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 2019

Parents And Adornments



Ἄκουε υἱέ παιδείαν πατρός σου καὶ μὴ ἀπώσῃ θεσμοὺς μητρός σου, στέφανον γὰρ χαρίτων δέξῃ σῇ κορυφῇ καὶ κλοιὸν χρύσεον περὶ σῷ τραχήλῳ...
 
Πατὴρ μὲν δικαίων, ὁ Θεός. Πᾶς γὰρ ὁ ποιῶν τὴν δικαιοσύνην ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ γεγένηται. Μήτηρ δὲ ἡμῶν, ἡ Ἐκκλησία, ἦς νυμφίος ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός. Θεσμοὶ δὲ, αἱ ἀποστολικαὶ διατάξεις. Εἰ καὶ ἀναγωγὴν ἔχει τὰ προκείμενα, ἀλλ' ἐφαρμόζονται καὶ τοῖς κατὰ φύσιν γονεῦσιν, ὅταν θεοσεβεῖς ὄντες ἀνατρέφωσι τὰ τέκνα. Ὄντες δὲ ἀνδρὸς  τοῦ διδασκάλου, τοῦ γεννήσαντος διὰ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου τοὺς παιδευομένους, σύζυγος τούτῳ καὶ μήτηρ τῶν τεχθέντων ἐστὶν ἡ Ἐκκλησία μᾶλλον δὲ ἡ ἐκκλησιαστικὴ γνώμη καὶ πολιτεία. Ἤν τοίνυν ἐμοῦ, φησὶ, τοῦ παροιμιαστοῦ, νῦν ὡς καθηγητοῦ καὶ πατρὸς, νῦν δὲ σοφίας καὶ ἀρετῆς ἀντὶ μητρὸς κατακούσῃς, στρεφθήσῃ χαρίτων στεφάνῳ, καὶ τὸν τράχηλον κοσμηθήσῃ κλοιῷ, ἐκ νοητοῦ χρυσοῦ καὶ κόσμου κατεσκευασμένῳ. Ὕλη γὰρ στεφάνου  ὄν ἀναδεῖται ἡ τοῦ ἔσω ἀνθρώπου κεφαλὴ, ἡ τῶν ἀρετῶν περιοχὴ, χάριτες ὀνομαζόμεναι τυγχάνουσι Συμφώνως τῷ στρεφάνῳ, νοητῷ ὄντι, ἐκληπεόν καὶ τὸν χρυσοῦν κλοιὸν ἐπιβαλλόμενον τῷ τῆς ψυχῆς τραχήλῳ, τουτέστι τῷ ὑποτακτικῷ αὐτῆς. 


Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Παροιμιας

Source: Migne PG 39.1624c-d



Hear, O son, the teaching of your father and reject not the rules of your mother, for so your head will be given a crown of graces and around your neck a golden necklace... 1
 

The father of the righteous is God. For whoever exerts himself in righteousness is born from God. Our mother is the Church of whom the bridegroom is our Lord Jesus Christ. The rules are the Apostolic constitutions. And even if what is said is a figure it will accommodate even natural parents when they raise their own children in piety to God. A man is a teacher who raises his children in the Gospel, and his wife, the mother of his young, is the Church, living according to the ecclesiastical doctrines and reason. If then, you have me, says the author of Proverbs, as a teacher and a father, and you attend to the wisdom and virtue of the mother, you thus make for yourself a crown of graces and you adorn your neck with a necklace of golden thought. The material of the crown which is placed on the head is the virtues which surround one, which they call graces, and the understanding of the intellect is a golden necklace around the neck of the soul, that is, obedience.

Didymus the Blind, On Proverbs, fragment

1 Prov 1.8-9
 

30 Dec 2019

Peace And Families


Beati pacifici, quoniam filii Dei vocabuntur.

Pacificorum beatitudo adoptionis est merces, ut filii Dei maneant; parens enim omnium Deus unus est. Neque aliter transire in nuncupationem familiae ejus licebit, nisi oblivione earum rerum assumpta, quibus possemus offendi, fratenae invicem charitatis pace vivamus.


Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, In Evangelium Matthaei Commentarius,  Cap IV

Source: Migne PL 9.933b
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. 1

The blessedness of peacemakers is the reward of adoption, that they remain as sons of God, God being the one parent of all. But it shall not be permitted that anyone pass into the name of His family except through the forgetfulness of those things received by which we are able to be offended, thus we may all live in the fraternal peace of mutual love.

Saint Hilary of Poitiers,

Commentary on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 4

1 Mt 5.9

29 Dec 2019

Infants And Angels


Ἔλεγον οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τοῦ ἀββᾶ Ποιμένος αὐτῷ· Ἀπέλθωμεν ἐκ τοῦ τόπου τούτου· ὀχλοῦσι γὰρ τὰ μοναστήρια τοῦ τόπου τούτου ἡμῖν, καὶ ἀπόλλυμεν τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμῶν· ἰδοὺ καὶ τὰ παιδία κλαίοντα οὐκ ἀφίουσιν ἡμᾶς ἡσυχάσαι. Λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ ἀββᾶς Ποιμήν· Διὰ τὰς φωνὰς τῶν ἀγγέλων θέλετε ἀναχωρῆσαι ἔνθεν.

Ἀποφθεγματα Των Ἁγίων Γερόντων, Παλλαδιος

Source: Migne PG 65.360c

The brothers of father Poemen said to him, 'Let us withdraw from this place, for the monasteries here trouble us and we are losing our souls. Behold, even the little children crying out do not let us have any peace.' Father Poemen said to them, 'Because of the voices of angels you wish to go away from here?'

Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

28 Dec 2019

The Deaths Of Children

Τούτων τοίνυν οὕτως ἡμῖν διῃρημένων καιρὸς ἂν εἴη διεξετάσαι τῷ λόγῳ τὸ προτεθὲν ἡμῖν πρόβλημα· τοιοῦτον δέ τι τὸ λεγόμενον ἦν· εἰ κατὰ τὸ δίκαιον γίνεται τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἡ ἀντίδοσις, ἐν τίσιν ἔσται ὁ ἐν νηπίῳ τελευτήσας τὸν βίον μήτε ἀγαθόν τι μήτε κακὸν ἐν τῇ ζωῇ ταύτῃ καταβαλόμενος, ὥστε διὰ τούτων γενέσθαι αὐτῷ τὴν κατ' ἀξίαν ἀντίδοσιν; ᾧ πρὸς τὴν ἀκολουθίαν τῶν ἐξητασμένων ὁρῶντες ἀποκρινούμεθα, ὅτι τὸ προσδοκώμενον ἀγαθὸν οἰκεῖον μέν ἐστι κατὰ φύσιν τῷ ἀνθρωπίνῳ γένει, λέγεται δὲ κατά τινα διάνοιαν τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ ἀντίδοσις. τῷ δὲ αὐτῷ ὑποδείγματι πάλιν τὸ νόημα τοῦτο σαφηνισθήσεται· δύο γάρ τινες ὑποκείσθωσαν τῷ λόγῳ ἀρρωστήματί τινι κατὰ τὰς ὄψεις συνενεχθέντες. τούτων δὲ ὁ μὲν σπουδαιότερον ἑαυτὸν ἐπιδιδότω τῇ θεραπείᾳ, πάντα ὑπομένων τὰ παρὰ τῆς ἰατρικῆς προσαγόμενα, κἂν ἐπίπονα ᾗ· ὁ δὲ πρὸς λουτρά τε καὶ οἰνοφλυγίας ἀκρατέστερον διακείσθω, μηδεμίαν τοῦ ἰατρεύοντος συμβουλὴν πρὸς τὴν τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ὑγίειαν παραδεξάμενος. Φαμὲν τοίνυν πρὸς τὸ πέρας ἑκατέρου βλέποντες ἀξίως ἀντιλαβεῖν ἑκάτερον τῆς προαιρέσεως αὐτοῦ τοὺς καρπούς, τὸν μὲν τὴν στέρησιν τοῦ φωτός, τὸν δὲ τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν. τὸ γὰρ ἀναγκαίως ἑπόμενον ἀντίδοσιν ἐκ καταχρήσεως ὀνομάζομεν. ταῦτα καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν κατὰ τὸ νήπιον ζητουμένων ἔστιν εἰπεῖν, ὅτι ἡ τῆς ζωῆς ἐκείνης ἀπόλαυσις οἰκεία μέν ἐστι τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει, τῆς δὲ κατὰ τὴν ἄγνοιαν νόσου πάντων σχεδὸν τῶν ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ ζώντων ἐπικρατούσης, ὁ μὲν ταῖς καθηκούσαις θεραπείαις ἑαυτὸν ἐκκαθάρας καὶ οἶόν τινα λήμην τοῦ διορατικοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς ἀποκλύσας τὴν ἄγνοιαν ἄξιον τῆς σπουδῆς ἔχει τὸ κέρδος ἐν τῇ ζωῇ τῇ κατὰ φύσιν γενόμενος, ὁ δὲ τὰ διὰ τῆς ἀρετῆς φεύγων καθάρσια καὶ δυσίατον ἑαυτῷ διὰ τῶν ἀπατηλῶν ἡδονῶν κατασκευάζων τῆς ἀγνοίας τὴν νόσον, παρὰ φύσιν διατεθεὶς ἠλλοτρίωται τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν καὶ ἀμέτοχος γίνεται τῆς οἰκείας ἡμῖν καὶ καταλλήλου ζωῆς· τὸ δὲ ἀπειρόκακον νήπιον, μηδεμιᾶς νόσου τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς ὀμμάτων πρὸς τὴν τοῦ φωτὸς μετουσίαν ἐπιπροσθούσης, ἐν τῷ κατὰ φύσιν γίνεται μὴ δεόμενον τῆς ἐκ τοῦ καθαρθῆναι ὑγιείας, ὅτι μηδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν τὴν νόσον τῇ ψυχῇ παρεδέξατο.

Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Περι Των Προ Ὥρας Ἀναρπαζομενον Νυπιων

Source: Migne PG 46. 177a-d 
Having considered these things, it is time to examine by them the problem set before us, which was expressed in such a way: 'If according to justice the reward of goods is given, in what class shall he be placed whose life has ended  in infancy, he who has not laid down any foundation in this life, good or bad, from which a reward according to its value may be given?' To this, attending to the consequences laid down by us, we shall answer that a good future, while it is according to its nature naturally suited to the race of man, may yet also be called in a certain sense a reward, and we will make our meaning clear again by the same example. Two individuals are afflicted by a sickness of the eyes, and one of them eagerly gives himself to a cure, and undergoes all that medicine can administer, even though it be painful, and the other without restraint gives himself to baths and the drinking of wine, and listens to no counsel from him who would cure him by giving health to his eyes. We may say, then, looking to the end of each that each duly receives the fruits of his own choice, the one in the loss of the light, the other in enjoyment of it; for by a certain misuse of the word we call that which necessarily follows a reward. And according to these things we may speak regarding the enquiry into infants, that is, that the enjoyment of that good life indeed belongs by its nature to the human being, but that, on account of the sickness of ignorance that has seized upon almost all living in the flesh, he who has purged himself of it by means of treatment and removed the affliction of ignorance from the perception of the soul receives the due reward of his diligence in the life that is according nature, while he who flees purgatives and makes the sickness of ignorance most difficult to cure through the pleasures that ensnare him is placed in an unnatural state, and so is a stranger to the natural life, and cannot partake in the life which is proper and appropriate to us, but the innocent child has no such sickness of the eyes of the soul obscuring its measure of light, and persists in the natural life, not needing the health which comes from purgation, because it never received the sickness into its soul.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa, On The Deaths Of Infants

27 Dec 2019

John And The Eagle



Similitudo autem vultus eorum, facies hominis, et facies leonis a dextris ipsorum quatuor; facies autem bovis a sinistris ipsorum quatuor; et facies aquilae desuper ipsorum quatuor.

Sed magna nobis de eisdem evangelistis et sanctis praedicatoribus quaestio oritur, cur homo et leo a dextris ipsorum quatuor, vitulus vero a sinistris ipsorum quatuor esse perhibetur. Neque enim sine admiratione est cur duo illa a dextris et unum hoc esse a sinistris dicitur. Et rursum quaerendum cur aquila non a dextris, vel sinistris, sed desuper ipsorum quatuor esse memoratur. Duas itaque nobis quaestiones objecimus, quas oportet ut aperiente Domino dissolvamus. Homo igitur et leo a dextris, vitulus vero a sinistris esse perhibetur. A dextris etenim laeta, a sinistris vero tristia habemus. Unde et sinistrum nobis esse dicimus hoc quod adversum esse deputamus. Et, sicut praefati sumus, per hominem incarnatio, per vitulum passio, per leonem vero auctoris nostri resurrectio designatur. De incarnatione autem unigeniti Filii, qua redempti sumus, omnes electi laetati sunt; de morte vero illius ipsi electorum primi sancti apostoli contristati, qui iterum de ejus resurrectione gavisi sunt. Quia ergo ejus et nativitas et resurrectio laetitiam discipulis praebuit, quos ejus passio contristavit, homo et leo a dextris, vitulus vero a sinistris ejus fuisse describitur. Ipsi namque evangelistae sancti de ejus humanitate gavisi sunt, de ejus resurrectione confirmati, qui de ejus passione fuerant contristati. Homo ergo et leo eis a dextris est, quia Redemptoris nostri eos incarnatio vivificavit, resurrectio confirmavit. Sed vitulus a sinistris, quia mors illius eos ad momentum temporis in infidelitate prostravit. Jure autem locus aquilae non juxta, sed desuper esse describitur, quia sive per hoc quod ejus ascensionem signat, seu quia Verbum Patris Deum apud Patrem esse denuntiat, super evangelistas caeteros virtute contemplationis excrevit; cum quibus etsi simul de ejus Deitate loquitur, hanc tamen omnibus subtilius contemplatur. Sed si aquila cum tribus aliis adjuncta, quatuor animalia esse memorantur, mirum quomodo desuper ipsorum quatuor esse describitur, nisi quia Joannes per hoc quod in principio Verbum vidit, etiam super semetipsum transiit. Nam nisi et se transisset, Verbum in principio non vidisset. Quia ergo et semetipsum transgressus est, non jam solummodo super tria, sed adjuncto et se, super quatuor fuit.


Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Primus, Homilia IV


Source: Migne PL 76 815a-c
As for the likeness of their faces, there was the face of a man and the face of a lion on the right side of the four, and the face of an ox on the left side of the four: and the face of an eagle above the four. 1

But a great question concerning these same evangelists and holy preachers arises, why the man and the lion of the four are on the right, and the ox of the four is on the left. For certainly not without edification is it spoken that there are two on the right and one on the left. And again we must enquire why the eagle is not found on the right or the left but was described as being above the four. Thus two questions are brought before us, which we should resolve by the enlightenment of the Lord. The man, then, and the lion are on the right, but the ox is on the left. On the right there is joy, and on the left, however, we have grief. Whence even the left we are accustomed to regard as unlucky. And as we have said before, by the man is signified the Incarnation, by the ox the Passion, and by the lion the Resurrection of our Creator. Concerning the Incarnation of the only begotten Son by which we were redeemed, all the elect rejoice, but on account of His death all those first elected to be the first holy Apostles grieve, those who again were made joyful by His resurrection. Thus because His Incarnation and Resurrection give joy to His disciples, those whom the Passion grieves, so the man and the lion are on the right and the ox is on the left. For the same holy evangelists who were made joyful by His incarnation were strengthened by His resurrection, they who were grieved by His passion. The man and the lion, then, are on the right, because the Incarnation of our Redeemer gives them life, and the Resurrection strengthens them. But the ox is on the left because His death at that time cast them down into faithlessness. And rightly the place of the eagle is said to be above and not at the side because it signifies either His Ascension or because it announces that the Divine Word of the Father is with the Father, being set above the other evangelists by the virtue of contemplation, for even though they speak of His Divinity yet this one contemplates it with the utmost elevation. But if the eagle is said to be joined to the other three when the four animals are declared, we must wonder how it is that he is described as being above, unless it is because John grasping that 'In the beginning was the Word,' 1 even passed beyond himself. For unless he passed over himself, he would not have seen the Word in the beginning. Therefore He did indeed surpass himself; not only the other three, but even himself, and he so is placed above the four.


Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 1, from Homily 4

1 Ezekiel 1.10
2 Jn 1.1

26 Dec 2019

Names And Stephen


Sicut dominum praediorum limitibus affixi tituli proloquuntur, ita nomina ipse saepe sanctorum merita indicant, testantur insignia. Ita Abraham, quod fide credidit, nominis adjectione monstravit, quando ex Abram Abraham divinitus nuncupatur: ut dilatandus genere, nomine ante dilataretur, dicente Domino: Et non vocabitur amplius nomen tuum Abram, sed Abraham erit nomen tuum, quia patrem multarum gentium posui te. Sic conjux sancta ejus cum de sterili fit fecunda, ex Sarai vocitate est Sarah, ut et ipsa ante crescat nomine quam crescat pignore; et quia permittente Domino risum edidit si verula conciperet exarata jam rugis, si praeret desperata jam fecunditas, si sterilitas jam penes senectutis extrema praegnans fieret, risum mox quod genuit, nuncupavit; et hoc aptavit in nomine, quod sensu passa est cum rideret: Et vocavit nomen ejus Isaac, quod interpretatur risus. Sic Jacob, qui in utero coepit ante luctari quam vivere, ante viribus superare quam membris, etiam inter viscera materna ipsa supplantatori est vocabulum consecutus, eo quod antequam nasceretur noscitur divinitus reprobatum supplantasse germanum. Et quia longum est ire per singula, sicut Petrus a petra nomen adeptus est, quia primus meruit Ecclesiam fidei firmitate fundare; ita Stephanus vocatus est a corona, quia primus meruit pro Christi nomine subire conflictum, primus meruit sanguine militium Christi martyrium dedicare. Petrus apostolici chori vetustum teneat principatum, aperiat intrantibus regnum coelorum, reos potestate vinciat, poenitentes clementer absolvat; Stephanus est martyrum primus, Stephanus purpuratum ducat exercitum, qui pro Domini sui adhuc calente sanguine sanguinem suum avidus bellator effundit. Et quia cruore proprio tinctam sibi ipse purpuram conquisivit, meruit a rege suo consecutus est post corona: vere quem praescivit et praedestinavit, ipsum nunc martyrii primum vocavit ad gloriam.

Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo CLIV, In Divum Stephanum protomartyrem

Source: Migne PL 52.608a-609a
As titles proclaim the limits appointed to the lordship of estates, so names often indicate the merits of the holy, bearing witness to their achievement. This was shown with Abraham, who believed and thus received an addition to his name, when he was renamed Abraham from Abram, and with expansion of the family, the name was likewise expanded, with the Lord saying, 'And no longer shall you be called Abram, but Abraham shall be your name because I have appointed you to be the father of many nations.' 1 So his holy wife, when she was made fertile from sterility, was renamed Sarah from Sarai, her name growing before grew the pledge, and because the Lord permitted her to laugh saying that a shoot would be conceived in her already furrowed with lines, that in the presence of despair there was now fecundity, that in the fruitless end of old age she would became pregnant, that she laughing would soon give birth, He made it fitting by the name, which sense was passed on when she laughed, and she called the name of the child Isaac, which translated means laughter. So Jacob, who in the womb before his birth began to struggle, who before having strength of limbs would overcome even within his mother, by which the name of supplantor followed, whence before he was born it is known by Divine influence he had supplanted a rejected twin. And because it would take far too long to go through each name, as Peter was given his name from a rock, because first he merited with firmness of faith to establish the Church, so let it be said that Stephen is named from a crown, because he first merited to undergo struggle for the name of Christ, he first merited to be a martyr soldier of Christ with blood. Peter holds the elder and principle seat of the Apostolic choir, he opened the kingdom of heaven to those who would enter, he conquered the guilty with power, absolved the penitent with mercy. Stephen is the first martyr, Stephen in purple leads the army, a zealous soldier who for the blood of His Lord pours out his own hot blood. And because he has sought the purple hue for himself with his own blood thus he earns from his king the crown that follows after, truly him whom He knew and predestined, who now, the first of martyrs, He calls to glory.

Saint Peter Chrysologus, from Sermon 154, On Saint Stephen The Protomartyr


1 Gen 17.5

25 Dec 2019

The Highest Reason

Hoc ipsum autem, dilectissimi, quod Christus nasci elegit ex Virgine, nonne apparet altissimae fuisse rationis? Ut scilicet natam humano generi salutem diabolus ignoraret, et spiritali latente conceptu, quem non alium videret quam alios, non aliter crederet natum esse quam caeteros. Cujus enim similem cum universis advertit naturam, parem habere arbitratus est cum omnibus causam; nec intellexit a transgressionis vinculis liberum, quem ab infirmitate mortalitatis non invenit alienum. Verax namque misericordia Dei, cum ad reparandum humanum genus ineffabiliter ei multa suppeterent, hanc potissimum consulendi viam elegit, qua ad destruendum opus diaboli, non virtute uteretur potentiae, sed ratione iustitiae. Nam superbia hostis antiqui non immerito sibi in omnes homines ius tyrannicum vindicabat, nec indebito dominatu premebat, quos a mandato Dei spontaneos in obsequium suae voluntatis illexerat. Non itaque iuste amitteret originalem humani generis servitutem, nisi de eo quod subegent vinceretur. Quod ut fieret, sine virili semine conceptus est Christus ex virgine, quam non humanus coitus, sed Spiritus sanctus fecundavit. Et cum in omnibus matribus non fiat sine peccati sorde conceptio, haec inde purgationem traxit, unde concepit. Quo enim paterni seminis transfusio non pervenit, peccati se illic origo non miscuit. Inviolata virginitas concupiscentiarn nescivit, substantiam ministravit. Assumpta est de matre Domini natura non culpa. Creata est forma servi sine conditione servili, quia novus homo sic contemperatus est veteri, ut et veritatem susciperet generis, et vitium excluderet vetustatis.

Sanctus Leo Magnus, Sermo XXII, Cap III, In Nativitate Domini II

Source: Migne PL 54.196b-197a 
And that, dearly beloved, Christ chose to be born of a Virgin, does it not appear to be have been a matter of the highest reason? That is, that the devil should be ignorant that Salvation had been born for the human race, and by the hidden nature of the spiritual conception, when he saw Him not unlike others, he should judge Him born in no different way to the rest. For when he observed that His nature was like that of all others, he deemed that He had the same origin as everyone else; he did not understand that He was free from the chains of transgression because he did not find Him a stranger to the weakness of mortality. For though the true mercy of God had unspeakably many ways for the restoration of mankind, it chose the way most potent for the destruction of the work of the devil, not by the use of the power of might but by the reason of justice. For the pride of the ancient foe not without reason had the right of tyrannous rule over all men, and with no unwarrantable supremacy lorded it over those who had been of their own accord lured away from God's commands to the service of his will. And so he would not justly lose the immemorial servitude of the human race, were he not conquered by that which he had subjugated. And that this be, without the seed of a man Christ was conceived of a virgin, she who was made fruitful not by human intercourse but by the Holy Spirit. And whereas in all mothers conception may not happen without the stain of sin, this one received purification from the source of her conception. For where there was no transfer of paternal seed, so there was no mixing with the origin of sin. Unviolated virginity knew no lust when it ministered to the substance. The Lord took from His mother the nature but not the fault. The form of the slave was fashioned without the servile condition, because the new man was so mixed with the old that it both assumed the reality of the race and excluded the ancient fault.

Pope Leo the Great, from Sermon 22, Chap 3, On The Nativity Of The Lord

24 Dec 2019

Rejoicing In Salvation


Ἀγαλλιασόμεθα ἐν τῷ σωτηρίῳ, κ.τ.ἑ.

Οἱ μὲν ἄνθρωποι ἐν πλούτῳ ἀγαλλιῶσιν ἤ ἐν δόξῃ ἤ ἐν εὐγενείᾳ, ὁ δὲ ἅγιος ἐν τῷ σωτηρίῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Σωτήριον τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ὁ Υἱός· σωτήριον τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ὁ σταυρός· σωτήριον περὶ οὗ εἴρηται, ὅτι ἐτέχθη ἡμῖν σήμερον Σωτήρ Κύριος, περὶ οὗ εἶπε Συμεὼν, Ὅτι εἴδον οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου τὸ σωτήριόν σου.


Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Ψαλμους, Ψαλμος ΙΘ'


Source: Migne PG 12 1248
'We shall rejoice in your salvation... 1 

Indeed men rejoice in wealth, or in glory, or in noble lineage, but he who is holy rejoices in the salvation of God. The salvation of the Father in the world is the Son; the salvation of the Son in the world is the cross; concerning which it is said 'born for you today is the Lord your Saviour;' 2 and Simeon says, 'Because my eyes have seen your salvation.' 3


Origen, Excerpta On the Psalms, from Psalm 19

Ps 19.6
2 Lk 2.11
3 Lk 2.30

23 Dec 2019

Celebrating A Birth




Νυνὶ δέ μοι δέξαι τὴν κύησιν, καὶ προσκίρτησον· εἰ καὶ μὴ ὡς Ἰωάννης ἀπὸ γαστρὸς, ἀλλ' ὡς Δαβὶδ ἐπὶ τῇ καταπαύσει τῆς κιβωτοῦ. Καὶ τὴν ἀπογραφὴν αἰδέσθητι, δι' ἣν εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἐγράφης· καὶ τὴν γέννησιν σεβάσθητι, δι' ἣν ἐλύθης τῶν δεσμῶν τῆς γεννήσεως· καὶ τὴν Βηθλεὲμ τίμησον τὴν μικρὰν, ἥ σε πρὸς τὸν παράδεισον ἐπανήγαγε· καὶ τὴν φάτνην προσκύνησον, δι' ἣν ἄλογος ὢν, ἐτράφης ὑπὸ τοῦ Λόγου. Γνῶθι, ὡς βοῦς, τὸν κτησάμενον, Ἡσαΐας διακελεύεταί σοι, καὶ, ὡς ὄνος, τὴν φάτνην τοῦ Κυρίου αὐτοῦ· εἴτε τῶν καθαρῶν τις εἶ, καὶ ὑπὸ τὸν νόμον, καὶ μηρυ κισμὸν ἀναγόντων τοῦ λόγου, καὶ πρὸς θυσίαν ἐπιτηδείων· εἴτε τῶν ἀκαθάρτων τέως, καὶ ἀβρώτων, καὶ ἀθύτων, καὶ τῆς ἐθνικῆς μερίδος. Μετὰ τοῦ ἀστέρος δράμε, καὶ μετὰ Μάγων δωροφόρησον, χρυσὸν, καὶ λίβανον, καὶ σμύρναν, ὡς βασιλεῖ, καὶ ὡς Θεῷ, καὶ ὡς διὰ σὲ νεκρῷ. Μετὰ ποιμένων δόξα σον, μετὰ ἀγγέλων ὕμνησον, μετὰ ἀρχαγγέλων χόρευσον. Ἔστω κοινὴ πανήγυρις οὐρανίων καὶ ἐπι γείων δυνάμεων. Πείθομαι γὰρ κἀκείνας συναγάλλεσθαι καὶ συμπανηγυρίζειν σήμερον· εἴπερ εἰσὶ φιλάνθρωποι καὶ φιλόθεοι, ὥσπερ ἃς Δαβὶδ εἰσάγει μετὰ τὸ πάθος συνανιούσας Χριστῷ, καὶ προσυπαντώσας, καὶ διακελευομένας ἀλλήλαις τὴν τῶν πυλῶν ἔπαρσιν.

Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, Λόγος ΛΗ', Εἰς τὰ Θεοφὰνια, εἴτουν Γενέθλια τοῦ Σωτῆρος

Source: Migne PG 36.329d-332b 
And now accept His conception and leap about, if not like John in the womb, 1 yet like David, because of the resting of the Ark. 2 Revere the registration by which you were written in heaven, and adore the birth by which you were freed from the chains of your birth, 3 and honour little Bethlehem which has led you back to Paradise, and worship the manger by which you without sense were fed by the Word. Know, like the ox your owner, as Isaiah exhorts you, and like the ass the manger of your Lord, if you be one of those clean beneath the law, who chew the cud of the word and are fit for sacrifice, or if you are one of those yet unclean and inedible and unfit for sacrifice, and of the portion of the Gentiles, run with the star and bear your gifts with the Magi, gold and frankincense and myrrh, 4 as to a King, and as to God, and to One Who is dead for you. With shepherds give Him glory, with angels sing; with archangels be in chorus. Let this Festival be common to the powers in heaven and to the powers on earth. 5 For I am persuaded that they join in our exultation and keep the festival with us today, because they are lovers of men and lovers of God, just like those whom David introduces after the Passion ascending with Christ and coming to meet Him, and bidding one another to lift up the gates. 6

Saint Gregory Nazianzus, from Oration 38, On The Theophania, or On The Birth of the Saviour
 

1 Lk 1.41 
2 2 Kings 6.14 
3 Lk 2.1-5 
4 Isaiah 1.3 
5 Lk 2.14-15
6 Ps 23.7-9 

22 Dec 2019

Angels And Gospels


Εἰ δὲ ἐν ἀνθρὼποις εἰσὶν οἱ τετιμημένοι διακονίᾳ τῇ τῶν εὐαγγελιστῶν, καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Ἰησοῦς εὐαγγελίζεται ἀγαθὰ, καὶ πτωχοῖς εὐαγγελίζεται, οὐκ ἔδει τοὺς πεποιημένους ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ πνεύματα ἀγγέλους, καὶ τοὺς ὄντας πυρὸς φλόγα λειτουργοὺς τοῦ τῶν ὅλων Πατρὸς, ἐστερῆσθαι τοῦ καὶ αὐτοὺς εἶναι εὐαγγελιστάς. Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἄγγελος, ἐπιστὰς τοῖς ποιμέσι φησὶ, δόξαν ποιήσας περιλάμπειν αὐτούς· Μὴ φοβεῖσθε, ἰδου γὰρ εὐαγγελίζομαι ὑμῖν χαρὰν μεγάλην, ἤτις ἔσται πατνὶ τῷ λαῷ, ὅτι ἐτέχθη ὑμῖν σήμερον Σωτὴρ, ὅς ἐστι Χριστὸς Κύριος ἐν πόλει Δαυῗδ· ὅτε καὶ μηδέπω ἀνθρώπων συνιέτων τὸ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου μυστήριον οἱ κρείττονες αὐτῶν, οὐρανὸς τυγχάνοντες στρατεία Θεοῦ, αἰνοῦντες τὸν Θεὸν λέγουσι· Δόξα ἐν ὑψίστοις Θεῷ, καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς εἰρήνη ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκία. Καὶ ταῦτα εἰπόντες ἀπέρχοντι ἀπὸ τῶν ποιμένων εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν οἱ ἄγγελοι καταλιπόντες ἡμῖν νοεῖν, πῶς ἡ εὐαγγελισθεῖσα ἡμῖν διὰ τῆς γενέσεως Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ χαρὰ, δόξα ἐστὶν ἐν ὑψίστοις Θεῷ· τῶν ταπεινωθέντων εἰς χοῦν ἐπιστρεφόντων εἰς τὴν ἀνάπαυσιν αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐν ὑψίστοις διὰ Χριστοῦ μελλόντων δοξάζειν τὸν Θεόν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ θαυμάζουσιν οἱ ἄγελοι τὴν ἐπὶ γῆς ἐσομένην διὰ Ἰησοῦν εἰρήνην, τοῦ πολεμικοῦ χωρίου, εἰς ὅ ἐκπεσὼν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὁ Ἐωσφόρος πρωϊ ἀνατέλλων, ὑπὸ Ἰησοῦ συντρίβεται.


Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ἰωαννην Εὐαγγελιον, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον

Source: Migne PG 14 45
And if among men some were honoured with the ministering of the Gospel, and Jesus evangelized good things, and He evangelized the poor, it does not appear fitting that the angelic spirits made by God, being fiery flaming servants 1 of the Father of all things, should be deprived of this glory. For this reason, in the presence of the shepherds the angel stood and with glory shining everywhere, said, 'Do not fear, behold, I speak good news to you of great joy which shall come to all people, because born for you today is a Savior, He who is Lord Christ, in the city of David.' 2 And when the mystery of the Gospel was not yet in the understanding of man, the greatest of the celestial host of God praised God, saying, 'Glory to God on high and peace on earth to men of good will.' 3 And having said these words the angels left the shepherds for heaven, leaving us to think that the good news for us of the joy of the birth of Christ Jesus is glory to God on high because there has been a turning toward those humiliated in the dust for the sake of their respite, and in the heights there is glory to God because of the coming of Christ. And even the angels wonder at the coming of peace on earth by Jesus, for it is the place of war, into which Lucifer fell from heaven, he who rising in the morning 4 is by Jesus crushed down.

Origen, Commentary On the Gospel of Saint John, Book 1


1 Ps 103.4
2 Lk 2.10-11
3 Lk 2.11
4 Isa 14.12

21 Dec 2019

The Lord Is With Us


Κύριος τῶν δυνάμεων μεθ' ἡμῶν, ἀντιλήπτωρ ἡμῶν ὁ Θεος Ἰακώβ.

Εἶδε τὸν ἐνανθρωπήσαντα Θεὸν, εἶδε τὸν Παρθένου ἁγίας γεννηθέντα Ἐμμανουήλ· ὅ ἐστι μεθερμηνευόμενον Μεθ' ἡμῶν ὁ Θεός· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο προφητικῶς ἐκβοᾷ· Κύριος τῶν δυνάμεων μεθ' ἡμῶν· δεικνὺς, ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τοῖς ἁγίοις προφήταις καὶ πατριάρχαις ἐμφανισθείς. Ἀντιλήπτωρ ἡμῶν, φησὶν, οὐχὶ ἄλλος Θεὸς παρὰ τὸν ὑπὸ τῶν προφητῶν παραδιδόμενον· ἀλλ' ὁ Θεὸς Ἰακὼβ, ὁ ἐν τῷ χρηματισμῷ πρὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ θεράποντα διαλεχθείς· Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ Θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς Ἰσαὰκ, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς Ἰακώβ.


Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Εἰς Τον ΜΕ'' Ψαλμον 

Source: Migne PG 29 425

The Lord of virtues is with us, our helper, the God of Jacob. 1

See the incarnation of God, see Emmanuel born from the holy Virgin, which name Emmanuel is translated 'God is with us.' 2 and because of this there is the prophetic exclamation 'The Lord of virtues is with us,' to show that He was the one who appeared to the holy Prophets and Patriarchs. 'Our helper,' he says, that is, there is no other God apart from Him who has been handed down by the Prophets, the God of Jacob, who in an oracle said to His servant: 'I am the God of Abraham and the God of Issac and the God of Jacob.' 3


Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 45

1 Ps 45.8
2 Mt 1.3
3 Exod 3.6

20 Dec 2019

Father And God


Ἀπὸ γαστὸς μητρός μου, Θεός μου εἰ σύ

Πρὸ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως ὁ ̓Ιησοῦς μόνην τὴν πρὸς πατέρα ἔφερεν οἰκειότητα· ην γὰρ αὐτοῦ πατὴρ ὁ θεός, καὶ αὐτὸς υἱὸς θεοῦ. Ἀφ' ου δὲ σὰρξ γενόμενος ἐκ κοιλίας προῆλθεν σχέσιν ἔσχεν τὴν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, τὴν πρὸς θεόν. διό φησιν· Εἰ καὶ ἀεὶ πατήρ μου τυγχάνεις, ἀλλὰ καὶ θεός μου εἶναι ἤρξω ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός. 


Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμος ΚΑ'

Source: Migne PG 39.1280
'From the womb of my mother, you are my God.' 1

Before the incarnation, Jesus only had relation to His Father, for His Father was God, and He the Son of God. Then made flesh He came from the womb, and He had relation with His Father and with God. That is, 'If indeed my Father you always are, but even my God you have begun to be from the womb of my mother.'


Didymus the Blind, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 21

1 Ps 21.11

19 Dec 2019

Appearances and Truth

Ἤδει μὲν ἡ παναγία Παρθένος, μὴ τέκνον αὐτὸν εἴναι τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ, ἀλλ' εἰς πρόσωπα τούτων τὸν ἑαυτης ἐγκρίνει μνηστῆρα διὰ τὴν τῶν Ἰουδαίων ὑποψίαν, οἰομένων αὐτὸν ἐκ πορνείας γεγεννῆσθαι. Ἀπλούστερον μὲν οὖν λέγοιτο ἂν, ὅτι ἐτίμησεν αὐτὸν τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον τῇ τοῦ πατρὸς προσηγορίᾳ καὶ τὰ λοιπά ..., μήπως αὐτοὺς καταλέλοιπεν. Ὁ δὲ Κύριος, ἀφεὶς ἀνθρωπίνην δοῦναι ἀποκρισιν, θείαν δίδωσι, παρεμφαίνων, ὅτι Θεὸς εἴη σεσαρκωμένος.

Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Το Κατα Λουκαν Εὐαγγελιον, Κεφ Α' 

Source: Migne PG 17.329c

The all blessed Virgin knew that He was not the son of Joseph, but in public she took a spouse on account of the suspicion of the Jews, that they would not think Him born of fornication. More openly, then, it may be said that the Holy Spirit may be honoured with the name of father ... lest He had forsaken them. But the Lord, when He might give a human answer, rather in a Divine fashion gives it, revealing that God may be incarnated.


Origen, Commentary On Luke, Chap 1, Fragment

18 Dec 2019

Advent Names



Non apices, non litterae, non syllabae, non verbum, non nomina, non personae in Evangelio divinis vacua sunt figuris. Sponsa quaeritur ut jam tunc Ecclesia Christi sponsa signetur, juxta illud Oseae prophetae: Sponsabo te mihi in justitia et judicio et in misericordia et miserationibus et desponsabo te mihi in fide. Hinc Joannes ait: Qui habet sponsam, sponsus est.  Et Paulus: Sponsavi vos uni viro virginem castam exhibere Christo. Vere sponsa quae virginali partu novam Christi regignit infantiam. Procurator Joseph sponsus, ut iste in illo Joseph Christi figuram impleat passionis; Joseph prophetalibus somniis incurrit zelum, Christus propheticis visionibus suscepit invidiam; Joseph missus in lacum mortis, vivus emergit a lacu, Christus mortis sepulcro datus, vivus remeat a sepulcro. Joseph venumdatus est, pretio taxatus est Christus, Joseph transducitur in Aegyptum, ad Aegtptum fugatur Christus; Joseph esurientibus populis panem copiose ministrat, Christus coeli pane manentes orbe toto exsaturat nationes. Sic lucet cur Joseph iste coelestis sponsi typum praetulerit, portaverit imaginem, ambulaverit in figuram. Maria mater vocatur, et quando non Maria mater. Congregationes, inquit, aquarum apellavit maria. Nonne haec exeuntem populum de Aegypto concepit uno utero et emergeret coelestis in novam creaturam renata progenies juxta illud apostoli: Patres nostri omnes sub nube fuerunt, et omnes mare transierunt et omnes sub nube fuerunt, et omnes mare transierunt, et omnes in Moyse baptizatisint in nube et in mari. Et ut semper Maria humane praevia sit salutis, populum quem unda generatrix emisit in lucem, ipse jure praecessit in cantico. Maria, inquit, soror Aaron sumens tympanum in manu sua, dixit: Cantemus Domino, gloriose enim honorificatus est. Nomen hoc prophetiae germanum est, hoc renascentibus salutare, hoc virginitati insigne, hoc pudicitiae decus, hoc indicium castitatis, hoc Dei sacrificium, hoc hospitalitatis virtus, hoc collegium sanctitatis; merito ergo matris Christi nomen est hoc maternum. Diximus quare mater sponsa, quare Joseph sponsus, quare Mariae maternum nomen, ut totum circa ortum Christi fuisse mysticum panderemus.

Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo CXLVII

Source Migne PL 52 592d- 593c


Not a dot, not a letter, not a syllable, not a word, not a name, not a person in the Gospel is without Divine significance. The bride in question was already before as a bride a figure of the Church of Christ, according to which the prophet Hosea, says, 'I shall marry you to me in righteousness and judgement and in mercy and pity and I shall betroth you to me in faith.' 1 Whence John says 'He who has the bride is the bridegroom.'  2 And Paul: 'I have espoused you to one man, a chaste virgin before Christ.'  3 Truly she is the bride who gave birth in virginal birth to the new child of Christ. The overseer Joseph is the groom, he who as a figure of Christ fulfilled the passion. Joseph encountered jealousy by prophetic dreams, Christ with prophetic visions encountered envy, Joseph was thrown into the pit of death and living emerged from it, the dead Christ being given to the tomb came back living from it. Joseph was sold as a slave, for a price Christ was handed over, Joseph was taken into Egypt, Christ fled there, Joseph ministered to a hungering people with abundance of bread, Christ with the bread of heaven satisfies all the nations of the world. So it is evident why Joseph is a type of the celestial spouse, he bore the image, he walked as a figure. Mary is named mother and when not Mary mother. 'And the gathering of the waters he named the sea,' it says, 4 where sea is 'Maria'. And is the going of the people from Egypt not a conception in one womb that they emerge a new creation, a people from heaven reborn, according to the Apostle, 'Our fathers were beneath a cloud, and they passed through the sea and all in Moses were baptized in the cloud and sea.' 5 And that always Mary may be humanely the herald of salvation, a maternal wave which sends a people out into the light, rightly does it occur in a previous song. It says: 'Miriam, the sister of Aaron, took up the timbrel in her hand and said, 'We shall sing the Lord, for gloriously He has been magnified.' 6 The name of this prophetess is appropriate, here is the rebirth of salvation, here the seal of virginity, here the glory of modesty, here the sign of chastity, here the sacrifice of God, here the welcoming of virtue, here the gathering of holiness, and thus with merit is this the name of Christ's mother. And so we have told why the mother was the bride, why Joseph is the groom, why Mary is the mother's name, that we might reveal the whole mystery of Christ's coming.

Saint Peter Chrysologus, from Sermon 147


1 Hosea 2.19-20
2 Jn 3.29
3 2 Cor 11.2

4 Gen 1.10
5 1 Cor 10.1-2 
6 Exodus 15.20-21 

17 Dec 2019

Christ And The Mountain



Et dimisit me super montem excelsum nimis.

Quem ergo significat mons excelsus nisi Mediatorem Dei et hominum hominem Christum Jesum? Qui de terra quidem, sed ultra terram est, quia caro ejusdem Redemptoris nostri de imis habet materiam, sed in summis praeeminet ex potestate. Quem minus erat ut excelsum diceret, nisi adderet nimis, quia non solum homo, sed ex ejusdem humanitatis conceptione quae ab eo assumpta est Deus homo, non solum homo ultra homines, sed homo etiam super angelos factus. Hinc enim de illo per Isaiam dicitur: In die illa erit fructus terrae sublimis . Creator etenim noster, quia pro nobis incarnatus est, fructus terrae factus est nobis. Sed jam fructus terrae sublimis est, quia homo natus in terra super angelos regnat in coelo, quia juxta David et Pauli vocem, Omnia subjecit sub pedibus ejus. In eo enim quod ei subjecit omnia, nihil demisit non subjectum ei. Mons ergo iste est et excelsus, et nimis, quia etsi de terra est per substantiam humanitatis, incomprehensibilis tamen est ex altitudine divinitatis. Hinc est enim quod eumdem Dominum cum Isaias propheta prospiceret in carne esse venturum, per prophetiae spiritum sublevatus, ait: Et erit in novissimis diebus praeparatus mons domus Domini in vertice montium. Domus enim Domini Israeliticus populus fuit. Mons itaque domus Domini ille appellatus est, qui ex Israelitico populo incarnari dignatus est. Fuerunt autem in eodem populo sancti viri qui montes jure vocarentur, quia per vitae meritum ad coelestia propinquaverunt. Sed incarnatus unigenitus istis montibus aequalis non fuit, quia naturam, vitam, merita omnium ex sua divinitate transcendit. Unde et recte mons super verticem montium dicitur, quia excelsus ex divinitate sua inventus est, etiam super cacumina sanctorum, ut hi qui multum in Deo profecerant, ejus vestigia vix potuissent tangere ex vertice cogitationis. Qui ergo illic mons super verticem montium dicitur, ipse hic mons excelsus nimis esse perhibetur.


Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Secundus, Homilia I

Source: Migne PL 76 937-938
And He set me on an extremely high mountain. 1

Whom does this lofty mountain signify but the Mediator of God and Men, the man Jesus Christ. He who is indeed from the earth, yet beyond the earth He is, because the flesh of our Redeemer has matter from its depths but it rises up into the heights on account of power. That which was less so that it might be named high He added to excessively, that not only a man, but from human conception by which God took up man, not only a man beyond men, but a man even above the angels He was made. Whence concerning this it is said by Isaiah, 'In that day shall be the finest fruit of the earth.' 2 Indeed our Creator because He became incarnate for us is made the fruit of the earth for us. And the fruit of the earth is the finest because a man is born on earth who rules over the angels in heaven, so that according to the speech of David and Paul, 'All things are beneath His feet.' 3 And since everything is beneath there is nothing that is not beneath. Therefore this mountain is the highest, and extremely so, because even if He is from the earth on account of the substance of his humanity, yet He is incomprehensible because of the height of His Divinity. This is the same Lord whom Isaiah foresaw coming in the flesh, when uplifted by the prophetic spirit, he said, 'And it shall be in those last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be over the peaks of the mountains.' 4 For the house of the Lord was the people of Israel. Thus He is named the mountain of the house of the Lord, who from the people of Israel deemed it worthy to be incarnated. There were even among this same people holy men who rightly could be called mountains, because they merited by their lives to be near the heavens. But the Only Begotten incarnate was not a mountain like these since on account of His Divinity He transcended their nature, their lives, and all their merits. Whence it is correctly said 'a mountain over the peaks of the mountains,' because He is found to be highest by His Divinity, even over the heights of the holy, that even those who had advanced much in God were scarcely able to grasp His way in the heights of their thoughts. Therefore He who was there said to be a mountain over the peaks of the mountains, here is given to be a mountain that is excessively high.


Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 2, from Homily 1

1 Ezek 40.2
2 Isai 4.2
3 Ps 8.8, Heb 2.8
4 Isai 2.2

16 Dec 2019

Passing Across


Ascendit in naviculam, et transfretavit et venit in civitatem suam.

Ascendit, inquit, in naviculam, et transfretavit. Et quid mirum, fratres? Christus venit suscipere infirmitates nostras, et suas nobis conferre virtutes; humana quaerere, praestare divina, accipere injurias, reddere dignitates; ferre taedia, referre santiates; quia medicus qui non fert infirmitates, infirmitaes curare nescit, et qui non fuerit cum infirmo infirmatus, infirmo non postest conferre santitatem. Christus ergo, si in suis mansisset virtutibus, commune cum homnibus nil haberert; et nisi implesset carnis ordinem, carnis in illo esset otiosa susceptio. Sustinuit ergo has necessitates, ut homo verus humanis necessitatibus probaretur. 


Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia CVIII, Super Illa Evangelii Matth, Cap VI: Ascendit Jesus in naviculam et transfretavit

Source: Migne PL 57 503a-b
He went up into a boat and passed across to His city. 1

He went up into a boat, it says, and passed across. And why wonder, brothers? Christ came to take up our infirmities, and to confer His virtues, to seek the human, and to offer the Divine, to receive injuries and to return goods, to bear wretchedness and to offer healing; because a physician who does not bear infirmities, does not know how to cure infirmities, and he who has not been infirm with the infirm is not able to give health to the infirm. Christ, then, if He had remained in His powers, would have had nothing in common with men, and unless He had filled the order of the flesh, the taking on of the flesh would have been pointless. He thus bore these constraints that truly He be proved a man in human necessities.

Saint Maximus of Turin, from Homily 108, On Matthew 'Jesus went up into a boat and passed across...'


1.Mt 9.1

15 Dec 2019

Word And Man


Ἀμέλει κἀκεῖνο τεθαύμακα, πῶς ὅλως κἂν ἐννοῆσαι τετολμήκασιν, ὅτι φύσεως ἀκολουθίᾳ γεγένηται ἄνθρωπος. Εἰ γὰρ οὕτως ἦν, περιττὴ τῆς Μαρίας ἡ μνήμη. Οὐδὲ γὰρ οἶδεν ἡ φύσις παρθένον χωρὶς ἀνδρὸς τίκτουσαν. Ὅθεν εὐδοκίᾳ τοῦ Πατρὸς Θεὸς ὢν ἀληθινὸς, καὶ φύσει Λόγος, καὶ σοφία τοῦ Πατρὸς, γέγονε σωματικῶς ἄνθρωπος, διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν σωτηρίαν, ἵν', ἔχων ὃ προσενέγκῃ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, σώσῃ πάντας ἡμᾶς, ὅσοι φόβῳ θανάτου διὰ παντὸς τοῦ ζῇν ἔνοχοι ἦσαν δουλείας. Οὐ γὰρ ἄνθρωπός τις ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἑαυτὸν δέδωκεν· ἐπεὶ πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ὑπεύθυνός ἐστι θανάτῳ, κατὰ τὸ, Γῆ εἶ καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσῃ, ἐν τῷ Ἀδὰμ εἰρημένον πρὸς πάντας· ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ἕτερόν τι τῶν κτισμάτων· ἐπεὶ πᾶσα κτίσις ὕποπτός ἐστι τροπῆς. Ἀλλ' αὐτὸς ὁ Λόγος τὸ ἴδιον σῶμα προσήνεγκεν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, ἵνα μὴ εἰς ἄνθρωπον ἡ πίστις καὶ ἡ ἐλπὶς, ἀλλ' εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν Θεὸν Λόγον τὴν πίστιν ἔχωμεν. Ἀμέλει καὶ ἀνθρώπου γενομένου αὐτοῦ, θεωροῦμεν τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς Μονογενοῦς παρὰ Πατρὸς, πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας. Ἃ γὰρ διὰ τοῦ σώματος ὑπέμεινε, ταῦτα ὡς Θεὸς ἐμεγάλυνε· καὶ ἐπείνα μὲν σαρκὶ, θεϊκῶς δὲ τοὺς πεινῶντας ἐχόρταζε. Καὶ εἰ σκανδαλίζεταί τις ἐπὶ τοῖς σωματικοῖς, πιστευέτω ἐφ' οἷς ὁ Θεὸς ἐργάζεται. Πυνθάνεται γὰρ ἀνθρωπίνως, ποῦ Λάζαρος κεῖται, ἐγείρει δὲ τοῦτον θεϊκῶς. Ὅθεν μηδὲ γελάτω τις λέγων παιδίον καὶ ἡλικίαν ὀνομάζων, καὶ αὔξησιν, καὶ φαγεῖν, καὶ πιεῖν, καὶ παθεῖν, ἵνα μὴ, τὰ ἴδια τοῦ σώματος ἀρνούμενος, ἀρνήσηται τέλεον καὶ τὴν δι' ἡμᾶς ἐπιδημίαν αὐτοῦ. Καὶ ὥσπερ οὐκ ἀκολουθίᾳ φύσεως ἄνθρωπος γεγένηται, οὕτως ἀκόλουθον ἦν σῶμα λαβόντα αὐτὸν δεικνύναι τὰ ἴδια τούτου, ἵνα μὴ ἡ φαντασία τοῦ Μανιχαίου κρατήσῃ. Ἀκόλουθον δὲ πάλιν ἦν σωματικῶς αὐτὸν χρηματίζοντα μὴ κρύψαι τὰ τῆς θεότητος, ἵνα μὴ ὁ Σαμοσατεὺς πρόφασιν εὕρῃ, ἄνθρωπον αὐτὸν λέγων, ὡς ἄλλον ὄντα παρὰ τὸν Θεὸν Λόγον. Ταῦτα τοίνυν κατανοῶν ὁ ἄπιστος, μαθέτω, ὅτι βρέφος μὲν ἦν ἐπὶ φάτνης, τοὺς δὲ μάγους ὑπέταξε προσκυνούμενος ὑπ' αὐτῶν· καὶ παιδίον μὲν εἰς Αἴγυπτον κατῆλθε, τὰ δὲ χειροποίητα τῆς εἰδωλολατρείας κατήργησε· καὶ ἐσταυρωμένος σαρκὶ, νεκροὺς ἐκ πολλοῦ χρόνου σαπέντας ἤγειρε. Καὶ δέδεικται πᾶσιν, ὅτι οὐ δι' ἑαυτὸν, ἀλλὰ δι' ἡμᾶς ὑπέμεινε πάντα, ἵν' ἡμεῖς, τοῖς ἐκείνου παθήμασιν ἀπάθειαν καὶ ἀφθαρσίαν ἐνδυσάμενοι, διαμείνωμεν εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον.

Ἅγιος Ἀθανάσιος, Ἐπιστολή Προς Μάξιμος Φιλοσοφον

Source: Migne PG 26.1088c-1089c
And certainly I have been surprised how they even dared to think that the Word became man as a consequence of His Nature. For if this were so superfluous would be the remembrance of Mary. For Nature does not know of a Virgin bearing without a man. Whence by the goodness of the Father, being true God and Word and Wisdom of the Father by nature, He became man in the flesh for our salvation, that having something to offer for us He might save us all, 'as many as by fear of death were all through their lives subject to servitude.' 1 For it was not some man that gave himself up for us, since every man is subject to death, according to which, 'earth you are and to earth you shall return.' 2 was said to all in Adam; nor was it any other created thing, since every creature is liable to change, but the Word Himself offered His own body on our behalf that neither our faith nor our hope be in man, but that in God the Word we have our faith. Even having become man we behold His Glory, 'the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.' 3 For what He suffered by means of the Body, as God He magnified, and hungering in the flesh, as God He gave food to the hungry. And if anyone is scandalised because of the body, let him believe on account of those things God does. For humanly He asks where Lazarus lays, but raises him up divinely. Let none then laugh, speaking of Him as a child, and citing His youth, His growth, His eating and drinking and suffering, lest while denying what befits the body, he deny utterly also His dwelling among us. And just as He did not become Man in consequence of His nature, likewise it holds that when He had taken a body He should exhibit what befits it, lest the fantasies of the Manichees prevail. Again it follows that when He went about in the body, He should not hide what belonged to the Godhead, lest that fellow of Samosata should have excuse to call Him man, as something else separate from God the Word. Let then the unbeliever grasp this, and let him learn that while an infant in a manger, the Magi were bound by Him to worship, and coming down to Egypt as a child He made an end of hand-made idols, and crucified in the flesh, He raised the dead who had been for a long time corrupted. And it has been made plain to all that not for Himself but for us He endured everything, that we by His sufferings be endowed with freedom from suffering and incorruption, 4 persisting into life eternal.
 
Saint Athanasius, from The Letter to the Philosopher Maximus

1 Heb 2.15 
2 Gen 3.19
3 Jn 1.14
4 1 Cor 15.53


14 Dec 2019

Understanding And The Beginning


Ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὐχὶ τὸ θαυμάσαι τὰ καλὰ δύσκολον, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἐν ἀκριβεῖ κατανοήσει γενέσθαι τῶν θαυμασθέντων, τοῦτο χαλεπὸν καὶ δυσέφικτον. Ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸν ἥλιον τοῦτον τὸν αἰσθητὸν οὐδεὶς μέν ἐστιν ὃς οὐχ ὑπερ επαινεῖ, τὸ μέγεθος αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ κάλλος, καὶ τῶν ἀκτίνων τὴν συμμετρίαν, καὶ τὸ ἀποστίλβον αὐτοῦ φῶς κατασπαζόμενος· ἐὰν μέντοι βιαιότερον φιλονεικήσῃ τῷ κύκλῳ ἀντεξάγειν ἑαυτοῦ τὰς τῶν ὀμμάτων βολὰς, οὐ μόνον οὐ κατόψεται τὰ περισπού δαστα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴνἀκρίβειαν τῆς ὄψεως προσ διαφθείρας οἰχήσεται. Τοιοῦτόν τί μοι δοκῶ τὴν διά νοιαν πάσχειν, τὴν φιλονεικοῦσαν ἀκριβῆ ποιεῖσθαι τῶν προκειμένων ῥημάτων τὴν ἐξέτασιν. Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος. Τίς ἐννοήσει ἀξίως τὰ περὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς; Ποία ῥημάτων δύναμις εὑρεθῇ ὁμοτίμως δυναμένη παραστῆσαι τὸ νοηθέν; Μέλλων παραδιδόναι ἡμῖν τὰ περὶ τῆς θεολογίας τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὐδεμίαν ἀρχὴν ἄλλην τῷ λόγῳ ἢ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῶν ὅλων ἔδωκεν. Ἤδει τοὺς ἐπιφυομένους τῇ δόξῃ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον· προῄδει τοὺς μέλλοντας ἡμῖν προφέρειν τὰ σοφίσματα, τὰ ἐπὶ καταστροφῇ τῶν ἀκουόντων αὐτοῖς μεμηχανημένα. Ὅτι, Εἰ ἐγεννήθη, οὐκ ἦν· καὶ, Πρὸ τοῦ γεννηθῆναι, οὐκ ἦν· καὶ, Ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων τὴν ὑπόστασιν ἔλαβε. Τοιαῦτα δὲ φθέγγονται γλῶσσαι ἠκονημέναι διὰ πιθανολογίας ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν μάχαιραν δίστομον. Ἵνα τοίνυν μηδενὶ λέγειν ἐξῇ τὰ τοιαῦτα, προλαβὸν τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον διὰ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου, Ἐν ἀρχῇ, φησὶν, ἦν ὁ Λόγος. Ἐὰν κρατῇς ταύτην τὴν φωνὴν, οὐδὲν οὐ μὴ πάθῃς δεινὸν παρὰ τῶν κακοτέχνων. Ἐὰν γὰρ λέγῃ ἐκεῖνος, Εἰ ἐγεννήθη, οὐκ ἦν· σὺ εἰπὲ, Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν. Ἀλλὰ,φησὶ, πρὶν ἢ γεννηθῆναι πῶς ἦν; Σὺ μὴ ἀφῇς τὸ, Ἦν· μὴ καταλίπῃς τὸ, Ἐν ἀρχῇ. Ἀρχῆς ἡκορυφὴ οὐ καταλαμβάνεται· ἀρχῆς τὸ ἐξώτερον οὐχ εὑρίσκεται. Μὴ παραλογίσηταί σέ τις τῷ πολυσήμῳ τῆς λέξεως. Πολλαὶ γὰρ ἀρχαὶ πολλῶν πραγμάτων κατὰ τὸν βίον τοῦτον· ἀλλὰ μία ἀρχὴ ἐπὶ πάντων, ἡ ἐπέκεινα.

Ἅγιος Βασιλειος Καισαρείας, Ὁμιλια Ι ʹ, Εἰς τὸ, Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος

Source: Migne PG 31. 472d-473c
It is not difficult to admire what is beautiful but to understand those things which are admirable with perfect intelligence is arduous and most difficult. For there is not one who does not praise even this material sun, whenever they take joy in its greatness and beauty and the equality of its rays and the great splendour of its light, but if something greatly obscure this same orb from the eye, not only what is desired will not be seen, but what is seen will be deficient in it completeness. And I judge something like this to happen to the mind which would try more accurately to scrutinise the words: 'In the beginning was the Word.' 1 Who may think worthily of the matter of this beginning? How can one find the power of the words to express the worthiness of the thing to be grasped? This theology concerning the Son of God was given to us to come that no other beginning in speech He have than the beginning of all things. The Holy Spirit foreknew the attacks on the glory of the Only Begotten, He foresaw those who would cast before us sophisms, contrived to overthrow those who heard them. 'Why, if He was begotten, then He was not,' and 'Before He had been begotten, He was not,' and 'From a state of non-existence He receives substance.' For the tongue by persuasive words may cut more deeply than any sharpened sword, and so they speak such things. And lest then similar things be spoken, the Holy Spirit by the things we find in the Gospel, says, 'In the beginning was the Word.' If you hold to this you shall not suffer from those who contrive evil. For if one of them says, 'If He was begotten, then He was not,' you say: 'In the beginning He was.' And if then he say, 'But before He was begotten, how was it? You, lest you forsake Him, say: 'He was.' And lest you abandon Him, 'In the beginning' The depth of the beginning is not apprehended, what is outside and beyond the beginning is not found. Do not let someone deceive you with various shades of meaning. For many are the beginning of things in this life, but One is the beginning of all things, which is above all, which is beyond all.

Saint Basil of Caesarea, from On 'In The Beginning Was The Word.'

1 Jn 1.1

13 Dec 2019

Gospel And Letter



Quod fuit ab initio...

Hanc epistolam beatus Apostolis Joannes de fidei et charitatis perfectione conscripsit, laudans devotionem eorum qui in unitate Ecclesiae perseverabant; porro illorum impietatem coarguens, qui Ecclesiae pacem vesano dogmate turbabant, Cerinthi maxime et Marcionis, qui Christum ante Mariam non fuisse contendebant. Propter quos etiam Evangelium suum scripsit, ibi quidem et suis et ipsius Domini verbis consubstantialem Patri Filium affirmans, hic autem quae a Domino didicit propriis sermonibus depromens, et haereticorum stultitiam apostolica auctoritate refellens. Unde mox in capite Epistolae divnitatem simul et humanitatem veram ejusdem Dei et Domini nostri Jesu Christi designat dicens: Quod fuit ab initio, quod audivimus. Fuit enim ab initio Filius Dei, sed eumdem Filium Dei in homine apparentem audierunt, et oculis viderunt discipuli, quod ipsum in Evangelio latius explicavit. Nam quod hic ait: Quod fuit ab initio, hoc est quod in Evangelio dicit: In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum. Hoc erat in principio apud Deum. Et quod hic subdidit: Quod audivimus, quod vidimus oculis nostris, hoc est quod ibi latius subdit: Et Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis, et vidimus gloriam ejus, gloriam quasi Unigeniti a Patre. Et ne parum dicere videretur in eo quod ait: Quod vidimus oculis nostris, adjunxit: Quod perspeximus, et manus nostrae contrectaverunt de Verbo vitae. Non solum quippe corporalibus oculis sicut caeteri Dominum viderunt, sed et perspexerunt, cujus divinam quoque virtutem spiritualibus oculis cernebant. Maxime ille qui eum in monte clarificatum viderunt, e quibus unus erat ipse Joannes. Quod autem ait: Et manus nostrae contrectaverunt de Verbo vitae, Manichaeorum vincit insaniam, qui Dominum veram assumpsisse carnem negant; quam apostoli veram esse dubitare non poterant, ut pote cujus veritatem non solum videndo, sed et tangendo probarent; maxime Joannes ipse, qui, in sinus ejus in coena recumbere solitus, tanto licentius ejus membra, quanto vicinius tangebat.


Sanctus Beda, In Primam Epistolam Sancti Joannis, Caput Primum

Source: Migne PL 93.85b-d
That which was from the beginning... 1 

This letter which the blessed John wrote concerning the perfection of faith and charity, praises the devotion of those who persevered in the unity of the Church, but refutes those impious ones who were troubling the church with deranged teachings, especially Cerinthus and Marcion, who contended that Christ was not before Mary. On account of which he even wrote his Gospel, there certainly affirming with the very words of the Lord the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father, and here exhibiting what he learned from the Lord's teaching in his own words, refuting the foolishness of heretics with Apostolic authority. Whence immediately in the beginning of the letter he exhibits the Divinity and true humanity of God and our Lord Jesus Christ, saying, 'That which was from the beginning, which we have heard.' 1 For the Son of God was from the beginning, but the same Son of God appearing as a man the disciples heard, and with their eyes saw, which same he more broadly expounds in his Gospel. For what He says here: 'That which was from the beginning,' is what he says in the Gospel: 'In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and God was the Word.' 2 And which here he continues: 'Which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes,' which in the Gospel is more broadly expounded: 'And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we saw His glory, the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father. 3 And least it seem too slight when he said: 'What we saw with our eyes,' he adds: 'Which we perceived and our own hands touched, concerning the Word of life.' Not only then with corporeal eyes, as others, did they see the Lord, but they even perceived, discerning with spiritual eyes His Divine Power. And certainly they who saw Him transfigured on the mount, of whom one was John. 4 That indeed saying, 'And our hands have touched the word of life, he routs the madness of the Manichees, who deny that the Lord took up true flesh, which the Apostles were not able to doubt, not only seeing the truth, but in touching it having proof of it, and certainly that John, who on His breast reclined at the supper, 5 who by the greater freedom of his members, so much more deeply touched upon Him.

Saint Bede, from the Commentary On The First Letter of Saint John, Chap 1

1 1 Jn 1.1
2 Jn 1.1
3 Jn 1.14
4 Mt 17.1-8, Mk 9.1-7, Lk 9.28-36
5 Jn 13.23

12 Dec 2019

Wisdom And Purity



Τιμιωτέρα δέ ἐστιν λίθων πολυτελῶν οὐκ ἀντιτάξεται αὐτῇ οὐδὲν 

Τουτέστι τοῖς Βουλομένοις οὐδὲν δύσκολον ἔχοι, καθάπερ ἡ τῶν χρημάτων ἐπιθυμία· νοῦς καθαρὸς ἐγγίζει σοφίᾳ· ἐπειδὴ τὸ εὖ γινώσκει· ὁ δὲ ἀκάθαρτος μακρυνθήεται ἀπ' αὐτῆς. 


Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαὶ Εἰς Παροιμίας, Κεφ Γ'


Source: Migne PG 17.168c 
Wisdom is more precious than jewels and nothing can compare to her... 1

To the one who wishes to have it, it brings no trouble, but it as the desire for riches. The pure mind approaches wisdom because it thinks well, but the mind which is impure is very far away from it.


Origen, On Proverbs,  Chap 3, Fragment

1 Prov 3.15

11 Dec 2019

The Coming Of Wisdom

Μικρὸν δέ, εἰ βούλει, ἄνωθεν ἄθρει τὴν θείαν εὐεργεσίαν. ὁ πρῶτος ὁτὲ ἐν παραδείσῳ ἔπαιζε λελυμένος, ἐπεὶ παιδίον ἦν τοῦ θεοῦ: ὅτε δὲ ὑποπίπτων ἡδονῇ ῾ὄφις ἀλληγορεῖται ἡδονὴ ἐπὶ γαστέρα ἕρπουσα, κακία γηΐνη εἰς ὕλας τρεφομένη παρήγετο ἐπιθυμίαις, ὁ παῖς ἀνδριζόμενος ἀπειθείᾳ καὶ παρακούσας τοῦ πατρὸς ᾐσχύνετο τὸν θεόν. οἷον ἴσχυσεν ἡδονή: ὁ δἰ ἁπλότητα λελυμένος ἄνθρωπος ἁμαρτίαις εὑρέθη δεδεμένος. τῶν δεσμῶν λῦσαι τοῦτον ὁ κύριος αὖθις ἠθέλησεν, καὶ σαρκὶ ἐνδεθείς ῾μυστήριον θεῖον τοῦτὀ τὸν ὄφιν ἐχειρώσατο καὶ τὸν τύραννον ἐδουλώσατο, τὸν θάνατον, καί, τὸ παραδοξότατον, ἐκεῖνον τὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν ἡδονῇ πεπλανημένον, τὸν τῇ φθορᾷ δεδεμένον, χερσὶν ἡπλωμέναις ἔδειξε λελυμένον. ὢ θαύματος μυστικοῦ: κέκλιται μὲν ὁ κύριος, ἀνέστη δὲ ἄνθρωπος καὶ ὁ ἐκ τοῦ παραδείσου πεσὼν μεῖζον ὑπακοῆς ἆθλον, οὐρανούς, ἀπολαμβάνει. διό μοι δοκεῖ, ἐπεὶ αὐτὸς ἧκεν ὡς ἡμᾶς οὐρανόθεν ὁ λόγος, ἡμᾶς ἐπ̓ ἀνθρωπίνην ἰέναι μὴ χρῆναι διδασκαλίαν ἔτι, Ἀθήνας καὶ τὴν ἄλλην Ἑλλάδα, πρὸς δὲ καὶ Ἰωνίαν πολυπραγμονοῦντας. εἰ γὰρ ἡμῖν ὁ  διδάσκαλος ὁ πληρώσας τὰ πάντα δυνάμεσιν ἁγίαις, δημιουργίᾳ σωτηρίᾳ εὐεργεσίᾳ νομοθεσίᾳ προφητείᾳ διδασκαλίᾳ, πάντα νῦν ὁ διδάσκαλος κατηχεῖ καὶ τὸ πᾶν ἤδη Ἀθῆναι καὶ Ἑλλὰς γέγονεν τῷ λόγῳ. οὐ γὰρ δὴ μύθῳ μὲν ἐπιστεύετε ποιητικῷ τὸν Μίνω τὸν Κρῆτα τοῦ Διὸς ὀαριστὴν ἀναγράφοντι, ἡμᾶς δὲ ἀπιστήσετε μαθητὰς θεοῦ γεγονότας, τὴν ὄντως ἀληθῆ σοφίαν ἐπανῃρημένους, ἣν φιλοσοφίας ἄκροι μόνον ᾐνίξαντο, οἱ δὲ τοῦ Χριστοῦ μαθηταὶ καὶ κατειλήφασι καὶ ἀνεκήρυξαν. καὶ δὴ καὶ πᾶς, ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν, ὁ Χριστὸς οὐ μερίζεται: οὔτε βάρβαρός ἐστιν οὔτε Ἰουδαῖος οὔτε Ἕλλην, οὐκ ἄρρεν, οὐ θῆλυ: καινὸς δὲ ἄνθρωπος θεοῦ πνεύματι ἁγίῳ μεταπεπλασμένος. Εἶθ̓ αἱ μὲν ἄλλαι συμβουλαί τε καὶ ὑποθῆκαι λυπραὶ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐπὶ μέρους εἰσίν, εἰ γαμητέον, εἰ πολιτευτέον, εἰ παιδοποιητέον: καθολικὴ δὲ ἄρα προτροπὴ μόνη καὶ πρὸς ὅλον δηλαδὴ τὸν βίον, ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ, ἐν πάσῃ περιστάσει πρὸς τὸ κυριώτατον τέλος, τὴν ζωήν, συντείνουσα ἡ θεοσέβεια: καθ̓ ὃ καὶ μόνον ἐπάναγκές ἐστι ζῆν, ἵνα ζήσωμεν ἀεί: φιλοσοφία δέ, ᾗ φασιν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι, πολυχρόνιός ἐστι συμβουλή, σοφίας ἀίδιον μνηστευομένη ἔρωτα: ἐντολὴ δὲ κυρίου τηλαυγής, φωτίζουσα ὀφθαλμούς. ἀπόλαβε τὸν Χριστόν, ἀπόλαβε τὸ βλέπειν, ἀπόλαβέ σου τὸ φῶς, ὄφῤ εὖ γινώσκοις ἠμὲν θεὸν ἠδὲ καὶ ἄνδρα.

Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Λόγος Προτεπτικός Πρός Ἕλλεηνας, Κεφ ΙΑ'

Source: Migne PG 8.228c-229c
Contemplate a little, if it is agreeable to you, the Divine beneficence. The first man when in Paradise played freely since he was the child of God, but when he succumbed to pleasure, the serpent allegorically signifying pleasure crawling on its belly, earthly wickedness nourishing fuel for the desires, he was as a youth grown old in disobedience, and disobeying the Father dishonoured God. Such was the power of pleasure. Man who had been free by simplicity was found bound by sins. From which bonds The Lord then wished to loose him, and clothing Himself with flesh, that Divine mystery, vanquished the serpent, and enslaved the tyrant death, and, most wonderful of all, man who had been deceived by pleasure and bound by corruption, had his hands unloosed and was set free. O mystic wonder! The Lord was laid low, man rose up, and he that fell from Paradise receives a greater reward for obedience, that is, the heavens. Thus it seems to me that since the Word Himself has come to us from heaven, we need not go any more in search of human teaching to Athens and the rest of Greece, and to Ionia. For if He is our teacher who filled everything with His holy power in creation, salvation, beneficence, legislation, prophecy, teaching, now we have the teacher of all things, and the whole world, with Athens and Greece, is established in the Word. For you, who believed the myth of the poets which claimed Cretan Minos as the companion of Zeus, will not refuse to believe that we who have become the disciples of God have received the only true wisdom, and that which the chiefs of philosophy only intimated obscurely, the disciples of Christ have both grasped and proclaimed. And so in all things, it is said, Christ is undivided: 'There is neither barbarian, nor Jew, nor Greek, neither male nor female, but a new man,' 1 transformed by God's Holy Spirit. Further, the other counsels and precepts are unimportant, and respect particular things, if one may marry, enter into public affairs, beget children, but the only command that is universal is piety, over the whole of one's span, in every time and in all circumstances, directing to the highest end, that is, life, which if we live in accordance with alone is needed that one may live for ever. Philosophy, however, as the ancients say, is 'a long exhortation for the wooing of the eternal love of wisdom;' but the commandment of the Lord is far-shining, enlightening the eyes. 2 Receive Christ, receive sight, receive your light, 'In order that you may know well both God and man.' 3

Clement of Alexandria, The Exhortation To The Heathen, Chapter 11

1 Galat 3.28, 6.15; Ephes 4.25
2 Ps 18.9
3 Hom Iliad 5.128