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

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

Death And Resurrection

Ἀρχὴ δὲ γενέσθω τοῦ λόγου τῶν θεοπνεύστων ῥημάτων ἡ μνήμη ἐπὶ λέξεως ἔχουσα οὕτως· Ἀνέστην ἐγὼ ἀνοῖξαι τῷ ἀδελφιδῷ μου· αἱ χεῖρές μου ἔσταξαν σμύρναν, οἱ δάκτυλοί μου σμύρναν πλήρη, ὅτι μὲν οὖν οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλως ἐν ἡμῖν γενέσθαι τὸν ζῶντα λόγον, τὸν καθαρὸν λέγω καὶ ἀσώματον νυμφίον τὸν δι’ ἀφθαρσίας καὶ ἁγιότητος ἑαυτῷ τὴν ψυχὴν συνοικίζοντα, εἰ μή τις διὰ τοῦ νεκρῶσαι τὰ μέλη τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς περιέλοιτο τὸ τῆς σαρκὸς παραπέτασμα καὶ οὕτως ἀνοίξοι τῷ λόγῳ τὴν θύραν, δι’ ἧς εἰς τὴν ψυχὴν εἰσοικίζεται, δῆλόν ἐστιν οὐ μόνον ἐκ τῶν θείων τοῦ ἀποστόλου δογμάτων ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ τῶν νῦν εἰρημένων παρὰ τῆς νύμφης· Ἀνέστην γάρ, φησίν, ἀνοῖξαι τῷ ἀδελφιδῷ μου διὰ τοῦ ποιῆσαι τὰς χεῖράς μου τῆς σμύρνης πηγὰς ἀφ’ ἑαυτῶν ῥεούσας τὸ ἄρωμα καὶ πλήρωμα τῶν δακτύλων δεῖξαι τὴν σμύρναν. τὸν γὰρ τρόπον, δι’ οὗ ἀνοίγεται τῷ νυμφίῳ ἡ θύρα, φησὶ διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων ὅτι διὰ τοῦ Συνταφῆναι αὐτῷ διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος εἰς τὸν θάνατον ἀνέστην· οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἐνήργησεν ἡ ἀνάστασις μὴ προκαθηγησαμένης τῆς ἑκουσίου νεκρότητος. ἐνδείκνυται δὲ τὸ ἑκούσιον ἡ ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῆς ἀπορρέουσα τῆς σμύρνης σταγὼν καὶ τὸ πεπληρῶσθαι τοὺς δακτύλους αὐτῆς τοῦ ἀρώματος τούτου· οὐ γὰρ ἑτέρωθεν ἐγγενέσθαι τῇ χειρὶ λέγει τὴν σμύρναν, ἦ γὰρ ἂν ἐνομίσθη διὰ τούτου περιστατικὸν αὐτῇ καὶ ἀκούσιον συμβῆναι τὸ διὰ τῆς σμύρνης δηλούμενον, ἀλλ’ αὐτάς φησι τὰς χεῖρας, σημαίνει δὲ διὰ τῶν χειρῶν τὰς ἐνεργητικὰς τῆς ψυχῆς κινήσεις, ἀφ’ ἑαυτῶν στάξαι τὴν σμύρναν, τὴν οἴκοθεν ἐκ προαιρέσεως τῶν σωματικῶν παθημάτων γινομένην νέκρωσιν διὰ τούτου σημαίνων, ἣν ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς δακτύλοις πεπληρῶσθαι λέγει, τὰ καθ’ ἕκαστον εἴδη τὰ διῃρημένως δι’ ἀρετῆς σπουδαζόμενα τῷ τῶν δακτύλων διερμηνεύων ὀνόματι· ὡς εἶναι πάντα τὸν νοῦν τῶν λεγομένων τοιοῦτον, ὅτι ἔλαβον δύναμιν ἀναστάσεως διὰ τοῦ νεκρῶσαι τὰ μέλη μου τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἑκουσίως μοι τῆς τῶν τοιούτων μελῶν ἐνεργηθείσης νεκρώσεως, οὐ παρ’ ἄλλου ταῖς χερσὶν ἐντεθείσης τῆς σμύρνης ἀλλ’ ἐκ τῆς ἐμῆς προαιρέσεως ἀπορρεούσης, ὡς καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς κατ’ ἀρετὴν ἐπιτηδεύμασιν, ἅπερ δακτύλους ὠνόμασεν, ἀνελλιπῆ τὴν τοιαύτην ἐνορᾶσθαι διάθεσιν· Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων, Ὁμιλία IB’ Source: Migne PG 44.1016c-1017b

Let the beginning of our speech be from the Divinely inspired words, which my recollection of the text has as: 'I rose up to open to my beloved; my hands dripped myrrh, my fingers were covered with myrrh,' 1 for there is no other way in which the living Word comes within us, and I speak of the pure and incorporeal Bridegroom, who makes the soul dwell with Him through incorruptibility and holiness, that is, if by mortifying one’s earthly members one removes the veil of the flesh 2 and thus opens the door to the Word through which He makes the soul His home, which is clear not only from the Divine teachings of the Apostle but also from what the Bride says here. For saying, 'I rose up to open to my beloved by making my hands founts of myrrh from which its scent pours forth, and by showing my fingers to be covered with myrrh,' she declares the way in which the door is opened to the Bridegroom, that is, she says 'by being buried with him through baptism into His death I have risen up, 3 for there is no real resurrection that is not preceded by a voluntary death.' This voluntary nature is shown by the drops of myrrh that drip from her hands and because her fingers are covered with its scent, for she does not say that the myrrh came on her hands from an outside source, since that would make one think that what the myrrh signifies happened to her accidentally and involuntarily, but she says that her hands themselves, by which she means those motions of the soul that bring actions about, drip myrrh by their very own agency, and by myrrh she refers to the mortification of bodily passions that comes about through a choice that originates in oneself, which, she says, attains fullness in all her fingers, and by the name of 'fingers' she signifies the particular ways among us of the cultivation of virtue. Thus the whole sense of what is said is: 'I have received the power of the resurrection by mortifying my earthly members, which mortification of such members was enacted voluntarily. The myrrh was not placed on my hands by another, but it flowed forth from my own choice, so that in all virtuous pursuits,' which she names fingers, 'a state of this kind is always observed.' Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 12 1 Song 5.5 2 2 Cor 3.16, Colos 3.5 3 Rom 6.4

The House And The Rain

Δοκοὶ οἴκων ἡμῶν κέδροι, φατνώματα ἡμῶν κυπάρισσοι. Πάντως δὲ τὰ δηλούμενα διὰ τῶν ξύλων αἰνίγματα φανερὰ τοῖς ἐπακολουθοῦσι τῷ εἱρμῷ τῆς διανοίας ἐστίν. βροχὴν ὀνομάζει τὰς ποικίλας τῶν πειρασμῶν προσβολὰς ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ ὁ Kύριος λέγων ἐπὶ τοῦ καλῶς τὴν οἰκίαν ἐπὶ τῆς πέτρας οἰκοδομήσαντος ὅτι Κατέβη ἡ βροχὴ καὶ ἔπνευσαν οἱ ἄνεμοι καὶ ἦλθον οἱ ποταμοὶ καὶ ἀπαθὲς ἔμεινεν ἐν τούτοις τὸ οἰκοδόμημα. Tαύτης οὖν ἕνεκεν τῆς κακῆς ἐπομβρίας χρεία τοιούτων ἡμῖν ἐστιν δοκῶν. Αὗται δ’ ἂν εἶεν αἱ ἀρεταί, αἳ τὰς τῶν πειρασμῶν ἐπιρροὰς ἐντὸς ἑαυτῶν οὐ προσίενται στερραί τε οὖσαι καὶ ἀνένδοτοι καὶ τὸ πρὸς κακίαν ἀμάλακτον ἐν τοῖς πειρασμοῖς διασῴζουσαι. Mάθοιμεν δ’ ἂν τὸ λεγόμενον τὴν ἐν τῷ Ἐκκλησιαστῇ ῥῆσιν τῷ προκειμένῳ συνεξετάσαντες· Ἐκεῖ γάρ φησιν Ἐν ὀκνηρίαις ταπεινωθήσεται δόκωσις καὶ ἐν ἀργίᾳ χειρῶν στάξει οἰκία. Ὥσπερ γὰρ εἰ ἀσθενῆ τε καὶ ἄτονα ὑπὸ λεπτότητος εἴη τὰ ξύλα τὰ διειληφότα τὸν ὄροφον, ὀκνηρῶς δὲ ἔχοι πρὸς τὴν τοῦ δώματος ἐπιμέλειαν ὁ τοῦ οἴκου δεσπότης, οὐδὲν ἀπώνατο τῆς στέγης τοῦ ὄμβρου διὰ σταγόνων εἰσρέοντος, κοιλαίνεται γὰρ ἐξ ἀνάγκης ὁ ὄροφος εἴκων τῷ βάρει τοῦ ὕδατος καὶ οὐκ ἀντέχει τῶν ξύλων ἡ ἀτονία πρὸς τὴν τοῦ βάρους προσβολὴν ὑποκλάζουσα. Διὰ τοῦτο ἐπὶ τὰ ἐντὸς διαδίδοται τὸ ἐναπειλημμένον τῇ κοιλότητι ὕδωρ καὶ αἱ σταγόνες αὗται κατὰ τὸν Παροιμιώδη λόγον ἐκβάλλουσι τοῦ οἴκου τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ ὑετοῦ, οὕτως ἡμῖν τῷ τῆς παραβολῆς αἰνίγματι διακελεύεται διὰ τῆς τῶν ἀρετῶν εὐτονίας ἀνενδότους εἶναι πρὸς τὰς τῶν πειρασμῶν ἐπιρροάς, μή ποτε μαλακισθέντες διὰ τῆς τῶν παθημάτων ἐμπτώσεως κοῖλοι γενώμεθα καὶ τὴν ἐπιρροὴν τῶν τοιούτων ὑδάτων ἔξωθεν ἐπὶ τὴν καρδίαν εἰσρέουσαν ἐντὸς τῶν ταμιείων παραδεξώμεθα, δι’ ὧν φθείρεται ἡμῖν τὰ ἀπόθετα. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων, Ὁμιλία Δ’ Source: Migne PG 44.837b-d

The beams of our house are cedars, our rafters are of cypress. 1 To those following the intent of the thought here, it is quite obvious what the mystery of the timbers signifies. In the Gospel the Lord gives the name of rain to the various assaults of the temptations, saying of the man who wisely built his house upon a rock, 'The rain fell and the winds blew and the rivers flooded, and the foundation remained unharmed in the midst of all this.' 2 It is on account of this evil flood, then, that we need such beams as these, which are the virtues that do not allow entrance to the downpour of the temptations, since they are solid and maintain their firmness against the evils of trials. We may learn about this, if with this passage we have here, we consider what is said in Ecclesiastes, for there he says, 'Because of sloth the beams shall collapse, and because of the idleness of the hands the house shall leak.' 3 For as if the timbers that support the roof are weak and slack, and the owner is slothful about the care of his home, so the roof shall hardly keep off anything, but the rain shall drip in, and eventually the roof will be hollowed out and give way to the weight of the waters, for the slack timbers sinking under the pressure of this weight will offer no resistance, but the water caught in the depression will pour within, and the drops themselves, as Proverbs says, 'Cast the man out of his house on the day of rain.' 4 Thus in the mystery of this parable we are exhorted to resist the assaults of the temptations with the strength of the virtues, lest when we are weakened by the passions that befall men, we are made hollow, and then, as it attacks the heart from outside, the streams of those waters come into our treasure chambers, because of which what we have placed there is ruined. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 4 1 Song 1.16 2 Mt 7.25 3 Eccl 10.18 4 Prov 27.15

Restoring Beauty

Ἰδοὺ εἶ καλή, ἡ πλησίον μου, ἰδοὺ εἶ καλή· ὀφθαλμοί σου περιστεραί. Παιδεύει δὲ διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων ὁ λόγος ταύτην εἶναι τοῦ κάλλους τὴν ἐπανάληψιν τῷ προσεγγίσαι πάλιν τῷ ἀληθινῷ κάλλει, οὗ ἀπεφοίτησε· φησὶ γὰρ Ἰδοὺ εἶ καλή, ἡ πλησίον μου· ὅπερ ἐστὶν ὅτι διὰ τοῦτο πρότερον οὐκ ἦσθα καλή, διότι τοῦ ἀρχετύπου κάλλους ἀποξενωθεῖσα τῇ πονηρᾷ γειτνιάσει τῆς κακίας πρὸς τὸ εἰδεχθὲς ἠλλοιώθης. Tὸ δὲ λεγόμενον τοιοῦτόν ἐστι· δεκτικὴ τῶν κατὰ γνώμην ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη γέγονε φύσις καὶ πρὸς ὅπερ ἂν ἡ ῥοπὴ τῆς προαιρέσεως αὐτὴν ἄγῃ, κατ’ ἐκεῖνο καὶ ἀλλοιοῦται· τοῦ τε γὰρ θυμοῦ παραδεξαμένη τὸ πάθος θυμώδης γίνεται καὶ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἐπικρατησάσης εἰς ἡδονὴν διαλύεται, πρὸς δειλίαν τε καὶ φόβον καὶ τὰ καθ’ ἕκαστον πάθη τῆς ῥοπῆς γενομένης τὰς ἑκάστου τῶν παθῶν μορφὰς ὑποδύεται, ὥσπερ δὴ καὶ ἐκ | τοῦ ἐναντίου τὸ μακρόθυμον, τὸ καθαρόν, τὸ εἰρηνικόν, τὸ ἀόργητον, τὸ ἄλυπον, τὸ εὐθαρσές, τὸ ἀπτόητον, πάντα ταῦτα ἐν ἑαυτῇ δεξαμένη ἑκάστου τούτων ἐπισημαίνει τὸν χαρακτῆρα τῇ καταστάσει τῆς ψυχῆς ἐν ἀταραξίᾳ γαληνιάζουσα. Συμβαίνει τοίνυν ἀμέσως πρὸς τὴν κακίαν τῆς ἀρετῆς διεστώσης μὴ δύνασθαι κατὰ ταὐτὸν ἀμφότερα τῷ ἑνὶ παραγίνεσθαι· ὁ γὰρ τοῦ σωφρονεῖν ἀποστὰς ἐν τῷ ἀκολάστῳ πάντως γίνεται βίῳ καὶ ὁ τὸν ἀκάθαρτον βδελυξάμενος βίον κατώρθωσεν ἐν τῇ ἀποστροφῇ τοῦ κακοῦ τὸ ἀμόλυντον. Oὕτω καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα· ὁ ταπεινοφρονῶν τῆς ὑπερηφανίας κεχώρισται καὶ ὁ διὰ τοῦ τύφου ἑαυτὸν ἐξογκώσας τὴν ταπεινοφροσύνην ἀπώσατο. Kαὶ τί χρὴ τὰ καθ’ ἕκαστον λέγοντα διατρίβειν, πῶς ἐπὶ τῶν ἀντικειμένων τῇ φύσει ἡ τοῦ ἑνὸς ἀπουσία θέσις καὶ ὕπαρξις τοῦ ἑτέρου γίνεται; οὕτω τοίνυν ἐχούσης ἡμῶν τῆς προαιρέσεως, ὡς κατ’ ἐξουσίαν ἔχειν ὅπερ ἂν ἐθέλῃ τούτῳ συσχηματίζεσθαι, καλῶς φησι πρὸς τὴν ὡραϊσθεῖσαν ὁ λόγος, ὅτι ἀποστᾶσα μὲν τῆς τοῦ κακοῦ κοινωνίας ἐμοὶ προσήγγισας, πλησιάσασα δὲ τῷ ἀρχετύπῳ κάλλει καὶ αὐτὴ καλὴ γέγονας οἷόν τι κάτοπτρον τῷ ἐμῷ χαρακτῆρι ἐμμορφωθεῖσα· κατόπτρῳ γὰρ ἔοικεν ὡς ἀληθῶς τὸ ἀνθρώπινον κατὰ τὰς τῶν προαιρέσεων ἐμφάσεις μεταμορφούμενον· εἴ τε γὰρ πρὸς χρυσὸν ἴδοι, χρυσὸς φαίνεται καὶ τὰς ταύτης αὐγὰς τῆς ὕλης διὰ τῆς ἐμφάσεως δείκνυσιν, εἴ τέ τι τῶν εἰδεχθῶν ἐμφανείη, καὶ τούτου τὸ αἶσχος δι’ ὁμοιώσεως ἀπομάσσεται βάτραχόν τινα ἢ φρῦνον ἢ σκολόπενδραν ἢ ἄλλο τι τῶν ἀηδῶν θεαμάτων τῷ οἰκείῳ εἴδει ὑποκρινόμενον, ᾧπερ ἂν τούτων εὑρεθῇ ἀντιπρόσωπον. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν κατὰ νώτου τὴν κακίαν ποιησαμένη ἡ κεκαθαρμένη ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου ψυχὴ τὸν ἡλιακὸν ἐν ἑαυτῇ κύκλον ἐδέξατο καὶ τῷ ὀφθέντι ἐν αὐτῇ φωτὶ συνεξέλαμψε, διὰ τοῦτό φησι πρὸς αὐτὴν ὁ λόγος, ὅτι γέγονας ἤδη καλὴ πλησιάσασα τῷ ἐμῷ φωτὶ διὰ τοῦ προσεγγισμοῦ τὴν κοινωνίαν ἐφελκυσαμένη τοῦ κάλλους. Ἰδοὺ εἶ καλή, φησίν, ἡ πλησίον μου. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων,  Ὁμιλία Δ’ Source: Migne PG 44.835c-d

Behold, you are beautiful, my close one, behold, you are beautiful: your eyes are doves. 1 By these expressions the Word teaches that the restoration of the soul's beauty consists in it once again drawing near to the true Beauty from which it departed. For he says, 'Behold, you are beautiful, my close one,' as if to declare, 'The reason why you were not beautiful before is that you had been estranged from the archetypal Beauty and had become ugly because of wrongful association with evil,' meaning that human nature which comes into being as something capable of becoming whatever it determines upon, and to what ever goal the drive of its choice leads it, undergoes alteration in accord with what it seeks. When it takes into itself the passion of anger, it becomes angry. When desire reigns, it is dissolved into pleasure. When impulse runs in the direction of cowardice and fear, it assumes the shape of the passions proper to each of these, just as, on the contrary, when it receives into itself greatness of spirit, purity, peacefulness, calmness of temper, harmlessness, courage, high-spiritedness, all of these, it shows the mark of each of them with the soul being established in peace and inner tranquility. Since virtue, then, is different from vice and there is no mean between them, virtue and vice cannot characterize one subject in the same respect at the same time. One who departs from temperance comes to live a thoroughly unbridled life, while one who abominates the impure life, in turning from evil, achieves a life that is undefiled. And so it is in all the other cases. He who possesses a humble mind is separated from arrogance, and he who is puffed up with affectation has driven out humility. And why should we waste time by mentioning each individual case, how, where naturally contrary qualities are concerned, the absence of the one must mean the establishment and presence of the other? Since, then, our choice is so constituted that we are disposed to take on the shape of whatever we want, the Word rightly says to the Bride in her new glory, 'You have drawn near to me since you have rejected the fellowship of evil, and in drawing near to the archetypal Beauty you too have become beautiful, informed like a mirror by my appearance.' For in that it is transformed in accordance with the reflections of its choices, the human person is rightly likened to a mirror. If it looks upon gold, it appears gold, and by way of reflection it gives off the beams of that substance; and if it has the look of some unseemly thing, it is imitating that ugliness with a likeness, playing, in its own appearance, the part of a frog or a toad or a millipede or some other unpleasant sight, whichever of them it reflects. Having, then, put evil behind it, the soul purified by the Word has taken the sun’s orb within itself and has been shining with the light that appears within it, because of which the Word says to her: 'You have already become beautiful by coming close to my light, since by your own drawing near you make yourself participate in the beautiful.' 'Behold,' he says, 'you are beautiful, my close one.' Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 4 1 Song 1.14

The Shadow And The Body

Ἰδοὺ εἶ καλός, ἀδελφιδός μου, καί γε ὡραῖος, πρὸς κλίνῃ ἡμῶν σύσκιος... Εἶτα ἐπήγαγε Πρὸς κλίνῃ ἡμῶν σύσκιος. τουτέστιν ἔγνω σε ἤτοι γνώσεται ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις σύσκιον τῇ οἰκονομίᾳ γενόμενον· ἦλθες γάρ φησι σὺ ὁ καλὸς ἀδελφιδός, ὁ ὡραῖος, πρὸς τῇ κλίνῃ ἡμῶν σύσκιος γενόμενος. Eἰ γὰρ μὴ συνεσκίασας αὐτὸς σεαυτὸν τὴν ἄκρατον τῆς θεότητος ἀκτῖνα συγκαλύψας τῇ τοῦ δούλου μορφῇ, τίς ἂν ὑπέστη σου τὴν ἐμφάνειαν; οὐδεὶς γὰρ ὄψεται πρόσωπον Kυρίου καὶ ζήσεται. ἦλθες τοίνυν ὁ ὡραῖος, ἀλλ’ ὡς χωροῦμεν δέξασθαι τοιοῦτος γενόμενος· Ἦλθες τὰς τῆς θεότητος ἀκτῖνας τῇ περιβολῇ συσκιάσας τοῦ σώματος. Πῶς γὰρ ἂν ἐχώρησε θνητὴ καὶ ἐπίκηρος φύσις τῇ ἀκηράτῳ καὶ ἀπροσίτῳ συζυγίᾳ συναρμοσθῆναι, εἰ μὴ τοῖς ἐν σκότῳ ζῶσιν ἡμῖν ἡ σκιὰ τοῦ σώματος πρὸς τὸ φῶς ἐμεσίτευσεν; Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων Ὁμιλία Δ’ Source: Migne PG 44.835c-d

Behold, you are fair, my kinsman, and glorious, in the shadow by our bed. 1 Finally she adds, 'in the shadow by our bed.' That is, 'I knew you, or human nature will know you, as the One who became shadowed by the Divine economy.' 'For you came,' she says, 'as the fair kinsman, the glorious one, who drew near to our bed in shadow. Since if you had not shadowed yourself, concealing the pure radiance of your Deity in the form of a slave, 2 who could have endured your appearing? For no one shall see the face of the Lord and live. 3 You, then, the glorious one, came in such a way that we could receive you. You came with the radiance of Divinity shadowed by the garment of a body.' For how could a mortal and perishable nature be adapted to live together with the imperishable and the inaccessible, unless the shadow of the body had mediated between us who live in darkness 4 and the Light? Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 4 1 Song 1.15 2 Phil 2.7 3 Exodus 33.20 4 Isaiah 9.1

The Word And Creation

Ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα διεξελθὼν ἐπάγει καὶ περὶ τῆς κατὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον οἰκονομίας διδασκαλίαν, διὰ τί σὰρξ ὁ λόγος ἐγένετο. Φανεροῦ γὰρ ἅπασιν ὄντος ὅτι οὐδὲν ἐν ἑαυτῷ κτιστὸν ἢ ἐπείσακτον ὁ ἐπὶ πάντων ἔχει Θεός, οὐ δύναμιν, οὐ σοφίαν, οὐ φῶς, οὐ λόγον, οὐ ζωήν, οὐκ ἀλήθειαν οὐδὲ ὅλως τι τῶν ἐν τῷ πληρώματι τοῦ θείου κόλπου θεωρουμένων, ἅπερ πάντα ἐστὶν ὁ μονογενὴς Θεός, ὁ ὢν ἐν τοῖς κόλποις τοῦ Πατρός, οὐκ ἄν τινι τῶν ἐν τῷ Θεῷ θεωρουμένων εὐλόγως ἐφαρμοσθείη τὸ τῆς κτίσεως ὄνομα, ὥστε εἰπεῖν τὸν ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ Υἱὸν ἢ τὸν ἐν τῇ ἀρχῇ λόγον ἢ τὸ ἐν τῷ φωτὶ φῶς ἢ τὴν ἐν τῇ ζωῇ ζωὴν ἢ τὴν ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ σοφίαν ὅτι Κύριος ἔκτισέ με. Eἰ γὰρ κτιστὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡ σοφία, Χριστὸς δὲ Θεοῦ δύναμις καὶ Θεοῦ σοφία, ἐπείσακτον ἔσχε πάντως ὁ Θεὸς τὴν σοφίαν, ὕστερον ἐκ κατασκευῆς προσλαβὼν ὃ μὴ παρὰ τὴν πρώτην εἶχεν. Ἀλλὰ μὴν ὁ ἐν τοῖς κόλποις ὢν τοῦ Πατρὸς οὐδέποτε κενὸν ἑαυτοῦ δίδωσι νοεῖν τὸν Πατρῷον κόλπον. Ἄρα οὐ τῶν ἔξωθεν ἐγγενομένων ἐστὶ τῷ κόλπῳ, ἀλλὰ παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ πλήρωμα ὢν πάντοτε ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ νοεῖται ὁ ἐν ἀρχῇ ὤν, οὐκ ἀναμένων τὸ διὰ κτίσεως ἐν αὐτῷ γενέσθαι, ὡς ἂν μήποτε κενὸς ἀγαθῶν ὁ Πατὴρ νοηθείη, ἀλλ' ὁ ἐν τῇ ἀϊδιότητι τῆς πατρικῆς θεότητος εἶναι νοούμενος ἀεὶ ἐν αὐτῷ ἐστι, δύναμις ὢν καὶ ζωὴ καὶ ἀλήθεια καὶ φῶς καὶ σοφία καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα. Oὐκοῦν οὐκ ἐκ τοῦ θείου τε καὶ ἀκηράτου ἐστὶν ἡ τοῦ ἔκτισέ με φωνή, ἀλλά, καθὼς εἴρηται, ἐκ τοῦ ἀνακραθέντος κατ' οἰκονομίαν ἀπὸ τῆς κτιστῆς ἡμῶν φύσεως. Πῶς οὖν ἡ αὐτὴ καὶ τὴν γῆν θεμελιοῖ καὶ τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ἑτοιμάζει καὶ τὰς ἀβύσσους ἀναρρήγνυσι, σοφία καὶ φρόνησις καὶ θεία αἴσθησις καλουμένη, καὶ ἐνταῦθα κτίζεται εἰς ἔργων ἀρχήν; οὐκ ἄνευ, φησίν, αἰτίας μεγάλης ἡ τοι αύτη συνεργεῖται οἰκονομία. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ τῶν παραφυλακτέων ἡμῖν τὴν ἐντολὴν λαβόντες οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἐξέβαλον τῆς μνήμης τὴν χάριν, διὰ τῆς παρακοῆς ἐν τῇ τῶν ἀγαθῶν λήθῃ γενόμενοι, διὰ τοῦτο, ἵνα ἀναγγείλω πάλιν ὑμῖν τὰ καθ' ἡμέραν ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ γινόμενα καὶ ἀναμνήσω τὰ ἐξ αἰῶνος ἀπαριθμησάμενος ὧν ἐπελάθεσθε· οὐ γὰρ καινόν τι καταγγέλλω νῦν εὐαγγέλιον, ἀλλὰ τὴν εἰς τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἀποκατάστασιν ὑμῶν πραγματεύομαι· τούτου χάριν ἐκτίσθην ὁ ἀεὶ ὢν καὶ μηδὲν τοῦ κτισθῆναι πρὸς τὸ εἶναι δεόμενος, ὥστε με γενέσθαι ἀρχὴν ὁδῶν εἰς τὰ ἔργα τοῦ θεοῦ, τοὺς ἀνθρώπους λέγω. Tῆς γὰρ ὁδοῦ τῆς πρώτης καταφθαρείσης, ἔδει πάλιν ἐγκαινισθῆναι τοῖς πλανωμένοις ὁδὸν πρόσφατόν τε καὶ ζῶσαν, αὐτὸν ἐμὲ ὅς εἰμι ἡ ὁδός. Καὶ ὅτι πρὸς τὸ ἀνθρώπινον ἡ τοῦ ἔκτισέ με διάνοια βλέπει, σαφέστερον ἡμῖν τοῦτο παρίστησι διὰ τῶν ἰδίων λόγων ὁ θεῖος ἀπόστολος, ἐν οἷς διακελεύεται ὅτι Ἐνδύσασθε τὸν Kύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, καὶ πρὸς τούτοις ὅπου τὸν αὐτὸν ἐπαναλαβὼν λόγον φησὶν Ἐνδύσασθε τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν κατὰ θεὸν κτισθέντα. Eἰ γὰρ ἓν μέν ἐστι τὸ σωτήριον ἔνδυμα, τοῦτο δέ ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός, οὐκ ἂν ἄλλον τις εἴποι παρὰ τὸν Χριστὸν εἶναι τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν κατὰ θεὸν κτισθέντα, ἀλλὰ δῆλον ὅτι ὁ τὸν Χριστὸν ἐν δυσάμενος τὸν καινὸν ἐνδέδυται ἄνθρωπον τὸν κατὰ θεὸν κτισθέντα. Mόνος γὰρ οὗτος ὡς ἀληθῶς καινὸς κυρίως ὀνομάζεται ἄνθρωπος, ὃς οὐχὶ διὰ τῶν γνωρίμων τε καὶ συνήθων τῆς φύσεως ὁδῶν ἐν τῷ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐφάνη βίῳ, ἀλλ' ἐξηλλαγμένη τις καὶ ἰδιάζουσα ἐπὶ μόνου τούτου ἐκαινοτομήθη ἡ κτίσις. Διὰ τοῦτο τὸν αὐτὸν πρός τε τὸ παράδοξον τῆς γεννήσεως βλέπων καινὸν ἄνθρωπον κατὰ θεὸν κτισθέντα κατονομάζει, καὶ πρὸς τὴν θείαν φύσιν ὁρῶν τὴν ἐγκραθεῖσαν τῇ κτίσει τοῦ καινοῦ τούτου ἀνθρώπου Χριστὸν προσαγορεύει, ὡς καθ' ἑνὸς καὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ τὰς δύο κεῖσθαι φωνάς, τήν τε τοῦ Χριστοῦ λέγω καὶ τὴν τοῦ καινοῦ ἀνθρώπου τοῦ κατὰ θεὸν κτισθέντος. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Κατά Εὐνομίου, Λογός Γ´ Source: Migne PG 45.581b-584c

After recounting these and the similar things, he brings into his teaching of the dispensation with regard to man why the Word was made flesh. 1 For because it is clear to everyone that the God who is over all has nothing created or added in Himself, neither power, nor wisdom, nor light, nor word, nor life, nor truth, nor anything at all of those things which are contemplated in the fullness of the Divine bosom, all which things the Only Begotten God is, who is in the bosom of the Father, 2 so the name of 'creation' could not rightly be applied to any of those things which are contemplated in God, so that the Son who is in the Father, or the Word who is in the Beginning, or the Light who is in the Light, or the Life who is in the Life, or the Wisdom who is in the Wisdom, should say: 'the Lord created me.' 3 For if the Wisdom of God is created, and Christ is the Power of God and the Wisdom of God, 4 it would follow that God must have His Wisdom as something added to Him, and thus later receive from something made that which He did not have at first. But indeed He who is in the bosom of the Father never allows us to think that the bosom of the Father could be empty of Himself. He is surely not something that comes to be in that bosom from outside, but being the fullness of all goodness, He who is in the beginning is conceived as being always in the Father, and does not wait to become in Him by creation. Whence the Father should never be thought of being empty of any good, for He who is conceived as being in the eternity of the paternal Godhead is always in Him, being Power and Life and Truth and Wisdom, and the like. Thus the words 'created me' do not refer to the Divine and immortal nature, but, so to speak, that which is mingled with it from our created nature in the Incarnation. How is it, then, that the same one who is called Wisdom, and Understanding, and Divine Perception, and He who establishes the earth and prepares the heavens and breaks open the depths, yet here is 'created at the beginning of His works?' 3 Such a dispensation, he tells us, is not given without a weighty cause. But because men, having received the commandment that should be guarded closely, yet cast off the grace of memory by disobedience and thus became forgetful of good things, and so it is for this, 'that I may again declare to you the things that are done daily for salvation, and may make you mindful by recounting the things from eternity which you have forgotten, for it is no new gospel that I now proclaim, but I labour for the restoration of that which was at first, for the sake of which I was created, I who always am, and need no creation in order to be, so that I am the beginning of ways for the works of God, that is, for men. For with the first way ruined, a new and living way must again be consecrated for the wanderers, even I myself, who am the way.' And that it be seen that the meaning of 'created me' refers to His humanity, the blessed Apostle more clearly sets before us with his own words in which he exhorts: 'Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.' 5 And also where, making use of the same words, he says, 'Put on the new man created after God.' 6 For if the garment of salvation is one, and it is Christ, it cannot be said that 'the new man created after God' is anyone else but Christ, and it is clear that he who has 'put on Christ' has 'put on the new man created after God.' For in truth He alone is rightfully named 'the new man,' who did not appear in the life of man by the known and customary ways of nature, but for whom alone was established anew a creation of a strange and special form. Because of which, in consideration of the wonder of this birth, he entitles it 'the new man created after God,' and looking to the Divine nature, which was blended in with the creation of this 'new man,' he calls Him 'Christ,' so that the two names are applied to one and the same thing, I mean, the name of Christ and the name of 'the new man created after God.' Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Against Eunomius, Book 3 1 Jn 1.14 2 Jn 1.18 3 Prov 8.22 4 1 Cor 1.24 5 Rom 13.14 6 Ephes 4.24

Sin And Death

Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ἀποστὰς τῆς τῶν ἀγαθῶν παγκαρπίας ὁ ἄνθρωπος τοῦ φθοροποιοῦ καρποῦ διὰ τῆς παρακοῆς ἐνεπλήσθη, ὄνομα δὲ τοῦ καρποῦ τούτου ἡ θανατοποιὸς ἁμαρτία, εὐθὺς ἐνεκρώθη τῷ κρείττονι βίῳ τὴν ἄλογον καὶ κτηνώδη ζωὴν τῆς θειοτέρας ἀνταλλαξάμενος. Kαὶ καταμιχθέντος ἅπαξ τοῦ θανάτου τῇ φύσει συνδιεξῆλθε ταῖς τῶν τικτομένων διαδοχαῖς ἡ νεκρότης. Ὅθεν νεκρὸς ἡμᾶς διεδέξατο βίος αὐτῆς τρόπον τινὰ τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν ἀποθανούσης· νεκρὰ γὰρ ἄντικρύς ἐστιν ἡμῶν ἡ ζωὴ τῆς ἀθανασίας ἐστερημένη. Διὰ τοῦτο ταῖς δύο ταύταις ζωαῖς μεσιτεύει ὁ Ἐν μέσῳ τῶν δύο ζωῶν γινωσκόμενος, ἵνα τῇ ἀναιρέσει τῆς χείρονος δῷ τῇ ἀκηράτῳ τὰ νικητήρια. ὥσπερ τοίνυν τῷ ἀποθανεῖν τῇ ἀληθινῇ ζωῇ ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἰς τὸν νεκρὸν τοῦτον μετέπεσε βίον, οὕτως ὅταν ἀποθάνῃ τῇ νεκρᾷ ταύτῃ καὶ κτηνώδει ζωῇ, πρὸς τὴν ἀεὶ ζῶσαν ἀντιμεθίσταται, ὡς ἀναμφίβολον εἶναι ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῇ μακαρίᾳ γενέσθαι ζωῇ μὴ νεκρὸν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ γενόμενον. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων Ὁμιλία ΙΒ' Source: Migne PG 44.1021c-1024a

Now Adam, who turned away from the rich assortment of the fruits that are good, because of this disobedience, was filled with the fruit that works corruption, and the name of this fruit is sin the death-dealer, and immediately he died to the better life, exchanging the more Divine life for an irrational and brutish one. And once death had been mixed with human nature, deadness spread through the successions of offspring. Thus there was a reception of a dead form of existence, since, in a certain manner, life itself was dying, for as soon as our life is stripped of immortality it is a dead thing. Because of this, there is one set in the midst of these two kinds of life, he who in the midst of the two is known, 1 so that by the removal of what is worse He may award the spoils of victory to the one who is undefiled. Therefore just as by dying to the true life man fell into this dead form of existence, and that when he dies to this dead and animal life he is directed toward the eternal life, so it is certain that the blessed life is not possible without being dead to sin. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 12 1 Hab 3.2

Fox Hunting

Πιάσατε ἡμῖν ἀλώπεκας μικροὺς ἀφανίζοντας ἀμπελῶνας, καὶ αἱ ἄμπελοι ἡμῶν κυπρίζουσιν. Πῶς ἐκεῖνος, περὶ οὗ τὰ τηλικαῦτα λέγεται, ὁ ἀνθρωποκτόνος, ὁ ἐν κακίᾳ δυνατός, οὗ ἡ γλῶσσα ὡσεὶ ξυρὸν ἠκονημένον, περὶ οὗ φησιν ὁ προφήτης ὅτι Τὰ βέλη τοῦ δυνατοῦ ἠκονημένα σὺν τοῖς ἄνθραξι τοῖς ἐρημικοῖς, καὶ Ἐνεδρεύει ὡς λέων ἐν τῇ μάνδρᾳ αὐτοῦ, ὁ δράκων ὁ μέγας, ὁ ἀποστάτης, ὁ ᾅδης ὁ πλατύνων τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ, ὁ κοσμοκράτωρ τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ σκότους, ὁ ἔχων τοῦ θανάτου τὸ κράτος, καὶ ὅσα ἐκ προσώπου αὐτοῦ διηγεῖται ἡ προφητεία, ὁ ἀφαιρούμενος ὅρια ἐθνῶν ἃ ἔστησε, δηλονότι ὁ ὕψιστος, κατ’ ἀριθμὸν ἀγγέλων αὐτοῦ, ὁ καταλαμβάνων τὴν οἰκουμένην ὡς νοσσιὰν καὶ ὡς καταλελειμμένα ὠὰ αἴρων αὐτήν, ὁ λέγων τιθέναι ἐπάνω τῶν νεφελῶν τὸν θρόνον αὐτοῦ καὶ ὅμοιος γίνεσθαι τῷ ὑψίστῳ, καὶ ὅσα ἐν τῷ Ἰὼβ ὁ λόγος περὶ αὐτοῦ διεξέρχεται τὰ φοβερὰ καὶ φρικώδη, οὗ χαλκαῖ μὲν αἱ πλευραί, σίδηρος δὲ χυτὸς ἡ ῥάχις, ἔγκατα δὲ αὐτοῦ σμιρίτης λίθος, καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα, δι’ ὧν τὴν φοβερὰν φύσιν ἐκείνην ὑπογράφει ὁ λόγος, οὗτος οὖν ὁ τοσοῦτος καὶ τοιοῦτος, ὁ στρατηγὸς τῶν ἐν τοῖς δαίμοσι λεγεώνων, πῶς ὀνομάζεται παρὰ τῆς ἀληθινῆς τε καὶ μόνης δυνάμεως; μικρὸν ἀλωπέκιον. Kαὶ οἱ περὶ αὐτὸν πάντες, ἡ ὑποχείριος αὐτῷ στρατιά, πάντες κατὰ τὸ ἴσον ἐξευτελισθέντες κατονομάζονται παρὰ τοῦ παρορμῶντος πρὸς τὴν κατ’ αὐτῶν ἄγραν τοὺς θηρευτάς. Eἶεν δ’ ἂν οὗτοι τάχα μὲν αἱ ἀγγελικαὶ δυνάμεις αἱ τῆς δεσποτικῆς παρουσίας ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν προπομπεύουσαι καὶ τὸν βασιλέα τῆς δόξης ἐντὸς τοῦ βίου παράγουσαι, αἱ τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσιν ὑποδεικνύουσαι, Τίς ἐστιν οὗτος ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης, ὁ κραταιὸς καὶ δυνατὸς ἐν πολέμῳ, ἴσως δ’ ἄν τις εἴποι καὶ τὰ Λειτουργικὰ πνεύματα τὰ εἰς διακονίαν ἀποστελλόμενα διὰ τοὺς μέλλοντας κληρονομεῖν σωτηρίαν, τάχα δὲ θηρευτὰς εἴποι τις ἂν καὶ τοὺς ἁγίους ἀποστόλους εἶναι τοὺς εἰς τὴν ἄγραν τῶν θηρίων τούτων ἐκπεμπομένους, πρὸς οὓς εἶπεν ὅτι Ποιήσω ὑμᾶς ἁλιεῖς ἀνθρώπων· οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἐνήργησαν τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ἁλείαν τῇ τῶν λόγων περιβολῇ τὰς τῶν σῳζομένων ψυχὰς σαγηνεύοντας, εἰ μὴ πρότερον ἐκ τῶν φωλεῶν τὰ θηρία ταῦτα ἐξέβαλον, τοὺς μικροὺς ἐκείνους ἀλώπεκας ἐκ τῶν καρδιῶν λέγω, αἷς ἐνεφώλευον, ὥστε ποιῆσαι τόπον τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ θεοῦ, ὅπου ἑαυτοῦ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀναπαύσει, μηκέτι τοῦ γένους τῶν ἀλωπέκων ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις φωλεύοντος. πλὴν οὕσπερ ἂν ὑποθῆται τοὺς ἀγρευτὰς εἶναι ὁ λόγος, τὸ μεγαλεῖον καὶ ἄφραστον τῆς θείας δυνάμεως διὰ τῶν προστεταγμένων αὐτοῖς διδασκόμεθα· οὐ γὰρ εἶπεν ὅτι θηράσατε τὸν ὗν τὸν ἐκ τοῦ δρυμοῦ τὴν ἄμπελον τοῦ θεοῦ λυμαινόμενον ἢ τὸν μονιὸν τὸν ἄγριον ἢ τὸν ὠρυόμενον λέοντα ἢ τὸ μέγα κῆτος ἢ τὸν ὑποβρύχιον δράκοντα, ἦ γὰρ ἄν τινα δύναμιν τῶν ἀντιμαχούντων διὰ τῶν τοιούτων ὁ λόγος τοῖς θηρευταῖς ἐνεδείκνυτο, ἀλλὰ πᾶσαι, φησίν, ἐκεῖναι αἱ περίγειοι δυναστεῖαι, πρὸς ἃς ἡ πάλη τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐστίν, ἀρχαί τε καὶ ἐξουσίαι καὶ κοσμοκράτορες σκότους καὶ πνεύματα πονηρίας, ἀλωπέκιά ἐστι μικρά, δολερά τε καὶ δύστηνα, πρὸς τὴν ὑμετέραν κρινόμενα δύναμιν. Ἐὰν ἐκείνων κατακρατήσητε, τότε ἀπολήψεται τὴν ἰδίαν χάριν ὁ ἀμπελὼν ὁ ἡμέτερος, ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις, καὶ τὴν τῶν βοτρύων φορὰν διὰ τοῦ ἄνθους τῆς ἐναρέτου πολιτείας προοιμιάσεται. Πιάσατε οὖν ἡμῖν ἀλώπεκας μικροὺς ἀφανίζοντας ἀμπελῶνας καὶ αἱ ἄμπελοι ἡμῶν κυπρίζουσιν. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων Ὁμιλία E' Source: Migne PG 44.880c-881d

Catch for us the little foxes that destroy vineyards, even as our vines blossom. 1 How is he described, Satan, of whom these such things are said, that he is a murderer of men, powerful in evil, with a tongue like a sharpened blade, 2 and concerning whom the prophet says, 'The arrows of the mighty one, sharpened with the coals of the wastes,' and 'He lies in wait like a lion in his lair,' he who is the great dragon, the apostate, Hades that opens wide its mouth, the world ruler of the power of darkness, the one who has the power of death, 3 and then prophecy describes him speaking for himself as the one who removes the borders of the nations, which He, obviously the Most High, established according to the number of his angels, 4 and as the one who seizes the inhabited earth as if it were a nest and takes it up like forsaken eggs, and as the one who says that his throne sits above the clouds and that he is like the Most High, 5 and then there are all the fearful and terrible things that the Word tells of him in the book of Job, that his ribs are bronze and his limbs cast iron, and his entrails are powdered stone, 6 and all the statements of this sort by which the Word sketches that fearsome nature, and such he is, then, and so great, the commanding general of the legions of demons, but how is he named by the true and only Power? A little fox! And all who are around him, the army under his orders, all of them are similarly disparagingly named by the one who urges the hunters to pursue them. Certainly these would be the angelic powers, those who go before the Lord's advent on earth, and who lead the King of Glory's way into this life and who make it manifest to the ignorant 'Who this King of Glory is, the one who is strong and mighty in battle.' and in a similar manner one might say they are 'the ministering spirits,' 7 dispatched in the service of those who shall inherit salvation, and then no doubt one might say that the hunters are the holy Apostles sent forth to chase these wild animals, to whom the Lord said, 'I will make you fishers of men,' 8 for they could not have performed the fishing of men with the net of their words, catching up the souls of the saved, unless they had first cast these wild beasts out of their lairs, that is, the little foxes out of the hearts in which they were hiding, thus to make a place for the Son of God, where He may rest His head because the foxes are no longer skulking in those hearts. 9 Besides those whom the Word commands to pursue, we are taught the greatness and the wonder of the Divine power by the things enjoined upon them, for He did not say, 'Hunt the feral pig that ravages God’s vineyard from its thicket, or the wild boar, 10 or the roaring lion, or great Leviathan, or the dragon of the deep,' though the Word did indeed show in such beasts something of the power of the forces that oppose the hunters, but He says, 'All these earthly powers, with whom men struggle, princes and authorities and the world rulers of darkness, and spirits of wickedness, are little foxes, wretched and treacherous, and under your power of judgement. If you prevail over them, then our vineyard, our human nature, will receive the grace proper to it and the harvest of grapes will begin with the blossom of virtuous conduct.' Therefore 'Catch for us little foxes that destroy the vineyards, even as our vines blossom.' Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 5 1 Song 2.5 2 Jn 8.44, Ps 51.3-44 3 Ps 119.4, Ps 9.30, Ezek 29.3, Isaiah 5.14, Eph 6.12, Heb 2.14 4 Isaiah 10.13, Deut 32.8 5 Isaiah 10.14, Isaiah 14.13–14 6 Job 40:18, Job 41.7 7 Ps 23.8, Heb 1.4 8 Mt 4.19 9 Mt 8.20 10 Ps 79.14

Feasts And Fruits

Καταβήτω ὁ ἀδελφιδός μου εἰς κῆπον αὐτοῦ καὶ φαγέτω καρπὸν ἀκροδρύων αὐτοῦ. Ὦ πεπαρρησιασμένης φωνῆς. Ὦ φιλοτίμου τε καὶ μεγαλοδώρου ψυχῆς πᾶσαν ὑπερβολὴν μεγαλοφροσύνης νικώσης. Tίνα δεξιοῦται πρὸς εὐωχίαν τοῖς ἰδίοις καρποῖς; Tίνι παρασκευάζει διὰ τῶν ἰδίων ἀγαθῶν τὴν πανδαισίαν; Tίνα καλεῖ πρὸς τὴν τῶν παρεσκευασμένων ἑστίασιν; Tὸν ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ δι’ οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἐν ᾧ τὰ πάντα, τὸν διδόντα τοῖς πᾶσι τροφὴν ἐν εὐκαιρίᾳ, τὸν ἀνοίγοντα τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ καὶ πληροῦντα πᾶν ζῷον εὐδοκίας, τὸν ἄρτον τὸν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβαίνοντα καὶ ζωὴν διδόντα τῷ κόσμῳ, τὸν πᾶσι τοῖς οὖσι τὴν ζωὴν ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας πηγῆς ἐπιρρέοντα· τούτῳ ἡ νύμφη προτίθησι τράπεζαν. Kῆπος δέ ἐστιν ἡ τράπεζα ὁ διὰ τῶν ἐμψύχων δένδρων πεφυτευμένος, ἡμεῖς δὲ τὰ δένδρα, εἴπερ δὴ καὶ ἡμεῖς, οἱ τροφὴν αὐτῷ προτιθέντες τὴν τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν σωτηρίαν οὕτως εἰπόντος τοῦ τὴν ἡμετέραν εὐωχουμένου ζωὴν ὅτι Ἐμὸν βρῶμά ἐστιν, ἵνα ποιῶ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Πατρός μου. Δῆλος δὲ ὁ σκοπὸς τοῦ θείου θελήματος, Ὃς πάντας ἀνθρώπους θέλει σωθῆναι καὶ εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας ἐλθεῖν. Αὕτη οὖν ἐστιν ἡ ἑτοιμασθεῖσα βρῶσις αὐτῷ τὸ σωθῆναι ἡμᾶς. Kαρπὸς δὲ ἡμῶν ἡ προαίρεσις γίνεται ἡ τῷ δρεπομένῳ ἡμᾶς θεῷ δι’ ἑαυτῆς ὡς διά τινος ἀκρεμόνος τὴν ψυχὴν ἐγχειρίζουσα. Χρὴ δὲ διὰ τούτων ἰδεῖν ὅτι πρότερον ἡ νύμφη τῷ καρπῷ τοῦ μήλου καταγλυκαίνεται εἰποῦσα· Καὶ ὁ καρπὸς αὐτοῦ γλυκὺς ἐν τῷ λάρυγγί μου· καὶ τότε καρπὸς καὶ αὐτὴ γίνεται ὡραῖός τε καὶ γλυκάζων καὶ τῷ γεωργῷ πρὸς εὐφροσύνην προκείμενος. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων Ὁμιλία Ι’ Source: Migne PG 44.985b-d

Let my beloved come down into his garden, and let him eat the fruit of his fruit trees. 1 Such freedom of speech. Such a generous and munificent soul that has triumphed over all proud extravagance. Whom does she welcome to a feast of her own fruits? For whom has she prepared a banquet of her own good things? Whom does she call to the meal that has been made ready? Him from whom and through whom and in whom are all things, 1 who gives to everything its food at the appropriate time and fills every living thing to satisfaction with the opening of His hand, 3 who comes down as the bread from heaven and gives life to the world, 4 who from his own spring pours life into every being. For Him the Bride lays her table. And the table is a garden planted with the trees of souls, and we are the trees, if indeed we are, who place before Him the food that is the salvation of our souls, because the one who feasts on our life says, 'My food is to do the will of my Father.' 5 And manifest is the aim of the Divine will, He who wishes all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth. 6 This, then, is the food made ready for Him, our salvation. And our fruit is our choosing to be plucked by God, through which, as from a branch, the soul is taken in hand. And concerning these things, one should note that previously the Bride is filled with sweetness by the fruit of the apple tree, with her saying: 'And his fruit is sweet in my throat.' 7 And that is when she herself becomes a fruit at once beautiful and sweet and available for the joy of the farmer. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 10 1 Song 4.16 2 Rom 11.6 3 Ps 144.15-16 4 Jn 6.33 5 Jn 4.34 6 1 Tim 2.4 7 Song 2.3

The Spirit And The Dove

Μία ἐστὶ περιστερά μου, τελεία μου· μία ἐστὶ τῇ μητρὶ αὐτῆς, ἐκλεκτή ἐστι τῇ τεκούσῃ αὐτήν. Ὅπερ ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ διὰ τῆς τοῦ Kυρίου φωνῆς σαφέστερον ἡμῖν ἑρμηνεύεται· πᾶσαν γὰρ τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἑαυτοῦ ἐναποτιθέμενος διὰ τῆς εὐλογίας δύναμιν τά τε ἄλλα διὰ τῶν πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα λόγων ἀγαθὰ τοῖς ἁγίοις χαρίζεται καὶ προστίθησι τῶν ἀγαθῶν τὸ κεφάλαιον, τὸ μηκέτι αὐτοὺς ἐν διαφορᾷ τινι προαιρέσεων ἐν τῇ περὶ τοῦ καλοῦ κρίσει πολλαχῇ διασχίζεσθαι, ἀλλ’ ἓν γενέσθαι τοὺς πάντας τῷ ἑνὶ καὶ μόνῳ ἀγαθῷ συμφυέντας, ὥστε διὰ τῆς τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου ἑνότητος, καθώς φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος, τῷ συνδέσμῳ τῆς εἰρήνης διασφιγχθέντας ἓν σῶμα γενέσθαι τοὺς πάντας καὶ ἓν πνεῦμα διὰ μιᾶς ἐλπίδος εἰς ἣν ἐκλήθησαν. βέλτιον δ’ ἂν εἴη αὐτὰς ἐπὶ λέξεως παραθέσθαι τὰς θείας τοῦ εὐαγγελίου φωνάς· Ἵνα πάντες ἓν ὦσι καθὼς σύ, Πάτερ, ἐν ἐμοὶ κἀγὼ ἐν σοί, ἵνα καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐν ἡμῖν ἓν ὦσιν. Tὸ δὲ συνδετικὸν τῆς ἑνότητος ταύτης ἡ δόξα ἐστίν· δόξαν δὲ λέγεσθαι τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον οὐκ ἄν τις τῶν ἐπεσκεμμένων ἀντείποι πρὸς αὐτὰς βλέπων τὰς τοῦ Kυρίου φωνάς· Τὴν δόξαν γάρ, φησίν, ἣν ἔδωκάς μοι, ἔδωκα αὐτοῖς. Ἔδωκε γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς τοῖς μαθηταῖς τοιαύτην δόξαν ὁ εἰπὼν πρὸς αὐτούς· Λάβετε Πνεῦμα ἅγιον. Ἔλαβε δὲ ταύτην τὴν δόξαν ἣν πάντοτε εἶχε πρὸ τοῦ τὸν κόσμον εἶναι ὁ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν περιβαλόμενος, ἧς δοξασθείσης διὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐπὶ πᾶν τὸ συγγενὲς ἡ τῆς δόξης τοῦ Πνεύματος διάδοσις γίνεται ἀπὸ τῶν μαθητῶν ἀρξαμένη. Διὰ τοῦτό φησι· Τὴν δόξαν, ἣν ἔδωκάς μοι, ἔδωκα αὐτοῖς, ἵνα ὦσιν ἕν, καθὼς ἡμεῖς ἕν ἐσμεν· ἐγὼ ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ σὺ ἐν ἐμοί, ἵνα ὦσι τετελειωμένοι εἰς τὸ ἕν. Ὁ τοίνυν ἐκ μὲν νηπίου πρὸς ἄνδρα τέλειον ἀναδραμὼν διὰ τῆς αὐξήσεως καὶ φθάσας εἰς τὸ μέτρον τῆς νοητῆς ἡλικίας, ἐκ δὲ τῆς δούλης τε καὶ τῆς παλλακίδος τὴν τῆς βασιλείας ἀξίαν μεταλαβών, δεκτικὸς δὲ τῆς τοῦ πνεύματος δόξης γενόμενος δι’ ἀπαθείας καὶ καθαρότητος, οὗτός ἐστιν ἡ τελεία περιστερὰ πρὸς ἣν ὁ νυμφίος ὁρᾷ λέγων ὅτι Μία ἐστὶ περιστερά μου, τελεία μου, μία ἐστὶ τῇ μητρὶ αὐτῆς, ἐκλεκτή ἐστι τῇ τεκούσῃ αὐτήν. Oὐκ ἀγνοοῦμεν δὲ πάντως τὴν μητέρα τῆς περιστερᾶς ἐκ τοῦ καρποῦ τὸ δένδρον γνωρίσαντες· ὡς γὰρ ἄνθρωπον θεασάμενοι ἐξ ἀνθρώπου αὐτὸν εἶναι οὐκ ἀμφιβάλλομεν, οὕτω καὶ τῆς ἐκλεκτῆς περιστερᾶς τὴν μητέρα ζητοῦντες οὐκ ἄλλην τινὰ ἐκείνην ἢ περιστερὰν ἐννοήσομεν· τῷ γὰρ τέκνῳ πάντως ἡ τοῦ γεγεννηκότος ἐπιθεωρεῖται φύσις. Ἐπεὶ οὖν τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τοῦ Πνεύματος πνεῦμά ἐστι, περιστερὰ δὲ τὸ τέκνον, περιστερὰ πάντως καὶ ἡ τοῦ τέκνου μήτηρ ἐστίν, ἡ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰορδάνην ἐξ οὐρανῶν καταπτᾶσα, καθὼς Ἰωάννης μαρτύρεται. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων Ὁμιλία ΙΕ’ Source: Migne PG 44.1116d-1117c

One is my dove, my perfect one, one is she for her mother, the chosen of the one who bore her. 1 The meaning of this is made clearer for us by the voice of Lord in the Gospel, for when by a blessing He conferred all power upon His disciples and also by His speech to the Father endowed those holy ones with other goods things, He also added to all these things the chief of goods, that they would never be divided among themselves by any difference in choices of judgement concerning the beautiful, but instead they would all become one by their growing together with the one and only good, so that through the unity of the Holy Spirit, being bound together in the bond of peace, they would all be one body and one spirit through the one hope to which they had been called. 2 But it would be better to set forth the Divine speech of the Gospel as it was said. 'That they may all be one, even as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that even they may be one in us.' 3 And that which holds this unity together is glory, and that this glory speaks of the Holy Spirit no one who looks into it will deny, if one attends to the speech of the Lord, 'For the glory you have given to me, I have given to them.' 4 For He who truly gave such glory to the disciples was He who said to them , 'Receive the Holy Spirit.' 5 He who always had this glory before the world existed, He who took up human nature, and when it was glorified by the Spirit, this addition of the glory of the Spirit was passed on to all the inheritors, with the disciples as the beginning. This is why He said, 'The glory that you have given to me, I have given to them, so that they be one, even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one.' He, then, who has passed from childhood to manhood by growing to the maturity of man, and has come to the measure of the intelligible stature, who from being a slave and concubine has taken up the status of kingship and has received the glory of the Spirit by impassibility and purity, this is the perfect dove on whom the Bridegroom looks as He says, 'One is my dove, my perfect one, one is she for her mother, the chosen of the one who bore her.' And since we grasp the tree from the fruit, we are not completely ignorant of the mother of the dove, for as we do not doubt that a man whom we see is from another man, so here, if we seek who might be the mother of the chosen dove, we shall not think of her as anything else but a dove, for the nature of the one who begets is always seen in the child. Since, then, 'that which is born of the Spirit is spirit,' 6 and the child is a dove, it is certain that the mother of the child is also a dove, the dove that flew down from heaven upon the Jordan, as John gives witness. 7 Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 15 1 Song 6.9 2 Ephes 4.3-4 3 Jn 17.21 4 Jn 17.22 5 Jn 20.22 6 Jn 3.6 7 Mt 3.13-17

Resurrection And Transformation

Ἓν μὲν δὴ τοῦτο διὰ τῶν προοιμίων ἡμᾶς παιδευσάτω ὁ λόγος, τὸ μηκέτι ἀνθρώπους εἶναι τοὺς ἐπὶ τὰ ἄδυτα τῶν τοῦ βιβλίου τούτου μυστηρίων εἰσαγομένους ἀλλὰ μεταποιηθῆναι τῇ φύσει διὰ τῆς τοῦ Kυρίου μαθητείας πρὸς τὸ θειότερον, καθὼς μαρτυρεῖ τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μαθηταῖς ὁ λόγος, ὅτι κρείττους ἦσαν ἢ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον, οὓς διέκρινεν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἡ γενομένη πρὸς αὐτοὺς παρὰ τοῦ Kυρίου διαστολή, ὅτε φησί· Τίνα με λέγουσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι εἶναι; Ὑμεῖς δὲ τίνα με λέγετε εἶναι; ἀληθῶς γὰρ ὁ διὰτῶν τοιούτων ῥημάτων, ὧν ἡ πρόχειρος ἔμφασις τὰς σαρκώδεις ἡδυπαθείαςἐνδείκνυται, μὴ κατολισθαίνων εἰς τὴν ῥυπῶσαν διάνοιαν ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὴντῶν θείων φιλοσοφίαν, ἐπὶ τὰς καθαρὰς ἐννοίας διὰ τῶν ῥημάτων τούτωνχειραγωγούμενος δείκνυσι τὸ μηκέτι ἄνθρωπος εἶναι μηδὲ σαρκὶ καὶ αἵματισυμμεμιγμένην τὴν φύσιν ἔχειν,ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐλπιζομένην ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει τῶν ἁγίων ζωὴν ἐπιδείκνυται ἰσάγγελος διὰ τῆς ἀπαθείας γενόμενος, ὡς γὰρ μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν τὸ μὲν σῶμα μεταστοιχειωθὲν πρὸς τὸ ἄφθαρτον τῇ ψυχῇ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου συμπλέκεται, τὰ δὲ νῦν διὰ σαρκὸς ἡμῖν ἐνοχλοῦντα πάθη τοῖς σώμασιν ἐκείνοις οὐ συνανίσταται ἀλλά τις εἰρηνικὴ κατάστασις τὴν ζωὴν ἡμῶν διαδέξεται, μηκέτι τοῦ φρονήματος τῆς σαρκὸς πρὸς τὴν ψυχὴν στασιάζοντος μηδὲ διὰ τοῦ ἐμφυλίου πολέμου τῶν ἐμπαθῶν κινημάτων ἀντιστρατευομένου τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ νοὸς καὶ ὥσπερ αἰχμάλωτόν τινα τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ προσάγοντος τὴν ἡττηθεῖσαν ψυχήν, ἀλλὰ πάντων τῶν τοιούτων καθαρεύσει τότε ἡ φύσις καὶ ἓν δι' ἀμφοτέρων ἔσται τὸ φρόνημα, τῆς σαρκός φημι καὶ τοῦ πνεύματος, πάσης σωματικῆς διαθέσεως ἐξαφανισθείσης ἀπὸ τῆς φύσεως, οὕτω παρακελεύεται καὶ διὰ τοῦ βιβλίου τούτου ὁ λόγος τοῖς ἐπαΐουσι, κἂν ἐν σαρκὶ ζῶμεν, μηδ' ἐν τοῖς νοήμασι πρὸς αὐτὴν ἐπιστρέφεσθαι, ἀλλὰ πρὸς μόνην τὴν ψυχὴν βλέπειν καὶ τὰς ἀγαπητικὰς τῶν ῥημάτων ἐμφάσεις καθαράς τε καὶ ἀμολύντους ἀνατιθέναι τῷ ὑπερέχοντι πάντα νοῦν ἀγαθῷ, ὃ μόνον ἐστὶν ὡς ἀληθῶς γλυκύ τε καὶ ἐπιθυμητὸν καὶ ἐράσμιον. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων Ὁμιλία Α´ Source: Migne PG 44.776d-777b

By these introductory remarks let the Word teach us this one thing, that it is no longer men who are being led to the shrine of the mysteries of the Song of Songs, but by the teaching of the Lord they have been changed in nature into something more Divine, just as the Word bears witness to the disciples that they were superior to the condition of men, they who were judged to be different from men by the Lord's distinction when He said, 'Who do men say I am? And who do you say I am?' 1 For truly he who is not led by such words whose overt meaning refers to corporeal pleasures to slip down into a vile sense but rather to the philosophy of divine things and to pure thoughts, he shows that he is no longer a man and that his nature is no longer mingled with flesh and blood, 2 but by impassibility having become equal to the angels, he shows the life to be hoped for in the resurrection of the holy, for as after the resurrection the body which is transformed into incorruption is joined to the soul of man, so the things which now trouble us through the flesh do not rise up with those bodies, but our lives will exhibit a certain peaceful state, because the thought of the flesh will no longer exert itself treacherously against the soul, nor will it attack the law of the mind with civil war by the movements of the passions and lead away the defeated soul as a captive of sin, but then in every way our nature shall be purified, and both parts shall be of one mind, the flesh, I mean, and the spirit, by the removal of every corporeal inclination from our nature. So with this book the Word exhorts those who attend, that even if we live in the flesh, we should not turn our thoughts toward it, but we should look to the soul alone and dedicate the meaning of the words in purity and cleanliness to the good, to Him who passes all understanding, 3 who alone is truly sweet and desirable and loveable. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 1 1 Mt 16.13–15 2 Mt 16.7 3 cf Phil 4.7

Seeking And Finding And Losing

Καιρὸς γάρ, φησί, τοῦ μακρυνθῆναι ἀπὸ περιλήψεως. Ὁ πρὸς τὴν ἀρετὴν οἰκειωθεὶς τῆς πρὸς τὴν κακίαν σχέσεως ἠλλοτρίωται. Tίς γὰρ κοινωνία φωτὶ πρὸς σκότος ἢ Χριστῷ πρὸς Βελιάρ; ἢ πῶς δυνατόν ἐστι δυσὶ κυρίοις ἐναντίοις δουλεύοντα εὔνουν ἀμφοτέροις γενέσθαι; ἡ γὰρ τοῦ ἑνὸς ἀγάπη μῖσος τοῦ ἑτέρου ἐποίησεν. Ὅταν οὖν ἡ ἀγαπητικὴ διάθεσις περιφυῇ τῷ καλῷ, τοῦτο δέ ἐστι τὸ εὔκαιρον, ἐπηκολούθησε πάντως ἡ πρὸς τὸ ἀντικείμενον ἀλλοτρίωσις. Eἰ ἀληθῶς τὴν σωφροσύνην ἠγάπησας, ἐμίσησας πάντως τὸ ἀντικείμενον. Eἰ πρὸς τὴν καθαρότητα βλέπεις ἐρωτικῶς, ἐβδελύξω δηλονότι τὴν τοῦ βορβόρου δυσωδίαν. Eἰ τῷ ἀγαθῷ προσεκολλήθης, ἐμακρύνθης πάντως τῆς τοῦ πονηροῦ προσκολλήσεως. Eἰ δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ πλούτου περιβολὴν ἄγοι τις τὸ τῆς περιλήψεως σημαινόμενον, δείκνυσι καὶ οὗτος ὁ λόγος, ποῖον πλοῦτον ἀγαθόν ἐστι προσπεριβάλλεσθαι καὶ ποίων κτημάτων περιβολὴν ἀποπέμπεσθαι. Oἶδα θησαυρὸν σπουδαζόμενον τὸν κεκρυμμένον ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ, οὐχὶ τὸν πᾶσι φαινόμενον. Oἶδα πάλιν πλοῦτον ἀτιμαζόμενον, οὐ τὸν ἐλπιζόμενον, ἀλλὰ τὸν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς προφαινόμενον. Διδάσκει τοῦτο ἡ τοῦ ἀποστόλου φωνὴ λέγουσα· Μὴ σκοπούντων ἡμῶν τὰ βλεπόμενα, ἀλλὰ τὰ μὴ βλεπόμενα· τὰ γὰρ βλεπόμενα πρόσκαιρα, τὰ δὲ μὴ βλεπόμενα αἰώνια. Eἰ ταῦτα νενοήκαμεν, καὶ τὸν ἐφεξῆς λόγον διὰ τούτων νενοηκότες ἐσόμεθα. Καιρὸς γάρ, φησί, τοῦ ζητῆσαι καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ ἀπολέσαι. Ὁ γὰρ νοήσας διὰ τῶν ἐξετασθέντων, τίνων προσήκει μακρύνειν ἑαυτὸν ἀπὸ τῆς περιλήψεως καὶ τίσι συνάπτεσθαι, γνοίη ἄν, τί τε προσήκει ζητεῖν καὶ τίνων ἡ ἀπώλεια κέρδος ἐστίν. Καιρὸς γάρ, φησί, τοῦ ζητῆσαι καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ ἀπολέσαι. Tί τοίνυν ἐστίν, ὅ με ζητῆσαι χρή, ὥστε ἐπιτυχεῖν τοῦ καιροῦ τοῦ καθήκοντος; Ἀλλὰ τί μὲν ζητεῖσθαι δέον ἡ προφητεία δείκνυσι λέγουσα· Ζητήσατε τὸν Kύριον καὶ κραταιώθητε· καὶ πάλιν· Ζητήσατε τὸν Kύριον καὶ ἐν τῷ εὑρίσκειν αὐτὸν ἐπικαλέσασθε, καὶ Εὐφρανθήτω καρδία ζητούντων τὸν Kύριον. Ἔγνων τοίνυν διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων, ὅπερ ζητῆσαι χρή, οὗ ἡ εὕρεσίς ἐστιν αὐτὸ τὸ ἀεὶ ζητεῖν. Oὐ γὰρ ἄλλο τί ἐστι τὸ ζητεῖν καὶ ἄλλο τὸ εὑρίσκειν, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἐκ τοῦ ζητῆσαι κέρδος αὐτὸ τὸ ζητῆσαί ἐστι. Βούλει καὶ τὴν εὐκαιρίαν μαθεῖν, τίς ὁ καιρὸς τοῦ ζητεῖν τὸν Kύριον; Συντόμως λέγω· ὁ βίος ὅλος. Ἐπὶ τούτου γὰρ μόνου εἷς καιρὸς τῆς σπουδῆς ἐστιν ἡ ζωὴ πᾶσα. Oὐ γὰρ ἀποτεταγμένῳ τινὶ καιρῷ καὶ χρόνῳ ἀφωρισμένῳ τὸ ζητεῖν τὸν κύριον ἀγαθόν ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ τὸ μηδὲ ὅλως διαλείπειν ἀεὶ ζητοῦντα τοῦτό ἐστιν ἡ ἀληθὴς εὐκαιρία. Οἱ γὰρ ὀφθαλμοί μου, φησί, διὰ παντὸς πρὸς τὸν Kύριον. Ὁρᾷς πῶς ἐπιμελῶς ἐρευνᾷ ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς τὸ ζητούμενον, οὐδεμίαν ἄνεσιν ἑαυτῷ διδοὺς οὐδέ τι διάλειμμα τῆς τοῦ ζητουμένου κατανοήσεως; Tῇ γὰρ τοῦ ∆ιὰ παντὸς προσθήκῃ τὸ διηνεκές τε καὶ ἀδιάλειπτον τῆς σπουδῆς ἐνεδείξατο. Ὡσαύτως δὲ νοήσωμεν καὶ τὸν τοῦ ἀπολέσαι καιρόν, κέρδος εἶναι κρίνοντες τὸ ἀπολέσαι ἐκεῖνο, οὗ ἡ ὕπαρξις ζημία τῷ ἔχοντι γίνεται. Kακὸν κτῆμα ἡ φιλαργυρία· οὐκοῦν ἀπολέσωμεν. Πονηρὸν ἀπόθετον ἡ μνησικακία· οὐκοῦν προώμεθα. Ὀλέθριον κτῆμα ἡ ἀκόλαστος ἐπιθυμία· τούτου μάλιστα πρὸ τῶν ἄλλων πτωχεύσωμεν, ἵνα διὰ τῆς τοιαύτης πτωχείας τὴν βασιλείαν κερδήσωμεν. Μακάριοι γὰρ οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι, δηλαδὴ οἱ τοῦ τοιούτου πλούτου πενόμενοι καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα τὰ πονηρὰ τοῦ διαβόλου κειμήλια. Mακαριώτερον μὲν τὸ μηδὲ τὴν ἀρχήν τινα κτήσασθαι, ἵνα καθόλου ἀκτήμονες τῶν μολυνόντων γενώμεθα. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Εἰς Τον Ἐκκλησιασην, Ὁμιλια Ζ’ Source: Migne PG 44.717d-721a

'There is a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing.' 1 He who is a friend of virtue is hostile to evil. 'What fellowship does light have with darkness or Christ with Belial?' 2 How is it possible to serve two opposing masters and be well disposed to both? For the love of one generates hate for the other. 3 When, then, we lovingly cleave to the beautiful, and this is what is appropriate, so there follows utter estrangement to what is opposed. If you truly loved temperance, you would revile its opposite. If you lovingly looked on purity, you would abhor the stench of filth. If you cleaved to the good, you would certainly distance yourself from clinging to evil. And if anyone associates the meaning of this embrace with the embrace of wealth, this speech indicates how rich is this good which we should embrace and the embrace of those possessions we should be rid of. I know that treasure hidden in the field for which we should long is not apparent to everyone. 4 Again I know of wealth that should be disgraceful, that one should not hope for, but it is most evident to the eye. The Apostle teaches this, saying 'Let us not look to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen, for the things that are seen are transient but the things that are unseen are eternal.' 5 If we have understood these words, we will see their meaning by what now follows. 'There is a time to seek and a time to lose.' By what we have examined, knowing how to distance ourselves from embracing and how to cleave, we can know both what it befits us to seek and the benefit we gain from losing. 'There is a time to seek and a time to lose.' What, then, must I seek so that it is the appropriate time? But what needs to be sought the prophecy reveals, saying, 'Seek the Lord and be strengthened.' And again, 'Seek the Lord and when you find Him, call upon Him,' and, 'Let the heart rejoice that seeks the Lord.' 6 By these things let it be understood that we must seek and that discovery is a constant search. For it is not one thing to seek and another to find, but the gain obtained from our seeking is to seek further. Do you wish to learn the appropriate time to seek the Lord? To be brief: Your whole life. This alone is the right time to be zealously seeking. The appropiate time has no limit, and there is no restriction of time for the good of seeking the Lord, for the true appropriate time is always to be seeking, without interruption. It says, 'My eyes are always on the Lord' 7 Do you see how diligently the eye searches for what is sought? It never allows itself rest nor pauses from trying to grasp what it seeks. This 'always' set down here declares the need for continuity and unceasing zeal. Likewise let us consider the time for losing as gain, judging that the loss is a gain if the thing that we have is a defect. Avarice is a wicked possession we should lose. The memory of past wickedness we should cast away. Unbridled lust is a ruinous possession, and this especially before all others we should be poor in, that we might gain the kingdom of poverty. 'Blessed are the poor in spirit,' 8 clearly those who have nothing of such wealth, nor any wicked thing of the devil's other treasures. But one is even more blessed not to begin to seek to possess, so that we might be stripped of corruptions. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, On Ecclesiastes, from Homily 7 1 Eccles 3.5 2 2 Cor 6.14-15 3 Mt 6.24 4 Mt 13.44 5 2 Cor 4.18 6 Ps 104.4, Is 55.6, Ps 104.3 7 Ps 24.15 8 Mt 5.3

Beyond Knowledge

Ὁ δὲ λόγῳ διαλαμβάνειν ἐπιχειρῶν τὸ ἀόριστον, οὐκέτι δίδωσι τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν εἶναι ἐκεῖνο, ᾧ ἀντεξάγει τὸν ἴδιον λόγον, τοιοῦτόν τι καὶ τοσοῦτον εἶναι οἰόμενος, οἷον καὶ ὅσον εἰπεῖν ὁ λόγος ἐχώρησεν, οὐκ εἰδὼς ὅτι ἐν τῷ πεπεῖσθαι ὑπὲρ γνῶσιν εἶναι τὸ θεῖον ἐν τούτῳ ἡ θεοπρεπὴς περὶ τοῦ ὄντως ὄντος φυλάσσεται ἔννοια. διὰ τί; ὅτι πᾶν τὸ ἐν τῇ κτίσει ὂν πρὸς τὸ συγγενὲς ἐκ φύσεως βλέπει καὶ οὐδὲν τῶν ὄντων ἔξω ἑαυτοῦ γενόμενον ἐν τῷ εἶναι μένει, οὐ πῦρ ἐν ὕδατι, οὐκ ἐν πυρὶ τὸ ὕδωρ, οὐκ ἐν τῷ βυθῷ τὸ χερσαῖον, οὐκ ἐν τῇ χέρσῳ τὸ ἔνυδρον, οὐκ ἐν ἀέρι τὸ ἔγγειον, οὐκ ἐν γῇ πάλιν τὸ ἐναέριον· ἀλλ' ἐν τοῖς ἰδίοις ἕκαστον μένον ὅροις τῆς φύσεως ἕως τότε ἔστιν, ἕως ἂν ἐντὸς τῶν ἰδίων ὅρων μένῃ. Eἰ δὲ ἔξω ἑαυτοῦ γένοιτο, ἐκτὸς καὶ τοῦ εἶναι γενήσεται. Kαὶ ὥσπερ τῶν αἰσθητηρίων ἡ δύναμις ταῖς κατὰ φύσιν ἐνεργείαις παραμένουσα μεταβῆναι πρὸς τὴν παρακειμένην οὐ δύναται· οὔτε γὰρ ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς τὰ τῆς ἀκοῆς ἐνεργεῖ, οὔτε ἡ ἁφὴ διαλέγεται, οὔτε ἡ ἀκοὴ γεύεται, οὔτε ἡ γλῶσσα τὰ τῆς ὄψεως ἢ τὰ τῆς ἀκοῆς ἐνεργεῖ, ἀλλ' ἕκαστον ὅρον ἔχει τῆς ἰδίας δυνάμεως τὴν κατὰ φύσιν ἐνέργειαν· οὕτω καὶ πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις ἔξω ἑαυτῆς γενέσθαι διὰ τῆς καταληπτικῆς θεωρίας οὐ δύναται, ἀλλ' ἐν ἑαυτῇ μένει ἀεὶ καὶ ὅπερ ἂν ἴδῃ, ἑαυτὴν βλέπει· κἂν οἰηθῇ τι ὑπὲρ ἑαυτὴν βλέπειν, τὸ ἐκτὸς ἑαυτῆς ἰδεῖν φύσιν οὐκ ἔχει. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Εἰς Τον Ἐκκλησιασην, Ὁμιλία Ζ’ Source: Migne PG 44.729a-b

But he who tries to comprehend Him who is without limits does not admit that He is above all things, and he sets up his own reason in opposition, thinking that it is some such thing that can contain any thought, not knowing that God in whom we believe is beyond our knowledge, and that every consideration befitting the Divine serves to guard his true existence. Why is this? Because every created thing looks to what is like its nature, and nothing can remain in existence apart from itself. Fire cannot exist in water, nor can water in fire, nor dry land in the sea's depths, no seawater on dry land, nor the earth in the sky, nor again the sky in the earth, but everything is limited by its own nature while it exists and remains within its own bounds. If any such thing goes outside itself, it will lose its essence, just as with the power of the senses which cannot pass beyond their natural functions. The eye cannot function like the ear, nor can our sense of touch speak, nor does hearing taste, nor is the tongue capable of vision or hearing, but each sense functions in accordance with the power natural to it, and so nothing of creation can go beyond itself by a comprehensive insight, but it always remains within itself, and whatever it may view, it sees itself, and if it does think that it beholds anything which is above itself, it does not, because it cannot know beyond its own nature. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, On Ecclesiastes, from Homily 7

The Vigilant

Φωνὴ τοῦ ἀδελφιδοῦ μου κρούει ἐπὶ τὴν θύραν... Ἓν καὶ τοῦτο τῶν μεγάλων παραγγελμάτων ἐστὶ τοῦ Kυρίου, δι’ ὧν ἡ διάνοια τῶν μαθητευομένων τῷ λόγῳ καθάπερ τινὰ χοῦν ἅπαν τὸ ὑλῶδες τῆς φύσεως ἀφ’ ἑαυτῆς ἐκτινάξασα πρὸς τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν τῶν ὑπερκειμένων ἐπαίρεται, Tοῦτο δέ ἐστι, τὸ δεῖν κρείττους εἶναι τοῦ ὕπνου τοὺς πρὸς τὴν ἄνω ζωὴν ἀναβλέποντας καὶ διὰ παντὸς ἐγρηγορέναι τῇ διανοίᾳ οἷον ἀπατεῶνά τινα τῶν ψυχῶν καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐπίβουλον τὸν νυσταγμὸν τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἀπελαύνοντας. Ἐκεῖνον λέγω τὸν νυσταγμὸν καὶ τὸν ὕπνον, δι’ ὧν πλάσσεται τοῖς ἐμβαθύνουσι τῇ τοῦ βίου ἀπάτῃ τὰ ὀνειρώδη ταῦτα φαντάσματα· αἱ ἀρχαί, οἱ πλοῦτοι, αἱ δυναστεῖαι, ὁ τῦφος, ἡ διὰ τῶν ἡδονῶν γοητεία, τὸ φιλόδοξόν τε καὶ ἀπολαυστικὸν καὶ φιλότιμον καὶ πάντα ὅσα κατὰ τὸν βίον τοῦτον τοῖς ἀνεπισκέπτοις διά τινος φαντασίας μάτην σπουδάζεται, ἃ τῇ παροδικῇ τοῦ χρόνου συμπαραρρέοντα φύσει ἐν τῷ δοκεῖν ἔχει τὸ εἶναι οὔτε ὄντα ὅπερ νομίζεται οὔτε ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ νομίζεσθαι πρὸς τὸ διηνεκὲς παραμένοντα ἀλλ’ ὁμοῦ γίνεσθαί τε δοκοῦντα καὶ ἀπολλύμενα κυμάτων δίκην τῶν ἐγκορυφουμένων τοῖς ὕδασιν, ἃ πρὸς καιρὸν τῇ κινήσει τῶν ἀνέμων συνδιογκούμενα ἀβέβαιον εἰς διαμονὴν ἔχει τὸν ὄγκον· ἐν βραχεῖ γὰρ τῇ ῥοπῇ συναναστάντα τοῦ πνεύματος πάλιν ἐν ὁμαλῷ τὴν τῆς θαλάσσης ἐπιφάνειαν δείκνυσι συγκατασταλέντα τῷ πνεύματι. Ὡς ἂν οὖν ἔξω τῶν τοιούτων γένοιτο φαντασμάτων ἡμῖν ἡ διάνοια, τὸν βαρὺν τοῦτον ὕπνον ἀποσείεσθαι τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς ὀμμάτων διακελεύεται, ἵνα μὴ τῇ περὶ τὸ ἀνύπαρκτον σπουδῇ τῶν ὑφεστώτων τε καὶ ὡς ἀληθῶς ὄντων ἀπολισθήσωμεν. Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὑποτίθεται ἡμῖν ἐπίνοιαν τῆς ἐγρηγόρσεως λέγων Ἔστωσαν ὑμῶν αἱ ὀσφύες περιεζωσμέναι καὶ οἱ λύχνοι καιόμενοι· τοῖς τε γὰρ ὀφθαλμοῖς τὸ φῶς ἐμφαινόμενον ἀποσοβεῖ τῶν ὀμμάτων τὸν ὕπνον καὶ ἡ ὀσφῦς διεσφιγμένη διὰ τῆς ζώνης ἀπαράδεκτον τοῦ ὕπνου παρασκευάζει τὸ σῶμα οὐ προσιεμένης τὴν ἐκ τοῦ ὕπνου ἄνεσιν τῆς τῶν πόνων αἰσθήσεως. Σαφῆ δὲ πάντως ἐστὶ τὰ διὰ τῶν αἰνιγμάτων δηλούμενα, ὅτι ὁ τῇ σωφροσύνῃ διεζωσμένος ἐν φωτὶ ζῇ τοῦ καθαροῦ συνειδότος τῷ λύχνῳ τῆς παρρησίας τὸν βίον περιαυγάζοντος, δι’ ὧν τῆς ἀληθείας προφαινομένης ἄϋπνός τε καὶ ἀνεξαπάτητος ἡ ψυχὴ διαμένει οὐδενὶ τῶν ἀπατηλῶν τούτων ὀνείρων ἐμματαιάζουσα. Eἰ δὲ τοῦτο κατορθωθείη κατὰ τὴν τοῦ λόγου ὑφήγησιν, ἀγγελικός τις ἡμᾶς διαδέξεται βίος· τούτοις γὰρ ἡμᾶς ὁμοιοῖ τὸ θεῖον παράγγελμα, δι’ ὧν φησιν ὅτι Καὶ ὑμεῖς ὅμοιοι ἀνθρώποις προσδεχομένοις τὸν κύριον ἑαυτῶν, πότε ἀναλύσει ἐκ τῶν γάμων, ἵνα ἐλθόντος καὶ κρούσαντος εὐθέως ἀνοίξωσιν αὐτῷ· ἐκεῖνοι γάρ εἰσιν οἱ προσδεχόμενοι τοῦ κυρίου τὴν ἐκ τῶν γάμων ἐπάνοδον καὶ ταῖς ἐπουρανίαις πύλαις ἐγρηγορότι τῷ ὀφθαλμῳ προσκαθήμενοι, ἵνα πάλιν εἰσέλθῃ δι’ αὐτῶν ἀναλύσας ἐκ τῶν γάμων ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης εἰς τὴν ὑπερουράνιον ἐκείνην μακαριότητα. Ὅθεν κατὰ τὴν ψαλμῳδίαν ὡς ἐκ παστάδος ὁ νυμφίος ἐκπορευθεὶς ἡρμόσατο ἑαυτῷτὴν παρθένον, ἡμᾶς, διὰ τῆς μυστικῆς ἀναγεννήσεως, τὴν τοῖς εἰδώλοις ἐκπορνευθεῖσαν, εἰς ἀφθαρσίαν παρθενικὴν ἀναστοιχειώσας τὴν φύσιν. Tῶν οὖν γάμων ἤδη τετελεσμένων καὶ νυμφευθείσης ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου τῆς ἐκκλησίας, καθώς φησιν ὁ Ἰωάννης ὅτι Ὁ ἔχων τὴν νύμφην νυμφίος ἐστί, καὶ εἰς τὸν τῶν μυστηρίων θάλαμον αὐτῆς παραδεχθείσης ἀνέμενον οἱ ἄγγελοι τὴν ἐπάνοδον τοῦ βασιλέως τῆς δόξης ἐπὶ τὴν κατὰ φύσιν μακαριότητα. Tούτοις οὖν εἶπε δεῖν ὁμοιοῦσθαι κατὰ τὸν ἡμέτερον βίον, ἵνα καθάπερ ἐκεῖνοι πόρρω κακίας καὶ ἀπάτης πολιτευόμενοι πρὸς ὑποδοχήν εἰσιν εὐτρεπεῖς τῆς δεσποτικῆς παρουσίας, οὕτω καὶ ἡμεῖς τοῖς προθύροις τῶν καταγωγίων ἡμῶν προσαγρυπνοῦντες ἑτοίμους πρὸς ὑπακοὴν ἑαυτοὺς ποιήσωμεν, ὅταν ἐπιστὰς κρούῃ τὴν θύραν· Μακάριοι γάρ, φησίν, οἱ δοῦλοι ἐκεῖνοι, οὓς ἐλθὼν ὁ Kύριος εὑρήσει ποιοῦντας οὕτως. Ἐπεὶ οὖν μακάριόν ἐστι τὸ ὑπακούειν τῷ κρούοντι, τούτου χάριν ἡ διὰ παντὸς πρὸς τὴν μακαριότητα βλέπουσα αἰσθάνεται τοῦ παρεστῶτος τῇ θύρᾳ, ἡ καλῶς τοῖς ἰδίοις θησαυροῖς ἐπαγρυπνοῦσα ψυχή, καί φησιν Φωνὴ τοῦ ἀδελφιδοῦ μου κρούει ἐπὶ τὴν θύραν. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων Ὁμιλία ΙΑ´ Source: Migne PG 44.993d-997b

The voice of my beloved knocks at the door... 1 One of the greatest of the Lord’s admonitions, by which the mind of the disciples of the Word shakes off the materiality of their nature like so much dust and is lifted up to the desire for things transcendent, is that those who look toward the life on high must be stronger than sleep and so always watchful in the mind, driving off the drowsiness of the eyes as if it were some deluder of souls or plotter against the truth. I speak of the drowsiness and sleep by which is fashioned dream visions for those who are sunk deeply in life’s deceits: high offices, riches, seats of power, conceitedness, the sorcery of pleasures, lust for fame and luxury and honour, and all those things which are eagerly and vainly and ignorantly sought in this life because of some fantasy, which things, falling away as time passes, have their nature in appearance only, and are not what they are thought to be, nor do they continue to be so valued, but rather as soon as they come to be they perish, just as the way waves raise up their peaks on the waters, which being gathered up together for a moment by the movement of the winds, yet in their instability are unable to endure in their substance, for raised up for an instant by a gust of air, so they drop down along with the air and allow the flat surface of the sea to be seen again. Thus, then, so that our mind may be free of such illusions, He exhorts that this heavy sleep be shaken from the eyes of the soul, lest a zeal for that which is unreal make us slip away from things which truly are. That is why He counsels the notion of vigilance for us when He says, 'Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning,' 2 for light shining in the eyes wards sleep from them, and loins tightly bound make the body disinclined to sleep, since preparation for laborious exertion does not bring the relaxation required for sleep. At any rate, it is apparent what is meant by these mysteries: that the one who is bound about with prudence lives by the light of a purified conscience, with life lit up all around by the lamp of candour, by which, the truth shining forth, the soul remains untouched by sleep and does not idle in the deceptions of those dreams. And if this is accomplished under the leadership of the Word, an angelic life is bestowed on us, for the Divine command likens us to angels when He says: 'And be like those waiting to receive their Lord, when he comes away from the marriage feast, so that when he comes and knocks they may open to him without delay.' 3 For it is the angels who wait for the return of their Lord from the marriage feast and sit at the heavenly gates with vigilant eyes, so that again when the King of Glory comes back from the marriage feast, He may enter with them into that supernal blessedness. Whence as one of the Psalms says, the Bridegroom coming out, as from the bridal chamber, 4 espoused the maiden, ourselves, in spiritual rebirth, even though she had been prostituted to idols, and restored her nature to virginal incorruptibility. Now since the marriage rites have been completed and the Church has been taken by the Word as His bride, just as John says: 'He who has the bride is the bridegroom,' 5 and the bride has been taken into the inner chamber of the mysteries, the angels are awaiting the return of the King of Glory to the blessedness that is His by nature. He says, then, that we in our living are to become like them, so that just like them, existing far from evil and error, we are prepared to greet their master at His coming, and sitting awake by the outer doors of our lodgings, we have been made ready to hear when He has arrived and knocks at the door. For He says, 'Blessed are those servants whom their Lord finds doing this when He comes.' 6 Since, then, it is a blessed thing to hearken to the one who knocks, because of this, the soul which is always looking for blessedness, perceives the one standing at the door, she who rightly watching over her treasures says, 'The voice of my beloved knocks at the door.' Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 11 1 Song 5.2 2 Lk 12.35 3 Lk 12.36 4 Ps 18.6 5 Jn 3.29 6 Lk 12.43

The Beauty Within

Μέλαινά εἰμι καὶ καλή, θυγατέρες Ἰερουσαλήμ... Τῆς ἱερᾶς τοῦ μαρτυρίου σκηνῆς οὐχ ὁμότιμον ἦν τῷ ἔνδοθεν κεκρυμμένῳ κάλλει τὸ ἐκτὸς προφαινόμενον· αὐλαῖαι μὲν γὰρ ἐκ λινῶν ὑφασμάτων καὶ αἱ διὰ τῶν τριχῶν τῶν αἰγῶν δέρρεις καὶ αἱ τῶν ἐρυθρῶν δερμάτων περιβολαὶ τὸν ἔξωθεν τῆς σκηνῆς κόσμον ἐπλήρουν καὶ οὐδὲν ἦν μέγα καὶ τίμιον τοῖς τὰ ἐκτὸς ὁρῶσι παρὰ ταῦτα φαινόμενον, ἔσωθεν δὲ χρυσῷ καὶ ἀργύρῳ καὶ τοῖς τιμίοις τῶν λίθων πᾶσα ἡ τοῦ μαρτυρίου σκηνὴ κατελάμπετο· οἱ στῦλοι, αἱ βάσεις, αἱ κεφαλίδες, τὸ θυμιατήριον, τὸ θυσιαστήριον, ἡ κιβωτός, ἡ λυχνία, τὸ ἱλαστήριον, οἱ λουτῆρες, τὰ τῶν εἰσόδων καταπετάσματα, οἷς τὸ κάλλος ἐκ παντὸς εἴδους τῆς εὐχροούσης βαφῆς συνεκίρνατο, νῆμα χρύσεον ὑακίνθῳ καὶ πορφύρᾳ καὶ βύσσῳ καὶ κόκκῳ διά τινος τεχνικῆς λεπτουργίας εὐκόσμως συνυφαινόμενον, σύγκρατον ἐκ πάντων, καθάπερ ἐν ἴριδος αὐγαῖς ἀποστίλβειν ἐποίει τὴν αὐγὴν τοῦ ὑφάσματος. Πρὸς ὅ τι δὲ βλέπων ἐντεῦθεν προοιμιάζομαι, πρόδηλον ὑμῖν πάντως ἐκ τῶν ῥηθησομένων γενήσεται. Πάλιν πρόκειται ἡμῖν τὸ Ἆισμα τῶν Ἀισμάτων εἰς πᾶσαν φιλοσοφίας τε καὶ θεογνωσίας ὑφήγησιν. Aὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἀληθινὴ τοῦ μαρτυρίου σκηνή, ἧς προκαλύμματα μὲν καὶ δέρρεις καὶ ἡ τῆς αὐλαίας περιβολὴ ἐρωτικοί τινες γίνονται λόγοι καὶ ῥήματα τὴν πρὸς τὸ ποθούμενον σχέσιν ἐμφαίνοντα καὶ κάλλους ὑπογραφὴ καὶ μνήμη σωματικῶν μελῶν, τῶν τε προφαινομένων ἐν τῷ προσώπῳ καὶ τῶν ὑποκεκρυμμένων τῇ τῆς ἐσθῆτος περιβολῇ. Tὰ δὲ ἐντὸς πολύφωτός τίς ἐστιν ὡς ἀληθῶς λυχνία καὶ κιβωτὸς μυστηρίων πλήρης. Kαὶ τὸ τῆς εὐωδίας θυμιατήριον καὶ τὸ καθάρσιον τῆς ἁμαρτίας, τὸ πάγχρυσον ἐκεῖνο τῆς εὐσεβείας θυσιαστήριον, τό τε τῶν καταπετασμάτων κάλλος, τὸ διὰ τῆς τῶν ἀρετῶν εὐχροίας εὐσχημόνως ἐξυφαινόμενον, καὶ οἱ ἀκλινεῖς τῶν λογισμῶν στῦλοι καὶ αἱ ἀμετάθετοι τῶν δογμάτων βάσεις, τό τε τῶν κεφαλίδων κάλλος, δι' ὧν ἡ περὶ τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν τῆς ψυχῆς ἑρμηνεύεται χάρις καὶ οἱ τῶν ψυχῶν λουτῆρες καὶ πάντα ὅσα πρὸς τὴν οὐρανίαν τε καὶ ἀσώματον πολιτείαν βλέπει, ἃ δι' αἰνιγμάτων ὁ νόμος διακελεύεται, ἐν τοῖς ὑποκεκρυμμένοις τῇ λέξει νοήμασιν ἔστιν εὑρεῖν, εἰ μόνον ἐπιτηδείους πρὸς τὴν εἰς τὰ ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων εἴσοδον ἑαυτοὺς δι' ἐπιμελείας ποιήσαιμεν τῷ λουτῆρι τοῦ λόγου πάντα ῥύπον αἰσχρᾶς ἐννοίας ἀποκλυσάμενοι, μήποτε θιγόντες παρὰ τὸ παράγγελμα τοῦ νόμου θνησιμαίου νοήματος ἤ τινος τῶν ἀκαθάρτων ἐνθυμίων ἁψάμενοι ἀθέατοι τῶν ἐντὸς τῆς σκηνῆς θαυμάτων ἀποκλεισθῶμεν. Oὐ γὰρ παραδέχεται τῶν τοιούτων τὴν εἴσοδον ὁ τοῦ πνεύματος νόμος, ἐὰν μή τις πλύνῃ τὸ τῆς συνειδήσεως ἑαυτοῦ ἱμάτιον κατὰ τὸ Μωϋσέως παράγγελμα ὁ νεκρᾶς τινος καὶ βδελυκτῆς ἐννοίας ἁψάμενος. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων Ὁμιλία β' Source: Migne PG 44.787b-789a

I am dark but beautiful, daughters of Jerusalem... 1 The holy tabernacle of witness was not beautiful because of its outward appearance, but because of what was hidden within. Certainly there were curtains made from linen, and with the leathery pelts of goats and rough hides all these made up the outer covering of the tabernacle, but it was not great and precious in appearance because of these things which were able to be seen externally. For it was the interior of the tabernacle of witness that glittered all around with silver and gold and precious stones. There were the columns, the pedestals, the thurible, the altar, the ark, the lamp-stand, the mercy seat, the washing basins, and the veils and curtains of the entrance whose beauty was a mix of many tinctures of colours, and threads of gold, and of blue, and of purple and of scarlet, all woven and threaded together, and by this weaving its splendour was made equal to the glory of the rainbow. 2 With which vision I begin, so that those things which I will say here may be plainly manifest to us. Again the Song of songs sets before us an exposition of the universal philosophy, and the knowledge of God. This is the true tabernacle of witness. Certainly the exterior coverings, the curtains and drapes on the outside, are the desiring thoughts and words that reveal an inclination for what is wished, but a description of beauty, making mention of bodily members, touches on both what is openly seen and what is hidden beneath the covering of clothes. For the things that are within are a person of many lights, as the true lamp-stand, and the ark, full of mysteries. And then the thurible with its sweet odour purifies from sin, and also the golden and pious mercy seat, and the beauty of the veils is woven elegantly with the pleasing complexion of the virtues, and the firm and immobile columns are reason, and the pedestals are dogmas which are not able to be shifted, and by the beauty of the capitals is understood the grace of the soul's governing part, and the basins are for the washing of souls. Indeed here, wherever one looks, is the heavenly and incorporeal maintenance of life, which the law commands in mystery , and which can be found in the meanings which are hidden in these words, if only we have care to prepare ourselves to enter into the holy of holies, by the washing off in the cleansing waters of reason all the filth of shameful thoughts, lest if, because of the touching of some moribund idea or vile thought prohibited by the command of the law, we are excluded, and as blind men are rendered unable to contemplate the wonders which are within the tabernacle. The spiritual law does not permit entrance to anyone who touches a dead or vile thought, unless, as Moses commands, he has washed clean the vestment of his conscience. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 2 1 Song 1.5 2 Exodus 25-