The words of the Prophet which, by the Lord's bounty, are today to be spoken to your charity, need reading more than exposition. For there are repeated in the three inner gates the things which have already been said, for a second or a third time, concerning the outer ones. But few things are altered in their description. Hence it is necessary for us to run through by reading the things that have already been said, that we may be able more freely to unfold those that have not yet been said. And so it is now said: Verses 27-30. — And the gate of the inner court was toward the Southern way, and he measured from gate to gate in the Southern way a hundred cubits.
And he brought me into the inner court to the Southern gate, and he measured the gate according to the measures above, its chamber, and its front, and its vestibule with the same measures, and its windows, and its vestibule round about, fifty cubits in length, and twenty-five cubits in breadth, and its vestibule round about. All these things you remember to have been said and expounded above (especially in the preceding homily). But it has not yet been said what is subjoined concerning the same vestibule: Verse 31. — Of the length of twenty-five cubits, and of the breadth of five cubits; and its vestibule toward the outer court. And again that which had already been said above is repeated, when it is said:
And its palm trees upon the front (ibid.). And at once there is subjoined what had not yet been said: And there were eight steps by which one ascended to it (ibid.). This also, which is written concerning the Southern gate, is narrated concerning the Eastern gate in the same order. For immediately it is added: Verses 32-34. — And he brought me into the inner court by the Eastern gate, and he measured the gate according to the measures above, its chamber, and its front, and its vestibule as above, and its windows, and its vestibules round about, in length fifty cubits, and in breadth twenty-five cubits. And its vestibule, that is, toward the inner court,
and carved palm trees upon its front on this side and on that, and its ascent was of eight steps. The things also which have been said concerning the Southern and the Eastern gate are repeated in the same words also concerning the gate which looks toward the North. For it is subjoined: Verses 35-37. — And he brought me to the gate which looked toward the North, and he measured it according to the measures above, its chamber, and its front, and its vestibule, and its windows round about, in length fifty cubits, and in breadth twenty-five cubits. And its vestibule looked toward the outer court, and the carving of palm trees was upon its front on this side and on that, and its ascent was of eight steps.
What, then, is signified by the inner court, what by the chamber, what by the fronts, what by the vestibule, what by the windows, what by the length and breadth, what by the carving of palms, we have already amply said above (Homilies 6 and 7), nor is it fitting that we occupy ourselves again with the same things, but only with those that have not yet been said. Now, therefore, it must be asked by us what these three inner gates are, or what it means that the vestibules of these same gates are measured at twenty-five cubits in length and five cubits in breadth; or why one ascends to them not by seven steps, as had been said of the outer gates, but by eight.
For the gate of the inner court which was mentioned above is not one of these three inner gates, because that one is said to look over against the gate of the East and of the North, whereas these are recorded to be set severally inward toward the South, or the East, and the North. Whence rightly by that one the inner entrance is signified, because, as was already said in the preceding discourse, it lies open either to the Jews and the Gentiles, or to those beginning and persevering in good, or to those falling from good but rising after their faults through penance.
Now, however, after the gates severally in the East and the North and the South have been described, why are the gates of the inner court again described severally in the South and the East and the North? By the Lord's inspiration, there is need of great intention to search out the bosom of so great a depth. For if by the name of gates we take holy preachers, it must be known to us that the Church is one in the preachers of the Old Testament and the New. But the gates have seven or eight steps, because they harmoniously preach the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit, and by the eighth step they announce the reward of eternal recompense. Whence it is written: Give a portion to seven, and also to eight (Eccles. 11:2).
What, then, can we say the outer gates are, but the ancient fathers, who through the precepts of the law knew how to guard the works of the people rather than the heart? — so that by the inner gates we ought to understand the preachers of holy Church, who by spiritual admonitions guard the hearts of their disciples, lest they take delight even in thoughts in the evils which they do not commit. For by those one is said to ascend by seven steps, but of these the ascent is declared to be of eight steps, because both in the veneration of the law there was the seventh day, and in the New Testament the eighth day is in the sacrament — that is, the one which is called the Lord's Day, which is the third from the Passion, but the eighth from the creation, because it also follows the seventh.
But if by the name of gates we understand designated only the holy apostles, who indeed are the first preachers of holy Church to us, and taught us to hold faith, hope, and charity in the highest degree, then they themselves are to us gates in these virtues, who lead us through these same virtues to the inner understanding of eternal wisdom. But if they themselves are the outer gates, whom do we take for the inner ones? But if they themselves are the inner ones, whom do we understand to be the outer ones? In which matter it can be usefully understood that they themselves are to us at once outer and inner gates. For when they preach to those still beginning not lofty and mystical things, but certain things which they are able to grasp, they are outer gates;
but when they speak deep and mystical things to the perfect, they are inner gates. Let us see how the outer gate lies open: I could not speak to you as to spiritual, but as to carnal; as to little ones in Christ I gave you milk to drink, not meat (1 Cor. 3:1). Let us see how the inner gate lies open: We speak wisdom among the perfect (ibid. 2:6). Let us see whether the very same is inner and outer gate: To the wise and the unwise I am a debtor (Rom. 1:14). Who again says: Whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God; or whether we be sober, it is for you (2 Cor. 5:13). For in this, that by contemplating and speaking he is beside himself to the wise, he is an inner gate;
but in this, that toward the little ones he tempers himself soberly in preaching, and shows not with how great an inebriation of the spirit he is infused in mind when he preaches, he manifests himself to be an outer gate. They themselves, therefore, are to us both outer gates and inner, who both instruct us in the first entrance of faith, hope, and charity, and, when they now preach the mysteries of the heavenly kingdom to those making progress, lead us by a subtler sense to the inner things. Whence also the ascent of them is described first by seven steps, and afterward by eight.
For by the eighth step are signified the mysteries of that life, which the perfect understand in their secret places — those who have already learned to transcend all temporal things in mind, who fully despise the present life which is unrolled in the course of seven days, who are fed by inmost contemplation. The gates of the spiritual edifice, therefore, have seven steps, because they preach to their hearers the fear of the Lord, piety and knowledge, fortitude and counsel, understanding and wisdom. But when they now enjoin that all things be relinquished, when they admonish that nothing in this world be loved, or held by affection, when they urge that one attend to the contemplation of the heavenly fatherland, and delight in its mysteries, they add a step, and pass over to the inner things.
This step, the Truth teaching, was shown to a certain man, who, when the precepts of the law were spoken to him, answered: All these have I kept from my youth (Matt. 19:20). For it was as if he already stood on seven steps, when he said that from his youth he had kept all things. But at once it is said to him: Yet one thing is lacking to thee: If thou wilt be perfect, go, sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me (ibid. 21). In which words he saw indeed the eighth step, but was unwilling to ascend, because he went away sorrowful.
Whoever, therefore, having despised temporal things, is fed by the contemplation of eternity, and searches out the joys of the heavenly kingdom, after the seven steps which he held by fearing and by hoping and by growing up into the understanding of wisdom, has entered by the eighth step the entrance of the inner gate. By the number eight, too, both the day of the eternal judgment and the resurrection of the flesh are signified. Whence also the Psalm which is written for the octave is begun from the dread of judgment, when it is said: O Lord, rebuke me not in thy anger, neither chastise me in thy wrath (Ps. 6:2). For now is the time of mercy; but in that judgment is the day of wrath. On which day, namely, all this time is ended which is unrolled in seven days.
But because it follows after seven days, it is rightly called the eighth. On this day also our flesh shall rise again from the dust, that it may receive from the Truth according to the good or the evil it has done. Hence too, by the Law, circumcision is commanded to be performed on the eighth day. For through the member which is circumcised mortal propagation is generated, and the number both of those who pass away and of those who succeed is increased. But because in the resurrection of the dead the propagation of the flesh is no longer carried on, and there will be no passing away and succeeding, since, as it is written: 'They shall neither marry nor be given in marriage, but shall be as the angels in heaven' (Matt. XXII, 30), it is prescribed that the foreskin be cut on the eighth day. For there the propagation of the flesh no longer has a place, where the risen flesh possesses the permanence of eternity.
Through this member the Virgin Mother descended, who conceived God in her womb without the intercourse of man—He who first showed to us the glory of the eternal fatherland in His own resurrection. Who, rising from the dead, dies no more, and death shall no longer have dominion over Him (Rom. VI, 9). And He gave us a pattern, that we should believe those things will be done to our flesh on the last day which we have recognized to have been done to His flesh on the day of resurrection. But since the discourse has led us to the resurrection of the flesh, it is exceedingly sad and most grievous that we know some who stand within the Church and yet doubt concerning the resurrection of the flesh.
But the ancient fathers most certainly believed that this would come, even when they as yet held no example of that resurrection. With what condemnation, then, are they worthy who have already received the example of the Lord's resurrection, and yet still distrust concerning their own resurrection? They hold the pledge, and have not faith. They fill the Church, but because they doubt concerning their own resurrection, they stand with empty minds. Of this resurrection it is said through blessed Job: 'I know that my Redeemer liveth, and in the last day I shall rise out of the earth, and I shall be clothed again with my skin, and in my flesh I shall see God; whom I myself shall see, and my eyes shall behold, and not another' (Job XIX, 25, and following). Hence also it is said through the Psalmist:
'In His sight fall down all they that go down into the earth' (Ps. XXI, 29). For into the earth the dead go down not in spirit but in body. Therefore in the sight of the Lord the sons who go down into the earth fall down, because those who now rot in the dust come, by rising again, to judgment. Hence again he says: 'My soul hath thirsted for Thee, how much more my flesh' (Ps. LXII, 2). The soul thirsts that it may see God; what does the flesh thirst for, save that it may rise again? Hence again he says: 'Thou shalt take away their spirit, and they shall fail, and shall return into their dust' (Ps. CIII, 29). And of the resurrection of the flesh he adds: 'Thou shalt send forth Thy spirit, and they shall be created, and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth' (Ibid., 30). Hence again he says:
'Arise, O Lord, into Thy resting place, Thou and the ark which Thou hast sanctified' (Ps. CXXXI, 8). For the Lord arose into His resting place when He raised His flesh from the sepulchre. After Him the ark too arises, because the Church rises again. Hence it is written through the same prophet of whom we speak: 'Ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will send spirit into you, and ye shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to grow up over you, and will spread skin over you, and will give you spirit, and ye shall live' (Ezek. XXXVII, 4, and following). Hence it is that another prophet saw the human race raised up at the end through the resurrection of the Lord, and said:
'He will revive us after two days, on the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight' (Hosea VI, 3). Hence it is that when the Lord was speaking of Himself, He added: 'Marvel not at this, for the hour cometh in which all that are in the tombs shall hear the voice of the Son of God. And they that have done good shall come forth unto the resurrection of life; but they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment' (John V, 28, 29). Hence Paul says: 'Whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will reform the body of our lowliness, made conformable to the body of His glory' (Phil. III, 20, 21). Hence again he says: 'For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also will God bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus' (1 Thess.
IV, 14). Who again says: 'Christ is the firstfruits of them that sleep' (1 Cor. XV, 20). For if we do not rise from the sleep of death, how do we have the Lord's resurrection as firstfruits? Behold, the fathers old and new agree with one and the same spirit concerning the resurrection of the flesh. Behold, the Truth first taught by His voice concerning the resurrection of the flesh, and afterward demonstrated it by the work of His own flesh; and yet still the weakness of certain ones has not faith, standing within the house of faith. But they are wont to marvel how the flesh can come to life again out of the dust. Let them marvel, therefore, at the height of heaven, the breadth of the earth, the depths of the waters, all things that are in the world, the very angels themselves created out of nothing. It is far less a thing to make something out of something than to have made all things out of nothing.
The very elements themselves, the very forms of things, proclaim to us an image of the resurrection. For the sun daily dies before our eyes, and daily rises again. The stars set in the morning hours, and rise again at evening. In the summer seasons we see the shrubs full of leaves, flowers, and fruits, which in the winter time remain bare of leaves, flowers, and fruits, and as though withered; but when the spring sun returns, and moisture has risen up from the root, they are again clothed with their own adornment. Why then is it doubted concerning men, which is seen to be done in the trees? But often they behold the dust of the rotting flesh and say: 'Whence can bones and marrow, whence flesh or hair, be restored in the resurrection?'
Let those, therefore, who ask these things look at the small seeds of huge trees, and, if they can, let them say: Where in them lies hidden so great a mass of hard wood, so great a diversity of branches, so great a multitude and greenness of leaves, so great a beauty of blossoms, so great an abundance, taste, and odor of fruits? Do the seeds of trees have the odor or taste which the trees afterward bring forth in their fruits? If, then, from the seed of a tree, which cannot be seen, that which is produced can be produced, why is it doubted concerning the dust of human flesh that from it the form which is not seen can be restored? But often they are wont to raise an empty little question, saying:
'A wolf ate the flesh of a man, a lion devoured the wolf, the lion dying returned to dust; when that dust is raised up, how is the flesh of the man separated from the flesh of the wolf and the lion?' To these people what else ought we to answer, save that they should first consider how they came into this world, and then they will discover how they rise again? Surely thou, O man, who speakest this, wast once in thy mother's womb a foam of blood; there indeed, from thy father's seed and thy mother's blood, thou wast a small and fluid globule.
Tell me, I pray, if thou knowest, how that moisture of the seed hardened into bones, how it remained fluid in the marrow, how it was made solid in the sinews, how it grew in the flesh, how it was stretched out in the skin, how it was distinguished into hair and nails, so that the hair should be softer than the flesh, and the nails more tender than the bones yet harder than the flesh? If, then, so many and so great things were made distinct into their kinds out of one seed, and yet remain joined together in one form, what wonder is it if Almighty God can, in that resurrection of the dead, distinguish the flesh of the man from the flesh of the beasts, so that one and the same dust both does not rise insofar as it is the dust of the wolf and the lion, and yet rises insofar as it is the dust of the man?
See therefore, O man, in what manner thou camest to life, and by no means doubt in what manner thou shalt return to life. But why dost thou wish to comprehend by reason how thou shalt return, thou who art ignorant how thou camest? Give to the power of thy Creator that which thou art not able to comprehend concerning thyself. For surely, since thou wast made out of the earth, but the earth out of nothing, thou too wast created out of nothing. Do not therefore despair concerning the resurrection of thy flesh; weigh prudently that it is less for God to restore what was than to have made what was not. But if thou canst not comprehend by reason the accomplishment of the resurrection, weigh how many things there are which thou dost not understand how they are, and yet dost not doubt that they are.
Tell me, I pray, if thou knowest, the circles of heaven, the hinges of the earth, the depths of the waters—where they are ended, whereon they are suspended? But we know that what was made out of nothing hangs upon nothing. Yet if there is something which is called nothing, then it is no longer nothing. But if nothing is truly nothing, then nowhere does the mass of the world hang, nor is there any place wherein may be that which was created that it might be. How then is that nowhere which we know to be? But perhaps these things are too much for thee; return, O man, to thyself. Surely thou art created out of spirit and clay—the one invisible, the other visible; the one sentient, and the other insentient.
How, then, could spirit and clay be mingled together in thee, and from diverse things a thing not diverse be made, so that in so great a harmony spirit and clay were mingled, that when the flesh is worn away the spirit droops, and when the spirit is afflicted the flesh wastes away? But perhaps thou art not yet strong enough to examine thyself. Weigh, I pray, if thou art able, how the Red Sea was divided by a rod (Exod. XIV, 21), how from the hardness of the rock at the striking of the rod waves flowed forth (Num. XX, 11), how the dry rod of Aaron blossomed (Ibid., XVII, 8), how the Virgin coming from his stock conceived, how in giving birth she remained a virgin (Luke I, 27, and following; III, 23, and following);
how one dead four days, at a command being raised up, came forth from the sepulchre with hands and feet bound, whom the Lord afterward commanded to be loosed by the disciples (John XI, 44, and following); how our same Redeemer, rising in true flesh and bones, entered to the disciples through closed doors (John XX, 26). Behold, these things thou art not able to investigate, and yet thou believest. Why, then, dost thou doubt by disputing and examining concerning the glory of the resurrection, thou who hast believed such lofty mysteries without examination? Yet if thou believest not the resurrection of the flesh, thou hast believed all things without cause, because in this spectacle of the angels thou art seen indeed to run swiftly, but after thou hast completed the course, thou turnest away lest thou receive the prize.
Hence it is said through Paul: 'So run that ye may obtain' (1 Cor. IX, 24). Who again says: 'If in this life only we are hoping in Christ, we are of all men the most miserable' (1 Cor. XV, 19). But the mysteries of the divine power, which cannot be comprehended, are not to be examined by the understanding, but to be venerated by faith. It must therefore be known by us that whatever can be comprehended by human reason can no longer be a wonder, but in miracles the sole ground of reason is the power of Him who works them. Behold, while we speak of the resurrection of the flesh, we have digressed a little from the order of our exposition. Let us therefore return to those things which we had begun. But the inner gates have porches, which measure twenty-five cubits in length.
For if we multiply eight by three, we arrive at twenty-four. To which one is added, that we may hold twenty-five. For good hearers, who are as it were certain porches of the gates, hold the long-suffering of eternal hope, and await the eighth day in the faith of the Trinity. Which Trinity, because it is one God, they indeed multiply eight by three, but they are made firm in the confession of one God. The porches are level, because the hearts of good hearers are humble. They have length, because they persevere in the long-suffering of hope. Their length is measured by twenty-five cubits, because they believe the resurrection of the flesh on the eighth day through the Trinity, and confess that same holy Trinity to be one God.
They also have five cubits in breadth, because through a simple life which is led by the five senses they are enlarged toward the love of their neighbor. And it is to be noted that, whereas the porches of the gates were spoken of above as being other, afterward the porch which has five cubits in breadth is said to look outward, because assuredly there are other hearers who penetrate more deeply, by advancing in virtues, into the understanding of the interior life, and there are certain simple ones who live well indeed, but according to the bodily senses. Wherefore they are also said to look outward. For they look, as it were, outside, because they live according to the bodily senses.
But nevertheless, even while looking outward, they are within, because although they know not how to transcend the bodily senses by understanding, they yet humbly hold faith and charity. And so they are within, in the spiritual edifice, through love, and they look outward, as it were, through simplicity. Through the porch which looks outward can be designated the faith of those who are beginning, and through the porch which is interior the faith of the perfect, who already shine through it in signs and virtues. There can also be figured through the interior porch the higher precepts, and through the porch which looks outward the still lesser precepts.
For through the porch one goes to the steps and to the gate, because through the precepts of preaching one attains to the virtues and to the entrance of heavenly grace. But when it is commanded to some that they meditate in their thought upon things eternal, that they savor heavenly things, and it is said to them that they live in psalms and hymns and spiritual canticles (Col. III, 16), the interior porch is, as it were, shown, which is measured by fifty cubits in length and twenty-five in breadth. Of which numbers we now keep silent, because concerning these we have already said much above. But when it is prescribed to others, 'Let the husband render to the wife her due, and likewise also the wife to the husband' (1 Cor. VII, 3), the porch which looks outward is, as it were, designated.
Which, although it looks outward, is nevertheless within, because the untrained hearer still does what pertains to the flesh, and yet is not alien from the number of the good. But the Lord can be designated through the East gate, and Judaea through the South gate, and the converted Gentile world through the North gate. [But we call the Lord a gate, because through Him we enter unto Him. And we not unfittingly name Judaea and the Gentile world the gates, because we have recognized the entrance of the heavenly edifice first for the Hebrews, and afterward for the fathers coming from among the Gentiles.] But in this matter a question strikes the mind: why in the prophet's earlier narration was first the Eastern gate, afterward the North, and then the South gate described?
And when he narrated the same gates in the inner court, he described first the South gate, then the East, and in the third place the North. But why did he not keep the same order which he had begun, but changed it in the description of the gates, so that he first spoke of the East gate, the North, and the South, and afterward the South, the East, and the North? But if by the name of the North the Gentile world is designated, it is clear to all who read attentively that before the Synagogue was the Gentile world. For Heber himself, from whom the Hebrews were named, was chosen out of the nations (Gen. X, 21). Let the Eastern gate, then, be named before the North and South gate, because in His divinity the Lord was born before the Gentile world and Judaea, He who is also before all ages.
But let the South, East, and North gate be named in the following narration, because our Redeemer in His human nature deigned to be born between Judaea and the Gentile world, because He came both at the end of the Synagogue, and before the beginning of the Church, which He gathered from the nations. In the first description, therefore, let the Eastern gate be before the North and South gate; but in the second, let the East gate be named between the South and North gate, because He both, out of His divinity, went before all things, and, out of His humanity, came among all things—He who was both made the end of departing Judaea, and the beginning of the following Gentile world.
Therefore, since we have searched out those things which had not yet been spoken, insofar as we could, the Lord bestowing it, and have passed over quickly those things which have more often been repeated, let us now come to those things which are now said in such order that in them scarcely anything of what has been said is repeated: VERSE 58.—'And through each of the treasure-chambers a door in the fronts of the gates.' The treasure-chambers we said above (Hom. 6) are the hearts of teachers, which preserve the riches of knowledge. But the fronts of the gates are the words and works of preachers, in which we recognize what kind of men they inwardly are within themselves.
But there is a door through each of the treasure-chambers in the fronts of the gates, because every teacher opens the understanding in the heart of the hearer through the sayings and works of the fathers. For when we discuss the preaching of the apostle Peter, when we scrutinize the words of Paul, when we investigate the Gospel of John, and from their words draw our hearers to the interior understanding, what else do we do but open a door in the fronts of the gates? Let it be said, therefore: 'Through each of the treasure-chambers a door in the fronts of the gates,' because if a teacher does not at all confirm what he speaks by the sayings of the apostles, he has no door in the fronts of the gates.
And if he has no door, it can no longer be called a treasure-chamber of the spiritual edifice, because if he does not open the understanding, he is not a teacher. But when good hearers know through the mouths of teaching men the sayings and works of the apostles, they silently reprove their own faults within themselves, and pursue with tears everything which they remember to have done wickedly. Wherefore here too, concerning the door which is in the fronts of the gates, it is subjoined: IBID.—'There they washed the burnt-offering.' For those who have devoted themselves through faith to the Lord in holy conversation have been made a burnt-offering to the Lord.
But because they still suffer many things in themselves from their corruptible flesh, because the cleanness of their heart is still defiled in them by sordid thoughts, they daily return to tears, they are afflicted with continual weepings. For they consider the sayings and deeds of the holy fathers, and when they weigh themselves as unworthy, they wash the burnt-offering in the door of the gates. Behold, indeed, someone has vowed to be patient out of the fear of the Almighty Lord, to render insult to no one for insult, to bear all things with equanimity; and yet, when a reproach suddenly cast from the mouth of his neighbor has struck him, being disturbed, he perhaps speaks something which he ought not to have spoken. Surely this man is already a burnt-offering, but as yet a defiled one.
Perhaps he showed patience against the reproaches cast at him, and remained silent; but nevertheless he is touched with grief against those same reproaches which he bears, and his soul is wounded in charity. For that is true patience, which loves the very one whom it bears. For to endure, but to hate, is not the virtue of gentleness, but the veil of fury. This man therefore often judges himself in his own thought, reproves himself because he grieves, nor yet is he able to prevail within himself not to grieve. He is therefore already a burnt-offering through good devotion, but nevertheless still defiled through the grief by which he is touched. Another has resolved within himself to distribute all that he possesses to the needy, to reserve nothing for himself, to commit his life to the governance of the heavenly One alone;
but while he offers to the poor what he has, perhaps a thought steals upon his mind which says: 'Whereof wilt thou live, if thou hast given away all?' Nor yet does he cease to give, but what he had begun to give gladly he afterward offers with sadness. What is this man's mind but a burnt-offering of mercy? Yet defiled through the sadness of thought. For either he ought not to have deliberated upon the highest things, or after deliberation to have doubted in no way. Another, despising the pride of the world, has resolved to shun the honors and dignities of this age, to hold the lowest place among men, that he may be found so much the more exalted in abiding glory, by how much the more humble he is beheld in this passing life.
This man perhaps, when he suddenly perceives himself to be despised by his neighbor, is indignant that he is despised. He wishes indeed to be in a humble place, but nevertheless does not wish to seem contemptible. This man devotion already lifts up, but as yet weakness weighs down. He is therefore already a burnt-offering through devotion, but as yet defiled through weakness. And so those who, in the things they have most excellently vowed, are touched in some fault of their weakness, when through the words of teachers they understand the sayings of the fathers, and recognize in how great a fault they lie, and afflict themselves with the laments of penance, wash their burnt-offerings in the door of the gates. But it must be known that this is the difference between a sacrifice and a burnt-offering: that every burnt-offering is a sacrifice, but not every sacrifice is a burnt-offering.
For in the sacrifice a part of the beast, but in the burnt-offering the whole beast, was accustomed to be offered. Wherefore in the Latin tongue the burnt-offering is called 'wholly burned.' Let us weigh, therefore, what is a sacrifice, what a burnt-offering. For when anyone vows something of his own to God, and vows not something, it is a sacrifice. But when he has vowed to Almighty God all that he has, all that he lives by, all that he knows, it is a burnt-offering. For there are some who are still held in mind within this world, and yet from their possessed goods minister aids to the needy, and hasten to defend the oppressed. These offer a sacrifice by the good things they do, because they both immolate something of their action to God, and reserve something for themselves.
And there are some who reserve nothing for themselves, but immolate to the Almighty Lord their sense, tongue, life, and the substance which they have received. What do these offer but a burnt-offering; nay rather, what do they become but a burnt-offering? For the Israelite people first offered a sacrifice in Egypt, and secondly in the desert (Exod. XII, XIII). He therefore who still has his mind in the world, but already works something good, has offered a sacrifice to God in Egypt. But he who forsakes the present age, and does the good things he is able to do, as though, Egypt now being left behind, offers a sacrifice in the desert, because, the tumult of carnal desires having been driven back, in the quiet and solitude of his mind he immolates to God whatever he works.
Although, therefore, as has been said, a burnt-offering is also a sacrifice, yet the burnt-offering is greater than the sacrifice, because the mind which is not pressed down by the delight of this world burns in the sacrifice of Almighty God all that it has. But it must be known by us that there are certain ones who, even while forsaking the world, offer indeed all that they have, but yet are by no means pricked to compunction in the good things they do; and indeed the good which they do is a burnt-offering, but because they know not how to weep and to judge themselves, and do not kindle themselves to tears by that love, their burnt-offering is not perfect. Hence it is said through the Psalmist: 'Let the Lord be mindful of all thy sacrifice, and let thy burnt-offering be made fat' (Ps. XIX, 4).
For a dry burnt-offering is a good work which the tears of prayer do not water. But a fat burnt-offering is when that which is well done is watered with a humble heart even through tears. Hence again it is said: 'I will offer to Thee burnt-offerings full of marrow' (Ps. LXV, 15). For whosoever does a good work, but knows not how to weep out of the love and desire of Almighty God, has a burnt-offering, but has no marrow in the burnt-offering. But he who works good things, and already gapes for the vision of his Creator, and hastens to arrive at the joys of eternal contemplation, and slays himself in weepings out of the love by which he is kindled, has given to the Lord burnt-offerings full of marrow.
We must therefore be zealous both to forsake evils utterly, and to work the good things we are able to, and in those very good things which we do to be pricked with compunction by the love of the eternal light. For the love of light itself dispels the darkness of the heart, that we may be able to see more subtly, lest anything perverse be mingled in the good things we do. For we must consider what our work is, what the thought in the work, what the intention in the thought. And when we recognize something of malice or perverse delight mingled with our good work, let us return to tears, let us wash the burnt-offering.
But there are certain ones who have devoted themselves in great actions to the Lord, and arrive at so great a perfection, and are by no difficulty ever bent from these, so that by the resolve of chastity the flesh in no way lays low the mind in the delight of perverse thought. For even if at times it assails through suggestion, it is not permitted to rise up, because it is trodden down by the vigor of judgment. In the resolve of patience too, neither does a disordered word go forth from the mouth, nor does silent grief press down the mind; so that in the largeness of almsgiving no suspicion of want may generate sadness, so that in the resolve of humility no contempt may bite the mind.
But when they already show themselves strong in these things which they have rightly vowed, they nevertheless bring back to memory their former sins which were perpetrated by them before their good resolve, and they bewail whatever they remember to have done unlawfully. These, therefore, are a burnt-offering through the life they hold, but defiled through the life they had held before. They therefore wash their burnt-offering in the door of the gates, because in the understanding which they have received from the sayings of the fathers, they afflict themselves with daily laments, and cleanse with tears the life which they once defiled with perverse acts. Let us therefore, amid these things, lead back the eyes of our mind to our past life, let us remember who we were, when we followed the concupiscences of this world.
And if we already serve the Lord with the whole heart, because we remember that we have sinned, let us weep, let us in weepings wash the burnt-offering. Behold, we have devoted our chastity to Almighty God; but if an unclean thought still defiles the mind, let us return to tears, let us wash the burnt-offering. Behold, we have resolved to keep patience. But if anger still troubles us, if silent grief tortures the mind, let us return to tears, let us wash the burnt-offering. Behold, we already know how to distribute our possessions, and to hold a humble place in this world; if any suspicion of want still presses down the mind, if the contempt of a neighbor confounds us in any indignation, let us return to tears, let us wash the burnt-offering.
For great to our Creator is the bosom of mercy for receiving the weepings of the humble. For where the weepings of innumerable men have been received, there our tears too shall find their place. Let us weigh what is said through another prophet: 'And it shall be that he who shall have stumbled among them in that day shall be as David, and the house of David as God, as the angel of the Lord in their sight' (Zech. XII, 8). This is the day of mercy, which has been promised to us concerning the coming of our Redeemer. He therefore who shall have stumbled shall be as David, because the sinner returns to penance;
but the house of David as God, because everyone who returns to righteousness is made a habitation of his Creator, that he may be as the angel in His sight, because the bowels of mercy which he has experienced in himself, by proclaiming them, he pours out also to others. Hence too, a little after, it is there said: 'In that day there shall be a fountain open to the house of David for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for the washing of the sinner and of the menstruous woman' (Zech. XIII, 1). The hidden fountain indeed is the only-begotten of the Father, the invisible God. But the open fountain is the same God incarnate. Which open fountain is rightly called the house of David, because from the stock of David our Redeemer came forth to us. But Jerusalem is interpreted 'the vision of peace.'
But those dwell in Jerusalem who fix their mind upon the vision of inmost peace. The sinner, however, and the menstruous woman is either he who transgresses in deed, or the mind that slips into depraved thought. For this is the defilement of the menstruous woman, that she is not touched by another's flesh, yet is stained by her own flesh. So it is, therefore, so it is with every soul which, even though it does not perform an evil work, nevertheless grows foul, polluted in thought. Whence also, through another prophet, it is said under the figure of Judea concerning a soul taken up with unclean desires: 'All who seek her shall not fail; in her menstruous flow they shall find her' (Jer. 2:24). For the malignant spirits who seek do not fail when they desire to bring in destruction, and they are repelled by no uprightness of good thought.
And they find the soul in its menstruous flow, when they easily draw to perverse action a soul set amid polluted thoughts. Let it be said, therefore: 'In that day there shall be a fountain open to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for the washing of the sinner and of the menstruous woman' (Zech. 13:1); because now the fountain of mercy is opened to us, our Redeemer, who deigned to be made flesh in the house of David, that He might wash the sinner from his perverse work and cleanse the menstruous mind from unclean thought. The fountain, then, lies open; let us run with tears, let us be washed in this fountain of loving-kindness. 21. In this fountain David himself also was washed, when he returned to the laments of penance after the stains of grievous guilt. For he was seeking to find that very fountain when he said:
'Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a princely spirit' (Ps. 51:12). For 'Jesus' in Hebrew is in Latin called 'salvation' [salutaris]. And what is it that he asked, that the joy of Jesus be restored to him, save that he had been accustomed to contemplate this joy before his fault, and had lost the joys of that contemplation in his fault? Whence rightly, after penance, he sought that the joy of His vision be restored to him. In this fountain of mercy Mary Magdalene was washed, who, once a notorious sinner, afterward washed away her stains with tears and wiped away her stains by amending her ways (Luke 7:37-38ff.). In this fountain of mercy Peter, before all men, washed away what he had denied, because he wept bitterly (Matt. 26:75).
In this fountain of mercy the thief was washed at his very end, who, rebuking himself in death, was cleansed from his guilt by the confession of truth (Luke 23:41). 23. Why then are we slothful? Why do we remain torpid and cold, we who have come to know that so many have already been washed in this fountain of loving-kindness? Shall we then despair of our own cleansing, we who hold so many examples of mercy as a pledge? And do we cease to seek pardon, and to have confidence with tears, we who have already received, as a pledge of our hope, the cleansing of so many? For we ought to seek the fountain of mercy even if it were closed. It now lies open, and we neglect it.
Let us cast the eyes of faith upon the whole world; let us consider how many sinners, day and night, are washed through lamentation in this fountain of mercy; how many, after darkness, return to light; how many, after stains, return to purity. Let us therefore run with such as these, after the darkness of death, to the water of life; let us consider how much we have sinned, how much we daily sin, and, that we may appear clean after our faults, let us wash our whole burnt-offering. For the accomplishing of these things the grace of our Redeemer is present, who lives and reigns unto the ages of ages. Amen.