{"asterius-amasea-homiliae/1.1":{"o":"Α΄. Ὁμιλίω ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ Λουκᾶν Εὐαγγειίου, εἰς τὸν πιούσιον καὶ εἰς τὸν Λάζαρον. Οὐ τοῖς ἀποφατιχοῖς καὶ δογματιχοῖς μόνον θεσπέσμασιν ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν καὶ Σωτὴρ παιδεύει τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, ὥστε μισεῖν χαχίαν καὶ ἀγαπᾷν ἀρετήν\" ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἐναργέσι τῶν ὑποδειγμάτων, σαφῆ παραδίδωσι τὰ τῆς ἀγαθῆς πολιτείας μαθήματα, ἔργοις ὁμοῦ καὶ λόγοις προσθιθάζων ἡμᾶς τῇ χαταλήψει τῆς ἀγαθῇς καὶ φιλοθέου ζωῆς. Οὕτω τοι καὶ νῦν πολλαχοῦ\" προειρηχὼς ἡμῖν, διά τε προφητιχῶν καὶ εὐαγγελιχῶν στομάτων, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ οἰχείας φωνῆς, ἀποστρέφεσθαι μὲν τὸν ὑπερήφανον καὶ ὑψαύχενα πλοῦτον, ἀγαπᾷν δὲ γνώμην φιλάνθρωπον, καὶ τὴν μετὰ διχαιοσύνης πενίαν, ἵνα τὴν τοῦ χαλοῦ συμβουλὴν βεδαιοτέραν ἐργάσηται, τεχμηριοῖ τὸν λόγον ν πραχτιχοῖς ὑποδείγμασι, καὶ γράφει τῇ διηγήσει τὸν πλούσιον καὶ τὸν πένητα\" καὶ τοῦ μὲν τὴν φιλότιμον ἀπόλαυσιν\" τοῦ δὲ, τὴν τεθλιμμένην ζωὴν ὑποδείχνυσι, καὶ τὸ τέλος ἀμφοτέρων τοῦ βίου εἰς ὅ τι χατέληξεν᾽ ἵνα τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις ἐπιτηδεύμασι σχεψάμενοι τὴν ἀλήθειαν, σώφρονες γενώμεθα τῶν ἰδίων βίων χριταί. Ἄγθρωπος ἦν πλούσιος, καὶ ἐνεδιδύσκπκετο πορφύραν καὶ βύσσον. Διὰ δύο συντόμων ὀνομάτων, ὁ λόγο; σχώπτει καὶ χωμῳδεῖ τὴν πλαδῶσαν καὶ ἄμετρον τῶν χαχῶς πλουτούντων διάχυσιν. Τῆς μὲν γὰρ πορφύρας τὸ χρῶμα, πολυδάπανον καὶ περίεργον\" τῆς ὃὲ βύσσου, οὐχ ἀναγκαία ἡ χρῆσις. Τῶν δὲ τὴν εὐπολίτευτον ζωὴν αἱρουμένων καὶ ἀπερίεργον, οἰκεῖον καὶ φίλον τὸ τῇ χρείᾳ τῶν ἀναγκαίων τὴν χρῆσιν μετρεῖν’ φεύγειν δὲ τῆς ματαίου χενοδοξίας τὸν συρφετὸν, καὶ τὴν πλάνον ᾿ διαγωγὴν, ὡς καχίας μη- «τέρα. Καὶ ἵνα σαφέστερον αὐτοῦ τούτου τοῦ λεγομένου τὴν δύναμιν χαταμάθωμεν, ἡ τῶν ἐνδυμάτων πρώτη διαγνωσθήτω χρῆσις, μέχρι πόσου καὶ τίνος παραληφθήσεται, ὅροις καὶ χανόσι περιλαμδανομένη σώφροσι. Τί τοίνυν ὁ τοῦ δικαίου νόμος φησίν’ Πρόθατον ὁ Θεὸς ἔχτισεν εὔχομον τὴν δορὰν, καὶ τοῖς δοὺς ὑφαντιχῇ τέχνῃ τὴν ὕλην, χιτῶνα σαυτῷ καὶ ἐμάτον χατασχεύασον, ὅπως ἂν διαφεύγης χειμῶνος ταλαιπωρίαν, καὶ τῆς ζεούσης ἀχτῖνος βλάδην ὃ. Εἰ δέ σοι καὶ χουφοτέρας ἐσθῆτος χρεία χατὰ τὴν ὥραν τοῦ θέρους, ἔδωχεν ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ λίνου τὴν χρῆσιν εἰς πλατυτέραν ἀπόλαυσιν' καί σοι ῥᾷστον ἐχεῖθεν κτή- Β σασθαι σχέπην εὐσχήμονα, ἀμφιεννῦσαν ὁμοῦ καὶ ἀναψύχουσαν τῇ χουφότητι. Καὶ τούτων ἀπολαύων, ὁμολόγει τῷ χτίστῃ τὴν χάριν, ὑπὲρ ὧν οὐχ ἐποίησεν μόνον ἡμᾶς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς πρὸς τὸ ζῇν ἀσφαλείας ἐφρόντισεν. ἂν δὲ χαταλιμπάνων τὸ πρόθατον καὶ τὸ ἔριον, καὶ τὴν ἀναγκαίαν τοῦ δημιουργοῦ τῶν ὅλων παρασχενὴν, ταῖς ματαίαις ἐπινοίαις, καὶ ταῖς ἐμπλήχτοις ἐπιθυμίαις ἐχδιαιτώμενος, τὴν βύσσον ἐπιζητῇς, καὶ συνάγῃης τὰ τῶν Περσιχῶν σχωλήχων γήματα, ἱστὸν δὲ ἀράχνης ἀνεμαῖον ὑφαίνῃς\" καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἀνθόδαφον ἐρχόμενος, μισθοὺς τελεῖς δαψιλεῖς, ἵνα τὸν χόχλον ἐχ θαλάσσης θηρεύσας, τῷ αἴματι τοῦ ζώου χρίσῃ τὸ ἔνδυμα, τοῦτο ὑπερμαζῶντός ἐστιν ἀνθρώπου, παραχρωμένου τῇ χτήσει, οὐχ ἔχοντος ὅπου τὸ περιττεῦον ἐχχέῃ. Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ὁ τοιοῦτος μαστίζεται, παρὰ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου ᾿κατηγορούμενος, ὡς; βλὰξ καὶ θηλυδρίας, χόσμοις ἀθλίων χορασίων χαλλωπιζόμενος. ΚΑλλοι πάλιν χατὰ τὴν γνώμην τῆς ὁμοίας ματαιότῆῖος ἐρασταί\" μᾶλλον δὲ, πρὸς τὸ πλέον τὴν χαχίαν ἀσχήσαντες, οὐδὲ μέχρι τῶν εἰρημένων ἔστησαν τῆς μωρᾶς ἐπινοίας τοὺς ὄρους\" ἀλλά τινα χενὴν ὑὕφαντιχὴν ἐξευρόντες καὶ περίεργον, ἥτις τῇ πλοχῇ τοῦ τὴν δύναμιν, καὶ πάντων ζώων τοῖς πέπλοις τὰς μορφὰς ἐνσημαίνεται, τὴν ἀνθινὴν καὶ μυρίοις εἰδώλοις πεποιχιλμένην φιλοτεχνοῦσιν ἐσθῆτα, ἑαυτοῖς τε καὶ γυναιξὶ, καὶ παισίν\" παίζοντες λοιπὸν, οὐ σπουδάζοντες χατὰ τῆς ἀμετρίας τοῦ πλούτου παραχρώμενοι ἡ. τῷ βίῳ, οὐ χρώμενοι, ἀντινομοθετοῦντες τῷ Παύλῳ, καὶ μαχόμενοι ταῖς θεοπνεύστοις φωναῖς, οὐ γράμμᾶσιν, ἀλλὰ πράγμασιν. “Ἃ γὰρ ἐχεῖνος ἀπεχήρυξε λόγῳ, ταῦθ᾽ οὗτοι χρατοῦσι καὶ χυροῦσι τοῖς ἔργοις. Ὅταν οὖν ἐνδυσάμενοι φανῶσιν, ὡς τοῖχοι γεγρᾶμ.μένοι παοὰ τῶν συντυγχανόντων ὁρῶνται. Καί πον καὶ τὰ παιδία αὑτοὺς περιίστανται μειδιῶντα πρὸς ἄλληλα, καὶ δαχτυλοδειχνοῦντα τὴν ἐν τοῖς ἱματίοις γραφήν: βαδίζουσι δὲ παρεπόμενα, οὐχ ἀναχωροῦντα σει. ἰδεῖν ","t":"Homily 1. From the Gospel according to Luke, on the rich man and on Lazarus. Not only by prohibitions and doctrinal oracles does our God and Saviour train people to hate vice and love virtue; he also hands down clear lessons of the good way of life through vivid examples, bringing us by deeds and words together to the grasp of the good and God-loving life. So now too: he had told us beforehand in many places, through the mouths of prophets and evangelists, and indeed with his own voice, to turn away from proud and high-necked wealth and to love a humane disposition and poverty joined with righteousness; and in order to make his counsel of the good more firm, he confirms the word with practical examples. In the narrative he portrays the rich man and the poor man, and shows the ostentatious enjoyment of the one and the afflicted life of the other, and where the life of each ended; so that, having seen the truth in the practices of others, we may become sober judges of our own lives. “There was a rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen.” By two short words the passage mocks and satirizes the bloated and immoderate dissipation of those who are rich in a bad way. For the colour of purple is costly and superfluous, and the use of fine linen is not necessary. But for those who choose a well-ordered and unfussy life it is proper and dear to measure use by the need for necessities, and to flee the rubbish of vainglory and a wandering way of life as the mother of vice. And that we may learn more clearly the force of this very saying, let the first use of clothing be distinguished: how far and for what it is to be taken, bounded by sober limits and rules. What, then, does the law of the righteous One say? “God created the sheep with a fleece of good wool; and having given the material to the art of weaving, make yourself a tunic and a cloak, so that you may escape the hardship of winter and the harm of the burning sun. And if you need lighter clothing in the summer season, God has given the use of flax for wider enjoyment; and from it it is very easy for you to get a seemly covering, which clothes you and at the same time cools you by its lightness. And enjoying these things, confess your thanks to the Creator, for he not only made us but also took thought for our safety in living.” But if you leave the sheep and the wool and the necessary provision of the Maker of all things, and, living abnormally by vain inventions and frenzied desires, you seek fine linen, and collect the threads of the Persian worms, and weave the airy web of the spider; and, going to the dyer of flowered stuffs, you pay lavish wages so that he may hunt the shellfish from the sea and smear the garment with the creature’s blood: this belongs to a man wanton with plenty, who misuses his possessions and has nowhere to pour out the surplus. And for this reason such a man is scourged, accused by the Gospel as a fool and effeminate, beautifying himself with the finery of wretched girls. Others again, lovers of the same vanity in disposition, or rather having practised vice further, did not set the limits of their foolish invention even at what has been mentioned. They have found an empty and over-elaborate kind of weaving, which by the interlacing of … the power, and imprints the forms of all living creatures on robes; and with great pains they make flowered clothing, embroidered with countless figures, for themselves, their wives and their children. They are playing, then, not in earnest; through the excess of their wealth they misuse life rather than use it; they legislate against Paul and fight the God-inspired words, not in writing but in deeds. For what he proscribed in word, these men hold and ratify in deeds. Whenever, then, they appear dressed, they are looked at like painted walls by those who meet them. And perhaps the children too stand around them, smiling at one another and pointing with their fingers at the picture on the garments; and they walk along behind them, not going away …","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 1.1 (PG 40:165; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/1-1)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/1.2":{"o":"καὶ ταῦροι, καὶ χύνες\" ὕλαι, καὶ πέτραι, καὶ ἄνδρες θηροχτόνοι, καὶ πᾶσα ἡ νῆς γραφικῆς ἐπιτήδευσις μιμουμένη τὴν φύσιν. \"Ἔδει γὰῤ μὴ τοὺς τοίχους αὐτῶν μόνον, ὡς ἔοιχεν, καὶ τὰς αἰχέας χοσμεῖσθαι\" «ἀλλὰ ἤδη καὶ τοὺς χιτῶνας, καὶ τὰ ἐν ἐχείνοις ἱμάτια. : Ὅσοι δὲ καὶ ὅται τῶν πλουτούντων [ὲν ὑμῖν] εὖ. λαθέστεροι, ἀναλεξάμενοι τὴν εὐαγγελιχὴν ἱστορίαν, τοῖς ὑφανταῖς παρέδωχαν' αὐτὸν λέγω τὸν Χριστὸν ἡμῶν μετὰ τῶν μαθητῶν ἁπάντων\" καὶ τῶν θαυμασίων ἕχαστον, ὡς ἡ διήγησις ἔχει. \"Ὄψει τὸν γάμον τῆς Γαλιλαίας, καὶ τὰς ὑδρίας\" τὸν παραλντικχὸν, τὴν χλίνην ἐπὶ τῶν ὥμων φέροντα᾽ τὸν τυφλὸν τῷ τᾶχῷ θεραπευόμενον' τὴν αἱμοῤῥοοῦσαν τοῦ κρασπέδου πὸν Χρισνὲν ἐν ἱματίοις, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον τὴν τῶν ἀνα- ᾿Αρχεῖ γὰρ αὑτῷ ἡἣ μία τῆς ἐνσωματῴσεως ταπείσοῦ προσπίπτουσαν' τὸν Λάζαρον ἐχ τοῦ τάφον πρὸς πὴν ζωὴν ὑποστρέφοντα. Καὶ ταῦτα ποιοῦντες, εὐσεδεῖν νομίζουσι, καὶ ἱμάτια χεχαρισμένα τῷ Θεῷ ἀμκωλέσαντες, τὰς ζώσας εἰκόνας τοῦ Θεοῦ τιμησάτωσαν. Μὴ γράφε τὸν Χριστὸν (ἀρχεῖ γὰρ αὐτῷ ἡ μία τὴς ἐνσωματώσεως ταπεινοφροσύνη, ἦν αὐθαιρέτως δι᾽ ἡμᾶς κατεδέξατο), ἐπὶ δὲ τῆφ ψυχῆς σου, βαστάξων νοηνῶς τὸν ἀσώματον Αόγον περίφερε. Μὴ τοῖς ἱματίοις ὄχε τὸν παραλυτιχόν᾽ ἀλλὰ τὸν χείμεγον μοῤῥοοῦδαν\" ἀλλὰ χήραν θλιδομένην ἐλέησον. Μὴ τὴν ἁμαρτωλὸν γυναῖχα ἐπιμελῶς ὄρα γονυπετοῦσαν τὸν Κύριον\" ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ τοῖς αὐτοῦ πλημμελήμασν βενος, πυχνὸν ἔχχεον τὸ δάχρυον. Μῆ τὸν Λάζαρον ἐγειρόμενον ἐχ νεχρῶν σχιαγράφει\" ἀλλὰ τῆς σῆς ἀναστάσεως ἀγαθὴν τὴν ἀπολογίαν εὐτρέπιζε. Μὴ τὸν τυφλὸν ἐπὶ τῆς ἐσθῆτος περίφερε' ἀλλὰ τὸν ζῶντα, καὶ τῶν ὄψεων ἀφῃρημένον ταῖς εὐποιίαις παραμυθοῦ. Μὴ τοὺς χοφίνους ζωγράφει τῶν λειψάνων ἀλλὰ τρέφε τοὺς πεινῶντας. Μὴ τὰς ὑδρίας ἐπὶ τῶν ἱμακίων βάσταξε, ἃς ἐν Κανᾷ Ἑαλιλαίας ἐπλήρωσεν\" ἀλλὰ τιξε τὸν διψῶντα. Ἐπὶ ταῦτα ἡμᾶς ὠφέλησε τὸ ὑπερήφανον ἔνδυμα τοῦ πλουδίου\" οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ τὰ ἑξῆς περιοπτέον. Εροστέθειχε γὰρ τῇ πορφύρᾳ καὶ τῇ βύσσῳ, τὸ τρυφᾷν χαδ' ἡμέραν λαμπρῶς\" πάντως δὲ τῆς μιᾶς γνώμης ἀμφότερα, τὸ καὶ τῇ ἀχρήστῳ φιλοτιμίᾳ τῶν ἐσθημάτων ἐγχαλλωπίξεσθαι, καὶ τῇ Ὁ γαστρὶ καὶ τῇ φάρυγγι δουλεύειν ἡδυπαθῶς. Τρυφὴ ποίνυν ἐστὶν πρᾶγμα πολέμιον φιλαρέτου ζωῆς\" βλαχείας δὲ καὶ διαχύσεως δουλούσης\" ἀπολαύσεως ἀμέτρου, καὶ ἀνδραπσδώδους συνηϑείας. Καὶ λεγόμενον μὲν τὸ πρᾶγμα ἕν τι φαίνεται\" ἐξεταζό- Α μενον δὲ χατὰ μέρος καὶ χατηγορούμενον, ἐχ ποιχίλῆς καὶ πλείονος καὶ πολυχεφάλου χαχίας ἔχει τὴν σύστασιν. Τρυφὴ γὰρ οὐχ ἂν γένοιτο, μὴ πολλαῖς αὐξηθεῖσα ταῖς ὕλαις. Ὕλας δὲ πλούτου σωρεῦσαι ἀναμαρτήτως, ἀμήχανον’ πλὴν εἰ μὴ τινι, χατὰ τὸ σπάνιον, ὡς τῷ Ἰὼδ, συμθαίη, καὶ πλουτεῖν δαψιλῶς, καὶ ζῇν κατὰ τὸ δίχαιον ἀχριδῶς. Δεῖ τοένυν τῷ τρυφῶντι, πρῶτον μὲν οἰχίας πολυτελοῦς, ψήφῳ καὶ λίθοις καὶ χρυσῷ χατὰ τὰς νύμφας χεχοσμημένης\" πρὸς δὲ τὰς ἐξαλλαγὰς τῶν ὡρῶν τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ ἐπιτηδείως ἐχούσης. Ζητεῖται γὰρ θερμὴ, ἀλεεινὴ μὲν. ἡ τοῦ χειμῶνος, καὶ τετραμμένη πρὸς τὴν ἀχτῖνα τῆς μεσημόδρίας\" ἀναπεπταμένη δὲ πρὸς τὴν ἄρχτον, θερινή᾽ ἵνα λεπταῖς ὁμοῦ καὶ ψυχραῖς ταῖς αὔραις ταῖς … λοῦς ἐσθῆτος τῆς μελλούσης ἀμφιέννυσθαι τὰ βάθρα, τὰς χλίνας, τὰς στιδάδας, τὰς θύρας. Πάντα γὰρ καρ᾽ ἐχείνοις ἐπιμελῶς ἐνδύεται καὶ τὰ ἄψυχα, ἔλεειγῶς τῶν πενήτων ἐχδυομένων. Πρόσθες ἑξῆς τούτοις καὶ λόγισαι τὸν ἐν σχεύεσιν ἄργυρον, τὸν χρυσὸν, οἴνου τοῦ Φοίνιχος, ὃν αἱ ἄμπελοι Τύρου πολὺν τοῖς πλουσίοις καὶ τίμιον ἀποῤῥέουσι\" πᾶσαν τὴν ἄλλην τῆς ἀπολαύσεως παρασχευὴν, ἣν αὐτῶν τῶν χρωμένων ἐστὶν ἐπιμελῶς ὀνομάσαι. Δὔξουσα γὰρ καθ᾽ ἡμέραν ἐπὶ τὸ περιεργότερον ἣ τρυφὴ, ἤδη καὶ τῶν ἐξ Ἱνδιχῆς ἀρωμάτων παρεγχέει τοῖς ὄψοις\" καὶ μᾶλλον τῶν ἰατρῶν οἱ μυροπῶλαι τοῖς μαγείροις ὑπηρετοῦσιν. ᾿Εντεῦθεν ἐννόησον τὸ δορυφοριχὸν τῆς καὶ τοὺς τούτων ἀφηγουμένους μουσιχούς\" μουσιχὰς, σίτους, τὸν ἀχόλουθον τῆς ματαιότητος συρφετόν. Ταῦτα ἵνα χτηθῇ, πόσοι πένητες ἀδιχοῦνται ἱ πόσοι δὲ ὀρφανοὶ χονδυλίζονται! πόσαι δὲ χῆραι δαχρύουσιν πόσοι σφοδρῶς σπαραττόμενοι σπεύδουσιν πρὸς ἀγχόνην! Ἧ δὲ τῶν τοιούτων ψυχὴ, ὥσπερ Ληθαίου τινὸς ὕδατος γευσαμένη, ἑαυτῆς ἀμνημονεῖ καθάπαξ, ' τίς ἐστιν, καὶ τίνι συνέζευχται, καὶ ὅτι ποτὲ τῆς συζυγίας ταύτης λυθήσεται, καὶ πάλιν ἀναχτισθέντι συνοιχήσει τῷ σώματι. Ἐλθόντος δὲ χαιροῦ τοῦ χαθήχοντος, καὶ τοῦ ἀπαραιτήτου προστάγματος τῆς πρὸς τὸ σῶμα χοινωνίας ἀποσπῶντος αὐτὴν, ἀναλο- Ὑισμὸς εἰσέρχεται τῶν βεδιωμένων, καὶ ἀνωφελὴς μετάνοια, χατόπιν γινομένη τῆς χρείας. Τότε γὰρ ὀνίνησι μεταμέλεια, ὅταν ὁ μεταθουλευόμενος ἕξουσίαν ἔχῃ τῆς διορθώσεως\" ἀναιρεθείσης δὲ τῆς ἕνερ- Ὑγείας τοῦ χατορθοῦν, ἀχρεῖος ἡ λύπη, καὶ μάταιος Πτωχὸς δέ τις ἦν ὀνόματι Λάζαρος. Οὐ πένητα ἁπλῶς ὑπογράφει ὁ λόγος, τῆς δαπάνης καὶ τῇ, χρεία; τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἑστερημένον\" ἀλλὰ νὰρ καὶ …","t":"… and bulls and dogs, woods and rocks and hunters of wild beasts, and all the pursuit of the painter's art imitating nature. For it was necessary, it seems, that not only their walls and houses be adorned, but now also their tunics and the cloaks over them. But those of the rich who are more devout have gathered up the gospel story and handed it over to the weavers: I mean our Christ himself with all the disciples, and each of the miracles as the narrative has it. You will see the wedding of Galilee and the water jars; the paralytic carrying his bed on his shoulders; the blind man healed with the clay; the woman with the flow of blood … the hem; … falling down [at his feet]; Lazarus returning from the tomb to life. And in doing this they think they are pious and wear garments pleasing to God. … let them honour the living images of God. Do not paint Christ (for the one humility of the incarnation, which he accepted of his own will for our sake, is enough for him), but bear the bodiless Word spiritually in your soul and carry him about. Do not have the paralytic on your garments, but [seek out] the one lying [sick]. … the woman with the flow of blood, but have pity on a widow in distress. Do not gaze attentively at the sinful woman kneeling before the Lord, but … for your own offences, pour out abundant tears. Do not sketch Lazarus being raised from the dead, but prepare a good defence for your own resurrection. Do not carry the blind man about on your clothing, but comfort the living one, deprived of sight, with good deeds. Do not paint the baskets of leftovers, but feed the hungry. Do not carry on your garments the water jars which he filled in Cana of Galilee, but give the thirsty a drink. So far the rich man's proud garment has profited us; yet what follows must not be overlooked either. For to the purple and fine linen the passage has added “feasting sumptuously every day”; and both belong wholly to one disposition: to pride oneself on the useless show of clothes, and to serve the belly and the gullet voluptuously. Luxury, then, is a thing hostile to a life that loves virtue; it belongs to an enslaving softness and dissipation, to immoderate enjoyment and slavish habit. When named, the thing seems to be one; but when it is examined part by part and accused, it is found to be composed of varied, manifold and many-headed vice. For luxury could not exist unless it were increased by many materials. And to heap up the materials of wealth without sin is impossible; unless it should happen to someone, rarely, as to Job, both to be abundantly rich and to live strictly by righteousness. The man of luxury needs, first, an expensive house, adorned like a bride with mosaic, stones and gold, and suited to the changes of the seasons of the year. For a warm winter house is sought, sunny and turned to the midday sun; and a summer house open to the north, so that with light and cool breezes … of the clothing that is to cover the benches, the couches, the mattresses, the doors. For with them even lifeless things are carefully clothed, while the poor are pitiably stripped. Add next to these and reckon up the silver in vessels, the gold, the Phoenician wine which the vines of Tyre pour out in plenty and at great price for the rich; all the other provision for enjoyment, which only those who use it could name exactly. For luxury, growing every day toward greater elaborateness, now even pours spices from India into the dishes; and perfumers, more than physicians, wait on the cooks. Then think of the escort of … and the musicians who lead them; female musicians, parasites, the following rubbish of vanity. To acquire these things, how many poor people are wronged! How many orphans are beaten! How many widows weep! How many, cruelly torn apart, hurry to the noose! And the soul of such people, as though it had tasted some water of Lethe, forgets itself altogether: who it is, to what it is yoked, and that one day it will be released from this union and will dwell again with the body when it has been created anew. But when the appointed time comes, and the inexorable command tears it from its partnership with the body, a reckoning of the life lived comes in, and a useless repentance that comes after the time of need. For regret is of use when the one who changes his mind has the power to correct; but when the possibility of setting things right has been taken away, grief is useless and vain. “And there was a poor man named Lazarus.” The passage does not describe simply a poor man, deprived of means and of the necessities of life; but …","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 1.2 (PG 40:168; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/1-2)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/1.3":{"o":"τὸ σῶμα, ἄοιχον, ἄνεστιον, ἀθεράπευτον, τῇ πύλῃ τοῦ πλουσίου προσεῤῥιμμένον. Καὶ λίαν ἐπιμελῶς τῇ διηγήσει τὰς συμφορὰς ἐπὶ τέλει ἐχτραγῳδεῖζ τοῦ πτωχοῦ, ἵνα τὴν τοῦ μὴ ἐλεοῦντος στηλιτεύσῃ σχληρότητα. Ὁ γὰρ πρὸς λιμὸν καὶ νόσον μηδὲν πάσχων ἐλεεινὸν ἣ συμπαθὲς, θηρίον ἐστὶν ἄλογον, χαχῶς εἰς ἀνθρώπου μορφωθὲν σχῆμα, ψευδόμενον τῇ προαιρέσει τὴν φύσιν \" μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν μένου, ἕλχονται πρός τινα λυπηρὰν αἴσθησιν οἱ χοῖροι, καὶ τῷ νεοῤῥύτῳ αἴματι ἀνιαρὰ ἐπιτρύζουσι\" περιίστανται δὲ τοῦ ταύρου τὸν φόνον οἱ βόες, ἐμπαθεῖ μυχηθμῷ τὴν ἀλγὴν σημαίνοντες. ᾿Αγέλαι δὲ γεράνων, μιᾶς τῶν συννόμων περιπεσούσης θηρά- Β τροῖις, περιίπτανται τὴν χρατουμένην, καί τινος φυλον ζητοῦσαι καὶ σύννομον. ΓΑνθρωπον δὲ, τὸ λογιχὸν ζῶον καὶ ἥμερον, καὶ χαθ᾽ ὁμοιότητα Θεοῦ τὴν ἀγαθότητα παιδευόμενον, μιχρὸν οὕτω φροντίζειν τῶν συγγενῶν ἐν ταῖ; ὀδυνηραῖΐῖς τῶν συμφορῶν περιστάσεσιν! Ἔχειτο τοίνυν ὁ πολυώδυνος καὶ εὐχάριστος πένης, πόδας οὐχ ἔχων (ἢ γὰρ αὐτὸν ἀλάστορα καὶ ὑπερήφανον ἔφυγεν, ἕτερον τόπον ἐχλεξάμενος ἀντὶ τῆς ξενοχτόνου πύλης, τῆς χεχλεισμένης τοῖς πένησιν), χειρῶν ἀφηρημένος, καὶ οὐδὲ παλάμην ἔχων προτείνειν εἰς αἴτησιν, ἐμφραχθεὶς αὐτὰ τὰ ὄργανα τῆς φωνῆς, καί τινα βραγχῶσαν καὶ τραἐχρωτηριασμένος τοῖς μέλεσιν, νόσου πονηρᾶς λείψανον, ἐλεεινὸν ὑπόδειγμα τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἀσθεγείας. ᾿Αλλ ὅμως οὐδὲ τοσοῦτος χατάλογος συμφορῶν ἔχλινεν πρὸς ἐπίσχεψιν τὸν ὑψαύχενα \" παρήει δὲ ὡς λίθον τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἀπροφάσιστον τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐπιτελῶν.Οὐ γὰρ εἶχεν ἐγκαλούμενος λέγειν ταῦτα τὰ κοινὰ καὶ εὐπρόσωπα\" Οὐκ ἔγνων, Οὐχ ἥδειν\" “λαθέν με ποτνιῶν ὁ πτωχός\" ὃς ἔχειτο πρὸ τῆς πύλης, εἰσιόντος καὶ ἐξιόντος θέαμα, ἵνα ἀπαραίτητον ἐρκαὶ τῶν ψιχίων τῆς τραπέζης, καὶ οὐδὲ τούτων ἐτύγχανεν\" ἀλλ᾽ ὁ μὲν τῇ πλησμονῇ διεῤῥήγνυτο\" ὁ δὲ, ὑπὸ τῆς ἐνδείας ἐτήχετο. Καλὸν οὖν ἦν καὶ Ὁ δίχαιον τὴν Χαναναίαν ἐχείνην τὴν Φοίνισσαν διδάσχαλον ἐπιστῆσαι τῷ μισανθρώπῳ πλουσίῳ, λέγουσαν ἐχεῖνα τὰ γεγραμμένα\" ὅτι, Ὦ ἀλάστορ καὶ ὑπερήφανε, καὶ τὰ κυνάρια ἐσθίει ἀπὸ τῶν γιχίων τῶν πιπτόντων ἀπὸ τῆς τραπέζης τῶν κυρίων αὑτῶν\" σὺ ὃὲ τὸν ἀδελφόν σον, τὸν ὁμόφυλον, ταύτη: τῆς δωρεᾶς οὐχ ἰξίωσας; ᾿Αλλ᾽ οἱ μὲν χυνες ἐπιμελῶς ἐτρέφοντο, χατ᾽ ἰδίαν οἱ φύλαχες, χωρὶς οἱ θηρευταξ\" καὶ στέγης ἐξιοῦντο καὶ χλίνης, καὶ θεραπευτὰς εἶχον ἀποχεχληρωμένους χατὰ σπουδὴν\" ἔῤῥιπτο δὲ χαμαὶ ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰχὼν ἀμελουμένη καὶ πατουμένη, ἣν ἰδίᾳ χειρὶ ὁ τῶν ὅλων ἀριπτοτέχνης καὶ δημιουργὸς διεπλάσατο\" εἴ τῳ. τὴν γένεσιν. Εἰ μὲν οὖν ἐτελεύτησεν μέχρι τούτου τὸ τοῦ Λαξζάρου διήγημα, καὶ οὕτως εἶχε τῶν πραγμάτων ἣ φύσις, ὡς τῇ ἀνωμαλίᾳ τοῦ βίου τούτου τὴν ζωὴν ἡμῶν περιγράφεσθαι, μεγάλας ἂν ἀφῆχα σχετλιάζων φωνάς \" ἐφ᾽ οἷς οἱ χτισθέντες ὁμοτίμως, οὕτως ἀνίσως μετὰ τῶν ὁμοφύλων διάγομεν\" ἐπειδὴ δὲ χαλὰ τὰ λειπόμενα πρὸς ἀχρόασιν. ἐν τοῖς παρελθοῦσι στενάξας, ὁ πένης, ἐν τοῖς ἀχολούθο:ς εὐθύμῆσον, μαθὼν τοῦ συμπτώχου σου τὴν μακαρίαν ἀπόλαυσιν. Εὑρήσεις γὰρ δικαίου χριτοῦ ἀχριθὲς διχαστύήριον, ἐν ᾧ στενάζει ὁ ἠδυπαθήσας, καὶ τρυφᾷ ὁ μοχθήσας\" ἑχάτερος δὲ χομίζεται τὰ πρὸς ἀξίαν ἐπίχειρα. Ἐγένετο δὲ ἀποθαγεῖν τὸν πτωχὸν, καὶ ἀπἐγεχθῆναι ὑπὸ τῶν ἀγγέϊζων εἰς τὸν κόλπον Ἀδραάμ. Ὃ ρᾷς τοὺς διαχονιστὰς τοῦ δικαίου καὶ πένητος, καὶ τοὺς ὑπηρέτας τῆς μεταστάσεως; \"Αγ. γελοι γὰρ ἐδορυφόρουν, γαληνόν τε καὶ πρᾶον εἰς αὐτὸν βλέποντες, καὶ τῷ σχήματι προδηλοῦντες τὴν ἀναμένουσαν αὐτὸν θεραπείαν καὶ ἄνεσιν. Ἐνετέθη δὲ χομισθεὶς τοῖς χόλποις τοῦ πατριάρχου\" ὃ καὶ διαπορήίξσεως ἀφορμὴν παρέχει τοῖς ἡδέως τὰ βάθη τῶν Γραφῶν βασανίζουσιν. Εἰ γὰρ πᾶς τελευτῶν δίχαιος πρὸς τὸν αὐτὸν χομίζοιτο τόπον, πολύς τις ἂν εἴη καὶ ἐπ᾽ ἄπειρον ἀνηπλωμένος ὁ χόλπος, εἴ γε μέλλοι γωρητιχὸς ἔσεσθαι τοῦ πλήθους τῶν ὁσίων παντός. Εὶ δὲ τοῦτο παντελῶς ἀμήχανον (χόλπος γὰρ χοιλανθεὶς ἄνδρα μὲν καὶ ἕνα δυσχερῶς, μόλις δὲ δύο περιστέλλει βρέφη), θεωρία τις ἡμᾶς ἐχδέχεται, τῇ εἰχόνε τοῦ αἰσθητοῦ χόλπου, πρὸς νοητὴν τινα κραγματείαν χειραγωγοῦσα. Τί γάρ ἔστι τὸ λεγόμενον Ὁ ᾿Αὐραὰμ, φησὶν, ἀποδέχεται τοὺς τὸν εὐπολίτευτον ζήσαντας βίον; Εἰπὲ τοίνυν, ὦ θεσπέσιε Λουχᾶ (ὡς πρὸς παρόντα γάρ σε καὶ ὁρώμενον διαλέξομαι), διὰ τέ πολλῶν ὄντων δικαίων καὶ στέρων τὴν τιμὴν ἀπεχλήρωσας, σιωπήσας τὸν Ἐνὼχ, τὸν Νῶε, καὶ εἴ τις ἄλλος χατὰ τὸν βίον τούτοις ἀχόλουθος; ᾿Αλλά σου τάχα συνίημι, καὶ οὐκ ἔξω βάλλει τοῦ σχοποῦ ἃ λογίζομαι. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὁ ᾿Αδραὰμ θεράπων Χριστοῦ, καὶ διαφερόντως οὗτος ἀνθρώπων τὰ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐπιφανείας ἐδέξατο, καὶ τὸ τῆς Τριάδος μυστήριον ἑχανῶς ἡμῖν ἐν τῇ σχηνῇ τοῦ γέροντος τούτον διετυπώθη, ἥνιχα τοὺς τρεῖς ἀγγέλους ὡς ἄνδρας ὁδοιπόρους ἑξένισε \" καὶ ἁπλῶς ἐχ πολλῶν μυστιχῶν αἰνιγμάτων οἰχεῖος ἄνθρωπος οὗτος γεγένηται τοῦ Θεοῦ, τοῦ χρόνοις ὕστερον ἀμφιεσαμένου τὴν σάρχα, καὶ διὰ μέσου τοῦ λήσαντος τοῖς ἀνθρώποις\" διὰ τοῦτο, τὸν χόλπον αὐτοῦ οἷον εὔδιόν τινα λιμένα καὶ ἄχλυστον πΐ ἡμῶν ἡ σωτηρία καὶ ἡ ἀπεχδοχὴ τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος, τῷ ἐχ τῆς σαρχὸς τοῦ ᾿Αδραὰμ χατὰ τὴν ἀνθρωπιχὴν ἀχολουθίαν βλαστήσαντι. Καί μοι δοχεξ ἡ περὶ τὸν γέροντα τοῦτον τιμὴ εἰς τὸν Σωτῆρα τὴν ἀναφορὰν ἔχειν, τὸν χριτὴν ὄντα καὶ μισθαποδότην τῆς ἀρετῆς, καὶ τῇ θεραπευτιχῆῇ φωνῇ προσχαλούμενον τοὺς δικαίους, καὶ λέγοντα \" Δεῦτε, οἱ τοῦ Πατρός μου\" κληρογνομήσωτε τὴν ἡτοιμα- Ἐγένετο δὲ ἀποθανεῖν τὸν πτωχόν. Διπλῇ τις ἐστὶν ἢ περὶ τὸν πτωχὸν σημασία\" ἡ μὲν δηλοῦσα τῶν ἀναγκαίων τὴν ἔνδειαν “ ἡ δὲ τὴν μετριοφρο\"» σύνην καὶ τοῦ ἤθους τὴν ταπεινότητα. Μὴ τοίνυν ὁ τῶν ὑλῶν ἀπόρως ἔχων, καὶ πενόμενος ἀργυρίου, ἠμφιεσμένος δὲ τὴν ἐλεεινὴν ἐφεστρίδα, τῆς ἀρετῆς τὸν ἕπαινον, μηδὲ νομιζέτω ἀρχέσειν αὐτῷ τὴν ἔνδειαν πρὸς σωτηρίαν. Οὐ γὰρ ὁ χατ᾽ ἀνάγκην πενόμενος ἐπαινεῖται\" ἀλλ᾽ ὁ τὴν γνώμην αὐθαιρέτως μετριάζων θαυμάζεται. Ἐπεὶ τοῖς ἀπορουμένοις ἁπλῶς, ἔχουσι δὲ τὸν τρόπον ἀδιαγώπονηρῶν τολμημάτων ἡ πρὸς ἀνάγχην ἀχτημοσύνη.","t":"… the body, homeless, hearthless, untended, flung down at the rich man's gate. And very carefully, at the end, the narrative dramatizes the poor man's misfortunes, in order to pillory the hardness of the one who does not pity. For whoever feels nothing of pity or sympathy before hunger and disease is an irrational beast, badly shaped into the form of a man, belying his nature by his choice; or rather [worse] even than the … pigs are drawn to some feeling of pain and grunt mournfully over freshly flowing blood; oxen stand around the slaughter of a bull, showing their pain with emotional lowing. Flocks of cranes, when one of their companions falls into the hunters' snares, fly around the captive, … seeking … and companion. But that man, the rational and gentle animal, trained in goodness after the likeness of God, should care so little for his kin in the painful circumstances of misfortune! There lay, then, the poor man, full of pains and full of thanks, without feet (for perhaps they fled from the accursed and proud man, choosing another place instead of the gate that killed strangers and was shut to the poor), deprived of hands, and without even a palm to stretch out in begging, the very organs of his voice blocked, [uttering] something hoarse and … , mutilated in his limbs, the remnant of an evil disease, a pitiable example of human weakness. Yet not even such a catalogue of misfortunes inclined the high-necked man to visit him; he passed by the man as if he were a stone, committing a sin without excuse. For when accused he could not say these common and plausible things: “I did not know; I was not aware; the poor man escaped my notice”: he who lay before the gate, a spectacle to everyone going in and out, so that … inexorable … even the crumbs of the table, and did not obtain even these; but the one was bursting with surfeit, the other wasting away with want. It would have been fine and just, then, to set that Canaanite, the Phoenician woman, as teacher over the man-hating rich man, saying those written words: “O wretch and proud man, even the little dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from their masters' table; and you did not think your brother, your kinsman, worthy of this gift?” But the dogs were carefully fed, the watchdogs separately, the hunting dogs apart; they were thought worthy of a roof and a bed, and had attendants zealously assigned to them; while the image of God lay flung on the ground, neglected and trampled, the image which the supreme craftsman and Maker of all things formed with his own hand; … the origin. If, then, the story of Lazarus had ended at this point, and the nature of things were such that our life were bounded by the unevenness of this life, I would have let out loud cries of complaint, that we who were created of equal honour live so unequally with our kin. But since what remains is good to hear, you poor man who groaned at what went before, take heart at what follows, learning the blessed enjoyment of your fellow poor man. For you will find the exact court of a just judge, in which the one who lived in pleasure groans and the one who toiled lives in delight; and each receives the wages his worth deserves. “And it came to pass that the poor man died, and was carried away by the angels into Abraham's bosom.” Do you see the attendants of the righteous poor man, and the servants of his departure? For angels escorted him, looking on him calmly and gently, and by their bearing showing beforehand the care and relief that awaited him. Carried there, he was laid in the patriarch's bosom; and this gives occasion for perplexity to those who gladly probe the depths of the Scriptures. For if every righteous man at his death were carried to the same place, the bosom would be large and spread out to infinity, if it is to hold the whole multitude of the holy. But if this is altogether impossible (for a hollowed bosom holds one man with difficulty, and scarcely two infants), a contemplation awaits us, leading us by the hand through the image of a bodily bosom to a spiritual matter. For what is being said? Does Abraham, it says, receive those who have lived the well-ordered life? Tell me, then, divine Luke (for I will speak with you as if you were present and seen), why, when there are many righteous men, and older ones, you allotted the honour [to him], passing over Enoch, Noah, and anyone else who followed them in his life? But perhaps I understand you, and what I reason does not fall wide of the mark. Since Abraham was a servant of Christ, and received the [signs] of Christ's appearing beyond other men, and the mystery of the Trinity was sufficiently outlined for us in this old man's tent, when he entertained the three angels as men on a journey; and, in short, by many mystical riddles this man became an intimate of God, who in later times put on flesh, and through … to men; for this reason his bosom [was appointed] as a calm and waveless harbour … our salvation and the expectation of the age to come, through the one who sprang from Abraham's flesh in the human line of descent. And it seems to me that the honour paid to this old man refers to the Saviour, who is the judge and rewarder of virtue, and calls the righteous with his gracious voice, saying: “Come, you [blessed] of my Father, inherit the [kingdom] prepared …” “And it came to pass that the poor man died.” The word “poor” has a double meaning: one signifies the lack of necessities, the other moderation and humility of character. Let not, then, the man who is without means and short of money, and dressed in a pitiable cloak, [claim] the praise of virtue, nor think that his want will suffice him for salvation. For it is not the one who is poor by necessity who is praised, but the one who of his own will keeps his mind moderate who is admired. Since for those who are simply in want, but have a character [that is] … of wicked daring is poverty forced on them by necessity.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 1.3 (PG 40:168; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/1-3)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/1.4":{"o":"Καὶ πάντας ἐγὼ τοὺς τοιχωρύχους καὶ ἀνδραποδιστὰς, ἔτι μὴν λωποδύτας, καὶ χλέπτας, καὶ τοὺς ἀνδροφόνους αὐτοὺς, εἴ ποτε παρέδαλον χριτηρίῳ, πένητας ἐθεασάμην, ἀγνώστους, ἀνεστίους. Ὥς ἐχ τούτου πρόδηλον εἶναι, ὅτι μαχαρίξει νῦν ἡ Γραφὴ τὸν πτωχὸν ἐχεῖνον τὸν φιλοσόφῳ Ψυχῇ τοὺς μόχθους βαστάζοντα \" χαρτεροῦντα δὲ γενναίως πρὸς τὰς περιστάσεις τοῦ βίου, καὶ οὐδὲν χαχουργοῦντα πονηρὸν, ἵνα τῇ σαρχὶ χαρίσηται τῆς τρυφῆς τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν. Ὃν καὶ σαφέστερον διαγράφει ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ τῶν μαχαρισμῶν ὃ Κύριος, λέγων \" Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πγεύματι. Οὔτε οὖν πᾶς πτωχὸς δίχαιος, ἀλλ᾽ ἐχεῖνος οἷος ὁ Λάζαρος\" οὔτε πᾶς πλούσιος ἀπεγνωσμένος, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ μετὰ τοιαύτης ζῶν προαιρέσεως, οἵαν εἶχεν ὁ τοῦ Λαζάρου σύγχρονος, καὶ τούτου οἱ διὰ τῆς πείρας τοῦ βίου μάρτυρες πρόδηλοι. Τί γὰρ τοῦ θείου Ἰὼδ πλουσιώτερον; ᾿Αλλ᾽ ὅμως ἡ εἰς ἄγαν εὐπορία τὸν ἄνδρα, οὔτε τῆς διχαιοσύνης ἣλλοτρίωσεν, οὔτε, συλλήδδην εἰπεῖν, τῆς ἀρετῆς ἑξώρισεν. Τί τοῦ Ἰσχαριώτου πενέστερον; Οὐδὲν ἀπώνατο τῆς … φιλοσόφοις συνδιαιτώμενος, καὶ αὑτῷ γε τῷ Κυρίῳ, τῷ δι᾽ ἡμᾶς αὐθαιρέτως πτωχεύσαντι, καχίᾳ προαιρέσεως εἰς φιλαργυρίαν παρενεχθεὶς, ἐχεῖθεν καὶ ἤΑξιον δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐχφορὰν ἑχατέρου τῶν τεθνηχότων συνετῶς δοχιμάσαι. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ πτωχὸς χοιμηθεὶς ἀγγέλους εἶχεν δορυφόρους καὶ θεραπευτὰς, ἄγοντας αὐτὸν μετὰ χαλῆής τῆς ἐλπίδος εἷς τὸν τόπον τῆς ἀναπαύσεως\" ὁ δὲ πλούσιος ἀποθανὼν, φησὶν, ἐτάφη. Οὐδὲν γὰρ οἷον αὐτῇ χρήσασθαι τῇ λέξει τῇ γραφιχῇ, ἱκανῶς διὰ μιᾶς λέξεως ἑρμηνενούσῃ τὴν ἄτιμον τοῦ «λουσίου χατάλυσιν. Ὁ γὰρ ἁμαρτωλὸς τελευτῶν, ὄντως θάπτεται, χθόνιος ὧν τὸ σῶμα, γήινος δὲ καὶ τὴν ψυχήν\" καὶ τὸ φυσιχὸν ἐχείνης ἀξίωμα τῇ συμπαθείᾳ τῆς σαρχὸς πρὸς τὴν ὕλην χαταγαγὼν, οὐδὲν χρηστὸν τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ζωῆς χαταλιμπάνων ὑπόβνημα, λήθῃ δὲ ἀτίμῳ χαλυπτόμενος, καὶ τὸν τῶν βοτχημάτων θάνατον τελευτῶν. Τάφος μὲν γὰρ ἔχει τὸ σῶμα ἄδης δὲ τὴν ψυχήν \" δύο σχοτεινὰ δεσμωτήρια, μεριζόμενα τοῦ πονηροῦ τὴν τιμωρίαν. Καὶ τὶς οὖχ ἂν τῆς ἀδουλίας τὸν ἄθλιον χαταμέμψαιτο: Ἦνιχα μὲν ὑπὲρ γἧῇς ἣν γαυροῦντα, νον, πάντων ὑπερφρονοῦντα τῶν συζώντων καὶ ὁμοφύλων, καὶ μονονουχὶ μύρμηχας καὶ σχώληχας ἀποχαλοῦντα τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας, χενῷ δὲ φρονήματι τῆς ὀλιγοχρονίου δόξης διαῤῥηγνύμενον \" ἡνίχα δὲ ἀπεσπάσθη τοῦ βίου, καὶ ὡς μαστιγίας δοῦλος ἀφτρέθη τῶν ἀλλοτρίων, ὧν ἐξ ἀνοίας ἐνόμιζεν εἶναι δεσπότης, εἰς ἀντίῤῥοπον τῆς ὑπερηφανείας ρέται ταπεινότητα, καὶ γραὸς θρηνούσης ὀδυρμοὺς προδαλλόμενος, μαχρὰ καὶ ἀνόνητα τὸν πατριάρχην ἀποχαλεῖται, λέγων\" [Πάτερ ᾿Αδραὰμ, ἐλέησόν με, καὶ πέμψρον Λάζαρον, ἵνα βάψῃ τὸ ἄχρον τοῦ δασάν μου, ὅτι ὀδυνῶμαι ἐν τῇ φ.1ογὶ ταύτῃ\" ] ζητῶν ἔλεον, ὃν οὐχ ἔδωχεν, ἡνίκα τοῦ εὐεργετεῖν πρόχειρον εἶχεν τὴν ἐξουσίαν \" ἀξιῶν δὲ αὐτῷ βοηθὸν χατὰ τοῦ πυρὸς ἀφιχέσθαι τὸν Λάζαρον \" εὐχόμενος ἀπομυξζῆσαι τοῦ λεπροῦ τὸν δάχτυλον, ὀλίγον νενοτισμένον ὕδατι. Τοιαῦται τῶν φιλοσωμάτων ἀθουλίαι\" τοῦτο τῶν φιλοπλούτων καὶ φιληδόνων τὸ τέλος. Καὶ προσήχει τὸν συνετὸν καὶ προμηθῇ τοῦ μέλλοντος, οἷον φάρμαχόν τι προφυλαχτιχὸν νοσήματος τὴν παραβηλὴν ἡγησάμενον, φυγεῖν τῶν ὁμοίων χαχῶν τὴν πεῖραν\" πὸ συμπαθὲς καὶ φιλάνθρωπον, ὡς αἰτίαν τῆς ζωῆς τῆς μελλούσης, ἀσχήσαντα. γὰρ ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος τὴν νουθεσίαν ἐπὶ προσώπων ὡρισμένων ἐξέθετο, ἵνα ἐμψύχω; καὶ δειχτιχῶς παιδευθέντες τῆς ἀγαθῆς πολιτείας τὸν νόμον, μηδέποτε χαταφρονήσωμεν τῶν τῆς Γραφῆς παραγγελμάτων, ὡς ἄχρι λόγου μόνον φοδούντων, οὐ μὴν τὴν ἀπειλὴν προαγόντων εἷς τιμωρίαν. Οἶδα γὰρ, ὡς οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ταῖς τοιαύταις ὑπονοίαις δελεαζόμενοι, ἀχώλυτον ἑαυτοῖς τοῦ ἁμαρτάνειν τὴν ἐξουσίαν χαρίζονται. Πᾶν δὲ τοὐναντίον παρὰ τῆς προχειμένης Γραφῆς διδασχόμεθα, ὡς οὐδὲ συγγνώμη τις τῆς ἐχεῖ χρίσεως ἐπελαφρύνει τὴν χόλασιν, οὐδὲ ἐλαττοῖ τὴν ὡρισμένην τιμωρίαν φιλανθρωπία\" εἴγε δεῖ ταῖς φωναῖς τοῦ πατριάρχου τεχμηριῶσαι τὸν λόγαν. ΠΟΛλὰ γὰρ ἱχετευθεὶς “παρὰ τοῦ πλουσίου, καὶ μυρίων ἐλεεινῶν ἑπαχούσας φωνῶν, οὔτε τοῖς ὀδυρμοῖς ἐπεχλάσθη, οὔτε τῆς ὀδύνης ἐξείλετο τὸν πιχρῶς μαστιζόμενον᾽ αὐστηρῷ δὲ τῷ φρονήματι τὴν δικαίαν χρίσιν ἐχύρωσεν, εἰπὼν, ὅτι πρὸς ἀξίαν ἑχάστῳ διε- “΄ σαντι χατὰ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων συμφορῶν, δίχη τοῦ πλημμελήματος ἐπετέθη, ἃ πάσχεις \" τῷ δ᾽ ἐχεῖ τῆς ἐνσάρχου ζωΐς, γλυχεῖά τις καὶ εὐφραίνουσα ἣ ἐνθάδε ἀπενεμήθη χατάστασις. Πρὸς δὲ τούτοις, καὶ χάσμα μέγα εἶναί φησιν τὸ χωλύον αὐτοὺς τὴν πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐπιμιξίαν, καὶ διεῖργον τοὺς τιμωρουμένους ἀπὸ τῶν τιμωμένων, ἵνα εὐχρινῶς διάγωσιν ἀπ᾽ ἀλλήλων ἀμφότεροι, ἀσύγχυτον ἔχοντες τῶν ἀγαθῶ\" καὶ τῶν χαχῶν τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν. Οἶμαι δὲ τὴν αἰσθῃ τὴν παραθολὴν νοητῆς εἶναι θεωρίας αἴνιγμα. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ τάφρον ὄντως ἐννοήσωμεν ἐχεῖ πρὸς τῶν ἀγγέλων διορυχθεῖσαν, οἷάπερ ἐν τοῖς στρατοπέδοις υίνεται τὰ τῶν πολεμίων μεταίχμια \" ἀλλὰ τὸν χωεἰσὶ χεχωρισμένοι, οἵ τε χατ᾽ ἀρετὴν, καὶ οἱ ἑτέρως ζήσαντες, ὑπέθετο τὴν εἰχόνα τοῦ χάσματος. Ἕπισφραγίζεται τὴν διάνοιαν ἡμῖν ταύτην καὶ Ἡσαῖας, οὕτω πως λέγων’ Μὴ οὐχ ἰσχύδι ἡ χεὶρ Κυρίου τοῦ σῶσαι, ἣ ἐδάρυγε τὸ οὗς αὐτοῦ τοῦ μὴ ἀκοῦσαι; ᾿Α.1.1ὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ἡμῶν διιστῶσιν ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ Θεοῦ.","t":"And whenever I attended a court, I saw that all the housebreakers and kidnappers, and also the clothes-stealers and thieves, and the murderers themselves, were poor, unknown, homeless. So from this it is plain that Scripture now calls blessed that poor man who bore his toils with a philosophic soul, enduring the circumstances of life nobly and doing no evil deed in order to gratify the flesh with the enjoyment of luxury. The Lord describes him more clearly in the first of the Beatitudes, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Neither, then, is every poor man righteous, but one such as Lazarus; nor is every rich man condemned, but the one who lives with such a choice as Lazarus's contemporary had; and the witnesses to this, from the experience of life, are plain. For who was richer than the divine Job? Yet his very great prosperity neither estranged the man from righteousness nor, in a word, banished him from virtue. Who was poorer than Iscariot? He gained nothing from … living with philosophers, and with the Lord himself, who for our sake became poor of his own will; carried away into love of money by the wickedness of his choice, from there also … And it is worth examining wisely the funeral of each of the dead men too. For the poor man, when he fell asleep, had angels as escorts and attendants, leading him with good hope into the place of rest; but the rich man, it says, “died and was buried.” There is nothing like using the very word of Scripture, which by one word sufficiently interprets the rich man's dishonourable end. For the sinner, when he dies, is truly buried, being of the earth in body and earthly in soul too; having dragged down the soul's natural dignity to matter through its sympathy with the flesh, leaving behind no good memorial of his life, covered with dishonourable oblivion, and dying the death of cattle. For the tomb holds the body, and Hades the soul: two dark prisons, which divide between them the punishment of the wicked. And who would not blame the wretch for his folly? When he was above ground, he was haughty, … looking down on all who lived with him and on his kin, and all but calling those who met him ants and worms, bursting with the empty pride of short-lived glory. But when he was torn from life and, like a slave fit for the whip, was deprived of what belonged to others, of which in his folly he thought himself master, he is brought down to a humiliation that balances his pride; and, putting forth the laments of a wailing old woman, he calls on the patriarch at length and uselessly, saying: “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger [in water and cool my tongue], for I am in anguish in this flame”: asking for mercy which he did not give when he had the power of doing good at hand; asking that Lazarus come to him as a helper against the fire; praying to suck the leper's finger, moistened with a little water. Such is the folly of the lovers of the body; this is the end of the lovers of wealth and pleasure. And it befits the prudent man, who takes forethought for the future, to treat the parable as a medicine that protects against disease, and to flee the experience of like evils, practising compassion and love of humankind as the cause of the life to come. For the passage set out its admonition to us in particular persons, so that, being taught the law of the good life in a living and demonstrative way, we may never despise the commands of Scripture, as though they frighten only so far as words and do not carry the threat forward into punishment. For I know that most people, enticed by such suspicions, grant themselves unhindered licence to sin. But we are taught the complete opposite by the Scripture before us: that no pardon at the judgment there lightens the punishment, nor does kindness lessen the appointed penalty, if indeed we must prove the point by the words of the patriarch. For though he was much entreated by the rich man and heard countless pitiable cries, he was neither softened by the laments nor did he deliver from pain the one who was bitterly scourged; but with a stern mind he confirmed the just judgment, saying that to each [a lot] was distributed according to worth: … against the misfortunes of others, the penalty for your offence has been laid on you: what you suffer; but to the other, in return for his life in the flesh, a sweet and gladdening state has been assigned here. Besides this, he says that there is a great chasm which prevents them from mingling with one another and separates those being punished from those being honoured, so that both may live distinctly apart from each other, having the enjoyment of good things and of evils unconfused. But I think the sensible picture of the parable is a riddle of spiritual contemplation. For let us not think that a ditch has really been dug there by the angels, like the no-man's-lands between enemies in military camps; but the … by which those who lived by virtue and those who lived otherwise are separated, he set forth as the image of the chasm. Isaiah too seals this meaning for us, speaking somewhat as follows: “Is the hand of the Lord not strong to save, or has he made his ear heavy so as not to hear? But our sins stand between us and God.”","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 1.4 (PG 40:170; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/1-4)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/10.1":{"o":"Τ΄. ᾿Εγχώμιον εἰς τοὺς ἁγιους μάρτυρας. Ἔστιν, ὡς ἔοιχεν, καὶ παρὰ τῶν σφόδρα δυσμενῶν Χ, δ᾽ ἥ τοῦτο δείχνυσιν, ἢ τε ἄλλη τοῦ βίου πεῖρα, καὶ τὰ ἀρτίως τελούμενα. Εἰ μὴ γὰρ ἐδίωξεν Χριστιανοὺς ὃ διάδολος, καὶ τὸν χατὰ τῆς Ἐχχλησίας ἤρατο πόλεμον, οὐχ ἂν εἴχομεν μάρτυρας \" μαρτύρων δὲ μὴ ὄντων, σχυθρωπὸς ἡμῶν ὁ βίος ἐγίνετο καὶ ἀνέορτος. Τί γὰρ ἀντάξιον τούτων τῶν πανηγύρεων; τί δὲ οὔτως σεμνὸν καὶ πάγχαλον, ὡς τὸ πόλιν ὅλην ἰδεῖν, παγγενῇ ἐχφοιτῶσαν τοῦ ἄστεος, ἱερὸν δὲ τόπον χαθαρὰ μυστήρια, Εὐσέῤεια δὲ ἀληθὴς, τὸ προσχυνεῖν τε καὶ τιμᾷν τοὺς δι᾽ ἐχεῖνον πάθη χαρτερῶς ἐνεγχόντας, καὶ παρατεταγμένους πρὸς τὸν ἔσχατον τοῦ θανάτου χίνδυνον \" ὧν χορυφαῖοι καὶ προστάται τυγχάνουσιν οἱ σήμερον ἡμᾶς δημαγωγήσαντες\" ἄνδρες ζωῆς, ζῶντες ἀεί τοῦ αἵματος τὴν βασιλείαν ἀλλαξάμένοι, καὶ τὴν ἐπίδουλον σάρχα εὐεργέτην τῆς ψυχῆς ἀποφήναντες. Οὕτως προαίρεσις ἀγαθὴ, ὅταν ἡνιόχου δίχην ἐφεστῶσα ἢ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ\" ὑποζεύξῃ δὲ αὑτῇ τὰς ὁρμὰς πάπας καὶ τὰ χινῆματα, καὶ προσεχόντως ὡς ἡνίας διατείνῃ τοὺς λογισμοὺς, ἀργίαν νύττουσα, καὶ ὀξύτητα ἄμετρον ἀναστέλλουσα\" οὐχ οἷόν τε ἄταχτον ἣ ἐπιχίνδυνον γενέσθαι τοῦ βίου τὸν δρόμον. … Ἔχομεν τοίνυν τοὺς μάρτυρας, οὐ διδασχάλους μόνον ἀγαθῆς πολιτείας, ἀλλὰ καὶ χατηγόρους τῆς 0 ἁμαρτίας. Πῶς δ᾽ ἂν γένοιτο μάρτυς χατήγορος, ἄχουσον.\" Εἰ ἐχεῖνος ἐνίχησε φλόγα πυρὸς τῇ χαρτεροἷᾳ, σὺ πῶς πορνείαν οὐ δαμάζεις τῇ σωφροσύνῃ; Εἰ ὁ μάρτυς οὐχ ἐλέησε πλοῦτον ὃν ἠφίει καὶ χρήματα, διὰ τί σὺ ὀλίγου οὐ καταφρονεῖς ἀργυρίου ὑπὲρ διχαιοσύνης; Εἰ ὁ μάρτυς γένος Θεοῦ οὗ προετίμησεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπεζεύχθη γυναιχὸς, παίδων, φιλτάτων \" πῶς σὺ οὗ χολάζεις τὴν προσπάθειαν, διὰ δὲ πρόσωπα, τυχὸν σχέσιν πρὸς σὲ οἰχειότητος ἔχοντα, ὑπερπηδᾷς τὸ δίχαιον, καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν φόδον παραλογίζῃ; Εἰ ὁ μάρτυς τὸ σῶμα διὰ Θεὸν ἐξεδύσατο, πῶς αὑτὸς ἑνὸς οὐ καταφρονεῖς “ττωνίσχου εἰς σχέπην γυμνοῦ; Ταῦτα ἀλλήλοις ἀντεξεταζόμενα τὴν ἡμετέραν δυστροπίαν ἐλέγχει. Ἢ τοίνυν ὡς διδασχάλους τοὺς ἁγίους αἰδεσθῶμεν, ἣ ὡς χατηγόρους φοθηθῶμεν \" λουθον \" πεισθῶμεν ὃὲ καὶ ἡμεῖς οὕτως Θεῷ, ὡς οἱ ἅγιοι ταῖς ἐντολαῖς ἐπειθάρχησαν, καὶ τὰς ἐπαγγελίας ᾿λγαθὴ γὰρ σφόδρα διδασχαλος ἀνδρείας καὶ χαρπερίας ἡ τῶν ἀγαθῶν τῶν νοητῶν ἐλπίς \" ἥτις ὡς ἐνέχυρον ἀξιόπιστον καὶ ἀῤῥαθὼν ἀσφαλὴς ἐγχειμένη τοῖς λογισμοῖς, πάντα χελεύεται χίνδυνον ὁρᾷν ἀχαταπλήχτως, καὶ φέρειν ἐν τῇ πείρᾳ γενναίως \" καὶ τοῦτο ἀχολούθως συμθαίνει. Φύσει γάρ πὼς ἐλάχομὲν ἄνθρωποι μαλαχίζεσθαι ἂν καὶ χαυνοῦσθαι τοὐναντίον ἐχείνων ἀντιλαμδάνεσθαι, ὧν ἄθλα καὶ τιμαὶ τέλος εἰσίν. Διὸ πάντες μάρτυρες τῷ εὐαγγε-, λικῷ γράμματι προσέχοντες τὸν νοῦν, ἐν ᾧ προτρέ- “τῶν τοὺς ἱεροὺς ἀθλητὰς καὶ φιλοθέους ὁ Κύριος λέγει. Ἐάν τις ὁμολογήσει με ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώκχων, ὁμολογήσω αὐτὸν ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Πατρός μου. Ὑπὲρ ταύτης τῆς ὁμολογίας ἤνεγχαν ἁτρέπτοις «οἷς λογισμοῖς σίδηρον τεθηγμένον, καὶ πυρχαϊᾶς ἐπέδησαν, καὶ θηρίων στόμασιν ἔχδοτον τὸ σῶμα παρέσχον, καὶ τοὺς νῶτας ἔχαστος ὑπέθηχαν μάστιξι, καὶ ταῖς ἀχμαῖς τῶν ὀνύχων τὰς πλευρὰς ἐταράχθησαν ὃ, δεσμῶν τῶν διὰ σιδήρου ἠνέσχοντο, καὶ δεσμωτηρίων ἤνεγχαν σχοτεινὰ χαταγώγια\" ἐπιέσθη ταν δὲ λιμῷ, καὶ δίψει: κατεξηράνθησαν \" παρέθηχαν δὲ ἦ \"δ λίθους τὰ πρόσωπα τοῖς ῥαπίζουσιν \" ἤχουσαν «τὧν ὕὈδρεων ὡς κωφοί\" ἐσιώπησαν πρὸς τοὺς ὀνειδίζοντας καὶ λοιδορουμένους ὡς ἄλαλοι\" δήμοις καὶ ἀμφόδοις ἐν ὁλογύμνοις τοῖς σώμασιν\" οὐχ ἄνδρες μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ γυναῖχες, τὸ σχετλιώτατον. Αλλοι “ποιχίλοις τρόποις τὰς ἀριστείας ἡμῖν χατεμερίσαντο, Διὰ τοῦτο τὰ εὐσεδῇ σώματα σεμνῶς περιστεῖλαντες, τὰ σκεύη τῆς ἐχλογῆς, τὰ τῶν μαχαρίων ψυχῶν ὄργανα, τὰς οἰκίας τῶν φιλοσόφων ἐνοίχων, φρουροῦμεν δὲ αὐτοῖς ὡς ἡμετέροις πλεονεχτήμασιν, … ὁπλίταις γενναίοις, καὶ πάνδημοι πανηγύρεις ἀθροίζονται, καὶ τῆς θυμηδείας τῶν ἑορτῶν ἀπολαύομεν.","t":"Homily 10. Encomium on the holy martyrs. There is, it seems, [some benefit] even from bitter enemies …; both the rest of life's experience and what is being celebrated now show this. For if the devil had not persecuted Christians and raised war against the Church, we would not have martyrs; and if there were no martyrs, our life would be gloomy and without feasts. For what is worth as much as these festivals? What is so solemn and fine as to see a whole city, with every household, going out of the town … a holy place, pure mysteries? And true godliness is to venerate and honour those who for his sake steadfastly bore sufferings and stood in battle line against the last danger, death. Their leaders and chiefs are the ones who have drawn us together today: men of life, living for ever, who exchanged their blood for the kingdom, and proved that the treacherous flesh could be the benefactor of the soul. So it is with a good choice: when it stands over a man like a charioteer, yokes to itself all his impulses and movements, and holds his thoughts attentively like reins, goading idleness and checking immoderate eagerness, the course of his life cannot become disorderly or dangerous. … We have the martyrs, then, not only as teachers of a good life, but also as accusers of sin. Hear how a martyr can become an accuser. If he conquered the flame of fire by endurance, how is it that you do not subdue sexual immorality by self-control? If the martyr had no pity for the wealth and money he gave up, why do you not despise a little silver for the sake of justice? If the martyr did not prefer his family to God, but was parted from wife, children and those dearest to him, how is it that you do not chastise your attachment, but for the sake of persons, perhaps related to you, leap over justice and disregard the fear of God? If the martyr stripped off his body for God's sake, how is it that you do not part with one little tunic to cover the naked? Set side by side, these things convict our perversity. Let us, then, either respect the saints as teachers or fear them as accusers; … and let us too obey God as the saints obeyed his commandments and [believed] his promises. For the hope of spiritual goods is a very good teacher of courage and endurance: lying in the thoughts as a trustworthy pledge and a secure earnest, it bids us look on every danger undaunted and bear it nobly when it comes; and this follows naturally. For by nature we humans are inclined to grow soft and slack …, but, on the contrary, to lay hold of those labours whose end is prizes and honours. That is why all the martyrs attended to the word of the Gospel in which the Lord, exhorting his sacred and God-loving athletes, says: “If anyone confesses me before men, I will confess him before my Father.” For this confession they bore the sharpened iron with unmoved thoughts, mounted the pyres, gave their bodies over to the mouths of beasts, each set his back under the whips, and had their sides torn by the points of the claws; they endured bonds of iron and bore the dark lodgings of prisons; they were pressed by hunger and dried up by thirst; they set their faces like stones before those who struck them; they heard insults as though deaf; they kept silent like the dumb before those who reproached and reviled them; … through peoples and streets with completely naked bodies; and not men only, but women too, which is most grievous of all. Others distributed their valiant deeds among us in various ways. For this reason we wrap the godly bodies reverently, the vessels of election, the instruments of the blessed souls, the houses of philosophic indwellers, and we guard them … as our own advantages …, as noble hoplites; public festivals are gathered, and we enjoy the gladness of the feasts.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 10.1 (PG 40:419; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/10-1)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/10.2":{"o":"Οἱὃὲ ταῖς ἀνθρωπιχαῖς περιστάσεσιν ἣ συμφοραῖς “πιεζόμενοι, ὡς ἐπί τι χρησφύγετον τὰς ἀναπαύσεις τοὺς τῶν εὐχῶν καὶ αἰτημάτων, διὰ τὸ ὑπερδάλλον πῆς παῤῥησίας, ποιοῦμεν. Ἐντεῦθεν πενίαι λύονται, ζονται - πασῶν δὲ τῶν ταραχῶν καὶ χειμώνων τοῦ βίου λιμένες εἰσὶν εὔδιοι, οἱ ἱεροὶ τῶν μαρτύρων. Οὕτως πατὴρ, ἣ μήτηρ ἀραμένη τὸν ἄῤῥωστον παῖδα, καὶ περιστείλασα ταῖς ἀγχάλαις, παρατρέχει μὲν ἰατρεῖα καὶ ἱατροὺς, ἐπὶ δὲ ἄτεχνον καταφεύγει Ὁ βοήθειαν\" καὶ πρὸς ἕνα τῶν μαρτύρων ἐλθοῦσα, δι᾽ ἐχείνου τῷ Δεσπότῃ προσάγει τὴν αἴτησιν, τοιαύταις χεχρημένη πρὸς τὸν μεσίτην φωναῖς \" ε« Παθὼν διὰ Χριστὸν, πρέσδευσον ὑπὲρ πάλους καὶ νόσου. Ἔχων παῤῥησίαν, χρῆσον λόγον τοῖς ὁμοδούλοις. Εἰ καὶ τὸν ἡμέτερον βίον ἀπέλιπες, ἀλλὰ γοῦν οἷδας τὰ πάθη τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος \" παρεχάλεσας καὶ σύ ποτε μάρτυρας πρὶν γενέσθαι μάρτυς. Τότε ζητῶν ἑλάμθανες, νῦν ἔχων χάρισαι. Εἷς τὸ γέρας τὸ σὸν, αἴτησον τὸ χέρδος ἡμῖν. Ἰαθείημεν τῷ σῷ μώλωπι, ὡς τῷ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὁ χόσμος. » Αλλος ἐπὶ γάμον σπεύδων, προοίμιον ποιεῖται τῶν θαλάμων τὴν ἐν μαρτυρίοις … τῆς νεὼς λύει τὰ πείσματα, πρὶν ἂν τὸν τῆς θαλάσ-.οης Δεσπότην διὰ τῶν μαρτύρων ἐπιχαλέσηται\", πτωχῶν δὲ φυλαὶ καὶ πενήτων ἑσμοὶ χοινὴν ἑστίαν χέχτηνται τὴν τῶν μαρτύρων ἀνάπαυσιν \" ἄδονται δὲ πανταχοῦ γῆς καὶ θαλάττης οἱ μάρτυρες. Εἰχότως, καὶ πρὸς ἀξίαν. Οὐ γὰρ, ὡς πολλοὶ, τὴν διχαιοσύνην χατώρθωσαν αὐτῷ δὲ τῷ σώματι τὸν σταυρὸν ἐδά-στασαν\" οὐ χρήματα ἑσχόρπισαν, ἀλλ᾽ αἷμα ἐξἔχεον \" οὐ πένητα οἴχτειραν, ἀλλ᾽ ἑαυτοὺς οὐχ ἡλέησαν\" οὐχ ἐν δεσμωτηρίῳ τὸν χεχαχωμένον ἐψαντο, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτοὶ τὰς ἁλύσεις ἐφόρεσαν. Διὰ τοῦτο τῆς ὑπομονῆς καὶ τῆς χαχώσεως ἀντίῤῥοπον τὴν δόξαν καὶ τὴν τιμὴν ἐχαρπώσαντο. Οἱ μὲν οὖν μάρτυρες οὕτω \" οἱ δὲ τούτων τύραννοι καὶ φονεῖς ποῦ, οὗ τὰ ὑψηλὰ φρονήσαντες, καὶ τὰ ὑπερήφανα ἀπειλήσαντες, οἱ ἐπὶ θρόνων μετεώρων χαθήμενοι, καὶ τὸν ἑαυτῶν ἄρχοντα μὴ γνωρίσαντες : Ἐθδρυχήῆσαντο ὑπὲρ τοὺς λέοντας, ἔδραμον ὑπὲρ τὰς παρδάλεις, ἑσπάραξαν ὑπὲρ τὰς ἄρχτους, ἐξέχεαν αἴματα χατὰ τοὺς λύχους, ἐχαχούργησαν ὡς αἱ ἀλώπεχες. Κεῖνται τῶν ὄντων νεχρῶν μυσαρώτεροι, λήθῃ ἐχάλυψαν τὴν ζωὴν αὐτῶν \" ἔχουσι δὲ τάφον τὸν ἄδην, καὶ στήλην τὴν ἀσέθδειαν, καὶ μνήμην τὴν ἀτιμίαν\" μετανοοῦσιν ἀνόνητα, στένουσιν ἄπραχτα. Τοὺς δὲ παρὰ τούτων αἰκισθέντας διεδέξατο μνήμη ἄληχτος, ἀγήρως ἔπαινος. Τὰ γὰρ διηγήματα καὶ τὰς τιμὰς οἱ μεθηλιχέστεροι παρὰ τῶν πρεσδυτέρων ὑποδεχόμενοι, καὶ πάππος ἐγγόνῳ, ἢ πατὴρ παιδὶ παραδιδόντες τὴν εἰς αὐτοὺς θεραπείαν, ἀθάνατον ποιοῦσι τὸν ἔπαινον’ καὶ ὥσπερ τινὰ χληρονομίαν ἄσυλον τὰς ἑορτὰς ταύτας ἐν διαδοχαῖς σώζει ὁ βίος, ἣ μᾶλλον καὶ χληρονομίας τιμιώτατον δ χρῆμα. Κληρονομίας μὲν γὰρ τὰ χαλὰ, ἣ λῃστὴς ἀφείλετο, ἣ πολέμιος λάφυρον ἕλαδεν, ἣ περίστασις πραγμάτῶν ἔχένωσεν “ ἁγίων δὲ ἀνδρῶν ἑορτὴν οὐδεὶς ἐχχόψει ἐνιαυτὸς, μέχρις ἂν ὦσιν ἐνιαυτοὶ, καὶ χρόνος ποέχει, οὐρανὸς ἔχῃ τὸν ἥλιον, καὶ γῆ βόσχει τὰ ἴδια ξῶα, καὶ θάλασσα τὰ ἐξαίρετα. Τὸ δὲ ἀληθὲς εἰπεῖν, καὶ τῶν στοιχείων παυσαμένων τούτων, χἄν τισι δοχεῖ, μαρτύρων καὶ δικαίων οὐ σδεσθήσεται δόξα, οὐδὲ συναποθνήξει τῇ δημιουργίᾳ τὰ χατ᾽ ἐχείνους \" τον ζωὴν μεταχοσμηθείσης τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος. Ἔξεστιν δὲ τοῖς ἀπίστοις, καὶ περὶ τῆς μελλούσης ἐλπίδος ἡμῶν ἀμφιδάλλουσιν, ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν τῷδε τῷ βίῳ πραττομένων, τῆς ἀγαθῆς προσδοχίας ἡμῶν λαθεῖν βέθαια τὰ ἐνέχυρα. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ πεπλήρωται παρὰ τῆς οἰχουμένης χύχλος τῶν ἀθλητῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ πᾶς τόπος ἔχει τῶν ἁγίων τὴν μνήμην᾽ πάντες δὲ χαιροὶ χρείττονα τῶν ἀπὸ γῆς δώρων καὶ βλαστημάτων, τὰ τῶν ἀγωνιστῶν τοῖς ἑορτάζουσι χαρίζονται διηγήματα, Ὥς εἴ τις ἦν σπουδαῖος τῶν μαρτύρων φίλος͵, ἔθετο δὲ φροντίδα τοῖς τῶν ὅλων πανηγυρίζειν πάθεσιν, οὐχ ἂν ἡμέραν παρῆλθεν τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ ἀνέορτον. Πᾶσαι γὰρ ἔχουσι χρείττονα τοῦ ἡλιαχοῦ χύχλου χόσμον, τὰ τῶν γενναίων ἀνδραγαθήματα. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὁ τοῖς χαλοῖζς σφοδρὸν πρὸς τὸ μυστήριον Χριστιανῶν ἐπηρίσατο, πάντας δὲ πάσσων τῇ χόνει, τοῖς ἰδίοις φρονήμασι χωννύειν ἐσπούδαζεν, καὶ μάτην ἐνασχολεῖν τοῖς ἐπιτηδεύμασι τοῦ πηλοῦ \" ἀρίστων ἀνδρῶν πλῆθος ὁ Θεὸς ἀλείψας τοῖς παραγγέλμασι, καὶ παιδοτριδήσας πρὸς καρτερίαν καὶ δύναμιν, ἀντέστησεν τῷ ἀναιδεΐ καὶ ἐπιδούλῳ τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος. Οὗτοι δὲ χαινὸν ἐγωνίσαντο, καὶ οὐ τὸν συνήθη ἀγῶνα. Οὐ γὰρ τύπτοντὲες ἣ ῥηγνύντες ἐχράτησαν “ ἀλλὰ πάσχοντες Καὶ ποῖον, ἐρεῖς, ὁ ἀχροατὴς, χράτος πολέμου;","t":"And we who are hard pressed by human circumstances or misfortunes make the resting places [of the martyrs] a kind of refuge for our prayers and petitions, because of their surpassing boldness [before God]. From there poverty is relieved, … ; the sacred [shrines] of the martyrs are calm harbours from all the troubles and storms of life. So a father, or a mother, taking up a sick child and wrapping it in her arms, runs past the clinics and the physicians and flees for refuge to help that needs no art; and coming to one of the martyrs, she brings her petition to the Master through him, using such words to the mediator as these: “You who suffered for Christ, intercede for suffering and disease. You have boldness: lend a word to your fellow servants. Even though you have left our life, you still know the sufferings of humanity; you too once called on martyrs before you became a martyr. Then you asked and received; now that you have, give. In return for your reward, ask a gain for us. May we be healed by your bruise, as the world was by Christ's.” Another, hastening to his wedding, makes [prayer] in the martyrs' shrines the prelude to the bridal chamber … [no sailor] loosens the ship's cables before he has called on the Master of the sea through the martyrs; tribes of the poor and swarms of the needy have the resting place of the martyrs as a common hearth; and the martyrs are sung of everywhere on land and sea. Fittingly and deservedly. For they did not practise righteousness as many do; they carried the cross with their very bodies. They did not scatter money; they poured out blood. They did not pity a poor man; they did not spare themselves. They did not visit the afflicted in prison; they wore the chains themselves. That is why they reaped glory and honour equal to their endurance and affliction. So it is with the martyrs. But where are their tyrants and murderers, who thought high things and made arrogant threats, who sat on lofty thrones and did not know their own Ruler? They roared beyond lions, ran beyond leopards, tore beyond bears, shed blood like wolves, did mischief like foxes. They lie more loathsome than the dead that are; they have covered their life with oblivion; they have Hades as their tomb, impiety as their monument, and dishonour as their memory; they repent to no purpose and groan in vain. But those whom they tortured have been granted unceasing memory and ageless praise. The younger receive the stories and the honours from the elders, grandfather handing on to grandson, or father to son, the service paid to the martyrs, and so they make the praise immortal; and life keeps these feasts in succession like an inviolable inheritance, or rather like something more precious than an inheritance. For the goods of an inheritance a robber has taken away, or an enemy has taken as spoil, or a turn of affairs has emptied; but no year will ever cut off the feast of holy men, as long as there are years and time runs on, as long as heaven has the sun, and the earth feeds its own creatures, and the sea its special ones. To tell the truth, even when these elements cease, if some think they will, the glory of the martyrs and the righteous will not be quenched, nor will what belongs to them die with creation; … life, humanity having been transformed. Unbelievers, and those who doubt our hope of what is to come, can take firm pledges of our good expectation from what is done in this life. For behold, the circle of the world has been filled with the athletes of Christ, and every place holds the memory of the saints; and all the seasons give to those who keep feast the stories of the contestants, better than the gifts and growths of the earth. So if someone were a zealous friend of the martyrs and took care to celebrate the sufferings of them all, he would not pass a day of the year without a feast. For all the days have an adornment better than the circle of the sun: the valiant deeds of the noble. For since the enemy of good things waged fierce war against the mystery of Christians, and, sprinkling everyone with dust, strove to bury them with his own way of thinking and to busy them vainly with the pursuits of clay, God anointed a multitude of excellent men with his commands, trained them for endurance and strength, and set them against the shameless plotter against humanity. They fought a new contest, not the usual one. For they did not conquer by striking or breaking, but by suffering. “And what kind of victory in war is this,” you will say, my hearer,","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 10.2 (PG 40:419; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/10-2)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/10.3":{"o":"τίς ὃὲ εὐδοχίμησις αὕτη, τὸ στρεθλωθῆναι καὶ μαστιχθῆναι, καὶ πρός γε διὰ πυρὸς, ἣ ξίφους, ἣ χαχώσεως δεσμωτηρίων χαταλῦσαι τὸν βίον; ᾿Αλλὰ μάθε, ὡς οἱ ὑπὲρ εὐσεδείας πόλεμοι, ἀπεναντίου χατορθοῦνται τῶν ἄλλων. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐν τῷ φονεῦσαι τὴν ἀριστείαν ἔχουσι \" οἱ δὲ, διὰ τοῦ παθεῖν καὶ πεσεῖν ἐνεργοῦνται τὴν νίχην. Παῤῥησία δὲ δικαίων ᾿ ἐχτελεῖ τὰς ὑπὲρ τοῦ χόσμου πρεσθείας \" καὶ ἔλαθεν ὁ ἐχθρὸς τοῖς ἐναντίοις περιπεσὼν, ἣ ἐδούλετο. Ὅσους γὰρ ἔσφαξεν μαρτυρήσαντας, τοσούτους ἀνθρώπων βοηθοὺς παρεσχεύασεν. Καὶ ἐπὶ πάσης δὲ πράξεως τοῦτο πάσχων εὑρίσχεται \" ὅθεν ἐμποδίζειν πὴν αὔξησιν. Τῷ γὰρ μωρῷ καὶ ἄφρονι, εἰς τοὐνανπίον ὁ σοφὸς Θεὸς περιίστησι τὰ βουλεύματα. Καὶ ἔουτο τοῖς πράγμασιν ἑχάστου χαιροῦ παραχολουθοῦντες εὑρίσχομεν, τὴν ἔχθεσιν τοῦ Μωῦσέως, τὴν πράσιν τοῦ Ἰωσήφ. Εὐθὺς ἐν ἀρχῇ τὸν δεύτερον ἄνθρωπὸν τὸν “Αδελ ἐφόνευσεν, ἵνα τῶν εὐσεδῶν ἐχχόψῃ τὸ σπέρμα, καὶ τοὔμπαλιν ἐγένετο. \"Ἔχτοτε γὰρ ἀνδροφόνοι μισοῦνται σφοδρῶς, ἐξ οὗ Κάϊν παρὰ «οὔ Θεοῦ χατηράθη. Τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅτι ἐνήργησεν εἰς Ἰουδαίους ὁ Σατανᾶς, ἵνα σταυρώσωσιν αὐτόν. Τὸ αὑτὸ δὴ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς μάρτυσι πέπονθεν, ὧν χααὑτῶν τὸ ἀξίωμα. Οὐχ ἄνθρωπός ἐστιν; οὐχ ἐδαπανήθη τὸ σῶμα; οὐχ ἐν ὀλίγοις λειψάνοις, καὶ τούτοις ἐγχεχωσμένοις, αὐτῶν ἡ μνήμη; Μάλιστα δὴ καῦτα Ἕλληνες καὶ Εὐνομιανοί φασιν\" εἴπωμεν δὲ “«ρὸς ἀμφοτέρους. Ἡμεῖς μάρτυρας οὐ προσχυνοῦμεν, ἀλλὰ τιμῶμεν, ὡς γνησίους προσχυνητὰς Θεοῦ\" οὗ σέδομεν ἀνθρώπους, θαυμάζομεν δὲ τοὺς ἐν χαιρῷ πειρασμῶν χαλῶς σεθασθέντας Θεῷ. Ἐν θήχαις φιλοχάλοις ἀποτιθέμεθα, καὶ οἴχους τῆς ἀναπαύσεως ἐγείρομεν, πἃς τῶν χαλῶς τελευτησάντων τιμάς \" οὐχ ἄμισθον δὲ τὴν εἰς αὐτοὺς σπουδὴν ἐπιδειχνύμεθα, ἀλλὰ τῆς προστασίας αὑτῶν τῆς πρὸς Θεὸν ἀπολαύομεν … Θεὸν ἐν καιρῷ ἀνάγχης καὶ συμφορᾶς (ἡ γὰρ δέησις ἡμῶν οὐ παράχλησίς ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ ἀμαρτημάτων ὑπόμνησις), διὰ τοῦτο τοῖς ἀγαπωμένοις παρὰ τοῦ Δεσπότου ὁμοδούλοις προσφεύγομεν, ἵνα ἐχεῖνοι ἐν τοῖς ἰδίοις χατορθώμασι τὰ ἡμέτερα θεραπεύσωσι μελήματα. Ποῖον οὖν ἔγχλημα, ὅτι τιμῶντες μάρτυρας καὶ αὐτοὶ σπουδάξομεν ἀρέσκειν Θεῷ; τίς χατηγορία προστάταις προσρεύγειν; ᾿Ἐξετάσωμεν λοιπὸν καὶ τὰ σὰ, εἰ τοῦ ἐγχλήματος ὁ χατήγορος καθαρεύεις. Καὶ πῶς, ὅς γε μυρίους τῶν τεθνεώτων ἀνθρώπων οὐ τιμᾷς, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς θεοὺς προσχυνεῖς:; Οὐ σὺ Δήμητραν καὶ Κόρην ὑπὸ τῆς ἀνοίας σαυποῦ ἐθέωσας ἐδείμω δὲ δύο γυναίους ναοὺς, καὶ θυσίαις ταύτας τιμᾷς, καὶ παντοίαις προσχυνεῖς θεραπείαις; Οὐ χεφάλαιον τῆς σῆς θρησχείας τὰ ἐν Ἐλευσῖνι μυστήρια, καὶ δῆμος ᾿Αττιχὸς, καὶ ἡ Ἑλλὰς πᾶσα συναίρει, ἵνα τελέσῃ ματαιότητα; Οὐχ ἐχεῖ τὸ χαταθδάσιον τὸ σχοτεινὸν, καὶ αἱ σεμναὶ τοῦ ἱεροφάντου πρὸς τὴν ἱέρειαν συντυχίαι, μόνου πρὸς μόνην; Οὐχ αἱ λαμπάδες σόέννυνται, καὶ ὁ πολὺς καὶ ἀναρίθμητος δῆμος τὴν σωτηρίαν αὐτῶν εἶναι νομίζουσι τὰ ἐν τῷ σχότῳ παρὰ τῶν δύο πραττόμενα; Οὐ σὺ ὁ τὸν Θηδαῖον Διόνυσον ὡς θεὸν προσχυνῶν (λέγω γὰρ τὴν πατρίδα, ἵνα γνωρίσῃς τὸν ἄνθρωπον), ἄνδρα γεωργὸν ἀμπέλων καὶ φίλοινον, χωμαστὴν πάροινῦν, δήμον ἐπισυρόμενον ἀσχημονοῦντα τῇ μέθῃ, λασταίνοντας, μεθύοντα δὲ μετὰ τοῦ γέροντος τοῦ τώμενον, καὶ ἱστορίαν μέθης ὄντα τῷ βίῳ; Οὐ σὺ ὁ τῷ ἀνδρὶ Ἡρακλεῖ, ὡς θεῷ, τὰς θυσίας προσάγων, ἀνθρώπῳ ῥωμαλαίῳ, σῶμα λαχόντι δυνατὸν καὶ ἀνδρεῖον, καὶ σέδεις ἐχεῖνον, ἐπειδὴ ἐν πολλοῖς ἡρίστεν σεν, καὶ θηρίων περιεγένετο; Τί δὲ πάλιν τὸν ᾿Ασχληπιὸν τὸν ἐν τῷ νάρθηχι πολλὰ καὶ τῇ σιδηροθήχῃ περινοστήσαντα, οὐ σέδεις καὶ τέθηπας;᾿ Καὶ οὐκ ἂν ἀρνηθείης, ὡς οὐ τοῦτο ποιεῖς, Οἱ γὰρ πανταχοῦ τῆς οἰχουμένης ναοὶ, τὰ ᾿Ασχληπιεῖα λέγω, καὶ τὰ Ἡρά-χλεια, καὶ τὰ Διονύσια ἔλεγχοι ἑστᾶσιν τῆς σῆς ματαιότητος \" καὶ οὕτως ἐγὼ μὲν ἀθῶος ἀπελεύσομαι τοῦ ἐγχλήματος (οὐ γὰρ προσχυνὼ μάρτυρας, οὐδὲ νομίζω θεούς) σὺ δὲ πέφηνας ἐνεχόμενος τοῖς ἐγχλήμᾶσιν, καὶ ταῦτα χατηγορῶν ἑτέρων ὥσπερ οἱ διὰ ᾿Ανθρώπους γὰρ, οὐ θεοὺς προσχυνῶν ἀποδέδειξαι.","t":"“and what good repute is this, to be racked and scourged, and even to end one's life by fire or sword or the affliction of prisons?” But learn that the wars for godliness are won in the opposite way to all others. In the others, prowess lies in killing; these win their victory by suffering and falling. The boldness of the righteous carries out the intercessions for the world; and the enemy, without knowing it, fell into the opposite of what he wished. For as many as he slew as martyrs, so many helpers of men he provided. In every undertaking he is found suffering the same; … to hinder the growth. For the wise God turns the plans of the foolish and senseless round to the opposite. We find this by following the events of each age: the exposure of Moses, the sale of Joseph. Right at the beginning he murdered the second man, Abel, to cut off the seed of the godly, and the opposite happened; for from then on murderers have been fiercely hated, ever since Cain was cursed by God. So with Christ: Satan worked in the Jews to crucify him. He has suffered the same with the martyrs too, … their dignity. “Is he not a man? Was his body not consumed? Is not their memory in a few relics, and those buried?” Greeks and Eunomians especially say these things; let us answer both. We do not worship martyrs; we honour them as true worshippers of God. We do not revere human beings; we admire those who in the time of trials revered God well. We lay them in beautiful tombs and raise houses of rest for them, [paying] the honours due to those who died well; and we do not show our zeal for them without reward, but enjoy their patronage before God … God in the time of need and misfortune (for our prayer is not an entreaty [that persuades], but a reminder of our sins), and therefore we flee to our fellow servants who are loved by the Master, so that they, by their own good deeds, may heal our troubles. What crime is it, then, that in honouring martyrs we too strive to please God? What is the charge in fleeing to patrons? Let us now examine your own case too, and see whether you, the accuser, are clean of the charge. How could you be, you who do not honour countless dead men but worship them as gods? Did you not in your folly deify Demeter and Kore, build temples to two women, honour them with sacrifices and worship them with every kind of service? Is not the chief point of your religion the mysteries at Eleusis, where the Attic people and all Greece join together to perform vanity? Is not the dark descent there, and the solemn meetings of the hierophant with the priestess, he alone with her alone? Are not the torches put out, and does not the vast, countless crowd think that their salvation lies in what is done in the dark by the two? Do you not worship the Theban Dionysus as a god (I name his homeland so that you may recognize the man): a vine-grower and wine-lover, a drunken reveller, dragging along a crowd disgraced by drunkenness, … getting drunk with the old man …, and his life a history of drunkenness? Do you not offer sacrifices as to a god to the man Heracles, a strong man who was allotted a powerful and manly body, and revere him because he excelled in many things and overcame wild beasts? And again, do you not revere and stand in awe of Asclepius, who went about a great deal with his reed-case and his box of iron instruments? You cannot deny that you do this. For the temples throughout the world, I mean the Asclepieia, the Heracleia and the Dionysia, stand as proofs of your vanity. And so I will go away innocent of the charge (for I do not worship martyrs, nor think them gods); but you have been shown to be liable to the charges, and that while accusing others, like those who … For you have been shown to worship men, not gods.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 10.3 (PG 40:420; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/10-3)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/10.4":{"o":"Ταῦτα πρὸς τὸν ἐθνιχὸν ἐχ πολλῶν ὀλίγα. Οἱ ὃΣ τῆς νέας στάσεως Ἰουδαῖοι, τί θαυμαστὸν εἰ μάρτυρας ἀτιμάζετε, Χριστὸν ἀθετοῦντες, καὶ τῆς ὁμοιότητος τῆς πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα ἐν τοῖς ἰδίοις λόγοις χωρίζοντες, φυλαττόμενοι δὲ τοὺς τόπους, ὡς βεδήλους, ἐν οἷς σώματα ἅγια ἀναπέπανται; ᾿Αλλ᾽ οἵ μὴ εἰς ἔννοιαν ἔλθετε τοῦ γινομένου, φοδήθητε Χριστιανοὶ λεγόμενοι, μετὰ δὲ Ἑλλήνων μισοῦντες μάρτυρα:. Οὐχ ἴστε, ὡς ἀρχιμάρτυς Χριστὸς, πρῶτος παθὼν, καὶ τοῖς δούλοις τὸν ζῆλον ἀφείς; Εἶτα μετ᾽ Α ᾿ ἐχεῖνον Στέφανος, ὁ φερωνύμως τῆς χατὰ Θεὸν εὐδοξίας ἀγωνιστῆς \" πάντες οἱ ἑξῆς μαθηταὶ καὶ ἀπόστολοι. Καὶ ἐπίσχεψαι, διὰ μιᾶς ὕδρεως ὅσους ἀτιμάζεις - Ἰωάννην τὸν Βαπτιστὴν, Ἰάχωδον τὸν λεγόμενον ἀδελφὸν τοῦ Κυρίου, Πέτρον, Παῦλον, θωμᾶν (τούτους ὡς προστάτας ὀνομάζω τῶν μαρτύρων)\" ἔπειτα τὸ ἄπειρον πλῆθος τῶν ἀποθανόντων ὑπὲρ τῆς ζωῆς. Μὴ μιχρόν σοι τούτοις προσχρούειν; μὴ ὀλίγος τῆς ἔχθρας ὁ χίνδυνος; Τούτων ἔχαστος τὸν διάδολον μετὰ τῆς φρατρίας τῶν δαιμόνων ἐνίχησεν, ἀγγέλοις δὲ ἐνεγράφη, καὶ τηρεῖται ὡς εὐδόχιμος ἀθλητὴς τῇ ἀναῤῥήσει τῆς ἀναστάσεως \" παραστῆσεται δὲ τῇ ἐπιφανείᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, ἀνοΐγων ἐν παῤῥησίᾳ τὸ στόμα, ἐπευφραινόμενος τῇ θέᾳ τῶν ἀγγέλων, τῇ δόξῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ μαχαρίζων ἑαυτὸν, τῶν μαστίγῳν, τῶν δεσμῶν, τῶν στρεδλώσεων, τῆς ἐπιχερδοῦς τελευτῆς \" ὅτι τῇς ἀτελευτήτου ζωῆς αὐτῷ γεγένηται πρόξενος. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ὅταν τούτων ἀχούσῃς, οἶδα ἃ φρονεῖς, καὶ λέγεις\" Δεχτιχὸς χἀγὼ τῶν ὁμοίων. ᾽ν ζήσω χατ᾽ ἀρετὴν, οὐ χείρων, οὐδ᾽ ἀτιμότερος τῶν νῦν θαυμαζομένων ἔσομαι. Μάλιστα μὲν οὖν, ἀλαζόνος ταῦτα τὰ ῥήματα, διχαιοῦντος ἑαυτὸν χατὰ τὸν μεγάλαυχον Φαρισαῖον, καὶ πάσης ταπεινότητος ξένα. Πρόδηλον δὲ, ὡς ὁ μὴ πρότερον ταπεινωθεὶς, εἷς ὕψος οὐχ ἀναὀιίνει. ἀπόφασις γάρ ἔστι Δεσποτιχή. Ἵνα δέ τίς σοι ἐνεχυρίζῃ, ὅτι γενήσῃ τοιοῦτος, οὐ θέλεις, εἶπέ μοι, αἰδεσθῆναι τοὺς τὴν ὁδόν σοι τῆς εὐσεδείας νηντας, τοὺς ὁδηγοὺς τῶν χαλῶν, τοὺς διδασχάλους -ἧς ἀρετῆς, τοὺς παιδεύσαντάς σε χαρτερίαν καὶ θανάτου χαταφρόνησιν; Παρὰ τῶν μαθητῶν τοῦ βίου τούτου εὐγνωμοσύνην διδάχθητι, ὅτι ὅμοιοι γινόμενοι τῶν διδαξάντων, καὶ οὐδὲν τῆς τέχνης ἑλλείποντες, ὅμως τῶν διδασχόντων φιλοῦσι τὰ στήθη, αἰδοῦνται, σιν ὡς πατέρας. Πολλὰ καὶ τελευτήσαντες ἅγιοι δύνανται, καὶ ἀπελθόντες τοῦ βίου εὐεργετοῦσιν ἀνθρώφοὺς\" καὶ μάρτυς τῶν λεγομένων ὁ Ἐλισσαῖος, πάλαι μὲν ἀπελθὼν τοῦ βίου καὶ χοιμηθεὶς, ἀθάνατον δὲ καὶ ἀχώριστον τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ χάριν λαδὼν, τῷ χώματι παρεδρεύουσαν καὶ τοῖς ἀψύχοις ὀστέοις. Οἶδας γὰρ, ὁ φιλόπονος τῶν Γραφῶν μαθητῆς, ὅτι νεχρός τις παρὰ τῶν οἰχείων εἰς τὴν ἐχφορὰν χομιζόμενος, λῃστῶν ἀθρόον ἣ πολεμίων χαταλαθόντων, οἷα φιλεῖ τάφῳ τοῦ τρισμαχαρίου προφήτου, ἀθρόον ἐψυχώθη, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ζῶντας ἀνέλυσεν. Τί οὖν ἐροῦμεν πρὸς τὸ γενόμενον; Μὴ αἴσθησιν εἶχε τῶν πραττομένων ὁ δίκαιος; μὴ εὐχὴν ἀνέπεμψεν, ὡς ὑπὲρ τοῦ παιδαρίου τῆς Σαμαρίτιδος \"\"; ᾿Αλλ’ οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον δίδωσιν ἡμῖν ἐννοεῖν ἡ τῶν πραγμάτων ἀλήθεια. : ἔχειτο γὰρ πρὸ πολλῶν τῶν χρόνων ὁ δίχαιος, ἀνααυθέντος τοῦ σώματος πρὸς τὸν συγγενῆ χοῦν καὶ τὴν ᾿ὀμόφυλον χόνιν. Πρόδηλον δὲ χαθέστηχεν, ὡς δοξάξων ὁ θεὸς ἀεὶ καὶ μετὰ τέλος τοὺς ἰδίους ἀνθρώπους, … θαυματουργεῖ τὰ παράδοξχ\" ἵνα οἱ ζῶντες ἀεὶ καὶ μεθηλιχέστεροι, ἐνέχυρον ἔχοντες. τῆς ἀρίστης πολιτείας, ἐξανύωσι βίον. Ὡσαύτως καὶ Ἡλίας ὁ τοῦ προφήτου τούτου χαθηγεμὼν, μετὰ τοὺς φλογώδεις ἵππους καὶ τὸ πύρινον ἅρμα ἐν ἄλλῃ βιωτεύων ζωῇ, καὶ ἀπελθὼν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων εἰς τὸν χῶρον ὃν ἔλαχεν, ἱχανὸν τῆς ἑαυτοῦ δυνάμεως σύμδολον ἀφῆχεν τὴν μηλωτήν. Καίτοι πόσου τινὸς ἀξία ὑπῆρχεν ἐχείνη; οὐ γὰρ ἦν ἄλλο τι, ἣ δέρμα νεχρὸν καὶ φαῦλον ἐκ παλαιότητος. Ὅμως δὲ καὶ ὁ Ἰορδάνης αὐτὴν ὑπεστέλλετο, καὶ δίχα τὸ ὕδωρ ἑτέμνετο, καὶ διαχεχριμένον εἰστήχει, ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τὸ παλαιὸν, ὃς ἣν τύπος τοῦ μέλλοντος. Παρῆν δὲ καὶ ἀπὼν ὁ Θεσθίτης, καὶ τὸ ἔνδυμα τοῦ φιλοσόφου ἐδεξιοῦτο τὸν μαθητὴν, τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίας, καὶ τὰ ἐνδύματα τῶν ἁγίων τιμώσης, ὡς ἔμψυχα. Καὶ ἵνα δειχθῇ χαθαρῶς, ὅτι τὸ περὶ τὸν ποταμὸν θαυματούργημα, οὐ διὰ τὴν αἰτίαν ἐγένετο τοῦ πλήττοντος τὸ ὕδωρ, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν τιμὴν τοῦ οἰχομένου καὶ ἀναληφθέντος \" πατάξαντος τὸ ὕδωρ τοῦ Ἐλισσαίου, ἔῤῥει τὸ ὕδωρ συνἦθως, οὐδὲν πεπονθὸς καινόν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἀποτυχὼν ἐπεδόησεν, Ποῦ δή ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς Ἡλίου, καὶ βοΐ\" σας, ἐκ δευτέρου χαθίχετο, εὐθὺς ὁ ποταμὸς διασχὼν τὸ ῥεῖθρον, γυμνὴν ἔδειξε τὴν ξηρὰν, καὶ πεζεύσας ὁ προφήτης εἰς τὸ πέραν ἀφίχετο.","t":"These few things out of many I say to the pagan. And you, the Jews of the new faction, what wonder is it if you dishonour martyrs, since you reject Christ and in your own words separate him from likeness to the Father, and avoid as profane the places where holy bodies rest? You who will not come to understand what is happening, be afraid, since you are called Christians and yet hate martyrs along with the Greeks. Do you not know that Christ is the chief martyr, who suffered first and left the zeal to his servants? Then after him Stephen, the contestant for the glory that is according to God, true to his name; then all the disciples and apostles who followed. Consider how many you dishonour with one insult: John the Baptist, James called the brother of the Lord, Peter, Paul, Thomas (I name these as leaders of the martyrs); then the countless multitude of those who died for the sake of life. Is it a small thing to offend these? Is the danger of their enmity slight? Each of them conquered the devil with his company of demons, was enrolled among the angels, and is kept, as an approved athlete, for the proclamation at the resurrection. He will stand at the appearing of our God and Saviour, opening his mouth with boldness, rejoicing at the sight of the angels, and in the glory of God counting himself blessed for the whips, the bonds, the rackings and the gainful death, because it brought him endless life. But when you hear these things, I know what you think, and you say: “I too am capable of the like. If I live by virtue, I will be no worse and no less honoured than those who are admired now.” These words are above all a braggart's, of one who justifies himself like the boastful Pharisee, and they are foreign to all humility. It is plain that one who has not first been humbled does not ascend to the height; for it is the Master's sentence. But suppose someone guaranteed you that you will become such a man: tell me, will you not respect those who [paved] the road of godliness for you, the guides to good things, the teachers of virtue, who trained you in endurance and contempt of death? Learn gratitude from the pupils of this life: though they become like those who taught them and lack nothing of the art, they still kiss their teachers' breasts, respect them, and [honour] them as fathers. The saints can do much even after death, and having departed this life they still benefit people. A witness to this is Elisha, who departed life and fell asleep long ago, but received the immortal and inseparable grace of God, which stayed by his burial mound and his lifeless bones. For you know, diligent student of the Scriptures, that when a dead man was being carried to burial by his relatives, and robbers or enemies suddenly came upon them, as is wont to happen, [he was thrown into] the tomb of the thrice-blessed prophet, was suddenly given life again, and returned to the living. What, then, shall we say of what happened? Did the righteous man perceive what was being done? Did he send up a prayer, as he did for the Shunammite woman's boy? But the truth of the facts allows us to think no such thing. For the righteous man had lain there for many years, his body dissolved into its kindred dust and the earth of which it was made. It is plain, then, that God, always glorifying his own people even after their end, works wonders [through their tombs], so that the living, and those who come after, may always have a pledge of the best way of life and so complete their lives. So too Elijah, the master of this prophet, after the fiery horses and the fiery chariot, living in another life, and departing from men to the place allotted to him, left behind his sheepskin mantle as a sufficient token of his power. Yet how much was that worth? It was nothing but a dead skin, shabby with age. Still the Jordan yielded to it; the water was cut in two and stood divided, as it once did for Joshua, who was a type of what was to come. The Tishbite, though absent, was present, and the philosopher's garment welcomed the disciple, for God's love for mankind honours even the garments of the saints as if they were alive. And to show plainly that the wonder at the river did not happen because of the one who struck the water, but for the honour of the one who had gone and been taken up: when Elisha struck the water, the water flowed as usual and nothing new happened to it. But when, having failed, he cried out, “Where is the God of Elijah?”, and, having cried out, struck a second time, at once the river divided its stream and showed the dry ground bare, and the prophet crossed over to the other side on foot.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 10.4 (PG 40:420; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/10-4)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/10.5":{"o":"Ὁ δὲ Ἰωσὴφ τὸν Ἰαχὼδ τελευτησαντα, οὐχ ὡς πατέρα τοσοῦτον ἰδιαζόντως ἀγαπῶν...... «κοῦ ἔθνους πατριάρχην τιμῶν, μετὰ τῆς πολυθρυλλήτου θεραπείας ἐχείνης ἀπήγαγεν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου τὸ λείψανον, ὥστε τὸν Μωῦσέα μετὰ τῆς τοῦ χόσμου γένέσεως καὶ τῆς λοιπῆς ἱστορίας, ἀνάγραπτον δοῦναι καὶ τοῦτο τῷ βίῳ διήγημα. Ἰωσὴφ δὲ πάλιν ὕπαρ παρὰ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ὁδεύοντος ἐχ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν, ὡς ἂν εἴποι τις, ἐχλάπη ὁ Φαραώ\" πανταχοῦ δὲ συμπαρὴν τῷ λαῷ τὸ σῶμα, καὶ ἤγετο μετ᾽ ἐπιμελείας, ὡς ἀγαθόν τι καὶ ἀλεξίχαχον φυλαχτήριον ἀσφαλὲς τῶν ἑξήχοντα μυριάδων. Καὶ τοσαύτην εἶχον τὴν αἰδῶ περὶ τὴν λάρναχα τοῦ προπάτορος, ὅσην περὶ τὴν ἁγίαν χιδωτὸν, ἣ τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ νόμον ἐδάσταζεν. Διὸ καὶ Δαδὶδ παραχαλῶν που τὸν Θεὸν, ἵλεων εἶναι καὶ εὐμενῆ τῷ λαῷ, καὶ … ἐχῃ καὶ ἐπάλληλον τῶν συμφορῶν στήδας πληγὴν, πάλιν ἐν ἀγαθῇ προνοίᾳ διοιχῇ τὴν ᾿ΙἹερουσαλὴμ, ὡς τὸ πρότερον, οὕτω φησί\" Ὁ ποιμαίνων τὸν πρόσχες\" ὁ ὁδηγῶν ὡσεὶ πρόθατον τὸν ᾿Ιωσήφ. Δυσωπεῖ γὰρ τὸν Θεὸν τοῖς τῶν ἀγαπητῶν καὶ φίλων ὀνόμασιν, καὶ λίαν εὐμηχάνως τὴν ἱχετηρίαν μεταχειρίζεται, τοῦ δυσσεδήσαντος πλήθους τὰς ἁμαρτίας οἷον ἐγχρύπτων καὶ σκέπων ταῖς τῶν ἀγίων Πατέρων προσηγορίαις. Τοῦτον ἡμῖν ὑπαγορεύει τὸν νοῦν καὶ ὁ περὶ τὰ Σόδομα σωζόμενος λόγος. ᾿ΑΔδραὰμ, γὰρ Σοδομίτας παραιτούμενος, ἡνίχα δυσμεναίνων αὑτοῖς ὁ Θεὸς μετὰ προῤῥήδεως ἐπήγαγεν τὴν χόλασιν, τῇ φειδοῖ τῶν δικαίων ἠξίου σωθῆναι τὸν σύμπαντα δῆμον. ᾿Δρξάμενος γὰρ ἀπὸ τῶν πεντήχοντα, εἰς τοὺς δέχα χατέληξεν\" καὶ πρὸς- τὴν ἱχεσίαν εὐθέως ἔνευσεν ὁ Θεὸς, ὥσπερ ἐπί τινος ζυγοῦ καὶ πλαστίγγων ταῖς μυριάσι τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν, τὸ τῶν δέχα δικαίων ἀντιατῆσας. ἵνα δὲ ἐπὶ πλέον ἐνδείξηται πᾶσιν ἡμῖν, ὅτι καὶ εἷς δίκαιος τίμιον πρᾶγμα καὶ Θεῷ φίλον, ἐπειδὴ ὁ μὲν δέχατος ἐξέλιπεν ἀριθμὸς, καὶ εὑρέθη ταύτης τῆς ὀλιγότητος τῶν ὁσίων τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν ὁ δῆμος πενόμενος, ἐχρὴν δὲ τοὺς παρανομήσαντας δοῦναι θρασύτητος δίχην, σφοδρῶς ἐλαύνεται τῶν χαταδιχασθέντων τόπων ὁ Λὼτ, καὶ σώζεται παγγενεὶ, εἰς τὸ γέρας τῆς διχαιοσύνης καὶ τοὺς οἰχείους ἅπαντας παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ προσλαθών. Μέγα οὖν χτῆμα δίχαιος: πρῶτον ὄφελος ἑαυτῷ, ἔπειτα τοῖς τοῦ γένους ἑξῆς θησαυρὸς διαρχής\" ἀγνοούμενος τῇ θέχ, καὶ ἀεὶ συμπαρὼν, χαι παιδεύων τοὺς ἄλλους πράγμασι\" πάλαι χείμενος, καὶ ζῶν ταῖς εὐδοχιμήσεσιν. ᾿Αγαθὴ τῶν παίδων χληρονομία, καὶ ἄσυλος\" ἣν χρόνος οὐ δαπανᾷ, καὶ λῃστὴς οὐχ ἀφαιρεῖται. ᾿Ασώματος γάρ ἐστι καὶ ἄῦλος, ἀσωμάτοις ἐμπολιτευομένη ψυχαῖς. Ορᾷς, ὡς καὶ οἱ ἔνδοξοι καὶ ἀοίδιμοι Ἰσραηλῖται, πάντων ἀφῃρημένοι, καὶ αὐτῆς τῆς γῆς ἐχπεσόντες τῆς πατριχῆῇς, τῆς σεμνῆς προσἡγορίας οὐχ ἀφηρέθησαν, οὐδὲ ἐγομνώθησαν τοῦ χαλεῖσθαι ἀπὸ τοῦ φιλοθέου προπάτορος\" ἀλλὰ καὶ βαρ- ᾿ θάροις δουλεύοντες, διὰ τὴν διχαιοσύνην τῶν πατέρων ἠλευθερώθησαν καὶ ἐν ἐρήμῳ διαζῶντες, διὰ τὴν εὐδοχίμητστιν τῶν γεννησάντων ἑτράφησαν᾽ καὶ ἁμαρτάνοντες συνεχῶς, καὶ βλασφημοῦντες πολλάχις, καὶ ἄξιοι νομισθέντες τῆς ὁλοθρενούσης χολάσεως, διὰ τὸν ᾿Αδραὰμ φειδοὺς ἐξιώθησαν, καὶ διὰ τὸν Ἰσραὴλ ἔτυχον συγγνώμης, θρασυχάρδιοι παῖδες εἰς τὰ γέρα τῶν πατέρων σωζόμενοι. Καὶ οἷδάς γε, ὁ φιλομαθὴς, ὡς ἐν πρώτοις ὁ Θεὸς, ἡνέκα ἐχ τῆς ποιμαντιχῇῆς ἐπὶ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν τῶν λαῶν ἐχάλει τὸν Μωῦσῆν, εὐθὺς ταῦτα πρὸς τὸν δοῦλόν φησιν\" ᾿Εγώ εἰμι ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ πατρός σου, ὁ Θεὸς Ἁδραὰμ, καὶ ὁ θεὸς Ἰσαὰκ, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς Ἰακώδ. Καὶ μικρὸν πρόσω τοῦ λόγου γενόμενος, ταῦτα προστίθησιν\" Συγνάγαγε τὴν γερουσίαν τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴ.,, καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὑτούς\" Κύριος θεὸς τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν ὧπεαί μοι, ὁ θεὸς ᾿Αδραὰμ, καὶ ὁ θεὸς ἸΙσαὰχ, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ᾿Ιαχὠδ. Καὶ οὕτως ἐν προοιμίοις ὁ Θεὸς τῷ ὀνόματι τῶν δικαίων πατέρων, οἷον σημάντρῳ τινὶ «ποὺς ἀπογόνους σφραγίζεται\" χαλὸν εἰδὼς καὶ συμφέρον τὸ ἀπ᾽ ἐχείνων γνωρίζεσθαι. Χρόνου. δὲ προελθόντος, ἐπειδὴ εἰς ὕόριν τοῦ εὐεργέτου ὥρμησεν ὁ λαὺς, καὶ χαταφρόνησιν τοῦ Σωτῆρος, προσέχοψαν ὃξ τῇ εἰδωλοποιήσει τοῦ μόσχου, καὶ προσεχύνουν χοανίον ἄψυχον, τὴν ἔμψυχον καὶ λογιχὴν φρόντσιν ἀπολέσαντες\" οὐκ ἔχων ὃ Μωῦσῆς τηνιχαῦτα ὅπως: ὑπὲρ τῶν μαθητῶν ἐξιλεώσηται τὸν Δεσπότην, ὁ παιδαγωγὸς ὁ πολύμοχθος, χαταφεύγει πρὸς τὴν μνήμὴν τῶν πατέρων, καὶ μετ᾽ ἐχείνων τὴν ἱκετηρίαν προὀάλλεται\" φησὶν δὲ οὕτως Ἷ}ἋῺΔεὡς γενοῦ ἐπὶ τῇ κακίᾳ τοῦ «αοῦ, μνησθεὶς Ἀδραὰμ, καὶ Ἰσαὰκ, καὶ Ἰακχὼδ τῶν σοῦ οἰκετῶν 51, οἷο ὥμοσας κατὰ σεαῦὺτοῦ, πληθῦναι τὸ σπέρμα αὑτῶν ὡς τὰ ἄστρα τοῦ οὐραγοῦ. Μεγάλη ἡ ὀργὴ, καὶ ὁ θυμὸς ἀπαραίτητος\" ἀλλ᾽ ὁ σοφὸς καὶ εὐμήχανος ἱχέτης, τὰ προσωπεῖα περιθέμενος τῶν ἁγίων, καὶ τὰς πολλὰς τῶν γερόντων διὰ τῆς μνήμης τῷ Θεῷ ἀποῤῥίψας \"δ...","t":"Joseph, when Jacob died, loving him not so much as his own father …, honouring the patriarch of the [whole] nation, carried the remains out of Egypt with that celebrated care, so that Moses, along with the creation of the world and the rest of the history, put this story too in writing for all time. And Joseph in turn: while Israel was journeying, Pharaoh was robbed, as one might say, before his very eyes; and everywhere the body went with the people and was carried with care, like a good, evil-averting and secure amulet for the six hundred thousand. They had as much reverence for the coffin of their forefather as for the holy ark that carried the law of God. That is why David too, entreating God somewhere to be gracious and kind to the people, and … , having stopped the repeated blows of misfortune, to govern Jerusalem again with good providence as before, says this: “You who shepherd [Israel], attend; who lead Joseph like a sheep.” For he moves God by the names of his beloved and his friends, and handles his supplication very skilfully, as though hiding and covering the sins of the impious multitude with the names of the holy Fathers. The account preserved about Sodom also suggests this meaning to us. For Abraham, interceding for the Sodomites when God, being hostile to them, brought on the punishment after announcing it, asked that the whole people be saved by sparing them for the sake of the righteous. Beginning from fifty, he ended at ten; and God at once assented to the supplication, setting the ten righteous against the myriads of sinners as on a balance and scales. And to show all of us still more that even one righteous man is a precious thing and dear to God: since even the number ten was lacking, and the people of sinners was found to be poor even in this small number of holy men, and the transgressors had to pay the penalty for their audacity, Lot was urgently driven out of the condemned places and saved with his whole household, receiving from God all his kin besides as the reward of his righteousness. A righteous man, then, is a great possession: first a benefit to himself, then a lasting treasure for those of his family after him; unseen by the eye and yet always present, teaching others by his deeds; lying dead long ago, yet living in his good repute. It is a good and inviolable inheritance for his children, which time does not consume nor robber take away; for it is bodiless and immaterial, dwelling in bodiless souls. You see how even the glorious and celebrated Israelites, deprived of everything and fallen from their ancestral land, were not deprived of their solemn name, nor stripped of being called after their God-loving forefather; but when they were slaves of barbarians, they were set free for the righteousness of their fathers; when they lived in the desert, they were fed for the good repute of their forebears; and though they sinned continually, blasphemed often, and were judged worthy of destroying punishment, they were spared for Abraham's sake and pardoned for Israel's: bold-hearted children saved for the honours of their fathers. You know, lover of learning, how at the very beginning God, when he called Moses from shepherding to lead the peoples, at once said this to his servant: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” And going a little further in the discourse he adds: “Gather the council of the elders of the sons of Israel, and you will say to them: The Lord God of your fathers has appeared to me, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” So at the outset God seals the descendants with the name of the righteous fathers as with a seal, knowing that it is good and profitable for them to be known by their descent from them. As time went on, when the people rushed into insult of their benefactor and contempt of the Saviour, stumbled into making the calf, and worshipped a lifeless molten image, having lost their living and rational mind, Moses, the much-toiling tutor, not knowing how else to propitiate the Master for his disciples, took refuge in the memory of the fathers, and put forward his supplication together with them. He speaks thus: “Be merciful to the wickedness of the people, remembering Abraham, Isaac and Jacob your servants, to whom you swore by yourself to multiply their seed as the stars of heaven.” Great was the anger, and the wrath inexorable; but the wise and resourceful suppliant, putting on the masks of the saints, and through remembrance casting before God the many … of the old men …","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 10.5 (PG 40:420; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/10-5)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/10.6":{"o":"ἔσδεσεν ὡς φλόγα τὴν τιμωρίαν πατριχῷ ἐλαίῳ τῶν μανέντων υἱῶν θεραπεύσας τὰ τραύματα. Β τῶν Βασιλέων μετάθηθι. Ὅψει γὰρ χἀχεῖ παῖδα φειδοῦς ἀξιούμενον, διότι γέννημα ἣν φιλοθέου πατρός. Σολομὼν δέ ἐστιν οὗτος ὁ πολυθρύλλητος\" ὃς ἐπειδὴ προϊόντος τοῦ χρόνου οὐχ ἦν τῶν παθῶν αὐτοχράτωρ, δοῦλος δὲ μᾶλλον, καὶ ἀχρατέστερος ἐραστὴς διὰ τὴν ἀπροσεξίαν τοῦ βίου, μετέδαλεν καὶ τὴν πατρῴαν εὐσέδειαν, εἴδωλα μορφώσας τὰ τοῦ νόμου προσχόμματα\" φησὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ Θεός\" Διαῤ(' ἡσων διαῤῥήξω τὴν βασιείαν σου, καὶ δώσω αὖ τὴ» τῷ δούιλῳ σου\" π.ϊὴν» ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις σου οὗ ποιήσω ταῦτα διὰ Δαδὶδ τὸν πατέρα σου: ἐκ χειρὸς τοῦ υἱοῦ σου «1ήφομαι αὑτήν. Ταῦτα ἡμᾶς ἡ ἱστορία παϊδεύει\" διδάσκει δὲ καὶ ᾧδὴ τῶν Ἡαλμῶν τὰ ὅμοια. Νεώτερος ἤμην\" καὶ γὰρ ἐγής βάσα' καὶ οὐκ εἶδον δίκαιον οὐδὲ τὸ σπέρμα αὑτοῦ ζητοῦν ἄρτους. ᾿Αλλ᾽, ἧ ἔοικεν, ἐπειδὰν ἅπαξ ψυχὴ τῆς ἀληθείας ἀντὶ τοῦ ζῇν ἐν τάξει προδέδληται, οὐδὲν αὐτὴν ἐπιστρέφειν ἑχανὸν εἰς τὴν εὐθεῖαν καὶ τεταγμένην ὁδόν\" ἐνδαχοῦσα δὲ τὸν χαλινὸν, ὥσπερ τις πῶλος δυσήνιος φέρεται πρὸς τὸ βάραθρον, νικῶσα τὸν ἀναδάτην νοῦν τῇ πρὸς τὴν χαχίαν ὁρμῇ ὥσπερ δὴ καὶ τοὺς Εὐνομιανοὺς τούτους ἔστιν ἰδεῖν. Οὕτως γὰρ φιλοῦσι χαλεῖσθαι μᾶλλον, ἣ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἄνθρωποι, θεὼν βλασφημοῦντες, τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀτιμάζον.τες, μᾶλλον δὲ ἐντρεπόμενοι τὰς, τῶν ἁγίων ἀναπαύσεις, ἣ οἱ σωφρονοῦντες τοὺς βωμοὺς, καὶ τοὺς βεθήλους καὶ τοὺς μεμιασμένους τῶν τόπων. Ἐχρῆν τοὺς τῆς ἀπονοίας ἐχείνους ἀσχητὰς, καὶ τὸ χατὰ ““άντων θράσος ἀρετὴν νομίζοντας, τὰς γοῦν τῶν δαιμόνων αἰδεσθῆναι φωνὰς, χραξζόντων καὶ βοώντων λαμπρῶς τῶν μαρτύρων τὴν δύναμιν, καὶ ὀνόμασι χαλούντων ἕχαστον, ὡς παρεστῶτα, καὶ ἀπελαύνοντα, καὶ φυγαδεύοντα τῶν τυραννουμένων ἀνθρώπων. Εἴτε δὲ τὰ συστήματα τῶν ἀθλητῶν τῆς ἐθέλοι τις ἐνεργεῖν χατὰ τῶν ἀκαθάρτων πνευμάτων, εἴτε ἀγγέλους εἰς τιμὴν τῶν ἀναπεπαυμένων παρεδρεύοντας τοῖς ἁγίοις τηχοῖς, οὐδὲν διαφέρει\" ὁπότερὸν γὰρ ἂν λέγηται, δόξα τῶν ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰ Χριστὸν ἀγάπης ἐστὶ παθόντων. Πρόδηλον ὃδὲ φαίνονται χαῦἡμέραν αἱ κῶν μαρτύρων εὐεργεσίαι, ἄλλαι τε ἄλλαι καὶ τοῖς ἀδιηγήτοις τῆς μανίας ποτὲ χαχοῖς ἐνεχόμενοι, νῦν σωφρονοῦντες ὁρῶνται, καὶ τῆς πρεσθείας τῶν ἁγίων τὴν παῤῥησίαν παρ᾽ αὐτῶν βλέπομεν τῶν πραγμάτων μαρτυρουμένην. Καὶ ὥσπερ τῆς τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν δυνάμεως ἀναμφίθολα δείγματα ἐν μέσῳ τῶν Ἑδραίων περιενόστουν, οἵ τε τῆς λέπρας ἀποξεσθέντες, καὶ οἱ τὰς ὕψεις. ἰαθέντες τυφλοὶ, καὶ εἴ τις παραλυτιχὸς; τὰς τῶν μελῶν ἁρμονίας δυναμωβθεὶς ἀχωλύτως ἐδάδιζεν\" οὕτω; καὶ νῦν οἱ τὸν σταυρὸν ὑπὲρ τοῦ σταυρωθέντος βαστάσαντες, τῇς παρὰ τοῦ Δεσπότου χάριτος ἐναργεῖς τὰς ἀποδείξεις παρέχον - «ας, ποιχίλως καὶ διαφόρως τοὺς πόνους τῶν ὁμοδούλων ἰώμενοι. Καὶ Παῦλος μὲν, καὶ Πέτρος, ὁ μὲν διώξας τὸ τοῦ Πύθωνος δαιμόνιον, ὁ δὲ τὸν χωλὸν ἀναστήσας τῶν τοῦ ναοῦ προπυλαίων, ἐχ πραχτιχῶν δυνάμεων Ἑδραίους καὶ Ἕλληνας πρὸς τὴν ὑπαχοὴν τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου ἐπέστρεψαν\" αἱρετιχῶν δὲ πονηρὸν σύνταγμα, τῶν νῦν χαχῶς διοχλούντων τὴν ἡμετέραν ζωὴν, οὐδὲ τῇ μεγαλουργίξ τῶν θαυμάτων αἱδεῖται «οὺς μάρτυρας\" πολνάνδρια δὲ καὶ τάφους τὰς χοσμήσεις αὐτῶν ὀνομάζουσι, καὶ τὰς εἰσόδους αὐτὰς ἐχείνου τοῦ θεσπεσίου λογίου τοῦ παρὰ παντὸς ἀδομένοῦ στόματος μνημονεύοντες, ὅτι\" Τίμιος ἐναντίον Κυρίου ὁ θάνατος τῶν ὁσίων αὐτοῦ. Ἐὐξώμεθα τοίνυν Θεῷ, παραχαλέσωμεν δὲ μάρτυρα:, τὸν χοινὸν δυσωπῆῇσαι Δεσπότην, ἵνα δοθῇ πνεῦμα χκατανύξεως τοῖς παρὰ τῆς αἱρετιχῇῆς πλάνης ἐνεργουμένοις, λυθείσης δὲ τῆς διχονοίας, ὥσπερ μεσοτοίχου τινὸς ἣ φραγμοῦ, εἰς ἀδελφιχὴν οἱ πάντες συνέλθωμεν ἕνωσιν’ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾧ πρέπει ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. ᾿Αμήν.","t":"… he quenched the punishment like a flame, healing the wounds of the maddened sons with the oil of their fathers. … pass over to [the history] of the Kings. For there too you will see a son judged worthy of being spared because he was the offspring of a God-loving father. This is the celebrated Solomon. As time went on, he was no longer master of his passions but rather their slave, a lover without restraint through the carelessness of his life, and he changed even his father's godliness, fashioning idols, the stumbling-blocks of the law. God says to him: “I will surely tear your kingdom away and give it to your servant; but in your days I will not do these things, for the sake of David your father; I will take it from the hand of your son.” This is what history teaches us; and an ode of the Psalms teaches the like: “I was young, and indeed I have grown old, and I have not seen a righteous man [forsaken], nor his seed begging bread.” But, as it seems, once a soul has thrown away the truth instead of living in good order, nothing can turn it back to the straight and ordered road; it bites the bridle and, like an unruly colt, is carried toward the pit, overpowering the mind that rides it by its rush toward evil. One can see this in these Eunomians (for that is what they love to be called, rather than men of Christ): they blaspheme God, dishonour the men of God, and turn away from the resting places of the saints more than sober people do from altars and from profane and polluted places. Those practitioners of folly, who think audacity against everyone a virtue, ought at least to respect the voices of the demons, which cry and shout out plainly the power of the martyrs, and call each of them by name as though he were present, driving them out and putting them to flight from the people they tyrannize. Whether one supposes that the companies of the athletes act against the unclean spirits, or that angels attend the holy tombs in honour of those who rest there, makes no difference; whichever is said, it is to the glory of those who suffered for love of Christ. The benefactions of the martyrs plainly appear every day, one after another; those once held by the indescribable evils of madness are now seen in their right minds, and we see the boldness of the saints' intercession attested by the facts themselves. And as undoubted proofs of our Saviour's power went about among the Hebrews (those scraped clean of leprosy, the blind healed in their sight, and any paralytic strengthened in the joints of his limbs and walking without hindrance), so now too those who carried the cross for the Crucified provide clear proofs of the grace given by the Master, healing the pains of their fellow servants in various and different ways. Paul and Peter, the one driving out the spirit of Python, the other raising the lame man at the porches of the temple, turned Hebrews and Greeks to obedience to the Gospel through works of power. But the wicked band of heretics, which now badly troubles our life, does not respect the martyrs even for the greatness of their wonders; they call the martyrs' adorned shrines mass graves and tombs, and … their very entrances, … remembering that divine oracle sung by every mouth: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his holy ones.” Let us pray to God, then, and call on the martyrs to entreat our common Master, that a spirit of compunction may be given to those who are worked upon by heretical error, and that, the discord being dissolved like a dividing wall or fence, we may all come together into brotherly union; in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory to the ages. Amen.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 10.6 (PG 40:420; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/10-6)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/11.1":{"o":"Εἰς μαρτύριον τῆς παγευφήμου μάρτυρος Πρώην μὲν, ὦ ἄνδρες, Δημοσθένην ἔχων ἐν χερσὶ κὸν δεινὸν, καὶ Δημοσθένους ἐχεῖνα, ἔνθα δὴ τὸν δὲ τῷ λόγῳ, καὶ πυχνωθεὶς τὴν διάνοιαν, ἀνέσεως ἐδεόμην καὶ περιπάτου, ὥστς μοι λυθῆναι μιχρὸν τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ πονούμενο». Προελθὼν δὲ τοῦ δωματίου, καὶ ὀλίγα τοῖς γνωρίμοις συμδαδίσας ἐπ᾽ ἀγοχέτω τοῦ λόνου, ὧδέ πτ ἔχοντος ᾿ 08. δε αι 7 συθ μενος ἐν σχολῇ. Ὡς δὲ καὶ τούτου τυχὼν, ἕνα δὴ τῶν ὑποστέγων δρόμων ἐδάδιζον, εἶδον ἐκεῖ γραφήν τινα, καί με χατάχρας εἷλεν 5\" ἡ θέα. Εὐφράνορος ἂν εἷπες εἶναι τὸ φιλοτέχνημα, ἢ τινὸς ἐχείνων τῶν παλαιῶν, οἱ τὴν γραφικὴν ἦραν εἰς μέγα, ἐμψύχους ὀλίγου δέοντος ἐργασάμενοι πίναχας. Δεῦρο δ᾽, εἶ βούλει (καὶ γὰρ σχολὴ νῦν διηγήματος), φράσω σοι τὴν γραφήν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ φαύλότερα πάντως τῶν ζωγράφων [παῖδες] οἱ μουσῶν παῖδες ἔχομεν φάρμαχα. Γυνὴ τις ἱερὰ, παρθένος ἀχῆρατος, Θεῷ “) τὴν σω- Τυράννου δέ ποτε τοὺς εὐσεδοῦντας ἐλαύνοντος, μάλα προθύμως τὸν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ εἴλετο χίνδυνον. Οἱ δὲ δὴ πολῖται καὶ χοινωνοὶ τῆς͵ θρησχείας, ὑπὲρ ἧς ἐτελεύτησεν, ὡς ἀνδρείαν ὁμοῦ καὶ ἱερὰν τὴν καρθένον θαυμάσαντες, πλησίον τοῦ ἱεροῦ τὴν θήχην δεισιν αὐτῇ, τὴν ἐτήσιον ἑορτὴν, χαινὴν 4 καὶ πάνδημὸν ποιοῦντες πανήγυριν. Οἱ μὲν οὖν τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ μυστηρίων ἱεροφάνται καὶ λόγῳ τιμῶσι τὴν μνήμην ἀεὶ, καὶ ὅπως ἐξετέλεσε τὸν τῆς χαρτερίας ἀγῶνα, ἐπιμελῶς τοὺς συνιόντας λαοὺς ἐχδιδάσχουσιν. Ὁ δὲ δὴ ζωγράφος εὐσεδῶν καὶ αὑτὸς, διὰ τῆς τέχνης χατὰ δύναμιν, πᾶταν τὴν ἱστορίαν ἐν σινδόνι χαράξας, αὐτοῦ. που περὶ τὴν θήχην ἱερὸν ἀνέθηχε θέαμα. Ἔχει δὲ ὧδε τὸ φιλοτέχνημα\" Ὑψηλὸς ἐπὶ θρόνου χαθίδρυτα: διχαστὴς, πιχρὸν καὶ δυσμενὲς βλέπων εἰς τὴν παρθένον (ὀργίζεται γὰρ, ὅτ᾽ ἂν ἐθέλῃ, χἀν ταῖς ἀψύχοις ὕλαις ἣ τέχνη). Δορυφόροι δὲ τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ στρατιῶται πολλοί\" οἔ μὲν, τῶν ὑπομνημάτων ὑπογραφείσας δέλτους φέροντες καὶ γραφίδας᾽ ων θάτερος ἀναρτήσας ἀπὸ τοῦ χηροῦ τὴν χεῖρα, βλέπει πρὸς τὴν χρινομένην σφοδρῶς, ὅλον ἐχχλίνας τὸ πρόσωπον, ὥσπερ χελευόμενος αὐτῇ γεγωνότερον λαλεῖν, ἵνα μὴ χάμνων περὶ τὴν ἀχοὴν, ἐσφαλμένα γράφτ' καὶ ἐπιλήψιμα. χε ὃὲ ἡ παρθένος ἐν φαιῷ χιτῶνι, καὶ ἱματίῳ τὴν φιλοσοφίαν σημαίνουσα\" ὡς μὲν ἔδοξε τῷ γραφεῖ, καὶ τὴν ὄψιν ἀστεία\" ὡς ὃὲ ἐμοὶ δοχεῖ, τὴν ψυχὴν χεχαλλωπισμένη ταῖς ἀρεταῖς. λγουσι δὲ αὐτὴν πρὸς τὸν ἄρχοντα δύο στρατιῶται, ὁ μὲν ἕλχων ἐπὶ τὸ πρόσω, ἦθος αἰδοῖ καὶ στεῤῥότητι. Νεύει μὲν γὰρ εἰς γῆν, … ὥσπερ ἐρυθριῶσα τὰς ὄψεις τῶν ἀῤῥένων\" ἕστηχε δὲ ἀχατάπληχτος, οὐδὲν πάσχουσα πρὸς τὸν ἀγῶνα δειλόν 45- ὡς ἔγωγε τοὺς ἄλλους τέως ἐπήνουν φους, ὅτ᾽ ἂν ἐθεασάμην τῆς γυναιχὸς ἐχείνης τῆς Κολχίδος τὸ δρᾶμα, ὅπως μέλλουσα τοῖς τέχνοις ἕπιφέρειν τὸ ξίφος, ἐλέῳ καὶ θυμῷ μερίζει τὸ πρόαωπον, καὶ θάτερος μὲν τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν τὴν ὀργὴν ἐμφανίξει, θάτερος δὲ τὴν μητέρα μηνύει, φειδομένην καὶ φρίττουσαν\" νῦν δὲ τὸ θαῦμα, ἀπ᾽ ἐχείνης τῆς ἐννοίας πρὸς ταύτην μετατέθειχα τὴν γραφήν. Καὶ σφόδρα γε ἄγαμαι τοῦ τεχνίτου, ὅτι μᾶλλον ἔμιξεν τῶν χρωμάτων, τὸ ἦθος, αἰδώ τε ὁμοῦ καὶ ἀνδρείαν ἐεράσας, πάθη χατὰ φύσιν μαχόμενα. Προθαινούσης δὲ εἰς τὸ πρόσω τῆς μιμήσεως, δή μιοί τινες ἐν χιτωνίσχοις γυμνοὶ, ἤδη εἴχοντο “ὁ τοῦ ἔργου\" καὶ ὁ μὲν δραξάμενος τῆς χεφαλῆς, καὶ ἀναχλίνας εἰς τὸ χατόπιν, παρεῖχε τῷ ἑτέρῳ εὑτρεπὲς εἷς τιμωρίαν τῆς παρθένου τὸ πρόσωπον\" ὁ δὲ παραστὰς ἐξέχοπτε τῶν ὀδόντων. Σφῦρα δὲ καὶ τέρετρον φαίνεται τῆς τιμωρίας τὰ ὄργανα. Δαχρύω δὲ τὸ ἐντεῦθεν, καί μοι: τὸ πάθος ἐπιχόπτει τὸν λόγον. Τὰς γὰρ τοῦ αἵματος σταγόνας οὕτως ἐναργῶς ἐπἐχρωσεν ὃ γραφεὺς \"7, ὥστε εἴποις ἂν προχεῖσθαι τῶν ρῖον μετὰ ταῦτα, καὶ πάλιν ἣ παρθένος σεμνὴ ἐν τοῖς φαιοῖς ἱματίοις χάθηται μόνη, ἐχτείνουσα τὼ χεῖρε πρὸς οὐρανὸν, καὶ χαλοῦσα Θεὸν ἐπίχουρον νῶν δειγῶν. Εὐχομένῃ δὲ ταύτῃ “\" φαίνεται ὑπὲρ χεφαλῆς τὸ σημεῖον, ὃ δὴ Χριστιανοῖς προσχυνεῖσθαί “᾽ τε πέφυχε καὶ ἐπιγράφεσθαι, σύμόολον, οἶμαι, τοῦ πάθους, ὅπερ αὐτὴν ἐξεδέχετο. Εὐθὺς γοῦν καὶ μετ᾽ ὀλίγον, πῦρ ἀλλαχοῦ σφοδρὸν ὁ ζωγράφος ἀνῆψεν, ἐρυθρῷ χρώματι, ἔνθεν καὶ ἕνθεν ἐπιλαμφθέντι, σωματοποιήῆσας τὴν φλόγα. ἽἼστησι δὲ μέσην αὐτὴν, τὰς μὲν χεῖρας πρὸς οὐρανὸν διαπλώσασαν, δύνα δ᾽ οὐδεμίαν ἐπιφέρουσαν τῷ προσώπιμ’ ἀλλὰ “οὐναντίον γεγηθνυΐαν, ὅτι πρὸς τὴν ἀσώματον καὶ μαχαρίαν ἐξεδήμει ξωὴν. Μέχρι τούτου καὶ ὁ ζω- Ὑράφος ἔστησε τὴν χεῖρα, χἀγὼ τὸν λόγον. Ὥρα δέ σοι καὶ αὐτὴν, εἰ βούλει, τελέσαι τὴν γραφὴν 79, ἵνα χατίδῃς ἀχριθῶς, εἰ μὴ πολὺ κατόπιν τῆς ἐξηγήσεως.","t":"Homily 11. On the martyrdom of the all-praised martyr [Euphemia]. Recently, my friends, I had the clever Demosthenes in my hands, and those speeches of Demosthenes in which … in the discourse, and with my mind tired from concentration, I needed relaxation and a walk, so that the strain of my soul might be eased a little. Going out of my room and walking a little with some acquaintances … at leisure. And when I had obtained this too, as I was walking along one of the roofed colonnades, I saw a painting there, and the sight took hold of me completely. You would have said it was a masterpiece of Euphranor, or of one of those ancients who raised painting to greatness and made panels that were all but alive. Come now, if you like (for there is leisure now for a story), I will describe the painting to you. For we children of the Muses have colours no worse than the painters'. A certain holy woman, a pure virgin who had dedicated [the chastity] of her body to God … When a tyrant once was persecuting the godly, she very readily chose the danger of death. Her fellow citizens and fellow members of the religion for which she died, admiring the virgin as both brave and holy, [placed] her tomb near the church, [and they keep] for her the yearly feast, making a new and public festival. The hierophants of God's mysteries always honour her memory with discourse, and carefully teach the assembled people how she completed the contest of endurance. And the painter, himself a godly man, depicting by his art, as far as he could, the whole story on linen, set it up near the tomb as a sacred spectacle. The masterpiece is like this. A judge sits high on a throne, looking harshly and with hostility at the virgin (for art can be angry when it wants to, even in lifeless materials). Around are the magistrate's guards and many soldiers; some carry the writing tablets and styluses for the records; one of these, lifting his hand from the wax, looks intently at the woman on trial, his whole face turned toward her, as if bidding her to speak louder, so that he may not strain his hearing and write down what is mistaken and open to reproach. The virgin stands in a dark tunic and mantle, signifying her philosophy, and, as the painter thought, beautiful in appearance too; but, as it seems to me, adorned in soul with virtues. Two soldiers lead her to the magistrate, one pulling her forward, … her character, modesty and firmness. For she bends toward the ground, as if blushing at the gaze of the men; but she stands undaunted, feeling no cowardice before the contest … as I used to praise the other [painters] whenever I saw the drama of that Colchian woman, how, when about to bring the sword upon her children, she divides her face between pity and rage, so that one of her eyes shows anger, while the other shows the mother, sparing and shuddering. But now I have transferred my wonder from that work to this painting. And I greatly admire the artist because he blended character even more than colours, mixing modesty and courage together, passions by nature at war. As the representation goes on, some executioners in short tunics, almost naked, were already at work. One of them seized her head and bent it back, holding the virgin's face ready for the other to punish; and the other, standing by, knocked out her teeth. A hammer and a drill appear as the instruments of punishment. From here on I weep, and grief cuts off my speech. For the painter has coloured the drops of blood so vividly that you would say they were pouring from … [the prison] after these things, and again the reverent virgin sits alone in her dark garments, stretching out her hands to heaven and calling on God as helper in her troubles. As she prays, there appears above her head the sign which Christians are accustomed to venerate and to inscribe, a symbol, I think, of the passion that awaited her. Then shortly after, the painter has kindled a fierce fire in another place, giving the flame body with a red colour lit up on this side and that. He sets her in the middle of it, stretching out her hands to heaven and showing no pain in her face, but on the contrary rejoicing, because she was departing to the bodiless and blessed life. Here the painter stopped his hand, and I stop my discourse. And it is time for you also, if you wish, to finish the painting yourself, so that you may see exactly whether [I have fallen] far short in my description.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 11.1 (PG 40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/11-1)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/12.1":{"o":"᾿ῬΕγχώμιον εἷς τὸν ἅγιον πρωτομάρτυρα Στέφαγον. Ὥς ἱερὸς ἀληθῶς καὶ χαλὸς τῶν εὐφραινόντων … χαλούμεθα δὲ ἀπὸ εὐχῆς εἰς εὐχὴν, καὶ τοῦ Κυρίου τὰ Θεοφάνεια καταλαμδάνει ἡ τοῦ δούλου τιμή. Κἄν τε δὲ πρὸς τὴν γέννησίν τις ἀπείδῃ τοὺ χθὲς τεχθέντος διὰ σαρχὺὸς, καὶ ἀεὶ ὄντος χατὰ τὴν θεότητα\" χᾶἄν τε πρὸς τὸ ἐχείνου μαρτύριον, ὅπερ σἥμερωην ὁ γενναΐῖος ὑπέστη θεράπων᾽ πολλὰ μὲν εὑρήσει καὶ ποιχίλα τὰ πράγματα, ἕνα δὲ σχοπὸν, ἵνα ἡμεῖς διδα- ᾿χθῶμεν τὴν εὐσέδειαν. Χθὲς μὲν οὖν ἐμάθομεν διὰ τῆς ἐγχυχλίου καὶ συνήθους ἑορτῆς, ὅτι ἐγεννήθη ὁ τοῦ χόσμου Σωτὴρ, καὶ ὁ ἄσαρχος τὴν ἡμφιάσατο σάρχα, καὶ ὁ ἀσώματος ἐνεδύσατο σῶμα\" εἶτα ὅτι καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν χατεδέξατο πάθη, καὶ ὑψώθη ἐπὶ τοῦ ξύλον, οὐχ ὑπὲρ ἄλλου τινὸς, ἣ ὑπὲρ ἡμετέρας προνοίας. Σήμερον δὲ βλέπομεν τὸν γενναῖον ἀγωνιστὴν ὑπὲρ ἐχείνου καταλιθούμενον, ἵνα αἵματι ἀποτίσῃ τὴν ὑπὲρ αἵματος χάριν. Στέφανος οὖν, ὁ τῆς πανηγύρεως ταύτης συναγωγεὺς, ὁ καλέσας ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ τὴν ὁρωμένην εὐφροσύνην, ὁ δημαγωγήσας ὡς μίαν τὴν πόλιν, ἀνὴρ ἀπαρχὴ τῶν μαρτύρων,\" διδάσκαλος τῶν ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ πόνων, χρηπὶς τῆς καλῆς ὁμολογίας, Πρὸ γὰρ Στεφάνον οὐδεὶς ὑπὲρ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου ἐξέχεεν αἷμα. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ὥσπερ Κάϊν ἐχεῖνος ὁ ἀδελφοχτόνος (καθώς μὲ διδάσχει ἣ τοῦ Μωῦσέως ἱστορία) τὴν ἀδελφοχτονίαν εἰργάσατο (ἀναλαδὼν γὰρ ἀντὶ τῆς φυσιχῆῇς φιλίας ἔριδα, πρῶτος φόνῳ τὴν γῆν ἑκαίνισεν)\" οὕτως καὶ Στέφανος ὁ τρισμαχάριος πρῶτος τῷ οἰχείῳ αἴματι τὴν γῆν διὰ τῶν εὐσεδῶν ἀγωνισμάτων ἡγίασεν, ἀνὴρ τοῖς χρόνοις τῶν ἀποστόλων δεύτερος, τοῖς δὲ ἀνδραγαθή μασι πρῶτος. Καί μοι μὴ ἀγαναχτήσῃς, Πέτρε \" μὴ ἀχθεαθῇς, Ἰάχωθε\" μὴ δυσχεράνῃς, Ἰωάννη, εἰ μὴ μόνον συγχρίνω τῇ 1 ὑμετέρᾳ φιλοσοφίᾳ τὸν ἄνδρα, ἀλλ᾽ εἴ τι καὶ πλέον αὑτῷ νέμειν ἐθέλω\" μᾶλλον γάνυσθε,᾽ καὶ ἡδέως\" ἄφθονοι γάρ ἔστε πατέρες, καὶ τοῖς χατπαρὰ τῶν παίδων εἰς ἀρετήν. Εἰ γάρ τι καλὸν καὶ μέγα παρὰ τοῦ Στεφάνου, τοῦτο πάντως ὑμέτερον, παιδευτῶν ἐχείνου, καὶ μυσταγωγῶν. Ἡ γὰρ τῶν ἀθλητῶν εὐδοχίμησις δόξα γίνεται τοῦ παιδοτρίδου. Διὸ, μικρὸν ὑμᾶς παραιτησάμενος, ἐρῶ μετὰ παῤῥησίας ἃ μοι δίδωσιν ἡ ὑπόθεσις εἰς συνηγορίαν τοῦ … Πρεσθύτερος εἶ τῶν μαθητῶν, ἅγιε Πέτρε, καὶ πρὸ πάντων τὸν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν χατήγγειλας.. Ἔτι δὲ σοῦ τὸν λόγον τὸν εὐαγγελιχὸν χηρύττοντος, καὶ πόλιν ἐχ πόλεως μετιόντος, καὶ χώραν ἐχ χώρας ἀμεί… εἰς τὸ στάδιον, καὶ ἁρπάσας τῶν ἀγωνισμάτων τὸν στέφανον, μετελθὼν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐδοξάσθη ἔτι 5οῦ περὶ γῆν στρεφομένου\" καὶ τὸ μεῖζον, αὐτοῦ τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ καλοῦντος αὐτὸν διὰ τῆς θαυμαστῆς ὁπτασίας. Οὕτως μὲν καὶ ὁ Πέτρος καὶ ἀρχεῖ τὰ εἰρημένα. Τολμηρὸν γὰρ ἐπιπλεῖστον περὶ πρωτείων ἁμιλλᾶσθαι πατράσιν. Ἴδωμεν δὲ καὶ τὰ σὰ, Ἰάχωθδε ἀδελφὲ τοῦ Ἰωάννου. Εὐαγγελιστὴς εἴ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, θήραμα δεύτερον μετὰ Πέτρον. Καὶ τίς οὐχ ἂν ἀγασθείη σου τῆς πίστεως; Μόνον γὰρ ἐχλήύθης, καὶ μηδὲν μελλήσας ὑπήχουσας. Κατέλιπες μετὰ τῆς πορθμέδος καὶ τὸν πατέρα τὸν Ζεθδεδαῖον\" ἠχολούθησας δὲ καὶ τῷ Χριστῷ ὡς γνήσιος μαθητής. \"Ἔπαθες ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐσεδείας προθύμως, ὁμολογῶ μακαίρᾳ γάρ σε Ἡρώδης ὁ τύραννος διεχρήσατο’ ἀλλὰ μετὰ Στέφανον πολληῖς ὕστερον χρόνοις. Καὶ τί τοὺς καθέχαστον ὀνομάζω, ὁπότε χατὰ πάντων ὁμοῦ τῶν ἁγίων, τὸ τοῦ μαρτυρίου βραδεῖον ἀνείλετο, πρῶτος τὸν διάδολον παραταξάμενος, καὶ πρῶτος νιχήσας, μιμησάμενος τὸν Δαδιὶδ, εἰ καὶ δι᾽ ἀντιστρόφου τοῦ πράγματος;","t":"Homily 12. Encomium on the holy protomartyr Stephen. How truly holy and fine is [the succession] of gladdening [feasts] … we are summoned from prayer to prayer, and the honour of the servant follows close on the Theophany of the Lord. Whether one looks to the birth of him who was born yesterday through the flesh and always is in his Godhead, or to the martyrdom for him which his noble servant underwent today, one will find many and varied events, but one purpose: that we may be taught godliness. Yesterday, then, we learned through the yearly, customary feast that the Saviour of the world was born, that the fleshless put on flesh and the bodiless clothed himself with a body; and then that he accepted sufferings for us and was lifted up on the wood, for nothing else than our salvation. Today we see the noble contestant stoned for him, so that he may repay with blood the grace given through blood. Stephen, then, is the convener of this festival, who called us to the gladness we see, who drew the city together as one: a man who is the firstfruits of the martyrs, the teacher of labours for Christ, the foundation of the good confession. For before Stephen no one had shed blood for the Gospel. As Cain the fratricide (as the history of Moses teaches me) committed the murder of his brother (for taking up strife instead of natural affection, he was the first to inaugurate the earth with murder), so Stephen the thrice-blessed was the first to sanctify the earth with his own blood through godly contests: a man second to the apostles in time, but first in valiant deeds. Do not be indignant with me, Peter; do not be vexed, James; do not be displeased, John, if I not only compare the man with your philosophy, but wish to assign him something more. Rather, rejoice gladly; for you are fathers without envy, glad to be surpassed by your children in virtue. If there is anything fine and great from Stephen, it is wholly yours, who trained him and initiated him; for the good repute of the athletes becomes the glory of the trainer. Therefore, begging your leave a little, I will say boldly what the subject gives me to say in Stephen's defence … You are older among the disciples, holy Peter, and you proclaimed Jesus Christ before all. But while you were still preaching the word of the Gospel, going from city to city and changing country for country, [and toiling at the preaching, this man entered] … into the stadium, seized the crown of the contests, passed into heaven and was glorified while you were still going about the earth; and, what is greater, the Father and the Son themselves called him through the wonderful vision. So much for Peter, and what has been said is enough; for it is very bold to contend with fathers over the first place. Let us look at your case too, James, brother of John. You are an evangelist of Christ, his second catch after Peter. And who would not admire your faith? You were simply called, and obeyed without any delay. You left your father Zebedee along with the boat, and followed Christ as a genuine disciple. You suffered readily for godliness, I confess, for Herod the tyrant killed you with a sword; but that was after Stephen, many years later. But why do I name them one by one, when he carried off the prize of martyrdom over all the saints together, the first to be arrayed against the devil and the first to conquer, imitating David, though in a reversal of the deed?","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 12.1 (PG 40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/12-1)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/12.2":{"o":"Λίθοις ὁ Δαδὶδ τὸν Γολιὰθ ἐνίχησε, λέθοις καὶ Στέφανος τὸν διάδολον\" ἀλλ᾽ ὁ μὲν, οἷς ξόαλεν\" ὁ δὲ, οἷς ἐόλήθη. Ἡμεῖς δὲ, ὁ Χριστοῦ λαὸς, ὡς ἡ στρατιὰ τότε ὡς παρόντα βλέποντες, ὡς ἑστῶτα θαυμάζοντες. ὄοντος, καὶ πονοῦντος τὸ χήρυγμα, οὗτος εἰσελθὼν … Καλὸς μὲν γὰρᾶπας ὁ τῆς εὐσεθείας ὑπερμαχῶν, α κἂν δεύτερος, χἂν τρίτος τοῖς προαθλήσασιν και\" οὐ μὴν τοιούτου θαύματος ἄξιος, οὗπερ ὁ πρῶτος. Ὃ μὲν δεύτερος, ζήλῳ τοῦ προλαθόντος πρὸς τὴν μίμησιν, οὕτως εἶτα ἐλχύσθη πρὸς σπουδέν\" ὁ δὲ μηδενὶ χαθηγεμόνι χρησάμενος, εὑρετὴς δὲ γεγονὼς τοῦ χαλοῦ, εἰχότως τὴν τοῦ πρωτείου ται ψῆφον. Μεγάλη οὖν ἣ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς προθυμία\" διὸ μεγάλη καὶ ἡ τιμή ἀθάνατος δὲ ἡ μνήμη, ἣν οὔτε λίθη ἐχάλυψεν, οὔτε χρόνος ἣμαύρωσεν᾽ ἀλλὰ γενεὰ ἐχ γενεᾶς διαδεχομένη τὰ διηγήματα. Ταύτην ἁπαραὄάτως τὴν ἑορτὴν ἐπιτελοῦμεν ἱερεῖς, λαοὶ, παῖδες, ἄνδρες, γυναΐχες. ΣχοπΥτέον δὲ καὶ τὴν ἱστορίαν αὑτὴν, ἵνα ἐν χρῷ τῶν πραγμάτων γενόμενοι, μᾶλλον δὲ τὸν ἄνδρα θαυμάσωμεν. Πρῶτος ἣν τῶν χατὰ Χριστὸν διαχόνων ὁ Στέφανος, ἡγιασμένος τῇ χάριτι, σχεῦος πεπληρωμένον τοῦ Πνεύματος, χαθ᾽ ἡμέραν βεθαιῶν τοὺς οἰκείους, καὶ τοὺς πλανωμένους πρὸς τὴν εὐθεῖαν ὑποστρέφων ὁδόν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ σφοδρότερον εἴχετο τῆς διδασχαλίας, μᾶλλον παρὰ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἀποστόλους, τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἐλύπει\" καὶ πρὸ ἐχείνων, τὸν πρῶτον δυσμενῇ τὸν διάδολον. Πυρώδεις γὰρ ἐχεῖνος τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐφίστησι, καὶ ἄγριον βλέποντας, τοῖς μᾶλλον τῇ εὑ- … τὸ τῶν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων γένος εἰς πᾶσαν ὀξύῤῥοπον στάσιν. Πάντως δὲ ἀχηχόατε τοὺς ἄνδρας τῆς πόλεως, ὅπως θερμοί τε ὦσι καὶ ζέοντες ἐπὶ πᾶν ὅπερ ἂν προχείρως ὁρμήσωσιν. Ὡς δὲ τὸ πλῆθος ἐθεάσατο τῶν ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν συῤῥεόντων, ἐν ἀπόρῳ μὲν εἶχε τίθεσθαι τὸ παρόν ὅμως δὲ τέχνην εὗρεν εὐμήχανον, λόγον ἐμμελῇ καὶ πρᾶον. Οὐδὲν γὰρ φάρμαχον τοιοῦτον εἰς θεραπείαν θυμοῦ, καὶ χινήσεως, οἷον παραΐνεσις προσηνὴς καὶ εὐάρμοστος. Καὶ εἴπατέ μοι, φηςσὶ, τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ μίσους, ἀνθ᾽ ὅτου δὲ τὰς χεῖρας ἐπανατείνεσθε, καὶ πρόδηλοί ἐστε ὡς παράξοντες 75. Εἰπόντων δὲ, ὅτι Ἐπειδὴ χαταλύεις τοὺς πατρῴους νόμους, καὶ ξένων εἴ δογμάτων εἰσηγητής\" στὰς εἰς μέσον ὁ μαχάριος, ἄτεχνος καὶ αὐτοσχέδιος ῥήτωρ Ρ (οὐ γὰρ ἔλεγεν ἅπερ ἐκ τέχνης ἔμαθεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἅπερ ἐν: πνεῖτο ὑπὸ τοῦ Πνεύματος)\" ἤΑγδρες, φησὶν, ἀδε.1;»οὶ, καὶ πατέρες, ἀκούσαῖε. Σοφὸν τὸ προοίμιον, ἀρίστη πρὸς δῆμον θερμαινόμενον ἡ τῆς δημηγορίας ἀρχῆ. Τὰ γὰρ μειλίχια καὶ προσηνῆ τῶν ῥημάτων, οἷον μέλιτός τινος μετἐχοντα, ἣ ἐλαίῳ ἀπαλῷ παραπλήσια, τὴν φλεγμονὴν τῶν θηρίων χατέστελλεν. Ἔπειτα ἄνεισι τῇ μνήμῃ πρὸς τὸν ᾿Αδραὰμ, ἵνα καὶ παλαιῶν ἀρξάμενος χρόνων, καὶ μαχρὸν ἀποτείνων λόγον, ἐν πολλῷ τῷ μέσῳ λάθῃ δαπανήσας τὸν θυμὸν ἐχλυόμενον. Καὶ τὴν πολλὴν ἐχείνην ὁῆσιν ἐξεργασάμενος, δείχνυσιν, ὅτι καὶ ΜΙωῦσῆῃς προεφήτευσε τὸν Χριστόν\" ἵνα διὰ τῆς ἀξιοπιστίας τοῦ ν»μοθέτονυ εὐφυῶς, ὥσπερ χλέπτων, παρεισαγάγῃ τὸν τῆς πίστεως λόγον. Πάντα δὲ εἴρηχεν ἐπιστημόνως, ὅσα πρὲς ὠφέλειαν συνετέλει τῶν ἀχουόντων. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τὴν χαχίαν εἶδεν ἀνένδοτον, καὶ τὴν γνώμην ἀμάλθαχτον\" τότε λοιπὸν, παῤῥησίας πλησθεὶς, καὶ ἀπαγορεύοας πρὸς τὴν ἐνθάδε ζωὴν, πᾶσαν δὲ χαταλιπὼν τέχνην τὴν χολαχεύουσαν, νους, πολεμοῦντας τῷ Πνεύματι, καί τινα ἄττα. Καὶ ἐντεῦθεν περιέστησα αὐτὸν, ὡς Δεσπότην, χύγες πο.11λοί- καὶ ταῦροι πίογες, κατὰ τὴν ψαλμῳδίαν, περιέσχον τὸν δίκαιον, Εἰστήχει δὲ μόνος πανταχόθεν τῷ δήμῳ τῶν φονευτῶν χεχυχλωμένος. Οὐδεὶς δὲ ἦν χατ᾽ ἐχείνην τὴν ὥραν ἐγγὺς, οὐ φίλος, οὐχ Ὁ οἰκεῖος, οὐ συγγενής. Φέρει πως γὰρ παραμυθίαν τοῖς χινδυνεύουσι τὸ βλέπειν ἐχ τοῦ σύνεγγυς παρόντᾶς τινὰς τῶν γνωρίμων. Ι Ὃ δὲ τοῦ μεγάλου ἀγωνίσματος ὑψηλὸς ἀγωνοθέτῆς, χαταμαθὼν, ὡς χρεία τῷ ἀνδρὶ παραστάτου (εἰ γὰρ καὶ σφόδρα γενναῖος ἦν, πάντως ἔπαθε τὰ ἀνθρώπινα), ἀθρόον αὐτῷ φαίνεται\" καὶ πρὸς τὸν οὐὖρανὸν ἀτενίσαντι, δείχνυσι καὶ τὸν Υἱὸν ἑστῶτα ἐχ δὴ δεξιῶν ἐν τῷ τῆς ἀνθρωπέσεως σχήματι. Ἃ τῆς φιλανθρωπίας! ὦ τῆς ἀγαθοσύνης! Ἑπεφάνη τῷ ἀθλητῇ ὑπὲρ οὗ ἐγωνίζετο' καὶ μονονουχὶ ἀφῆχε τοιαύτην φωνὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεός\" Μηδὲν ἀγεγγὲς πάθῃς, ὦ Στέφανε. Οὐδένα ἔχεις ἀνθρώπων σύμμαχον\" οὐδείς σοι παρέστηκε τῶν φέϊλων ἐν χαιρῷ τῶν δειγῶγν᾽\" ἀ.1.1. ἐγὼ μετὰ τοῦ ἀνάπαυσις, ἀναπεπταμέναι τοῦ παραδείσου αἱ πρόσχαιρον, καὶ σπεῦσον πρὸς ζωὴν τὴν ἀΐδιον, καὶ ἀτέλεστον. \"Ἔτι τυγχάνων ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ σεις Θεὺν, πρᾶγμα πάσης ἐγχοσμίου φύσεως μεῖἀποστόλων», ὅτι ὁ Πατὴρ ἔχει Υἱὸν γνήσιον ἀγαδύνασαι φέρειν. Παρέστηχε δέ μοι καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς ἐκ δεξιῶν, ἵγα τῇ σχέσει τοῦ τόπου γνῷς τὴν τιμήν. Ἑσκανδάλιζε τότε τοὺς ποιλιλοὺς, εἰ Θεὸς κῷ ὕψει μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ, οὐράνιον, καὶ ὑπερουράνιον φέροντα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου μορφὴν, εἰς βεδαίωσιν τῆς τε.εσθείσης οἰκονομίας. Ὑπὲρ τούτου κατα- “Λφες τὸ σῶμα, καταρρογῶν ὡς δεσμὸν γήϊνον, ὡς οἶκον σαθρὸν, ὡς σκεῦος κεραμέως εὔφθαρτον.","t":"David conquered Goliath with stones, and Stephen the devil with stones; but the one by the stones he threw, the other by those with which he was struck. And we, the people of Christ, like the army then, … seeing him as though present, admiring him as though standing before us. Every champion of godliness is fine, even if he comes second or third after those who contended before; but he is not worthy of such wonder as the first. The second is drawn to zeal by emulation of the one before him, for imitation; but the one who had no guide and became the discoverer of the good rightly [carries off] the vote for the first place. Great, then, was the man's eagerness, and therefore great is his honour too; and immortal is his memory, which neither oblivion has covered nor time dimmed, but generation after generation receives the stories. This feast we keep without fail, priests and peoples, children, men and women. And we must examine the history itself, so that, coming close to the facts, we may admire the man the more. Stephen was the first of the deacons of Christ, sanctified by grace, a vessel filled with the Spirit, daily confirming his own people and turning those who wandered back to the straight road. And since he held to his teaching more vehemently, even more than the other apostles, he grieved the enemies, and before them the first enemy, the devil. For the devil fixed his fiery, savagely glaring eyes on those more … [and stirred up] the race of the Alexandrians, ever quick to swing into rioting. You have surely heard of the men of that city, how hot and boiling they are for whatever they rush into on impulse. When he saw the crowd flowing against him, he was at a loss how to deal with the moment; yet he found a resourceful art, a well-tuned and gentle speech. For there is no medicine so good for curing anger and agitation as gentle and fitting exhortation. “Tell me,” he says, “the cause of your hatred, and why you raise your hands and are plainly about to [do violence].” When they said, “Because you are destroying the laws of our fathers and introducing foreign doctrines,” the blessed man stood in the middle, an artless and improvised orator (for he did not say what he had learned from art, but what he was inspired to say by the Spirit): “Men, brothers and fathers, listen.” A wise opening, the best beginning of a speech to a heated people. For gentle and soothing words, as though they had some share of honey or were like soft oil, calmed the inflammation of the beasts. Then he goes back in memory to Abraham, so that, beginning from ancient times and stretching out a long speech, he might in its long middle spend their anger unnoticed as it slackened. And having worked out that long speech, he shows that Moses too prophesied the Christ, so that through the credibility of the lawgiver he might cleverly, as if by stealth, bring in the word of faith. He said knowledgeably everything that would contribute to the benefit of his hearers. But when he saw that their wickedness would not yield and their mind would not soften, then at last, filled with boldness, renouncing the life here and abandoning all the art of flattery, [he called them stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and] ears, fighting the Spirit, and some such things. And from then on many dogs surrounded him, as they had his Master, and fat bulls, as the psalm says, encircled the righteous man. He stood alone, surrounded on every side by the people of murderers. No one was near him at that hour, no friend, no member of his household, no relative; and it brings some comfort to those in danger to see some of their acquaintances present close by. But the lofty president of the great contest, seeing that the man needed someone to stand by him (for though he was very noble, he surely felt what men feel), suddenly appears to him; and as Stephen gazed into heaven, he showed him also the Son standing at his right hand in the form he took when he became man. O love for mankind! O goodness! He appeared to the athlete for whose sake he was contending; and the God of all all but sent forth such a voice to him: “Suffer nothing ignoble, Stephen. You have no human ally; none of your friends stands by you in the time of terrors; but I [am here] with … rest, the [gates] of paradise are open … the temporary, and hasten to the eternal and endless life. While still in the flesh you [see] God, a thing greater than every worldly nature … apostles, that the Father has a genuine Son … you are able to bear. And the Son too stands by me at the right, so that by the relation of place you may know his honour. It offended many then, whether [he was] God … in the height with me, bearing the heavenly and supercelestial form of man, as confirmation of the dispensation that has been accomplished. For his sake leave the body, despising it as an earthly bond, as a rotten house, as a potter's vessel easily broken.”","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 12.2 (PG 40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/12-2)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/12.3":{"o":"᾿Αγάδραμε πρὸς τὴν ἐνθάδε «1λ1ῆξιν ἐλεύθερος\" ἕτοιμος γάρ σοι τῆς ἀνδραγαθίας ὁ στέφαγος. Μετάστηθι πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐκ τῆς γῆς. τὸ σῶμα τοῖς μιαιφρόνοις, ὡς βρῶμα κυσί. Κατάπε λυσσῶντα δῆμον, καὶ ἐ.1θὲ πρὸς χορὸν ἀγ- Μετὰ ταύτης τῆς γνώμης ὁ Θεὸς ἐπεφάνη τῷ χαρτερῷ, ἵνα μὴ τι πάθῃ δειλὸν, καὶ τὴν πολλὴν ἐγλύσῃ προθυμίαν τῷ μεγέθει τοῦ φόδου. Διὸ οὔτε ἄγγελον αὐτῷ ἔπεμψε βοηθὸν, ὡς τοῖς ἀποστόλοις ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ\" οὔτε τινὰ δύναμιν λειτουργικὴν, καὶ ὁμόδουλον\" ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν ἐνεφάνισεν. ᾿Απαρχὴ γὰρ ἐγένετο τότε τοῦ μαρτυρίου, καὶ ἔδει τὸ πρῶτον ἔργον τελειωθῆναι\" ἵνα οἱ ἑξῆς ἐποιχοδομούμενοι μάρτυρες, ἰσχυρὰν λάδωσι τοῦ ζήλου τὴν ὑποδάθραν, καὶ μὴ δειλίας γένωνται μιμηταί\" ὅπερ δὴ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν χοινῶν πολέμων. Εἷς γὰρ στρατιώτης πρόμαχος, ὁ τοῦ ἔργου παρασχὼν τὸ ἐνδόσιμον’ νικήσας ῃγ μὲν καὶ ἀνδρισάμενος, πάντας τοὺς ἰδίους ἀπέῤῥωσε, καὶ τοὺς ὑπεναντίους χατέπληξεν\" ἀσθενὲς δέ τι παθὼν, εὐθὺς χαταχλᾷ, καὶ δειλίας πληροῖ τὰς τῶν ὁμοφύλων φυχὰς, καὶ φυγῆς γίνεται σύνθημα. Διὰ ταῦτα μὲν ὁ Θεὸς οὐρανόθεν ἐφάνη. Ὁ δὲ τῆς μεγάλης ὀπτασίας ἀξιωθεὶς, οἵας οὐχ ἄλλος, οὐ κατέσχε σιωπῇ, ἅπερ ἴδεν\" ἀλλ᾽ εὐθὺς ἐξψους, καὶ τὸν Υιιὸν τοῦ ἀγθρώπου ἐκ δεξιὼν … ἐστῶτα τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἑνόμισε γὰρ ἅμα του ἐξαγορεῦσαι τὴν ὀπτασίαν, τοὺς ἀπίστους. ἑλχῦσαι εἰς συγχατάθεσιν. Οἱ δὲ, τὸ λεχθὲν πλείονος ὀργῆς καὶ μανίας ἀφορμὴν ποιησάμενοι, ἐπιφραξάμενοί τε «ὰς ἀχοὰς πρὸς τὸν λόγον, ὡς βλάσφημον, εἴχοντο παραχρῆμα τοῦ φόνου. Ἑλχύσαντες δὲ ἕξω τῆς πόλεως τὸν Χριστοφόρον ἄνθρωπον, βαστάζοντα τὴν ὑπομονὴν, ὡς ὁ Κύριος τὸν σταυρὸν, χαχῷ τὸ χαχὸν ἰῶνται, καὶ φόνῳ ὑπὲρ τοῦ φόνου ἀπολογοῦνται, καὶ τῷ σταυρῷ τοὺς λίθους συνάπτουσι. Στήσαντες δὲ τὸν τρισμαχάριον ἐπί τινος ἰσοπέδου χωρίον, τὸ μαχρὸν ἐχεῖνο σῶμα, καὶ ὑψηλὸν τῶν μαρν τύρων τρόπαιον' καὶ χύχλῳ περισχόντες αὐτὸν ὁ τῶν αἱμάτων καὶ τῆς ὀργῆς δῆμος, καὶ τὴν χαλουμένην ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις μιμησάμενοι ἀγηνίαν 73\", ἔθαλον λίθοις τὸν τοῦ ἀχρογωνιαίου λίθον διάχονον\" καὶ πᾶσα χεὶρ Ἑδραϊχὴ τὸν φόνον ἐνήργει’ σχοπὸς δὲ ἣν τῶν ἀφιέντων ὁ μάρτυς, ἑστὼς χατὰ μέσον ὡς σημεῖον το- Ὡς δὲ πάντοθεν τὸ σῶμα περιθραυσθὲν, καὶ λελουμένον τῷ αἵματι, ὥκλαζε λοιπὸν πρὸς τὴν ὀλέθριον ὅ9 στάσιν χατεσείετο δὲ καὶ ἠπείλει τὴν πτῶσιν, ὥσπε, τις ὑψηλὴ πλάτανος, παρὰ πολλῶν χατεργασθεῖσα τεχτόνων οὐ δὲ τὴν πτῶσιν ἔπαθε χατὰ τοὺς πολλοὺς ἀπρεπῶς. Οὐ γὰρ πρηνὴς ἐξετάθη, οὐδὲ ἐπὶ πλάγιον χατηνέχθη, οὐδὲ εἰς τὸ ὕπτιον ἀνεχλίθη σχῆμα\" ἀλλὰ θεὶς τὰ γόνατα ἐν τῷ εὐπρεπεὶ τοῦ εὐχομένου σχήματι, κατέλυσεν, ἐπιταχύνων τῇ ψυχῇ διὰ τῆς προσευχῆς τὸν τῆς σαρχὸς χωρισμὸν, καὶ χράξων πρὸς τὸν ὁρώμενον Κύριον\" Κύριδ Ἰησοῦ Χριστὲ, δέξαι τὸ πγεῦὺμά μου. Ἔσπευσε γὰρ ὡς ἐπί τινα μετοιχίαν\" ὡς ἐξ ἀλλοδαπῆς ἐπὶ πατρίδα ὡς εἰς πόλιν λαμπρὰν ἀπὸ γῆς ἐρήμου καὶ αὐχμηρᾶς. Προσετίθει δὲ τῇ δεήσει καὶ τὴν ὑπὲρ τῶν λιθαζόντων εὐχὴν. Εὐεργέτουν γὰρ ἄχονπες, καὶ λιθάξοντες ἔσωζον, καὶ φονεύοντες ποίουν᾽ καὶ τοῦ πηλοῦ χωρίζοντες τῇ βασιλείᾳ παρἐπεμπον. Θεωρήσωμεν οὖν καὶ τὸ ῥῇῆμα τῆς προπευχῆς, πρὸς οἷον φέρει σχοπὸν, τὸ, Κύριε, μὴ στήσῃς αὖτοῖς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ταύτην. Οὐ γὰρ, ὡς οἴονταί τινες, χαχῶς λογιζόμενοι, ἀτιμώρητον καὶ ἀνεύθυνον εὔχεται γενέσθαι τῶν ἐχθρῶν τὸ ἁμάρτημα. Τοῦτο Ὁ γὰρ ἦν φανερῶς τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ διατυπώσει ἀνθίστασθαι, καὶ τὴν τοῦ δικαίου χρίσιν καὶ νομοθεσίαν ἐπανορθοῦν, τὴν τοῖς ἀνδροφόνοις τὰ πρὸς ἀξίαν ἀποχληρώσασαν. ᾿Αλλὰ τί φησι; Κύριε, μὴ στήσῃς αὑτοῖς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ταύτην\" τουτέστι\" Δὸς φόθον χατανύξεως\" ἄγαγε πρὸς μεταμέλειαν τῶν τετολμημένων: μὴ συγχωρήσῃς ἐναποθανεῖν τῇ περιτομῇ\" ἕλχυσον διὰ μετανοίας πρὸς τὴν σὴν ἐπίγνωσιν.","t":"“Run up free to your inheritance; for the crown of valour is ready for you. Move from the earth to heaven. [Leave] the body to the bloody-minded, as food for dogs. Despise the raging people, and come to the choir of angels.” With this purpose God appeared to the steadfast man, so that he might feel nothing cowardly, nor let his great eagerness slacken through the greatness of his fear. That is why he did not send him an angel as helper, as he did to the apostles in prison, nor any ministering power and fellow servant; he showed himself. For this was the firstfruits of martyrdom, and the first work had to be brought to perfection, so that the martyrs built upon it afterwards might receive a strong foundation for their zeal, and not become imitators of cowardice. So it is in ordinary wars too. One soldier, the champion who gives the signal for battle: if he conquers and plays the man, he strengthens all his own side and strikes terror into the enemy; but if he shows some weakness, at once he breaks the spirit of his countrymen, fills their souls with cowardice, and becomes the signal for flight. For these reasons God appeared from heaven. And he who was thought worthy of the great vision, such as no one else saw, did not keep silent about what he saw, but at once [cried out: “Behold, I see the heavens opened], and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” For he thought that by declaring the vision he would at once draw the unbelievers to agree. But they made the saying an occasion for more anger and madness, stopped their ears against the word as blasphemous, and set to the murder at once. Dragging the Christ-bearing man outside the city, as he bore his endurance as the Lord bore the cross, they cure evil with evil, defend murder with murder, and add stones to the cross. They set the thrice-blessed man on a piece of level ground, that tall body, the lofty trophy of martyrs; and surrounding him in a circle, the people of blood and anger, imitating what in war is called the … , pelted with stones the minister of the cornerstone; every Hebrew hand had a share in the murder; and the martyr was the target of those throwing, standing in the middle like a mark … When his body, broken on every side and bathed in blood, was at last sinking toward its deadly fall, and was shaken and threatening to collapse, like a tall plane tree worked on by many woodcutters, he did not fall unseemly, as most do. He was not stretched out face down, nor brought down on his side, nor laid back on his back; but setting his knees in the seemly posture of one who prays, he died, hastening by prayer his soul's separation from the flesh, and crying out to the Lord whom he saw: “Lord Jesus Christ, receive my spirit.” For he hastened as to a change of home: as from a foreign land to his homeland, as from a deserted and parched country to a brilliant city. And to his petition he added the prayer for those who were stoning him. For they were benefiting him against their will: by stoning they saved him, by murdering him they made [him] …, and by separating him from the clay they sent him on to the kingdom. Let us consider, then, the words of the prayer and the aim to which they point: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” He does not pray, as some suppose by bad reasoning, that his enemies' sin should go unpunished and unaccounted for. That would plainly be to resist God's ordinance, and to amend the judgment and legislation of the Righteous One, which allotted to murderers what they deserve. What, then, does he say? “Lord, do not hold this sin against them”; that is: give them the fear that brings compunction; lead them to regret what they have dared; do not allow them to die in circumcision; draw them through repentance to the knowledge of you.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 12.3 (PG 40:448; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/12-3)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/12.4":{"o":"ὁυῦ ἄναψον ὃν ταῖς χαρδίαις τὴν φλόγα τοῦ Πνεύματος. Ἂν γὰρ οὕτως βελτιωθωσι, πρόδηλον δὲ ὡς τότε οὐ στήσης τὴν ἀμαρτίαν᾽ ἀλλὰ τὸ λουτρὸν τῆς χάριτος, καὶ τὸ σὸν, καὶ τὸ ἐμὸν αἴμα νυψόμενοι, ἐλεύθεροι τῶν ξἔγχλημάτων γενήσονται. Ταῦτα ἐγένετο, καὶ ἐτελέσθη τὸ δρᾶμα. Καὶ στρατιαὶ μὲν τῶν ἀγγέλων εὖφραίνοντο, τὸν ἀγῶνα θαυμάξουσαι, καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς δορυφορίας τὸν Στέφανον εἰς τὸν ἴδιον ἀνάγουσαι χλῆρον᾽ ὁ δὲ διάθολος ἀπεστράφη χενὸς, ἢπορημένος δεινῶς: ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα τι καὶ σωματιχώτερον εἴπω περὶ τοῦ ἐναερίου πνεύματος, λόγον προφητιχὸν μιμησάμενος, ὡς πρόσχαυμα χύτρας φέρων τὸ πρόσωπον, καὶ τοὐναντίον ἣ προσεδόχα χατορθώσας, καὶ δι' ὧν ἐνόμιζεν Χριστιανοὺς ἐλαττοῦν, δι᾽ ἐχείνων πληθύνας τὸν τῶν μαρτύρων χατάλογον. Τί δὲ καὶ πρὸς Παῦλον τὸν ἱερόν; εἷς γὰρ ἦν καὶ Εἰ γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς μὴ ἐλίθαζεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐτήρει τὴν τῶν λιθαξζόντων ἐσθῆτα, καὶ ὑπηρέτει δημίῳ δήμου. Πλὴν ὄψομαί σε μετὰ μιχρὸν τὸν σφριγῶντα νῦν, καὶ θυμὸν ἄγριον πνέοντα, ὥσπερ τινὰ γραῦν ἀσθενῆ χειραγωγούμενον, ὅταν μέλλεις ἄγεσθαι πρὸς τὸν ᾿Ανανίαν, τῆς ἀληθείας γευσάμενος. Ἡδὺ δὲ σφόδρα γελάσομαι, ὅταν ἀχούσω σου τὰς ὑπὲρ Εὐαγγελίου θλί- Ψψεις ἐξηγησαμένου, καὶ μεταξὺ τῶν ἄλλων χινδύνων λέγοντος\" Απαξ ἐλιθάσθην. Χρὴ γάρ σε διὰ λίθων ὑπὲρ τῶν λίθων ἀπολογήσασθαι, καὶ τῇ ταυτὲμπαθεία λῦσαι τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὸ ἔγχλημα. ᾿Αξιον δὲ μηδὲ τὴν ὀπτασίαν χαταλιπεῖν τοῦ Στεφάνου ἀνεξέταστον. 'λεὶ γὰρ ὁ τῶν ὅλων θεὸς, τοῦ ξξῆς προμηθούμενος, τῶν μελλόντων ἐπιγίνεσθαι πὧν ἀνθρωπίνων ἁμαρτημάτων προφυλαχτιχῶς προχατασχευάζει τὴν θεραπείαν\" ὃ δὴ ἐνταῦθα πεποίηχεν. Εἰ γὰρ πρὸς τὸ χρήσιμον τοῦ ἀγωνιστοῦ μόνον τελεῖτο τὰ θεοφάνεια, ἤρχει καὶ φωνὴν γενέσθαι ἐξ οὐρανῶν, ὥσπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ βαπτίσματος πρότερον, ἣ χρόνοις ὕστερον ἐπὶ τῆς μεταμορφώσεως, ἣ καὶ ὡς ἐπὶ Παύλουτούτου, ἡνίχα τὴν ἐπὶ Δαμασχὸν τὸ ὁδόν. Νυνὶ δὲ, διά τε οὖν ἄλλα, καὶ διὰ τὸ μέλλειν τὸ ἐχ φύεσθαι τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τὴν χαχόδοξον τῶν ὑποστάσεων σύγχυσιν εἰς τὸν βίον εἰσάγειν\" τούτου χάριν ὁ Θεὸς ὥσπερ προαναχόπτων τὸ μέλλον, καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν εἰς ὕστερον προατφαλιζόμενος, δείχνυσι μὲν ἑαυτὸν τῷ Στεφάνῳ ἐν ἰδίᾳ τινὶ καὶ αὐτοτελεῖ δόξῃ, δείχνυσι δὲ καὶ τὸν Υἱὸν ἐν ἀπηρτισμένῳ προσώπῳ, ἴστησι δὲ αὐτὸν ἐχ δεξιῶν ἑαυτοῦ, ἵνα τῇ διευχρινήσε: τῶν προσώπων ἑρμηνεύσῃ τὰς ὑποστάσεις. Καὶ τυχὸν ἐρεῖ τις’ Τὰ μὲν περὶ τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ οὕτω σοι πεφιλοσόφηται ποῦ δὲ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον; Εἰ γὰρ τῆς χατὰ τὴν πίστιν ἀσφαλείας ἕνε- κεν ἐχρῆν συμπαρεῖναι καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, ἵνα πρα χτιχὴ τις μυσταγωγία τυῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐτελέσθη διὰ τῆς ὀπτασίας. Εἰπεῖν τοίνυν ἀναγκαῖον πρὸς τὸν ταύτην ἡμῖν ἀνθυποφέροντα. τὴν διάνοιαν, ὅτι, Ὦ σοφώτατε, χρὴ τὸν τῶν ἀναγνωσμάτων βασανιστὴν, ὁρθήν τε ὁμοῦ τὴν διάνοιαν ἔχειν καὶ τὸ μνη μονιχὸν ἐῤῥωμένον, ἵν᾽ οὕτω δυνηθῇ πάντων ὁμοῦ περιδράσσεσθαι τῶν γεγραμμένων. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ ζητεῖς τὴν τοῦ Πνεύματος παρουσίαν, μικρὸν ἀνωτέρω τῶν λίθων καὶ τῆς μιαιφονίας γενοῦ, καὶ εὑρήσεις πρὸ τῆς ὁπτασίας τὸ Πνεῦμα λαλούμενον, καὶ συμπαρὸν Στεφάνῳ, καὶ προχαταρτίζον τὸν ἀθλητήν. Εὐθέως γὰρ ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦ διηγήματος, ταύτην ἡμῖν προανεφώνησε τὴν φωνήν Στέραγος πλήρης χάριτος, καὶ … α μεγάλα ἐν τῷ αῷ. ᾿Αγέστησαν δὲ τινες ἐκ τῆς συναγωγῆς τῆς «-Ἰεγομένης Λιδερτίνων, καὶ Κυρηναίων, καὶ ᾿Αλλεξανγδρέων, καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ Κιοὐκ ἴσχυον ἀντιστῆναι τῇ σοφίᾳ καὶ τῷ Πγεύματι, ᾧ ἐλάλει. Ἰδοὺ τοίνυν, καὶ τὸ τοῦ Πνεύματος ἡμῖν πρόσωπον εὐχρινῶς ὁ λόγος ὑπέστησεν. Εἰ δὲ τοῦτο πρότερον γέγραπται, τελευταῖον δὲ ὁ Πατὴρ καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς, οὐδὲν ἡ τῆς τάξεως ἀπαλλαγὴ τῇ πίστει λυμαίνεται. Σύνηθες γὰρ τοῦτο ποιεῖν τῇ Γραφῇ\" καὶ ποτὲ μὲν ὀνομάξειν τὸν Υἱὸν μόνον᾽ ποτὲ δὲ τὸ Πνεῦμα σὺν τῷ Υἱῷ\" καὶ ἄλλοτε δὲ ἄρχεσθαι μὲν ἐχ τοῦ Πατρὸς, καταλήγειν δὲ εἰς τὸ Πνεῦμα\" καὶ τὸ ἀνάπαλιν, τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐχ τοῦ Πνεύματος γενομένης, διὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ τῷ λόγῳ ἐπὶ τὸν Πατέρα ὁδεύειν\" καὶ τοῦτο τὸ τῆς συνηθείας ἰδίωμα μάλιστα παρὰ τῷ μεγάλῳ Παύλῳ ἀπαραφυλάχτως συντηρεῖσθαι γινόενον ἔστιν ἰδεῖν. Πεπλήρωται ὃὲ παρ᾽ ἡμῖν καὶ τῷ Στεφάνῳ τὸ χρέος\" εἰ μὲν πρὸς τὸ μέγεθος βλέπων τις, οὐχ ἱκανῶς\" εἰ δὲ πρὸς τοῦ λέγοντος δύναμιν, αὖτ-- ᾿ άρχως\" ὅτι τῷ Θεῷ ἡμῶν ἡ δόξα, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ᾿Αμήν.","t":"… kindle the flame of the Spirit in their hearts. For if they are improved in this way, it is plain that then you will not hold the sin against them; but washed by the bath of grace, by your blood and by mine, they will become free of the charges. These things happened, and the drama was completed. Armies of angels rejoiced, admiring the contest, and with a great escort led Stephen up to his own lot; but the devil turned away empty-handed and sorely perplexed; or, to say something more bodily about the spirit of the air, imitating a prophetic word, his face like the scorching of a pot; for he had achieved the opposite of what he expected, and by the very means through which he thought to diminish the Christians he had increased the list of the martyrs. And what of the holy Paul? For he too was one [of them]. Even if he did not stone Stephen himself, he guarded the clothes of those who did, and served as the executioner of the people. But I shall soon see you, who are now so vigorous and breathing savage rage, led by the hand like a weak old woman, when you are about to be brought to Ananias, having tasted the truth. And I shall laugh with great pleasure when I hear you recounting your afflictions for the Gospel and saying, among the other dangers, “Once I was stoned.” For you had to make amends through stones for the stones, and to cancel the charge of sin by suffering the same. It is worth while, too, not to leave Stephen's vision unexamined. For the God of all, always providing for what is to come, prepares beforehand the cure for human sins that are going to arise, as a safeguard; and this is what he did here. For if the theophanies were performed only for the benefit of the contestant, it would have been enough for a voice to come from heaven, as at the baptism earlier, or at the transfiguration later, or as with this same Paul when [he travelled] the road to Damascus. But now, for other reasons, and because … was going to spring up … of God and bring into life the heretical confusion of the hypostases, for this reason God, as it were cutting off the future beforehand and safeguarding the souls of those who would come after, shows himself to Stephen in his own proper and complete glory, and shows the Son too as a complete person, and stands him at his right hand, so that by distinguishing the persons he may make the hypostases plain. And perhaps someone will say: “You have philosophized in this way about the Father and the Son; but where is the Holy Spirit? For if this was for the sake of security in the faith, the Holy Spirit ought to have been present too, so that a practical initiation might have been given to men through the vision.” To the one who raises this objection against us we must say: “Most wise man, whoever examines the readings must have both a straight mind and a strong memory, so that he can take in all that is written together. If you seek the presence of the Spirit, go a little above the stones and the bloodshed, and you will find the Spirit spoken of before the vision, present with Stephen and preparing the athlete beforehand. For right at the beginning of the narrative it announced to us these words: ‘Stephen, full of grace and … great … among the people. And some of the synagogue called that of the Freedmen, and of the Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and of those from Ci[licia arose] … and they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.’ See, then: the passage has clearly set before us the person of the Spirit too. And if this is written first, and the Father and the Son last, the change of order does no harm to the faith. For Scripture is accustomed to do this: sometimes it names the Son alone, sometimes the Spirit with the Son; at other times it begins from the Father and ends with the Spirit; and conversely, beginning from the Spirit, it moves through the Son to the Father. One can see this characteristic usage observed especially in the great Paul, without any scruple.” Our debt to Stephen has now been paid: if one looks at the greatness of the subject, not sufficiently; if at the power of the speaker, sufficiently; for to our God be glory, now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 12.4 (PG 40:448; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/12-4)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/13.1":{"o":"Προτρεπτικὸς περ. μετανοίας. ᾿Ανὴρ Φαρισαῖος, ὡς ἀρτίως ἠχούσαμεν τοῦ Λουχᾶ λέγοντος, προτρέπει τὸν Κύριον εἰς ἑστίασιν, καὶ ὑπωρόφιον ἄγει, καὶ χοινὴν παρατίθεται τράπεζαν. Ὁ δὲ οὔτε τὴν χλῇσιν ἀπαναίνεται, οὔτε φεύγει τὸν ἄνθρωπον, μήτε μαθητὴν ὄντα, μήτε πιστεύσαντα, τῷ γράμματι δὲ προσδεδεμένον τοῦ νόμον\" καὶ οὐδέπω πρὸς τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τῆς ἀληθείας τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἀνοίξαντα, χαλεπῶς δὲ πρὸς τὰς ἐπαγγελίας ἀμθλυωποῦντα τῶν προφητῶν. Τί οὖν ἡμῖν τοῦτο τὸ χεφάλαιον ἀνέγραψεν ὁ Λουχᾶς; Πότερον, ἵνα τὴν γνῶσιν ἔχωμεν ὧν ὁ Ἰησοῦς χατειργάσατο πολιτευόμενος ἐν τῷ σώματι, καὶ γνῶσιν ἱστορίας ἐππαιδευτιχοῦ γέμει τὰ γράμματα, τὸν ἡμέτερον βίον δὲ ἔχειν ἔγωγε ἡγοῦμαι, καὶ ὑμᾶς προσῆχον πείθεσθαι. Πολλοὶ γάρ εἰσι τῶν ἑαυτοὺς διχαιούντων φίλαυτοι καὶ αὐτάρεσχοι, ἐν ὑπολήψει διὰ χενοῦ φροἐγγίζοντας, καὶ πρὶν ἐλθεῖν τὸ ἀληθινὸν χριτήριον, ἑαυτοὺς, ὡς ἄρνας ἀπὸ τῶν ἐρίφων, χωρίζοντες, καὶ πρὸς τὴν θύραν τῆς βασιλείας βλέποντες ὡς ἀναπεπταμένην αὑτοῖς\" οὐ στέγης, οὐχ ἐδεσμάτων ἀξιοῦντες τοῖς πολλοῖς χοινωνεῖν βδελυσσόμενοι δὲ πάντας τοὺς μὴ τὴν ἄχραν, ἀλλὰ τὴν μέσην ἐπὶ τοῦ Ὁ τοίνυν Λουχᾶς, ὁ πλέον τῶν ψυχῶν ἣ τῶν σωμάτων ἰατρὸς, ἔγραψε τὸ ἐν χερσὶ διήγημα\" οὐ λό- Ὑὸν ἀπλῶς, ἀλλὰ φάρμαχον τῶν νοσούντων αὐθάδειαν, αὐτὸν ἡμῶν τὸν Θεὸν καὶ Σωτῆρα δειχνὺς, τὸν ἀσυγχρίτως χαθαρὸν καὶ μόνον δίχαιον, συγφόμενον, καὶ τοῖς οὐδέπω χεχαθαρμένοις συνδιαιτώμενον οὐχ ἵνα τι προσλάδῃ τῆς ἐχείνων χαχίας, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα μεταδῷ τῆς οἰχείας διχαιοσύνης, χατὰ τὴν ἡλιαχὴν ταύτην τὴν φαινομένην ἐνέργειαν (ὅσον ἀπὸ τοῦ χτίσματος παραστῆσαι τοῦ χτίστου τὴν πρόνοιαν). Ἴτμεν μὲν γὰρ, ὅτι καὶ ὁ ἥλιος οὐ τὰς ἧπλωμένας μόνον ἐπιλάμπει χώρας, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅσαι χοιλότεραι καὶ τῆς ἀντρώδους ἔλαχον θέσεως. Παυσώμεθα τοίνυν, εἴ τινες οὕτως φρονοῦμεν, ὡς ὁ λόγος φησίν\" μιμησώμεθα δὲ τοῦ Δεσπότου τὸ ἵλεων, καὶ φιλάνθρωπον, τοῖς ταπεινοῖς διὰ τοῦτο συγχαταδαίνοντες \" οὐχ ἵνα αὑτοῖς χειμένοις συνταπεινωθῶμεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα αὶ τοὺς παγομένους πρὸς τὸν ζωτιχὸν ἀέρα τοῦτον Ἐπειδὴ δὲ πρὸς ἀρίστην νοησιν τὸ εὐαγγελιχὸν γράμμα χειραγωγεῖ, φέρε πρὸς τὸν ἐμπεσόντα σχοπὸν ἑαυτοὺς ἀποτείνωμεν. Θαυμάζω σφόδρα τοὺς τὴν ἐμπαθῇ ταύτην καὶ φιλήδονον περιχειμένους σάρχα, ἡττωμένους δὲ χαθημέραν ὕπνου καὶ γαστρός\" οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ τῶν ἄλλων ἐρεθισμῶν ἀπείρως ἔχοντας, τῶν ὅσοι γνώριμοι πᾶσιν ἡμῖν τοῖς τῆς μιᾶς καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς χοινωνοῦσι φύσεως, ὅπως εἰσὶ σχληροὶ δικασταὶ τῶν ἁμαρτανόντων, καὶ ἑαυτῶν συγ- Ὑνώμονες ἀσθενεῖς ἁγωνισταὶ, καὶ ἀπαραίτητοι νομοθέται\" ὡς καὶ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίας ἀναι- Ὦ ρεῖν τὴν ἐλπίδα, καὶ ἀποφράττειν, ὡς νομίζουσι, τὴν ἄφθονον τοῦ ἐλέους πηγὴν, καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς δὲ τῆς, αὐθεντίας ἀποχλείειν τοῖς πλανηθεῖσιν τῆς βασιλείας τὴν εἴσοδον. Τοῦτο δὲ οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἣ καὶ νομιχὸν ἀπόγνωσιν ἐμποιεῖν ψυχαῖς ἰατρείαν ζητούσαις. Ὁ γὰρ τῆς θεραπείας ἀπελπίσας, δοῦλος γίνεται χαθἀπαξ τῆς νόσου\" καὶ πρό γε πάσης τῆς τῶν ἧμετέρων Γραφῶν ἐπαγγελίας ἀλλότριος “ οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐχεῖ τῷ συνετῶς ἐξετάζοντι τοιοῦτον, ὃ μὴ χάρις δωρεῖται, καὶ θεραπεύει συγγνώμη. Καὶ τίς οὕτως ὑπόχωφος καὶ ἀνήχοος τῶν λόγων τοῦ Ἰὼθ, διαῤῥήδην πρὸς πάντας ἐχθοῶντος ὅτι, Οὐδεὶς χαθαρὸς ἀπὸ ῥύπου, ἡμέρα οὐδ᾽ ἂν μία ἡ ζωὴ αὐτοῦ; Τίς δ᾽ ἂν σωφρονῶν τοσοῦτον φρονήσειεν, ὡς ὑποχείμενος εὐθύναις, καὶ ταύτας ἐν δικαστηρίῳ Θεοῦ, περιττὸν οἴεσθαι συγγνώμην, καὶ ἀχρεῖον τὸν ἔλεον; … Εἰ δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἀχρότατον διχαιοσύνης καὶ χατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, ἐπάνω ὄφεων καὶ σχορπίων, νιχηταὶ δὲ καὶ στεφανῖται χατὰ τῆς ἀμαρτίας ἀνηγορεύθησαν \" οὐδ᾽ οὕτως ἐχρῆν πρὸς τὴν οἰχείαν ἀνδρείαν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων χανονίζειν τὸν βίον\" ἀλλὰ τῆς μὲν ἰδίας εὐδοχιμήσεως τῷ δεδωχότι Θεῷ τὴν χάριν ὁμολογεῖν, ὅτι καὶ φύσιν ἡγεμονιχῶς ἡνιόχησαν, καὶ πειρασμῶν σατανιχῶν οὐχ ἐγένοντο χείρους \" τοῖς δὲ ἀσθενήσασιν ὁρέγειν φιλανθρωπίας δεξιὰν, καὶ ἀνεγείρειν ἐχ τοῦ πηλοῦ, καὶ χαθαέρειν ἐχ τῶν μολυσμάτων. Διπλοῦν γὰρ ἂν οὕτως τὸν ἕπαινον ἦραντο, τῆς τε ἰδίας ἀνδραγαθίας ὁμοῦ καὶ τῆς φιλαδέλφου καὶ χρηστῆς συμπαθείας τὰ γέρα λαμθάνοντες. Νυνὶ δὲ ἄνθρωποί τε ὄντες τῶν χαμαὶ ἐρχομένων, καὶ ζῶντες βίον οὐ τὸν ἀγγελιχὸν ἐγγὺς τῶν ἀσωμάτων, ἁλλὰ τοιοῦτον, οἷον ἄν τις καὶ ὑπ᾽ εὐθύνας ἀγάγοι καὶ σχώψειεν \" δικάζουσιν αὐστηρῶς, καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς αὐθεντίας τὴν χαταχρίνουσαν φέρουσι ψῆφον ὡς ἐμ πολλάχις ὑπὸ τοῦ τύφου καὶ τῆς ἀλαζονείας ἀποπνιγόμενον εἰπεῖν ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς τὰς εὐαγγελιχὰς ῥήσεις, ὅτι τὰς δοχοὺς ἐν τοῖς ἰδίοις ὀφθαλμοῖς μὴ βλέποντες, τῶν ἀλλοτρίων ὄψεων ἀπὸ φυσᾶτε τὰ χάρφη καὶ τὰ βαρύτατα φορτία τοῖς ἄλλοις δεσμεύοντες, περινοστεῖτε βαρεῖς χριταὶ καὶ ἀσθενεῖς ἀχθοφόροι, τὸ βήμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ προλαμὀάνοντες, καὶ τοῦ χριτοῦ τὴν ἀπόφασιν προαρπάζοντες \" δοῦλοι χαταφρονηταὶ, καὶ ἀπαραιτῆτοι τῶν ὁμοδούλων χριταί.","t":"Homily 13. Exhortation to repentance. A Pharisee, as we heard Luke say just now, invites the Lord to a meal, brings him under his roof, and sets a common table before him. And the Lord neither refuses the invitation nor shuns the man, though he was neither a disciple nor a believer, but bound to the letter of the law, had not yet opened his eyes to the knowledge of the truth, and was badly dim-sighted toward the promises of the prophets. Why, then, did Luke record this chapter for us? Was it only so that we might know what Jesus did while he lived in the body, as if the writings were full merely of history …? I think it bears on our own life, and it is fitting that you should be persuaded of this. For there are many among those who justify themselves who are self-loving and self-satisfied, holding a high opinion of themselves through empty thinking, … those who come near, and, before the true judgment comes, separating themselves like lambs from the kids, and looking at the door of the kingdom as though it stood open for them. They do not deign to share a roof or food with the many, but loathe all who live not the extreme life but the middle one … Luke, then, a physician of souls more than of bodies, wrote the story we have in hand, not simply as a story, but as a medicine for the arrogance of the sick, showing our God and Saviour himself, incomparably pure and alone righteous, eating with others and living with those not yet cleansed; not to take on any of their wickedness, but to give them a share of his own righteousness, like the working of the sun we see (so far as one may present the Creator's providence from what he has created). For we know that the sun shines not only on the open plains, but also on whatever places lie lower and are set like caves. Let us stop, then, if any of us think in this way, as the passage tells us; let us imitate the Master's mercy and love for mankind, coming down to the lowly for this purpose: not to be brought low with them where they lie, but to [raise] those who are frozen into this life-giving air … Since the writing of the Gospel leads us by the hand to the best understanding, come, let us stretch ourselves toward the aim that has come before us. I greatly wonder at those who wear this passionate and pleasure-loving flesh, are defeated every day by sleep and the belly, and are not without experience of the other provocations, all those known to every one of us who share one and the same nature: how they are harsh judges of sinners and indulgent to themselves, weak contestants and inexorable legislators. They take away hope in God's love for mankind, block, as they think, the abundant fountain of mercy, and with great authority shut the entrance to the kingdom against those who have gone astray. This is nothing else than to produce despair in souls that are seeking healing. For one who despairs of a cure becomes the slave of the disease once and for all, and, before all else, a stranger to the promise of our Scriptures; for to one who examines them wisely there is nothing there that grace does not give and pardon heal. Who is so deaf and unhearing of the words of Job, who cries out plainly to all: “No one is clean from filth, not even if his life is but one day”? Who in his right mind would think so highly of himself as to suppose that, being subject to account, and that in God's court, he has no need of pardon and no use for mercy? … And even if [some] have reached the summit of righteousness and, as it is written, [tread] upon snakes and scorpions, and have been proclaimed victors and crowned against sin, not even so should they measure the life of all others by their own courage. They should confess thanks to God, who gave it, for their own good repute, because they drove their nature as masterful charioteers and did not prove weaker than the temptations of Satan; and they should stretch out the right hand of love to the weak, raise them from the clay, and cleanse them from their defilements. So they would win double praise, receiving the rewards both of their own valour and of their brotherly and kind compassion. But as it is, men who walk on the ground, living not the angelic life near the bodiless ones but such a life as anyone could call to account and mock, judge severely and cast the condemning vote with great authority. So one often has to say over them, choked by their pride and arrogance, the words of the Gospel: that you do not see the beams in your own eyes while you blow the specks out of other people's eyes; that binding the heaviest burdens on others, you go about as heavy judges and weak burden-bearers, anticipating the judgment seat of Christ and snatching the judge's sentence before him: slaves who despise others, and inexorable judges of your fellow slaves.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 13.1 (PG 40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/13-1)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/13.2":{"o":"Εἰ ζηλοῦτε Θεὸν, ὡς κατ᾽ εἰχόνα χτισθεντες, μιμήσασθε ὑμῶν τὸν ἀρχέτυπον: ὦ Χριστιανοὶ, τὸ φιλάνθρωπον ὄνομα, ζηλώσατε τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὴν ἀγάπην\" ἀποδλέψατε πρὸς τὸν πλοῦτον τῆς ἐχείνου φιλανθρωπίας. Μέλλων γὰρ ἀνθρώποις ἐπιφαίνεσθαι δι᾽ ἀνθρώπου, προχαθῆχε μὲν τὸν Ἰωάννην,- μεταγοίας χήρυχα, μεταμελείας εἰσηγητὴν, καὶ πάντας πρὸ Ἰωάννου προφήτας ἐπιστροφῖς διδασχάλους. Εἶτα καὶ αὐτὸς μετ᾽ ὀλίγον ἐπιφανεὶς, οἰχείᾳ φωνῇ βοᾷ αὐτοπροσώπως\" Δεῦτε πρὸς μὲ, πάντες οἱ κοὑμᾶς. Τοὺς δὲ τῇ χλήσει πεισθέντας πῶς ὑπεδέξατο: \"Ἄπονον ἔδωχεν τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων τὴν ἄφεσιν, ἀχαριαίαν καὶ σύντομον τὴν τῶν λυπούντων ἀπαλλαγὴν\" Λόγος ἡγίασεν, Πνεῦμα ἐσφράγισεν᾽ ὁ παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος ἐνετάη, ὁ νέος ἐτέχθη, ἀνηδήσας τῇ χάριτι. Τί τὰ ἑξῆς; Ὁ ἄνθρωπος οἰπεῖος, ἀντ᾽ ἀλλοτρίου, υἱὸς ἀντὶ ξένου, μύστης ἐχ βεδήλου, ἅγιος ἐξ ἀσεοβοῦς. Ὧ τοίνυν ταῖς οὕτως μεγαλοπρεπέσι καὶ … τὸν φιλότιμον καὶ ἀγαθὸν εὐεργέτην, παρὰ μὲν ὑμῖν τοῖς δυσχόλοις καὶ ἀμαλάκτοις διχασταῖς εὐθὺς μήτε λόγου μεταλαδὼν, πάντως ἂν ἐπὶ τὸν ὕλεθρον ἤχθη, καὶ τῆς ἐνθάδε ζωῆς ἀποχοπεὶς, καὶ τὴν ἐχεΐ χολαζόμενος. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἄλλος ἐστὶν ὁ τῆς ψήφου Κύριος, ὁ ποιῶν τὸ ἔλεος εἰς χιλιάδας καὶ μυριάδας, καὶ μὴ θέλων τὸν θάνατον τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ, ἀναμέγων δὲ τὴν ἐπιστροφὴν \" οὐδὲν οὕτως οἱ τὴν πρώην χάριν ὑδρίσαντες ἐτιμωρήθησαν \" ἀλλὰ πάλιν δεύτερος ἔλεος καὶ ἀχολουθεῖ τῷ προτέρῳ, καὶ ἀμνηστείᾳ συγγνώμη συνάπτεται, καὶ δάχρυον στάξαν ἰσυδυναμεῖ τῷ λουτρῷ, καὶ στεναγμὸς ἐπίμοχθος ἐπανάγει τὴν χάριν πρὸς ὀλίγον ἀναχωρήσασαν. ἀπιστεῖς τῷ λόγῳ, Πέτρον ἐρώτησον, ἐν τῇ οἰχίᾳ τοῦ ἀρχιερέως χαθήμενον, καὶ λέξει σοι, ὅπω:; τὸ καράπτωμα τῆς ἀρνήσεως πιχρῶς ὀδυράμενος ἐχαθάρθη καὶ οὐχ ἀνέλυσεν εἰς τὸν Σίμωνα, ἀλλὰ Πέτρος διέμεινεν ὁ ἀπόστολος. Ἐγὼ δὲ νομίξω, ὅτι καὶ Ἰούδας ὁ Ἰσχαριώτης, εἰ μὴ ταχέως αὐτὸς ἑαυτοῦ ἐγένετο δήμιος, ἀσύγγνώστον χρίνας τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, προσπεσὼν δὲ τὸν ἔλεον ἥτησεν, οὐχ ἂν τῶν οἰχτιρμῶν τῶν πάσης ριον δὲ τοῦ λόγου πάντες Ἑδραῖοι οἱ μετὰ τὸν σταυρὺν πιστεύταντες, καὶ τῷ λουτρῷ τὰς ψυχὰς ὁμοῦ καὶ τὰς χεῖρας νιψάμενοι. Εἰ δὲ οἱ σταυρώσαντες ἠλεήθησαν, πῶς οὐχ ἂν ὁ προδοὺς τῆς ἀμνηστείας ἀπέλαυσεν; Ἐδέσμει ποτὲ καὶ Παῦλος Χριστιανοὺς, ἀλλὰ βαστάσας ὕστερον ἁλύσεις ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ, ἐχ τῆς ταυτοπαθείας ἔλυσε τὰ ἐγχλήματα. ἥμαρτε λιἀλλὰ λιθασθεὶς ἐξήλειψε τὸ πλημμέλημα. νουν ποτὲ Ματθαῖος καὶ Ζαχχαΐης, ἀλλὰ τῇ καταφρονήσει τῶν χρημάτων τὴν τελωνείαν πατήσαντες, ὁ μὲν τῇ οἰχίχ τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐδέξατο, καὶ τῇ Ψυχῇ πλέον᾽ ὁ δὲ θαυμαστῶν πράξεων εὐαγγελιστὴς καὶ συγγραφεὺς ἀπεδείχθη. Ὁ τελώνης, ὁ μετὰ τοῦ Φαρισαίου ἀναγκαῖον εἰς μνήμην, ἢ γυνὴ ἡ τὴν δραχμὴν ἀπολέσασα καὶ εὑροῦσα. Ἐξ ἀρχῆς δὲ εἰς τέλος εἴ τις τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τοῦ βίου παντὸς ἐν τοῖς χαθεξῆς χρόνοις λογίσαιτο, τοὺς πολλοὺς εὑρήσει πρότερον μὲν ἐνσχεθέντας ἁμαρτῆμᾶσιν, εἶτα τῇ πρὸς τὸ χρεῖττον ῥοπῇ μεταθεμέ' νους τῆς γνώμης. Θεοῦ γὰρ οἰχεῖον καὶ μόνον ἑξαίρετον πλημμελείας χωρὶς πάντα χατορθοῦν. \"Δνθρωπος δὲ ὑπὸ γένεσιν καὶ φθορὰν ἢγμένος, καὶ τοσούτων ὑπάρχων δεχτιχὸς παθῶν, οὔποτ᾽ ἂν ἀχατὄλεψον πρὸς τὸν Δαδὶδ τὸν βασιλέα τοῦ Ἰσραἣλ, ὃν κατ᾽ ἐχλογὴν ἐχειροτόνησεν ὁ Θεὸς, ἐπαίνοις δὲ τοῖς τῆς μαρτυρίας ἐχόσμησε, λέγων\" Ηὗρον ἄνδρα κατὰ τὴν καρδίαν μου Δαδὶδ τὸν τοῦ Ἰεσσαί. Οὗτος μετὰ τὴν λαμπρὰν μαρτυρίαν, οὗτο; ἐπειδὴ τῷ πάθει τῆς σωμεραστίας ἑάλω, καὶ περιέπεσεν ἐχείνοις οἷς γινώσχομεν ἅπαντες, ἦλθεν δὲ μετὰ τὸν ἔλεγχον τοῦ προφήτου εἰς ἀναλογισμὸν τοῦ χαχοῦ, ἀνάγραπτον ἀφῆχεν τοῖς εἰς ὕστερον ἐσομένοις τῆς μετανοίας τὸν μόχθον \" καὶ θεωροῦμεν, ὡς ἐν εἰχόνει, τῷ ψαλτηρίῳ, τὸν μόχθον \"᾿ νῦν μὲν ἐχτηχόμενον τῇ λύπῃ τὸ σῶμα\" αὖθις δὲ τὴν νύχτα χαιρὸν θρήνων ποιούμενον, τὴν χοινὴν τῶν πόνων ἀνάπαυσιν\" καὶ τῇ χλίνῃ τὸ δάχρυον ἐπιῤῥέοντα ὡς ἐχ πηγῶν τῶν βλεφάρων, καὶ πάλιν ἡμῖν τὸν πεντηχοστὸν ψαλμὸν ἐχπονήσαντα, τύπον τὸν ἱλασχόμενον Θεόν. Οὐ μὲν ὁ θρῆνος αὐτῷ μάτην ἐξεπονήθη \" ἀλλ᾽ οἱ βαρεῖς στενα- Ὑμοὶ τὸν ἔλεον ἐφειλχύσαντο’ ἀπέλαδε δὲ καὶ τῆς βασιλιχῆς αὐθεντίας τὴν ἐξουσίαν, καὶ τῆς πρὸς Θεὸν ἱκεσίας τὴν παῤῥησίαν. Ὁμοίως κἀχεῖνος ὁ τῆς Νινευὴ βασιλεύειν λαχὼν, τῷ μὲν πλήθει τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν συνηλαύνετο πρὸς τὸν ὄλεθρον, ὁμοῦ τοῖς ἀρχομένοις λαοῖς, καὶ ὁ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἔλεγχος ἐγγίζειν μετ᾽ ὀλίγον τὴν προθεσμίαν τῆς τιμωρίας ἐχήρυττεν.","t":"If you are zealous for God, since you were created after his image, imitate your archetype. Christians, who bear a name of love for mankind, emulate the love of Christ; look at the wealth of his love for mankind. When he was about to appear to men through a man, he first sent John ahead, the herald of repentance and introducer of a change of mind, and all the prophets before John, teachers of conversion. Then shortly afterwards he himself appeared, and cries out with his own voice, in his own person: “Come to me, all who [labour and are heavy laden, and I will give] you [rest].” How did he receive those who were persuaded by the call? He gave forgiveness of sins without toil, a momentary and swift release from what grieved them. The Word sanctified, the Spirit sealed; the old man was buried, the new was born, made young again by grace. What next? The man became one of the household instead of a stranger, a son instead of a foreigner, an initiate instead of profane, holy instead of impious. Whoever, then, after such magnificent [gifts] … [offended] the generous and good benefactor would, before you difficult and unsoftened judges, at once, without even being given a word, surely be led away to destruction, cut off from the life here and punished in the life there. But since the Lord of the verdict is another, who shows mercy to thousands and myriads, and does not will the death of the sinner but awaits his return, those who insulted the earlier grace were not punished in this way. Rather, a second mercy follows the first again; pardon is joined to amnesty; a tear that has fallen is equal in power to the bath; and toilsome groaning brings back the grace that had withdrawn for a little. If you disbelieve the word, ask Peter, sitting in the high priest's house, and he will tell you how, bitterly lamenting the fall of his denial, he was cleansed; and he did not relapse into Simon, but remained Peter the apostle. And I think that Judas Iscariot too, had he not quickly become his own executioner, judging his sin unpardonable, but had fallen down and asked for mercy, would not have [failed] of the compassions that … And a proof of the word is all the Hebrews who believed after the cross and washed their souls and their hands together in the bath. If those who crucified were shown mercy, how would the one who betrayed not have enjoyed amnesty? Paul too once bound Christians, but later, bearing chains for Christ, he cancelled the charges by suffering the same. He sinned [in] stoning, but by being stoned he wiped out the offence. Matthew and Zacchaeus once … but trampled on the tax office by despising money: the one received Jesus into his house, and still more into his soul; the other was shown to be an evangelist and writer of wonderful deeds. The tax collector with the Pharisee … necessary to recall, and the woman who lost and found the drachma. If anyone reckoned up the people of the whole of life, from beginning to end, through the successive ages, he would find most of them first held fast by sins, and then changed in mind by an inclination toward the better. For it belongs to God alone, as his special mark, to do all things rightly without fault. But man, brought under generation and corruption and open to so many passions, would never … to David the king of Israel, whom God appointed by election and adorned with the praises of his testimony, saying: “I have found a man after my heart, David the son of Jesse.” This man, after that brilliant testimony, when he was caught by the passion of bodily love and fell into the things we all know, came after the prophet's rebuke to a reckoning of the evil, and left on record for those who would come later the toil of repentance. We see in the Psalter, as in a picture, his toil: now his body wasting away with grief; again his making the night, the common rest from labours, a time of laments, and pouring tears on his bed as from the springs of his eyelids; and again his working out for us the fiftieth psalm, a model of propitiating God. His lament was not wrought in vain; his heavy groans drew down mercy, and he received back both the power of his royal authority and boldness in supplication before God. Likewise the man who was allotted the kingship of Nineveh was driven toward destruction by the multitude of his sins, together with the peoples he ruled, and the rebuke of sin proclaimed that the appointed time of punishment would soon be near.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 13.2 (PG 40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/13-2)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/13.3":{"o":"πεῖραν τῆς συμφορᾶς, ἐλυπήθη μὲν ὅτι μὴ ἡλήθευσεν ὁ τῶν χαχῶν προφήτης, καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἔλεον τοῦ Θεοῦ χαλεπῶς ᾿γροιχκίσατο. Ὁ δὲ πανταχοῦ καὶ διὰ λόγων καὶ πράξεων γνωρίζων ἡμῖν, ὅσην ἔχει τὴν πρὸς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους εὐμένειαν, φύε! μὲν τὴν χολόχυνθαν ὑπὲρ χεφαλῇς, τῷ προφήτῃ σχέπην τῆς λυ-. πργύστς ἀχτῖνος, ὑποχαθεύδοντος δὲ τῇ σχιᾷ ἀθρόον ἀποξηράνας αὐτήν. Εἶτα ὡς δυσχόλως εἶχεν ἀφυπνώσας πρὸς τὸ συμθὰν, ὀνειδίζει καὶ μέμφεται. Εἰ μὲν νῳ, ὁ δὲ Θεὸς οὐχ ἂν ἐπεχλάσθη τηλικαύτῃ ἐγγὺς Μάθετε οὖν, οἱ σχληροὶ καὶ δυσμείλικτοι, τὴν τοῦ χτίσαντος ἡμᾶς χρηστότητα, καὶ μὴ γίνεσθε τῶν ὁμοδούλων πιχροὶ καὶ βαρεῖς διχασταὶ, ἄχρις ἂν ἀφίχηται ὁ τὰ χρυπτὰ τῶν χαρδιῶν ἀποχαλύπτων, καὶ χατ᾽ ἐξουσίαν δεσποτιχὴν ἑχάστῳ τῆς προσδοθρωπὰς ἐχφέρετε τὰς ἀποφάσεις\" ἵνα μὴ ταῖς. ὁμοίαις ὑποδληθῆτε, καὶ τῶν οἰχείων στομάτων τοῖς λόγοις ὡς ὀδοῦσιν ὀξυτάτοις περιπαρῆτε. Δοχεῖ γάρ οι καὶ ἡ εὐαγγελικὴ πρόῤῥησις τούτου προφυλατιχὴ τυγχάνειν τοῦ πλημμελήματος, λέγουσα - Μὴ ἢ κλρίνετβ, ἵνα μὴ κριθῆτε. Οὐ γὰρ τὴν κρίσιν καὶ τὴν εὐγνωμοσύνην ἐχθάλλει \" χρίσιν δὲ ὀνομάζει τὴν τραχυτέραν χατάχρισιν, Ποίησον οὖν, εἰ δοχεῖ, χοῦφον τὸ σταθμίον, εἴ πω βούλει μὴ πρὸς τὴν καταχρίνουσαν πλάστιγγα καὶ τὰς σὰς πράξεις καθελχυσθήῇναι, ὅταν ὁ βίος ἡμῶν, ὡς ἐν ζυγῷ, τῇ χρίσει τοῦ Θεοῦ ταλαντεύηται. Σῶμα περιχείμενος καὶ διαζῶν ἐν σαρχὶ, μήποτε ἀπελάσῃς τοῦ βίου τὴν ἀπὸ ἑατριχῆς θεραπείαν. Κᾶν γὰρ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ὅσον εὐεξίᾳ τε καὶ ὑγείᾳ συξήσῃς, ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ οὕτως διατελέσεις ἄνοσος, ὡς ἐν χρείᾳ μὴ γενέσθαι τῆς ἐπιμελείας τοῦ θεραπεύοντος. Καὶ ψυχὴν ἔχων καταχλινομένην πρὸς τὰ γῆϊνα, ἡνίκα ἂν ἑαυτῆς ἐπιλαθομένη, τῶν προοὐ! ἔλεον, ἵνα μὴ ἀμοιρήσῃς συγγνώμης, ὅταν αὐτῆς ἐπιδεὴς χαταστῇς. Ἱερεύς τίς ἐστι, καὶ ἡγεμονεύειν ἔλαχεν τοῦ λαοῦ\" συμπαθῶν ὁράτω τῶν ὑπηχόων τὰ πτώματα, εἰδὼς, ὅτι χἂν ἡ τάξις τοῦ βίου διαφορὰν ἔχη πρὸς τοὺς πολλοὺς, ἀλλὰ τῇ φύσει τῶν ποιμαινομένων οὐδὲν διενήνοχεν\" χοινωνῶν δὲ αὐτῆς, ἴσως «οτὲ χοινωνήσει καὶ πλημμελήματος. Ταῦτα καὶ Μωῦσῆς ἰδὼν (ἄνθρωπος γὰρ ἦν, καὶ τὴν φύσιν ἐγνώριζεν), τὸν μόσχον ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἱερέως ἱερουγεΐσθαι διέταξεν, ἡμαρτηχότος πάντως καὶ χαθαροίων δεομένου, καὶ πλειόνων. “Ὅπερ δὲ ἦν τότε ὁ ἕνσαρχος μόσχης, τοῦτο νῦν ἐστιν ἡ ἀσώματος μεταμέλεια, καὶ ἡ ἀναίμαχτος δέησις - ἧς ὑψηλολογούμενοι καὶ μεγαλαυχοῦντες, τὴν εὐεργεσίαν μὴ λύσωμεν, εἰδότες, ὅτι καὶ ᾿Ααρὼν ὁ δοχιμώτατος ἱερεὺς τῷ λαῷ ζττοῦντι θεοὺς συναπήχθη, καὶ μετὰ τῆς ἀδελφῆς τῆς Μαρίας ἐάλω τῷ γογγυσμῷ \" καὶ εἰ μὴ ὁ γογγυ- Αλλος ἐστὶν, οὐχ ἱερεὺς, ἀλλὰ εἷς τῶν πολλῶν, φοδείσθω βαρὺν ἐπιτιθέναι ζυγόν. Εὲ γὰρ ὁ καθαίρειν -πὃν λαὸν προδληθεὶς χρήζει χαθαρσίων ἑνίοτε, τί ἂν “«ἄθοι ὁ μηδὲ τῆς χειροτονίας ἔχων τὴν δύναμιν; Μιμησώμεθα τὴν ποιμαντιχὴν τοῦ Δεσπότου ᾿ ἐγ- «ύψωμεν τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις, καὶ ὥσπερ ἐν ἐσόπτρῳ τὴν ἰδέαν χαταμάθωμεν τῆς ἐπιμελείας τε καὶ χρηστότητος. Βλέπω γὰρ ἐχεῖ ἐν παραδολαῖς καὶ τοῖς ἐπεσχιασμένοις τῶν λόγων ἄνδρα ποιμένα ἑχατὸν α ἀγέλης καὶ πλανωμένου, οὐ τοῖς ἐν τάξει καὶ ἀπλανῶς νεμομένοις παρέμεινεν \" ἀλλ᾽ ὁρμήσας ἐπὶ τὴν ζήτησιν, πολλὰς μὲν διώδευσε χοιλότητάς τε καὶ φάραγγας, μεγάλων δὲ καὶ ὑψηλῶν ὑπερηνέχθη λων, καὶ ταῖς ἐρημίαις χαρτερῶς ἐνεμόχθησε, μέχρις ἂν ηὗρεν. Εὐρὼν δὲ οὐχ ἔπληξεν, οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ ἤλασεν σφοδρῶς ἐπείγων πρὸς τὴν ἀγέλην \" ἀλλ᾽ ἐπιθεὶς τῷ αὐχένι καὶ χομίσας μετὰ φειδοῦς, τοῖς συννόμοις ἀπεχατέστησεν, καίρων ἑπ᾽ ἐχείνῳ πλέον, ἣ «ᾧ πλήθει τῶν ἄλλων. Νοΐσωμεν τοίνυν τὸ πρᾶγμα τὸ τοῖς αἰνίγμασιν ἐγχρυπτόμενον\" τὸ γὰρ πρόδατον οὐχ ὄντως πρόδατον καὶ ὁ ποιμὴν δὲ πάντως ἄλλο ««, οὐ μὴν ὁ τῶν ἀλόγων νομεύς \" ἀλλ᾽ ἔστιν ὑποδεΐ- Ὑματα ταῦτα τῶν ἱερέων παιδευτιχά \" ἵνα τῶν ἀν- ὃ θρώπων μήτε προχείρως ἀπελπίζωμεν, μήτε χαταῤῥαθυμῶμεν γινδυνευόντων. Ζητῶμεν δὲ τὸν ἐμπαθῆ, καὶ ἐπανάγωμεν εἰς τάξιν, καὶ καίρωμεν τοῖς στρέφουσιν, καὶ τῷ πληρώματι τῶν ὀρθῶς βιούντων ἀνα- Ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον δὲ τὸν ἱερέα προσΐιχεν ἀντὶ τῆς ἀποτομίας τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν ἀσχεῖν, ὥστε χἂν ὁ Δεσπότης ἐχχόπτειν χελεύῃ τινὰ, ὡς φυτὸν ἄχρτγ.στον, αὑτὸν ὡς φυτοχόμον αἰτεῖν δεῖ τὴν φειδὼ καὶ ὑπέρθεσιν. Τοῦτον γὰρ ἡμῖν παρίστησι τὸν νοῦν … τοῦ Κυρίου διὰ τὴν ἀχαρπίαν, ὁ γεωργὸς ἱχετεύει, καὶ ἀναθολὴν αἰτεῖ καὶ ὑπέρθεσιν, ἐλπίδας αὐτῷ χρηστὰς ὑποτείνων διὰ τῆς οἰχείας ἐπιμελείας. Μὴ τοίνυν χόπτε προχείρως, ὁ τὴν τομὴν παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου ἐπαγομένην χωλύΞξιν ὀφείλων, μηδὲ χαταγίνωσχε ταχέως τὴν ἀχρηστείαν \" ἀλλ᾽ ἐχπόνει τὴν ἐπιμάτων ὡς χαραχώματι. Σόν ἔστι τὸ παραιτεῖσθαι, τοῦ χριτοῦ τὸ δικάζειν \" ἐχεῖνο χληθῆναι σπουδάσωμεν, ὃ λέγεται καὶ ὁ Κύριος: Παράχλητος γὰρ ὀνομάζεται ὑπὲρ τοῦ γένους τῶν ἀνθρώπων, τὸν Πατέρα ἐξιλεούμενος\" ὁμοίως καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας …","t":"… the experience of the misfortune, [Jonah] was grieved that, as the prophet of evils, he had not spoken the truth, and behaved boorishly toward God's mercy. But God, who everywhere makes known to us by words and deeds how great is his kindness toward men, made the gourd grow over the prophet's head as a shelter from the painful rays of the sun, and while he slept in its shade, suddenly dried it up. Then, when he woke and took what had happened badly, God reproached and rebuked him: if … , would God not be moved for so great a city near … Learn, then, you who are hard and implacable, the kindness of him who created us, and do not become bitter and heavy judges of your fellow slaves until he comes who reveals the secrets of hearts, and by the Master's authority [gives] to each … you pronounce sentences on men, so that you may not be subjected to the like, and be pierced by the words of your own mouths as by very sharp teeth. The prediction in the Gospel seems to me to be a safeguard against this offence, where it says: “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.” It does not drive out discernment and good sense; it calls the harsher condemnation “judgment”. Make the weight light, then, if you please, if you do not wish your own deeds too to be dragged down into the condemning pan, when our life is weighed as in a balance in God's judgment. As long as you wear a body and live in the flesh, never drive the cures of medicine out of your life. However long you may live in good condition and health, you will not remain so free of disease as never to need the care of the healer. And since you have a soul inclined toward earthly things, when, forgetting itself, … mercy, so that you may not go without pardon when you yourself need it. Is someone a priest, allotted to lead the people? Let him look with compassion on the falls of those under him, knowing that, though the rank of his life differs from that of the many, in nature he differs in nothing from those he shepherds; and sharing their nature, he will perhaps one day share their offences too. Moses saw this (for he was a man and knew human nature), and ordained that a calf be sacrificed for the priest, as one who had certainly sinned and needed purifications, and more of them. What the calf of flesh was then, bodiless repentance and bloodless supplication are now. Let us not, by talking loftily and boasting, undo their benefit, knowing that even Aaron, the most approved of priests, was carried away with the people when they sought gods, and was caught with his sister Miriam in grumbling; and if the … Is another not a priest but one of the many? Let him fear to lay a heavy yoke on others. For if the one appointed to purify the people sometimes needs purifications himself, what would happen to one who does not even have the power of ordination? Let us imitate the Master's pastoral care; let us look into the Gospels, and learn there, as in a mirror, the form of his care and kindness. For I see there, in parables and veiled words, a man who was shepherd of a hundred [sheep], … of the flock that was wandering, did not stay with those grazing in good order and without wandering, but set out at once to search for it. He went through many hollows and ravines, crossed great and lofty [mountains], and toiled steadfastly in the deserts until he found it. And when he found it, he did not strike it, nor drive it violently back to the flock, but put it on his neck, carried it gently, and restored it to its companions, rejoicing over it more than over the rest of the flock. Let us understand, then, the thing hidden in the riddles. The sheep is not really a sheep, and the shepherd is certainly something else, not a herder of irrational animals; these are instructive examples for priests, so that we neither readily despair of people nor grow careless when they are in danger. Let us seek out the one in the grip of passion, bring him back into order, rejoice over those who turn back, and [add them] to the full number of those who live rightly. So far should the priest practise love for mankind instead of severity that, even if the Master commands that someone be cut down as a useless plant, he, as the gardener, should ask for sparing and postponement. This is the sense set before us by [the parable of the fig tree]: when [it is about to be cut down at the command] of the Lord for its barrenness, the farmer pleads and asks for delay and postponement, holding out good hopes to him through his own care. Do not, then, cut down hastily, you who ought to hinder the cutting brought by the Lord, nor condemn its uselessness quickly; but work at its care … as with a palisade. Yours is to plead; the judge's is to judge. Let us strive to be called what the Lord too is called: for he is named Paraclete, advocate for the human race, propitiating the Father; likewise also the Spirit of truth …","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 13.3 (PG 40:403; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/13-3)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/13.4":{"o":"χλητο; γὰρ χἀχεῖνο λέγεται “ πρεπδεία δὲ καὶ παράχλησις ὑπὲρ τῶν ἡμαρτηκότων πάντως σπουδάζετα:, οὐ μὴν τῶν ἀνευθύνων καὶ ἀνεγχλήτων. Ζήλωσον, ὁ ἱερεὺς, τὸ χηδεμονιχὸν τοῦ Μωσέως μίμησαι τὴν ἀχείνου περὶ τοὺς ἀρχομένους διάθεσιν\" ὃς παραχαλῶν τὸν Θεὸν, ἵνα μὴ δυσμενῇ τῷ λαῷ πλημμελήσαντι, ἐπειδὴ μιχρὸν ἤσθετο παρελχομένης χάριτος, τοῦτο γοῦν ἱχέτευεν, προαπελθεῖν τοῦ λαοῦ, μὴ θεάσηται τῶν ποιμαινομένων τὸν ὄλεθρον. Οὐδὲν δὲ οἷον αὐτῆς ἀπομνημονεῦσαι τῆς λέξεως “ Δόομαι, χεν ὁ λαὸς ἁμαρτίαν μεγάλην, καὶ ἐποίησαν ἑαυτοῖς θεοὺς χρυσοῦς. Καὶ νῦν εἰ μὲν ἀφῇς αὐτοῖς τὴν ἀμαρτίαν, ἄφες\" Εἰ δὲ μὴ, ἐξάλειψόν μ8 ἐχ τῆς βίὅλου ἧς ἔγραψας. Ὁρᾷς ὅπως τὴν τοῦ πλήθους σωτηρίαν τῆς οἰχείας προτίθησι, καὶ ἐξαλειφθῆναι ζητεῖ, εἰ μὴ κατορθοῖ τῷ χοινῷ τὴν συγγνώμην; Οἱ δὲ νῦν πρὸς τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας πιχραινόμενοι, προσ- Τί οὖν ὁ Λουχᾶς, μᾶλλον δὲ τὸ Πνεῦμα ἅγιον, ἀνἐγραψέ μοι τὸν υἱὸν τὸν ἄσωτον ᾿ ὅς χαθύδρισε μὲν τῇ ἀναχωρήσει πρώτῃ τὸν γεννησάμενον, εἶτα πρὸς γενόμενος, πάντα τὸν πατριχὸν πλοῦτον ἐχένωσεν. Ἐπειδὴ ὃὲ χρόνοις ὕστερον ἱκανώς τοῖς μόχθοις, ὡς καὶ συδώτης γενέσθαι μισθωτὸς, Ὁ καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς μετασχεῖν τοῖς χοίροις τροφῆς, ἐπαν- Ὧλθε πρὸς τὴν πατριχὴν ἑστίαν σωφρονισθεῖς, οὐχ ἀπεστράφη ὁ πατὴρ, οὐδὲ ἐπέθηχεν αὑτῷ τὰς θύρας ἐπανελθόντι’ ἀλλὰ πᾶν τοὐναντίον, προσέδραμεν ἐγγίζοντι, καὶ ἐπεχλίθη τῷ τραχήλῳ, καὶ δάχρυον ἐπἑσταξε συμπαθῶς τῷ αὐχένι, ἐποίησεν δὲ πάλιν τι, καὶ δαχτύλιον τῇ χειρὶ περιθεὶς, καὶ ἑορτὴν ἄγων τὴν ἡμέραν, καὶ εὑτρεπίσας εὐωχίαν λαμπράν. Ταῦτα δὲ πάντα λόγος ἐστὶ παραθολιχὸς, ὡς πατριχὴν ἑστίαν τὴν Ἐχχλησίαν, καὶ δεχόμενος φιλοφρόνως, ἵνα μὴ ὥσιν ὁμοδίαιτοι τοῖς χοίροις, τοῖς δαίμοσιν, γένωνται δὲ πάλιν ἐξ ἀλλοτρίων νίοί\" ἵνα δῦ ῷ βουλήματι τοῦ Θεοῦ συζῶσιν ὡς γνώμῃ πατρὸς, καὶ τοῖς ἀγίοις ἀνδράσιν, ὡς ἀδελφοῖς. Σὺ δὲ μὴ ζήλου τὴν γνώμην τοῦ πρεσθυτέρου, μηδὲ χαταγόγγυζε «ἧς τοῦ πατρὸς φιλανθρωπίας, ὅτι χἀὶ τὸν ἄσωτον καὶ ὑδριστὴν εἰσῳχίσατο. Θαύμαζε μᾶλλον τὴν ἀγαθότητνα, καὶ μιμοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν εὐμένειαν, καὶ τοὺς ἐκ τῆς πλάνης ὑποστρέφοντας ἐναγχαλίζου καὶ περιπτύσσου \" οὕτως γὰρ ἔσῃ τυφλῶν ὁδηγὸς, καὶ πλα- Πρὸς μὲν οὖν τοὺς τραχυτέρους τὴν γνώμην, καὶ πὴν ἀποτομίαν πρὸ τῆς συμπαθείας ἀσχοῦντας, ἑχανῶς ἡμῖν εἴρηται, καὶ οὐδὲν δεῖ μαχροτέρων ἄκουε δὲ λοιπὸν καὶ ὁ τῆς ἐπιστρόφῃς δεόμενος, ὅπως τὰ παραπτώματα τῆς χαρδίας ἀποθρηνεῖν \" μᾶλλον ὃΣ,, εἰ δοχεῖ, σχόπησον τὴν ἁμαρτωλὸν γυναΐῖχα τὴν παρὰ τοῦ Λουχᾶ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ἀναγνωσθεῖσαν ἡμῖν. Κἀχείνης τὸ ταπεινὸν καὶ εὐσύνετον καὶ λάδε χανόνας μετανοίας ἠχριδωμένης. Ἐλθοῦσα γὰρ ἐπὶ τὸν οἶχον τοῦ Φαρισαίου, οὔτε τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἐστιωμένων ἡρυθρίασεν, οὔτε τὸν χαιρὸν τῆς εὐωχίας ὡς ἄχαιρον εἰς ἐξομολόγησιν ἔφευγεν \" ἀλλὰ τῇ λύπῃ συνεχομένη, καὶ σφοδρὸν ἔχουσα τῶν πλημμελημάτῶν τὸ πένῆος, οὐδὲ τὸ βραχύτατον ἡφίει τὸν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἱατρόν. Οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ εἰς τὸ πρόσωπον χατ᾽ δψιν ἐρχομένη ἱκέτευεν \" ἀλλὰ τὸ ἀνάξιον ἑαυτῆς καὶ ἀπαῤῥησίαστον διὰ τοῦ σχήματος ἑρμηνεύουσα,, τὴν κατὰ νώτου χώραν χαταλαδοῦσα, καὶ οὐδὲ ἑστῶσα ἁπλῶς, ἀλλὰ κατόπιν τῶν ποδῶν λαδομένη, λύσασα δὲ τὰς χόμας, καὶ τοῖς πράγμασι δημοσιεύουσα τὴν πενθοῦσαν ψυχὴν, καὶ τοῖς ποσὶν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τὸ δάτὸν ἔλεον καὶ τοσοῦτον προχεομένη, ὥστε καὶ βρέεἰν τοὺς πόδας, καὶ τῇ χόμῃ πάλιν ἐχμάττουσα τὴν ὑγρότητα, πᾶσαν εὐλάδειαν ταπεινὴν ἐπεδείχνυτο. Ἵνα δὲ συνελὼν εἴπω, πάσαις ταῖς αἰσθήσεσι καὶ τοῖς βέλεσι τοῖς ἡμαρτηχόσιν ἡ γυνὴ τὴν μετάνοιαν ἐξἐπόνει\" ἡ δὲ δημοσία καὶ εἰς τὸ ἐμφανὲς οὕτως ὀδυρομένη τὰς ἁμαρτίας, τίνα χατ᾽ ἰδίαν ἐπὶ σχολῆς ἔπραττεν, ἔξεστιν τεχμηράμενον σννορᾷν. Ἡμῶν ὃὲ ἡ μὲν ὑπόσχεσις, μετάνοιαν ἐπαγγέλλεται\" ἡ δὲ πρᾶξις, οὐδὲν ἐπίπονον δείκνυσιν \" ἀλλὰ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχομεν τοῦ βίου χατάδτασιν, ἣν καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας εἴχομεν. Φαιδρότης γὰρ ὁμοία καὶ ἐσθὴς ἡ αὐτὴ, καὶ τραπέζης ἀπόλαυσις δαψιλῆς, καὶ ὕπνος μαχρὸς καὶ λελυμένος εἰς χόρον ᾿\" ἀσχολίαι δὲ καὶ φροντίδες ἐπάλληλοι, λήθην ἐμποιοῦσαι τῇ ψυχῇ τῆς οἰχείας ἐπιμελείας “ μόνον δὲ τὸ ὄνομα τῆς μετανοίας ἐπιγραφόμεθα ἄχαρπόν τε καὶ ἀνενέργητον \" τῶν μὲν μυστηρίων ἑαυτοὺς χωρίζοντες καὶ τῆς χοινωνίας τῶν ἀποῤῥήτων ἁγιασμάτων, οὐδεμίαν δὲ σπουδὴν τῆς ἐπιστροφῆς τῆς πρὸς αὐτὰ ποιούμενοι, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς εὐώνου χαταφρονοῦντες τῆς ἀπολαύσεως. Ἑννόησον, σίας ἐχείνων. Εἰ βασιλικῆς σὺ τραπέζης μετέχων ἧς, εἶτα προσχρούσας τῆς τιμῆς ἀπεῤῥίφης, πόσων ἂν ἐξωγήσω χρημάτων τὸ πάλιν γενέσθαι φίλος καὶ ὁμ- … τεύων, ἀπορούμενος, στένων, ἀδίωτον νομίζων τὸν βίον, τῇ τήξει καὶ σχέσει τοῦ προσώπου τῆς ἐν τῷ βάθει λύπης τὴν ὀδύνην ἐμφαίνων\" πάντα λίθον, τὸ τοῦ λόγου, χινῶν, μέχρις οὗ σαυτῷ τὴν συμφορὰν ἐπηνώρθωσας; Ὃ δὲ τῆς πρὸς Θεὸν οἰχειώσεως χω ρισθεὶς, καὶ τῆς ὄντως ὑψηλῆς τιμῆς ἐχπεσὼν, τέ μέγα καὶ ἀξιόλογον ποιήσας ψυχῆς χ:χαχωμένης ἐνδείξηται ταπεινότητα; Οὐχ ἔστιν ἀχόλουθον νοσεῖν λέγοντα τὴν αὐτὴν ζωὴν μετιέναι τοῖς ὑγιαίνουσιν.","t":"… for he too is called Paraclete; and intercession and pleading are certainly offered for those who have sinned, not for the blameless and unaccused. Emulate, priest, the solicitude of Moses; imitate his disposition toward those he ruled. Entreating God not to be hostile to the people that had offended, when he perceived that grace was a little delayed, he begged this at least: that he might depart before the people, so as not to see the destruction of those he shepherded. Nothing is better than to recall his very words: “I pray, [Lord]; [this] people has sinned a great sin, and they have made for themselves gods of gold. And now, if you will forgive them their sin, forgive; but if not, blot me out of the book that you have written.” Do you see how he puts the salvation of the multitude before his own, and asks to be blotted out if he does not obtain pardon for them all? But those who now are embittered against sinners … Why, then, did Luke, or rather the Holy Spirit, write down for me the prodigal son? He insulted his father first by leaving, then, becoming …, he emptied out all his father's wealth. When later he had been [worn down] enough by hardships to become a hired swineherd and to share the same food with the pigs, he came back to his father's hearth in his right mind. The father did not turn away, nor shut the doors on him when he returned; quite the opposite, he ran to meet him as he approached, fell on his neck, dropped tears of compassion on it, made him a son again, putting a ring on his hand, kept the day as a feast, and prepared a splendid banquet. All this is spoken in a parable, [showing God receiving those who return to] the Church as to their father's hearth, and welcoming them kindly, so that they may no longer live with the pigs, the demons, but become sons again instead of strangers, living with the will of God as with a father's mind, and with holy men as with brothers. Do not emulate the mind of the elder son, nor grumble at the father's love for mankind because he took in even the prodigal and insolent son. Rather, wonder at his goodness, imitate God's kindness, and embrace and hold close those who return from error; so you will be a guide to the blind and … So much has been said to those of harsher mind, who practise severity before compassion, and there is no need of longer words. Now hear, you who need to turn back, how to lament the faults of the heart; or rather, if you please, consider the sinful woman in Luke who was read to us now. [Learn] her humility and good sense, and take from her the rules of an exact repentance. Coming to the Pharisee's house, she neither blushed before the crowd of diners nor shunned the time of the feast as unsuitable for confession; held fast by grief and mourning intensely for her offences, she did not let go of the physician of sins even for a moment. Nor did she come before his face and supplicate him in his sight; she expressed by her posture her unworthiness and lack of boldness, took her place behind his back, and did not simply stand there, but took hold of his feet from behind, loosed her hair, and made her mourning soul public by her deeds; pouring out on the feet of Jesus her tears … mercy, so many that she wet his feet, and then wiping away the moisture with her hair, she showed every humble reverence. In short, the woman worked out her repentance with all the senses and members with which she had sinned. And if she lamented her sins so publicly and openly, one can infer and see what she did in private and at leisure. But with us, the promise announces repentance, while the practice shows nothing laborious; we keep the same state of life that we had before the sin. The same cheerfulness, the same clothing, the same abundant enjoyment of the table, long sleep loosened to satiety, and occupations and cares one upon another that make the soul forget its own care; we merely write the name of repentance over ourselves, fruitless and inactive. We separate ourselves from the mysteries and from communion in the ineffable holy things, but make no effort to return to them, despising their enjoyment as something cheap. Consider … of those. If you shared a royal table and then, having given offence, were thrown out of that honour, how much money would you not have paid to become again a friend and table companion …, supplicating, at a loss, groaning, thinking life unliveable, showing by your wasting and the look of your face the pain of the grief in your depths, moving every stone, as the saying goes, until you had set your misfortune right? And the one who has been separated from closeness to God and has fallen from the truly lofty honour, what great and notable thing has he done to show the humility of an afflicted soul? It is not consistent for one who says he is sick to follow the same life as the healthy.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 13.4 (PG 40:403; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/13-4)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/13.5":{"o":"κἌλλη γὰρ δίαιτα τοῦ ἀῤῥώστου, καὶ ἕτερος βίος τοῦ ὑγιαίνοντος. … Ὁρᾷς ὅση ἐστὶν ἣ τοῦ ὑγιαίνοντος μεταδολὴ, τῆς τοῦ ἀσθενοῦντος μεταθολῆῇς, τῆς χατὰ τὴν ξὅξιν μενος; Ἐν δωματίῳ μιχρῷ κατάχειτα', πάσης συνἤθους ἀναχωρήσας φροντίδος \" ἀμελεῖ γεωργίας καὶ σφόδρα γεωργιχὸς ὑπάρχων\" ἀφίησι πλούτου μέριμνᾶν, ὁ χρηματιστὴς καὶ φιλέμπορος. Ὕδατι καὶ σαν καὶ Συδαριτιχὴν παρετίθετο τράπεζαν \" παισὶν οὐχ ἐπευφραίνεται τὰ συνήθη, γαμετῆς χωρισθείς\" τοῖς ἰατροῖς σύνεστιν νύχτουρ τε καὶ μεθ᾽ ἡμέραν, καὶ πολλοῖς μισθοῖς πρὸς ἀγαπητὸν χέρδος σπεύδει τὴν ὑγείαν. Ταῦτα ὁ τοῦ σώματος ἄῤῥωστος. Ὁ δὲ τὴν Ψυχὴν χαχῶς διαχείμενος τὸν ἀσώματον περινοστήσας, τῷ ἰατρῷ καὶ προσποιητῶς ὁμολογῶν καὶ δειχνὺς τὴν ἀσθένειαν, χκαταλιμπάνεις νέμεσθαι καὶ σφαχελίξειν τὸ πάθος, ἵνα πρὸς τὸν ὅλον ὄγχον διαπησας\" τὸν δημιουργόν σου παρώργισας, τὸν καὶ τῆς παρούσης ζωῆς τὴν ἐξουσίαν ἔχοντα, καὶ τῆς μελλούσὴς κύριον καὶ χρ'ιτήν. ᾿Απὸ τρυφῆς ἑκαχώθης;. νηστείᾳ θεράπευσον τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν. ᾿Αχολασία τὴν ψυχὴν ἔδλαψεν; σωφροσύνη γενέσθω τῆς ἀῤῥωστίας φάρμαχον. Πλεονεξία πολύυλος τὸν νοητὸν εἰργάπατο πυρετόν; ἐλεημοσύνη χενωσάτω τὴν πλησμονήν. Καθάρσιον γὰρ τῶν πεπληρωμένων μετάδοσις. Εθλαψεν ἡμᾶς ἀρπαγὴ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων; ἐπανελθέτω πρὸς τὸν ἴδιον δεσπότην τὸ ἅρπαγμα. Ῥξεῦδος ἡμᾶς ἐγγὺς τῆς ἀπωλείας ἤγαγεν (᾿Αποιλεῖς γὰρ, φησὶ, πάγτας τοὺς τωλοῦντας τὸ ψεῦδος); ἀλήθεια μελεἄγει πετόμενον τὸ διαέριον τοῦ Ζαχαρίου δρέπανον τὴν τομὴν ἀπειλοῦν; ἐνδυσώμεθα πᾶσαν τὴν πανοπλίαν τῆς μετανοίας, ἵνα τὴν ἀκμὴν ἀποχρουσώμεθα τοῦ δρεπάνονυ. Αἱρετιχοῖς δόγμασιν ἀσεθῶς τις ἐδούλευσεν; ὀρθῆς δόξης φρονήματι τὴν δεισιδαιμονίαν φυγαδευσάτω. Τοῦτο γάρ ἔστιν ἡ μετάνοια \" λύσις καὶ ἀφανισμὸς τῶν πρώην ἣ χατὰ πρᾶξιν ἔνεργου μένων, ἣ χατὰ διάθεσιν νοουμένων. Ὁ δὲ γνωρίζων τὸ τῆς μετανοίας ὠφέλιμον, ἀεὶ ὃ περὶ τὸν βόρθορον τῆς ἀνομίας στρεφόμενος, δούλῳ; τυγχάνες παραπλήσιος, γνωρίξοντι τὴν ὀργὴν τὸν δεσπότου, ἐν ὄψεσι δὲ αὐτοῦ τὸ χαχὸν ἐργαζομένῳ, … καὶ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τριπλασιάζοντι. Εὐαίσθητος γενοῦ πρὸς τὴν περιέχουσάν σε νόσον. Σύντριψον σαυτὸν ὅπον δύνασαι\" ζήτησον καὶ ἀδελφῶν ὀμοψύχων θος βοηθοῦν σοι πρὸς τὴν ἐλευθερίαν\" δεῖξόν μοι πιχρόν σου καὶ δαψιλὲς τὸ δάκρυον, ἵνα μίξω καὶ τὸ ἐμόν λάδε καὶ τὸν ἱερέα χηινωνὸν τῆς θλίψεως, ὡς πατέρα. Τίς γὰρ οὕτως Πατὴρ ψευδώνυμος, ἣ τὴν Ψυχὴν ἀδαμάντινος, ὡς μὴ συνοδύρεσθαι τοῖς τέχνοις λυπουμένοις, ἣ πάλιν συνευφραίνεσθαι καίρουσιν; ἽἹερεὺς υἱοῦ τοῦ χατὰ θρησχείαν οὕτως ὀδύρεται ἁμαρτίαν, ὡς Ἰαχὼδ τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ τὸν ἡμαγμένον χιτῶνα᾽ ὡς Δαδὶδ τοῦ ᾿Αδεσσαλὼμ τὸν ὄλεθρον, ὡς ὁ Ἕλὴ τὸν Ὀφνὶ καὶ Φινεὲς πεσόντας ἐπὶ τῆς παρατάξεως, ὡς Μωῦσῆς τὸν λαὸν τὸν ἄθεον μοσχοποιίαν καινοτομήσαντα. Πρὸ τῶν σωματιχῶν πατέρων, θάῤὄτισον τῷ κατὰ Θεόν σε γεννήσαντι δεῖξον αὐτῷ ἀμερυθριάστως τὰ χεχρυμμένα\" γύμνωσον τὰ τῆς ψυχῆς ἀπόῤῥητα, ὡς ἰατρῷ πάθος δειχνύων χεχαλυμμένον’ αὑτὸ; ἐπιμελήσεται καὶ τῆς εὐσχημοσύνης καὶ τῆς θεραπείας\" πλέον ἢ αἰδὼς τῶν γονέων ἅπτεται τῶν πεπονθότων αὐτῶν. Ἧ γὰρ ἐχείνων δόξα “ὧν γεννησαμένων ἐστὶν, καὶ ἡ αἰσχύνη ὁμοίως. \"Αδηλος, ἀδελφοὶ, τῆς ζωῆς ἡ προθεσμία. Φθάσωονμεν τῇ ἐπιμελείᾳ τὴν ἔξοδον. ΓΛτοπον γὰρ τοὺς μὲν τῆς σαρχὸς λελογισμένως ποιουμένους τὴν πρόνοιαν, χαθαΐίρειν ἑαυτοὺς τῶν ὑλῶν πρὸ τῆς ἐπιτολῆς τοῦ λεγομένου χυνός\" ἵνα μὴ διασαπὲν ἐχ τῆς ἄγαν θερμότητος τὸ ὑγρὸν, νοσοποιὸν σἦψιν ἐργάσηται\" τοὺς δὲ χατὰ διάνοιαν ἐπιμελείας χρήξοντας μὴ προφθά- ς εἰν τοῦ θανάτου τὴν ἀδηλίαν καὶ τοῦ κολαστηρίου πυρὸς τὴν ζέσιν, τοῦ ἀλήχτως φλέγοντος, καὶ μηδέποτε ψυχομένου. Τὴν δραχμὴν εἶχες τὴν εὐαγγελιχὴν, καὶ χαλῶς ἑπλούτεις τῷ χρήματι\" εἶτα διὰ ῥᾳθυμίαν ἀπώλεσας, ἼΛψον τὸν ἐχ τῆς μετανοίας λύχνον\" χατάχυψον ἐπιμελῶς - ζήτησον τὸ χειμήλιον τοῖς γηίσῶσον\" ἵνα σοι συγχαρῶμεν οἱ γείτονες χαρὰν τὴν ἐν Χριστῷ, Ὧ πρέπει δόξα νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ᾿Αμήν.","t":"For the diet of the sick man is different, and the life of the healthy man is another. … You see how great is the change in the sick man from the habitual state of the healthy … He lies in a small room, having withdrawn from all his usual concerns; he neglects his farming, though he is very much a farmer; he lets go of the worry of wealth, the money-maker and lover of trade. With water and … who once set a Sybaritic table before himself; he takes no pleasure in his children as usual, and is separated from his wife; he is with the physicians night and day, and with many fees he hastens toward health as toward a welcome gain. That is what the man sick in body does. But you, who are badly off in soul, going about … the bodiless …, confessing your sickness to the physician only in pretence and showing it, leave the disease to spread and turn gangrenous, so that it [reaches] the whole mass … you sinned; you angered your Creator, who has authority over the present life and is lord and judge of the life to come. Did luxury harm you? Heal enjoyment with fasting. Did licentiousness damage your soul? Let self-control become the medicine for the illness. Did covetousness, with its many goods, bring on a fever of the mind? Let almsgiving empty out the surfeit; for sharing is a purge for those who are overfull. Did seizing what belongs to others harm us? Let the plunder go back to its own master. Did falsehood bring us near destruction (for “you destroy,” it says, “all who speak falsehood”)? Let truth be our care … Does Zechariah's sickle, flying through the air, threaten to cut us down? Let us put on the whole armour of repentance, so as to turn aside the sickle's edge. Has someone impiously served heretical doctrines? Let him banish the superstition by the mind of right belief. For this is repentance: the undoing and destruction of what was formerly done in act or conceived in disposition. But you, who know the benefit of repentance and are always turning about in the filth of lawlessness, are like a slave who knows his master's anger and yet does evil before his eyes … and triples his sin. Be sensitive to the disease that holds you. Crush yourself as much as you can. Seek also … of like-minded brothers to help you toward freedom. Show me your tears, bitter and abundant, so that I may mingle mine with them. Take the priest too as partner in your affliction, as a father. For what father is so falsely named, or so adamantine in soul, as not to lament with his children when they grieve, or again rejoice with them when they rejoice? A priest laments the sin of a son in the faith as Jacob lamented over Joseph's bloodied tunic, as David over Absalom's destruction, as Eli over Hophni and Phinehas fallen in battle, as Moses over the godless people who invented the making of the calf. More than in your fathers in the body, have confidence in the one who begot you according to God. Show him unblushingly what is hidden; lay bare the secrets of your soul, as one shows a hidden disease to a physician. He will take care both of your good name and of your healing; … the shame touches the parents more than the sufferers themselves; for their glory belongs to those who begot them, and so does their shame. Uncertain, brothers, is the appointed end of life. Let us get ahead of our departure by our care. It is absurd that those who take thought for the flesh sensibly purge themselves of their humours before the rising of the so-called Dog Star, so that the moisture, putrefying in the excessive heat, may not cause a disease-producing decay; and that those who need care in mind should not get ahead of the uncertainty of death and the seething of the punishing fire, which burns unceasingly and is never cooled. You had the drachma of the Gospel, and were well enriched by the coin; then through laziness you lost it. Light the lamp of repentance; stoop down carefully; seek the treasure … save …, so that we, your neighbours, may share with you the joy in Christ, to whom be glory now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 13.5 (PG 40:403; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/13-5)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/14.1":{"o":"Ι΄. Λόγος εἰς τὴν ἀρχὴν τῶν νηστειῶν. Σύνθετον ζῶον ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ἀπὸ σώματος τοῦ φαινομένου, καὶ τῆς λογικῆς καὶ ἀσωμάτου Ψυχῆς λαχὼν εἶναι ὅπερ ἐστίν. Τῶν δὲ δύο τούτων τῶν προῤῥηθέντων οὐχ ὁμότιμος ἧ φύσις καὶ ἡ ἀξία\" ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν ὄργανον ἐδημιουργήθη, πρὸς τὴν οἶχονομίαν τῆς χρατούσης χινούμενον\" ἡ ὃὲ ἡγεμονεύειν ἐτάχθη καὶ βασιλεύειν, ὡς χρείττων τοῦ χείρονος. Λαῤοῦσα δὲ αὕτη τὸ διαχριτιχὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ νοῦ, καὶ κοὐ λόγου, καὶ τῶν χαλῶν, καὶ τῶν τοιούτων τὴν διαφορὰν ἐξευροῦσα, γνωρίζει μὲν τὸν Θεὸν ποιητὴν καὶ δημιουργὸν τῶν τε ἐν ποσὶ τούτων καὶ τῇ αἷσθήσει χαταληπτῶν, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἀοράτων, … δὲ διχαιοσύνην καὶ ἀρετὴν, ὡς Θεῷ φίλη, ἐφίεται φιλοσοφίας, καὶ τοῖς ἐχείνης νόμοις καὶ παραγγέλμασι πειθομένη, ἀπάγει μὲν ἑαυτὴν ὅτι πλεῖστον τῶν σαᾳρχιχῶν ἐπιθυμημάτων, ἐγγίζει ὃὲ Θεῷ καὶ ὅσῃ δύναμις οἰχεισῦσθαι τῷ ἀγαθῷ πραγματεύεται. Αὐ-τῆς δὲ τῆς ἱερᾶς φιλοσοφίας περὶ τὴν λεγομένὴν ἐγχράτειαν τὸ πλεῖστον καὶ χυριώτερον στρέςεται\" ἐνταῦθα γὰρ ὁ νοῦς ἀθόλωτος μένων, καὶ οὐδεμἱὰν ἐπιμιξίαν τῶν ἀπὸ γαστρὸς ἢ τῶν ἄλλων ῥυτ πασμάτων δεχόμενος, ἀνεμπόδιστον ἔχει τὴν ἐνέργειαν, καὶ τὴν περὶ τῶν οὐρανίων καὶ συγγενῶν ἕαυτῷ θεωρίαν. Οὐχοῦν ὅσοι τῆς φιλοσοφίας τρόφιμοι, καὶ τῶν ὑψηλῶν ἐρασταὶ καὶ μαθηταὶ τοῦ λόγου, ἀγαπήσατϑ τὸν ἐνεστῶτα χαιρὸν, καὶ τὴν ἁγίαν Τεσσαραχοστὴν καίροντες ὑποδέξασθε, ὡς σωφροσύνης διδάσχαλον, καὶ ἀρετῆς μητέρα, καὶ τροφὸν τῶν υἱῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ παιδαγωγὸν τῶν ἀτάχτων, καὶ γαλήνην ψυχῶν, καὶ εὐφτάθειαν βίου, καὶ εἰρήνην ἔνσπονδον, καὶ ἀτάραχον. Ταύτης γὰρ τὸ αὐστηρὸν καὶ σεμνὸν πάθη χοιμίζξει, ὀργὰς καὶ θυμοὺς ἀποσθένννυσι, πάντα καὶ χαταστέλλει. Καὶ ὅπερ ἐπὶ τοῦ θέρους, ὅταν ἡλίου τὸ φλογῶδες χαταλάμπῃ τῇ γῇ, ὁ βοῤῥᾶς τοὺς τὸ πνΐγος᾽ τοῦτο καὶ ἣ νηστεία χαρίζεται, τὴν ἐχ Τοσαῦτα δὲ ψυχὴν εὐεργετοῦσα, οὐχ ἧττον ὠφελεῖ καὶ τὸ σῶμα. Λεπτύνει γὰρ καὶ τῶν ὑλῶν τὰς παχύ-. τητᾶς, καὶ τὸν ὄγχον ἀποσχενάζει τοῦ σώματος, καὶ τὰς φλέθας τῷ πλήθει ῥηγνυμένας τοῦ αἵματος ἀνίησι, καὶ δίδωσιν ὀλίγον χώρημα τῇ στενότητι, ἵνα μὰ πάθωσι τὸ τῶν σωλήνων πάθος. Καὶ γὰρ ἐχεῖνοι, ὅταν αὐτοῖς πολύ τι καὶ ἄμετρον ὑπὲρ τὴν χώρησιν ἐποχετεύσῃ τὸ ὕδωρ, ἐχρήγνυνται, τὸν ἐχ τῆς βίας ἔχει καὶ γαληνιῶσαν κατάστασιν, οὔτε τῶν ἀρτηριῶν παλλομένων, οὔτε τοῦ ἐγχεφάλου διὰ τῆς ἀναδόσεως τῶν ἀτμῶν ζοφουμένου. Στομάχου δὲ ἐλευθερία, ἐγχράτεια. Τότε γὰρ ἀφίεται τῆς ἡναγχασμένης δουλείας, καὶ τοῦ ζέειν ὡς λέδης, κάμνων ταὶς πέψεσιν. Ὀφθαλμοὶ καθαρὸν καὶ ἀνεπισχότητον βλέπουσι, πάσης ἀχλύος ἀφαιρουμένης, ἣν ὁ χόρος καταχεῖν εἴωθε τῶν ὀμμάτων καὶ τῶν ποδῶν ἑδραία, ἀχλόνητος δὲ πῶν χειρῶν ἡ ἐνέργεια. ἾΑσθμα τεταγμένον καὶ μέτρίον, παρ᾽ οὐδενὸς τῶν ὀχλούντων πνευμάτων ἔνδοθεν ἐπειγόμενον. Λόγος τοῦ νηστευτοῦ σαφὴς καὶ διηρθρωμένος, νοῦς χαθαρὸς, καὶ τότε ἀληθῶς τὸ θεοειδὲς ἔχων, ὅταν ὡς ἐν ἀσωμάτῳ τῇ σαρχὶ ἄλυπον καὶ ἀθορύδητον ἐπιτελεῖ τὴν ἰδίαν ἐνέργειαν. Ὕγπνοι ἅλυποι καὶ ἀφαντασίαστοι\" καὶ ἵνα τὰ πολλὰ παραδραμὼν εἴπω, νηστεία ἐστὶν εἰρήνη χοινὴ Ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος, ἀτάραχος ζωὴ, εὐσταθὴς πὸλιτεία, βίος Θεὸν εὐφραίνων, καὶ λυπῶν τὸν ἐχθρόν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ πολέμιος, ὅταν ἴδῃ τὸν ἐναντίον γρή» ἀνδρίαν ἀσχοῦντα, ἧτταν οἰχείαν ἡγεῖται τὴν φιλόπόνον ἐχείνου παρασχευήν' οὕτω καὶ ὁ τῆς ἦμετέρας σωττρίας ἐπίδουλος, πᾶσαν ἡμῶν τὴν χατ᾽ ἀρετὴν ἀχοίδειαν ὡς ἰδίαν μισεῖ συμφοράν. Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο γίνωσχε, ἄνθρωπε, τῆς μὲν τοῦ νηστευτοῦ οἰχίας, ἀγγέλους εἶναι φύλαχας, καὶ φρουροὺς παρέδρους. Τοῦ δὲ ταῖς ἀπολαύσεσι χατὰ -ἴς Τεσσαραχοστῆς χωμάζοντος, δαίμονας, οἰχείους χνίσσης φίλους, καὶ ἐραστὰς αἱμάτων, παρέδρους μέθης. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ τῶν πνευμάτων, εἴτε τῶν ἁγίων, εἴτε τῶν ἀχαθάρτων ἕἔχαστον τοῖς οἰχείοις καὶ φίλοις, ὥσπερ δὴ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ὀρνίθων ἔστιν ἰδεῖν. Περιστερὰ μὲν γὰρ περὶ τοὺς χαθαροὺς τῶν τόπων φιλοχωρεῖ, καὶ περὶ τὰς ἀρούρας στρέφεται, ἑαυτῇ καὶ τοῖς τέχνοις σπερμολογοῦσα’ καὶ ἡ τρυγὼν ἡδέως τοῖς πετάλοις τῶν δένδρων ἐγχάθηται, ἡδύ τι καὶ λεπτὸν ὑποτρύξουσα.","t":"Homily 14. A discourse on the beginning of the fasts. Man is a composite living being, allotted to be what he is from the visible body and from the rational and bodiless soul. But of these two the nature and dignity are not equal. The one was fashioned as an instrument, moved for the management of the ruling part; the other was appointed to lead and to reign, as the better over the worse. The soul, having received the power of discernment from the mind and reason, and having found out the difference between good things and the like, recognizes God as maker and creator both of the things at our feet that are grasped by the senses, and also of the invisible things … [loving] justice and virtue, as dear to God, it aims at philosophy; obeying its laws and precepts, it leads itself as far as possible from the desires of the flesh, draws near to God, and labours as far as it can to be made familiar with the good. The greatest and most important part of this sacred philosophy turns on what is called self-control. For here the mind remains unclouded, and, receiving no admixture of the defilements that come from the belly or elsewhere, has unhindered activity and the contemplation of heavenly things akin to it. So all of you who are nurslings of philosophy, lovers of lofty things and disciples of the word, love the present season, and receive the holy Forty Days with joy, as the teacher of self-control, the mother of virtue, the nurse of the sons of God, the tutor of the disorderly, the calm of souls, the stability of life, a peace sworn by covenant and untroubled. For its austerity and solemnity lull the passions to sleep, quench anger and rage, and calm everything … And what the north wind does in summer, when the sun shines its flames on the earth, [cooling] the stifling heat, fasting too bestows, [cooling the heat] that comes from … And while it does the soul so much good, it benefits the body no less. It thins the thickness of the humours, removes the bulk of the body, relieves the veins bursting with the abundance of blood, and gives them a little room in their narrowness, so that they may not suffer what pipes suffer: for pipes too, when the water flowing into them is much and beyond measure, burst … [the body] has a calm and peaceful state, the arteries not throbbing, the brain not darkened by vapours rising to it. Self-control is the freedom of the stomach; for then it is released from its forced slavery, from boiling like a cauldron and toiling at digestion. The eyes see clearly and undimmed, every mist being taken away that satiety usually pours over them; the step of the feet is firm and the activity of the hands unshaken. The breathing is regular and moderate, pressed from within by none of the troublesome winds. The faster's speech is clear and articulate, his mind pure, and truly godlike when, in the flesh as if it were bodiless, it performs its own activity without pain or disturbance. His sleep is painless and free of fantasies. To pass over many things and say it briefly: fasting is the common peace of soul and body, an untroubled life, a stable way of living, a life that gladdens God and grieves the enemy. For as an enemy, when he sees his opponent practising manliness, considers that industrious preparation his own defeat, so the plotter against our salvation hates all our exactness in virtue as his own misfortune. And therefore know, O man, that angels are the guardians and attendant watchers of the faster's house; but of the man who revels in enjoyments during the Forty Days, demons are the companions, friends of the savour of sacrifices, lovers of blood, attendants of drunkenness. For each of the spirits, whether holy or unclean, [delights] in its own and in its friends, as one can see with birds too. The dove loves clean places and goes about the fields, picking up seeds for itself and its young; and the turtle-dove sits pleasantly among the leaves of the trees, murmuring something sweet and soft.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 14.1 (PG 40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/14-1)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/14.2":{"o":"Ὃ δὲ γαστρίμαργος χόραξ, τοῖς χρεοπωλείοις προσκάθηται, βαρύ τι καὶ ἀηδὲς τῶν χρεανομούντων καταδοῶν. “Ὥστε, τὴν ἐγχράτειαν ἀγαπήσωμεν, ἵνα παρ᾽ ἀγγέλων ἀγαπηθῶμεν\" μισήσωμεν δὲ τὴν τρυ-» φῆν τὴν ἀκόλαστον, ἵνα μὴ μετ᾽ ἐχείνης τὴν πρὸς δαΐμονας ἐνεχθάλωμεν χοινωνίαν. Οὐδεὶς τρυφῶν ἐγένετο σπουδαῖος\" οὐδὲ εὐωχίαις σχολάξων, ἀρετῆς μαθητῆς\" οὐδὲ φιλήδονος ἅγιος, οὐδὲ σαρχιχῶς ζῶν, Ἐλθὲ τῇ μνήμῃ πρὸς τὴν ἀρχὴν τοῦ γένους ἡμῶν, καὶ τὴν πεῖραν εὑρήσεις ὧν μεμφόμεθα μάρτυρα. Οὐχ ἂν γὰρ ἡμῖν ἐτέθη νόμος νηστείας, εἰ μὴ παρεράθη τῆς πρώτης ἐγχρατείας ὁ νόμος\" οὐχ ἃν ὠνομάσθη γαστὴρ ἐπίθουλος, εἰ μὴ πρόφασις ἧδονῆής τὴν ἁμαρτίαν εἰσήγαγεν. οὐχ ἦν ἀρότρου χρεία, δὲ μὴν σπερμάτων, καὶ ὕδατος ἄρδοντος, καὶ πεο'όδου χαιρῶν, καὶ χειμῶνος πυχνοῦντος, καὶ θέρος λύοντοςᾳ καὶ πάσης ταύτης τῆς ἐγχυχλίου ταλαιπωρίας, εἰ μὴ διὰ πρόχειρον προπάτορος ἀπό- )αυσιν ταύτην, κατεψηφίσθημεν τὴν τῶν πόνων πεοίοδον\" ἀλλ᾽ ἐμέλλομεν ἑτέραν τινὰ παρὰ τὴν ὁρωμένην διάγειν τοῦ βίου κατάστασιν, ἧς πάλιν ἐλπίζομεν ἐπιτυχεῖν, ὅταν τὴν ἐμπαθῇ ζωὴν διὰ τῆς ἀυαπτάσεως ἀποσχευασώμεθα. Αὕτη γὰρ ἡ εὐεργεσία “ἧς τοῦ Θεοῦ πρὸς ἡμᾶς συγχαταθάπεως, ἵνα πρὸς πὴν παλαιὰν ἀποχαταστῶμεν ἀξίαν’ ἧς φιλανθρώπως μεταλαθόντες, εὐαισθήτως τὴν χάριν οὐχ ἐφυλάξαμεν, Νηστεία τῆς μελλούσης ζωῆς εἰχών᾽ τῆς ἀφθάρτου διαγωγῆς μίμημα. Ἔχεῖϊ οὐχ εἰσὶ πότοι, οὐδὲ ἀπο- Ἔασον τὸν πρῶτον ἄνθρωπον, ὁδῷ καὶ ἑξῆς τοὺς μετ᾽ ξἔχεῖνον ἀπαρίθμησαι, Τί τὸν δίχαιον Νῶς ἀσχημονεῖν ἐποίησεν, ἐν ἀναισθησίᾳ γυμνωθέντα τῶν μελῶν, ἃ σχέπεσθαι νόμος, καὶ τὸν προπετῆ Χὰμ ἐπι- … νηται δύο χαχὰ δι᾽ ἑνὸς πλημμελήματος; Μία γὰρ μέθη καὶ τὸν πατέρα τῆς εὐπρεποῦς σχέπηῃς, καὶ τὸνυΐϊδν τῆς ἐλευθερίας, ἐγύμνωσεν. Ὅταν δὲ πάλιν πρὸς τοὺς παῖδας ἀπίδω ᾿Ηλεὶ τοῦ ἱερέως καὶ πρὸς ἐχείνην τὴν ἱστορίαν ἀσχολήσω τὸν δεμένων ἀπὸ μιᾶς ἀρχῆς, τῆς διὰ γαστέρα, καὶ χόρον. Κἀχεῖνοι γὰρ τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς ἱερωσύνην, ἀφορμὴν θέμενοι ἡδυπαθείας καὶ ἀπολαύσεως τὰς θυσίας ἐδεθήλουν καὶ τῇ γαστρὶ πρὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ τῶν ἱερείων ἀπῆρχοντο. Ἠχολούθει δὲ καὶ ἡ πορνεία, ἀδελφὴ τῆς τρυφῆς ἀμαρτία, καὶ τούτοις πᾶσιν ἡ παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ χρίσις, αὐστηρὰν καὶ ἀπότομον τὴν δίχην ἐπἀγουσα. Ἔθνος γὰρ πολέμιον δι᾽ ἐχείνους χατὰ τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων ἐστράτευσε. Καὶ ἵνα πλῆθος σχυθρωπῶν διηγημάτων συντέμω, οἱ μὲν ἀχόλαστοι νεανίσχοι, ἐπὶ τῆς παρατάξεως ἔπεσον, καὶ ἡ πατρὶς τοῖς αἰχμάλωτος παρὰ τῶν πολεμίων ἀπήχθη, καὶ ὁ γέρων ὁ ἱερεὺς ταῖς ἀγγελίαις τῶν χαχῶν ἐπαπέθανε, καὶ τοσοῦτος ἑσμὸς χαχῶν διὰ φάρυγγος ἡδονὴν ἐπα ηνέχθη τῇ πόλει. Πάντες οὖν νηστεύσωμεν᾽ οἱ δὲ τῶν ἱερέων οἰχεῖοι, καὶ μᾶλλον, ὡς σύνοιχον ἔχοντες διδάσχαλον τῆς ἐγχρατείας, καὶ ἀφ᾽ ἑστίας, τὰ φιλόσοφα παραγγὲλματα. Ατοπον γὰρ τοὺς μὲν παΐδας τῶν τραπεξιτῶν, ἀργυρογνώμονας εἶναι, καὶ τοὺς οἰχείους τῶν χαλχέων περὶ τὸ πῦρ στρέφεσθαι καὶ τὸν ἄχμονα\" τοὺς δὲ τῶν ἱερέων ἐγγὺς εἴτε συγγενεῖς, εἴτε ἄλλως οἰχείους ἀφηνιάζειν τοῦ σχοποῦ, ᾧ ζῆν ἔλαχεν ὁ τῆς ἑστίας ἡγεμὼν καὶ Δεσπότης. Ὑθλάθη διὰ γαστέρα μέγιστα καὶ ὁ παῖς τοῦ Ἰσαὰχ ὁ πρεσθύτερος. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ θηρευτὴς ὑπάρχων τὸ ἐπιτήδευμα, καί ποτε μετὰ δρόμον πολὺν ἐπὶ τὴν οἰκίαν ὑποστρέψας ἀσχέτῳ πείνῃ τῷ προφανέντι βρώματι περιέχειν, ἀπέδοτο μὲν τῷ ἀδελφῷ φαχοῦ τὰ πρωτοτόχια\" ἐχεῖθέν τε λοιπὸν καὶ τὴν πατριχὴν εὐλογίαν χλάπη᾽ καὶ οὕτως χατὰ μιχρὸν ἀλλοτριωθεὶς ἀρετῆς καὶ Θεοῦ, τὴν πατριαρχιχὴν δόξαν ἀπὦλεσε\" καὶ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ χατὰ τὴν οἰχείωσιν χωρισθεὶς, αὐτός τΞ βάρβαρος ἐγένετο καὶ ἀλλόφυλος, καὶ τοιοῦτον ἐξ αὐτοῦ λαὸν ἀπεγέννησεν. Ὦ Αὕτη ἡ νόσος, καὶ τὸν τῆς Παλαιᾶς Διαθήχης λαὸν εἰς παράθδασιν τῶν θείων καὶ ἱερῶν νόμων, ἐξήγαγεν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ Μωῦσέως τῇ ἐπαγγελίᾳ τοῦ νόμου σχολάζοντος, ἐχδιαιτηθέντες οἱ ἄνθρωποι, πρὸς τρυφὴν καὶ χορείας ἐτράπησαν, χατὰ μέρος αὑτοὺς ὀλισθαίνοντας καὶ πατοῦντας τὴν εὐνομίαν τοῦ βίου, πρὸς ἀσέθειαν ὁ διάβολος ἐφειλχύσατο. Κἀχεῖθεν λοιπὸν χοινωνῶν τοῦ μιάσματος, κκαὶ τοῦ νόμου διαφθορὰ, καὶ τῶν πλαχῶν συντριμμὸς, καὶ Μωῦσέως δεύτερος δρόμος ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος, καὶ πάντα ταῦτα, ὅσα ἣ ἱστορία σχετλιάζουτα ὀλοφύρεται, ἀπὸ βρώσεως ἀμέτρου τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔσχε καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν.","t":"But the gluttonous crow sits by the meat-markets, croaking something heavy and unpleasant at those who carve the meat. So let us love self-control, that we may be loved by angels; and let us hate licentious luxury, that we may not, along with it, fall into fellowship with demons. No one living in luxury ever became earnest, no one devoted to banquets a disciple of virtue, no lover of pleasure holy, nor anyone who lives according to the flesh … Go back in memory to the beginning of our race, and you will find experience a witness to what we are blaming. No law of fasting would have been laid on us if the law of the first self-control had not been transgressed; the belly would not have been called treacherous if the pretext of pleasure had not brought in sin. There would have been no need of the plough, nor of seeds, and water to irrigate them, and the cycle of seasons, winter binding and summer loosening, and all this round of hardship, had we not been condemned to this cycle of labours because of our forefather's hasty enjoyment. We were to live a different state of life from the one we see, which we hope to attain again when we put off the passionate life through the resurrection. For this is the benefit of God's condescension to us: that we may be restored to our ancient dignity, which we received through his love for mankind but, lacking sense, did not keep as a grace. Fasting is an image of the life to come, an imitation of the incorruptible way of life. There are no drinking parties there, nor … Leave the first man aside, and count those after him in order. What made the righteous Noah behave indecently, stripped in his insensibility of the parts that the law [says] must be covered, and [led] the rash Ham to … so that two evils came about through one offence? For one drunkenness stripped both the father of his seemly covering and the son of his freedom. And when, again, I look at the sons of Eli the priest and occupy my [mind] with that history, … starting from one beginning, the belly and satiety. For they made their father's priesthood an occasion of pleasure and enjoyment, profaned the sacrifices, and took the first portions of the victims for their belly before God. Sexual immorality followed too, the sin that is sister to luxury, and after all these God's judgment, bringing a severe and sharp penalty. For a hostile nation marched against Jerusalem because of them. To cut short a multitude of gloomy stories: the licentious young men fell in battle, their homeland was carried off captive by the enemy, the old priest died at the news of the evils, and so great a swarm of evils was brought on the city through the pleasure of the throat. Let us all fast, then; and the households of the priests all the more, since they have the teacher of self-control living with them and receive the precepts of philosophy at their own hearth. It is absurd that the sons of bankers should be assayers of silver, and the households of smiths should busy themselves about the fire and the anvil, while those close to the priests, whether relatives or otherwise of their household, break away from the aim by which the head and master of their hearth has been allotted to live. Isaac's elder son too was greatly harmed through his belly. Being a hunter by trade, he once came home after a long chase and, in uncontrollable hunger, clung to the food that appeared and sold his birthright to his brother for lentils. From then on he was robbed of his father's blessing as well; and so, estranged little by little from virtue and from God, he lost the glory of a patriarch, and, cut off from Israel in kinship, he himself became a barbarian and a foreigner and begot such a people from himself. This disease also led the people of the Old Testament into transgression of the divine and sacred laws. For while Moses was occupied with the giving of the law, the people abandoned their way of life and turned to luxury and dancing; and as they slid little by little and trampled the good order of life, the devil drew them on to impiety. From there came their sharing in the pollution, the corrupting of the law, the breaking of the tablets, Moses' second ascent of the mountain, and all that the history laments and bewails; it all had its beginning and cause in immoderate eating.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 14.2 (PG 40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/14-2)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/14.3":{"o":"τερὸν μὲν τοῦ προλεχθέντος τοῖς χρόνοις, ἰσοδυναμοὺν ὃὲ χατὰ τὴν πρᾶξιν. Ὁ Σαοὺλ ὁ βασιλεὺς παρἀπηγόρευςε δὲ τῷ λαῷ τροφῆς ἐν ἐχείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ μεταλαθεῖν, ὄρχῳ τὴν χρίσιν ἐπισφραγίσας, καὶ θάνατος ἦν ἡ ζημία τῷ παραχούσαντι. Πάσης δὲ τῆς στρατιᾶς εὐπειθῶς δεξαμένης τὸ πρόσταγμα, μόνος ὁ τοῦ βασιλέως παῖς Ἰωνάθαν σμήνει χὼν, καὶ τοῦ μέλιτος ἡττηθεὶς, ἐμπήξας τοῖς χηρίοις δὲ ἐγγὺς τοῦ χινδύνου, εἰ μὴ τὸ πλῆθος ἅπαν χοινῇ πρὸς τὴν ὁρμὴν τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ βασιλέως ἀντέσχεν, ἀπαγαγεῖν τὴν ἀπειλὴν εἰς ἔργον ὁρίσαντος. Πρὸς δὲ τοῖς εἰρημένοις μυρία τοιαῦτα ἔξεστιν ἀπὸ τῶν Γραφῶν συλλεξάμενον, σαφῶς χατιδεῖν, ὡς ἀγαθὸν ἡ ἐγχράτεια, καὶ τοὐναντίον, χαλεπὸν ἡ ἀκώλυτος «ὧν πότων καὶ τῶν ὄψων ἀπόλαυσις. Νηστεία τῶν ἁγίων σύντροφος \" νηστεία πάσης ἀγαθῦς πράξεως ἀρχηγός. Καὶ ὥσπερ οἱ τεχνῖται χωρὶς ὀργάνων οὐχ ἐνεργοῦσι τὰς τέχνσς \" οὕτω καὶ οἱ σπουδαῖοι καὶ ἐν πνευματιχαῖς χάρισι βοηθέντες, ἄνευ ἐγχρατείας οὔποτέ τι τῶν θαυμάτων καὶ τεραστίων εἰργάσαντο. Νηστεύων Ἑλισαῖος ἤγειρε νεχρὺν καὶ ἐψύχωσε \" γοητείας καὶ πλάνης τῶν ᾿Ασσυρίων ἐχράτησε “ νηστεύων ταὶ ὁ Κύριος τοῦ διαδόλου τῶν πειρασμῶν ἠνέσχετο\" νηστεύοντες καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι, τὰς ὑπὲρ πῶν σπουδαίων πραγμάτων δεήσεις ἐτέλουν \" νηστείᾳ Νινευῖται τὴν ἀπειλὴν ἐνίχησαν τοῦ θανάτου \" καὶ ὡς ἐπίπαν εἰπεῖν, αὕτη πρὸς Θεὸν παράχλητος \" αἰδοῦς ἀξία, καὶ πρέσδυς ἀξιόπιστος, ταχέως δυσωποῦσα ὁπὲρ ὧν προσαγάγῃ τῷ Θεῷ τὴν ἱχετηρίαν. Διὸ πᾶς ἀνὴρ εὐσεδὴς, καὶ ὅστις φιλόθεος μᾶλλον ἣ καὶ φιλύήδονος, καίρων μοι καὶ εὐθυμούμενος πρόσελθε «αἷς ἡμέραις τῆς ἐγχρατείας. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ σχυθρωπάξζων ἐν ἀρχῇ τῶν ἀγώνων, γενναῖος ἀγωνιστῆς. Μὴ γίνου στυγνὸς, ὡς βρέφος, ἐπὶ τὸ διδασκαλεῖον ἑλχομένου \" μὴ χαταγόγγυζε τῆς τῶν ἡμερῶν χαθαρό- ᾿σητος\" μὴ ζήτει τῆς ἑδδομάδος τὸ τέλος, ὡς μετὰ χειμῶνα πιχρὸν, παρουσίαν ἔαρος\" μὴ ἐπιθύμει τοῦ Σαξβάτου διὰ μέθην, ὡς Ἰουδαῖος \" μὴ ἀρίθμει τὰς φιέρας τῆς Τεσσαραχοστῆς, ὡς ἀργὸς μισθωτὸς ἀναμένων τῆς ἐμμίσθου προθεσμίας τὸ τέλος \" μὴ λυποῦ, ὅτ: σου ἀπὸ πρώτης ὥρας ἡ οἰχία οὐ χαπνίζεται, οὐδὲ ὁ μάγειρος ἔστηχε πρὸς τὸ πῦρ. Χάριταί τι καὶ τῇ ψυχῇ, μὴ πάντα τῷ σώματι. Τὴν μὲν ἢ ἀποχὴ τῶν σιτίων τρέφει“ τὸ ὃὲ ἢ ἐμφόρησις. ᾿᾽Δλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ τὰ δύο ἀλλήλοις συνέξευχται, καὶ τὰ πολὺ χεχωρισμένα χατὰ τὴν φύσιν, τῇ τοῦ Δημιουργοῦ συνεδέθη προνοίᾳ καὶ τέχνῃ, βουλευσώμεθα ὅπως ἂν ἀμφότερα διαγένοιτο, τῶν χαταλλήλων ἔχαστον χρειῶν μὴ στερούμενον. Ἐκ τῶν δύο συνἐστηχας, ἄνθρωπε, καὶ σιωπῶ τέως, ὅτι πολὺ προτιμότερον ἡ ψυχὴ, καὶ προσῆχεν ἐχείνῃ νέμειν τῆς εὐνοίας τὸ πλέον. Δίχαπον δὲ ἀμφοτέροις, ὡς λογιχὸς … ἐγὼ τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς ψυχῆς λόγον ποιήσομαι, ὡς γυναιχὶ πιστευσάσῃ συνηγορίαν, ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἀδιχεῖσθαι λέγει καὶ χαθυδρίξεσθαι, Αὕτη τοίνυν ἐστὶν ἱερὰ καὶ ἀσώματος, ἀθάνατος καὶ ἀνώλεθρος\" οὐ πρὸς “ἦν, καὶ τὰ τῆδε, ἀλλὰ πρὸς Θεὸν ἔχουσα τὴν συγγένειαν. Καθαρὰ δὲ οὖσα καίρει τοῖς καθαροῖς, καὶ ἄϊλον ἔχουσα τὴν γένεσιν, φεύγει τὰς ὕλας, Πλὴν ἐπειδὴ προσετάχθη τὸ ἐχ γῆς μορφωθὲν σχεῦος οἰχονομεῖν, ὡς εὐπειθὴς τοῦ δεσπότου δούλη τῷ πηλῷ προσεἐδρεύει καὶ τῆς φυλαχῆς ἔχεται, καὶ τῆς ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ προνοίας, μέχρις ἂν ἔλθῃ πρόσταγμα τὸν χωρισμὸν ἐπιτρέπον. Ταύτην μὲν οὖν τὴν τὸ σῶμα ζωοποιοῦ-σὰν ὀνίνησιν ἡ ἀποχὴ τῶν βρωμάτων, τῷ γηίνῳ δὲ ὀργάνῳ ἣἡ τῶν σιτίων ἀπόλαυσις, ἀναγκαία. Οὐδὲν δ ζητεῖ πλέον, ὡς χρείττων. Μέρισόν μοι, φησὶ, τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ τὸν χρόνον, δὸς τοὺς ἐξ μῆνας τῷ χυόερνω μένῳ, καὶ τοὺς λειπομένους τῷ χυδερνήτῃ. Δικαία ἣ αἴτησις \" καὶ οὐδεὶς οὕτω φιλοσώματος ἑτεροῤῥεπὴς δικαστὴς, ὡς μὴ τοῖς λεγομένοις ἐπιφηφίσαι. ᾿Εγὼ δὲ καὶ ὑπερδολὴν ποιήσομαι, οὐχ ἀντέχομαι τῆς ἰσομοιρίας. Συγχαταθαίνω τῇ ἀσθενείᾳ τοῦ σώματος. ᾿Αφίημι τοὺς δέχα μῆνας τῷ σώματι, καὶ στον, ἵνα μιχρὸν ἀπαλλαγῶ τοῦ βορθόρον, τοῦ πηλοῦ τῇ ἐγχρατείᾳ ψυγέντος. Ταῦτα, ὦ Χριστιανοὶ, δίχαιά τε καὶ ἀναντίῤῥητα, χἂν Θεὸς διχάζῃ, χἂν ἄνθρωπος. Καὶ σὺ δέ μοι, ὁ διχαστὴς, ἐπιψήφισον ( ἐν χαιρῷ γὰρ παρεγένου) ἀμφισδητούσῃ τῇ ψυχῇ πρὸ: τὸ σῶμα. ἽἌνελε τοίνυν μοι, ὁ Χριστιανὸς, τὴν ἡδυπάθειαν, ὡς μειραχιώδη. ᾿Ανὴρ εἶ, μὴ φρόνε: τὰ τῶν νηπίων. Ἐχεῖνα ἂν μὴ λάθῃ μέλιτο;, θρηνεῖ\" ἂν μὴ τοῦ χρέους ὁρέξῃς ἣ τοῦ οἴνου, πίπτοντα ἀποσπαίρει, ἀποχναίει δὲ πάντας ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ὅσον χλαυθμυριζόμενα. ᾿Ερυθριῶ πρὸς τὴν κατήφειαν τῶν γαστριμάργων, ὅπως σπενδοῦσι πρὸς τὴν ἀσιτίαν. Χαται, πάλιν χαθεύδουσιν ἠἡναγχασμένοι. Ἐν ἀναισθησίᾳ σπουδάζουσι τὰς ἡμέρας διατελεῖν, ἄχθονται τῷ ἡλίῳ πρὸ; τὴν δύσιν βραδύνοντι. Μαχροτέρας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς συνηθείας προσαγορεύουσι. Πλάσσονται δὲ λοιπὸν στομάχων ἀλγηδόνας, καὶ πνευμάτων ἑντάσεις, καὶ βάρη τῆς χεφαλῆς, καὶ ἀνατροπὴν τῆς ἕξεως, Ὁ Καίτοιγε ταῦτα, τῆς πλησμονῆς εἰσιν, οὐ τῆς νηστείας γνωρίσματα. ᾿Αηδῶς ἐπὶ τὴν σεμνὴν ἔρχονται τὰ ὕσπρια ὡς μάτην ἐπεισαχθέντα τῇ χτίσει \" γέ» νονται γὰρ καὶ φυσιολόγο! οἱ φιλήδονοι χατὰ τῶν ὄνων τῆς ἐγκρατείας.","t":"… later than the one just mentioned in time, but equal in effect. King Saul forbade the people to take food on that day, sealing the decision with an oath, and death was the penalty for anyone who disobeyed. While the whole army obediently accepted the command, only the king's son Jonathan, coming upon a swarm and overcome by the honey, dipped [his staff] into the combs … came near to danger, had not the whole multitude together resisted the impulse of his father and king, who had decided to carry out the threat. Besides what has been said, one can gather countless such examples from the Scriptures and see clearly that self-control is good, and that, on the contrary, unhindered enjoyment of drink and dishes is harmful. Fasting is the companion of the saints; fasting is the leader of every good action. As craftsmen cannot practise their arts without tools, so earnest men, even when helped by spiritual gifts, never worked any wonders or signs without self-control. Fasting, Elisha raised a dead man and gave him life again, and overcame the sorcery and error of the Assyrians; fasting, the Lord too endured the devil's temptations; fasting, the apostles made their prayers for earnest matters; by fasting the Ninevites overcame the threat of death. In short, fasting is an advocate before God, worthy of respect, a trustworthy ambassador, quickly moving God for those on whose behalf it brings its supplication to him. So come to the days of self-control rejoicing and cheerful, I beg you, every godly man and whoever is a lover of God rather than of pleasure. No one who is gloomy at the start of the contests is a noble contestant. Do not be sullen, like an infant dragged to school; do not grumble at the purity of the days; do not look for the end of the week as for the coming of spring after a bitter winter; do not long for the Sabbath for the sake of drunkenness, like a Jew; do not count the days of the Forty like a lazy hireling waiting for the end of his paid term; do not be grieved that from the first hour your house does not smoke, nor the cook stand at the fire. Give something to the soul too, not everything to the body. Abstinence from food nourishes the one, filling up nourishes the other. But since the two are yoked together, and things very far apart in nature have been bound together by the Creator's providence and art, let us plan how both may come through, neither being deprived of the needs proper to it. You are composed of the two, O man; and I say nothing for now of the fact that the soul is far more to be honoured, and that it would be fitting to give it the greater share of goodwill. But it is just for both, as a rational … I will plead the soul's case, as for a woman who has entrusted her defence to me, on the points in which she says she is wronged and insulted. She is sacred and bodiless, immortal and indestructible; her kinship is not with the earth and the things here, but with God. Being pure, she rejoices in what is pure; having an immaterial origin, she flees from matter. But since she was ordered to manage the vessel formed from earth, like an obedient slave of her master she sits beside the clay, keeps guard over it and takes care of it, until the command comes that permits the separation. This soul, which gives life to the body, is benefited by abstinence from food; for the earthly instrument the enjoyment of food is necessary. She asks nothing more, being the stronger. “Divide the year's time for me,” she says; “give six months to the one that is steered, and the rest to the steersman.” The request is just, and no judge is so fond of the body or so one-sided as not to vote for what she says. But I will go further: I do not hold out for equal shares. I make allowance for the weakness of the body. I give ten months to the body, and … , so that I may be freed for a little from the mire, the clay being cooled by self-control. These things, Christians, are just and indisputable, whether God is the judge or man. And you, judge, cast your vote (for you have come at the right time) for the soul in her dispute with the body. Take away, then, O Christian, your love of pleasure as something childish. You are a man; do not think the thoughts of infants. They wail if they do not get honey; if you do not offer them meat or wine, they throw themselves down and struggle, and wear everyone out with their crying for a very long time. I blush at the dejection of the gluttons, at the way they [dread] fasting. … they go back to sleep by force; they try to spend the days without feeling anything; they are annoyed at the sun for lingering before it sets; they say the days are longer than usual. Then they invent pains in the stomach, swellings of wind, heaviness of the head and an upset of their constitution; yet these are signs of satiety, not of fasting. They come with distaste to the solemn … the pulses, as though they had been brought into creation for nothing; for the lovers of pleasure become natural philosophers against the foods of self-control.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 14.3 (PG 40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/14-3)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/14.4":{"o":"᾿Απνευστὶ τὸ ὕδωρ ἕλχουσιν, ὡς ἀἠδὲς φάρμαχον παρὰὶϊατρῶν λαθόντες πιεῖν. Οἱ πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ τὸν οἶνον μυθούμενοι. Καὶ ἄλλοι τοιγαροῦν τὴν χρείαν λαχάνοις! ἐπιτηδεύουσι, καὶ ποικίλοι γίνονται τῆς ἀπολαύσεως; σοφισταί. Τοῦτο λίαν εὔηθες καὶ ἀνόητον. Ἑγχράτεια. αὐτεξουσίον καὶ ἐλευθέρου φρονήματός ἔστι γνώρισμοσ, σχαιωρῆααι. Μισθὸν ἀπαιτεῖς ἐφ᾽ οἷς ζῇς χατὰ νόμον τῆς ἀρετῆς. Μισθὸς δὲ καὶ ἐπίχειρα τοῖς ἀδόλοις ἐργά- «αις, οὐ τοῖς χαχούργοις ἐπήγγελται. Μὴ νόθευε τὴν νηστείαν, ἵνα μὴ πάθῃς τὰ τῶν χαπήλων. Εἰ γὰρ ἐχεῖνοι τῷ οἴνῳ ὕδωρ παραμιγνύντες κολάζονται, σὺ τῷ αὐστηρῷ τῆς νηστείας τὰς σεσοφισμένας ἀπολαύσεις εἰσάγων, πῶς ἀτιμώρητος νείας. Μὴ χαταψεύδου τῆς Τεσσαραχοστῆς, ὡς νοσοποιοῦ \" τοὐναντίον γὰρ ὑγείας ἐστὶ ποιητιχή. Μὴ προφασίζου προφάσεις ἐν ἁμαρτίαις, σὺν ἀνθρώποις ἐργαζομένοις φιληδονίαν. Διὰ συνήθειάν σοι χαχὴν, πολέμιος νομίζεται ἡ ἐγχράτεια\" οὐ μὴν φυσιχῶς ἐστιν ἐπαχθῆς. Τεχμήριον δὲ τοῦ λόγου, πάντες βάρὄαροι ὅσοι οὔτε ἀμπέλους φυτεύουσιν, οὔτε πίνουσιν οἶνον \" ἀλλὰ τὸ αὐτόματον ἐπισπῶνται καὶ ἀγεώργητὸν πόμα τὸ ὕδωρ, καὶ γνωρίζονται γενναῖοι καὶ ἀριστεῖς ἐν πολέμοις, καὶ χρατοῦσι τῶν πολνοίνων, ὡς εἰχὸς, μεθυόντων οἱ νήφοντες. Σώματα δὲ αὐτοῖς χοῦφα καὶ μοχθηρὰ, καὶ ταχεῖς μὲν ἀναθῆναι ἵππον οἱ τοιοῦτοι, εὐφυεῖς ὃὲ τολμηταὶ, καὶ πρὸς τοξείαν εὔστοχοι. ᾿Ασφαλεῖς δὲ μετὰ τοῦ θάρσους, καὶ γνώμὴν ἐν ἀπόροις εὑρεῖν ἱκανοί, Μὴ οὖν κατηγόρει τοῦ ὕδατος, ὡς νοσώδους, ὡς ἐξιτήλους καὶ ἀσθενεῖς τοὺς χρωμένους ἐνεργαζομένου \" ἐλέγχει γάρ σου τὴν συπροσοιχοῦσι τὸν Βόσπορον, καὶ ὅσοι τῷ Ῥήνῳ πὸ- Σχηνῆται δὲ βιοῦσιν ἐχ πίλων καὶ χωδίων καὶ τῶν προστυχόντων προχαλυμμάτων ἑαυτοῖς τὴν σχέπην πηγνύμενοι. Διὸ καὶ ἄρτον οὐ προσφέρονται, καὶ ἄροτρον οὐχ ἴσασιν\" οὐδὲ γῆν ἀνατέμνουσι \" πῶς γὰρ οἱ τοῦ σίτου καὶ τῶν ἐχ γῆς σπερμάτων μὴ μεμαθηχότες τὴν γεωργίαν; Ὅμως χωρὶς ἄρτου καὶ οἴνου διαζῶντες, εἰσὶν ἀνδρεῖοι, καὶ ὅλοις ἔθνεσι πρὸς πόλεμον ἀξιόμαχοι, τῶν τε πολλῶν χρατοῦντες \" καὶ οὐδὲν αὐτοὺς ξόλαψεν ἄρτος καὶ οἶνος ἀπών \" ἀλλ᾽ ἡ πατρῷος συνήθεια, φύσις τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐγένετο. Διὰ τί δὲ τοῦτον ὁ λόγος ἀπεμνημόνευσεν; ἵνα μάθωμεν, ὡς ἀγωγὴ καὶ ἄτχησις πρὸς ἐχεῖνο τυποῖ τὸν ἄνθρωπον, πρὰς ὅπερ ἂν βουληθῶμεν καὶ μελετήτωμεν, ἜἜθισον σαυτὸν πρὸς ἐγχράτειαν, καὶ τῷ χρόνῳ γενήσεται ἀνεπαχθὴς σύνοικος. \"Δν δὲ τοὐνανκίον, τὰς ἀπολαύσεις καὶ τὰς εὐωχίας ἔχῃς συντρόφοὺς καὶ φίλους, οὐδέποτε νηστείαν ἀγαπήσεις\" ἀλλά σοι φανεῖται βαρεῖα, ὡς ξένη καὶ ἀσυνήθης. Βίος ἐγχρατὴς μελλούσης καὶ ἀφθάρτου ζωῆς ἐστιν εἰχών. Ὡς γὰρ τότε, τὴν ἐμπαθῇ σάρχα ταύτην ἀποδυσάμενοι ἐλεύθεροι διάξομεν, οὐδεμίαν ἔχοντες ἀνάγχην γαστρὶ λειτουργεῖν, καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις δουλεύειν πάθεσιν\" οὕτως καὶ νῦν ἂν τὴν πολλὴν ἀνάγχην, καὶ ὕλην αὑτῶν ἀποθάλωμεν, ἐγγὺς τῆς προσδοχωμένης ἀφθαρσίας ἐσόμεθα. Καὶ συντόμως εἰπεῖν, φύγωμεν τὴν [κ εἶναι φιλήδονον καὶ φιλόθεον. Ὁ γὰρ φιλοσώματος ἐξ ἀνάγχης ἔσται καὶ φιλοχρήματος, ὃ δὲ φιλοχρὴ μα-τος, ἄδιχος \" ὁ δὲ τῆς ἀδιχίας εἴσω πεσὼν, ὑπερδῆσεται ῥᾳδίως θεσμοὺς εὐσεδείας, καὶ πατήσει νόμους σοφῶν\" ἐγχειρήσει δὲ τοῖς ἀπηγορευμένοις εὐχόλως, ἐχεῖθεν ἑαυτῷ τὰς ὕλας ἀθροίζων τῆς ἀπολαύσεως, καὶ πάντα τὰ λάφυρα τῆς ἀδιχίας τῇ ἡδονῇ δωροφο- Μὴ 'φύγῃς τὴν μοχθηρίαν τῆς ἐγχρατείας\" ἀλλὰ τὰς ἐλπίδας ἀντίθες τῷ παρόντι πόνῳ, καὶ χούφως παρελεύσῃ τὴν τῆς μεταλήψεως ἀποχήν᾽ εἰπὲ πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ῥήματα εὐσεδείας\" Πιχρὰ ἡ νηστεία, ἀλλ᾽ ἡδὺς ὁ παράδεισος\" ἐπαχθὴς ἡ δίψα, ἀλλ᾽ ἐγγὺς ἣ πηγὴ, ἐξ ἧς ὁ πίνων οὐ διψήσει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Ατοπὸν τὸ σῶμα, ἀλλ᾽ ἰσχυροτέρα ψυχὴ, ἣ ἀσώματος. Νεχρὰ ἡ δύναμ!:ς, ἀλλ᾽ ἐγγὺς ἡ ἀνάστασις. Εἰπὲ πρὸς τὴν ἐπείγουσαν γαστέρα καὶ σὺ τοῦ Κυρίου τὸ ῥῇ μα\" Οὐχ ἐπ’ ἄρτῳ μόνῳ ζήσεται ἄγθρωπος, ἀ.1. ἐπὶ παγτὶ ῥήματι Θεοῦ. Οὐ λιμός ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ μιχρὰ παρολχῇ \" οὐχ ἀπαραίτητος τιμωρία, ἀλλ᾽ αὐθαίρετος ἀποχή \" οὐ δουλοπρεπὴς ἀνάγχη, ἀλλ᾽ ἐλευθέρα φυλοσοφία. Εὔξαι, καὶ ἰσχύσεις \" ἐπιχάλεσαι, καὶ ἕτοιμος παραστήσεταί σοι βοηθός.","t":"They gulp their water without taking breath, as though taking an unpleasant drug from the physicians. Many also … wine. Others therefore contrive [luxury] with vegetables, and become intricate sophists of enjoyment. This is very foolish and senseless. Self-control is the mark of a self-governing and free mind … You demand a wage for living according to the law of virtue. But wages and rewards are promised to honest workers, not to cheats. Do not adulterate the fast, so that you may not suffer what tavern-keepers suffer. For if they are punished for mixing water with wine, how will you go unpunished for bringing contrived enjoyments into the austerity of the fast? … Do not slander the Forty Days as a cause of disease; on the contrary, it produces health. Do not make excuses for sins along with men who work at pleasure-seeking. Because of your bad habit you think self-control your enemy; it is not burdensome by nature. Proof of this are all the barbarians who neither plant vines nor drink wine, but draw on the spontaneous and uncultivated drink, water; and they are known as noble and excellent in war, and the sober, as one would expect, overcome the drunken wine-lovers. Their bodies are light and hardy; such men are quick to mount a horse, daring by nature and accurate at archery, secure in their boldness and able to find counsel in difficulties. Do not, then, accuse water of being unhealthy, as if it made those who drink it feeble and weak; for … refute you: those who live by the Bosporus, and all who [live along] the river Rhine. They live as tent-dwellers, fixing their shelter out of felts and fleeces and whatever coverings come to hand. Therefore they do not eat bread, nor know the plough, nor break up the ground; how could they, since they have not learned to farm grain and the seeds of the earth? Yet living without bread and wine, they are brave, a match in war for whole nations, and they overcome the many; and the absence of bread and wine has not harmed them at all; their ancestral custom has become nature for them. Why has the discourse recalled this? So that we may learn that training and practice shape a person toward whatever we wish and practise. Accustom yourself to self-control, and in time it will become a companion that is no burden. But if, on the contrary, you have enjoyments and feasts as your companions and friends, you will never love fasting; it will seem heavy to you, as something strange and unaccustomed. A life of self-control is an image of the life to come, the incorruptible life. For as then, having put off this passionate flesh, we shall live free, with no need to serve the belly or be slaves to the other passions, so now too, if we cast off the great necessity and its material, we shall be near the incorruption we expect. In short, let us flee [the illusion that one can] be both a lover of pleasure and a lover of God. For the lover of the body will necessarily be a lover of money too, and the lover of money unjust; and the one who has fallen into injustice will easily transgress the ordinances of godliness and trample the laws of the wise, and will readily set his hand to what is forbidden, gathering from it the materials of his enjoyment and bringing all the spoils of injustice as offerings to pleasure. Do not flee from the hardship of self-control; set your hopes against the present toil, and you will pass lightly through the abstinence from food. Say to yourself words of godliness: “Fasting is bitter, but paradise is sweet; thirst is burdensome, but the spring is near, from which whoever drinks will never thirst. The body is weak, but the soul, which is bodiless, is stronger. Its strength is dead, but the resurrection is near.” And say to your pressing belly the word of the Lord: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” It is not famine, but a small delay; not an inexorable punishment, but a voluntary abstinence; not slavish necessity, but free philosophy. Pray, and you will be strong; call on him, and he will stand by you as a ready helper.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 14.4 (PG 40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/14-4)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/14.5":{"o":"᾿Ανάλαδε τῇ μνήμῃ παλαιὰν ἱστορίαν, καὶ μαθήσῃ ὅπως οἱ δι᾽ εὐσέθειαν σωμα πιέξοντες, τῶν τρυφώνδύναμίν εἰσιν ἀσθενέστεροι, οὔτε μὴν εἰς τὸ φανῆναι σχυθρωπότεροι, ἣ ἀπηνθηχότες τὴν χάριν\" ὁ γὰρ βασιλεὺς τῶν ᾿Ασσυρίων ἐχεῖνος ὁ πάντα τῇ σαρχὶ ζῶν, καὶ τῷ τρυφῶντι βίῳ ὡς φάτνῃ προσδεδεμένος, ἐπειδὴ τοὺς οἰνοχόους αὑτῷ καὶ τραπεζοποιοὺς, καὶ πάντας ἁπλῶς τοὺς ὑπηρέτας τῆς ἀπολαύσεως, ἐχέλευσε κατ᾽ ἐχλογὴν εὐφυεῖς εἶναι τὸ σῶμα, καὶ ὀφθῆναι χαρίεντας, ἵνα μὴ μόνον τὸ στόμα καὶ ἡ γεῦσις, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὀφθαλμὸς αὐτῷ χατὰ τῶν ὁρωμένων τρυφῶν. Τότε δὴ καὶ οἱ τρεῖς νεανίσχοι ἐχ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ τῷ καταλόγῳ τῶν ὑπηρετῶν ἐγχριθέντες, ἀπεχόμενοι δὲ τῶν ὄψων τῆς βασιλιχῆς τραπέξης, ὡς τῇ ἐπιμιξίᾳ τῶν εἰδωλοθύτων μεμῖια σμένης, σπέρματα ἐσιτοῦντο μόνον. ἯΝν δὲ καὶ οἶνος φευχτὸς διὰ τὴν σπονδὴν καὶ πᾶν χρέας, διὰ τὴν προῤῥηθεῖσαν αἰτίαν. Ὥς δὲ παρὰ τοῦ ἐφεστῶτος ἡναγχάζοντο μετέχειν τῶν προσφερομένων αὐτοῖς, ἵνα μήποτε εἰς δυσμορφίαν αὐτῶν ἐχ τῆς ἐγχρατείας τὸ χάλλος μεταδληθῇ, ἔγχλημα δὲ ἐχείνον καὶ τιμωρία γένηται τὸ τῶν νεανίσχων εἰδεχθές τε καὶ ἀθεράπευτον \" Ἔα, φησὶ, καὶ συγχώρησον, οὐ φανησόμεθα τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν τρυφώντων ἀτιμότεροι, οὐδὲ τὰ πρόσφους αὐτῷ ὑπηρέτας προσάγων. Ὁ γὰρ τεχνίτης τῆς διαπλάσεως ἡμῶν δώσει τὴν χάριν, καὶ μαθήσῃ παρὰ τῆς πείρας, ὅτι τοῦ ἡμετέρου χάλλους, καὶ τῆς σπου- … καὶ γέγονε. Καὶ γὰρ ὑπερήνθουν οἱ νεανίσχοι, καὶ Τί δὲ ὁ Σαμψών; Εὐθὺς, ἀπὸ γάλαχτος, οὐχ ἐδιδάχθη νηστεύειν; οὕτως τοῦ πνεύματος τῇ μητρὶ χυηματίσαντος, ὡς προσῆχε τὸ “παιδίον ἄγευστον οἴνου καὶ πάσης διαφυλάξα! τρυφῆς. Καὶ τίς ἰσχυρὸς χατ᾽ ἐχεῖνον; τίς δὲ ἀριστεὺς οὕτως ὀνομαστός; Μόνος ἀξιόμαχος ἦν, πρὸς πᾶσαν παράταξιν πολεμίων καὶ πλῆθος ἀναρίθμητον, χατ᾽ ἐξουσίαν ἐτρέπετο ὅς γέ ποτε ξίφους ἣ δόρατος ἀπορήσας, σιαγόνα ὃὲ ἀνελόμενος ὄνον, χιλίους ἄνδρας πολεμιστὰς χατ- Οὕτως τοίνυν καὶ σὺ ἔλπιζε, καὶ ἰσχύσεις \" προθυμοῦ, καὶ δυναμωθήσῃ \" δὸς τὴν ἀχοὴν τῇ μαθήσει τῶν χεχρυμμένων, καὶ ἀμνημονήσεις τροφῆς. Ὡς ὁ δήμος τῷ Ἰησοῦ ἑπόμενος, λόγῳ καὶ ἔργῳ παιδεύοντι, αἰδεσθῶμεν, οἱ ἀχρατεῖς καὶ φιλήδονοι, ἕλληνας καὶ Ἰουδαίου; νηστεύοντας, μάτην μὲν καὶ ὑπὲρ οὐδενὸς τοῦ τέλους\" εἰχῇ γὰρ ἐχεῖνοι ζημιοῦνται ὃ μὴ ἐσθίουσι\" πλὴν ὡς ζηλωτὸν καὶ πρέπον τοῖς σπουδαίοις μετιόντας τὸ πρόσταγμα. Χριστιανοῖς πρέπει πολιτείας ἀχρίδεια, καὶ φιλοσοφίας σεμνότης, οἷς πάρεστι χαθαρὸς καὶ ἀληθὴς τῆς εὐσεύείας ὁ λόγος. Οἱ δὲ τούτου χωρὶς τὴν ἠθικὴν πονοῦντες ἄσχησιν, ὅμοιά 1οε δοχοῦντες ἐργάζεσθαι, τῶν ἄνευ θεμελίου οἰκίας χατασχευαζόντων, ἣ ναῦν πηγνυμένων, μὴ χαταθεΐς. Καί μοι σφοδρὸς ὁ γέλως ἐμπίπτει, ὅταν αὐτοὺς προφητῶν, γεννήματα τοῦ ᾿Αδραὰμ ἀμθλωθρίδια \" δούλους τῆς ἀφροσύνης, τοὺς τῆς ἐλευθερίας νἱούς \" ἀμαθεῖς καὶ ἀνόμους \" τοὺς δῆθεν μαθητὰς τοῦ νόμου, ἀπολέσαντας τῆς ἐχθάσεως τὴν ἐλπίδα, ἐπειδὴ τοὺς τύπους τοῦ μέλλοντος συνετῶς οὐχ ἐδέξαντο. Μωῦσῆς γὰρ πᾶν ὃ ἔπραττε, τῶν εἰς ὕστερον ἐσομένων εἴδωλα προετύπου’ χἂν τὴν σχηνοπηγίαν καὶ τὴν ὑπόμνησιν τῶν σαλπίγγων, ὁμοίως τὴν περιτομὴν, τὰ ἄξυμα, τὰς πιχρίδας. Πάντα ἣν ἐχεῖνα τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ πολιτείας μηνύματα, εἰχόνες προχαραχθεῖσαι τοῖς ἐχ προσαγωγὴξ μυσταγωγουμένοις πρὸς τὴν τελείωσιν. Ἔγὼ μὲν γὰρ ὁ Χριστιανὸς, καὶ τοῦ σταυρωθέντος δοῦλος, νηστεύω κχαλῶς, εἴτε πρὸς τὴν ἐλπίδα τῆς ὡς φιλοδέσποτος δοῦλος τοῖς τοῦ Κυρίου μου πάθεσι. Σὺ δὲ ὁ τῶν φονέων υἱὸς καὶ τῶν τὸν ἀμνὸν σφαξάνπὼν ἀπόγονος, καὶ τὴν χληρονομίαν τοῦ ἐχχεθέντος αἴματο; ἐχ τῶν πατέρων δεξάμενος, τῶν οὕτως ἑαυ- “οἷς γκαὶ τοῖς τέχνοις ἐπευξαμένων, ὑπὲρ τίνος νηστεύεις; εἰπέ. Εἰ μὲν ὡς μετανοῶν ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἥμαρτες, ὑπερασπάζομαί σε τῆς γνώμης, καὶ χαταλιπὼν τὴν συναγωγὴν τῶν πονηρενομένων, σπεῦσον πρὸς τὴν Ἐχχλησίαν τῶν εὐσεδῶν. Ἐλθὲ πρὸς τὸ αἷμα τοῦ ἀμνοῦ καὶ ῥαντίσθητι. Ἐχεῖθεν γάρ σοι ὑπάρξει καὶ ἡ χάθαρσις, ὅθεν συνεστήσω τὴν ἁμαρτίαν. Εἰ δὲ ἔτι καὶ νῦν τοῖς αὐτοῖς προσδέδεσαι, τέ σοι βούλεται ἧ ἀποχὴ τῶν σιτίων; Ἢ τοὺς Νειλῴους -χροχοδείλους μιμῇ, οὖς φασι ταῖς χεφαλαῖς ἐπιθρηνεῖν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὧν ἔφαγον, καὶ δαχρύειν τὸν φόνον, οὐ μετά“ νοιᾶν τοῦ γενομένου λαμθάνοντας (πῶς γὰρ τὰ ἄλογα θηρία καὶ ἔνυδρα :), ἀλλὰ τὸ ἄσαρχον τῆς χεφαλῆς ὀδυρομένους, ὡς εἰς βρῶσιν οὐχ ἐπιτήδειον; Οἷον δὲ καὶ τὸ περὶ τὴν νηστείαν σχῆμα. Χορεῖαι καὶ ὄρχῆ\"» σεις, τῆς ἀσιτείας τὰ μέσα καὶ ἐπεισόδια, πρᾶγμα τῷ σχήματι τῷ φαινομένῳ μαχόμενον\" νηστεία γὰρ πυχνώσεως καὶ χοσμίας χαταστολῆς νοεῖται παιδαγωγὸς, χορεία δὲ ἑρμηνεύει τὸ διαχεχυμένον ταῖς Μνημόνευσον γὰρ ἐνταῦθα ῥητοῦ τοῦ Μωσαΐχοῦ πδὺ λέγοντος, τῇ δεχάτῃ τοῦ ἑύδόμου μηνὸς χρῆναι νηστεύειν. Δηλοῖ γὰρ ὁ ξόδομος μὴν τὴν ἑύθδόμην ἡμέραν\" ἡ δὲ δεχάτη ἡμέρα, τὴν δεκάτην ὥραν, ἐν ἧ ὁ Κύριος ἐπὶ τοῦ σταυροῦ ἀφῆχε τὸ͵ πνεῦμα. Καὶ ἐχόστῳ πράγματι ἑξαίρετά ἔστι καὶ τὰ σχημᾶτα ἐκ τῆς αἰσθητιχῆς ἐπιφανείας τὴν ἄωρον τῆς ψυχῆς δηλοῦντα διάθεσιν. Σὺ δὲ τί μιγνύεις τὰ ἄμιχτα, καὶ φύρεις ἐν ταυτῷ τὰ χεχωρισμένα; Εἰσὶν αὑτοῖς καὶ ἄλλαι πανηγύρεις. Τὴν μὲν Σχηνοπηγίαν χαλοῦσι \" τὴν δὲ ἀχούω Σαλπίγγων ὑπόμνησιν. Λελήθασι δὲ Χριστιανῶν μυστήρια ἑορτάξοντες, ἐπειδὴ τῆς μὲν ( σχηνῆς ἡ δημιουργία ἔμπραχτός ἔστι προφητεία τῆ, Ἐκχχλησίας ταύτης, ἣν ὁ Λόγος ἡμῶν συνεστήσατο. Διὰ τοῦτο, καὶ φύλλοις χοσμοῦσι τὴν σχηνὴν, καὶ τῷ νόμῳ. Ἧ δὲ τῶν Σαλπίγγων ἑορτὴ. διεγείρει τὰς ψυχὰς πρὸς ἑτοιμασίαν τῆς ἀναστάσεως, χαθὼς Παῦλός φησι\" Σαιπίσει γὰρ, καὶ οἱ γεχροὶ σογται. Διδάσχει δὲ αὐτὸς δ᾽ Θεὸς καὶ Σωτὴρ ἐν Εὐαγγελίοις λέγων\" ᾿Αποστελεῖ τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὑτοῦ μετὰ σάϊλλπιγγος καὶ φωνῆς μεγάλης, καὶ ἐπισυνάξει τοὺς ἐχιλεκτοὺς αὑτοῦ ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ἀνέμων ἀπ᾿ ἄχρων οὐραγῶν, ἕως ἄχρων αὖτῶν. Τούτων δὲ τῶν λόγων ἀχούοντες, τάχα τοιαύτῃ χρή- Ὁ σονται πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἀντιῤῥήσει \" ὅτι τῶν ἀρκαίων μεμνημένοι θαυμάτων, τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ εὐεργεσιῶν χάριστήρια ταῦτα προσάγουσιν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὄρους Σινᾶ, καὶ τῆς σάλπιγγος τῆς ἡχησάσης ἐν τῇ δόσει τοῦ νόμον. Οὐχ ἴσασι δὲ οἱ ματαιόφρονες, ὅτι καὶ τότε ἣ σάλπιγξ τυπιχῶς παρελήφθη διδομένου τοῦ νόμου. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὁ νόμον λαμθάνων εἰς χανόνα βίου καὶ εὔταχτὸν πολιτείαν, ὀφείλει δεδοιχέναι τὴν ἐχ τῆἧς τιμωρίαν διὰ τοῦτο ὁ Θεὸς τὰ τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν παρεὐθὺς προσέθηχε καὶ τὴν φωνὴν τῆς σάλπιγγος, σύμδολον τῆς ἐχ νεχρῶν ἀναστάσεως, ἵνα οἱ μαθηταὶ τῶν προσταγμάτων, διὰ τῆς ἀναστάσεως τὴν χρί… μοθεσίας τὰ δόγματα. Οὐχοῦν καὶ νηστεία, καὶ σχηνοπηγία, καὶ σάλπιγγες, τῆς ἡμετέρας εὐσεδείας μυστήρια, πάλαι μὲν παραδηλούμενα, χαιρῷ δὲ τῷ χαθήχοντι λαμδάνοντα τὴν ἔχθασιν, ὅτε τοῦ Σωτῇρος ἡμῶν ἐτελέσθη τὰ ἐν σαρχὶ θεοφάνια \" ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ χράτος, εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ᾿Αμήν.","t":"Recall an ancient history, and you will learn how those who press down the body for godliness are neither weaker in strength than those who live in luxury, nor gloomier in appearance, nor faded in their grace. That king of the Assyrians, who lived wholly for the flesh and was tied to a luxurious life as to a manger, ordered that his cupbearers and table-servers, and in short all the servants of his enjoyment, be chosen for their good bodies and charming looks, so that not only his mouth and taste but also his eye might luxuriate in what he saw. Then the three young men from the captivity of Israel were enrolled in the list of his servants; but they abstained from the dishes of the royal table as defiled by the admixture of idol sacrifices, and ate only seeds. Wine too was to be shunned because of the libation, and all meat for the reason already given. When the overseer tried to compel them to partake of what was offered them, so that their beauty might not be turned to ugliness by their self-control, and the young men's repulsive and neglected looks might not become a charge and a punishment against him, one of them said: “Let us be, and allow it; we will not appear to the king less honoured than those who live in luxury, nor will you bring him … servants. For the craftsman who formed us will give the grace, and you will learn from experience that our beauty and …” And so it happened; for the young men bloomed exceedingly, and … What of Samson? Was he not taught to fast from the time he was weaned, since the Spirit had told his mother that the child should be kept from tasting wine and every luxury? And who was as strong as he? What champion was so renowned? He alone was a match for every battle line of the enemy and put a countless multitude to flight at will; once, lacking sword or spear, he took up the jawbone of a donkey and [struck down] a thousand warriors. So you too, hope, and you will be strong; be eager, and you will be empowered; give your ears to learning hidden things, and you will forget food, like the crowd that followed Jesus as he taught by word and deed … Let us be ashamed, we who are incontinent and pleasure-loving, before Greeks and Jews who fast, though in vain and for no purpose (for they lose to no end what they do not eat), yet who pursue the commandment as something enviable and fitting for earnest people. Exactness of life and the solemnity of philosophy befit Christians, to whom the pure and true word of godliness belongs. Those who labour at moral discipline without it seem to me to do the same as those who build houses without a foundation, or put a ship together without laying [its keel]. And I am seized by violent laughter when I see them … of the prophets, abortive offspring of Abraham; slaves of folly, though sons of freedom; ignorant and lawless, the supposed disciples of the law, who have lost the hope of fulfilment because they did not wisely receive the types of what was to come. For everything Moses did prefigured images of what would come later: the Feast of Tabernacles and the memorial of trumpets, and likewise circumcision, the unleavened bread, the bitter herbs. All those were tokens of the life in Christ, images engraved beforehand for those being initiated step by step toward perfection. For I, the Christian, the slave of the Crucified, fast rightly, whether for the hope of … , as a slave who loves his Master, [sharing] in the sufferings of my Lord. But you, the son of murderers and descendant of those who slaughtered the Lamb, who received from your fathers the inheritance of the blood that was shed, since they called it down upon themselves and their children, for what do you fast? Tell me. If you fast in repentance for your sins, I welcome your purpose warmly: leave the synagogue of the wicked and hasten to the Church of the godly. Come to the blood of the Lamb and be sprinkled. For your cleansing will come from the very place where you brought about your sin. But if you are still bound to the same things even now, what does your abstinence from food mean? Or are you imitating the crocodiles of the Nile, which, they say, weep over the heads of the men they have eaten and lament the killing, not because they repent of what they have done (how could irrational water beasts?), but because they mourn that the head has no flesh and is unfit for eating? And what is the outward form of your fasting! Dances and leaping are the middle and the interludes of your abstinence, a thing at war with the form that appears; for fasting is understood as a tutor of concentration and seemly restraint, while dancing expresses what is dissipated … Remember here the saying of Moses, which says that one must fast on the tenth day of the seventh month. The seventh month signifies the seventh day, and the tenth day the tenth hour, in which the Lord gave up his spirit on the cross. Each thing has its own special forms, which show from their outward appearance the inner disposition of the soul. Why do you mix what cannot be mixed, and confuse together what has been separated? They have other festivals too. One they call Tabernacles; the other, I hear, the Memorial of Trumpets. Without knowing it they are celebrating the mysteries of Christians. For the building of the tabernacle is an enacted prophecy of this Church which our Word has established; that is why they adorn the tent with leaves too, and by the law. And the feast of Trumpets rouses souls to make ready for the resurrection, as Paul says: “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised.” Our God and Saviour himself teaches in the Gospels: “He will send out his angels with a trumpet and a loud voice, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” Hearing these words, they will perhaps raise this objection against us: that they offer these feasts in memory of the ancient wonders, as thank-offerings for God's benefits, for Mount Sinai and the trumpet that sounded at the giving of the law. The vain-minded do not know that even then the trumpet was taken up as a type when the law was given. For since the one who receives the law as a rule of life and an orderly way of living ought to fear the punishment that comes from … , for this reason God at once added to the [precepts] of our life the sound of the trumpet as well, a symbol of the resurrection from the dead, so that the disciples of the commandments might, through the resurrection, [expect] the judgment … the decrees of the legislation. So, then, fasting, Tabernacles and trumpets are mysteries of our godliness, hinted at long ago and receiving their fulfilment at the proper time, when the theophany of our Saviour in the flesh was accomplished; to whom be glory and might to the ages of ages. Amen.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 14.5 (PG 40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/14-5)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/15.1":{"o":"Εἰς τὸν ε ψωϊμὸν.16γὸς Α'. Τὰ ῥήματά μου ἐνώτισαι, Κύριε, σύγες τῆς χραυγῆς μου, καὶ τὰ Οἱ τὸ μαχάριον τέλος τῆς ζωῆς ἐχδεχόμενοι, καὶ χλτιρονόμοι τοῦ Θεοῦ γενέσθαι βουλόμενοι, τὰ τῆς χληρηνομίας δίχαια, ὡς ἐν διαθήχῃ, τῇ προχειμένῃ Ψαλμῳδίᾳ, δεῦτε, χοινῶς ἐρευνέσωμεν. Εἰς τὸ γὰρ ὑπὲρ τῆς χιϊηρογνομούσης ἐπιγέγραπται ὁ προχείμενος ἡμῖν ψαλμός. Καὶ τίς αὕτη; ἡ Ἐχχλησία. Καὶ διὰ τί οὐχ εἴπεν' “Ὑπὲρ τῆς κιηρογόμου; Ὅτι ἀεὶ χληρονομεῖ, Καὶ πολλὰ ὡς βασίλισσα χληρονομεῖ, τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν πιστῶν, πατριάρχας, προφήτας, Χριστὸν, οὐρανόν. Τὸ δὲ, ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς, εἰπεῖν, ἃ συνηγόρου ἐστὶν, ἣ προσευχομένου. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐν ποἷς γραμματείοις, καὶ τοῖς προιχῴοις, καὶ ταῖς θήχαις, ἄνω μὲν γράφεται πᾶσα ἡ διήγησις, εἰς τὸ τέλος δὲ τοῦ συγγράμματος, αὑτὸς ὑπογράφει ὃ χύρίος τοῦ πράγματος, καὶ οὐδὲν ὄφελος ὅλῳ τῷ χάρτῃ καὶ τῷ γραμματείῳ, ἐὰν μὴ ὁ κύριος τοῦ πράγματος εἰς τὸ πέλος ὑπογράψῃ \" οὕτως ἐπειδὴ χαθάπερ διὰ συμδολαιογράφων τῶν προφητῶν προεγράφετο ἡ τοῦ Χριστοῦ διαθήχη (καὶ μάρτυς αὐτὸς εἰπών \" Λάὅε τόμον χάρτου (θὅ)), καὶ πολλὰς τῇ ἐξ ἐθνῶν Ἐχχλησίᾳ, ὡς χληρονόμῳ, τὰς δωρεὰς ὁ Χριστὸς προέγραψεν εἰς τὸ τέλος τοῦ θανάτου τὴν διαθήχην … σαι αἱ ἔγγραπτοι δωρεαὶ, ἄκυροι ἔμενον, ἕως ὅτου … ἐδεδαίωσεν. Καὶ ὅτι Διαθήκην» διεθέμην τοῖς ἐχιλεκτοῖς μου. Καὶ διὰ μὲν τοῦ Ὥστε ἔλεγεν αὐτῇ \" Καὶ μνηστεύσομαξ σε ἐμαυτῷ εἷς τὸν αἰῶνα. Πότε; “Ὅτε Παῦλος\" Ἡρμοσάμην ὑμᾶς ἐνὶ ἀνδρὶ παρθένον ἀγγήν. Διὰ δὲ τοῦ Ζαχαρίου \" Χαῖρε σφόδρα, θύγατερ Σιώ»\" ἰδοὺ ἔρχομαι, καὶ κατασκηγώσω ἐν μέσῳ σου, «.ἐγει Κύριος, καὶ καταφεύξονται ἔθγη πο.λ.ὰ ἐπὶ Κύριον. Πότε; Εἰς τὸ τέινος. Διὰ δὲ τοῦ Ἡσαΐου \" Πλοῦτον ἐθνῶν θαλάσσης. Πότε; Εἰς τὸ Καὶ διὰ τοῦ Ἰεζεχιήλ᾽ Πάγτα τὰ ἐκχιϊεκτὰ τοῦ Λιάνου δέδωκα αὐτῇ. Πότε; Εἰς τὸ τέλος. Αὗται πᾶαὐτὸς ὁ Δεσπότης εἰς τὸ τέλος ὑπέγραψεν, καὶ ἐδε- ΒΒ Διὰ τοῦτο, ἕνα ὁ Χριστὸς παραγένηται εἰς χόσμον» καὶ αὐτὸς διὰ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου ὑπογράψῃ καὶ πληρώσῃ τὰς διὰ τῶν προφητῶν ἐπαγγελίας τῇ χληρονόμῳ, Εἰς τὸ τέλος ὑπὲρ τῆς κιληρονομούσης, οἱ προφῆται προσευχόμενοι. Οὐκ ἣ.1θον γὰρ καταλῦσαι τὸν γόμον, ἣ τοὺς προφήτας, ἀλλὰ πληρῶσαι. Πλήῆρωμα νόμου Χριστὸς εἰς δικαιοσύνην. Καὶ ἐπιστολὴν πολλοὶ πρὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς εἰς τὸ τέλος τῆς ὑπογραφῆς χατανοοῦσιν. Ἡ εἰς τὸ τέλος ὑπογραφὴ ὑπὲρ τίνος; Ὑπὲρ τῆς κληρογομούσης. Ὅθεν, ἐπειδὴ ἔδει εἰς τὸ τέλος ὑπογράψαι, ὅτε ἤμελλεν πάσχειν, χάλαμον ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ λαμθάνε';, σύμδολον τόῦ ὑπογράψαι \" καὶ πορφύραν ἐνεδύσατο, ἵνα δείξῃ “τῇ χληρονόμῳ, ὅτι βασιλεύς ἐστιν, καὶ οὐχ ἰδιώτης, ὁ ὑπογράφων\"\" καὶ ὁ τίτλος ἀντὶ τοῦ χάρτου ἐπὶ τῷ σταυρῷ προετέ… ὡς χληρονόμῳ\" Θέλεις σοι, ὦ Ἐχχλησία, τὴν ὑπογραφὴν παραναγινώσχω; Ἀμὴν “έγω σοι, σήμερον μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ ἔσῃ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ. Σήμερον γὰρ ἀποθνήσχω, καὶ εἰς νομὰς εἰσέρχῃ τῆς χληρονομίας, “Ὥσπερ τὸν σταυρὸν αἰσχύνην ὄντα δόξαν ἔδειξεν\" ᾿Ελήκλυθεν ἡ ὥρα ἵνα δοξασθῇ ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀγνθρώπου\" οὕτως τὰ λοιπὰ τῷ καλάμῳ ἔγραψεν ἄφεσιν καὶ ἀπόφασιν. Εἰς τὸ τέλος ὑπὲρ τῆς κιϊηρονομούσης ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαδίδ. Προφητεία πράξεως τῆς ἐπὶ τῇ τελευτῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅτε ἀποθανὼν ὁ Χριστὸς, ὅπλον ἡμῖν καὶ στέφανον κατέλιπεν τὸν σταυρόν. Δι' ὃ ἔλεγεν εἰς τὸ τέλος τοῦ ψαλμοῦ\" Κύριε, ὡς ὅπιῳ εὐδοχίας ἐστεράνωσας ἡμᾶς \" τὴν σφραγῖδα τοῦ ","t":"On Psalm 5. Homily 1. “Give ear to my words, O Lord, understand my cry,” and the … You who await the blessed end of life and wish to become heirs of God, come, let us search out together the rights of the inheritance in the present psalm, as in a will. For the psalm before us is entitled: “For the end, for her who inherits.” And who is she? The Church. And why did he not say “for the heir”? Because she is always inheriting. As a queen she inherits many things: the souls of the faithful, the patriarchs, the prophets, Christ, heaven. To say “for her” belongs to an advocate, or to one who prays. In documents such as dowry deeds and wills, the whole narrative is written above, but at the end of the document the owner of the property signs himself, and the whole paper and document is of no use unless the owner signs at the end. So too, since the testament of Christ was written beforehand through the prophets, as through notaries (he himself is witness, saying, “Take a roll of paper”), and Christ wrote beforehand many gifts to the Church from the Gentiles as his heir, at the end, by his death, [he confirmed] the testament … the written gifts remained invalid until … confirmed it. And that: “I have made a covenant with my elect.” Through Hosea he said to her: “And I will betroth you to myself for ever.” When? When Paul [says], “I betrothed you to one husband as a pure virgin.” And through Zechariah: “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; behold, I come and will dwell in your midst, says the Lord, and many nations will flee to the Lord.” When? At the end. And through Isaiah: “The wealth of the nations of the sea.” When? At the end. And through Ezekiel: “All the choice things of Lebanon I have given to her.” When? At the end. All these the Master himself signed at the end and confirmed … For this reason, so that Christ might come into the world and himself, through the Gospel, sign and fulfil the promises made to the heiress through the prophets, the prophets pray, “For the end, for her who inherits.” “I did not come to abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfil.” “Christ is the fulfilment of the law for righteousness.” And many look at the signature at the end of a letter before its beginning. For whom is the signature at the end? “For her who inherits.” Hence, since he had to sign at the end, when he was about to suffer he took a reed in his right hand, a symbol of signing; and he put on purple, to show the heiress that the one signing is a king and not a private person; and the title was set up on the cross in place of the paper … as to the heir: “Do you want me, O Church, to read you the signature? Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. For today I die, and you enter the pastures of the inheritance.” As he showed the cross, which was a shame, to be a glory (“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified”), so he wrote the rest with the reed: release and sentence. “For the end, for her who inherits, a psalm of David.” This is a prophecy of what was done at the death of Christ, when Christ, dying, left us the cross as a weapon and a crown. Therefore he said at the end of the psalm: “Lord, you have crowned us as with a shield of favour,” giving the seal of the cross on the forehead.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 15.1 (PG 40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/15-1)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/15.2":{"o":"… σταυροῦ εἰς τὸ μέτωπον διδούς. Ὅπλον γὰρ καὶ στέ- Α φανος ὃ σταυρός \" ὅπλον διὰ τοὺς πολεμοῦντας \" στέφανος διὰ τοὺς νιχῶντας\" ὅπλον διὰ τοὺς ὡς στρατιώτας συγκαχοπαθοῦντας \" στέφανος διὰ τοὺς συμδασιλεύοντας. Ἐπειδὴ οὖν χαλὴ ἡ χληρονομία \" οὖρανῶν γὰρ ἦν βασιλεία - χαλὴ δὲ καὶ ἡ χληρονομοῦσα\" ἡ ἐξ ἐθνῶν γὰρ ἦν Ἐχχλησία\" “Ο.1η καλὴ, ἡ πιἪλησίον μου, καὶ μῶμος οὐχ ἔστιν ἐν σοί\" διὰ τοῦτο λέγει\" Τὰ ῥήματά μου ἐγώτισαι, Κύριε. ᾿Ἀλλ᾽ ὁ Ἰουδαῖος τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς χιληρογομούσης οἰχειοῦται ψαλμὸν, λέγων\" Ἐμοὶ ἔθετο ὁ Θεὸς διαθήχας. Μὴ γὰρ ὁ διαθέμενος δοῦλος τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ἐστιν διαθήχης; Ἐὰν ἀχαριστήσῃ τις ἐν τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ χλη- ' ρονόμοις, ἀλλάσσει τὴν ἑαυτοῦ διαθήχην, καὶ τοὺς χληρονόμους ἀχυροΐ. Καὶ ὅτι ἀχαριστῶν Ἰουδαίοις ἤλλαξεν τὴν πρώτην διαθήχην, καὶ ἄλλην καινὴν ἔγραψεν, λέγει διὰ Ἱερεμίου τοῦ προφήτου\" ᾿Ιδοὺ διατίθεμαι τῷ οἴκῳ ᾿Ἰσραὴ. διαθήχην καιγὴήν\" ἀλλ᾽ οὐ πάντες οἱ ἐξ Ἰσραὴ.ϊ, οὗτοι οὐ κατὰ τὴν διαθήχην ἣν διεθέμην τοῖς πατράσεν αὑτῶν, ἐξελθόντων αὐτῶν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου. Καὶ ἐπάγει\" Ὅτι αὐτοὶ οὐχ ἐνέμειναν τῇ διαθήκῃ μου\" κἀγὼ ἠμέλησα αὐτῶν, «1έγει Κύριος. Εἰ ἐν τοῖς ἡ μελημένοις εἴ, οὐκ εἶ χληρονόμος. Εἴδωμεν οὖν τίνα λέγει ὁ διατιθέμενος περὶ τοῦ χληρονόμου \" Βούλομαι καὶ χελεύω τόνδε τὸν εὐαρεστήσαντά μοι ἐν πᾶσιν, χληρονόμον μου εἶναι, κἂν ξένος εἴη. Ε! δὲ υἱοὺς ἔχει λυπήσαντας, ἐγγράφως μὲν τὰς χατ᾽ αὐτῶν αἰτίας ἐχτίθεται, ποιεῖ δὲ αὐτοὺς ἀποχληρονόμους. Ἐνεχθήτω, ὦ Ἰουδαῖε, ἡ διαθήχη. Σὺ ταύτην ἕλαθες οὐχ ὡς σὴν διαθήχην, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς παραθήχην\" οὐδέποτε γὰρ χληρονόμος διαθήχην λαμὄάνει ζῶντος τοῦ διαθεμένου. Ἐὰν γὰρ λάδῃ, ὕποπτον ποιεῖ τὴν διαθήχην, καὶ ἀντιλέγεται ὑπὸ τῶν ἀποχληρονόμων. Ἐπεὶ οὖν σὺ ὡς χαρτοφύλαξ ἕλαδες τὴν διαθήχην, προένεγχε ταύτην, εἴδωμεν τί λέγει περὶ ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τῶν μαρτύρων ὁ διαθέμενος. Ἄχουε, οὐρανὲ, καὶ ἐνωτίζου, γῆ, ὅτι Κύριος ἐλάλησεν\" Υἱοὺς ἐγέγγησα καὶ ὕψωσα\" αὑτοὶ δέ μὲ ἠθέτησαν. Καὶ ἵνα μὴ περὶ ἄλλου νομίσῃς ταῦτα λέγεσθαι, ","t":"… For the cross is a weapon and a crown: a weapon because of those who make war, a crown because of those who conquer; a weapon for those who suffer hardship together as soldiers, a crown for those who reign together. Since, then, the inheritance is fine (for it was the kingdom of heaven), and the heiress is fine too (for it was the Church from the Gentiles: “You are all fair, my neighbour, and there is no blemish in you”), therefore he says: “Give ear to my words, O Lord.” But the Jew claims the psalm “for her who inherits” as his own, saying: “God made covenants with me.” Is the testator the slave of his own testament? If someone is ungrateful among his heirs, he changes his testament and makes the heirs void. And that, being displeased with the Jews, he changed the first covenant and wrote another, a new one, he says through Jeremiah the prophet: “Behold, I make a new covenant with the house of Israel” (but not all who are from Israel [are Israel]), “not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers when they came out of Egypt.” And he adds: “Because they did not abide in my covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord.” If you are among the disregarded, you are not the heir. Let us see, then, what the testator says about the heir: “I wish and command that this man, who has pleased me in all things, be my heir, even if he is a stranger.” And if he has sons who have grieved him, he sets out in writing the charges against them, and makes them disinherited. Let the testament be brought out, Jew. You received it not as your own testament, but as a deposit; for an heir never receives the testament while the testator is alive. If he does receive it, he makes the testament suspect, and it is contested by the disinherited. Since, then, you received the testament as its keeper, bring it out, and let us see what the testator says about you before the witnesses. “Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken: I begot sons and raised them up, but they rejected me.” And so that you may not think this is said about someone else, …","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 15.2 (PG 40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/15-2)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/15.3":{"o":"τοῖς μείζοσι ΕἾ αὐτὸν ὁ Θεὸς ἀμείψεται\" ἵνα δὲ ( δὲ τὰ μικρὰ τῆς φιλίας σὐύμόολα παρ᾽ ἡμῶν ἐλδ ρη: βεύλομαι αὐτῷ δοθῆναι. … τὴν φάτνην τοῦ χυρίου αὑτοῦ. Ἰσραὴ} δέ με οὐκ ἔγγω, καὶ ὁ ἰαός με οὐ συγῆκεν. Μὴ σὺ ὁ κληρονόμος; Περὶ δὲ τῶν ἐθνῶν, οἵας εὐχαριστίας γράφει; Λαὸς ὃν οὐχ ἔγνων, ἐδούλευσέν μοι, εἰς ἀκοὴν ὠτίου ὑπήχουσέν μοι. Περὶ ὑμῶν λέγει’ Δεῖ ὑμᾶς τὸ ὄνομά μου βλασφημεῖται τοῖς ἔθγεσιν. Περὶ δὲ τῶν ἐθνῶν\" Διότι ἀπὸ ἀνατοϊῶν ἕως δυσμῶν, τὸ ὄνομά μου δεδόξαται ἐν τοῖρ ἔθγεσιν. Περὶ δὲ τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ τῆς συναγωγῆς λέγει\" ἼἜχθδα.ῖλε τὴν παιδίσκην καὶ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτῆς. Οὐ γὰρ μὴ κιηρονγομήσῃ ὁ υἱὸς τῆς παιδίσκης μετὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ τῆς ἐ.Ἰευθέρας. ᾿Εγκαταλέλοιπα τὸν οἶκόν μου, ἀφῆχα τὴν κιηρογνομίαν' μου. Καὶ διᾶ τί ἀφῆκας τὴν κληρονομίαν σου; Ἐπειδὴ ἐγένετο ἢ χιληρονομία μου ἐμοὶ ὡς «λέων ἐν δρυμῷ. Τί γὰρ ἐποίησεν; “Εδωκδν ἐπ᾽ ἐμὲ τὴν φωγὴν αὐτῆς. Τι λέγουσα; ρον, ἄρον, σταύρωσον αὑτόν. Περὶ δὲ τῶν ἐθνῶν’ “Ἔδωχας χιϊηρονομίαν τοῖς φοδουμένοις τὸ ὄγομά σου. Διὰ τοῦτο τὸ βιθλίον Ἡσαῖου λαδὼν ἀνέγνω ὡς διαθήχην. Αὐτὸς γὰρ ὅλαδεν τόμον, καὶ ἀναγνοὺς ὑπέγραψεν' Σήμερον ἡ γραφρὴ αὕτη πεπλήρωται. Εἰπὲ γὰρ, ὦ Ἰουδαῖε, μὴ Εἰς τὴν ἀρχὴν ὑπὲρ τῆς κχιηρονομούσης, οὐχὶ δὲ, Εἰς τὸ τέλος; Εἴδωμεν\" σὺ εἰς τὸ τέλος ἐχληρονόμησας; Οὐχὶ ἀπεόλήθης τῆς πόλεως; οὐκ ἀπώλεσας τὸν ναόν; οὐ διεσπάρης πανταχῇ; οὐ Ῥωμαίοις δουλεύεις : οὐχὶ ἀφ᾽ οὗ χατὰ τοῦ χληρονόμου τὰς χεῖρας ἤπλωσας, ἀπεδλήθης τῆς χληρονομίας; Σὺ ἐν τῇ ἀρχῇ σιλεῖς χραταιοὺς, καὶ δόντι τὴν γῆν αὐτῶν κιἴη»- Τὰ ἔθνη εἰς τὸ τέλυς ἐχληρονόμησαν οὐρανῶν βάσιλείαν. Δεῦτε, οἱ εὐ.ογημέγοι τοῦ Πατρός μου, κιιηρογομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασι- «λείαν ἀπὸ καταδοιῆς κόσμου. Σὺ θυγάτηρ Βαδυλῶνος ἤχουσας - Θύγατερ Βαδυ.ῶνος ἡ ταλαίπωρος. Καὶ ἡ ἐθνικὴ ἀντὶ σοῦ θυγάτηρ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐγένετο\" \"Αχουσον, θύγατερ, καὶ ἴδε, κιιῖγον τὸ οὖς σου. Τὰ ῥήματά μου ἐγώτισαι, Κύριε. --- Τὰ ῥήματά μου\" τὰ χαθαρὰ καὶ ἀθόλωτα, τὰ ἄδολα καὶ ἀληθῇ καὶ ἅγια, τὰ βλασφημίας ἄγευστα καὶ βαττολογίας τὰ τῆς σῆς φιλανθρωπίας ἄξια. Τὰ ῥήματά μου\" τὰ ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν ἀνθρωπίνην διάνοιαν, τὰ πάσης γλώ:σὴς ἀγγέλων ἀνώτερα, τὰ πάσης πρεσδείας ἁγίων ἐσχυρώτερα, τὰ πάσης προσευχῆς δικαίων τιμιώτερα, Ο τυ τὰ ἡλίου λαμπρότερα, τὰ θυμιάματος προσηνέστερα τὰ μέλιτος τοῖς πιστοῖς γλυχύτερα. Τὰ ῥήματά μοι ἐνώτισαι, Κύριε. Καὶ διὰ τί μὴ εἶπεν, τὸν λόγον͵ μου, ἀλλὰ, τὰ ῥήματά μου; “Ὅτι ὁ μὲν λόγος πολλὸ ὁφ᾽ ἑαντὸν περιλαμδάνει ῥήματα, τὰ δὲ ῥήματα μέρη … λῶν ῥημάτων, σωρεία τίς ἐστιν καὶ σύνοψις, τὰ δὲ ῥήματα ψεχάδες εἰσὶν τοῦ λόγου καὶ γεύματα \" καὶ ὥσπερ πολλαὶ μὲν ψεχάδες ὑετὸν ἀπαρτίζουσιν, οὐκ ἔτι δὲ ὁ ὑετὸς ψεχάδι παρειχάζεται \" οὕτοςς τὰ πολλὰ μὲν ῥήματα τὸν λόγον συντηροῦσιν, ὁ δὲ λόγος εἰς ὀνόματα καὶ ῥήματα τέμνεται\" καὶ τὰ μὲν ῥήματα καὶ λόγοι λέγονται, οὐ μὴν μὲν ῥήματα λόγοι. Ὃ οὖν προφήτης εἰς τὴν κατὰ μέρος τῶν αὑτοῦ λύγων ἐξἔτασιν παραχαλῶν ἐπινεῦσαι τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ πᾶσαν αὑτοῦ λέξιν ἀχριθῶς ἀναγνῶναι, καὶ πρὸς τὰ ἀναγινωσχόμενα δοῦναι τὰ αἰτούμενα, οὐχ εἶπεν, Τὸν λόγον μου ἐνώτισαι, ἀλλὰ, Τὰ ῥήματά μου ἐνώτισαι, Κύριδ᾽ ἀντὶ τοῦ, Ἑχάστην λέξιν τῆς προσευχῆς μου ἀχριδῶς ἀνάγνωθι. Μὴ προσχῇς ὑφ᾽ ἕν τὸν χάρτην. Οὐ γὰρ μίαν δέησιν περιέχει μου ἡ δέησις.","t":"… God will repay him with greater things; and so that … the small tokens of friendship from us … I wish to be given to him … “[The ox knows its owner, and the donkey] its master's manger; but Israel did not know me, and the people did not understand me.” Are you the heir? And what thanks does he write about the Gentiles? “A people whom I did not know served me; at the hearing of the ear they obeyed me.” About you he says: “Because of you my name is blasphemed among the Gentiles.” And about the Gentiles: “For from the risings to the settings my name has been glorified among the Gentiles.” About the people and the synagogue he says: “Cast out the slave woman and her son; for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” “I have forsaken my house, I have left my inheritance.” And why did you leave your inheritance? Because “my inheritance has become to me like a lion in the forest.” What did it do? “It raised its voice against me.” Saying what? “Away, away, crucify him.” And about the Gentiles: “You have given an inheritance to those who fear your name.” That is why he took the book of Isaiah and read it as a testament. For he took the roll, and having read it, signed it: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled.” Tell me, Jew, does it say “At the beginning, for her who inherits”, and not “For the end”? Let us see: did you inherit at the end? Were you not cast out of the city? Did you not lose the temple? Were you not scattered everywhere? Are you not a slave of the Romans? Have you not been cast out of the inheritance ever since you stretched out your hands against the heir? You at the beginning … mighty kings, and gave their land as an inheritance … The Gentiles at the end inherited the kingdom of heaven: “Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” You heard yourself called daughter of Babylon: “Wretched daughter of Babylon.” And the Gentile [Church] became the daughter of God in your place: “Hear, daughter, and see, and incline your ear.” “Give ear to my words, O Lord.” My words: pure and unclouded, guileless, true and holy, with no taste of blasphemy or babbling, worthy of your love for mankind. My words: above all human understanding, higher than every tongue of angels, stronger than every intercession of the saints, more precious than every prayer of the righteous, brighter than the sun, more pleasing than incense, sweeter than honey to the faithful. “Give ear to my words, O Lord.” And why did he not say “my word”, but “my words”? Because a discourse includes many words under it, and words are parts … ; a discourse is a heap and summary of words, and words are the drops and tastes of the discourse. As many drops make up rain, yet rain is not likened to a drop, so many words make up a discourse, and a discourse is divided into nouns and verbs; words can be called discourses, but words are not discourses. The prophet, then, asking God to consent to a detailed examination of his words, to read every expression precisely, and to grant what is asked in response to what is read, did not say “Give ear to my word”, but “Give ear to my words, O Lord”; that is, read precisely each expression of my prayer. Do not look at the paper all at once; for my petition does not contain only one petition.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 15.3 (PG 40:400; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/15-3)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/15.4":{"o":"Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἑχάστη λέξις ἰδίαν ἔχει παράχλησιν (πλούσιος γὰρ καὶ δυνατὸς ὁ παραχαλούμενος), Τὰ ῥήματά μου ἐνώτισαι, Κύριε. Καὶ ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς ἐντυχίαν τῷ δικαστῇ ἀναπτόξαντες, ἐὰν ἐν τῷ χάρτῃ πολλὰ ἐμφέρεται τὰ χεφάλαια, παραχαλοῦμεν αὐτόν\" Κάμοῦ, δέσποτα, πρὸς λέξιν τὸν χάρτην ἀνάγνωθι, πολλά ἔστιν τὰ ξητούμενα, μὴ ὡς ἕν διήγημα νομίσῃς τὸ σύγγραμμα\" οὕτως ὁ προφήτης εἰς τὴν κατὰ μέρος τῶν ζητουμένων αὐτῷ ἐξέτασιν ἐπινεῦσαι τὸν Θεὸν παραχαλῶν, φησίν\" Τὰ ῥήματά μου ἐνώτισαι, Κύριε, σύγες τῆς χραυγῆς μου. Ὦ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίας ! Τὸ, Σύνες, ἀντὶ τοῦ, Νόησον. Σύγνετα δὴ, ἄφρονες ἐν τῷ «ΣἸαῷ, καὶ, μωροὶ, ποτὲ φρογήσατα. Καὶ ἡμεῖς μὲν σοφῷ ἀνδρὶ λαλοῦντες, οὗ τολμῶμεν εἰπεῖν, Νόησω) ἃ λέγω, ἵνα μὴ ὡς ὀλίγωρος ἣ βραδύνους νομισθῇ. Θεῷ δὲ τῷ καὶ πρὸ τούτου τὰς ἐνθυμήσεις εἰδότι ὁ προφήτης ἔλεγεν, Σύγνες, νόησον. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ὥσπερ τὸ, ᾿Εγώτισαι, εἰπὼν, οὐ πάντως ὦτα αἰσθητὰ τὸν Θεὸν ἔχειν ἧδει \" οὕτως καὶ τὸ εἰπεῖν τῷ Θεῷ, Σύνες, οὐχ ὡς ἀναδιδασχομένῳ καὶ ἀγνοοῦντι ἐλάλει, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ἀποῤῥήτως καὶ ὀξύτερον διανοίας εἰδότι τὰ αἰτήματα πρὸ τοῦ αἰτῆσαι. Ἢ καὶ ἐπειδὴ χατὰ διάνοιαν ὁ δίχαιος τῷ Θεῷ ἐλάλει, καὶ ἣν αὐτῷ χραυγὴ ἡ σύντονος προσευχὴ, καὶ ἐλάλει μὴ λαλῶν, καὶ ἔχραξεν ἄνευ φωνῆς\" οὐδεὶς δὲ ἀνθρώπων νοεῖ ψυχῆς χραυγὴν ἀνεχλάλητον, εἰ μὴ Θεὸς μόνος διὰ τοῦτο τῷ μόνῳ ἀχούοντι τῶν μὴ λαλούντων ἔλεγεν \" Σύνες τῆς κραυγῆς μου. --- Σὺ γὰρ, φησὶν, μόγος ἐπίστασαι τὰς καρδίας τῶν ἀγθρώπων, ἔλε… γεν ὃ Σαλομών. Σύγες, ἀντὶ τοῦ, Θέλησον τὰ χατ᾽ ἐμὲ γνῶναι. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἐπάγει, τὸ εἰπεῖν\" Πρόσχες τῇ φωνῇ τῆς δεήσεώς μου. Καὶ μὴν φωνῇ οὐ προσέχεται. ᾿Αλλὰ καὶ ἡ φωνὴ, ὅτ᾽ ἂν μὲν ἀγράφως προφέρηται, τότε ἀκοῆς χρήζε: \" ὅτ᾽ ἂν δὲ ἡ φωνὴ ἐν χάρτῃ γραφῇ, καὶ τῷ βασιλεῖ προσενεχθῇ, τότε ὡς διὰ τῶν γραμμάτων λαλοῦσα, ὀφθαλμῶν χρείαν ἔχει. Πολλάχις γὰρ μὴ λαλῶν ἀναγινώσχει ὁ ἄρχων, καὶ ὁρᾷ τὸν χάρτην ὡς ἱχέτην, καὶ τὰς ἐγγράφους φωνὰς ὡς ἐλεειϑψὰς ἱχεσίας, καὶ τοὺς λόγους οὖς εἶχεν διὰ τοῦ πυλῶνος τῆς ἀχοῆς εἰσαγαγεῖν τῇ διανοίᾳ, τούτους ὡς διὰ τιμιωτέρων θυμῶν τῶν ὀμμάτων εἰσάγει. Πῤόσχες τῇ φωνῇ τῆς δεήσεώς μου. Ὡς ὁρᾷς ἀχούεις, καὶ ὡς ἀχούεις βλέπεις ἀνόργανον γὰρ καὶ ἀμερὲς καὶ ἁπλοῦν τὸ Θεῖον. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ δεήσεως ἐμνήσθη \" δέησιν δὲ ἔγγραφον οὐδεὶς ἀρχόντων ἐπιδέχηται, ἀλλὰ βασιλεὺς μόνον\" διὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὴν ἀξίαν τοῦ ἱχετευομένου ὁμολογεῖ. Ὁ βασιλεύς μου. Βασιλεύεις γὰρ καὶ τοῦ συνηγόρου καὶ τῆς συνηγορουμένης. Βασιλέα δὲ χαλέσας, ἵνα μὴ νομισθῇ ἄνθρωπὸν ἑἐπιδοᾶσθαι, τὸ χράτος καὶ τὴν ὕπαρξιν ὁμολογεῖ τοῦ βασιλέως. Προλαμόάνει τὸν Θωμᾶν ἐν τῇ ὁμολογίᾳ τῆς ἀληθείας. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐχεῖνος εἷπεν Ὁ Κύριός μου καὶ ὁ Θεός μου\" καὶ οὐχ ἠρχέσθη μόνῳ τῷ εἰπεῖν, Ὁ Κύριός μου, ἐπειδὴ καὶ ἄνθρωπος τῆς προσηγορίας ταύτης ἠξιώθη \" οὕτως γὰρ περὶ τοῦ '᾿Αδραὰμ ἔλεγεν ἡ Σάῤῥα\" Ὁ δὲ κύριός μου πρεσδύτερος\" ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ὁ Ἰαχὼδ ἔλεγεν τῷ βεθδήλῳ Ἦσαῦ\" Ὁ χύριός μου γιγώσζχει, ὅτι τὰ παιδία ἁπαιλώτερα \" οὐδεὶς δὲ τῶν ἁγίων εἶπεν Ὃ Θεὸς ὁ: ἄνω μου. Ἐπεὶ οὖν τὸ, Ὁ χύρειός μου, καὶ ἀνθρώποις ἐλέχθη, οὐ μόνον ἁγίοις, ἀλλὰ καὶ βεδήλοις, οὐδεὶς δὲ τῶν ἀνθρώπων παρά τινος τῶν ἁγίων ἤχουσεν, Θεός \" ἵνα δείξῃ ὁ θωμᾶς, ὅτι τὸν Χριστὸν οὐχ ὡς ἄνθρωπον ἐχυριολόγει, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς Θεὸν ὁμολόγει, οὐχ εἶπεν ἁπλῶς, Ὁ Κύριός μου, ἀλλὰ, Ὁ Κύριός μου καὶ ὁ Θεός μου\" ὡς ἀγοράσας με τῷ ἰδίῳ αἵματι, πραθέντα τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ. ὋὉ Θεός μου\" ὡς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν μοι χαρισάμενος\" οὐδεὶς γὰρ δύναται ἀφιέναι ἁμαρτίας, εἰ μὴ εἷς ὁ Θεός. Ὁ Κύριός μου καὶ ὁ Θεός μου \" ἀντὶ τοῦ, Ὁ δεσπότης μου καὶ ὁ δημιουργός μον. Τὸ γὰρ δεσπόζειν, πολλῶν ἐστιν \" τὸ ὃὲ δημιουργεῖν, μόνου Θεοῦ.","t":"Since each expression has its own plea (for the one entreated is rich and powerful): “Give ear to my words, O Lord.” When we unfold a petition before a judge, if the paper contains many heads, we entreat him: “Master, read the paper word by word for me too; there are many requests; do not think the document a single story.” So the prophet, asking God to consent to examine in detail the things he requests, says: “Give ear to my words, O Lord; understand my cry.” O the love of God for mankind! “Understand” means “perceive”: “Understand, you senseless among the people; and you fools, be wise at last.” We, when speaking to a wise man, do not dare to say, “Perceive what I am saying,” lest he be thought negligent or slow-witted. But to God, who knows our thoughts even before we have them, the prophet said, “Understand, perceive.” But as, in saying “give ear”, he surely did not think that God had ears perceptible to the senses, so in saying to God “understand” he did not speak as to one who must be taught and is ignorant, but as to one who knows our requests ineffably, more sharply than thought, before we ask. Or else, since the righteous man was speaking to God in his mind, and his intense prayer was a cry to him, and he spoke without speaking and cried out without a voice; and since no man perceives the unspoken cry of the soul, but God alone; for this reason he said to the only one who hears those who do not speak: “Understand my cry.” “For you alone,” he says, “know the hearts of men,” as Solomon said … “Understand” means “will to know my affairs.” For this is what he adds, saying: “Attend to the voice of my petition.” And yet a voice is not something one looks at. But a voice, when it is uttered without being written, needs hearing; when it is written on paper and brought to the king, then, speaking as it does through letters, it needs eyes. For a ruler often reads without speaking, and sees the paper as a suppliant and the written words as pitiable supplications, and the words he would have brought into his mind through the gate of hearing he brings in through the more honourable doors of the eyes. “Attend to the voice of my petition.” As you see, so you hear; and as you hear, so you see; for the Divine is without organs, without parts and simple. And since he mentioned a petition, and no ruler receives a written petition, but only a king, he therefore confesses the dignity of the one entreated: “My King.” For you reign over both the advocate and the one for whom he pleads. And having called him King, so that he might not be thought to be calling on a man, he confesses the might and the existence of the King. He anticipates Thomas in confessing the truth. For Thomas said: “My Lord and my God”; and he was not content with saying only “My Lord”, since a man too has been thought worthy of this title. Sarah said of Abraham, “My lord is old”; likewise Jacob said to the profane Esau, “My lord knows that the children are tender”; but none of the saints ever said “my God” [to a man]. Since, then, “my lord” has been said to men, not only to holy ones but even to the profane, but no man ever heard “God” from any of the saints, Thomas, to show that he called Christ Lord not as a man but confessed him as God, did not say simply “My Lord”, but “My Lord and my God”: my Lord, as the one who bought me with his own blood when I had been sold to sin; my God, as the one who granted me forgiveness of sins, for no one can forgive sins but God alone. “My Lord and my God” means “my master and my creator”. For being master belongs to many; but creating belongs to God alone.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 15.4 (PG 40:400; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/15-4)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/15.5":{"o":"Τοῦτο τοίνυν πρὸ τοῦ Θωμᾶ ὡμολόγησεν καὶ ὁ προφήτης. Βασιλέα γὰρ τὸν παραχαλούμενον εἰπὼν, Ἔχδιχος ὁ Θεὸς περὶ πάντων γίνεται, αὐτὸς ὧν ὅλος ὀφθαλμὸς, λανθάνει δὲ τοῦτον τῶν ἐν χόσμῳ πρατα … Ὅλον ὁρᾷν, καὶ ὅλον ἀχούειν\" … Θεὸν ἱκετεύειν, διὰ τοῦτό φησιν’ Ὃ βασιλεύς μου καὶ ὁ Θεός μου. Οὐ βασιλεύομαι ὑπὸ ἁμαρτίας. Ὁ βασιλεύς μου. Θεὸν οὐκ ἔχω τὴν χοιλίαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν σὴν ἀξίαν. Καὶ ὁ Θεός μου. Οὐ νῦν δὲ, οὐδὲ πρὸς ὀλίγον, οὐδὲ ἐν ἀνάγχῃ μόνῃ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ χωρὶς ἀνάγχης σοι τροσελεύσομαι. Ὅτι πρὸς σὲ προσεύμαι\" ἀλλὰ, Πρὸς σέ\" ἵνα τὴν πρὸς Θεὸν ἐγγύτητα δείξῃ: Τῷ πρωΐ εἰσαχούσῃ τῆς φωνῆς μου. Τί λέγεις, προφῆτα; Μεσημόρίας γὰρ οὖχ εἰσαχούει; Καὶ πῶς ἐν ἄλλοις ἔλεγες \" ᾿Εσπέρας καὶ πρωΐ καὶ μεσημδρίας, διηγήσομαι καὶ ἀπαγγειῶ, καὶ εἰσακούσεταιτῆς φωνῆς μου; ᾿Αλλ᾽ ὅτ᾽ ἂν, φησὶν, τὰς ὑπὲρ ἐμαυτοῦ ἣ ὑπὲρ τῶν συνόντων πρεσδείας προσ- Β φέρω, τότε χατὰ πᾶσαν ὥραν τὸν Θεὸν ἱχετεύω. Εὐμογήσω γὰρ Κύριον ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ νῦν ὑπὲρ τῆς χληρονομούσης τῆς ἐξ ἐθνῶν Ἐχχλησίας πρεσθεύω᾽\" τότε δὲ εἰσάγεται εἰς τὴν χληρονομίαν, ὅτ᾽ ἂν ὁ τοῦ Πατρὺς χληρονόμος τῷ πρωξ ἀναστῇ, καὶ συγχληρονόμον αὐτὴν ἀναδείξῃ \" διὰ τοῦτο τὴν ἐν τῷ πρωΐ τῇ Ἐχκχλησίᾳ αἰτούμενος ἔπαγγελίαν, λέγω\" Τῷ πρωΐ εἰσαχούσῃ τῆς φωνῆς μου. Ὅτε καὶ ἡ Μαρία, εἰς τόπον τῆς Ἐχκχλησίας σαδα, ὡς ἐπὶ θάλαμον τὴν τάφον, ἐπιζητεῖ τὸν νυμφίον. Τῷ πρωΐ δὲ, καὶ τὴν ταχεῖαν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τοιμοτάτην ἀντίληψιν ἔστιν λαθεῖν. Διώξωμεν γὰρ τοῦ γνῶγαι τὸν Κύριον \" ὡς ἄρθρον ἕτοιμον εὑρήσομεν αὐτὸν \" καὶ ἥξει ἡμῖν ὡς ὑετὸς πρώϊμος καὶ ὄψιμος τῇ γῇ. Ὅτι αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ χράτος, ( νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς ἀτελευτήτους αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ᾿Αμήν.","t":"The prophet too, then, confessed this before Thomas. For having called the one he entreats King, … God is the avenger in all things, being himself wholly eye, and nothing done in the world escapes him … wholly to see and wholly to hear … to entreat God, therefore he says: “My King and my God.” I am not ruled by sin: “my King.” I do not have my belly as god, but your dignity: “and my God.” Not now only, nor for a short time, nor only in need, but always and even without need I will come to you. “For to you I will pray”: not [“to God”], but “to you”, to show nearness to God. “In the morning you will hear my voice.” What are you saying, prophet? Does he not hear at midday? And how did you say elsewhere, “Evening and morning and midday I will tell and declare, and he will hear my voice”? “But,” he says, “when I bring intercessions for myself or for those with me, then I entreat God at every hour: ‘I will bless the Lord at all times.’ But since I am now interceding for the heiress, the Church from the Gentiles, and she is brought into the inheritance when the Heir of the Father rises in the morning and shows her to be his co-heir, therefore, asking for the Church the promise of the morning, I say: ‘In the morning you will hear my voice.’” Then Mary too, standing in the place of the Church, [came] to the tomb as to a bridal chamber, seeking the bridegroom. And “in the morning” can also be taken of God's swift and most ready help: “Let us press on to know the Lord; we shall find him ready as the dawn; and he will come to us as the early and the late rain to the earth.” For to him be glory and might, now and always and to the endless ages of ages. Amen.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 15.5 (PG 40:403; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/15-5)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/16.1":{"o":"[ς'. : Εἰς τὸν αὐτὸν ε' ψαλμὸν «“16γος β' Οὐχ οὕτως ἑωσφόρος ἀπαλοῖς σχιρτήμασιν ἐν οὖρανῷ τρέχων εὐαγγελίζεται χόσμῳ, ὅτι ἡ νὺξ παρέρχεται, ἣ δὲ ἡμέρα ὡς νύμφη παραγίνεται, καὶ ὁ ἥλιος ὡς νυμφίος ἐχ τοῦ παστοῦ τῆς ἀνατολῆς προέρχεται, ὡς ὁ νοητὸς ἑωσφόρος, τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, τῇ Ἐχχλησίᾳ νύμφῃ καὶ χληρονόμῳ εὐαγγελίζεται, ὅτι ὡς νὺξ ὁ βίος παρέρχεται - Παράγει γὰρ τὸ σχῆ- … μίας τῶν αἰωνίων ἀγαθῶν παραγίνεται, καὶ ὁ νυμ- “ φίος Χριστὸς μετὰ τῆς χληρονομίας ἔρχεται. “Ὅθεν, “Ὑχὲρ τῆς κιϊηρονομούσης, ἐπέγραψεν τὸν ψαλμόν. Εἰς τὸ τέλος ὑπὲρ τῆς κληρονομούσης. Καὶ μάρτυς Ἡσαῖας \" Ἰδοὺ Κύριος ἐν ἰσχύϊ ἔρχεται\" ἰδοὺ ὁ μισθὸς αὐτοῦ μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὸ ἔργον ἑχάστου ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ. Ὅτι δὲ ἡ χληρονομία μισθὸς εἴρηται, λέγει τοῖς υἱοῖς τῆς Ἐχχλησίας ὁ Δα- 6[δ- ᾿Ιδοὺ ἡ κιιηρογομία Κυρίου, υἱοί\" ἀντὶ τοῦ, Ὡς υἱοῖς καὶ τέχνοις λέγω\" Ὁ μισθὸς τοῦ καρποῦ τῆς γαστρός. Τοῖς γὰρ χκαμοῦσιν χληρονόμοις καὶ υἱοῖς, ἡ χληρονομία μισθός \" τοῖς δὲ μὴ χαμοῦσιν, ἣ κληρονομία δωρεά. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ τὸ τέλος τῆς ἐνταῦθα ξωῆς, τῆς ἐχεῖ χληρονομίας καὶ διαγωγῆς γίνεται ἢ ρανίους μονάς διὰ τοῦτο, Εἰς τὸ τέλος ὑπὲρ τῆς κληρονομούσης, ὑπέγραψεν 1\" τὸν ψαλμόν. Εἰς τὸ τέλος ὑπὲρ τῆς κιϊηρογομούσης. Ἵνα ἐν εὐσεδείᾳ καὶ χαλῇ πολιτείᾳ τὸν βίον ἡ ψυχὴ τελέσασα, τῆς χληρονομίας ἐν ἀπολαύσει γένηται. Εἰς τὸ τέλος ὑπὲρ τῆς κιϊηρογομούσης. Καὶ τίς ἡ χληορονομοῦσα; Ἢ Ἐχχλησία, καὶ πᾶσα θεοφιλὴς ψυχὴ, ἡ ὡς νύμφη κκαὶ παρθένος ἁρμοσθεῖσα τῷ Χριστῷ. Ἡρμοσάμην γὰρ ὑμᾶς ἑνὶ ἀνδρὶ, παρθένον ἀγγὴν παραστῆσαι τῷ Χριστῷ. Καὶ τίς ἡ χληρονομία; Ἡ τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλεία. Ὃ Χριστὸς λέγει \" Δεῦτε, οἱ εὐ.ογημέγοι τοῦ Πατρός μου, κληρονομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν. Καὶ διὰ τί ἢ τῶν οὐρανῶν εβασιλεία χληρονομία λέγεται; Ἵνα οἱ ταύτης ἀπολαῦσαι θέλοντες γνήσιοι υἱοὶ καὶ φίλοι τοῦ Θεοῦ γένωνται. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς καὶ ἀλλοτρίους, χληρονόμους ἐἑνιστᾷ͵ Ὅθεν καὶ ἕχαστος τῶν διατιθεμένων ἐγγράφως τῷ χληρονόμῳ εὐχαριδτεῖ. Ὁ δεῖνα, φησὶν, ἔστω μου χληρονόμος, ὁ ἀεὶ γνησίως μοι ὑπηρετήσας, ὁ ἐν πᾶσίν με ἀναπαύσας, ὁ πάντοτέ μο! εὐαρεστήσας. Εἰ δὲ ἄνθρωπος τὸν ἐνάρετον υἱὸν ἢ φίλον, χληρονόμον χαθιστᾷ, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὁ Θεὸς ὡς δίχαιος διχαστής. Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἐν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ διαθήχῃ ποιῶν ᾿ Δεῦτε, οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ Πατρὸς, κληρονομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν. Εἶτα ἡ εὐχαριστία\" ᾿Επείνασα γὰρ, καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν᾽\" καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. 'Εφ᾽ ὅσον ἑποιήσατε ἑνὶ τούτων, ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε. Ὥς χληρονόμοι ἐθρέψατε\" τῆς Καὶ τίνες οἱ χληρονόμοι; ᾿Ανάγνωθι τὴν διαθήχην τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ εὑρίσκεις τὰ πρόσωπα τῶν κληρονόμων, ἵνα μάθῃς εἰ τὸ σὸν πρόσωπον ἐμφέρεται ἐν τῇ διαθήχῃ. Καὶ τίς ἡ τοῦ Χριστοῦ διαθήχη; Τὸ ἘϊΛαγγέλιον. Καὶ ὅτι τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον ὃ Χριστὸς διαθήχτν λέγει\" Καθὼς διέθετό μοι ὁ Πατὴρ διαθήχην χἀτὼ διατίθεμαι ὑμῖν\" ἵνα ὡς χληρονόμοι διαπαντι (. ἐπέγραψεν. ἐν χειρὶ αὐτοῦ, ἀποδοῦναι ἑχάστῳ, ὡς τὰ ἔργα αὖ- Ἰδοὺ ἄνθρωπος καὶ τὸ ἔργον αὐτοῦ. …","t":"Homily 16. On the same fifth psalm, homily 2. The morning star, running across the sky with light leaps, does not so announce to the world the good news that night is passing, that day is coming like a bride, and that the sun is coming out like a bridegroom from his chamber in the east, as the spiritual morning star, the Holy Spirit, announces to the Church, the bride and heiress, the good news that life passes like the night (“for the form of this world is passing away”) … [the day] of eternal good things is coming, and Christ the bridegroom comes with the inheritance. Hence he entitled the psalm “For her who inherits”: “For the end, for her who inherits.” Isaiah is witness: “Behold, the Lord comes with strength; behold, his reward is with him, and the work of each before him.” That the inheritance is called a reward, David says to the sons of the Church: “Behold, the inheritance of the Lord, sons,” that is, I speak as to sons and children, “the reward of the fruit of the womb.” For to heirs and sons who have toiled, the inheritance is a reward; to those who have not toiled, the inheritance is a gift. And since the end of life here becomes [the beginning] of the inheritance and way of life there … the heavenly dwellings, for this reason he inscribed the psalm “For the end, for her who inherits”: so that the soul, having finished its life in godliness and good conduct, may come into the enjoyment of the inheritance. “For the end, for her who inherits.” And who is she who inherits? The Church, and every God-loving soul, betrothed as a bride and virgin to Christ: “For I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” And what is the inheritance? The kingdom of heaven. Christ says: “Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you.” And why is the kingdom of heaven called an inheritance? So that those who wish to enjoy it may become genuine sons and friends of God. For no one appoints enemies and strangers as heirs. That is why every testator thanks his heir in writing: “Let so-and-so,” he says, “be my heir, who always served me faithfully, who gave me rest in everything, who always pleased me.” And if a man appoints a virtuous son or friend as heir, how much more will God, as a just judge. Christ too does this in his own testament: “Come, you blessed of the Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you.” Then comes the thanksgiving: “For I was hungry and you gave me food,” and what follows; “inasmuch as you did it to one of these, you did it to me.” As heirs you fed me; [enjoy] the … And who are the heirs? Read the testament of Christ, and you will find the persons of the heirs, so that you may learn whether your own person is included in the testament. And what is Christ's testament? The Gospel. And that Christ calls the Gospel a testament: “As my Father appointed a covenant for me, I too appoint one for you,” so that as heirs always … in his hand, to give to each according to his works. “Behold the man and his work.” …","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 16.1 (PG 40:405; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/16-1)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/16.2":{"o":"Καὶ ἐπειδὴ ὡς διαθήχη ἐγράφη ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς χληρονομούσης ψαλμὸς, ἀνάγνωθι αὐτὸν ἀχριδῶς, κκαὶ ἐν αὐτῷ εὑρίσχεις οἵα εἶναι ὀφείλει ἡ χληρονόμος ψυχή. Καὶ πάλιν\" Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ διατίθεμαι διαθήκην καινὴν τῷ οἴχῳ Ἰσραή.1\" οὐ κατὰ τὴν διαθήκην ἣν διδθέμην τοῖς πατράσιν ὑμῶν. Τὴν παλαιὰν διαθήχην ὁ Χριστὸς διαθέμενος οὐχ ἀπέθανεν, καὶ ὁ Ἰουδαῖος οὐχ ἐχληρονόμησεν. Τὴν χαινὴν διαθέμενος ἀπέθαγεν, καὶ ἡ Ἐχχλησία ἐχληρονόμγησεν. Ἐὰν γὰρ ἀχούσῇς; ἀδελφὲ, ὅτι ὁ δεῖνα ὁ ἀποθανὼν εἰς σὲ διέθετο, καί σε χληρονόμον ἐνεστήσατο, εὐθέως τρέχεις, όον χαρᾷ χεράσας, καὶ ζάλην γαλήνῃ μίξας, καὶ περιἑπερωτᾷς, καὶ χρήματα δαπανᾷς, καὶ ἀγοράζεις γράμματα, καὶ ἀντίγραφα τῆς διαθήχης αἰτεῖς, ἵνα χρήματα χληρονομήσῃς φθαρτά. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ, ὅπου Χριστὸς ὁ ἀποθανὼν χληρονόμον γομία οὐράνιος, καὶ διαθήχη ἀζήμιος, ὁ ψαλμὸς, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὀφείλεις, ὡς διαθήχην ἐν χάρτῃ χαθαρῷ, μεταγράψαι αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ, ἵνα εἴδῃς εἴ σοι ἀρμόζει ἡ χληρονημία, ἣ οὔ ! Οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς ἡ χληρονομία καταλέλειπται, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ αἱρέσει φανερᾷ. Αχουσον καὶ τοῦ προφήτου ὡς συμδολαιογράφου γινώσχοντος αὐτὴν τῷ Θεῷ ἐν τῷ προχειμένῳ ψαλμῷ, καὶ λέγοντος περὶ τῶν ἀπυχληρονόμων\" Ὅτι οὐχὶ Θεὸς θέλων ἀγομίαν σὺ εἴ. Οὐ παροικήσει σοι χατέγαγτι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν σου. Ἐμίσησας πάγτας τοὺς ἐργαζομένους τὴν ἀνομίαν, ἀποιλεῖς τας τοὺς 1αλοῦντας τὸ ψεῦδος. Τοὺς Ἰουδαίους ὡς μισητοὺς ἀποχληρονόμους ἐποίησας, τοὺς Κυριοχτόνους \" ὅτι μάρτυρας ψευδεῖς χατὰ σοῦ ἡγόρασαν. Ἰδοὺ οὗτος ἀποχληρονόμους εἶπας \" εἰπὲ τίνες οἱ τῆς χληρονομίας ἀπολαύσαντες. Τίνες; Οἱ τῆς χληρονομίας συμμύσται. Καὶ τίνες οὗτοι; Μαθηταὶ πάντες, οἱ ἐπὶ τὸν Θεὸν ἐλπίζοντες. Καὶ εὐφραγθήσονται πάντες οἱ ἐλπίζοντες ἐπὶ σοί\" εὶς αἰῶνα \"λιάσονται, καὶ κατασκηνώσεις ἐν αὐτοῖς. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐν σοί εἰσιν πάντες οἱ θησαυροὶ τῆς γνώσεως καὶ τῆς σοφίας, ἐν αὐτοῖς δὲ χατασχηνοῖς, διόλου, ὡς ἐν σοὶ χληρονομοῦντες τοὺς μεγάλους θησαυρούς. Εἰς τὸ τέλος ὑπὲρ τῆς κιηρονομούσης. Καὶ τίνες οἱ χληρονόμοι; Οἱ πραεῖς. Λέγει ἐν τῇ διαθήχῃ αὐτοῦ ὁ Χριστός \" Μαχάριοι οἱ πραεῖς, ὅτι αὐτοὶ κιηρογομήσουδι τὴν γῆν. ΕἸ πραεῖς χληρονόμοι, οἱ ὀργίλοι ξένοι τῆς χληρονομίας, καὶ οἱ Καὶ τίς ἡ χληρονόμος ψυχῆ; Ἢ πένητας θρέψασα, καὶ διὰ τῶν πενήτων τὸν Χριστόν. Αὐτὸς λέγει\" Δεῦτε, οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ Πατρός μου, κιηρογομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασ μέγην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν. Τί γάρ σοι ἐποιήσαμεν οἱ χληρονόμοι; ᾿Επείνασα, καὶ ἐδώ- καὶ κατέ μοι φαγεῖν\" ἐδίψησα, καὶ ἐποτίσατέ με\" καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. ᾽Εφ' ὅσον ἐποιήσατε ἑνὶ τούτων τῶν ἐλαχίστων, ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε. Ὥς χληρονόμοι με ἐθρέψατε᾽ τῆς χληρονομίας ἀπολαύσατε. Ὑπὲρ τῆς χληρογομούσης. Τίς ἡ χληρονόμος ψυχὴ; Ἧ δραμοῦσα τὴν ὁδὸν τῶν ἐντολῶν τὸῦ Χριστοῦ, ἡ λέγουσα\" Ὁδὸν ἐντολῶν σου ἔδραμον\" ἐχληρογόμησα τὰ μαρτύριά σου. --- \"Υπὲρ τῆς κιηρογομούσης. Τίς ἧ χληρονομοῦσα; Ἢ Ἐχχλησία, ἡ διωχομένη, καὶ συμπάσχουσα τῷ Χριστῷ. Κιηρογόμοι τοῦ Θεοῦ, συγχιληρονόμοι δὲ Χριστοῦ. Πῶς; Εἴπερ συμκπά. σχομεν, ἵνα καὶ συνγδοξασθῶμεν. --- Ὑπὲρ τῆς κληρονομούσης. Τίς ἡ χληρονόμος ψυχή; Ἢ τὰ τοῦ χόσμου τῷ χόσμῳ προσρίψασα, καὶ τὰ οὐράνια Ὁ Χριστὸς λέγει\" Πᾶς ὅστις ἀφῆκεν οἰκίαν, ἣ … ται, καὶ ζωὴν αἰώγιον κιηρονγομήσει. Εἰπὲ καὶ οὗτος ἀποχληρονόμους. Παῦλος λέγει’ Ὅτι πᾶς πόργος, ἢ ἀκάθαρτος, ἣ πιλεονέκτης, οὐκ ἔχει κιλη: ρογομίαν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ Θεοῦ. Καὶ πότε ἡ χληοονομία:; Εἰς τὸ τέιος. Ἵνα ἕως τέλους εὐχαριστήσωμεν τῷ Θεῷ τῷ χληροδότῃ\" ἵνα μὴ μεν. Ὁ γὰρ ὑπομείνας εἰς τέλος, οὗτος σωθήσεται. --- Ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαδίδ. Πᾶσα πρᾶξις ἀγαθὴ παντὶ τῷ ἱχανῷ τῇ χειρί. Ὁ γὰρ ἐγαρξάμεγνος ἐν ὑμῖν ἔργον ἀγαθὸν, ἐπιτεέσει ἄχρις ἡμέρας Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ. Οὐχ ἐθεάσασθε, ὅπως πολλοὶ διὰ χληρονομίαν χρημάτων, γέροντας πλουσίους ζητοῦσιν, καὶ ἀδυνάτους ὄντας νοσοχομοῦσιν, καὶ ἀνέχονται τῶν τοῦ γήρους ἐλαττωμάτων, βηχὸς καὶ τρισμοῦ θώραχος, καὶ χορύζης, καὶ ποδαλγίας, καὶ βοῆς, ἐν νυχτὶ καὶ ἡμέρᾳ, καὶ νεότητα γήρει καὶ πρὸ τῶν χρημάτων πολλάκις γίνονται χληρονόμοι; Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα πάντα, ἄδηλος ἡ ἐλπὶς τῶν Ἢ γὰρ ὃ νέος προλαδὼν ἀπέθανεν, ἣ ὁ γέρων μετανοῆσας εἰς ἄλλον διέθετο, ἢ γάρτης τυραννίδα …","t":"And since the psalm about her who inherits was written as a testament, read it carefully, and you will find in it what the heiress soul ought to be. And again: “Behold, I make a new covenant with the house of Israel, not according to the covenant that I made with your fathers.” Christ made the old testament and did not die, and the Jew did not inherit. He made the new one and died, and the Church inherited. If you hear, brother, that so-and-so has died and left a will in your favour and appointed you his heir, you run at once, mixing grief with joy and storm with calm; you make inquiries everywhere, spend money, buy documents and ask for copies of the will, so as to inherit perishable money. But here, where it is Christ who died and [appointed] the heir, the inheritance is heavenly and the testament brings no loss; how much more ought you to copy this psalm into your soul, like a testament on clean paper, so that you may know whether the inheritance belongs to you or not! For the inheritance has not been left without terms, but on a clear condition. Hear the prophet too, acting as notary and reading it to God in the present psalm, and saying about the disinherited: “For you are not a God who wills lawlessness; [the wicked] shall not dwell beside you … before your eyes. You hated all who work lawlessness; you will destroy all who speak falsehood.” You made the Jews disinherited as hateful, the killers of the Lord, because they bought false witnesses against you. See, you have named these as disinherited; say who are those who enjoyed the inheritance. Who? Those initiated together into the inheritance. And who are they? The disciples, all who hope in God: “And let all who hope in you rejoice; they will exult for ever, and you will dwell in them.” For since all the treasures of knowledge and wisdom are in you, and you dwell in them wholly, they inherit the great treasures in you. “For the end, for her who inherits.” And who are the heirs? The meek. Christ says in his testament: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” If the meek are heirs, the angry are strangers to the inheritance … And who is the heiress soul? The one that has fed the poor, and through the poor Christ. He says: “Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you.” “What did we heirs do for you?” “I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink,” and the rest; “inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me.” As heirs you fed me; enjoy the inheritance. “For her who inherits.” Who is the heiress soul? The one that has run the way of Christ's commandments, which says: “I ran the way of your commandments; I inherited your testimonies.” “For her who inherits.” Who is she who inherits? The Church that is persecuted and suffers with Christ: “Heirs of God, and co-heirs with Christ.” How? “If indeed we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him.” “For her who inherits.” Who is the heiress soul? The one that has thrown back to the world the things of the world, and [sought] the heavenly … Christ says: “Everyone who has left house or … will inherit eternal life.” Name the disinherited too. Paul says: “No fornicator or unclean or covetous person has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” And when is the inheritance? “At the end”: so that we may give thanks to God, the giver of the lot, to the end; so that we may not … For “the one who endures to the end will be saved.” “A psalm of David.” Every good deed [belongs] to everyone who is strong of hand. “For he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Have you not seen how many, for the sake of inheriting money, seek out rich old men and nurse them in their infirmity, putting up with the defects of old age, the cough and wheezing of the chest, catarrh, gout and shouting, night and day, … their youth in old age, and often become heirs before they get the money? And after all this the hope of … is uncertain. For either the young man dies first, or the old man changes his mind and leaves his will to another, or the paper …","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 16.2 (PG 40:405; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/16-2)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/16.3":{"o":"… στέλλεται ὁ προφήτης, καὶ προθυμία.ς ἀμάχοις διἡ χληρονομία βεδαία καὶ ἀμετάθετος, ὅπου διατιθέμενος ὁ Χριστὸς, καὶ διαθήχη τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον, καὶ μάρτυρες οἱ ἀπόστολοι\" ὅπου οὐρανὸς καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ καλὰ, Ἃ ὀρθαλμὸς οὐχ εἶδεν, καὶ οὖς οὐκ ἤχουσεν, καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέθδη, ὅσα ἡτοίμασεν ὁ Θεὸς τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν\" πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὀφείλομεν σπουδάσαι χληρονομεῖν; Ὑπὲρ τῆς κιληρογομούσης. Καὶ ὁ χορὸς τῶν προφητῶν ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς δικάζεται, λέγων Τὰ ῥήματά μου ἐνὠτισαωι, Κύριε. Ὃ ἄνω ἀντάρτης, χάτω ἀντίδιχος τῇς νύμφης σου γέγονεν ὡς γέγραπται\" Ὃ ἀντίδικος ὑμῶν διάδοιλος, ὡς.έων περιπατεῖ, ζητῶν τίγα καταπίῃ. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ ὁ ἀντίδιχος οὗτος πολλοὺς λειῶσαι, ἐν τῷ τῆς ψυχῆς χωρίῳ καὶ οἴχῳ γέγονε τὸ χληρονομούσης ἐντυγχάνω σοι. Τὰ ῥήματά μου ἐνώτισαι, Κύριδ. Ἰ(ληρονόμος τοῦ Νῶε ἦν ὁ Χὰμ, ὡς Υἱός\" ἀλλὰ ποιήσας αὐτὸν γελάσαι τὴν γύμνωσιν τοῦ πατρὸς, γυμνὸν τῇς χληρονομίας τοῦ πατρὸς ἑἐποίηδεν, καὶ τὴν ἐλευθερίαν ἐχδύσας, δουλείαν ἐνέδυσεν, καὶ τὴν εὐλογίαν αὐτῷ εἰς κατάραν ἕτρεψεν. Ἐπικατάρατος Χαναὰμ παῖς\" οἰκέτης ἔσται τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς αὐτοῦ. Ἐπεὶ οὖν καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ νῦν τὴν νύμφην σου γυμνωθῆναι βούλεται’ ἵνα γυμνόν σε ὡς τὸν Νῶε ὁρῶσα ἐν τῷ πάθει, γελάσῃ σε\" ἵνα ἀποχληρονόμον αὐτὸν ποιήσῃς, λέγων: Ὑπάγετε ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ, οἱ κατ- Ἵνα οὖν ὁ ἀντίδιχος αὐτῆς διάδολος αἰσχυνθῇ, καὶ ἧ νύμφῃ ἐντὸς τῆς χληρονομμίας εὑρεθῇ, δίδαξον αὐτὴν, Δέσποτα Χριστὲ, μὴ γελάσαι τὴν γύμνωσίν σου\" ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα μάθῃ, ὅτι ἡ σὴ γύμνωσις τὸν χόσμον ἐνέδυσεν ὅτι ὥσπερ πλούσιος ὧν, δι᾽ ἡμᾶς ἐπτώχευσας, ἵνα ἡμεῖς πλουτήσωμεν᾽ οὕτως ὁ οὐρανὸν καὶ γῆν ἐντά μου ἐνώτισαι, Κύριδ. Τὸν Ἰσραὴλ μετὰ τῆς Αἰἐποίησεν. ᾿Ιδοῦσα γὰρ Σάῤῥα τὸν υἱὸν Αγαρ ἀμαρτημα: … εἶπεν- τῷ Αδραάμ' Ἔχδα,.1ε τὴν ταιδίσκην καὶ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτῆς. Οὐ γὰρ μὴ κιηρογομήσῃ ὁ υἱὸς τῆς παιδίσκης μετὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ μου Ἰσαάκ. Ἐπεὶ οὖν καὶ νῦν ἡ ἀποχληρὸν όμος τῶν Ἰουδαίων Συναγωγὴ χαταπαίξζει τῆς Ἐχχλησίας, ἐχείνην ἔχδαλε, καὶ ταύτην εἰσάγαγε. Τὰ ῥήματά μου ἐνώτισαι, Κύριδ. Διὰ πορνείας βεδηλώσας τὸν Ἠσαῦ, ἀπολέσαι τὴν χληρονομίαν τῶν πρωτοτοχίων παρεσχεύασεν, καὶ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ δοῦλον τὸν υἱὸν ἐποίησεν, καὶ δεύτερον Χαναὰμ τὸν Ἠσαῦ ἐχειροτόνησεν. Μὴ τις, φησὶν, ἣ πόρνος, ἣ βέδη.1ος, ὡς Ἡσαῦ. Ἵνα μὴ οὖν πορνείᾳ σώματος καὶ λιχνείᾳ λόγων αἷρετικῶν, τὰ τέχνα τῆς νύμφης τὸν Ἡσαῦ μιμήσωνται (θ5᾽, Τὰ ῥήματά μου ἐνώτισαι, Κύριε. Τὸν Ναὄουθξ διὰ τὴν χληρονομίαν τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος φονευθήναι ἐποίησεν' ἀλλὰ καὶ ἔκραξεν ὁ Ναδουθὲ πρὸς «ὧν ᾿Αχαάδ' Οὐ δώσω κιηρονγομίαν πατέρων μού σοι. Βλέπετε γὰρ τὸν Ναδουθὲ ὑπὲρ τῆς χληρονομίας φονευόμενον, ἵνα εἴδῃς τὸν Χριστὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς Ἐχχληαΐας σταυρούμενον. Καὶ ἑαυτὸν, φησὶν, παρέδωκεν ὑπὲρ αὑτῆς\" ἵγα παραστήσῃ αὑτῷ ἔνδοξον τὴν Ἐχχιλησίαν. Ὑπὲρ ἧς οὖν ἑαυτὸν παρέδωχας, Δέσποτα, ὑπὲρ ταύτης δέησιν προσφέρω σοι. Τὰ ῥήματά μου ἐνώτισαι, Κύριξδ. Ὅθεν καὶ ὁ ᾿Απόστολος μιμητὴς Χριστοῦ, ὑπὲρ τῆς Ἐχχλησίας χαχοπαθῶν, καὶ λέγων Μέχρι τῆς ἄρτι ὥρας καὶ πειγῶμεν, καὶ διψῶμεν, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς\" ὡς ἐρωτηθεὶς, Καὶ ὑπὲρ τίνος τὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ τοσαῦτα χαχὰ ὑπομένεις, Παῦλε;","t":"… [where] the inheritance is firm and unchangeable, where Christ is the testator, the Gospel the testament, and the apostles the witnesses; where there is heaven and the good things in it, “which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him”: how much more ought we to be eager to inherit! “For her who inherits.” And the choir of the prophets pleads her case, saying: “Give ear to my words, O Lord.” The rebel above has become below the adversary of your bride, as it is written: “Your adversary the devil walks about like a lion, seeking someone to devour.” But since this adversary [has made] many … in the field and house of the soul … for her who inherits I petition you: “Give ear to my words, O Lord.” Ham was Noah's heir, as his son; but [the devil] made him laugh at his father's nakedness, and so made him naked of his father's inheritance; he stripped off his freedom and clothed him in slavery, and turned his blessing into a curse: “Cursed be Canaan the son; he shall be a servant to his brothers.” Since, then, he wishes now too that your bride be stripped [of her inheritance], so that, seeing you naked like Noah in your passion, she may laugh at you, and you may make her disinherited, saying, “Depart from me, you cursed” … so that her adversary the devil may be put to shame, and the bride be found within the inheritance, teach her, Master Christ, not to laugh at your nakedness, but to learn that your nakedness has clothed the world; that as, being rich, you became poor for our sake, so that we might become rich, so the one who [clothes] heaven and earth … “Give ear to my words, O Lord.” … Israel with the … For Sarah, seeing the son of Hagar …, said to Abraham: “Cast out the slave woman and her son; for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with my son Isaac.” Since, then, now too the disinherited Synagogue of the Jews mocks the Church, cast that one out and bring this one in. “Give ear to my words, O Lord.” By profaning Esau through sexual immorality, [the devil] made him lose the inheritance of the birthright, made the son a slave to his brother, and appointed Esau a second Canaan: “Let no one be a fornicator or profane like Esau.” So that the children of the bride may not imitate Esau through fornication of the body and through greed for heretical words, “Give ear to my words, O Lord.” He caused Naboth to be murdered for the inheritance of his vineyard; but Naboth cried out to Ahab: “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” See Naboth murdered for his inheritance, so that you may see Christ crucified for the Church. “And he gave himself up for her,” it says, “so that he might present the Church to himself in glory.” For her, then, for whom you gave yourself up, Master, I offer you my petition: “Give ear to my words, O Lord.” Hence the Apostle too, the imitator of Christ, suffering hardship for the Church and saying, “To this very hour we hunger and thirst,” and the rest, as if he were asked, “And for whom do you endure such and so many evils, Paul?”","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 16.3 (PG 40:410; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/16-3)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/16.4":{"o":"ἀποχρίνεται: Ὑπὲρ τῆς χι1ληρογνομούσης. Καὶ ὅτι πάντα ὑπὲρ τῇς σωτηρίας τῶν ὁμογενῶν ἔπασχεν, μάρτυς αὑτὸς, λέγων. Ηὐχόμην αὐτὸς ἐγὼ ἀγνάθεμα εἶναι ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου. --- Ὑπὲρ τῆς χιὶηρογομούσης. Ῥήματα δὲ τοῦ προφήτου τίνα; Οὐ τὰ διὰ λόγων ἀπαγγελλόμενα, ἀλλὰ τὰ διὰ χατορθωμάτων γνωριζόμενα. Σύγες τῆς χραυγῆς μου. Κραυγὴ δὲ τοῦ δικαίου, οὐχ ἡ πληχτιχὴ τοῦ ἀέρος φωνὴ, ἀλλ᾽ ἢ οὐρανόφρων τῆς ψυχῆς διαγωγή. Πρόσχες τῇ φωνῇ τῆς δεήσεώς μου. Φωνὴν δὲ λέγει, οὐ τὸν σαλπιγγοφανῇ ἦχον, ἀλλὰ τὸν βαρύτατον τῆς χαρδίας στεναγμόν. Οὕτω γὰρ γέγραπται’ Καὶ χατεστέγαξαν υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραὴϊ ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων\" καὶ εἰσήκουσεν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτῶν ὁ Θεός. … Σύγες τῆς κραυγῆς μου. Τί λέγεις, προφῆτα; Παραχελεύῃ θεῷ; Σοφίας ἐστὶ θησαυρὸς καὶ συνέσεως πλοῦτος, ὡς γέγραπται\" Παρ᾽ αὐτῷ σοφία καὶ σύνεσις\" καὶ αὐτῷ λέγεις, Σύνες, νόησον: Καὶ ἀνθρώπῳ μὲν ἑλλογίμῳ ἐὰν εἴπῃς, Νόησον, ὀργίζεται, ὅτι ὡς ἀπαιδεύτῳ, καὶ μὴ παραχολουθοῦντι ἐλάλησας\" καὶ τῷ Θεῷ λέγεις\" Σύγες; ᾿Αλλ᾽ οὐκ ἐπιτάσσει τῷ Δεσπότῃ\" μὴ γένοιτο! Οὐδὲ ὁ θνητὸς τὸν ἀθάνατον ἐφιστᾷ εἰς σύνεσιν, οὐδὲ τὰ τῶν μεθυόντων ὁ νήφων παραλαλεῖ\" ἀλλ᾽ ὃ λέγει, τοῦτό ἔστιν’ Πολλοὶ τῶν προσερχομένων τοῖς διχασταῖς περὶ μεγάλων καὶ ἀναγκαίων χεφαλαίων ἐντυγχάνοντες, οὐκ ἴσασιν ἀπαγγεΐλαι τὰ τῆς ὑποθέσεως, οὐδὲ σαφῇ καὶ εὐσύνοπτον τὴν ἑαυτῶν γνώμην παραστῆσαι δύνανται\" εἶτα ἐπειδὴ ὁ διχαστὴς πρὰς τὸ νοῆσαι τὸ πρᾶγμα γοργότερός ἔστιν τοῦ ἐντυγχάνοντος, καὶ οἶδεν ποίαν ὀφείλῃ δοῦναι ἀπόκρισιν\" παραχαλεῖ ὁ ἱχέτης μὴ ἀπιδεῖν πρὸς τὰ ἀνάξια ῥήματα, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὴν αὑτοῦ φρόνησιν καὶ τὴν ὑπόθεσιν δοῦναι τὴν ἀπόφασιν. Οὕτως καὶ ὁ προφήτης, ἐπειδὴ ἄνθρωπος ὧν Θεῷ διελέγετο, καὶ ἐν ἐχστάφει γενόμενος, ὡς κυδερνήτης ἐν πελάγει ἐχειμάζετο, παραχαλεῖ τὸν Θεόν: Σύγες τῆς χραυγῆς μου\" ἀντὶ τοῦ, Μὴ πρὸς τὴν τῶν ῥημάτων ἀπίδῃς ἀναξιότητα, μηδὲ πρὸς τὴν τῶν λόγων πτωχείαν, ἀλλὰ ἀνάγνωθί μου τὴν διάνοιαν\" τὸ λεῖπον ἐν τοῖς ῥήμασιν, ἀναπλήρωσον ἐν ταῖς ἀποφάσεσιν. Τὸ οὖν, Σύγες, ἀντὶ τοῦ, \"ὃ: τὴν ἐμὴν καρδίαν, ἀνάγνωθί μου τὰ ἐν τῷ βάθει τῆς ψυχῆς δικαιώματα, ἅπερ διὰ ῥημάτων ἐξειπεῖν οὐ δύναμαι. Πρόσχες τῇ φωνῇ τῆς δεήσεώς μου. Ὥς ἥλιός μοι ἀνάτειλον, καὶ εὐθέως μοι τὸν χειμῶνα τῶν συμφορῶν ἕλυσας. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ αἰσθητὸς ἥλιος, ὁ οὐράνιος ὀφθαλμὸς, ἀνατείλας ἐν χειμῶνι, τὸν παγετὸν ἔλυσεν, καὶ βλέμμα τοῦ ἡλίου ἡ χιὼν μὴ φέρουσα λύεται: πόσῳ μᾶλλον αὐτὸς, Δέσποτα, ὡς ἥλιος δυχαιοσύνης ἀνατείλας μοι, ὡς πάχνην καὶ χειμῶνα ἐχλύεις τοὺς πειρασμούς! “Ὥσπερ δὲ λέγων τῷ Θεῷ, Πρόσχες, οὐχ αἰσθητῶς αὐτὸν παραχαλεὶ ἐπιδλέψαι, ἀλλὰ θεοπρεπῶς\" οὕτως φωνὴν αὐτοῦ λέγει, τὴν ἄφθογγον ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ λαλιὰν, ἧς μόνος ἀχροατὴς ὃ Θεός. Αὐτὸς γὰρ γινώσκει τὰ κρύφια τῆς καρδίας. ἢ Εἶτα ἵνα δείξῃ τὸ μέγα καὶ ὑπερμέγεθες τοῦ Δεσπότου ἀξίωμα: ὅτι Κύριον αὐτὸν ἐκάλεσεν, οὐχ ὡς ἕνα τῶν πολλῶν, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς τῶν δὅλων.Δεσπότην καὶ Δὴμιουργὸν, ἐπάγει\" Ὁ βασιλεύς μου καὶ ὁ Θεός μου. --- Ὃ βασιλεύς μου\" ὅτι με στρατολογήσας, τῷ ὀνόματί σου ἐσφράγισας. Ὁ Θεός μου\" ὅτι μὴ ὄντὰ με πρότερον, εἰς τὸ εἶναι ἤγαγες. Ὁ βασιλεύς μου\" ὅτι τυραννηθέντα με τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, ὡς αἰχμάλωτον ἡλευθέρωσας. Ὁ Θεός μον\" ὅτι τὴν φύσιν μετἐθαλες, καὶτὸν φθαρτὸν πηλόν μου φορέσας, ἄφθαρτον ἰδ\". ἐποίησας. Ὁ βασιλεύς μου\" ὅτι ὡς βασιλεὺς πορφύραν με, τὴν χάριν ἐνέδυσας. Ὁ Θεός μου\" ὅτι μοι τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ὡς Θεὸς ἧνοιξας, καὶ τῶν ἐπουρανίων σου ἀγαθῶν μέτοχον ἐποίησας. Καί σοι πρέπει ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ χράτος, ἅμα τῷ ἁγίῳ καὶ ξωοποιῷ τοῦ Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ εἰς τοὺς ἀτελευτήτους αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ᾿Αμήν.","t":"he answers: “For her who inherits.” And that he suffered everything for the salvation of his kin, he himself is witness, saying: “I could wish that I myself were accursed for my brothers.” “For her who inherits.” And what are the prophet's words? Not those announced in speech, but those made known by good deeds. “Understand my cry.” The cry of the righteous man is not the voice that strikes the air, but the heaven-minded conduct of the soul. “Attend to the voice of my petition.” He calls voice not a sound like a trumpet, but the deepest groaning of the heart. For so it is written: “And the sons of Israel groaned because of their works, and God heard their voice.” … “Understand my cry.” What are you saying, prophet? Are you giving orders to God? He is a treasury of wisdom and a wealth of understanding, as it is written, “With him are wisdom and understanding”; and you say to him, “Understand, perceive”? If you say “Perceive” to a learned man, he is angry, because you have spoken to him as to someone uneducated who cannot follow; and do you say to God, “Understand”? But he is not commanding the Master; far from it! The mortal does not direct the immortal to understand, nor does the sober man babble the talk of drunkards. What he means is this. Many who come before judges with petitions about great and necessary matters do not know how to report the case, nor can they present their mind clearly and concisely; then, since the judge is quicker to grasp the matter than the petitioner, and knows what answer he ought to give, the suppliant begs him not to look at his unworthy words, but to give his decision according to his own wisdom and the case itself. So too the prophet, since he was a man conversing with God, and, being in ecstasy, was tossed about like a helmsman in a storm at sea, entreats God: “Understand my cry”; that is, do not look at the unworthiness of my words, nor at the poverty of my speech, but read my mind; what is lacking in my words, fill up in your decisions. “Understand”, then, means: [look into] my heart; read the just claims in the depths of my soul, which I cannot express in words. “Attend to the voice of my petition.” Rise on me like the sun, and at once you dissolve for me the winter of my misfortunes. For if the visible sun, the eye of heaven, rising in winter, dissolves the frost, and the snow, unable to bear the sun's glance, melts away, how much more do you, Master, rising on me as the sun of righteousness, melt temptations like frost and winter! And just as in saying to God “Attend” he does not ask him to look with the senses, but in a manner befitting God, so he calls his voice the soundless speech in the soul, whose only hearer is God; for he knows the secrets of the heart. Then, to show the great and surpassing dignity of the Master, that he called him Lord not as one of many but as Master and Creator of all, he adds: “My King and my God.” My King, because you enlisted me and sealed me with your name. My God, because when I was not, you brought me into being. My King, because when I was tyrannized by sin, you set me free like a captive. My God, because you changed my nature, and, wearing my corruptible clay, made it incorruptible. My King, because as a king you clothed me with purple, that is, with grace. My God, because as God you opened the heavens to me and made me a sharer in your heavenly goods. And to you belong the glory and the might, together with your holy and life-giving Spirit, now and to the endless ages of ages. Amen.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 16.4 (PG 40:414; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/16-4)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/17.1":{"o":"Εἰς τὸν αὐτὸν ε' ψαλμὸν, ἄλλως. Λόγος γί. Ὥσπερ οἱ παρ᾽ ἡμῖν λαμπρότεροι νυμφίοι, μετὰ τὸν θάλαμον καὶ τὴν χοίτην ἀναστάντες, ταῖς νύμφαις ὑποδεικνύουσιν τὸν πλοῦτον καὶ τὴν χληρονομίαν τὴν πατρῴαν\" οὕτως ὁ Χριστὸς ὃ μονογενὴς νυμφίος, καὶ τοῦ Πατρὸς χληρονόμος, μετὰ τὸν θάνατον καὶ τὸν τάφον ἀναστὰς ἐχ νεχρῶν, τῇ αὑτοῦ νύμφῃ τῇ Ἐχχλησίᾳ ἔδειξεν τὸν πλοῦτον καὶ τὴν χληρονομίαν, τουτέστιν τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν εἰς τὸ τέ.λος, τελευτήσαντος τοῦ νυμφίου, «ληρονομεῖ ἡ νύμφη\" διὰ τοῦτο, Εἰς τὸ τέλος, ὑπὲρ τῆς Ὃτε γὰρ τὸ τέλος καὶ ὁ ἐν σαρχὶ θάνατος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐτελέσθη, τότε εἰς τὰς νομὰς τῆς χληρονομίας ἡ νύμφη ἐχλήθη αὕτη. Διὰ τί, φησὶν, ἐσταυρώθη ἣ παρεδόθη ὁ Χριστός : ᾿Αμαρτίαν οὐχ ἐποίησεν, οὐδὲ δόλος ηὑρέθη ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ. ---- \"Ὑπὲρ τῆς χιηρονομούσης. --- Καθὼς καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἠγάπησεν τὴν ᾿Εχχιλησίαν, καὶ παρέδωχεν ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ ἡ ἀντίζηλος αὐτῆς ἡ Συναγωγὴ ἤριζεν διὰ τὴν χληρονομίαν, βιδλίον ἀπογώσχε: τὸ χατὰ τῆς Συναγωγῆς ἀποστάσιον. Εὖρεν τὴν ὑπογραφὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ περιέχουσαν Καὶ αὕτη οὐ γυνή μου, χἀγὼ οὐκ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς\" καὶ, \"Ἔδωχα αὐτῇ βιδλίον ἀποστασίου εὶς τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῆςς ᾿Αναγινώσχει καὶ τὸ προιχῷον τῆς Ἐχχλησίας\" εὗρεν τὸν νυμφίον καὶ τὴν νύμφην: Ὁ ἔχων τὴν γύμην γυμφίος ἐστίν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν, ὡς αὐτοῦ ἀποθανόντος “οὔ νυμφίου, ἐδικάζετο ἡ Συναγωγὴ τῇ Ἐχχλησίᾳ περὶ τῆς χληρονομίας, ἀνέστη Χριστὸς ὁ τοῦ Πατρὸς χληρονόμος\" καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς κιηρογομούσης νύμφης δέησις αὐτῷ εὐθέως προσηνέχθη. Εἰς τὸ τέι1ος γὰρ, φησὶν, ὑπὲρ τῆς κιηρογομούσης, τῷ κληρονόμῳ. Τίς ἣ χληρονομοῦσα; Ἡ ἐξ ἐθνῶν Ἐχχλησία. Λέγει μα. -- Κληρονόμοι Θεοῦ, συγκιϊηρογόμοι δὲ Χριστοῦ. Τίς ἡ χληρονομία; Ἧ τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλεία. Δεῦτε, οἵ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ Πατρός μου, κιϊηρογ… ἀποχλῃηρονόμος; Ἢ Συναγωγὴ καὶ ὁ λαὸς αὐτῆς. Ἐκχ- Θάϊετε τὴν πκαιδίσχην, καὶ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτῆς. Οὐ γὰρ μὴ κιηρονομήσῃ ὁ υἱὸς τῆς παιδίσχης μδ.. τὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ τῆς ἐλευθέρας. ὍὋ Ἰουδαῖος ὡς χαρτοφύλαξ τὰς διαθήχας ἐφύλαξεν, καὶ ὁ Χριστιανὸς ὡς υἱὸς ἐχληρονόμησεν. Ἐχείνῳ ἐσφραγισμένον τὸ γράμμα ὁ νόμος ἔδωχεν, καὶ ἐμοὶ τὰ ἐγγεγραμμένα ἡ χάρις δεδώρηται. Ἐπειδὴ οὖν ὁ νυμφίος Χριστὸς, γυναῖχα ἔχων ποτὲ τὴν τῶν Ἰουδαίων Συναγωγὴν, ταύτην χληρονόμον ἐνεστήσατο, καὶ εἰσήγαγεν αὐτὴν εἰς νομὰς τῆς χληρονομίας, μάρτυς ὁ προφήτης, εἰπών \" Τῷ πατάξαντι βασιεῖς μεγάλους, καὶ ἀποχτείναγτι βασιλεῖς χραταιοὺς, καὶ δόντι τὴν αὐτοῦ. Β ᾿Αλλὰ ἡ τάλαινα λαθοῦσα παρὰ τοῦ νυμφιου τας νοθει, καὶ τὰ τοῦ νυμφίου τῷ δαίμονι προτέφερεν. Αὐτὸς ὁ νυμφίος Χριστὸς διὰ Ὡσγὲ λέγει\" Καὶ ἐγὼ δέδωχα αὐτῇ τὸν σῖτον, καὶ τὸν οἶγον, καὶ τὸ ἔλαιον, καὶ ἀργύριον καὶ χρυσίον ἐπλήθυνα αὐτῇ αὕτη δὲ ἀργυρᾶ καὶ χρυσᾶ ἐποίησεν τῇ Βαάϊ. Ἐπεὶ οὖν τὰ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τῷ μοιχῷ προσετίθη, καὶ τῷ ἐραστῇ ἀχολουθοῦσα, ἐφόνευσεν τὸν ἄνδρα \" καὶ ὡς ἐν εἰχόνι τὸν Βαραδόᾶ\" ἐχδιχοῦσα, ἑσταύρωσεν τὸν νυμφίον\" ἐνόμισεν δὲ ἡ Συναγωγὴ, ὅτι τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀποθανόντος αὕτη χληρονόμος ἕσται\" ὡς ἤδει τὰς νομὰς κρατοῦσα, καὶ οὐχ ἥξει, ὅτι ὁ νυμφίος ἀποθνήσχων νέαν διαθήχην ἔγραψεν, ἐν ἧ χληρονόμον ἐνἐστήσατο τὴν ἐξ ἐθνῶν Ἐχχλησίαν, καὶ ὑπέγραψεν α τὴν Διαθήχην, εἰπὼν Ἰουδαίοις \" ᾿Αρθήσεται ἀφ᾽ ὑμῶν ἡ χληρονομία, καὶ δοθήσεται ἔθνει ποιοῦντι προστάγματα αὐτοῦ. Ὡς οὖν ἀπέθανεν ὃ νυμφίος, καὶ τὴν χληρονομιαν αὐτῷ ἐχ νεχρῶν ὁ χορὸς τῶν προφητῶν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐξ ἐθνῶν Ἐχχλησίας ἐντυγχάνει. Εἰς τὸ τέλος, ὑπὲρ τῆς κἫληρογομούσης. Ἢ φονεύσασα τὸν νυμφίον, χληρονομῆσαι ἐνόμισεν τὸν φονευθέντα \" ἀλλ᾽ ἡ μὴ φονεύσασα, ἀλλὰ πιστεύσασα, χληρονόμος ἐγράφη.","t":"On the same fifth psalm, another homily. Homily 17. As the more splendid bridegrooms among us, rising after the bridal chamber and bed, show their brides their wealth and their father's inheritance, so Christ, the only-begotten bridegroom and heir of the Father, rising from the dead after death and the tomb, showed his bride the Church his wealth and inheritance, that is, the Gospel and the kingdom. Since, then, “at the end”, when the bridegroom has died, the bride inherits, for this reason: “For the end, for her who inherits.” For when the end, the death of Christ in the flesh, was accomplished, then the bride was called into the pastures of the inheritance. Why, it asks, was Christ crucified or handed over? “He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth.” “For her who inherits.” “As Christ also loved the Church and gave himself up for her.” But since her rival the Synagogue was contending about the inheritance, he reads out the bill of divorce against the Synagogue. He found God's signature containing: “And she is not my wife, and I am not her husband”; and, “I gave her a bill of divorce into her hands.” He reads also the marriage contract of the Church; he found the bridegroom and the bride: “He who has the bride is the bridegroom.” Since, then, as though the bridegroom himself had died, the Synagogue was going to law against the Church about the inheritance, Christ, the heir of the Father, rose; and at once a petition was brought to him for the bride who inherits. “For the end,” it says, “for her who inherits”: to the heir. Who is she who inherits? The Church from the Gentiles. [Paul] says: “Heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.” What is the inheritance? The kingdom of heaven: “Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit …” … Who is disinherited? The Synagogue and her people: “Cast out the slave woman and her son; for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” The Jew kept the testaments as their keeper, and the Christian inherited them as the son. To the one the law gave the letter sealed; to me grace has given what is written in it. Since, then, Christ the bridegroom once had the Synagogue of the Jews as his wife, appointed her heir and brought her into the pastures of the inheritance (the prophet is witness, saying, “To him who struck great kings and killed mighty kings, and gave [their land as an inheritance]”), the wretched woman, receiving from the bridegroom …, offered the bridegroom's goods to the demon. Christ the bridegroom himself says through Hosea: “And I gave her the grain and the wine and the oil, and multiplied silver and gold for her; but she made things of silver and gold for Baal.” Since, then, she gave her husband's goods to the adulterer, and, following her lover, killed her husband, and, as in a picture, by taking the side of Barabbas crucified the bridegroom, the Synagogue thought that when Christ died she would be the heir, since she held the pastures; and she did not know that the bridegroom, dying, wrote a new testament in which he appointed the Church from the Gentiles as heir, and signed the testament, saying to the Jews: “The inheritance will be taken from you and given to a nation that does his commandments.” When, then, the bridegroom died, and … from the dead, the choir of the prophets petitions him for the Church from the Gentiles: “For the end, for her who inherits.” She who murdered the bridegroom thought she would inherit from the one she murdered; but she who did not murder, but believed, was written down as heir.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 17.1 (PG 40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/17-1)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/17.2":{"o":"Τὸν τοῦ Πατρὸς χληρονόμον ἠθέλησεν φονεῦσαι, χα) χληρονομῆσαι ἡ ἀναγινώσχουσα τὴν χατὰ τοῦ Ναθουθὲ \"7 ἀπόφασιν, ἐπὶ τῷ Ναδουθὲ ἀμπελῶνι \" Ὁ δὲν καὶ ἐχληρονόμησεν \" ἀλλὰ σὺ ἐφόνευσας, καὶ οὐχ ἡ … ἀπώλεσας\" ἐφόνευσας τὴν ζωὴν, καὶ τὴν ζωὴν ἀπγὰρ αὐτὸν ὅτε εἶπας \" Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ κιϊηρονόμος, δεῦτε ἀποχτείγωμεν αὐτόν. αὶ εἰ αὑτὸς ὁ χληρονόμος, ὦ πονηρὲ Ἰουδαῖε, τὴν νομὴν τῷ χληρονόμῳ παράδως, τὴν δεσποτείαν ἀποχατάστησον τῷ δεσπότῃ ἐντυχίαν αὐτῷ προσένεγχε, ἵνα σὺ τὰς λύπας ται\" ὁ εἷς ὥρειιεν δηνάρια πενταχόσια, καὶ ὁ ἔτερος πεντήχοντα᾽ μὴ ἐχόντων δὲ ἀποδοῦνα:, ἀμφοτέροις ἐχαρίσατο, ὡς χεφαλαίου ἀπόδοσιν τὴν ὀρθὴν προαίρεσιν λογισάμενος. Καὶ σὺ πολλοῖς ἔτεσιν χατέσχες τὰ τοῦ χληρονόμου ὑπάρχοντα, καὶ οὐὖδὲν αὐτῷ προσήνεγχας. ᾿Απέστειλεν δούλους ζητοῦντας, οὐκ ἀπαιτοῦντας, τοὺς χαρπούς \" ὡς φίλοι ἐζή- Β τησαν, ὡς ἐχθροὶ ἐφονεύθησαν. Αὐτὸς ἦλθεν ὁ χληρονόμος, οὐχ ὀργιζόμενος, ἀλλ᾽ ἀγαθυνόμενος \" οὐ τοὺς φονευθέντας ἐχδιχῶν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς φονεύσαντας σωθῆναι παρακαλῶν οὐχ ὡς χριτὴς ἐχδιχῶν, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ἱερεὺς νουθετῶν. Αὐτὸς εἶπεν\" Οὐκ ἦλθον ἵνα κρίνω τὸν χόσμον, ἀ.1.1: ἵνα σώσω τὸν κόσμον. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν χληρονόμον ἀπέχτεινας (ὅ), καὶ χληρονομεῖν ἐνόμισας, μάθε, ὅτι ἀνέστη ὁ χληρονόμος, καὶ τὴν χληρονομίαν εἰς τὴν ἐξ ἐθνῶν Ἐχχλησίαν μετήγαγεν. Εἰς τὸ τέλος ὑπὲρ τῆς κιϊηρογομούσης. Καὶ διὰ τί, Εἰς τὸ τέλος; Ἐπειδὴ πᾶσα ἣ χληρονομία μετὰ τὸ τέλος καὶ τὴν τελευτὴν τοῦ διατιθεμένου εἰς «τοὺς χληρονόμους περιέρχεται. Λέγει ὁ ᾿Απόστολος \" Διαθήχη γὰρ ἐπὶ γνεχροῖς βεδαία \" ἐπεὶ μήποτε ἰσχύει, ὁ διατιθέμενος ὅτε ζῇ. Ἐπεὶ οὖν διέθετο τῇ Ἐχχλησίᾳ ὁ Χριστὸς καὶ διαθήχην αὐτῇ ἔγραψεν τὸ Ἐῤαγγέλιον, καὶ χληρονομίαν αὐτῇ τὴν βασιλείαν ᾿ ἐπηγγεῶλατο, καὶ ἐτελεύτησεν, καὶ ἐτάφη \" καὶ ἧ δια φαλμὸς τῷ Δαδίδ; Εὐθυμίας καὶ χαρᾶς λόγος τῷ Δαδὶδ, ἐπὶ τῇ χληρονομίᾳ τῆς Ἐχχλησίας. Εὐθυμεῖ τις; ψαλλέτω. ἸΙολλὰ προεφήτευσεν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐξ ἐθνῶν ᾿ἘΕχχλησίας\" καὶ ἰδὼν τὸ πέρας, ἐχάρη. Πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, κροτήσατε χεῖρας. Εἶδον πάντα τὰ ἔθνη εὸ σωτήριον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν. Αἰνεῖτε τὸν Κύριον, πάντα τὰ ἔθνη. Ἔδωχας κιηρονομίαν τοῖς φοδουμέγοις τὸ ὄγομά σον\" τοῖς ἐθνιχοῖς. Ἢ καὶ, τὸ τέλος Ψψαιϊμὸς τῷ Δαδίδ. Ἐπὶ τῇ τελευτῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὐχ ἔστιν ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ ὁ Ὁ τὸν ἐπιτάφιον αὐτῷ ψαλμὸν εἶναι εἶπεν. Εἰς τὸ τέ-.ος Ψαιμός. Οὕτως καὶ ἡ πόρνη εἰς τὸν ἐνταοι … Χριστὸς μετέδωχο τως μὴ φθάνων τὸ τέλος Χριστοῦ ὁ Δαδὶδ, τὸν ἔπινων Ἰουδαίων συχοφαντίαν, καὶ χατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ Ψευδομαρτυρίαν δηλοῖ ὑποχαταθάς \" Ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτῶν ἀ.ήθεια, ἡ καρδία αὑτῶν\" ματαία. ᾿Αργύρια ἔππειραν, ἵνα τὴν ἀνάστασιν συχοφαντήσωσιν. Ἡ καρδία αὐτῶν ματαία. Τὸν τάφον ἐσφράγισαν, καὶ τὸν ἐν νεχροῖς ἐλεύθερον οὐχ ἐχράοὐχ ἔχουσιν. Ἢ καρδία αὐτῶν ματαίω. Τάφος ἀνεῳγμένος ὁ λάρυγξ αὑτῶν. Διὰ τί, ὦ Δσδὶδ, τάφον εἶπας τὸν λάρνγγα τῶν Κυριοχτόνων; ᾿Αποχρίνεται \" Ἐπερώτησον τὸν ἐμὸν νἱὸν Σαλομῶντα. Υἱὲ, … οἱ ἡμῶν, χοιγώγησον αἵματος, ἀποκτείνωμεν ἄνδρα δίκαιον \" καταπίωμεν δὲ αὐτὸν ὥσπερ ᾷδης ζῶντα. Ἐπειδὴ οὖν ὡς ἅδης ζῶντα τὸν ζωοποιὸν χατέπιον, Τάφος ἀνεῳγμένος ὁ άρυγξ αὑτῶν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ὁ ἐπιτάφιος οὗτος ψαλμὸς, ὑπὲρ τῆς χιληρογομούσης, εἰς τὸ τέλος καὶ τὸν θάνατον τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐγράφη. Ὅθεν καὶ τὴν ἀνάστασιν αὐτοῦ ὡς Θεοῦ Λόγον ἐσήμανεν, εἰπών\" Ὅτι πρὸς σὲ προῦσεύξομαι, Κύριε \" τῷ πρωϊ εἰσακούσῃ τῆς φωνῆς μου. Τῷ πρωϊ παραστήσομαί σοι, καὶ ἐπόψῃ με. - Ὅτι πρὸς σὲ προσεύξομαι. θεὸς γὰρ εἶ ὁ ἐχ νεχρῶν ἀνιστάμενος \" καὶ πρὸς σὲ διὰ τὴς νυχτὸς ἐδόα ὁ χορὸς τῶν προφητῶν\" Ἁγάστα, ὁ Θεὸς, κρῖνον τὴν γῆν. Εἰ ἄνθρωπος ἐτάφη, πῶς Θεὸς ἀνέστη : Τάφος Θεὸν χειροτονεῖν οὐχ ἔμαθεν\" τάφος … τιῶται τῷ τάφῳ παρέμενον, καὶ ἰδιώτης ὁ ταφείς : Στρατιῶται ἐτήρουν τὸν τάφον᾽ βασιλεὺς γὰρ ὁ ταφείς. Ὥσπερ ἰδιώτου τάφον στρατιῶται οὐ τηροῦσιν, οὕτως ἀνθρώπου ψιλοῦ τάφω ἄγγελοι οὐ παραχάθηνται. Τῷ πρωΐ εἰσαχούσῃ τῆς φρωνὴς μου. Ὅτι πρωΐ ἀναστὰς ἐρεῖς ταῖς μαχαρίαις γυναιξίν \" Χαΐί- Ὑμεῖς καίρεδε\" οἱ γὰρ τὸν τάφον τηροῦντες, τὴν ἐνθήχην μὴ ἔχοντες ὁλοφύρονται. Ἐπεὶ. οὖν καὶ ξὸ πάθος καὶ τὸν τάφον καὶ τὴν πρωΐαν τῆς. ἀναστάσεως περιέχει ὁ Ὑπὲρ τῆς κιηρογομούσης ψαλμός\" διὰ τοῦτο Εἰς τὸ τέ.1ος.--- Τὰ ῥήματά μου ἐγώτισαιε, Κύριξ. Ὃ φέρων τὰ πάντα τῷ ῥήματι τῆς δυνάμεώς σου. Τὰ ῥήματά μου ἐνώτισαι, Κύριε. Οὗ τὸ ῥῆμα μάχαιρα \" Καὶ τὴν μάχαιραν τοῦ πγεύματος \" ὅ ἐστιν ῥημα Θεοῦ. Βλέπε, πῶς λέγεις, ἀδελφὲ, τῷ Θεῷ ' Τὰ ῥήματά μου ἐνώτισαι, Κύριε. Καὶ εἶτα \" Σύνες τῇ χραυγῇ μου.---Ππρόσχες τῇ φωγῇ τῆς δεήσεώς μου. Πρῶτον γὰρ τὰ ῥήματά σον ἐρευνᾷ ὁ Κύριος, ἅπερ διόλου λαλεῖς, εἰ μὴ αἰσχρολογίας, ἣ ἐπιθρχίας εἰσὶν ῥήματα\" εἰ μὴ λοιδορίας, καὶ καταλαλιᾶς, καὶ συχοφαντίας εἰσὶν ῥήματα\" εἰ μὴ εἰσιν χαταποντισμοῦ ῥήματα, τῇ συχοφαντίᾳ χαταποντίξειν δυνάμενα “τὸν συχοφαντηύμενοην.","t":"The one who reads the sentence against Naboth wished to murder the heir of the Father and to inherit, as at Naboth's vineyard … and inherited; but you murdered, and did not … Ahab … you lost; you murdered the Life, and lost life … him when you said: “This is the heir; come, let us kill him.” And if he is the heir, wicked Jew, hand the possession over to the heir, restore the lordship to the Lord, bring him a petition, so that you … the griefs … One owed five hundred denarii and the other fifty, and since they had nothing to pay, he forgave them both, counting their right intention as repayment of the debt. And you held the heir's property for many years and brought him nothing. He sent servants seeking the fruits, not demanding them; they sought as friends, and were murdered as enemies. The heir himself came, not in anger but in kindness, not avenging those who had been murdered but begging the murderers to be saved, not punishing as a judge but admonishing as a priest. He himself said: “I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.” But since you killed the heir himself and thought you would inherit, learn that the heir has risen and transferred the inheritance to the Church from the Gentiles. “For the end, for her who inherits.” And why “for the end”? Because every inheritance passes to the heirs after the end and death of the testator. The Apostle says: “For a testament is valid only at death, since it is never in force while the testator is alive.” Since, then, Christ made a testament for the Church, wrote her the Gospel as her testament, promised her the kingdom as her inheritance, died and was buried, and … “A psalm of David”? A word of cheer and joy for David at the Church's inheritance. “Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.” He prophesied much about the Church from the Gentiles, and seeing the end he rejoiced: “All you nations, clap your hands.” “All the nations saw the salvation of our God.” “Praise the Lord, all you nations.” “You have given an inheritance to those who fear your name”: to the Gentiles. Or else: “For the end, a psalm of David”: at the death of Christ. For since there is no … in death, … he said it was his funeral psalm: “For the end, a psalm.” So too the harlot … Christ … David, not reaching to Christ's end, shows the slander of the Jews and the false witness against Christ, descending to it: “For there is no truth in their mouth; their heart is vain.” They paid out silver to slander the resurrection. “Their heart is vain.” They sealed the tomb, and did not hold fast the one who is free among the dead … “Their heart is vain.” “Their throat is an open tomb.” Why, David, did you call the throat of the killers of the Lord a tomb? He answers: “Ask my son Solomon: ‘Son, … with us, share in blood; let us kill a righteous man, and swallow him alive like Hades.’” Since, then, they swallowed the life-giver alive, like Hades, “their throat is an open tomb.” This funeral psalm, then, “for her who inherits”, was written for the end and death of Christ. Hence it also signified his resurrection as God the Word, saying: “For to you will I pray, O Lord; in the morning you will hear my voice; in the morning I will stand before you, and you will look upon me.” “For to you will I pray”: for you are God, who rise from the dead; and to you the choir of the prophets cried through the night: “Arise, O God, judge the earth.” If a man was buried, how did God rise? A tomb has not learned to make a God … soldiers waited by the tomb, and was the one buried a private man? Soldiers guarded the tomb, because the one buried was a king. As soldiers do not guard the tomb of a private man, so angels do not sit by the tomb of a mere man. “In the morning you will hear my voice.” For rising in the morning you will say to the blessed women: “Rejoice.” You rejoice; for those who guard the tomb lament, since they no longer have the one laid in it. Since, then, the psalm “for her who inherits” contains the passion, the tomb and the morning of the resurrection, it is for this reason “For the end”. “Give ear to my words, O Lord”: you who bear all things by the word of your power. “Give ear to my words, O Lord”: whose word is a sword, “and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” See how you speak to God, brother: “Give ear to my words, O Lord”; and then: “Understand my cry; attend to the voice of my petition.” For the Lord first examines the words you speak all day long: whether they are not words of shameful talk or perjury; whether they are not words of reviling, slander and false accusation; whether they are not words that drown, able to drown the falsely accused by false accusation.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 17.2 (PG 40:421; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/17-2)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/17.3":{"o":"αὐ εἰσιν ἀνομίας ῥήματα. Τὰ ῥήματά μου. Τουτἐστιν, τοῦ στόματος αὑτοῦ ἀνομία. Εἰ γὰρ ῥήματος ἀργοῦ λόγον ἀπαιτούμεθα \" χαθὼς λέγει\" Πὰν ῥῆμα ἀργὸν, ὃ ἐὰν 2λαιλήσωσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι, ἁποδώσουσιν ᾿όγον\" πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὅτ᾽ ἂν ῥήματα χαχοποιὰ τιροφέρῃ:, ἐπὶ βλάδῃ καὶ ἀπωλείᾳ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ Ψυχῆς ταῦτα γίνονται; Εἶτα τὴν χραυγήν σου δοκιμάζει ὁ Θεός \" εἰ μὴ ἀδίχως τινὸς χατέχραξας, εἰ μὴ θυμὸν ἄδιχον τῇ χρχαυγῇ ἐσάλπισας, εἰ μὴ ἐπὶ τῷ χαταπλῆξαι τὸν ἀθῶον ὡς ὀργίλος ἔχραξας, εἰ μὴ ὡς οἱ μεγάλῃ. συνέσχον τὰ ὦτα αὐτῶν, καὶ ὥρμησαν ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἐπὶ αὐτόν. Καὶ ἢ χραυγὴ ὄχημα τοῦ φόνου ἐγίνετο. Πρῶτον οὖν τὰ ῥήματά σου δοχιμάζει ὁ Θεός. Ἔχ γὰρ τῶν «όγων διχαιωθήσῃ. Καὶ δοχιμάζει, οὐχ ἵνα τότε μάθῃ, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα τότε διχάσῃ. Εἶτα τὴν χραυγήν σου ἐρευνᾷ, καὶ οὕτως τὴν δέησίν σου ὑπογράφει ὃ Θεός. Ἐπεὶ οὖν τὰ ῥήματα ζυγοστατεῖ ὁ Θεὸς, παρχαχαλὼ μὴ τὸ χάλλος τῆς ἑορτῆς λοιδορίαις ἣ αἱσχρολογίαις ὑδρίσωμεν \" ἀλλ᾽ ἐν Ψαλμοῖς καὶ ὕμνοις καὶ ᾧδαῖς πνευματιχαῖς αὑτὴν εὐωδιάσωμεν \" μὴ εἰς χαπηλεῖα τρέχοντες, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς ἐχχλησίαν σπεύδοντες - μὴ μέθῃ βαπτιζόμενοι, ἀλλὰ τῇ αὑταρχείᾳ ὡραϊἀογοῦντες ὡς οἱ ἀπόστολοι\" μὴ ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς παίζοντος, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν ταῖς οἰχίαις ψάλλοντες. Οὐδεὶς ὀρχούμενος εἰσέρχεται εἰς τὰ βασίλεια, οὐδεὶς μεθύων βασιλεῖ παρίσταται. Εἰ δὲ ἐπὶ γῆς τοσαύτη ἀσφάλεια, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἀσφαλεστέρα ἡ ἐπουράνιος χατάστασις, καὶ ἡ ἐχεῖ βασιλεία\" ἧς βασιλείας χαταξιωθείημεν ἅπαντες καίροντες καὶ εὐφραινόμενοι \" χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ \" ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ χράτος, νῦν καὶ εἰς τοὺς ἀτελεντήτους αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ᾿Αμῆν.","t":"… whether they are not words of lawlessness. “My words”: that is, [not] the lawlessness of his mouth. For if we are asked to give account of an idle word, as he says, “Every idle word that men speak, they will give account of it,” how much more, when someone utters words that do harm, do these lead to the injury and destruction of his own soul! Then God tests your cry: whether you have not cried out unjustly against someone, whether you have not trumpeted unjust anger with your cry, whether you have not cried out in anger to terrify the innocent, whether [you have not acted] like those who [cried out with a] loud [voice], stopped their ears, and rushed together upon him; and their cry became the vehicle of murder. So God first tests your words: “For by your words you will be justified.” He tests them not in order to learn then, but in order to judge then. Then he examines your cry, and so God signs your petition. Since, then, God weighs words, I beg you, let us not insult the beauty of the feast with reviling or shameful talk, but let us make it fragrant with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs: not running to the taverns, but hastening to church; not drowned in drunkenness, but adorned with contentment like the apostles; not playing in the market-places, but singing psalms in our houses. No one enters the palace dancing; no one stands before a king drunk. If there is such caution on earth, much more careful must be the state of heaven and the kingdom there; and may we be counted worthy of that kingdom, all rejoicing and glad, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and might, now and to the endless ages of ages. Amen.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 17.3 (PG 40:421; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/17-3)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/18.1":{"o":"Εἰς τὸν αὐτὸν εἰ ψαλμὸν, ἄλλως. Λόγος δ'. Β΄. Τὰ ῥήματά μου ἐνώτισαι, Κύριε. Ποῖα ῥήματα, προφῆτα; Ὁ μὲν γὰρ Θεὸς οἶδεν αὑτὰ καὶ πρὶν αὐτὰ ἐνθυμηθῇς. Ἡμᾶς οὖν δίδαξον, ποῖα ῥήματα πρὸς δυσώπησιν τῷ Θεῷ προσήνεγχας, ἵνα καὶ ἡμεῖς τοῖς αὐτοῖς χρησώμεθα. Ποῖα ῥήματα; “Άχουσον τὰ ἐν τῷ προχειμένῳ ψαλμῷ, ἅπερ λέγων τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ ἐμαυτὸν σωφρονίζιυ, καὶ αὐτὸν δυσωπῶ, καὶ τοὺς ἀχούοντας νουθετῶ. Εἶπον ὑποχαταδάς\" Ὅτι οὐχὶ Θεὸς θέλων ἀγομίαν σὺ εἶ, Καὶ διὰ τί οὕτως εἶπας; Ἐπειδὴ ἀνομίαν ἐμίσησα καὶ ἐδδελυξάμην. Οὗ γὰρ ἁπλῶς τὰ ῥήματα ἔλεγεν, ὡς οἱ πολλοί\" ἀλλὰ πρῶτον αὐτὰ ἔδειξεν πράγματι\" καὶ οὕτως θαῤῥῶν εἶπεν τῷ Θεῷ: Τὰ ῥήματά μου ἐνώτισαι, Κύριε. Εἶπον - Οὐ παροικήσει σοι πογηρευόμενος. Διὰ τί; Ἐπειδὴ ἀγαθὸς τῇ ὁράσει Κυρίου πέφηνα᾽ δι᾽ ὃ καὶ ἐχχλίνοντος ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ τοῦ πονηροῦ, οὐχ ἐγίνωσχον. Εἶπον \" Οὐ διαμεγοῦσιν παράνομοι κατέναντι τῶν ὀρθαλμῶν σου. Καὶ διὰ τί τοῦτο εἰπεῖν ἐθάῤῥησας; Ἐπειδὴ παρανόμους ἐμίσησα, τὸν δὲ νόμον σοῦ ἠγάπησα. Ὃ δὲ παρανομοῦντας μισῶν οὐχ ἂν παρανομίαις συνεργήσῃ ποτέ. Εἶπον\" Ἐμίσησας πάν τας τοὺς ἐργαζομένους τὴν ἀνομίαν. Τί οὖν, αὑτὸς πλῦνόν μὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀνομίας μου. Εἶπον\" Δπολεῖς πάντας τοὺς λαλοῦντας τὸ ψεῦδος. Ὃ δὲ εἰδὼς, ὅτι ὁ ψευδόμενος ἀπόλλυτα', οὐχ ἂν τὴν γλῶσσαν αὐτοῦ τῷ ψεύδει ἐσπίλωσεν, οὐδὲ ἂν ἀπωλείας ὁδὸν ταύτην ἐποίησεν ψευδόμενος. Εἶπεν \" Αγδρα αἱμάτων καὶ δόλιον βδελύσσεται Κύριος. Καὶ τὸν δόλιον ἄνδρα αἱμάτων ἐχάλεσεν. Διὰ τί; Ἐπειδὴ ὃ δόλιος, ἄλλο φαινόμενος καὶ ἄλλο γινόμενος, τῷ στόματι Ψεύδεται. Στόμα δὲ καταψευδόμεγον ἀναιρεὶ ψυχήν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν τοιαῦτα ἐλάλει ῥήματα, ἅπερ ἣν ἱκανὰ καὶ αὐτὸν δικαιῶσαι, καὶ Θεὸν δυσωκσήσαι, καὶ τοὺς ἀχούοντας παιδεῦσαι, διὰ τοῦτο εἶπεν \" Τὰ ῥήματά μου ἐνώτισαι, Κύριε\" σύνες τῆς χραυγῆς μου. Τί 0 ἴὰρ ἄρα, ὄχλος καὶ θόρυδος ἣν περὶ τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ἔχρῃζεν τῆς τοῦ προφήτον κραυγῆς; Οἱ γὰρ ὧδε τοῖς ἄρχουσιν προσερχόμενοι, ἐπειδὴ οἴδασιν, ὅτι ἔνθεν μὲν οἱ ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς περιηχοῦσιν, ἑτέρωθεν δὲ οἱ ῥαδδοῦχοι θορυδοῦσιν, ἔμπροσθεν οἱ χήρυχες χράζουσιν, αὐτὸς ὁ ἄρχων ἐπὶ ὑψηλοῦ ὀχήματος καὶ περὶ πολλὰ ἔχει τὴν διάνοιαν \" καὶ διὰ ταῦτα πάντα ὁ ἱχέτὴς ἀναγχάζεται μετὰ χραυγῆς ποιεῖσθαι τὴν πρόσοδον. Εἰ δὲ οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον περὶ τὸν θεὸν, πῶς αὐτῷ ὁ προφήτης χράζων διελέγετο; ᾿Αλλ᾽ ὁ ἐν ἄλλοις εἰπών\" Αὐτὸς γὰρ γινώσκει τὰ κρύξια τῆς καρδίας \" καὶ, Τὸ ἀκατέργαστόν μου εἶδον οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ σου \" ἤδει, ὅτι χραυγῆς αἰσθητῆς ὁ Θεὸς οὐχ ἔχρῃζεν. Κραυγὴ δὲ δικαίου, ἡ παῤῥησία ἡ πρὸς Θεόν - χραυγὴ δικαίου, πᾶν ἔργον ἐπαινετόν\" ὅπερ αὐτῷ χράζουσιν οἱ τοῦτο θαυμάζοντες. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ὁ προφήτης πᾶταν πρᾶξιν ἀγαθὴν ἐφόρει ὡς μίαν ἀρετὴν, ταύτην ἐμφανίξων Θεῷ τῷ προειδότι, ἔλεγεν - Σύνες τῆς χραυγῆς μου. Ἐπειδὴ ἔδει πολλὰς καὶ διαφόρους κραυγὰς δικαίων καὶ ἁμαρτωλῶν, ἵνα τὴν αὐτοῦ χραυγὴν ὡς δικαίου καὶ φίλου καὶ τέχνου οἰχειώσηται, καὶ ἐν ταῖς πολλαῖς χραυγαῖς τὴν τοῦ ἰδίου ἐπιγνῷ. Εἰ δὲ ἐν ταῖς μυριοζώοις ἀγέλαις ἔχαστον ζῶον τὴν χραυγὴν τοῦ ἰδίου γεννήματος ἐπιγινώσχει- καὶ χιλίων μόσχων βοώντων ἑχάστη βοῦς οἶδεν τὴν βυὴν τοῦ ἰδίου τὴν ἑχάστου φωνὴν ἡ μήτηρ τρέχει, καὶ οὐχ ἀποσφάλλεται\" πολλῷ μᾶλλον χραζόντων μυρίων ἀμαρτωλῶν, οἷδεν ὁ Θεὸς τὴν τοῦ δικαίου χραυγὴν, καὶ ταύτην ἐπιγινώσχει ὡς χαθαρὰν ἰδίου τέχνου βοήν. Σύνες τῆς χραυγῆς μου. Τὸν μαργαρίτην τὸν ἀληθινὸν καὶ τὸ νόμισμα, ἄλλως ὁρᾷ ὁ ἄπειρος, καὶ ἄλλως συνορᾷ ὁ ἐπιστήμων πραγματευτής καὶ δικαίων καὶ ἁμαρτωλῶν ῥήματα καὶ φωνὰς, ἄλλως δέχεται ὁ χόσμος, καὶ ἄλλως δοχιμάζει ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀχοή. Οὐχ ἐθεάσω τινὰ ἐν πλατείᾳ χράζοντα: καὶ ἀδιχεῖ, καὶ χράξει, καὶ τοὺς πολλοὺς ἀπατᾷ, καὶ ὁ ἀδιχούμενος σιωπᾷ, καὶ ὡς ἄδιχος νομίζεται. Ἵνα οὖν μὴ τοιοῦτος ὁ Δαδὶδ νομισθῇ, δοχιμαστὴν τῆς χραυγῆς αὐτοῦ τὸν Θεὸν ἐχάλεσεν. Σύγες τῆς κραυγῆς μου.","t":"On the same fifth psalm, another homily. Homily 18. “Give ear to my words, O Lord.” What words, prophet? God knows them even before you think them. Teach us, then, what words you brought to God to move him, so that we too may use the same. What words? Hear those in the present psalm; by saying them to God I discipline myself, move him, and admonish my hearers. I said, coming down to it: “For you are not a God who wills lawlessness.” And why did you say this? “Because I hated and abhorred lawlessness.” For he did not simply say words, as most people do; he first showed them in deed, and so with confidence he said to God, “Give ear to my words, O Lord.” I said: “The evildoer shall not dwell with you.” Why? Because I have appeared good in the Lord's sight; that is why, when the wicked man turned away from me, I did not know him. I said: “The lawless shall not stand before your eyes.” And why did you dare to say this? Because I hated the lawless and loved your law; and one who hates lawbreakers will never cooperate with lawlessness. I said: “You hated all who work lawlessness.” What then? Wash me yourself from my lawlessness. I said: “You will destroy all who speak falsehood.” One who knows that the liar perishes would not stain his tongue with falsehood, nor make it a road to destruction by lying. He said: “The Lord abhors a man of blood and deceit.” He called the deceitful man a man of blood. Why? Because the deceitful man, appearing one thing and being another, lies with his mouth; and “a lying mouth kills the soul.” Since, then, he spoke such words as were able to justify himself, move God and teach his hearers, he said: “Give ear to my words, O Lord; understand my cry.” What then? Was there a crowd and an uproar around God, so that he needed the prophet's cry? Those who come to rulers here know that on one side the people in the markets are making a din, on the other the lictors are making a noise, in front the heralds are shouting, and the ruler himself, on his lofty carriage, has his mind on many things; for all these reasons the suppliant is forced to make his approach with a cry. But if there is nothing of the kind around God, how did the prophet speak to him by crying out? He who said elsewhere, “For he knows the secrets of the heart,” and “Your eyes saw my unformed substance,” knew that God had no need of a cry perceptible to the senses. The cry of the righteous is boldness toward God; the cry of the righteous is every praiseworthy work, which those who admire it cry out to him. Since, then, the prophet wore every good deed as one virtue, he showed it to God, who knew it beforehand, saying, “Understand my cry.” Since there were many and various cries of the righteous and of sinners, [he asks] that God may claim his cry as that of a righteous man, a friend and a child, and recognize his own among the many cries. If in herds of countless animals each one recognizes the cry of its own young, and when a thousand calves are lowing each cow knows the lowing of its own, … the mother runs to the voice of each and does not mistake it; much more, when countless sinners are crying out, does God know the cry of the righteous man and recognize it as the pure cry of his own child. “Understand my cry.” The true pearl and the coin are seen one way by the inexperienced and judged another way by the expert merchant; and the words and voices of the righteous and of sinners are received one way by the world and tested another way by God's hearing. Have you not seen someone shouting in the square? He does wrong and shouts, and deceives the many; while the one who is wronged keeps silent and is thought to be in the wrong. So that David might not be thought such a man, he called God the examiner of his cry: “Understand my cry.”","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 18.1 (PG 40:450; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/18-1)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/18.2":{"o":"Γ΄, Πρόσχες τῇ φωνῇ τῆς δεήσεώς μου. Καὶ τίς ἦ δέησις τοῦ δικαίου, καὶ τίς ἡ ταύτης φωνή; Τί ἔστιν δέησις; Δέησίς ἔστιν ἡ ἔνδεια καὶ τὸ λεῖμμα οὗ ἕκαστος ἀπορεῖ. Δέειν γὰρ τὸ λείπειν ἐστίν. Ὅθεν καὶ ἐνδεόμενον ἐχεῖνον λέγομεν, τὸν λειπόμενον τῆς ἀναγκαίας τροφῆς. Ἵνα τοίνυν δείξῃ ὁ προφήτης αὐτοῦ τὴν βαθυτάτην πτωχείαν καὶ πενίαν τοῦ πνεύματος᾽ Μωχάριοι γὰρ οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι\" τοιοῦτος δὲ ὧν ἐν ἄλλοις ἔλεγεν, ὅτι Πτωχὸς καὶ πένης εἰμὶ ἐγώ\" ὁ Θεὸς, βοήθησόν μοι΄ τὴν χαλὴν ταύτην πτωχείαν, καὶ πενίαν, καὶ ἔνδειαν, ὡς φωνῇ τῆς δεήσεώς μου. ᾿Αντὶ τοῦ, Οὕτως πτωχός εἶμι καὶ ταπεινὸς τῷ πνεύματι, ὅτι αὕτη μου ἡ ἔνδεια καὶ ἡ πενία, ὡς χάρτης δεήσεως τῶν χατορθωμάτων διὰ γραμμάτων βοᾷ. Χάρτῃ ξόιχεν χαθαρῷ ἢ ταπεινοφροσύνη, καὶ εὐλάθεια \" γράμματα δέ εἰσιν αἱ ἀρεταὶ καὶ τὰ χατορθώματα. Ὥσπερ οὖν τῷ βασιλεῖ ἡ δέησις καὶ τὰ τῆς δεήσεως γράμματα, ἄνευ … πᾶσαι ὁμοῦ, ἄνευ ταπεινοφροτύνης οὐχ ἐμφανίζονται. Καὶ μάρτυς ὁ Φαρισαῖος καὶ ὁ τελώνης. Ὁ Φαρισαῖος ἔλεγεν ἔχειν χατορθώματα: Ὁ Θεὸς, εὐχαριστῶ σοι, ὅτι οὐκ εἰμὶ ὡς οἱ «1οιποὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἅρπαγες. ἄδικοι, μοιχοί. Νηστεύω δὶς τοῦ Σαδξάτου. ἀποδεκατῶ μου τὰ ὑπάρχοντα Καλὰ τὰ ῥήματα, ἀλλ᾽ εὐλάδεια οὐδαμοῦ\" χαλὰ τὰ χκχατορθώματα, ἀλλὰ ταπεινοφροσύνη οὐδαμοῦ. Ὁ τελώνης τὸ στῆθος ἔτυπτεν, καὶ ὡς ἁμαρτωλὸς προσέπιπτεν, καὶ τὴν ταπεινοφροσύνην ἐνεφάνισεν \" καὶ ὡς ἀντίδιχὸν τὸν ὑπερήφανον Φαρισαῖον ἐνίχησεν. Κατέθη γὰρ οὗτος δεδικαιωμένος. --- Ὁ βασιλεύς μου. Διὰ τί ὁ Δαθδὶὸ βασιλέα αὑτοῦ τὸν θεὸν ἐχάλεσεν : ἵνα δείξῃ, ὅτι χἂν ἀνθρώπων ἐδασίλευεν, ἀλλὰ τῷ Θεῷ ὡς στρατιώτης ἐδούλευεν \" χἂν τῶν ὁμογενῶν ἐχυρίευεν, ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως τοῦ ἄνω ἐχυριεύετο\" χἂν τὸ βασιλιχὸν ἐφόρει ἀξίωμα, ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὸ ἁμαρτίας οὐχ ἐδασιλεύετο. Ὁ βασιλεύς μου. Ἕμοὶι μὲν γὰρ ἐπὲνδυμα τὸ βασιλιχὸν ἀξίωμα. Πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ ἄνθρωπὸν με ἐποίησας, καὶ οὕτως τὴν βασιλείαν ἐπέθηχας. Σὺ \"᾽ δὲ συγγενὲς καὶ σύντροφον καὶ συνυπάρχον τὸ βασίλειον. Ὁ βασιλεύς μου. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἄνθρωποι ἀνθρώπων βασιλεύουσιν. τὸ ἐξαίρετον ἐπήγαγεν᾽ Καὶ ὁ Θεός μου. Ὃ ὡς θεὸς δημιουργήσας με. καὶ ὡς βασιλεὺς πρόνοιάν μου ποιούμενος. Διὰ τί δὲ εἶπον Καὶ ὁ Θεός μου; -- Ὅτι πρὸς σὲ προσεύξομαι, Κύριε. Προσευχὴ γὰρ οὐκ ἀνθρώπῳ, οὐ στρατηγῷ (ὅ), οὐχ ἡγεμόνι, οὐχ ἄρχοντι, οὐ βασιλεῖ, ἣ μόνῳ τῷ Θεῷ προσφέρεται. Δι’ ὃ οὐ μόνον σε βασιλέα μου, ἀλλὰ καὶ Θεὸν ὧμολόγησα. Διὰ τέ; Ὅτι πρὸς σὲ προσεύξομαι, Κύριε. Καὶ πρόσχες τῇ ἁρμονίᾳ. Ἐπειδὴ, εἴπεν᾽ Πρόσχες τῇ φωγῇ τῆς δεήσεώς μου, διὰ τὴν δέησιν βασιλέα εἶπεν. Ὁ βασιδεύς μου. Ἐπειδὴ προσεύξασθαι προέθετο, Θεὸν ὡμολόγησεν. Καὶ ὁ Θεός μον. Ὡς βασιλεῖ τὴν δέησιν, ὡς Θεῷ τὴν προσευχὴν προσἤνεγχεν. Τῷ πρωΐ εἰσαχούσῃ τὴς φωγῆς μου. Προφῖται εἶπον περὶ τῆς χληρονόμου Ἐχχλησίας\" Βοηθήσει αὐτῇ ὁ ϑεὸς, τὸ πρὸς πρωϊ πρωΐ\" ὁ μονογενὴς Θεὸς, ὄρθρον ἐχ νεχρῶν ἀνιστάμενος. 'Ἐχείνην τὴν πρωϊνὴν βοήθειαν χἀγὼ ἐπεύχομαι. Τῷ πρωῖ εἰσακούσῃ τῆς φωνῆς μου. Τῷ πρωΐ παραστήσομαί σοι. “ἵνα θεασάμενός σε ὡς ἀπὸ θαλάμου τοῦ τάφου νυμφίον ἀνιστάμενον, ἵνα παρχαστὴσῃς ξαυτῷ ἔνδοξυν τὴν Ἐχχλησίαν, εἴπω μετὰ ἀγγέλων εὐφημῶν᾽ Παρέστη ἡ βασίλισσα ἐχ δεξιῶν σου. να οὖν τοῦτο ἴδω, Τῷ πρωΐ παραστήσομαί σοι, καὶ ἐπόψῃ μι, ἣ. ἐπόψομαι (1Δ). Τὰ γὰρ δύο χεῖκαι. Ἐὰν μὲν, Ἐπόνῃ, ἀντὶ τοῦ, Εἶδες ποιμαί… προφητεύουτα\" εἶδες τὸν λέοντα καὶ τὴν ἄρχον τύπτοντα, ἐπόψῃ τὸν Γολιὰθ καὶ τοὺς ἀλλοφύλους πατάσσοντα\" εἶδες ἐν τῷ νῦν αἰῶνι μετὰ προφητῶν σε δοξζάζοντα. ἐπόψῃ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι μετὰ ἀγγέλων ψάλλοντα, ὅτε Καὶ ἐναντίον ἀγγέλων φραλῶ σοι. Ἑὰν δὲ, Ἐπόψομαι\" ἴδον, φησὶν, τὰ πρόσχαιρα θλιδερὰ, ὅσας ἔδειξάς μοι θλίψεις πολλὰς καὶ χαχάς\" ἐπόγομαι τὰ αἰώνια ἀγαθά. Πιστεύω τοῦ ἰδεῖν τὰ ἀγωθὰ Κυρίου. Εἶδον προφήτας, ἐπόψομαι εὐαγγελιστάς’ εἶδον ἐξ οὐρανοῦ χαταθαίνοντα, ἐπόψομαι σεται ὡς ὑετὸς ἐπὶ πόχον\" περὶ τῆς ἀναδάσεως\" ᾿Αγέδη ὁ Θεὸς ἐν ἀιαϊαγμῷ, Κύριος ἐν φωγῇ σάλπιγγος. Αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος, νῦν καὶ εἰς τοὺς ἀτελευτήτους αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ᾿Αμήν.","t":"“Attend to the voice of my petition.” And what is the petition of the righteous, and what is its voice? What is a petition? A petition is the lack and shortfall of what each person is without. For “to need” is “to lack”; hence we call needy the man who lacks the food he must have. To show, then, the prophet's deepest poverty and his poverty of spirit (“for blessed are the poor in spirit”; and being such, he said elsewhere, “I am poor and needy; O God, help me”), [he calls] this fine poverty, need and lack “the voice of my petition”. That is: I am so poor and humble in spirit that this need and poverty of mine cries out my good deeds through letters, like the paper of a petition. Humility and reverence are like clean paper, and the letters are the virtues and good deeds. As, then, a petition to the king and the letters of the petition … all of them together are not shown without humility. Witnesses are the Pharisee and the tax collector. The Pharisee said that he had good deeds: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, robbers, unjust, adulterers. I fast twice a week, I give a tenth of my possessions.” The words are fine, but reverence is nowhere; the deeds are fine, but humility is nowhere. The tax collector beat his breast, fell down as a sinner, and showed humility; and he defeated the proud Pharisee as his opponent. For “this man went down justified.” “My King.” Why did David call God his King? To show that, though he reigned over men, he served God as a soldier; though he ruled over his own people, he was ruled by the King above; though he wore the royal dignity, he was not ruled by sin. “My King.” For to me the royal dignity is an outer garment: first you made me a man, and then you put the kingship on me; but to you the kingship is innate, grown up with you and coexisting with you. “My King.” And since men reign over men, he added what is special: “and my God”, who as God created me, and as King takes thought for me. And why did I say “and my God”? “For to you I will pray, O Lord.” For prayer is not offered to a man, not to a general, not to a governor, not to a magistrate, not to a king, but to God alone. Therefore I have confessed you not only as my King but also as God. Why? “For to you I will pray, O Lord.” And note the harmony. Since he said, “Attend to the voice of my petition,” because of the petition he said King: “My King.” Since he proposed to pray, he confessed God: “and my God.” He brought his petition as to a king, his prayer as to God. “In the morning you will hear my voice.” The prophets said of the heiress Church: “God will help her early in the morning”: the only-begotten God, rising from the dead at dawn. That morning help I too pray for. “In the morning you will hear my voice; in the morning I will stand before you,” so that, seeing you rising like a bridegroom from the chamber of the tomb, to present the Church to yourself in glory, I may say with the angels in praise: “The queen stood at your right hand.” So that I may see this, “in the morning I will stand before you, and you will look upon me”, or “I will look”, for both are read. If “you will look upon me”, that is: you saw me shepherding …, you saw me striking down the lion and the bear; you will see me striking down Goliath and the Philistines; you saw me in this age glorifying you with the prophets; you will see me in the age to come singing with the angels, when “before the angels I will sing to you.” If “I will look”, he means: I saw the troubles of this time, the many evil afflictions you showed me; I will look upon the eternal good things: “I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord.” I saw prophets; I will look upon evangelists. I saw [him] coming down from heaven …; “he will come down like rain upon the fleece”; and of the ascension: “God went up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.” To him be glory and might, now and to the endless ages of ages. Amen.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 18.2 (PG 40:450; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/18-2)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/19.1":{"o":"Εἰς τὴν ἑρμηνείαν τοῦ δ’ ὕ, ε΄, ἐν ᾧ κα τὶς τὸν Ἰωσήρ. ἐλεμρν τῇ τι δευτέρᾳ. Εὐφραινέσθω καὶ νῦν ἣ χληρονόμος Ἐχκχλησια\" ὁ Ὑὰρ ταύτης νυμφίος Χριστὸς παθὼν ἀνέστη. Ἐπένθτσεν ἐπὶ τῷ παθόντι, εὐφραινέσθω ἐπὶ τῷ ἀναστάντι. Εὐφραινέσθω ἡ χληρονόμος\" ἡσχύνθη γὰρ ἢ ἀποχληρονόμος, ὅτι ἀπέχτεινεν τὸν χληρονόμον, καὶ ἀπώλεσεν τὴν κληρονομίαν. ᾿Ανέστη ὁ νυμφίος, καὶ ἡτχύνθη ὁ τῆς νύμφης ἀντίδιχος Ἰουδαῖος. Καὶ διὰ τί ἡσχύνθη ὁ Ἰουδαῖος; Ὅτι τὴν ἀνάστασιν Χριστοῦ ἐσυ-χοφάντῃησεν, εἰπών\" Οἱ μαθηταὶ τὸν Κύριον ἔχιλεψαν. Εἰ ἐχ τοῦ τάφου ἔχλεψαν, πῶς ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ νεχροῦ τὸν χωλὸν οἱ ἀπόστολοι ἔγειραν; Νεχρὸς χωλὸν οὐχ ἐγείρει, νεχρὸς πόδας οὗ χαρίζεται, νεχρὸς περιπατεῖν οὐ διδάσχε\"\" δούχ οἷδεν αὐτὸς, ἄλλον οὐ διδάσχει. ᾿Ανέστη ὁ νυμφίος, καὶ, ὡς δικαστῇ συνήγοροι, οἱ ἅγιοι προφῇται καὶ ἀπόστολοι ὑπὲρ «ἧς χληρονομούσης Ἐχχλησίας … ἡ γὰρ τοῦ νυμφίου ἀνάστασις ἀνέστησέν σε χαμαὶ χειμένην καὶ πατουμένην. Οὐχ ἔτι βωμοὶ δαιμόγων τὰ σὰ τέχνα μερίζονται, ἀλλὰ ναοὶ Χριστοῦ τοὺς Οὐχ ἔτι αὐλοὶ τῇ χρυσῇ εἰκόνι προσχυνεῖν ἀναγχάζουσιν, ἀλλὰ ψαλμοὶ τῷ θεῷ προσχυνεῖν διδάσχουσιν. Οὐχ ἔτι πόδες πόρνης ὀρχοῦνται Ἰωάννου ([ θάνατον, ἀλλὰ πόδες Ἐχχλησίας πατοῦσιν τὸν θάνα- τον. … …  “ον. Ἐπαύσαντο αἱ ἀποστασίαι, καὶ ἤχμασαν αἱ γο-» μῳδίαι. Οὐχ ἀναθαίνει χαπνὸ: ἀπὸ χνίσης, ἀλλὰ τῶν προσευχῶν τὸ θυμίαμα. Κατευθυγθήτω ἡ προσευχή μου ὡς θυμίαμα ἐνώπιόν σου. Οὐχἐνεργοῦσιν ἀλόγων σφαγαί’ ἐσφάγη γὰρ ὁ ἀμνὸς ὁ αἴρων τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ χόσμου. Ὦ τοῦ θαύματος! Ὃ ἅδης κατέπιεν τὸν Δεσπότην Χριστὸν, καὶ οὐχ ἔπεψεν. Ὁ λέων χατέπιεν τὸν ἀμνὸν, καὶ ἀπεστομαχίσθη. Ὁ θάνατο; χατἐπιεν τὴν ζωὴν, καὶ ναυτιάσας ἔμεσεν καὶ τοὺς προχαταποθέντας. Ὁ γίγας τὸν ἀποθ Χριστὸν βαστάσαι οὐχ ἴσχυσεν\" ὁ νεχρὸς φοθερὸς τῷ γίγαντι γέγονεν\" ζῶντι ἐπάλαισεν, καὶ ὑπὸ νεχροῦ νιχηθεὶς ἔπεσεν. Εἰ ὑπὸ ζῶντος ἐνιχήθη ὁ διάἴσχυσα\" ἀλλὰ ζῶντι ἐπάλαισεν, καὶ ἀποθανόντι ὑπἔπεσεν, καὶ πᾶσαν πρόφασιν ἀπώλεσεν. Εἷς χόχχος ἐσπάρη, καὶ ὅλος ὁ χόσμος ἐτράφη. Ὡς ἄνθρωπος τὴν οἰχουμένην. Ὡς ὄστρεον ἑπατήθη, καὶ ὡς μαργαρίτης ἐχόσμησεν τὴν Ἐχχλησίαν. Ὡς πρόθατον ἐθύθη, καὶ ὡς ποιμὴν ῥάδδῳ τῷ σταυρῷ ἐδίωξεν τὰν τῶν δαιμόνων ἀγέλην. Ὡς λύχνος ἐπὶ λυχνίαν τῷ σταυρῷ ἐσδέσθη, καὶ ὡς ἥλιος ἀνέτειλεν ὃχ τοῦ τάφον. Ἦν ἰδεῖν θέαμα διπλοῦν' σταυρουμένου Χριστοῦ, ἡ ἡμέρα ἐσχοτίζετο, καὶ ἀνισταμένου αὑτοῦ, ἡ νὺξ ὡς ἡμέρα ἐφωτίξετο. Διὰ τί ἡ ἡμέρα ἐσχοτίζετο; 'Ἔπειδὴ περὶ αὐτοῦ γέγραπται: ἽἜθετο σχότος ἀποχρυφὴν αὑτοῦ. Διὰ τί δὲ νὺξ ὡς ἡμέρα ἐφωτίζετο; Ὅτι αὑτῷ ὁ προφήτης ἔλεγεν’ Ὅτι σκότος οὐ σκοτισθήσετωι ἀπὸ σοῦ, καὶ νὺξ ὡς ἡμέρα φωεισθήσεται. Ὧ νὺξ ἡμέρας λαμπροτέρα! ὦ νὺξ ἡλίου λαμπροτέρα! ὦ νὺξ χιόνος λευχοτέρα! ὦ νὺξ λαμπάδων διαυγεστέρα! ὦ νὺξ παραδείσου τερπνοτέρα! ὦ νὺξ σχότους ἀπηλλαγμένη! ὦ νὺξ ἢ τὸν ὕπνον διὦκουσα ἱ ὦ νὺξ ἣ ἀγρυπνεῖν μετὰ ἀγγέλων διδάσχουσαὶ ὦ νὺξ φοδερὰ τοῖς δαίμοσιν! ὦ νὺξ ἐνιαυτοῦ ἐπιθυμία! ὦ νὺξ νυμφαγωγὸς τῆς Ἐχχλησίας ! ὦ νὺξ ἡ τῶν νεοφωτίστων μήτηρ ! ὦ νὺξ ἐν ἦ νυστάξας ὁ διάδολος γεγύμνωται! ὦ νὺξ ἐν ἧ ὁ χληρονόμος εἰς τὴν χληρονομίαν τὴν χληρονόμον εἰσήγαγεν! Εἰς τὸ θέντος, καὶ τοῦ κέντρου αὐτοῦ, τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ξξ- Ἑπειδὴ γὰρ ἣ συναγωγὴ τῷ Χριστῷ, ὡς ἡ Αἰγυ- αὶ τῷ νόμῳ συνεζευγμένη, τῷ ταῖς θυσίαις αὐτὴν χαπνίζοντι (ἀρχιμάγειρος ὁ Ἰουδαϊχὸς νόμος, ὡς ταῖς χνέσσαις καίρων [31] }\" συνάπτεσθαι παρὰ τὸν νόμον τοῦ Εὐαγγελίο,, τῷ Χριστῷ ἤθελεν, καὶ ἀποχλεῖσαι τῇ παρθένῳ ᾿Ασσενὲθ, τῇ Ἐχχλησίᾳ, ἐδούλετο, ἵνα τὸν πλοῦτον καὶ τὸ χάλλος τοῦ νυμφίου λῃστεύσασα, τὴν νύμφην ποιήσῃ ἀποχληρονόμον' διὰ ταῦτα, ὅτε ἀπὸ τοῦ τάφου ἐξῆλθεν ὁ Χριστὸς, ὡς ἀπὸ τῆς φυλαχῆς ὁ ἸΙωσὴφ, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ βασιλιχὴὸν αὑτοῦ ἄομα ἐπὶ τῶν χερουθὶμ ἐχάθισεν' Τὸ ἅρμα τοῦ Θεοῦ μυριοπιάσιον, χιλίαδες εὐθηγούντων τότε αὐτῷ οἱ ἅγιοι ὑπὲρ τῆς χληρονομούσης προσηύχοντο. Καὶ μή σε ξενιζέτω ὅτι τὴν εἰχόνα τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὁ Ἰωσὴφ ἔφερεν. Αὐτὰ ἀρ σε διδάξει τὰ πράγματα. Ὑπὲρ τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ γέγραπτοι\" ᾿Ιαχὼδ δὲ ἡγάπα τὸν σὴ παρὰ πάντας τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ. Περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ Ὁ Πατὴρ ἀγαπᾷ τὸν Υἱἂὸν, καὶ πάντα δέδωχεν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὑτοῦ. Τῷ ᾿ἸἸωσὴφ ἐποίησεν ὁ πατὴρ χιτῶνα ποιχίλον. Καὶ ὁ Χριστός: σεται ἡ ψυχή μου ἐπὶ τῷ Κυρίῳφ' ἐνέδυσεν γάρ (8 ἱμάτιον σωτηρίου, καὶ χιτῶνα δεὐφροσύγῆς περιέθηχέν μοι, ὡς γύμφην μίτραν.","t":"Homily 19. On the interpretation of [the fifth psalm], in which also [about] Joseph; [delivered] on the Monday [after Easter]. Let the heiress Church rejoice now too; for her bridegroom Christ suffered and rose again. She mourned for him when he suffered; let her rejoice in him now that he has risen. Let the heiress rejoice; for the disinherited one has been put to shame, because she killed the heir and lost the inheritance. The bridegroom has risen, and the Jew, the bride's adversary, has been put to shame. And why has the Jew been put to shame? Because he slandered Christ's resurrection, saying, “The disciples stole the Lord.” If they stole him from the tomb, how did the apostles raise the lame man in the name of a dead man? A dead man does not raise the lame; a dead man does not give feet; a dead man does not teach walking; what he does not know himself, he does not teach another. The bridegroom has risen, and the holy prophets and apostles, like advocates before a judge, [plead] for the heiress Church … For the resurrection of the bridegroom has raised you up, who were lying on the ground and trampled underfoot. No longer do the altars of demons share out your children, but temples of Christ … No longer do flutes compel men to worship the golden image, but psalms teach them to worship God. No longer do the feet of a harlot dance for the death of John, but the feet of the Church trample on death … The apostasies have ceased, and the singing of hymns has flourished. No smoke rises from the savour of sacrifices, but the incense of prayers: “Let my prayer be set forth as incense before you.” No slaughter of irrational animals is performed; for the Lamb has been slain who takes away the sin of the world. O the wonder! Hades swallowed Christ the Master and could not digest him. The lion swallowed the lamb and was sick to its stomach. Death swallowed Life, and in its nausea vomited up those it had swallowed before. The giant could not bear the dead Christ; the dead man became fearsome to the giant; he wrestled with the living one, and fell, conquered by the dead. If the devil had been conquered by one alive, [he might have said, I could not prevail]; but he wrestled with the living one and fell before the dead one, and lost every excuse. One grain was sown, and the whole world was fed. As man … the world. As an oyster he was trodden underfoot, and as a pearl he adorned the Church. As a sheep he was sacrificed, and as a shepherd he drove off the herd of demons with the staff of the cross. As a lamp on a lampstand he was put out on the cross, and as the sun he rose from the tomb. There was a double spectacle to see: when Christ was crucified, the day was darkened; when he rose, the night was lit up like day. Why was the day darkened? Because it is written of him: “He made darkness his hiding place.” And why was the night lit up like day? Because the prophet said to him: “For darkness will not be dark to you, and night will be lit up like day.” O night brighter than day! O night brighter than the sun! O night whiter than snow! O night more radiant than torches! O night more delightful than paradise! O night freed from darkness! O night that drives away sleep! O night that teaches us to keep vigil with the angels! O night fearsome to the demons! O night, the longing of the year! O night, bridal escort of the Church! O night, mother of the newly baptized! O night in which the devil, drowsing, was stripped! O night in which the Heir brought the heiress into the inheritance! … [death] and its sting, sin … For the Synagogue, like the Egyptian woman, was yoked to the law that fumigated her with sacrifices (the Jewish law is a chief cook, rejoicing in the savour of sacrifices), and wished to be joined to Christ against the law of the Gospel, and to shut out the virgin Asenath, the Church, so that, robbing the bridegroom of his wealth and beauty, she might make the bride disinherited. For these reasons, when Christ came out of the tomb as Joseph came out of the prison, and sat in his royal chariot on the cherubim (“The chariot of God is ten-thousandfold, thousands of the flourishing”), then the saints prayed for her who inherits. And do not be surprised that Joseph bore the image of Christ; the facts themselves will teach you. Of Joseph it is written: “Jacob loved Joseph more than all his sons.” Of Christ: “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.” The father made Joseph a coat of many colours. And Christ: “My soul shall rejoice in the Lord; for he has clothed me with a garment of salvation, and put on me a tunic of gladness, like a bride with a crown.”","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 19.1 (PG 40:455; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/19-1)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/19.2":{"o":"Περὶ τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ γέγραπται’ Καὶ ἦν Ἰωσὴφ τῷ εἶδει, καὶ ὡραῖος τῇ ὄψει σφόδρα. -- Καὶ … ἃ ὡραῖος κάλ.ϊει παρὰ τοὺς υἱοὺς ἀνθρώπων, ὁ προφοὺς ὡς ἰατρὸς ἐπισχεπτόμενος, καὶ ηὑρέθη ὡς ἐχθρὸ; ὡς ποιμὴν σπλαγχνιζόμενος, καὶ ὥφθη ὡς λῃπτὴς … φήτης ἔφη τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Κατήνεγχαν ψόγον πὸνηρὸν τῷ Ἰωσὴφ οἱ ἀδελφοί\" καὶ Ἰουδαῖοι ψέγοντες τὸν Κύριον ἔλεγον: Ἡμεῖς ἐκ πορνείας οὖχ ἐγεγνγήθημεν'\" ἀντὶ τοῦ, ὡς σὺ ὁ τῆς ἀνυμφεύτου χόρης υἱός. Ὃ Ἰωσὴφ ἀπεστάλη πρὸς τοὺς ἀδελκαὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἀπεστάλῃ σταυρούμενος. Ὃ Ἰωσὴφ ἐπράθη εἴχοσι χρυσῶν, καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς τριάχοντα ἀργυρίων. Τὸν Ἰωσὴφ ὁ εἷς τῶν δώδεκα ἀδελφῶν τοῖς Ἰσμαηλίταις ἐπώλησεν, ὁ εἰπών\" Δεῦτε ἀποδώμεθα αὐτὸν τοῖς Ἰσμαηκίταις \" καὶ τὸν Χριστὸν εἷς τῶν δώδεχα μαθητῶν τοῖς Ἰσραηλίταις πέπραχεν. Ἐχεῖ Ἰούδας συνεφώνει, καὶ ὧδε Ἰούδα: ἐπώλει. Ὁ Ἰωσὴφ ἐν τῷ λάχχῳ, καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἐν τῷ τάφῳ. Τὸν Ἰωσὴφ εἰς δεσμωτήριον ἔδαλεν ἡ τῆς Λίγυπτίας συχοφαντία \" καὶ τὸν Χριστὸν δέσμιον τῷ Πιλάτῳ παρέδωχεν ἡ τῆς συναγωγῆς Ψευδομαρτυρία. Ἑχεῖνος δύο εὐνούχοις, τῷ ἀρχίοινοχόῳ καὶ τῷ ἀρχισιτοπο!ῷ παρέστη \" καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς δύο λῃσταῖς συνεσταυρώθη, τῷ ἐχ δεξιῶν, καὶ τῷ ἐξ εὐωνύμων. Ὁ Ἰωσὴφ τῶν δύο εὐνούχων τὸν ἕνα εἰς τὰ βασίλεια παρέπεμψεν\" καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς τῶν δύο λῃστῶν τὸν ἕνα εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν εἰσήγαγεν. Σήμερον μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ ἔσῃ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ. Ὃ Ἰωσὴφ ὑπὸ τῆς Αἰγυπτίας χρατούμενος ἀφῖχεν αὑτῇ τὰ ἱμάτια, καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ὁ Χριστὸς ὑπὸ τοῦ θανάτου χρατούμενος ἐξῆλθεν, καὶ τὰ ὀθόνια ἃ ἐφόρει, ἐν τῷ τάφῳ ἀφῆχεν. Εἶχεν ἡ Αἰγυπτία τὰ ἱμάτια, καὶ τὸν Ἰωσὴφ οὐ χατέσχεν εἶχεν ὁ τάφος ὀθόνια, καὶ τὸν Κύριον οὐκ ἐχράτησεν, χαθότι οὐχ ἧν δυνατὸν κρατεῖσθαι αὐτὸν ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ. διὸ παραχαλῶ, ὅσοι τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ ἀχροᾶται, γενώμεθα τῆς σωφροσύνης αὐτοῦ μιμηταί. Ἰωσὴφ ὑπὸ ἀδελφῶν ἐπράθη, καὶ ὑπὸ Θεοῦ ἡλευθερώθη \" καὶ σὺ, ὦ νεοφώτιστε, ἧσθά ποτε τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ πραθεὶς, καὶ χάριτι Χριστοῦ ἠλευθερώθης, τῇ ἐιϊευθερίᾳ ἦ ὁ Χρι- \"στὸς ἡμᾶς ἠλευθέρωσεν. Ἰωσὴφ ἕν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἦν Α “πλανώμενος, καὶ ὑπὸ Θεοῦ εἰς βασιλέα ὁδηγούμενος \" ἀλλ᾽ ὁ ὁδηγῶν ὡσεὶ πρόδατον τὸν Ἰωτὴφ, γκαί σε πλανώμενον εὗρεν ὡς πρόδατον, καὶ ὡς ποιμὴν ἐδάστασεν, καὶ εἰς τὰ ἄνω βασίλεια δῶρόν σε τῷ Πατρὶ προσήνεγχεν. Μίμησαι τὸν σώφρονα. Μαγεΐρῳ ὁ Ἰωσὴφ ἐπιπράσχετο, καὶ ὡς χαπνὸν τὴν Αἰγυπτίαν ἀπεστρέφετο. Ὁ σώφρων ὑπὸ τοῦ καπνοῦ τὴν χόρην ἐδριμύσσετο, καὶ ἣ πόρνη ὑπὸ τοῦ πάθους τὸν νοῦν ἐχαπνίζετο. Χιτῶνα ἐχράτησεν, ἀλλὰ σωφροσύνην οὐκ ἐσύλησεν \" τοῖς ἱματίοις ἐπάλαιεν, καὶ τὸν ἀθλητὴν οὐχ ἐσύλησεν΄ λυσσῶσα τὰ ἱμάτια ἔδαχεν, ἀλλὰ τὸν γέον λυσσόδηχτον οὐκ ἐποίησεν. Πρόσεχε\" Ὅτ᾽ ἂν χύων λτυσσήσας περισχίσῃ τινὰ, ἐχεῖνος ταχέως ἀποδύεται, καὶ ῥίπτει τὰ ἐνδύματα, ἵνα μὴ δι᾽ αὖτῶν ὁ ἰὸς ὁδεύων σπέρμα θανάτου τῷ φοροῦντι γενήσεται. Οὕτως ὁ Ἰωσὴφ τῇ Αἰγυπτίῳ λυσσώσῃ καὶ τῶν ἐματίων ἁψαμένῃ προσέῤῥιψεν τὰ ἱμάτια, καὶ τὸν θανάσιμον ἰὸν τῆς μοιχείας ἔφυγεν. Εἰ δὲ ἐχεῖνον δουλεύοντα ἡ ἰδία δέσποινα τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ οὐχ μῆὴτε δούλη σοι τῷ ἐλευθέρῳ παράχοιτος γένηται πόρνη. Παλλαχὴ γάρ ἐστιν χατοιχίδιος δούλῃ, κατα δουλοῦσα τὸν ἐλεύθερον. Ὦ τῆς ἐναντιότητος! Τὸν Ἰωσὴφ δουλεύοντα ἡ δέσποινα τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ οὐχ ἐδούλωτεν\" καὶ δεσπότης ἐλεύθερος δοῦλος τῆς δούλης διὰ πάθος γίνεται.","t":"Of Joseph it is written: “And Joseph was handsome in form, and very fair in appearance.” And [of Christ]: “Fair in beauty beyond the sons of men,” the prophet said of Christ. … like a physician visiting, and he was found as an enemy; like a shepherd having compassion, and he was seen as a robber … His brothers brought an evil report of Joseph to their father; and the Jews, reproaching the Lord, said, “We were not born of fornication,” meaning, as you are, the son of the unmarried girl. Joseph was sent to his brothers, and Christ was sent, and crucified. Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of gold, Christ for thirty pieces of silver. One of the twelve brothers sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites, the one who said, “Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites”; and one of the twelve disciples sold Christ to the Israelites. There Judah made the bargain; here Judas did the selling. Joseph was in the pit, and Christ in the tomb. The slander of the Egyptian woman threw Joseph into prison; and the false witness of the Synagogue handed Christ over bound to Pilate. Joseph stood by two eunuchs, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker; and Christ was crucified with two robbers, one on the right and one on the left. Joseph sent one of the two eunuchs to the palace; and Christ brought one of the two robbers into the kingdom: “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Joseph, held by the Egyptian woman, left his garments with her and went out; Christ, held by death, went out and left in the tomb the linen cloths he had worn. The Egyptian woman had the garments, and did not hold Joseph; the tomb had the linen cloths, and did not hold the Lord, “because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” Therefore I beg all of you who hear about Joseph: let us become imitators of his chastity. Joseph was sold by his brothers and set free by God; and you, newly baptized, were once sold to sin and have been set free by the grace of Christ, with the freedom with which Christ has set us free. Joseph wandered in the desert and was led by God to become a king; but he who leads Joseph like a sheep found you too wandering like a sheep, carried you as a shepherd, and offered you as a gift to the Father in the palace above. Imitate the chaste man. Joseph was sold to a cook, and turned away from the Egyptian woman as from smoke. The chaste man's eyes were stung by the smoke of the woman, while the harlot's mind was fumed by passion. She held his tunic, but did not rob him of his chastity; she wrestled with his garments, but did not despoil the athlete; raging, she bit his garments, but did not make the young man rabid. Note this: when a rabid dog tears someone, he quickly strips and throws away his clothes, so that the venom, passing through them, may not become a seed of death to the one who wears them. So Joseph threw his garments to the raging Egyptian woman who had seized them, and escaped the deadly venom of adultery. And if his own mistress did not [enslave] him, a slave, to sin, … let not a slave girl become a harlot bedfellow to you who are free. For a concubine is a household slave who enslaves a free man. O the contrariety! The mistress did not enslave Joseph the slave to sin; yet a free master becomes, through passion, the slave of his slave girl.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 19.2 (PG 40:458; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/19-2)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/19.3":{"o":"᾿Αλλὰ μέλλει τῷ τοιούτῳ ὁ Ἰωσὴφ διχάξεσθαι ἐν ἡμέρᾳ χρίσεως\" Ἐγὼ, λέγων, ἐπὶ ξένης πεπραμένος, οὐκ ἐπράθην τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ. οὐδὲ ξένον ἐμαυτὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐποίησα, καὶ ταῦτα νόμον μὴ λαδὼν, προφήτας μὴ μαθὼν, Εὐαγγέλια μὴ ἀναγνοὺς, ὅμως πρὸ τῶν Ὑραμμάτων ἐχείνων βιόλίον σωφροσύνης ἑαυτὸν τῷ βίῳ ἐκαλλιγράφησα\" σὺ δὲ, ὦ νεοφώτιστε, μετὰ νόμὸν, μετὰ προφήτας, μετὰ Εὐαγγέλια, μετὰ διδαμα, μετὰ τὸ νυμφιχὸν λοῦσμα, μετὰ τὸ πνευματιχὸν χρίσμα, μετὰ τὸ λαμπρὸν ἔνδυμα, δοῦλος δούλης γέγονας, τῷ πάθει δουλούμενος. Φύγε τὴν δουλείαν ἁμαρτίας, καὶ λάδε τὴν χληρονομίαν τῆς υἱοθεαίας. Εἰς τὸ τέλος ὑπὲρ τῆς χιϊηρογομούσης. Δοῦλον οἱ νόμοι Ῥωμαίων χληρονόμον οὐ παραδέχονται\" καὶ τὸν δοῦλον ὄντα τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ οἱ τοῦ Θεοῦ νόμοι τῆς χληρονομίας ἐχδάλλουσιν. \"Ἔχεις τὴν θύραν τοῦ νόμου, φύγε τὴν παράθυρον τῆς ἀνομίας. Ὁ μὴ εἰσερχόμενος διὰ τῆς θύρας, ἀλλὰ ἐμδαίνων θεν, χλέπτης ἐστὶν καὶ λῃστής \" χλέπτης, ὡς λανθάνων ἐν τῷ πορνεύειν \" λῃστὴς, ὡς διορύττων ἀλλότρίον γάμον. Ὃ δὲ εἰσερχόμενος διὰ τῆς θύρας τοῦ νομίμου γάμου, ποιμὴν ἔστι τῶν προδάτων, πατήρ ἔστιν τῶν γνησίων τέχνων᾽ χάτω μὲν χληρονομούμενος, ἄνω δὲ χληρονόμος γινόμενος ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν\" ἧς γένοιτο πάντας ἡμᾶς ἐπιτυχεῖν, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ. Χριστοῦ \" ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ χράτος, νῦν καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ᾿Αμήν.","t":"But Joseph will plead against such a man on the day of judgment, saying: “I, sold in a foreign land, was not sold to sin, nor did I make myself a stranger to God; and this though I had not received the law, nor learned the prophets, nor read the Gospels; yet before those writings I wrote myself out beautifully in my life as a book of chastity. But you, newly baptized, after the law, after the prophets, after the Gospels, after teaching, after the bridal bath, after the spiritual anointing, after the bright garment, have become the slave of a slave girl, enslaved by passion.” Flee the slavery of sin, and receive the inheritance of adoption. “For the end, for her who inherits.” The laws of the Romans do not accept a slave as heir; and the laws of God cast out of the inheritance one who is a slave to sin. You have the door of the law; flee the window of lawlessness. “Whoever does not enter by the door, but climbs in by another way, is a thief and a robber”: a thief, because he escapes notice when he commits fornication; a robber, because he breaks into another man's marriage. But the one who enters by the door of lawful marriage is the shepherd of the sheep, the father of legitimate children: below he leaves an inheritance, and above he becomes an heir in the kingdom of heaven. May we all attain it, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and might, now and to the ages of ages. Amen.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 19.3 (PG 40:459; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/19-3)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/2.1":{"o":"Β'. Ὁμιία ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ Λουχᾶν Ἑὐαγγειλίου, εἰς ᾿τὸν οἰχογόμον τῆς ἀδικίας. Πολλάχις ὑμῖν εἶπον διαλεγόμενος, ὅτι πεπλασμένη τις καὶ ψευδὴς ἔννοια τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐμπεσοῦσα, πληθύνει τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, καὶ ἐλαττοῖ τὰ ἀγαθὰ, ἅπερ ἕχαστος ὀφείλομεν ἐπὶ τῆς ἑαυτῶν πολιτείας ἀσχεῖν. Αὕτη δέ ἐστιν τὸ νομίζειν, ὅτι πάντα ὅσα ἔχομεν ἕν τῇ χρήσει τοῦ βίον, ὡς χύριοι χεχτήμεθα καὶ δεσπόται, Καὶ ταύτης ἕνεχεν τῆς ὑπολήψεως, σφοδρῶς ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν διαμαχόμεθα, καὶ πολεμοῦμεν, καὶ διχαζόμεθα, καὶ εἰς ἄχρον αὐτῶν περιεχόμεθα, ὡς ἑξαιρέτων χτημάτων. Ἡ ὃὲ ἀλήθεια οὐχ οὕτως ἔχει \" ἀλλὰ καὶ σφόδρα ἐναντίως. Πάντα γὰρ ὧν ἀκελάθομεν, οὐχ ἡμέτερα\" οὔτε μὴν ἡμεῖς, ὡς αὐθένται ᾠκίσθημεν' ἀλλ᾽ ὡς πάροιχοι, καὶ ἐπήλυδες, καὶ μετανάσται, ἀγόμεθα ὅπου οὐ θέλομεν, καὶ ἡνίχα οὗ προσεδοχῶμεν. ᾿Αφαιρούμεθα δὲ τῶν ὄντων, ὅταν δόξῃ τῷ Κυρίῳ, τῆς χτήσεως. Διὸ καὶ εὐμετάθολον χρήμά ἔστιν τὸ τῆς ἑπιχήρου ταύτης ζωῆς \" καὶ ὁ σήμερον ἔνδοξος, αὔριον ἐλεεινὸς, οἴχτου καὶ βοηθείας ἄξιος \" ὁ νῦν εὔπορος καὶ εὐθηνούμενος ταῖς ὕλαις τοῦ πλούτου, πένης μετὰ μιχρὸν, οὐδὲ τὸν ἄρτον οἴχοθεν ἔχων, ὅν προσφέρηται εἰς ζωήν. Καὶ τούτῳ μάλιστα ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, τῶν θνητῶν ὑπερέχει, τῷ ἀεὶ ὁ αὐτὸς εἶναι, καὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχειν, καὶ ἀναφαίρετον χεχτῆσθαι ζωὴν, καὶ δόξαν, καὶ δύναμιν. Πόθεν οὖν εἰς ταύτην ἦλθον τὴν ἀρχὴν τοῦ λόγου, ἣ τάχα γνώριμον ἤδη τυγχάνει τοῖς νοῦν ἔχουσι καὶ φιλολόγοις. Ὃ Λουχᾶς ἡμῖν παραθδολὴν ἀναπλάσας ὑπανέγνω ἀρτίως, ἐν ἧ τὸν οἰχονόμον τῶν ἀλλο- «ρίων ὑπογράφει στενόμενον καὶ θλιδόμενον, ἐπειδὴ ὡς παθητὴς καὶ πολυδάπανος ἤχουσεν παρὰ τοῦ χυρίου τῶν χρημάτων καὶ τῶν χτημάτων, ὅτι Δὸς τὸν ᾿όγον τῆς διοικήσεως, καὶ μετάστηθι\" οὐ γάρ σε τοῖς ἐμοῖς, ὡς ἰδίοις, ἐντρυφᾷν ἀνέξομαι. Τοῦτο δὲ ἔστιν, οὗ γενομένου πράγματος ἐξήγησις, ἀλλὰ πλά… τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐχπαιδεύουσα. Γνῶθι τοίνυν ἕχαστος, ὡς ἀλλοτρίων εξ διοιχητὴς, καὶ ῥίψας ἀπὸ τῆς ψυχῆς σου -ἧς αὐθεντίας τὴν ὑπερηφανίαν, τὸ τοῦ ὑπευθύνου καὶ οἰκονόμου ἀνάλαδε ταπεινὸν καὶ εὐλαδὲς, ἀεὶ τὸν χύριόν σηυ ἀναμένων, καὶ μετὰ δειλίας συγγράφων τῆς ἀπολογίας τὸ λογοθέσιον. Πάροιχος γὰρ εἶ, ὁλι- Εἰ ἀμφιδάλλεις ἐπὶ τοῖς γνωρίμοις, χατάμαθε τὰ γινόμενα, καὶ τῇ ἀψευδεῖ διδασχάλῳ, τῇ πείρχ, παι- Κέχτησαι χωρίον, ἣ παρὰ πατέρων λαδὼν, ἣ ἀπό οὖν τῇ μνῆμῃ κκαὶ ἀπαρίθμησαι πάντας, εἰ δύνασαι, τῷ μέλλοντι χρόνῳ τὸν νοῦν, καὶ πόσοι αὐτοῦ χυριεύσουσι μετὰ σὲ χατανόησον. Φράσον δέ μοι, τίνος ἡ δεσποτεία, καὶ τίσι χατ᾽ ἐξαίρετον διαφέρουσα τοῖς ἐσχηχόσ', τοῖς ἔχουσιν, ἣ τοῖς μέλλουσιν; γάρ τις ἐκ μηχανῆς πάντας ἀθροίσειεν, εὑρεθήσονται πλείους τῶν βώλων οἱ χεχτημένοι. Μᾶλλον δὲ, εἴπερ ἀχριδῶς βούλει χατιδεῖν τίνι παρόμοιος ὁ βίος ἡμῶν, μνημόνευσον εἴποτε ὥρᾳ θέρους ὁδοιπορῶν, ἐθεάσω δένδρον ἀμφιθαλὲς, ἐπὶ πολὺ τοῦ πλάτους καὶ τοῦ μήχους διήχον, ἱχανὸν τῇ σχιᾷ οἰχίας πληρῶσαι χρείαν. Τούτῳ τερφθεὶς ὑπῆλθες, καὶ, ἐφ᾽ ὅσον ἐξῆν, ἐχεῖσε χατέμεινες. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἔδει πάλιν ἀπᾶραι, καὶ σοῦ βουλομένου τὴν ἄφιξιν, ἕτερος ὁδοιπόρος ἐπέστη. Καὶ σὺ μὲν ἐφόρτους τὴν ἀποσχευὴν \" ὁ δὲ τὴν ἰδίαν χαθέρει, καὶ πάντα τὰ σὰ ἀθρόον διεδέξατο, τὴν στιθάδα, τὸ πῦρ, τὴν τοῦ δένδρου σχιὰν, τὸ παραῤῥέον ὕδωρ. Καὶ ὁ μὲν εἴχετο τῆς χαταχλίσεως \" σὺ δὲ, τοῦ περἰπάτου. Ἑτέρφθη χἀχεῖνος, εἶτα ἀφῆχεν᾽ καὶ τὸ ἕν … διχάζεται καὶ φέρεται, … ὀλιγοχρόνιον καταγώγιον \" καὶ τὸ πάντων γενόμενον, ἑνὸς ἦν τοῦ ὄντος χυρίου. Οὑτωσὶ δὲ καὶ αἱ … σχεύη παντοδαπά. Οὐδέπω δέ που πρὸς αὐτάρχειαν … τὰς ἀπ᾽ ἐχείνης ὕλας, ἄλλοι ἐξ ἄλλων ὡς ἱμάτια … ὑπαρχόντων … ἀξίας ἣ σχηνὴ, τὸ ἀργυροῦν ὄχημα, … ; Ὡς γὰρ ἡ χλίνη τῆς ἐχφορᾶς ἄλλοτε ἄλλα δέ… μενοι. Πάντα γὰρ ταῦτα πρὸς ἕνα τείνει σχοπὸν, …","t":"Homily 2. From the Gospel according to Luke, on the steward of unrighteousness. I have often told you in my discourses that a fabricated and false notion, once it has taken hold of people, multiplies sins and diminishes the good works that each of us ought to practise in our own way of life. It is this: to think that everything we have for the use of life we possess as lords and masters. Because of this assumption we fight fiercely for these things, make war, go to law, and cling to them to the utmost, as though they were our own special possessions. But the truth is not so; it is quite the opposite. For nothing of what we have received is ours; nor were we settled here as owners. As sojourners, newcomers and migrants, we are led where we do not wish and when we did not expect; and we are deprived of our property whenever the Lord pleases. That is why the affair of this perishable life is so easily changed: the man who is glorious today is pitiable tomorrow, deserving compassion and help; the man who is now prosperous and flourishing with the materials of wealth is shortly poor, without even bread at home to take for his life. And in this above all our God surpasses mortals: that he is always the same and remains unchanged, and possesses life, glory and power that cannot be taken away. Why, then, did I begin my discourse in this way? Perhaps it is already clear to those who have sense and love the word. The parable that Luke composed was read to us just now, in which he describes the steward of another's goods in distress and affliction, because, as a man of passions and extravagance, he heard from the master of the money and the property: “Give the account of your management, and depart; for I will not endure your luxuriating in my goods as if they were your own.” This is not an account of something that happened, but a fiction … training [us] in virtue. Know, then, each of you, that you are the manager of another's goods; cast out of your soul the pride of ownership, and take up the humble and reverent bearing of the accountable steward, always awaiting your lord and composing with fear the account for your defence. For you are a sojourner, … If you are in doubt about what is well known, learn from what happens, and be taught by the teacher who does not lie, experience. You have acquired an estate, either receiving it from your fathers or from … in memory, and count them all if you can; [turn] your mind to the time to come, and consider how many will be masters of it after you. Tell me, whose is the ownership, and to whom does it especially belong: to those who had it, to those who have it, or to those who will? For if someone were to gather them all together by some contrivance, the owners would be found to outnumber the clods. Or rather, if you want to see exactly what our life is like, remember whether, walking on a summer day, you have ever seen a tree leafy all round, spreading wide in breadth and length, able with its shade to serve as a house. Delighted with it, you went under it and stayed there as long as you could. But when you had to set out again, and were wishing to leave, another traveller arrived. You were loading your baggage, he was putting down his own, and he took over all your things at once: the bed of leaves, the fire, the shade of the tree, the water flowing by. He kept to his reclining, you to your walking. He too took his pleasure there, then left it; and … is divided and carried along … the short-lived lodging; and what had become everyone's belonged to the one real Lord. So too … vessels of every kind. Never yet … toward sufficiency … the materials from it, one after another, like clothes … of property … the tent, the silver carriage … ? For as the funeral bier [receives] now one and now another … For all these tend toward one end …","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 2.1 (PG 40:183; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/2-1)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/2.2":{"o":"Καὶ ἵνα χαταμάθῃς ἀχριδῶς, ὅτι νόμοις καὶ χανόσι δεσπατιχοῖς, χαθ᾽ οὖς σε προσῆχεν ἀχριδῶς διορθοῦν\" ἀπὸ σαυτοῦ πρῶτον χατανόη τον, ὅτι καὶ τὸ σῶμά σον, καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ πανταχόθεν τοῖς τῆς ἀρετῆς ὑπόχειται παραγγέλμασιν, καὶ οὐδὲ σαυτοῦ χύριος εἶ - ἀλλὰ προσῆχέν σε οἰχονομεῖν καὶ λόγον καὶ πρᾶξιν, καὶ πᾶν τῆς ζωῆς σου χίνημα. “Ἐλαδες σῶμα παρὰ τοῦ χτίσαντος, ἐχ πολλῶν μορίων συγκείμενον, καὶ πέντε αἰσθήσεσιν εἰς τὰς τῆς ζωῆς χρείας οἰχονομούμενον. Εἰσὶ δὲ οὐδὲ αὗται ἐλεύθεροι καὶ αὐτόνομοι\" ἀλλ᾽ ἑχάστη δούλη νόμων ἐστίν. Καὶ πρῶτος ἀχούει ὀφθαλμός\" Βλέπε φύσιν, καὶ θεώρει ἃ βλέπειν χαλόν- ἥλιον, πᾶσαν τὴν οἰχουμένην φω- «τίζοντα “ σελήνην, τὸ σχυθρωπὸν καὶ ζοφῶδες τῆς νυχτὸς χαταυγάζουσαν\" τοὺς ἄλλους ἀστέρας, οὐ πολὺ μὲν, οὐδὲ αὔταρχες ἡμῖν τὸ παρ᾽ ἑαυτῶν φῶς Β χορηγοῦντας \" πλὴν τὸ χάλλος ὃ ἔλαχον, ἀποστίλδοντας. Θεώρει γῆν, φυτοῖς παντοδαπέσι καὶ βοτάναις ὅταν εἰς χαθαρὰν γαλήνην παγῇ. Εἰς ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα χαταχέχζρησο τῷ ὁρᾷν τὰς δὲ ἄλλας θέας, ἔσαι διὰ τῆς ὄψεως τὴν βλάδην ἐπεισάγουσι τῇ ψυχἧ, φεῦγΞ καὶ παράτρεχε, καὶ ἐπιτίθει σαυτῷ χάλυμμα, ἵνα μὴ βλέπῃ. Βέλτιον γὰρ σχοτίσαι τὴν αἴσθησιν, ὅταν τῶν ἔργων τοῦ σχότους τὴν αἰτίαν παρἔχει. Διὰ τοῦτο χθὲς ἔλεγεν ἡμῖν ὁ Κύριος διὰ Ματθαίου - Πᾶς ὁ βλέπων γυναῖχα πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι, ἤδη ἐμοίχευσεν αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ\" καὶ βέλτιον ἐχχόπτειν αὐτὸν, ὅταν ἄταχτα βλέπῃ καὶ ἐπιζήμια. Καὶ ἣ ἀχοὴ παραγγέλματα χωλυτιχὰ πά-σης [χκαχῆ΄ς] ἀχροάσεως. Χρὴ γὰρ αὐτὴν, ὅταν μὲν ἀγαθῶν τινων ἀχούῃ, ἀναπεπταμένην εἶναι, καὶ δι᾽ ἑαυτῆς τῇ ψυχῇ παραπέμπειν τῶν συμφερόντων λόγῶν τὴν αἴσθησιν. Εἰ δέ τις χαχίας ἑταῖρος, καὶ λοιμὸς, καὶ φθόρος πλησιάσας αὐτῇ, ἐπαντλεῖν μέλλει τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὸν βόρδορον, δεῖ φεύγειν αὐτὸν, ὡς ἰοδόλον θηρίον. Σωφρονείτω καὶ ἣ γλῶσσα μετὰ τοῦ στόματος \" λαλείτω τὰ δίχαια \" τῶν δὲ ἀπηγορευμένων ἀπεχέσθω, ριῶν, συχοφαντιῶν, χατηγορίας ἀδίχου, χαταλαλιᾶς τῆς χατὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν, βλασφημίας τῆς πρὸς Θεόν\" φθεγγέσθω δὲ ὅσα εὔφημα, ὅσα εὐσεδῇ, ὅσα πράξεων ἀγαθῶν ἔχει τὴν συμόουλήν \" καὶ λεγέτω πᾶς ἄνθρωπῆς τὰ τοῦ Ἱεροψάλτου\" Εἶπα\" Φυ.ἰάξω τὰς ὁδούς μου, τοῦ μὴ ἁμαρτάνειν μδ ἐν γιώσσῃ μου \" καὶ τὸ, Ταῖς γλώσσαις αὐτῶν ἐδο.ιοῦσαν\" γαὶ τὸ, Τί τὴν ἡμέραν ἀδιχίαν ἐ.1ογίσατο ἡ γιῶσσά σου\" ὡσεὶ ξυρὸν ἠχονημένον ἐποίησας δόνῖιον. τῶν ὠφελούντων τὸ στόμα. Σωφρωνείτω καὶ ἣ ῥὶς, μὴ τρυφὴν ἀεὶ ὀσφραινομένη, μῆτε μύρων πολυτελῶν ἀτμοὺς εὐώδεις ἐπὶ τὴν χεφαλὴν ἀνέλχουσα. Τῶν γὰρ τοιούτων καὶ ὁ Ἡσαΐας σφοδρῶς ἔστιν χατήγορος. Μεμνήσθω καὶ ἡ χεὶρ τῶν ἐντολῶν, ἵνα μὴ πάντων ἀχωλύτως ἅπτηται. Ἐχτεινέσθω πρὸς ἐλεημοσύνην, μὴ πρὸς ἁρπαγήν τηρείτω τὰ ἴδια, μὴ συν-ἀγέτω τὰ ἀλλότρια \" ἁπτέσθω σωμάτων νωθρῶν καὶ χεχαχωμένων δι ἀγαθῆς ἐπισχέψεως, μὴ τῶν σφριγώντων καὶ ταῖς πορνείαις ἀεὶ σχολαζόντων. Ἔδειξεν ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος, ὡς καὶ αὐτοὶ ἑαυτῶν οὐ δεσπόται ἐσμὲν, ἀλλ᾽ οἰχονόμοι. Πᾶν γὰρ τὸ νόμοις ὑποχείμενον καὶ προστάγμασι, δοῦλον τοῦ νομοθέτου ἐστὶν καὶ ὑπήχοον, Εἰ δὲ τὰ μόρια τοῦ σώματος ἡμῶν οὐχ ἐλεύθερα ἐξουσίας, ἀλλὰ δεσποτιχῷ βουλήματι πρὸς τὰς ἐνεργείας χανονιζόμενα \" τί ἂν εἴποι τις καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀνεύθυνον ἔχειν τὴν χτῆσιν; Οὐδὲν δὸν, ἄνθρωπε. Σὺ δοῦλος, καὶ τὰ σὰ τοῦ Κυρίον. Δοῦ.1ος γὰρ ἐλεύθερον πεχούνιον οὐχ ἔχει. Γυμνὸς Ὑὰρ ἤχθης εἰς τοῦτο τὸ φῶς\" ἔλαθες ἃ ἔχεις χατὰ νόμον τοῦ Κυρίου σου, ἣ χληρονομῆσας πατέρα, ἐπειδὴ οὕτως ὁ Θεὸς διετάξατο (Γονεὶς γὰρ τέχνοις, φησὶ, μεριοῦσι σκύ.1α), ἢ ἀπὸ γάμου τὴν εὐπορίαν χτησάμενος (γάμος δὲ καὶ τὰ ἐπ᾽ ἐχείνῳ παρὰ θεοῦ διατέταχται), ἣ ἀπὸ ἐμπορίας, καὶ γεωργίας, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων προφάσεων, Θεοῦ πρὸς ἐχεῖνα συμπρά- Ἰδοὺ τοίνυν, ἐδείχθη ὅτι ἔλαδες τὰ μὴ σά. Ἴδωμεν τοίνυν λοιπὸν, τί σοὶ ἐπετάχθη, καὶ οἵα ἐπὶ ἐχείνοις διοίκησις. Δὸς τῷ πεινῶντι, ἔνδυσον τὸν γυμνὸν, θεράπευσον τὸν χεχαχωμένον, μὴ περιίδῃς τὸν ἄπορον, τὸν ἐῤῥιμμένον ἐν τοῖς τριόδοις. Σὺ μὲν σαυτοῦ μὴ μεριμνήσῃς, μηδὲ φροντίσῃς, πῶς διάξεις ἐπὶ τῆς ὑστεραίας. Κἂν ταῦτα, φησὶν, ἐργάσῃ, τιμηθήσῃ παρὰ τοῦ νομοθέτου \" ἂν δὲ παραχούσῃς τῆς ἐντολῆς, χολασθήσῃ πιχρῶς. Ταῦτα ἐγὼ οὐ βλέπω τοῦ αὐτεξουσίου, οὐδὲ τοῦ ζῶντος μετ᾽ αὐθεντείας \" ἀλλὰ τοὺὖνἀντίον, τὰ πολλὰ καὶ συνεχῆ προστάγματα ὑποδείχνυσί μοι ἄνθρωπον βασιλευόμενον ἰσχυρῶς, καὶ νόμοις δεσποτιχοῖς ὑπεύθυνον, καὶ τὴν χεχανονισμένην πολιτείαν ἀπαιτούμενον ὡς χρέος. Ἡμεῖς δὲ, πῶς ἀλογίστευτον ἔχοντες τὸν βίον, τοὺς μὲν ἀθλίους καὶ σιν, χολάχων πλῆθος ἀσώτων τρέφοντες, καὶ φρατρίας μάχοις καὶ θηρίοις σχορπίζοντες τὸν πλοῦτον, χὰν ταῖς ἱπποτροφίαις οὐδενὸς τῶν ὄντων φειδόμενοι \"","t":"And so that you may learn exactly that [you are bound] by a master's laws and rules, by which you ought to set your life exactly right, consider first from yourself that both your body and your soul are subject on every side to the commands of virtue, and that you are not even master of yourself: you must manage your word, your deed, and every movement of your life. You received from the Creator a body composed of many parts and managed for the needs of life by five senses. Not even these are free and self-governing; each is the slave of laws. And the eye hears first: “Look at nature, and behold what it is good to see: the sun, lighting the whole world; the moon, brightening the gloom and darkness of night; the other stars, which supply us with no great or sufficient light of their own, but flash forth the beauty allotted to them. Behold the earth, [adorned] with plants and herbs of every kind … when it settles into clear calm. Use your sight for these and such things; but the other sights, which bring harm into the soul through the eyes, flee and run past, and put a covering over yourself so as not to see. For it is better to darken the sense when it supplies the cause of the works of darkness.” For this reason the Lord said to us yesterday through Matthew: “Everyone who looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart”; and it is better to cut the eye out when it looks at disorderly and harmful things. The hearing too [has] commands forbidding all [evil] listening. It ought to be open when it hears anything good, and to convey through itself to the soul the perception of profitable words. But if a companion of vice, a pest and a corrupter, comes near it and is about to pour in the filth of sin, it must flee him as a venomous beast. Let the tongue too be sober, along with the mouth; let it speak what is right and abstain from what is forbidden: …, slanders, unjust accusation, evil-speaking against the brothers, blasphemy against God; let it utter whatever is well spoken, whatever is godly, whatever gives counsel for good deeds; and let every man say the words of the holy psalmist: “I said, I will guard my ways, so as not to sin with my tongue”; and “With their tongues they deceived”; and “All day your tongue devised injustice; like a sharpened razor you worked deceit.” … the mouth … of what is profitable. Let the nose too be sober, not always smelling out luxury, nor drawing up to the head the fragrant vapours of costly perfumes; for Isaiah too is a severe accuser of such people. Let the hand also remember the commandments, so that it does not touch everything without restraint. Let it stretch out to almsgiving, not to robbery; let it keep its own and not gather what belongs to others; let it touch sluggish and afflicted bodies in kindly visiting, not bodies swelling with vigour and always given over to sexual immorality. The discourse has shown us that we are not even masters of ourselves, but stewards. For everything subject to laws and commands is the slave and subject of the lawgiver. And if the parts of our body are not free in their authority, but are regulated in their activities by the master's will, how could anyone say that he holds anything else without having to give account? He cannot, O man. You are a slave, and your things belong to the Lord; for a slave has no property of his own. You were brought naked into this light; you received what you have by the law of your Lord: either inheriting from your father, since God so ordained (“For parents,” it says, “will divide spoils for their children”), or acquiring prosperity from marriage (and marriage and what goes with it are ordained by God), or from trade, farming, and the other occasions, with God working along with you in them. See, then: it has been shown that you received what is not yours. Let us see, then, what you were commanded, and how you were to manage these things. “Give to the hungry, clothe the naked, tend the afflicted, do not overlook the destitute man thrown down at the crossroads. Do not be anxious for yourself, nor take thought how you will live tomorrow. And if you do these things,” it says, “you will be honoured by the lawgiver; but if you disobey the command, you will be punished bitterly.” I do not see in these the marks of a man who is his own master, or who lives with authority; on the contrary, the many continuous commands show me a man strongly ruled, accountable to a master's laws, and required to render the prescribed way of life as a debt. But we, how thoughtlessly we live! [Neglecting] the wretched and …, feeding a crowd of profligate flatterers, scattering our wealth on clubs, fighters and wild beasts, and sparing nothing we have on horse-breeding,","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 2.2 (PG 40:186; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/2-2)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/2.3":{"o":"ὁλεθρίοις δαπανῶντες τὴν εὐπορίαν. Καὶ πρᾶγμα πάσχομεν χενὸν, καὶ μανίας ἐγγύς. Ἔνθα μὲν γὰρ ἡ δαπάνη φέρει τὸ χέρδος ἀνάριθμον καὶ σωτηρίαν ἀθάνατον, συνέχομεν σφοδρῶς τὸ ἀργύριον, ὡς μηδὲ ὀλίγους ἐδολοὺς τῆς χειρὸς ἐἔχπεσεῖν ᾿ ὅπον δὲ ἀμαρτιῶν γίνεταε τὸ ἀνάλωμα καὶ μυρίων χολάσεων αἴτιον, καὶ αὐτῆς γε τῆς διὰ πυρὸς τιμωρίας, αὐτοχέσιν᾿ καὶ πάσας θύρας ἀνοίξαντες, ἀφίεμεν τὸν πλοῦτον πρὸς τοὺς ἔξω χωρεῖν. Τοῦτο δὲ τὸ φρόνημα οὐχ ἔστι δούλων ἀναμενόντων τὸν χύριον, ἀλλὰ νέων ἀσώτων, χωμαστῶν, ἀχολάστων. Εἰ δὲ θέλεις, ὁ ἀχροατὴς, ἰδεῖν οἰχονόμου φόδον, μετὰ τῆς σώφρονος εὐλαδείας διοιχοῦντος τὰ πίστευθέντα, ἀνάπτυξον τὴν βίόλον τοῦ Δαθδίδ᾽ ζήτησον ἐκείνους τοὺς λόγους ἔνθα φησὶν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ὁ ἀνὴρ, πολυπραγμονῶν τοῦ ἰδίου τέλους τὴν προθεσμίαν \" Γνώρισόν μοι, Κύριδ, τὸ πέρας μου, καὶ τὸν ἀριθμὸν τῶν ἡμερῶν μου τίς ἐστιν, ἵνα γνῶ τί ὑστερῶ ἐγώ. Ὁρᾷς ὅπως ὡς ἐν εἰχόνι θεωρεῖται τῷ λόγῳ ἡ τοῦ εὐξαμένου διάθεσις, ὅτι περιδεῆς ἐστι, καὶ προορᾶ τὸ μέλλον, καὶ ἀναμένει τὴν χρίσιν, καὶ τὴν προθεσμίαν περιεργάζεται, ἵνα μὴ [τὸ] ἀπαράσχενον αὐτὸν χαταλάθῃ τῆς ἐξόδου τὸ σύνθημα ᾿ καὶ ζητεῖ λογισάμενος χατιδεῖν, τί τὸ τῆς παροιχίας ὑστέρημα, ἵνα σπεύσας ἀναπληρώσῃ, πρὶν ἐλθεῖν τὸν ἐξάγοντα. ᾿Αληθῶς γάρ ἐστιν εἰχὼν οἰχονόμου, ἐχάσ:ου ἡμῶν τελευτὴ, ἂν τὰ χαθ᾽ ἕκαστον ἀλλήλοις » ἀντεξετάσωμεν, τί μὲν πάσχει ὁ ἀποθνήσχων, τί δὲ ὑπομένει ὁ τῆς οἰχονομίας ἐχδαλλόμενος. Ὁμοίως γὰρ ὁ τελευτῶν ἄλλοις μεταπαραδίδωσι τὴν διοίχησιν, ὡς ὁ οἰχονόμος τὰς χλεῖδας \" ἐχεῖνος ἐχθαλλόμενος ἀγροῦ\" οὗτος, τοῦ χότμου παντὸς, ὡς ἑνὸς χωρίου. Περιπαθὼν ἀναχωρεῖ οἰχονόμος τῶν ἰδίων πόνων, οἷον ἀμπέλων, χήπων, οἰχιῶν “ τί οὖν δοχεῖ σοι καὶ ὁ τελευτῶν πάσχειν; Οὐχ ὀδύρεται τὰ χτήματα; οὐχ ἐλεεινὸν περιδλέπει τὴν οἰχίαν, μετὰ τοσαύτην προσπάθειαν ἀπροαιρέτως αὐτῆς ἀποσπώἕενος, πόῤῥω θησαυρῶν, ταμιείων; καὶ ὅταν ἀφἰχηται πρὸς τὸν χληρωθέντα τόπον, ἀχούων ᾿᾿Απόδος τὸν «1όγον τῆς οἰχογομίας σου\" δεῖξον, ὅπως Ἦχουσας τῶν ἐντολῶν, ὅπως διετέθης πρὸς τοὺς ὁμοδούλους, ἣ χρηστῶς καὶ φιλανθρώπως, ἣ τοὐναντίον ἐπαχθῶς καὶ τυραννιχῶς;), παίων, χονδυλίζων, ἀποστερῶν τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης σιτηρέσιον; Κἂν μὴν δυνηθῇ Ὅεω χαταστῆσαι τὸν δεσπότην, ἀγαθὸν δοῦλον ἑαυτὸν δείξας, εὖ ἂν ἔχοι εἰ δὲ τοὐναντίον, οὐχ ἔτι πέδαι σιδηραῖ\" ἀλλὰ πῦρ ἄσθεστον, καὶ σχότος αἰώνιον … τῶν ὀδόντων, ὃν σαφῶς ἡμῖν τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον προεδήλωσεν. Εἰ μὲν οὖν οὐδέποτε τῶν ἐνταῦθα, ὡς ἀλλοτρίων, ἐχδάλλῃ, χατατρύφησον τοῦ χόσμου, καὶ μετὰ πάσης αἰσθήσεως ἀχώλυτον ἄφες τὴν ἡδονήν. Εἰ δὲ συντελεσθήσεται ταῦτα, καὶ ἐπὶ μαχρὸν ὅ᾽ αὐτῶν᾽ ἀπολαύσομεν᾽' φοδηθῶμεν, ἀδελφοὶ, τὴν ἐνθένδε μετάστασιν, καὶ ζήσωμεν ἐν τῷ χαιρῷ τῆς παροιχίας, ὡς ὁ Κύριος ἐνετείλατο\" μὴ ἀπαχθῶμεν δεσμῶται μετὰ χρεῶν, ἀλλ᾽ ὁδεύσωμϑυ ἐλεύθεροι, καὶ εὐπαῤῥησίαστον τὸ συνειδὸς ἐπαγόμενοι, ἀχατάννωστα φέροντες τὰ τῆς τοῦ βίου πολιτείας βιδλία. ἐχεῖνος, οὗ ἡ χώρα ηὐφόρησεν' ἐπειδὴ τῇ εὐθηνίᾳ τῶν χαρπῶν, οὐδὲν ὁ ἄνθρωπος χρηστὸν ἑδουλεύσατο\" ἀλλ᾽ ἀνοίξας γαστρὸς ἐπιθυμίαν, καὶ τοὺς πλατεὶς καὶ ἀχωρήτους τῆς πλεονεξίας χόλπους, πάντα ἀπεχλήρου τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ἀπολαύσει, λέγων\" Καθε.ϊῶ μου τὰς ἀποθήκας, καὶ μείζονας οἰκοδομήσω, καὶ ἐρῷ τῇ ψυχῇ μου\" Ἔχεις πο.1.1ὰ ἀγαθὰ κείμενα\" ἀναπαύου, φάγε, πίε, εὐρραίνγου \" καὶ μεταξὺ λαλοῦντος, ὁ ἀπάγων ἑπέστη\" ἦλθε φοθδερὸς λος, ἀνάσπαστον ἐχ τῆς οἰχονομίας ἀπάξων ᾿ καὶ τέ τὸ ὄφελος τῆς φιληδόνου βουλῆς; Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἐμψύχως ἐγράφη εἰς νουθεσίαν ἡμῶν. Ἡ δὲ πεῖρα τοῦ βίου ποταπή; Οὐ χαθ᾽ ἑχάστην ἡμέραν ταῦτα δι᾽ ἔργων βοᾷ, δειχνῦσα ἡμῖν τὸν ἐν μέσῃ ἡμέρᾳ ὑγιαίνοντα, πρὸ τῆς ἐπιτολῆς τοῦ ἑσπέρου νεχρόν\" καὶ τὸν ἐῤῥωμένον ἐν τῇ ἑσπέρᾳ, τὴν ἀχτῖνα τὴν ἑωθινὴν οὐ χαταλαμθάνοντα\" καὶ ἄλλον μεταξὺ τοῦ ἐσθίειν, τοῦ ζῇν ἀπολήγοντα; Τίς δὲ οὕτως ἠλίθιος, ὡς μὴ συνορᾶν, ὅπως χαθημέραν ἄλλος ἄλλοτε τῆς ἐνθάδε οἰχονομίας ἀποχινούμεθα; ᾿Αλλ᾽ ὁ μὲν ἀγαθὸς καὶ πιστὸς οἰχέτης καὶ πεποιθὼς τῇ ἑαυτοῦ διοιχήσει, οὕτως ἔχει γνώμης, ὡς εἶχε Παῦλο:.! Ἐχεῖνος γὰρ, τοῦ Κυρίου μὴ κατεπείγοντος, ἔσπευδε πρὸς αὐτὸν, καὶ τὴν ἀνάλυσιν ἐπόθει, καὶ παρῃτεῖτο ἐχὼν τὴν οἰχονομίαν, πῆ μὲν λέγων \" Ταλαίπωρος ἐγὼ ἄνθρωπος, τίς μὲ ῥύσεται ἐκ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ θανάτου τούτου;","t":"… spending our prosperity on ruinous things. We suffer something empty and close to madness. Where the expense brings countless profit and immortal salvation, we hold on to our silver fiercely, so that not even a few obols fall from our hand; but where the outlay is for sins and the cause of countless punishments, and of the punishment by fire itself, of our own accord we open all the doors and let our wealth flow out. This mind is not that of slaves awaiting their lord, but of profligate young men, revellers, and the licentious. If you wish, my hearer, to see the fear of a steward who manages what was entrusted to him with sober reverence, open the book of David; look for the words in which the man, inquiring into the appointed time of his end, says to God: “Make known to me, Lord, my end, and what is the number of my days, so that I may know what I lack.” Do you see how in these words, as in a picture, the disposition of the one praying is seen? He is fearful, he foresees the future, he awaits the judgment, he searches out the appointed time, so that the signal for departure may not find him unprepared; and by reckoning he tries to see what is lacking in his sojourning, so that he may hasten to make it up before the one who leads him out arrives. Truly the death of each of us is a picture of the steward, if we compare the details with one another: what the dying man suffers, and what the man thrown out of his stewardship endures. For the dying man hands over the management to others just as the steward hands over the keys: the one is thrown out of a field, the other out of the whole world as if out of a single estate. The steward departs grieving over his own labours, such as vineyards, gardens, houses; what, then, do you think the dying man suffers? Does he not lament his possessions? Does he not look around pitiably at his house, torn from it against his will after such attachment, far from his treasures and storerooms? And when he arrives at the place allotted to him, he hears: “Render the account of your stewardship; show how you obeyed the commandments, how you were disposed toward your fellow slaves, whether kindly and humanely, or on the contrary harshly and tyrannically, beating, buffeting, depriving them of the allowance of mercy.” If he can make the master gracious, showing himself a good slave, it would be well with him; but if the opposite, there are no longer iron fetters, but unquenchable fire and eternal darkness … of teeth, which the Gospel has plainly foretold to us. If, then, you will never be thrown out of the things here as belonging to another, live luxuriously in the world and let pleasure run unhindered through every sense. But if these things will come to an end, and we shall not enjoy them long, let us fear, brothers, our departure from here, and let us live in the time of our sojourning as the Lord commanded. Let us not be led away as prisoners with debts, but let us travel as free men, bringing a conscience that can speak boldly, and carrying the books of our life's conduct beyond reproach. … that man whose land bore well. For when his crops were plentiful the man planned nothing good, but opening the desire of his belly and the broad, unbounded lap of his greed, he allotted everything to his own enjoyment, saying: “I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and I will say to my soul: You have many good things laid up; rest, eat, drink, be merry.” And while he was still speaking, the one who leads away stood by him; a fearful … came, to drag him out of his stewardship. And what was the profit of his pleasure-loving plan? These things were written vividly for our admonition. And what does the experience of life show? Does it not cry out these things every day through deeds, showing us the man healthy at midday dead before the evening star rises; the man strong in the evening not reaching the morning light; and another ending his life in the middle of eating? Who is so foolish as not to see how every day, one at one time and another at another, we are removed from the stewardship here? But the good and faithful servant, confident in his own management, is of the same mind as Paul. For Paul, though the Lord was not pressing him, hastened toward him, longed for his departure, and willingly begged off his stewardship, saying at one point: “Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death?”","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 2.3 (PG 40:189; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/2-3)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/2.4":{"o":"καὶ πάλιν: Ἐμοὶ δὲ, καλὸν ἀναλῦσαι, καὶ σὺν Χριστῷ εἶναι. Ὃ δὲ γήινος τὸ φρόνημα, καὶ τῶν … γῶν ἐπὶ τῇ μεταστάσει, οἵα οὗτος ὃ τῆς παραδολῇς ἄνθρωπος Τί ποιήσω, ὅτι ὁ κύριός μου ἀφαιρεῖται τὴν οἰχογομίαν ἀπ' ἐμοῦ; Σχάπτειν οὐκ ἰσχύω, ἀπαιτεῖν αἰσχύνομαι. ᾿Αργοῦ καὶ φιληδόνου ἡ λύπη. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἐπὶ τῇ ἀναχωρήσει θρηνεῖν, ἔλεγχός ἐστιν τοῦ προστετηχέναι τῷ χωρίῳ, καὶ τὰς ἐμπαθεῖς τῆς σαρχὸς ἀπολαύσεις ὀδύρεσθαι\" τὸ δὲ ἀδυνατεῖν πρὸς ἔργον, ἀργοῦ βίου καὶ ἀναπεπτωχότος ἐστὶ χατηγόρημα. Εἰ γὰρ εἶχεν πρὸς φιλοπονίαν συνήθειαν, οὐχ ἂν ἐφοδεῖτο τοῦ σχάπτειν. Εἰ δὲ ἀλληγοριχῶς τὴν παραδολὴν ἐπὶ τὸ νοητὸν ἐχλάδοιμεν, μετὰ τὴν ἐνθένδε μετάστασιν, οὔτε τοῦ … προσαιτεῖν καιρός. Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μηδεὶς λεγέτω\" Σχάπτειν οὐκ ἰσχύω. Κἂν γὰρ δύνηται, οὐδεὶς συγχωρεῖ. Ὁ βίος οὗτος ἔχε: τῶν ἐντολῶν τὴν γεωρ» γίαν\" ὁ δὲ μέλλων, τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν. “Ὥστε εἰ μηδὲν εἰργάσω ἐνταῦθα, ἀπέμεινον αἱ ἄμπελοι, καὶ περιττῶς φροντίζεις περὶ τῆς σχαπάνης\" οὔτε δὲ προσα'τῶν ὠφελήσεις τι σαυτόν, Καὶ τούτου σαφὲς ἡμῖν ὑπόδειγμα παραδέδοται, τὸ τῶν μωρῶν παρθένων\" αἵτινες ἀπορίᾳ χαταστᾶσαι τοῦ ἐλαίου, ἀναιδῶς ἥτησὰν παρὰ τῶν φρονίμων \" ὥνησαν δὲ οὐδὲν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπεστράφησαν ἄπραχτοι\" δειχνύντος τοῦ λόγου, ὅτι ἀλλοτρίῳ ἐλαίῳ ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ τοῦ νυμφίου οὐδεὶς χέχρηται \" τοὐτέστιν, ἀλλοτρίῳ χατορθώματι εἰς ἰδίαν ἀπόλαυσιν. “Ἑχαστος γὰρ τὴν ἰδίαν πολιτείαν ὡς ἱμάτιον περιδέδληται, εἴτε λαμπρὸν καὶ τέμιον, εἴτε φαῦλον καὶ τῆς πτωχιχῆς ἐφεστρίδος ὅμοιον. Ἐχδύσασθαι δὲ αὐτὸ οὐχ ἔστιν, οὔτε ἀπαλλάξαι καὶ διαμείψασθαι πρὸς ἕτερον, οὔτε ἐχ δάνους ἣ χρήσεως ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς χρίσεως χαλλωπίσασθαι καὶ χοσμηθῆναι. Μένει δὲ ἔχαστος οἷος ἐπὶ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐστὶν, εἴτε πένης ἀγαθῶν, εἴτε πλούσιος. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον. ᾿ Τί δ᾽ ἂν εἴποιμεν περὶ τῆς συγχωρήσεως τῶν χρεῶν, ἣν ἐπενόησεν ὁ οἰχονόμος τῆς ἀδιχίας, παραμυϑίαν ἑαυτῷ τῶν χαχῶν πρὸς τοὺς ὁμοδούλους πραγματευσόμενος; Οὐ γάρ ἐστιν εὔχολον εἰς ἀλλη- Ὃ δέ μοι πολλὰ σχοπησαμένῳ παρέστη, τοιοῦτο τυγχάνει. Πάντες ἄνθρωποι, ὅσοι τὴν μέλλουσαν ἣ συγχωροῦντες, οἰκεῖον ποριζόμεθα χέρδος. ᾿Αλλότρια ὃὲ λέγω, τὰ τοῦ Δεσπότου. Οὐδὲν γάρ ἔστιν ἡμέτερον ἀλλὰ πάντα τῆς ἐχείνον δεσποτείας χτήματα. Ὅτε ἂν οὖν τις αἰσθόμενος τῆς τελευτῆς καὶ τῆς ἐνθένδε μεταστάσεως, εὐποιίαις χουφίσῃ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν τὸ φορτίον, ἣ χρεωσταῖς συγχωρήσας ὀφλήματα, ἣ τοῖς πενομένοις χορηγήσας τὴν εὐπορίαν, τὰ τοῦ Δεσπότου διδοὺς, φίλους χτᾶται πολλοὺς, τοὺς μέλλοντας αὐτῷ προσμαρτυρεῖν παρὰ τῷ Κριτῇ τὴν ἀγαθωσύνην, καὶ διὰ τῆς μαρτυρίας εὑτρεπίζειν ἀναψύξεως χαταγώγιον. Μάρτυρες δὲ λέγονται οἱ εὖ παθόντες παρὰ τῷ Κριτῇ, οὐ φωναῖς, ὡς ἀγνοοῦντα, διδάσχοντες, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς τῆς περὶ αὐτοὺς πράξεως τῆς τιμωρίας τοὺς ἀμαρτήσαντας ἐξαιρουμένης. τρόπον τὸ αἷμα τοῦ \"Αδελ ἐλέγετο βοᾷν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν, ὁμοίως καὶ τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἔργον λεχθήσεται ᾽μαρτυρεῖν τῷ κατωρθωχότι ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν \"ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ᾿Αμῆν.","t":"and again: “For me it is good to depart and be with Christ.” But the man of earthly mind, and of … at his departure, like this man of the parable: “What shall I do, since my lord is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg.” This is the grief of a lazy and pleasure-loving man. For to lament at leaving proves attachment to the place and mourning for the passionate enjoyments of the flesh; and to be unable to work is a charge against an idle and slack life. If he had been in the habit of industry, he would not have been afraid of digging. And if we take the parable allegorically, toward its spiritual sense, after our departure from here there is neither [a time] for … nor a time for begging. For this reason let no one say, “I am not strong enough to dig”; for even if he can, no one allows it. This life holds the farming of the commandments; the life to come, the enjoyment. So if you have done no work here, the vineyards have been left behind, and you are needlessly concerned about digging; nor will you profit yourself at all by begging. A clear example of this has been handed down to us, that of the foolish virgins, who, finding themselves without oil, shamelessly asked the wise ones for it; but they gained nothing and were turned away empty-handed. The passage shows that at the coming of the bridegroom no one uses another's oil, that is, another's good deeds for his own enjoyment. For each has put on his own way of life like a garment, whether bright and precious, or shabby and like a beggar's cloak. It cannot be taken off, nor exchanged for another, nor can anyone at the time of judgment beautify and adorn himself with one that is borrowed or lent. Each remains what he is in truth, whether poor in good things or rich. So much for this. But what shall we say about the remission of debts which the steward of unrighteousness devised, procuring for himself among his fellow slaves a consolation for his troubles? For it is not easy … What occurred to me after much consideration is this. All of us who [look to] the future … or forgiving, procure profit for ourselves [from what is another's]. By what is another's I mean what is the Master's; for nothing is ours, but all things are possessions of his ownership. Whenever, then, someone who perceives his end and his departure from here lightens the burden of his sins by good deeds, either forgiving debtors their debts or supplying the needy from his abundance, he gives what is the Master's and acquires many friends, who will testify to his goodness before the Judge and by their testimony prepare for him a lodging of refreshment. Those who have been treated well are called witnesses before the Judge, not as instructing him with words, as if he did not know, but because what was done for them delivers the sinners from punishment. Just as the blood of Abel was said to cry out to God, so also the good deed will be said to bear witness for the one who did it, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory to the ages of ages. Amen.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 2.4 (PG 40:189; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/2-4)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/20.1":{"o":"Κ'. Εἰς τὸν ς’ ψωλϊμὸν ὁμιλία. Στρατιώνου πλημμελήσαντος ἀπολογία τοῦ λυπῇθέντος βασιλέως γίνεται θεραπεία, καὶ ἡ τοῦ ἁμαρτῇ παράχλησις. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἁμαρτήσας ὁ Δαδὶδ, καὶ ὡς στρατιώτης βασιλέα παρώργισεν τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ὡς δοῦλος δεσπότην θυμωθῆναι ἐποίησεν\" διὰ ταῦτα ἀξιὼν καὶ ἱχετεύων, ὡς οἰχέτης δεσπότην τὸν Θεὸν παρεχάλει\" Κύριε, μὴ τῷ θυμῷ σου ἐλέγξῃς με, μηδὲ τῇ ὀργῇ σου παιδεύσῃς με. Ἐθυμώθης μοι ἁμαρτήσαντι, διαλλάγηθι μετανοΐσαντι - ὠργίσθης πλανηθέντι, ἱλάσθητι ἐπιστρέψαντι. Τὸν σὸν ὄρχον, Δέσποτα, πρὸς δυσώπησιν προσφέρω σοι. Εἷπος \" Κατ᾽ ἐμαυτοῦ ὥμοσα, ὅτι οὐ βούλομαι τὸν θάνατον τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ, ὡς τὸ ἐπιστρέψαι καὶ ζῇν αὑτόν. Παραχαλῶ, ὃ εἶπας ποίησον. Ἐπεὶ οὖν πλαᾶνηθεὶς ἀπέστρεψα, καὶ ἁμαρτήσας μετενόησα, ἀλλ' οὐχ ὡς Κάϊν ἀπηναισχύντησα. Ἐχεῖνος ἐρωτηθεὶς, Ποῦ \"Αδε.1 ὁ ἀδειφός σου; εἶπεν\" Οὐ γινώσχω. Ἐγὼ εἶπον\" Ὅτι τὴν ἀνομίαν μου ἐγὼ γιψώσχω. Κύριε, μὴ τῷ θύμῳφσου ἐλέγξῃς με. ἵνα φιλανθρωπίας τυχὼν καὶ ἄλλοις ὁδὸς μετανοίας γένωμαι\" ἕνα διδάξω ἀνόμους τὰς ὁδούς σον, καὶ ἀσεθεῖς ἐπὶ σὲ ἐπιστρέψουσιν. Διὰ τί δὲ καὶ Ὑπὲρ τῆς ὀγδόης ἐπεγράφη ὃ ψαλμός; Εἰς τὸ τέλος γὰρ ἐν ὕμνοις ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαδὶδ ὑπὲρ τῆς ὀγδόης. ᾿Ογδόην οἷδεν ἡ μὲν Παλαιὰ Διαθήχη τὴν περιτομὴν ἡ δὲ Καινὴ τὴν ἐχ νεχρῶν ἀνάστασιν, ἐν ἧ ὁ θάνατος περιτέμνεται. Ὁ πρὸ τού… σίας ἣ ψυχῆς. Καὶ περὶ μὲν τῶν χληρονόμων ἔλεγεν\" Εὐφρανθήσονται πάντες οἱ ἐλπίζοντες ἐπὶ σοί\" δὶς αἰῶνα ἀγαλλιάσονται. Περὶ δὲ τῶν ἀποχληρονόμων\" Οὐ παροικήσει σοι πονηρενόμεγος. Ὥς ἔμαθεν ὁ Δαθὶδ, ὅτι Ἄνδρα αἱμάτων καὶ δύλιον βδελύσσεται Κύριος \" ἀὑτὸς δὲ δόλῳ τὸν Οὐρίαν ἀνεῖλεν, καὶ ὅτι τᾶς πόργος ἣ ἀκάθαρτος οὐκ ἔχδι χἰηρογομίαν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ … ὁρῶσι φαινόμενος, ἔμπνους στήλη τὴν ἀνομίαν ἐχτρέἐξ Θεοῦ, ἵνα μὴ ἀποχληρονόμος διὰ τὸ ἄγος γένη- Α εἰ εἰ δεῖ 5; πὸ οὐ «αι, “ὃν ὑπὲρ τῆς ὀγδόης καὶ τῆς τῶν νεχρῶν ἀναστάσεως ψάχλων παρεχάλει. Ἐπειδὴ μοιχεία με καὶ φόνος τῆς χληρονομίας ἐχδάλλουσιν, Κύριε, μὴ τῷ θυμῷ σου ἐλέγξῃς με, μηδὲ τῇ ὀργῇ σου παιδεύσῆς με. Μὴ ὀργισθῇς μοι διὰ τὸν Οὐρίαν, μὴ θυμωθῇς μοι διὰ τὴν Βηρσαθεέ. Καὶ διὰ τί ἐν τῇ ὀγδόῃ ἡ περιτομή; Ἐπειδὴ τὰς πρώτας ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας τὸ βρέφος ἐφόρει τὰ σπάργανα, τῇ δὲ ἑδδόμῃ 5\" λυόμενὸν τὴν “περιτομὴν ἐλάμθανεν, σημεῖον σφραγῖδος, τῆς ᾿Αδραὰμ πίστεως \" ἵνα καὶ ἡμεῖς χἂν τὴν ἐδδομάδα τοῦ βίου ἐφορέσαμεν, τὰ τῶν χαχιῶν σπάργανα, σΞιραῖς τῶν ἰδίων ἁμαρτημάτων σφιγγόμενοι, εἰς τὸ τέλος τῆς ζωῆς ταῦτα διαῤῥήξωμεν, καὶ ὡς ἐν ὀγδόῃ τ ἀναστάσει τὸν θάνατον περιτεμνόμενοι, τὸν ἰσάγγελον βίον ἀσπασώμεθα. Ἐν γὰρ τῇ ἀναστάσει οὐ γαμοῦσιν. Δι᾽ ὃ καὶ περιτομὴ εἰς τά γεννητιχὰ ἐδίδοτο. Ἵνα καὶ οἱ Χριστιανοὶ μετὰ ταῦτα μάδωσιν, τὰ «ιχτόμενα βρέφη μετὰ τῆς μήτρας σπάργανα, καὶ πρὸ αὐτῶν τῶν αἰσθητῶν σπαργάνων, σφραγίξζειν αὐτὰ τῷ βαπτίσματι, ἐν τῇ περιτομῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ \" περὶ ἧς λέγει ὁ Παῦλος - ᾿Εν ᾧ καὶ περιετμήθητε σε, «τομῇ ἀχειροποιήτῳ, συνταφέγτες αὑτῷ ἐν τῷ βακείσματι ἐν τῇ περιτομῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Εἰ οὖν ἡ τοῦ Ἰουδαίου περιτομὴ πρώϊμος καὶ ταχεΐῖα, καὶ εὐθὺς μετὰ τὰ σπάργανα τῷ βρέφει ἐδίδοτο\" πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἣ τοῦ Χριστοῦ περιτομὴ ἡ διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος, ὀφείλει ταχινωτέρα τῷ βρέφει πρὸς ἀσφάλειαν δίδοσθαι \" τοῦτο μὲν, ἵνα τὸν Χριστὸν ἐνδυτάμενον ὡς θώραχα, μὴ φοδηθῇ τοὺς πολεμίους δαίμονας \" τοῦτο δὲ, ἵνα μὴ προδοθῇ εἰς αἵρεσιν, καὶ αἰχμάλωτον γένηται. Νόει ἃ λέγω. ΟἴδατΞ τὰ γινόμενα. Τοῦτο δὲ, ἵνα χἂν τελευτήσῃ, μὴ ἐξέλθῃ ἀσφράγιστον. Καὶ ὅτι διὰ πατέρα ἣ μητέρα ἑτερόδοξον, τὸ βρέφος ἐδαπτίσθη καὶ οὐχ ἐέαπτίσθη, ἀλλὰ τεθαπτίσθη εἰς αἵρεσιν\" οὕπω τὸν βίον ἔπλευσεν, ᾿ καὶ ἤδη ἐναυάγησεν. Πρὸ τοῦ αἰσθητοῦ ἱματίον, τὸ βασιλιχὸν Χριστοῦ ἱμάτιον τὸ βρέφος ἕνδυσον, ἵνα χαυχήσῃ, ὅτι παιδίον σου ὡς; βασιλεὺς εἰς πορφύραν …","t":"Homily 20. A homily on the sixth psalm. When a soldier has done wrong, the defence that heals the grieved king is also the sinner's plea. Since, then, David had sinned, and had provoked God as a soldier provokes his king, and made his Master angry as a slave does, for this reason, asking and entreating as a servant entreats his master, he besought God: “Lord, do not rebuke me in your wrath, nor discipline me in your anger.” You were angry with me when I sinned; be reconciled now that I have repented. You were wrathful when I went astray; be merciful now that I have turned back. I bring you your own oath, Master, to move you. You said: “I have sworn by myself that I do not desire the death of the sinner, but that he should turn and live.” I beg you, do what you said. Since, then, having gone astray, I have turned back, and having sinned, I have repented; and I did not act shamelessly like Cain. When he was asked, “Where is Abel your brother?”, he said, “I do not know.” I said: “For I know my lawlessness.” “Lord, do not rebuke me in your wrath,” so that, obtaining your love for mankind, I may become for others too a way of repentance: “I will teach the lawless your ways, and the ungodly will turn back to you.” And why is the psalm also entitled “For the eighth”? “For the end, among the hymns, a psalm of David, for the eighth.” The Old Testament knows the eighth day as circumcision; the New knows it as the resurrection from the dead, in which death is circumcised … of the soul. And about the heirs he said: “All who hope in you will rejoice; they will exult for ever.” And about the disinherited: “The evildoer shall not dwell with you.” When David learned that “the Lord abhors a man of blood and deceit”, and he himself had killed Uriah by deceit, and that “no fornicator or unclean person has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God,” … appearing to those who see him a living monument … the lawlessness … from God, so as not to become disinherited because of his guilt, singing about the eighth day and the resurrection of the dead, he besought: “Since adultery and murder cast me out of the inheritance, Lord, do not rebuke me in your wrath, nor discipline me in your anger.” Do not be angry with me because of Uriah; do not be wrathful with me because of Bathsheba. And why was circumcision on the eighth day? Because for the first seven days the infant wore its swaddling clothes, and then, loosed from them, received circumcision, the sign of the seal of Abraham's faith; so that we too, even if during the week of life we have worn the swaddling clothes of vices, bound by the cords of our own sins, may burst them at the end of life, and, circumcising death at the resurrection as on the eighth day, may embrace the life equal to the angels'. For in the resurrection they do not marry. That is why circumcision was given in the organs of generation. And it was so that Christians might learn afterwards to seal infants with baptism while they still have the swaddling clothes of the womb, even before their visible swaddling clothes, in the circumcision of Christ, of which Paul says: “In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, having been buried with him in baptism, in the circumcision of Christ.” If, then, the circumcision of the Jew was early and quick, and given to the infant right after its swaddling, much more ought the circumcision of Christ through baptism to be given to the infant even more quickly, for its safety: on the one hand, so that, having put on Christ as a breastplate, it may not fear the hostile demons; on the other, so that it may not be betrayed into heresy and become a captive. Understand what I am saying; you know what happens. And again, so that, even if it dies, it may not depart unsealed. And [consider] that because of a heterodox father or mother the infant was baptized and yet not baptized, but buried into heresy: it had not yet set sail on life, and already it was shipwrecked. Before the visible garment, clothe the infant in the royal garment of Christ, so that you may boast that your child, like a king, [was wrapped] in purple …","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 20.1 (PG 40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/20-1)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/20.2":{"o":"… ὀχταήμερος, ἑπιχατάρατος ἦν’ ὁ μὴ βαπτιζόμενος ἐν τῇ χάριτι, τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν ξένος καὶ ἀλλότριος. Ὁ γὰρ εἰπὼν ἐν τῷ νόμμ' τος πᾶς ἄρσην ὃς οὐ περιτμηθήσεται τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ὀγδόῃ, ἐξολοθρευθήσεται ἡ ψυχὴ ἐχείγη ἐκ τοῦ λαυῦ: ὁ αὐτὸς εἶπεν μετὰ ὄρχου ἐν τῇ χάριτι \" ᾿Αμὴν ἀμὴν «1έγω σοι, ἐὰν μή τις γεγγηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ Πγεύματος, οὐ δύναται ἰδεῖν τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ. --- Εἰς τὸ τέϊος ὑπὲρ τῆς ὀγδόης. Εἰς τὸ τέλος, διὰ τί; Ἐπειδὴ εἰς τὴν ἀρχὴν εἶπεν Κύριε, μὴ τῷ θυμῷ σου ἐ.1έγξῃς με’ ὥς τινων λεγόντων, Ἄρα εἰσηχούσθη; ποῦ δυνάμεθα εὑρεῖν, ὅτι προσευξάμενος εἰσηχούσθη; ἀποχρίνεται \" Εἰς τὸ τέλος. ᾿Ανάγνωθι τὸ τέλος τοῦ ψαλμοῦ, καὶ Β εὑρήσεις λέγοντα: ᾿Απόστητε ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ, πάντες οἱ δργαζόμεγνοι τὴν ἀνομίαν, ὅτι εἰσήκουσεγ Κύριος τῆς φωγῆς τοῦ κιαυθμοῦ μου, προπέσχεν τῇ δεήσεὶ μον. Πότε; Εἰς τὸ τέλος. … ᾿Εἰὶς τὸ τέλος ὑπὲρ τῆς ὀγδόης. Διὰ τί δὲ ἐν τῇ ὀγδόῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἀνέστη ὁ Κύριος; Ἐπειδὴ πρώτη ὀγδοὰς ἀνθρώπων, ἐπὶ τοῦ Νῶε, μετὰ τὸν τοῦ παλαιοῦ χόσμου θάνατον, νέον χότμον εἰς γένος ἀνέστησεν. \"Ὅτε γὰρ ὁ χόσμος πυρέξας τῇ πορνείᾳ, ἀπέθανεν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, καὶ ἐτάφη ἐν τοῖς τοῦ χαταχλυσμοῦ ὕδασιν, τότε ὀγδοὰς ἀνθρώπων ἐν τῇ χιξφωτῷ φυλαχθεῖσα, διὰ τῆς τεχνογονίας τὸν χόσμον ἀνέστησεν. Καὶ ὅτι ἡ τεχνογονία ἀνάστασις λέγεται, ἄχουσον τῆς μητρὸς τῆς Εὔας λεγούσης, ὅτε ἔτεχεν τὸν Σήθ ᾿Εξανέστησεν γὰρ μοι ὁ Θεὸς σπέρμα ἕτερον, ἀντὶ Αδε.ϊ ὃν ἀπέχτειγεν Κάϊν. Καὶ ὁ νόμος \" Ἐάν τις, φησὶν, ἀποθάνῃ ἄτεχγος, λήψεται ὁ ἀδειρὸς αὐτοῦ τὴν γυναῖκας καὶ ἐξαναστήσει σπέρμα τῷ ἀδελφῷ αὑτοῦ\" καὶ ἦν ἡ ἐξανάστασις σδεννυμένου καὶ ἀποθνήσχοντος γένους ἀνανέωτις. Ἐπεὶ οὖν πρώτη ἀνάστασις τοῦ γένους μετὰ τὸν χαταχλυσμὸν διὰ ὀγδοάδος ἀνθρώπων ἐγένετο, διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Κύριος πρῶτος τὴν ἀνάστασιν τῶν νεχρῶν ἐν τῇ ὀγδόῃ ἄρχεται \" ὅτε χαθάπερ ἐν χιδθωτῷ τῷ τάφῳ ὡς ὁ Νῶε ἔμεινεν, καὶ τὸν χα ταχλυσμὸν τῆς ἀσεθδείας ἔπαυσεν, καὶ τὸ βάπτισμα τῆς παλιγγενεσίας ἐπέδωκεν \" ἵνα συνταφέντες αὑτοῦ τῷ βαπτισμῷ,, χοινωνοὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως αὑτοῦ γενώμεθα. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἡ ὀγδόη προεσάλπιζεν ἐν νόμῳ τὴν τῶν νεχρῶν ἀνάστασιν, καὶ τὴν τῶν ἑχάστου ἔργων ἀνταπόδοσιν\" διὰ ταῦτα ἁμαρτήσας εἰς τὴν τοῦ Οὐρίου ὁ Δαδὶδ, ὑπὲρ τῆς ὀγδόης καὶ τῆς ἐν ἀνἔσει αὑτοῦ ἀναστάσεως παραχαλῶν ἔλεγεν \" Κύριε, μὴ τῷ θυμῷ σου ἐλέγξῃς με, μηδὲ τῇ ὀργὴ σου παιδεύσῃς με. ἿὯΩωδε μετανοῶ καὶ ἐξομολογοῦμαι, Δέσποτα’ Ὅτι οὐχ ἔστιν ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ ὁ μνημοψγεύων σου\" ἐν δὲ τῷ ἄδῃ τίς ἐξομο.ϊογήσεταί σοι; -- Εἰς τὸ τέλος ὑπὲρ τῆς ὀγδόης ἐν ὕμνοις ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαδίδ. Καὶ καλῶς ὑπὲρ τῆς ὀγδόης προσηύχετο, ὁ ὄγδοος τοῦ Ἰεσσαὶ υἱὸς, καὶ πατὴρ τοῦ ἀναστάντος ἐν τῇ ὀγδότ͵ Χριστοῦ. Εἷς τὸ τέιος \" καὶ τῆς τούτο\" … ᾿Απαρχὴ ὁ Χριστός\" ἔπειτα οἱ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ αὐτοῦ.","t":"… [the Jew who was not circumcised] on the eighth day was accursed; the one who is not baptized in grace is a stranger and foreigner to the kingdom of heaven. For the one who said in the law, “… every male who is not circumcised on the eighth day, that soul shall be cut off from the people,” is the same who said with an oath in grace: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” “For the end, for the eighth.” Why “for the end”? Because at the beginning he said, “Lord, do not rebuke me in your wrath,” as though some were asking, “Was he heard, then? Where can we find that he prayed and was heard?” He answers: “For the end.” Read the end of the psalm, and you will find him saying: “Depart from me, all you who work lawlessness, for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping; he has attended to my petition.” When? At the end. … “For the end, for the eighth.” And why did the Lord rise on the eighth day? Because the first eight people, in the time of Noah, after the death of the old world, raised up a new world for the race. For when the world, fevered with fornication, had died by sin and been buried in the waters of the flood, then the eight people preserved in the ark raised up the world again by bearing children. And that bearing children is called resurrection, hear from our mother Eve, who said when she bore Seth: “For God has raised up for me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” And the law: “If anyone,” it says, “dies childless, his brother shall take his wife and raise up seed for his brother”; and this raising up was the renewal of a family that was being quenched and dying out. Since, then, the first resurrection of the race after the flood came about through eight people, for this reason the Lord too was the first to begin the resurrection of the dead on the eighth day, when he stayed in the tomb as Noah stayed in the ark, stopped the flood of impiety, and gave the baptism of regeneration, so that, being buried with him in baptism, we may become sharers in his resurrection. Since, then, the eighth day proclaimed in the law, as with a trumpet, the resurrection of the dead and the requital of each one's works, for this reason David, having sinned against Uriah's [wife], besought, for the eighth day and his own resurrection in rest: “Lord, do not rebuke me in your wrath, nor discipline me in your anger.” Here I repent and confess, Master; “for in death there is no one who remembers you; and in Hades who will confess to you?” “For the end, for the eighth, among the hymns, a psalm of David.” And he rightly prayed about the eighth, he who was the eighth son of Jesse and the father of Christ, who rose on the eighth day. “For the end” … “Christ the firstfruits; then those who belong to Christ, at his coming.”","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 20.2 (PG 40:419; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/20-2)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/20.3":{"o":"ΕἸς τὸ τέλος ὑπὲρ τῆς ὀγδόης\" καὶ ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ ἐν δόξῃ ἀναστάσεως, καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν ἡμαρτηχότων καὶ μετανοησάντων ἐγέρσεως. Ἔν' ὕμνοις. Ἵνα οἱ θρῆνοι τοῖς ἁμαρτήσασιν καὶ μετανοήσασιν εἰς ὕμνους μετέλθωσιν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ αἱ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν ἑορταὶ εἰς πένθος, καὶ αἱ ᾧδαὶ εἰς θρῆνον μεταθάλλονται. χαθὰς ἔλεγεν ὁ Θεός: Μεταστρέψω τὰς ἑορτὰς ὑμῶν εἰς πένθος, καὶ τὰς ᾧδὰς ὑμῶν εἰς θρῆνον \" οὕτως πάλιν οἱ τῶν μετανοησάντων θρῆνοι εἰς ὕμνους μεταθάλλονται. Εἰς τὸ τέιος ἐν ὕμνοις ψαιϊμὸς τῷ Δαδίδ. Πρᾶξις ἀγαθὴ, καὶ χαρπὸς μετανοίας, καὶ τῷ προφήτῃ, καὶ παντὶ τῷ ἱχανῷ τῇ χειρί. Ποιήσατε γὰρ καρποὺς ἀξίους τῆς μεταωγοίας. Ἵνα ἕχαστος μετανοήσας, καὶ χαρποφορήσας Θεῷ καὶ τοῖς πένησιν, λέγῃ\" Κύριε, μὴ τῷ θυμῷ σου ἐλέγξῃς με, μηδὲ τῇ ὀργῇ σου παιδεύσῃς με. Εἰπὲ, ὁ Δαθίδ' καὶ ὅλως τὸν ἔλεγχον καὶ παιδείαν παραιτῇ, Ὡς φαίνεται, φεύγεις τὸν μαχαρισμόν. Ὅτ: γὰρ ὁ ἔλεγχος τοῦ Θεοῦ μαχαρισμοῦ πρόξενος, γέγραπται ἐν τῇ βίδλῳ τοῦ Ἰώδ᾽ Μαχάριος ἄγθρωπος ὃν ἤ.1εγξεν ὁ Κύριος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. τι δὲ καὶ τὸ παιδεύεσθαι ὑπὸ Κυρίου μαχάριον, αὐτὸς εἶπας \" αχάριος ἄνθρωπος ὃν ἂν παιδεύσῃς, Κύριε. Οὐ τὸν ἔλεγχον φεύγω, ἀλλὰ τὸν μετὰ θυμοῦ ἕλεγχον\" οὐδὲ τὸ παιδευθῆναι ἀποστρέφομαι, ἀλλὰ τὸ μετὰ ὀργῆς παιδευθῆναι δέδοικα. Οἷδα, ὅτι Ὃν ὠγαπᾷ Μύριος, παιδεύει. ἾΑρον τοῦ ἐλέγχου τὸν θυμὸν, καὶ τῆς παιδείας τὴν ὀργήν᾽ καὶ ἔλεγχε ὡς φίλον, καὶ παίδευε ὡς υἱόν. Κύριε, μὴ τῷ θυμῷ σου ἐμέγξῃς με, μηδὲ τῇ α ὀργῇ σου πμιδεύσῃς με. Ἐὰν ὁ θυμὸς ὡς δικαστὴς ἐλέγξῃ με, εὐθέως ἣ ὀργὴ ὡς δεξιὰ χεὶρ καὶ γείτων τοῦ θυμὸν παιδεύει με. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐν δικαστηρίῳ ὁ ὑπὸ τοῦ διχαστοῦ ἐλεγχόμε)ος ὑπὸ τῆς τάξεως μαστίξεται\" οὕτως ἐν τῇ θείᾳ δίκῃ, ὁ ὑπὸ τοῦ … ὥσπερ ὁ καπνὸς ἐλέγξας τὴν τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ ἀσθένειαν, ποιεῖ αὑτὸν τῷ δαχρύῳ δριμύττεσθαι, καὶ γίνεται τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ ἡ δριμύτης βάσανος\" οὕτως ὅτ᾽ ἂν ἐχχαυθῇ ὁ θυμὸς ὀργῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ, καπνίζει τῷ ἐλέγχῳ, καὶ μαστίζει τῇ ὀργῇ. Θυμὸς δὲ καὶ ὀργὴ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν πάθη Θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ δικαία χρίσις καὶ ἄμυνα τοῦ Θεοῦ. Θησαυρίζεις γὰρ σεαυτῷ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὀργῆς. Οὐχ ὁ Θεός σοι θησαυρίζει, ἀλλ᾽ ξαυτῷ θησαυρίξεις. Εἰπὲ, ὦ Δαδίδ' παραχελεύῃ Θεῷ; νόμοις δὲ χαΐ δὲ ὕρους γλώσσης Δημιουργοῦ; ᾿Αποχρίνεται - Οὔ λέγω διαταττόμενος, ἀλλὰ τοῦ ἐλέους αὐτοῦ ἀποεἶμι. Ὥ τῆς εὐλαδείας ! Ὁ βασιλεὺς μαστιζομένου δούλου φωνὰς προδάλλεται. Ἐπειδὴ παρεχάλεσεν μὴ νος ὡς χρεώστης καὶ ὑπεύθυνος τὴν παραχαταθήχην, ΄ καὶ τὸ δάνειον τής Ψυχῆς καὶ τοῦ σώματος, καὶ μὴ ἔχων ἀποδοῦνα: σῶα τὰ χϑφάλαια, παρεχάλει\" σόν με, Κύρις ὅτι ἀσθενὴς εἰμι. ᾿Ασθένειαν γὰρ νῦν λέγει, οὐ τὴν ἀῤῥωστίαν τοῦ σώματος, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀνθαίρετον ἀτονίαν τῆς πίσπεως. Ὅτι δέ ἐστιν ἀσθένεια πίστεως, λέγει ὁ ᾿Απόστολος \" Τὸν δὲ ἀσθεψοῦντω τῇ πίστει προσιαμθδάγνεσθε. Καὶ ἄλλως, οὐ κατεγόησεν τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σῶμα γεγεκρωμέτνον, Ἐπεὶ οὖν πυρέξας ὁ Δαδὶδ τῇ ἐπιθυμίᾳ, τῇ πράξει ἐνόσησεν, ὅτι μετὰ τὸν πυρετὸν ἵἴδρωσεν τὰ δάχρυα \" ἱδρὼς γὰρ αὐτῷ πυρέξαντι τὰ δάχρνα γέγο-.","t":"“For the end, for the eighth”: both for his own resurrection in glory, and for the raising up of those who have sinned and repented. “Among the hymns”: so that the laments of those who have sinned and repented may pass into hymns. For as the feasts of sinners are changed into mourning and their songs into lament, as God said, “I will turn your feasts into mourning and your songs into lament,” so in turn the laments of the repentant are changed into hymns. “For the end, among the hymns, a psalm of David.” A good deed and the fruit of repentance, both for the prophet and for everyone who is strong of hand: “Bear fruits worthy of repentance.” So that each one, having repented and borne fruit for God and for the poor, may say: “Lord, do not rebuke me in your wrath, nor discipline me in your anger.” Tell me, David: do you refuse rebuke and discipline altogether? It seems you are fleeing blessedness. For that God's rebuke brings blessedness is written in the book of Job: “Blessed is the man whom the Lord has rebuked on earth.” And that being disciplined by the Lord is blessed, you yourself said: “Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord.” “I do not flee rebuke, but rebuke with wrath; nor do I turn away from being disciplined, but I fear being disciplined with anger. I know that whom the Lord loves he disciplines. Take wrath away from the rebuke and anger from the discipline; rebuke me as a friend and discipline me as a son.” “Lord, do not rebuke me in your wrath, nor discipline me in your anger.” If wrath rebukes me like a judge, at once anger, as the right hand and neighbour of wrath, disciplines me. As in a court the one rebuked by the judge is scourged by the officials, so in the divine judgment the one [rebuked] by … As smoke shows up the weakness of the eye and makes it smart with tears, and the stinging becomes a torment to the eye, so when the wrath of God's anger is kindled, it smokes with rebuke and scourges with anger. Yet the wrath and anger of God are not passions of God, but God's just judgment and requital. “For you are storing up for yourself [wrath] on the day of wrath.” God does not store it up for you; you store it up for yourself. Tell me, David: are you giving orders to God? Are you setting laws and limits to the tongue of the Creator? He answers: I do not speak as one commanding, but … his mercy. O the reverence! The king utters the cries of a scourged slave. Since he besought … as a debtor accountable for the deposit and the loan of soul and body, and not having the capital safe to repay, he besought: “Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am weak.” By weakness he means here not the illness of the body, but the self-chosen slackness of faith. That there is a weakness of faith the Apostle says: “Welcome the one who is weak in faith.” And elsewhere: “[Not being weak in faith,] he did not consider his own body as already dead.” Since, then, David, fevered with desire, fell sick in the deed, [he says] that after the fever he sweated tears; for tears became his sweat after the fever.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 20.3 (PG 40:419; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/20-3)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/20.4":{"o":"γεν καὶ τῷ ἱδρῶτι τῶν δαχρύων τὴν χλίνην, ὡς κιαίνγην μου, ἐν δάχρυσί μου τὴν στρωμγήν μου βρέξω\" τότε ἀπαιτούμενος τὰς παρχαθήχας τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τοῦ σώματος, τὴν ἀσθένειαν τῶν λογισμῶν πρὸς τὸ ἐλεηθήναι προεδάλλετο, εἰπών\" με, Κύριε, ὅτι ἀσθενής εἶμι. ᾿Ασφαλίζου, ὦ φίλε, τὴν παραθήχην καὶ τὸ χρέο: τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τοῦ σώματος. Σπούδασον ἀποδοῦναι ἃ ἔλαθες. Ἢ χρείττονα ἀπόδος ἃ ἔλαθες, ἣ χἂν οἷα ἔλαδες. Χρυσὸν καὶ ἄργύρον, τὴν Ψυχὴν καὶ τὸ σῶμα παραθήχην ἔλαδες. Εὲ γὰρ σὺ χρυσίον δανείξων, προσδοχᾷς μετὰ τόχων καὶ … ’ τί ποιήσει ὁ Θεὸς ὁ δανειστὴς τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τοῦ σώματος; Ἐὰν μὲν αὐτῷ μετὰ τόχων καὶ πλεονασμῶν προσενέγχῃς τὰ δύο τάλαντα, τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ «οὔ σώματος, λέγων\" Κύριε, δύο τάλαντά μοι παρὄδωχας, τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὴν ψυχήν ἐδὲ ἄλλα δύο τάλαντα ἐκχέρδησα, ἄλλον ἄνθρωπον σώσας ἐχ Ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος. Ἐὰν δὲ αὐτὸ μόνον αὐτῷ προσενέγχῃς τὸ χεφάλαιον, λέγων - Ἴδε ἔχεις τὸ σόν\" ἀγαναχτεῖ καὶ ὀργίζεται. ΕΙ δὲ μήτε αὐτὸ ἐκεῖνο σῶον προσενέγχῃς ὃ ἔλαθδες, τότε παραδίδωσίν σε τοῖς βασανισταῖς, ἕως οὗ ἀποδῷς πᾶν τὸ ὀφειλόμενον. Ἐὰν πεσὼν προσχυνήσῃς μετανοῶν, καὶ λέγων\" Κύριδ, μαχροθύμησον ἐπ᾽ ἐμοὶ, καὶ ἀποδώσω σοι\" τότε τὴν ἐξομολόγησίν σου καὶ τὴν μετάνοιαν ὡς χαταδολὴν τοῦ χεφαλαίου λογίζεκαι. Ἐΐῤ γὰρ ὁ τῶν μυρίων ταλάντων χρεωφειλέτης τὴν μαχροθυμίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπιχαλεσάμενος, τὸ χειρόγρᾶφον ἄχυρον ἐποίησεν \" καὶ εἰ ὁ μυρίων ψυχῶν λόγον ἀπαιτούμενος, ὡς ἀρχιερεὺς ἣ διδάσχαλος, τῇ ἱχεσίᾳ τὴν εὐσπλαγχνίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐχέρδησεν, καὶ σπλαγχνισθεὶς ὁ Κύριος αὐτοῦ, ἀφῆχεν αὐτῷ πᾶν τὸ ὀφειλόμενον \" πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἕχαστος ἡμῶν ἐχδυσωπήσει τὸν Θεὸν μετανοῶν ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἥμαρτεν, καὶ προσευχόμενος, καὶ ἐξομολογούμενος, καὶ λέγων’ με. Κύριδ, ὅτι ἀσθενής εἰμι. ᾿Ασπθενῶ καὶ ἀτονῶ (ἐδ) πρὸς τὴν τοῦ χρέους ἀπόδοσιν\" ᾿Ε.λέησόν με, Κύριε\" καὶ τοῖς βασανισταῖς ἀγγέλοις μὴ παραδῷς με΄ ἀλλὰ χρύψον τὸν δανειστὴν, καὶ δεῖξον τὸν ἰατρόν\" καὶ τῷ σῷ ἐλέῳ ἀνάλαθέ με τὸν ἀσθενήσαντα. Ἴασαί με, Κύριξβ, ὅτε ἐταράχθη τὰ ὀστὰ μου. Τὸν διὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν παιδεύσαντα καὶ μαστίξαντα αὐτὸν διὰ τὴν μετάνοιαν καὶ ἰατρὸν αὐτῷ γενέσθαι παρεχάλεσεν. Καὶ ὅτι ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν ἐπαίδευσεν, μάρτὺς αὐτὸς ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ εἰπών Παιδεύων ἐπαίδευσέν με ὁ Κύριος, καὶ τῷ θανάτῳ οὗ παρέδωχέδν με. Καὶ διὰ τί παιδεύει τὸν ἄνθρωπον διὰ νόσου ὁ Θεός; Διὰ παραχοὴν καὶ ἁμαρτήματα. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἀναμάρτητος \" δι᾽ ὃ καὶ οὐδεὶς ἄνοσος. Ὅτι δὲ Θεός ἐστιν ὁ ἑχάστῳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων διὰ παρ- ἀχοὴν, ἁμαρτήσαντι ἐπάγων τὰς νόσους, αὐτὸς διὰ Μωῦσέως ἔλεγεν τῷ Ἰραὴλ' Ἐὰν ἀχο ἀχούσῃς τῆς φωνῆς Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ σου, καὶ φυλάξῃς τὰς ἐντοιὰς αὑτοῦ, πᾶσαν νόσον, ἣν ἐπήγαγον!","t":"… and with the sweat of his tears [he washed] his bed: “Every night I will wash my bed; with my tears I will drench my couch.” Then, when he was asked to return what had been deposited with him, his soul and his body, he put forward the weakness of his thoughts in order to obtain mercy, saying: “[Have mercy on] me, Lord, for I am weak.” Make safe, my friend, the deposit and the debt of soul and body. Be eager to repay what you received: either repay better than you received, or at least as you received. You received your soul and your body as a deposit of gold and silver. For if you, when you lend gold, expect it back with interest and … when the capital [alone] is brought back to you, you are indignant and angry … what will God, the lender of soul and body, do? If you bring him the two talents of soul and body with interest and increase, saying, “Lord, you gave me two talents, the body and the soul; see, I have gained two more talents by saving another man, soul and body,” [he will rejoice]. But if you bring him only the capital itself, saying, “See, you have what is yours,” he is indignant and angry. And if you do not even bring him safe the very thing you received, then he hands you over to the torturers until you pay all that is owed. If you fall down and worship him in repentance, saying, “Lord, be patient with me, and I will repay you,” then he counts your confession and repentance as payment of the capital. For if the debtor of ten thousand talents, by calling on God's patience, made his bond void, and if the one who is asked to give account for ten thousand souls, as high priest or teacher, gained God's compassion by his supplication, and his Lord had compassion and forgave him all that was owed, much more will each of us move God by repenting of his sins, praying, confessing and saying: “[Have mercy on] me, Lord, for I am weak.” I am weak and feeble for the repayment of the debt; “have mercy on me, Lord”; do not hand me over to the torturing angels, but hide the lender and show the physician, and in your mercy take me up, who am weak. “Heal me, Lord, for my bones are troubled.” He besought the one who had disciplined and scourged him for his sin to become his physician because of his repentance. And that God had disciplined him he himself testifies in the psalm, saying: “The Lord has disciplined me severely, and has not handed me over to death.” And why does God discipline man through disease? Because of disobedience and sins. For no one among men is without sin; and therefore no one is without disease. And that it is God who brings diseases on each man who sins through disobedience, he himself said to Israel through Moses: “If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and keep his commandments, every disease that I brought upon","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 20.4 (PG 40:419; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/20-4)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/20.5":{"o":"τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις, οὐκ ἐπάξω ἐπὶ σέ. ᾿Εγὼ γάρ εἶμι Κύριος ὁ ἰὠμενός σε. Εϊπὼν δὲ, Ἐὰν ἀκοῇ ἀχούσῃς, οὗ μὴ νόσον ἐπάξω σοι\" ἔδειξεν, ὅτι τὰς νόσους ἐπάγει ὁ θεὸς διὰ παραχοὴν καὶ ἁμαρτήματα. Καὶ γὰρ οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι, ἐπειδὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ παρήχονον, καὶ τὸν Ἰσραὴλ οὐχ ἀπέστελλον, διὰ τοῦτο ἐνόσουν παιδευόμενοι. Καὶ ὁ Δαδὶδ, ἐπειδὴ ἀχούσας, Οὐ μοιχεύσεις, οὗ φονεύσεις, παρήχουσεν, διὰ τοῦτο παιδευθεὶς ἢσθένησεν. Προσώζεσαν γὰρ καὶ ἐσάπησαν οἱ μώλωπές μου. φησὶν, ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς ἀφροσύνης Β μου. Ἐπεὶ οὖν τὸν παρὰ ἀνθρώπων παιδευθέντα ὁ Θεὸς ᾽5 ἰάσασθαι δύναται\" τὸν δὲ παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ παιδευθέντα, οὐχ ἄνθρωπος, οὐχ ἄγγελος, ἀλλὰ μόνος ὁ Θεὸς ἰᾶται καὶ θεραπεύει - Ἐὰν γὰρ ἁμάρτῃ ἀγὴρ εἰς ἄγδρα, καὶ προσεύξογται περὶ αὐτοῦ πρὸς Κύριον\" ἐὰν ἄρχων ἀπόφασιν δῷ εἰς θάνατον, ἀνατρέπει βασιλεὺς τὴν ἀπόφασιν\" ἐὰν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀποφήνηται, οὐδεὶς ἀνατρέψαι δύναται\" ὁ Δαδὶδ τὸν μαστίξαντα Δεσπότην ἑατρὸν γενέσθαι αὐτῷ παραχαλεΐ. \"Ἴασαί με, Κύριε, ὅτι ἐταράχθη τὰ ὀστᾶ μου. ᾿Ῥστᾷᾶ ὃὲ λέγε:, οὐ τὰ τοῦ σώματος, ἀλλὰ τὰς ἰσχυρὰς δυνάμεῖς τῶν λογισμῶν, αἴτινες ὡς χύματα ἐταράχθησαν, πνεύματι πορνείας χλυδωνιζόμεναι. “Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐν θαλάσσῃ ἀρχὴ καὶ μελέτη τῶν ναναγίων ὁ τῶν χυμάτων τάραχος \" οὕτως ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ ἀρχὴ μοιχείας, καὶ πορνείας, καὶ ἁμαρτίας, ὁ τοῦ λογισμοῦ τῆς διανοίας βορδορώδης τάραχος. Πρῶτον γὰρ ἡ ψυχὴ βορδοροῦται ταῖς αἰσχραῖς ἐπιθυμίαις, καὶ οὕτως ἐμπίπτει εἰς τὸ τῆς πορνείας ναυάγιον. Ἔνθεν ὁρᾷ τὰ ἡδέα τῶν παθῶν, ἐχεῖθεν τὰς ἀπειλὰς τοῦ Θεοῦ. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ὥσπερ οἱ ναῦται καὶ οἱ χυδερνῆται, ὅτ᾽ ἂν εἴδωσιν ὑπὸ ἐναντίων ἀνέμων ἀργομένην ταράττεσθαι θάλασσαν, ταχέως καὶ ἀνυπερθέτως ἐπὶ τοὺς λιμένας μεταίρουσιν καὶ τὸν χίνδυνον ἐχφεύνουσιν, ἔξω ὃὲ ἀπομείναντες χενδυνεύουσιν’ οὕτως αὐτὸς τῶν λογισμῶν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνέμων τῆς φιληδονίας ταραττόμενος, ταχέως ἐπὶ τὸ» λιμένα τῆς Ἐχχλησίας δράμε. ᾿Αχούεις περὶ σωφροσύνης καὶ ἁγνείας ἀπὸ τῶν Γραφῶν καὶ τῶν διδασχάλων, ὅτι Πόργους καὶ μοιχοὺς χριγεῖ ὁ Θεός \" ὅτι ραις ὁ ᾿Απόστολος \" Καιϊὸν αὐτοῖς ἐστιν ἐὰν μείτωσιν ὡς χἀγώ\" ὅτι Ἀπεγεχθήσονται τῷ παρθένοι\" ὅτι Εἰσὶν εὐνοῦχοι οἵτινες εὐγούχισαν ἑαυτοὺς διὰ τὴν βασιΔείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν. Ναὶ πρὸ τῆς πορνείας. τὰ τῇ; ἐπιθυμίας τῷ Θεῷ ἐξαγορεύσας εἰπέ\" Ε.έησόν με, Κύριε, ὅτι ἀσθενής εἶμι\" ἀσθένειαν φύπεως περιχείμενος. Ἴασαί με. Κύριε, ὅτι ἐταράχθη τὰ ὀστὰ μου \" τὰ τῆς ψυχῆς ἐνθύμια, εἰς ἀσέλγειαν καὶ ἀμαρτίας με αἰχμαλωτίζοντα \" “Ὅτι ἐνθύμιον ἀνθρώπου ἐξομοιϊιογήσεταί σοι. Ὅτι ὃὲ περὺὸ τῶν ὀστέων οὐ λέγει τοῦ σώματος, δηλοῖ τὰ ἑξῆς\" ἐπάγει γάρ’ Καὶ ἡ ψυχή μου ἐταράχθη σφόδρα. Ἵνα τοίνυν δείξῃ, ὅτι οὐ περὶ τῶν αἰσθητῶν ὀστέων, Αὀ ἀλλὰ περὶ τῶν ἐνθυμιῶν ἔλεγεν, παραλείπων τὴν σάρκα, ψυχῆς ἐμνημόνευσεν. Καὶ ἡ ϑυχή μου ἐταἐάχθη σφόδρα. Οὕτως ἐν ἄλλοις ἔλεγεν\" Πάντα τὰ ὀστὰ μου ἐροῦσιν\" Κύριδ, Κύριδ, τίς ὅμοιός σοι; Καὶ οὐ πάντως περὶ τῶν ὀστέων τοῦ σώματος ἔλεγεν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ στόμα καὶ χείλη τὰ ὀστᾶ ἔχουσιν. Καὶ πάλιν\" Σὴς ὀστέων, καρδία αἰσθητική. Καὶ οὐ πάντως ὑπὸ σητῶν τὰ ὀστᾶ ἐσθίονται\" ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι ὑπὸ λοεις τῆς ψυχῆς. Ἐπεὶ οὖν εἰς αἴσθησιν ὧν ἥμαρτεν ἦλθεν ὁ Δαδὶδ, καὶ τὰς ἐχ τῆς συνειδήσεως βασάνους ὑπέμεινεν, καὶ ὡς ὑπὸ δημλέων αὐστηρῶν τῶν λογισμῶν ἐμαστίξζετο\" οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτως ἅπτεται ψυχῆς, ὡς συνείδησις, λάθρα βασανίζουτα τὰς ἐν τῇ Ψυχῇ βασάνους - ἰαθῆναι παραχαλεῖ. \"Ἴασαί με. Κύριε, ἔτι 8 ἐταράχθη σφόδρα τὰ ὀστὰ μοῦ. ᾿Αλλ᾽ οὐ μόνον ἕως λογισμῶν καὶ ἐνθυμήσειυν ἐσχίρτα ὁ τάραχος \" ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν ψυχὴν ταράξας τῇ πράξει ἐδύθισεν. Καὶ ἡ ψυχή μον ἐταράχθη σφόδρα. -- Ἢ ψυχή μου, ἧἡ ἀποθήχη τῶν μυστηρίων τοῦ Θεοῦ\" ἡ ψυχή μου, ἣ τῶν ψαλμῶν πηγή. Ὅπου εἰρήνη ἐθαλαμεύετο, ἐχεῦῖ ὁ πόλεμος τῆς ἁμαρτίας χατ᾽ ἐμοῦ ὀρχήσατο. Καὶ σὺ, Κύριξδ, δως πότε; Οὐχ ἐδράδυνα πρὸς μετάνοιαν\" μὴ βραδύνης πρὸς τὴν ἐμὴν πρόνοιαν. Εἶπας- Ἐὰν ἀποστραφεὶς στεγάξῃς, τότε σωθήσῃ. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἐχοπίασα ἐν τῷ στεγαγμῷ μου\" --- Ἕως πότε; Καὶ οὐ μόνον στενάζω, ἀλλὰ καὶ χλαίω καὶ δαχρύω, καὶ δάκρυσι τὴν χλίνην σπιλολογῶ. Λούσω καθ᾽ ἐχάστην γύκτα τὴν κιλίγην μου, ἐν δάχρυσίν μου τὴν στρωμνήν μου βρέξω. --- Ἕως πότε; Τὸ δὲ, “Ξως πότε; οὐχ ἔλε-.","t":"the Egyptians I will not bring upon you; for I am the Lord who heals you.” By saying, “If you listen carefully, I will not bring disease upon you,” he showed that God brings diseases because of disobedience and sins. The Egyptians, since they disobeyed God and would not let Israel go, fell sick under his discipline. And David, since he heard “You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder” and disobeyed, was disciplined and fell sick: “My wounds have grown foul and festered,” he says, “because of my folly.” God can heal the one who has been disciplined by men; but the one disciplined by God no man, no angel, but God alone heals and cures. For “if a man sins against a man, they will pray for him to the Lord”; if a magistrate pronounces a sentence of death, the king overturns the sentence; but if the king pronounces it, no one can overturn it. So David begs the Master who scourged him to become his physician. “Heal me, Lord, for my bones are troubled.” He means by bones not those of the body, but the strong powers of his thoughts, which were troubled like waves, tossed about by the spirit of fornication. As at sea the beginning and preparation of shipwreck is the troubling of the waves, so in the soul the beginning of adultery, fornication and sin is the muddy troubling of the mind's thought. First the soul is muddied by shameful desires, and so it falls into the shipwreck of fornication. On one side it sees the pleasures of the passions, on the other the threats of God. But as sailors and helmsmen, when they see the sea beginning to be troubled by contrary winds, quickly and without delay make for harbour and escape the danger, while those who stay out are in peril, so you, when you are troubled in your thoughts by the winds of pleasure, run quickly to the harbour of the Church. You hear from the Scriptures and the teachers about chastity and purity: that “God will judge fornicators and adulterers”; that the Apostle [says to the unmarried and the] widows, “It is good for them if they remain as I am”; that “virgins will be brought [to the king]”; that “there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven.” And before the fornication, confess to God the stirrings of desire and say: “Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am weak,” clothed as I am in the weakness of nature. “Heal me, Lord, for my bones are troubled”: the thoughts of my soul, which take me captive to licentiousness and sin; “for the thought of man will confess to you.” That he is not speaking of the bones of the body is shown by what follows; for he adds: “And my soul is greatly troubled.” To show, then, that he was speaking not of bones perceptible to the senses but of thoughts, he passed over the flesh and mentioned the soul: “And my soul is greatly troubled.” So elsewhere he said: “All my bones will say, Lord, Lord, who is like you?” And he was certainly not speaking of the bones of the body, for bones have no mouth or lips. And again: “A sensitive heart is a moth in the bones.” And bones are certainly not eaten by moths; but … of the soul. Since, then, David came to perceive what he had sinned, and endured the torments of conscience, and was scourged by his thoughts as by harsh executioners (for nothing touches the soul like conscience, secretly torturing it), he begs to be healed of the torments in his soul: “Heal me, Lord, for my bones are greatly troubled.” But the troubling did not leap only as far as his thoughts and reflections; it troubled the soul itself and sank it in the deed: “And my soul is greatly troubled.” My soul, the storehouse of the mysteries of God; my soul, the spring of the psalms! Where peace dwelt as in a bridal chamber, there the war of sin danced against me. “And you, Lord, how long?” I was not slow to repent; do not be slow to care for me. You said: “If you turn and groan, then you will be saved.” Since, then, “I am weary with my groaning,” “how long?” I not only groan, but weep and shed tears, and [wash] my bed with tears: “Every night I will wash my bed; with my tears I will drench my couch.” “How long?” He said “how long?”","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 20.5 (PG 40:419; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/20-5)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/20.6":{"o":"γεν ἀποδυσπετῶν, ἀλλὰ τὸ πέρας τῶν πειρασμῶν, καὶ τὸ τέλος τῶν θλίψεων μαθεῖν ἐκδεχόμενος. Οὐδὲ γὰρ περὶ τοῦ ἀφεθῆναι ἀὐτῷ τὴν ἀμαρτίαν, τὸ, Ἕως πότε; ἔλεγεν. Ὁ γὰρ ἀχούσας, Καὶ Κύριος ἀςῆχεν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν σου, οὐχ ἂν ἀπιστῶν εἷπεν᾿ Ἕως πότε; «Καὶ ὁ εἰρηχὼς, Εἶπα ᾿᾽Εξαγορεύσω κατ᾽ ἐμοῦ τὴν ἀνομίαν μου τῷ Κυρίῳ, καὶ σὺ ἀφρῆχας τὴν ἀσέδειαν τῆς χαρδίας μου, οὐχ ἂν νὸ, Ἕως πότε; περὶ ἀφέδεως ἁμαρτιῶν ἔλεγεν. '᾿Αλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ τὴν μὲν τῶν ἀμαρτιῶν ἄφεσιν ἔλαθεν, ἐπὶ πολλοὺς δὲ χρόνους θλίψεσιν καὶ πειρασμοῖς … θλίψεων ἐπὶ πολὺ ἔλαδεν\" περὶ τῆς τῶν δρειμυτάτων φαρμάχων ἀφαιρέσεως παραχαλεῖ τὸν ἰατρόν. Καὶ σὺ, Κύριε, ἕως πότε; Ὃ μαθητῆς σου Νάθαν ταχέως ἐχειρούργησεν, εἰπών: Καὶ Κύριος ἀφεῖλεν τὸ ἁμάρτημα σου. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἐκεῖνος οὐχ ἐδράδυνεν, καὶ αὐτὸς πρὸς τὰ δριμύτερα τῶν θλίψεων μὴ χρόνιζε. Καὶ σὺ, Κύριε, ἕως πότε; Ἕως πότε ὁ ᾿Αδεσαλὼμ πολεμεῖ; Ἕως πότε ὁ ἐξ ἐμοῦ χατ᾽ ἐμοῦ; “Ἕως … ὑπ᾽ ἐμὲ στρατόπεδα μετὰ τοῦ τυράννου κατ᾽ ἐμοῦ ὁπλίζονται : Ἐπίστρεψον, Κύριε, ῥῦσαι τὴν ψυχήν μου’ σῶσον μὲ ἕνδχεν τοῦ ἑλέους σου. \"τι αὐτῷ πρέπει δόξα, τιμὴ, κράτος, νῦν καὶ εἰς τοὺς ἀτελευτήτους αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ᾿Αμήν.","t":"not as one complaining, but waiting to learn the limit of his trials and the end of his afflictions. For he did not say “how long?” about the forgiveness of his sin. One who had heard, “And the Lord has taken away your sin,” would not say “how long?” in unbelief. And one who had said, “I said, I will confess my lawlessness against myself to the Lord, and you forgave the impiety of my heart,” would not say “how long?” about the forgiveness of sins. But since he had received the forgiveness of sins, but for many years [was tried] by afflictions and trials … [the medicine] of afflictions for a long time, he begs the physician to take away the very sharp medicines. “And you, Lord, how long?” Your disciple Nathan operated quickly, saying, “And the Lord has taken away your sin.” Since he was not slow, do not you delay as to the sharper afflictions. “And you, Lord, how long?” How long will Absalom make war? How long will the one who came from me be against me? How long … will the camps under my command arm themselves against me with the tyrant? “Turn, Lord, deliver my soul; save me for your mercy's sake.” For to him belong glory, honour and might, now and to the endless ages of ages. Amen.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 20.6 (PG 40:419; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/20-6)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/21.1":{"o":"Εἰς τὸν ζ᾽ ψαλμόν. Χύριξς ὁ Θεός μου, ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤλπισα, σῶσόν μὲ. Ὥσπερ ὁ τῆς βασιλιχῆῇς εἰχόνος θεατὴς οὐ παρορᾷ τὰ πρόσωπα, οὐδὲ τὰ ἐπιγράμματα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν γραφὴν καὶ τὴν ἐπιγραφὴν βλέμματι ἀσπάζεται\" οὗ τως ὁ ἐπιγραφὴν ψαλμοῦ ἀναγιχώσχων ζητεῖν ὀφείλει τὴν ἐπιγραφὴν, καὶ τὸν γράψαντα, καὶ τὸν γρα-φόμενον. Καὶ διὰ τί τὸ ἐπίγραμμα; ᾿Οφθαλμὸς γὰρ τῆς ἑρμηνείας, ἣ τῆς ἱστορίας ἀπόδειξις. Τίς οὖν ἧἡ προχειμένη τοῦ ψαλμοῦ ἐπιγραφή; ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαδὶδ, ὃν ἧσεν τῷ Κυρίῳ ὑπὲρ: τῶν «λόγων Χουσὶ υἱοῦ Ἰεμενδί. Εἶδές μοι, ἀδελφὲ, στήλην τὴν ἐπιγραφὴν, καὶ ἐγχώμιον τὴν γραφὴν, καὶ γραφέα τὸν Δαδὶδ, καὶ στρατηγὸν γραφέντα τὸν ἀριστέα Χουσί; Καὶ διὰ τί ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ μέμνηται; Οὗτος τοῦ μαχαρίου Δαδὶδ ἀρχιεταῖρος ἐγένετο. ᾿Αχούσατε γὰρ οἷα καὶ ὅσα φιλία ἐν ἀνάγκῃ δύναται. Φιλία γὰρ ἡ τοῦ Χουσὶ πρὸς τὸν Δαδὶδ τυραννίδα ἔλυσεν\" φιλία τύραννον χατέστρεψεν᾽ φιλία τὸν τυραννούμενον φίλον ἐξεδίχησεν- φιλία βασιλείας ἰσχυρωτέρα γέγονεν. Ὃ γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τῷ Δαδὶδ οὐχ ἐποίησεν, τοῦ τὸ φιλία τοῦ Χουσὶ ἐποίησεν. ᾿Αρχιεταῖρος δὲ ἐλέγετὸ χατὰ ἕνα τῶν δύο τρόπων, ἣ ὅτι τῆς ἑταιρίας τῶν στρατηγῶν Δαδὶδ ἮὮρχεν ὡς ἀρχιστράτηγος, ἣ ὅτι ἄνωθεν αὐτῷ καὶ ἐξαρχῆς ἑταῖρος καὶ φίλος ἐγένετο. Εἰδὼς γὰρ ὁ Δαδὶδ, ὅτι φίλου πιστοῦ οὐδὲν τιμιώτερον, καὶ ὥσπερ οἱ δύο ὀφθαλμοὶ τοῦ ἑνὸς πρὸς τὸ ὁρᾷν τὰ ὑποχείμενα ἀναγχαιότεροι, οὕτως καὶ δύο ψυκαὶ ὁμόπιστοι, δύο λεγόμεναι, καὶ μία φαινόμεναι, πρὸς συμδουλίαν ἀλλήλων βαχτηρία γίνονται\" διὰ τοῦτο οὐχ ἑαυτῷ μόνῳ τοῦ βουλεύεσθαι ἐπίστενεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ φίλοις τὸ συμδουλεύειν αὐτῷ ἐπέτρεπεν. Οὐ γευσάμενος τῆς φιλίας, καὶ ταύτην ἀποπτύσας. οὐδὲ τὴν ἄδολον ψυχὴν ὡς δολίαν ἀποστρεφόμενος, οὐδὲ ὡς ἀνάργυρος ἀγοραστὴς τὸ ἐν ἀγορᾷ ἱμάτιον ἐνδυσάμενος τὸν φίλον, καὶ εὐθέως ἐχδυσάμενος, οὐ» ὃὲ ὡς παλαιὸν χιτῶνα τὸν παλαιὸν φίλον ἀπαμφιαδά- Ὁ μενος. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἱμάτιον παλαιούμενον ται, ὁ δὲ παλαιὸς φίλος ὅσῳ παλαιοῦται, τοσούτῳ πλέον ὀφείλει εἶναι δοχιμώτερος. Ὡς γὰρ ὁ παλαιὸς οἶνος οὗ ταχὺ ἀλλοιοῦται, οὔτε τρέπεται, ὁ δὲ νέος οἶνος ἀμφίῤολος γείτων\" οὕτως ὁ παλαιὸς φίλος ὡς οἶνος προπάλαιος εὐφραίνει τὸν ἔχοντα. Καὶ τούτου ἐὰν δὲ παλαιωθῇ, μετ᾽ εὐφροσύνης αὑτὸν πίεσαι. Ὥσπερ δὲ ὁ πυρέττων καὶ φρενητιῶν τὸν παλαιὸν οἶνον ὡς πολέμιον ἀποστρέφεται, ὁ δὲ ὑγιαίνων καὶ ἐῤῥωμένος τὴν χαρδίαν εὐφραίνεται\" καὶ οἶνος γὰρ δὑὐφραίγδι καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου\" οὕτως ὁ νοσῶν τὴν φρένα, καὶ τῇ χαχίᾳ πυρέττων, τὸν ἀρχαῖον φίλον φεύγει ὡς πολέμιον\" ὁ δὲ ὑγιαίνων τὴν συνείδησιν ὡς δευτέρους γονέα: καὶ ἀδελφοὺς τοὺς φίλους λογίξεκαι. Ὅθεν τὸν Χουσὶ φίλον καὶ ἀρχιεταῖρον ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐξαρχῆς εἶχεν, τοῦτο λέγων\" Εἰ ὁ μέγας Μωῦσῆς ἄνθρωπος τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ θεὸς Φαραὼ, τὸν ξένον καὶ 8 ἴδιον τὸν Ἰοθὼρ σύμδηυλον ἔσχεν\" τὸν ξένον, διὰ τὴν θρησκείαν, καὶ ἴδιον, διὰ τὴν συγγένειαν’ καὶ οὐχ ὑπερηφάνησεν, οὐδὲ εἶπεν. Ἐγὼ οὐ χρήζω τῆς τούτου γνώμης\" ὁ Θεός μοι ἐλάλησεν, ἐπαιδεύθην πάσῃ σοφίᾳ Αἰγυπτίων, καὶ πῶς τοῦτον γνωμοδότην μαι; ᾿Αλλ᾽ οὐδὲν τούτων εἶπεν, ἐπείσθη δὲ τῷ χαλῶς συμθονλεύοντι, εἰδὼς, ὅτι συμδουλίας ἀκούει σοφός. Καὶ ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς, ἱματίων προχειμέγων, ὁ χρυσίον μὴ ἔχων, δοχιμάζει μόνον τὰ ἐνδύματα, καὶ σχυλεῖ ταῦτα, ἐνδυόμενος καὶ ἀποδυόμενος, καὶ ὅλα φορεῖ, καὶ οὐδὲ ἕν παρ᾽ ἑαυτῷ χρατεῖ’ οὕτως ὁ λεγόμενος φίλος, μὴ ἔχων χρυσὸν δόχιμον τὴν συνεἰδησιν, ὡς ἐν ἀγορᾷ τῷ βίῳ πάντας ἐνδύεται καὶ ἀποδύεται, πάντας ἀλλάσσει, καὶ οὐδὲ ἕνα φορεῖ. (᾿ ᾿Αλλ᾽ οὐχ ἧσαν τοιοῦτοι φίλοι ὁ Χουσὶ καὶ ὁ Δαδὶδ, οὐδὲ τὸ πικρὸν τοῦ δόλου ποτήριον ἀλλήλοις προέπινον, οὐδὲ τὴν μάχαιραν τοῦ φθόνου καθ᾽ ἑαυτῶν ὥβυναν\" αὐτοὶ δὲ ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ἑαυτοὺς χεράσαντες, καὶ τὰς δύο ψυχὰς μίαν τῇ διαθέσει δείξαντες, ὥσπερ τῆς εὐημερίας, οὕτω καὶ τῆς ταλαιπωρίας χοινωγοὶ ἐγίνοντο. Μίαν γὰρ περῶντες τοῦ βίου θάλασσαν, καὶ εὶς τὸ αὐτὸ σχάφος τῆς συνειδήσεως πλέοντες, καὶ τὴν εὐπλοῖαν καὶ τὸν χειμῶνα ὡσαύτως ὑπέμεγον.","t":"Homily 21. On the seventh psalm. “O Lord my God, in you I have hoped; save me.” As someone looking at the emperor's image does not overlook the faces or the inscriptions, but takes in both the picture and the inscription with his gaze, so one who reads the title of a psalm ought to look for the title, the writer, and the one written about. And why the inscription? Because it is the eye of the interpretation, or the proof of the history. What, then, is the title of the present psalm? “A psalm of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Chousi son of Jemeni.” Do you see, brother, the title as a monument, the writing as an encomium, David as the writer, and the champion Chousi as the general written about? And why does the word mention him? He was blessed David's chief companion. Hear what and how much friendship can do in time of need. Chousi's friendship for David broke up a tyranny; friendship overthrew a tyrant; friendship avenged the friend who was oppressed; friendship proved stronger than kingship. What his kingship did not do for David, Chousi's friendship did. He was called chief companion in one of two senses: either because he led David's company of generals as commander-in-chief, or because he had been his companion and friend from long ago and from the beginning. David knew that nothing is more precious than a faithful friend; and that as two eyes are more necessary than one for seeing what lies before us, so two souls of the same faith, called two but appearing one, become a staff to each other in counsel. That is why he did not trust himself alone in deliberating, but allowed his friends to counsel him. He did not taste friendship and then spit it out, nor turn away from a guileless soul as if it were deceitful; nor, like a buyer without money who puts on a garment in the market, did he put on a friend and at once take him off again; nor did he cast off an old friend like an old tunic. For a garment, as it grows old, [is thrown away]; but an old friend, the older he grows, should be the more proven. As old wine does not quickly change or turn, while new wine is a doubtful neighbour, so an old friend, like very old wine, gladdens the one who has him: “and if it grows old, you will drink it with gladness.” And as a man with fever and frenzy turns away from old wine as from an enemy, while the healthy and strong man is gladdened in heart (“for wine gladdens the heart of man”), so the one who is sick in mind and fevered with wickedness flees from an old friend as from an enemy, while the one healthy in conscience counts his friends as second parents and brothers. Therefore he had Chousi as friend and chief companion from long ago and from the beginning, saying this: If the great Moses, man of God and god to Pharaoh, had Jethro as counsellor, a stranger and yet his own (a stranger by religion, his own by kinship), and was not arrogant, nor said, “I do not need his opinion; God has spoken to me; I was trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; how shall I [take] him as my adviser?”, but said none of these things and was persuaded by the one who counselled him well, knowing that “a wise man listens to counsel”… And as in the market, when garments are set out, the man who has no gold only tries the clothes and wears them out, putting them on and taking them off, wearing them all and keeping none for himself, so the so-called friend who has not the proven gold of a good conscience puts on and takes off everyone in life as in a market, changes them all, and wears none. But Chousi and David were not friends of that kind. They did not drink to one another the bitter cup of deceit, nor whet the sword of envy against each other; they mingled themselves with each other, showed their two souls to be one in disposition, and became partners in misfortune as in prosperity. For crossing the one sea of life and sailing in the same vessel of conscience, they endured fair sailing and storm alike.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 21.1 (PG 40:463; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/21-1)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/21.2":{"o":"Ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαδὶδὃ, ὃν ἦἧσεν τῷ Κυρίῳ ὑπὲρ τῶν ζόγων Χουσὶ υἱοῦ Ἱεμενεί, Καὶ διὰ τί δὴν τῷ Κυρίῳ ὁ Δαδὶδ ὑπὲρ τοῦ Χουσὶ ἀνέπεμψεν, δι᾽ ὀλίγων ἴδωμεν. Ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ᾿Αθεσαλὼμ χατ᾽ αὐτοῦ νεύων ἕχαστον (ἐ9), τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς φιλίας τοὺς φίλους ἀπέσπασεν, τὸν δόλον ὡς ἱξὸν ψέρων, καὶ τὸ φίλημα ἄγχιστρον, καὶ δέλεαρ τὴν χολαχείαν, καὶ δίχτνυα πλάνης τὰς περιπλοχάς. Ἐπεὶ οὖν πάντας οὕτως ἕνα χαθ᾽ ἕνα τοὺς φίλους τοῦ Δαδὶδ ἀπεσύλησεν ὁ ᾿Αδεσαλὼμ, ὁπλίζει λοιπὸν αὑτοὺς κατὰ τοῦ πατρὸς, συχοφαντίας αὑτῷ καὶ διαδολὰς ῥάπτων. Ἕχαστος γὰρ ὡς υἱῷ τοῦ Δαδὶδ, καὶ ὡς μᾶλλον τὰ κατ᾽ αὑτὸν εἰδότι, ἐπίστευεν συχοφαντοῦντι. Ἐπεὶ οὖν μετὰ πάν… γνώμαις, καὶ ὅλας τὰς ἐν πολέμοις πανοπλίας καὶ μηχανὰ; ἐπὶ γλώσσης φέροντα, ὁ μαχάριος τὸν ἂρ-χιεταῖρον τὸν Χουσὶ λόγοις ὁπλίσας χατὰ τοῦ τόφελ ἀπέστειλεν, ὡς χατὰ πέρδιχος ἀετόν. Πέρδιξ γὰρ ὁ τύραννος, ὡς τὰ ἀλλότρια παρασπώμενος, καὶ πάλιν ἔρημος χαταλειπόμενος. Μάρτυς Ἴερεμίας εἰπών. Ἐφώγησεν πέρδιξ, συνήγαγεν ἃ οὐκ ἕτεχεν. Τὸν σύμδουλον πρὸς τὸν ἐπίθουλον ἔπεμψεν, ὡς χατὰ ὀνάγρου λέοντα Κυνηγία «1έοντος, ὄναγροι ἐν ἐρήμῳ\" εἰπὼν αὐτῷ\" Οὐ χρεία πανοπλίας, οὗ χρεία μάχης καὶ πολέμου, διασχέδασόν μοι τὴν βουλὴν ᾿Αχιτόφελ, καὶ πέπαυται ἡ ἐπιδουλή. Τόξον ἐστὶν ᾿Αχιτόφελ, καὶ βέλος ὁ ᾿Αδεσαλώμ᾽ … πησον τὸ τόξον, καὶ μένει τὸ βέλος ἀργόν. ΓΑ πο ελθε πρὸς τὸν ᾿Αδεσαλὼμ, ὡς ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ φεύγων, χἀχείνῳ προσφυγὼν, λοιδόρησόν με ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῦ, ταῖς χατ᾽ ἐμοῦ λοιδορίαις ἐπανυλῶν αὑτοῦ τὸν πυρετὸν τῆς ψυχῆς. “Οτ᾽ ἄν σοι ὡς φίλῳ θαῤῥήσει, τότε σον αὐτὸν μὴ πείθεσθαι τῷ ᾿Αχιτόφελ. Διασχόδα σόν μοι αὐτὸν, ἀπόστησον τοῦ χαχοῦ διδασχάλον τὸν ἄθλιον μαθητήν’ καὶ ὡς οἶδας, μεταδίδαξον, μᾶλλον δὲ ἐχεῖνα δίδαξον, ἅπερ διδάσχει Θεός. Τὰ ἐκεῖ λατῇ χρησάμενος. Ἱερεῖς γινέσθωσαν τῆς παιἄμφω, ὡς δῆθεν ὑδρενόμενοι, καὶ ὡς ἐν ὑδρίαις ταῖς ἀχοαῖς ἀντλήτωσάν μοι τὰ μυστήρια. Πάντα ποιήσωμεν, ὦ θαυμάσιε Χουσὶ, πῶς ὁ ᾿Αδεσαλὼμ μὴ ἀπολεῖται, πῶς ἐγὼ μὴ ζημιωθῶ τὸν υἱὸν, πῶς μύτε ἐχεῖνος ἀπάτωρ, μῆτε ἐγὼ ἄτεχνος: πῶς ἐν σοφίᾳ ἐξεύσεις τὸν νεοττόν μου, ὃν ἡ χενοδοξία ἑπτέρωσεν, ὃν ἣ νεότης σχιρτᾷν κατ᾽ ἐμοῦ ἐδίδαξεν. Ἐπειδὴ ταῦτα ὁ Δαδὶδ τῷ Χουσὶ τῷ φίλῳ εἶπεν, ὁ δὲ ὡς ἄλλος αὐτὸς τῷ λόγῳ διηχονήσατο, καὶ ἀπἤλθεν πρὸς τὸν ᾿Αδεσαλὼμ, ὡς φυγὰς, καὶ ἐφυγάδευσεν αὐτοῦ τὰς ἁτάχτους χατὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ὁρμάς\" ἐπειδὴ λόγοις ὁ Χουσὶ τὸν ἀλόγιστον ᾿Αδεσαλὼμ ἐνίχησεν᾽ ὑπὲρ τῶν λόγων Χουσὶ ὁ Δαδὶδ τῷ Θεῷ εὑχαριστεῖ. Ψαΐῖμὸς τῷ Δαδὶδ, ὃν ἧσεν τῷ Κυρίῳ ὑπὲρ τῶν «1όγων Χουσὶ υἱοῦ Ἰεμδνεί. ᾿Αντὶ τοῦ, Λόγος πράξεως τῷ Δαδὶδ, ὃν ὡς ἐπινίχιον ᾧδὴν τῷ Θεῷ ἀνέθηχεν. Διὰ τί δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς Χουσὶ υἱὸς Ἱεμενεὶ, καὶ υἱὸς ᾿Αραχὶ δθεν ἧσαν ὁ Σαοὺλ καὶ ὁ Σεμεεὶ, καὶ ὁ τὴν ἀγγελίαν κακαμηνύσας τοῦ Σαούλ’ νἱὸς δὲ ᾿Αραχὶ, ὡς ἀπὸ τοῦ πα- “«ρός. Ἢ καὶ ἐπειδὴ Ἰεμενεὶ ἑρμηνεύεται δεξιὰ, δεξιὰ δὲ χεὶρ ἐν τῇ ἀνάγχῃ τῷ Δαβὶδ ἐγίνετο. Υἱὸς δεξιᾶς οὔτως ὁ Βενιαμὶν ἀπὸ τοῦ συμόάντος υἱὸς ὀδύνης ἐλέγε-.το. Ἔμαθες τῆς εἰχόνος τοῦ ψαλμοῦ τὸ ἐπίγραμμα\" ἔδεε λοιπὸν καὶ τὸ γράμμα τοῦ ψαλμοῦ. Κύριε ὁ Θεός κου, ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤλπισα, σῶσον' με. Κἂν γὰρ ὁ Χουσὶ μεσίτης τοῦ δράματος γέγονεν, χἂν τῇ πανοπλίᾳ τῶν λόγων τὸν τύραννον ἔδησεν, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὸς ἔδωχας αὐτῷ λόγον ἐν ἀνοίξει στόματος, αὐτὸς τὸ θάρσος ἐνέδυσας, αὐτὸς τὰς βουλὰς τοῦ ᾿Αχιτόφελ διεσχέδασας, αὐτὸς τὸν ᾿Αδεσαλὼμ τοῖς λόγοις τοῦ φίλου συνέδησας, αὖπὃς αὐτῷ τὸ δένδρον διχαστὴν καὶ δήμιον νησας. Ἐπεὶ οὖν οὐχ ἀνθρώπῳ τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ σωτη- Β ρίαν, ἀλλὰ σοὶ ἐπίστευσα: Ἐπικατάρατος γὰρ ἄνθρωπος, ὁ τὴν ἐλπίδα ἔχων ἐπ' ἄνθρωπον\" --- Κύριθ ὁ Θεός μου, ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤλπισα. \"Ὥσπερ γὰρ τοξότου βέλος πέμψαντος, καὶ πολέμιον χαταδαλόντος, οὐδεὶς τὸ βέλος ἐπαινεῖ, ἀλλὰ τὸν τοξότην ἐπαινεῖ τὸν τοῦ βέλους ὁδηγόν \" οὕτως ὁ Δαθὶδ οὐ τῷ μεσίτῃ τοῦ δράματος τῷ Χουσὶ, ἀλλὰ τῷ Θεῷ εὐχαριστεῖ.","t":"“A psalm of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Chousi son of Jemeni.” Let us see briefly why David sent up a song to the Lord for Chousi. His son Absalom, nodding to each man against his father, drew his father's friends away from their friendship, carrying deceit as birdlime, the kiss as a hook, flattery as bait, and embraces as nets of error. When Absalom had thus stripped David of all his friends one by one, he armed them against his father, stitching together slanders and accusations against him; and each believed him when he slandered, as David's son and as one who knew his affairs better. When, then, … with all … counsels, carrying on his tongue the whole armour and engines of war, the blessed man armed his chief companion Chousi with words and sent him against Ahithophel, like an eagle against a partridge. For the tyrant is a partridge, since he snatches what belongs to others and then is left deserted again; Jeremiah is witness, saying, “The partridge cried out; it gathered what it did not hatch.” He sent the counsellor against the plotter, as a lion against a wild ass (“wild asses in the desert are the hunting of the lion”), saying to him: “There is no need of armour, no need of battle and war: scatter for me the counsel of Ahithophel, and the plot is over. Ahithophel is the bow and Absalom the arrow; [break] the bow, and the arrow lies idle. Go to Absalom as though fleeing from me; having fled to him, revile me before him, and cool the fever of his soul with your revilings against me. When he trusts you as a friend, then [persuade] him not to obey Ahithophel. Scatter him for me; separate the wretched pupil from the evil teacher; and, as you know how, reteach him, or rather teach him what God teaches. … Let the priests be … both, as though insulted, and let them draw the secrets for me with their ears as with pitchers. Let us do everything, wonderful Chousi, so that Absalom may not perish, so that I may not lose my son, so that he may not be fatherless nor I childless; so that you may in wisdom [catch] my nestling, whom vainglory has given wings, whom youth has taught to leap against me.” When David had said these things to his friend Chousi, Chousi, like another self, served his word; he went to Absalom as a fugitive and put to flight his disorderly impulses against his father. And since Chousi conquered the unreasoning Absalom with words, David gives thanks to God for the words of Chousi: “A psalm of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Chousi son of Jemeni”; that is, a word about a deed of David's, which he dedicated to God as a victory song. And why is the same Chousi called son of Jemeni and son of Arachi? [Son of Jemeni from the tribe] from which Saul and Shimei came, and the one who brought the news of Saul's death; son of Arachi, from his father. Or else, since Jemeni is interpreted “right hand”, and he became a right hand to David in his need: a son of the right hand; just as Benjamin, from what happened, was called son of sorrow. You have learned the inscription of the psalm's picture; now [learn] the writing of the psalm too. “O Lord my God, in you I have hoped; save me.” For even if Chousi became the go-between in the drama, even if he bound the tyrant with the armour of words, yet it was you who gave him a word when he opened his mouth, you who clothed him with courage, you who scattered the counsels of Ahithophel, you who bound Absalom with his friend's words, you who made the tree his judge and executioner. Since, then, I have entrusted my salvation not to man but to you (“for cursed is the man who sets his hope on man”), “O Lord my God, in you I have hoped.” For when an archer sends an arrow and strikes down an enemy, no one praises the arrow, but they praise the archer who guided the arrow; so David gives thanks not to Chousi, the go-between of the drama, but to God.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 21.2 (PG 40:463; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/21-2)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/21.3":{"o":"θὕτως καὶ ὁ εἰς τὰ ἐπιχίνδυνα πελάγη εὐπλοήσας καὶ τὴν ποθουμένην πόλιν ἀλύπως χαταλαδὼν, οὐ τοῖς ἀνέμοις προσχυνεῖ, ἀλλὰ τῷ Θεῷ εὐχαριστεῖ, τῷ ἐξα; ωγόντε ἁγέμους ἐκ θησαυρῶν αὐτῶν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ὅτε Χουσὶ τῷ ᾿Αδεσαλὼμ διελέγετο, τότε ταῦτα ὁ Δαδὶδ τῷ Θεῷ προσηύχετο, καὶ ἅπερ πρὸ τῆς νίχης ἔψαλλεν, ταῦτα μετὰ τὴν νίχην, ἐπινίχιον ᾧδὴν τῷ νιχοποιῷ ἀνέθηχεν διὰ τοῦτο, Ψ᾽αϊμὸς τῷ ( Δαδιδ, ὃν ἧἦσεν τῷ Κυρίῳ. Εἰ ψαϑμὸς, πῶς, ὃν ἔψαλλεν \" εἰ δὲ δὴ, τότε, ὃν ἦσεν, ἤρμοζεν. ᾿Αλλ᾽ οὐδὲν ἀμφίδολον, ἢ ἐναντίον ἐν τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ. Τοῦ Ἱὰρ Πατρὸς εἰσιν ὅροι, τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου δὲ νόμοι, καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος λόγοι. \"Ὅτε ἔπεμψεν ὁ Δαδὶδ τὸν Χουσὶ πρὸς τὸν ᾿Αδεσαλὼμ, ὑπὲρ τῶν λόγων αὐὖτοῦ προσηΐὔχετο, ψάλλων καὶ λέγων \" Κύριβ ὁ Θεός μου, ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤλπισα, σῶσόν μ8. \"Ὅτε ἕψαλλεν, καὶ ψάλλων ἐνέχησεν, ὡς τὸν δαίμονά ποτε, οὕτως αὖθις τὸν ᾿Αδεσαλώμ᾽ τότε ἀναμιμνησχόμενος τῆς δυνάμεως τοῦ ψαλμοῦ, αὐτὸν ἐχεῖνον τὸν ψαλμὸν μετὰ τὴν νίχην ἐπινίχιον ᾧδὴν ἀνέπεμψεν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν πρὸ τοῦ πολέμου αὐτὸν ἔψαλλεν, μετὰ δὲ τὸν πόλεμον ἦσεν, Ψαιϊμὸς ὃν ἧσεν. Κἀγὼ οὐχ ἐπαινῶ τὸ ἐργαλεῖον, ἀλλὰ σὲ τὸν τεχνίτην \" οὗ θαυμάζω τὴν χιθάραν, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἐπιστήμονα μουσιχόν. ΕΓ καὶ δ᾽ Χουσὶ λόγους καὶ ῥήματα ὡς ὅπλα ἔχων ἐνίχησεν \" ἀλλ᾽ οἷδα, ὅτι Κύριός ἔστιν ὁ διδοὺς ῥήματα τοῖς εὖ» αγγδιλιζομένοις δυνάμει πολλῇ. Δ δ, Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου, ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤἥϊπισα, σῶσόν με. --- Ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤϊλπισαν οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν, καὶ ἐσώθησαν. Ἕπὶ σοὶ ἐλπίσας ὁ προπάτωρ ᾿Αὐραὰμ, ἀπὸ ὃξ βαρδάρων. βασιλέων σέσωσται\" τεσσάρων μὲν τῶν Χαλδαίων. πέμπτου δὲ τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου Φαραὼ, καὶ ἔχτου τοῦ … Θεὸς ὡς ἀπὸ ἱεράχων περιστερὰν ἀπέσπασεν. ᾿Ἐπὶ σοὶ ἐλπίσας ὁ Ἰσαχχ, εἰς θυσίαν προσφερόμενος, ὑποταγῇ, οὐχ ἐθύθη τῇ πληγῇ. Ἐπὶ σοὶ ἐλπίσας ὁ Ἰαχὼδ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ Ἠσαῦ οὐχ ἐφονεύετο,. οὐδὲ ἄλλον Κάϊν τὸν ἀδελφὸν εὗρεν\" ἀλλὰ τὸν μετὰ τε τραχοσίων ἀνδρῶν αὐτῷ ἐπερχόμενον, ὡς ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶ, ἐχείνων φυγαδευόμενον ἐνίχησεν. Ἐπὶ σοὶ ἐλπίσας ὁ Ἰωσὴφ, εἰς δοῦλον δούλου πραθεὶς, δοῦλος ἁμαρτίας οὐκ ἐγένετο, τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ οὐκ ἐδούλευσεν, δι᾽ ὃ καὶ τῆς Αἰγύπτου πάσης ἐχυρίευσεν. Ἐπὶ σοὶ ἐλπίσας Μωσῆς τὸν Αἰγύπτιον στρατὸν ὕδασιν ἐμάστιξεν, καὶ διώκοντα ἐν ἅρμασιν ἐνέχησεν χύμασιν. \"ἔλεγεν γὰρ τοῖς πατράσιν ἐπὶ τῷ Θεῷ ἐλπίσασιν᾽ Στῆτε, καὶ ὁρᾶτε τὴν σωτηρίαν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου, ἣν ποιήσει ὑμῖν σήμερον. Ἐχεῖνοι ἐπὶ σοὶ ἢλπι-σαν, καὶ ἐσώθησαν\" χἀγὼ ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤϊπισαι, Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου, σῶσόν με. Ἐχεϊ ὁ Φαραὼ, ἐνταῦθα ὁ.","t":"So too one who has sailed safely through dangerous seas and reached the city he longed for without harm does not worship the winds, but gives thanks to God, “who brings out the winds from his storehouses.” Since, then, while Chousi was conversing with Absalom David was praying these words to God, and what he sang before the victory he dedicated after the victory as a song of triumph to the giver of victory, therefore: “A psalm of David, which he sang to the Lord.” If it is a psalm, how [is it] “which he sang”? If it was a song, then “which he sang” would fit. But there is nothing doubtful or contradictory in the divine Scripture. For the definitions are the Father's, the laws are God the Word's, and the words are the Holy Spirit's. When David sent Chousi to Absalom, he prayed about his words, singing a psalm and saying: “O Lord my God, in you I have hoped; save me.” When he sang it, and by singing conquered Absalom in turn, as he once conquered the demon, then, remembering the power of the psalm, he sent up that same psalm after the victory as a song of triumph. Since, then, he sang it to the harp before the war and sang it as a song after the war, it is “a psalm which he sang.” “And I praise not the instrument, but you the craftsman; I do not admire the lyre, but the skilled musician. Even if Chousi conquered with words and phrases as his weapons, I know that it is the Lord who gives words to those who proclaim good news with great power.” “O Lord my God, in you I have hoped; save me.” “In you our fathers hoped, and they were saved.” Hoping in you, our forefather Abraham was saved from barbarian kings: four of the Chaldeans, the fifth Pharaoh of Egypt, and the sixth … God snatched him away like a dove from hawks. Hoping in you, Isaac, offered as a sacrifice in obedience, was not slain by the blow. Hoping in you, Jacob was not murdered by his brother Esau, nor did he find his brother another Cain; but he overcame the one who came against him with four hundred men, as though he had been put to flight by them. Hoping in you, Joseph, sold as the slave of a slave, did not become a slave of sin and did not serve sin; and so he became lord of all Egypt. Hoping in you, Moses scourged the army of Egypt with water, and overcame with the waves the one who pursued in chariots; for he said to our fathers who hoped in God, “Stand firm and see the salvation from the Lord which he will work for you today.” They hoped in you, and were saved; I too have hoped in you, O Lord my God; save me. There it was Pharaoh, here …","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 21.3 (PG 40:463; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/21-3)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/21.4":{"o":"Σαούλ᾽ ἐχεῖ ὁ ᾿Αμαλὴχ, ὧδε ὁ ᾿Αδεσαλώμ΄ ἐχεΐ οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι, ὧδε οἱ ἀλλόφυλοι \" ἐχεῖ ἐν ἐρήμῳ ὁ Μωσῆς καὶ ὁ λαὸς, καὶ ὧδε ἐν ἐρήμῳ ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ λαΐάς- Ποσαπιϊῶς σοι ἡ σάρξ μου, ἐν γῇ ἐρήμῳ καὶ Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου, ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤλπισα, σῶσον μᾶ. Καὶ ἐχ τίνων σωθῆναι ποθεῖς; Ἐχ τίνων; ᾽Εχ πάντων τῶν διωκόντων μδ, καὶ ῥῦσαί με. Καὶ ἄρα ἐρύσθη ἐχ πάντων τῶν ἐχθρῶν; Ναὶ ἐρύσθη. Τίς τούτου μάρτυς; Ἡ ἐπιγραφὴ τοῦ ἑπταχαιδεχάτου Ὁ ψαλμοῦ: Εἰς τὸ τέλος τῷ παιδὶ Κυρίου τῷ Δαδὶδ, ἦ ἡμέρᾳ ἐλυτρώσατο αὐτὸν Κύριος ἐκ χειρὸς πάντων τῶν ἐχθρῶν αὑτοῦ. -- Σῶσόν μὲ ἐκ πάντων τῶν διωχόντων με, καὶ ῥῦσαί με. -- Σῶσόν με, ἄρτι διωχόμενον- ῥῦσαί μδ, μηχέτι ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν πολεμούμενον. Καὶ σὺ, ὦ προσφιλέστατε, λέγε ἀεὶ τῷ Θεῷ προσευχόμενος\" Κύριξ ὁ Θεός μου, ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤιϊπισα, σῶσόν με᾽ ἵνα σε ἐχ πάντων τῶν διωχόντων ῥύσηται. Κύριδ ὁ Θεός μου, ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤϊπισα, σῶσόν με. Καὶ τίνες οἱ διύχοντες; Αἰσθη- «ὡς μὲν αἱρετιχοὶ καὶ πάντες οἱ πονηροὶ καὶ βάσχανοι ἄνθρωποι\" νοητῶς δὲ διώχουσιν ἡ πορνεία καὶ ἡ μοιχεία, καὶ ἡ ἁμαρτία, καὶ ἡ ἀσέδεια.. Εἰ μὴ ἐδίωχεν ἡ μοιχεία, καὶ ὁ. Θεὸς τὸν διωχόμενον. ἐκ ταύτης ἐρύετο, οὐχ ἂν ὁ Παροιμιαστὴς. ἔλεγεν - Εἰπὸν τὴν σοφίαν σὴν ἀδειφὴν εἶναι, ἵγα σε ῥύσηται ἀπὸ γυναικὸς ἀ.λλοτρίας καὶ πονηρᾶς\" ῥύεται γάρ τις τὸν διωχόμενον. Εἰ μὴ ἐδίωκεν ἡ ἀδικία, οὐχ ἂν ὁ Προφήτης ἔλεγεν’ Ἀπὸ ἀγδρὸς ἀδίχου ῥῦσαί μδ. Εὶ μὴ ἐδίωχεν ὁ φόνος, οὐχ ἂν εἶπεν\" 'Ρῦσαί με ἐξ αἱμάτων, ὁ Θεὸς ὁ Θεὸς τῆς σωτηρίας μου. Σῶσόν μὲ ἐκ πάντων τῶν διωχόγτων μδ, καὶ ῥῦσαί με. Εἰ μὴ ἐδίωχεν ἡ ἁμαρτία, οὐχ ἂν ἡ Γραφὴ ὡς μήτὴρ ἐνουθέτησε\" Τέχγον, ὡς ἀπὸ προσώπου ὄφεως φύγε ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας. Εἰ μὴ ἐδίωχον αἱ ἀνομίαι, καὶ χατελάμδανον τὸν ἀργῶς πρὸς ἀρετὰς τρέχοντα, οὐχ ἂν ὁ Δαδὶδ ἔλεγεν, ὅτι Κατέιλαδόν μὲ αἱ ἀνομίαι ῥου, καὶ οὐχ ἠδυνήθην τοῦ βλέπειν. Θέλεις καλῶς φεύγων μὴ καταληφθῆναι ὑπὸ τῶν χαχῶν; λέγει σοι ἡ Γραφή Μὴ ποίδι χαχὰ, καὶ οὐ μή σε καταδλάδῃ καχά. Ἐπειδὴ γάρ ἔστιν πνεῦμα πορνείας, καὶ πνεῦμα μοιχείας - πνεῦμα πορνείας, περὶ οὗ Ὡσηὲ λέγει\" Πγεύματι πορνείας ἐπλανήθησαν \" ν πνεῦμα μοιχεῖας\" Καὶ ἐμοίχευσεν τὸν 2έθον καὶ τὸ ξύλον, διὰ τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς ὀρχούμενα πνεύματα\" καὶ πνεῦμα φιλαργυρίας, τὸ λέγον᾽ Ταῦτα πάντα σοι δώσω, ἐὰν πεσὼν προσχυνγήσῃς μοι\" ἔχαστον τῶν πονηρῶν πνευμάτων ἀεὶ ἐπιτηροῦσιν τὴν ἐχάὅτου ὁδόν\" καὶ ὁποίαν εἰς ὁδὸν ἁμαρτίας νεύσεις, τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐχεῖνό σε διώχει καὶ συντρέχει τῷ ἁμαρτάνοντι. Ὃ Ἰούδας ἐπὶ φιλαργυρίαν ὥδευσαν, καὶ ὁ διάδολος αὐτῷ διὰ φιλαργυρίας τὴν προ-εἰς τὴν καρδίαν Ἰούδα Σίμωνος ᾿Ισκαριώτου, ζγα αὐτὸν παραδῷ. Ὡς γὰρ ἐὰν περὶ φιλοσοφίαν. ἀσχοληθῇς, ὁ φιλόσοφος συμπράττει σοι, καὶ ἐὰν περὶ ποιητιχὴν ὁ ποιητὴς, καὶ ἐὰν περὶ τεχτονιχὴν ἐ τέχτῳν᾽\" οὕτως ἐὰν περὶ πορνείαν νεύσῃς, τὸ πνεῦμα -ἧς πορνείας συντρέχει σοι\" ἐὰν περὶ ζηλοτυπίαν, τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ζηλοτυπίας ἀνάπτει: σε. ᾽Εὰν, φησὶν, γένηται γυνὴ ξηλοτυπουμένη, καὶ ξιθῃ τῷ ἀνδρὶ αὑτῆς πνεῦμα ζηϊώσεως. Ἐὰν δὲ περὶ φιλοσοφίαν οὐράνιον ἀνανεύσῃς, τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς σοφίας σοι ἐπαναπαύεται\" ἐὰν περὶ σύνεσιν, τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς … καὶ ἰσχύος, πγεῦμα γνώσεως καὶ δὐσεθείας \" ἁρπάσῃ ὡς λέων τὴν ψυχήν μου. Ἐπιτήρει, ὅτε ἀπὸ τῶν πολλῶν προσώπων εἰς ἕν μεταδέδηχεν. πὼν γὰρ. Ἐκ πάντων τῶν διωκόντων μὲ ῥῦσαί με, οὔχ εἶπεν, Μήποτε ἁρπάσωσιν ὡς λέοντες τὴν ψυχὴν μον, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς …","t":"… Saul; there Amalek, here Absalom; there the Egyptians, here the Philistines; there Moses and the people in the desert, and here I and the people in the desert: “… how many ways my flesh [longs] for you in a desert land.” And: “O Lord my God, in you I have hoped; save me.” And from whom do you long to be saved? From whom? “From all who persecute me; and deliver me.” And was he delivered from all his enemies? Yes, he was. Who is witness of this? The title of the seventeenth psalm: “For the end, for the servant of the Lord, David, … on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies.” “Save me from all who persecute me, and deliver me.” Save me, now that I am being persecuted; deliver me, so that I am no longer warred upon by them. And you, my dearest, say always to God when you pray: “O Lord my God, in you I have hoped; save me,” so that he may deliver you from all who persecute you. “O Lord my God, in you I have hoped; save me.” And who are the persecutors? Visibly, heretics and all wicked and envious people; spiritually, fornication and adultery, sin and impiety persecute us. If adultery did not persecute, and God did not deliver the one persecuted from it, the writer of Proverbs would not have said: “Say that wisdom is your sister, so that she may deliver you from the strange and wicked woman”; for one delivers someone who is being pursued. If injustice did not persecute, the Prophet would not have said: “Deliver me from the unjust man.” If murder did not persecute, he would not have said: “Deliver me from bloodguilt, O God, God of my salvation.” “Save me from all who persecute me, and deliver me.” If sin did not persecute, Scripture would not have admonished us like a mother: “Child, flee from sin as from the face of a serpent.” If our lawless deeds did not pursue and overtake the one who runs slowly toward the virtues, David would not have said: “My lawless deeds have overtaken me, and I could not see.” Do you want to flee well and not be overtaken by evils? Scripture says to you: “Do no evil, and evil will not overtake you.” For there is a spirit of fornication and a spirit of adultery: the spirit of fornication, of which Hosea says, “They went astray by a spirit of fornication”; the spirit of adultery: “And she committed adultery with stone and wood,” because of the spirits dancing in them; and a spirit of love of money, which says, “All these I will give you, if you fall down and worship me.” Each of the wicked spirits always watches each person's road; and to whatever road of sin you incline, that spirit of sin pursues you and runs along with the sinner. Judas travelled the road of love of money, and the devil, through love of money, put the betrayal “into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot, to betray him.” As, if you busy yourself with philosophy, the philosopher works with you, and if with poetry, the poet, and if with carpentry, the carpenter, so if you incline toward fornication, the spirit of fornication runs along with you; if toward jealousy, the spirit of jealousy inflames you: “If,” it says, “a woman is jealous, and a spirit of jealousy comes upon her husband.” But if you look up toward the philosophy of heaven, the spirit of wisdom rests upon you; if toward understanding, the spirit of understanding … and of might, the spirit of knowledge and of godliness. “… lest he snatch my soul like a lion.” Notice that he has passed from many persons to one. For having said, “Deliver me from all who persecute me,” he did not say, “lest they snatch my soul like lions,” but “like a lion” …","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 21.4 (PG 40:463; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/21-4)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/21.5":{"o":"Καὶ διὰ τί ἐχ πολλῶν προσώπων εἰς ἕν πρόσωπον τὴν καχίαν περιέστησεν; Ὥσπερ ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις πλῆθος βαρδάρων ὁπλίζεται, οἱ πάντες δὲ τοῦ ἑνὸς νεύματι, τοῦ ῥηγὸς (ὅ8), ἢ τοῦ τυράννου ἕπονται, χαὺ ἄνευ ἐχείνου τὸ πλῆθος οὐχ οἷδε πσράταξιν\" οὕτως ἐπειδὴ τὸν Δαδὶδ κατ᾽ αἴσθησιν μὲν ἐπολέμουν ο στρατιῶται καὶ ὁ ᾿Αδεσα) ὧμ, κατὰ νοῦν δὲ οἱ δαίμονες καὶ ὁ διάδολος\" ἐπειδὴ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἄνευ τοῦ ἡγεμόνος οὐδὲν ἐστιν, λέοντα χαλῶν, ἔνθεν Μήποτε ἁρπάσῃ ὡς «ἰέων τὴν ψυχήν μου. Καὶ ὅτι λέοντα τὸν ᾿Αδεσαλὼμ καὶ τὸν διάδολον ἔλεγεν, δηλοξ ἐν τῷ ἐνάτῳ ψαλμῷ, εἰπών: Ἐγεδρεύεε ἡ ἐν ἀποχρύφῳ, ὡς “1έων ἐν τῇ μάνδρᾳ αὐτοῦ\" ὦ μὲν διάδολος ἐν τοῖς ὑπηχόοις αὐτοῦ ἀνθρώποις χρυπτόμενος \" ὁ δὲ ᾿Αδεσπαλὼμ ἐν τοῖς συναπόστασιάσασιν αὐτῷ λανθάνειν οἰόμενος \" ᾿Εν εδρεύει τοῦ ἁρπάσαι πτωχὸν, ἁρπάσαι πτωχὸν ἐν τῷ ἐλκύσαι αὐτόν. Καὶ εἰ περὶ τοῦ θηρίου τοῦ λέοντος ἔλε-γεν. καὶ πότε ὁ λέων πτωχὸν »αὶ πένητα \"\" διακχρξναι δύναται : Οὐχὶ δὲ τούτῳ χἀχείνῳ ἐπίσης ἐφάλλεται; Λέοντα οὖν τὸν διάβολον ἐδήλωσεν, εἰπών \" ποτε ἁρπάσῃ ὡς λέων τὴν ψυχήν μου. Καὶ διὰ τῇ λέων ὁ διάδολος;: Οὐ διὰ τὸ βασιλιχὸν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ τυραννιχόν\" λέων οὗ διὰ τὸ ἰσχυρὸν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὰ, ἁρπαχτικόν. Λέων στόμα ἔχει βρομῶδες καὶ δυσμενος, καὶ τῇ πολνθεῖᾳ βρομῶν. Ὃ λέων καθεύδων ἠνεωγμένους ἔχει τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς \" καὶ οἱ δαίμονες μενοι, ἠνεῳγμένους τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς πρὸς χαχίαν ἔχουσιν\" ὡς γέγραπται\" Οὐ γὰρ μὴ ὑπνγώσουσιν, ὅως οὗ καχοποιήσωσιν. Ἵνα οὖν δείξῃ, ὅτι οὐ περὶ αἰσθητοῦ λέοντος, ἀλλὰ περὶ τοῦ νοητοῦ ἔλεγεν, οὐκ εἶπεν \" Μήποτε ἁρπάσῃ ὁ λέων τὴν ψυχήν μον\" ἀλλὰ, Μήποτε ἁρπάσῃ ὡς ἰέων τὴν ψυχήν μου. Λέων δὲ τὸ θηρίον ψυχὴν ἁρπάζειν οὐκ οἶδεν. Καὶ ὅτι λεόντων σώματά εἶσιν καὶ οὐ ψυκαὶ ἡ τροφῇ. μάρτυς ὃ Δανιὴλ, περὶ τῶν ἑπτὰ λεόντων εἰπών Καὶ ἦσαν. ἐν τῷ Δάχχῳ ἑπτὰ (λέοντες, καὶ ἐδίδοτο αὑτοῖς θ᾽ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν δύο σώματα καὶ δύο πρό. … ψυκαί. Μήποιτς ἁρπάσῃ ὡς λέων τὴν γυχήν μου. Ναὶ πῶς ἁρπάζει ἁ λέων; Μὴ ὄγτος μηδὲ σώζοντος. Εἰ γὰρ τοῦ Δαδὶδ ποιμαίνοντος, ὅτ᾽ ἂν ἦλθεν λέων ἣ ἄρχος, καὶ ἐλάμδανεν πρόθδατον ἐχ «τυράννων στρατηγὸς, καὶ τὸν θῇρα ἔτυπτεν, καὶ τὸ πρόδατον ὡς αἰχμάλωτον ἀποσπάσας ἔσωζεν\" πόσῳ μᾶλλον Θεοῦ καὶ σώζοντος, ὁ λέων ὁ διάδολος ζειν οὐ δύναται; Μήποτε ἁρπάσῃ ὡς «έων τὴν ψυχήν μου. Φύλαττέ με ὡς ποιμὴν, καὶ οἱ ὀδόντες Ἑπειδὴ ταῦτα εἶπεν, καὶ προσηύξατο ῥυσθῆναι τοῦ λέοντος τοῦ ᾿Αδεσαλὼμ, καὶ εἰσηχούσθη προσεὐυξάμενο;, ἑπάγει, καὶ εἰς ἀπολογίαν τρέπεται \" Κύρις ὁ Θεός μου, εἰ ἐποίησα τοῦτο. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὁ ᾿Αὐεσαλὼμ ὡς λέων ἐν τῷ δρυμῷ τὸν πατέρα ἐδίωχεν, ὡς λέων ἀπὸ τῆς χόμης χρατηθεὶς ἐχρέμᾶτο, καὶ ἡ χόμη τοῦ δένδρου ἀπὸ τῆς χόμης ἐχράτει τὸν λέοντα, καὶ ὡς ἔριφος ἐν μαχέλλῳ ὁ λέων ἐχρέπαρεγίνοντο \" καὶ ἄξιον ἐπιτάφιον αὐτῷ Σαλομὼν ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ ὑπέψαλλεν, λέγων ᾿οφθακμὸν χατῶν φαράγγων ν ταὶ καταφάγοιεν αὑτὸν νεοσσοὶ ἀετῶν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν οἱ νεοσσοὶ τὸν νεοσσὸν τοῦ Δαδὶδ χατεσθίειν ἔσπευδον, προλαδὼν δὲ ὁ στρατηγὸς Ἰωὰδ ὡς ἱξευτὴς χαλάμῳ τῷ δόρατι τὸν νέον ἐθήρασεν, καὶ πληγεὶς ἐν τῷ ἀέρι ἑπτερύσσετο, καὶ τὸν θάνατὸν φυγεῖν οὐχ ἠδύνατο, καὶ σπαίρων τὸν ἀέρα ᾿ ἐλάχτιζεν, ἐπειδὴ τὸν πατέρα ἐλάχτισεν' ὡς οὖν πολλοὶ τὸν θάνατον τοῦ ᾿λδεσαλὼμ τῷ Δαδὶδ φοντες, καὶ αἰτιώμενοι ἔλεγον᾽ Ποῦ ἡ πραότης τοῦ Δαδίδ; ποῦ ἡ προφήτου εὐλάδεια; ἰδίου τέχνου αὑτὸν ἀνηλεῶς ἐχέλευσεν\" ἐπειδὴ τὸ ψεῦδος καὶ ἣ Δαδὶδ τὸν Θεὸν ἐχάλεσεν. Πάντες, Δέσποτα, λέγουσιν, ὅτι ἐγὼ τὸν ᾿Αὔεσατοῦτο᾽ εἰ τὴν δεξιὰν τῇ σφαγῇ τοῦ παιδὸς ἐμόλυνα\" εἰ ἔστι» ἀδιχία ἐν χερσίν μου. Εἰ, ἐν γράμμασιν αὐτὸν ὡς τὸν Οὐρίαν ἐφόνευσα\" εἰ δαχτύλοις ἐμοῖς τὸν χατ᾽ ἐχείνου ἐσχιογράφησα θάνατον. Ἢ καὶ οὕτως\" ἐπειδὴ ῥυσθῆναι ὁ πατὴρ ἀπὸ τοῦ υἱοῦ προσηύχετο, καὶ ὁ γεωργὸς τὸ φυτὸν ὡς ἄχανθαν ἔφυγεν, καὶ ὁ ποιμὴν τὸν ἄρνα ὡς λέοντα ἀπεδίδρασχεν, ἀναδλέ- Φφα: εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἔλεγεν\" Ὁ υἱὸς ἐμὲ τὸν πατέρα τολεμεῖ, Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου, εἰ ἐποίησα τοῦτο. Εἰ τὸν τεχόντα ἐλύπησα᾽ εἰ μὴ ὡς δοῦλος δεσπότῃ ἐδούλευσα\" εἰ τὸν ἐχείνου θάνατον ἐμὴν ἐλευθερίαν ἐνόμισα. Κύρις ὁ Θεός μον, εἰ ἐποίησα τοῦτο. Ὃ ὑπομένω εἰἄπραξα. Κὶ ἔστιν ἀδικία ἐν χερσίν μου.","t":"And why did he turn the wickedness of many persons into one person? As in wars a multitude of barbarians is armed, but all follow the nod of one, the king or the tyrant, and without him the multitude knows no battle line, so, since soldiers and Absalom were making war on David visibly, and the demons and the devil spiritually, and since the multitude of enemies is nothing without its leader, he calls him a lion, saying: “Lest he snatch my soul like a lion.” That he called Absalom and the devil a lion he shows in the ninth psalm, saying: “He lies in wait in secret, like a lion in his den”: the devil hiding among the men who are subject to him, and Absalom thinking to escape notice among those who had revolted with him; “He lies in wait to snatch the poor, to snatch the poor when he draws him in.” If he were speaking of the beast, the lion, when could a lion tell the poor and needy apart? Does it not spring on the one and the other alike? So he showed the devil to be the lion, saying: “Lest he snatch my soul like a lion.” And why is the devil a lion? Not for his royalty, but for his tyranny; a lion not for his strength, but for his rapacity. The lion has a stinking mouth … and stinking with the worship of many gods. The lion sleeps with its eyes open; and the demons … keep their eyes open for evil, as it is written: “For they will not sleep until they have done evil.” To show, then, that he was speaking not of a visible lion but of a spiritual one, he did not say, “lest the lion snatch my soul,” but “lest he snatch my soul like a lion.” The beast, the lion, does not know how to snatch a soul. And that bodies, not souls, are the food of lions, Daniel is witness, saying of the seven lions: “And there were seven lions in the den, and every day two bodies and two sheep were given to them.” … souls. “Lest he snatch my soul like a lion.” And how does the lion snatch? “When there is none to redeem and none to save.” For if, when David was shepherding, and a lion or a bear came and took a sheep from the flock, [he went out like] a general against tyrants, struck the beast, and, snatching the sheep away like a captive, saved it, how much more, when God redeems and saves, can the lion, the devil, not snatch? “Lest he snatch my soul like a lion.” Guard me like a shepherd, and the teeth … When he had said these things, and prayed to be delivered from the lion Absalom, and had been heard when he prayed, he goes on and turns to a defence: “O Lord my God, if I have done this.” For since Absalom pursued his father like a lion in the forest, like a lion he was caught by his hair and hung, and the foliage of the tree held the lion fast by his hair, and the lion hung like a kid in a meat-market … and Solomon his brother sang a fitting epitaph over him, saying: “An eye that mocks a father … may the ravens of the valleys pick it out, and the young eagles devour it.” Since, then, the young eagles were eager to devour David's young one, but the general Joab got there first and, like a fowler with his reed, caught the young man with his spear, and, struck, he fluttered in the air and could not escape death, and gasping he kicked at the air, since he had kicked at his father; since many [blamed] David for Absalom's death, and accused him, saying, “Where is David's meekness? Where is the prophet's reverence? He mercilessly ordered [the death] of his own child”; since falsehood and … David called upon God: “Everyone says, Master, that I [killed] Absalom: O Lord my God, if I have done this; if I have stained my right hand with the slaughter of my son; if there is injustice in my hands; if I murdered him by letters, as I did Uriah; if with my fingers I sketched out the death against him.” Or else it is meant thus: since the father was praying to be delivered from the son, the farmer fled the plant as if it were a thorn and the shepherd ran from the lamb as from a lion, and, looking up to heaven, he said: “My son makes war on me, his father. O Lord my God, if I have done this; if I grieved the one who begot me; if I did not serve him as a slave serves his master; if I thought his death my freedom. O Lord my God, if I have done this,” what I suffer, if I have done it. “If there is injustice in my hands.”","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 21.5 (PG 40:472; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/21-5)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/21.6":{"o":"Εἰ ἐπέσειαα τὰς χεῖρας, τὴν σύντροφον πενίαν ὀνειδίζων τῷ πατρί\" εἰ μὴ τὰς ἀπὸ τῶν χαμάτων προσὄδους προσέφερον \" εἰ μὴ ὡς δευτέραν προσφορὰν τῷ πατρὶ τὴν εἰσφορὰν ἔφερον. Εὶ ἔστιν ἀδικία … τὰς κατ᾽ ἐχθρῶν ἐσάλευσα. Εἰ ἀνταπέδωκα τοῖς ἀντ’ αποδιδοῦσίν μοικακά. Τὸν Σαοὺλ ὑπὸ τὴν χεῖρα λαδὼν ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ, τὸ ξίφος ἔχων ἑν. χερσὶν, τὸν θυμὸν ἑπάτουν τοῖς ποσίν. \"Ἔλεγεν καὶ ὁ μαχάριος Ἰωσὴφ, ἐπὶ μοιχείᾳ κατηγορούμενος, καὶ τὴν μοιχαλίδα ῥήτορα καὶ χατήγορον ὁρῶν\" Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου, εἰ ἐποίησα τοῦτο\" εἰ χοίτην ἀλλοτρίαν ἐμίανα. Κατηγοροῦσά μου τῷ ἀνδρὶ ἔλεγεν \" Εἰσῆ.ῖθεν «τρὸς μὲ ὁ παῖς ὁ Ἑδραῖος\" ἕωξ, καὶ ἔφυγεν, καὶ ἐξηλθεν ἔξω. --- Κύριε ὁ Θεὸς, εἰ ἐποίησα τοῦτο. Λέγει, ὅτι χερσὶν αὐτῆς κρατήσας πρὸς τὴν πρᾶξιν εζλχυσα. Εἰ ἔστιν ἀδικία ἐν χερσίν μου\" εἰ ἐχεῖνο ἔπραξα ὃ μον χατηγόρησεν- εἰ χερσὶν ἡψάμην τῆς χειρὸς. αὐτῆς, παραμύθιον πάθους τὴν ἁφὴν λογιξόμενος \" εξ μὴ ὡς τὸν χαπνὸν τοῦ ἀρχιμαγείρου τὴν ὄψιν αὐτῆς ἔφυγον. Εἶτα ἐπειδὴ τῆς Αἰγύπτου χυριεύσας τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς οὐχ ἐδούλωσεν, οὐδὲ τοὺς εἰς δουλείαν αὐτὸν πωλήσαντας εἰς δουλείαν Ἦγαγεν, λέγει\" Εἰ ἀνταπ.έδωχα τοῖς ἀνταποδιδοῦσίν μοι καχά. Ὅθεν ὅτε εἶπον οἱ ἀδελφοί\" Μήποτε μνησικακήσῃ ἡμῖν Ἴωσὴ περὶ πάντων τῶν καχῶν ὧν ἐγεδειξάμεϑα αὐτῷ\" λέγει αὐτοῖς\" Μὴ φοδεῖσθε\" τοῦ γὰρ Θεοῦ εἶμι ἐγώ. Ὑμεῖς ἐδουϊεύσωσθε περὶ ἐμοῦ εἰς καχά᾽ ὁδὲ Θεὸς ἐδου.εύσατο περὶ ἐμοῦ εἰς ἀγαθά. Τοῦτο ἔλεγεν καὶ ἡ μαχαρία Σωσάννα ἡ τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ τὴν σωφροσύνην φορέσασα, καὶ τὰ νεωτεριχὰ γὰρ πολιὰ κατὰ τῆς νεότητος ὡπλίζετο, καὶ οἱ λύχοχατὰ τῆς ἀμνάδος θάνατον ἢρεύγοντο, λέγοντες \" Περιπατούνγτων ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ μόνων, εἰσῆ.θεν αὐτὴ μετὰ δύο παιδισχῶν, καὶ ἀκἐκιεισεν τὰς θύρας τοῦ παραδείσου καὶ τὰ κοράσια. Καὶ εἰσῆ.λθεν πρὸς αὐτὴν νεανίσκος, ὃς ἦν κεχρυμμένος, καὶ ἀνέπεσεν μετ᾽ αὐτῆς. Ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐδράμομεν ἐπ' αὐτούς\" καὶ ἰδόντες αὖτοὺς ὁμοῦ, ἐχεῖγον μὲν οὐκ ἠδυνήθημεν κρατῆσαι, διὰ τὸ ἀνοίξαντα αὐτὸν τὰς θύρας καὶ ἐκπετίς ἦν ὁ νεανίσκος, καὶ οὐχ εἶπεν ἡμῖν. Ταῦτα: μαρτυροῦμεν. Εὐθέως ἣ Σουσάννα\" Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου,εὶ ἐποίησα τοῦτο. Εὶἰ ἀληθεύει πολιὰ, καὶ νεότης σφάλλεται. Καὶ ὅτι ἀληθὴς ὁ λόγος, ἄχουσον \" ᾽Α»εἶπεν\" Ὃ Θεὸς δ αἰώνιος, ὁ των χρυπτῶν γνώστης, ὁ εἰδὼς τὰ πάντα πρὶ» γενέσεως, σὺ ἐπίστασαι, ὅτι ψευδὴ μου καταμαρτυροῦσιν\" καὶ ἰδοὺ ἀποθνγήσχω μὴ ποιήσασα μηδέν. --- Κύρις ὁ Θεός μον, εἰ ἐποίησα τοῦτο. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἡ συχοφαντία τὴν τυραννίδα ἑἐνδέδυται, καὶ ἀναπτεροῖ πολλάχις τὰς τῶν πολλῶν ἀχοὰς, ἐὰν συχοφαντηθῇς, ἐπειδὴ μόνος «εῖσαι πάντας οὐχ ἰσχύεις, ἄφες πάντας, καὶ δράμε πρὸς τὸν μόνον, καὶ μάρτυρα αὐτὸν τὴς σῆς ἀθωότητὸς χαλῶν, εὑρήσεις βοηθοῦντά σοι, ὡς τῇ Σουσάννᾳ καὶ τῷ Ἰωσήφ. Ὧ πρέπει δόξα, τιμὴ καὶ προσχύνησις,. εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ᾿Αμήν.","t":"If I shook my hands at him, reproaching my father with the poverty I grew up in; if I did not bring him the revenues of my labours; if I did not bring my contribution to my father as a second offering. “If there is injustice in my hands” … if I raised my hands against my enemies. “If I repaid those who repaid me with evil.” When I had Saul in my power in the cave, with the sword in my hands, I trampled my anger underfoot. Blessed Joseph too said, when he was accused of adultery and saw the adulteress acting as orator and accuser: “O Lord my God, if I have done this; if I have defiled another man's bed.” Accusing me to her husband she said, “The Hebrew servant came in to me … and he fled and went outside.” “O Lord God, if I have done this.” She says that I seized her with my hands and drew her to the deed. “If there is injustice in my hands”; if I did what she accused me of; if I touched her hand with my hands, counting the touch a comfort for passion; if I did not flee her sight like the smoke of the chief cook. Then, since when he had become lord of Egypt he did not enslave his brothers, nor lead into slavery those who had sold him into slavery, he says: “If I repaid those who repaid me with evil.” Hence, when his brothers said, “Perhaps Joseph will bear a grudge against us for all the evil we did him,” he said to them: “Do not be afraid, for I belong to God. You planned evil against me, but God planned it for good.” This also the blessed Susanna said, who wore the chastity of Joseph, [when the elders] …; for grey hairs were armed against youth, and wolves belched out death against the lamb, saying: “As we were walking alone in the garden, she came in with two maids, shut the doors of the garden, and [sent away] the maids. And a young man who had been hidden came to her and lay with her. We ran at them; and when we saw them together we could not hold him, because he opened the doors and leapt out … who the young man was, and she would not tell us. These things we testify.” At once Susanna: “O Lord my God, if I have done this”; if grey hair is telling the truth and youth is in the wrong. And that her word was true, hear: “[And she cried out with a loud voice and] said: O eternal God, who know what is secret, who know all things before they come to be, you know that they have borne false witness against me; and behold, I die, though I have done none of these things.” “O Lord my God, if I have done this.” Since, then, false accusation has put on the robe of tyranny and often sets the ears of the many fluttering, if you are falsely accused, since you alone cannot persuade everyone, leave them all, and run to the One alone; call on him as witness of your innocence, and you will find him helping you, as he helped Susanna and Joseph. To him be glory, honour and worship to the ages of ages. Amen.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 21.6 (PG 40:472; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/21-6)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/3.1":{"o":"Γ'. Ἄλνδοες Χριστιανοὶ, καὶ χλήσεως ἐπουρανίου μέτοχοι ἄνδρες\" ὑμεῖς ὁ χωριχὸς δῆμος, καὶ πάντες, ὅσοι. τῶν πόλεων ἐχφοιτήσαντες, πρὸς τὴν παροῦσαν συμφώνως ἑορτὴν συνεδράμετε (γενιχῷ γὰρ ὑμᾶς πάντας περιλαμδάνω χηρύγματι), ἄρα ἕχαστος ὑμῶν ἐνεδάλετο τῇ διανοίᾳ φροντίδα, συνεἶδεν δὲ καὶ χατενόησεν, ὑπὲρ τίνος ἠθροίσθημεν; ἀνθ᾽ ὅτου δὲ τιμῶνται μάρτυρες οἴχων περιφανῶν χατασχευαῖς, καὶ τοῖς ἐνιαυσίοις τούτοις συλλόγοις, καὶ πρὸς τίνα σχοπὸν βλέποντες οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν ἐνομοθέτησαν τὰ ὁρώμενα, καὶ ἰσχυρὸν ἀφῆχαν τὸν νόμον τοῖς μετέπειτα; Ἢ πρόδηλον τῷ καὶ μιχρὸν πυχνώσαντι τὴν διάνοιαν, ὡς ζήλῳ ἡμῖν εὐσεθδείας ταῦτα διετυπώθη, καὶ χοινὰ παιδαγωγεῖα τῶν ψυχῶν αἱ πανηγύρεις συνάγονται, ἵνα μάρτυρας τιμῶντες, τὸ τῶν μαρτύρων ὑπὲρ εὐσεδείας καρτερὸν μιμησώοὖς, μάθωμέν τι χρηστὸν, ὃ πρὸ βραχέος οὐχ ἐγινώσχομεν, ἣ δόγματος ἀσφάλειαν, ἣ λύσιν ἀπορουμένης Γραφῆς, ἢ τινα λόγον τὴν τῶν ἠθῶν ἐπανορθοῦντα κατάστασιν; Ὑμεῖς δέ μοι δοχεῖτε τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐπιμέλειαν ἀφέντες, καὶ τῆς περὶ τὴν ψυχὴν σπουδῆς ἐχλαθόμενοι, ὅλην ἑαυτῶν μετατεθειχέναι τὴν μέριμβναν πρὸς τὸν συρφετὸν τοῦ μαμμωνᾶ, καὶ τὴν ἀσχο-λίαν τῶν πρατηρίων\" οἱ μὲν αὐτοὶ συναλλάττοντες, οἱ δὲ χεχηνότες εἰς τὰ ἀλλότρια, καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῖς ὠνίοις φιλονειχκοῦντας ἱστοροῦντες, ὅπως τὰ ἀλλήλων ἐπενωνίζωσιν. ᾿Αλλὰ μετάθετέ μοι τὸν πόθον ἐπὶ τὴν Ἐχχλησίαν \" χαταλείψατε τὴν φιλαργυρίαν, τὴν ἀγόσμον ἑταιρίδα, προσγελῶσαν τῷ πλήθει, ταῖς ἀλλο-τρίαις ὕλαις χαλλωπιζομένην, καὶ τοῖς ἄνθεσι τοῦ φαρμαχοπώλου. Ἐράσθητε ταύτης τῆς θείας καὶ σώφρονος ἐσταλμένης χοσμίως, σεμνὸν καὶ ἀμετεώριστον βλεπούσης. Οὕτω γὰρ Σαλομῶν ἐν. τῇ παροι-ἀνθέξεταί σου. Ἐράσθητι αὐτῆς, καὶ τηρήσει σε. Μὴ παρέλθῃς καταφρονήσας, μηδὲ τὰ παρ᾽ ἡμῖν ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης ταύτης προχείμενα, διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὰ νομίσῃς ἄτιμα, ἐπειδὴ προῖχά σοι ἔξεστιν τὴν χτῆσιν περιποιήσασθαι ἀλλὰ καὶ μᾶλλον ἐπιθύμησον, ὅτι ἕν δὲ κέρδος ζητοῦμεν, τὴν τοῦ μαθητοῦ σωτηρίαν. ᾿Ανεγνώσθη ἡμῖν ἐχ τῶν Πράξεων Παύλου λόγος Ὁ πρὸς Φῆστον καὶ ᾿Αγρίππαν, Παύλου τοῦ πιστοῦ ἀποστόλου, καὶ σοφοῦ δημηγόρου. Εἶδες πάντως, ὦ ἀχροατῆς, εἰ τὸν νοῦν ἐπέστησας, ὅπως καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν οὐ προδίδωσιν ἐκ δειλίας, καὶ τὴν πρὸς ᾿Αγρίππαν θεραπείαν τῇ παῤῥησίᾳ χεράσας, τὸ τραχὺ χριτήριον ἐχμαλάσσει πρὸς ἀγαθότητα, ὥσπερ θηρία τινὰ κατεπάδων ταῖς τοῦ λόγου μεταχειρήσεσιν. Προεἐφήτευσεν καὶ σήμερον Ζαχαρίας, τῶν μεγάλων ἡμῖν μυστηρίων τοῦ Μονογενοῦς ὑπανοίγων τὴν θύραν, διὰ τοῦ λίθου, τοῦ τὰς ἑπτὰ βολὰς τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν χεχτημένου, διὰ τῆς χρυσῆς λυχνίας, ἐφ᾽ ἧς οἱ ἑπτὰ λύχνοι καὶ τὰ δύο στελέχη τῶν ἐλαιῶν. Πολλαὶ αἱ ἑξῆς Γραφαὶ, πλούσιον τὸν θησαυρὸν τῆς ὠφελείας ἔχουσαι, αἷς ἐδουλόμην πάσαις ἐπελθεῖν, καὶ δεῖξαι ὑμῖν τὴν τῆς πνευματιχῆς πανηγύρεως εὐθηνίαν. Ἐπείγει δέ μὲ πρὸς τὴν ἕχτισιν τοῦ χρέους ἡ τῆς προτεραίας ὑπόσχεσις. ᾿Αρξάμενοι γὰρ πολλαῖς χατητορίαις τῆς πλεονεξίας χαθάπτεσθαι, ἐπειδὴ μὴ ἔφθημεν αὐτῆς γυμνῶσαι τὴν ματαιότητα, εἰς τὴν παροῦσαν ἡμέραν τὸν ἔλεγχον τῆς χατηγορίας ὑπερεθέμεθα. ᾿Αχούσατε οὖν, καὶ γένεσθε εὐγνώμονες τῆς ἀληθείας χριταί. Ἐπειδὴ μήτε ἄλλοις τισὶν, ἀλλὰ τῇ ἑαυτῶν σωτηρίᾳ διχάζετε, καὶ πάσας τὰς χαταχριγούσας ψήφους ἐπὶ τὴν ὑπεύθυνον φέρετε ἕχαστος τῆς ἰδίας ψυχῆς, ὥσπερ οἰκία: ἣ πόλεως αὐτὴν ἀπελάσαντες. \" Πλεονεξία τοίνυν ἐστὶν, οὐ μόνον τῷ ἀργυρίῳ σὺν τοῖς ἄλλοις χτήμασιν ἐπιμαίνεσθαι, καὶ βούλεσθαι τοῖς παροῦσι τὰ μὴ προσόντα συνάπτειν\" ἀλλὰ, γενιχώτερον εἰπεῖν, τὸ ἐπὶ παντὸς πράγματος πλέον ἔχειν βούλεσθαι τοῦ ὀφειλομένου καὶ ἐπιδάλλοντος, Καὶ δὴ τοῦτο τὸ πλημμέλημα πρῶτος ἔπαθεν ὁ διάδολης, ἀρχάγγελος μὲν ὧν καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς καλλίστης ζωῆς καὶ τάξεως τεταγμένος, τυραννίδα δὲ καὶ ἐπανάστασιν χατὰ τῆς θεότητος ἐννοήσας ὁ ματαιόφρων᾽ εἶτα χαταδληθεὶς, καὶ εἰς τὸν περίγειον τοῦτον ἀέρα χαταπεσὼν, χαχὸς γείτων τῆς ἡμετέρας ζωῆς. Οὔτε γοῦν χατέλαδεν, ὃ ἐδίωχεν, τὴν θεότητα\" χεὶ ἀπῶλεσιν, ὃ ἐχέχτητο, τὸ ἀρχάγγελον \" δοῦλος ἄπιστος, καἷς χατὰ μικρὸν τόλμαις εἰς λῃστὴν ἐξελθών’ χύων τοῦ παρ᾽ Ἕλλησιν μύθου, καὶ τοῦ χρέως στερηθεὶς, καὶ τῆς σχιᾶς οὐ δραξάμενος, (πῶς γάρ;) ἀκαταλή- Μετὰ τοῦτον ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος εἰς ἡδυπάθειαν δελεασθεὶς, ἀπηγορευμένῃ βρώσει τὴν ἀθανασίαν ἀπὠλεσεν ὡς Ἡσαῦ ὕστερον διὰ φαχὴν \"δ τὰ πρωτότοχα, Καὶ τὰς διαλέχτους δὲ ταύτας, καὶ τὰς πολλὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων φωνὰς, ἔρως τοῦ πλείονος εἰς τὸν θίον εἰσήγαγεν. Οἱ γὰρ τῇ ἀνθρωπιχῇ εὐθηνίᾳ ὑπερμαζήσαντες, βατὸν δὲ ἑαυτοῖς ἔσεσθαι τὸν οὐρανὸν προσξοχήσαντες, καὶ πύργον γελοῖον ἐπὶ τὴν ἐχείνου ματαιοποιοῦντες ἀνάδασιν, οὗτοι τοὺς ὁμοφώνους ἀνθρώπονς, ἐτερογλώσσους ἐποίησαν\" καὶ τὸ πλέον, οὗ εἶχον, ζητοῦντες, αὐτοί τε συνεχέθησαν, καὶ τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων κατέλιπον χάμνειν ἐν ἀχοαῖς ἀσήμων φωνῶν καὶ ἑρμηνειῶν ξητήσει.","t":"Homily 3. Christian men, sharers in a heavenly calling, you people from the countryside, and all of you who have come out of the cities and run together with one mind to the present feast (for I include all of you in one general proclamation): has each of you taken thought, and seen and considered, why we have been gathered? Why martyrs are honoured with the building of splendid houses and with these yearly assemblies, and with what aim our fathers made law for what we see here and left the law in force for those after them? Is it not clear to anyone who has concentrated his mind even a little, that these things were established for us out of zeal for godliness, and that the festivals are gathered as common schools for souls, so that, honouring martyrs, we may imitate the martyrs' endurance for godliness, … and learn something good which we did not know a little before: either soundness of doctrine, or the solution of a perplexing passage of Scripture, or some word that sets right the state of our morals? But you seem to me to have dropped the care of virtue and forgotten your zeal for the soul, and to have transferred your whole concern to the rubbish of mammon and the business of the market-stalls: some of you doing deals yourselves, others gaping at other people's affairs and watching those who quarrel over wares, how they outbid one another. Transfer your desire, I beg you, to the Church. Leave love of money, the disorderly courtesan who smiles at the crowd and beautifies herself with other people's materials and the flowers of the drug-seller. Love this divine and sober one, modestly dressed, with a grave and steady look. For so Solomon in the Proverbs … “she will hold on to you. Love her, and she will keep you.” Do not pass by in contempt, nor think the things set before you at this table of ours worthless because you may acquire them for nothing; desire them rather, because we seek one gain only, the salvation of the disciple. There was read to us from the Acts the speech of Paul before Festus and Agrippa, Paul the faithful apostle and wise orator. You saw, my hearer, if you paid attention, how he does not betray the truth out of cowardice, and, mixing his courtesy toward Agrippa with boldness, softens the harsh tribunal toward kindness, charming it, like wild beasts, by the skill of his speech. Zechariah too prophesied today, opening to us the door of the great mysteries of the Only-begotten, through the stone that has the seven glances of eyes, and through the golden lampstand on which are the seven lamps and the two olive branches. Many are the Scriptures that follow, holding a rich treasure of profit; I wished to go through them all and show you the abundance of the spiritual festival. But yesterday's promise presses me to pay my debt. For we began to attack covetousness with many accusations, and since we did not manage to strip its vanity bare, we put off the proof of the charge until today. Listen, then, and be fair judges of the truth. Since you are judging not for anyone else but for your own salvation, cast all your votes of condemnation against the guilty party, each of you driving it out of his own soul as from a house or a city. Covetousness, then, is not only raging after money and other possessions and wishing to add what one does not have to what one has; but, to speak more generally, wishing in every matter to have more than is owed and fitting. The devil was the first to fall into this offence. He was an archangel, set in the finest life and rank; but the vain-minded one conceived tyranny and rebellion against the Godhead; then he was cast down and fell into this air around the earth, a bad neighbour to our life. So he neither seized what he pursued, the Godhead, and he lost what he had possessed, the rank of archangel: a faithless slave who by small acts of daring went out to become a brigand; the dog of the Greeks' fable, deprived of the meat and not grasping the shadow (how could he?), ungraspable … After him the first man, enticed into pleasure, lost immortality by forbidden food, as Esau later lost his birthright for a lentil dish. And these languages, the many tongues of men, were brought into life by the love of more. For those who were over-fed with human plenty, and expected that heaven would be accessible to them, and vainly built a ridiculous tower to climb up to it, made men of one speech into men of different tongues; and seeking more than they had, they were themselves confounded, and left to the human race the toil of hearing unintelligible sounds and seeking interpretations.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 3.1 (PG 40:195; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/3-1)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/3.2":{"o":"Τί δὲ ὁ Φαραώ; Πόθεν ταῖς διαφοραῖς καὶ ποιχίλαις περιέπεσε φάστιξιν; οὐ διὰ πλεονεξίαν, καὶ τὸ … ἐχείνου βασιλείᾳ προσέχοντος; Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο, τοὺς ἀλλοτρίους οὐχ ἀφεὶς, τοὺς ἰδίους ἀπώλεσεν’ τοὺς μὲν ἐν πληγῇ τῶν πρωτοτόχων᾽ τοὺς δὲ, ἐν τῇ διώξει τῇ κατὰ θάλασσαν. ᾿Αφίημι γὰρ ποταμοὺς εἰς αὖμα ῥνέντας, καὶ βατράχων ἄπλετον γένεσιν, καὶ πκετραπόδων τὸν θάνατον, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν χάχωσιν ἣν Αἴγυπτος χατεδιχάσθη διὰ τὴν πλεονεξίαν τοῦ ἄρχοντος. ᾿Αλλαχοῦ πάλιν τέλος τῆς ἁμαρτίας χατέμαθον, λέπραν ἀθρόον τῷ πλεονέχτῃ περιχυθεῖσαν. Καί μοι συνδιαμνημόνευσον, εἴ τις φιλοΐστωρ, καὶ τῶν κατορθωμάτων ᾿Ἐλισσαίου φιλήχοος, ὅπως μὲν ὁ Σύρος Νεαιμὰν ἐχαθαρίσθη τῆς λέπρας, ἐν τῷ Ἰορδάνῇ λουσάμενος\" ὅπως δὲ μετῆλθεν τὸ πάθος εἰς Γιεζεῖ τὸ παιδάριον, νεανίσχον πλεονέχτην καὶ ἀφιλόσοφον, πνευματιχὸν πωλήσαντα χάρισμα, καὶ τὴν ἄμισθον ἰατρείαν τοῦ διδασχάλου. Πόθεν ὁ ᾿Αδεσσαφλεγμαίνων καὶ θρασὺς νεανίσχος; οὐ πρὸ χαιροῦ ζητήσας τὴν χληρονομίαν τῆς βασιλείας, ἐπιπηδήσας δὲ τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις, ὡς ἅρπαξ; Τὸν Ἰούδαν δὲ πάλιν, τί τοῦ χαταλόγου τῶν μαθητῶν ἐξέδαλεν, ἐποίῃ σεν δὲ προδότην ἀντ᾽ ἀποστόλου; οὐ τὸ γαζορυλάχιον, πρῶτον ῥᾳδιουργούμενον, εἶτα ἡ χτῆσις τῆς ἀτίμου τιμῆς; ᾿Ανανίαν καὶ Σάπφειραν διὰ τί τραγῳδοῦσιν τῶν ἀποστόλων αἱ Πράξεις; οὐχ ἐπειδὴ τῶν ἰδί ἐγένοντο χλέπται, καὶ τῶν οἰχείων ἀναθημάτων ἱερόσυλοι; Ἐπιλείψει με τάχα καὶ ἡ ἡμέρα τοὺς τῆς πλεονεξίας ὑπηρέτας ἀπαριθμούμενον. ᾿Αφέντες δὲ τὴν παλαιὰν ἱστορίαν, τὴν πεῖραν ἐξετάσωμεν τὴν παραχολουθοῦσαν τῷ βίῳ οἷον οἶδεν θηρίον τὴν πλεονζον ἀεὶ καὶ οὗ μαραινόμενον' συγγηράσχον δὲ τοῖς ἁλοῦσι, καὶ εἰς τέλος συνόν. Ὁ λάγνος καὶ σωμάτων ἐραστὴς, χἂν ἐπὶ πολὺ ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις λυσσήσῃ, ἣ αὐτὸς εἰς πρεσδυτιχὴν ἡλιχίαν ἐλθὼν, ἣ τὸ ποθούμενον ἑωραχὼς παλαιωθὲν, καὶ τὸ ἄνθος ἀποδαλὸν, στάσιν εὑρίσχει τῆς νόσου. Ὁ γαστρίμαργος ἀναχωρεῖ καὶ αὐτὸς τῆς φιληδονίας, ἣ τοῦ χόρου πληρώσαντος, ἣ τῶν πεπτιγῶν μένην ὄρεξιν. Ὁ φιλόδοξος πολλαῖς ἐγχομπάσας πεεξίας νόσος, χαχόν ἐστι δυσαπάλλαχτον. Καὶ ὥσπερ ὁ χισσὸς οὗτος, τὸ εὐθαλὲς φυτὸν καὶ ἀείφυλλον, ἐπὶ τὰ παραπεφυχότα τῶν δένδρων ἀνέρπων, ἰσχυρῶς περιελίττεται τοῖς ξύλοις, ὥνπερ ἂν δράξηται' καὶ οὔτε πεπονθότων, οὔτε ξηρανθέντων ἀναχωρεῖ, εἰ μή τις αὐτοῦ σιδήρῳ, χαθάπερ δράχογτος, διατέμῃ τοὺς ἑλιγμούς. Οὕτως οὐδὲ τοιούτου ψυχὴν ἐλευθερῶσαι ῥάδιον, εἴτε νεάξοντος τοῦ σώματος, εἴτε καὶ ὑπομαρανθέντος, ἐὰν μή τις νηφαλέος λογισμὸς ἐπἐλθὼν, ὡς μάχαιρα διαχόψῃ τὴν νόσον. Τοῖς οἰχείοις ὁ πλεονέχτης ἐστὶν ἀηδὴς, οἰχέταις ὀχληρὺς, γυναιχὶ μοχθηρὸς σύνοιχος, παίδων φειδωλὸς καὶ μιχρολόγος τροφεὺς, ἑαυτοῦ χαχὸς τάτης, νύχτωρ φροντίζων, μεθ᾽ ἡμέραν πεπυχνωμένος, διαλεγόμενος ἑαυτῷ χατὰ τοὺς ἐξεστηχότας, ἣ παραφέροντας\" πάντων εὐθηνούμενος, γαὶ στένων ὡς ευδεής᾽ τῶν παρόντων οὐχ ἀπολαύων, καὶ τὰ ἀπόντα ζητῶν\" τοῖς ἰδίοις οὐ χεχρημένος, ἑποφθαλμιῶν δὲ τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις. Πολύαρνον τοῦ τοιούτου τὸ ποίμνιον, πεδιάδας ἐν αἷς νέμεται. Κἂν εὔσαρχον ὀφθῇ τοῦ προσοΐχου πρόθδατον, ἀφεὶς τὴν ἰδίαν ἀγέλην, τῷ ἑνὶ καὶ ἀλλοτρίῳ τῇ ἐπιθυμίᾳ προσχάθηται. Τὸ αὐτὸ ἐπὶ τῶν βοῶν’ ὁμοίως ἐπὶ τῶν ἵππων\" οὐχ ἄλλως ἐπὶ τὴς γῆς. Πάντα στενοχωρεῖ τὴν οἰχίαν, καὶ οὐδὲν ἐν τῇ χρήσει. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀπολαυστιχὸν οἷόν τε εἷναι τὸν ἄπληστον ἀλλ᾽ ἔστιν αὐτοῦ οἰχία τάφου παραᾳπλησία. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ οἱ τάφοι γέμουσι πολλάχις ἀργῦροῦ καὶ χρυσοῦ\" ἀλλ᾽ αἱ ὕλαι τοὺς χρωμένους υὐχ ἔχουσιν. Τὸ σῶμα οὐ τρέφετα'\" ψυχῆς οὐχ εὑρίσχεται κέρδος. Οὐχ εὐθηνεῖ γὰρ ἐχ τῆς δεξιᾶς ἢ ἐλεημοσύνη. Τί δὲ τέλος τοῦ μόχθου, διδαξάτω μέ τις τῶν ταύτῃ προειλημμένων τῇ νόσῳ᾽ οἶδα δὲ πολλοὺς ἐγὼ, γνωρίσας ἐπὶ τῆς πείρας, ὡς καὶ ἐν νότοις μᾶλλον τῆς ὑγείας ἀγαπῶσι τὰ χρήματα. Κἂν μὲν ὁ ἰατρὸς διά τινος ὕλης εὐώνου τὸν τῆς θεραπείας εἰσηγή ση- -ἀι τρόπον, οἷον διὰ σελίνου, ἣ θύμου, ἢ ἀνήθου, ὧν αχούοντας᾽ ἂν δέ τινος φαρμάχου γένηται μνήμη τῶν οἷα τὰ ποιχίλα καὶ πολυσύνθετα, καὶ ἐλθεῖν σϑῶσιν, θᾶττον τὴν ψυχὴν ἀφιέντας, ἣ λύοντας τὸ βαλάντιον. Γήιϊνοι γὰρ ὄντες τὸ φρόνημα, τὴν χτῆσιν τῶν γηΐνων ὑλῶν νομίξουτι τὴν ζωὴν.","t":"And Pharaoh? Why did he fall into the different and varied plagues? Was it not through covetousness, and … that man's kingdom? And for this reason, by not letting other people go, he lost his own: some in the plague on the firstborn, others in the pursuit by the sea. I pass over rivers turned into blood, the measureless brood of frogs, the death of the cattle, and all the affliction to which Egypt was condemned through the covetousness of its ruler. Elsewhere again I have learned the end of this sin: leprosy suddenly poured over the covetous man. Recall with me, if anyone loves history and loves to hear of Elisha's achievements, how Naaman the Syrian was cleansed of leprosy by washing in the Jordan, and how the disease passed to Gehazi the servant, a covetous young man with no philosophy in him, who sold a spiritual gift and his teacher's free healing. What was the source of Absalom's ruin, that inflamed and bold young man? Was it not that he sought the inheritance of the kingdom before its time, and leapt on what belonged to another, like a robber? And Judas again, what cast him out of the list of the disciples and made him a traitor instead of an apostle? Was it not the money-box, first pilfered, then the acquisition of the dishonourable price? Why do the Acts of the Apostles tell the tragedy of Ananias and Sapphira? Was it not because they became thieves of their own goods and temple-robbers of their own offerings? The day would fail me if I counted up the servants of covetousness. But leaving ancient history, let us examine the experience that accompanies life: what a beast covetousness is known to be … always and never withering, but growing old with those it has caught and staying with them to the end. The lustful lover of bodies, even if he has raged with desires for a long time, finds a halt to his disease, either when he himself comes to old age, or when he sees the object of his desire grown old and its bloom shed. The glutton too retires from his love of pleasure, either when satiety has filled him, or … appetite. The lover of glory, having boasted in many … the disease of covetousness is an evil hard to be rid of. As this ivy, a flourishing and evergreen plant, creeping up the trees that grow beside it, winds strongly round the trunks it takes hold of, and does not withdraw whether they suffer or dry up, unless someone cuts through its coils with iron, as one would a serpent's: so it is not easy to free the soul of such a man, whether his body is young or withered, unless some sober reasoning comes upon him and cuts through the disease like a sword. The covetous man is unpleasant to his own household, troublesome to his servants, a wicked partner to his wife, a stingy and petty provider for his children, a bad … of himself: anxious by night, frowning by day, talking to himself like the deranged or delirious; well supplied with everything, yet groaning as if in need; not enjoying what he has and seeking what he has not; not using his own, but casting envious eyes on what belongs to others. Such a man's flock is rich in lambs, [wide] the plains on which it grazes. Yet if he sees his neighbour's sheep looking plump, he leaves his own herd and sits in desire beside the one that belongs to another. The same with oxen; likewise with horses; and not otherwise with land. Everything crowds his house, and nothing is in use. For the insatiable man cannot enjoy anything; his house is like a tomb. Tombs are often full of silver and gold, but the materials have no one to use them. The body is not fed; no gain is found for the soul; for almsgiving does not flourish from his right hand. Let one of those seized by this disease teach me what the end of his toil is. I have known many, having learned it by experience, who even in sickness love money more than health. If the physician introduces a treatment through some cheap material, such as celery or thyme or dill, … listening; but if mention is made of some drug of the varied and compound sort, and … [you would see them] give up the soul sooner than loosen the purse. For, being earthly in mind, they think that life is the possession of earthly materials.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 3.2 (PG 40:195; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/3-2)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/3.3":{"o":"Τούτους λυποῦσιν ἄγαν καὶ αἱ χοιναὶ εὐπραγίαι\" εὐφραίνουσι δὲ αἱ περιστάσεις. Εὔχονται καὶ φόρων ϑωσι τὸ ἀργύριον. Ἐπιθυμοῦσι βλέπειν τοὺς πιρὰ ἣ τὸ σχεῦος, ἣ τὸ ζῶον, εὐώνως ἐχ τῆς ἀνάγχης ῥιπτόμενον. Συνεχῶς δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀναδλέτῶυσι χατὸ τοὺς φιλοσόφους τοὺς τὰ μετέωρα φρονπίζοντας, οὐχ ἀστέρος ἐντολὴν ζητοῦντες, οὐδὲ τίς οἷχο; ἕνα τῶν πλανητῶν ἔχει περισχοπούμενοι\" ἀλλὰ πἰν τοῦ ἀέρος πολυπραγμονοῦντες χατάστασιν, εἰ τὰ προφαινόμενα σημεῖα ὄμόρων ἐπιῤῥοὴν, ἣ αὐχμὸν ἐπαγγέλλεται. Κἂν ἴδωσί τι τοῖς πολλοῖς δυσχερὲς προσδοκώμενον, εὑφραίνονται τῇ τῶν ἄλλων χαχὼσει, Πάντα συνάγουσιν ἐν τοῖς ταμιείοις, ἀσφαλῶς λουμένου δὲ τοῦ πλεονέχτον περὶ τὴν τοιαὐτην ἐλπὲδα, καὶ τέως ὄναρ πλουτοῦντος ἐν τῇ σχιαγραφία τῶν ἐννοιῶν, ἐὰν ἐπιγένηται νέφος βαθὺ, φοδεῖται ὑποδαχρύειν ἄρχεται\" ἂν δὲ καὶ ὑ:τὸς πιγένηται …  τὸν αὐχμὸν ἐξιάσασθαι, πένθος τέλειον τὸ πρᾶγμα. … τοῦ σίτου, ὡς υἱοῦ χινδυνεύοντος, τίς ἴασις, τίς μηχανὴ, ἵνα πρὸς πολὺν αὐταρχέσῃ χρόνον, ἵνα τῶν σητῶν διαφύγῃ τὸ πάθος. Κἂν αἴσθηται χαύσωνος, ὡς οἱ μερίζει καὶ χαταψύχει, μοχθῶν προσχαθέζεται, σχέπὴν χατὰ τὴν μεσημδρίαν σοφίζεται, τὰς σχιὰς νυχτὸς ἀπογυμνοῖ, ἵνα ταῖς αὔραις ταῖς νυχτεριναῖς … Ταῦτα αὐτῷ ταλαιπωροῦντι ὁ πένης περιίσταται, ζητῶν ἐχ τοῦ κινδυνεύοντος σίτον, καὶ οὐ δίδωσιν \" ἣ δοὺς, φειδωλῶς χαρίζεται καὶ ἡμίθνητος, τοῦ͵ σίτου σφόδρα περιεχόμενος. Μὴ τοίνυν ἀπέραντα καὶ χαλέπα, ὁ τοιοῦτος, παραχαλῶ. Ἐλέου μὲν γὰρ ἄξιος καὶ ὁ τρυφῶν πλεουέχτης, ὁ τῇ γαστρὶ καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις ἡδοναῖς περιορίξων τὸν βίον, τοῦτο τέλος νομίξων τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος. Ὃ δὲ μιχροπρεπὴς καὶ σμιχρολόγος, οὐδὲ μέτρον ἔχει τῆς ἀθλιότητος, λαμθάνων τὰ τῶν πολλῶν, καὶ ἑαυτῷ μὴ διδοὺς, εἰς οὐ δὲν δὲ χαταλήγων τῆς σπουδῆς ἀποτέλεσμα. Τίς γὰρ οὐχ οἵδεν, ὡς οὐδὲν τῶν γινομένων, πλὴν τῶν ἀρετῶν, αὐτὸ δι᾽ ἑαυτὸ γίνεται, ἀλλ᾽ ἕτερόν τι πράττομεν, ἵν᾽ ἄλλο χατορθώσωμεν; θΘύὑδεὶς πλέων, δι᾽ αὐτὸ τὸ πλεῖν, θαλαττεύει\" οὐδὲ γεωργῶν, δι᾽ αὐτὸ τὸ γεωργεῖν, τοῖς πόνοις συζῇ ἀλλὰ πρόδηλον, ὡς τοῖς λυπηροῖς ἐγχαρτεροῦσιν ἀμφότεροι. ὁ μὲν ἵνα τὴν ἐπιχαρπίαν τῆς γῆς, ὁ δὲ ἵνα τὸν πλοῦτον τῆς ναυτιχῆς ἐμπορίας χομίσηται. Σὺ δὲ, τί τὸ σὸν πέρας εἷπέ. Ἵνα συναγάγῃς; Καὶ ποῖον τοῦτο τέλος τὸ, ἄχρῃ στον ὕλην σωρεύσαντα, βλέπειν; Τέρπει με, φησὶ, καὶ ἡ θέα. Οὐχοῦν ἄλλως τὸ σαυτοῦ νόσημα μέτελθε. Ἔξεστιν γὰρ καὶ τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις χρήμασι προσαᾶνα παύειν τὸν πόθον. Εὲ εὐφραΐνει σς τὸ στιλπνὸν τοῦ πὲ πρὸς τὴν πυχνὴν καὶ στίλθουσαν αὐγήν\" ἣ καὶ τὰ σχεύεσιν, ὀψφοφόροις τε καὶ προχόοις᾽ προῖΐχα γάρ σοι καὶ ἀχώλυτον ἡ θέα. “Ὅρα καὶ τοὺς ἀργυρογνώμονας τοὺς ἐπὶ τῶν τραπεζῶν ψηλαφῶντας καὶ ἀριθμοῦντας συνεχῶς τὰ νομίσματα - μᾶλλον δὲ, παραινέσει πεισθεὶς ἀγαθῇ, μετάθου τῆς γνώμης. Ἑὔχολος γὰρ ἡ διόρθωσις, ἐπειδὴ μὴ φύσεώς ἔστιν ἀνάγχη πλεονεξία, ὁρμὴ δὲ προαιρέσεως\" ἣν μεταδαλεῖν τοῖς τὸ συμφέρον ἐπιλογιζομένοις οὐ χαλεπόν. Ὑπέρχυψον τῷ λογισμῷ εἰς τὸν ἑξῆς χρόνον, ὅτε οὐχ ἔσῃ\" ὅτε μιχρὰ γῆ χαθέξει σου διηπλωμένον τὸ σῶμα ἀναίσθητον’ πλὰξ δὲ ὀλίγων σπιθαμῶν ψει τὸ λείψανον. Ποῦ τότε ὁ πλοῦτος καὶ τὰ συναχθέντα χειμήλια; Τίς ὁ τῶν χαταλειφθέντων χληρονόμος … προσδοχᾶς. Ἂν παῖδας χαταλείπῃς, τυχὸν χονδυγοῦντας αὑτοὺς τῆς οἰχίας τῆς πατριχῇς ἀπελάσει. Κἂν ἅπαις ἐπέ τινα τῶν φίλων παραπέμψης τὸν χλῆβθον, μὴ πρόσεχέ σου τῇ διαθήχῃ, ὡς ἀχινήτῳ νόμῳ, ὡς; πράγματι ἀναντιῤῥήτῳ καὶ ἰσχυρῷ. Ὁλίγη σπουδὴ ἄχυρον ποιεῖν τὴν γραφήν. Ἢ οὐχ ὁρᾷς τοὺς συνἐχῶς ἐν τοῖς διχαστηρίοις χατὰ τῶν διαθηχῶν ἀγωνιζομένους, ὅπως αὐτὰς ποιχίλοις ἐγχειρήμασι παραχρούονται, τοὺς τῶν νόμων τεχνίτας προϊπτάμενοι συνηγόρους, τοὺς δεινοὺς ῥήτορας ἐπαγόμενοι βοηρόντες; Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐξ ὧν ὁρᾷς ζῶν, περὶ τῶν μελλόντων τῶν μετὰ σὲ παιδεύου. Εἰ δίχαιον ἔχεις ἄδιχον, ἀνάλυσον αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τοὺς βιασθέντας χυρίους, ὡς αἰχμάλωτον ἐχ πολέμου\" ἢ αὐτὸν ὃν ἕλαδες, ἣ μετὰ προσθήχης, ὡς ὁ Ζαχχαῖος. Εἰ μὴ ἔχης, μὴ χτῆσῃ χαχῶξ:. Σοὶ μὲν γὰρ ἀχολουθήσει πιχρὸν ἐφὁδιο) ἡ ἁμαρτία, τὴν ἀναγκαίαν πορευομένῳ πορείαν\" ἡ δὲ ἀπόλαυσις τῶν χτηθέντων, οἷς οὐ γινώσεις λέγοντα\" Θησαευρίζει, καὶ οὐ γιγνώσχει τίγι συγάξει αὐτά. Γνωρίσῃς δὲ καὶ τὸν πλούσιον τὸν ἀντίθετον τοῦ Λαζάρου, τὸν ἀρτίως ἡμῖν ἐχ τῶν Εὐαγγελίων ἀναγνωσθέντα, οὐ μῦθον συγχείμενον εἰς χατάπληξιν, ἀλλὰ τύπον ἀχριδὴ παραδοθέντα τοῦ μέλλοντος.","t":"Such people are greatly grieved by the common good fortune, and gladdened by calamities. They pray also … the silver. They long to see … either a vessel or an animal thrown away cheaply out of necessity. They continually look up to heaven, like the philosophers who think about the heavenly bodies, not seeking the rising of a star, nor examining which house one of the planets holds, but busying themselves about the state of the air, whether the signs that appear announce a flow of rain or a drought. And if they see something expected that will be hard for the many, they are glad at the affliction of others. They gather everything into storerooms, securely … And while the covetous man is … in such a hope, and meanwhile rich, as in a dream, in the shadow-painting of his thoughts, if a deep cloud comes up he is afraid and begins to weep; and if rain also comes … to cure the drought, the affair is utter mourning. … of the grain, as for a son in danger: what cure, what device, so that it may last a long time, so that it may escape the damage of the moths? And if he perceives a heat wave, … he divides and cools it, he sits by it toiling, he contrives shade for it at midday, at night he uncovers it from the shades, so that in the night breezes … While he is thus toiling, the poor man stands by, asking for grain from the store in danger, and he does not give; or if he gives, he grants it grudgingly and half-dead, clinging hard to his grain. Do not, then, such a man, I beg you, … For even the luxurious covetous man deserves pity, who limits life to the belly and the other pleasures, thinking this the goal of humanity. But the mean and petty man has no measure to his wretchedness: he takes what belongs to the many and does not give to himself, and his zeal ends in no result. For who does not know that, except for the virtues, nothing that is done is done for its own sake, but we do one thing in order to achieve another? No one who sails goes to sea for the sake of sailing; no farmer lives with toil for the sake of farming; it is plain that both endure hardships, the one to obtain the fruit of the earth, the other the wealth of trade by sea. But you, tell me your end. To gather? And what kind of end is this, to look at useless material heaped up? “The sight delights me,” he says. Then treat your disease another way. You can satisfy your longing with other people's money too. If the shine of … delights you, … to the dense and gleaming lustre; or the vessels, dish-carriers and ewers: the sight is free and unhindered for you. Look also at the money-changers at their tables, constantly handling and counting the coins. Or rather, persuaded by good advice, change your mind. Correction is easy, since covetousness is not a necessity of nature, but an impulse of choice, which those who reckon what is to their advantage can change without difficulty. Peep ahead in thought into the time to come, when you will not be; when a little earth will hold your body stretched out without feeling, and a slab of a few spans [will cover] your remains. Where then is the wealth, and the treasures you gathered? Who is the heir of what you leave behind … do you expect? If you leave children, perhaps [someone] will beat them and drive them from their father's house. And if, being childless, you pass the inheritance to one of your friends, do not rely on your will as an immovable law, as a thing indisputable and strong. A little effort makes the document void. Or do you not see those who constantly fight against wills in the courts, how they overthrow them with various attempts, putting forward the experts in the laws as advocates and bringing in the clever orators as helpers? So learn from what you see while you live about what will come after you. If you hold anything unjustly, release it to its owners who were wronged, like a captive taken in war: either the very thing you took, or with something added, as Zacchaeus did. If you have nothing such, do not acquire wickedly. For sin will follow you as bitter provision on the journey you must travel; but the enjoyment of what was acquired [will go] to people you will not know, as it says: “He stores up, and does not know for whom he will gather them.” You will also know the rich man, the opposite of Lazarus, who was read to us just now from the Gospels, not a fable composed to frighten us, but an exact pattern handed down of what is to come.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 3.3 (PG 40:199; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/3-3)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/3.4":{"o":"Ἢ βύσσος ἐσάπη, ἡ βασιλεία μετῆλθεν εἰς ἕτερον, … αἱ τρυφαὶ χατηργήθησαν\" ἣἡ ἀπ᾽ ἐχείνων ἁμαρτία συνεξεδήμησεν, ὡς σχιὰ παραμένουσα βαδίζοντι σώματι, Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μετὰ τὴν πολυτέλειαν τῶν συμδα ζητεῖ δαχτύλου λεπροῦ ἀποστάζουσαν' καὶ χαλεῖ τὸν πτωχὸν τῆς τιμωρίας θεραπευτὴν, τὸν οὐδὲ χεῖρας ἔχοντα τάχα, ἡνίχα τῷ πυλῶνι προτεῤῥίπτετο᾽ ἢ γὰρ ἂν τοὺς χύνας ἀπεσόδησεν, τοὺς ἐπιλειχομένους τὰ τραύματα. Ἐπιθυμεῖ δὲ συμμίξαι τῷ Λαξάρῳ ἐχ τοῦ χατάντιχρυ βλεπομένῳ, καὶ μέσῳ διείργεται τῷ ὀρύγματι, ἢ τῷ χάσματι: οὐ βόθρου τινὸς ὄντος ὡρυγμένου, οὐδὲ τάφρου πεποιημένης, ὡς ἐπὶ τῶν στρατοπέδων ἔστιν ἰδεῖν τὸ τοῦ πολέμου μεταίχμιον\" ἀλλὰ τὸ χώλυμα, οἶμαι, τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ὁ λόγος ἐγδείχνυται, ὃ τῷ χατεγνωσμένῳ τῆς πρὸς τὸν δίχαιὸν παρόδου ἀπετείχισεν. Καί μου τὴν ἑρμηνείαν Ἡσαῖας ὁ προφήτης ἐπισφραγίζεται, πρὸς λαὸν ἄφρονα βαρέως ἀποτεινόμενος, καὶ λέγων: Μὴ οὐκ ἰσχύει χεὶρ Κυρίου διασῶσαι; ἣ ἐδάρυνεν τὸ οὖς αὑτοῦ τοῦ μὴ ἀκοῦσαι; ᾽Α.11᾽ αἱ ἁμαρτίαι ὑμῶν διστῶσιν ἀνὰ μέσον ὑμῶν καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ Θεοῦ. ΕἸ δὲ ἁμαρτήματα ἀνθρώπους χωρίζειν οἶδεν θεοῦ, οὐδὲν ἂν πλεονεξίας ἁἀμαρτωλότερον γένοιτο, ἣ καὶ παρὰ τς ἀψευδοῦς φωνῆς Παύλου, τοῦ τῆς ἀληθείας χήρυχος, εἰδωλολατρεία προσαγορεύεται, καὶ πιύτων τῶν χαχῶν ῥίζα καὶ μήτη. εἰ μὴ γάρ. … καὶ χοινωνοὶ τῶν μυδτηρίων, πρὸς τὴν τῶν δαιμόνων λατρείαν εἰλχύσθησαν; οὐχ ἔρωτι τοῦ πολλὰ χτήσασθαι, καὶ χύριοι γενέσθαι τῶν ἀλλοτρίων; Λαδόντες δὲ ὑποσχέσεις παρὰ τῶν ἀθέων καὶ ἀσεθῶν, ἣ ζωῆς ἀρχοντιχῆς, ἢ περιουσίας τῆς ἐχ βασιλιχῶν ταμιείων, ὥσπερ ἱμάτιον ταχέως τὴν θρησχείαν μετἡμφιέσαντο. Καὶ τὰ μὲν τῶν ἀνωτέρω χρόνων, τῆς ἡμετέρας ζωῆς μνήμη καὶ ἀχοὴ διεσώτατο καὶ ἐδίδαξεν. \"Ἔστιν δὲ ἃ καὶ ὁ χαθ᾽ ἡμᾶς βίος τῇ πείρᾳ παρἐδωχεν. Ὅτε γὰρ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐχεῖνος, ὁ τὸ προῦωὠπεῖον τοῦ Χριστιανοῦ ἀθρόον ἀποθέμενος, γυμνώσας δὲ τὸ δρᾶμα τὸ χωμιχὸν, ὅ ἐν πολλῷ τῷ χρόνῳ χαθυπεχρίνατο, αὐτός τε ἀναιδῶς ἔθυεν δαίμοσιν, καὶ τοῖς τοῦτο βουλομένοις ποιεῖν πολλὰ προξτέθη τὰ γέρα, πόσοι τὴν Ἐχχλησίαν ἀφέντες, ἐπὶ τοὺς βωμοὺς ἔδραμον : πόσοι δὲ, τὸ τῶν ἀξιωμάτων δέλεαρ εἰσδεξάμενοι, μετ᾽ ἐχείνου χατέπιον τὸ τῆ: παραδάσεως ἄγχιστρον; Στιγματίαι δὲ περινοστοῦσι χατὰ τὰς πόοὗτοι τοῦ Χριστοῦ δι᾽ ὀλίγον ἀργύριον' ἑἐξόριστοι τοῦ χαταλόγου τῶν Χριστιανῶν, ὡς Ἰούδας τῶν ἀποστόλων’ ἀπὸ τῆς προσηγορίας τοῦ παραθάτου μενοι, ὡς ἀπὸ τῶν σημάντρων οἱ ἵπποι ἐἑλχυσθέντες μόνον εἰς τὴν χαλεπωτάτην παταγὴν πασῶν ἁμαρτιῶν, καὶ εὐθὺς ἀχολουθήσαντες τῷ τῆς βεδήλου καὶ Οὕτω τοίνυν χατὰ τὸν ᾿Απόστολον ἡ πλεονεξία καὶ εἰδωλολατρεία γίνεται, καὶ ῥίξα πάντων τῶν χαχῶν δ Γοσ, οὐχ ἀνοίχειον. γὰρ οἱ τὸν χρυσὸν ἐπὶ τῶν χόλπων τῆς γῆς ἀνιχνεύοντες, φασὶν τὴν χρυσῖτιν γῆν ἐπ᾽ αὐτῆς μὲν τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ τῆς χυριωτάτης γενέσεως σωρηδὸν σθαι\" ἐχεῖθεν δὲ ὥσπερ φλέθας τινὰς ἀπό τινος ἔνθεν καὶ ἔνθεν εἰς μαχρὸν διήχειν, καὶ πολυσχιδῶς ἁποτείνεσθαι χατ᾽ αὐτάς που τὰς ῥίζας τῶν δένδρων, τὰς ἐκ τοῦ πρέμνου διαπλουμένας \" οὕτως χἀνταῦθα, πολλὰς βλέπων τὰς ἀποφύσεις, μιᾷ ῥίζᾳ τῆς πλεονεξίας τὰς πάσας συνδεδεμένας εὑρίσχω. Καὶ μέντοι καὶ οὐχ ἂν οἰχεῖον δ᾽ εὗρεν ὁ λόγος πρὸς πλεονεξίαν ἐχ τοῦ χρυσοῦ τὸ ὑπόδειγμα. Ἐντεῦθεν ὁρῶ τὸν παμῶντα\" οὐχ αἰδούμενον δὲ οὔτε τὴν πολιὰν, οὔτε τὸ πατριχὸν ἀξίωμα, ἀλλὰ τῇ ἐπὶ πλέον ζωῇ τοῦ γέροντος βαρούμενον. Πάντα γὰρ ὁρῶν ἐπὶ τῆς οἰχίας ἄφθονα, καὶ τὴν ἐξουσίαν τῶν βλεπομένων οὐχ ἔχων, ἐπιθυμῶν δὲ χύριος εἶναι αὐτῶν τε καὶ τῆς περιουσίας, στενοῦται τῇ πατριχῇ αὐθεντείᾳ. Καὶ τὰ μὲν πρῶτα σιωπᾷ, καὶ ἐν τῷ βάθει χατέχει τὴν νόσον\" τῷ χρόνῳ δὲ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν πλεονάσας, καὶ πληρώσας τὴν ψυχὴν, ἀθρόον ἐχρήγνυσι τὴν χακχίαν, ὡς ἐπὶ τῶν σωλήνων τὰ ὕδατα. Καὶ λοιπόν ἐστιν ἀφόρητὸς τῷ πρεπθύτῃ, μονονουχὶ συνελαύνων αὐτὸν πρὸς τοὺς τάφους ὑγιαίνοντα καὶ βαδίξοντα. ᾽ν χούφως θινὸς διεγείρει πρὸς τὰς ὑπηρεσίας, τῇ ἐγρηγόρσει καὶ τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ γέροντος ἄχθεται. \"Ἂν δὲ καὶ δωρήσεταί τι τῶν χειμηλίων, ἢ οἰχέτην ἀφῇ τῆς δουεἰας͵ τότε δὴ τότε, καὶ λῖρρος, καὶ παραπαίων, καὶ τοὺς τῆς ζωῆς ὑπερύὰς ὄρους, καὶ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων σπαθητῆς, καὶ πᾶν βλάσφημον ἀχούων ἐμπαρνεῖται\" διὰ τί μὴ ταχέως ἀπέθανεν, ἐγχαλούμενος.","t":"The fine linen has rotted, the kingdom has passed to another, … the luxuries have been brought to nothing; but the sin that came from them went abroad with him, staying with him like a shadow beside a walking body. And so, after the costliness of … he seeks [a drop] dripping from a leper's finger, and calls the poor man to attend him in his punishment, the man who perhaps did not even have hands when he was flung down at the gateway; otherwise he would have driven off the dogs that licked his sores. He longs to be with Lazarus, whom he sees opposite him, and is kept apart by the trench, or chasm, between them: not that some pit has been dug or a ditch made, such as one may see in military camps as the no-man's-land of war; the passage shows, I think, the barrier of sins, which walled off from the condemned man the way to the righteous one. The prophet Isaiah seals my interpretation, addressing a foolish people severely and saying: “Is the hand of the Lord not strong to save? Or has he made his ear heavy so as not to hear? But your sins stand between you and God.” And if sins can separate people from God, nothing could be more sinful than covetousness, which the truthful voice of Paul, the herald of the truth, calls idolatry, and the root and mother of all evils. For unless … and sharers in the mysteries, were drawn to the worship of demons? Was it not by the love of acquiring much and becoming masters of what belongs to others? Receiving promises from the godless and impious, either of a life in office or of riches from the imperial treasuries, they quickly changed their religion like a garment. What happened in earlier times, the memory and hearsay of our lifetime have preserved and taught us. But there are things that our own life has handed down by experience. For when that emperor suddenly put off the mask of the Christian and stripped bare the comedy he had acted out in pretence for a long time, and himself shamelessly sacrificed to demons, and many rewards were offered to those willing to do the same, how many left the Church and ran to the altars! How many took the bait of honours and swallowed with him the hook of transgression! Branded men go about through the [cities] … of Christ for a little silver; banished from the list of Christians, as Judas from the apostles; [named] after the Apostate … like horses, drawn by the brands only, into the most grievous … of all sins, and at once following the … of the profane and … So, then, according to the Apostle, covetousness becomes idolatry too, and the root of all evils, … not inappropriately. Those who track gold in the bosom of the earth say that gold-bearing earth lies heaped up at its very beginning and chief source, and that from there, like veins from some [heart], it extends far this way and that, and stretches out in many branches, rather like the roots of trees spreading from the trunk. So here too, seeing many offshoots, I find them all bound to one root, covetousness. And indeed the discourse has found from gold an example well suited to covetousness. From this I see the [son] … respecting neither the grey hair nor the father's dignity, but weighed down by the old man's longer life. For seeing everything abundant in the house, and not having authority over what he sees, but desiring to be master both of these things and of the property, he chafes under his father's authority. At first he is silent and keeps the disease in the depths; but in time, as the desire grows and fills his soul, he suddenly bursts out with the evil, like water in pipes. From then on he is unbearable to the old man, all but driving him to the tomb while he is healthy and walking. If [the old man] … lightly rouses [the servants] to their duties, he is vexed at the old man's wakefulness and strength. And if he gives away any of his treasures, or frees a slave from slavery, then indeed he is called a dotard and deranged, one who has outlived the limits of life, a squanderer of others' goods, and he hears every kind of abuse, accused of this: why did he not die quickly?","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 3.4 (PG 40:199; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/3-4)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/3.5":{"o":"Σ)ς οὗτος, ὦ μιαρὴ πλεονεξία, χαρπός᾽ παρὰ σοῦ τὰ χέντρα λαμθάνων ὁ παῖς, πολέμιος γίνεται τοῦ γξυνέσαντος, Σὺ πληροῖς τὴν γῆν λῃστῶν καὶ φονευτῶν, χαταποντιστῶν δὲ θάλασσαν, τὰς πόλεις θορύἔων, τὰ διχαστήρια ψενδομαρτύρων, συχοφαντῶν, προζοτῶν, συνηγόρων, διχαστῶν ἐχεΐ ῥεπόντων, ὅπου δ᾽ ἂν σὺ χαθελχύσῃς. Πλεονεξία, μήτηρ τῆς ἀνισότῆτος, ἀνηλεὴς, μισάνθρωπος, ὠμοτάτη. Διὰ ταύτὴν ὁ τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίος ἀνωμαλίας γέμει\" καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐχ τοῦ χόρου ναυτιῶσι τὴν περισσείαν τῶν χτημάτων, οἷον τροφὴν ἄπληστον ἀποθλύξοντες \" ἄλλοι ὅξ λιμῷ καὶ ἐνδείᾳ πιεζόμενοι χινδυνεύουσιν. Οἱ μὲν χρὰς πόλεις οἰχοῦσι τὰς οἰχίας, λουτροῖς καὶ οἴχοις καὶ παντοέχ πολυτελείᾳ χεχοσμη μένας ἕτεροι δὲ δύο δοχὼν σχέπη» οὐχ ἔχουσιν\" ἀλλ᾽ ὅταν ἐν ὑπαίθριμ διαζῆῦν μὴ δύνωνται, ἢ πρὸς τὰς χαμίνους γουσε τῶν λουτρῶν, ἣ καὶ τοῖς βαλανεῦσι περιτυχόντες, παραπλησίως τοῖς χοίροις τὴν χόπρον ὀρύττοντες, τὴν ἀναγκαίαν θέρμην ἑαυτοῖς μηχανῶνκαι. καὶ τὸ ὁμότιμον ζῶον, ὁ ἄνθρωπος, τοσαύτην ἔχει τὴν διαφορὰν «τἧς διαίτης πρὸς τὸ ὁμόφυλην᾽ οὐχ ἄλλου τινὸς τὴν ἀταξίαν ταύτην καὶ τὴν ἀνωμαλίαν, ἣ τῆς πλεονεξίας ἐπεισαγούσῃης. Ὁ μὲν γυμνοῖς ἀσχημονεῖ μέλεσι\" καὶ ὁ ἄλλος πρὸς τὸ τὴν ἐσθῆτα δυσαρίθμητον ἔχειν, πορφυραῖς πλαξὶν τοὺς τοίχους ἐνδύει. Ὁ πένης ἐπὶ ξυλίνης τραπέξης ἄρτον ἀπορεῖ διαθρύψαι\" καὶ ὁ τρυφῶν ἀργυρὴν τράπεζαν ἐλάσας εἰς πλάτος, τῷ στίλθοντι ψυχαγωγεῖται τῆς ὕλης. Καὶ πόσῳ διχαιώτερον ἦν, τὸν μὲν ἑστιᾶσθαι ἀρχούμενον τῇ ἄλλῃ τρυφῇ, τῆς τραπέζης δὲ τιμὴν τῶν ἀπόρων εἶναι τρυφήν δ\"; ΓΑλλος γηραιὸς, καὶ βαδίξειν ἀδυνατῶν, ἣ διά τινα λώδην χωλεύων, ὄνον οὐ χέχτηται, ἀναγχαῖον τῆς χρείας ὄχημα\" καὶ ἕτερος διὰ πλῆθος τὰς ἀγέλας οὐ γνωρίζει τῶν ἵππων. Τῷ᾽ μὲν ἔλαιον ἐνδεῖ πρὸς τὸ λύχνον ἀνάψαι\" καὶ ἄλλος μόναις ταῖς λυχνίαις πλουτεῖ. Ὃ μὲν ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐδάφοὺυς ἔῤῥιπται\" καὶ ὁ μάτην πλουτῶν, τῷ χόσμῳ τῆς χλίνης περιαστράπτεται, ἀργυρᾶς σφαίρας ἐχούσης καὶ ἁλύσεις ἀντὶ τῶν σχοίνων. Ταῦτα τὰ τῆς ἀχορέστου … τὸν βίον τὴν ἀνισότητα, οὐχ ἂν αὗται ἦσαν τῆς ἀνωμαλίας αἱ ἐξοκαὶ καὶ χοιλότητες, οὐδ᾽ ἂν αἱ ποιχίλαι συμφοραὶ ἀηδῇ καὶ πολύδαχρυν τὴν ζωὴν ἡμῶν ἀπ’ Ἐντεῦθεν τὴν φυσιχὴν πρὸς ἀλληλοὺυς φιλίαν ἀπτοῦσι παρατάξεις, καὶ ὥσπερ τινὰ θηρία μετὰ πολλῇς τῆς ἀγριότητος ἀλλήλοις συνάπτουσι. Τὰ δὲ ἀχόλουθα τούτοις πῶς ἄν τις καὶ ἐξηγήσαιτο; Τείχη χαρτερὰ τοῖς μηχανήμασι χάτασείεται, καὶ πόλεις ἁλίσχονται, καὶ γυναῖχες ἄγονται, καὶ παῖδες ἀνδραποδίζονται\" τέμνεται γῇ καὶ χείρεται, καὶ τὰ δένδρα. πολεμοῦνται ὡς ἀδιχήσαντες ἄνθρωποι\" φόνος δὲ τῶν ἐν ἀχμῇ πολὺς, καὶ οἱ τοῦ αἵματος ῥύαχες ῥέουσι τῶν ἀθλίων σωμάτων’ ὁ δὲ πλοῦτος τῶν ἡττηθέντων, ἄθλον τῶν χρατησάντων. Ἐπὶ τούτοις ὀδυρμοὶ χηρείας, ὀρφανῶν δάχρνα, καὶ πατέρας ὁμοῦ καὶ τὴν ἐλευθερίαν θρηνούντων’ ὁ δὲ πρώην κύριος πλούτου πολλοῦ, ἄρτου μεταιτεῖ τέμαχος, προτείνων τὴν δεξιάν\" καὶ ὁ πολλοὺς ἔχων δούλους ὑφάντας, καὶ οἰχίας γεμούσας ἐσθήτων, ῥάχια δουλεύει, ὕδωρ πρὸς ἀνάγχην χομίζων, καὶ τοῦ ἐππῶνος ἀποξύων τὴν χόπρον, χκαὶ ταῖς αἰσχραῖς ὑπηρεσίαις διαχονούμενος\" ἄλλα μυρία χαχὰ, ἃ περιλαδεῖν ἀθρόως ἀδύνατον. Τούτων ὃὲ πάντων ἀρχὴ, καὶ αἰτία, καὶ ῥίζα, ἡ τοῦ πλείονος ἐπιθυμία, ἔρως ἄδικος τῶν ἀλλοτρίων χτημάτων. Εἰ δέ τις τοῦτο τὸ πάθος τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐξέχοψεν, οὐδὲν ἐχώλυσεν εἰρῆνην μὲν τῷ βίῳ βαθεῖαν ἐμπολιτεύεσθαι, πολέμους δὲ καὶ ταραχὰς ἐξ ἀνθρώπων φυγαδευθῆναι, θεῖν δὲ πάντας ἐπὶ τὴν χατὰ φύσιν στοργὴν καὶ φιλίαν. Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν ἐπιμελῶς τοῖς παραγγέλμασι ταύτην ἐξιᾶται τὴν νόσον, ποτὲ μὲν ἀποφαινόμενος\" Οὐ δύνασθε Θεῷ δουλεύειν, καὶ τῷ μαμωνᾷ' ποτὲ δὲ τὸν πλούσιον ἐχεῖνον ἄθλιον ἀποφαίνων, τὸν τῇ ἑξῆς τελευτᾷν μέλλοντα, καὶ τὴν μα- Χροχρόνιον ἀπόλαυσιν τὴν τρυφῆς ἑαυτῷ προτυποῦντα᾽ καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ τὸν τέλειον ἐχεῖνον εἷναι διδάσχων, ὃς ἂν πάντων, ὧν ἔχει, τοῖς δεομένοις παραχωρήσας, πρὸς τὴν ἀχτήμονα φιλο σοφίαν αὐτομολήσει, τὴν μητέρα τῆς ἀρετῆς καὶ ὁμό- ᾿Αλλά μοι δοχῶ καὶ σιωπώντων ἀχούειν τῶν ἐν συνηθείας τὰ τοιαῦτα φθεγγομένων πρὸς τοὺς διδά σχοντας\" Καὶ πῶς πρὸς τὸν βίον διατελέσομεν, εἰ ἡ χτῇσις τῶν χρημάτων ἀμελῃθείη; πῶς δὲ ταῖς πῶς δὲ καὶ δοθήσεται δάνος τῷ ζητοῦντι, ἂν πάντες ὦμεν διὰ τὴν σὴν παραίνεσιν ἄποροι; ᾿Απίστου τὸ ῥῆμα, ἀσύνετος ἣ φωνὴ, οὐχ εἰδότος, ὅτι Δεσπότὴν ἔχομεν τὸν Θεὸν, οἱχονόμον τοῦ βίου, τῷ γενομένῳ ζώῳ παρ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ χορηγοῦντα τὰ χρήσιμα, καὶ τοὺς ἀναγκαίους πορισμοὺς τῆς τροφῆς, καὶ τῶν σχεπασμάτων τὴν χρείαν. Ἡ γὰρ πρόνοια τοῦ Θεοῦ τῶν οἰχείων ποιημάτων ἐστὶν περιεχτική᾽ καὶ τὸν … πίστει πλουτοῦντα, πενίας οὐδεπώποτε χατέσχεν συμφορά. Ἕν δὲ τῶν θείων προχομίσας λόγων εἰς ἀξόδειξιν τοῦ προχειμένου, ἰχανὴν, ὡς οἶμαι, μαρτυρίαν παρέξω.","t":"This is your fruit, foul covetousness: taking the goads from you, the son becomes the enemy of the one who begot him. You fill the earth with robbers and murderers, the sea with pirates, the cities with riots, the courts with false witnesses, slanderers, traitors, advocates, and judges who lean wherever you drag them down. Covetousness, mother of inequality, pitiless, misanthropic, most savage! Through it human life is full of unevenness. Some, out of satiety, are sick of their abundance of possessions, like men vomiting up food they could not stop eating; others, pressed by hunger and want, are in danger. Some live in houses [as large as] cities, adorned with baths, halls and every extravagance; others have not the shelter of two beams; but when they cannot live in the open air, they [crouch] by the furnaces of the baths, or, when they find the bath-keepers, dig in the dung like pigs and contrive for themselves the warmth they must have. And man, the animal of equal honour, has such a difference of living from his own kind; and nothing else but covetousness brings in this disorder and unevenness. One man is shamed by his naked limbs; another, so as to have clothing beyond counting, clothes his walls with purple hangings. The poor man has no bread to break on a wooden table; the man of luxury has beaten a silver table out wide and amuses himself with the gleam of the metal. How much more just would it be for him to dine content with his other luxury, and for the price of the table to be a luxury for the needy! Another, old and unable to walk, or lame from some injury, does not possess a donkey, the vehicle his need requires; another, because of their number, does not know his own herds of horses. One lacks oil to light a lamp; another is rich in lampstands alone. One is flung down on the ground; the man rich to no purpose flashes with the ornament of his bed, which has silver balls, and chains instead of cords. These are the things of the insatiable … [If one removed] the inequality from life, there would not be these peaks and hollows of unevenness, nor would the various misfortunes [make] our life unpleasant and tearful. From this source battle lines … natural friendship toward one another, and men close with one another like wild beasts with great savagery. And how could one describe what follows? Strong walls are shaken by siege engines, cities are captured, women are led away, children are enslaved; the land is cut and ravaged, and trees are warred upon as if they were men who had done wrong; there is great slaughter of men in their prime, and streams of blood flow from wretched bodies; and the wealth of the defeated is the prize of the victors. On top of this come the laments of widowhood, the tears of orphans mourning their fathers and their freedom together; the man who was formerly master of great wealth begs a piece of bread, stretching out his right hand; and the man who had many slave weavers and houses full of clothes serves in rags, carrying water under compulsion, scraping the dung from the stable, and serving in shameful tasks; and countless other evils, which cannot be taken in all at once. And the beginning, cause and root of all these is the desire for more, an unjust love of other people's possessions. If someone cut this passion out of men, nothing would prevent deep peace from dwelling in life, wars and disturbances from being banished from among men, and everyone from running to natural affection and friendship. For this reason our Lord too carefully cures this disease by his commands: at one time declaring, “You cannot serve God and mammon”; at another showing that rich man to be wretched, who was to die the next day and was picturing for himself a long enjoyment of luxury; and elsewhere teaching that he is perfect who gives up all he has to the needy and deserts to the philosophy that owns nothing, the mother and companion of virtue … But I seem to hear, even while they are silent, those who are accustomed to say such things to their teachers: “And how shall we get through life, if the acquisition of money is neglected? How … And how will a loan be given to the one who asks, if we all become poor through your exhortation?” The saying of an unbeliever, the voice of a senseless man, who does not know that we have God as Master, the steward of life, who supplies to the creature made by him what is useful, the necessary provision of food, and the coverings it needs. For God's providence embraces his own works; and the one who is rich in … faith, the misfortune of poverty has never held. Bringing forward one of the divine words as proof of the matter before us, I will provide, I think, sufficient testimony.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 3.5 (PG 40:199; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/3-5)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/3.6":{"o":"Ἐν τῇ τῶν Βασιλειῶν ἱστορίᾳ γυνή τις ἀναγέγράπται χήρα, βαρυνομένη λίαν τῇ συμφορᾷ τῆς γυρος καὶ μισάνθρωπος, ἐνέχυρον τοὺς υἱοὺς ἀφαιρούμενος, οὖς μόνους εἶχεν ἀντὶ πάντων ἡ μήτηρ. Ἐπεὶ δὲ εἰς ἀμηχανίαν αὐτῇ περιειστήχει τὸ πρᾶγμα, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἡλέει τῶν ἐχόντων χρυσίον, ἦλθεν πρὸς τὸν ἔχοντα φιλανθρωπίαν καὶ πίστιν. Ἐλισσαῖος δὲ οὗτος ἦν ὁ προφήτης, ἀνὴρ ἀχτήμων τῶν γηίνων ὑλῶν, καὶ περισσευόμενος τῆς ἀσωμάτου περιουσίας\" νεωστὶ μὲν χληρονομήσας, τὴν δὲ χλῃρονομίαν λαδὼν βηλωτὴν εὔωνον, καὶ εὐλογίαν ἀόρατον, τοῦ πυρίνου ἅρματος ἐχπεσοῦσαν. Οὐ μὴν ἄπραχτον τὴν ἱχέτην ἀπέπεμψεν, οὐδὲ ἀπέγνω τῆς βοηθείας, ἐπειδὴ μὴ ταρῖνν τὸ ζητούμενον οὐδὲ εἶπεν ἀγεννῇ τινα καὶ ἄπιστα ῥήματα, ὡς εἷς τῶν πολλῶν\" Καὶ πόθεν ἐμοὶ ἀργύριον, ὥστε διαλῦσαι τὸ ὄφλημα; Ὥσπερ δὲ ἄριστος ἰατρὸς, καὶ φαρμάχων μὴ παρόντων, ἐξ ἐπινοιῶν παραδόξων εὗρε τῇ νόσῳ τὴν ἴασιν, καὶ, Τί σοι, φησὶν, ἐπὶ τῆς οἰχίας, ὦ γύναι; Μνημόγευσον, εἴ τι καὶ ὀλίγον ἔνδον τυγχάνει. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ ὕτως πένης, ὡς χαθάπαξ μηδενὸς χύριος εἶναι. Ὡς δὲ εἶπεν, ὅτι χεράμιόν ἐστιν, καὶ λείψανον ἐν αὐτῷ βραχὺ ἐλαίου \" ἸΙαρασχεύασό, μοὶ, εἶπεν, πλῆθος ἀγγείων. Καὶ ἣ μὲν ηὐτρέπισεν \" ὁ δὲ δι᾽ αὐτῆς ἐπλήβωσεν, καὶ τῷ δανειστῇ διελύθη τὸ ὄφλημα\" ἡ δὲ γυνὴ ἀπῆλθεν, ἐξ ἀπόρων εὑροῦσα τὸν πόρον. Τὸ γὰρ ὑλίγιστον ἔλαιον, ὃ εἶναι παρ᾽ αὐτῇ εἶπεν πρὸς τὸν προφήτην, ἐπήγασεν ἐχ τοῦ παραδόξου, καὶ πάντας δὲ τότε τῆς ῥύσεως, ὅτε ἀγγεῖον οὐχ ἔτι ἦν τὸ δεχόβενον \" καὶ τῇ χρείᾳ συνεμετρήθη ἡ χάρις. ᾿Αληθῶς ἔλαιον ἐχεῖνο, ὃ φυτὸν οὐχ ἑκαρποφόρῃησεν, ἀλλ᾽ οἱ ποῦ Θεοῦ οἰχτιρμοὶ ἐγεώργησαν. Ταύτην ὠνήσασθε τὴν ἐπιστήμην, εἰ δύνασθε, οἱ ἀπὸ ἡλίου ἀνίσχοντος, μέχρι καὶ δυομένου, βασιλεῖς, δυνάσται, πλούσιοι. Οἱ σοφοὶ τῆς ἐγχοσμίου σοφίας, χτήσασθε τοῦ ἀπὸ ἀροτήρων προφήτου τὸ χάρισμα, ὃ ἀναφαίρετον τῷ λαθόντι συνῆν. Τὰ γὰρ τῆς ὑμετέρας σπουδῆς χτήματα μυρίους ἔχει παραχειμένους τῆς ἀπωλείας χινδύνους \" λῃστὰς τοιχωρυχοῦντα:, τυράννους ἀρσαν χαταποντίζουσαν, καὶ γῆν ὑπεῤῥηγνυμένην τοῖς χάσμασιν. Ἔστω τοίνυν ἐλπὶς καὶ ταμιεῖον ἀνθρώ τοῖς ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ δεξιὰ, ἡ τὸν λαὸν Αἰγύπτου ἐξαγαγοῦσα͵ καὶ ἐν ἐρήμω χώρᾳ τὴν εὐθηνίαν τῶν ἀγαθῶν τἰ … ἀποῤῥιφέντα\" καὶ τοῖς χαθ᾽ ἐχάστην γενεὰν ἐπαρχέσασα καὶ τελευταῖον πέντε χριθίνους ἄρτους, ὡς ἄπειρον Τεωργίαν πληθύνασα, ἵνα ὁ εἷς ἄρτος χιλίων ἀνδρῶν πεινώντων πληρώσῃ γαστέρα, καὶ πρός γε χόφινον τῶν λειψάνων. Τῷ ὃΣ Θεῷ ἡμῶν ἣ δόξα, εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ἀμήν.","t":"In the history of the Kingdoms a certain woman is recorded, a widow, heavily weighed down by the misfortune of … [a creditor] … and misanthropic, taking away as a pledge her sons, whom alone the mother had in place of everything. When the affair had brought her to helplessness, and none of those who had gold took pity on her, she came to the one who had love for humankind and faith. This was Elisha the prophet, a man without possessions of earthly materials and abounding in incorporeal wealth; he had recently come into an inheritance, receiving as his inheritance a cheap sheepskin mantle and an invisible blessing that fell from the fiery chariot. He did not send the suppliant away empty-handed, nor despair of helping because what was sought was not at hand; nor did he say ignoble and faithless words, like one of the many: “And where would I get silver to pay off the debt?” But like an excellent physician who, even with no drugs at hand, finds the cure for the disease by extraordinary devices, he said: “What do you have in the house, woman? Think whether there is anything inside, even a little. For no one is so poor as to be master of nothing at all.” And when she said that there was a jar with a small remnant of oil in it, “Prepare for me,” he said, “a great number of vessels.” She prepared them; he filled them through her; the debt to the creditor was paid; and the woman went away, having found means where there were none. For the very little oil which she told the prophet she had sprang up miraculously, and ceased flowing only when there was no longer a vessel to receive it; and the grace was measured to the need. Truly that was oil which no plant bore, but the compassions of God cultivated. Buy this knowledge, if you can, you kings, princes and rich men from the rising of the sun to its setting. You who are wise in worldly wisdom, acquire the gift of the prophet taken from the ploughmen, which remained with the one who received it and could not be taken away. For the possessions you labour for have countless dangers of loss lying beside them: robbers breaking through walls, tyrants … sinking [ships], and earth splitting open with chasms. Let, then, the hope and storehouse of men be the right hand of God, which led the people out of Egypt and [supplied] the abundance of good things in a desert land … thrown away; which sufficed for those of each generation; and at last multiplied five barley loaves as if in boundless harvest, so that one loaf filled the bellies of a thousand hungry men, with a basket of leftovers besides. To our God be glory to the ages of ages. Amen.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 3.6 (PG 40:199; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/3-6)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/4.1":{"o":"Δ΄. Λόγος κατηγορικὸς τῆς ἑορτῆς τῶν Καιλανδῶν. Δύο χατὰ ταυτὸν ἑορταὶ συνέδραμον ἐπὶ τῆς χθιζῃφς καὶ τῆς ἑνεστώσης ἡμέρας, οὐ σύμφωνοί τε καὶ ἀδελφοὶ, πᾶν δὲ τοὐναντίον ἐχθρῶς τε καὶ ἐναντίως ἔχουσαι πρὸς ἀλλήλας. Ἢ μὲν γάρ ἔστιν τοῦ ἔξωθεν συρφετοῦ, πολὺ συνάγουσα τοῦ μαμωνᾶ τὸ ἀργύριον, καὶ τὴν ἄλλην χαπηλείαν ἐφελχομένη, τὴν ἀγοραῖόν τε καὶ ἀνελεύθερον ἡ δὲ τῆς ἁγίας καὶ ἀληθοῦς θρησχείας, οἰχείωσιν τὴν πρὸς Θεὸν, καὶ τοῦ χεχαθαρμένου βίον τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐχπαιδεύουσα Ἐπειδὴ δὲ πολλοὺ προτιμῶντες τὴν ἐχ τῆς ματαιότητος τρυφὴν καὶ ἀπχολίαν, ἀπελείφθησαν τοῦ χατὰ τὴν ἐχχλησίαν συλλόγου, φέρε, τὴν μωρὰν καὶ βλάπτουταν τέρψιν λόγῳ τῶν ψυχῶν ἀπελάσωμεν, ὥσπερ τινὰ φρενῖτιν ἕν πὦῷ γελᾷν καὶ παίξειν τὸν θάνατον ἄγουσαν. Ἔν καιρῷ δ᾽ ἂν τὸν Σολομῶντα ζηλώσαιμι τῆς τοῦ λόγου μεταχειρήσεως. Καὶ γὰρ ἐχεῖνος συμθουλεύων τοῖς νέοις ἀσφαλῶς ἑαυτοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν παγίδων τῆς ἀχολα- … θεσίαν ἐργάσηται, προσωποποιεῖ τὴν ἀχολασίαν εἰς γυναῖχα χατεγνωσμένην᾽ πᾶσαν δὲ τὴν χαχίαν αὑτῆς στηλιτεύων, οὕτως μίσους ἀξίαν ἀποφαίνει τοῖς δελεαζομένοις. Διὸ χἀγὼ τὴν ματαιότητα τῆς ἀνθρωπιχῆῇς ἑορτῆς ὑποδείξας τῷ λόγῳ, πειράσομαι τοὺς ἐραστὰς ἐχείνης ἀποστῆσαι τῆς πεπλανημένης σπουδῆς. Ἑορτῆς τοίνυν πανδήμου οὗτος ὁ θεσμὸς καὶ ὁνό- Α μῆς πρῶτον μὲν φανερὸν σχοπὸν εἶναι πανηγύρεως ’ ἔπειτα χοινὴν εἶνα: πάντων εὐφροσύνην, καὶ μὴ μέρος μὲν ἥδεσθαι, τὸ δὲ λειπόμενον ἐν λύπῃ καὶ χατηφείᾳ διάγειν. Τοῦτο γὰρ πολέμου μᾶλλον ἣ ἑορτῆς ἐξαίρετον \" ἐπειδήπερ ἐπάναγχες τοὺς μὲν χρατήσαν- «“ὡςἐμπομπεύειν τῇ νίχῃ, τοὺς δ᾽ ἡττηθέντας δαχρύειν τὴν συμφοράν. Ἑπειδή 4 γε τούτων τῶν ἡμερῶν, πρῶτον μὲν τὸ ἐπὶ τίσι τελεῖται ἡ πανήγυρις, ἄδηλον. ῦθοι γὰρ λέγονται πολλοὶ, ἀλλήλων ἀνατρεπτιχοί \" ἀληθὲς δὲ οὐδὲν. Εἶτα, ὀλίγους μὲν εὐφραινομένους βλέπω\" ἀνιωμένους δὲ τοὺς πολλοὺς, χἂν εὖπρεπεῖ ἑτερότητι τὴν λύπην ἐπισχιάζωσιν πάντα δὲ θορύδου γέμοντα καὶ ταραχῆς, καὶ τὸ πλῆθος πρὸς ᾿λνάμνησίς ἐστιν καὶ εὐφροσύνη ἐνιαυτοῦ. εὐφροσύνη, ἄνθρωπε; Πρῶτον, ὅταν ἐννοήσω δ τῆς συντυχίας τὸ σχῆμα, οἷόν ἐστιν, καὶ ὅπως ὕποπτον, καὶ οὐ φιλικόν 1 ᾿Αδρανεῖ τῇ φωνῇ καὶ λεπτῇ ἣ προσηγορία πρόεισι τῶν χειλέων \" εἶτα ἀχολουθεῖ φίλημα, τοῦ λήμματος προοίμιον\" καὶ φιλεῖται μὲν τὸ στόμα, ἀγαπᾶται δὲ τὸ νόμισμα \" τὸ σχῆμα διαθέσεως, καὶ τὴ ἔργον πλεονεξίας. \"Ἔνθα δὲ χαθαρὰ φιλία καὶ ἄδο- Περιφέρεται γοῦν πολὺ πανταχοῦ, καὶ δίδοται τὸ γρναίον \" πρόφασις δὲ δικαία καὶ εὐπρεπὴς τοῦ λήμματος, οὔτε ἔστιν, οὔτε λέγεται. Γάμος οὐχ ἔστιν, ἵνα γυμφίου τις γαύρου χαλέσῃ φιλοτιμίαν. Ἐλεημησύνην οὐχ ἔχω καλεῖν τὴν δαπάνην οὐδεὶς γὰρ πένης ἀφίεται συμφορᾶς. Συνάλλαγμα οὐχ ἄν τις (Σ χαλέσειεν τὸ γινόμενον οὐδὲν γὰρ διαμείδουσι πρὸς ἀλλήλους τὸ πλῆθος, Δωρεὰν δὲ εἰπεῖν, οὐδὲ μέχρι ὅτου δίχαιον, ἔνθα συνέζευλται ἀνάγχη τῇ δόσει. Τί τοίνυν, ἣ τὴν ἑγρτὴν χαλέσωμεν, ἣ τὰ ἐν ταύτῃ δαπανώμενα Ἐγὼ μὲν οὐχ εὑρίσχω. Εἴπατε δὲ, οἱ περὶ αὑτὴν ἑσπουδαχότες “ δότε λόγον, ὡς ἡμεῖς, τῶν ἀληθινῶν καὶ χατὰ Θεὸν πανηγύρεων. Γενέθλιον ἑορτάζομεν, ἐπειδὴ τὰ ἐν σαρχὶ Θεοφάνια χατὰ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον ἔδειξεν ἡμῖν ὁ Θεός. Φῶτα πανήγυριν ἄγομεν, ἐπειδὴ τῇ τῶν ἀμαρτημάτων ἀέσει, οἷον ἐκ σχοτεινοῦ τινὸς δεσμωτηρίου τοῦ προτέρου βίου, πρὸς τὸν φωτεινὸν καὶ ἀνεύθυνον ἀναγόμεθα. Καλλωπιξζόμέθα πάλιν, καὶ καίροντες ἐμπομπεύομεν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς ᾿Αναστάσεως \" τὴν γὰρ ἀφθαρσίαν ἡμῖν, καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὸ χρεῖττον δηλοῖ μεταχόσμησιν. Οὕτως ταύτας ἑορτάζομεν, οὕτως τὰς ἐφεξῆς \" καὶ παντὸς ἀνθρωπιχοῦ πράγματος λόγος ἡγεῖται’ οὗ δὲ αἰτία καὶ σχοπὸς ἄπεστιν, λῆρος τοῦτο καὶ φλήναφος. Ὦ τῆς ἀτοπίας! Πάντες χεχηνότες τὰ παρ᾽ ἀλλήλων ἐλπίζοντες. Οἱ δόντες λυποῦνται \" οἱ λαθόντες οὐ χατέχουσι. Μεταθαίνει γὰρ εἰς ἀλλήλους τὸ λῆμμα \" καὶ ὁ παρὰ τοῦ ὑπευθύνου δεξάμενος, δίδωσι τῷ μείζονι. Λστατον δέ ἐστιν τὸ τῆς ἡμόρ8; ταύτης χρυσίον, ὥσπερ ἡ τῶν παιζόντων σφαῖρα, … χαινὸς δωροφορίας καὶ λειτουργίας τρόπος, ἀπαραΐτῆτον ἔχων τῆς ἀνάγχης τὴν εἰσφοράν. Ὁ γὰρ μείζων καὶ ἔνδοξης δυσωπεῖ' ὁ ἐλάττων αἰτεῖ\" καὶ πάντες βαθμοῖς ἐπὶ τοὺς χόλπους τῶν ὑπερεχόντων χινοῦνται. Καὶ ὅπερ ἐπὶ τῆς συῤῥοίας τῶν ὑδάτων γίνεται, τοῦτο νῦν ἔστιν ἰδεῖν. Καὶ γὰρ ἐχεῖ λεπτὸς ἀποῤῥεύσας τοὺς ῥοῦς, τῷ μετ᾽ αὐτὸν καὶ μείζονι μίγνυται\" χἀχεῖνος χαλύπτεται πάλιν παρὰ τοῦ μᾶλ-λον πλημμυροῦντος \" καὶ πολλὰ λεπτότερα ῥεύματα ἀθροισθέντα, ποταμοῦ γείτονος προσθήχη γίνονται\" οὗτος πάλιν ἑτέρου τοῦ μείζονος, καὶ ἄλλος ἄλλου, μέχρις ἂν ὁ τελευταῖος τῷ βάθει καὶ τῷ πλάτει τῆς θαλάσσης ἐγχαθορμίσῃ τὸ ὕδωρ. 'Ἑορτὴ αὕτη ψευδὼγυμος, ἐπαχθείας γέμουσα \" καὶ γὰρ ἡ πρόοδος ἐπ - Β αχθὴς, καὶ ἡ ἔνδον μονὴ οὐχ ἀνενόχλητος.","t":"Homily 4. A discourse of accusation against the feast of the Kalends. Two feasts have coincided, yesterday and today, not in harmony and sisterly, but quite the opposite, hostile and contrary to each other. The one belongs to the rabble outside: it gathers much of mammon's silver and drags in its train all the other huckstering, vulgar and illiberal. The other belongs to the holy and true religion, teaching closeness to God and the virtue of a purified life. But since many, preferring the luxury and bustle that come from vanity, have stayed away from the assembly of the church, come, let us drive this foolish and harmful delight out of their souls by our discourse, as one drives out a frenzy that leads men to death while they laugh and play. At this moment I would gladly emulate Solomon's handling of his discourse. For he, counselling the young to keep themselves safe from the snares of licentiousness, … personifies licentiousness as a woman of ill repute, and by pillorying all her wickedness shows her deserving of hatred to those she entices. So I too, by showing the vanity of this human feast in my discourse, will try to turn its lovers away from their misguided zeal. The institution and the name of a public feast [require], first, that the purpose of the festival be evident; then, that the joy be common to all, not that one part rejoices while the rest spend the time in grief and dejection. That is the mark of war rather than of a feast, since the victors must parade in their victory and the defeated weep over their misfortune. But in the case of these days, first, the reason for which the festival is held is unclear. Many [myths] are told, each overturning the other, and none of them true. Next, I see few rejoicing and the many distressed, even if they overshadow their grief with a seemly appearance; and everything full of noise and confusion, and the crowd … [They say] it is a commemoration and the joy of the year. Joy, man? First, when I consider the form of the greeting, what it is like, and how suspicious and unfriendly! The salutation comes out of the lips in a feeble, thin voice; then follows a kiss, the prelude to taking; the mouth is kissed, but the coin is loved; the form is that of affection, the deed that of covetousness. But where pure and guileless friendship … Much gold, then, is carried about everywhere and given; but a just and seemly reason for the taking neither exists nor is given. It is not a wedding, that one might call it the generosity of a proud bridegroom. I cannot call the expense almsgiving; for no poor man is released from his misfortune. No one would call what happens a contract; for the crowd exchange nothing with one another. And to call it a gift is not right either, where compulsion is yoked to the giving. What, then, shall we call the feast, or what is spent on it? I do not find a name. Tell me, you who are so eager for it; give an account, as we do for the true festivals that are according to God. We celebrate the Nativity, because at this time God showed us the Theophany in the flesh. We keep the festival of Lights, because by the release of sins we are brought up, as from a dark prison of our former life, to the life that is full of light and owes no account. Again, we adorn ourselves and parade joyfully on the day of the Resurrection, for it signifies to us incorruption and our re-ordering to what is better. So we keep these feasts, and so the ones that follow; reason leads every human affair, and where cause and purpose are lacking, the thing is nonsense and babble. What absurdity! Everyone gaping, expecting something from one another. Those who give are grieved; those who receive do not keep it. For the gift passes on from one to another, and the man who received from his subordinate gives to the greater. The gold of this day is never at rest, like the ball of players … the new kind of gift-bearing and public service, with its inexorable levy of compulsion. For the greater and more glorious man presses, the lesser asks, and everyone moves step by step toward the laps of those above them. What happens at the confluence of waters can be seen now. For there a slender stream flows down and mingles with the larger one after it; that one is covered again by one that floods more; many slender streams gathered together become an addition to a neighbouring river; this in turn to another greater one, and one to another, until the last brings its water to anchor in the depth and breadth of the sea. This feast is falsely named and full of vexation; for going out is vexatious, and staying indoors is not free from annoyance.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 4.1 (PG 40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/4-1)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/4.2":{"o":"γὰρ ἀγύρται, καὶ οἱ τῆς ὀρχήστρας θαυματοποιοὶ, εἷς τάξεις καὶ συστήματα ἑαυτοὺς χαταμερίσαντες,, ἑχάστην οἰχίαν διοχλοῦσιν \" καὶ δῆθεν μὲν εὐφημοῦσι καὶ ἐπιχροτοῦσιν, μένουσι δὲ πρὸς ταῖς πύλαις τῶν πραχτήρων εὐτονώτερον, μέχρις ἂν ἀποχναισθεὶς ὅ ἔνδον πολιορχούμενος, προῆται τὸ ἀργύριον ὅπερ ἔχει, καὶ ὃ οὐ χέχτηται. ᾿Αμοιδαδὸν δὲ προσιόντες ταῖς θύραις, ἀλλήλους διαδέχονται, καὶ μέχρις δείλης ὀψίας ἄνεσις οὐχ ἔστιν τοῦ χαχοῦ \" ἀλλὰ φαπρία φατρίαν χαταλαμθάνει, καὶ βοὴ βοὴν, καὶ ζημία ζημίαν,; … Αὕτη ἡ βελτίστη ἑορτὴ, καὶ δανεισμάτων αἰτία γίνεται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, καὶ τούτων ἐντόχων ἀφορμὴ πενίας, δυστυχημάτων ἀρχή. Ἂν δέ τις διὰ τὸ τῆς ἀξίας ἀναξιόπιστον μηδὲ τοῦ δανείζοντος εὐπορήσῃ, ἕλχεται, ὡς τοὺς φόρους τοὺς βασιλικοὺς ἐλλιπὼν, δαχρύει ὡς ὁ δημενόμενος, ὀλοφύρεται ὡς ὁ λῃσταῖς περιπεσὼν, φρουρεῖται, μαστίζεται. Αν δέ τι μιχρὸν ὑπάρχῃ χατὰ τὴν οἰχίαν εἰς διατροφὴν γαμετῆς καὶ παίδων ἀθλίων, τοῦτο προΐεται \" χάθηται δὲ λιμώττων παγγενεὶ ἐπὶ τῆς φαιδρᾶς ἑορτῆς. Καινὸς χκαχῆς συνηθείας -νόμος, ἀηδίαν ἑορτάζεσθαι, καὶ ἀπορίαν Αὕτη ἡ ἡμέρα καὶ τοὺς μιχροὺς παῖδας καὶ ἀφελεῖς καὶ ἀπλοϊχοὺς φιλαργύρους εἶναι διδάσχει, καὶ παρασχευάζει οἰχίαν ἀμείδειν ἐξ οἰχίας, καὶ δῶρα προσφέρειν χαινὰ, ὀπώρας ἀργυρίῳ χαθηλωμένας. \"Ἔστιν δὲ ἣ δόσις τοῦ διπλοῦ ἀντίδοσις, καὶ τὸ χαπηλιχὸν καὶ ἀνελεύθερον ἔντεῦθεν ἄρχεται ἁπαλοῖς τοῖς φρονήμασιν ἑἐντυποῦσθαι τῶν νέων. Τοὺς δὲ ἐεροὺς καὶ βελτίστους γεωργοὺς, οἷα διατίθησιν αὕτη ἡ ἡμέρα! Φευχτὴν αὐτοῖς καὶ ἄδατον τὴν πόλιν ἐργάζεται\" καὶ μᾶλλον αὐτὴν ἀποδιδράσχουσιν, ἣ οἱ λαγωοὶ τὰ δίχτυα. Οἱ γὰρ εὑρισχόμενοι μαστίζονται, παροινοῦνται, ἀπολλύουσιν τὰ ἐν χερσὶν, ἐν εἰρήνῃ καὶ ἔργοις\" πληροῦνται τῆς ὕδρεως οἱ βέλτιστοι ἡμῶν προφῆται, τὰ ἀπόνηρα ζῶα, αἱ ἀπλοῖκαὶ τοῦ θ:οὐ εἰχόνος, οἱ ἐν ἐλευθερίᾳ πιστοὶ δοῦλοι τῆς ἡμετέρας ζωῆς. Οὕτως μὲν οὖν οἱ ἐν τέλει, οὕτως πένητες, οὕτως παιδία, οὕτως ἄγροικοι. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ μοχϑοῦσιν, οἱ δὲ γογγύζουσιν, οἱ δὲ μανθάνουσιν ἃ μὴ εἰδέναι χαλόν. ᾿ Σχεψώμεθα δὲ ὅπως καὶ οἱ ἔνοπλοι στρατιῶται παρὰ ταύτης ὠφελοῦνται τῆς ἑορτῆς. Εἰς χρήματα σιν τὸν ἐπισιτισμὸν τοῦ πολέμου. Εὶς τρόπους καὶ ἤθη βλάπτονται. Μανθάνουσι γὰρ ἀνελευθερίαν, ἑπιτηδεύματα σχηνιχῶν, ἔχλυσιν καὶ μαλαχίαν ἡθῶν, παιδιὰν χατὰ τῶν νόμων, καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς, ἧς ἐτάχθη σὰν φύλαχες. Τὴν γὰρ μεγίστην ἀρχὴν χωμῳδοῦσιν καὶ διασύρουσιν, ἅρμα ὡς ἐπὶ σχηνῆς ἀναθαίνοντες, δημοσίᾳ ποιοῦντες τὰ τῶν ἐξνρημένων πρὸς χόνδυλον. Καὶ ταῦτ᾽ ἔστιν τῆς πομπείας τὰ σεμνότερα. Τὰ δὲ ἄλλα πῶς ἄν τις εἴποι; Μὴ καὶ ἐχχαλυψάμενος γυναιχίζεται ὁ ἀριστεὺς, ὁ τὸν θυμὸν λεοντώδης, ὁ μετὰ τὴν ὅπλισιν θαυματὸς ὀφθῆναι τοῖς οἰχείοις, καὶ φοδερὸς τοῖς ἐναντίοις καὶ τὸν χιτῶνα μέχρι τῶν σφυρῶν ἀφίησι, καὶ τοῖς στέρνοις περιελίττει τὴν ζώνην, καὶ ὑποδήματι χέχρηται γυναιχείῳ, καὶ τὸν χρώδυλον ἐπιτίθεται τῇ χεφαλῇ, ἧ γυναιξὶ νόμος\" καὶ φέρει τὴν ἡλαχάτην ἐρίου γέμουσαν, καὶ τῇ δεξιᾷ νῆμα χατάγει, τῇ ποτε φερούσῃ τὸ τρόπαιον \" καὶ τὸν τόνον τῆς ψυχῇς ἐναλλάττων, τὸ ὀξύτερον καὶ γυναιχῶδες φθέγγεται; Ταῦτα τῆς πανηγύρεως τὰ χρηστά\" ταῦτα τῆς πανδήμου ἑορτῆς τὰ συμφέροντα σήμερον. … Καὶ οἱ τῆς χορυφῆς τῶν ἀξιωμάτων ἀνθρωπιχῶν … ἐπιθάντες, οἱ πολυθρύλλητοι ὕπατοι, τῇ ματαίοτητι ζοντες, εἰς ἀκαρπίαν διχαιοσύνης, καὶ χαρπὸν ἁμαρτίχς\" ὧν τοσοῦτον περιφανὴς ἡ ἀφροσύνη, ὅσον ὑψηλὸς ὁ θρόνος. Πολλοῖς γὰρ ἀνθρωπιχοῖς τὸς θρόνοις, καὶ τὰς μεγίστας τῆς βασιλείας ἀρχὰς διοιχήσαντες, λαμθάνουσιν ἀφειδῶς ἀπὸ πάσης τὰ πλεῖστα \" οἱ μὲν πενήτων στρατιωτῶν τὸ σιτηρέσιον σγετερισάμενοι, ἄλλοι τὸ δίχαιον καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν πολλάχις πωλήσαντες, καὶ τῶν βασιλιχῶν ταμιείων τέροι ἄφατον ἐξαντλήσαντες πλοῦτον, καὶ τὰ πανδενὸς λήμματος, οὐχ ἀπρεποῦς, οὐχ ἀδίχου \" καὶ θεὸν παροξύνοντες προχάθηνται νῦν, καὶ μετ᾽ ὀλίγον ἡνιόχοις μερίζοντες τὸν χρυσὸν, καὶ αὐληταῖς καχο. Ὦ καὶ γυναιξὶ πόρναις, ὥνιον παρεχούσαις τῷ δημίῳ τὸ στοις, καὶ αὑτοῖς τοῖς θηρίοις. Πρύδηλον γὰρ, ὡς καὶ τὰ θηρία τρέφε: χρυσός \" τοῖς μὲν τὰ χρέα, τοῖς δὲ τὴν μάζαν ὠνούμενος. Ταῦτα δὲ πάντα προΐενται …","t":"For the beggars and the conjurors of the dance-floor divide themselves into troops and bands and pester every house. Ostensibly they wish well and applaud, but they stay at the doors more doggedly than tax-collectors, until the man besieged inside is worn out and throws them the silver he has, and what he does not possess. Approaching the doors in turn, they succeed one another, and until late evening there is no respite from the evil: band follows band, shout follows shout, loss follows loss … This finest of feasts becomes for people a cause of loans, and loans at interest, a starting point of poverty and the beginning of misfortunes. And if someone, because his rank gives him no credit, cannot find even a lender, he is dragged off like one who has defaulted on the imperial taxes; he weeps like a man whose goods are confiscated, laments like one who has fallen among robbers, is put under guard and flogged. And if there is some little thing in the house for the support of his wife and his wretched children, he throws this away, and sits starving with his whole family at the bright feast. A new law of bad custom: to keep a festival of unpleasantness and want … This day teaches even little children, simple and guileless, to love money, and gets them ready to go from house to house bringing novel gifts, fruits studded with silver. The gift is given to receive double in return; and from here huckstering and illiberality begin to be stamped on the tender minds of the young. And the sacred and excellent farmers, how this day treats them! It makes the city a place to flee and not to set foot in; they run from it more than hares from nets. For those who are found are flogged, abused by drunkards, and lose what they have in their hands, though they live in peace and toil. Our best providers are filled with insult: harmless creatures, the simple images of God, the faithful servants of our life, free men as they are. So it is with the officials, so with the poor, so with children, so with country people: some toil, some grumble, some learn what it is better not to know. Let us consider also how the armed soldiers benefit from this feast. In money … the provisioning for war. In manners and character they are harmed. For they learn illiberality, the practices of stage-players, dissoluteness and softness of character, and mockery of the laws and of the authority of which they were appointed guardians. They mock and ridicule the highest office, mounting a chariot as if on a stage, and publicly doing the things that were invented for buffoonery. And these are the more decent parts of the procession. How could one describe the rest? Does not the champion, lion-hearted in spirit, who once armed is a marvel to his own people and a terror to the enemy, uncover himself and turn into a woman? He lets his tunic down to his ankles, winds the girdle round his breast, wears a woman's shoe, and puts on his head the knot of hair that is the custom for women; he carries the distaff full of wool, and with his right hand, which once bore the trophy, draws down the thread; and changing the tone of his soul, he speaks in a shriller, womanish voice. These are the good things of the festival; these are the benefits of the public feast today … And those who have mounted to the summit of human dignities, the much-talked-of consuls, … in vanity, to the unfruitfulness of righteousness and the fruit of sin; whose folly is as conspicuous as their throne is high. Having administered many human thrones and the greatest offices of the empire, they take most of their wealth unsparingly from every source: some appropriated the pay of poor soldiers, others often sold justice and truth, others drained untold wealth from the imperial treasuries, and [thought] no gain unseemly, none unjust; and provoking God they now preside, and soon they will be distributing gold to charioteers and flute-players … and to prostitutes, who offer for sale … and to the wild beasts themselves. For it is plain that gold feeds even the beasts, buying meat for some and barley-cake for others. All these things they throw away …","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 4.2 (PG 40:435; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/4-2)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/4.3":{"o":"τυφλότητος! θεὸς ἀπαγγέλλεται, τῶν πτωχοτρόφων τὰ ὀνόματα βίδλοις ζώσαις ἐγγράφειν, ταῖς ἀθανάτοις, ταῖς ἀδ'αφθόροις, ἃς σὴς οὐχ ἀφανίζε:, καὶ χρόνος οὐχ ἐξαλείφει \" χἀχείνων τῶν γραμμάτων οὐκ ἐρᾷς. οὐδὲ λόγον τινὰ ποιῇ τῆς μαχαρίας ἐπαγγελίας, οὐδὲ τῇ μνήμῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐγγραφῆναι ζητεῖς; Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν ἡ βίδλος ἡ ζῶσα. Περὶ πολλοῦ δὲ ποιῇ παρὰ τῶν συμθολαιογράφων γράφεσθαι, καὶ παρὰ τῶν ὠνουμένων τὰ ἀνδράποδα λαλεῖσθαι, καὶ χροτεῖσθαι παρὰ δημοτῶν χολάχων, καχὸς τῆς χρείας τῶν πραγμάτων χρίτης, ἀνόητος δοχιμαστὴς τοῦ συμφέροντος. Δὸς τῷ λελωδημένῳ πτωχῷ, καὶ μὴ τῷ λελυμένῳ μουσιχῷ \" χάρισαι πρὸ τῆς πόρνης τῇ … καὶ μίσητον ψάλτριαν ἀναιδῆ, πρὸ τῆς ὄψεως τῷ ὀρφανῷ, λῦσον δάνεισμα πένητος, καὶ ὄψει δόξαν διαιωνίζουσαν. Κενοῖς πλῆθος βαλαντίων ὑπὲρ παιδιᾶς ἀσχήμονος, καὶ ἀτάχτου γέλωτος, οὐχ εἰδὼς ὅσα πενήτων χαοίξζῃ δάκρυα, ἐξ ὧν συνήχθη ἡ εὐπορία “ πόσοι ἐδέθησαν, πόσοι ἐμαστιγώθησαν \" πόσοι ἐγγὺς ἦλθον ἀγχόνης καὶ βρόχου, ἵνα σήμερον ὀρχού μενοι λάδωσιν. Καὶ τί τὸ τέλος; Ματαιότης. Μετὰ πάντα τάφος μιχρός \" ἐσθὴς ὀλίγων ὁδολῶν, τὸ σωμάτίον περιστέλλουσα᾽ λήθη μετ᾽ ὀλίγον, τὸ ἀναγκαῖον πάθος τοῦ χρόνου, πάντα τὰ σπουδασθέντα πτουσα\" χρίσις ἐπὶ τούτοις Θεοῦ, καὶ τῆς χαχῆς Ποῦ οἱ ὕπατοι; Τοὺς χθὲς καὶ πρώην ἀρίθμησον. Οὐχ ὁ μὲν, ὡς οἱ καχοῦργοι, τῆς κεφαλῆς ἀπετμήθη, πλήθους ὁπλιτεύοντος ἀθρόᾳ χινήσει περιπεσών “ ἐπομπεύθη δὲ μετὰ θάνατον μᾶλλον, ἣ ὅτε φερόμενος ἐπὶ τοῦ δίφρου ἐγαυρία τοῦ ἀξιώματος; ἄλλος δὲ μετὰ στρατηγίας, τῆς αὐτῆς ταύτης ἐπιτυχὼν τιμῆς, χαχῶς ἐν ταῖς ἐσχατιαῖς Αἰγύπτου καὶ τῆς λιδύης ἀπώλετο, φεύγων τῆς χαταδίχης τὴν τιμωρίαν, εἶτα ταῖς ψάμμοις ἐντελευτήσας, ἐπειδὴ πᾶσα ἣν ἡ χώρα, δι' ἧς ἀπεδίδρασχεν ἄνυδρος καὶ ἀοίχητος; Τί δ᾽ ἂν εἴπομεν πρὸς τὸν ἐχ στρατηγῶν καὶ ὑπάτων, ὁμοίως ἐπὶ τῆς Κολχίδος νῦν χώρας διάγοντα, καὶ τῇ τῶν ἐχεῖσς βαρδάρων φιλανθρωπίᾳ διασωζόμενον; Τὸν δὲ ἐξ ὑπάρχων ἐχεῖνον, τὸν, ὡς ᾧετο, ἄμαχον καὶ λεοντώδη τὴν γνώμην, οἵα τοῦ βίου χαταστροφὴ διεδέξατο! Πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ ἐπεῖδε τὸν ἑαυτοῦ παῖδα ἀποτμηθέντα τῆς χεφαλῆς \" εἶτα καὶ αὐτὸς τὴν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ ψῆφον ἐδέξατο, καὶ τῆς σχοίνου προσαχθείσης ἤδη τῷ στόματι, φιλαυθρωπία βασιλιχὴ ἐχώλυσεν ἐνεργῆσαι τὸν δήμιον. Ζήσας δὲ ὀλίγον ὀδύναις καὶ φὐμφοραῖς ὁ πρεσθύττς, καὶ τῇ αἰσθήσει τῶν χαχῶν ἐπιχρονίσας, ἐν ἀτιμίᾳ ἀπῖλθεν τοῦ βίου, τοῦτο τῆς μεγάλης ὑπατείας τὸ τέλος εὑράμενος. Ὃ δὲ, τοῦ παρελθόντος ἐνιαυτοῦ πῶς ἐφρόντισεν μείξονα τῶν γιγάντων, γυναιξὶν ὧν καὶ ἀνδράτιν ἐπεθύμησεν\" ἐχτήσατο γῆν, ὅσην οὐδὲ εἰπεῖν εὔχολον\" ἐτάφη ὃὲ ἐν τοσαύτῃ, ὅσης ὁ ἐλεήσας μετέδωχεν. ἵλρα οὖν χατὰ τὸν σοφὸν Ἐχχλησιαστὴν, οὐ πάντα, ὅσα τοιαῦτα, Ματαιότης ματαιοτήτων, καὶ","t":"… blindness! God promises to write the names of those who feed the poor in living books, immortal and incorruptible, which the moth does not destroy and time does not erase; and you do not love those letters, nor take any account of the blessed promise, nor seek to be inscribed in God's memory? For that is the living book. But you set great store on being written down by notaries, talked about by slave-buyers, and applauded by common flatterers: a bad judge of the use of things, a senseless assessor of what is to your advantage. Give to the maimed poor man, and not to the dissolute musician; rather than to the prostitute, give to … and the hateful, shameless harp-girl; rather than to the show, give to the orphan; pay off a poor man's debt, and you will see a glory that lasts for ever. You empty a heap of purses for unseemly play and disorderly laughter, not knowing how many tears of the poor you are giving away, the tears from which your wealth was gathered: how many were bound, how many flogged, how many came near the noose and halter, so that dancers might receive [it] today. And what is the end? Vanity. After all, a small tomb; a garment worth a few obols wrapping the poor body; oblivion soon after, the inevitable work of time, [covering] all that was striven for; and on top of it the judgment of God, and of the evil … Where are the consuls? Count up those of yesterday and the day before. Was not one beheaded like a criminal, falling victim to the sudden rush of an armed crowd, and paraded more after his death than when, carried in his chair, he prided himself on his rank? Did not another, who obtained this same honour after a military command, perish miserably in the farthest parts of Egypt and Libya, fleeing the penalty of his condemnation, and then die in the sands, since the whole country through which he fled was waterless and uninhabited? What shall we say of the one who, once a general and consul, now lives in the same way in the land of Colchis, kept alive by the kindness of the barbarians there? And that former prefect, invincible, as he thought, and lion-like in mind, what an overthrow of his life overtook him! First he saw his own son beheaded; then he himself received the sentence of death, and when the rope had already been brought to his mouth, the emperor's clemency stopped the executioner from acting. The old man lived a little longer in pains and misfortunes, and, lingering in the sense of his evils, departed this life in dishonour, finding this end to his great consulship. And last year's consul, how he planned things greater than the giants … desired women and men; he acquired land, more than one could easily say; and he was buried in as much as the one who pitied him gave him. Is it not, then, as the wise Ecclesiastes says, all such things: “Vanity of vanities”, and …","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 4.3 (PG 40:435; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/4-3)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/5.1":{"o":"Ἐχ τοῦ χατὰ Ματθαῖον Εὐαγγελίου εἰς τὸ, « Εἰ ἔξεστιν ἀνθρώπῳ ἀποιῖῦσαι τὴν γυγνγαῖχα αὑτοῦ κατὰ πᾶσαν αἰτίαν. ν Καλὴ συνωρὶς τῶν δύο τούτων ἡμερῶν τοῖς Χριστιαγοὶς καὶ φιλοπόνοις τυγχάνει, τοῦ Σαδθάτου καὶ τς Κυριαχῆς λέγω, ἦν χαθ᾽ ἐχάστην ἑόδδομάδα ὁ χρόνος ἀναχυχλῶν περιφέρει. Ὡς γὰρ μητέρες ἣ τροροὶ τῆς Ἐχχλησίας, καὶ τὸν λαὸν ἀθροίζουσι, καὶ τοὺς ἱερέα: παιδευτὰς προχαθίζουσιν\" δὲ χαπὶ τοὺς μαθητὰς καὶ τοὺς διδασχάλους εἰς τὴν τῶν ψυχῶν ἐπιμέλειαν. Ἐμοὶ τοίνυν ἕτι τῆς χθιζῆς (᾿ ἡμέρας ὁ λόγος ἐνηχεῖ, καὶ ἐγχάθηται τῇ: μνήμῃ τὰ τονηθέντα. Βλέπω τὸν σταυρὸν διὰ τῆς προφητείας ταρὰ Ἡσαΐου πηγνύμενον, καὶ τὰ ἱμάτια τοῦ Κυρου, ὡς τὰ τοῦ ληνοδάτον, χεχρωσμένα τῷ αἵματι\" καὶ τὸν Σωτῆρα τὸν μισθὸν πρόχειρον ἐπὶ τῆς δεξιᾶς φέροντα. Καὶ τὸν Σολομῶντα θεωρῶ τὰ ζυγὰ ἡμῖν καὶ τοὺς σταθμοὺς ἀχριθοῦντα εἰς δύναμιν. Καὶ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου τὸν χρεωφειλέτην οἰχτείρω, μὴ μεταὑοῦντα τῷ ὁμοδούλῳ τῆς φιλανθρωπίας, ἧς παρὰ τοῦ Δεσπότου μετέλαδεν\" ἀλλ᾽ ἐχ τῆς ἀθουλίας καὶ τῆς Τούτοις γὰρ τοῖς; χεφαλαίοις χατὰ τὴν παρελθοῦσαν ἰχάμομεν, ὡς ἴστε πάντες, οἱ οὐχ ἐν παοέργῳ τὴν Σήμερον δὲ πάλιν ἡμῖν πολλὰ μὲν, καὶ καλὰ πάντα, ὅσα ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης τῇ; ὁρωμένης, τὸ Πνεῦμα χατἔθετο, Ἐπέστησα δὲ τὸν νοῦν τοῖς ἀδολέσχαις ὁμοῦ καὶ πειρασταῖς Φαρισαίοις\" καὶ σφόδρα γε αὐτοὺς τῆς μοχθηρίας τῶν τρόπων ἠλέησα, ἐφ᾽ οἷς καὶ τὴν πηγὴν τῆς σοφίας ταῖς ἑαυτῶν ἐρωτήσεσιν ἐπεχείἀπὸ τῶν διαδουλιῶν αὑτῶν. Πλὴν χάρις αὑτοῖς, γυναιχωνῖτις παιδευθῇ τὰ ἴδια, καὶ ἧἣ ἀνδρονῖτις ὠφεληθῇ τὰ ἐξαίρετα. σχοπὸν βλέπω τῆς ἐρωτήσεως. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τὸ τῶν ἄπο, ἔπειτα τὴν ἀχολουθίαν τῆς συνοιχήσεως ἀπαραίτητον, ἣν τιμᾷν προσῆχον ὡς νόμον Θεοῦ. Οἱ δὲ ἀλλήλοις συναφθέντες, οὐχ ἔτι εἰσὶ δύο, ἀλιὰ σὰρξ μία\" ὥστε, ὃ συνέζευξεν ὁ Θεὸς, ἄγθρωπος μὴ χωριἡδονὴν, οὕτως ἐστὶ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν νόμῳ καὶ θεσμῷ τελουμένων \" ἀλλὰ πᾶν τοὐναντίον, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, μία τις ἕνωσις γίνοται καὶ σώματος καὶ ψυχῆς, ὡς καὶ τὸ ἦθος τῷ ἤθει συναναχιρνᾶσθαι, καὶ τὴν σάρχα τῇ σαοχὶ τρόπον τινὰ συνδεδέσθαι. Πῶς οὖν ἀπαθῶς διατέμνῃ; Πῶς εὐχόλως καὶ χωρὶς ἀλγηδόνος ἀναχωρεῖς, βίου χοινωνὸν λαδὼν, οὐχ ὀλίγων ἡμερῶν ὑπηρέτιν, τὴν ἀδελφὴν καὶ γυναῖχα; ᾿Αδελφὴν μὲν χατὰ τὸν λόγον τῆς πλάσεως καὶ τῆς δημιουργίας ( ἀφ᾽ ἑνὸς γὰρ αἰτίου τῆς γῆς καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς ὕλης ὑπέστητε )\" γυναῖχα δὲ, διὰ τὴν ἕνωσιν τῆς συζυγίας, διὰ τὸν νόμον τοῦ γάμου. Ποῖον οὖν διαῤῥήξεις δεσμὸν, καὶ νόμῳ δεδεμένος καὶ φύσει Πῶς δὲ ἀθετήσει:ς τὰς ὁμολογίας, ἃς ἐπὶ τῷ γάμῳ χατέθου : Καὶ ποίας οἴει με λέγειν; ρα τῆς προιχὸς τῆς συγγραφείσης ἐνταῦθα, ὅτε τῇ σαυτοῦ χειρὶ ἐπεσημήνω γῷ βιέλίῳ, ἐπισφραγιζόμενος τὰ τελούμενα; Ἰσχυρὰ μὲν γὰρ χἀχεῖνα, καὶ ἱἰχανὴν τὴν ἀσφάλειαν ἔχοντα \" πλὴν ἐγὼ πρὸς τὴν φωνὴν τοῦ ᾿Αδὰμ ἐμαυτὸν ἀναφέρω\" Τοῦτο σὰρξ ἐκ τῶν σαρχῶν μου, καὶ ὁστοῦν ἐχ τῶν ὀστῶν μου \" αὕτη κληθήσεται μου γυνή. Αὕτη ἡ φωνὴ οὐ μάτην ἀνάγραπτος σώζεται\" ἀλλὰ χοινή ἐστιν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὁμολογία, δι᾽ ἑνὸς προσώπου τοῦ πρώτου τούτῳ ΤΊ χοινῷ πλήθει τῶν γυναικῶν ἐχτεθεῖσα, τῶν νόμῳ τοῖς ἀνδράσιν συναπτομένων. Καὶ μὴ θαυμάσῃς, εἰ ἐξ ὧν ἄλλος εἶπεν, ὄλλος εὐθύνεται. Πάντα γὰρ ὅσα περὶ τῶν πρωτοπλάστων ἐν ἀρχαῖς συνέδη, ταῦτα τοῦ ἀχολούθου γένους φύσις ἐγένετο.","t":"From the Gospel according to Matthew, on “Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for any cause?” A fine pair, for Christians and the industrious, are these two days, the Sabbath and the Lord's day, I mean, which time brings round in its cycle every week. For as mothers or nurses of the church they both gather the people and set the priests as instructors in the chair, and … both disciples and teachers to the care of souls. In my ears, then, yesterday's discourse still echoes, and what was laboured over sits in my memory. I see the cross fixed in place through the prophecy of Isaiah, and the garments of the Lord dyed with blood like those of one who treads the winepress, and the Saviour bearing his reward ready in his right hand. And I behold Solomon making exact for us the scales and the weights, as far as may be. And I pity the debtor in the Gospel, who did not share with his fellow servant the kindness that he had received from the Master, but out of thoughtlessness and … For on these heads we laboured on the past [day], as all of you know who [listened] not carelessly … But today again the Spirit has set before us many things, and all good, on the table that is seen. I turned my mind to the garrulous and tempting Pharisees, and I pitied them greatly for the wickedness of their ways, in which by their questions they even attempted [to test] the very spring of wisdom … from their own designs. Yet thanks to them, [since through them] the women's side may be taught what concerns it and the men's side may profit by what is special to it. … I see the aim of the question. For since … the sequence of cohabitation inescapable, which one ought to honour as a law of God. “Those joined to each other are no longer two but one flesh; so that what God has yoked together, let man not separate.” … pleasure, so it is also with those united by law and ordinance; but entirely the opposite, O man: a single union of both body and soul takes place, so that character is blended with character and flesh in a way bound to flesh. How, then, do you cut it apart unfeelingly? How do you go off easily and without pain, when you took a partner of life, not a servant for a few days, your sister and wife? Sister by the account of the forming and the creation (for you came into being from one cause, the earth, and the same matter); wife, through the union of the yoke, through the law of marriage. What sort of bond will you break, being bound both by law and by nature? And how will you set aside the agreements that you made at the marriage? And which do you think I mean? Those of the dowry written up here, when with your own hand you signed the document, sealing what was done? Those too are strong and offer sufficient security; but I refer myself to the voice of Adam: “This is flesh of my flesh and bone of my bones; she shall be called my wife.” This voice is not preserved in writing in vain, but is a common acknowledgment of men, set out through one person, the first, to the common multitude of women who are joined by law to husbands. And do not be surprised that one is held to account for what another said. For all that happened to the first-formed in the beginning became the nature of the race that followed.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 5.1 (PG 40:231; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/5-1)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/5.2":{"o":"Ἃ οὖν λαδοῦσα τὸ τῆς Κοσμοποιίας βιδλίον ἡ μάτην ἀφιεμένη γυνὴ, ἑλχύσῃ σε πρὸς τὸν δικαστὴν (διχαστὴν τὸν αὐτὸν καὶ μάρτυρα), τίλέξεις, εἰπέ; Πῶς ἐξαλεέψεις τὴν σαυτοῦ φωνὴν, ἣν ἐπὶ Θεοῦ ἐποιήσω, σῆς ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ θεράπων ἐγένετο; ᾿Απάτορα καὶ ἀμήτορα τὴν γυναῖχα ὁ Θεὸς τῷ ᾿Αδὰμ ἐξέδοτο \" καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ὡς χηδεμὼν τὴν ὀρφανὴν ἠσφαλίσατο\" τοῖς ἧς μῃτρὸς δὲ νῦν διχαιώμασιν ἰσχυρῶς αἱ θυγατέρες χέχρηνται χατὰ τῶν ἀγνωμόνων καὶ ἀπίστων ἀνδρῶν ὥστε σοι πανταχόθεν ἡ χαταφρόνησις τῆς γαμετῆς ἀδύνατο:, καὶ ἀρκαίοι: νόμοις τοῖς θείοις, καὶ νέοις ἀνθρωπιχοῖς δεδεμένῳ. Δυσωπείτω δέ σε καὶ τὸ χρήσιμον τῆς γυναιχὸς πρὸς τὸν βίον. Μέλος ὑπάρχει, βοηθός ἐστιν’ συνεργὸς εἰς διαγωγὴν τοῦ βίου, εἰς παίδων γένεσιν \" νόσου ἐπίχουρος, θλίψεων παραμυθία, φύλαξ τῆς ἑστίας, θησαυρὸς τῶν χτημάτων\" τὰ αὐτὰ λυπουμένη, τὰ αὐτὰ καίρουσα\" χοινὸν χεχτημένη τὸν πλοῦτον, εἰ παρείη \" τὴν μοχθηρὰν οἰχονομοῦσα πενίαν, εὐμηχάνως καὶ χαρτερῶς ἀντέχουσα πρὸς τὰ παρ᾽ ἐχείνης ὀδυνηρὰ, ἐπιμόχθου παιδοτροφίας ἀνεχομένγ διὰ τὴν πρὸς σὲ συνοίχησιν. Ἂν δέ που περίστασις χαταλάθῃ πραγμάτων, βαπτισθεὶς ἀφανίζεται\" οἱ δὲ νομιζόμενοι φίλοι, τῷ χαιρῷ τῆς εὐπραγίας τὴν φιλίαν μετροῦντες, ὑποχωροῦσιν ἕν τοῖς δεινοῖς \" οἱ δοῦλοι καὶ τὸν δεσπότην ὁμοῦ καὶ τὰς συμφορὰς δραπετεύουσιν. Λείπεται λοιπὸν ἡ γυνὴ, καὶ τῆς τοῦ ἀνδρὸς θεραπείας \" τὸ δάχρυον ἀποψῶσατὴν πληγὴν, ἂν μαστιχθῇ, θεραπεύουσα \" ἀχολουθοῦσα πρὸς δεσμωτήριον ἀγομένῳ\" χἂν μέν τις ἀφῇ συνεισελθεῖν, ἡδέως τῆς χαθείρξεως χοινωνεῖ\" ἂν δὲ κωλυθῇ καὶ τοῦτο, ταῖς θύραις τοῦ δεσμωτηρίου, ὡς χυνίδιον τῷ δεσπότῃ σύνηθες, παραμένει. Ἔγνων ἐγὼ γυναῖχα, καὶ τὴν χόμην χείρασαν, καὶ ἀνδριχὴν περιθεμένην ἐσθῆτα, καὶ ταύτην ἀνθεινὴν, ἵνα ἀνδρὸς φεύγοντος καὶ χρυπτομένου μὴ χωρισθῇ. Δοῦλος δὲ εἶναι δοχοῦσα, ἀληθῶς δουλεύει τῷ πόθῳ “ καὶ τοῦτον τὸν βίον ἐν πολλοῖς ἔτεσιν διετέλεσεν, τό-πὸν ἐχ τόπου, καὶ ἐρημίαν ἐξ ἐρημίας ἀμείθουτα. Τοιαύτην δὲ καὶ τοῦ χαρτερωτάτου Ἰὼβ εὑρίσχομεν τὴν γυναῖχα. Κατέλιπον γὰρ χἀχεῖνον οἱ πάντες. καὶ οἱ χόλαχες τῷ πλούτῳ συναπεῤῥύτσαν᾽ καὶ οἱ φίλοι τῷ χαιρῷ τῆς εὐπραγίας τὴν φιλίαν ἐμέτρησαν. δέ που καὶ παρεγένοντο, ὄνειδος ἣν ἡ παρουσία, καὶ οὐχ ἐπίσχεψις \" ἐπιθήχη τῆς συμφορᾶς, οὐ παραμυ-θία. Διὸ δὴ καὶ οἱ παραχλήτορες χαχῶν πάντες πρὸς ἐχείνου ἀπεσχετλίασαν\" μόνη δὲ ἡ ποτὲ περι φανὴς ἐπὶ τῆς χοπρίας τῷ ἀνδρὶ συνεχάϑητο, ἀπο ξέουσα τὸν ἰχῶρα, καὶ τοὺς σχώληχας τῶν τραυμάτῶν ἐξέλχουσα. Οὕτως τοῦ βίου χοινωνὸς, οὐ τῆς εὖπραγίας σύνοιχος \" ἀχώριστος φίλος, οὐ κόλαξ τῶν ἡδονῶν\" πάσης εὐχληρίας καὶ πάντων φιλτάτων καὶ συγγενῶν μόνον ἀγαθὸν λείψανον. Διόπερ ἐχ τῆς ἄχρας καὶ χαθ᾽ ὑπερδολὲν φιλαυδρίας, καὶ ποὺς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τῆς βλασφημίας ἐξέπεσεν, ἵνα μἢ μαχοΐ χολάξηται ὁ ἀνὴρ, μηδὲ βλέπῃ αὐτὸν ἐν ταῖς ἀλήχτοις ὀδύναις, εἰπεῖν τι ῥῆμα βλάσφημον εἰς Θεὸν συμθου-λεύουσα, καὶ ταχεῖαν τὴν τελευτὴν ὑπελθεῖν. Τὴν γὰρ ἰδίαν λοιπὸν συμφορὰν τὴν τῆς χηρείας οὐχ ἐλόγιζετο\" ἕν δὲ μόνον ἐμερίμνα,, ὅπως τὴν ἀθίωτον ξωὴ: ὁ ἀνὴρ διαφύγοι. Ταῦτα μετὰ τῆς νέα; πείρας καὶ ἡ μνήμη τῶν παλαιῶν παιδεύει τὲν τῶν γάμων ὑόρι στήν.","t":"If, then, the wife sent away for nothing should take the book of the Creation and drag you before the judge (the same one is judge and witness), what will you say, tell me? How will you erase your own voice, which you uttered before God, of which the servant of God became [the recorder]? God gave the woman to Adam without father or mother; and for this reason, as guardian, he secured the orphan; and now daughters use their mother's rights strongly against ungrateful and faithless husbands; so that contempt for your wife is impossible for you on every side, bound as you are both by ancient divine laws and by new human ones. Let the usefulness of the wife for life also shame you. She is a member, she is a helper; a co-worker in the conduct of life and in the begetting of children; an aid in sickness, a consolation in afflictions, a guardian of the hearth, a treasury of possessions; grieving at the same things, rejoicing at the same things; sharing wealth in common, if it is there; managing wretched poverty, resisting its pains resourcefully and patiently, enduring the toil of rearing children because of her life with you. And if a reversal of affairs overtakes you somewhere, [wealth] sinks and vanishes; those thought to be friends, measuring friendship by the season of prosperity, withdraw in troubles; slaves run away from their master and his misfortunes alike. There remains the wife, … and of caring for her husband: wiping away his tears, tending the wound if he is scourged, following him when he is led to prison; and if anyone lets her go in with him, she gladly shares his confinement; and if she is prevented even from this, she stays at the doors of the prison, like a little dog accustomed to its master. I knew a woman who cut off her hair and put on a man's clothing, and that a coloured one, so as not to be separated from her husband when he was fleeing and in hiding. Seeming to be a slave, she was in truth the slave of love; and she continued this life for many years, exchanging place for place and wilderness for wilderness. Such too we find the wife of the most patient Job. For everyone abandoned him as well: the flatterers flowed away with his wealth, and the friends measured friendship by the season of prosperity. And if they did come at all, their presence was a reproach and not a visit, an addition to the calamity and not a consolation. That is why all those “comforters of evils” railed against him; but she alone, once illustrious, sat with her husband on the dunghill, scraping away the discharge and drawing the worms from his wounds. So she was a partner of his life, not a companion of his prosperity; an inseparable friend, not a flatterer of pleasures; the only good remnant of all his good fortune and of all his dearest and kin. Therefore, from the utmost and surpassing love of her husband, she even fell into the sin of blasphemy, counselling him to say some blasphemous word against God and so to meet a quick end, so that her husband would not be punished further and she would not see him in unceasing pains. For she did not reckon her own misfortune, widowhood; she cared for one thing only, that her husband might escape a life not worth living. Such things, together with fresh experience, the memory of the ancients too teaches the one who outrages marriage.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 5.2 (PG 40:231; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/5-2)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/5.3":{"o":"ΤΙ δ᾽ ἂν εἴποι πρὸς ταῦτα ὁ τῆς χατηγορίας ὑπεύθυνος; Ποίαν δὲ εὐπρόσωπον ἀπολογίαν τῆς ἑαυτοῦ εὐχολίας προδάλλοιτο; Φαῦλον, φησὶν, καὶ μεἷδοὺς ἄξιον τὸ ἦθος τῆς γυναιχὸς, καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα προπετὴς, καὶ ὁ τρόπος οὐχ οἰχουρὸς, καὶ ἡ διοίχησις. Ἕστω ᾿ διδόσθω. Πείθομαι τέως, καὶ δέχομαι, ὡς οἱ μὴ σφόδρα τὴν ἀχοὴν ἀχριθεῖ: διρων παρασυρόμενοι. Σὺ δὲ εἰπέ 'ΓΓὴν ἀρχὴν ἀγέμενος οὐχ ἐγίνωσχες ὡς ἀνθρώπῳ συνάπτῃ; ᾿Ανθρώποὺ δέ τις ἀχούσας, οὐχ εὐθὺς ὁρᾷ τὴν γοῦν ἁμχρτίαν ἀχηλουθοῦσαν; Θεοῦ γὰρ μόνου τὸ ἀνεπίλτιπτον. Δὺτὸς δὲ ἄρα οὐχ ἀμαρτάνεις; Οὐ παρέχεις δὲ λύπας ἀφθορον; Ὧ πόσας σου τυχὸν παροινίας ἥνεγχεν ἣ γυνὴ ! Πόσων δὲ προχείρων ὕδρεων καὶ λόγων ἀσέ μνων ἠνέσχετο! Ὅσα δέ σου ἐλαττώματα σιγᾶται, ἐπειδὴ οὐχ ἐδη μοσέευδεν ἡ γυνή ! Ἠνέσχετό σου καὶ μάττν ὀργιζομένου, καὶ τῷ θυμῷ ὑπερζέοντος \" καὶ ἡ ἐλευθέρα καὶ ὁμότιμος ἐσιώπησεν ὡς δούλη τῶν ἐχ πωλητηρίου. Καὶ τὰ ἀναγχαΐα μὴ χορηγοῦντι πρὸς τὴν τοῦ βίου μεταγωγὴν διὰ πενίαν, ἣ φειδωλίαν, οὐχ ὠνείδισεν λυπουμένη\" οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ ἐχ συμποσίου ἐλθόντα ποτὲ καὶ οἰνωμένον καὶ ἔχφρονα ἀπέῤῥιφε, τῆς μέθης μισήσασα\" ἀλλὰ ὑπεδέξατο μετὰ συγγνώμης ἀνθρωπιχῆς, καὶ ἐχειραγώγησέ σε κὺν χυλάζοντα, χϑὶ τὴν χεφαλὴν ἐθεράπευσεν, τοῖς ἐχ τοῦ τρόπου τῇ γυναικί; ᾿Αθῶος δὲ εἶ πάσης πλημ- ἀτμοῖς περιδονουμένην τοῦ οἴνου \" ὡδήγησεν δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν χοΐτην τὴν γαμιχὴν, μόνη συμπαθούσα, τῶν οἷχετῶν γελώντων καὶ ἐπιχλευχζόντων τὴν ἐχ τῆς μέἡυχραῖς αἰτίαις ἐκτραγῳδῶν τὴν γυναῖχα, ἵνα σαυτῷ τὴν συγγνώμην παρασχευάσῃς τῆς προχείρου διαιρέσίως. Σχληρὰ τῶν τοιούτων ἀνδρῶν ἢ γνώμη, θηρἰώδης καὶ ἀμείλιχτος, ἐκ δρνὸς ἣ πέτρας, χατὰ τὸ λεγόμενον, τὴν γέννησιν ἔχουσα. Πάντων γὰρ ὁμοῦ τὴν μνήμην ἐξαλείψαντες, ἀπαθῶς διατέμνονται. Τίς δὲ μέλος νοσῆσαν ἀντὶ τοῦ θεραπεύειν ἐκχόπτει, καὶ «αὗτα οὐχ ἐπιχιυδύνου πάθους ἐνσχήψαντος, ἀλλὰ πολλὴν ἔχοντος καὶ ῥᾳδίαν τῆς ἰάσεως τὴν ἐλπίδα; Ἐπεγένετο φλύχταινα τῇ χειρὶ, ἐπιμελῶς αὐτὴν θεσπεύσωμεν\" φλεγμονὴ τὸν πόδα διενόχλησεν, φαρτὴν τῶν ἰατρῶν ἐπίσχεψιν, περὶ τὴν τομὴν καὶ τὸν αἰδτιρον ἀσχοληθείημεν, καθ᾽ ἕκαστον τῶν λυπούντων, οὐδὲ αἵχρὸν τῆς ζωῆς διαγενόμενοι χρόνον, πᾶσι τοῖς μέλεσιν ἑαυτοὺς ἀκροτηριάσωμεν. ᾿Αλλ᾽ οὐχ οὕτως, ὦ ἄνδρες\" ἔστω τις μνήμη καὶ τῶν χώλων᾽\" δυσωὠπείτωσαν ὑμᾶς αἱ θεραπεῖαι τῶν γυναιχῶν. Ὅσον δ᾽ ἂν παροξυνθῆτε, ἑνὸς τόχου τὴν ὠδῖνα ἀντιθέντες ταῖς μέμψεσιν, εὑρῆσετε νιχωμένην τὴν τῶν λυπούντων περίστάσιν. ᾿Αναφερέτω ὁ ἀναλογισμὸς εἰς μέσον καὶ τῆς εὖγηίας τὰ ἀγαθά\" νόσων θεραπείας, συμφορῶν χοινωνίαν, δάχρνα τὰ ὑπὲρ ἀνδρὸς προσαχθέντα τισίν\" τὸ χαταλιπεῖν τοὺς γεννησαμένους, καὶ ἑστίαν γονιχὴν, καὶ ἀχολουθῇσαι τῷ ξένῳ\" τὸ πωλῆσαί τι τῶν οἱχείων, ἵνα ὕδριν καὶ ὄχλησιν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἐξωνήση- «αι. Ταῦτα πάντα παιδαγωγείτω πρὸς τὴν διάθεσιν, καὶ γινέσθω σύνδεσμος τῆς στοργῆς, οἷον οἰχίαν τινὰ ἔχοντα. Ἔλεος δὲ χρατείτω, καὶ συνήθεια, καὶ μαχροῦ χρόνου συμδίωσις μὴ πατείτω, ἥτις καὶ τὰ","t":"What would the one liable to this accusation say to these things? What plausible defence of his readiness [to divorce] would he put forward? “My wife's character,” he says, “is bad and deserving of hatred; her tongue is reckless, her ways are not homekeeping, and her management [is poor].” Let it be so; let it be granted. I am persuaded for the moment and accept it, like those who are carried along without testing what they hear very exactly. But tell me: when you took her in the beginning, did you not know that you were being joined to a human being? And does anyone who hears “human being” not at once see sin following? For blamelessness belongs to God alone. And do you yourself not sin? Do you not cause griefs …? Oh, how many of your drunken outrages perhaps your wife has borne! How many ready insults and indecent words she has endured! How many of your failings are kept silent because your wife did not make them public! She bore with you when you were angry without cause and boiling over with rage; and she, a free woman of equal honour, was silent like a slave bought from the auction block. And when you did not supply the necessities for the conduct of life, through poverty or stinginess, she did not reproach you in her grief; nor, when you came back from a banquet drunk and out of your senses, did she cast you off in hatred of the drunkenness; but she received you with human forgiveness, led you by the hand as you staggered, and tended your head, spinning with the fumes of wine; she guided you to the marriage bed, she alone sympathizing, while the servants laughed and jeered at the [effects] of drunkenness. [And do you call to account] the ways of your wife? Are you innocent of every fault? … exaggerating your wife's [faults] with petty causes, so that you may prepare pardon for yourself for a hasty separation. Hard is the mind of such men, beastly and implacable, born, as the saying goes, of oak or rock. For, erasing the memory of everything at once, they cut themselves off unfeelingly. Who cuts off a sick limb instead of treating it, and that when no dangerous disease has struck, but one with much and easy hope of healing? A blister has appeared on the hand: let us treat it carefully. Inflammation troubles the foot: [let us summon] the physicians' visit … let us busy ourselves with the knife and the iron; and at each of the things that trouble us, not lasting even a short time of life, let us mutilate ourselves in all our limbs! But not so, you men; let there be some remembrance of the limbs too; let the care your wives have given shame you. However much you are provoked, set against your reproaches the labour of a single childbirth, and you will find the trouble of what grieves you overcome. Let reflection bring into the midst also the goods of a good marriage: the treatment of illnesses, the sharing of misfortunes, the tears that some have offered for a husband; leaving parents and the paternal hearth and following a stranger; selling something of her own to buy off a husband's insult and trouble. Let all these train you toward affection, and let them become a bond of love, as if holding a house together. Let mercy prevail; and let long habit and living together for a long time not be trampled, which also …","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 5.3 (PG 40:233; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/5-3)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/5.4":{"o":"Ἴστε καὶ ὑμεῖς \" οὐ γὰρ ἐκ δρυὸς, χατὰ τὸν ποιητιχὸν λόγον, ἣ ἀπὸ πέτρης \" ᾿Εμπαθῶς γὰρ εἶδον ἐγὼ βοῦν μυχώμενον, ἐπειδὴ ἐν νάπῃ βληχώμενον, καὶ διατρέχον τὰ ὄρη, μέχρι ἂν τῇ ἀγέλῃ συνάψῃ, ἧς ἐχωρίσθη νεμόμενον. ΑἹΞ δὲ ταυτὸ τοῦτο παθοῦσα, χἂν πολλὰς ἀγέλας αἰγῶν διατρέχουσα χαταλάθῃ, οὐ πρότερον ἴσταται, πρὶν ἂν τὴν συνήθη εὕρῃ, καὶ τὸν αἰπόλον τὸν ἴδιον. Μὴ ἀπαθέστερο: πρὸς φιλίαν εὑρεθῶμεν τῶν ἀλόγῶν οἱ λογιχοί᾽ μηδὲ ἀτιμωτέραν τὴν γαμετὴν χρίνωμεν συνοδοιπόρου τινὸς, ἣ τοῦ διὰ μιχρὰν πρόφασιν ἐν ὀλίγῳ προσφιλιωθέντος. Ὁρᾶς, ὡς καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς λεωφόρου ἀλλήλους συμμίξαντες ἄνθρωποι, δροφον δὲ χαταγωγίου τὸν αὐτὸν ὑπελθόντες, ἢ δένδρον ἀμφιλαφὲς, ὥρᾳ θέρους τὴν μεσημθρίαν ἀφορμὴν διαθέσεως γνησίας τὴν συντυχίαν ποιοῦνται\" χἂν ἔλθωσιν ἐπὶ τὴν ὁδὸν τὴν μερίζουσαν, ἀπαθῶς ἀλλήλων οὐχ ἀπαλλάττονται \" ἀλλ᾽ ἵστανται καὶ ὑποδαχρύουσιν, βλέποντες ἀτενὲς εἰς ἀλλήλους, καὶ σύμδολα μνήμης ἕχαττος δίδωσιν φέρειν \" καὶ μιχρὸν προδάντες, πάλιν μεταστρέφονται, καὶ ἀναχαλοῦσιν\" ἐπεύχεται δὲ ἕτερος τῷ ἑτέρῳ τὰ αἴσια\" καὶ ὀλίγος χρόνος οὕτως ὀξυτάτην χίρνησι τὴν φιλίαν, ὡς δυσαπάλλαχτον αὐτοῖς γίνεσθαι καὶ βεῦύιασμένην τὴν ἀναχώρησιν; Σὺ δὲ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ βίου χοινωνὸν οὕτως χαταφρονητιχῶς ἔχεις, ὡς πρὸς σχεῦος ἀποπεσὸν, ἣ ἱμάτιον εὐτελὲς ἐν ὁδοιπορέχ ρῆσαν οἰχίας; Καὶ ποῦ ἡ ἐν ἀρχαῖς πεπλασμένη διάθεσις; ποῦ ἡ ἐπὶ τῆς μιᾶς χοίτῃης ἀνάπαυσις, ἡ τοῦ νόμου σύνειρξις, ἣ τῆς πολλῇς καὶ μαχρᾶς συνηθείας δύναμις\", ἦν καὶ εἷς φύσιν μεταποιεῖσθαι, καὶ λόγος ἔχει, καὶ ἧ πεῖρα ὑπέδειξεν; πάντα διἐχοψας εὐχολώτερον, ἣ ὁ Σαμψὼν τὰ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων Καίτοι: ὅγε σώφρων καὶ τῆς διαθέσεως φύλαξ, οὐδὲ ἀναχωρησάσης τοῦ βίου τῆς γαμετῆς ῥᾳδίως ἐπιλανθάνεται \" ἀλλὰ θάλπει τοὺς παῖδας, ὡς χοινὴν παραχαταθήχην τῆς μητέρος καὶ τῆς φύσεως, ἐν ἐχείνοις δὲ χαθορᾷν δοχεῖ τὴν ἀπελθοῦσαν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ τῶν παίδων τῆς μητριχῆς φωνῆς ὁμοιότητα σώζει, ἄλλος τὸ πολὺ τοῦ χαραχτῆρος ἐφέλχεται, ἕτερος τὴν τοῦ ἤθους χατάστασιν ἐμορφώθη πρὸς τὴν τεχοῦσαν᾽ καὶ οὕτως ὁ πατὴρ, πολλὰς ἔχων τῆς γαμετῆς εἰχόνας ζώσας καὶ ἐναργεῖς, ἀθάνατον ὑποτυποῦται τὴν πρὸς ἐχείνην συνοίχησιν᾽ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὐδὲν φιλήδονον ἐννοεῖ οὐ σήμερον χώσας τὸν τάφον, μετ᾽ ὀλίγον χρόνον παστάδας χατασχευάζει\" οὐδὲ μετὰ τὸ δάχρνον καὶ τοὺς στεναγμοὺς ἐπὶ γαμιχὴν πάλιν χορείαν ἐπείγεται\" οὐδὲ τὴν μέλαιναν ἐσθῆτα καὶ τῇ κχοίτῃ τῆς ἀπελθούσης τὴν δευτέραν γαμετὴν ἐπεισάγει \" οὐδὲ μητρυιὰν δίδωσι τοῖς παισὶ, τὸ ἐπαχθὲς ὄνομα. Μιμεῖται δὲ τῶν τρυγόνων τὴν ἄλογον καὶ φυσιχὴν σεμνότητα. Καὶ γὰρ ἐχείνην τὴν ὄρνιν χηϑείαν, καὶ ἐναντίως ἔχειν πρὸς τὴν περιστερὰν εἰς τὸ τῆς πολυγαμίας εὔχολον. Μέχρι τούτου πυχναῖ;","t":"… You know it yourselves too; for [you are] not from oak, in the poet's phrase, or from rock. … For I have seen an ox lowing with feeling, since … in a glen, and running across the mountains until it rejoins the herd from which it was separated while grazing. A goat too, suffering the same thing, even if it runs across and overtakes many herds of goats, does not stop until it finds its familiar one and its own goatherd. Let us not, rational beings as we are, be found more unfeeling toward friendship than the irrational; nor judge the wife less worthy of honour than some fellow traveller, or one who became a friend for a short time on a small pretext. Do you see how men who have met each other on the highway, and have gone under the same roof of an inn, or under a spreading tree at midday in summer, make the meeting the occasion of a genuine affection; and when they come to the road that divides them, they do not part from each other unfeelingly, but stand and weep a little, looking intently at each other, and each gives the other tokens of remembrance to carry; and having gone on a little, they turn round again and call back; and one wishes the other good fortune; and a short time blends friendship so keenly that the parting becomes hard and forced for them? But you are so contemptuous toward the partner of your life, as toward a vessel that has fallen, or a cheap garment on a journey …? And where is the affection formed in the beginning? Where is the rest in the one bed, the confinement of the law, the power of much and long habit, which can be turned even into nature, as reason holds and experience has shown? You have cut through everything more easily than Samson [cut] the [bonds] of the foreigners. And yet the chaste man, the guardian of affection, does not easily forget his wife even when she has departed this life; but he cherishes the children as a common deposit of their mother and of nature, and seems to see the departed in them. For one of the children preserves the likeness of the mother's voice, another draws much of her features, another has been shaped after the one who bore him in the cast of his character; and so the father, having many living and vivid images of his wife, figures to himself an undying life together with her; and for this reason he thinks of nothing pleasure-loving: he does not heap up the tomb today and prepare a bridal chamber a little later; nor does he hasten, after the tears and groans, to the wedding dance again; nor bring the second wife into the black clothing and the bed of the departed; nor give the children a stepmother, that burdensome name. He imitates the natural, unreasoning modesty of the turtle-doves. For [they say] that bird keeps widowhood, and is the opposite of the pigeon in its readiness for many marriages. Up to this point …","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 5.4 (PG 40:235; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/5-4)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/5.5":{"o":"ὁ ἀνὴρ ταῖς χατηγορίαις βαλλέσθω, καὶ νιφάδων πυχνότερον αὐτὸν τιτρωσχέτω τὰ τῆς ἀγνωμοσύνης ἐγχλήματα. Ἂν δὲ ποὺ μοιχείας αἱτέαν προδάληται, καὶ τοϊαύ- “ἣν παράσχοι τοῦ χωρισμοῦ τὴν ἀπολογίαν, εὐθὺς τὴν συνηγορίαν μεταθήσομαι τοῦ ἀδιχηθέντος, καὶ τὸν λόγον χατὰ τῆς μοιχαλίδος παρασχευάσας, ἀγαθὸς συναγωνιστὴς ἀντὶ πολεμίου τῷ ἀνδρὶ παραστήσομαι\" ἐπαινῶν τὸν φυγόντα τὴν ἐπίδουλον, τὸν διαχόψαντα τὸν δεσμὸν, ᾧ πρὸς τὴν ἀσπίδα ἣ τὴν ἅτιν πρῶτος ὁ τοῦ παντὸς ποιητὴς, ὡς καὶ δικαίως ἀλγοῦντι, καὶ προσηχόντως τῆς οἰχίας ἀπελαύνοντι καὶ τῆςς ἑστίας τὴν νόσον. Γάμος γὰρ τούτων χάριν τῶν δύο συνίσταται, διαθέσεως καὶ παιδοποιῖας \" ὧν γυδέτερον μετὰ μοιχείας σώζεται. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ διάθεσις οὐκ ἔστιν, πρὸς ἄλλον τῆς εὐνοίας ἀποχλινάτης\" παιδοποιΐας δὲ τὸ χαλὸν ἀνήρηται, συγχεχυμένων τῶν τέχνων. ᾿Αλλὰ τὰ μὲν εἰς τοῦτο φέροντα τὸ ἁμάρτημα εἴρηται ἐν ἄλλῃ ὑποθέσει συμμέτρως. ᾿Αμφότερα δέ μοι τὰ μέρη σωφροσύνην ἀσχησάτω, «ὃὸν ἀῤῥαγῆ τῶν γάμων σύνδεσμον. \"Ὅπου γὰρ αὕτη τιμᾶται, ἐπάναγκες εἶναι καὶ εἰρήνην καὶ πόθον\" οὐδεμίας πανδήμου καὶ νόθου ἐπιθυμίας τὴν ψυχὴν ἐπιθηγούσης, ἐμδαλούσης δ᾽ δὲ τὴν νόμιμον καὶ δικαίαν στοργήν. Οὗτος τῆς σωφροσύνης ὁ νόμος οὐ ταῖ; γυναιξὶ \" μόνον παρὰ Θεοῦ ὥρισται, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἀνδράσιν. Οἱ δὲ τοῖς τοῦ βίου τούτου νομοθέταις προσέχοντες ἀνεύθυνον χαταλείπουσι τῆς πορνείας τοῖς ἀνδράσι τὴν ἐξουσίαν, βαρεῖς μέν εἰσιν χριταὶ καὶ διδάσχαλοι τῆς τῶν γυναιχῶν σεμνότητος\" οἱ δ᾽ ἐν πολλοῖς ἀναίδην ἐπιμαίνοντες σώμασιν, ἄλλων ἰατροὶ, χατὰ τὴν “παροιμίαν, μυρίοις βρύοντες ἕλχεσιν. Κἄν τις αὐτῶν ἐπὶ ταῖς πλημμελείαις ταύταις χαθάψηται, ψευμένην καὶ παίζουσαν ἀπολογίαν προΐσχονται. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄνδρες, φασὶ, χἂν πάνυ πολλαῖς γυναιξὶ πλησιάσωσιν, οὐδὲν τῇ ἐστίᾳ λυμαίνονται \" αἱ δὲ γυναῖχες, ἐξ ὧν ἁμαρτάνουσι, χληρονόμους ἀλλοτρίους ταῖς οἰχίαις καὶ τοῖς γένεσιν ἐπεισάγουσιν. ᾿Αχουσάτωσαν δὲ οἱ τῆς ἐμπλήχτου γνώμης σοφισταὶ καὶ εὑρεταὶ, ὅτι καὶ αὐτοὶ ἄλλας ἑστίας καὶ πάντω: τινῶν εἰσιν ἢ θυγατέρες, ἢ γαμεταί\" καὶ χαντὶ τρόπῳ εὑρεθήσεται ἣ γάμος ἐπιδουλευόμενὺς, ἢ γονεὺς ἀδιχούμενος, ὃς ἐγεννήσατο, καὶ ἐξἐθρεζε, καὶ παρθένον ἕξειν ἐπὶ παστάδα καὶ θάλαμον δ᾽ ἀληθὲς ὃν. τύχῃ τὸ δεινὸν, τὴν μὲν γυναῖκα οὐδεὶς τὴν μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν νόμων διαφεύγει τιμωρίαν, ἀνῇ ἄνω ξεν καὶ τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ τετήρηται ΚἬγ νοι, παρὰ τῶν τῆς σωφροσύνης λῃστῶν. Εἰ πατήρ ἔστιν ὁ ἀχόλαστος, γνωριζέτω πατρὸς πάθος ἀποτυγχάνον. Καὶ γὰρ ἐπίπαν οὕτως ἔχει χαλῶς, ἕχαστον τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις διχάζειν, ὡς ἂν ἄλλον ἑαυτῷ βούληται. Εἰ δέ τι καὶ τοῖς νόμοις Ῥωμαίων τινὲς προσέχοντες ἀνεύθυνον τὴν πορνείαν εἶναι νομίζουσι, δεινὴν πλᾶα νῶνται πλάνην, οὐχ εἰδότες, ὡς ἄλλως Θεὸς νομοθετεῖ, καὶ ἑτέρως ἄνθρωποι δογματίζονσιν. Μωῦσέως, τὸ βούλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ χαταγγέλλοντος, καὶ πιχρὰς τὰς χατὰ πόρνων ἀποφάσεις ἐχφέροντος.","t":"… let the husband be pelted with accusations, and let the charges of ingratitude wound him more thickly than snowflakes. But if somewhere he puts forward the charge of adultery and offers such a defence for the separation, at once I will shift my advocacy to the wronged party, and, preparing my speech against the adulteress, I will stand by the husband as a good ally instead of an enemy, praising the one who fled the plotter, who cut the bond by which [he was joined] to the asp or the viper … the Maker of all at first, as one who rightly grieves and fittingly drives the disease out of his house and hearth. For marriage is constituted for the sake of these two things, affection and the begetting of children, neither of which is preserved with adultery. For there is no affection when goodwill has turned aside to another; and the good of begetting children is destroyed when the children are confused. But what bears on this sin has been said in due measure in another discourse. Let both parties practise chastity, the unbreakable bond of marriage. For where this is honoured, there must be both peace and longing, no common and bastard desire whetting the soul, but [chastity] instilling the lawful and just affection. This law of chastity has been laid down by God not for wives only, but also for husbands. But those who heed the lawgivers of this life leave to men an unaccountable licence for sexual immorality; they are severe judges and teachers of women's decency, while they themselves rage shamelessly upon many bodies, physicians of others, as the proverb has it, teeming with countless sores. And if anyone reproaches them for these faults, they put forward a false and jesting defence. For men, they say, even if they go to very many women, do no harm to the hearth; but women, by their sins, bring strange heirs into the houses and families. Let the sophists and inventors of this deranged opinion hear that they too [are wronging] other hearths, and that [these women] are certainly someone's daughters or wives; and in every way it will be found either that a marriage is plotted against, or that a parent is wronged who begot and reared [her] and [hoped] to have a virgin for the bridal chamber … If the terrible thing happens, … the woman … from the hands of the wronged man; but he, having the laws to help him, … escapes the penalty of the laws, but is kept for the [judgment] from above and of God … from the robbers of chastity. If the licentious man is a father, let him recognize a father's suffering when his hopes fail. For in general it is good that each should judge the affairs of others as he would wish another to judge his own. And if some, heeding the laws of the Romans, think sexual immorality unaccountable, they wander in a terrible error, not knowing that God legislates one way and men decree another. [Hear] Moses, proclaiming the will of God and pronouncing bitter sentences against the sexually immoral.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 5.5 (PG 40:237; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/5-5)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/5.6":{"o":"ἴἼΛλχουσον Παύλου, λέγοντος\" Πόργνους δὲ καὶ μοιχοὺς χρινδῖὶ ὁ Θεός. Οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι οὐχ ἀρχέσουσίν σοι πρὸς σωτηρίαν ἐν τῷ χαιρῷ τῆς ἀνταποδόσεως \" σοι καὶ ἀπαίδευτος ὀφθήσεται ὁ Πλάτων, τῶν νόμων σοφιστής \" ταπεινὸς δὲ, ὁ βαρὺς τόνος ἑχεῖνος καὶ χατὰ πάντων νομοθετῶν ἀνῃρημένος τὸ χράτος, ὅταν βλέπωσιν τοὺς σωμεραστὰς διελχομένους, οἷς αὐτοὶ χαχῶς ἐφῆχαν τὴν ἐξουσίαν. Πάντως δὲ οἱ τοὺς ἄλλους μὴ χωλύσαντες εἷς ἑαυτοὺς πρῶτον τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐπέστρεψαν, καὶ διπλῆς εὑρεθήσονται χατηγορίας ὑπαίτιοι, ἧς τε ἔπραξαν αὐτοὶ, καὶ ἧς τοὺς ἄλλους ἀχολασταίνειν ἀρῆχαν. Οἱ τοίνυν βουλευόμενοι μιαῖς ὡς ἕνι μάλιστα γαμεταῖς συζῆν, αὐτοὶ τὸν ἴδιον τρόπον διδάσχαλον τῶν συνοίχων ἵν᾽ ἔχωσιν ἀγαθὸν ἀφ᾽ ἑστίας τὸν ζῆλον. ","t":"Hear Paul saying: “God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.” And the others will not suffice for your salvation at the time of recompense; … and Plato, the sophist of the laws, will be seen by you as unlearned, and humbled that weighty tone [of his], with its power raised above all lawgivers, when they see the lovers of bodies being dragged off, to whom they themselves wrongly gave licence. Certainly those who did not prevent others first turned the sin upon themselves, and will be found liable to a double accusation: for what they did themselves, and for allowing others to be licentious. Those, then, who wish to live as far as possible with one wife each should themselves make their own way of life the teacher of their spouses, so that they may have from the hearth a good zeal.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 5.6 (PG 40:237; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/5-6)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/6.1":{"o":"᾿Αστερίου, ἐπισκόπου Ἁμασείας,, «1όγος εἰς τὸν προφήτην Δαγιὴϊ, καὶ εἰς τὴν Σωσάνγαν. ᾿Αεὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος ἣ χάρις, ὑπερχεόμενον ἔχουσα τὸν πλοῦτον τῆς δωρεᾶς, οὐχ ἀργεΐ τὰ ἑαυτῆς, ὀπηνίχα, γκαὶ οἷς ἂν ἐθέλῃ ἐπιδείχνυσθαι. Οἷα γὰρ ποταμὸς πεπληρωμένος τῶν εἰς ζωὴν ἁλλομένων ὑδάτων, ἀπεναντίας τοῖς ὁρωμένοις τούτοις καὶ χατὰ γῆν, τὰς τῆς ἐνεργείας ἀφέσεις ἔχει χορηγουμόνας. Οὐ γὰρ ἐπιλείπει τὸ ῥεῖθρον αὐτῇ, χαθάπερ ἐχείνοις ἐνιότε\" οὐδ᾽ ἀναδάσεις καὶ ὑποθάσεις, ὥσπερ αὐτοὶ, ἐπιδέχεται \" οὐδὲ τὸ καὶ τὸ μέρος, χατὰ τούτους, περβαμβάνει\" ἀλλὰ καὶ πλήθει ἀεὶ, καὶ πᾶσιν ἀρχεῖ\" καὶ εἰς τοὺς μετόχους ὑποῤῥέουσα τοῦ πληρώματος, οὐδὲν ἧττον μένει πεπληρωμένη, ἀλλὰ καὶ οὕτω τὴν χάριν ἔχουσα δαψιλῆ, οὐδὲ πρὸς ἡλικίας οἷδε διαδίδοσθαι καὶ μερίζεσθα:. Οὐ γὰρ ὄγχῳ σωμάτων τὰ ἀμέτρητα οἷδε μετρεῖσθαι, ἀλλὰ ψυχῆς εὐγενείᾳ καὶ χαθαρότητι συνέρχεσθαι καὶ ἐπιφαίνεσθαι. Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο νῦν μὲν συμπεριφέρεται ἀρτιγαλαχτοτρο. φουμένῳ τῷ Σαμουὴλ, νῦν δὲ τὸν Δαδὶδ ἐχ τῶν ποιμνίων αὑτῶν προθδάτων ἀναλαμόάνει\" τῶν ἀδελφῶν, οἷς ἐδόχει παρεωρᾶσθαι διὰ τὸ ἀτελὲς τῆς ἡλιτελειοῖ, καὶ μετ᾽ ἐχείνους, τὸν νῦν χείμενον εἰς ὑπόθεσιν, μαχάριον καὶ τῷ ὄντι σοφὸν Δανιὴλ, ἀπαλὸν ἔτι καὶ χομιδῇ γέον, ὁμοῦ καὶ πρεσθυτέρων χριτὴν, καὶ προφήτην χαθίστησιν \" ὅς εἰ καὶ τῆς βαρείας ἐχείνης ἔργον ἐγεγόνει: αἰχμαλωσίας, καὶ τῆς ἐνεγχούπτης εἶχε τὴν Βαδυλῶνα, καὶ ἐν ἀδόξοις ἐδόχει διὰ τῆς ὥρας τὸ ἀτελὲς, καὶ ἀπαῤῥησίαστος διὰ τὸ ἐναπειλῆφθαι τοσούτοις καχοῖς \" ἀλλ᾽ ἐχ τοῦ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐπιφέρεσθαι, καὶ φιλοσοφίᾳ στοιχειωθῇναι τὴν πρώτην αὔξησιν, καὶ χαρτερὸς εἶναι τὴν γνώμτν καὶ ἐμδριθὴς, ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ ἄνθει τῆς ἡλιχίας, τῶν γηρα:ῶν ἐχείνων καὶ χαθεστηχότων ἔλεγχος ἐδείχνυτο καὶ χριτῆς. ᾿Αλλὰ μιχρὸν, εἰ δοχεῖ, πρὸς ἀρχὴν ἀναγαγόντες τὸν λόγον, ἴδωμεν ὅπως ὑψηλὸν καὶ μαχάριον, τὸ φίλον ὑπάρχειν Θεῷ.","t":"Of Asterius, bishop of Amasea, a discourse on the prophet Daniel and on Susanna. The grace of the Spirit, always having the wealth of its gift overflowing, does not leave its own [gifts] idle, whenever and to whomever it wishes to show them. For, like a river full of the waters that spring up to life, in contrast to these that are seen on earth, it has the outpourings of its working supplied. Its stream does not fail it, as sometimes happens with them; nor does it admit rises and falls, as they do; nor does it [flood] this part and that, as they do; but it is always in flood and suffices for all; and flowing down to those who share in its fullness, it remains no less full; and having its grace so abundantly, it does not know how to be distributed and divided by age. For it does not know how to measure the immeasurable by the bulk of bodies, but how to come together and appear with nobility and purity of soul. That is why now it accompanies Samuel, newly weaned, now it takes up David from the very flocks of sheep and perfects him above his brothers, by whom he seemed overlooked because of the immaturity of his age; and after them it appoints the one now set before us as our subject, the blessed and truly wise Daniel, still tender and quite young, as at once judge of elders and prophet. Although he had become the spoil of that heavy captivity, and had Babylon [as the land] that carried him off, and seemed to be among the inglorious because of the immaturity of his years, and without freedom of speech because he was caught up in so many evils, yet because he bore virtue with him, was grounded in philosophy in his first growth, and was firm and weighty in judgment in the very flower of his age, he was shown to be the refuter and judge of those old and established men. But let us bring the discourse back a little to the beginning, if you please, and see how lofty and blessed it is to be a friend of God.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 6.1 (PG 40:237; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/6-1)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/6.2":{"o":"Τῆς πόλεως τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ χατάχραν τῷ πολέμῳ παρὰ τῶν ᾿Ασσυρίων ληφθείσης, οἵ τε λαοὶ τῶν Ἑδραίων ἐπὶ Βαθυλῶνα διήχθησαν. Εἶχε ὃὲ καὶ τὸν μαχάριον Δανιὴλ τῶν δορυαλώτων μειραχίων τὸ πθος, καὶ διήγετο ἐπὶ τῆς πολεμίας παῖς εὐχαστὸν ἐςόλκιον, οὔτε παρὰ τοῖς ὁμοφύλοις ἀφορμὴν ἔχων τοῦ φαίνεσθαι, οὔτε παρὰ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ἀξιόλόγον τοῦ πολέμου νομιζόμενος χέρδος - ἀφανὴς, ἄδοξος, διὰ τὴν ἡλικίαν, διὰ τὴν συμφοράν \" μόνῳ πῷ χαλῶς βλέποντι χαθορώμενος. θεὸς γὰρ μόνος ἔδλεπε τὴν καθαρὰν τοῦ νεανίσχου ψυχὴν, ὥσπερ τινὰ μαργαρίτην ἐν θαλαττίοις ὁστράχοῖς ἐνδεδεμένον, ἣ χρυσὸν ἐν τοῖς χόλποις ἐνόντα τῆς παστάδος γαλυπτομένην. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἦλθεν ὁ χαῦχων χαιρὸς, καὶ ἔδει τὸν χρυπτόμενον φανῆναι, γνώριμον γενέσθαι τὸν ἀφανῦ, περίδλεπτον τὸν χαταφρονούμενον, λάμψαι τὸν τῷ σχότῳ τῆς συμφορᾶς χεχρυμμένον, ὀλίγη τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐπιφοίτησις, καὶ πάντων ὁ ταπεινὸς ὑψηλότερος \" σοφὸς, ὁ μὴ διαίρων “ὁ στόμα \" ἔλεγχος χρυπτομένων᾽ χριτὴς διχαστῶν, ὁ ἀπαίδευτος \" ἐπὶ θρόνου χαθήμενος ὑψηλοῦ, ὁ μηδέπω μηδὲ ὑπηρέτης διχαστηρίων γενόμενος \" σωφροσύνην συχοφαντουμένην ἐχδικῶν ὁ νέος, δῆμον πλαγώμενον ἐπιστρέφων, ψῆφον πόλεως ὅλης χαχῶς ἕνεχθεῖσαν ἀναχαλούμενος. ᾿χούσατε γὰρ ἀρτίως τοῦ τὴν ψυχήν. Κἀγὼ δὲ τὰ τῶν ἄλλων βιδλίων ἀφεὶς, ὅσα οἱ ψαλμοὶ ἡμῖν ἐπκωφελῶς μεθ᾽ ἡδονῆς ἐμελῴδησαν, ὅσα συνεξούλευσεν ὁ ᾿Απόστολος, ὅσα δξεσποτιχῶς ἐνομοθέτησεν ἐν τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις ὁ Κύριος, ταύτῃ προσεχλίθην τῇ ἱστορίᾳ. Ἐπειδὴ δύο νεότητας βλέπω εὐδοχιμούσας, τὴν μὲν ἐν τῷ διχάζειν, τὴν δὲ ἐν τῷ χρίνεσθαι καὶ τὸν μὲν Δανιὴλ ἐπὶ ταῖς Ψῆφοις χροτούμενον \" Σωσάνναν δὲ ἐπὶ τῇ νίχῃ στεφανουμένην τῆς σωφροσύνης. Δεῦτε τοίνυν, εἰ δοχεῖ, οὗ τῶν χαλῶν ἐρασταὶ καὶ τῆς ἀρετῆς, ἀνανεωσώμεθα τὴν παλαιὰν χρίσιν τῇ μνήμῃ ἀρκαίᾳ σωφροσύνῃ τὴν νεάζουσαν ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ἀχολασίαν ἐχχόψωμεν, στηλιτεύσαντες γῆρας μειραχιῶδες, καὶ νεότητα καὶ ἄρχοντες τοῦ λαοῦ, μυρίων παιδαγωγῶν εἰς ἐπανόρθωσιν χρήζοντες, γάμων νόμῳ ζευχθέντων ἐπίσυχοφαντίας ταχεῖς εὑρεταί 1 “Ὑμεῖς ἦτε οἱ τὴν πορνείαν τοῖς χείλεσι χρίνοντες, καὶ τὴν μοιχείαν χάξοντες\" οἱ τῶν ἄλλων ἰατροὶ, καὶ τῆς νόσου γέμοντες \" οἱ ιχεχονιασμένοι τάφοι, ἔνδον τῆς ἀχαθαρσίας πεπλησμένοι, καὶ τὴν ἔξωθεν ἐπιφάνειαν χαλλωπίζοντες. Οἱ ὑψηλοὶ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν θρόνων τῶν διχαστιχῶν προχαθήμενοι, ὅτε δὲ ἀχολασταίνειν προείλεσθε, τοῖς λασίοις τῶν φυτῶν καὶ τοῖς θάμνοις Ἐγελᾶτο βλέπων ὑμᾶς ὁ τῶν παραδάσεων εἰσηγητὴς, καὶ τῶν χαχῶν σύμόουλος, ὅπως οἱ ἐν χορυφῇ τοῦ λαοῦ, οἱ λογάδες καὶ ἔχχριτοι, ὡς τοιχωρύχοι τινὲς ἥ λῃσταὶ τῇ γῇ προσεσύρεσθε, ἵνα βλέψητε θέαν ἀχόἀλώπεκας, αἵ ἀπὸ τῶν συμφύτων καὶ ἐπισχίων τόπων τὰς χατοιχιδίους ἐνεδρεύουσιν ὄρνιθας, καὶ νεχαχίας, ἦν ὁ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ψυχῶν ὀλοθρευτὴς ἀπαρχῆς εἰς τέλος ἐπιτηδεύει 1 Ἐν παραδείσῳ τὸ πρῶτον τοῦ ὑψηλοῦ ἀνθρώπου πτῶμα, ἐν παραδείσῳ καὶ νῦν οἱ γέροντες παρὰ τοῦ ὄφεως ἐνεργούμενοι, τῆς ἀρχιχῆς δόξης ἐκπίπτουσι, γίνονται ὃς, ἀντὶ χριτῶν, χαταδεδιχασμένοι, τῆς ζωῆς ἀλλότριοι, καὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐργάται. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἐνταῦθα μὲν ἀνδρῶν ἐχράτησε, τῆς δὲ γυναιχὸς ἡττήθη, καὶ τὸ χοῦφον τῆς πρώτης ἀνθρώπον ἐπὶ τῆς Βαδυλωνίας οὐχ εὗρε νεάνιδος. Καὶ χαλῶς ἂν εἴποι τις, ὡς οὐχ ἔστι Βαόυλὼν σύγχυσις διὰ Σωσάνναν, ἀλλὰ τήρησις ἐντολῶν Θεοῦ, φυλαχὴ σωφροτύνης, πόλις ἀνδριχῆς γυναιχὸς, Ταύτην ἐγὼ, τοὺς ἐν μέσῳ χρόνους ἄνελων, τῇ ὁμοιότητι τῆς ἀρετῆς, πρὸς τὸν χότμον Ἰωσὴφ ἄγω \" ἵστημι δὲ τὴν εὐσχήμονα παρὰ τὸν σώφρονα, τὴν τῷ Θεῷ φίλην παρὰ τὸν παῖδα τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. Ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν ἀμφοτέροις, τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς σωφροτύνης ἐπιτίθημι στέφανον \" ὑποῤῥίπτω δὲ τοῖς ποσὶ τῶν νιχησάντων τοὺς ἡττημένους \" τῷ μὲν Ἰωσὴφ, τὴν ἀχόλαστον Αἰγυπτίαν, τὴν δέσποιναν τοῦ ἐλευθέρου δούοὐϑ τούτους παιδαγωγοὺς σωφροσύνης \" τὴν μὲν, τῆς γιναιχείας \" τὸν δὲ, τῆς τῶν ἀνδρῶν νεότητος \" λαμττῆρας τῆς οἰχουμένης, ἄνθη τῆς ἀναστάσεως, μοιχῶν χριτὰς, γάμων ἐνθέσμων φύλαχας. Τέως δὲ περὶ μόνην ἀσχολήσωμεν τὴν ἱερὰν γυναῖχα τὸν λόγον -\" γὺν γὰρ ὃ Ἰωσὴφ ἐπεισόδιόν ἐστι καὶ παρενθήχη σωφροσύνης, ὁ σώφρων.","t":"When the city of Jerusalem had been utterly taken in war by the Assyrians, the peoples of the Hebrews were carried off to Babylon. The crowd of captive youths included the blessed Daniel too, and he was carried into the enemy's land, a child, an easy prey, having neither among his own people any occasion of being noticed, nor regarded among the enemies as a gain of the war worth mentioning: obscure, inglorious because of his age and his misfortune, seen only by the one who sees well. For God alone saw the young man's pure soul, like a pearl enclosed in sea shells, or gold hidden in the folds of a chamber. But when the right time came, and the hidden one had to appear, the obscure to become known, the despised conspicuous, the one hidden in the darkness of misfortune to shine, a small visitation of the Spirit came, and the humble was higher than all: wise, one who does not open his mouth; refuter of hidden things; judge of the judges, the untrained one; seated on a lofty throne, one who had never yet been even an attendant of the courts; the young man avenging slandered chastity, turning back a people led astray, recalling the verdict of a whole city wrongly given. For you heard just now … in the soul. And I, leaving aside the contents of the other books, all that the psalms sang to us profitably and with delight, all that the Apostle counselled, all that the Lord legislated with authority in the Gospels, have inclined to this story. For I see two youths of good repute, one in judging, the other in being judged: Daniel applauded for his verdicts, Susanna crowned for her victory of chastity. Come, then, if you please, lovers of the good and of virtue, let us renew the old judgment in memory; by the ancient chastity let us cut away the licentiousness that flourishes at present, pillorying an old age behaving like boys, and youth … and rulers of the people, needing countless tutors for your correction, quick inventors of slander against marriages yoked by law! You were the ones who judged sexual immorality with your lips and punished adultery; physicians of others, yet full of the disease; whitewashed tombs, filled within with uncleanness and adorning the outward appearance. Lofty men, presiding on the thrones of judgment, when you chose to be licentious, [you hid] in the thickets of the plants and the bushes … The introducer of transgressions and counsellor of evils laughed as he saw you, how those at the summit of the people, the elect and chosen, were dragged along the ground like housebreakers or robbers, to see an unlawful sight … foxes, which from dense and shaded places lie in wait for the domestic birds; and [of] the wickedness that the destroyer of human souls practises from beginning to end! In a garden was the first fall of man, the lofty one; in a garden now too the elders, worked upon by the serpent, fall from the glory of their office and become, instead of judges, condemned, strangers to life and workers of sin. But there he conquered men, and was defeated by the woman, and did not find the first woman's lightness in the Babylonian young woman. And one might well say that Babylon is not “confusion” because of Susanna, but the keeping of God's commandments, the guarding of chastity, the city of a manly woman. Her I bring, setting aside the intervening times, by the likeness of virtue, to the adornment of Joseph: I set the decorous woman beside the chaste man, the friend of God beside the son of Israel. One and the same crown for chastity I place on both; and I throw the defeated under the feet of the victors: under Joseph's, the licentious Egyptian woman, the mistress of the free slave; … these as tutors of chastity, her of women's, him of the youth of men; lamps of the world, flowers of the resurrection, judges of adulterers, guardians of lawful marriages. For now let us occupy the discourse with the holy woman alone; for Joseph, the chaste man, is an episode here and an addition on chastity.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 6.2 (PG 40:239; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/6-2)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/6.3":{"o":"Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οἱ γέροντες, ὡς ἐνόμιζον, εἶχον τὴν θήραν εἴσω διχτύων, εἰσεπήδησαν δὲ ἐχ τῆς ἐνέδρας, ὡς αὐτίχα ληψόμενοι, οὐχ εὗρον δειλὴν τὴν βελτίστην ἔλαφον, ἀλλ᾽ ἀνθισταμένην καὶ αὐτοῖς, καὶ τῷ δράχοντι τῷ τῶν γινομένων αἰτίῳ (ὀφιοχτόνον δὲ ζῶον ἡ ἔαφος \" καὶ χαλῶ; εὗρεν ὁ λόγος τὴν εἰχόνα τοῦ ζώου) παρεχάλεσαν, οὐκ ἢχούσθησαν’ καὶ δύο τοῖς μεγίστοις συνέχονται, ἀποτυχίᾳ τῆς ἐπιφαντίαν, μιαραὶ χεφαλαὶ, καὶ λύσιν τοῦ χαχοῦ ἄλλο ζονται φόνον. ᾿Αμαρτωλὸς γὰρ, ὅταν εἰς ἀρχὰς ἐμπέτῃ πλημμελημάτων, ὥσπερ σχοίνῳ τῇ ἀρχῇ, καὶ τὶς ἀχολούθους ἀνομίας ἐφέλχεται. Καὶ γεννητιχὰ τυγχάνει τῶν καλῶν τὰ χαλά\" τῶν δὲ φαύλων, τὰ ὅμοια, Διὸ καὶ νῦν φόνος ὁ καρπὸς τῆς μοιχείας ὑποθλᾳστάνει, καὶ συνέδριον χατὰ σπουδὴν χάθηται, ὡς ἐπὸὶ μεγάλῳ τῆς γυναικὸς ἀδιχήματι, καὶ δημαγωγεῖται πλῆθος, θέαν ἔχον τὴν χρινομένην. Κατήγοροι ἃ καὶ δικασταὶ οἱ αὐτοί\" καὶ πολιὰ συχοφαντοῦσα χρατούσης ἐπινοίας χατεδιχάζετο. Δῆμος δὲ ἀναῤῥικισθεὶς, καὶ παθὼν, ὃ δὴ πάσχειν ἀπὸ ὁρμῆς ἐμπλήῆχη εἴωθε δῆμος, ἡγανάχτει πεπλανημένος, καὶ τῇ ὁρμῇ τῶν γερόντων συνεξεφέρετο᾽ γονεῖς τῆς χρινο- ᾿ μένης ἐθρήνουν\" ἀνὴρ τὴν συμφορὰν ὠδύρετο\" παῖδες ὠλόλυζον ἔνθεν καὶ ἔνθεν, τῆς μητρὸς χινδυνευοὐσης ἀπηρτημένοι\" τὸ γένος τῇ αἰσχύνῃ χεχάλυπτο. θ: δὲ χαλοὶ δικασταὶ, οἱ τῆς σωφροσύνης σύμμαχοι, σεμνῶς χεχαλυμμένην ἱματίῳ (οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς τυγχύσεως τῶν χαχῶν δαυτῆς ἐπελάθετο, ἕξιν τῆς σχέπης ἐχέλευσαν, ἵνα ἐν τῷ διχαστηρίῳ τὰ τῆς μοιχείας ἐνεργάσωνται, τῇ θέᾳ τῆς χρινομένης τὴν ᾧ καὶ τὰς χεῖρας τῇ χεφαλῇ (ὃ δὴ σύμθολον τῆς ἢ) χαταχρίσεως ἦν), χραίνοντες σῶμα χαθαρὸν, οἱ ἀχύλαστοι, τῇ ἀφῇ, καὶ χατ᾿ αὐτῆς ἐδημηγόρουν τὸ ψεῦδος, οἱ χαλοὶ τῆς ἀληθείας προστάται. Ὡς δὲ ὁ λαὸς ὑπήχθη, καὶ ἡ ψῆφος ἠνέχθη, καὶ ἡ τιμωρία πλησίον ἦν, ἀνέδλεψεν τότε ἡ συχοφαντουμένη πρὸ; τὸν δικαστὴν τῶν χριτῶν \" ἐφέσιμον τὴν δίχην ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἤγαγε πρὸς τὸν Θεόν \" ἐπεχαλέὅατο τὸ ἀπαραλόγιστον διχαστήριον, καὶ οὐχ ἑδράὄυνε) ἡ ἀλήθεια. ᾿Ανάστηθί μοι λοιπὸν, ὦ μαχάριε ἀαγιὴλ, καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ τοῦ λόγου, ᾧ; διηγέρθης καὶ εἶμι ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος ταύτης, ὡς καὶ Πιλᾶτος ὕστερὸν χατὰ τῶν μαινόμενων Ἑόραίων. ᾿λνάλυσον τὸν λαὸν ἐπὶ τὸ χριτήριον \" δὸς ἀρχὴν τῇ δίκῃ, καχῶς τὰς \" ἐναλλαγήτω τῶν προστατῶν ἡ τάξις, καὶ θεωρεέτω ἡ γυνὴ τοὺς γέροντας, ὡς αὐτὴ πρὸ ὀλέγου θέαμα τῆς πόλεως ἦν. Κρῖνον, ὁ αἰχμάλωτος, τοὺς πολίτας \" ὁ ξένος, τοὺς ἐγχωρίους \" ὁ νέος, τοὺς παλαιούς. Χρῆσον ἅγιον στόμα τῷ Πνεύματι - οὐ γὰρ ἀχάθαρτα χείλη ἔχεις, ὡς ᾿Ησαῖΐας αὑτὸν ἐξευτελίζων φησίν\" οὐδὲ ἑνὸς τῶν σεραφεὶμ,, καὶ τοῦ χαθαργύμουφ χριτὰς, ἵνα μὴ καὶ ταῖς σαῖς ἐρωτήσεσι συμφώνως ἐπιπηδήσωσιν, ὡς ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ τῇ γυναιχί. Οἵα γὰρ καὶ ἡ ἀρχὴ τῶν λόγων τοῦ τρισμαμένε ἡμερῶν καχῶν\" νῦν ἤχασί σου αἱ ἁμαρτέαε, ἃς ἐποίξις τὸ πρότερον, τοὺς μὲν ἀθώους καταωκρίνων, ἀποιϊύων δὲ τοὺς αἰτίους. Ὦ τοῦ θαύματος, καὶ τῆς μεγάλης ἐλευθερίας τοῦ Πνεύματος ἴ Οὗ γὰρ τὸ πγεῦμα ἦν, ἐλευθερία. Ορᾶτε γὰρ, ὡς οὐδὲ ἂν προοιμίοις ὑποστέλλεται\" ἀλλ᾽ εἰς τὸ βάθος “τοῦ συνειδότος ἐνατενίσας, καὶ βλέπων τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν γερόντων. ἀποθήχας ἁμαρτιῶν, μάρτυρας μὲν καὶ ἀποδείξεις οὐ ζητεῖ ὑδρίξζξων δὲ ἐπαχθῶς λεῖται, ἐπειδὴ τὴν ἀπόφασιν ἔχει γεγραμμένην ἐπὶ τοῦ στήθους ὁ προφήτης. Καὶ ὅσον γε εἰς αὑτὸν Ὥχεν, οὐχ ἂν οὐδὲ εἶπέ τι, ἀλλ᾽ ἀνυπερθέτως τῇ τι- χριτὰς χούφους τῇ πολιᾷ τῶν χατηγόρων, οὐ τῇ ἀλτθείᾳ διχάσαντας, καὶ τὴν πεῖραν τῆς ἐρωτήσεως χεχωρισμένοις προσάγει, καὶ τὸ ψεῦδος ἐχ τῆς διαφωνούσης ἀποχρίσεως διελέγχει: καὶ τὴν χρίσιν ἐξενεγχὼν, οὐ δημίοις δίδωσιν ὑπευθύνους, ἀλλ᾽ ἀγγέλους χατ᾽ αὐτῶν χολαστηρίους καλεῖ. Εἰς τοσοῦτον γὰρ ηὐξήθη τὸ τῶν ἁγίων ἀξίωμα, ὡς δυνάμεις ἀο- Τίνα τὰ ἑξῆς τοῖς μιαροῖς γέρουσι; Προετράπη ἡ χρίσις “ ἀπῆλθον δὲ, καὶ τῶν παλαιῶν ἀνομοιῶν, καὶ τῆς νέας ἁμαρτίας, διδόντες διὰ θανάτου τὴν δίκην \" Βαθυλὼν δὲ πᾶσα τὸ παράδοξον τῶν γενομένων διὰ πόματος εἶχον, καὶ ὕμνοις τὸν Θεὸν ἀνευφήμουν, τὸν τῶν λανθανόντων δραμάτων τὴν γνῶσιν δημο- Ὦ σιτύσαντα. Καὶ Ἑλχίας ὑπὲρ τῆς παιδὸς ἀνενεώθη\" Ἰωαχεὶμ τὴν ἐπινέχιον ἧσεν ὑπὲρ τῆς γυναιχὸς ἕορτήν\" παῖδες δὲ, γνησίας καὶ τῆς σώφρονος ἔχγονα, μειδιῶσι προσώποις τὴν μητέρα περιεσχίρτων, καὶ τὸ Ὑμεῖς δὲ, ὦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ λαὸς, εὐσεδεστάτης καὶ Ψυχοφελοῦς ἱστορίας ἀχούσαντες, μὴ ἀδιαφόρως τὴν ἀχοὴν παραδράμητε \" ἀλλὰ παιδείαν καὶ ἄτχησιν τοῦ ὑμετέρου βίον νὸν λόγον ποιήσααθε. Αἱ γυναΐχες, ζηλώσατε τὴν Σωσάνναν\" οὕτω φυλάξατε τοῖς ἀνδράσι τὴν σωφροσύνην, ὡς ἐχείνη τῷ ἑαυτῆς \" παθεῖν τε καὶ χινδυνεύειν χαταδόξασθε μᾶλλον, ἣ μοιχείᾳ Θεὸν παροργίζειν, ἄνδρα καταισχύγειν, οἴχους καὶ ἑστίας","t":"For when the elders thought they had the prey within the nets and leapt out of the ambush as if to seize her at once, they did not find the excellent deer timid, but resisting both them and the serpent who was the cause of what happened (the deer is a snake-killing animal, and the discourse has well found the image of the animal). [They] entreated, and were not heeded; and they are held fast by two of the greatest [evils], the failure of their [desire] and … foul heads, and as a release from the evil they plan another, murder. For a sinner, once he falls into the beginnings of offences, draws after him the following iniquities too, as if by a rope [tied] to the beginning. Good things are productive of good things, and bad things of their like. That is why murder, the fruit of adultery, now springs up, and a council sits in haste, as though over a great wrong done by the woman, and a crowd is led on, having the accused as a spectacle. The accusers and the judges are the same; and grey hairs, slandering, condemned [her] by a scheme that prevailed. And the people, stirred up and suffering what a people is accustomed to suffer from a reckless impulse, was indignant, being led astray, and was carried away by the impulse of the elders. The parents of the accused lamented; the husband wailed at the misfortune; the children cried aloud on this side and that, hanging on their mother in her danger; the family was covered with shame. But the fine judges, the allies of chastity, ordered her, decently covered in a garment (for not even in the confusion of evils did she forget herself), [to be stripped] of her covering, so that in the court they might work the [deeds] of adultery, [feeding] on the sight of the accused; and [they laid] their hands on her head (which was the sign of condemnation), the licentious men defiling a pure body by their touch, and harangued the lie against her, these fine champions of the truth. And when the people had been led on, and the vote was brought, and the punishment was near, then the slandered woman looked up to the judge of the judges; she carried the case by appeal from men to God; she invoked the court that cannot be misled; and the truth did not delay. Arise now for me, blessed Daniel, now too in the discourse, as you were roused [then] and [cried out: “I am innocent] of the blood of this woman,” as Pilate later did against the raging Hebrews. Bring the people back to the court; give the trial a beginning …; let the order of those presiding be reversed, and let the woman look upon the elders, as she herself a little before was the spectacle of the city. Judge the citizens, you captive; the natives, you stranger; the old, you young man. Lend a holy mouth to the Spirit; for you do not have unclean lips, as Isaiah says in humbling himself; nor [need you] one of the seraphim and his purifying [coal] … judges, so that they may not leap upon your questions in agreement, as in the garden upon the woman. For of what kind is the beginning of his words: “You who have grown old in evil days, now your sins have come which you committed before, condemning the innocent and releasing the guilty.” O the wonder, and the great freedom of the Spirit! For where the Spirit was, there was freedom. You see how he does not hold back even in his opening; but gazing into the depth of the conscience and seeing the souls of the elders, storehouses of sins, he does not seek witnesses and proofs, but insults them severely, since the prophet has the verdict written on his breast. And as far as it depended on him, he would have said nothing more, but without delay [would have handed them over] to punishment … judges light-minded, who judged by the grey hair of the accusers and not by the truth; and he brings the test of questioning to them separately, and refutes the lie by their discordant answers; and having delivered the judgment, he does not hand the guilty to executioners, but calls punishing angels against them. To such a height did the dignity of the saints grow, that powers … What followed for the foul elders? The judgment was reversed; and they went away paying through death the penalty both for the old iniquities and for the new sin; and all Babylon had the marvel of what happened on its lips and praised God with hymns, who made public the knowledge of hidden dramas. And Hilkiah was renewed on behalf of his child; Joakim celebrated the feast of victory for his wife; and the children, genuine offspring of the chaste woman, leapt around their mother with smiling faces, and … But you, people of Christ, having heard a most pious and soul-profiting story, do not let it run past your hearing indifferently, but make the discourse the training and discipline of your life. Wives, emulate Susanna; keep chastity for your husbands as she did for hers; resolve rather to suffer and be in danger than to provoke God by adultery, shame your husband, [and] houses and hearths …","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 6.3 (PG 40:241; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/6-3)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/7.1":{"o":"Ζ'. Εἰς τὸν ἐχ κοιλίας τυφλόν. Ἡχούσαμεν ἀρτίως τοῦ υἱοῦ τῆς βροντῆς Ἰωάννου, μᾶλλον δὲ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, τοῦ τὸν ἁλιέα καὶ χειροτέχνην, συγγραφέα καὶ λογογράφον ἐργασαμένου θείων ὄντως καὶ ὑψηλῶν ὑποθέσεων. Ἐξἡγήσαντο γὰρ ἡμῖν πολλὴν καὶ μαχρὰν τοῦ Κυρίου διάλεξιν, δι᾽ ἧς τὸν ἀπειθῇ λαὸν καὶ δυσήχοον, τὴν τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ θεογνωσίαν ἑπαίδευε, τῆς μοναρχιχῖς ἐννοίας τῶν ἙἭ ραίων ἀπάγων τοὺς λογισμοὺς, ἀνοίγων δὲ αὑτοῖς τὴν θύραν τῆς χαρίτος ἐχ τῆς νομιχῆς παραδόσεως, ταὶ πρὸς τὴν Καινὴν Διαθήχην ἐχ τῆς Παλα:ᾶς ἡρεμαίως ἄγων, ὡς τῆς ἐρήμοῦ πρότερον ἐπὶ τὴν γὴν [τὴν] πλουσίαν καὶ εὔχαρπον. ᾿Αλλ ὅμως δειχνύντος αὐτοῦ ποιχίλως καὶ τὴν ἰδίαν ὕπαρξιν, ὡς προαιώνιος ὑπάρχει, καὶ ἀεὶ τῷ Πατρὶ συνημμένη, καὶ διαῤῥήδην τοῖς χωφοῖς ἐμξοῶντος-\" Πρὶν ᾿Αύραλμ γενέσθαι ἐγώ εἶμι’ οὔτε τοῦ λόγου μαθόντες τὴν δύναμιν, οὔτε διά τινος ἐπιστήμονος ἀντιῤῥήσεως τὸ μὴ παραδεχθὲν ξαντες, ἐπὶ τοὺς λίθους ἀντὶ τῶν λόγων ἐχώρουν\" καὶ πόῤῥωθεν τοῦ σταυροῦ τὰς φονιχὰς χεῖρας πρὸς τὴν μιαιφονίαν ἐγύμναζον. Ὁ δὲ χρίνας πανπαχοῦ μαχροθύμως ἔχειν πρὸς τὸν ὑδριστὴν δῆμον καὶ βλάσφημον, ἐξέχλινεν αὐτῶν τὴν ὀργὴν καὶ τὸν θόρυθδον' οὐ ταπεινῶς ἀποδιδράσχων, ἀλλὰ θεϊχῶς \" ὃς ἐν μέσῳ τε εἱστήχει, καὶ ψηλαφώμενος οὐχ ἐδλέπετο, καὶ τοῖς φλεγμαίνουσι προστριθόμανος Οὐχ ἑωρᾶτο\" ἀλλ᾽ εἰσνήχεσαν ἐνεοῖ, τῇ μὲν προαιρέσει οὐχ εὑρίσχοντες \" ὅμοιοι θηρευταῖς ἀπείροις, οἵ, ἐπειδὰν πρὸ χαιροῦ τὴν θήραν ἀποσοδήσουσιν 77, ὑποδοιμούσης τῆς ἐλάφου λόχμην τινὰ, καὶ ἀφανῶς πιρίεργον τὰ δίχτυα φέροντες, καὶ μάτην τοὺς σχύ- Ἐτὼ δὲ, εἰ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα φαῦλος οἰκέτης, τούτου γοῦν οὐχ ἐξελαθόμην, ὅτι δοῦλός εἰμι, καί με … ανίστασθαι. Διὸ καὶ χεχεάξομαι πρὸς τοὺς Ἑδραίους ὡς παρόντας σήμερον, καὶ παρὰ τῆς μανίας ἕνερ-γουμένους \" Βάλλετε, μιαροὶ, λίθοις τὸν εὐεργέτην [τίς γὰρ ὑμᾶς ἐχ πέτρας ἐπότισε \"βάλλετε τὸν πλαξὶ λιθίναις τὸν βίον ὑμῶν χανονίσαντα :} βάλλετε τὸν ἐχλεχτὸν λίθον καὶ ἔντιμον, ὃν Ἡσαῖας ὑμῖν προεφῆ-τευσε; βάλλετε τὸν νοητὸν λίθον τὸν τῆς ἀχροτόμου πέτρας ἀποῤῥαγέντα ἄνεν χειρὸς ἀνθρωπίνης, ὡς ὃ θεσπέσιος Δανιὴλ ὑμᾶς ἐδίδαξε; βάλλετε λίθοις τὸν ἀχρογωνιαῖον, τὸν τοὺς δύο τοίχους τῆς Καινῆς καὶ τῆς ΠΙὨαλαΐας Διαθήχης συνάγοντα; Κἂν γὰρ ὑμεῖς μὴ πιστεύσητε, δυνατὸς ὁ Θεὸς ἐχ λίθων τούτων ἐγεῖραι τέχνα τῷ ᾿Αδραάμ.᾽ τοντέστιν, ἀθροῖσαι τῷ Χριστῷ λαὸν περιούσιον, τὸν ἐξ ἐθνῶν καὶ ἀχρόδυστον\" ἐφ᾽ ᾧ καὶ τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν ὁ ᾿Αδραὰμ ἐδέξατο, εἰπόντος αὐτῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὅτι Εὐλογισθήσονται ὃν σοὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη. Τῇ γὰρ ἀποῤῥήτῳ γνώσει\" βλέπων ὁ Θεὸς τὸ μέλλον, τῷ ἀρχηγῷ τῆς πίστεως, πάντας τοὺς εἰς ὕστερον πιστεύειν μέλλοντας, εἰς τάξιν ἀπεχλήρωσε τέχνων. Ἐθεώρει γὰρ ἔχτοτε τῶν 'Ἑδραίων τὴν στάσιν, καὶ τοὺς λίθους ἔδλεπε, καὶ τοὺς ψευδωνύμους υἱοὺς ἐν τοῖς ἀποχηρύχτοις ἣρίθμει. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ, λόγῳ χαταγγέλλων αὑτοῖς τὴν ἀλήθειαν, οὐχ ἕἔπειθεν εὑσεδεῖν, παρεστὼς ἀπεχρύδη, καὶ φαινόμενος οὐχ ἐδλέπετο, ἵν᾽ ἐχ τῆς τοιαύτης αὐτοὺς ᾽ θαυματουργίας ἑλχύσῃ πρὸς συγχατάθεσιν τοῦ, ὅτι καὶ Χριστὸς \"5 ἐτύγχανεν, καὶ Θεὸς ᾿Αόραὰμ ρος. ᾿Αχούσατε οὖν, φησὶν, ὦ ἀληθῶς τυφλοὶ καὶ ἀνόητοι\" Τίς οὗτος, ὁ καὶ συμπαρὼν ὑμῖν καὶ μὴ βλεπόμενος ᾿\"; ἣ τάχα ἐχεῖνος ὁ καὶ πρὸς Μωῦσῆν λαλῶν, καὶ μὴ φαινόμενος 1\", Ἑωρᾶτο γὰρ καὶ τότες πὺρ καὶ βάτο;, ἀμφότερα ἄφωνα ᾿ ἀλλ᾽ ὅμω; καὶ φωνὴ ἠχούετο, καὶ λόγος ἐπαίδευε, καὶ ἀσφαλῶς τὸ μέλλον προηγορεύετο. Καὶ χρὴ τοὺς νοῦν ἔχοντας ἐχ τῆς συγγενείας τῶν πραγμάτων γνωοίσαι τὸ πρόαωπον. Οὕτως δὲ ἀλόγως καὶ ἀνοήτως τῶν Ἕ δραίων των, ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν καὶ Σωτὴρ, ὥσπερ τις ἰατρὸς ἐπιμελής τε [ὁμοῦ.2] καὶ συφὸς, πρὸς τὴν πρώτην πεῖραν οὐκ ἐχδόντος τοῦ πάθους, ἄλλον τρόπον τῆς θεραπείας μεταχειρίζεται. Τυφλῷ δὲ βούλεται θεραπεῦσαι τυφλοὺς τὴν διάνοιαν, ὃς ἐχ τοῦ. προστυχόντος εὑρέθη, οὐ λώδῃ τινὶ συμθάσει παθὼν τὴν τυφλότητα, Ὦ ἀλλὰ πταίσματι͵ φύσεως, οὕτως ἐχ γαστρὸς παραχθεὶς εὶς τὸν βίον.","t":"Homily 7. On the man blind from the womb. We heard just now John, the son of thunder, or rather the Holy Spirit, who made the fisherman and craftsman a writer and recorder of subjects truly divine and lofty. For they set out for us a long and extended discourse of the Lord, in which he taught the disobedient and hard-of-hearing people the knowledge of God, Father and Son, drawing the thoughts of the Hebrews away from their notion of a single ruler, opening to them the door of grace out of the tradition of the law, and leading them gently from the Old Testament to the New, as he once led them from the desert to the rich and fruitful land. But though he showed in many ways his own existence, that he is before the ages and always joined to the Father, and cried out plainly to the deaf, “Before Abraham came to be, I am,” they neither learned the force of the word nor answered what they did not accept with any knowledgeable reply, but went for stones instead of words; long before the cross they were training their murderous hands for bloodshed. But he, having resolved to be patient in every way with the insolent and blasphemous people, turned aside their anger and uproar, not by fleeing in a lowly way, but in a divine way. He stood in their midst, and though touched he was not seen; though he brushed against those who were inflamed, he was not seen; but they stood dumbfounded, not finding him whom they meant to find; like inexperienced hunters who, when they have scared off the game too soon and the deer has slipped into some thicket, carry their nets about uselessly, and in vain [their hounds] … But I, even if in other respects a poor servant, have not forgotten this at least: that I am a slave, and … to stand up [for my Master]. So I will cry out to the Hebrews as if they were present today and driven by their madness: “Stone your benefactor, you foul men! (for who gave you drink from the rock?) Stone the one who regulated your life with tablets of stone! Stone the chosen and precious stone, which Isaiah foretold to you! Stone the spiritual stone, cut from the steep rock without human hand, as the divine Daniel taught you! Stone with stones the cornerstone, who joins the two walls of the New and the Old Testament! For even if you do not believe, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham”: that is, to gather for Christ a special people, the people from the Gentiles and the uncircumcised; for this Abraham too received the promise, when God said to him, “In you all the nations will be blessed.” For God, seeing the future in his ineffable knowledge, allotted to the founder of faith, in the rank of children, all who would later believe. He saw even then the revolt of the Hebrews, and saw the stones, and counted the falsely named sons among the disowned. And since, though he announced the truth to them in words, he did not persuade them to be godly, he hid himself while standing beside them, and while appearing he was not seen, so that by such a miracle he might draw them to agree that he was both the Christ and the God of Abraham. “Hear, then,” he says, “you who are truly blind and foolish: who is this, who is present with you and not seen? Or is it perhaps that One who spoke to Moses and did not appear? For then too fire and a bush were seen, both without voice; but nevertheless a voice was heard, a word gave instruction, and the future was surely foretold.” Those who have sense ought to recognize the person from the kinship of the events. Since, then, the Hebrews [behaved] so irrationally and foolishly, our Lord and Saviour, like a careful and wise physician, when the disease does not yield to the first attempt, takes up another manner of treatment. By means of a blind man he wishes to heal those who are blind in mind: a blind man found by chance, who had not suffered blindness through some injurious accident, but through a failure of nature, having been brought into life so from the womb.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 7.1 (PG 40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/7-1)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/7.2":{"o":"Θεασάμενος δὲ τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἔστη, καὶ πρὸς τὴν θεραπείαν ἕτοιμος ἦν θεραπείαν ἀνθρωπιχοῦ λόγου \" καὶ τέχνης χρείττονά. Ἰατριχὴ [μὲν 15] γὰρ, καὶ ὁ χατ' αὐτὴν λόγος, ἐχείνων 6 τῶν νοσημάτων ἐπιθάλλει τὴν θεωρίαν, ὅσα τῆς φύσεως ἀπαρτισάσης τὸ ζῶον, καὶ προαγούσης εἰς φῶς, χρόνοις ὕστερον χατά τινας περιστάσεις ἐπισυμθαίνει\" τῆς δὲ συντεχθείσης τῷ σώματι λώθης, οὐχ ἐπαγγέλλεται θεραπείαν. Οὐ μέντοι γε οὐδὲ τῶν παθῶν πάντων τῶν εἰς ὕστερον συμθαινόντων. Καὶ τούτου μάρτυρες οἱ Α ἐχρωτηριασμένοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων, οἷς οὐδεὶς ἰατρὸς τὴν τῶν μελῶν στέρησιν ἐπηνώρθωσε. Διόπερ καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ τὸ πάθος χατελεήσαντες, καὶ βλέποντες ἄνθρωπον τῆς χαλλίστης ἡδονῆς τοῦ φωτὸς οὐ γευσάμενον, τὴν αἰτίαν περιεργάζοντες τῆς χαχώσεως, ἐπυνθάνοντο \"Ἶ παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου, οὐ λίαν ἐπιστημόγως, εἴπερ ἐξ ἁμαρτίας οἰχείας, ἣ διὰ πλημμελήματα τῶν γονέων, τοιοῦτος εἰς τὸν βίον παρήχθη. Ἔ χατέρωθεν δὲ ἡ ἐρώτησις ἔχει τὸ ἐπιλήψιμον \" οὔτε γὰρ ἂν ὑπὲρ τῶν πατέρων [οὐδενὸς ὧν ἔνοχος 13.30] χατἐγνώσθη, ἄλλον ὑπὲρ ἄλλου τοῦ Θεοῦ μὴ χολάξοντος \" οὔτε μὴν ἰδίων πλημμελημάτων [ὁ μήπω προελθὼν εἰς τὸν βίον ᾽\",] ἀπέτισε δίχας, εἴγε οὕτως μὲν τυφλὸς ἐγεννήθη. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἁμαρτωλὸς πρὸ γεννήσεως. Ἢ μὲν πτέσις \" οὐ λίαν δόχιμος \" ὅπως δὲ ἡ ᾿Αλήθεια, ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν, πρὸς τὴν ἐρώτησιν ἀπεκρίγατο, χαταμάθωμεν. Τὸ γὰρ πάθος τοῦτο, φησὶν. ὦ μαϑηταὶ, οὐχ ἁμαρτημάτων ἐστὶν ἀντίδοσις, ἀλλ᾽ ἑτοιμασία μελλούσης οἰχονομίας, ὅπως ἂν [ὁ τέως \"] χοινὸς γομιζόμενος ἄνθρωπος, ἐνεργήσῃ τὰ ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον καὶ ὁ χτίστης τῶν ὅλων, μετὰ τὴν πρώτὴν ποίησιν, εὕρῃ καὶ νῦν τοῦ δημιουργεῖν ἀφορμάς\" ἐχ δὲ τῶν μερικῶν καὶ τὰ χαθόλου πιστώσηται\" ὁ δὲ σχληρὸς λαὸς καὶ δυσάγωγος πεισθῇ προσχυνεΐν, ῥίψας τοὺς λίθους. Φωτισθήτωσαν τοίνυν ὀφθαλμοὶ μὴ βλέποντες, ἵνα χαταλάμψῃ τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν ἀσυνἔτων ὁ τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἥλιος. Γενέσθω πρᾶγμα παράδηιξον, καὶ χτισθήτωσαν ὄψεις, ἵνα μάθωσιν οἱ στασιάζοντες, ὡς ὁ λεγόμενος υἱὸς τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ, εἰ Ἦν ἀληθῶς τέκτονος υἱὸς, δίφρον μὲν ἐδύνατο διαῤῥαγέντα ἐπανορθοῦν, ἢ τὰ ξύλα συνάγειν τῆς ἁρμονίας [ἡ λεαίνειν τὸ τραχὺ τῶν σανίδων, ἣ ποιεῖν ὅλον ἐχεῖγα, ἃ χειροτέχνης πατὴρ χατὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ ἐπιτηδεύματος διδάσχει τὸν παῖδα] ἀνθρώπου δὲ μέρος, καὶ μέρος τὸ χάλλιστον τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν, τὸ μάλιστα παρὰ τῆς φύσεως φιλοπόνως δημιουργούμενον, οὐχ ἂν ἐποίησεν ἄλλος, εἰ μήγε ὁ τῆς πρώτης ἀρχῆς τῆς χατὰ φύσεως ἔχων τὴν ἐξουσίαν. Κἂν τις θελήσει προσεχῶς τοῖς ἀνθρωπικοῖς σιν ἐπιστῆσαι τὸν νοῦν, ἐν τούτῳ δὴ μάλιστα τῷ μοβίῳ τοῦ σώματος, τὴν παντοδύναμον, καὶ ποιχίλην τοῦ θεοῦ σοφίαν χατόψεται; ἐν μιχρᾷ μορίου καὶ μέμίαν τῆς τέχνης. Πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ αὐτῷ χάρις τις ἐπιχέχυται \" καὶ ἔστιν ἁπαλώτατός τε καὶ ἄσαρχος, … ὡς ἂν εἴπῃ τις, ἐν τῷ τρυφερῷ τὸ στερεὸν ἔχων, καὶ ἐν τῷ μαλαχῷ τὸ διατεταμένον \" καὶ ποιχίλαις δεὴῆνθισται ταῖς χρόαις. Τὸ γοῦν μέσον αὐτοῦ τὴν περεγραφὴν ἔχει τοῦ μέλανος \" καὶ ταύτην, οὐ δι' ὅλου μονοειδῇ, ἀλλὰ ποιχίλοις τισὶ χύχλοις συνδεδεμένων “ τοῦ χέντρου μὲν αὐτοῦ καὶ μέσου τὸ βαθύτερον [καὶ μελάντερον 35] ἔχοντος \" τῆς δὲ ἐξωτέρω περιφερε πρὸς τὴν ξανθοτέραν χατὰ μέρος ἀποληγούσης βα-φήν. Ταύτης ἕξωθεν τὸ λευχὸν περιδέόληται, στιλπνὸν καὶ διαυγὲς, οὐχ ἀχρότατον 15 ἔγον τὴν λευχότητα “ ἀλλ᾽ ἐν χρυσταλλοειδεῖ τινι καὶ διαυγαζούσῃ μένον τῇ μορφῇ. Τὸ ἐρυθρὸν χεῖται περὶ τὴν χρή,νὴν δ᾽͵, ἵνα τῷ λευχῷ καὶ τῷ μέλανι χεράτῃ τὴν χάριν. Ἐπὶ τούτοις, οὕτως ἐστὶ διαυγὴς καὶ λεῖος ἐν τῇ πυχνότητι, ὥστε καὶ τὰς τῶν ἐγγιζόντων εἰδωλοποιεῖν μορφὰς, καὶ οἱονεὶ χάτοπτρον ἀχριθὲς τῶν διὸ [δὴ] καὶ τὸ μεσαίτατον αὐτοῦ χύχλου χέντρον, προσηγόρευται χόρη, ἀεὶ τὶν μορφὴν τῷ χαταντιχρὺ βλέποντι δειχνύον ἀνθρωπιχήν. Ὡς γὰρ οὐχ ἔστε τὸν ὁρῶντα εἰς χάτοπτρον μὴ εὐθὺς ἐνίσχασηταιἷ τῇ ὕλῃ τὸν ἴδιον χαραχτῇρα' οὕτω τὸν ἀντιπρόαωπον ἑστῶτα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, μὴ ἐγγράψαι τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ τὴν οἰχείαν μορφήν. Εἰς ἀλλήλους γοῦν ἄνθρωποι βλέποντες ἀλλέλων γίνονται χάτοπτρα.","t":"Seeing the man, he stopped, and was ready for a healing beyond human reason and art. For medicine and its theory study those diseases which come upon the living creature later through various circumstances, after nature has completed it and brought it to light; but for an injury born with the body it promises no healing. Nor indeed for all the afflictions that come later; witnesses to this are the mutilated, whose loss of limbs no physician has ever restored. So the disciples, pitying the affliction, and seeing a man who had never tasted the finest pleasure, that of light, inquired into the cause of the affliction and asked the Lord, not very knowledgeably, whether it was for his own sin or for the offences of his parents that he had been brought into life in such a state. The question is open to criticism on either side. He could not have been condemned for his fathers [none of whose sins he was liable for], since God does not punish one person for another; nor did he pay the penalty for his own offences [before he had come into life], if indeed he was born blind in this way; for no one is a sinner before birth. The question, then, was not very sound. But let us learn how the Truth, our Lord, answered it. “This affliction,” he says, “disciples, is not a requital for sins, but the preparation of a coming dispensation: so that the one [who until now] was thought a common man may do things beyond man; so that the Creator of all, after the first making, may find even now occasions for creating; so that from the particular he may make the universal credible; and so that the hard and intractable people may be persuaded to throw away their stones and worship.” Let eyes that do not see be enlightened, then, so that the sun of righteousness may shine on the souls of the senseless. Let an extraordinary thing happen, and let eyes be created, so that the rebels may learn that the one called the son of Joseph, if he were truly a carpenter's son, could repair a broken stool, or fit timbers together at a joint [or smooth the roughness of planks, or do all the things a craftsman father teaches his son in the method of his trade]; but a part of a man, and the finest part, the eye, the part on which nature has spent most labour, no one else could make except the one who has authority over the first beginning of nature. If anyone will set his mind attentively on human [bodies], he will see God's all-powerful and varied wisdom especially in this part of the body … in a small part … of the art. For first, a grace is poured over it; it is most tender and fleshless, … having, as one might say, firmness in its delicacy and tension in its softness; and it is adorned with varied colours. Its middle is outlined in black, and this not uniform throughout, but bound together by several circles: the very centre and middle has the deeper [and blacker] colour, while the outer circumference fades gradually toward a yellower tint. Outside this the white is set around, gleaming and translucent, not of the most extreme whiteness, but remaining crystal-like and translucent in form. The red lies around …, so as to blend grace with the white and the black. Besides this, it is so translucent and smooth in its density that it makes images of the forms of those who approach, and like an exact mirror of …; that is why the innermost centre of its circle is called the pupil (korē, “the girl”), since it always shows a human form to the one who looks into it from opposite. For as it is impossible for one who looks into a mirror not at once to imprint his own likeness on the material, so it is impossible for one standing face to face with a person not to inscribe his own form on that person's eye. So people looking at one another become mirrors of one another.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 7.2 (PG 40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/7-2)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/7.3":{"o":"Θαύματος τοίνυν ἄξιος ἐν τοῖς χτίσμασιν ὀφθαλμός. Οὗτος γάρ μοι καὶ Θεὸν ἑρμηνεύει, πᾶσαν ἀχριδῶς χαταμανθάνων τὴν χτίσιν, χἀχ τῆς ἐνεργείας ὑποδειχνὺς τὰν τεχνίτην’ οὗτος ἐχ τῶν ὁρατῶν ἑρμηνεύει [τῇ ψυχῇ 33] τὰ ἀόρατα\" διὰ τούτου ἔχω γνῶσιν ἡλίου, καὶ οὐρανοῦ χόσμον ἔμαθον, καὶ χάλλος ἀστέρων ἱπστόρησα, καὶ γῆς ὑπόστασιν, καὶ φύσιν θαλάσσῆς σπερμάτων διαφορὰν, καὶ φυτῶν ποιχιλίαν, καὶ χρωμάτων ποιχίλην βαφὴν ᾿ σχότους τε χατήφειαν, καὶ φωτὸς λαμπηδόνα, καὶ πάντα ἀπλῶς ὅσα ὁ Θεὸς χτίσας ἐπύήνεσεν. Ὥς, εἴ γε ὀφθαλμὸς μὴ ὑπῆρχεν, ἀμάρτυρος ἂν ἣ κτίσις ἐγήρασεν οὐδενὸς χαθορῶντος τὴν ἑαυτὴν 33 σωζομένην τοῦ Θεοῦ σηφίαν καὶ δύναμιν. Διὰ ταύτην τοίνυν τὴν θαυμαστὴν τὴν ὄψεων χατασχευὴν ὀφθαλμοὶ καὶ νῦν ἐχτίσθησαν αὑτουχέδιϑι, ἵνα τὰς μιχροπρεπεῖς ἐννοίας, τὰς ἐχ τῆς σαρχὸς ἐγγινομένας ἡμῖν, περὶ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς, ἀποθώμεθα, τῇ μεγαλουργίᾳ τῶν γινομένων ἐχδάλλοντες τὴν ψυχῆς πᾶσαν ὑπόληψιν μιχροπρεπῇ καὶ χαμαίζηλον\" γνωρίσωμεν δὲ, ὅτι τὸ μαχάριον φῶς καὶ χάλλος τὺς θεότητος ὀστράχινον σχεῦος ἐδέξατο, διαχονοῦν ἡ μῖν χατὰ τοὺς λύχνους τὴν λαμπηδόνα. Αὐτουργεῖ δὲ διόλου τὴν θεραπείαν ὁ Κύριος, καὶ οὐ λόγῳ μόνῳ χρῆται πρὸς τὴν ἐνέργειαν ὁ προστάγματι τὴν πᾶσαν ὑποστησάμενος διαχόσμησιν, ὁ δύο λόγοις βραχέσι τὸν παραλυτιχὸν δ᾽ θεραπεύσας \" ἀλλὰ καὶ στόματι, καὶ χερπὶ, καὶ ἄλλῃ πολλῇ προνοίᾳ θεραπεύει [νῦν 55] τὴν τυφλότητα, ἵνα βεθαίαν διὰ τῶν πραγμάτων ἐμποιήσῃ τοῖς ἀπίστοις τὴν πίστιν. Πτύει ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐδάφους, καὶ τῷ σιάλῳ πηλὸν ἐργάζεται, τῇ μὲν γῇ ταπεινὴν διὰ τοῦτο πρὸς τὴν θεραπείαν συγχρώμενος, ἵνα αὶ δείξῃ, ὡς ἐξ ἐχείνου τοῦ χοῦ, ὅθεν ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐπλάσθη τὸ ζῶον, καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν ἀρτίως μέρος δηἔχει τὸν ἐσχεδασμένον καὶ ἀχόλλητον, ἵνα φανερῶς ἡμῖν δείξῃ, ὅτι τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ ὁ Λόγος τὰ πάντα χατώρθωσε. Τῷ «1όγῳ γὰρ [Κυρίου \"Ί οἱ οὐρανοὶ ἐστερεώθησαν, καὶ τῷ πγεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ πᾶσα ἡ δύναμις αὖτῶν. Τάχα ὃὲ γαὶ διὰ τοῦτο πτύων θεραπεύει, ἵνα χατς ἐμπτύσμασι μέλλοντας \" καὶ ὅμως οὐχ ἐδυσώπησε τῶν μαινομένων τὸ θράσος, ἀλλ᾽ ἐνεπτύσθη πολλὰ, ὁ τοιαῦτα χατορθῶν διὰ τοῦ πτύσματος. Τῆς πρώτης ταύτης τάξεως τὴν δημιουργιχὴν ὑποφαίνει δύναμιν καὶ διὰ μὲν τοῦ προστάξαι εἰς τὴν χολυμδήθραν τοῦ Σιλωὰμ νίψασθαι, τὴν δι᾽ ὕδατος σωτηρίαν ἡμῖν ἐνὀείχνυται, ἣν πᾶσιν ὁ ἀπεσταλμένος Σιλωὰμ ἐχαρίσατο. Τότε γὰρ χαλῶς 35 βλέπομεν, ὅτ᾽ ἂν τῷ μυστυχῷ χαταρθῶμεν ὕδατι\" τότε φῶς ἐμᾶς περιλάμπει τῆς χάριτος, ὅτ᾽ ἂν ἡ δύναμις τοῦ βαπτίσματος τὸν ῥύπον τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων καὶ τὰς χηλῖδας ἐχνίψῃ. Καὶ πάντες ὅσοι τῇ ἐντολῇ τοῦ Σιλωλα τὸ πνευματικὸν ὁρῶμεν φῶς, ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνὕρωπον ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν χόσμον. Ὦ τοῦ θαύματος καὶ τῆς μεγάλης ἐνεργείας! ᾿Απῆλθεν ἐχ τῆς χολυμδήθρας ὁ πρὸ ὀλίγου τυφλὸς, χοσμηθεὶς τὸ πρόσὠπὸν τῇ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν προσθήχῃ, βλέπων ἀχριδῶς πρὸς τὸν ἡλιαχὴν ἀχτῖνα, ᾿Εξέπληττε τοὺς γείτονας καὶ τοὺς γνωρίμους τὸ πρᾶγμα, Ἐθορύθει οὖν \"\" ὁ χαινὸς τῆς θεραπείας τρόπος \" περιενόστει τὴν πόλιν ὁ ἄνθρωπος βλέπων, ἵνα βλέπηται παρὰ πάντων ἔργον γενόμενον χαινὸν καὶ παράδοξον ὑπὸ τοῦ [Ἰησοῦ τοῦ \"] ἐν Βηθλεὲμ γεννηθέντος, τοῦ μιχροῦ βρέφους ἐχείνου, τοῦ ἐν τῇ φάτνῃ τοῖς σπαργάνοις ἐνειληθέντος. Ταῦτα γάρ ἔστιν, ἃ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους ἀπιστεῖν ἐποίει τῇ θεότητι. Οὐχοῦν, ὦ ἀνόητοι καὶ παχυχάρδιοι, τῷ λογιτμῷ τοὺς ἐξ αἰῶνος ἀνθρώπους \"\". ᾿Απὸ τοῦ Αδὰμ ἀρξάμενοι, τοὺς ἑξῆς πάντας διερευνήσατε, ἐὰν εὕρητε τὸ νῦν γενόμενον καὶ ἐπ᾽ ἄλλων πραχθέν\" ἐὰν ἔχοντα τὸν βίον τοιαύτης θεραπείας ὑπόδειγμα\" καὶ πάλιν, ἐπὶ διασυρμῷ \"3 τοῦ Κυρίου μου, τὸν τοῦ τέχτονος προφέρετε Παῖδα, οὗ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς γνωρί- ᾿Αλλ᾽ οὐδὲν ὡς ἔοιχεν ἐπ᾽ ἐχείνων. Οὐ λόγος ἐπαί- Ἐπίπιναγο ηΐ}}}} ἡ ἐδυσώπει \" πάντα δὲ τοὐναντίον διὰ τὴν,… ὡς; ἀληθῶς.","t":"The eye, then, is worthy of wonder among created things. It interprets God to me too, learning all creation accurately and from the work pointing out the craftsman; it interprets [to the soul] the invisible things from the visible. Through it I have knowledge of the sun; I have learned the order of heaven, observed the beauty of the stars, the substance of the earth, the nature of the sea, the differences of seeds, the variety of plants, and the varied tints of colours; the gloom of darkness and the brightness of light, and simply everything that God created and praised. So, if the eye did not exist, creation would have grown old without a witness, with no one to see the wisdom and power of God preserved in it. Because of this wonderful structure of sight, eyes were now created on the spot, so that we may put away the petty thoughts about the Only-begotten that arise in us from the flesh, casting out of the soul, by the magnificence of what was done, every petty and grovelling supposition; and so that we may recognize that the blessed light and beauty of the Godhead was received by an earthen vessel, which serves its brightness to us as lamps do. The Lord performs the healing entirely with his own hands, and does not use a word alone for the act, he who established the whole ordered world by a command, who healed the paralytic with two short words; but with his mouth and hands and much other care he heals the blindness [now], so that through deeds he may produce firm faith in the unbelieving. He spits on the ground and makes clay with the saliva, using the lowly earth for the healing for this reason: to show that from that dust from which the living creature was formed in the beginning, the remaining part too has just now … the scattered and unjoined [dust], so that he might show us plainly that the Word accomplished all things by the power of his mouth. “For by the word [of the Lord] the heavens were established, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.” And perhaps he heals by spitting for this reason too, so that … those who were going to [assail him] with spittings; and yet it did not shame the audacity of the madmen, but he who accomplished such things through spittle was spat on many times. He reveals the creative power of this first order; and by commanding the man to wash in the pool of Siloam, he points to the salvation through water, which the Siloam who was sent has given to all. For then we see well, when we are cleansed by the mystical water; then the light of grace shines around us, when the power of baptism washes off the filth and stains of sins. And all of us who [wash] at the command of Siloam see the spiritual light, which enlightens every person coming into the world. O the wonder and the great working! The man who a little before was blind went away from the pool, his face adorned with the addition of eyes, looking straight at the rays of the sun. The thing amazed his neighbours and acquaintances. The new manner of healing caused an uproar; the man went around the city seeing, so that all might see the new and extraordinary work done by [Jesus], who was born in Bethlehem, that little babe wrapped in swaddling clothes in the manger. For these are the things that made the Jews disbelieve his divinity. Well then, you foolish and dull of heart, [go over] in reasoning the people from the beginning of the world. Starting from Adam, search all who came after, and see whether you find what has now been done ever done for others; whether life holds an example of such a healing; and then again, in mockery of my Lord, bring forward the carpenter's son, whose brothers you know … But nothing, it seems, [moved] them. No word instructed, … shamed them; everything was the opposite, because of …","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 7.3 (PG 40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/7-3)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/7.4":{"o":"… προσερωτῶντες ἀνατρέπειν ἐσπούδαζον, τοσούτῳ ιἰοη 5 βογίοιῃ δπαγγαγοῖ, υἱ οἱ ᾿τ ἢ Οὔ ἐπ 5ἰῖ οοπλέον ἐδεθαιοῦτο ἡ ἀλήθεια᾽ καὶ ταυτὸ ἔπασχον τῶν θπρίων ἐχείνοις, ἃ πληγέντα παρά τινος, καὶ μηδέπω πᾶσαν τὴν αἰχμὴν ἐν τῇ γαστρὶ δεξάμενα, τῇ πρὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὁρμῇ καὶ φιλονεικίᾳ, ὅλον ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτὰ Πρώτη πολυπραγμοσύνη \" Εἰ οὗτος αὐτὸς ὁ τυφλὸς, καὶ μὴ ἕτερος ἀντ᾽ ἐχείνου ἐδείχθη \" τοῦτο σαφῶς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου διαμαρτυρομένου, καὶ τὴν ἀχολουθίαν τῆς θεραπείας ἀπαγγέλλοντος \"5, ὅτι χαι πηλὸς χατεχρίσθη τὸ τῆς τυφλότητος φάρμαχον, ὅτι καὶ χολυμδύθρα τὸν πηλὸν ἀπονίψασα, τὸ βλέπειν θανον \" ἀνεζήτουν οἱ Φαρισαῖοι, \"' καὶ ἐπείθοντο. Δευτέρα τέχνη εἰς ἀθέτησιν τοῦ γενομένου πᾶρ- Β ἐλαμδάνετο, τὸ πειρᾶσθαι δειχνύειν, ὡς οὐχ ἔστιν ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ ἐνεργήσας τὴν θεραπείαν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἄνθρωπὸς τὸν Σωτῆρα ἐδόα, καὶ τῇ ὁμολογίᾳ, καὶ τῷ χτρύγματι ἀντεδίδου τὴν χάριν, χα) τὸν εὐεργέτην γιῶντες τὴν γνώμην, οὐχ ἔχοντες ὃ τι καὶ πράξωσιν, ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ πάθους πάλιν ἀνατρέχουσι [ζήτησιν χαὺ εἰ ἐκ γενετῆς τυφλὸς, τοῦτο περιεργάζονται, καὶ τοὺς γονεῖς ἀναζητοῦσι τοῦ ἀνθρώπου 53], καὶ ἀχριδεῖς ἐξετασταὶ γίνονται τῶν χαθ' ἕχαστον, οὐχ ἵνα βεδαιώσωσι τὸ πραχθὲν, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα ἀνατροπὴν ποθεν τοῦ θαυμασίου λάδωσι, καὶ ψευδὴ τινα σχευωρίαν χατασχευάσαντες τὸ πιστεῦον πλῆθος τῇς ὁρμῆς ἀνα\" τρέψωσιν. Ὦ χαχίας ὑπερδολή ! Μάχεσθαι πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν, καὶ μὴ προσχυνεῖν τὸν πάντα \"5 ποιοῦντα, ἀλλὰ διασύρειν τὸν εὐεῤγέτην \" μὴ θαυμάζειν τὴν δύναμιν, ἀλλ᾽ εὐτελίζειν πειρᾶσθαι τὰ πράγματα. Πείσθητε καὶ παρὰ τῶν γονέων, ὦ Φαρισαῖοι. ὅτι μετὰ τῆς τυφλότητος ἐτέχθη ὁ ἄνθρωπος \" καὶ πάλιν ἐπὶ τὸν τυφλὸν ἀνατρέχετε, ἐχ δευτέρου, καὶ τρίτον, παρ᾽ ἐχείνον πληροφορούμενον τῶν χαχῶν ἐπιχείρημάτων καὶ τῶν ἐπιδουλῶν. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ὅτ᾽ ἂν τῆς πρώτης ἐχπέσητε πείρας, ἐπὶ τὴν δευτέραν χωρεῖτε \" ὅτ᾽ ἂν τῆς δευτέρας, ἐπὶ τὴν τρίτην\" ὅτ᾽ ἂν τῆς τρίτης, ἐπὶ τὸν χαθεξῆς. ᾿Αλώπεχος χαχουργούσης φεσθς δρόμους καὶ πανταχοῦ μὲν ὑμᾶς τὰ δίχτνα τῆς ἀληθείας περιεστοίχισται\" ἄφυχτος δὲ, ἡ ἀπὸ θαυμχσίου διέξοδος. “Ὅμως δὲ πάση: οὐκ ἀμελεῖτε πλοχῆς, ἱστὸν ἀράχνης ὑφαίνοντες, ποιχίλως μὲν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀσθενῶς καὶ ἀνηνύτως … ὅμοιοι παῖδες. Τοιοῦτοι χἀχεῖνοι τὸν τρόπον περὶ τὰ θαυμάσια τὰ χατ᾽ Αἴγυπτον. Ἐχ πολέμων ἐσώζοντο χαινῶς καὶ παρ᾽ ἐλπίδας, καὶ τῷ διδόντι τὴν σωτητὴν φύσιν, καὶ τῶν λιμωττώντων ἧσαν πλέον ἀχάρίστοι\" μάννα ὑπεδέχοντο οὐρανόθεν πεμπόμενον, καὶ τῶν Αἰγυπτιαχῶν σχορόδων τε καὶ χρομμύων τὴν δυσωδίαν ἐπόθουν \" στύλῳ νεφέλης τὴν ἡμέραν ὑπεσχιάζοντο, ἵνα μὴ τῇ θέρμῃ τῆς ἡλιαχῆς ἀχτῖνος ταλαιπωρήσωσι, καὶ στύλῳ πυρὸς ἐν νυχτὶ χατελάμποντο, ἄλλον φωστῆρα χαινὸν παρὰ τὴν σαελήνην λαθόντες ἑξαίρετον, καὶ ὡς οὐδεμιᾶς ἐνεργείας θεϊχῆς ἀπολαύοντες, οὕτως χαινοὺς καὶ “μετεώρους ἐζήτουν θεοὺς εἰσπράττοντες, ἵνα μιχρὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ ὄρους χατααχεθεὶς Μωῦσῆς ἐν τῇ δόσει τοῦ νόμου, τὴν ἐπἀνοῦδον παρελχύσῃ. Ὑμεῖς ἀληθῶς χληρονόμοι τῆς ἐχείνων ἀγνωμοσύνης. καὶ τὸν νόμον οὐχ ἀγαπήσαντες, αία:, ἀλλὰ σιδηρᾶς χρήζοντες. ΓΑνθρωπὸν ὁρᾶτε, παρελθόντα μὲν εἰς φῶς, ἐν σκότῳ δὲ μέχρ΄ πόῤῥω τῆς ἡλιχίας διατελέσαντα ἀνενέργητον τὰς ὄψεις, ἀλλοτρίοις ὀφθαλμοῖς ὁδηγούς μενον, χαθημέραν πρὸ τοῦ ἱεροῦ χαθήμενον, δημοσιεύοντα τὴν συμφορὰν, ἵνα πολλοὺς εἰς ἕλεον ἐφελχύσηται, τὴν πόλιν ἔχοντα τοῦ πάθους μάρτυρα, βλέποντα νῦν καὶ ἰαθέντα. ταχέως, οὐ φαρμάχων ποιχίλων συνθέσει, οὐδὲ σιδήρου τομαῖς, ἀλλὰ πτνέλῳ μόνῳ, καὶ τούτου διὰ σιέλου γενόμενον, καὶ πῶς οὐ γὴν προσχυνεῖτε τὸν ἀπὸ γῆς ὀφθαλμοὺς χτίσαντα, καὶ σέδετε τὴν θεϊχὴν ἐνέργειαν; Οὐ φθόνῳ δὲ διαῤῥήγνυσθε, καὶ ζηλοῦτε τὸν Θεὸν ὡς ἀντίτεχνον, ὡς δτ μιουργοὶ Δημιουργὸν, ὡς ὁμόφυλοι τὸν ὁμότιμον;","t":"… the more they tried to overturn [the miracle] by questioning, the more firmly the truth was confirmed; and they suffered the same as those beasts which, struck by someone and not yet having received the whole spear-point in their belly, by their rush and fury against the man [drive] the whole of it into themselves. The first inquiry was whether this was the blind man himself and not someone else shown in his place. The man plainly testified to this, and reported the sequence of the healing: that clay was smeared on as the medicine for his blindness, and that a pool, washing the clay off, [gave him] sight. The Pharisees inquired … and were persuaded. A second device was taken up to annul what had happened: the attempt to show that it was not the Christ who performed the healing. But since the man proclaimed the Saviour, and repaid the grace with confession and proclamation, … knowing the benefactor's mind, and not knowing what to do, they run back again to the [inquiry] about the affliction [they busy themselves with whether he was blind from birth, and seek out the man's parents], and become exacting examiners of every detail, not to confirm what had been done, but to find from somewhere a way of overturning the miracle, and, by contriving some false fabrication, to turn the believing crowd back from its impulse. O excess of wickedness! To fight against the truth, and not to worship the one who does all things, but to slander the benefactor; not to marvel at the power, but to try to belittle the facts. You were persuaded by the parents too, Pharisees, that the man was born with his blindness; and again you run back to the blind man a second and a third time, … being informed by him of your evil attempts and plots. Whenever you fail in the first attempt, you go on to the second; when you fail in the second, to the third; when in the third, to the next. [You run] the courses of a mischievous fox …; and everywhere the nets of truth have surrounded you, and there is no escape from the miracle. Yet you leave no weaving untried, spinning a spider's web, intricately but weakly and to no effect … like children. Such too were those others, in their behaviour toward the wonders in Egypt. They were saved from wars in strange ways and beyond hope, and to the one who gave them salvation … and they were more ungrateful than the starving. They received manna sent from heaven, and longed for the stench of the Egyptian garlic and onions; they were shaded by day by a pillar of cloud, so as not to suffer from the heat of the sun's rays, and lit up by night by a pillar of fire, receiving another new and special luminary besides the moon; and as though they enjoyed no divine working, they sought new and lofty gods, demanding them because Moses, detained a little on the mountain at the giving of the law, delayed his return. You are truly heirs of their ingratitude; you did not love the law, … but needed an iron [rod]. You see a man who came into the light but remained in darkness until far on in years, his eyes inactive, guided by the eyes of others, sitting daily before the temple, making his misfortune public so as to draw many to pity, with the city as witness of his affliction: now he sees, and was healed quickly, not by a compound of various drugs nor by cuts with iron, but by clay alone, and that made with spittle. How is it that you do not worship the one who created eyes from earth, and revere the divine working? Are you not bursting with envy, jealous of God as a rival craftsman, like craftsmen of the Craftsman, like kinsmen of one of equal rank?","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 7.4 (PG 40:219; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/7-4)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/7.5":{"o":"Ναὶ πάλαι ἐσμὲν \" ἐντυγχάνοντες βίδλοις, ὅσαι ἐπὶ τῇ τοῦ λαοῦ οἰχονομίᾳ ἐγράφησαν, καὶ ὅσαι τὰς τῶν βασιλέων ἀρχὰς, καὶ τὴν ἐπ᾽ ἐχείνοις ἱστορίαν ἔχδιδάσχουσιν\" εὐπειθῶς περὶ ἑκάστου τὰ λεγόμενα παραδέχεσθε\" ὡς Μωῦσέα μὲν μιχροῦ δέοντος νομίζειν ϑεὸν, καὶ ᾿Ελισσαϊον ὑπερθαυμάξειν, καὶ τὸν τούτου διδάσχαλον τὸν Θεσόίτην ὑμνεῖν καὶ πάντας τοὺς Β χαθ᾽ ἐχάστην γενεὰν ἁγίους, τοὺς ἐνεργηθέντας παρὰ Ο Θ:οῦ καὶ τὰ μεγάλα καὶ ἀοίδιμα χΞεῖτε καὶ δ τῶν ἀρκαίων, οὐδὲ ἀθετεῖτε τὴν τῶν πατέρων ἐξήγησιν, καὶ ταῦτα πεφυχότων ἀνθρώπων μὴ λίαν εὐχόλως ἀνάγεσθαι πρὸς τὴν πίστιν τῆς ἀχοῆς \" ὃ δὲ ὀςθαλμοῖς ὑστέῤοις ἐπὶ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν εἴδετε, καὶ ἃ τοῖς δαχτύλοις ἔξεστι ψηλαφῆσαι, καὶ ἀχριδῶς ὁμοῦ χαχουργεῖτε, καὶ προφητείας χαταπατοῦντες, καὶ τὴν ἔχδασιν τῶν προῤῥήσεων ἀνατρέποντες. Τὰ γὰρ νῦν ἐπὶ τῆς πείρας ὁρώμενα, καὶ πάλαι φθάσας Ἡσαῖας διὰ τῶν λόγων ἐδίδαξεν\" Ἰδοὺ ὁ Θεὰς ἡμῶν χρίσιν ἀνταποδίδωσι καὶ ἀνταποδώσει\" αὐτὸς ἥξει, καὶ σώσει ἡμᾶς. Τότε ἀνοιγήσονται μοὶ τυριλῶν, καὶ ὦτα κωφῶν ἀκούσονται\" τότε ἀλεῖται ὡς δὅλαρος ὁ χωλὸς, καὶ τραγὴ ἔσται γλῶσσα μογιιάιλλιου \"5. Ταῦτα οὐ Πέτρον καὶ Ἰωάννου τὰ ῥήματα, οὐδέ τινος τῶν νέων καὶ ὑπόπτων προσὦπων οἱ λόγοι, ἵνα χεχαρισμένην εὐφημίαν ὑπονοήσαντες, ἀθετήσητε τὴν ἀλήθειαν \" ἀλλὰ τῆς ὑμετέρας προφήτείας οἱ λόγοι, εἰ τὸν Θηχουΐτην γνωρί… Ἰσραηλίτην ἐχ γένους ἄνδρα, τῆς κατὰ τὸν νόμον ἀγωγῆς τὸ χεφάλαιον. Τῷ δὲ Θεῷ δόξα, κράτος. τιμὴ. νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ᾿λμῆν-","t":"Yes, [we know this] of old: when you read the books written about the dispensation given to the people, and those that relate the reigns of the kings and their history, you readily accept what is said about each one; so much so that you almost think Moses a god, you admire Elisha beyond measure, you sing the praises of his teacher the Tishbite, and of all the saints in each generation who were empowered by God, and the great and celebrated … of the ancients; nor do you reject the explanation of the fathers, though people are not by nature very easily brought to believe what they hear. But what you saw with your own eyes, and what can be touched with the fingers, … and you act wickedly with all precision, trampling on prophecies and overturning the fulfilment of the predictions. For what is now seen in experience Isaiah taught long ago in words: “Behold, our God repays judgment and will repay; he himself will come and save us. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will hear; then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the stammerers will be clear.” These are not the words of Peter and John, nor of any of the new and suspect persons, so that you might suspect flattering praise and reject the truth; they are the words of your own prophecy, if you recognize … an Israelite by race, a man who was the head of the way of life according to the law. To God be glory, might and honour, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 7.5 (PG 40:219; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/7-5)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/8.1":{"o":"Η'. Ἐγχώμιον εἰς τοὺς ἁγίους κορυφαίους ἁποστό - Πᾶσαι μὲν αἱ συνήθεις αὗται καὶ κατὰ νόμον τελού-μεναι τῶν μαρτύρων τιμαὶ ἱεραὶ, πανηγύρεις εἰσὶ, καὶ τῶν χατὰ Θεὸν ἀνδραγαθησάντων στῆλαι διαιωνίζουσαι\" ἐν αἷς οἱ πρόεδροι τῶν ἐχχλησιῶν, ὅταν πρὸς τὸ λέγειν ἀφίκωνται, τὰς ἑαυτῶν δυνάμεις ἀντεξετάζόντες τῷ μεγέθει τῶν ὑποθέσεων, εὐθὺς ἐν προοιμίοις πρὸς τὴν συγγνώμην καὶ τὴν παραίτησιν χαταφεύγουσιν\" χαΐί φασιν ἐλαττοῦν τὴν τῶν πραγμάτων μεγαλοποέπειαν τῇ τοῦ λόγου σμιχρότητι. Εἰ δ᾽ ἐχεῖνοι, τοὺς χαθ᾽ ἔχαστον τῶν μαρτύρων Σγχωμιάζειν μέλλοντες, ἀπαγορεύουσι πρὸς τὸν ἔπαινον, καὶ λαμ.-πρᾷ τῇ φωνῇ τὴν σφῶν αὐτῶν ὁμολογοῦσιν ἀσθένειαν\" τίς ἂν γενοίμην ἐγὼ σήμερον, ὁ τοὺς διδασχάλους τῶν μαρτύρων ἔχων προχειμένους εἰς εὐφημίαν,\" τοὺς γνησίους καὶ πρώτους μαθητὰς τοῦ Χριστοῦ, τοὺς Πατέρας τῶν ἐχχλησιῶν, τοὺς μόνους ἀξιοπίτους Εὐαγγελίου χήρυχας, τοὺς θεῷ λαλήσαντας, καὶ τὴν παρὰ Θεοῦ φωνὴν δεξαμένους ταῖς ἀχοαῖς : Οὐ μὴν, ἐπειδὴ λίαν ὑψηλὸς ὁ λόγος, καὶ δυσέφι χτὸς ἧ ἐγχείρησις, τὴν ἀργὴν καὶ ἄπραχτον σιωπὴν ἀγαπήσωμεν, ὥσπερ οἱ δειλοὶ καὶ ἀπειροθάλαττοι, οἱ πρὸς μόνην τὴν ὄψιν τῆς θαλάττης ἀπαγορεύοντες, καὶ οὔτε τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐπιδῆναι τῆς νεὼς ἀνεχόμενοι, οὔτε πείρας ἕνεχεν μιχρὰ τοὺς αἰγιαλοὺς περιπλεῦσαι\" αὑτοῖς δὲ τοῖς τρισμαχαρίοις πιστεύσαντες τὴν ἐγχείρησιν, τοῖς ὑπὲρ ὧν συνεληλύθαμεν σήμερον, … τὰ χατὰ δύναμιν τῇ τῶν ἄλλων εὐφροσύνη παρασχέσθαι πειραθῶμεν. Οἶδα γὰρ, ὅτι τοσοῦτον ζητηθῆσεται, οὐχ ὅσον ἐχείνοις ὑφείλεταί; τοῖς μεγάλοις καὶ θαυμασίοις, ἀλλ᾽ ὅσον παρ᾽ ἡμῖν εὑρεθῆναι τοῖς πέγησιν, Ἑδουλόμην μὲν οὖν ἐχείνης τῆς χάριτος ὁλίγον μέρος ἐμοὶ χορηθῆναι 5 σήμερον, ἧς ἑχάτερός τὸ τῶν ἁγίων τούτων μεταλαδὼν, ὁ μὲ ἐν Ἵεροσολύμοις τοὺς ἀπειθοῦντας ἐδίδασχεν, ὁ δὲ τὸν \"Αρειον πάγον ἐν ᾿Αθήναις χαταλαδὼν, ἐχ τῆς ἀθέον πλάνης τοὺς δεισιδαι μονοῦντας ἐπέστρεψεν, ὑποδειχνὺς αὖτοῖς τὸν Χριστὸν, καὶ τὸ τῆς͵ ἀληθοῦς εὐσεύείας χαταγγείλας μυστήριον. Οὕτω γὰρ ἀνεδείξαμέν τι τῶν προχειμένων ἐπιτελεῖν, καὶ μὴ πολὺ τοῦ μεγάλου Ἐπειδὴ δὲ αἱ μεγάλαι τοῦ Πνεύματος δωρεαὶ τῶν Β' μεγάλων εἰσὶν, καὶ ἀνάξιος ἐγὼ τοιαύταις πλουτίζεσθαι χάρισιν. προσθήσω τὴν πενίαν μετὰ τῆς προἡυμίας ὑμῖν, ὡς Ἑλισσαϊος μετὰ τῶν ἀλεύρων τὰ λάχᾶανα, τῆς τοῦ προέχεσθαι πάντως τὸ χαλὸν οὐχ ἁμοιρήσων τιμῆς. Μηδεὶς δέ με οἰηθείη τῶν ἀχουσομένων ὑμῶν, εὐφημίαν γενναίων ἀνδρῶν προελόμενον, τοῖς νόμοις ἀχολουθήσειν τῆς σοφίας τῆς ἔξωθεν. Οὐ γὰρ τέχνῃ συγχειμένῃ χολαχείαν ἀπεργαζόμεθα: ἀλλὰ ψυχῶν φιλοθέων ἀρετὴν, μετὰ ἀληθείας ὑμῖν παραστῆσαι σπουδάζομεν, Διὸ σιωπηθήσεται γένος, καὶ πατέρων περιφάνεια οὐ διοχλήσει τὸν λόγον. Σὰρξ γὰρ καὶ αἷμα βασιλείαν Θεοῦ οὐ μήσουσι». Οὐδὲ ἀπὸ τῶν περιγείων καὶ ἐγχοσμίων τοὺς οὐρανοῦ πολίτας τιμήσομεν\" ἀλλὰ πᾶν τοὐναντίον, πατέρων ἀφανὴς βίος, καὶ τέχναι βάναυσοι, καὶ πενίας ὀνομαζόμενον ὄνειδος, ταῦτα τοῖς ἑπαίνοις μνημονευθήσεται, Δόξα γὰρ Χριστιανῶν, χαγὰ τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον τὸ ἡμέτερον, ταπεινότης ἐστίν, Ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ τῶν ἔξωθεν ἐγχωμίων συνορῶν δεινῶς χαταμέμφομδι\" ὅτι σεμνύνειν βουλόμενοι οὗς ἂν ἕλωνται, ὡς μηδὲν ἐξαίρετον εἰπεῖν ἔχοντες ἀγαθὸν, μάτην τοῖς τάφοις προσφεύγουσιν, καὶ διοχλοῦσι τοὺς χειμένους εἰκῇ, καὶ τοὺς νεχροὺς ποιοῦσι χόσμον τῶν ζώντων᾽ δι ὧν ἐπιχαλούνται τοὺς τελευτήσαντας, ὁμολογοῦντες οὐδὲν ἀγαθὸν τοῖς παρ᾽ αὐτῶν ἑγχωμιαζομένοις προσεῖναι. Καὶ πρὸς τούτοις, εἰ μὲν ὁμολογούμενον ἦν, πάντως τοὺς ἐκ λαμπρῶν πατέρων χατάγοντας, καὶ αὐτοὺς ὑπάρχειν ἀγαθοὺς, καὶ ὥσπερ τινὰ φύσιν τὴν ἀρετὴν διαδέχεσθαι, εὔχαιρον ἣν ἴσως μνείαν τι- Ὁ νὰ τῶν γονέων ποιεῖσθαι \" ἐπειδὴ δὲ ψεύδεται τὰς τοῦ γένους διαδοχὰς ἐπὶ πλέον ἣ τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων διαφορὰ (γίνεται γὰρ ἄσωτος ὁ τοῦ φιλοσόφου, καὶ φιλόσοφος ὁ τοῦ φιληδόνου), μάταιος ὁ πόνος τῶν προπάππων μεμνῆσθαι\" δέον ἐπιδειχνύειν, εἴπερ ἔχει τὶς ἀρετῆς χατορθωώματα. Καὶ ταῦθ᾽ ὅτι τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν τρόπον, οὐχ ἔστιν ἄλλοθεν πολυπραγμονυῦντας 'μαθεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς ἱερᾶς ἡμῶν Γραφῆς, πολύτρόπον ἐχούσης καὶ ποιχίλην τὴν ὠφέλειαν.","t":"Homily 8. Encomium on the holy chief apostles. All these customary honours of the martyrs, performed according to law, are sacred festivals and everlasting monuments of those who have done valiantly according to God. In them the presidents of the churches, when they come to speak, measure their own powers against the greatness of their subjects, and at once in their opening words take refuge in asking for pardon and excusing themselves, saying that they diminish the magnificence of the deeds by the smallness of their speech. And if they, when about to praise individual martyrs, give up before the task of praise and confess their own weakness in a loud voice, what would become of me today, who have set before me for praise the teachers of the martyrs, the genuine and first disciples of Christ, the Fathers of the churches, the only trustworthy heralds of the Gospel, men who spoke with God and received the voice from God with their ears? Yet, though the subject is very lofty and the undertaking hard to reach, let us not love idle and useless silence, like cowards who have no experience of the sea, who give up at the mere sight of the sea and will neither set foot on the ship at all nor sail a little way round the shores to try it. Rather, entrusting the undertaking to the thrice-blessed men themselves, for whom we have gathered today, … let us try, as far as we can, to provide for the joy of the others. For I know that as much will be required, not as is owed to those great and wonderful men, but as can be found among us poor ones. I wished, then, that a small part of that grace might be supplied to me today which each of these saints received: the one who taught the disobedient in Jerusalem, and the other who, coming to the Areopagus at Athens, turned the superstitious from their godless error, showing them Christ and proclaiming the mystery of true godliness. So we would have shown ourselves accomplishing something of what lies before us, and not [falling] far short of the great … But since the great gifts of the Spirit belong to the great, and I am unworthy to be enriched with such graces, I will set my poverty before you with my eagerness, as Elisha set the herbs before them with the flour, so as not to lose altogether the honour of setting forth what is good. Let none of you who hear me think that, having undertaken the praise of noble men, I will follow the rules of the wisdom from outside. We do not produce flattery by a studied art; we are eager to present to you, with truth, the virtue of God-loving souls. Therefore family will be passed over in silence, and the fame of fathers will not burden the discourse. For “flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Nor will we honour the citizens of heaven from earthly and worldly things; quite the opposite: the obscure life of their fathers, their mechanical trades, and the so-called reproach of poverty, these will be mentioned in the praises. For the glory of Christians, according to our Gospel, is humility. And observing the encomia of those outside, I blame them severely, because, wishing to exalt whomever they choose, as though they had nothing special and good to say of them, they take refuge in vain in tombs, disturb those who lie there to no purpose, and make the dead the ornament of the living; and by calling on the dead they confess that nothing good belongs to those they praise. Besides, if it were agreed that those descended from illustrious fathers are certainly good themselves, and inherit virtue as a kind of nature, it would perhaps be fitting to make some mention of the parents; but since difference of pursuits more often belies the succession of family (for the philosopher's son becomes a profligate, and the pleasure-lover's son a philosopher), it is labour in vain to recall great-grandfathers; one must show whether a man has achievements of virtue of his own. That this is so one need not learn by inquiring elsewhere, but from our holy Scripture itself, which offers many-sided and varied profit.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 8.1 (PG 40:260; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/8-1)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/8.10":{"o":"Κατελθὼν δὲ νιχητὴς ἐχεῖθεν, ἔνθα μάλιστα ἴσχυεν ὁ πολεμικὸς τῶν Ἑλλήνων δαίμων, ἐχεῖθεν δὲ μεταθὰς πρὸς τὴν γείτονα πόλιν τὴν Κόρινθον, οὖσαν τῆς ᾿Αχαῖας μητρόπολιν, καὶ λαλήσας ἐν ταῖς συνἀγωγαῖς τὸ σωτήριον δίδαγμα, ᾧχετο ἄγων προσήλυτον, οὐχ ἕνα τῶν πολλῶν, οὐδὲ τῶν ἐπιτυχόντων, ἀλλὰ αὐτὸν τὸν ἀρχισυνάγωγον, μετὰ τοῦ παντὸς πλή-θους τῆς οἰχίας᾽ καὶ νιχέσας ἀπὸ κορυφῆς τὸν νόμον, καὶ μεγαλύνα: τὸν σταυρὸν, ὡς ὑψηλὸν τρόπαιον, οὔτὼ χἀχείνην ἀφῆχε τὴν πόλιν, τῷ Χριστῷ ὑποχύψαὅαν. Τοῦ δὲ χρόνου προϊόντος, καὶ τοῦ λόγου τῆς εὐ-λει\" προσχτώμενος τῷ βασιλεῖ χαθ᾽ ἡμέραν πόλεις, χώμας, ἀγροὺς, ὑποχόπτων τὰ νεῦρα τοῦ πρότερον χρατοῦντος τυράννου. Μετῆλθεν οὖν ἐχ Κορίνθου πρὸς τὴν τῶν Πισίδων ὥραν, εἶτα τὴν ΔΛυχαονίαν καὶ τὰς τῆς Φρυγία: πόλεις χαταλαδὼν, χἀχεῖθεν τὴν ᾿Ασίαν ἐπισχεψάμενος, εἶτα τὴν Μαχεδονίαν, κοινὸς ἣν «ἧς οἰχου κένης διδάσχαλος, τοὺς μὲν ὁρωμένους ἀπὸ γλώττης ὦὠφελῶν, τοὺς\" δὲ ἀπόντας διὰ τῶν ἐπιστολῶν ἐπιστράφων' μόνου δὲ ἐχείνου, οὐ γόνυ ἔχαμνεν ὁδεῦον ἀεὶ, οὐ γλῶττα ἐνάρχα, πρὸς ἐχθροὺς καὶ φίλους ἄνελλιπὼς διεξιοῦσα τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου μυστήρια. ᾿Αλλὰ τὴν μὲν διδασχαλίαν τοιοῦτος\" τὴν δὲ ἄλλην τοῦ βέου φιλοσοφίαν, οἷος ἄνθρωπος : ᾿Αεὶ καὶ συνεχῶς τῷ λόγῳ προσχαρτερῶν, καὶ τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ δουλεύων, οὐδὲ ἄρτου δωρεὰν παρά τινος ἐχομίζετο᾽ ἀλλ᾽ ἡμέρα μὲν εἶχε τὸν ἀγῶνα τὸν πρὸς μυρίους ἐχθροὺς, νὺξ δὲ τὴν σμίλην, καὶ τὰ σχύτη, καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐργασίαν\" ἵν᾽ ἐχεῖθεν ἔχῃ τὸν ἐπισιτισμὸν, φαίνηται δὲ πᾶσιν ἀνεπαχθὴς ἀπόστολος, ἀδάπανος χῆρυξ, καὶ μέχρις ἄρτου τῶν ξενιζόντων φειδόμενος. Τοῦτον τὸν λόγον, ἱερεῖς, ἀχούσωμεν, οἱ μὴ συμμεριζόμενοι τοῖς θυσιαστηρίοις μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πλουτοῦντες ἀπ᾽ ἐχείνων καὶ τρυφῶντες, καὶ τὴν ἔερὰν περιουσίαν ἴδιον χτῆμα ποιούμενοι, καὶ τοῖς ὕπηχόοις διὰ τὸν Χριστὸν οἷα δούλοις φορτιχῶς τοντες. Οὐχ ἔστιν ἱεροσύνη δεσποτεία, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον τῷ συνιέντι δουλεία\" οὐκ ἀρχοντιχῆς αὐθαδείας ἀξίωμα, ἀλλ᾽ εὐλαόοὺς οἰχονομίας διαχονία. Μὴ οὐχ ἔσχεν ἐξουσίαν ὁ θεσπέσιος Παῦλος ἐσθίειν καὶ πίγεῖν ἀπὸ τῶν ἱερῶν, καὶ μιχρὸν γοῦν λαμόάνειν τῶν μυρίων πόνων γέρας. εἰς θεραπείαν τυπτομένον τοῦ σώματος χαθ᾽ ἡμέραν; ᾿Αλλ᾽ οὐχ ἐχρήσατο τῇ ἐξουσίᾳ, ἵνα μηδὲν ἐπὶ γῆς λαδὼν, πάντα ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς ἀποθήση. Διὸ καὶ τῶν ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον ἐξιώθη, ἔτι τῇ φθαρτῇ συνδεδεμένος σαρχί. Καὶ ἵνα τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν, καὶ τῶν ἐχεῖ τιμῶν ἀῤῥαθῶνα θεάσητε, ἀναλαμδάνεται μὲν ἄχρι τρίτου οὐρανοῦ, βλέπει δὲ ὀπτασίας ὑπερόαινούσας τὸν ἐνθάδε χλῖρον, ἀχούει ὃὲ ῥημάτων ἀῤῥήτων, ὡς αὐτός φησιν, καὶ ταῦτα μετριάζξων, καὶ ἐξ ἀνάγχης, ἀποδιδράσχων πανταχοῦ τὸ μεγαλαυχεῖσθαι καὶ ἐμπομπεύειν τοῖς ἰδίοις πλεονεχτήμασιν. Ἵνα δὲ φρονήματα καταστείλῃ τῶν ἐπὶ μιχροῖς φυσωμένων χαρίσμασιν, ἐξ ἀνάγχης ὀλίγα τῶν οἰχείων παραγυμνοῖ, καὶ ταῦτα ἑτέρῳ προσώπῳ περιθεὶς, καὶ πόῤῥω τῆς περὶ αὐτὸν ὑπονοίας ἀπαγαγών. Ἡλίας μὲν οὖν ὁ θεσδίτης, ἐπειδὴ ἐν ἰδέχ ἄρματὸς πυρίνον εἰς τὸ ὕψος ἀνήχθη, ἄδεται πανταχοῦ, καὶ πολὺ τοῦ θαύματος τῷ βίῳ χατέλιπε' μέχρι δὲ πόσου ἔφθασεν, οὐδεὶς ἡρμήνευσε λόγος. Τυχὸν γὰρ καὶ ὀλίγον τῆς γῆς ἐπαρθεὶς παρὰ τῆς ἀγούσης δυνάμεως, ἀπεδόθη τῷ τόπῳ, ὃν ἔλλχεν κατοιχεῖν. Παύλου δὲ ἡ μετάθεσις, ἐπὶ πλέον ἐγένετο λαμπροτέρα καὶ εὐχλεὴς, προσχειμένου καὶ τοῦ μέτρου, ἐφ᾽ ὅσον ἀνήχθη. Ἑπτὰ γὰρ οὐρανῶν ἀδομένων, μιχροῦ δέον\"τος ἀφίχετο τοῦ ἡμίσεος. Καί μοι λοιπὸν Ἑδραῖοι χαταθαλέτωσαν τοῦ φρονήματος, ἐπὶ τῷ Μωῦσῇ μέγα φρονοῦντες, ὅτι μόνος ἕως τῆς χορυφῆς ἔφθασε τοῦ Σινᾶ, καὶ ἐντὸς ἐγένετο τοῦ γνόφου καὶ τῶν νεφῶν. Παῦλος μὲν ὁ ἐμὸς, ἀντὶ μὲν ὄρους, πρὸς οὐρανὸν ἀνηλθεν\" ἀντὶ δὲ νεφέλης, ἐπέχεινα τοῦ ὑπὲρ νέφοὺς ἀέρος ἤλασεν. Καὶ μάλα εἰχότως. Ἔδει γὰρ τὸν χατὰ Χριστὸν ἄνθρωπον, τοσοῦτον νιχῆσαι Μωῦσέα, ὅσον τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον ὑπερθαίνει τὸν νόμον.","t":"Coming down victorious from the place where the warlike demon of the Greeks was strongest, he passed from there to the neighbouring city of Corinth, the metropolis of Achaea; and speaking the saving teaching in the synagogues, he went away with a convert, not one of the many or of ordinary people, but the ruler of the synagogue himself, with his whole household. Having defeated the law from its summit, and magnified the cross as a lofty trophy, he left that city too bowed under Christ. As time went on, and the word of godliness [grew] … gaining for the King every day cities, villages and fields, and cutting the sinews of the tyrant who had ruled before. He passed from Corinth to the region of the Pisidians, then to Lycaonia and the cities of Phrygia, and from there he visited Asia, then Macedonia, and was the common teacher of the world, benefiting by his tongue those he saw, and turning the absent through his letters. His knee alone never tired, though always on the road; his tongue never grew numb, unceasingly setting out the mysteries of the Gospel to enemies and friends. Such was he in teaching; and in the rest of life's philosophy, what kind of man was he? Always and continually persevering in the word and serving the Gospel, he did not accept even bread from anyone free; the day held his contest against countless enemies, and the night the knife, the hides and the work [of tent-making], so that he might have his provisions from it and appear to all an apostle who was no burden, a herald who cost nothing, sparing his hosts even in bread. Let us hear this word, priests, we who not only share with the altars but grow rich and live in luxury from them, who make the sacred property our own possession, and [treat] those subject to us for Christ's sake vulgarly, like slaves. The priesthood is not lordship, but rather, to one who understands, slavery; not a dignity of magisterial arrogance, but a ministry of reverent stewardship. Did not the divine Paul have the right to eat and drink from the sacred things, and to take at least a small reward for his countless labours, for the care of a body beaten every day? But he did not use the right, so that, taking nothing on earth, he might store up everything in heaven. That is why he was thought worthy of things beyond human nature while still bound to corruptible flesh. And that you may see a pledge of the good things to come and of the honours there, he is taken up as far as the third heaven, sees visions surpassing our lot here, and hears unspeakable words, as he himself says; and he says even this with restraint and under necessity, everywhere fleeing from boasting and parading his own advantages. To humble the pride of those puffed up over small gifts, he is compelled to uncover a little of his own experience, and even this he attributes to another person, leading suspicion far from himself. Elijah the Tishbite, because he was taken up on high in the form of a fiery chariot, is sung of everywhere, and left much wonder to the world; but how far he reached no word has explained. Perhaps he was raised a little from the earth by the power that led him, and was restored to the place allotted for him to dwell in. But Paul's translation was more brilliant and glorious still, since the measure of how far he was taken up is added. For though seven heavens are spoken of, he came almost halfway. Let the Hebrews, then, put down their pride, who pride themselves on Moses because he alone reached the summit of Sinai and entered the darkness and the clouds. My Paul went up to heaven instead of a mountain, and instead of a cloud he drove beyond the air above the clouds. And very fittingly; for the man in Christ had to surpass Moses as far as the Gospel surpasses the law.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 8.10 (PG 40:260; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/8-10)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/8.11":{"o":". Ἐν δὲ ταῖς θεοφανείαις καὶ τοῖς παρὰ Θεοῦ λαλουμένοις, καὶ ὅπως δεδεμένος ἐλύετο, καὶ ἀθυμῶν ἐπεῤῥώννυτο, ὕπαρ καὶ ὄναρ αὐτῷ τοῦ θεοῦ χρηματίζοντος, τί δεῖ καὶ λέγειν, ὁπότε οὐδὲ αὐτὸς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ χάριν ἀπέχρυψεν, ἀλλὰ πᾶσιν ὁμοῦ σαφῶς ἀπεχάλυψεν, εἰπών Εἰ δοκιμὴν ζητεῖτε τοῦ ἐν ἐμοὶ λα ιοῦντος Χριστοῦ; Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλοι τῶν, εἴτε προφητῶν, εἴτε ἀποστόλων ἐμπροθέσμους εἶχον καὶ χρονιχὰς τὰς ἄνωθεν ἐνεργείας \" καὶ ποτὲ \"έν αὐτοῖς συνῆν τὸ Θεῖον, ποτὲ δὲ καὶ οὐ παρῆν. Ὁ δὲ θεσπέσιος οὗτος, ὥτπερ ἅπαξ ναὸς ὧν ἐξαίρετος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀποχληρωθεὶς αὑτῷ πρὸς ἐνοίχησιν, οὕτως ἀεὶ τὸν Χριστὸν εἶχε, καὶ βουλῆς εὑρετὴν, καὶ λόγων διδάσχαλον, καὶ συνεργὸν τῶν πραγμάτων. Καὶ Ἰωάννης μὲν ὁ τοῦ Ζεδεδαίου μέγας ἔδοξεν, ὅτι παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους μαθητας θαῤῥῶν τῷ Κυρίῳ, ἐπὶ τοῦ στήθους αὐτοῦ ἀνἐπαύετο\" καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μάλιστα παρὰ πᾶσίν ἐστιν ἀοίδιμος. Οὗτος δὲ, πῶς οὐκ ἂν καὶ ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον νομισθείη δικαίως, ὅς γε, οὐ τὸν ἐν σώματι Ἰησοῦν, ἀλλὰ τὸν γυμνὸν τῆς σαρχὸς Λόγον χαθ᾽ ἡμέραν ἀνἐπαυεν, σχεῦος εὔχρηστον καὶ χαθαρὸν ἑαυτὸν τῷ Δημιουργῷ καταστῆσας; Ἔχων δὲ πολλὰ καὶ παντοδαπὰ λέγειν, ὅσα ὁ θεσπέσιος οὗτος πάντα τὸν χόσμον παιδεύων εἶπε καὶ ἔπραξεν, ἐπὶ γῆς καὶ θαλάσσης, ἐν διχαστηρίοις, ἐν ἀγοραῖς, ἐν δήμοις, ἐν ἁγορεῦσιν, ἐν αὐλαῖς βασιλέων, ἑχὼν ὑπερόαίνω πρὸς τὸ πλῆθος. Οὔτε γὰρ συγγραφὴν προὐβέμην τῶν ἐχείνῳ χατωρθωμένων, ἵνα λείπῃ μηδὲν, ἀλλ᾽. εὐφημίαν ἀνεργάτασθαι, καὶ ταύτην, ἐφ᾽ ὅσον ἡ ἐμὴ δύναμις ἐξιχνεῖται. 'Ενὸς δὲ μόνου τοῦ τελευταίου μνησθεὶς, χαταπαύσω τὸν λόγον. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ πᾶσαν ἐχπεριελθὼν τὴν οἰχουμένην, εὐαγγελιχῇῆς γνώσεως τὸν πυρσὸν, ἀφίχετο πρὸς Ῥωμαίους, ὡς βατιλεύουσαν πόλιν, ἵνα τοὺς χρατοῦντας τῶν πάντων ἀνθρώπων μυσταγωγῆσας καὶ “πείσας, καὶ χτησάμενος μαθητὰς, ἐχ τοῦ περιόντος τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις προσομιλοίι.. Εὐρὼν δὲ καὶ τὸν Πέτρον ἐχεῖ, τῆς αὐτῆς ἐργάτη. σπουδῆς, καὶ ἱεράν τινα καὶ ἔνθεον ξυνωρίδα ζευξάμενος, ἐν συναγωγαῖς ποὺς ὑπὸ νόμον ἐπαίδευσεν, ἐν ἀγοραΐς τοὺς ἐθνιχοὺς προπσεχτᾶτο᾽ καὶ πο χίλος ἣν τῶν ἀγαθῶν διδάσχαλος, Θεοῦ γνῶσιν ἐμφανίζων τὴν καθαρὰν καὶ ἀχίόδηλον, ἡθιχῆς ἀρετῆς χανόνας θεσμοθετῶν ἀχριδεῖς, ἀπἐλαύνων πόῤῥω τῶν ἀνθρώπων χορείας καὶ μέθην, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ἀχόλαστον ἡδυπάθειαν, ἧ μάλιστα καὶ τὸ πλῆθος ἅπαν, καὶ ὁ τότε βασιλεὺς ἐνείχετο. Καθἤψατο γὰρ σφοδρῶς τοῦ Νέρωνος ἡ τῆς ἀρίστης καὶ … τῆς ἡδονῆς χαταλυόμενος, ἣ εἴ τις βασιλείας αὐτῆς ἐξεδάλλετο. Καὶ γὰρ ἦν, εἴπερ τις ἄλλος, σοριστῆς ἡδονῶν, τρυφῶν καὶ χαταυλούμενὸός, βλὰξ καὶ θηλυδρίας, πορνῶν ἐπιστάτης, οὐ βασιλεὺς ἀνδρῶν. Πῶς γὰρ ἂν ἑτέρων ἐχράτησεν ὁ ἀρχὴν αὑτοῦ μὴ μαθών; Μίαν ἔθετο φροντίδα, ὅπως ἂν ἐχχόψαι ἐχ τῆς πόλεως τὸν τῆς εὐσεδείας καὶ σωφροσύνης διδάσχαλον. Καὶ ξηλῶσας τὸν Ἡρώδην τῆς γνώμης, ἀπάγει τοὺς ἀποστόλους εἰς δεσμωτήριον, ὡς τὸν ᾿Ιωάννην ἐχεῖνος, ἔχων δὲ χαθ᾽ ὁμοιότητα ἄλλην Ἡρωδιάδα, τὴν ἀκόλαστοὺ καὶ φιλήδονον γνώμην, τὴν ζητοῦσαν Πέτρου καὶ Παύλου τὴν κεφαλὴν, ἀμφοτέρους ἀνέδησε τῷ στεφάνῳ τοῦ μαρτυρίου, τὸν μὲν τῷ ξύλῳ πρὸσἡλώσας, τοῦ δὲ Παύλου τὴν χεφαλὴν ἐχτεμὼν, ἡμῖν καὶ τῷ χόσμῳ καταλιπὼν τὸ τῶν ἀγίων πάθος, πανἦγυριν, καὶ τοσαύτης ἑορτῆς ἀφορμήν. ψ Ταῦτα ἡμῖν, ὦ τρισμαχάριοι, ἤνεγχεν ὁ ἐτήσιος νόμος, ὑμᾶς μὲν ἀναχηρύττων πανταχοῦ ὡς χοινοὺς τῆς οἰχουμένης ἀθλητὰς, βελτιῶν δὲ τὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπὼν γνώμας διὰ τῆς ὑμετέρας τιμῆς. ᾿Αρετὴ γὰρ τιμωμένη, πολλοὺς ἐγείρει πρὸς ζῆλον\" ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα, καὶ τὸ χράτος εἰς","t":"As for the theophanies and the words spoken to him by God, and how he was freed when bound and strengthened when disheartened, God giving him oracles waking and sleeping, why need one even speak of them, since he himself did not hide his grace but revealed it clearly to everyone, saying: “Since you seek proof of the Christ who speaks in me”? For the others, whether prophets or apostles, had the powers from above for fixed and limited times; sometimes the Divine was with them, sometimes it was not present. But this divine man, as once and for all allotted as a special temple of God for him to dwell in, so always had Christ as the finder of his counsel, the teacher of his words, and the fellow-worker in his deeds. John the son of Zebedee was thought great because, beyond the other disciples, he had such confidence with the Lord that he rested on his breast; and for this above all he is celebrated by everyone. But how could this man not justly be thought beyond human nature, who every day gave rest, not to Jesus in the body, but to the Word stripped of flesh, having made himself a useful and pure vessel for the Creator? Though I have many and various things to tell, all that this divine man said and did as he taught the whole world, on land and sea, in courts of law, in market-places, among peoples, in assemblies, in the courts of kings, I willingly pass them over because of their number. For I did not undertake a history of his achievements, so that nothing should be left out, but to produce a eulogy, and that as far as my power can reach. Mentioning only one thing, the last, I will end my discourse. When he had gone round the whole world [carrying] the torch of the knowledge of the Gospel, he came to the Romans, as the ruling city, so that by initiating and persuading those who rule all mankind, and gaining them as disciples, he might more easily converse with the rest of mankind. Finding Peter there too, a worker in the same zeal, and yoking a sacred and divine pair with him, he taught those under the law in the synagogues and won the Gentiles in the market-places. He was a many-sided teacher of good things, showing the pure and unadulterated knowledge of God, laying down exact rules of moral virtue, and driving far from people dancing, drunkenness and all licentious luxury, in which the whole crowd and the emperor of that time were especially held fast. For [the teaching] of the best … attacked Nero vehemently, as [though] he were being deprived of his pleasure, or as if someone were being driven out of his very kingdom. For he was, if anyone ever was, a sophist of pleasures, living in luxury and being piped to, a fool and effeminate, an overseer of prostitutes, not a king of men. How could he rule others when he had not learned to rule himself? He made it his one concern how he might cut out of the city the teacher of godliness and self-control. Emulating Herod's mind, he led the apostles off to prison as Herod had led John; and having, in the same way, another Herodias, his own licentious and pleasure-loving mind, which demanded the heads of Peter and Paul, he crowned them both with the crown of martyrdom, nailing the one to the wood and cutting off Paul's head, and leaving to us and to the world the passion of the saints as a festival and the occasion of so great a feast. These things, thrice-blessed ones, the yearly law has brought us: it proclaims you everywhere as the common athletes of the world, and improves people's minds through the honour paid to you. For virtue honoured rouses many to emulation; in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be the glory and the might to …","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 8.11 (PG 40:260; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/8-11)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/8.2":{"o":"Ἴσμεν πάντως τὸν ἱερέα, τὸν πρεσθύτην ἐχεῖνον, τὸν τοῦ μεγάλου Σαμουὴλ τροφέα τε καὶ διδάσχαλον᾽\" ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲν τοὺς υἱοὺς ὠφέλησεν αὐτὸς ἄριστος ὥν\" καὶ ταῦτα τραφέντας ὑπ᾽ αὐτῷ τῷ γεννησαμένῳ, τὴν χαθ᾽ ἡμέραν μανθάνοντα: τοὺς τῆς ἱερωσύνης θε σούς. Ἔχ πατέρων πάλιν ἀσξθῶν ὁ Τιμόθεος, τὸν ἀπόστολον λέγω, τὸν γενναῖον τοῦ Παύλου σχύλαχα\" καὶ οὐ μὲν ἢχοληύθησεν, ὥσπερ τινὶ φύσει τῶν γονέων τῇ μνήμη λογικῶς δὲ μισήσας τὴν ἐχείνων δυσσέθδειαν, πρὸς τὸν ἅγιον θεσμὸν τῆς εὐσεθείας ἀπηυτομόλησε, καὶ χαρπὸς ἀνεφάνη γλυχὺς ἀπὲ ῥίζης πιχρᾶς. Ἡμιόνων ἡ συνουσία, καὶ προθάτων τόχος. Οὕτως ὁ ᾿Αὐεσαλὼν, πατρὸς ἐπιειχοῦς μεμηνὺς νεανίσχος, καὶ τοσοῦτον ἐπὶ θρασύτητι γνώριμος, ὅσον ὁ πατὴρ ἐν χρηστότητι\" ἣ μᾶλλον, εἰ δεῖ τἀληθέστερον εἰπεῖν, πολλῷ τῷ μέτρῳ ὑπερθαλλόμενος τῇ χκαχίᾳ τὴν ἀρετὴν τοῦ γεννήσαντος. Καὶ ὅλως, εἴτις θελήσειε ταῖς τοιαύτα!ς τῶν παίδων πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας ἐναντιότησιν ἐπιστῆσαι τὸν νοῦν, μυρίους εὑρήσει σπουδαίους ἀπὸ χαχῶν, καὶ πονηροὺς ἐχ βελτίστων. Καὶ σφόδρα γε εἰχότως. Εἰ γὰρ φύσις, καὶ μὴ τρόπος, χαχίαν ἣ ἀρετὴν εἰργάζετο, οὐχ ἂν ἦν τὰ δύο, ἀλλὰ μονομιρῶς ἐπεχράτει τὲ ἕτερον. Λεγέσθω τοίνυν Πέτρος υἱὸς Ἰωνᾶ\" τίνος δὲ τούτου, οὐδέν μοι διαφέρει. Ἐγὼ γὰρ ἐχ τῶν πράξεων τοῦ υἱοῦ, σεμνύνω τὸν γεννησάμενον\" καὶ χάτωθεν ἀρξάμενος. ἐπὶ τὰ ἄνω παραπέμπω τὴν δόξαν, ὥσπες οἱ λύχνοι οἱ νύχτωρ ἐχ τοῦ ἐδάφους τοὺς ὁρόφους φωτίξοντες. Ἡσαΐας μὲν οὖν φησι προφητεύων, ὅτ' λίθον ἀχρογωνιαῖον ὁ Πατὴρ ἔθηχε τὸν Υἱὸν, ἐνδειχνύμενος, ὡς ἣ πᾶσα τοῦ χόσμου σύστασις ἐχεῖνον ἔχει τὴν ἕδραν καὶ τὴν χρηπῖδα. Ὃ δὲ Μονογενὴς πάλιν, χαθὼς ἐν Εὐαγγελίοις φησὶν, θεμέλιον τὸν Πέτρον ὀνομάζει τῆς Ἐχχλησίας Σὺ εἶ Πέτρος,. καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ πέτρᾳ οἰκοδομήσω μοὺ τὴν Ἔχ. κιησίαν. Πρωτος γὰρ ἀληθῶς οὗτος, ὥσπερ τις λίθος μέγας καὶ χαρτερὸς ἐνεῤῥίφη τῇ τοῦ χόσμου τούτου χοιλότητι, ἣ τῇ χοιλάδι τοῦ χλαυθμῶνος, ὥς φησιν ὁ Δαδίδ' ἵνα πάντας Χριστιανοὺς ἐποιχοδομουμένους θαστάσας, ἀναγάγη πρὸς τὸ ὕψος, ὃ τῆς ἐλπίδος ἡμῶν ἐστιν οἰχητήριον. Θεμέιιεον ἄ.λ.10 οὐδεὶς δύναται θεῖναι, παρὰ τὸν κείμενον, ὅς ἐστιν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός. Τῇ ὁμοίᾳ δὲ χλήσει ὁ Σωτὴρ πέτραν ὀνομάσας τῆς πίστεως. Διὰ Πέτρον τοίνυν, ἄπτωτον καὶ ἀχλινὲς τὸ τῶν Ἐχχλησιῶν ἕδρασμα σώζεται, γνήσιον καὶ πιστὸν γενόμενον τῆς εὐσεδείας μυσταγωγόν. Διὰ τὴν οἰχοδομὴν δὲ τοῦ δικαίου ἑ στήχαμεν ἐῤῥιζωμένοι, οἱ ἀπὸ ἀνίσχοντος ἡλίου, μέχρι καὶ δυομένου, Χριστιανοί. Πολλῶν δὲ πειρασμῶν χινηθέντων, ἀφ᾽ οὗ χατηγγέλη τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον, καὶ μυρίων τυράννων\" καὶ πρὸ ἐχείνων, τοῦ διαδόλου χαταστῆσαι θελήσαντος εἰς ἔδαφος, καὶ χαθελεῖν ἡμᾶς φησιν ὁ σωτήριος λόγος, ὡς χείμαῤῥοι, σφοδροὶ δὲ ροι δὲ ὑετοὶ τῶν διωχόντων Χριστιανοὺς χατεῤῥάγησαν, καὶ οὐδὲν ἰσχυρότερον ὥφθη τοῦ κατὰ Θεὸν ὀχυνώματος\" ἐπειδὴ ταῖς ἁγίαις παλάμαις τοῦ πρώτου τῶν ἀποστόλων χατεσχευάσθη τὸ τῆς πίστεως οἶχοδόμημα. Ταῦτα δὲ λέγων, ἔδει Ἶ5 ἕνα λόγον τῆς εὐλογίας τοῦ πέτραν τὸν εὐαγγελιστὴν ὀνομάσαντος. Ἴδωμεν δὲ, εἰ δοχεῖ, πῶς ῳχοδόμει Πέτρος\" οὐ λίθοις καὶ πλίνθοις, οὐδὲ ταῖς ἄλλαις ὕλαις ταῖς γεηραῖς\" ἀλλὰ λόγοις καὶ πράξεσιν, αἷς ἐνηργεῖτο παρὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος. Τοῦ τοίνυν Θεοῦ καὶ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἀνελθόντος εἰς οὐρανοὺς, ἡνίχα τὴν νεφέλην εἶχε ὄχημα, τῶν ἀποστόλων βλεπόντων, οὗτος ὁ ἀνὴ ἀντελάδετο τῆς τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου διδασχαλίας- καὶ πρὸ πάντων τῶν χοινωνῶν τῆς ἐπισχοπῆς ἀνοίξας τὸ στόμα, τῶν λυσσώντων χατὰ τῆς εὐσεδείας χατεθάρσησε δήμων, καὶ δημηγόρο: ἀνεφάνη σοφὸς, ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἐθνῶν καὶ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ’ ἐθνῶν ἀχονώντων τοὺς ὀδόντας, καὶ θυδοὺ πληρουμένων, εἴ τις τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὀνομάσειε. Ὥστε τὸ εἰς τὸν Κύριον παρὰ τῆς προφητείας λεχθὲν, ἀρμόζειν πάνυ καὶ Πέτρῳ, τὸ, Περιεκύχιλωσάγ με κύὅμως ζέων τῷ Πνεύματι, καὶ τὴν ἐντολὴν ἀνεπίληστον σύξων, τὴν εἰποῦσαν αὑτῷ’ Βόσχε τὰ ἀργία μου\" στὰς εἰς δῆμον σύμμιχτον ἐχ μυρίων ἐθνῶν, ἐδόα’ Αγδρες ᾿Ιουδαῖοι, καὶ οἱ κατοικοῦντες Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἅπαντες. Καὶ ἵνα μὴ μακχρολογῶμεν, πᾶσαν τὴν ῥῆσιν συνείροντες, ἀπομέμνηται τῶν λογίων τοῦ Ἰωὴλ, προφητεύων 75. τὴν τοῦ Πνεύματος τὸν πεντεχαιδέχατον ψαλμὸν παραθέμενος, βεδαιοΐ τὴν ἀνάστασιν\" καὶ τὸν πάντα λόγον συμπερανάμενος ἐν σοφίᾳ λόγων καὶ μαρτυρίᾳ νόμου, εὐθὺς τοὺς ἀχροατὰς ἐπηγάγετο, οὐ δέχα, οὐδὲ ἑχατόν' οὐδὲ τρὶς, ἢ πεντάχις τοσούτους\" ἀλλὰ τρεῖς χιλιάδας ἀνδρῶν, Ἐχχλησίας πλήρωμα, δῆμον ὅλον ἰχανὸν χα- Ὃ πειθοῦς φάρμαχον θερμὸν καὶ διάπυρον, ὀξέως τῶν ψυχῶν χαθαψάμενον! ὦ σοφία θεολόγος, πᾶσαν συφίαν ἀνθρωπίνην χαλύψασα! Τί λέγετε, οἱ τὸν Δημοσθένην στεφανοῦντες χατὰ ῥητόρων, καὶ τὸν Σωχράτην ἀνυμνοῦντες ἐν φιλοσόφοις; Δημοσθένης μὲν γὰρ, ὁ τὴν ῥητοριχὴν μέγας καὶ πολυθρύλλητος, τοσοῦτον ἀπεῖχε τοῦ περὶ ὧν ἐδούλετο πείθειν, ὥστε καὶ ἐξωρίσθη τῆς πόλεως παρὰ τῶν ἀχροατῶν\" Σωχράτης δὲ, τῶν πολλῶν πρὸς ᾿Αθηναίους λόγων, καὶ τῶν σοφῶν διαλέξεων, τέλος, τὸ χώνειον εὕρατο, παρὰ τοῦ χοροῦ τῶν μαθητῶν φονευθείς: τοσοῦτον αὐτὸν περιῆν τῆς τοῦ πείθειν δυνάμεως. Πέτρος δὲ ὁ ἁλιεὺς, ὁ χειροτέχνης, ὁ ἀμαθὴς, ὁ πᾶν ὅπερ ἂν ἐθέλῃ τις φαυλίζων καλεῖν, ἐν μιᾷ λόγου προσδολῇ καὶ ταῦτα, δυσανασχετοῦντας καὶ στασιάζοντας, καὶ οὗ συγχωροῦντας αὐτῷ τὴν ἀρχὴν διαιρεῖν τὸ \"στόμα.","t":"We certainly know the priest, that old man who was the nurturer and teacher of the great Samuel; yet, excellent as he was himself, he did not benefit his sons at all, though they were brought up by their own father and learned daily the ordinances of the priesthood. Again, Timothy came from ungodly parents (I mean the apostle, Paul's noble whelp); and he did not follow the memory of his parents as if by some law of nature, but, hating their impiety by reason, he deserted to the holy ordinance of godliness, and appeared as sweet fruit from a bitter root. [It is like] the union of mules, and the offspring of sheep. So too Absalom, the raving youth of a gentle father, as well known for his audacity as his father for his goodness; or rather, to speak more truly, surpassing by a great measure in wickedness the virtue of his father. In general, if anyone cared to look at such contrasts between children and their fathers, he would find countless good men born of bad ones, and wicked men born of the best. And very reasonably; for if nature, and not character, produced vice or virtue, there would not be two of them, but one alone would prevail. Let Peter, then, be called son of Jonah; who this man was matters nothing to me. For I glorify the father from the deeds of the son, and, beginning from below, I send the glory upward, as lamps at night light up the ceilings from the floor. Isaiah, prophesying, says that the Father set the Son as cornerstone, showing that the whole structure of the world has him as its seat and foundation. And the Only-begotten in turn, as he says in the Gospels, names Peter the foundation of the Church: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church.” For truly he was the first to be thrown, like some great and strong stone, into the hollow of this world, or the valley of weeping, as David says, so that, bearing all the Christians built up on him, he might raise them to the height which is the dwelling of our hope. “No one can lay another foundation than the one that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” But with a like title the Saviour [honoured him], naming him the rock of faith. Through Peter, then, the foundation of the Churches is kept from falling and unbending, since he became a genuine and faithful initiator into godliness. Through the building of the righteous man we stand rooted, we Christians from the rising of the sun to its setting. Many temptations have been stirred up since the Gospel was proclaimed, and countless tyrants; and before them the devil, wishing to bring us down to the ground and destroy us, as the saving word says. Like torrents, violent rains of the persecutors of Christians have broken upon us, and nothing has proved stronger than the fortress built according to God, since the building of the faith was constructed by the holy hands of the first of the apostles. In saying this, [I have spent] one word of praise on the evangelist who named him rock. Let us see, if you please, how Peter built: not with stones and bricks, nor with any other earthly materials, but with words and deeds, in which he was empowered by the Spirit. When our God and Saviour ascended into heaven, with the cloud for his chariot, while the apostles watched, this man took up the teaching of the Gospel. Before all who shared the oversight with him he opened his mouth, took courage against the peoples raging against godliness, and appeared a wise orator in the midst of the Gentiles and Israel, while the Gentiles sharpened their teeth and were filled with rage if anyone named Jesus. So what was said of the Lord by the prophecy fits Peter very well: “Many dogs surrounded me” … yet, fervent in the Spirit, and keeping unforgotten the command that said to him, “Feed my lambs,” he stood before a people mixed from countless nations and cried: “Men of Judea, and all who dwell in Jerusalem.” Not to be long-winded by stringing together the whole speech: he recalls the oracles of Joel, which prophesied the [outpouring] of the Spirit; … and, citing the fifteenth psalm, he confirms the resurrection; and concluding the whole discourse with wisdom of words and the testimony of the law, he at once won over his hearers: not ten, nor a hundred, nor three or five times as many, but three thousand men, the full number of a Church, a whole people able … O hot and fiery drug of persuasion, swiftly laying hold of souls! O theological wisdom, eclipsing all human wisdom! What do you say, you who crown Demosthenes among orators and sing the praises of Socrates among philosophers? Demosthenes, great and celebrated in oratory, was so far from persuading his hearers of what he wished that he was even banished from the city by them; and Socrates, after his many speeches to the Athenians and his wise dialogues, found the hemlock at the end, put to death [with] his band of disciples [around him]: so far did he fall short in the power of persuading. But Peter the fisherman, the manual worker, the unlearned man, whatever anyone likes to call him in disparagement, in one onset of speech, and that against men who were indignant and rebellious and would not even let him open his mouth at first, …","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 8.2 (PG 40:260; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/8-2)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/8.3":{"o":"… Ἐλθόντος δὲ εἰς ἐπίδοσιν καὶ προχοπὴν ἱχανὴν τοῦ τῶν Χριστιανῶν τάγματος, ἐπειδὴ πρὸς ταῖς λογιχαῖς διδασχαλίαις καὶ παραινέσεσιν, καὶ τῆς πραχτιχῆῇς δυνάμεως θαυμαστὴν παρεῖχε τὴν πεῖραν, ἄρτιον ἀναστήσας τὸν χωλὸν ἐχ τῶν τοῦ ναοῦ προπυλαίων, χωλὸν ἐχεῖνον τὸν ἐχ χοιλίας μητρὸς, πταέσματι φύσεως παθόντα τὴν νόσον' ἅπαξ δὲ ὁ λαὸς ἐπὶ τὸ ἱερὸν συνεῤῥύη, τῇ φήμῃ τῆς μεγαλουργίας δημαγωγηθεὶς πρὸς τὴν θέαν, καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα ἀπεφράγη τῶν ἐχθρῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὰ στόματα, καὶ ὁ σταυρὸς λοιπὸν ἦν π“ρόπαιον νίχης, οὐκ ὄνειδος. Πάλιν ὁ ἀπαίδευτος, ὁ τῆς βαναύσον τέχνης ἐργάτης, δευτέρων ἄρχεται λόγων, φάσχων πρὸς αὐτοὺς, ὅτι Ὦ ἄγδρες, εἰ θαύματος ὑμῖν ἄξιον, καὶ θεϊκῆς Β ἐνεργείας φαίνεται τὸ γενόμενον, προσχυγεῖτ α τὸν θεραπευτὴν τοῦ χωι.λοῦ, Ἰησοῦν, ὃν ἑῤῥαπέσατε\" καὶ τελευταῖον ὑπερζέσαγτες τῷ θυμῷ, ἐπὶ τοῦ ξύλου ὑψώσατε. Οὗτός ἐστιν, καὶ ζῃ\" καὶ χαθὼς ὑμῖν ἐλέχθη πο.λάχις, ἀναστὰς ἐκ « Προσέλθετε πρὸς αὐτὸν, καὶ φωτίσθητε, ν καθὼς ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν.1έγει Δαδίδ. Εἰ γὰρ υἱοὶ τῶν προφητῶν ἐστε, καὶ μαθηταὶ τοῦ Μωύσέως, καὶ 5 ἀτιμάσητε τῶν προγόνων ὑμῶν τὴν χάριν, ξασθε ταῖς ψυχαῖς τὸν Σωτῆρα τοῦ γένους ὑμῶν. Οὗτος γάρ ἐστι ὃν καὶ Μωῦσῆς ἐπηγγείλατο προφήτην ὑμῖν ἀναστήσεσθαι. Ταῦτα καὶ τὰ πκοιαῦτα πρὸς τὸν λαὸν διελθὼν, ἀπῆλθεν, ἄλλους τοσούτους τοῖς τρισχιλίοις προσθείς. Τοιοῦτος μὲν οὖν ἐν τῷ δημοσίᾳ λαλεῖν θαῤῥούντως ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου μυσταγωγίας πρόθυμος, ἀχατάπληχτος, συνετὸς, θάρσος τῶν ἰδίων, καὶ τῶν ἐναντίων δειλία. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ, οὐ τοῦτο μόνον ἣν περισπούδαστον τῷ χαλλίστῳ διδασχάλῳ τῆς εὐσεδείας, τὸ πολυάνθρωπον τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ λαὸν ἀπεργάξεσθα', ἀλλὰ πολλῷ πλέον τὸ ζὴν ἀχριθῶς τοὺς μαθητὰς ἐν τοῖς δοθεῖσι νόμοις \" εἶδεν δὲ τὸν ᾿Ανανίαν ἐχεῖνον, τὸν τῶν ἰδίων καρπῶν χλέπτην καὶ παράδοξον ἱερόσυλον, μέλλοντα χαχὴν ἐμποιεῖν τοῖς Χριστιανοῖς συνήθειαν ἁμαρτίας, ἀποτόμως αὐτὸν τῆ; Ἐχχλησίας ἐξέχοψεν \" οὐχ ὠμὸς ὧν καὶ φονιχὸς τὴν γνώμην, ἀλλὰ κατὰ σχοπὸν ὠφελείας, οὕτως ἰατρεύτας τὴν ἁμαρτίαν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ νεοπροσἥλυτος ἣν καὶ νεοπαγὴς ὁ λαὸς, ἐχ τῆς Ἑλληνιχῇς καὶ Ἰουδαϊχῆς ἀδιαφορίας ὑπόγνον τοὺς εὐαγγελικοὺς δεξάμενος νόμους, εἰχότως ἐνόμισεν, οὐ τῆς ἐχ λόγων νουθεσίας μόνον χρήζειν τοὺς μαθητὰς, ἀλλὰ καὶ φόθου τινὸς εὑπράχτου (εἰώθασι γάρ πως οἱ ἄνθρωποι, ὅπως ἂν ἐν ἀρχαῖς τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων χανονισθῶσιν, οὕτω μέχρι τέλους τηρεῖν τὴν συνήθειαν)\" καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐλέγξας τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, εὐθὺς θάνατον φἣν τιμωρίαν ἐπήγαγεν᾽ οὐ ξίφει χρησάμενος, οὐδὲ δημίοις αὐτὸν παραδούς \" ἀλλὰ τότε διαφερόντως τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ δύναμιν δείξας, ἐν τῷ τρόπῳ τῆς ἀναι… ἐγυξεν. Τοῦτο δὲ ἡλίχον ἐστὶν, καὶ ὅσην τῇ Ἐχχλησίᾳ ἐνεποίησε τὴν εὐλάδειαν, οὐ χρήζομεν μαθεῖν, Δύο γὰρ ἐν ἑνὶ χατωρθώθη, τὸ καὶ τὸν Σωτῆρα ἡμῶν πιστευθῆναι εἶναι Θεὸν, καὶ τὸν παιδευτὴν τῶν ἐχείνου νόμων, παρεπομένηυς ἔχων δ' ἀγγέλους, πρὸς τὴν βούλησιν τοῦ ἀποστόλου ἐνεργοῦντας ἑτοίμως. Ἐθέλησεν εὐεργετῆσαι τὸν χωλὸν, καὶ οὐχ ἑόράδυνεν ἡ χάρις \" ἐδουλήθη χολάσαι τὸν ἱερόσυλον, καὶ παρἐγένετο ἣ τιμωρία. Ταῦτα ἱχανὰ λιθίνας χαταπλῆξαι ψυχὰς καὶ πεῖσαι βεδαίως, ὡς οὐχ ἀπάτης ἣν τὰ ῥήματα τὰ παρὰ Πέτρου λεγόμενα\" ἀλλὰ Θεὸς ἣν ἀληθῶς μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἅγιον ὑπῆρχε καὶ ἀληθὲς, τὸ μυστήριον ὃ χατῆγγελλε, Καὶ τοῦτο δὲ προπέχειν ἀναγχαῖον, ὅτι τὸ μὲν ἐπὶ τιμωρίᾳ καὶ φόνῳ σημεῖον, ἅπαξ παρὰ τοῦ ἀποστόλου διὰ τὴν χρείαν γεγένηται\" ἵνα τοῖς χκαχῶς προαιρουμένοις, τῆς χολαστιχῆς δυνάμεως παράσχηται τὴν ἀπόδειξιν\" τὰ δὲ τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν καὶ τῶν ἰάσεων, χαθ᾽ ἡμέραν καὶ συνεχῶς ἐπετέλει \" καὶ τοσαύτης αὐτῷ περιῆν τῆς τοῦ θεραπεύειν εὐχολίας καὶ χάριτος, ὦττε οὐδεὶς προσελθὼν τῶν ἀῤῥωστούντων ἀνέλυεν ψευσθεὶς τῆς ἐλπίδος, ἀλλ᾽ ἄρτιος καὶ ὑγιὴς ἐπὶ τὴν οἰχίαν ἀπήει. Καὶ πᾶς τόπος τῆς Ἵερουσαλὴμ, ἔνθα Πέτρος ἐφαίνετο, τὸν Χριστὸν ἐλάλει\" καὶ τὸ πλῆθος εἶχεν ἀχολουθούντων ἀῤῥώστων,, καὶ θέατρον χαθ᾽ ἡμέραν παράδοξον ἐχ δήμου συμμίχτου\" τῶν μὲν συναγομένων, ἵνα τῶν ὀχλούντων χαχῶν ἀπαλλαγῶσι, τῶν δὲ, ἵνα τοὺς θεραπενομένους θεάσωνται. Οὕτω τοι χἀχεῖνο περὶ τοῦ ἀποστόλου. τὸ θαυμαστὸν ἀναγέγραπται, ὃ ἐπ᾽ οὐδενὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐλέχθη, ὅτι οἱ συγγενεῖς, καὶ οἱ τῶν ἀσθενούντων οἱχεῖοι, ἔφερον αὑτοὺς ἐπὶ χλινῶν δημοσίᾳ, ἵἴγα ἐρχοβέγου Πέτρου, κἂν ἡ σκιὰ ἐπισκιάσῃ τινὶ αὐτῶν.","t":"… When the order of Christians had come to considerable growth and progress, since besides his spoken teachings and exhortations he also gave wonderful proof of practical power, raising up sound the lame man at the porches of the temple, that man lame from his mother's womb, who suffered his disease through a failure of nature; and once the people had flowed together to the temple, drawn to the sight by the report of the mighty work, and the mouths of Christ's enemies had been stopped before the man, and the cross from then on was a trophy of victory and not a reproach; again the uneducated man, the worker at a mechanical trade, begins a second speech, saying to them: “Men, if what has happened seems to you worthy of wonder and the work of divine power, worship the healer of the lame man, Jesus, whom you struck, and finally, boiling over with rage, lifted up on the wood. This is he, and he lives; and as you were often told, he rose from [the dead] … Come to him and be enlightened, as your father David says. For if you are sons of the prophets and disciples of Moses, and [would not] dishonour the grace of your forefathers, [embrace] in your souls the Saviour of your race. For this is the one whom Moses too promised would be raised up as a prophet for you.” Having gone through these and similar things with the people, he departed, having added as many again to the three thousand. Such, then, was he in speaking boldly in public for the mysteries of the Gospel: eager, undaunted, intelligent, the courage of his own people and the dread of his opponents. But to the most excellent teacher of godliness, making God's people numerous was not the only object of zeal; much more was it that the disciples should live exactly by the laws given them. And when he saw that Ananias, the thief of his own fruits and strange temple-robber, was about to create among Christians a bad habit of sin, he cut him off sharply from the Church; not because he was cruel and murderous in mind, but healing the sin in this way with a view to benefit. For since the people were newly converted and newly formed, having recently received the laws of the Gospel out of the indifference of the Greeks and the Jews, he reasonably judged that the disciples needed not only admonition by words but also an effective fear (for people are accustomed to keep to the end whatever rule they are given at the beginning of their practices); and for this reason, having convicted the sin, he at once brought death upon him as punishment, not using a sword, nor handing him over to executioners, but showing the power of Christ then especially in the manner of his death … How great this was, and how much reverence it produced in the Church, we do not need to learn. For two things were achieved in one: our Saviour was believed to be God, and the teacher of his laws was believed to have angels attending him, readily acting at the apostle's will. He wished to benefit the lame man, and the grace was not slow; he wished to punish the temple-robber, and the punishment came. These things were enough to strike stony souls and persuade them firmly that the words spoken by Peter were not deceit, but that God was truly with him, and the mystery he proclaimed was holy and true. It is necessary to note this too: the sign of punishment and death was done once by the apostle, out of need, to give proof of the power to punish to those who chose evil; but works of kindness and healing he performed daily and continually. He had such ease and grace in healing that none of the sick who came to him returned disappointed in his hope, but went home sound and healthy. Every place in Jerusalem where Peter appeared spoke of Christ; he had a crowd of the sick following him, and every day an extraordinary spectacle from a mixed crowd, some gathering to be freed from the ills that troubled them, others to see those being healed. So too that wonder is recorded of the apostle which was said of none of the others: that the relatives and households of the sick carried them out on beds in public, so that as Peter came by, his shadow might fall on one of them.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 8.3 (PG 40:260; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/8-3)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/8.4":{"o":"Τοῦτο μὲν οὖν μεῖζον καὶ τῶν δεσποτιχῶν θαύμασίων “ καὶ ὁ δοῦλος εὐφημεῖται ὑπὲρ τὸν Κύριον. Καὶ τάχα ἐν τούτῳ τῷ σημείῳ συμπληροῦται ἡ προφητεία, ἣν ὁ Σωτὴρ πρὸς τοὺς μαθητὰς ἐποιήσατο: Ἀμὴν, ἀμὴν «1έγω ὑμῖν\" Ὃ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμὲ, τὰ ἔργα ἃ ἐγὼ ποιῶ, κἀχεῖνος πριήσει, καὶ μείζονα τούτων ποιήσει. Τούτη δὲ ἃταν λέγω, οὐ τὸν δοῦλον τῷ Δεσπότῃ συγχρίνω,. ΓΑπαγε! Μαινομένου τὸ νόημα.\" ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι διὰ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ θεραπόντων ὁ Θεὸς, τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δύναμιν ἐνδειχνύμενος, οὐδένα τῶν μαθη- ἢ τῶν, ὡς Πέτρον, ταῖς ἰδίαις δωρεαῖς χατεπλούτησεν\" ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντων αὐτὸν προὔύθηχεν, ὑψώσας ταῖς ἄνωθεν δωρεαῖς\" καὶ ὥσπερ πρῶτος μαθητὴς, καὶ μείζων τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἐπὶ τῆς πείρας τῶν πραγμάτων ἐδείχθη τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ Πνεύματος. Πρῶτος ἐχλήθη, καὶ ταχέως ὑπήχουσε \" πρὸς τοῖς αἰγιαλοῖς εὑρεθεὶς ἐν τῷ παραχώδει τοῦ χόσμου χωρίῳ, ὁ τοῖς χύμασιν ἀεὶ ἔχει τὴν βοῶσαν περὶ τὰς ἠϊόνας εὐχὴν. Πρῶτος ἐν Χριστιανοῖς τῶν χοσμιχῶν ὑλῶν κατεφρόνησε, καὶ τῶν ἐν ποσὶ πάντων ὑπεριδὼν, πρὸς τὰ νοητὰ καὶ δι … τρισμαχάριον ἐχεῖνον ἀποχαλούντων \" Τί γὰρ ἀπἔθετο; Τί δὲ ἀπεχτήσατο; Πάντα ὅσα εἶχεν, ὦ ἄνθρωπε \" ἑκάστῳ δὲ, ὃ χέχτηται, μέγα \" χἀχεῖνο πλοῦτος, ὃ ἔχει ἀχτήμων. “Ὅμοιος παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ φαίνεται, καὶ ὁ τὰ ἄρματα ἀποθέμενος, καὶ ὁ χαταφρονή,σας τοῦ ὄνου. “Ὅπερ γάρ ἔστι τῷ πλουσίῳ τὸ τέθριππον, τοῦτο τῷ πένητι ὁ εὐτελὴς χανθέλιός. Φιλόσοφος δέ ἐστιν ὁμοίως, καὶ ὁ τὴν ἀργυρᾶν χαταλιπὼν τράπεζαν, τὴν ταῖς ἱστορίαις πεποιχιλμένην, καὶ ὁ τὴν ξυλίνην τὴν εὔωνον\" ὁμοίως καὶ ὁ τὴν χώμην τὴν πολυάνθρωπον, καὶ τὸ μιχρὸν χηπίον ὁ τὴν ἐσθῆτα τὴν χρυσόπαστον, καὶ τὸν πεπαλαιωμένον χιτῶνα. Οὐ γὰρ ἐν τῷ πλήθει καὶ τῇ ποιότητι τῶν διδομένων ὁ Θεὸς τὸ μεταδοτιχὸν καὶ φιλάνθρωπον χρίνει' ἀλλὰ τὴν προαίρεσιν ἀποδέχεται τοῦ διδόντος. Διὸ καὶ τὴν χήραν ἐχείνην, ὡς εὐγνώμονα χηρύσσει τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον, τὴν τὸ ὁδολὸν ἐπιδοῦσαν᾽ ἐπειδὴ μηδὲν παραχατέσχεν, ὧν εἶχε. Καὶ ὁ τὸ ποτήριον δὲ ὁρέξας τοῦ ψυχροῦ ὕδατος, λαμδάνει μισθὸν τῆς ὄντως εὐχόλου δεξιώσεως, τὴν βασιλείαν. Ὧ γὰρ εἶχεν, ἐθεράπευσε τοῦ διψῶντος τὴν χρείαν, εἰ καὶ μὴ παρἣν αὐτῷ οἶνος ἀνθοσμίας διὰ πενίαν. Ταῦτα δὲ λέγω χατὰ συγχώρησιν, ἐπεὶ οὐ πάντως, εἴ τις ἁλιεὺς, οὗτος καὶ πένης. Οὐχ οἶδας, ὡς «ἀλιεὺς μαργαριτῶν ἐστι θηρευτής; Μαργαρῖται δὲ, ἄνθος εἰσὶ τοῦ γαύῥου καὶ ὑψαύχενος πλούτου, οἷς βασιλεῖς χοσμοῦνται, οἷς γυναῖκες φιλόπλουτοι καὶ φιλόχοσμοι ἐπαγάλλονται. ᾿Αλιεὺς βάπτει τὴν ἁλουργίδα τὴν πολυθρύλλητον, καὶ ἀφιερωμένην τῇ βασιλείᾳ ἁλιεῖς βάπτουσι τες. Οὐ τοίνυν δεῖ προσέχειν τοῖς ὀργάνοις τῆς τέχνης αὐτῶν, ὡς εὐώνοις καὶ εὐκαταφρονήτοις, τῷ διχτίῳ φημὶ, καὶ τοῖς ἀγχίστροις \" ἀλλ᾽ ἐκ τῆς τελουμένης ἐργασίας, αἱ εὑπορίαι χαταμανθάνονται᾽ ἐπεί τοί γε χατ᾽ ἐχεῖνον τὸν λόγον, οὐδὲν πενέστερον εὕρῃς τῆς γεωργίας, εἰ ἀπὸ τῆς διχέλλης καὶ τῆς σχαπάνης ὁ πλοῦτος αὐτῆς δοχιμάζοιτο. “Ἄποροι δὲ παντελῶς καὶ οἱ τὸν χρυσὸν ἀνορύττοντες, τὸν βασιλέα τοῦ πλούτου. Μία γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἀξίνη συνεργεῖ ξύλινος ὁ τῆς γῆς τὸν χρυσὸν ἀποχρίνων. Σιγάτωσαν τοίνυν ἐθνιχοὶ καὶ Ἑόδραῖοι, οἱ Πέτρῳ πενίαν ὀνειδίξοντες, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἁλιέως σμιχρύνειν τὸν μέγαν πειρώμενοι\" καὶ χαταλιπόντες τὰ τοιαῦτα χομψεύεσθαι, λε- Ὁ γέτωσάν μοι πυνθανομένῳ\" Τίς ἁλιέων, ἣ τῶν πάντῶν ἀνθρώπων ἑπέξευσε θάλασσαν; Τίς ἔστησε πόδα χατὰ λίμνης ἑστώσης, ὡς ἐχεῖνος χατὰ χυμάτων τοῖς ἀνέμοις τινασσομένων; Τοῦ γὰρ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ, πολλὰ θαύματα διὰ τῶν οἰκείων δούλων τελέσαντος, ἐπί τε τῆς πολιτείας τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ τὸ ἀρχαῖον, χὰν τοῖς ὕστερον χρόνοις, ἐν οἷς ἡ φιλάνθρωπος οἷχονομία τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐπεφάνη τῷ χόσμῳ \" οὐδεὶς τῶν ἐξ ἀρχῆς εἰς τέλος ἀγίων, τοιαύτην διὰ πίστεως ἰδίας, καὶ τῆς ἄνωθεν χάριτος, πρᾶξιν ἐπιτελέσαι φαίνεται.","t":"This, then, is greater even than the Master's wonders, and the servant is praised above the Lord. Perhaps in this sign the prophecy is fulfilled which the Saviour made to the disciples: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do, and will do greater works than these.” When I say this, I do not compare the servant with the Master; away with it, the thought of a madman! I mean that God, displaying his own power through his servants, enriched none of the disciples with his gifts as he did Peter, but set him before them all, exalting him with gifts from above; and as he was the first disciple, so in the experience of deeds he was shown greater than his brothers by the power of the Spirit. He was called first, and obeyed quickly; he was found by the shores, in the coastal region of the world, which with its waves always keeps up its roaring … along the beaches. He was the first among Christians to despise worldly goods, and, overlooking everything at his feet, [turned] to the spiritual and … call him thrice-blessed. For what did he put away? What did he give up? All that he had, O man; and to each what he possesses is great, and what the man without possessions has is his wealth. Before God the man who put away chariots and the man who despised his donkey appear alike. For what the four-horse chariot is to the rich man, the cheap pack-donkey is to the poor. He is equally a philosopher who has left the silver table decorated with stories, and he who has left the cheap wooden one; equally he who has left the populous village and he who has left the little garden, the gold-spangled garment and the worn-out tunic. For God does not judge generosity and love for others by the quantity and quality of what is given, but accepts the choice of the giver. That is why the Gospel proclaims as generous that widow who gave the obol, since she held back nothing of what she had. And the one who offered the cup of cold water receives the kingdom as wages for a truly easy hospitality; for he served the need of the thirsty with what he had, even if poverty left him no fragrant wine. I say this by way of concession, since not every fisherman is poor. Do you not know that a fisherman is a hunter of pearls? And pearls are the flower of proud and arrogant wealth: kings are adorned with them, and women who love riches and ornament delight in them. A fisherman dyes the celebrated purple robe consecrated to kingship … So one must not look at the tools of their trade, I mean the net and the hooks, as cheap and contemptible; prosperity is learned from the work accomplished. By that reasoning you would find nothing poorer than farming, if its wealth were judged by the hoe and the mattock. And those who dig up gold, the king of wealth, would be utterly destitute; for one wooden axe works with them, separating the gold from the earth. Let pagans and Hebrews be silent, then, who reproach Peter with poverty and try to belittle the great man because he was a fisherman; and leaving off such clever talk, let them tell me when I ask: Which fisherman, or which man at all, has walked on the sea? Who has set foot even on a still lake, as he did on waves tossed by the winds? For though our good God has performed many wonders through his own servants, both in Israel's ancient commonwealth and in later times, when the loving dispensation of our Saviour appeared to the world, none of the saints from the beginning to the end appears to have accomplished such a deed through his own faith and the grace from above.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 8.4 (PG 40:260; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/8-4)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/8.5":{"o":"δὲ … θαυμαστὸς ὁ Μωῦσῆς, πέλαγος ἄνευ πλοίων περαιωθείς \" ἀλλὰ γῆν ἐπέζευσεν, ἧ νόμος ἀνθρώποις, ἔνθεν τοῦ ὕδατος ἀναστέλλοντος πρὸς ἑαυτόν. Μέγας καὶ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ὁ τούτου διάδοχος, ὅτι τὸν Ἰορδάνην ἐπεραιώθη, ὑπὲρ τὰς ὄχθας πλημμύροντα \" ἀλλ᾽ ὁμοίως τῆς Ἐρυθρᾶς θαλάσσης, χἀχεῖνος διασχὼν ἑαυτὸν, καὶ ἀναχόψας τὸ ῥεῖθρον, ἔδωχε τῷ περαιουμένῳ λαῷ γυμνὴν τὴν ξηρὰν εἰς ἑἐπίόασιν. Οὐδεὶς δέ ποτε ἀνδρῶν χατὰ ὕδατος ἦρε!σε πόδα. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁ νόμος τῆς φύσεως καταδέχεται, τὴν ὀργὰν {{. ὕλην] ὑγρὰν ᾿καὶ ῥέουσαν, ἀντέχειν τῷ στερεῷ καὶ πιέξοντι. Δοχεῖΐ δέ μοι ὁ τῶν ὅλων Κύριος καὶ Δεσπότης, ὑπεραγασθεὶς τηνιχαῦτα τὴν ὑπερζέουσαν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἐπιθυμίαν, μεθ᾽ ἧς ἐχέχραγε λέγων, Κέιευσόν με ἐλθεῖν ἐπὶ τοῦ ὕδατος πρὸς σὲ. μισθὸν αὐτῷ τῆς πολλῆς ἀγάπης καὶ πίστεως, ἐχείνην δοῦναι τὴν χαινὴν καὶ παράδοξον χάριν, ἧς Πέτρος ἐφάνη δεχτιχὸς μόνος, ἀπὸ τῶν ἐξ ᾿Αδὰμ καὶ μέχρι τέλους ἀνθρώπων. Καὶ γὰρ ἀληθὲς καὶ ἐξαίρετος τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἡ τῆς τοιαύτης μεγαλουργίας ἐπίδειξις, ὑπερέχουσα τὴν τῆς χτίσεως «ἀπεινότητα, χαθὼς καὶ τῷ Δαθδὶδ δοχεῖ τῷ βελτίστῳ τῶν προφητῶν. Κἀχεῖνος γὰρ ἕν τινι τῶν ψαλμῶν ἀνυμνῶν τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ τὴν ἄφατον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀπερινόητον ἐξηγούμενος δύναμιν, ταῦτ᾽ εἶπεν, ἃ συνἔθως μελῳδοῦντες γνωρίζετε - Ἕν θαλάσσῃ ἡ ὁδός σου, καὶ αἱ τρίδοι σου ἐν ὕδασι ποι1.λοῖς, καὶ τὰ ἴχγη σου οὗ γγωσθήσεται. Ὃ τοίνυν εἶχεν ὁ Δεσπότης ἐν τοῖς τῆς θεότητος ἐξάιρέτοις γνωρίσμασι, (οὔτο χοινὸν ἐποιήσατο πρὸς τὸν δοῦλον, ἄξιον χρίνας τς τοσαύτης τιμῆς. Ζηλωτὸς μὲν οὖν καὶ μέγας Ἰωάννης, ἐπὶ τῶν τοῦ ν Κυρίου στέρνων ἀναπαυόμενος \" μέγας καὶ Ἰάχωύος, ὃς υἱὸς ὀνομασθεὶς βροντῆς \" λαμπρὸς ἐν ταῖς τιμαῖς καὶ ὁ Φίλιππος, ὡς παρὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος ἀρπασθεὶς, ἑνίχα τὸν Αἰθίοπα πρὸς τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἐμυσταγώγησεν \" ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως οἱ πάντες ὑποχωρείἴτωσαν Πέτρῳ, καὶ δευτερεύειν ὁμολογείτωσαν, ὅταν ἡ τῶν χαρισμάτων σύγχρισις δοχιμάζῃ τὸν προτιμότερον. ᾿Αναθεωρῶν δὲ πάντα τὰ καθ᾽ ἕἔχαστον καὶ σχοπούμενος, εὑρίσχω τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον ἐπί τε τῶν λογιχῶν διαλέξεων, καὶ τῶν πραχτιχῶν ἐνεργημάτων, ὁμοίως πανταχοῦ προπηδῶντα τῶν ἄλλων μαγητῶν καὶ προξξαλλόμενον, καὶ χατόπιν ἀφιέντα τοὺς τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦ βίου στάδιον τρέχοντας. Ἑρωτῶντος γάρ ποτε τοῦ Κυρίου τοὺς δώδεχα, καὶ ἀπόπειραν ποιουμένου, ὅπως ἔχουσι πληροφορίας καὶ γνώμης περὶ τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν ὑπολήψεως, καὶ χελεύουσιν δ᾽ σαφῶς εἰπεῖν, τίνα λέγουσιν αὐτὸν εἶναι\" τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων σιωπῆσαι βουλομένων, καὶ βραδυνόντων, καὶ δειχνύντων, ὡς διά τινος ἐπισχέψεως, τὴν ἀπόχρισιν\" ἀνοίξας τὸ στόμα ταχέως ὁ τὸν ζώπυρον ἐπὶ τῆς Ψυχῆς φέρων τῆς πίστεως ἄνθραχα, ᾧ καὶ Ἡσαΐας πρότερον ἐχαθάρθη τὰ χείλη, τὴν μαχαρίαν ἐχείνην καὶ σαφῆ ἀληθῶς ῥῆσιν χαθωμολόγησε᾽ Σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ Υἱὲς τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος. Τίνα ἄν τις πρὸς ἀξίαν τῶν λόγων τούτων θαυμάσειεν, ἀξιόπιστος γενόμενος ἐρμηνεὺς τοῦ μεγίστον τῶν ἀποστόλων; Ὁρᾶτε γὰρ πρῶτον, ὅπως ἀπέριττος ὁ λόγος καὶ σύντομος, ἐχφωνήσει βραχείᾳ μυρίων πραγμάτων καὶ μεγάλων δύναμιν ἐχτιθέμενος. Πᾶς γὰρ λόγος οὗτος ἄριστος, οὗπερ ἀνήχει, καὶ μὴ περιῤῥέῃ ἢ φράσις ἐπ᾽ ὀλίγῳ πενιχρῷ τῷ νοήματι\" τοὐναντίον δὲ, πλῆθος πραγμάτῶν ἕν βραχυλογίᾳ σημαίνῃ, κατὰ τὴν ὁμοίωσιν τοῦ χόχχου τοῦ νάπυος\" ὃς μικρότατος μὲν ἔστιν, ἐν τῷ Χχρατεῖσθαι καὶ βλέπεσθαι\" εἰ δὲ προσαγάγῃς αὑτὸν τῇ αἰσθήσε: τοῦ στόματος, ὅλον τὸ ζῶον ἐχ ποδῶν εἰς χεφαλὴν, πρὸς τὴν οἰχείαν εἶλχε θερμότητα. Σὺ εἰ Χριστὸς ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶγτος. λόγος ὁ συντελῶν πρὸς τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, πρὸς δύο ταῦτα καὶ θεωρεῖται καὶ στρέφεται ἕν μὲν, ὁ τῆς ἀρχεγόνου θεότητος “ ἧτις ἐστὶν ὁ ἐν ἀρχῇ Λόγος ὧν ἀεὶ, καὶ πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα ὧν, καὶ Θεὸς ὧν, χαθὼς ἡμᾶς ὁ μέγας θεολόγος Ἰωάννης ἐμυσταγώγησεν, οἷον σπογγιά τις τῷ στήθει τοῦ Μονογενοῦς παραχείμενος, χἀχεῖθεν ἑλχύσᾳς τῆς χεχρυμμένης σοφίας τὴν γνῶσιν\" ἕτερον δὲ, τὸ τῆς οἰχονομίας, ἣν ἀγαθὸς ὁ Θεὸ: πρὺς συγχατάθδασιν τῆς ἀσθενείας ἡμῶν χατεδέξατο. ἴΛξιον τοίνυν θεωρῆσαι τὴν ἀπόχρισιν, ὅπως ἐν βραχυλογίᾳ καὶ ὁλιγορημοσύνῃ, πάντων ἀχριθῶς ἐν ὀλίγῳ τὴν διάνοιαν παρεδήλωσεν, ἀρξάμενος ἀπὸ τῶν χάτω, καὶ πρὸς τὰ ὑψηλὰ χατὰ μέρος ἀναγαγὼν τὴν διάνοιαν, Σὺ εἴ ὁ Χριστός. Τοῦτο τῆς οἰχονομίας δήλωσις, καὶ τῆς ἐνσάρχον θεοφανείας ἐξήγησις. Ὁ γὰρ Χριστὸς] οὐκ ἔστιν ὄνομα τοῦ πρραιωνίου, ἀλλὰ τῆς τῶν χριομένων χάριτος μήνυμα. Διὸ καὶ Κύριος ἡμῶν χαταδεξάμενος ὅλως τὸ ἄνθρωπος γενέσθαι, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα ὅσα στρέφεται περὶ τὴν σάρχα, συγχαταδέχεται καὶ χαλεῖται ᾽5 χρισθεὶς εἰς βασιλέα, οὐ τῷ ἐλαίῳ τοῦ χέρατος, ὡς Σαμονὴλ, καὶ Δαθὶδ, καὶ οἱ καθεξῆς ἄνθρωποι, ἀλλὰ τῇ ἐνεργείᾳ τοῦ Ἠνεύματος, χαθ᾽ ἣν καὶ ὁ Κυριαχὸς ἄνθρωπος (οὔτω γὰρ τοῖς πολλοῖς φίλον προσαγορεύειν τὸν Ἰησοῦν) θαυμαστῶς ἐχυήθη καὶ παραδόξως ἐν τῇ γαστρὶ τῆς Παρθένου. Ὁμολογήσας δὲ τὸν Ἰησοῦν τὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν γενόμενον ἄνθρωπον, οὐκ ἔστησε μέχρι τούτου λόγον ἀλλὰ διὰ τῆς χλίμαχος τοῦ Ἰαχὼδ τῆς νοητῆς πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀναδὰς, καὶ γενόμενος ἐν Ὁ θεωρίᾳ τοῦ ἐν ἀρχῇ Θεοῦ Λόγου, προστίθησιν αὐτῷ «ὃ ἐξαίρετον καὶ ἀληθινὸν ἀξίωμα, Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ προσαγορεύσας τοῦ ζῶντος. ᾿Αχριδῶς δὲ οὗτος καὶ οὐχ ἕτερος\" αὐτός τε ὁμολογήσας τὸν εὐθῇ τὸν διάστρόφον \"δ χανόνα τῆς πίστεως, καὶ πᾶσιν ἡμῖν παοὐχ ἄἅμισθος ἀπῆλθε, οὐδὲ ἀγέραστος \" μαχάριος δὲ ὀνομασθεὶς παρὰ τοῦ ὄντως μαχαρίου, πέτρα χαλεῖται τῆς πίστεως, καὶ θεμέλιος, καὶ ὑποθάθρα τῆς χατὰ Θεὸν Ἐχχλησίας. Λαμύάνει δὲ διὰ τῆς ὑποσχέσεως τῆς βασιλείας τὰς χλεῖς, καὶ χύριος γίνεται τῶν ἐχείνης πυλῶν, ὥστε αὐτὰς ἀπανοίγειν εἷς ἂν ἐθέλοι, καὶ χλείειν οἷς ἂν δίκαιον ἦν, πάντως α δὲ τοῖς βεόδήλοις, καὶ ἀνιέροις, καὶ τοῖς ἀρνουμένοις τὴν ὁμολογίαν ἐχείνην, δι᾽ ἣν αὐτὸς, ὡς ἀχριδὴς τῶν Ἐχχλησιῶν \"7 ἀγαθῶν φύλαξ, ἐπιστατεῖν ταῖς εἰσὀδοις τῆς βασιλείας ἐτάχθη. Ὥ τοῦ ζόφου καὶ ἀχλύος, ἣ πολλὴ χέχυται πρὸ τῶν ἀνθρωπιχῶν ὀφθαλμῶν, δι’ ἦν οὐ βλέπουσιν οἱ αἱρετιχοὶ τῶν Πατέρων τὰ ἴχνη, οὐδὲ βαδίζειν ἐχείνην, ἣν ἔτριψαν τῶν ἀποστόλων οἱ πόδες! Ἰδοὺ γὰρ Πέτρος ὁ χατ' ἐχλογὴν γνήσιος τοῦ Χριστοῦ μαθητὴς, ὁ πανταχοῦ τὴν πρώτην Ψῆφον καὶ τῶν τιμῶν καὶ τῶν χατορθωμάτων δεξάμενος, ὁ μέγας ἐχεῖνος ὁ πάνυ, οὗ τὸ χλέος πᾶσαν τὴν οἷχουμένην ἐπλήρωσεν, χελευσθεὶς εἰπεῖν, ὅπως δοξάζει περὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, οὐχ ἀπὸ μαχρᾶς τινος ἤρξατο περινοίας, οὐδὲ χύχλον συλλο…  πρὸς τὴν πεῦσιν, ὥσπερ δὴ νῦν ποιεῖν εἰώθασιν εἱ δεινοὶ σοφισταὶ καὶ τεχνολόγοι τῆς πίστεως \" ἀλλ᾽ ἐν ἀπλότητι χαρδίας, σύντομον ἐξέθετο τὴν ἀλήθειαν\" οὐ τὸν ἀγέννητον διαστείλας τῷ γεννητῷ, οὐ τὰ περὶ ὁμοίου καὶ ἀνομοίου λεπτολογήσας οὐδὲ τῶν ὑπὲρ πάντα οὐσιῶν πολυπραγμονήσας διαφορὰν, οὐδὲ τὴν ἀμέτρητον θεότητα μετρήσας συλλογισμοῖς, οἷα δὴ τὰ ᾿Αρείου παίγνια, καὶ τὰ Εὐνομίου παρεγχειρήματα. Ζηλώσωμεν τοίνυν, ὦ Χριστιανοὶ (ὧν πίστις, οὐ πολυλογία τὸ γνώρισμα), τὸν ἁλιέα, τὸν ἀπερίεργον, τὸν ἐχ Βηθσαϊδᾶς τὸ πρῶτον θήρευμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Μελετήσωμεν λέγειν᾿ Σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶγτος\" τὰ δὲ πλείονα τούτων ἀφιέναι τοῖς λογομάχοις, ὧν ἔρις τὸ ἔργον, καὶ τὸ τέλος ἀπώλεια.","t":"… Moses is wonderful, having crossed the sea without ships; but he walked on land, as is the law for men, the water drawing back on itself on either side. Great too is Joshua his successor, because he crossed the Jordan when it overflowed its banks; but, as with the Red Sea, the river too divided itself, cut off its stream, and gave the people as they crossed bare dry ground to walk on. But no man ever set foot on water. For the law of nature does not allow wet and flowing matter to hold up what is solid and presses on it. It seems to me that the Lord and Master of all, greatly admiring at that moment the man's boiling desire with which he cried out, “Command me to come to you on the water,” gave him, as the reward of his great love and faith, that new and extraordinary grace of which Peter alone, of all men from Adam to the end, has proved capable. For the display of such a mighty work is truly a special mark of God, surpassing the lowliness of creation, as David too thinks, the best of the prophets. He too, in one of the psalms, singing of God and setting out his ineffable and inconceivable power, said these words, which you know from singing them so often: “Your way is in the sea, and your paths in many waters, and your footsteps will not be known.” What the Master had among the special marks of his Godhead, this he shared with his servant, judging him worthy of so great an honour. Enviable and great is John, who rested on the Lord's breast; great too is James, who was named son of thunder; brilliant in honours is Philip as well, as one snatched away by the Spirit after he had initiated the Ethiopian into the knowledge of the Saviour. Yet let them all give way to Peter and confess themselves second, when the comparison of gifts tests who is more honoured. Reviewing and examining every particular, I find this man, both in spoken discourses and in practical works, everywhere leaping ahead of the other disciples and outstripping them, and leaving behind those who run the same course of life. For when the Lord once asked the Twelve, testing how firmly assured they were in their judgment about him, and told them to say clearly who they said he was, all the others wished to be silent and hung back, and showed that their answer needed some consideration. But he who carried in his soul the live coal of faith, by which Isaiah's lips too had once been cleansed, quickly opened his mouth and confessed that blessed and truly clear saying: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Who could admire these words as they deserve, and become a trustworthy interpreter of the greatest of the apostles? See first how plain and concise the saying is, setting out in a short utterance the force of countless great matters. Every saying is best which reaches its goal, whose expression does not spill over a small and poor thought, but on the contrary signifies a multitude of matters briefly, like the grain of mustard: it is very small when held and seen, but if you bring it to the sense of the mouth, it draws the whole creature, from feet to head, into its own heat. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The teaching that leads to the knowledge of our God and Saviour is considered under, and turns upon, these two things. One is that of the primordial Godhead, which is the Word who was in the beginning, always being, being with the Father, and being God, as the great theologian John taught us, lying like a sponge on the breast of the Only-begotten and drawing from there the knowledge of the hidden wisdom. The other is that of the dispensation, which the good God accepted in condescension to our weakness. It is worth examining the answer, then: how in brevity and few words he showed the whole meaning accurately in little, beginning from below and leading the mind up step by step to the heights. “You are the Christ”: this is the declaration of the dispensation and the account of the theophany in the flesh. For “Christ” is not the name of the One before the ages, but the indication of the grace given to those who are anointed. Therefore our Lord too, having accepted wholly to become man, and all the other things that belong to the flesh, accepts also to be called [Christ], anointed as king, not with the oil of the horn, like Samuel's anointing of David and the men after them, but by the working of the Spirit, by which also the Lordly Man (for so many like to call Jesus) was wonderfully and extraordinarily conceived in the Virgin's womb. Having confessed Jesus who became man for us, he did not stop his saying there; but climbing to heaven by the spiritual ladder of Jacob, and coming to the contemplation of God the Word who was in the beginning, he adds to him the special and true dignity, calling him Son of the living God. He confessed exactly this and nothing else, the straight and undistorted rule of faith, and [handed it on] to all of us; and he did not go away unrewarded or unhonoured, but, named blessed by the One who is truly blessed, he is called the rock of faith, and the foundation and base of the Church according to God. Through the promise he receives the keys of the kingdom, and becomes master of its gates, so as to open them to whomever he wishes, and to shut them to those for whom it is just, certainly to the profane and unholy and to those who deny that confession, because of which he himself, as the exact guardian of the goods of the Churches, was appointed to preside over the entrances of the kingdom. O the gloom and mist poured thickly before human eyes, because of which the heretics do not see the footsteps of the Fathers, nor walk the road that the feet of the apostles wore smooth! For behold, Peter, the genuine disciple of Christ by election, who everywhere received the first vote both in honours and in achievements, that truly great man, whose fame filled the whole world, when told to say what he thought of our God and Saviour, did not begin with some long circumlocution, nor [run] a circle of syllogisms … toward the question, as the clever sophists and technicians of the faith are now accustomed to do; but in simplicity of heart he set out the truth concisely. He did not distinguish the unbegotten from the begotten, did not split hairs about like and unlike, did not busy himself with the difference of the substances that are above all, did not measure the immeasurable Godhead by syllogisms, as do the games of Arius and the attempts of Eunomius. Let us, then, Christians (whose mark is faith, not wordiness), imitate the fisherman, the unaffected man, Christ's first catch from Bethsaida. Let us practise saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and leave anything beyond this to the fighters over words, whose work is strife and whose end is destruction.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 8.5 (PG 40:260; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/8-5)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/8.6":{"o":"ἶλρα οὖν μὲν μέχρι τῶν λεχθέντων ἵσταται τοῦ ἀποστόλου τὰ θαύματα: ἣ πᾶν τοὐναντίον, οὐδὲ ἧρχϑα: δοχοῦμεν, εἴ τις τοῖς εἰρημένοις παραμε- -ροίη τὰ λείποντα. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἐγὼ τὰ πολλὰ τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ Ἱνώσει χαταλιπὼν (ἴστε γὰρ τὸν Πέτρον καὶ τὰ ἐχείνου, χᾶν μηδεὶς ἐπαινεῖν τὸν ἄνδρα προέληται), μιχρὰ περὶ τῆς ἀναπαύσεως αὐτοῦ εἰπεῖν βούλομαι, καὶ ὅπως ἐκ τῆς γῆς εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν μετῴχησεν, ἵν᾽ ἐχεῖ τοῦ λέγειν παύσωμαι, ἔνθα χἀχεῖνος τὸν βίον. Ὁ μὲν οὖν Σωτὴρ ἡμῶν ἡνίκα ἔμελλεν ἁγιάζειν τῷ αὐθαιρέτῳ θανάτῳ \", ὥσπερ τινὰ παραθήκην ἑξαίρέῖον, τὴν χαθόλου καὶ οἰχουμενιχὴν. Ἐχχλησίαν τούτῳ τῷ ἀνδρὶ παρατίθεται, τρίτον αὐτοῦ πυθόμενος τὸ, Φεῖεῖς με; Ὡς δὲ ταῖς ἐρωτήσεσι μάλα προθύμως ἰσαρίθμους τὰς ὁμολογίας προέθετο, ἕλαὑεν τὸν χόσμον εἰς ἐπιμέλειαν, ὡς μίαν ἀγέλην εἷς ποιμὴν, ἀχούσας- Βόσκε τὰ ἀργία μου\" καὶ σχεδὸν ἀνθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ τὸν πιστότατον μαθητὴν ἔδωχεν ὁ Κύριος τοῖς προσηλύτοις πατέρα, καὶ νομέα, καὶ παιδευτὴν, Ταύτης τοίνυν ἀχούσας τῆς φωνῆς, οὐχ ἐν ῥᾳθυμίᾳ τὸν βίον ἔξησεν, οὐδὲ ἠγάπησε τὴν ἔξω χινδύνων ζωήν ἀλλὰ πᾶσαν τὴν οἰχουμένην περ!νοστῶν, τὸν Χριστὸν τοῖς τυφλώττουσιν ἀπεχάλυππτεν, τοὺς μὲν πλανωμένους ὁδηγῶν, τοὺς δὲ γευδαμέγους τῆς εὐσεδείας ν᾽ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς μαχόμενος, … ἀχθηδόνα δεσμωτηρίων. πολυτρόπως τοῦ Εὐαγ- Χρόνου δὲ προϊόντος, τὴν βασιλεύουσαν πόλιν τῶν ἀνθρώπων λαδὼν, ἐχεῖθεν ἐπὶ τὴν βασιλείαν ἀνέδραμεν. ᾿Αναῤῥιπισθεὶς γὰρ ἃ Νέρων εἰς ὀργὴν, ὥς ποτε χατὰ τὴν Παλαιστίνην Ἡρώδης, ἡνίχα βασιλέα. τὸν Χριστὸν οἱ μάγοι διήγγελλον, ὑπερδαίνει μὲν τοὺς ἄλλους τῶν χολάσεων τρόπους, ψηφίζει δὲ τὸν τρισμαχάριον προσηλωθῆναι σταυρῷ, ἵνα μὴ μόνον πεξεύων θάλασσαν Πέτρος τὸν Δεσπότην μιμεῖται, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ ξύλου χρεμάμενος. Ὅμως, ὡς εὐλαδὴς καὶ σοφὸς χἀν τῷ χαιρῷ τῆς ἀγωνίας, εἰδὼς, τίς διαφο-» ρὰ Κυρίου πρὸς δοῦλον, μίαν ἤτησε παρὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν χάριν, μῆτι γε ἐν ὁμοίῳ τῷ σχήματι τῷ ξύλῳ προσαγαγεῖν, ἀλλὰ τὴν χεφαλὴν τῷ προσγείῳ μέρει τοῦ σταυροῦ προσηλώσαντας. Οὐ γὰρ ἄξιον, οὐδὲ ἐν πάθει τῶν ἴσων τὸν δοῦλον τῷ Δεσπότῃ τυχεῖν. Εἷπεν, καὶ ἔτυχεν ὧν ἐδούλετο, καὶ διὰ τοῦ σταυροῦ πρὸς τὸν σταυρωθέντα καὶ ἀναστάντα ἀπῆλθεν, αὖ τὸς μὲν τὸν τοῦ μαρτυρίου ἀναδησάμενος στέφανον, ἡμῖν δὲ τούτων τῶν ἑορτῶν χαταλιπὼν τὰς αἷ- «ἰας. Ταῦτά σοι καὶ ἡμεῖς κατὰ δύναμιν, ὦ φίλη καὶ ἱερὰ χεφαλὴ, τῶν πολλῶν χατορθωμάτων ἀπεδώχαμεν χαριστήρια: ὥρα δὲ λοιπὸν, ἐπ᾽ ἄλλον ἀγωνι\"» στὴν τρέψαι τὸν λόγον, τὸν χοινὸν \" τῆς τὸν Ταρσέα, τὸν διαφόρῳ μὲν τρόπῳ τῆς τιμωρίας, ἑνὶ δὲ σχοπῷ τῆς εὐσεύείας μετὰ σοῦ πρὸς Χριστὸν Παῦλος ὁ θεσπέσιος, ἡ μεγαλόφωνος τοῦ Εὐαγγελίον: σάλπιγξ, ὁ πρότερον μὲν πιχρὸς δυσμενὴς Χριστιανῶν, ἰσχυρότατος δὲ τελευταῖον τῆς Ἐχχλησίας συνήγορος, νεώτερος μὲν ἐπετέχθη τοῖς ἀποστόλοις παρὰ τῆς χάριτος\" καὶ τῷ χρόνῳ δεύτερος ἣν τῶν μαθητῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἴσος δὲ χατὰ τὸ δόχιμον τῆς ἀρετῆς, ἵνα μηδὲν εἴπω πλέον, τὴν πολιὰν ἐρυθριάσας τῶν δώδεχα, ζηλωτὴς δὲ θερμὸς τοῦ Μωῦσέως, εἴπερ τις ἕτερος, τεῖχος τοῦ νόμου, πύργος τῆς Παλαιᾶς Διαθήχης χαρτερὸς καὶ ἄσειστος \" καὶ μέχρις οὗ τὴν γνώμην ἀμετἀδλητον εἶχεν, μέγας ὑπήρχρ χίνδυνος τῶν τὸν Χριστὸν λαλούντων, καὶ πανταχοῦ διεπτόει τοὺς ἡμετέρους καὶ ἐφυγάδευσεν\" ὄντως, ἅρπαξ, σπαράσσων τῆς Νέας Διαθήχης τοὺς ἀμείγους, καὶ σχορπίζων τὰ ποίμνια. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ τὸ δρᾶμα τὸ χατὰ τὸν ἅγιον Στέφανον ἐξειργάσατο, καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ἔχων ἔτι μεμολυ σμένας τῷ αἵματι, τὴν ἐπὶ Δαμασχὸν ἔτρεχεν, διωγμῷ διωγμὸν καὶ φόνοις φόνους συνάψαι βουλόμενος, καὶ ἀνασπάσαι τὸν Χριστιανισμὸν πρόῤῥιζον, ἄρτι τὴν πρώτην ἀνθοῦντα φνήν᾽ εἶδεν χαλῶς ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν ὃ πεποίηχεν, ὅτι ὁ ἰσχυρὸς ἐχθρὸς γένητ᾽ ἂν καὶ φίλος γενναῖος \" καὶ περιλάμψας αὑτὸν αἰφνίδιον τῷ φωτὶ, χαταπλήττει καὶ μεταδάλλει πρὸς ταπεινότητα, στήσας μὲν τοῦ δρόμου διὰ τὸν φόδον, τοὺς δὲ τὸ πυσας τῷ σχότῳ. Τιμωρεῖται δὲ αὐτὸν, οὐ μετὰ σιωπῆς, ἀλλὰ καὶ λόγον τῷ ἔργῳ προσέθηχεν, εἰπὼν ἐχείνῳ Σχιληρόν σοι πρὸς κέντρα «1αχτίζειν\"\" οὐχ ὡς αὖτὸς χρήζων τῆς διαλέξεως { τί γὰρ ἔδει λόγων, τῶν πραγμάτων ἀρχούντων), ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα πρόφασιν ἐνδῷ τοῦ ἐ»ωτῇσαι καὶ μαθεῖν, ὅτι ὁ νομιζόμενος τεθνάναι καὶ χεῖσθαι Χριστὸς, ζῇ, καὶ ἐξ οὐρανῶν ἐπιφαίνεται.","t":"Do the apostle's wonders, then, stop at what has been said? Quite the opposite: we do not seem even to have begun, if one sets what remains beside what has been said. But leaving most things to your own knowledge (for you know Peter and his deeds, even if no one chooses to praise the man), I wish to say a little about his repose, and how he moved from earth to heaven, so that I may stop speaking where he too ended his life. When our Saviour was about to sanctify [the world] by his voluntary death, he entrusted to this man, like a special deposit, the universal and worldwide Church, asking him three times, “Do you love me?” And when Peter very readily set forth confessions equal in number to the questions, he received the world into his care, as one shepherd receives one flock, hearing the words, “Feed my lambs”; and in his own place, one might almost say, the Lord gave his most faithful disciple to the converts as father, shepherd and teacher. Having heard this voice, then, he did not live his life in idleness, nor love a life out of danger; going about the whole world, he revealed Christ to the blind, guiding those who had gone astray, [setting right] those who lied against godliness, fighting the enemies, … the weight of prisons, … the Gospel in many ways. As time went on, he took the ruling city of mankind, and from there ran up to the kingdom. For Nero, fanned into anger, as Herod once was in Palestine when the magi announced Christ as king, passed over the other kinds of punishment and decreed that the thrice-blessed man be nailed to a cross, so that Peter might imitate his Master not only in walking on the sea but also in hanging on the wood. Yet, reverent and wise even in the hour of his contest, knowing the difference between Lord and servant, he asked one favour from his enemies: not to fix him to the wood in the same posture, but to nail his head to the part of the cross near the ground. For it is not fitting that the servant should receive equal treatment with the Master, even in suffering. He spoke, and obtained what he wished, and through the cross departed to the Crucified and Risen One, himself crowned with the crown of martyrdom, and leaving to us the occasions of these feasts. These thanks for your many achievements we too have rendered you as far as we are able, dear and sacred head. It is time now to turn the discourse to another contestant, the common … the man of Tarsus, who went to Christ with you, by a different manner of punishment but with the one aim of godliness: the divine Paul, the loud-voiced trumpet of the Gospel, once a bitter enemy of Christians but at the last the strongest advocate of the Church. He was born to the apostles later, by grace, and in time he was second among the disciples of Christ, but equal in proven virtue, not to say more, putting to shame the grey hair of the Twelve. He had been a warm zealot of Moses, if ever anyone was, a wall of the law, a strong and unshaken tower of the Old Testament; and as long as he held to his mind unchanged he was a great danger to those who spoke of Christ, and everywhere terrified and put to flight our people: truly a ravening [wolf], tearing the lambs of the New Testament and scattering the flocks. But when he had carried out the drama against Saint Stephen, and, with his hands still stained with blood, was running along the road to Damascus, wishing to join persecution to persecution and murders to murders, and to tear Christianity up by the roots when it was just putting out its first bloom, our God saw well what he did: that the strong enemy could also become a noble friend. Suddenly shining around him with light, he struck him and turned him to humility, stopping him in his course through fear, and [blinding] his eyes with darkness. And he punished him not in silence, but added a word to the deed, saying to him, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads”; not because he needed conversation (what need was there of words, when deeds sufficed?), but to give him occasion to ask and to learn that the Christ who was thought to be dead and laid in the tomb lives and appears from heaven.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 8.6 (PG 40:260; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/8-6)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/8.7":{"o":"Οὐδὲν δὲ οἷον αὐτὰ τὰ ῥήματα παραθέσθαι, τὰ τοῦ Ἕδραίου λύχου τὴν θήραν ἡμῖν ἐξηγούμενα. Ὁ δὲ Σαῦ.τος ἔτι ἐμπγέων ἀπειλῆς καὶ φόγου. Ὑπογράφει μοι ὁ λόγος ἄνδρα θυμῷ ῥηγνύμενον ἐχ τῆς προλαθούσης μιαιφονίας, ἕτι πνευστιῶντα μετὰ τὰς τῶν λίθων βολὰς, ὕφαιμον καὶ ἄγριον βλέποντα, οἷον ἐπάναγχες τὸν φονέα, σώζοντα τὰ ἐν ἀρχῇ, τῆς τοῦ πατριάρχου προφητείας τὰ σύμδολα. Ἐχεῖνος γλο, ἐπειδὴ τελευτᾷν ἔμελλεν, πάντοθεν τοὺς αὑτοῦ παῖδας περιστήσας τῇ χλίνῃ, Πνεύματι προγηγόρευσεν, Οὕτω γοῦν τὸν Ἰούδαν εὐλογῶν, ἐχείνῳ μὲν διξλέγετο, ἀλληγορικῶς δὲ ὕμνησε τὸν ἀπ᾽ ἐχείνου Χοιστόν. Ἑξῆς ὃὲ τοῖς πᾶσι προμαντευσάμενος τὰ εἰς ὕστερον, τελευταῖον ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τὸν Βενιαμὴν, ὡς καὶ τῷ χρόνῳ νεώτερον᾽ δῆθεν μὲν πρὸς τὸν υἱὸν ἐφθέγγετο, τῷ ὄντι δὲ τὸν Παῦλον ἐσήμαινεν, ἐχ τῆς φυλῆς, ὡς ἔγνωμεν, τῆς ἐχείνου χατάγοντα. μὴν «ύκος ἅρπαξ, τῷ πρωϊ ἔδεται, καὶ εἰς ἑσ πέ- (αν διαδώσει τροφήν. Τί ἔστι τὸ λεγόμενον, ἔἐρευ- Ὑγσώμεθα\" ἢ τοῦτο πάντως, ὅτι τὰ πρῶτα φαγών (τουτέστι, διώξας, φονεύσας, ἐχχέας αἵματα, σχορπίσας ὡς ἀγέλην τὴν Ἐχχλησίαν). τελευταῖον ἐγένετο νομεὺς καὶ ποιμὴν ἀγαθὸς, ἀποθέμενος τὸν διώχτην, γαὶ ἐνδυσάμενος τὸν ἀπόστολον \" πᾶσι δὲ ὡς τροφὴν διανέμων τὸν νόμον, καὶ τὴν ἁγίαν ἡμῖν ταύτην ἱδὁρυσάμενος τράπεζαν. Ἡ γὰρ τοῦ Κυρίου δύναμις τοιαύτη, ἀφοπλίζουσα τοῦ θυμοῦ καὶ τῶν δυσσεδῶν τ μάτων τοὺς στασιάζοντας, προσαγομένη δὲ εὐμηθτρίων δαχνόντων ἐργαζομένη. Ἐπὶ τούτοις, τί φησιν ἡ Γραφῇ; ὅτι Προσελθὼν τῷ ἀρχιερεῖ, ἠτήσατο παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐπιστοιϊὶὰς εἰς Δαμασχὸν πρὸς τὰς συναγωγὰς, ὅπως τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς ἀγάγῃ ἐγ ὭὮ μάχη καὶ διαφορὰ ἐπιστολῶν, τῶν τότε παρὰ Παύλου ζητουμένων, καὶ τῶν ἃς τὸν Χριστὸν χαταγγέλ- Ὁ λων ὄστερον ἔγραψεν! Αἱ μὲν ἐδέσμουν Χριστιανοὺς, αἱ ὃξ τὰς ἀλύσεις τὰς ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ περιέθηχαν τῷ διώχτῃ πολλὰς, καὶ βαρείας, καὶ χαλεπὰς ἐνεγχεῖν \" χἀχεῖ μὲν ἐγέγραπτο: Παῦλος Ἑόραῖος, τοῦ νόμου. προστάτης, ἐχθρὸς τοῦ σταυροῦ, τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου πο- ᾿λέμιος - ἐν δὲ ταῖς μεταγενεστέραις Ἐπιστολαὶς\" “Παῦζιος δοῦλος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ποίου; Πρόσχες\" τοῦ ἐςσταυρωμένου. Ὦ τοῦ θαύματος! Ὃ πρὸ ὀλίγου ὄνειδος, νῦν γέγονε χαύχημα\" καὶ τὸ ἐξουθενούμενον, ὡς δόξα σήμερον μνημονεύεται. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ δοξοχόκὸς καὶ γαυριῶν βασιλεὺς οὕτως ἐνεπόμπευσε τῇ περιφανείᾳ τῆς ἀρχῆς, ὡς Παῦλος τῷ σταυρῷ καὶ τοῖς ἥλοις, γράφων ἑαυτὸν πᾶσι δεσμώτην, καὶ πλέον … τῷ σιδήρῳ χαλλυνόμενος, ἣ αἱ χόραι τῷ χοσμοῦντε χρυσῷ. ᾿Εξαίφνης τε περιήστραψεν αὐτὸν φῶς ἐχ τοῦ οὐραγοῦ. Διὰ τί οὐ φαίνεται αὐτῷ ἐν μορφῇ ἀνθρώπου, ὥσπερ καὶ Στεφάνῳ ἔχ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν εἴδει πυρὸς, ἣ φωτός; “Ὅτι Στεφάνῳ μὲν, ὡς τελείῳ καὶ εἰδότι τὸ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως μυστήριον, καὶ μὴ.δὲν βλαπτομένῳ ἐχ τῆς εὐτελείας τῆς χαθ᾽ ἡμᾶς, χαλῶς οὕτως ἑαυτὸν ἐπεδείχνυ, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ ἀνῆλθεν ἐπὶ τὸν οὐρανόν\" Παύλῳ δὲ, ὡς διὰ τοῦτο μὴ καταδεχομένῳ Θεὸν ὀνομάζειν τὸν Ἰησοῦν, ἐπειδὴ ἐν σὥματι παρεγένετο πρὸς ἡμᾶς, οὐ φαίνεται ἄνθρωπος, ἵνα μὴ βεδαιώσῃ ἀπίστῳ τὸ πρόσχομμα\" ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ἐν ἰδέ, ἀστραπῆς καὶ πυρὸς, ἵν᾽ ἐχ τοῦ νόμου καὶ Μωῦσέως αὐτὸν ἐφελχύσηται. Κἀκεῖ γὰρ ὁ αὐτὸς οὗτος Θεὸς, τῷ Μωῦσεϊζ ἐμφανίζων, ἐν πυρὶ ἐλάλει \" καὶ τὸν νόμον διδοὺς ἐπὶ τοῦ Σινᾶ, πυρὶ χαταλάμπων τὸν Ἑόραϊον, ἐνεχείριζε τὰς πλάχας αὑτῷ. Περιαυγάζει τοίνυν αὐτὸν, ἵνα τὸν νοῦν ἐπιθαλὼν τῶν τότε γενομένων τῇ ὁμοιότητι καὶ νῦν, καὶ ὥσπερ ἐχ λήθης τινὸς ἑαυτὸν ἀφυπνίσας, γνωρίσῃ τῆς μιᾶς δυνάμεως ὄντα τὰ θεοφάνια \" ἀποστέλλει δὲ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ τὴν αὐγὴν, ἵνα μηχέτι περὶ τὴν Βηθλεὲμ καὶ τὴν Γαλιλαίαν στρεφόμενος τῇ διανοίᾳ ὁ Ὠαὔλος, υἱὸν τοῦ Δαδὶδ ὀνομάζῃ τὸν Χριστὸν καὶ ἄνθρωπον, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἄλλα, τὰ τῆς οἰχονομίας ὀνόματα\" διδαχθῇ δὲ σαφῶς, ὅτι Θεὸς ὧν ἄνωθεν, ἀφίχετο πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ὅθεν καὶ νῦν ἐπιφαίνεται.","t":"There is nothing like setting out the very words that describe to us the hunting of the Hebrew wolf. “But Saul, still breathing threats and murder.” The passage depicts for me a man bursting with rage from the bloodshed just before, still panting after the throwing of the stones, with a bloodshot and savage look, as a murderer must have, preserving at the start the signs of the patriarch's prophecy. For the patriarch, when he was about to die, set his sons around his bed on every side and foretold the future by the Spirit. So, when he blessed Judah, he spoke to him, but in allegory he sang of the Christ who would come from him. Then, having foretold to each in turn what would happen later, he came last to Benjamin, as the youngest; he spoke ostensibly to his son, but in reality he signified Paul, who was descended, as we know, from his tribe. “[Benjamin is] a ravening wolf; in the morning he will eat, and in the evening he will distribute food.” Let us search out what is meant. Surely this: that having eaten at first (that is, persecuted, murdered, shed blood, and scattered the Church like a flock), at last he became a shepherd and good pastor, putting off the persecutor and putting on the apostle, distributing the law to all as food, and setting up for us this holy table. For such is the power of the Lord: it disarms the rebellious of their anger and impious [thoughts], and … biting … What does Scripture say next? That “he went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that he might bring the Christians bound …” O the conflict and difference between letters: those which Paul sought then, and those which he wrote later proclaiming Christ! The first bound Christians; the second put around the persecutor's neck chains for Christ, many, heavy and hard to bear. In the first was written: “Paul the Hebrew, champion of the law, enemy of the cross, foe of the Gospel”; but in the later Epistles: “Paul, slave of Jesus Christ.” Of which Jesus? Note it: of the Crucified. O wonder! What a little before was a reproach has now become a boast, and what was despised is remembered today as glory. No glory-seeking, proud king ever paraded in the splendour of his rule as Paul did in the cross and the nails, describing himself to everyone as a prisoner, and more … adorned with iron than girls with the gold that decks them. “And suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.” Why does he not appear to him in human form, as he did from heaven to Stephen, but in the form of fire or light? Because to Stephen, as one perfect, who knew the mystery of the incarnation and was in no way harmed by our lowliness, he rightly showed himself so, just as he had ascended into heaven. But to Paul, who would not consent to call Jesus God because he had come to us in a body, he does not appear as a man, so as not to confirm the stumbling-block for an unbeliever; rather he appears in the form of lightning and fire, so as to draw him on from the law and Moses. For there too this same God, appearing to Moses, spoke in fire; and giving the law on Sinai, he lit up the Hebrew with fire and handed him the tablets. So he shines around him, so that Paul, setting his mind on the likeness between what happened then and now, and waking himself as if from some forgetfulness, might recognize that the theophanies belong to one and the same power. And he sends the radiance from heaven, so that Paul, no longer turning in his mind around Bethlehem and Galilee, might not call Christ son of David and man and all the other names that belong to the dispensation, but might be clearly taught that, being God from above, he came to us from the place from which he now appears.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 8.7 (PG 40:260; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/8-7)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/8.8":{"o":"Εἴτα προστίθησι σαφῶς\" Ἐγώ εἶμι Ἰησοῦς\" τὸ τῆς συγχαταδάσεως ὄνομα\" ἵνα βεδαιώσῃ τὴν τῆς σαρχώσεως πίστιν, πρὸς ἣν Ἰουδαῖοι ἐσχανδαλίζοντο. Ἐγώ εἰμι ἐχεῖνος, ὃν ἐῤῥαπίξετε, ὃν ἐφραγελλοῦτε, ὃν εἴλχχετε καὶ ἐφέρετε, νῦν μὲν πρὸς Καϊάφαν, ὕττερὸν δὲ πρὸς Πιλᾶτον\" ὃν ἀπεχαλεῖτε συνεχῶς υἱὸν τοῦ τέχτονος, ὃν ἐν τοῖς νεχροῖς ἢριθμεῖτε, γελῶντες μεγάλα πρὸς τοὺς χηρύττοντας τὴν ἀνάστασιν. Ἐχεῖνος νῦν λαλῶν, οὐ φαίνομαι\" παρὼν, οὐχ ὁρῶμαι\" φωτίξων Ψυχὴν, ὀφθαλμοῖς ἐπάγων 19\" τυφλότητα. Πίστευσὸν οὖν, ὅτι καὶ Στεφάνῳ ἐφαινόμην, ὅτε τοῦτο λέγων πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἡἠπιστεῖτο. Σχιζηρὸν' οὖν σοι πρὸς κέγτρα «ἰακχτίζειν. Κέντρα λέγει, τοῦ σταυροῦ τοὺς ἥλους. Ὡς γὰρ ὁ σιδήρῳ τεθηγμένῳ οὐχ ἐχεῖνον διαφθείρει, ( πῶς γὰρ τὸν σχληρόν;) Ὁ ἑαυτὸν δὲ τιτρώσχει\" οὕτω καὶ ὁ πρὸς Θεὸν φιλογειχῶν, αὐθαίρετον ἐπισπᾶται τὸν ὄλεθρον. Σωφρόνησον οὖν τοῦ λοιποῦ, καὶ τὴν ὄψιν ἀπολέσας διὰ τῆς θαυμαστῆς λαμπηδόνος, νῦν μάλιστα νόησον, ὅτι διὰ τοῦτο ἐνεδυσάμην σῶμα, καὶ ἐγενόμην ἄνθρωπος, ἵνα μὴ πάντες τυφλωθῶσιν, οἱ γυμνῇ παραπετάσματος προσομιλοῦντες θεότητι. Ταῦτα\" καὶ χειραγωγούμενος ὁ Παῦλος ἀπήγετο ἐλεεινὸν θέαμα, μᾶλλον δὲ χάριεν καὶ θυμηδίας ἄξιον, ᾿Εδέθη ὁ λύχος, ἐσωφρονίσθη ὁ ἅρπαξ. ἡμερώθη ὁ ἄγριος, ἐθάδιζξε πράως ὁ τρέχων\" ἀπήγετο μαθητὴς ὁ τῶν μαθητῶν τύρατνος\" ἤγετο πιεῖν τον ἄλλου τὸ αἷμα ὁ τῷ αἵματι Στεφάνον μεμολυσμένος τὰς χεῖρας. Ἐπὶ τρεῖς δὲ ἡμέρας διετέλεσεν ἐν τυφλότητι ζῶν. Καὶ μάλα εἰχότως. Ὁ γὰρ εἰς τὴν Τριάδα διαμαρτὼν, δικαίως ἰσάριθμον χατεδιχάσθη τὴν τιμωρίαν. ο Οὕτω μὲν οὖν ὁ θεσπέσιος ἐμυσταγωγήθη πρὸς τὴν εὐσέδειαν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐγεύσατο, χα) διὰ τῆς πείρας ἔμαθεν, ὅτι ζῇ ὁ Χριστὸς, καὶ ἔστιν, καὶ βασιλεύει τῶν ὅλων, οὔτε δὲ ἐφθάρη παρὰ τοῦ θανάτου, οὔτε ἐχλάπη παρὰ τῶν μαθητῶν\" ταχέως ἐχ τοῦ νόμου μεταταξάμενος πρὸς τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον, πᾶσι χατήγγελλε Θεὸν τὸν Χριστὸν, ὃν χθὲς καὶ πρὼγν ἐλοιδόρει ταῖς βλασφημίαις, καὶ τοιοῦτος ἦν σύμμαχος, οἷος καὶ πολέμιος \" ἰσχυρὸς γὰρ ἀμφότεοα. ᾿Αθρόον δὲ καὶ ἀδοχήτως εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὰς συναγωγὰς Δαμασχοῦ, τοῦ νόμου καὶ τῶν προφητῶν ἐδημηγόρει τοὺς λόγους, οὐ νόμου χρατύνων, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπ᾽ ἐχείνου τὸν Χριστὸν συγχροτῶν, καὶ συγχρίνων τοῖς γινομένοις πράνμασι τὰς προσαγορεύσεις τῶν μαθητῶν, καὶ διὰ νόμου νόμον ἐχδάλλων. “Ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ περὶ ἑαυτοῦ φησιν, ἐπιστέλλων Ῥωμαίοις \" ᾿Εγὼ γὰρ διὰ νόμου, γόμῳφ ἀπέθανον\" τουτέστιν, ᾿Απὸ τῶν Μωσαϊχῶν γραμμάτων ὁδηγηθεὶς, ἐπέγνων τὴν τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου εὐσέδειαν. “Ἔκχπληξις οὖν εἶχε τὴν Δαμασχὸν, καὶ πάντες πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς ἐξεθείαζον \" Δεῦτε, θεᾶσθε τὸν Ταρσέα ῬἙἙΘραῖΐον, τὸν τοῦ πατρῴου νόμου ζέοντα μαθητὴν, σφοδρὸν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ συνήγορον, καὶ Θεὸν αὐτὸν ἀναχαλοῦντα, καὶ ἐχ τῶν ἡμετέρων γραμμάτων ἀποδεικνύντα, ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ χατ᾽ ἐπαγγελίαν Σωτήρ. Δέος οὖν μὴ πᾶσαν μεταπείσῃ τὴν πόλιν, μὴ καὶ ὅλον τὸν δήμον ἐπάγηται καὶ ἀποστήσῃ τοῦ νόμου. Καὶ γάρ ἔστι τῆς Γραφῆς ἀσχητὴς, καὶ τὸν νοῦν ὀξὺς, καὶ γοργὸς τὸν λόγον, καὶ τὸν τρόπον εὐμήχανος, καὶ πολὺ χεχτημένος τὸ ἀξιόπιστον\" ἀφ᾽ ὧν ἀχριδῶς εἰδὼς τὰ ἡμέτερα, οὐχ ἀγνοίᾳ δοχεῖ πλανᾶσθαι, ἀλλὰ δοχιμασίᾳ καὶ χρίσει τὸ ἀληθὲς εὑρηχέναι. Εἰς ταύτην τὴν ἀμηχανίαν ἐνέδαλε πόλιν μεγάλὴν, δῆμον πολυάνθρωπον, πρῶτον τοῦ γενναίου ράττετο, ἣ πρώην οἱ ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις Χριστιανοὶ, ἡνέχα Στέφανον Παῦλος ἐλίθαξεν. Ὡς γὰρ οἱ θαυμαστοὶ τῶν ἀριστέων ὅπου δ᾽ ἂν μετατάξωνται, ἐχεῖ τὴν νέχην μετάγουσιν, οὕτως ὁ θεσπέσιος ἀνὴρ ἐχείνοὺς πάντως ἐποίει μεγάλους, οἷς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ παρεἶχε ῥοπήν. Οὕτω τοίνυν ᾿χαταγγείλας ἐν τῇ Φοινίχη τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον, καὶ τὰ πρῶτα σπέρματα τῆς ἀποστολῆς ἐχεῖ χαταδαλόμενος, ἔνθα καὶ αὐτὸς ἐφωτίσθη τῇ γνώσει, ἦλθεν εἰς τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ξένον τοῖς ἐχεῖ καὶ χαλὸν θέαμα. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ προπέμψαντες αὐτὸν, καὶ δόντες τὰ ἐν μέσῳ συμδάντα, θεασάμενοι πρῶτον, ἡδέως τε εἶδον, καὶ ἀπήτουν τὴν θήραν, πλῆθος Χριστιανῶν δεσμωτῶν ἐλπίσαντες ὄψεσθαι, καὶ τῶν πολλῶν ὑποσχέσεων ζητοῦντες τὸ ἔργον. Ἐπεὶ ὃὲ λόγου προδαίνοντος εὗρον Παῦλον τὸν Σαῦλον, συν- …","t":"Then he adds plainly, “I am Jesus”, the name of his condescension, to confirm faith in the incarnation, at which the Jews took offence. “I am the one you struck, whom you scourged, whom you dragged and carried off, first to Caiaphas, then to Pilate; whom you constantly called the carpenter's son, whom you counted among the dead, laughing loudly at those who proclaimed the resurrection. That one now speaks, and I do not appear; I am present, and I am not seen; I enlighten the soul while I bring blindness on the eyes. Believe, then, that I appeared to Stephen too, when he was disbelieved for saying so to you.” “It is hard for you, then, to kick against the goads.” He calls the nails of the cross goads. For as one [who kicks] against sharpened iron does not destroy it (how could he, since it is hard?) but wounds himself, so the one who contends against God brings destruction on himself of his own will. “Come to your senses, then, from now on; and having lost your sight through this wonderful brightness, understand now above all that this is why I put on a body and became man: so that all who would converse with the Godhead naked, without a veil, might not be blinded.” [So he spoke]; and Paul was led away by the hand, a pitiable sight, or rather a charming one and worthy of delight. The wolf was bound, the ravager brought to his senses, the savage tamed; the runner walked gently; the tyrant of the disciples was led away a disciple; the man whose hands were stained with Stephen's blood was led away to drink the blood of another. For three days he remained living in blindness; and very fittingly, for he who had sinned against the Trinity was justly condemned to a punishment equal in number. So, then, the divine man was initiated into godliness. And when he had tasted the truth and learned by experience that Christ lives, and is, and reigns over all, and was neither destroyed by death nor stolen by the disciples, he quickly changed sides from the law to the Gospel, and proclaimed to all as God the Christ whom yesterday and the day before he had reviled with blasphemies; and he was as strong an ally as he had been an enemy, for he was strong in both. Entering the synagogues of Damascus suddenly and unexpectedly, he spoke publicly from the words of the law and the prophets, not to strengthen the law, but to build up Christ from it, comparing the prophets' titles with the events that had happened, and casting out the law through the law. As he says of himself, writing to the Romans: “For through the law I died to the law”; that is, guided by the writings of Moses, I came to know the godliness of the Gospel. Amazement held Damascus, and everyone said to one another in astonishment: “Come and see the Hebrew of Tarsus, the zealous disciple of our ancestral law, a vehement advocate of Jesus, calling him God and proving from our own writings that this is the Saviour according to the promise. There is fear that he will win over the whole city, that he will draw the whole people after him and turn them from the law. For he is practised in Scripture, sharp of mind, swift of speech, resourceful in manner, and possessed of great credibility; knowing our affairs exactly, he does not seem to be led astray by ignorance, but to have found the truth by testing and judgment.” Into this perplexity he threw a great city, a populous people, first of the noble … as the Christians in Jerusalem had been [troubled] before, when Paul stoned Stephen. For as wonderful champions carry victory with them wherever they change sides, so the divine man made great in every way those to whom he lent his weight. So, having proclaimed the Gospel in Phoenicia and laid the first seeds of his apostleship there, where he himself was enlightened with knowledge, he came to Jerusalem, a strange and fine sight to those there. For those who had sent him and given him the [letters], when they first saw him, saw him gladly and demanded the catch, expecting to see a crowd of Christian prisoners, and asking for the fulfilment of his many promises. But when, as he spoke, they found Paul instead of Saul, …","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 8.8 (PG 40:260; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/8-8)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/8.9":{"o":"… δοῦλον, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀποστόλων μαθητὴν θερμότ.ρον\" τὰ μὲν πρῶτα, παιδιὰν καὶ χλεύην ἡγοῦντο τὰ λεγόμενα\" ἐπεὶ δὲ δοχιμάσαντες εὗρον ὁμολογοῦσαν τῇ φωνῇ τὴν γνώμην, ἕν ἐδουλεύσαντο μόνον, ὅπως ὁ νεανίσχος ἀπόλοιτο' ὡς οὐχ ἑνὸν εἶναι τὴν Ἑόραίων θρησχείαν καὶ χρηματίζειν, ζῶντος Παύλου καὶ φθεγγομένου. Καὶ τοῦτο σαφῶς ἔδειξε σύμπας ὁ ὕστερον χρόνος. Ἕτι γὰρ τῶν πολλῶν, εἰ καὶ ὑπῆρχον Χριστιανοὶ, οὐχ ἀρχούντων χαθαρῶς ζῇν χατὰ τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον, ἀλλ᾽ ἀμφοτεριζόντων, καί που καὶ τῇ περιτομῇ προσχρωμένων, ἵν᾽ ἐχ μέρους χεχαρισμένα τοῖς 'Ἑδραίοις ποιοῦντες, τὸν θυμὸν αὑτῶν ἐχμειλίξωνται\" μόνος οὗτος ἀχαταπλήχτῳ φρονήματι, οὐδὲν ὑφειμένον ἐδίδαξεν\" ἀλλὰ καθαρᾷ τῇ φωνῇ ἄνωθεν τὸν λόγον ἐχήρυσσεν, καὶ εἰς τοσοῦτόν γε προῦθδη τοῦ ἐλευθερίου φρονήματος, ὥστε ποτὲ μὲν Γαλατῶν, οἰχείᾳ χουφότητι καὶ ὀλιγωρίᾳ τῶν διδασχόντων, εἰς τὴν χατὰ νόμον παλινδρομούντων ξωὴν, τὴν θαυμαστὴν αὐ. τοῖς γράφων ἐπιστολὴν (δι᾽ ἧς ἐν χαινότητι τῆς χατὰ Χριστὸν πολιτείας εὐσεδεῖν αὑτοὺς καὶ θρησχεύειν ἐδίδαξε, μηχέτι προσχόντας τοῖς γράμμασιν τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν λιθίνων πλαχῶν), συνεπλάχη διὰ τῶν λεγομένων αὐτῷ τῷ χορυφαίῳ τῶν ἀποστόλων, καὶ πανταχοῦ χαθαπτόμενος διετέλεσε καὶ ἁψιμαχῶν πρὸς τὸν Πέτρον, ὡς τὴν νέαν ἐπιθολοῦντα πολιτείαν, τῇ προσς( χρήσει τῶν παλαιῶν καὶ πεπαυμένων δογμάτων\" καὶ οὐδὲ τὴν πολιὰν ἡδέσθη τοῦ γέροντος, οὔτε τὰ τῆς ἀποστολῆς πρεσθεῖα, ὅτε εἶδε χινδυνεύουσαν τὴν ἀλήθειαν. ᾿Αλλὰ τῶν μὲν Γαλατῶν χατεξανέστη δρῶς, τῶν 1 δὲ πολλάχις ἔπληξεν, ὡς ἐνῆν, τὴν. παῤῥησίαν εὐπρεπείᾳ χεράσας. Καὶ πανταχοῦ μὲν. διετέλει λέγων καὶ πείθων᾽ εἰ δέ που καὶ πονηροῖς. ἤθεσιν ἐντυχὼν ἔπαθέν τι δεινὸν, ἢ δεσμωτήριον οἷ-. κῆσας, ἣ μάστιγας λαδὼν, ἣ λίθοις βληθεὶς, οὐ χατι. ἔλυσεν τὴν προθυμίαν [διὰ] τὴν γενομένην ἀποτυχίαν' ἀλλὰ μιχρὸν διαλιπὼν, πάλιν ἔγγιζε τοῖς ἐχθροῖς, καὶ τοὺς αὐτῶν ἀναστρέφων λόγους, καὶ τοὺς τρόπους τῶν ἐπιχειρήσεων ἐξευρίσχων, εὐμηχά-. νως δὲ λίαν πρὸς τὰς ἐμπιπτούσας χρείας μεθαρμο-. ζόμενος, πάντως ἀπήξι πείσας, ἢ πάντας, ἣ τοὺς. Ὦ πολλούς. Πολλάχις γὰρ εὑρεθεὶς μετὰ πληγὰς ἀνηχέστους, καὶ ῥιφεὶς ἐν προαστείοις τῆς πόλεως ἐχείνης, ἣν ἐμυσταγώγει πρὸς τὴν εὐσέδειαν, νομισθεὶς. δὲ καὶ τεθνάναι διὰ τὸ μέγεθος τῶν δεινῶν, τῇ ὕστεραίᾳ τὴν ἀγορὰν χαταλαδὼν, καὶ τὴν δεξιὰν προτείνας. πάλιν ἐδίδασχεν τοὺς ἐγγὺς ἀγαγόντας θανάτου\" οὕτως οὐδὲν αὐτῷ τοῦ σώματος ἔμελλεν\" πρὸς δὲ τὸν σχοπὸν βλέπων τῆς ἄνω χλήσεως, καρτερὸς ζετο, χώραν ἐχ χώρας ἀμείδων, πόλιν ἐχ πόλεως, τοῖς κατὰ γῆν πόνοις ἐναθλῶν, πρὸς τοὺς κινδύνους τοὺς ἐκ θαλάττης παραταττόμενος, πρὸς δήμους νοις ἀπολογούμενος: ἙἭδραίους ἐνάγων εἰς τὸν ἐπί\" γνωσιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, διὰ τῶν παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς τιμωμένων γραμμάτων \" Ἕλληνας τοῖς ἔξωθεν δυσωπῶν λόγοις, καὶ τοῖς ἀγράφοις νόμοις τῆς φύσεως\" Χριστιανοὺς βεθαιῶν᾽ προσηλύτους οἰχοδομῶν, καὶ τρέφων τοῖς φυτῶν, τῇ συμμέτρῳ καὶ πεφεισμένῃ τῶν ὑδάτων ἐπιῤῥοῇ. Ὃ ὃὲ μάλιστα δείχνυσιν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐν λόγοις ἰσχὺν, χαταμάθωμεν. θῆναι, πόλις ἐστὶν προχαθημένη τῆς ᾿Αχαΐξας, ἑστία λόγων, ὡς προεῖπον αὐτὴν οἱ εὐφημοῦντες, σοφῶν ἀνδρῶν καὶ τῶν ἐν λόγοις ζώντων παλαιὸν ἐργαστήριον. Ἐπεὶ τοίνυν ὁ Παῦλος τὸ Ἰλλυριχὸν ἅπαν διαδραμὼν, καὶ πανταχοῦ ῥίψας τοὺς σπινθῆρας τῆς πίστεως, οὃς τὸ Πνεῦμα παραλαθδὼν ἀνεῤῥίπιζε καὶ ἀπθέστους ἐτήρει, ἦλθε χατὰ τὴν χρείαν τῆς περιόδου καὶ πρὸς τοὺς σοφοὺς ᾿Αθηναίους. Πρᾶγμα ἣν πολλῆς μερίμνης ἄξιον, πῶς ἂν ὁ σχηνοῤῥάφος τοὺς περὶ θεοῦ λόγους ἐχείνοις δημηγορήσειεν, τοῖς ἀξιοῦσι χατὰ παιδείαν πάντων ἅμα βασιλεύειν ἀνθρώπων. Ὁ δὲ μεγέθει φύσεως, καὶ πλούτῳ τῆς ἄνωθεν δωρεᾶς ἐπαιρόμενος, οὐχ ἕνα τῶν ὑποστέγων δόμων χατέλαθεν, οὐδὲ ἐφ᾽ ἑνὸς ἐργαστηρίου καθίσας, διάλεξιν ἐχοιήσατο, ὡς εἰώθεσαν καὶ οἱ πρῶτοι τῶν παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς φιλοσόφων συνεῖναι τοῖς πλησιάζουσιν \" ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸν \"Αρειον΄ πάγον ἀναδραμὼν, ἔνθα ἦν βουλὴ δχ᾽ εὑρὼν δὲ πλῆθος ἐχεῖ συνειλεγμένον πολὺ, στὰς ἐδημηγόρει ὑπὲρ τοὺς ἐθάδας ῥήτορας, τοὺς χαθ᾽ ἡμέραν παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς ἀγωνιζομένους. Λαδὼν δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐξ ἐπιγράμματος, ὅπερ ἣν ἐγχεχολαμμένον βυμῷ, χἀχεῖθεν αὐτοῖς εὐαφόρμως τὸν ἄγνωστον ᾿αταγγεδας Θεὸν, καὶ σύμπαντα τὸνλόγον συμπερβανάμενος, τοσοῦτον ἀπέσχε τοῦ ὡς ἰδιώτης τῆς ἔξωϑεν σοφίας διαμαρτεῖν τι περὶ τοὺς λόγους, ὥστε τὸν χορυφαῖον τῶν ᾿Αρεοπαγιτῶν τὸν Διονύσιον, ἅμα μὲν τῇ γυναικὶ πείσας μετέστησε, καὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰργάσατο δοῦλον, ἐξ ἑνὸς βωμοῦ, καὶ μιχροῦ ἐπιγράμματος, πολλῶν ἀποστήσας βωμῶν.","t":"… a servant [of Christ], and a disciple more ardent than the other apostles, at first they thought what he said a game and a joke; but when they tested him and found his mind in agreement with his voice, they planned one thing only, how the young man might be destroyed; as though it were impossible for the religion of the Hebrews to exist and carry on its business while Paul lived and spoke. All the time that followed showed this clearly. For while many, even though they were Christians, were not content to live purely by the Gospel, but wavered both ways, and here and there even made use of circumcision, so as to soothe the anger of the Hebrews by doing things partly pleasing to them, he alone, with undaunted mind, taught nothing watered down, but proclaimed the word in a pure voice from the beginning. He advanced so far in his free spirit that once, when the Galatians, through their own levity and the negligence of their teachers, were running back to the life according to the law, he wrote them that wonderful letter (in which he taught them to be godly and to worship in the newness of the way of life in Christ, no longer attending to the letters on the stone tablets), and in it he took on the very chief of the apostles. He went on attacking him at every point and skirmishing with Peter, as one who was clouding the new way of life by the use of old doctrines that had ceased; and he respected neither the old man's grey hair nor the seniority of his apostleship when he saw the truth in danger. Against the Galatians he rose up sharply; others he often struck as he could, mixing his frankness with seemliness. Everywhere he went on speaking and persuading. And if anywhere, meeting with wicked characters, he suffered something terrible, whether lodging in prison, or receiving lashes, or being stoned, he did not relax his eagerness because of the failure; but after a short pause he approached his enemies again, turning their arguments back on them, finding out the ways they attacked, and adapting himself very resourcefully to the needs that arose, and he went away having persuaded either all or most. Often he was found after grievous blows and thrown out in the suburbs of the city which he was initiating into godliness, and thought to be dead from the greatness of his sufferings; and the next day he took his place in the market and, stretching out his right hand, taught again those who had brought him near to death: so little did he care for his body. Looking to the goal of the upward call, he was strong …, changing country for country and city for city, contending in labours on land, arrayed against the dangers of the sea, defending himself before peoples …; leading Hebrews to the knowledge of Christ through the writings honoured among them; shaming Greeks with words from outside and with the unwritten laws of nature; confirming Christians; building up converts and nourishing them … of plants, with a measured and sparing flow of water. Let us learn what most shows his strength in speech. [Athens] is a city that presides over Achaea, a hearth of eloquence, as its eulogists have called it, an ancient workshop of wise men and of those who live by words. When Paul had run through all Illyricum, and everywhere cast the sparks of faith, which the Spirit took up, fanned into flame, and kept unquenched, he came in the course of his circuit to the wise Athenians too. It was a matter for much anxiety how the tentmaker would address words about God to those who thought themselves fit by their education to rule all men together. But he, uplifted by greatness of nature and the wealth of the gift from above, did not take one of the roofed halls, nor sit in some workshop and hold a dialogue, as the leading philosophers among them used to converse with those who came near; but running up to the Areopagus, where the council was …, and finding a great crowd gathered there, he stood and spoke publicly, surpassing the habitual orators who contended among them every day. Taking his starting point from an inscription carved on an altar, and from it appropriately proclaiming to them the unknown God, and bringing his whole discourse to its conclusion, he was so far from falling short in his speech, as a layman in outside wisdom, that he persuaded Dionysius, the leader of the Areopagites, together with his wife, and converted him and made him a slave of Christ, turning him away from many altars by one altar and a little inscription.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 8.9 (PG 40:260; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/8-9)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/9.1":{"o":"θ. Ἐγκώμιον εἰς ἅγιον ἱερομαρτυρα Καλὴ καὶ συμφόέρουσα τοῖς ἀσχουμένοις τὰ σπου… μόνον τοὺς ἐπιθυμοῦντας ἀρετῆς καὶ εὐσεδείας, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς πράξεις τῶν βεδιωχότων ὀρθῶς ἐναργεῖς διδασχάλους προτίθῃησι. Διὸ καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν, τὰς τῶν ἀρίστων χατορθωμάτων ὑποθήχας διδοὺς, φησίν\" “Ὃς δ' ἂν ποιήσῃ καὶ διδάξῃ. οὗτος μέγας κιληθήσεται\" καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ\" Λαμψάτω τὸ φῶς ὑμὼν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὅπως ἴδωσι τὰ ἔργα, καὶ δοξάσωσι τὸν Πατέρα ὑμῶν τὸν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. Ἢ γὰρ λογιχὴ παίδευσις, τῆς πραχτιχῆς ἐνεργείας ἥττων καὶ ἀσθενεστέρα διδάσχαλος \" καὶ ὅσῳ τῆς ἀχοῆς τὴν ὄψιν ἀχριθεστέραν εἶναί φαμεν, “ τοσούτῳ διωμολόγηται τοῦ λόγου τὴν πρᾶξιν χρατεῖν. Ούτω τὰς ἐπιστήμας μανθάνομεν\" οὕτω τὰς τέχνας ἐχπαιδευόμεθα, λόγῳ πρότερον πρὸς τὴν μάθησιν ἐναγόμενοι, εἶτα χειρὶ καὶ πείρᾳ τὴν ἀμοιδρὰν ᾽5 χρατύνοντες. Καὶ πολλὰ μὲν ὁ γεωμέτρης περὶ τὴν βίδλον χαμὼν, καὶ πληρωθεὶς παρὰ τοῦ διδασχάλου τὴν ἀχοὴν, οὐκ ἄλλως χαταλήψεται τῶν τοιχίλων ᾽σχημάτων τὴν δύναμιν, ἂν μὴ χαταμάθῃ κὰ κέντρα, καὶ τὰς γραμμὰς, καὶ τοὺς χύχλους ἐπὶ τοῦ πίναχος. Οὐ μέντοι οὐδὲ τὸν ἁστρονομίας ἐπιθυμήσαντα,, ὁ λόγος μόνον παιδεύει τὸ σπουδαζόμενον, ἂν μὴ τὴν σφαῖραν αὑτῷ περιδινήσας ἐπιστημόνως ὁ παιδευτὴς, τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς παραδῷ τοῦ πόλου τὴν χίνησιν. Καὶ ὁ ἰατρὸς δὲ, πολλὰ τῷ Ἱπποχράτει χαμὼν καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις χαθηγηταῖς, ἐστὶ θεραπευτὴς, πρὶν ἂν πρὸς τοὺς πολλοὺς βαδίσας ἀῤῥώστους, παρ᾽ αὐτῶν μάθῃ τῶν νοσούντων τὸ θεραπεύειν. Οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἡμεῖς οἱ μαθηταὶ τῶν μαρτύ- (ων, τὰς πράξεις τῶν χαρτερῶν ἀνδρῶν, πρὸ τῆς ὁμολογίας διδασχάλους ποιούμενοι, μανθάνομεν ἄχρι τῶν ἐσχάτων χινδύνων φυλάττειν εὐσέῤειαν, αὐτὰς τὰς ἱερὰς θήχας αὐτῶν χαθάπερ στῆλας προσθλέποντοῦ μαρτυρίου τὴν ἀγωνίαν. Ὥσπερ δὲ οἱ πλησιάζοντες τῇ δρυῖ τῇ Μαμόρῆ, ἣ τῷ σπηλαίῳ τῷ ὠνητῷ, ὅπερ Ἐφραῖμ ν᾽ ὁ Χετταῖος εἰς ταφὴν τῆς Σάῤῥας ἀπέδοτο, ἔνθα δὴ καὶ αὐτὸς οὺν τοῖς παισὶν ὁ πατριάρχης ἀπόχειται, εὐθέως μετὰ τῆς θέας τῶν τόπων, ἐν τοῖς λογισμοῖς ἀνανεοῦνται τὴν φαντασίαν, καὶ βλέπουσι τῇ διανοίᾳ τὸν πιστὸν πατριάρχην, τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τῆς εὐσεδείας, τὴν ἐν ἐχείνῳ περιτομὴν ᾿ λογίζονται δὲ καὶ τοὺς τῆς ἐκχεί… καὶ μετὰ τῆς μνήμης τῶν ἀνδρῶν, ὅλης τῆς ἐπ᾽ αὐὖτοὺς ἱστορίας γίνονται θεαταί \" οὕτω χἀγὼ σήμερον, ἐχ τοῦ τόπου πληροῦμαι τῆς μνήμης πάντων ὁμοῦ τῶν ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ λεγομένων διηγημάτων\" βλέπω τὸν χηπουρὸν τὸ ἐπιτήδευμα, τὸν ἄπλαστον τὴν ψυχὴν, τὸν φιλόξενον, τὸν τῆς παραλίας ἐξαίρετον, τὸν τῆς μεσογείου εὐεργέτην, τῶν ἁγίων τὸν ἅγιον, καὶ τῶν δεδοξασμένων διὰ Χριστὸν ᾿ἐνδοξότερον. Ἱερὸς μὲν γὰρ καὶ θεσπέσιος ἅπας ὁ τῶν γενναίων μαρτύρων κατάλογος, πάθει τὴν ὑπὲρ πάθους ἀποδοὺς χάριν, αἴματι δὲ τὴν ὑπὲρ αἵματος τῷ Σωτῆρι τῶν ὅλων ἀμοιδὴν ἐχπληρώσας. Πλὴν ἐν αὐτοῖς τούτοις, οὗ μία τῶν πάντων ἡ δόξα, οὐδὲ πρὸς ἕν μέτρον ἴσα τὰ γέρα τοῖς ὅλοις ἀποχεχλήρωται \" ἀλλὰ τὸ πρῶτον καὶ δεύτερον, οὐδὲ ὁ τῶν ἁγίων ἐχφεύγει χατάλογος. Αἴτιον δὲ οἶμαι τούτου, τὸ λίαν ἀπηχριθωμένον τοῦ χριτοῦ καὶ ἀπρόσχλιτον. Ἐφορᾷ γὰρ καὶ τιμωριῶν μεγέθη, καὶ χαρτερίας ἐνστάσεις, καὶ βασανίζων τὰ ἀγωνίσματα, τὰς πρὸς ἀξίαν ἀμοιδὰς διανέμει τοῖς ἀθληταῖς. Καὶ παράδοξον οὐδαμῶς, εἰ παρὰ Θεοῦ οὕτω τιμᾶται τὸ δίχαιον, ὁπότε καὶ παρ᾽ ἡμῖν στρατηγοὶ καὶ ἀγωνοθέται οὐχ ἴσοι γίνονται τοῖς ἀριστεῦσιν, ἣ τοῖς ἀγωνισταῖς \" ἀλλὰ δὴ ἐχάστῳ χατά τὸ μέτρον τοῦ χατορθώματος, τὰς δωρεὰς ἀνα- Ταῦτα δὲ διῆλθον, ἵνα δείξω, ὡς ὁ σήμερον ἡμῖν παρασχὼν τοῦ συλλόγου τὴν ἀφορμὴν, τῶν ἑταίρων καὶ συναγωνιστῶν ἐστι περιφανέστερος. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλοι, οὐ πάντες παρὰ πᾶσι γνωρίζονται, οὐδὲ βεὃς ἀγνοεῖ\" ἀλλ᾽ ὥσπερ ἀχτὶς ἡ τοῦ ἡλίου πᾶσιν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἐφήπλωται, οὕτω καὶ ἣ τοῦ μάρτυρος τούτου φήμη πᾶσαν ἀχοὴν περιήχησε καὶ ἵνα συνελὼν εἴπω, ὅσοι τὸν Δεσπότην ἐγνώρισαν Χριστὸν, οὗτοι καὶ τὸν πιστὸν δοῦλον ἐγνώρισαν\" μᾶλλον δὲ, εἰ δοχεῖ, τῶν χοινῶν πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους ἐγχωμίων ἀφέμε-νος, τὰ ἐξαίοετα τοῦ μάρτυρος διηγήματα ὑμῖν τοῖς Ἤνεγχε τοίνυν τὸν ἅγιον ἄνδρα τοῦτον, τὸ μέγα Χριστιανῶν ὄφελος, ἡ γείτων Σινώπη, πόλις ἀρκαία καὶ γνώριμος, εὔπορος καρτερῶν \"7 καὶ φιλοσόφων ἀνδρῶν. Μὴ γάρ μοί τις λογιζέσθω νῦν τὸ τῆς θρησχείας διάφορον, ἀλλ᾽ εἰ σπουδαίων ὅλως ἀνδρῶν τροφὸς καὶ μήτηρ ἐδείχθη. ᾿Επιτήδευμα δὲ αὐτῷ τοῦ βίου, χήπου γεωργία καὶ ἐπιμέλεια, ὄνπερ αὐτοῦ που πρὸ τῆς πύλης τοῦ ἄστεος ἐπὶ τοῦ στόματος τοῦ Ἰσθμοῦ χεχτημένος, ἤσχει φιλοπόνως, ἑαυτῷ καὶ τοῖς δεομένοις παραμυθίαν τοῦ βίον. \"ἤνοιγε δὲ καὶ τοῖς ξένοις μάλα προθύμως τὴν μιχρὰν καὶ πενομένην ἑστίαν. Ἐποἰκῶν δὲ τῇ λεωφόρῳ, χοινὰ τοῖς ἐπιδημοῦσι θει τὰ ὄντα\" καὶ μέσος \"5 ἦν Λὼτ, οὐ Σοδομιτῶν, ἀλλὰ Σινωπέων. Τοῦ δὲ χρόνου προελθόντος, τὴν ἐντολὴν εὖρεν οὐχ ἄμισθον' ἀπὸ γὰρ φιλοξενίας ἐχέρδανε τοῦ ζωοποιοῦ θανάτου τὴν πρόφασιν\" ὅθεν δὲ καὶ ὅπως, μιχρὸν ἀναλαδόντος ἀχούσατε.","t":"Homily 9. Encomium on the holy priest-martyr [Phocas]. A fine and profitable thing for those who practise … not only [words] for those who desire virtue and godliness, but it also sets the deeds of those who have lived rightly before them as vivid teachers. That is why our Lord, giving precepts for the best achievements, says, “Whoever does and teaches, he will be called great”; and elsewhere, “Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” For instruction by words is a weaker and lesser teacher than practical activity; and as much as we say sight is more exact than hearing, so much is it agreed that deed prevails over word. So we learn the sciences, so we are trained in the arts: first we are led to learning by words, then we confirm the lesson by hand and experience. The geometer may toil long over his book and have his ears filled by his teacher, but he will not grasp the force of the various figures unless he learns the centres, the lines and the circles on the board. Nor do words alone teach the student of astronomy his subject, unless his teacher skilfully turns the sphere for him and hands the movement of the pole over to his eyes. And the physician, though he has toiled long over Hippocrates and the other masters, is [not yet] a healer until he goes among the many sick and learns healing from the sick themselves. So too we, the disciples of the martyrs, take the deeds of these steadfast men as our teachers before we make our own confession, and learn to keep godliness to the uttermost dangers, looking at their sacred tombs as at monuments … the struggle of martyrdom. Those who come to the oak of Mamre, or to the cave that was bought, which Ephron the Hittite sold for Sarah's burial, where the patriarch himself also lies with his sons, at once renew the picture in their thoughts at the sight of the places, and see in their minds the faithful patriarch, the firstfruits of godliness, the circumcision given in him; they reckon also … and with the memory of the men they become spectators of the whole history about them. So I too today am filled, from this place, with the memory of all the stories told about him at once. I see the gardener by trade, the guileless soul, the hospitable man, the pride of the coast and benefactor of the inland, the saint among saints, more glorious than those glorified for Christ. For the whole list of noble martyrs is sacred and divine, having paid back suffering for suffering, and fulfilled to the Saviour of all a return of blood for blood. Yet among these very men, whose glory is one and shared by all, the rewards have not all been allotted equally by one measure; even the list of the saints does not escape a first and a second. The cause of this, I think, is the great exactness and impartiality of the Judge. He looks upon the greatness of the punishments and the firmness of the endurance, tests the contests, and distributes to the athletes rewards according to their worth. And it is not at all strange that justice is so honoured by God, since among us too generals and presidents of the games do not treat champions or contestants as equals, but distribute their gifts to each according to the measure of his achievement. I have gone through this to show that the man who has given us today the occasion of our assembly is more illustrious than his companions and fellow contestants. For the others are not all known to everyone, nor … ; but as the sun's rays are spread out before all eyes, so the fame of this martyr has resounded in every ear; and to put it briefly, all who have come to know Christ the Master have come to know his faithful servant too. But rather, if you please, leaving aside the praises he shares with the others, [I will tell] you the martyr's own particular story. This holy man, the great benefit of Christians, was born at our neighbour Sinope, an ancient and well-known city, rich in steadfast and philosophic men. Let no one reckon against me now the difference of religion, but only whether the city was shown at all to be the nurse and mother of good men. His occupation in life was the cultivation and care of a garden, which he owned in front of the city gate at the mouth of the isthmus; he worked it industriously, as a means of life for himself and for the needy. He very readily opened his small and poor hearth to strangers too. Living on the highway, he set what he had before the travellers in common; and he was a Lot in their midst, not among Sodomites but among Sinopeans. As time went on, he found the commandment not without reward: for from his hospitality he gained the occasion of his life-giving death. Whence and how, hear as I take the story up a little.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 9.1 (PG 40:401; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/9-1)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/9.2":{"o":"Τοῦ λόγου τῆς εὐσεδείας ἡμῶν χαταγγελθέντος, χαι ποῦ θεσπεσίου χηρύγματος πρὸς πᾶσαν ἀχοὴν ἐξελϑόντος, γνωρίζοντος ὃὲ Χριστὸν καὶ τὰ ἐχείνου μυστήρια, ἐφρύαξαν ἔθνη, κατὰ τὸν Ψαλμῳδὸν, καὶ οἱ βασιμζεῖς καὶ ἄρχοντες συγήγοντο ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό\" καὶ οἱ τῆς πλάνης λαοὶ ὠργίζοντο, τοῦ Ἰησοῦ βασιλεύοντος. Ἐζητεῖτο δὲ πᾶς Χριστιανὸς, ὡς χαχοῦργος, καὶ ὁ ἐγγὺς ἐχολάζετο, καὶ ὁ μαχρὰν ἀνιχνεύετο. Διὸ Φωχᾶν, οὔτε ἡ εὐτέλεια τοῦ ἐπιτηδεύματος, καὶ ὁ χηπουρὸς ἔχρυψεν\" ἀλλὰ καὶ οὗτος, ὡς γνήσιος μάλιστα τοῦ Χριστοῦ μύστης, ἐμηνύθη. Καὶ δὴ καὶ … ἦλθον ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν οἱ τοῦ δυστήνου τοῦδε βίου καὶ ῥέοντος χελευσθέντες ἀπαγαγεῖν αὐτὸν ἄχριτον, ἀναπολόγητην. Καὶ γὰρ ἦν τὸ ἔγχλημα τοιοῦτον, ὃ λαμπρᾷ τῇ φωνῇ ὁ γεννάδας καθωμολόγει\" καὶ μηδενὸς ἐρωτῶντος, ἔργοις 3\" ἐδείχνυε\" πυνθανομένον δὲ, πε- Ἑλθόντες γοῦν οἱ τῆς ἐχείνου τιμωρίας δήμιοι, καὶ τῆς ἡμετέρας ἑορτῆς αἴτιοι, παρ᾽ αὐτῷ τῷ ζητουμένῳ χατέλυσαν, οὔτε γινώσχοντες, οὔτε μὴν γιγωσχόμενοι. Ἐν ἀποῤῥήτῳ δὲ τέως εἶχον τῆς ἐπιδηἑίας τὴν πρόφασιν, ἵνα πρότερον ἐχδιδαχθέντες παρὰ τῶν ἔξω τῆς πόλεως, τίς ὁ Φωχᾶς, καὶ ὅποι διάγων, ἀθρόον ἐπιστάντες συλλάδωσιν, ὡς οἱ Ἑ ὁραϊοί 3 ποτε ἂν τῷ χήπῳ μετὰ Ἰούδα τὸν Κύριον. ᾿Ελελήθεσαν δὲ εἴσω διχτύων τὴν θήραν ἔχοντες, οἱ χύνες τὸν ἀρνειὸν, οἱ λύχοι τὸν ἀμνὸν, τὴν περιστερὰν οἱ ἁρπαχτιχοὶ καὶ γαμψώνυχες: χαθὼς δὲ ὁ προφήτης Ἡσαΐας φησί\" Συνανεπαύετο ταῖς παρδάλεσιν ὁ ἔριφος, καὶ τοῖς λύχοῖς ὁ ἀρνειὸς συνεδόσχετο, καὶ οἱ λέοντες ἅμα τῷ “όσχῳ χοινὴν εἶχον τὴν δίαιταν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ, οἷα φιλεῖ γίνεσθαι, τράπεζα καὶ συνήθεια τὸ θαῤῥεῖν ἀλλήλοις παρέσχον, διεπυνθάνετο παρ᾽ αὐτῶν ὁ μάρτυς, «τίνες εἶεν, καὶ τίνος χάριν τὴν αὐτοῦ πόλιν χατέλαδον. Οἱ δὲ τὴν πρόθυμον δεξίωσιν καὶ φιλοξενίαν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς αἰδεσθέντες, μηδενί τε τὸ λεχθησόμενον ἐξεἰπεῖν παραγγείλαντες, ἐγνώρισαν αὑτῶν τὸ ἀπόῤῥητον, καὶ τὸ τῆς ἐπιθουλῆς ἐξαγορεύουσι δρᾶμα, ὅτι Ῥωχᾶν ἐπὶ τιμωρίᾳ ζητοῦσι λαδεῖν \" ὅθεν πρὸς τῇ φιλοξενίᾳ, καὶ ταύτην ἠξίουν τὴν ὐεργεσίαν ναι, συγχαμεῖν αὐτοῖς εἰς τὴν θήραν τοῦ ζητουμένον. ἬἬχουσεν ὁ τοῦ Κυρίου θεράπων, καὶ ἀτρέπτῳ τῇ ψυχῇ τὸν λόγον δεξάμενος, οὐ ταπεινόν τι καὶ ἀγεννὲς ἔπαθεν, ἣ ἐφθέγξατο \" οὐδὲ ἀποδειλιάσας τὸν κίνδυνον, φυγεῖν ἐθουλεύσατο\" καὶ ταῦτα, πολλὴν ἔχων καὶ ἄνετον ἀποδιδράσχειν τὴν ἐξουσίαν - ὅτι … τούμενος \" ἀλλὰ πᾶν τοὐναντίον ἐποίει, ἀνδρίζεσθαι μᾶλλον, καὶ οὐχὶ φεύγειν προῃρημένος. ᾿Αμέλει πρὸς τὴν ἀξίωσιν ἐπινεύει \" Κἀγὼ, φησὶν, ὑμῖν εἰς τὸ προχείμενον συλλήψομαι. Γινώσχω γὰρ τὸν ἄνδρα, καὶ ῥᾳδίως ἀναζητήσας εὑρήσω\" οὖχ εἰς μαχρὰν δὲ τοῦτον, ἀλλὰ εἰς τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν καὶ αὐτοῖς ὑμῖν ἐπιδείξω\" μόνον ὑμεῖς ἐπὶ τῆς πενιχρᾶς ταύτης χαταγωγῆς τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν, πράγμασιν ἑαυτὸν χαταμερίζει δυσὶ, τῇ τε δεξιώσει τῶν ἑαυτοῦ φονέων, καὶ τῇ ἐτοιμασίᾳ τοῦ τάφου. Εὐτρεπίσας δὲ τό τε ὄρυγμα καὶ τὰ περὶ ταφὴν ἀναγχαῖα, προσελθὼν αὐτοῖς τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ, Ἐπιμελῶς ὑμῖν, ἔφη, τὸν Φωχᾶν ἀνεζήτησα, χαὺ ἕτοιμον ἤδη τὸ θήραμα \" καὶ εἰ δοχεῖ, συλληφθήτω. Τῶν δὲ εἰπόντων. ἐκ περιχαρείας \" Καὶ ποῦ ὁ ἀνήρ; Οὐ πόῤῥω, φησὶν, ἀλλὰ μεθ᾽ ὑμῶν \" αὑτὸς δὲ ὑμῖν οὗτος ἐγώ \" καὶ χρήσασθε τῷ πράγματι, καὶ πληρώσατε τὸν τῆς ὁδοιπορίας καὶ τοῦ πόνου σχοπόν. Ἐπλάγησαν τὰς ψυχὰς οἱ ἄνθρωποι, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἀχοὴν ἀπεπάγησαν, τοὺς ἅλας καὶ τὴν τράπεζαν αἷδεσθέντες, καὶ τὸν ἐν πενίᾳ φιλότιμον ἑστιάτορα. Ὁ. δὲ καὶ ἔτι παρεχάλει πρὸς τὴν τόλμαν τῆς ἀναιρέσεως, καὶ μηδὲ πρὸς ὀλίγον διστάζειν ξἐπεχελεύδτη, λέγων, ὡς οὔτ᾽ ἐχείνων χειρὸς ὁ φόνος, ἀλλὰ τῶν προσταξάντων ἡ ἐπιχείρησις. Εἶπεν, ἔπεισεν, ἔπαθε, καὶ τὴν χεφαλὴν ἀποτμηθεὶς, ἱερεῖον τῶ Θεῶ χεχα- Στύλος ὃ\" καὶ ἔρεισμα τῶν θείων τῆς οἰχουμένης.","t":"When the word of our godliness had been proclaimed, and the divine preaching had gone out to every ear, making Christ and his mysteries known, the nations raged, as the Psalmist says, and the kings and rulers gathered together, and the peoples of error were angry that Jesus reigned. Every Christian was sought as a criminal: the one nearby was punished, the one far away tracked down. So neither the lowliness of his occupation nor his being a gardener hid Phocas; he too, as a most genuine initiate of Christ, was informed against. And … came against him those of this wretched and fleeting life, ordered to lead him away without trial or defence. For the charge was one which the noble man confessed in a clear voice; when no one asked, he showed it in his deeds; when asked, … So the executioners appointed for his punishment, who became the cause of our feast, came and lodged with the very man they were seeking, neither knowing him nor being known. For the time they kept the reason for their visit secret, so that, having first learned from people outside the city who Phocas was and where he lived, they might come upon him suddenly and seize him, as the Hebrews once seized the Lord in the garden with Judas. They did not notice that they had their game inside their nets: the dogs the ram, the wolves the lamb, the predatory birds with hooked claws the dove; as the prophet Isaiah says: the kid rested with the leopards, the lamb fed with the wolves, and the lions shared their living with the calf. And since table and familiarity gave them confidence with one another, as usually happens, the martyr asked them who they were and why they had come to his city. They, ashamed before the man's eager welcome and hospitality, charged him to tell no one what they were about to say, and made their secret known, disclosing the drama of the plot: they were seeking to take Phocas for punishment. And so, besides his hospitality, they asked him for this kindness too: to toil with them in hunting down the man they sought. The servant of the Lord heard, and received the word with an unmoved soul. He felt and uttered nothing lowly or ignoble; nor did he shrink from the danger and plan to flee, though he had ample and free opportunity to escape; … but he did quite the opposite, choosing rather to play the man and not to flee. Indeed he nodded assent to their request: “I too,” he said, “will help you in the matter in hand. For I know the man, and I shall easily search him out and find him; and not long hence, but tomorrow, I will show him to you yourselves. Only [rest] in this poor lodging.” [Having made] the promise, he divided himself between two tasks: the welcome of his own murderers and the preparation of his tomb. When he had made ready the grave and what was needed for burial, he came to them the next day and said: “I have searched carefully for Phocas for you, and the catch is now ready; if you please, let him be seized.” When they said in great joy, “And where is the man?”, he said: “Not far, but here with you; I myself am he. Do your business, and fulfil the purpose of your journey and your labour.” The men were struck in their souls and froze at what they heard, ashamed before the salt and the table, and before the host so generous in his poverty. But he went on urging them to dare the killing, and bade them not hesitate even a little, saying that the murder was not the work of their hands, but the undertaking of those who had given the order. He spoke, he persuaded, he suffered; and having his head cut off, he became a sacrifice to God. [Since then] the pillar and support of the divine [Churches] of the world …","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 9.2 (PG 40:401; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/9-2)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/9.3":{"o":"Ἐχχλησιῶν, ἐξ ἐχείνου μέχρι τοῦ νῦν τοῦτον ἔχομεν, ἄνθρωποι \" καὶ μαρτύρων ἐστὶν οὗτος περιφανέστατος, ἐν τοῖς ἀρίστοις ἔχων αὐτὸς τὸ πρωτεῖον. Οὗτος ἐφέλχεται πανδημεὶ πάντας πρὸς τὸ ἑαυτοῦ χαταγὼγιον, καὶ πλήρεις. αἱ λεωφόροι τῶν ἀφ᾽ ἑχάστης χώρας πρὸς τὸν τόπον ἐπειγομένων τῆς προσευχῆς. Ἔστι μὲν οὖν ὁ μεγαλοπρεπὴς ἐκεῖνος ναὸς, ὃς καὶ τὸ ἱερὸν ἔχειν τοῦ μάρτυρος ἐχληρώθη σῶμα, θλιθοτράπεζα. Δαψιλέστερον γὰρ τρέφει Φωχᾶς νῦν τελευτήσας, ἧπερ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ὁ Ἰωσὴφ τὸ πρότερον. Ἐχεῖνος μὲν γὰρ ἀργυρίου τὸν οἶτον διένειμε\" οὗτος δὲ προῖχα, τοῖς δεομένοις χαρίζεται. Οὕτω πτωχῶν. καὶ ἀλητευόντων φῦλα προστρέχει τῷ τῆς Σινώπης ἰσθμῷ, χαθάπερ τινὶ χοινῷ ταμιείῳ. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἐχεῖ μὲν. Ὁ οὕτως. Εἰ δέ που καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ διὰ μιχρῶν λειψάνων, οἷον ἀποιχίαν τινὰ μητροπόλεως ὁ μάρτυς ἑαυτῷ. Χριστιανοῖς περισπούδαστος᾽ ὥσπερ δὴ οὗτος ὁ καρ᾽ ἡμῖν χῶρος, καταγώγιον ἑορταζόντων ἐστί. Τίμιος γὰρ ἐναντίον τοῦ Κυρίου ὁ θάνατος τῶν ὁσίων αὑτοῦ\" καὶ πολλαχοῦ μερισθέντα τὰ λείψανα, ὁλόχληροὸν πανταχοῦ τῷ τρισμαχαρίῳ σώζει τὴν εὐφημίαν. Οὕτω γοῦν καὶ χατὰ τὴν βασιλεύουσαν πόλιν, τὴν χορυφὴν Ἰταλίας, καὶ βασιλίδα τοῦ κόσμου, ἔστι τῷ μάρτυρι δορυφορία πάνδημος καὶ τιμὴ, οἶχός τε περιφανὴς, ἢσχη μένος εἷς χάλλος. Οὐχ ἧττον δὲ τὸν Φωχᾶν θεραπεύουσιν, ἣ Πέτρον καὶ Παῦλον. Διὸ καὶ, ὡς λόγος διδάσχει, τὴν χεφαλὴν τοῦ μάρτυρος χατεστίσατο, θαυμαστὸς καὶ οὗτος ὁ τόπος, καὶ πᾶσι … Ἡρωδιάδος ἑλόμενοι γνώμην. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ, αἵματος διψῶσα, δικαίου κεφαλὴν τιμίαν εἰς ὕδριν ἐζήτησεν\" οἱ δὲ, τιμῦς χάριν καὶ ὠφελείας τῆς ἑαυτῶν, μαρτυ- Ναῦται δὲ καὶ πλωτῆρες οἱ πανταχοῦ, οὐχ οἱ τὸν Εὔξεινον διαπλέοντες Πόντον, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ τὸν ᾿Αδρίαν τέμνοντες, --ὶ ὑπὲρ Αἰγαίου φερόμενοι, καὶ ὅσοι τὸν χόλποις ἐνθαλαττεύουσι, τὰ συνήθη χελεύσματα, οἷς «οὔ πλοῦ τὸν πόνον προσαναπαύουσιν, εἰς χαινὴν τοῦ μάρτυρος μετέθαλον εὐφημίαν\" καὶ διὰ γλώσσης ἐστὶν ὅλος ὁ Φωχᾶς αὑτοῖς ὑπαδόμενος \" ἐπεὶ καὶ ἐναργῆ παρέχει τῆς βοηθείας τὰ σύμθολα. Πολλάχις μὲν γὰρ ὥφθη, νῦν μὲν νύχτωρ προσογχουμένου χειμῶνος διεγείρων τὸν χυδερνήτην, τῷ πηδαλίῳ … καὶ τῆς ὀθόνης ἐπιμελούμενος, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς πρώρας προοπτεύων τὰ βράχη. \"Ὅθεν καὶ νόμος ἐγένετο ναύταις, Φωχᾶν ἔχειν συνεστιάτορα. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ τὸν νῦν ἀσώματον, σύσσιτον εἶναι καὶ χοινωνὸν τραπέζης, ἀμήχανον\" μάθετε πῶς ἄρα φιλευσεδὴς λογισμὸς ἐσοφίσατο τὸ ἀδύνατον. Καθ᾿ ἐχάστην γὰρ τὴν ἡμέρᾶν τὴν τῶν ὄψων μερίδα πρὸς ἰσομοιρίαν τῶν ἐσθιόντων ἀποχληροῦσι τῷ μάρτυρι. Ταύτην δέ τις ται, καὶ τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ ἄλλος, καὶ ἄλλοτε ἕτερος \" … ὅ οὗτος ὁ κλῆρος της ἀγσρασίας περιϊὼν ἅπαντας, δί- Α δὲ ὅρμος αὐτοὺς ὑποδέξηται, καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀφίχωνται, μερίζεται τὸ ἀργύριον τοῖς πεινῶσι\" τοῦτο ἡ μερὶς τοῦ Φωχᾶ, πενήτων εὐεργεσία.","t":"… we people have had him from that day to this; and he is the most illustrious of martyrs, holding the first place among the best. He draws all people in a body to his lodging, and the highways are full of those hastening from every land to the place of prayer. That magnificent temple which was allotted to hold the sacred body of the martyr is a relief for the afflicted, a table … For Phocas, now that he is dead, feeds people more abundantly than Joseph did in Egypt long ago. Joseph distributed the grain for silver; Phocas gives freely to the needy. So tribes of the poor and of vagrants run to the isthmus of Sinope as to a common storehouse. So it is there. And if anywhere else the martyr has, through small relics, made himself a kind of colony from the mother city, [that place too becomes] much sought after by Christians; just as this place of ours is a lodging for those who keep festival. For “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his holy ones”; and his relics, divided among many places, keep the praise of the thrice-blessed one whole everywhere. So too in the ruling city, the summit of Italy and queen of the world, the martyr has a public escort and honour, and a splendid house adorned for beauty. They tend Phocas there no less than Peter and Paul. That is why, as the story tells, [the city] received the martyr's head; this place too is wonderful, and to all … choosing [the opposite of] Herodias's mind. For she, thirsting for blood, demanded the precious head of a righteous man in order to outrage it; but they, for honour and for their own benefit, [sought] the martyr's [head]. Sailors and seafarers everywhere, not only those who sail the Euxine Sea but also those who cut through the Adriatic, those carried over the Aegean, and all who sail in the gulfs, have changed their customary shanties, with which they lighten the toil of sailing, into a new praise of the martyr; Phocas is always on their tongue in song, since he gives clear signs of his help. He has often been seen, now at night when a storm was swelling, rousing the helmsman at the rudder …, and taking care of the sail, and looking out from the prow for the shoals. Hence it has become a law for sailors to have Phocas as their table companion. And since it is impossible for one who is now without a body to share their food and their table, learn how a pious reckoning contrived the impossible. Every day they allot to the martyr a portion of the food equal to the share of those eating. One man buys it, the next day another, another at another time; … so this lot of purchase goes round them all … And when the harbour receives them and they reach land, the silver is distributed to the hungry. This is the portion of Phocas: a benefaction to the poor.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 9.3 (PG 40:401; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/9-3)."},"asterius-amasea-homiliae/9.4":{"o":"Τεθήπασι τοῦτον καὶ βασιλεῖς τὸν χαρτεριχώτατον καὶ φιλόθεον, καὶ φιλοτίμοις χειμηλίοις χαταχοσμοῦσι τοῦ περιδλέπτου πένητος τὸν ναόν. Φιλονειχοῦσι δὲ Καὶ οὔπω ϑαυμαστὸν, εἰ τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἡγεμονίας ἄνδρες φιλευσεθδεῖς, θεσμοῖς καὶ νόμοις σύντροφοι, οὕτως εὐλαδῶς ἔχουσι περὶ τὸν θεράποντα τοῦ πριστοῦ, ὁπότε καὶ εἰς βαρδάρους ἔφθη τὸ θαῦμα καὶ πάντες οἱ ἀγριώτατοι Σχύθαι, ὅσοι δὴ τὴν ἀντιπέρας λίμνης, καὶ ποταμοῦ Τανάϊδος πρόσοιχοι, ὅσοι τε τὸν Βόσπορον οἰχοῦσι, καὶ ἄχρι Φάσιδος ποταμοῦ παρατοῖς δὲ πᾶσιν ἔθεσι καὶ ἐπιτηδεύμασι διεστῶτες ἡμῶν, εἰς τοῦτο μόνον ὁμογνώμονες γίνονται, τὴν ἀγριότητα τῶν τρόπων ὑπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐξημερούμενοι. ἘΠς- γοῦν ἄρχων καὶ βασιλεὺς ἐκχεῖθεν τὸν στέφανον τῆς χεφαλῆς ἀποθέμενος, χρυσῷ καὶ ἄνθεσι λίθων περιλαμπόμενον, καὶ τὸν θώραχα τὸν πογὰρ καὶ θρυπτομένη τῶν βαρδάρων ἣ πανοπλία)\" ἔπεμψεν ἀμφότερα ἀναθήματα, διὰ τοῦ μάρτυρος -Ξῷ Θεῷ καὶ δυνάμεως καὶ ἀξιώματος χαθιερώσας τὰς ἀφορμάς. Πρόδηλον γὰρ, ὡς ὁ μὲν στέφανος τῆς βασιλείας Ἦν χαριστήριον\" ὁ δὲ θώραξ, τῆς χατὰ ᾿ πολέμους ἰσχύος. Τὰς δὲ συνεχῶς ἐπὶ τούτοις συμόαινούσας εὑερτεσίας διὰ τῶν ἐν ὀνείρασιν ὄψεων, καὶ διὰ τῶν θεραπειῶν, ὧν οἱ χάμνοντες ἀπολαύουσι, πῶς ἄν τις καὶ διηγήσαιτο, ἀδυνάτου χαθεστῶτος ταῖς χαθέχαστον ἐνεργείαις ἐπαφεῖναι τὸν λόγον; Ἡμεῖς τοίνυν ἐνταῦθα λήξαντες, δόξαν τῷ Σωτῆρι προσοίσωμεν, οὗ δοῦλοι πιστοὶ τοσαύτης ἠξιώθησαν χάριτος, ὥστε πρὸς πᾶσαν χρείαν καὶ περίστασιν, κατὰ τὴν δοθεῖσαν αὐτοῖς δωρεὰν, τοὺς ὁμοδούλους εὐεργετεῖν \" καὶ ταῦτα μετὰ τὴν ἐνθένδε ἄφιξιν, καὶ τὸν τοῦ σώματος χωρισμόν\" ὧν ἡ μνήμη μετὰ τοῦ ἔργου καθ᾽ ἡμέραν διατρέχει πόλεις καὶ χώμας, πανταχοῦ τὸν εὐεργέτην κηρύσσουσα Κύριον. ᾧ πρέπει πᾶσα | δόξα, καὶ ] τιμὴ, καὶ χράτος, καὶ μεγαλοπρέπεια, νῦν καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ᾿Αμῆν.","t":"Kings too admire this most steadfast and God-loving man, and adorn the temple of the celebrated poor man with munificent treasures. They contend … And it is not yet so wonderful that pious men of the Roman dominion, brought up with ordinances and laws, should be so reverent toward the servant of Christ, since the wonder has reached even the barbarians: all the most savage Scythians, those who live beyond the lake and by the river Tanais, those who inhabit the Bosporus, and those [who live] along as far as the river Phasis, though they differ from us in all their customs and pursuits, are of one mind in this alone, the savagery of their ways being tamed by the truth. One ruler and king from there took off the crown from his head, shining with gold and the flowers of precious stones, and the breastplate … (for the panoply of the barbarians is … and luxurious), and sent both as offerings, dedicating through the martyr to God the sources both of his power and of his dignity. For plainly the crown was a thank-offering for his kingship, and the breastplate for his strength in war. And the benefactions that continually follow upon these, through visions in dreams and through the healings that the suffering enjoy, how could anyone recount them, when it is impossible to apply the discourse to each work one by one? Let us then end here and offer glory to the Saviour, whose faithful servants have been thought worthy of such grace that they benefit their fellow servants in every need and circumstance, according to the gift given them, and this after their departure from here and their separation from the body; whose memory, together with their work, runs daily through cities and villages, everywhere proclaiming the Lord as benefactor; to whom belongs all glory, honour, might and majesty, now and to the ages of ages. Amen.","f":"Asterius, <i>Hom.</i> 9.4 (PG 40:401; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/asterius-amasea-homiliae/9-4)."}}