673 the body, and the soul, and the grace which you have received from the Spirit. Again, he calls the Spirit a gift. But the gift increases through diligence, and is destroyed by negligence. The Apostle says, Do not quench the Spirit. It is not possible to quench the essence of the Spirit, nor the mind which exists according to nature; but since we increase grace through diligence, and quench it through sloth, he says: The gift which you have received, do not quench. He calls the operation of the Spirit "Spirit," which may we all attain in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion, now and always, and for ages of ages. Amen.
WARNING
The beginning of the Indiction, says Savile, or the new year from the month of September, the Greeks were already observing from the times of Constantine, and perhaps the more so because from that same time the year of the Egyptians, or rather the Alexandrians, had begun, which has names in common with the Egyptian year, and an intercalary day.ON THE BEGINNING OF THE INDICTION
Marvelous are the celebrations of the orthodox, radiant are the memorials of the martyrs, unashamed are the feasts of the pious. We do not celebrate time, which is perpetually moving; we do not worship the year, which is the expenditure of human life; we do not venerate a contest which drags us toward destruction; we do not serve the creation; for things that are made are fellow servants; we do not revere matter; for it came into being from nothing; for just as these things had a beginning of generation, so they are subject to an end of destruction. We do not worship the heaven; for it was solidified like smoke; we do not worship the firmament; it was crystallized; we do not worship the light; for it was created by a word; we do not worship the moon; for it was adorned with a form; we do not worship the earth; for it was drawn up from water; we do not worship fire; for the element is material; we do not worship water; for its nature is flowing; we do not serve time; for it does not stand, but departs; we do not worship the day; for it serves by an order. Every thing grows old with time, and time grows old with all things; but God alone is above antiquity; and the day of consummation shows this.
Greeks then and Jews, brothers of lawlessness, spoils of the devil, offspring of sin, nurslings of error, the callousness of impiety, the recruiters of hell, the serpents of ungodliness, the sons of the curse. Let these celebrate impiously, since they think unholily. Let the former honor error, and the latter trample on the Law, and let both be tutored in wicked things; for they have made an exchange. The Jews learned idolatry from the Greeks, and the Greeks learned from the Jews the killing of the prophets; for the Jews in the Law displayed all Greek error.
But are you indignant, O Jew, hearing these things? Consider your deeds, and do not be angry at the censures. For where have you not practiced idolatry, tell me. In the desert you fashioned a calf, you were initiated into trophies for Beelphegor, in the land of Moab you worshipped Thammuz, in Palestine you sacrificed to Dagon, in Phoenicia you served Astarte, in captivity you worshipped Chemosh. The place was wanting, but the pollution was not wanting. For this reason the Master hates your feasts also. For hear the prophet saying, I have hated, I have rejected your feasts, and I will not rejoice in your assemblies. For every feast of the Jews brought about murders. While fasting, you stoned Naboth; while feasting, you sawed Isaiah asunder; while holding a festival, you cast Jeremiah into a pit. You fasted unholily for judgments and fights; while debauched, you handed over the ark in the time of Eli, B you beheaded John. If you celebrate in such a way, it is better for you to mourn.
But we celebrate divine and paradoxical things, the struggles of the martyrs, the victories of those who have been buried, the nets of those who are not seen, the cure of those who have been dissolved; first the miracles of Christ and my God, which He performed as a man for my salvation; then thus the sufferings of His servants; the stone-studded crown of Stephen, the trophies of the glorious Lawrence against death, the shipwreck-less virginity of Anna. O herald of the Triad of the Trinity! O relics of those who have been refined, the medicines! O dust, spring of healings! O house of heaven imitating its beauty!
But also the inanimate element, the sea, cried out to you silently. Having rebuked my fellow servants, I too shall proclaim the Master. The footprint of the Creator does not burden me, the feet of Christ sanctify me. Moses split the sea, but He sanctified it; I swallowed Jonah, but I shudder at Him; I tossed Noah, but I dare not look upon Him who fashioned man with His hands. With His feet He sanctified the sea, He glorified the heaven with His throne, He brightened the earth with the manger, He enlightened Hades through the tomb. I am not ungrateful and inanimate; I recognize as an element He who made me, nor do I say with the Jews, This man is not from God; but I cry out piously, This is my God, and I shall glorify Him. I will show the things of my nature, I will rebuke the minds of the murderers, I will make public the power of Him who walked upon me. These are fellow servants, that One is Master, by whose fear I disturb them. C The Master walked upon the sea without getting wet, while those sailing were troubled; but fear made those in danger cry out, and the lover of mankind exhorted them to be confident saying: Be of good cheer, it is I, do not be afraid. Be of good cheer, possessing the anchor of faith; for the reef of idolatry has not sunk you; be of good cheer, the Jewish tempest has not drowned you; be of good cheer, the heretical surge does not shake you. I am, the Word co-beginningless with the Father, the branch of the unbegotten Principle, the Lamb of the world's sin, the pilot of the shipwreck of cities, the treasure of the orthodox faith, the rewarder of the martyrs' struggles. I am, do not be afraid. For where God is, danger is driven away by the grace of God; to Him be the glory and the dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen.