Caring For Beasts And Men

Ὁ μὲν ἐλεήμων ἀνὴρ μακροθυμεῖ, ἐν παντί τε μεριμνῶντι ἔνεστι σοφία· ἐμπεσεῖται γὰρ μέριμνα ἀνδρὶ νοήμονι, φροντιστής τε ὢν ζωὴν ζητήσει· καὶ ὁ ζητῶν τὸν θεὸν εὑρήσει γνῶσιν μετὰ δικαιοσύνης, οἱ δὲ ὀρθῶς ζητήσαντες αὐτὸν εἰρήνην εὗρον. Ἐμοὶ δὲ δοκεῖ καὶ Πυθαγόρας τὸ ἥμερον τὸ περὶ τὰ ἄλογα ζῷα παρὰ τοῦ νόμου εἰληφέναι. Αὐτίκα τῶν γεννωμένων κατά τε τὰς ποίμνας κατά τε τὰ αἰπόλια καὶ βουκόλια τῆς παραχρῆμα ἀπολαύσεως, μηδὲ ἐπὶ προφάσει θυσιῶν λαμβάνοντας, ἀπέχεσθαι διηγόρευσεν, ἐκγόνων τε ἕνεκα καὶ μητέρων, εἰς ἡμερότητα τὸν ἄνθρωπον κάτωθεν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων ἀνατρέφων. Χάρισαι γοῦν, φησί, τῇ μητρὶ τὸ ἔκγονον κἂν ἑπτὰ τὰς πρώτας ἡμέρας. Εἰ γὰρ μηδὲν ἀναιτίως γίνεται, γάλα δὲ ἐπομβρεῖται ταῖς τετοκυίαις εἰς διατροφὴν τῶν ἐκγόνων, ὁ ἀποσπῶν τῆς τοῦ γάλακτος οἰκονομίας τὸ τεχθὲν ἀτιμάζει τὴν φύσιν. Δυσωπείσθωσαν οὖν Ἕλληνες καὶ εἴ τις ἕτερός ἐστι τοῦ νόμου κατατρέχων, εἰ ὃ μὲν καὶ ἐπ´ ἀλόγων ζῴων χρηστεύεται, οἳ δὲ καὶ τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐκτιθέασιν ἔκγονα, καίτοι μακρόθεν καὶ προφητικῶς ἀνακόπτοντος αὐτῶν τὴν ἀγριότητα τοῦ νόμου διὰ τῆς προειρημένης ἐντολῆς. Εἰ γὰρ τῶν ἀλόγων τὰ ἔκγονα διαζεύγνυσθαι τῆς τεκούσης πρὸ τῆς γαλακτουχίας ἀπαγορεύει, πολὺ πλέον ἐπ´ ἀνθρώπων τὴν ὠμὴν καὶ ἀτιθάσευτον προθεραπεύει γνώμην, ἵν´ εἰ καὶ τῆς φύσεως, μαθήσεως γοῦν μὴ καταφρονῶσιν. Ἐρίφων μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἀρνῶν ἐμφορεῖσθαι ἐπιτέτραπται, καί τις ἴσως ἀπολογία τῷ διαζεύξαντι τῆς τεκούσης τὸ ἔκγονον· ἡ δὲ τοῦ παιδίου ἔκθεσις τίνα τὴν αἰτίαν ἔχει; ἐχρῆν γὰρ μηδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν γῆμαι τῷ μηδὲ παιδοποιεῖσθαι γλιχομένῳ ἢ δι´ ἡδονῆς ἀκρασίαν παιδοκτόνον γεγονέναι. Πάλιν αὖ ὁ χρηστὸς νόμος ἀπαγορεύει ἡμέρᾳ τῇ αὐτῇ συγκαταθύειν ἔκγονον καὶ μητέρα. Ἐντεῦθεν καὶ Ῥωμαῖοι, εἰ καί τις ἔγκυος καταδικασθείη τὴν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ, οὐ πρότερον ἐῶσιν ὑποσχεῖν τὴν τιμωρίαν πρὶν ἢ ἐκτεκεῖν. Ἄντικρυς γοῦν καὶ ὅσα τῶν ζῴων κυοφορεῖ, ὁ νόμος οὐκ ἐπιτρέπει ἄχρις ἂν ἀποτέκῃ σφαγιάζεσθαι, μακρόθεν ἐπισχὼν τὴν εὐχέρειαν τῶν εἰς ἄνθρωπον ἀδικούντων. Οὕτως ἄχρι καὶ τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων τὸ ἐπιεικὲς ἀπέτεινεν, ἵνα ἐν τοῖς ἀνομογενέσιν ἀσκήσαντες πολλῇ τινι περιουσίᾳ φιλανθρωπίας ἐν τοῖς ὁμογενέσι χρησώμεθα. Οἳ δὲ καὶ περιλακτίζοντες τὰς γαστέρας πρὸ τῆς ἀποτέξεως ζῴων τινῶν, ἵνα δὴ γάλακτι ἀνακεκραμένην σάρκα θοινάζωνται, τάφον τῶν κυοφορουμένων τὴν εἰς γένεσιν κτισθεῖσαν μήτραν πεποιήκασι, διαρρήδην τοῦ νομοθέτου κελεύοντος, Ἀλλ´ οὐδὲ ἑψήσεις ἄρνα ἐν γάλακτι μητρὸς αὐτοῦ· μὴ γὰρ γινέσθω ἡ τοῦ ζῶντος τροφὴ ἥδυσμα τοῦ ἀναιρεθέντος ζῴου, φησίν ἡ σάρξ, μηδὲ τὸ τῆς ζωῆς αἴτιον συνεργὸν τῇ τοῦ σώματος καταναλώσει γινέσθω. Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Στρωματεων, Λογος Β' Κεφ' ΙΗ' Source: Migne PG 8.1033a-35b

'The merciful man is long-suffering, in every one who has care there is wisdom. For to the thoughtful man care will come, and, given to thought, he will seek life, and he who seeks God shall find knowledge with righteousness, and they who have sought Him rightly have found peace.' 1 And it seems to me that Pythagoras took his gentleness for irrational creatures from the Law. For example, he prohibited the immediate use of the young of sheep and goats and cattle at the instant of their birth, not permitting it even for the sake of sacrifice, both on account of the offspring and the mothers, thus by use of irrational creatures educating man to gentleness for what is inferior. 'Allow, then,' he says, 'the offspring to be with the mother for the first seven days.' For if nothing happens without a cause, and at birth milk is for the sustenance of the offspring, he that removes that which has been born for the supply of milk, dishonours nature. Let the Greeks, then, be ashamed, and whoever else disputes the Law, since it is kind to irrational creatures. And moreover they expose even the offspring of men, though long ago and prophetically the Law thrust back their savagery in the above-mentioned commandment. For if it prohibits the offspring of irrational creatures to be taken from the mother before suckling, much more in the case of men does it set down beforehand a remedy for brutishness and savagery of disposition, so that even if they scorn nature, they might not do teaching. For they are permitted to make use of kids and lambs, and perhaps there might be some reason for removing the offspring from the mother, but what cause is there for the exposure of a child? For the man who dislikes siring children has no right to marry in the first place, he who then by eagerness for pleasure becomes a child killer. Again, the kindly law prohibits the slaying of the offspring and the mother together on the same day. Thence also the Romans, if some pregnant woman were condemned to death, do not allow her to suffer the punishment until she gives birth. The Law too expressly prohibits the killing of animals who are pregnant until they have given birth, at a remove restraining the inclination of man to do wrong to man. Thus it extended its clemency to irrational creatures, that from the exercise of kindness for creatures of different species, we might practice it with much greater abundance for those of the same species. Those also who kick the bellies of certain animals before birth that they might feast on flesh mixed with milk, make a grave of the womb that was created for the birth of the child, even though the Law expressly commands, 'But neither shall you boil a lamb in the milk of its mother.' 2 For it should not be that the nourishment of the living animal should become relish for that which has been deprived of life, and that which is the cause of life should not be an assistant in the consumption of the body. Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata, Book 2, Chapter 18 1 Prov 9.11,14.23,17.12 2 Deut 14.21

Beasts And Discipline

Ἐν κημῷ καὶ χαλινῷ τὰς σιαγόνας αὐτῶν ἄγξει, καθάπερ κτηνῶν, ὁ Θεὸς, τῶν ἀποφευγόντων σε, ὁ Δαυϊδ κιθαρίζων ἐβόα. Ὥωπερ γὰρ ἡμεῖς ἵππον καὶ ἄκοντα χαλινῷ δαμάζομεν, οὐ μισοῦντες, ἀλλ; εὔτακτον αὐτῷ τὸν δρόμον καθιστῶντες, καὶ τον ἄτακτον αὐτοῦ τῇ τάχει περιστέλλοντες, καὶ τὸ ἄκοσμον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀπαίδευτον πήδημα, εἰς εὔτακτον ὁδὸν μεταῥῥυθμίζοντες, οὕτως ὁ Θεὸς ἐὰν ἴδῃ ψυχὴν πωλευομένην ὦδε κἀκεῖσε, ἄγει αὐτὴν πρὸς τὸ εὐπρεπέστερον, καὶ μὴ θέλουσαν. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΡΛΒ, Γενεθλιῳ Source: Migne PG 79.140a

With bit and bridle bind their jaws, like beasts, O God, those who turn away from you, David cries out with the lyre. 1 For as we rule an unwilling horse with a bridle, not because of hatred, but so that we might establish order for its course, curbing disordered motion with order and transforming what is ugly and foolish to a well ordered way, so God, if He sees a soul wandering about here and there, directs it to something more decent, even if it is unwilling. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 132, To Genethlios 1 Ps 31.9

A Beast Before You

Kτηνώδης ἐγενόμην παρὰ σοί, καὶ ἐγὼ διὰ παντὸς μετὰ σοῦ... ̓Οὐκ ἁπλῶς δὲ, Κτηνώδης, εἶπεν, ἐγενήθην, ἀλλα παρὰ σοι. Ὡς γὰρ πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα τῆς σοφίας καὶ Θεὸν της γνώσεως πᾶν ἀγνοεῖ γενητὸν, καὶ Μωῦσης γὰρ ἰδῶν τὸν Θεὸν ἔφη· Ἐγὼ ἄλογός εἰμι ἰκανὸς πρὸ χθὲς καὶ τρίτης ἀφ' οὖ ἦρξας λαλεῖν τῷ θεραποντί σου ἰσχνόφωνος καὶ βραδύγλωσσος ἐγώ εἰμι, οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς εἶπεν λογίωτατος, ἀλλ' ἀφ' οὗ ἦρξας λαλεῖν τῷ θεράποντί σου. Πρὶν γὰρ ἀκοῦσαι θείας φωνῆς δοκεῖ τις λόγοις ὀξύς τε καὶ μεγαλόφωνος εἶναι. Καὶ Ἀβραὰμ ἔλεγε πρὸς τὸν Κτίστην· Ἐπεὶ ἠρξάμην λαλεῖν πρὸς τὸν Κύριον, ἐγὼ δέ εἰμι γῆ καὶ σποδὸς, ὅπερ ἠγνόει πρὶν λαλῆσαι Θεῷ. Τοιοῦτος καὶ ὁ κτηνώδης παρ' αὐτῷ, μὴ γιγνώσκων ὀμοίως τὸ προνοοῦντι Θεῷ. Διαπαντὸς δὲ μετ' αὐτοῦ, ὁ διαπαντὸς κατορθῶν ἀρετὴν καὶ πᾶσαν εὐσέβειαν ἄνευ τινὸς περὶ ταύτης ἀνωμαλίας ἐν διαλείμμασιν. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμος ΟΒ' Source: Migne PG 39.1470c-d

I am made a beast before you, and I am always with you. 1 He does not say only, 'I am made a beast,' but also, 'before you.' For before the Father of wisdom and the God of knowledge every created thing is ignorant. Moses beholding God says, 'I am not eloquent, either before or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am clumsy of speech and tongue.' 2 Not absolutely does this most eloquent man speak, but 'since you have spoken to your servant,' For before he heard the Divine voice he judged himself to be skilled and celebrated in eloquence. Abraham also said to the Creator: 'Since I have begun to speak to my Lord, I am but earth and ash.' 3 which he did not know before he spoke to God. Such is the beast before Him, not having understanding like the providence of God. 'I am always with you.' He is always with Him who guards virtue and all piety, without any alteration in persistence in this. Didymus the Blind, Commentary on The Psalms, from Psalm 72 1 Ps 72.23 2 Exod 4.10 3 Genes 18.17

The Sixth Day

Post haec sexta die produxit terra animam vivam, quando caro nostra, abstinens ab operibus mortuis, viva virtutum germina parturit, secundum genus scilicet suum, id est, vitam imitando sanctorum, sicut Apostolus ait: Imitatores mei estote. Secundum nostrum quippe genus vivimus, quando in opere bono sanctos viros, quasi proximos, imitamur. Deinde produxit terra bestias, homines in potentia rerum, sive ferocitate superbiae. Similiter et pecora; fideles in simplicitate vitae viventes; serpentes quoque innoxios, sanctos videlicet viros, astutiae vivacitate bonum a malo discernentes, et in quantum fas est, reptando scrutantes terrena, per quae intelligant sempiterna, non illos venenosos qui se in hujus mundi cupiditatibus terrenis collocant. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis, Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Genesin, Caput I Source: Migne PL 83.211c

After this, on the sixth day, the earth produced the living soul, which is when our flesh, withdrawing from the works of death, bears the living seed of the virtues, according to its type, 1 that is, life in imitation of the saints, as the Apostle said: 'Be imitators of me.' 2 Certainly we live according to our type when we imitate holy men by good works, like neighbours. Then the earth produced beasts, men powerful in the world, or wild with pride. Likewise cattle, who are the faithful living a simple life. Also serpents that are not venomous, who are holy men, who, possessing acute minds, are able to discern between good and evil, and in much as it is right, crawl around looking about at the things of the earth, through which eternal things are understood, and not as those venomous ones who amid the desires of this world gather to themselves the things of the world. Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Genesis, Chapter 1 1 Gen 1.24 2 1 Cor 11.1

Winter's End

Ἀποκρίνεται, φησίν, ὁ ἀδελφιδός μου καὶ λέγει μοι· Ἀνάστα, ἐλθέ, ἡ πλησίον μου, καλή μου, περιστερά μου, ὅτι ἰδοὺ ὁ χειμὼν παρῆλθεν, ὁ ὑετὸς ἀπῆλθεν, ἐπορεύθη ἑαυτῷ, τὰ ἄνθη ὤφθη ἐν τῇ γῇ, ὁ καιρὸς τῆς τομῆς ἔφθακεν, φωνὴ τοῦ τρυγόνος ἠκούσθη ἐν τῇ γῇ ἡμῶν, ἡ συκῆ ἐξήνεγκε τοὺς ὀλύνθους αὐτῆς, αἱ ἄμπελοι κυπρίζουσιν, ἔδωκαν ὀσμήν. Ὢ πῶς γλαφυρῶς ἡμῖν ὑπογράφει τὴν τοῦ ἔαρος χάριν ὁ πλάστης τοῦ ἔαρος, πρὸς ὅν φησιν ὁ Δαβὶδ ὅτι Θέρος καὶ ἔαρ σὺ ἔπλασας αὐτά. Λύει τὴν τοῦ χειμῶνος κατήφειαν παρεληλυθέναι λέγων τὴν χειμερινὴν σκυθρωπότητα καὶ τὴν τῶν ὑετῶν ἀηδίαν· λειμῶνας δείκνυσι βρύοντας καὶ ὡραϊζομένους τοῖς ἄνθεσιν, τὰ δὲ ἄνθη ἐν ἀκμῇ εἶναι λέγει καὶ πρὸς τομὴν ἐπιτηδείως ἔχειν, ὡς εἰς στεφάνου πλοκὴν ἢ μύρου κατασκευὴν ἀναιρεῖσθαι πάντως τοὺς ἀνθολόγους. Ἡδύνει δὲ τὸν καιρὸν ὁ λόγος καὶ ταῖς τῶν ὀρνίθων ᾠδαῖς κατὰ τὰ ἄλση περιηχούμενον τῆς ἡδείας τῶν τρυγόνων φωνῆς ταῖς ἀκοαῖς προσηχούσης, συκῆν δὲ λέγει καὶ ἄμπελον τὴν ἀπ' αὐτῶν γενησομένην τρυφὴν τοῖς φαινομένοις προοιμιάζεσθαι, τὴν μὲν τοὺς ὀλύνθους ἐκφέρουσαν, τὴν δὲ τῷ ἄνθει κυπρίζουσαν, ὡς κατατρυφᾶν τῆς εὐωδίας τὴν ὄσφρησιν. Oὕτω μὲν οὖν ἁβρύνεται τῇ ὑπογραφῇ τῆς ἐαρινῆς ὥρας ὁ λόγος τό τε σκυθρωπὸν ἀποβάλλων καὶ τοῖς γλυκυτέροις ἐμφιλοχωρῶν διηγήμασιν. Χρὴ δέ, οἶμαι, μὴ παραμεῖναι τὴν διάνοιαν τῇ τῶν γλαφυρῶν τούτων ὑπογραφῇ, ἀλλὰ δι' αὐτῶν ὁδηγηθῆναι πρὸς τὰ δηλούμενα διὰ τῶν λογίων τούτων μυστήρια, ὥστε ἀνακαλυφθῆναι τὸν θησαυρὸν τῶν νοημάτων τὸν ἐγκεκρυμμένον τοῖς ῥήμασιν. Tί οὖν ἐστιν ὅ φαμεν; πεπήγει ποτὲ τῷ τῆς εἰδωλολατρίας κρυμῷ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον τῆς εὐκινήτου φύσεως τῶν ἀνθρώπων πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἀκινήτων σεβασμάτων φύσιν μεταβληθείσης· Ὅμοιοι γάρ φησιν αὐτοῖς γένοιντο οἱ ποιοῦντες αὐτὰ καὶ πάντες οἱ πεποιθότες ἐπ' αὐτοῖς. Kαὶ τὸ εἰκὸς ἐν τοῖς γινομένοις ἦν· ὥσπερ γὰρ οἱ πρὸς τὴν ἀληθινὴν θεότητα βλέποντες ἐφ' ἑαυτῶν δέχονται τὰ τῆς θείας φύσεως ἰδιώματα, οὕτως ὁ τῇ ματαιότητι τῶν εἰδώλων προσανέχων μετεστοιχειοῦτο πρὸς τὸ βλεπόμενον λίθος ἐξ ἀνθρώπου γινόμενος. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ἀπολιθωθεῖσα διὰ τῆς τῶν εἰδώλων λατρείας ἀκίνητος ἦν πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον ἡ φύσις ἐμπεπηγυῖα τῷ τῆς εἰδωλολατρίας κρυμῷ, τούτου χάριν ἐπανατέλλει τῷ χαλεπῷ τούτῳ χειμῶνι ὁ τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἥλιος καὶ ἔαρ ποιεῖ τοῦ μεσημβρινοῦ πνεύματος, τοῦ τὴν τοιαύτην διαλύοντος πῆξιν, ἅμα τῇ ἀνατολῇ τῶν ἀκτίνων συνεπιθάλποντος ἅπαν τὸ ὑποκείμενον, ἵνα διαθερμανθεὶς τῷ πνεύματι ὁ διὰ τοῦ κρύους λιθωθεὶς ἄνθρωπος καὶ ὑποθαλφθεὶς τῇ ἀκτῖνι τοῦ λόγου πάλιν γένηται ὕδωρ ἁλλόμενον εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον· Πνεύσεται γὰρ τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ καὶ ῥυήσεται ὕδατα. Στρεφομένης τῆς πέτρας εἰς λίμνας ὑδάτων καὶ τῆς ἀκροτόμου εἰς πηγὰς ὑδάτων. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων Ὁμιλία E' Source: Migne PG 44.864d-65a

My love answered and said to me: 'Rise up, come, my dear , my fair one, my dove, behold, the winter has passed, the rains have gone and departed, the flowers appear on the earth, and the time of cutting has come, the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land, the fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines blossom, giving off their scents.' 1 How elegantly the Creator of spring describes to us the grace of spring, concerning which David says. 'Summer and spring, you had shaped them.' 2 The gloom of winter passes away, meaning that the troubles of winter have passed away and the vexations of the rains. He reveals the meadows teeming and adorned with flowers, and he speaks of flowers at their fairest, which are now most suitable for cutting, to be taken and arranged for a garland or for the making of scents. This passage delights in the season, the birds singing in groves, and the sweet voice of the turtle dove resounding in the ears, and the figs, he says, and the vines, which from themselves birth the signs of future delights, for one puts forth little figs, the other buds with flowers, and the nose perceives the fair aromas. Thus the passage delights in describing spring time, and casts away grief with the telling of sweet joys. But I think we must not linger on the thought of these delightful descriptions, but by them be led to those mysteries which this speech signifies, that the treasury of the understanding be opened for what is hidden by these words. What is it, then, that we should say about this? When the chill of idolatry froze the human race, the lively nature of man was turned to the cult of immobile things. As it says 'They shall be like those things which they make and all who trust in them.' 3 And it was fitting that this be so. For as the true Divinity is seen by those who have received the qualities of the Divine nature, so he who attended to the vanity of idols was transformed into what he saw, as a stone from a man. Since, then, he was petrified by the worship of idols, the immobile nature froze the better in the frigidity of idolatry. Because of this, in the bitterness of this winter, the sun of righteousness arose, and spring was fashioned, the southern wind melted the ice, and with its rising whatever was cast down was warmed up by the rays of the word, so that man who was frozen like a stone was warmed by the spirit, and again the waters leaped up to eternal life. 4 It says: 'He breathed out His spirit and the waters flowed,' 5 and 'Who turned the stone into a lake of water, and the rock into a spring of water.' 6 Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 5 1 Song 2.10-13 2 Ps 73.17 3 Ps 113.8 4 Jn 4.14 5 Ps 147.18 6 Ps 113.8

The Harvest

'Nonne vos dicitis quod adhuc quatuor menses sunt, et messis venit? Ecce dico vobis: Levate oculos vestros et videte regiones, quia albae sunt jam ad messem.' Hic tangit istius spiritualis manducationis explanationem. Dicit autem quatuor: in quorum primo, sumit signum a cibi istius maturitate : in secundo, dat signum a laborantium in cibo remuneratione: in tertio a fructus utilitate: in quarto, confirmat ista a communi proverbiali sermone. Dicit ergo in primo duo: in quorum primo, messis exterioris ponit signum maturitatis: in secundo, ostendit quod hoc tempus praevenit messis spiritualis. Dicit ergo: 'Nonne vos,' qui per rusticanam agricolarum peritiam de exteriori messe loquimini, 'dicitis quod adhuc quatuor menses sunt,' scilicet temporis, 'et messis' mature ecce 'venit,' antequam matura sit ad metendum. Et hoc fuit circa Martium vel Aprilem: quia in Junio vel Julio metitur in terra promissionis, quae est medii climatis. Et hoc ideo fuit, quia vicinum tempus hiemis ante hoc fieri impedit maturitatem. Isti autem quatuor menses sunt quatuor lunae renovationes, quae sunt lex naturalis, lex scripta, prophetia, et illuminatio facta per Joannem, Haec enim quatuor lumina ducunt ad messem gratiae. De prima illuminatione in Psalmo: Signatum est super nos lumen vultus tui, Domine. De secunda: Mandatum lucerna est, et lex lux, et via vitae increpatio disciplinae. De tertia: Habemus firmiorem propheticum sermonem, cui benefacitis attendentes, quasi lucernae lucenti in caliginoso loco, donec dies elucescat. De quarta, Illuminare his qui in tenebris et in umbra mortis sedent. Istis enim accensionibus lucis, lumen Domini convaluit in mundo usque ad Christum. Sub Christo autem quintus incepit mensis maturitatis ad metendum. Unde dicit: 'Ecce dico vobis,' Evidenti signo, Samaritana demonstrata: 'Levate oculos vestros,' spirituales, et considerate qualiter se ad maturitatem Gentiles exhibent: et nolite esse pigri, sed facite ut formica, quae parat in aestate cibum sibi, et congregat in messe quod comedat. Respicite, et levate capita vestra, quoniam appropinquat redemptio vestra: quod a servitute servilis legis liberamini, et alios liberabitis. Jam hiems transiit, imber abiit, et recessit. Flores apparuerunt in terra nostra ... vineae florentes dederunt odorem suum. 'Et videte regiones,' Dispositas ad fructum fidei, 'quia jam albae sunt,' candore veritatis et devotionis vestitae. Omni tempore sint vestimenta tua candida. Candore enim reconciliationis vestiuntur, quando jam per calorem charitatis decocto humore pietatis in semine verbi, semen aridum ab humore concupiscentiae seipsum exhibet maturum ad metendum in horreum Ecclesiae. Mitte falcem tuam, et mete: quia jam maturatur messis terrae. Et hoc est, sicut ibidem dicitur : Quia venit hora ut metatur. Messis quidem multa, operarii autem pauci. Et ideo Pater caelestis dicit de Filii laboribus in terra. Ecce odor filii mei sicut odor agri pleni, cui benedixit Dominus. 'Et qui metit, mercedem accipit.' Hic dat signum, scilicet laborantium remunerationem. Dicit ergo: 'Et qui metit,' ad horreum Ecclesiae congregando, 'mercedem accipit.' Unusquisque propriam mercedem accipiet secundum suum laborem. Voca operarios, et redde illis mercedem. Venientes autem venient cum exsultatione, portantes manipulos suos. Sic ergo messores sunt Apostoli: seges autem in Ecclesiam congreganda fideles: horrea autem congregationes Ecclesiarum. Implebuntur horrea tua saturitate. Sed contra hoc esse videtur quod dicitur, Messores Angeli sunt. Sed ad hoc dicendum, quod est messis Ecclesiae et fidelium : et in hac messores sunt Apostoli qui praecidunt falce verbi fideles de agro mundanae conversationis, et congregant in horreum Ecclesiae. Et est messis mundi, et sic messores sunt Angeli qui praecidunt fideles, et ponunt in horreum caeli. Triticum autem congregate in horreum meum. Sic ergo 'qui metit, mercedem accipit.' 'Laetabuntur coram te, sicut qui laetantur in messe, sicut exsultant victores capta praeda, quando dividunt spolia.' 'Et congregat fructum in vitam aeternam.' Tangit hic fructus utilitatem. Haec autem utilitas est in duobus: in fructus dulcedine, et in fructus aeternitate. Primum tangit in hoc quod dicit: 'Et congregat fructum,' qui dicitur a fruor, frueris: quia dulcedine propria reficit: unde: Fructus autem Spiritus est charitas, gaudium, pax, etc. Et ibidem dicit Glossa Ambrosii: 'Has virtutes vocat fructus, quia sincera et sancta dulcedine suos delectant possessores. Ecce agricola exspectat pretiosum fructum terrae, patienter ferens donec accipiet temporaneum et serotinum. aeternitatem autem tangit cum dicit: Congregat fructum in vitam aeternam. Omnis enim qui in agro Domini laborat, congregat: et qui contra Dominum est, dispergit. Qui non est mecum, contra me est : et qui non colligit mecum, dispergit. Unde ei qui putabat se multa congregasse, quia cum Domino non congregavit, dicitur: Quae parasti, scilicet congregasti, cujus erunt? Congregat autem in vitam aeternam: Posui vos ut eatis,et fructum afferatis, et fructus vester maneat. Qui enim in gratia congregat, ille in vitam aeternam congregat: quia numquam excidet fructus ille, quamvis nos aliquando excidamus ab ipso. In haereditatem incorruptibilem, et incontaminatam, et immarcescibilem, conservatam in caelis in vobis, qui in virtute Dei custodimini. 'Ut et qui seminat simul gaudeat et qui metit.' In hoc enim est verbum verum: quia alius est qui seminat, et alius est qui metit. Hic determinat commune proverbium. Duo autem dicit: causam enim veritatis proverbii praemittit Dominus, dicens : 'Ut et qui seminat,' hoc est in agrum cordis primum semen verbi mittit, sicut legislator Moyses, et Prophetae. Exiit qui seminat, seminare, scilicet semen suum. Hoc enim primo fecit in Patriarchis, et Legislatore, et Prophetis. Illi enim euntes ibant et flebant, mittentes semina sua 1 Flentes quidem de Redemptore absente: mittentes tamen scientiam fidei de venturo Domino. Mane semina semen tuum, et vespere ne cesset manus tua: quia nescis quid magis oriatur, hoc aut illud: et si utrumque simul, melius erit. Mane quidem in Patriarchis: vespere autem in praedicatione Joannis, quae facta est in fine mundi. Utrumque autem in fidelibus est exortum, et utrumque periit in infidelibus. Sic ergo seminantes gaudent Patriarchae, Prophetae, et Joannes. 'Simul gaudeat,' in messe, 'et qui metit,' scilicet Apostolus qui fideles in Ecclesiam colligit. Quae enim seminaverit homo, haec et metet. Qui parce seminat, parce et metet: et qui seminat in benedictionibus, de benedictionibus et metet, scilicet vitam aeternam. Seminat enim Pater Propheta, et Patriarcha, et metet in Filio Apostolo. Et ideo simul gaudent in eadem fidelium congregatione Patriarchae, Prophetae, Apostoli. Unum enim gaudium fuit illorum trium. Unde unus Prophetarum dicit: Gaudens gaudebo in Domino, et exsultabit anima mea in Deo meo. Ut habeant gaudium meum impletum in semetipsis. De exsecratis autem qui ad fidem patrum non convaluerunt in frugem justitiae, dicitur: Seminastis multum, et intulistis parum, etc. Et post pauca sequitur: Et qui mercedes congregavit, misit eas in sacculum pertusum. Si autem objiciatur, quod etiam Apostoli seminaverunt. Dicendum, quod semen dicitur proprie et communiter. Proprie dicitur quod primum in agrum nudum jacitur : et sic soli Patriarchae et Prophetae seminaverunt. Aliquando dicitur semen quod superjacitur, ut aliud quod prius seminatum est, excitetur et inspissetur et adjuvetur, et quod perierat suppleatur: et hoc modo praedicatio Apostolorum dicitur semen. Semen est verbum Dei. Ager autem, hic mundus est. Hanc distinctionem probant opera rusticorum, qui quando vident non convalescere semina ante hiemem jacta, versus aestatem superseminant, ut spissentur antiqua et adjuventur. 'Quid vult seminiverbius hic dicere?' Antique dictum proverbium, 'quia alius,' in persona et statu, quia Patriarcha 'est,' et Propheta, et Joannes, 'qui seminat.' Novale vobis novale, et nolite serere super spinas. Seminabo domum Israel et domum Juda semine hominum et semine jumentorum. 'Et alius,' persona et stata, 'est qui metit,' sicut Apostolus. Ille enim metit sicut diximus. Messui myrrham meam cum aromatibus meis. In nova enim Ecclesia metebantur fideles in mortificatione carnis et odoramento virtutis. 'Ego misi vos metere quod vos non laborastis: alii laboraverunt, et vos in labores eorum introistis.' Explanatio est et adaptatio proverbii. Dicit ergo : 'Ego,' qui Dominus sum areae, 'misi vos.' Posui vos ut eatis, et fructum afferatis, et fructus vester maneat. 'Metere quod vos,' in personis et statu Apostolico, 'non seminastis.' 'Multi cibi in novalibus patrum, et aliis congregantur absque judicio.' Patriarchae enim novalia fecerunt, Legislator seminavit, Prophetae ligaverunt, Apostoli messuerunt. Et hoc factum est sine judicio veri intellectus : quia tota Synagoga hoc non intellexit. Seram, et alius comedat, et progenies mea eradicetur. Hoc pro statu Synagogae dictum est. Qui operatur terram suam inaltabit acervum frugum: et qui operatur justitiam ipse exaltabitur. 'Alii,' Patriarchae et Prophetae, 'laboraverunt,' corda vertendo, semen primi verbi seminando, sicut et ipsa Samaritana patrum facta et instituta pro se induxit, et Prophetae revelationem quaesivit. 'Laborantem agricolam oportet primum de fructibus percipere.' 'Et vos in labores eorum introistis.' Quia verbis ipsorum pro testimonio utimini ad veritatis confirmationem. Ubi non sunt boves praesepe vacuum est: ubi autem plurimae segetes, ibi manifesta est fortitudo bovis. Boves arabant, et asinae pascebantur juxta eos. Sic enim Patriarchis arantibus, Moyse seminante, Prophetis irrigantibus, Deo dante incrementum et maturitatem, et Apostolis metentibus in horrea Ecclesiarum : sic fit hoc quod dicitur, Erit germen Domini in magnificentia et gloria, et fructus terrae sublimis, et exsultatio his qui salvati fuerint de Israel. Et illud: Qui egrediuntur impetu ad Jacob, florebit et germinabit Israel, et implebunt faciem orbis semine. Tam enim Patriarchae quam Legislator, et Prophetae, et Apostoli impetu Spiritus sancti egressi sunt ex Jacob: et ex illis et in illis floruit promissionibus, et germinavit sacramentis Israel, et tota orbis facies in gentibus semine Dei verbi est impleta. Sanctus Albertus Magnus, Commentarium in Joannem, Caput IV Source: Here, p90-92

'Do you not say: in four months and the harvest shall come? Behold, I say to you: lift up your eyes and look at the lands, because they are already white for harvest.' 1 This touches on the explanation of spiritual feeding. And He says four things, the first of which is the taking up of a sign from the ripening of this food. The second the giving of a sign for the reward from the labouring for food. The third the usefulness of the fruit. The fourth is His confirmation of this with a word from a common saying. Firstly, then, He says two things. Initially He gives a sign from the ripening of the exterior harvest, secondly He shows that this time comes before the spiritual harvest. Therefore He says, 'Do you' who speak from the rustic experience of farmers according to the exterior harvest, 'not say: in four months,' that is of time, 'and the harvest,' behold the ripening, 'shall come,' before there is the ripeness for reaping. And this was said around March or April, because in June or July what the earth promised is reaped, which is the height of the year. And so it was that the proximity of winter in the time before delayed the coming of ripeness. These four months are the four renewals of the moon, which are the natural law, the written law, the prophets and the enlightenment made through John. These four lights lead to the harvest of grace. Concerning the first illumination, in the Psalm: 'The light of your face is sealed on us, O Lord.' 2 Concerning the second: 'The commandment is a lamp and the law a light and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life.' 3 And we have a firmer prophetic word, referring to him who does good, 'as the light of a lamp in a dark place, until the day shines forth.' 4 Concerning the fourth: 'To enlighten those in darkness and sitting in the shadow of death.' 5 For with the kindling of these lights, the light of the Lord gives growth in the world, even to Christ. Until Christ there are five months of maturity until ripening. Whence He says: 'Behold, I say to you.' With a manifest sign, as given to the Samaritan woman: 'Lift up your eyes.' Spiritually, and consider in what manner the Gentiles exhibit ripening, and do not be lazy but work like the ant which prepares its food in summer and gathers at harvest that it may eat. 6 'Look, and lift up your heads, because your salvation comes near,' 7 you are being freed from the servitude of a servile law and you shall free others. 'Now winter has passed, the rain has gone and departed, flowers appear in our land...the flourishing vines give their scents.' 8 'And see the lands...' Inclined for the fruit of faith. 'Because now they are white,' with the brightness of truth and the garments of devotion. 'May your vestments always be pure.' 9 They are clothed in white for reconciliation, when now through the fire of love the melted moisture of piety wets the seed of the word, and by the moisture the dry word reveals its desire to ripen for reaping into the granary of the Church. 'Take your scythe and harvest, because now the harvest of the earth is ripe.' 10 And this is, as it says in the same place, 'Because the hour of reaping has come.' 'The harvest is many, but the workers few.' 11 And therefore the heavenly Father says of the labours of the Son on earth: 'Behold, the odour of my son is as the odour of the abundant field, which the Lord has blessed.' 12 'And he who reaps, receives the reward.' 13 And here He gives a sign of the remuneration of the labourer. Therefore He says, 'And he who reaps,' for the gathering into the granary of the Church, 'receives the reward.' 'Each one shall receive his reward according to his work.' 14 'Call the workers, and give them their pay.' 15 'Coming they shall come with joy, bearing their sheaves.' 16 So, then, the harvesters are the Apostles, and the faithful are crops gathered into the Church, for the granaries are the congregations of the Churches. 'Your barns shall be filled to satiety.' 17 But in opposition to this it seems to be said that 'The reapers are angels.' 18 But to this it must be said that there is a harvest of the Church and of the faithful, and in the former the reapers are the Apostles, who first cut with the scythe of word from the field of worldly life and gather into the granary of the Church. And there is a harvest of the world, and here the reapers are the angels who reap the faithful and place them in the granary of heaven. 'Gather wheat into my barn.' 19 So, then 'he who reaps, receives the reward.' 'They shall rejoice before you, like those who rejoice in the harvest, like victors exultant over captured spoil, when they divide the spoil.' 20 'And he gathers the crop to eternal life.' This touches on the usefulness of the fruit. And this utility is twofold. In the sweetness of the crop and in its eternity. First it touches on that which is said: 'And he gathers the crop' which says that what I enjoy, you shall enjoy, because its own sweetness refreshes, whence, 'The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love and joy and peace' 21 And it says in the Gloss on Ambrose: 'These virtues he calls fruits because with a sincere and holy sweetness they delight those who possess them.' 'Behold, the farmer hopes for the precious fruit of the earth, patiently enduring until it receives the early and late rains.' 22 And it touches on eternity when He says, 'And He gathers the crop to eternal life.' For all who labour in the field of the Lord gather and He who is against the Lord scatters. 'He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.' 23 Whence to him who thought he had gathered much for himself, because he did not gather with the Lord, it is said: 'For whom have you prepared what you have gathered; for whom shall it be?' 24 For He gathers into eternal life: 'I chose you and appointed you that you should bear fruit, and your fruit will abide.' 25 For he who gathers in grace, He gathers into eternal life, because He never cuts off the fruit, though we sometimes cut ourselves off from Him. 'Into an incorruptible inheritance, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are guarded by God's virtue.' 26 'So that even he who sows shall rejoice at the same time as he who reaps.' In this there is a true word. Because one is he who sows, another he who reaps. Here He gives exactitude to a common saying. He says two things: first the Lord gives the reason of the truth of the proverb, saying, 'So that even He who sows,' that is, first placing the seed of the word in the field of the heart, as the legislator Moses and the Prophets. 'A sower went out to sow,' 27 that is, His own seed.' This is first done with the Patriarchs and the Legislator and the Prophets. 'Going out, they went out weeping, sowing their seed.' 16 Weeping because of the absence of the Saviour, yet setting down knowledge of the faith of the Lord's coming, 'In the morning sow your seed, and at evening do not withhold your hand, because you do not know which will grow more, this one of that, and if both do so, it is better.' 28 In the morning were the Patriarchs, in the evening the preaching of John, because it was at the end of the age. Both indeed produced shoots among the faithful, and both perished among the faithless. So the sowers rejoice, the Patriarchs and the Prophets and John. 'At the same time they shall rejoice,' in the harvest, 'and he who reaps' that is, the Apostle who gathers the faithful into the Church. 'What a man has sown he shall reap.' 29 'He who sows little, reaps little, and he who sows bountifully, shall reap bountifully,' 30 that is, to eternal life. The Father sows in the Prophet and the Patriarch, and He shall reap in the Son with the Apostle. And therefore they rejoice at the same time, in that same gathering of the faithful, the Patriarchs and Prophets and the Apostles. For there was one joy for the three. Whence one of the Prophets says: 'Rejoicing I shall rejoice in the Lord and my soul shall exult in my God.' 31 'That they shall have my joy fulfilled in themselves.' 32 Concerning the curse of those who do not exert themselves in the faith of the fathers for the fruit of righteousness, it is said by Haggai: 'You have sown much, you have brought in little.' And a little after: 'And he who gathers his pay puts it into a sack full of holes.' 33 If it is objected that the Apostles sowed, it must be said that the seed is spoken of properly and generally. Properly it is said that first it is cast into the bare field, and so only the Patriarchs and Prophets sowed. Sometimes the seed is spoken of as thrown upon, so that which was previously sown be stirred and expand and grow, and that which was lacking supplied, and in this way the preaching of the Apostles is called seed. 'The seed is the word of God.' 34 For the field is this world. This distinction is confirmed by the work of farmers, who when they see that the seed sown before winter is not healthy, sow again toward summer, that the old gain weight and be helped. 'What does this word-seeder wish to say' 35 In this is a true word.' 36 An old saying is spoken, 'For one there is' in person and state, the Patriarchs, and the Prophets and John, 'who sows.' 'Go to your fallow field, and do not sow on thorns' 37 'I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of men and the seed of beasts.' 38 'There is another' in persons and state, 'who reaps,' so the Apostle. For he reaps, as we have said. 'I harvest my myrrh with my spices.' 39 For into the new gathering they reaped the faithful in the mortification of the flesh and the aroma of virtue. 'I send you to reap that for which you did not labour. Other laboured and you have entered into their labours.' 40 The explanation is an adaptation of the saying. Therefore He says. 'I' I who am the Lord of the threshing floor, 41 'send you.' 'I have chosen you that you might bear fruit and your fruit shall abide.' 42 'To reap what you,' in the person and state of an Apostle, did not sow.' 'Much food in the fields of the fathers, and by others it is gathered without justice.' 43 For the Patriarchs made the field, and the Legislator sowed it, the Prophets confirmed and the Apostles reaped. And this used to be done without the judgement of true understanding. Because the synagogue did not understand this. 'I sow and another eats, and my offspring perish.' 44 Which is said of the state of the Synagogue. 'He who works his earth shall heap up fruit, and he who works righteousness shall be exalted.' 45 'Others' the Patriarchs and Prophets, 'they laboured,' with hearts turned to the sowing of the first seed, as the Samaritan woman brought herself to something done and established by the fathers and sought the revelation of a prophet. 46 'First the farmer must labour for the gathering of fruit.' 47 'And you enter into their labours.' Because you use their words for testimony of the confirmation of truth. 'Where there are no oxen the manger is empty, where they are many crops there is seen the strength of the ox.' 48 'The oxen were ploughing and the asses feeding beside them.' 49 So the Patriarchs plough, Moses sows, the Prophets water, God gives the increase and ripening, and the Apostle reaps into the granary of the Church. So is done what is said: 'There shall be a shoot of the Lord magnificent and glorious, and great fruit of the land, and exultation in this by those of Israel who were saved.' 50 And 'With vigour they shall spring up in Jacob, and Israel shall flower and put forth shoots, and with seed they shall fill the face of the earth.' 51 For so the Patriarchs, like the Legislator, and the Prophets, and the Apostles with the vigour of the Holy Spirit, have gone out from Jacob, and from them and in them He brought to flower the promises and cast forth the seed of the mysteries of Israel, and all the face of the earth among the peoples was filled was the seed of the word of God. Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St John, Chapter 4 1 Jn 4.35 2 Ps 4.7 3 Prov 6.23 4 2 Peter 1.19 5 Lk 1.79 6 Prov 6.8 7 Lk 21.28 8 Song 2.11 9 Eccles 9.8 10 Apoc 14.15 11 Mt 9.37, Lk 10.2 12 Genes 27.27 13 Jn 4.36 14 1 Cor 3.8 15 Mt 20.8 16 Ps 125.6 17 Prov 3.10 18 Mt 13.39 19 Mt 13.30 20 Isaiah 9.3 21 Galat 5.22 22 James 5.7 23 Lk 11.23 24 Lk 12.20 25 Jn 15.16 26 1 Pet 1.4-5 27 Mt 13.1 28 Eccle 11.6 29 Galat 6.8 30 2 Cor 9.6 31 Isaiah 61.10 32 Jn 17.13 33 Haggai 1.6 34 Lk 8.11 35 Act 17.18 36 Jn 4.37 37 Jerem 4.3 38 Jerem 31.27 39 Song 5.1 40 Jn 4.38 41 Lk 3.17 42 Jn 15.16 43 Prov 13.23 44 Job 31.8 45 Sirach 20.30 46 Jn 4.7-26 47 2 Tim 2.6 48 Prov 14.4 49 Job 1.14 50 Isaiah 4.2 51 Isaiah 27.6

Inheriting The Earth

Οἱ δὲ πραεῖς κληρονομήσουσι γῆν. Οἱ ἀπὸ Οὐαλεντίνου καὶ τινων ἑτέρων, οἰόμενοι τὸν Σωτῆρα λέγειν τὰ μὴ εἰρημένα ἐν τοῖς παλαιοῖς Γράμμασιν, ἐντεῦθεν ἐλεγχέσθωσαν, ἀκούοντες, ὅτι Μακάριοι πραεῖς, ὅτι αὐτοὶ κληρονομήσουσι τὴν γῆν. Εἴρητο μὲν καὶ πρότερον διὰ Δαβιδ ὑπὸ τοῦ αὐτοῦ Πνεύματος. Οἰκονομικώτερον δὲ λίαν ὁ Δαβὶδ ἀντιπαρεξάγει ταῖς τῶν παρανόμων κολάσεσι τὰ τῶν ἁγίων γέρα. Ἀκονᾷ δὲ διὰ τούτων αὐτοὺς εἰς ἔφεσιν εὐανδρίας πνευματικῆς, δι' ἧς ἂν γένοιτο κατορθοῦν πάντα τρόπον ἀρετῆς. Ταύτῃ τοί φησιν· Οἱ δὲ πραεῖς κληρονομήσουσι γῆν, τὴν ἄνω δηλαδή. Εἰ γὰρ ἐστιν ἐν οὐρανοῖς κατὰ Παῦλον Ἰερουσαλὴμ καὶ Σιὼν ὄρος ἀκόλουθον καὶ γῆν νοεῖν, ἥν κληρονομήσουσιν οἱ νενικηκότες πάθος ὀλέθριον, τὴν ὀργὴν, ἥτις καὶ φρονίμους ἀπόλλυσι. Κατ' ἀρετὴν γὰρ ἐνεργεῖν ἐμποδίζονται. Κατὰ διάμετρον δέ εἰσιν ἀλλήλοις πραότης καὶ ὀργή. Ὅπου γὰρ ὀργὴ, οὐδαμῶς πραότης· καὶ ὅπου πραότης, οὐδαμῶς ἐκεῖ ὀργή. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαί Εἰς Ψαλμους, Ψαλμος ΛϚ' Source: Migne PG 17.125c-128a

And the meek shall inherit the earth... 1 The Valentinians and certain others, who think that the Saviour spoke of nothing which is to found in the Old Testament, are here refuted, hearing that 'blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.' 2 For David said this before in the Holy Spirit. Very acutely David contrasts the torments of the wicked and the rewards of the saints. He points exactly by the latter that the former should desire a noble spirit, by which every way of virtue may be set right. Because of this he says that 'The meek shall inherit the earth.' Clearly that which is above. For if, as Paul says, Jerusalem and Mount Sion are in heaven, 3 it follows that the earth we should think on is there, which they inherit who have conquered every destructive passion, certainly anger which ruins even the prudent, who acting against virtue hinder themselves. Meekness and anger are utterly opposed to one another. For where there is anger, there can be no meekness, and where there is meekness, there is no anger at all. Origen, Excerpta On the Psalms, from Psalm 36 1 Ps 36.11 2 Mt 5.5 3 Galat 4.25-26

Giving Growth

Ὁ παντεπόπτης Θεὸς, ὥσπερ τοῖς ἔργοις ἡμῶν ἀξίας ἐπιφορὰς ἀπένειμεν, οὕτω καὶ τοῖς λογισμοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἑκουσίοις νοήμασιν. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Τῶν Οἰομένων Ἐξ Ἔργων Δικαιοῦσθαι Source: Migne PG 65.957b

God, who sees all things, as He gives growth to our works which are worthy of it, so He does to our meditations and the thoughts of our will. Saint Mark The Ascetic, On Those Who Think Themselves Justified By Works

Life And Humility

Δένδρον ζωῆς εἰς ὕψος ἐγειρόμενον, ταπείνωσις. Ὑπερέχιος, Παραίνεσις Ἀσκητών Source: Migne PG 79.1476a

The tree of life rising up to the heights is humility. Hyperechius, from The Exhortation to Monks

The Tree Of Life And Righteousness

Ἐκ καρποῦ δικαιοσύνης φύεται δένδρον ζωῆς ἀφαιροῦνται δὲ ἄωροι ψυχαὶ παρανόμων... Τοῦτο τό δένδρον τῆς ζωῆς ἐστι τὸ φυτευθὲν ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ παραδείσου, οὗ ἂψασθαι μετὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐκωλύθη ὁ Ἀδὰμ, τὰ σπέρματα τῆς δικαιοσύνη, ἀποβαλὼν, ἀφ' ὧν φύεται τὸ δένδρον τῆς ζωῆς. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαὶ Εἰς Παροιμίας, Κεφ ΙΑ´ Source: Migne PG 17.192c

From the fruit of righteousness the tree of life grows and the unripe souls of trespassers are borne away... 1 This is the tree of life planted in the midst of paradise, 2 which Adam was not permitted to touch after sin, 3 having thrown away the seeds of righteousness from which the tree of of life grows. Origen, On Proverbs, Chapter 11 1 Prov 11.30 2 Gen 2.9 3 Gen 3.22

The Cedars Of Lebanon

Εἶδον τὸν ἀσεβῆ ὑπερυψούμενον, καὶ ἐπαιρόμενον ὡς τὰς κέδρουσ τοῦ Λιβάνου. καὶ παρῆλθον καὶ ἰδοὺ οὐκ ἦν καὶ ἐζήτησα αὐτόν καὶ οὐχ εὑρέθη ὁ τόπος αὐτοῦ, φύλασσε ἀκακίαν καὶ ἰδὲ εὐθύτητα ὅτι ἔστιν ἐγκατάλειμμα ἀνθρώπῳ εἰρηνικῷ. Οὕτως ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος διὰ πείρας ἐληλυθέναι τοῦ τέλουσ τῶν ἀσεβῶν φησιν· Οὐ γὰρ ἑξ ἀκοῆς πάλαι ποτὲ γενόμενα ἑτέρων λεγόντων ἀκήκοα· ἀλλ' αὐτὸς εἶδον, φησὶ, βλασφήμους ἄνδρας καὶ ἀθέους θαυμὰομένους μὲν ὑπὸ πάντων, ἐπαιρομένους δὲ καὶ γαυριῶνταη, οἰομένους τε διαιωνίζειν ἐν τῷ βίῳ. Ἀλλ' ὡς ἔτι παρ' ἑμαυτῷ διελογιζειν πῶς οἴδε, καίπερ ἀσεβεῖς ὄντες, τοσούτων τετυχήκασι, δεύτερον αὐτοὺς θεάσασθαι βουληθεὶς, ἐπῇρα τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς· οἱ δὲ οὐκ ἧσαν οὐδαμοῦ, ἀφανεῖς δ' ἀθρόως ὑπῆρχον. Εἶτα δὲ ἴχνος αὐτῶν καὶ ὑπόλειμμ βουληθεὶς καταλαβεῖν, οὐδὲ τὸν τόπον ἐν ᾧ ἐστἀναι ἐδόκουν εὑρεῖν δεδύνημαι. Διόπερ ἐπειδὴ τοιοῦτο τὸ τούτων τέλος, φεῦγε σὺ ὁ μαθητευόμενος τοῦτον τῶν ἀσεβῶν τὸν τρόπον, καὶ ἀπόνιψον μὲν ἑαυτοῦ πᾶσαν κακίαν, ἀγάπησον δὲ τὴν εὐθεῖαν ὁδόν. Μένει γὰρ ἐγκατάλειμμα καὶ ἐλπὶς ἀγαθὴ, τῷ τὴν εἰρήνην καὶ τὴν φιλίαν τὴν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν μεταδιώξαντι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο εἰρηνικῷ ἀνθρώπῳ γενομένῳ. Κατὰ δὲ τὸν Σύμμαχον, Φύλασσε, φησὶν, ἀπλότητα, καὶ ὄρα εὐθὺ, ὅτι ἔστι μέλλοντα ἀνθρώπῳ εἰρηνικῷ. Εὐσέβιος ὁ Καισάρειος, Ὑπομνηματα Ἐις Τους ψαλμους, ψαλμος ΛϚ' Source: Migne PG 23.337a-b

I saw the impious man exalted and elevated like the cedars of Lebanon, and I passed by and, behold, he was not, and I sought him and no trace of him was found. Guard innocence and look to righteousness, for a remnant is for the man of peace. 1 Thus in the present he speaks of the end of the impious of which he has experience. For this was not some deed of old told by others and received in the ear, but he says that he himself saw blasphemous men and the godless held as a wonder by all, and lifted up and exalted, who thought they would remain alive forever. But while he thought to himself how they, although impious, obtained such things, and then how they wished to be seen and adored in the eyes, they were not, suddenly they vanished. And then, wishing to consider what they had left behind, there was no place he could find to stand and look upon them. Whence because this is their end, flee, O you who have learnt this, the ways of the impious. Wash off every iniquity of yours and love the right way. For there remains a remnant and good hope for him who pursues the peace and friendship of God, by which the peaceful man is made. For according to the translation of Symmachus, 'I guarded innocence,' he says, 'and I considered right, because the future is for the man of peace.' Eusebius of Caesarea, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 36 1 Ps 36.35-37

Grass And Plants

Producens fenum jumentis, et herbam servituti hominum, ut educat panem de terra... Excolit quod superius dixit, ut terra illa coelesti imbre satiata producat fenum jumentis, id est eleemosynas faciat his qui passim petunt, de quibus dictum est: Omni petenti te tribue. Jumenta enim appellati sunt, quia verecundiam non habentes propter ingluviem ventris, in egentium voces petulanter erumpunt sicut jumenta, quae dum esuriunt, nequaquam possunt a propriis vocibus abstinere. Herbam vero servitui hominum, hoc est, ut illi necessari tribuantur, de quo scriptum est. Desudet eleemosyna in manu tua, donec invenias justum cui eam tradas. Hic enim homnies appellati sunt, qui ratione plenissimi indigentiam suam tolerantiae viribus tegunt. Sic duo genera egentium talibus allusionibus exprimuntur. Sequitur, ut educat panem de terra. Educitur panis de terra, quando Domini praecepta complentur, ut de istis carnalibus atque visualibus cibus fiat unde anima coelesti refectione pascatur. Panis enim vere noster est Christus, qui tunc de terra producitur, quando aliquid indigentibus ejus consideratione praestatur. Sive hoc potest de praedicatoribus dici, qui coelestibus divitiis imperitorum hominum indigentias misericorditer expleverunt. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus CIII Source: Migne PL 70.733a-c

Bringing forth grass for cattle, and plants for the service of men, that he may draw forth bread from the earth... 1 He develops what he has said previously, that from the earth which has been supplied with heaven's rain he might forth grass for cattle, that is, he might give alms to those who seek them everywhere, concerning which it is said, 'Give to everyone who asks from you.' 2 For they are called cattle because they lack self control regarding the gluttony of the stomach, and in want they burst forth with petulant voices like cattle, which, while they thirst, they have no power in themselves to silence. Plants, however, are for the service of men, that is, they are given to those who are in need, concerning which it has been written, 'Let alms grow damp with sweat in your hand until you know you give them to someone righteously.' 3 For here they are called men, who replete with reason cover up poverty in the support of men. So there are two classes of the needy expressed by such allusions. It follows, 'that he may draw forth bread from the earth,' Bread is drawn from the earth when the commandments of the Lord are fulfilled, as when food comes from things carnal and visible, so by that the soul may feed on heavenly refreshments. For our true bread is Christ, who is drawn forth from the earth when something is presented in consideration of His needy ones. Or it is possible to say this of those who preach, who mercifully satisfy with the riches of heaven the poverty of men. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 103 1 Ps 103.14 2 Lk 6.30 3 Didache 1.6

Wheat And Weeds

Οἱ γεωργοὶ τὰ συμφόμενα τῷ σίτῳ ζιζάνια ῥιζόθεν ἀνασπῶσιν, ἵνα καθαρὸς ὁ καρπὸς εἰς τὸν ἐμητον ἀπαντήσῃ. Χρὴ τοίνυν καὶ σὲ τὰς ἐπιθολούεας τὸν νοῦν κακίας ἐκτεμεῖν, ἵνα ὑγιὴς ἡ συνείδησις, καὶ παντὸς πάθους ἀμέτοχος, τὴν βρῶσιν τὴν μένουσιν εἰς ζωὴν κατεργάζηται. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΥΛΒ' Κελσῳ Source: Migne PG 78.421a

When the wheat sprouts up farmers tear up the weeds by the root so that pure fruit may come to harvest. You, then, in the same way cut off that which corrupts your soul, that you might be healthy, and apart from every vile attachment make the bread that remains forever. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 432 to Celsus

A Sower Went Out

Exiit seminator seminare, non de loco ad locum transmutans, sed voluntate. Nec enim venit, ubi non erat, nec relinquit, unde egressus est: quia Deus ubique est, praeter ubi esse noluerit. Aut certe ideo exivit, quia ibi est Deus, ubi justitia ejus colitur: ubi autem justitia ejus non est, nec ipse est ibi. Et qui intra justitiam suam sunt, intus sunt, qui autem extra justitiam ejus sunt, foris habentur. Propterea quamdiu fuit in caelius, ubi omnis sunt justi, intus erat: veniens autem in mundum, qui totus extra justitiam erat Dei, foras exivit, ut ipsum faceret intus. Quoniam ergo omnes gentes, Dei justitiam contemnentes, degebant sub potestate diaboli: ideo exivit, ut plantaret justitiam in mundo, ubi non erat prius propter peccata ipsorum. Exiit qui seminat, seminare. Non sufficit ei dicere, Seminare exivit: sed addidit, Exiit qui seminat, seminare: ut ostenderet, quia non erat novus seminator, nec modo ad hoc opus primum accesserat: sed hoc semper habuit in natura, ut semper seminaret. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia XXXI Source: Migne PG 56.792

A sower went out to sow, 1 not moving from place to place, but by the will. For He does not come where He was not, nor does He leave that place from which He has gone, because God is everywhere, apart from where He does not wish to be. Or certainly, then, He went out, because God is there where His righteousness is cultivated, and where His righteousness is not, He is not there. And they who are amid His righteousness, they are inside, and they who are not amid His righteousness, there are outside. Besides while He was in heaven, where all are righteous, He was inside, and coming to the world, which was wholly outside the righteousness of God, He went out, that He make what is inside. Because all the peoples scorned the righteousness of God, they were living under the power of the devil, therefore He went out, that He might plant righteousness in the world, where it was not because of their sin. 'He who sows went out to sow.' It is not enough to say of Him, 'He went out to sow,' but He adds, 'He who sows went out to sow,' that He might show that He was not a new sower, nor did he come to this work as a novelty, but He has this in His own nature, for He is always sowing. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 31 1 Mt 13.3

The Word And The Earth

Καὶ ἐξήνεγκε, φησὶν, ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου, σπεῖρον σπέρμα κατὰ γένος, καὶ καθ᾽ ὁμοιότητα, καὶ ξύλον κάρπιμον ποιοῦν καρπὸν, οὗ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ κατὰ γένος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Ἐννόει μοι ἐνταῦθα, ἀγαπητὲ, πῶς τῷ ῥήματι τοῦ Δεσπότου τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο τῇ γῇ. Οὔτε γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ἦν ὁ ἐργαζόμενος, οὐκ ἄροτρον, οὐ βοῶν συνεργία, οὐκ ἄλλη τις περὶ αὐτὴν ἐπι μέλεια, ἀλλὰ μόνον ἤκουσε τοῦ ἐπιτάγματος, καὶ εὐθέως τὰ παρ᾽ ἑαυτῆς ἐπεδείξατο. Ἐκ τούτου μανθάνομεν, ὅτι καὶ νῦν οὐ τῶν γηπόνων ἡ ἐπιμέλεια, οὐδὲ ὁ πόνος, καὶ ἡ λοιπὴ ταλαιπωρία ἡ κατὰ τὴν γεωργίαν γινομένη τῶν καρπῶν ἡμῖν τὴν φορὰν χαρίζεται, ἀλλὰ πρὸ τού των ἁπάντων τὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ ῥῆμα, τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς πρὸς αὐτὴν γενόμενον. Ἄλλως τε δὲ καὶ τὴν μετὰ ταῦτα ἀγνωμοσύνην τῶν ἀνθρώπων διορθουμένη ἡ θεία Γραφὴ, ἀκριβῶς ἡμῖν ἅπαντα διηγεῖται κατὰ τὴν τάξιν τῶν γεγονότων, ἵνα ἀναστείλῃ τῶν μάτην φθεγγομένων τὰς ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκείων λογισμῶν ληρωδίας τῶν λέγειν ἐπιχειρούντων, ὅτι τῆς τοῦ ἡλίου συνεργίας δεῖ πρὸς τὴν τῶν καρπῶν τελεσφόρησιν. Εἰσὶ δέ τινες οἳ καὶ τῶν ἄστρων τισὶ ταῦτα ἐπιγράφειν ἐπιχειροῦσι. Διὰ τοῦτο διδάσκει ἡμᾶς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, ὅτι πρὸ τῆς τῶν στοιχείων τούτων δημιουργίας, τῷ λόγῳ αὐτοῦ καὶ τῷ προστάγματι εἴκουσα ἡ γῆ πάντα τὰ σπέρματα ἐκδίδωσιν, οὐδενὸς ἑτέρου δεηθεῖσα πρὸς συνεργίαν. Ἤρκεσε γὰρ αὐτῇ ἀντὶ πάντων τὸ ῥῆμα ἐκεῖνο τὸ λέγον· Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου. Κατακολουθοῦντες τοίνυν τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ, μηδέποτε ἀνεχώμεθα τῶν ἁπλῶς τὰ παριστάμενα λεγόντων. Κἂν γὰρ ἄνθρωποι τὴν γῆν ἐργάζωνται, κἂν τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀλόγων συνεργίαν ἔχωσι, καὶ πολλὴν τῇ γῇ ἐπιμέλειαν ἐπιδείξωνται, κἂν ἀέρων εὐκρασία γένη ται, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἄλλα συνδράμῃ, εἰ μὴ τὸ νεῦμα τοῦ Δεσπότου γένοιτο, πάντα εἰκῆ καὶ μάτην, καὶ οὐδὲν ἔσται πλέον τῶν πολλῶν πόνων καὶ καμάτων, μὴ τῆς ἄνωθεν χειρὸς συνεφαπτομένης, καὶ τὴν τελεσφόρησιν χαριζομένης τοῖς γινομένοις. Τίς οὐκ ἂν ἐκπλαγείη καὶ θαυμάσειεν ἐννοῶν, ὅπως τοῦ Δεσπότου τὸ ῥῆμα τὸ λέγον, Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου, εἰς αὐτὰς τῆς γῆς τὰς λαγόνας κατελθὸν, καθάπερ πέπλῳ τινὶ θαυμαστῷ, οὕτω τῇ τῶν ἀνθῶν ποικιλίᾳ τῆς γῆς τὸ πρόσωπον κατεκόσμησε; Καὶ ἦν ἰδεῖν ἀθρόον τὴν πρότερον ἄμορφον καὶ ἀκατασκεύαστον τοσοῦτον δεξα μένην τὸ κάλλος, ὡς μικροῦ δεῖν ἁμιλλᾶσθαι τῷ οὐρανῷ. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος μετ᾽ οὐ πολὺ μέλλει κοσμεῖσθαι τῇ τῶν ἄστρων ποικιλίᾳ, οὕτω καὶ αὐτὴ τῇ διαφορᾷ τῶν ἀνθῶν οὕτως ἐκαλλωπίσατο Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Εἰς Την Γενεσιν, Ὁμιλια E' Source: Migne PG 53.51-52

'And the earth produced,' it says, 'plants which bore their seed according to their kind, and fruit trees which contained their seed in themselves, each according to its kind.' 1 Think with me here, beloved, how the Divine word has done everything on earth. For there was no man who worked the land, no plough, no help of oxen, nor anything else for such care, but the earth alone heard the command and immediately brought forth these things from itself. From this we learn that even today it is not the care of farmers, or labour alone, or any other agricultural work, which grants the bringing forth of fruits, but before all these things the word of God, which from the beginning made it so. So to correct the future ungrateful minds of men, Holy Scripture carefully tells us everything according to the order of creation, lest rise up the vain things of the speech of those who manufacture such things from their own nonsensical thoughts, that the assistance of the sun is necessary for the bringing forth of fruits. And there are some who ascribe influence to the stars. But the Holy Spirit teaches us that before the formation of those elements, the earth, obedient to the word and command of God, produced all its seeds, having nothing else to assist it. The speech: 'Let the earth bring forth verdant plants' was enough for it for everything. Following, then, the Divine Scripture, let us not bear those who stand against these things. For even though men cultivate the land, and make use of the help of animals, and have great care for the earth, although the seasons may be agreeable, and all things happen as they wish, without the Lord's approval, everything else is in vain and falls into emptiness, and no labour nor sweat profits unless the hand of the Lord aids from above and brings all these things to their end. Who would not wonder and admire, thinking how this word: 'Let the earth produce verdant plants,' penetrates into the depths of the earth and, as with some wondrous garment, adorns the face of the earth with the variety of flowers that cover it. See that suddenly the earth, which before was without beauty and order, receives such beauty that it almost rivals the heavens. For as heaven was soon to be adorned with the variety of stars, the earth was embellished with the variety of flowers. Saint John Chrysostom, On Genesis, from the Fifth Homily 1 Gen 1.12