# Homily at Ephesus

- Author: [Acacius of Melitene](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/acacius-of-melitene/)
- Latin title: *Homilia Ephesi habita*
- Date: 431 (certain)
- Source: J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae cursus completus, Series Graeca, vol. 77 (Paris, 1857-1866), cols. 1467-1472, from Mansi, Sacrorum conciliorum collectio 5.181

- Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator
- Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/acacius-melitene-homilia-ephesi/
- Passages: 1

## Homily at Ephesus

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/acacius-melitene-homilia-ephesi/1/#p-1
- Source: PG 77 77:1467–1472
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Preaching to the Council of Ephesus (431), Acacius likens the council to the disciples in the storm, confesses one Christ who is both God and man, explains Isa 9:6 of the incarnate Word, and defends the title Theotokos against Nestorius.

### Greek text

Ὁρῶντί μοι, ἀγαπητοὶ, τὸ φαιδρὸν τοῦτο καὶ πνευματικὸν τῆς ἁγίας συνόδου συνέδριον, χαίρειν τε ὁμοῦ ἐπέρχεται καὶ θαῤῥεῖν. Χαίρειν μὲν, ὅτι πάντων ἐλάχιστος ἂν ἐν τῷ μεγίστῳ τούτῳ τῆς σοφίας πελάγει τὸ πενιχρὸν τοῦτο τοῦ λόγου σκάφος ἰθύνειν ἐπείγομαι· θαῤῥεῖν δὲ, ὅτι τὰ τῆς ἐπαναστάσεως ταχέως θραυσθήσεται κύματα, καὶ τῇ γαλήνῃ ὁ τῆς τοῦ Κυρίου εἰρήνης πρὸς τὸ οἰκουμενικὸν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐπιστρέψει πέλαγος Εἰ γὰρ δώδεκα ὄντες τοῦ Κυρίου μαθηταὶ, ὅτε αὐτοῖς τὸ σκάφος ὑπὸ τῆς βίας τῶν ἀνέμων ἐκυμαίνετο ὁμοῦ τῷ βοῆσαι πρὸς Κύριον, τῶν χειμῶνος ἀπηλλάττοντο· πόσῳ μᾶλλον τοῦτο νῦν ἡμῖν ἐλπίζειν ἀναμφίβολον ὅτε τοσοῦτοι τοῦ Κυρίου μαθηταὶ ἐπιτοαυτό συνδραμόντες, ταῖς οἰκείαις ἐκδυσωπήσουσι φωναῖς τὸν Κύριον; ὅτι ὁ μέγας οὗτος πάρεστι καὶ σοφὸς κυβερνήτης, οὔτε βίας ἀνέμων εὐλαβούμενος, οὔτε ζάλης ταραχὰς, ἀλλὰ σὺν τέχνῃ πολλῇ τοὺς συνερέτας ἐπὶ τὸ πηδάλιον ἄγων, καὶ τούτου συνεφάπτεσθαι πείθων, καὶ πολλῇ τῇ συμφωνίᾳ πρὸς τὸν Δεσπότην βοῶν· Οὐ μέλει σοι, ὅτι ἀπολλύμεθα; Καὶ ταχέως τῇ παρ' αὐτοῦ φωνῇ πρὸς τὸν σάλον τῶν κυμάτων δυσωπῶν, λέγει · Σιώπα· πεφίμωσο. Θαῤῥεῖν οὖν καὶ εὐχαριστεῖν ἡμῖν ἔπεισιν ἡ ἐπὶ τοῖς παροῦσιν ἁρμοδιώτατον· ὅτι περ ἡ δόξασα κατὰ τῆς ἀληθείας γεγενῆσθαι ἀντίπνοια, τοὺς τῆς οἰκουμένης φωστῆρας ἐπιτοαυτὸ συνδραμεῖν παρεσκεύασεν· ὧν ὁ μὲν βίος Χριστοῦ εὐωδία ἐστὶ τῷ Θεῷ, ἡ δὲ διάνοια πρὸς μίαν καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν τῆς ἀληθείας συνῆπται ἐκφώνησιν. Οὐ γὰρ ἄλλα μὲν τοὺς προσερχομένους διδάσκομεν, ἄλλα δὲ περὶ τῶν διδασκομένων πιστεύομεν· ἀλλ᾿ ἡμῖν εἷς Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς, ὁ μονογενὴς Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, Θεὸς Λόγος ὁ αὐτός· πρὸ μὲν πάντων τῶν αἰώνων ἐκ μόνου Πατρὸς, ἐπ᾿ ἐσχάτων δὲ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐν τῇ τοῦ δούλου μορφῇ· ἄνω μόνος ἐκ μόνου, κάτω μόνος ἐκ μόνης. Τὰ αὐτὰ ἀμφότερα θεϊκῶς, ἀνθρωπίνως δὲ τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ σαρκὶ καὶ νηπιότητι τεχθῆναι· ὁ αὐτὸς ἀπαθὴς θεότητι, παθὼν δὲ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἑκουσίως σαρκί· οὐκ ἀκουσίως τὴν οἰκονομίαν δεξάμενος, ἀλλ᾽ ἑαυτὸν κενώσας ἑκουσίως, λαβὼν τὴν τοῦ δούλου μορφήν. Καὶ λαβὼν, διὰ τί; ἵνα σε σύμμορφον τῆς οἰκείας δόξης ἐργάσηται· καὶ μαρτυρεῖ Παῦλος λέγων· Ἡμῶν δὲ τὸ πολίτευμα ἐν οὐρανοῖς ὑπάρχει · ἐξ οὗ καὶ Σωτῆρα ἀπεκδεχόμεθα Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν· ὃς μετασχηματίσει τὸ σῶμα τῆς ταπεινώσεως ἡμῶν εἰς τὸ γενέσθαι καὶ αὐτὸ σύμμορφον τῷ σώματι τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ. Ὁ τοίνυν ἑκουσίως λαβὼν τὴν τοῦ δούλου μορφὴν, ὁ τὴν ἕνωσιν μὴ παραιτησάμενος, πῶς τὰ τοῦ δούλου παρῃτήσατο πάθη; Εἰ δὲ παρῃτήσατο, τίνος ἕνεκεν παθητὴν οὖσαν τὴν τοῦ δούλου μορφὴν ἀνελάμβανεν; ᾿Αλλ' οὗτος ὁ οὐ παρῃτήσατο, ὅτι λαβὼν τὴν τοῦ δούλου μορφὴν ὑπήκοος γίνεται· ὁ ἄνω ἐξουσιαστής, κάτω ὑπήκοος· ὁ ἄνω Υἱὸς, κάτω παιδίον. Καὶ ἀναμιμνήσκω σε τῆς προφητείας. Τί ἐβόα ὁ μακάριος Ησαΐας; Παιδίον ἐγεννήθη ἡμῖν, υἱὸς καὶ ἐδόθη ἡμῖν. Τί ἐστι, καὶ ἐδόθη; Οὐ μόνον ἐγεννήθη, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐδόθη· ὁ γὰρ ὧν ἐδόθη· · Οὗ ἡ ἀρχὴ ἐγενήθη ἐπὶ τοῦ ὤμου αὐτοῦ. Τί ἐστιν ἡ ἀρχὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου γενομένου ἀνθρώπου; Ἡ Ἐκκλησία· καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν ἡ κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος τῆς Ἐκκλησίας· πῶς οὖν ἐπὶ τοῦ ὤμου ταύτην φορεῖ; Τὸ συντετριμμένον ἐπὶ τοῦ ὤμου βαστάζει· Οὗ καὶ ἡ ἀρχὴ ἐπὶ τοῦ ὥμου αὐτοῦ· καὶ καλεῖται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ μεγάλης βουλῆς Αγγελος. Καλεῖται δὲ διὰ τὴν οἰκονομίαν. Τί δέ ἐστι τὸ, Σύμβουλος, Θεὸς ἰσχυρὸς, ἐξουσιαστής, πατὴρ τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος; Ὁ οὖν ἄνω ἐξουσιαστὴς, κάτω ὑπήκοος· ὁ ἄνω Υἱὸς, κάτω παιδίον· ὁ ἄνω θαυμαστὸς σύμβουλος, κάτω ἄνθρωπος· ὁ ἄνω Θεὸς ἰσχυρὸς, κάτω ἄνθρωπος ὁ ῥαπιζόμενός τε καὶ ὑβριζόμενος, καὶ τῷ σταυρῷ προσηλωμένος, καὶ τὸν διὰ τούτου δεξάμενος θάνατον · πάντα γὰρ ταῦτα τῆς τοῦ δούλου ὄντα μορφῆς, οὐδαμῶς ἡ ταύτην λαβοῦσα θεότης ἐξέκλινεν, ἵνα δι᾽ ἑκάστου τῶν εἰρημένων λύσῃ μὲν ἡμῖν τὰ πρὸς σωτηρίαν κωλύματα, ἀξίαν δὲ τῆς τοσαύτης κενώσεως τὴν εὐεργεσίαν ἡμῖν χαρίσηται. Οὐκ ἀθετῶ τὴν χάριν τοῦ Θεοῦ· οὐ παραιτοῦμαι εἰπεῖν ἃ ἐκεῖνος ὑπέμεινεν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ. Ἀπαθὴς γὰρ ὧν οὐ παρῃτήσατο, ἀλλὰ τῷ παθητῷ συνάψας ἑαυτῆς τιμῆς τὴν Θεοτόκον Παρθένον, ἣν αὐτῇ ἡ τῆς οἰκονομίας ὑπηρεσία κεχάρισται. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἄτοπον, ἀγαπητοὶ, σταυρὸν μὲν τὸν ἐφύβριστον βαστάσαντα τοῖς θυσιαστηρίοις Χριστοῦ συνδοξάζεσθαι, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ μετώπου τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἐκλάμποντα φαίνεσθαι, τὴν δὲ ἐπὶ τοσαύτῃ εὐεργεσίᾳ δεξαμένην θεότητα, τῆς Θεοτόκου ἀποστερηθῆναι τιμῆς. Θεοτόκος οὖν ἡ ἁγία Παρθένος. Θεὸς γὰρ ὁ ἐξ αὐτῆς τεχθεὶς, οὐκ ἐκεῖθεν τοῦ εἶναι τὴν ἀρχὴν λαβών, ἀλλὰ ἐκεῖθεν τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως δεξάμενος. Μὴ οὖν ἀμέριμνος ἔσο, αἱρετικὲ, ὡς εἰς ἄνθρωπον τὰς βλασφημίας ἐκτείνων. Οὐκ ἄνθρωπός ἐστιν, ὁ ὑπὸ σοῦ εἰς τὴν τοῦ δούλου καὶ τοῦ κτίσματος τάξιν καταγόμενος. Μὴ ἀνορθοῦ, Ἰουδαῖε, τὸν, οὕτω τὰ ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ ἐδέξατο πάθη. Οὐκ ἀποστερῶ ὡσεὶ ἱ ἄνθρωπον ψιλὸν σταυρώσας. Οὐχ ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπου ψιλοῦ ἀλγῶν ὁ μακάριος Δαυΐδ ἐβόα κατὰ τοῦ ἔθνους λέγων· Σκοτισθήτωσαν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτῶν τοῦ μὴ βλέπειν, καὶ τὸν νῶτον αὐτῶν διαπαντὸς σύγκαμψον. Μὴ καταπιπτέτω τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τὸ φρόνημα, ὡς εἰς ἄνθρωπον μόνον ἐλπιζούσης, ἀλλὰ πειθέσθω τῷ μακαρίῳ Παύλῳ λέγοντι· Εἰ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον ἐθηριομάχησα ἐν Ἐφέσῳ, τί μοι τὸ ὄφελος; Οὐ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον, οὐδὲ ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπου οἱ μακάριοι ἀπόστολοι ἐν πληγαῖς, καὶ φυλακαῖς, καὶ αἰκισμοῖς τὴν ἑαυτῶν ζωὴν κατηνάλωσαν· οὐ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον, ἢ ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπου οἱ ἅγιοι μάρτυρες κατὰ πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην ἀθλήσαντες, ἐν κατατομῇ τῶν οἰκείων μελῶν καὶ κακώσει τὴν παροῦσαν ζωὴν κατέλιπον· ἀλλὰ ὑπὲρ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ Θεοῦ, τοῦ πρὸ αἰώνων ὑπάρχοντος, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὀφθέντος, καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις συναναστραφέντος, καὶ ὡς πρόβατον ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ἀχθέντος, καὶ τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἀναστάντος, καὶ εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀναληφθέντος, καὶ πεντακοσίοις ἐφ᾽ ἅπαξ · ὀφθέντος, καὶ ἐν ὄψεσι τῶν μαθητῶν εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀναχθέντος, καὶ τῷ αὐτῷ τρόπῳ ἐρχομένου κρῖναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς. Αὕτη ἡμῶν ἡ πίστις· ἐπὶ τούτῳ τῷ θεμελίω ᾠκοδομήθη ἡ Ἐκκλησία, καὶ πύλαι ᾄδου οὐ κατισχύσουσιν αὐτῆς. Γένοιτο δὲ πάντων ὑμῶν εὐχαῖς φυλαχθέντας ἡμᾶς, δόξαν ἀναπέμψαι τῷ παναγίῳ Θεῷ· ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Αμήν.

### English translation (Claude)

As I look, beloved, on this bright and spiritual assembly of the holy synod, I am moved both to rejoice and to take courage. To rejoice, because I, the least of all, am pressed to steer this poor little boat of my speech on this greatest sea of wisdom; to take courage, because the waves of the uprising will quickly be broken, and with calm the … of the Lord's peace will return to the worldwide sea of the church. For if the Lord's disciples, being twelve, when their boat was tossed by the force of the winds, were delivered from the storm as soon as they cried out to the Lord, how much more may we now hope for this without doubt, when so many disciples of the Lord have gathered together and will entreat the Lord with their own voices? For this great and wise helmsman is present, fearing neither the force of the winds nor the turmoil of the squall, but with great skill bringing his fellow rowers to the helm, persuading them to take hold of it with him, and crying out to the Master with great concord, "Do you not care that we are perishing?" And quickly, entreating him by his voice against the tossing of the waves, he says, "Be silent; be still." It comes to us, then, to take courage and to give thanks, which is most fitting in the present circumstances: because the contrary wind that seemed to have arisen against the truth has brought the luminaries of the world together in one place, whose life is "the aroma of Christ to God", and whose mind is joined in one and the same utterance of the truth. For we do not teach one thing to those who come to us and believe another about what is taught; but for us there is one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, the same one God the Word: before all the ages from the Father alone, and in the last days in the form of a servant; above, alone from one alone; below, alone from one alone. The same one is both: begotten divinely, and born humanly in our flesh and infancy; the same one impassible in Godhead, but suffering for us willingly in the flesh; not receiving the dispensation unwillingly, but emptying himself willingly, "taking the form of a servant." And why did he take it? To make you conformed to his own glory. And Paul bears witness, saying, "But our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humiliation so that it too becomes conformed to the body of his glory." He, then, who willingly took the form of a servant, who did not refuse the union, how did he refuse the sufferings of the servant? And if he refused them, for what reason did he assume the form of the servant, which was capable of suffering? But he did not refuse them, because having taken the form of a servant he becomes obedient: above the Ruler, below obedient; above the Son, below a child. And I remind you of the prophecy. What did blessed Isaiah cry? "A child has been born to us, a son also has been given to us." What does "also has been given" mean? Not only was he born, but he was also given; for he who is was given. "Whose rule has come upon his shoulder." What is the rule of God the Word who became man? The church; and he is the head of the body, the church. How then does he carry it on his shoulder? He carries what was broken on his shoulder. "Whose rule also is upon his shoulder; and his name is called Angel of great counsel." He is called so because of the dispensation. And what is "Counselor, Mighty God, Ruler, Father of the age to come"? He who above is Ruler, below is obedient; above the Son, below a child; above the wonderful Counselor, below a man; above the Mighty God, below a man struck and insulted, nailed to the cross and receiving death through it. For all these things belong to the form of the servant, and the Godhead that took that form in no way turned away from them, so that through each of the things mentioned it might remove for us the obstacles to salvation and grant us a benefit worthy of so great a self-emptying. "I do not nullify the grace of God"; I do not refuse to speak of what he endured for me. For though he was impassible he did not refuse, but having joined … to what can suffer … the Virgin Theotokos … of honor, which the service of the dispensation has granted her. For it is absurd, beloved, that the cross, which bore the one insulted, should be glorified together with the altars of Christ and be seen shining on the forehead of the church, while the Godhead that received her for so great a benefit should be deprived of the honor of the Theotokos. The holy Virgin, then, is Theotokos. For the one born of her is God; he did not take the beginning of his being from her, but from her he received the beginning of his becoming man. Do not be at ease, then, heretic, as though you were directing your blasphemies against a man. He whom you bring down to the rank of a servant and a creature is not a man. Do not lift yourself up, Jew, against the one who thus accepted sufferings for me. I do not acquit you as though you had crucified a mere man. It was not over a mere man that blessed David grieved when he cried out against the nation, saying, "Let their eyes be darkened so that they do not see, and bend their back continually." Let not the mind of the church sink, as if it hoped in a man alone, but let it trust blessed Paul, who says, "If, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what profit is it to me?" Not humanly speaking, nor for a man, did the blessed apostles spend their life in beatings and prisons and tortures; not humanly speaking or for a man did the holy martyrs, contending throughout the whole world, leave the present life in the cutting off of their own limbs and in ill-treatment; but for our Lord and God, who existed before the ages and afterward was seen on earth and lived among men, and was "led as a sheep to the slaughter", and rose on the third day, and was taken up into heaven, and was seen "by five hundred at once", and was taken up into heaven in the sight of the disciples, and will come in the same way "to judge the living and the dead." This is our faith; on this foundation the church has been built, and "the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." May it be granted that we, kept by the prayers of you all, may send up glory to the all-holy God, to whom be the glory for ages of ages. Amen.

### Scripture references

- Mark 4:38: quotation, high confidence
- Mark 4:39: quotation, high confidence
- 2 Cor 2:15: allusion, high confidence
- Phil 2:7: quotation, high confidence
- Phil 2:8: allusion, medium confidence
- Phil 3:20: quotation, high confidence
- Phil 3:21: quotation, high confidence
- Isa 9:6 (9:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence
- Col 1:18: allusion, high confidence
- Luke 15:5: echo, low confidence
- Gal 2:21: quotation, high confidence
- Ps 69:23 (68:24 LXX): quotation, high confidence
- Rom 11:10: allusion, medium confidence
- 1 Cor 15:32: quotation, high confidence
- 2 Cor 11:23: echo, low confidence
- Isa 53:7: quotation, high confidence
- 1 Cor 15:6: quotation, high confidence
- Acts 1:9: allusion, high confidence
- Acts 1:11: allusion, high confidence
- 2 Tim 4:1: quotation, high confidence
- Matt 16:18: quotation, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Preached at the Council of Ephesus (431) against Nestorius; the "helmsman" is probably Cyril of Alexandria. The text is damaged in several places, translated by sense and marked …: "with calm the … of the Lord's peace" (a noun such as "harbor" seems lost); the sentence "having joined … to what can suffer … the Virgin Theotokos … of honor" is incomplete in the printed text (the sense seems to be that he joined himself to the passible and so the Virgin is not deprived of the honor of Theotokos); and "Do not lift yourself up, Jew … I do not acquit you …" is garbled (an isolated letter and a word or two seem lost; the rendering is uncertain). The anti-Jewish apostrophe is translated as written. The Isaiah quotation follows the Septuagint ("Angel of great counsel"), then the titles of the Hebrew text as in other Greek versions. Quotations: Mark 4:38–39; 2 Cor 2:15; Phil 2:7–8; Phil 3:20–21; Isa 9:6 (LXX 9:5); Col 1:18; Gal 2:21; Ps 69:23 (LXX 68:24; cf. Rom 11:10); 1 Cor 15:32; Isa 53:7; 1 Cor 15:6; Acts 1:9–11; 2 Tim 4:1; Matt 16:18. "He carries what was broken on his shoulder" echoes the lost sheep (Luke 15:5).

### Citation (SBL)

Acacius of Melitene, Hom. Eph. 1 (PG 77 77:1467–1472; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/acacius-melitene-homilia-ephesi/1).