coming out from before the city, they meet them; but the condemned llbracketA and those who are sentenced are kept within, awaiting the sentence from the king. So also when the Lord shall arrive, some indeed who have confidence will meet Him in the air, but the condemned and those who are conscious of many sins will wait for the Judge here. Then we too shall be snatched up. I do not mean that I rank myself in the number and calculation of those being snatched up—I am not yet so bereft of sense and reason as to be ignorant of my own sins. And if I were not already afraid of disturbing the joy of the present festival, I would weep most bitterly, mindful of this word, and calling my own sins to memory. But since I do not wish to confuse the joy of the present feast, I will end the discourse here, leaving with you the vivid and fresh memory of that day, so that the rich man may not boast in his riches, nor the poor man consider himself wretched in his poverty, but let each one, according to what he is conscious of in himself, do either this or that. For neither is the rich man happy, nor is the poor man llbracketB wretched; but he is blessed, nay most blessed, who is found worthy of that rapture in the clouds, even if he were the poorest of all; just as, conversely, he who misses it is miserable, nay most miserable, even though he be the richest of all. Therefore I say, that we who are subject to sins should lament ourselves; but they who are resplendent in good works should be confident; nay, not only be confident but also be confirmed. And let not the latter lament only, but let them be transformed and converted. For it is permitted even to him who leads a wicked life, having put aside the evil life, to cross over to virtue, and to become like those who from the beginning have lived well; which we should also strive for. And let those who are conscious of a good life persevere in piety, always increasing this good possession, and adding something continuously to their former confidence; but let us who are diffident and timid, and conscious of many sins, be changed for the better; so that, reaching the confidence of those others, we may all together and with one mind receive the King of the angels with appropriate glory, and enjoy that blessed joy in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and for the ages of ages. Amen.
ON THE TWO FOLLOWING HOMILIES ON PENTECOST
September, which occurred prior to the greatest festivals, was the day of the Nativity of the Lord. Some respond that perhaps both festivals, namely the Nativity and the Epiphany, were included under the one name of Epiphany; or that the name Epiphany was common to both. But this solution does not please: since Chrysostom distinguishes these two festivals so openly by name above, in his homilies on the Nativity and on the Epiphany, it is not plausible that he wished to include them here under one name. May it not perhaps be said with more plausibility, that because the festival of the Nativity of Christ was celebrated at Antioch only a few years before on the 25th of December, whereas before that the one solemnity of the Epiphany, on the sixth of January, was appointed for the Nativity of Christ, the adoration of the Magi, and the baptism of Christ—that here, according to the old custom of counting solemnities, Chrysostom commemorates the Epiphany and is silent about the Nativity? For it seems the practice had been received from of old among the people of Antioch to speak of the three most illustrious solemnities: the Epiphany, Pascha, and Pentecost; but the day of the Nativity of the Lord, because it had been introduced recently, they did not yet place in this number, but passed over it in silence, just as they were silent about the Ascension of the Lord, which Chrysostom likewise passes over.
The second homily on Pentecost bears no mark of time at all. Furthermore, in this homily he calls the Pentecost the mother of festivals, because, as he adds there,1 it brings the fruit of the Lord's promise. He discourses not a little against the Pneumatomachi, who were attacking the majesty and divinity of the Holy Spirit: and after he has brought forth many fruits of the Holy Spirit, he thus ends the sermon.
The Latin interpretation of both is by Fronton du Duc.