Homilies on the Song of Songs 10
Greek text: PG 44 (OCR by the Internet Archive; lines extracted for this site).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 10
10PG 44
᾿Ἐξεγέρθητι, Βοῤῥᾶ. καὶ ἔρχου, Νότε, καὶ διάς πγϑυσον κῆπόν μου, καὶ ῥευσάτωσαν ἀρώματά μου. Καταδήτω ἀδειϊριδός μου εἰς κῆπον αὐτοῦ, καὶ φαγέτω καρπὸν ἀκροδρύων. Εἰσῆϊλθον εἰς κῆπόν μου, ἀδειφρή μου μου μετὰ ἀρωμάτων μου. ΓἜφαγον ἄρτον μου μετὰ μέλιτός μου, ἔπιον οἷνόν μου μετὰ γάλακτός μου. Φάγετε, οἱ πλησίον μου, καὶ πίετε, καὶ μεθύσθητε, ἀδελφοί. Ἐγὼ καθεύδω, καὶ ἡ καρδία Τῆς νῦν προτεθείσης ἡμῖν τῶν θείων ῥητῶν θεωρίας ἐκ τῆς τοῦ ΓἌσματος τῶν ᾿Ασμάτων ἀκολουθίας, δυσέφιχτά τινα καὶ κεκαλυμμένα δι᾿ ἀσαφείας ἐν ἀποῤῥήτοις περιεχούσης νοήματα, μείζονος ἡμῖν χρεία τῆς προσοχῆς, μᾶλλον δὲ πλείονος τῆς διὰ τῶν εὐχῶν συνεργίας, καὶ τῆς παρὰ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματὸς ὁδηγίας· ὡς ἂν μὴ ταὐτὸν πάθοιμεν ἐπὶ τῆς τῶν ὑψηλῶν τούτων θαυμάτων ἐκπλήξεως, ὅπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀστέρων πάσχειν εἰώθαμεν. Καὶ γὰρ ἐκείνων πόῤῥωθεν τὸ κάλλος θαυμάζοντες, οὐδεμίαν μηχανὴν ἐπινοῆσαι δυνάμεθα πρὸς τὸ γνῶναι τὴν κτίσιν αὐτῶν ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦ κάλλους αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡμῖν ἡ ἀπόπερὶ τὸ φαινόμενον ἔχειν, ᾿Αστέρες γάρ τινές εἰσιν ἀτεχνῶς αἱ τῶν θείων τούτῶν λογίων μαρμαρυγαί τε καὶ λαμπηδόνες τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς ὀμμάτων ὑπερλάμπουσαί τε καὶ ναι, κατὰ τὸ ὕψος τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, ὥς φῇσιν ὁ Προφήτης. Εἰ δὲ γένοιτο καὶ περὶ τὴν ἣμεπέραν ψυχὴν, ὃ περὶ τὸν Ἡλίαν ἀχούθμεν· καὶ ἀναληφθεῖσα τῷ πυρίνῳ ἅρματι ἡμῶν ἣ διάνοια, μετάρσιος πρὸς τὰ οὐράνια κάλλη μετατεθείη ( Πνεῦμα δὲ ἅγιον εἶναι τὸ πῦρ ἐννοήσομεν, ὅπερ βάλλειν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἦλθεν ὁ Κύριος, τὸ ἐν γλωσσῶν εἴδει τοῖς μαθηπαῖς μεριζόμενον), οὐκ ἀπ᾽ ἐλπίδος ἡμῖν γενήσεται τὸ πλησιάσαι τούτοις τοῖς ἄστροις, τοῖς θείοις λέγῳ νοήμασι, τοῖς διὰ τῶν οὐρανίων τε καὶ πνευματικῶν λογίων τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμῶν περιαστράπτουσιν. ᾿Ανάὄλεψον γὰρ τῷ τῆς ψυχῆς ὀφθαλμῷ, πρὸς σὲ λέγω τὸν ἀκροατὴν, τὴν πρὸς τὸν πατριάρχην γενομένην παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίον φωνὴν, ἀνάδλεψον εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν τοῦτον, καὶ ἴδε τοὺς ἀστέρας, εἰ δύνασαι αὑτῶν ἐχμετρῆσαι τῶν νοημάτων τὸ ὕψος. Βλέπε τὴν ἐξουσίαν τῆς βασιλίδος ἐκ τῶν προσταγμάτων αὐτῆς τὴν δυχατανοήσας, ὡς αὐτοκρατορικὴ τις τείᾳ τοῖς λεγομένοις ἐμφαίνεται. Οὐ γὰρ δι᾽ εὐχῆς κατορθοῖ ὅπερ βούλεται, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν ἀψευδῇ τοῦ ἐπαγγειλαμένου φωνὴν, ὅς φησι τὸν πιστὸν καὶ φρόνιίμον οἰκονόμον πάντων τῶν ὑπαρχόντων τῷ Δεσπότῃ κύριον γίνεσθαι. Ταύτης ἐπιλαδομένη τῆς ἐξουσίας, βααιλικῶς ἑαυτῇ διοικεῖται τὰ καταθύμια τῶν δύο ἀνέμων τὸν μὲν Βοῤῥᾷν διὰ προστάγματος ἑαυτῇ ἀφορίζουσα· τὸν δὲ Νότον, φιλοφρόνως καλοῦσα, καὶ πρὸς ἑαυτὴν ἐλθεῖν χατεπείγουσα. Ἔχει δὲ ἡ λέξις οὕτως· ᾿Εξεγέρθητι, Βοῤῥᾶ, καὶ ἔρχου, Νότε. Τάχα τι συγγενὲς ἔστι τοῖς λεγομένοις εὑρεῖν ἐν τοῖς ἑκατοντάρχου λόγοις, οὕς αὐτὸς ὁ Θεὸς Λόγος ἐθαύμασε, καθὼς ὁ Εὐαγγελιστὴς διηγήσατο, λέγων· ὅτι ᾿Ακούσας δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἐθαύμασε, καὶ ὑπερέθηκε τῆς τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ πίστεως τὴν τοῦ ἑκατοντάρχου φωνήν. Οὐ γὰρ πρὸς τὸν λαόν μοι δοκεῖ τὸν Ἰσραηλικικὸν ποιεῖσθαι ἐὸν Ἑκατόνταρχον τὴν σύγκρισιν ἐν τῷ τῆς πίστεως λόγῳ, ἀλλὰ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον τὸν Ἰσραήλ᾽ ὃς ἐν τῇ πρὸς τὸν ἀντιχεέμενον πάλῃ, μετὰ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ συμμαχίας μόγις τὸ πτῶμα διέφύγεν, οὐκ ἀκχριδῶς τῆς τοῦ ἀντιπάλου βλάδης ἕξω Ὑενόμενος. Ἐν γὰρ τῷ μηρῷ τὸ πάθος ἐδέξατο. Οὖτὸς δὲ ὁ Ἑκατοντάρχης, περὶ οὗ νῦν ὁ λόγος ἐστὶ, βασιλικῇ τινι δυνάμει τὸ ἀλλότριον κατ᾽ ἐξουσίαν ἀποπεμπόμενος, οἰκειοῦται τὸ καταθύμιον. Ἐπὶ τούν τῷ γάρ μοι δοκεῖ μάλιστα τετυχηκέναι τοῦ θαύματος ὁ ἀνήρ᾽ ὅτι φησὶν ἐν τοῖς προχειρίοις αὐτοῦ στρατιώταις ἐν αὐθεντιχῇ ἐξουσίᾳ ἀποπέμπεσθαι ὃν βούλεται, καὶ προσκαλεῖσθαι τὸν καταθύμιον, καὶ τῷ δούλῳ τὴν καθήκουσαν ἐπιτάττειν ὑπηρεσίαν. Κἀκεῖ γὰρ φιλοσοφία τις ἐν τῇ τοῦ Ἑκατοντάρχου φωνῇ, ὅτι τὸν ἅπαξ ιἀποπεμφθέντα οὐκέτι πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἐπανάγει· ἀλλὰ τούτου ἀποφοιτήσαντος ἕτερον ἀντ᾽ αὐτοῦ εἰσοικίζεται. Τοῦτο γὰρ εἰπὼν, ὅτι Πορεύθητι, καὶ πορεύεται, ἄλλον προσκαλεῖσθαί φησιν, οὐκ ὃν ἀπεπέμψατο. Παιδεύοντος οἶμαι τοῦ λόγου τὸ τοιοῦτὸν δόγμα, ὅτι τὰ ἀλλήλοις ἀντικείμενα τῷ αὐτῷ μετ᾽ ἀλλήλων συνεπιχωριάζειν φύσιν οὐκ ἔχει. Οὐδεμία γὰρ κοινωνία φωτὶ πρὸς σκότος, φησὶν ὅ·Απόστολος· ἀλλ᾽ ἀνάγκη πᾶσα τοῦ σκότους ἐχχωρήσαντος, φῶς εἶναι τὸ ἀντ᾽ ἐκείνου ὁρώμενον, καὶ τῆς κακίας ἐκποδὼν γενομένης, τὴν ἀρετὴν ἀντεισάγεσθαι· τούτου δὲ κατορθωθέντος, μηκέτι τὸ φρόνημα τῆς σαρκὸς ἀνταίρειν τῷ πνεύματι. Μηδὲ γὰρ δύνασθαι νεκρωθείσης αὐτοῦ τῆς εἰς τὸ ἀντιτείνειν δυνάμεως, ἀλλὰ πρὸς πᾶσαν καθήκουσαν ὑπηρεσίαν εὕθετὸν γίνεσθαι, τῇ δυναστείᾳ τοῦ πνεύματος εὐπειθὲς ὑπάρχον καὶ ὑποχείριον. Ὅταν γὰρ ἀποδιωχθῇ μὲν ὁ τῆς κακίας σύμμαχος στρατιώτης. ἀντεισέλθῃ δὲ ὁ τῆς ἀρετῆς ὁπλίτης, ἐνδεδυχὼς τὸν θώρακα τῆς δικαιοσύνης, καὶ τὴν μάχαιραν τοῦ πνεύματος διὰ τῶν ὅπλων, τὴν τε περικεφαλαίαν τοῦ σωτηρίου, καὶ τὸν θυρεὸν τῆς πίστεως, καὶ πᾶσαν φέρων ἐν ἑαυτῷ πἣν πνευματικὴν πανοπλίαν, τότε φοδεῖται τὸν ἕαυτοῦ κύριον ὁ δοῦλος τὸ σῶμα, καὶ προθύμως τοῦ κρατοῦντος τὰ παραγγέλματα δέχεται, δι᾽ ὧν ἢ ἀρετὴ ἢ κατορθοῦται τῇ ὑπουργίᾳ τοῦ σώματος· τοῦτο γὰρ ἐνδείκνυται τοῦ ᾿Εκατοντάρχον ὁ λόγος εἰπὼν, ὅτι Καὶ τῷ δούλῳ μου .έγω, Ποίησον τοῦτο, καὶ ᾿Ἀλλ᾽ ἀκούσωμεν τῆς βασιλίδος, ὅπως ἀπανίστησιν ἀφ᾽ ἑαυτῆς τὸν Βοῤῥᾶν, εἰς τὸ ἔμπαλιν αὐτοῦ τὴν πνοὴν ἀναστρέψασα. Οὐ. γὰρ ἣρεμεῖν ἐπιτάσσει, καθάπερ ἐπὶ τοῦ χλυδωνίου τῆς θαλάσσης ὁ Κύριος ἠσυχίαν ἄγειν τὴν λαίλαπα, σιωπὴν παραγγείλας τοῖς κύμασιν᾽ ἀλλ᾽ ἀποχωρεῖν καὶ φεύγειν παρακελεύεται, ὡς ἂν ἀκωλύτως ὁ Νότος ῥέοι, μηδεμιᾶς ἐμποδιζούσης αὐτῷ τὴν φοράν· ᾿Εξεγέρθητι, λέγουσα τῷ Βοῤῥᾷ᾽ τίς δὲ ἡ αἰτία τῆς τοῦ ἀνέμου τούκου μεταναστάσεως ; Σκληρὸς ἄνεμός ἐστι, φησὶ πρὸς τοῦτο τῆς Παροιμίας λόγος· ὀνόματι δὲ ἐπιδέξίος καλεῖται· ἀλλ᾽ οὐδενὶ δόξιὸς Βσῤῥέας, πλὴν εἴ τις κατὰ ΝΝώτου τὴν ἀνατολὴν ἔχοι, πρὸς τὰς δυσμὰς χὸν δρόμον ποιούμενος. Νοεῖς δὲ πάντως τῶν λεγομένων τὸ αἴνιγμα, ὅτι ὁ τῆς ἀνατολῆς ἀποῦτάς (ὀὕτω χὰρ παρὰ τῆς προφητείας ὁ Χριστὸς ὀνομάζεται) καὶ πρὸς τὰς δυσμὰς τοῦ φωτὸς ἑαυτὸν συνελαύνων, ὅπου ἐστὶν ἐξουσία τοῦ σχότους͵ δεξιὸν ἔχει ἐφ᾽ ἐαν, τοῦ τὸν Βοῤῥᾶν τοῖς πόνηροῖς αὐτὸν ἐφοδίοις δεξιούμένον, δι᾿ ὧν ὁ πρὸς τὸ ὀχότος γίνετάι δρόμος. Οὕτως εὑρίσκει τὸν Βοῤῥᾶν ἑαυτοῦ δεξιὸν ὁ ἀκόλαστος, τῷ πάθει τῆς ἀτιμίας συμπνέοντα. Οὕτω γίνεται τῷ πλεονέχτῃ δεξιὸν τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦτο τῆς πονηρίας, ὅταν αὐτῷ τὰς ὕλας τῆς πλεονεξίας οἷόν τινα ψάμμον ἢ κόνιν περισωρεύει. Οὕτως πρὸς ἕκαστον τῶν πλημα μελημάτων τὴν παρ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ συνεργίαν χαριζόμενος, ἐπιδέξιος γίνεται, οἷς ἂν γένηται. Σκληρὸς μὲν κατὰ τὴν φύσιν ὧν, ἐπικρύπτων δὲ ταῖς ἢδοναῖς τὸ ἀντίτὐπον, διὰ τοῦτο φυγαδεύει τῆς ἰδίας ἀρχῆς τὸν Βοῤῥᾶν, ἢ κατὰ τῶν παθῶν ἀναδυσαμένη τὸ κράτος., ᾿Ἐξεγέρδητι, λέγουσα, ὦ Βοῤῥᾶ. Ὅτι δὲ τῷ ὀνόματι τούτῳ ἢ ἀντικειμένη διασημαίνεται δύναμις, παντὶ δῆλον ἂν εἴη τῷ κατανενοηχότι τὴν τῶν ὁρατῶν φύσιν. Τίς γὰρ οὐκ οἷδε τοῦ ἡλίου τὴν κίνησιν, ὅτι ἐκ πῶν ἀνατολῶν διὰ τόῦ νοτίου τὸν δρόμον ποιούμενος, πρὸς τὰς δυσμὰς ἐπιχλίνεται ; Τὸ δὲ σχῆμα τῆς γῆς σφαιροειδὲς ὃν, καθώς φᾶσιν οἱ τὰ τοιαῦτα χατανοῆφαντές, ἐν ᾧπερ τῷ ἡλίῳ περιλαμφθῇ, κατὰ κᾶσαν ξει τοῦ μέσου σχιαζόμενον. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἀφεγγὴς ὁ πὸς ἐκεῖνος καὶ χατεψυγμένος εἰσαεὶ διαμένει μὴνε λαμπόμενος ὑπὸ τῶν ἡλιακῶν ἀκτίνων μῆτε θαλπόμένος ᾿ διὰ τοῦτο τὸν ἄρχοντα τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ σκότους, τὸν τὴν ἀπαλὴν τῶν ψυχῶν φύσιν ὕδατος δίκην ἀπολιθοῦντα διὰ τῆς πήξεως, καὶ σκληρὰν ἐργαζόμενον, Βοῤῥέαν τε καὶ σκληρὸν ὀνομάζει ὁ Λόγος, τὸν τῆς κατηφείας τοῦ χειμῶνος ἐργάτην, ὀκείνσυ λέγω τοῦ χειμῶνος ἐν ᾧ τὴν φυγὴν τῶν κινδύνων ἀμήχανον λέγει τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον. Ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ τῶν κατ᾽ ἀρετὴν ἀνθούντων ἢ ὥρα μαραίνεται. Καλῶς οὖν ἀπελαύνει τοῦτον κατ᾽ ἐξουσίαν ἡ βασιφωνή προσκαλεῖται δὲ τὸ μεσημθρινὸν πνεῦμα, Ὁ τὸ θερμόν τε καὶ ἀειφεγγὲς, ὅπερ ὀνομάζει Νότον , δι᾽ οὗ ὁ χειμάῤῥους τῆς τρυφῆς ῥέει, λέγουσα· Καὶ ἔρχου, Νότε, διάάγευσον τὸν κῆπόν μου, καὶ ῥευσάτωσαν ἀρώματά μου· ὥστε τῇ βιαίᾳ πνοῇ, καθὼς ἐν τῷ ὑπερώῳ γεγενῆσθαι τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἠκούσαμεν, τοῖς Ἐμψύχοις φυτοῖς ἐπιπεσόντα κινῆσαν τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ φυτείαν πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἀρωμάτων φοράν· καὶ ῥέειν παρασκευάσαι διὰ τοῦ στόματος τὴν εὐώδη προφητείαν, καὶ τὰ σωτήρια τῆς πίστεως δόγματα, κατὰ πᾶν εἶδος γλώσσης ἀκωλύτως τὴν εὐωδίαν τῶν διδαγμάτων προχέόντα. Οὕτως οἱ ἐκατὸν καὶ εἴκοσι μαθηταὶ, σἱ ἐν οἴκῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ πεφοτευμένοι, κῇ τοῦ τοιούτου Νότου, τὴν διὰ τῶν γλωσσῶν διδασκαλίαν ἐξήνθήσαν. Διὰ τοῦτο τοίνυν φησὶ τῷ τοιούτῳ Νότῳ ἡ νύμφὴ ὅτι Διάξσνευσον τὸν κῆπον μου. Ἐπειδὴ μήτηρ κήπῳ ἐγένετο χαρὰ τῆς τοῦ νυμφίον φωνῆς τοῦ ποιήσαντος αὐτὴν, καθὼς περιέχει ὁ λόγος πήπου καὶ πηγῆς. Οὗ χάριν τὸν κῆπον αὐτῆς τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν τὴν τοῖς ἐμψύχοις βρύουσαν δένδροις διαπνευσθῆναι βούλεται, ὥστε ῥεῦσαι ἀπ᾿ αὐτῶν τὰ ἀρώματα. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ Προφήτης φησὶν, ὅτι Πγεύσει πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ῥνήσεται ὕδατα. Ἡ δὲ τῷ βασιλικῷ πλούτῳ κομῶσα νύμφη, πρὸς τὸ μεγαλοφυέτὰ ῥεύματα, ἀρωμάτων ποταμοὺς ποιοῦσα τῶν τοῦ κήπου δένδρων ἐχρέοντας, διὰ τῆς βίας τοῦ πνεύματος ὥστε διὰ τούτου μαθεῖν τῆς Παλαιᾶς Διαθήκης πρὸς τὴν Καινὴν τὸ διάφορον· ὅτι ὁ μὲν προφητικὸς ποταμὸς ἐπληρώθη ὑδάτων· εὐαγγελικὸς ἀρωμάτων. Τοιοῦτος ποταμὸς ἀρωμάτων ἦν, ἐκ τοῦ κήπου τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ῥέων διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος, ὁ μέγας Παῦλος, οὗ τὸ ῥεῖθρον Χριστοῦ εὐῶδες ἦν, Τοιοῦτος ἄλλος Ἰωάννης, ὁ Λουκᾶς, ὁ Ματθαῖος, ὁ Μάρκος, καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ πάντες τὰ εὐγενῆ φυτὰ τοῦ κήπου τῆς νύμφης, οἱ τῷ φωτεινῷ ἐκείνῳ τῷ μεσημόρινῷ Νότῳ διαπνευσθέντες, πηγαὶ ἀρωϑάτων ἐγένοντο, βρύοντες τὴν τῶν Εὐαγγελίων εὐωδίαν. Καταδήτω, φησὶν, ὁ ἀδειϊφριδός μον, εἰς κῆπον αὐτοῦ, καὶ φαγέτω παρπὸν ἀκχροδρύων αὑτοῦ. Ὦ πεπαῤῥησιασμένης φωνῆς Ὧ φιλοτίμου τε καὶ μεγαλοδώρου ψυχῆς, πᾶσαν σύνης νικώσης Τίνα δεξιοῦται πρὸς εὐωχίαν τοῖς ἰδίοις καρποῖς: Τίνι παρασκευάζει διὰ τῶν ἰδίων ἀγαθῶν τὴν πανδαισίαν ; Τίνα καλεῖ πρὸς τὴν τῶν παρῥεσχευασμένων ἑστίασιν ; Τὸν ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα, καὶ δι᾿ οὗ τὰ πάντα, καὶ ἐν ᾧ τὰ πάντα, τὸν διδόντα τοῖς πᾶσι τροφὴν ἐν εὐκαιρίᾳ,, τὸν ἀνοίγοντα τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ, καὶ πληροῦντα πᾶν ζῶον εὐδοκίας, τὸν ἄρτον τὸν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ χαταδαίνοντα, καὶ ζωὴν διδόντα τῷ κόσμῳ, τὸν πᾶσι τοῖς οὖσι τὴν ζωὴν ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας πηγῆς ἐπιῤῥέοντα· τούτῳ ἡ νύμφη προτίθησι τράπεζαν. Κῆπος δέ ἐστιν ἡ τράπεζα, ὁ διὰ τῶν ἐμψύχων δένδρων πεφυτευμένος. Ἡμεῖς δὲ τὰ δένδρα, εἴπερ δὴ καὶ ἡμεῖς οἱ τροφὴν αὐτῷ προτιθέντες τὴν τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν σωτηρίαν, οὕτως εἰπόντος τοῦ τὴν ἡμετέραν εὐωχουμένου ζωήν ᾿ ὅτι Ἐμὸν βρῶμά ἐστιν, ἵνα ποιῶ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Πατρός μου. Δῆλος δὲ ὁ σκοπὸς τοῦ θείου θελήματος, ὃς πάντας θέλει σωθῆγαι, καὶ εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας ἐλθεῖν. Αὕτη οὖν ἰἐστιν ἑτοιμασθεῖσα βρῶσις αὐτῷτὸ σωθῆναι ἡμᾶς. Καρπὸς δὲ ἡμῶν ἡ προαίρεσις γίνεται, ἡ τῷ ἡμᾶς Θεῷ δι᾽ ἑαυτῆς ὡς διά τινος ἀχρεμόνος τὴν ψυχὴν ἐγχειρίζουσα. Χρὴ δὲ διὰ τούτων ἰδεῖν ὅτι πρόερον ἢ νύμφη τῷ καρπῷ τοῦ μήλου χαταγλυχαίνεται εἰποῦσα· Καὶ ὁ καρπὸς αὐτοῦ γλυκὺς ἐν τῷ στόματί μου· καὶ τότε καρπὸς καὶ αὐτὴ γίνεται ὥριμός τε καὶ γλυχαίνων, καὶ τῷ γεωργῷ πρὸς εὐπροχείμενος. Ἡ ὃὲ τοῦ Καταδήτω λέξις, εὐχτιχὴν ἔχει τὴν σημασίαν, ὁμοιοτρόπως ἐχφωνηθεῖσα τῷ. Ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου· καὶ γεγηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου. Ὥς γὰρ ἐχεῖ τὴν εὐχτιχὴν ἔμφασιν ὁ τῶν ῥητῶν ἐκείνων σχηματισμὸς περιέχει, οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα τὸ Καταδήτω, εὐχὴ τῆς νύμφης ἐστὶν ἐπιδεικνυμένης τῷ Θεῷ τῶν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀκροδρύων τὴν εὐφορίαν. Ἧ δὲ χατάδασις τὸ τῆς φίλανθρωπίας ἔργον διασημαίνει. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλως ἀναληφθῆναι πρὸς τὸν Ὕψιστον, εἰ μὴ πρὸς: πραεῖς Κύριος, διὰ τοῦτο ἡ ἀνιοῦσα πρὸς τὰ ἄνω. ψυχὴ, τὴν παρὰ τοῦ ὑπερχειμένου χειραγωγίαν προσκαλουμένη, ὑποχαταδῆναι αὐτὸν ποῦ ἰδίου μεγέθους εὔχεται, ἵνα τοῖς κάτω ἐφικτὸς γένηται. Ὁ. δὲ εἰπὼν διὰ τοῦ προφήτου ὅτι Ἔτι Ἰωλοῦντός σου ἐκεῖ, ἰδοὺ πάρειμι· πρὶν ἐπεξελθεῖν τῇ εὐχῇ τῇ νύμφῃ, καὶ ἤκουσεν ὧν ἐδεήθη, καὶ τῇ ἑτοιμασίᾳ τῆς καρδίας αὐτῆς προσέσχε, καὶ ὃν τῷ κήπῳ ἐγένετο τῷ διαπνευσθέντι ὑπὸ ταῦ Νότου, καὶ τοὺς καρποὺς τῶν ἀρωμάτων ἐδρέψατο, καὶ τῶν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀκροδρύων ἐνεφορήθη, καὶ διήγημα τὴν εὐωχίαν πεποίηται, λέγων οὑτωσὶ πρὸς τὴν νύμφην εἰς κῆπον, ἀδελφή μου νύμφη. Ἑτρύγησα σμύργαν μου μετὰ ἀρωμάτων μου.·ἔφαγον ἄρτον μου. μετὰ μέλιτός μου.·Επιον οἷγόν μου. μετὰ γά,ῖακτός μου. Φάγετε, οἱ πιησίον μοῦ, καὶ πίετε, καὶ μεθύσθητε, ἀδελφοί μον. Ὁρᾷς πῶς ὑπερδάλλει τῇ μεγαλοδωρεᾷ τὴν αἴτησιν; ᾿Αρωμάτων εὔξατο γενέσθαι πηγὰς ἡ νύμφη, τὰ ἑαυτῆς ἐν τῷ κήπῳ φυτὰ μεσημόρίας ἐπιπνέοντι Νότῳ, καὶ τῷ καρπῷ τῶν ἀκροδρύων τὸν γεωργὸν δεξιώσασθαι. Τοῦτο δὲ παντὶ δῆλον, ὅτι πᾶσα εὔπνοια, τῆς ὀσφραντιχῆς αἰσθήσεως ( ἡδονὴ γίνεται. Τὰ δὲ ἀχρόδρνα τῆς τοῦ ἄρτου δυνάμεως κατὰ τὴν βρῶσιν ὡς πρὸς τὴν τῶν τρεφομένων εὐεξίαν ἐστὶν ἀτονώτερον. Ὁ δὲ χαταδὰς ἐπὶ πὸν. ἑαυτοῦ κἧπον, καὶ πρὸς τὸ μεῖζόν τε καὶ τιμιώτερον τὴν τῶν καρπῶν μεταδαλὼν φύσιν, δρέπεται μὲν ἔκ τοῦ κήπου σμύρναν εὑρὼν μετὰ ἀρωμάτων αὐτοῦ. Παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ γὰρ εἶναι εἴ τι καλὸν, ἐν ᾧπερ εὑρεθῇ, ὁ προφητικὸς ὕμνησε λόγος. ᾿Αντὶ δὲ τῶν ἀκροδρύων, ἄρτῳ βρύειν παρασκευάζει τὰ δένδρα, δυναναμεμιγμένῳ μετὰ τοῦ μέλιτος αὐτοῦ. Καὶ πούτῳ τὸ προφητικὸν συνεχφωνείσθω, ὅτι αὑτοῦ τὸ μέλι, ὡς καὶ τὰἀλοιπὰ τῶν ἄλλων, καὶ τὸν οἶνον ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν ἀρύεται, συναναχεχραμένον τῷ γάλακτι αὐτοῦ. Ἐξ αὐτοῦ γὰρ καὶ δ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν τὰ πάντα. Ὦ μακαρίων κήπων ἐκείνων, ὧν τὰ φυτὰ τοιούτοις βρύειν καρποῖς Ὁ μεμαρτύρηται, ὡς πρὸς ἅπαν εἶδος τροφῆς κατὰ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν τῆς ἀπολαύσεως ἁρμοδίως μεταποιεῖσθαι! Τῷ μὲν γὰρ διὰ τῆς εὐωδίας τρυφῶντι σμύρνα γίνεται, διὰ τῆς τῶν ἐπιγείων μελῶν νεκρότητος, τὸν καθαρὸν καὶ εὐώδη μυρεψῶν βίον, τὸν ἐκ ποικίλων τε καὶ διαφόρων. τῶν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀρωμάτων συγχεραννύμενον. Τῷ δὲ τὴν τελειοτέραν ἐπιζητοῦντι τροφὴν, ἄρτος γίνεται, οὐκἐτι ἐπὶ πικρίδων ἐσθιόμενος, ὡς ὁ νόμος διακελεύεται· πρὸς γὰρ τὸ παρόν ἐστιν ἡ πιχρίς· ἀλλ᾽ ὄψον ἑαυτῷ. τὸ μέλι ποιούμενος, ὅταν ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ καιρῷ ὁ καρπὸς τῆς ἀρετῆς χαταγλυχαίνῃ τὰ τῆς ψυχῆς αἰσθητήρια, οὗ ἀπόδειξις ὁ μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν τοῦ Κυρίου προφανεὶς τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἄρτος ἐστὶ, τῷ κηρίῳ τοῦ μέλιτος ἡδυνόμενος. Τῷ διψῶντι δὲ κρατὴρ γίνεται πλή- Ὁ ρῆς οἶνον καὶ γάλακτος, οὐ σπογγιὰ χολῇ τε καὶ ὄξει διάδροχος, οἵαν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τῷ εὐεργέτῃ τὴν φιλοτησίαν ἐνδεικνύμενοι διὰ τοῦ καλάμου προτείνουσι, Πάντως δὲ οὐκ ἀγνοοῦμεν τὰ τῶν εἰρημένων αἰνίπῶς δένδρον ἦν σμυρνηφόρον ὁ Παῦλος, ὁ καθ᾽ ἡμέραν ἀποθνήσκων, καὶ αὐτὸς ἑαυτῷ διδοὺς τὸ τοῦ θανάτου ἀπόκριμα, καὶ διὰ καθαρότητός τε καὶ ἀπαθείας ἀρωματίζων, ὀσμὴ ζωῆς τοῖς σωζομένοις γινόμενος· πῶς δὲ σιτοποιεῖ τὰ ἔμψυχα τοῦ κήπου φυτὰ τῷ δεσπότῃ τοῦ κήπου, ὡς μαρτυρεῖ ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου καθήμενος· ὅτι ʼΕπείγασα, καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν. ΓΛρτος γὰρ εὐφροσύνης ἐστὶν ἡ εὑποιῖα, τῷ μέλιτι τῆς ἐντολῆς γλυχαινόμενος· πῶς δὲ πάλιν οἰνοχοεῖ τῷ νυμφίῳ τὰ εὐερνῆ τοῦ κήπου φυτὰ, πρὸς οὖς τοῦτό φησιν· ὅτι Ἐδίψησα, καὶ ἐποτίσατέ με, γάλακτι τὸν οἶνον χεράσαντες, οὐκ ὕδατι, κατὰ τὴν τῶν χαπήλων συνήθειαν. Τὸ δὲ γάλα ἡ πρώτη τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεώς ἔστι τροφὴ, ἡ καθαρά τε καὶ ἁπλῆ, ἡ ὄντως νηπιώδης καὶ ἄδολος, καὶ πάσης πονηρᾶς αἰτίας κεκαθαρμένη. Ταῦτα εἰπὼν πρὸς τὴν νύμφην ὁ λόγος, περιτίθεται τοῖς πλησίον τὰ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου μυστήρια, λέγων· Φάγετε, οἱ πιησίον μου, καὶ πίετε, καὶ μεθύσθητε, ἀδελφοί μου, Τῷ γὰρ ἐπισταμένῳ τὰς μυστικὰς τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου φωνὰς, οὐδεμία φανήσεται διαφορὰ τῶν ἐνταῦθα ῥητῶν, πρὸς τὴν ἐχεῖ τοῖς μαθηταῖς γινομένὴν μυσταγωγίαν, Ὡσαύτως γὰρ ἐνταῦθα καὶ ἐχεῖ φησὶν ὁ λόγος τὸ, Φάγετε καὶ πίετε. Ἢ δὲ πρὸς τὴν μέθην προτροπὴ ἣν ἐνταῦθα τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ὁ λόγος πεποίηται, δόξειεν ἂν τοῖς πολλοῖς πλεῖόν τι παρὰ τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον ἔχειν. Εἰ δέ τις ἀχριδῶς ἐξετάσειεν, καὶ οὔτο σύμφωνον τοῖς εὐαγγελικοῖς εὑρεθήσεται. Ὅπερ γὰρ ἐνταῦθα τῷ λόγῳ τοῖς φίλοις παρεκελεύσατο, τοῦτο ἐχεῖ διὰ τῶν ἔργων ἐποίησεν, διότι πᾶδα μέθη ἔκστασιν εἴωθε ποιεῖν τῆς διανοίας, τῆς χεχρατημένης ὑπὸ τοῦ οἴνον. Οὐκοῦν ὅπερ ἐνταῦθα προτρέπεται, οῦτο διὰ τῆς θείας ἐκείνης βρώσεώς τε καὶ πόσεως καὶ τότε ἐγίνετο, καὶ πάντοτε γίνεται, συνεισιούσης τῇ βρώσειτε καὶ τῇ πόσει τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν χειρόνων πρὸς τὰ βελτίω μεταδολῆς καὶ ἐκστάσεως Οὕτω μεθύουσι, καθὼς ἣ προφητεία φησὶν, οἱ τὴν πιότητα τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ Θφοῦ πίνοντες, καὶ τῷ χειμάῤῥῳ τῆς τρυφῆς ποτιζόμενοι. ᾿ Ὥσπερ ἐμεθύσθη ποτὲ καὶ ὁ μέγας Δαβὶδ, ὅτε ἐκδὰς αὐτὸς ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ ἐν ἐκστάσει γενόμενος, εἶδε τὸ ἀθέατον κάλλος, καὶ τὴν ἀοίδιμον ἐκείνην φωνὴν ἐξεδόησεν· ὅτι Πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ψεύστης· λόγῳ τῶν ἀφράστων θησαυρῶν ἐπιτρέπων τὴν ἑρμηνείαν. Οὕτως ἐμεθύσθη καὶ ὁ νεώτερος Βενιαμὶν Παῦλος, ὅτε ἐν ἐκστάσει ἐγένετο λέγων· Εἴτε γὰρ ἐξέστημεν, Θεῷ· πρὸς ἐκεῖνον γὰρ αὐτὸν ἡ ἔκστασις ἣν· δἴτε σωφρογοῦμεν, ὑμῖν· ὡς ἐδείκνυε τοῖς πρὸς τὸν Φῆστον λόγοις, ἑαυτὸν μὴ μαινόμενον, ἀλλὰ σωφροσύνης τε χκαὶ δικαιοσύνης ἀποφθεγγόμενον ῥήματα. Οἶδα καὶ τὸν μακάριον Πέτρον ἐν τῷ τοιούτῳ τῆς μέθης εἴδει πρόσπεινόν τε ὄντα ὁμοῦ καὶ μεθύοντα, Πρὶν γὰρ τὴν αωματιχὴν τροφὴν προσενέγκασθαι, ὅτε ἐγένετο. πρόσπεινος καὶ ἤθελε γεύσασθαι, παρασκευαζόντων αὑτῷ τῶν ἰδίων τὴν τράπεξαν, γίνεται αὑτῷ ἣ θεία τε καὶ νηφάλιος μέθη, δι᾿ ἧς ἐξίσταται αὑτὸς ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ θεωρεῖ τὴν εὐαγγελικὴν ὀδόνην, τέσσαρσιν ἀρχαῖς ἄνωθεν καθιεμένην, πᾶν γένος ἀνθρώπων ἐν αὐτῇ περιέχουσαν ἐν μυρίοις εἴδεσι, πετεινῶν τε καὶ τετραπόδων καὶ ἑρπετῶν καὶ θηρίων, κατὰ τὰς τῶν διαφορὰς μεμορφωμένων. Ὧν τὸ θηριῶδές τε καὶ ἄλογον εἶδος θῦσαι τῷ Πέτρῳ ὁ λόγος διακελεύεται, ἵνα χαθαρθέγτων αὐτῶν, τὸ λειπόμενον ἐδώδιμον γένηται, ὅτε καὶ γυμνὸς ὁ τῆς εὐσεθείας παραδίδοται λόγος, οὐκ ἅπαξ εἰπούσης τῆς θείας φωνῆς, ὅτι Οὐκ ἔστι κοινὸν ὅπερ ὁ Θεὸς ἐκαθάρισεν. ᾿Αλλ’ εἰς τρὶς γενομένου τοῦ τοιούτου κηρύγματος, ἵνα μάθωμεν τῇ μιᾷ φωνῇ, Θεὸν χαθαρίζοντα τὸν Πατέρα, καὶ ἐν τῇ ἑτέρᾳ ὡσαύτως χαθαρέζοντα τὸν Θεὸν, τὸν μονογενῆ Υἱὸν εἶναι, καὶ ἐν τῇ ἄλλῃ παραπλησίως, ὅτι ὁ πᾶν ἀκάθαρτον καθαρίζων Θεὸς, τὸ Πνεῦμά ἐστι τὸ ἅγιον. Τοιαύτη; τοίγυν γινομένης τῆς ἐκ τοῦ οἴνου μέθης, ὃν προτίθησε τοῖς συμπόταις ὁ Κύριος, δι᾽ ἧς πρὸς τὰ θειότερα τῆς ψυχῆς ἔκστασις γίνεται, καλῶς παρακελεύεται τοῖς πλησίον διὰ τῶν ἀρετῶν γεγονόσιν, οὐ τοῖς πόῤῥωθεν ἀφεστηχόσιν ὁ Κύριος ὅτι Φάγετε, οἱ πλησίον μου, καὶ πίετε, καὶ μεθύσθητε. Ὃ γὰρ ἀναξίως ἐσθίων καὶ πίνων, κρίμα ἑαυτῷ ἐσθίει καὶ πίνει. Καλῶς δὲ τοὺς ἀξίους τῆς βρώσεως ἀδελφοὺς προσγόρευσεν. Ὁ γὰρ ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀδελφὸς καὶ ἀδελφὴ καὶ μήτηρ ὑπὸ τοῦ Λόγου χατονο᾿Αχολούϑως δὲ διαδέχεται τὴν μέθην ὁ ὕπνος, ὡς εὐεξίαν ἡ δύναμις. Διὰ τοῦτο μετὰ τὴν πανδαισίαν ἐκείνην ἐν τῷ ὕπνῳ ἡ νύμφη γίνεται, Ξένος δέ τις οὗτος ὁ ὕπνος ἐστὶ, καὶ τῆς φυσικῇς συνηθείας ἀλλότριος. Ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ συνήθους ὕπνου, οὔτε ὁ καθεὐδων ἐγρήγορεν, καὶ ὁ ἐγρηγορὼς οὐ καθεύδει ἀλλ᾽ ἐν ἀλλήλοις λήγει ἀμφότερα, ὅ τε ὕπνος καὶ ἡ ταῖς διαδοχαῖς ἀλλήλων Ἐνταῦθα δέ τις καινὴ καὶ παράδοξος μίξις τῶν ἐνανπίων καὶ σύνοδος θεωρεῖται περὶ αὐτήν. ᾿Εγὼ γὰρ, φησὶ, χαθεύδω, καὶ ἡ καρδία μου ἀγρυπνεῖ. Τίνα οὖν χρὴ διάνοιαν περὶ τούτων λαθεῖν ; Ὕπνος θανά-. του ἐστὶν ὁμοίωμα, Λύεται γὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ πᾶσα αἰσθητικὴ τῶν σωμάτων ἐνέργεια, οὐκ ὄψεως, οὐκ ἀκοῆς, οὐκ ὀσφρήσεως, οὐ γεύσεως, οὐκ ἁφῆς, παρὰ τὸν οὔ ὕπνου καιρὸν ἐνεργούσης τὸ ἴδιον· ἀλλὰ καὶ λύει οὃν τόνον τοῦ σώματος· ποιεῖ δὲ καὶ λήθην τῶν ἐν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ φροντίδων, καὶ χατευνάζει τὸν φόθον, καὶ ἡμεροῖ τὸν θυμὸν, καὶ ὑποχαλᾷ τῶν πιχραινομέγῶν τὸν τόνον, καὶ πάντων τῶν κακῶν ἀναισθησίαν. ποιεῖ, ἕως ἂν χαταχρατῶν τύχῃ τοῦ σώματος. Οὐκοῦν οὔτο διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων μανθάνομεν, ὅτι ὑψηλοτέρα. γέγονεν ἑαυτῆς ἡ ταῦτα μεγαλαυχουμένη καὶ λέγουσα, ὅτι Ἐγὼ καθεύδω, καὶ ἡ καρδία μου ἀγρυπνεῖ. ὄντι γὰρ ἐφ᾽ ὧν μόνος ὁ νοῦς ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ βιοτεύει; οὐδενὶ τῶν αἰσθητηρίων παρενυχλούμενος, ὡς ὕπνῳ τινὶ καὶ κώματι πάρετος ἢ τοῦ σώματος γίνοιτο φύσις, καὶ ἀληθῶς ἔστιν εἰπεῖν, ὅτι κοιμᾶται δι᾽ ἀπραξίας ἢ ὅρασις, ἀτιμαζομένων τῶν θεαμάτων ἐκείνων, ὅσα τὰς παιδιχὰς ὄψεις ἐχπλήττειν εἴωθεν. Οὐ ταῦτα λέγω μόνα ἃ τῆς γεώδους ὕλης ἐστὶν, οἷον χρυσίον τε καὶ ἀργύριον, καὶ τῶν λίθων ἐκεῖνα ὅσα διά τινος εὐχροίας κινεῖ τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς τὴν λιχνείαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πὰ περὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν φαινόμενα θαύματα, αἴτε τῶν ἀστέρων αὐταὶ, καὶ τοῦ ἡλίου ὁ κύκλος, καὶ τὸ πολύμορφον τῆς σελήνης εἶδος, καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡδονὴν φέρει, διὰ τὸ μηδὲν εἰς ἀεὶ μένειν, ἀλλὰ συμμεταχινεῖσθαι τῇ παρόδῳ τοῦ χρόνον, καὶ συμπεοιάγεσθαι. Πάντων τῶν τοιούτων ὑπεροφθέντων, διὰ τὴν τῶν ἀληθινῶν ἀγαθῶν θεωρίαν, πάρετός ἔστιν ὁ ποῦ σώματος ὀφθαλμὸς, πρὸς οὐδὲν τὼν παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ τῆς τελειοτέρας ψυχῇς γῆς. διὰ τὸ μόνα βλέπειν τῇ διανοίᾳ τὰ τῶν ὁρατῶν ὑπερκείμενα. Θὕύτω καὶ ἡ ἀκοὴ νεκρά τις καὶ ἀνενέρὝῆτος γίνεται, πρὸς τὰ ὑπὲρ λόγον τῆς ψυχῆς ἀσχοχοηνωδέστερα τῶν αἰσθήσεων, οὔτε λέγειν ἄξιον, ὅτι πόῤῥωθεν καθάπερ τις νεχρώδης δυσωδία ὁσμὰς ὄσφρησις, καὶ ἡ τῇ λατρείᾳ τῆς κοιλίας προσχαθημένη γεῦσις, καὶ ἡ ἀφὴ πρὸς τούτοις, τὸ ἀνδραποδῶδες καὶ τυφλὸν αἰσθητήριον, ὃ τάχα διὰ ποὺς τυφλοὺς μόνον ἡ φύσις ἐκοίησεν. Ὧν πάντων ὥσπερ ἐν ὕπνῳ τινὶ δι᾽ ἀπραξίαν κεκρατημένων, καθαρὰ τῆς καρδίας ἐστὶν ἡ ἐνέργεια, καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἄνω ς βλέπει ὁ λογισμὸς, ἀπεριήχητος μένων ἐκ τῆς αἰσθηπιχῆς κινήσεως καὶ ἀθόλωτος. Διπλῇς γὰρ οὔσης ἐν πῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει τῆς ἡδονῆς· τῆς μὲν ἐν ψυχῇ δι᾿ ἀπαθείας ἐνεργουμένης, τῆς δὲ διὰ πάθους ἐν σώματι, ἥνπερ ἂν ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων ἡ προαίρεσις ἕληται, αὕτη κατὰ τῆς ἑτέρας τὸ κράτος ἔχει. Ὡς εἴ τις πρὸς τὴν αἴσθησιν βλέποι, τὴν δι’ αὐτῆς ἐμφνομένην σώματι ἡδονὴν ἐφελκόμενος, ἄγευστος τῆς θείας εὐδιότι πέφυκέ πως οθαι τὸ κρεῖττον ὑπὸ τοῦ χεέρονος. Οἷς δ᾽ ἂν ἐπιθυμία νὴν πρὸς τὸ Θεῖον ἔχει ῥοπὴν, τούτοις ἀνεπισκότητον μένει οὐ ἀγαθὸν, καὶ φευκτὸν ἅπαν νομίζεται εἶναι καταγοητεῦον τὴν αἴσθησιν. Διὰ τοῦτο ἡ ψυχὴ, ὅταν μόνῃ τῇ θεωρίᾳ τοῦ ὄντος εὐφραίνηται, πρὸς Ρ οὐδὲν ἐγρήγυρε τῶν ἐνεργουμένων καθ᾽ ἡδονὴν δι᾽ αἰσθήσεως· ἀλλὰ πᾶσαν σωματικὴν καταχοιμήσασα κίνησιν, γυμνῇ τε καὶ καθαρᾷ τῇ διανοίᾳ διὰ τῆς θείας ἐγρηγόρσεως δέχεται τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν ἐμφάνειαν. Ἧς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀξιωθείημεν διὰ τοῦ εἰρημένου ὕπνου καςορθοῦντες τῆς ψυχῆς τὴν ἐγρήγορσιν. ἙἘν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώ-
᾿Exegerthēti, Borrha. kai erchou, Note, kai dias pgϑyson kēpon mou, kai rheusatōsan arōmata mou. Katadētō adeiïridos mou eis kēpon autou, kai phagetō karpon akrodryōn. Eisēïlthon eis kēpon mou, adeiphrē mou mou meta arōmatōn mou. GEphagon arton mou meta melitos mou, epion hoinon mou meta galaktos mou. Phagete, hoi plēsion mou, kai piete, kai methysthēte, adelphoi. Egō katheudō, kai hē kardia Tēs nyn protetheisēs hēmin tōn theiōn rhētōn theōrias ek tēs tou GAsmatos tōn ᾿Asmatōn akolouthias, dysephichta tina kai kekalymmena di᾿ asapheias en aporrhētois periechousēs noēmata, meizonos hēmin chreia tēs prosochēs, mallon de pleionos tēs dia tōn euchōn synergias, kai tēs para tou hagiou Pneumatos hodēgias; hōs an mē tauton pathoimen epi tēs tōn hypsēlōn toutōn thaumatōn ekplēxeōs, hoper kai epi tōn asterōn paschein eiōthamen. Kai gar ekeinōn porrhōthen to kallos thaumazontes, oudemian mēchanēn epinoēsai dynametha pros to gnōnai tēn ktisin autōn alla dia tou kallous autōn estin hēmin hē apoperi to phainomenon echein, ᾿Asteres gar tines eisin atechnōs hai tōn theiōn toutōn logiōn marmarygai te kai lampēdones tōn tēs psychēs ommatōn hyperlampousai te kai nai, kata to hypsos tou ouranou apo tēs gēs, hōs phę̄sin ho Prophētēs. Ei de genoito kai peri tēn hēmeperan psychēn, ho peri ton Hēlian achouthmen; kai analēphtheisa tǭ pyrinǭ harmati hēmōn hē dianoia, metarsios pros ta ourania kallē metatetheiē ( Pneuma de hagion einai to pyr ennoēsomen, hoper ballein epi tēn gēn ēlthen ho Kyrios, to en glōssōn eidei tois mathēpais merizomenon), ouk ap᾽ elpidos hēmin genēsetai to plēsiasai toutois tois astrois, tois theiois legǭ noēmasi, tois dia tōn ouraniōn te kai pneumatikōn logiōn tas psychas hēmōn periastraptousin. ᾿Anaolepson gar tǭ tēs psychēs ophthalmǭ, pros se legō ton akroatēn, tēn pros ton patriarchēn genomenēn para tou Kyrion phōnēn, anadlepson eis ton ouranon touton, kai ide tous asteras, ei dynasai hautōn echmetrēsai tōn noēmatōn to hypsos. Blepe tēn exousian tēs basilidos ek tōn prostagmatōn autēs tēn dychatanoēsas, hōs autokratorikē tis teią tois legomenois emphainetai. Ou gar di᾽ euchēs katorthoi hoper bouletai, alla kata tēn apseudę̄ tou epangeilamenou phōnēn, hos phēsi ton piston kai phroniimon oikonomon pantōn tōn hyparchontōn tǭ Despotę̄ kyrion ginesthai. Tautēs epiladomenē tēs exousias, baailikōs heautę̄ dioikeitai ta katathymia tōn dyo anemōn ton men Borrhąn dia prostagmatos heautę̄ aphorizousa; ton de Noton, philophronōs kalousa, kai pros heautēn elthein chatepeigousa. Echei de hē lexis houtōs; ᾿Exegerthēti, Borrha, kai erchou, Note. Tacha ti syngenes esti tois legomenois heurein en tois hekatontarchou logois, hous autos ho Theos Logos ethaumase, kathōs ho Euangelistēs diēgēsato, legōn; hoti ᾿Akousas de Iēsous ethaumase, kai hyperethēke tēs tou Israēl pisteōs tēn tou hekatontarchou phōnēn. Ou gar pros ton laon moi dokei ton Israēlikikon poieisthai eon Hekatontarchon tēn synkrisin en tǭ tēs pisteōs logǭ, alla pros auton ekeinon ton Israēl᾽ hos en tę̄ pros ton anticheemenon palę̄, meta tēs tou Theou symmachias mogis to ptōma diephygen, ouk akchridōs tēs tou antipalou bladēs hexō Hyenomenos. En gar tǭ mērǭ to pathos edexato. Outos de ho Hekatontarchēs, peri hou nyn ho logos esti, basilikę̄ tini dynamei to allotrion kat᾽ exousian apopempomenos, oikeioutai to katathymion. Epi toun tǭ gar moi dokei malista tetychēkenai tou thaumatos ho anēr᾽ hoti phēsin en tois procheiriois autou stratiōtais en authentichę̄ exousią apopempesthai hon bouletai, kai proskaleisthai ton katathymion, kai tǭ doulǭ tēn kathēkousan epitattein hypēresian. Kakei gar philosophia tis en tę̄ tou Hekatontarchou phōnę̄, hoti ton hapax iapopemphthenta ouketi pros heauton epanagei; alla toutou apophoitēsantos heteron ant᾽ autou eisoikizetai. Touto gar eipōn, hoti Poreuthēti, kai poreuetai, allon proskaleisthai phēsin, ouk hon apepempsato. Paideuontos oimai tou logou to toiouton dogma, hoti ta allēlois antikeimena tǭ autǭ met᾽ allēlōn synepichōriazein physin ouk echei. Oudemia gar koinōnia phōti pros skotos, phēsin ho;Apostolos; all᾽ anankē pasa tou skotous echchōrēsantos, phōs einai to ant᾽ ekeinou horōmenon, kai tēs kakias ekpodōn genomenēs, tēn aretēn anteisagesthai; toutou de katorthōthentos, mēketi to phronēma tēs sarkos antairein tǭ pneumati. Mēde gar dynasthai nekrōtheisēs autou tēs eis to antiteinein dynameōs, alla pros pasan kathēkousan hypēresian heutheton ginesthai, tę̄ dynasteią tou pneumatos eupeithes hyparchon kai hypocheirion. Hotan gar apodiōchthę̄ men ho tēs kakias symmachos stratiōtēs. anteiselthę̄ de ho tēs aretēs hoplitēs, endedychōs ton thōraka tēs dikaiosynēs, kai tēn machairan tou pneumatos dia tōn hoplōn, tēn te perikephalaian tou sōtēriou, kai ton thyreon tēs pisteōs, kai pasan pherōn en heautǭ pēn pneumatikēn panoplian, tote phodeitai ton heautou kyrion ho doulos to sōma, kai prothymōs tou kratountos ta parangelmata dechetai, di᾽ hōn ē aretē ē katorthoutai tę̄ hypourgią tou sōmatos; touto gar endeiknytai tou ᾿Ekatontarchon ho logos eipōn, hoti Kai tǭ doulǭ mou .egō, Poiēson touto, kai ᾿All᾽ akousōmen tēs basilidos, hopōs apanistēsin aph᾽ heautēs ton Borrhan, eis to empalin autou tēn pnoēn anastrepsasa. Ou. gar hēremein epitassei, kathaper epi tou chlydōniou tēs thalassēs ho Kyrios ēsychian agein tēn lailapa, siōpēn parangeilas tois kymasin᾽ all᾽ apochōrein kai pheugein parakeleuetai, hōs an akōlytōs ho Notos rheoi, mēdemias empodizousēs autǭ tēn phoran; ᾿Exegerthēti, legousa tǭ Borrhą᾽ tis de hē aitia tēs tou anemou toukou metanastaseōs ? Sklēros anemos esti, phēsi pros touto tēs Paroimias logos; onomati de epidexios kaleitai; all᾽ oudeni doxios Bsrrheas, plēn ei tis kata NNōtou tēn anatolēn echoi, pros tas dysmas chon dromon poioumenos. Noeis de pantōs tōn legomenōn to ainigma, hoti ho tēs anatolēs apoutas (houtō char para tēs prophēteias ho Christos onomazetai) kai pros tas dysmas tou phōtos heauton synelaunōn, hopou estin exousia tou schotous͵ dexion echei eph᾽ ean, tou ton Borrhan tois ponērois auton ephodiois dexioumenon, di᾿ hōn ho pros to ochotos ginetai dromos. Houtōs heuriskei ton Borrhan heautou dexion ho akolastos, tǭ pathei tēs atimias sympneonta. Houtō ginetai tǭ pleonechtę̄ dexion to pneuma touto tēs ponērias, hotan autǭ tas hylas tēs pleonexias hoion tina psammon ē konin perisōreuei. Houtōs pros hekaston tōn plēma melēmatōn tēn par᾽ heautou synergian charizomenos, epidexios ginetai, hois an genētai. Sklēros men kata tēn physin hōn, epikryptōn de tais ēdonais to antitypon, dia touto phygadeuei tēs idias archēs ton Borrhan, ē kata tōn pathōn anadysamenē to kratos., ᾿Exegerdēti, legousa, ō Borrha. Hoti de tǭ onomati toutǭ ē antikeimenē diasēmainetai dynamis, panti dēlon an eiē tǭ katanenoēchoti tēn tōn horatōn physin. Tis gar ouk hoide tou hēliou tēn kinēsin, hoti ek pōn anatolōn dia tou notiou ton dromon poioumenos, pros tas dysmas epichlinetai ? To de schēma tēs gēs sphairoeides hon, kathōs phasin hoi ta toiauta chatanoēphantes, en hǭper tǭ hēliǭ perilamphthę̄, kata kasan xei tou mesou schiazomenon. Epei oun aphengēs ho pos ekeinos kai chatepsygmenos eisaei diamenei mēne lampomenos hypo tōn hēliakōn aktinōn mēte thalpomenos ᾿ dia touto ton archonta tēs exousias tou skotous, ton tēn apalēn tōn psychōn physin hydatos dikēn apolithounta dia tēs pēxeōs, kai sklēran ergazomenon, Borrhean te kai sklēron onomazei ho Logos, ton tēs katēpheias tou cheimōnos ergatēn, okeinsy legō tou cheimōnos en hǭ tēn phygēn tōn kindynōn amēchanon legei to Euangelion. En autǭ gar tōn kat᾽ aretēn anthountōn ē hōra marainetai. Kalōs oun apelaunei touton kat᾽ exousian hē basiphōnē proskaleitai de to mesēmthrinon pneuma, Ho to thermon te kai aeiphenges, hoper onomazei Noton , di᾽ hou ho cheimarrhous tēs tryphēs rheei, legousa; Kai erchou, Note, diaageuson ton kēpon mou, kai rheusatōsan arōmata mou; hōste tę̄ biaią pnoę̄, kathōs en tǭ hyperōǭ gegenēsthai tois mathētais ēkousamen, tois Empsychois phytois epipesonta kinēsan tēn tou Theou phyteian pros tēn tōn arōmatōn phoran; kai rheein paraskeuasai dia tou stomatos tēn euōdē prophēteian, kai ta sōtēria tēs pisteōs dogmata, kata pan eidos glōssēs akōlytōs tēn euōdian tōn didagmatōn procheonta. Houtōs hoi ekaton kai eikosi mathētai, si en oikǭ tou Theou pephoteumenoi, kę̄ tou toioutou Notou, tēn dia tōn glōssōn didaskalian exēnthēsan. Dia touto toinyn phēsi tǭ toioutǭ Notǭ hē nymphē hoti Diaxsneuson ton kēpon mou. Epeidē mētēr kēpǭ egeneto chara tēs tou nymphion phōnēs tou poiēsantos autēn, kathōs periechei ho logos pēpou kai pēgēs. Hou charin ton kēpon autēs tēn Ekklēsian tēn tois empsychois bryousan dendrois diapneusthēnai bouletai, hōste rheusai ap᾿ autōn ta arōmata. Ho men gar Prophētēs phēsin, hoti Pgeusei pneuma autou, kai rhnēsetai hydata. Hē de tǭ basilikǭ ploutǭ komōsa nymphē, pros to megalophyeta rheumata, arōmatōn potamous poiousa tōn tou kēpou dendrōn echreontas, dia tēs bias tou pneumatos hōste dia toutou mathein tēs Palaias Diathēkēs pros tēn Kainēn to diaphoron; hoti ho men prophētikos potamos eplērōthē hydatōn; euangelikos arōmatōn. Toioutos potamos arōmatōn ēn, ek tou kēpou tēs Ekklēsias rheōn dia tou pneumatos, ho megas Paulos, hou to rheithron Christou euōdes ēn, Toioutos allos Iōannēs, ho Loukas, ho Matthaios, ho Markos, kai hoi loipoi pantes ta eugenē phyta tou kēpou tēs nymphēs, hoi tǭ phōteinǭ ekeinǭ tǭ mesēmorinǭ Notǭ diapneusthentes, pēgai arōϑatōn egenonto, bryontes tēn tōn Euangeliōn euōdian. Katadētō, phēsin, ho adeiïphridos mon, eis kēpon autou, kai phagetō parpon akchrodryōn hautou. Ō peparrhēsiasmenēs phōnēs Hō philotimou te kai megalodōrou psychēs, pasan synēs nikōsēs Tina dexioutai pros euōchian tois idiois karpois: Tini paraskeuazei dia tōn idiōn agathōn tēn pandaisian ? Tina kalei pros tēn tōn parrhescheuasmenōn hestiasin ? Ton ex hou ta panta, kai di᾿ hou ta panta, kai en hǭ ta panta, ton didonta tois pasi trophēn en eukairią,, ton anoigonta tēn cheira autou, kai plērounta pan zōon eudokias, ton arton ton ek tou ouranou chatadainonta, kai zōēn didonta tǭ kosmǭ, ton pasi tois ousi tēn zōēn ek tēs idias pēgēs epirrheonta; toutǭ hē nymphē protithēsi trapezan. Kēpos de estin hē trapeza, ho dia tōn empsychōn dendrōn pephyteumenos. Hēmeis de ta dendra, eiper dē kai hēmeis hoi trophēn autǭ protithentes tēn tōn psychōn hēmōn sōtērian, houtōs eipontos tou tēn hēmeteran euōchoumenou zōēn ᾿ hoti Emon brōma estin, hina poiō to thelēma tou Patros mou. Dēlos de ho skopos tou theiou thelēmatos, hos pantas thelei sōthēgai, kai eis epignōsin alētheias elthein. Hautē oun iestin hetoimastheisa brōsis autǭto sōthēnai hēmas. Karpos de hēmōn hē proairesis ginetai, hē tǭ hēmas Theǭ di᾽ heautēs hōs dia tinos achremonos tēn psychēn encheirizousa. Chrē de dia toutōn idein hoti proeron ē nymphē tǭ karpǭ tou mēlou chataglychainetai eipousa; Kai ho karpos autou glykys en tǭ stomati mou; kai tote karpos kai autē ginetai hōrimos te kai glychainōn, kai tǭ geōrgǭ pros euprocheimenos. Hē hoe tou Katadētō lexis, euchtichēn echei tēn sēmasian, homoiotropōs echphōnētheisa tǭ. Hagiasthētō to onoma sou; kai gegēthētō to thelēma sou. Hōs gar echei tēn euchtichēn emphasin ho tōn rhētōn ekeinōn schēmatismos periechei, houtō kai entautha to Katadētō, euchē tēs nymphēs estin epideiknymenēs tǭ Theǭ tōn tēs aretēs akrodryōn tēn euphorian. Hē de chatadasis to tēs philanthrōpias ergon diasēmainei. Epeidē gar ouk estin allōs analēphthēnai pros ton Hypsiston, ei mē pros: praeis Kyrios, dia touto hē aniousa pros ta anō. psychē, tēn para tou hypercheimenou cheiragōgian proskaloumenē, hypochatadēnai auton pou idiou megethous euchetai, hina tois katō ephiktos genētai. Ho. de eipōn dia tou prophētou hoti Eti Iōlountos sou ekei, idou pareimi; prin epexelthein tę̄ euchę̄ tę̄ nymphę̄, kai ēkousen hōn edeēthē, kai tę̄ hetoimasią tēs kardias autēs prosesche, kai hon tǭ kēpǭ egeneto tǭ diapneusthenti hypo tau Notou, kai tous karpous tōn arōmatōn edrepsato, kai tōn tēs aretēs akrodryōn enephorēthē, kai diēgēma tēn euōchian pepoiētai, legōn houtōsi pros tēn nymphēn eis kēpon, adelphē mou nymphē. Hetrygēsa smyrgan mou meta arōmatōn mou.;ephagon arton mou. meta melitos mou.;Epion hoigon mou. meta ga,iaktos mou. Phagete, hoi piēsion mou, kai piete, kai methysthēte, adelphoi mon. Horąs pōs hyperdallei tę̄ megalodōreą tēn aitēsin? ᾿Arōmatōn euxato genesthai pēgas hē nymphē, ta heautēs en tǭ kēpǭ phyta mesēmorias epipneonti Notǭ, kai tǭ karpǭ tōn akrodryōn ton geōrgon dexiōsasthai. Touto de panti dēlon, hoti pasa eupnoia, tēs osphrantichēs aisthēseōs ( hēdonē ginetai. Ta de achrodrna tēs tou artou dynameōs kata tēn brōsin hōs pros tēn tōn trephomenōn euexian estin atonōteron. Ho de chatadas epi pon. heautou kēpon, kai pros to meizon te kai timiōteron tēn tōn karpōn metadalōn physin, drepetai men ek tou kēpou smyrnan heurōn meta arōmatōn autou. Par᾽ autou gar einai ei ti kalon, en hǭper heurethę̄, ho prophētikos hymnēse logos. ᾿Anti de tōn akrodryōn, artǭ bryein paraskeuazei ta dendra, dynanamemigmenǭ meta tou melitos autou. Kai poutǭ to prophētikon synechphōneisthō, hoti hautou to meli, hōs kai taaloipa tōn allōn, kai ton oinon ap᾽ autōn aryetai, synanachechramenon tǭ galakti autou. Ex autou gar kai d autou kai eis auton ta panta. Ō makariōn kēpōn ekeinōn, hōn ta phyta toioutois bryein karpois Ho memartyrētai, hōs pros hapan eidos trophēs kata tēn epithymian tēs apolauseōs harmodiōs metapoieisthai! Tǭ men gar dia tēs euōdias tryphōnti smyrna ginetai, dia tēs tōn epigeiōn melōn nekrotētos, ton katharon kai euōdē myrepsōn bion, ton ek poikilōn te kai diaphorōn. tōn tēs aretēs arōmatōn syncherannymenon. Tǭ de tēn teleioteran epizētounti trophēn, artos ginetai, ouketi epi pikridōn esthiomenos, hōs ho nomos diakeleuetai; pros gar to paron estin hē pichris; all᾽ opson heautǭ. to meli poioumenos, hotan en tǭ idiǭ kairǭ ho karpos tēs aretēs chataglychainę̄ ta tēs psychēs aisthētēria, hou apodeixis ho meta tēn anastasin tou Kyriou prophaneis tois mathētais artos esti, tǭ kēriǭ tou melitos hēdynomenos. Tǭ dipsōnti de kratēr ginetai plē- Ho rēs oinon kai galaktos, ou spongia cholę̄ te kai oxei diadrochos, hoian hoi Ioudaioi tǭ euergetę̄ tēn philotēsian endeiknymenoi dia tou kalamou proteinousi, Pantōs de ouk agnooumen ta tōn eirēmenōn ainipōs dendron ēn smyrnēphoron ho Paulos, ho kath᾽ hēmeran apothnēskōn, kai autos heautǭ didous to tou thanatou apokrima, kai dia katharotētos te kai apatheias arōmatizōn, osmē zōēs tois sōzomenois ginomenos; pōs de sitopoiei ta empsycha tou kēpou phyta tǭ despotę̄ tou kēpou, hōs martyrei ho epi tou thronou kathēmenos; hoti ʼEpeigasa, kai edōkate moi phagein. GLrtos gar euphrosynēs estin hē heupoiia, tǭ meliti tēs entolēs glychainomenos; pōs de palin oinochoei tǭ nymphiǭ ta euernē tou kēpou phyta, pros ous touto phēsin; hoti Edipsēsa, kai epotisate me, galakti ton oinon cherasantes, ouk hydati, kata tēn tōn chapēlōn synētheian. To de gala hē prōtē tēs anthrōpinēs physeōs esti trophē, hē kathara te kai haplē, hē ontōs nēpiōdēs kai adolos, kai pasēs ponēras aitias kekatharmenē. Tauta eipōn pros tēn nymphēn ho logos, peritithetai tois plēsion ta tou Euangeliou mystēria, legōn; Phagete, hoi piēsion mou, kai piete, kai methysthēte, adelphoi mou, Tǭ gar epistamenǭ tas mystikas tou Euangeliou phōnas, oudemia phanēsetai diaphora tōn entautha rhētōn, pros tēn echei tois mathētais ginomenēn mystagōgian, Hōsautōs gar entautha kai echei phēsin ho logos to, Phagete kai piete. Ē de pros tēn methēn protropē hēn entautha tois adelphois ho logos pepoiētai, doxeien an tois pollois pleion ti para to Euangelion echein. Ei de tis achridōs exetaseien, kai outo symphōnon tois euangelikois heurethēsetai. Hoper gar entautha tǭ logǭ tois philois parekeleusato, touto echei dia tōn ergōn epoiēsen, dioti pada methē ekstasin eiōthe poiein tēs dianoias, tēs chechratēmenēs hypo tou oinon. Oukoun hoper entautha protrepetai, outo dia tēs theias ekeinēs brōseōs te kai poseōs kai tote egineto, kai pantote ginetai, syneisiousēs tę̄ brōseite kai tę̄ posei tēs apo tōn cheironōn pros ta beltiō metadolēs kai ekstaseōs Houtō methyousi, kathōs hē prophēteia phēsin, hoi tēn piotēta tou oikou tou Thphou pinontes, kai tǭ cheimarrhǭ tēs tryphēs potizomenoi. ᾿ Hōsper emethysthē pote kai ho megas Dabid, hote ekdas autos heautou, kai en ekstasei genomenos, eide to atheaton kallos, kai tēn aoidimon ekeinēn phōnēn exedoēsen; hoti Pas anthrōpos pseustēs; logǭ tōn aphrastōn thēsaurōn epitrepōn tēn hermēneian. Houtōs emethysthē kai ho neōteros Beniamin Paulos, hote en ekstasei egeneto legōn; Eite gar exestēmen, Theǭ; pros ekeinon gar auton hē ekstasis hēn; dite sōphrogoumen, hymin; hōs edeiknye tois pros ton Phēston logois, heauton mē mainomenon, alla sōphrosynēs te chkai dikaiosynēs apophthengomenon rhēmata. Oida kai ton makarion Petron en tǭ toioutǭ tēs methēs eidei prospeinon te onta homou kai methyonta, Prin gar tēn aōmatichēn trophēn prosenenkasthai, hote egeneto. prospeinos kai ēthele geusasthai, paraskeuazontōn hautǭ tōn idiōn tēn trapexan, ginetai hautǭ hē theia te kai nēphalios methē, di᾿ hēs existatai hautos heautou, kai theōrei tēn euangelikēn odonēn, tessarsin archais anōthen kathiemenēn, pan genos anthrōpōn en autę̄ periechousan en myriois eidesi, peteinōn te kai tetrapodōn kai herpetōn kai thēriōn, kata tas tōn diaphoras memorphōmenōn. Hōn to thēriōdes te kai alogon eidos thysai tǭ Petrǭ ho logos diakeleuetai, hina chatharthegtōn autōn, to leipomenon edōdimon genētai, hote kai gymnos ho tēs eusetheias paradidotai logos, ouk hapax eipousēs tēs theias phōnēs, hoti Ouk esti koinon hoper ho Theos ekatharisen. ᾿All’ eis tris genomenou tou toioutou kērygmatos, hina mathōmen tę̄ mią phōnę̄, Theon chatharizonta ton Patera, kai en tę̄ heterą hōsautōs chatharezonta ton Theon, ton monogenē Huion einai, kai en tę̄ allę̄ paraplēsiōs, hoti ho pan akatharton katharizōn Theos, to Pneuma esti to hagion. Toiautē? toigyn ginomenēs tēs ek tou oinou methēs, hon protithēse tois sympotais ho Kyrios, di᾽ hēs pros ta theiotera tēs psychēs ekstasis ginetai, kalōs parakeleuetai tois plēsion dia tōn aretōn gegonosin, ou tois porrhōthen aphestēchosin ho Kyrios hoti Phagete, hoi plēsion mou, kai piete, kai methysthēte. Ho gar anaxiōs esthiōn kai pinōn, krima heautǭ esthiei kai pinei. Kalōs de tous axious tēs brōseōs adelphous prosgoreusen. Ho gar poiōn to thelēma autou, kai adelphos kai adelphē kai mētēr hypo tou Logou chatono᾿Acholouϑōs de diadechetai tēn methēn ho hypnos, hōs euexian hē dynamis. Dia touto meta tēn pandaisian ekeinēn en tǭ hypnǭ hē nymphē ginetai, Xenos de tis houtos ho hypnos esti, kai tēs physikę̄s synētheias allotrios. Epi men gar tou synēthous hypnou, oute ho katheudōn egrēgoren, kai ho egrēgorōs ou katheudei all᾽ en allēlois lēgei amphotera, ho te hypnos kai hē tais diadochais allēlōn Entautha de tis kainē kai paradoxos mixis tōn enanpiōn kai synodos theōreitai peri autēn. ᾿Egō gar, phēsi, chatheudō, kai hē kardia mou agrypnei. Tina oun chrē dianoian peri toutōn lathein ? Hypnos thana-. tou estin homoiōma, Lyetai gar en autǭ pasa aisthētikē tōn sōmatōn energeia, ouk opseōs, ouk akoēs, ouk osphrēseōs, ou geuseōs, ouk haphēs, para ton ou hypnou kairon energousēs to idion; alla kai lyei hoon tonon tou sōmatos; poiei de kai lēthēn tōn en tǭ anthrōpǭ phrontidōn, kai chateunazei ton phothon, kai hēmeroi ton thymon, kai hypochalą tōn pichrainomegōn ton tonon, kai pantōn tōn kakōn anaisthēsian. poiei, heōs an chatachratōn tychę̄ tou sōmatos. Oukoun outo dia tōn eirēmenōn manthanomen, hoti hypsēlotera. gegonen heautēs hē tauta megalauchoumenē kai legousa, hoti Egō katheudō, kai hē kardia mou agrypnei. onti gar eph᾽ hōn monos ho nous eph᾽ heautou bioteuei? oudeni tōn aisthētēriōn parenychloumenos, hōs hypnǭ tini kai kōmati paretos ē tou sōmatos ginoito physis, kai alēthōs estin eipein, hoti koimatai di᾽ apraxias ē horasis, atimazomenōn tōn theamatōn ekeinōn, hosa tas paidichas opseis echplēttein eiōthen. Ou tauta legō mona ha tēs geōdous hylēs estin, hoion chrysion te kai argyrion, kai tōn lithōn ekeina hosa dia tinos euchroias kinei tois ophthalmois tēn lichneian, alla kai pa peri ton ouranon phainomena thaumata, aite tōn asterōn autai, kai tou hēliou ho kyklos, kai to polymorphon tēs selēnēs eidos, kai ei ti allo tois ophthalmois hēdonēn pherei, dia to mēden eis aei menein, alla symmetachineisthai tę̄ parodǭ tou chronon, kai sympeoiagesthai. Pantōn tōn toioutōn hyperophthentōn, dia tēn tōn alēthinōn agathōn theōrian, paretos estin ho pou sōmatos ophthalmos, pros ouden tōn par᾽ autou tēs teleioteras psychę̄s gēs. dia to mona blepein tę̄ dianoią ta tōn horatōn hyperkeimena. Thyytō kai hē akoē nekra tis kai anenerYētos ginetai, pros ta hyper logon tēs psychēs aschochoēnōdestera tōn aisthēseōn, oute legein axion, hoti porrhōthen kathaper tis nechrōdēs dysōdia hosmas osphrēsis, kai hē tę̄ latreią tēs koilias proschathēmenē geusis, kai hē aphē pros toutois, to andrapodōdes kai typhlon aisthētērion, ho tacha dia pous typhlous monon hē physis ekoiēsen. Hōn pantōn hōsper en hypnǭ tini di᾽ apraxian kekratēmenōn, kathara tēs kardias estin hē energeia, kai pros to anō s blepei ho logismos, aperiēchētos menōn ek tēs aisthēpichēs kinēseōs kai atholōtos. Diplę̄s gar ousēs en pę̄ anthrōpinę̄ physei tēs hēdonēs; tēs men en psychę̄ di᾿ apatheias energoumenēs, tēs de dia pathous en sōmati, hēnper an ex amphoterōn hē proairesis helētai, hautē kata tēs heteras to kratos echei. Hōs ei tis pros tēn aisthēsin blepoi, tēn di’ autēs emphnomenēn sōmati hēdonēn ephelkomenos, ageustos tēs theias eudioti pephyke pōs othai to kreitton hypo tou cheeronos. Hois d᾽ an epithymia nēn pros to Theion echei rhopēn, toutois anepiskotēton menei ou agathon, kai pheukton hapan nomizetai einai katagoēteuon tēn aisthēsin. Dia touto hē psychē, hotan monę̄ tę̄ theōrią tou ontos euphrainētai, pros R ouden egrēgyre tōn energoumenōn kath᾽ hēdonēn di᾽ aisthēseōs; alla pasan sōmatikēn katachoimēsasa kinēsin, gymnę̄ te kai katharą tę̄ dianoią dia tēs theias egrēgorseōs dechetai tou Theou tēn emphaneian. Hēs kai hēmeis axiōtheiēmen dia tou eirēmenou hypnou kasorthountes tēs psychēs tēn egrēgorsin. HeEn Christǭ Iēsou, hǭ hē doxa eis tous aiōnas tōn aiō-
Homily 10 (Song 4:16–5:2)
"Awake, north wind, and come, south wind, and blow through my garden, and let my spices flow. Let my beloved come down into his garden and eat the fruit of his fruit trees. I have come into my garden, my sister [bride; I have gathered] my [myrrh] with my spices; I have eaten my bread with my honey, I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, my close ones, and drink, and be drunk, brothers. I sleep, and my heart [is awake]."
The contemplation of the divine words now set before us from the sequence of the Song of Songs contains thoughts hard to reach, veiled in obscurity among things unspoken. So we have need of greater attention, or rather of more help through prayers and of the guidance of the Holy Spirit, so that we may not suffer, in our amazement at these lofty wonders, what we usually suffer with the stars. For we marvel at their beauty from far off, but can devise no means of knowing what they are made of; from their beauty we have only the [enjoyment] of what appears. For the gleams and flashes of these divine words are simply stars, shining far above the eyes of the soul and [standing apart from us], as high as heaven is from the earth, as the prophet says. But if what we hear happened to Elijah should happen to our soul too, and our mind should be taken up in the fiery chariot and carried aloft to the heavenly beauties (we shall understand the fire to be the Holy Spirit, which the Lord came to cast upon the earth, divided to the disciples in the form of tongues), it will not be beyond hope for us to come near these stars, I mean the divine thoughts, which flash about our souls through the heavenly and spiritual words.
"Look up" with the eye of the soul (I say it to you, the hearer), as the Lord's voice said to the patriarch; "look up to this heaven, and see the stars," whether you can measure the height of their thoughts. See the authority of the queen, perceiving her power from her commands, how a kind of sovereign authority shows in what she says. For she does not achieve what she wishes by prayer, but according to the truthful voice of the one who promised, who says that the faithful and wise steward becomes master of all his Master's possessions. Taking hold of this authority, she disposes royally of what she wishes concerning the two winds, banishing the north wind from herself by command, while calling the south wind kindly and urging it to come to her. The wording runs thus: "Awake, north wind, and come, south wind."
Perhaps something akin to what is said may be found in the words of the centurion, at which God the Word himself marvelled, as the evangelist relates, saying that "when Jesus heard it, he marvelled," and he set the centurion's word above the faith of Israel. For it seems to me that he does not compare the centurion in faith with the Israelite people, but with Israel himself, who in his wrestling with the adversary barely escaped a fall, with God's help, and did not come away wholly clear of the adversary's harm; for he received the injury in his thigh. But this centurion, of whom we are now speaking, with a kind of royal power sends away by authority what is foreign to him and takes to himself what he wishes. It seems to me that the man won the Lord's wonder above all for this: that he says that among the soldiers under his hand he sends away by full authority whom he wishes, calls to himself the one he wishes, and orders his slave to the service that is fitting. There too there is a philosophy in the centurion's words: he does not bring back to himself the one once sent away, but when that one has departed, he settles another in his place. For having said, "Go, and he goes," he says that he calls another, not the one he sent away. The word teaches, I think, this doctrine: that things opposed to each other cannot by nature dwell together in the same place. For there is no fellowship of light with darkness, says the apostle; but when the darkness has withdrawn, what is seen in its place must be light, and when vice has gone out of the way, virtue is brought in in its stead. When this is achieved, the mind of the flesh no longer rises against the spirit; it cannot, since its power of resistance has been put to death, but it becomes fit for every fitting service, obedient and subject to the rule of the spirit. For when the soldier who fights for vice has been driven away, and the hoplite of virtue has come in instead, having put on the breastplate of righteousness and, among his weapons, the sword of the Spirit, the helmet of salvation and the shield of faith, and bearing on himself the whole spiritual armour, then the slave, the body, fears its own master and readily receives the commands of the one who rules, through which virtue is achieved by the service of the body. This is what the centurion's word shows when he says, "And to my slave I say, 'Do this,' and [he does it]."
But let us hear the queen, how she drives the north wind away from herself, turning its blowing back the other way. For she does not order it to be still, as the Lord on the rough sea ordered the squall to be quiet, commanding silence to the waves; but she bids it withdraw and flee, so that the south wind may flow unhindered, with nothing obstructing its course. "Awake," [she says,] driving off the north wind. And what is the reason for removing this wind? "The north wind is a harsh wind," says the word of Proverbs on this, "but it is called by the name 'on the right.'" Yet the north wind is on the right of no one, unless someone has the east at his back and is making his way to the west. You understand the riddle of what is said: that whoever turns away from the East (for so Christ is named by the prophecy) and drives himself toward the setting of the light, where the power of darkness is, has the north wind on his right, welcoming him with wicked provisions, by which the course toward darkness is made. So the self-indulgent man finds the north wind on his right, blowing along with the passion of dishonour; so this spirit of wickedness becomes "on the right" for the greedy man when it heaps up for him the materials of greed like sand or dust. So, giving its own help to each of the sins, it becomes "on the right" to those with whom it is. Harsh by nature, it hides its hardness under pleasures. For this reason she, having put on strength against the passions, banishes the north wind from her own realm, saying, "Awake, north wind."
That the opposing power is signified by this name would be plain to anyone who has studied the nature of visible things. For who does not know the movement of the sun, that it makes its course from the east through the south and inclines toward the west? The shape of the earth is spherical, as those who study such things say; and in whatever part it is lit by the sun, it is wholly shaded [in the opposite part,] beyond the middle. Since, then, that region always remains without light and chilled, neither lit by the sun's rays nor warmed, the Word therefore names "north wind" and "harsh" the ruler of the power of darkness, who petrifies the tender nature of souls like water by freezing and makes them hard, the worker of the gloom of winter: I mean that winter in which the gospel says flight from dangers is impossible. For in it the bloom of those who flower in virtue withers. Fittingly, then, the queen's voice drives this one away by authority, and calls the noonday wind, the warm and ever-bright one, which she names the south wind, through which the torrent of delight flows, saying: "And come, south wind, blow through my garden, and let my spices flow." So that, by the violent blowing, as we have heard it happened to the disciples in the upper room, falling on the living plants, it might move God's planting to the bearing of spices, and make the fragrant prophecy flow through the mouth, and the saving doctrines of the faith, pouring forth the fragrance of the teachings unhindered in every kind of tongue. So the hundred and twenty disciples, planted in the house of God, [blown upon by such a south wind,] flowered with the teaching through tongues. For this reason the bride says to such a south wind, "Blow through my garden." For she became mother of a garden, [by the] voice of the bridegroom who made her, as the text that speaks of garden and fountain contains. For this reason she wishes her garden, the church, teeming with living trees, to be blown through, so that the spices may flow from them. For the prophet says: "His wind will blow, and waters will flow." But the bride, resplendent with royal wealth, [makes] magnificent streams, rivers of spices flowing from the trees of the garden through the violence of the wind, so that we may learn by this the difference of the Old Covenant from the New: the prophetic river was filled with waters, the gospel river with spices. Such a river of spices was the great Paul, flowing from the garden of the church through the Spirit, whose stream was the fragrance of Christ; such was John too, and Luke, Matthew, Mark, and all the rest, the noble plants of the bride's garden, who, blown upon by that bright noonday south wind, became fountains of spices, gushing with the fragrance of the gospels.
"Let my beloved come down," she says, "into his garden, and eat the fruit of his fruit trees." O bold voice! O generous and munificent soul, surpassing all [magnanimity]! Whom does she welcome to a feast with her own fruits? For whom does she prepare a banquet from her own goods? Whom does she call to the entertainment of what has been prepared? The one from whom are all things, through whom are all things, and in whom are all things; the one who gives food to all in due season, who opens his hand and fills every living thing with good pleasure; the bread coming down from heaven and giving life to the world, who pours life on all beings from his own fountain. For him the bride sets a table. And the table is the garden, planted with living trees. And we are the trees, if indeed we too are those who set before him as food the salvation of our souls; for so says the one who feasts on our life: "My food is to do the will of my Father." And the aim of the divine will is plain: he wishes all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. This, then, is the food prepared for him: that we be saved. And our fruit is our free choice, which by itself hands our soul to God as by a branch. Through these words we must see that the bride was first sweetened by the fruit of the apple tree, saying, "And his fruit is sweet in my mouth"; and then she herself becomes fruit, ripe and sweet, set out for the husbandman's [enjoyment].
The word "let him come down" has the meaning of a prayer, uttered in the same way as "Hallowed be your name" and "Your will be done." For as there the form of those words carries the sense of a prayer, so here too the "let him come down" is the prayer of the bride, showing God the fruitfulness of the fruit trees of virtue. And the coming down signifies the work of his love for mankind. For since it is not otherwise possible to be taken up to the Most High unless the Lord [comes down] to the meek, the soul that climbs to things above, calling on the guidance of the one who lies beyond, prays that he will come down a little from his own greatness, so that he may become reachable by those below. And he who said through the prophet, "While you are still speaking, behold, I am here," before the bride had finished her prayer both heard what she asked and attended to the readiness of her heart; he came to be in the garden blown through by the south wind, gathered the fruits of the spices, filled himself with the fruit trees of virtue, and made the feast a story, speaking thus to the bride: "[I have come] into [my] garden, my sister bride. I have gathered my myrrh with my spices; I have eaten my bread with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, my close ones, and drink, and be drunk, my brothers."
Do you see how he surpasses the request by his munificence? The bride prayed that her plants in the garden might become fountains of spices, when the south wind blew on them at noon, and that she might welcome the husbandman with the fruit of the fruit trees. Now it is plain to all that every fragrance is a pleasure to the sense of smell; and fruit from trees, as food, is weaker than the power of bread for the good condition of those who are fed. But he who came down to his own garden, changing the nature of the fruits to what is greater and more precious, gathers from the garden myrrh, finding it with his spices. For that whatever is good, wherever it is found, is from him, the prophetic word has sung. And instead of fruit trees he makes the trees gush with bread mixed with his honey. Let the prophetic word be uttered with this too: that the honey is his, as is all the rest. And he draws wine from them, mixed with his milk. For from him and through him and to him are all things.
O blessed those gardens, whose plants are attested to gush with such fruits, so as to change fittingly into every kind of food according to the desire for enjoyment! For to one who delights in fragrance it becomes myrrh, compounding, through the deadness of the members that are on earth, the pure and fragrant life mixed from the varied and different spices of virtue. To one who seeks more perfect food it becomes bread, no longer eaten with bitter herbs, as the law commands (for the bitter herb belongs to the present), but making honey its relish, when in its own season the fruit of virtue sweetens the senses of the soul. A proof of this is the bread that appeared to the disciples after the Lord's resurrection, sweetened with the honeycomb. And to the thirsty it becomes a mixing bowl full of wine and milk; not a sponge soaked with gall and vinegar, such as the Jews held out on the reed to their benefactor, showing their friendship.
We are surely not ignorant of the riddles of what has been said: how Paul was a myrrh-bearing tree, dying every day and himself giving himself the sentence of death, and becoming fragrant through purity and freedom from passion, a fragrance of life to those who are being saved; how the living plants of the garden make bread for the master of the garden, as the one seated on the throne testifies: "I was hungry, and you gave me to eat." For doing good is a bread of gladness, sweetened with the honey of the commandment. And again, how the well-grown plants of the garden pour wine for the bridegroom, to whom he says, "I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink," mixing the wine with milk, not with water, as hucksters usually do. Milk is the first food of human nature, pure and simple, truly childlike and guileless, cleansed of every evil cause.
Having said this to the bride, the Word sets before his close ones the mysteries of the gospel, saying: "Eat, my close ones, and drink, and be drunk, my brothers." For to one who knows the mystical words of the gospel there will appear no difference between the words here and the initiation given to the disciples there. For in the same way here and there the Word says, "Eat and drink." The exhortation to drunkenness which the Word makes here to the brothers might seem to many to contain something more than the gospel. But if someone examines it carefully, this too will be found to agree with the gospel. For what he here commanded the friends in word, he did there in deeds, since all drunkenness usually produces an ecstasy of the mind overpowered by wine. So what he exhorts to here came about then through that divine food and drink, and always comes about, since there enters together with the eating and the drinking a change and ecstasy from worse to better. So, as the prophecy says, those are drunk who drink the fatness of the house of God and are given drink from the torrent of delight. So the great David was once drunk, when he went out of himself and came into ecstasy and saw the beauty that cannot be seen, and cried out that celebrated saying, "Every man is a liar," entrusting the interpretation of the unspeakable treasures to [no human] word. So Paul too, the younger Benjamin, was drunk, when he came into ecstasy, saying: "If we are beside ourselves, it is for God" (for his ecstasy was toward God himself); "if we are in our right mind, it is for you," as he showed in his words to Festus that he was not mad, but uttering words of sober truth and righteousness.
I know that blessed Peter too was in this kind of drunkenness, being at once hungry and drunk. For before he took bodily food, when he became hungry and wished to eat, while his own people were preparing the table for him, the divine and sober drunkenness came upon him, by which he went out of himself and saw the gospel sheet let down from above by four corners, containing in it every race of men, in countless forms of birds and four-footed creatures and reptiles and beasts, shaped according to their differences. The Word bids Peter sacrifice their bestial and irrational form, so that, when they have been cleansed, what remains may become fit to eat; when also the word of piety is delivered bare, the divine voice saying not once, "What God has cleansed is not common." But the proclamation was made three times, so that we may learn in the one voice that the Father is God who cleanses; in the second, likewise, that the God who cleanses is the only-begotten Son; and in the other, in the same way, that the God who cleanses everything unclean is the Holy Spirit.
Since, then, such is the drunkenness from the wine which the Lord sets before his fellow drinkers, by which the soul's ecstasy toward more divine things comes about, the Lord fittingly bids those who have become close through the virtues, not those who stand far off: "Eat, my close ones, and drink, and be drunk." For "whoever eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks judgment on himself." And he fittingly called those worthy of the food "brothers"; for whoever does his will is named by the Word brother and sister and mother.
In sequence, sleep follows drunkenness, as power follows good condition. For this reason after that banquet the bride falls asleep. But this sleep is a strange one, foreign to natural habit. For in ordinary sleep the sleeper is not awake, and the one who is awake does not sleep; but each ends in the other, sleep and [waking], by their succession to each other. Here, however, a new and paradoxical mixing and meeting of opposites is seen in her. "I sleep," she says, "and my heart is awake." What sense, then, must we take of this? Sleep is a likeness of death. For in it every perceptive activity of bodies is loosed: neither sight, nor hearing, nor smell, nor taste, nor touch performs its own work during the time of sleep. It also loosens the tension of the body; it produces forgetfulness of human cares, puts fear to rest, tames anger, relaxes the tension of those embittered, and produces insensibility to all evils, as long as it holds the body in its power. So we learn this from what has been said: that she who boasts of these things and says, "I sleep, and my heart is awake," has become higher than herself. For in truth, in those in whom the mind alone lives by itself, troubled by none of the senses, the nature of the body would be slack, as in a kind of sleep and coma; and one may truly say that sight sleeps through inactivity, since those spectacles are held in dishonour that usually astonish childish eyes. I do not mean only the things of earthy matter, such as gold and silver, and those stones that by some beauty of colour stir greed in the eyes, but also the wonders that appear in the heavens, the rays of the stars, the disc of the sun, the many-shaped form of the moon, and anything else that brings pleasure to the eyes, since none of them remains for ever, but they move with the passage of time and are carried round with it. When all such things are despised for the contemplation of the true goods, the eye of the body is slack, [useful] for nothing of what belongs to the more perfect soul, since the mind sees only what lies beyond things visible. So hearing too becomes dead and inactive, [since the soul is occupied] with things beyond speech. As for the [grosser] of the senses, it is not even worth saying that smell [turns away] from scents as from some deathly stench, and taste, which sits at the service of the belly, and besides these touch, the slavish and blind sense, which nature perhaps made only for the blind. When all these are held as in a kind of sleep through inactivity, the activity of the heart is pure, and reason looks upward, remaining undisturbed by the noise and undarkened by the movement of the senses.
For since pleasure in human nature is double, one worked in the soul through freedom from passion, the other in the body through passion, whichever of the two free choice takes, that one has the mastery over the other. So if someone looks to sense perception, drawing to himself the pleasure that arises in the body through it, he remains without a taste of the divine [gladness], since the better is by nature [darkened] by the worse. But for those whose desire has its inclination toward the Divine, the good remains undarkened, and everything that bewitches the senses is thought something to flee. For this reason the soul, when it delights in the contemplation of what is alone, is awake to none of the things done for pleasure through the senses, but, having put every bodily movement to sleep, receives the manifestation of God with a mind bare and pure through the divine wakefulness. May we too be found worthy of it, achieving the wakefulness of the soul through the sleep we have spoken of, in Christ Jesus, to whom be glory for ever and ever. [Amen.]
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Song 4:16–5:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 55:9 (allusion, medium confidence) · 2 Kgs 2:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 12:49 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 2:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 15:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 12:42–44 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 8:8–10 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 32:24–25 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 6:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 5:17 (allusion, medium confidence) · Eph 6:14–17 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 8:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Prov 27:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Zech 6:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 1:13 (echo, medium confidence) · Matt 24:20 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 36:8 (35:9 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 2:1–4 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 1:15 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 147:18 (147:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 2:15 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 11:36 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 145:15–16 (144:15-Ps LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · John 6:33 (allusion, high confidence) · John 4:34 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Tim 2:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 2:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 6:9–10 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 58:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 3:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 12:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 24:42 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 27:34 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 27:48 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:31 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 1:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 25:35 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 26:26–27 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 116:11 (115:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 26:24–25 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 10:9–16 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 11:29 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 12:50 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: On Song 4:16–5:2 Gregory reads the bride's banishing of the north wind and summoning of the south wind as the soul's authority over evil and its welcome to the Spirit, the bridegroom's feast as the eucharistic mysteries and a sober drunkenness of ecstasy, and the bride's sleep with a waking heart as the senses stilled while the mind contemplates God.
- The Song is translated as Gregory quotes it (LXX); the lemma's damaged words (end of 5:1a, end of 5:2a) are supplied in brackets from the Song. ἀδελφιδός "beloved", πλησίον "close ones", as in the earlier homilies.
- Quotations and allusions: Isa 55:9 (as high as heaven from earth); 2 Kgs 2:11; Luke 12:49; Acts 2:3; Gen 15:5; Luke 12:42–44; Matt 8:9–10; Gen 32:24–25; 2 Cor 6:14; Gal 5:17; Eph 6:14–17; Matt 8:26; Prov 27:16 LXX ("the north wind is harsh, but is called by name 'on the right'"); Zech 6:12 LXX ("East" as a name of Christ); Matt 24:20; Ps 36:8 (LXX 35:9); Acts 2:1–4 (the hundred and twenty, Acts 1:15); Ps 147:18 (LXX 147:7); 2 Cor 2:15; Rom 11:36; 1 Cor 8:6; Ps 145:15–16 (LXX 144:15–16); John 6:33; John 4:34; 1 Tim 2:4; Song 2:3; Matt 6:9–10; Isa 58:9; Ps 16:2 (LXX 15:2) uncertain for "whatever is good is from him"; Col 3:5; Exod 12:8; Luke 24:42; Matt 27:34, 48; 1 Cor 15:31; 2 Cor 1:9; Matt 25:35; Matt 26:26–27; Ps 116:11 (LXX 115:2); 2 Cor 5:13; Acts 26:24–25; Acts 10:9–16; 1 Cor 11:29; Matt 12:50.
- Gregory reads the threefold "what God has cleansed" of Acts 10:16 as a proclamation of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit each as God who cleanses; translated as written. "Such as the Jews held out on the reed to their benefactor" (the vinegar at the cross) is his own phrase.
- The bridegroom's "Eat, my close ones, and drink" is read as the same words as the institution of the Eucharist ("no difference between the words here and the initiation given to the disciples there"); the "drunkenness" is a sober ecstasy toward God.
- Lines are lost in the scan where Migne's Latin breaks in: in the comparison with the stars, after "that gospel river", in the comment on the noble plants, in the passage on the slack senses ("useful for nothing…", the senses of hearing and smell), and in the sentence on bodily pleasure. Words supplied by sense are in brackets. The larger Latin leaks are removed by logged corrections.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Latin column leaked into the line; Latin column leaked into the line; OCR χ for κ; Latin column leaked into the word λέγουσα; Latin column leaked into the word τοιούτῳ; Migne's Latin column leaked into the line): λέγων·Α αὐπὶ ἰἰ8 φυξ εἶα ἀϊουπίιγ. ὅτι → λέγων· ὅτι; ᾿Εξεγέρθητι,, λέοϑυᾶ οὔτ ἀπιληιδαίαγ ΒΟ νθηίαβ Α4ΏΠ ἀυγυβ ἡ γουσα → ᾿Εξεγέρθητι, λέγουσα; τοιού- Πα ποτίμπι πρεμπι; τῳ → τοιούτῳ; Ὁ βυπί ρμυγαίδ δι᾿ οὗ → δι᾿ οὗ; εἴδει ἰδ πος βέπερδ δδη βίας, εἴπ! οἱ οϑϑηθηίθη) οἱ Α, πρόσπεινόν → εἴδει πρόσπεινόν; πες οὐοταίιι8, Ὁ οὐκ ὀσφρήσεως → οὐκ ὀσφρήσεως; ὡς ὕπνῳ ᾿ ἈδνΟΓΆ τινὶ καὶ χώματι → ὡς ὕπνῳ τινὶ καὶ κώματι.
Topics: Eucharist, Trinity, The Holy Spirit, The devil and demons
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Cant. hom. 10 (PG 44; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-canticum/10). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-canticum/10
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne PG 44/46 (archive.org OCR; Latin-column leaks and OCR slips removed by logged corrections); no public-domain English is on disk, so the translation was re-read against the Greek (Life of Macrina checked privately against a modern English translation).