Trial By Prostitute

Ἄλλοτε πάλιν παριόντος τοῦ Ἐφραὶμ, ἐξ ὑποβολῆς τινος ἔρχεται μία ἑταιρὶς κολακεύειν αὐτὸν εἰς αἰσχρὰν μίξιν, εἰ δὲ μὴ, κἂν εἰς ἀγανάκτησιν κινῆσαι αὐτὸν, ὅτι οὐδέποτε τις εἶδεν αὐτὸν ὀργιζόμενον. Καὶ λέγει πρὸς αὐτήν· Ἀκολούθει μοι· πλησιάσας δὲ τόπῳ πολυοχλουμένῳ, εἶπεν αὐτῇ· Ἐν τῷ τοπῳ τούτῳ δεῦρο καθὼς ἠθέλνσας. Ἐκείνη δὲ θεασαμένη τὸν ὄχλον, λέγει αὐτῷ· Πῶς δυνάμεθα τοῦτο ποιῆσαι, τοσούτου ὄχλου ἑστῶτος, καὶ οὐκ αἰσχυνόμεθα; Ὁ δὲ λέγει πρὸς αὐτήν· Εἰ ἀνθρώπους αἰσχυνόμεθα, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὀφείλομεν αἰσχύνεσθαι τὸν Θεὸν, τὸν τὰ κρυπτὰ τοῦ σκότους ἐλέγχοντα. Ἡ δὲ ἐντραπεῖσα ἀπῆλθεν ἄπρακτος. Ἄποφθέγματα των Αγίων Γερόντων, Παλλάδιος Ελενουπόλεως Source: Migne PG 65.168c-d

Another time, when Ephrem was travelling, a prostitute tried by flattery to lead him to shameful intercourse, and if not that, at least to move him to anger, for no one had ever seen him angry. He said to her, 'Follow me,' and when they had reached a place where there were many people, he said to her, 'In this place, come, do what you wish.' But she, seeing the crowd, said to him, 'How can we do this in the presence of such a crowd and not be ashamed?' He said to her, 'If we are ashamed before men, how much more should we be before God, who knows what is hidden in darkness?' And abashed she went away without having achieved anything. Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

Darkness and Revelation

Ipse revelat profunda et abscondita, et novit in tenebris constituta, et lux cum eo est.   Cui Deus revelat profunda, et potest dicere: O profundum divitiarum sapientiae et scientiae Dei, iste, habitante in se Spiritu scrutatur etiam profunda Dei, et in profunda animae suae fodit altissmos puteos, et omnem terram egerit, quae profundas aquas operire consuevit: servatque mandatum Dei, dicens: Bibe aquam de tuis vasis, et de puteorum tuorum fonte. Quodque sequitur: Novit in tenebris constituta, et lux cum eo est: tenebrae significant ignorantiam, et lux scientiam atque doctrinam. Itaque Deum ut perversa non capiant, ita recta ambiunt, atque circumdant, Sive interpretandum est, quod tenebrosa mystica quaeque et profunda significet, juxta illud quod legimus in Proverbiis: Intelligit quoque parabolam et tenebrosum sermonem, hoc ipsum significat quod in Psalmis legimus: Tenebrosa aqua in nubibus aeris. Qui enim ad excelsa conscendit, et terrena deserens, instar avium tenuissimum aerem et aetherea quaeque desiderat, iste nubes efficitur, ad quam veritas Dei pervenit, et quae super sanctos pluere consuevit: repletusque multitudine scientiae, habet multas aquas in corde suo tenebrosas et involutas caligine, quam solus Moyses ingreditur et loquitur Deo facie ad faciem, de quo scriptum est: Posuit tenebras latibulum suum. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentaria in Daniel, Caput II

It is He who reveals deep and hidden things, and He knows what is placed in darkness, and with Him is light. 1 A man to whom God makes profound revelations and who can say, 'O the depth of the riches of the knowledge and wisdom of God', 2 he is one who, having the Spirit in himself, inquires into the deep things of God, and digs the deepest of wells in the depths of his soul, and he carries off all the earth which is accustomed to conceal the deep waters, and he observes the command of God, which says: 'Drink water from your vessels and from the spring of your wells' 3. As for the words which follow: 'He knows what is placed in the darkness, and with Him is the light,' the darkness signifies ignorance, and the light signifies knowledge and learning. Therefore as wrong cannot hide God away, so right encompasses and surrounds Him. Or we should interpret it to mean all obscure mysteries and deep things, according to what we read in Proverbs: 'He understands also the parable and the dark saying,'  and this meaning is the same as that line we find in the Psalms: 'Dark waters in the clouds of the sky.' 4 For one who ascends to the heights and forsakes the things of earth is like a bird desiring the most rarefied atmosphere and things ethereal, and he becomes like a cloud into which the truth of God penetrates and which is accustomed to rain upon the saints. Replete with a plenitude of knowledge, he has in his heart many dark waters enveloped with deep darkness, which only Moses can penetrate and speak with God face to face, concerning which it is written: 'He has made darkness His hiding-place'. 4 Saint Jerome, from the Commentary on Daniel, Chapter 2 1 Dan 2.22 2 Rom. 11.33 3 Prov. 5.15 4 Ps. 17.12

Men Of Darkness, Men Of The World

Lux in tenebris lucet, et tenebrae eam non comprehenderunt.  O homines, nolite esse tenebrae, nolite esse infideles, iniusti, iniqui, rapaces, avari, amatores saeculi: hae sunt enim tenebrae. Lux non est absens, sed vos absentes estis a luce. Caecus in sole praesentem habet solem, sed absens est ipse soli. Nolite ergo esse tenebrae. Haec est enim forte gratia, de qua dicturus sum, ut iam non simus tenebrae, et dicat nobis Apostolus: Fuistis enim aliquando tenebrae; nunc autem lux in Domino. Quia ergo non videbatur lux hominum, id est lux mentium, opus erat ut homo diceret de luce testimonium, non quidem tenebrosus, sed iam illuminatus. Nec tamen quia illuminatus, ideo ipsa lux; sed ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine. Nam non erat ille lux. Et quae erat lux? Erat lux vera, quae illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum. Et ubi erat ista? In hoc mundo erat. Et quomodo in hoc mundo erat? numquid sicut ista lux solis, lunae, lucernarum, sic et ista lux in mundo est? Non. Quia mundus per eum factus est, et mundus eum non cognovit : hoc est, lux in tenebris lucet, et tenebrae eam non comprehenderunt. Mundus enim tenebrae; quia dilectores mundi, mundus. Num enim creatura non agnovit Creatorem suum? Testimonium dedit coelum de stella; testimonium dedit mare, portavit ambulantem Dominum ; testimonium dederunt venti, ad eius iussum quieverunt ; testimonium dedit terra, illo crucifixo contremuit : si omnia ista testimonium dederunt, quomodo mundus eum non cognovit, nisi quia mundus dilectores mundi, corde habitantes mundum? Et malus mundus, quia mali habitatores mundi: sicut mala domus, non parietes, sed inhabitantes. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, In Evangelium Ionannis, Tractatus III

'The light shines in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.' 1   O men, do not be darkness, do not be faithless, unrighteous, iniquitous, rapacious, avaricious, lovers of this world; these indeed are the darkness. The light is not absent, but you are absent from the light. A blind man in sunlight has the sun present to him, but is himself absent from the sun. Do not, then, be darkness. For this is perhaps the grace regarding which we are about to speak, that now we should not be darkness, and that the Apostle may say to us, 'We were once darkness, but now light in the Lord.' 2  Because, then, the light of men was not seen, that is, the light of minds, it was necessary that a man should give testimony regarding the light, one who was not in darkness, but who was already enlightened; and nevertheless, because enlightened, not the light itself, 'But that He might bear witness to the light.' For 'he was not that light.' And what was the light? 'That was the true light which enlightens every man that comes into the world.' And where was that light? 'In this world it was.' 3And how was it in this world? Was it like the light of the sun, of the moon, and of lamps, was that light in the world? No. Because 'The world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.' 4 That is: 'The light shines in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.' 5 For the world is darkness; because the lovers of the world are the world. Did not that which was created acknowledge its Creator? The heavens gave testimony by a star; the sea gave testimony, supporting the steps of the Lord; the winds gave testimony, at his order becoming still;  the earth gave testimony by trembling at his crucifixion. If all these gave testimony, how is it that the world not know Him, unless that the world is the lovers of the world, those who in their hearts dwell in the world? And the world is evil, because the inhabitants of the world are evil, just as a house may be evil, not because of the walls, but because of the inhabitants. Saint Augustine of Hippo, On the Gospel of John, Tractate 3  1. Jn 1.5 2 Ephes 5:8 3 Jn 1. 7-10 4 Jn 1. 10 5 Jn 1.5

Sobering Up

Μὴ συγκοινωνεῖτε, φησὶν ὁ Ἀπόστολος, τοῖς ἀκάρποις ἔργοις τοῦ σκότους. Τίνα γὰρ καρπὸν εἴχετε ἐν τοῖς τοῦ νοητοῦ θανάτου ὀψωνίοις, ἐφ' οἶς νῠν ἐπαισχύνεσθε; Ἀληθῶς γὰρ ἄκαρπα τυγχάνει τὰ ἔργα τὰ πονηρὰ, καὶ πᾶσα σκοτεινὴ πρᾶξις. Ὅταν δὲ ἡ ψυχὴ δυνηθῇ ἀνανῆψαι, καὶ εἰς συναίσθησιν ἐλθεϊν, ἐρυθριᾷ μᾶλλον καὶ αἰσχύνεται ἐπὶ τοῖς ἁμαρηθεῖσιν ἐν τῇ μέθῃ τῆς κακίας, καὶ ἐναύγασμα εὑρίσκει σωφροσύνης.  Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΡΝ Γεροντιῳ Ἐκσπεκτωρι

'Do not,' says the Apostle, 'have a part in the fruitless works of darkness.' 1  For he who has such fruit in his mind has the wages of death, for which now you should be ashamed. For truly fruitless are wicked works and all deeds of darkness. And when the soul is able to be sober again it comes to perception of what was done, and then it is ashamed for its sins in the drunkenness of evil and it discovers the splendor of temperance.  Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 40, To Gerontius 1 Ephes 5.11

Learning And Darkness

Dum essem Romae puer, et liberalibus studiis erudirer, solebam cum caeteris ejusdem aetatis et propositi, diebus Dominicis sepulcra apostolorum et martyrum circuire; crebroque cryptas ingredi, quae in terrarum profunda defossae, ex utraque parte ingredientium per parietes habent corpora sepultorum, et ita obscura sunt omnia, ut propemodum illud propheticum compleatur: 'Descendant ad infernum viventes' : et raro desuper lumen admissum, horrorem temperet tenebrarum, ut non tam fenestram, quam foramen demissi luminis putes: rursumque pedetentim acceditur, et caeca nocte circumdatis illud Virgilianum proponitur: 'Horror ubique animos, simul ipsa silentia terrent.' Hoc mihi dictum sit, ut prudens lector intelligat, quam habeam sententiam super explanatione templi Dei in Ezechiel, de quo scriptum est: Nubes et caligo sub pedibus ejus. Et rursum: Tenebrae latibulum ejus: Unde et Moyses nubem ingressus est et caliginem, ut posset Domini mysteria contemplari, quae populus longe positus, et deorsum manens, videre non poterat, Denique post quadraginta dies, vultum Moysi vulgus ignobile, caligantibus oculis, non videbat, quia glorificata erat, sive ut Hebraico continetur, cornuta facies Moysi. Ita et mihi legenti descriptionem templi mystici (quod Judaei secundum litteram in adventu Christi sui, quem nos esse Antichristum comprobamnus, putant aedificandum, et nos ad Christi referimus Ecclesiam, et quotidie in sanctis ejus aedifacari cernimus) accidit, ubicumque oculus cordis aperitur, et me aliquid videre aestimavero et tenere sponsum, et gaudens dixero: Inveni quem quaesivit anima mea, tenebo eum, et non dimmitam eum; rursum me deserit sermo divinus, fugitque sponsus e manibus, et clauduntur oculi caecitate, ita ut cogar dicere: O profundum divitiarum sapientiae et scientiae Dei! quam inscrustabilia sunt judicia ejus, et investigabiles viae illius! Et quod alibi scriptum est: Judicia Domini abyssus multa. Et: De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine, Domine exaudi vocem meam. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentarium in Ezechielem Prophetam, Lib XII, Cap XL Source: Migne PL 25.375a-d

When I was a boy at Rome learning the liberal arts, with others of the same age and inclination, on the days of the Lord, I used to wander around the tombs of the Apostles and Martyrs; and I would enter the narrow crypts which were dug deep in the earth, with both walls holding the bodies of the dead, and everything was so dark that it was as the Psalmist's words were almost fulfilled, 'Let them go down alive into Hell.' 1 Very infrequently light was admitted from above, tempering the horror of the darkness, not passing through windows but filtering down from shafts. But again, as one cautiously moved on, blinding night surrounded, so that as Vergil revealed: 'Everywhere horror and the silence itself terrified.' 2 This said, may the prudent reader understand, that I had a sense of the explanation of the temple of God in Ezekiel, of which it is written, ' Clouds and darkness beneath his feet.' 3 And again, 'Darkness is His dwelling' place' 4 Whence even Moses entered into the cloud and darkness that he contemplate the mystery of God, the being people placed far off, remaining behind him, unable to see, and then after forty days the common folk with darkened eyes could not see the face of Moses because it was glorified, or as the Hebrew has it, the face of Moses was horned. It occurred to me on reading of the mysterious temple (which according to the writing of the Jews they think will be built on the advent of their own Christ which we would prove Antichrist, and we have it that it refers to the Church of Christ and daily we observe the building up his saints) that whenever the eye of the heart is open and I judge to have seen something and to grasp the bridegroom and rejoice saying, ' I have discovered what my soul sought, I shall cleave to it, and I shall not lose it,' 5 the Divine word again deserts me, and the bridegroom flees from my hands and my eyes are enclosed in darkness, so that I am forced to say, ' O deep riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How inscrutable his judgements and inaccessible his ways.' 6 And elsewhere it is written, 'The judgements of God are a great abyss.' 7 And, 'From the depths I have cried to you, O Lord. O Lord, listen to my voice.' 8 Saint Jerome, from the Commentary on Ezekiel, Bk 12, Ch 40 1 Ps 54.16 2 Virg, Aen 2.755 3 Ps 17.10 4 Ps 17.12 5 Song 3.4 6 Rom 11.13 7 Ps 35.7 8 Ps 129.1