Dogmatic Poems

to Gregory, ^A that he might set his affairs in order as written above, and at his request I have signed it with my own hand.

Theodosius, bishop of the Catholic Church of Ida, present at the testament of the most reverend bishop Gregory, and at his request I have signed it with my own hand.

Theodulus, bishop of the holy Catholic ^B Church of Apamea, present, and so forth.

Hilarius, bishop of the Catholic Church of Isauria, present, and so forth.

Themistius, bishop of the holy Catholic Church of Adrianopolis, present, and so forth.

Cledonius, presbyter of the Catholic Church of Iconium, present, and so forth.

John, reader and notary of the most holy Church of Nazianzus: I have transcribed and published a copy of the divine Testament, which is stored in the most holy church committed to my care, of the holy and illustrious Theologian Gregory. I was present at the testament of the most reverend Gregory, and at his request I signed it with my own hand.

NOTICE ON THE POEMS OF SAINT GREGORY

^C Saint Gregory was moved to compose poems for many reasons. The primary one, which he sets forth in his writing to Cledonius (Epistle 101, otherwise Oration 51), is that he might defend the truth against the Apollinarians, who were disseminating their errors through the aid of poems written by themselves. He narrates other reasons in his poem "On His Own Verses" (Book II, Section I, Poem 37, otherwise 162 in Billius), namely: to write more concisely, due to the difficulty inherent in elaborating verses; to offer a kind of pleasant medicine to the young, leading them from attractive things to useful ones, and soothing the tediousness of precepts with art; to show that Christian writers are not inferior to the pagans; and finally, that he might bring some relief to his own ailments.

We divide all the poems of Saint Gregory into two books: in the first we include theological poems; in the second, however, we represent historical poems. The first book, moreover, where theological poems are discussed, is again divided into two sections: in the first are contained dogmatic poems, while in the second, moral poems. The second book will have a similar double section, in which the historical poems are collected, so that in one part are read the poems that pertain to Gregory himself, and in the other those that pertain to others. Indeed, we also arrange the various poems of this book in chronological order, as far as possible, while omitting such an order in the poems of the first book, the time of which can be determined by no rule whatsoever.

The work undertaken by Billius, when he expressed Gregory’s Greek verses in Latin verses, was truly arduous and full of labor: but that work brought more difficulty to him than utility to the readers. For the translator was ^D very often so constrained by the laws of meter that he could properly render neither the words nor even the thoughts of the author. Wherefore, it seemed to be in the interest of the readers if the Gregorian poems, rendered metrically by Billius, were translated in prose. Nevertheless, lest Billius’s version suffer unjust oblivion, we have decided to place it in the lower margin. The same has been done for certain poems that had been translated metrically by Federicus Morellus. The versions composed in prose by Tollius and Muratorius have been amended in very many places.

Up to this point, the Benedictines—to whose notice I, the new editor, add this: namely, that lest any part of so wisely devised an order should seem lacking, I have presumed to take on this labor, so that I might bring into the public domain, encompassed in meter according to my own powers, all the poems that had not yet been translated metrically, even though the number of verses to be written rose to two thousand and more. May you, kind reader, receive these attempts of our infirmity with indulgence.

OF OUR HOLY FATHER GREGORY THE THEOLOGIAN, ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE, POEMS. BOOK I. THEOLOGICAL POEMS. SECTION I. DOGMATIC POEMS.

^A I. On the Father.

I know indeed that we are traversing a long voyage in small skiffs, ^B or that we are hastening to the starry heaven on small wings, we whose mind is stirred to manifest the Godhead, which not even the heavenly ones have the strength to venerate as is fitting, or the limits of the great Godhead, and the rudder of the universe.

I. On the Father.

We know that we are crossing a great sea in small boats, and hastening to the heaven adorned with stars on small wings—we, whoever of us have minds stirred to proclaim the Divinity, which not even the celestial beings possess the strength to worship as is strictly due, or the decrees of the great Divinity and the governance of the world.

ARGUMENT

METRICAL VERSION

We set out (this does not escape me), whosoever of us aims to express in words the hidden divinity [of the Thunderer]: which the immortal choir of heaven cannot load with sufficiently worthy honor, and to recount the [mysteries] of the Triad...

^A and yet (for a gift from a wealthier hand does not often please God as much as a small one offered from love), for this reason I shall speak with confidence. But begone from afar, you who are sinful; my discourse addresses the pure, or those being purified. But the profane, like wild beasts, should at once be crushed under the rocks, being destroyed by the light of Christ shining on the mountain top, while he writes the law for Moses on tablets. Thus it is for them; and so the Word drove away the worst 15 who harbored hearts at enmity with God from our choir.

But I shall place as a prelude to my pages the voice that godly men of old established, bringing terror to the people with the harsh witness of their words, ^A 20 Moses and Isaiah—for I shall speak to those who know—the one delivering the newly-crafted law, the other when it had been broken. "Hear, O heavens, and let the earth receive the words of my mouth." 21 Spirit of God, do you rouse for me a fresh tongue and a loud-sounding trumpet of truth, so that all may take joy in their hearts, being mingled with the Godhead in the void. 25 There is one God, without beginning, without cause, not circumscribed by anything that existed before or shall exist hereafter, embracing the age, and infinite; the great Father of the noble, only-begotten great Son, suffering nothing in [the] Son of all that pertains to flesh, since He is mind. There is another God, 30 not another in Godhead, the Word of God, he who is the seal of that [Father], moving [as] the paternal [seal], the Son of the unbegotten.

^A And [it is necessary] to assist the mortal because of a tongue fighting against the Godhead, ill-minded, murderous of itself.

5 Nothing was before the great Father. For He holds all things within, and there is nothing superior to the Father; [He is] the Word born of the great God, the timeless Son, the image of the archetype, a nature equal to the begetter. For the great Son is the glory of the Father, and from Him He shone forth 10 [shone forth]. For there is nothing near the Godhead; but this [truth] is nevertheless manifest to all men likewise, as it is to me, that it is not right to attribute to the Godhead anything from my own generation, neither flux nor shameful section. For if I

II. On the Son

We shall sing first of the Son, revering the blood which was the expiation of our sufferings. For it is ^B necessary even for a mortal to bring aid to the heavenly [realms] on account of a tongue which, in a wicked war, attacks the Godhead and slays itself. 5 Nothing was before the great Father. For He contains all things within Himself. There is nothing greater than the Father. From the Father was born the Word of the great God, the Son, who is outside of time, the image of the archetype, in nature equal to the Begetter. For the great Son is the glory of the Father. Moreover, He shone forth, 10 as the Father alone knows, and He who shone forth from the Father: for nothing was akin to the Godhead; yet nevertheless, this has been made persuasive to all men, as it is to me, that it is not lawful to confer upon the Godhead anything from my own generation, neither a flux nor a shameful section. For if I

am not impassible as a begetter, for I am composite; but He is altogether incomposite and incorporeal. For if their natures are different, what wonder is it if their generations also are different? If time is prior to me, it is not prior to the Word, whose begetter is exempt from time. When the Father, who is without beginning, ^A existed 15, leaving nothing above the Godhead, then also the Son of the Father exists, having the Father as a beginning without time, just as the light of the sun has a great and beautiful orb. Even if all forms are below the great God, so that there may not be something between the Father and the Son, who are always existing, [the Son of] the ruling Father. For whatever is prior to God, whether it be time or will, is to me a section of the Godhead.

As God, as begetter, as great begetter. But if it is the greatest thing for the Father to have no source of noble Godhead, 30 neither is it any the less for the Son, who is the venerable offspring of the great Father, to have such a root. For by that, it does not exclude God from God. For you do not know the Son as far removed from the Father. But the unbegotten 52 voice and the birth [proceeding] from the Father are not two forms of the Godhead; who has fashioned them? Rather, 55 both being outside that [Godhead], the nature is uncut for me. If the Word has a birth, neither will the Father admit of any flesh, being himself without flesh (never is the mind of men so reckless as to think this), and you have the Son as God, a glory worthy of the begetter. 40 But if, favoring in vain the Godhead of the great Father, and engraving an empty fear upon your mind,

15 I am not without passion in begetting, for I am composite: but He is altogether incomposite and incorporeal. For if their natures are different, what wonder is it if their generations are also diverse? If time is older than me, it is not older than the Word, whose begetter is exempt from time. When the Father, who lacks a beginning, 20 existed, leaving nothing above the Godhead, then also existed the Son of the Father, having the Father as a beginning who is free from beginning, as splendor [has] the great and illustrious orb of the sun: although all examples are below the great God; but lest we place 25 any medium between the Father and the Son, who always exist, let us not cut off the Son from the Father, the King. For before God, time or will is to me a section of the Godhead. As God, as begetter, the great begetter [exists]. But if it is the greatest 30 glory for the Father to have no cause of adorable deity, it is no disgrace for the venerable offspring of the great Father to have such a root. Wherefore do not exclude God from God. For you do not know the Son to be remote from the Father. But the words "unbegotten" and "generation from the Father" are not in any way a double 35 idea of the Godhead: someone has feigned this; but both are external to the Godhead. For the nature is inseparable. But if the Word has generation, neither will the Father admit anything of flesh, since he is without flesh (never surely will the human mind be so impious as to think this); and you have the Son as God, a glory worthy of the begetter. 40 But if, gratifying to no purpose the Godhead of the great Father, and impressing a vain terror upon your heart,

METRICAL VERSION

^A you have insulted the divinity of both, O madman, depriving the one of the Son, while the other is not God, if indeed he was created. For everything that was not at some time, is of those things; yet if any of God’s essence remains in great words, and is firm. But what argument is this? That you, having started from there, O best of men, should later become God through the sufferings of Christ, while you cast Christ into chains and call your fellow servant, honored with the rewards of servitude, your God instead of God? If the great God then fashioned him as a noble instrument (like a smith fashioning a hammer for a cart), so that God might possess me, having been made by the hand of the Firstborn: thus also Christ would be a heavenly creature, and 55 far better, if you hold the Word of that one. Much better, if Christ were not that. Who could tell such things? But if, because he undertook a body, helping with your sufferings, for that reason you will impose measures upon the glory-filled divinity? Did he who pitied you sin? To me, he is rather more admirable; 60 for he neither withheld anything of his divinity, and he saved me, a Physician bowing down to foul-smelling wounds. He was a mortal, but God. The lineage of David, but the Creator of Adam. Flesh-bearing, yet without a body. From a mother, but a virgin; circumscribed, but immeasurable. 65 An infant manger received him, but a star led the way for the Magi, and gift-bearers came, and bent their knees. As a mortal he came to the contest, but he stood over it as unsurpassed.

Metrical Version

Will there be villainy that one might turn over in his heart? And (glory worthy of the Father) God himself shall be born, in addition. But if, while you are enticed too much by the love of the paternal deity, and you imagine empty fears for yourself, faithless man, you take this away and drag Christ down to created things, you will foolishly violate the divinity of both with the same crime. For such a clear offspring will perish to the Father: and again the Born one will lack his own divinity, if he is only created: for whatever exists in time, this too must entirely be set among created things. But let that which is certain and stable, and void of time, be what you worship, and call that God with a tongue that does not tremble. What argument is this, that when through the sufferings of Christ, God has rendered them health-bringing, you do not hesitate to press against this and place him in the rank of a slave, and steal from him the name of both Lord and God, deeming it enough to call him a better servant, and one who deserves only the primary rank among these? And if the Father created him in the place of a tool (no differently than a shrewd smith, while he prepares a cart or anything else, creates tools first); so that through his firstborn right hand he might eventually win me over, and for Christ there should be in many parts a superior created thing, if indeed it existed not for the honor of Christ, but rather Christ for its sake. But who, unless he is a fool, would endure to break forth into these things? But if, because he assumed flesh, so that he might take you away from grave vices, and relieve you of diseases, you think that for that reason he must be placed in an inferior seat, and you proceed to fix the ranks of the divine nature, surely he erred, whom the hosts of evils have bent, and who bore the medicines for such great diseases. But against this, I suspect and fear his divinity even more for this name too, because no loss was made by him at all from his divinity, and he brought me salvation, like an easy physician who, while he handles foul ulcers, bends himself toward the pale sick. He was indeed mortal: but also the same was God; born from the Davidic stock: but who nevertheless had himself created the first man; carnal, but the same one devoid of body; born from a mother, but a virgin. And enclosed by a place, but whom measure could not finish. Received by a manger: but in truth the Magi approached, led by a star, and with bent knees gave no small gifts to the infant. He underwent contests, as a mortal; but by a triple struggle he broke the tyrant, as one indomitable. Having been taken, he restored the starving.

^A He fed the thousands, and changed water into wine. ^B He was washed, but he cleansed sins; but he was acclaimed ^C by the Spirit’s thunderous voice as the Son of the Unbegotten One. As a mortal he received sleep, and as God he lulled the sea to rest. He grew weary in his knees, but he gave strength to paralyzed limbs and knees. He prayed; but who was it that heard the supplications of the weak? 75 He was a victim, and yet high priest and sacrificing minister, but also God. He offered himself to God, and purified the whole world. And the cross upheld him, but nailed fast was sin. But why should I relate each thing? He was mingled with the dead, roused himself from the dead, and raised the dead before. 80 Those are of human poverty, this is the wealth of the non-fleshly one. ^A Do not you, on account of human things, dishonor the Godhead, but rather treat the earthly form as glorious, which, being well-disposed to you, the immortal Son fashioned.

III. Concerning the Holy Spirit.

My soul, why do you delay? And sing the glory of the Spirit, nor tear asunder by myths what nature has not dissociated. Let us tremble before the great Spirit, who is also God, by whom I knew God, who is God manifestly, and who makes God present here. 5 All-powerful, giver of varied gifts, hymn-leader of the holy choir, sustainer of life for heavenly and earthly beings, seated on high, proceeding from the Father, divine power, self-impelled, neither Son (for the Son is the one, good, excellent son of one), nor outside the Godhead of the invisible, but sharing the same glory.

^A Whosoever in the pages of the divinely inspired Law 10 Desires to grasp the Godhead of the heavenly Spirit, Shall see many dense paths converging into one, If he wills it, and if he has drawn anything of the holy Spirit Into his heart, and if his mind sees clearly. 15 But if he desires the naked voice of the lovely Godhead, Let him know that he desires an imprudent word. For it was not fitting, When the divinity of Christ had not yet appeared to the many of mortals, To impose an unbelievable burden upon weak hearts. For it is not the time for perfect doctrine 20 To those beginning. For who to dim eyes, either fire’s [Rays has shown entirely, or satisfied them with more greedy light? It is better if you lead them little by little into heat-bearing rays, Lest you might also injure the sources of the sweet light. For the Word, revealing the entire Godhead of the Kingly Father, 25 Before this, made the great glory of Christ shine To a few wise men, appearing to mortals, As then also, revealing a brighter light of the Son, He caused the Godhead of the gleaming Spirit to flash forth. It shone a little upon them, but left the greater part to us, 30 To whom it was portioned out afterwards in tongues of fire, Bearing a sign of the Godhead, when the Savior leapt from the earth. For I know God is fire to the wicked, as light to the good. Thus I have gathered the Godhead for you. But if you have posited The Son and not the Son, hearing of one Godhead, 35 And trust in cleverly-turned, opposing myths— God himself shall give me speech when he comes here.

METRICAL VERSION

Nor again lacking in divinity, or removed from it: But in honor altogether equal to the Father and the Only-Begotten. But if anyone desires to find this, testified to perhaps in the sacred books, He will see two hundred paths, which join into one, If he wills it, and if he has drawn any of the ethereal breath Into his breast, he is vigorous in mind, and he discerns acutely. But if he desires, and demands an explicit voice of the divinity, He is not prudent enough. For, the divinity of Christ not yet Having been made manifest to the human race, to impose a weight Upon weak shoulders, which they would be unable to bear, Who would say this is fair, unless he be bereft of mind? For it is not fitting to propose full doctrine to boys, Just as it is not fitting to show the whole sun as yet To tender eyes, and to drench them with excessive light. For it would be better to introduce the flame-vomiting rays gradually, Than, while you long to see more than is right, To pour out perpetual night upon injured eyes.

^B For just as the divine Word before, openly Was revealing the whole divinity of the Father, and on the other hand the glory Of Christ shone to a very few, who were powerful in mind, So also afterwards, while it was revealing the divinity of the Only-Begotten more clearly to the world, Yet the same Word more sparingly revealed the divinity Of the nourishing Spirit, and hidden behind an image. For it shone little for the ancients, and left a more splendid light for us, To whom it is divided in the form of fire Of tongues (by which His holy divinity was laid open), At the time when the Savior retreated from the lowest Seats to the ethereal heights of heaven. For just as He is a flame of vengeance to the wicked, So He is joyful to the good, and a sweet pleasure. And so, for me, the divinity of the supernal Spirit Has thus been gathered for the few. But if it seems strange to you perhaps That this one is begotten from the one, and that one proceeds from the Father, And you are confident in preparing to contend with opposing words, This too shall I have something to say (Christ will grant it to me).

^A From one first-born parent came the wife and Seth, A part of the side, and the offspring of two by the laws of marriage; Not begotten, and yet begotten, but both were equal as humans. 40 Remembering these, take care not to spurn anything in the Divinity, By placing it either above or below. There is one nature, measureless, Unbegotten, eternal, good, free, and likewise to be worshipped, One God in three splendors governing the world. By these I am restored, new and different, since in the font 45 Buried from death, I come back to life into the light. For the triple Godhead raised me up, shining with light. I will not lie to you, O beloved purification. If by the Godhead — ^B Or having bathed, I should slice the shining Godhead, It would be better... but I tremble at the end of a wicked story, 50 In the hope of divine grace and the baths. If it purified me wholly, wholly and venerable to me Is God. But let any wicked person who, Dividing the Godhead itself—a gift of God—in two, Suffer the like. But if we hear anything about the Son, or about the ^C good 55 Spirit in divine scriptures and in God-bearing Men, how they hold the second place to the Father, I ask you to understand it thus, with the words of deep-bosomed Wisdom: As it goes back to the root without beginning, it does not Divide the Godhead, so that you may have one power, not worshipped as multiple entities.

37 *From one first-born...* The Greek interpreter: From one man, the first-born Adam, the woman Eve came into being, and the son Seth. She was a part of the side, but he was the offspring of both by the laws of marriage; she was not begotten, but he was begotten; yet both were equally humans. From one man, the first-born Adam, the woman Eve and the son Seth proceeded. She indeed was cut from the rib, but he existed as the fetus of both Adam and Eve by the laws of marriage. Eve was not begotten, but Seth was begotten. Both, however, were equally humans.

47 *I will not lie.* The Greek interpreter: I will not lie to you, O holy Trinity; I will not lie concerning my purification.

49 *I tremble.* The Greek interpreter: But lest I finish what the word holds as dire, I am deterred by the hope of divine grace and that of his holiness, which is obtained through baptism.

51 *If wholly.* Perhaps "whole." Greek interpreter: If the triple Godhead has purified me wholly. Perhaps "whole."

52 *He might hold.* Thus the Coislin Ms. with three others. The edition has "he holds." The same manuscript has "the unequal [tò d' ἄνισον]," which is perhaps better: let any wicked person admit the inequality of the Persons. (CAILLAU.)

53 *In two [ἄνδιχα].* Thus the Coislin Ms. The edition has "otherwise [ἄνδικα]."

59 *So that.* The Greek interpreter: So that you may glorify one power and one principle... not highly venerable [οὐ πολύσεπτον], of which the worship is not various, but one and the same and individual.

METRICAL VERSION

^A is the Triad from the Monad, and the Monad from the Triad. ^B Neither is the Monad without number, since it stands in triple blessings; nor is the Triad much-divided, since the nature is undivided. ^C The Monad is in the Godhead, but those things of which the Godhead consists are trinary in number. 75 Each is one God, whenever you speak of it alone. Again, one God is without beginning, from whom is the wealth of the Godhead, whenever reason has any mention of the three, so that the one might be the ^D venerable proclamation of the three lights to mortals, and the other we glorify, the bright-shining monarchy, 80 nor let us delight in the assembly of gods which is polyarchic. For to me, polyarchy is equal to anarchy, warring against itself. Strife is division; but division hastens to dissolution. Therefore, polyarchy is far from the Godhead for me. And let them call them three gods, as many as time or thought...

Neither should you consider a fountain, a spring, a great river, and a stream, driven in triple forms along the earth; nor again the flame of a fire coming back into one, nor a word going forth from the mind and remaining within; 65 nor any glitter from waters by the movements of the sun, trembling upon walls, unsteady, fleeing before it approaches, and approaching before it flees. For the nature of God is not unstable, nor flowing, nor coming back together; but that which is firm belongs to God. 70 But by thinking in this way, you would offer pure sacrifice within. In three lights, one nature is supported.

60 It is from the unit, the Triad, and from the Triad, the unit. (Not as a river, a fountain, and a great river are one flow, which washes the earth in a triple manner; not as the torch of a fire, which, having been divided, is again gathered into one; not as the word proceeding from the mind, and remaining within; 65 not as the brightness from the waters, agitated by the sun, trembling and mobile around the walls, fleeing before it approaches, and approaching before it flees; for the nature of God is not unstable or flowing, or again coming together; but the title of firm and stable must be attributed to God). 70 Thus, however, thinking, you shall offer a pure victim within: In three lights one nature is established. Nor is the unity without number: for it consists in the three goods; nor is the Trinity to be worshipped variably: for the nature is inseparable. The unity in the Godhead: but three are numbered, whose the Godhead is. 75 Each one is one God, when you speak of the one. Again, God is one without principle, from whom are the riches of the Godhead, when mention is made of the three, so that by this the venerable preaching of the three lights may be preserved for men; but by that, we may celebrate the resplendent monarchy, 80 nor may we be delighted by a crowd of gods with diverse ruling. For to me, the rule of many is equal to the rule of none, which fights against itself. But battle is division; and division hastens to dissolution. Wherefore I keep a multiple rule far from the Godhead. But let those be called three gods, whom time, or thought...

has divided. And while force and will tear one another apart, each of them is never identical with itself and never without strife. ^A But of my Trinity, the power is one, the thought is one, the glory is one, and the power is one. Wherefore the monad is unshakable, having great glory in the harmony of the Godhead. 90 To my eyes the Trinity has revealed so much light, within the wings and the divine veil of the temple of God, ^B beneath which the sovereign nature of God is hidden. But if anything more has been granted to the angelic choirs, let the Trinity know it as something more.

IV. On the World.

Come now, let us hymn the creation of the great God, contending against deceitful opinions. ^A One God; and as for matter and forms, which the wise men of the Greeks consider coeternal, it is a feeble myth, conceived by the ingenious among the Greeks as if they were co-beginning. 5 As many of those shapes which they form into venerable gods, they did not exist, but came into being when the great God willed it. For who has ever seen matter devoid of form, or who has seen form without matter, ^B even though he may have labored much in the gyrations of his intellect? For I have not found a body without color, nor 10 a color without a body. Who separates what nature has brought into one? But even so, let us make a distinction; but observe for me, if they were entirely unmixed, how did they come into one, or what is the world that ^C stood fixed, divided asunder in every way? But if they were mixed, how were they mixed? Who mixed them apart from God? And if it is God who is the mixer, 15 recognize him as the creator of all things.

POETICAL DOGMATIC WORKS

The potter, as he turns the wheel, imprints a form upon the clay, The goldsmith on gold, and the stone-cutter on his stones. Grant to God something more than our own mind, O enemy of the First Principle. Matter is the "more" that moves along with forms; 15 He thought them, and the things that had forms came into being; divine thought Is the complex mother of all things. For it is not likely That he is like a painter who rouses a form from a form, Looking at what was before him, which his mind had not fashioned as he was. And you, O evil darkness of Manichaeus, you were not ^A from the beginning 25 An equal throne to the highest light. If God existed, Then darkness did not. For it is not fitting for evil to contend against God. If you are darkness, you do not know God. For them to be of one mind is unseemly; But if they fight, the power of the stronger prevails. And if they are equal in struggle, ^B 30 Who is the third who brings them into one by his wisdom and dissolves the strife? And this is a most great wonder, since you declare a terrible tale Of three, then again you set them in accord, forgetting the battle. I am soul and body. The one is a spark of the divinity Of the infinite light; the other was fashioned for you from a dark root. 35 And things that were far apart you gathered into one: If I am of a common nature, I dissolve the struggle. If the tale is firm, I am no longer a nature woven from both sides. For the offspring of those who fight is not common, but of those who love. Such is the darkness ^C of your heart. But for me 40 There is one God who is without beginning, without strife, one good light, The strength of the simple and complex minds that are borne upwards.

METRICAL VERSION

[alt-version omitted]

^B Fortius, inter se sin denique viribus æquis Concertent, quisnam sublatis fœdera rixis Sanciet, et vinclo pugnantia junget amico. Quin ego demiror, quid sit cur jurgia sæva Cum moveas, eadem rursus concordia fingis, Dissidii velut oblitus, pugnæque prioris. Namque ipse ex anima et crasso cum corpore contextum, Divinæ illa quidem lucis tibi rivulus esse Fingitur, hoc vero tenebras habuisse parentes. Tune igitur, spatiis quæ tam sunt dissita longis, Jungere non dubitas? Equidem pugnantibus ipse Naturis si consto, odium litesque molestas Comprimo; sin pugnæ funestaque jurgia durant, His ego naturis nequeo constare duabus. Non etenim ex illis, quæ sunt pugnantia, sed quæ Fœdere juncta, potest fœtus communis oriri. At tales vesanæ tui, Manichæe, tenebræ Sunt animi. Ast unus mihi contra nescius omnis Principii Deus est, luxque expers unica pugnæ, Compositis simplexque quibus natura tributa est, Mentibus irradians, superas alteque volantes,

^A of those in heaven and those on earth; but darkness came last. ^B But I, self-slain, planted malice—this is malice. Malice is but the dissolution of a command, as night is the setting of the sun, and old age the fading of youth. 45 But the sun's path to the southern breezes brought on a dreadful winter. The one who was foremost among the heavenly lights, having lost his light and glory through arrogance, forever hates the race of mortals. And from him, the first man tasted of man-killing malice 50 and of death, which, by his wiles, fanned a flame within me. This is the nature of the late-born evil, of which he is the father. Rust is the blight of strong iron; but I, consumed by the wiles which the crafty, envious enemy constructed, planted the blight of malice within myself by following his deceits. 55 World, if you were then, when the Trinity existed—a glory not distant from Him who has no beginning—how could those who bear Christ and are skilled in divine matters set you so far apart, so that they measure a not very large number of revolving years since the great Word of God fashioned you? But if you were fashioned 60 later, let us consider what the divine thought was pondering (for God is not inactive to me, nor imperfect) before all this stood firm and was adorned with forms. Reigning supreme over empty ages, He moved, observing the sweet splendor of His own beauty,

^A a splendor belonging to the triple-manifest Divinity, equal in power, as it is clear to the one Deity and to those who worship God. He moved, observing the patterns of the world which He had established, which the world-creating Mind, in His immense thoughts, had conceived for what was to be hereafter, yet [which were] present to God. 70 All things are before God, both what shall be and what have been, and whatsoever now exists. To me, however, time divides things thus: some are before, others are after; but to God all things are gathered into one and are held in the embrace of the great Divinity. Therefore, hear what my mind has discovered. 75 The Mind was in labor with all things, and later the timely birth broke forth, when the great Word of God revealed it. He desired to create an intelligent nature, both heavenly and earthly, as translucent mirrors of the first light—the one above, shining and serving the King, 80 full of light, great; the other, holding glory here—fountaining forth divinity, so that He might reign over many heavenly beings, and the light might be the bliss-giving source for the many. For this is the nature of my King, to bestow bliss. And, so that the created thing, by drawing near to God, might not, through desire for divine glory 85 equal to God, lose its light and glory (for to keep measure is best, but immoderation is most evil), for this reason the lofty Word, designing kindly for those who were to be, cast far away from the Trinity all the light that [stands] around the throne of God, and [set] human nature far from the angelic choirs, and the angelic [nature]...

^A far away, since we were born of the earth, mixed with the Divinity; but the simpler nature is superior. Of the worlds, however, the one is more ancient, namely heaven, the place of those enjoying God, and visible to minds alone, 95 full of light, whither afterwards man shall journey, when he shall have been made [as] God, having purified his mind and his flesh. But, as for the one [that was] fashioned as mortal for mortals, when it was about to stand [firm], both as the grace of lights and as a herald of God, in beauty and in magnitude, and as a kingdom of the image, 100 first and last, they were established by the reasons of the great God.

V. On Providence

^A The great Mind fixed the boundless world with broad foundations, bearing all things within, and [being] himself above all; but what measure [can suffice] to grasp the Incomprehensible? And when he had fashioned it, he leads it [forth] under a first impulse, 5 as [if it were] a spinning top struck and hurried into a circle, being moved by great and immovable reasons. For neither is the nature of so great and such a world fortuitous—to which there is nothing similar to conceive— 10 do not attribute so much to fortuitous reasonings. For who has ever seen a house which hands have not built?

[alt-version omitted]

Metrical Version

^B And thus the great Mind fixed the broad foundations of these worlds (the limits of which no thing can encompass, nor can any measure them), which holds and surpasses all things: for with what art could he be held, who escapes every grasp of man? Nevertheless, after he had once built this world, at the first impulse (not unlike a top, which someone strikes and turns into a circle), he always revolves it and governs it with wondrous plans. For neither was the most beautiful mass of the world, to which no mind can devise anything equal, born by chance, nor is it now driven [by chance]. Do not, I pray, so rashly pour forth most vain words.

^A Who [has seen] a ship or a swift chariot, a shield or a helmet? None would have remained for so long a time, had it been without a beginning; and even the chorus would fail, in my opinion, if left without a leader. Nor is it probable that the world has any other manager 15 but Him who fashioned it. But you who assign the stars as the leaders of our race and of our entire life, tell me: what other heaven will you cause to revolve for the stars themselves? And for that one, yet another in turn, and so on, as they lead those who are leading? 20 One king is a companion to many stars, of whom one is noble, another bad; one is an orator, another a merchant, another a wanderer, while a high throne carries a proud man. And in the sea and in war, there is a common fate for many, though they be of different birth. The stars, which they say bound them together, did not bind together their common end. 25 Those whom they caused to perish, one common death bound: if there is indeed some first necessity holding to each individual, this is a myth; but if some stronger common necessity rules over it, the stars are opposed to other stars. But who, then, is the one who mixed them? For He who bound them together will also loose them whenever He wills. 30 But if it be God, how then do you first shake off what is God to me? Unless you also wrap God Himself under your stars. If there is no one ruling, how will it stand? For I have not seen it. Those men, by such arguments, would exclude God— 35 for surely either God is, or the stars are the leaders. But I know this: God governs all these things, the Word of God directing them hither and thither; and whatever is above, and whatever is below, He has set in place by His intelligence; and to these He has given 36 things according to their nature.

[alt-version omitted]

METRICAL VERSION

Who has ever seen a house or a swift chariot, or a shield or a ratemve, Or a helmet, that was not built by the right hand Of a craftsman? It would not have lasted through such ages, If it were governed by no ruler. For not even a chorus itself, if you take away the leader from it, Could stand firm for however short a time. Nor is it fitting for anyone to manage the reins of the world, Except for this one, who founded it. But you, who bestow the rudder and the control of life Upon the stars, you must also introduce another heaven That may moderate those stars, And yet another, in turn, that rules and governs this one. You may find one king who is not born of a different Star from many others, of whom one is wicked, Another good; one follows the market, another is a merchant, Or asks for his living as a suppliant at different doors; While this one sits proud on the high seat of power. Against these you may see others, whose birth appeared different: ^B And yet they have perished by no different death, having been snatched away By the waves at once, or by the heat of rapid conflict. And so, those whom a star had joined at their first rising, The same fate did not join; and pale death again joined Those whom no natal star had joined. But if certain fatal bonds hold each one in their grip, This is a fiction. But if some star holds a common Command over the rest, and possesses the scepter, Then you posit stars as contrary to stars. Who then joined those? For He who bound them, He also will quickly loose them, if He should chance to wish it. If God is, by what reasoning do you assert that first point, By which God is cast out from us? Unless you also proceed To subject the divine spirit to the movements and command of the stars. But if no one holds command, by what means Could the world stand and remain unscathed? And by this discourse they attempt to drive out God, (For either God is the ruler, or the stars of the world). Now receive our judgment and our faith. The Word of God rules all these things, governing them from every side.

[^A] Harmony and a course enduring and ever stable, And for others a life mutable, and bearing many forms; Part of these He revealed to us, but the rest He guards in the hidden 40 Depths of His wisdom, wishing to refute the empty boasting of mortals. And some He placed here, but others shall meet Us in the last days. The husbandman reaps all things in their season, As also Christ is the best judge of my life. This doctrine of mine is without stars, self-governed, and free. 45 But do you, for me, recount the horoscopes and the minute ^B Fates, and the life-bearing circles and the measures of the [celestial] path; Solve for me the laws of life, and [take away] fear from the wicked, And grant hope to the good, looking toward the future.

For if the circle carries all things, I am whirled 50 By its turning; the capacity to will, the circle itself would Cause [in me]. And there is for me no inclination leading toward the better, Neither of counsel nor of mind, but the pole rolls me this way. Let the great glory of Christ be silent, the messenger star ^C That led the Magi from the East unto the city 55 Where Christ shone forth, the ageless Son begotten of a mortal. For it was not one of those stars which observers Are [accustomed to]—the astrologers—but a stranger one, and not previously Made manifest, but seen in the Hebrew books, from which the sons ^D Of the Chaldeans, whose life it is to wander the stars, having learned beforehand, 60 Observing it alone out of many, which they were watching,

[Regarding the star] racing with recently-risen light from the East to the land of the Hebrews, they conjectured a king. Then the artful skill of the astrologers collapsed, when the astrologers worshipped the King together with the heavenly [bodies]. 65 But the stars, indeed, travel their own path, which Christ the King has appointed for them, fiery, ever-running, and unshakable, both the fixed and the wandering [stars] that turn back, as they relate, whether the nature of fire is something that requires no sustenance, or some fifth body, as they call it, possessing a circular track. 70 But we ascend our own path. For we hasten toward the rational and heavenly nature, even though we are prisoners of the earth. ^A

VI. Concerning the same subject.

Perish those who deny the Divine, and who do not attribute this ineffable and most elegant frame of the whole universe to some cause that is both productive and holds all things together. 5 Perish those who recognize some swarm of gods, or the power of either good or evil demons. Perish those who deny Providence, as if fearing that they might be cared for by God; but rather, they assign the whole to unstable motion, 10 or attribute it to the movements of the stars, [asking] by what [means], from whence, and by whom they are moved? ^B

VI. CONCERNING THE SAME SUBJECT. (Translated by Billius.)

Let the profane perish, who deny the supreme God, and who refuse to attribute such great harmony of the world (which no words can explain) to any cause—one that makes all things, and preserves all things. Let those perish who introduce a wandering crowd of gods, and the power of good or evil demons. Let those perish who deny Providence (as if they feared that the care of the best God might preserve them), but instead give all things to uncertain chance, or reserve them for the motion of the stars: I would gladly ask, who is he that moves them? Is it God? Or do you claim that God turns what the first [cause] provides?

^A If, however, it is not of God, how will they stand, springing from anarchy, 15 Or from the conflict of a stronger power? And how is there not conflict? For the removal of providence is an insurrection against God; Unless you make God himself also subject to fate, Bearing against his will the tyranny of the thread. Thus, indeed, are these men caught in their own arguments. 20 To us, one God leads all this [universe], Wisely rolling and weaving, as He wills, By his own nods and his own words, Even if He does not seem to turn all things rightly. Many, indeed, even of the wisest, struggle 25 With the inequalities here, both long ago and now. Why must I mention everyone? But observe for me What David suffers; seeing the wicked Prospering (as they seem to), he is greatly dizzy, Lest one attribute the nature of things to chance, 30 As if there were no one presiding over us. But he himself knows the solution: "For the end Of all things, look for me," he says, "as a turning-back." You sowed—you shall see the stalk from the seed. But if you are ignorant of the reasons, the Word is not; 35 For if you are ignorant of the painting, the painter is not; Nor, if you of lines, is the geometer—you might be. Some things you have grasped, in others follow wisely; It is reasonable, too, to obey reason. If all things are clear, say, where is faith? 40 For faith is an uninquiring assent. I myself also think this, perhaps wisely:

[alt-version omitted]

METRICAL VERSION

For it belongs to the weaver to turn what he has woven. If it is not moved by God, will they stand, from anarchy, Or the conflict of God? For it is a conflict. For he who denies the provident One brings war upon God: Unless perchance you introduce a fated God, Who suffers against his will the force of the bond. Thus you see these men caught in their own words. But to us one God governs the world, Himself wisely rolling it by His own nods, And weaving all things entirely at His own pleasure, Although it may be thought that He rolls some things not rightly. Many struggle, and indeed very wise men Both now and long ago, because of the unequal state of life. What need to recount them all? I would that you watch What David himself perceives, seeing the wicked ^B Flourish, as they judge. He is greatly agitated, Lest anyone think that all things are carried along at random, And that there is no one who wisely rules our affairs. But he himself solves this. Look, he says, At the end of all things, how it is the contrary. What you sow, this you shall surely reap in the end. If the reason is unknown to you, it is not so to God: For if it is unknown to the line, and to the tablet, and to you, Nevertheless the artist knows this or that. Some things you know yourself: in the others, follow [Him]. For this is the mark of a prudent man: to obey the Word. If all things are clear, tell me, I pray, where is faith? For faith is, in truth, a simple assent. But I also think this, perhaps not amiss: Not when you came, did I promise you these things,

^A to be rich, to be without care, to be strong, or to have good children, but rather a good life and those things that are expected, so that in place of the present you might hope for greater things. How then is it just, as if in a transaction, to both seek what has been sold and to have the price in hand? Unless you alone claim for yourself this honor above all others. What great greed, and what a new kind of commerce! 50 Either cast those things away, good friend, or give these things also, if indeed it is necessary for you to stand by your words, and not to go outside of what was well agreed upon. How then, you might say, did those to old have these things? ^B 54 Not yet at that time was faith rooted, 55 and faith then was the things of this world—things perceived as if milk for infants who grow in strength. The proof of the word. For then it was that the greatest of sins were somewhat pardonable, but sins not the greatest were to be valued, 60 with the value of both being weighed in a balance. But the punishments of the holy men were excessive. Let David persuade you of these things, and Moses, and Elisha, of whom I tremble as I recall: the one punished insufficiently for his transgressions, 65 and the other for small things, even though he had received a vision of God.

METRICAL VERSION

^A And the army he preserved to such a degree. But he, ^B offended by a slight injury, inflicted such a great and unexpected plague upon the children for a minor mockery. So shaded was the law, then. 70 So was the cleansing of sins through the blood of victims; So were the light ritual sprinklings of the flesh; So was the greatest virtue the flight from base things, Even if nothing else were present; since to such narrow limits Was the piety of those men restricted at that time. 75 Shall I say something greater than what I have said? It shall be told. Not yet had they received such a benefit, As we have obtained by the sufferings of Christ, ^A And by that Lamb sacrificed for my sins. So their praise was greater; but if the praise was greater, 80 Then grant also that their debt of labor was greater, While to us, who have received greater benefits, it is smaller. But that which must be said instead of all things and above all things: 234-235 Do not excessively praise the prosperity of this life, You who know how to discern things greater than those which are visible; 85 Lest perhaps to me this height be something difficult to traverse, While to you the easy path be precipitous. My leanness is better than your goodly state. Have you ever seen an ox in a manger, large, Exalted, shining with the fatness of its flesh,

METRICAL VERSION

And the last, not affected by a severe insult from the boys, Afflicts them with a severe punishment. ^B So shadowed was the law then: so, in victims, Was the cleansing of crimes situated in blood; The sprinklings of the flesh and the impure were light; To avoid sin was the highest virtue (even if Nothing more was present); for the little ones of that time Piety was enclosed within boundaries. Shall I myself speak something greater than these? Certainly I will speak. Not yet did they have, as we do, the gift, namely, the Sufferings of God, and the innocent Lamb which He poured out for my stains. Their praise, therefore, was greater; but if it was more ample, Grant also that it was a greater debt of labors; But since we have received more, it is less for us. But what is equal to all things, and before all things; Do not too highly extol the favorable course of life, You who know how to discern things above those which we see. Lest perhaps the arduous path might urge me to the heights, While to you an easy course might rush you into a precipice. My leanness surpasses your beauty. Do you see the one head of the oxen in the stall

^A raising its neck, and the other with head bowed low, wrinkled, and deformed—which are the signs of labor in plowing? The one is kept for slaughter, while the other feeds both itself and its master. Of these, which seems to you more fortunate? Is it not the lean one, worn by the yoke? This is clear. But you prefer abundance, even if it is evil and composed of evil. Or would you praise the swelling of one suffering from dropsy? Or does a madman seem strong to you? Is a sweet medicine always a healing one? Often the bitter has saved many; but the sweet, for the most part, leads to the worse. And to a son, is not the father’s rod worthy of honor, if he is of sound mind? But to whom the goodness of the father is an evil, he is neither a son, nor is he struck by the rod. What if you are contending, like Job, for a crown? Sing these things to yourself, and you will be relieved, finding a consolation for suffering, and gaining hope through thanksgiving. For it is the way of a bad servant to honor the master only when he smiles, but to consider him harsh when he strikes. It is fitting to accept every turn of the rudder with which He directs me out of the wrestling-ground and the storm, until He brings me into tranquil harbors; if indeed He has not constructed the ship in vain, but for a good and fitting end.

VII. On Intellectual Substances.

VII. ON SUBSTANCES ENDOWED WITH MIND.

^A encounters the clouds and is repelled, it curls itself into a many-colored rainbow, and all the air nearby shines around it in thick circles that eventually dissolve. Such is the nature of lights: the supreme Light always illuminates lesser minds with its rays. For He is the source of lights, a light that can neither be named nor apprehended, fleeing the speed of a mind that approaches it, 10 forever slipping away from the understanding of all, so that we may stretch with longing toward a height that is ever new. Those which are secondary lights, from the Triad that holds royal glory, are the angels—gleaming, formless beings who stand around the great throne, for their minds are nimble. ^A 15 Fire and divine spirits, quickly running through the air, eagerly serve the great commands. They are simple, intellectual, and transparent; they do not come from flesh (for since flesh is compacted, it will perish again), nor do they go into flesh, but remain as they were made. 20 I wished to call them altogether unyielding, but hold the horse—even though it be exceedingly hot—with the reins of the mind. Some are attendants of the great God; others hold the entire world in their care, each having a different authority from the King, 25 watching over men, cities, and all nations, and acting as witnesses of the rational sacrifices of mortals. My soul, what will you do? Reason trembles before the celestial ones.

And my beauty is buried; darkness has met me, and I know not whether to set forth a word or to shrink back. 30 As when a traveler, about to cross a rushing river, has suddenly leaped back, and though eager, is held in check, while his heart tosses much about the stream; necessity steels his courage, but fear restrains his impetus; often he lifts his foot over the water, and often again 35 he retreats; but as they struggle, necessity overcomes fear. So, too, when I approach the formless Godhead, I fear to subject the ministers of the pure and high King, a race sated with light, to sin, lest I pave a way of evil for many. 40 I fear, too, to inscribe an upright, unchangeable nature with my words, ^A Mèsph’ until I see some perverse ruler of evil. For it was not of the Good to plant the nature of evil in us, nor to bring forth strife and hatred among His own friends; nor again to raise up evil 45 as the last, or to have a nature without beginning like the King. Thus, as I was in distress, God put this thought into my mind. First, the holy nature of the Godhead is ever unchangeable, nor does it ever change from one into many. For what is more excellent than the Godhead, into which it might change? And to permit more is to lose the Being. 50 Second, the great ministers of the highest light are as close to the primary beauty as the ether is to the sun. And the third is we, the airy ones.

^A For God's nature is immutable in all things; but the angelic nature is difficult to turn toward vice, while for us it is easily bent. 55 The further men are from God, the closer they are to vice. Therefore, the first one, Lucifer, raised on high—for he did indeed hope for the kingly honor of the great God, having glory surpassing all—lost his splendor and fell here dishonored, total darkness instead of God. 60 And although he was light, he slipped down to the low earth. Thence he hates those who are prudent, and shuts everyone off from the heavenly path, angered on account of his own ruin. He does not even wish that God's creature should approach closely to the divinity from which he fell, for he desired to have wickedness 65 and darkness in common with mortals, for which reason he cast them out of paradise. ^B Thus did he come, having been raised from the heavenly vault; but he did not fall alone. Since pride destroyed him, he fell with many more, as many as he taught wickedness—70 just as some wicked man, having split off an army from its King, and with envy of the choir of the God-minded ruler on high, and having a desire to reign over more wicked ones. Thence sprouted the earthly wickednesses, demons, minions of the murderous wicked king, 75 weak, shadowy, formidable phantoms of the night, liars, insolent ones, teachers of sin, vagabonds, wine-bibbers, laughter-lovers, those who stir up revelry, oracle-mongers, crooked ones, strife-lovers, blood-stained, ^C Tartarean, lurking, shameless, master-sorcerers. [alt-version omitted]

^A They come when they are called, yet they loathe those they lead— Night and light, whether they take us openly or setting an ambush. Such is the army of these, and such their leader, Whom Christ, though He created the whole world with the same counsel, Did not utterly destroy—though He could have destroyed him 85 Instantly, if He had willed (for one cannot escape the wrath of God)— Nor did He leave my enemy free, But set him in the midst, between the good and the evil alike, And gave them a bitter struggle against one another, so that he might suffer cruel Disgrace, even here, in battling against one who is weaker, 90 While they, laboring in virtue, might hold their glory forever, Like gold purified in the furnaces of life, Or perhaps the indomitable Satan might pay penalties hereafter, When the matter is kindled, and the reward is of fire, Having first suffered much among his own ministers 95 While they are tormented. This is the punishment for the father of evil. The Spirit taught me these things concerning the angelic light, Both the first and the last. And He found the measure here as well. The measure, moreover, is God Himself. As much as one draws near to the King, So much light there is, as much light, as much corresponding glory.

VIII. On the soul.

The soul is a breath of God, and it endured a mingling Of the heavenly with the earthly, light covered in a cavern, ^B If, perhaps, the unyielding one might pay penalties hereafter, When the matter is kindled, when there is a transformation by fire— Having been subdued by his own servants for many things previously, And being tormented—for that is retribution for the begetter of evil. 95 These things the Spirit taught me regarding the angelic light, And the first and the last. And He found the measure here as well. The measure, moreover, is God. As much as one draws near to the Sovereign, So much is the light, as much light, so much corresponding glory.

VIII. On the soul.

The soul is a breath of God, and it endured a mingling Of the heavenly with the earthly, light covered in a cavern.

^A Yet it is divine and immortal. For it is not right that the image of the great God should be dissolved unseemly, like to crawling things and senseless cattle, even if sin has constrained it to be mortal, 5 nor is its nature that of ravening fire: for it is not fitting that the thing which consumes should be the heart of that which is consumed; nor is it a part of air exhaled or inhaled, nor of that which is stationary; nor is it a sanguineous flow running through the flesh; 10 nor even a harmony of the parts of the body coming into one. For the nature of the flesh and of the immortal form is not one. And what more would the good have over the worst, if their temperament or composition made them either bad or best? And how is there not also in the irrational a nature of reason? ^B 15 For the harmony of the mortally-composed flesh and form exists in the irrational. And if all were of good temperament, then they would all be better, as the myth goes. Such then are those; but for the reason that, when they are absent, the soul leaves the body, these have claimed that [the soul] is this. 20 But food was never your heart, without which it is for a mortal wholly unbelievable to live, since food is strength. I know also another opinion, which I shall never accept, for there would not be one common soul for me and for all, one divided and wandering through the air, 25 so that it would breath-filled and exhaled—would be the same in all, and all who live, breathing together, would lie [in all], if the nature of air is also poured out, being one thing in some, and another in others.

METRICAL VERSION

Not otherwise than light which is drawn over the dark cavern; ^A yet it is divine, and ignorant of bitter death. For it did not behove the image of the Divinity to perish as do the brutes and the cattle lacking reason; even though sin strives to render this [image] mortal. Further, the soul's nature is not to be thought of as fiery. For who would believe the mind to be that which consumes the thing it consumes? Nor is it air; for it, in turn, is exhaled and inhaled, and never stands still. It is not blood either, spread through the whole body. Nay, nor the harmony which the friendly union of humors creates. For the nature of the flesh and the soul ^B is not the same, in which death has no right. But what advantage would those whom fair virtue adorns have over the wicked, if a diverse temperament makes men heavy with probity, or foul with crime? Nay, from this it would also follow that mind and reason dwell in brute animals. For the brutes would possess both the harmony of the form and of the flesh. Add that from this, those who enjoy a healthy and rightly-functioning body must also be better. And these things the profane felt concerning the mind, declaring that soul is those things, which as soon as they are removed, the mind leaves the cold limbs. But the mind was never food for them, without which, however, there could be no one who could live, for consumed nourishment preserves strength. ^C But there is another opinion known to us also, which, while I enjoy the light, I shall never accept, for the mind is not common to me and to all as a part equally shared, which wanders in the aerial region. For so it would be the same for all mortals, drawn and exhaled; and all who live by vital breezes ^D

even now, ^A how long? I have never seen a beast possessed of rational speech, nor a talking shrub. The chatterbox crow is ever the same; always the mute fish swims through the wet brine. But if this is the final punishment of the soul, as they say, then the judgment regarding these things is meaningless. 45 If it is bodiless, it is a great wonder; but if it is with a body, to which of the many will you consign it to the fire?

And then a greatest wonder, since you have bound me to more bodies, and the bond has made me knowledgeable of many, how did this alone escape my mind? Who possessed my skin before? Who afterward? In how many have I died? For my binder was not wealthy in souls as if they were in purses. Or perhaps this indeed is the suffering of forgetfulness of my former life brought about by a long wandering.

METRICAL VERSION

And as for those who graze, and those who have offered their necks to the cruelty of slaughter, if they were in all things, that is a foolish thing to say. For even now, the air flows into these and back again to them. But if the mind remains in certain settled places, tell me, who possessed it, and what was living in the mother’s womb, if it drew me, since I was outside? And if you imagine this mother to be the parent of a manifold offspring, by Hercules, she reaps great honors from you, with how many souls you adorn her, who are consumed by a mass of evils. These dogmas are clearly foolish, the playthings of vain authors, who have given for the soul to be forever shifted in perpetual cycles, changing bodies equal to a life spent either evilly or purely, as a penalty for wickedness or as a reward for an upright life; ^B not otherwise than one who now indecorously clothes a man in various garments, and now strips him again, forcing him to roll the wheel like the most wicked Ixion. They fashioned plant, man, bird, fish, dog, and wild beast, and the blue serpent, and each of these things they did repeatedly, whenever the revolving cycle demanded it. For how long, I pray, will you pour forth these empty words? For I have never heard the reasoning of wise beasts, nor even of a thicket; but the crow is always garrulous, and the mute fish always swims in the salt sea. But if, as they remember, the mind is to pay the penalty for crimes at the end of the world, this censure will be pronounced in vain. For if it is to pay the penalties without a body, I wonder at this indeed; but if with a body, with which of so many bodies will you yourself cast it into the avenging flames? Indeed, I also wonder at this: since you have handed over many bodies to me, and this nexus of things has made me experienced in many, how it happens that this one thing is unknown to me—what skin held me before, and what held me next? How many bodies have died for me in death? For he who bound me with a body was not as rich in souls as in sacks—

^A listen to the best teaching regarding the soul: starting from here, I shall blend a little delight into my discourse.

55 There was a time when the sublime Word of the Mind established the universe, following the counsel of the great Father, when it did not yet exist. He spoke, and whatever He willed was brought to completion. And when the whole world was, the earth, and the heaven, and the sea, He sought an investigator of the wisdom that is the mother of all things, 60 and a god-fearing king of earthly things, and He said this: “Already pure and ever-living ministers, holy minds, noble angels, inhabit the wide heaven, ^B singing my glory and never ceasing. But the earth still delights in mindless living creatures. 65 Thus it pleased me to join together a race from both sides, ^A a light of understanding between mortals and immortals, one who finds joy in my works, and a wise initiate of heavenly things, and for the earth a great power, another angel, from the earth, a herald of my powers and intellect.” 70 Thus He spoke; and taking a portion of the newly-fashioned earth, He established my form with His immortal hands, and shared with it a portion of His own life. For He placed therein a Breath, which is truly an out-flowing of the formless Godhead. From clay and breath was the bond of the immortal mortal 75 brought to be; for the sovereign nature of the mind rules over both. For this reason I cherish this life on account of the earth, but I have longing in my breast for that other life on account of the divine portion. Such was the first binding of created man. But thereafter...

^A a body is propagated from flesh, and the soul is mingled in a way unknown, 80 slipping in from without into this earthy frame. He who joined them knows how He first breathed it in and bound His own image to the earth, unless some person, supporting my words, should boldly posit this—following the opinion of many: 85 Just as the body that was first tempered from the earth was the origin of the human race, and ceaselessly continues to produce other men from others, from the first root established; so too the soul, inspired by God, thereafter comes to human forms, newly born, 90 distributed from that first seed to many, and keeping a perpetual form in the human members. For this reason it has obtained the intellectual sovereignty. But as in small ^B pipes a great breath sounds narrow and disjointed, even if the piper is skilled; but if pipes have come into his hands that are wider, then they yield a more perfect sound: 95 so too the soul, weak in weak members, when they have become more solid, shines forth and unfolds the whole mind. But since the immortal Son fashioned His own man, so that he might enjoy new glory and, leaving the earth in the latter days, God might proceed thence to God, 100 He neither left him entirely free, nor did He bind him altogether; but placing a law in nature and engraving good things in his heart, He placed him in the valleys of the ever-blooming paradise, balanced on both sides, watching to see which way he would incline, 104 bare of all wickedness and deceptive pretense. 105 For heavenly life is paradise, I think. Inside it He placed him as a servant and cultivator of the Word.

METRICAL VERSION

But thereafter in the rest, flesh is born from flesh, and the mind enters secretly and joins itself to the dusty mass, as He knows who first bound the image to the flesh; lest perhaps some man, bold and following the many, might labor to defend these words with my protection: namely, that just as the body, which first flowed from the dust, ^B appeared after the origin of the human race was established in us, and always from the first root others are born from others in turn; so too, clearly, that mind which God first breathed from on high, being newly risen, thereupon joins with the body lately fashioned, divided into many from the first seed: and it maintains its form in mortal members. Therefore it obtained its authority by divine gift. But as a small hole with a long pipe makes a narrow sound, and a great breath is burdensome to tender ears, however much one might please to fashion a flautist of exceptional art: but if the pipe, opened with wide holes, finds a skilled flautist, then the sound is at last full: thus the soul, weak at first in weak members, soon when the members have already gathered their vigor, shines forth and now reveals all its powers. But because the heavenly Son had raised man to heavenly airs, so that he might at last enjoy new splendor and depart from there, a man gifted with divinity, to the highest God, proposing this to himself, He did not wish him to live entirely unbound by his own right, nor again did He hold him altogether constrained, but He marked the best things of nature and the law in his heart, and at once placed him in the seat of the green paradise, wavering (watching toward which part he would incline), naked also, and pure of wickedness and malign fraud. And the heavenly sort of life, I think, was this paradise, in the middle region of which He had fixed the parent of the human race, so that he might cultivate the pious thoughts and fruits of the mind, and nourish them by cultivating them.

^A For He forbade him the tree that was more perfect, which held within it the discernment of good and evil—the perfect one. For perfect knowledge is more useful to adults than to the imperfect; since to the latter, it is just as heavy as richer food is to infants. But since he gave heed to the guileful wrestling of the manslayer, and to the suggestions of female speech, he tasted of the sweet-tasting fruit before the time, 115 and put on heavy, skin-like garments as he bore about his corpse (for Christ has cut away sin by death); and he went forth from the grove into the earth from which he was born, and received a life full of toil. And the Lord placed over that highly-prized tree His fiery zeal as a lock, ^A 120 so that no one, like Adam of old, might enter before the time, before he has learned to shun the devouring food of the sweet branch, and before someone wicked should approach the tree of life. But as one who is sailing the sea, constrained by wintry winds, has traveled backward, but afterward, having spread his sails to lighter breezes, 125 or by the labor of rowers, accomplishes the voyage again, so we also, who have fallen far from the great God, do not accomplish the return to our beloved home without toil. Such was the new-sown ruin that came to wretched mortals from the first-born, from which the ear of corn sprouted.

IX. On the Testaments and the Advent of Christ

^A 15 One that is older, and one that shone forth as new, First to the Hebrews, since they were the first to know The High-Ruler God, and thereafter to the ends of the earth. For God does not guide the mortal race by clashing Doctrines, as if He were ignorant—the Word is skilled in all things— Nor by inconsistent counsels, which is a reproach to mortals. But this is my account of the aid of the God who loves man. When the rabid enemy first cast Adam from Paradise, 40 Having lured him with the destructive fruit of the man-slaying plant, As when a commander strikes with shame an army whose leader has perished, He sought to plant both evil and death for his descendants, And having disrupted the guileful counsel of the heavenly God, He turned the eyes of mortals toward the starry heaven, 15 ^A 15 Blooming with all-shining beauties, and toward the forms Of the dead, which desire fashioned and myth established, Faithful in no strange misfortunes, a lie that cannot be refuted, Always growing with the coming years. The sacred, disastrous race of the Hebrews—they did not have prophets 20 Who lamented and supplicated, always setting forth The wrath of the King. Formerly, indeed, He would loosen them. Nor did they fear the kings, but even of these The majority were worse, nor did they abandon the groves at all, Nor the mountain peaks, nor the blood-stained demons. 25 For this cause they drew down the jealous wrath of the great God, And were shaken out. But I have entered in.

^A Drawing them by the guidance of zeal, to embrace the saving faith of Christ, late, at last, having been led away from their stubbornness, when they shall have been sated with the calamities 30 arising from the envy conceived against the younger people who were substituted for them. But these things are for later. Since, therefore, the Hebrews had held the law as vile, eventually the human race received this honor, by the nods ^B of the eternal Father and the operations of the Son: whatever of the heavenly nature Christ had implanted in the human body, seeing it consumed by the pestiferous malice and the tortuous dragon reigning over men, so that He might rouse His own inheritance, He did not entrust the malady to other physicians—for a light cure is not suitable 40 for grave diseases—but, emptying Himself, the Son of the eternal God the Father, who is without a mother, appeared to me also as a Son without a father: yet not new; for on my account, although He was immortal, He came forth mortal from a virgin mother, that He might save me, whole, in His wholeness. 45 For Adam had fallen wholly through the fatal taste. And so, according to human and not mortal laws, within the venerable womb of an unwed woman He was incarnate (O wonder, incredible to weak minds!), God and mortal came, gathering two natures into one, the one hidden, the other manifest to men; 50 of whom the one was God, but the other was formed for us in these last times. One God from both, since He is mingled with the divinity, and became both man through the divinity, and King and Christ, so that the new Adam, having shone forth to those on earth, might heal the former one, and being covered by the veil of flesh.

SECTION I. DOGMATIC POEMS

55 (For my sufferings did not allow me to approach God,) And that he might unexpectedly overthrow the crafty serpent, Which had intended to approach Adam, and to oppose God, Upon whom he was about to bring the full force of his wickedness, As the sea strikes against a rugged, surf-beaten rock. 60 When he appeared, earth and heaven were shaken about his birth. The heavenly choir sent down hymns, And a star from the east guided the Magi on their way, To the gift-bearing worshipers of the newborn King. This is my doctrine concerning the new birth of Christ. 65 There is no shame herein, for shame consists only in sin; But in Him there is no shame, for the Word fashioned Him. ^A And not by human flux was he born as a mortal, but from flesh, Which the Spirit had previously purified, the chaste, ever-virgin mother. Self-begotten he came as a mortal, and he was purified for my sake. 70 For he accepted all things, paying the price of nourishment according to the law, Or perhaps the payment for his departure, as a gift. But when, by the dazzling lamp of the great light, He was announced, running before the birth, and running before the message, Proclaiming Christ my God in the midst of the wilderness, 75 He appeared; he walked in the midst of the peoples, both he who was from afar, And he who was near (for the cornerstone was common to both). And he bestowed a twofold purification upon mortals, Of the eternal Spirit, which cleansed for me the former Corruption born of flesh, and of our own blood.

^A For my own blood, which Christ my God poured forth, Is the ransom for the ancient fault of our ancestors, And the price of the world's redemption. If indeed I were not a man inconsistent, but immutable, I would have had one mandate of the great God 85 Which might rule me, save me, and exalt me to great glory. But now, for God did not make me a god, but fashioned me Unstable, prone to turn, and leaning to the side of the many, ^B To whom also belongs the grace of the laver for mortals. For just as the children of the Hebrews once escaped death By the blood, which cleansed the doorposts, when were destroyed 90 The firstborn progeny of Egypt in one night, so for me is The laver of God, the averter of evils, to infants indeed A seal, but to adults a remedy and a most excellent seal, Divinely flowing from Christ the Giver of light, so that emerging From the depth of sorrow, and having cast off the burden a little, 95 I might lift up my neck and turn my foot toward life. For a traveler who has taken breath from his toil, More nimbly moves his limbs restored from weariness. Common to all are the air, and common also the earth, Common is the wide heaven, which the cycle revolves in its seasons: Common to mortals is the life-saving laver.

X. ON THE INCARNATION, AGAINST APOLLINARIUS

fashioned entirely from three, consisting of soul, mind, and the density of the body; [the whole, antecedent] Adam, except for sin. God is brought to perfection as man, for my honor,—so that, by reforming what He had taken, those things which He had given, He might undo the condemnation of the whole of sin, and slay the slayer by Him who died. ^A Simple from above, then compounded, God; then fixed by god-killing hands. This, to you, is the word of the mingled God. He was God from above, from whom also is the Father, the Word of God and Creator of all, ^B surpassing time, and passions, and body. But since the grudge [the devil] struck with the tree of knowledge and traversed our whole nature, as something vulnerable and condemned; that He might loosen the arrogance of the grudge, ^A He later fixed by god-killing hands.

ANOTHER EXEMPLAR OF IAMBICS AGAINST APOLLINARIUS

Which differs entirely from those published. For thus it has:

OF GREGORY THE THEOLOGIAN, FROM THE VERSES AGAINST APOLLINARIUS

Perish that man among the orthodox who, having received the mixing of the Word of God with us—which He accepted not by being changed, but by taking as man a soul-endowed, mind-endowed, passion-susceptible element of the body, the whole antecedent Adam, except for sin—by severing this, introduces a God without a mind, as if fearing that the mind might war against God. For thus, I would also fear the nature of the flesh; for it is rather that which is furthest from God. Or [is it] that the others are in need of salvation, but the mind has been accepted as having perished entirely, which is that which most of all must be saved by my God? For indeed, the first formation lapsed most of all, for it had received and disregarded the law. Let not the Word, therefore, save me by half—being entire, I who suffered—nor let God be dishonored as not having taken the whole of me, but only clay, and this which was a passing thing and capable of being assumed, but a soul without a mind and of some irrational animal, by which it has clearly been saved by your word. And let all the pious cease to say such things. For they err equal in measure from the opposite side to those who senselessly introduce two sons. Either we worship two gods instead of one, or we do not suffer this, being wary. Let us send the compound outside of God; for as to the flesh, God would suffer nothing, but the nature of man partook of the whole of God, not as a prophet or some other possessed by the divine, ^B who did not partake of God, but of the things of God, but having been ensouled just as the sun [partakes] of them. These would flow together from the midst of the Word, if they did not worship as one God-man, Him who took [humanity] together with the assumption, the timeless one, and that which was mixed with time, the one from the Father alone, and from the Mother alone, two natures having come into one Christ, one Christ and Son, not one nature.

[index: entries preserved]

^A And that He might recreate the corrupted image, He is born for us. For in a chaste virgin, God is conceived and proceeds. He is whole God and man, saving me entirely, a Son conceived by the mind and seen by the eyes. 25 I seem to you a worshipper of man, I who worship the whole Word, mystically united to me, God Himself and the saving man. But you are a worshipper of the flesh, introducing me to a mindless one, if I cleverly turn your own witticisms back upon you. 30 Either accept this, my dear friend, or grant it to me too, if you remain a just arbiter of speech, if for you the inferior thing is God from God (for flesh is much inferior to that which bears the image), then the superior thing is mine also; for the mind is closer to God.

^A 55 But for you, a half-man is in danger; for that which has not been assumed is not saved. What do you say, most wise defender of the Word, you who resent those who divide the divinity? Do you not also divide the composite of God, 40 granting indeed some of my nature, but not the rest, mingling the flesh, while scraping away the mind, as if you feared this, that you might not unite Him entirely? How then shall the one contain two perfections? Or do we fear that the skin may burst? 45 O what folly! The soul has received both mind and reason as one. But where for you is the great and total mind, with the presence of God? But if the flesh is mindless, I have been deceived. It is my skin; whose is the soul? What is the birth of God from the Virgin?

50 How did the nature of things so disparate come into one? It is unspeakable, as it appears to me, To one measuring with a small word things that transcend a word. The Spirit came upon the Virgin, cleansing her, And the Word fashioned for Himself, within, a mortal, 55 A whole ransom for a whole mortal that had died. Since God cannot be mingled with flesh, But soul and mind are as it were in the middle ground, Of the flesh as a companion, and of God as an image, The nature of God, having been mixed with what is akin, 60 From that point took on also a communion in mass. Thus, that which deifies and that which is deified is one God. What then has befallen both, as my argument holds? The one ^A having shared in my own, save for the passions of sin, Being mixed with the mass; the other as mass itself. 65 I ask: to whom was the blood of God poured out? If to the wicked—alas!—the blood of Christ to evil? But if to God—how? since we were held by another? For the ransom is always for the one in control. Or is this true: that He offers Himself to God, 70 That He might Himself snatch us from the one who holds us, And that He might take as a ransom for the fallen Christ; for He who anointed is not to be captured. Thus we think. But we reverence the types. You have these things here; worship the Trinity.

XI. On the Incarnation of Christ

He divides the Word of the great Father, or the Word’s human form and our coarseness. He was God, but the Word of the Father was established as our light, That He might mix God, being mixed with those of earth. One God in both respects; as much mortal as I am, to make 10 Instead of a mortal, God. Be propitious, O wounded One on high! Have so much. But what is it to me to inquire into the mind and the ineffable mixture? Around God, O mortals, love the measures of speech. If I might persuade, that is better. But if you blacken The paper with many thousands of verses, 15 Come, let me inscribe these few lines for your wanderings With my stylus, which has no ink.

XII. On the true books of the God-inspired Scripture.

XII. Of the true books of Scripture.

XII. OF THE TRUE AND GENUINE BOOKS OF SCRIPTURE. (Interpreted by Billius.)

and Leviticus as well. ^A Then Numbers. Then the second Law. Then Joshua, and Judges. Ruth is the eighth. The ninth and tenth books are the acts of the kings, 15 and Chronicles. You have Ezra in the last place. There are five poetic books, of which Job is the first; Then David; then the three of Solomon: Ecclesiastes, the Song, and the Proverbs. And likewise five of the prophetic Spirit. 20 The twelve are contained in one book: Hosea, Amos, and Micah the third; Then Joel, then Jonah, Abdias, Nahum, and Habakkuk, and Sophonias, Haggai, then Zacharias, Malachi. 25 The first is one. The second is Isaiah. Then the one called Jeremiah from infancy. Then Ezekiel, and the grace of Daniel. I have set forth twenty-two ancient books, corresponding to the letters of the Hebrews. 30 Now count also those of the new mystery. Matthew wrote the miracles of Christ for the Hebrews; Mark for Italy, Luke for Achaia; John for all, a great herald, a traveler to heaven. Then the Acts of the wise apostles. 35 And ten plus four epistles of Paul. Seven are catholic, of which one is of James, two of Peter, three again of John; the seventh is Jude's. You have them all. If there is anything outside these, it is not among the genuine ones.

Metrical Version

Leviticus, Numbers, and the Laws Second then follow. After Jesus, the Judges, Ruth, and the pair of books Describing the deeds of Kings. The next book follows, Which is called Chronicles. The last of all is Ezra. Five consist in meter: Job, David, the three of Solomon, Concio (Ecclesiastes), the distinguished Song, and sacred Proverbs. Five are the books of the prophets again; in one The twelve seers are joined, whose names are: Oseas, Amos, and Micah the third, then Joel, and Jonas, Abdias the sixth, and after him Nahum, and Habbacuc the eighth. Then Sophonias, Aggæus, after him Zacharias, and the last of these Malachias. One book contains them all; Esaias is the second, and Jeremias is the third, ^B Ezechiel the fourth, and Daniel in the fifth place in order. Hence it is granted to count twenty-two books, Exactly as many as there are elements of the Hebrew speech. Come now, proceed to count the books of the Recent Covenant. Matthew wrote the miracles of Christ for the Hebrews, Mark for the Ausonians (Italians), but Luke for the Achaeans, John for all, reaching the heavens with his mind. Then the famous deeds of the apostolic company follow. Then twice seven letters, which with divine inspiration Paul wrote. There follows one of James And two of Peter, three again by the blessed author John; and at the last there is one of Jude. These are all the genuine volumes of divine writing. Whatever is besides these, is not to be placed among the certain ones.

XIII. The Patriarchs produced by Jacob.

XIV. The Plagues of Egypt.

XV. The Decalogue of Moses.

[alt-version omitted]

Never mention the great God in vain. Observe all feast days, whether they be distinguished or less solemn. You are fortunate if you return to your parents the grace which it is fitting to return. Flee the crime of the murderer’s hand and of the strange bed, the malicious theft, false witness, and the desire for another’s goods, which is the spark of death.

XVI. The Miracles of the Prophet Elijah and Elisha

These are the miracles of Elijah the Tishbite. First, he was fed by ravens. Then, he fed the widow of Sarepta abundantly from the small remains of oil and flour, and he raised her son from the dead by his breath. He held back the rain by the word of God, ^A and afterwards sent it forth. After he had purified the victim with fire that was strange and also directed to strangers, he then lived for many days without tasting food. He consumed two captains of fifty with fire. He crossed the Jordan, dividing it with his mantle. He ascended into heaven in a chariot of fire, and left both his skin-cloak and his grace to Elisha. Behold also the miracles of this man: he crossed the Jordan, dividing it with his mantle. He rendered the springs fertile for the city with salt. He destroyed the insolent boys with the teeth of wild beasts. He brought forth streams of water from Edom for an army that was thirsty. He delivered a woman from her debts by springs of oil; and to the Shunammite who lacked children...

METRICAL VERSION

Do not ever fashion statues or dead images; nor should you wear out the name of your Lord with an empty tongue. Legitimate Sabbaths must be observed by you in quiet, as much those covered in shadows as those that are sublime in meaning. You are fortunate if you honor your parents with due worship. Do not kill anyone. Do not violate the covenants of another’s bed. Nor bind yourself with the crime of theft. Nor oppress any man with mendacious testimony. Nor gaze with covetous eyes upon the goods of others: for from this the food for eternal death is sought.

XVI. THE MIRACLES OF ELIJAH AND ELISHA

These wonders holy Elijah once brought to pass. A raven first nourished him, and afterwards he himself fed the widow of Sarepta most abundantly from the very small remains of oil and flour; and from the bosom of the underworld he drew back her son. Soon he himself shuts the heavens and denies the rain. He hands over the victim to be consumed by flames that are truly new, and in a new manner, and he passes many days fully taking no food; and the flame sends two captains of fifty to the Styx. He divides the waves of the Jordan with his cast-off mantle. And carried in a chariot of fire, he seeks heaven. Along with his garment, he leaves his grace to Elisha: whose extraordinary miracles you may now behold. He cuts the waves of the Jordan by the touch of his mantle. And he sweetens the sterile springs of the city with salt. He kills the wicked youths with the bites of wild beasts, and removes the cruel thirst from the three camps. By the gift of oil, he relieves a widow from [a great burden of] debt, and to another (a wondrous thing) he gives a son,

and restores him from the dead again. He checked the destruction from an herb, and drove back famine from many with slender sustenance. After he had cleansed Naaman the Syrian of leprosy, he sent that disease upon Gehazi; then he caused an axe to swim back to the surface from the depths of the Jordan. Having blinded the eyes of the Syrians who had come to capture him, he delivered them to his enemies; then he commanded food to be set before the ^A army, the work of lepers. And dead, he raised the dead, their bones being laid close together.

XVII. Epigram on the shrine of Elijah, which was called the Widow's House.

This, stranger, is that Sarepta of Sidonia, and this the widow's tower, which most humanely received the prophet of God, Elijah the Tishbite, when famine was ravaging the cities; and who had a jar of oil and a handful of flour hidden in a vessel. Having generously shared this with the guest, she found the offering a spring that nourished her household. Elijah, feeding her son while he was yet living, raised him from the darkness of the dead after he had died. And the mother, who before was weeping for her childlessness, became a mother again without the pangs of childbirth.

XVIII. On the genealogy of Christ.

Whence, tell me, does the great Matthew, and the most excellent Luke ^B

[alt-version omitted]

XVII. Epigram on the sanctuary of Elijah, which was called the Widow's House.

Stranger, you behold here the Sarepta of Sidon, and the tower of the widow, who, when the severe, avenging famine was pressing the cities, received into her house with a most hospitable heart the pious prophet of God; to whom the vessel had naught save a little oil, and the jar naught save a little flour. And when she had given this to her guest with no sparing hand, this very gift nourished her and her whole house. Whereas he had been feeding her son while he was alive, he straightway called him back from death after he was deprived of light; and the mother, who before had mourned her bereavement, was made a mother again, without birth.

XVIII. On the genealogy of Christ.

Matthew once wrote, and eloquent Luke:

The one presented this, the other that, book of generation, ^A Which leads Christ down from the blood of the first ancestor? How is it that one ended with more, the other with fewer? ^B 5 To King David, the stream of the lineage in both Is uncut; thereafter it flows in two, but at the end It is carried together, as if traversing to the boundless sea toward Christ. Thus you might discern it, and follow my discourse: David and Solomon, and Nathan were [the source], of whom one drew ^C 10 As it were the flow of a great river, royal blood; But the other [drew] from holy and most shining priests. Yet Christ was both: a great king, and a high priest. For this reason Matthew, breathed upon by the divine Spirit, Wrote down the descendants of Solomon, but Luke sped toward Nathan. 15 And from two lineages, one indeed more abundant, from the other The stream flows more concisely; it is no great wonder. Yet it is not more concise; the number of generations is not equal. ^D They were first split, then gathered into one. Tell me also this: how could Joseph have two fathers? 20 It was a law of Moses, when a Hebrew died Without seed, for a brother, or some kinsman of the deceased, Or some near relative, to straightway take his wife And his possession, to beget seed for the dead And increase his house, so that his name might not perish 25 Among men. Therefore I have found this hidden mystery Concerning the God-man: Mathan, drawing his race from Solomon, Led away Esther [as his wife].

[alt-version omitted]

^A When he had died, there was one named Melchi, whom Nathides took. And she bore sons to him, to this one Mathan, and to the other, Melchi, she bore Heli. But when Heli had died, seeing that he left behind no offspring, 50 Jacob, who was not born of the same father, straightway took his house and his bed, and he begot Joseph, a noble son for his brother. Thus he was the son of the one, but the Law registered him to the other, Joseph. Therefore, one of the evangelists, ^B Matthew, spoke of the nature [of Christ’s lineage], while Luke wrote of the Law. 55 Cease from troubling this beautiful harmony. How does David lead God to be King, when the immortal God appeared from a mortal mother? How, then, is he from Joseph? For he was the son of a virgin, and from Mary, a Levite; for Mary drew her blood from Aaron.

^A An angel is our witness, for when he was announcing the birth of the Forerunner to the mother of that great Light, ^B of divine appearance, he led both mothers back to the great Aaron. But perhaps you say that the tribes of the king and the priests were separate. ^C This is not true. The tribes were indeed apart, but often 45 they were mingled. Previously, Naasson, who was the sixth from Judah, took as his wife the daughter of the great Aaron into his great house. Afterward, when the spear of the Assyrians destroyed the city, and Babylon shook all the established customs, nor was the blood of the tribes kept separate at that time, 50 thus he ascends to the kings through his mother. But as for the one who was considered his father, I bid you to consider [the following]: when the king Augustus commanded that a census of all should be written down...

[metrical version omitted (latin)]

others in other cities wrote down according to their own patrilineal lands, but they arrived quickly at the beloved land of David, ^A 55 Bethlehem, which received the great Christ in its bosom. Both of them, his beloved betrothed and noble Joseph, came to be enrolled, for they were of the same tribe. Here in the manger, the Virgin Mother gave birth to the King of all the world. And thus, through his father, he ascends to the kings.

60 Conversely, the great Luke brought the genealogy in his narrative ^B from Christ to Adam. But for me, Adam has come leading to Christ. ^C First, Adam was fashioned by the hand of God; and from Adam, Seth was born. His son was Enos. The fourth was Cainan. His son was Malaleel. His son was Jared, who fathered a child, 65 that Enoch who, while yet living, was carried up into heaven. His son was Methuselah, who fathered a son, Lamech. He was the father of Noah. Shem was the son of that Noah. From him came Arphaxad, Cainan, Sala; and they say his son was Heber. And Heber was the child of Phalec. And from Phalec, 70 Ragau came to be. He fathered Seruch, who fathered Nachor.

And Abraham followed after these, the son of Thara, the son of Nachor. 75 The son of Abraham, Isaac, fathered Jacob, who in turn fathered Judah. Then, from Thamar, he fathered Phares. Then, Esrom. Esrom, Aram, who fathered Aminadab. And then Naasson. 75 And Naasson, Salmon. Salmon, Booz. From Booz, ^D Obed. Obed, Jesse; and from him the great David came to be. And David, Nathan, who fathered a son, Mathan. Then Mainan. Mainan fathered Melean. Who then Eliakim. Who then Joanan. Who then Joseph. Who fathered 80 Judah. Then, Simeon. Then, Levi. Then from him, Mathan. Then, Joreim. Then, Eliezer. Then, Josaph. Then, Er. Then, Elmodad. Then, in turn, his child came to be Cosam. Cosam, then Addi. Then, Melchi. Then from him, Neri. From him, Salathiel, Zorobabel, Resa, Jonan, 85 Judas, Osok. And then Semei, and Mathias, and Maath, Nagge, and Esleim; and from him, Naoum,

Ammos, Mathatias, and Joseph, and Janna; Melchi, and Levi, and Mathat, Eli, Joseph. Luke indeed says this—but how says Matthew, who is so great? 90 From Abraham, as I have said, up to David; and from there, Luke, letting go of the priestly lineage, sets forth the royal descent. Who they are and how many, shall be told: David, Solomon, Roboam, Abia, and Asa. 95 And of him was Josaphat. The seventh was Joram; Osias, and Joathan, and Achaz, Ezechias, and Manasses, and Amos, Josias. And after that, Jechonias, whom they led captive into Babylon; Salathiel, Zorobabel, Abiud, and Eliacim, 100 Azor. Of him, Sadoc; of him, Achim; of him, Eliada; of him, Eliezer; of him, Mathan; of him, Jacob; the last, who was thought to be the father of Christ, Joseph.

^A

XIX. The Twelve Disciples of Christ

Twelve, then, are the disciples of Christ the high God: Peter, and Andrew, John, and James. 5 The fifth is Philip; the sixth, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, and James of Alphaeus; Judas, and Simon, and the other Judas, who is not to be named.

XX. The Miracles of Christ according to Matthew

The miracles of the book of Matthew, as many as Christ the King performed when cloaked in a mortal body. First, indeed, He shook off the bitter disease of leprosy; then, He restored the limbs of the centurion’s boy. 5 The third, He extinguished the fever of Peter’s mother-in-law by taking her hand; the fourth, He lulled the great swell of the sea and the winds.

[alt-version omitted]

XIX. THE TWELVE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. (Translated by Billius.)

Christ Jesus had twelve disciples. These are Peter, Andrew, John, and James, Matthew, Thomas, along with Judas and Bartholomew, another James, and after him Simon and Philip, and the last is the other one, not to be mentioned, Judas.

XX. THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST ACCORDING TO MATTHEW, IN ELEGIAC VERSES. (Translated by Billius.)

These things which Christ performed while in mortal flesh, Matthew has recorded in his sacred history. He first drove away the hideous leprosy from the body; and He brought aid to the servant of the centurion. Then, with Peter’s mother-in-law relieved of her violent fever, He suppresses the winds and the sea-born waves.

^A The fifth, He sent demons into the swine in the land of the Gerasenes. The sixth, He bade one paralyzed in his limbs to carry his bed. The seventh, He stopped the flow of blood of the woman who touched Him. 10 The eighth, the daughter of a ruler returned to the light. The ninth, He gave light to the blind. The tenth, after the demon had been cast out, He caused the speechless to utter words. The eleventh, on the Sabbath, He freed a withered hand from its bonds, And the eyes and ears of one possessed by a demon, the twelfth. 15 The thirteenth, He filled twelve baskets, And five thousand men with five loaves. The fourteenth, after the tenth, He traversed the sea on foot; The great sea, rising in a storm, gave way to Him. The fifteenth, He cast out the evil spirit from the Canaanite woman, 20 Granting it to the mother, who prayed much. The sixteenth, they gathered seven baskets from seven Loaves, and four thousand, and there was fullness. The seventeenth, He changed His divine form, Shining for His friends more brightly than the sun. 25 The eighteenth, from the affliction of the moon, As the father besought Him, He released his beloved son. The nineteenth, He gave light to the eyes of the blind Begging along the road from Jericho. The twentieth, He gave light to eyes and released from infirmity 30 The knees, having driven all pollutions from the temple. He performed a great miracle going from Bethany, To the fig tree, which He saw suddenly withered and fruitless. And at the cross, deep darkness poured forth as the light Departed, and the wide veil of the temple was torn. 35 The earth shaking broke the stones of the earth, And the dead left their tombs, having been awakened.

[METRICA VERSIO]

He sends demons into swine in the fields of the Gerasenes; And he who was paralyzed lifted up his bed. He stops the bloody flow with marvelous power; And the daughter of a ruler returns to the light. He restores sight to the blind, and with Satan put to flight, The mute utters unaccustomed sounds with his mouth. A withered hand is instantly loosened from heavy bonds; And to him oppressed by Satan, voice and sound return. He filled twelve baskets and five thousand men With five loaves set before them. Hence He follows on foot—a thing never heard—the ship; And the fierce might of the sea yields to His feet. She who was born of the Canaanite mother is freed from the evil enemy, As the mother sent forth earnest prayers from her mouth. From seven loaves seven baskets remain over for the crowds, And four thousand men have their hunger put to flight. ^B He assumes a divine form, and to His disciples is seen Himself brighter than the light of the sun. Then, bent by the pious prayers and tears of the father, He frees the son from a horrible moon-sickness. When these things were thus performed, He leaves the walls of Jericho, And opens the closed eyes for two men. Soon He also heals the blind, light having been poured upon them; And moved with pity, He brings aid to those crippled in their feet. But before this, He drove the impure commerce from the holy temple, And the unclean gain, and the sacrilegious hand. Going from Bethany to Jerusalem, He commands the fig tree to wither, Seeing it devoid of all fruit. Finally, while the light dies, darkness arises: The veil is torn and divided into two parts. The earth is shaken, the rocks are split with grief: And the awakened crowd leaves its tombs. Here indeed, as soon as the third light shone upon the world

He appeared again to his friends in Galilee.

XXI. The Miracles of Christ according to Mark

XXII. The Miracles of Christ according to Luke

METRICAL VERSION

XXI. Christ's Miracles according to Mark (Translated by Billius)

XXII. Christ's Miracles according to Luke (Translated by Billius)

To the widow in the city of Naim He restored her son, alive from the dead. ^A And the woman who anointed His sacred feet with myrrh He purified with a word. He stilled the winds, and a great legion [of demons]. He checked the flow of blood, and the daughter of Jairus 10 He brought back to life. With five loaves and two small fishes, in the desert He once fed ^B five thousand men. He sent forth a flash of brightness. He drove the bitter demon from the beloved 15 child, and from the one ^C who sat upon his tongue, as also of old the Hebrew woman bent double by a grievous malady, and truly, also, He dispersed the swelling of dropsy. And He cleansed ten lepers, of whom one was a Samaritan. And to the blind man by the road at Jericho He gave light. And whatever signs of Christ men saw as He was dying, 20 And ^D how He appeared from the dead to His friends.

XXIII. Miracles of Christ according to John

You will find but few miracles of Christ in the holy book of John, but many words of Christ the King. It was a wedding, and the wine-pourers drew wine from water. He spoke, and the son of the king, who was ailing, was made whole. 5 He spoke, and he who had not escaped his bonds by washings took up his bed. And then He accomplished the miracle of the five loaves. Then He traversed the raging sea, and saved His disciples. He healed the man blind from birth, anointing him with clay. It was the fourth day, and Lazarus was awakened from the tomb. 10 Yet He Himself also died for the dead, and rising for those who live, Christ the King appeared openly to His companions.

METRICAL VERSION

He gives strength, and restores the son to the widow. ^B And just as He appeared from the dead to those dear to Him.

XXIII. MIRACLES OF CHRIST ACCORDING TO JOHN

John recounts but few miracles of Christ, But the many words which He uttered with divine mouth To mortals, he reports. The first miracle is that at Cana, Which he claims, when from liquid waters wine is produced. He spoke, and at once the royal offspring is cured. He spoke, and he took up his bed, not having been saved by the waters. With five loaves, he then sates the praiseworthy throng; And He sets His footprints across the raging waves; And He supports His disciples, and keeps them safe. But afterward He heals him who from his mother’s womb Had come forth blind, as soon as He smeared his eyes with mud. On the fourth day from death, death having been conquered, rises Lazarus. Christ Himself also dies for our crime, And returning to the lights of life for the living, He dwells often among His own faithful friends.

XXIV. The Parables and Enigmas of the Same Christ according to Matthew

Come now, and behold the enigmas of obscure discourse: A house built upon the unstable sand, And the seed, which, though sown on the ground in one way, comes up in another; And the seed with which hostile seeds were mixed; 5 And the tree, from a tiny mustard seed; then, hidden in the flour, The leaven; and again the field purchased For the sake of the treasure; and the precious pearl Which a merchant bought with all his possessions; And the net drawing up every kind of sea-creature from the salt water; 10 And the sheep carried upon the shoulders, wandering; And the master harsh toward the servant concerning his debt, yet harsh, And those who were last receiving the same reward as the first; ^A15 And those sons sent to the vineyard who were not at all alike, And those who drove away the heir by slaughter; And those who filled a dear festival with guests hastily chosen from the marriage-hall; Whence the virgins awake with their torches; And the Lord distributing not equal talents to His servants; And, conversely again, the goats standing apart from the sheep.

XXV. The Parables of Christ according to Mark

Such were the things the great Christ performed, but He spoke in riddles Passing by; one seed upon the earth, not at all uniform, And that which grows up together with the seed of tares, And the mustard, and the heir killed by lawless hands. 5 Thus did Mark, the plant of Peter; but in the broad-spaced...

XXIV. Parables and Enigmas of Christ according to Matthew

Come now, if it pleases you to learn this also, What Christ has handed down in obscure speech: The foundations of a house are cast upon soft sand; The same seed falls into various places; The noble seed, to which a hostile enemy has added noxious ones; And the grain of mustard lifts its head on high; And the notable leaven is hidden in soft flour; On account of the treasure, the field is yielded at a price; Then follows the pearl, for love of which the merchant Willingly sells all his farms and his resources; The net draws all kinds of fish from the deep sea, And the wandering sheep is carried upon the shoulders; The master shows himself harsh to the cruel servant, And a fair wage is paid to the men who were last; To the unlike sons, the care of tending the vine is entrusted, And the wicked race kills the heir; The royal table is filled with guests compelled to attend, And the virgin flock holds the torches and watches. The Lord entrusts not equal talents to his servants; The goats are placed on the left, the sheep on the right.

XXV. Parables of Christ according to Mark

These things the great Christ did; but he poured forth mystical Words, having given to the earth one seed, to be sure, of unequal kind, And that which grows among it, the fertile tares, And the heir cruelly killed, and the grain of mustard. This Mark, the son of Peter, yet the pupil of Paul.

XXVI. Parables of Christ according to Luke

Lucas wrote these things for Greece, as a disciple of Paul: | A demon, and a fever, and a seizure, leprosy, and paralysis.

He recorded as many parables as these of Luke: Of him who built a stable seat upon a rock, And of him who, having received more, loves the more; Then of the seed that fell into four ^A Natures of ground; next of the traveler Who fell among thieves. Then he who comes At an untimely hour to the doors and asks, And receives not evil things. Then the unclean spirit That is re-established with seven others. And in vain he 10 Takes delight in the hope of fruits, not knowing where he shall stand. One must be watchful for Christ, who comes from the marriage feast, And one must rightly employ the remedy. The barren fig tree must be aided by dung. Mustard, and leaven, and the poor at the wedding. 15 The joy at the finding of the drachma, and of the lamb. And the father sympathetic to the fallen son. Next, the steward who excuses some of the debts, Craftily defrauding his master. Lazarus and the rich man. From there, the importunate petition of the widow. 20 Next, the Publican, and the pride of the Pharisee, And the division of the minas, equal in number to the ten [servants]. The wicked husbandmen and the murderers of the Master.

XXVII. Parables of the four evangelists

I fear lest I build the foundation of my life upon the sand ^B

[Metrical Version]

Lucas of Greek descent gave these writings: Limbs loosened, fever, demon, fishing, leprosy.

XXVI. Parables according to Luke. (Interpret. Billius)

You will see these parables in the notes of Luke. The wise man builds a certain house upon the rock. He who has received more, loves more fervently; And the seed is scattered in various places. The traveler receives very grave wounds. But then the friend who knocks at the doors at night, Praying urgently, obtains what he asks. The demon, chased from the house he had left, Returns again with a greater hand. Why does the wicked man congratulate himself on the hope Of rich fruits, nor does the wretch see Death impending over his head? When the good King returns To us from the wedding, let not sleep oppress us. ^C Let the minister rightly perform his duty. Let the fig tree lacking fruits be helped by dung. And the mustard, and leaven, and the needy at the wedding. As soon as the drachma and the lost sheep are found, Great joy and applause are immediately stirred up. The fallen son moves the parent to tears. The steward remits a part of the debts, And deceives his Lord by a provident theft. The happy Lazarus in death, the rich man miserable. The widow fatigues the judge with her importunate prayers. Then the Publican and the arrogant Pharisee. The master gives the ten minas to be increased for the servants. The wicked husbandmen kill the heir, the son.

XXVII. Parables of the four evangelists. (Interpret. Billius)

O gods on high, how much I fear lest, by chance, the foundation of salvation ^D

^A be cast away, scattered by rivers and winds, or like seed falling upon dry and barren land, I might spring up at once, but wither most quickly 5 smitten by the sun’s ray, and by slight woes; or that the birds might devour me, or thorns might choke me. May the sower of wicked tares, the envious enemy, not mingle evil seed for me while I sleep, nor, by thrusting his hand over the plants 10 as they grow together, both good and bad, before they stand in the ear, should I perhaps destroy the good plant along with the tares. For only a few know how to lay a discerning hand upon these things, where virtue and vice 15 have their dwellings apart, yet are neighbors at the threshold, and evil grows upon the good. I admire the little grain of mustard, for though it is small, it grows most quickly into a tree and travels to such a height, ^A so as to be a shelter even for the birds. O precious and glorious pearl, I, longing for your beauty, would that I might become a great merchant, 20 and for all that I possess, even unto my last tunic, I might receive in exchange a dear treasure, so that I might surpass all with my wealth, having acquired what is like no other, or [might find] the treasure hidden in the corners of a field! I know also the world falling into the net, 25 which the fishermen of men, the servants of the King Christ, have cast in a circle, that they might draw it up from the depths of the sea and grant to Christ those swimming in the bitter waves of this life. But when you judge the catch, and divide it in two, 30 do not cast me far away as an useless fish. [alt-version omitted]

SECTION I. DOGMATIC POEMS

^A and set it within the vessel, to be guarded for the King. I came in the morning into the great and beautiful, blossoming vineyard of God, and I endured much labor; may I have an equal reward with those who came last, and glory. 35 What envy is this, if God repays labor with desire? The Father sent his sons into the vineyard, that they might tend it. The elder, the elder—and he indeed readily accepted— did not, however, fulfill the Father’s desire, as he had promised. But the other did not accept, yet he fulfilled the command, 40 the younger. He seems to me the better and more pleasing to the parent, of both, who accepted and fulfilled the desire. May they destroy the heir, those whom the fire, outside the vineyard, will devour. There is a marriage, which the good Father celebrates, exultant, for his best son; may I be a partaker of this, ^A 45 and may I meet this, and whoever is a friend to me ^A. But may he remain outside, who before the marriage prefers either a field, or a new yoke of oxen, or a wife. And may he not, among the guests, having a nuptial form but possessing filthy garments, bound hand and foot, 50 be cast far away from the bridechamber, the marriage, and his friends. But when the company of ten chaste virgins, with burning torches, waking with sleepless eyes, expect the lovely Bridegroom, God the King, that they, bright and radiant, may go out to meet Him as He comes, 55 do not place me, in mind, among the empty and foolish ones, already, perhaps, laboring because Christ is about to be present, nor, looking with my eyes upon the faint gleam of the torches, may I desire the liquid oil of the light of life from on high.

Nor let the closed doors of the nuptials bar me, 60 Where the Word, mingled with pure hearts Under the great bonds of desire, grants courage and glory. But when my King, returning from the nuptials, shall come, Coming suddenly upon those who expect and those who do not, May He find me among those who expect, and may He praise, for fear, 65 As a good servant, and gentle to those over whom he is set, And a dispenser of grain, of solid Word, the most excellent. And in the terrible day of the dividing of goats and sheep, Of godly men and unholy from either side, Place me not numbered with the goats, but with the sheep 70 At the right hand, and let the left remain for the wicked. May some lamp of light shine outward for me, ^A From above on the lampstand. It is a good thing even for God alone To be known, who sets an overseeing eye upon all things. And may I always love God more, whether He might provide some bitter 75 Or good thing; for all is good. But if I should be struck By robbers, descending from the great city of Christ, Do not leave me to be slain at the hands of murderers. And if you cast a spirit out of my soul, let not the enemy, Finding it idle, run upon me with more. 80 Nor destroy the useless fig tree, but still hope for fruit, And do not cut it down, O King; but take care to raise it up. And finding the drachma, and the sheep, and the son who wasted all, The one on the ground, the other on the mountains, the third under his feet, Having turned back pitiably to his father's house, O King,

may I find a response of such things from God. But if I should have stored ^A away these things—may I not be a harsh exactor of my fellow-servants, even though the good King is present to my own sufferings. And may I prune away some of the debts, hiding it with a prudent mind, so that when I am in need, I may have a remedy hereafter! 90 May I here be Lazarus, and hereafter ^B may another be proud here, while being dishonored there, having flames in place of a dance. May I not be boastful, since I am a wicked publican. May I have pity with tears, and may the Pharisees fall. But if ever I should 95 send away a widow struggling at my gates empty-handed, and if—hating while pretending to be friendly—I should offer a stone or a dire serpent instead of the bread and delicious fish I should have offered, reaching out from this hand, ^C may I receive such things from God. But if my storehouses hold, partly by seal, partly by hopes that quickly flow away, 100 may this night destroy me with listless dreams. Nor may the talent which God has entrusted to me—measuring out a greater grace to others—I pray that this remain idle in my hands, nor the mina of natural reason, a grace equally distributed; 105 but may I both provide the work, and obtain the reward of glory; and may I not pay a bitter penalty, and have disgrace.

XXVIII. The Tempest Stilled by Christ.

There was a time when Christ was sleeping a natural sleep in a boat, and the sea was raging with storm-creating winds.

^A The sailors cried out in fear: "Awake, Savior, help those who are perishing." The King, rising, commanded 5 the winds and waves to be still, and it came to pass. ^B Those who were present recognized the nature of God by that miracle.

XXIX. Hymn to God

O You who are above all things; for by what other speech is it lawful to celebrate You? How shall prayer praise You? For You cannot be expressed by any words. How shall the mind behold You? For You cannot be grasped by any mind. You alone are 5 ineffable; since You have brought forth all things that are spoken. You alone are unknown; since You have brought forth all things that are thought. All things, both those that speak and those that do not speak, sing of You. All things, both those that possess mind and those that lack it, honor You. For the desires are common, and the pangs reach all alike. 10 Your composition, which understands You, utters a silent hymn. In You alone all things remain; to You all things together hasten. And You are the end of all, and one, and all, and none, being neither one nor all. O You of all names, how shall I call upon You, the only one who cannot be invoked? What heavenly mind 15 will penetrate the coverings above the clouds? Be propitious, O You who are above all things; for what other speech is it fitting to use to celebrate You?

XXX. Another Hymn to God

You, the immortal, ^C monarch, ^D grant that I may hymn You, grant that I may sing of You, grant that I may praise You, O King and Master, by whom 5 the dance of the angels exists, by whom the ages, which are unceasing, exist, by whom the sun shines forth, by whom man has obtained [alt-version omitted] the dignity of contemplating the Divine,

^A a rational animal. For You have created all things, assigning an order to each one, and sustaining them with Your providence. You spoke the Word, and the work existed. Your Word is God and Your Son; for He is of the same nature, and equal in honor to the Begetter, who has fastened all things together, that He may rule over all. But the Holy Spirit, who is Himself God, containing all things, guards them with foresight. I shall call You the living Trinity, the one and only Monarch, a nature unchanging, without beginning, a nature of ineffable essence, a mind of wisdom inaccessible, the unshaken power of the heavens, without beginning, without end, ^B an invisible light, beholding all things, knowing no depth, from the earth unto the abyss. Father, be propitious to me. Grant me to worship this Majesty at all times. Cast away my sins, cleansing the conscience from every evil thought, that I may give glory to God, lifting up holy hands; that I may bless Christ, bending the knee, and supplicating that He may then receive me as His servant, when He comes as King. Father, be propitious to me, that I may find mercy and grace; for glory and thanksgiving are due to You unto the measureless age.

XXXI. Another Hymn.

METRICAL VERSION

XXXI. ANOTHER HYMN.

^A Glory to the most praiseworthy and all-holy Spirit. The Trinity is one God, who created and filled all things: the heaven with heavenly beings, the earth with earthly ones; 5 He filled the sea, and the rivers, and the springs with water-creatures, giving life to all things by the power of His own Spirit. Every creature should sing the praises of the wise Creator, who is the sole cause of being and of remaining. May the rational nature especially sing throughout all time, 10 as to a great King, as to a good Father. By spirit, and soul, and tongue, and mind, grant also to me to glorify You purely, O Father. ^B

XXXII. VESPER HYMN.

You have commanded the law that honors ^A brotherhood and friendship. And through this you have placed a limit 25 on the labors of the toil-worn flesh; but that you have incited to work and to deeds pleasing to you, so that, fleeing the darkness, 30 we might hasten to the day—the day not to be dissolved by the grim night. Do you shed a light sleep upon my eyelids, 35 so that my tongue, the praiser, may not be silenced by being lulled to sleep for too long, nor, in answering the angels, may your work cease, nor your creature lie silent. But let my couch with you carry pious 40 thoughts, and let not the night rebuke any of the uncleanness of the day, nor let the mockeries of the night arouse vain dreams; but let the mind, even apart from the body, 45 speak to you, O God, to the Father, and to the Son, ^B and to the Holy Spirit, to whom be honor, glory, and might, 50 forever. Amen.

XXXIII. Thanksgiving

To you be thanks, O King of all, and Maker of all. The heaven is filled with your glory, and all the earth with your ^C wisdom. God the Son, your Word, created all things. Your Holy Spirit grants life to all. Holy Trinity, be gracious to the world; be gracious to us, O Son of God according to the spirit, and according to the flesh, the Son of man, who endured to taste of death upon the cross, ^D as a mortal; yet on the third day you left the gates of Hades, as God; for you loosed the bonds of death, rising again, 10 and granted to the mortal race a nature whereby we live all our days, and ever sing of you, the Immortal.

[alt-version omitted]

XXXIV. Another Act of Thanksgiving

To you be thanks, O King of all, and Creator of all. To you be thanks, who by your word created things intelligible and visible, Establishing things that were not before, and bringing them forth from darkness. Your throne is surrounded by pure laudators; ^A 5 Hence, myriads, and again thousands from thence, The fiery chorus of the angelic host, incorruptible from the beginning, The people of the firstborn, and the chorus of shining stars; The spirits of divine men, and souls of the just, All assembled together, surrounding your throne, 10 With joy and with fear they sing eternally, Chanting a pure hymn, yea, and an unceasing one. To you be thanks, O King of all, and Creator of all. This is the pure hymn in the heavenly chorus. Yea, I also entreat you, immortal Father, and I bend the knee ^B 15 Of my heart, O immortal Father, and my mind within Lies prostrate before you; my head inclines to the earth As I supplicate you. I lie a suppliant and pour forth tears; For I am not worthy to lift my eyes to heaven. But do you have mercy upon me, Father of compassion, be propitious 20 To your mourning servant; save me, stretching forth your hand From the talons of death, cleansing all my thoughts. Do not strip me of your Spirit, but rather still more Pour strength and confidence into my breast, That I may sing of you worthily with heart and with lips. 25 Even as you stood by my begetter, your servant, Grant also to me a pure life, and a pure end, And to attain a good hope, and mercy, and grace. And blot out all things, whatsoever I have sinned from my youth,

^A even as a good king; for to Thee is thanksgiving for all days, to Thee is thanksgiving for all days, and unto all ages.

XXXV. Prayer before the reading of the Scriptures

Hear, O Father of Christ, who beholdest all things, these my prayers. Grant a divine hymn to thy servant. For he who directs his footsteps onto the holy path is he who has known God, begotten of Himself, among the living, and Christ as the protector of mortals and king, who, once having taken pity on the race of mortals suffering terrible things, willingly changed his form at the counsel of the Father. And God, who is immortal, became mortal, until he loosed all those groaning in the Tartarean bonds through his blood. Come hither now, and from the holy and pure book ^A feed your soul with divinely inspired words. For there you shall behold the ministers of truth, who are about to announce life with a heavenly voice.

XXXVI. Prayer before undertaking a journey

Christ the King, who art all good things to thy men, and in all things art the straight path, who didst lead the army with fire and cloud, and who didst find a way in the sea that was split for thy friends, and didst cover Pharaoh, and didst provide new bread from heaven, and from the rugged rock didst cause a stream to gush forth, a great miracle, in the wilderness, having stayed the might of hostile men, when he stretched out his hands, Moses—forming the shape of the cross, which is my ^B protection. And the moon and the sun stayed their course. And as the river

yielded to the hurried, so a road was made easy for them upon the earth, which Thou Thyself didst promise and assent to. Thou Thyself didst show the heavenly path to mortals, and didst join the new way to the ancient one, when God and man, having been fused together, traveled upon the earth 15 and afterwards ascended from thence to heaven, appearing more manifest to those who desire Him than before. Thou Thyself also didst tread upon the sea, and before Thy feet the surge fell, though it was being urged on by grievous winds. But, O Blessed One, be a fellow-traveler to me also as I call 20 to Thee today, and grant me a prosperous journey, and a good angel, a guide, a defender, and a helper, so that, taking me far away from all evils of the day and of the night, and granting a good end of the journey to me as I labor, he may bring me back healthy from my home, and home again ^A 25 to my relatives and friends who pass a life similar to my own. There I might beseech Thee, night and day, free and untroubled, leading a life before Thee untainted by wickedness, and ever lifting up to Thee my winged mind, the light of my life, until I might complete the final, common path 30 and arrive at the dwelling-place which is the end of toil for the pious. For Thee I live, for Thee I speak, for Thee I sit at rest, O King Christ, and for Thee I lift the footprint of my foot, since Thou coverest me with Thy hand. But do Thou lead me even now to the good end of my journey.

XXXVII. Another prayer for a prosperous journey.

It is not possible to lift a single footprint of a foot without Thee, O King Christ, who art all ^B good to Thy mortals, and in all things hast been made a straight path. Trusting in Thee, I both cut this path, but do Thou send me...

[...and restore me, O King, to my humble home, where, free from care, I might propitiate You by night and by day.] ^A

XXXVIII. Another prayer. You who led Your people with fire and cloud, and who found a path in the sea, having solidified the waves for those passing through: You who rained down bread from heaven to those who did not expect it, and who drew forth a fountain from the jagged rock: now also, come as a companion to Your servant who calls upon You, O Christ, light of mortals, bringing all things prosperous.

METRICA VERSIO. (A. B. Caillau transl.) By cloud or fire favoring, You who for the holy people through the deep seas opened a dry path, while it fled; You who poured forth the new gifts of heavenly bread, drawing from the jagged rock abundant streams: I pray to You now with my heart, be a companion to Your servant praying, O Christ, light of men, bringing all things prosperous.

SECTION II. MORAL POEMS.

I. In Praise of Virginity.

We shall crown virginity with our garlands, singing in hymns from a pure heart with those who are pure. For this is the noble gift of our life, more brilliant than gold and electrum and ivory, by which the virginal passion casts earthly life to the ground, raising thence the wing of the mind to God reigning in heaven. Rejoice with me as I begin the hymn, you who are pure; for the hymn is a common reward for all those who are holy.

I. In laudem virginitatis. It is pleasing to crown virginity with our wreaths, singing from a pure heart in pure hymns. For this is the noble gift of our life, more splendid than gold and electrum and ivory, in those by whom the virginal ardor casts earthly life to the ground, henceforth raising the wings of the mind to God reigning in heaven. Rejoice therefore, you who are pure, as I begin to praise, for the hymn is a common duty for all the pious.

METRICAL VERSION.