and the poor. See how he gives instruction regarding Christ, how he teaches everything, wishing to rekindle the injustice happening at their hands. A For, he says, judge for the orphan and the poor; justify the humble and the needy. But perhaps one of the listeners will say, and we must show the solution to the problem, that the Lord has heard "orphan." For it is easy to learn the meaning of "poor" from the words of the Apostle: "Who, though he was rich, for our sake became poor." But who would be an orphan, if not one who has neither father nor mother? Hear the Apostle saying regarding Christ: "Without father, without mother, without genealogy." B He is without father on earth according to his humanity, and without mother in the heavens according to his divinity. Judge for the orphan and the poor—for him who became poor for our sake. For he became all things to all men, more than the Apostle, that he might save all. Justify the humble and the needy. "Learn from me, for I am meek and humble in heart." But what does he say? "They have not known, nor have they understood; they walk in darkness." They have not known God the Word, who became flesh for our sake; for the Word became flesh, not through change, C but in the way that he dwelt among us. They did not recognize the eternal form of the divinity in the image of the servant; they did not know—for if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But neither have they understood; for they did not understand the power of his miracles, of which he had images as symbols; they did not understand the treasure hidden in the field—that is, the divinity hidden in the flesh, and dwelling in the heavens with the Father; they did not understand the things that took place regarding Lazarus; D they did not understand the stone rolled away from the tomb, because he said that he was lifting away the senseless heart of men; they did not understand the tomb itself, and Lazarus lying inside for four days, of what it was a type—that the tomb was containing within the image of a body the mind that had died and been put to death. For indeed our body was a tomb before the coming of Christ, as he says in the Gospel: "Whitewashed tombs." Indeed we were tombs filled with dead sins, having within the mind put to death by pleasures, the four-day-old and already-stinking mind—the mind composed of the four general virtues: prudence, justice, courage, temperance. A Similarly, the body is composed of four elements: hot, cold, moist, and dry. They have not known, nor have they understood; for those who have not received Christ, the light, walk in darkness. "And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." "Let all the foundations of the earth be shaken"—not of the trodden earth, but of that concerning which he says: "For you are earth, and to earth you shall return." For the foundation of the body is the soul; once it departs, as if the foundation had given way, the house of our tabernacle falls. B "Let all the foundations of the earth be shaken," that is, let souls be moved and transferred from idolatry to the knowledge of God. Then, "Arise, O God," he says, "judge the earth." Arise, you who were crucified; arise, you who bound our sins upon your own head in the image of thorns. Arise, O God, judge the earth. He said "the earth," not "the heaven." Do not fear, beloved. If you have been reborn of water and Spirit, you are heaven; "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ." As is the earthly one, such are the earthly ones; and as is the heavenly one, such are the heavenly ones. C "Arise, O God, judge the earth," for you shall receive as your inheritance all the nations. You are Christ, to whom the Father has given authority over all, authority to judge all. For indeed, "The Father judges no one; for all judgment he has given to the Son, that all may honor the Son, as they honor the Father." You shall receive as your inheritance all the nations. For to you the Father said: "Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession." To God therefore let us give glory in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
On Repentance
Wishing to adorn the heads of those who love to hear with a crown woven of gold-colored flowers, we pluck from the unwithering meadows of Christ flowers of surpassing beauty, and we invite the angels who are commanded to toil with us by the divine Spirit. D For worthy is the people of God, or rather his temple, to be adorned with such a crown, as many as have kept the temple of God unstained and undefiled, having illuminated the souls that were in darkness with purple lips and the bright pearl, and having flashed upon them the light of piety. Extend to them hands of love, and raise them as though from the depth of ignorance to the wondrous light of hope. And as many of you as, through lack of vigilance, have corrupted the temple of God with self-indulgent passions, do not despair of yourselves unto the end, but through repentance renew it again. For just as a prudent man, having diligently restored his house that had been ruined and corrupted through negligence, rebuilds it, so that nothing is lacking in the house that was built from the beginning; A in like manner, the mind which is the dweller in our soul renews through repentance the soul that has slipped and fallen because of sins. For repentance raises up the fallen soul, and makes the one who had become alienated from God his friend again; repentance drives away the darkness that has beset the soul and casts out death; repentance raises up the cursed soul, sets straight the one who is limping, heals the crushed, and makes healthy the wounded. Let us run to repentance, the sponsor of the kingdom, the eraser of sins, the mother of salvation. Repentance is the driving out of the devil, the tripping up of demons. B Repentance, for whose sake Jonah the prophet fled from the face of God, having overturned the death-dealing decree determined by God, and having shown the herald of death to be a liar; for you, by intercepting the counsel of God against the decree regarding the Ninevites, did indeed hinder it, and showered upon the Ninevites the springs of life in abundance. Repentance, falling before God with tears, granted to Hezekiah the king life in exchange for death. Repentance, running from earth to heaven, and surpassing the angelic powers, and approaching the divine throne of the Lord of Spirits, and becoming a companion in conversation with God, C and as if from its own treasures receiving life from the treasures of God, and bestowing it with confidence upon those who hold you. Repentance, the physician of the passions, who softens threats, and quenches the fire of anger, and calms the passions, and provides unquenchable lamps of friendship. O repentance, born in the heart of man, and immediately dwelling in the heavens! Finding you, the blessed David escaped the punishment of eternal torment for his two sins, I mean murder and adultery. Repentance, dissolving the bonds of sins, and saving those who have secured their souls. D Repentance, sending up from the midst of the heart a sigh, makes God look with favor; repentance, watering the eyes with hot tears, illuminates the stained souls with baptism. O repentance, the medicine bestowed upon mortal man that provides immortality! The soul that possesses you says: "I am black, but beautiful; black because of the gloomy mourning of sin, beautiful because of the good light from repentance." O repentance, the advocate of Peter, and the defender and co-avenger of Paul! If the Christ-killing Pharisee finds you, he becomes a Christ-bearing Galilean. Repentance, working like a mine upon the torn soul, immediately transforms the thorn-bearing heart. Some say that when the eagle has grown old, having ascended to a lofty height and let itself down into a most clear spring, it is renewed. Such is repentance; for, having raised the heart that possesses it to a lofty height, it wipes away the oldness of sins in the spring of tears, and clothes it in the newness of the Spirit. A For this reason, the Spirit also says to the soul that is in repentance: "Your youth shall be renewed like the eagle's." Knowing that this is more effective than all the virtues, the great physician of our souls provides counsel, saying: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Approach
767 SPURIA. …and remember me in your mercy for the sake of your goodness, O Lord (Ps. 25:7). Consider this life as being like a shadow passing by. Where are the perceived pleasures of past times? Where is the vain anxiety? Where are the afflictions? Where are the praises? Were these not cast away like a small cloud snatched by a gale? Let us look not only at the present life, but also to the future. Remember, he says, your last things, and you shall never sin (Ecclus. 7:40). Look to the day and hour of your departure, what kind of person you would wish to be while lying in bed and infirm, when no one will be able to help you: consider the friends, neighbors, kinsmen, brothers, and domestics standing around you; all of them lamenting unanimously, weeping without any consolation, mourning because of you; and likewise your children standing here and there, and as usual wanting the voice of their father, wailing, and not hearing you; your wife also grieving, and she will be there wishing for death because of you and before you; you will see terrible angels, who will demand the pledge of your soul. If indeed the soul has done deeds worthy of honor, it will be accompanied by angels; but if it has been unmerciful toward fellow poor people, it will be condemned without mercy: For judgment is without mercy to one who has not shown mercy (Jas. 2:13). Enter into the storehouse of your soul; be a spectator of your own works; compare the evil with the good, and if you see the evil prevailing, overwhelm it with good works, inasmuch as you are going to see your sins standing against you. Look upon that sleepless worm, that dark chaos, B 768 that inextinguishable and terrible fire, which is not extinguished by water, but is overcome by repentance. O repentance, that extinguishes the inextinguishable and eternal fire! That destroys the sleepless worm, that overwhelms and illuminates the dark chaos! O repentance, the firmest wall of the soul, the towered city, in which the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit reigns! O repentance, that dissolves the sting of death, casts the devil under one’s feet, kills the dragon, celebrates Christ, and renders virtue flourishing! O repentance, that engenders joy in mourning, exults in tears, and through tears takes away eternal tears! O repentance, that sows in tears, and will reap in exultation! O repentance, that in sackcloth prepares the shining wedding garment of Christ! O repentance, that eliminates the ways of Cain from the heart, and introduces the love and joy of chastity! O repentance, that wipes away the stench of sins, and introduces the good odor of pious works! O repentance, the companion of peace and friendship, the ally of charity, emitting the fragrance of hope! In you those silver-woolled sheep graze, belching out the purple scepters of the Trinity. But let us not, by protracting the discourse, seem to be peddling trifles; having sealed here the purse of our words, let us send you to a meadow created by God; where there are sweet-breathing trees, plants of dogmas, which God planted for you through the Fathers in the roof of the Church, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be glory and empire with the Holy Spirit for ages of ages. Amen.
DE FIDE
The doctor of the Church is like a physician, who, since the Church is held by many and various diseases, applies a remedy to each sick person according to the need of his disease. For instance: some came into the medicinal workshop of the Church caught by the disease of swelling pride: having received the plaster of humility, they cured the disease swollen with pride. Others rushed in burning with anger: these truly were calmed by the bridle of the soul and extinguished their disease. Others rushed in stirred to lust by the affections of the flesh; and these too, having received the plaster of chastity, girded themselves with chastity. Come therefore, beloved, because the doctor who preceded us cured the souls of the infirm with a threefold faith: let us also follow his footsteps. I think, however, that many of those standing by wish to hear about faith, not because they are in need of it; for they are healthy; but because they want to heal those who are ill. For many are healthy indeed, but they cannot cure by themselves those who are sick. Therefore, beloved, although I have the burden of explaining what has already been read in the Gospel, and of giving you this drink from the Holy Spirit; I refrain, however, to perform what I have promised. For it is necessary for us to become all things to all people, as the disciples of the Apostle, so that we may win all. I ask, however, if we falter in our words, that you grant me pardon: for those who speak extemporaneously often falter, since the mind cannot at the same time contemplate Scripture and ornament speech. But do you show your inner man and heart here most pure, so that each of you may not only hear the words, but also see and learn the power of every thing. The first thing, therefore, is faith in God, a thing incomprehensible, which cannot be touched, invisible, which cannot be rebuked, which is honored and adored in silence. Faith begins from the Father, comes through the Son, is fulfilled in the Holy Spirit: faith is the seat of the soul, the foundation of life, the immortal root: the living root of faith is the Father, the unfading branch is the Son, the immortal fruit is the Holy Spirit: a Trinity simple, incomposite, ineffable, inenarrable, indivisible according to consent, according to power, according to the force of working, according to divinity, according to magnitude, distinct in hypostases and names, united in things and powers: a Trinity existing before ages, not having begun to be from a beginning, but without beginning, without time, without old age: immortal, interminable, not increased, nor ceasing, nor growing old, but indissoluble: likewise a Trinity existing, not now invented and adored, but from the ages adored in heaven by angels, glorified on earth by fathers, held in honor by prophets, preached by apostles, celebrated by the Church up to this time. Let us begin, beloved, let us begin from the heavens to show the one dominion, adoration, and magnitude of the Trinity. Thrice the supernal angels, the powers, the Cherubim and Seraphim with unstoppable mouth modulating that, Holy, Holy, Holy, extol glory into one dominion. Patriarch Abraham, seeing three angels under the oak of Mamre in a tabernacle, attributed one dominion and equality of the angels to the Trinity. There are indeed three angels; and the oak and the tabernacle and Abraham; and the cross and the Church and the seed of men. Abraham himself went a journey of three days, so that he might offer his son Isaac as a whole burnt offering to God. The journey is of three days so that Isaac might be offered; the passion of Christ through the cross is of three days. But that Abraham contemplated the mystery of Christ in Isaac, Christ testifies, saying: Your father Abraham exulted that he might see my day: and he saw and rejoiced (John 8:56). For three days Moses takes a journey, so that he may offer to God; for he says to Pharaoh: We shall go a journey of three days to sacrifice to the Lord our God (Exod. 3:18). Sarah, taking three measures of fine flour, made cakes baked in the ashes: three measures of fine flour and Sarah and the cakes are a threefold faith, and the Church kept in the hidden place of the heart of men. Jacob threw three rods into the water, he gave drink to the sheep of Laban: the three rods, the water and the sheep drinking, are the Trinity, baptism, and the illuminated people. For three days and three nights Jonah was in the whale: three days and nights, Jonah and the whale, signify the Only-Begotten in the underworld. And that these things are so, let it now be said: As Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights: so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights (Matt. 12:40). For three days the Ninevites fasted: three days and fasting and the Ninevites living are the Trinity bringing light, abstinence from evils, and the life of the world. Thrice the prophet Elijah, pouring water over the logs and the limbs of the oxen, sent fire from heaven upon them: for the triple water, the logs,