Homily 8

so that embracing the poor who are dragged into the earth, it may bear them up; make me as one of thy hirelings. Give me back, father, the plow of the cross on my shoulders; plow ^A the filth of my soul, pull up the thorny and harmful growths of the Evil One, sown by him as if they were heavenly seeds. May the showers from above water it, and may the furrow of my soul bear fruit: one thirtyfold, another sixtyfold, and another a hundredfold. Do not treat me as one of the hirelings. For thou wilt not entirely cast me off, my Father; the Enemy will not triumph, having defiled the robe of faith. For even if I have stained the beauty of the soul’s purity, still, I have not bowed down to idols. I did not betray thee, my Lord. Even if I sinned, I did not deny my youth; I did not trample upon images of demons, I did not fashion images of idols; the devil did not breathe into me, nor did he inject his poison. Now, I fall before thy footsteps; thou art the Lord, and God. Deal with me as one of the hirelings. If such is my repentance, if such is my confession, from afar thy heavenly Father runs to meet thee ^B. He falls upon the neck of the soul, he places the yoke of grace upon it, and with the kiss of truth, he loosens the yoke of the heart, setting it free from the enemy. Yes! He brings the priests to themselves! “Bring the first robe.” He did not say, “Bring one robe,” but, “Bring the first robe,” to show the first dignity of baptism. “Bring him the first robe, and clothe him, and give him the ring,” the pledge of wealth, the guardian of the treasury, the seal of the Spirit. “And sandals on his feet,” that is, the footprint of his soul by the words of the Gospel, so that the serpent may not again, by licking his footsteps, drag him back into the former error of sin. “And bring the fatted calf.” Who is this if not Christ, who is given to the worthy after baptism, as the Apostle says: “In whom dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9)? Bring it, let us eat and be glad. Who among the Jews and Gentiles will believe that the calf has been slain, and the world restored? O calf of the Virgin heifer, child sacred to the untilled womb! O calf, who wast slain and livest, who art always eaten by us and remainest unconsumed! Wherefore, beloved, into a secure and tranquil harbor casting the anchor of our word, let us set forth; after the influx of the Holy Spirit, and his fitting tongue, we have traversed the sea of the divine Scriptures; he himself will lead you into the heavenly city, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power, together with the Father and the holy and adorable Spirit, now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen.

THAT HE WHO HAS THE GIFT OF ANY KNOWLEDGE OUGHT TO IMPART IT TO HIM WHO IS IN NEED: AND CONCERNING THE PRESBYTER.

The benevolent God, having mercy on our race, does not leave any man without his grace; for he gives grace not only to the just, but also to sinners; because he is generous, and without respect of persons, and makes his sun to rise upon the just and the unjust, and wills that all men be saved. Nor does he despise the sinner; but to him also he gives a small grace, that receiving the gift, he may honor the giver, and giving thanks, and turning from his evil way, may repent. If, however, having received grace, he remains in the same evils, then at last the grace he received will be taken away from him, and he will be condemned to the fire of hell, because he did not know the honor and the One who honors; and that which is written is fulfilled in him: “Man, when he was in honor, did not understand; he was compared to the senseless beasts, and became like them” (Ps. 48:13). I know sinful men who have laid their hands upon the sick, and they healed them. But this comes about in two ways; not only unto the grace of the giver, but also unto the grace of the receiver. If he who receives did not believe, he would receive grace neither from the just nor from the sinner; he, however, who believes, receives the grace of healing even from a sinner. For to each is grace given according to faith. For the Lord said to those approaching: “According to your faith be it done to you” (Matt. 9:29). Believe in the name of the Lord to whom you approach, and do not hesitate in any way, and you will receive grace; for it is God who works. Many sinner presbyters offer the gifts, and God does not turn away from them, but by the Holy Spirit sanctifies the proposed gifts, and the bread indeed becomes the body of Christ, and the cup becomes the precious blood of the Lord. But some think they act appropriately by not communicating with certain presbyters, because they are aware of their wickedness; not knowing that they are sinning all the more while they think they are doing something good. For who are you to judge your superior? Have you not heard the Apostle saying: “You shall not speak evil of the ruler of your people” (Acts 23:5); and again, “Who are you who judge another man’s servant? To his own lord he stands or falls; he will stand, however, for God is able to make him stand” (Rom. 14:4)? You who are taught and instructed by him, you do not have the power of judging and reproving him; as the blessed Apostle Paul said: “Do not judge before the time, until the Lord comes, who will illuminate the hidden things of darkness, and will manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then each will have his praise from God” (1 Cor. 4:5). He who judges him is the Lord. And again the Lord: “Do not judge, that you may not be judged” (Matt. 7:1). You, according to the rule, render to him the honor that is his due; do not cease to give the firstfruits of the fruits and what you owe to the Church. Do not curiously inquire into the matters in which these are spent. But if you have attempted to judge him in this matter, look rather into your own vessel, and examine yourself, whether you have any evil in your conscience, and whether that condemns you. I do not say that you should explore the works of all your years, but of one day only: diligently search how you spent the day; whether you accused anyone, whether your eye was scandalized by anything, whether you despised the poor, whether you mocked your neighbor, whether you struck anyone. See whether you did not injure your own soul in these things. If you are pure from all these, keep your purity to yourself; for even then it would not be good to accuse either a presbyter or anyone else. But you will say, "He has committed fornication, and I have not." But you have stolen from the goods of your neighbor, and you have seized the property of the poor; let each consider his own evil works; do not pass over your own, while you explore those of your neighbor. If, however, anyone does not obey what has been said, but turns his tongue against a presbyter or another, let him expect that he will receive the same retribution. If you, while doing these things, search after what belongs to your neighbor, Christ will say to you, “Hypocrite, cast the beam out of your own eye first, and then you will see to cast the mote out of your brother’s eye” (Matt. 7:5). Be concerned about your own sins; and do not judge the one about whom you have no command to judge. Furthermore, the presbyter ought to be thus disposed toward the people: first, that he should pray for them from his whole soul; let him protect until death those who are unjustly injured, and it is necessary that he lay down his soul for the flock; he ought to help those who are in necessity, comfort the afflicted, and not remember injuries at all; for a presbyter mindful of injuries sins daily, a presbyter mindful of injuries never offers a pure prayer to God, while there is wickedness in his heart. Unless you are reconciled with your neighbor, and unless you put aside your wickedness, do not ascend to the throne. Remember this command of the Lord: “If you offer your gift at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, go, first be reconciled to your brother, and then coming, offer your gift” (Matt. 5:23, 24). Do not transgress the Lord’s command, lest you be condemned; do not meditate guile; do not exalt one and depress another. Do not honor the rich because he occupies the first seats; but despise the poor, who cannot offer you gifts: but let us maintain equality toward all. Do not quickly admit an accusation; do not tolerate vain rumors; let no one be condemned from hearsay: many are accused through envy and strife. But if after much investigation you find someone sinning, do not immediately reprove him before all, lest you give him occasion to respect no one. For two evils result from such a rebuke: for those who have been rebuked, not bearing the shame and disgrace, turn themselves to something worse, and when they are reproved out of season, they run to the noose and to death. Such is the devil; he suggests to man that he should perform evil; he also suggests another thing to be done, and when the deed is performed, he mocks him. He prepares proofs and accusers, who would accuse him in his calamity, and turn him to insanity, so that not bearing the shame, he runs to the rivers and nooses. Because of temptations of this kind, he to whom Christ’s flock is entrusted ought to be mild, so that he may seek out sinners with much caution, and when he has caught them, let him not immediately cast them out of the Church, lest by reproving him, the devil make him his own. When, however, someone has been cast out of the Church by the high priest, the devil takes hold of him, nor does he depart from him until he has attached him to himself. A priest should not frequently excommunicate or curse. When these things...

know, pastor, beware that you do not thrust away a sheep ^A from the flock without judgment; but when you discover the one sinning, call him aside; and in part reprimand him, in part entreat him, to depart from evil—once, twice, thrice; and if counsel has gained your brother, as Scripture says: *He who has turned a sinner from the error of his way shall save his soul, and shall cover a multitude of sins* (Jas. 5:20). First, forgive him; for to him who forgives, it shall be forgiven. And again the philanthropic Lord says: *If your brother sin against you seventy times seven, forgive him* (Matt. 18:22). And do not cast up to him things that have been covered, nor incense him who is turning himself. But if after three admonitions he corrects himself through repentance, then he shall be received. All these things the priest must know, and how he ought to conduct himself among the people, and he shall not be condemned unto the age. ^B Finally, I will set forth the word concerning deacons, and how they ought to conduct themselves. The deacon, therefore, must do everything according to the intent of the presbyter, both in the canon and in ecclesiastical needs; and among the people he must not act with authority, but must administer everything by command of the presbyter, nor having authority to excommunicate anyone, nor to do anything else. If the presbyter is not present, the deacon has authority over all things, just as the presbyter, except for the divine mysteries. If the priest is about to be away, he must request another presbyter from another village to render the prayers to the people; but if necessity arises, and a presbyter is not found, the presbyter must sanctify the bread, and command the deacon to give it to the people. If necessity arises, and a child is found unbaptized, and is about to die, it is permissible for the deacon to baptize; and if the child has died, baptism is reckoned to him; but if the child dies unbaptized through the negligence of the presbyter, woe to that presbyter! And if it dies unbaptized through the negligence of the parents, woe to the parents of the child! Therefore, parents must not leave the child unbaptized for a long time; ^C for an unsealed sheep is the portion of the wolf. For the seal of Christ preserves the one who has the seal. To Him, therefore, to Christ, belongs glory and honor and power, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

CONCERNING THE PARABLE OF THE UNJUST STEWARD (Luke 16), AND THAT ^D NOTHING IS OURS

I have often said to you, while discoursing, that a certain misguided and false notion that has fallen upon men increases sins and diminishes the good things which we each ought to offer in our own conduct. And this is that we possess and own everything that we have in the use of life as if we were lords and masters; and because of this assumption we contend fiercely for them, and war, and go to law, and occupy ourselves with temporal things as if they were personal property. But the truth is not so, but even the exact opposite. For all things that we enjoy in this life are not ours, nor do we hold them as masters and lords, but as sojourners and newcomers and migrants; and we are led away where we do not wish, and when we do not expect, we are deprived of our possessions when it seems good to the Lord of the possession. For this reason, the condition of this fleeting life is something changeable; and he who is in glory today is tomorrow pitiable, worthy of pity and help; he who is now wealthy, and flourishing in the abundance of riches, is a pauper after a little while, not even having bread from home to offer for his life. And in this especially our God surpasses us mortals, in that He is always the same, and has [all things] the same, and possesses life and glory and power that cannot be taken away. Whence then [did I come] to this beginning of the discourse? Or perhaps it happens to be familiar to those who have understanding and are lovers of letters. Luke has just now read to us an invented parable, in which he describes a steward of another’s goods being pressed and distressed, because, as someone impassioned and a profligate, he heard from the lord of the possessions and money that "Give the account of the stewardship, and depart; for I will not tolerate you enjoying my things as if they were your own." This is not an explanation of a thing that happened, but a crafting of a parable, instructing in moral virtue those who have had the word shadowed for them. Know, therefore, each one, that you are a steward of another's goods; and having cast off from your soul the lording it over others and pride, take up the lowly and reverent [disposition] of the accountable one and the steward, constantly awaiting your Lord, and with fear drawing up the account of your apology. For you are a sojourner, having received the permission of use for a short time and a passing one. But if you doubt, learn the thing that is happening from familiar examples, and be instructed by the unveracious teacher, experience: You possess a field, having received it either from a father or becoming lord through some transaction? Therefore, count back in your memory, and number all, if you can, who have possessed it; project your mind also to the coming time, and consider how many will rule over it after you; tell me, whose is the lordship, and to whom [does it] specifically belong? To those who have had it, those who have it, or those who are about to have it? For if one were to collect them all together as if in a struggle, there will be found more possessors than cents. But rather, if you desire to see precisely to what our life is similar, remember if ever in the time of summer you saw while journeying a tree with thick foliage, extending for a long way in breadth and length, sufficient in its shadow to fulfill the need of one. Pleased by this, you went under it, and, for as long as it was permitted, there you remained. But since it was necessary to depart again, and another journey was advised [for you], another [person] stood by. And you, indeed, were shaking off the baggage, but he was taking down his own, and everything was taken over by yours—the mat, the fire, the tree's shadow, the flowing water. And the one went off to his resting, and you toward your walking. That one was pleased, then he left. And the tree became an ephemeral lodging for a dozen strangers in a single day; and having become the property of all, it was of the one who was truly the lord. So also, the riches of the life here please many and nourish [them], but the lordship belongs only to God, to Him who has the life as incorruptible and indestructible. You have also seen an inn, at which you surely stopped while journeying; and you received many things from there, though carrying nothing: a bed, a table, drinking vessels, a platter, other assorted utensils. And not yet having used them for your sufficiency, another came, panting, covered in dust, pressing you, and driving you from the inn, and seeking the things of another as personal [property]. Such is our life, brother, even more transient than the things mentioned. And I am amazed at those who say, "My field," "My house." O how a vain syllable appropriates things that do not belong [to them], and with three deceptive letters they embrace the things of another! Just as with the masks of the wonder-workers, no one has them specifically, but all the actors of the dramas put them on; so also others from others put on the earth and the goods upon it like garments. Is there anything, tell me, more powerful than a king? Yet, search the palaces, seek out the royal robes; you will find these sufficient, which have clothed the bodies of many kings; likewise also the crowns, and the brooches, and the girdles, all a fleeting inheritance, an empty use, remaining from those who are journeying to those who are remaining. But what of the dignity of the magistrates, the spectacle...

...instructed by their Creator, with five senses for the uses of life; yet these senses are not free nor of their own authority, but each one is servile and under law. The first sense is the eye. See, he says, and consider those things that it is good to see: the sun, which illuminates all the world; the moon, which illuminates the sad and dark night; and the other stars, which do not provide us much or sufficient light, but exhibit a beautiful brightness, which they obtained. Consider the earth blooming with various flowers and herbs, and the sea extended like a plain when a pure calm is present. Use the faculty of sight for these and similar things; but avoid and pass by other spectacles which induce damage to the soul, and place a covering upon yourself that you may not see. For it is better for this sense to be darkened than to provide service to the works of darkness. Therefore, yesterday, the Lord said to us through Matthew: *Every one who looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart* (Matt. V, 28); and it is better to pluck it out when it looks upon things that are disorderly and baneful. The hearing also has precepts that prohibit it from listening to evil things. For it ought to be open when it hears good things, and to commit to the mind those which can be useful; but if anything pestiferous and corrupt approaches, which could stir up the filth of sins, it ought to flee it as a venomous beast. Let the tongue be tempered with the mouth; let it speak just things, abstain from things prohibited, from railings, from slanders, from unjust accusation, from detraction concerning the brethren, from blasphemy against God. Let it speak all things good, pious, and which exhort to good works; let every man say these words of the holy psalmist: *I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue*; and, *As a sharpened razor thou hast performed deceit*; and, *With their tongues they dealt deceitfully*; and, *Why dost thou glory in malice, who art powerful in malice? Thy tongue hath thought upon iniquity all the day* (Ps. XXXVIII). Let the nostrils also be tempered, so that they may not always smell sweet things, nor draw unto the head the vapor and fragrance of precious ointments; for Isaiah greatly disapproves of similar things. Let the hand remember the precepts, so that it may not touch all things without restraint; let it be extended toward almsgiving, not to rapine; let it keep its own, and not scrape together another's; let it touch sick and infirm bodies, by visiting them, not the bodies of those who are vigorous and given to fornication. We have proved also that we are not our own masters, but only stewards. For whatever is subject to laws and precepts is a servant and subordinate to the legislator. But if the parts of our body ^B are not free from power, but are subject in their operations to the will of the master, what will you say to those who think they have the possession of gold, silver, earth, and other things without having to render any account? Nothing is thine, O man; thou art a servant, and thine are the Lord's: for a servant does not have free property. For thou wast brought naked into this light; what thou hast, thou receivedst according to the law of thy Lord, either from paternal inheritance—because God so ordained: *Parents*, he says, *shall divide spoils for their children* (Prov. XIX, 14)—or from marriage that obtained opulence; for marriages and the things that follow them are ordained by God; or from negotiation, or agriculture, and other ways, God cooperating with thee for them. Lo, it has been demonstrated that thou hast not received thine own. Let us see, then, what has been commanded unto thee, and what the administration of those things ought to be. Give to the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the afflicted, do not despise the needy man cast out at the crossroads; do not be anxious ^C about thyself, nor care how thou shalt live even unto the end. If thou doest these things, thou shalt be honored by the Lord; if thou obeyest not the precept, thou shalt be bitterly tormented. I do not see these things to be the power of a man possessing his own self or his own life; on the contrary, those many precepts indicate to me that man is strongly ruled, subject to the dominical laws, from whom the discipline of life is required as a debt. But how do we act? As if we had a life not liable to render any account, we despise the miserable and the afflicted, failing in calamities; yet we spend bountifully upon empty things, feeding a troop of lost flatterers, dragging along crowds of unhappy parasites; likewise we dissipate riches in the country against beasts and wild animals, sparing no expense in feeding horses; and again we pour out money upon conjurers and mimes and similar pests. We suffer a thing new and almost insane. For where expense brings immense gain and eternal life, we hold back the silver greatly, so that not even a few obols fall from the hand; where, however, the expense is a sin, and the cause of a thousand torments, and brings the torture of fire, there liberality outruns the request, and with all doors opened, we allow our riches to go forth to strangers. But this mind is not of servants awaiting their Lord, but of prodigal youths, revelers, the lustful. If thou wishest, however, O hearer, to see the fear of the steward, who with prudence and piety administers the things entrusted to him, unfold the book of David, seek those words where a man, who is very anxious about the end of his own life, thus addresses God: *Make known to me, O Lord, my end, and the number of my days* (Ps. XXXVIII, 5).

CONCERNING FASTING

the legislator for fasting is effective: nor does he eat bread, nor drink wine; for he was satisfied with food such as it was, that he might teach the law to the legislator. But he also indicates how harmful drunkenness is to one who opposes the fast; consider what was done by Moses, and what was done by the people, and you will find the power of the fast. Above, Moses was receiving the law, and below, the people were overturning the law. Having been grieved, Moses shattered the law, not deeming it reasonable that the law be entrusted to the drunken, and that the oracles be handed over to minds weighed down by wine. See how much harm drunkenness does in opposing the fast. But again, the fast, having set right such a great evil, using the same days, again recalled the law. ^A He left a memorial for us for the security of life and conduct, perhaps intending in this way also to indicate a mystery: that the first legislation would be idle, being shattered because of the unbelief of the former people; but the second was effective, being given everywhere, as the second people faithfully received the second law, and observed it together. And Elijah, having fasted for forty days, and having traversed the desert with one meal, did not feel fatigue; for the fast sustained him, lightening the labor; and after the fast he saw God, as much as it was possible for human nature to understand. ^B He saw the incorporeal, not with bodily eyes, but by understanding the invisible with his heart, according to the purity of the soul. For blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Having fasted in this way, he closed heaven against the intemperate and those who consume their own lives in luxury, so that what they did not choose by their own volition, they might learn by being disciplined through the fast of famine, and know how beneficial the fast is, and the work it displays in time of luxury. Daniel, too, having fasted for three weeks, and not having tasted desirable bread, having come into the lions' den out of zeal against the intemperate, taught the lions there to fast. For the wild beasts were made ashamed by the faster, becoming tamer than the rational beasts, and they closed their own mouth, not daring to touch the holy body. For ^C as if placing a weapon against his own body, the fast, and having fortified his whole self through it, he led astray the eyes of the lions, not displaying a human body, but an angelic one. And the three youths in Babylon, not wishing to participate in the lawless table of the king, but to follow the fast according to the law, having entered into the ignited pyre of the furnace, extinguished the flame, having worked the furnace into dew instead of fire through the fast; and the fire dared to touch those inexperienced in the fast (for it consumed all the surrounding Chaldeans); but it withdrew from those in the habit of the fast, not being able to touch their body. For there was not any matter in the body, since the fast had made it spiritual. Similarly, the Ninevites also, having fasted, warded off death; for having persisted in fasting for three days, ^D having transformed eternal punishment through these few days, they have left eternal praise for the world. See, beloved, how much the fast avails when performed with prayer and works. For fasting and petition are born from death; but righteousness is above both. Fasting is both the destruction of death and the redemption from wrath; fasting is the purification of the mind, the companion of temperance, the gymnasium of piety, the yoke of righteousness. Fasting knows how to make the poor man rich; for it does not allow him to spend unseasonably, providing the sufficiency of what is needed. It also knows how to make the rich man a manager of his own possessions, not allowing him to spend fearlessly; fasting also knows the prime of youth. It teaches a bridle for foods, it puts on temperance, and wisely guiding it towards piety and chastity. It also knows how to make the elderly wise, and to keep the bond of the mind pure. Fasting also keeps the body healthier; for it is not weighed down by foods and does not receive the material for illnesses, but being lightened from edibles, it becomes robust for the reception of graces. For this reason let us fast, beloved, that we may attain the spiritual gifts. He who is fasting also tutors the soul towards piety, taking the care of the soul as an image of bodily temperance, so that just as he abstains from the foods entering from without, so also from the evil thoughts ascending in the mind. For if, he says, the spirit of the one having power should ascend upon you, do not leave your place, for it will stop the sin. Just as now you abstain from foods, not tasting them, so abstain from sins, changing your ways. Do you fast, not touching wine? Fast also by abstaining from wickedness; for evil knows how to produce a greater drunkenness in the soul. Do you fast, not touching meats? Fast also by abstaining from slander, so that through it you do not eat the flesh of your brothers, tasting their very bodies. For true fasting is the abstention from sins. Do you hear the Prophet saying: Did I choose this fast, or a day for a man to humble his soul? 1848 But what? Loose, he says, every bond of injustice, dissolve the knots of violent contracts; break your bread for the hungry, bring the homeless into your house; if you see the naked, clothe them. This, beloved, is the true fast, acceptable to God, and life-saving to man, and pleasing to all. Following this is the possession of the heavens, and the truthful promise of the Master. For see what He adds: Then your light will break forth early, and then you will cry out, and He will hear you; while you are still speaking, He will say: Behold, I am here. Do you see the great gifts of the fast, and how much piety it holds, so as to move God Himself to approach human nature? Fast, therefore, remain in prayers, in assemblies, in admonitions, not being absent from the congregation, as is the custom of some; nor in business or in courtrooms for the whole day; so that you may not gather money, which you ought to have scattered; or pursue your brother, whom you ought to have been treating. You came at evening, or at the ninth hour, not that you might fulfill the purpose of the fast, but that you might fill the craving of your belly. And do not think that you are drunk because you abstain from wine for the sake of being sober, while being filled with wickedness, so that you may not hear, Woe to those who are drunk, not from wine! But drunkenness is not a companion of the fast, but an enmity and an opponent. That we may arrive at the hope of the resurrection prepared for us, there enjoying the laid-up good things, and here rejoicing in those expected in Christ Jesus, to whom is the glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.

CONCERNING THE SON OF THE WIDOW

And it came to pass afterwards, He was traveling to a city called Naim: and His disciples were traveling with Him, and a great crowd. And as He drew near to the gate of the city, and behold, a dead man was being carried out, an only-begotten son to his mother, and she was a widow (Luke 7.11, 12). All things were full of misery, and of much sympathy. An only son having been released from the present life, the sweetest mother was crying out, that I was born a mother, from whom death has harvested the pains of childbirth. The vine had one cluster, and the storm of death shattered this; she possessed one staff, and death, the common one, took this away. The woman was without protection, and with the staff removed, she saw no life for herself. Henceforth she had no consolation, with the only one lost. Being seized by multiple grief, and that inconsolable; no one could alleviate the sorrow; tears were flowing like streams, the grief upon the woman was intolerable. She contemplated the form of her son, her bowels were being torn with love. And she remained entirely a widow, she [was] entirely in the most wretched state; and she was bereft of her husband and only son. Verily, it was a miserable state for the widow, full of mourning, of weeping, of calamity. No spectator spared tears; there was groaning, and one could not find one who was mourning the first, the dead son, and the widow, the living [one]. And one might ask, is the widow living? Even if she seemed to live (for I speak according to the present life, not the future one), she was dead. For the widow in reality, if she is wealthy, the pain diminishes this for a short time, hence she is refreshed by something, her wound is cured, the pain is alleviated, she is strengthened by abundance, meanwhile

she is deprived of the fruit of her labor. She sees the branch, and embraces the root; she possesses the cluster, and loves him who planted it; she has a part, and considers it the whole; she embraces the living, and does not abhor the dead; she considers the son’s appearance, and represents to herself the image of the father. ^B And while the youth lives, the widow endures the storms of life more gently; but if it happens that, while the mother is alive, her son dies, and bids his mother farewell, and runs to his father—that which happened to this widow—then she receives the whole pain at once. For as soon as the only son of the widow mentioned died, she, having put on mourning garments, began to utter reckless words, rebuking God as if he were unjust, and addressing him with blasphemous words as if she had suffered violence: "Was my son alone a burden to the world? Others are in distress because of numerous offspring, and for me alone my only one is snatched away. I, a wretch, am living, and my husband and son are dead. Who will console me hereafter? Who will look upon me? I seemed about to receive some confidence from him; for it was enough for me if I were called a mother. My father left him to me tenderly and without resources, and I, a widow without patronage, applying my hands to work, fed him with care, prepared double and triple garments for him, and paid the wages to those instructing him; and now, when I hoped to reap blessings from him, I receive a hail of temptations. O the pain! But I have devised what I shall do: I shall be buried with my son; of this I inform my envious ones; my relatives were devouring me because I had a grown son. Grant me permission, all you who envy me my offspring: I now anticipate the sepulcher of my own son; it would seem ridiculous to me if I were still to live." ^C While this widow was crying out with pain, Christ our God—who foresees all things, who knew all things before he did them, for: *Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you came out of the womb I sanctified you* (Jer. 1:5)—immediately arriving, turned her tears into joy, he who made the gate of the city of Nain a church, and the bier of the dead a sacrificial altar. For where the gift of resurrection is, there is the ornament of the altar; and where the hands of the Word of God are extended, there the measure of resurrection is finished; for that exit was a place of sacrifice, and the carrying out was a bringing back. For what does the evangelist say? *But seeing her, Jesus—that is, the Savior, the Word of God, Christ—was moved with compassion, seeing her.* Seeing what? A widow bereft of her son and husband, an old woman, bent, mourning, tearing her hair, sprinkling her head with dust, dimming her heavy eyes, tearing her unbecoming garment, beating her breast exhausted with groans, and no longer able to cry out, finally become frantic. ^D Seeing her in this state, Jesus was moved with compassion for her, and approaching, said to her, "Do not weep." But she, given over to mourning, since she did not know well who had arrived, having cast aside her mourning, answered the Lord: "Do you say 'Do not weep'? What consolation will you bring me now? If you were to move the whole world for this cause, you will not give me any comfort." [index: entries preserved]

[GREEK COLUMN] 713 SPURIA. σκου, καὶ τὸν θάνατον καταπάτησον. Σοὶ λέγω, ἐγέρ- θητι : μή βραδύνῃς πρὸς τὴν ἀνάστασιν· Ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι ἡ ζωὴ καὶ ἡ ἀνάστασις. Ἐκάλεσα τὸν Λάζαρον ἐκ τάφου, καὶ οὗτος εὐθέως ἐξήλατο τοῦ μνήματος, ὡς τε πάρτην ήμεραν κατασαπεὶς ἐν τῷ μνήματι, καὶ πολλὰ των σπλάγχνων ὑπὸ τῶν σκωλήκων πεπορθημένος. Αλλ' ἡ φωνὴ τῆς ζωῆς τὸν νεκρὸν ὀσφράνασα εἰς εὐ ας μίαν τὴν τῶν σαρκῶν ἀνεχάλκευσε λύσιν, καὶ γέγονε μήτρα του κειμένου τὸ μνῆμα. Σοὶ δὲ προσφάτως ὁ θά νατος ἐμεθόδευσε · σοὶ λέγω, μὴ βραδύνῃς πρὸς τὴν ἀνάστασιν· Ἐγὼ γὰρ εἰμι ἡ ἀνάστασις. Νεκρός ὑπὸ ἦρχεν ὁ θεωρούμενος, καὶ ὡς ἀκούοντι τ· τεθνεῶτι δια ελέγετο ὁ Κύριος. Πότε νεκρὸς ἀκούει ; Καὶ τί φησιν ὁ Δεσπότης ; Σοὶ λέγω, ἐγέρθητι καὶ εὐθέως ἀνεκάθ ισεν ὁ νεκρός· ὥστε οἱ θεωροῦντες [85] ὄχλοι εγέ- νοντο ὡσεὶ νεκροί, πρῶτον μὲν διὰ τὴν ἀπιστίαν, δεύ- τερον διὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Διὰ τί γὰρ μὴ κατεπήδησεν, ἀλλ' ἀνεκάθισεν ; Ὅπως ἂν ἀνεπισκίαστον τὴν ἀνάστα σιν θεωρήσωσιν οἱ πάντες, καὶ μὴ φαντασία γνωρισθῇ τὸ γινόμενον. Μονονουχί λέγων πρὸς αὐτούς· Εγώ ὑμᾶς πληροφορῶ τοὺς ἀκηκοότας, ὅτι ἐκεῖνος αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ πρὸς βραχὺ ἀποθανών. Καὶ ἐκτείνας τὴν χεῖρα ὁ Ἰησοῦς, ἐπελάβετο τοῦ τεθνεῶτος, καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτὸν ζώντα τῇ μητρὶ αὐτοῦ. Ἡ δὲ λαβοῦσα τὸν υἱὸν, ὑπὸ χαρᾶς καὶ ἀπιστίας συνείχετο · χαίρουσα μὲν ἐπὶ τῇ τοῦ παιδὸς ἀναστάσει· ἀπιστοῦσα δὲ τῇ διανοίᾳ τῶν πραγμάτων. Μετὰ σπουδῆς τὸ γύναιον ἀκριβῶς τὸν ιἱὸν κατενδει, ταῖς χερσὶν ἐψηλάφα, ὀφθαλμῶν θέσεις διερευνώσα, ὀσφρήσεως, χειλέων, μετώπου, καὶ τοῦ παντὸς προσώπου την διατύπωσιν· εἶτα τὰς χεῖρας καὶ τοὺς πόδας, καὶ ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν, ὅλον τὸ σῶμα · καὶ πρὸς ἑαυτὴν διελογίζετο λέγουσα· 'Αρα, φησί, μήποτε πλα Κατὰ Ἰουδαίων εἰς τὸν ὅριν τὸν χαλκοῦν· καὶ εἰς τὸν 794 νῶμαι ; μὴ ἄλλον ὑπὲρ ἄλλου κρατῶ ; μὴ πρὸς παρα. μυθίαν τὴν ἐμὴν, καὶ τὴν τοῦ πένθους ὑποστολὴν, καὶ πρὸς τοῦ ἄλγους ὑπερβολὴν τοῦ υἱοῦ μου τὸν θάνατον ἐσορίσατο ; καὶ ξένον τινὰ ὡς οἰκεῖον παρέδωκεν Ιη· σούς, τὴν ἐμὴν ὀδύνην ἐπικουφίσαι βουλόμενος; Ουδένα τοῦ γενομένου κέκτημαι μάρτυρα · οὐκ εἶδον τοῦτό ποτε, οὐκ ἄλλος τῶν σὺν ἐμοὶ τεθέαται · οὐδέποτε ἐπὶ κλίνης ώφθη νεκρὸς ἐγηγερμένος. Αὐτὸν δὲ τὸν υἱὸν λα δοῦσα, διελέγετο λέγουσα - Λέγε μοι, φησί, καὶ μὴ δειλιά- σῃς, εἰ σὺ αὐτὸς ὑπάρχεις ὁ υἱός μου· εἰπε, γινώσκεις με; γνωρίζεις με τίς εἰμι ; οἶδας εἰ ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ τεκούσά σε Ἐπιγινώσκω τοὺς χαρακτῆρας, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ πιστεύω τῷ πράγματι · βοᾷ ὁ ἐφθαλμός, ὑπογράφει ἡ κόρη, κηρύτ τε: τὰ βλέφαρα, ἡ ἀκοὴ, συμφωνεί, μαρτυρεῖ τὸ τῆς οσφρήσεως διατετυπωμένων μεσότοιχον, τὰ χείλη πλη ροφορεί, αὐτὴ ἡ ἡλικία προτρέπεται. Κίνησον γλώσ σαν, ὦ φίλτατε, εἰπέ μοι τὰ τοῦ βίου τεκμήρια. Η χαρά μοι χειμῶνά μοι ἐκίνησε · βλέπω σε, καὶ συνέχομαι ἐγώ σε ἐπ' ἀγκάλαις ἐβάστατα, ἐγὼ μαζοῖς ἐμοῖς ἐθή- λασα βραχὺν ὄντα. Λέγε μοι, τέκνον μου, σὺ ὑπάρχεις ὁ υἱός μου ; καὶ μὴ δειλιάσῃς με. Αλλ' ὡς ἐπὶ πᾶσι τούτοις τὴν πληροφορίαν ἐδέξατο, καὶ ἡ πενθήσασα ὑπο ή έστρεψε χαίρουσα, καὶ ἡ θρηνούσα δοξάζουσα τὸν Θεόν, τῇ δεξιᾷ χειρὶ τὸν παῖδα κατέχουσα, καὶ διὰ τῆς πα λεως πρὸς πάντας πορευομένη βοώσα μεγάλῃ τῇ φωνῇ : Μεγαλύνατε τὸν Κύριον σὺν ἐμοὶ, καὶ ὑψώσωμεν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό· ὅτι τὸν ἐμὸν νεκρωθέντα ἀνέστησεν, ὅτι τὴν παλαιὰν ἄμπελον ἐχαράκωσε, καὶ τὴν μὴ μητέρα πάλιν μητέρα ἐποίησε, καὶ πηγὰς δα- κρύων εξέκοψε και δοξάσατε τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας· ὅτι αὐτῷ πρέπει δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Αμήν.

Against the Jews, on the Bronze Serpent; and on that, "He gave him a name which is above every name" (Phil. 2:9); and on that, "For because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself" (Heb. 6:13)

^A 1. The Word of God, brethren, as we have often said, is simple indeed, clear, and manifest to all, and full of much light; but because He has various operations, He receives various names, so that He is often called light, and life, and lamp, and torch, and sword, and river, and fountain, and blade, and axe, and door. He accepts these names in proportion to His benefits, in order to enlighten the thoughts of the hearers, and to raise our mind from things among us to things above us. Hence our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, the fountain of wisdom, in conversing with the people, has used parables, teaching things above the world from things in the world, the invisible from the visible, the divine from the human. And sometimes He brings a parable of a vineyard, sometimes of fishing, sometimes of a net, at other times of leaven, just as today, conversing with the Jews, He said: "A certain man had two sons, and he said to the first, 'Go, work in the vineyard'" (Matt. 21:28). Since these things are practiced among us, and we are conversant with them, He leads us toward the super-celestial wisdom; as He was saying also in the previous one; for on yesterday's day the Savior was saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard." Yesterday He introduced the parable of the vineyard, and today the same. It is necessary also to note those times at which the Master of the vineyard went out. He went out, he says, early in the morning, and about the third, and sixth, and ninth, and eleventh hours. Five times of the calling appear: early in the morning, third hour, sixth, ninth, eleventh. Nothing useless is with God. For He who threatens that "you will give an account for every idle word" (Matt. 12:36), the very fountain of wisdom itself would not have used an idle word. The divine school therefore teaches us now that God calls at various times. The Master is the same, He has the same vineyard, but He makes the call at different times according to the different generations of men. The day is the same, the Master is the same, the vineyard the same; the times are not the same, but early in the morning, third, sixth, ninth, eleventh. When did He go out early in the morning to hire laborers? By morning He calls the beginnings of the divine creation. It was morning, because Adam was created; for in the beginnings the aeon had just newly raised the sun, just newly the beauty of the moon and the order of the stars was shown. Early in the morning the Master went out to hire. Whom first of men did He hire? Adam. He placed him in paradise to work and to keep it. The first time, therefore, is from Adam until Noah, this is one calling, one time. And at that time indeed Adam was hired for work, Abel for the work of virtue, Seth and Enoch, who was translated because of surpassing virtue. Until Noah was the first time of the calling. When Noah appeared, the time of the third hour, He went out again to hire. For the first generation having been destroyed because of lawlessness, the race of men again needed a second calling. He introduces laborers for the second time into the vineyard, those from Noah until Abraham; the second calling. Observe precisely, I beg you: the first hour, those from Adam until Noah; the third hour, those from Noah until Abraham; the sixth hour, those from Abraham until Moses; the ninth hour, those from Moses until Christ; the eleventh hour, those from Christ until the end. For just as the eleventh hour is the end of the day, so also the time of the presence was the end of the ages. For just as the eleventh hour hurries the day to an end, so the time of the presence hints at the consummation. Therefore the apostle Paul says: "These things, brethren, happened to them as types; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come" (1 Cor. 10:11). And also the wonderful thing: the first ones were hired, the second, the third, the fourth, and at the end the fifth; and the wage was not given to the first until the last arrived; but they endured the toil, while they had not yet received the wage. For God did not wish to give the wage to the first until the fruits of the Church should arrive, and He commands the steward: "Give from the last unto the first." That God deferred not giving the wage to the first until the last should come, Paul testifies, saying in the Epistle to the Hebrews. He mentioned Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and the patriarchs, and other prophets and righteous men, and adds: "And all these, having been attested through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect" (Heb. 11:39-40). Just as here,

^A five seasons and callings were given, first from Adam to Noah, second from Noah to Abraham, third from Abraham to Moses, fourth from Moses to Christ, fifth from the Saviour to the consummation. In other places, He manifests the parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out" (Matt. 20:1). Why five and five? Five wise and five foolish. For each generation has its wise and foolish, and in each generation there are those who are diligent and those who are sluggish, and those who are pious and those who are blameless. Observe the harmony of the times everywhere — these callings have ^B their own distinct affairs, and their own time. And just as the owner of the vineyard demands at each time its respective fruits, so too, after the winter, he does not demand the fruits of spring, nor does he demand the fruits of spring from the winter, nor the fruits of summer from the last, nor from the autumn those of its own season. Thus also does God, in demanding fruits, demand of each time its own respective generation. He demands a fruit today which he demanded of the first ones; another he demands after the coming of Christ. For just as he did not demand the fruits of the present time from those who came before, but demanded of each generation its own fruits, so does He still. The time then was different, and it had a different law, and it had a different ordinance, God not changing, but applying commandments that were fitting. Therefore, the Scripture ^C testifies many times concerning Noah: "And Noah was a just man, perfect" (Gen. 6:9). In what way? "In his generation," in comparison to those after him. "For each is required to perform the service of his own generation," as Peter says concerning David: "David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep" (Acts 13:36). Each according to his own generation. There are, therefore, five generations. We do not say these things rashly, but following the footsteps of the Master. The Saviour shows the power: "Returning," he says, "into the city, he saw a fig tree: and it had nothing but leaves" (Matt. 21:19), and he sought fruit. He approached, being hungry. I see much difficulty in these words, unless God leads our mind to reverence, so that we do not speak or think anything rashly against God, but follow the target of the truth. "Returning," he says, late at night he was hungry, and approached the fig tree seeking fruit, and found none: "For it was not the season for figs" (Mark 11:13). Thus it is written. Who—I am not speaking of God, nor do I bring forward God's dignity now—who among us men is so foolish and senseless as to go to a fig tree out of season? If we speak according to a human standard, it is alien to sense to seek fruit out of season; if according to God, why did He not know the bounds of His own creation? However you examine what was said, whether according to humanity or according to divinity, it does not befit the Saviour. For neither does a prudent man demand the fruits of trees out of season, since otherwise he would not demand them even from the beginning; nor would God, who established order, time, and laws for each tree and fruit, demand them beyond their own bounds. For if you had established a law for the fig tree not to bear in its own time, and even if the time were right, it still did not bear fruit, that would have to be attributed to the will of God, who did not give the tree the power. Therefore, brethren, it was more of an economy than of necessity. This was not a necessity, but an economy of Christ: He wanted to signify to the disciples that His passion was certainly to be. Because immediately after these things He was to go to Jerusalem, and was to suffer there (for if anyone reads accurately, he will find how the cross followed this history): because, therefore, he was to go to Jerusalem and was to suffer, and the disciples were scandalized by the passion; that no one might suspect Him of suffering out of infirmity, He gives clear indications that He can wither his adversaries, like the fig tree; to show His power on the inanimate fig tree, but His patience toward rational men; and that from the memory of the recent miracle they might understand that He suffered willingly, He who had withered the fig tree with a word. ^D That these things, brethren, are true, and that He Himself dispenses all these things in order to show His power, is understood from what follows; though many can understand this. The fig tree, he says, is the synagogue of the Jews; and he threatened the synagogue that no fruit would ever come from it. Some have wished to understand it thus; but facts seem not to agree with this prediction: for after the cross and after this pronouncement, many thousands of Jews believed; nor does that agree, "Let no fruit be from you forever," with such a great number of those who believe. Resume the statement. If He had spoken the sentence against the Jews and against the synagogue, so that it would bring forth no more fruit, and if the fruits of the synagogue are the Churches, then it ought to have been that after this sentence no Jew believed: but that many believed, hear the Scripture. One sermon of Peter received three thousand, another of the same one four thousand; and these were seven thousand souls; and elsewhere, while the word was progressing, a great multitude of Jews followed the faith. If most of the Jews, nay, many thousands followed, and if finally the word progressed so much among the Jews, that the apostles said to Paul, "You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews who have believed" (Acts 21:20); if there were so many thousands of believing Jews, how does this sentence agree with that, "Let no fruit be from you?" For after that sentence, many thousands of fruits appeared. But the matter has this consequence. Flee from forced allegories: sometimes the Scripture itself opens its eyes to speculation; at other times it teaches how to apply tropes. When therefore the speculation or history is bare, do not attempt the impenetrable, but take the matter from the series. The cross was there, and the passion was to come. Lest they ascribe the economy to infirmity, He showed His power for the sake of those who were to have the hope of salvation. For the Saviour knew that the cross would be the salvation of men, and that by being lifted up on the wood, He would capture the whole world. Therefore He says: "If I be lifted up," that is, if I am crucified, "I will draw all men to myself" (John 12:32). Attend, I ask: that which is said, "If I be lifted up," what is it? Unless He Himself interprets it, I cannot establish the meaning. The Saviour says to Nicodemus: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him may not perish, but may have life everlasting. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up" (John 3:14-15). ^A Because the people of the Jews were murmuring about the manna which they were eating, and were trampling upon this food given from heaven, and were desiring the Egyptian table, and saying: "We remember the caldrons of flesh, which we ate in Egypt" (Exod. 16:3): and the Egyptian pots were preferred to the heavenly food. What then did God do? Because they had despised the heavenly bread, He sends deadly serpents into the people: serpents went forth biting, bringing death with the bite. And rightly was no other beast sent, not a lion, not a bear, but serpents. For because from the beginning God had said to the serpent, "Upon thy breast and belly shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life" (Gen. 3:14), He sent this beast against those who were murmuring while eating manna; for it, truly, was eating and not murmuring. He sent a biting serpent; death followed the bite. They fall down before Moses, Moses falls down before God: God suggests a remedy for the wounds; even though He could, if asked, put the serpents to flight; but He leaves the plague and gives the medicine. "Make for me," He says, "a brazen serpent" (Num. 21:8), and fix it on wood at the gate of the tabernacle of the testimony, and proclaim to the children of Israel and say: "If anyone has been bitten by a serpent, let him come and look upon this serpent fixed on wood, and if he believes, he shall live." Could the serpents not have been put to flight? Could they not have been destroyed? Could He not have healed them with a word? Indeed, just as the word of God could bring water out of a rock, yet the rock did not obey until it saw the symbol of the cross: so too in this place: He could have put the serpents to flight; but until they saw the image of the cross, which took away the bites of the demons, they did not become whole. Why, moreover, did the Saviour make a serpent His image? What similarity is there between this image and the serpent? So that you may remember, when you shall have contended against the Jews, or against enemies who use the Scripture and fight against the Scripture, how you expect salvation and blessing from the crucified One. For it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree" (Deut. 21:23). Attend diligently: if a Jew or another enemy of the Church should say, usurping the words of Scripture and fighting against the Scripture: "How do you wish to receive a blessing from the crucified Lord, when Moses clearly writes, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree'?" Answer him, "If you read the Scripture, attend: for not only reading is required, but also understanding, as Philip said to the eunuch: 'Do you think that you understand what you read?' And what did that worthy man say to this? 'How can I, sir, unless some man guide me?' (Acts 8:30-31)? If he says, 'How do you expect a blessing from the crucified One? For it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree,' say to him, 'How did the children of Israel in the desert receive a blessing from the serpent, when God from the beginning had said, 'Cursed art thou among all the beasts of the earth' (Gen. 3:15)?"