On the Man Born Blind

ADMONITION ON THE HOMILY CONCERNING THE MAN BORN BLIND.

There is no need for us to dwell long on demonstrating the spuriousness of this homily, since its style of discourse, its vocabulary, and all other things reveal a writer far inferior to Athanasius. And indeed, it is not only by its vocabulary and style that that work is detected as spurious, but because it contains many ineptitudes, unworthy of any intelligent man, to say nothing of Athanasius; such as that fabrication concerning the prophet Samuel, and similar things, which will occur to the reader to note at first glance.

OF OUR HOLY FATHER ATHANASIUS, HOMILY ON THE MAN BORN BLIND.

^A 1. The sweet, genuine, and desirable affection of parents is held in the highest esteem by all men, and is more precious than any gold. There is no possession in this present life that can be equated with parents. Gold often perishes, but the love of parents is not extinguished. Silver often gathers rust, but the affection of those who have begotten us for their offspring does not diminish. Pearls are often ruined, but the tears of parents stand before the Lord. Wherefore, the divine Scripture, recognizing how great an honor is owed to parents, warns children, crying out: "He who curses father or mother, let him die the death." ^B But perhaps someone might say: "If this sweet affection toward parents is to be cultivated with such great care, what is the reason that David, accusing his parents, said, 'My father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord has taken me up'?" What do you say to this, O friend, regarding the present matter? The sweet affection toward parents ought to be more precious than any creature, yet it is not to be compared to God, the Creator of all; for no creature can be compared to the Creator. If David had said, "My father and my mother have forsaken me," and then added "so-and-so, my neighbor, or kinsman, or friend, took me in," he would have affirmed this as if in opposition. But if he proclaimed God as more merciful than parents, he did not do an injury to his parents, and he gave glory to God.

2. And for what reason did David use those words, saying: "My father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord has taken me up"? You all know clearly, as students of the Scriptures, how the God of all, wishing to depose Saul, as a wicked man, from the kingdom, ^C and to establish David, as a friend, in the kingdom, sends his own servant Samuel to the house...

of the parents of David, carrying the horn of ordination, and the Lord said to Samuel: ^A “Go to the house of Jesse, and anoint for me one of his sons as king.” Samuel, however, sent to this ministry, answered the Lord: “Whom shall I ordain? Tell me the name, Master, so that I may proceed to what seems good to you with greater diligence.” The Lord said to Samuel: “I do not want you to know the one to be ordained, so that you might not be accused as a respecter of persons. You have the horn of ordination; in whomever the horn shall incline and the oil shall flow, ordain him as king for me. Holding the horn, which will commit no respect of persons, do not be distressed at all.” Having heard these things, Samuel, as if receiving knowledge from God, immediately and with- ^B out hesitation ran to the house of Jesse, whom he addressed thus: “The Lord has sent me to ordain one of your sons as king.” Jesse and his wife immediately brought forward their firstborn son, as one wearing the blessing of the firstborn, and keeping the proper order among his children. But Samuel, immediately raising his hand and preparing himself for ordination, and inclining the horn, dismissed the first one without ordination, as the oil, by the nod of God, would not flow. When he had brought all his sons to him except David, they all departed empty and unordered.

3. When they had returned empty-handed, Jesse approached Samuel with these words: “What have you done, O man? You have hallucinated, and you do not understand that you have hallucinated. Either you are deceived, or you have hurried here to mock me. You wandered in at the entrance: you were sent elsewhere, and here you have displayed the horn; you have filled us with vain joy, bragged, and not fulfilled the promise.” But Samuel said to Jesse: “Why do you strike me with wonder, ^C old man? You pass judgment on the One who sent me. Is it possible for a prophet ever to be led astray? If I had come here by my own counsel, you would rightly doubt. But if the searcher of hearts sent me, why do you refuse?” Jesse said to Samuel: “In whom then shall I nod? I have brought you all the flower of my children, and nowhere does the sign of your promise appear. Do you not rather ignore the One who sent you? Were you not sent elsewhere? Or did you hurry here to ordain me, the old man?” But Samuel said to Jesse: “Why do you strike me with wonder, old man? Do you not have another son? If you do not have one, I have hallucinated; but if you have one, I have not erred at all.” Jesse replies to Samuel: “Another son indeed remains for me; but he is small, despicable, and not fit for the kingdom, and I am ashamed even to bring him forth.” But Samuel said to him: “Do you dictate to the Creator? Are you ashamed to bring him forth? For why? Does God anoint a great mass of flesh? ^D Bring him here, therefore;

let the oil flow forth; it will surely incline, as I well know, the horn. Let your house rejoice. For what? Because he is small, is he unfit for the kingdom? Wait a little while, and you shall see how this little one will cast down the giant tower—Goliath, I mean. David, therefore, considering this reproach of his parents ^A and recording in Holy Scripture the wondrous kindness of the Lord, cried out: “My father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord has taken me up.”

4. Therefore, this same thanksgiving, full of action, the man blind from birth will also opportunely utter, having received his sight, calling out with a loud voice: “My father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord has taken me up.” You all know clearly how he too was rejected by his parents, yet was not forsaken by God. But that we may pay our debt and refresh ourselves a little, so that we may again be entrusted with debts, come, let us opportunely turn to the man blind from birth. You heard, beloved, the evangelist John crying out on the previous day: “And passing by,” he says, “Jesus saw a man blind from birth sitting; and his disciples asked him, saying: ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?’ And the Lord said to them: ‘Neither this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God might be manifested in him.’ Having said these things, the Lord spat on the ground and made clay with the spittle and smeared it upon the eyes of the blind man. And he sent him to Siloam; and having departed, he washed; and having washed, he saw; and having seen, he believed in the one who sent him.” Hear this with understanding. The disciples asked the Lord, saying: “Master, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?” Just was the question of the apostles; hence it is shown that they approached the Lord Jesus as God. For who knows the secrets of men, except the investigator of hearts? Therefore, the Lord did not refuse the question, but immediately made his answer, ^C at the same time satisfying the questioning of the apostles and confirming the faith of his own divinity. For the answering Jesus said: “Neither this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God might be manifested in him”; that is to say, this blindness of his is not a stumbling-block of sins, but a defect of nature. For just as a plant, before it sprouts from the earth, often receives injury in the root from a change in the air, so also this man, blind from birth, received this impairment in the womb; either because the maternal womb was not properly formed, or because the paternal seed was emitted in a corrupted state. He, however, who can correct an erring nature will surely be found to be none other than the Creator of natures. Therefore, the Lord pronounced: “Neither this man sinned, ne

nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” And having said these things, ^A he immediately through the work demonstrates that he is the Creator of natures, and that he spoke of himself: “That the works of God should be made manifest in him,” that is, that it should be made known through him that I am not a simple man, but a mighty God. For the Lord could have healed the blind man with a word alone—He who by his word established the heavens, according to that divine saying: “By the word of the Lord were the heavens established.” He could, therefore, have healed this man who was blind from birth by a word. He does not do this, however, but smears clay upon his eyes, so that he might make it manifest to all that he is the same one who fashioned Adam, and is restoring like with like. He does not innovate the order of the cure, lest he dissipate the miracle; he smears clay upon clay, and restores like with like. ^B One might say, therefore, that for this reason the Lord smeared the eyes of the blind man with clay, so that he might make it manifest to all that it is he himself who formed Adam from the clay.

5. What, moreover, is the reason that he sent him to Siloam? Did he also send Adam to Siloam? Listen attentively. When the Lord was forming Adam from the clay, there was no one present among the Jews to contradict; since, therefore, there was no one to contradict, he completed this rational statue with less ceremony. But now, since many are contradicting, he uses a long detour, so that he might assert his power; so that he might drag even unwilling gainsayers to the acknowledgment of the miracle. For this reason he sent him, anointed with clay, to Siloam to wash himself—not that the Lord of Siloam had need of Siloam, but so that as the blind man ran, those who could see might follow, and he who did not see might become the guide of those who saw, and they who had run up might be witnesses of the miracle. For when the Lord did this, and sent the man to Siloam, ^C huge crowds ran up, bearing witness to the miracle. But the Pharisees were still whispering, curiously investigating the matter, and shouting that this miracle was a fantasy. What were they going to do, had he not designated the miracle with a longer circuit? But if, again, you wish to accept Siloam as a figure of the baptismal pool, you would not at all be wrong, since in it all are washed of the darkness of ignorance, and receive the light of pious religion.

6. And that after such a delay of the miracle most of the Jews contradicted the miracle, you heard from the words of the evangelist: “The neighbors, therefore, and those who had seen him before, because he was a beggar, said: ‘Is not this he who used to sit and beg, who was blind from birth?’ Others said: ‘This is he.’ Others, however, said: ‘He is not, but he is like him.’ But he who had received his sight said: ‘I am he whom you mean.’” ^D

^A Do you see that blindness is the provider of sight? The blind man recovered his sight, and those who saw were blinded by malice. For malice itself is always blind. Therefore, the children of the Judeans, driven by malice, dinned into the ears of the man born blind, saying to him: "Tell us, O man, why do you boast to us of that carpenter’s son, and why do you wish to proclaim him as God? You are not the man who was blind from birth; we know him, and we have often provided him with his necessities ourselves. Why then do you babble and say that ‘He opened my eyes’? If you are in need of money, and if you are lying on that account, take as much as you wish; only do not depart from the truth." Thus, they were doing everything in their power to dispel the miracle. But he who had regained his sight replied to the contradicting Judeans: "Why do you slander me? Why are you resolved to blind the vision of my soul? I have recovered my sight, I am not blind. In vain do you sprinkle the dust of blasphemy upon me. A different one has acted with philanthropy, and you contradict it. You do not worship, but you revile with insults. You rightly call him the carpenter’s son, for he has changed the windows of my eyes. ^B Grant me a little indulgence, if I do not converse with you until a short while later. Permit me first to contemplate the beauty of the sky, the orb of the sun, the brightness of the moon, the limit of the day, the measure of the night, the dance of the stars, the running of the clouds, the levelness of the earth, the breadth of the sea, the passage of ships leaving no trace, the surrounding valleys, the rounded mountains, the streams of the rivers, the gushing of springs, the drawing up of wells, the capering of livestock, the varieties of wild beasts, the branching wings of birds, the peculiarities of fish, the height of the trees, and the sweetness of the fruits. Permit me first to behold these things and things like them, and then I will converse with you on how I recovered my sight. I was born long ago, but as far as sight is concerned, I have only just now entered the world. I have heard the prophet crying out: *‘From the greatness and beauty of created things, their Creator is analogously perceived.’* ^C I, from the created things, and you, from my eyes, should analogously contemplate the Creator. Why do you promise me a wealth of money? I do not sell this gift; I do not traffic in the recovery of my eyes. It is better to beg with a grateful heart than to grow rich through wickedness. I will no longer beg; for I have found the one who would kindle the lamp of my body for labor. Therefore, I will no longer beg, but I will farm; I no longer ask for grace, but demand a wage; I no longer feel along the ground with a staff, but I prune the vine with a sickle; I no longer collect silver coins, but I harvest sheaves; I no longer tighten my pouch, but I pull a cart; I no longer receive crumbs of bread, but I carry back grain; I no longer cry out with groans: ^D ‘Give to him who does not possess the light,’ but with a great voice...

I cry out: ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?’ ^A

7. Upon hearing these things, the Jews who were contradicting him, when they saw that he was not only healed but also defending the miracle, approached him again, asking: “How did you receive your sight? What did that man do to you, that you so firmly assert the matter?” Then he who had received his sight said to those darkened ones: “How did I receive my sight? Do you say it was by God, how did that happen following the order of nature? If you ask how, I in turn will ask you: How did he change water into wine? Did he show the order of nature or a miracle? How did he call Lazarus from the tomb, by natural or divine means? How did he free the leper from his malady, by some circuitous method or by his will? How did he rescue the woman laboring under a flow of blood, who had suffered as if in a shipwreck from that flood of blood—did he do so by inquiring into the cause of the disease, or by perceiving her faith?”

But the contradicting Jews, when they saw him persisting, having taken hold of him more harshly, dragged him by force to the Pharisaic tribunal, saying to him: “Now we will arrange for your flesh to be torn, so that you might perform the duty of a servant, not of a teacher. You do not stay silent, ^B but you preach, and you want to proclaim that son of Joseph to be God? Did you receive your sight by some chance, and do you babble to us that you were blind from birth, and do you lead us to that son of the carpenter? Do you not stay silent, but cry out with a great voice?”

He who had received his sight replied to those who were contradicting him: “If you do not want me to cry out, why do you ask me so frequently? You are bringing shame upon yourselves and fastening the crime upon me. If, as you say, I received my sight by some chance, why did you summon my parents? You are causing a disturbance in vain; you cannot obscure the miracle. For even if I should be silent, my eyes cry out. A certain man named Jesus—whose very name is healing—smeared clay upon my eyes and said to me: ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.’ And I went away and washed; having washed, I put off the clay, but I received my sight.”

8. Upon hearing these things, the Pharisaic judges, with an infinite crowd gathering—for it was the Sabbath when Jesus performed this miracle—asked him the same things the Jews had asked, saying: “Do you know, O man, where you are standing, and that this present tribunal is implacable, and that deceit can never remain hidden here? Tell us with all accuracy: How did you receive your ^C sight? What did that man whom you speak of do to you?”

But he, having looked up at the Pharisaic tribunal, replied: “Do you again inquire carefully how I received my sight? Again you cross-examine me like a criminal, saying to me: ‘How did you receive your sight?’ If I tell you, you will again cause a tumult. I will tell you how I received my sight. I will tell of the occasion of the healing, but I cannot tell of the power to perform miracles; for who has known the mind

^A of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Or who has first given to him, that it might be recompensed to him again?» If you wish to learn the sequence of the cure, it is what I have just said: «He made clay and anointed my eyes, and he said to me: Go to the pool of Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and I immediately received sight,» not by the power of the water, but by the miracle of the spittle. When the Pharisaic judges heard these things, as they saw him still persisting in his claims, they cast him aside and called the parents of him who had received his sight, and they inquired of them, saying: «Tell us, is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?» But the parents of him who had received his sight, answering those who questioned them, used the words of the blessed Susanna: «Distress is upon us on every side. ^B If we say that he is our son, we shall not escape your hands; for you have already threatened this. But if we say that he is not our son, we shall suffer eternal punishment; for this is reserved for those who hide the truth.» Therefore, preferring the eternal punishment, we will answer only so much as is sufficient to escape the present punishment: «We know, O princes, that this is our son, and that he was born blind we do not ignore; but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. He is of age, ask him, he will speak for himself.»

9. The Pharisees, having heard this, were very vexed; for it brought them no small shame that it was confessed at all that he was their son and that he was born blind. As soon, therefore, as the Pharisaic ^C judges saw the parents of the blind man persisting and saying, «This is our son, and he was born blind,» being stung by this, because the truth was being confessed, they sent some of their impostor clients to the parents of the blind man, who whispered into their ears and said in secret: «Deny your child, and do not confess that he was born blind, so that the princes may be your friends, and you may be deemed worthy of many gifts.» But the parents of him who had received his sight, as parents, answered with tears those who were counseling them in vain: «What are you saying, O men? Why are you dragging us away? Shall we deny our own child? You want us to be crueler than wild beasts. A dragon embraces its own offspring, and shall we deny our own child? He was never disobedient to his parents; but even when blind he supported us, ^D and now that he has received his sight, he will support our old age all the more. Let it be enough for you, therefore; be it that we do not wish, for your sake, to proclaim the one who healed our child, nor to speak with boldness who this person is.» Yet it is indeed possible for one to say: And how is it evident to us that, because of the fear of the Pharisees, the parents of him who had received his sight did not dare to proclaim the Lord Christ publicly? Whence is this known?

^A The evangelist John himself recalled it with these words: "These things his parents said, because they feared the Jews. For the Jews had already conspired that, if anyone should confess him to be Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue." Do you see the Pharisaic malice? When it was their duty to confess the Lord, to fall down before him, to worship the Creator, and to seek also the release from their infirmities, they not only did not confess him, but they even scourged those who did. Wherefore the Lord, condemning them, said: "Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you take away the key of the kingdom of heaven; and neither do you enter, nor do you allow those who want to enter to go in."

10. What then, you Pharisaic judges? Since you saw that the parents of him who had received his sight were not answering according to their own judgment, you rejected them through another door and summoned again the son who had received his sight—for the son was not present when the Pharisees were interrogating his parents. With specious words they again interrogate the man who had received his sight, saying: "At least now confess the truth, and make it clear to all, that you are not the man who was blind from birth. For you were present before and said you were of those parents, and behold, we have heard from them that you are not their son, nor did they have a son blind from birth. How then do you persist in saying that 'A certain man called Jesus anointed my eyes with clay, and I washed, and I see'?" Hearing these things, he who had received his sight, having perceived their malice, answered them, saying: "I am amazed if you speak the truth in saying these things. Could parents have disowned their own child, ^C especially a mother her male child, or a father one who had given him no offense? Much of that seems incredible, and it is unacceptable to my ears. But if this did happen, it is no wonder; it is a property of human nature, and for this reason they will be found worthy of pardon, as they did it out of fear. You, the scribes, deny God, and yet you behave as if you admitted no evil. What you yourselves admit against God, do you accuse my parents of having done against me? Did not the Lord, long ago, cry out against you through the prophet Isaiah, saying: 'I have raised children and exalted them, but they have rejected me'? Even if denial may be familiar to you, I, however, cannot endure to do this. I confess him who healed me; I acknowledge my parents. Even if my parents have abandoned me, I do not waver. I know, I clearly know David crying out: 'My father and my mother have abandoned me, but the Lord has taken me in.'" ^D The Pharisees, exasperated, said to him: "What are you saying, you most vain man? Do you compare yourself to David? And do you confess to be Lord the son of the carpenter, who has not where he may lay his head? Let it be granted that you have received your sight: praise God. Why do you give thanks to him? It is not

^A of God; if he were of God, he would not break the Sabbath. Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner. 11. But he who had received his sight, hearing the Lord being called a sinner, stirring in his soul and stopping his ears, responds to the Pharisees, saying: "What are you saying? Is he a sinner, he who is the giver of light to my eyes? Why do you mix honey with bitterness? At the same time you bid me to glorify and to blaspheme. To glorify God is good, but to call him a sinner is an undertaking of a darkened mind. If he is a sinner, show me the manifestation of sin in him, and I will be persuaded by your teaching; or do you show me the manifestation of sin in him, or I shall provide sureties that divine miracle-working exists in him. I leave aside my own case, and from now on I make my inquiry from others: Is he a sinner, as you say? Is this not he who raised the son of the widow, who was being carried out dead, by a word? Was that the work of a sinful man, or of the Word of God? Did he not, by a word, cleansing the panther-like skin, mottled by the disease, of the ten lepers at once, change it into the ^B uniform appearance of a human being? Was that the work of a sinful man, or of the Word of God? Did he not deliver the man who was troubled by a legion of demons, who could neither be held nor remain in a house, but dwelt in the tombs, in a kingly manner from the tyranny? Was that the work of a sinful man, or of the Word of God? Do you want me to be more irrational than the demons? For the demons, even when being scourged by him, call him the Son of God; and shall I, who have been healed by him, address him as a sinner? Is he working as God, and is he proclaimed as a sinner? 'If he is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see.' This is the work of God, and not of a sinner."

12. Hearing these things, the Pharisees, when they saw themselves filled with much shame, answered the man who had received his sight, saying: "It was necessary for you, as a condemned criminal, to be scourged and punished according to the laws; but lest we be accused by foolish men as being envious, we indulge this disposition of yours: therefore answer the inquiry: what did that man do to you? How did you receive your sight? Tell us, what has happened to you?" But he, having received his sight, having taken courage—for he was progressing in faith—replied, saying: "Again you ask me, how I received my sight? You act ^D against yourselves, and you know not. As much as you want to extinguish the miracle, so much the more does it shine forth. Again you ask me, how I received my sight; I have already told you three times, and you did not believe me. 'Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?' Is this the reason that you inquire into the sequence of the event with such precision? If you wish this, then come to him without hesitation, and be enlightened: recognize him without any doubt.

^A He does not turn away the one who comes to him in faith. When the Pharisees heard these things, they reviled the one who had received his sight, saying to him: "You are his disciple; but we are Moses' disciples. We know that God has spoken to Moses; but as for this fellow, we do not know where he is from. You are his disciple." But he, having received his sight, smiled and answered, saying: "Am I his disciple? You have done me a fine insult! O glorious reproach! You have bestowed great glory upon me, and you do not realize it. Are you disciples of Moses? And what work of power have you demonstrated? You indeed are disciples of Moses, but the apostles are disciples of my physician. Show, you who are Moses' disciples, anything against the disciples of my physician! If you possess any power—I do not say raise the dead—awaken those who are sleeping, as the apostles did with the deceased. ^B If you are able to be equal to the apostles—I do not say walk upon the waters—walk upon the earth, as Peter did upon the sea. If you have any virtue, contend with the apostles—I do not say drive away spirits—drive away birds, as the apostles did the demons. Tell me: are you disciples of Moses? If you were disciples of Moses, you would believe Moses, who says concerning him: 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from among your brothers, like me; him you shall hear in all things, whatever he says to you. And it shall be that every soul that will not hear that prophet shall be exterminated.' Beware lest you be exterminated and scattered among all the nations, as those who do not recognize the power of the one who was prophesied. Do you not know who the healer of my eyes is? You do not know, because you are seeking to kill him. Yet you know both who he is and where he is from. For when you were asked by Herod where Christ should be born, you immediately declared both the place and the manner, saying that he would be born in Bethlehem. When he is sought for slaughter, you know; but when he is shown performing miracles, you do not know.

13. Perhaps there is someone who might rejoin: Whence do we know that the blind man who received his sight could contend so skillfully with the Pharisaic judges? What are you saying, ^C my friend? Iron brought near to fire is completely ignited, and when sharpened, it cuts most keenly; and could not this man, having been touched by the Lord’s hands and anointed with the divine spittle, argue against the lawless rhetoricians without any apparatus of syllogisms? Does not the divine Scripture say of him and those like him: "The Lord makes the wise blind"? It is fitting to call this man who received his sight in a wondrous way, who believed in the Lord with sincerity, and who strongly withstood the Jews, a rational, obedient, and milk-abundant sheep. For he recognized Christ, the Chief Shepherd, ^D and leaped away from the Pharisaic wolves; he entered through the door of the cross into the ecclesiastical fold. You heard just now the Lord saying: "Amen, amen, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold,

but climbs up another way, the same is a thief and a robber." ^A The Lord called himself the door; for, lest some, hearing the word "door," might think he was speaking simply of a common door, he adds an interpretation to confirm his teaching: for he immediately added, saying: "Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. By me if any man enters in and goes out, he shall find pasture." The Lord fittingly called himself the door, as one who guards those who are within the faith, who drives away those who peer in from the outside, and who leads them into the company of the householder, the Father. For no one knows the Father except through the Son, according to his own words: "No one knows the Father except the Son, and he to whom it shall please the Son to reveal him." "I am the door of the sheep." The Lord fittingly called himself the door, and not doors; for there is one Father, and one Son, and one Holy Spirit, and not three gods; but one door of knowledge. And who is witness to this? Paul, who cries out: "One Lord, one faith, one baptism." Nowhere two, nor three, nor four, nor five, but everywhere "one," because there is one door, one Lord, an indivisible substance; one faith, ^B a doxology that admits no degrees, one baptism, and undefiled illumination. He who is instructed in this knowledge enters through the door, and is encompassed by the door—that is, by Christ—and is not separated from the door.

14. The Lord just now called them "his own" sheep, calling them "his own" sheep as those who are rich in love for the poor; as those who overflow with the milk of the nourishing word; as those who are made green by the Lord's body; as those who obey the staff of the cross; as those gathered by the threefold chain of faith; as those who do not desert their post, but lean upon Christ, the cornerstone. The Lord called himself the door; and fittingly a door, for it has two jambs, the Old and the New Testament; a threshold and a lintel, circumcision and uncircumcision; a house, the Church; a table, the altar; bread, the Lamb; a cup, ^C the mystical wine; gold, the unadulterated faith; silver, the radiant manner of life; pearls, the divine doctrines; a robe, the garment of baptism. You heard him just now speaking: "I am the good Shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep." The Lord was shadowing forth himself; for he was proclaiming beforehand what he was about to do. For no one has undergone death for the sheep, except the Lord alone. He alone underwent death for the rational sheep, not reluctantly but of his own accord; a death not harmful but highly profitable; a death not capable of corruption, but the reconciler of incorruption; a death by faith intel- ^D

bringer of death, to be understood by faith, not to be over-examined; a death that did not come according to the custom of death, but which is found to be the death of death itself. For if the Lord had not accepted a voluntary death, the devil would never have undergone death. Therefore, Paul cries out, saying: "Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" But here, sealing our discourse, let us give thanks to God, to whom is the glory and the power unto the ages of ages. Amen. ^A

ADMONITION REGARDING THE TWO FOLLOWING HOMILIES

OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS, ATHANASIUS

OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS, ATHANASIUS

1. God, bestowing upon us repeated benefits and pouring His grace into us, at the same time stirs our souls with His doctrine. For to those who are burdened by the evils of this age and distracted by its business, God has imprinted this age upon the heart, so that, in knowing this, men might know that they do not abide through the ages, but merely imagine this present age. Therefore, in order that they might also provide for the future age, He has bestowed upon us an innate instruction through free will. All men, therefore, wise and foolish, rulers and private citizens, rich and poor, know that death will overtake all. For this is what it means to imagine this age; this is what it means for each one to keep his own end before his eyes. But many, even knowing that death will overtake them, think that after this age they will be as if they had never existed; such were they who said: "Short and sorrowful is our life, and there is no return of our end. Come therefore, they say, and let us enjoy the good things that are present;"