What Is Man

PASCHAL CANON OF ST. JOHN OF DAMASCUS. THE CYCLES OF THE SUN.

239 ^A 580 PASCHAL CANON OF ST. JOHN OF DAMASCUS. THE CYCLES OF THE SUN. ^B The Legal Passover. ^C The Foundations of the Moon.

[Table of Paschal dates follows, covering the 19-year cycles and solar years A through 18]

240 ^D (*) The first of these numbers denotes the first day of Apocreos [Meatfare]; the second, the Paschal [date]; the third, the number of days of the Apostles' fast; and so with the others.

581 PASCHAL CANON OF SAINT JOHN DAMASCENE

[index: entries preserved]

The sixth fragment which I append is an epistle, transcribed from the Baroccian codex no. 10, which they say was written 306 years ago; however, it labors under many errors, which can barely be rectified.

Epistle of the most blessed and most excellent philosopher, the lord John, presbyter of Damascus, sent to a certain person: What is man?

Man is a rational, mortal animal, capable of intellect and learning. It consists of four elements, that is, of blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. And the blood is in the heart, and the spirit is likewise in the heart. Yellow bile is in the liver and the stomach; black bile is in the spleen and the kidneys; finally, phlegm is in the brain and the lower part of the belly. And those who consist of pure blood are always of a cheerful and pleasant countenance, are inclined toward amusements and laughter, and blossom with a comely and radiant complexion. Those who are of yellow bile are sharp-tempered, rash, and bold, prone to anger, and bitter, constantly changing color. Those who are of black bile are sluggish, faint-hearted, of frail health, lazy, and timid. Those, finally, who are phlegmatic are sad, indeed even cold, forgetful and oblivious, given to sleep, and of a pale color. ^A Moreover, in childhood, blood abounds until the fourteenth year. In adolescents, yellow bile abounds until the twenty-eighth year; black bile is more abundant in the prime of life until the forty-second year. Finally, in the elderly, phlegm prevails until the eightieth year. Wherefore children, on account of their blood, are hot and moist; adolescents, because of yellow bile, are hot and dry; those of prime age, because of black bile, are cold and dry; and the elderly, on account of phlegm, are cold and moist.

The temple of the head is the ruler of the body; and insofar as the brain is well-disposed and healthy, all the members of the body enjoy peace. Furthermore, power and sagacity are sent from the liver to the brain, in which is the seat of the soul, and the deep reservoir and abyss of thoughts. The head has five sutures. Indeed, a head is also found which has only one suture, whence it happens that it obtains health and soundness in every part. But the brain has three meninges or membranes, of which the first is the succinctoria; the second presents the appearance of a fence; and the third... There are also three parts of the brain; of which the first is varicosa, the second..., and the third is capable of intelligence. ^C It is, moreover, hot by its own substance. The brain differs from the marrow, in that it is white and void of blood, whereas the marrow is squalid and bloody. The body of the man consists of four elements, since it has within itself blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. Each one of these humors creates its own proper place. The blood holds the right part above the liver; yellow bile, the left part above the spleen; black bile, the loins above the kidneys; and phlegm,, the chest above the...

lung. And the blood is warm, moist, and sweet; yellow bile is warm... ^A

VARIOUS READINGS

583 ADMONITION TO THE ORATION ON THOSE WHO HAVE DIED IN FAITH

The most learned Leo Allatius, in his second dissertation *On the Ecclesiastical Books of the Greeks*, freely declared that the Oration *On those who have died in faith* is not by John of Damascus; he also confirmed the same in his diatribe *On John of Damascus and his Works*, primarily because of the dissonance of style and diction, and also because of the iambics that occur in it, which do not reflect the vein and genius of our author. He was supported in this by our own Combefis, in volume II of his *Auctarium Bibliothecae Patrum Graecorum*, in a final note on the historical oration *On the Restoration of Images*, where he mentions the fables of the salvation of Trajan and Falconilla from the underworld, which he says were a great shield for the Greeks, just as they feigned that Emperor Theophilus had been delivered. Although, he says, the Damascene is older, in whose name the Greek ecclesiastical books have inscribed that oration, the style, when compared to the other dogmatic or ^B *festal* works of the Damascene, would persuade one not lightly that it belongs to another. You may certainly see that it is rhythmic rather than oratorical, and otherwise than speaks the purity of that Chrysaor. But it is no surprise that the Greeks could be imposed upon in this way by the name of the Damascene, since we ourselves were imposed upon in the sermon on the Assumption of St. Mary in the name of Jerome, etc. Such, indeed, is the opinion of that learned man; who nonetheless changed his mind and words when, in the *Bibliotheca Concionatoria*, he published in Latin that oration of which we now speak. For in the Preface he declares that he does not find in it such great defects of diction as Allatius did. But, having diligently examined the matter and weighed the arguments on both sides, I confess that Leo’s opinion, which was Combefis’s first, pleases me more, an opinion which I also defend in a separate and more extended dissertation on the prayers offered for the dead according to the doctrine of the Eastern Church. Here I shall merely say that I recognize the speech of my Damascene nowhere in this sermon. Nor should the titles ^C of the compilation, which I found in the Basel edition and in two Colbert manuscripts, nos. 7 and 2443, create any illusion: the first of which is, *Of John, the humble monk and presbyter of Damascus, on those who [are] in faith*, etc.; the second, *Of John the monk and sinner of Damascus, on those who [are]*, etc. These were certainly familiar enough to our humble Damascene. For they could easily have been transcribed and borrowed by scribes from his other genuine works, to which he had prefixed similar inscriptions. This is proven by the discrepancy of both Colbert manuscripts in reporting that title. The Greeks recite this oration every year in their churches on the Saturday of the *Apokreo*, or Carnival, on which day they make a commemoration of all the faithful departed.

I have been unable to find anywhere the old Latin translation of this oration, which Saint Thomas had consulted. Johannes Oecolampadius prepared another, and dedicated it to Conrad Peutinger in the year 1520, at which time, our Gravius says, he was still campaigning in the camp of the Church and had not yet cast off the Brigittine cowl. Ludovicus Nogarola later composed another. The fourth is by Jacques Billius, which Combefis ^D deemed should be changed here and there, having corrected the Greek diction against several manuscript codices: to whose labor I have not hesitated to add my own hand once again, according to custom.

OF THE BLESSED JOHN, ON THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP IN THE FAITH, AND HOW THEY ARE AIDED BY THE LITURGIES AND ALMSGIVING PERFORMED ON THEIR BEHALF.

^A 584 1. When sweet and exquisite dishes are set out, it often happens that not only the hungry are drawn to eat, but sometimes even those who are already sated are stimulated to do so; just as, with most sweet and fragrant beverages, not only those who are thirsty, but even those who have slaked their thirst are wont to be enticed to drink. Similarly, those who crave wealth, when they have attained the most ample riches, are always driven by covetousness to seek opportunities from every quarter by which they may increase their resources day by day. In the same way, O most excellent members of the Church of God, priests and Fathers, brothers and mothers, and dearest children, it is not a famine of divine utterances, nor any thirst for sacred teachings, nor again a lack of divine knowledge that induces you to sit down at these banquets of discourse which we now set before you; but a desire, truly most abundant in divine graces, which moves us from virtue to virtue, from grace to grace, and from memory to recollection. For often that which has escaped those of mature age, a child has found; and what the wise have overlooked, the unlearned have stumbled upon; and what has been hidden from masters has become obvious to disciples. Although, I am not permitted to use such language toward you; but rather, like those who have gathered a cluster of grapes left after the vintage, or an ear of corn omitted after the reaping of the harvest due to the sheer abundance of produce, or even a few apples after the orchard fruits have been gathered, so shall we, with the help of Christ, who is the true God and who confirms the word through deeds and proofs, entertain those who wish it with these banquet dishes.

^B 2. Therefore, that serpent who writhes and is slaughtered, the enemy who is the author of blood-guilt, tormented in his inmost vitals by all excellent and God-pleasing actions and thoughts, he who is struck down by brotherly love, shattered by faith, put to death by hope, and shaken by mutual compassion—that lawless one, I say, has attacked some with a crude and alien...

[GREEK COLUMN] τριον, καὶ τῶν ἱερῶν θεσμῶν εἰς ἅπαν ἀντίθετον ὡς ὅτι τὰ μετά θάνατον πάντα τὰ θεοφιλῆ ἔργα οὐδὲ τοὺς προλαβόντας ὀνίνησιν. ^A ὁ 'Απέκλεισε γάρ, φησίν, ὁ Θεὸς κατ' αὐτῶν· καὶ, « Κομιεῖται ἕκαστος τὰ διὰ τοῦ σώματος πρὸς ἃ ἔπραξεν, εἴτε ἀγαθόν, εἴτε φαῦλον· » καὶ, ὅτι « Ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ τίς ὁμολογήσεταί σοι; » καὶ πάλιν, « Ὅτι σὺ ἀποδώσεις ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ· » καὶ, « Ὅτι ὃ ἔσπειρεν ἕκαστος, τοῦτο καὶ θερίσει. » Ἀλλ᾽, ὦ σοφοί, εἴπωμεν πρὸς αὐτούς, ἐρευνήσατε καὶ διδάχθητε, ὅτι πολὺς μὲν ὁ φόβος τοῦ τῶν πάντων Δεσπότου Θεοῦ, πολλῷ πλέον ἡ ἀγαθότης· καὶ φοβεραὶ μὲν αἱ ἀπειλαί, ἀνείκαστος δὲ ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπία· καὶ φρικταὶ πάλιν αἱ καταδίκαι, ἄφατον δὲ τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν αὐτοῦ τὸ πέλαγος.

γ΄. ^B Ἴδετε γὰρ τί φησιν ἡ θεία Γραφή· ὡς Ἰούδας ὁ Μακκαβαῖος ἐν τῇ Σιών τῇ πόλει τοῦ Βασιλέως τοῦ μεγάλου, ὁπηνίκα τεθανατωμένον εἶδε τὸν ὑπ' αὐτὸν λαὸν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων ἐχθρῶν, ἐρευνήσας αὐτῶν τοὺς κόλπους καὶ τούτων ἔνδοθεν εὑρὼν εἰδωλεία, ἐξιλασμὸν αὐτίκα ὑπὲρ ἑκάστου τούτων πρὸς τὸν εἰς οἶκτον ἕτοιμον Κύριον προσενήνοχε, πανευσεβῶς ποιήσας καὶ φιλαδέλφως λίαν, ὅθεν καὶ παρὰ τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ, ὡς ἐν πᾶσι, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ τεθαυμάστωται. Οἱ δέ γε μύσται καὶ αὐτόπται τοῦ λόγου, οἱ τὸν τοῦ κόσμου γύρον ζωγρήσαντες μαθηταὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος καὶ θεῖοι ἀπόστολοι, ἐπὶ τῶν φρικτῶν καὶ ἀχράντων καὶ ζωοποιῶν μυστηρίων μνήμην ποιεῖσθαι τῶν πιστῶν κοιμηθέντων ἐθέσπισαν· ^C ὁ καὶ κατέχει βεβαίως καὶ λίαν ἀναντιῤῥήτως ἡ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ Θεοῦ ἀπὸ περάτων μέχρι περάτων ἀποστολικὴ καὶ καθολικὴ Ἐκκλησία, ἐκ τότε μέχρι τοῦ νῦν, καὶ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου λήξεως ἄχρι· οὐκ ἀλογίστως πάντως, οὐδὲ ματαίως, οὐδὲ εἰκῆ καὶ ὡς ἔτυχε τοῦτο θεσπίσαντες. Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἀνόνητον ἡ τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἁπλανὴς θρησκεία παρείληφεν, καὶ εἰς αἰῶνα κατέσχεν ἀπαρασάλευτον, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἐπωφελῆ καὶ θεάρεστα καὶ λίαν ὀνησιφόρα, καὶ σωτηρίας μεγίστης πρόξενα.

δ΄. ^D Ἔφη τοιγαροῦν ὁ πολὺς τὰ θεῖα καὶ βαθὺς Διονύσιος ἐν τῇ περὶ τῶν κεκοιμημένων μυστικῇ θεωρίᾳ οὑτωσὶ λέξας· ἵν᾿ ἐκ τῶν αὐτοῦ θείων τε καὶ σεβαστῶν λόγων πρὸς ἐναργῆ ἀπόδειξιν ἐφαψώμεθα· ὡς « Αἱ τῶν ἁγίων προσευχαί, καὶ κατὰ τὸν τῇδε βίον, μήτιγε μετά θάνατον, εἰς τοὺς ἀξίους ἱερῶν εὐχῶν, ἔγουν εἰς τοὺς πιστοὺς ἐνεργοῦσι. » Τὸ δὲ, μήτιγε, πάντως ἐνταῦθα μηδὲν ἕτερον ἢ τὸ, πόσῳ γε μάλλον, ὑποληπτέον. Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγον· « Οὐ γὰρ ὁ θεῖος ἱεράρχης, ὁ τῆς θεαρχικῆς δικαιώσεως ὑπο-