The Mind of Christ

Τί ἐστιν· Ἡμεῖς νοῦν Χριστοῦ ἔχομεν; Τουτέστι, Κεκαθαρμένον ἔχων τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν, καθαρῶς τε, καὶ ὑψηλῶς διανοοῦμαι, καὶ λαμπρῶς πολιτεύομαι. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΙΖ', Πτολεμαιῳ

What is: 'We have the mind of Christ?' 1 It is this: That having been cleansed in the leading faculty, in purity I contemplate high things and shining live. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 17, To Ptolemaius 1 1 Cor 2.16

Faith and Love

Ista fidei simplicitate et sinceritate lactati nutriamur in Christo; et cum parvuli sumus, maiorum cibos non appetamus, sed nutrimentis saluberrimis crescamus in Christo, accedentibus bonis moribus et christiana iustitia, in qua est caritas Dei et proximi perfecta et firmata: ut unusquisque nostrum de diabolo inimico et angelis eius triumphet in semetipso in Christo quem induit. Quia perfecta caritas nec cupiditatem habet saeculi, nec timorem saeculi; id est, nec cupiditatem ut acquirat res temporales, nec timorem ne amittat res temporales. Per quas duas ianuas intrat et regnat inimicus, qui primo Dei timore, deinde caritate pellendus est. Debemus itaque tanto avidius appetere apertissimam et evidentissimam cognitionem veritatis, quanto nos videmus in caritate proficere, et eius simplicitate cor habere mundatum, quia ipso interiore oculo videtur veritas: Beati enim mundo corde, inquit, quia ipsi Deum videbunt. Ut in caritate radicati et fundati praevaleamus comprehendere cum omnibus sanctis, quae sit latitudo, et longitudo, et altitudo, et profundum; scire etiam supereminentem scientiam caritatis Christi, ut impleamur in omnem plenitudinem Dei; et post ista cum invisibili hoste certamina, quoniam volentibus et amantibus iugum Christi lene est, et sarcina eius levis, coronam victoriae mereamur. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, De Agone Christiano

With this simple and sincere faith we are nourished on the milk in Christ, and when we are little we have no desire for food of older folk, but with wholesome nourishment we grow in Christ entering upon good morals and christian righteousness in which is the perfect and firm love of God and neighbour, that every one of us over our the enemy devil and his angels shall triumph in himself in Christ who leads. Because perfect charity has no desire for the world, nor does it fear the times, that is, neither does it desire that it acquire temporal things, nor has it fear that it will lose the same, through which two doors the enemy enters and rules, and who is expelled first by fear of God and then by love. We should, therefore, with great avidity desire most open and evident knowledge of the truth as much as we see we advance in love and His cleansing we have in simplicity of heart, because by the interior eye truth is seen. 'Blessed are the pure in heart,' He says, 'because they shall see God.' 1 In love rooted and founded we grow in understanding with all the saints, in breadth and length and height and depth, coming even to know the supereminent knowledge of the love of Christ, that we may be filled with every fullness of God, and after, in those struggles with the unseen enemy, because to those willing and loving the yoke of Christ is light and his burden easy, we may merit a crown of victory. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from On The Christian Struggle 1 Mt 5.8

Grace and Understanding

Εἰ πάντες χωρεῖν ἡδύναντο πνευνματικῶς τὰ θεῖα λόγια, οὐχ ἱμείρετο μεταδιδόναι αὐτοῖς τὸ πνευματικὸν χάρισμα· οὐδὲ γάλα αὐτοὺς ἐπότιζειν, εἰ τὴν στερεὰν τροφὴν πάντες μεταλαμβάνειν ἡδυναντο· ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἔτι νηπιάζουσιν περὶ αὐτὸν τὸν τῆς θεογνωσίας λόγον δίκην νηπίων γαλουχουμένων τὸν τῆς κατηχήσεως ἐπιτρέπει δέχεσθαι λόγον. Ἅγιος Ἀθανάσιος, Περὶ Πιστωες Λογος Ὁ Μειζων

If everyone were able to take spiritual delight in the Divine words, He would not wish to give spiritual grace to them. Those who are capable of taking solid food are not given milk to drink, but rather those who are infants in the Divine thoughts of the Word are rightly treated as infants in need of milk, receiving the rudiments appropriate to their reason.   Saint Athanasius, The Greater Sermon on the Reason of Faith

The Order of Understanding

Beati immaculati in via, qui ambulant in lege Domini. Beati qui scrutantur testimonia ejus, in toto corde exquirunt eum. Dictorum ordo non negligendus est: qui si non diligenter a nobis cognoscitur, ne depositae quidem beatitudinis ordinem consequimur. Non enim primum, 'Beati scrutantes testimonia Dei,' sed primum, Beati immaculati in via.' Primus enim est, confirmatis moribus et in innocentiae studium ex communi probitatis honestate compositis, viam veritatis ingredi; sequens deinde est scrutari Dei testimonia, et expurgato emundatotoque animo ad investiganda adesse. Ordinis autem hujus et alius propheta non immemor est, dicens, 'Serite in justitia vosmetipsos, et metite vos in fructu vitae, et illuminate vos in lumine scientiae.' Non illuminatio primum, sed satio nostra praecepta est: ut cum antea nosmetipsos, id est, vitae nostrae usum in spem fructuum serverimus, deinde cum quae sata sunt messuerimus, tunc nos lumine scientiae illuminemus. Tenendus igitur hic ordo est, sationis messis et illuminationis. Plures enim nostrum illuminari se prius quam serere ac metere festinant; cum satio atque messis quaedam consequendi luminis praeparatio. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis,Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum CXVIII

Blessed those who are immaculate in the way and who walk in the the law of the Lord. Blessed those who study his testaments, in their whole heart they seek them out. 1 The order of the words is not to be overlooked, for if they are not diligently known by us the order of the disposition of the blessed will not follow. For it is not said first, 'Blessed those who study the testaments of God, ' but first is: 'Blessed those who walk in His way.' For first one should have strong morals and zeal for integrity established in the common probity, that one enter on the way of truth. Then follows that one may study the testament of God and with soul purged and cleansed enter on investigation of it. This order, I do not forget, is also in one of the Prophets, where he says, 'Sow in your righteousness and reap the fruit of life, and enlighten yourselves in the light of knowledge.'  2 Enlightenment is not first but planting is our precept, that when before we ourselves we watch over, that is, the actions of our lives, in hope of fruit, then what has been sown we may harvest, then we may be enlightened with the light of knowledge. Let us hold, therefore, to this order: planting, reaping and enlightenment. For many of ours hurry to be enlightened before they sow and harvest, when with planting and reaping is the preparation of the light. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, Psalm 118 1 Ps 118.1 2 Hosea 10.12

The Whole Law and the Prophets

Σαφῶς ἐν τούτοις παρίσταται ἡ κατὰ τὸν δημιουργὸν τοῦ κόσμου Θεὸν καὶ τὰς ἀπ' αὐτοῦ Γραφὰς κηρυσσομένη ζωὴ αἰώνιος, ἤν καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ καταγγέλλει. Πυθομένου οὖν τοῦ νομικοῦ· Τί ποιήσας ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομήσω; ἐπὶ τὸν νόμον ἀναπέμπει, ἐν ἐκεῖθεν συνάγῇ ἐντολὰς τὰς προσαγούσας τὸν ποιοῦντα αὐτὰς τῇ αἰωνίῳ ζωῇ. Μαρτυρεῖ γοῦν τῷ εδηνφατι ἀπὸ μὲν τοῦ Δευτερονομίου τὸ, Ἀγαπήσεις Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου· ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ Λευϊτικοῦ τὸ, Τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτὸν, Ὁρθῶς ἀπεκρίθης, καὶ προστίθησι· Τοῦτο ποίει, καὶ ζήσῃ, δηλονότι τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον, περὶ ἦς κάκεῖνος τε ἐπύθετο, καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ διδάσκει. Ταῦτα δὲ εἴρηται πρὸς τοὺς ἀπὸ Οὐαλεντίνου, καὶ βασιλίδου, καὶ τούς ἀπὸ Μαρκίωνος. Ἔχουσι γὰρ καὶ αὐτοὶ τὰς λέξεις ἐν τῷ καθ' ἑαυτοὺς Εὐαγγελίῳ· καὶ φήσομεν πρὸς αὐτούς· Ὁ μαρτυρήσας τῳ, ὅτι Ἀγαπήσεις Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου, τὴν ἐντολὴν ἀπὸ Νόμου εἰρηκότι, οὐ παρά τινος ἄλλου ἤ τοῦ δημιουργοῦ εἰρημένην, καὶ φήσας ἐπὶ τούτοις αὐτῷ, Ὀρθῶς ἀπεκρίθης, τί ἄλλο βούλεται ἡμᾶς πράττειν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ζῆσαι τὴν αἰώνιον ζωὴν, ἢ ἀγαπᾷν τὸν Θεὶν μ τὸν ἐν νόμῳ καὶ προφήταις, ἐν ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ; Ὁ Σωτὴρ δὲ γοῦν ἀπεφήνατο περὶ τῶν δύο ἐντολῶν λέγων· Καὶ ἐν αὐταῖς ὅλος ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται κρέμανται. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Το Κατα Λουκαν Εὐαγγελιον, Κεφ Α'

Patently it is shown in these things under consideration that the creator is God and these things are found in the Scriptures when the Saviour was preaching about eternal life. Asked by the lawyer, 'What shall I do to inherit eternal life,' 1 to the law He sends him that from it he gather the commandments by the practice of which he shall be led to eternal life. He then quotes from Deuteronomy:  'Love the Lord your God' 2 and from Leviticus: 'Your neighbour as yourself' 3 'Rightly you have answered,' he is told, and then it is added, 'Do this and live,' clarity thus being given regarding eternal life, about which the man asked, and about which the Saviour taught. And these things may be used against the followers of Valentinus and Basilides and Marcion. For they have the same words in their Gospel, and so we say to them: He who said, 'Love the Lord your God', that commandment is taken from the law, and it cannot be any other than the Creator that spoke, and on account of it He says, 'Rightly you have answered,' and so what would He have us do if we are to have eternal life, than with the whole heart to love the God of the law and the prophets? The Saviour therefore with these two commandments announces: 'And on these depend the whole law and the prophets.' 4 Origen, Commentary On Luke, Fragment 1 Luke 10.25 2 Deut 6.5 3 Lk 10.27 4 Mt 22.40

Man and The Divine

Ἐνταυθα πάλιν ἐπιφυονται οἱ κατήγοροι, χαράν καὶ λύπην πάθη ψυχῆς λέγοντες· τὴν γὰρ χαρὰν εὖλογον ἔπαρσιν ἀποδιδόασι, καὶ τὸ ἀγάλλεσθαι χαίρειν ἐπὶ καλοῖς· τὸ δὲ ἔλεος λύπην ἐπὶ ἀναξίως κακοπαθοῦντι· τροπὰς δὲ εἴναι ψυχῆς καὶ πάθη τὰ τοιαῦτα. Ἡμεῖς δὲ, ὡς ἔοικεν, οὐ παυόμεθα τὰ τοιαῦτα σαρκικῶς νοοῦντες τὰς Γραφὰς, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἡμετέρων παθῶν ἀναγόμενοι, τὸ βούλημα τοῦ ἀπαθοῦς Θεοῦ ὁμοίως τοῖς ἡμεδποῖς κινήμασιν ἀπεκδεχόμενοι. Ὡς δ' ἡμεῖς ἀκοῦσαι δυνατοὶ, οὕτως ἔχειν ἐπὶ τοῦ παντοκράτορος ὑπολαμβάνοντες ἀθέως πλανώμεθα. Οὐ γὰρ ὡς ἔχει τὸ Θεῖον, οὕτως οἴόν τε ἦν λέγεσθαι· ἀλλ' ὡς οἶόν τε ἤν ἐπαϊειν ἡμᾶς σαρκὶ πεπεδημένους, οὕτως ἡμῖν ἐλάλησαν οἱ προφῆται, συμπεριφερομένου σωτηρίως τῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀσθενείᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου. Ἐπεὶ τοίνυν βούλημά ἐστι τοῦ Θεοῦ σώζεσθαι τὸν ταῖς ἐντολαῖς πειθήνιον τόν τε ἐκ τῶν  ἁμαρτημάτων μετανοοῦντα, χαίρομεν δὲ ἡμεῖς ἐπὶ  τῇ σωτηρίᾳ ἡμῶν· τὸ χαρτὸν ἡμῶν ἐξιδιοποιήσατο ὁ διά τῶν προφητῶν λαλήσας Κύριος· καθάπερ ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ φιλανθρώπως λέγων· Ἐπείνασα, καὶ ἐδώκατε μοι φαγεῖν· ἐδίψησα, καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι πιεῖν· ὅ γὰρ ἐνὶ τούτων τῶν ἐλαχίστων πεποιήκατε, ἐμοὶ πεποιήκατε. Ὥσπερ οὖν τρέφεται μὴ τρεφόμενος διὰ τὸ τετράφθαι ὄνπερ βούλεται, οὕτως ἐχάρη μὴ τραπεὶς, δια τὸ ἐν χαρᾷ γεγονέναι τὸν μετανενοηκότα ὡς ἐβούλετο. Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Στρωματεων, Λογος Δευτερος, Κεφ ΙϚ'

Here again accusers spring up, saying that joy and pain are passions of the soul, for they define joy as a rational exultation and a rejoicing on account of good things, and pity they have as pain for one who suffers undeservedly, and that such things are movements and passions of the soul. But we, as would appear, do not cease in such things to think about the Scriptures carnally, and starting from our own passions interpret the will of the impassible Deity similarly to our perturbations. But, as we are able to hear, we err impiously to have such things to be with the Omnipotent . For as one cannot grasp the Divine that we might speak of Him as He is, but as we are bound in the flesh and so we perceive, so the Prophets spoke to us; the Lord, for the purpose of salvation, accommodating Himself to the weakness of men. Since, then, it is the will of God that a man is to be saved who is obedient to the commands and repents of his sins, and we rejoice on account of our salvation, speaking by the Prophets, the Lord took our joy to Himself, as speaking lovingly in the Gospel He says, 'I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me to drink. For inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to Me.' 1 As, then, He is nourished not being nourished Himself but through the nourishing of one whom He wishes nourished, so He rejoices, without change, through the joy of the one who having repented is as He would wish. Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, Book 2, Ch 16.  1 Mt 25:35, 40

The Image Of God

Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· Ποιήσωμεν ἀνθρωπον κατ' εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν καὶ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν.  Προδιαληπτεον πρότερον, ποῦ συνίσταται τὸ κατ' εἰκόνα, ἐν σώματι ἢ ἐν ψυχῇ. Ἴδωμεν δὲ πρότερον οἴς χρῶνται οἱ το πρῶτον λέγοντες· ὦν ἐστι καὶ Μελίτων συγγράμματα καταλελοιπὼς περὶ τοῦ ἐνσώματον εἶναι τὸν Θεόν. Μέλη γὰρ Θεοῦ ὀνομαζόμενα εὐρίσκοντες ὀφθαλμοὺς Θεοῦ ἐπιβλέποντας τὴν οἰκουμένην, καὶ ὦτα αὐτοῦ εἶναι εἰς δέησιν δικαίων ἐπινευκότα, καὶ, ' Ὠσφράνθη Κύριος ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας· καὶ, ' Τὸ στόμα Κυρίου ἐλάλησε ταῦτα, καὶ βραχίονα Θεοῠ, καὶ χεῖρας, καὶ πόδας, καὶ δακτύλους, ἀντικρυς φάσκουσι ταῦτα οὐχ ἕτερόν τι διδάσκειν ἢ τὴν μορφὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Πῶς δὲ, φασὶ, καὶ ὤφθη ὁ Θεὸς τῷ Ἀβραὰμ, καὶ Μωσῇ, καὶ τοῖς ἁγίοις, μὴ μεμορφωμένος; μεμορφωμένος δὲ, κατὰ ποῖον χαρακτῆμνα ἢ τὸν ἀνθρώπινον; καὶ συνάγουσι μυρία ῥητὰ μέλη ὀνομάζοντα Θεοῦ. Πρὸς οὔς ἀγωνιστέον πρῶτον ἀπὸ τῆς λέξως· ἀντιπαραβαλοῦμεν δὲ ῥντὰ τοῖς πλέον τοῦ γράμματος μηδὲν ἐπισταμένοις, ἐναντιούμενα αὐτῶν τῇ ὑπολήψει· ἐκ μὲν τοῦ Ζαχαρίου, ὅτι ' Ἑπτα ὀφθαλμοὶ Κυρίου οἱ επιβλέποντες ἐπὶ πᾶσαv τὴν γῆν.' Εἰ δὲ ἑπτὰ ἔχει ὀφθαλμοὺς ὁ Θεὸς, ἡμεῖς δὲ δύο, οὐ κατ' εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ γεγόναμεν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡμεῖς μὲν οὐκ ἐπτερυγώμεθα, περὶ δὲ Θεοῦ λέγει ἐν ἐννενηκοστῷ ψαλμῷ, ὅτι ' ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας αὐτοῦ ἐλπιεῖς. Εἰ δὲ ἐκεῖνος μὲν πτέρυγας ἔχει, ἡμεῖς δέ ἐσμεν ζῶον ἄπτερον, οὐ κατ' εἰκόνα Θεοῦ γέγονεν ὁ ἀνθρωπος. Πῶς δὲ ὁ σφαιροειδὴς οὐρανὸς καὶ ἀεὶ κινούμενος θρόνος εἰναι δύναται, ὡς ὑπολαμβάνουσι, τοῦ Θεοῦ; Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ γῆ πῶς ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ; Ἀπαγγελλέτωσαν ἡμῖν. Ἆρα γὰρ τὸ ἀπὸ γονάτων μέχρι τῶν βάσεων σῶμα τοῦ μεταξὺ οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς περιέχοντος, ἐν μέσῳ δὲ οὔσης τῆς γῆς τοῦ παντὸς κόσμου, καὶ περιεχομένης ὑπ' αὐτοῦ, ὡς γραμμικαῖς ἀποδείξεσι παρίσταται, παρ' ἡμῖν εἰσιν αἱ βάσεις τοῦ Θεοῦ ἢ παρὰ τοῖς ἀντίχθοσι; Καὶ ὅλην τὴν οἰκουμένην ἡμῶν πεπληρώκασιν, ἢ καὶ πλέον τι ἐπιλαμβάνουσιν, ἢ ἔλαττόν τι; Διεστήκασιν οἱ πόδες αὐτοῦ διὰ τὰς θαλάσσας καὶ τοὺς ποταμοὺς, ἢ καὶ τοῖς ὕδασιν ἐπιβαίνουσι; Πῶς δὲ οὐ ὁ τηλικοῦτος οὐρανὸς θρόνος, καὶ ἡ γῆ ὑπο πόδιον τῶν ποδῶν, ἐν μόνῳ τῷ παραδείσῳ εὑρίσκεται περιπατῶν, ἢ ἐν τῇ κορυφῇ τοῦ Σινᾶ φαίνεται τῷ Μωσῇ; Καὶ πῶς ταῦτα τις περὶ Θεοῦ δοξάζων οὐ μωρὸς λεχθήσεται; Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Την Γενεσιν, Ἐκλογή

And God said ' Let us make man according to our own image and likeness.'1 First it must be asked when it says 'according to our image' whether this pertains to the body or the soul. And first let us take note that some have asserted that it is the former, from which number is Melito, 2 whose writings are extant, in which he asserts that God is corporeal. He recounts that the members of God are named, the eyes of God looking upon the earth 3 and his ears hearkening to the prayers of the righteous 4 and that 'The Lord smelt a sweet odour' 5 and that 'The mouth of the Lord said these things' 6 and so we have the arm of God and the hand, and the feet and the fingers, and they infer from these things that nothing else is meant than the form of God. How, they say, was God seen by Abraham and Moses and other holy people, if He had no form? And if He had a form what form would He have, if not human? And so they search through numerous passages where God is said to have members. Against this it must be countered first from the words of Scripture. And against them we place this, who know nothing beyond the letter, that the words of Scripture are contrary to their opinion, for in Zachariah it is said, 'Seven eyes of the Lord look upon the whole earth.' 7 Now if God has seven eyes and we only have two, so we are not made in his image. And neither are we endowed with wings, yet it says in the ninetieth Psalm 'Beneath His wings you will hope' 8 If God has wings and we are animals lacking wings, so we are not made in the image of God. And how is heaven, which is a sphere and revolving, able to be the throne of God? And how is the earth to be his footstool? Let them answer that. For if there is a body extending from the knees to the soles of the feet that fills the space between heaven and earth, with the earth in the middle of the whole and contained by it, as is demonstrated by geometrical proofs, are the soles of God present to us, or are they on the other side of the earth? And is it that the whole of our earth that is filled, or is less or more occupied? And are His feet further down when they are in seas and rivers, or do they stand upon the waters? And how is it, His throne being heaven and the earth the footstool of His feet, that He is found walking alone in paradise, or appearing to Moses on the summit of Mount Sinai? And how will it be that he who asserts such things about God will not sound like a fool? Origen, On Genesis, Fragment 1 Gen 1.26 2 Melito of Sardis 3 Ps 100. 6 4 Ps 33.16  5 Gen 8.21 6 Is 1.20 7 Zach 4.10 8 Ps 90.4

Lead Us Not Into Temptation

Et ne nos inducas in tentationem. Deus, sicut scriptum est, neminem tenat; sed tentare dicitur, cum contumaciter euntes ad tentationum laqueos derelinquit. Sic Adam tentatoris, incurrit insidias, dum sui praecepta deserit conditoris. Unde autem et a quo tentaretur homo prodit sic dicendo: Sed libera nos a malo. Hoc est a diabolo qui totius mali et auctor est, et origo: diabolus natura coelestis fuit; nunc est nequitia spiritulais, aetate major saeculo, nocendi usu tritus, laedendi arte peritissimus; unde non jam malus, sed malum dicitur, a quo est omne quod malum est. Hinc est quod propriis viribus liberari homo non potest, carnalibus vinculis illigatus. Petendum nobis est ergo ut Deus nos a diabolo liberet, qui Christum terris ut diabolum vinceret, commodavit. Clamet homo, clamet ad Deum, clamet, libera nos a malo, ut a tanto malo, solo Christo vincente, liberemur. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo LXX

And lead us not into temptation. 1 God tempts no one, 2 as Scripture says. But it is called tempting when He abandons those who obstinately go into the snares of temptation. So Adam fell into the wiles of the tempter, when he abandoned the precepts of his Creator. Whence by whom a man is tempted He proceeds to announce: 'But deliver us from evil'. That is, from the devil who is the author of all evil, and the fount of it. The devil was heavenly by nature; he is now spiritual wickedness, older than the world, well accustomed to harm, most skilful in the art of wounding, whence he is not called an evil thing but evil, from which every evil is. Hence it is that a man by his own strength is not able to free himself when he is bound in carnal bonds. Therefore we must seek that God free us from the devil, who gave Christ to the earth that he conquer the Devil. Let man cry out, let him cry out to God, 'Deliver us from evil,' that from so great an evil, that Christ alone conquers, we may be freed. Saint Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 70 1 Mt 6.13 2 Jam 1.13

The Devil and Deception

Μέγα τι χάρισμα δέδωκεν ἡμῖν ὁ Λόγος, ὥστε μὴ ἐκ τῶν φαινομένων ἀπατᾶσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ μᾶλλον, κἂν ταῦτα κεκαλυμμένα τυγχάνῃ, διακρίνειν τῇ τοῦ Πνεύματος χάριτι. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὅλος ἐστὶ μισητὸς ὁ τῆς κακίας εὑρετὴς καὶ μέγας δαίμων ὁ διάβολος, μόνον τε φαινόμενος βάλλεται παρὰ πάντων, ὡς ὄφις, ὡς δράκων, ὡς λέων ζητῶν τινας ἁρπάσαι καὶ καταπιεῖν· διὰ τοῦτο ὃ μὲν ἔστιν αὐτὸς, ὑποκρύπτει καὶ σκέπει, τὸ δὲ παρὰ πάντων ποθούμενον ὄνομα ὑποκρίνεται πανούργως, ἵνα, ἀπατήσας τῇ φαντασίᾳ, λοιπὸν τοὺς πλανηθέντας τοῖς ἰδίοις περιπείρῃ δεσμοῖς. Καὶ ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις, ἀνδραποδίσασθαι θέλων ἀλλοτρίους παῖδας, ἀποδημούντων τῶν γονέων, ὑποκρίνηται τὰς ἐκείνων ὄψεις, καὶ ποθοῦντας τοὺς υἱοὺς ἀπατήσῃ, καὶ λοιπὸν ἀπαγαγὼν αὐτοὺς μακρὰν, ἀπολέσῃ· τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ ὁ κακοδαίμων καὶ σκολιὸς διάβολος, οὐκ ἔχων μὲν αὐτὸς παῤῥησίαν, εἰδὼς δὲ τὸν εἰς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἔρωτα τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὑποκρίνεται μὲν ταύτην τῇ φαντασίᾳ, τὸν δὲ ἴδιον ἰὸν ἐπιβάλλει τοῖς ἐπακολουθήσασιν αὐτῷ. Οὕτως καὶ τὴν Εὔαν ἠπάτησεν, οὐ τὰ ἴδιᾳ λαλῶν, ἀλλ' ὑποκρινόμενος μὲν τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ῥήματα, τὴν δὲ διάνοιαν αὐτῶν παραποιῶν· οὕτω καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ Ἰὼβ ὑπέβαλε, πείσας αὐτὴν ὑπο κρίνασθαι μὲν φιλανδρίαν, διδάξας δὲ βλασφημεῖν εἰς τὸν Θεόν· οὕτως τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ὁ δόλιος παίζει ταῖς φαντασίαις, ὑποκλέπτων καὶ σύρων ἕκαστον εἰς τὸν ἴδιον τῆς κακίας βόθρον. Πάλαι μὲν οὖν ἀπατήσας τὸν πρῶτον ἄνθρωπον τὸν Ἀδὰμ, καὶ νομίσας δι' ἐκείνου ὑποχειρίους ἐσχηκέναι τοὺς πάντας, ἐνήλλετο θρασυνόμενος καὶ λέγων· Τὴν οἰκουμένην ὅλην καταλήψομαι τῇ χειρὶ ὡς νοσσιὰν, καὶ ὡς καταλελειμμένα ὠὰ ἀρῶ, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὃς δια φεύξεταί με, ἢ ἀντείπῃ μοι. Ὅτε δὲ ὁ Κύριος ἐπεδήμησε, καὶ πεῖραν ἔσχεν ὁ ἐχθρὸς τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης οἰκονομίας αὐτοῦ, μὴ δυνηθεὶς ἀπατῆσαι τὴν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ φορουμένην σάρκα, τότε δὴ ὁ τὴν οἰκουμένην ὅλην ἐπαγγελλόμενος καταλαμβάνειν λοιπὸν ἐξ ἐκείνου καὶ δι' ἐκεῖνον παίζεται καὶ ὑπὸ παιδίων, ὡς στρουθίον, ὁ ὑπερήφανος. Παιδίον γὰρ νῦν νήπιον εἰς τρώγλην ἀσπίδων βάλλον τὴν χεῖρα, γελᾷ τὸν ἀπατήσαντα τὴν Εὔαν· καὶ πάντες δὲ οἱ ὀρθῶς πιστεύοντες εἰς τὸν Κύριον πατοῦσι τὸν εἰπόντα· Θήσομαι τὸν θρόνον μου ἐπάνω τῶν νεφελῶν, ἀναβήσομαι, ὅμοιος ἔσομαι τῷ Ὑψίστῳ. Οὕτω μὲν οὖν πάσχει μετ' αἰσχύνης ἐκεῖνος· ὅμως δὲ, εἰ καὶ τολμᾷ πάλιν ὁ ἀναίσχυντος σχηματίζεσθαι, ἀλλὰ γινώσκεται καὶ νῦν μᾶλλον ὁ τάλας ὑπὸ τῶν τὸ σημεῖον ἐν τῷ μετώπῳ φορούντων, καὶ δεινότερον ἀποστρέφεται τεταπεινωμένος καὶ κατῃσχυμμένος. Κἄν τε γὰρ ὡς ὄφις νῦν ἕρπων μετασχηματίσηται εἰς ἄγγελον φωτὸς, ἀλλ' οὐκ εἰς ὄνησιν ἕξει τὴν ὑπόκρισιν· πεπαιδεύμεθα γὰρ, ὅτι κἂν ἄγγελος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ εὐαγγελίσηται ἡμᾶς παρ' ὃ παρελάβομεν, ἀνάθεμα τοῦτον εἶναι. Ἅγιος Ἀθανάσιος, Πρὸς Τους Ἐπισκοπους Αἰγυπτοῦ και Λιβης Ἐπισοτλὴ

What a great gift the Word has bestowed upon us, that we should not be deceived by appearances but that rather in whatever way these things are concealed we should distinguish them by the grace of the Spirit. For whereas the utterly hateful inventor of wickedness and great demon, the devil, showing himself is rejected by all, so as a serpent, as a dragon, as a lion seeking whom he may seize upon and devour, 1 he conceals and covers what he is, and cleverly impersonates that Name which all men desire, so that deceiving by appearance he may thus hold fast those deceived in his own chains. And it is as if a man wishing to kidnap the children of others, the parents being absent, should adopt their appearance, and so deceiving the affections of the children, should carry them far away and destroy them; and so in like manner this evil and crooked devil, having no honesty in himself, and knowing the desire which men have for the truth, adopts an appearance and so spreads his own poison among those that follow after him. Thus he deceived Eve, not speaking in his own words, but by taking up the words of God and perverting their meaning. Thus he suggested evil to the wife of Job, persuading her to feign affection for her husband, while teaching him to blaspheme God. 3 Thus does the crafty spirit play with men with displays, beguiling and drawing each one into his own pit of wickedness. When of old he deceived the first man Adam, thinking that through him he should have all men subject to himself, he exulted with great boldness and said, 'My hand has found as a nest the whole earth; and as abandoned eggs I gather them up, and there is none that shall escape me or speak against me. ' But when the Lord came, and the enemy made trial of His humanity, being unable to deceive the flesh which He had taken upon Him, from then he, who promised himself the occupation of the whole world, grasping the rest from it, is for His sake mocked even by children: the proud one is a sparrow. For now the infant child places his hand upon the hole of the asp, and laughs at the one who deceived Eve; and all that rightly believe in the Lord tread under foot the one who said, 'I shall place my throne in the clouds, I will ascend and I shall be like the Most High.' 2 Thus he suffers and is disgraced; and although he still ventures shamelessly to disguise himself, yet now, wretched spirit, he is known, or rather he is by those bearing the Sign on their foreheads, and he is rejected by them, and he is humbled and put to shame. For even if now as a serpent creeping, he transforms himself into an angel of light, yet his deception will not profit him; for we have been taught that: 'Though an angel from heaven preach to us any other gospel than that we have received, he is anathema.' 3   Saint Athanasius, from the Letter to the Bishops of Egypt and Libya 1 Pet 5.8 2 Is 14.14  3 Gal 1.8

Anxiety And Tomorrow

Nolite ergo solliciti esse de crastino. Crastinus enim dies sollicitus erit sibi ipse. Sufficit diei malitia sua.   Commune judicium est, diem esse labentium temporum cursum luce solis illuminatum, quem nox interjecta discriminat, et interventu suo diei diem subrogat: furturi autem temporis significantia continetur in crastino. Ergo de futuro sollicitos nos esse Deus vetuit. Incuria autem sollicitudinis relaxatae, non negligentiae, sed fidei est. Cur enim solliciti simus in crastino; cum crastinus dies sibi ipse sollicitus sit? Ergo anxietatem nostram ipsa pro nobis dies sollicita depellit. Sed sollicitudo, ut arbitror, proprius est hominis affectus: hanc enim excitat aut curae, aut metus, aut doloris anxietas. Dies vero cursus est temporis: et sola providentiam consecuta sollicitudinis recipiunt affectum. Constituetur ergo dies esse animal, quod et caveat, et prospiciat, et curet; cui et malitia propria sufficiat, neque extrinsecus accidenti sit cumulanda peccato. Sed natura rei non cupit diei deputare mentis affectum: ergo et quod sibi ipsa sollicitia est, et quod ei malitia sua sufficit, et quod inhibemur solliciti esse de crastino; totum sub dictis coelestis significantiae continetur. Jubemur igitur non ambigere de futuris; satis enim vitae nostra malitia, et dierum quibus vivmus peccata sufficiunt, ut circa haec purganda et promerenda omnis vitae nostrae meditatio laborque versetur, ne etiam de futurorum diffidentia inexpiabilis irreligiositas contrahatur. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, In Evangelium Matthaei Commentarius, Cap V

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow. For tomorrow will be anxious about itself. Sufficient for the day are its own evils. 1 It is the common judgement that a day is a lapse of time the course of which is illuminated by the light of the sun, into which the coming of night divides it from and replaces it with another day; the significance of the future is contained in tomorrow. God forbids us to be anxious about the future. Release by indifference to worries is not negligence, but faith. Why should we be anxious for tomorrow when tomorrow is anxious for itself? Therefore, our anxieties the anxious day dispels for us. But worry, so I judge, is a sentiment unique to human beings, for it provokes this feeling on account of concern, fear or sorrow. A day's course is in time, and only those who have  foreknowledge are moved by anxiety. Let a day, then, be understood as an animal that is wary, and keeps watch, and frets, and its own evil is sufficient for itself without the addition of sin heaped up from elsewhere. But the nature of the thing does not wish that the state of our mind should be determined by a day. For what has its own worries, its own evils suffice for it, and we are prohibited for being anxious about tomorrow with everything contained by the significance of the heavenly words. We are instructed, therefore, not to doubt concerning the future. There is enough wickedness in our life and the sins in which we live daily are sufficient that all our thoughts and labour should be engaged with the purging and expiation of them, lest exhibiting indifference for the future we should be drawn into unforgivable irreligiosity. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, from the Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Chapter 5 1 Mt 6.34

Peace and Quiet

Ἐν εἰρήνῃ ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κοιμηθήσομαι, και ὑπνώσω· Ὁτι σὺ, Κύριε, κατὰ μόνας ἐπ' ἐλπίδι κατῴκισάς με. Ἰδοῦ καὶ ἄλλο προνοίας εἶδος οὐ μικρὸν, τὸ εἰρήνης ἀπολαύειν τοὺς ἀνακειμένους Θεῷ. Εἰρήνη γὰρ τοῐς ἀγαπῶσι τὸν νόμον σου, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτοῖς σκάνδαλον. Οὐδεν γὰρ οὔτως εἰρήνην ποιεῖν εἴωθεν, ὡς ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ γνῶσις, καὶ ἡ τῆς ἀρετῆς κτῆσις, τὸν ἔνδοθεν τῶν παθῶν ἐξοικίζουσα πόλεμον, καὶ οὐκ ἀφιεῖσα αὐτὸν πρὸς ἑαυτὸν διαστασιάζειν τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Ὡς εἴγε μὴ ταύτης ἀπολαύοι τῆς εἰρήνης, κἂν ἐν βαθυτάτῃ εἰρήνῃ ᾗ ἔξωθεν, κἂν μηδεὶς πολέμιος αὐτὸν βάλλῃ, τῶν ὑπὸ τῆς οἰκουμένης πολεμουμένων πάντων ἐστὶν ἀθλιώτερος. Οὐ γὰρ οὔτω Σκύθαι, οὐδὲ Θρᾷκες, οὐ Σαυρομάται, καὶ Ἰνδοὶ, καὶ Μαῦροι, καὶ ὅσα ἄγρια ἔθνη πολεμεῖν εἰώθασιν, ὡς λογισμὸς ἀτοπώτατος ἐνδομυχῶν τῇ ψυχῇ, καὶ ἐπιθυμία ἀκόλαστος, καὶ χρημάτων ἔρως, καὶ προσπάθεια. Καὶ εἰκότως· ἐκεῖνος μὲν γὰρ ἔξωθεν ὁ πόλεμος, αὔτη δὲ ἔνδον ἐστὶν ἡ μάχῃ. Ὅτι δὲ τὰ ἔνδοθεν τικτόμενα τῶν ἔξεθεν προσβαλλόντων ἐστὶ χαλεπώτερα, καὶ μᾶλοον διαφθείρειν εἴωθε, τοῦτο ἐπὶ πάντων ἔστιν ἰδεῖν. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ξύλου φύσιν σκώληξ ἔνδον τικτόμενος μᾶλλον διαφθείρει, καὶ σώματος δύναμιν καὶ ὑγείαν τῶν ἔξωθεν φυομένων τὰ ἔνδοθεν βλαστάνοντα νοσματα μειζόνως λυμαίνεται· καὶ πόλεις οὐχ οὔτως οἱ ἔξωθεν πολέμιοι, ὡς οἱ ἐμφύλιοι καταλύουσιν· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ψυχὴν οὐχ οὔτω τὰ ἔξωθεν προσιόντα μηχανήματα, ὡς τὰ ἔνδοθεν τικτόμενα νοσήματα λυμαίνεσθαι πέφυκεν. Ἀλλ' ἐάν τις τὸν φόβον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἔχων, μετὰ ἀκριβείας τοῦτον καταλύσῃ τὸν πόλεμον, καὶ κοιμήσῃ τὰ πάθη, καὶ τὰ θηρία τὰ ποικίλα ἐκεῖνα τῶν ἀτόπων λογυσνῶν ἀποπνίξας, μὴ ἐμφωλεύειν παρασκευάσῃ, οὗτος καθαρωτάτης καὶ βαθυτάτης ἀπολαύσεται εἰρήνης. Ταύτην τὴν εἰρήνην ἐλθὼν ὁ Χριστὸς ἐχαρίσατο· ταύτην καὶ ὁ Παῦλος τοῖς πιστοῖς ἐπηύχετο, καθ' ἑκάστην ἐπιστολὴν λέγων· Χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς ἡμῶν· ὁ γὰρ τὴν εἱρήνην ταύτην ἔχων, οὐ μόνον βάρβαρον καὶ πολέμιον, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ αὐτὸν τὸν διάβολον δέδοικεν· ἀλλὰ πάσης τῆς τῶν δαιμόνων φάλαγγος καταγελᾷ, καὶ πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἐστὶν εὐθυμότερος, οὐ πενίᾳ πιεζόμενος, οὐ νόσῳ καὶ ἀῥῥωστίᾳ βαρούμενος, οὐκ ἄλλω τινὶ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων τῶν ἀδοκήτως προσπιπτόντων θορυβούμενος, δια τὸ τὴν ψυχὴν, τὴν δυναμένην ταῦτα μετὰ ἀκριβείας διαθεῖναι καὶ εὐκολίας ἀπάσης, ἐῥῥωμένην καὶ ὑγιαίνουσαν ἔχειν. Καὶ ἵνα μάθητε ὅτι τοῦτό ἐστιν ἀληθές· ἔστω τις βάσκανος, καὶ μηδεὶς αὐτῷ πολεμείτω· τί τὸ ὄφελος; Αὐτὸς γαρ ἑαυτῷ πολεμεῖ· παντὸς ξίφους ὀξυτέρους καθ' ἑαυτοῦ θήγων λογισμοὺς, πᾶσι τοῖς ὁρωμένοις προσπταίων, καὶ καθ' ἔκαστον τῶν ἐντυγχανόντων ἀνθρώπων τιτρώσκων ἑαυτὸν, καὶ πρὸς οὐδένα ἡδέως ἔχων, ἀλλὰ κοινοὺς πολεμίους πάντας ὁρῶν. Τί οὖν ὅφελος τῆς ἔξωθεν εἰρήνης τούτῳ, ὅταν αὐτὸς λυσσῶν καὶ μαινόμενος, καὶ κοινὸς τῆς φύσεως ὤν ἐχθρὸς, περιέρχηται, τοσοῦτον ἔνδοθεν φέρων πόλεμον, καὶ μυρία τόξα καὶ βέλη, μᾶλλον δὲ μυρίους θανάτους εὐχόμανος, ἤ ἰδεῖν τινα τῶν ὁμογενῶν εὐδοκιμοῦνται καὶ εὐμερίας ἀπολαύοντα; Πάλιν ἕτερος ὑπὸ χρημάτων ἐπιθυμίας κατεχόμενος, μυρίους πολέμους καὶ μάχας καὶ στάσεις εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ συνάγει ψυχὴν, καὶ ἐν θορύβῳ καὶ ταραχῇ ὤν, οὐδὲ μικρὸν ἀναπνεῦσαι δυναταὶ. Ἀλλ' οὐχ ὁ τούτων ἀπηλλαγμένος τῶν παθῶν οὕτω διάκειται, ἀλλ' ἐν γαληνῷ κάθηται λιμένι, ἐντρυφῶν τῇ φιλοσοφίᾳ, καὶ οὐδεμίν ὑπομένων ἀηδίαν τοιαύτην. Διὸ δὴ καὶ ταύτης ἀπολαύων τῆς προνοίας Ὁ Προφήτης ἔλεγεν· Ἐν εἰρήνῃ ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κοιμηθήσομαι, και ὑπνώσω· δνλῶν, ὅτι τῷ μὴ ταύτην ἔχοντι τὴν εἰρήνην οὐδὲ ὁ κοινὸς λιμὴν  ἄπας ἀνέῳκται, ἀλλὰ καὶ οὕτος προσκεχωσται, ὁ του ὕπνου καὶ τῆς νυκτός.  Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Εἰς Τον Δ' Ψαλμον

In peace I shall sleep and rest. Because you, Lord, alone in hope have established me. 1 Behold another significant type of providence, that those dedicated to God enjoy peace: 'For peace there is to the lovers of your law and not to them is scandal'  2 For there is nothing equal to the making of peace than the knowledge of God, and the possession of virtue, which casts the internal war of passions far from one's house, and it does not allow it to disturb a man. For certainly if a man does not enjoy this peace, even if there is perfect peace outside him, even if no enemy falls upon him, he is more wretched than those who are under assault in the world. For neither Scythian, nor Thracian, nor Sarmatian, nor Indian, nor Moor, nor any wild folk, are accustomed to bring so fierce a war as wicked thoughts are into the depths of the soul, uncontrolled lust, love of money, vehement attachment to things. And it is certainly so, for the first is an external conflict and the latter internal, and what is born within us, compared to those things that come from without, is more grievous, and they are accustomed to be more violent, which may be seen in everything. For wood having worms born within it is more corrupt, and the health of the body suffers more harm by disease which arises from within than by that which comes from without, and cities are not so much by external enemies than by civic enemies destroyed; and so even the soul is not so much by external machinations sickened than by that which is born from within bringing ruin. Yet if a man have the fear of God he may suppress this conflict utterly, and give peace to the passions, and suppress the various uprisings of unseemly thoughts, not allowing them to linger in his interior, and this one is most great in his enjoyment of peace. This is the peace Christ's coming has given, and for this Paul prayed for the faithful,saying in each of his letters, 'Grace to you and peace from God our father.' For he who has this peace, not only he need not take fright at barbarous enemy and the devil himself, but every cohort of demons he may laugh at, and he is of all men cheerful, not oppressed by poverty, nor by disease and ill health weighed down, nor perturbed by any unforeseen event which befalls men, because his soul has strength and health by which he is most eminently and easily able to manage and temper these things. And that this you might know this to be true: if some man is envious, and no one bring war upon him, what does it benefit? For he brings war upon himself, as if his thoughts were a sharp sword thrusting into his interior in everything which seems to offend him and in each thing which happens among men by which he wounds himself, and he has no delight in anything but he sees everything as an enemy. What then is the use of external peace, when he is furious and maddened, the enemy of our common nature, and bears within himself such an internal war and a thousand arrows and shafts, and prefers to suffer a thousand deaths rather than see anyone else who is like him held in high regard? Again another may be gripped by a desire for wealth, and so he incites innumerable battles, and brawls, and uprisings in his own soul, and endless tumults and troubles, and he has no time to breathe. But it is not so with the one who is free from such passions, he is not moved in such a manner, but in a tranquil port he resides, and he feasts on wisdom, and no trouble he bears. Whence the fruitful foresight of the Prophet says, 'In peace I shall sleep and rest,' which means that to him who does not have peace, it is not that the common port of all is not open, but that it is obstructed, even in quiet and night.  Saint John Chrysostom, Exposition of the Psalms, Psalm 4 1 Ps 4 9-10 2 Ps 118.165

An End Of Troubles

Haec dicit Dominus, si perfecti fuerint, et ita plures: sic quoque attondentur et pertransibit: afflixi te, et non affligam te ultra: et nunc conteram virgam ejus de dorso tuo, et vincula tua disrumpam LXX: Haec dicit Dominus regnans acquis multis, et sic dividentur, et auditus tuus non audientur amplius, et nunc conteram virgam ejus a te: et vincula ejus disrumpam.   Juxta litteram manifestus est sensus: Licet, inquit, robusti sint Assyrii, et fortitudo eorum numero augeatur cunctarum gentium: sic quoque angelo vastante, tondentur. Quomodo enim numerus capillorum acutae forcipi non repugnat: ita et numerus adversariorum Dei, facili succisione tolletur, et pertransibit Assur, vel esse desistet, sive, vastato exercitu suo, revertetur ad patriam, te sospitem dereliquens. Rursumque ad Judam et Jerusalem sermo dirigetur: Afflixi, te, et non affligam te ultra: non quod perpetuam securitatem polliceatur, sed illius tantum temporis, et ab illis hostibus a quibus tunc obsidebatur. Denique infert: Et nunc conteram virgam ejus, id est, Assyrii, de dorso tuo, et vincula tua disrumpam: vel per metaphoram potestatem ejus significans: vel certe, virgam qua percutere conabatur, et vincula quae captivis parabat: quanquam possit et obsidio clausae multitudinis pro vinculis accipi. Porro juxta LXX multo aliter est senus. Adhuc enim videtur adversus eos loqui, quibus supra dixerat: Quid cogitatis contra Dominum? Et: Ex te exibit cogitatio contra Domnium pessima, cogitans contraria. Haec ergo dicit Dominus regnans aquis multis, sive virtutibus, quae dicuntur aquae super caelos: et praecipitur eis, ut laudent Dominum: vel certe intellectibus et sapientiae et doctrinis Dei. Sicut enim flumina de ventre justi fluent, et fontes uberes in vitam aeternam, per varias multiplicesque sententias, quibus imperat sermo Domini: ita habent et haeresiarchae aquas sua, quibus imperant, et quae ex eorum primum fonte manarunt. Quod autem sequitur: Et sic dividentur, vel de coelestibus quae in supernis Deo serviunt virtutibus intelligi potest; quod unaquaeque in suo officio sit et ministerio, vel de multiplici varietate spaientiae. Ne quia dixerat, regnans aquis multis, confusus et indiscretus sensuum numerus putaretur: sed quod unaquaeque sententia divisos habeat inter se sensus et separatas materias propriasque ὑποθέσεις. Nam quod dicitur: Auditus tuus non audietur amplius, increpatio est in eos, qui adversus Deum contraria cogitaverant, quod ostensis sophismatibus et decipulis, quibus Dei populus irretiebatur, sermo eorum ultra non currat, nec suscipiatur a populis. Sed et hoc quod infert: Et nunc conteram virgam ejus a te, et vincula tua disrumpam, pro ipsis dicitur quibus fit comminatio, ut nequaquam caedantur a diabolo, et ei subjecti sint, quo auctore tanta excogitaverant atque confixerant. Conteretur ergo imperium ejus in eos: et vincula quibus peccantium animae ligabantur, disrumpentur a sermone Dei, dicente his qui in vinculis sunt, exite. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum In Naum Prophetam

'These things the Lord says, 'Though they were great, even though so many, even so they will be cut off and pass. I afflicted you but I shall afflict you no more, and now I shall shatter his stick from your back and your chains I shall break.' The Septuagint has: 'These things the Lord says ruling with the many waters, and so they shall be divided, and your ears shall not hear any more, and now I shall shatter his stick from you and his chains I shall break.' 1 According to the letter the meaning is plain: It was allowed, it says, that the Assyrians became strong, and that their might exceed that of all the other nations, even so by the devastating angel they were cut off. As even the great number of hairs may not avoid the sharp pincers, so even the number of the enemies of God are easily cut off and taken away, and Assur he shall pass on, or, he shall desist, or, with his wasted army he shall return to his homeland, and you will be left unscathed. And again the speech is directed to Judah and Jerusalem: 'I afflicted you but I will afflict you no more.' It is not that perpetual safety is promised here, but only for a time and from those enemies by which they were besieged. Next comes: 'And now I shall shatter his stick,' that is, Assyria's, 'from your back, and your chains I shall break.' Either this is a metaphor for his power, or the stick with which he has tried to strike and the chains which he has prepared for captives; but whatever he may have tried to do, I give the end of the siege for a multitude of chains. However, according to the Septuagint the meaning is quite different. For it seems that against them it is spoken about whom it was said before this passage, 'Why do you think against the Lord?  And: 'From you will go out a most wretched thought against the Lord, plotting harm.' 2 These things thus says the Lord who rules with many waters, or powers, which they say are the waters above the heavens, and He commands them, that they praise the Lord, 3 certainly with understanding of the wisdom and the teaching of God. For as flow waters from the bosom of the righteous, 4 even abundant founts into eternal life, through various and many meanings the word of the Lord rules, and thus the heresiarchs have their own waters, by which they command, and which from the fount of them first flowed forth. And it follows, 'And so they shall be divided,' which is can be understood either as the high powers in the heavens serving God, each one in his office and ministry, or on account of the manifold variety of wisdom. Because he did not say, 'ruling with the many waters,' that this be thought to be a confused and indistinguishable mass of things, but that each among them has his different purpose and separate are his substance and hypothesis. Then it is said, 'Your hearing shall not hear any more,' which is a cry against those who have set their thoughts against God, that with its sophisms and deceptions, by which the people of God are entangled, their word will not go forth any more, nor will it be taken up by the people. But even this which is said: 'And now I shall shatter his stick from you, and your chains I shall break,'  about the same is said as a warning, that they shall not be slain by the devil and be subject to him, with which author such things they have plotted to do and struck. For He shall crush down his power upon them, and the chains by which they were binding the souls of sinners will be broken by the speech of God, saying to those who are in chains, come out! Saint Jerome, Commentary on Nahum  1 Nahum 1 12-13 2 Nahum 1. 11  3 Ps 148.4  4 Jn 7.38

Babylon And Salvation

Παραγγείλατε ἐπὶ Βαβυλῶνα πολλοῖς.  Οἱ μὲν ἐν Βαβυλῶνι πολλοὶ, οἱ δὲ ἐν Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἑλάχιστοι· εἴρηται γάρ· Οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο ἠγὰπσεν ὑμᾶς Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν παρὰ τὸ εἴναι πολλοστούς· ὑμεῖς γάρ ἐστε ὀλιγοστοὶ παρὰ πάντα τὰ ἔνθη. Ὀλίγοι ὄντως οἱ σωζόμενοι καὶ διὰ τῆς στενῆς εἰσερχόμενοι θύρας. Παραγγέλλεται δὲ πᾶς ἐπὶ τὴν πλατεῖαν καὶ εὐρύχωρον βαβυλῶνα τόξον ἐκτείνειν, καὶ μηδένα ταύτης περιποιεῖσθαι. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαι Εἰς Ἱερεμαιν

Announce it to the multitudes of Babylon. 1 Those of Babylon are many, those of Jerusalem few. For it is said: 'Not account of this does the Lord love you, that you are many, for you are the smallest of all the peoples.' 2 For truly they are few who are saved, who enter through the narrow gate. 3 And it is announced to everyone to draw their bows against the broad and easy Babylon, that no one in it escape. 4 Origen, Commentary On Jeremiah, Fragment 1 Jer 50.2 2 Deut 7.7 3 Mt 7. 13-14 4 cf Jer 50. 14-16

God and Numbers

Σὺ δέ μοι περιείχου τῶν τοίχων, καὶ τῶν πλακῶν, καὶ τῆς κε  κομψευμένης ψηφῖδος, καὶ τῶν μακρῶν δρόμων καὶ περιδρόμων, καὶ χρυσῷ κατελάμπου καὶ περιελάμπου, τὸν μὲν, ὡς ὕδωρ ἔσπειρες, τὸν δὲ, ὡς ἄμμον ἐθησαύριζες· ἀγνοῶν, ὅτι κρείσσων ὕπαιθρος πίστις πολυτελοῦς ἀσεβείας, καὶ πλέους Θεῷ τρεῖς συνηγμένοι ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου, πολλῶν μυριάδων ἀρνουμένων θεότητα. Ἢ καὶ τοὺς Χαναναίους ἅπαν τας προτιμήσεις ἑνὸς τοῦ Ἀβραάμ; ἢ καὶ τοὺς Σοδομίτας ἑνὸς τοῦ Λώτ; ἢ καὶ Μαδιηναίους Μωσέως, τῶν παροίκων καὶ ξένων; Τί δαὶ τοὺς μετὰ Γεδεὼν τριακοσίους, τοὺς λάμψαντας ἀνδρικῶς, τῶν ἀποστραφεισῶν χιλιάδων; τί δαὶ τοὺς οἰκογενεῖς Ἀβραὰμ, τοὺς μικρὸν ὑπὲρ τούτους τῷ ἀριθμῷ τῶν πολλῶν βασιλέων, καὶ τῶν τοῦ στρατοῦ μυριάδων, ἃς, καίπερ ὄντες ὀλίγοι, κατεδίωξαν καὶ ἐτρέψαντο; ἐκεῖνο δὲ πῶς νοεῖς, ὅτι Ἐὰν γένηται ὁ ἀριθμὸς τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς θαλάσσης, τὸ κατάλειμμα σωθήσεται; τί δαὶ τὸ, Κατέλιπον ἐμαυτῷ ἑπτακισχιλίους ἄνδρας, οἵτι νες οὐκ ἔκαμψαν γόνυ τῇ Βάαλ; οὐκ ἔστι τοῦτο, οὐκ ἔστιν. Οὐκ ἐν τοῖς πλείοσιν εὐδόκησεν ὁ Θεός. Σὺ μὲν ἀριθμεῖς τὰς μυριάδας, Θεὸς δὲ τοὺς σωζομένους· καὶ σὺ μὲν τὸν ἀμέτρητον χοῦν, ἐγὼ δὲ τὰ σκεύη τῆς ἐκλογῆς. Οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτω Θεῷ μεγαλοπρεπὲς ὡς λόγος κεκαθαρμένος, καὶ ψυχὴ τελεία τοῖς τῆς ἀληθείας δόγμασιν. Ἄξιον μὲν γὰρ οὐδέν ἐστι τοῦ τὰ πάντα πεποιηκότος, καὶ παρ' οὗ τὰ πάντα, καὶ εἰς ὃν τὰ πάντα, δοῦναι Θεῷ καὶ προσενεγκεῖν· μὴ ὅτι μιᾶς χειρὸς ἔργον ἢ περιουσίας, ἀλλ' οὐδ' εἰ πᾶσάν τις τὴν ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐπορίαν ἢ χεῖρα εἰς ἒν συνενεγκὼν, τιμῆσαι θελήσειεν. Οὐχὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν ἐγὼ πληρῶ; λέγει Κύριος· καὶ, Ποῖον οἶκον οἰκοδομήσετέ μοι; ἢ τίς τόπος τῆς καταπαύσεώς μου; ἐπεὶ δὲ τῆς ἀξίας διαμαρτεῖν ἀναγκαῖον, ὃ δεύτερόν ἐστιν, αἰτῶ παρ' ὑμῶν τὴν εὐσέβειαν, τὸν κοινὸν πλοῦτον ἐμοὶ καὶ ὁμότιμον, ἐν ᾧ τυχὸν ὑπερβαλεῖται καὶ τὸν λίαν λαμπρὸν ὁ πάνυ πένης, ἂν ᾖ μεγαλόψυχος. Προαιρέσεως γὰρ, οὐκ εὐπορίας ἡ τοιαύτη φιλοτιμία. Λήψομαι μὲν καὶ ταῦτα ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν ὑμῶν, εὖ ἴστε. Πατεῖν τὴν αὐλήν μου οὐ προσθήσεσθε, ἀλλὰ πατήσουσιν αὐτὴν πόδες πραέων, τῶν ἐπεγνωκότων ἐμὲ, καὶ τὸν μονογενῆ μου Λόγον, καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ὑγιῶς καὶ γνησίως. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, Λόγος ΜΒ'

But to me you surrounded yourself with walls and tablets and richly set stones, and long porticoes and galleries, shining and glittering with gold, which you did in part pour forth like water and in part treasure up like sand, not knowing that better is homeless faith than opulent impiety, and that three gathered together in the Lord's name 1 count for more with God than many thousands of those who deny the Divine. Or would you prefer the whole of the Canaanites to Abraham alone? Or the Sodomites to Lot alone? Or the Midianites to Moses? 2 And each one of these a wanderer and a stranger? How do the three hundred men of Gideon, who bravely lapped, 3 compare with the thousands who were put to flight? Or the servants of Abraham, who scarcely exceeded them in number, and who, few as they were, overtook and defeated many kings and their army of tens of thousands? 4 Or how do you understand that passage where it says that though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant shall be saved? 5 And : I have left with me seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal? 6 This is not the case; it is not. God has not taken pleasure in great numbers. You count up tens of thousands, God  those who are saved; and you count the dust without number, and I the vessels of election. For nothing is so magnificent to God as reason purified, and a soul perfect in all the teachings of the truth. For there is nothing worthy of Him Who made all things, and of Him by Whom are all things, and for Whom are all things, 7 so that it may be given or offered to God; not only the work or substance of anyone, but even if, by uniting together all the property and handiwork of mankind, we wished to honour Him. 'Do I not  fill heaven and earth?' says the Lord. 8 And what house will you build Me? Or what is the place of My rest? 9 But since it must fall short of what is worthy, I ask of you what comes next, that is, piety, the common wealth  equal in My sight, by which the poorest man may surpass the most illustrious, if he have a noble soul. For this is my choice, not wealth or love of honor. These things I will receive from your hands, be assured. Tread My courts you shall not, but the feet of the meek shall will walk there, they who have truly acknowledged Me, and My only-begotten Word, and the Holy Spirit. Saint Gregory Nazianzus, Oration 42 1 Mt 18:20 2 Ex 2:15 3 Jud 7:5  4 Gen 14:14  5 Is 10.22  6 3 Kings 19.18 7 1 Cor 8:6  8 Jer 23:24  9 Is 66:1

Anthony's Speech

Μιᾷ γοῦν ἡμέρᾳ προελθὼν, καὶ πάντων τῶν μοναχῶν ἐλθόντων πρὸς αὐτὸν, ἀξιούντων τε παρ' αὐτοῦ ἀκοῦσαι λόγον, ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς τῇ Αἰγυπτιακῇ φωνῇ ταῦτα· Τὰς μὲν Γραφὰς ἱκανὰς εἶναι πρὸς διδασκαλίαν· ἡμᾶς δὲ καλὸν παρακαλεῖν ἀλλήλους ἐν τῇ πίστει, καὶ ἀλείφειν ἐν τοῖς λόγοις. Καὶ ὑμεῖς τοίνυν ὡς τέκνα φέρετε τῷ πατρὶ λέγοντες ἃ οἴδατε· κἀγὼ δὲ ὡς τῇ ἡλικίᾳ πρεσβύτερος ὑμῶν, ἃ οἶδα καὶ ὧν πεπείραμαι μεταδίδωμι. Ἔστω δὲ προηγουμένως κοινὴ πᾶσιν αὕτη σπουδὴ, ἀρξαμένους μὴ ὑπενδοῦναι, μηδὲ ἐκκακεῖν ἐν τοῖς πόνοις, μηδὲ λέγειν· Ἐχρονίσαμεν ἐν τῇ ἀσκήσει· ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ὡς ἀρχόμενοι καθ' ἡμέραν, τὴν προθυμίαν ἐπαυξήσωμεν. Ὅλος γὰρ ὁ τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίος βραχύτατός ἐστι, μετρούμενος πρὸς τοὺς μέλλοντας αἰῶνας· ὥστε καὶ πάντα τὸν χρόνον ἡμῶν μηδὲν εἶναι πρὸς τὴν αἰώνιον ζωήν. Καὶ πᾶν μὲν πρᾶγμα ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ τοῦ ἀξίου πιπράσκεται, καὶ ἴσον ἴσῳ τις ἀντικαταλλάσσει· ἡ δὲ ἐπαγγελία τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς ὀλίγου τινὸς ἀγοράζεται. Γέγραπται γάρ· Αἱ ἡμέραι τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτη, ἐὰν δὲ ἐν δυναστείαις, ὀγδοήκοντα ἔτη, καὶ τὸ πλεῖον αὐτῶν, κόπος καὶ πόνος. Ὅταν τοίνυν πάντα τὰ ὀγδοήκοντα ἔτη, ἢ καὶ ἑκατὸν διαμείνωμεν ἐν τῇ ἀσκήσει, οὐκ ἴσα τοῖς ἑκατὸν ἔτεσι βασιλεύσομεν, ἀλλ' ἀντὶ τῶν ἑκατὸν αἰῶνας αἰώνων βασιλεύσομεν· καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς ἀγωνισά μενοι, οὐκ ἐν γῇ κληρονομοῦμεν, ἀλλ' ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἔχομεν τὰς ἐπαγγελίας· πάλιν δὲ φθαρτὸν ἀποθέμενοι τὸ σῶμα, ἄφθαρτον ἀπολαμβάνομεν αὐτό. Ὥστε, τέκνα, μὴ ἐκκακῶμεν, μηδὲνομί ζωμεν χρονίζειν, ἢ μέγα τι ποιεῖν. Οὐ γὰρ ἄξια τὰ παθήματα τοῦ νῦν καιροῦ πρὸς τὴν μέλλουσαν ἀποκαλυφθῆναι εἰς ἡμᾶς δόξαν. Μηδὲ εἰς τὸν κόσμον βλέποντες νομίζωμεν μεγάλοις τισὶν ἀποτετάχθαι· καὶ γὰρ καὶ αὐτὴ πᾶσα ἡ γῆ βραχυτάτη πρὸς ὅλον τὸν οὐρανόν ἐστιν. Εἰ τοίνυν καὶ πάσης τῆς γῆς κύριοι ἐτυγχάνομεν, καὶ ἀπετασσόμεθα τῇ γῇ πάσῃ, οὐδὲν ἄξιον ἦν πάλιν πρὸς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν. Ὡς γὰρ εἴ τις καταφρονήσειε μιᾶς χαλκῆς δραχμῆς, ἵνα κερδήσῃ χρυσᾶς δραχμὰς ἑκατὸν, οὕτως ὁ πάσης τῆς γῆς κύριος ὢν, καὶ ἀποτασσόμενος αὐτῇ, ὀλίγον ἀφίησι, καὶ ἑκατονταπλασίονα λαμβάνει. Εἰ δὲ οὐδὲ πᾶσα ἡ γῆ ἀξία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐστιν, ὁ ἄρα ἀφεὶς ὀλίγας ἀρούρας, ὡς οὐδὲν καταλιμπάνων, κἂν οἰκίαν ἢ χρυσίον ἱκανὸν ἀφῇ, οὐκ ὀφείλει καυχᾶσθαι ἢ ἀκηδιᾷν. Ἄλλως τε ὀφείλομεν λογίζεσθαι, ὅτι, κἂν μὴ ἀφῶμεν δι' ἀρετὴν, ἀλλ' ὕστερον ἀποθνήσκοντες καταλιμπάνομεν αὐτὰ πολλάκις καὶ οἷς οὐ θέλομεν, ὡς ἐμνημόνευσεν ὁ Ἐκκλησιαστής. Διὰ τί οὖν μὴ δι' ἀρετὴν ἡμεῖς καταλιμπά νομεν, ἵνα καὶ βασιλείαν κληρονομήσωμεν; Διὰ τοῦτο μηδὲ τοῦ κτᾶσθαί τις ἡμῶν ἐπιθυμίαν λαμβανέτω. Τί γὰρ κέρδος ταῦτα κτᾶσθαι, ἃ μηδὲ αἴρομεν μεθ' ἑαυτῶν; τί οὐ μᾶλλον ἐκεῖνα κτώμεθα, ἃ καὶ μεθ' ἑαυτῶν ἆραι δυνάμεθα, ἅτινά ἐστι φρόνησις, δικαιοσύνη, σωφροσύνη, ἀνδρεία, σύνεσις, ἀγάπη, φιλοπτωχία, πίστις ἡ εἰς Χριστὸν, ἀοργησία, φιλοξενία; Ταῦτα κτώμενοι, εὑρήσομεν αὐτὰ πρὸ ἑαυτῶν ἐκεῖ ποιοῦντα ἡμῖν ξενίαν ἐν τῇ γῇ τῶν πραέων. Ἅγιος Ἀθανάσιος, Βίος καί Πολιτεία Τοῦ Ὅσῐος Παρτός Ἡμών Ἀντωνιοῦ

One day when Anthony had gone out, and all the monks had come to him, asking to hear a word from him, he spoke these things to them in the Egyptian tongue: 'The Scriptures suffice for instruction, but good it is to encourage one another in the faith, and to anoint with words. And you, then, as children, come to a father asking to know things, and I as elder share what I know and my experience with you. Let this especially be the common desire of all, neither to give way having begun, nor to faint amid toil, nor to say: 'We have been such a long time in the discipline', but rather as though making a beginning every day let us increase our desire. For the whole life of man is very short measured against the ages to come, so all our time is nothing compared with eternal life. And in the world everything is sold at its price, and a thing is exchanged for its equivalent, but the promise of eternal life is bought for a pittance. For it is written, 'The days of our life are seventy years, and for the strong eighty, and the greater part is labour and sorrow. ' 1 When, then, we pass eighty years, or even a hundred in the discipline, not for a hundred years will we reign, but instead of a hundred we shall reign in eternity, and though on earth we fought, we will not inherit on earth, but in the heavens we have the promise; and again putting off the body which is corrupt, we shall receive it incorrupt.  So, children, let us not faint, nor think that we live long in this, or that we are doing something great. 'For the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed to us' 2 . Nor when we look at the world let us think that we have renounced something great, for the whole earth is very small compared with all heaven. If, then, it happened that we were lords of all the earth and renounced it, it would be utterly unworthy of comparison with the kingdom of heaven. For it as if a man should despise a single copper drachma in order to gain a hundred golden drachmas, and so with he who is a lord of all the earth, and renouncing it, he gives up little and he receives a hundredfold. And if the whole earth is not equal in value to the heavens, then he who has given up a few fields leaves it as it were nothing, and even if he has given up a house or much gold he should not boast nor be downcast. Besides, we should think that even if we do not abandon them for the sake of virtue, yet afterwards when we die we shall leave them behind, very often to those to whom we do not wish, as Ecclesiastes says. 3Why then should we not give them up for the sake of virtue, that we may inherit a kingdom? Thus let not the desire of possession take hold of anyone. For what profit is it to acquire these things which we cannot take with us? Why do we not rather acquire those things which we can take away with us, that is, prudence, righteousness, temperance, courage, understanding, love, care for the poor, faith in Christ, freedom from anger, hospitality? Having these, we shall find them of themselves making for us a welcome there in the land of the meek. Saint Athanasius, The Life of Saint Anthony 1 Ps 89.10 2 Rom 8.18 3 Eccles 2.17 -21

Salt And Grace

Ἅλατι Ἐλισσαῖος τὰ Ἰεριχούντια ῥεύματα ἀτεκνοῦντα ἰάσατο, εὐαγγελικῶς κινηθεὶς πρὸς τὴν ἴασιν, οἶα βλέπων τὰ ἔμπροσθεν. Τύπον γὰρ ἔφερε, τὰ μὲν ὕδατα πάσης τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος πρὸς ἀγονίαν ἀρετῶν καὶ ἀκαρπίαν εὐσεβείας στερεωθέντα. Οἱ ἅλες δὲ τῆς πάντα νοτιζούσης ποιότητος καὶ δυνάμεως εἰς τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου διδαχὴν, καθὼς αὐτὸς πρὸς τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ ἀποστόλους φησιν. Ὑμεῖς ἐστε τὸ ἅλας τῆς γῆς· Ἐλισσαῖος δὲ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Δημιουργοῦ καὶ Δεσπότου. Οἱ γὰρ τὴν εἰκόνα καθαρὰν φυλάττοντες τῷ ποιήσαντι, καὶ συνθαυματουργεῖν αὐτῷ, χάριν παρ' αὐτοῦ ἐκομίσαντο. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΙϚ' Εὐαγγελιῳ Source: Migne PG 78.189b-c

With the cure of salt Elisha purified the fruitless waters, 1 and this act of medicine is in the manner of the Gospel, like something before your eyes. For the waters bear the figure of all human nature which is sterile in virtue and fruitless deprived of piety. The salt being moistened has the quality and power akin to the teaching of the Lord. As when He said to his disciples, 'You are the salt of the earth.' 2 Elisha, then, is as the creator and the Lord. For he who guards the pure image in his deeds makes even miracles like Him, working by His grace. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 16, to Euaggelios 1 4 Kings 2.19-22 2 Mt 5.13

A Fiery Body

Ἠρώτησάν τινες τῶν Πατέρων τὸν ἀββᾶν Μακὰριον τὸν Αἰγύπτιον, λέγοντες· Πῶς ὅτε ἐσθίεις καὶ ὅτε νηστεύεις, τὸ σῶμα σου ξηρόν ἐστι; Και λέγει αὐτοϊς ὁ γέρων· Τὸ ξυλον τὸ στρέφον τὰ καιόμενα φρύγανα, δι' ὅλου ἐσθίεται ἐκ τοῦ πυρός. Οὕτως ἐὰν καθαρεύσῃ ἄνθρωπος τὸν νοῦν αὐτοῦ ἐν τῳ φόβῳ τοῦ θεοῦ, αὐτὸς ὁ φόβος τοῦ Θεοῦ κατεσθίει τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ. Ἀποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος

Some of the Fathers questioned Abba Macarius the Egyptian, saying 'Why is it that whether you eat or fast, your body is emaciated?' The old man said to them, 'The wood that is used to turn burning sticks is eventually entirely devoured by the fire. Likewise if a man purifies his soul in the fear of God, that same fear of God consumes his body.' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

The Dry and the Fruitful Land

Et congregata est acqua quae est sub caelo in congregationes suas, et apparuit arida. Et vocavit Deus aridam terram, et congregationes aquarum vocavit maria. Sicut ergo arida haec, segregata a se aqua, quemadmodum superius diximus, ultra non mansit arida, sed jam terra nominatur: hoc modo etiam nostra corpora, si haec ab eis segregatio fiat, jam non permanebunt arida, sed terra appellabunter, ex eo quod fructum Deo ferre jam poterunt. Quoniam quidem in initio Deus coelum fecit et terram: postea vero fecit firmamentum et aridam. Et firmamentum quidem vocavit coelum, donans ei ejus coeli quod ante creaverat nomen. Aridam vero appellavit terram, pro eo quod ei facultatem ferendorum fructuum largiretur. Si quis ergo sua culpa aridus adhuc manet, et fructrum nullum affert, sed spinas et tribulos, velut ignis escas gerens, secundum ea quae ex se protulit, etiam ipse esca ignis efficitur. Si vero studio et diligentia sua separatis ex se aquis abyssi, qui sunt daemonum sensus, exhibuit se terram fructiferam, debet sperare similia, quod et ipse introducatur a Deo in terram fluentem lac et mel.  Origenes, Homilia I In Genesim, Interprete Rufino Aquileiense

'And the water under heaven was gathered into its gatherings and dry land appeared. And God called the dry land earth and the gatherings of water he called seas.'1 Therefore as this dry land, separated from the water, as we said above, did not remain dry any further but is now named earth, in this way our own bodies, if the separation of them occurs from the waters, will no longer remain dry but be named earth from which the fruit for God will be able to be brought forth. Because in the beginning God made heaven and earth and later he made the firmament and the dry land, and the firmament he called heaven giving to it the name of the heaven he created earlier. Dry land he called earth, because he granted it the ability to bring forth fruits. If someone therefore by his own fault remains dry and does not bring forth fruit, but spines and thistles, as if bearing fuel for fire, in accordance with the things which he has brought forth, he himself is made fuel for fire. If by intent and diligence being separated from the waters of the abyss, which are the thoughts of demons, a man shows a fruitful land, he should hope for similar, that is, to be introduced by God into the land flowing with milk and honey. Origen, First Homily on Genesis, Translated by Rufinus of Aquileia. 1 Gen 1 9-10

The End of Captivity

Ita ait: 'Dum avertit Dominus captivitatem plebis suae.' Captivitas proprie gentium est, qui in corde suo dixerant: 'Non est Deus;' qui 'trepidaverant ubi non erat timor,' qui spem inopis confuderunt et illuserant, quia Dominus spes ejus est; qui in generatione justa Dominum habitaturum negaverant, capti religionibus daemonum, superstitionibus temporum, officiis creaturae. Haec captivitas apellitur, hoc servitium adimitur. Sed Isreal erit ille qui credit, Israel erit ille qui Deum oculis cordis adspiciet: quia Israel Deum videns est, qui post captiviatem aversam hoc Dei salutare cognoscit. Laetatur Jacob, laetatur et Israel captivitae aversa, libertate concessa, Deo contemplato, Abraham et Jacob patribus per adoptionem familiae nuncupatis. In his ergo laetemur, et in his exstultemus, scientes per nostram redemptionem ob unius poenitentis salutem esse in coelis gaudia angelorum; et cum coelestis laetitia pro nobis sit, oportet in Christo gaudia nostra esse perpetua. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis,Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum XIV

Thus he says, ' When the Lord ends the captivity of his people.' 1 Captive indeed are the people who have said in their hearts, 'There is no God,' 2 who fear where there is no fear, 3 who have confused hope as worthless and mock it because the Lord is his hope, who have refused to dwell with God in the generation of the righteous, who have been captured by the religions of the demons, by the superstitions of the times, by the ways of creatures. This is the captivity that is cast off, this is servitude that is removed. For Israel shall be he who believes, Israel shall be he who sees God with the eyes of the heart, because Israel sees God, he who after captivity, turning away from it in revulsion, knows the salvation of God. Jacob rejoices, and Israel, turning away in disgust from captivity, granted freedom, contemplating God, with the Abraham and Jacob, named fathers, through adoption of the family, rejoices. In this, therefore, we rejoice, and in these things we delight, knowing by our redemption that the angels rejoice on account of the penitence of one to be saved, and that when there is joy in the heavens for us, there should be our joy forever in Christ. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, Psalm 14 1 Ps 14.7   2 Ps 53. 1  3 Ps 53. 6

Creation Considered

Πῶς ἄν καὶ ὑπέστη τόδε τὸ πᾶν ἥ συνέστη, μὴ Θεοῦ τὰ πάντα καὶ οὐσιώσαντος, καὶ συνέχοντος; Οὐδὲ γὰρ κιθάραν τις ὁρων κάλλιστα ἡσκημένην, καὶ τὴν ταύτης εὐαρμοστίαν, καὶ εὐταξίαν, ἢ τῆς κιθαρῳδίας αὐτῆς ἀκούων ἂλλο τι, ἢ τὸν τῆς κιθάρας δημιουργὸν καὶ τὸν κιθαρῳδὸν ἐννοήσῃ, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀναδραμεῖται τῇ διανοίᾳ, κἂν ἀγνοῶν τύχῃ ταῖς ὄψεσιν. Οὔτω καὶ ἡμῖν ποιητικὸν δῆλον, καὶ τὸ κινοῦν, καὶ τηροῦν τὰ πεποιημένα, κἂν μὴ τῇ διανοίᾳ περιλαμβάνηται. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΙΘ', Πτολεμαιῳ

How then does everything either subsist or hold together, unless God  having brought it forth, conserves everything?  For this is not as someone who sees a lyre of fine workmanship and the fine tuning of it and the fair form, but there is the hearing of the music of it, and the maker of the lyre, and the player of it one may consider and in thought race up to him, who perhaps to the eye is unseen. For to us a maker is clear, and the mover, and the holder together of things made, even if with the mind we do not fully comprehend Him. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 19, To Ptolemais

Man, the Animals, and the Divine

Οἶμαι γὰρ ἐκ τῆς ἀρχῆς ταύτης καὶ τὰ καθ' ἕκαστον πάθη, οἷον ἐκ τινος πηγῆς συνδοθέντα πλημμυρεῖν ἐν τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ ζωῇ. Τεκμήριον δὲ τῶν λόγων, ἡ τῶν παθημάτων συγγένεια, κατὰ τὸ ἶσον ἡμῖν τε καὶ τοῖς ἀλόγοις ἐμφαινομένη. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ θέμις τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει, τῇ κατὰ τὸ θεῖον εἶδος μεμορφω μένῃ, τῆς ἐμπαθοῦς διαθέσεως προσμαρτυρεῖν τὰς πρώτας ἀρχάς. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ προεισῆλθεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον τοῦτον ἡ τῶν ἀλόγων ζωὴ, ἔσχε δέ τι διὰ τὴν εἰρημένην αἰτίαν τῆς ἐκεῖθεν φύσεως καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος, τὸ κατὰ τὴν γένεσιν λέγω, συμμετέσχε διὰ τούτου καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν τῶν ἐν ἐκείνῃ θεωρουμένων τῇ φύσει. Οὐ γὰρ κατὰ τὸν θυμόν ἐστι τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἡ πρὸς τὸ Θεῖον ὁμοίωσις, οὔτε διὰ τῆς ἡδονῆς ἡ ὑπερέχουσα χαρακτηρίζεται φύσις, δειλία τε καὶ θράσος, καὶ ἡ τοῦ πλείονος ἔφεσις, καὶ τὸ πρὸς τὸ ἐλαττοῦσθαι μῖσος, καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα πόῤῥω τοῦ θεοπρεποῦς χαρακτῆρός ἐστι. Ταῦτα τοίνυν ἐκ τοῦ ἀλόγου μέρους ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις πρὸς ἑαυτὴν ἐφειλκύσατο. Οἷς γὰρ ἡ ἄλογος ζωὴ πρὸς συντήρησιν ἑαυτῆς ἠσφαλίσθη, ταῦτα πρὸς τὸν ἀνθρώπινον μετενεχθέντα βίον, πάθη ἐγένετο. Θυμῷ μὲν γὰρ συντηρεῖται τὰ ὠμοβόρα· φιληδονία δὲ τὰ πολυγονοῦντα τῶν ζώων σώζει· τὸν ἄναλκιν ἡ δειλία, καὶ τὸν εὐάλωτον τοῖς ἰσχυροτέροις ὁ φόβος, τὸν δὲ πολύσαρκον ἡ λαιμαργία. Καὶ τὸ διαμαρτεῖν οὑτινοσοῦν τῶν καθ' ἡδονὴν, λύπης ὑπό θεσις ἐν τοῖς ἀλόγοις ἐστί. Ταῦτα πάντα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα διὰ τῆς κτηνώδους γενέσεως συνεισῆλθε τῇ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου κατασκευῇ. Καί μοι συγκεχωρήσθω κατά τινα πλαστικὴν θαυματοποιΐαν διαγράψαι τῷ λόγῳ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην εἰκόνα. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἔστιν ἰδεῖν ἐν τοῖς πλάσμασι τὰς διγλύφους μορφὰς, ἃς μηχανῶνται πρὸς ἔκπληξιν τῶν ἐντυγχανόντων οἱ τὰ τοιαῦτα φιλοτεχνοῦντες, μιᾷ κεφαλῇ δύο μορφὰς προσώπων ὑποχαράσσοντες· οὕτω μοι δοκεῖ διπλῆν φέρειν ὁ ἄνθρωπος πρὸς τὰ ἐναντία τὴν ὁμοιότητα· τῷ μὲν θεοειδεῖ τῆς διανοίας πρὸς τὸ θεῖον κάλλος μεμορφωμένος, ταῖς δὲ κατὰ πάθος ἐγγινομέναις ὁρμαῖς πρὸς τὸ κτηνῶδες φέρων τὴν οἰκειότητα. Πολλάκις δὲ καὶ ὁ λόγος ἀποκτηνοῦται διὰ τῆς πρὸς τὸ ἄλογον ῥοπῆς τε καὶ διαθέσεως, συγκαλύπτων τὸ κρεῖττον τῷ χείρονι. Ἐπειδὰν γάρ τις πρὸς ταῦτα τὴν διανοητικὴν ἐνέργειαν καθελκύσῃ, καὶ ὑπηρέτην γενέσθαι τῶν παθῶν τὸν λογισμὸν ἐκβιάσηται, παρα τροπή τις γίνεται τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ χαρακτῆρος πρὸς τὴν ἄλογον εἰκόνα, πάσης πρὸς τοῦτο μεταχαρασσομένης τῆς φύσεως, καθάπερ γεωργοῦντος τοῦ λογισμοῦ τὰς τῶν παθημάτων ἀρχὰς, καὶ δι' ὀλίγων εἰς πλῆθος ἐπαύξοντος. Τὴν γὰρ παρ' ἑαυτοῦ συνεργίαν χρήσας τῷ πάθει, πολύχουν καὶ ἀμφιλαφῆ τὴν τῶν ἀτόπων γένεσιν ἀπειργάσατο. Οὕτως ἡ φιληδονία τὴν μὲν ἀρχὴν ἔσχεν ἐκ τῆς πρὸς τὸ ἄλογον ὁμοιώσεως, ἀλλ' ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις πλημμελήμασι προσηυξήθη, τοσαύτας διαφορὰς τῶν κατὰ τὴν ἡδονὴν ἁμαρτα νομένων γεννήσασα, ὅσας ἐν τοῖς ἀλόγοις οὐκ ἔστιν εὑρεῖν. Οὕτως ἡ πρὸς τὸν θυμὸν διανάστασις συγ γενὴς μέν ἐστι τῇ τῶν ἀλόγων ὁρμῇ, αὔξεται δὲ τῇ τῶν λογισμῶν συμμαχίᾳ. Ἐκεῖθεν γὰρ ἡ μῆνις, ὁ φθόνος, τὸ ψεῦδος, ἡ ἐπιβουλὴ, ἡ ὑπόκρισις. Ταῦτα πάντα τῆς πονηρᾶς τοῦ νοῦ γεωργίας ἐστίν. Εἰ γὰρ γυμνωθείη τῆς ἐκ τῶν λογισμῶν συμμαχίας τὸ πάθος, ὠκύμορός τις καὶ ἄτονος ὁ θυμὸς καταλείπεται, πομφόλυγος δίκην ὁμοῦ τε γινόμενος, καὶ εὐθὺς ἀπολλύμενος. Οὕτως ἡ τῶν συῶν λαιμαργία τὴν πλεονεξίαν εἰσήνεγκε, καὶ τὸ τοῦ ἵππου γαῦρον γέγονε τῆς ὑπερ ηφανίας ἀρχή· καὶ τὰ καθ' ἕκαστον πάντα τῆς κτηνώδους ἀλογίας ἀφορμηθέντα, διὰ τῆς πονηρᾶς τοῦ νοῦ χρήσεως κακία ἐγένετο, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ τὸ ἔμπαλιν, εἴπερ ὁ λογισμὸς τῶν τοιούτων κινημάτων ἀντιμεταλάβοι τὸ κράτος, εἰς ἀρετῆς εἶδος ἕκαστον τούτων ἀντιμεθίσταται. Ποιεῖ γὰρ ὁ μὲν θυμὸς τὴν ἀνδρίαν, τὸ δὲ δειλὸν τὴν ἀσφάλειαν, καὶ ὁ φόβος τὴν εὐπείθειαν, τὸ μῖσος δὲ τὴν τῆς κακίας ἀποστροφὴν, ἡ δὲ ἀγαπητικὴ δύναμις τὴν πρὸς τὸ ἀληθῶς καλὸν ἐπιθυμίαν. Τὸ δὲ γαῦρον τοῦ ἤθους ὑπεραίρει τῶν παθημάτων, καὶ ἀδούλωτον ὑπὸ τοῦ κακοῦ διαφυλάσσει τὸ φρόνημα. Ἐπαινεῖ δὲ τὸ τοιοῦτον τῆς ἐπάρσεως εἶδος καὶ ὁ μέγας Ἀπόστολος, συνεχῶς ἐγκελευόμενος τὰ ἄνω φρονεῖν. Καὶ οὕτως ἔστιν εὑρεῖν, ὅτι πᾶν τὸ τοιοῦτον κίνημα τῷ ὑψηλῷ τῆς διανοίας συνεπαιρόμενον, τῷ κατὰ τὴν θείαν εἰκόνα κάλλει συσχηματίζεται. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ βαρεῖά τίς ἐστι καὶ κατωφερὴς ἡ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ῥοπὴ, πλεῖον τὸ ἕτερον γίνεται· μᾶλλον γὰρ τῷ βάρει τῆς ἀλόγου φύσεως συγκατασπᾶται τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν τῆς ψυχῆς, ἥπερ τῷ ὕψει τῆς διανοίας τὸ βαρύ τε καὶ χοϊκὸν ἀνυψοῦται. Διὰ τοῦτο πολλάκις ἀγνοεῖσθαι ποιεῖ τὸ θεῖον δῶρον ἡ περὶ ἡμᾶς ἀθλιότης, οἷον προσωπεῖον εἰδεχθὲς τῷ κατὰ τὴν εἰκόνα κάλλει τὰ πάθη τῆς σαρκὸς ἐπιπλάσσουσα. Οὐκοῦν συγγνωστοί πώς εἰσιν οἱ πρὸς τὰ τοιαῦτα βλέποντες, εἶτα τὴν θείαν μορφὴν ἐν τούτοις εἶναι οὐκ εὐχερῶς συντιθέμενοι. Ἀλλὰ διὰ τῶν κατωρθωκότων τὸν βίον, ἔξεστι τὴν θείαν ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις εἰκόνα βλέπειν. Εἰ γὰρ ἐμπαθής τις καὶ σάρκινος ὢν ἀπιστεῖσθαι ποιεῖ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὡς θείῳ κάλλει κεκοσμημένον· ὁ ὑψηλὸς πάντως τὴν ἀρετὴν καὶ καθαρεύων ἐκ μολυσμάτων βεβαιώσει σοι τὴν πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὑπόληψιν. Οἷον κρεῖττον γὰρ ἐν ὑποδείγματι δεῖξαι τὸν λόγον· ἀπήλειψε τῷ τῆς πονηρίας μολύσματι τὸ τῆς φύσεως κάλλος τις τῶν ἐπὶ κακίᾳ γνωρίμων, Ἰεχονίας τυχὸν, ἢ εἴ τις ἕτερος ἐπὶ κακῷ μνημονεύεται· ἀλλ' ἐν Μωϋσῇ καὶ τοῖς κατ' ἐκεῖνον καθαρὰ διεφυλάχθη ἡ τῆς εἰκόνος μορφή. Ἐν οἷς τοίνυν οὐκ ἠμαυρώθη τὸ κάλλος, ἐν τούτοις ἐναργὴς ἡ τῶν λεγομένων πίστις ἐστὶν, ὅτι ἄνθρωπος τοῦ Θεοῦ μίμημα γέγονεν. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Περὶ Κατασκευής Ἀνθρωπου

For I think that from this beginning each passion issues as from a spring and pouring together their flood over man's life. And proof of such words is the similarity of passions which appear alike in us and in irrational creatures. For it is not right that to the human nature which was fashioned in the Divine likeness to ascribe the first beginnings of our liability to passion, but as irrational life first entered into the world, and man, for the reason already mentioned, took something of their nature, according to the mode of generation, at the same time he likewise took a share of the other things seen in that nature. For the likeness of man to God is not found in anger, nor is pleasure a mark of superior nature; both cowardice and boldness, and the desire for gain, and the hatred of loss, and all things like these are far from the stamp of Divinity. These parts, then, human nature took to itself from the irrational creatures; for those things bestowed on the irrational for its preservation, being transferred to human life, became passions. For carnivorous animals are preserved by anger, and those which breed a lot are maintained by love of pleasure; cowardice does the same for the weak, fear that which is easily siezed by the more powerful, and greediness those of great mass. And the lack of anything that tends to pleasure is for the irrational a matter of pain. All these things entered man's composition on account of the animal mode of generation. Let it be allowed to me to describe the human image by comparison with some wonderous modelling. For, just as it may be seen in models those carved shapes which the artificers of such things contrive for the wonder of beholders, tracing out upon a single head two forms of faces; so man seems to me to bear a double likeness to opposite things, being shaped in the Divine form of his mind to the Divine beauty, but bearing, on account of the passionate impulses that arise in him, a likeness to creatures. And often his reason is undone, through his inclination and disposition towards what is irrational, obscuring the better with the worse. For whenever a man drags down his intellectual energy to these things, and forces reason to become the servant of passions, there takes place a sort of turning of the good stamp into the irrational image, his whole nature being transfomed according to it, as his reason cultivates the beginnings of his passions, and little by little multiplies them. For becoming an aid to passion, it produces a plenteous and vast crop of disgusting things. Thus love of pleasure has its beginning in likeness to irrational things and by the transgressions of men was increased, becoming the generetor of so many different sins arising from pleasure as we do not find among the irrational animals. Thus the rising of anger in us is indeed akin to the impulse of the brutes, but it grows by the alliance of thought. For thence come malignity, envy, deceit, conspiracy, hypocrisy. All these are the result of the evil cultivation of the mind. For if the passion were stripped of the aid it receives from thought, the anger remaining is short-lived and dull, being like a bubble that pops almost as soon as it comes into existance. Thus the greediness of swine introduces covetousness, and the haughty nature of the horse becomes the origin of pride, and so with all things that proceed from want of reason in irrational nature, they become vice by the evil use of the mind, and, then, likewise, again, if reason instead has power over such things, each of them is transformed into a type of virtue. For anger turns into courage, terror caution, fear obedience, hatred aversion to vice, the power of love the desire for what is truly beautiful. The haughtiness in a character raises him above the passions, and releases it from bondage to what is base. The great Apostle himself praised such a form of mental elevation exhorting us constantly to think those things that are above. 1 And thus we find that every such motion, when elevated by loftiness of intellect, is conformed to the beauty of the Divine image. But since the other impulse is greater and the tendency of sin is heavy and downward; the ruling element of our soul is more inclined to be dragged downwards by the weight of the irrational nature than is the heavy and earthy element to be lifted up by the elevated intellect. And so the wretchedness that often encompasses us causes the Divine gift to be forgotten, and  like some ugly mask the passions of the flesh are laid over the beauty of the image. Those, therefore, are in some sense excusable, who when they look upon such cases, do not willingly admit that the Divine form is there; But by the correct ordering of life we may yet behold the Divine image in men. For if the man who has been made subject to passion, and carnal, makes it incredible that man was adorned with Divine beauty, surely the man of lofty virtue and pure from defilement will confirm you in the better understanding of human nature. Better it is to show this by example, that one of those noted for wickedness, has obliterated the beauty of his nature by the pollution of wickedness, some Jechoniah, say, or some other of evil memory, yet in Moses and in those like him the form of the image was kept pure. Now where the beauty of the form has not been obscured, there is made plain the faithfulness of the saying that man is an image of God. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, On The Making of Man 1.Col 3:2