Soul And Church

Καὶ ἀνίσταται ἐκ νυκτῶν καὶ ἔδωκεν βρώματα τῷ οἴκῳ καὶ ἔργα ταῖς θεραπαίναις Ἥ καὶ τὴν ἐκ νυκτὸς ἀνισταμένην ψυχὴν, γρηγοροῦσαν εὑρισκει ὁ τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἥλιος νυμφίος· πάντως δὲ καὶ προσευχομένην τοῦ μὴ ἐμπεσεῖν εἰς πειρασμὸν, λέγουσαν τὸ, Ἠγρυπνησα καὶ ἐγενόμην ὡς στρουθίον μονάζον ἐπὶ δώματος· βρῶμα δέ ἐστι ψυχῆς, ἡ μελέτη τῶν θείων λόγων· ἔργα δὲ, αἱ ἀρεταί· θεραπαινίδες δὲ, αἱ αἰσθήσεις· ταῦτ' οὖν παρέχει ἡ τιμιωτέρα λίθων πολυτελῶν ψυχὴ τῷ σωματικῷ αυτῆς οἴκῳ. θεωρήσασα γεώργιον ἐπρίατο ἀπὸ δὲ καρπῶν χειρῶν αὐτῆς κατεφύτευσεν κτῆμα. Τὴν τοῦ σπουδαίου ψυχήν φησιν ἔχουσαν Ἐκκλησίαν ξύλον γνώσεως καὶ ξύλον ζωῆς· γνώσεως μὲν ὡς νόμου, ζωῆς δὲ ὡς λόγου· αὕτη γάρ ἐστιν ἡ ἐκ πλευρᾶς Χριστοῦ προελθοῦσα, καὶ νύμφη τούτου εὑρεθεῖσα, ἡ σώφρων καὶ ἀνδρεία γηνὴ, ἡ τὴν πίστιν τούτου τηρήσασα, καὶ τοῦτον νυμφίον ἀπ' οὐρανῶν πάλιν προσδοκῶσα. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαὶ Εἰς Παροιμίας Source: Migne PG 17.249d-252a

From the night she rises and distributes food to the house and work to the handmaids. 1 The soul rising in the night is found watchful by the spouse, the sun of righteousness, ever praying lest it fall into temptation, saying, 'I watched and was made like a lonely sparrow on the roof.' 2 And the food of the soul is meditation on the Divine words, and the works are the virtues, the handmaids the senses. These things, then, richer than precious stones, she, the soul, brings to the dwelling place of the body.   Ground must be examined and bought and planted out as a vineyard with the earnings of her toil. 3   He speaks of the Church as a zealous soul in possession of the tree of knowledge and the tree of life, that is, having knowledge of the law and the life of the Word. For she who came from the side of Christ is found to be His spouse, a prudent and brave woman, holding to the faith, hoping for that spouse from heaven again. Origen, On Proverbs, Chap 31 Fragment 1 Prov 31.15 2 Ps 101.8 3 Prov 31.16

A Woman Rises Up

Ερώτησις. ΙΒ' Τί δήποτε γυνὴ προφητευει; Ἐπειδὴ ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν μία ἡ φήσις. Ἐκ γὰρ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ ἡ γυνὴ δυεπλάσθη, καὶ λόγου μετείληχεν ὡς ἐκεῖνος. Διὸ καὶ ὁ Απόστολός φησιν, Ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ οὐκ ἔνι ἄῥῥεν καὶ θῆλεν. Οῦτω καὶ Μωσῆς προφήτης, καὶ Μαριὰμ προφῆτις. Οἴμαι δὲ καὶ τὴν Δεββώραν εἰς ἔλεγχον τῶν τότε ἀνδρῶν τῆς προφητείας ἀξιωθῆναι. Οὐδενὸς γὰρ ἐξ ἐκείνων εὐρεθέντος ἀξίου τῆς χάριτος, αὕτη τῆς τοῦ παναγίου Πνεύματος τετύχηκε δωρεᾶς· καὶ οὕτω δήλη ἧν, ὅτι τῆς ἄμωθεν ἡξίωτο χάριτος, ὡς τὸν βαρὰκ μὴ τολμῆσαι δίχα ταύτης εἰς τὴν παράταξιν ἐξελθεῖν· τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἐν τῇ ᾠδῇ αὐτῆς ἔφη· Ἐξέλιπον οἱ κρατοῦντες ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ, ἕως οὕ ἐξανέστη Δεββώρα μήτηρ ἐν Ἰσραήλ. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Εἰς Τους Κριτάς Source: Migne PG 80.497c-500a

Question 12 Why was it that a woman made prophecy? Because there is one nature of men and women. For from Adam the woman was formed and was made a participant in reason, as even he was. Thus the Apostle says, 'In Jesus Christ there is neither male nor female.' 1 So Moses was a prophet and Miriam a prophetess. And I think that Deborah was given the gift of prophecy to shame men. For when among men none could be found worthy to receive the grace, so she was endowed with this gift by the Holy Spirit. And so clearly was she in receipt of the supernal grace that Barac would not dare go to the mountain without her, whence she sings concerning herself: 'Israel was bereft of mighty men, until Deborah rose up, a mother in Israel.' 2 Theodoret of Cyrrhus, from Questions On Judges 1 Galat 3.28 2 Judges 5.7

Reading And Doing

Divinarum Scripturarum ardor erat incredibilis, semperque cantabat: In corde meo abscondi eloquia tua, ut non peccem tibi. Et illud de perfecto viro; Et in lege Domini voluntas ejus, et in lege eius meditabitur die et nocte. Meditationem legis non in replicando quae scripta sint, ut Judaeorum existiment Pharisaei; sed in opere intelligens, juxta illud Apostolicum: Sive comeditis, sive bibitis, sive quid agitis; omnia in gloriam Domini facientes. Et Prophetae verba dicentes: A mandatis tuis intellexi, ut postquam mandata complesset, tunc se sciret mereri intelligentiam Scripturarum. Quod et alibi legimus: Quia coepit Jesus facere et docere. Erubescit enim quamvis praeclara doctrina, quam propria reprehendit conscientia; frustaque ejus lingua praedicat paupertatem, et docet eleemosynas, qui Croesi divitiis tumet; vilique opertus pallio, pugnat contra tineas vestium sericarum. Sanctus Hieronymus, Epistula CXXVII, Ad Principiam Virginem Source:  Migne PL 22 1089

Marcella's zeal for the Divine Scriptures was incredible. She was for ever singing, 'Your words have I stored away in my heart that I might not sin against you,' 1 as well as the words which describe the perfect man: 'His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night.' 2 This meditation in the law she understood not as a review of the written words, as among the Jews the Pharisees think, but of action according to that saying of the Apostle, 'Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.' 3 She remembered also the Prophet's words, 'By your commandments I have gained understanding,' 4 and felt sure that only when she had fulfilled these would she be worthy to understand the Scriptures. In this sense we read elsewhere that 'Jesus began both to do and teach.' 5 For the greatest teaching blushes when one's own conscience rebukes one, and it is in vain that a man's tongue preach poverty or teach almsgiving if he rolls in the riches of Croesus and if, in spite of a threadbare cloak, he has silken robes at home to protect from the moth. St Jerome, from Letter 127, To The Nun Principia 1 Ps 118.11 2 Ps 1.2 3 1 Cor 10.31 4 Ps 118.104 5 Acts 1.1

Dogs And Men

Λόγου μὲν ἄμοιρος ὁ κύων, ἰσοδυναμοῦσαν δὲ ὅμως τῷ λόγῳ αἴσθησιν ἔχει. Ἃ γὰρ οἱ κατὰ πολλὴν σχολὴν τοῦ βίου καθεζόμενοι μόλις ἐξεῦρον οἱ τοῦ κόσμου σοφοὶ, τὰς τῶν συλλογισμῶν λέγω πλοκὰς, ταῦτα δείκνυται παρὰ τῆς φύσεως ὁ κύων πεπαιδευμένος. Τὸ γὰρ ἴχνος τοῦ θηρίου διερευνώμενος, ἐπειδὰν εὕρῃ αὐτὸ πολυτρόπως σχιζόμενον, τὰς ἑκασταχοῦ φερούσας ἐκτροπὰς ἐπελθών, μονονουχὶ τὴν συλλογιστικὴν φωνὴν ἀφίησι δι᾿ ὧν πράσσει· ἢ τήνδε, φησίν, ἐτράπη τὸ θηρίον, ἢ τήνδε, ἢ ἐπὶ τόδε τὸ μέρος· ἀλλὰ μὴν οὔτε τήνδε, οὔτε τήνδε, λειπόμενόν ἐστι τῇδε ὡρμῆσθαι αὐτό· καὶ οὕτως τῇ ἀναιρέσει τῶν ψευδῶν εὑρίσκει τὸ ἀληθές. Τί περισσότερον ποιοῦσιν οἱ ἐπὶ τῶν διαγραμμάτων σεμνῶς καθεζόμενοι, καὶ τὴν κόνιν καταχαράσσοντες, τριῶν προτάσεων ἀναιροῦντες τὰς δύο, καὶ ἐν τῇ λειπομένῃ τὸ ἀληθὲς ἐξευρίσκοντες; Τὸ δὲ μνημονικὸν τῆς χάριτος τοῦ ζῴου, τίνα τῶν ἀχαρίστων πρὸς εὐεργέτας οὐ καταισχύνει; Ὅπου γε καὶ φονευθεῖσι δεσπόταις κατ᾿ ἐρημίαν, πολλοὶ τῶν κυνῶν ἐπαποθανόντες μνημονεύονται. Ἤδη δέ τινες ἐπὶ θερμῷ τῷ πάθει καὶ ὁδηγοὶ τοῖς ἐκζητοῦσι τοὺς φονέας ἐγένοντο, καὶ ὑπὸ τὴν δίκην ἀχθῆναι τοὺς κακούργους ἐποίησαν. Τί εἴπωσιν οἱ τὸν ποιήσαντα αὐτοὺς καὶ τρέφοντα Κύριον οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἀγαπῶντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ φίλοις κεχρημένοι τοῖς λαλοῦσι κατὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀδικίαν, καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς αὐτοῖς τραπέζης μετέχοντες, καὶ παρ᾿ αὐτὴν τὴν τροφὴν τῶν κατὰ τοῦ τρέφοντος βλασφημιῶν ἀνεχόμενοι; Ἅγιος Βασιλειος Καισαρείας, Εις Την ῾Εξαημερον, Ὁμιλὶα Θ' Source Migne PG 29.197c-200a

The dog lacks a share of reason but he has instinct, which has a similar power to reason. Elaborate syllogisms which the wise of the world after long years of study have hardly been able to disentangle, the dog shows himself educated in by nature. For when he is on the track of prey and he finds that the prey has gone off in different directions, he applies himself to examination of the different paths, and only lack of speech fails to declare his reasoning. The creature, he says, is gone here, or there, or in another direction, but since it is neither here nor there, it is therefore in the third direction; and thus dismissing the false tracks he finds the true one. What more is done by those who, deeply occupied in demonstrating theories, trace lines in the dust and reject two propositions to reveal that the remaining one is the true one? And shall it not be thought that the gratitude of this animal disgraces all those who are ungrateful to their benefactors? Many have been told to have remained until death by murdered masters in deserted places. And some, when a crime has been committed, have been guides of those searching for the murderers, and have been the cause of the evil doers being brought to justice. What will say of those who have for friends not only those who do not love the Master who has created and nourished them, but have those at table with them those whose mouth speaks vilely against the Lord, and while taking food blaspheme Him who maintains them? Saint Basil of Caesarea, Hexameron, from Homily 9

Man Obedient And Disobedient

In obedientia autem quare? Istud Quare primum adinvenit diabolus. Diabolus enim obedientiae praeceptum primus discutere coepit: quare, inquit, praecepit vobis Deus non comedere de ligno scientiae boni et mali? Antehac homo simplex simpliciter obedierat, non tam propter praecepti rationem, quae ob praecipientis auctoritatem. Sicut enim fides non habet meritum, cui humana ratio praebet experimentum, sic obedientia a virtute humilitatis evacuatur, cum ei ratio praecepti astipulatur. Vis tamen audire, quare ad alienum aut laboramus, aut pausamus arbitrium et imperium? Quia in hoc nimirium imitatores sumus Christi, sicut filii charissimi, et ambulamus in dilectione, qua dilexit nos, qui ad omnia factus est obediens propter nos, non solum ad remedium, sed ad exemplum, ut quemadmodam ille fuit, sic et nos simus in hoc mundo. In hoc enim, ut beatus ait Joannes, et fiducia. Factus est ergo obediens per omnia, non solum Patri usque ad mortem, sed Mariae et Joseph, usque ad praelationem. Cum enim paterna vocatione dicente: Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi bene complacuit: ipsum audite, ad praelationem vocaretur, tunc primum coepit aliis praeesse, qui diu didicerat aliis subesse; coepit jubere, qui didicit obedire. Praeterea recompensatio iusta videtur, ut qui in paradiso dedignatus est regnare dominus sub Domino, in exsilio jam serviat servus conservo. Conditio enim naturae statuit hominem sub Domino: transgressio obedientiae subjugavit cum inimico; reconciliatio vero gratiae supposuit fratri conservo. Natura subdidit eum Deo, culpa diabolo, reconciliatio vero homini amico. Isaac, Cisterciensis Abbas, Sermo L, In Natali Apostolorum Petri et Pauli Source: Migne PL 194.1859b-1860a

And why obedience? This 'why' the devil first brought. For the devil first began to shake the command of obedience. 'Why,' he said, 'does He command you not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil?' 1 Before this simple man simply obeyed, not because of the reason of the command but because of it's authority. So even as faith for which human reason gives demonstration has no value, so is obedience detached from the virtue of humility, when it demands reason for the command. You wish, however, to hear why we go out to labour or we rest by judgement and command? Because in this especially we are imitators of Christ, like beloved sons, and we walk in love, with which He loved us, He who in everything was made obedient for us, 2 not only as a remedy, but as an example, that even as He was, we are in this world. For in this, said the blessed John, is faith. He was made then obedient in all things, not only to the Father unto death, but to Mary and Joseph, 3 even to the preferring of it. For when the paternal voice declared: 'This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased,' 4 you will hear the same when you have been called to the preferring of it, for then he first begins to excel others who subjects himself to learning from others, then he begins to command who learns to obey. Besides the righteous reward shall appear, which in paradise is prepared for those who will rule, a lord beneath the Lord, who in exile now are serving, a servant to a fellow servant. The state of our nature places man beneath the Lord, the transgression of obedience subjugates us beneath the enemy, but the reconciliation of grace establishes one beneath a fellow servant. Nature subjects man to God, sin to the devil, reconciliation, however, to a good man. Isaac of Stella, from Sermon 50, On the Feast of Peter and Paul 1 Gen 3.1 2 Phillip 2.8 3 Lk 2.51 4 Mt 17.5

Faith And Suffering

Πιστὸς ὁ λόγος· εἰ γὰρ συναπεθάνομεν, καὶ συζήσομεν· εἰ ὑπομένομεν, καὶ συμβασιλεύσο μεν· εἰ ἀρνησόμεθα, κἀκεῖνος ἀρνήσεται ἡμᾶς· εἰ ἀπιστοῦμεν, ἐκεῖνος πιστὸς μένει· ἀρνήσασθαι γὰρ ἑαυτὸν οὐ δύναται. Ταῦτα ὑπομίμνησκε, διαμαρτυρόμενος ἐνώπιον τοῦ Κυρίου, μὴ λογομαχεῖν εἰς οὐδὲν χρήσιμον ἐπὶ κατα στροφῇ τῶν ἀκουόντων. Πολλοὶ τῶν ἀσθενεστέρων ἀνθρώπων πρὸς μὲν τὸν τῆς πίστεως πόνον ἀπαγορεύουσιν, οὐδὲ τὴν ἀναβολὴν τῆς ἐλπίδος φέρουσι· τὰ παρόντα δὲ ἐπιζητοῦσιν καὶ ἀπὸ τούτων τὰ μέλλοντα χαρακτηρίζουσιν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν τὰ μὲν ἐνταῦθα θάνατος ἦν, βάσανοι, δεσμά· αὐτὸς δέ φησιν, ὅτι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον ἥξουσιν, οὐκ ἂν δέ τις ἐπίστευσεν, ἀλλ' εἶπεν ἂν, Τί λέγεις; Ὅτε ζῶ, ἀποθνήσκω, καὶ ὅταν ἀποθάνω, ζῶ; ἐν τῇ γῇ μοι οὐδὲν ἐπαγγέλλῃ, καὶ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ δίδως; τὰ μικρὰ οὐ δίδως, καὶ τὰ μεγάλα παρέχεις; Ἵνα τοίνυν μηδεὶς ταῦτα ἐννοῇ, ἀναμφίβολον ποιεῖται τούτου τὴν κατασκευὴν, προκαταβάλλων μὲν αὐτὸ καὶ ἤδη, καὶ τεκμήρια διδοὺς ,τὸ γὰρ, Μνημόνευε Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐγηγερμένον ἐκ νεκρῶν, τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὅτι μετὰ θάνατον ἀνέστη· νῦν δὲ τὸ αὐτὸ πάλιν δηλῶν φησί· Πιστὸς ὁ λόγος, ὅτι ὁ ζωῆς οὐρανίου τυχὼν, καὶ αἰωνίου τεύξεται. Πόθεν πιστός; Εἰ γὰρ συναπεθάνομεν, φησὶ, καὶ συζήσομεν. Εἰπὲ γάρ μοι, ἐν τοῖς σκυθρωποῖς κοινωνοῦμεν αὐτῷ καὶ ἐν τοῖς κόπον ἔχουσι, καὶ ἐν τοῖς χρηστοῖς οὐκέτι; Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἂν οὐδὲ ἄνθρωπος ποιήσειεν, ὥστε τὸν ἑλόμενον αὐτῷ συναποθανεῖν καὶ συνθλιβῆναι, εἴ ποτε ἐν ἀνέσει γένηται, ἀρνήσασθαι αὐτῷ γενέσθαι κοινωνόν. Ποῦ δὲ συναπεθάνομεν; Τοῦτον λέγει τὸν θάνατον, τόν τε διὰ τοῦ λουτροῦ, καὶ τὸν διὰ τῶν παθημάτων· φησὶ γὰρ, Τὴν νέκρωσιν τοῦ Κυρίου ἐν τῷ σώματι περιφέροντες· καὶ, Συνετάφημεν αὐτῷ διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος· καὶ Ὁ παλαιὸς ἡμῶν ἄνθρωπος συνεσταυρώθη· καὶ, Σύμφυτοι γεγόναμεν τῷ ὁμοιώματι τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ καὶ τὸν τῶν πειρασμῶν λέγει· μᾶλλον δὲ τοῦτον· καὶ γὰρ ἐν πειρασμοῖς ἦν, ὅτε ταῦτα ἔγραφεν. Ὃ δὲ λέγει, τοῦτό ἐστιν· Εἰ δι' αὐτὸν ἀπεθάνομεν, δι' αὐτὸν οὐ ζησόμεθα; ἀναμφισβήτητον τοῦτό ἐστιν. Εἰ ὑπομένομεν, φησὶ, καὶ συμβασιλεύσομεν, Οὐχ ἁπλῶς εἶπε, Συμβασιλεύσομεν· ἀλλ', Εἰ ὑπομένομεν, δεικνὺς ὅτι οὐκ ἀρκεῖ τὸ ἅπαξ ἀποθανεῖν, καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἀπέθνησκεν ὁ μακάριος οὗτος· ἀλλὰ δεῖ πολλῆς ὑπομονῆς, ἧς μάλιστα ἔδει Τιμοθέῳ. Μὴ γάρ μοι, φησὶ, τὰ πρῶτα εἴπῃς, ἀλλ' εἰ διαπαντός. Εἶτα καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄλλου μέρους προτρέπει, οὐκ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀγαθῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν κακῶν. Εἰ γὰρ μέλλοιεν τῶν αὐτῶν μετέχειν καὶ οἱ πονηροὶ, οὐκ ἔστι τοῦτο παράκλησις· καὶ εἰ μέλλοιεν ὑπομείναντες μὲν συμβασιλεύειν, μὴ ὑπομείναντες δὲ τοῦτο μόνον πάσχειν, τὸ μὴ συμβασιλεύειν, δεινὸν μὲν καὶ τοῦτο, πλὴν ἀλλὰ τοὺς πολλοὺς οὐχ ἱκανὸν δακεῖν. Διὸ τὸ φοβερώτερον λέγει· Εἰ ἀρνησόμεθα αὐτὸν, κἀκεῖνος ἀρνήσεται ἡμᾶς. Ἄρα οὐκ ἐν τοῖς χρηστοῖς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐναντίοις αἱ ἀμοιβαί. Τὸν δὲ ἀρνηθέντα ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ αὐτοῦ ἐννοήσατε τί παθεῖν εἰκός· Ὃς ἐὰν ἀρνήσηταί με, φησὶν, ἀρνήσομαι κἀγὼ αὐτόν. Οὐκ ἐξ ἴσης ἡ ἀντίδοσις, εἰ καὶ οὕτω λέγων δοκεῖ· ἡμεῖς μὲν γὰρ ἄνθρωποι οἱ ἀρνούμενοι, ἐκεῖνος δὲ Θεός· ὅσον δὲ τὸ μέσον Θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων τί δεῖ λέγειν;    Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Ὑπόμνημα Εις Τήν Πρὸς Τιμόθεον Έπιστολήν Δευτέραν, Ὁμιλία Ε'   Source: Migne PG 62.624-625

The saying is faithful: for if we are dead with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will deny us; if we are faithless, yet He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. Be mindful of these things, bearing witness before the Lord, that there be no profitless strife about words to the turning away of those who hear. 1 Many of the weaker sort of men grow weary of the effort of faith and do not bear the deferring of hope, but they seek after present things and from them they judge the future. When therefore death was present, and torture and chains, and yet he says that they shall come to eternal life, some would not have believed but would have said, 'What do you say? When I live, I die, and when I die, I live? On earth you promise nothing, and will you give it in heaven? Little things you do not give, and you offer great things?' That none therefore may think so, he establishes it as a thing indisputable, laying it down beforehand even now, and giving proofs. For he has already said: 'Remember Jesus Christ raised from the dead,'  2 that is, that He rose again after death, and now showing the same thing again he says that the saying is faithful, that he who has attained a heavenly life will attain eternal life. Whence is it faithful? For if we are dead with Him, he says, we shall also live with Him. For tell me, shall we share in things woeful with Him and have in them toil, and shall we not share in things beneficial? But not even a man would do this, nor, if one had chosen to suffer and die with him, if he came into rest would he refuse a share. But how are we dead with Him? He speaks of this sort of death: in cleansing and in suffering. For he says, 'The death of the Lord bearing about in the body,' 3 and, 'We are buried with Him by baptism,' 4 and, 'Our old man is crucified with Him,' and, 'We have been planted together in the likeness of His death.' 5 But here he also speaks of that death by trials, and that especially, for he was amid trials when he wrote these things. And this is what he says, 'If because of Him we have died, shall we not live because of Him?' This is not to be disputed. 'If we suffer,' he says, 'we shall also reign with Him.' Not without qualification does he say we shall reign, but 'if we suffer,' showing that it does not suffice to die once, for this blessed man himself died daily, 6 but there is need of much endurance, and Timothy especially had need of it. For do not tell me, he says, of your first sufferings, but of that which you continue to suffer. Then from another direction he exhorts him, not from the good, but from the evil side. For if the wicked were to partake of the same things, this would be no comfort, and if those who had endured were to reign with Him and those who did not endure were to suffer only the loss of reigning with Him, though this were wretched, yet it would not be able to trouble many. Whence he speaks of something more fearful: 'If we deny Him, He will also deny us.' So then there is a return not only of good things, but of their contrary. And think what he might suffer who is denied in that kingdom. 'Whoever denies Me, I will deny him,' He says. 7 And the return is not equal, though it seems to be so expressed. For we are men who deny Him, but He is God; and what needs to be said about how great is the distance between God and men? Saint John Chrysostom, On The Second Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy, from Homily 5 1 2 Tim 2.11-14 2 2 Tim 2.8 3 2 Cor 4.10 4 Rom 6.4 5 Rom 6.5-6 6 1 Cor 15.31 7 Mt 10.33

Leading Into Temptation

Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo... Quoniam multa et magnifica supra mandavit hominibus, ut Deum Patrem suum dicant, ut genus suum de caelo cognoscant, ut regnum Dei petant venire, ut non sint solliciti under pascantur, quae omnia magnae spei et justitia signa sunt: ideo nunc additur humilitatis doctrina, ut dum dicunt, Ne nos inducas in tentaionem, cognoscant se esse infirmos, et consideratio infirmitatis causam gloriationis exstinguat. Duo ergo petimus, primum, ut non inducat nos in tentationem: secundo, ut si induxerit, liberet de periculo tentationis. Nam vere, si secundum veritatem justitiae suae examinaret homines Deus nullus posset fieri salvus. Ideo autem difficule tentat, sciens infirmitatem nostram. Aut si tentat, non tamdiu tentat, quamdiu nos vincamus tentationem, sed quamdiu vincere nos velle ostendimus: id est, non virtutem nostram tentat, sed voluntatem: Apostolo nos confirmante, et dicente: Tentatio vos non apprehendat; nisi humana. Fidelis autem Deus, qui non patietur vos tentari supra id quod potestis sustinere. Volens enim glorificare hominem, tentat eum, non ut cum magno judicio glorificet, sed ut ne sine causa glorificet. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia XIV Source:  Migne PG 56.714

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil... 1 How many great things He has commanded for men: that they name God their own father, that they know their race is from heaven, that they seek the kingdom of God, that they not be anxious how they will be fed, all of which are signs of great hope and righteousness, and therefore He adds the teaching of humility, that while they say, 'Do not lead us into temptation,' they know themselves to be weak and the consideration of this weakness extinguish any cause of boasting. Two things, therefore, we seek, first that He not lead us into temptation, second, that if He does lead, He free us from the peril of the trial. For truly if according to the truth of His justice God examined men, not one would be able to be saved. Therefore with a certain difficulty He tests us being aware of our weakness. Or if He tests, He does so not that while He tests us we conquer the trial, but that during it we show that we wish to conquer it, that is, it is not our strength He tests but our will, which the Apostle confirms, saying, 'Temptation shall not seize you unless it is human. God is faithful, He does not allow us to be tested beyond what we are able to endure.' 2 Indeed wishing to glorify man, He tests him, not that he be glorified with mighty judgement but that not without cause he be glorified. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from The Fourteenth Homily 1 Mt 6.13 2 1 Cor 10.13

The Benefit Of Temptations

Εἶπε πὰλιν· Ἔπαρον τοὺς πειρασμοὺς, καὶ οὐδεὶς ὁ σωζόμενος. Ἀποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος Source: Migne PG 65.176a

Father Evagrius said, 'Take away temptations and no one will be saved.' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

Permitting Temptation

Sic autem quidam moventur de hac primi hominis tentatione, quod eam fieri permiserit Deus, quasi nunc non videant universum genus humanum diaboli insidiis sine cessatione tentari. Cur et hoc permittit Deus? An quia probatur et exercetur virtus, et est palma gloriosior non consensisse tentatum, quam non potuisse tentari: cum etiam ipsi qui deserto Creatore eunt post tentatorem, magis magisque tentent eos qui in verbo Dei permanent, praebeantque illis contra cupiditatem devitationis exemplum, et incutiant contra superbiam timorem pium? Unde dicit Apostolus: Intendens teipsum, ne et tu tenteris. Mirum est enim quantum ista humilitas, qua subdimur Creatori, ne tamquam eius adiutorio non egentes de nostris viribus praesumamus, per Scripturas omnes divinas cura continua commendatur. Cum ergo etiam per iniustos iusti, ac per impios pii proficiant, frustra dicitur: Non crearet Deus, quos praesciebat malos futuros. Cur enim non crearet quos praesciebat bonis profuturos, ut et utiles eorum bonis voluntatibus exercendis admonendisque nascantur, et iuste pro sua mala voluntate puniantur? Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, De Genesi Ad Litteram, Liber XI, Caput VI Source: Migne PL 34 432-3

Some are troubled by the first temptation of man, that God permitted it to happen, that now they might not see the whole human race tempted by the wiles of the devil. And why did God permit this? So that virtue be proved and exercised, and it is a palm more glorious not to consent to temptation than not to be able to be tempted. When indeed they who go off after the tempter deserting the Creator more and more tempt those who remain in the word of God, do they not then gift to them an example of error against desire, and instil a pious fear against pride? Whence the Apostle says, 'Look to yourself that you are not tempted.' 1 How wonderful is this humility, by which we are placed under the Creator, lest as one not needing His help we presume on our own strength, which is a cure recommended all through the Divine Scriptures. When therefore the just are improved by the unjust and the impious by the pious, vainly it is said: 'God should not have created, foreseeing future evils.' Why indeed should He not have created when He foresaw the profit to the good, that it would be useful for those of good will to be exercised and admonished, and rightly they are punished who have evil wills? Saint Augustine of Hippo, from On Genesis To The Letter, Book 11, Chap 6 1 Galat 6.1

Lot's Flight

Καὶ κατέστρεφεν τὰς πόλεωις ταύτας, καὶ πασαν τὴν περίχωρον, καὶ πάντας τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι... Καὶ ἀπέβλεψεν ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὰ ὁπίσω, καὶ ἑγένετο στήλη ἁλός... Ὁ Κύριος οὐ μόνον τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς ἀπόλλυσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς τροφὰς αὐτῶν οὔσας Σοδομιτικὰς, καὶ ἐπιβλαβεῖς· ἐν αἷς ἐστι καὶ ἄμπελος Σοδόμων ἡ ἄμπελος αὐτῶν καὶ ἡ κληματὶς αὐτῶν ἐκ Γομόῥῥας. Ἂμα τε εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἀπεσώθη, καὶ τὸ πῦρ ἐπεφέρετο ταῖς πόλεσι, σημεῖον τῆς μελλούσης συντελείας. Στήλη οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἐγένετο, ἀλλὰ μάλιστα στήλη ἁλὸς, διὰ τό· Ὑμεῖς ἐστε τὸ ἅλας τῆς γῆς. Ἔφαρμόσῃ δὲ τῇ στήλῃ τοῦ ἁλὸς τό· Ἐὰν δὲ τὸ ἅλας μωρανθῇ; Οὐκ ἀθρόως ἀναβαίνει εἰς τὸ ὄρος κατὰ τὰ εἰρημένα αὐτῷ, ἀλλὰ πρῶτον εἰς Σηγὼρ γίνεται, καίτοιγε μὴ θαῥῥήσας ἑαυτῷ περὶ τοῦ ἀναβῆναι εἰς τὸ ὄρος. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Την Γενεσιν Source: Migne PG 12.13c-d

And he overthrew these cities and all the land around and all the inhabitants of the cities... And his wife looked behind and became a pillar of salt... 1 The Lord does not only destroy the impious but even their sustenance, which is Sodomitical and noxious, even the vine, concerning which it is said, 'Theirs is the vine of the vine of Sodom, and theirs the branch from Gomorrah.' 2 And then he made his way to safety into a city, even as fire fell on the cities, a sign of the future judgement. And it is not written simply 'a tower' but 'a tower of salt', concerning which: 'You are the salt of the earth.' 3 And certainly a tower of salt befits, 'If the salt has lost its flavour,' He does not make haste to go to the mountains as he was bidden but first he goes to Segor, for he does not yet feel confident concerning the ascent of the mountain. Origen, On Genesis, Fragment 1 Gen 19.25-26 2 Deut 32.32 3 Mt 5.13

Comparing Paradise And Earth

Elevatis itaque Lot oculis, vidit omnem circa regionem Jordanis, quæ universa irrigabatur antequam subverteret Dominus Sodomam et Gomorrham, sicut paradisus Domini, et sicut Ægyptus venientibus in Segor. Quod terra Sodomorum et Gomorrhae, antequam deleretur, comparatur paradiso Dei, eo quod erat irrigua, et terrae Aegypti quam Nilus irrigat; satis, ut opinor, ostenditur quomodo intellegi debeat ille paradisus quem plantavit Deus, ubi constituit Adam. Quis enim alius intellegatur paradisus Dei, non video. Et utique si arbores fructiferae in paradiso virtutes animi accipiendae essent, sicut nonnulli exsistimant, nullo corporali in terra paradiso veris lignorum generibus instituto, non diceretur de ista terra: sicut paradisus Dei. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Quaestionum in Heptateuchum, Liber I, Cap XXVII Migne PL 34 555

So Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the region of the Jordan, which was well watered everywhere before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha, like the paradise of God, and like Egypt approached by Segor. 1 Thus the land of Sodom and Gomorrha, before it was destroyed, is compared to the paradise of God, which was watered even as the Nile irrigates the country of Egypt, which is enough, I think, to show how that paradise which God planted should be understood when he created Adam. And how else someone else may understand 'the paradise of God' I do not know. And thus if the fruit bearing trees in paradise should be understood as the virtues of the soul, which not a few judge, there being nothing corporeal established in paradise with its varieties of green trees, it would not have been said concerning this earth: 'like the paradise of God.' Saint Augustine of Hippo, Questions on the Heptateuch, Book 1, Chap 27 1 Gen 13.10

Working And Guarding

Non idem est operari et custodire. In opere enim quidam virtutis processus est, in custodia quaedam consummatio operis deprehenditur; eo quod quasi consummata custodiat. Haec duo ab homine requiruntur, ut et operibus nova quaerat, et parta custodiat, quod est generale. Philon autem, quoniam spiritalia Judaico non capiebat affectu, intra moralia se tenuit, ut dice et haec duo quaeri, opera in agro, custodiam domus. Et quamvis paradisus operibus, inquit, ruralibus non egeret; tamen quia primus homo lex posteritatis futurus erat, ideo legitimi etiam in paradiso speciem suscepit laboris, ut nos ad operationem et custodiam debiti officii, et haereditariae successionis munus astringeret. Haec duo ergo a te exiguntur sive moraliter, sive spiritaliter. Quod etiam psalmus te propheticus docet, quia scriptum est: Nisi Dominus aedificaverit domum; in vanum laboraverunt qui aedificant eam. Nisi Dominus custodierit civitatem, in vanum vigilant qui custodiunt eam. Vides illos laborare qui in operis sunt aedificationisque processu; istos vero vigilare qui jam custodiam perfecti operis receperunt. Unde et Dominus Apostolis quasi jam perfectioribus: Vigilate, inquit, et orate, ne intretis in tentationem; docens perfectae naturae munus, et plenae virtutis gratiam esse servandam, nec quemquam etiam perfectiorem nisi vigilaverit, sui debere esse securum. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Paradiso, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 14.284-285a

It is not the same to work and to guard. In working we make a certain advancement in virtue, in guarding we attend to the perfection of the work, by which that which is perfect is guarded. These two things are required from man, that with work he come to new things, and that what is done he guard, that he be complete. Philo, because the Jewish spirit did not grasp this completely, among his morals holds, as he says, that these two things should be attended to, work in the field and guardianship of the house, and although in Paradise man did not require rustic work, he says, however because from the first man the future law was given for posterity, therefore it was fitting that in paradise he take up this type of labour, that he give to us the duties both of working and guarding, and that this inheritance he bind on his successors. These two things, then, are required from you either morally or spiritually. Which even the Prophet teaches in the Psalm, where it is written: 'Unless the Lord builds the house in vain they labour who build it. Unless the Lord guard the city, in vain they watch who guard it.' 1 You see that those who labour are those who progress in the work of building, and those who watch attend to the guarding of the perfected work. Whence the Lord says to the perfected Apostles, 'Watch and pray that you do not enter into temptation.' 2 teaching that they should guard the gift of perfected nature and the grace of complete virtue, for no one is perfect unless he is vigilant, which he should be to be secure. Saint Ambrose, from On Paradise, Chap 4 1 Ps 126.1 2 Mt 26.41

Mother Of The Living

Vocatur dehinc mater vivorum, id est, recte factorum, quibus contraria sunt peccata, quae nomine mortuorum significantur. Jam vero per sententiam quae in virum infertur, ratio nostra arguitur, quae et super peccati concupiscentia seducta, et a paradiso beatitudinis remota, habet maledictiones terrenae operationis, habet et dolores temporalium curarum, quasi spinas et tribulos. Sic tamen dimittitur de paradiso beatitudinis, ut operetur terram, id est, ut in corpore isto laboret, et collocet sibi meritum redeundi ad vitam beatam, quae paradisi nomine significatur, possitque aliquando manum porrigere ad arborem vitae, et vivere in aeternum. Manus autem porrectio bene significat crucem, vel cruciatum poenitentiae, per quem vita aeterna recuperatur. Accipit etiam tunicam pelliceam divino judicio, quo nomine corporis mortalitas significatur in historia. In allegoria autem de carnalibus sensibus abstractae voluptates, quae carnaliter viventem divina lege consequuntur, et contegunt. Qui si aliquando ad Deum convertitur per flammeam frameam, id est, per temporales tribulationes, peccata sua agnoscendo et gemendo, et per cherubim, id est, per plenitudinem scientiae, quod est charitas, perveniet ad arborem vitae Christum, et vivet in aeternum. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Genesin, Caput VIII Source:Migne PL 83.222a-b

Whence she is called the mother of the living, 1 that is, of right deeds, to which sins are contrary, which are signified by the name of the dead. Now, however, because of the sentence brought against the man, our reason is convicted, which is seduced on account of the desire for sin, and far from the paradise of blessedness it has the curse of worldly labours and the grief of temporal cares, as thistles and thorns. So although he is dismissed from the paradise of beatitude, it is that he work the earth, that is, that he labour in this body and gather to himself merit for the return to the blessed life, which is signified by the name of paradise, and at some time he be able to stretch out his hand to the tree of life and live in eternity. For the hand stretched out signifies the cross, or the trials of penitence, through which eternal life is restored. And he receives a garment of skin in the Divine judgement, by which in the narrative bodily mortality is signified. And allegorically this is being led away by the pleasures of the carnal senses, which carnal life draws one away from the Divine law and obscures it. Yet he may, if at some time he turn to God by the flaming blade, that is, through temporal tribulations, recognising and lamenting his own sin, and through the Cherubim, that is, through a plenitude of knowledge, which is charity, come to Christ, the tree of life, and live in eternity. Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Genesis, Chap 8 1 Gen 3.20

Neighbours And Life And Death

Εἶπεν πάλιν, ὅτι Ἐκ τοῦ πλησίον ἐστὶν ἡ ζωὴ καὶ ὁ θάνατος. Ἐαν γὰρ κερδήσωμεν τὸν ἀδελφὸν, τὸν Θεὸν κερδαίνομεν· ἐάν δὲ σκανδαλίσωμεν τὸν ἀδελφὸν, εἴς Χριστὸν ἁμαρτάνομεν. Ἀποφθέγματα Των Ἁγίων Γερόντων, Παλλαδιος Source: Migne PG 65.78b

Again Father Anthony said, 'From our neighbour is life and death. For if we are of benefit to a brother we gain God, but if we scandalise him we sin against Christ.' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

The Fount Of Paradise

Est ergo paradisus terra quaedam fertilis, hoc est, anima fecunda, in Eden plantata, hoc est in voluptate quadam vel exercitata terra, in qua animae sit delectatio. Est etiam νοῦς tamquam Adam: est et sensus, tamquam Eva. Ac ne haberes quod ad infirmum retorqueres naturae, vel ad obnoxiam in tolerandis periculis conditionem, considera quae habeat anima ista subsidia. Erat fons qui irrigaret paradisum. Qui fons, nisi Dominus Jesus-Christus? Fons vitae aeternae est, sicut et Pater; quia scriptum est: Quoniam apud te fons vitae . Denique, flumina de ventre ejus fluent aquae vivae. Et fons legitur, et fluvius legitur qui irrigat paradisi lignum fructuosum, quod ferat fructum in vitam aeternam. Hic ergo fons, sicut legisti, fons enim inquit, procedit ex Eden, id est, in anima tua fons est. Unde Salomon ait: Bibe aquam de tuis vasis, et de puteorum tuorum fontibus. Hic est fons qui procedit ex illa exercitata ut plena voluptatis anima: hic fons qui irrigat paradisum, hoc est, virtutes animae eminentissimo merito pullulantis. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Paradiso, Caput III Source: Migne PL 14.279c-280a

Therefore Paradise is a certain fertile earth, that is, the fruitful soul, planted in Eden, that is, in a certain pleasant or cultivated land, in which is the delight of the soul. For the mind is as Adam and the sense as Eve. But one should not have there a weakness twisting back to nature, or a state of vulnerability in bearing dangers, considering on what the soul has to subsist. There was a fount that watered paradise. What is the fount, unless the Lord Jesus Christ? The fount of eternal life, like even the Father, since it is written: 'Because with you is the fount of life.' 1 And then the water flowing from His side are the waters of life. 2 And the fount and the water here, it is said, water the fruitful tree of paradise which bears the fruit of eternal life. Here then is the fount, as you read, for the fount, it says, flowed from Eden, that is, the fount is in your soul. Whence Solomon says, 'Drink the waters of your cisterns and from the founts of your wells.' 3 Here is the fount which proceeds forth from that which is well cultivated, like the soul full of delight, here the fount which waters paradise, that is, the springing forth of the virtues of the soul because of their most eminent merit . Saint Ambrose, from On Paradise, Chap 3 1 Ps 35.10 2 Jn 7.38 3 Prov 5.15

Creation And Understanding

Creatura coeli et terrae quomodo historialiter ab exordio principii condita sit legimus; sed qualiter in Ecclesia spiritualiter a doctoribus accipiatur, intelligamus. In principio fecit Deus coelum et terram Principium Christus est, sicut ipse in Evangelio Judaeis interrogantibus respondit: Ego principium qui loquor vobis. In hoc igitur principio fecit Deus coelum, id est, spirituales, qui coelestia meditantur et quaerunt; in ipso fecit et carnales, qui necdum terrenum hominem deposuerunt.  Terra autem inanis et vacua... Terra scilicet carnis nostrae inanis erat et vacua, priusquam doctinae acciperet formam.  Et tenebrae erant super faciem abyssi,  Quia delictorum caecitas et ignorantiae profunda obscuritas corda nostra tegebat. Et spiritus Dei ferebatur super aquos.  Spiritus autem Dei super cor nostrum tenebrosum et fluidum quasi super aquas, jam superferebatur; in quo subsistentes requiesceremus, cujusque vivificaremur flatu, et cujus unda ablueremur. Dixit quoque Deus: Fiat lux... Id est, illuminatio credulitatis appareat. Prima enim die lucem fidei dedit, quia prima est in conversione fides. Unde et istud primum in Dei praeceptis mandatum est: Dominus Deus tuus Deus unus est. Propter quam fidem ipse Dominus etiam visibiliter in mundo apparere voluit. Et divisit lucem a tenebris... Nam tunc Deus juxta praescientiae suae gratiam divisit justos, id est, filios Dei et lucis, a peccatoribus, tanquam a tenebris; justos vocans diem, et illos noctem; nam quod in Ecclesia lucis nomine justi appelentur, audi Apostolum: Fuistis, inquit, aliquando tenbrae, nunc autem lux in Domino. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum,In Genesin, Caput I Source: Migne PL 83.209b-210a

How the creation of heaven and earth was performed in the beginning we may read in a historical fashion, but let us understand how it is received spiritually by the learned in the Church. In the beginning God made heaven and earth. 1 The beginning is Christ, as He Himself replies to His Jewish questioners in the Gospel of John: 'I the beginning speak to you.' 2 In this beginning, then, God made heaven, that is, the spiritual ones, those who meditate on and seek spiritual things, and in that beginning He also made fleshy ones, those who have not yet laid down the earthly man. The earth empty and barren... Certainly the earth empty and barren was our flesh before it received form by teaching. And darkness on the face of the abyss. Because the blindness of sins and the depths of ignorance covered our darkened hearts. And the spirit of God over the face of the waters. For the spirit of God is over our dark and yielding hearts as over the waters, already being above, in which established we shall have rest, and by whose spirit we shall be enlivened, and with whose wave we shall be cleansed. And God said, 'Let there be light'... That is, the light of belief shall appear. For on the first day He gave the light of faith, because first is the conversation to faith. Whence it is first commanded in the precepts of God: 'The Lord your God is one God.' 3 Whence the Lord Himself wished to make faith appear visibly in the world. And He divided the light from darkness. For then God by His prescient grace divided the righteous, that is, the sons of God and light, from sinners, that is the darkness, naming the righteous the day, and the others the night, for that the righteous are given the name of light in the Church, hear the Apostle: 'You were once in darkness, but now in the light of the Lord.' 4 Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Genesis, Chap 1 1 Gen 1.1 2 Jn 8.25 3 Deut 6.4, Mark 12.29 4 Ephes 5.8

Storms And Faith

Et ascendente eo in naviculam, secuti sunt eum discipuli. Et ecce tempestas magna facta est in mari, et reliqua. Navem discipulis introgessis tempestas oritur, mare commovetur, navigantes turbantur, Ipse vero somno consopitus timentium metu excitatur, oratur ut opem afferat. Et increpitis iis quod modicae essent fidei, vento et mari tranquillitatem imperavit, cum admiratione hominum praeceptis ejus ventum et mare obedisse. Igitur secundum haec ecclesiae, intra quas verbum Dei non vigilaverit, naufragae sunt: non quod Christus in somnum relaxatur, sed quod somno nostro consopiatur in nobis. Maxime autem illud accidit, ut a Deo praecipue in periculi metu et vexatione speremus. Atque utinam vel spes sera confidat sese periculum posse evadere, Christi intra se virtute vigilante. Perpetuam autem nobis objurgationis suae recordationem reliquit, dicens: Modicae fidei, quid timidi estis? Metum scilicet motuum saecularium, cum quibus Christi fides vigilet, nullum esse oportere. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, In Evangelium Matthaei Commentarius,  Cap VIII Source: Migne PL 9.958c 959a

And when He went into the boat, the disciples followed. And behold a great storm arose in the sea... 1 When the disciples enter the boat the storm arises, the sea is disturbed, the sailors are troubled. He, however, sunk in sleep is roused by the fear of those distressed, and asked to bring help. And chiding them for being of little faith, He orders the wind and the sea to be calm, and to the wonder of men the wind and the sea are obedient to His commands. Therefore according to this the Churches who do not watch over the word of God are made shipwrecks; not that Christ is sunk in sleep, but because our sleep lulls Him to sleep in us. For the most part it happens that we hope in God amid the fear and the troubles of danger. And that our hope be confident in being able to escape dangers, let it have the watchful virtue of Christ. He has left for us an admonishment that we be mindful, saying. 'O men of little faith, why are you fearful?' 2 Certainly there should be no fear of worldly disturbances in those for whom the faith of Christ is vigilant. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 8 1 Mt 8.23 2 Mt 8.26

Winter Endurance

Ὅμοιος ὑπάρχεις τῷ λέγοντι, ὅτι Ἤθελον ἰδεῖν ὄμβρους μεθύσκοντας τὴν γῆν ἄπασαν, ῥιγῆσαι δὲ οὐ θέλω. Καὶ πῶς ἐψχωρεῖ δίχα ψυχρίας ἀπολαῦσαι τῶν ὄμβρων; Πῶς οὔν φάσκεις ὀρέγεσθαι, καὶ εὔχεσθαι πνευματικῆς τινος ἀξιωθῆναι χάριτος ἄνευ πόνου καὶ θλίψεως; Δεῖ γὰρ πάντα τὸν βουλόμενον εἴτε λαικόν, εἴτε μοναχὸν, οὐρανίου τινὸς ἐπιτυχεῖν δωρεᾶς, ὑπομεῖναι θλίψεις πολλὰς, καὶ πειρασμοὺς, καὶ λύπας, ἄπερ πάντα ἐπέχει λόγον χειμῶνος σφοδροῦ, εἴθ' οὕτως ἀμήσασθαι τοὺς καρποὺς τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΤΙΖ' Αθανασιῳ Ἐκδικῳ Source: Migne PG 79.198a

You are like the saying: 'That I might see the rains pouring all over the the earth; I do not want to freeze.' And how are the rains released but until the melting of the ice? How then do you say you plead and pray to be worthy of a certain spiritual grace without toil and trouble? Everyone who wishes that he obtain some heavenly gift, whether he is layman or a monk, must endure many afflictions and trials, persisting through every day the bitter winter brings, that after it he may gather the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 317, to Athanasius the Advocate

A Wintery Way

Qui dat nivem sicut lanam, nebulam sicut cinerem spargit. Mittit crystallum suam sicut buccellas, ante faciem frigoris ejus quis sustinebit? Emittet verbum suum, et liquefaciet ea; flabit spiritus ejus, et fluent aquae. Vitae via, sicut Dominus in Evangeliis ait, angusta et tribulata est; neque nisi per maximas difficultates et molestias hac ad coelorum regnum via pergitur. Quod quidem de molestiis hujus saeculi dictum fuisse intelligi oportet; per praesentes enim vexationes in requiem aeternam aditur. Et quamvis rerum praesentium laboribus, quasi quadam violentis asperrimae himeis, uramur; tamen post harum praesentium acerbitatum rigores, Deo eos resolvente, in placidis et tranquillis et serenis quiescemus. Secundum enim dictum propheticum et allegorumeni constuetudinem, nunc in nive et nebula et crystallo, quae omnia per naturam suam urunt atque mortificant, saecularium in nos molestiarum et calamitatum et dolorum nocturnum frigus significatum esse credendum est. Scit hic idem propheta beatae hujus civitatis participem nequaquam jam frigore isto injuriae saecularis urendum, dicens: Per diem sol non uret te, neque luna per noctem. Haec enim omnia, quibus per praesentes calamitates adurimur, rursum Dei bonitate resoluta liquuntur. Nix namque lanae mollitudine defluens, tegens omnia intra se detinet: pruina quoque nebulae descendentis cineris modo sparsa constringit: crystallum etiam ultra consuetudinem grandinis duratum, et in frusta solidatum, habet in se et impetum et rigorem. Et si haec perpetuo permanerent, numquid non universa horum frigore perusta semper arerent? Quis enim ferre aeternas corporis calamitates indeficientesque posset, si series mali nostri sempiterna traheretur? Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum CXLVII Source: Migne PL 9.877a-c

He who gives snow like wool, scatters cloud like ash. He sends forth ice like morsels, who can stand before the face of His cold? He sends forth His word, and melts them, He makes his wind blow, and the waters flow. 1 The way of life, the Lord has said in the Gospels, is narrow and troublesome, 2 nor may one take the way to the kingdom of heavens but through great difficulties and trials. And this certainly should be understood as having been spoken about the troubles of this world, for through present vexations one is led to eternal rest. And although amid the labours of present things, as if amid the bitter buffetings of winter, we suffer, yet after the rigors of trial, with God dismissing them, we shall have rest in peace and tranquility and serenity. For according to the prophetic custom this is told allegorically, by snow and cloud and ice, which by their nature distress and mortify all things, so our troubles and calamities in the world and griefs through the night we judge to be the meaning of the cold. For the same prophet knows that a participant of the blessed city cannot in any way suffer the cold and injuries of this world, when he says, 'Through the day the sun shall not burn you, nor the moon through the night.' 3 For all these troubles and calamities by which we are beset are again dismissed by the soothing kindness of God. The wooly snow melts away, and all that was hidden is uncovered, and the hoarfrost that falls like ash from the clouds and binds fast is scattered, and even the icy hail which persists beyond custom, in vain is solid, having in itself weight and cold. And if these things remained forever, would not all things beset by them not always suffer? Who indeed would be able to bear the eternal and relentless afflictions of the body, if our series of evils were indefinitely dragged out? Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 147 1 Ps 147.16-18 2 Mt 7.14 3 Ps 120.6

Baptism And Sons

Εἰ τὸ εἰδέναι τὸν Θεὸν ὑπερβολὴν ἐν τῷ ἀγαθῷ οὐκ ἔχει, τὸ υἱὸν γενέσθαι Θεοῦ ὑπὲρ εὐκληρίαν ἐστὶ πᾶσαν. Ὁ γὰρ Θεοῦ υἱὸς ἀξιωθεὶς γενέσθαι, ἕξει πάντως τοῦ Πατρὸς τὸ ἀξίωμα. Ὑπὲρ εὐχὴν δὲ ἡ ἐπιτυχία· ὑπὲρ ἐλπίδα δὲ τὸ δῶρον· ὑπὲρ φύσιν ἡ χάρις. Βαπτίζεται ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, ὁ διὰ πάσης νοήσεως, καὶ λόγων, καὶ πράξεων ἁγιαζόμενος, καὶ ὢν πνευματικός. Ὡς γὰρ ὁ εἰς ὕδωρ βαπτιζόμενος, ὅλως ὑγραίνεται, οὕτως ὁ ἐν ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι βαπτιζόμενος, ὅλως πνευματικὸς καὶ ἅγιος γίνεται, γνώμῃ καὶ πράξει τοιοῦτος ἀποτελούμενος. Άγιος Ιωάννης ο Δαμασκηνός, Τὰ Ιἐρα Παραλληλα, Στοικειον Β'  Τιτλ Δʹ.  Source:Migne PG 95 1277a

If it is known that God has nothing that exceeds Him in the good, to be a son of God is above every inheritance. For he who is worthy to be a son of God obtains the worthiness of the Father. Beyond prayer the answer, beyond hope the gift, beyond nature grace. He is baptised with the Holy Spirit who in every thought and word and deed is holy, being spiritual. For as he who is baptised in water is washed completely clean, so being baptised in the Holy Spirit all is made spiritual and holy, such a one being perfected in thought and deed.' 1 Saint John of Damascus, Sacred Parallels, Letter B, Part 4 1 Attributed to Saint Gregory Of Nyssa, Orations on The Beatitudes 7

Two Baptisms

Ἰωάννης ἐκήρυσσε βάπτισμα μετανοίας· καὶ ἐξεπορεύετο πρὸς αὐτὸν πᾶσα Ἰουδαία. Κύριος κηρύσσει βάπτισμα υἱοθεσίας· καὶ τίς τῶν εἰς αὐτὸν ἠλπικότων οὐχ ὑπακούσεται;  Ἐκεῖνο εἰσαγωγικὸν τὸ βάπτισμα, τοῦτο τελειωτικόν·ἐκεῖνο ἁμαρτίας ἀναχώρησις, τοῦτο οἰκείωσις πρὸς Θεόν. Ἅγιος Βασιλειος Καισαρείας, Ὁμιλια ΙΓʹ, Προτρεπτικὴ εἰς τὸ ἅγιον Βάπτισμα Source: Migne PG 31.425a

John preached the baptism of repentance, and all Judea went out to him. The Lord preaches the baptism of sonship, and who of those who hope in Him will He not listen to? The first baptism is the introduction, the second baptism the perfection, the first is the removal of sin, the second a joining to God. Saint Basil of Caesarea, from Homily 13,  An Exhortation to Baptism.

Righteousness And The Tree Of Life

Ἐκ καρποῦ δικαιοσύνης φύεται δένδρον ζωῆς. Καρπὸς δικαιοσύνης τὸ τέλος τῆς ἀρετῆς. Τοσαῦτα δένδρα ζωῆς ἔχει τις, ὅσους καρποὺς δικαιοσύνης. Τοῦτο τὸ δένδρον τῆς ζωῆς ἐστι τὸ φυτευθὲν ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ παραδείσου, οὗ ἄψασθαι μετὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν κωλύεται Ἀδὰμ, τὰ σπέρματα τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἀποβαλὼν, ἀφ' φύεται τὸ δένδρον τῆς ζωῆς. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαὶ Εἰς Παροιμίας, Κεφ ΙΑ' Source: Migne PG 13 31c

From the fruit of righteousness grows the tree of life. 1 The fruit of righteousness is the perfection of virtue. As many as the trees of life a man has, so many are the fruits of righteousness. This tree of life is planted in the midst of paradise, which Adam was prohibited from touching after sin, 2 since he had thrown away the seeds of righteousness, from which the tree of righteousness grows. Origen, On Proverbs,  Chap 11, Fragment 1 Prov 11.30 2. Gen 3.22-23

Inheriting The Good

ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ ἐν ἀγαθοῖς αὐλισθήσεται καὶ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ κληρονομήσει γῆν   Ἡ ψυχὴ τοῦ εὐλαβοῦς, τῶν ἀγαθων περαιτέρω μὴ γενομένη, ἐν αὐτοῖς  αὐλίζεται, ἐνεργοῦσα αὐτὰ ἀεὶ· διὸ καὶ καθόλου τεύξεται τὸ σπέρμα ἔχειν κληρονομοῦν τὴν γῆν, οὐ τὴν ὑπὸ πόδας, ἀλλὰ τὴν τῶν πραίων. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμος ΚΔ' Source: Migne PG 39.1301a

'His soul tarries among good things and his seed shall inherit the earth.' 1 The prudent soul does nothing but good things and so in this way it tarries in them, always doing such things, whence it shall come to be that his seed will inherit the earth, not that earth which is beneath the feet, but the earth of the meek. Didymus the Blind, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 24 1 Ps 24.11

Earth And Knowledge

Οἱ δὲ πραεῖς κληρονομήσουσι γῆν, κ τ. ἐ. Ἡ γῆ νῦν γνῶσιν σημαίνει· ὡς γὰρ ἐν τόπῳ τῇ θεωρίᾳ λέγεται εἶναι ὁ νοῦς. Καὶ κατατρυφήσουσιν ἐπὶ πλήθει  εἰρήνης. Τρυφὴ δικαίου πλήθος εἰρήνης, πλῆθος  δὲ εἰρήνης ἐστὶν ἀπάθεια ψυχῆς μετὰ γνώσεως τῶν ὄντων ἀληθοῦς. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Ψαλμους, Ψαλμος ΛϚ' Source: Migne PG 12.1317b

But the meek shall inherit the earth...1 The earth here means knowledge, for the mind in contemplation is spoken of as a place. 'And they shall rejoice in an abundance of peace.' 1 The righteous shall rejoice in an abundance of peace, which abundance of peace is the imperturbability of the soul by its knowledge of true things. Origen, Excerpta On the Psalms, from Psalm 36 1 Ps 36.11

Serpents And Doves

Εἰπε πάλιν· Γέγραπται, ὅτι Γίνεσθε φρόνιμοι ὡς οἱ ὄφεις, καὶ ἀκέραιοι ὡς αἱ περιστεραί. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ γίνεσθαι ὡς οἱ ὄφεις εἴρηται, πρὸς τὸ μὴ λανθάνειν ἡμᾶς τὰς ὁρμὰς καὶ τὰς μεθοδείας τοῦ διαβόλου· τὸ γὰρ ὅμοιον ἐκ τοῦ ὁμοίου ταχίστην ἔχει τὴν διάγνωσιν· τὸ δὲ ἀκέραιον τῆς περιστερᾶς δείκνυσι τὸ καθαρὸν τῆς πράξεως.  Ἄποφθέγματα των Αγίων Γερόντων, Παλλάδιος Ελενουπόλεως Source: Migne PG 65.427a

Again Mother Syncletica said, 'It is written, 'Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.' 1 For to be  like serpents means not to be forgetful of the attacks and plots of the devil. Like is quickly known by like. And the simplicity of the dove denotes purity of action.'  Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia  1 Mt. 10.16

The Giving Of Gifts

Adoraturi occurramus omnes, et muneribus sacris Deum regemque virgineo processisse fateamur ex templo: offeramus munera, quia nescenti regi semper publica paratur oblatio, offeramus munera, quia indevotus satis est vacuus adorator. Hoc probat magus, qui onustus auro, succensus thure, sacratus myrrha, Christi cunabulis inclinatur. Quale est, si quod fecit magus, non faciat Christianus? Quale est, si ad gaudium nascentis Christi fleat pauper, captivus gemat, hospes lamentetur, ejulet peregrinus? Festa coelestia Judaeus decimis semper honoravit, Christianus quid de se sentit, si vel centesimis non honorat? Fratres, ne quis me hoc dicere existimet declamantis studio, non dolentis affectu. Doleo, certe doleo, quando lego Christi cunabula magos rigasse auro, et video altare corporis Christi Christianos vacuum reliquisse et in tempore hoc praesertim, quando se pauperum fames vasta, quando se fundit turba lamentabilis captivorum. Non habeo nemo dicat, quando Deus ex eo quod habes, non ex eo quod non habes, quaerit: quando duo aera viduae in acceptum dignanter ascribit. Devoti simus Creatori, ut nobis devota sit creatura. Proximorum nostorum sustentemus angustias, ut a nostris liberemur angustiis. Repleamus altare Dei, ut nostra horrea repleat fructuum plenitudo. Certe si non damus, quia non accipimus non queramur. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo CIII, De Filio Viduae Excitato a Mortuis, deque Corporum Resurrectione Source: Migne PL 52 489b-490a

Let us all hurry to offer adoration, and with holy gifts let us acknowledge that our God and King has come forth from the temple of the Virgin. Let us offer gifts because a public offering is always made for the birth of a king. Let us offer gifts because utterly irreverent is the one who adores with empty hands. The Magi give proof of this, they who were weighed down with gold, flaming with frankincense, hallowed with myrrh, when they bowed down before the cradle of Christ. What shall we say if what the Magi did the Christian does not? What shall we say if during the joy of Christ's birth the poor man weeps, the captive groans, the guest laments, the wanderer wails? The Jews always honored the heavenly feasts with a tenth of his possessions; what does a Christian think about himself if he does not give honour even with a hundredth? Brothers, do not think I say because of some some passion of declamation and not because of a feeling of grief, I grieve, certainly I grieve, when I read that the Magi inundated Christ's cradle with gold and I see the altar of Christ's body empty left empty, and at this time especially when the hunger of the poor is so grave, when so lamentable a crowd of captives has poured forth. 1 Let no one say that he has nothing, when God is asking  for what you do have, not for what you do not, when He approved of the widow's two copper coins. 2 Let us be devoted to the Creator that created things be devoted to us. Let us support our neighbours in their tribulations so that we may be freed from our tribulations. Let us fill the altar of God so that a bountiful harvest may fill our barns. Certainly if we do not give, not receiving we should not complain. Saint Peter Chrysologus, from Sermon 103, On The Son of the Widow Raised from the Dead and the Resurrection of the Body 1 Possibly the depredations of the Huns 2 Mk 12.41-44, Lk 21.1-4