enemies their fellow servants? Be therefore like yourselves toward your enemies, as you saw the Lord toward His enemies. For you too are to be invited to a spiritual banquet; you are to recline with the Master; let no Judas be found in your midst in his way of life; all of you, with serenity and peace, approach; all of you, with a pure conscience, let us run to the Savior. For He Himself is the fasting and the feast of the faithful; He is the nourisher and the nourishment; He is the shepherd and the lamb. To Him be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.
OPERADUBIA
AD HOMILY IN SANCTUM BASSUM
Having read the genuine works of Chrysostom, I refer this homily to be read, though I suspect it belongs to another region. Perhaps another may judge otherwise: wherefore I have been content to publish it among those that are doubted and dubious, rather than reject it as spurious. This Bassus, bishop and martyr, seems to be that Nicene bishop who is said to have suffered under Decius and Valerian.
The Latin translation is by Fronton du Duc.
IN COMMEMORATION OF ST. BASSUS. A SERMON DELIVERED ON FEAR, AND ON THOSE WORDS, LEARN FROM ME FOR I AM MEEK AND HUMBLE OF HEART.
A 1. Even if, when such a fountain of words has been customarily poured out to you by our preceding priests and teachers, I ought to repress the meager drops of our own words, especially since we are hindered by the long-standing infirmity of the body, the weakness of the voice, and the succession of duties, O Christ-loving listeners; yet since you, gripped by an insatiable love for holy discourses, invite us to speak, come, by the grace of the Savior aiding us well, let us present to your virtue a few things that fit and are suitable for the time. For this, I think, is more appropriate both for us who speak and for you who listen, who by reason and mind provide for yourselves those things that are better and more profitable. And the holy and famous martyr and bishop Bassus, who has gathered this sacred assembly for us today, already possesses the rewards which he earned by his own contests, and he has no need of any contribution or weighing of our praises, but he makes prayers to the Lord for us, as is his custom, as one who, on account of the struggle of martyrdom, excels greatly in boldness of speech B and grace, and has been gifted with the crown of immortality, which Christ has also prepared for the faithful. For the gifts of God are abundant, as the Apostle testifies, who both in the past distributed the rewards of the martyrs to those who sincerely call upon Him, and now especially, when the annual memory of that fear is soon to be celebrated, and the kindly and merciful wrath of God provokes us to the glorification of God on account of those terrible threats. For we truly saw the wrath from which kindness flashed, when fear of the earthquake besieged us on all sides, when we saw all created things being shaken, and the floor being quaked with great force; and the Savior did not at all deviate from His own mercies, when we expected a bitter end, when we thought our houses would immediately become our tombs, when, held by the shaking, we found no place or way of refuge, when, arriving at mid-day, we did not hope to see the evening, when the sword suspended from above hung over us, and below, benevolence fought strenuously with prayers, when the people cried out with one voice, "Lord, have mercy," and the Lord was moved by mercies; for He who with only a glance moves all things, stilled the trembling creation with His hand. Why do I not sum these things up in a few words? At that time, had not the Lord of Hosts helped us, our soul would have almost dwelt in hell (Ps. XCIII, 17). For whom does the magnitude of the Savior’s benevolence not strike with astonishment?
who is not moved to thanksgiving by the things that then occurred, and not only by those things, but also by what happened thereafter, and just a short while ago came upon us? A He shook the supports of the earth, He unsettled the foundations of the houses, the roofs were tossed about like ships in the waves of the sea; He merely showed a judicial eye, and we all trembled as if we were standing in the waters. Great was the fear, and the tokens of his loving-kindness were many times greater than the fear. For while shaking the creation, He did not destroy it; while bringing the whole into motion, He did not level it; He did not strip the earth of the beauty of the creatures; He shook the roofs only for our reminder, and brought us not even a taste of ruin. Such is the ocean of his loving-kindness toward us. And even that shaking of the foundations of the earth was as by a guardian, as by one full of compassion. For He saw those who were setting aside and provoking Him, He saw those who loved plunder, He saw those who were joining house to house, and bringing field to field, so that they might take something away from their neighbor; He saw those having no mercy on orphans, and not heeding the judgment of widows; He saw teachers doing the opposite of what they were saying; He saw disciples insulting the ecclesiastical order with the disorderly behavior of the theaters; He saw them living in wickedness and envy, He saw them coupling deceit with envy, He saw the storms of hypocrisy sinking the simpler ones like boats, He saw them murdering by design, He saw them acting as unjustly as we are able, He saw love making shipwreck, while deceit sailed smoothly in the ocean of life, He saw them leaping away from the truth and running to falsehood; and to speak comprehensively, He saw them serving Mammon rather than the Lord; and He shook the earth for us as a pedagogue for his children, and showed the bowels of a fond mother, who often, when she wishes to draw her suckling child away from a habit—that little bed—shakes it vigorously, not that she may strike the infant, but that she may frighten him. B Thus indeed does the Master of all—whom He holds in his hand—shake the habitable world, not that He may destroy it, but that He may turn back to salvation those acting disorderly.
2. And let no one complain, since we have compared the Lord to a fond mother, seeing as the Lord himself compared himself to a bird in the Gospels, saying: *Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children, as a bird doth gather her brood, and thou wouldest not?* (Matt. 23. 37.) The Lover of mankind, therefore, moved the inanimate earth, that He might establish the animate from disorderly motion; He threatened death to the flesh, that we might guard against the destruction of the soul. Do you see, lover of Christ, how great is the Creator’s compassion for us? Do you see loving-kindness flashing from the threat? Do you see mercies anticipating indignation? Do you see a sentence being overcome by goodness? And it is nothing strange: He is still now our meek and loving Master, who is customarily concerned for our salvation, He who in the Gospels explicitly cries out, as was just now read to us: *Come, learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart.* O what condescension of the Creator, and yet the creature who has been fashioned is not ashamed! Come, learn of me, when did a Master arrive for the consolation of servants who have sinned? Such is Christ toward us; He displays mercies when He ought to punish the one who sins, when He ought to wipe out the race of those who provoked Him; He relaxes the steps for the responsible: *Come, learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart.* God is humble, and man is puffed up; the judge is gentle, and the condemned is arrogant; the Artisan makes a poor sound, and the clay speaks like a king. *Come, learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart.* The things that happened before did not persuade, the things that followed and those from a short while ago did not put to shame, how that even then and now, having shaken the creation, He again established it, having shown mercy. Come therefore, *learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart.* He does not have a lash that strikes, but a nature that heals. Come, see the unspeakable loving-kindness. Who would not love a Master who does not strike? Who would not marvel at a judge who asks for a condemned one? The lowliness of the words truly astounds you: I am the Creator, and I love my work; I am the fashioner, and I spare Him whom I fashioned. If I should use my own rights, I do not save the fallen humanity, and if I do not treat it, since it is suffering from an incurable disease, with gentle remedies, it does not regain its strength. If I do not coax, it dies; if I should only threaten, it perishes. For the sake of this goodness I apply plasters, I go about it as it lies; I stoop down greatly, suffering with it, that I may raise up the fallen one. C The one who is standing, if he does not reach down his hand, does not lift the one who has been cast down from his fall. *Come, learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart.* I am not making a show of words; I have delivered to you proof of deeds. That *I am meek and humble of heart*, consider from those things which I have become. Look at my form, and ponder my worth, and worship my condescension for your sake; calculate from whence I came, where I am conversing with you; having heaven as a throne, I stand speaking to you on earth; I am glorified above, and as one long-suffering I am not angry, *for I am meek and humble of heart.* If I were not meek, being the Son of the King, I would not have chosen a servant as my mother; if I, the Creator of the invisible and visible essence, were not meek, I would not have dwelt among you; if I were not meek, I, the Father of the ages, would not have been endured in swaddling clothes; if I were not humble, I, who possess the wealth of the whole creation, would not have received the poverty of a manger; if I were not meek, I, who am not even gazed upon by the Cherubim, would not have lived with irrational beasts; if I were not meek, I, who pour out light to the blind, would not have been spat upon by lawless lips; if I were not meek, I, who free servants, would not have endured the servile blow; if I were not meek, I would not have offered my back...
I offered for the captives to be struck? But why do I not say what is greater than this? If I were not meek, since others ought to have suffered, I certainly, who owed nothing, would not have paid the debt of death for them. But I did pay it, so that I might settle the fine of punishment for those who were being held down in the underworld. For I am not only the King of the living, but also the Lord of the dead. A For this reason, I came by both ways of dispensation. I appeared as a man, I even became dead for a short time, that I might bestow the gift of my incorruption upon all those who were under the earth. Come, learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart. My lowliness is of an intentional focus, not of nature: I am possessed of an inaccessible substance, but a mind that reaches out to all. Come, learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, not by dignity. I am small, if you look at the focus of the mind, not if [you look at] the power: to the angels I am terrible because of my power, to men I am humble because of the focus of the mind. Come, learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart. B I do not speak because of the state of my nature, but I use words as befits my mercy. Meekness is much dearer to me than power. I am the King, who speaks to you: I possess great virtue, but I do not want the power I possess to terrify your weakness. I do not say: Come, learn from me, for I am Lord, I who rule over creatures, who look upon the earth and cause it to tremble, who measure the heaven with a span, and hold the earth in my fist (Isai. XL, 12). C Thus I am meek: you have sinned, and I was beaten with stripes; thus I am humble by choice: I came, so that I might lead those who were oppressed by slavery into freedom, and they themselves, who were oppressed by slavery, struck me, the Liberator, with blows, and crucified me, and after that, I prayed to my Father for them, saying: Father, forgive them: for they know not what they do (Luc. XXIII, 34). Come therefore, learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart. Come, I entreat and implore, it does not shame me to supplicate, I am content to pray to my servants, that I may not be forced to punish: come, learn from me meekness before you look upon my terrible power: come, now I heal, a little later I will settle accounts; now I spare, a little later I will pass judgment; now I am merciful, a little later I will appear as a just judge. Come, learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart. Either honor my meekness or fear my power. Come, anticipate my face in confession: for this meekness of mine is limited to the present time. D The present life alone is the time of [my] long-suffering, that I may show a specimen of my kindness: the time will come when the door of this meekness of mine will be closed: the time will come when the tears of sinners dropping down will be of no use: the time will come when trumpets sounding from every side will announce my second coming: when angels running through the whole earth will bring many thousands of people into judgment: when my tribunal will be set up, and I shall proceed, carried above the heavenly powers: when principalities and powers will stand attending the One who comes: when the lamps of my kingdom will illuminate the whole world: when the books of those things which each one did in life will be opened: when the observance of the law will be exacted, and the precise account of the demons will be brought forward: when the defendant will be stood, to whom his deeds alone will be able to witness: when thoughts will accuse, and conscience will convict: when wicked spirits will attend to the words of the Judge: when the furnace will await the judgment of the Judge: when that word, "Have mercy," will no longer avail the one crying out. Come therefore before I close the doors of my mercies, before the market of life happens to end, before the spectacle of life passes away: for the set time of the end of the age is at the doors. Come, before I begin to judge: for if I sit and begin to exercise judgment, I will no longer pardon. Therefore I have set forth the example of the foolish virgins, whose lamps of life, because they had no oil of justice, were extinguished, and in what manner the doors of the bridegroom's chamber were closed to them, and how I answered from inside [the house]: I know you not (Matth. XXV, 12). By which words I expressed the voice of the Judge with which he will address sinners. If therefore, brothers, we have learned the Lord’s kindness from the Savior’s words, let us not despise the Judge who, with meek words, addresses us before the time of judgment, let us not miss the opportunity for repentance: let us clothe our souls with good works and alms: let each of us prepare the provision necessary to obtain eternal life, let us abstain from iniquitous actions. For if we conserve our faith unshaken in [the midst of] good works, the creatures will remain unshaken with us. Let us adorn our souls with chastity, and let us safely acquire for ourselves the priceless pearl of pure faith, before the time of our life is spent, before the figure of the world, and the flower of glory, and all earthly delights are taken away and perish, let us reconcile the incorrupt Judge to ourselves. For it is He who says: I live, says the Lord: I do not desire the death of the sinner, but that he be converted and live (Ezech. XXXIII, 11). If He desired to punish the sinner, He would keep silent: He wants to show mercy, therefore He warns: He spares, therefore He exhorts: by predicting it, He terrifies you, so that you do not fall into danger in reality. For when God threatens, He wants to save: but when He is silent, He has decided to punish. We can learn this from the experiments of others. He threatened the Ninevites, and spared them: He was silent among the Sodomites, and punished them: He prepared crowns, unless we bring torments upon ourselves. He desires to idle away hell, He desires to close the prison of darkness, He desires to reserve all wrath for the devil, He desires to sit as a Judge, not that He may punish any, but that He may crown all. Since therefore we have such a Lord, let us seize that kind voice, let us obey Him who says: Come, learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart (Matth. XI, 29), so that we may also be worthy to hear that desirable and happy voice saying: Come, you blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you.
Chapter III. The Second Terrible Coming of Christ
that we may attain the kingdom, by the grace and kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father be glory together with the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.
A MONITION ON THE HOMILY ON THE HOLY APOSTLE PETER AND THE PROPHET ELIAS
A Regarding this homily, Henry Savile speaks thus: "Transcribed from a manuscript in the Royal Library at Paris, corrected from another manuscript in the Palatine Library—though, as I think, not of better quality—and delivered, as it seems, at Constantinople." But, as Tillemont rightly notes, the things said at the beginning suggest it was delivered at Antioch, namely that the feast of the Martyrs was celebrated in the field at that time, which is common in the Antiochene customs, but is never found in the Constantinopolitan ones. We too say this, if indeed it is a genuine and authentic work of Chrysostom. Certainly, the style of the oration is altogether abhorrent to the style of Chrysostom; and although the holy doctor is not always like himself in his manner of praying and narrating, this sermon certainly differs by the whole breadth of the heavens from all other orations, whether of better or inferior quality. The diction is inelegant, the genre of the oration is uncultivated and altogether jejune. Manuscript codices prefer a version far more inept than the published ones. In addition, many things are held here which argue for a careless and inaccurate orator, as when it is said that the handmaiden at the door, B who questioned Peter, was a harlot; since also a large part of the sermon is taken up in proving this point—namely, that Elias sinned gravely since, when Jezebel sought to inflict death upon him, he fled for the space of forty days. For these reasons, I immediately thought of banishing this homily among the spurious ones; but since Savile and Tillemont think it to be authentic, although the latter does not do so without some scruple, I have decided to place it among the suspect ones.
I have issued a new Latin translation.
(The very learned Gaume have compared this entire homily, disfigured by many omissions, with Savile and have restored it to integrity: whose corrections, borrowed from Savile, we have, upon our own collation, again approved and accepted. Ed. Patr.)
ON THE APOSTLE PETER AND ON THE PROPHET ELIAS
C 1. The martyrs are with us today: what is the cause? We are celebrating the memory of the martyrs, and no one has met us; has the distance of the road plunged them into listlessness? Or rather, it is not the distance of the road, but listlessness that has hindered them. For just as nothing can hinder a man who is diligent and eager in his purpose, so indeed can everything hinder the listless man who has fallen away. The martyrs poured out their own blood for the sake of the truth, and you do not even disdain a short journey? They laid down their heads for Christ, and do you not even wish to go outside the city for the sake of the Master? The Master died for you, and do you hesitate for Him? It is the memory of the martyrs, and you are listless and fallen away? It is necessary for you to be present and to see the devil conquered, the martyr victorious, God glorified, and the Church crowned. D But their excuse is this: "I am a sinner," he says, "and I cannot attend." It is for this very reason, that you are a sinner, that you should attend, so that you may not fall away from righteousness. For tell me, who among men is without sin? But it is for this reason that there is the sacrifice and the Church, for this reason there are prayers and fasts, because the wounds of the soul are many; for this reason, medicines for them have been found, and for each of the wounds of the soul a suitable medicine has been prepared. You have the Church offering sacrifices, the prayers of the Fathers, the administration of the Holy Spirit, the memories of the martyrs, the assembly of the saints, and many such things able to recall you from sin to righteousness; if you have not attended the prayer of the martyrs, what excuse do you have? Is there nothing of the terrifying in our midst, and have you been hindered from communion with the martyrs? But a worldly care has seized you? That is an even greater crime. Have you not lent a short hour to God, so that you might receive an entire day? "I am a sinner," he says, "and I cannot." Because you are a sinner, for that reason enter; or do you not know that even those who serve at the altar are bound to sins? For they are clad in flesh, and joined with blood, and bound by bones; and we ourselves, who sit upon the throne and teach, are bound by sins. But we do not despair of the kindness of God, nor do we attribute inhumanity to Him; for we are all men joined together from the same things, and we do not refuse the teaching, looking towards the ocean of the kindness of God. And if you, having sinned, should enter, the crime is not so great; for you are under teaching; but we, the more we excel in our position, the more we are subject to the crime; for it is one thing for the one being taught to sin, and another for the one who teaches. But nonetheless, we do not refuse this, lest by a pretense of humility we fall into listlessness. And this has happened by divine providence, that the priests themselves should fall into sins. And hear how it is: Those teachers themselves and priests, if they did not sin, nor were subject to the passions of this life, would have been inhuman towards others and unforgiving; but for this reason, He prepared the priests themselves to be slaves to passions, and the rulers…
§ 1. Permission to sin is given to Peter, so that he might be more gentle toward others.
A...and to others they [not] might be given. And always thus God guided, and not only now, but also in the past, he permitted those whom he was about to entrust with the Church and the people, to fall into sin, so that having become human, they might be merciful toward others. For if they themselves had not sinned, they would have had no pardon to give to those who sin, but would have behaved altogether inhumanly toward the Church. That this is the case, I say, not by conjecture, but come, let us speak by considering these instances. Peter was about to be entrusted with the keys of the Church—or rather, the keys of heaven were being entrusted to him—and the multitude B of the people was to be entrusted to him. For what does the Master say to him? *Whatsoever thou shalt bind upon the earth, shall be bound in the heavens; and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon the earth, shall be loosed in the heavens* (Matt. xvi. 19). Now Peter was somewhat severe; and if he had been sinless, what pardon would those who were to be taught by him have had? Therefore, the divine grace arranged this, that he might fall into a certain sin, in order that, from the things he himself suffered, he might become more humane toward others. And consider whom he permits to fall into sin: Peter, that coryphaeus of the apostles, the immovable foundation, the rock that cannot be broken, the prince of the Church, the impregnable harbor, the unshaken tower. This is that Peter who said to Christ: *Even if it should be necessary to die with thee, I will not deny thee* (Matt. xxvi. 35); Peter, who from divine revelation confessed the truth: *Thou art Christ the Son of the living God* (Matt. xvi. 16);—he, on that night when Christ was betrayed, entered in, and while he was standing by the fire warming himself, a certain damsel came up and said to him: *And thou wast with this man yesterday;* but Peter said, *I do not know this man* (Matt. xxvi. 69-70). Just now you were saying, *Even if it should be necessary to die with thee;* but now you deny and say, *I do not know this man.* O Peter! is this what you promised? Not yet having experienced torments, not yet scourgings, at the voice of a damsel you hastened to deny. Do you deny, Peter? Not yet tortured, not yet scourged, not yet stripes, not furies, not princes, not drawn swords, not decrees laid down, not kings threatening, not deaths expected, not yet guard, not precipices, not the sea, not yet anything of the kind, and already you have denied: *I do not know the man.* Again the damsel to him: *And thou wast with this man yesterday.* But he to her: *I do not know the man whom you speak of.* Who is speaking with you, that you deny thus? Not one of your close friends, but a woman, and she a portress, abject, a captive, of no account; she speaks, and you deny? O strange events! A damsel, a harlot coming to Peter, troubled his faith. Peter, that pillar, that bastion, bore not the threats, but only she spoke, and the pillar was shaken, and the bastion itself wavered. Whom did you see, Peter, that you denied? A vile damsel, and a despicable portress; these you saw and denied? Again a third time: *And thou wast with this man yesterday;* and yet a third time he denied. And at last Jesus, looking upon him, brought to his memory what had been spoken; having understood which, he began to weep and to do penance for the sin. C Nevertheless, the most benevolent One permitted him to sin; for he knew him to be human, and that as a human he might suffer something, but as I have already said, this was by design and permitted to Peter to sin, because a great people was to be entrusted to him, so that being severe, if he had been free of sin, he might have been alienated from granting pardon to his brothers. He fell into sin, that by pondering both such sin and the pardon given to him by the Master, he might graciously grant pardon to others also, according to a dispensation befitting God. For he was permitted to fall into sin, to whom the Church was to be entrusted, the pillar of the Churches, the harbor of the faith, Peter the teacher of the world, was permitted to sin, so that this permission might be proposed to others as a proof of humanity. But why are these things said by me? Because we priests, sitting on our thrones and teaching, are bound by sins. For this reason, neither to an angel nor to an archangel was the priesthood entrusted (for they are sinless), lest, because of their severity, they should strike the sinning people in the assembly instantly with a thunderbolt; but to a man born of man this throne was entrusted, who is himself also bound by passions and sins, so that if he finds someone sinning, he might be more benevolent to him by reason of his own sins. For if an angel were a priest, and he discovered someone who had committed fornication, since he himself was not addicted to this disease, he would immediately slay him. For this reason, if an angel had received the priestly power, he would not have taught, but would have slain him, moved by anger, because he himself was not such as this man. Therefore, this was entrusted to man, who, being conscious of his own sins, and having experience in these matters, might pardon those who sin, and might not be moved by anger, so that the Church might not be emptied of the synagogue.
D But why do I dwell on Peter while treating this argument, and not ascend to another person? Come, let us bring another into the midst: Helias, surely, that prophet, that earthly angel, and heavenly man; walking on the earth and contemplating heavenly things, a man of three cubits walking on high, raised even to the very vaults [col. 728] of heaven, the steward of the rains, whose tongue was a treasure-house of waters and the key of the heavens; himself a pauper and a man of wealth, an unlettered man and a philosopher: a pauper indeed, because he possessed nothing; but a man of wealth, because he held the clouds of rain upon his tongue. He too was so severe toward those who sin, that at one time he prayed that rain might not fall. And what does he say? *As the Lord liveth, if there shall be rain, save by my mouth* (3 Reg. 17.1). Pray to the Lord, and thus fulfill the word: *As the Lord liveth, if there shall be rain, save by my mouth.* Where are the heretics who say that the Son of God prays? Unhappy man, miserable and impudent: Helias declares, and the Son prays? The servant commands, and the Master asks? Do you not grant even an equal honor to him and to Helias? or...
A Or do you not wish to grant to the Master the same equality as to the servant? He does not pray, nor does he entreat, but he put forth the word of truth, and he shut up heaven. Pray first, Helias. But what does Helias say? I know my Master, that he obeys me—for I do this from zeal. O, what new and paradoxical things! Have you seen a Master swayed by the goodwill of a servant? For indeed Helias did this out of great zeal. For he saw many absurd things happening; he saw fornication being practiced with much wickedness. For it was night, therefore it also held the entire inhabited world; a very dense cloud covered all things. For all were making progress toward evil; it was a universal B shipwreck, not of waters, but of licentiousness; temperance was trampled underfoot, and intemperance walked in procession; virtue was pursued, and vice gloated; the hills and mountains, and ravines, and roads, and storehouses, and the air were being defiled; the sun was being smoked out; the earth was being polluted; the heavens were being disregarded; the whole of creation was suffering a disease from idolatry. As if in the night, all were walking, heeding nothing of the creatures; they saw a stone, and they worshipped it as God; they saw wood, and likewise suspected it to be God. A very dense night held them; they saw the Creator, and they worshipped the creatures. Helias alone was there, having the lamp of virtue, sitting as if on the summit of the mountain of philosophy and practicing it; alone he had the lamp of piety, C but the illumination profited no one, because they were lying in stupor and were held by idolatry. Therefore, Helias was raging, gnashing his teeth, lamenting; he spoke words, no one listened; he entreated, no one paid heed; finally, out of zeal, he wishes to bring them forward and to instruct them, so that even thus, being melted by famine, they might reach the Creator through prayer, so that the famine might become a subject of piety for them. But the famine can instruct them in nothing, he says; for so, being pressed on all sides, they will go toward the Creator of all. What then, Helias? The Lord lives, he says, if there shall be rain, if not through my mouth. The word of the prophet went forth, and immediately the air was changed, the heaven became brass, D not changing its nature, but having its activity fettered; immediately the elements were transformed. The word of the prophet fell, like a fever, into the bowels of the earth, and all things were immediately dried up, all things were laid waste, all things were vanishing; they saw immediately herbs drying up, and plants, and trees fruitful and unfruitful, those in the plains, those by the sea—all things being suddenly dried up, every living age vanishing, the lamentation of children and the weeping of mothers, and much despair. One word of the prophet went out, and look how much it wrought. Therefore all were dying, the wild beasts, the cattle, the children, the men, the animals, the birds all; it was a universal shipwreck, and the calamity overtook the whole earth at once; no one was saved, but all were dying from the lack of rain; the plants were drying up, the springs, the rivers, the lakes, and all things simply perished. A universal shipwreck held the entire inhabited world, not through water, but through the lack of rain; the heaven was bound, and finally it was held back, and it changed the whole of nature. Therefore all things died by divine wrath and perished; and there was no concern for Helias about anything; for he was intoxicated with zeal. Therefore every untimely age was dying. What are you doing, Helias? Granted, the youths have sinned; why are the infants being punished? Granted, the people have sinned; why do the cattle die together with them? Have you been clothed with such lack of compassion? You have no concern for the people; you have no wife, no child; you despise those who are perishing. What then does God say to him? Go away, he says, to the river Chorra, and I will command the ravens to feed you there. Again, I would gladly ask the Jew, having brought him into the midst, that I might show him that the law overturned the things of the law, and it had in itself neither a standing point nor an upright one; for it was not truth, but shadow; those were shadow, these are truth; those were type, these are realities. He whom you worship, Helias, whom you expect to come, concerning whom you have much speech, and call him a prophet, how was this one fed by a raven? For the raven is according to the law unclean, and thus the law declared the raven to be unclean. And how then was the prophet fed by the unclean raven? For if the law said the raven was unclean, logically the one fed by the raven would be unclean. But this was not so—far be it, let it not be! But Helias was fed by a raven, regarding nothing of the things created by the Lord as unclean. Thence, since time had passed, and finally the river was dried up, He stirs up the prophet for food. Go away, he says, to Sareptha of Sidonia, and I will command a widowed woman to feed you there; and God was doing this according to a certain economy. For since Helias did not know the things that were happening (for he was sitting in one place, he did not see the universal catastrophe, how all things were dried up, how the lakes, how the rivers, how the plants, how the trees, how the untimely, how the ripe, how the fruit-bearing, how the barren, how those by the springs, those by the lakes of water, the destruction of the birds, of the cattle, of everything else, the death of the children, the lamentations of the mothers, that universal calamity), God stirs him up, and makes him travel through an infinite land from there as far as Sidon, so that even thus, having seen the things that were happening, Helias might deem the Master worthy to give rain. He sends him therefore for this reason on that long journey, not as though God were not able to feed him there, but as wishing to show Helias the catastrophe, so that he might deem Him worthy concerning rain. For He was able even Himself without this, but He did not wish to insult His own servant, having left that one to be the provider of the evils, and Himself of the good; but He was awaiting the intercession of the servant. Then not even thus was he bent, but having used a certain madness, he was walking along the road, clothed in lack of compassion, taking account of nothing—for, as I said, he was intoxicated with zeal. Why are you maddened, Helias? Why have you put on such inhumanity? Wait a little, and you too will be convicted as being under sin. For the sin of the inhabitants you invoked drought, and shut heaven, and shackled the earth, and detained the course of nature, and you do not even wish to deem [Him] worthy concerning the things that have happened? Not much later you too will be convicted as being under sin, and having met with philanthropy from your Master, so that you might become more philanthropic toward your fellow servants.
731 S. JOANNIS CHRYSOSTOMI ARCHIEP. CONSTANTINOP. A gelos. — Hitherto I have begun my discourse on these matters, to show that the priest is not an angel, but a man born of man, so that those who are sinful might not be destroyed by one who is free from sin. For if the priest were an angel exempt from sin, he would immediately punish sinners; but for this reason he is a man, that, being conscious of his own infirmities, he might be lenient to those who share his nature. I explained afterwards that God permitted even great men, to whom He was about to entrust many people, to fall into sin, and granted them forgiveness, so that afterward, being instructed by these things themselves, they might become more humane: and I brought Peter into the middle, such an apostle who was permitted to fall into sin; but by the kindness of God he blotted out his sin through repentance. Come, let us return to Elias, and show the ocean of his right actions: for God indeed wished to use kindness, but he did not wish to: God wished to give rain, but He required the prayers of his servant. What then? Elias finished the whole journey, and came to Sarephtha of Sidonia, and saw the widow woman gathering wood. B Here observe for me the philosophy and the faith of Elias. Again, another ocean of virtue caught him. He did not say to God: "To whom do you send me? You force me to undergo such dangers, and you send me to a widow, to extreme famine? Are there not other men who are more opulent, who are able to relieve my hunger? But I traverse such spaces of the earth, so that I may arrive at a widow, at the very calamity of evils; and not only a widow, but also a pauper?" Observe that the servant says nothing of these things; for he trusted in the Lord, who makes those things which seem impossible appear easy. "Go," He says, "into Sarephtha of Sidon, and behold one widow gathering wood." Why are you walking, Elias? Why are you running to a widow? You saw the vestibules of poverty, do not ask how great the tenuity is; you saw the entrance of poverty, do not ask what is inside. To where are you entering, Elias? You saw her gathering wood, and you demand to be nourished by her? Nevertheless, when he had the words of the Lord as a pledge, he went to address the widow. And what does he say? "Give me a little water, that I may drink" (3 Kings 17:10). Do you see the wisdom of Elias? How he did not immediately come to ask for that which was greater, but for that which was more common? He did not say, "Give me bread," but, "Give me water." First he asks for water, C conjecturing if she has water, she might be able to have bread. "Give me," he says, "a little water." The widow went, took water, and he drank; having thus received confidence, he says, "Bring me also a morsel of bread, that I may eat" (Ibid. v. 11). She answers: "The Lord liveth, if I have a subcineritious loaf" (Ibid. v. 12), except a handful of flour in the jar, and a little oil in the cruse, which we shall make and eat, I and my children, and we shall die. What then does Elias do? "Go," he says, "and make me a subcineritious loaf separately, and I shall eat; and afterward you will make for your children, and they shall eat." What are you doing, Elias? Granted, you ask for bread, why do you ask for it to be given separately and first to you? ought you not render thanks, if you were to eat together with her children? You wish to eat alone, and to starve her children. [But I do not wish to starve them, but I wish them to benefit.] I know the liberality and abundance of my Lord. Nevertheless the widow was not troubled, nor did she think anything absurd, nor did she say: "Are you he who brought this famine? And in the remnants of this famine do you ask to be nourished by me?" Nor did she say: "You ignored the world, which is so great, to come to me, and starve my children, you yourself the author of the famine?" D But that Abrahamic woman entered and did what the prophet had said; and it was possible to see the widow more hospitable than Abraham himself. For he, being opulent, received angels into hospitality; but she, expecting death from famine, received the prophet. And it was possible to see nature held in contempt, and hospitality honored: it was possible to see the bowels cast aside, and the prophet accepted; she made the whole crowd of her children a tomb: for as much as it was in the purpose of the widow, they were dead, but by the kindness of God it came about that they lived and were safe. I do not know with what praises I shall celebrate the widow: how she despised her children, and embraced hospitality: how her nature did not pine away, nor was her womb changed, how her bowels were not dissolved, when she saw the whole crowd of her children about to be consumed by famine; but superior to all, she received the prophet into hospitality. When the prophet had received and eaten, finally he paid back the reward: the widow sowed hospitality, and immediately she gathered the blooming ear of hospitality. For what does Elias say to her? "The Lord liveth, the jar of flour shall not fail, and the cruse of oil shall not be diminished" (16 [17]. v. 14). The right hand of the widow became a winepress, and the left hand a threshing floor and sheaves returning fruit in necessity, and nourishing the widow through the words of the prophet. The house of the widow became a winepress and a threshing floor; no rain, no shower, no spring, no autumn, no summer, no heat, no force of winds, no changes of the seasons; but one single word uttered from the sentence of the prophet provided the widow with an abundance of things. From there, however, afterward, to finish in a few words, he went to King Achab. I shall now tell his famous works, so that when you see him sinning, you might learn the grace of God which is kind toward men. But what to that Achab? "Are you he who perverts Israel?" He replied, "No, but you, and the house of your father" (3 Kings 18:17-18). Have you seen the freedom of speech of the prophet, how he reproved the king? Afterward when he was sitting in the mountain, a centurion approached him saying, "Man of God, come down, the king calls you" (4 Kings 1:9-10). He, however: "If I am a man of God, let fire descend from heaven, and devour you, and your fifty." Then a second time another captain of fifty says: "Man of God, come down, the king has need of you" (Ibid. v. 11). And what does Elias answer to him? "If I am a man of God, let fire descend from heaven, and devour you and your fifty" (Ibid. v. 12). From there he came again to the meeting, [and] provoked the priests to a contest of prayer.
those infamous ones of Baal, saying, "Let us pray," and he added, "Make for yourselves an altar apart, and choose two oxen, and put wood upon one ox, and put no fire [to it]; and I will do the same: and invoke [the name] of your gods, and I [will invoke] the name of my God; and it shall be that the God who shall answer with fire, He is the true God (3 Reg. 18.23, 24)." Then the priests of the infamous [ones] made the altar, and began to invoke Baal, saying, "Hear us, O Baal, hear us (Ibid. v. 26)." But when, after many prayers, there was no one to answer (For there was no voice, and no hearing), Elias was waiting with patience while they prayed: but when he saw that, though their disturbance was great, there was no one to answer, he mocks them with the words: "Cry aloud, lest perhaps your god sleeps (Ibid. v. 27)." Afterward, when it was midday, and the time had progressed, he says to them, "Depart now, so that I also may perform my holocaust (Ibid. v. 30)." And he made an altar, and placed the wood, and said, "Bring water around the altar," and they brought it: "Double it," and they doubled it; "Triple it," and they tripled it (Ibid. v. 34). Observe why Elias does this. Because error is accustomed to attribute the characteristics of truth to itself—just as harlot women do, who anticipate [the situation] and call themselves the free harlots, so that the others may have nothing with which they can retaliate. But yet Elias is wise even in this: why? But that which I am about to say, I have myself been a spectator of: In the altars of the idols there are openings beneath the altar, and there is a certain hidden pit beneath, and the workers of error descend into the pit, and thus through those openings beneath, they exhale the fire upward into the sacrifice, so that many are deceived, and think the fire to be heavenly. In order, therefore, that Elias might not be suspected of doing any such thing, he applies the water, so that the water might expose the opening; for it is necessary that where the opening is, the water does not stand, but descends. He filled, therefore, the altar, and prays, saying, "Hear me, O Lord, with fire this day; as Thou hast heard me in water, so hear me also in fire (3 Reg. 18.37)." And behold, at his calling, in haste fire descended from heaven and consumed the sacrifice, and the stones, and the fire licked up the water. And what does he say to the people? "Seize the priests of the infamous [ones]; let no one of them be saved." And they took them, and slew them: four hundred A and fifty priests of Baal, and four hundred of the high places. Jezabel, the wife of Achab, heard these things that had happened, and sends to Elias, saying: "The gods do so to me, and more also, if I do not make thy soul tomorrow as the soul of one of them (3 Reg. 19.2)." And Elias heard, and fled. Where is Elias, who was so great and such a one as this? For my purpose is to show that he fell into sin: I speak of the sin, not accusing the just one, but handling the argument of salvation, so that when you see those who have sinned, and yet not despairing of themselves, but having attained to the philanthropy of God, you, if you sin, may hope for greater salvation. Since Jezabel said, "The gods do so to me and more also, if I do not make thy soul tomorrow as the soul of one of them," Elias heard, and fled for forty days' journey. O excess of cowardice! He heard a woman’s word, and fled, walking for forty days’ journey; not one day, not a second, not a third, but as soon as the word of the woman entered into the prophet, and he knew not what he was doing out of cowardice, making so great a flight. What is the matter with you, Elias? You are the one who shut up the heaven, and bridled the rain, the one who commanded the air, and called down the fire from above, the one who slaughtered the priests, the one who said to King Achab, "You are he who troubles Israel, and the house of thy father"; the one who said, "The Lord liveth, if there shall be rain, except through my mouth"; the one who made the house of the widow [a barn and sheaves], B [who commanded the elements, you heard the word of a harlot, and fled? And one woman leads him away captive? The two acropolises were put to the test by a woman; Peter feared a maiden, and this one, Jezabel; they fell into the same sins. And Elias fled for a forty days’ journey.] Where is your zeal, Elias, when you were saying, "The Lord liveth, if there shall be rain, except through my mouth"? When you were rebuking the King, when you called down the fire? You did such things, and could not endure the word of one woman? Where is your tension, that you did not want to deem your Master worthy to give rain upon the earth? For He was saying to you by clear proofs: "Deem me worthy, being able to give even without you, but I did not wish it, so that just as you became the dispenser of the evils, so you might also become the ruler of the blessings." For you worked, Elias, a work full of heartlessness; but God was pitying the calamity, because He is the Creator and Craftsman of all; and likewise the guardian of all, and He wanted to soften your inhumanity, and you remained in it. He said to you: "I know the calamity occurring, I know the wailing of the mothers, I know the cries of the little children; I see the earth, which I made, perishing, and I want to be philanthropic, but I do not want to insult you, and send rain without your consent, so that you might not be the cause of the evils, but a stranger to the good things, but I honor you." O philanthropy of the Master overcome by the goodwill of the servant! But yet he himself had much arrogance as an innocent man; but now he was shown to have fallen into sin, God permitting and devising [it], so that from those things of which he himself received philanthropy, he might also be not inhumane to others. And he fled, he says, Elias for a forty days’ journey. Where are those words C which, having spoken to the captains of fifty, he brought down fire, and burned them up? God wishing to show together that even when he was doing the miracles, he was not the one doing the work, but the power of God, and see what happens. When God was working, both kings fell, and rulers, and peoples; when God departed, a fearful woman stood by; God departed, and nature was exposed. But yet after Elias fled forty days, he came and was sleeping in a certain place, and God comes to him, the Master to the D
the curator and lover of men: and what does he say? Knowing indeed why he came there, yet he asks: "What do you here, Elijah?" (Cf. 1 Kings 19:9 sqq.). A Hinting at his flight, as if he said: "You have fled; where is that boldness of yours? That you may learn not to trust in your own strength." "What do you here, Elijah?" Yet Elijah answers, having one thing in his mind and saying another. What then does Elijah say to these things? "Lord, they have slain your prophets and digged down your altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life to take it away." What then does God say to him? Immediately he rebukes him: "You have not," he says, "fled for that reason, O Elijah; for you are not the only one who has not worshipped Baal." Then, rebuking him, he adds: "I have reserved for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee before Baal" (1 Kings 19:18). B He rebukes him, therefore, because he had not fled for that reason, but had been seized by the fear of a woman. Thus one woman made such a great man a fugitive; that you may learn, Elijah, that when you have done anything admirable, it is not to be ascribed to yourself, but to the power of God. Do you see how, when grace departs, nature is overcome? Elijah fled a forty days' journey. O the excess of fear! O the vehemence of dread! Not for one, or two, or three, but for forty days he fled, and betook himself to a completely deserted region, instructed by no food or sustenance; for, being intoxicated by fear, he did not care for these things, but sought desert places. C The woman's word entered into the prophet, and just as a zephyr blowing violently against a sail drives a vessel with impetuosity, so the woman's word, having entered into the prophet, cast him with impetuosity into the desert. Where, Elijah, is that boldness of speech of yours? Where is that terrible mouth? Where is that tongue, the provider of rains? Where is he who commanded both elements, and sometimes closed the heavens, and sometimes called down fire for sacrifice? Yet, as I said, he was doing these things by the working of grace; therefore he is rebuked by God. Do you see how he was permitted to fall into that small sin, that he might clothe himself with the entire garment of kindness? At length, Elijah, you are educated; be kind as your Lord is, as you are educated, as you have learned from your Lord. D Do you see how God permitted those pillars, those bulwarks, those towers, to fall into a small sin? So that if they were altogether free from faults, they might not cut off everyone from the Church; so that when they see someone sinning, and are inclined to receive him without mercy, they may remember their own sin, and exercise toward him the same kindness which they themselves have received from the Lord. We have said these things, not that we might accuse those righteous men, but that we might prepare for you the way of salvation; so that when you have sinned, you may not despair of your salvation, mindful of those righteous men who fell, and through repentance remained in the same undiminished degree of honor. We spoke first of their virtues; and then we brought forward their sins. So you, therefore, if you are a sinner, do not stay away from the Church; if a righteous man, do not stay away either, that by having present the knowledge of the Scriptures you may remain righteous, mindful of the kingdom of heaven, and the good things which God has prepared for those who love him: for to him belongs glory with the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen.
MONITUM
The authority of all manuscripts and copies being added: we think that the question about this matter can be moved no further. Therefore, we assert it to be genuine, not otherwise: for the style seems unworthy of Chrysostom, and the manner of speaking is trivial and destitute of nerve: in a word: it savors of much foreignness: on which account Henry Savile, John Bois, and most recently Tillemont hold it at least suspect: to whom we willingly accede, and think that some one of lesser equipment has broken into these camps, and that it is a spurious Chrysostom, and that the manner of beginning has been borrowed from other homilies of the Saint. We do not deny, however, that the Englishman Hales held it for true and genuine, to whom Fronton du Duc should be added, who, while he said nothing at all regarding its spuriousness or authenticity, placed it among the genuine works.
The interpretation of the first part is by Fronton du Duc. The latter part, however, which now appears for the first time, has been translated into Latin by us.