III. A HORTATORY DISCOURSE OF THE SAME ON TEMPERANCE
A Those who apply themselves to certain disciplines, under the pressing authority of a teacher, exercise diligence; their assiduity is thought to proceed from the fear of the master. But when, in the master’s absence, they maintain the study of good things, this is a love of labor from a pure will. We also are students of the teachings of fasting. However, when the time of fasting is upon us, and we display philosophy, it is as though we are lovers of labor due to pedagogical training; but now, as the fasting intermits a little, those who abstain from excessive satiety possess the praise of a sincere purpose, as philosophers without necessity, and temperate by their own choice, as those who know how to retain those good things which they acquired from their previous labors. For he who proceeds to the immoderate use of foods does not know what he gathered while fasting, he does not know what fruits he stored up; but as if he had nothing deposited within, and as if he had collected no treasure for himself, he gave himself over to immoderate pleasure, and does not put barriers and gates of moderation before his desires. And it is no wonder. For such is every indigent person; he has no care for doors and gates, he fears no plots, he sleeps without anxiety, as one who has nothing that might incite thieves, since nothing can be taken from the needy. But for those who have a wealthy house, there is a guard for the treasures stored up, B and doormen to ward off intruders. We too have become rich through fasting; and the signs of our riches are manifest: pleasures have been brought into servitude; we rule over the belly, which we formerly served; we have acquired an incorporeal life; we are covered by a new house of abstinence, of which we have laid the foundations. That work needs strength and requires labor for it to be stabilized; but drunkenness is not for those who confirm, but for those who dissolve; it is for those who weaken the foundations, not those who strengthen them. No one undermines a foundation that (a wise man) has made firm; no one can secretly open the storehouse of a rich man. But the soul of one who is fasting is the storehouse of an apparent rich man, which needs diligent guarding, lest it be subject to theft; for the soul is stripped as if it were a house. David had a soul-house filled with good things; however, it was plundered by the robbing pleasure: for he left the entrance open, and did not secure it with the gate of sobriety. But what was that neglect of sobriety? Excessive rest of the body: for he says: "And it happened that David arose from his bed after midday, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house" (II Reg. XI, 2); in the evening, and he arose from sleep and walked: sleep, and after sleep, a walk, the softness of one desiring. What was the harm from that? "And he saw a woman washing herself from the opposite side upon her roof: and she was very beautiful. And he sent and lay with her." That he saw is unblamed; for no one would accuse the eyes for seeing things that present themselves: but that way of seeing was worthy of reproach, because it led to sin. For he did not see her form and turn away, but being enticed by her beauty, he fixed his eyes upon the spectacle: and he no longer had pupils (kóras) in his eyes, but prostitutes. So great an evil is the appetite of the eyes, unless you restrain it. The same power is ours regarding food as David’s was regarding the use of his eyes; but the transgression of sin makes that worthy of reproach which was free of blame. What then? Let the body be nurtured with food, indeed; "For the laborer is worthy of his food" (Luc. X, 7): but as we dine, let Paul be present with us, and if he sees us behaving indecorously regarding food, like a physician, he will cry out to the disorderly: "Having food and clothing, let us be content with these" (1 Tim. VI, 3). Food, not delicacies; food, not subversion from drunkenness. Delicacies once incited Israel to idolatrous dancing; for drunkenness had rendered the soul captive: for it says, "The people sat to eat and drink, and rose up to play" (Exod. XXXII, 6). Let us therefore observe what suffices for use; let the body be cared for with food, let us seek the solace of relaxation, let us not be broken by the burden of fullness, let us use moderate food, let us avoid the shame and danger of drunkenness: let us obey Paul who exhorts: "Do not be drunk with wine, in which is debauchery, but be filled with the Holy Spirit" (Ephes. V, 18); to whom be glory forever. Amen.
IV. OF THE SAME, THAT IT IS GRAVE TO CONTEMN THE CLEMENCY OF GOD. BUT IT WAS SPOKEN AFTER THE PARABLE OF THE TEN THOUSAND TALENTS HAD BEEN READ; AND AGAINST THE JEWS, WHEN AN EARTHQUAKE HAD OCCURRED.
The magnificence of our Lord’s clemency, which you have now heard, manifested to sinners, effected a huge remission of the ten thousand talents of sin. But many, often acting against the Lord’s clemency and using His gifts badly, turn the riches of clemency into a treasure of punishment for themselves: since He does not lavish mercy rashly, nor is He moved by an excessive desire for magnificence, but He exhibits the riches of His clemency, but He persuades by the abundance of His gifts. But when He sees that the gifts of His clemency are thrown away in vain, He closes the fountains of good things, He withholds the rains of clemency, weary of granting favors. How many times did He once irrigate the Jewish people with rains of good things, as He saw them empty of the fruit of gratitude, not bearing their ungrateful spirit, He cried out, "You have become a burden to me!" (Isai. I, 14). From my clemency toward you, you have appeared all the more contentious: I have become weary of granting you favors: "You have become a burden to me." Reason corresponds to that limit of patience toward them: for no other way of correcting them remains ***
V. OF THE SAME, ON THE WOMAN WITH AN ISSUE OF BLOOD, FROM THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE (Luc. VIII, 43).
To some, the scope of life has distributed other occupations, attributing to each that which seems useful and fitting; but God has bestowed upon us the single occupation of the Spirit, which becomes manifold through faith, and produces the greatest good works, as it is written: "But the same Spirit, dividing to each as He wills" (1 Cor. XII, 11). For faith alone remains with its possessors; it does not deceive the one who receives it, it does not desert the one who holds it, it does not fear thieves, it has no suspicion of robbers, it needs no seals, it requires no guards. For it has God as its guardian, who through this administers all things to all people readily. Kings desire to have this; but the private citizen possesses it, the primates seek it: but it runs to the humble, and embraces the lowly; it comes to the infirm, and leads those who have been seized by the hand, bestowing healings without price. When therefore you see, O beloved, Christ descending from the mountain, and again ascending the mountain, crossing the marsh, sailing across the sea, occupied in fields, and cities and villages; when the journeys have been accomplished here below, be mindful also of those things which He did above; do not forget the throne of the Cherubim, do not neglect divine things for the sake of human things, do not abandon heaven to oblivion, let it not fall from your memory that the Word was made flesh, as it was His good pleasure. For the Word was made flesh: as flesh He walks, as the Word He withdraws; as flesh He ascends the mountain, as
A His custom is, He suddenly turns the crowd into joy. Behold, even today, encompassed by the crowd, He shines forth the hem of His garment, and with the rain of faith He has flooded nature. For what has the evangelist recently set forth to us, bringing in the manifold gains of faith? "For there was a certain ruler of the synagogue, a minister of the laws of Moses, and an instructor of the people, their name being Jairus. Nature had granted to him one favor: an only-begotten daughter, B towards whom the crowd was necessarily occupied, as is the custom of a parent who loves his children. But, as it seems, he was unaware that he was taking care of her not for succession, but for an untimely burial. For a certain grievous disease had come upon her, rendering her a neighbor to death, and cutting off the father from his pleasant hope regarding her. Yet this suffering did not conquer faith; for Jairus immediately proceeds to the Savior and beseeches Him to reach his house. But the Lord anticipates the one calling Him by His readiness; for, having arisen, He followed him. C But look, O believer, at what kind of righteous violence is innovated by a woman, what kind of wise theft is managed, what kind of harmless plunder is devised by a female, for it is necessary for Him, hastening toward his movement, to complete that journey quickly. A woman, it says, having an issue of blood for twelve years, coming up behind, touched the hem of His garment; for she said within herself, "If I only touch, I shall be saved." For this one, she says, is the physician who has arrived from heaven; He does not command the material of costly medicines, He does not cut with iron, He does not bring on pains; He knows the D things of the female; for He came down from a virgin mother just as He willed; He is not defiled by investigating hidden sufferings; He is the overseer of secret things. I am a woman, and I carry a shameful and hidden suffering; for I have an inexhaustible stream of blood and fountains of impure discharges that do not cease. I am in need, therefore, of a fountain, which is He Himself, so that He may secretly cleanse my unseemly nature; for the law does not admit such a disease. The crowd pushes me away, the wretch, as though I were defiled; but the present Physician, being the Creator of nature, who refashioned [man] from a rib, would not refuse to deliver [me] from decay; for by word alone He commands, and the suffering does not remain; 212 He is perturbed in Spirit, and He exacts the dead from Hades; from a few loaves He fills thousands, He is washed by tears and causes forgiveness to spring forth. But no one dares this unless it be faith alone, having no doubt; having taken this, therefore, as a guide for my soul, I step forward secretly, and in silence I plunder the healing by a touch; and if I remain hidden, the gain is entire, for I know that I shall be saved; but if, not remaining hidden, I should be called into the midst, I would not be condemned for having dared for the sake of healing, nor would I be made to pay back what faith has stolen; for all of her gifts are without repentance, as they belong to God; for He who said to the sea, "Be silent, be muzzled," will also speak to my hidden fountain. Come, therefore, O faith, direct the future, and quickly cut through the wave of the crowds, so that I may moor my fragile skiff of a body into that calm harbor; for a drop of His help is able to tirelessly drown the abyss of blood within me; having thus deliberated these things well, she dares the undareable, and she fears neither time, nor does she reckon poverty, nor does she count the multitude; but having vaulted over all these things through faith, or rather with faith, having secretly touched the robe of the Master, she opportunely plundered the gain of healing, believing that the union with Him was to be a riddance of her suffering; truly a riddance; for she was healed immediately from the scourge. For she had been boxing with the disease for twelve years daily and yearly, she was stealing her life away, being slaughtered at all times, and yet not dying; for the first year, and she began to have sensation of certain pains and toils; it was the second year, and it was disturbing the hidden things of this obscure city; the third year was present, and she was gripped by the swelling of nerves and veins; it was the fourth year, and a fountain of blood was proceeding from her; the fifth year, and physicians were running together from every side, uncovering limbs which it is not lawful for males to see; the sixth year was being completed, and the terrible thing was intensifying; the seventh year, and with so much wealth being emptied, the corruption of blood remained inexhaustible; the eighth year arrived, and those treating her confessed defeat; the ninth year was, and leaving her as completely hopeless, they were departing; the tenth year drew near, and the woman was wholly destitute of substance and health; the eleventh year, and no helper was standing by the pain-stricken one; the twelfth year was being counted, and the Physician of souls was present at the final hour, healing the diseases by touch and word and faith. Meeting Him, and believing in the future, she received what she wanted; but she was trembling, knowing that she had not been hidden. For what says the Savior? "Who is it that touched me? For I perceived power going out from me." He did not say, "Who is it that touched me [female]?" so that the bystanders might not occupy themselves in an ambiguous questioning of a woman; but He said, "Who is it that touched me [male/neuter]," leaving the voice in suspense, so that each one hearing might think that the undertaking was a man's: "Who is it that touched me? For I perceived power going out from me." 213 What are you saying, O Master? Have you come to be plundered? Have you set forth the kingdom for the faithful to steal? And why do you ask what you know, and seek what you do not ignore? If you were not willing to let out the power that went out, you ought to have held it back; but if you were plundered when you so willed, why are you annoyed, giving what faith forces you to give? You granted without being asked, and after giving, you accuse? You healed invisibly, and after the healing you convene a court? Yes, He says; I know who plundered me, I do not ignore who successfully stole; but I desire her to come into the midst, so that she may become a herald of the grace she obtained. For, having been so willingly plundered by her, I have purposed to confirm her gift before all: "Be of good courage, daughter, your faith has saved you." Keep, He says, what you have cleverly stolen; hold, woman, what you have invisibly snatched; possess a genuine possession, which faith has provided for you; for instead of a slave you have been named a daughter, instead of a defiled one [you are] anointed today. Be healthy from your scourge. You see, beloved, how much faith can do, how in a single moment it accomplished miracles; in silence encouraging the trembling one, having prevailed upon the Physician. Thus the Church from the Gentiles, having envied the woman with the issue of blood, and having approached the Master in faith and silence, has un-mouthed the fountain of the defiled legal bloods, and having been called a daughter, she exists as a mother of many, possessing as witness the one who long ago cried out: "For many are the children of the desolate more than of her who has a husband"; I mean the synagogue, whose husband is the law, the ruler of the synagogue, calling the Master today to the raising of the deceased child. But as the hour presses me to be a debtor of the miracle concerning her, I proclaim the Lord, the Giver of wealth, sitting by you as a surety; to whom glory is due unto the ages of ages. Amen.
VI. BY THE SAME, THAT THIS LIFE IS LIKE THE SEA, AND CONCERNING THE PASSAGE, "WHEN JESUS WENT UP WITH HIS DISCIPLES INTO THE BOAT AND FELL ASLEEP" (Luke VIII, 22, 23; Matth. VIII, 23).
Those who sail the sea, whenever they are blown upon by a straight-aiming wind and complete their voyage, becoming joyous of face, they adjust their appearance in imitation of the calm; but whenever the serenity of the calm, continuing, relaxes the sailors, and causes some to fall asleep, and others to entrust the rudders of the vessel to boys, and with the pilot being carefree, and the sailors having unloosed the labor of their art due to the stillness, and suddenly a storm of the roughest kind having splattered, the winds unexpectedly dash out upon the sea, and the sea begins to roar, becoming savage, and the multitude of waves to hinder the ship, and the stretchings of the many-folded ropes hanging about the mast, being lashed by the violent impact of the winds, hiss—then indeed, beloved, a clamorous and wailing noise arises from the passengers, expecting a watery death beside the natural one. And it is possible to see the sailors being tossed by the gale surrounding them from without, but more so by the lamentations from within.