Reference: CPG 5240.08
Incipit: “Σαλπίσατε σάλπιγγι ἐν Σιών,” νόμος πού φησιν ἱερός
Date: Late 419
Greek Text: SC 392:62-112
Latin Text: Scharnagl 1909
English Translation: FCC: R. Read; FC 118:137-154.

When Cyril became bishop of Alexandria in 412, there was already a long tradition in place that required the head of the Egyptian church to write an annual letter to be read on Epiphany day. The letter announced the day on which Lent would begin and the day of Easter. It also gave the bishop an opportunity to encourage his clergy brothers in their Christian life and to speak to current events and issues in the church. Cyril’s eighth such letter, for the year 420, spent the last 40% of its text (4.2-6.6) in warning against aberrant teachings about Christ’s two natures, attributing the problems to Jewish attacks and to unnamed heretics (5.1). Cyril writes of “an inseparable and indefinable unity of the incomprehensible union” and God’s intention that “Christ be confessed by us as one—both before he had flesh and afterwards when he did have flesh” (5.2). This letter indicates that the proper way of envisioning and describing the relationship between Christ’s human and divine natures was already at issue in Egypt almost a decade before Nestorius became bishop in Constantinople. To learn about the further development of the “Nestorian Controversy” after the writing of this letter, click here.

The Greek text below is adapted from that of W.H. Burns and P. Évieux Cyrille d’Alexandrie. Lettres Festales 2: Lettres 7-11. Sources chrétiennes 392 (Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 1993), pp. 62-112. The English translation was adapted by R. Read from that of P. Amidon, Cyril of Alexandria: Festal Letters 1-12. Fathers of the Church 118 (Washington D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2009), pp. 137-154. A Latin version can be found in J. Scharnagl, S. Cyrilli xvii homiliae siue epistulae paschalis interpretatio quae uulgo Arnobii iunioris dicitur Latina (Wien, 1909). Geerard says Scharnagl incorrectly attributes the translation to Arnobius (CPG 3:20)

ΕΟΡΤΑΣΤΙΚῊ ΟΓΔΟΗ Festal Letter 8
1.1 “Σαλπίσατε σάλπιγγι ἐν Σιών,” νόμος πού φησιν ἱερός, τὸν ἐτήσιον τῆς ἐκκλησίας λόγον ἐπὶ τὰ συνήθη διανιστὰς σπουδάσματα καὶ τοῖς ἄριστα βιοῦν ᾑρημένοις τὰ τῶν θείων ἀγώνων ψηφηφορεῖν ἀναγκάζων συνθήματα. ἰδοὺ γάρ ἰδοὺ καὶ εἰσαῦθις ἡμῖν καθάπερ ἔκ τινος κύκλου καὶ περιστροφῆς ὁ τῆς ἁγίας ἡμῶν ἑορτῆς ἀνίσχει καιρός προελαυνούσης δηλονότι νηστείας καὶ τοῦ τῆς καρτερίας ἀγῶνος ἑωσφόρου τάξει προανατέλλοντος. ὁ μὲν γὰρ τοῖς ἔχουσι φιλεργὸν τὴν διάνοιαν μονονουχὶ καὶ φωνὴν ἀφιείς τὰς ἡλίου κατασημαίνει βολάς καί ἵν’ οὕτως εἴπω θυρῶν εἴσω βεβηκώς τῆς ἡμέρας ἐπιδεικνύων τὸ φῶς ἀποθέσθαι μὲν ὀμμάτων τὸν ὕπνον παραιτεῖσθαι δὲ δρᾶν τὰ νυκτὶ πρέποντα συμβουλεύει λοιπόν· ἡ δὲ πάναγνος αὕτη καὶ καθαρωτάτη νηστεία τῆς ἁγίας ἡμῶν ἑορτῆς προαναπηδῶσα καὶ ἀναλάμπουσα πρὸς ὑπόμνησιν ἄγει τῶν φιλαρέτων τὸν νοῦν τῶν διὰ τοῦ Παύλου διηγγελμένων πνευματικῶς· “Ἡ νὺξ προέκοψεν ἡ δὲ ἡμέρα ἤγγικεν· ἀποθώμεθα οὖν τὰ ἔργα τοῦ σκότους ἐνδυσώμεθα δὲ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ φωτός ὡς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ εὐσχημόνως περιπατήσωμεν μὴ κώμοις καὶ μέθαις μὴ κοίταις καὶ ἀσελγείαις μὴ ἔριδι καὶ ζήλῳ· ἀλλ’ ἐνδύσασθε τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν τὸν Χριστόν,” τὸ λαμπρὸν ὄντως τῶν εὐσεβούντων ἄμφιον. 1.1 The Holy Scriptures say somewhere, “Sound the trumpet in Zion” [Joel 2:1], rousing the church to its annual call to the customary acts of zeal and compelling those who have chosen a life of excellence to rally to the signal for the divine contests. Look, once again the season of the holy feast rises upon us as though from a ring or circuit, preceded of course by a fast and by the contest of perseverance which goes up before it like the morning star. For that herald all but speaks aloud in announcing the radiance of the sun to the industrious and, so to speak, comes inside to show the light of day and announce that the time has come to dismiss sleep from our eyes and to refuse to do what suits the night. And this pure and holy fast which springs up shining before our holy feast reminds lovers of virtue of what Paul proclaimed in the Spirit: “The night is nearly over; the day is at hand. Let us, then, cast off the works of darkness and put on the works of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, nor in debauchery and licentiousness, nor in quarreling and jealousy. But put on our Lord Jesus Christ” [Rom. 13:12-14], the truly bright robe of the pious.
1.2 Τοὺς μὲν οὖν ἐν ἡδονῇ θεμένους τὸ πλεῖν καὶ ναυτίλλεσθαι φιλεῖν ἑλομένους αὖραι κατὰ πρύμνης ἰοῦσαι λεπταὶ τῶν μὲν λιμένων ἀπαίρειν ὡς τάχος ἀπολύειν δὲ τῆς ἠπείρου τὰ πείσματα δεδιότας οὐδέν ἀναπείθουσιν. ἀλλὰ καὶ περκάζων ἐν ὄρχοις ὁ βότρυς καὶ ῥαγάδα δεικνὺς σχιζομένην ἤδη καὶ μεθύουσαν ᾆσμα καὶ μέλος καλεῖ πως τὸ ἐπιλήνιον. ἀναφρίττων δὲ τῆς ἀρούρας ὁ στάχυς καὶ χρυσῇ μὲν ἤδη καλάμῃ λαμπρός εὐτραφεῖ δὲ τῷ κόκκῳ καταβριθόμενος ἐπασχάλλει τάχα τῷ τοῦ κείροντος μελησμῷ. καιρὸς γάρ οἶμαι πᾶσι προσφιλής εἰς ἕκαστα τῶν χρησίμων ἐπιτήδειος. 1.2 Light and fair breezes encourage those who take pleasure in sailing and who generally choose to travel by ship to leave harbor as soon as possible and to have no fear to set sail. Likewise, the grape darkening on the vine, whose skin is already splitting and bursting, calls, in a way, for the harvest songs to begin. And the ear of grain, swelling in the field, bright upon its already golden stalk and weighed down with well-grown seed, perhaps feels annoyance at the reaper’s delay. Everyone, I think, welcomes the arrival of every useful thing’s appropriate time.
1.3 Τούτων δὲ τῇδε διεγνωσμένων πῶς οὐ λίαν αἰσχρόν καὶ τῆς ἁπάσης βδελυρίας ἄξιον λογισμοῦ μὲν ἡμᾶς διαμαρτάνειν τοῦ πρέποντος γέλωτα δὲ ὀφλεῖν παρὰ θεῷ; καὶ σφόδρα εἰκότως εἰ μὴ παρόντος ἤδη προθύμως ἐπιδραττόμεθα τοῦ καιροῦ καθ’ ὃν ἂν γένοιτο καὶ τὸ δύνασθαι διαπρέπειν ἐν ἀρεταῖς τοῖς ἐπ’ αὐτὰς ἰοῦσιν ἱππήλατον· ἀναδυόμενοι γάρ καὶ ἀπορριπτοῦντες ἀεὶ τὸ θηρᾶν ἐπείγεσθαι τὰ βελτίω καὶ τὴν τῶν ἀγαθῶν ζημίαν ἀσυνέτως ἑαυτοῖς ἐπαντλήσαντες ἀκουσώμεθα δικαίως τὸ τοῖς ῥᾳθυμοῦσι πρέπον· “Πλούτου ὀκνηροὶ ἐνδεεῖς γίνονται.” 1.3 Since all this is well known, it is obviously quite shameful and fully abhorrent if we fail utterly in the reckoning that matters and find ourselves absurd in God’s sight. And quite rightly so, if we do not eagerly seize the time which is already upon us and which offers to those who strive headlong for virtue a chance to become distinguished in it. For if we shrink back and continually neglect the opportunity to rouse ourselves to search for what is better and foolishly bring upon ourselves the loss of what is good, we may rightly end up hearing the words which apply to lazy people: “The slothful come to want” [Prov. 11:16].
1.4 Ἀεὶ μὲν οὖν τὸ ἀγαθουργεῖν καὶ τρόποις τοῖς ἀρίστοις ἐπισεμνύνεσθαι φαίην ἂν ἔγωγε τοῖς εὐσεβέσιν ὅτι μάλιστα πρεπωδέστατον· τὸ γάρ οἶμαι καταλήγειν τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἀρχὴν ἂν ἔχοι φαυλότητος. ἀλλὰ τῆς συνήθους ἐπιεικείας ἐπιδοῦναί τι καὶ πλέον οὐκ ἀπεικὸς τῷ παρόντι καιρῷ καθάπερ ἐν ὀφλήματος τάξει τὴν ἐν τούτοις ἡμᾶς φιλοτιμίαν καταθέσθαι κελεύοντι. ὅνπερ γὰρ τρόπον τοῖς τὴν τοῦ σώματος εὐρωστίαν τετιμηκόσι καὶ τὸ παρὰ τοῖς παιδοτρίβαις εὐδοκιμεῖν τῶν ἄλλων πάντων τεθεικόσιν ἐν ἀμείνονι ἀεὶ μὲν γυμνάζεσθαι πρέπει καὶ τὸ διὰ τῆς ἐν παλαίστραις ἰέναι τέχνης οὐκ ἀσυντελὲς εἰς τὴν χρείαν. ἐπὰν δὲ πρὸς ἐπίδειξιν αὐτοὺς τῆς ἐνούσης ἀνδρείας ἀθλοθέτης καλῇ τότε δὴ μάλιστα χρῆναι διενθυμούμενοι τῆς οὕτω μακρᾶς ἐπιεικείας οὐκ ἀθαύμαστον ἀποδοῦναι καρπόν ὅλῳ βαδίζουσι σθένει πρὸς τὸ θέλειν ὁρᾶσθαι διαπρεπέστατοι. οὕτως οἶμαι δὴ πάλιν καὶ τοὺς οἷς θεῖος πρόκειται νόμος ὡς ἐν ἀγῶνος τάξει καὶ γυμνάσματος εὐσεβεῖν μὲν χρῆναι διαπαντός καὶ τὸ τῷ νομοθέτῃ δοκοῦν ποιεῖσθαι περὶ πολλοῦ· καιροῦ δὲ τοῦ τῆς νηστείας εἰς λαμπροτέραν καλοῦντος ἐπίδειξιν ὄκνον μὲν ἀπορρίπτειν τὸν τῆς ἀνανδρίας γεννήτορα φρόνημα δὲ μᾶλλον ἐπασκεῖν καὶ τετριμμένης αὐτῆς εὐτολμίας τὸ νεανικώτερον. 1.4 Therefore, I, at least, would say that always doing good and taking pride in behaving in the best possible way is most proper for those who are devout. For it seems to me that to stop acting justly would be the beginning of evil, but it agrees with the present season to show even more than the usual generosity, the season that demands us to pay down our charity in these matters as against a debt. It is the same as with those who value bodily strength and desire above all else the approval of their trainers. What suits them is constant exercise, and acquiring the skills of the arena helps them attain their goal. And when the contest judge calls them to demonstrate their valor, and they realize that they must then or never show the results of their lengthy exertions in a way that will provoke admiration, they apply all of their strength to their desire to appear most distinguished. In this way I also think that those who keep the divine law in view, as though they were in a contest or exercise, must practice piety constantly and attach great importance to the lawgiver’s will. With the season of fasting calling them to a more magnificent exhibition, they must reject hesitation, which is the source of cowardice, and cultivate an attitude which will outdo in valor even that courage which practice has sharpened.
1.5 Ἄγε δὴ οὖν πάλιν περιζωσάμενοι τὴν ἐπ’ ἀγαθοῖς προθυμίαν καὶ τὸ ὠφελεῖν πεφυκὸς τῶν ἐκ βδελυρᾶς ἡδονῆς γοητευμάτων προτάττοντες ἐφέσει τε τῇ πρὸς τὸ χρήσιμον τὸ τοῖς ἀδικοῦσι προσομιλεῖν σωφρόνως εὖ μάλα παρωθούμενοι γνησίους ἑαυτοὺς προσκυνητὰς παραστήσωμεν τῷ Χριστῷ ἄθραυστον μὲν καὶ ἀπαραποίητον τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν τηρήσαντες πίστιν ἀκλινῆ δὲ καὶ ἀπαράφορον τὴν ὁμολογίαν φυλάξαντες ἣν ὡμολογήκαμεν ἐπὶ πολλῶν μαρτύρων τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων φημί. πολλοὶ γὰρ τῆς εὐσεβείας τὴν μόρφωσιν καθάπερ τι προσωπεῖον ἑαυτοῖς περιπλάττοντες “τὴν δὲ δύναμιν αὐτῆς ἠρνημένοι” κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Παύλου φωνήν τὸν τῶν ἁπλουστέρων ληΐζονται νοῦν ἀπατηλοῖς παρασύροντες λόγοις καὶ συνολισθαίνειν αὐτοῖς ἀναπείθοντες εἰς παγίδα θανάτου καὶ εἰς πέταυρον ᾅδου κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον. οὐ γὰρ ἐκεῖνα χρῆναι προσλαλεῖν τοῖς προσιοῦσιν αὐτοῖς ἐγνώκασιν ἃ καὶ τοῖς ἱεροῖς συνδοκεῖ γράμμασιν ἀλλ’ ὅσα καθ’ ἑαυτὸν ὁ ἀδόκιμος αὐτῶν φαντάζεται νοῦς ταῦτα ἀναπείθουσι φρονεῖν μὴ εἰδότες μήτε ἃ λέγουσι μήτε περὶ τίνων διαβεβαιοῦνται. “Σὺ δὲ μένε ἐν οἷς ἔμαθες,” καθάπερ ὁ Παῦλός φησι ματαίας μὲν λογομαχίας ἀποφοιτῶν τὰ δὲ γραώδη τῶν αἱρετικῶν διαπτύων ῥημάτια καὶ τοὺς μὲν εἰκαίους ἐκτρεπόμενος μύθους ἔχων δὲ τὴν πίστιν ἐν ἁπλοῖς λογισμοῖς καὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας τὴν παράδοσιν καθάπερ τι κειμήλιον ἐν τοῖς τῆς καρδίας ταμιείοις ἐντιθείς ἔχου τῶν ἀρεσκόντων τῷ θεῷ σπουδασμάτων ἵνα μὴ μόνον ἐν πίστει λαμπρός ἀλλ’ ἤδη καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν ἐν εὐσεβείᾳ κατορθωμάτων ὑπάρχῃς διαφανέστατος. 1.5 Come, therefore, and let us once again arm ourselves with zeal to do good, prefer what is beneficial by nature to the charms of loathsome pleasure, and, in our desire for what will profit us, have the good sense not to associate with the unjust. Let us present ourselves to Christ as genuine worshippers, keeping an unbroken and unfeigned faith in him and guarding an unbending and unswerving confession, which we make in the presence of many witnesses, namely, the holy angels. For there are many who, putting on the semblance of piety like a mask “while denying its power” [2 Tim. 3:5], as Paul says, plunder the minds of simpler folk, seducing and persuading them with deceitful language to slip with them into death’s trap and into hell’s snare, as it is written. For they have decided not to speak to those who approach them about what agrees with Holy Scripture. Instead, they persuade them to think what their untrustworthy minds have dreamed up on their own, knowing neither what they are saying nor the matters about which they make their assertions. “But as for you, continue in what you have learned” [2 Tim. 3:14], as Paul says, abandoning vain disputes about words, spitting the silly chatter of the heretics out of your mouth in disgust, turning away from aimless myths, keeping your faith with straightforward arguments, and placing the tradition of the church in the storerooms of your heart like a treasure. Hold fast to those pursuits which are pleasing to God, so that you may be notable not only for your faith, but also for your achievements in piety.
2.1 Πολυσχιδὴς μὲν γάρ τις ἐπὶ τὸ δύνασθαι τὴν ἀρετὴν κατορθοῦν ἀποκομίζει τρίβος· καὶ διὰ ποικίλης ἄν τις ὁδοῦ καταντήσαι μόλις πρὸς τὸ βραβεῖον τῆς ἄνω κλήσεως· ἐν ἑνὶ δ’ οὖν ὅμως τὸ σύμπαν ἡμῶν ἀναδεσμεῖται καλόν ἐν τῷ ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς ἑαυτόν. καὶ χαλεπὸν οὐδὲν ἀληθὴς ὅτι γέγονεν ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος ἐπιδεικνύειν. ἐναγωνιεῖται γὰρ καὶ σφόδρα γενναίως τοῖς περὶ τούτων εἰρημένοις ἡμῖν ὁ σοφώτατος ἐπιστέλλων Παῦλος· “Μηδενὶ μηδὲν ὀφείλετε εἰ μὴ τὸ ἀλλήλους ἀγαπᾶν. ὁ γὰρ ἀγαπῶν τὸν ἕτερον νόμον πεπλήρωκε. τὸ γάρ· οὐ μοιχεύσεις οὐ φονεύσεις οὐ κλέψεις οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις καὶ εἴ τις ἑτέρα ἐντολή ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ ἀνακεφαλαιοῦται ἐν τῷ ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς ἑαυτόν. ἡ ἀγάπη τὸν πλησίον κακὸν οὐκ ἐργάζεται. πλήρωμα οὖν νόμου ἡ ἀγάπη.” ἀκούεις ὅπως ὁ σύμπας λόγος ἐν τῷ τῆς ἀγάπης ὅρῳ περισχοινίζεται. ὅσα μὲν γὰρ τῶν πραγμάτων τὸν θεῖον ἐκβεβηκότα φαίνεται νόμον ταῦτα δὴ πάντως τῶν τῆς ἀγάπης κύκλων ἐξώλισθεν. οἷς δὲ τὸ θαυμάζεσθαι δεῖν εὐλόγως ἀκολουθεῖ τούτοις ὁρᾶται προσόν τὸ διὰ πραγμάτων εἴσω τῆς ἀγάπης ὁρᾶσθαι. ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἀδικῶν οὐκ ἀγαπᾷ τὸν πλησίον· ὁ δὲ μισῶν ἀδικίαν ἀγαπᾷ δή που πάντως ὅλον ἐν τούτῳ τὸν νόμον ἀποπληρῶν. πλήρωσιν μὲν γὰρ τῶν ἐν τῷ νόμῳ κειμένων τὸ τιμᾶν ἐπείγεσθαι τὴν ἀγάπην προξενεῖ· ῥᾳθυμία δὲ ἡ περὶ αὐτὴν τῶν ἐκ νόμου κατηγορουμένων τὴν γένεσιν ἔχει. τίς γὰρ ἄν εἰπέ μοι πρὸς τὴν τοῦ δεῖνος εἰσέλθοι γυναῖκα καὶ γάμοις ὀθνείοις ἂν ἐπιπηδήσοι τὸ λυπεῖν ἐξ ἀγάπης τινὰ δυσωπούμενος; τίς δ’ ἄν οἶμαι τὸ μιαιφονεῖν οὐκ ἂν παντὶ παραιτήσαιτο σθένει αἰδοῖ καὶ τιμῇ τῇ πρὸς τὸν τοῦτο πεισόμενον καθάπερ τινὶ χαλινῷ πρὸς ἡμερότητα διακρατούμενος; τίνι δὲ τῶν ὄντων οὐκ ἀπόπτυστος ἂν καὶ βδελυρωτάτη τῶν ἀλλοτρίων ἡ κτῆσις ὁρῷτο πικρὸν εἶναι διενθυμουμένῳ καὶ ἐν τοῖς αἰσχίστοις τιθέντι κακοῖς τὸ ζημιοῦν ἀδελφόν; 2.1 For there are many forks in the path to accomplishing virtuous deeds, and someone may arrive with difficulty “at the prize of the call heavenward” [Philip. 3:14], by way of a convoluted road. Nevertheless, our good as a whole is bound up in one thing: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” [Matt. 22:39]. And it is not difficult to show that these words are true for us. Paul in his supreme wisdom provides excellent support for what we have said on these matters when he writes, “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not kill,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this sentence: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to its neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law” [Rom. 13:8-10]. You hear how everything he says is roped off within the boundary of love. For whatever clearly transgresses God’s law has certainly slipped outside of the circles of love. But one can see by their deeds that those who for good reason are admired are clearly acting within love. While those who act unjustly do not love their neighbors, those who hate injustice do indeed love them and thus fulfill the whole law. Holding love in high esteem brings about the fulfillment of the contents of the law, while neglecting love gives rise to what the law condemns. Who, pray tell, would approach someone else’s wife and attack his marriage when love makes him ashamed to cause someone grief? And I daresay anyone would refuse with the utmost vigor to commit murder due to the reverence and respect which he bears toward his potential victim and which steer him toward gentleness. And is there anyone at all who would not regard the acquisition of others’ possessions as detestable and abominable when he realizes how spiteful it is to harm his brother, that it is among the most disgraceful evils?
2.2 Οὐκοῦν ὁ πρὸς πᾶσαν ἡμᾶς ἀρετὴν ἀπευθύνων νόμος ἐν ἀγάπῃ τὴν πλήρωσιν ἔχει. ἀλλ’ οἶμαι προσήκειν τὰ τῆς ἀρτίως ὠνομασμένης ἡμῖν ἀρετῆς περιεργότερον ἐναθρήσαντα μέρη τί τὸ ἐντεῦθεν ἐκβαῖνον εἰπεῖν. οὐκοῦν κεχρήσομαι γὰρ κἀν τούτῳ τῇ τοῦ Παύλου φωνῇ· “Ἡ ἀγάπη,” φησί, “μακροθυμεῖ χρηστεύεται· ἡ ἀγάπη οὐ ζηλοῖ· ἡ ἀγάπη οὐ περπερεύεται οὐ φυσιοῦται οὐκ ἀσχημονεῖ οὐ ζητεῖ τὰ ἑαυτῆς οὐ παροξύνεται οὐ λογίζεται τὸ κακόν οὐ χαίρει ἐπὶ τῇ ἀδικίᾳ συγχαίρει δὲ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ. πάντα στέγει πάντα πιστεύει πάντα ἐλπίζει πάντα ὑπομένει. ἡ ἀγάπη οὐδέποτε πίπτει.” ὁρᾷς ὅσην ἡμῖν ἀγαθῶν ὠδίνει πληθὺν τῆς ἀγάπης ἡ δύναμις; “Ἡ ἀγάπη,” φησί, “μακροθυμεῖ,” τουτέστιν ἐπὶ ταῖς τοῦ γείτονος ὀλιγοψυχίαις οὐκ ἀσθενεῖ· ὁ γὰρ ὅλως μακροθυμῶν πάντως δή που καὶ ἐπί τισι τοῖς ἀτόποις εἰς αὐτὸν πεπραγμένοις ὑπό του μακροθυμεῖ καί τι τῶν ἀνιᾶν εἰωθότων καταγωνίζεται. παροξύνοντι δὲ τῷ θυμῷ πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἴσων ἀντίδοσιν σωφρονῶν οὐ πείθεται. χρῆμα μὲν γὰρ ὄντως ἡ ἀδικία φορτικόν ἱκανὸν εἰς ὀργὰς ἀνακαῦσαι δεινάς· καὶ τὸ προπαθεῖν ὑπό του τυχόν καίτοι κατὰ φύσιν ὄντι πονηρῷ καὶ συνεξοπλίζεται καὶ συνηγορεῖ τῷ θυμῷ· δόξῃ γὰρ ἄν πως οὐκ ἀδικεῖν ἀντεξάγειν ἀναπείθων καὶ ἐπείγεσθαι ἀντιπλήττειν τὸν λελυπηκότα. ἀλλ’ οἱ λογισμῷ νεανικῷ πρὸς τὸν τῆς ἀγάπης ὁρῶντες νόμον καὶ μακροθυμεῖν αὐτοῖς ὅτι πρέποι διενθυμούμενοι ἀναζέουσαν μὲν τὴν ὀργήν καὶ ὥσπερ τινὰ πῶλον ἀτάκτοις ἀναπηδῶντα σκιρτήμασι καθάπερ τισὶν ἡνίαις ταῖς ἀνεξικακίας ὀπίσω πάλιν ἀνασειράζουσιν· ἀμείνους δὲ τῶν λελυπηκότων καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο φαινόμενοι τὴν ἐφ’ ἅπασι τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς ἀποκερδανοῦσι ψῆφον. 2.2 Therefore love fulfills the law, which steers us toward all virtue. But now that I have carefully examined the constituent parts of this virtue, I think I ought to state the result. I will, therefore, again use what Paul says: “Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous; love is not boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not seek its own interests; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not take delight in injustice but rejoices in the truth. Love passes over all things, believes in all things, hopes in all things, endures in all things. Love never fails” [1 Cor. 13:4-8]. Do you see how much good the power of love produces for us? “Love is patient” [1 Cor. 13:4], he says; that is, it does not grow weak because of a neighbor’s pettiness. Those who are completely patient certainly remain patient even when others commit offenses against them, and they prevail over the things that usually distress people. The prudent do not yield to a temper which urges them toward retaliation. For injustice is really a considerable burden, able to kindle terrible rage. And the experience of suffering anything without provocation at the hands of anyone encourages one’s temper, however evil it may by nature be, and causes it to take up arms. It may even seem to be the case that hastening to strike back at the wrongdoer in retaliation is not wrong. Those, however, who with vigorous intelligence keep the law of love in view and who realize that it befits them to be patient, bring their anger back under control when it flares up, as though they were applying reins of forbearance to a colt leaping wildly about. And afterwards, since they have shown themselves to be better than those who did them wrong, they win the approval of all good people.
2.3 Ὃ δὲ δὴ κάλλιστόν ἐστι τῆς ἀγάπης μικροῦ παριππεῦσαν ᾤχετο. τί γὰρ δὴ πάλιν περὶ αὐτῆς πού φησι τῆς ἀρετῆς ὁ συνήγορος τί δὲ πρὸς τοῦτο κατορθοῦν ἕτερον τῶν ἀξιαγάστων διεκελεύετο διεξίωμεν πάλιν. “Ἡ ἀγάπη,” φησί, “οὐ ζητεῖ τὰ ἑαυτῆς, οὐ παροξύνεται.” ὁ μὲν οὖν ἀκριβής τε καὶ νομικώτερος ἐν τούτοις λόγος ἐκεῖνον ἂν ἐπιδείξειεν οὐ ζητοῦντα τὰ ἑαυτοῦ τὸν ἐν τῷ μηδενὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα πεποιημένον ἔστ’ ἂν αὐτῷ τὸ τῶν πολλῶν ἐξανύηται χρήσιμον. οἷον τί φημι· δότε γὰρ ἐλθεῖν καὶ διὰ παραδειγμάτων τὸν λόγον. ἐπέταττόν ποτε τῶν Ἰουδαϊκῶν ταγμάτων οἱ καθηγούμενοι τοῖς ἁγίοις ἀποστόλοις μηδενὶ προσλαλεῖν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ· οἱ δέ φροντίσαντες τῶν ἐκεῖνα ληρούντων οὐδέν καίτοι κινδύνων ἐπηρτημένων αὐτοῖς τῶν ἐσχάτων πάλιν τοῖς ὄχλοις περιτυχόντες ἐδίδασκον ἐπαμύνειν μὲν ὅτι πρέποι τοῖς πλανωμένοις διεγνωκότες ὀρθῶς παντελῶς δὲ τῆς ἐντεῦθεν ἀλογοῦντες ἐπιβουλῆς. οὐ γὰρ ἐζήτουν τὰ ἑαυτῶν ἀλλὰ τὰ ἑτέρων τὸν θεοφιλῆ τῆς ἀγάπης οὐκ ἐκβαίνοντες ὅρον. ἀλλ’ εἰ καί τινα τοιαύτην θεωρίαν ἡμᾶς ἐξαιτεῖ τὸ προκείμενον ἀλλ’ εἰς τὸ τοῖς ἁπλούστερον εἰωθόσι νοεῖν φέρε δὴ πάλιν αὐτῷ περιτρέποντες τοῖς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἐφαρμόσωμεν λόγοις. 2.3 But the most wonderful aspect of love has nearly passed by unnoticed. Let us look further at what the champion of virtue says about love and in addition at the marvelous way of putting it into practice he commands. Love, he says, “does not seek its own interests; it is not irritable” [1 Cor. 13:5]. An accurate exposition of this topic in tune with the law, then, would show that those who do not seek their own interests are those who have no concern for what is their own, as long as the many benefit. What do I mean? Let me proceed by way of examples. The leaders of the Jewish communities once ordered the holy apostles not to speak to anyone in Christ’s name. But the apostles ignored this nonsense of theirs even though it meant running the gravest risk and once again taught the crowds they encountered. They judged rightly that they should help those in error and completely disregarded the threat intended to dissuade them. For they were not pursuing their own interests but those of others, nor were they overstepping love’s boundary, so dear to God. But even though the subject at hand requires of us some such observation, let us turn to it once again and relate it to the Savior’s words for those who are accustomed to think about it in simpler terms.
2.4 Εἰς ἀκροτάτην τοιγαροῦν ἀναφέρων ἡμᾶς ἡμερότητα καὶ φιλαδελφίαν καὶ τὸ δύσερι καὶ φιλόνεικον καὶ τὴν τῶν οὐδὲν ἡμῖν προσηκόντων ἐπιθυμίαν ἀκάνθης δίκην τῆς ἡμετέρας ἀποκείρων ψυχῆς “Παντί,” φησί “τῷ αἰτοῦντί σε δίδου· καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ αἴροντος τὰ σὰ μὴ ἀπαίτει.” ἀκούεις ὅπως ἀποφρίττειν κελεύει τὸ ἀλλότριον; οὐδ’ ἂν ἀφέληταί τις ἡμᾶς τι δικαίως ἀντιστῆναι βούλεται· ἀμείνους δὲ μᾶλλον ὁρᾶσθαι καὶ τῶν ἐκ ζημίας ἐρεθισμῶν ἤγουν τοῖς ἀφαιρουμένοις ὑπό του τυχὸν ἀκρατῶς ἐπωδίνοντας εἰς ἀσχήμονα θυμὸν ἀνακαίεσθαι φιλεῖν. 2.4 Therefore, in order to elevate us to the highest kind of gentleness and brotherly love, and to prune contention and hostility and the desire for what simply does not belong to us from our soul like a thorn, he says, “Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not ask for anything back from those who take away what is yours” [Luke 6:30]. Do you hear how he orders you to shy away from what belongs to others? He does not want us to resist even if someone takes what is rightly ours, but to show ourselves superior to the provocation of a loss rather than always flying into an unseemly rage when we fail to control the pain caused by our losses to whoever it may be.
3.1 Ἀλλὰ τί μοι πρὸς ταῦτα πάλιν ὁ λωποδύτης ἐρεῖ; ὁ ταῖς μὲν τριόδοις θηρίου δίκην ἐγκαθήμενος καὶ τὸν οὐδὲν ἀδικήσαντα καθάπερ τινὰ τῶν πολεμίων παρατρέχοντα λοχῶν ποταμίοις δὲ νάμασι τὸ τῆς λῃστείας ἁπλώσας λῖνον κἂν ἁλῷ τις εὐθὺς ἀναπηδῶν καὶ πρὸς τὸ παρὰ φύσιν ἀνακαιόμενος θράσος. ποῦ μοι τέθεικας εἰπέ μοι τοῦ σωτῆρος τὸν νόμον καίτοι λέγων εἶναι χριστιανός; περιττεύεις μὲν γὰρ τὸν τῆς ἀγάπης θεσμόν· ὥσπερ δὲ εἰς θῆρα τῶν ἀτιθάσσων τινὰ μεταπεποιημένος καὶ εἰς ἔκφυλον ἀγριότητα πεσών οὐκ αἰσθάνῃ λοιπόν. τὸν δὲ κατ’ εἰκόνα γεγονότα τὴν θείαν ἐν τῷ μηδενὸς κατατάξας λόγῳ δρᾷς μὲν οὐκ οἰστά· σιδήρῳ δὲ πλήττειν ἀνοσίως ἀποτολμᾷς· ἀλλὰ καὶ σπαίροντα νεκρὸν ἐπὶ γῆς ἔσθ’ ὅτε τὸν ὁμογενῆ σοι θεώμενος ἄνθρωπον οὐκ αὐτήν σοι παραχρῆμα διαχᾶναι ποθεῖς οὐδὲ λογίζῃ τοῖς οὕτως ἀγρίοις ἐπιπηδῶν τολμήμασιν ὡς ἀροῦν μέν σοι γέγονεν ἐν ἔθει τὴν γῆν ἀνατέμνειν δὲ τοῖς ἀρότροις τὰς ἀρούρας εἶτ’ ἐγκατακρύπτειν αὐταῖς τὸ δοκοῦν καὶ σιδήρῳ πάλιν ἀποκείρειν τελεσφορηθὲν διὰ θεοῦ; καὶ θαυμάζεις μὲν τὸ τηνικάδε τὴν γῆν ὡς καρπῶν ἀγαθῶν μητέρα ὡς ἄριστά σοι περὶ τὸν τῶν ἀναγκαίων ὑπηρετοῦσαν ἐκπορισμόν· ἐπαινεῖς δέ ὡς εἰκός καὶ τοῦ σιδήρου τὴν χρείαν. πῶς οὖν ἀδικῶν οὐκ ἐρυθριᾷς τὰ δι’ ὧν ἦν σοι τὰ ζωαρκῆ; Τὸν μὲν γὰρ ἐτίθεις ἀνδροκτόνον τὴν δὲ τοῖς ἀθῴοις κατεφοίνιξας αἵμασι. πῶς οὖν ἔτι καρπῶν σοι γενέσθαι μητέρα παρακαλεῖς ἣν ἀφειδήσας ἠδίκεις; εἰς μητέρα δέ πῶς τὸν λαμπρὸν ἐπαφήσεις σίδηρον ὃν παρατρέψας τῆς αὐτῷ πρεπούσης χρείας ἀνδροφόνον εἰργάσω; πῶς δ’ ἂν ὅλως εἰπέ μοι τὰ εἰκότα φρονῶν καὶ κατάρδεσθαί σοι τοῖς ἐτησίοις παρὰ θεοῦ νάμασιν ἐξαιτήσῃς τὴν ἄρουραν ἐπ’ οὐδενὶ μὲν τῶν ἀγαθῶν τοῖς περὶ ποταμίοις ἐνιζάνων δόναξιν οὐκ ἐπὶ θήραν δὲ τῶν ἐν τοῖς ὕδασι περιερέττων τὸ σκάφος· πλεονεξίαν δὲ ἔχων μᾶλλον τὸ ἐπιτήδευμα ἀδίκοις τε καταμολύνων αἵμασι τὸ θεοδώρητον νᾶμα καὶ θηρσὶν ἐνύδροις τὸν συγγενῆ χαριζόμενος ἄνθρωπον; εἶτα ποίας εἰπέ μοι χεῖρας ἀνατενεῖς τῷ θεῷ; τί δὲ ὅλως ἐρεῖς προσευχόμενος ἢ πῶς αἰτήσεις τὰ ἀγαθά τοῦ θεοῦ λέγοντος δι’ ἑνὸς τῶν προφητῶν· “Ὅταν τὰς χεῖρας ἐκτείνητε πρός με ἀποστρέψω τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου ἀφ’ ὑμῶν καὶ ἐὰν πληθύνητε τὴν δέησιν οὐκ εἰσακούσομαι ὑμῶν· αἱ χεῖρες γὰρ ὑμῶν αἵματος πλήρεις;” ὁ δὲ λόγον οὐδένα τῶν παρ’ αὐτοῦ ποιησάμενος νόμων ποίας ἔτι φροντίδος ἀξιωθήσεται; “Τοὺς δὲ δοξάζοντάς με δοξάσω,” φησὶν ὁ σωτήρ, “καὶ ὁ ἐξουθενῶν με ἐξουθενωθήσεται.” ἢ τοίνυν ὑπόθες αὐτῷ τὸν αὐχένα καὶ ἀνταπαίτει τὴν τιμήν καὶ τὴν ἐφ’ ἅπασι τοῖς ἀναγκαίοις πλουσίαν ἐπίδοσιν ἢ τῆς ζεύγλης οὐκ ἀνεχόμενος καὶ καρτέρει κολαζόμενος. 3.1 But then, what will the robber say to me in reply? He crouches like a beast at the crossroads, lying in wait for pedestrians who have done him no wrong as though they were enemies and casting his pirate’s net into the river waters. If he catches someone, he springs upon him at once, on fire with unnatural recklessness. Tell me, what have you done with the Savior’s law despite your claim to be a Christian? For you transgress the commandment of love; you no longer realize that you have been transformed into an untamable beast, as it were, and have fallen into monstrous savagery. Your actions are intolerable when you treat someone who was made in the divine image as of no account. You dare to lash out with your sword irreverently. But are there not times when you see the still quivering corpse upon the earth as your fellow human being and long for this earth to swallow you up? And does it not strike you, when you rush to do these brutal acts of arrogance, that you are used to plowing the earth, to cleaving the fields with the plow and then concealing in them whatever seed seems good, and again reaping with the sickle what God has caused to ripen? You marvel then at the earth, the mother of good crops, which supplies you so excellently for your needs. And you doubtless praise the use of the sickle. How then do you not blush to misuse the things that have given you life’s necessities? Down goes your murder victim, and you redden the earth with innocent blood. How can you still entreat her to become the mother of your crops when you wrong her so carelessly? And how will you apply to a mother the bright iron 1 which you have perverted from its proper function and made into a murderer? Or how, pray tell, will you be at all able to ask God to soak your field with the yearly waters, if you have any sense, when you sit among the reeds with no good intent, rowing your canoe about not because you are hunting for what is in the water but because greed is your enterprise? You defile the God-given river with bloodshed and give your fellow human being to the aquatic beasts. Tell me, then, what kind of hands will you lift up to God? What could you possibly say in prayer? Or how will you ask for good things from God, who says through one of the prophets, “When you stretch out your hands to me, I will turn away my eyes from you, and though you make many petitions, I will not listen to you, for your hands are full of blood” [Is. 1:15]? What further reflection is fitting for one who takes no account of God’s laws? “I will honor those that honor me,” says the Savior, “and I will dishonor the one who dishonors me” [1 Sam. 2:30]. Therefore either bow your neck to him and demand in return honor and generous charity for all your needs, or else, if you cannot bear the yoke, put up with your punishment!
3.2 Εἰ γὰρ χρή τι πρὸς τούτοις εἰπεῖν τὸ μεθύειν ἐν ἀγαθοῖς καὶ περιχεῖσθαι τοῖς κατ’ εὐχήν ἐσθ’ ὅτε τῆς τοσαύτης σοι γέγονεν ἀσεβείας πρόξενον. Τοιοῦτον γάρ τί φησι καὶ ὁ πάντων δεσπότης θεός· “Καὶ ἐνεπλήσθησαν εἰς πλησμονήν καὶ ὑψώθησαν αἱ καρδίαι αὐτῶν. ἕνεκεν τούτου ἐπελάθοντό μου.” καὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ ὄντως δεινὴ μὲν ἡ πρὸς ὄλισθον τρυφή· ἱκανὴ δὲ πρὸς τύφον ἐνεγκεῖν τὸν τῆς ἀπονοίας γεννήτορα. πικρὸν δὲ ἀπονοίας ἔγγονον ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ καταφρόνησις· καταφρονήσεως δὲ τῆς ἐν τούτῳ καρπός πᾶν εἶδος πλημμελημάτων. τί οὖν; ὅταν σε τοῦτο παθόντα βλέπωμεν καταθρηνήσομεν εἰκότως καὶ προφητικὴν ἐροῦμεν φωνήν τοῖς σοῖς ἀνοσιουργήμασι φιλαλλήλως ἐπιστυγνάζοντες· “Οἴμοι ψυχή ὅτι ἀπόλωλεν εὐλαβὴς ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς καὶ ὁ κατορθῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις οὐχ ὑπάρχει. πάντες εἰς αἵματα δικάζονται· ἕκαστος τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ ἐκθλίβουσιν ἐκθλιβῇ ἐπὶ τὸ κακὸν τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῶν ἐπανέχουσιν.” ἐπὶ τούτοις ἡμῶν τοῖς πλημμελήμασιν ἀγανακτεῖ μὲν εἰκότως ἐπασχάλλει δέ ὡς ὁρᾶτε θεός. ἰδοὺ γάρ ἰδοὺ τὸ διὰ τῶν προφητῶν εἰρημένον εἰς πέρας ἡμῖν οὐχ ἅπαξ ἀλλ’ ἤδη πολλάκις ἐκβέβηκε· “Τάξατε γὰρ δὴ τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν εἰς τὰς ὁδοὺς ὑμῶν λέγει κύριος παντοκράτωρ. ἐσπείρατε πολλά καὶ εἰσηνέγκατε ὀλίγα. ἐφάγετε καὶ οὐκ εἰς πλησμονήν· ἐπίετε καὶ οὐκ εἰς μέθην· περιεβάλεσθε καὶ οὐκ ἐθερμάνθητε ἐν αὐτοῖς. καὶ ὁ τοὺς μισθοὺς συνάγων συνήγαγεν εἰς δεσμὸν τετρυπημένον.” ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τούτοις ἔτι φησίν· “Ἐπεβλέψατε εἰς πολλά καὶ ἐγένετο ὀλίγα. καὶ εἰσηνέχθη εἰς τὸν οἶκον καὶ ἐξεφύσησα αὐτά λέγει κύριος παντοκράτωρ.” ἴδωμεν γὰρ εἰ μὴ ταῦτα συμβέβηκεν ἀληθῶς. ἐπιδεικνύτω τις τὸν χαίροντα παρελθών καὶ νενίκημαι ὀφθαλμὸν ζητείτω τὸν ἀδάκρυτον κἂν εὕρῃ πεπαύσομαι. 3.2 If anything must be said in addition to this, it is that being immersed in good things and receiving an abundance of what you have prayed for has sometimes caused this great impiety of yours. The Lord, God of all, says something of the sort: “And they were completely filled; their hearts were lifted up. Therefore, they forgot me” [Hos. 13:6]. Indulgence, which leads to lapses, is indeed truly dangerous, and it can also lead to arrogance, the parent of madness. And the bitter offspring of madness is contempt of God, while the fruit of the contempt in this offspring is every sort of transgression. What, then? When we see you suffering from this, we will understandably be grieved and will affectionately speak the prophet’s words to you, distressed by your impieties: “Alas, my soul! For the pious one has perished from the earth, and no human being acts rightly. They all quarrel to the point of bloodshed; each afflicts his neighbor. They prepare their hands to do evil” [Mic. 7:1-3]. God is understandably indignant and displeased with these transgressions of ours, as you see. Observe how the words of the prophets have been fulfilled in our case, not once, but many times already: “‘Consider your ways,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘You sowed much and brought in little. You ate and are not satisfied. You drank and did not become drunk. You clothed yourselves and did not become warm. He who receives pay puts it into a bag full of holes’” [Hag. 1:5-6]. And he adds, “‘You expected much and little came, and you brought it into the house, and I blew it away,’ says the Lord Almighty” [Hag. 1:9]. Let us see, then, if this has not in fact happened. Let someone come forward and show me a happy person, and I will be defeated; let him search for an eye without tears, and, if he finds one, I will say no more!
3.3 Φιλονεικεῖτε πρὸς τὸ παρόν οἱ τὴν Αἰγυπτίων οἰκοῦντες γηπόνοι ἐπὶ μόνῳ τῷ παθεῖν θάτερος θατέρου τὰ χαλεπώτερα καὶ ὁ νικῶν ἐν ὑμῖν τῶν ἡττᾶσθαι δοκούντων ἀθλιώτερος. νικᾷ γὰρ ἐφ’ οἷς ἀλγύνεται καὶ τῶν τοῦ γείτονος πόνων πλουσιωτέραν ἔχει τὴν συμφοράν. τὰ δὲ οἷς ἦν ἔθος ὑμῖν ἐπαυχεῖν μακροῖς ἤδη χρόνοις ἀποδημεῖ. ἢ γὰρ οὐχὶ ταλαιπωρίας ὑμῖν ἁπάσης ἀνάμεστα καὶ δακρύων τὰ διηγήματα; τί δέ εἰπέ μοι τὰς κώμας ἔν τισιν ὁρῶμεν κειμένας; ἡ μὲν γὰρ τὰς ἀπὸ χαλάζης ἐνεγκοῦσα πληγάς λιμῷ καὶ θρήνῳ μαραίνεται οὐδαμόθεν παντελῶς κἂν γοῦν εἰς τὰ μέτρια λυπεῖσθαι βοηθουμένη. ἡβηκὼς μὲν γὰρ ἤδη καὶ ὑπερτενὴς ὁ στάχυς “θεριζέτω τις” ἤδη μονονουχὶ καὶ ἐφθέγγετο καὶ ὁ μὲν ἀρόσας τὴν γῆν ἐφέστιον ἤδη τὸν ἀμητῆρα λαβών ζωννύμενος πρὸς ἔργον ἐτρέπετο τάχα δὲ καὶ οὐκ ἀρκέσειν αὐτῷ τὴν ἅλω πολλάκις διελογίζετο. τὰ δὲ ἦν ὄναρ ἢ σκιά καὶ χαλάζης ἔργον οὐ θεριστοῦ. ὁ δὲ περιχεῖσθαι τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς ἤδη δοκῶν πάντων εὐθὺς ἔρημος ἦν· ἀντὶ δὲ τῶν σταχύων χαλάζῃ πλουτῶν πολύ τι καὶ μέγα τῆς ἐλπίδος ἐσφάλλετο. κώμη δὲ ἡ ταύτῃ γείτων καὶ ὅμορος ἡμερωτέραν νοσήσασα τὴν ὀργήν τοὺς μὲν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀρότροις ὀδύρεται πόνους μακρὸν δὲ καὶ πλατὺ γεωργήσασα λήϊον πλοῦτον ἡγεῖται πρὸς τὸ παρὸν τὴν εἰς κόρον τροφήν μᾶλλον δὲ τὴν πολύ τι καὶ λίαν ἀποδέουσαν κόρου. 3.3 My dear Egyptian farmers, you are at present contending for only one thing: to see who suffers more severely than the rest. The victor among you is more miserable than those he seems to defeat. For he wins on account of his pains and because he suffers more than his neighbor. As for the things of which you used to boast, they have been absent for a long time now. Aren’t your recollections full of tears and all kinds of distress? Why, pray tell, are the villages in such poor circumstances? One has been struck by hail and is wasting away with famine and grief, yet receives absolutely no help from anywhere, not even to moderate its pain. The grain, now at its prime and standing tall, was all but crying out, “Harvest me!” and the one who had plowed the soil now took his sickle from the hearth, equipped himself, and proceeded to work, perhaps repeating to himself over and over again that the threshing-floor would not be wide enough. But it was all a dream or a shadow. It was the hail that did the work, not the harvester. He had expected to be overwhelmed with good things, and suddenly he lacked everything. He abounded not in grain but in hail, and the ruin of his hopes stretched far and wide. As for the neighboring village bordering upon the other, which was less afflicted by the wrath, it laments the labor spent upon plowing, but, having cultivated a crop of great extent, it considers itself wealthy if it has enough to satisfy its present need for food, or rather even far less than what would satisfy.
4.1 Τίς οὖν ἡ τούτων κατασκεψώμεθα αἰτία εἰδῶμεν ἀπὸ τῆς θείας γραφῆς. οὐκοῦν ἐρεῖ πάλιν ἡμῖν ὁ πάντων ἔχων τὴν ἐξουσίαν· “Αἱ ὁδοί σου καὶ τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματά σου ἐποίησαν ταῦτά σοι· αὕτη ἡ κακία ὅτι πικρά ὅτι ἥψατο ἕως τῆς καρδίας σου.” ἀκολουθεῖ γὰρ τοῖς πλημμελοῦσιν ἐκτόπως τὸ χρῆναι δικαίως κολάζεσθαι καὶ ταῖς παρ’ ἡμῖν ἀπονοίαις ἰσοστατεῖν ἀνάγκη τὴν δίκην. ἀποπαυσώμεθα τοίνυν παντὸς ἀνοσίου τολμήματος· “Συγκόψωμεν,” καθὰ γέγραπται, “τὰς ῥομφαίας εἰς ἄροτρα καὶ τὰς ζιβύνας εἰς δρέπανα·” καί ὥς φησιν ὁ μελῳδός, “Δεῦτε προσκυνήσωμεν καὶ προσπέσωμεν αὐτῷ” καὶ δεδακρυμένοι λέγωμεν· “Ἡμάρτομεν ἠνομήσαμεν ἠδικήσαμεν.” τότε γάρ τότε καὶ ἵλεως ἔσται θεός· καὶ ἀποστήσει μὲν τὴν ὀργήν εὐφορήσει δὲ πάλιν ἡ γῆ καὶ δώροις ἡμᾶς τοῖς κατὰ συνήθειαν εὐφρανεῖ. “Οὐ γὰρ ἔχομεν ἀρχιερέα μὴ δυνάμενον συμπαθῆσαι ταῖς ἀσθενείαις ἡμῶν,” κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Παύλου φωνήν· “πεπειραμένον δὲ καθ’ ὁμοιότητα χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας.” 4.1 Let us look, then, for what may be the reason for this, and let us find it in Holy Scripture. The one who possesses all power will therefore say to us again, “Your ways and your habits have brought these things upon you; this is your wickedness, for it is bitter, for it has reached to your heart” [Jer. 4:18]. It follows that those who transgress excessively must be punished justly, and the penalty must fit our rebellions. Let us therefore refrain from all unholy audacity. Let us, as is written, “beat swords into plowshares and spears into sickles” [Mic. 4:3], and, as the psalmist says, “Come, let us worship and fall down before him” [Ps. 95:6], and let us say in tears, “We have sinned; we have acted lawlessly; we have done wrong” [Ps. 106:6]. For it is then, then indeed, that God will be gracious and put away his anger, and the earth will again be fruitful and will gladden us with its usual gifts. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,” as Paul says, “but one who has been tempted just as we are, yet was without sin” [Heb. 4:15].
Ὅτι γὰρ ἔνεστι προχείρως ἐποικτείρειν ἐθέλειν τῷ μονογενεῖ πόνου μὲν οἶμαι δεήσειν ἐμοὶ πρὸς τὸ δύνασθαι πείθειν οὐδενός· ἑτοιμότατα δὲ καὶ ὑμᾶς συγκατανεύειν ὑπολαμβάνω τῆς εἰς ἡμᾶς ἀγαπήσεως περιαθροῦντας τὸ μέτρον καὶ ὧν δι’ ἡμᾶς ὑπέμεινεν ἐννοοῦντας τὸ μέγεθος. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἦμεν ἅπαντες οἱ τόνδε τὸν περίγειον οἰκοῦντες χῶρον ἀνανταγωνίστῳ πλεονεξίᾳ τῇ τοῦ τυραννήσαντος δαίμονος ἰχθύων δίκην σεσαγηνευμένοι πρὸς ὄλεθρον καὶ ἀπώλειαν γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος ὁ μονογενής ἵνα πάντας ἐξέληται καὶ “κηρύξῃ μὲν αἰχμαλώτοις ἄφεσιν τυφλοῖς δὲ ἀνάβλεψιν” ὡς αὐτός πού φησι καλέσῃ δὲ πρὸς τοῦτο καὶ “ἐνιαυτὸν κυρίου δεκτόν.” For I do not think any effort on my part is necessary to persuade you that the only-begotten is willing to show mercy readily. I suppose you also are quite prepared to agree, since you have carefully considered the extent of his affection for us and have reflected on the magnitude of what he has endured for us. When all of us who dwell upon this earth had been caught like fish by the incomparable greed of the tyrant demon and faced death and destruction, the only-begotten became a human being in order to rescue everyone and “proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind,” as he himself says somewhere, and in addition to call for “a year acceptable to the Lord” [Luke 4:18-19].
4.2 Οὐκοῦν ἐλεήμων ὁ μονογενής εἰ καὶ τῆς οἰκονομίας τὸν τρόπον οὐ συνέντες <οἱ> Ἰουδαῖοι τοσοῦτον ἀπέσχον τοῦ κἂν ὅλως ἐθελῆσαι τοῦτον λαβεῖν ὡς ποτὲ μὲν ὑβρίζοντας καὶ Σαμαρείτην ἀποκαλεῖν ποτὲ δὲ πάλιν ἀφορήτως λελυπηκότας καὶ εἰς ξένην καταπηδῶντας μανίαν καὶ καταλεύειν ἤδη τολμᾶν. ἐπειδὴ δὲ θεομαχοῦντας ἐλέγχων καὶ τῆς ἀκρίτου μανίας ἀνεπυνθάνετο παρ’ αὐτῶν τὴν αἰτίαν ὁ κύριος λέγων· “Πολλὰ καλὰ ἔδειξα ἔργα ὑμῖν παρὰ τοῦ πατρός μου· διὰ ποῖον αὐτῶν ἔργον ἐμὲ λιθάζετε;” παραληροῦντες ἔφασκον· “Περὶ καλοῦ ἔργου οὐ λιθάζομέν σε ἀλλὰ περὶ βλασφημίας ὅτι σύ ἄνθρωπος ὤν ποιεῖς σεαυτὸν θεόν.” εἶτα τί πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὁ σωτήρ; “Εἰ οὐ ποιῶ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ πατρός μου μὴ πιστεύετέ μοι εἰ δὲ ποιῶ κἂν ἐμοὶ μὴ πιστεύητε τοῖς ἔργοις μου πιστεύετε.” οὐ γὰρ ἐξ ὧν ὡς ἄνθρωπος τοῖς ὁρῶσιν ἐφαίνετο δοκιμάζεσθαι τὰ καθ’ ἑαυτὸν ἠξίου ἀλλ’ ἐξ ὧν ὡς θεὸς εἰργάζετο οὐκ ἐπακτὸν ἔχων τὸ τῆς θεότητος ἀξίωμα καθάπερ ἡμεῖς ὅταν ἡμᾶς λέγῃ ἡ θεία γραφὴ θεούς· οὐσιωδῶς δὲ μᾶλλον ἐνυπάρχων αὐτῷ ἅτε δὴ καὶ ὄντι κατὰ φύσιν θεῷ καὶ τῆς τοῦ γεννήσαντος ἰδιότητος κληρονόμῳ. ἔχει δὲ καὶ τὸ πάντα δύνασθαι δρᾶν οὐ παρ’ ἑτέρου λαβών ἀλλ’ ὡς τῶν δυνάμεων κύριος καὶ ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρός. εἰ γὰρ καὶ γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος διὰ τὴν ἀγάπην τὴν εἰς ἡμᾶς ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἀγνοήσομεν διὰ τοῦτο τὸν ἁπάντων κύριον οὐδὲ τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν εἶναι θεὸν τὸν Ἐμμανουὴλ ἐκπέμψομεν ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις τὰ ἴσα φρονοῦντες ἐγκαλέσομεν αὐτῷ τὴν δι’ ἡμᾶς ἀνθρωπότητα· οὐδὲ ἐροῦμεν ἀνοσίως ἐπαιτιώμενοι τὸν δι’ ἡμᾶς γεγονότα καθ’ ἡμᾶς χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας· “οὐκ ἄν σε προσκυνήσαιμεν ἐπείπερ ἄνθρωπος ὤν ποιεῖς σεαυτὸν θεόν.” ἦν γάρ καὶ ἔστι καὶ ἔσται θεὸς κατὰ φύσιν καὶ πρὸ σαρκὸς καὶ μετὰ σαρκός. ἐπιμαρτυρήσει δὲ καὶ ὁ Παῦλος γράφων· “Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς χθὲς καὶ σήμερον ὁ αὐτὸς καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας.” ὁρᾷς πῶς οὐκ εἰς υἱῶν δυάδα κατατεμὼν εὑρίσκεται τὸν Ἐμμανουήλ οὐδὲ γυμνῷ καθ’ ἑαυτὸν ὄντι τυχόν τῷ ἐκ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς ἀπαστράψαντι λόγῳ τὸ ὡσαύτως ἔχειν διαπαντὸς ἀπονέμει· ἀλλ’ υἱὸν ἕνα καὶ μόνον κατὰ φύσιν εἰδὼς τὸν ἐνανθρωπήσαντα καὶ Χριστὸν ὀνομάζει καὶ Ἰησοῦν. πότε γὰρ ἂν ἐπιδείξειέ τις Ἰησοῦν ἢ Χριστὸν ὀνομασθέντα τὸν λόγον εἰ μὴ ὅτε γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος; Ἰησοῦς μὲν γὰρ παρὰ τὸ σῴζειν τὸν λαόν Χριστὸς δὲ πάλιν διὰ τὸ κεχρῖσθαι δι’ ἡμᾶς. οὐκοῦν οὐ γυμνὸν ἔτι πρὸ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως τὸν ἐκ θεοῦ πατρὸς ὄντα λόγον ἀλλ’ ἐν σαρκὶ γεγονότα καὶ Ἰησοῦν καὶ Χριστὸν ἀποκαλεῖ περὶ αὐτοῦ τέ φησιν ἐνδοιασμοῦ τινος δίχα ὡς ἦν “χθὲς καὶ σήμερον ὁ αὐτὸς καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας.” 4.2 The only-begotten is therefore merciful, even if the Jews, not understanding God’s mode of operation, were so unwilling to accept him that once they even insulted him by calling him a Samaritan, and another time, after harassing him unendurably and bursting into a monstrous fury, they rashly attempted to stone him. And when, in reproving these adversaries of God, the Lord asked them the reason for their reckless anger, saying, “I have shown you many good works from my Father; for which of these do you stone me?” [John 10:32], they spoke nonsense, saying, “It is not for a good work that we stone you but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, make yourself God” [John 10:33]. What does the Savior say to them then? “If I am not doing the works of my Father, do not believe me, but if I am, even though you do not believe me, believe my works” [John 10:37-38]. He did not ask that he be examined on the basis of his human appearance in the eyes of those who saw him, but on the basis of the works he performed as God, since he did not possess the honor of divinity as something foreign like we do when Holy Scripture calls us gods. Rather, it was present in him by essence since he is by nature God and heir to the nature of his begetter. He has the ability to do everything, not because he received it from someone else, but because he is the Lord of power and from the substance of God the Father. Even though he became a human being out of love for us, we will not for that reason fail to recognize the Lord of all nor deny that Immanuel is God by nature nor adopt the same attitude as the Jews and reproach him for his humanity which is for our sake. Nor will we profanely accuse him who for our sake became like us, yet without sin, saying, “We would not worship you, since you, a mere man, make yourself God.” For he was, is, and will be God by nature both before becoming flesh and now having flesh. Paul supports this when he writes, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” [Heb. 13:8]. You see that he does not cut up Immanuel into a duality of Sons, nor does he attribute his immutability to the bare Word, gleaming from God the Father, by himself. Rather, knowing that there is only one Son by nature, the one who became a human being, he calls him both Christ and Jesus. For when could one show that the Word is named Jesus or Christ except when he became a human being? He is called Jesus because he saves the people and Christ because he was anointed for us. He does not, therefore, call the bare Word of God the Father, still before the incarnation, Jesus and Christ, but him who came to be in the flesh. And about him he says with no uncertainty that he was “the same yesterday and today and forever” [Heb. 13:8].
5.1 Ἀλλ’ ἴσως ἀναφανεῖταί τις τῶν ἑτεροδοξεῖν εἰωθότων καὶ τῆς ἐνούσης αὐτῷ δυσσεβείας τὸν ἰὸν ἐρευγόμενος “οὐκ ἐν ἐσχάτοις εἰπέ μοι καιροῖς ἐγεννήθη Χριστός ὦ οὗτος;” ἀνακεκράξεται. “πῶς οὖν ἦν διαπαντός καὶ πρὶν γεννηθῇ;” πρὸς δὴ τὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ ἡμεῖς τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀληθείας ἀντεξάγοντες λόγους “συναγορεύσεις τοῖς παρ’ ἡμῶν ἄνθρωπε τοῦτο λέγων” ἀναβοήσομεν. πῶς γὰρ ἂν ὁ πνευματοφόρος καὶ τῶν τοῦ σωτῆρος μυστηρίων ταμίας τὰ τοῦ ζῶντός τε καὶ ὄντος ἀεὶ λόγου τῷ ἐν τελευταίοις τεχθέντι καιροῖς ἐχαρίσατο ναῷ εἰ μὴ δυσσεβὲς ἡγεῖτο τὸ διατεμεῖν καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἐνανθρώπησιν τὸν ἕνα καὶ μόνον καὶ ἀληθῶς υἱὸν ἀπενάρκησε διελεῖν εἰς δύο; τὰ δὲ ἰδικῶς τε καὶ φυσικῶς προσόντα τῷ λόγῳ καὶ πρὸ σαρκός ταῦτα πάλιν αὐτῷ καὶ ἐν σαρκὶ γεγονότι προσάπτει οὐχ ἕτερον εἰδὼς γεγονότα διὰ τὴν σάρκα ἀκέραιον δὲ φυλάττων αὐτῷ καὶ ὅτε γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος τῆς θεότητος τὸ ἀξίωμα. καὶ μὴ θαυμάσῃς ἄνθρωπε τὴν τοῦ Παύλου φωνήν. οὐ γὰρ τῶν τῆς εὐσεβείας κατατυραννήσας δογμάτων καὶ εἰς τὸ δοκοῦν ἁπλῶς κατατείνας τὰ τοιαῦτά φησιν ἀλλ’ ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν τοῦ σωτῆρος πεπαιδευμένος ῥημάτων. τί γὰρ ἔφη πρὸς τὸν Νικόδημον εἰ βούλει μαθεῖν ἔξεστι μὲν τυχόντι τοῖς ἐν εὐαγγελίοις ἰδεῖν· ἐρῶ δ’ οὖν ὅμως διὰ τὸ πᾶσι λυσιτελοῦν· “Εἰ γὰρ τὰ ἐπίγεια,” φησί, “εἶπον ὑμῖν καὶ οὐ πιστεύετε πῶς ἐὰν εἴπω τὰ ἐπουράνια πιστεύσετε;” καί· “Οὐδεὶς ἀναβέβηκεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν εἰ μὴ ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβάς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.” ποτὲ δὲ πάλιν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις προσλαλῶν διετείνετο καὶ ἐπεδείκνυ σαφῶς ὡς ἀμέτοχοι παντελῶς τῆς αἰωνίου μενοῦσι ζωῆς τῆς μυστικῆς εὐλογίας οὐκ ἀπογευσάμενοι· χαλεπῶς δὲ πρὸς τοῦτο διακειμένοις καὶ ἀπελθοῦσιν εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω καθὼς γέγραπται πάλιν φησί τὴν ἐντεῦθεν εἰς οὐρανοὺς προδιδάσκων ἀποδημίαν· “Τοῦτο ὑμᾶς σκανδαλίζει; ἐὰν οὖν θεωρῆτε τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἀναβαίνοντα ὅπου ἦν τὸ πρότερον;” 5.1 But perhaps someone filled with heresy will come up and regurgitate the venom of impiety which is in him as he shouts, “You there, tell me, was not Christ born in the last times? How then was he always, even before he was born?” Against this sort of stuff we muster words in defense of the truth, exclaiming, “What you say agrees with what we have said, my man!” How could the inspired author, the steward of the Savior’s mysteries, attribute the characteristics of the living and eternal Word to the temple born in the last times unless he considered it impious to cut them apart and shrank from dividing the one and only true Son in two after the incarnation,? The characteristics proper by nature to the Word even before becoming flesh he again ascribes to him when he has come to be in the flesh, knowing that he has not become something else because of the flesh. He keeps the honor of divinity uncorrupted for him even when he has become a human being. And do not marvel, my man, at Paul’s words. He was not having his way with the doctrines of orthodoxy and simply stretching them to fit his views when he said this; rather, he had been taught by the Savior’s own words. You can see what he said to Nicodemus in the Gospels if you want to find out. But I will quote the words to profit everyone: “If I have told you earthly things,” he says, “and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” [John 3:12], and, “No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man” [John 3:13]. Another time when he was speaking to the Jews he contended and showed clearly that they would have no part whatsoever in eternal life since they had not tasted the mysterious blessing. When they took this badly and drew back, as is written, he spoke again and taught his departure from there into heaven beforehand, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending to where he was before?” [John 6:61-62]
5.2 Καίτοι ὅλον γὰρ αὖθις ἀναλήψομαι τὸν λόγον γεγέννηται μὲν ἐπὶ γῆς διὰ τῆς ἁγίας παρθένου τὸ κατὰ σάρκα· κατέβη δὲ ὁ θεὸς λόγος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ. πῶς οὖν ἡμῖν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου καταβῆναί φησιν; πῶς δὲ καὶ αὖθις ὅπου πρότερον ἦν ἀνελεύσεσθαι λέγει; ὁρᾷς οὖν ὅπως ἀδιαστάτῳ τε καὶ ἀδιορίστῳ περισφίγξας ἑνότητι τῆς ἀπορρήτου συνόδου τὸν λόγον ἕνα καὶ πρὸ σαρκὸς καὶ μετὰ σαρκὸς παρ’ ἡμῶν ὁμολογεῖσθαι βούλεται Χριστόν; διὰ γάρ τοι τοῦτο καίτοι κατὰ φύσιν ἀπὸ γῆς οὖσαν τὴν σάρκα ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καταβῆναί φησιν ἀνελεύσεσθαι δὲ καὶ εἰς οὐρανοὺς ὅπου τὸ πρότερον ἦν. τὸ γὰρ ἐνὸν αὐτῷ κατὰ φύσιν τῇ ἰδίᾳ σαρκὶ περιτίθησιν ὡς οὐκ ὢν ἕτερος παρ’ αὐτήν ὅσον εἰς ἑνότητα τὴν ἐκ τῆς οἰκονομίας. καὶ οὐκ ἀναιρήσομεν διὰ τὸ εἰς ἄκρον ἑνοῦν τὰ ἀνόμοια κατὰ τὴν φύσιν· τὸ ὑπάρχειν μέν τι κατ’ ἴδιον λόγον τὸ ἀπαύγασμα τοῦ πατρός ἕτερον δὲ πάλιν τὸ ἀπὸ γῆς σαρκίον ἤτοι τελείως τὸν ἄνθρωπον· ἀλλὰ καὶ οὕτω ταῦτα διεγνωκότες καὶ μόναις διελόντες ταῖς ἐννοίαις τὸν ἐφ’ ἑκάστῳ λόγον ἀδιαστάτῳ πάλιν ἑνότητι περισφίγξομεν. “Σὰρξ γὰρ ὁ λόγος ἐγένετο” κατὰ τὸν ἅγιον εὐαγγελιστήν οὐκ εἰς σάρκα μεταβεβλημένος οὐ γὰρ τοῦτό φησιν ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ ἄνθρωπος ὁλοκλήρως εἰπεῖν τὴν σάρκα ὠνόμασεν. 5.2 I will summarize the whole topic once again. Although he was born upon earth through the holy virgin according to the flesh, the divine Word still came down from heaven. How, then, does he say that the Son of Man came down from heaven to us? And how does he say that he will go back up to where he was before? Do you see how he ties the Word up in the inseparable and indescribable oneness of the unfathomable union and wants us to confess one Christ both before the flesh and with the flesh? For this very reason he says that the flesh came down from above and from heaven, though it is by nature from the earth, and that it will ascend into heaven where it was before. For he confers upon his own flesh what is in him by nature not as a separate entity from it in regard to the unity of the incarnation. Yet we will not, on account of that which unites them to the greatest degree, take away the dissimilarities in nature: the fact that he is the Father’s unique radiance on the one hand, a fleshly being from earth or fully man on the other. But even when we have thus distinguished them and separated by thought alone what may be said of each of them, we will constrict them again in an inseparable unity. For “the Word became flesh” [John 1:14], as the holy evangelist says. He does not say that he changed into flesh, but rather, he uses the word flesh instead of speaking of man as a whole.
6.1 Οὐκοῦν ὡς ἔφησεν ἐν ἰδίοις συγγράμμασι καὶ ὁ πανεύφημος ἡμῶν πατὴρ καὶ ἐπίσκοπος Ἀθανάσιος ὁ τῆς ὀρθοδόξου πίστεως κανὼν ἀδιάστροφος δύο πραγμάτων ἀνομοίων κατὰ τὴν φύσιν ἐν ταὐτῷ γέγονε σύνοδος θεότητος δηλονότι καὶ ἀνθρωπότητος. εἷς δὲ ἐξ ἀμφοῖν ὁ Χριστός. καὶ ἄρρητος μέν πω ἡμῖν καὶ ἀπερινόητος παντελῶς ὁ τῆς ἀνακράσεως τρόπος· πίστει δ’ οὖν ὅμως παραδεκτὸν τοῦ μυστηρίου τὸ βάθος. τὰ γὰρ ὑπὲρ νοῦν καὶ σύνεσιν τὴν ἐν ἡμῖν περιεργίᾳ μὲν οὐδαμῶς μόνῃ δὲ πίστει θαυμάζεται. ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν οὐκ ἀλλοτρίαν ἡγεῖτο τὴν σάρκα ἴδιον δὲ μᾶλλον αὐτῆς ἐποιεῖτο ναόν καὶ ἄνθρωπος γεγονώς προσκυνεῖται δὲ καὶ παρὰ τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων· “ Ὅταν,” γάρ φησίν, “εἰσαγάγῃ τὸν πρωτότοκον εἰς τὴν οἰκουμένην λέγει· καὶ προσκυνησάτωσαν αὐτῷ πάντες ἄγγελοι θεοῦ.” πυθοίμην ἂν ἔγωγε καὶ λίαν ἡδέως τῶν ἑτεροδοξεῖν ἀσυνέτως τετολμηκότων καὶ χωριζόντων μέν ὡς αὐτός πού φησιν ὁ σωτήρ “ἃ συνέζευξεν ὁ θεός” δύο δὲ εἶναι Χριστοὺς καὶ δύο υἱοὺς οἰομένων εἴπερ τινὲς ὅλως εἰσί κατὰ τίνα δὴ τρόπον ἁρμόσει καλῶς τῷ ἐκ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς ὄντι λόγῳ πρὸ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως τὸ καλεῖσθαι πρωτότοκον. 6.1 Surely, then, as our all-praiseworthy father and bishop Athanasius, the infallible standard of the orthodox faith, has said as well in his own writings, what has happened is a conjunction of two things of dissimilar nature, divinity and humanity, in the same individual. But from the two there is one Christ. The manner of the mixture is unfathomable and wholly incomprehensible to us, but we accept the depth of the mystery by faith. For we admire what is beyond our mind and understanding not by a meddlesome curiosity, but by faith alone. He did not consider the flesh foreign to him, but rather made it into his own temple. As a human being he is worshiped even by the holy angels (for it says, “When he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him’” [Heb. 1:6]). Therefore I would be thrilled to learn from the thoughtlessly daring champions of a different doctrine, if indeed there are any, who divide “what God has joined” [Mark 10:9], as the Savior himself somewhere says, and think that there are two Christs and two Sons: How is the title ‘firstborn’ well-suited to him who was the Word of God the Father before the incarnation?
6.2 Πῶς γὰρ ἔτι μονογενής εἰ πρωτότοκος; εἰ μὲν γάρ ἐστι μονογενής οὐκ ἂν εἴη πρωτότοκος· ἀλλ’ ἔστι κατὰ ταὐτὸν ἀμφότερα Χριστός καὶ οὐκ ἄν τις εἰς δύο καταδιελὼν τὸν ἕνα καὶ μόνον υἱόν ἑνὶ μὲν ἀναθήσει τὸ πρωτότοκος θατέρῳ δὲ τὸ μονογενής. εὑρήσει γὰρ ὅλην αὐτῷ μαχομένην τὴν θεόπνευστον γραφήν· ἄμφω γε μὴν ἐπὶ Χριστοῦ κυρίως εὑρήσομεν. ἐπεὶ “πρωτότοκος” μέν ὡς ἄνθρωπος “ἐν πολλοῖς ἀδελφοῖς·” μονογενὴς δὲ πάλιν ὡς λόγος ἐκ θεοῦ καὶ πατρός. οὐκοῦν ὡς ὁ Παῦλός φησι· “Εἷς θεός καὶ εἷς μεσίτης θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων ἄνθρωπος Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς.” ἕνα γὰρ καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν εἰδὼς τὸν Χριστόν κἂν ποτὲ μὲν ὡς λόγος ποτὲ δὲ πάλιν ὡς ἄνθρωπος διὰ τὴν μετὰ σαρκὸς οἰκονομίαν εἰσφέρηται πάλιν ἐπιστέλλει περὶ αὐτοῦ· “Ἐν ᾧ ἔχομεν τὴν ἀπολύτρωσιν τὴν ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν. ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως· ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα τὰ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα εἴτε θρόνοι εἴτε κυριότητες εἴτε ἀρχαί εἴτε ἐξουσίαι· τὰ πάντα δι’ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν ἔκτισται. καὶ αὐτός ἐστι πρὸ πάντων καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκε. καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν ἡ κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος τῆς ἐκκλησίας ὅς ἐστιν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν.” ὁρᾷς δὴ πάλιν ὅπως ἡμῖν ἀναμίξας τοῖς θεοπρεπέσιν ἀξιώμασι τὰ τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος ἴδια τὸν αὐτὸν εἶναί φησι καὶ εἰκόνα τοῦ ἀοράτου πατρός· ἀπαύγασμα γάρ ἐστι καὶ χαρακτὴρ τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ· καὶ πρωτότοκον δὲ τῆς κτίσεως ἀποκαλεῖ· καὶ θρόνων μὲν καὶ κυριοτήτων καὶ πάντων ἁπαξαπλῶς δημιουργὸν ὁμολογεῖ· τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ πάλιν πρωτότοκον ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν εἶναί φησι. καίτοι καθὸ πέφηνεν ἄνθρωπος ἐν ὑστέροις τοῦ αἰῶνος πῶς ἂν εἴη πρὸ πάντων; φορέσει δὲ πῶς τοῦ δημιουργοῦ τὸ ἀξίωμα; ἢ κατὰ τίνα τρόπον εἰκὼν ἔσται τοῦ ἀοράτου θεοῦ; ἀνθρώπῳ δὲ πάλιν οὔπω γεγενημένῳ κατὰ τίνα προσέσται λόγον τό “πάσης κτίσεως” εἶναι “πρωτότοκον” καὶ “πρωτότοκον ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν;” ὅνπερ γὰρ τρόπον οὐκ ἀνθρώπῳ νοοῖτο πρέπειν τὸ δημιουργεῖν θεοπρεπῶς οὕτως ἀλλότριον τὸ τεθνάναι θεοῦ· ἀλλ’ ἑνὶ καὶ τῷ αὐτῷ περιτιθεὶς ὁ Παῦλος ἀμφότερα φαίνεται. οὐχ ἕτερον ἄρα καὶ ἕτερον οἶδεν υἱόν ἀλλ’ ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτόν· καθάπερ οὖν ἀμέλει καὶ ὁ μακάριος προφήτης Ἠσαΐας τοιοῦτόν τι περὶ Χριστοῦ καὶ φρονῶν καὶ λέγων εὑρίσκεται· “Καὶ ὀπίσω σου ἀκολουθήσουσι δεδεμένοι χειροπέδαις· καὶ ἔσονται δοῦλοι καὶ προσκυνήσουσί σοι. καὶ ἐν σοὶ προσεύξονται ὅτι ἐν σοὶ ὁ θεός ἐστι καὶ οὐκ ἔστι θεὸς πλὴν σοῦ. σὺ γὰρ εἶ [ὁ] θεός καὶ οὐκ ᾔδειμεν· ὁ θεὸς τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ σωτήρ.” ἀκούεις πῶς “σοί,” φησί, “προσκυνήσουσι καὶ ἐν σοὶ προσεύξονται” καὶ “ἐν σοὶ ὁ θεός ἐστι καὶ οὐκ ἔστι θεὸς πλὴν σοῦ;” ἐροῦσι δὲ ταῦτα καὶ τὸν ἐν ᾧ κατῴκησεν εἰδότες ναόν καὶ τὸν ἐνοικήσαντα λόγον οὐκ ἀγνοήσαντες προσκυνοῦσί γε μὴν οὐ τὸν ἐνοικήσαντα μόνον ἀποδιελόντες τοῦ περιβλήματος τῆς σαρκός ἀλλ’ ἕνα τὸν ἐξ ἀμφοῖν ἀρρήτως κεκερασμένον. 6.2 How is he still only-begotten, if he is firstborn? For if he is only-begotten, he could not be firstborn. Christ, however, is both at once, and one cannot, while dividing the one and only Son in two, assign to one the title ‘firstborn,’ and to the other ‘only-begotten.’ For he will find all divinely inspired scripture against him. Indeed, we find both titles applied properly to Christ because he is, on the one hand, as a human being, “firstborn among many brothers and sisters” [Rom. 8:29], but also ‘only-begotten,’ as the Word of God the Father. Thus, as Paul says, “there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus” [1 Tim. 2:5]. Knowing that Christ is one and the same, even though he is presented sometimes as the Word and sometimes as a human being because of his physical constitution with flesh, he writes further about him: “In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for in him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is in the beginning, the firstborn from the dead” [Col. 1:14-18]. You see again how, after combining what is proper to humanity with the qualities suited to God, he tells us that he is one and the same, the image of the invisible Father. For he is the radiance and imprint of his substance. He also calls him the firstborn of creation and confesses that he is the crafter of thrones and dominions and, in a word, of all things. He also says that the same one is the firstborn from the dead. And yet, insofar as he has appeared, a human being, during the final age, how can he be before everything? And how will he bear the dignity of Creator? Or how will he be the image of the invisible God? Again, before he has become a human being, why apply to him the words, he is “the firstborn of all creation” and “the firstborn from the dead”? [Col. 1:15, 18]. For just as no one thinks it befits a human being to create, which does befit God, so also it is foreign to God to die. But apparently Paul applies both to one and the same person. He does not know of two different Sons, but one and the same Son. Likewise the blessed prophet Isaiah can certainly be found thinking and speaking in much the same way about Christ: “And they will follow after you bound in handcuffs and will be slaves and will worship you. And they will pray by you, because God is in you, and there is no God beside you. For you are God, yet we knew it not, the God of Israel, the Savior” [Is. 45:14-15]. Do you hear how he says, “They will worship you, and they will pray by you,” and “God is in you, and there is no God beside you” [Is. 45:14]? They will say these things, and, because they know the temple in which he has settled and are not ignorant of the Word dwelling in it, they do indeed worship not only him who dwells in it, separating him from the garment of flesh, but the one who has been unfathomably mixed from the two.
6.3 Κατῴκησε μὲν γὰρ ὁ θεὸς λόγος ὡς ἐν ἰδίῳ ναῷ τῷ ἐκ γυναικὸς ἀναληφθέντι σώματι ψυχὴν ἔχοντι τὴν λογικήν· ἀλλ’ εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν ἀνεστοιχείωσε δόξαν τὸ ἀναληφθέν. διὰ γάρ τοι τοῦτο καὶ μόνῳ τῷ κατὰ φύσιν ὄντι θεῷ τὸ προσκυνεῖσθαι πρέπειν τῆς θείας ἡμῶν ἀνατιθείσης γραφῆς κατεθάρσησε πάλιν ὁ Παῦλος εἰπεῖν ὅτι “Ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ πᾶν γόνυ κάμψει ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων· καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσεται ὅτι κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ πατρός.” 6.3 For the divine Word did indeed dwell as in his own temple, the body received from a woman, which has a rational soul. But he transformed what was assumed into his own glory. It is for this reason that, even though the Holy Scripture tells us that worship is due only to the one who is God by nature, Paul once again confidently says, “At the name of Jesus Christ every knee will bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” [Philip. 2:10-11].
6.4 Τί δὲ δὴ πάλιν ἐροῦμεν ὅτε τοῖς τῶν ἁγίων εὐαγγελιστῶν περιτυχόντες συγγράμμασι τὸν μὲν κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν τὸν Χριστὸν σωματικῶς εὑρίσκομεν τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ προσφυσῶντα μαθηταῖς καὶ λέγοντα· “Λάβετε πνεῦμα ἅγιον.” Παῦλος δὲ πάλιν ἐπιστέλλει λέγων· “Ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ κόσμου ἐλάβομεν ἀλλὰ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ·” καὶ πρὸς ἑτέρους δὲ πάλιν ὡς περὶ τῶν Ἰουδαίων· “ Ὧν αἱ ἐπαγγελίαι ὧν οἱ πατέρες καὶ ἐξ ὧν ὁ Χριστὸς τὸ κατὰ σάρκα ὁ ὢν ἐπὶ πάντων θεὸς εὐλογητὸς εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. ἀμήν.” 6.4 What, again, will we say when we read the writings of the holy evangelists and find our Lord Jesus, the Christ, breathing bodily upon his disciples and saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit” [John 20:22]? Paul also writes, “We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God” [1 Cor. 2:12]. And to others he writes about the Jews, “To them belong the promises, to them the fathers, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, forever blessed. Amen” [Rom. 9:4-5].
6.5 Θωμᾶς δὲ τίνα ψηλαφήσας μετὰ τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναβίωσιν τὴν σοφωτάτην ἠφίει φωνήν, “ Ὁ κύριός μου καὶ ὁ θεός μου;” ἆρα καὶ τὴν χειρὸς ἁφὴν ὑπομένειν δύνασθαι τὸν ἐκ θεοῦ πατρὸς οἰησόμεθα λόγον; ἀλλ’ οἶμαι ληρεῖν τις ἡμᾶς οὐ μετρίως ἐρεῖ τοῦτο λέγειν ἀσυνέτως ἀποτολμήσαντας. τί δ’ ἂν εἴη τὸ παρ’ ἐκείνου ψηλαφώμενον οὐδενὶ τῶν ὄντων ἐφικέσθαι δυσθήρατον. Ἀλλ’ εἰσίτω πρὸς ἅπασι τούτοις καὶ ὁ τῶν ἁγίων μαθητῶν ἡγούμενος Πέτρος ὃς διαπυνθανομένου τοῦ σωτῆρός ποτε· “Τίνα λέγουσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου;” διαρρήδην ἀναβοᾷ· “Σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστός ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος.” οὐκ “ἐν σοί,” φησίν, “ὁ υἱός”· ἀλλ’ εἰδὼς ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτόν καὶ πρὸ σαρκός καὶ μετὰ σαρκός “Σύ,” φησίν, “εἶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος·” τί οὖν ἆρα τὸ ἐντεῦθεν ἐκβέβηκεν; ἐμακαρίζετο τοῦτο λέγων ὁ μαθητής· “Μακάριος εἶ Σίμων Βὰρ Ἰωνᾶ ὅτι σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα οὐκ ἀπεκάλυψέ σοι ἀλλ’ ὁ πατήρ μου ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς.” δῶρον δὲ ταῖς ἐννοίαις ἰσόρροπον καὶ τῆς ὀρθοδόξου πίστεως ἀμοιβὴν ἐκομίζετο τὰς κλεῖδας τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καθὼς γέγραπται. 6.5 And whom did Thomas touch after his resurrection from the dead so that he mouthed those words supremely wise: “My Lord and my God!” [John 20:28]? Are we to think that the hand can touch the Word of God the Father? If we dared to speak so foolishly, I think one would say that we were delirious. But what he touched is not hard for anyone to understand. Following all these people, let Peter, the leader of the holy disciples, come forward. When the Savior asked, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” [Matt. 16:13], he shouted, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” [Matt. 16:16]. He did not say, “In you is the Son,” but knowing that he is one and the same both before and with the flesh, he said, “You are the Son of the living God” [Matt. 16:16]. And what happened next? The disciple was blessed for what he said: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” [Matt. 16:17]. As a gift matching his thought and a recompense for his orthodox faith, he received the keys of heaven, as is written.
6.6 Ταύτῃ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀκολουθῶμεν τῇ πίστει καὶ τὸ συμφρονεῖν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ἀπορριπτοῦντες ὡς πορρωτάτω μὴ λέγωμεν σὺν ἐκείνοις τῷ πάντων ἡμῶν σωτῆρι Χριστῷ· “διὰ τί σύ ἄνθρωπος ὤν ποιεῖς σεαυτὸν θεόν;” ἀλλ’ ἕνα προσκυνῶμεν καὶ ὁμολογῶμεν Χριστόν τὸν αὐτόν καὶ λόγον ἐκ θεοῦ καὶ “ἄνθρωπον ἐκ γυναικός” καθὼς γέγραπται. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἦμεν ἐν πολλαῖς ἁμαρτίαις καὶ τὴν ἑκάστου ψυχὴν τὸ πικρὸν τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν ἡδονῶν κατεληΐζετο στῖφος “Ὁ θεὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ υἱὸν πέμψας ἐν ὁμοιώματι σαρκὸς ἁμαρτίας,” ὡς ὁ Παῦλός φησι, “κατέκρινε τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐν τῇ σαρκί” καὶ σὺν αὐτῇ τὸν ἐξ αὐτῆς βλαστήσαντα θάνατον ἵνα πάντας ἀναστοιχειώσῃ πρὸς τὴν ἀρχαίαν ζωήν. Ἰουδαῖοι μὲν γὰρ οἱ δείλαιοι ταῖς τοῦ διαβόλου στρατηγίαις τὰ πάντα πειθόμενοι τὸν τῆς δόξης ἐσταύρωσαν κύριον. ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἦν δυνατὸν ζωὴν ὄντα κατὰ φύσιν καὶ θεόν τοῖς τοῦ θανάτου κρατεῖσθαι δεσμοῖς. τοιγάρτοι σκυλεύσας τὸν ᾅδην καὶ πάντα τοῦ διαβόλου κενώσας μυχόν ἀνέστη τριήμερος ὁδὸς καὶ ἀρχὴ καὶ θύρα τῇ ἀνθρωπείᾳ φύσει γενόμενος πρὸς τὸ ἀνατρέχειν εἰς ζωήν καὶ τῶν τοῦ θανάτου κατανεανιεύεσθαι βρόχων. πάντες γὰρ ἦμεν ἐν Χριστῷ καθὸ γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας· “Καὶ σπέρματος Ἀβραὰμ ἐπελάβετο,” κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, ἵνα, “κατὰ πάντα τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ὁμοιωθείς,” νικήσῃ τὸν θάνατον ὅτε γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος. εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ ὅλος ὁ σκοπὸς τῆς μετὰ σαρκὸς οἰκονομίας ὁρᾷ τε καὶ βλέπει. διαναστὰς δὲ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν καὶ δι’ ἡμᾶς ἐκ νεκρῶν ὤφθη μὲν τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μαθηταῖς ἐπιτρέψας δὲ βαπτίζειν αὐτοῖς εἰς ὄνομα πατρός καὶ υἱοῦ καὶ ἁγίου πνεύματος καὶ ὅλην τῷ λόγῳ καταφωτίζειν τὴν οἰκουμένην καὶ “εἰς αὐτὸν” ἀνέβη “τὸν οὐρανόν συνεμφανισθῆναι τῷ προσώπῳ τοῦ θεοῦ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν,” καθὰ γέγραπται, ἵνα “παράκλητον αὐτὸν ἔχοντες πρὸς τὸν πατέρα καὶ ἱλασμὸν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν,” ὡς ὁ Ἰωάννης φησί, δρομαῖοι βαδίζωμεν “ἐπὶ τὸ βραβεῖον τῆς ἄνω κλήσεως” ἁμαρτίας μὲν ἁπάσης ἀποπηδῶντες εὐτόνως ἐπιτρέχοντες δὲ μᾶλλον τὸ κατορθοῦν ἐπείγεσθαι τὴν φιλόθεον ἀρετήν σωφροσύνην ἐπασκοῦντες ἐγκράτειαν ἀγαπῶντες “παριστῶντες τὰ μέλη τοῦ σώματος ὅπλα δικαιοσύνης τῷ θεῷ” τῶν ἐν ταλαιπωρίαις μνημονεύοντες ὀρφανοὺς καὶ χήρας ἀνακτώμενοι τοῖς δεσμίοις ἐπελαφρίζοντες τὴν ἐκ τοῦ δεδέσθαι συμφοράν καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς τῆς εἰς ἀλλήλους ἀγάπης ἐχόμενοι. 6.6 Let us follow this faith too, and, because we absolutely refuse to share the Jewish mentality, let us not say with them to Christ, the Savior of us all, “Why do you, a mere human, make yourself God?” Let us rather worship and confess one Christ, the same who is both Word of God and “man from woman” [Gal. 4:4], as is written. For since we were involved in many sins and the array of bitter pleasures in us was plundering the soul of each one, “God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh,” as Paul says, “and condemned sin in the flesh” [Rom. 8:3], and, along with sin, death which sprang from it, that he might restore everyone to the former life. For the wretched Jews were obedient to all the devil’s plans and crucified the Lord of glory. But it was impossible that he who is by nature life and God be held by the bonds of death. Therefore, after he had looted hell and emptied the devil’s lair completely, he rose on the third day, having become the way, the beginning, and the door for the human nature to return to life and triumph over the snares of death. For we were all in Christ inasmuch as he became a human being without sin: “And he helped the descendants of Abraham,” as is written, in order that, “having been made like his brothers in every respect” [Heb. 2:16-17], he might conquer death when he became a human being. For this is the whole purpose of his physical constitution with flesh. After he had risen from the dead on our behalf and for our sake, he appeared to his disciples and directed them to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and to illuminate the whole world with their message. Then he ascended “into heaven itself to appear in the presence of God on our behalf” [Heb. 9:24], as is written, so that, “having him as an advocate with the Father and an atoning sacrifice for our sins” [1 John 2:1-2], as John says, we might run “toward the prize of the call heavenward” [Philip. 3:14], vigorously rejecting all sin and instead eagerly making every effort to achieve that virtue which is dear to God. This means practicing temperance, embracing self-control, “presenting the members of our body to God as instruments of righteousness” [Rom. 6:13], remembering the unfortunate, supporting orphans and widows, relieving prisoners in the distress of their captivity, and, in a word, clinging to mutual love.
6.7 Τότε γάρ τότε τὴν καθαρωτάτην καὶ παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ μητέρα νηστείαν ἐπιτελέσομεν· ἀρχόμενοι τῆς μὲν ἁγίας τεσσαρακοστῆς ἀπὸ δωδεκάτης τοῦ φαμενὼθ μηνός τῆς δὲ ἑβδομάδος τοῦ σωτηριώδους πάσχα ἀπὸ ἑπτακαιδεκάτης τοῦ φαρμουθὶ μηνός· καταπαύοντες μὲν τὰς νηστείας τῇ δευτέρᾳ καὶ εἰκάδι τοῦ αὐτοῦ φαρμουθὶ μηνός ἑσπέρᾳ βαθείᾳ σαββάτου· ἑορτάζοντες δὲ τῇ ἑξῆς ἐπιφωσκούσῃ κυριακῇ τῇ τρίτῃ καὶ εἰκάδι τοῦ αὐτοῦ φαρμουθὶ μηνός ἐν Χριστῷ ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος νῦν καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ἀμήν. 6.7 It is then, then indeed, that we will celebrate the fast which is absolutely pure and the mother of every good thing. Holy Lent will begin on the twelfth day of Phamenoth, and the week of the salvific Paschal feast on the seventeenth day of Pharmuthi. We will break the fast on the twenty-second day of Pharmuthi, late on Saturday evening. We will celebrate the feast at dawn on Sunday, the twenty-third day of Pharmuthi, in Christ, to whom be glory and power, now and forever. Amen.

Last updated 11/9/21 by GT

  1. The same Greek word is translated “sword” and “sickle” earlier in this paragraph.

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