反亞流神學文集 第 16 章

When he wills to exercise his charity in us, he did not display to you the accustomed clarity of his holy discourse. And so it befits us obediently to do what he willed, and you gladly to bear it because he willed it. Pray therefore for us, that our words may be fitting when touched by him; for we desire rather to be enriched by the fruits of deeds, aided by your prayers, than to be overshadowed by the leaves of words. We exhort your charity, most beloved brethren, that it may not weary you to hear the brethren and fellow-presbyters who minister the word of God diligently and vigilantly. For the Lord our God, the very Truth which you hear, through whomever he may speak, the things he speaks must be heard devoutly and vigilantly. For among us no one is greater, save he who has become the lesser.

But we wished to speak to you beforehand, as is our custom, so that the things we say might be joined together by love. Of all foods, salt is a wholesome seasoning, if the measure be not lacking. Otherwise it too perishes, and it ruins what it has salted. For excess makes bitter what measure could have made savoury. So the sense that is in us, if it keeps its measure, gives savour, begets understanding, generates prudence, enlarges the heart, increases the wit, ripens what is to be said, and composes what is to be heard; and it becomes sweet to itself, and to those who taste it a whole fullness of sweetness. And plainly that sense will be honeyed, from whose mouth nothing bitter has been brought forth. This we have set forth first, so that in the sayings of the Gospel a sure measure of our sense must be constrained, so far as concerns living food,

the divine nourishment, the heavenly savour — that it may not violate it, but guard it for us with most cautious sobriety, according to that word of the Apostle: 'Not to be more wise than one ought to be wise, but to be wise unto sobriety' (Rom. 12:3). Therefore let us now hear what the Lord has said in the Gospel. Among the chief stars, the Bears, the Orions, and the morning-stars, the smaller star is ever obscured by the great brightness of the greater ones; but it is not so in the new heaven of Mother Church, in which the star of the seed of Abraham gleams with the radiance of faith. There now, though I go forth as a very small star among the constellations of the Fathers, I trust that, with them shining upon me and instructing me, I shall not be obscured but glorified.

So that what I lack of the orb of my own star, I may merit from the splendour of the fatherly oracle, and from your hearing and attentive heart, which is to me as it were a heaven in which my discourse, aided by its star, may go forth, and the fatherly intercession may succeed with your favour. Safe is the battle of the archer, when he is covered by the walled column of the shields of those who protect him. Since, therefore, I see the Fathers fortifying me with the shield of kindness, I do not fear to shoot the slenderest words from a small quiver. So that when the arrow of my heart's unpolished discourse is shot from the ark of trembling lips of a feeble voice, it may not fear, protected by the breastplate and the shielded crown of the holy Fathers.

For even these are arrows of the mighty, from the bow of small discourse, which, with desolating coals, both loose our words and enlighten your hearts, so that both the fiery darts of the one who lies in wait may be extinguished, and your wisdom may gladly hear, without laborious battle, of a fatherly victory. Indeed I see, most beloved brethren, the alacrity of your spirit and your unwearied zeal and luminous fervour; but lest in this agility of yours I myself be found sluggish, let me not seem superfluous because I rouse the watchful and exhort the enkindled. For even if the discourse finds so great a contest in you that it can kindle no more, yet it too wishes to be fervent along with you.

The ancient teaching of the holy Fathers terrifies my little and untrained ability, and your luminous attention, brethren; but again both their command and your kindness exhort me. For even though you weigh what is said with most learned examination, yet you all love in Christ with such rich charity, that you gladly hear not only the strong and the middling, but also the slender and the poor. To speak the word of God to those who are known and friends is a great confidence of charity, where the fruit of piety is presumed. So that even if something of less polished speech is brought forth, the friend easily pardons, to whom the speaker is not unknown.

For in this matter, when the prophet Ezekiel hesitated about carrying out his proclamation, almighty God strengthened him, lest, trembling and excusing himself on account of his own inexperience, he should waver with his small neck under the great burden of prophecy. The Lord says to him: 'Why do you hesitate? For I do not send you to a foreign nation, but you shall go to your own people, of no unknown tongue, but of a known one' (Ezek. 3:5). Nor shall you say: 'I have heard a tongue I did not know'; one is the tongue, equal are the words, the audience is of your fellow-citizens. And lest there be anything that might seem blameworthy to a friend well known among friends, he holds out to him a book written within and without with heavenly reeds, and bids him swallow it with eager throat, that thence he might be able to belch forth the sweets he has tasted.

He received it, he devoured it. His tongue was instructed, his members were made sweet, and there began to resound from the man the skill of divine teaching, sweetly consumed. So may the Lord also deign to grant us the sweets of this book, that he himself may teach what man has not taught. Concerning your known and civil congregation I have no fear, presuming that you will rejoice to hear whatever kind of discourse. As often as the word of the sovereign is brought forth, and the royal teaching is handled in the midst, there are present angels, ministers of the word of God, commenders of the utterance, and interpreters of the mystery. For Gabriel the interpreter was present to blessed Daniel, when Cyrus the emperor stood by him on the right, and he said: 'Gabriel, make this vision understood' (Dan. 8:16).

May this same Lord now also command, amid holy and great colloquies, that we be commended to so great an angel, that we may merit to receive the reason of angelic interpretation. Then shall we be able, in whatever way, to bring forth a discourse fitting to your charity with confidence. By holy and sweet and generous discourse, and by much affection, I know that the minds of love are ever suffused. And because you have often been accustomed to be filled with great banquets of spiritual things, by the ministration of my lord brother and fellow-priest, with what daring, with what confidence you can be delighted, cannot be comprehended. Setting this before me, so slight a man, I dare less than I presume. But since by common desire I strive to obey the commands, I do not refuse to blush.

And therefore I bring forth, as it were, a small pleading of a mediocre man, not to fill the mind, but to take away disdain. Therefore, if they be not too worthless, whatever they may be, I beg you, deign gladly to receive them. Bring hither attentive ears, you who are lovers of the word of God, and consider more diligently the things we shall be able to say, by the Lord's gift. For as much as the word of God is entrusted to us who preach, so much is the heap of the sacraments increased for you.

But just as one carried in a small skiff enters the sea, and, while he is near the land, fears less; but when little by little he has advanced into the deep, and, with the waves swelling, begins to be borne down into the depths, then straightway dread invades his mind, and terror strikes him, because he has entrusted a slight raft to the immense billows — so also we seem to suffer, who, slight in merits and slender in wit, dare to enter so vast a sea of mysteries. But if, while you pray, the Lord deign to give us a prosperous breeze of his Holy Spirit, we shall enter the port of salvation with a favourable course of the word.

Never would the auspices of our rashness lightly burst forth, had not your primacy and beloved affection toward me deigned to grant me the pardon of daring to speak. Whatever, therefore, we shall have been able to draw from the divine fountains, and to hand over spiritually for the drinking of your breasts, I beg that you deign gladly to receive. SERMON ONE. On the Nativity of Christ. The organs are inclined from the heavens, which can sing the glory of God being born. For as the angels descend, the Church is borne through the winds of the upper air, that the pattern of the heavenly fatherland may now be transferred, living, to the earth. Everywhere silence, because all things yield to the organs of heaven. Silence of the prophets, the taciturnity of the priests; the melody of the angels alone is now fitting.

Zacharias is silent in the temple; the angels began to sing a hymn from heaven — those who make both the star to twinkle, and the night to shine, the shepherds to keep watch, the sheep to chew the cud, the lambs to leap for joy. A clear messenger, a sweet song, a gentle Lord born; to the shepherds strength, to the flocks pasture, to the angels song. Blessed John describes (Rev. 7:4) a hundred and forty-four thousand singing a sweet hymn on Mount Zion, after the manner of harpers; but different is the sound of the angels. The shepherds' mouths hung agape in wonder, and even the birds fell silent, I say, at the pastoral pipe, when the angels announce him lying in the manger, with a hymn soothing the shepherds.

Father Abraham desires, in truth, to receive the Trinity, which he had received in figure beneath the sheltering tent. Isaac rejoices beneath the little house of Bethlehem, as beneath a hundredfold ear of grain; unto the medicine of wheat he is illumined, no longer merely visited. Father Jacob, he who beneath the ladder beholds the Lord — not resting upon the ladder, but being born from the earth, lying in the manger, sucking at the mother's breasts. Moses bears the leadership of the peoples of Israel (Deut. 18:15), because a Prophet has been raised up out of our brethren. Isaiah sings together beneath the beloved vine, making a Church beneath the thorny branches, because 'unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given' (Isa. 9:6). He who

invites the shepherds to the manger, is about to choose fishermen from the shore, about to make earthly organs by bending down the heavenly ones. Now Matthew paints the man as God, whom the Holy Spirit painted upon the tablet of the virginal members. Now Mark the evangelist begins to bring forth the lion — not from the hunting cage, but from the cave of the stable. Now Luke the evangelist bears upon pontifical shoulders the calf, fattened, that the human race might be fed from it; and now the safe earth is ploughed with the furrow of the cross, in the seed of tears, in the sheaves of joys, and the calves are fattened for the banquet of the Christian nuptials. Behold, the eagle already flies;

and up to the Lord's breast John inclines the oars of his little wings, that from the breast of Christ he might receive the fragrance, and stretch his flight unto heaven, cleaving through by flight and song, 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God' (John 1:1). For it delights the evangelists to walk on earth with Christ the Lord being born, to roar with him suffering, to sacrifice with him dying, to fly with him rising and ascending. From the East and the West the eagles put forth their wings, by leaving the earth, by yielding their limbs, by enduring torments. The wings of the martyrs have sailed even to our shores, and have taught us to fly to the Lord on the wings of justice.

The bones of the martyrs, the members of the saints, are the wings of eagles, which the song of the angels invites and the flight of the heavens, that there may be gladness of the shepherds, the chewing of the cud of the sheep, the sweet nourishment of the lambs, because the Lamb of God has been born, who takes away the sin of the world. SERMON TWO. On the Nativity of St. Stephen. Yesterday we celebrated the birthday on which the King of martyrs was born to the world; today we celebrate the birthday on which the foremost of the martyrs departed from the world. For it was needful that first the Immortal should take up flesh for mortals, and thus the mortal for the immortals should despise death. The Lord was born that he might die for the servant, lest the servant should fear to die for the Lord. Christ was born on earth, that Stephen might be born in the heavens.

The Lord entered the world, that Stephen might enter into heaven. The Most High descended to lowly things, and the lowly one ascended to the heights. The Son of God became the son of man, that he might make the sons of men sons of God. Christ worked miracles; Stephen also worked them. Could Stephen have kept silent without Christ? For Stephen lived from Christ, as the branch from the vine. You marvel at the fruit hanging from the branch — then see the branch abiding in the vine. Come now, holy Stephen, say something concerning the Jews, that you may begin to be stoned, whereby you may be crowned. Hurl words, and receive stones. Say something concerning the uncircumcised hearts, and you are warned by stones.

Say something concerning him whose name they will not hear, that they may blush and rage, and the deceitful lips be made mute (Ps. 30:19). Tell them where you see alive him whom they mocked crucified. Tell them where you see him, and here you shall not live, but with him you shall live better. Tell them that what they did is nothing, for he whom they slew lives. Tell them that you see him in heaven standing at the right hand of the Father, whom they mocked hanging on the cross. And that holy Stephen said: 'Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.' But they, crying out, held their ears (Acts 7:56). They shut their ears and ran to the stones, and all made an assault upon him.

And they stoned Stephen, who called upon the Lord and said (Acts 7:57): 'My soul has cleaved after you, because my flesh is stoned for you.' Christ prayed for those who crucified him; Stephen also prayed for those who stoned him. The Lord Christ prayed fixed upon the wood, and holy Stephen with knees bent. He who, standing, commended his own spirit to the Lord, prayed with bent knee for their offence. He prayed to the Lord for his enemies, as a friend saying: 'Certainly I suffer, I am stoned, they rage against me and roar against me, but do not lay this sin to their charge' (Acts 7:60): for, that I might say this to you, I first heard it from you. I your servant suffer, but there is much difference between me and you. You are the Lord, I the servant. You the Word, I the hearer of the Word.

You the master, I the disciple. You the Creator, I the created. You God, I man. There is much difference between the sin of these who stone me, and of those who crucified you. When therefore you said, 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do' (Luke 23:34), you asked for a great sin, and you taught me to ask for a very small one. 'Lord,' he says, 'do not lay this sin to their charge.' As if he said: I suffer in the flesh; let them not perish in the mind. They cast stones, and holy Stephen poured out prayers. Great piety, brethren, great clemency. Assuredly, such things as he ate at the table of his Lord, such things he himself prepared at his own banquet. It is written in the Law: 'You have sat at a great table;

know that it behooves you to prepare such things' (Sir. 31:12). Such things, therefore, he set forth in prayer, as he ate at his Lord's table. The Lord Christ said: 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do'; holy Stephen said: 'Do not lay this sin to their charge'; and with this said, he fell asleep in the Lord. O sleep of peace! What is more tranquil than that sleep? What is more quiet than that sleep? What manner of one went to his friends, who so loved his enemies?

For, that your holiness may know how much the prayer of holy Stephen the martyr availed, run back with us to that young persecutor by name Saul, as we heard from the book while it was being read — who, when Stephen was being stoned, and by that very man the garments of all who stoned were kept, so that he might seem, as it were, to stone by the hands of all. This man, when he was going on the way, suddenly a light from heaven shone round about him, and he heard a voice saying to him: 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goad.' And he said: 'And who are you, Lord?' And the Lord to him: 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute' (Acts 9:3–5); what is between me and you?

Why do you rise up against me to your own harm, and rather do not humble yourself to your own good? For the great evils which you have committed against me, I ought indeed long since to have destroyed you; but my Stephen prayed for you. Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? But because you rage against my name, I will make you my servant. O Saul, ravening wolf, you have eaten; wait a little, and you shall digest. I will say plainly: the son of perdition has been struck down, and the Vessel of Election has been raised up. For if holy Stephen had not prayed, the Church would not have Paul. But therefore Paul was raised up, because on the earth, bent low, Stephen was heard. Therefore what Saul did, Paul suffers; what the persecutor did, the preacher suffers; what the wolf did, the lamb suffers:

because in such a man vengeance is to be taken in this way, that he may learn to suffer what he was doing, and himself feel what he was inflicting on others. It is said to Ananias by the Lord Jesus Christ: 'Go to him, and seal him with my seal' (Acts 9:11). Ananias went, baptized Saul, and made a lamb out of the wolf. We began to have as a preacher him whom holy Stephen had as a stoner. Thus, then, was holy Stephen heard, so that by his prayers the sin which Saul had committed was blotted out. Let us therefore commend ourselves to his prayers: for much more now is he heard for those who venerate him, who was so heard then for those who stoned him. SERMON THREE. On the Nativity of St. Stephen. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the good Shepherd, gentle

and merciful, mingles his sheep among wolves in this world, that he may aid them from his throne. Do you wish to see, whoever you are, O Christian, the Lord Jesus Christ mingling sheep among wolves? He himself cried out in the reading of the present Gospel, saying: 'Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves' (Matt. 10:16). Do you wish again to see the Lord Jesus Christ leading his sheep out of the hands of the wolves? He himself cries out and says: 'I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep' (John 10:14). The wolf is destroyed when the Shepherd is hidden. The sheep is redeemed when the Shepherd is crucified. For the sheep sent into the midst of wolves ought not to fear.

For to this end they are mingled with the wolves, not that they may be changed into their malice, but that the wolves may be converted into the innocence of the sheep. But if the wolf refuses to become a lamb, let the sheep not fall away, following the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. For behold, the first sheep, holy Stephen — how by the testimony of faith he shakes off the wolves who cry out, and with his own eyes beholds the heavens open! An excellent sheep, fighting in the midst of the wolves; following, not yet having arrived at the Lord, and already he is a friend of the angels. How manifestly familiar to the angels was he alone, who in the midst of the wolves appeared as an angel! For, the heavens being opened, the aspect of the confessor was changed;

and he began, as though illumined by the Sun of justice, to shine forth, so that he no longer had a human appearance, the heavens themselves being open, the enemies themselves confessing it. For he stood in the midst of the wolves, and his face was as the face of an angel standing in the midst of the Jews (Acts 6:15). What are you doing, O Jews? Do you not fear the first sheep of Christ, his handmaid attendant, who has on her forehead the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit? That is the sign which shone for you on Stephen's forehead; this sign the heavens saw and were laid open, and as though at the display of the seal in the likeness of angels, the gates of heaven were laid open. For holy Stephen came with the keys of faith, and himself opened for himself what he faithfully believed and gladly beheld.

What therefore he saw, he did not keep silent. 'Behold,' he says, 'I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of the Father' (Acts 7:56). But what remained, when the heavens were laid open, for him to see, except the very Lord and Saviour who had ascended amid the hosts? For we all see these heavens, but closed, not laid open; shining in the stars, not gleaming in the angels. But this one, now not a man but an angel-man, beholds the seat of the palace of his Lord not closed, but laid open. He sees not angels, but archangels; if indeed he beholds these too, yet he proclaims Him to whom he was a witness. He heralds Him whose servant he is, perfected in the contest. For how great was the grace granted to holy Stephen! He was beholding the army of the heavenly host standing;

he was beholding the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Father. Behold, he sees the Lord, who was now migrating to the Lord; and by the merit of his confession he beholds the assembly of the heavenly powers, who was now about to migrate to the province of the dead. But among the dead he was condemning, who among the wolves was gleaming. 'Behold,' he says, 'I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of the Father.' Let friends rejoice, though enemies blaspheme. Let not the sheep be silent in testifying, though the wolves cry out in blaspheming. For they shut up their minds, and said, 'He has blasphemed.' This also said Caiaphas, prince of the Jews, concerning the Son of Man suffering and enduring all things. For when our Lord Jesus Christ, hanging on the cross, said:

'Amen I say to you, henceforth you shall see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of the Father' (Matt. 26:64), Caiaphas cried out, saying, 'He has blasphemed' (Matt. 26:65). Caiaphas rent his garments; these men shut up their very minds. Caiaphas, that he might remain naked; these men, that they might remain in their malice. O great miracle! The gates of heaven are opened, and the Jews shut up their impious minds. But holy Stephen was not silent, did not fail, nor yielded to the blasphemers. There he was attentive, where he was opening the eyes of his heart. 'Behold,' he says, 'I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.' But why are you angry with me for so great a testimony, O Jews? Was it by my command or power that the heavens were laid open?

The heavens were laid open, not that they might proclaim my glory, but that they might show my Shepherd standing by me as my helper. Consider, therefore, and see how far I am from the heavens, placed with you upon the earth. Could I ever have reached them and opened the gates of heaven? The Lord of the angels Himself has opened His own palace to me. Rightly, in a manner, I see, and what I see I do not keep silent. I did not despise Him hanging upon the cross, and therefore I see Him seated at the right hand of the Father. To you this testimony from heaven has been given; but if you do not believe, what have I done to you? The heavens laid open declare the glory of God (Ps. XVIII, 1), and shall I be silent about the mercy of my Christ? I see Christ seated in His glory, standing forth for my salvation.

He Himself is my witness in heaven; shall I not be His witness on earth? If I confess Him before men, He too will confess me before His angels. But if I deny Him on earth, He also will deny me in heaven. Yet in return for testimonies so faithful you cast stones, you shut up your minds, you are unwilling to hear one who speaks to you things whole and manifest. Strike, strike with stones the one who confesses; I have my helper at the right hand of the Father. You strike my head, I commend to Him my spirit. "Lord Jesus," he said, "receive my spirit" (Acts VII, 58). These curse; do Thou bless. These persecute; do Thou receive the one persecuted.

Not without cause, my Jesus, my Lord God, dost Thou deign to stand for me at the right hand of the Father—Thou whom I know and believe to sit at the right hand of the Father. It is for my sake that Thou deignest to stand, Thou who in standing dost not fail, who dost not forsake Thine own who are to be helped. Thou, my Lord, hast sent me into the midst of enemies, and hast deigned to make me the first martyr after Thine ascension. If Thou wilt that I not fall away from Thee, help me. Let the battering of the stones cease, lest the strength of my limbs fail within me. For me, my Lord, Thou dost intercede while Thou standest: I hear the embassy of Thy voice; I believe, I receive, I acknowledge that Thou pleadest for me before the Father, granting and helping, that my faith fail not in following Thee. What does my Jesus, my Lord, say, asking for me before the Father?

"Father, behold, this first follower has entered the world's new arena for my sake; grant mercy, that he may attain to victory; let my sheep feel me as its helper, that it may not think me a betrayer among the wolves." Behold, I see Him standing, I presume that He pleads for me. And therefore, my Lord, who dost behold my contest, receive my spirit. Truly, because I do not fear, O Lord, my stoned limbs, set my spirit in everlasting rest. Among these men I am counted as a sheep for the slaughter; with Thee let me be set in the rest of sweetness and peace. The Jews were stoning; he was groaning. The Jews were striking his head; he was commending his spirit. But when he began to be secure concerning the spirit he had commended, he became an advocate even for his enemies.

And he does not intercede for his enemies in the same way as he petitioned for himself. Here he stood, when he was seeing Christ; here he bent his knees, when he prayed for his enemies. For that advocacy was necessary for such and so great enemies. For he knew that the Lord Jesus could not quickly hear him regarding them—but on account of their sin, not on account of his own merit. Therefore for the great iniquity of the Jews who stoned him he bent his knees, poured out tears, saying: "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge" (Ibid., 60). See, whoever thou art, O Christian, how this sheep in all things follows and imitates the Shepherd. The Lord Christ, hanging on the cross, cried out: "Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit"; this man says: "Lord, receive my spirit."

The Lord Christ cries for His enemies: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do"; this man says: "Lay not this to their charge as sin." And manifestly, my brethren, in the midst of these who were stoning him, he who raged the more, the blessed apostle Paul, was present. If then vengeance had been granted to Stephen against his stoner, how would the Church have gotten such a teacher? Having said these things, he gave up his spirit, ascended into heaven, and merited pardon for his enemies. He merited to rejoice in heaven over the friendship of blessed Paul who followed after, because He is the Lord who makes the barren mother rejoice in a house full of children (Ps. CXII, 9). Behold, this holy Stephen merited, who saw the Son of Man standing, whom we know to sit at the right hand of the Father.

Let us then ask that he intercede for us and for our sins, and rescue us from so many dangers and all our travails—for His own goodness, not for our own conscience. For who, or how many, are the fountains that could quench the flame of our sin? May He deign to bury our crimes: so that, as for a little while He commended His members to the new tomb, so in the fountain of pardon He may bury our sins, that we may ever rejoice with Him in the most holy Church. SERMON IV. On the Epiphany of the Lord and on the Innocents. Christ is born; heaven and earth alike rejoice, because the star is glad and the Magi offer gifts. The Magi offered a great present, because they sang a new song in the midst of the shepherds, saying:

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will" (Luke ii, 14). The stars of heaven too offered a gift. For behold, a star from the midst of the stars went forth, as though sent on a great embassy. It beholds the Magi making their journey, not knowing the way, and seeking the Lord. It is said to the star: "Go, show them the way: this is my grace to those who love me, that in a star they may have a forerunner." Behold, while the Magi consider the way—ready with their gifts, ignorant of the road, less instructed about the Lord—He gave them a star, to be a lamp for them in their nighttime journeying. He furnished them a torch, that in the night we might not suffer harm.

They began to follow the star; becoming discerning, well-guided envoys, they were led all the way to the place, and there the star withdrew where it had shown the Lord to the Magi. For when anyone begins to know the Lord, he has no need to fear any enemy. Behold how great things they merited who offered gifts to the Lord. Thus the angels also guide us, when we offer glory to the Lord, the everlasting King, and heap upon Him glory and honor. The angels furnish us the most sweet service of their guidance. But the gifts are to be weighed according to the quality of the person. He is Emperor: He should be adorned with gold; He is Lord: incense should be offered Him; He became man for us, that He might dwell among us;

of myrrh His burial should be made, that in our heart the living memory may abide, and that He may ever appear to us in glory. And the Magi were warned in a dream by an angel not to return to report to Herod, but to journey to their own region by another way. Then Herod, when he saw that he had been deceived by the Magi, his face changed, his mind troubled, sent to summon the scribes and elders, of whom he inquired, saying: "Where do you have it for certain that the coming King is to be born?" But they said: "In Bethlehem; for it is written: And thou, Bethlehem of Judah, shalt not be least among the rulers, for out of thee shall come forth a King who shall rule my people" (Matt. II, 4-5). Then Herod appointed armed soldiers, and, threatening them with a terrible command, said:

"Go into Bethlehem of Judah, and whatever you find there of two years old and under—the males, kill; but the females, let live." Then indeed I saw the Lord choosing friends for Himself, calling the innocent to Himself, that the innocent might be a friend, just as the Lord is innocent, the immaculate Lamb who took away the sin of the world. And the innocents became His friends, as it is written: "The innocent and upright have cleaved to me, because I have waited for Thee, O Lord" (Ps. XXIV, 21). He endured, fleeing into Egypt, and made for Himself as friends legions of infants, to whom He gave martyrdom without pain: for the mothers grieved, and the infants, not knowing, rejoiced. The conscience of the innocent, being struck, cared nothing for the executioner's blade, because it rejoiced.

With those infants was the innocent flight of the Savior. The Lord is sought, and His friends are slaughtered, so that innocent blood might mourn those whom the shameless sword had separated. O the unblushing right hand of the striker! It has nothing to strike among their limbs, and yet it stretches out arms of savagery. The sword had no place, and the executioner was not ashamed: the blade was broader than the vitals, so that the sword might have the crime, and not the innocence. For when they were torn from their mothers' embraces by the harsh hand of the torturers, clutching their mothers with tender fingers, and lamenting with piteous moans, the mother cried out: "O son, why dost thou hold me back, while the executioner separates thee from me? Thou dost grasp my hands, and my affection is racked."

"This the king has commanded, that thou be separated from me; but there is an eternal King through whom thou shalt be joined to me. Son, I bid thee farewell. The earth drinks thy blood, but God will receive thy spirit." On the other side one cried out, and on the other a mother lamented; everywhere mourning, everywhere groaning. The proclamation was not of covetousness, but of bereavement. So on this side and that the various mothers cried: "Executioner, thou dost hasten to tear my little one from me. Grant delay, if thou hast any pity. Thou takest from me my son, and shall I not have even a moment in him? I bore him, I brought him forth. But I have found thee a stepfather of cruelty. At least let not my little one depart from me fasting; I shall give him the viaticum of milk, that he may have vitals of fatness, where thou mayst glut the sword of cruelty."

"Little is his blood; let the nourishment of milk be added too, that thy blade may be sated, and my son's soul be enriched, made white with milk and blood. As with a tunic striped down the middle, the blood was purple, and the milk was a splendid white robe." What was it to behold the slain sucklings mingled with milk and blood, and not separated from one another? And the mother cried to the executioner: "With thee I go, with thee I come; I lead forth my sweetest son to gaze upon him. I plant a kiss, and do thou plant thy sword. Thou strikest, and I receive the blood of the innocent. Thou slaughterest without cause, and I receive my own flesh. If it was not permitted me to give milk, let it at least be permitted me to prepare a grave."

Amid the wailing of mothers and the howling of children, the Lord was in flight. The executioners struck, the mothers buried, and the angels received the spirits; and Christ was saying: "The innocent and upright have cleaved to me." If we wish to cleave to Christ, let us be free of malice, let us hold to simplicity, that we may merit mercy from the Lord. SERMON V. On Abraham. Pleasing is the spectacle to those who gaze upon the shaded picture on the curtain, when by the painter's brush the sword of the father is fashioned over his beloved son. There the father is painted upright, the son bowed down.

How the beholder's gaze is moved, pricked by a certain sting of pity, to behold the child bound with knees fixed and hands twisted behind, and no stranger captor binds him, but only a father's affection, contemner of his own flesh. Pleasing to the beholders is this picture on the shaded curtain; yet the truth of the Lamb offered in sacrifice, whom God the Father offered for the world, is watched by few, is despised by not a few—Him whom the whole host of angels beholds, both on the wood and on the throne. Some say: "What sort of one is He who demanded a sacrifice of blood?" It was not a desire for blood, but a proof of love and charity.

Behold therefore the hanging curtain of this lesson, and with willing eyes look: behold Abraham the father saddling the ass, entering upon the journey, accompanying his son—not to a banquet, but to a sacrifice; nay rather to a banquet, that the ram might present to them the sacrament. What does the altar built mean, if not the cross stretched out upon the mount? What is the son bound, if not Christ fastened with nails, that He Himself might bear the chain, He who had no debtor's conscience? The father raises his right hand; the angel with a mighty cry stirs the earth, that he might not be grieved over the slain boy, but rejoice over the Lord's lamb slaughtered: "Abraham, Abraham." He who had drawn the sword lifts his face. "What is it, Lord?" (Gen. XXII, 11).

"What Thou hadst commanded to be fulfilled, I have taken care of; Thou delayest my joy by the call of Thy cry. What dost Thou bid, Lord? Let there be no delay in what I do with gladness." For he was doing it with joy. For he heard inwardly, by the Spirit prophesying, that for the swollen one to be saved the innocent must be slaughtered, and he reckoned that through the son slaughtered salvation would come forth to the world. "Lay not," He said, "thy hand upon the boy" (Ibid., 12). One thing is what thou supposest, another what thou rejoicest in. Behold, thou hast a prince in the ram. For thy son belongs to His flock. He turns his face back, that he might grasp the hidden sacrament. Behold, the ram was held fast by the briars, and its brow was covered in their shade. His face is free, his gaze clear.

Those thorns were as fillets to its horns and adornments of gems, in which there were no thorns of sinners, so that a crown might be prepared for the head of the flock, from the precious head of the Shepherd. He seizes the ram and unbinds the child. The ram that took his place is silent; silent too is the angel who cried from heaven. Where is the voice of the angel who forbade for the child's sake? Why does it not likewise cry out for the ram? Lest it should let the world go in guilt, if the Lamb should cease from the cross. For in Isaac there had been the proof of charity, in the ram the prefiguring of the truth. There obedience, here mercy. There the will gave, here free grace. The angel is silent, because while He suffered, the angelic host rejoiced. If the angel had cried from heaven:

"Abraham, spare the lamb," as he said, "spare thy son"—wearied, the Lamb would have shrunk from His approaching passion, and no one would have suffered a stumbling-block over His death upon the cross. "My soul is sorrowful even unto death" (Matt. XXVI, 38). He did not cry out from heaven, because the Emperor was suffering of His own free will. "Father," He said, "if it be possible, let this cup pass from me" (Ibid., 39). And no angel cried out from heaven, but the angel came down disputing with his Lord; and He restrained him not by His own counsel, but rather by His own sacrament. Isaac returns unharmed to his home, and the lamb, glorified, returns to heaven. Abraham led his son to death, that he might the better receive him rising again.

Abraham offered his son; and do you, from just works and labors, offer to the Lord a sacrifice, that with Father Abraham you may have joy in the kingdom of heaven. SERMON VI. On the only son and the centurion's servant. Blessed be the Lord, who alone works wonders. The centurion is a witness for his servant; the widowed mother is a witness in her son. There power, here piety. There a great embassy, here a pitiable destitution. The centurion sent elders as envoys, and she sought bearers for her dead son. This one: "My servant lies in the house paralyzed, and is grievously tormented" (Matt. VIII, 6); and she said: "The fruit of my womb has been taken from me by bitter and cruel indignation."

"My son indeed has fallen asleep in peace, but my vitals are left in grief." The centurion sent word: "I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof" (Ibid., 8); and she was thinking of preparing a pitiable tomb for her only one. Between these two persons—the centurion and the mother, the rich and the needy, the powerful soldier and the lamenting widow—the Lord dispensed His accustomed mercy, He who accepts no man's person. Quickly He sent His word and healed the paralyzed servant, that He might more speedily go on to raise the only son. He did not wait for an embassy: for He knew the wretched mother had no envoys, but was hiring workmen to dig a grave. He went on in silence to the city, He who opens Jerusalem

to those who believe. At the gate of the country the woman drew near with her dead son, and Christ was unlocking the door of healing. The apostles followed Him, and the rejoicing angels, and with the mother went the weeping crowds, pricked by their common condition. Between the dead man and the Lord a gate was set. He went out of the gate, and found life. The city's streets resounded with the mother's lamentations, and heaven resounded with the groan of pity. Cry out, angel Raphael, of the coming Lord's company! "Do not, do not weep, mother; joy is near to thee." But she who, wailing, was speaking—with what complaints she was filling heaven and earth—she who had lost the son she had!

"Where is, where is my only son, born in vain? Quickly snatched away—in peace be thy place, while a horrible sight is left to me. Thou art carried on the bier, and I am now a burden to the world. Why hast thou not, surviving me, closed a mother's eyes in death, and, my dying eyes pressed shut in ruin, gone before me, wretched as I am? Why did I not merit (as is ever to be wished) to be buried by thy hands, but merited to be bound with the most cruel chains of thy death? Thou shouldst have handed me over to the earth, because thou camest forth from my womb. No father, no brother—thinkest thou it true that a brother shall not redeem, but a man shall redeem?" (Ps. XLVIII, 8). Where is that Lord, judge of widows and father of orphans?

"Why does He not attend to my mourning, He who promised joy to those who mourn? I heard Him saying: 'Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted' (Matt. v, 4). Behold, I am a widow: where is my judge? Behold, thou art an orphan: where is thy father? Would that, O Lord, Thou hadst brought sudden judgment upon me for my sin, and hadst made in my womb a grave for my only one, and my vitals had been a household ditch and a hidden burial! In the light of this air and sky has gone forth the eulogy of my dear funeral. Let those look on who have children and shine with the manifold crown of children: let them see one little tuft of my head, and one gem of my crown fallen from my head, and me left bald in place of a crown of gladness."

"Let no one accuse my tears. He whom I mourn was my only one; I am not blameworthy, because I have no other. And if there be any who reproaches me, thinkest thou that my comforter would meet me?" And immediately, before she had finished her complaints with these lamentations, heaven her witness, behold, now the Lord of the city came to the gates; He drew near to the gate, opened life, and shut hell. Dark mourning went forth from the gate, and light shone again at the coming of Christ. He flashed forth flashes, and scattered the following crowds. Yet He stood before them and suffered with her. For we have not a high priest who cannot have compassion on our infirmities (Heb. iv, 15). He had compassion for the only son, He who as the Only Son hung upon the wood.

"Stand," said the Lord, "stand, do not now labor, O bearers. Set down the dead man, await the miracle. Fill up the grave with earth, because at the raising of the dead earth and heaven will rejoice." They stood, they set him down, and gave silence: they awaited some work, but heard nothing except one word, and were amazed that the dead man was alive. He who spoke, and all things were made; He spoke, and the young man received life. He burst his shrouds, tore the fatal chain, sat up, rose, adored. "I give Thee thanks," he said, "O Lord my God. How terrible Thou art, how sweet Thou art! Because Thou art terrible, bridled hell is witness; because Thou art sweet, my mother is witness, and my life."

"I saw the terrible power of Thy name, when I saw death, which acknowledged Thee, refusing me as Thou drewest near to my mercy. And Thou didst command, and it trembled. It gave back him whom it had not begotten, and Thou didst press shut its opened jaws. I give Thee thanks, O Lord, that the pit did not open its mouth over me, but Thou didst wipe away my tears through the living fountains of water." Then the Lord, who had said, "Young man, I say to thee, arise" (Luke VII, 14), answered the mother: "Woman, behold thy son, and know that I am the judge of widows and the father of orphans (Ps. LXVII, 6). I saw thy tears, and I recognized thy complaints. I did not blame thee mourning, but comforted thee lamenting." And the mother, her voice troubled with joy, was saying:

"O Lord my God, what thanks shall I give Thee? Piety is my witness. With what praises ought I to honor Thee, because Thou hast not permitted me, desolate and wretched, to beg? Let the angels give Thee thanks for me, because they ascend and descend, and let the whole region of the heavens rejoice for me. Let the gate of heaven be opened to Thee, who before the gate hast given back to me the pledge of my funeral. O good and great miracle! Outside the gate the Lord raised the dead man, He who outside Jerusalem redeemed the human race. Behold, the only son went forth upon the bier—but with the reproach of the cross."

The women were weeping, but he was rejoicing, because that cross was not a reproach, but rather an adornment, whereby the whole world was adorned, and by which, together with the mother, the host of the faithful peoples shone again. SERMON VII. On the two blind men. How great is the gain to sit by the way where Christ deigns to pass! The way is royal, full of holy angels, that the sight of blindness might be enlightened by the eye-salve of brightness. Our Emperor passes by, not with chariots preceding in splendor, but with miracles preceding in power, while the lame merit to run and the blind to receive light. This is the way of our Emperor, by which one comes to life, because He Himself is the way, the truth, and the life (John XIV, 6).

He who sits by the way where Christ passes—no tyrant can lord it over him, nor can a man remain sick when the physician Christ passes by. These blind men believed this of the Lord, who, sitting by the way, cried out with a strong voice to the physician, longing to have their sight restored. At their voice the crowds of the preceding peoples murmured, the host of angels rejoiced, and He Himself, the enlightener of the blind, was preparing the medicine. For what were those blind men crying, who longed to behold the light? "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David" (Matt. xx, 30). But the crowds thought it a weariness for our physician, and commanded them silence while Christ was passing. But they cried out the more loudly, and heeded not their rebuking voices.

They repeated their cry the more, that by those very voices they might reach the Savior: "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David" (Ibid., 31). "We care not at all for human voices: do Thou have mercy, who healest human errors." So the Lord was walking on His way, He who is eternal life. He was passing by, and healing, and He saw beforehand the thoughts of the blind, and rejoiced at their cry. He was not delighted by the service of the contradicting peoples, but rejoiced at the desire of the blind crying with a loud voice. He stood still, that the medicine might walk more than His footsteps. And, the crowds following, He bids the blind come to Him and fear nothing of the sight beneath heaven. The crowds rebuked, compelled, invited, and marvelously urged them on.

How greatly were they delighted who were called by the Lord! This their cry gained for them, whom the contradiction of the peoples did not frighten. They saw the Savior with desire before they saw the brightness of light. There stood before the Lord brightness and blindness. The Way stood before those sitting in the way. There stood those abiding in darkness, while the light of eternity stood, He who makes light to arise in the darkness. A theater was made of the following and preceding crowd, and the Church of the angels rejoiced. Jesus says to them: "What do you wish that I should do for you?" (Ibid., 32). And they, having heard the physician's voice, prostrate in voice and heart: "Lord, Thou seest our cause; do Thou grant Thy medicine,

that our eyes may be opened, and that we may merit to be companions of Thy journey, because from Thee we have merited to be cured by medicine on the way." The Lord, who raises up the fallen and enlightens the blind (Ps. CXLV, 8-9), heard, had mercy, and healed. No remedies intervened, and the blind began to see by the word alone. No observance of foods; the authority alone of the healing precepts intervened. Jesus says to them: "As you have believed, so be it done to you" (Matt. IX, 29). At once blindness flees, brightness is restored. They gaze upon the Savior's face, whom they had not known as healing by His power. They learn with their eyes Him whom they had presumed with their words.

They fall at His knees, knowing now to touch the footsteps of Christ, they who with voice alone had cried out, sitting by the way, and they began to accompany Christ the Lord on one journey. Rejoicing in His company, now united in brightness, never at all to depart from Christ. So let us too, brethren, sit in that very way by which we hope the Lord Christ can pass. For he walks not in the way of the ungodly, who has not stood in the way of sinners. Christ the Lord now makes His passage from the world, while He intercedes for us in heaven. But He does not walk except in the clean way, because His way is undefiled. There let us sit, there let us cry out. He passes by daily, because He never departs from us.

But if any of the world's murmurers see us, and see us calling out more strongly to Christ, and begin to blaspheme us over their own scandal, we ought not to care at all for their envy. There let us keep our gaze, whence we hope for help. SERMON VIII. On the three young men. Near is the deliverance of the redeemed, for already the free captivity of the young men triumphs. It is now near that, just as the chains of the saints melt into fire, so too the sins of the elect are dissolved into a fountain. In both places a pleasant tranquility of dew breathes, because a warm charity refreshes them. In the fountain burning iniquity is quenched, because both in the furnace and in the fountain the Angel of great counsel shall descend from heaven:

that what He granted the young men as refreshment, this He might bestow upon believers in the sacrament. Behold, how the trumpets of so many saints sounded singly; now three horns blare together in one pleasant field of flames. Beautiful it is to see three golden candlesticks. Beautiful it is to behold the assailed bodies of the three young men, because there was one soul, while they strove toward the crown. The flame did not divide them, and they composed songs together: because the Angel of great counsel embraced them, and cherished them with shading arms. What are the palaces of kings compared to the furnace of the singing young men? The king's hall was made a sanctuary of holiness, that there the king might delight to gaze rather than to dwell in the royal house. O those pavements paved, not with marble, but with fire!

not with slabs, but with flames! Proud kings walk on purple carpets, sporting with delicate step; but in the fiery pavement our men walk, chanting. Whom would it not delight to accompany them with equal footstep, when it delights the angel to be joined with them in equal song? One thing the sight revealed, another the sense afforded, another the touch showed; one thing within, another without: because the angels within and the enemies without, within they were singing, without they were burning. See, my brethren, how great a difference it is to be within the great house, in which are golden and silver vessels (II Tim. II, 20), rather than to burn without among the wooden vessels, among the wood, hay, and stubble.

But you the furnace of God's temple contains as tested gold; from gold are your little vessels produced, in which Jerusalem, the everlasting fatherland, may rejoice; and let not Nebuchadnezzar himself marvel, but from the flames of the world, in the refreshment of a pleasant life, may the Savior from heaven console you together with us. SERMON IX. On the woman taken in adultery. The Son of God is to be feared and to be loved—feared as judge, loved as king: because He came not first to judge, but first to deliver, and afterward justly to judge. Meek and true; but the calumniating Jew did not know it. They wished to blame His meekness, and found in their own crime His virtue. They sought to violate in Christ both meekness and justice, or to reprove justice out of meekness.

They stood in the narrow pass of two walls, besieging the Savior, that He might be handed over as a robber. They contrive a calumny, and are found guilty in their own conscience. They accuse, that they themselves may be accused, and the adulteress be set free. It was not the deed that displeased them, but the Lord who did not please them. For all were adulterers. They find occasion from the adulteress, that they might fit, as it were, a justly-colored calumny. They find a wretched woman, blackened by the branding of recent adultery, that before the Lord's feet they might behold her made white as snow by pardon. Very many gathered together bring the calumniators and sinners, the plotters and thieves. With the adulterer they were setting their portion (Ps. ...).

(Psalm XLIX, 18), and they were dragging along an adulteress. Many brought one woman forward, to the pardon of the one Lord. Drag her, O Jews, drag her, cast the adulterous woman out from iniquity; free the ship, torn apart, from the open waves by means of its planks. You took counsel over a broken vessel; the Master, the Craftsman, knows how to join it together, to close it, to correct it, to caulk it. He has drained the water-laden bilge out of her, but a filthy conscience remains for you. You were unwilling to hold well the oars of malice against the wretched vessel; behold, you shall begin to labor in the inward waves of your own slander, and she shall begin to sail with the sails of chastity. Go, woman, you are led to mercy, not to severity; you are drawn before an Emperor, not before a judge. To them and to you the end has come:

for you, that you may not live wickedly; for them, that they may recognize themselves as living wickedly. A great crowd gathers, the trembling woman is held fast, she is led by the hands of many, she is set in the midst. As if not about to question but already about to condemn, with their cloaks and tunics raised on high in fury, with faces disturbed, eyes bloodshot, voices confusedly mingled, standing before Him who was seated, they cried out to Him who was silent, yet silently judging: 'This woman,' they say, 'has been caught in adultery. Moses commanded that such a one be stoned. What then do you decree concerning her?' (John VIII, 5, 6). They question the Judge for a judgment, He who is the Judge of judges. But He, seated with head bowed in humility, was writing meekness with His fingers upon the ground—not upon the Jewess, but upon the Christian soul.

They were preparing stones, and He was writing with His finger on the ground. Having questioned Him, they received no answer, and they shamelessly repeat their inquiry, thinking that He could find no reply. They press on, raging, demanding a sentence, wishing to entrap a sparrow that is not slow, nor an eagle flying on high. Lifting up a countenance of piety, with a slow and deliberate step He answered, giving both what she wished and what they did not wish. 'What do you say? Do you demand the judgment of Moses? You ask justly; let justly be done what you seek. The woman is to be stoned—be yourselves the executioners, you who are the accusers, if you presume yourselves innocent. Let him who is without sin cast the first stone at her' (Ibid., 7).

O great sentence, which the Spirit was writing with His finger upon the earth! He read it out, and the Jew fell silent. None first, none last, none in the middle—every man guilty. They began to look inward at themselves, and to go out one after another. Vehemently you entered, silently you depart. Stand! Why do you withdraw, you who registered the woman for accusation? Satisfy the laws, if you are secure in your conduct. What did I say that was unjust? Do you stone her: if you are guilty, learn from Me meekness, for you too have need of the mercy of judgment. Where are they who wished to corrupt meekness, and to reproach justice out of justice? He both held to meekness and preserved justice. Had He said, 'Let her be stoned,' He would have seemed not meek. Had He said,

'Let her not be stoned,' He would have seemed not just. He answered in such a way that judgment remained for the tempters, and only shame remained for the slanderers. The woman stood before the Judge, and was left without an accuser. She is not dismissed to drift again in the waves, but is taught by a most merciful chastity. She is not set free in such a way as to be dismissed to her sin. 'Woman,' says the Lord, 'are they present who were accusing you? Has no one condemned you?' And she: 'No one, Lord' (Ibid., 10, 11). To this the just Judge replied: 'Your slanderers have fled from you; let your sin flee also. You fled the accusing Jews; fear the angels who will drag you to My judgment. Neither will I condemn you. For I came not to judge the world, but that through Me the world might be saved. Learn to live well, and now sin no more.'

Learn justice, for you have now been freed from a sentence. Woman, I shall not sit thus upon the throne of judgment as I now sit bowed down to the earth. That other terror shall be different; there will be no Jewish accusers. They accuse themselves who come thus to judgment, where the fire shall not be quenched and the worm shall not die (Mark IX, 44). There is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew VIII, 12). There the terrible trumpet, there the heavens shaken, angels hastening and sounding the great trumpet, the sun darkened, the moon confounded, the stars falling, the guilty trembling, a fiery judgment, a throne of fire, and in His sight a mighty tempest (Psalm XLIX, 4). I grant you mercy, I bestow a delay.

And therefore learn chastity, that I may merit for you everlasting joy in the future. SERMON X. On the Judgment of Solomon. While, at the bidding now of the holy father, we ascend the lofty throne of holy preaching, about to offer up to your understandings the sacrifice of the Lord's word, we first await the eloquence of God, who makes the speaker mute, so that when we mount the steps of the apse, He Himself may come down from the throne of heaven—He who bowed the heavens and came down (Psalm XVII, 10), because by himself man could not ascend, who fell so wretchedly. Nor can the preacher ascend alone, unless with him the Lord of angels deign to kindle the resplendent majesty of His present glory.

Therefore, brethren, let us hear the things that are said, that we may merit to receive the heavenly promises. For when Solomon had ascended the mountain, he was escorted by the gleaming service of soldiers, and was surrounded on the shining mountain by a heavenly watch. He rests upon his bed, and keeps watch with God, saying: 'I sleep, and my heart keeps watch' (Song of Songs V, 2). Or where he offered sacrifice and slew thousands of lambs, an army of angels was present. On the mountain the palace becomes bright as the Lord visits it. A throne is set up, and the servant is admonished that from the altars of his Lord, where he had offered sacrifice, he should there ask a special rescript to his prayers. 'Why,' He says, 'do you rest?'