719sured, Mary was glorified, the resurrection was heralded, the disciples became stronger, and many of the Jews who believed in our Lord Jesus Christ met him with branches and palms, crying out and saying: Hosanna in the highest; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel: to him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
In Praise of Saint John the Theologian
A Convocated us in one place, beloved, the most holy John the Theologian, the friend of Christ; not because he breathes forth the flowers of roses, but because he has brought forth for us the virtues of the spiritual fathers: whose fragrance is a pious confession and the salvation of our souls. What rose, I ask, is so adorned with leaves as the most holy John is decorated with the divine crown of glory of the saints? A rose indeed shines like gold and glows inwardly with a good scent; but the most holy John, fragrant with the good scent of our most wise pastor and teacher, shines forth greatly from the very summit of the throne. O John, who art celebrated annually by strangers, and who art daily conversing with the Ephesians! O John, who shinest as an exalted leader on this holy mount, granting not money to your citizens, but healing to those who request it! O John, you who overthrew Diana, the rebel dragon, with the trophy of the cross, and firmly raised up the Church, wedded to Christ alone, by the power of the cross! O John, you who left your father Zebedee in the little boat, and loved your Lord, the Nazarene, reclining upon his breast! You looked upon the two breasts as two mountains, and, reclining sweetly in the midst, you preached God, who was known in the midst of the two creatures: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). And consider for me, I pray, the stupendous power of the Apostle. He, who is not buried in the earth, pours forth upon the earth, and that which is poured forth is manna bringing healing, and this very thing which is poured forth is never exhausted. What is the cause, what the operation, no one could say: for the gifts of our Savior Christ are immutable, and the operations of the saints are unending. O John, the armor of the pious, a truly pious confession, a refuge for all who flee to God! For what a harbor is to those tossed by the storm, that God is to those pressed by labor. Today the most holy John illuminates us with the decorum of his own virtue: for he is read to us now, and from his old book, as if from a royal icon, he shines forth with his piety. B John is a beautiful beginning of faith, a flowering root, an unfailing fountain which is a law for all nations, not for one time only; but always, if one believes, an honorable institution of piety: the first vertex of faith, which exhibits the footsteps of piety to all, and who taught us to study the best gifts of charity. For we see the bridal chamber of virginity, and we embrace the fountain of cures. Let us explain the discourse concerning the light. The Father is light, the Son is light, the Holy Spirit is light. The Father is light, because he is the true God; the Son is light, because he shone forth from the Father; the Holy Spirit is light, because he proceeds from the Father: and therefore he is the true God. The Apostle will testify for me, "God is light" (1 John 1:5); and, "John came, that he might bear witness of the light. And he was the true light which illuminates every man coming into this world" (John 1:8, 9), that is, coming to the truth. And the Son: "I am the true light"; and, "I in the Father and the Father in me" (John 14:10). The prophet also cries out: "Be enlightened, be enlightened, Jerusalem, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you" (Isaiah 60:1). And concerning the Holy Spirit it is sung in the Psalms, "For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we shall see light" (Ps. 35:10); that is, in the Son we shall see the Holy Spirit: the light by which we have been illuminated, and to this day are illuminated in our hearts. The Father is light, because he is the true God; the Son is light, because he is the splendor of that light; the Holy Spirit is light, because he proceeds from the Father: "For no one knows the things that are of God, except the Spirit who is in him" (1 Cor. 2:11). The Holy Spirit is therefore the true light, who is perceived and understood in the true light. Let there remain with us, therefore, brothers, an unbroken faith, an inseparable Trinity. For the blessed Solomon says, "A threefold cord shall not be broken" (Eccl. 4:12). For God sanctifies, illuminates, vivifies, frees, and the rest. The Son likewise: for whatever the Father does, he himself does. And the Holy Spirit likewise sanctifies, illuminates, vivifies, frees: for we have been freed, sanctified, and illuminated, and have come to life again, baptized in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, to whom is glory for ever and ever. Amen.On Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist the Theologian
Again our John, O Ephesians, or rather the teacher of the whole world, has spread his spiritual net, and has gathered us all from different places, not so that we might honor him with roseate crowns, but that we might decorate him with good and just works. Again he has drawn forth his spiritual fountains, not to irrigate thirsty fields, but to support laboring peoples; again he has ascended into the temple, second after Peter, not to cause one lame man to leap, but to instruct us all, established in piety, so that we may have our citizenship in heaven. He no longer reclines upon the Lord's breast, but reclining upon each one of us, receiving us all with equal honor, he offers his own gain to God, and thus cries out, saying: "Behold, I and the children whom God has given me" (Isaiah 8:18). Children? Which ones? Those whom grace has brought forth and shown to be heirs of the kingdom of heaven. For Diana carried off many; the Apostle gathers far more than these. She, keeping and hunting with dogs, dispersed error; John, cherishing the poor and gathering the peoples, disseminated the knowledge of God: she obscured the air with the pomp of idols; John illuminated Asia with the monuments of the saints: Egypt remembers the miracles of Moses; Ephesus announces the benefits of John: Moses flagellated Egypt with ten plagues; John decorated Ephesus with an evangelism inspired by God; or rather, he had mercy on all: Moses split the sea with a rod; John overthrew Diana with the cross: when the sea was divided, Pharaoh and his chariots were submerged; Diana was cast down, her priest and abominable rites were crushed. David tells it, saying, "The sea saw, and fled" (Ps. 113:3); Diana saw, and fell. She saw the Theologian and the divine herald, she saw the God-bearer, and she fell—the sinner, supererogatorily worshipped, prostrate on the ground: she saw him whom Jesus loved, and could not remain. What is it to you, Diana, that you have fallen? I saw the son of thunder, and my temple was broken in the middle: I saw the friend of God, and I was dissolved: I saw him who reclined upon the divine breast, and I was cast down into my idolatrous bosom: Elias is wonderful, beloved, because he overthrew Baal; John is more wonderful, because he eliminated Diana. Elias [killed] four hundred and fifty...