Faith And Seeing

Fides argentum est? aurum est? nummus est? pecus est? terra est? caelum est? Nihil horum est, et tamen est aliquid. Non tantum aliquid, sed et magnum aliquid. Interim non loquor de fide illa superiore, qua fidelis vocaris, accedens ad mensam Domini Dei tui, respondens ex fide ad verba fidei. Interim hanc si movero paulisper, de illa fide loquar, quae vulgo etiam fides dicitur, non quam magnam tibi imperat Dominus tuus sed quam tu exigis a servo tuo. Ipsam dico, quia et ipsam imperat tibi Dominus tuus, ne cuiquam fraudem facias, fidem serves in negotio, fidem serves uxori in lecto. Et hanc tibi fidem imperat Dominus tuus. Quid est fides ista? Certe non eam vides. Si non vides, quare quando tibi frangitur clamas? Clamore tuo convinco quod videas. Dicebas: Quomodo aurum Deo praepono? Aurum video, Deum non video. Ecce aurum vides, fidem non vides. An quod verius est, fidem vides. Sed quando exigis, vides illam; quando de te exigitur, non vis eam videre? Apertis oculis cordis clamas: Redde fidem quam promisisti. Clausis oculis cordis clamas: Nihil tibi promisi. In utroque oculos aperi. Inique, noli fidem, sed ipsam iniquitatem perde. Quod exigis redde. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo XXI, De eo quod scriptum in Psalmo LXIII, Iocundabitur iustus in Domino et sperabit in Eo et laudabuntur omnes recti corde Source: Migne PL 38.144-5

Is faith silver? Is it gold? Is it money? Is it cattle? Is it land? Is it sky? It is none of these things, and yet it is something. Not only something, but something great. For the moment I am not speaking of that higher faith, because of which you are called faithful, as you come near the table of the Lord your God, and answer from faith to the words of faith. This I put to the side for a moment and speak of that kind of faith which is also called common, not the great faith which your Lord enjoins on you, but the faith you demand from your servant. And this kind I say your Lord enjoins on you, not to cheat anyone, to keep faith in your business dealings, to keep faith with your wife in your bed. This faith too your Lord enjoins on you. What is this faith? Certainly you do not see it. If you do not see it, why do you make such a fuss when it's broken with you? By your fuss I convince you that you do see it. You were saying, 'How is it that I prefer gold to God? I see gold, I do not see God.' Now here you see gold and you don't see faith, or to be more truthful, you do see faith. When you demand it, you see it. When it is demanded of you, you say you do not see it? With the eyes of your mind open, you cry out, 'Keep faith as you promised.' With the eyes of your mind closed you cry out, 'I promised you nothing.' Open your eyes in both cases. Wretched one, cast out your wickedness not your faith. Return what you demand. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 21, On what is written in the sixty third Psalm, 'The righteous man shall rejoice in the Lord, and he shall hope in Him, and all the upright of heart will be praised.' 1 1 Ps 63.11

A Little Faith

Putatis autem, charissimi, nihil dicere etiam illum qui dicit, Intelliam, ut credam? Quid enim nunc agimus, nisi ut credant, non qui non credunt, sed qui adhuc parum credunt. Nam si nullo modo credidissent, hic non essent. Fides eos adduxit, ut audiant. Fides eos fecit praesentes verbo Dei, sed ipsa fides quae germinavit irriganda est, nutrienda est, roboranda est. Hoc est quod agimus. Ego, inquit, plantavi, Apollo rigavit, sed Deus incrementum dedit. Itaque neque qui plantat est aliquid, neque qui rigat, sed qui incrementum dat Deus 16. Loquendo, hortando, docendo, suadendo plantare possumus et rigare, non autem incrementum dare. Noverat autem ille cum quo loquebatur, qui fidei suae germinanti et adhuc tenerae et adhuc infirmae et ex magna parte titubanti, non tamen nullae fidei, sed alicui fidei adiutorem orabat, cui dicebat: Credo Domine Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo XLIII, De eo quod scriptum in Isaia: Nisi credideritis, non intellegetis Source: Migne PL 38.257

Do you think, most beloved, that he says nothing who says 'Let me understand that I may believe'? What are we doing now unless helping belief, not of those who do not believe, but those who believe a little? If they did not believe at all they would not be here. Faith brought them that they might hear. Faith set them in the presence of the word of God. But this faith which has germinated needs to be watered and nourished and strengthened. This is what we do. 'I planted,' he says, 'Apollo watered, but it is God who gives the growth.' 1 By speaking, exhorting, teaching, and persuading we can plant and water, but we do not give the growth. A man knew with whom He spoke, he had a faith that was germinating, and yet was still tender and still weak, and for a great part hesitant, but it was not an absence of faith, rather he asked for help for his faith, he who said, 'I believe, O Lord.' 2 Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 43, On What Is Written In Isaiah, 'Unless you believe, you will not understand.' 3 1 1 Cor 3.6-7 2 Mk 9.23 3 Isaiah 7.9

The Gain Of Forgiving

Dic mihi, cum ignoscis de corde, quid perdis? Cum ignoscis ei qui peccat in te, quid minus habebis in corde tuo? Inde enim dimittis, sed nihil amittis. Immo vero unda quaedam caritatis ibat in corde tuo, et tamquam de vena interiore manabat: tenes odium contra fratrem, obturasti fontem. Non solum ergo nihil perdis, cum ignoscis; sed abundantius irrigaris. Caritas non angustatur. Ponis ibi lapidem offensionis, et tu tibi facis angustias. Vindicabo me, ulciscar me, ego illi ostendam, ego faciam: aestuas, laboras, cui licet ignoscendo esse securum, securum vivere, securum orare. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo CCCLII, De Utilitate agendae poenitentiae Source: Migne PL 39.1557

Tell me, when you forgive from your heart, what do you lose? When you forgive him who sins against you, what will you have less of in your heart? From there you forgive, but you lose nothing. On the contrary a certain flood of love passes through your heart, as if welling up from an inner spring. If you cling to hatred against a brother, you have blocked up the spring. So when you forgive you not only lose nothing, but you are watered more abundantly. Love is not to be limited. If you place a stone of offence there, you block yourself up. 'I'll be vindicated, I'll have my revenge, I'll show him, I'll do it.' You're agitated, you're exhausting yourself, you who by forgiveness could be without a care, who could live without a care, who could pray without a care. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 352, On The Usefulness of Penance

A Judge Counselled

Vides igitur quid auctoritas tribuat, quid suadeat misericordia. Excusationem habebis, feceris: laudem, si non feceris. Sed si non potueris facere; nec tamen nocentes atterere squalore carceris, sed absolvere, plus quasi sacardos probabo. Potest enim fieri ut causa cognita, recipiatur ad senientiam reus, qui postea aut indulgeniiam sibi petat, aut certe sine gravi severitate, quod quidam ait, habitet in carcere. Scio tamen plerosque gentilium gloriari solitos, quod incruentam de administratione provinciali securim revexerrint Si hoc gentiles, quid Christiani debent? Ad omnia tamen accipe responsum Salvatoris. Nam cum adulteram reperissent obtulerunt eam Salvatori, captantes ut si absolveret eam, videretur legem solvere, qui dixerat: Non veni legem solvere, sed adimplere: si damnaret, videretur adversus finem venisse propositi sui. Hoc igitur praevidens Dominus Jesus, inclinato capite, scribebat in terra. Quid scribebat, nisi illud propheticum: Terra, terra scribe hos viros abdicatos; quod de Jechonia descriptum est in Hieremia prophetam? Cum Judaei interpellant, in terra scribuntur nomina Judaeorum: cum adeunt Christiani, non scribuntur in terra fidelium nomina, sed in coelo. In terra autem scribuntur abdicati a patre proprio, qui patrem tentant, et contumelias irrogant auctori salutis. Cum interpellant Judaei, inciinat caput Jesus; et quia non habet ubi reclinet caput suum, iterum erigit, quasi dicturus sententiam, et ait : Qui sine peccato est, prior lapidet eam. Et iterum inclinato capite, scribebat in terra. Audientes illi exire coeperunt singuli, incipentes a senioribus: vel quod ipsi plura haberent crimina, qui diu vixerant: vel quia priores vim intellexerunt sententia, quasi prudentiores, et coeperunt sua magis peccata deflere, qui alieni criminis venerant accusatores. Recedentibus ergo illis, remansit solus Jesus, et elevans caput ad mulierem, ait: Ubi sunt, qui te accusabant? Nemo te lapidavit? Et illa respondit: Nemo. Dicit ei Jesus: Nec ego te damnabo. Vade et vide amodo ne pecces. Non damnat, quasi redemptio; corrigit , ita: quasi vita: quasi fons, abluit. Et quia quando se inclinat Jesus, ideo inclinat, ut jacentes elevet: ideo ait remissio peccatorum: Nec ego te damnabo. Habes quod sequaris; potest enim fieri, ut ille criminosus possit habere spem correctionis: si sine baptismo est, ut possit accipere remissionem: si baptizatus, ut poenitentiam gerat, et corpus suum pro Christo offerat. Quantae sunt ad salutem viae. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Epistula XXV, Studio Source: Migne PL 16.1040b-1042a

See, then, that He who gives you power would persuade you to be merciful. You will be excused if you do it, praised if you do not. But if you are not able to do it, if you are unwilling to afflict the perpetrator with the squalor of a prison, I, a priest, shall approve of you far more. For it may well be that when the cause is set forth the guilty man may be reserved for judgment, who later may ask pardon for himself, or certainly may suffer what is called a less severe stay in prison. Even pagans, I know, are accustomed to boast that they have brought back the axes from their provincial government unstained with blood. And if pagans do this what should Christians to do? In all these matters receive the answer of the Saviour. The Jews brought an adulteress they had caught to the Saviour, so that they might seize on Him if He were to forgive her, because by doing that He would appear to flout the law, He who had said, 'I do not come to destroy the law, but to fulfil it,' and if He were to condemn her, He might seem to act against the purpose of His coming. Therefore the Lord Jesus, foreseeing this, inclined His head and wrote upon the earth. What did He write but that word of the prophet, 'O Earth, Earth, write these men deposed,' which was told of Jeconiah in the prophet Jeremiah. 1 When the Jews interrupt Him, their names are written in the earth, when the Christians draw near, the names of the faithful are not written on the earth but in heaven. For they are written on the earth as cast off by their Father, they who tempt their Father, and heap insult on the author of salvation. When the Jews interrupt Him, Jesus inclines His head, but not having anywhere to lay His head, 1 He raises it again, and as if about to give sentence, says, 'Let him that is without sin cast the first stone at her.' And again He inclined His head and wrote upon the ground. When they heard this they began to go out one by one beginning with the oldest, either because those who had lived the longest had committed the most sins, or because, being wiser, they were the first to understand His meaning, and so they began to lament their own sins who had come as the accusers of the evil of another. When they departed Jesus was left alone, and lifting up His head, He said to the woman, 'Woman, where are those who accused you? Has no man cast a stone at you?' She said, 'No one.' And Jesus said to her, 'Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.' He does not condemn because He is the Redemption, He corrects as the Life, He cleanses as the Fountain. For when Jesus bends down, He does so that He may raise up those who have fallen. Therefore the absolver of sins says, 'Neither do I condemn you.' You have here what you should follow, for it may be that there is hope of amendment for this guilty man, and if he is not baptised, that he may receive remission, and if he has been baptised that he may do penance and offer up his body for Christ. See how many ways there are to salvation. Saint Ambrose, from Letter 25, to Studius 1 Jn 8.3-, Mt 5.17, Jerem 22.29 2 Mt 8.20

Following The Good

Rogamus vero vos, fratres, corripite inquietos, consolamini pusillanimes, opitulamini infirmis, patientes estote ad omnes. Videte ne quis malum pro malo alicui reddat: sed semper quod bonum est sectamini et in invicem, et in omnes. Semper gaudete in Domino, sine intermissione orate, in omnibus gratias agite. Haec est enim voluntas Dei in Christo Jesu in omnibus vobis. Quoniam necesse est quosdam in plebe esse immodestos, quosdam autem pusillanimes, hoc est, timidos, quosdam vero fide infirmos; ideoque hos qui moderati sunt et magnanimes, et fide fundati, hortatur cum prece, ut his consulant, ut possint proficere, sufferentes eos; ne si retributio fit malorum, pejores se fiant. Idcirco nihil aliud quam bonum sectandum hortatur non solum in causa fratrum, sed et in omnium. Possunt enim bonis operibus attrahi infideles ad credulitatem, ex qua semper gaudeatur in Domino, hoc est, in bonum. Orandum autem sine intermissione; sedulae enim preces provocant animum judicis ad dandam misericordiam. In omnibus vero actibus bonis Deo gratias agendas, qui hanc tribuit doctrinam in Christo Jesu Domino nostro. Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam ad Thessalonicenses Primam, Caput V Source: Migne PL 17.425b-c

And we beseech you, brothers, correct the disorderly, comfort the faint hearted, support the weak, be patient with everyone. Take care that no one returns evil for evil to anyone, but always follow that which is good for each other, and for all. Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In all things give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for all of you. 1 Because it is necessary that some among the people will be troublesome and some faint hearted, that is timid, and some weak in faith, therefore with a prayer he exhorts those who are self controlled and magnanimous and firm in faith, that they should care for those mentioned, so that they may be able to profit from bearing with them, lest if there be a reward for evils, theirs be worse. Therefore he exhorts that they should seek nothing else but the good, and not only for the sake of their brothers, but for all men. For with good works they can attract the faithless to belief, because of which there is always rejoicing in the Lord, that is, in the good. But there must be prayer without ceasing, for sedulous prayer inclines the soul of the judge to turn to mercy. And in every good act give thanks to God, who gives this teaching in Jesus Christ our Lord. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The First Letter of Saint Paul To The Thessalonians, Chapter 5 1 1 Thes 5.14-17

Scandal And Wealth

Quod Dominus dicit, Qui autem scandalizaverit unum de pusillis istis, id est, ex humilibus, quales vult esse discipulos suos, non obtemperando, vel etiam contraveniendo, sicut de Alexandro aerario Apostolus dicit: expedit ei ut mola asinaria suspendatur collo ejus, et praecipetur in profundum maris: id est, congruit ei cupiditas rerum temporalium, cui stuli et caeci colligantur, eum devinctum pondere suo deducat ad interitum. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Quaestiones in Evangelium Secundum Matthaeum, Liber Primus, XXIV Source: Migne PL 35.1327-8

When the Lord says, 'He who shall scandalise one of these little ones,' 1 that is, one of the humble, which He wishes his disciples to be, not by compulsion or indeed by opposition, as the Apostle says of Alexander the coppersmith, 2 'it will be better for him that the millstone of the donkey be hung around his neck and he be cast into the depth of the sea,' 3 that is, it befits that the desire for temporal things, to which the foolish and blind are bound and crushed by its weight, leads to ruin. Saint Augustine of Hippo, Questions on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 1, 24 1 Mt 18.6 2 2 Tim. 4.14

Desire, Hope And Ruin

Tελευτήσαντος ἀνδρὸς δικαίου οὐκ ὄλλυται ἐλπίς τὸ δὲ καύχημα τῶν ἀσεβῶν ὄλλυται. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι οὐ τὸ ἐπιθυμεῖν πονηρὸν, ἀλλὰ τὸ τοιῶσδε ἐπιθυμεῖν, πονηρόν; Τῶν δὲ ἀσεδῶν kαὶ ἐλπίδες πονηραί’ πᾶν γὰρ ὃ ἐλπίσει, ἀπὠλεια. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Παροιμιας, Κεφ' IA’ Source: Migne PG 39.1633b

The death of the righteous man does not destroy hope, but the pride of the godless is ruined. 1 Do you see that it is not desire that is wicked, but the type of desire? And the hope of the godless is wicked, for everything they hope for is ruinous. Didymus the Blind, Commentary On Proverbs, Chapter 11 1 Prov 11.7 LXX

Faith And The End

Κριτής τις ἦν τὸν Θεὸν μὴ φοβούμενος... Ἐπισυνάπτει γοῦν καὶ παραβολὴν τὴν περὶ τοῦ κριτοῦ τῆς ἀδικίας, πρὸς τὸ δεῖν πάντοτε προσεύχεσθαι καὶ μὴ ἐκκακεῖν. Τὸ δὲ εἰπεῖν· Ἆρα ἐλθὼν ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου εὑρήσει τὴν πίστιν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς; ἔκλειψιν δηλοῖ τῆς πίστεως, ὡς μηδένα πιστὸν εὑρεθήσεσθαι, ἢ εἴ που ἄρα σπάνιόν τινα κατὰ τὸν τῆς δευτέρας αὐτοῦ θεοφανείας χρόνον. Ὅπερ μέγα τεκμήριον τυγχάνει τοῦ καιροῦ τῆς ἀποστασίας, ἐν ᾧ σπάνιος ἔσται ὁ εὑρεθησόμενος πιστός· τάχα δὲ οὐδὲ εἷς ἔσται, διὰ τὸ τοὺς μὲν παραληφθήσεσθαι, τοὺς δὲ καταλειφθήσεσθαι τοῖς ἀετοῖς παραδοθησομένους· οὕτω τε ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἐκλειπούσης τῆς πίστεως, αὐτὸς λοιπὸν ἐπιστήσεται τὴν ἐκδίκησιν ποιησόμενος τῶν ἁγίων αὐτοῦ τῶν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀσεβῶν ἀνῃρημένων. Ἐν τάχει δὲ ποιήσει τὴν ἐκδίκησιν, διὰ τὸ βοᾷν πρὸς αὐτὸν νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας· βοᾷν δὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐδίδαξε διὰ τῆς παραβολῆς τοῦ κριτοῦ τῆς ἀδικίας. Εὐσέβιος ὁ Καισάρειος, Τὸ Κατὰ Λουκαν Ἐπαγγελιον, Ἐκλογή Source: Migne PG 24.588c-d

There was a certain judge who did not fear God...1 He adds the parable of the wicked judge, that one should always pray and never cease on account of weariness. And when He says, 'When the Son of Man comes shall he find faith on earth?' 2 He reveals the future lack of faith, so that there is no one who is faithful, or that such a man will be very rare around the time of His second coming. Thus this shall be a great sign of the time of apostacy, when it is rare to find one who has faith. However perhaps there will not be one, because some shall have been taken up and some shall have been left behind, and indeed handed over to the eagles. 3 Therefore when there is no more faith among men, He shall come and His holy ones who have been separated from the ruin of the wicked will be vindicated. In a moment He shall be avenged, for which the former cry out to him day and the night. And that we should cry out to Him He teaches in the parable of the wicked judge. Eusebius of Caesarea, Commentary On the Gospel of Saint Luke, Fragment 1 Lk 18.2 2 Lk 18.8 3 Lk 17.34-37

Foreseeing Sins And Penance

Quaeris enim, Quare dixerit Dominus, nimirum praescius futurorum, Elegi David secundum cor meum; cum talia tantaque ipse homo commiserit. Quod quidem, si de ipso David, qui reprobato Saüle et exstincto fuit rex Israël, dictum intelligamus; magis quia Deus praescius futurorum est, praevidit in eo tantam pietatem tamque veracem poenitentiam, ut esset in eorum numero de quibus ipse dicit: Beati quorum remissae sunt iniquitates, et quorum tecta sunt peccata. Beatus vir, cui non imputavit Dominus peccatum. Cum ergo praesciret eum Deus peccaturum, et peccata sua pia humilitate et sincera poenitentia deleturum, cur non diceret, Inveni David secundum cor meum; cui non erat imputaturus peccatum tam multa bona facienti, et cum tanta pietate viventi, et ipsa pietate pro peccatis suis sacrificium contriti spiritus offerenti? Propter haec omnia verissime dictum est, Inveni David secundum cor meum. Quia licet secundum cor Dei non esset, quod ille peccavit; tamen secundum cor Dei fuit, quod pro peccatis suis congrua poenitentia satisfecit. Hoc solum ergo in illo secundum cor Dei non fuit, quod illi Deus non imputavit. Hoc itaque ablato, id est non imputato, quid remansit, nisi unde verissime diceretur, Inveni David secundum cor meum? Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Ad Dulcitium De Octo Quaestionibus Source: Migne PL 40.168

You ask why the Lord, who certainly can foresee the future, said, 'I have chosen David, a man according to my heart,' 1 when he would go on to commit such enormities. Because we should understand that which was said of David, who with Saul rejected and dead was king of Israel, was said more because the Lord who foresees the future foresaw in him such great piety and such true penitence that he was of the number of those of whom it is said, 'Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin.' 2 Therefore when the Lord foresaw him sinning and then his sins being wiped away with pious humility and sincere penitence, why should He not have said, 'I have chosen David, a man according to my heart,' that man to whom sin shall not be imputed so much as many good works, and who living with such great piety, with that same piety offered the sacrifice of a contrite spirit for his sins? 3 On account of this everything was spoken most truly with, 'I have chosen David, a man according to my heart.' He was according to the heart of the Lord not because he sinned, but he was according to the heart of God in that he offered the satisfaction of appropriate penance for his sins. Sin alone, therefore, was not in him according to the heart of God, and thus God did not impute it to him. Thus with sin washed away, that is, not to be imputed, what remained unless what was said most truly, 'I have chosen David, a man according to my heart?' Saint Augustine of Hippo, Concerning Eight Questions, To Dulcitius 1 1 Kings 13.14, Acts 13.22 2 Ps 31.1-2 3 Ps 50.19

Finding Faith

Pulchre admones, frater, ut epistolares fabulas, et sermonem absentium ad interpretationem conferamus oraculi coelestis, interrogans me quid significet illud didrachmum, cujus dimidium Hebraeus praecipitur offerre pro redemptione animae suae. Quid enim tam consociabile, quam de divinis rebus sermonem contexere? Est autem dimidium didrachmi, drachma; redemplio autem animae, fides: fides ergo drachma, quam illa mulier in Evangelio, ut legimus, amissam diligenter requirit, lucernam accendens, et mundans domum suam: et si invenerit, convocat amicas et vicinas, petens contragulari eas secum, quod invenerit drachmam quam perdiderat. Magnum enim damnum animae, si quis fidem amiserit, vel gratiam, quam fidei pretio acquisivit sibi. Et tu ergo accende lucernam tuam: Lacerna tua oculus tuus est, ille scilicet interior oculus mentis. Istam lucernam accende, quae accipit oleum spiritale, et lucet in toto domo tua. Quaere drachmam redemptionem animae tuae, quam qui amiserit, turbatur: qui invenerit, exsultat. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Epistula VII, Justo Source: Migne PL 16.16.943c-944a

You exhort well, brother, in your asking about the meaning of the half shekel which the Hebrew is directed to offer for the redemption of his soul, 1 so that while we apart from each other the intent of our letters and our speech should be of the understanding of the heavenly oracles. What indeed can be so fitting but to steep our words in Divine things? Now the half of the shekel is a piece of silver, and faith is the redemption of the soul. Faith, therefore, is that piece of silver which that woman in the Gospel, as we read, lost and diligently sought, lighting a lamp and sweeping the house, and if she finds it she calls together her friends and neighbours, telling them to rejoice with her because she has found the piece of silver which she had lost. 2 Great is the loss to the soul if a man should lose his faith, or that grace by which he obtained for himself the prize of faith. You, then, light your lamp. Your lamp is your eye, 3 that is, the inward eye of the mind. Light this lamp, which is fed by spiritual oil and gives light to your whole house. Seek the piece of silver that is your soul's redemption, for he that loses it is troubled, and he that finds it rejoices. Saint Ambrose, from Letter 7, to Justus 1 Exod 30.12 -15 2 Lk 15.8-9 3 Mt 6.22

The Bride, The Fountain and the Garden

Κῆπος κεκλεισμένος ἀδελφή μου νύμφη, κῆπος κεκλεισμένος, πηγὴ ἐσφραγισμένη. Oὐκοῦν ὁ τῶν τοιούτων δένδρων κῆπος γεγονὼς εὐθαλὴς καὶ κατάφυτος καὶ τῷ τῶν ἐντολῶν ἑρκίῳ πανταχόθεν ἠσφαλισμένος, ὡς μηδεμίαν καθ’ ἑαυτοῦ παρασχεῖν τῷ κλέπτῃ καὶ τοῖς θηρίοις τὴν πάροδον, ὁ γὰρ ἐν κύκλῳ τῷ φραγμῷ τῶν ἐντολῶν διειλημμένος ἀνεπίβατός ἐστι τῷ μονιῷ τῷ ἀγρίῳ καὶ ὁ ἐκ τοῦ δρυμοῦ αὐτὸν ὗς οὐ λυμαίνεται, εἴ τις τοίνυν καὶ κῆπός ἐστι καὶ ἠσφαλισμένος, οὗτος ἀδελφὴ καὶ νύμφη γίνεται τοῦ πρὸς τὴν τοιαύτην εἰπόντος ψυχὴν ὅτι Κῆπος κεκλεισμένος ἀδελφή μου νύμφη. Ἀλλὰ τῷ κήπῳ τούτῳ καὶ πηγῆς ἐστι χρεία, ὡς ἂν εὐθαλὲς διαμένοι τὸ ἄλσος τῷ ὕδατι πρὸς τὸ διηνεκὲς πιαινόμενον. διὰ τοῦτο συνέζευξεν ἐν τοῖς ἐπαίνοις τὴν πηγὴν τῷ κήπῳ εἰπὼν ὅτι Κῆπος κεκλεισμένος, πηγὴ ἐσφραγισμένη. Tὸν δὲ περὶ τῆς πηγῆς λόγον ἡ Παροιμία διδάσκει ἡμᾶς δι’ αἰνίγματος ἐν οἷς φησιν ὅτι Ἡ πηγὴ τοῦ ὕδατός σου ἔστω σοι ἰδία· καὶ Ἔστω σοι μόνῳ καὶ μηδεὶς ἀλλότριος μετασχέτω σοι, ὡς γὰρ ἐκεῖ κωλύει τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις ἐνδαπανᾶσθαι τῆς πηγῆς τὸ ὕδωρ, οὕτως ἐνταῦθα τὸ μηδαμοῦ διαχεῖσθαι πρὸς ἀλλοτρίους τὴν πηγὴν μαρτυρεῖ διὰ τοῦ εἰπεῖν ὅτι Ἐσφραγισμένη, ὅπερ ἴσον ἐστὶ τῷ εἰπεῖν ὅτι πεφυλαγμένη. Tὸ δὲ λεγόμενον τοιοῦτόν ἐστι· πηγὴ κυρίως κατονομάζεται κατά γε τὸν ἐμὸν λόγον ἡ διανοητικὴ τῆς ψυχῆς ἡμῶν δύναμις ἡ παντοίους λογισμοὺς ἐν ἡμῖν βρύουσά τε καὶ πηγάζουσα. Ἀλλὰ τότε ἡμέτερον γίνεται τῆς διανοίας τὸ κίνημα, ὅταν πρὸς τὰ συμφέροντα ἡμῖν κινῆται πᾶσαν ἡμῖν συνεργίαν πρὸς τὴν κτῆσιν τῶν ἀγαθῶν παρεχόμενον. ὅταν δέ τις τρέψῃ τῶν λογισμῶν τὴν ἐνέργειαν πρὸς κακίας ἐπίνοιαν, τότε τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις ἐνδαπανᾶται τὸ ῥεῖθρον, ὡς εὐτροφεῖν μὲν τὸν ἀκανθώδη βίον τῇ συμμαχίᾳ τῶν λογισμῶν καταρδόμενον, ἀποξηραίνεσθαι δὲ καὶ μαραίνεσθαι τὴν κρείττω φύσιν μηδεμιᾶς τῆς ἐκ λογισμῶν ἰκμάδος ὑποτρεφούσης τὴν ῥίζαν. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ἡ σφραγὶς τὸ ἄσυλον τῷ δι’ αὐτῆς φυλασσομένῳ χαρίζεται φοβοῦσα τῷ σημάντρῳ τὸν κλέπτην, πᾶν δὲ τὸ μὴ κλεπτόμενον τῷ δεσπότῃ μένει ἀκέραιον, τὴν ἀκροτάτην ἔοικεν ἀρετὴν μαρτυρεῖν τῇ νύμφῃ ἐνταῦθα ὁ ἔπαινος, ὅτι ἀνέπαφος αὐτῆς μένει τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ἡ διάνοια ἐν καθαρότητι καὶ ἀπαθείᾳ φυλασσομένη τῷ ἰδίῳ δεσπότῃ· σφραγίζεται γὰρ τὴν πηγὴν ταύτην ἡ καθαρότης μηδεμιᾷ νοημάτων ἰλύϊ τὸ διαυγές τε καὶ ἀερῶδες τῆς καρδίας ἐπιθολώσασα. Ὡς δ’ ἄν τις ἐπὶ τὸ σαφέστερον προαγάγοι τὸ νόημα, τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν· ἐπειδὴ τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν τὰ μὲν ὡς ἀληθῶς ἐστιν ἡμέτερα, ὅσα τῆς ψυχῆς ἐστιν ἴδια, τὰ δὲ οἰκειούμεθα ὡς ἡμέτερα, τὰ περὶ τὸ σῶμά τε καὶ τὰ ἔξωθεν λέγω, διά τινος ἡμαρτημένης ὑπολήψεως ἴδια νομίζοντες τὰ ἀλλότρια, τί γὰρ κοινὸν τῇ ἀΰλῳ τῆς ψυχῆς φύσει πρὸς τὴν ὑλικὴν παχυμέρειαν, τούτου χάριν ὅ γε παροιμιώδης συμβουλεύει λόγος μὴ τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις ἡμῶν, τοῖς περὶ τὸ σῶμά φημι καὶ τὰ ἔξωθεν, τὴν πηγὴν τῆς διανοίας ἐναναλίσκεσθαι, ἀλλὰ περὶ τὸν ἴδιον ἀναστρέφεσθαι κῆπον τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ φυτείαν πιαίνουσαν. Ἀρετὰς δὲ εἶναι τὴν φυτείαν τοῦ θεοῦ μεμαθήκαμεν, περὶ ἃς ἡ διανοητικὴ τῆς ψυχῆς ἡμῶν δύναμις ἀσχολουμένη καὶ πρὸς οὐδὲν τῶν ἔξωθεν ἀπορρέουσα τῷ χαρακτῆρι τῆς ἀληθείας σφραγίζεται, τῇ πρὸς τὸ ἀγαθὸν σχέσει ἐμμορφουμένη. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων, Ὁμιλία θʹ Source: Migne PG 44.864b-865b

My sister bride is an enclosed garden, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed. 1 So he who has become a garden with trees like these, flourishing and fully planted and protected on every side by the fence of the commandments so that there is no entrance possible for the thief or wild beasts, for the one encircled by the bar of the commandments is inaccessible to the 'savage pig,' and 'the boar from the forest' does not 'ravage' him, 2 if, then, I say, someone is both a garden and one that is protected, he becomes the sister and bride of the One who says to such a soul, 'My sister bride is an enclosed garden.' A garden like this, though, has need of a spring so that the grove may continue to flourish by being fed with a continuous supply of water. That is why the Bridegroom adds a fountain along with the garden in his praises and says 'a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed.' Regarding the significance of the fountain, Proverbs instructs us in a mystery where it says, 'Let your fountain of water be your own,' and 'Let it be yours only and let no stranger share it with you.' 3 For just as there the it forbids the fountain's waters to be spent on strangers, so here, by the expression 'sealed,' which is to say 'it has been kept safe,' it testifies that the stream from the fountain is not scattered anywhere for the sake of strangers. As I see it, what is most properly termed fountain is the soul’s faculty of reasoning, which teems within us with all sorts of thoughts and like a fountain gushes them forth. But the motion of the reasoning faculty becomes properly ours only when it is directed to what is beneficial for us and when it assists us in every way to possess good things. But when someone turns the working of his thoughts toward the working of evil, then the stream spends itself on things alien, in which the life of thorns flourishes, watered as it is by the help of such thoughts, while the higher nature withers and dries up because its root is not nourished by the water of his thoughts. Since, then, the seal, which inspires the thief with terror by its mark, confers inviolability upon whatever is guarded by it, and since whatever is not stolen remains the unspoiled property of its owner, the praise accorded here seems to ascribe the highest possible virtue to the Bride, namely, that her mind remains untouched by her enemies because it is preserved for its proper owner in purity and impassibility. For this fountain is sealed by purity, and no turbid thoughts obscure the transparency and clarity of its heart. And in order to make our thoughts as clear as can be, let us say this, that of the things that are within us, there are some things that are truly ours, that is, whatever is proper to the soul, and there are some things associated with the body and things outside of us, that we appropriate as though they were ours because by reason of some erroneous notion we think what is alien to be our own. What, after all, does the immaterial nature of the soul have in common with the coarse crudity of matter? This is why Proverbs counsels us not to spend our mind’s fountain on what is alien to us, which I say is the body and things outside of us, but we should turn away to the increase of the garden of God’s planting. And we have learned that God’s planting is the virtues, and when the thinking faculty of the soul is attentive to these and not flowing off to something external, it is sealed with the mark of truth and shaped by a disposition for what is good. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 9 1 Song 4.12 2 Ps 79.14 3 Prov 5.17–18

Glory And Disgrace

..αἰσχύνθητε ἀπὸ καυχήσεως ὑμῶν ἀπὸ ὀνειδισμοῦ ἔναντι Kυρίου. Ἴδωμεν δὲ καὶ ἑξῆς ἐπίπληξιν ἀναγχαίαν ἣν καλὸν εἰς τὸν ἐθικὸν τόπον ἀναλαθεῖν λέγουσαν" Αἷσχύγθητε ἀπὸ καυχήσεως ὑμῶν, ἀπὸ ὀνειδισμοῦ ἐναντίον Κυρίου. Ἔστι τινὰ ἐν οἷς καυχώμεθα δια τὴν ἄνοιαν, οὐχ οὖσιν καυχήσεως ἀξίοις οἷον ἐάν καυχήσηταί τις, ὅτι πλούσιός ἐστι, καὶ πολλὰ χέχτηται, λέγοιτ᾽ ἂν πρὸς αὐτόν Αἰσχύγθητε ἀπὸ καυχήσεως ὑμῶν. Ἐὰν καυχήσηται τι; ἐπὶ εὐγενείξ ταύτῃ τῇ ἐκτὸς, λεχθήσεται πρὸς αὐτόν" Αἰσχύγθητε ἀπὸ καυχήσεως ὑμῶν. Ἐὰν καυχήσηταί τις ἐπὶ πολυτελείᾳ ἱματίων, ἐπὶ οἰκοδομῇ οἰχίας πλουσίως κατεσχευασμένης, ἀλλοτρία ἐστὶν ἡ καύχησις καυχῆς σεως ἁγίων" διὸ λεχθήσεται πρὸς τὸν τοιοῦτον᾽ Αἰσιχὺγθητε ἀπὸ καυχήσεως ὑμῶν. Άkουε τοῦ λόγου τοῦ προφήτου Ἱερεμίου χελεύοντος ἡμᾶς μὴ καυχᾶσθαι· Μηδὲ ὁ σοφὸς ἐπὶ τῇ σοφίᾳ αὐτοῦ, μηδὲ ὀϊσχυρὸς ἐν τῇ ἰσχύϊ αὑτοῦ, μηδὲ ὁ πιλούσιος ἐν' τῷ πιλούτῳ αὐτοῦ, μηδὲ ἐν τούτῳ καυχάσθω ὁ καυχώμενος, συγιεῖν καὶ γιγώσκειν, ὅτι ἐγώ εἶμι Κύριος. θέλεις καυχᾶσθαι, καὶ καυχώμενος μὴ ἀκοῦσαι, Αἰσχύνθητε ἀπὸ καυχήσεως ὑμῶν; Καύχησαι ὡς ᾿Απόστολος, καὶ εἰπέ ᾿Εμοὶ δὲ μὴ γέγοιτο καυχᾶσθαι εἰ μὴ ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ, δι' οὗ ἐμοὶ κόσμος ἐσταύρωται, κἀγὼ τῷ κόσμῳ. Θέλεις kαυχᾶσθαι ἵνα μὴ ἐλεγχθῇς· Αἰσιχύνθητε ἀπὸ kαυχήσεως ὑμῶν; Ἄκουε Παύλου καυχωμένου, καὶ μάνθανε, ὅταν λέγῃ· Ἥδιστα οὗν καυχήσομαι ἐν ταῖς ἀσθεγείαις μου, ἵν ἐπισκηγώσῃ ἐπ᾿ ἐμὲ ἡ δύναμις τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ἄκουε οἷα καυχᾶται καυχήματα Eν κόποις περισσοτέρως. Τίς δύναται ἡμῶν τοῦτο εἰπεῖν; Ἐν φυλακαῖς ὑπερβαλλιόντως. ἐν θανάτοις πολλιάκις ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων πεντάχις τεσσαράκοντα παρὰ μίαν ἔλαβον, τρὶς ἐῤῥαῦδίσθην, ἅπαξ ἐλιθάσθηγν, τρὶς ἐραυάγησα. Μανθάνομεν οὖν χαὶ χαυχήσεων εἶναι διαφοράς᾽ ὥς τινας μὲν χαυχήσεις εἶναι αἰσχύνης ἀξίας, ἐφ᾽ οἷς λέγοιτ᾽ ἂν ἐχεῖνο τὸ ἀποστολιχόν᾽ Καὶ ἡ δόξα ἐν τῇ αἰσχύνῃ αὐτῶν. Ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἔδει αὐτοὺς αἰσχύνεσθαι, ἐπὶ τούτοις οἴονται δοξάζεσθαι. Ὠριγένης Ἰερεμίας, Ὁμολία IA' Source: Migne PG 13.324c-325a

...you are disgraced in your glorying, in your shame before the Lord. 1 Let us see what else there is here for needful correction, which we should receive in a moral sense: 'You are disgraced in your glorying, in your shame before me.' There are many things in which we glory and show our lack of sense. For example, if some glory in their many possessions, He says to them, 'You are disgraced in your glorying.' If some glory in the nobility of their family, it is said to them, 'You are disgraced in your glorying.' If someone fall into boasting over expensive clothing, over a house adorned with much wealth, he is far from the glory of the saints, and it is said to him: 'You are disgraced in your glorying.' Hear what the Divine speech says to Jeremiah, exhorting us not to glory in our wisdom, 'Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the rich man in his riches, he who would glory let him glory in understanding and knowing that I am the Lord.' 2 You wish to glory and not hear in your glorying: 'You are disgraced in your glorying.' ? Glory like the Apostle and say, 'Let it no be for me to glory but in the cross of Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.' 3 You wish to glory and not hear, 'You are disgraced in your glorying'? Hear Paul glorying and learn when he says, 'Gladly, then, I glory in my weaknesses so that the power of Christ might dwell in me.' 4 Hear what the glories are that he glories in, 'In much labour.' Who can say this? 'In a long time in prison, often among the dead, from the Jews who gave me forty five lashes less one, three blows of the stick, and once I was stoned, three times I suffered shipwreck.' 5 Let us learn the differences between glories and that some glory in what is shameful, and some in the things the Apostle speaks of. 'And their glory is in their disgrace.' 6 Over things which disgrace them, these they think make them glorious. Origen, from the Eleventh Homily on Jeremiah 1 Jerem 12.13 2 Jerem 9.23-24 3 Galat 6.14 4 2 Cor 12.9 5 2 Cor 11.23-25 6 Philip 3.19

Bearing The Stigmata

Ego autem stigmata Domini Jesu in corpore meo porto. Qui post adventum Christi in carne circumciditur, non portat stigmata Domini Jesu; sed habet gloriam in confusione sua. Qui vero in plagis supra modum, in carceribus frequenter, ter virgis caesus est, semel lapidatus est, et caetera quae in catalogo scripta sunt gloriandi, hic stigmata Domini Jesu in corpore suo portat. Forte et is qui macerat corpus suum, et subjicit servituti, ne aliis praedicans ipse reprobus inveniatur, portat stigmata Domini Jesu in corpore suo. Laetabantur et apostoli quod digni fuerant pro nomine Jesu contumeliam pati. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum in Epistolam ad Galatas, Liber III, Cap VI Source: Migne PL 26.438a

But I bear the stigmata of the Lord Jesus on my body... 1 He who after the coming of Christ is circumcised in the flesh does not bear the stigmata of the Lord Jesus, but he glories in his confusion. However he who receives blows for the way, and frequent imprisonments, and has fallen three times, and was once stoned, and the other things which are recorded for glory, 2 he bears the stigmata of the Lord Jesus on his body. And perhaps even he who emaciates his body and subjects it to servitude, lest he merit reproof when preaching to others, bears the stigmata of the Lord Jesus on his body. 3 And the Apostles rejoiced that they were worthy to suffer abuse for the name of Jesus. 4 Saint Jerome, Commentary on the Letter to the Galatians, Book 3, Chapter 6 1 Galat 6.17 2 2 Cor 23-25 3 1 Cor 9.27 4 Act 5.41

Labour And Chains

Memor esto Christum Jesum resurrexisse a mortuis ex semine David secundum Evangelium meum, in quo laboro usque ad vincula, quasi latro, sed verbum Dei non alligatum. Quoniam multi futuri erant filii diaboli, qui Filium Dei incarnatum negarent; idcirco hoc memorat, quoniam fallaciter sub nomine apostolorum hoc asseverate nituntur. Subjecit, secundum Evangelium meum, ut excluderet malae mentis falsa colloquia; non enim plus haereticis credendum est de apostolis, quam his ipsis de praedicatione sua testantibus, quam praedictionem cum labore se agere queritur. Pressuris enim tribulabatur et carceribus, eo quod tam Judaeos quam gentiles offenderet, sicut illis videbatur, incredibilia praedicando; iratos enim habebat Judaeos propter Legem, quam cessare docebat: gentiles autem inimicos sibi faciebat, quia unum Deum praedicabat in Christo. Unde quasi latronem hunc tractabant, alligantes, claudentes si posset tacere, nescientes quia verbum Dei alligari non poterat. Denique saepe clausus non dispendium fecit, sed lucrum; neque enim defuit, cui praedicaret in carcere, ut quos libere invitare ad fidem non posset, in vinculis positus pasceret Dei verbo. Ambrosiaster, Commentaria in Epistolam ad Timotheum Secundam, Caput II Source: Migne PL 17.489b

Remember Jesus Christ, resurrected from the dead, from the seed of David, according to my Gospel at which I labour, even to the wearing of chains like a criminal, but the word of God has not been bound. 1 Because there shall be many sons of the devil who deny the incarnation of the Son of God, therefore he reminds him of this which they deceitfully struggle to assert under the name of Apostles. He adds 'according to my Gospel' to exclude the false speech of wicked minds, for heretic apostles should not be trusted more than the testimony of his own preaching, by which preaching with labour he seeks to prove himself. Indeed he suffered persecution and imprisonment because just as he offended Jews, so he offended Gentiles, by preaching, as it seemed to them, unbelievable things. He angered Jews because of the Law which he taught was ended, and he made enemies of Gentiles because he preached one God in Christ. Whence they treated him as a criminal, putting him in chains, as if by shutting him up they might silence him, not knowing that the word of God cannot be fettered. Finally by his frequent imprisonment, he did not suffer loss, but profited, for in prison there was no lack of men to preach to, so that those he was not able to call to faith when free, he fed with the word of God when placed in chains. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The Second Letter of Saint Paul To Timothy, Chapter 2 1 2 Tim 2.8-9

Apostles and Prisoners

Paulus vinctus Jesu Christi... In nulla Epistola hoc cognomine usus est, licet in corpore epistolorum, ad Ephesios vidlicet et Philippenses, et Colossense, esse se in vinculis pro confessione testetur. Majoris autem mihi videtur supercilii, vinctum se Jesu Christi dicere, quam Apostolum. Gloriabantur quippe apostoli, quod digni fuerant pro nomine Jesu Christi contumeliam pati; sed necessaria auctoritas vinculorum. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Philemonem Source: Migne PL 26.605a

Paul, a prisoner for Jesus Christ... 1 Paul does not name himself in this way in any other letter, though among the collection of his letters, that is, in Ephesians and in Philippians and Colossians he bears witness that he is in chains because of his confession. But it seems to me it is of more importance to say he is a prisoner of Jesus Christ than an Apostle. Since the Apostles gloried that they were worthy to suffer abuse for the name of Jesus Christ, 2 the prestige of chains is unavoidable. Saint Jerome, Commentary on the Epistle to Philemon 1 Philemon 1 2 Acts 5.41

Differing Annunciations

Venit angelus Gabriel ad Zachariam, non ad Elisabeth uxorem eius, matrem Ioannis: venit, inquam, angelus Gabriel ad Zachariam, non ad Elisabeth. Quare? Quia Ioannes per Zachariam futurus erat in Elisabeth. Ergo angelus annuntians venturum Ioannem nascendo, non venit ad exceptorium ventris, sed ad fontem seminis. Nuntiavit amborum futurum filium, sed patri nuntiavit. Venturus enim erat Ioannes de connubio masculi et feminae. Ecce iterum ipse Gabriel venit ad Mariam, non ad Ioseph: unde erat caro illa coeptura, unde erat initium habitura, ad ipsam angelus venit. Patri autem sacerdoti Zachariae quomodo angelus futurum filium praenuntiavit? Noli, inquit, timere, Zacharia, exaudita est oratio tua. Quid enim, fratres mei, sacerdos ille ideo intraverat in sancta sanctorum, ut filios precaretur a Domino: Absit. Dicit aliquis: Unde hoc probas? non enim indicavit Zacharias quid rogaverit. Unum est quod breviter dico: Si petisset filium, crederet annuntiatum. Angelus dicit quod ei filius nasceretur, ille non credit? certe hoc rogaverat? Quis rogat sine spe? aut quis non credit in spe? Si non speras, quare petis? si speras, quare non credis? Quid ergo? Exaudita est, inquit, oratio tua: nam ecce concipiet Elisabeth, et pariet tibi filium. Quare? Quia exaudita est oratio tua. Si diceret Zacharias, Quare? hoc rogavi? Utique angelus nec falleretur, nec falleret, quando dicebat? Exaudita est oratio tua: nam ecce paritura est uxor tua. Sed quare hoc dictum est? Quia ille pro populo sacrificabat: sacerdos pro populo sacrificabat, populus Christum exspectabat; Ioannes Christum annuntiabat. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo CCXCI, In Natali Ioannis Baptistae Source: Migne PL 38.253-254

The angel Gabriel came to Zachariah and not to his wife Elizabeth. The angel Gabriel came, I say, to Zachariah and not to Elizabeth. Why? Because John was to be conceived in Elizabeth by Zachariah. Therefore the angel who was to announce the coming birth of John did not come to one who bore the receptacle of the womb but to the source of the seed. He announced the coming of the son of both of them, but he announced it to the father, that John was to come from the coupling of male and female. Behold, again Gabriel comes, and to Mary and not to Joseph, whence he begins with that flesh which was the beginning of His habitation, her to whom the angel came. How did the angel announce the future son to the father and priest Zachariah? 'Do not fear, Zachariah, your prayer has been heard.' 1 Did, then, my brothers, that priest enter into the holy of holies to pray that he might receive a son by the Lord? May it not be. But someone might say, 'How is it that you assert this?' For it does not tell us what Zachariah had asked. I shall speak briefly. If he had sought a son, he would have believed the angel. But did not the angel say to him that a son would be born to him and he did not believe it? Can there be any certainty that he asked? Who asks without hope? Or who hopes and does not believe? If you do not hope, how is it that you seek? If you hope, how is it you do not believe? What then? 'Your prayer has been heard,' the angel says, 'for behold Elizabeth shall conceive and give birth to a son for you.' Why? 'Because your prayer has been heard.' If Zachariah had asked, 'What? Did I ask for this?' What would the angel say who did not lie, nor would lie? 'Your prayer is heard,' because, behold, your wife shall give birth. But why was this said? Because he had sacrificed for the people. He, the priest, had sacrificed for the people, the people who hoped for Christ, and John was to announce Christ. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 291, On the Birth of Saint John the Baptist 1 Lk 1.13

Various Hungers

Mακάριοι οἱ πεινῶντες καὶ διψῶντες τὴν δικαιοσύνην, ὅτι αὐτοὶ χορτασθήσονται Ὥσπερ δέ κατά την αίσθητήν ταύτην την τροφήν ἔχομεν, ού των αύτών πάντες έφίενται, αλλά μερίζεται πολλάκις πρὸς τά εἴδη τών ἐδωδίμων ή τῶν μετ εχόντων ἐπιθυμία, καὶ ό μέν τις έπιτέρπεται τοϊς γλυκαίνουσιν, άλλος πρὸς τά ὁριμύσσοντά τε καὶ θερμαίνοντα την ὁρμήν ἔχει· ἕτερος δέ τοϊς άλμώδεσι, καὶ άλλος τοις παραστύφουσιν ήδεται' συμβαίνει δέ πολλάκις μή κατά τδ λυσιτελοΰν έγγίνεσθαι την ὁρμήν έκάστῳ της βρώσεως, κατά γάρ τινα κράσεως ἰδιότητα πρός τι πάθος έπιῥῥεπῶς τις ἒχων, τρέφει τήν νόσον τῇ τών κατ' άλλήλων βρωμάτων ποιότητι· εί δέ πρὸς τά ώφελοΰντα τήν ὁρμήν σχοίη, πάντως έν ύγιεία βιώσεται, τής τροφής αύτώ συντηρούσης τήν εύεξίαν· ούτως καὶ έπ'ι τής ψυχής τροφής ού πάντων πρὸς τὸ αύτὸ ῥέπουσιν αί έπιθυμίαι. Οί μέν γάρ δόξης, ἢ πλούτου, ἢ τίνος κοσμικής περιφανείας ὸρέγονται, άλλοις περὶ τήν τράπεζαν άσχολδς έστιν ή ὀρεξις, ἕτεροι τδν φθoνον, ὥς τινα δηλητηριώδη τροφήν προθύμως άναλαμβάνουσιν είσΐν δέ τίνες οίς τo τή φύσει καλὸν έν ὀρέξει γίνεται. Φύσει δέ καλὸν άεὶ καὶ πάσι τοΰτό έστιν, μή άλλου τινὸς ἒνεκέν έστιν αίρετὸν, άλλ' αύτὸ δι' έαυτὸ ἐπιθυμητὸν, άεὶ ώσαύτως ἔχον, καὶ οὐδέποτε άμβλυνόμενον κόρῳ. Διά τούτο μακαρίζει δ Λδγος ού τοί'ς άπλώς πεινώντας, άλλ' οΐ; πρδς τήν άληθή δικαιοσύνην ή έπιθυμία τήν ῥoπήν ἔχει. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Εἰς Τους Μακαρισμους, Logos Δ' Source: Migne PG 44.1233a-c

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled 1 But as it is with material food that not all desire the same thing, but there is often difference in appetite for the types of food eaten, and some delight in sweet things, and others in sharp and hot things, and others in salty foodstuffs, and others have pleasure in bitterness, and often it happens that it is not for utility and comfort that the appetite for food is found in a man, for if someone with his own temperament inclines to something harmful, he will nourish himself by his predilection on the wrong kinds of food, but then if he begins to desire those things which benefit, by the nourishment of what preserves he will live with an inclination to health, so in the same way it happens with the nourishment of the soul, that not everyone's desire turns and inclines to the same thing. For some desire glory, some wealth, others worldly splendour, and others have the appetite fixed on the things of the table, and others take up the poison of envy for their food, but then there are not a few who desire that which is good and noble. And what is good in its nature is always good for everyone, and it is not desirable for the sake of something else but in itself, and it is always the same and satiety can never suppress it nor dull it. Therefore the Word holds them blessed who not only hunger but who do so with a propensity and inclination for true righteousness. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, On The Beatitudes, from the Fourth Oration 1 Mt 5.7

The Soul's Sustenence

Hoc igitur verum et summum bonum, si illo concupiscibili suo et delectabili anima gustaverit, et duabus his hauserit affectionibus, excludens dolorem et formidinem, incredibiliter exaestuat. Osculata enim Verbum Dei, modum non capit, nec expletur, dicens: Suavis es, Domine, et in jucunditate tua doce me justificationes tuas. Osculata Dei Verbum, concupiscit super omnem decorem, diligit super omnem laetitiam, delectatur super omnia aromata, cupit frequenter videre, saepe intendere, cupit attrahi, ut sequi possit. Unguentum, inquit, exinanitum est nomen tuum; propterea te diligimus adolescentulae, propterea certamus, sed comprehendere te non possumus. Attrahe nos, ut possimus currere, ut odore unguentorum tuorum accipiamus virtutem sequendi. Festinat etiam interna mysteria videre, ipsam requiem Verbi, ipsam boni illius summi habitationem, et lucem ejus, et claritatem. In illo sinu ac recessu patrio festinat audire sermones ejus; et cum audierit, super omnem suavitatem accipit. Doceat te Propheta, qui gustavit, et ait: Quam dulcia faucibus meis verba tua, super mel et favum ori meo. Quid enim aliud desiderat anima, quae semel suavitatem Verbi gustaverit, quae semel claritatem ejus viderit? Moyses in monte positus quadraginta diebus Legem accipiens, cibum corporis non requirebat : Elias ad illam festinans requiem, rogabat ut acciperetur a se anima sua: Petrus aspiciens et ipse in monte Dominicae resurrectionis gloriam, nolebat descendere, dicens: Domine, bonum est nos hic esse. Quanta igitur illa divinae substantiae gloria, quanta Verbi bona, in quae concupiscunt et angeli prospicere! Anima igitur quae illud videt, corpus hoc non requirit, minimamque sibi familiaritatem cum eo esse debere intelligit, renuntiat saeculo, abducit se a vinculis carnis, exuit omnibus voluptatum istarum nexibus. Denique Stephanus Jesum videbat, et lapidari non formidabat; immo cum lapidaretur, non pro se, sed pro illis a quibus perimebatur, rogabat. Paulus quoque raptus usque ad tertium coelum, cum corpore esset, an sine corpore, nesciebat: raptus, inquam, in paradisum, usum proprii jam non sentiebat corporis; et audiens verba Dei, quomodo ad corporis infirmitates descenderet, erubescebat. Itaque sciens quid vidisset in paradiso, vel quid audisset, clamabat dicens: Quid adhuc velut videntes de hoc mundo decernitis? Ne tetigeritis, ne attaminaveritis, ne gustaveritis quae sunt omnia ad corruptelam ipso usu. Volebat enim nos in figura esse istius mundi, non in possessione atque usu; ut ita utamur hoc mundo tamquam non utamur, tamquam praetereuntes, non tamquam residentes: ambulantes tamquam in imagine saeculi, non in cupiditate, ut velocissima disputatione ipsam imaginem hujus mundi transeamus. Denique ipse fide ambulans, non specie, peregrinabatur a corpore, aderat Domino; et cum esset in terris, non in terrenis, sed in coelestibus conversabatur. Ergo anima nostra, quae Deo vult appropinquare, elevet se a corpore, semper illi summo adhaereat, illi bono quod est divinum, quod est semper, et quod erat ab initio, et quod erat apud Deum, hoc est, Dei Verbum. Ipsum est illud divinum, in quo vivimus, et sumus, et movemur. Ipsum est quod erat in principio, ipsum est quod est. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Epistula XXIX, Irenaeo Source: Migne PL 16.1056d-1058b

Therefore if the soul with its faculties of desire and pleasure has tasted the true and greatest good and has by the means of these two affections drunk it in, untouched by sorrow and fear, it is wonderfully kindled. For having kissed the Word of God, it knows no measure and yet feels no satiety, saying. 'You are sweet, O Lord, amid your joy teach me your justifications.' 1 Having kissed the Word of God, it desires Him above all beauty, it loves Him above all joy, it delights in Him above all scents, it desires to see Him often, to look on Him often, and to be drawn to Him that it might follow. 'Your name,' she says, 'is as ointment poured out, because of which we maidens love you, and we strive but we cannot grasp you. Draw us out that we may run, that by the fragrance of your ointments we may be given the strength to follow.' 2 Indeed the soul hurries to see internal mysteries, to the rest of the Word, to the very dwelling of that greatest Good, His light and brightness. Into that paternal lap it hurries to hear His words, and when it has heard, it receives them as something sweeter than all things. Let the Prophet teach you, he who tasted and said, 'How sweet are your words in my throat, far beyond honey and the comb in my mouth.' 3 For when it has once tasted the sweetness of the Word and seen His brightness, what else shall the soul desire ? When Moses received the Law he remained forty days on the mount and required no food for his body. Elijah, hastening to this rest, prayed that his soul might be taken away. Peter, looking on the glory of the Lord’s resurrection on the mount, did not wish to descend, saying, 'Lord, it is good for us to be here.' How great then is the glory of the Divine substance, how great the goods of the Word on which even the angels desire to look? 4 Therefore the soul which beholds this greatest good does not need the body, and it understands that it should have as little familiarity with it as possible. It renounces the world, withdraws itself from the chains of the flesh, and removes itself from all the bonds of earthly pleasures. Thus Stephen beheld Jesus and did not fear to be stoned. Indeed while he was being stoned, he did not pray for himself but for those who were killing him. Paul also, when caught up to the third heaven, did not know if he was in or out of the body. 5 Caught up, I say, into Paradise, he no longer knew the use of his own body, and then hearing the words of God he blushed to descend again to the infirmities of it. And thus knowing what he had seen in Paradise and what he had heard, he cried out saying, 'Why do you yet judge as though looking on the world? Touch not, taste not, handle not, for all are corrupted in the using.' 6 He wants us to have this world as a figure, not for use or possession, but that we make use of the world as though we did not, as passers by and not dwellers, walking as if in an image of the world, not in the desire for it, so that we may pass over the image of this world as quickly as possible. So he walked, by faith and not by sight, 7 travelling from the body and drawing near to the Lord, and on the earth he did not associate with earthly things but heavenly things. Therefore let our soul, which wishes to draw near God, lift itself from the body, and ever adhere to that greatest height, which is Divine, which is everlasting, which was from the beginning, and which was with God, that is, the Word of God. This is the Divine One, 'in whom we live and are and move.' That which was in the beginning, is that which is. 8 Saint Ambrose, from Letter 29, to Irenaeus 1 Ps 118.68 2 Song 1.2 3 Ps 118.103 4 Exod 34.28, 1 Kings 19.4, Mt 17.4, 1 Pet. 1.12 5 Acts 7.55, 2 Cor 12. 2 6 Col 2.20–22 7 2 Cor 5.8 8 Jn 1.1, Acts 17.28, Exod 3.14

Knowing God

Confiteor tibi, Domine, Pater caeli et terrae, quia abscondisti haec a sapientibus et prudentibus, et revelasti ea parvulis... Qui sunt sapientes? Antiqui philosophi, et oratores, qui naturali sapientia literarum exercitatione exacuminati, de Dei natura quaerere contendebant, non Deum invenire desiderantes, sed altissima disserere cupientes, victi sunt ingenio, defecerunt sermone: in ultimo nihil se amplius invenire potuisse confessi sunt, nisi quia Deus incognoscibilis est. Et ut quid ergo tantum laborasti, si ignorans es, postquam requisisti, quemadmodum fueras, antequem quaereres? Sicut enim qui innavigabilem oceanum navigare se usurpat, dum non potest eum transire, necesse est, ut per eadem viam revertatur, unde ingressus est: sic et illi ab ignorantia coeperunt, et in ignorantia finierunt. O homo sapiens, magis autem insipiens! Deus invisibilis est, et quis potest videre,nisi ipse se videat? Serva ergo mandata Dei, sanctifica cor tuum, ita ut inhabitet Deus in te, et videas Deum. Magis autem non vides, sed Deus, qui est in te, videt te. Deus incomprehensibilis est. Quis enim potest comprehendere eum, nisi ipse se comprehendat? Serva ergo mandata Dei, sanctifica cor tuum, ita ut Deus habitet in te, et quotidie magis ac magis invenies Deum. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia XXVIII Source: Migne PG 56.776

I confess to you Lord, Father of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them to little ones... 1 Who are the wise? The ancient philosophers and orators who with their natural wisdom exerted themselves in the exercise of letters and disputed in the enquiry of the nature of God, not wishing to find God but desiring to speak cleverly of high things, who were by their own minds overthrown, and cast down in their words, for in the end they confessed they were not able to find out anything more than that God was unknowable. And why, therefore, did you labour so greatly, if being ignorant, after you had ceased, you were as you were before you sought? For like a man who has thrust himself forward to navigate the unnavigable ocean which he is not able to cross, and he must return on the same way he went out, so it is that those who have begun from ignorance shall end in ignorance. O wise man, how much more unwise! God cannot be seen, and who can see Him unless He shall see Himself? Therefore keep the commandments of God, sanctify your heart, so that God may dwell in you, and you will see God, or rather you will not see but God who is in you shall see for you. God is unknowable and who is able to know him unless Him who knows Himself? Therefore keep the commandments of God, sanctify your heart, so that God might dwell in you and with every day that passes you will find God more and more. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 28 1 Mt 11.25

The Trinity And Plato

Πορφύριος γάρ φησι, Πλάτωνος ἐκτιθέμενος δόξαν, ἄχρι τριῶν ὑποστάσεων τὴν τοῦ θείου προελθεῖν οὐσίαν, εἶναι δὲ τὸν μὲν ἀνωτάτω θεὸν τἀγαθόν, μετ' αὐτὸν δὲ καὶ δεύτερον τὸν δημιουργόν, τρίτον δὲ καὶ τὴν τοῦ κόσμου ψυχήν· ἄχρι γὰρ ψυχῆς τὴν θειότητα προελθεῖν. Ἰδοὺ δὴ σαφῶς ἐν τούτοις ἄχρι τριῶν ὑποστάσεων τὴν τοῦ θείου προελθεῖν οὐσίαν ἰσχυρίζεται· εἷς μὲν γάρ ἐστιν ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεός, κατευρύνεται δὲ ὥσπερ ἡ περὶ αὐτοῦ γνῶσις εἰς ἁγίαν τε καὶ ὁμοούσιον Τριάδα, εἴς τε Πατέρα φημὶ καὶ Υἱὸν καὶ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, ὃ καὶ ψυχὴν τοῦ κόσμου φησὶν ὁ Πλάτων· ζωοποιεῖ δὲ τὸ Πνεῦμα, καὶ πρόεισιν ἐκ ζῶντος Πατρὸς δι' Υἱοῦ, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ ζῶμεν καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν. Ἀληθεύει γὰρ ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός· Τὸ Πνεῦμά ἐστι τὸ ζωοποιοῦν. Καὶ πάλιν ὁ αὐτὸς Πορφύριος περὶ Πλάτωνος· ∆ιὸ ἐν ἀπορρήτοις περὶ τούτων αἰνιττόμενός φησι· Περὶ τὸν βασιλέα πάντα ἐστί, καὶ ἐκείνου ἕνεκα πάντα, καὶ ἐκεῖνο αἴτιον πάντων καλῶν, δεύτερον δὲ περὶ τὰ δεύτερα, καὶ τρίτον περὶ τὰ τρίτα. Ὡς γὰρ πάντων μὲν περὶ τοὺς τρεῖς ὄντων θεούς, ἀλλ' ἤδη πρώτως μὲν περὶ τὸν πάντων βασιλέα, δευτέρως δὲ περὶ τὸν ἀπ' ἐκείνου θεόν, καὶ τρίτως περὶ τὸν ἀπὸ τούτου. ∆εδήλωκε δὲ ἐμφαίνων καὶ τὴν ἐξ ἀλλήλων ὑπόστασιν, ἀρχομένην ἀπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ τὴν ὑπόβασιν καὶ ὕφεσιν τῶν μετὰ τὸν πρῶτον, διὰ τοῦ πρώτως καὶ δευτέρως καὶ τρίτως εἰπεῖν, καὶ ὅτι ἐξ ἑνὸς τὰ πάντα καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ σῴζεται. Τεθεώρηκε μὲν οὖν οὐχ ὑγιῶς εἰσάπαν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς τὰ Ἀρείου πεφρονηκόσιν ἐν ἴσῳ, διαιρεῖ καὶ ὑφίστησιν, ὑποκαθημένας τε ἀλλήλαις τὰς ὑποστάσεις εἰσφέρει, καὶ τρεῖς οἴεται θεοὺς εἶναι διῃρημένως τὴν ἁγίαν καὶ ὁμοούσιον Τριάδα. Πλὴν οὐκ ἠγνόηκεν ὁλοτρόπως τὸ ἀληθές, οἶμαι δὲ ὅτι κἂν ὑγιῶς ἔφη τε καὶ πεφρόνηκεν, ἐξήνεγκε δὲ καὶ εἰς τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας τῆς περὶ Θεοῦ δόξης τὸ ἀρτίως ἔχον, εἰ μὴ τάχα που τὴν Ἀνύτου καὶ Μελήτου γραφὴν ἐδεδίει καὶ τὸ Σωκράτους κώνειον. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Προς Τα Του Ἐν Ἀθεοις Ιὀυλιανου, Λογος B' Source: Migne PG 76.556a

Expounding an opinion of Plato, Porphyry says, 'The divine substance extends even to three persons, the highest and best God, and after Him there is a second maker, and the third is the soul of the universe, for divinity extends even to soul.' And behold in these things it is manifest that he contends that the three Divine hypostases proceed from the Divine substance, since certainly the God of all things is one, but extended, according to his own understanding, into the holy and consubstantial Trinity, into the Father, I say, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, whom Plato calls the soul of the world, for the Spirit gives life and proceeds from the living Father through the Son, and 'in Him we live and move and have our being.' 1 For our truthful Lord, Jesus Christ, says 'The Spirit is He who gives life,' 2 And again the same Porphyry says of Plato: 'Where secretly intimating these things and speaking obscurely and in a mystery, he says: 'To the king everything is related, and all things are caused by him, and he is the cause of all beautiful things, and related to the second are second things, and third things are related to the third, 3 so that everything exists in relation to three gods, but firstly to the king of all things, and secondly to the god from him, and thirdly to the one who is from that one.' He declares here what the hypostases have from themselves, and that it begins from the king, and there is a declension and descent of things after the first, through the first and the second and the third, he says, for everything is from one, and through him they are preserved. Certainly not everything was seen correctly here, for thinking of these things in the same way of Arius, he divides and imposes inferiority, and he introduces subordination among those subsisting, and he thinks the holy and consubstantial Trinity is three distinct gods. But I think Plato was not ignorant of the whole truth, and would have thought of it and spoken of it rightly, and also published the real and genuine truths about God publicly and openly, but he perhaps feared the accusations of Anytus and Melitus and the hemlock of Socrates. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Against Julian, Book 2 1 Acts 17.28 2 Jn 6.63 3 Plato Letter 2 312e