[GREEK COLUMN] 753 • SPURIA. Embellishing with praises the life-giving Cross, I shall bring my discourse to a close. Hail, most awesome and life-giving Cross, sweet light and ever-shining sun! Hail, honorable and reverend Cross, which turns the souls of those who are led astray, and destroys the souls of the wicked! Hail, adorable Cross, which makes plain the ways of the righteous and burns up the paths of the ungodly! Hail, thrice-blessed Cross, granter of good things, and protector of those who hope in thee! Hail, all-blessed Cross, the wall and salvation of those who flee to thee! Hail, most radiant Cross, redeemer of those in danger, and physician of the infirm! Hail, greatest Cross, helper of those who suffer, and avenger of the oppressed! Hail, most luminous Cross, protector of those who are destitute, guide of the wandering, helper of the afflicted! Hail, victory-working Cross, bestower of those who petition, and listener to those who cry out! Hail, unconquerable Cross, unbetrayable guardian, holder and ruler of the world! Hail, fire-enkindling Cross, benefactor of the universe, rewarder of those who do good! Hail, height-making Cross, and maker of victory for thy servants! Hail, life-bearing Cross, benefactor of friends, winnower of the Jews, chastiser of the ungodly, rewarder of the righteous! Hail, wonder-worthy Cross, adornment of priests, boast of monastics, seeker of those who are persecuted, open gate for the humbled! Hail, life-bestowing Cross, elevator of the poor, resurrection of those who have fallen, long-suffering of those who sin, receiver of those who repent! Hail, most holy Cross, propitiation of those who confess, comforter of those who turn back, chosen one of thy holy ones, destroyer of thy enemies, kinsman of Christians, and builder of the Churches, and adored by all creation. This honorable and revered wood, being honored by all, is worshiped. Greeks and barbarians, Macedonians and Thessalians, Paeonians and Illyrians, Athenians and Argives and Laconians, Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and those who inhabit Mesopotamia, and Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Egypt and the parts of Libya by Cyrene, Cretans and Arabs, Indians and Ethiopians, and Homerites, and all the rest of the nations, as many as the sun beholds, having abandoned their own deception, marking themselves with the Cross, worship, fleeing the manifold chains of the devil. For through the Cross Christ tore apart the insatiable belly of Belial, and dissolved his flesh-eating teeth; by his solid Cross he shattered and paralyzed his sinews, and crushed his bones. He tore apart his garment, and plucked out his hair, and cast upon him a dark and endless lamentation and mourning. He extinguished his shameless eyes, put to shame his dishonorable face, pierced him with sharp spears, stabbed him through with a three-pronged sword, scattered his hopes, searched out his hidden nests, and winnowed his storehouses with every wind. He leveled the merciless children and offspring of the demons, extinguished with unquenchable fire his man-made idols, cast his bed into the abyss, pried open his dark storehouses, leveled his cities, pulled down the walls of iniquity, threw open the gates of Hades, shattered the adamantine bolts, and having released all who believed in him, and having taken them with himself to the heavens, he ran back like a giant, as the Prophet says: He shall rejoice like a giant to run his course. By this sign enemies are put to flight; by this sign the walls of adversaries fall; demons are destroyed; all things are subjected to the wood of the Cross through the power of him who was crucified upon it. And not only now does the type of the Cross defeat enemies, but even before this it was winning and prevailing. And know the power of the type. The rod of Moses bore the type of the Cross; and the rod was the Cross. And see for me the type of the Cross, how many wonders and signs it wrought, A to the adversaries, indeed, evils, but to the faithful, good things. And Moses, through the rod, turned the rivers of the Egyptians into blood, and brought upon them locust and beetle and hail, darkness that can be felt and storm, and the death of the firstborn through that same rod; for where the rod inclined, there also a trophy stood. Through the rod God recalled the race of the Hebrews from bitter slavery, and it was the type of the Cross that was saving them. You have known, O beloved, the strength and power of the type of the Cross; worship the truth of Christ, having heard the declaration of the prefiguration; reverence the manifestation of the truth. Great, therefore, is the discourse concerning the Cross, and inexpressible is its power. Those who worship the Cross with desire and faith have known the strength in it, and put the devil to rout. For the all-powerful Cross, benefiting all, is worshiped by all. For the Lord himself is the true God and Savior of our souls, having been nailed upon it, and having saved the world; to whom from us all honor is fitting and owed, glory and thanksgiving, together with the beginningless Father, together with the all-holy and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
On the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ; and on the Women Bearing Myrrh
Very much, now as always, the wonders of the Master's resurrection grip my mind, and the fearsome sights of the mysteries strike terror into the thinking of my soul: that dishonor gave birth to glory, and suffering brought about passionlessness for men; that the wood of punishment rescued us from the wood of slavery, and nails dug up the deep-rooted sin; that a crown of thorns overturned the general curse, and a reproached Cross delivered the world from shame; that the side pierced by the lance became the gate of the world's mysteries, and a three-day tomb was shown as a house of life; that a tax collector spoke forth the dogmas of theology, and an angel sowed seeds of joy in the souls of women. I cannot be silent about the paradoxes of the Master, even if the multitude of divine signs is such that speech does not suffice for a narrative; I dance with the thief, I leap with Mary, I obey the evangelist who cries out: On the Sabbath, as it drew toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher. And behold, there was a great earthquake: for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door of the sepulcher, and sat upon it. His appearance was as lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him the keepers were shaken, and became as dead men. "On the Sabbath, as it drew toward the first day of the week." You heard this voice shortly before: in the fearsome night, or rather in the great light, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the sepulcher. Good was the zeal of the women, evangelical the running of the women who met him, displaying their courageous spirit. Perhaps their steps were more praiseworthy than those of the apostles. For the latter, having fled, were hiding in houses with fear; but the former, having run boldly to the tomb, were mourning him who is free among the dead, fulfilling with grateful faith their Christ-loving purpose. They did not fear the Jews, they did not consider the guards, they did not reckon the still-growing madness of those who crucified him, nor the readiness of those who were present to commit insults; having meditated on nothing of these terrible things in their thoughts; but as though at the altar of the sepulcher, they approached with tears, weeping there, whence the one who had stopped the sorrows of Eve had arisen, where the whole world was about to feast. "And behold, there was a great earthquake." For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, and rolled back the stone from the door of the sepulcher, and sat upon it. If a great earthquake occurred when an angel descended, how, when the Master of the angels was being crucified, was the earth not rightly shaken at the things dared? And for what reason was there an earthquake at the passion, and again an earthquake at the resurrection? Fear is joined to fear, so that the foundations of death might be completely overturned. A great earthquake occurred, stones were trembling, and the Jews were dancing. But the feast they thought they were celebrating, this they received as a perpetual cause of gloom. They handled the Lamb, but they lost the altars; they spent the heir, but they fell from the covenant; they divided the garments, but they were deprived of the miracles; they sealed the sepulcher. B
[LATIN COLUMN] 758 SPURIA. [...] A pendas! O new story! Since the soldiers are as dead men, he says to the women, "Do not fear"? For it was necessary for the unbelieving guards to remain in fear, and for the believing women to be announced the grace of salvation. "Do not be afraid": for Adam was formed by the fashioner of our nature, as if on the wheel of the cross. "Do not be afraid": for the crime of condemnation of your mother Eve has been loosened. "Do not be afraid": for before I rolled away the stone, He whom you seek has risen with power: to Him be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.
ON THE PARABLE OF HIM WHO FELL AMONG THIEVES
We have heard, brothers, in the Gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ saying: "A certain man was descending from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who also stripped him, and having inflicted wounds, left him half-dead" (Luke 10:30). B But a priest and a Levite passing along that way, and seeing him, passed by. But a certain Samaritan coming to the place, and seeing him, was moved with mercy toward him; and he poured wine mixed with oil upon him, and bound his wounds, and placing him upon his own beast, he led him to the inn, and gave to the innkeeper two denarii, saying: "Take care of this man, and if you have spent anything more, I will repay you when I return" (Ibid. v. 35). Let us examine, therefore, this parable, so that, exploring with a wise mind, we may recognize the mysteries of God.
The man is Adam; Jerusalem, the heavenly life and prudence; Jericho, the world. As long, therefore, as Adam before his disobedience possessed heavenly sense, and led a life equal to the angels, he had entry without obstacle into the heavenly city, Jerusalem, and, dwelling in the observation of God's commandments, he was conquered by no one, he received wounds from no one: but when he did not obey God, and did not keep the precept, but was led away by the C serpent's fraud, then he descended into Jericho, that is, into the earth, and performed earthly things: for Jerusalem signifies [an] ascension, Jericho a flood.
He descended, therefore, as if from Jerusalem into Jericho, from a heavenly life to a life prepared by the devil's fraud. For when anyone keeps the commandments of God, he then dwells in the heavens, and the Apostle says, "For our conversation is in heaven" (Phil. 3:20). He descended from glory into ignominy, from the paradise of pleasure to the thorny earth, from life into death: "For in whatsoever day you shall eat of the tree, you shall die the death" (Gen. 2:17), that is, by sin. For the death of the soul is to sin, and not to obey God. He descended from the justice which he had in paradise, from heavenly holiness, and came into Jericho, that is, into the fall of disobedience, into the death of sin.
And he fell among thieves; that is, into the devil and the opposing powers. The way is this life, where, walking, Adam fell among thieves, who strip him. And of what do they strip him? The stole D of obedience, friendship with the angels, glory not fleeting, conversation with Christ, the pleasure of paradise, the heavenly life. With this garment they stripped him. And they themselves inflicted wounds, that is, sins, fornication, adultery, idolatry, witchcraft, murders, envy, quarrels, anger, and every other operation of evils. For these works indeed lash man, these generate stench and corruption. And that this is true, learn from David, how, depicting Adam's wounds upon himself, he calls them beautifully "scars," saying: "My scars have rotted and are corrupted, because of my foolishness" (Ps. 37:6). And every sin makes a scar and a wound. He was wounded, therefore, through disobedience, struck with wounds through iniquities, as the prophet says: "I was struck like grass, and my heart withered, because I forgot to eat my bread" (Ps. 101:5); that is, to keep the commandment of God.
But "half-dead," he says, they left him, not because they did not wish to kill him, but because God did not concede it. "For I do not desire," he says, "the death of the sinner, but his repentance." And where do they leave him? In the way, that is, in this life: for this world is called a way, because all men pass through it.
And there arrived, he says, a priest traveling, and seeing him, he passed by. He calls blessed Moses and Aaron a priest: for David testifies saying: "Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those who call upon his name" (Ps. 98:6). This, therefore, wonderful and celebrated Moses, who afflicted the Egyptians with ten plagues, who divided and dried up the Red Sea, and led the people through it, who rendered the water in Marra sweet, who spoke with God in the cloud, who did many miracles, when he was traveling the way of this life, seeing the man lying wounded, he passed by, and did not lift him up. And likewise the Levite; that is, the prophetic order. For the prophets who were after Moses, traveling the same way, and finding Adam wounded, did not lift him up. Neither Moses by the law, nor the prophets by signs, cured Adam's wound. No one awakened him, no one granted him life, no one redeemed him from death, no one compressed the wound of sin: for they themselves were held in sins. And although for an honest life they were friends of God; but because they were of the same flesh as Adam, and from a dead root, they could not, as branches, pull the root from sin.
But a certain Samaritan, he says, studious in work, merciful in intent, well-disposed toward fellow-servants, coming to the place, and seeing him wounded, was moved with mercy, and applied wine and oil, and bound his wounds, that is, his sins. Our Lord Jesus Christ assumes the person of the Samaritan. But let some auditor say, "What? Do you call the Lord a Samaritan?" Yes, I call Him a Samaritan, not by the nature of divinity, but by the imitation of mercy. For as the Samaritan was in the nature of his body similar to others, but not in his intent of mercy, but seemed better: so also the Lord truly seemed in body similar to the prophets, to the patriarchs, according to the man assumed from Mary, but by the power of divinity He was demonstrated greater than all; equal according to the human form, but not according to supreme glory.
They used carelessness and unmercifulness, and inhumanly passed by the wounded man; but the Samaritan appeared more merciful and pious. So also Christ, while the patriarchs and prophets did not care for the man fallen through disobedience, appeared as the only pitier and merciful one, according to the prophet saying: "The Lord is pitier and merciful, long-suffering and very merciful" (Ps. 102:8); and again, "Since Thou art a merciful God." And as the Samaritan was not of the race of the Jews, but had come from another region, so also Christ was not from the world, but from heaven. He came into the earth; being God, for our sake He was made man; being Lord, He put on the form of a servant. He was moved with mercy upon us; He descended from heaven to earth; he saw man cast down, stripped, wounded by fornications, idolatry, adulteries, murders—he saw, and was moved with mercy concerning His own handiwork, and applied wine with oil, that is, mixing both, he prepared an ointment and applied it to the man.
What does it signify, "Mixing wine with oil?" That is, mixing divinity with humanity, mixing mercy with salvation, he saved man. Mixing wine with oil, that is, mixing the Holy Spirit with his blood, he vivified man. For with the blood of Christ flowing from his side onto the earth, he himself washed our indictment from sins. What does that mean, "He bound his wounds?" That is, he bound the devil, and loosened man; he bound the vessel, and rescued it from shipwreck; he bound and reduced the virtues of the wicked one into servitude, and liberated man. If you wish, however, in another way...