A Sheep For An Ass

Ἀλλάττεται δὲ προβάτῳ πᾶν διανοῖγον μήτραν ὄνου.  Καὶ τὶς ὁ λόγος; Ἀνίερον μὲν γὰρ καὶ βέβηλον κατὰ νόμον ἡ ὀνο; ἱερὸν δὲ τὸ πρόβατον· τοιγάρτοι καὶ ὑπὲρ ὄνου προσάγεται. Ὕπαινίττεται δὲ πάλιν ἡμῖν ὁ νόμος ἐν τούτοις, ὅτι καὶ τὸ βέβηλον ἅγιον ἐν Χριστῷ, καὶ τὸ ἀνίερον, καὶ δεκτὸν δι' αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ ἀπαράδεκτον. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἧμεν ἁμαρτωλοὶ καὶ ἀκαθαρτοι, γέγονεν αὐτὸς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἅγιον θῦμα, καὶ εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας. Ἀπέθανε γὰρ ὑπὲρ ἁμαρτωλῶν, δίκαιος ὑπὲρ ἁδίκων, ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀκαθάρτων ὁ καθαρὸς, καθὰ καὶ πρόβατον ὑπὲρ ὄνου. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Γλαφψρων Εἰς Την Ἐξοδον, Βιβλιον Β' Source: Migne PG 69 440

'For every opening of the womb of an ass a sheep shall be given.' 1  What does this mean? For an ass according to the law is polluted and unclean, whereas a sheep is a clean animal, which is then offered for an ass. But again the law is a figure for us, that the profane is restored through the Holy Christ, the unclean by the clean, the reprobate receiving approval. For when we were sinners and unclean there was made for us a holy sacrifice and with an odour of good fragrance, because He died for sinners, the righteous for the unrighteous, the clean for the unclean, the sheep for the ass. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Glaphrya on Exodus, Book 2 1 Exod 13.13

Bearing And Walking

Et duxerunt illum ad Jesum. Et jacentes vestimenta sua supra pullum, imposuerunt Jesum. Eunte autem illo, substernebant vestimenta sua in via... Disce a domestico Dei gestare Christum quoniam prius te ille gestabat, cum pastor errantem reduceret ovem: disce sedula mentis tuae dorse substernere, disce esse sub Christo, ut possis esse supra mundum. Non quicumque facile vehit Christum, sed ille qui potest dicere: Incurvatus et humiliatus sum nimis: rugiebam a gemitu cordis mei. Quod si desideras non moveri, super illa vestimenta sanctorum elutum fige vestigium. Cave enim ne lutulentis pedibus incedas, cave ne transversis gressibus, perstrata tibi propheticarum viarum itinera derelinquas; namque ut tutior venturis gentibus esset incessus, propriis indumentis usque ad Dei templum qui praeibant Jesum, semitam munierant. Ut tu sine offensione gradiaris, discipuli Domini amictu se proprii corporis exuentes, inter adversa turbarum viam tibi suo stravere martyrio. Si quis tamen ita vult accipere, non renitimur, quod pullus iste jam supra Judaeorum vestimenta graderetur. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Expositio Evangelii secundum Lucam, Liber IX Source: Migne PL 15.1796

So they brought the colt to Jesus and spreading out their garments on it, placed Jesus on it. Then going with Him, they strewed the road with their garments...1 Learn from the domestic beast of God to carry Christ, because He also carried, as a shepherd bringing back the lost sheep; 2 learn to sustain with the firm backbone of your mind, learn to be beneath Christ, that you may be able to be above the world. No one easily bears Christ unless they are able to say, 'I am bent down and humiliated excessively, I have groaned from the depths of my heart.' 3 If you desire not to be moved, fix your way over the strewn vestments of the saints; beware lest your feet stray into mud, beware lest with wandering steps you forsake the journey the prophetic ways have laid out for you, for with more safety you may walk among the people who with their own covering have preceded you to the temple of God, making sure the way. And that you may walk without fault, strip off the things of your own body for a garment of a disciple of the Lord, He who has laid out before you, on the way amid hostile crowds, His own martyrdom. If He so wishes to receive, let us not resist, for this young one has already trodden on the vestments of the Jews. Saint Ambrose, from the Commentary On The Gospel of Luke, Book 9 1 Lk 19 35-36 2 Lk 15.6 3 Ps 37.9

Religious Hatred

Nonne odientes te, Domine, odivi, et super inimicos tuos tabescebam? Perfecto odio oderam illos; inimici facti sunt mihi. Est religiosum odium, quotiens in nobis odio est qui Deum odit. Inimicos quidem nostros amare praecipimur, sed nostros, non et Dei. Nam, juxta Deum, et patrem et matrem et conjugem et filios et fratres odisse devotum est. Odit ergo odientes Deum, et inimicorum odio tabescit, et odit odio perfecto, et inimici sibi facti sunt. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis,Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum CXXXVIII Source: Migne PL 9.815

The haters of you, Lord, did I not hate, and did I not wither because of your enemies? With a perfect hatred I hated them, and they have become my enemies. 1 It is a religious hatred as many times as there is in us hatred for him who hates God. Certainly we are commanded to love our enemies, 2 ours, but not God's. For on account of God hatred of father and mother and wife and children and brothers is devotion. 3 He hates, therefore, the haters of God, and because of His enemies he withers, and with a perfect hatred he hates, and they have become his own enemies. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 138 1 Ps 138. 21-22 2 Mt 5.44 3 Lk 14.26

A Perfect Hatred

Τέλειον μῖσος ἐμίσουν αὐτοὺς, κ.τ.ἐ. Εἰ ὁ τέλειος μισήσας τὸ πονηρὸν, ἀπέχεται πάσης κακίας, ὁ μεταλαμβάνων τῆς οἱασδηποτοῦν κακίας αὐτῶν τελείως οὐ μεμίσηκε Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Ψαλμους, Ψαλμος ΡΛΗ' Source: Migne PG 12 1664

'With a perfect hatred I hated them... 1  If the hatred of wickedness is perfect, a man withdraws from all evil, and so inasmuch as he participates in wickedness he does not hate with a perfect hatred. Origen, Excerpta On the Psalms, from Psalm 138 1 Ps 138. 22

Grief And Sin

Ὁ ἐφ᾽ ἁμαρτίας γινόμενος ὀδυρμὸς, γλυκεῖαν κέκτηται τὴν ἀνίαν, καὶ μελιτῶδες αὐτοῦ τὸ πικρὸν εὑρίσκεται, ἐλπίδι ἀγαθῇ καὶ χρηστῇ φαρματτόμενον, διὰ τοῦτο τρέφει τὴν ψυχὴν, γανοῖ τὸ φρόνημα, λιπαῖνει τὴν καρδίαν, εὐθαλὲς ἐργάζεται τὸ τοῦ σώματος σύγκριμα. Καὶ καλῶς ὁ Δαυῗδ ἐμελῷδει· Ἐγενήθη μοι τὰ δάκρυα ἄρτος ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτός. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΣΚ' Ἀριστοτελει Προτευοντι Source: Migne PG 79 164

He who grieves on account of sin  makes sweet his sorrow, and the bitterness of it he discovers is honey, receiving the medicines of good and sweet hope, by which the soul is nourished, the mind made bright, the heart made strong, and the body flourishes. Fairly David sang, 'My tears were my bread day and night.' 1 Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 220, To Aristotles The Primate 1 Ps 41.4

A Prophetic Silence

Cum autem pertransissent septem dies, factum est verbum Domini ad me, dicens.   In eo quod septem diebus moerens sedit, et post diem septimum verba dominicae jussionis accepit ut loqui debuisset, aperte indicat quia eisdem diebus moerens tacuerat. Missus autem ad praedicandum fuerat, et tamen septem diebus sedens tacebat. Quid est hoc quod nobis propheta sanctus in hoc suo silentio innuit, nisi quia ille loqui veraciter novit, qui prius bene tacere didicerit? Quasi enim quoddam nutrimentum verbi, est censura silentii. Et recte per excrescentem quoque gratiam sermonem accipit, qui ordinate ante per humilitatem tacet. Hinc enim per Salomonem dicitur: Tempus tacendi, et tempus loquendi. Non enim ait, Tempus loquendi, et tempus tacendi, sed prius tacendi praemittit tempus, et postmodum subdit loquendi, quia non loquendo tacere, sed tacendo debemus loqui discere. Si ergo propheta sanctus qui missus ad loquendum fuerat diu prius tacuit, ut postmodum recte loqueretur, pensandum nobis est quanta ei culpa sit non tacere, quem nulla cogit necessitas loqui. Sanctus Gregorius Papa I, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Primus, Homilia XI Migne PL 76 907

When seven days had passed the word of the Lord came to me saying...1 In which seven days he sat mourning and after the seventh day he received the word of the Lord's command that he should speak, openly indicating that he was silent during those days of mourning. He was sent to preach yet for seven days he sat silent. And what is this that the holy Prophet teaches us in his silence but that only he knows truly how to speak who before speaking has learned to be silent? For as a sort of nourishment of the word is the span of silence. And rightly by a growth of grace he receives the word, who before on account of humility is silent. Whence it is said by Solomon: 'A time for silence, and a time for speaking.' 2 It is not said, 'A time for speaking and a time for silence,' but first comes the time of silence and after comes the time of speaking, because it is not in speaking that we learn to be silent, but by silence that we learn to speak. If therefore the holy Prophet who was sent to speak was first silent that afterward he should speak correctly, we should think how much fault there may be to the one who is not silent, whom no necessity drives him to speak.   Pope Saint Gregory the Great, on Ezekiel, Book 1, from Homily 11 1 Ez 3.16 2 Eccl 3.7

Hope And Hearts

Χώρημα καρδίας, ἐλπὶς εἰς Θεόν· στενοχωρία δὲ αὐτῆς, φροντὶς σωματική Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Τῶν Οἰομένων Ἐξ Ἔργων Δικαιοῦσθαι Migne PG 65 945

Broadness of heart is hope in God, and the narrowness of it is care for corporeal things. 1 Saint Mark The Ascetic, On Those Who Think Themselves Justified By Works. 1 cf Ps 118.32

Penance And Prayer

Ἡ καλλίστη μετάγνωσις, καὶ σύντονος δέησις καὶ παράκλησις εὐδιάζει τὸν σεσηπότα ταῖς πράξεσιν ἄνθρωπον· δέχεται γὰρ καὶ δέησιν ῥυπαρὰν ὁ φιλανθρωπότατς Δεσπότης Χριστὸς ἐκ στόματος ῥυπαροῦ ἐν ταπεινώσει προσφερομένην πολλῇ. Καὶ πειθέτω σε ὁ φράζων λῃστής· Μνήσθητί μου, Κύριε Ἰησοῦ, ὅταν ἔλθῃς ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ σου, παραυτίκα ἀκούσας· Σήμερον μετ' ἐμου ἔσῃ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΡϟΖ' Τρυφωνι Ἀρχιτεκτονι Source: Migne PG 79 155-157

Most beautiful is penance and continual prayer and invocation, offering up a fair odour from the rotten works of men. For the most loving Lord Christ receives even soiled prayers from sordid mouths, if in great humility they are offered. May the thief crying out persuade you: 'Remember me, Lord Jesus, when you come into your kingdom.' He who immediately heard, 'Today you will be with me in paradise.' 1 Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 199, To Trypho the Architect 1 Lk 23.42-43

Grace And Sickness

Ἐλπίσατε ἐπ' αὐτὸν, πᾶσα συναγωγὴ λαῶν, εκχέατε ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν. Ἀμήχανόν ἐστὶ χωρητικοὺς ἡμᾶς γενέσθαι τῆς θείας χάριτος μὴ τὰ ἀπὸ κακίας πάθη προκατασχόντα τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμῶν ἐξελάσαντας. Εἶδον ἰατροὺς ἐγὼ μὴ πρότερον διδόντας τὰ σωτήρια φάρμακα, πρὶν ἐμετοῖς ἀποκενῶσαι τὴν νοσοποιὸν ὕλην, ἣν ἐκ πονηρᾶς διαίτης ἑαυτοῖς οἱ ἀκόλαστοι ἐναπέθεντο. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀγγεῖον προκατειλημμένον ὑπό τινος δυσώδους ὑγροῦ, μὴ ἐκπλυνθὲν, οὐ μὴ δέξηται τοῦ μύρου τὴν ἐπιῥῥοήν. Δεῖ τοίνυν ἐκχυθῆναι τὰ προϋ πάρχοντα, ἵνα δυνηθῇ χωρηθῆναι τὰ ἐπαγόμενα. Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Εἰς Τον ΞΑ' Ψαλμον  Source: Migne PG 29 477

'Hope in Him all the gathering of the peoples, pour out your hearts before Him.' 1 It is not possible that we receive Divine grace unless the wicked passions which occupy our souls are expelled. I have known physicians who before they would apply salutary medicines, would evacuate by vomiting the morbid material, which the sick, overcome by the evil of intemperance, had brought on themselves. Even in a vase that smells strongly of liquor, no perfume is poured unless it is washed out. These things, then, must be emptied of what they contain, that they be able to receive the things to come. Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 32 1 Ps 61.9

Pleasures And Thought

Καρδίας ἡδυπαθούσης, λογισμοὶ λοιμοὶ ἀναφύονται· καὶ ἐν τῷ καπνῷ τὴν ἐγκειμένην ὕλην ἐπιγινώσκομεν. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Νόμου Πνευματικοῦ  Source: Migne PG 65 925

Worldly pleasures in the heart nurture wretched thoughts and we perceive wrapped up in the smoke of material things. Saint Mark The Ascetic, from On The Spiritual Law.

The Burning Of The Sons Of Aaron

Filii autem Aaron, qui, imponentes altari ignem alienum, igne divino exusti sunt, illos significaverunt qui, Dei traditione contempta, alienas doctrinas appetunt, et magisteria humanae institutionis inducent. Quos increpat Dominus et objurgat in Evangelio, dicens: 'Rejecistis mandatum Dei, ut traditionem vestram statuatis.' Videtur et ignem alienum incendere, quisquis, corporeae vel saecularis alicujus cupiditatis ignem in sacrario sui cordis accendens, audet altaribus Domini appropinquare. Quae non recipiunt, nisi illius ignis accensionem de quo ait Dominus: Ignem veni mittere in terram. Hoc igne nos Dominus Jesus semper incendat, ut illuminemur in sensibus, ne flagremus in vitiis. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Leviticum, Caput VIII Source: Migne PL 83.325

The sons of Aaron, they who placed unhallowed fire on the altar and with Divine fire were burnt up, 1 signify those who are contemptuous of the traditions of God and grasp after strange teachings, and introduce instructions of human provenance. The Lord cries out against these and rebukes them in the Gospel, saying, 'You reject the command of God that you might set up your own tradition.' 2 It seems that to burn with unhallowed fire refers to anyone who has the fire of bodily or worldly desire burning in the sanctuary of his heart and who dares approach the altar of the Lord. They are not received unless they are inflamed with the fire of which the Lord says, 'I have come to place fire on the earth.' 3 With this fire the Lord Jesus always inflames us, that we be illuminated in our senses, lest we be burnt up in our vices. Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Leviticus, Chap 8  1 Lev 10.1-3 2 Mt 15.3 3 Lk 12.49

A Concern For Priests

Porro filii Heli, divina sacrificia temerantes, peccabant coram Domino, et deridebant per eos multi sacrificium Dei. Unde et Heli sacerdos pro eorum iniquitate damnatus est, quod eos peccantes minus severa animadversione plectebat. Miserum me! et quidem coercuit, et quidemn corripuit, sed lenitate et mansuetudine patris, non auctoritate et severitate pontificis. Qua sententia discant sacerdotes quomodo ipsi propter peccata filiorum, id est, propter scelera populi puniantur. Et quamvis sancti sint, culpa tamen subditorum eisdem, si non coerceant. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Regnum I, Caput I Source: Migne PL 83.393

However, the sons of Heli, defiling the Divine sacrifices, sinned before the Lord, and because of them many mocked the sacrifices of God. Whence even Heli the priest was condemned for their iniquity, those sinning being struck with a less severe punishment. Wretched me! Certainly he admonished and he corrected, but with the mercy and meekness of a father, not with the authority and discipline of a priest. 1 Which lesson let priests learn who on account of the sins of their children, that is on account of the errors of the people, shall be punished. Though they be holy, the fault of those under their care shall be attributed to them, if they do not restrain it. Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On 1 Kings, Chap 1 1 1 Kings 2-4

Repentance And Perisistance

Achab, rex impiissimus, vineam Nabuthae cruore possedit: et eum Jezabel non tam conjugio sibi, quam crudelitate conjuncta, Eliae increpatione corripitur: 'Haec dicit Dominus: Occidisti et possedisti. Et iterum: In loco in quo linxerunt canes sanguinem Nabuthae, ibi longent sanguinem tuum: et Jezabel canes comedent ante muros Jezrael. Quod cum audisset Achab, scidit vestimenta sua, et posuit saccum super carnem suam, jejunavitque et dormivit in cilicio. Factusque est sermo Domini ad Eliam, dicens: Quoniam reveritus est Achab faciem meam, non inducam malum in diebus ejus. Unum scelus Achab et Jezabel, tamen converso ad poenitentiam Achab, poena differtur in posteros; et Jezabel in scelere perserverans, praesenti judicio condemnatur. Sanctus Hieronymus, ex Epistula CXXII Ad Rusticum Migne PL 22 1043

Ahab, a most impious king, who by blood took possession of the vineyard of Naboth, 1 and Jezebel, who was not so much his yoke-fellow as bound by cruelty, were severely rebuked by Elijah, 'Thus says the Lord, you have killed and you have possessed.' And again: 'In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, dogs will lick up your blood.' 1 And: 'The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.' 2 Which Ahab hearing, rent his garments, and put sackcloth on his flesh, and fasted, and slept in a hair-shirt. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah saying, 'Because Ahab has turned back to my face, I will not bring on evil in his days.' 3 The sin of Ahab and Jezebel was the same, yet because Ahab turned to penance, his punishment was postponed until his sons, while Jezebel, persevering in her wickedness, received the judgement of condemnation in her days. St Jerome, from Letter 122, To Rusticus 1 3 Kings 21.19 2 3 Kings 21.23 3 3 Kings 21.27-29

Law And Deeds

Ὁ νόμος τῆς ἐλευθερίας διδάσκει πᾶσαν ἀλήθειαν· καὶ οἱ μὲν πολλοὶ τοῦτον κατὰ γνῶσιν ἀναγινώσκουσιν· ὀλίγοι δὲ νοοοῦσιν αὐτὸν κατὰ ἀναλογίαν τῆς ἐργασίας τῶν ἐντολῶν. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Νόμου Πνευματικοῦ Migne PG 65 909

The law of liberty teaches every truth; and many know this by reading, but few consider it in relation to the practice of the deeds of the commandments. Saint Mark The Ascetic, from On The Spiritual Law.

Question For A Fat Man

Τί δαψιλέστρεον πιαίνεις σοι τὰς σάρκας σου, τροφὴν σκωλήκων ἐσομένας ὅσον οὔπω; Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΡΠΕ' Μαριανῳ Ὑποδιακονῳ Source: Migne PG 79 153

Why are you so abundantly fat in your flesh, when in no time at all it will be food for worms? Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 185, To Marianus the Subdeacon