SOME SPURIOUS WORKS
OF OUR HOLY FATHER JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE, ON PENITENCE, AND ON THE LECTION OF DAVID CONCERNING THE WIFE OF URIAH.
A Behold, today the blessed David has been read to us, the musician of temperance and the teacher. For whenever he moves his spiritual lyre by means of the Psalms, he soothes the hearing and tempers the mind. For this reason, the grace of the Spirit has ordered that he be sung by almost every Christian soul every single day, so that we may both gladden our hearing and derive benefit for our soul. And I am often seized by wonder, and I have often stood outside myself in thought, pondering and saying, why is it that, above all the scriptures in the Old and in the New Testament, everyone so loves the book of David, and everyone has made it their practice to carry this one alone upon their lips? Moses was a great lawgiver, who saw God face to face, who, making known to us the whole of creation from the beginning from on high, and proclaiming the Creator, said: *In the beginning God created heaven and earth* (Gen. 1, 1). And his book is most great and filled with all wisdom, and yet we barely read it in each church once or twice a week. But you will say, "That is of the Old Testament." And what of the reading of the holy Gospels? Where the miracles of the presence of Christ are proclaimed; where God associates with men, and death is dissolved by a word; where demons are put to flight by command, and lepers are cleansed by a word; where the blind receive what was lacking in their nature, cured by clay, and five thousand are fed in the desert from five loaves; where a thief is settled into paradise, and a harlot is found purer than the stars; where the streams of the Jordan are sanctified for the sanctification of our souls, and the only-begotten Son is proclaimed from heaven by the Father; where Christ renews our life, and, renewing it for the salvation of the human race, proclaiming it, says: *Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied* (Matth. V, 3, 6). Yet look, even these laws we read but once or twice a week. But you will say that royal crowns should not be displayed every day. And what of the blessed apostle Paul, the orator of Christ, the fisherman of the world, who through fourteen epistles, as if through spiritual nets, has seined the whole world for salvation; who was caught up to the third heaven, and again into paradise; who was entrusted with the mysteries of the kingdom of God, which it is not lawful for a man to utter (II Cor. XII, 4)? Since we read even him twice a week, and carry his epistle upon our lips; but we fix our minds only upon the reading, and we follow it only at that specific time. What then have I to say regarding the blessed David, as to how the grace of the Spirit has ordered him to be proclaimed every day and night? For we all carry him upon our lips as if he were myrrh. In church are the all-night vigils, and the first, and the middle, and the last is David; in the morning hymns, the first, and B the middle, and the last is David; in the processions for the dead, the first, and C the last is David; in the houses of the virgins, as they work at the loom, the first, and the middle, and the last is David. Oh, things of wonder! Many, even those who have never had any experience of letters, having learned them, commit the whole of David to heart. But he shines forth not only in the cities and churches thus at every time and for every age, but also in the fields and in the deserts and in the uninhabited land, he raises up sacred choirs to God with the greatest zeal. In the monasteries, there is a holy choir of angelic ranks, and the first, and the middle, and the last is David; in the hermitages D of virgins, the flocks of those who...
mimic Mary are, the first, the middle, and the last is David; in A the deserts, men are crucified, living with God; and the first, the middle, and the last is David. And all men, indeed, suffering the tyranny of natural sleep by night, are drawn into the depths; but David alone stands alert, and excites the servants of God to angelic vigils, turning the earth into heaven, and rendering men equal to the angels, adorning our life in all things, and having become all things to all, and in all ways rendering our life angelic: growing along with children, inciting the younger to understanding, bestowing continence upon virgins, granting security to the elders, calling sinners to repentance and saying, *Confess to the Lord, for He is good* (Ps. CXVII, 1); strengthening those who have proceeded rightly through repentance and saying, *Do not remember the sins of my youth and my ignorances* (Ibid., XXIV, 7); exciting those who have received benefits to thanksgiving and saying, *What shall I return to the Lord for all that He has returned to me?* (Ibid., CXV, 3); calling those who sin frequently to confession with these words, *If you observe iniquities, O Lord, O Lord, who shall withstand?* (Ibid., CXXIX, 3); instructing those who seek mercy from God and saying, *Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy* (Ibid., L, 1); fortifying those who are called to the priestly office and saying, *Do not cast me away from Your face* (Ibid., L, 13); instructing those dragged to court with these words, *Deliver me from the slanders of men* (Ibid., CXVIII, 134), and saying, B *Rescue me from my enemies, O God* (Ibid., LVIII, 2); and exciting those who are expectant and affected by benefits to thanksgiving with these words, *Waiting, I waited for the Lord, and He heeded me, and heard my prayers* (Ibid., XXXIX, 2).
O great lyre, playing upon the souls of men throughout the habitable world as if they were strings, for one confession! And how is it that a man such as this and so great, who adorns multitudes of men, and surpasses encomiastic discourses; who established an angelic regimen on earth, and is crowned in heaven with the favorable acclamation of the angels—how, I say, was it permitted that he should slip into two chief sins? For the chief sins are, *You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery* (Exod. XX, 13, 14); and it was permitted that he should slip into these chief sins. Therefore, often pondering and considering these things within myself, I am amazed in mind, and just as a ship at sea without a helmsman is tossed, carried hither and thither by the waves, so my reasonings have often been stirred by storms, considering and saying: How was a man adorned with such great goods, a king and a prophet, a servant of Christ and a father—a servant according to nature, a father according to the flesh, for *The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David* (Matt. I, 1)—adorned more by virtues than by a diadem; clothed in a purple robe, and invested with humility, saying: *O Lord, my heart is not exalted, nor have my eyes been raised, nor have I walked in great things, nor in wonders above me; if I did not feel humbly, but exalted my soul, as one weaned* (Ps. CXXX, 1, 2); he who C crowned the goals of tolerance, and says: *O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is iniquity in my hands, if I have rendered to those returning evil to me* (Ps. VII, 4, 5); who not only shakes off pride, but even abominates the proud and says: *He who acts with pride shall not dwell in the middle of my house; he who speaks unjust things did not direct them in the sight of my eyes* (Ibid., C, 7); who with confidence says to God: *You have examined me by fire, and iniquity was not found in me* (Ibid., XVI, 3).
But why do I speak? To what end have I used his testimonies? Often even some say: He who bears witness to himself is not worthy of faith; let another testify to his works, let another be the herald of his crowns, let another be the witness of his life, so that the testimony may be more worthy of faith. Whom, pray, have we more worthy of faith than God, who says: *I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man according to My own heart* (Acts XIII, 22). What could be safer than this testimony? And how was a man clear in such great good works, who is asserted to have been according to the heart of God—how, I say, was he permitted to be carried away into the chief of sins? *You shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery*: and is the prophet of God both a homicide and an adulterer? For this passage was read to you today. I do not accuse the prophet, far from it; but I set your life in safety, that when you have done many things rightly, you may fortify yourself so as not to fall. For thus the Apostle also said: *He who thinks he stands, let him see that he does not fall* (1 Cor. X, 12). For this reason D even David himself said more frequently: *Unto the end, do not destroy* (Ps. LVII, 1, and LXX, 18): therefore he himself also supplicating said: *And even unto old age and advanced years, O God, do not abandon me*. Why, then, was he permitted to be cast down into such great sin? For three causes, which I will state: you, only, apply your mind with all attention. First, that the just may take heed for their life, whether they be ascetics or hermits; and that they may not say: "I have done many things splendidly, I am adorned with many virtues: I fast, I keep vigil, I pray, I pour out tears, I am clothed in sackcloth, I have rendered my body withered by exercises; I no longer fear the incursions of the devil, I have done those things splendidly which merit crowns." Do not err, O man; do not be elated in spirit: you have not done more than David; hear him saying: *My knees were weakened by fasting, and my flesh was changed because of the oil*; and again, *When they were troublesome to me, I was clothed in sackcloth, and I humbled my soul in fasting* (Ps. CVIII, 24, and XXXIV, 13). Hear him speaking of vigils: *At midnight I arose to confess to You*; and again, *Seven times a day I have praised You* (Ps. CXVIII, 62, and 164): hear him saying of tears: *I labored in my groaning; I will wash my bed through every night, I will drench my couch with my tears* (Ibid., VI, 7): hear him saying of the ascetic life: *For I ate ashes like bread, and I mingled my drink with weeping* (Ibid., CI, 10). But why do I bring forward to you the words of the prophet David? Hear again the testimony of God saying: *I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man according to My own heart* (Acts XIII, 22). And yet, after such great good works, he was carried away into such falls. Therefore be not bold, but take heed daily according to the admonition of the Apostle saying, *He who thinks he stands, let him see that he does not fall* (1 Cor. X, 12). Behold the first cause; now receive the second: That sinners may not despair of themselves, but if anyone should sin even daily, that he may confess daily. If you have sinned ten thousand times, confess ten thousand times: for there is nothing worse than despair. If anyone, when he has committed sins, has despaired, he no longer runs to the remedy. Do you not see the physicians, if they have despaired of anyone, no longer applying a remedy, but saying to the sick person: "If you wish to give something, we do not accept it; for that disease no longer admits of a remedy: the evil of the disease has surpassed the remedies of the art"? These things are said by those who despair; but if they expect health, they do all things, and apply medicines for the salvation of the sick person. Thus if anyone has despaired on account of sin, thinking there is no salvation for the penitent, he drives himself into greater evils. Therefore if you consider that the remedy and cure for the highest sins of homicide and adultery came to the prophet; even if you sin ten thousand times, you should give yourself over to confession. I say this, however, not urging to sin, but calling sinners to confession: since God, being a lover of mankind, blots out even great sins. For what is greater than homicide and adultery?
And yet, listen to the prophet himself, who sinned, saying: *I have acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid* (Ps. XXXI, 5). Therefore Christ, coming, forgave greater sins; He brought the thief into paradise, He made the tax collector an evangelist, He made the taunting and blasphemous Paul an apostle to the whole world, so that you too, when you sin, might not despair, but, by confessing, might receive healing. *Confess unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever* (Ps. CXVII, 1). Take this as the second cause; take the third as well. Our Savior was destined to arrive in His incarnate presence, and to assume the lump of our flesh, and to dwell with men; but since He was God and alone without sin, He allowed the righteous, according to their own free will, to fall into human slips; not that He Himself called them to sin, but He allowed them by their own will to walk according to their own purpose. Thus, indeed, even Abraham sinned by lacking faith, and for this reason he received a penalty from God: *And thy seed shall be in bondage… four hundred years* (Gen. XV, 13). And again Moses, when he had not glorified God, when he bestowed water from the rock upon the ungrateful; and for this reason God said to him: *And thou shalt see the land of promise, and thou shalt not enter therein* (Deut. XXXIV, 4). And he permitted even this one to fall into sin, so that He alone might be found without sin in a human body. For this reason also the prophet David, when at length he came to the confession of his sin, said this to God: *Against thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight. That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged* (Ps. L, 6). A When that day shall arrive, He says, our lump will appear there, sitting at the right hand of the majesty of God; for: *Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool* (Ps. CIX, 1, 2). On that day, therefore, the body which He took from our nature will also appear, with men being held to account. There is a body above and a body below; *for they shall look on him whom they pierced* (John XIX, 37; Zech. XII, 10). But the one is burdened with sins—that is, our own; while the other, having done no sin, but receiving the penalties of sins, is divine. For this reason: *That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged* (Ps. L, 6). How? Because He did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth (Ps. LIII, 5). To Him be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen. B
II. BY THE SAME, CONCERNING THOSE WHO LIVE IN CONTINENCE DURING THE FAST, AND THE LIFE OF VARIOUS PROPHETS.
Athletes, indeed, training every single day, both increase their skill and easily carry off the victory over their adversaries. Runners, likewise, by daily exercise, rendering their movements supple and fit, are sharpened for the quickest expectation. In the same way, the fathers authorize us to teach more frequently, so that we may acquire for ourselves speed and assurance in teaching through the exercise of the word. Come, therefore, beloved, following the footsteps of Joseph, abandoning the Egyptian sin, and stripped of hatred, let us run toward continence. For if Joseph had the covering of the flesh, did he not have a garment more brilliant than the glory of continence? The purity of continence, bracing the fathers, supported the world as adamant pillars, stretching prayers to heaven and healing the souls of men upon earth. The blessed Moses, girding himself with continence, became a pillar of salvation for the Hebrews in Egypt, and leveled the doors of the first-born of the Egyptians, while he pronounced blessed the light-bearing children of the Hebrews; and against Pharaoh and the magicians he stood as a pillar, while Joshua the son of Nun, having continence as his companion, commanded the heavenly luminaries: for he hindered the courses of the sun, and fixed the bounds of the moon, and lengthened the light of the day. And when was this? When against Gabaon [he said]: *Sun, stand thou still over Gabaon, and moon, over the valley of Elam* (Jos. X, 12). This one divided rivers, preserved a people, and brought the Hebrews back again to the holy land; this one leveled walls and overturned the cities of the impious; he saved Rahab, punished foreigners, and glorified his own kin. Samson the most valiant, keeping continence, throttled a lion, and produced water from the jawbone of an ass, and received the remedy for his thirst from there. Elijah the Tishbite, dwelling with continence, became a life-giver to the impoverished widow; for his oil poured forth as a good blessing, and he multiplied the handful of flour day by day. This same Elijah, through continence, possessed the treasuries of fire and water in the clouds; for he poured heavenly fire upon the impious, and for the failing world he emptied heavenly springs. Elisha, his disciple, possessing the same continence as his teacher, in the barren womb of the Shunammite, brought to harvest the stalk of a child through prayer; and since it behooved him to show miracles equal to his teacher, he raised one from the dead; and after death, the remains of his bones raise the dead. And Daniel the most wise, having girded himself with continence like a double-edged sword, throttled the wolves that preyed secretly, and kept the lamb of Helcias unharmed. For neither was her brilliant fleece of continence torn by an impure kiss, nor were her breasts defiled by the two-edged sword of sin. And the blessed Habakkuk, snatched up by the Holy Spirit, conveyed the meal of the laborers to Daniel, the laborer of continence. For could not God have nourished this one also, like Elijah, through ravens? But so that He might not leave him without consolation while he dwelt among wild beasts, He sends the fellow-prophet to comfort his affliction. For consider, beloved, how Daniel was in the den of the lions, having no stool, no bread, no table, no lamp, no bed, but standing crosswise in the midst of the two lions, he was imitating the Christ who was to come. And the three most holy youths, having embraced continence, wrestling with the fire, conquered its seething flame with might. C O virginity, which blossomed without pain the hope of the world, Christ! O wisdom of God, which did not deprive Mary of the glory of virginity, and which caused Christ, the boast of the world, to shine forth through her like light! O holy child of an unwed bride, source of incorruption, breath of immortality, beacon of the Church, scales of justice, fair pearl of the merchants, and good crown-wearer of the fearful, who are sold for much and bought by the poor; who are purchased for three obols—of faith, of hope, of love—and who lodge in the heart of the humble; the mustard seed, and leader of the host of angels; the untended grape of the all-beautiful Mary, and the unviewable Word of all-fruitful wisdom; who destroyed the mourning of death upon earth, and made ready the light of the bridal chamber in heaven; who clothed Thyself in the new grass of our body, and granted us the incorruptible breath of the flower; these are the teachings of thy wisdom, these are the sweetnesses of thy fast, these are the adornments of thy continence, these are the supports of thy Church. Thus you are accustomed to nourish your people, Jesus, not as absent, but as present; for dwelling with the Father, you are not separated from us, and while lodging with us, you do not depart from the Father. You washed our bodies with water, and loosed our sins with your Spirit; you seasoned the souls of your sheep with the salt of piety, and drew us up into the pasture of the angels; you strengthened our feet with a seal, and extended to us faith as a ladder from earth to heaven, and stationed angels as guides for us; you set tree against tree, and set side against side; you stretched out your hands to the air, and for our sake persuaded the Father [for us], and granted deep calm out of the storm. Therefore by night and by day, both silent and speaking, we send up glory to Thee, having our hopes of life in Thee, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.