mposed cosmography, and having fashioned beauties of a misrepresenting kingdom, he hoped that the piety toward the Master would be led away by the luster of the fantasy. Now indeed he does not realize that he is struggling against himself and hastening to his ruin. A That he might not miss his mark, he promised to give him the world: "All these things will I give you, if you will fall down and worship me." You who do not believe Paul when he says that the covetous man is an idolater, hear the father of idols confessing the same thing that Paul does: "To those who worship me," he says, "I give what is another's." Therefore, he deserts to the devil, he who possesses what is alien. For he himself promises the gift of things alien, providing grace at the expense of others, and being generous by stealing. With this intent he attacks the Master, so that he might cast him down by the promise of gifts. B "He," he said, "cannot be lured by food, nor beguiled by vainglory." These two most powerful weapons he had broken. "I must seek another powerful weapon for myself: the love of rule, which all desire, the desire for gain, which no one rejects; all are wounded by—if I may so speak—avarice; this I shall draw from my quiver and send forth." C But where shall I shoot to capture him? What will be an opportune place for me? Would that he came with me to a high mountain! An elevated place is convenient for those looking on; from a high place I would show him fertile regions, I would place before his eyes the treasures of kings, I would offer for him to behold the glorious splendor of life, displaying some things as they truly are, and others amplifying them with art and imagination. The nature of man is easily captured by opinion; if he sees the pleasant things of earth, he will run to possess them; he will seize the riches displayed, he will desire such vast possessions; he will suspect that the shadow is the truth, he will immediately believe in what is displayed; for everywhere he shows faith. "I said, 'Ask for bread,' and this he rejected, believing in God even without bread that nourishes; I said, 'Cast your body down,' and this saying he repelled, saying that one ought not to tempt God. With a glorious appearance, therefore, I will approach him. Deceived by me, he will believe, as one who is accustomed to encounter God and is not inquisitive; but when he believes, I shall depart mocking." D Knowing these thoughts, Christ went with him to a high place. But the devil began to exhibit his art, placing before his eyes a varied spectacle full of pride. The Lord, furthermore, did not refute that art, but watched as if he did not know of the trap. He, however, suspected that he was captured by the appearance of the art and seduced by the beauty of the spectacles; and as if he were the author of glory, he proposes high and imperial monstrosities of words: "All these things will I give you, if you will fall down and worship me." "Do you not see, O man," he says, "the magnitude of the world? Do you not see its ample possessions? Are you not stunned seeing in it six hundred kingdoms? I am the master of these; these gifts are conferred upon men by my judgment. You are to be preferred by me to all, and you alone are worthy of the kingdom on earth: receive from me the empire of the whole world, and in return for these goods, show worship to me. All these things will I give you, if you will fall down and worship me." As if from the midst of the prophets you play the part against your will, O devil; for you will indeed hand over the world, which you have reduced to servitude in wickedness; but you will obtain not worship, but scourging. Do you think you are addressing Adam? For in that case he ensnared Adam and persuaded him that he would be God, and having persuaded him, he cast him down. Now also he promises Christ the empire of the universe, hoping that he would fall on account of so high a hope. But he heard a worthy response: "Vade retro, Satana (Get thee behind me, Satan): for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." "Vade, Satana." It is fitting here to add the name of Satan, just as some master calls a servant hiding himself by his name, showing that he is not hidden from him. "Vade" (Get thee behind). I think it is a comminatory word, though mild, as if the Lord were gnashing at him: "You have tried to cover your simulation, and you have uncovered it yourself; you despair of victory, and you flatter me with gifts; already you prepare for me a sale, already there befall me things similar to those which will come through the betrayer. You have devised an untimely sale, O devil; wait for Judas, who will agree with you. Go now, I await the cross; go now, you will not buy me; go now, keep your gifts for the betrayer; now I say this to you: Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Do not share men with God; for they are debtors to Him alone. Then, he says, the devil left him. A great victory in the final error. For just as some strenuous athlete, having raised his adversary aloft, breaks him by casting him down from on high, so the Lord Christ, having lifted up the adversary to the mountain and filling him with aerial hope, cast him down from that hope and crushed him, and the miracle of the victory, which struck the angels with awe, gathered them to the retinue and ministry of the victor; for it says, "Behold, angels came and ministered to him." Let us also, like the angels, show servitude to Christ, let us please the heavens, showing angelic ministry on earth, let us lay down our souls in invincible embraces, let us love the restorer of fallen nature, let us embrace him who enervated the common enemy, let us carry the victory around in our memory, let us insult the fallen devil, and trampling upon his impudent head, let us shout with our mouth: "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." To whom be glory and empire for ever and ever. Amen.
CONCERNING THE BETRAYAL OF JUDAS, AND THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. ON HOLY THURSDAY.
I see the Church grieving, bearing sorrow before her for the betrayal committed by her own son. For a grave crime, namely, slaughter, he has contrived; and he who suffers these things is the heavenly Judge of the living and the dead. But what is the most atrocious thing of all, the one who a little while before was a disciple and obedient, has suddenly become an enemy and a plotter; suddenly the sheep is changed into a beast, the apostle has defected from the light, the unruly servant has sold the Lord, counted as the twelfth after eleven disciples. And why should I not mention his name, so that I may not bring insult upon all the apostles by remaining silent about the author of the crime? "Going," he says, "one of the twelve" (Matt. 26:14). Who? He who was called Judas. Another thing is added, lest the innocent cover the guilty; for we find another apostle of the same name. "Judas Iscariot," he says, "one of the twelve, going." He was certainly no longer one alone; for he had with him the devil as a helper. This man, going to the chief priests, said: "What are you willing to give me, and I will deliver him to you?" (Matt. 26:15). Tell me, O Judas, you who propose to sell the Lord and Master of the world, at what price do you leave the dignity of a disciple? What compels you to strive to betray your King? In what did you see the other fellow-disciples preferred to you, that you meditated upon this impious crime? You who know that the Lord cried out to you and the eleven other apostles: "If any man desire to be first among you, let him be the last of all and the servant of all" (Mark 9:35). Did he not say these things before, so that he might repress your counsel? And he stirred you up to minister to the first, so that you, as the last, might not, being affected by unjust sorrow, prepare a trap? If you had not been a lover of money, when you offered yourself as a betrayer to the Jews, who would have suspected that you, being affected by an injury, were proceeding to the vengeance of the one who harmed you? When, however, you say openly, "What are you willing to give me, and I will deliver him to you?" (Matt. 26:15), you reveal the cause of the deceit. They indeed set for him thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity, that he might betray him. What have you done, O Judas, why for the established price of thirty pieces of silver do you sell the inestimable pearl? Enumerate first
ON THE BETRAYAL OF JUDAS, AND THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
A ...hand, he it is who will betray me. Even though he shows him unwillingly, he speaks before the drama, and even if he has not yet seized the name, he is held back for the moment by me, until he speaks before you the things plotted by him against me. Then Judas, who was betraying him, answering, said: Is it I, Rabbi? He says to him: You have said it. You have liberated the eleven, having rendered the things performed by you, from now on, innocent. Receive also another condemnation for the things you are about to do—avarice. And as they were eating, he says, Jesus taking the bread, and having given thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, and said: Take, eat, this is my body. And having taken the cup, having given thanks, he gave it, saying: Take, drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins. Take from it all. And you, he says, O betrayer, partake of eternal life; and if you remain in it, those things agreed upon with the Jews are forgiven you; but if you do not turn back your impulse, know what kind of Master you are selling—the lover of mankind. But he, not enduring the Master’s compassion, running to the Jews, hastened to put into action that which had been plotted. And behold, he says, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and clubs from the chief priests and elders of the people. And he who was betraying him gave them a sign, saying: Whomever I shall kiss, he is the one; seize him. Heed my lips; for otherwise the word cannot be betrayed. And immediately approaching Jesus, he said to him: Hail, Rabbi, and kissed him. O kiss, the destruction of universal peace, or rather, to speak truly, the dissolution of worldly war, even if Judas did not dare the betrayal in accordance with this purpose. But Jesus said to him: Friend, for what are you here? You have given the kiss to me, perform the things agreed upon with those standing by. Then they approached and laid hands on Jesus, and seized him. The betrayer went away alienated from the apostles, and the Author of life was offered to the Jews for death; a cross was prepared, and a tomb is built for life; the dead return, and Judas goes to Hades; the Savior is crucified with robbers, and calls all to paradise. To him be glory and power unto the ages of ages.
ON THE WORDS, "I REMEMBERED GOD, AND WAS GLAD" (PSALM 76:4)
B "I remembered God, and was glad," the melodist David testified. He did not testify from his own nature, but sang from the Holy Spirit of God. David remembered not simply, but also wisely; he remembered not from his lips alone, but his heart also instructed him; David was not forgetful in the night or the day, but asking for these things, he remembered at every hour. And that you may know that we describe truth and not falsehood, let us harvest the melodies of the Holy Spirit from the written history itself. "I remembered God, and was glad," said David. And what do you wish to know truly, that David remembered God both by night and by day, and through remembering was gladdened? With much eagerness for hearing, attend to the things said: "I remembered your name by night, O Lord" (Ps. 118:55); and, "I will remember your name in every generation and generation" (Ps. 44:18). "At midnight I rose to profess to you, O Lord" (Ps. 118:62); "In the mornings I meditated on you" (Ps. 62:7). "Evening and morning and at noon I will tell and announce" (Ps. 54:18). "O God, my God, towards you I watch early" (Ps. 62:1). And again, "To announce in the morning your mercy, and your truth by night" (Ps. 91:3). Do you see that there is no idle hour in which he was forgetful? Not in the morning, not in the night. If you wish to learn truly that David did not simply remember God, but with intensity of heart, hear: "Out of the depths I cried to you, O Lord" (Ps. 129:1); "O Lord, I will profess to you in the uprightness of my heart" (Ps. 118:7). And so that David might bring an end to all the hours, he then says: "How I loved your law, O Lord! All the day it is my meditation" (Ps. 118:97). Behold how all the day, meditating on the words of the Lord, and remembering God at every turn, what dignity of grace he received? Did he gain the rewards on earth? I think that he also shone forth and reigned on earth; here subjecting enemies, and there commanding the angels; here having worn the purple of the earthly kingdom, and there having shone forth the glory of the kingdom in heaven; here having illuminated the voices of the harmony of the Holy Spirit, and there having brightened the rays of all-virtuous wisdom. And these things we depict partially. But he obtained the better of all these things. For when the Holy Spirit saw God being constantly hymned by him on earth, the Holy Spirit thereafter went into the heavens for intercession, saying: "Lord, at every hour David remembers you, and remembering he is glad; and do you remember him, O Lord, our God," and he says: "Remember, O Lord, David and all his meekness" (Ps. 131:1). Thereafter the man-loving God answers: "Since David constantly and wisely remembers me, I also will proclaim before all my disposition and love toward him; I will magnify him above angels and powers on the earth." Saying what? C"I have found David my servant, a man after my heart" (Ps. 88:21; 1 Reg. 13:14); and, "And I will make him my first-born, high over the kings of the earth; and his throne as the days of heaven" (Ps. 88:28, 30). And having said this, David heralded himself. Do you see that it becomes a great gain for a man to remember God? "I remembered God," said David, "and my heart was glad." For while other gladnesses enter through the mouth and are disposed of through the bowels, the gladness of God, as a fountain, makes the heart glad with honey-flowing words, such that such a person says: "How sweet are your words to my throat! More than honey to my mouth" (Ps. 118:103). For he who remembers God has all the goods of gladness lurking in his heart; there is a fountain springing forth goods, there is honey and honeycomb and a lamp being lit, there is the hidden treasure of the holy Trinity. Thereafter the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit come, and take up an abode with him, and thereafter the man no longer becomes one being catechized, but an angel, God-bearing. Since therefore a man has been deemed worthy of such grace, and having enjoyed such gladness David was gladdened, let us also, enjoying the gladness of God, constantly remember God, that we may enjoy his goods. Come therefore, let us mine the virtues of the Savior’s presence, and let us acclaim his earthly presence as an all-virtuous pillar; since I have heard proofs of blasphemy from the tongue of the lawless Jews, and since they disbelieve the Scriptures, which they read unworthily, and do not know the mystery. For the fact that the Lord was born from a virgin, in this they are scandalized, say the wretched and completely wicked ones. O the folly! O the lawless ones against nature! What scripture, or what prophet does not trumpet these graces of the Lord? First, Solomon, the charioteer of great wisdom, called the Virgin blessed, saying: "Blessed is the barren one, the undefiled, who did not know a bed in transgression" (Sap. 3:1). For he calls her barren before the Holy Spirit overshadowed her, and before the sun blossomed. "She did not know a bed in transgression," because she did not associate with a man. But when Isaiah the honorable heard about the undefiled barren one, he immediately wrapped the word of the wise man in swaddling clothes, and sang to the same: You, he says, have called the barren one undefiled; and I say: "Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear" (Isa. 54:1). For until now you have not brought forth; from now on rejoice, that you have been deemed worthy to receive Him whom the heavens do not contain. And as the two witnesses proclaimed these things, they sought to mix also a third into the mystery, so that on three witnesses the question might stand secure. And as they were thinking these things, both found David, the orator of the melody, and remind him of the things to come regarding the dispensation. And when he heard the mystery, he [responded] with the voice of a trumpet...