Prayer And Remembrance

Ἐν καιρῷ μνήμης Θεοῦ πολυπλασίασον δέησιν, ἵνα ὅταν ἐπιλάθῃς, ὁ Κύριος ὑπομνήσῃ σε. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Νόμου Πνευματικοῦ Migne PG 65.908d

At any time comes thought of God, let prayers be multiplied, that when you are forgetful, the Lord remembers you. Saint Mark The Ascetic, On The Spiritual Law.

Endurance And Remembrance

Ἀποστραφήτωσαν οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ εἰς τὸν ᾅδην πάντα τὰ ἔθνη τὰ ἐπιλανθανόμενα τοῦ θεοῦ Εἰ γὰρ νῦν ἀναισθητοῦσι, ἀλλ' ἤξει τῆς κρίσεως ὁ καιρός. Θεοῦ δὲ ἄνθρωπος, κἂν δοκῇ καταπεφρονῆσθαι παρὰ Θεοῦ, τῷ παρὰ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν ἀνήκεστα πάσχειν· ἀλλ' οὐ παραδέδοται λήθῃ. Οὐ γὰρ εἰς τὸ τέλος ἐπιλησθήσεται ὁ πτωχὸς τῷ πνεύματι· ἔχει δὲ καρπὸν καὶ τέλος ἀγαθὸν διὰ τὴν ἐν τοῖς παροῦσιν ὑπομονήν. Εὐσέβιος ὁ Καισάρειος, Ὑπομνηματα Ἐις Τους ψαλμους, ψαλμος Θ' Source: Migne PG 23.133b

Sinners shall be turned to hell, all the people who forget God. 1 For even if now they have no sense of it, the time of judgement comes. But the man of God, even if it seems he is neglected by God, suffering the afflictions of sinners, yet he is not forgotten. For not forever shall the poor of spirit be forgotten, but he shall have his fruit and a good end by his present endurance. 2 Eusebius of Caesarea, Commentary on the Psalms, Psalm 9 1 Ps 9.17 2 Ps 9.18

A Mindless Divorce

Ἐῥῥέθη δὲ ὅτι ὃς ἄν ἀπολύσῃ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ, δότω αὐτῇ ἀποστάσιον... Ὁ τὴν σώφρονα ἐκβάλλων δίδωσιν αὐτῇ ἄδειαν ἄλλῳ γαμηθῆναι, ὅπερ ἐστὶν εἴδος μοιχείας, ὠσανεὶ μὴ λυθείσης συζυγίας· οὐ γὰρ τὰ ῥεποὺδια παρὰ Θεῷ λύει τὸν γάμον, ἀλλ' ἡ ἄτοπος πρᾶξις. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον Εὐάγγελιον Source:  Migne PG 72.380d

And it was said that whoever would dismiss his wife, let him give her a bill of divorce... 1   He who casts out wisdom and gives her freedom to be married to another, this is a type of adultery, for it is not as if the bond is broken; no bill of divorce releases from the marriage to God, but it is an irrational act. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Fragment 1 Mt 5.31

The Temple Of The Lord

Nolite confidere in verbis mendacii, dicentes: Templum Domini, templum Domini, templum Domini est: quoniam si direxeritis vias vestras et studia vestra: si feceritis judicium inter virum et proximum ejus: advenae, et pupillo, et viduae non feceritis calumniam (sive non oppresseritis eos) nec sanguinem innocentem effuderitis in loco hoc: et post deos alienos non ambulaveritis in malum vobismetipsis; habitabo vobiscum in isto loco, in terra quam dedi patribus vestris a saeculo usque in saeculum. Hoc quod Septuaginta in hujus capituli addidere principio: in verbis mendacii, quae vobis omnino non proderunt, in Hebraico non habetur. Praecepit autem et tunc populo Judaeorum, et hodie nobis qui videmur in Ecclesia constituti, ne fiduciam habeamus in aedificiorum splendore, auratisque laquearibus, et vestitis parietibus marmorum crustis. Et dicamus: Templum Domini, templum Domini, templum Domini est. Illud enim templum Domini est, in quo habitat vera fides, sancta conversatio, omniumque virtutum chorus. Denique infert: Si rectas feceritis vias vestras, et cogitatio vestra non abierit post errorem, et secuti fueritis justitiam, et malum non feceritis, neque effuderitis sanguinem innocentem, simplices quosque non scandalizantes; et post deos alienos non ambulaveritis, perversa adorantes dogmata, quae de vestro corde simulastis in malum vobismetipsis: vel habitabo vobiscum in loco isto, quem vocatis Templum Dei, et in terra quam dedi patribus vestris, Apostolis scilicet et Apostolicis viris: vel certe firma statione habitare vos faciam a principio usque ad finem. Potest hoc et illis virginibus convenire, quae jactant pudicitiam, et impudenti vultu praeferunt castitatem, cum aliud habeat conscientia, et nesciunt illam definitionem Apostoli virginalem: Ut sit sancta corpore et spiritu. Quid enim prodest corporis pudicitia animo constuprato, si caeteras virtutes quas propheticus sermo descripsit, non habuerit? Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum In Jeremiam Propheta, Liber II Cap VII Source Migne PL 24.757d-756b

Do not trust in the deceptive words, 'The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, this is the Temple of the Lord' because if you correct your ways and pursuits, if you truly act justly among men and your neighbours, and do not deceive, (or oppress) the foreigner, and the orphan, and the widow, or pour out innocent blood in this place, and if you do not walk after other gods to your own evil, than I will dwell with you in this place, in the land which I gave of old to your fathers.1 That which the Septuagint has added at the beginning of this passage, 'in the deceptive words which will not profit you at all' is not found in the Hebrew. As it was commanded to the Jewish people then, even today it is to us who seem to be established in the Church, that we should not put our trust in the splendour of buildings and in panelled ceilings overlaid with gold, and walls decorated with coverings of marble, and say, 'The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, this is the Temple of the Lord.' For the temple of the Lord is the place where true faith dwells, and holy conduct, and a chorus of all the virtues. Then it says, 'If you correct your ways, if your thoughts do not wander off after error but you follow justice and do no evil, if you do not pour out innocent blood, and do not scandalise simple folk, and if you do not go after other gods, adoring perverse teachings that you have fashioned from your own hearts to your own evil, then I will dwell with you in this place, which you call the Temple of God, and in the land which I gave to your fathers, that is, the Apostles and apostolic men, or then I will make you dwell with a secure standing, from the beginning to the end. And this may also touch on virgins who boast of their purity and exhibit their chastity with shameless faces, with something quite different in their minds, they who do not know the Apostolic definition of virginity: to be holy in body and spirit. 2 For how does purity of body profit if the soul is ravished, and the other virtues, which the prophetic words describes, are absent? Saint Jerome, from the Commentary on Jeremiah, Book 2, Chapter 7 1 Jerem 7.4-7 2 1 Cor 7.34-36

Church And Tabernacle

Sequitur nunc figura tabernaculi, quod, jubente Domino, Moyses fabricare jubetur. Tabernaculum hoc per allegoriam Ecclesia est in hujus vitae eremo constituta, de qua Psalmista ait: Quoniam abscondit me in tabernaculo suo in die malorum. Variis itaque speciebus tabernaculum instruitur, partim pretiosis, partim vilioribus; per quod monstratur alios sanctos, alios peccatores esse in Ecclesia. Fideles autem omnes intra corpus Ecclesiae constitutos, infideles vero extra sinum collocatos. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Exodum, Caput LI Source: Migne PL 83.294d-295b Now follows the form of the tabernacle that by the order of the Lord Moses was commanded to make. 1 By allegory the tabernacle is the Church established in the desert of this life, concerning which the Psalmist says, 'Because He took me into his tabernacle on the day of evil. ' 2 Thus with various appearances the tabernacle is built up, partly with precious things and partly with vile things, by which it is shown that in the Church some are holy and some are sinners. For all the faithful are established within the body of the Church, but the faithless are set outside. Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Exodus, Chap 51 1 Exod 25-27 2 Ps 26.5

Direction And Advance

Τὰ διαβήματα μου κατεύθυνον κατὰ τὸ λόγιον σου, καὶ μὴ κατακυριευσάτω μου πᾶσα ἀνομία. Κατὰ τὸ λόγοιν τοῦ Θεοῦ κατευθύνει· τὰ διαβήματα μου, ἐκ κακίας καὶ ἀγνοίας εἰς ἀρετὴν καὶ γνῶσιν τῆς ἀληθείας διαβαίνοντος. Εὐθυντὴρ γὰρ καὶ ἡγεμὼν τῶν τοιούτων διαβημάτων ὁ ὀρθὸς λόγος. Εὐσέβιος ὁ Καισάρειος, Ὑπομνηματα Ἐις Τους ψαλμους, ψαλμος ΡΙΗ' Source: Migne PG 23.1388b

Direct my steps according to your word, and let no unrighteousness rule over me. 1 Directed according to the word of God, that my steps be advanced from wickedness and ignorance to virtue and knowledge of the truth. For the right word is the guide and leader of such steps Eusebius of Caesarea, Commentary on the Psalms, Psalm 118 1 Ps 118.133

Progress And Perfection

Εἰ καὶ τελείους ἡμᾶς εἶναι ὁ θεῖος βούλεται νόμος, ὁμώνυμε, ἀλλὰ κατὰ ἀνάβασιν καὶ προκοπὴν πρὸς τὴν τελείωσιν φθάσαντας, πρότερον γάλακτι ποτιζομένους, ὡς ἀρτιγένητα βρέφη, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ εἰς σωτηρίαν αὐξάνοντας. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΥΜΑ' Ἰσιδορῳ Διακονῳ Source: Migne PG 78.425b

Even if the Divine Law wishes us to be perfect, 1 my namesake, so that we might come to ascent and progress to perfection, we first drink milk, as a new born child, and by that grow to salvation. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 441, To the Deacon Isidore 1 Mt 5.48 2 1 Pet 2.5

Knowledge And Grace

Sicut enim qui vere esurit, tamdiu petit cibum, donec impleat necessitatem corporis sui, nec potest cessare, necessitas enim urget, quia sine cibo vivere non potest, ita et qui vere desiderat gratiam Dei, cessare non potest a petendo, sciens quia salvus fieri non potest sine gratia Dei. Adhuc quaerite, interrogantes sacerdotes caeterosque habentes scientiam spiritualium Scripturarum, sicut praecepit lex: Interroga patrem tuum, et dicet tibi, seniores tuos, et annuntiabunt tibi. Quaerite studio et labore, legentes Scripturas legis et prophetarum. Nam Deus ita nos disposuit esse, ut nec studentes et laborantes circa Scripturas acquiramus salutem scientiae sine gratia Dei, ut ne nobis imputemus quod scimus; nec tamen gratiam acquiramus, nisi studuerimus et laboraverimus circa Scripturas, ne donum Dei detur negligentibus. Gratia eim adjutorium est infirmitatis humanae: adjutorem autem non dormientibus datur, sed festinantibus, et praevalentibus. Sicut enim in bello non omnis, qui pugnat, vincit, nemo tamen vincere potest, nisi pugnaverit: sic non omnes, qui student et legunt, acquirunt scientiam spiritualem, nemo tamen acquirere potest, nisi qui aut studiosus fuerit ad legendum, aut assiduus ad audiendum. Et infideles quidem, et non timentes Deum inveniunt scientiam legendo et studendo, sed non illam quae ex Deo est, quae per Spiritum Sanctum datur, sed hanc quae est ex natura carnali, quae per exercitationem carnis acquiritur, quam habuerunt etiam et gentilium studiosi. Multa enim differentia est inter scientias istas. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia XVIII 'Petite et dabitur vobis, quaerite et invenietis: pulsate et aperietur vobis' Source:  Migne PG 56.730-731

For as he who genuinely hungers, while he does so, seeks food, and until he has relieved the necessity of the body he cannot stop, for necessity urges him, and without food he is not able to live, thus even he who truly desires the grace of God is not able to stop seeking it, knowing that he is not able to be saved but by the grace of God. While you seek, question the priests and others who have spiritual knowledge of the Scriptures, as the law commands: 'Question your father and he shall speak to you, your elders, and they shall declare it to you.' 1 Seek with zeal and labour, reading the writings of the Law and the Prophets. For God has thus arranged it that zealously labouring over the Scriptures we shall not acquire the good of knowledge without the grace of God, lest we claim for ourselves what we know, for if we do not acquire grace, even if we sweat and toil over the Scriptures, the gift of God is not given to the negligent. For grace is a help for our human infirmity, and it is a help that is not given to those who sleep, but only to the active and the worthy. For as in war not all who fight prevail, yet no one is able to prevail unless he fights, so not all who strive and labour acquire spiritual knowledge, and yet no one is able to acquire it unless he who is eager when it comes to reading and attentive when it comes to hearing. Certainly those who are unfaithful and who do not revere God, they find knowledge by reading and studying, but not that which is of God, which is given by the Holy Spirit, but that which is from material nature, which is acquired by the exertion of the flesh, and this even the scholars of the Gentiles possessed. There is indeed a great difference between these types of knowledge. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 18, On 'Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you.' 1 Deut 32.7

Charity And Oneself

Esuerientes satiandi sunt, sitientes potandi, nudi operiendi, infirmi et qui in carcere sunt visitandi, et hospites colligendi, dicente Domino, Esurivi enim, et dedistis mihi manducare: sitivi et dedistis mihi bibere, etc. Nam haec omnia, et in se quique debet spiritaliter agere, et in aliis corporaliter adimplere, quia pene nihil possunt haec omnia ad vitam aeternam compensandam, si luxuriose, superbe, invide, et, ne singula replicem, si vitiose et inordinate quis vivat, et a caeteris bonis operibus vacet. Qui ergo videt se Christum non habere, qui dixit, Ego sum panis vivus qui de caelo descendi, et charitatem, quae est pastus animae, non habet, esurit quidem: sed si per bona opera Christo adjungit se, et charitatis dulcedine replet, esurientem omnino se pavit. Qui doctrina Spiritus sancti et Scripturarum sanctarum fluentis caret, sitiens est, sed si se fluentis verbi Dei irriget, et mentem suam spiritalis poculi dulcedine ebriet, iste se sitientem potat. Qui vide se justitia, sive caeteris bonorum operum exhbitionibus nudatum, et induit se justitia, sive caeteris virtutibus, nudum se procul dubio vestit. Si in lecto vitiorum suorum jacet, et morbo iniquitatis suae laborat, et funibus peccatorum suorum constrictus est, et vitiorum suorum obsitus pariete in tenebris iniquitatis suae, est infirmus quidem; sed si de luto vitiorum per confessionem egreditur, et per poenitentiae lamenta vinculis peccatorim absolvitur, et ad lucem bonorum operum egreditur, infirmum et in carcere positum se procul dubio visitat, Si in hujus vitae via videt se laborare, et vitiorum procella quasi quadam aeris intemperie inquietari, et receptaculum bonorum operum non habere, sciat se in itinere positum hospitio egere: at si se ad virtutum domum deducat, et sese in earum tutamine recipiat, hospitem quidem suscipit. Quae omnia cum sibi spiritaliter exhibet, Christum in se cujus ipse membrum est, pascit, potate, vestit, visitat, ac suscipit. Theodulfus Aurelianensis, Capitula ad Presbyteros Parochiae Suae, Capitula XXXII Source:Migne PL 105.201-c-202a

The hungry should be fed, the thirsty given drink, the naked covered, the sick and those in prison visited, and guests accommodated, with the Lord saying, 'For I was hungry and you gave me to eat, thirsty and you gave me to drink, etc.' 1 For all these things a man should do spiritually in himself, even in the satisfaction of others in corporeal things, because all these things profit not at all for the reward of eternal life if in luxury, pride and envy, and not to tell every one of them, if in vice and disorder a man lives, and from these good works is absent. He therefore who sees that he does not have Christ in himself, He who said, 'I am the bread of life which descended from heaven,' 2 does not have charity, which is the pasture of the soul, and he hungers. But if by good works he joins himself to Christ, troubled by his utter hunger, he is filled with the sweetness of charity. He who lacks the flowing waters of the Holy Spirit and Sacred scriptures, he thirsts, but if he waters himself with the flowing waters of the Word of God, and intoxicates his mind with the sweetness of the spiritual cup, he gives drink to the thirsty. He who sees himself to be naked of righteousness, or one of the other goods works, and he endows himself with righteousness, or one of the other virtues, without doubt he clothes the naked. If he falls on the bed of vices and labours in the sickness of his iniquities, and is bound in the bonds of his sins, and he is hemmed in by the walls of darkness of his vices in his iniquity, he is indeed sick, but if confession draws him out from the filth of vices, and through the laments of penance the chains of sin are broken, and he goes out to the light of good works, this one certainly visits the sick and those in prison. If in the way of this life he sees himself labouring, the wars of vice buffeting him like a wild storm, and the refuge of good works he does not have, let him know himself as one placed on the road who lacks hospitality, and if he leads himself to the house of virtues, and he takes himself into their protection, he certainly welcomes the guest. Which when in himself all these things he spiritually exhibits, so Christ in himself, of whom he is a member, he feeds, give drink, clothes, visits, and welcomes. Theodulf of Orleans, Chapters For His Local Priests, Chapter 32 1 Mt 25.35 2 Jn 6.41

Weakness And Glory

Habentes autem thesaurum hunc in vasis fictilibus; ut excellentia sit virtutis Dei, et non ex nobis. Thesaurum sacramentum significavit Dei in Christo, quod credentibus manifestatur, incredulis vero quodam tectum est velamine; quia sicut thesaurus in occulto ponitur, ita et sacramenta Dei intra hominem, id est, in corde humano absconditur. Hunc ergo thesaurum in animo et corpore dicit esse a Deo datum, ut eminentia virtutis ejus appareat per homines praedicatores dumtaxat; ut reconcilietur omnis lingua Creatori suo, non ad honorificentiam hominum, sed Dei, qui se manifestat per homines: qui cum humiles et imperiti essent, acceperunt potestatem a Deo et loquendi magnalia, et agendi. Fictilia ergo vasa dicens, infirmitatem naturae humanae significat, quae nihil potest, nisi a Deo acciperet virtutem, et ad laudem suam Deus per haec se praedicet, quae infirma sunt; ut gloria illi detur, non homini, qui ex luto fictus est. Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Corinthios Secundum, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 17.290b-d

Having even this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the virtue be God's and not from us.' 1 He means the treasure of the mystery of God in Christ, which is manifested by the faithful, though over unbelievers there is covering and a veil, because as a treasure is placed in a hidden place, so even the mystery of God in a man, that is, it is hidden in the human heart. Therefore he says that this treasure in the soul and body is given by God, that the glory of His virtue may appear through the preaching of men, that every tongue may be reconciled to its Creator, not for the honour of men, but of God, who manifests Himself through men, men who when they were humble and simple received the power of God and were able to speak and do wondrous things. So he speaks of an earthen vessel, signifying the infirmity of human nature, which can do nothing, unless it receives power from God, 2 and God to His own praise by this preaches Himself, through weakness, that glory might by given to Him, and not man, who is fashioned from mud. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The Second Letter of Saint Paul To The Corinthians, Chapter 4 1 2 Cor 4.7 2 Jn 15.5

Belief And Testimony

Qui credit in Filium Dei, habet testimonium Dei in se.  Qui ita credit in Filium Dei, ut exerceat operando quod credit, habet testimonium Dei in se. Illud utique quia ipse quoque in filiorum Dei numero jure computetur, ipso unico Filio Dei sic suis fidelibus pollicente: Si quis mihi ministraverit, honorificabit eum Pater meus. Quod si testimonium Dei habere merueris, si Deum testem tuae fidei intemeratae possederis, quid te hominum infamia, quid etiam persecutio laedit? Si enim Deus pro nobis, quis contra nos? Sanctus Beda, In I Epistolam Sancti Joannis Source: Migne PL 93.115c

He who believes in the son of God, has the testimony of God in himself. 1 Thus he who believes in the Son of God, so that he exerts himself in the doing of what he believes, he has the witness of God in himself. And that so that he is rightly reckoned among the number of the sons of God, as the only Son of God promised his faithful ones: 'If someone shall serve me, my Father shall honour him.' 2 If you merit the witness of God, if you have God as witness to your undefiled faith, what harm can the ill speech, or even the persecution of men do to you? For if God is with us, who is against us? 3 Saint Bede, Commentary On The First Letter of Saint John 1 1 Jn 5.10 2 Jn 12.26 3 Rom 8.31

Faith And Dwelling

Τὴν πίστιν ἡ Γραφὴ λέλει, ἐλπιζομένων ὑπόστασιν· καὶ τοὺς μὴ ἐπιγινώσκοντας τὴν ἐνοικησιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ τούτους ἀδοκίμους εἴρηκεν. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Νόμου Πνευματικοῦ Source: Migne PG 65.908d

Scripture speaks of faith as being the substance of things hoped for, 1 and those who do not know the indwelling of Christ it has spoken of as faithless. 2 Saint Mark The Ascetic, On The Spiritual Law 1 Heb 11.1 2 2 Cor 13.5

Words And Deeds

Ὁ χείλεσι μόνον ὁμολογῶν τὸν Χριστὸν, ἀρνησάμενος δὲ τοῖς ἔργοις, οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν αὐτῷ , οὐδε ἔχει αὐτὸν ἐν ἑαυτοῦ· μόνον καὶ παντὸς μετόχου τυγχάνοντος τοῦ εν αὐτῷ πάντα ποιοῦντος . Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς τον Προφήτην Ησαΐαν Source:  Migne PG 95.1169c

He who with lips alone confesses Christ, denying Him in works, 1 He is not in him, nor does he have Him in himself; 2 indeed the only one who participates fully in Him is he who does everything in Him. Didymus the Blind, On Isaiah, quoted in the Sacred Parallels of Saint John of Damascus 1 cf Isaiah 29.13, Mt 15.8 2 cf Jn 14.20-21

Wishes And Vanity

Ὁ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ σάρκα βουληθεὶς πολεμῆσαι, ἤ νικῆσαι ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ, εἰς μάτην τρέχει. Ἐαν γὰρ μὴ Κύριος καταλύσῃ οἶκον σαρκὸς, καὶ οἰκοδομήσῃ οἶκον ψυχῆς, εἰς μάτην ἠγρύπνησε, καὶ ἐνήστευσεν ὁ καταλύων. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης τῆς Κλίμακος, Λόγος ΙΕ', ἡ Κλίμαξ Source: Migne PG 88.883b

He who wishes to fight against his flesh and conquer it by himself runs in vain. For unless the Lord destroys the house of the flesh and builds up the house of the soul, in vain he watches and fasts who would destroy it. Saint John Climacus, from Step 15, The Ladder

Expulsion And Return

Ὁ Θεὸς οὖν ἀπώσω ἡμᾶς. Τοὺς μακρύνοντας ἑαυτοὺς ἀπὸ σοῦ κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἀπώσω. Τὰ συστήματα τῆς μονηρίας ἡμῶν καθεῖλες, εὐεργετῶν ἡμᾶς διὰ τῆς ἀσθενείας. Ὠργίσθης, ὅτε ἧμεν φύσει τέκνα ὀργῆς, ἐλπίδα μὴ ἔχοντες, καὶ ἄθεοι ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ. ᾨκτείρησας ἡμᾶς, ὅτε τὸν Μονογενῆ σου προέθου ἱλαστήριον ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν, ἵνα ἐν τῷ αἵματι αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀπολύτρωσιν εὕρωμεν. Ἅ οὐκ ἂν ἐγνωρίσαμεν εὐεργετούμενοι, εἰ μὴ ἐπότισας ἡμᾶς Οἷνον κατανύξεως. Οἶνον λέγει τὸν λόγον τὸν τὴν πεπωρωμένην καρδίαν εἰς συναίσθησιν ἄγοντα. Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Εἰς Τον ΝΘ' Ψαλμον  Source: Migne PG 29.465a

God thrust us away... 1 They who take themselves far from you, because of the irrationality of their sins, you have thrust away. You destroy the gathering of our iniquities, you bless us on account of our infirmities. You are angry, when by our state we are sons of anger, having no hope, godless in the world. You were merciful to us when for our sins you gave the propitiation of your Only Begotten, that in His blood we might find salvation. That blessing of yours which we would not have known, unless you had given us the wine of compunction to drink. Wine he names the word, by which the hardened heart is lead to sense. Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 59 1 Ps 59.3

Doubting Dreams

Denique in puero adhuc refulsit divina gratia. Siquidem somniavit quod cum alligasset, ut sibi videbatur per visum, manipulos cum fratribus suis, surrexerit manipulus ejus, et steterit erectus: conversi autem fratrum manipuli, adoraverint manipulum summ. In quo utique futura resurrectio Domini Jesu revelata est, quem et Hierosolymis cum vidissent, undecim adoravere discipuli, et omnes sancti cum resurrexerint, adorabunt, fructus bonorum operum praeferentes, sicut scriptum est: Venientes autem venient cum exsultatione, tollentes manipulos suos. Unde fratres, licet somnii fidem per invidiam derogarent, interpretationem tamen ejus propriis sermonibus exprimentes, responderunt ei: Numquid regnando regnaturus es nobis, aut dominando dominaturus es nobis? Regem enim venturum visio illa significabat, quem omnis caro generis humani inflexo adoraret genu.Vidit autem aliud somnium, et narravit illud patri suo et fratribus suis, eo quod sol et luna et undecim stellae adorarent eum. Unde objurgavit illum pater ejus dicens: Quid ergo erit hoc visum quod somniasti? Numquid venientes ego et mater tua et fratres tui adorabimus te super terram? Quis est ille quem parentes et fratres adoraverunt super terram, nisi Christus Jesus, quando eum Joseph et mater cum discipulis adorabant, Deum verum in illo corpore confitentes, de quo solo dictum est: Laudate eum, sol et luna; laudate eum, omnes stellae et lumen? Objurgatio autem partris quid significat, nisi duritiam populi Israel, ex quibus Christus secundum carnem, quem hodieque Deum esse non credunt, nec volunt aodrare quasi Dominum, quia ex se natum cognoscunt? Audiunt itaque responsa ejus, sed non intelligunt: legunt ipsi quod eum sol et luna laudant, et nolunt credere de Christo Jesu dictum esse. Itaque Jacob typo fallitur alieno: sed suo amore non fallitur. Pietas in eo paterna non errat: sed erraturae plebis affectus exprimitur. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Jospeph Partiarcha, Caput II Source: Migne PL 14.643c-644b

Then in boyhood he shone with Divine grace. He had a dream that he was bound, so that it seemed to him in his vision that he was a sheaf with his brothers, and his sheaf rose up, and it stood erect, and the sheaves of his brothers turned to his and they adored his sheaf. 1 In which is the future resurrection of the Lord Jesus revealed, which seeing in Jerusalem the eleven disciples adored, and all the saints shall adore when they have risen, bringing before them the fruit of good works, as it is written, 'Coming in exultation, bearing their sheaves ' 2 Whence the brothers, on account of envy refusing to have faith in the dream, giving their own interpretation of the matter, responded to him, 'Shall you rule over us, and shall you have dominion over us?' 3 For the vision of the coming king signified Him whom all flesh on bended knee shall adore. And he saw another dream, and he told it to his father and his brothers, in which the sun and the moon and the eleven stars adored him. Whence his father rebuked him, saying, 'What, then, is the dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers come and adore you upon the earth? 4Who is this whom parents and brothers shall adore on the earth, unless Jesus Christ, when Joseph and his Mother adored Him along with the disciples, confessing the true God in the flesh, concerning which, to mention one thing alone, it is said, ' Praise him, sun and moon, praise him all you stars and light'? 5 And what does the rebuke of the father signify unless the hardness of the people of Israel, from whom Christ was according to the flesh, and whom even today do not believe Him to be God, nor are willing to adore him as Lord, whom they know as born from them? So they hear his reply, but they do not understand. They read that the sun and the moon praise him and they cannot credit it is spoken about Jesus Christ. Thus Jacob is a deceived by an incorrect type, but his love is not deceived. His paternal piety does not err, but the erring thought of a people is here expressed. Saint Ambrose, On The Patriarch Joseph, Chap 2 1 Gen 37.7 2 Ps 125.6 3 Gen 37.8 4 Gen 37.10 5 Ps 148.3

Repentance And Resurrection

Ἡ μετάνοια ζωοποιεῖ τὸν τοῖς παραπτώσμασι νεκρωθέντα· αὕτη γὰρ γνώρισμα ὑπάρχει τῆς παλιγγενεσίας, τρόπαιον δὲ ἀναστάσεως, ἐντεῦθεν ἤδη ὀφθαλμοῖς βλεπομένης. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΣΟΔ' Εὐρυκλει Πρεσβυτερῳ Source: Migne PG 79.184a

Repentance gives life to one who is dead in his sins; this is a figure of regeneration and a token of the resurrection, now appearing before the eyes. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 274, to the Priest Eurycles

Adding The Nations

Ἀλλὰ Ζαχαρίᾳ, ἐν παραβολῇ δεικνύντι τὸ μυστήριον τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ ἀποκεκρυμμένως κηρύσσοντι, πιστεῦσαι ὀφείλετε. Ἔστι δὲ τὰ λεγόμενα ταῦτα· Χαῖρε καὶ εὐφραίνου, θύγατερ Σιών, ὅτι ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἔρχομαι καὶ κατασκηνώσω ἐν μέσῳ σου, λέγει Κύριος. Καὶ προστεθήσονται ἔθνη πολλὰ πρὸς Κύριον ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ, καὶ ἔσονταί μοι εἰς λαόν· καὶ κατασκηνώσω ἐν μέσῳ σου, καὶ γνώσονται ὅτι Κύριος τῶν δυνάμεων ἀπέσταλκέ με πρός σε. Kαὶ κατακληρονομήσει Kύριος τὸν Ἰούδαν τὴν μερίδα αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν τὴν ἁγίαν, καὶ ἐκλέξεται ἔτι τὴν Ἰερουσαλήμ. Εὐλαβείσθω πᾶσα σὰρξ ἀπὸ προσώπου Kυρίου, ὅτι ἐξεγήγερται ἐκ νεφελῶν ἁγίων αὐτοῦ. Καὶ ἔδειξέ μοι Ἰησοῦν, τὸν ἱερέα τὸν μέγαν, ἑστῶτα πρὸ προσώπου ἀγγέλου Kυρίου· καὶ διάβολος εἱστήκει ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ, τοῦ ἀντικεῖσθαι αὐτῷ. Kαὶ εἶπε Kύριος πρὸς τὸν διάβολον· Ἐπιτιμήσαι Kύριος ἐν σοί, ὁ ἐκλεξάμενος τὴν Ἰερουσαλήμ. οὐχὶ ἰδοὺ τοῦτο δαλὸς ἐξεσπασμένος ἐκ πυρός; Μέλλοντί τε τῷ Τρύφωνι ἀποκρίνεσθαι καὶ ἀντιλέγειν μοι ἔφην· Πρῶτον ἀνάμεινον καὶ ἄκουσον ἃ λέγω. οὐ γὰρ ἣν ὑπολαμβάνεις ἐξήγησιν ποιεῖσθαι μέλλω, ὡς μὴ γεγενημένου ἱερέως τινὸς Ἰησοῦ ὀνόματι ἐν τῇ Βαβυλωνίᾳ γῇ, ὅπου αἰχμάλωτος ὁ λαὸς ὑμῶν. Ὅπερ εἰ καὶ ἐποίουν, ἀπέδειξα ὅτι ἦν μὲν Ἰησοῦς ἱερεὺς ἐν τῷ γένει ὑμῶν· τοῦτον δὲ αὐτὸν οὐκ ἐν τῇ ἀποκαλύψει αὐτοῦ ἑωράκει ὁ προφήτης, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ τὸν διάβολον καὶ τὸν τοῦ Kυρίου ἄγγελον οὐκ αὐτοψίᾳ, ἐν καταστάσει ὤν, ἑωράκει, ἀλλ' ἐν ἐκστάσει, ἀποκαλύψεως αὐτῷ γεγενημένης. Νῦν δὲ λέγω ὅτι, ὅνπερ τρόπον διὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὀνόματος τῷ Ναυῆ υἱῷ καὶ δυνάμεις καὶ πράξεις τινὰς προκηρυσούσας τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡμετέρου Kυρίου μέλλοντα γίνεσθαι πεποιηκέναι ἔφη, οὕτω καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐν Βαβυλῶνι Ἰησοῦ ἱερέως γενομένου ἐν τῷ λαῷ ὑμῶν ἀποκάλυψιν ἔρχομαι νῦν ἀποδεῖξαι προκήρυξιν εἶναι τῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡμετέρου ἱερέως καὶ θεοῦ καὶ Χριστοῦ, υἱοῦ τοῦ πατρὸς τῶν ὅλων, γίνεσθαι μελλόντων. Ἤδη μέντοι ἐθαύμαζον, ἔφην, διὰ τί καὶ πρὸ μικροῦ ἡσυχίαν ἠγάγετε ἐμοῦ λέγοντος, ἢ πῶς οὐκ ἐπελάβεσθέ μου εἰπόντος ὅτι ὁ τοῦ Ναυῆ υἱὸς τῶν ἐξελθόντων ἀπ' Αἰγύπτου ὁμηλίκων μόνος εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν γῆν καὶ οἱ γεγραμμένοι ἀφήλικες τῆς γενεᾶς ἐκείνης. Ὥσπερ γὰρ αἱ μυῖαι ἐπὶ τὰ ἕλκη προστρέχετε καὶ ἐφίπτασθε. Kἂν γὰρ μύρια τις εἴπῃ καλῶς, ἓν δὲ μικρὸν ὁτιοῦν εἴη μὴ εὐάρεστον ὑμῖν ἢ μὴ νοούμενον ἢ μὴ πρὸς τὸ ἀκριβές, τῶν μὲν πολλῶν καλῶν οὐ πεφροντίκατε, τοῦ δὲ μικροῦ ῥηματίου ἐπιλαμβάνεσθε καὶ κατασκευάζειν αὐτὸ ὡς ἀσέβημα καὶ ἀδίκημα σπουδάζετε, ἵνα τῇ αὐτῇ ὁμοίᾳ κρίσει ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ κρινόμενοι πολὺ μᾶλλον ὑπὲρ τῶν μεγάλων τολμημάτων, εἴτε κακῶν πράξεων εἴτε φαύλων ἐξηγήσεων, ἃς παραποιοῦντες ἐξηγεῖσθε, λόγον δώσετε. Ὃ γὰρ κρίμα κρίνετε, δίκαιόν ἐστιν ὑμᾶς κριθῆναι. Ἀλλ' ἵνα τὸν λόγον τὸν περὶ τῆς ἀποκαλύψεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ ἁγίου ἀποδιδῶ ὑμῖν, ἀναλαμβάνω τὸν λόγον καί φημι κἀκείνην τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν εἰς ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἐπὶ τὸν Χριστὸν ἀρχιερέα τοῦτον τὸν σταυρωθέντα πιστεύοντας γεγενῆσθαι· οἵτινες, ἐν πορνείαις καὶ ἁπλῶς πάσῃ ῥυπαρᾷ πράξει ὑπάρχοντες, διὰ τῆς παρὰ τοῦ ἡμετέρου Ἰησοῦ κατὰ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ χάριτος τὰ ῥυπαρὰ πάντα, ἃ ἠμφιέσμεθα, κακὰ ἀπεδυσάμεθα, οἷς ὁ διάβολος ἐφέστηκεν ἀεὶ ἀντικείμενος καὶ πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἕλκειν πάντας βουλόμενος, καὶ ὁ ἄγγελος τοῦ θεοῦ, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἡ δύναμις τοῦ θεοῦ ἡ πεμφθεῖσα ἡμῖν διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἐπιτιμᾷ αὐτῷ καὶ ἀφίσταται ἀφ' ἡμῶν. Καὶ ὥσπερ ἀπὸ πυρὸς ἐξεσπασμένοι ἐσμέν, ἀπὸ μὲν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν τῶν προτέρων καθαρισθέντες, ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς θλίψεως καὶ τῆς πυρώσεως, ἣν πυροῦσιν ἡμᾶς ὅ τε διάβολος καὶ οἱ αὐτοῦ ὑπηρέται πάντες, ἐξ ὧν καὶ πάλιν ἀποσπᾷ ἡμᾶς Ἰησοῦς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ· ἐνδῦσαι ἡμᾶς τὰ ἡτοιμασμένα ἐνδύματα, ἐὰν πράξωμεν αὐτοῦ τὰς ἐντολάς, ὑπέσχετο, καὶ αἰώνιον βασιλείαν προνοῆσαι ἐπήγγελται. Ὃν γὰρ τρόπον Ἰησοῦς ἐκεῖνος, ὁ λεγόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ προφήτου ἱερεύς, ῥυπαρὰ ἱμάτια ἐφάνη φορῶν διὰ τὸ γυναῖκα πόρνην λελέχθαι εἰληφέναι αὐτόν, καὶ δαλὸς ἐξεσπασμένος ἐκ πυρὸς ἐκλήθη διὰ τὸ ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν εἰληφέναι, ἐπιτιμηθέντος καὶ τοῦ ἀντικειμένου αὐτῷ διαβόλου, οὕτως ἡμεῖς, οἱ διὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὀνόματος ὡς εἷς ἄνθρωπος πιστεύσαντες εἰς τὸν ποιητὴν τῶν ὅλων θεόν, διὰ τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ πρωτοτόκου αὐτοῦ υἱοῦ τὰ ῥυπαρὰ ἱμάτια τοῦτ' ἔστι τὰς ἁμαρτίας, ἀπημφιεσμένοι, πυρωθέντες διὰ τοῦ λόγου τῆς κλήσεως αὐτοῦ, ἀρχιερατικὸν τὸ ἀληθινὸν γένος ἐσμὲν τοῦ θεοῦ, ὡς καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς μαρτυρεῖ, εἰπὼν ὅτι ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι θυσίας εὐαρέστους αὐτῷ καὶ καθαρὰς προσφέροντες. Οὐ δέχεται δὲ παρ' οὐδενὸς θυσίας ὁ θεός, εἰ μὴ διὰ τῶν ἱερέων αὐτοῦ. Ἅγιος Ἰουστίνος Μάρτυς, Πρὸς Τρύφωνα Ἰουδαῖον Διάλογος Source: Migne PG 6.741a-745a

But Zechariah who shows in parable the mystery of Christ, and announces it obscurely, you should believe. This is what he says: ''Rejoice, and be glad, O daughter of Zion, for, behold, I come, and I shall dwell in the midst of you, says the Lord. And many nations shall be added to the Lord in that day, and they shall be my people, and I will dwell in the midst of you, and they shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and He shall choose Jerusalem again. Let all flesh fear before the Lord, for He is raised up out of His holy clouds. And He showed me Jesus (Joshua) the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and the devil stood at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said to the devil, 'The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you.' Behold, is this not a brand plucked out of the fire?' 1 As Trypho was about to reply and contradict me, I said: 'First wait and hear what I say, for I am not to give the explanation which you presume, that there had been no priest named Joshua (Jesus) in the land of Babylon, where your people were captive. But even if I did, I have shown that if there was a priest named Joshua (Jesus) among your people, yet the prophet did not see him in his revelation, just as he did not see the devil or the angel of the Lord, with his own eye, while awake, but in an ecstasy, at the time of the revelation. But now I say that as Scripture says that the Son of Nave (Nun) by the name Jesus (Joshua) wrought powerful works and exploits which foretold what would be performed by our Lord, so I proceed now to show that the revelation made among your people in Babylon in the days of Jesus (Joshua) the priest, was a foretelling of the things to be accomplished by our Priest, who is God, and Christ, the Son of God the Father of all. Indeed, I was surprised, I say, why a little time ago you kept silence while I was speaking and did not interrupt me when I said that the son of Nave (Nun) was the only one of his contemporaries who came out of Egypt, who entered the Holy Land, along with the men described as being younger than that generation. For you swarm about and fix on sores like flies. For though one should speak ten thousand words well, if there be one little word that is not pleasing to you, either because it is not intelligible or precise, you care not for the many good words, but seize on the little word, and are most zealous in setting it up as something impious and criminal, so that when you are judged with the same judgment by God, you have much more to answer for because of your great audacities, whether evil deeds, or flawed interpretations which you draw forth by error. For with what judgment you judge, it is righteous that you be judged. But to give you the account of the revelation of the holy Jesus Christ, I take up again the discourse and say that that revelation was made for us who believe in Christ the High Priest, the crucified One, we who though we lived in fornication and all kinds of foul deeds, have by the grace of our Jesus, according to the will of His Father, stripped ourselves of all those filthy wickednesses with which we were imbued. And though the devil is always near to resist us, and wishes  to draw everyone to himself, yet the Angel of God, that is, the Power of God sent to us through Jesus Christ, rebukes him, and he departs from us. And we are as if drawn out from the fire when purified from our former sins, and saved from the affliction and from the fire by which the devil and all his helpers scorch us, from which Jesus the Son of God is again to deliver us, and clothe us with prepared garments, if we perform His commandments, for which He has promised to provide an eternal kingdom. For just as that Jesus (Joshua), who was called by the prophet a priest, evidently wore filthy garments because he is said to have taken a harlot for a wife, and is called a brand plucked from the fire because he had received forgiveness of sins when the devil that opposed him was rebuked, so we, who through the name of Jesus have believed as one man in God the Maker of all, have been stripped, through the name of His first begotten Son, of the filthy garments, that is, of our sins, and being inflamed by the word of His calling, we are the true high priestly race of God, as even God Himself gives witness, saying that in every place among the Gentiles sacrifices are offered to Him well pleasing and pure. And God does not receive sacrifices from anyone, except through His priests. Saint Justin Martyr, Dialogue With Trypho, 115-116 1 Zech 2.10-13, 3.1-2

The Gibeonites and Salvation

'In domo Patris mei mansiones multae sunt'  Dicit Verbum Dei. Sed et resurrectio mortuorum non habebit aequalem resurgentium gloriam, sed alia caro volucrum, alia pecorum, alia vero piscium: et corpora coelestia, et corpora terrestia, sed alia quidem coelestium gloria, alia vero terrestrium. Alia gloria solis, alia gloria lunae, alia gloria stellarum. Stella ab stella differt in gloria, ita et resurrectio mortuorum. Multae ergo eorum qui ad salutem veniunt differentiae designantur. Unde et nunc Gabaonitas istos, quorum historia recitata est, arbitror part unculam quamdam esse eorum, qui salvandi sunt, ita tamen ut non absque alicujus notae inustione slaventur. Vides namque quomodo ligni caesores, vel aquae gestatores fiant et condemnentur ad obsequium populi, et aharis Dei ministerium, quoniam quidem cum dolo et caliditate accesserunt ad filios Israel, pannis calceamentisque veteribus induti, et cibum vetusti panis ferentes. Isti ergo veniunt ad jesum cum omnibus vetustatibus suis, et orant ab eo hoc tantum ut salventur. In quorum figura tale mihi aliquid videtur ostendi. Sunt quidam in Ecclesia credentes quidem et habentes fidem in Deum, et acquiescentes omnibus divinis praeceptis: quique etiam erga servos Dei religisoi sunt, et servire cupiunt, sed et ad ornatum Ecclesiae, vel ministerium satis prompti paratique sunt, in actibus vero suis et conversatione propria, obscenditatibus et vitiis involuti, nec omnino depontes veterem hominem cum actibus suis, sed involuti vetustis vitiis et obscenditatibus suis, sicut et isti pannis et calceamentis veteribus obtecti, praeter hoc quod in Deum credunt, et erga servos Dei vel Ecclesiae cultum videntur esse devoti, nihil adhibent emendationis vel innovationis in moribus. Istis ergo Jesus Dominus noster salutem quidem concedit, sed quodammodo salus ipsa eorum notam non evadit infamiae. Origenes, Homilia X In Librum Jesu Nave, Interprete Rufino Aquileiense Source: Migne PG 12.879c-880b

'In the house of my father there are many mansions' 1 Says the Word of God. But even the resurrection of the dead will not exhibit an equal glory of those who rise, but there is one flesh of birds, another of cattle, another again of fish; there are celestial bodies and there are terrestrial bodies, but the glory of the celestial is one thing and that of terrestrial things another; there is a glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, another glory of the stars; star and star differs in glory, and so it is with the resurrection of the dead. 2 Thus are the many differences of those who come to salvation depicted, whence even now I think that the Gibeonites, whose history has been told, are a certain small part of those who will be saved, but in such a way that they are not saved without the branding of some sort of mark. For you see how they are condemned to be 'hewers of wood' or 'bearers of water' for the service of the people and for the ministry of the altar of God, because they indeed approached the sons of Israel with deceit and cunning, 'clothed in old garments and shoes' and 'carrying for food old bread'. So these folk come to Joshua with all their old things and beg him that they might be saved. 3 Something such as this seems to me to be shown in their figure. There are in the church certain folk who believe in God, have faith in God, and accede to all the Divine commands. Furthermore they are conscientious toward the servants of God and desire to serve them, and are fully ready and prepared for the furnishing of the Church or for ministry. But in their actions and their conduct, they are wrapped up in vices, not wholly 'putting away the old man with his acts,' 4 but they are enveloped in ancient vices and offensive faults, just as those folk were covered with old garments and shoes. Apart from the fact they they believe in God and seem to be conscientious towards the servants of God, or the worship of the Church, they make no effort to correct or be renewed in their habits. For these, then, our Lord Jesus allows a certain salvation, but their salvation, in a certain measure, does not escape a note of infamy. Origen, from Homily 10 on the Book of Joshua, Translated by Rufinus of Aquileia 1 Jn 14.2 2 1 Cor 15.39-41 3 Joshua 9 4 Ephes 4.22

Death And Life

Ἀνέστην ἐγὼ ἀνοῖξαι τῷ ἀδελφιδῷ μου· αἱ χεῖρές μου ἔσταξαν σμύρναν, οἱ δάκτυλοί μου σμύρναν πλήρη. Ὅτι μὲν οὖν οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλως ἐν ἡμῖν γενέσθαι τὸν ζῶντα λόγον, τὸν καθαρὸν λέγω καὶ ἀσώματον νυμφίον τὸν δι' ἀφθαρσίας καὶ ἁγιότητος ἑαυτῷ τὴν ψυχὴν συνοικίζοντα, εἰ μή τις διὰ τοῦ νεκρῶσαι τὰ μέλη τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς περιέλοιτο τὸ τῆς σαρκὸς παραπέτασμα καὶ οὕτως ἀνοίξοι τῷ λόγῳ τὴν θύραν, δι' ἧς εἰς τὴν ψυχὴν εἰσοικίζεται, δῆλόν ἐστιν οὐ μόνον ἐκ τῶν θείων τοῦ ἀποστόλου δογμάτων ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ τῶν νῦν εἰρημένων παρὰ τῆς νύμφης· Ἀνέστην γάρ, φησίν, ἀνοῖξαι τῷ ἀδελφιδῷ μου διὰ τοῦ ποιῆσαι τὰς χεῖράς μου τῆς σμύρνης πηγὰς ἀφ' ἑαυτῶν ῥεούσας τὸ ἄρωμα καὶ πλήρωμα τῶν δακτύλων δεῖξαι τὴν σμύρναν. Τὸν γὰρ τρόπον, δι' οὗ ἀνοίγεται τῷ νυμφίῳ ἡ θύρα, φησὶ διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων ὅτι διὰ τοῦ Συνταφῆναι αὐτῷ διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος εἰς τὸν θάνατον ἀνέστην· οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἐνήργησεν ἡ ἀνάστασις μὴ προκαθηγησαμένης τῆς ἑκουσίου νεκρότητος. Ἐνδείκνυται δὲ τὸ ἑκούσιον ἡ ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῆς ἀπορρέουσα τῆς σμύρνης σταγὼν καὶ τὸ πεπληρῶσθαι τοὺς δακτύλους αὐτῆς τοῦ ἀρώματος τούτου· οὐ γὰρ ἑτέρωθεν ἐγγενέσθαι τῇ χειρὶ λέγει τὴν σμύρναν. Ἦ γὰρ ἂν ἐνομίσθη διὰ τούτου περιστατικὸν αὐτῇ καὶ ἀκούσιον συμβῆναι τὸ διὰ τῆς σμύρνης δηλούμενον. Ἀλλ' αὐτάς φησι τὰς χεῖρας, σημαίνει δὲ διὰ τῶν χειρῶν τὰς ἐνεργητικὰς τῆς ψυχῆς κινήσεις, ἀφ' ἑαυτῶν στάξαι τὴν σμύρναν, τὴν οἴκοθεν ἐκ προαιρέσεως τῶν σωματικῶν παθημάτων γινομένην νέκρωσιν διὰ τούτου σημαίνων, ἣν ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς δακτύλοις πεπληρῶσθαι λέγει, τὰ καθ' ἕκαστον εἴδη τὰ διῃρημένως δι' ἀρετῆς σπουδαζόμενα τῷ τῶν δακτύλων διερμηνεύων ὀνόματι· ὡς εἶναι πάντα τὸν νοῦν τῶν λεγομένων τοιοῦτον, ὅτι ἔλαβον δύναμιν ἀναστάσεως διὰ τοῦ νεκρῶσαι τὰ μέλη μου τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἑκουσίως μοι τῆς τῶν τοιούτων μελῶν ἐνεργηθείσης νεκρώσεως, οὐ παρ' ἄλλου ταῖς χερσὶν ἐντεθείσης τῆς σμύρνης ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς ἐμῆς προαιρέσεως ἀπορρεούσης, ὡς καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς κατ' ἀρετὴν ἐπιτηδεύμασιν, ἅπερ δακτύλους ὠνόμασεν, ἀνελλιπῆ τὴν τοιαύτην ἐνορᾶσθαι διάθεσιν· ἔστι γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀτελῶς τὴν ἀρετὴν μετιόντων ἰδεῖν ἑνὶ μὲν αὐτούς τινι τεθνεῶτας πάθει ἐν ἑτέροις δὲ ζῶντας, καθάπερ ὁρῶμέν τινας νεκροῦντας μὲν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς τὸ ἀκόλαστον, ἂν οὕτω τύχῃ, τρέφοντας δὲ δι' ἐπιμελείας τὸν τῦφον ἢ ἕτερόν τι πάθος τὸ τῇ ψυχῇ λυμαινόμενον, οἷον τὸ φιλοχρήματον ἢ τὸ ὀργίλον ἢ τὸ φιλόδοξον ἢ ἄλλο τι τοιοῦτον, οὗ κακῶς ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ ζῶντος οὐκ ἔστι πλήρεις τοὺς δακτύλους ἐπιδεῖξαι τῆς σμύρνης· οὐ γὰρ διὰ πάντων φαίνεται τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων ἡ τοῦ κακοῦ νέκρωσίς τε καὶ ἀλλοτρίωσις, πάντων δὲ πληρωθέντων τῶν τοιούτων δακτύλων τῆς νοηθείσης σμύρνης καὶ ἀνίσταται ἡ ψυχὴ καὶ ἀνοίγει τῷ νυμφίῳ τὴν εἴσοδον. Διὰ τοῦτο τάχα καὶ ὁ μέγας Παῦλος καλῶς νοήσας τὴν τοῦ Δεσπότου φωνὴν ἥ φησιν ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι φυῆναι στάχυν, ἐὰν μὴ προδιαλυθῇ τῷ θανάτῳ ὁ κόκκος, τοῦτο κηρύσσει τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τὸ δόγμα ὅτι χρὴ θάνατον τῆς ζωῆς καθηγήσασθαι, ὡς οὐκ ἐνδεχόμενον ἄλλως ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ τὴν ζωὴν γενέσθαι, εἰ μὴ διὰ θανάτου λάβοι τὴν πάροδον· διπλῆς γὰρ ἐν ἡμῖν οὔσης τῆς φύσεως, τῆς μὲν λεπτῆς τε καὶ νοερᾶς καὶ κούφης, τῆς δὲ παχείας καὶ ὑλικῆς καὶ βαρείας, ἀνάγκη πᾶσα ἀσύμβατον πρὸς τὴν ἑτέραν ἐν ἑκατέρᾳ τούτων τὴν ὁρμὴν εἶναι καὶ ἰδιάζουσαν· τὸ μὲν γὰρ νοερόν τε καὶ κοῦφον οἰκείαν ἔχει τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ ἄνω φοράν, τὸ δὲ βαρὺ καὶ ὑλῶδες ἀεὶ πρὸς τὸ κάτω ῥέπει καὶ φέρεται. Ἐξ ἐναντίου τοίνυν γινομένης αὐτοῖς φυσικῶς τῆς κινήσεως οὐκ ἔστιν εὐοδωθῆναι τὸ ἕτερον μὴ ἀτονήσαντος τοῦ ἄλλου πρὸς τὴν κατὰ φύσιν φοράν. Μέση δὲ ἀμφοῖν ἑστῶσα ἡ αὐτεξούσιος ἡμῶν δύναμίς τε καὶ προαίρεσις δι' ἑαυτῆς ἐμποιεῖ καὶ τόνον τῷ κάμνοντι καὶ ἀτονίαν τῷ κατισχύοντι· ἐν ᾧ γὰρ ἂν γένηται μέρει, τούτῳ δίδωσι κατὰ τοῦ ἄλλου τὰ νικητήρια. Οὕτως ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ ἐπαινεῖται μὲν ὁ πιστὸς καὶ φρόνιμος οἰκονόμος, οὗτος γάρ ἐστι κατά γε τὸν ἐμὸν λόγον ἡ καλῶς τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν ἐπιστατοῦσα προαίρεσις· ἐπαινεῖται γὰρ ὅτι τρέφει τὴν οἰκετείαν τοῦ δεσπότου διὰ τῆς τῶν ἐναντίων νεκρώσεως· ἡ γὰρ ἐκείνων φθορὰ τροφή τε καὶ εὐεξία τῶν κρειττόνων ἐστίν, κατηγορεῖται δὲ ὁ κακὸς δοῦλος ἐκεῖνος ὁ διὰ τοῦ τοῖς μεθύουσι συνεῖναι πληγαῖς αἰκιζόμενος τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ οἰκετείαν· πληγὴ γάρ ἐστιν ὡς ἀληθῶς κατὰ τῶν ἀρετῶν ἡ τῆς κακίας εὐημερία. Οὐκοῦν καλῶς ἔχει τὸν προφητικὸν ζηλώσαντας λόγον πρωΐαν ἑαυτοῖς ποιεῖν διὰ τοῦ ἀποκτεῖναι πάντας τοὺς ἁμαρτωλοὺς τῆς γῆς τοῦ ἐξολεθρεῦσαι ἐκ πόλεως Κυρίου, ψυχὴ δὲ ἡ πόλις, πάντας τοὺς λογισμοὺς τοὺς ἐργαζομένους τὴν ἀνομίαν, ὧν ὁ ὄλεθρος ζωὴ γίνεται τῶν ἀμεινόνων. Οὕτως οὖν διὰ τοῦ θανάτου ζῶμεν, ὅταν τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν, καθώς φησιν ὁ προφήτης, τὸ μὲν ἀποκτείνῃ τὸ δὲ ζωοποιήσῃ ὁ λόγος ὁ εἰπὼν ὅτι Ἐγὼ ἀποκτενῶ καὶ ζῆν ποιήσω. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων Ὁμιλία ΑΒ' Source: Migne PG 44.1016c-1020a

I rose up, that I open to my beloved. My hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers covered with myrrh. 1 It is not possible in any other way that the living Word be in us, I speak of Him who is the pure and incorporeal spouse, who by immortality and sanctity binds himself to our soul, unless with the dying of the earthly members, of the surrounding veil of the flesh; for even so shall be opened a gateway for the Word, through which He will enter into the soul, which way is not only manifest from the teachings of the Holy Apostle, but even from these things which here the bride says. 'I rise up,' she says, that I open to my beloved, and the streams of myrrh from my hands accomplish this, from which a fragrance flows, and by the declaration that my fingers are replete with myrrh. For with these words she indicates how the gate is opened to the bridegroom. 'I rose up', because I was entombed with Him in death, through baptism into death. The resurrection shall have no efficacy unless voluntary death shall have preceded it. And the sign of this will is that dripping of the myrrh flowing from her hands, and her fingers, which may be said to abound with its fragrance, for from nowhere else she says the myrrh is in her hands. For she thinks that in any other state, which is signified by the myrrh, there would be an unwillingness to come. She speaks of her hands, and the meaning of the hands is that they are effectors of the motions of the soul, which by dripping with myrrh she wishes to signify the death of corporeal passions from the determinations of the soul, and which she says covers every finger, and by the name of fingers understand every type of thing which our pursuit of virtue has in different ways cultivated in us. Thus of everything said here, the meaning of it is this: I have received the power of resurrection from Him, because I have given my worldly members to death, and by that dying of members which I have by my own will performed, not from another, myrrh is given into my hands, by the flowing away of the will of my soul, that all my efforts in virtue be agreeable, which the fingers signify, which disposition of the soul is clearly seen. It is those who have not perfectly cultivated virtue who are seen to be dead in some disease and living in other things, as we see some who have killed off intemperance, but grow fat on vanity, or with some other passion of the soul, for example, desire for wealth, or wrath, or ambition, or anything of this kind which yet wickedly lives in the soul, which she does not exhibit whose fingers are replete with myrrh, for by the death of all pursuits of evil, and estrangement from them, it does not appear, but when the fingers are replete so, as the myrrh is understood, the soul rises and opens a way in for the bridegroom. On account of which perhaps Paul rightly understood the voice of the Lord, that a seed shall not germinate, unless first it is dissolved in death, 2 this teaching preaching in the Church, that it is necessary to advance to death for life, as it is not possible in any other way that life exist in a man, unless he gain it by the entry of death. For our twofold nature is the subtle and light power of the intellect, and a heavy and earthy matter, and it is necessary that the one for the other have an especially strong repulsion, for the light nature of the intellect possesses an inclination to what is on high, and that which is heavy and material always inclines and is carried off to what is below. When, then, such natures have contrary motions, one will not function well according to the nature of its inclination unless the other languishes. And set in the midst between them is our faculty of free will, and the choice it makes through itself indicates where firmness resides and where weakness prevails. For the parts being joined as one, one must yield victory to the other. Thus in the Gospel the faithful and prudent administrator of his own affairs who is praised, my word proposes, is he who is the good choice made in us. 3 He is praised for feeding the household of the Lord with the death of that which opposes, for their feeding is the ruin of that which opposes and the good health of what is better; and on the contrary the lazy servant is admonished, who turning to drunkenness, inflicted blows on the household of God, 4 for truly it is a whipping of virtues when vice flourishes. According to which we are rightly zealous for the prophetic word if in the morning we turn to the killing of all sinners on the earth, scourging them utterly from the city of God, 5 which is the city of the soul, all the thoughts which work iniquity, which in life is the murder of good things. So in this way by death we live, when those things in us, which the Prophet speaks of, are slain and the Word lives, He who says, 'I kill and I give life.' 6 Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 12 1 Song 5.5 2 1 Cor 15.36, Jn 12.24 3 Mt 24.45-47 4 Mt 24.48-51 5 Ps 100.8 6 Deut 32.39

The Man Of Bronze

Et introduxit me illuc: et ecce vir cujus erat species quasi species æris. Sed quaerendum nobis est cur de hoc viro dicitur, Cuius species erat quasi species aeris. Cuncti autem novimus, fratres, metallum aeris valde esse durabile, atque omnimodo sonorum. Quid est ergo quod aspectus Mediatoris Dei et hominum speciei comparatur aeris, nisi hoc quod aperte novimus, quia unigenitus Filius, formam servi accipiens, fragilitatem carnis humanae per resurrectionis suae gloriam vertit in aeternitatem, quia in eo caro facta est iam sine fine durabilis? Nam surgens a mortuis iam non moritur, mors ei ultra non dominabitur. Quid est autem, quod ipsa eius incarnatio sonoro metallo comparatur, nisi quod per eamdem assumptionem humanitatis nostrae insonuit omnibus gloria maiestatis suae? Et quasi aspectum aeris  habet in corpore, quia Deus mundo innotuit ex carne. Unde et per Ioannem dicitur: Habebat in vestimento et in femore suo scriptum: Rex regum, et Dominus dominantium. Quid enim vestimentum eius est, nisi corpus quod assumpsit ex Virgine? Nec tamen aliud eius vestimentum est, atque aliud ipse. Nam nostrum quoque vestimentum caro dicitur, sed tamen ipsi nos sumus caro, qua vestimur. Hoc autem vestimentum illius longe ante Isaias aspiciens per crucem passionis sanguine cruentatum, dixit: Quare rubrum est indumentum tuum, et vestimenta tua quasi calcantium in torculari? Cui ipse respondit: Torcular calcavi solus, et de gentibus non est vir mecum. Solus enim torcular in quo calcatus est calcavit, qui sua potentia eam quam pertulit passionem vicit. Nam qui usque ad mortem crucis passus est, de morte cum gloria surrexit. Bene autem dicitur: Et de gentibus non est vir mecum, quia hi pro quibus pati venerat passionis eius esse participes debebant, qui pro eo quod illo tempore necdum crediderant, de ipsis in passione queritur, quorum vita in illa passione quaerebatur. Per femur vero propagatio carnis est. Quia ergo per propagationem generis humani, sicut generationum ordines Matthaeo, vel Luca narrantibus describuntur, in hunc mundum venit ex virgine, et per incarnationis suae mysterium quia Rex esset et Dominus cunctis ubique gentibus indicavit, in vestimento et femore scriptum habuit:  Rex regum, et Dominus dominantium. Unde enim in mundo innotuit, ibi de se lectionis scientiam infixit. Praedicatio ergo eius ex carne, quasi quidam sonitus ex aere est. Dicatur igitur recte: Cuius species quasi species aeris. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber II, Homilia I Source: Migne PL 76.941d-942c

And he led me in, and behold a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze. 1 It must be asked by us why it is said about this man: 'whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze.' We know, brothers, that of all metals bronze is certainly the most hard and altogether sonorous. Why, then, is the sight of the Mediator of God and man compared to the appearance of bronze, unless this which we know, that the only begotten Son, receiving the form of a servant, changed the fragility of the human flesh through the glory of His resurrection to that which is eternal, because in Him that flesh is now made durable without end? For rising from the dead, now not dead, death would no more rule over Him. 2 And why is it that His incarnation may be compared to sonorous metal, unless that by the assumption of our humanity he resounded to all with the glory of His majesty?  And as the appearance of bronze is His body because God became known in the world from the flesh. Whence it is said by John, 'He had on his vestment and thigh written: 'King of kings, and Lord of lords.' 3 What, then, is His vestment but His body which He took up from the Virgin? Yet His vestment is not one thing and He is something else. For it is said our vestment also is flesh, but we are the flesh with which we are vested. Long before Isaiah saw this vestment of His stained with the blood of His passion, saying: 'Why is your covering red, and your vestment like those who tread out the wine press? To which He responds 'Alone I have trodden out the wine press, and from the peoples there is no man with me.' 4 Alone indeed he trod the winepress, He who with His power conquered that passion which He underwent. For He who suffered even to death on the cross, rose from death in glory. And well it is said: 'And from the peoples there is no man with me,' because those for whom He came to suffer His passion should have been participants, they who during that time did not yet believe, questioning those things of the passion, whose life in that passion was being sought. Now through the thigh the flesh is propagated. Because, therefore, of the propagation of the human race, as told in the order of the generations in the accounts of Matthew or Luke, in this world He came from a virgin, even through the mystery of His incarnation, and He declared that He was King and Lord of all peoples everywhere, having written on the vestment and the thigh:'The King of kings and Lord of lords.' Whence becoming known in the world, there concerning Himself He fixed the understanding of what was read. Therefore His foretelling from the flesh is as bronze resounding, and rightly it may be said, 'Whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze.' Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 2, from Homily 1 1 Ezek 40.3 2 Rom 6.9 3 Apoc 19.16 4 Isaiah 63.2-3