About Rachel and the children.

Taking advantage of the sweetest tree fruits, they also praise the branches and trees; so we, beloved, having taken advantage of the fruits of the words of the teacher who warned us, at the same time give honor to him and our fathers. Just as the fruits are given sweet fatness from the fatness of the trees, so the above-mentioned man is given the sweetness of the word from the grace of the Spirit. So, like sweet dates, let us take advantage of the sweetest verbal fruits, which have acquired sweetness from the right root of the fathers; Let us reflect on the sweetness of the word, and let us thank our fathers for the pleasantness. The honor of fathers depends on the decency of their sons, or, better, the crowns of sons are adorned with the good reputation of their fathers. By reading about the lamentation of Rachel, I am prompted, as if by a goad, (and) I turn to her. Tell me, Rachel, talk about the labor hidden in your groan! The boat of your thought, weighed down with sadness, will be lightened; when words expressing labor come from your heart, the weight of sadness will disappear along with the words. So, tell me, Rachel, why are you crying? I see that your tears are flowing like a river down your cheeks, your breathing is heavily constrained near your heart and comes out randomly through your nostrils. Why do you tear out your hair and expose those you need to hide? Why, in your excessive madness, do you reveal the important secret of respectable women? Woe, woe Rachel! “I will speak, oppressed by the bitterness of my soul; but what should I say? I wish from my heart to utter a word, but I hesitate, not finding the cause of the evils and the greatest misfortune. Oh, King Herod, who taught me what should not kill, and in fact abolished his law! I thought that he was the king of order, but now I see him as the king of disorder, acting disorderly and lawlessly. Oh, the greatest madness! Whoever commits one murder is responsible for death; and Herod committed so many murders, (and) is called king. Farmers, having taken seed from their treasuries, throw clean bread into the furrowed ground; when the grown ears indicate the brilliant time of harvest, then they cut off the bread with a sharp sickle. And Herod, with the sharp sword of birth, destroyed my womb, not yet blooming with the color of age, not yet covering its cheeks with the down of spring charm, my greenery. Woe, woe! I grieve for my womb, and the feelings of my heart are furious, my soul is tormented by my heart: I will not remain silent! I endure this because of the unmarried Virgin Mary, because of the Word hidden in the manger. I see my grapes, not yet ripe, destroyed. Woe, woe! Those whom the bearable nature gave birth to with difficulty over the course of nine months, making them mature—those I see prematurely slain with one blow of the sword. Woe! Oh, Mary, Virgin and Mother together, who did not know a husband and gave birth to a Son! You do not know the illness of mothers; if you knew, you would cry. Painlessly you carried, painlessly you gave birth, painlessly you had the heavenly Word as a guest in the house of your womb, painlessly you raised a heavenly color for the universe.” But come here and cry no more, stop your sadness, Rachel! Herod killed your children on earth, but God feeds them in heaven. Herod deprived your children of temporary light, but He will fill them with His light in heaven. You don’t see them frolicking on earth, but then you will, and you will rejoice, seeing them, like lambs, frolicking in paradise. Now you are sad that you do not see them at the table stretching out their hands, but then you will see and rejoice that they and the angels are being treated to the bread of heaven. Now you are sad, not hearing their noise, but then you will hear and rejoice in the choir of these children glorifying Christ in paradise, like spring swallows. The Prophet said: “Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings Thou hast made praise” (“out of the mouths of infants and sucklings Thou hast made praise”) (Ps. 8:3); In fulfillment of this prophetic word - “From the mouths of babes and sucklings You have ordained praise” - the children’s choir preceded Christ with their songs of victory. But we said this, beloved, for the delight of the soul. Let us finally turn to the path of the Gospel. “Hearing this, King Herod was alarmed” (“Hearing...Herod...was troubled”) (Matthew 2:3). What did you hear? That the king of the Jews was born. Look, beloved: the devil in Herod is worried, and even very worried. The wolf sees that a shepherd has been born, hides in a manger and holds the strong rod of the Spirit in his hands, and seeing this, he is greatly worried. The dragon sees the lure of the body, and the child, like a worm crawling, - “I am a worm, and not a man” (“because I am a worm, and not a man”) (Ps. 21:7) - approaches with an open mouth, (but) contemplates inside the heavenly Word in the flesh, like a hidden hook, and, contemplating this, is greatly alarmed. He sees a mustard seed falling to the ground, spreading branches of hope and protecting the human race under the leaves of salvation, and seeing this, the hater of good - the demon - is greatly worried. He sees that wisdom has come to earth, has received a small leaven of the body, mixes (within itself) three parts of flour - soul, body and spirit - and has to leaven all humanity into one salvation by faith, and, seeing this, he is greatly alarmed. He sees that the demonic legion is being driven out by humanity and sent into the abyss, and seeing this, he is greatly worried. He sees that hellish constipation is being crushed, Adam is again being elevated to heaven, and is greatly worried. He sees that Eve is again saved through Mary, and the serpent, in which he was especially bold, is killed, and, seeing this, he is greatly worried. He sees that the tree of life is being planted, and seeing this, he is greatly alarmed. And I will not have enough time, beloved, to talk about the anxiety of the devil. Finally, being completely powerless against the Lord, the devil rushes towards children and newborns. And who does he kill? From two years and below; but it does not kill those who have lived three years. These are children who profess twoness and do not believe in the Trinity. Because of this, Rachel herself, the church of the pagans, mourns them, so that her voice is heard in Rama, that is, in the high. Rama means high, the heavenly Jerusalem of the highest God, to whom belongs all glory, the power with the all-holy and life-giving Spirit, forever and ever. Amen. Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom and in the Patrology of Min, classified as Spuria. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith”