On Herodias’s Dance

515 ^A tundant. To his second prayer, he gave no response. He approached a third time, and then he answered. ^B Therefore, so that you may learn, if you ask for that which is not for your profit, and receive the contrary, that it is not to be taken ill. You often ask for that which you think will be profitable, but it is not. God does not look to the tears, but to those things which are harmful. For a child often asks its mother for bread; yet if he asks for something that brings injury, she does not give it, nor does she pay heed to his pain, but looks to his utility. One who is feverish is also often bothersome to the physician, asking him to give a cold draught, yet he does not grant it; for he does not attend to the present, harmful desire, but studies the future health. Thus also Paul did not know how to ask for what was useful. By what indulgence, then, are we worthy? Since, indeed, losing heart, he approached him, saying: "Let me catch my breath for a little, let me be freed from dangers, grant me a little rest: I am human, and you have entrusted the whole world to me." He approached him first, and he gave no response; a second and a third time he approached. ^C For this reason, "I thrice sought the Lord" (2 Cor. 12:8). Why so? That I might preach without trouble, that I might have no assailant, that no enemy might be present, no scourges, no dangers, no prisons, no abductions, no nakedness. For this I approach, this I ask. I have labored, I have sweated, I have been affected by miseries, cast out from everywhere. What, I pray, does God answer him? He did not nod to the petition, he did not give what he was asking for; but he said to him: "My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is made perfect in weakness" (Ibid. v. 9). "My grace is sufficient for you." You see what you suffer, you do not see what you do: you see what enemies do against you, you do not see what I do in you. They scourge you, I give grace. Have you entered into prison, or have you not? I have entered, and I ask you. Did you see the angel of Satan there, or not? I saw him, who was casting me into it. Did he bind you, or did he not? What did I do? Did I not shake the walls? Did I not open the doors? Did I not loose the chains? Did I not hand over the prison guard as a captive to you? Did the angel of Satan harm you? Did my grace not profit you? Did that miracle not make you more splendid? My grace is sufficient for you. And do you seek both these things and those? You do not want scourges, why do you seek signs? You do not want dangers, why do you seek miracles? When you are being scourged, you see; when you raise the dead, do you not see? When your garments were torn, you saw; when your words put sicknesses to flight, did you not 516 see? When you were coming into judgment in chains, you saw; when Festus (a) said to you, "In a small way, you persuade me to become a Christian" (Acts 26:28), did you not see? My grace is sufficient for you. You have taken a great weapon, the power of the Spirit, which conquers plots, and makes you more splendid. What do you want? To suffer nothing? And how would my power be shown? It would indeed be shown, but not as it is now shown. In what way? Because Paul, lamenting, was saying: "Woe to me, I am a herald of the kingdom, a disciple of Christ, I preach immortal things; and I am scourged, I am treated with contumely, I am led away—so that you may not therefore lose heart, these things make you more splendid: unless you suffered these things, you would not be so conspicuous." You entered into prison. Unless you had been bound, and if you had only entered, he would have detained you, and led you out: even now, however, when you were bound, he loosed you, the bound one. Your feet were held by the wood, and grace shook the walls. I say these things so that no one may be astounded by the plots structured against us. We say these things, not equating ourselves to Paul (for we are not so foolish), but so that we may show that God brings this very thing to the humble. "My grace is sufficient for you." We have not been cast out. Where is the grace? Where six hundred enemies structured their plots. Where is that grace? There were many lovers, who did not want me to be separated from you. Where is the grace? They even added the Jews to our number. "My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore, let not the tribulations which have been given to the lot of the gospel move you. "My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is made perfect in weakness." How are you scourged, and do you remove the scourgers? You are sought by plots, and do you overcome those plotting? For "my power is made perfect in weakness." What, therefore, Paul heard, is this what you want? Is this sufficient for you? That I should fall by scourges, be afflicted with disgrace and ignominy, this I want. "For which reason I am pleased in weaknesses, in contumelies, in persecutions" (2 Cor. 12:10). O the grateful spirit of the servant! He approached him, asking to be freed from tribulations: but when he heard that the Lord not only did not want this, but even wanted the contrary: "This, therefore, seems so to you," he says, "that I should be afflicted; this I want, in this matter I have gratitude." He did not say only, "I want"; but, "This pleases me, I crave, I desire to be scourged, to be driven, to be in straits." "For which reason I am pleased in weaknesses, in contumelies, in persecutions, in straits." Why? That the power of Christ may dwell in me, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

(a) Not Festus, but King Agrippa says this in the Acts.

MONITUM CONCERNING THE FOLLOWING ORATION

ON THE PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON (a). (Luke 15:11)

^A was stirred. Nature recognized as father Him who fashioned him, even if his will did not honor the Creator. "Father, give me the portion of the substance that falls to me." He rightly asked for God's things from God; but wrongly did he consume what he received. "And the father divided the living among them." He gave them, as his own house, the whole world; he gave them, as Creator, the whole of creation; he bestowed upon them bodies and reasonable souls, so that, being guided reasonably by the Word, they might do nothing unreasonable; he set over them his own law, both natural and written, as a divine pedagogue, so that being trained by this they might fulfill the will of the Lawgiver. "And not many days after, having gathered everything together," the younger son acted as the younger, and went on a journey into a far country. He departed from God, and God departed from him; for He does not force those who do not wish to serve Him. For all virtues are of the will, not of necessity. There he dissipated his substance, living riotously. There he lost the whole wealth of the soul; there, pleasing and being pleased, he suffered shipwreck; there, mocking and being mocked, he became a beggar; there, purchasing soul-destroying pleasures and buying laughter, he received the tears of a father; and the virtues which he had, he cast away; and the vices which he had not, he took on. And when he had spent everything (for the wealth of grace is not wont to remain with those who live shamefully), there arose a strong famine in that country. For wherever the wheat of temperance is not farmed, there is a strong famine; where the vine of continence is not planted, there is a strong famine; where the grape of purity is not trodden in the winepress, there is a strong famine; where the heavenly must does not flow, there is a strong famine; where there is a fruitfulness of evils, there is always a barrenness of goods; where there is an abundance of wicked deeds, there is always a hunger for virtues; where the oil of philanthropy does not spring forth, there is a strong famine. Then, therefore, he too began to be in want. For nothing remained for him, except only the evils of intemperance, since he had committed the evils of lawlessness. And he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country. These citizens of that country were the demons, in which he happened to be a wanderer. And that citizen sent him into his field to feed swine. For so do demons honor those who honor them; so do they love those who love them; such are the gifts they bestow on those who obey them. And he longed to fill his belly with the pods that the swine were eating. What is "from the pods"? The taste of the pods is sweet, but yet also hard and rough. For such is the nature of sin: it delights briefly, and punishes greatly; it pleases for a time, and scourges eternally. Coming, therefore, to himself, and pondering his former blessedness and his second misery, and laying to heart who he was when he was ordered with God and the Father, and who he had become, being subjected to the demons. Coming to himself, therefore, he said: "How many hired servants of my father abound with bread, and I here perish with hunger?" How many catechumens now feast upon the holy Scriptures, while I am held by the famine of the divine words? Oh, of how many good things have I deprived myself! Oh, with how many evils have I clothed myself! For why did I depart from that blessed way of life? Why did I enter into this deadly life? I learned from what I suffered, not to abandon God; I learned to hold fast to Him who always guards those who hold to Him; I learned not to trust in the unclean demons, those who teach every impurity. What then does he say? "I will arise ^B and go to my father." I will return well, from whence I departed, and I will go to my own father, and Creator, and Master, and guardian, and provider; I will overtake him who was waiting long ago and anticipating those who return to him. "I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired servants." These words are enough for me for salvation; the name of my father is enough for me for my earnest petition; for my father, having been called father by me, cannot but appear a father in his deeds; He cannot but move His bowels, being compassionate; He cannot but grant forgiveness to my lapses, having heard "I have sinned"; He cannot, having heard the voice being poured forth, forget His just anger. I know how much repentance can do before Him; I know how effective tears are before Him; I know how every sinner, looking up to Him, and weeping fervently, like Peter, receives the remission of his sins; I know the goodness of my God; I know the gentleness of my father. He will pity me as I repent, whom He did not exclude as I sinned. ^C

2. "And he arose and came to his father." He added the good work to the good counsel. For it behooves us not only to counsel what is advantageous, but also to show good impulses by our deeds. And while he was still a long way off, but near in his manner, and beating his hands continuously ^D and striking his own breast, as being the workshop of wicked thoughts, and fixing his face upon the ground, and making his eyes the partners in his prayer, with the drops of tears, and rehearsing his apology, having reached him, he cried out with a loud voice, saying with tears: "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you." I have sinned, I know, Christ Master and God; You alone know my sins; I have sinned, have mercy as God and Master. I am not worthy to look to heaven, and to entreat You my good Master, being full of the greatest and most grievous charges; there is no number to my sins. Have mercy as being always a good God, "For I am not worthy to be called your son, make me as one of your hired servants." Thus praying from the depth of his heart, he saw him who looks upon those who do wrong, and overlooks those who sin, and waits for their repentance; his father saw him, and was moved with compassion. For He was a father in kindness, even if He existed as God by nature. "And running, he fell upon his neck, and kissed him." He did not wait for the one who had offended to come near, but he himself went to meet him eagerly. And he did not loath his neck, as being spotted and defiled with the stains of debauchery; but with his own immaculate hands he embraced and kissed him insatiably, whom he had long ago yearned for. Oh, the unspeakable and terrible compassion! Oh, the paradoxical philanthropy! Oh, the strange reconciliations! He bent immediately God toward a single moment of inclination and participation with tears, and to overlook such a multitude. Have you wondered seeing God flattering a sinner? Oh, the affection of the paternal bowels! The sinner on earth wept, and the only sinless One from heaven bent Himself toward philanthropy. Who ever saw a sinner being flattered by God? Who ever saw a judge attending to a criminal? Who ever saw a condemned man being flattered? But nevertheless, God entreats, as once He did Israel. "My people," He says, "what have I wronged you, or what have I troubled you?" And now the same things happen, and were done, because the Father of mercies and God of all consolation is accustomed to be overcome by Himself. Yet the prodigal son was not satisfied with these things; but being a prodigal even in the goods of repentance, he did not think that such great philanthropy was sufficient for his perfect salvation for the multitude of his sins; but what he had rehearsed to say to the father, these too he...

confessed; my sins I do not hide, those which you see, I do not deny those which you know; as a guilty man I lie wretchedly, as an iniquitous man I am condemned, but as judge have mercy on me. I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am afraid to lift my eyes to heaven; for I dread the appearance of the firmament as the voice of an accuser; I fear to fix my gaze in the light of the Godhead, since I have the eyes of my mind defiled. I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. See, I betray myself, I condemn myself, I pronounce sentence upon myself. I have no need of a judge to pronounce sentence, no need of accusers to convict the guilty, no need of witnesses to confirm the documents. I have within a presiding conscience, I bear an implacable judge in my soul, and a formidable court: in my conscience I carry witnesses around, in my eyes I produce accusers; the theaters accuse me, the circuses cry out against me: the spectacles of those who fight with beasts shout at me: prodigality traduces me, my actions, my own infamy overwhelm me, my present nakedness makes me manifest; the very rags of ignominy with which I am clothed cover me with shame, and I am not worthy to be called your son: "Make me as one of your hired servants." Do not, however, drive me from your hall, O Lord, that the enemy may not find me wandering again and lead me away like a captive, nor station me near your dreadful and mystic table: for I would not dare to look upon the holy of holies with open eyes. Let me stand with the catechumens within the doors of the church, that, contemplating the mysteries that are performed therein, I may desire to become, little by little, a partaker of them; that, washed with divine waters, I may wipe away the filth of shameful songs residing in my ears; that when I see your pearls snatched away by the pious, I may myself desire to have hands worthy to receive such a gift. When the prodigal had finished these things, and had cried out thus with tears, "The father said to his servants" (Luc. 15.22). To which servants? Listen: to the priests and ministers of his commandments. "Bring forth quickly the first robe, clothe him." Bring the robe woven from above, prepared by spiritual fire; bring the robe textured in the waters of the font; bring the robe forged from spiritual fire, and clothe him who has stripped himself: clothe the new Adam whom the devil stripped; clothe the king of creation, adorn him through whom I have adorned the world, decorate the most beloved limbs of my son: for I cannot look upon him unadorned, I do not suffer my image to be left naked: I consider my son's disgrace my own disgrace, my glory I consider the illustrious name of him. Let him carry the pledge, and being carried by him, let him be guarded by the Spirit himself; that wearing my seal, he may appear formidable to all enemies and adversaries; that from afar it may be understood whose father's son this is. "Give also sandals for his feet": lest the serpent find his heel naked again, and strike him with his sting; but that he himself may rather trample upon the head of the dragon, that he may crush the stings of the enemy, and run the path which is according to God. "And bring the fatted calf, and kill it" (v. 23). Whom, at length, does he call the fatted calf? Whom indeed? Him whom the heifer Mary the Virgin brought forth. Bring the untamed Calf, who has not yet borne the yoke of sin, the virgin, and born of a Virgin, who follows those who follow him, not out of necessity, but willingly; who does not use his own strength, nor horns, but readily bows his neck to those who wish to slaughter him. Slaughter, therefore, him who is slaughtered willingly; slaughter him who gives life to those who slaughter him; kill him who is killed, but does not die; kill him who is sliced limb by limb, and sanctifies those who slice him; kill him who is eaten by those who know him, and is never consumed; kill him who renders those who eat him blessed. "And let us all feasting rejoice, because this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found." "And they began to feast" (v. 24). You know the spiritual delights, you who have tasted them—you who have been initiated into the fearful mysteries, while the ministers of the holy office, imitating the wings of the angels with their thin linen veils, which sit on their left shoulders, run about in the church, and cry: "Let no one of the catechumens, let no one of those who do not eat, let no one of the explorers, let no one of those who cannot look upon the Calf who is eaten, nor any of those who cannot look upon the celestial blood shed for the remission of sins, let no one unworthy of the living host, let no one uninitiated, let no one of those who cannot touch the dreadful mysteries with undefiled lips": then are added the voices of the angels praising from the heavens and saying, "Holy is the Father, who willed the fatted Calf to be slaughtered, who knew no sin, as the prophet Isaiah said: 'Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth'" (Isai. 53.9; 1 Pet. 2.22). Holy is the Son, and at the same time the Calf who is always slaughtered willingly, who is always alive; holy is the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit who performs the sacrifice. While these things were being done within, the elder son, having arrived, "heard from afar the symphony and the dances" (Luc. 15.25); and when he had called one of the boys, he was asking what this might be: "A sound strikes my ears." But he said: "David the prophet sings within: 'Then shall they lay upon your altar calves'" (Ps. 50.21). The same again exhorts those who are present to the feast, and says: "Taste and see, for the Lord is sweet" (Ps. 53.9). Paul the interpreter of divine things proclaims and says: "Christ our Passover has been sacrificed" (1 Cor. 5.7). The Church keeps a feast, feasts, and leads dances. But he says to the servant: "Is it so? While I am outside, do others divide my mysteries, with me absent?" "It is so," he says, "for your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe." Having heard these things, the just man was angry, and would not go in (Luc. 15.28). The just man was angry, and was made a slave to envy: he who had trampled the delights of life underfoot was overcome by envy. But how does Paul say: "I myself wished to be anathema from Christ for my brothers, who are my kinsmen according to the flesh" (Rom. 9.3)? Not to show the just man to be envious, but to imply a certain immense magnitude, the Savior so shaped the prayer, that he might declare the immense riches of the goodness of his Father. And he indicates that through what follows. For the father having gone out began to entreat him. O ineffable wisdom! O religious providence! He both had pity on the sinner, and flattered the just man; and he did not permit him who was standing to fall, and he raised him who had fallen: he made the poor man rich, and did not allow the rich man to become poor through envy. But he answering said to his father: "Lo, so many years I serve you, and I never transgressed your commandment, and you never gave me a kid, that I might feast with my friends" (Luc. 15.29): "but I go around in sheepskins, in goat skins, needy, distressed, afflicted" (Hebr. 11.37). "But after this son of yours here, who contemned you, who devoured your substance with harlots, came, you suddenly killed for him the fatted calf, and neither did you punish him with a word, nor did you avert your face from him in appearance; but you immediately received him with hospitality, and adorned him with all your garments, made him splendid with a golden ring, provided him with sandals, opened the church, adorned the table, filled the craters, killed the fatted calf, called together the faithful to the feast, urged the angels to the dances, called together a miraculous banquet of heaven and earth. Such great gifts, therefore, you have conferred upon him who had contemned your goodness, and who had affected your nobility with reproaches. What shall I say of the sea of your mercies? How shall I admire the ocean of your kindness? You have mercy upon all, O Lord, because you can do all things, and you wink at the sins of men, that they may be converted to repentance." But the father said to him: "Son, you are always with me" (Luc. 15.31). "You have never been separated from my bosom; you"

you have welcomed him, and adorned him with your whole robe, and made him shine with a golden ring, and shod him with your shoes, and opened the Church, and embellished the table, and filled the cups, and sacrificed the fatted calf, and invited the faithful to the feast, and made the angels dance, and assembled a feast strange to heaven and earth; and you have granted such gifts to one who scorned your goodness and insulted your nobility. 58 What shall I say to the depth and sea of your mercies? How shall I wonder at the ocean of your serenity? You have mercy, Lord, on all, because you can do all things, and you overlook the sins of men for the sake of repentance. But his Father said to him: "Child, you are always with me." You were never separated from my bosom; you never pulled away from my Church; you always gave heed to psalms and hymns; you commune with the angels at all times; you, standing at the altar, cry out with confidence, "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name." But this one approached me condemned, ashamed, pressing his face toward the earth, and with a contrite and mournful voice shouted, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am not worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired servants." What was I to do at these words? Could I not have had mercy on my son who came to me? You, the irritable one, might judge. But I am not constituted so as to act inhumanly, being a lover of mankind; I cannot but have mercy on him whom I created; I cannot but pity him whom I brought forth from my own bowels. Child, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours; heaven is yours, the firmament is yours, the sun is your torchbearer, the moon is your maidservant, the stars are your lamps, the air is your nourisher, and all things in the air are yours; the earth and what is in it are yours, the sea and what is in it are yours, the world is yours, the Church is yours, the altar is yours, the fatted calf is yours, the sacrifice is yours, the angels are yours, the apostles are yours, the martyrs are yours; things present are yours, things to come are yours, the resurrection is yours, immortality is yours, incorruptibility is yours, the kingdom of heaven is yours; all things visible and intelligible are yours. Did I take away your things and give them to him? Did I strip you and clothe him? Did I not bestow mercy from my own possessions? Am I not the Father of both you and him? And I honor you for your virtue, and I have mercy on him for his most excellent conversion; and I long for you for your life, and for him for his change; and I love you for your conduct, and him for his repentance; and I love you for your patience, and him for his return to me. But you ought to have been gladdened and to have rejoiced, because this brother of yours was dead, and has come to life; he was lost, and has been found. Who, seeing 59 a dead man rising, does not rejoice? And who, having found what he lost, does not exult? Come now, you too, my son, rejoice with us, and leap with the angels, and embrace your brother with us, and sing with David that spiritual canticle which is fitting for the present festivity: "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin" (Ps. XXXI, 1-2). You have heard the divine parable, and understood its purpose, and seen its power; you have learned how merciful a Lord we have, how long-suffering. Let us, therefore, take refuge in Him with a pure heart. Come, let us cry out to Him with a common voice: "Master, Lord, Lover of mankind, only-begotten Son of God, we have sinned against heaven and before You, and we are not worthy to be called Your sons; but we trust in Your mercies; we have as pledges of Your philanthropy the precious cross, which You endured for us; we have as guarantors of Your compassion the once-harlot, and the once-thief." For through them, we and all sinners are urged to run to Your philanthropy. As You showed them to be famous and blessed, Lord, have mercy also upon us who fall before You; as You raised the dead while being crucified, raise up us, deadened by sin, on account of Your great philanthropy, that we may enjoy, together with those who have been redeemed, Your resurrection. Saying these things, let us persevere, so that our Master Christ may say to us: "According to your faith be it done to you" (Matt. IX, 29). And you, who are about to enjoy the gift of baptism, having cast away every alien thought, and directed your souls toward the heavenly bridegroom, enjoy the grace of the Holy Spirit. The Lord is near, have no anxiety (Phil. IV, 5-6). The Redeemer stands at the doors, the physician is present to those who believe, the infirmary is open, the medicines are ready, the pool receives all, grace is unfurled, the spiritual garment is being woven by the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Blessed are they who are deemed worthy to wear the robe. Only do you light the lamps of faith, and pour in lavishly the oil of piety, so that at night, when the voice sounds saying, "Behold, the bridegroom comes, go out to meet him" (Matt. XXV, 6), you may go out with bright lamps, dancing and leaping, and shouting, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" (Ibid. XXI, 9): to Him be glory and power, both now and always, and unto the ages. Amen.

On the Dancing of Herodias, and the Beheading of John the Forerunner and Baptist.

1. Just as a man who loves solitude, sitting in some wooded place shaded by trees, delighted by the sweet-sounding warbling of birds and the peaceful murmur of flowing waters, has a gentle disposition—such a man pleases all people; so too have we, during the preceding days, being refreshed by the gentle breeze of the Spirit, been discussing with you concerning almsgiving. But when the Gospel proclaimed the madness of Herod, and the immorality of women, and the revelry of mad men, and an unholy table, and an unlawful gift, and an impious work, and the burial of a most venerable body—I have become one thing after another. For I become speechless, beloved, whenever I bring before my eyes the events that took place under Herod; if indeed it is possible to call those events, and not wounds, for him who did such things. "At that time," it says, "Herod the tetrarch heard the report of Jesus, and said to his servants: This is John, whom I beheaded. He has risen from the dead, and therefore the powers are at work in him" (Matt. XIV, 1-2). He confesses the murder of the prophet, which he cannot deny; and he knew, when he killed him, that he was a prophet, and a righteous man. For if he had not known this, he would not have said that he had risen from the dead, and that therefore the powers were at work in him. Oh, the shame of a bad conscience! For any murder whatever, he bears witness against himself; oh, the shame of a bad conscience dwelling with a filthy soul, and tormenting it even until death, and even after death tormenting it implacably! Whom did he kill for this reason—the prophet? Because he was the herald of truth, and to prevent his action through his rebuke—

for he wished to dissolve his lawless deed—the one whom he ought to have kept as a guardian of the laws of God, he himself, through the disorder of his passions, cast aside. ^A For that man is king who sends forth just laws, and is the first to do them, and does not transgress them. For how else could he set into order the world subject to him, if not by governing the unruly and insolent human race with just laws as if with bridles? ^B But Herod is king not of peoples, but of passions, or rather a slave to them—for a man is a slave to whatever has overcome him. He did not merely transgress the law of God, but perpetrated an unrighteous murder. And whom did he kill? "A just man," than whom "there has not arisen one greater among those born of women," as the Lord Himself has testified. A man who inhabited a desert, uninhabitable, waterless, fruitless, inaccessible, treeless, lacking grass. John inhabited the desert, not fleeing his own tribesmen and kindred, but so as not to see and hear the detestable iniquities of men. This man neither sowed nor reaped, and therefore he had neither bread nor wine, no table, no bed as a servant of the passions, no pillow stuffed with goose down that breaks and softens the bodies of effeminate men; he had no lamp, no candelabrum, no table, no stool, no cup, no dish. For since he was outside the world, he needed nothing of the world. ^C Furthermore, he did not live in houses whose ceilings would be gilded, but under a rock that covered him. His table, and stool, and bed was the ground, his meat was locusts; his cake, wild honey; his vial was the palm of his hand; and his delicate wine was the purest water that flowed from the rock. This man Herod seized and bound. "Herod," he says, "having seized John, bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip." O extraordinary situation! John was putting forth every effort by his rebuke to loose the soul of that man [Herod] which was bound by the chain of sin, and he [Herod], while it was being loosed, was binding him! And yet, although John was bound, he spoke, and when cast into prison, he rebuked; for he was fulfilling what is written: "And I spoke in the presence of kings, and was not confounded" (Ps. CXVIII, 46). For John did not fear death, but he feared not speaking the truth. But when he killed this man, he committed not only one murder, but many. For he who kills the one who teaches souls and does not cease to be a benefactor to them, does not kill one, but as many as that man was able to vivify while living by his word. And when did he kill him? ^D It is shameful to speak—shameful indeed not for the speaker, but for the one who committed the murder. For on Herod's birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst, and pleased him; whence with an oath he promised to give to her whatever she asked of him. And she, being tutored by her mother, says, "Give me here on a dish the head of John" (Matt. XIV, 8). O most wretched birthday, which breathes the murder of a prophet, when it was proper rather to refresh holy men by receiving them at one's table. Thus, indeed, would his soul have been corrected and made better. For "with the holy you will be holy, and with the perverse you will be perverted" (Ps. XVII, 26, 29). For when he ought to have looked after the widows and taken pity on orphans, so as to keep his own life unshaken by many and various prayers, now, instead, feasting with intemperate men and unchaste women, burdened by much wine, mocked by shameless women, he took away the precursor of the morning, John, who bore the lamp of the faith, and quenched the lamp of the whole world. But when Herod quenched this lamp, he plunged himself into darkness. Although his earthen vessel was dissolved into the ground, yet his spirit, like a radiating lamp, shone upon those who were in Hades, rightly holding forth the lights of faith. And John’s head was cut off—for he did not, when he was a prophet and knew that he was going to precede his Lord into Hades, send some of his disciples to Him saying, "Are you he who is coming, or do we look for another?" (Matt. XI, 3). And he was not asking because he was ignorant. For how could he be ignorant, when he saw the Lord, saying, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John I, 29)? For he was not ignorant, he who was a spectator of the descent of the Holy Spirit from heaven, and a listener to the Father’s voice, saying of Him, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." But he inquires, in what manner? "Are you he who is coming," or another? He did not say, "Are you he who has come"—for He had indeed come to the earth—but, "Are you he who is coming" (namely, to those in Hades), "or do we look for another?" (Matt. III, 17? [sic]). ^A Was he, perhaps, wishing to send an angel endowed with power and strengthened by Himself to Hades to perform his task? Or is He about to raise everyone with a single voice, as He did in the case of Lazarus? Therefore, since he could not judge the counsel of the Lord, he inquires, saying, "Are you he who is coming, or do we look for another in Hades?" Whom Herod killed. In what manner did he kill? When he was celebrating his birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst. A spectacle indeed worthy of such a table. For where there is effeminacy and luxury and drunkenness and revelry, nothing is firm, but all things are disturbed and overturned, which indicate Herod’s madness. Hear, you who are so fond of the spectacles of dancers, who, adjusting your eyes to the flexible feet of dissolute youths, feminize your own souls along with their broken and softened bodies; hear to what sort of butchery this flexible dancing blossomed. ^B And she, being tutored by her mother, says: "Give me here on a dish the head of John" (Ibid. XIV, 8). O wretched woman, the offspring of an asp of the nations! She asked not for gold, not for silver, not for precious stones, but for the head of John. And if indeed she had asked because of faith, the head of John would be much more precious than any gold, silver, or stones of great value. But she did not ask out of faith, so as to honor him, but so that, with the rebuker killed, she might free her mother from all fear, so that she might defile herself with every crime with impunity. "And the king was saddened" (Ibid. v. 9), when he heard this, not because of the murder of the prophet, but because of the fear of the people, since everyone held him to be a prophet. For if he had been saddened out of reverence and modesty, he would not have sent him bound into prison from the beginning; but he was saddened on account of the people. ^C Herod’s mind was then like a ship intercepted by waves in the sea, and wavering toward either side; he feared to commit the murder on account of the people, and he was not permitted to refrain from committing the murder, both because of the oath and because of those who were reclining at the table together. But the wretch, oppressed and seduced by the ardent force of the love with which he pursued the woman, while also using the sanctity of keeping an oath as a pretext for the murder that was committed, "sent and beheaded John" (Ibid. v. 10). What a ruinous thing it is to swear, now, indeed, remind yourselves, you who swear freely. Hear the Lord saying, "Swear not at all" (Matt. V, 34). For if that unhappy man had not sworn, he could never have been impelled to commit the murder. It was fitting indeed that he should not have sworn at all; but when he had sworn, it would have been useful for him to perjure himself; for in the choice of evils, it was better to admit the lesser. He sent and beheaded him. ^D What right hand dared, most beloved, to cast a sword into the holy neck of John, which in the desert the beasts revered, which lions trembled at, which vipers and snakes and asps loathed, which the wild bees, preparing their cells for the sake of the man’s holiness, fed? For from various flowers and herbs in the desert, as if begging for golden drops of dew, they offered to him the honey they had fashioned. This the hand of the executioner cut off, and did not fear his face which was like the angels’, did not tremble, did not stand in awe of his countenance which was emitting a divine splendor. But blinded, I suppose, by Herod’s drunkenness, the executioner who was sent had a sword indeed, but he had no eyes—for he had drunk wine—and the head of John was brought on a dish at the banquet, and even then, shouting at Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have the wife of your brother!" (Ibid. XIV, 4). Even when the head was cut off, the voice itself lives. O the cruelty of man!

did the slaughter of the young children that took place in Bethlehem before the one preceding Herod not suffice, when the wailing of fathers and mothers in harmony was sharper than the cries of the slaughtered? When drops of copious tears gushing from the bowels overcame the fountains? When the breasts of fathers were beaten, and continuous sobs were sent forth from the heart with labor through the nostrils? When mothers mourned the tender shoots of their own loins withered out of season? When breasts flowing with milk whitened the earth, as the infants who were suckling were suddenly slaughtered? When the arms of fathers became empty of their own children, and the breasts of mothers longed for the irritating nips of tender teeth? For what beast did not then weep, seeing the innocent infants murdered unjustly, possessing guileless souls? Their souls were just as guileless as their limbs happened to be tender, being those of infants. For did those not even rebuke the Herod before you, who possessed neither distinct speech nor teeth in their mouths, so as to shape the tongue and send forth a word through the lips? The cruelty of those was not sufficient. And you, having imitated his heartlessness, beheaded John, of whom you were not worthy of even one hair. That one slaughtered the offspring of Rachel, and you beheaded John, the instructor of the Church. By what of these things shall I be merciful to you, says the Lord. O city of blood, in which Herod reigned, and his descendant of the same name and in the same way, these became leaders of disorder! Woe is me, that those who seem to be the rulers of such people, the Jews, have stoked the murder themselves, have killed Jeremiah, have fixed Naboth, having been taught for Christ-slaying they were driven on, they stoned Isaiah, they murdered Zachariah, they crucified Christ. But leaving behind for them the mourning for these evils, let us run up to the radiance of the sacred mystery in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

MONITION

ON THE FOLLOWING SERMON

ON THE GOSPEL, "THE JEWS GATHERED A COUNCIL, AND WERE SAYING: WHAT ARE WE TO DO?" (John 11:47).

On Holy and Great Tuesday. The dearest children of the Church are like infants suckling at the breast, who draw the food of milk from the maternal teat every day and seek it at all times. We also resemble a mother in poverty, constrained by hunger in the sources of her milk. And just as when one sees a devoted mother devoid of milk, and being made to weep by her own child, putting the nipple to it—not in order to feed the child, but in order to stop the wailing—so we must look upon ourselves as suffering the same things and doing the same. For we, seeing this new gathering of the children of the Church standing around on all sides, and waiting for the rational milk of the word, we let down the nipple of our understanding; not in order to feed them (for we ourselves happen to be inexperienced and poor in the word), but in order to stop the longing and the heat. But come, beloved, let us run to the herald of the sun, that we may see the treacherous ambush being enacted by the Jews against the Lord. For it says, "the Jews gathered a council, and were saying: What are we to do?" These things the evangelist John was just now speaking to us. For even if he does not speak to us now with his mouth, yet with the Spirit he was crying out to the ears of those standing by. "They gathered," he says, "the council, and were saying: What are we to do?" Good is the "gathered," but evil is the "council"—not calling them to love, but to battle; not calling to peace, but inciting to war. They gathered the council, not that they might glorify God, but that they might dishonor Christ. They gathered the council, not that they might build up faith, but that they might cast away the cornerstone. They gathered the council, not that they might fold the strayed sheep, but that, having murdered the Shepherd, they might scatter the flock. They gathered the council, not that they might receive the snow-bright pearl with faith, but that they might darken the bright stone, as they thought, with unbelief. They gathered the council, not that they might gratefully receive the treasure hidden in the field, but that they might ungratefully dissolve the temple of God. They gathered the council, not that they might harvest the honey-dropping clusters of the vine, but that, having stretched the true vine onto the tree of the cross, they might make themselves tendrils of perdition, but make us tendrils of salvation. O council gathered by the devil against Christ; O deliberative body filled with malice; O council, rather of bloodthirsty wolves than of God-bearing men. But what do I say, of untamed wolves? But indeed they are even worse than untamed lions. For the lions in the time of Daniel, having seen no sign, yet having looked upon the man and honored his piety, bridled their own untamable mouths. But the Jews, having been spectators of such and so many signs, were more intensely armed by envy for murder, and were saying: "What are we to do?" O careful search for malice; O sighing and mourning born of envy; O lamentation and beating of the breast born of evils. Not even Rachel weeping for her children so groaned. "What are we to do?" Instead of which the wretches should have rejoiced, instead of which they should have celebrated a public day of gladness, because the dead have come to life, because Life has appeared, because death has been dissolved, because the devil has been put to shame, because the troop of demons has been rendered idle, because humanity has been liberated, because the resurrection of the dead has been proclaimed to all; but now, over such goods they do not rejoice, but they lament, and they plot to consume the cause of so many goods. And what do they say? "What are we to do?" There was nothing else to say than that we should repent and turn, and falling before Him, believe. For what else could they have to say while repenting, than this? "What are we to do," because we have transgressed the commandment of God, because we have not kept the law that was given to us, which says to us, that "The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet from among your brothers, like me; you will listen to Him" in all things, "whatever He commands you." But now they do not say, "What are we to do?" in order to repent, but, "What are we to do?"—how may we kill the righteous one? As the Israelite frenzied.