grants you to grapple with Him, providing you with many occasions for crowns. Therefore, for seven consecutive days you enjoy instruction, so that you may learn the contests accurately. Moreover, spiritual marriage is also taking place; and for weddings, the bridal chambers stand for seven days. For this reason, we too have decreed that you stand here for seven days before the holy bridal chambers. B But there, after seven days, they are dissolved; here, however, if you wish, you may stand before the holy bridal chambers forever. And while in the case of weddings outside, the bride is not as lovable to the groom after the first month or even the second, it is not so here; but as time goes on, the groom’s loves grow warmer, the embraces more genuine, and the union more spiritual, if we are [446] vigilant. In our bodies, old age follows youth; here, youth follows old age, and a youth that never has an end, if we wish. Great is the grace, but it will be greater if we wish; and Paul was great when he was baptized, but he became much greater afterward, when he preached and confounded the Jews; after that, he was caught up into Paradise; he ascended to the third heaven. So it is possible for us also, if we wish, to increase and to magnify the grace given to us through baptism; it increases through good works, and becomes brighter and provides the light for us more clearly. And if this happens, with great boldness we shall enter the bridal chamber with the Groom, and we shall enjoy the good things laid up for those who love Him; may it be that we all attain these, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory and adoration unto the ages of ages. Amen.
CONCERNING THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
MONITUM
This homily was delivered outside the city of Antioch in the martyrium, or church of a certain place, which is named Romanesia. As to what is understood by the name "martyrium," see above in the first note to the homily concerning the appellation of the cemetery. Concerning the year in which this homily was delivered, we cannot even say by conjecture. For that which Tillemont argues from the beginning of this homily, namely, "Even when we recalled the memory of the cross, we celebrated its solemnity outside the city," that he delivered it in the same year in which he delivered that "On the Cemetery and the Cross," which, as is said at the beginning of that one, was pronounced outside the city, and that this was in the year, as he deems probable... that calculation of Tillemont is refuted by the very first words of that discourse: for Chrysostom begins so: "I have often pondered in my mind for what reason our ancestors, having left the dwellings which they have in the cities, C by law... D
ON THE HOMILY CONCERNING THE ASCENSION
We were to have met together today outside the city, and indeed in this very place. For it is laid down by law that annually, on the day of preparation, concerning which we are speaking, the gathering is held in that place: nor can anything be gathered from the words brought forward above regarding the appointment of the year.
Here you see the great reverence of Flavian, the bishop of Antioch, toward the relics of the martyrs: for whereas they previously had lain beneath the pavement of the church, he removed them from there and placed them in a high, pure, and clean place, so that they might be open to the veneration of the people.
We have placed the translation of Gerard Vossius, amended in many places, alongside the Greek text.
ON THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, A SERMON DELIVERED IN THE MARTYRIUM OF ROMANESIA, WHERE THE BODIES OF THE MARTYRS, WHICH HAD BEEN BURIED UNDER THE PAVEMENT NEAR THE CORPSES OF HERETICS, WERE REMOVED AND BURIED SEPARATELY IN A HIGHER PLACE.
1. *Why the gathering was held outside the city.* Even when we were celebrating the memory of the cross, we observed its solemnity outside the city: and now when we celebrate the ascension of Him who was crucified, this bright and shining day, we observe the feast again outside the city. We do this, not wishing to dishonor the city, but hastening to honor the martyrs. For that these holy ones might not complain against us and say: "We were not worthy to see one day of our Lord being celebrated in our tents"—lest these holy ones complain against us and say: "That we indeed shed our blood for Him, and were judged worthy for our heads to be cut off; yet we were not judged worthy to see the day of His feast celebrated in our dwellings"—for this reason, leaving the city, we have run to the feet of these holy ones, making an apology to them on behalf of the present day and for the time that has passed. For even if before this it was necessary to run to these brave athletes of piety, when they were lying hidden beneath the pavement, much more indeed...
Chapter I. Why the assembly was held outside the city.
A it is now proper to perform this, when we see the pearls laid up separately, when the sheep have been delivered from the wolves, when the living have withdrawn from the dead. Not even before this did they suffer any detriment from the common burial with them: for the spirits of those whose souls are in heaven—their bodies were not harmed by the proximity; the souls of those whose souls are in the hand of God—their remains could not suffer anything from the place in which they were stored. Nothing, therefore, of detriment accrued to them previously; yet our people derived no small injury from the location: for they would indeed run to the relics of the martyrs, but they offered prayers with ambiguity and hesitation, because they were ignorant of the sepulchers of the saints and where those true treasures were stored. And it happened just as if a flock of sheep, led to enjoy the pools of water, when they arrive at the clear springs, are held back again by some foul odor and stench bursting forth from elsewhere; so it happened also in that fold. The people would indeed go to those pure springs of the martyrs, but while they sensed the stench of the heretics bursting forth from nearby, they were held back again. Which indeed seeing, this prudent pastor and teacher, arranging all things for the edification of the Church, did not suffer this injury to be held B as small for long—this fervent lover and emulator of the martyrs. But what does he do? Behold his wisdom: he buried and obstructed the turbid and foul streams below; but the pure springs of the martyrs he placed separately in a pure and clean spot. Consider also how much humanity he showed toward those who had finished their lives, and what honor toward the martyrs, and what care for the people. Toward the dead, indeed, humanity, because he did not move them by place, but left them where they were; toward the martyrs, however, honor, by removing them from evil vicinage; toward the people, indeed, care and solicitude, not permitting them any longer to pour out their prayers with discrimination and hesitation.
For this reason, we have brought you here, that the assembly might be more radiant, and the spectacle more splendid—not of men only, but of martyrs gathered together; not of martyrs only, but also of angels. For both angels are present, and a concourse of angels and martyrs takes place today. Do you wish to see angels as well as martyrs? Open the eyes of faith and you shall behold that spectacle. For if the whole air is filled with angels, how much more the church? And if the church, how much more the present day, C when their Lord is assumed? That the whole air is filled with angels, hear what the Apostle says, admonishing women that they should have their heads veiled: "For the women," he says, "ought to have a covering upon their head, because of the angels" (1 Cor. 11:10). And again, Jacob: "The Angel who delivered me from my youth" (Gen. 48:16). And they said of Rhoda the girl: "It is his angel" (Acts 12:15). And again Jacob: "I saw," he says, "the camps of the angels" (Gen. 32:2). But why did he see the camps and troops of the angels upon the earth? Just as a king commands his soldiers to be stationed throughout his individual cities, lest some grave war pending might infest them with incursions: so also God opposes the camps of the angels to the demons in this air, who are barbarians and savage, always stirring up wars, and enemies of peace, so that while they only appear, they might repress them and procure for us perpetual peace. And that you might learn that they are angels of peace, hear the deacons always saying in the prayers: "Ask for an Angel of peace." You see that the angels are present, and the martyrs? What therefore is more miserable than those who have withdrawn themselves from today's assembly? And what is more blessed than we who have arrived and enjoy this celebration? But these discourses about D the angels are to be referred to another time for us. Now, indeed, let us return to the subject of the present feast.
Caput II.
It is wondrous, indeed, and great, dearly beloved, and exceeding all human sense and intellect, and worthy of the munificence of God who brought it to pass. For today the human race has been reconciled to God; today the long-standing enmity and the long war have been deleted and taken away; today a certain peace admirable to us has returned, never before expected. For who would have hoped that God would be reconciled to man? Not because the Lord is inhuman, but because the servant is slothful and sluggish; not because the Lord is cruel and savage, but because the servant is contumacious and ungrateful. Do you wish to learn in what way we have exacerbated this most benign and most gentle Lord of ours? For it is fair to learn the foundation of our former enmity, so that when you see us, who were enemies and foes, honored, you might admire the benignity of the one honoring, and not think that change was made from our own right actions, and, having perceived the immensity of the benefit, might not cease to give thanks to him for the magnitude of the gifts. Do you wish, therefore, to know how we exacerbated a Lord so liberal, meek, good, and disposing all things for our salvation? He deliberated at one time concerning our whole race being utterly destroyed, and he was so angry with us that he wanted to destroy us with our wives and children, with beasts and cattle, and with the whole earth. And if you wish, I will take care that you hear his very judgment: "I will blot out," he says, "the man whom I created from the face of all the earth, and the brute animals and the cattle, because it repenteth me that I have made man" (Gen. 6:7). And that you might learn that he did not hate our nature, but abominating the wickedness, who was saying, "I will blot out the man whom I created on the earth" (Ibid. v. 13), he also said to the man: "The time of all man comes to me." For if he had hated the man, he would not have made words with the man. Now, however, you see that he did not wish to do what he had threatened; nay, he was even excusing the servant, and the Lord was conversing with him as with a friend of the same condition, and recounting the causes of the impending destruction: not indeed that the man might learn the causes, but that, insinuating them to others also, he might render them more temperate. But as I was saying, our race was behaving so badly before, that there was a danger lest from the earth itself
[THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST]
A those who appeared unworthy of the earth, have today been raised to the heavens; we who were not fit even for the authority below, have ascended to the kingdom above, have passed beyond the heavens, and have taken hold of the royal throne; and the nature for which the Cherubim guarded Paradise is today seated above the Cherubim. But how has this wonderful and great thing come to pass? How have we, who had offended, who appeared unworthy of the earth, and had fallen from that authority below, been raised to such a height? How has the war been dissolved, how has the wrath been taken away? How? For this is the wondrous thing: that it was not by those who were unjustly angered against God, but by Him who was justly indignant that we were summoned, and so peace has come about. For we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us. What does this mean? B He is the one who has been insulted, and yet He is the one who entreats? Yes, for He is God, and for this reason He entreats like a loving father. And see what happens: the mediator is the Son of the One who entreats—not a man, nor an angel, nor an archangel, nor any one of the servants. And what does the mediator do? The work of a mediator. For just as when two parties are turning away from each other and are unwilling to be reconciled, another person comes and places himself in the middle and resolves the enmity of both; so too did Christ act. God was angry with us, and we were turning away from God, our loving Master; Christ placed Himself in the middle and reconciled both natures. And how did He place Himself in the middle? He Himself accepted the punishment owed to us from the Father, and endured both the punishment from above and the insults here below. Do you wish to learn how He accepted both? Christ, he says, redeemed us, C having become a curse for us (Gal. 3:13). Do you see how He accepted the punishment bearing down from above, and how He endured the insults cast from below? The insults of those who insult you, He says, have fallen upon me (Ps. 68:10). Do you see how He dissolved the enmity, how He did not stop beforehand, doing and suffering and laboring everything, until He had brought the enemy and adversary back to God Himself, and made him a friend? And this present day is the basis of these good things; for just as He took the firstfruits of our nature, so He brought them to the Master. And just as happens in the fields bearing grain, when someone takes a few ears of corn and makes a small sheaf and offers it to God, and through that small offering blesses the entire field, so too did Christ act; through that one flesh and that firstfruits, He caused our entire race to be blessed. But why did He not bring the whole nature? Because this is not the nature of firstfruits, if one offers the whole, but rather if one offers a small portion, and through that small portion makes the whole to be blessed. And yet, one might say, if it were firstfruits, the first man created should have been the one offered; for firstfruits is that which is brought forth first, that which germinates first. This is not firstfruits, beloved, if we offer the first fruit which is evanescent and weak; it is rather if we offer that which is proven. Since, therefore, that fruit was liable to sin, it was not offered, even if it were produced first; but *this* one was free from sin, and for this reason it was offered, even if it were produced later; for this is what constitutes firstfruits.
D And that you may learn that the fruit which germinates first does not constitute firstfruits, but rather the proven and noble one that has reached the proper maturity, I will provide you with the testimony from the Scriptures. If you enter, says Moses to the people, into the land of promise, which the Lord your God gives to you, and you plant therein every tree which produces edible fruit, you shall not prune the fruit thereof for three years; but in the fourth year its fruit shall be holy to the Lord (Lev. 19:23, 24). And yet, if the first thing produced were the firstfruits, one should have given the fruit produced in the first year to the Lord; but now he says: For three years you shall not prune its fruit, but shall leave it, because the tree is evanescent, because it is weak, because the fruit is immature; but the fourth, he says, shall be holy to the Lord. And observe the wisdom of the Lawgiver: he did not allow it to be eaten, so that one might not take the fruit before God; nor did he permit it to be offered, so that it might not be offered to the Lord while immature. But instead, he says, leave it, since it is the first; but do not offer it, since it is unworthy of the honor of the One receiving it. Do you see that the first thing produced is not what is meant by firstfruits, but rather the proven one? And these things have been said on our account because of the flesh which He offered. He brought, therefore, the firstfruits of our nature to the Father; and the Father so marveled at the gift—both because of the worthiness of the One who offered it and because of the blamelessness of the One offered—that He received it with His own hands, and placed the gift nearby, and said: Sit at my right hand (Ps. 109:1). To what nature did God say, Sit at my right hand? To that one which heard, You are earth, and to earth you shall return (Gen. 3:19). Was it not enough to pass beyond the heavens? Was it not enough to stand with the angels? Was not even that honor ineffable? But He passed beyond angels, He went beyond archangels; He passed beyond the Cherubim, He ascended higher than the Seraphim, He passed by the Principalities, He did not stop until He had taken hold of the Master’s throne. Do you not see this interval from heaven to earth? Or rather, let us begin from below; do you not see how great the distance is from Hades to the earth? Then from the earth to heaven? From heaven again to the higher heaven? From there to the angels, to the archangels, to the powers above, to the royal throne itself? This entire interval and height our nature has ascended. Look where it lay below, and to where it has ascended; neither
could it descend lower than the point to which man had descended, nor ascend higher than the point to which Christ had returned him. And this is clearly what Paul meant: A *He who descended is the same as he who ascended* (Eph. 4:10). And where did he descend? *To the lower parts of the earth* (ib. v. 9); but he ascended above all the heavens. Learn who ascended, and of what nature, and in what state it was before: for I gladly linger around the lowliness of our race, so that I may learn more excellently the honor that derives to us from the kindness of the Lord. We were earth and ashes: but that was not yet the fault of our nature; it was merely its infirmity. We have become more senseless than irrational animals: *For man, being in honor, did not understand; he was compared to the senseless beasts and became like them* (Ps. 48:21). For a human being to become like irrational animals—this is to be worse than them. Since it is natural to be devoid of reason and to remain so, but for those who are adorned with mind and reason to fall into that madness is the fault of the will. Therefore, when you hear that one has become like those devoid of reason, do not think this is said to show that humans are equal to beasts, but rather that he who said it wished to show them as worse. For indeed, we have turned out worse and more foolish than the irrational creatures; not that we have descended there as humans, but that we have even leaped forward into greater ingratitude. And, revealing this, Isaiah said: *The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know me* (Isa. 1:3). Yet, let us not be ashamed of our past, for *where sin abounded, grace did much more abound* (Rom. 5:20). You have seen how we were more senseless than the beasts; do you wish to see us also more irrational than the birds themselves? *The turtledove, and the swallow, and the sparrows of the field have known the time of their coming, but my people have not known my judgments* (Jer. 8:7). Behold, we are shown to be more senseless than donkeys and oxen, even than birds, the turtledove and the swallow. Do you wish to learn of another of our insensibilities? He even sends us to ants, so that we may learn from them, so much have we lost our natural mind: B *For go to the ant, he says, and consider its ways* (Prov. 6:6). We have become disciples of ants, we who were made in the image of God: but it is not the Creator who is the author of this, but we ourselves who were unwilling to retain His image. And why do I speak of ants? Nay, we have become stupider than stones themselves. Do you wish me to bring forth testimony of this, too? *Hear, you valleys and foundations of the earth; because the Lord has a judgment against His people* (Mic. 6:2). He exercises judgment with men, and do you call upon the foundations of the earth? Yes, he says: for humans are more stupid than the foundations of the earth themselves. What excess of malice do you still seek in them, when we are seen to be more stupid than donkeys, more irrational than oxen, more ungrateful than the swallow and the turtledove, more senseless than ants, and stupider than the very stones, nay, even like serpents? *Their frenzy, he says, is according to the likeness of a serpent: the poison of asps is under their lips* (Ps. 57:4; cf. 13:3). But what need is there to commemorate the stupidity and dullness of the irrational creatures, when we are even seen to be called sons of the devil? *For you, he says, are of your father the devil* (John 8:44).
D But even so, we are senseless and ungrateful, more senseless than the stones, we who were lower than all, the most abject and the most vile: how shall I say this, or what shall I utter; how shall I bring forth this word? That vile nature of ours, which was more senseless than all, has today become higher than all. Today the angels have recovered what they had long desired; today the archangels have beheld what they had long coveted; today they have seen our nature shining like lightning from the royal throne in immortal glory and beauty. For this, the angels and archangels had long since desired and coveted. For although human nature might be inferior to them in the honor granted to it, nevertheless they rejoiced in our blessings; for even when we were being tortured, they grieved; and although the Cherubim were guarding paradise, they nonetheless grieved for our lot. And just as a servant, having taken custody of a fellow servant by the command of his master and committed him to prison, indeed keeps guard, yet, led by pity for his fellow servant, grieves and is pained for what has happened: so too the Cherubim had indeed received the guard of paradise, and they grieved over the custody. And so that you may learn that they grieved, I shall make it clear to you through humans. For when you see humans sympathizing with their fellow servants, there is no longer any room left for you to doubt concerning the Cherubim; for those powers are much more indulgent than humans. Who, then, of the righteous did not grieve, when humans were justly punished, even after ten thousand sins? For this is most worthy of admiration, that when they knew their crimes and understood that they had offended against the Lord, they nevertheless took grief into their souls from that fact. At any rate, Moses, after the idolatry of the people, said: *Either forgive them this sin; but if not, blot me also out of the book which you have written* (Exod. 32:31-32). What does this mean? You see the impiety of humans, and yet you grieve for their afflictions? Therefore, he says, I grieve, both because they are being punished, and because they provide just causes for their punishment. Ezechiel also, looking upon the angel striking the people, exclaimed with a great voice and with wailing, saying: *Alas, O Lord God, are you making a destruction of the remnant of Israel?* (Ezech. 9:8). And Jeremias: *Correct us, O Lord, yet with judgment, and not in your fury, lest you make us very few* (Jer. 10:24). Therefore, if Moses, Ezechiel, and Jeremias were saddened over these things, could those powers have been unmoved by our evils? But by what reason would that be in any way credible? For learn how much joy they conceived when they saw the Lord reconciled to us, considering our affairs as their own. For if they had not grieved before, they would certainly not have been filled with such joy afterward. And that they rejoiced is evident from the things which Christ himself said: *That there will be joy in heaven, and on earth, over one sinner who repents* (Luke 15:7). Moreover, if the angels rejoice seeing one sinner converting, how could they not be affected with the greatest joy today, seeing through the firstfruits the whole human nature brought up into heaven? Hear therefore also from elsewhere.
of the heavenly host for our reconciliation. For when our Lord was born according to the flesh, seeing that He was now reconciled to men—for He would not have descended so far had He not been reconciled—seeing this, they stood in a choir on earth and cried out: *Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men* (Luke 2:14). And that you may learn that for this cause they glorify God, because the earth had received good things, they added the cause as well, saying: *On earth peace, in men good will*, towards those who had been enemies, towards the ungrateful. You see how they glorify God for the benefits of others, or rather for their own; for they deem our good things to be their own. Do you wish to learn that even when they were about to see Him ascending, they rejoiced and exulted? Hear Christ saying that they were ascending and descending A continually. This is the mark of those who desire to see the paradoxical spectacle. And whence is it evident that they were ascending and descending? Hear Him saying: *From now on you shall see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man* (John 1:51). Such is the custom of those who love; they do not wait for the time, but forestall the appointed moment by their pleasure. For this reason they descend, hastening to see that new and paradoxical spectacle, a human being appearing in heaven; for this reason angels are everywhere: both when He was born, and when He rose, and today when He ascended. For, behold, they say, two men in white raiment, declaring their joy by their appearance; and they said to the disciples: *Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye? This Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him going into heaven* (Acts 1:11).
5. Here pay close attention to me. Why ever do they say these things? Did the disciples not have eyes? Did they not see what was happening? Did not the evangelist say that *while they beheld, He was taken up*? For what cause, then, did the angels stand by to teach them that He had ascended into heaven? For these two causes, one indeed because they were always grieving at the departure of Christ; for, that they were grieving, hear what He says to them: *None of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have spoken these things, sorrow hath filled your heart* (John 16:5-6). If, having friends and relatives, we do not bear being separated from them, how would the disciples, seeing the Savior, the Teacher, the Guardian, the Lover of mankind, the gentle, the good, being separated from them—how would they not have grieved? How would they not have been pained? For this reason the angel stood, consoling the sorrow resulting from the ascension through the return B once again. *This Jesus*, he says, *who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner.* Are you grieving, he says, because He was taken up? But grieve no more; for He shall come again. So that they might not do what Elisha did when he saw his master being taken up, and tore his garment—for he did not have someone standing by and saying that Elijah would come again—so that they might not do this, the angels stood by, comforting their despondency. And this is one cause of the presence of the angels; the second, not less than this, is that for which he added, *Who is taken up*. What is this? *He was taken up into heaven.* But the distance was great, and the power of our vision did not suffice to see a body being taken up as far as the heavens; but as a bird flying to a height, the more it rises in height, the more it is hidden from our sight: so also that body, however much it ascended in height, that much it was hidden, the weakness of the eyes not sufficing to follow the length of the distance. For this reason the angels stood by, teaching the ascent into heaven, so that they might not think that He ascended into heaven as Elijah did, but that He ascended into heaven. For this reason he says, *Who is taken up from you into heaven*. For he would not have added this simply. For Elijah was taken up as into heaven, for he was a slave; but Jesus into heaven, for He was the Lord; he in a chariot of fire, this one in a cloud. For when the slave needed to be called, a chariot was sent; but when the Son, a royal throne; and not simply a royal throne, but the one of the Father. For Isaiah says concerning the Father, *Behold, the Lord sitteth upon a light cloud* (Isa. 19:1). Since, therefore, the Father sits upon a cloud, for this reason He sent the cloud to the Son also. And Elijah, having ascended, left a mantle upon Elisha; but Jesus, having ascended, poured out gifts upon the disciples, making not one prophet, but infinite Elishas; or rather, many times greater and more brilliant than that one. C Let us arise, therefore, beloved, and look towards that return. For Paul also says, *The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel; and we who are alive, who remain, shall be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air* (1 Thess. 4:16). But not all. For that we shall not all be caught up, but some shall remain, and others shall be caught up, hear what Christ says. *When shall be found two in the mill; one is taken, and one is left. And there shall be two in one bed; one is taken, and one is left* (Matt. 24:40-41). What is intended by this enigma? What is this ineffable mystery? By the mill He indicated to us all those living in poverty and distress; and by the bed and the rest, He hinted at all those in wealth and honor. And wishing to show that even from among the poor some are saved and some perish, He said that even of those at the mill one is taken and one is left; and of those on the bed one is taken and one is left; declaring that the sinners indeed are left here and await punishment; but the righteous are caught up into the clouds. For just as when a king enters a city, those in dignity and offices, and having much confidence before him,
coming out from before the city, they meet them; but the condemned llbracketA and those who are sentenced are kept within, awaiting the sentence from the king. So also when the Lord shall arrive, some indeed who have confidence will meet Him in the air, but the condemned and those who are conscious of many sins will wait for the Judge here. Then we too shall be snatched up. I do not mean that I rank myself in the number and calculation of those being snatched up—I am not yet so bereft of sense and reason as to be ignorant of my own sins. And if I were not already afraid of disturbing the joy of the present festival, I would weep most bitterly, mindful of this word, and calling my own sins to memory. But since I do not wish to confuse the joy of the present feast, I will end the discourse here, leaving with you the vivid and fresh memory of that day, so that the rich man may not boast in his riches, nor the poor man consider himself wretched in his poverty, but let each one, according to what he is conscious of in himself, do either this or that. For neither is the rich man happy, nor is the poor man llbracketB wretched; but he is blessed, nay most blessed, who is found worthy of that rapture in the clouds, even if he were the poorest of all; just as, conversely, he who misses it is miserable, nay most miserable, even though he be the richest of all. Therefore I say, that we who are subject to sins should lament ourselves; but they who are resplendent in good works should be confident; nay, not only be confident but also be confirmed. And let not the latter lament only, but let them be transformed and converted. For it is permitted even to him who leads a wicked life, having put aside the evil life, to cross over to virtue, and to become like those who from the beginning have lived well; which we should also strive for. And let those who are conscious of a good life persevere in piety, always increasing this good possession, and adding something continuously to their former confidence; but let us who are diffident and timid, and conscious of many sins, be changed for the better; so that, reaching the confidence of those others, we may all together and with one mind receive the King of the angels with appropriate glory, and enjoy that blessed joy in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and for the ages of ages. Amen.
ON THE TWO FOLLOWING HOMILIES ON PENTECOST
September, which occurred prior to the greatest festivals, was the day of the Nativity of the Lord. Some respond that perhaps both festivals, namely the Nativity and the Epiphany, were included under the one name of Epiphany; or that the name Epiphany was common to both. But this solution does not please: since Chrysostom distinguishes these two festivals so openly by name above, in his homilies on the Nativity and on the Epiphany, it is not plausible that he wished to include them here under one name. May it not perhaps be said with more plausibility, that because the festival of the Nativity of Christ was celebrated at Antioch only a few years before on the 25th of December, whereas before that the one solemnity of the Epiphany, on the sixth of January, was appointed for the Nativity of Christ, the adoration of the Magi, and the baptism of Christ—that here, according to the old custom of counting solemnities, Chrysostom commemorates the Epiphany and is silent about the Nativity? For it seems the practice had been received from of old among the people of Antioch to speak of the three most illustrious solemnities: the Epiphany, Pascha, and Pentecost; but the day of the Nativity of the Lord, because it had been introduced recently, they did not yet place in this number, but passed over it in silence, just as they were silent about the Ascension of the Lord, which Chrysostom likewise passes over.
The second homily on Pentecost bears no mark of time at all. Furthermore, in this homily he calls the Pentecost the mother of festivals, because, as he adds there,1 it brings the fruit of the Lord's promise. He discourses not a little against the Pneumatomachi, who were attacking the majesty and divinity of the Holy Spirit: and after he has brought forth many fruits of the Holy Spirit, he thus ends the sermon.
The Latin interpretation of both is by Fronton du Duc.