On the Meeting of the Lord

truly prudent discernment. Instructing us toward this resemblance, the great Apostle uttered the divinely inspired oracle set before him, so that in this way the God-fashioned likeness according to the image and resemblance might be clearly recognized in us, and the surpassing holiness of the archetypal beauty might be perceived.

^A For just as it is fitting for the troops under a king, when preparing a procession to escort him, to be adorned in gold and to be chosen men that have been gathered for his bodyguard, and for them to display most distinctly the impression of his appearance; so it is necessary for us, being transformed by the renewing of our mind and having put off the old man, and carrying within ourselves, as far as is possible for human beings, the likeness of the divine image, so to meet in the saving and spiritual feasts, ^B that there may be realized for us, according to the word of the prophet, "the fourth fast, and the fifth fast, and the seventh fast, and the tenth fast into gladness and good feasts." The fast is, of course, to be understood in an anagogical sense, as a mode of abstinence and self-control from every defilement, both of flesh and spirit. For by the quaternary, the fifth, and indeed the seventh and the tenth, the entire carnal emphasis, which is prone to deception by the senses and confined to this present life, is signified. For we learn of a more corporeal and flesh-loving way of life through the quaternary, ^C since our bodies are composed of the four elements; and that which is easily led astray through the senses (as there are five of them) is indicated by the name of the fifth. Indeed, the seventh signifies, even according to Solomon, the age of the lower nature, which revolves in cycles upon itself in weeks and returns in a circle. But the tenth indicates, by a translation from external things to a higher understanding and mystical meaning, the purification of the senses of the inner man, so that the eye of the mind may be simple and pellucid, in order that the whole body might be luminous, as says the holy Gospel; ^D and that the hearing of the soul may be filled with that divine exultation and gladness which the great David also prays to hear; and that its faculty of taste might be exercised in the goodness of the Lord, as he who chants in the prophets proclaims; and that the sense of smell might be established in the perception of the fragrance of Christ, which the divine Paul exhaled; and that with the inward hands of discernment one might handle the Word of Life, as the son of thunder declared. For the exercise of the intelligible senses in these matters, through abstinence from and alienation from those things contrary to them, is by nature apt to produce the fast that is praised by God; and so it results that we succeed in...

malice, indeed, to be as infants, but in prudence, which is joined with God, to attain perfect knowledge and habit. ^B

In this way the majesty of the intellect and the senses, flowing together from the springs of the Spirit—the teaching of the apostles and prophets—irrigating us and filling the river of God with mystical waters, knows how to gladden the heavenly city of God, which is composed of supramundane powers, with the rushing of this river, as we have heard the psalmody proclaiming. For truly the holy assembly of the powers above takes great delight in the salvation of men. For thus it is their custom to celebrate feast days in common with the dwellers on earth, provided that these indeed embrace the angelic life. For when our God here, whom the prophet had previously foretold as he displayed him, was seen upon the earth and conversed with men, and the angels saw the supernal blessedness being planted on earth, they proclaimed, *Glory to God in the highest*, and brought the good news of peace on earth (since the divine good will and affection had rested in men); and so the blessed hosts of the holy angels, praising and extolling the excellent and truly pure, perfect, and singular manner of divine liturgy and ministry, and perceiving in us signs of true holiness, will not judge us to be spurned and rejected—as the word of the evangelical parable makes to be withdrawn and cast out from the divine marriage him who was clothed in a filthy garment—but will judge us worthy to be taken as companions of eternal joy. ^C For when, at the archetypal time (so to speak) of the present feast’s institution, He who existed in the form of God and had taken the form of a slave—the mediator and intercessor between God and men—fulfilling the requirement of the Law, being an infant of forty days, the eternal Word was moving toward the temple with her who bore him and with the performance of the prescribed sacrifice that was fitting, the ranks of the incorporeal spirits, bowing their necks in a servile manner, were invisibly preparing the procession befitting God, and were venerating the sea of ineffable wisdom; and they were waiting for the completion and execution of the legal letter, which is obvious and known to the common people at first glance, to serve as a manifestation of the mystery hidden in God who created all things. Celebrating the memory of this mystery today, let us delight in spiritual contemplations as the incorporeal minds and spirits do, and by celebrating the majesty of the divine miracles with preaching and praise, we shall become partakers of their dignity: not with the legal shadow

^A of sacrifice thus clearly defined, proceeding toward the temple of God. For those who carry the veil on their heart when reading the Old Testament, thinking like children that they are fulfilling such legislation by the same annual sacrifices—which, if I may say so, can never make those who draw near perfect—let them think so. But for us, from whom that veil has been removed in our conversion to God, we who believe that the great mystery of godliness has been manifested once at the end of the age for the putting away of sin through His sacrifice—it behooves us, worthily of the divine light of truth, with the torch of the Spirit, to contemplate the mystery of the present festival; by approaching the speculation a little from above, and also by signaling in a timely manner that, according to the consistency of the inquiry, the command set forth in the Law is seen to be fulfilled, definedly and uniquely, only in the God who was incarnate, and without being applied to another.

For He alone, having been conceived in an ineffable manner and gestated in a way past speech, opened the virgin womb that had not been opened beforehand by marriage, keeping the seals of virginity unviolated even after that marvelous forth-going, and alone is believed to be spiritually male, bearing no trace of the feminine-like sin. Whence He is also truly and worthily called Holy, just as Gabriel, bringing the good news of the life-giving birth to the Theotokos, as if recalling the legislation that had been predetermined and looked only to Him, said, *And that which is to be born will be called holy, the Son of God* ^B, as if the appellation "holy" properly belonged to Him who by a divine miracle opened the virgin womb. And as for other firstborn things, the evangelical accuracy, looking with scrutiny into the depths of the Law, declared that they would be called "holy" in that they obtained such a name by their consecration to God; but concerning the Firstborn of all creation, the angel said, *The Holy One who is to be born*, as He really is this, and, as the prophet says, manifested the true holiness in the rejection of evil and the choice of the good at the very moment of His birth. ^C

But we must return to the sea of speculation, as the divine voice commands the lawgiver, with the grace of the Spirit—as in a pillar of fire and cloud—the splendor of the Scriptures leading the God-inspired army of the Church, so that with the rod of power that is sent forth from on high from Zion, as the Psalmist says, by which the enemies are brought into subjection, the sea of the letter ^D

^A has been cleft and divided on this side and that, and having passed over by a distinct and lucid understanding, we might escape the Egyptian disposition of those who do not believe in grace, while they themselves are drowned in those very waves and billows of truth; for it is their eager desire to hinder and prevent us as we journey along the path of the Gospel toward the spiritual land of promise, and they wish us to remain in the iron furnace of the letter (which is what Egypt is called), that is, serving by making mud and baking bricks—which is to say, in the corporal observances of the Law. Therefore, God, the Author of all things, spoke to Moses in Egypt, having already determined that plague and punishment against the firstborn of Egypt: ^B "Sanctify unto Me every firstborn that opens every womb among the children of Israel, from man even unto beast." The blessed Moses, as if unfolding and explaining the complicated and involved meaning of this divine constitution when he addressed the people, declared: "And it shall be when the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it to thee, thou shalt set apart everything that opens the womb, the males (that is) to the Lord; and everything that opens the womb from the herds of oxen, or among thy cattle, whatsoever shall be born to thee, the males thou shalt dedicate to the Lord. Every firstborn of a donkey, thou shalt exchange for a sheep; and if thou wilt not exchange it, thou shalt redeem it, and every firstborn of thy sons ^C shalt thou redeem," that is, thou shalt give a price for it by which it may be redeemed. For so the divine oracle in the Book of Numbers explains and declares, speaking to him who had obtained the high priesthood: "And everything that opens the womb of all flesh which they offer to the Lord, from man to beast, shall be thine; nevertheless, the firstborn of men shall be redeemed with a price, and the firstborn of unclean cattle thou shalt redeem. And the redemption of it: from a month old thou shalt redeem it, the estimation of the price being five shekels of silver, according to the holy shekel. Moreover, the firstborn of calves, and the firstborn of sheep, and of goats, thou shalt not redeem; for they are holy, and their blood thou shalt bring to the altar." Indeed, the divine voice has now ^D conjoined and numbered and reckoned the firstborn of Israel together with the unclean cattle, inasmuch as they did not possess that which is truly purity and holiness through the worship which was practiced according to the Law, even if it were customary for them to be sanctified by the designation and attribution of the legal constitution. For in the same way as for those which were accustomed to be rejected and reprobated in sacrifices, a ransom price was ordained by the divine law among them for the firstborn of men; since he who was in the state among the Jews, being less firmly established in reason, was unworthy to offer a rational worship, and to be brought to the most mystical altar of the New Testament for a spiritual whole burnt offering. The prices of redemption

^A were considered to be those things which, as was the custom, used to be offered as sacrifices that are made by blood (which sacrifices the prophet Isaiah, speaking as if in the person of God, affirms that He did not even require of their hands), inasmuch as the mind and intention of the Lawgiver looked toward a spiritual, perfect, and absolute consecration and initiation; but those things which were offered for sacrifice, the blood of which it was the custom to pour out before the altar, were distinctly named holy, since even in this figure the truth was long ago described and designated. For He who offered Himself to God and the Father as a victim and oblation for an odor of a sweet smell, our Lord Jesus Christ, He alone is properly and truly named holy.

^B But perhaps the incredulous Jew will say: since the firstborn of those quadruped animals which were held by their custom to be unclean could not be offered as a legitimate victim, they were accustomed to be exchanged for a price and redeemed; likewise, since the human firstborn were not slain for victims (for that would indeed have been absurd and foreign to the divine sanction), it is reasonable that they were consecrated through the exchange of a price. But, unless he is hindered by the veil which covers the eyes of his soul, let him consider that the sacred Scriptures have already taught, in another ordinance, that the Levites were taken to be consecrated in place of the firstborn, speaking thus in Numbers word for word: And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Behold, I have taken the Levites from the midst of the children of Israel for every firstborn that openeth the womb among the children of Israel; they shall be a price for them, and the Levites shall be Mine. For I have sanctified to Myself every firstborn in Israel on that day in which I struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt. ^C Then the Law, prescribing and expressing the certain and exact manner of the compensation and exchange, says: The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Inspect and consider every firstborn of the children of Israel, from one month and upward, and take the number of them by name. And you shall take the Levites for Me in place of all the firstborn of the children of Israel. Then, when the number of the firstborn was found to exceed the number of the Levites in the census, He says: The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Take the redemption prices of those who remain over and above the number of the Levites from among the firstborn of the children of Israel, and you shall take five shekels for each head according ^D to the holy didrachma. If, therefore, the Levites are the redemption prices of the firstborn of the children of Israel, as the precision of the census declares, so that for those who exceeded them in number a weight and price defined and appointed by the Law was given, for what reason did the Law command a redemption price to be given for each one of the firstborn? For, indeed, regarding the quadrupeds, which were not suitable or worthy to be taken for sacrifice and victim, the Law commands either that they be exchanged or that a price be given for them by which they might be redeemed; but regarding men, that [both] a redemption price be given, and that the substitution already be made through the Levites—which appears inconsistent even with the legal text itself, as the ordinance regarding the cattle shows, and the very nature of the matter suggests. For if, after the Levites [were assigned] to the service of God in place of the firstborn

a command was given that a price of redemption be paid for them, it is clear that the Levites did not possess in themselves a power equal and worthy, which might be accepted as a ransom and compensation. But if this is so, much more unworthy is that redemption of the firstborn which was performed by means of money: for how much viler, indeed, is a nature devoid of reason and sense than the human nature. Nevertheless, since, as the prophet says, they have closed their eyes, and cannot see what follows from this, will they be able to hear the most wise Micah himself crying out? I, for my part, do not think so. For even with their ears they hear heavily. Let this blessed prophet, however, come, crying these things with a loud voice, and by a prophetic spirit prefiguring the rejection and reprobation both of the Jewish firstborn and of the offering of material sacrifices. For he says: "By what shall I lay hold of the Lord, shall I grasp my God the most high? Shall I lay hold of him with year-old calves? Will the Lord accept thousands of rams, or ten thousands of fat goats? Shall I give my firstborn [as a fruit] of impiety, the fruit of my womb for my sins?" Let those who have a gross heart hear on what account the prophet accuses them before us, in that the blessed Micah named those who were the firstborn of Israel according to the flesh, "firstborn of impiety."

^C How, then, have they considered these things holy, which in the prophetic word were named firstborn of impiety? Let those who truly have stammering tongues tell us, those who cannot correctly pronounce and speak the truth, how the prophet, speaking in the Holy Spirit, dared to call these things "fruit of impiety"? How does the discourse regarding the redemption of these appear not to be level and consistent with itself, as far as the meaning of the letter which offers itself at first glance and inspection is concerned, even though the law among us is understood and believed to be both holy and spiritual? See the joined axles of the Jewish chariots, just as of old the chariots of the Egyptians in the Red Sea ^D waters. But in place of a rod, let the power and help of the true Lawgiver and King of glory, Christ, be cast into the sea of the discourse, and let it lead His people into the straight path of higher meaning and contemplation, that we may go into the city of the habitation of knowledge and truth, and let the unconquerable and invincible divine glory overwhelm the adversaries; of which the whole earth is full, that we may know the Lord, as the Scripture says, as much water [suffices] to cover the seas. Now indeed, God, having put on flesh, has both mortified and abolished the firstborn offspring of the devil, that is, sin, and as soon as He was born in the flesh, He effected the condemnation of wickedness for Himself, and performed and represented its absolute abolition through Himself.

^A He filled the opposing powers with wailing and lamentations, just as He took from them the Magi who came from the East as certain vessels, and by their adoration and recognition of His Lordship, they became vessels useful to the Lord for the cooperation of the building of the Church, the tabernacle truly fashioned by God, which the Lord pitched and not man. And now, just as He once redeemed Israel from mud and brick-making, so He redeemed the human race in Himself from the earthly mindset, effectively causing it to flee Egypt—that is, the hateful and dark fortress of death. ^B He sanctifies to God and the Father not only the firstborn of men, but now the entire human race also, through the first-fruits of our lump which He assumed in Himself—that is, the flesh taken from us and animated intellectually—leavening, as it were, the whole mixture for the sanctification of human nature. For if the first-fruits are holy, the lump is also, I might now say, as the divine Apostle says. And just as formerly the law-giving Word, in a typical manner—that is, through the figure by which the future was foreshadowed—offered to God the tribe which fell by lot to the priesthood in place of the first-fruits of the firstborn; so now, by the clear character of truth, we know that the High Priest and Apostle of our confession, the holy, guileless, and undefiled One, separated from every stain and mindset of the sinner, has been offered in the flesh to God and the Father in place of the humanity that was sanctified to Him through faith. ^C And so much the more so, in that we see the entire human race—in accordance with the principle of holiness (just as in the shadow of the law the firstborn were found in excess of the Levites)—not exceeding and over-abounding against Him who gave Himself as a ransom for many, but left far behind Him, in that without any contradiction, that which is blessed is inferior to the one who blesses. And at that time, the dignity of the Levitical priesthood was attributed to the nation of Israel alone, and it is testified that the Levites were the redemption price for the firstborn among them alone. But Christ, who has arrived as the High Priest of the good things to come, as the all-wise Paul says, ^D and not according to the order of Aaron, but according to the order of Melchizedek, as the divine oracle prophesied, effected by the changing of the priesthood—in that He is of another tribe (for it is clear that our Lord Jesus Christ has sprung from Judah)—also the changing of the law, moving us from the shadow under the law to the Gospel of the kingdom of heaven, just as He moved the dignity of the priesthood from the Levitical to the royal tribe. And by the comparison to the order of Melchizedek, He offered Himself as a ransom to the Father not for Israel alone, but for all the nations, and He has been established as the High Priest of the confession of all men, since Melchizedek is also known to be from the pagan portion and is found to be of the race of Abraham. The requirement according to the law of the five didrachmas

for each firstborn is meant to signify, enigmatically, that each of us must sanctify all our senses to God, and, keeping what is done through the senses pure and free from any shameful pleasure, offer it to the Creator as a holy and legitimate ransom.

We celebrate the memory of this holy festival today; this spiritual explanation of the mystery has gathered this holy, solemn assembly, in which, while the Savior was offered ^B according to the law as it appeared, yet, as He is understood in the spirit and perceived by the mind, by offering the first-fruits of our dough to the Father, He rendered the whole thing holy and fit for divine oblation. For this is what the law was travailing for long ago, and to this end looked the legal constitution regarding the firstborn, the compensation of the Levites, and the valuation of the didrachmas. Thus the grace of the Spirit has led us ^C through the sea of the divine Scriptures. But let us also see the closing and demonstration of the opponents. Now, then, the entire constitution of the law concerning both the Levites and the firstborn has already been made clear to us above; but just as the great Moses, confirming and encouraging the people, asserted that they would no longer see the Egyptians, so I am also moved now to announce the good news to the peculiar people of God, that we shall no longer see the bodily camp of the shadowy ^D worship. For where, after the manifestation of that great High Priest, is the sacrifice of the Levites? Where, after the world has been redeemed and expiated by the price, is the reckoning and valuation of the firstborn? Where is the remaining exact prescription and observation of the legal ceremonies? Do you not see that as long as the night of ignorance held all things, the worship performed according to the law provided a dim and meager splendor, like the stars; but when the sun of righteousness arose, and the Dayspring from on high appeared, and the day of salvation shone forth, the torch of the legal ordinances vanished, overcome by the super-shining light of grace? Does not that famous temple lie prostrate and leveled to the ground, like the nobles and the chariots? Has not all the elation and pride, all the spirits which the pontiffs had assumed in its name, collapsed and been brought low? And has not their entire well-ordered and established legal discipline been submerged and confounded? Has not the diligent and accurate observance regarding established customs that flourished among the Jews utterly perished? For where could they offer the sacrifices for women who have newly given birth, now that the chosen place has fallen, and it was clearly prescribed that it was not permitted for them to offer sacrifices anywhere else? Where is the priestly vestment, and the dignity, and all the rest? But that we may not, by going through each thing, strike terror into the eye of the soul by the continuous touch and contemplation of things dead—let us leave those dead things

^A by the water of the legal letter: but let us sing the song of victory and the hymn

To the Kind God

^A Not only those who were worthy of a harsher condition of life was it not alien to be subjected to a foreign scepter; but God’s long-suffering even showed that some righteous men—of whom the world was not worthy, to speak in the manner of Paul—were not rulers, but were subjected to the rule of barbarians and impious men, so that the proof of their piety might shine forth more vigorously. And Abraham reveals this, having been in Egypt and having had his wife taken away by Pharaoh, and having dwelt as a sojourner in the land promised to him. Likewise also his son, and his descendant, I mean Isaac and Jacob, and again his chaste and most upright son Joseph, who became a slave and was condemned to live in prison. Therefore, the wise Simeon did not await that consolation of Israel which pertains to good report, esteem, and great glory and splendor, but rather the true one in reality, namely, the translation to the beauty of the truth. For when a divine decree had been given to him that he would see the Christ of the Lord before he departed from this life, he awaited spiritually that at the same time the consolation of the people (of Israel) might appear and be made manifest. ^B He came, therefore, in the Spirit into the temple, and when his parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the customary practice of the law, he himself also received him into his arms, and blessed God, and said: Now you dismiss your servant, O Master, according to your word, in peace: because my eyes have seen your Salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light for the revelation of the nations and the glory of your people Israel. O truly blessed and thrice-blessed elder! How blessed was that truly holy entry into the temple, through which you ran to the end of your life! How blessed were your eyes, both of soul and of body! The former, because they perceived the visible apparition of God; the latter, because they did not behold only that which is seen, but, having been illuminated by the very light of the Spirit, they also recognized in the body the Word of God, and saw the divine salvation prepared before the face of all peoples. ^C How blessed were your hands, which handled the Word of Life! How blessed was your tongue, which proclaimed the good news of the revealed life-giving light! And why do I hasten to adapt my praise to you member by member individually, when the Evangelist has already taught that you are entirely praiseworthy and blessed, and possessed by the Holy Spirit? But come, O blessed Father, by the suggestion of the Spirit that resonates within you, teach the children of the Church—your nurslings—the hidden treasure, as it were, in earthen vessels, in your few words; since the divine word leads us to learn saving doctrines from you and those like you, who are adorned with the gray hair of heavenly wisdom and are truly elders and are called Fathers of the Church, ^D instructing us as we learn, saying: Ask your father, and he will tell you; your elders, and they will tell you.

^A May the power of the Spirit, therefore, which once moved his tongue to the pronunciation of divine words, also provide and furnish us with language now as we open our mouths. *Now you dismiss,* he says, *your servant, O Lord, according to your word in peace.* For from the time that Christ became man, and took away and destroyed the sin that had stirred up war, and reconciled us to the Father, the transition of the saints occurs in peace. For the great David, in the manner of prophets, was also signifying this beforehand, saying: *In peace I will both sleep and take my rest* (Ps. IV, 9), not intimating by the veils of his words that which was already present, but what was to be in the future, at the coming of Christ. And as if such a hope (the peaceful sleep and rest in Christ, I say) had been uniquely engendered in the saints by the Spirit, he says: *For you, O Lord, have uniquely established me in hope* (ibid. 10). ^B But the blessed elder Simeon, seeing that time already present, says: *Now you dismiss your servant, O Lord, according to your word in peace,* indicating the divine promise that was present and at hand: *Because my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the sight of all peoples;* that is to say, the salvation which has come to pass through Christ for the whole world, and not for Israel alone. How then is he testified to have been awaiting the consolation of Israel above, yet now is heard proclaiming the salvation of God before all peoples? Because he knew by the Spirit that the consolation of Israel was to come, precisely when the salvation had been prepared for all peoples. ^C Observe also the precision of the divine inspiration. For he says, *a light to the revelation of the nations, and the glory of your people Israel,* speaking in harmony with the great Paul in his enumeration concerning Israel. For when, he says, the fullness of the nations has entered in, then also all Israel shall be saved (Rom. XI, 25, 26). Therefore, having also placed the calling of the nations first, he reserved the conversion of all Israel for the last part of the prophecy; even though the remnant is already saved through those who have already come to grace from the Jews. Observe also for me the propriety and clarity of the sublime thoughts. For having said *a light to the revelation of the nations,* he gives us to understand the revelation of the divine Savior, inasmuch as the foreign nations, in the density of their darkness and final gloom, possessed no splendor of the knowledge of God. For before the coming of Christ, the nations were living in darkness, just as the blessed Isaiah, too, bringing the good news to the people who sat in darkness, declared that they would see a great light (Isa. IX, 2). ^D Since, however, Israel—although only modestly—was nevertheless illuminated by the typical law, he did not speak of "light" regarding him; but he prophesied that he would obtain "glory," reminding us of the old historical event: that just as the wonderful Moses of old, having become a companion of God, had a glorified face, so too they, having held communion through faith with the divine light of the incarnation, and having been illuminated by the power of the Spirit, shall appear in glory, having put off the old veil, and being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, as the Apostle says, just as from the Lord the Spirit

^A Furthermore, what the divine Simeon said—that the Lord is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel—shows by the agreement of these thoughts with the prophetic announcements that one and the same God and Lawgiver has spoken both in the prophets and in the New Testament. For the prophetic word declared the stone of stumbling and the rock of offense to be the cause that those who believe in Him shall not be put to shame. Therefore, the "fall" is for those who, on account of unbelief, stumble at the humility of His flesh; but the "rising" is for those who have recognized the firmness of the divine dispensation. Moreover, in saying that a sword would pierce the soul of the Theotokos herself, he clearly predicts the passion upon the cross. For since, because of all that had been said and done by God regarding Him from that miraculous conception ^B up to the time of the passion, the Theotokos held an opinion of Him that was—as it were—one continuous and indivisible body, and one that was more sublime and worthy of the divine majesty, we may deem that she suffered a kind of "severing" at the dishonor of the crucifixion, even if the miracle of the resurrection provided a complete healing of the wound. But he indicates that not only would she herself be bound to such a passion and experience, but he also foretells that thoughts from many hearts would be revealed—ambiguous, discordant, and doubtful thoughts—so that, in the diversity of opinions concerning Him, the Virgin Mother of God might not be troubled by any agitation. ^C But since the prophetess Anna, because of her old age, speaks something faint and not very distinctly audible, and since the sublime Gospel itself did not record word-for-word the things she said, let us first inquire from the Evangelist who she was, whence she came, for what reason and when she stood in the temple, and then let us search out the meaning of what she said.

The blessed Luke says, "And there was Anna the prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher; she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity: and she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And she coming in ^D that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem." What is the meaning of the Evangelist instituting and setting forth such an accurate and full account of this prophetess, so as to make mention even of her father and tribe, and of such things as are found recorded of almost no one else? Truly, the God of the saints Himself would know the reason for this, and those who, by His inspiration,

^A and at the instruction of the Spirit, have been taught to speak of mysteries, as the divine Apostle says. So far as we have been able to attain by conjecture, we say that there were others at that time who bore the same name as this blessed woman, and who were engaged in the same holy devotions as she, being dedicated and addicted to constant perseverance in fastings and prayers. In order, therefore, that this person might be certain and easily distinguishable from others, he inscribed her father's name and her own tribe; and he crowned her with great praises, which would certainly carry weight with her hearers, lending credibility to what she was also saying about the Lord. But since, as has been said, old age had taken away the clarity and resonance of her voice in speaking, by moving the ear of the mind closer, as it were, to her mouth, and through the examination of the subject before us, let us see what she, too, was saying to those who were ^B awaiting redemption in Jerusalem. For according to the consequence of the thought, she was discoursing about the Lord from the prophetic words; since they, too, to whom the Gospel said she was speaking these things, had surely learned from the divine oracles that exist in the prophets to await redemption. The words of the great Isaiah were certainly ready at hand for her to describe the mystery: "A child is born to us, a son is also given to us, whose government was upon his shoulder, and his name is called the Messenger of the great counsel." And again: "Shine, shine, O Jerusalem, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you." And the great David was brought forward: "Mercy and truth have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other"; and, "All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God." And, speaking indicatively of Him: "Before the sun," he says, "His name abides, and all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed in Him. All nations shall call Him blessed, and shall serve Him, and shall worship Him"; and, "The Lord has made known His salvation to the sons of Israel." Again, the precious and angelic voice of the wise Malachi was uttered: "Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before thy face; and suddenly the Lord shall come into His temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire." ^C And with other flowers of mystical prophetic oracles taken from here and there, the inspired and blessed crown, by which she explained the divine nature, was woven and fashioned with a hand still weak and trembling, as she was advanced in many days. For the narration of those sublime thoughts concerning the Lord could not, perhaps, be grasped then by the hearers, when even after such a demonstration of signs and the preaching of divine mysteries, Christ, the dispenser of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, was saying to His own disciples: "I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now." However, even if the aged prophetess discoursed obscurely concerning ^D the Lord, as one of the law...

which had grown old and withered with age, and had been reduced nearly to the point of extinction—it gave way to the New Testament; yet, for all that, her discourse was not useless to those who hear with understanding, just as the preannouncement of the great mystery made by the Law through shadows, enigmas, and the covering of words, was not useless either. Come, therefore, you too, spiritual fathers and brothers, you who have learned to celebrate the feast days in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter, you who ought to celebrate the precious and life-giving Pascha of the sacrifice of Christ in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth; you who, through the divine regeneration of holy baptism, have put off the old man, who was corrupted according to the deceitful lusts, and have put on the new man, who is being renewed unto knowledge according to the image of Him who created him. Come, let us exult in the Lord, let us shout with joy to God our Savior. Let us say that, "How terrible are your works, O Lord!" even if, in the multitude of your power, your enemies have been frustrated, having voluntarily closed their eyes to your divine light which has appeared to the world. Let us anticipate his face with confession, and in psalms let us shout with joy to him. Let us offer always a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips confessing his name, and let us not forget his benefit and communication; for with such sacrifices God is well-pleased and appeased, so that we may wash away the filth of sin, and our spiritual youth will be renewed like the eagle's—even as was that of the blessed elder Simeon—so that we, too, ^B may run toward the end of life peacefully and full of joy, in good confidence and hope of salvation, and not rush toward the end of our lives with shame and fear, and in a way as if against our will and reluctant, like those who are conscious of evil in themselves and bear the arrival of the King with resentment and duress. Let us imitate the blessed Anna’s continuous study and perpetual diligence in fastings and prayers, lest we appear worse than a woman, and that too, one living under the shadow of the Law, where such virtues and examples of illustrious people were rare. But we, who are illumined by the light of grace, and are sustained by true and manifest hope, and are strengthened by the power of the Spirit, let us not depart from the holy doctrines from which a saving disposition is wont to be born in souls—just as it is recorded of that woman that she did not depart from the temple—lest we let our thoughts wander and stray from the fear of God; but let us, according to the prayer of the Prophet, fasten our flesh and our senses to him and through him. Let us listen to the great Paul teaching: "I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ"; and let us not neglect or rescind the covenants and pacts made with him by association and communion with the corrupter of our life, by doing those things that he wills; ^C in this, too, imitating the prophetess's temperance and singular life. But do not be found wanting in this imitation, you who have been freed from a first marriage, and if it is possible

you must not enter into a second marriage. For thus does Paul assure you that it will be more blessed regarding this. Let us also offer ^A unto the altar above, as a pair of turtledoves, the purity of soul and body; or as two young pigeons, the foresight of good things, not only before the Lord, but also before men, so that we too, having fulfilled all things spiritually according to the divine law, and progressing in wisdom ^B and grace, and reaching unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, and being perfected as to the inner man, and becoming a dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit, may return to our true fatherland, the heavenly Jerusalem, in which we may be accounted worthy to enjoy blessed and everlasting gladness and the kingdom in Christ Jesus, to whom be glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

NOTES OF VARIOUS AUTHORS

IN THE BOOK ON THE PERFECT FORM OF A CHRISTIAN

This book was brought to light, rendered into Latin by Pietro Francesco Zino, canon of Verona, at Venice in the year of Christ 1570. A decade later, it was again brought to light in the same place by Maximus Margunius, bishop of Cythera, together with another treatise, *To Harmonius, On the Christian Name*, and an *Epistle to Letoius*, as though it were being reedited for the first time, having been translated from Greek into Latin by Lorium de Loriis in the year 1585. Finally, the Greek edition of Raphelengius followed at Leiden in the year 1593, in page 179 of which one reads [Greek phrasing omitted], in place of which we have written [at] column D of this edition, and "of that majesty which cannot be explained," not as Zino had edited it, and "of that blessedness" which Margunius perhaps also might have read; [our reading] only points out to us "of that ineffable blessedness." But the truer reading seems to be of the printed Greek codex, and a little before it uses the word "greatness." But after a few words have been inserted, the same Margunius translates with us, as we have been taught by the histories, and not as Zino did; as is implied by the monuments of literature, for it was said by Samuel to Saul in 1 Kings 15:1: "The Lord has anointed you over his inheritance to be prince." Lastly, we have added [testimony] from the Greek, but from the life story [of the saint], which is found in neither Zino’s nor Margunius’s edition.

Col. 255 A. *Material*. We add "inanimate," as does the Greek book, [Greek omitted], and Margunius, "lacking soul," and a little later, "which nature herself does not grasp," for Zino had not translated that [Greek omitted], that is, "to the imitation of which our nature is in no way able to attain."

Col. 258 A. *In the calf*. Zino, "in the head of the beast," as if it were [Greek omitted], but Margunius [translates as] "in the head of the calf," and such as they fashion the Minotaur; but that [Greek omitted] you might perhaps more fittingly render in both cases as "they fashion." Thus the Israelites in Exodus 32:8 became idolaters, having cast a calf. Of the Minotaur, Virgil, *Aeneid* VI: ... *And a mixed kind and bi-form offspring, / The Minotaur, is within.*

Ibid. B. *As if an enemy*. We have changed the words of the interpreter, "as if one had to fight against a hostile battle line, you yourself cut yourself to pieces." Afterwards we discovered that Margunius had written "it is nothing else than that one is cut asunder into the order of the enemy themselves." He also restored the following period to the same sense as we have.

Col. 259 A. *Whose series*. It was previously, "which memory itself suggests," as if it had been written [Greek omitted] or [Greek omitted]; Margunius also translates it thus: "the beginning of those things which we hold by memory," [or] order. He quoted earlier from the Apostle that Christ is the power of God and the wisdom [of God], 1 Cor. 1:24; now he examines the particulars.

Col. 262 A. *If through that peace*. This clause was added from the Leiden Greek, which, since it was absent from the text of both interpreters, rendered the sense utterly truncated and obscure. The passage is Ephesians 2:16.

Ibid. *In one man*. The interpreter had added, "for the reconciliation of the good," [meaning] not them, that is, only, etc., as if he had read [Greek omitted], omitting the intervening words. Margunius also...