Orations 7.1–9.4

Christ appeared to the world, and adorning the disordered world he made it bright; he took up the sin of the world and threw down the enemy of the world; he sanctified the springs of waters and enlightened the souls of men; he wove wonders together with greater wonders. For today earth and sea have shared the Saviour's grace, and the whole world is filled with gladness; and today's feast shows a greater increase of wonders than the feast before it. For at the earlier feast, the Saviour's birthday, the earth rejoiced, carrying the Master of all in the manger; but at today's feast of the Theophany the sea is greatly gladdened; gladdened because through the Jordan it receives the blessings of sanctification. At the earlier feast he was shown as an infant, not yet grown, showing our imperfection; but at today's feast he is seen full-grown, hinting that he is the perfect one from the perfect. There the star that rose in the east announced the one born; here the Father who begot him bears witness from above to the one being baptized. There the Magi, travelling on foot from the east, offered gifts as to a king; here angels, coming from heaven, rendered fitting service as to God. There he was bound with bands of swaddling clothes; here he loosens the chains of sins. There the King put on the purple of the body; here the spring clothes itself with the river.

Come, then, see paradoxical wonders: the sun of righteousness washing in the Jordan, fire baptized in water, and God sanctified by a man. Today all creation sings and cries: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” Blessed is he who always comes, for he has not come now for the first time. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, who also comes providentially through his creatures: keeping the height of heaven from falling; skilfully driving the courses of the sun; marshalling the multitude of stars without confusion; tempering the air well for breathing; warming again the flanks of the earth well for bearing fruit; bridling the many-waved sea with the finest sand; pushing springs up invisibly from the depths; guiding the streams of rivers without straying. Seeing all these things, then, let us say: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” Who is this? Say it plainly, blessed David: “God is Lord, and has appeared to us.” And not only does the prophet David say this, but Paul the apostle also bears witness with him and says: “The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, training us”; not some, but all. For to all, Jews and Greeks, he grants salvation through baptism, setting baptism before them as a common benefit.

Come, see a strange flood, much better and greater than the one seen in Noah's time. There the water of the flood killed human nature; here the water of baptism, through the one baptized, made the dead alive. There Noah built an ark of wood that does not rot; here Christ, the spiritual Noah, prepared the ark of his body from the incorrupt Mary. There Noah smeared the ark outside with asphalt pitch; here Christ strengthened the ark of his body with the security of faith. There a dove carrying an olive twig announced the fragrance of the Master Christ; here the Holy Spirit, coming in the form of a dove, points out the merciful Lord. But the excess of the Lord's humility amazes me: that it was not enough for the perfect one from the perfect to be born an infant of a woman; it was not enough for him who shares the Father's throne to take the form of a slave; but he even comes to baptism as a sinner. But let not the common benefit become a stumbling block to those who hear. For Christ, the Master of all, is baptized, not needing cleansing, but arranging our benefit in two ways: so as both to give the waters sanctifying grace and to urge every man to be baptized.

“For Jesus comes,” it says, “from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.” What was being accomplished then, brothers? It is impossible to conceive; for what was seen was beyond human eyes. The mind trembles; the tongue flees from the mouth, not daring to tell what cannot be told. Therefore John, seeing the Master coming to him, his heart gripped by great anguish, falling down and bowing low and touching his feet, spoke in supplication: “Why do you, the Almighty, force me, the powerless, to do what is beyond my power? I cannot do these things. How shall I dare to baptize you? When is fire purified by grass? When does clay wash a spring? How shall I, the accountable, baptize the judge? How shall I baptize you, Master? I see no blemish in you. You did not fall under the curse of Adam; you did no sin. For though you came down, you did not transgress at all. What are you doing, Master, forcing me to do what is beyond my power? I never dared to do anything to provoke you. Like a slave who loves his master I recognized your coming in advance; while still in the womb, hiring my mother's tongue, I proclaimed you God of the world; I prepared all for your coming.”

“For tell me, Master, how will the sun bear it, seeing the Master of all insulted by a daring slave, and not at once burn me up with its fiery flashes, as it did the Sodomites? How will the earth endure it, seeing the one who sanctifies the angels baptized by a sinful man, and not immediately open its mouth and swallow me up, as it did Dathan and Abiram? How shall I baptize you, Master, who have had nothing to do with the defilements of birth? You came forth without seed as fruit from a womb that knew no labour. How then shall I, a filthy man, purify God, the sinless God? ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ You sent me as a baptizer, Master; I have not disobeyed your command. For urging all to baptism, I said: ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.’ For the one who has come is not harsh; he has been born good, the Son of the good one; not showing goodness for a little while and then at once changing, but ‘his mercy is for ever.’ And since his mercy is immeasurable, the powers of heaven sang his praise, saying: ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; God is Lord, and has appeared to us.’” The sun of righteousness has appeared and scattered the darkness of ignorance. The heavenly shepherd has appeared and driven the devil's wolves away from the good flock. The only-begotten Son of the Father has appeared and granted adoption to the faithful through baptism. The life of all has appeared and, putting death to death through death, as immortal he [gave life] to the dead. While these things were being done, the Father above, rejoicing at the Son's surpassing humility, suddenly parts the gates of heaven and sends forth like thunder a voice full of fatherly affection: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And so that the minds of the hearers might not wander between the baptizer and the one baptized, the Holy Spirit comes in the form of a dove, pointing out the one baptized and attested; for to him is the glory and the might to the ages of ages. Amen.

Come, friends, today too let us lay hold without hesitation on the treasures of the Gospels, so that from them, as usual, we may draw riches that are shared out without stint and never spent. Come, let us again follow the all-wise Luke, who guides us well, so that we may see Christ going up a high mountain and taking Peter, James, and John as witnesses of his divine transfiguration. For taking Peter and those with him, it says, the Master went up a high mountain. A high mountain, on which Moses and Elijah talked with Christ; a high mountain, on which the law and the prophets conversed with grace; a high mountain, on which was Moses, who slaughtered the Passover lamb and sprinkled the doorposts of the Hebrews with its blood; a high mountain, on which was Elijah, who cut up the ox among them and consumed with fire the sacrifice drenched with water; a high mountain, on which was Moses, who opened and closed the masses of the Red Sea; a high mountain, on which was Elijah, who opened and closed the showers of the waters; a high mountain, so that Peter, John, and James might learn that he it is to whom every knee shall bow, of things in heaven and on earth and under the earth. For the Master took only three and went up the mountain: not taking all, not leaving all behind; not grudging the glory to the others; not judging them less worthy; not grieving the nine. For being just, he orders all things justly, counting all as one, and not separating from mutual love those whom he had united. But since Judas, who was going to become the traitor, was unworthy of the divine sight and of that fearful vision, for that reason he leaves the others behind too, so that he might afterwards shut off every excuse from that man, who would not have been left behind alone; and so that he might call in the three as witnesses of the transfiguration, sufficient according to the law, carrying the rest with them in their souls. For he himself says: “Holy Father, keep them, that they may be one, as we are one.” For Judas, seeing Andrew, Thomas, Philip, and the rest spending the time with him at the foot of the mountain, and not murmuring, not resentful, not reviling, but rejoicing, and counting the grace from above as shared by themselves and those absent, was left wholly without excuse, as one never passed over in the miracles. Yet he kept the money-box, and without cause grudged the price of the ointment to the woman who anointed the Lord, and boldly betrayed his teacher to his enemies.

And what does he say? “And he was transfigured before them, and Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him.” But Peter, always ardent in everything, having seen with the eyes of his mind those whom he had never seen, talking with him, not measuring the greatness of the wonder nor considering the paradox of the divine radiance, called the desert place good, and from a fisherman advanced to a tent-maker, saying to the Saviour: “Let us make three tents here, one for you, one for Elijah, and one for Moses,” “not knowing what he said.” The all-wise Luke rightly excuses him: “Not knowing,” he says, “what he said.” But, Peter, chief of the disciples and foremost of the apostles, why do you want to rush ahead with lowly notions, insulting divine things with human reasonings, and speak of raising three tents in the desert, defining the Master as of equal honour with the servants, eager to build one tent for Christ and the same for the two? Was Moses conceived of the Holy Spirit, as this one was? Did a virgin mother bear Elijah, as the all-holy Virgin Mary bore this one? Did an unborn child recognize Moses from the womb, as the Forerunner recognized this one? Did heaven announce Elijah's birth? Or did Magi worship the swaddling clothes of Moses? Did Moses and Elijah work so many miracles? Or drive legions of demons out of men? Or drive spirits out of human caves? Moses once was angry, and striking with his rod he crossed the sea; but your teacher Jesus walked on the sea and made the deep passable for you, Peter. Elijah by supplication multiplied the widow's flour and raised her son from the dead; but he who took you from among fishermen as a disciple fed thousands on a few loaves, and met Hades and despoiled it, and snatched up those who had slept there from the beginning. Do not say, then, Peter, “Let us make three tents here,” nor, “It is good for us to be here.” Nothing human, nothing lowly, nothing earthly, nothing grovelling: set your mind on things above, seek the things above, as Paul showed, not the things on earth. For how is it good for us to be here, where the serpent insulted and harmed the first-formed man and shut paradise; where we heard that we must eat bread in the sweat of our face; where we learned to groan and tremble on the earth because of Cain; where nothing is firm, where all things are shadows, where all things will pass away in a moment? How then is it good for us to be here? If Christ was going to leave us here, why did he bow the heavens and come down? If Christ was going to leave us here, why did he share in our blood and flesh? If Christ was going to leave us here, why did he come down with the fallen and raise up him who lay prostrate? If it is good for us to be on earth, you were called key-bearer of heaven in vain; for what further use are the keys of heaven to you? Since you long for this mountain, renounce the heavens henceforth; if you want to raise tents, give up being and being called the foundation of the church. For the Lord Christ was transfigured, not without purpose, but to show us the future transfiguration of our nature and his second coming, which will be on the clouds, in light, with angels. For he it is who covers himself with light as with a garment, being judge of the living and the dead; therefore he brought Moses and Elijah into the midst, presenting the tokens of the ancient visions.

And what does the great writer of the Gospels say? “While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and behold, a voice from the cloud saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” While Peter, he says, was still speaking, the Father answered from heaven: Why these words, Peter? Why do you hesitate? Why do you rush into superfluous things and say this place is good? Have you forgotten yourself? Do you grudge your race, not knowing what you say? Have you not yet been schooled? Have you not yet learned the sure knowledge of the Sonship? Were you not the one who said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”? Have you seen so many miracles, Bar-Jonah, and are you still Simon? He made you key-bearer of heaven, and have you not yet put off the garment of seafaring? See, for the third time you oppose the Saviour's plan, not knowing what you say. For he told you, “I must suffer,” and you say, “This shall never happen to you.” He said again, “You will all fall away,” and you say, “Though all fall away, I will not fall away.” And now do you want to raise a tent for Christ like that for Moses and Elijah? A tent for Christ, who stretched out the heaven together with me? A tent for him who founded the earth together with me? A tent for him who established the sea together with me and fixed the firmament? A tent for him who kindled the lights, set the upper air on fire, and created all things with me before the ages? A tent for him who is from me and from you? A tent for him who is in me and with you? A tent for the Adam without father? A tent for the God without mother? A tent for him who took a tent, the virginal womb that he chose? Since, then, you wish to raise three tents, not knowing what you say, I, using a bright cloud as a tent and covering those present, cry from the heights: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Not Moses and Elijah, but this one; not one and another, but this one, one and the same, “in whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

Moses I justified; but in this one I am well pleased. Elijah I took up; but this one I sent into the Virgin as into heaven, and from the Virgin into heaven itself. For “no one,” it says, “has gone up into heaven except he who came down from heaven.” In vain, then, did he come down to earth if he remains on earth for ever. In vain did he empty himself, taking the form of a slave, unless, remaining what he was, he became what you are. Unless he endured a cross like you for you and bought the world with his own blood, the economy is idle, and the ancient words of the prophets remain unconfirmed. But stop, Peter, and do not think the things of men, but the things of God. “For this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” For I have used this same voice about him twice: before you, on this mountain; and before John, at the river Jordan; so that the prophet of old might prove true when he cried, “Tabor and Hermon will rejoice in your name.” In what name? “This is my beloved Son.” For “he granted him the name that is above every name,” as Paul says. But you will surely say, beloved: What is “Tabor and Hermon will rejoice in your name”? Learn, then, with understanding. Tabor is the mountain where Christ willed to be transfigured and was attested as Son by the Father, as you have just heard. Hermon is a small mountain near the Jordan, from which Elijah was taken up; and near it, in the streams of the Jordan, Christ willed to be baptized and was attested as Son by the Father. On these two mountains the undefiled Father, confirming the Sonship, cries both then and now a second time: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” For he who hears him hears me too; and whoever is ashamed of him and of his words, I too will be ashamed of him in my glory and that of the holy angels. Listen to him: without pretence, without guile, without setting limits, without curiosity, seeking by faith, not measuring with the tongue; receiving by faith, not weighing the Word with words. For Paul the orator is enough here, bridling the curious and teaching all, crying without hesitation: “O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” To him be glory to the ages of ages. Amen.

The present season, friends, calls for more zeal: more zeal, more readiness, more speed in going out to meet the heavenly King. For Paul too said this when he preached the good news: “The Lord is near; do not be anxious about anything.” And the Lord is found near, not by the speed of his feet, but by the supply of good things. Therefore it is fitting again for us to cry out Paul's words: “The night is far gone, the day has drawn near. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light. Let us walk becomingly as in the day.” Let us light the lamps of faith; let us increase the oil of love for the poor, like the five wise virgins; let us receive Christ without drowsiness; let us praise in hymns the palm of righteousness; let us embrace the ointment of Mary; let us hear the voice of the resurrection; let us send up words worthy of God; with the crowd let us cry what the crowd cried: “Hosanna in the highest; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel.” And well does it say, “he who comes”; for he is always coming, and never absent. For “he is near to all who call upon him in truth.” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel.” All the present things are symbols, symbols and signs, and tokens of the royal road. Among the citizens of this world, when they await the entry of a temporal king, they level the road, crown the gateways, transform the city, cleanse the royal courts on every side, and weave choirs of praise in their places; for by these the entry of a temporal king into a city is recognized. Let us too do things like these, or rather more glorious and more honourable. For as far as the dominion of the heavenly King surpasses, so far does the service of our commonwealth outshine.

The meek and gentle King is at the door: he who above rides upon the cherubim, below sits on the colt of an ass. Let us prepare the houses of our souls; let us tear down every cobweb of hatred of our brothers; let no dust of blasphemy be found in us; let us sprinkle the water of love abundantly; let us level every knot of enmity; let us crown the gateways of our lips with the flowers of piety; with the crowd let us cry what the crowd cried: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel.” Who would not speak? Who would not marvel at these crowds, enemies of the Jews' leaders and friends of the Christians? They called the Lord King, though they saw nothing worthy of kingship with their bodily eyes. They did not see gold-inlaid chariots, nor pure-white mules, nor the rest of the display that temporal kings are accustomed to show in their processions: no weapons, no shields, no standards, no purple robes, no tall long-haired men riding alongside, no show of elephants, no senate going ahead; they saw nothing of this kind, but quite the opposite. They saw a cheap little ass, small, borrowed, unsaddled, of service; only eleven disciples following, for Judas was already busy with the betrayal. And seeing such poverty, the crowds, as though caught up into heaven, perceiving the things above and dancing with angels, borrowing the mouths of the seraphim, sent forth those voices that sound like theirs, saying: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel.”

It stung the chief priests and Pharisees to hear from the crowds: “King of Israel.” They heard what they did not want to hear. They called him demon-possessed, and these proclaimed him King: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel.” Who suggested this cry to the crowds? Who put this praise into their minds? Who entrusted them with the branches of palms? Who suddenly marshalled them all under one watchword? Who taught them to speak with one voice? The grace was from above; the revelation was of the Holy Spirit. Therefore they cried with boldness: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel”: soldiers of this world, heavenly angels; mortals, immortal; walking on earth and dancing in heaven: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel.” They turned away from the Pharisees; they loathed the chief priests; they sang out words worthy of God; they gladdened creation; they sanctified the upper air; they stirred the dead in advance; they opened heaven; they planted paradise; they roused mortals to the same zeal. Hence some of the Greeks at that time, led by this godly cry to godly zeal and moved to conversion, came, as you have just heard, to one of the apostles, Philip by name, saying to him: “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” See the preaching of the crowd, and how they moved the Greeks to conversion. At once they come to the Lord's disciples: “We wish to see Jesus.” The Gentiles did well to learn from Zacchaeus, making their ascent not in the sycamore but hastening up the road of the knowledge of God. “We wish to see Jesus”: not so much to behold his face as to carry his cross. Therefore Jesus, seeing their purpose, cried out openly to those present: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified”; calling the conversion of the Greeks glory, which the children of the Jews had stripped off and the Gentiles had girded on. Therefore Jesus, reproaching the Jews, said through the prophet: “If I am a father, where is my glory? And if I am Lord, where is my fear?” For this reason he said about the Gentiles: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified,” calling the cross glory. For from there the Lord's power was known, that he changed shame into glory, insult into honour, curse into blessing, gall into sweetness, vinegar into milk, the blow into freedom, death into life. “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified,” calling the cross glory. For from that time the cross is glorified even now. For the cross itself still even now glorifies kings, brightens the priesthood, guards virginity, establishes the ascetic life, binds marriage fast, walls in widowhood, protects orphanhood, increases fair offspring, multiplies the church, enlightens the people, guards the desert, opens paradise, guides the robber, banishes enmity, quenches hatred, puts demons to flight, and drives away the devil.

And let us too take the branches of the palms and go out to meet our Lord, saying to the chief priests: Are you not the ones who say, “This is the carpenter's son”? He is mighty God, strong. Run, hasten; with all cry out to him who raised Lazarus: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” To him be glory to the ages of ages. Amen.