of its form, but is drawn away by the stones within; for he is eager both to observe the beauty of the stones and to know the mysteries written upon them: so I also, while seeing the history of the letter to be brilliant and beautiful, keep my mind there; and yet I am drawn away again by the contemplation of the Spirit, which promises to show me greater miracles than the history. "In the morning," he says, "as Jesus was returning to the city, he hungered." O inexpressible and indescribable mystery! He hungered, who feeds the whole world; he hungered, who fed five thousand men to the full with five loaves; he hungered, whoA brought these into his own houses with a word. And how, says Isaias, shall the eternal God not hunger, and not faint (Isai. XL, 28)? That Christ is God is manifest to anyone who believes the Scripture, which says: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (Joan. I, 1). How then did God hunger? He hungered in the form of a servant; yet He nourished the five thousand, which was the will of the Lord in Him. He came to the fig tree as a man who was perceived; but He was everywhere the divinity, which was understood in Him. He saw the fig tree as barren as a man, and by a word withered it as God. He said: "Let no fruit grow from thee forever"; and the deed followed the word, and immediately the fig tree was withered. The word was human, but the deed, divine. B But we have need of much investigation, O beloved, to draw out the spiritual understanding of the fig tree, which, as it seems to me, has been expounded by many—yet less accurately. Nevertheless, I shall tell you the lucubrations of those who have preceded us, and we shall offer what has been diligently elaborated by us. For the meaning that lies in the history of the letter is difficult to grasp, and contains in its recess the hidden radiance of a mystery. For what necessity was there for the Word to wither the fig tree, and not rather for it to become fruit-bearing by a word? Since He who withered it by a word could also render it fruitful by a word. But what did the fig tree even sin, someone will say, since it was not its season, the evangelist Mark saying that it was then winter (Cap. XI, 13)? C And if there be not some mystery fulfilled in it above man, the Lord will be found to be worthy of praise in one way, but worthy of blame in another—praiseworthy because He withered it by a word, but blameworthy because He cursed it undeservedly. Nevertheless, one must next understand, O beloved, whose image the fig tree bore; for there was nothing of those things which were performed by Christ that lacked a mystery. In a word, no work was performed by Him which was not very fruitful; nothing that did not cry out the truth; nothing that did not excite the mind to the reception of heavenly things. Many of the interpreters have said that this fig tree was likened to the synagogue of the Jews, to which the Lord came, they say, seeking in it the fruit of faith; and He found none, save that it was verdant as with leaves by the words of the prophets and the law: D wherefore He also withered it, saying: "Let no fruit grow from thee forever." But I shall endeavor to contradict this exposition, O beloved: for this is not the true and exact meaning. For how would the Lord have cursed, who says: "Bless, and curse not" (Rom. XII, 14)? Or how would He have cursed and withered the synagogue, who says: "The Son of man did not come to destroy, but to seek and save that which was lost" (Luc. IX, 56; XIX, 10)? And if anyone still contradicts and contends that the fig tree was likened to the synagogue of the Jews, let him answer how the synagogue, withered from the root, could have sprouted such a fruitful and most sweet branch as Paul. We know, furthermore, that many others were converted from the synagogue of the Jews; for even Stephen, who was stoned by the Jews, was from that synagogue, and Aquila and Priscilla and many others, whose enumeration by name we do not now wish to mention by reason of the multitude of words. Moreover, that God has not altogether rejected the people of the Jews is testified to me by Paul, saying: "I say then: Hath God altogether cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people" (Rom. XI, 1, 2). But He also promises salvation to that people in the last days, when he says: "And when the fulness of the Gentiles shall have come in, then all Israel shall be saved" (Ibid. v. 25, 26). For if the Jews were made enemies of God, they were made so for our sake, that we might obtain mercy because of their incredulity, as Paul testifies, when he says: "As concerning the gospel, indeed, they are enemies for your sake; but as touching the election, they are most dear for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance" (Rom. XI, 28, 29). We must, therefore, seek, O beloved, of what thing the things that were narrated concerning the fig tree bore the figure and image.
Homily on the Parable of the Fig Tree
Verily, if you remember, O Adam, at what time you were stripped in paradise, of what tree you took leaves and knit yourself a covering, you will see how justly He withered the leaves. For did you, I ask, take the leaves of the fig tree to hide your ignominy? Christ therefore came, and the fig tree flourishing in you, the veil of ignominy, He withered by a word: He took away your poverty, and bestowed upon you riches; He took away the veils of your ignominy, and bestowed upon you a robe shining with snow-white color, woven from water and the Spirit; He withered the fig leaves, and restored to you the spoils of your soul. What spoils? Those of which the serpent despoiled you in paradise: a life equal to the angels, the delights of paradise, the robe of immortality. "In the morning," he says, "returning Jesus into the city," that is, In the morning, after the night of error had passed, and the dawn of Christ had shone upon the world with the light of the resurrection: for Christ is the dawn, as the prophet says: "We shall find him prepared as the dawn" (Osee VI, 3). "In the morning, returning Jesus." In the morning, when Christ had destroyed the death carrying shadows with the light of glory, and the Sun of justice had shone with golden rays upon the darkened hearts of men: in the morning, when He had diffused the warm rays of His divinity, and had warmed the souls deadened by the devil: "For there is none that can hide himself from his heat" (Psal. XVIII, 7). For with coldest sin the devil had deadened the hearts of men. Wherefore the prophet prays, saying: "Burn my reins and my heart" (Psal. XXVI, 2). For the whole human nature had been constricted by the cold of impiety. And therefore all the prophets with one mind besought God, saying: "Turn, O Lord, our captivity, as a torrent in the south" (Psal. CXXV, 4); this is: As the warm south wind, when it has blown upon frozen waters, restores them to the prior nature of water: in the same manner, us also, deadened by the sin of the devil, He restores, like a warm south wind blowing [upon us], to the ancient nature of immortality. This warm respiration of the south wind the bride Church in the Canticle of Canticles invokes, saying: "Arise, O north wind, and come, O south, blow through my garden, and the aromatics thereof shall flow" (Cant. IV, 16). "In the morning," he says, "returning." He rightly wrote that, "Returning," to signify that when Adam had fallen from paradise, Christ our Lord came again, that He might lead him back into the same place. "In the morning, returning Jesus into the city, he hungered." When now you hear the city, do not look downward, but look to the Jerusalem which is above, to the heavenly seat: for "our conversation is in heaven" (Phil. III, 20). "In the morning, returning Jesus into the city, he hungered," not seeking the food of men; but the life of men: "For my meat," he says, "is to do the will of my Father" (Joan. IV, 34), that they may believe in Him whom He has sent; "For he that believeth in him," as He Himself said, "shall not die for ever" (Joan. XI, 26). "In the morning, Jesus returning into the city, he hungered; and seeing a fig tree, he came to it." For if He had passed by the fig tree, the serpent would have had its nest immortal in the fig tree; but He came to the fig tree, and withered it. When Nathanael was under such a fig tree, he was seen by the Lord: "Before Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee" (Joan. I, 48). This fig tree, foreseeing it would be rendered barren, the prophet was saying: "I will ascend to the people of my pilgrimage: for the fig tree shall not bring forth fruit" (Habac. III, 17).Homily on the Pharisee
That he might see Jesus: to whom He said, "Making haste, come down" (Luc. XIX, 5). The serpent built a nest there; there he hid himself. "Making haste, come down." Pleasantly, however, the evangelist said sycomore speaking of Zacchaeus, that he might indicate that the broad and spacious way is joined with folly, from which the worst destruction is born. The Lord came to the fig tree. This fig tree was bearing before itself the image of the broad and spacious way: it isThe thief said to the sycamore in the case of Zacchaeus,1 to signify that the wide and spacious way is intertwined with the mulberry tree, whence the most evil fate is born. The Lord came to the fig tree. This fig tree bore the image of the wide and spacious way; for the plant of the soul is broad-leaved, and sin is itchy, leading through the wide and spacious way to perdition. Most sweet is the fruit of the fig; sweet is pleasure, casting those who approach it into the slip of sin. Flee its taste, O beloved; for it is sweet in the tasting, but bitter after the act. For honey distills from the lips of a harlot, and for a time it lubricates the throat; but afterward you will find it more bitter than bile, and sharper than a two-edged sword. Pleasure is a harlot, speaking sweetly to you at the beginning, surreptitiously inserting into the discourse the bitterness of death. Such was also the serpent, sweet in speech, and bitter in guile; sweet was the food, but bitter the fall. Flee then, beloved, the harlot, who speaks sweetly to you and brings bitter wounds; flee pleasure as Elijah fled Jezebel. The Lord came, therefore, from the heavens; He hungered to find the life of men; He found the wide and spacious way of this life standing; He came upon it, and He finds it flourishing with leaves, that is to say, blooming with the doctrines of sin, but not yet having fruit of death. Why? Because the time was not yet; for the evangelist added this: "He had no fruit," he says, "for it was not the time." For how could it still bear fruit of death, with Jesus present and proclaiming resurrection to the world? Its time to bear fruit of death was no longer; for "death reigned from Adam until Moses," that is, until the Law. For Scripture knows how to call the Law "Moses," as in the Gospel: "They have Moses and the prophets." The Lord said to it, no longer—and "May no fruit come from you forever." That is to say: Before my presence, you bore the fruit of death; behold, I have arrived, this is the resurrection. With me present, "may no fruit come from you forever." And immediately the fig tree was dried up; and that which is written was fulfilled: "Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O hades, where is thy victory?" For the evangelist, having said it was winter at that time in which the fig tree was flourishing with leaves, hinted that sin was flourishing, because the devil was a winter hanging over all humanity. For before the presence of the peace-maker, the race of men was labored by diverse spirits, driven toward idolatry and bloodshed and revelry and lust; but having come, our Lord Jesus A B C D
Homily on the Pharisee
As a father who loves his children, being drawn by his own love to converse with his dearest offspring, and because they are infants unable to hear perfect words on account of the childishness of their custom, the father changes his voice, and laying aside the rapid flow of eloquence, begins to lisp to them, leading his dearest ones from speaking and hearing to a greater comprehension of words; in the same way, also, our Lord, through His great love for His own creation, although being God the Word, took on human speech and came to us, in order that from His speaking and dwelling with us, He might show a heavenly revelation and lead us onto the heavenly ladder, that is, of hope. He is, therefore, called to a meal by a Pharisee, as we have just heard the Gospel proclaiming, and He does not turn away the one calling Him; for He did not come to show the dignity of His divinity, but to rescue fallen humanity from the underworld. He is called to a meal by a Pharisee, and He does not refuse, in order that He might instruct the rich not to despise the tables of the needy, and teach the righteous not to spit upon the tables of sinners.