Certain Doubtful Homilies

APPENDIX OF THE SECOND VOLUME OF THE WORKS OF ST. BASIL THE GREAT, CONTAINING CERTAIN WORKS WHICH, AS IT SEEMS TO US, HAVE BEEN FALSELY ASCRIBED TO HIM.

HOMILY ON THE HOLY SPIRIT OF OUR HOLY FATHER BASIL, Archbishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia.

^A He who is baptized is baptized into the Trinity, into the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, not into principalities, nor into powers, nor into the rest of the created things. Therefore, let it be clear to him that the Trinity is above creation; and let no one attempt to bring down anything of the Trinity to creation. Let him also remember the Lord, who breathed the Holy Spirit, and showed by that insufflation that the Spirit is of the divine essence, and not of created nature. ^B Let him also consider the apostolic exposition concerning the Trinity, in which we see one operation of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, so that neither the Son nor the Spirit is created or made according to nature. For God does not need His own creature to perform His own work. Now the Apostle says: "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are diversities of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God who works all in all." Therefore, whatever God works, the Spirit works. "All these," he says, "works one and the same Spirit, distributing to each as He wills." Let no one bring the Spirit into servitude, hearing that He performs all things of God as He wills. And again: ^C "Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." For if He does not mean the Divinity dwelling in us through the presence of the Holy Spirit—as John says: "By this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us"—he will take away all hope. For if God is not in us, we shall obtain neither life nor eternal blessings. Paul says again: "Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" And again: "Your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God." And...

a creature, indeed, needs revelation to know the things of God; but the Spirit reveals these things. "To us," he says, "God has revealed them through His Spirit." And He searches according to our manner, because we make our search in Him; "The Spirit," he says, "searches even the deep things of God"; yet He knows according to Himself, just as our own spirit does: "For who," he says, "among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one has known the things of God except the Spirit of God." And God gives life; for Paul says: "I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things"; and Christ gives life, who says: "My sheep hear My voice, and I give them eternal life." But we are made alive through the Spirit, as Paul says: "He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies ^B through His Spirit who dwells in you." You are made alive, therefore, by God through Christ in the Spirit. And for this reason, since every operation of the Son is manifested through the Spirit, the Spirit is called Lord, by the name of Lord; and Christ, by the name of Christ, as we were just saying: "Now the Lord is the Spirit." It has also been said: "You are not in the flesh but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His." Then he adds: "But if Christ is in you," when he ought logically to have said: "But if the Spirit is in you." Nor is there any divine voice that teaches that the Spirit is a created thing. For that saying, "All things were made through Him," refers to the multitude of created things. But the Spirit is not included in that multitude; ^C rather, with the duality, He completes the Trinity, and He is foreign to a creature, and far excels it, inasmuch as He sanctifies the creature, and gives it life, and exists as an anointing within us, nay, even in the very flesh of the Lord Himself. But our Lord Jesus Christ is not sanctified through a creature, as Peter says: "Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power." Nor is He powerful through a creature; for He says: "I cast out demons by the Spirit of God." Nor is He led by a creature; for it is written that "He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness." The ancient prophets proclaimed the dignity and majesty of God: "Thus says the Lord." But the new ^D prophets say: "Thus says the Holy Spirit." And the apostles: "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us." Wherefore the Apostle also, showing that he speaks divine words, sometimes says: "Do you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me?" And at other times: "I think I also have the Spirit of God." And the old Scripture is full of the [testimony] of the Spirit.

^A "By the word of the Lord," says the Psalmist, "the heavens were established, and by the Spirit of his mouth all their host." And in the book of Job it is written: "The divine Spirit is that which made me." Just as one cannot suppose another Word besides the Son, by whom the heavens were made (for they would no longer have been made through the Lord if they had been made through another word), so too one cannot suppose another Spirit, who along with the Word establishes the powers of the heavens. When we hear of the "Spirit of his mouth," we do not understand it in a human fashion, but as is fitting for God, just as the Word must also be understood. For the Word is not a transitory utterance, but as the Psalmist says: "For ever, O Lord, thy Word continues in heaven." Neither is the Spirit a dispersing breath, but a breath that endures and remains. "For where shall I go from thy Spirit?" says David, since he is present everywhere, fills all things, and exists in divine dignity. For what he said concerning the Spirit, he says also concerning the face of God, and concerning his right hand, when he adds: "And from thy face where shall I flee? If I ascend into heaven, thou art there; if I descend into hell, thou art present; if I take up my wings in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there thy hand shall guide me, and thy right hand shall hold me." And the voice of God concerning himself and the Spirit says this: "I am among you, says the Lord, and my Spirit has stood in the midst of you." ^B Therefore, the Spirit is neither alien to the glory of God, proceeding as he does in an ineffable manner from the ineffable mouth, nor is God himself without the Spirit; but he is the Spirit of God, and is with God, sent by God, and supplied through the Son. Just as it is said from the person of the Father: "My Spirit, which is upon thee"; and it is said by the Lord: "I will send the Paraclete to you," whom he also calls "the Spirit of truth." We must therefore confess, according to the divine tradition, one Father, one Son, and one Spirit, and not two fathers or two sons; wherefore the Spirit is not, and is not called, a Son. For we do not receive anyone from the Spirit as we receive the Spirit from the Son; but we receive him as he comes to us and sanctifies us, [receiving] the communion of the divinity, the participation in sonship, the earnest of the eternal inheritance, and the firstfruits of the future blessings. Let no one ^C pry into these holy names beyond what has been said, nor let anyone be forced to bestow the appellation of Son upon the Spirit, nor [to speak of] generation; but let one be satisfied with the ^D confession [of the faith] according to the Spirit and resemblance.

^A For by the grace of the good God, in the memory of the words of the only-begotten Son of the living God, and of his holy evangelists and apostles and prophets, who sufficiently clarified for us the doctrine concerning the baptism which is according to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have been instructed that the baptism which is in fire is just as [effective] for reproving wickedness as it is suitable for receiving the righteousness of Christ; so that it produces at once a hatred of wickedness and a desire for virtue. And again, through faith, we have been cleansed from every sin by the blood of Christ, and having been baptized in water into the death of the Lord, we have laid down, as it were, a written confession, by which we profess that we are dead to sin and the world, but made alive to righteousness. And thus, having been baptized in the name of the Holy Spirit, we were born again; and having been born again and baptized in the name of the Son, we have put on Christ; and having put on the new man, who is created according to God, we were baptized in the name of the Father and were called children of God. ^B There is need, therefore, for us to be nourished henceforth with the food of eternal life, which the same only-begotten Son of the living God gave to us again, saying: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." And how this is done, He taught when He said: "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me, the Father." And again: "Amen, amen, I say to you." Proposing this again to confirm the things that follow and to convince the hearers, He says: "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you have no life in you. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up in the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him." ^C And a little later it is written: "Many therefore of his disciples hearing it said: This saying is hard. Who can hear it? But Jesus knowing in himself, that his disciples murmured at this, said to them: Doth this scandalize you? If then you shall see the Son of man ascend where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth: the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that did not believe, and who he was that would betray him. And he said: Therefore did I say to you, that no man can come to me, unless it be given him by my Father." ^D And at the end: "Jesus therefore took bread, and gave thanks, and broke, and gave to his disciples, and said: Take and eat: this is my body, which"

^A is broken for you; do this in remembrance of me." And taking the cup, after giving thanks, he gave it to them saying: "Drink all of you from it; for this is my blood of the New Testament, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." And the Apostle: "For as often as you eat this bread, and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord." What then are these words, and what is their benefit? That, as we eat and drink, we may always be mindful of Him who died and rose again for us, and thus be taught that we must necessarily keep that apostolic command given to us, which says: "For the love of Christ urges us on, having judged this, that if one died for all, then all have died; and He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again for them." For he who eats and drinks, clearly does so for the sake of preserving an indelible memory of the obedience of the Lord and Creator, which was made even unto death, who for my sake became that which I was, a created being. Nor indeed are we commanded to eat simply, but we are also exhorted to discern such a body of the Lord; clearly, by putting aside the defilement of flesh and spirit, and by preparing ourselves as a vessel for the spiritual ointment, so at last we may approach the pure sacrifice, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power now and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

HOMILY DELIVERED AT LACIZIS

1. The enemy contends, endeavoring ^C to outshout our discourse with external clamor; but we, not being ignorant of his designs, let us turn our ears and minds to the things being said here, pitying those who are absent from this audience, not going away with them in mind who are outside; but where we are in body, let us be there also in heart. Call to mind, I beseech you, the spiritual oracles which were read to you this morning, teachings profitable to the soul, the healing of souls. Remember the teachings in the Psalms; gather for me the proverbial precepts; search out the beauty of the histories; join to these the apostolic admonitions. Above all, as a finishing touch, add the memory of the evangelical words, so that having received some profit from all, you may return home, each having obtained the utility from the Spirit for that to which he is well-disposed. ^D In every way, the situation is thus in the most crowded church: as many as are the differences of faces, so many are the differences of minds; as many as the ages, so many are the sins. For the devices of the devil are manifold and varied; he leads one man astray in one way and another in another; toward whatever he sees anyone more inclined, to that he applies his own enticements.

^A 2. Is there anyone here whose soul is ravaged by envy? Would that there were no one; and this is a fitting prayer for me. But since it is difficult in human nature for there to be no vice, whether small or great, let each one choose for himself the benefit from the things that have been mentioned. Are you envious? Accept the remedy. Are you irascible? The cure lies before you. For it discourses concerning all of these. And, if possible, we shall say a few things, plucking them from each of the things we have mentioned. Are you avaricious? Here you have the remedy. Are you proud? Here you will tame your arrogance: here, if you wish, you will repress the exaltation of the soul. Draw all the goods of spiritual teachings as if from a gushing fountain, and having thus drawn them abundantly for yourself, return home.

The first sermon has been spoken in Proverbs in the manner of a proverb, with a certain obscurity added, for the exercising of our mind, namely: ^B "He who looks upon smooth things shall find mercy." Have you grasped, by your own effort, the understanding of this saying, or do you inquire, as a diligent listener, how it is that he who looks upon smooth things is to be praised? For those things which depend upon the will deserve praise. But we human beings see not as we would wish, but as is the nature of the things which are seen. Wherefore, if there is anything rough on its surface, as it exists by nature, it is given to be seen as such. But if we cast our eyes upon smooth things, whence does praise accrue to the one who sees the smooth things? Smooth are those which have a level surface; rough, however, is that which is at first sight unevenly composed. Since, therefore, the nature of the things seen is uneven, how does Scripture praise him who sees smooth things above him who looks upon rough things? ^C And does it condemn him who sees mountains, and crags, and chasms, and dense thickets, and vegetation cohering together which presents a rough surface, or even the sea often roughened by winds, or even the earth cut by a plow and, in place of smoothness, divided into rough parts? Shall he who sees these things be condemned? And where, I ask, is the righteous judgment of God, if we are condemned for those things which happen to us against our will? If I see some land which is by nature uneven (for such as it was created, such is it seen), am I condemned on that account?

But let me direct you to a higher meaning regarding "He who looks upon smooth things." There stand before you brothers of different conditions: one is poor, another is rich; one is a stranger, another is a kinsman, who must either be judged by you as judge, or who are in need of your largesse. ^D If you sit as a judge, do not look at uneven things; do not see the rich man as exalted or the poor man as lowly. If there stands at your door one who seeks for his own need to be corrected, do not look upon such things as uneven. Do not say: "This man is a friend, this one a relative, this one a benefactor; that one is a stranger, an alien, unknown."

If you look at things as uneven, you will not receive mercy; look upon things as level. Nature is one: both this man and that man is a human. One is the need, the poverty in both is the same. Give to the brother and to the stranger. Do not turn away from the brother, and make the stranger a brother and a kinsman. Therefore, it is necessary to look upon things as level. Do not rank the friend above the stranger, for the sake of correcting your own ^A need. He wishes you to be a source of comfort to those in need, not a respecter of persons, not one who gives to the relative while thrusting the stranger away. All are relatives, all are brothers, all are children of one Father. If you seek a spiritual father, He is the heavenly One; if you seek the earthly, earth is the mother, and we have all been fashioned from the same clay. Thus, nature according to the flesh is a sister, and generation according to the spirit is a sister. They bear the same blood as you from the first man; they received the same grace from the Master as you did. Look, therefore, at things as level, that you may receive mercy. Do not say: "This one is rich, and worthy of honor; that one is poor, and I despise the poor"; nor distribute honors unevenly according to these ^B ranks. For there is the rich man who is a liar, the rich man who is a robber, the rich man who is a fornicator, and the poor man who is righteous. Do not, therefore, pay heed to the outward appearance, but entering into what is hidden, distribute the distinctions there. Honor the one who possesses those things which are worthy of honor. What is more precious, virtue or wealth? Why do you judge a man by outside things, not investigating what is hidden? You see that Bel possessed bronze on the outside, but underneath he had clay concealed by the gleaming bronze. If you see those who are prominent in the world, know that bronze shines around them, but within they are clay, with the bronze ^C supporting that which is rotten. Many indeed have gold within, but have an earthen vessel wrapped around them on the outside. This is the treasure hidden in an earthen vessel. This one lives a chaste life; that one is a fornicator. Which is richer, he who practices chastity, or he who has money gathered from injustice? The memory of the former is indelible; the wealth of the latter is temporary. This [the former’s] the thief does not dig through; that [the latter’s] flourishes today, but tomorrow it withers. Therefore, look at things as level, equally and in the same way; yet do not destroy the discernment of those things which are worthy of honor, so that you may obtain mercy.

3. "And do not dwell with a man given to anger." ^D

^A Are you a lover of glory? You do not see small matters. Are you quick-tempered? "And do not dwell with an angry man." Do you see how the correction of sins is given in brevity, if we do not perhaps strike them with our voice, but fail to send the thought of what is spoken down into the heart? But examine: where was mine read? Recognize the things concerning the irascible, you who are irascible. Say: "This is my affliction; I recognize my infirmity; take the healing." If you stand before a physician and see the abundance of medicines stored away in many-folded scrolls, look around to see what is appropriate for your own affliction. For he who has stumbled his foot does not seek a cure for his eye; but he who has the eye afflicted seeks the remedy proper to that malady. Therefore, let each one take from Scripture those things that are related to his own affliction. Are you quick-tempered? "Restrain your anger" (98). ^B "For an angry man," it says, "is unseemly."

Learn from Scripture.

Flee his company; for you must needs learn some of his ways. He said something insulting, and moved the anger within you. Just as the barking of one dog provokes a commotion in another, so too his voice aroused your anger, which had been resting and quiet until then, and you fell to barking back at each other; then, taking your stand against one another, you hurled shameful words like stones from a sling. ^A He said something abusive, and you answered back with greater excess, imitating him who began it. Having received the response to his insulting speech, that man did not check his impulse, but turned and heaped up his own sin. He wished to become the superior by saying something more bitter. You, in turn, having received that, were puffed up even more; and so the strife of evils came to be. But he who wins in a contest of evils is the more miserable. ^B "A man of wrath is not well-favored," and, "Do not dwell with an angry man."

4. "Neither dine with an envious man." There is another passion that dwells in the life of men and clings perpetually to our souls, and consumes the heart more than rust does iron, and that is envy—in which, while there are many evils, one thing at least is useful: that it is an evil to the one who possesses it. For the envious man harms the one being envied but little, but destroys himself with grief and groaning over his neighbor's good fortune; he has not diminished the neighbor's field, but has utterly consumed himself with envy.

5. "Do not remove the eternal landmarks." Do not enter into the inheritance of orphans, so that you may enter into your own inheritance. Your inheritance is the prepared kingdom of heaven. Do not move the landmarks of the fathers. Do not covet the field of your neighbor. Do not, by adding furrow to furrow, increase yours little by little. ^C For as much as you widen your land by the addition of another's, by so much the more do you prepare sin for yourself. And the land indeed remains here, having come to you little by little and been acquired through greed; it is no longer yours, but belongs to those after you, and you leave unjust riches to your successor: "The earth stands forever," but sin will follow you, like a shadow following the soul. For just as the shadow follows the body, so too sin is grown together with the soul. Do not be someone who multiplies sin for himself. For the disease of greed never stands still anywhere, but is like the nature of fire. For when fire catches upon something flammable, ^D it hastens to consume all the material, and no one can stop it until the material runs out. Likewise, what can restrict the greedy man? He is more than fire itself.

^A devouring everything continuously. He has taken the things of his neighbor; another neighbor has appeared, and he has appropriated his things too. He does not pay attention to those things he has already acquired, because they are many, but to those that are lacking, because he has neighbors. He does not rejoice in what he possesses, but he grieves for what is lacking. He does not pay attention to the possession of gathered goods, but consumes himself with the desire for greater wealth. Hence arise vigils, cares, and anxieties. As much as wealth increases, ^B so much the burden of the worries of life is brought upon him. A judge is expected, and the greedy man looks all around him with fear that he might be dragged into court, that an orphan might make his tears known in the marketplace. He deliberates by night as to which bitter advocates he might suborn, how he might hire false witnesses for a price, how he might conquer the man who is desolate, and how, having hidden the truth, he might oppress him even in the court of law; how, finally, by deceiving the judge and despoiling the orphan of his goods, he might devour both. These anxieties consume the soul of the greedy man. A dog barks, and the rich man thinks it is a thief. There is a noise in the walls, and the heart of the rich man leaps; he suspects his servant, everything is suspect to him; he sees his sons as they grow up as if they were conspirators, ^C because their age presses for the succession. The greedy have yet another disease. The greedy man places his living on his fingers; he displays some money in public, while he keeps other money buried, setting it aside for uncertain hopes—hopes, I say, that are not hopes at all. For if they were stored up for hopes, their preparation would have been made for the sake of eternal hope. But now he hides his uncertain wealth under his bed, thinking he is averting a future loss. But whether the need to use it will ever come is uncertain; on the contrary, the time will come in which he will repent that he did not dispense his money. This is certain and indubitable, and I am the sponsor for it. For it is necessary for me to warn you and to discourse ^D concerning all vices; it is for you, however, to pay attention and to gain profit from my words, so that each one, casting off sin like the slough of a serpent, may thus return truly stripped and clothed with flourishing justice, having become another person instead of his former self. For this is what a gathering is. For this reason our fathers instituted these assemblies, that those things which we are unable to learn every day, through our lack of teachers and those to remind us, we might, being assembled in a common gathering once a year, receive, and afterward keep as provisions for the time that follows, and, holding each thing in our memory as if still ringing in our ears, we might flee from sin and pursue the work of justice.

^A “Enter not into the possession of orphans.” Do not make your children a pretext, O greedy man. Are they children? Treasure up for them an eternal treasure. For piety is a treasure more precious than money. Leave to your children a good reputation rather than great wealth. Make all men fathers to your child through [your] acts of kindness. ^B There is a necessity that you will some day depart from this life; then you will leave your child behind in an immature age, in need of guardians. For if you are honorable and good, everyone will nurture your offspring as their own; for it will come to their mind that you also became a father to orphans. But if you have lived in wickedness, and have caused many to grieve, and have been more savage than any wild beast to those you encountered, then when you depart from this life, you have left your offspring as a common enemy to the living. For just as one who sees the offspring of a scorpion fears that, when it reaches maturity, it might imitate its father, so also for your children, as heirs of paternal wickedness, before they reach maturity, snares will be set by everyone. Why, therefore, do you amass many plotters and enemies for your own children? Yet, even if you were to live for all time, it was your duty rather to have the goodwill of the many as an aid. Since, however, your affairs are uncertain, leave behind many protectors through acts of kindness, so that when you have departed from life—and the wealth which you amass might not be able to be passed on for their benefit—everyone may shake his head and say: “How were those things, which were acquired by evil means, not transmitted to grandsons and children?” I say these things to you following the human mode of speech; but those things which are spoken by the Lord (and such are those which the Gospel will announce to you), these you know.

7. Do not make your children a pretext. Why do you offer a fair-seeming cause for sin? For He who created the child, also created you. He who provides you the means by which you can live will also provide the necessities of life to your child. Each one shall give an account of his own life to the Lord. Do you know for whom you are treasuring up? “He stores up, and knows not for whom he shall gather these things.” ^C Often the child is the excuse for the treasures being gathered. But the things which you have amassed have been either the plunder of a robber, or the consumption of a slanderer, or the booty of enemies, or have vanished because of a plague that has descended. For there are many ways in which wealth takes flight from one’s sight. Tell me, I pray, when you were asking for children from God, when you were desiring to become a father, did you add this to your prayers: [the next page begins here].

"Give me children, so that, having become a greedy man, I may be delivered to hell under the pretext of my children? Give me children, so that I may not keep the commandments? Give me children, so that I may despise the Gospel?" These were not the things you said then; rather, you were seeking children as helpers in life. You have received helpers and companions in life; teach them, both with good words and useful examples, what manner of men they ought to be in those things that pertain to God, such as you have often seen. For this wealth is more precious than much money. This is a good inheritance, passed on from father to children. "And do not enter into the possession of the fatherless."^A

8. And, "Do not join yourself to an envious man." We have already spoken of envy. But that this evil may be the more guarded against, let us add that envy is a vice proper to the devil. For the devil was not created the devil from the outset, but, having received the power of an angel, he was turned into the nature of a demon. And he who was infected with this wickedness became a wicked demon, having been alienated from his kinship with God and turned toward the side of apostasy, because he saw man, a small creature, yet more honored than all creation. Being older than man, he saw that all things were created by the Word. For He says, "Let the waters bring forth reptiles of living souls." By the Word He made the sea monsters that dwell in the Atlantic sea. By the Word He made the land animals. By the command of God they were brought into being. By commandment the great sizes of elephants and camels came about; horses and oxen and all animals differing in size and strength were created in herds by one command. And, what is more to be wondered at, by command the heaven, by command the sun, by command the grass, by command the nature of the waters, both that which was spread out above the heaven and that which had been poured into the hollows, were all made by command; but man was fashioned by hands. The devil saw the honor bestowed upon man, and he envied him. He saw him preferred before the sun. For the one came into being into this life by command, but the other was fashioned by the hands of God. And the one was created for the sake of man, but man for the sake of God; man, that God might be glorified; the sun, that it might serve men. He understood the honor given to man. He saw that other things were created first, but man later, because He had prepared a full house for him as for the head of a family. For He did not create man first, lest he should be poor, but He made heaven as a kind of roof. ^{B C D}

of its own making; He spread out the earth as a solid floor, preparing it for the feet of man. He caused it to flourish with all manner of herbs and fruits. Everything was made ready for man: the beasts were provided in flocks; the creation was fashioned. Some things were prepared for daily needs, others were wild for the exercise of the body. Some things were to be acquired by labor, that they might be more cherished; others were ready at hand, that they might at once be subservient to the creature. He saw that the earth had produced fruit for them spontaneously. All creation was waiting for those who were to enjoy it, and man was brought forth for the banquet.

He saw that the merciful God was not content with the enjoyment of the earth alone; but desiring that man should be his own special dwelling-place, his own ornament, ^B He placed him there in paradise. The devil acted maliciously when he saw much pleasure flowing to man, angels as tutors attending him, and God speaking the same language as men, conversing with his own voice, instructing the little child in every way, that he might rise to the likeness of God; since he had come to know man, since he saw that the Lord was calling this little animal to an equality with the angels, leading him by virtue and temperance in his life toward the perfection of the soul. For as long as man was alone, the devil had no handle; but when woman was created, a tender creature—to whom the Creator necessarily imparted a natural tenderness, that she might, because of her kindness, ^C readily rear children. For if the woman were austere, she would not embrace the crying infant in her arms, nor would she, neglecting her own food, offer her breast for the convenience of the suckling child. But as it is, that motherly affection often drives sleep from the eyelids, whenever the infant is ever so slightly disturbed. Therefore, in order that the infant might be reared, the female sex was fashioned tender, tender, I say, and humane. Wherefore, the devil, intent upon that tender and soft disposition, rendered the character which was prone to virtue, prone to vice. This, then, is the specific evil of the devil: envy—envy which cannot be expressed in words, which admits of no remedy. He who suffers from a headache declares his headache to the physician; ^D [the one who is] sick with envy, what shall he say? Do my brother’s blessings pain me?

^A This is indeed the truth, yet each person is ashamed of the words. Why do you sigh? Is it your own misfortune, or another’s blessing? For by feeding them we make dogs gentle; but by conferring benefits upon an envious man, we make him more difficult. For he does not rejoice in the goods that he might happen to have, but is pained by your abundance, because you possess the material from which you might satisfy his need. Do not then fall into the deception of the devil; he envied you, he envied you, he cast you out of paradise. On account of him [there are] thorns, on account of him sweat, on account of him the place of exile, into which having fallen, do not forget the ancient fatherland. Remember your own nobility; remember the fatherland from which you were exiled. Remember the one who visited you with such great losses; do not strike a bargain with him, nor ever enter into conversation with him. For he has done two injustices: he cast you out from the beginning, and now he blocks the return. He envied you your first blessings through a woman, and again, using artifices through a woman, he prevents you from being restored to your pristine state. He devised fornication, so that you might not enter into paradise. It did not suffice for him to have inflicted the first injury, namely that he subverted you, but he contrives other frauds and arts, to check our course. He deceives and circumvents by a lie; for a lie is a wall to those who are making their way to paradise.

9. His arts are countless. His offshoots are cruelty, harshness, avarice, reviling: whatever the word of truth hates, these are the work of the devil. He is a hater of mankind, since he is also a fighter against God. ^B He hated first, he became stiff-necked against God Almighty, he despised the Master, he was alienated from God. But after he saw man made in the image and likeness of God, since he could not attack God, he poured his own wickedness into the image of God; just as if some man, becoming angry, should attack an image with stones, since he cannot [attack] the king, striking the wood that has the representation. I have seen, not rarely, the most hostile of animals to man in the arenas, or I have seen or heard—for let our speech be safe. At any rate, there is in panthers themselves a certain natural anger toward man, and they are wont especially to spring at the eyes of men. Those, therefore, who make sport of the fury of the beast, display to it an image ^C on paper as if it were a man. But that [beast], through excessive impulse, thinking nothing, tears up the paper as if it were a man, and there displays its hatred toward men. Thus also the devil reveals his hatred toward God in the image, since he cannot reach God. Thus war brought against us makes it clear that the wicked one is an enemy of God, and first wars against the Master. He led down the man from Jerusalem to Jericho, from the high places to the low. Jerusalem [is]... ^D

^A is situated in a mountainous region; Jericho, however, in a depressed and lowly place by the Salt Sea. If any of you knows the place, he knows that what is said is true: that Jericho, indeed, is located in the hollows of Palestine, while Jerusalem is firmly established upon the summit, occupying the peak of the mountain that rises throughout all that region. Therefore, the man descended from the heights to the depths in order to fall among thieves, having departed from the security ^B of Jerusalem, so that he might become vulnerable to the thieves in the wilderness, who inflicted wounds upon him and stripped him. First the wounds, and then the stripping. The wound of the soul is sin; the stripping of the soul is the casting off of the garment of incorruptibility. But sin destroys the grace given to us through the laver of regeneration. Fornication is a wound, adultery is another wound, envy is a wound; each of these is a wound, a wound beating at the very vital parts, ^C a wound inflicted by thieves, that is, by the demons who are our collaborators in sin. After the wounds, the one who was beaten was stripped. If what is being said were corporeal, they would have stripped him first to spare the garment, and then inflicted the wounds. Or, having stripped him, they would have inflicted the wounds so that the garment might be preserved while the one beaten was wounded. But in this case, the wounds precede the stripping, so that you may learn ^D that sin precedes the casting off of the grace given to you through the Lord's kindness. To Him be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.

HOMILY ON THE HOLY NATIVITY OF CHRIST

1. The generation of Christ, its proper and primary ^A divinity, let it be honored in silence; or rather, let us command our own thoughts not to inquire into these things, nor to investigate them curiously. For where neither time nor age has intervened, nor any manner been conceived, nor any spectator was present, nor is there any to recount it ^B, how could the mind imagine it? And how could the tongue serve the understanding? Yet the Father existed, and the Son was begotten. Do not say, "When?"; but let that question pass. Do not seek, "How?"; for the answer is impossible. For "when" refers to time; and "how" ^C creates a slippage toward the bodily modes of generation. I have the ability to say from Scripture [Hebr. 1, 3] that He is as splendor from glory, and as an image from its prototype. Yet, since such a form of answer does not put a stop to the curiosity of your mind, I take refuge in the mystery of ^D the majesty, and confess that it is incomprehensible to human thought

^A and inexpressible in human terms the manner of the divine generation. Do not say, "If he was begotten, he was not," nor snatch at crude interpretations with crafty words, by these examples corrupting the truth and defiling theology. I said he was begotten in order to point out his principle and cause, not to show that the Only-Begotten is later in time. Let not your mind wander aimlessly, stepping beyond the ages prior to the Son—ages which neither exist nor have existed. For how can things that were created be older than the Creator himself? But what I was avoiding, into that I have inadvertently fallen by the flow of my speech. Let us, therefore, leave aside the discourses concerning that eternal and ineffable generation, reflecting on this: that the mind is inferior to the matters it contemplates, and speech, in turn, is even more deficient than what is understood.

2. It is necessary, therefore, to consider how great is the fall from the truth into speech, since indeed the mind is unable to attain to the nature of incomprehensible things, nor can such power of speech be found as to equal those things which are thought of in any way whatever. God on earth, God among men, not bringing the law through fire and trumpet and smoking mountain, or darkness and storm terrifying the souls of the hearers, but conversing gently and mildly ^B through a body with those who share the same nature as himself. God in the flesh: not acting in intervals as in the prophets, but having acquired the human nature inseparably and unitedly to himself, and through his flesh, which is akin to ours, drawing all of humankind to himself. How then, one might ask, did the radiance come to all through one? How is the divinity in the flesh? As fire is in iron; not by movement from place to place, but by communication. For the fire does not run out into the iron, but remaining where it is, it imparts its own power to it—a power which is neither lessened by the distribution, but which fills the whole of that which participates in it. Thus, therefore, even God the Word was neither moved from himself, «And he dwelt among us»—nor did he undergo change, «And the Word became flesh»—nor was heaven bereft of Him who contained it, yet the earth received the heavenly one in its bosom. Do not ^C think of a descent of the Divinity, for it does not move from place to place as bodies do, nor should you imagine the Divinity to be altered by change ^D and ineffable.

given into flesh; for the immortal is unchangeable. ^A How then, one says, was the Word of God not filled with bodily infirmity? We say: just as fire does not partake of the properties of iron. Iron is black and cold; yet when it is ignited, it puts on the form of the fire, becoming bright itself, without darkening the fire, and becoming inflamed, without cooling the flame. In the same way, the human flesh of the Lord participated in the Divinity, but did not bestow its own infirmity upon the Divinity. Or do you not grant that the Divinity can work in this sensible fire, but instead imagine an affection in One who is devoid of all affection, rising from human weakness, and doubt how it could be that a nature prone to corruption obtained incorruptibility through the communion it had with God? Learn, then, the mystery. For this reason God is in the flesh, that ^B He might slay the death that lurks within it. For just as the antidotes to poisons, when they are united to the body, overcome the corrupting agents, and just as the darkness dwelling in a house is dissolved by the introduction of light: so death, which was lording it over human nature, was abolished by the presence of the Divinity. And as ice in water, for as long as it is night and shadow, prevails over the fluid, but melts when the sun’s ray warms it: so death reigned until the advent of Christ; but after the grace of God the Savior appeared [Tit. II, 11], and the Sun of Righteousness arose [Mal. IV, 2], death was swallowed up into victory [1 Cor. XV, 54], unable to endure the presence of the true Life. O the depth of the goodness and love of God for mankind! By the excess of His love for mankind, we shake off ^C slavery. Why God is among men, humans search for the reason, when they ought to have worshipped such goodness. You did not search for God in the heights, and him who descends to you and communes with you through the flesh you do not receive, but...

3. What shall we do for you, O man?

since you seek the cause of how you might be reconciled to God, learn it. ^A God is in the flesh for this reason: because it was necessary for this flesh, which had been cursed, to be sanctified; for that which had grown weak to be strengthened; for that which had been alienated from God to be reconciled to Him; for that which had fallen from paradise to be brought back to the heavens. And what is the workshop of this dispensation? The body of the holy Virgin. And what are the principles of the generation? The Holy Spirit, and the power of the Most High overshadowing. But listen rather to the words of the Gospel themselves: “For when,” it says, “His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit.” ^B And both being a virgin and betrothed to a man, she was judged suitable for the ministry of the dispensation, so that both virginity might be honored and marriage not despised. For virginity was chosen as suitable for holiness; but through the betrothal the beginnings of marriage were included. At the same time, so that Joseph might be an intimate witness of the purity of Mary, and so that she might not be subject to calumnies as having defiled her virginity, she had a spouse as the guardian of her life. I can bring forth another reason, in no way less valuable than those we have brought forward, that the time suitable for the Incarnation of the Lord, having been long ago foreordained and predetermined ^C before the foundation of the world, was then at hand, in which it was necessary for the Holy Spirit and the power of the Most High to fashion that flesh which would bear God. But since that generation of men had nothing equal to the purity of Mary, so as to receive the operation of the Holy Spirit, and she had already been occupied by the betrothal, the blessed Virgin was chosen, with her virginity in no way harmed by the betrothal. Another reason has been told by one of the ancients: that the betrothal of Joseph was devised so that the virginity of Mary might be hidden from the prince of this world. For the apparatus of betrothal was employed in the case of the Virgin, as if some occasion for hesitation were given to that wicked one, who had long since been watching the virgins, ^D from the time he heard the prophet saying: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son.” Therefore, that assailant of virginity was deceived by the betrothal. For he knew that his own empire would be destroyed by the manifestation of the Lord which was to take place in the flesh.

4. “Before they came together, she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit.” Joseph found both, both the pregnancy and the cause, that it was of the Holy Spirit. Wherefore, fearing to be called the husband of such a woman, “He wished to put her away secretly,” not daring to make public what had happened in her. But being just, he attained the revelation of the mysteries.

^A “For while he was thinking about this, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying: Do not fear to take Mary as your wife.” Do not think even that, that you might shade the sin with absurd notions. For you were called just; and it is not for a just man to hide crimes in silence. “Do not fear to take Mary as your wife.” He showed that he had not been indignant, nor did he shrink from her, but he feared her as one filled with the Holy Spirit. “For what is generated in her is of the Holy Spirit.” And from this it is clear that the Lord’s constitution did not come about according to the common nature of flesh. For that which was carried in the womb was perfect in flesh immediately, not receiving form little by little through conformations, as the words indicate. For it was not said, “That which was conceived,” but, “That which was generated.” Since the flesh was formed of holiness, it was worthy to be joined to the divinity of the Only-begotten. ^B “And she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” We have observed that when names are given with purpose, they contain an indication of the underlying nature, as with Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel. For the appellation of each of these signaled not so much the character of the body as the property of the virtue cultivated by them. For this reason, even now He is called Jesus, which is to say, “Salvation of the people.” And now the mystery, ordained before the ages and proclaimed long ago through the prophets, had its outcome. “Behold, the virgin shall conceive in her womb, and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel; which is interpreted, God with us.” ^C Long ago that appellation also holds the manifestation of the whole mystery, that God is among men, since, he says, Emmanuel is interpreted, “God with us.” And let no one be subverted by Jewish insults, who say that it was not “virgin” but “young woman” that was said by the prophet. “For behold, he says, the young woman shall conceive in her womb.” First of all, it is most irrational that what was given by the Lord as a sign should appear to be common and acknowledged by the whole of nature. For what does the prophet say? “And the Lord proceeded to speak to Ahaz, saying: Ask for yourself a sign from the Lord your God, into the depth or into the height. And Ahaz said: I will not ask, ^D nor will I tempt the Lord.” Then after a little he says: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the Virgin shall conceive in her womb.” For because Ahaz did not ask for the sign into the depth or into the height, in order that you might learn that He who descended into the lower parts of the earth is the same as He who ascended above all the heavens, the Lord Himself gave the sign; a sign, moreover, paradoxical and miraculous, and far removed from common nature. The same woman both

virgin and mother, who remained in the holiness of virginity and obtained the blessing of bearing offspring. But if some of those who have interpreted the Hebrew word have rendered it 'young woman' instead of 'virgin,' the meaning is in no way impaired. For we have found in the custom of Scripture that 'young woman' is often used for 'virgin,' as it says in Deuteronomy: 'If anyone finds a young woman—a virgin—who is not betrothed, and by force lies with her, and is discovered, the man who lay with her shall give to the father of the young woman fifty drachmas.'

5. « And having been awakened, he took his wife 59. » Although he regarded her as his wife with affection, love, and all the care appropriate for those dwelling together, yet he abstained from marital acts. ^B 'For he did not know her,' it says, 'until she had brought forth her son, the firstborn ⦋60⦌.' Yet from this a suspicion now arises, that after Mary had purely served in the generation of the Lord that occurred through the Holy Spirit, she then at last did not deny the customary works of marriage. But as for us, even if this does not at all harm the doctrine of piety (since virginity was necessary until the ministry of the dispensation, and the mind is not compelled to inquire too curiously about what happened afterward regarding the mystery), nevertheless, because the ears of those who love Christ cannot endure [to hear] that the Theotokos at any time ceased to be a virgin, we judge those testimonies to be sufficient. ^C Toward the [objection] concerning 'He did not know her until she brought forth her son,' we reply that this word 'until' appears in many places to indicate a certain definite time, but in truth indicates something indefinite. Such is that which was said by the Lord: 'And behold, I am with you all the days, even until the consummation of the age ⦋62⦌.' For it was not at all the case that the Lord would no longer be with the saints after this age; rather, the promise denotes the perpetuity of the present, and does not cut off the future. We say, therefore, that in the same way the word 'until' has been accepted here as well. Furthermore, when it is said 'firstborn,' the firstborn does not necessarily have a comparison to those who come after, but he who first opens the womb is called the firstborn. ^D The story concerning Zechariah also declares that Mary remained a virgin forever. For there is a tradition, and this has reached us by report, that when Zechariah had placed Mary in the place of the virgins after the birth of the Lord, he was slain by the Jews between the temple and the altar, having been accused by the people because by this act he was confirming that wonderful and much-celebrated sign, the virgin

who gave birth while keeping her virginity undefiled. ^A “Now when Jesus was born,” he says, “in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews?” The Magi are a Persian nation, intent upon divinations and incantations and certain natural sympathies of things toward one another, and given to the observation of things aloft. And it seems that Balaam, who was summoned by Balak so that by certain rites he might curse Israel, was a participant in this divination; he who, also in his fourth parable, says such things concerning the Lord: “The man who sees,” he says, “hearing the oracles of God, knowing the knowledge of the Most High, and seeing a vision of God in his sleep: his eyes were opened. I shall show him, and not now; I call him blessed, and he does not draw near. A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a man shall arise out of Israel.” ^B For this reason, searching for the place of Judea, in memory of the ancient prophecy, they came to learn where he was who was born King of the Jews. Perhaps also, the adverse power, having by now become weaker through the advent of the Lord, sensing its own efficacy being destroyed, attributed great power to the one who was born. Wherefore, having found the child, they worshipped him with gifts. The Magi, a nation estranged from God and a stranger to the covenants and the compact, were the first held worthy of the worship, because the testimonies from enemies are more trustworthy. For if the Jews had worshipped first, they would have been thought to be adorning their own kin; but now, those who have no connection with him worship him as God, in order that his own people might be condemned, having crucified the one whom the aliens worshipped. Since, however, they were accustomed to the movements of the heavenly bodies, they did not idly observe the paradox of the sights in heaven, namely, the new and unusual star that had risen for the birth of the Lord.

6. Let no one drag in the apparatus of astrology ^C to explain the rising of the star. For those who introduce the birth from the stars that already exist, and suggest that the arrangement of these [stars] is the cause of the events that happen to each person in life—here, however, no star that was already in existence signified the royal birth, nor was it [a star] from the usual number. For those that were created at the beginning are either immovable forever, or have an unceasing movement; but this one that appeared is seen to have both, both moving and standing. And among those that already exist, the fixed ones never move, and the planets never stand still; but this one, having both in itself, both movement and rest, is clearly not belonging to either class. For it moved from the east as far as Bethlehem; and it stood above where the ^D

^A child was. For this reason the Magi, moved from the east by the guidance of the star, and having arrived at Jerusalem, disturbed the whole city with their arrival, and instilled fear into the king of the Jews. Having therefore found whom they were seeking, they honored him with gifts: gold, and frankincense, and myrrh; perhaps following here too the prophecy of Balaam, who said such things concerning Christ: "He lay down and rested as a lion, and as a cub. Who shall rouse him up? They who bless you are blessed, and they who curse you are cursed." Since, therefore, through the lion the Scripture indicates kingly dignity, through the lying down his passion, and through the power of blessing his divinity, the Magi, adhering to the prophecy, offered gold as to a king, myrrh as to one destined to die, and frankincense as to God. ^B Indeed, it is not possible for those who curiously interpret the matters concerning the birth to say that the star was similar to comets, which are thought by most to stand in the heavens indicating the successions of kings. For these too are generally stationary, the inflammation occurring in a circumscribed place. For comets, whether they be "beams" [trabes] or "trenches" [scrobes], are of diverse shapes, and peculiar names are assigned to the shapes. But the origin of all is the same. For when the air around the earth overflows, and is poured out into the ethereal region, and whatever is thick and turbid in this exhalation offers itself as material to the fire, it thus renders a manifest appearance of a star. However, the star which appeared in the east, having moved the Magi to the search for the one born, again was not visible, until it showed itself to them a second time in Judea, as they were at a loss, so that they might hear whose it was, and whom it served, and for whose sake it had risen. For having come, it stood above where the child ^C was. Thus also when the Magi saw the star, they rejoiced with great joy. Let us therefore also receive this great joy into our hearts. For the angels proclaim this joy to the shepherds. Let us worship with the Magi, let us glorify with the shepherds, let us dance with the angels, "For there is born to us today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. God is the Lord, and he hath appeared to us," not in the form of God, lest it terrify that which is weak, but in the form of a servant, so that he might grant freedom to that which was addicted to servitude. Who is so sluggish in soul, who so ungrateful, that he does not rejoice and exult and delight in these present things? That festival is common to every creature; it bestows heavenly things upon the world; it sends the archangels to Zacharias and to Mary; and it establishes choirs of angels who say: ^D "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men." Stars run across from heaven; the Magi

^A set out from the nations, and the earth receives Him in a cave. Let no one be found who does not contribute something, let no man be ungrateful. Let us also speak some word of exultation. Let us call our feast the Theophany; let us celebrate the salvation of the world, the birthday of human nature. This day the condemnation of Adam is loosed. No longer can it be said, "You are earth, and to the earth you shall return," but being joined to the heavenly, you shall be taken up to heaven. No longer shall it be heard: "In pains you shall bring forth children," for blessed is she who bore Emmanuel, and blessed the breasts that nourished Him. For this reason: "A child is born to us, and a son is given to us, whose government is upon his shoulder." My heart blossoms, and my mind gushes forth like a spring; but the tongue is short, and speech is dim for the announcing of such a magnitude of joy. Consider for me, in a manner worthy of God, the incarnation of the Lord. Consider the divinity ^B for me as undefiled and immaculate, even if it dwells in a terrene nature. It corrects what is defective, it is not itself filled with defect. Do you not see this sun even when it settles into the mire, and yet it receives no stain, and shines upon filthy things, and does not partake of their stench? On the contrary, indeed, it dries up the rot of whatever it touches for a long time. Why then do you fear for a nature that is devoid of passion and incorrupt, lest it contract some stain from us? For this reason it was born, that you might be cleansed through that which is akin to you. For this reason it grows, that you might be made familiar with it through habit and necessity. O the depth of the goodness and love of God for men! Because of the greatness of the gifts, we do not have faith in our Benefactor; because of ^C the immense kindness of the Master, we are unwilling to be His servants. O the senseless and wicked vice of an ungrateful mind! The Magi adore, and Christians inquire how God is in the flesh, and in what kind of flesh, and whether the man who was assumed was perfect or imperfect. Let superfluous things be passed over in silence in the Church of God; let the things that have been believed be glorified; let not things left in silence be curiously investigated. Join yourself to those who welcomed the Lord from the heavens with joy. Consider the shepherds imbued with wisdom, the priests adorned with the gift of prophecy, the women filled with joy ^D at the time when Mary was taught by Gabriel to rejoice, and Elizabeth had John leaping in her very womb. Anna was proclaiming the good news, Simeon was embracing Him, adoring the great God in a small infant; not despising what they saw, but praising the majesty of His divinity. For the divine power appeared, like light through transparent membranes, through the human body, shining clearly to those who have the eyes of the heart cleansed; with whom may we also be found, beholding with unveiled face the glory of the Lord, that we too may be transformed from glory to glory, by the grace and love for man of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power unto the ages of ages. Amen.

HOMILY ON PENITENCE

1. ^A Since our brother, most worthy of all observance, could not bear the arrogance of those who dare to take penitence away from our midst, he laid upon us a second command, seeing this pride and stretching forth, as a prudent man, a right hand to his brothers for penitence. Now this discourse is most useful to men. For there is no man who is without sin. For concerning one person it is testified that he wrought no sin. Let us speak, therefore, about penitence, from both the Old and the New Testament. For these are the treasures of the Church. We commend penitence, however, not that we may promote a brother’s sin (since we do not wish a sinner to rush into sin in the hope of penitence), but because we are eager to lift up the one who has fallen. For the despair ^B introduced by the adversaries compels the one who has fallen once to wallow in his sins; but the expectation of penitence urges the fallen man to rise and to sin no more. Who are we, that we should impose a law upon God? God wishes to forgive; and who is there to prevent Him? We say not what those men dare, but what God commands. “Shall he who falls, not rise again?” They contradict God. “He who falls does not rise.” He did not lead you to adopt faith with a mere word; He will lead you to believe by a clear example. ^C For what is as difficult to wash as scarlet? And what is as white among us as snow, or as clean wool? Yet He who created these says: “If your sins should be like the colors which cannot be washed, if only you were to wash, they will change into the whiteness of snow.” But, they say, this forgiveness is not after baptism. For He said: “Wash yourselves, be clean.” But this is the very thing, if you had asked it of us, that we were able to demonstrate from Scripture, that there is indeed forgiveness after baptism. For one ought not to argue by selecting what is easy, but one must stand up with a contrary argument against those things that appear strong. For as long ^D as those things that obstruct are not removed from the soul, the sick man cannot be cured.

2. But, since there is a place for sweetening that is imbued with salt, and we now bring forth words from the Old Testament; let us report what they oppose to the things said from the Old Testament. For they say that if, before the passion of the Savior, before that holy blood was poured out for us, you should read to us about penitence from the Old Testament, we say that in the Old Testament sins were forgiven, but in the New, on account of the passion, there will be no forgiveness. But if we show from the New [Testament] that even after baptism and the participation of the Spirit, anyone who has sinned is called back through penitence to the gift, it is clear that there is peni-

place for repentance even after baptism, and thus those things which are read in the Old [Testament] will have force and authority for establishing repentance. I speak to you as if you were attentive; whence I also touch upon graver matters, so that we who have once fallen, having conceived a good hope, may in no way remain in sin. You did not believe Him when He proved it by example; believe the oath of God. God says: "As I live, says the Lord." And this oath is becoming to God. For since He had nothing greater than Himself, and He swears because of the unbelief of those who abolish repentance, "As I live, says the Lord,"—but let no one be deterred—"for I do not desire the death of the sinner, but rather that he should turn and live." He who lives wishes you to live. Is God, even when He swears, not worthy of belief? Do you not believe through word, nor through example, nor through oath? Believe through deeds. Nineveh was not overthrown; for it repented. The prophet was indignant that it was not overthrown; a gourd ^B grew up. He makes excuses to you, that you may remember that He is good. But I fear lest you hear from Him: "Is your eye evil, because I am good?" Who is recorded as more impious than Ahab? I speak to those who read. Besides his other robberies, he snatched a vineyard, having murdered the master; he went down to take possession: he went down rejoicing. There met him one who would bring him sadness, one who would rebuke him, a prophet namely, not an enemy, but as one sparing, he pronounced not his own judgment, but that of God. After the judgment, he put on sackcloth, and stripped off his lordship. For it is written that the prophet himself, who had been sent to pronounce judgment, heard from God that: "Because Ahab has besought, fearing the threats, the things which I have spoken shall not come to pass in his days." I am compelled to desire a good remedy. That holy David, and even after his sin holy, transgressed three of the ten commandments in a single affair. Since we are speaking to you, let us speak more clearly. ^C There occurred adultery, and murder, and desire for another man’s wife. The just man sinned, and God made him the judge of his own sin. For since we do not see the beam in our own eye, but see the splinter in another’s, He sets before him his own crime as if it were another’s, and says: "There were two men in one city, the one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had many things; but the poor man had one ewe lamb, which even slept in his bosom (this was a mystery of the wife), and ate with him, and drank from his cup. There came, he says, a stranger to the rich man;" and rightly is it called "a stranger," for David was not accustomed to these things. "There came, therefore, a stranger to him. The rich man, he says, sparing to sacrifice to the stranger from those things which he had, snatched the one ewe lamb of the poor man and sacrificed it." As much as the strong man may fall, ^D he has a quick rising. David is indignant, for David was, even though he had fallen, [a man of God]. "As the Lord lives, the man who has done this is worthy of death." He pronounced judgment against himself. As he pronounced it, the prophet revealed who the man was. He went straight to the remedy; he saw the wound; he fled to the Physician. "I have sinned," he says, and immediately there is healing. "And the Lord has taken away your sin."

^A What do you desire? That one sin should be reckoned against those who have much righteousness? He committed sin, but he also committed many righteous acts. What is just before a just God—to remember the few or to forget the many? Let there be a balance, and with the measure with which we measure, it shall be measured to us. If the sins are more numerous, let him be a sinner; but if the righteous acts are more numerous, let him be just. One against one. For all things among us are judged by the greater part. And one white thing is surpassed in whiteness by another, and if you compare one sweet thing to another, the other is sweeter. Thus, we are also just as human beings, not that sin is righteousness. Whence the Son of God is called Righteousness; we, however, are just by the participation of righteousness. And Moses spoke something with his tongue, but it was not taken up into the history. And Abraham is found to have been faithful, and yet there was a time when he was unbelieving. I do not accuse the just, but I glorify God. I do not encourage ^B us to sin. "Enoch pleased God," says the Scripture, "after he had begotten a son." If he pleased Him after these things, it is possible for one who was not pleasing to please Him.

3. But let us come to the New Testament, although more examples from the Old still occur to us. For Manasses, who had set up idols having a fourfold face in the temple of God, so that from wherever anyone entered he might worship the idols, having done penance, was recalled from captivity. Let us pass to the New. For from that very place whence they wish most of all to exclude repentance, repentance is preached most of all. Let us ask the Savior, "Why have you come?" And He answers: "I have not come to save the just, He says, but sinners to repentance." Let us examine Him: "What are you carrying upon your shoulders?" "A lost sheep," ^C He says. "Over whom is there joy in heaven?" He says: "Over any sinner who repents." The angels rejoice, and do you begrudge it? God receives him rejoicing, and do you hinder it? Let us flee to the good God with greater alacrity. "Two," He says, "there were, both sons (you cannot tell me that that repentance was of the Gentiles, but both were sons, having divided their portion equally). The younger consumed what he had; though he was just, he fell. Having consumed all, he came to repentance, and hastens to the Father, and considers what he might say to his Father: 'I have sinned,' he said, 'against You and before heaven.'" He reasoned these things within himself, nor did he escape the notice of the good Father. He came to make his defense; the One who is ashamed met him ^D first. Do you but wish it, and He himself (73)

^A anticipates. He begins to speak, and the Father receives him. Consider the compassion, and do not cut off hope. He received him, and says: "Sacrifice the calf, and bring out the robe, the former one, and a ring for his hand." ^B All these things are interpreted in one way, but they indicate briefly the good encouragement of the One who received him, not according to what I wish, but according to what He says. But if you are indignant that He receives him after he has fed the swine, after he has squandered everything, the brother was indignant, but nevertheless the One who was ashamed received him.

4. And the fig tree being cultivated, and for three years not giving fruit, was left, and was not cut down for the hope of giving. The Master forgives, and do you contradict? For does anyone snatch away his own affairs for himself? But if God forgives, who is he that objects? Let us then learn to pray: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven.” ^C You forgive, and God does not forgive? He has made you the physician of yourself. “With what measure you measure, it shall be measured back to you.” You forgive, and He forgives you. But you, being wicked, act kindly; does not He who is good [act] much more so? Jesus is with sinners, the physician is with the sick. The Pharisees are indignant, the fathers of those who are now indignant; the Merciful One does not turn away. He entered into the house of the Pharisee, having been invited; a sinful woman entered after Him, ^D not having been invited. She saw her sin, she approached justice; she saw the disease, she went where the physician was. She did not approach the face, for she did not have the confidence; she did not take hold of His hand, for she did not dare; but [she went] to the feet, which she washed with her tears; she let down her hair, then only in a becoming manner, she who had often displayed it in an unbecoming manner then bared it in a becoming manner. It was written for you to take refuge at the feet of Jesus. He ascended to the Father, but He says: “I am with you.” Whenever you wish, take refuge confidently, moisten His feet, He is near. And He came being present, and He left being present. These things taken from the New Testament are kindred and related to those found in the Old. What does John preach? A baptism of repentance. And He teaches in parables, not once, not twice, so that by being taught often, you may learn. Peter denies three times, and he is placed in the foundation. Paul [became] a preacher from being a persecutor. But there is a question here. But what does he himself say? “Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am first.” He reveals his own defect, that he might show the magnitude of grace. But Peter having spoken and having been blessed, having said that “You are the Son of God, the Most High,” and having heard that “You are a rock,” was not complimented [in the same way]. For even if he is a rock, he is not a rock as Christ is a rock, but a rock as Peter is a rock; for Christ is truly the unshakable rock; but Peter [is] because of the rock. For Jesus grants his own honors, not emptying himself, but...

possessing what he bestows. He is Light: ^A “You are the light of the world.” He is Priest; he makes priests. He is a sheep: “Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves.” He is Rock; he makes rock, and grants his own to his servants. For this is the sign of a rich person, to have and to bestow. But the rich among us, by bestowing, diminish what they have. For we are not rich; we possess things belonging to others. But he who is rich in this way, however much he may bestow, remains just as rich; like an everlasting spring. However much you may draw, the flow does not fail. And it is not even like a spring—for there is no example among us of a nature comparable to his. But since we have nothing worthy, we use lesser things, that we may in some way comprehend the incomprehensible. Peter denies three times, not so that Peter might fall, but that you too might have consolation. He wept; his tears moved him who has mercy on us. For the intent of his soul was good. Everywhere he alone confesses: “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” He who fashioned the creature knows it, and bears [our] infirmities, forgiving transgressions.

^B For what is our righteousness? Abraham was truly great. He was so great because he is earth and ashes. For he who knows how much there is between God and men knows himself. Hear also other beatitudes: “Blessed are they whose iniquities were forgiven, and whose sins were covered.” God declares them blessed, and do you forbid it? Do the Scriptures speak as we wish, or ought we to follow as it is written? And these things are against us. Contention that cuts off hope is not good. But since we promise forgiveness after baptism (for this is the greatest reinforcement against wickedness), the Apostle writes in the first Epistle to the Corinthians, “In general, fornication is heard of among you, and such fornication as is not even named among the nations.” You have heard the magnitude of the evil; hear also the magnitude of the sentence: “When you are gathered, he says, and my spirit, in the power of Christ, to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved.” He disciplines, for he does not cast him away as an enemy. In the first [epistle] he delivered him to Satan; in the second he writes nothing contrary to the first: “Confirm charity toward him, lest such a one be destroyed by the excess of grief.” The Apostle also solves the indissoluble. At that time he commands one such as this to be delivered to Satan; afterward, writing about the same person and granting forgiveness, he says: “Lest we be circumvented by Satan.” ^{C D} For if he has snatched away one of us, and

he falls into the jaws of wolves, lead him back, that he may escape the snare. Just as good shepherds, even if a sheep is snatched away, hasten at least to recover the fleece; if it is good to tear away the fleece of a dead animal, is it a thing of no account to snatch a soul from the mouth of a wolf? And in war a champion is wounded, and yet he is not denied the crown because he was wounded; rather, having performed many labors, he received wounds. Does God reckon one evil, but not reckon the many good deeds? How many martyrs, who first denied, later redeemed their defeat by a renewed battle? They denied, however, not in mind, but with the tongue. For the flesh is weak. He who denies falls, but when he confesses again, he is restored. For God does not watch only for the evils, while counting the good deeds for nothing. ^B And when someone was being tortured, he often gave way, having been unable to bear it—not because his intent changed, but because he was overcome by the pain. But once released and having found respite, he is restored. Will a brief word be kept against him, while his tortures are not counted? But God is the judge, not the boldness of men. Do you dare to prescribe a law to God, who knows our infirmity, and provides help, and will grant victory? How many are there who, after an evil life, have undergone martyrdom? Because desire enticed them, will they be deprived of their labors? We are not angels, but men; and we fall and we rise, and often in the same hour. “And star differs from star in glory.” For what reason? For if there is a single measure of righteousness, all ought to have the same amount; but if some shine like the sun, others radiate like the moon, and others glitter according to the difference of the stars, it is clear that one surpasses another. And he who is surpassed, it is clear that he is liable for small sins. If no pardon at all were given to anyone who had sinned, ^C there would be a difference in the variety.

6. But since it is necessary to show that those who have fallen after baptism can obtain salvation, I speak not without fear, lest you depart from the intent of my mind; for I truly wish that those who receive baptism do not sin. But if any should ever fall unexpectedly, I do not want what they want who abolish repentance, who are unwilling that we should die together with Him on the cross; but I want what the Apostle wants: for us to be buried together with Him, and no longer to live in sin. This is what I want. “I do not set aside the grace of God,” the Apostle says, writing to the Galatians, because they had received the Spirit. Are you looking for anything more manifest than this? But he adds: “Are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, are you now being brought to completion by the flesh?” They had therefore received the Spirit. And again: “This only I want to learn from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? You were running ^D well.” See how many prerogatives they have. Hear the sins. “Now you are being brought to completion by the flesh, you have fallen away from Christ.” You saw them having the Spirit; you heard that “You have been rendered ineffective—”

^A or likewise, “You have fallen away from grace.” What does he add after this, providing a place for renewal? “My little children, of whom I am in labor again.” He had begotten them once; but he who has begotten once does not refuse to beget a second time for salvation. If anyone does all other things with an evil intent, this very thing is godless. But men, having received the Spirit, and having run well, and having endured such things, and having been in danger, and having endured in vain, and having fallen and been rendered ineffective, are nonetheless born again, so that they may again receive the image of God. Is there any rebuttal remaining for you concerning repentance? Who formed us? God. He made a body for us, He made a soul for us. Does He disregard it? Who gave us the medicine of life? Why are there readings? So that we might depart from sins. Why are we irrigated? So that we might bear fruit. Why do we pray? So that our sins may be forgiven. Let us complete the word. For whom is there no repentance? He who acts wickedly with the hope of repentance has the character of a wrongdoer and is deprived of repentance. ^B There is hope even after sin, there is healing even after the ulcer, but the scar remains. It would be blessed not even to have stumbled; the second blessedness is health restored after the wound. To God, then, who created us from the beginning, and who descends to our weakness, and who preserves our resolve, and who grants us repentance, through Him who bestows good things upon us, Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

HOMILY OF THE SAME

Against those who, through calumny, say that we declare there to be three gods

1. Great is the consolation for souls which, when they are afflicted with hatred, are held in hatred together with the Lord. “For if the world hates you,” He says, “know that it has hated me before you.” Therefore, if the Beloved is hated, what is so great if we are deemed worthy of hatred by men, for whom the treasure of hatred abounds? ^C The memory of sorrowful things, coming upon my heart, checks my speech; and the tear that falls intercepts my voice, when I ponder that, although love and peace were left to us by the Lord, we do not at all seek what was left. The gift is hidden, found by no one. Charity was left behind; but strife dwells among us. Unity was given; but hatred has been ignited. We have ignited a great pyre of hatred against one another; each of us laments privately, but we do not come together to work in harmony. ^D Who will give me the entire world as a theater, and a voice louder than a trumpet, and the lamentations of Jeremiah, and a tear abundant—

^A with which I might break a heart crushed by sorrows, and pour over us the dust that is now ignominiously sprinkled upon us, and lament the common calamity, because charity, the root of the commandments, has failed? For this reason I embrace those present with an insatiable spiritual embrace, because they have shown a strange spectacle, being glued to one another. For we have each become by ourselves like sand, not joined to one another, but each of us divided by ourselves. For neither can a building stand if the binders are removed, nor can the Church grow into the heights if it is not bound together by the bond of peace and love. ^B

2. Grant us a patient hearing for a little while, not because we are speaking for display, but because we are hastening to include you in a communion of sorrows; for the communion of sighs brings consolation to those who mourn. And perhaps our sorrow, when united, will reach the Lord more powerfully. Or will each of us be heard privately because of the weakness of our deeds? That which we see is a remnant of the ancient charity of the Fathers. For this reason they devised these public gatherings, so that by meeting at certain seasons of the year, they might renew the alienation that had crept in through the passage of time, and so that those who live in far-off lands, by reaching this one place, might make this meeting a beginning of friendship and love for themselves. This is a spiritual gathering, which renews the ancient things; and which provides a beginning for things to come. For we have not come to make an exchange of goods, but to offer a mutual exchange of love; to give full love, and to receive full love. ^C These things our Fathers established. But as for us, who have received them as if handed down from hand to hand, the present spectacle shows into what a state we have degenerated. Most of those who are present are scouts of what is to be said, rather than disciples of what is taught. And the discourse is sought out, not for the edification of those present, but for the sake of causing grievance to those who lie in wait. And if anything is said that happens to suit the desires of those who reject the opinion, he who heard it went away having accepted it as if he had found his own [possessions] with us. Let these things be inscribed upon your hearts. Bear witness to the truth and to us against those who spread such things, namely that we have renewed the ancient gift. ^D

3. For these are the words of those who do not fear the Lord, but who open their mouths against us, as if we were proclaiming three gods. He who proclaims three gods is asking what—

^A is he looking for in the Church of the Lord? In one place, a multitude of gods; in another place, the pious worship of God. He who speaks of three, let him also dare to speak of four; let him extend the number even to twelve. What, then, is the madness of those who have whetted their tongues against the truth? I am not faint-hearted in the face of refutation, but I await the judgment seat of Christ. There those who stitch together this slander will be set over against me: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "He who slanders the poor man irritates Him who made him." If I hand down the faith of the Fathers, why, leaving the Fathers aside, do you attack me with war? If I believe in the Father, if I confess the Son, if I do not reject the Spirit—if he who confesses the Trinity names three gods, he abrogates baptism and makes war against the faith. Why, putting my person forward, do you attack the Lord? Who left it for us to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit ^B? Was it I, or the Lord? Whose are the words? Of a herald, or of Him who sent him? Why, because you find my person easily vulnerable to slanders, do you attack the truth through me? Through me, do you shake the fortress of the faith? I, indeed, can be easily attacked, but the faith remains unshaken. "One Lord," learn from the words of Paul, not two or three. Even if I call the Son Lord, I have not divided the lordship into two lords or many gods. The Father is Lord, the Son is Lord: "One faith," since there is one Lord. One follows upon one: to one Lord, one faith; to one faith, "one baptism." Thus one is confirmed from one through one. But if I do not cast down the Spirit, nor place him in the rank of a slave, on this account I receive that slander. Do not say what I do not say, and let us see the plausibility of your slander. Why do you hide your own slander? You lie ^C, you cursed man, when you say that three gods are proclaimed by us, and you do not say openly that we are the very ones who anathematize those who call the Holy Spirit a creature. This accusation I admit. For this cause I will undergo fire and whetted sword. Whether the wheel may crush me, or whether torments may be set in motion against me, with the same conviction of mind I will endure the torments by which the martyrs lying here were deemed worthy of crowns. Therefore, accuse me with this name: that I do not number the Holy Spirit among the creatures. But if you say anything further, you shall render an account to the Judge. Just now it was read, "When the Comforter shall come," which was just now being read—but you, by your slanders ^D

you have taken the occasion to calumniate, to use injury. The Paraclete, he says, is he who intercedes for you. By the very things through which he does you good, you show your ungrateful spirit. You do not, therefore, accept the benefit of the Paraclete. Or did not the Lord ordain that this appellation was fitting for Himself? "I will send you another Paraclete." When He said "another," did He not show Himself before the other? If I speak from my own self, do not listen to me; but if I declare what is written, submit yourself to the truth. One who is perfect is neither diminished nor increased. One is the unbegotten God; one is His only-begotten Son and God. Just as there is no other God co-unbegotten, so there is no other Son co-begotten. Just as the Father is not Father by word [only], so neither is the Son Son by word [only]. God is the Father, God is the Son; God is the perfect Father, and God is the perfect Son. The Father is incorporeal, the Son is incorporeal; the character and image of the ^B incorporeal. Do you believe that He was begotten? Do not ask, "How?" For if it is permitted to inquire how the unbegotten is unbegotten, it is permitted to inquire how the begotten was begotten. But if the unbegotten does not leave room for inquiry as to how He is unbegotten, so neither does the begotten leave room for inquiry as to how He was begotten. Do not seek the things that are unfindable, for you will not find them. For if you inquire, from whom do you have it to learn? From the earth? It did not exist. From the sea? It was not liquid. From heaven? It had not been raised up. From the sun and moon and stars? They had not been created. But from the ages? The Only-begotten is before the ages. Do not examine things that do not always exist in relation to Him who always exists. But if you do not desire this, but are contentious, I laugh at your folly, or rather, I deplore your audacity. ^C

4. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The "was" excludes the "was not," and "God" excludes "not God." Believe those things which are written; do not inquire into those things which are not written. This Word, the Son of God, became man for the sake of the fallen man, Adam. Because of Adam, the Incorporeal [was] in a body. Because of the body, the Word assumed the body as a cloud, so that He might not burn up visible things. He descended to the flesh so that the flesh might also be raised up with Him. He who is invisible [was] in the visible, that He might assume what is seen. As man, He is under time; as God, He is before times. The "as" does not indicate likeness, but in truth, He is both God and man in both respects. He was God, He became man by the economy. The "He became" is not first, and the "He was" second; but rather the "He was" is first, and then the "He became." Do not, then, let the "by the economy" of the Only-Begotten take away the

divinity. For these are ^A the evasions of heretics and the ravings of the Manichaeans. "For no man can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." He was born through a woman, so that He might regenerate those who were born. He was crucified voluntarily, so that He might bring down those who were crucified against their will. He died voluntarily, so that He might raise up those who died against their will. He accepted the death He did not invite, so that He might bring to life those who were under death. Death devoured Him in ignorance; having devoured Him, it recognized Whom it had devoured. It devoured Life, and was devoured by Life. It devoured the One together with all, and because of the One, it lost all. It pounced as a lion, but its teeth were broken. For this reason, He is also despised as weak. We no longer fear Him as a lion, but tread upon Him as a hide. The generation of the Only-Begotten from the Father must be honored in silence. For He Himself knows, He who has begotten and He who has been begotten. For we ought to know what we must speak and what we must keep silent. Not all things can be uttered by the tongue, lest the mind, like an eye wishing to behold the entire sun, lose even the light it had. For in this you know, if you grasp it, that you have not comprehended it. Therefore, let us honor that generation, which is hidden and ineffable, with silence. But if we are unequal to conceiving even this, let us not be afflicted with sorrow. For that one is to be feared because of its nature; this one is unexplainable because of the novelty of the matter. John was indeed called the voice of one crying in the desert, but he was a man by nature. Do not, therefore, because of the name of the Word, do away with ^B the hypostasis of the Only-Begotten. But perhaps you will say: Why then is He who sits at the right hand more honorable? But if He had honor of Himself, He would be more honorable; but if He received it from Him who begat Him, the grace belongs to Him who gave it. There was no other Son, so that he might sit at the left. There is one unbegotten God, and one is His Only-Begotten, Son and God. It was fitting, therefore, that the Son should not yield the right hand to the Father, but rather the Father to the Son. Obviously, with the nature among us being separated, set apart also the concepts. For the father among us is from another father, and he has need of time, and of nourishment, and of increase, and of other care, and he does not beget what he wishes; but God, having power concurrent with His will, begat One worthy of Himself, begat as He Himself knows: to Whom be glory and power unto the ages of ages. Amen.

SERMON ON FREE WILL

NOTICE

OF OUR HOLY FATHER BASIL THE GREAT[[A]], Archbishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia. On the text: "Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids."[[A]]

OF OUR HOLY FATHER BASIL THE GREAT, Archbishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia, On the text: "Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids." 40

I am not grieved by the paucity of those who have gathered for this spiritual assembly. [[A]] For I see that the tumult which usually stirs up disorder has diminished, and that those who have a desire to hear are present. Indeed, I have no need of those who make noise outside the doors; rather, I seek souls desirous of hearing, standing with decorum around this spiritual auditorium, who receive the reminders of the Spirit in a composed manner and preserve in their memory these salutary teachings; which is what I pray may be the case for those who are present. Since for a shepherd, too, the task is safer among a few than among a multitude of flocks, and for a helmsman, a single ship is easier to steer, even if waves are surging from every side, washing over the land and making the navigation difficult by their violence. For the sake of the love I bear toward each one, I would have wished all men to be present; but because what is spurious is interspersed with the multitude, I pray that what is pure may be accurately separated and distinguished from what is harmful. [[B]]

[[B]](9) Basil. Homily not unworthy of St. Basil. It is cited, however, according to sense rather than words, in the Catena on Proverbs, ver. 4 and 5 of ch. vi. *Basil.* By "dormitation," he signifies sloth and a tardiness to undertake sounder counsels; by "mystical eyes," the mind and intelligence; and by "the soul's," [[C]] the sin that is full-grown in action: or by "sleep" and "dormitation" he designates unclean thoughts and wicked impulses that first arise in the mind; or certainly the soul’s propensity toward baser things. The wise man wishes, however, that he who devotes himself by purpose to the virtues should prosper in spirit and courageously lift himself above the snares of the adversaries, being raised on high upon the wings of the virtues. Lo, the Greek from two manuscripts of the Royal Library: This is, word for word: "Sleep is negligence concerning that which is better; the intelligible eyes are the mind and thought; the sleep of the soul is sin committed in action: dormitation, [[D]] however, is the first unclean thought that consists in the soul. Super-dormitation is a propensity toward worse things." The wise man wishes him to be sharp-sighted, and to fly over the snares of the adversaries, elevated on the wings of virtues. Moreover, after this oration had been sent for printing together with the following one, there came into my hands the *Ecclesiastes* of Francis Combefis, in which both occupy a place among the Basilian works, published in Latin, translated by the same most learned man. Mentioned interpretation, "I have no need of those who make noise outside," for the text. But in Chrysostom, Savile vol. V, p. 980, it must be read, "the arrival of the Spirit mimicked the sound of thunder," and not "the copy." George Pachymeres, book VIII, ch. 2, "they sifted the interpretation accurately." For I do not agree with the learned translator, who is very deserving regarding Greek literature, who in this and other places approves the word [phylokinein]. It is not only according to Hesychius, but also from Suidas [phylokrinein], to judge, to test accurately.

^A Let it be with us, undisturbed by any attack, but let the hearing be done in truth. I pray that the wheat be separated from the chaff. For the one is blown about by every wind of teaching, but the other, heavy and stable and falling by its own weight, being judged by the Spirit, is deemed worthy of the granary. What shall I say? How shall I address you? How shall I anticipate the past, or the obligation of the future? For I am guilty of the past, and a debtor for the future. From what part of Scripture should I discourse to you opportunely? All are of the same value, all are spiritual, all are God-breathed, and all are useful. But the discernment is not easy for me, nor is it permitted for you to reject one and accept another, since the grace is equal in each, and the profit presented to us from every side is of equal dignity. Solomon, the writer of Proverbs, spoke useful words to us. He first ^B cast this into your ears; from here let us begin this homily to you. He wishes you to be a sharp-sighted disciple and exalted in your reasoning. The double expression presents both of these: "Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids." "Give not sleep." Does he forbid this sleep, a common affection of nature, and wish us to remain sleepless? Is this then an accusation against the Creator, who joined to our life the rest of sleep? "Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids." He does not repeat the same statement, but knows the difference between sleep and slumber. For sleep is a heavy stupor of the senses, but slumber ^C is a mixture of wakefulness and sleep. Since, therefore, some are held by deep sleep, having forgotten the gifts of God as if occupied by a lethargy; others, however, are mixed, sometimes awake, sometimes as if dozing; they do not admit a stranger, nor one who has at some time turned back, nor the sick as if they were healthy. VERSE 5: "That thou mayest deliver thyself as a gazelle from the snares." The gazelle is an animal sharp-eyed, from which the name of the gazelle is derived. Nothing escapes the eye of the gazelle; it knows what it ought to avoid; it knows where the steering of the course lies. But be also like the gazelle for searching out things that are below, and like a bird for seeking the things that are high, so that you may not be caught in a net, but become higher than the snares. ^D Never does a bird fall into a net if it cuts the air with the wing naturally implanted in it and soars above the earth. He wants you, therefore, with the sublimity of mind which you received from your Creator, to observe cautiously; and to pursue the vice of sloth—congenital to us—as something that makes the happy execution of those things which have been commanded to us by the Lord to hang in the balance; and also to discern, to examine, and to search out.

^A For the most grievous of all things is sloth, the listlessness of the soul. Do not be an idler regarding the commandments of the Lord; do not do one thing while putting off another. You make a kind of usurious satisfaction, as if you had fulfilled the whole. But He wishes you to reach out for what lies ahead. Do you see how He wishes you to be a nimble runner of piety, hastening toward the prize of the upward calling? It is not, therefore, fitting for the same person to be both idle and gainfully occupied. One who asks is present; if you are idle regarding almsgiving, that idleness becomes an impediment to you in the race of salvation. In order, therefore, to rouse you from sleep and make you a zealot for good works, having chosen a small creature, the smallest of all, He puts this before you: "Go to the ant, O sluggard, and emulate its ways."

Do you see how He has used you? He points out a lowly teacher, so that in this way, shaking off sleep, casting off sloth, and moved by shame on account of the thing that is brought in for comparison, you might render yourself worthy of your Creator. If He had said to you, "Imitate the speed of the horse, imitate the burden-bearing of the camel, imitate the ox that tills the earth," you would have replied, "How shall I imitate those which are so huge in the size of their ^B body? That is another kind of physical strength; but I am small and weak." So that you might not put forward this—which is undeniably inferior—He has set this before you for imitation: "Go to the ant, O sluggard." Why do you despise a great teacher? Let the ant stir you to activity, "And learn from it." That creature knows no master, it has not traveled abroad, it has not learned the arts of agriculture, it has not yoked an ox, it possesses no plow-ox, it does not fight over land boundaries, it does not provoke its neighbors to anger, it does not hold on to some things while taking others; it knows nothing of the things pertaining to agriculture. It has no master standing over it, it has no tax collector to compel it, it has no servants who, when their grain ration is not distributed to them, ^C quarrel with their master. None of these things is present; but a certain natural necessity stirs the animal. Therefore, it is nature, then. And you have a reason which is the parent of nature. By reason, you excel the ant. If your capacity is a fellow-worker, your capacity is superior to that of the ant. "Go, therefore, to the ant, O sluggard, and learn from it."

You have been taught before; but because of sloth, you have cast away your former teaching, and you have fallen into forgetfulness because of the sleep you loved. Learn from the ant. For it has no farm, nor does it possess a master, nor is it under compulsion; and serving under no compulsion, being without a master, possessing a life that is autonomous and free, it stands over itself, urging itself toward the work. Who told the ant that "Now it is harvest time"? And who, in turn, will say that "Now it is winter again"? In order to show you ^D the providence of God extending through all things, so that you would not even [claim that you are] free or not subject to the dominion of any—

^A I say, He pointed out the ant to you. For that creature does not perform these actions by any spontaneous chance, but it has one urging it on—the dispensation of God—using the law of nature as its teacher. These are the lessons: it is harvest, and the ant is at work, turning what falls from your own labor into its own profit. I fear that one day it may be your accuser, because you did not laboriously gather the gifts of God as it fills its own storehouses. Learn about the dwelling of ants. It constructs for itself two- or three-storied buildings, imitating Noah, and performing the fabrication of the ark during the flood, some [chambers] being below it, and others rising above the houses. ^B Have you ever seen an ant-hill? Have you attentively studied it, or have you not even learned about the ant? The ways of the ant are orderly; with it, the dirty is separated from the pure; it dwells in a storehouse, and the storage is wise. I have seen grain stored by an ant, and not simply thrown down, but deemed worthy of the storehouse with wise intent. It splits the middle of the grain with its claws, suspecting that perhaps, having fallen under the earth and then become moistened, it might lead to germination; but it splits and kills the grain, so that it may be suitable for food, but useless for sprouting. Does the teacher who uses such wisdom and art not seem more trustworthy to you? "Go to the ant, O sluggard; learn the well-constituted order of the ant; ^C how those who bring in the grain do not hinder those who are going out; but one is the place for those going out, and another for those bringing in: and there is order among them, even though they have no king to lead them, nor do they know of division into tribunes; but as there is one good order of paths, one from this side, and another from that side, when they pass one another, they are not a hindrance to each other in their course. Who, then, ordained these things? I believe that both the drill-masters and the generals took their tactical skill from this, and transferred it to the discipline of men. Thus the law of wisdom is older than the institutions of art. The ant also possesses foresight. ^D Therefore, they often bring the grain out from their caves to dry it when it has become damp. Then, therefore, when you see a store of provisions outside the ants' cave, know that the rain will not occur. Whence this, if not from the Lord, so that the creature may survive and not perish from hunger? Do not, therefore, imagine that your own affairs are governed by any irrational and spontaneous chance. VER. 8. "Or go to the bee." What is more common than these examples? Who is ignorant of the ant? Who does not know the bee? He shows us the animals that are trodden upon and live with us. But in order that we might receive their guidance or instruction, by which we manage our own affairs; because the example of the ant was not sufficient, He added the bee. For the avaricious man, one who holds onto his wealth, could have said to me, "I imitate the ant: for it is a creature that keeps to itself, which [gathers] for itself."

and treasures nothing for another." ^A He would have said, "I am persuaded by the teaching. The ant labors for its own enjoyment; therefore I too hoard; let nothing more be enjoined upon me." But here the ant has been brought forward to move you to be industrious and hardworking; the bee, however, to move you to munificence. "Go to the bee, and learn how industrious she is." The example of the bee is useful for giving fruit and for the matter of vengeance. For indeed the bee, when taking revenge, dies from the sting; and for a Christian, the repayment of evil is death. You have heaped a little reproach upon him, but you have slain yourself by the disobedience to the commandment: "Rendering to no man evil for evil." ^B Do you see how the bee lets go of its life along with its sting? So too does the Christian, when he takes vengeance on an enemy, lose his own life through the blow inflicted upon the enemy. Therefore, be neither prone to vengeance against enemies, nor avaricious toward your own kin; but learn from the bee, for whom vengeance brings death; yet it offers up its activity for the enjoyment of kings and commoners, the delicate and the sick; and by its industry and whole life it is useful even unto its fragrance. The bee, by the variety of its craft, knows how to collect honey from the same flower: and it deposits one part into honey, another into the comb, and it binds the wax with the honey. Who taught that bee to make the hive-pipes and to weave the thin membrane? ^C Which of them, having attended an ancient schoolmaster, was taught to make six-sided and four-sided structures? How did it set an angle with wax and weave the walls, so that the angles might provide firmness and the walls might guard the honey? Why did it not make one pipe, but built up the storehouses of honey on this side and that? How does it pour the honey into each hollow for itself? If it had made one large receptacle, the base would have been broken by the weight; but it provides hollows, puts down walls, and secures the angles. Who is the architect? It did not learn architecture. Do you see how much wisdom there is in the bee, how much zeal for labor in the ant? Do we not blush if we depart from the wisdom of the ant and are surpassed by the diligence of the bee? ^D Let these small creatures stir our mind toward the care of good works. It is a gregarious animal; neither the ant lives on its own, nor the bee solitarily; they live in swarms, they fly in swarms. You have never seen a bee flying by itself, but they have their flight in common with one another. They do not begrudge the flowers to each other; they set out to the meadows together, and together they return to their own hives again. Each one recognizes its own cell; departing from its own work, it shares its activity with its companions. This, however, is not found among us. For we no longer commune with one another, nor do we fly together to the flowers of the churches: but each one's sting is fiercely raised against his neighbor: and he knows indeed that he is...

dies by the very sting with which he lashes his brother; yet, being more concerned with anger than with his own salvation, he commits even those things which are forbidden by the Lord, and which bring upon us eternal punishment; from which may we pray to be rescued in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power, now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen. ^A

THE SAME: ON FASTING, ORATION III

1. The time for fasting and propitiation is at hand; not only the time for abstinence from foods, but also for the avoidance of sins. Let us then withdraw ourselves from every sin, and fast eagerly; knowing that fasting has revoked the decree of God. The ecclesiastical law, therefore, announces the fast, putting forward as a most loud-voiced herald the choir of the prophets and apostles. ^B It calls not only men and those of advanced age, but also women and children; renewing the youth of the former, and changing the nature of the latter into manly virtue. "For in Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female." It proposes prizes to those who struggle: the kingdom of heaven, and a garland that always blooms, and eternal life, if we fast with holiness; according to the blessed prophet Joel, who says: "Sanctify a fast, proclaim a remedy, gather together the children that suck the breasts. Let the priests, weep before the altar, call together the elders. Let the bride go forth from her chamber, and the bridegroom from his couch." For the mode of fasting is holy, offered holily by holy ones to a holy God. Therefore, the herald calls all to the struggle. But there is a great difference, both in life and in age, among those who compete. ^C But the struggle "is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and the spiritual hosts of wickedness." For if someone has visible enemies and foes, if he is able, he might fight back; and if he is weak, he will be saved by hiding himself. But if someone has invisible enemies, what shall he do if he does not call upon God as his helper? For if he sleeps, they are awake; if he hides himself, they fight from within. The enemy is troublesome; he brings against you many machinations in the struggle, whether of avarice, or of lust, or of gluttony, luxury, and vainglory. ^D He attacks you even while you are sleeping; for he does not respect the laws of sleep. What then will you do, having to deal with many enemies of this kind? Will you dig a trench? But this

^A will be crossed. Will you set up a rampart? But even this he will pass over. How then is it necessary to struggle? And how is one to restrain such a great plot? For it is not even possible to see the fighters. But a most excellent aid has been found: fasting and prayer. For in this way those who are worse than visible enemies, the evil demons, are defeated, as the Lord teaches the disciples, saying concerning the lunatic: "This kind is driven out by nothing but prayer and fasting." Fasting, therefore, is a great good ^B for men, which has recalled a decision of God. A three-day destruction was proclaimed in Nineveh; and turning to God conquered the destruction. For the threat of destruction was relaxed through repentance. The prudent sinners of Nineveh, having heard Jonah preaching the destruction, stayed the threat through the mode of fasting, and drew upon themselves salvation through the remedy of confession and prayer.

2. Through fasting Moses brought down the law from heaven; through fasting he propitiated God regarding those who had made the calf. Through fasting Elias was taken up to heaven, bearing as arms of chastity fasting; the fasting of foods, and abstinence from sins. For if the mouth fasts, but the hands snatch another's, you hear: "I have not chosen this fasting, says the Lord." ^C If you abstain from foods, and you slander your brother, you hear: "Not what enters into the mouth defiles a man, but what goes out." Let the belly, therefore, be clean from foods, and the mind from sins. Let the inner things be in harmony with the outer things. Let neither the body be weighed down by food, nor the soul be defiled by wickednesses, so that the God of all may render us worthy of the kingdom of heaven in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power unto the ages of ages. Amen.

NOTICE

BY THE SAME

^A to be witnesses this day, "that I am pure from the blood of all; for I have not shrunk from declaring to you the whole truth and the counsel of God." He also exhorts us to do the same, where he writes: "Remind them of these things, charging them in the sight of God." Since, however, I am not able to testify in person to everyone regarding the commandments of the Lord, I thought it necessary to write to your collective love in Christ, both to free myself from judgment and to inform you of what is required of you, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is so that you may neither, through ignorance, fall somewhere into the sting of death, which is sin, nor disregard any commandment of God, concerning which it is written, "His commandment is eternal life," and thus fall away from it, the Lord saying: ^B "He who is disobedient to the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him." We must also take care that we are not found guilty of the blood of those who have died through sin because of our silence. The judgment will also fall upon me: first, by reason of the cause and the danger of such great discord and dissension in the Churches of God and in the individual regarding his work; and second, by the proofs from the divinely inspired Scripture concerning the fact that He will visit every transgression of the commandment of God harshly and terribly. Thus, even if one seems to have performed most things, if he neglects even a few, or even one single commandment, or if he remains indifferent toward one who is sinning ^C as if it were a matter of no importance, or one that makes little or no difference, and remains silent in this, failing to show a righteous zeal according to the judgment of God, he will, for this alone, undergo punishment; and even if he suffers such a thing through ignorance, he does not escape unpunished.

2. Furthermore, the discourse will embrace a free confession of God the Father, and of His only-begotten Son and God, and of the Holy Spirit. Next, it will set forth the knowledge of those things prescribed for us by Scripture: from what things one must abstain, and in what things those who desire eternal life and the kingdom of heaven must most diligently labor. It will likewise set forth separately the specific ^D duties of each rank or order. In addition to these things, the discourse will attempt to give us, from the Holy Scriptures, a character of the Christian that is summary and concise, having the form of a definition; and it will add, in turn, a character similar to the leaders of the teaching of the word of God. In these, the exact and thoroughly purified manner of life will be made clear, and the status, if I may so speak, of those who are disciples here will shine forth. Following these, I will append whatever I have answered, moved by the questions of the brethren, while discussing the life which is lived piously and religiously; copies of all these I have sent to your love in Christ, so that in you may be fulfilled that which the Apostle says: "Remind them of these things..."

to you what was said by the Apostle: "Commit these to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also" (II Tim. ii, 2).

OF OUR HOLY FATHER BASIL, ARCHBISHOP OF CÆSAREA IN CAPPADOCIA, ON BAPTISM: BOOK ONE.

^BCAPUT I. That one must first be imbued with the teaching of the Lord, and then be initiated into holy baptism.

1. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of the living God, after his resurrection from the dead, having received the promise from God the Father, who says through the prophet David, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you; ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession" (Ps. ii, 7, 8), and having taken his disciples to himself, ^C first declares to them the power given to him by the Father, saying: "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth" (Matt. xxviii, 18). And then he sends them, saying: "Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matt. xxviii, 19, 20).

Since, therefore, when the Lord gave the command first, "Teach all nations," and then added, "Baptizing them," and what follows, you indeed passed over the former and demanded from us an explanation of the latter; and since we reasoned that we would be acting against the command of the Apostle if we did not answer immediately, given that he says: "Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason" (I Pet. iii, 15), we have delivered the doctrine of baptism according to the Gospel of the Lord, which is more excellent than the baptism of the blessed John, although we have brought forward only a few out of the many things said about it in the Holy Scriptures. Nevertheless, we have thought it necessary to recur to the order handed down by the Lord, so that you might first be taught the force and meaning of this word, "Teach," and then afterwards