Mothers and Brothers

Μήτηρ μου καὶ ἀδελφοί μου οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀκούοντες καὶ ποιοῦντες αὐτόν. Ὁ διὰ τῆς Μωϋσέως νομοθεσίας εἰπὼν, Τίμα τὴν πατέρα σου καὶ τὴν μητέρα σου, ἵνα εὖ σοι γένηται· ἡμῖν δὲ ἐπιτάξας καὶ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἀγαπᾷν, ἆρα αὐτὸς ὠλιγώρει τῆς εἰς τὴν μητέρα τιμῆς, καὶ ἀπωθεῖται τὴν εἰς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ἀγάπην; Οὐδαμῶς. Τί οὖν ἄρα διδάξαι βούλεται; Εἰς ὕψος αἴρει μέγα τὴν εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἀγάπην, οἵπερ ἂν ἐθέλοιεν τοῖς αὐτοῦ πείθεσθαι νόμοις· καὶ τὰς ἀνωτάτω τιμὰς ὀφείλειν ἡμῖν βούλεται, ὡς μητράσι καὶ ἀδελφοῖς. Εἰ γὰρ μητέρα καὶ ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ εἶναί φησι τοὺς ἀκούοντας τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ποιοῦντας αὐτὸν, πῶς οὐχ ἅπασιν ἐναργὲς, ὡς ἐκκεκριμένην καὶ ἀξιόληπτον χαρίζεται τὴν ἀγάπην τοῖς ἑπομένοις αὐτῷ; Οὕτω γὰρ ἦν πεῖσαι πάντας ἥκειν ἐπὶ τὸ βούλεσθαι τοῖς αὐτοῦ καταπείθεσθαι λόγοις. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Λούκαν Εὐάγγελιον, Κεφ. Η'

'My mother and my brothers they are who hear the word of God and do it.' 1 He who in the Mosaic law says, 'Honor your mother and father that it go well for you.' 2 commands us that we love our enemies; and it is because of care for this that He would have us cast aside honour for a mother and love of brothers? Not at all. What therefore does He wish to teach? On the heights He sets love to men that by that they are inclined to his laws. And the greatest honours he wishes to give to us, as mothers and brothers. For if He calls them His mothers and brothers who hear the word of God, in the doing of it, how would it not be that He rejoices in the abundant and worthy love of His followers for Him? So indeed He wished to persuade all to conduct themselves in the reception of His words. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke, Chapter 8 1 Lk 8 21. 2 Deut 5.16

New Creatures

Saepe autem quosdam videmus ad vocem praedicationis, quasi ex conversione compunctos, habitum, non animum mutasse, ita ut religiosam vestem sumerent, sed anteacta vitia non calcarent; irae stimulis immaniter agitari, malitiae dolore in proximi laesionem fervescere, de ostensis quibusdam bonis ante humanos oculos superbire, praesentis mundi lucra inhianter quaerere, et de solo exterius habitu quem sumpserunt, sanctitatis fiduciam habere. Quibus quid aliud dicendum est, nisi hoc quod magister egregius quibusdam legis exteriora servantibus loquitur, dicens: Quia in Christo Jesu neque circumcisio aliquid valet, neque praeputium, sed nova creatura? Non enim magni est meriti, si quid foris erga nos agatur in corpore, sed magnopere pensandum est quid agatur in mente. Nam praesentem mundum despicere, transitoria non amare, mentem medullitus in humilitate Deo et proximo sternere, contra illatas contumelias patientiam servare, et, custodita patientia, dolorem malitiae a corde repellere, egenis propria tribuere, aliena minime ambire, amicum in Deo diligere, propter Deum et eos qui inimici sunt amare, de afflictione proximi lugere, de morte ejus qui inimicus est non exsultare, haec est nova creatura, quam idem magister gentium apud alios discipulos vigilanti oculo requirit, dicens: Si qua igitur in Christo nova creatura, vetera transierunt, ecce facta sunt omnia nova. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Primus, Homilia X

For often we see some by the voice of preaching, as if stung to convert, change but their garments not the soul, and thus they have only put on a religious vestment but have not trodden down their vices; and so by stimulus of anger they are fiercely agitated, and they are in a fervour to inflect grievous wounds of wickedness on their neighbour, and they vaunt showy goods before the eyes of men, and they covet the goods of the present world, and yet this putting on of the exterior garment alone they would have as a sure sign of sanctity. Concerning which what must be said, unless that which a wondrous teacher speaking of the servants of the exterior law, said: 'Because in Jesus Christ neither circumcision nor non circumcision profits, but a new creature.' ?1 For it is of no great merit, if something without acts against us in the body, but that which moves in the mind must be thought greater. For to despise the present world, to not love transitory things, to exert the heart of the mind in humility toward God and ones neighbour, to endure the assaults of insolence, to repel the pain of wickedness with the guard of patience, to give from one's own things to the needy, to not desire the things of another, to love a friend in God, to love even those who are enemies on account of God, to mourn the afflictions of a neighbour, not to exalt over the death of an enemy, this is the new creature which the same teacher of the gentiles sought with vigilant eye, saying to other pupils, 'If then a new creature in Jesus Christ, the old has passed away, and behold all things are made new.' 2 Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 1, Homily 10 1 Gal 5.6 2 2 Cor. 5. 17

The Pure In Heart

Adest ecce gradus sextus: Beati, inquit, mundo corde, quia ipsi Deum videbunt. Plane jam mundo sunt corde, plane jam Deum videre poterunt, qui pauperes spiritu, qui mites, qui lamentati peccata, qui justitia refecti, qui misericordes, in adversariis quoque tam sincerum oculum cordis, et lucidum gerunt, ut sine aliqua malitiae luppitduine inaccessibilem Dei claritatem sine impedimento conscpiciant. Munditia enim cordis, et conscientiae puritas nullam nubem ad intuendum Dominum patietur. Sanctus Chromatius Aquileiensis, Sermo De Octo Beatitudinibus

So we come to the sixth step: Blessed, He says, are the pure in heart because they shall see God. 1 Clearly they are already pure in heart who already clearly see God, who are poor in spirit, who are meek, who have mourned sins, who have been restored with righteousness, who are merciful, who have so healthy and clear an eye of the heart that even in adversities, without any sickness of wickedness, they are able to look on the inaccessible light of God. For the cleanness of the heart and the purity of the conscience suffers no cloud to obscure the sight of God.   Saint Chromatius of Aquileia, On the Eight Beatitudes   1 Mt 5.8

The Call of Peace

Δεῦτε καὶ ἴδετε τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἂ ἔθετο τέρατα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ἀνταναιρῶν πολέμους μέχρι τῶν περάτων τῆς γῆς. Τοὺς μακρὰν ὄντας τοῦ λόγου τῆς ἀληθείας εἰς τὴν διὰ τῆς ἐπιγνώσεως ἐγγύτητα προσκαλεῖτα ὁ λόγος λέγων· Δεῖτε καὶ ἴδετε. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν σωματικῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αἱ μὲν ἐπὶ πολὺ ἀποστάσεις ἀμυδρὰν ποιῦσι τὴν τῶν ὁρωμένων κατάληψιν, οἱ δὲ προσεγγισμοὶ τῶν θεωρούντων ἐναργῆ παρέχονται τῶν βλεπομένων τὴν ἐπιγνωσιν· οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν κατὰ νοῦν θεωρημάτων, ὁ μὴ διὰ τῶν ἔργων οἰκειωθεὶς καὶ πλησιάσας Θεῷ ἰδεῖν τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ καθαροῖς τοῖς διανοίας ὀφθαλμοῖς οὐ δύναται. Διὰ τοῦτο, Δεῦτε, προσεγγίσατε πρότερον, εἶτα ἴδετε τὰ ἔργα Κυρίου τεράστια ὄντα καὶ παράδοξα· ὑφ' ὧν καταπλαγέντα τὰ πρότερον πολέμια καὶ στασιώδη ἔθην πρὸς ἡσυχίαν μετέβαλε. Δεῦτε, τέκνα, ἀκούσατέ μου· καὶ Δεῦτε πάντες οἱ κοπιῶντες, καὶ πεφορτισμένοι. Πατρικὴ ἡ φωνὴ, ἡπλωμέναις ἀγκάλαις πρὸς ἑαυτὸν καλοῦντος τοὺς τέως ἀφνηιάζοντας. Ὁ οὖν ἀκούσας τῆς κλήσεως, καὶ ἐγγίσας, καὶ κολληθεὶς τῷ προστάξαντι, ὄψεται τὸν εἰρηνομοιήσαντα τὰ πάντα διὰ τοῦ σταυροῦ. Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Εἰς Τον ΜΕ' Ψαλμον

'Come and see the works of God, which are placed as wonders on the earth, taking away war even to the ends of the earth.' 1 Those who are far from the word of truth, Scripture invites that they come nearer to it through recognition, saying, 'Come and see.' For as to bodily eyes large obstacles produce obscurity of things which by vision are grasped, and observers must drew near for the sight of visible form by which vision supplies knowledge, so even in the contemplating mind, those who are not joined to God by works do not come near, being unable to see the works of that one with the pure eyes of the mind. Therefore first come near and then see the works of the Lord, wondrous and miraculous, by which the Gentiles were overcome, those who were once hostile and traitorous, and have passed over to peace. 'Come, sons, hear me,' 2 and 'Come all you who labour and are burdened,' 3 The voice is paternal, the arms open to those invited who were once rebels. He then who hears this call, and comes near, and adheres to the commands, this one shall see the one who pacified everything through the cross. Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 45 1 Ps 45.7 2 Ps 33.12 3 Mt 11.28

Freedom And Goodness

Sine consilio autem tuo nihil colui facere: ut non quasi ex necessitate bonum tuum esset, sed voluntarium. Hoc quod a plerisque quaeritur, et saepissime retractatur: quare Deus hominem faciens, non eam bonum rectumque condiderit, de praesenti loco solvi potest. Si enim Deus voluntarie, et non ex necessitate bonus est, debuit hominem faciens, ad suam imaginem et similitudinem facere, hoc est, ut et ipse voluntarie, et non ex necessitate bonus esset. Qui autem asserunt ita eum debuisse fieri, ut malum recipere non posset, hoc dicunt: talis debuit fieri qui necessitate bonus esset, et non voluntate. Quod si talis fuisset effectus, qui bonum non voluntate, sed necessitate perficeret, non esset Deo similis: qui ideo bonus est, quia vult, non quia cogitur. Ex quo manifestum est, rem eos inter se postulare contrariam. Nam ex eo quod dicunt, debuit homo Deo similis fieri; illud petunt, ut liberi fieret arbitrii, sicut Deus ipse est. Ex eo autem quod inferunt, talis debuit fieri, qui malum recipere non posset; dum necessitatem ei boni important,* illud volunt, ut homo Deo similis non fieret. Potuit itaque et apostolus Paulus absque voluntate Philemonis, Onesimum sibi in ministerium retinere. Sed si hoc sine voluntate Philemonis fecisset: bonum quidem erat, sed non voluntarium. Quod autem non erat voluntarium, alio genere arguebatur non esse bonum. Nihil quippe bonum diei potest, nisi quod ultroneum est. Ex quo Apostoli consideranda prudentia est: qui idcirco fugitivum servum remittit ad dominum, ut prosit domino suo: qui prodesse non poterat, si domino teneretur absente. Superior ergo quaestio ita solvitur: Potuit Deus hominem sine voluntate ejus facere bonum. Porro si hoc fecisset, non erat bonum voluntarium, sed necessitatis. Quod autem necessitate bonum est, non est bonum, et alio genere malum arguitur. Igitur proporio arbitrio nos relinquens, magis ad suam imaginem et similitudinem fecit. Similem autem Deo esse absolute bonum est. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Philemonem Source: Migne PL 26.612d-613b

Without your counsel I would do nothing, for not from necessity shall your good be, but from your free will. 1 This which by so many is sought and so often escapes them when they wonder why did God in making man not fashion him so that he was good and right, one is able to answer from the present passage. For if God by choice and not by necessity is good, he should have in making man, in His own image and likeness making him, 2 that he be by choice and not from necessity be good. They who assert that he should be so that he should not be able to undertake evil, by this say that man should be as one for whom the good is by necessity and not by choice. Which if such a thing were done, he would be one who accomplished good not freely but by necessity, and so not like God. Therefore  a man is good is because he wishes to be, not because he is forced to be. From which it is manifest that among themselves they ask for the contrary. For from what they say, a man should be similar to God, they seek that which makes the will free, like God Himself is. From which they infer such should be who are not able to do evil, but when the necessity of the good they impose upon man, this they wish for, that man should not be similar to God. Thus the Apostle Paul was able to retain Onesimus in his service without the will of Philemon. But if this were done without the will of Philemon, a good it was but not voluntary. Yet that which is not voluntary it was proved is another sort of thing and not a good. For nothing is able to be a good unless it is of one's own accord. This the Apostle considered with prudence, he therefore sent the slave back to his master that he be of benefit to his master; he would not be able to benefit him if he had kept him away from his master. The above question is thus solved. God was able to make man that he do good involuntarily. However, if He does this it is not a willed good but one of necessity. And that which is a good of necessity is not a good but another sort of evil. Therefore in giving us our own wills He makes us more according to his image and likeness. For to be like God is the absolute good. Saint Jerome, Commentary on the Epistle to Philemon 1 Philemon 14 2 Gen 1.26

Freedom and the Gospel

Λέγουσι γὰρ δύνασθαι τὸν Θεὸν, εἴπερ ἐβούλετο, καὶ τοὺς ἀντιτύπως ἔχοντας ἀναγκαστικῶς ἐφελκύσασθαι πρὸς τὴν παραδοχὴν τοῦ κηρύγματος. Ποῦ τοίνυν ἐν τούτοις τὸ αὐτεξούσιον; Ποῦ δὲ τῶν κατορθούντων ὁ ἔπαινος; Μόνων γὰρ τῶν ἀψύχων ἤ τῶν ἀλόγων ἐστὶ τῷ ἀλλοτρίῳ βουλήματι πρὸς τὸ δοκοῦν περιάγεσθαι. Ἡ δὲ λογική τε καὶ νοερὰ φύσις, ἐὰν τὸ κατ' ἐξουσίαν ἀπόθηται, καὶ τὴν χάριν τοῦ νοεροῦ συναπώλεσεν. Εἰς τί γὰρ χρήσεται τῇ διανοίᾳ τῆς τοῦ προαιρεῖσθαί τι τῶν κατὰ γνώμην ἐξουσίας ἐφ' ἑτέρω κειμένης; Εἰ δὲ ἄπρακτος ἡ προαίρεσις μένοι, ἠφάνισται κατ' ἀνάγκην ἡ ἀρετὴ, τῇ ἀκινησίᾳ τῆς προαιρέσεως ἐμποδισθεῖσα· ἀρετῆς δὲ μὴ οὔσης, ὁ βίος ἠτίμωται, καὶ καθ' εἰμαρμένην χωρεῖ ὁ λόγος, ἀφῄρηται τῶν κατορθούντων ὁ ἔπαινος· ἀνίκητος ἡ ἁμαρτία, ἄκριτος ἡ κατὰ τὸν βίον διαφορά. Τίς γὰρ ἄν ἔτι κατὰ τὸ εὔλογον ἢ διαβάλλοι τὸν ἀκόλαστον, ἢ ἐπαινοίη τὸν σώφρονα; Ταύτης κατὰ τὸ πρόχειρον οὔσης ἐκάστῳ τῆς ἀποκρίσεως, τὸ μηδὲν ἐφ' ἡμῖν τῶν κατὰ γνώμην εἶναι, δυναστείᾳ δὲ κρείττονι τὰς ἀνθρωπίνας προαιρέσεις πρὸς τὸ τῷ κρατοῦνται δοκοῦν περιάγεσθαι. Οὐκοῦν οὐ τῆς ἀγαθότητος τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ ἔγκλημα, τὸ μὴ πᾶσιν ἐγγενέσθαι τὴν πίστιν, ἀλλὰ τῆς διαθέσεως τῶν δεχομένων τὸ κήρυγμα. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Λόγος Κατήχητικος Ὁ Μέγας, Κεφαλ. ΛΑ',

They say that God was able, if He had so wished, to forcibly draw those who resisted to the acceptance of the preaching. And where then would have been their free will? Where praise for improvement? Only things soulless or irrational may be directed according the purpose of another. But the rational and intelligent nature, if it sets aside its freedom, at the same time it loses the gift of intellect. For upon what does he employ his mind, if the freedom of choosing anything according to his inclination lies with another? But then, if choosing is inactive on account of necessity virtue vanishes, since it is shackled by the inertness of the will; and if virtue does not exist, life loses its value, reason moves in accordance with fate, the praise of the righteous is gone, sin is unconquerable, and the difference between lives impossible to judge. For who, then, could with good reason denounce intemperance or praise sobriety? Every one would have the ready answer that nothing of all the things we are inclined to is in our  power but that by some superior  influence human wills are led to the purpose of the one who has power over them. So it is not the goodness of God that is to be questioned when the Faith is not born in all, but rather the state of those who receive the preaching. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, The Great Catechism, Chap 31

Fear and Preaching

Tu ergo, fili hominis, ne timeas eos, neque sermones eorum metuas, quoniam increduli, et subversores sunt tecum, et cum scorpionibus habitas.   Patet ad quam perversos in praedicationem mittitur, qui ne timeat admonetur. Et quia pravi quique bona sibi loquentibus alia iniqua faciunt, et adhuc alia minantur, propter illa quae faciunt dicitur: Ne timeas eos; et propter hoc quod minatur, adjungitur: Neque sermones eorum metuas. Vel certe quia reprobi et mala bonis ingerunt, et eorum semper actibus derogant, propheta missus admonetur, ne eorum vel crudelitatem metuat, vel verba pertimescat. In hoc itaque quod dicitur: Ne timeas, prophetae datur auctoritas praedicationis. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Primus, Homilia IX

'You therefore, son of man, do not fear them, nor be afraid of their words, that they are incredulous and that they dispute with you, and that you dwell with scorpions.' 1 It is obvious to what perverse folk he is sent to preach, he who is admonished lest he fear. And because the depraved speak well of themselves while acting wickedly, until they are admonished by others, on account of those things which they do, it is said, 'Do not fear them,' and then after this it is added: 'Nor be afraid of their words.'  Certainly because the reprobate cast evil at the good and ever their acts they denigrate, and so the Prophet who is sent is warned lest he be afraid of their savagery or take fright at their words. In this then which is said: 'Do not fear,' is given authority to the Prophet to preach. Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 1, from Homily 9 1 Ez 2.6

Beauty and Preaching

Ὥραῖος κάλλει παρὰ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Ἐξεχὺθη ἡ χάρις ἐν χείλεσί σου. Προσάγεται δὲ ἡμᾶς τῇ διανοίᾳ ταύτῃ ὅ τε Ἀκύλας καὶ ὁ Σύμμαχος· ὁ μὲν εἰπών· Κάλλει ἐκαλλωπίσθης παρὰ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων· ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος· Κάλλει καλὸς  εἶ παρὰ τοὺη υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Ὡραῖον οὖν κάλλει προσαγορεύει τὸν Κύριον ὁ ἐνατενίσας αὐτοῦ τῇ θεότητι. Οὐ γὰρ τὸ τῆς σαρκὸς ἀνυμνεῖ κάλλος. Εἰδομεν γὰρ αὐτὸν, καὶ οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος, οὐδε κάλλος, ἀλλὰ τὸ εἶδος αὐτοῦ ἄτιμον, ἐκλεῖπον παρὰ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Δῆλον οὖν, ὅτι ἐνιδών αὐτοῦ τῇ λαμπρότητι καὶ τῶν ἐκεῖθεν μαρμαρυγῶν ἀναπλησθεὶς ὁ Προφήτης, πληγεὶς τὴν ψυχὴν τούτῳ τῳ κάλλει, πρὸς τὸν ἔνθεον ἔρωτα τῆς νοητῆς ὠραιότητος ἐκινήθη· ἧς ἐπιφανείσης τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ ψυχῇ, πάντα αἰσχρὰ καὶ ἀπόβλητα τὰ τέως ἀγαπώμενα καταφαίνεται. Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Παῦλος, ὅτε εἶδε τὸν ὡραῖον κάλλει, πάντα ἡγήσατο σκύβαλα, ἵνα Χριστὸν κερδήσῃ. Οἱ μὲν ἔξω τοῦ λόγου τῆς ἀληθείας μωρίαν ὀνομάζουσι τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου τὸ κήρηγμα, τὴν εὐτέλειαν τῆς φράσεως τῶν Γραφῶν ἐξουθενοῦντες· ἡμεῖς δὲ οἱ καυχώμενοι ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, οἶς ἐφανερώθη διὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος τα ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ χαρισθέντα ὑμῖν, οὐκ ἐν διδακτοϊς ἀνθρωπίνης σοφίας λόγοις, οἴδαμεν, ὅτι πλουσία χάρις ἐστὶν ἐκκεχυμένη παρὰ Θεοῦ ἐπὶ τοῖς περὶ Χριστοῦ λόγοις. Διὰ τοῦτο ἐν ὀλίγῳ τῳ χρόνῳ πᾶσαν σχεδὸν τὴν οἰκουμένην διῆλθε τὸ κήρυγμα, ἐπειδὴ πλουσία καὶ ἄφθονος ἡ χάρις ἐκκέχυται ἐπὶ τοὺς κήρυκας τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου, οὔς καὶ χείλη Χριστοῦ ὠνόμασεν ἡ Γραφή. Διὰ τοῦτο ἐν εὐκαταφρονήτοις λεξειδίοις πολὺ τὸ ἀγωγὸν καὶ πρὸς σωτηρίαν ὁλκὸν ἔχει τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου τὸ κήρυγμα. Καὶ πᾶσα ψυχὴ κεκράτηται δόγμασιν ἀκινήτοις, διὰ τῆς χάριστος πρὸς τὴν ἀσάλευτον εἰς Χριστὸν πίστιν βεβαιουμένη. Ὅθεν φησὶν ὁ Ἀπόστολος· Δι' οὔ ἐλάνομεν χάριν καὶ ἀποστολὴν εἰς ὑπακοὴν πίστεως· καὶ πάλιν· Περισσότερον αὐτῶν πάντων ἐκοπίασα· οὐκ ἐγὼ δὲ, ἀλλ' ἡ χάρις τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἡ σὺν ἐμοί. Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Εἰς Τον ΜΔ' Ψαλμον

'A beautiful appearance before the sons of men. Grace is diffused on your lips.' 1 This leads us to recall Aquila and Symmachus, the first who translates this passage as, 'Adorned with beauty you are before the sons of men.' And Symmachus has, 'Beautiful with beauty you are before the sons of men.' Beautiful, therefore, is announced the appearance of the Lord when one has perceived His Divinity. For this is not the beauty of flesh, 'For we saw him and he did not have beauty, nor elegance, but his form was unhonoured and he was wanting before the sons of men.' 2  From whence it is manifest that the Prophet, when He is clearly seen, would have Him replete with splendor, and struck by this the soul inclines to it, being moved to the Divine love of spiritual beauty, which when it blazes before the human soul reveals everything that it loved before as wretched and an abomination. Whence Paul, when he sees beauty, accounts as all else dung, that Christ he might profit. 3 They who are far from the word of truth call the preaching of the Gospel foolish and have contempt for the simple diction of Scripture, but we who glory in the cross of Christ, by which is made manifest through the Spirit those things which are bestowed on us by God, know, not by the teaching of human wisdom, that rich grace which from God has been poured out on the teachings concerning Christ. Thus in such short time the preaching spread throughout almost all the orb of the known world, since rich and abundant grace was poured on the preachers of the Gospel. By which preaching of the Gospel in contemptible speech had yet great power to persuade and attract to salvation. And every soul was overcome by immovable doctrine, through grace being strengthened to unshakeable faith in Christ . Whence the Apostle says, 'By which we received grace and apostleship that we be obedient in faith.' 4 And again, 'I have laboured more than all, not I, but the grace of God which is with me.' 5 Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 44 1 Ps 44.3 2 Is 53. 2,3 3 Philip 3.8 4 Rom 1.5 5 1 Cor 15.10

Light and Vision

Ὅτι πρὸς σὲ προσεύξομαι Κύριε τὸ πρωὶ εἰσακούσῃ τῆς φωνῆς μου, τὸ πρωὶ παραστήσομαί σοι καὶ ἐπόψομαι. Κατὰ θεωρίαν δέ· ῳ ὁ τῆς δικαιοσύνης η λιος ἀνέτειλεν ἐν ἀρχῇ νοητῆς ἡμέρας γεγονώς, χαριστήριον αἶνον προφέρων τῷ αἰτίῳ τοῦ φωτισμοῦ Τὸ πρωΐ, ε φη, εἰσακούσῃ τῆς φωνῆς μου· τίνι γὰρ ε δει χάριν ὁμολογῆσαι ὑπὲρ τηλικούτου ἀγαθοῦ η σοί, ω δέσποτα, τῷ ἀνατείλαντί μοι φῶς αι τιόν μοι μεγίστης θεωρίας ὑπάρχον; ἀεὶ γοῦν ε ρως εἰσέρχεται πρὸς ταῖς ὑπαρξάσαις θεωρίαις καὶ ε τι θέλειν βλέπειν τὰ κάλλη τῆς ἀληθείας. παρίσταται τοῦτο καὶ ἐκ τοῦ Καὶ ἐπόψομαι. ὡς γὰρ τὸ ἐπέρχομαι ἀκατάπαυστον πρόσοδον δηλοῖ, ου τω τὸ ̓Επόψομαι συνεχῶς προστιθεμένην κατανόησιν ἐμφαίνει· πῶς γὰρ οὐκ ἀεὶ βλέπει ὁ ἐπαγγελίας τυχὼν τῆς Εσται σοι κύριος φῶς αἰώνιον, καὶ Φῶς δικαίοις διὰ παντός; Εστιν δὲ καὶ ἑτέρα γραφὴ ἐχουσα Παραστήσομαί σοι καὶ ἐπόψομαι, ὅπερ οὐ παντὸς λέγειν ἀλλὰ τῶν κατὰ τὸν μέγαν ̓Ηλίαν διὰ τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς πολιτείας παρρησίαν λέγειν θαρρούντων Ζῇ Κύριος ῳ παρέστην ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ σήμερον. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Ψαλμους, Ψαλμος Ε᾽

Because to you I shall pray, O Lord ,in the morning, and you will hear my voice, in the morning I shall stand beside you and I shall see.' 1 On account of contemplation this one to whom the sun of righteousness rises appears in the beginning of the spiritual day, giving thanks to the Creator of light. 'In the morning,' he says,' you will hear my voice,' for to whom should be thanks to have such a good, unless to you, Lord who bring light to me, cause of my great enlightenment? Always therefore He desires to come to those beginning in contemplation and who wish for knowledge of the beauty of truth. This is shown by the use of the words, 'I shall see', for as the use of 'I shall come' exhibits inquietude to approach, so 'I shall see' always means the act of understanding. And why does he not always see, who is worthy of the promise, 'He shall be to you God a light eternal and a righteous light forever'? 2 Another passage may be understood, 'I shall be beside you and I shall see,' which is not given to everyone to speak but he who is like the great Elijah, who by reason of his life and deeds, dared to have the confidence to say, 'The Lord lives, in whose sight today I stand.' 3 Didymus the Blind, Commentary on Psalms, from Psalm 5 1 Ps 5 4-5 2 Is 60.19 3 3 Kings 17.1

Gifts and Knowledge

Τὸ Πνεῦμα εἰλήφαμεν, καθὼς ὁ Ἀπόστολος, οὐχ ἵνα ἐπιστάμεθα τίς ἐστι κατὰ τὴν ἀκριβειαν ἡ φύσις τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀλλ' ἵνα νοήσωμεν τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ χαρισθέντα ἡμῖν μυρία ἀγαθὰ δωρήματα, ἄπερ καὶ διαλεγόμεθα τοῖς μαθητευομένοις. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΙΗ', Πτολεμαιῳ

The Spirit we have received, as the Apostle says, 1 is not that we know more exactly the nature of God but  that we know the countless good things of God that have been given to us, and that thinking on them we may be teachers of them Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 18 To Ptolemaius 1 1 Cor 2.12

Strengthening the Heart

Λόγοις σοφῶν παράβαλλε σὸν οὖς καὶ ἄκουε ἐμὸν λόγον τὴν δὲ σὴν καρδίαν ἐπίστησον ἵνα γνῷς ὅτι καλοί εἰσιν. Ὁ τοῖς πανσόφοις λόγοις προσέχων τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ποιῶν τὰ προστασμενα ὑπ' αὐτοῦ, οὗτος ἐπέστησε τὴν καρδίαν, καὶ ἔγνω ὅτι καλοί εἰσιν· οὕτος ἀκούει τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγων, ὁ ποιῶν τὰ προστασσόμενα ὑπ' αὐτῶν· Οὐ γὰρ οἱ ἀκροαταὶ τοῦ νόμου δίκαιοι παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ, ἀλλ' οἱ ποιηταὶ τοῦ νομοῦ δικαιωθήσονται. Ἐὰν δὲ ἐπιστήσῃς σὴν καρδίαν τοῦ γνῶναι καὶ ποιῆσαι, γνωρίσει σοι τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ τὴν εἰποῦσαν· Ἐγω εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαὶ Εἰς Παροιμίας

To the words of the wise give your ear and hear my word and strengthen your heart that you may know good things. 1 He who attends to the most wise words of God, and acts in accordance with His commandments, he strengthens his heart, and he knows good things. He hears the words of God who follows the things commanded, 'For it is not the hearers of the Lord who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who shall be justified.' 2 That if you strengthen your heart equally in knowledge and deed, God shall make manifest to you His way, of which He said, 'I am the way and the truth.' 3 Origen, On Proverbs, Fragment 1 Prov 22.17 2 Rom 11.13 3 Jn 14.6

Purgation and Feasts

Οἱ τὰς ψυχὰς ἑαυτῶν ἁγνίζειν σπουδάζοντες, οὐ μόνον ἄρτον καὶ ὕδατος νοητοῦ εὐπορήσουσιν, ἀλλα γὰρ καὶ κρεῶν ἐπιτεύξονται· τέλειον γάρ ἐστιν ἡ στερεὰ τροφὴ, ὥς φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος· καὶ προαναφωνεῖ Μωῦσῆς τῷ λαῷ λέγων· Ἁγνίσασθε εἰς τὴν αὔριον, καὶ φάγεσθε κρέα· κρέα νοήσας τό τε θεϊον σῶμα, ὥσπερ οὖν ἐσθίουσιν οἱ πιστοὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας, καὶ τὴν γνῶσιν Χριστιανῶν τὴν μακαριωτάτην, καὶ πασῶν ὑπερτέραν τῶν γνώσεων. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ϟΘ', Σιλβανῳ Ἐπισκοπῳ

Those who have troubled to purge their souls, will not only abound in intellectual bread and water, but they will even have flesh. Solid food is for the perfect as the Apostle says, 1 and Moses preaches to the people, 'Sanctify yourselves for the morrow, and you shall eat flesh.' 2 Understand the flesh as the Divine body, which the faithful of the Church eat, the most blessed knowledge of Christians exceeding the knowledge of everything. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 99, To the Bishop Silvanus 1 Heb 5.14 2 Num 11.18

Feasts And Wisdom

Ἔσφαξεν τὰ ἑαυτῆς θύματα ἐκέρασεν εἰς κρατῆρα τὸν ἑαυτῆς οἶνον καὶ ἡτοιμάσατο τὴν ἑαυτῆς τράπεζαν. Ἐκκλινάτω, ἵνα φρόνησιν λάβῃ· ῥώννυται γὰρ ὁ ἀτελής ὑπὸ τῶν τῆς σοφίας λόγων καὶ μυστηρίων. Ἔλθατε φάγετε τῶν ἐμῶν ἄρτων καὶ πίετε οἶνον ὃν ἐκέρασα ὑμῖν. Ἡ αὑτὴ τροφὴ καὶ κρέα ὀνομάζεται καὶ ἄρτος καὶ γάλα καὶ οἶνος. Πλὴν οἱ ἄφρονες ὡς ἄρτου αὐτῶν μεταλαμβάνειν λέγονται καὶ ὡς οἴνου κεκερασμένου· εἰ δὲ τοῦτο πῶς νοήσομεν· Ἄρτον ἀγγέλων ἔφαγεν ἄνθρωπος; Ἄρτον δέ μοι νόει τὰς στερεὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ οἶνον, τὴν ἐκ μελέτης τῶν θείων Γραφῶν ἐπιγνωσιν αὐτοῦ· ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ τὸ θεῖον σῶμα καὶ τίμιον αἷμα αυτοῦ. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Παροιμιας

Her sacrifices prepared, her wine mixed in bowls, her table spread. 1 Let him turn aside, I say, who would partake of wisdom; for the imperfect are strengthened by words of wisdom and the mysteries. Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mixed for you;  2  The same food is named flesh and bread and milk and wine. Truly the unwise, they say, take to their own bread and mix their own wine. And if this is so, how do we understand: 'Man ate the bread of angels?' 3 Now grasp my bread as the lasting commands of God, and the wine as the knowledge of God from meditation on the Divine Scriptures, and likewise with his divine body and precious blood. Didymus the Blind, On Proverbs, fragment  1 Prov 9.2  2 Prov 9.5  3 Ps 77.25

The Lord and Bread

Ἄρτος ὁ Κύριος κέκληται, αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν τούτῳ καλῶν τῷ ὀνόματι. Κατὰ μὲν τὴν πρόχειρον ἔκληψιν, ὡς πᾶσι τροφὴ σωτηρίας γενόμενος· κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἀπόῥῥητον ἔννοιαν, τὴν ζύμην τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου φυράματος ἐνώσας καὶ καθάρας, καὶ ὥσπερ ἐξοπτήσας τῷ οἰκείῳ πυρὶ τῆς θεότητος, καὶ εἰς ἔν σὺν αὐτῇ γεγονὼς πρόσωπον καὶ μίαν προσκυνουμένην ὑπόστασιν. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, ἘπιστολήΤΞ' Θεωνι

The Lord was named bread, He referring to Himself by this name. 1 And with this sense He was so named, that to everyone He be the food of salvation; but according to a more mystical sense: He mixed the yeast with human dough and purged it, even with fire of His own divinity, that it be made one with His person and adorable hypostasis. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 360, To Theon 1 Jn 6.35

Communion and Error

Idem contumacibus et pervicacibus comminatur et denuntiat dicens, Quicumque ederit panem aut biberit calicem Domini indigne, reus erit corporis et sanguinis Domini. Spretis his omnibus atque contemptis, ante expiata delicta , ante exomologesin factam criminis, ante purgatam conscientiam sacrificio et manu sacerdotis, ante offensam placatam indignantis Domini et minantis, vis infertur corpori ejus sanguini, et plus modo cum Dominum negaverunt. Pacem putant esse quam quidam verbis  fallacibus venditant. Non est pax illa, sed bellum; nec Ecclesiae jungitur qui ab Evangelio separatur. Quid injuriam beneficium vocant? Quid impietatem vocabulo pietatis appelant? Quid eis qui flere jugiter et rogare Dominum suum debent, intercepta poenitentiae lamentatione, communicare se simulant? Hoc sunt ejusmodi lapsis quod grando frugibus, quod turbidum sidus arboribus, quod armentis pestilens vastitas, quod navigiis saeva tempestas. Solatium aeternae spei adimunt, arborem a radice subvertunt, sermone morbido ad lethale contagium serpunt, navem scopulis, ne in portum perveniat, illidunt. Non concedit pacem facilitas ista sed tollit, nec communicationem tribuit, sed impedit ad salutem. Persecutio est haec alia et alia tentatio, per quam subtilis inimicus impugnandis adhuc lapsis occulta populatione grassatur, ut lamentatio conquiescat, ut dolor sileat, ut delicti memoria evanescat, ut comprimatur pectorum gemitus, statuatur fletus oculorum, nec Dominum, graviter offensum, longa et plena poenitentia deprecetur, cum scriptum sit: Momento unde cecideris, et age poenitentiam. Sanctus Cyprianus, Liber De Lapsis, Cap XV - XVI

The same Paul threatens the defiant and stubborn, and denounces them, saying, 'Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily, is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.'  1 And if all these things are scorned and disdained before expiation of sin, before crime's confession, before the conscience is purged by sacrifice and hand of the priest, before the offense of an angry and threatening Lord has been appeased, violence is done to His body and blood, and they sin now more  than when they denied the Lord. They think it is peace which some with deceitful words are selling. It is not peace, but war; and he is not joined to the Church who is separated from the Gospel. Why do they call an injury a kindness? Why do they call impiety by the name of piety? Why do they interrupt the penitential lamentations of those who should weep continually and entreat their Lord, and feign to give communion to them? This is the same kind of thing to the lapsed as hail to crops, as storm to trees, as a pestilence ravaging herds, as wild tempest to ships. They snatch away the consolation of eternal hope, they overturn the tree from the roots, they with unwholesome words creep toward a fatal contagion, they dash the ship on the rocks lest it reach the harbour. Such laxity does not grant peace, but bears it away; nor does it give communion, but it hinders salvation. This is another persecution and temptation, by which the cunning enemy still further assaults the lapsed, assailing them with an unseen devastation, that lamentation be hushed, that grief be silent, that the memory of sin pass away, that the groaning of the heart be repressed, that the weeping of eyes be quenched, that the Lord so grievously offended not be entreated by long and full penitence, although it is written, 'Remember whence you have fallen, and do penance.' 2 St Cyprian of Carthage, On the Lapsed, Chaps 15–16  1 1 Cor. 11:27 2 Rev 2:5