Homilies

… 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

… feasting with Zacchaeus. For where Christ is entertained, and reclines with men, and enjoys our drink and table, the occasion turns into an account of joy. For which of the tax collectors or harlots, or of those who have done unspeakable and dreadful deeds, seeing the Maker of heaven and earth going under a tax collector's roof, or the giver of the ears of corn taking human bread in his hands, or the provider of the grape clusters blessing the winepresses by sharing the drink, would not think it right to make the event a feast and festival? This truly is a feast; this truly is the joy of an angelic banquet: to see the Master with servants, God with men, the Judge with those under judgment, enjoying a common table. For this is why he came to earth, without leaving heaven empty, and became man, without putting off being God: so that, sailing the sea, he might draw up from the depth of sin those storm-tossed on the sea of life; and going round villages and cities, running through lanes and paths and highways, he might bring back to his own flock those wandering at the crossroads like sheep without a shepherd. For he is the one who seeks the lost sheep, leaving the ninety-nine and coming to search for the one. He sought the one, neither despising the many nor preferring the one to the multitude; but the ninety-nine he left, for they had to be lodged safely in the fold, and the one he went out to seek, so that it might not become prey to the devil. For a sheep without a shepherd is a ready meal for wild beasts, and an unsealed soul is easily plotted against by demons. So the other day he snatched Zacchaeus like a sheep from the wolf's mouth, joined him to the fold, and granted him the seal; for as a shepherd [rejoices over] a sheep that had wandered …

then showing, by his reclining, his eating, his drinking, and his consuming of food, that his becoming man was not a phantom. Besides, since the harlot was about to come and show that warm and fiery manner of repentance, he readily accepts the Pharisee's invitation, so that before the eyes of the scribes and Pharisees she might lament her own evils and teach them how sinners, grieving over their sins, ought to win God's favour. 'For behold', it says, 'a woman in the city, who was a sinner.' A woman: the nature that easily slips, the devil's first net, the entrance of error, the teacher of transgression; who was made a helper but showed herself an enemy; who was made good by nature but proved evil by choice; who displayed the beauty of the tree and lost paradise. 'And behold, a woman in the city, who was a sinner', bearing the burdens of Eve, weighed down with many evils. I will tell you the abundance of her former ways, so that you may know the costliness of her repentance.

4. God took a bone from Adam's side, clothed it with flesh, and made Eve, whom he also called woman, and gave her to Adam as a helper. But after they had sinned and transgressed the law, been cast out of paradise, and received death as the penalty, marriage takes the field against death, so that the race might not be consumed by death and perish utterly: so that one sows and the other reaps; one cuts down and the other springs up. And that the grace of marriage was given after they had been made subject to death is clear from Adam's being united with Eve after he went out of paradise. For it is written that after they went out of paradise, then Adam knew his wife. Before sin, then, there was virginity, keeping the garment of nature undefiled; but after the transgression, after the sentence of death, marriage was brought in in exchange, so that by springing up it might conquer death that drains away, and by growing might defeat death that harvests. Since, then, the law of marriage was given for the preservation of the race and the increase of nature, God sowed pleasure in man and made the female alluring: not so that they might be stirred like harlots to intercourse, but so that they might be lawfully joined in marriage. Hence the lawful union of marriage is one, with God; but that which is carried out for the sake of pleasures is subject to death. For honourable

… [how shall I escape] these numberless passions? If I tell men about myself, the way of confession is of no use to me. But shall I hide my evils? But I cannot escape notice. From whom shall I hide, when I cannot hide from God? Where shall I flee, when I find the Judge everywhere, him who is not seen, yet everywhere exposes my evils? One hope of salvation is left to me, one provision for life lies before me: to recognize Jesus and run to him. For he who receives tax collectors does not reject a harlot; he who eats with Pharisees does not refuse a sinner's tears. Since I have learned that he is lodging with Simon the Pharisee, let me go to him. But what shall I ask when I come? Health for my eyes? But that favour is for a time. Release from disease? But that is a small achievement, for eternal death is heavier than the present one. I will let go of everything bodily, and seek the healing of the soul. For I shall find one release from the evils hanging over me, if I see the Judge, if I forestall the time of punishment. I will imitate Rahab the harlot; I will follow the virtuous way of that woman; for God wants nothing else from us than a change of mind.' Having considered this piously, and anointed her mind for faith, she comes in to Jesus where he was reclining, taking her former shamelessness as the occasion for boldness. She says nothing to him, for she did not dare; she knew that the overseer of thoughts needs no words. For what could she say to the one who knows all things? That she had sinned? That she had been the worker of many evils? That, loving and being loved, she had served the pleasure of all comers? These things were plain to God, not only as done, but laid bare in the hidden council chamber of the soul. Knowing, then, that he knows all things, and that nothing can escape him, she shuts her tongue but speaks with her tears. For 'standing at Jesus' feet', it says, 'weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears.' Though she did not speak with her tongue, she uttered with groans that cannot be spoken, bending in contrition of heart, laying bare the multitude of her sins, parading the wicked reasonings, the accursed thoughts, the profane deeds, the lawless associations; for there was none of the evils she had done that she did not lament with tears. For she knew that she received amnesty for what she confessed. 'I said', it says, 'I will confess my lawlessness against myself to the Lord, and you forgave the impiety of my heart.' And not only did she speak without words,

moving the Lord by the groans of her heart; she also sketched the beauty of repentance by her posture. She wept, as one who had laughed much, washing out the evil laughter with good tears, and with the drops from her eyes washing off the stain of her cheeks; so that in the things in which she had sinned, in these she might also make her defence, and in the things in which she had transgressed, in these she might win the lawgiver's favour. For as David washed with tears the bed he had defiled with an unlawful embrace ('I will wash my bed every night', he says; 'with my tears I will wet my couch'), so she too, with the eyes by which she had drawn many of the young into licentiousness, letting loose springs of tears, washed away the hard-to-wash stain of sin, offering her tears to herself as a bath of repentance. The tears she supplied like water; the forgiveness she received invisibly from Christ. Indeed, not only imitating Abraham but surpassing him, she washed Christ's feet. For he set out a basin, washed with water, and wiped with a towel; but she, drawing no water but letting loose fountains of tears, washed the feet of Jesus; and sparing them, lest she outrage pure feet with sinful tears, she put the beauty of her hair beneath them like a towel and wiped the feet. And one could see the little woman bent wholly, from head to foot, to the service of Jesus. Her eyes above sent forth channels like fountains of tears; her soul, lying beneath like a basin, received the drops falling from the feet; her locks wiped them, filling the place of the towel; and her hands, holding the alabaster jar of myrrh, anointed the divine feet, honouring the Myrrh with myrrh. For 'your name', it says, 'is myrrh poured out.'

7. Do you see how a sinful woman, with no share in the divine laws, overcame the ungrateful mind of the Jews? They threw stones at him; she gladdened him with fragrant myrrh. The Jews, ungrateful, unintelligent, and senseless, repaid their benefactor with evils, greeting the cornerstone with stones; but she anointed with myrrh the feet of him who for her sake was to stand all day on the scaffold of the cross. And why do I say she overcame the ungrateful people of the Jews, when she surpassed the whole choir of the saints? For she received a grace which kings did not receive, which rulers did not obtain. 'The kings of Tarshish and the islands shall bring gifts, and all the kings of the earth shall worship him.' And indeed, as the prophet said, they gave gifts and worshipped from afar; but none of them kissed the feet of Jesus. How could they? The Magi came, having taken a star as ally of their supplication; but they brought their gifts from afar, knowing the measure of their own rank. 'For heaven is my

throne, and the earth the footstool of my feet.' Let the woman, then, be praised, for she received the honour due from the whole earth; for she touched the undefiled feet whose dust nations and families shall lick, as it is said, 'and his enemies shall lick the dust.' She touched the undefiled feet; she shared the body of Christ with John. For he reclined on his breast, since from there he was to draw divine teaching; she anointed the feet that walked for our sake. And Christ, not judging the sin but praising the repentance, not punishing the past but approving what was to come, passing over her former evils with amnesty, honours the woman and praises her repentance; he justifies her tears and crowns her purpose.

8. The Pharisee, seeing the wonder, is struck in mind, and, smitten with envy, does not accept the woman's repentance. He even slaps with reproach the woman who so honoured the Lord, and lessens the dignity of the one honoured, condemning him of ignorance. 'For the Pharisee who had invited him', it says, 'seeing it, said to himself: This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what sort of woman this is who touches him, for she is a sinner.' O foolish and senseless one, Pharisee in everything! By saying this you do not expose the woman's way of life, but accuse your own disposition, saying that he does not know who the woman was. So you did not honour him with your invitation as God who knows all things. Are you not ashamed, brilliant accuser and slanderer, that you invite him as God, able to bless, yet cry out against him as a man who knows nothing beyond us? 'This man', he says, 'if he were a prophet'. How much better than you, Pharisee, was the woman at Sychar, who did not know the prophet, yet at first sight confessed the Saviour: 'Lord', she says, 'I perceive that you are a prophet.' And how much more admirable than you is this sinful woman too, whose sin you see, but whose repentance you do not see! You even condemn her whom the Judge justifies, and blame and censure her whom God accepts and crowns; because, seeing God reclining at your house in the form of a man, she recognized and honoured him, and, uncovering the wounds of her soul, asked for mercy and amnesty for her past life. But you, having honoured him by the invitation, dishonour him by reproach, saying: 'If he were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who touches him.' What, then? Because he did not expose your evils, do you condemn him of ignorance? Because he came under your roof, burdened with many evils, do you deny his knowledge? Because you thought fit to have him under your roof, to recline with you and put his hand to your food, and he consented and did not disdain it, do you consider him one of the many? Were you worthy to receive God as a guest, or to set a table before him who prepares a table in the desert? But being a lover of mankind, he did not refuse to receive drink and food even from servants. Why

Why, then, do you accuse the kind Master, Pharisee, who weighs out the balance of his goodness equally to all? Why do you strain out the woman's gnat and swallow the camel of your own evils? Do you want God to be long-suffering toward you, but severe toward her? Why do you provoke the Judge over the charges against others, while asking pardon for your own? Why did you and Judas agree to test the Lord? For you, as though clean of stain, disparaging the woman for her sins, condemn God of [ignorance]; and he, as a lover of the poor, is indignant, saying, 'Why this waste of myrrh? For it could have been sold for much and given to the poor.' O senseless mind! O ungrateful ways! You call the service of the Lord a waste, Judas, and what goes to the honour of God a vain expense?

9. How much have we given of what we have received? Let us reckon how many rivers of mercy have flowed from his nature since the world was made, and God does not count the abundance a loss. How many fragrances the earth puts forth: the rose, the lily, storax, nard, and oil of myrrh, and the rest from which fine myrrh is prepared; and God does not count these a waste. And do you grumble that a small alabaster jar of myrrh is poured on Christ's feet? Did she receive it from you as a gift, that you should grumble? She gave myrrh and received a way of repentance; she gave tears and stopped a fountain of sins. What waste is there, then, if a woman [is saved], the one through whom paradise was shut? Does this grieve you, Judas? Naturally; for her salvation grieved [the devil] too. For he knows that through her the race is henceforth turning to repentance, and he is stung and pained, no longer having a net with which to catch man. That is why he also stirred you to grumble. 'For what purpose', he says, 'is this waste? For it could have been sold for much.' Already you are selling, Judas; already you are planning betrayal: the beginning of evil riddles. But Jesus does not expose his disease or lay bare his love of money, so as not to forestall the betrayal to come; but he says to all: 'Why do you trouble the woman? Why, on top of her former evils, do you reproach the

human being? The race of women has toiled enough; let no one hinder their salvation; let no one trouble her who washed with myrrh the feet that walked on earth for her sake. For the poor you always have with you. Take me too with the poor; for I became poor for your sake though I was rich, so that you by my poverty might become rich. You are killing me, and I make no accusation; she is preparing me for burial, and do you grumble? For in pouring this myrrh on my body, she has done it for my burial. Are you not ashamed, Judas, that she, a sinner, honours me with myrrh, while you, an apostle, outrage me by selling me? The woman prepares for the tomb; the disciple hands over to death. The woman is a sinner, I know; but she had nothing to give me except a fountain of tears, winning the favour of the Fountain with a fountain. But you even put a price on the myrrh, wretch, saying "three hundred denarii"; and you value it not to praise her generosity, that she spent all the wealth gathered from evil on the price of myrrh, but so that by grumbling you might show you had fallen into an accursed evil, having lost so much. But it is no great thing if you are vexed at the loss of three hundred denarii, when, taking thirty, you sold me, the Lord. For "What will you give me", he says, "and I will hand him over to you?" Wretch! A servant sells his Master! The order is reversed: I buy you back from sin with my own blood, and you sell me for thirty obols? And then, does a man sell God? Granted that he sells: who is the buyer? For how much will anyone buy God? Why do you make the thing cheap? Does anyone sell God in the form of a man for thirty pieces of silver, like a household slave, like a barbarian? At least make a distinction: how much for the God who dwells within, how much for the man who is seen? "What will you give me?" What do you want to receive? For they have nothing worthy of God to give. "And they weighed out for him thirty pieces of silver." Does anyone sell for thirty obols a physician who takes no fee, a physician who gives sight to the blind and raises the lame to run?' I say these things to instruct your mind: that you are troubling the woman; that she honoured as dead, before his death, the one who is free among the dead; that through the myrrh she signified beforehand the grace of the burial and of the resurrection. But you will have the rope as the fruit of your betrayal; while her memory, wherever the Gospel is preached, cannot be blotted out. Truly it has come about so. For the myrrh of Aaron and of Eleazar has ceased, and the horn lies idle; but her alabaster jar stretches out with every age, holding the inexhaustible fragrance of her memory.

10. So he spoke to Judas; but to the grumbling Pharisee Christ spoke thus: 'Simon,

to give the [right] answer. But the Lord did not examine his intention; seizing on the answer, he said to him, 'You have answered rightly.' And turning to the woman, he said to Simon: 'Do you see this woman, the sinner, rejected by you but being saved by me? I entered your house' (yours is the house, not mine, full of reproach). 'You gave no water for my feet': feet covered in dust for your sake, feet that endured toil so that I might free from toil those who labour and are heavy laden. You offered half the honour, admiring what is above but not caring for what is below. 'But you gave no water for my feet; she let loose fountains of tears from her eyelids and wiped off the stain of her sin. You gave me no kiss': would that Judas too had not, who worked the betrayal with a kiss. 'But she, from the time she came in, has not ceased kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil': for 'let not the oil of a sinner anoint my head'. How could he who neglected the feet honour the head? 'But she anointed even my feet with myrrh.' For 'your name', it says, 'is myrrh emptied out': emptied out, not poured. For since the vessel of the Jewish mind was rotten, therefore the myrrh was emptied out from your alabaster box at my feet, so that through me the grace of its fragrance might be channelled to the nations. 'Therefore I tell you, her many sins are forgiven'; because you, receiving me under your roof, neither honoured me with a kiss nor served me with anointing; but she, receiving amnesty for many evils, honoured me with tears and myrrh, as if mixing a twofold offering.

12. Let us call blessed, then, the woman who covered the evils of Eve: the sinner, the harlot, the procurer of good things, who had the Judge himself as her advocate, who by her tears overcame the lament of judgment. All you who are present, emulate what you have heard; imitate not the harlot's pleasure but her lament. For pleasure begot lament, but lament procured release from evils. Wash your body, then, not with water but with tears; anoint not with myrrh but

your members with chastity. Put on, not the fabrics of the Seres, but the incorruptible garment of self-control, so that you may obtain the same glory, sending up glory to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world; to whom be glory and honour and worship, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Oration 5. On the day of holy Saturday.

1. Today we keep the funeral feast of our Saviour. He, below among the dead, is loosing the bonds of death, filling Hades with light, and waking those who sleep; and we dance on the earth, picturing the resurrection, and we do not fear that corruption may prevail over incorruption. For 'you will not give your holy one to see corruption', it says. And perhaps Jews and Greeks laugh at our philosophy, the one awaiting another Christ, the others shutting up their hopes in tombs, of whom the prophet fittingly says, 'Their tombs are their houses for ever.' But those who laugh will groan (for they will groan later, when they see him whom they pierced and outraged); while we, weeping, mix pleasure with the suffering. Death seized the Master, Christ; but it will not keep the Life with itself. It swallowed; it swallowed in ignorance, but it vomited up many with him. He is held now of his own will; after this day, having despoiled Hades, he rises. Yesterday, crucified, he darkened the sun, and night came on at midday; today death is undone, having received a strange corpse. Yesterday creation mourned, seeing the madness of the Jews, and darkness put on a robe of mourning; today 'the people sitting in darkness have seen a great light'. Yesterday the earth was shaken and took counsel to flee and part from its inhabitants; the mountains were struck, the rocks were split, and the temple stood naked, as if alive, having torn its garment, showing by what it suffered that the holy things had been profaned. The lifeless things perceived the outrage, while those who dared it had souls without perception. The elements were indignant, and would nearly have left their order and brought confusion on the whole, had they not perceived the Creator's will, that he was not outraged against his will,

who struck Egypt with the ten plagues and covered the head of Pharaoh with the waters. The face that the Cherubim cannot bear to look on is spat upon. And suffering these things, he prayed for those who crucified him, saying, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.' He conquers wickedness with goodness. He makes a defence for those who killed Christ, netting them for salvation. He dissolves the charge by pleading their ignorance. He is not angry at becoming the plaything of their drunken violence; he endures the drunkenness, and with kindness calls them to repentance. What need is there to say more? Profiting nothing from his goodness, they shut up in a tomb him whom nothing that exists can contain; and they put seals on it, guarding our salvation; and, fearing the resurrection, they set soldiers as guards over the tomb. Who ever saw a corpse under guard? Or rather, who ever saw a corpse warred against? Who ever heard of a death that was doubted, and struck fear into those who brought it about? Who does not stop at an enemy once he has taken his life? Who does not end his enmity, content with the death of his foe? Why are you afraid of the one you destroyed, O Jew? Why do you fear the one you killed? Do you tremble at the departed? Why do you dread the slain? Why are you anxious about the one you crucified? You have security from the slaughter; take courage. If the dead man is a mere man, he does not rise; if a mere man, you fixed the cross well; if a mere man, he did not speak truly when he said, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it.' If a mere man, he is held by death; if a mere man, why do you seal the tomb, you fool? Wait for the third day, and you will see the refutation of your madness. Stop meddling, and you will see the outcome of events. Stop raging against the truth. Stop fighting against God and wounding yourself by fighting. Stop outraging the Sun of righteousness, thinking to quench his rays. Stop striving to choke the fountain of life. Stop troubling the rulers and talking about a guard. Stop buying falsehood and corrupting the soldiers. Do not labour uselessly; do not spend your goods on impiety and imagine a victory over God. Do not give the soldiers money to say one thing instead of another. Do not lull the crowd to sleep at the tomb. Do not trust in arms. The resurrection is not prevented by arms, not hindered by seals, not barred by soldiers, not stolen by money; it is received by faith. Did you not see Lazarus shaking off death again like sleep? Did you see how he walked with the grave-bands still on, when he heard 'Come'? Did you see how the dead man obeyed the command, and the bond did not hinder him? Did you see how the voice fitted together the one dissolved by death? He who could do those things can also do these; he who raised the servant will much more rise himself. He who brought to life one who was rotting will not

leave himself dead. But the blindness of the Jews is great; seeing the miracles, it does not see. They have eyes and do not see; they have ears and do not hear. For the god of this age has blinded their hearts, so that the gospel of righteousness might not shine on them. But let us leave them for the present to their folly, and let us say with Mary and those with her, the faithful, picturing to ourselves in our minds the Saviour's tomb: 'They have taken away our Lord, and we do not know what they have done with him.' To him be glory, with the undefiled Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.