State super vias et videte et interrogate de semitis antiquis quae sit via bona et ambulate in ea et invenietis refrigerium animabus vestris

31 Dec 2017

Circumcision and The Eighth Day


Εἴ τις μὴ περιτμηθῇ, φησὶ, τῇ ὀγδόῃ ἡμέρᾳ, ἐξολοθρευθήσεται. Οὐχι τὸ ἄκακον καὶ ἀνόητον νήπιον κολάζεται, μὴ περιτμηθέν· μᾶλλον γὰρ ἐχρῆν τοὺς γονεῖς τιμωρεῖσθαι. Ἀλλ' αὐτὸς κολάζει, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, ἐὰν μὴ διὰ πίστεως καὶ εὐχῆς περιτμηθῇς τὴν κακίαν· νηπιάζειν γὰρ τῇ κακίᾳ κελεύει ὁ Ἀπόστολος. Ἑαυτοὺς τοίνυν περιτέμνωμεν τῇ μαχαίρᾳ τοῦ Πνεύματος, ἀποβλέποντες εἰς τὴν ὀγδόην ἡμέραν, τουτέστιν εἰς τὸν μέλλοντα αἰῶνα. Περιτεμνώμεθα δὲ πᾶν σαρκικὸν φρόνημα, καὶ λόγον καὶ ἔργον παράνομον, ἵνα μὴ ἐξολοθρευθῶμεν, καὶ ἀλλοτριωθῶμεν ἐκ μέσου τοῦ λαοῦ τῶν σωζομένων διὰ Χριστοῦ.

Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΙΓ', Πτολεμαιῳ
'If someone is not circumcised,' He says, 'on the eighth day, he shall be exterminated.' 1 An innocent and unthinking child is not to be chastised if uncircumcised, but rather let the parents be punished. And He chastises, O man, if by faith and prayer you are not circumcised from vice; for infants in evil we should be, the Apostle exhorts. 2 Let us, then, be circumcised with the sword of the Holy Spirit, considering this the eighth day, that is, the future age. And let us circumcise every sort of thought and word of flesh and iniquitous work, lest we be destroyed, even cast out from the midst of the people of God who are saved through Christ.


Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 13, To Ptolemaius

1 Gen 17. 14
2 1 Cor 14. 20





30 Dec 2017

Abraham and Christmas

Respondit Jesus, Abraham exsultavit ut videret diem meum; vidit, et gravisus est.

Ille, ut ostenderet vivere Abraham, dixit illum vidisse diem suum, id est diem quo mundo natus est Christus. Dierum conditor non tenetur die, temporis auctor tempora nescit; sed Christus propter hominem homo natus, et diem suscepit et tempus. 'Abraham exsultavit ut videret diem meum.' Si Moyses et Elias in monte occurrunt, ut promissum conspicerent Christum, quomodo nec Abraham occurrit ad partum Virginis, ut promissam benedictionem in gentibus, id est, in semine suo, patientissimus exspectator intenderet?


Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo CXXXI

Jesus replied, 'Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw and he was happy.' 1

He, that he might show Abraham lived, said that he had seen His day, that is, the day on which Christ was born to the world. The Creator of days is not constrained by the day, the Author of time does not know periods of time. But for the sake of the human being Christ was born a man and became subject to both day and time. 'Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day.' If Moses and Elijah are present on the mountain that they might catch sight of the promised Christ, 2 what prevents Abraham from being present when the Virgin gives birth, so that after waiting patiently he might behold the blessing promised in his people, this is, his seed?

Saint Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 131

1. Jn 8. 54, 56.52
Mt 17.3

28 Dec 2017

Living the Life



Ἓν μίσησον τῶν περὶ τὴν Χριστοῦ γένναν, τὴν Ἡρώδου παιδοκτονίαν· μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ταύτην αἰδέσθητι, τὴν ἡλικιῶτιν Χριστοῦ θυσίαν, τοῦ καινοῦ σφαγίου προθυομένην. Ἂν εἰς Αἴγυπτον φεύγῃ, προθύμως συμφυγαδεύθητι. Καλὸν τῷ Χριστῷ συμφεύγειν διωκομένῳ. Ἂν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ βραδύνῃ, κάλεσον αὐτὸν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου, καλῶς ἐκεῖ προσκυνούμενον. Διὰ πασῶν ὅδευσον ἀμέμπτως τῶν ἡλικιῶν Χριστοῦ καὶ δυνάμεων, ὡς Χριστοῦ μαθητής. Ἁγνίσθητι, περιτμήθητι, περιελοῦ τὸ ἀπὸ γενέσεως κάλυμμα. Μετὰ τοῦτο δίδαξον ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ, τοὺς θεοκαπήλους ἀπέλασον· λιθάσθητι, ἂν τοῦτο δέῃ παθεῖν· λήσῃ τοὺς βάλλοντας, εὖ οἶδα, φεύξῃ καὶ διὰ μέσου αὐτῶν, ὡς Θεός. Ὁ Λόγος γὰρ οὐ λιθάζεται. Ἂν Ἡρώδῃ προσαχθῇς, μηδὲ ἀποκριθῇς τὰ πλείω. Αἰδεσθήσεταί σου καὶ τὴν σιωπὴν πλέον ἢ ἄλλων τοὺς μακροὺς λόγους. Ἂν φραγελλωθῇς, καὶ τὰ λειπόμενα ζήτησον. Γεῦσαι χολῆς, διὰ τὴν γεῦσιν· ὄξος ποτίσθητι, ζήτησον ἐμπτύσματα, δέξαι ῥαπίσματα, κολαφίσματα· ἀκάνθαις στεφανώθητι, τῷ τραχεῖ τοῦ κατὰ Θεὸν βίου· περιβαλοῦ τὸ κόκκινον, δέξαι κάλαμον, προσκυνήθητι παρὰ τῶν παιζόντων τὴν ἀλήθειαν· τέλος συσταυρώθητι, συννεκρώθητι, συντάφηθι προθύμως, ἵνα καὶ συναναστῇς, καὶ συνδοξασθῇς, καὶ συμβασιλεύσῃς, Θεὸν ὁρῶν ὅσον ἐστὶ, καὶ ὁρώμενος, τὸν ἐν Τριάδι προσκυνούμενόν τε καὶ δοξαζόμενον, ὃν καὶ νῦν τρανοῦσθαι ἡμῖν εὐχόμεθα, ὅσον ἐφικτὸν τοῖς δεσμίοις τῆς σαρκὸς.

Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, Λόγος ΛΗ'

Let there be one hatred concerning the Birth of Christ: the murder of the infants by Herod. 1 Or rather let this even be venerated, the sacrifice of those who were the same age as Christ, sacrificed before the killing of the new victim. If He flees into Egypt, joyfully be a fellow exile. It is a fair thing to share the banishment of the persecuted Christ. If He stays long in Egypt, call Him out of Egypt by a reverent worship of Him there. Travel without fault through every part of the Life of Christ, thus to be a disciple of Christ. Be purified, be circumcised, strip off the veil which has covered you from birth. After this teach in the Temple, and drive out the traders of holy things. 2 Be stoned, if it is necessary to suffer it, for well I know you shall be hidden from those who cast the stones, and you shall escape  through the midst of them, like God. Being brought before Herod, do not answer much. 3 He will have respect for your silence more than the long speeches of others. If you are scourged, 4 seek for what they leave out. Taste gall for the taste's sake; 5 drink vinegar; 6 seek spit; accept the buffeting of blows, be crowned with thorns, that is, with the hardness of the holy life; put on the purple, take the reed, and receive worship from those who mock the truth; lastly, be crucified with Him, die with Him, be buried with Him gladly, that you may rise with Him and be glorified with Him and reign with Him. Look at and be looked at by the Great God, Who in Trinity is worshipped and glorified, and whom we declare to be now set forth clearly before you as far as it is possible in the bonds of the flesh.

Saint Gregory Nazianzus, Oration 38

1 Mt 2:16
2 Jn 2:15
3 Lk 23:9
4 Jn 19:1
5 Mt 27:34
6 Jn 19:29

27 Dec 2017

Sons of Thunder

Nec Jacobus et Joannes mortui filii tonitrui, quibus in usum gloriae coelestis assumptis non praevalent terrena, sed subjacent. Esto ergo et tu Petrus, devotus, fidelis, pacificus; ut portas Ecclesiae aperias, et portas mortis evadas. Esto filius tonituri. Dicis: Quomodo possum esse filius tonitrui. Dicis: Quomodo possum esse filius tonitrui? Potes esse, si non in terra, sed in pectore Christi recumbas. Potes esse filius tonitrui si te terrena non moveant, sed ipse potius ea quae terrena sunt, mentis tuae virtute concutias. Tremat te terra, non capiat: vereatur caro potestatem animi tui, et concussa subdatur. Eris filius tonitrui, si fueris filius Ecclesiae. Dicat et tibi de patibulo crucis Christus: 'Ecce mater tua'  Dicat et Ecclesiae: Ecce filius tuus ; tunc enim incipis esse filius Ecclesiae cum in cruce victorem videris Christum. Nam qui crucem scandalum putet, Judaeus est, Ecclesiae filius non est: qui crucem stultitam putat, Greacus est. Ille autem est Ecclesiae filius, qui crucem triumphum putat, qui crucem Christi triumphantis agnoscit.  

Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Evangelii secundum Lucam, Liber VII


Neither James nor John, the sons of thunder, 1 died; they were taken up to the enjoyment of heavenly glory because earthly things did not prevail over them but they subdued them. Be then a Peter, devout, faithful, peaceful, that you may open the gates of the church and avoid the gates of death. Be a son of thunder. You may ask, 'How am I able to be a son of thunder?' You are able to be one if you recline on the breast of Christ, 2 not on the earth. You are able to be a son of thunder if earthly things do not move you, but rather you, with the virtue of your mind, crush down worldly things. Let the earth fear you, rather than seize you, let flesh fear the power of your soul and let it be subdued with a blow. You shall be a son of thunder if you become a son of the Church. Let Christ say from the yoke of the cross: 'Behold your mother.' 3 And let it be said to the Church 'Behold your son' 4 Then you shall begin to be a son of the Church when in the cross you see the victory of Christ. For he who thinks the cross scandalous is of the Jews; he is not  a son of the Church. He who thinks the cross is foolish, is of the Gentiles. He is a son of the Church who deems the cross a triumph, who knows the cross as the victory of Christ.

Saint Ambrose, On The Gospel of Luke, Book 7

1 Mark 3.17

2 Jn 13.23-25
3 Jn 19.27
4 Jn 19.26

 

26 Dec 2017

Standing Fast


State et nolite iterum jugo servitutis contineri.

Et ex hoc ostenditur, quia non stet qui jugo inhaereat servitutis. Et quia is qui a Christo liberatate donatus est, tamdiu fuerit sub jugo, quamdiu spiritum servitutis habuerit in timore, et Legis initia sit secutus. Quod autem ait, state, firmam et stabilem in Christo hortatur fidem, ut Ecclesiae Galatiae fixo in Salvatore permaneant pede. De quo et in alio loco justus loquitur: Statuit super petram pedes meos, pro eo quod est, super Christum: ne scilicet circumferantur omni vento doctrinae, et in diversa rapiantur. Unde et ad stantes dicitur: Et qui stat, videat ne cadat. Et in alio loco: State, viriliter agite, confortamini, ut stent cum eo, quem Stephanus a dextris Patris stantem vidit in martytio perseverans.


Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum in Epistolam ad Galatas, Liber III, Cap V

Stand fast and refuse to be placed again under the yoke of servitude 1

And from this it is shown that he does not stand fast who adheres to the yoke of servitude. And even this man who was gifted liberty by Christ, for as long as he was beneath the yoke, so long he had the spirit of slavery in fear, and the beginning of the law he followed. And so he says, stand fast, exhorting firm and stable faith in Christ, that the church of the Galatians remain with fixed foot with the Saviour. Concerning which in another place it is said: He stood my feet upon the rock. 2 that is, upon Christ, lest they be blown away by every wind of doctrine and seized in diverse ways. 3 Whence to those who stand fast he says, 'And he who stands, let him look, so that he does not fall.' 4 And in another place, 'Stand, act manfully, be strong,' 5 that they stand with Him who Stephen saw standing at the right hand of the Father while he persevered in martyrdom. 6

Saint Jerome, Commentary on the Letter to the Galatians, Book 3, Chap 5

1 Gal 5.1
2 Ps 39.3

3 Eph 4. 14
4 1 Cor 10.12
5 1 Cor 16.13
6 Acts 2

25 Dec 2017

Laying In A Manger

Καὶ ἀνέκλινεν αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ φάτνῃ. 

Εὗρεν ἀποκτηνωθέντα τὸν ἄνθρωπον·  διὰ τοῦτο ἐν φάτνῃ ὡς ἐν τάξει τροφῆς τέθειται, ἵνα τὸν κτηνοπρεπῆ μεταμείψαντες βίον, εἰς τὴν ἀνθρώπῳ πρέπουσαν ἀνακομισθῶμεν σύνεσιν·  καὶ οἱ κτηνώδεις τῇ ψυχῇ, προσελθόντες τῇ οἰκείᾳ τραπέζῃ τῇ φάτνῃ, εὕρωμεν μηκέτι χόρτον, ἀλλ' ἄρτον τὸν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, τὸ τῆς ζωῆς σῶμα.

Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Λούκαν Εὐάγγελιον, Κεφ. Β'
And she laid him in the manger. 1

He found man reduced to the level of beasts, thus He was placed like fodder in a manger, that we, being done with our bestial life, might rise to that intelligence which is proper to man; and though being like beasts in soul, approaching the manger, His table, we find no longer fodder, but the bread which is from heaven, the body of life.

Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke, Chapter 2

1 Lk 2.7

24 Dec 2017

A Star Shone Forth


Καὶ ἔλαθεν τὸν ἄρχοντα τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἡ παρθενία Μαρίας καὶ ὁ τοκετὸς αὐτῆς, ὁμοίως καὶ ὁ θάνατος τοῦ Κυρίου· τρία μυστήρια κραυγῆς, ἅτινα ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ θεοῦ ἐπράχθη. Πῶς οὖν ἐφανερώθη τοῖς αἰῶσιν; Ἀστὴρ ἐν οὐρανῷ ἔλαμψεν ὑπὲρ πάντας τοὺς ἀστέρας, καὶ τὸ φῶς αὐτοῦ ἀνεκλάλητον ἦν καὶ ξενισμὸν παρεῖχεν ἡ καινότης αὐτοῦ, τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ πάντα ἄστρα ἅμα ἡλίῳ καὶ σελήνῃ χορὸς ἐγένετο τῷ ἀστέρι, αὐτὸς δὲ ἦν ὑπερβάλλων τὸ φῶς αὐτοῦ ὑπὲρ´πάντα· ταραχή τε ἦν,  πόθεν ἡ καινότης ἡ ἀνόμοιος αὐτοῖς. Ὅθεν ἐλύετο πᾶσα μαγεία καὶ´πᾶς δεσμὸς ἠφανίζετο κακίας· ἄγνοια καθῃρεῖτο, παλαιὰ βασιλεία διεφθείρετο θεοῦ ἀνθρωπίνως φανερουμένου εἰς καινότητα ἀϊδίου ζωῆς· ἀρχὴν δὲ ἐλάμβανεν τὸ παρὰ θεῷ ἀπηρτισμένον. 

Ἅγιος Ἰγνάτιος Ἀντιοχείας, Ἐπιστολή Προς Ἐφεσιους
And hidden from the prince of this world was the virginity of Mary, and her child, and the death of the Lord; three loud crying mysteries, in silence wrought by God. How, then, was He manifested to the world? A star shone forth in heaven brighter than all the other stars, the light of which was inexpressible, and its strangeness and its novelty. And all the rest of the stars, with the sun and moon, formed a chorus to this star, and its light was greater than them all. And there was agitation as to whence this new and unfamiliar thing came. Hence every kind of bewitchment was destroyed and every bond of wickedness disappeared; ignorance was washed away and the old kingdom ruined, God being manifested as man for the renewal of eternal life, and now that took a beginning which by God had been prepared.

Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Ephesians

23 Dec 2017

Shepherds and Angels

Οὐκ εἰς τὴν τῶν Ἰουδαίων συναγωγὴν εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα πρὸς τοὺς ἱερεῖς καὶ γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαίους ἀπέρχεται ὁ ἄγγελος· ἀλλὰ ποιμένας εὑρισκει ἀγραυλοῦντας, καὶ φυλάσσοντας φυλακὰς τῆς νυκτὸς ἐπὶ τὴν ποίμνην αὐτῶν· τούτοις γὰρ εὐαγγελίζεται τοῦ Σωτῆρος τὴν γέννησιν. Οὗτοι μὲν γὰρ ἄπλαστοι ἧσαν, τὴν παλαιὰν πολιτείαν ζηλοῦντες τῶν πετριαρχῶν. Ποιμένες γὰρ ἧσαν καὶ οὗτοι, οἱ καὶ δραμόντες τοῖς ἑτέροις καὶ ἀπηγγελλον. Ἐκεῖνοι γὰρ διεφθαρμένοι ὄντες τῷ φθονῷ, ἔμελλον κρύκτειν τὸ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου σωτηρίας μυστήριον.

Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Το Κατα Λουκαν Εὐαγγελιον, Κεφ Α'

Not to the Priests of the synagogues of the Jews in Jerusalem, or the Scribes or the Pharisees did the angel come, but he found the shepherds who were tending their flocks in the field and keeping guard over them in the night. 1 To these was announced the good news of the birth of the Saviour. These were the simple folk, attending to the old way of the patriarchs; for shepherds they were and also these were who ran to others to announce the news. 2 For from those who are ruined with envy, shall be hidden the mystery of the salvation of the world.

Origen, Commentary On Luke, Chap 1, Fragment

1 Lk 2.8-9
2 Lk 2.18

22 Dec 2017

The Gate of Mary

Et infra dicit prophet vidisse se in monte alto nimis aedificationem civitatis, cujus portae plurimae significatur; una tamen clausa describitur, de qua sic ait: Et converti me secundum viam portae sanctorum exterioris , quae respicit ad Orientem, et haec erat clausa. Et ait ad me Dominus: Porta haec claus erit, et non aperietur, et nemo transibit per eam; quoniam Dominus Deus Israel transibit eam. Eritque clausa, quoniam dux hic sedebit in ea, ut manducet panem in conspectu Domini. Secundum viam Aetam portae intrabit, et secundum viam ejus exibit. Quae est haec porta, nisi Maria; ideo clausa, quia virgo? Porta igitur Maria, per quam Christus intravit in hunc mundum, quando virginali fusus est partu, et genitalia virginitatis claustra non solvit. Mansit intemertatum septum pudoris, et inviolata integritatis duravere signacula; cum exiret ex virgine, cujus altitudinem mundus sustinere non posset. Haec, inquit, porta clausa erit, et non aperietur. Bona porta  Maria, quae clausa erat, et non aperiebatur. Transivit per eam Christus, sed non aperuit. Et ut doceamus quia portam habet omnis homo, per quam Christus ingreditur: Tollite, inquit, portas, principes, vestras, et elevamini portae aeternales, et introibit Rex gloriae. Quanto magis ergo porta erat in Maria, in qua sedit Christus, et exivit? Est ergo et porta ventris, sed non clausa semper: verum una sola potuit manere clausa, per quam sine dispendio claustrorum genitalium virginis partus exivit. Ideo ait propheta  Porta haec clausa erit: non aperietur, et nemo transibit per eam, hoc est, nemo hominem; quoniam Dominus, inuqit, Deus Israel transibit per eam. Eritque clausa, id est, ante et post transitum Domini erit clausa: et non aperietur a quoquam, nec aperta est; quoniam habuit semper januam suam Christum, qui dixit: Ego sum janua , quam nemo ab ea potuit avellere.

Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Institutione Virginis, Caput VIII


And the Prophet himself saw on a very high mountain a city built, 1 of which many gates were pointed out, and one was described as closed, concerning which it was said, 'And He turned me to the way of the gate of the outer holy places, which looked to the east, and it was closed. And the Lord said to me: This gate shall be closed and it shall not be opened, and no one shall pass through it, because the Lord God of Israel shall pass through it. And it shall be closed because the prince shall sit there, that he eat his bread in the sight of the Lord. According to the way of the gate He shall enter the age and by this way he shall come forth 2 And what is this gate but Mary, and why is it closed, but that she is a virgin? Thus the gate of Mary, through which Christ entered into this world, when he was born of a virgin, and the closed parts of virginity were not opened. The barrier of modesty remained undefiled and inviolate the integrity of the enduring seal; when he came out from the virgin, his greatness the world was not able to endure. This gate shall be closed, it was said,and it shall not be opened. Mary is the good gate, which was closed and was not opened. Christ passed through her and it was not opened. And we teach that every man has a gate, through which Christ enters. 'Take up your gates, princes, and lift the eternal portals, and the king of glory will enter.'3 How much more was Mary a gate in which Christ sat and He came out? It is, therefore, the gate of the womb, but it is not always closed; truly one alone was able to remain closed, through which came, without loss of the sealed parts of virginity, birth. Therefore the Prophet says, 'This gate shall be closed, and it shall not open, and no one shall pass through it,'  that is, no man; because the Lord says the God of Israel shall pass through it. And it shall be closed, that is, before and after the Lord passes through, and it shall not open for anyone, nor was it open; because He has always his own gate, Christ, who said: 'I am the gate' 4 which no one is able to remove.

Saint Ambrose, On The Birth of the Virgin, Chap 8

1 Ez 40.2
2 Ez 44.1 -
3 Ps 23.7
4 Jn 10.7

20 Dec 2017

Raising Thoughts


Μέμνησο τοῦ σοφωτάτου Παύλου γεγραφότος περὶ Χριστοῦ·  Τὸ γὰρ ἀδύνατον τοῦ νόμου, ἐν ᾧ ἠσθένει διὰ τῆς σαρκὸς, ὁ Θεὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ Υἱὸν πέμψας ἐν ὁμοιώματι σαρκὸς ἁμαρτίας καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτίας, κατέκρινε τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ, ἵνα τὸ δικαίωμα τοῦ νόμου πληρωθῇ ἐν ἡμῖν τοῖς μὴ κατὰ σάρκα περιπατοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ πνεῦμα.  Τί οὖν ἐστι τὸ, ἐν ὁμοιώματι σαρκὸς ἁμαρ τίας ἀπεστάλθαι λέγειν τὸν Υἱόν;  Ἐμφωλεύει μὲν τοῖς μέλεσι τῆς σαρκὸς ἡμῶν, τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὁ νόμος, καὶ τῶν ἐμφύτων ἐπιθυμιῶν τὸ ἔκτοπον κίνημα·  ὁ δέ γε τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος, ἁγίαν εἶχε τὴν σάρκα καὶ πάναγνον ἀληθῶς·  καὶ ἐν ὁμοιώσει μὲν τῆς ἡμετέρας σαρκὸς, οὐ μὴν ἔτι καὶ κατ' αὐτήν·  ἀπήλλακτο γὰρ εἰς ἄπαν τῶν ἐμπεφυκότων τοῖς ἡμετέροις σώμασι μολυσμῶν, κινήματος καὶ ῥοπῆς τῆς ἡμᾶς ἀποφερούσης ἐφ' ἃ μὴ θέμις.  Ἀλλ' αὕτη μὲν ἡ αἰτία τῆς τοῦ Σωτῆρος σαρκώσεως.  Καὶ ἐσπαργάνωσεν αὐτόν. Ὅταν ἴδῃς βρέφος ἐσπαργανωμένον, μὴ μέχρι μόνης τῆς κατὰ σάρκα γεννήσεως αὐτοῦ τὴν σεαυτοῦ διάνοιαν στήσῃς, ἀλλ' ἀναπήδησον εἰς θεωρίαν τῆς θεοπρεποῦς δόξης αὐτοῦ·  ἀνάβηθι τὸν οὐρανόν· οὕτως αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτάτω θεωρήσεις ὑψώμασι, τὴν ὑπερτάτην ἔχοντα δόξαν, ὄψει καθήμενον ἐπὶ θρόνου ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐπηρμένου· ἀκούσῃ τῶν Σεραφὶμ ὑμνολογούντων αὐτὸν, πλήρη τε εἶναι λεγόντων τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ.  Γέγονε δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· δόξα γὰρ Θεοῦ περιήστραψε τοὺς ποιμένας·  καὶ πλῆθος ἦν στρατιᾶς οὐρανίου δοξολογούντων Χριστόν. Πλεῖστοι μὲν γὰρ ἐγεννήθησαν κατὰ καιροὺς ἅγιοι προφῆται, ἀλλ' οὐδεὶς ἐκείνων ἐδοξολογήθη πώποτε διὰ φωνῆς ἀγγέλων· ἄνθρωποι γὰρ ἦσαν καὶ ἐν μέτροις τοῖς καθ' ἡμᾶς οἰκέται Θεοῦ γνήσιοι. Χριστὸς δὲ οὐχ οὕτως· Θεὸς γάρ ἐστι καὶ Κύριος καὶ προφητῶν ἁγίων ἀποστολεὺς, καὶ ὡς ὁ Ψάλλων φησὶ, Τίς ἐν  νεφέλαις ἰσωθήσεται τῷ Κυρίῳ, καὶ τίς ὁμοιωθήσεται ἐν υἱοῖς Θεοῦ;  Ἡμῖν μὲν γὰρ τοῖς ὑπὸ ζυγὰ καὶ φυσικὴν δουλείαν, ἐν χάριτος τάξει προσνενέμηται παρ' αὐτοῦ τὸ τῆς υἱότητος ὄνομα·  Χριστὸς δ' ἐστὶν ἡ ἀλήθεια, τουτέστιν ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς κατὰ φύσιν Υἱὸς, καὶ ὅτε γέγονε σάρξ· μεμένηκε γὰρ ὂ ἦν, καίτοι προσλαβὼν ὃ οὐκ ἦν.

Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Λούκαν Εὐάγγελιον, Κεφ. Β'




Remember what the very wise Paul has written concerning Christ. 'For as to the powerlessness of the law, in which it was weak through the flesh, God having sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and because of sin, has condemned the sin in the flesh, that the justice of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.' 1 What, then, is this, that the Son was sent 'in the likeness of sinful flesh? Why that the law of sin lies hidden in our fleshly members, together with the disordered movements of innate desires, but when the Word of God became man he had flesh all holy, so that being in the likeness of our flesh, He was not according to it, for He was completely free from the natural flaws of our bodies and from that inclination which turns us away us to what is not lawful. This then is the nature of the Savior's incarnation in which he swaddles himself. When, therefore, you see the child wrapped in swaddling cloth, do not hold your thought solely upon His birth according to the flesh, but rise up to contemplation of His Divine glory, ascend to heaven, for so will you see Him in highest exaltation, possessed of supernal glory, you will see Him 'sat upon a throne high and lifted up,' 2 you will hear the Seraphim praising Him, and saying that heaven and earth are full of His glory. And even upon earth this has come to be, for the glory of God shone upon the shepherds, and there was a multitude of the heavenly armies telling of Christ's glory. For many holy prophets have been born from time to time, but never had any one of them been glorified by the voice of angels, for they were men, and they were according to the same measure as ourselves, true servants of God. But it was not so with Christ, for God He is and Lord, and the Sender of the holy Prophets, and, as the Psalmist says, 'Who in the clouds shall be compared to the Lord, and who shall be likened to the Lord among the sons of God?' 3 For to those under the yoke and who are by nature servants in grace have the title of sonship bestowed by Him, but Christ is the true Son, that is, He is the Son of God the Father by nature, even when become flesh, for He remained what He was though He took upon Himself that which He had not been.

Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke, Chapter 2

1 Rom 8. 3-4
2. Is 6.1 
3 Ps 88.7


18 Dec 2017

Preparing the Way

Ecce ego mitto angelum meum et praeparabit viam ante faciam meam: et statim veniet ad templum suum dominator quem vos quaeritis, et angelus testamenti quem vos vultis. LXX: Ecce ego mittam angelum meum, et praeparabit viam ante faciem meam: et subito veniet ad templum suum Dominus quem vos quaeritis, et angelus justitiae quem vos vultis.  

Hoc interpretatus est Dominus in Evangelio de Joanne Baptisa, dicens: Iste est de quo scriptum: Ecce ego mittam angelum meum ante faciem tuam, et praeparabit viam tuam coram me; nec eisdem usus est verbis, quae LXX interpretes transtulerunt. Marcus quoque evangelista duo testimonia Malachiae et Isaiae sub unius prophetae sermone contexens ita exorsus est: Initium Evangelii Jesu Christi, sicut scriptum est in Isaia propheta: Ecce ego mitto angelum meum ante faciem tuum, qui praeparabit viam tuam. Hoc licet verbis aliis in Malachia legimus. Quod autem sequitur: Vox clamantis in deserto, parate viam Domini, rectas facite semitas ejus, ab Isaia propheta dicitur: statimque utrumque testimonium de quo dicatur, exponens: Fuit, inquit, Joannes in deserto, baptizans, et praedicans baptismum poenitentiae, in remissionem peccatorum. Sed et evangelistae vaticinium prophetarum super Joanne interpretati sunt cumque in sensu consentiant, in verbis discrepant. Pro eo enim quod LXX transtulerunt: Rectas facite semitas Dei nostri, Marcus Lucasque dixerunt: Rectas facite semitas ejus. Joannes autem: Dirigite, ait, viam Domini. Ex quo perspicuum est, apostolos, et evangelistas, et ipsum Dominum Salvatorem non LXX interpretum auctoritatem sequi, qua Hebraeae linguae habentes scientiam, non indigent; sed ex Hebraeo transferre quod legerint: non curantes de syllabis punctisque verborum; dummodo sententiarum veritas transferratur. Quod quidem et in pluribus locis eos fecisse docuimus, et maxime in eo libro qui a nobis inscriptus est, de optimo genere interpretandi, multis simul testimoniis approbatum est. Hoc ergo quod dicitur: Ecce ego mitto angelum meum et praeparabit viam ante faciem meam, ex persona Christi dicitur, quod Joannem miserit in deserto Judaeae praedicare bapistmum poenitentiae, in remissionem peccatorum. Quod autem sequitur: Et statim veniet ad templum suum dominator quem vos quaeritis, et angelus testamenti quem vos vultis, ita de se quasi de altero loquitur, juxta consuetudinem Scripturarum. Nullisque dubium est quin Dominator iste salvator sit, qui Creator est ominum, et angelus testamenti, et magni consilii Angelus appellatur. Alii vero hoc quod dicitur: Ecce ego mitto angelum meum et praeparabit viam ante faciem meam , ex persona Patris dictum putant: et quod sequitur: Statim veniet ad templum suum dominator quem vos quaeritis, et angelus testamenti quem vos vultis, de Domnio Salvatore ab eo dictum intelligunt. Praeparat autem viam Joannes, et rectas facit semitas Dei nostri in cordibus credentium, in quibus propter pravitatem, et incredulitatem, prius Deus ambulare non poterat. Templum autem vel Ecclesiam interpretantur, vel unumquemque credentium in Ecclesia: Aedificamini domos spirituales, sacerdotium sanctum: offerentes spirituales victimas, et acceptabiles Deo per Christum Jesum. Eos vero qui crediderint: Nescitis quod templum Dei estis, et spiritus Dei habitat in vobis?


Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarium In Malachiam Prophetam

Behold I send my angel and he shall prepare the way before my face. And suddenly he shall come to his temple, the ruler whom you seek and the angel of the testament for whom you long. The Septuagint has: Behold, I shall sent my angel and he shall prepare my way before my face, and suddenly the Lord shall come to his temple, he whom you seek, and the angel of righteousness for whom you long. 1

This has been understood as the Lord in the Gospel saying of John the Baptist, 'This is he of whom it is written, Behold I shall send my angel before your face, and he shall prepare your way before me.' 2 But the same words are not used by the Septuagint translators. Also Mark the Evangelist combines two testimonies of Malachi and Isaiah within one prophetic speech, beginning: The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is written in the Prophet Isaiah, Behold I sent my angel before your face, who shall prepare your way. 3 And this we read in somewhat different words in Malachi. And then follows: 'A voice crying out in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord, make right his paths.' 4 which is spoken by Isaiah the Prophet, and once both testimonies have been given, he expounds them: 'John was in the desert, baptizing and preaching the baptism of penance for forgiveness of sins.' 5 But even the Evangelists understand the prophecy of the Prophets about John in a harmonious sense, though in different words. For what the Septuagint translates as: 'Make straight the paths of our God,' Mark and Luke have as: 'Make right His paths.' And John says, 'Make straight the way of the Lord.' From which it is easy to see that the Apostles and the Evangelists and the Lord Saviour Himself did not follow the authority of the Septuagint since they did not lack the knowledge of the Hebrew tongue, but from the Hebrew they translated what they read, not caring about the syllables and punctuation of words, but translating the meaning of truth. For certainly in many places we have taught this, and greatly in that book which by us was written concerning the best method of translation, confirmed with many testimonies. Thus when it is said, 'Behold I send my angel and he shall prepare a way before my face,' it is the person of Christ speaking, that He sent John into the Judean desert to preach baptism for penance for forgiveness of sins. Then follows, 'And suddenly he shall come to his temple, the ruler whom you seek and the angel of testament for whom you long.' Thus as concerning another He speaks, as is a custom in the Scriptures. And there is no doubt that the ruler is the Saviour who is the creator of everything, and he is named the angel of testament and the angel of great counsel . Others, however, concerning this which is said, 'Behold I send my angel and he shall prepare a way before my face,' think that it is spoken in the person of the Father, and also what follows, 'Suddenly he shall come to his temple, the ruler whom you seek and the angel of testament for whom you long,' they understand as being spoken by Him about the Lord Saviour. John prepares the way and makes straight the paths of our God in the hearts of believers, which on account of depravity and incredulity was not able to walk before God. The temple they would understand as the Church, or any one of the faithful in the Church: 'Build yourselves spiritual houses , a holy place of priests, offering spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ .' 6 And to those who truly believe: 'Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?' 7

Saint Jerome, Commentary on The Prophet Malachi

1 Mal 3.1
2 Mt 11.10
3 Mk 1.2
4 Is 40.3
5 Mk 1.4
6 1 Pet 2.5
7 1 Cor 3.16

16 Dec 2017

Loins and Fire


Velut aspectus ignis intrinsecus per circuitum, a lumbis ejus et desuper; et a lumbis ejus usque deorsum vidi quasi speciem ignis splendentis in circuitu.

Quid est quod Mediator Dei et hominum homo Christus Jesus a lumbis et desuper aspectum ignis intrinsecus per circuitum habere describitur, et a lumbis et deorsum speciem ignis splendentis in circuitu?  Investigandum namque est quare a lumbis et desuper ignem intrinsecus, nec tamen splendentem ignem habere narratur; a lumbis vero et deorsum habere ignis speciem dicitur, non tamen hunc habere intrinsecus memoratur, quia et splendentem et in circuitu hunc habere describitur. Quid enim lumborum nomine, nisi propago mortalitatis exprimitur? Propter quod etiam de Levi dicitur quia adhuc in lumbis patris erat cum Melchisedech occurrit Abrahae. De lumbis vero Abrahae virgo Maria exiit, in cujus utero Unigenitus Patris per Spiritum sanctum incarnari dignatus est. Ex qua incarnatione universo innotuit mundo Deus, sicut per Psalmistam dicitur: Accingere gladium tuum circa femur tuum, potentissime. Gladium etenim circa femur potentissimus sumpsit, quia sermo praedicationis illius ex incarnatione convaluit. Quid vero iste ignis designat, nisi ardorem sancti Spiritus, qui corda quae repleverit incendit? De quo ipsa Veritas dicit: Ignem veni mittere in terram. Quid est ergo quod in hoc aspectu hominis qui prophetae apparuit a lumbis superius intrinsecus per circuitum ignis ardet, a lumbis vero inferius non ignis intrinsecus, sed in circuitu resplendet, nisi quod ante incarnationem unigeniti Redemptoris nostri, sola intra se Judaea ardorem amoris ejus habuit; post incarnationem vero illius in circuitu ejus ignis resplenduit, quia in universo mundo gentibus claritatem sancti Spiritus effudit? Prius ergo ignis intrinsecus erat, sed splendor non erat, quia Spiritus sanctus in multis quidem patribus Judaeam replebat, sed ad notitiam gentium necdum ejus lumen emicuerat. A lumbis vero ejus et deorsum ignis in circuitu splendet, quia postquam de Virgine carnem sumpsit, in humano genere longe lateque sancti Spiritus dona dilatavit. Et notandum quod ignis iste a lumbis superius per circuitum esse describitur, non extrinsecus sed intrinsecus, quia amoris flamma, sicut dictum est, in electis atque spiritalibus viris ubique in suis finibus Judaeam replevit. Nec tamen exibat extrinsecus, quia sese in multitudinem gentium non dilatabat. Quae ardoris flamma visa est postmodum in circuitu splendere, quia per mundi cardines in universis gentibus omnipotentis Dei coepit amor excrescere.


Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Primus, Homilia VIII
Like the appearance of fire within all around from his loins and above, and from his loins and below I saw as an appearance of shining fire all around. 1

Why is the Mediator of God and men, the man Jesus Christ, described as having
the appearance of fire within all around from the loins and above and from loins and below the appearance of fire shining around? For it must be considered why fire is within from the loins and above, not however it being named a shining fire, and then why from the loins and below it is said to have the appearance of fire, not however being said to be within but being described as shining all around. But what is given by the name of loins, unless is expressed mortal propagation? On account of which of Levi it is said that he was in the loins of his father when Melchisedech meets with Abraham 2 And from the loins of Abraham Mary came forth, in whose womb the Only Begotten of the Father by the Holy Spirit was worthy to become incarnate. From which incarnation God became known to the whole world, as the Psalmist says, 'Bind your blade around your thigh, O most powerful one.' 3 Certainly the most powerful one takes hold of the sword around the thigh, for the word of the preaching of Him from the incarnation grows strong. Why indeed is this designated fire unless it is the flame of the Holy Spirit who kindles the hearts which He fills? Concerning which the Truth Himself says, 'I have come to place fire on the earth.' 4 Why is it then that in the appearance of the man which appears to the Prophet that from the loins and above within fire all around burns, and from the loins below there is no fire within but all around it shines, unless that before the incarnation of the Only Begotten, Our Savior, only those in Judea had the fire of His love, and after the incarnation all around fire shone because in the whole world the splendor of the Holy Spirit poured out? Before, then, fire was within, but shining it was not, because the Holy Spirit filled many of the fathers of Judea but to the notice of the Gentiles it had not yet spread its light. From his loins and below the fire shone all around because after He took flesh from the Virgin, the gift of the Holy Spirit expanded among the human race far and wide. And let it be noted that this fire from the loins above and all around is described as not being without but within because the flame of love, as it is said, filled elect and spiritual men everywhere within the borders of Judea. It did not, however, go without, because into the multitude of the Gentiles it did not expand. Which flame of love is seen after shining all around, because to all the nations in all the directions of the world the love of the omnipotent God began to go forth.

Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 1, Homily 8

1 Ez 1. 27
2 Heb 7.10
3 Ps 44.4
4 Lk. 12. 49 




14 Dec 2017

Understanding Virginity

Συνέσεως γὰρ ἡμῖν χρεία πολλῆς, δι' ἧς ἔστι γνῶναι τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς χάριτος ταύτης, ἤτις συνεπινεοῖται μὲν τῷ ἀφθάρτῳ Πατρί· ὅ δὴ καὶ παράδοχον, ἐν Πατρὶ παρθενίαν εὑρίσκεσθαι, τῷ τε Υἱον ἔχοντι, καὶ δίχα πάθους γεννήσαντι· τῷ δὲ Μονογενεῖ Θεῷ τῷ τῆς ἀφθαρσίας χορηγῷ συγκαταλαμβάνεται, ὁμοῦ τῷ καθαρῷ καὶ ἀπαθεῖ τῆς γυννήσεως αὐτοῦ συνεκλάμψασα. Πάλιν τὸ ἴσον παράδοξον, Υἱὸς διὰ παρθενίας νοούμενος. Ἐνθεωπεῖται δε ὠσαύτως καὶ τῇ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος φυσικῇ καὶ ἀφθάρτῳ καθαρότητι. Τὸ γὰρ καθαρὸν καὶ ἄφθαρτον ὀνομάσας, ἄλλῳ ὀνόματι τὴν παρθενίαν ἐσήμανας. Πάσῃ δὲ τῇ ὑπερκοσμίῳ φύσει συμπολιτεύεται, διὰ τῆς ἀπαθείας συμπαροῦσα ταῖς ὑπερεχούσαις δυνάμεσιν, οὔτε τινὸς τῶν θείων χωριζομένη, καὶ οὐδενὸς τῶν ἐναντίων προσαπτομένη. Πάντα γὰρ ὅσα καὶ φύσει προαιρέσει πρὸς ἀρετὴν νένευκεν, τῷ καθαρῷ πάντως ἐνωραῖζεται τῆς ἀφθαρσίας· καὶ ὅσα πάντα εἰς τὴν ἐναντίαν ἀποκέκριται τάξιν, τῇ ἀποπτώσει τῆς καθαρότητος τοιαῦτα ἑστι καὶ ὀνομάζεται. Τίς οὖν ἐξαρκέσει δύναμις λόγων τῇ τοσαύτῃ χάριτι παρισωθῆναι; Ἥ πῶς οὐ φοβεῖσθαι χρὴ, μὴ διὰ τῆς τῶν ἐπαίνων σπουδῆς λυμήνηται τις τὸ μεγαλεῖον τοῦ ἀξιώματος, ἐλάττω τὴν περὶ αὐτοῦ δόξαν τῆς προειλημμένης τοῖς ἀκροαταῖς ἐμποιήσαη; Οὐκοῠν καλῶς ἔχει, τοὺς μὲν ἐγκωμιαστικοὺς λόγους ἐπὶ ταύτης ἑᾷν, ὡς ἀμήχανον ταῖς ὑπερβολαῖς τῆς ὑποθέσεως συνεπᾶραι τὸν λόγον· ὡς καὶ ἔστι δυνατὸν ἀεὶ μεμνῆσθαι τοῦ θείου χαρίματος, καὶ ἐπὶ γλώττης ἔχειν το ἀγαθὸν, ὅπερ ἴδιον μὲν τῆς ἀσθμάτου φύσεως ἐστι καὶ ἐξαίρετον· ὑπὸ φιλανθρωπίας δὲ Θεοῦ, καὶ τοῖς διὰ σαρκὸς καὶ αἵματος λαχοῦσι τὴν ζωὴν ἐχαρίσθη, ἴνα καταβληθεῖσαν τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν ὑπὸ τῆς ἐμπαθοῦς διαθέσεως, ὥσπερ τινὰ χεῖρα τὴν τῆς καθαρότητος μετουσίαν ὀρέξασα, πάλιν ὀρθώσῃ, καὶ πρὸς τὰ ἄνω βλέπειν χειραγωγήσῃ. Διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ οἶμαι καὶ τὴν πηγὴν τῆς ἀφθαρσίας, αὐτὸν τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν, μὴ διὰ γάμου εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὸν κόσμον, ἴνα ἐνδείξηται διὰ τοῦ τρόπου τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως τὸ μέγα τοῦτο μυστήριον, ὅτι Θεοῦ παρουσίαν καὶ εἴσοδον μόνη καθαρότης ἰκανή ἐστι δείξασθαι· ἥν ἄλλως οὐκ ἔστι πρὸς ἀκρίβειαν πᾶσαν κατορθωθῆναι, εἰ μὴ παντελῶς τις ἑαυτὸν τῶν σαρκικῶν παθημάτων ἀλλοτριὼσειεν. Ὅπερ γὰρ ἐν τῇ ἀμιάτῳ Μαρίᾳ γέγονε σωματικῶς, τοῦ πληρώματος τῆς θεότητος ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ διὰ τῆς Παρθένου ἐκλάμψαντος· τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ πάσης ψυχῆς κατὰ λόγον παρθενευούσης γίνεται. Οὐκέτι σωματικὴν ποιουμένου τοῦ Κυρίου τὴν παρουσίαν· οὐ γὰρ γινώσκομεν ἔτι, φησὶ, κατὰ σάρκα Χριστόν· ἀλλὰ πνευματικῶς εἰσοικοζομένου, καὶ τὸν Πατέρα ἑαυτοῦ συνεισάγοντος, καθώς φησί που τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον. Ἐπεὶ οὖν τοσαύτη ἐστὶ τῆς παρθενίας ἡ δύναμις, ὡς καὶ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς παρὰ τῷ Πατρὶ τῶν πνευμάτων μένειν, καὶ μετὰ τῶν ὑπερκοσμίων χορεύειν δυνάμεων καὶ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης σωτηρίας ἐφάπτεσθαι· τὸν μὲν Θεὸν δι' ἑαυτῆς πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου βίου κοινωνίαν κατάγουσα, τὸν δὲ ἄνθρωπον ἐν ἑαυτῇ πρὸς τὴν τῶν οὐρανίων ἐπιθυμίαν πτεροῦσα, καὶ οἰονεὶ σύνδεσμός τις γινομένη τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν οἰκειώσεως, τὰ τοσοῦον ἀλλήλοις ἀφεστῶτα τῇ φύσει, τῇ παρ' ἑαυτῆς μεσιτείᾳ εῑς συμφωνίαν ἀνάγουσα, τίς ἄν εὑρεθείη δύναμις λόγων συνανιοῦσα τῷ θαύματι; Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ ἄτοπον παντελῶς ἀφώνοις ἢ ἀναισθήτοις ὅμοιον φαίνεσθαι, καὶ τῶν δύο τὸ ἕτερον, ἢ μὴ ἐπεγνωκέναι δοκεῖν τὰ τῆς παρθενίας καλὰ, ἢ  ἄπληκτον καὶ ἀκίνητον πρὸς τὴν τῶν καλῶν αἴσθησιν ἐπιδειχθῆναι· βραχέα τινὰ περὶ αῡτῆς εἰπεῖν, διὰ τὸ δεῖν ἐπὶ πᾶσι πείθεσθαι τῇ ἐξουσίᾳ τοῦ ἐπιτάξαντος ἡμῖν, προευθυμήθημεν.

Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Περι Παρθενιας. Κεφ Β'
It is necessary for us to take to great thought to understand the surpassing excellence of this grace, and it may be comprehended in the idea of the incorrupt Father, and yet already here is a paradox, that virginity is to be found in the Father, in Him who has a Son and yet without passion has begotten Him, and it also of this Only-begotten God, Who joined in this chorus of incorruption, it shining forth likewise in His pure and passionless generation. Again there is a paradox, that the Son is known by virginity. And in like manner it is in the inherent and incorruptible purity of the Holy Spirit. For when you have named the pure and incorruptible you have indicated the name of virginity. And it is a fellow citizen of the whole supernal nature because, on account of its passionless state, it is always present with the powers above, never separated from anything Divine and never touching that which is opposite to it. Everyone, then, who by nature or inclination has chosen the virtue is beautified with the perfect purity of incorruption and all who are judged to be in the opposite class of character by their fall from purity are named what they are. What power of words will satisfy such a grace? How can there be no cause of fear lest the greatness of its value be disgraced by the efforts of man's eloquence, the glory of it which he proposes being less than that which audience held before? It will be well, then, to be done with all laudatory words here, since we are unable to lift up speech to the height of the theme, and yet it is possible to be ever mindful of this gift of God and on our tongue to have the good, that though it is the property of incorporeal nature and singular excellence, by the love of God on those who have received life from flesh and from blood it has been bestowed, that, when human nature has been cast down by passionate afflictions, like a hand it stretches out its offer of purity again to set it upright, and it leads by the hand to look at things above. This, I think, is why the fountain of incorruption our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, did not enter into the world by wedlock, that He show by the manner of His Incarnation this great mystery, that purity alone is able to reveal the presence of God and His advent, which otherwise no one truly grasps firmly, unless utterly estranged from the passions of the flesh. For as happened in the immaculate Mary when the fullness of the Godhead which was in Christ shone out through the Virgin, so for every soul that adopts by rule the virgin life. No longer indeed is the advent of the Lord with the body; for, he says 'we know Christ no longer according to the flesh, ' 1 but spiritually He dwells within and brings with Him His Father, as the Gospel somewhere says. 2 Since, then, such is the power of virginity, that while it remains in Heaven with the Father of spirits and moves in the dance of the higher powers, it reaches out for the salvation of man; that by it God is brought down for sharing of man's life, in itself giving wings for man's desires to rise to things of heaven, and is like some friendly bond of union between the Divine and human, such things so different by its mediation being brought into harmony, what words are to be found powerful enough to accompany this wonder? But since it appear unseemly to be like a thing without voice and sense, and if we do we must choose one of two things, either to appear never to have known the beauty of virginity, or to reveal ourselves as immune and unmoved by the beauty of it, thus to speak briefly about this, according to the wish of the one who assigned this to us and whom in all things we must obey, we have consented.


Saint Gregory of Nyssa, On Virginity,  Chap 2

1 2 Cor 5:16
2 cf Jn 14. 6-10


12 Dec 2017

Beauty and the Church

Hanc imitamini, filiae, cui pulchre convenit illud quod de Ecclesia prophetatum est: Speciosi facti sunt gressus tui calceamentis, filia Aminadab; eo quod speciose Ecclesia Evangelii praedicatione processit. Speciose procedit anima, quae corpore velut calcamente utitur; ut quo velit, suum possit sine impedimento ullo circumferre vestigium. In hoc calceamento speciose processit Maria, quae sine ulla commixtione corporeae consuetudinis auctorem salutis Virgo generavit. Unde egregie Joannes ait: Non sum dignus solvere corrigiam calceamentorum ejus,  id est, non sum dignus Incarnationis mysterium comprehendere angustiis mentis humanae, atque inopis vilitate sermonis absolvere. Unde et Esaias dicit: Generationem ejus quis ennarrabit?  Speciosi ergo gressus vel Mariae vel Ecclesiae; quoniam speciosi pedes evangelizantium. Quam pulchra etiam illa quae in figura Ecclesiae de Maria prophetata sunt; si tamen non membra corporis, sed mysteria generationis ejus intendas! Dicitur enim ad eam: Moduli femorum tuorum similes torquibus, operi manuum artificis. Umbilicus tuus crater tornatilis non deficiens mixto. Venter tuus sicut acervus tritici muniti inter lilia; eo quod continens sibi in omnibus Christi ortus ex Virgine, sicut victores solent saecularium praeliorum, strenuorum virorum donatis torquibus honorare cervices; ita jugum nostrum levavit, ut fidelium colla virtutis insignibus coronaret. Vere autem alvus ille Mariae crater tornatilis, in quo erat Sapientia, quae miscuit in cratere vinum suum, indeficientem cognitionis piae gratiam divinitatis suae plenitudine subministrans. In quo virginis utero simul acervus tritici, et lilii floris gratia germinabat; quoniam et granum tritici generabat, et lilium. Granum tritici secundum quod scriptum est: Amen, amen, dico vobis, nisi granum tritici cadens in terram, mortuum fuerit, ipsum solum manet. Sed quia de uno grano tritici acervus est factus, completum est illud propheticum: Et convalles abundabunt frumento, quia granum illud mortuum, plurimum fructum attulit. Hoc itaque granum omnes homines perpetua coelestium munerum esca saturavit: consummatumque est illud prophetici oris eloquium, dicente eodem David: Cibavit eos ex adipe frumenti, et de petra melle saturavit eos. In hoc grano esse etiam lilium divina testantur oracula; quia scriptum est: Ego sum flos campi, et lilium convallium: sicut lilium in medio spinarum.
 
Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Institutione Virginis, Caput XIV


This imitate, daughters, to whom beauty befits, that which concerning the Church is prophesised: Beautiful are made the steps of your sandals, daughter of Aminadab 1 by which the church advances by the beautiful preaching of the Gospel. With beauty the soul goes forth, to which the body is like a sandal, by which it wishes it be able to do so without any obstacle on its path. In this covering of beauty Mary goes forth, she who a Virgin without any admixture of corporeal custom bore the author of salvation. Whence with excellence John says, I am not worthy tie his sandal, 2 that is, I am not worthy to understand in the narrows of the human mind the mystery of the Incarnation and to resolve it with the vile poverty of speech. Whence Isaiah says, ' Who can speak His generation ? 3 So the steps of Mary are beautiful, or the Church, because beautiful are the steps of the Gospel. How beautiful indeed she who in the figure of the Church, Mary, is foretold, if, however, is meant not the members of the body but the mystery of His generation. For it is said to her: 'The movement of your legs is like a necklace, work of a master craftsman's hand. Your navel is a smooth bowl not cheaply filled. Your stomach is like a heap of wheat among lilies 4 which contains in itself everything of the coming of Christ from the Virgin, as victory is accustomed to rise from worldly battles, with gifts of necklaces being given to honour the necks of vigorous men, as our yoke he lifted that the neck of the faithful he might crown with virtue. For truly the belly of Mary is a smooth bowl, in which was Wisdom mixing in the bowl its wine, supplying deficient grace of thought with the plenitude of His Holy Divinity. 5 In which womb of the Virgin was the heap of wheat, and with grace of the lily flower he come forth, because even the grain of wheat he made and the lily. The grain of wheat of which it is written: 'Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it remains alone.' 6 But because from one grain a heap of wheat is made, fulfilled is the prophecy: 'and the valleys shall abound with crops,' 7 because the grain that is dead makes many come forth. 6 So with this grain he has filled every man with the perpetual food of the celestial gift, and fulfilled is the speech of the prophetic mouth, David saying, 'He fed them from the fat of the crop, and from the stone He brought forth honey.' 8 In this grain is even the holy lily witnessed by prophecy: 'I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valley, like a lily in the midst of thorns.' 9

Saint Ambrose, On The Birth of the Virgin, Chap 14

1 Song 7.1
2 Jn 1.17
3 Is 53.8
4 Song 7.1.
5 Prov 9.2 
6 Jn 12.24 
7 Ps 64.14
8 Ps 80.17
9 Song 2.1-2

10 Dec 2017

Two Testaments, Two Mothers, Two Sons


Haec enim sunt duo testamenta, unum quidem a monte Sina, in servitutem generans, quae est Agar. Sina enim mons est in Arabia, qui conterminus est ei, quae nunc est Jerusalem, et servit cum filiis suis. Illa autem quae sursum est Jerusalem, libera est, quae est mater omnium nostrum.

Pene cunctorum super hoc loco ista est explanatio, ut Agar ancillam, interpretentur in Lege, et in populo Judaeorum: Saram autem liberam, in Ecclesia, quae de gentibus congregata est, quae mater sanctorum sit, Paulo dicente: Quae est mater omnium nostrum. Haec diu non peperit, antequam Christus de Virgine nasceretur, et sterilis fuit, necdum risu mundi Isaace de electo patre cum voce sublimium dogmatum resonante: siquidem et Abraham in nostra lingua, pater electus cum sonitu refertur. Agar autem quae interpretatur παροικία, id est, incolatus, sive peregrinatio, sive mora, generat Ismael, qui tantum audiat Dei praecepta, nec faciat hominem rusticum, sanguinarium, deserta sectantem: qui universis fratribus suis de libera procreatis inimicus sit, et adversa eis fronte resistat. Nec mirum vetus Testamentum, quod in monte Sina, qui est in Arabia, et confinis est ei, quae nunc est Jerusalem, constitutum est atque conscriptum, non esse perpetuum: cum et incolatus a perpetua possessione diversus sit, et Sina montis nomen tentationem sonet: et Arabia significet occasum: et econtrario quae sursum est Jerusalem, quae est libera materque sanctorum, demonstret hanc Jerusalem, quae in praesenti est, deo sum esse, et in humili infirmoque demersam. Sunt qui duo Testamenta et aliter intelligant: ut Scripturam divinam, tam veterem quam novam, juxta diversitatem sensus eorumque sententiam qui legunt, aut ancillam interpretentur, aut liberam, et eos, qui adhuc litterae serviant, et spiritum timoris habeant in servitutem, de Agar Aegyptia velint esse generatos: eos autem qui ad superiora conscendant, et allegorice velint sentire quae scripta sunt, filios esse Sarae, quae in lingua nostra, ἄρχουσα, id est, princeps, interpretatur, genere feminino. Et hoc ob illam necessitatem se asserunt usurpare: quia iniquum sit Moysen, et cunctos prophetas de ancilla, quoslibet vero gentilium de libera intelligere procreatos. Unde melius esse, ita non solum de his qui in Ecclesia sunt, pro diversitate, ut suprae diximus intellectuum, alios servus, alios liberos arbitremur: sed etiam de uno eodemque homine quamdiu sequitur historiam, ancillae eum es e filium: cum autem aperitente Jesu Scripturas, incensum fuerit cor ejus, et in fractione panis inspexerit eum quem antea non videbat: tunc et ipsum Sarae filium nominari.
 

Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum in Epistolam ad Galatas, Liber II, Cap IV

For there are two testaments, one from Mount Sinai, birthing in servitude, which is Hagar. For Sinai is a mountain in Arabia, and it borders upon that which is now Jerusalem. and she serves with her sons. The latter is the Jerusalem which is above, free she is, and the mother of all of us. 1 

Nearly everything about this passage has been explained, that Hagar is a slave girl, understood in the law and in the people of the Jews, and the free woman Sarah is the Church from which the Gentiles are gathered, she who is the mother of the saints, with Paul saying that she is the mother of all of us. 2 She did not give birth before Christ was born from the Virgin, sterile she was, not yet was the smile of Isaac in the world from the chosen father with voice resounding with sublime teaching; Abraham in our tongue meaning chosen father with a cry. And Hagar is translated as alien, or wanderer, or delayer, she who birthed Ismael, who may only hear the commandments of God, who cannot become a farming man, but he is a killer, cut off in the desert, an enemy to every brother  born free, and against them he thrusts his head. 3 It is not to be wondered that the Old Testament which was given and written on Mount Sinai which is in Arabia, bordering on that which is now Jerusalem, is not forever, when it was far from the perpetual possession. And Mount Sinai resounds with the name of temptation, and Arabia signifies murder, and on the contrary that which is the Jerusalem above, which is the free mother of the saints,  this Jerusalem declares which is in the present, with God I am, and amid the humble and lowest. But there are those who understand the two Testaments in a different manner, that the Divine Scripture, the old and the new, on account of the differing understanding of those who read, may be interpreted as the slave or the free woman, and those who are still servants of the letter and have the spirit of fear in servitude, they would have as children of Egyptian Hagar, and those who rise to the things above and wish in allegory to grasp what is written, they are the sons of Sarah, which in our tongue is princess, that is prince of the feminine class. And on account of this they must assert themselves superior, that Moses was inferior and all the Prophets were from the slave woman, and the children of the gentiles are from the free woman. Whence better it is, I think, that not only concerning those who are in the Church is there difference, as we have given the understanding above, with some slaves and some free, but that even the same man while he alone follows the narrative is the son of the slave woman, but when he does so with Jesus there is an opening of the Scriptures, his heart is on fire, and in the breaking of bread, he looks on him whom he did not see, 4 and then the same man is named a son of Sarah.

Saint Jerome, Commentary on St Paul's Letter to the Galatians, Book 2 Chap 4

1 Gal 4. 24-26
2 Gal 4. 26 
3 cf Gen 16. 11-12
3 Lk 24.30-32

8 Dec 2017

Mother and Teacher


Primus discendi ardor nobilitas est magistri. Quid nobilius Dei matre? quid splendidus ea, quam Splendor elegit? quid castius ea quae corpus sine corporis contagione generavit? Nam de caeteris ejus virtutibus quid loquar? Virgo erat non solum corpore, sed etiam mente, quae nullo doli ambitu sincerum adulteratet affectum: corde humilis, verbis gravis, animi prudens, loquendi parcior, legendi studiosior: non incerto divitiarum, sed in prece pauperum spem reponens: intenta operi, verecunda sermone, arbitrum mentis solita non hominem, sed Deum quaerere: nullum laedere, bene velle omnibus, assurgere majoribus natu, aequalibus non invidere, fungere jactantiam, rationem sequi, amare virtutem. Quando ista vel vultu laesit parentes? quando dissensit a propinquis? quando fastidivit humilem? quando derisit debilem? quando vitavit inopem; eos solos solita coetus virorum invisere, quos misericordia non erubesceret, neque praeteriret verecundia? Nihil torvum oculis, nihil in verbis procax, nihil in actu inverecundum: non gestus fractior, non incessus solutior, non vox petulantior; ut ipsa corporis species simulacrum fuerit mentis, figura probitatis. Bona quippe domus in ipos vestibulo debet agnosci, ac primo praetendat ingressu nihil  intus latere tenebrarum; ut mens nostra nullis repagulis corporalibus impedita, tamquam lucernae lux intus posita foris luceat

Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Virginibus Ad Marcellinam Sororem Sua, Liber II



The first flame of learning is the greatness of the teacher. Who is greater than the Mother of God? Who more glorious than she whom Glory chose? Who more chaste than she who bore a body without contact of body? For why should I speak of her other virtues? A virgin she was not only in body but even in mind, she who did not pollute honest disposition with ambitious cunning, she who was humble in heart, sincere in speech, prudent in mind, sparing in speaking, studious in reading, placing her hope not on uncertain wealth but on the prayer of the poor, intent on works, modest in discourse, accustomed to seek not man but God as the judge of thoughts, to injure no one, to have goodwill towards all, to rise up before her elders, not to envy her equals, to avoid boastfulness, to follow reason, to love virtue. When did she hurt her parents even by a look? When did she argue with her neighbours? When did she hurry by  the lowly? When did she deride the unfortunate? When did she avoid the needy, accustomed only to appear in such gatherings of men as mercy would not blush at, nor modesty pass by. There was nothing grim in her eyes, nothing frivolous in her words, nothing unseemly in her acts, there was no affectation in gait, no unrestrained step, nor was the voice petulant, that the very bodily appearance be the image of the soul, a figure which is approved. For as a good house should be recognized on the very threshold and should show at the first entrance that no darkness is hidden within, so let our soul, unimpeded by bonds of the body, like the light of lamp placed within shine without.

Saint Ambrose, On Virgins, To Marcellina His Sister, Book 2

7 Dec 2017

Two Mothers


Τυπικῶς ἡ πρώτη Εὖα ζωὴ ἐκλήθη, ἴνα σημάνῃ τὴν δευτέραν, τουτέεστι, τὴν ἁγίαν Μαρίαν τὴν γεννήσασαν τὴν ζωὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων Χριστὸν τὸν Κύριον τῆς δόξης. Αὕτη γὰρ ἀληθῶς μήτηρ δείκνυται πάντων τῶν εὐαγγελικῶς ζώντων, καὶ μὴ ἀποθνησκόντων τὰς ψυχὰς διὰ τῆς ἀπιστίας.

Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΣΞϚ' Κυριλλῳ Προτευοντι
As a figure the first Eve life was named, 1 by which may be shown the second, that is, the Holy Mary who birthed the life of men Christ, the Lord of Glory. For she truly is a mother of all those who live according to the Gospel, and not of those whose souls have perished on account of lack of faith.


Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 266, To the Primate Cyrllius

1 Gen 2.19





5 Dec 2017

Two Births

Sicut nimio dolore et infirmitate longa luminibus obscuratis, nisi sensim refusa fuerit, fit inimica lux, certe cum solis sit condita lux oculis, solis sit oculis lux amica, per quos utique reliquo corpori vel traditur, vel negatur; ita diuturno perfidiae morbo contenebratis mentibus, nisi paulatim fuerit fidei claritas restituta, subito ipso fidei splendore magis perfidiae crassescit coligo, longo usu aut producitur, aut obtunditur semper natura. Hinc est quod Dominus tetro infidelitatis nubilo cordibus jam caecitas, ut irradiaret partus virginei sacramentum, desperatae et annosae sterilitatis ante praemisit conceptum: ut qui videbat post senectutem longam arida membra reviviscere, et transacto curriculo jam vitae veteranae in primam reflorescere pubertatem, atque ipsam naturam in occidua aetate ad nascentis servi insignia suscitari, pudicitiae florem, pudoris titulum, castitatis insigne, virginitatis claustra manere post partum crederet posse, auctore ipso ex utero procedente, servari. Et ut  praefationi nostrae ac similitudini, quam de oculis sumpsimus vetusto languore defessis, ipsa de qua loquimur modo adsit et astipulentur auctoritas, ac probet oculos hominum nocti male assuetos, obscuratos, promotos sensim revocatus ad lucem, in Joanne Dominus accednit sui luminis et praemisit lucernam, ut degustato lumine in se jam divini Solis jubar ipsum perferrent, ipsam deitatis caperent claritatem. Juxta illud quod dictum est de Joanne: 'Ille erat lucerna ardens et lucens' : ut ille densas noctis placido lumine aperitet tenebras, ipse noctis nescium diem jam desiderantibus ad lucem perpetem redonaret. Hinc est quod et magos adhuc noctis incolas, et totis obstupscentes oculis, tenuiter micans stella assuefacit ad lucem et gradatim pertrahit ad ipsum fontem luminis et dierum. Et re vera, fratres, congruit, quia totius anni metas temporum quadriga percurrit, ac nobis Domini nostri natalitia festa revocat, et gaudia jam reducit.  Nunc de Joannis ortu, de partu sterilis jam loquamur, ut compendio credulitatis isto, ad illud ubi partus est sinu partu, ubi creatur auctor ipse procreantis, ubi nascitur ipsa origo generantis, inter hiemales ac nubibus et nebulis dubias luces, lucerna praevia, stella duce pervenire possimus.


Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo LXXXVII

Like light obscured by excessive pain and long illness, which unless allowed back in gradually, becomes light that is harmful, though certainly the light of the sun was created to be a friend to the eyes, and it is by them that it is either given or denied to the rest of the body, so too with minds kept in the dark by lengthy sickness of faithlessness, for if in a moment brightness of faith is revived, in that sudden splendor of the faith the darkness of faithlessness grows, for on account of long use nature either progresses or regresses. This is why the Lord for hearts blinded by the dark cloud of faithlessness, that he illuminate the mystery of the Virgin birth, prior to it, arranged a conception from a despairing and sterile senility, that he who saw fruitless members revived after long age, and after the passage into old age of life first youth reflower, and that nature in the twilight of age restored to signify the wonder of the servant born, then the flower of virtue, and the honour of modesty, and the title of chastity, and the seal of virginity after birth being preserved, and the Creator Himself coming forth from the womb, he would be able to believe. The figure of which we have spoken, proffering the eye wearied by long disease, we spoke to indicate that the Creator is in some way like this, that as eyes of men accustomed to night and darkened are gradually recalled to the light, so the Lord in John kindled his light and set it forth as a lamp, so that by a taste of the light in him they might now be able to bear the radiance of the Divine Sun Himself and grasp the brightness of the Deity, according to which it is said concerning John, 'He was a lamp blazing and shining, 1 that he pierce the thick darkness with gentle light, so that He might restore the day that does not know night to those who now desire to come to perpetual light. This is how the Magi, dwellers in night, and with eyes all obscured, were by a faintly shining star made accustomed to the light and gradually drawn to the fount of light and days. 2 And concerning these truths, brothers, it is right, that as the four horse chariot of the year runs it course, recalling us to the feast of the nativity of Our Lord, already restoring our joy, we now speak of the birth of John and of a birth from sterility, that by this shortening of disbelief, to that where there is birth without birth, where is birthed the Creator of those who give birth, where is born the fount of generation, we are able to come, amid the weak winter lights in cloud and mist, with a light going before, with a star leading.

Saint Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 87

1 Jn 5.35
2 Mt 2 1-2