Paschal Homilies 1 part 7/28

For he who has entered into his rest has himself also rested from his works, just as God did from his own.

Let us therefore be diligent to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience. Understand clearly, and learn, O Jew, from these words spoken here by him who was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, who possesses the whole knowledge of the Law;

a Hebrew of the Hebrews, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Pharisee according to the law;

namely, that when he speaks of the typological cessation of labor prescribed by the Sabbath under the letter of the Law, he says it is nothing at all in itself;

but rather it forms an image of the good things hoped for, and of the repose that will be given to the saints at that time when the Savior of all comes from heaven in the glory of his Father, as it is written, and distributes the rewards to the saints.

But I think our discussion of these matters has already been examined sufficiently; hence we must now turn to the customary and more fitting topics.

Since, then, the children of the Greeks were led astray, serving the creation rather than the Creator, and, plunged into polytheistic delusion, were rushing headlong through the broad gate of death; while the Jews, on the other hand, sinned so greatly against their own souls that they took no thought whatsoever for the Law, but considered it burdensome, and supposed those who taught the noblest things to be talking nonsense, openly crying out against those appointed by grace from above, saying:

'Speak to us other things, and declare to us a different delusion;'

And he is born through the Holy Virgin;

and, furnishing many signs and wonders together with his teaching, he transformed all things for the better, and reshaping the corrupted nature of man into newness of life, he brought it, as though released from its bonds, free to the Father; and those crushed by sin he called to himself with a most gentle teaching, saying:

and he made our salvation the occasion of his lamentation;

and as he was being cast out of the dominion he had made for himself through greed, he was plunged into deep sorrow.

For seeing the divine proclamation shining forth like the sun, and the mist of ancient impiety already dispersed, he suffered sharp pangs of anguish on this account;

seething with rage and consumed by burning envy, he wished to wrap Life itself in death;

and that most deranged one, expecting to subject to the bonds of corruption the Lord who had come to dwell among us for the salvation of all, persuaded certain like-minded Jews to become his agents in this drama, and champions of his unholy audacity.

The Savior of all, therefore, administering the salvation of our race in the best and most skillful manner, laid down his life for us, as it is written, being indeed the good shepherd, and not refusing to face danger on behalf of his flock of sheep.

But he who instigated the audacious deeds of the Jews, the architect of the very snare set for himself, only learned through bitter experience that he had been mistaken in his hope, the affair having turned out entirely the opposite; and, like a sailor at sea who, just when his ship's sail is trimmed full amidships as though by a fair wind, laments to see his expectations reversed.

For having supposed that he would prevail, and would establish a harsher tyranny against us, the wretch was cast out from being able to do anything further at all.

For, bound with unbreakable chains like some wild beast, and drained of his inherent strength, he made his country and city the innermost recess of death; and he who was deceived by vain hopes, thinking he would be like the Most High, and who had once schemed to set up his own throne above the heavens, could now name nothing more wretched than Hades.

For the souls of men, having been ensnared unto destruction through his wickedness, now passed beyond the gates beneath the earth;

and, escaping the hidden depths of the abyss, they fled the sunless glens of death.

And, swimming through that deep darkness, they made their way toward the light of the Savior.

For he stood beside them, saying to those in bonds:

'Come forth,' and to those in darkness, 'Reveal yourselves.' And since Hades had been despoiled of its spirits, and the power of death had been dissolved, the Savior ascended victorious;

having raised up his own temple on the third day, and, as it were, portrayed most vividly by this example a pattern of the resurrection of bodies;

and having firmly rooted in us all our hopes of good things, having given instructions to his own disciples, and having commanded that all nations be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, he ascends into heaven itself, so as to show the Father the nature of man — crushed by sin — now grown young again into incorruption through grace, and offering himself back, as it were, like a firstfruit of grain, to the One who begot him.

rejoicing in turn, let us confess our own poverty, saying:

'What shall I render to the Lord for all that he has rendered to me? I will take the cup of salvation, and I will call upon the name of the Lord.' For truly the cup of salvation is thanksgiving to God;

and giving thanks not merely in words and sayings, let us also offer him the further gift that comes from deeds of virtue;

keeping the body away from every base pleasure, purifying the spirit as well, and hastening to free it from all wickedness, visiting the disfigured, comforting those in poverty, lightening for orphans and widows the burden that comes from misfortune, being bound together with prisoners through shared suffering, restoring the ill-treated, since we too are in the body.

For by holding fast to so dignified a manner of life, and doing all things according to the divine Law, we shall find favor with Christ, the Savior of us all — beginning the holy Forty Days from the new moon of the month of Phamenoth;

and the week of the saving Passover from the sixth day of the month of Pharmouthi;

concluding the fasts on the eleventh day of the same month of Pharmouthi, on Saturday evening, according to the tradition of the Gospel;

and celebrating the feast on the following dawning Lord's Day, the twelfth of the same month of Pharmouthi;

and thereafter adjoining the seven weeks of the holy Pentecost;

so that we may be counted worthy also of the fellowship of the saints in the heavens, in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom and with whom be glory and dominion to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages.

'Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.' For behold, coming round to us through the same cyclical returns, the thrice-longed-for season of our holy feast is now rising, resembling those who, arriving from a foreign land, put in at their native shore;

and it already appears within the harbor, and now makes fast its mooring-ropes to the shore.

And since it is already here, and has all but taken up residence among us, I think it fitting and proper that we especially — if indeed we have laid hold of the divine priesthood and bear the sacred trumpet upon our tongue — should sound out the bright signals of the festival, and gather together, as into a single company, those from every place, saying with the holy Psalmist:

But to strive after the pursuit of what is profitable without erring, I say, is a disposition most fitting for the good alone.

Therefore, since the season of glorious labors has now appeared for us, let us eagerly seize it while it is at hand.

Let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement, and through good fasting let us put to death our members that are upon the earth:

fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire;

For thus, thus shall we come to be with the all-pure God, who says:

'You shall be holy, for I am holy.' The most skillful students of physicians, then, prepare treatments for the body through various inventions;

and to those troubled by whatever tends to disturb the well-ordered balance of the elements within us, they administer the yearly purgations;

causing the one who comes to them but slight distress at the moment, yet sending him away free of no small diseases.

...falling into pains harsher and greater — or rather hardened and beyond admonition — arising from being chastised.

Knowing and being persuaded of these things, then, what else remains fitting for us to do than, with alert minds, like those skilled in purging by means of remedies, to install in our own souls all-pure fasting — the mother of every virtue, the guide toward dignity, the one that ever counsels what is fitting to excel in among good things? For it does battle against the disordered movements of the mind;

and it puts to death the law that runs savage in the members of the flesh;

and, lulling to rest the throng of pleasures warring within us, it all but cries out, loud and clear, saying:

'Present your members a living sacrifice, well pleasing to God — your reasonable service.' But no one, I think, could easily accomplish so glorious a contest unless he takes courage with a youthful spirit, and gladly accepts often to press on, sweating for virtue's sake, and considers it a glory to labor for the sake of what is good.

For just as those who practice the exercises of the wrestling-schools—having great bodily strength and no less skill to match it—if they are gloomy and cowering, and rush into the arena of the contest even before the sight of their opponent, and, already defeated beforehand by fear the moment they touch the dust of the stadium, fall down readily, and before ever coming to grips with their adversaries have unstrung themselves through cowardice;

whereas those who suffer none of these things, and often by their bearing alone throw the boldness of their adversaries into confusion, seize for themselves the vote of victory;

so too, I think, and not otherwise, is it with those who live their lives together with the divine law, and are eager to practice the exceptional way of life.

For the man who is eager and most steadfast rejoices rather than is grieved in his labors, and considers the contests to be wealth and luxury;

but the cowardly and unmanly man, held fast by the sluggish malady of inactivity, shudders merely at hearing that one must grow rich through toil.

'How long, O sluggard, will you lie there?' he says. 'A little you sleep,'

'a little you fold your hands upon your breast,'

'and then poverty comes upon you like an evil traveler, and want like a good runner.' Let us, then, flee the harms that come from sloth; let us renounce the poverty of the virtues;

and let us drive away being destitute of good things, as the most shameful of all maladies.

Let us be manly, and let our heart be strengthened, as it is written:

For our Lord Jesus Christ himself also gave us the watchwords for this very virtue, saying:

'Amen, amen I say to you, whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.' And I think it necessary—rather, I say it is even admittedly so—that the one who wishes to follow Christ must be superior to every cowardice;

and to hold every fear in contempt is all but to take one's own cross upon one's shoulder.

Just as, then, it is impossible for a newborn infant, with small and most tender feet, scarcely able to go a little way, to keep pace with swift-running young men,

so it is impossible for a mind fixed only on unmanliness to be able to follow in the footsteps of Christ,

who endured the cross, despising its shame, and for our sake tasted the bitterness of death, although he is God, impassible and immortal, being indeed the Word and the Only-begotten of the Father—so that, by setting himself before us as example and pattern, he might call us to an imitation within our reach. Indeed, it was precisely in this achievement that the great Paul, so bold in spirit, gloried;

was the disciple of Christ, the soldier of Christ, in such haste to crown himself with advantages—he who, on account of the virtue within him, had also justly been appointed our commander? He was indeed so devoted to Christ that he counted it as nothing to suffer all things, so that he might become a genuine disciple of Christ.

Listen indeed, if you please, as he cries out to some of his own household, who were eager to keep him back from his contests:

'What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.' Such, then, was he with regard to faith; but as for what sort of man he appeared to be in his own personal conduct, you will be astonished to learn.

For he who was so great in virtue made fasting his fellow-soldier in his battles against the body, and, having yoked it, like some most approved soldier, to the good motions of his own mind, he mastered the laws of the flesh;

and having seized under his hand, like some captive taken by the spear, the pleasure that tyrannizes over our members, he subjected it to the will of the Spirit.

But that he might also benefit us through these very things, he writes again,

saying that at times he was often in fastings—

'Whoever, then, breaks one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches men, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven,'

'but whoever does and teaches them, this one shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.' Therefore what he himself preached to others, he was quick to do himself, placing fasting as a bridle upon the flesh, and taking abstinence from food as a fellow-worker toward so admirable a virtue.

And his teachings are not seen by us to consist in these matters alone, nor does he confine his own disciple within the bounds of self-control only;

for this alone would not suffice for approval, were one destitute of every other virtue.

Rather, he guides us harmoniously toward each of the things that are profitable, and refers all things to the sum of good things—I mean, love toward one another;

which the Lord himself also defines as the most exact mark of genuine devotion to him, saying:

Therefore, writing to the Corinthians, he speaks thus:

'And I show you a still more excellent way.'

'If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.'

'And if I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.'

'And if I give away all my possessions to feed the poor, and deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.' Do you see how he says that, when love toward God and toward one another is absent, the enviable swarm of all the other virtues appears unseemly and utterly devoid of beauty;

whereas when love is present, the resulting good repute is rendered most seemly for those who possess it? Might someone then say that he praises love as some great and admirable possession, but did not define its manner, nor say how one might accomplish it? Do not speak so, O man;

for that sober-minded disciple omits nothing of what is necessary.

For he was not only eager to teach that love toward God and one another is precious and fitting, but he also shows how one might be seen to be a laborer in it—

'is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice at unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.'

'Love never fails.' Do you hear how, for those willing to ascend to the dignity of love and mutual affection, the matter appears not difficult, but already close at hand? Do you see the path to the good repute that comes from this, not hidden, but shining forth like the sun? Therefore, journeying by this road, and traveling, so to speak, along the highway of the saints, we shall arrive at the city above, whose architect and builder is God.

But if we turn aside toward the opposite, and fall away from right and straight purpose, and then drive along the crooked path of life, we shall come down to the depths of Hades, as the wise author of Proverbs says.

And I think it is altogether necessary that we, being rational human beings, and made after the undefiled image of our Creator, should be civilized by the ordinances of love, and should rather be eager to imitate the Lord who says:

'Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart'—not to slide down into the savagery of untamed beasts, and, instead of love, to be sharpened into a disposition of mutual hatred;

or rather, to be seen more savage than savage beasts, and more irrational than irrational animals.

For wild beasts, and besides these also the manifold kinds of irrational animals, although not governed by reason toward the best disposition, nevertheless somehow love to dwell together with one another, and to share common haunts;

and oxen gladly herd with oxen, and sheep flock with sheep.

Indeed, even dogs, which have often raged furiously against many others, and possess madness as a sort of peculiar advantage of their own nature, have been admired for loving one another as being of the same kind.

And bears spare bears, and lions spare lions.

But man, who has received dominion over all these, who is steered by prudence and reason in every matter, does not perceive that he has fallen into the utmost folly;

for he considers his savage disposition to be a semblance of courage;

and he considers looking much toward ferocity to be a conspicuous glory;

having no reverence for our common nature, no honor for the Creator, taking no thought for anything else that leads toward sound reasoning;

but boasting rashly and without training over the very things over which he ought rather to blush and lament, so that Paul might justly say:

'whose glory is in their shame.' And the blessed prophet, marveling greatly, says:

'Did not one God create us? Is there not one Father of us all? Why then has each of you forsaken his brother?' For all of us who dwell in this earthly region are found to have sprung from one father.

For Adam is the one progenitor of our race;

not that we should be divided against ourselves and think discordant thoughts, but rather that, having sprung up as from one root, and being drawn together into mutual affection by certain natural bonds of love, we should renounce the madness that is contrary to nature, and banish fratricidal wrath as an exile from our own minds.

And we say these things now especially to you, as many as inhabit the land of the Egyptians,

for it was needful—yes, needful—that we, being spiritual fathers, should not leave you uncounseled, but should lead you by the hand, as children, toward what is profitable and toward a well-ordered way of life.

Grievous rumors, then, have been reaching us, reporting that the most shameful and most dreadful of all deeds are being dared by certain persons among you;

for either they gather occasions of wrath against their neighbors, and rage against their neighbors beyond all reason, or, loving the ruinous seizure of others' possessions, they fail to perceive that they are entangling themselves in inescapable snares, and subjecting themselves to death and to bitter dangers.

'Iniquities ensnare a man;'

'and each is bound fast by the cords of his own sins.' But, O little children, in the words of Paul—

for now I solemnly testify with a loud voice:

'Admonish the disorderly,' discipline those who, through unbridled youth, are still overcome by folly—to whom I myself now also say:

'Put an end to such gains;'

cease grieving and provoking against yourselves the King and Lord of all; shake off from your hand the blood-stained sword, and cast off from your mind the unjust desire for what belongs to others.

Check your impulses against one another;

cease from unholy undertakings.

Do not be seen to resemble that Cain—I mean the fratricide, the savage one, the teacher of impiety in the shedding of blood.

For let each one of those who dares such things listen to God, who even now cries out no less:

'The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.' But just as it was said again to that one:

'Groaning and trembling shall you be upon the earth' — thus also will the God of love say again to each of such men.

For what is more cowardly than the transgressor? Or what word does not terrify him? Whose gaze does he not shudder at, even when he merely sees it turned upon himself? For within, his conscience is ever collapsing, enervated by the reproaches that come from sin.

And nothing is worse for a sin-loving soul in respect of unmanliness.

Therefore, that we may speak according to the prophetic word:

'Awake, you who are drunk, from your wine;'

'wail, all you who drink wine to drunkenness, for gladness and joy have been removed from your mouth.' For is not this word shown to be true among us even by actual experience? O farmers of Egypt, what tale is there for us at the present time? What word holds gladness and joy? Who among you, whether small or great, is seen to have fallen into such insensibility under the wrath just now brought upon us, that he could bring his lamentation and wailing to an end without showing his cheek drenched with tears? So that the prophet may fittingly be said even now concerning us:

'Farmers, lament your possessions on account of the wheat and the barley, for the harvest has perished from the field;'

'the pomegranate, and the palm, and the apple, and all the trees of the field have withered;'

'for the sons of men have brought joy to shame.' For God, who is good by nature and full of compassion, showed us the whole field luxuriant with a most cheerful crop;

and the stalks of the ears of grain stood tall, bringing forth a most abundant hope for the weary, and rendering the soul of the farmer full of gladness;

but the inhabitants of the land brought their own joy to shame;

for since some turned to manslaughter, and made the fruit-bearing earth drunk with human blood, and raised against one another the sword that hates a brother — even the iron which had for the most part been made by God for the finest of farming purposes — they made it an instrument of the utmost impiety;

our God, who loves virtue, was justly angered;

cutting off the hopes of expected gladness, he turned joy into grief.

And this, then, was what was spoken through one of the holy prophets:

'Thus says the Lord God Almighty:'

'In all the broad streets there shall be lamentation;'

'and in all the roads it shall be said:'

'the farmer shall be called to mourning and lamentation, and those skilled in wailing to lamentation in all the roads, because I will pass through the midst, says the Lord.' But observe again for me how true this word is.

For would one not say that what has happened is worthy of unending lamentation and mourning? Behold, the bitter beast of famine devours our whole land;

and she who is, so to speak, the nurse of everything under the sun is in need of the bread that merely comes her way, and of food not altogether fitting for human beings, so that the prophet Jeremiah, justly lamenting over her, might say:

'All her people are groaning, seeking bread.' And again:

'The tongue of the infant at the breast has cleaved to its throat for thirst;'

'the little children asked for bread, and there was no one to break it for them;'

'those who ate delicacies have perished in the streets.' For we sowed much, and brought in little, according to what is written, because we provoked the Spirit of the Lord to anger.

Let us therefore repent, and cease from our former offenses;

and let us come near to the compassionate God, pouring forth abundant tears from our eyelids, saying with one of the prophets:

'Who is a God like you, taking away iniquities and passing over transgressions, and you have not kept your anger forever as a witness, because you delight in mercy?' And again:

'Our iniquities have risen up against us, O Lord; act for us for your name's sake, for our sins are many before you;'

'for we have sinned against you, O hope of Israel, O Lord;'

'and you save in the time of troubles.' For thus, thus he graciously grants that sweet word to those who repent:

'Behold, I will send you grain, and wine, and oil, and you shall be filled with them.'

'Take courage, O earth, be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things.'

'Take courage, you beasts of the field, for the young of the wilderness have sprung up;'

'for the tree has brought forth its fruit, the vine and the fig tree and the pomegranate have given their strength.'

'And you children of Zion, rejoice and be glad in the Lord your God, for he has given you food for righteousness, and he will send down for you the early and the latter rain, as before.'

'And the threshing floors shall be filled with grain, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.'

'And I will restore to you the years that the locust ate, and the cankerworm, and the blight, and the caterpillar.'

'And you shall eat, and be filled, and you shall praise the name of the Lord your God, who has done wonders with you.' Do not doubt, O man, nor reckon within yourself that, should you come to him in repentance, he would not readily grant his mercy.

Even now you have no small pledge of the hope you long for; you already have in hand a token of his loving-kindness;

behold, he has flooded the whole land with river-like streams; behold, though we are still sinning, he still grants us an enjoyment more abundant than his customary provision;

Your tear has not yet appeared, and God has already shown himself compassionate.

And he who does not refuse to have mercy on those who have not yet wept — how shall he not readily gladden those who repent? Let, then, the fathers among you hear this — the fathers of the holy altars, the priests and ministers:

'Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, and proclaim a solemn assembly; gather the people, sanctify the congregation, choose out the elders;'

'gather the infants that suck at the breast;'

'let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber, and the bride from her bridal room.'

'Between the porch and the altar the priests who minister to the Lord shall weep, and shall say:'

'...your people, O Lord, and do not give your inheritance to reproach, lest the nations should say:'

'Where is their God?' Thus, as we come to him without delay, he will receive us and have mercy on us, saying:

'I am, I am he who blots out your iniquities, and I will not remember them.' For how could he in any way be harsh toward us, he who, according to Paul, did not spare his own Son but delivered him up for us all? For since those of old were caught in such offenses, the devil, so to speak, held dominion over all that is under the sun,

and thus sin reigned over us, and ravaged the whole race, so that nowhere was one who did good to be seen;

or rather, there was none at all, as the Psalmist says, no, not one.

'For all have turned aside, together they have become worthless' — of necessity the only-begotten Word of God, existing in the form of God the Father, as it is written:

'did not consider being equal with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.' And for our sake he was reckoned among the things that pertain to us, being born of a woman, and having truly appeared as a man upon the earth, so that, as Paul says, he might become merciful and a faithful high priest in the things pertaining to God;

so that, bearing all our sins in his body upon the tree, as it is again written, he might blot out the handwriting that was against us;

so that, having made the weaknesses of our flesh his own, he might put to death the pleasure that had tyrannized over our members;

and, as to a raging sea, might say to the passions within us: