Driving From The Way Of Truth

Tota die exprobrabant mihi inimici mei, et qui laudabant me, adversum me jurabant.  Ore laudabant et corde insidias praeparabant. Laudabant, ut deciperent; praedicabant, ut subverterent: et hoc a diabolo, qui si publicis peccatis servum Christi subvertere non poterit, opprobriis et reprehensionibus circumhabitantium a via veritas eum deterrere nititur. Sunt plurimi bona facere erubescentes, ne dissimiles sint multitudini mala facientium. Alcuinus, Expositio In Psalmos Poenitentiales Source: Migne PL 100.589a

All day long my enemy cursed me, and they who praised me, they swore against me. 1 With their mouths they praised and in their hearts they prepared snares. They praised that they might deceive; they spoke that they might overthrow. And this is from the devil, who if he cannot overthrow a servant of Christ with public sins, surrounds him with shame and reproof, striving to deter him from the way of truth. There are indeed many who blush to do good things, lest they be unlike the multitude who do evil. Alcuin of York, Commentary On The Penitential Psalms 1 Ps 101.9

Opposed Powers

Sed sunt principatus aerii, et potestates mundi, qui nos velut de muro dejicere animae, vel impedire recte gradientes, vel ad altiora tendentes quaerunt deponere, et ad terrena revocare. Sed nos multo magis ad sublimia mentem erigamus, Verum sequentes Dei. Illi principatus saecularia offundunt, quibus tuam mentem incurvent: tunc magis ad Christum, anima, dirige gressus tuos. Injiciunt cupiditatem auri, argenti, vicinae possessionis, ut acquirendae ejus gratia excuses te a coaena illius qui ad nuptias Verbi te invitavit; tu cave ne excuses, sed vestem te indue nuptialem, et utere convivio divitis, ne dives qui te invitaverat, cum excusaveris te, dum es saecularibus occupatus, alios invitet, et tu excludaris. Injiciunt etiam honoris appetentiam potestates mundi, ut te extollas sicut Adam, et dum vis adaequare Deum similitudine potestatis, divina praecepta despicias, et quae habebas, incipiat amittere. Qui enim non habet, et quod habet auferetur ab eo. Quoties in oratione nobis, qua maxime Deo appropinquamus, offunduntur ea quae plena sunt opprobii alicujus aut sceleris, quo nos a studio precationis avertant! Quoties inimicus cordi nostro conatur inserere, quo nos reflectat a sanctitatis proposito et piis votis! Quoties corpereos inflammat ardores! Quoties occursare facit oculos meretricios, quibus castum justi tentet affectum, ut improviso amoris spiculo feriat imparatum. Quoties inserit animo tuo verbum iniquum, et cogitationes cordis absconditas! De quo tibi dicit lex: Attende tibi, ne fiat verbum absconditum in corde tuo iniquum , et dicat tibi Dominus: Quid cogitas mala in corde tuo. Neve cum abundaveris auro et argento, et opimis agrorum fructibus, vel honoribus dicas: Virtus mea dedit mihi haec: et obliviscaris Dominum Deum tuum. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Bono Mortis, Cap VIII Source: Migne PL 14.551a-c

But there are princes of the air, and powers of the world, 1 who will throw us down from the wall of the soul, or obstruct the right way of walking, or seek to drag down our inclination for the heights, and recall us to the earth. But we then much more must direct our minds to high things, following the Word of God. When these secular princes pour forth things by which your mind is abased, then more to Christ, with the soul, direct your steps. They cast into you desire for gold and silver, the possessions of your neighbour, that your excuse yourself from the acquiring of His grace, the feast of that one who invites you to nuptials of the Word. Be wary of excuse; rather put on the nuptial garment and attend the feast of the rich man, lest the rich man who invites you, when you excuse yourself because you are occupied by worldly matters, invites others, and excludes you. 2 The powers of the world throw in desire for honour, that you become puffed up like Adam, and while you wish to equal God in likeness of power, you scorn the Divine teaching, and what you did possess you begin to lose. For he who does not have, even that which he has shall be taken from him. 3 How often in our prayers, when we would most near to God, do those powers pour forth things with which they are full, disgrace and crime, by which they would turn us from our zeal for prayer! How often the enemy tries to insert in our hearts that by which we will be deflected from our sacred intent and our pious vows. How many times corporeal desires inflame! How many times he makes lustful visions rush before us, by which he snares the chaste disposition of the righteous, by which the unprepared are slain by the unexpected shaft of desire. How many times he inserts in our soul an iniquitous word, and steals away the thoughts of the heart. Concerning which the law says to you, 'Look to yourselves, lest there be hidden in your heart an iniquitous word.' 4 And the Lord says to you, 'Why do you think evil in your heart?' 5 Nor when you abound in gold and silver and with fields for harvest, or with honour, should you say, 'My own effort has given me these things, and you forget the Lord your God.' 6 Saint Ambrose, On the Good of Death, Chap 8 1 Ephes 6.12 2 Mt  22. 2- 14. Lk 14. 16-24 3 Mt 13.12. 25.29 4 Deut 15.9 5 Mt 9.4 6 Deut 8.17

The Shield Of Faith

Super omnia accipientes scutum fidei, in quo possitis omnia jacula maligni ignita exstingere. Quasi dixerit: In omni opere portate clypeum fidei, ut possitis tecti atque moniti excipere venientes sagittas, et hic atque illuc arte eas bellica declinare. Haec est fides super qua et Abraham post multa opera atque virtutues vix potuit promereri, ita de eo Scriptura diceret: Credidit autem Abraham Deo, et reputatum est illi ad justitiam. Perspicua sunt autem jacula maligni, quae vult mittere in corda nostra per cogitationes pessimas: de quibus unum jecit in cor Judae, ut traderet Salvatorem. Itaque ne principium quidem habere poterit inimicus animae vulnerandae, si tenuerimus scutum fidei: in quo non solum venientia tela franguntur, sed etiam telorum ipse ignis exstinguitur, de quo et propheta complorat dicens: Omnes adulterantes, quasi clibanus corda eorum. Qui hunc umbonem fidei manu forti tenuerit, et confisus in Domino, scierit se a venientibus jaculis esse securum, loquetur intepidus: In Domino confido: quomodo dicitis animae meae: Transmigra in montem sicut passer? Quoniam ecce peccatores intenderunt arcum, paraverunt sagittas in pahretis , ut sagittent in obscuro rectos corde. Cum ergo, inquit, confidem in Domino, qua mihi datis ratione consilium, ut non stem adversum inimicoruum impetus, et jacula quae contra me in pharetris praepararunt, volentes non solum me, sed etiam omnes rectos corde percutere? Ecce sto super petram, et non transmigro in montes tenebricosos: et omnia tela hostium repulsa, in ipsos qui dirigunt, convertuntur Sanctus Hieronymus, In Epistolam Pauli ad Ephesios, Liber III, Cap VI Source: Migne PL 26.551c-552a

Over all taking up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the blazing  shafts of the wicked one. 1  As if he said: In all things bear the shield of faith, that you are able to be covered and wary for the reception of coming arrows, and on this side and on that side with martial skull repel them. This is the faith which Abraham, after many deeds and virtues was able to earn, thus concerning which Scripture says, 'Abraham believed in God and it was reputed to him as righteousness.' 2 Easily seen are the wicked shafts which he wishes to send into our hearts by the worst thoughts, which he cast into the heart of Judas, that he betray the Saviour. Thus the enemy is not able to have any chance of wounding souls, if we have taken hold of the shield of faith, in which not only are the coming shafts shattered, but even the fire of burning arrows extinguished, concerning which the Prophet, bewailing, says: 'All adulterers, as ovens their hearts.' 3 He who thus is able to take hold of the shield of faith in the strong hand, and is confident in the Lord, he knows how to make himself secure against the coming shafts, saying bravely: 'In the Lord I confide, how do you say to my soul, fly off to the mountains like a sparrow? Behold, the sinners bend the bow, and they have prepared their arrows in the quiver, that they shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.' 4 When, then, it says, I trust in the Lord, do you give me this sort of counsel, that I should not stand against the onset on the enemy, who have prepared against me their shafts in the quiver, wishing not only me but even all who are righteous in heart, to pierce? Behold, I stand on the rock, and I do not fly off into the dark mountains. I repulse all the shafts of the enemy, turning them back against those who cast them. Saint Jerome, Commentary On The Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians, Book 3, Chap 6 1 Ephes 6.16 2 Gen 15.8 3 Hosea 7.4 4 Ps 10.1-2

Blessings And Suffering

Deinde subjunxit causam, quomodo benedictus qui nos, inquit, benedixit in omni benedictione spiritali in coelestibus. Hic hominium miserandus error attendat, benedictos nos dixit et in omni benedictione benedictos: ergo nihil mali pati debet qui benedictus est. Sed quid adjunxit? Id est in omni benedictione spiritali, non carnali. Quod si quid hic in mundo patimur malorum, si quid etiam extra, non adscribamus Dei, sed nobis magis. Tunc enim benedictionem consequimer si spiritales simus, et spiritaliter sapiamus, et spiritalia bona quaeramus. Et potest quidem fieri ut haec omnia sentiamus; nec obsit, si haec et alia sentientes, patiamur tamen aliquid adversi in mundo. Namque multi spiritaliter agentes, spiritaliter viventes, multi substinent adversa, ut Paulus, ut Petrus, ut caeteri. Verum ubi est illa benedictio, quae nos benedictos facit? Dei benedictio: non spiritali tantum benedictione, sed in coelestibus, id est cum ex hoc mundo exierimus. Ergo ferenda sunt omnia, quia quae nobis promittuntur ex Dei benedictione, et spiritalia sunt in coelestibus sunt, id est extra mundum supra caelos. Et haec tamen omnia, sicuti dicit, in Jesus Christo: ipse est enim spiritus. Et spiritalia cum promittuntur in Christo promittuntur: et nos tunc consequemur spiritalia, si Christum sequemur. Victorinus Afrus, In Epistolam Pauli ad Ephesios, Liber Primus, Caput I Source: Migne PL 8.1238a-b

Then he adds the reason, how He has blessed us, saying, 'He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.' 1 Here a woeful error may attend men, that when he says He blesses us with every blessing, that therefore he who is blessed should not suffer any evil. But what does he add? That it is with every spiritual blessing, and not then carnal. That if we suffer evils here in the world, if indeed it is from without, we should not ascribe it to God but rather to ourselves. Then indeed we attain the blessing  if we are spiritual, and we think spiritually, and we seek spiritual goods. And it is possible that pondering all these things we are not harmed, if thinking of these things and other things, we suffer something adverse in the world. For many being spiritual, living spiritually, endured many adverse things; so Paul, so Peter, so others. Truly where is that blessing with which he makes us blessed? The blessing is of God. Not only a spiritual blessing, but in the heavens, that is, when we have gone from this world. Therefore we must bear everything, because those things promised to us from the blessing of God are the spiritual things in the heavenly places, that is, outside the world, and beyond the skies. And yet all these things, as he says, are in Jesus Christ, and therefore we will achieve spiritual things, if we follow Christ. Victorinus Afrus, On the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians, Book One, Chapter 1 1 Ephes 1.3

Sodom And The Mountains

Ardentem quippe Sodomam fugere est illicita carnis incendia, vel mundi desideria declinare. Altitudo vero montium speculatio est perfectorum; sed quia multi sunt justi, qui mundi quidem illecebras fugiunt, sed tamen in actione positi, contemplationis apicem subire nequeunt, hoc est, quod exiit quidem Lot de Sodomis, sed tamen ad montana non pervenit, quia licet jam damnabilis vita relinquitur, sed adhuc celesitudo speculationis subtilier non tenetur. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Genesin, Caput XV Source: Migne PL 83.246a-b

Certainly the flight from blazing Sodom 1 is as from the lawless fires of the flesh, or the spurning of worldly desires. However the height of the mountains is the contemplation of those perfect; but because there are many who are just, who certainly flee the snares of the world, but are fixed in deeds, they are not able to come to the peak of contemplation. That is, Lot certainly went out from the Sodomites but he did not come to the mountains, because though he forsook the damned life, yet did not yet achieve the rarefied contemplation of heaven. Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Genesis, Chap 15 1 Gen 19.1-29

Ascending And Descending The Mountain

Cum descendisset Jesus de monte... Meminisse debetis, fratres, ex hoc loco illum, ubi Dominus Jesus videns turbas, ascendit in montem; quatenus spiritualibus spiritualia comparantes, in spiritu semper ascendatis: sicut beatus hortatus Apostolus: Si spiritu vivitis, spiritu et ambulare. Hoc enim ordo exigit, ratio exposcit, nos fere nusquam tacemus, ut qui vult esse vere spiritualis, prius sit vita, moribus, virtutibus, ut esse possit aliquando meditatione, sensu, doctrina; prius sit affectione, quam ratione. Ideo ait: Si spiritu vivitis, spiritu et ambulate. In montem ergo sequuntur discipuli alacres, prompti, spiritu ferventes; descendentem inde et gravis turba praestolatur. Dominus meus Jesus omnium Salvator, omnibus omnia sic efficitur, ut humilibus humilior, excelsis superior ubique inveniatur, sic se inclinanas, ut in adulterio deprehensam animam, et a daemonibus accusatam liberet, quatenus digito scribat in terra, ipse, digito Dei formatus, terra de terra, propter terram: sic se ergiens, ut ascendat etiam super Cherubim, et bis volet super pennas ventorum, universorum videlicet supergrediens virtutes justorum et contemplationes angelorum. Quis enim in nubibus aequabitur Domino, similis erit Deo in filiis Dei? Ipsum itaque et vallem in quam descendit et planum per quod cum turba graditur, montem, in quem ascendit quandoque cum omnibus discipulis, quandoque cum paucis, quandoque solus orare Patrem, intelligo. Ipse denique totum quod Deus est existens, totum quod homo permanens: nec supra se potest ascendere, ne Deum excedet: nec infra se debet descendere, ne jumentum fiat. Isaac Cisterciensis Abbas, Sermo XII, In Dominica III Post Epiphaniam  Source: Migne PL 194.1730a-c

When Jesus had descended from the mount...1  You should mindful, brothers, in this place, where the Lord Jesus seeing the crowds went up the mountain, 2 how much this is a spiritual comparison of spiritual things, for in the spirit there is always ascent, and so the blessed Apostle exhorts: 'If you live in the spirit, walk in the spirit.' 3 Here the order is given, here reason commands, and we are rarely silent, that he who wishes to be truly spiritual, let him be so first in life, in conduct and in virtue, that he might be able to be so sometime in meditation, soul, and teaching; first let him be in love, then reason. Therefore he says, 'If you live in the spirit, walk in the spirit,' Up the mountain, therefore, the disciples swiftly followed Him, keenly, with fervent spirits, and from there He descended to the burdensome crowd that tarried. My Lord Jesus Christ, Saviour of all, so He does all things for all, being more humble than the humble, superior to the exalted wherever found; so He inclines that the soul is not caught in adultery but he frees her accused by demons, as much as he writes with a finger in the earth, He who with the finger of God fashioned, earth from earth, on account of earth, 4 and so He, lifting Himself up, ascends over the Cherubim, and doubly flies upon the wings of the wind, 5 exceeding the virtues of all the righteous and the contemplations of angels. For who in the clouds is equal to the Lord? Who is similar to him among the sons of God? 6 Thus I understand that valley into which He descended and the plain on which He walked with the crowd, and the mount which he ascended, with all the disciples, and also with a few, and also when he alone prayed to the Father. He, then, being all that God is, and all that man is remaining, neither beyond Himself is able to ascend, lest He exceed God, nor beneath Himself can He descend, lest He be a beast. Isaac of Stella, from Sermon 12, On The Third Sunday After The Epiphany 1 Mt 8.1 2 Mt 5.1 3 Gal 5.25 4 Jn 8.3-11 5 Ps 17.11 6 Ps 87. 7

Enlightment And Glory

Quia Deus qui dixit de tenebris lumen fulgere, illuxit in cordibus nostris ad illuminationem cognitionis gloriae Dei in facie Christi Jesu. Hoc dicit, quia misericordia Dei factum est, ut nos, inquit, qui fuimus incredibiles in ignorantia, hoc est, in tenebris, per nos daret Deus lumen caeteris gentibus. Quantum se adhuc humiliat, ut Dei solius et Christi gloriam praeferat? Illuminatur enim, ut cognitionem habeant gloriae Dei per Christum. Ideo gloriae Dei ait cognitionem, id est, non Dei solius, sed et Christi, qui est gloria ejus; ut significaret non solum Deum cognosci, sed et opera ejus et misericordiam et providentiam, qua condidit et salvavit genus humanum, visus in Christo per gloriam virtutis suae. Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Corinthios Secundum, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 17.290b

Because God, He who spoke into the darkness and made it light, enlightened our hearts with the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.' 1 He says this: because it is by the mercy of God that through us who were unbelievers in ignorance, that is, in darkness, that God has given light to the other peoples. And how much does he still humble himself, that he speaks of God alone and the glory of Christ? For he is illuminated, that they might have knowledge of the glory of God through Christ. Therefore he speaks of the knowledge of the glory of God, that is, not of God alone, but even of Christ, who is His glory, that he signify that not only God be known, but His work and His mercy and His providence, by which He established and saved the human race, seen in Christ by the glory of His virtue. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The Second Letter of Saint Paul To The Corinthians, Chapter 4 1 2 Cor 4.6

Preparing For Sunday

Ἔλεγον πάλιν περὶ αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ὀψὲ σαββάτων ἐπιφωσκούσης Κυριακῆς, ἤφιε τὸν ἥλιον ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔτεινε τὰς χεϊρας αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν εὐχόμενος, ἕως πάλιν ἔλαμψεν ὁ ἥλιος εἰς τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ· καὶ οὕτως ἐκαθὲζετο. Ἄποφθέγματα των Αγίων Γερόντων, Παλλάδιος Ελενουπόλεως Source: Migne PG 65.97c

Again they was said of Father Arsenius that on the evening before the Lord's day, he would turn his back on the sun and stretch out his hands to heaven in prayer, until the sun shone on his face again, and then he would sit.   Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

The Lamp's Light

Εἰ οὖν τὸ σῶμά σου ὅλον φωτεινόν, μὴ ἔχον μέρος τι σκοτεινόν, ἔσται φωτεινὸν ὅλον ὡς ὅταν ὁ λύχνος τῇ ἀστραπῇ φωτίζῃ σε. Τοῦ δὲ ἐφεξῆς ῥητοῦ τοιοῦτον εἶναι τὸν λόγον νομίζω· Εἴπερ διὰ τὸ σῶμα σοῦ φωτεινὸν γεγονέναι, φωτισθέντος ὑπὸ τοῦ λύχνου τοῦ σώματος, μηδέν ἐστιν ἐν σοὶ μέρος ἔτι σκοτεινὸν, μηδαμῶς ἁμαρτάνοντι , οὗτως ἔσται φωτεινὸν τὸ ὅλον σῶμα, ὡς παραβάλλεσθα τὰς αὐγὰς αὐτοῦ λύχνῳ ἐν φωτιζούσῃ ἀστραπῃ κἄν φωτισμῷ τὸ σκότος λύοντι. Ἀστραπῇ μὲν γὰρ ἔοικε λαμπτροτατῃ ὁ ἀπὸ τοῦ νοῦ φωτισμός· λύχνῳ δὲ ἐν ἀστραπῇ τὸ ἐν τῷ σώματι φῶς, πεφυκότι εἶναι σκότος, ἀγομένῳ, ὅπου ὁ νοῦς βούλεται. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Λουκαν Ἐπαγγελιον Source: Migne PG 17.356b-c

If, then, your whole body is light, having no part of darkness in it, it will be all light, as when a lamp with its brightness illuminates you. 1 I think this to be the reason that He speaks in such a way: If your body has become light, the illumination of the light of your body permits no part in you to be dark anymore; so sinning no more, your body shall be all light, so that it shall be possible to compare the brightness of it to the splendour of the illumination of a lamp, which by its illumination is a destroyer of darkness. The light that comes forth from an enlightened mind is like a most splendid brightness, and the splendour of the lamp's illumination, which is the light in the body, brings light to the dark things of nature wherever the mind wishes. Origen, On the Gospel of Luke, Fragment 1 Lk 11.36

Changes Of The Transfiguration

Ecce ipsa transfiguratio. Describit autem eam dupliciter, in Domino videlicet, et testibus, qui in monte fuerunt. In ipso autem dupliciter, in corpore Domini et in amictu. In corpore autem describit dupliciter, in communi et in speciali determinando modos eius. In communi autem dicit cum autem figura sit terminatio quantitatis, hoc modo non mutavit figuram Dominus; sed dicitur hic figura physici corporis, quae est cum colore et passionibus, quae transfigurata est, quando actus altioris potestatis in ea apparuit. Id enim, quod in corpore humano secundum potestatem qualitatum complexionalium apparet, color est humanus. Sed quia corpus dominicum fuit unitum deitari, et organum animae plenissimae gratias: et deitas radiat super omnem lucem, ut dicitur. Haec est speciolior sole, et super omnem dispositionem stellarum, luci comparata invenitur prior. Quod igitur secundum potestatem deitatis in corpore apparet divino, transfiguratio est in lucem. Et patet, quo illi corpori lux illa connaturalis fuit, sicut et color, sicut in potestate habuit ponendi animan et iterum sumendi eam. Non enim nisi naturale esse potest, quid convenit ei, in quantum erat deitati unitum, et animae cum Deo unitae organum. Unde facta est species vultus eis altera. Et non dicit: alia. Dicit autem ad demulcendum discipulos, et trahendum corda eorum in aeternorum desideriti. Ego diligam eum, et manifestabo ei meipsum. Unde Petrus gloriatur non indoctas fabulas secuti, notam facimus vobis Domini nostri Iesu Christi veritatem et praescientia; scilicet speculatores facti illius magnitudinis. Et tangit in speciali modos dicens [et re facie eius sicut sol] in corpore: in infinitum aurem magis in mente, quam in corpore.  Facies eius sicut sol lucet in virtute sua. Sed contra: sol radiis suis refulgens obcaecat oculos: qualiter ergo sufficere potuerunt. Dicendum, quod confortatum maiori lumine habebant visum. Deinde tangit amictum. Hoc vestimentum potest esse humanitas: quod ego non puto: quia humana facies fuit, quae resplenduit sicut sol. Sed ad literam vestis lucentis nubes alba videtur, ubi splendor occumbere, et in albedinem in circuitu videtur terminari. Significat autem vestis Sanctos.  Vivo ego, dicit Dominus: quia omnibus his velut ornamento vestieris, et circumdabis eos tibi quasi sponsa.  Indutus lumine quasi vestimento. Nix autem est rara, alba et mollis: rara, quia non congelatur, antequam convertatur in aquam, eo quod calidum tenet eam rarem: alba autem propter naturam perspicui aquae, quod est materia eius: mollis autem propter calorem innube conceptum, qui resoluit cogelatum aliquntulum et mollificat. Et rarum quidem significat spiritualitatem: albedo autem innocentiae et castitatis candorem: et mollities mansuetudinem et calor charitatem. Quomodo descendit imber et nix caelo, et illuc ultra non revertitur, sed inebriat terram, et infundit eam, et dat semen ferenti, et panem manducanti: sic erit verbum meum, quod egredietur de ore meo. Vestimenta laba quasi lana munda, et sicut nix, quia lana qualia fullo non potest super terram condida facere. Fullo, inquam, Deus, qui se Sanctis vestis: quia tale lumen Sancti adhuc in terra degentes recipere non possunt Sanctus Albertus Magnus Commentarium in Mattheum, Cap XVII Source: Volumen 9, pdf p213

Behold, the transfiguration. And he describes it in a twofold manner, 1 concerning the Lord and with reference to the witnesses who were on the mount. In Him it also twofold, in the body of the Lord and in His garments. And in the body there is a twofold description, in the common and special modes of His determination. In the common he speaks of the figure that is bounded by quantity, and this figure the Lord does not change. But the figure of the physical body, which has colour and impressions, this is transfigured, when the act of a higher power occurs in it. That is, when in the human body according to its own power the quality of its complexion appears, the color is human. But because the Lord's body was united to the Deity and the state of His soul full of grace: the Deity shines beyond all light, as it is said. 2 And this is a specialty of the sun, that even with all the dispositions of the stars compared to it, it is found to be the first. Therefore according to the power of the Deity in the body, with the Divine appearing, there is a transfiguration into light. And it is revealed that to that body light was connatural, as even its color, just as it had the power of placing down its soul and taking it up again. For not unless it is natural in  it would it happen to it, in as much as the Deity was united to it and  the soul was united with God. Whence Luke says that the appearance of His face was altered to them. 3 And he does not say changed into something else. For he speaks of the impact of it on the disciples and the drawing of their hearts to eternal desire. 'I shall love him and I shall manifest myself to him.' 4 Whence Peter glorifies: 'Following not after uneducated fables, we make known to you the truth and wisdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, as those who have witnessed things of great wonder.' 5 And then Matthew touches in a special manner on something of the body, His face being like the sun, gold being infinitely more in the mind than in the body. 6 So is His face like the sun shining in its strength. But against: 'The sun with its blazing rays  blinds the eyes.' 7 here their eyes were able to see. It should be said, then, that here they were strengthened so that they had sight of the greater light. Then he refers to the garments. This vestment can be understood as the humanity, but I do not think so, because His face was human, which was resplendent as the sun. But the words say that His vestments appeared as white as clouds, when the splendor came, and in a circle of whiteness it seems bounded. And the garment signifies the holy.  'As I live,' says the Lord, 'with all these as an ornament you shall be clothed and they will surround you like a bride's display.' 8  'Clothed as with light as a vestment.' 9 Snow is delicate, white and soft, loose because it does not stick together, until it is turned into water, by which heated it maintains this looseness, white because by nature it is clear like water, which is its matter, soft because of the heat that conceived it in its beginning in clouds, which resolves it from its slight solidity and softens it. And delicacy signifies the spiritual, and whiteness is the colour of the candor of innocence and chastity, and the softness is meekness and the warmth is love. 'How falls the rain and snow from heaven, and there it does not return again, but the earth drinks and it flows into it, and it bears seed, and bread for the eating; so my word shall be, that which goes out from my mouth.' 10 'White vestments like pure wool and like snow.' 11 that wool which no fuller on earth could make whiter. And the fuller, I say, is God, who Himself is clothed with sanctitude, because such light of sanctitude those who live on the earth are yet not able to receive Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Matthew, Chap 17 1 Mt 17.1-8 2 Wis 7.29 3 Lk 9.29 4 Jn 14.23 5 cf 2 Pet 1.14-16 6 Mt 17. 2, Apoc 1.16 7 Sirach 43.4 8 Isai 49.18 9 Ps 103.2 10.Isai 55.10-11 11 cf Dan 7.9

The Appearance Of The Saviour

Καὶ ἰδοὺ φωνὴ ἐκ τῆς νεφέλης λέγουσα· οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός, ἐν ᾧ εὐδόκησα· ἀκούετε αὐτοῦ. Καὶ ἁκούσαντες οἱ μαθηταὶ ἔπεσον ἐπὶ πρόσωπον αὐτῶν καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν σφόδρα.  Ἡ μὲν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς φωνὴ καλή τε καὶ ἀξιάγαστος· ἀκράτῳ δὲ ἥδη κατεχόμενοι δείματι πίπτουσιν οἱ μαθηταὶ, ἵνα δὴ πάλιν καὶ διὰ τούτου μάθωμεν, ὡς ἀναγκαιοτάτη τοῖς ἐπὶ γῆς ἡ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἀναπεφανται μεσιτεία, νοουμένη δηλαδὴ κατὰ τὸν τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως τρὸπον· εἰ μὴ γὰρ γέγονε καθ' ἡμᾶς, τίς ἂν ἡμῶν ἤνεγκεν ἄνω προσβάλλοντα Θεὸν, καὶ τὴν ἄφατον αὐτοῦ δόξαν οὐδενὶ τάχα τῶν γεννητῶν φορητὴν ἐμφαίνοντα; Φῶς γὰρ οἰκεῖν αὐτὸν ἀρπόσιτον καὶ ὁ μακάριος ἔφησε Παῦλος.  Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον Εὐάγγελιον Source:  Migne PG 72.425c

And now, there was a voice which said to them out of the cloud: 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, listen to him.' The disciples, when they heard it, fell on their faces, overcome with fear. 1 Certainly the voice of the Father is good and worthy of love, but struck with utter fear the disciples fell, that again by this we might learn how especially necessary it was that to those of the earth the appearance of the Savior was mediated, understood according to the manner of his incarnation. For unless He had been made similar to us, who would have been able to grasp Him who from on high descended, and who would be able to bear the appearance of His ineffable glory? For He dwells in inaccessible light, as Paul says. 2 Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Fragment 1 Mt 17.5-6 2 1 Tim 6.16

Gods And Mercy

Confitemini Deo deorum; quoniam in saecula misericordia ejus Ut in Evangelis responsione Domini ad Saducaeos docemur, non est Deus mortuorum, sed vivorum: per quem et dictum est: Ego dixi, Dii estis, et filii Excelsi omnes. Non dignatur Deus corruptibilium et mortuorum Deus esse: sed eorum qui in coelestem gloriam transformandi, exuti vetere homine terreno, novum qui in coelis induerunt, qui conformes erunt corpori gloriae Dei. Et deos hos effici, licet et ut fidei eorum meritum exigat, tamen ea maxima causa est, quoniam in saeculum misericordia ejus. Non ille eguit deorum Deus nuncupari: sed bonitatis et misericordiae suae est, ut deos faciat, honorem nominis sui ex affectu misericordia et bonitatis impertiens. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis,Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum CXXXV Source: Migne PL 9.770c-771a

Confess to the Gods of gods, because His mercy is forever. 1 As in the Lord's answer to the Sadducees in the Gospel we learn that He is not the God of the dead but of the living, 2 so it has been said: 'I said to you, you are Gods and sons of the most High.' 3 It is beneath God to be the God of the corruptible and the dead, but He is the God of those who have been transformed to celestial glory, sloughing off the old earthly man and putting on the new one in heaven, being conformed in the body to the glory of God. 4 These He has made gods, who by faith have earned the reward, but there is greater cause, because His mercy is forever. For it is not that the God of gods needs to do this, but it is from His kindness and mercy that He makes gods, and it is because of His mercy and kindness that He gives a share of the honour of His name. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 135 1 Ps 135.2 2 Mt 22.32 3 Ps 81.6, Jn 10.34 4 Ephes 4.22-24

The Veil And The Tabernacle

Quod vero in medio tabernaruli velum extenditur, et exterior pars ab interiore separatur, illud significat, quod nunc populis Ecclcsiae, quae promissa sunt, velut oppansa, quousque revelentur, videre non liceat. Sic enim et Apostolus ait : Nunc videmus per speculum in aenigmate, tunc autem facie ad faciem. Quandiu igitur in hoc mundo sumus, tanquam per speculum veritatem videmus, positi quasi in sancta, nondum pervenientes ad sancta sanctorum. Sancta enim possunt esse ea quae in praesenti saeculo habere sancta conversatio potest. Sancta vero sanctorum, in qua semel tantummodo intratur, ad coelum est transitus, ubi est propitiatorium et cherubim, ubi et mundicordibus apparere poterit Deus. In qua tamen conversatione constitui non sine adjutorio. Spiritus sancti consistimus. Habemus enim ex uno Spiritus sancii fonte septem lucernas , quae illuminent populum Ecclesiae , id est, semptemplicem Domini gratiam missam in universum orbrm terrarum, quae populos Ecclesia: fulgore Spiritus sancii diversa charismatum claritate illustrat. Potest quidem hoc oppansum velum, quod partem tabernaculi interioris occultabat, ne prospicerentur illuc reposita, tempus illud significare quod fuit sub Lege. Quia ea quae lex et prophetae cecinerunt occulta erant, et interjecto velamine videri non poterant. Sed posteaquam Christus adveniens tempore passionis velum illud a summo usque deorsum dirupit , omnia illa quae autea erant occulta, per Domini passionum ail nostram fidem sunt revelata, dicente Apostolo: Nobis autem revelavit Deus per Spiritum suum: quia Spiritus omnia scrutatur, et ea quae sunt alta Dei Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Exodum, Caput LV Source: Migne PL 83.315 b-d

However in the middle of the tabernacle a veil was drawn across, 1 and it separated the exterior part for the interior, which signifies that now to the people of the Church, the things promised, as a thing drawn across, yet to be revealed, are not permitted to be seen. So the Apostle says, 'Now we see in a mirror in darkness, then face to face. 2 While, then, we are in the world, as in a mirror we gaze at the truth, and though  placed among holy things, we are not yet able to come into the holy of holies. For they are able to be holy in this world which can be in holy state, the holy of holies, however, which is entered only once, is the transport to heaven, where is the mercy seat and the cherubim, where God is able to appear to the pure in heart. But this is not able to happen without the assistance of the Holy Spirit. For we have from the one fount of the Holy Spirit, seven lamps, which illuminate the people of the Church, that is, the sevenfold grace of the Lord sent into the whole world, which illuminates the people of the Church with diverse charisms of the Holy Spirit. 3 Now this veil drawn across, which hides the interior part of the tabernacle, lest they see what is there, signifies the time when they were before the law. Because what the law and the prophets spoke was hidden, and beyond the veil they were not able to see. But after the coming of Christ, His passion tore the veil from its top to its bottom, 4 so that all things which before were hidden by the passion of the Lord were revealed to our faith, whence the Apostle says, 'For God has revealed it to us through His spirit, because the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God.' 5 Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Exodus, Chap 55 1 Exodus 26.31-34 2 1 Cor 13.12 3 1 Cor 12.4-11 4 Mk 15.38, Mt 27.51 5 1 Cor 2.10

Humility And Meekness

Cum omni humilitate et mansuetudine et patientia. Et tolerantiam multam ponit, ne efferantur, ne superbi sint. Primo posita humilitas, deinde mansuetudo. Humilitas animi dejectio est. Frenum superbiae et immanitatis mansuetudo est. At vero quae sequitur patientia, in eo quod tolerant, si quid adversi evenerit. In prioribus, ne vereantur pati, duo posita, humilitas et mansuetudo. In his quae sequuntur, si passi fuerint, quales sint patientia, inquit. Deinde quod subjungit cum omni magnanimitate. Haec enim magnanimitas in hoc est, ut non solum patientier feras, sed erecto animo semper sis. Denique hoc subjungit, ut si passus fueris patienter, et magnanimiter feras sufferentes omnia quaecumque acciderint portantes invicem in charitate. Potest et ad sufferentes invicem in charitate, referri. Potest tamen integer esse sensus qui sequitur: Solliciti servandae unitatis spiritus in vinculo pacis. Ut spiritus unitatem servetis, aut unum spiritum servetis servandae pacis et in vinculo pacis, hortor vos ut soliciti sitis. Dat tamen rationes quare unitatis spiritus in vinculo solliciti esse debent: Unum corpus, inquit, et unus spiritus. Quia unum corpus est tota Ecclesia et unus spiritus, Ita ut et vocati estis in una spe vocationis vestrae. Et hoc argumentum est ad unitatem spiritus servandam in vinculo pacis, quod ita et isti vocati in una spe: non enim diversam spem habent, sed unam omnes, qui vocati sunt, promissorum Dei. Quae autem promissa sunt, notum est omnibus. Victorinus Afrus, In Epistolam Pauli ad Ephesios, Liber Primus, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 8.1271b-1272a

With every humility and meekness and patience. 1 And much endurance he proposes, lest they are made wild, lest they become proud. First he proposes humility, then meekness. Humility is a lowering of the soul. Meekness is the bridle on pride and brutality. Then what follows is patience, by which they endure, if adverse things should befall. Initially, then, lest they fear to suffer, two things he proposes, humility and meekness. Following these things, if they were to suffer, so they would be patient, he says. Then he continues 'with every magnanimity'. 2 And this magnanimity here is so that not only you suffer patiently, but you always do so with an upright soul. Then he adds, that if you were to suffer patiently, and endure magnanimously, suffering everything which befalls: 'bearing with one another in charity.' 1 And it is possible that 'suffering one another in love,' is all that is referred to. It is possible, however, that the sound sense is in what follows: 'Being anxious to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.' 3 That you attend to the unity of the spirit, or that you attend to the one spirit in the guarding of peace in the bond of peace, I exhort you that you be anxious to do so. Now let reasons be given why they should be anxious for the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. 'One body,' he says, 'and one spirit.' 4  Because one is the body of all the Church and one is the spirit. 'Thus you have been called into the one hope of your calling.' 4 And this is the argument for the guarding of the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, that thus they are called in one hope, not having different hopes, but there is one for all who are called regarding the promises of God. For those things which are promised are known to all. Victorinus Afrus, On the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians, Book One, Chapter 4 1 Ephes 4.2 2 Vetus Latina 3 Ephes 4.3 4 Ephes 4.4

Food And Labour

Ἤδεται ὁ ἡμέτερος Κύριος Σωτὴρ καὶ Χριστὸς τοῖς ἐπαινετοῖς ἔργοις ἡμῶν καθεκάστην ἡμέραν, καὶ νύκτα τρεφόμενος. Βρῶμα γὰρ ἔχω φαγεῖν, ἔλεγε τοῖς ἀποστόλοις, ὅπερ ὑμεῖς οὐκ ἐπιστασθε νῦν, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα γνώσεσθε, τῆς τῶν Σαμαρειτῶν πόλεως τῶν τότε πιστευσάντων, καὶ τῆς τῶν μετὰ τοῦτο μυρίων ἐθνῶν χριστιανισάντων σωτηρίαν τὴν ἐδωδὴν προαινιττόμενος τοῖς οἰκείοις φοιτηταῖς, Καὶ γὰρ ὁ Ἠσαῗας προανεφώνει περὶ Χριστοῦ, ὅτιπερ βούτυρον καὶ μέλι φάγεται. Ὁ ἐν ἀρχῇ μὲν τὸν Ἀδὰμ πλαστουργήσας, ὕστερον δὲ ὡς παιδίον, καὶ ὡς ἄνθρωπος ὀφωεὶς Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς ὁ Θεὸς καὶ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ γῆς, καὶ πάντων ὁρατῶν, Διὰ βουτύρου καὶ μέλιτος το τρόφιμον τῇ ψυχῇ καὶ τὸ γλυκὺ, καὶ προσηνὲς ὑπεμφαίνων τῆς τῶν Χριστιανῶν καλλίστης ἐργασίας. Ἐαν καλὰ πράττῃς ἔργα, καὶ μιμῇ τὸ πρᾶον τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ἔθρεψας αὐτὸν βουτύρῳ καὶ μέλιτι· ἐὰν δὲ ὀργίλος μένῃ, καὶ φαύλων ἐργάτης πράξεων, λέξει εὐλόγως καὶ περὶ σοῦ Ἰησοῦς, ὅτι Ἔδωκεν οὗτος εἰς τὸ βρῶμα μου χολὴν, καὶ εἰς τὴν δίψαν μου ἐπότισέ με ὄξος. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΣΝ' ΣΝΑ' Τευκρῳ Διακονῳ Source: Migne PG 79.176a-b

Our Lord Saviour and Christ takes joy in the labours of our praise on which He feeds night and day. 'For I have food for eating, He says to the Apostles, which you now do not know of now,' 1 and after would be known, in the city of the Samaritans when those among them believed, 2 and after them the endless number of peoples, who were given the name of Christ, foretelling the bread of salvation of our support. Indeed Isaiah gives prophecy concerning Christ, 'Butter and honey he shall eat,' 3 He who before this fashioned Adam and after as a little infant and man was seen, Jesus Christ, God of heaven and of earth, and all things visible. Butter and honey is the nourishment of the soul, and indicates nothing but the sweet and meek good works of Christians. Thus if you do good works and emulate the meekness of Christ, you shall feed Him with butter and honey; but if you are bloated with anger and turned to depraved deeds, not without reason did Christ speak of you, saying, 'They gave me gall for my bread, and for my drink they poured out vinegar. ' 4 Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letters 250 and 251, to Teucer the Deacon 1 Jn 4.32 2 Jn 4.39-42 3 Isai 8.15 4 Ps 68.22