Homilies 43–65

… let the Jews [be put to shame], seeing the new and chosen people, with what spiritual beauty it is adorned, with what brightness it lights up the world. For this is why he left us mingled among the nations: that we might shine as lights in the world; that we might be a seed of salvation, being watched, for their conversion, by all who live with us and meet us. See that no one of the [pagans] blasphemes God because of you. Let him who called, sanctified, and saved be praised among us. Let the violent and bold man admire our gentleness and moderation; let the reviler, blessed in return, be put to shame; let him who quarrels over money and wants to go to law find us untroubled about money, since we do not think we have an earthly possession, but hold fast the heavenly one; let him who invites us with friendly persuasion to worldly pleasures find us grave, immovable, longing for self-control, not enticed by pleasure, so that they may know how strong is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, since we have put to death the nature of the flesh. Let him who is ready to perjure himself find us not even willing to swear, but afraid to bring forward the name of God about lowly and earthly matters. So we shall all be teachers of those who meet us in any matter whatever. Living in this way we shall become a holy leaven, and through us the world will be leavened to salvation; much fruit will be found from us, kept for the Lord, and God will be glorified in us, according to the Lord who says, 'By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.' And the Lord, glorified by us, will glorify us with eternal glory, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Oration 2. On the Meeting of our Lord Jesus Christ; and on the Theotokos, and on Anna, and on Simeon.

1. Many great men admire virginity; and indeed it is admirable: as akin to the angels, as companion of the powers above, as running with the bodiless natures, as torch-bearer of the holy Church, as conquering the world, as trampling the passions, as bridling the appetites, as having no share with Eve, as exchanged for grief, as redeemed from groaning, as not receiving the sentence of condemnation that says, 'I will greatly multiply your pains and your groaning; in pains you shall bear children, and your turning shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you.' Admirable, then, is virginity: as a possession never enslaved, as an unfading plant, as a free dwelling, as an ascetic adornment,

as higher than the human condition, as free of the passions imposed on us, as entering with Christ the Bridegroom into the bridal chamber of the kingdom of heaven. These, and the like, are the glories of virginity. But honourable marriage surpasses every earthly gift: as a fruitful tree, as a fine plant, as the root of virginity, as the cultivator of rational and living branches, as the blessing of the world's increase, as the comforter of the race, as the craftsman of humanity, as the painter of the divine image, as having the Master to bless it, as receiving the task of bearing the whole world, as living with him whom it even persuaded to become man, as able to say with boldness, 'Behold, I and the children whom God has given me.' Take away honourable marriage, and where will you find the flower of virginity? For from there, and from nowhere else, the flower of virginity is gathered. In saying this, beloved, we are not bringing in a battle between virginity and marriage; we admire both as needing each other. For the Master and provider of both does not weigh one against the other; both hold fast to the fear of God. Without honourable and God-fearing piety, neither is virginity august nor marriage honourable.

2. These things were brought forward by me in the present discourse because of what was written in the law, confirmed in grace, spoken universally yet not found universally, and fulfilled in the Lord alone: I mean concerning the first-born

fruit of marriage. What is this? You heard the evangelist just now saying: 'And when eight days were completed to circumcise the child, his name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived. And when the days of purification were completed, they brought him up to the temple and presented him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord.' Do you see the blessing of marriage, and how what was said generally was found in the Lord alone? For 'Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord' refers to the Lord alone, and not to anyone else, even though it is said universally. For in every nature the womb is first opened by intercourse with a man, and then it bears. But with our Saviour it was not so: without intercourse he himself opened the womb of the virgin and came forth ineffably; so that 'Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord' refers to the Lord alone. Was Cain holy, then, who broke off his life in profanity, since he was the first of all to open his mother's womb? Was Esau holy, the enemy and heir of the sword, since he too came out first from his mother's womb? Was Reuben holy, who outraged his father's bed and brought on himself the sentence of a curse, since he too came out first from Leah's fruitful womb? None of these is holy; for all of these are under punishment. From this it is shown that 'Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord' refers to the Lord alone, in accordance with Gabriel, who said to the Virgin, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child born of you will be called holy, Son of the Most High.'

3. But one of those who object may well say: 'If, then, "Every male that opens

the womb shall be called holy to the Lord," the virgin did not remain a virgin. For Scripture declared, "Every male that opens the womb"; the virginal womb was opened, if this refers to the Lord.' But listen with understanding. As regards the nature of virginity, the virginal gates were not opened at all, by the will of the one just then conceived, according to the saying about him: 'This is the gate of the Lord; he will go in and come out, and the gate will be shut.' As regards the nature of virginity, then, the virginal gates were not opened at all; but as regards the power of the Master who was born, nothing is shut to the Lord, but all things are open. Nothing hinders, nothing obstructs; for all things are open to the Lord. That is why the supreme powers above, giving charge to those below, cried out, saying, 'Lift up your gates, O rulers, and be lifted up, eternal gates, and the King of glory shall come in.' Admirable, then, is virginity, the truly genuine virginity, since there is a difference even in virginity: some slumbered, others kept awake. Admirable too is marriage, the true and honourable; for many have kept it, and many have shaken it. And admirable too is widowhood. For it is good to remember the three orders.

4. And, as I said before, admirable is widowhood, true widowhood: which has won the contest of undefiled struggles, honourable, pure, and genuine, unmingled with any defilement apart from her own spouse. Such was the one read to us just now, Anna the prophetess, who grew old well and was renewed like an eagle. For you heard the evangelist Luke just now saying: 'And there was Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher; she was advanced in many days, having lived with her husband seven years from her virginity; and she was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, serving with fastings and prayers night and day.' Do you see in what things, and with what, the widow Anna is adorned in the divine Gospels? Truly Anna is Anna: the name she bears ran together with the good repute of her ways. Let the women hear, and emulate the glorious Anna, and run the same course, so that they may enjoy the same crowns. Let no woman make separation a pretext, so as to cast off the purity of a single marriage …

5. Anna, the crown of widows: a woman in form, a prophetess in rank, living in widowhood, conducting herself [as in] a kingdom; slack in body, sinewy in soul; wrinkled in face, intent in understanding; bowed down with age, walking upright in knowledge; worn by many years, vigorous in the knowledge of God; fasting and not gluttonous; praying and not wandering; spending her time in the temple and not running round other people's houses; singing psalms and not babbling; prophesying and not telling tales; meditating on divine things and not procuring what is indecent. Anna surpassed the widow whom the Apostle calls blessed. Which is that? Hear Paul saying: 'Let a widow be enrolled who is not less than sixty years old, if she has brought up children, if she has washed the feet of the saints, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has followed every good work.' This woman surpassed the one called blessed by the Apostle, both in years and in conduct. For she who was thought worthy of prophecy, who became a receptacle of the Holy Spirit, and who made known the signs of his coming to all who were waiting for the Lord's coming in the flesh, how did she not surpass all? For the evangelist said of her, as you heard just now: 'And she, coming up at that very hour, gave thanks to the Lord and spoke of him to all who were waiting for redemption in Jerusalem.' Do you see Anna's greatness? She spoke in the Lord's defence, telling of his things in his very presence. O paradox! A widow, yet she stung the priests and scribes, and while stinging them she refreshed all the people, announcing the redemption that was to come in Jerusalem through the Lord's coming, speaking to those present and making known the signs of the Lord. Anna saw the Lord as a babe, with gifts and purification offerings being offered for him and with him, and she did not stumble at the smallness of his age. Anna confessed the babe as God, physician and mighty redeemer, and destroyer of sins.

6. Do not pass over Anna's words lightly, beloved. She was making known to all present the Lord's working, saying to those gathered: 'Do you not see this child, sucking the breast, … resting in his mother's bosom, not yet consenting to tread the earth with his feet, circumcised on the eighth day? Do you not see? This child founded the ages; this one vaulted the heavens; this one spread out the earth; this one fenced in the sea with sand. This child brings forth the winds from his treasuries; this child in the time of Noah

opened the floodgates of heaven; this child weaves the threads of the rain; this child shakes out snow like wool; this child freed our forefathers from Egypt by the rod of Moses; this child cut the Red Sea, and led the people through it as through a grassy plain; and raining down manna in the desert, gave them as inheritance a land flowing with milk and honey; this child prepared, through the fathers, that this temple should be raised on high; this child, setting forth oaths to Abraham, said, "I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand on the shore of the sea." Concerning this child the choir of the prophets, offering supplication, said, "Stir up your power, and come to save us." Do not stumble at the child because he is a child. The same is both a child and without beginning with the Father; the same is both counted in years and without genealogy; the same is a child lisping, and the same is the giver of wisdom and speech: the one because of his birth from the Virgin, the other because of the incomprehensibility of his existence. For Isaiah too set this forth, saying, "A child is born to us, a son is also given to us": the one "is born", the other "is given"; the one because of what is seen, the other because of what is understood.'

7. These are Anna's prophecies; these are the [widow's] noble sayings; these are the achievements of the widow, the true widow, who passed through life well; who sent her husband on ahead and received the Lord. Seven years she lived with her husband from her virginity, completing a week of years, and in the seventh year she ceased from married intercourse. Well did she keep the seventh; well did she keep sabbath; well did she reach the Lord's day of grace. Anna followed the way of the turtle-dove. She did not forget her spouse; she did not set aside her first faith; she did not bring an outrager into her bed; she did not lay on another the yoke of a single marriage. In her bed, in her memory, she kept the dead man as living; she did not defile the bridal linen. Paul's reproof did not touch her, when he says: 'When they grow wanton against Christ, they wish to marry, incurring condemnation, because they have set aside their first faith.' Truly worthy of condemnation is she who buries the memory along with her God-yoked spouse, especially when a child or children are living, for which reason too the law of marriage was planted; if

if a young widow has no child, she is likely to be drawn to a second marriage, pricked by the longing for children. For blessed Paul too, advising this, said, 'I want younger widows to marry'; and then, showing what benefit a second marriage brings, he added, 'I want younger widows to marry, to bear children, to manage a household.' So the fittingness of a second marriage concerns the bearing of children; but when a widow who is eager to marry has children, such sowing is from then on superfluous, since the rational ears of grain are already there.

8. Let us return, then, to our former subject. What does the evangelist say next? For it is good to take up the matter before us. You heard the evangelist Luke just now telling how Simeon said to the Virgin, 'Behold, this one is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against; and a sword will pass through your own soul too.' What does 'a sword will pass through your own soul too' mean? Listen with understanding. When Simeon said about the Lord, in the Virgin's hearing, 'Behold, this one is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against', the Virgin, as the Lord's mother, was naturally indignant with Simeon, and said to him: 'You do not know what you are proclaiming, man. Do you announce gloomy things about the Christ? Do you not know how the child was conceived, that you announce a sign of contradiction as if of an ordinary birth? There is no fall in him, but great exaltation and condescension for those he benefits. Why, then, do you not bless him, but say, Behold, this one is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against?' And Simeon said to the Virgin: 'It is enough for you, Virgin, to be called mother; it is sufficient for you to be found the nurse of him who nourishes the world; it is a great thing for you to carry in the flesh him who carries all things. The Christ who now dwells in you has also now prepared me to speak of him: that this one is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel; for the fall of the unbelieving Jews, and the rising of the believing nations. Behold, this one is set for

the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against': calling the cross 'a sign that is spoken against'. Why? Because at the very cross many of the unbelieving spoke against the Lord, mocking him in words and deeds, giving him vinegar to drink, offering gall, putting a crown of thorns on him, piercing his side with a spear, striking him with their hands, and shouting words of reproach: 'He saved others; he cannot save himself.' Interpreting this, Simeon said, 'and for a sign that is spoken against'. For many spoke against him: Peter denied him, and all the apostles were scattered like sheep without a shepherd at the sign of the cross; and the Virgin's heart was filled with grief, so that she said: 'Why did I not die first? Why have I lived to see this day? I have remained a virgin, and I am stung the more in my mother's heart.' These numberless thoughts of the Virgin Simeon called a sword, as piercing her inward parts and bringing stumbling, as the Lord also foretold: 'You will all stumble because of me this night.' Therefore Simeon added: 'And a sword will pass through your own soul too, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.' See how Simeon called the numberless thoughts a sword, as piercing the inward parts, as touching the reins and the marrow. The Virgin Mary fell into these, not yet knowing the power of the resurrection, nor yet knowing that the resurrection was near. So after the resurrection there was no longer a two-edged sword, but gladness and rejoicing. Simeon, then, called the sign of the cross a sign of contradiction, at the time when a sword of thoughts passed through the Virgin. But someone may say: 'And how do we know this?' From the Lord's own teachings. Hear him saying: 'This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah was in the belly of the sea-monster, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.' Do you see how the suffering of the cross was called a sign, not only in the New Testament but also in the Old? For the old things agree strongly with the New. Why? Because one and the same God gave the law there and gave the prize here. And who is witness to this? The Lord himself. Hear him saying in the prophet Ezekiel to the reaping angels, as he announces the universal consummation: 'Let your eyes not spare,

and do not pity the old man, nor the young man and virgin, and kill child and women to destruction; but those who bear the sign on their foreheads, do not touch.' See the sign of the Old and of the New. For he himself is …

Oration 3. On Lazarus, four days dead.

1. Come, let us bring the evangelist John into the midst again; for it is good to consider the first-fruits of the resurrection. You heard him just now saying, 'Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom he had raised from the dead.' Do you see the first-fruits of the resurrection prefigured in Lazarus, which the faithful crowd recognized? The crowds recognized it, but the chief priests reviled it, turning the miracle into envy. Truly they envied Lazarus's resurrection, for after his resurrection, as you heard, they took counsel to kill him. Do you see the excess of envy? The man whom the Lord had raised, they planned to kill, not realizing that even if they killed him, it would again be easy for the Lord to raise his friend. They took counsel to kill Lazarus. Nothing stung the Jews so much as the resurrection of Lazarus. This one miracle alone they could not slander. The sight given to the man blind from birth they slandered, saying, 'This is he'; 'It is not he; he is like him.' The raising of Jairus's daughter they slandered, saying that she had only fainted and had not been given over to complete death. The raising of the widow's only son they slandered, saying that he had feigned death and had not been swallowed by the tyranny of death. The withered fig tree they slandered, saying it had been blighted, and not withered by the Master's word. The changing of water into wine they slandered, saying that those at the dinner were already drunk and did not see the trick. The resurrection of Lazarus alone they could not slander. They saw Lazarus himself; the man was well known; they followed the funeral; they saw the tomb sealed; they offered consolation as usual, as at a funeral meal; they consoled Martha and Mary, Lazarus's sisters. They knew that he had been four days, laid carefully in the tomb, and that a man four days dead is disjointed everywhere, the flesh wasting, the sinews torn apart, the innards scattered, the belly burst. Knowing this, when they suddenly saw Lazarus risen whole and sound, his renewal gleaming as if from the lathe, they were troubled. They nearly fainted, finding no words of pretext

with which to slander the resurrection of Lazarus, since Christ's arrangement had prepared it so.

2. What does 'since the Lord's arrangement had prepared it so' mean? Hear briefly. When Lazarus put off the present life in the course of nature, the Lord was not present at Bethany to bodily eyes, though present everywhere in his divinity and filling all things. For four days after Lazarus was buried, Jesus came to Bethany to bring about the resurrection of his friend before them all. So when he arrived at Bethany, as soon as Martha, Lazarus's sister, heard, she ran, she hastened, she fell down in entreaty, offering her petition. For she said to the Lord, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. And even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.' But the Lord himself, a sea of patience, answered, saying: 'What are you saying, Martha? You call me Lord, and do you not know the Lord? Was I not here? Wait a little; for soon you will learn it from your brother. Your brother will rise.' I forgive Martha, for she was drunk with grief. It is as if he said to her: 'You call well, but you stumble; when you are sober again, then you will be ashamed. Your brother will rise.' But Martha, still carried along by human words, answered the Lord: 'I know that he will rise in the resurrection at the last day.' And the Lord said to her: 'Why are you amazed, Martha? Why do you put off the resurrection to distant hopes? The Resurrection is speaking with you, and do you argue about the resurrection? I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, shall live.'

3. While the Lord was saying this, almost the whole town of Bethany ran down to the Lord's arrival, not to wonder but to laugh; for they had no hope that a man four days dead would be raised. What, then, did the Lord do? When he saw so great a crowd running together, and that they were fit and sufficient to bear witness to what was to be raised by him, he answered and said to them: 'Where have you laid Lazarus?' Did the Master of the place not know the place? He knew the place, but he arranged the manner, so that all, compelled to follow Jesus, might see the resurrection and become unquestionable heralds of it. 'Where have you laid him?' And they, being asked, said to him, 'Come and see.' As Jesus walked and hastened to the tomb, the crowd following behind reasoned among themselves, saying: 'Why does this man want to see Lazarus's tomb? … he was not present to bodily eyes.

If he is the Son of God, he will raise this man. For of those who had just died whom he raised, we are not sure. How, then, shall we know? If they had been given over to complete death; this one he will raise, and we shall come to know that he is truly the Son of God.' So Martha too, carried along by such words, came to the Lord and herself said: 'Where are you going, Master? Why do you want to see Lazarus's tomb? Why do you scrape open our pain? Why do you rouse our grief? Why do you want to see the tomb? You will gain nothing, Master. He already stinks, for he has been dead four days.' And the Lord said to Martha: 'Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God? Do you say to me, He already stinks? Your sister anoints with myrrh, and you smoke with unbelief. I want to see the tomb of my friend.'

4. Having said this, the Lord went to the tomb; and as he drew near and saw the monument, he at once wept. What need was there to weep for one he was about to raise? He wept because the Lord arranged everything with understanding and wisdom. He wept at the tomb so as to make public the opinion of those who followed, the suspicion they had about him. So when they saw him weeping, the crowds that followed, again feeling as men feel, began to dispute among themselves and say: 'See how he loved him! Could not he who raised the dead and opened the eyes of the blind have made this man too not die, if he loved him so much?' But the Lord, seeing them still speaking as men, answered them: 'It was easy for me to keep back the life of Lazarus, as of Elijah and of Enoch; but none of you knew that it is by my will that the life of Lazarus is kept back. That is why I allowed him to be swallowed by death, so that you might learn exactly that I have power over life and death.' And at once the Lord said to them, as you all clearly know: 'Roll away the stone.' See how he arranged everything wisely, establishing exact witnesses of Lazarus's resurrection. 'Roll away the stone.' He who allowed his disciples to move mountains by a word, did he himself not roll away a stone? But, arranging all things wisely, as I said, for their profit, he said to the Jews, 'Roll away the stone', so that from the very stench of the corpse they might learn that he had rotted and had not been stolen away. 'Roll away the stone.' They rolled it away with grumbling, for the foul stench of the corpse stung them; and as soon as those present had rolled the stone away, the Lord cried out, saying: 'Lazarus, come out!' The Master is the one who calls; no one gainsays. 'Lazarus, come out; assure your sister Martha that I command and do not entreat. Lazarus, come out. Before I go down, come out: in you the pledge, in me the completion. Lazarus, come out!'

5. Do not suppose that the Lord uttered many words. He spoke once, and the man he had formed he raised. For he neither wept like Elijah nor was at a loss like Elisha. With a voice of a single sound he woke the man sleeping beside him, saying, 'Lazarus, come out': one word, and many wonders. The Lord only called, 'Lazarus, come out', and at once the flesh was filled up again; the hair grew again; the joints were fitted together; the veins were filled again with pure blood; Hades below, stricken, sent Lazarus forth; the soul of Lazarus, held back and summoned by the angels, was recast, its own into its own; and the most glorious thing of all was that, though he was bound on every side, feet and face, with grave-bands, he walked unhindered. Therefore the Lord gave the crowds present a more forceful command, saying, 'Unbind him and let him go.' See the Lord's arrangement, how he orders everything wisely. For the assurance of those present he said, 'Unbind him and let him go': as you rolled away the stone, and showed the tomb, and shared the smell, so loose the grave-clothes, the one keeping them as a blessing, the other guarding them as witnesses. If the chief priests and the Pharisees disbelieve that Lazarus has risen, show the grave-clothes; display the napkins, as the paralytic did his bed. And let us, carrying the branches of the palms, say, 'Hosanna in the highest; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' To him be glory and might, with the all-holy and life-giving Spirit, now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Oration 4. Homily on the sinful woman who anointed the Lord with myrrh, and on the Pharisee. The other day Christ refreshed us abundantly