Orations 15.1–17.7

The other evangelists set out the genealogy according to the flesh of our Lord and God Jesus Christ; but John, the choice one among the evangelists, the theologian's lyre, spoke of the beginningless existence of God the Word, and explained the eternal and unwitnessed birth of the Son from the Father, saying: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things came into being through him.” These five stones are enough for the church as a wall. For he said, “In the beginning was the Word”; he did not say, “In the beginning the Word came into being,” but, “In the beginning was the Word.” He showed the beginninglessness of the Son's hypostasis and his relation to the Father; and the foundation of our faith is the stronger. “And the Word was with God”: he showed the indivisibility of the being; and great is the evangelist's thunder against the Greeks. “And the Word was God”: he showed the exact likeness of the nature; and great is the blow against the Jews. “He was in the beginning with God”: he showed his co-eternity with the Father; and great is the fall of the Manichees. “All things came into being through him”: he showed his sovereign freedom in creation, and stopped the mouths of all heretics. For all things came into being through him. The heaven is his creation; the earth his work; the sea his handiwork; the air was brought forth; the light from non-being; the angels are slaves, the powers ministers; the cherubim a throne. The Father is God; the Son is Word and God; and the Holy Spirit too is God; and the number of hypostases did not blunt the nature, nor did the Trinity divide the being; but it is a consubstantial Trinity in power, in Godhead, in goodness, which has founded and kept our faith, walled the church, sanctified the world, abolished the devil, scourged and melted the demons, put Jewish circumcision to death, routed the error of the Greeks, and stopped the mouths of heretics.

The evangelist spoke of the eternal and unwitnessed birth of the Son from the Father, saying in the Gospels: “The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.” And again: “Behold, a voice from the heavens saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Unwitnessed, then, is the birth above, before all things, because he was begotten alone from the one alone. And no one knows how he begot except the Father, and how the Son was begotten except the Son. For there was no time, for he is the Creator of the ages. Angels were not present, for he is the one “who makes his angels spirits.” There was no heaven, for “by the word of the Lord the heavens were made firm.” There was no sun, for he set the great light to give light by day. There was no moon nor stars, for he founded the moon and the stars. There was no earth, for he said: “Let the waters be gathered together, and let the dry land appear.” Wonderfully, then, did the evangelist make clear the beginningless existence of the Word and the eternal and unwitnessed birth of the Son.

Who taught you to say these things, blessed John? The lake of Gennesaret? But it does not teach doctrine. Fishing? But it does not speak of God. Zebedee? But he was an unlearned man. Your homeland? But it was mean. Your village? But its people were rustics, not citizens. The Jews? But they were transgressors of the law. The law? But it had a shadow. Moses? But he was weak of voice and slow of tongue. David? But he was “a worm and no man.” How then did you say, “In the beginning was the Word”? Who raised you to such a height? Who gave your mind such wings? For by faith you left the earth and went above the air; you passed beyond the upper air; you flew over the heights of heaven beyond the world; you leapt beyond the things above; you passed the archangels; you were made equal to the seraphim; you stood beside the Master's cherubic throne. You were given wings by faith; you thundered an incomprehensible birth; you proclaimed an incomprehensible existence; you spoke of the Word as without beginning; for you said: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Great is the grace, beloved. A man of three cubits went over into heaven in mind and thought, together with the Word. By faith he beheld him coming forth impassibly from the Father's bosom, God begotten from God. He saw the Holy Spirit worshipped with Father and Son; the Trinity glorified in unity, distinguished in three hypostases and united in nature. And the evangelist was found higher than the seraphim, for they cover their faces because of the lightning, but he by grace spoke of both the birth and the existence of God.

Then again, by his works, coming down from heaven to earth, he said: “The Word became flesh.” See a mystery of God, without change or alteration; see the Word made flesh on earth and not departing from the heavens; see the Virgin giving birth and her virginity not corrupted; see a womb wider than heaven; see a mother without labour and a birth without pain; see him born as man; see as an infant him who was perfect before the ages; see wrapped in swaddling clothes him who by command loosed the grave-clothes of Lazarus; see creation recognizing its Creator; see a cave, the mercy seat of the world; see the creature carrying the Creator; see fed him who feeds the woman who feeds him; see in a mother's bosom him who was not separated from the Father's bosom. See worshipped by Magi him who is praised by angels; see him flee into Egypt in the flesh who holds the earth in his hand; see baptized with water him who made the waters spring from the earth; see the teacher betrayed by a disciple; see bound him who did not loose his mother's virginity; see standing before Pilate him who fashioned Pilate from clay. See crowned with thorns him who crowned the earth with flowers; see crucified on earth him who is exalted in the heavens; see dead in a tomb him who raised the dead from the tomb; see risen him who foretold the resurrection; see gone down into Hades him who has gone up into the heavens. For Hades vomited up the one it swallowed unknowing.

And who, then, is the one he saw? Who? He who bowed the heavens and came down without a sound; who escaped the notice of the powers above; who did not leave the Father's throne empty when he was made flesh from the Virgin; without mother in heaven, God from God, and on earth from a mother, son of a Virgin; the lover of mankind who became man for men's sake; who sanctified the spotless womb by dwelling in it; who freed the flanks; who blessed the generations of nature; who sealed the virginal birth-pangs; who was not contained by the places of heaven and did not find a womb too narrow; who before the ages created the ages; who by a word completed the world with authority; the unspeakable Word of the Father; the Son consubstantial with the one who begot him; the one without beginning, who admits no beginning, and yet took a beginning of being. Paradoxical are the wonders, beloved: that the throne in heaven was not emptied, and the world on earth was saved. All these things are contained in the five sayings of the great thunder-voiced evangelist John. Therefore let the Greeks be put to death, the Jews be brought to nothing; let the Samaritans be put to shame, the Manichees scattered; let the heretics perish, and all the enemies of the blameless catholic and apostolic church; for the hope of all of them is for fall and destruction, but our hope is for resurrection and eternal life; through our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory and honour and might to the ages of ages. Amen.

Today, beloved, the grace of the Holy Spirit came upon us; it began from this day, and, increasing, it is magnified up to this day. The grace of the Holy Spirit shone, and suddenly the mouths of the speechless became eloquent, the tongues of the uneducated were sharpened, and the hearts of the fishermen were changed to boldness. Therefore the grace that came today from heaven snatches my impoverished mind away from timidity. For so Peter, being timid before the coming of the Spirit, denied the Master before a servant girl; but after the descent of the Spirit he confessed with boldness before peoples and kings, crying: “We cannot but speak of what we have heard and seen.” Hence the Jews took the eloquence of the Holy Spirit for drunkenness, saying: “They are filled with new wine.” But Peter answered them, the hour too, confirming the proof, pointing to the Trinity. For since at the third hour the cross was planted, and at the third hour the Holy Spirit sat upon the apostles in the form of fire, it indicated that the Spirit is God. For “our God is a consuming fire.” And the coming of the Saviour was like rain on a fleece, since it was a symbol of the economy. But in the case of the Spirit, so that it might be shown that the Spirit is God, “there came a sound from heaven, as of a violent rushing wind.” And learn that the Spirit is God. For Isaiah says: “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and the seraphim stood around him. And he said to me: Who will go to this people, and whom shall I send to them? For the heart of this people has grown fat, and with their ears they have heard heavily, and they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I heal them.” Do you wish to know, then, you who fight against the Spirit, that the Spirit sat on the throne high and lifted up? Hear Paul the apostle and be persuaded. He was sent to Nero at Rome; he found the crowds of Jews there; he taught them the word of salvation. Some believed, others disbelieved. Being in disagreement with one another, they were departing, when Paul said one word: “Well did the Holy Spirit speak about you through Isaiah the prophet: Hearing you will hear and not understand.” Do you see that the Holy Spirit is Lord and God? For where will you not find the Spirit glorified everywhere in the Trinity in the law? Hear the prophet saying: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made firm, and by the Spirit of his mouth all their host.”

But under grace, when the Saviour came to his saving baptism, the Father bore witness to the Son from above, and the Holy Spirit came in the form of a dove. This Spirit today sat in the form of fire on each of the apostles. Do you see that the apostles too are thrones? For “God,” it says, “sits on his holy throne.” This Spirit put Ananias to death when he lied. This Spirit distributes the gifts of good things, “dividing to each as he wills.” Filled with this Spirit, Paul the apostle blinded Elymas the magician. This Spirit Gabriel announced to Mary, saying: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” May he come upon us now too and bless us. For he mingles with the water, and smelts sins like fire, and makes the newly enlightened shine like light, and has mercy on us as God; for to him belong glory and might to the ages of ages. Amen.

The visible sun, rising over the earth, has Arcturus, Orion, and the Pleiades, or even the morning star itself, rising alongside it; but the sun of righteousness, shining out from a virgin's bosom, does not admit the choirs of the stars to join its light, but has made Stephen the first martyr rise together with its immortal rays. That sun, driving from the northern to the southern path, now shortens, now lengthens the measures of the day; but this one, having increased righteousness by his coming to us from heaven, has kept its light undefiled and undiminished. That one is the successor of night, this one the adversary of death; that one puts darkness to flight, this one overturns sin; that one shines for twelve hours, this one flashes for ever. That one travels through the stars, this one shines out through the apostles; that one goes round through seasons and times, this one is proclaimed through prophets and evangelists; that one weaves the hours by its course, this one magnifies the churches by his word. Painters depict that one mounted on a chariot; theologians announce this one resting in a manger: a manger that imitates heaven; a manger equal to the cherubim; a manger comparable to the unspeakable throne; a manger holding spiritual food; a manger that received the life of all; a manger carrying him who carries all things; a manger wider than all creation together (for him whom creation does not contain the manger contained by grace); a manger announced by a star running by day; a manger sketching out the altar beforehand in itself; a manger that made the cave a church.

Come, then, let us too imitate the pious Magi, and consider the church in place of Bethlehem; in place of the cave let us greet the priestly sanctuary; in place of the manger let us venerate the altar; in place of the infant let us embrace the bread blessed through the infant; and above all these let us glorify the King proclaimed today by Stephen. O strange King's paradoxical deeds! Yesterday he was born, and today Stephen was offered to him: Stephen, the martyr who bears his name; Stephen, the living crown; Stephen, the self-woven diadem; Stephen, the self-forged circlet; Stephen, the natural crowning of his own head; Stephen, the many-flowered shoot of faith; Stephen, the most fragrant rose of love; Stephen, the unfading flower of hope; Stephen, the most flourishing ear of grace; Stephen, the fruitful branch of the ever-living vine; Stephen, the honey-dripping cluster of immortality; Stephen, the sky-high shoot of the crucified one; Stephen, the fullness of every good work and word; Stephen, the unconquerable tower of confession; Stephen, the unshaken bulwark of endurance; Stephen, the cross-bearing soldier of self-control; Stephen, the undefeated soldier of piety; Stephen, the living general; Stephen, the bold orator against the Christ-killers. I have toiled, I have toiled weaving a crown for Stephen, and have not yet even touched the weaving. Let us leave it, then, to the divine Scripture to crown Stephen.

“For Stephen,” it says, “full of grace and power, was doing great signs and wonders among the people.” How shall I praise Stephen, whom grace wove with its own fingers? What shall I give Stephen, who crowns every head of the martyrs? What can I add to a crown woven by grace? With what word shall I adorn him who is brighter than every adornment? With what words shall I marvel at him who is crowned with countless wonders? “For Stephen,” it says, “full of grace and power, was doing great signs and wonders among the people.” Grace and power wove the crown for Stephen; on either hand they joined him for the good contest. The one fitted him for faith, the other for martyrdom. The one guided him to service, the other to the word. The one tuned him for boldness, the other for endurance. The one prepared him for wonders, the other for achievements. Grace and power, a planting of equal honour; grace and power, a shoot of the same age; grace and power, branches from one root; grace and power, a couple living together; grace and power, the double graft of faith; grace and power, a harmony in one sound; grace and power, the fair-lashed eyes of orthodoxy; grace and power, the twin breasts of the church; grace and power, the fellow-soldiers of Christ in one tent; grace and power, the sleepless guards of Stephen. “For Stephen,” it says, “full of grace and power.”

Stephen was a censer of grace, breathing out the incense of holiness. He was a spring of grace, overflowing with ever-flowing streams of virtue. He was a Nile of grace, gushing with the current of piety. He was an athlete of grace, opposing every power of his antagonists. He was a soldier of grace, meeting every device of the opponents, the tumults of every kind, and the uprising; facing the arrows; persevering under persecutions; dancing amid wonders; pursuing sufferings; putting diseases to flight; driving out demons; serving the poor; comforting the sick; defending widows; protecting orphans; shielding the wronged; spreading the preaching; announcing the faith; speaking of the cross as of God; glorying in the nails; extolling the reed; magnifying the bonds; proclaiming the spear; praising the side pierced for the world; worshipping the death-slaying passion; putting forward the manger; exulting in the swaddling clothes; taking pride in the blow; not ashamed of Pilate's tribunal; not hiding the tomb; boasting of the resurrection; refuting Jews; shaming Pharisees; reproaching Sadducees; muzzling scribes; interpreting the law; searching the prophets; opening the Scriptures; uncovering Christ shining in them; trampling on those who crucified; rebuking the lawless; springing upon the impious; overcoming the unbelievers by faith; grappling over the preaching with the Jews who came from everywhere. “For some of those from the synagogue called that of the Freedmen, and of the Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen, and they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.” Many are the waves, but the helmsman is heavenly. Thick are the squalls, but the ship bears the cross. Storms follow one upon another, but the keel is bound fast from above. The waves cannot rise against heaven; an evil spirit cannot fight the Spirit from above; a boat steered by life cannot be broken up.

“But some of those from the synagogue called that of the Freedmen, and of the Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen; and they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.” And what was the dispute about? About him who was carried in the womb unspeakably; about him who was born beyond nature; about him who was nursed beyond reason. How the Virgin became a mother without intercourse; how after the birth she was found a virgin again; how nature gave way to the wonder; how in Mary's case it did not seek its own limits; how the uncontainable was contracted into an infant; how he was an embryo and yet formed the embryos everywhere; how he was born and yet gave birth to all; how he was nursed and yet supplied the springs of milk to all who nurse. How great is the difference between the law and grace: how the one condemns and the other forgives; the one punishes, the other saves; the one serves, the other rules; the one aggravates sin, the other abolishes sin; the one draws the sword, the other handles mercy; the one holds the rank of executioner, the other wields authority as a king; the one puts the noose around the condemned man, the other with a kindly right hand removes the token of death.

While Stephen was speaking so much about grace to the Jews, “the God-fighters,” it says, “came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council.” Where there is seizing, there is a Jewish crowd running together; where there is disturbance, there is the Christ-hating people; where an unjust murder is planned, there is the council of the scribes. Why do you defile the seat of Moses, lawless man? Why do you pollute the throne that the law adorned? The law of Moses said: “You shall not murder; you shall not bear false witness.” Either keep the law, then, or leave the place. “And they set up false witnesses, who said: This man does not stop speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.” So again “they put up men,” false men, “who said: We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.” Now you admire Moses, slanderer? Now you honour as lawgiver the one you spat on while he lived? Now you burn hot as a zealot for the law? Now you are indignant on God's behalf? Now you avenge him as blasphemed? Were you not the first of all to cast stones at Moses? Did you not always prefer stones and wood and carved images to God? And now, so as to commit murder, you profess reverence? So as to shed innocent blood, you put on a show of piety? You who disturbed the truth both then and now; who then insulted boldly and now honour impiously; who have planned to buy blood wickedly; who always assemble a workshop of false witnesses. “For they set up false witnesses,” it says, “who said: This man does not stop speaking words against Moses and against God, and against this holy place and the law.” What words? “For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth destroys this place.” What then? If you kill Stephen, will the place not be destroyed? Rather it will be destroyed, because you have killed both master and servant; because you have sacrificed the sheep with the shepherd; because you have slaughtered the soldier along with the king. A city cannot stand where the king has been slaughtered. A temple is no longer honoured where the murder of the Master has been done. Was it Stephen who declared, “Behold, your house is left to you desolate”? Was it Stephen who said, “Not one stone will be left upon another in the temple”? O paradoxical wonder! O unreasonable affair! God pronounced sentence, and a man is judged. Christ condemned, and Stephen pays the penalty. The King spoke the truth, and the soldier is called to account. You, Jew, are the cause of such a sentence. You fixed the cross, and you overturned Jerusalem; you said, “His blood be on us and on our children.” Receive, then, the condemnation that you yourself defined.

“But Stephen,” it says, “being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” And yet how does Paul say that he is seated? “For he sat down,” he says, “at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty of God on high.” What, then, is the reason for his standing now? What eagerness made him rise from the Father's throne? He saw the athlete contending, and he rose to award him the victory. He saw the sailor travelling through the air, hastening upward, and he opened the heavens to him instead of a harbour. “Do not fear, Stephen,” he says. “No one will cheat you of the prize of your wrestling. Wishing to give you my right hand, I rose from the throne. Looking at me, the crucified, dare the struggle. I am the one you saw hanging on the tree in the flesh; by the nailing in it I will give you the prize. I am the president of the games; yet I too have become an athlete of martyrdom. On the cross, as in a wrestling school, I wrestled. In being arrested I broke the adversary, the devil. Do not fear those who stone you: against their will they are setting a ladder to heaven for you. Do not fear those who stone you: the stones will become steps to heaven for you. Do not fear the stones, for you carry within you the cornerstone,” Jesus Christ, God; to whom be glory and might to the ages of ages. Amen.