Building Up

Καὶ ἁνοικοδομήσω αὑτούς. Ὃ Χριστὸς οἶκοδόμος καὶ ἀρχιτέχτων περὶ οὗ ἐν προφῇταις λέλεχται· Οὗτος οἰκοδυμήσει τὴν πόλιν μου, καὶ τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν τοῦ λαοῦ μου ἐπιστρέψει. Φησὶν οὖν ὁ Κύριος· Καὶ οἰκοδομήσω αὐτοὺς, καὶ oὑ μὴ καθελῶ· ἀγαθὸς γὰρ ὧν ὁ Θεὸς οἰχοδομέματά τινα καθαιρεῖ’ δεῖ γὰρ τὴν ἐν ἡμῖν οἰχοδομὴν τῶν ἀχαθάρτων πνευμάτων καταλυθῆναι, καὶ οὕτω τὸν ναὸν οἰχοδομτθῆναι Θεῷ ἐξ ἀρετῶν τε καὶ δογμάτων ὀρθῶν, ἵνα ὀφθῇ ἡ δόξα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ. Ἔστι ἐξ καὶ γεωργὸς καταφυτεύων, καὶ ἐγκεντρίξων, οὖς ἄξιον. Φησὶ γὰρ ὁ Σωτὴρ, ὡς ῥίξα τοὺς κλάδους πάντας ἀνέχων: Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἄμπειϊιος ἡ ἀμηθινὴ, ὑμεῖς τὰ κιήματα ὁ δὲ Πωτήρ μου ὃ γεωργός ἐστι. Πᾶν κῆμα ἐν ἐμοὶ μένον, καὶ ποιοῦν καρπὸν καλὸν ὁ Πατὴρ μου καθαίρει, ἵνα πλείονα καρπὸν φέρῃ· πᾱν δὲ κλῆμα ἐν ἐμοὶ μένον, μὴ φέρον δὲ καρπὸν, ὁ Πατήρ μου ἐκκόπτει, καὶ εἰς πῦρ αὑτὸ βάλλει. Οὐχ ἐν ἐθνικοῖς, ἀλλ᾽ ἂν τοῖς πιστοῖς ἔστι τὸ, Ἐν αὐτῷ μένον καὶ μὴ φέρον καρπὸν, οἷός ἔστιν ὁ έγων εἶναι πιστὸς χαὶ πλημμελῶν ἐπὶ ἀδείας ἔστις εἰκότως ἐκκόπτεται·καὶ καθαίρει δὲ τὸν καρπὸν φέρον, ἵνα, κἂν τι παρορᾷ ὡς ἄνθρωπος, διορθώσειεν. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαι Εἰς Ἱερεμαιν Source: Migne PG 13.576c-577a

I shall build them up again. 1 Christ is the builder and the architect, concerning which it is said in the prophets: 'He shall raise up my city and return the people to me.' 2 And thus the Lord says, 'I shall build up and I shall not destroy.' 3 For it is good that God destroys what is built up when it is necessary to overthrow the buildings of unclean spirits in us, so that the temple of God may be raised up from the virtues and righteous teaching, in order that His glory may appear in it. And He is the farmer who plants and grafts on those who are worthy, because the Saviour, who is the root of all the branches, says: 'I am the true vine, and you are the branches. My father is the farmer. All the branches that remain with me and yield good fruit my Father shall purge, and every branch remaining with me that does not bear fruit my Father shall cut off and give to the fire.' 4 This is not said of the Gentiles but about the faithful, about the one who says he is faithful and yet wanders off where he will. He is deservedly cut off. And the branch bearing fruit is purged so that if a man is neglectful in something, he may correct himself. Origen, Commentary On Jeremiah, Fragment 1 Jerem 14.6 2 Isaiah 45.13 3 Jerem 24.6 4 Jn 15.1-6

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

The Ruin Of The Unworthy

Οὕτως εἶπεν Kύριος ἐπὶ Αχιαδ καὶ ἐπὶ Σεδεκιαν ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ δίδωμι αὐτοὺς εἰς χεῖρας βασιλέως Βαβυλῶνος καὶ πατάξει αὐτοὺς καi ὀφθαλμοὺς ὑμῶν. Τοιαῦτα πείσεται πᾶς πράσσων πρεσδύτεέρος ὑπὸ βασιλέως Βαδυλῶνος. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ ἀναξίως τις μεταλαμθάνων Εὐχαριστίαν εἰς χρῖμα λήψεται, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὁ χαθεζόμενος ἐν πρεσδυτερίῳ συνειδότι μεμιασμένῳ, kαὶ τὸ Χριστοῦ μολύνων συνέδριον; Τίς γὰρ αὐτῷ συγχαθήμενος εὐλαδὴς λέγειν τολμήσει τὸ, Οὐχ ἐκάθισα μετὰ συνεδρίου ματαιότητος, καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαι Εἰς Ἱερεμαιν Source: Migne PG 13.580a

Thus the Lord says to Achab and Sedecias, who have prophesied falsely in my name, I shall give you into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall punish them before your eyes. 1 All who do such things will suffer by the king of Babylon, For if someone who is unworthy takes up the Eucharist and thereby takes up his condemnation, 2 how much more shall he who sits in the counsel of elders with a wicked conscience defiles the gathering of Christ? For if there is someone who is pious sitting with him, shall he dare say, 'I have not sat in the counsel of vanity,' and what follows? 3 Origen, Commentary On Jeremiah, Fragment 1 Jerem 29.21 2 1 Cor 11.29 3 Ps 25.4

The Corrupted Mountain

Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ πρὸς σὲ τὸ ὄρος τὸ διεφθαρμένον τὸ διαφθεῖρον πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν καὶ ἐκτενῶ τὴν χεῖρά μου ἐπὶ σὲ καὶ κατακυλιῶ σε ἀπὸ τῶν πετρῶν καὶ δώσω σε ὡς ὄρος ἐμπεπυρισμένον. Ὅρος τὴν Βαθυλῶνα διὰ τὸ τῆς βασιλείας ὕψος kαλεῖ' ὅπερ ἦν ἐξ εἰδωλολατρείας καὶ τῶν ἀδίχων ἔργων, δι᾿ ὧν διέφθειρε τοὺς ἄλλους διεφθαρμένον. Ἦν δὲ καὶ ἐφ᾽ ὕψους ἡ πόλις διὰ τὸν παραχεΐμενον ποταμὸν, ἐξ οὗ τινες ἀναδαθμοὶ πρὸς τὴν πόλιν ἀνέφερον, διμερῆ, τε οὖσαν καὶ ἐξ ἑχατέρας ὄχθης παραχειμένην τῷ ποταμῷ, πρὸς τῷ καὶ εἶναι τὰ τείχη τῆς πόλεως ὑψηλότατα. Χεῖρα δὲ τὴν τιμωρητιχὴν δύναμιν τὴν τῆς ἰδίας αὐτὴν ὡς ἐχ πετρῶν χαθαεροῦσαν ἀσφαλείας τε χαὶ φρουρᾶς εἰς ἄχρηστον δὲ χαὶ τοὺς λίθους αὐτῆς διὰ τὸ πῦρ ἀφανίζουσαν, ὡς μὴ συνίστασθαι λίθον πρὸς στεῤῥοϊέραν οἰχοδομίαν. ᾿Αναγωγῆς δὲ λόγῳ καὶ ὁ διάδολος ὄρος ὠνόμασται, ὡς ἐν τῷ Ζαχαρίᾳ' Τίς εἶ σὺ τὸ ὄρος τὸ μέγα, τὸ πρὸ προσὠπου Ζοροδάδε; Καὶ περὶ τοῦ ἔχοντος χωφὸν καὶ ἄλαλον δαιμόνιον ἔλεγεν ὁ Σωτήρ' Ἑὰν ἔχητε κίστιν ὡς χόχχον σιγάπεως, ἐρεῖτε τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ' Μετάδηθι, καὶ μεταδήσεται. Ὅρος οὖν ὁ διάδολος ἀπὸ τῆς ἰδίας διεφθαρμένον kαkίας, καὶ διαφθεῖρον τοὺς, ὅσοι φρονοῦσι τὰ γήϊνα. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαι Εἰς Ἱερεμαιν Source: Migne PG 13.603b-c

Behold I am against you, corrupted mountain that corrupts the whole earth, with my hand stretched out against you I shall tear you from your stones, and I shall make of you a burnt heap. 1 Babylon is called a mountain because of the eminence of its kingdom, which being corrupted with its idolatry and wicked works corrupted others. And the city itself was set on a high place because of the proximity of the river, from which steps rose up to the city, on two sides, even from both banks of the river. And besides this the city walls were very high. But the hand is the punishing power that tears it from its own security and fortifications, as from a stone foundation, and its stones will be of no more use because of the coming fire, and there shall not be one of them able to make firm its construction. And by reason of anagoge the devil is also called a mountain, as in Zachariah, 'Who are you, great mountain, who are before the face of Zorobabel?' 2 And concerning him who had a deaf and dumb demon, the Saviour said, 'If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mountain, Go, and it would go.' 3 Thus the mountain is the devil corrupted by his own depravity, and he corrupts those who know the things of the earth. Origen, Commentary On Jeremiah, Fragment 1 Jerem 51.25 2 Zach 4.7 3 Mt 17.19

The City And The Height

Oὕτως εἶπεν Kύριος ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποστρέψω τὴν ἀποικίαν Ιακωβ καὶ αἰχμαλωσίαν αὐτοῦ ἐλεήσω, Καὶ οἰκοδομηθήσεται ἡ πόλις ἐπὶ τὸ ὕψες αὐτῆς. Εἴποις δ᾽ ἂν, ὅτι Kαὶ τὴν ἰδίαν ἐπιδείχνυσιν ἀγαθότητα, δι᾽ ἣν kαὶ τὴν ἀποτομίαν ἐπάγει τοῖς αὐτῆς ἐν χρείᾳ τυγχάνουσι. Διὸ, μετὰ τὸ εἰς ἀλγεινὸν θεραπευθῆναι, οἰκοδομηθήσεται, φησὶν, ἡ πόλις ἐπὶ τὸ ὕψος αὑτῆς. Ποῖον ὕψος ; Οὐ δύναται πόλις ἐπάνω ὄρους κειμένη κρυδῆναι, ὁποία ἐστὶν, ἡ μηδὲν φρονοῦσα ταπεινὸν ἣ ἀνθρώπινον, ἡδονάς, φῆσι χαὶ πλοῦτον ἐν γῇ χαὶ δοξάρια. Συνηγέρθη γὰρ τῷ Χριστῷ, καὶ τὰ ἄνω ζητεῖ. Ταῦτά σου ποιοῦντος, οἰχοδομηθήσεται ἡ πόλις σου ἐπὶ τὸ ὕψος αὐτῆς. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαι Εἰς Ἱερεμαιν Source: Migne PG 13.580b

Thus says the Lord, 'I will bring back the tent of Jacob and I will have pity on the ruins, and the city shall be built on her height.' 1 One may say that here His benevolence is manifested, because of which it was necessary to act severely with those who needed it. Therefore, after a painful cure, He says that 'the city shall be built up on her height.' On what height? It is not possible to hide a city built on a hill, 2 that is, it knows nothing base or human, and I speak here of pleasures and worldly wealth and glory. For rising with Christ it seeks the things which are above. 3 In the doing of such things the city shall be built on her height. Origen, Commentary On Jeremiah, Fragment 1 Jerem 30.18 2 1 Mt 5.14 3 Colos 3.1-2

Out Of Egypt

Et non dixerunt, Ubi est Dominus qui ascendere nos fecit de terra Aegypti: qui transduxit nos per desertum, per terram inhabitabilem et inviam: per terram sitis et imaginem mortis, per terram in qua non ambulavit vir, neque habitabit homo. Pro homine, LXX filium hominis interpretati sunt; et pro imagine mortis, de Theodotione additum est, umbra mortis. Quod cum iuxta historiam manifestum sit, illud considerandum est secundum anagogen, quod quamdiu in isto saeculo sumus, et de Aegypto educimur, paulatim ascendimus, et primum deserta transimus et terram inhabitabilem, quam sanctus inhabitare non debet, et inviam, ut difficultatem monstret itineris. Per terram sitis, ubi semper maiora cupimus, nec praesentibus contenti sumus; et imaginem, sive umbram mortis: semper enim in periculo consistimus, et ubique diabolus tendit laqueos suos: per terram, in qua non ambulavit vir, qui perfectae aetatis in Christo est. Omnes enim resurgemus in virum perfectum, in mensuram aetatis plenitudinis Christi. Neque unquam in ea habitat qui homo Dei est, vel filius hominis; sed semper ad maiora festinat. Ex quo perspicuum est, non esse perfectionem in via: sed in fine viae et in mansione, quae sanctis in coelestibus praeparatur, et quibus dicitur: Qui statis in domo Domini, in atriis domus Dei nostri. Frustra igitur nova ex veteri haeresis suspicatur, hic perfectam esse victoriam, ubi pugna est atque certamen, et incertus exitus futurorum. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum In Jeremiam Propheta, Liber I Caput II Source Migne PL 24.715b-716a

And they did not say, 'Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land uninhabitable and impassable, through a land of thirst and the image of death, through a land where a man does not walk and no one dwells.' 1 Instead of 'man' the Septuagint translates 'son of man,' and in the place of 'image of death' Theodotion's translation has 'shadow of death.' Since the history is clear, this should be considered according to anagoge. While we are in this world we are being led out of Egypt, and we go up by degrees. First we pass through the wilderness and the uninhabitable land, where a holy man should not dwell. Then it says the 'impassable land', to show the difficultly of the way. 'A land of thirst' is where we always desire more and are never content with present things. Then the image or shadow of death means we always stand in danger, and the devil sets his snares everywhere. 'Through a land where man does not walk' is the man who has obtained perfect stature, since we all will rise up to 'mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.' 2 The man of God and the son of man, never dwelt in these places but always hurried to greater things. From this it is obvious that one does not reach perfection while on the way, but at the end of it and in the mansion prepared in heaven for the saints, about which it is said, 'You who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.' 3 In vain, therefore, does a heresy, a new one that has come from an old one, suppose that the victory of perfection happens here, 4 when the future is combat, struggles, and an uncertain end. Saint Jerome, from the Commentary on Jeremiah, Book 1, Chapter 2 1 Jerem 2.6 2 Ephes 4.14 3 Jn 14.2, Ps 135.2 4 Pelagianism

Removing The Veil

Μετὰ ταῦτα λέγουσιν οὗτοι οἱ ἐξομολογούμενοι τό Ἐκοιμήθημεν ἐν τῇ αἰσχύνῃ ἡμῶν· καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο φασι· Καὶ ἐπεκάλυψεν ἡμᾶς ἡ ἀτιμία ἡμῶν. Περὶ τοῦ καλύμματος πολλάκις ἡμῖν εῖρηται, τοῦ ἐπικειμένου τῷ προσώπῳ τῶν μὴ ἐπιστρεφόντων πρὸς Κύριον. Δι' ὃ κάλυμμα ἐὰν ἀναγινώσκηται Μωῦσης, ὁ ἀμαρτωλὸς οὐ νοεῖ αὐτόν. Κάλυμμα γὰρ εἰς τὴν καρδὶαν αὐτοῦ κεῖται. Δι' ὃ κάλυμμα ἐὰν ἀναγινωσκησαι ἡ Παλαιὰ Διαθήκη, οὐ συνήσει ἀκούων. Δι' ὃ κάλυμμα καὶ τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον τοῖς ἀπολλυμένοις ἐστὶ κεκαλυμμένον. Ἐλέγομεν τοίνυν περὶ τοῦ καλύμματος, ὅτι ἡ αἰσχύνη ἐστὶ τὸ κάλψμμα. Ὅσον γὰρ ἔχομεν τὰ ἔργα τῆς αἰσχύνης, δῆλον ὅτι ἔχομεν τὸ καλύμμα, κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον που ἐν μ' καὶ γ' ψαλμῷ· Καὶ ἡ αἰσχύνη τοῦ προσώπου μου ἐκάλυψε με. Παρεθέμην, ὅτι ὁ μὴ ἔχων αἰσχύνης ἔργα, οὐκ ἔχει καλύμμα· ὁποῖος ἧν ὁ Παῦλος λέγων· Ἡμεῖς δὲ πάντες ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ προσώπῳ τὴν δόξαν Κυρίου καταπτρίζόμενα. Παῦλος οὗν ἀνακεκαλυμμένον ἔχει τὸ πρόσωπον· οὐ γὰρ ἔχει αἰσχύνης ἔργα. Ὡς οὖν ἐκει· Ἡ αἰσχύνη τοῦ προσώπου μου ἐκάλυψε με, εἴρηται ἐνθάδε· Ἐκάλύψεν ἡμᾶς ἡ ἀτιμία ἠμῶν. Ὄσον ἀτιμίας ἔργα ἐργαζόμεθα, κάλυμμα ἔχομεν ἐπὶ τὴν καρδίαν ἡμῶν κείμενον. Εἰ θέλομεν τὸ καλύμμα τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀτιμίας ἀποθέσθαι, ἐπὶ τὰ τῆς τιμῆς ἔργα καταντήσθωμεν, καὶ νοήσωμεν ἐκεῖνο τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ Σωτῆρος εἰρημένον· Ἵνα πάντες τιμῶσι τὸν υἱον, καθὼς τιμῶσι τὸν πατέρα· νοήσωμεν καὶ τὸ παρὰ τῷ Ἀποστόλῳ εἰρημένον· Διὰ τῆς παραθάσεως τοῦ νόμου τὸν Θεὸν ἀτιμάζεις. Ὁ δίκαιος ὡς τιμᾷ τὸν πατέρα, τιμᾷ τὸν υἱον. Ἡ ἀτιμία, ὅταν ἀτιμάζω τὸν υἱον, αὐτὴ καθ' ἤν ἁτιμάζω τὸν πατέρα ἐπικάλυμμα γίνεται τοῦ προσώπου μου, καὶ λέγω· Ἐπεκάλυψεν ἡμᾶς ἡ ἀτιμία. Διὰ τοῦτο νοήσαντες τὸ κάλυμμα, τὸ ἐπικείμενον ἀπὸ τῶν τῆς αἰσχύνης ἔργων, ἀπὸ τῶν τῆς ἀτιμίας πράξεων περιελώμεθα τὸ κάλυμμα. Ἐφ' ἡμῶν ἐστι περιαιρεθῆναι τὸ κάλυμμα, οὐδενὸς ἄλλου ἐστίν. Ἡνίκα γὰρ ἐπέσρεψε πρὸς Κύριον Μωϋσης, περιῃρεῖτο τὸ κάλυμμα. Ὀρᾷς ὡς Μωϋσης ποτε λαμβάνεται καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ λαοῦ. Ὅσον οὐκ ἐπέστρεθε πρὸς Κύριον, σύμβολον ὤν τοῦ λαοῦ τοῦ μὴ ἐπιστρέφοντος πρὸς Κύριον, κάλυμμα εἶχεν ἐπικείμενον αὐτοῦ τῷ προσώπῳ· ὅτε δὲ ἐπέστρεφε πρὸς Κύριον, σύμβολον γενόμενος τῶν ἐπιστρεφόντων πρὸς Κύριον, τότε περιῃρεῖτο τὸ κάλυμμα, καὶ οὐχ οἷον ὁ Θεὸς αὐτῷ ἐκέλευε. Οὐ γὰρ εἶπε ὁ Κύριος πρὸς Μωϋσην· Περίθου τὸ κάλυμμα· ἀλλ' ἰδὼν Μωϋσης, ὅτι οὑ δύναται ὁ λαὸς ἰδεῖν τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, τότε ἐπετίθει τὸ κάλυμμα ἐπὶ τὸ πρόσωπον· καὶ οὐ περιέμεινε Θεὸν λέγοντα, Περιελοῦ τὸ κάλυμμα, ἡνίκα ἂν ἐπέστεψε πρὸς Κύριον. Ὠριγένης Ἰερεμίας, Ὁμολία Ε´ Source: Migne PG 13.305b-308a

After these things they confess 'We lay down in our shame,' to which is added, 'and disgrace covered us.' 1 We have often been told of the veil which lies over the face of those who do not turn back to the Lord. Because of which veil, if Moses is read, the sinner does not understand him. For the veil has been placed on his heart. And because of the veil, if the Old Testament is read, he hears it and does not understand. And because of the veil the Gospel also is hidden to those who are perishing. 2 We have said that this veil is shame. For while we have shameful works it is obvious that we must have the veil upon us, according to which it is said in the forty third Psalm: 'And the shame of my face covered me.' 3 And let it be added that he who does not have the works of shame does not have the veil, just as Paul said: 'We shall all look on the glory of the Lord with uncovered face.' 4 Thus Paul has an uncovered face, for he does not have the works of shame. As then it says in the forty third Psalm: 'The shame of my face covered me,' so indeed it is said here 'and disgrace covered us.' While we take to shameful deeds we have placed a veil on our hearts. If we wish for this veil made by shame to be withdrawn let us strive to do honourable things, and let us understand the words of our Saviour: 'That all should honour the Son as they honour the Father.' 5 And as the Apostle said: 'By sinning you have dishonoured the God of the Law.' 6 As the righteous man honours the Father, he honours the Son. Disgrace when it dishonours the Son, dishonours the Father, making a covering for the face, and I say, 'Disgrace covered us.' Whence knowing of the veil that shameful deeds impose, let us take off the veil of dishonourable works. It is in our power to remove the veil, it is not in the power of another. 'Moses returned to the Lord, and he removed the veil.' 7 See that Moses put it on when he went to the people. and while they did not return to the Lord, with the veil placed on his face he bore the sign of those who do not return, but when they returned to the Lord, then bearing the type of those who return to the Lord, he took off the veil, which was no commandment of God. For He did not say to Moses, 'Take off the veil' but when Moses saw that the people were unable to look on his glory, he placed the veil on his face, nor did he wait for the Lord to say, 'Remove the veil' when they returned to the Lord. Origen, On Jeremiah, from the Fifth Homily 1 Jerem 3.25 2 2 Cor 4.3 3 Ps 43.16 4 2 Cor 3.18 5 Jn 5.23 6 Rom 2.23 7 Exod 34.34

A Foolish People

Quia stultus populus meus me non cognovit: filii insipientes sunt et vecordes. Sapientes sunt ut faciant mala: bene autem facere nescierunt. Causa contritionis, vastitatis, fugaeque et buccinae, quia stultus factus est populus, non natura, sed studio voluntatis. Ipsaque stultitia hinc probatur: quia non cognoverunt Deum, et pro filiis sapientibus, stulti filii facti sunt et vecordes. Quae enim major potest esse stultitia, quam, cognoscente bove possessorem suum, et asino praesepe Domini sui, Israel Dominum non cognoscere, et praesentem contemnere quem semper videre cupiebat? Quodque infertur: Sapientes sunt ut faciant mala: bene autem facere nescierunt, hic sapientia pro malitia accipienda est, juxta quod et filii saeculi hujus sapientiores sunt filiis lucis: et villicus iniquitatis quaedam sapienter fecisse narratur; et serpens in paradiso prudentior cunctis bestiis legitur. Illa est ergo vera sapientia quae Dei timori jungitur. Alioquin ubi insidiae sunt et tergiversatio, non sapientia, sed versutia et calliditas appellanda est. Pro eo, quod nos diximus, quia stultus populus meus me non cognovit, Septuaginta transtulerunt: quia principes populi mei me non cognoverunt: ut magistrorum sit magis culpa quam populi Dei scientiam non habentis. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum In Jeremiam Propheta, Lib I Cap IV Source Migne PL 24.738b-d

For my people are foolish, they do not know me; they are mindless and senseless children. They are wise in doing evil, but they do not know how to do good.1 The cause of the contrition, of the devastation, of the flight, and of the trumpeting, 2 is that the people have become foolish, not by nature but by the intent of their will. And this foolishness is shown by the fact that they do not know God. Instead of being wise sons they have become foolish and senseless sons. For what could be more foolish than when the ox knows its owner and the donkey its master's crib, Israel does not know the Lord, and despises Him present, Him whom they have always longed to see? And with what follows: 'They are wise in doing evil but they do not know how to do good, 'wise' should be understood in a wicked sense, as when the sons of his world are wiser than the sons of light, and the dishonest steward is said to have done certain things wisely, 3 or when it is read that the serpent in paradise is wiser than any other wild creature. 4 True wisdom, therefore, is wisdom joined to the fear of the Lord. Otherwise, where there are plots and deception, it should not be called wisdom but cleverness or cunning. Where it is said, 'For my people are foolish, they do not know me,' the Septuagint has translated, 'For the princes of my people do not know me,' so the fault of the teachers is greater than the people's when the people have no knowledge of God. Saint Jerome, from the Commentary on Jeremiah, Book 4, Chapter 4 1 Jerem 4.22 2 Jerem 4.19-21 3 Gen 3.1 4 Lk 16.1-8

The Whip Of God

Εμαστίγωσας αὐτοὺς, καὶ οὐκ ἐπόμησαν. Εἶτα περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν ἴδωμεν τὸ λεγόμενον· Εμαστίγωσας αὐτοὺς, καὶ οὐκ ἐπόμησαν. Αὖται αἱ αἰσθηταὶ μάστιγες ζῶσι προσφερόμεναι σώμασιν, εἴτε βούλονται, εἶτε μὴ βούλονται οἱ μαστιγούμενοι, πόνον ἐμποιοῦσιν αὐτοῖς· αἱ δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ μάστιγες τοιαῦται εἰσιν, ὥς τινας μὲν τῶν μαστιγουμένων πονεῖν, τινὰς δὲ τῶν μαστιγουμένων μὴ πονεῖν. Ἴδωμεν εἰ δυνάμεθα διηγήσασθαι, τί ἐστι τὸ πονεῖν ἀπὸ μαστίγων Θεοῦ, καὶ τί τὸ μὴ πονεῖν, καὶ ὅτι κακοδαίμονες οἱ μὴ πονοῦντες ἀπὸ μαστίγων Θεοῦ· μακαριοι δὲ οἱ πονοῦντες ἀπὸ μαστίγων Θεοῦ· φησὶ γὰρ ἡ Σοφία· Τίς δώσει ἐπὶ τοῦ διανοήματός μου μάστιγας, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν χειλέων μου σφραγὶδα πανοῦργον, ἵνα ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀγνοήμασι μου μὴ φείσωνται, καὶ αἱ ἁμαρτίαι μου μὴ ἀπολέσωσί με. Πρόσχες τῷ· Τίς δώσει ἐπὶ τοῦ διανοήματός μου μάστιγας; Οὐκοῦν εἰσι μάστιγες τὸ διανόημα μαστιγοῦσαι. Αἱ μάστιγες τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ διανόημα μαστιγουσι. Λόγος γὰρ καθαπτόμενος τῆς ψυχῆς, καὶ εἰς σύνεσιν αὐτὴν ἄγων τῶν ἡμαρτημένων, μαστιγοῖ· μαστιγοῖ δὲ τὸν μὲν μακάριον πονοῦντα ἐπὶ ταῖς μάαστιξι· καθικνεῖται γὰρ αὐτου τὰ λεγόμενα, καὶ οὐκ ἐξευτελίζει τὸν ἐλέψχοντα ἀπ' αὐτοῦ. Ἐπὰν δὲ τις εὑρεθῇ ἵν' οὕτως εἴπω, ἀναίσθητος, λεχθήσεται περὶ αὐτοῦ· Ἐμαστιγωσας αὐτοὺς καὶ οὐκ ἐπόνησαν. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ λόγου λεγομένου ἐλεγκτικῶς, φέρε εἰπεῖν, ἐπὶ τῷ καθικέσθαι διανοίας τοῦ τήν συνείδησιν μεμολυσμένου ἐπί τινι ἁμαρτίᾳ, τὸ λεγόμενον, ἐὰν ὁ μέν τις τῶν ἀκουόντων ἀλγήσῃ, ὥστε λεχθῆναι περὶ αὐτοῦ, ἐώρακας ὡς κατενύγη ὁ δεῖνα· ὁ δέ τις τῶν ἀκουόντῶν μὴ ἀλγὴσῃ, ἀλλὰ ἀναισθητεῖ τῶν ἐλεγχόντων, δῆλον ὅτι λεχθήσεται περὶ τοῦ μηδ' αἰσθανομένου· Εμαστίγωσας αὐτοὺς, καὶ οὐκ ἐπόμησαν. Ὠριγένης Ἰερεμίας, Ὁμολία Ϛ' Source: Migne PG 13.324c-325a

You whipped them and they did not grieve. 1 Now concerning sinners let us understand what is said by: 'You whipped them and they did not grieve.' Material whips are applied to the living flesh, and whether those who are whipped wish it or not, pain is inflicted on them, but the blows of the whip of God are of such a kind that they make certain men grieve and not others. Let us consider, if we are able to tell it, why there may be grief from the whip blows of God and why there may not be. It is that the wretched are not grieved by the whips of God, and the blessed do grieve because of the whips of God. Wisdom says: 'Who shall put a whip to my thoughts, and on my lips an intricate seal, that my ignorance may spare me and my sins not ruin me?' 2 Attend to this: 'Who shall put a whip to my thoughts?' Therefore there are whips which strike the thought. The whips of God strike the mind. For the speech which pricks the conscience and leads to awareness of sins, it whips. The whip grieves the pious man because of the blows, for the words touch him and he does not spurn its correction. But when there is found someone who, I say, is unfeeling, then concerning him it is said: 'You have whipped them and they did not grieve.' This speech which reproves, that is to say, that which strikes the conscience of the mind of him defiled by some sin, if a man is pained by the hearing of it, so it said about him: 'You see that he is struck to the heart.' Another, however, who is not pained by hearing, but lacks all feeling for correction, clearly it is said of this one who does not feel, 'You whipped them, and they did not grieve.' Origen, On Jeremiah, Sixth Homily 1 Jerem 5.3 2 Sirach 23.2 Sept

Queries On The Achievements Of Clergy

Quis eorum mori exoptans mundo et vivere Christo luxuriosos gentium convivas laudantes deos suos, id est, sensus, extollentes divitias, ut apostolus et avaritia, inquit, quae est simulacrorum servitus, concussis duabus virtute bracchiorum columnis, quae intelleguntur in voluptatibus nequam animae carnisque, quibus domus humanae omnis nequitiae quodammodo pangitur ac fulcimentatur, tam innumerabiles, ut Sampson, prostravit? Quis orationibus holocaustoque lactantis agni Philistinorum metum depellens insperatas tonitruorum voces nubium imbres concitans absque adulatione regem constituens, eundum Deo non placentem abiciens, uncto pro illo meliore in regno, ut Samuel, valedicturus populo astabit hoc modo dicens: Ecce praesto sum, loquimini coram Domino et christo eius, utrum bovem cuiusquam tulerim an asinum, si quempiam calumniatus sum, si oppressi aliquem, si de manu cuiusquam munus accepi? cui a populo responsum est dicente: non es calumniatus nos neque oppressisti neque tulisti de manu alicuius quippiam. Quis eorum igne caelesti centum superbos exurens, quinquaginta humiles servans et absque adulationis fuco, non Deum per prophetas, sed idolum Accaron consulenti, mortem immimentem iniquo regi annuntians, omnes prophetas simulacri Baal, qui interpretati accipiuntur sensus humani invidiae avaritiae, ut iam diximus, semper intenti, mucrone corusco, hoc est verbo Dei, ut Helias egregius vates, prostravit et zelo Dei commotus, iniquorum terrae imbres adimens aetherales, ac si fortissimo penurii clustello tribus annis sexque mensibus obseratos, fame siti moribundus in deserto conquestus est: Domine, inquiens, prophetas tuos occiderunt et altaria tua suffoderunt et ego relictus sum solus et quaerunt animam meam? Quis eorum carissimum discipulum terrenis extra solitum ponderibus oneratum, quae ante ea a se magnopere licet rogato ut acciperet despecta fuissent, etsi non perpetua lepra, ut Helisaeus, saltim expulsione multavit? Et quis ex illis puero in vitae desperatione aestuanti atque inproviso super bellico hostium apparatu civitatem, in qua erant, obsidentium tremefacto inter nos, ut ille, animae visus, ferventi exoratione ad Deum facta, ita ut intueri poterit auxiiiarium caelestis exercitus, armatorum curruum ceu equitum ignito vultu fulgentium montem plenum, patefecit, et credere quin fortior fortior esset ad salvandum quam inimici ad pugnandum? Et quis eorum corporis tactu mortui scilicet mundo, viventis autem Deo, alii diverso funcre occubanti procul dubio mortuo Deo, vitiis vero viventi quasi supra dictus proficiet, ita ut statim prosiliens Christo grates pro sanitate agat cunctorum paene mortalium ore desperata? Cuius eorum, carbone ignito de altari forcipe Cherubin advecto, ut peccata sua delerentur humilitate confessionis, labia, ut Esaiae, mundata sunt et efficaci oratione sibi adiuncta pii regis Ezechiae, supplantatione centum octoginta quinque milia exercitus Assyriorum nullo apparente vulneris vestigio angeli manu, ut supra dicti, prostrata sunt ? Quis eorum ob praecepta Dei et minas caelitus datas veritatemque vel non audientibus proferendam squalores pedoresque carcerum, ut momentaneas mortes, ut beatus Ieremias excepit ? Et ne multa: quis eorum, ut magister gentium dixit, errare hi montibus et in speluncis, et in cavernis terrae, lapidari secari, totius mortis genere pro nomine Domini attemptari, sicut sancti prophetae, perpessus est? Sanctus Gildas Sapiens, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae Source: Migne PL 69.371c-372d

Who among them, longing to die to the world and live for Christ, has cast down, like Samson, such a wealth of feasters praising their gods and extolling their riches, that is, the senses, for as the Apostle says, 'avarice which is the service of idols,' 1 and with the power of two arms has smashed and brought down the two columns, which are understood as the vile pleasures of the soul and the flesh by which the house of every human wickedness in a certain manner is fixed and established? 2 Who among them by prayers and the burnt offering of a suckling lamb, driving away the fear of the Philistines, has, like Samuel, brought on sudden thunder and rain from the clouds, and without flattery set up a new king, and cast away the same when he did not please God, having anointed a better man for the kingdom, he who then coming to bid farewell to the people, standing before them, did so in this way, saying: 'Behold, here I am; speak before the Lord and His anointed: if I have taken anyone's ox or ass, if I have calumniated anyone, if I have oppressed anyone, if I have taken a bribe from anyone's hand.' To which the people gave reply, saying, 'You have not calumniated us, nor oppressed us, nor have you taken a bribe from any hand.' 3 Who among them, burning a hundred proud men by fire from heaven, and protecting fifty humble ones, like Elijah the prophet, without the pretence of flattery, have announced an imminent death to an unrighteous king when he was taking counsel, not of God through His prophet, but of the idol Accaron? He who overthrew with a gleaming sword, that is, the word of God, all the prophets of the idol Baal, who, being interpreted, are understood to be the human passions, as we have already said, ever intent on envy and avarice. He who moved by zeal for God, deprived the land of the wicked of heaven's rain, as if were shut up in a stronghold of want, for three years and six months, and about to die of hunger and thirst in the waste, made lament, saying: 'Lord, they have slain your prophets and thrown down your altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life.' 4 Who among them punished a beloved disciple, burdened beyond his need by the weight of earthly things which he had previously despised, though earnestly entreated to accept them, not by perpetual leprosy, it is true, yet by dismissal, as Elisha? Who among them, in despair of life, excited and trembling at the sudden warlike preparations of the enemies for a city's besieging, has given vision to the soul of a serving boy, so that he could see the mountain full of the heavenly army of allies, and of armed chariots or horsemen flashing with fiery countenances, and believe that God was stronger to save than enemies to fight? Who among them, like him, when dead to the world and yet living to God, has profited another laying in that different death, which is doubtless death to God but living for vice, by bodily contact, so that he should swiftly leap up and give thanks to Christ for a healing despaired of in the reckoning of almost all men? 5 Whom among them, with a fiery coal carried from the altar in the tongs of Cherubim, so that his sins should be blotted out, by humble confession, as Isaiah, have had lips purified, which with the aid of the efficacious prayer of the pious king Hezekiah, utterly overthrew that one hundred and eighty five thousand of the Assyrian army, like the men mentioned above, with no trace of wound, by the hand of the angel? 6 Who among them, like the blessed Jeremiah, because of the commands of God and threats given from heaven, for the offering of truth to men who heard not, suffered the squalor and filth of prisons, as heavy as death? 7 And lest we go on too long, who among them, as the teacher of the Gentiles said, has endured wandering on mountains, in caves and holes of the earth, stoning, cutting, and trial by every kind of death for the Lord's name, like the holy prophets ? 8 Saint Gildas The Wise, On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain 1 Colos 3.5 2 Judges 16.23-30 3 1 Kings 7.8-11, 9.15-10.1, 15.22-16.13, 12.1-5 4 4 Kings 1.9-17, 3 Kings 17.36-40, 1-2, 3 Kings 19.10 5 3 Kings 5, 4 Kings 6.8-18,4.32-37 6 Isaiah 6.6, 37 7 Jerem 201-2, 37.15, 26.1-15 8 Hebr 9.36-3

A Father's Teaching

Ὡσεὶ τροφοφορήσαι ἄνθρωπος... Ἀκύλας. Ὡσεὶ ἄραι τροφὸς τὸν υἱον ἐβάστασεν, ἡρμήνευσεν. Ὠριγένης δὲ ἐν ταῖς εἰς τὸν Ἰερεμίαν ὁμιλίαις φησί· Συμπεριηνέχθη καὶ συγκατέβη ὑμῖν, τὴν ἡμετέραν ἀσθένειαν οἰκειούμενος· ὡς διδάσκλαος συμψελλίζων παιδίοις, ὡς πατὴρ ἰδίους τιθηνούμενος παῖδας, καὶ τοὺς τρόπους αὐτῶν ὑποδυόμενος, καὶ κατὰ μικρὸν ἄγων αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τὰ τελειότερα καὶ ὑψηλότερα. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Δευτερονόμιον, Κεφ Α', Ἐκλογή Source: Migne PG 17.24a

As a man carries a child... 1 Aquila's translation has: 'As a father bears the son he carries.' And Origen in his homilies on Jeremiah says: 'He adapts and condescends to us, accommodating Himself to our weakness, as a teacher will speak slowly to little boys, and as a father deals gently with his children, and adopting their conduct, little by little He leads them to things which are more perfect and higher. ' Origen, On Deuteronomy, Fragment 1 Deut 1.31

Vain Adornment

Cum vestieris te coccino, et cum ornata fueris monili aureo, et pinxeris stibio oculos tuos, frustra componeris: contempserunt te amatores tui: animam tuam quaerent. Sub figura mulieris adulterae loquitur: cum semel offenderis Deum, et quasi virum tuum reliqueris Creatorem, frustra ornamenta perquiris. Contempserunt te daemones amatores tui, et nequaquam stupri immunditiam, sed animae tuae quaerent interitum. Hoc idem intelligendum spiritualiter contra eos, qui conjugales affectus et verae fidei pudicitiam perdiderunt. Si te, inquit, vestieris coccino, id est, sanguinis Christi assumpseris fidem: si monili ornaveris aureo, id est, meditationem habueris sensus et intelligentiae spiritualis: et pinxeris oculos tuos stibio, id est, habueris studium mysteriorum et Dei secreta noscendi, frustra componeris. Haec enim etiam tuis amatoribus praepararas; et idcirco lectus angustus utrumque capere non potest, nec recipit ornamenta Deus, quibus amatoribus tuis ante placuisti. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum In Jeremiam Propheta, Liber IV Cap XXX Source Migne PL 24.740a-b

When you dressed yourself in scarlet and you adorned yourself with a gold necklace and you painted your eyes with kohl, vainly you beautified yourself. Your lovers despise you, they seek your soul.1 By the figure of an adulterous woman it says: when you have offended God, and, as if He were your husband, you have abandoned your Creator, it is in vain for you to seek ornamentation. Your demon lovers despise you, they do not seek the filth of your shame but the ruin of your soul. This should also be understood spiritually as against those who have ruined the marital affection and the chastity of pure faith. He says: 'If you dress in scarlet, that is, you have accepted the faith of the blood of Christ, if you adorn yourself with a necklace of gold, that is, you have contemplated the spiritual sense and understanding, and if you enlarge your eyes with kohl, that is, you have a zeal for the mysteries and for the secrets of God, yet vainly you beautify yourself. For you have also prepared these things for your lovers and your narrow bed is not able to hold both them and God, and God will not accept your ornaments with which you previously pleased your lovers. Saint Jerome, from the Commentary on Jeremiah, Book 4, Chapter 30 1 Jerem 4.30

Virtue And Vision

Κύριε, οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου εἰς πίστιν, καὶ τὰ ἐξῆς Κύριε, φησὶν, οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου εἰς πίστιν, ὡς ὀφθαλμοὶ Kυρίου ἐπὶ δικαίους, ἀπὸ γὰρ ἀδίκων ἀποστρέφει αὐτούς, οὕτως οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ Kυρίου εἰς πίστιν, ἀπὸ γὰρ ἀπιστίας ἀποστρέφει αὐτούς. διὸ καλῶς λέλεκται ὑπὸ τοῦ νοοῦντος, τί λέγει ἐν τῇ εὐχῇ, τὸ Kύριε, οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου εἰς πίστιν. Tὸ μὲν οὖν ἐνταῦθα γεγραμμένον ἐστίν· Kύριε, οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου εἰς πίστιν. ἐπεὶ δὲ λόγον σοφὸν ἐὰν ἀκούσῃ ἐπιστήμων, αἰνέσει αὐτὸν καὶ ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν προσθήσει, ὅρα πόσα ἐστὶν ποιῆσαι ἀπὸ τοῦ Kύριε, οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου εἰς πίστιν. φησὶν ὁ Παῦλος· νυνὶ δὲ μένει τὰ τρία ταῦτα, πίστις, ἐλπίς, ἀγάπη· μείζων δὲ τούτων ἡ ἀγάπη. ὡς ὀφθαλμοὶ Kυρίου εἰς πίστιν, ὀφθαλμοὶ Kυρίου εἰς ἐλπίδα, ὀφθαλμοὶ κυρίου εἰς ἀγάπην. ἐπεὶ δέ ἐστιν πνεῦμα δυνάμεως καὶ ἀπάπης καὶ σωφρονισμοῦ, ὀφθαλμοὶ Kυρίου εἰς ἀγάπην, οὕτως ὀφθαλμοὶ Kυρίου εἰς δύναμιν, οὕτως οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ Kυρίου εἰς σωφρονισμόν, ὀφθαλμοὶ Kυρίου ἐπὶ δικαιοσύνην. Oὕτως ἐπὶ πάσας ἀρετὰς ὀφθαλμοὶ Kυρίου. εἰ οὖν βούλει καὶ σὺ τὰς ἀκτῖνας τῶν νοητῶν ὀφθαλμῶν τοῦ θεοῦ φθάνειν ἐπὶ σέ, ἀνάλαβε τὰς ἀρετάς. καὶ ἔσται ὡς τὸ Kύριε, οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου εἰς πίστιν, οὕτως Kύριε, οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου εἰς ἕκαστον ὡν ἐὰν κτήσῃ ἀγαθῶν. καὶ ἐὰν τηλικοῦτος ᾐς, ὡς τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς Kυρίου ἐλλάμπειν σοι, ἐρεῖς· ἐσημειώθη ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς τὸ φῶς τοῦ προσώπου σου, Kυριε. Ὠριγένης Ἰερεμίας, Ὁμολία Ϛ' Source: Migne PG 13.324a-b

O Lord, your eyes look to faith. 1 'O Lord,' he says, 'your eyes look to faith,' as the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, 2 because He turns them from the iniquitous, and so the eyes of the Lord look to faith, for He turns them from faithlessness. Certainly it is well said by him who knows why he says in prayer: 'O Lord, your eyes look to faith.' So it has been written here: 'O Lord, your eyes look to faith.' But because when a man of understanding hears a wise word, he shall praise it and add to it,3 see how much more may be made from this: 'O Lord your eyes look to faith.' Paul says, 'For now remains faith and hope and charity, these three, and the greatest of them is charity.' 4 So, then, as the eyes of the Lord look to faith, so the eyes of the Lord look to hope, so the eyes of the Lord look to charity. And when there is the spirit of fortitude and charity and temperance, so the eyes of the Lord look to fortitude, so the eyes of the Lord look to temperance, so the eyes of the Lord look to righteousness. So the eyes of the Lord look to every virtue. Therefore, if you wish for the touch of the rays of the spiritual eyes of the Lord, cultivate these virtues in yourself, and it shall be that, 'O Lord, your eyes look to faith,' just as, O Lord, your eyes look to every good thing which is possessed. And if you are like this, so that the eyes of the Lord shine upon you, you shall say, 'The light of your face is sealed upon us, O Lord.' 5 Origen, On Jeremiah, Sixth Homily 1 Jerem 5.3 2 Ps 33.16 3 Eccl 21.15 4 Cor 13.13

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

Sin On Sin

Et dixisti: Absque peccato et innocens ego sum: et propterea avertatur furor tuus a me. Ecce ego judicio contendam tecum, eo quod dixeris, Non peccavi: quam vilis es facta nimis, sive quomodo contempsisti nimis, iterans vias tuas. His utendum est adversus eos qui nolunt sua peccata cognoscere, sed in tempore afflictionis et angustiae dicunt se injuste sustinere quae sustinent, magisque provocant iram Dei, dum alterum, majusque peccatum sit, non lugere quod fecerint, sed vanas excusationes obtendere peccatorum. Judicio, inquit, contendam tecum pro eo quod dixeris, Non peccavi: quasi majus quippiam sit hoc peccatum, aliud habere in conscientia, aliud in sermone proferre. Audiat nova ex veteri haeresis, iram Dei esse vel maximam, nolle peccatum confiteri humiliter; sed impudenter jactare justitiam. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum In Jeremiam Propheta, Liber I, Caput III Source Migne PL 24.725b-c

You have even said: 'I am without sin and innocent, and thus let your anger be turned from me.' Behold, I shall contend in judgement with you, because you have said: I have not sinned.' How very vile you have become, or 'how very contemptuous,' repeating your ways. 1 These words must be used against those who will not admit their sins but instead in times of affliction and distress they say that they are suffering what they suffer unjustly, by which they provoke the anger of God even more, since it is another and greater sin that they do not bewail what they have done but instead give vain excuses for their sins. He says: 'I will contend with you in judgement because you have said that you have not sinned,' as if somehow this sin is worse, to have one thing in one's conscience and to say something else. Let the new heresy attend to the old: the anger of God is even greater when one will not humbly confess one's sin but instead assert righteousness. Saint Jerome, from the Commentary on Jeremiah, Book 1, Chapter 3 1 Jer 3.17

Speech And Inspiration

Et dixit Dominus ad me: Facilitatis est ad eloquenciam collaco, et hoc est: ecce dedi verba, id est, facilitatem enunciandi verba mea in ore tuo, ut os tuum sit instrumentum, Ego autem motor. Perge, Ego ero in ore tuo. Lingua mea calamus scribe. Spiritus est in hominibus et inspiracio altissimus dat intelligenciam. ideo dicitur Non vos estis qui loquimini sed Spiritus Patris vestri qui loquitur in vobis. Non vos estis loquentes, sed Spiritus Sanctus. An experimentum queritis eius qui in me loquitur Christus? Sapiencia aperuit os muti et linguam infancium fecit disertas. Sanctus Albertus Magnus Super Jeremiam Source: here (pg17)

And the Lord said to me: I have established the faculty of eloquence, which is: 'Behold I have given my words to you,' 1 that is, the ability to speak my words in your mouth, that your mouth be the instrument and I the power. 'Go, I shall be in your mouth.' 2 'My tongue is as the pen that writes.' 3 'The spirit is in men and the inspiration of the Most High gives understanding.' 4 'It is not you who speak but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.' 5 'You are not speaking but it is the Holy Spirit.' 6 'Since you seek a proof that it is Christ who speaks in me.' 7 'Wisdom has opened the mouth of the mute and it has made eloquent the tongues of infants.' 8 Saint Albert The Great, On Jeremiah 1 Jerem 1.9 2 Exodus 4.12 3 Ps 44.2 4 Job 32.8 5 Mt 10.20 6 Mk 13.11 7 2 Cor 13.3 8 Wisd 10.21

Youth And The Spirit

O Domine Deus, non scio loqui, quia iuvenis sum. Et dixit Dominus ad me: Noli dicere: puer sum: quoniam ad omnia quæ mittam te ibis, et universa quæcumque mandavero tibi loqueris. Ablacio est impedimenti, et continet tria: redargucionem, redargucionis racionem, et impedimenti ablacionem. Dicit egro: Noli dicere quia puer sum, ac si dicat: quia licet etate puer sim, spiritui meo obediens puer non es. Sapienciam enim antiquorum transfundit in ipsum. Docebit vos omnia et suggeret... Unde sense dixerunt: Sedes inter nos, et iudica nobis, quia tibi Deus contulit honorem senectutis. Hoc ergo modo dicit: Noli dicere quia puer sum. Ex ore infancium et lactencium. Hoc significatum est in pueris hebreorum qui sesnsu maturiores vicerunt, quibus malicia impraes extiterunt. Detur parvulis astucia, adolescentibus vero sciencia et intellectus. Tamen quia puer est a puritate dictus, spiritui divino magis est aptis. Ecce ego et pueri mei quos mihi dedit Dominus. Cum autem dicit: Noli, voluntas affirmata manet, et est sensus: Velis non dicere: quia puer sum. Puer enim esse non potest, quem Deus sua sapiencia imbuit: Dabo vobis os et sapienciam cui non poterunt resistere annos adversarii vestri. Quoniam ad omnia, scilicet negocia, que mittam te, ad que negocia mitti virorum est et perfectorum. Ibis secundum obediencie mandata, propter quod dicit: Occuramus omnes in virum perfectum in mensuram etatis plenitudinis Christi. Accinge sicut vir lumbos tuos, interrogabo te et responde. Ergo noli dicere: quia puer sum; puerorum enim in negociis Dei non est occupari. Et universa quecumque mandavero: ad que exigitur memoriam tenacem, intellectum perspicacem et racionem ordinatricem et eloquenciam habere efficacem. Loqueris ad eos ordinate, unicuique quod sibi competit discrete proponens. Loqueris verba mea ad eos. Stillabat super eos eloquium meum. Spiritus enim infusus et sapiencia in corde est, et facilitas eloquencie in ore. Non poterat resistere sapiencie et Spiritui qui loquebatur. Sanctus Albertus Magnus Super Jeremiam Source: here

'O Lord God, I do not know how to speak because I am but a youth.' And the Lord said to me: 'Do not say 'I am a boy,' for to all whom I send you you shall go, and whatever I command you you shall speak.' .. 1 The impediment is removed, and this consists of three things: refutation, reason for refutation and the removal of the impediment. He said, then: Do not say 'because I am a boy' as if he said, 'by my years I am young,' for being obedient to my spirit you are not a boy. 'I shall teach you all things and remind you...' 2 Whence the elders said 'Sit among us and judge with us, because to you God has brought the honour of old age.' 3 Thus in a way He says, 'Do not say I am a boy.' 'From the mouths of infants and weanlings.' 4 This is the meaning of John regarding the children of the Hebrews, 5 who triumphed over their elders with sense, to whom they were unequal in wickedness. 'Let shrewdness be given to the little ones, knowledge to youths and understanding.' 6 However because boy 'puer' is from purity 'puritate', the Divine spirit is more fitting for them. 'Behold, I and my children which the Lord has given me.' 7 When he says 'Do not' the affirmative will remains, and this is the meaning: You wish not to speak 'because I am a boy' but you are not able to be a youth when the spirit of God has filled you: 'I shall give into your mouth wisdom and your enemies will not be able to resist your years.' 8 Because in everything, and certainly in this matter on which I send you, it is a matter on which to send men and those who are mature. You shall go obediently according to my command, on account of which it is said: 'We shall all come to the perfect man according to the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ.' 9 And: 'Gird your lions, man, for I will question you and you will answer.' 10 Therefore do not say, 'because I am a boy' for there is nothing immature in this business of God. 'And whatever I shall command you,' by which he is urged to have a tenacious memory, a clear understanding, ordered reason, and effective speech. You shall speak to them in orderly fashion, explaining carefully to whoever enquiries of you. 'You shall speak my words to them.' 11 'You shall shower over them my speech.' 12 For infused with the spirit and with wisdom in the heart, the ability of eloquence is in the mouth. 'But they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke' 13 Saint Albert The Great, On Jeremiah 1Jer 1.6-7 2 Jn 14.26 3 Dan 13.50 4 Ps 8.3 5 cf Jn 12.13 but actually Mt 21.15 6 Prov 1.4 7 Isaiah 8.18 8 Lk 21.15 9 Ephes 4.13 10 Job 38.2 11 Ezek 2.7 12 Job 29.22 13 Acts 6.10

The Foreknowledge Of God

Priusquam te formarem... Tria dicit, que ad consecracion pertinet, scilicet predestinacionis preordinacionem, gracie apposicionem et gradus sive poetestis collacionem. De primo dicit: Priusquam te formarem, id est: anima racionali, que forma hominis est, in specie hominis ponerem. Novi te, id est: luce predestinacionis ad graciam et gloriam preordinavi. Non enim novit Deus ad modum hominis. Noscit homo noticiam rei a re accipiendo, et hic intellectus sine passione non est, quia rem recipere pati quoddam est. Noscit Deus luce sapiencie res in formis suis constitudendo, et quod meneant in esse approbando. Vidit Deus cuncta que fecerat, et erant valde bona. Sic ergo oculi beneplaciti novit quibus graciam parat et gloriam. Invenisti graciam coram me, et te ipsum novi ex nomine. Novit Deus qui sunt eius. Sic per oppositum de malis quos ad graciam et gloriam non preparavit, dicitur: Ego iurabo illis: quia uumquam novi vos, non quia in noticia simplicis visionis malos non previderit, sed quia lucem gracie ex gratis oculis suis super eos non effudit, sicut de sanctis dicitur: In via hac qua gradieris, firmabo super te oculos meos. Mecum ibit Chanaan, et ponam oculos meos super eum. Secundum hoc ergo, quia noticia Dei a rebus nihil accipit, sed pocius res in esse constituit, ideo eodem modo novit res antequam fiant et postquam factae sunt. Vocat ea que non sunt tamquam ea que sunt. Fuerunt tamen heretici, a philosophis, qui stoici vocantur, occasionem erroris accipientes, qui propter hec et similia, animas ab aeterno esse dixerunt, vel ab inicio mundi simul creatas. Et quia uniuscuiusque animam novit Deus, ideo dicere quod Ieremiam novit antequam nasceretur, et illis obviat glosa que dicit: non quia ante concepcionem fuerit, ut heretici suspiciantur, sed quia prescivit eum Dominus, cui facienda iam facta sunt, qui vocat ea que non sunt tamquam ea que sunt. Sanctus Albertus Magnus Super Jeremiam Source: here

Before I formed you.. 1 Three things he speaks which pertain to consecration, certainly the preordination of predestination, and the application of grace and the degree or amount of power. Concerning the first of these He says, 'Before I formed you,' that is, before I placed the rational soul which is the form of man in the species of man. I knew you, that is, in the light of predestination I preordained you to grace and glory. For God does not know according to the way of men. Man knows by receiving from the thing an awareness of the thing, and this understanding is not without passion, because to receive things is a certain disturbance. God knows in the light of wisdom which establishes things in their forms and they remain in being by His approval. 'God saw everything which He made and it was very good.' 2 So with benevolent eye He knows those He prepares for grace and glory. 'You have found grace before me and I know you by name.' 3 'God knows those who are His.' 4 And contrariwise of the wicked ones He has not prepared to grace and glory, He says, 'I shall swear to them, I never knew you.' 5 not because with the awareness of simple vision He does not foresee, but because He does not pour the light of grace from the eyes of grace over them, just as concerning His holy ones He says, 'In this way which you shall walk, I shall fix my eyes over you.' 6 With me he shall go to Canaan, 'And I shall place over him my eyes.' 7 According to this, therefore, the knowledge of God receives nothing from things, but rather He establishes things in their being, and therefore in the same way He knows things before they are and after they are made. 'He calls things that are not as if they were.' 8 There were certain heretics, philosophers called Stoics, who received an occasion of error, who on account of this and similar things, spoke of souls as being created from eternity, or at the beginning of the world. And because He knows the soul of everyone, therefore He says that He knows Jeremiah before he was born, but against this there is a gloss which says, 'Not that he was before his conception, as the heretics assume, but because the Lord foreknew him, to whom things to be already are, and He calls those things which are not as if they are.' 9 Saint Albert The Great, On Jeremiah 1 Jerem 1.5 2 Gen 1.31 3 Exodus 33.12 4 2 Tim 2.19 5 Mt 7.23 6 Ps 31.8 7 Gen 44.21 8 Rom 4. 17 9 St Jerome Pl 23.682 and PL 114.9

Healing And Peace

Φησὶν Ἰερεμίας ὁ προφήτης ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ πρὸς τὴν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις τραυματωθεῖσαν καὶ λεπρωθεῖσαν ψυχήν· Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀνάγω συνούλωσιν αὐτῇ, καὶ ἴαμα, καὶ ἰατρεύσω αὐτὴν, καὶ φανερώσω αὐτοῖς εἰρήνην, καὶ πίστιν, καὶ οὐ μὴ μνησθῶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν, ὦν ἥμαρτόν μοι. Τὸ, ἰδοὺ νῦν ἀνάγω συνούλωσιν, χρήσιμόν ἐστι παραληφθῆναι εἰς τὴν λέπραν ἐν τῳ Λευϊτικῷ γεγραμμένην. Οἶς δὲ ὁ Θεὸς τὴν συνούλωσιν ἀνάγει, καὶ οὕς ἰατρεύει, τούτοις καὶ τὴν εἰρήνην τῆς διανοίας, καὶ τὴν πίστιν τὴν ἀδίστακτον καὶ στερεμνίαν φανεροῖ. Οἱ τοίνυν συνουλωθέντες, δὴλον ὅτι τὸ τέλεον καθαρθέντες τὴν ψυχὴν, τὸ χάρισμα τῆς ἀπαθείας κομίζονται. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΡΔ' Καπιτωνι Διακονῳ Source: Migne PG 79.128c-d

Jeremiah the Prophet speaks out from the face of God about the wounds of errors and the leprous soul: 'Behold I shall draw off their scabs and bring a remedy and I shall heal them and I shall manifest to them peace and faith, and I shall not remember their sins which they have sinned against me.' 1 That is, I shall draw off their scabs that it might be convenient to deal with the leprosy which is described in Leviticus. 2 And with God drawing off the scabs and healing, there shall be given to them peace of thought and faith with no flaw of doubt, but manifested most firmly. By which, with scabs drawn off, they shall be revealed as perfectly purged in the soul and in receipt of imperturbability. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 104, To Capiton the Deacon 1 Jerem 33.6-8 2 Levit 13.14

Grief And Blessings

Ἐκάθισεν Ἰερεμίας κλαίων. Τὸν ἐξ ἀγάπης κλαυθμὸν μακαριζόμενον. Τοῦ γὰρ ἀγίου ἐστὶ, κλααιειν μετὰ κλαιόντων, καὶ χαίρειν μετὰ χαιρόντων. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ  Ἐγγίζων τῇ Ἱερουσαλὴμ ὁ Κύριος ἔκλαυσε καὶ εἴπεν·  Ἰερουσαλὴμ Ἰερουσαλήμ ἡ ἀποκτείνουσα τοὺς προφήτας καὶ λιθοβολοῦσα τοὺς ἀπεσταλμένους πρὸς αὐτήν, ποσάκις ἠθέλησα ἐπισυναγαγεῖν τὰ τέκνα σου, ὃν τρόπον ὄρνις ἐπισυνάγει τὰ νοσσία αὐτῆς ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας, καὶ οὐκ ἠθελήσατε. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ.  Εἰ τοίνυν μακάριοι οἱ κλαίοντες, ὅτι γελάσετε, ἔδει Ἰερεμίαν τὸν μυστικὸν τοῦτον κλαῦσαι κλαυθμὸν, καὶ κατὰ τὸ Μακάριοι οἱ πενθοῦντες, πενθῆσαι τοὺς τοῦ πενθεῖσθαι ἀξίους. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαι Εἰς Θρηνους Source: Migne PG 13 608c-d

Jeremiah sat and wept. 1 He who grieves on account of love is blessed. It is of the holy man to weep when others weep, to rejoice when they rejoice. 2 On the same:  Nearing Jerusalem the Lord wept and said, 'Jerusalem, Jerusalem, still murdering the prophets, and stoning those sent out to her, how often have I wished to gather your children, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings; and you did not wish it.' 3 If they are blessed who grieve because they will laugh, 4 thus it befits Jeremiah to bring forth this holy weeping, and according to 'Blessed are those who weep,' so it is to lament those things worth lamenting. Origen, Commentary On Lamentations, Fragment 1 Lam 1.Prologue 2 Rom 12.13 3 Mt 23. 37 4 Lk 6.21