Word for the Day of Lights, on which our Lord was baptized

“The Homily for the Day of Lights, on which our Lord was baptized” may have been spoken by St. Gregory of Nyssa in 383 on the Epiphany and represents an extensive discussion about the saving power of the sacrament of Baptism. *The title of the work in Greek is Εἰς τὴν ἡμέραν τῶν φώτων. *The title of the essay in Latin is In diem luminum. Now I recognize my flock. Today I see the usual appearance of the church, when, having hated the care of carnal cares, you flocked in complete completeness to the service of God. The people are crowded into the house (of God), in the interior of the sanctuary, inaccessible (to everyone). Like bees, they also fill the external places in the vestibules that do not fit inside. For some bees work inside the hive, while others surround it from the outside with noise. Do so, children, and never give up such jealousy. For I confess that I suffer from pastoral suffering: sitting on this high seat, I wish to see the flock gathered around, as if at the foot of a mountain peak. And when this happens, I am full of amazing joy and the word is as pleasant a work for me as shepherd’s songs are for shepherds. When it happens otherwise, when you get carried away in pagan wandering (probably means theaters and circuses here), as you did recently, last Sunday, then I suffer a lot and prefer to remain silent. I am thinking of fleeing from here and am looking for Carmel the Prophet Elijah and some uninhabited rock, for for the sad solitude is kind and the desert is pleasant. Now, seeing you with your very families, gathered in large numbers for the holiday, I remember the prophetic word that Isaiah sang from ancient times, foretelling the prosperity and multiplicity of the Church. “They are,” he says, “like clouds flying, and like doves from chicks to me” (Isa. 60:8), and he also adds this: “The place is cramped for me; make a place for me to inhabit it” (Isa. 49:20). This is what the power of the Spirit foreshadowed about the multitude of the Church of God, which in subsequent times was to fill the entire universe from the ends of the earth to the ends. So, the circulation of time again leads us to the recollection of the holy sacraments that cleanse man, which wash away inconvenient sins from the soul and body and lead us to the original beauty bestowed in the creation of us by the greatest artist - God. And therefore you, the sanctified people, who have experienced the benefits of our faith, have gathered here and, like good fathers, led those who had not yet experienced them, carefully and diligently guiding the uninitiated to the perfect perception of piety. I rejoice in both: perfect, because you have been enriched with a great gift, unsanctified, because you hope to receive wonderful blessings - the abandonment of punishment, the release of bonds, union with God, freedom of boldness, equality with the angels instead of slavish humiliation. For these and other benefits that follow are given to us as a pledge and given by the grace of ablution. Therefore, postponing other subjects from the Scriptures until another time, let us dwell on the intended goal, bringing to the best of our ability the gifts characteristic and appropriate for the holiday. For each holiday has its own kind; So we accompany marriage with wedding songs, we give grief its usual hymns in funeral hymns, during business we say important speeches, at feasts we allow spiritual restraint and concentration; We make sure that every time is not indignant at what is unusual for it. So, Christ was born, as if not many days ago, born before all essence, both sensory and intelligible. On this day He is baptized by John in order to cleanse what has been defiled, to bring the Spirit from above and to lift man to heaven, so that the fallen may rise, and the overthrown may be put to shame. And do not be surprised if we became the subject of such care for God that He Himself brought about the salvation of man. Through the care of the villain we suffered violence, but through the care of the Creator we are saved. The evil slanderer, introducing a hitherto unknown sin into our race, put on a covering worthy of his intention - in a serpent, like an unclean one, entering into one like himself, like an earthly and dusty one, according to the nature of his will, inhabiting a reptile. Christ, correcting his wickedness, accepts the perfect man, and saves man, and becomes the image and mark for all of us, in order to sanctify the firstfruits of every work and leave an undoubted tradition for the slaves to zealously fulfill. So, baptism is cleansing from sins, forgiveness of sins, the cause of renewal and rebirth; Rebirth, then, is understood as something contemplated by the mind, but invisible with the eyes. For truly we will not change an old man into a youth, according to the word of the Jew Nicodemus and his rude understanding, and we will not turn a wrinkled and gray-haired child into a tender and newborn child, and we will not return a person again to his mother’s womb. But with the royal grace we will return the child, stained by sins and aged in evil habits, to the innocence of the child. Because just as a newborn child is free from guilt and punishment, so a child of rebirth, having received remission by the gift of the King, is not subject to punishment for anything. But such a benefit is not bestowed by water (for then it would be more perfect than anything created), but by the command of God and the influx of the Spirit, mysteriously descending for our liberation; water serves to indicate purification. since we usually make a body defiled by dirt and impurity clean by washing it with water, therefore we also use it in a mysterious action, denoting non-corporeal purity with a sensory object. And it is better, if you wish, to dwell on a more subtle study of the issue of bath (baptism), starting, as it were, from some source, from the commandment of Scripture: “Unless one is born,” He says, “of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). Why are two objects, and not one Spirit, considered sufficient for the complete performance of baptism? Man is not simple, but complex, as we know for sure, therefore (to a being) dual and conjugated (of two parts) akin and similar medicines are given for healing: the visible are sensual water, and the invisible soul is the invisible Spirit, called by faith, ineffably coming. For “The Spirit breathes where it wills, and you hear its voice, but do not know where it comes from or where it goes” (John 3:8); He blesses the body being baptized and the water washing it. Therefore, do not despise the Divine bath and do not consider it of little value, as something ordinary, because of the use of water, for He who works is great and from Him wonderful things are accomplished. Because this holy altar, which we stand before, is by nature an ordinary stone, indistinguishable from other slabs from which our walls are built and with which our floors are decorated; but since it is dedicated to the service of God and has received the blessing, then it is a holy meal, a clean altar, which is no longer touched by everyone, but only by the priests, and even those with reverence. Bread, again, while it is ordinary bread, but when the sacrament is performed over it, it is called and becomes the body of Christ. The same thing happens with the mysterious oil, the same with wine: these objects are of little value before blessing, but after sanctification by the Spirit, each of them acts in a different way. The same power of the word also produces a respectable and honest priest, separating him from ordinary ordinary people with a new blessing. For the one who yesterday and before was one of many, one of the people, suddenly turns out to be a leader, a primate, a teacher of piety, a performer of the sacred sacraments. And this is how he becomes, without changing at all in body or appearance, but, remaining apparently the same as he was, by some invisible power and grace he was transformed by an invisible soul for the better. Thus, transferring your thoughts to many objects, you will find that what is despised is despised, and what is accomplished by it is great, especially when you collect similar (examples) from the Old Testament history to what is being discussed. The rod of Moses was of walnut wood, and what is it other than an ordinary tree, which every hand cuts down, and carries, and adapts to anything, and throws into the fire at will? When God wanted to create high and inexpressible miracles through it, the tree turned into a serpent (Ex. 4:2-4). And again, another time, the blow of this tree on the waters either turned the water into blood, or plagued a countless tribe of frogs (Ex. 7:17, 8:6). Then it cut the sea to the very depths, so that it was separated and not united (Ex. 14, 21). Likewise, the mantle of one of the prophets, being a goatskin, made Elisha a celebrity in the world (2 Kings 2:13–14). And the tree of the cross is salvation for all people, although it is part, as I heard, of an unimportant plant and valued less than many others. And the thorn bush showed Moses the appearance of God (Ex. 3:2), and the remains of Elisha raised the dead (2 Kings 13:21), and the clay enlightened the man blind from birth (John 9:6-7). All these objects, being inanimate and insensitive substances, served as a means for great miracles, receiving the power of God. Based on similar reasoning, we affirm that water, being nothing other than water, when blessed by grace from above, renews a person into mental rebirth. If someone, perplexed and doubtful, begins to bother me with constant questions and inquires about how water and the secret action performed on it revives, then I can tell him in all fairness: present me with an image of birth according to the flesh - and I will tell you the power of rebirth according to the soul. You will say, perhaps, as if giving some kind of explanation: the seed is the cause that produces man. So, listen mutually and from us that the blessed water cleanses and enlightens a person. If you object to me again: how? ; I will exclaim even more strongly in response to you: “How does a wet and formless essence become a person? If we go through the entire creation with our word, then we will also find it difficult to answer regarding each thing. How did heaven come about? How's the earth? How's the sea? How is each thing separate? For everywhere human thought, powerless to reveal the truth, resorts to this particle as, just as those who are unable to walk, resort to the seat.” And to put it briefly: everywhere the power of God and the action are incomprehensible and unsearchable. She easily gave existence to whatever she wanted, but hid from us detailed knowledge of her action. Therefore, blessed David, having once turned his mind to the splendor of creation and being filled in his soul with bewilderment at the wonders of it, uttered these words, glorified by all: “Lord, your works are magnified: with wisdom you have done all things” (Ps. 103:24). He understood wisdom, but did not comprehend the art of wisdom. So, leaving behind difficult investigations that exceed human strength, let us instead ask about what seems (possible) to understand, at least in part. Why is purification (performed) with water? And for what need are three dives taken? What the fathers taught, which our mind also accepts in accordance with it, is the following. We recognize the four elements that make up the world; they are known to everyone, even if we remain silent about their names. And if for the simpler ones it is necessary to say their names, then they are: fire, air, earth and water. So, our God and Savior, completing His economy for us, descended onto the fourth of these (elements) - underground, so that life could shine from here. We, having accepted baptism in imitation of the Lord - and our Teacher, and our Leader, although we are not buried in the earth (for it is the cover of a completely dead body, hiding the weakness and corruption of our nature), but, descending into the element akin to the earth - water, we hide in it, like the Savior in the earth. By doing this three times, we reflect on ourselves the three-day grace of the resurrection and do this, not in silence accepting the sacrament, but with the pronouncement over us of the names of the three Holy Hypostases, in which we have believed, in which we trust, from which both our present existence and future existence comes. Perhaps you, who boldly oppose the glory of the Spirit, are not satisfied with this and are jealous of the honor of the Comforter, with which the pious honor him? Stop arguing with me and contradicting, if you can, the words of the Lord, by which the calling at baptism was laid down for people. What does the Lord’s command say? “Baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). Why in the name of the Father? Because He is the beginning of everything. Why in the name of the Son? Because He is the Creator of creation. Why in the name of the Holy Spirit? Because He is the perfecting power of everything. So, let us bow down to the Father in order to be sanctified, let us bow down to the Son, so that the same will happen, let us bow down to the Holy Spirit, so that we may be what He is and is called (i.e., saints). There is no difference in sanctification, as if the Father sanctifies more, the Son less, and the Holy Spirit less than both of them. So, why do you split the three Hypostases into different natures and make three gods, dissimilar to each other, when you receive the same grace from all of them? Since examples always make the word more lively for the listeners, I want to use an analogy to correct the way of thinking of those who blaspheme, explaining the great and the invisible through feelings with earthly and base things. If the misfortune were to happen to you: to be captured by enemies, to become a slave, to be poor and to mourn the former freedom that you had; and suddenly three famous citizens, having arrived in the country of your rulers and tyrants, freed you from depressing captivity, equally paying the ransom and evenly dividing the monetary costs among themselves; then, having received such mercy, if you justly value the benefit, will you not equally begin to look at (all) three as benefactors, and will you not equally pay them the debt for the ransom, when both care for you and expenses were common? As for examples, this is enough, for now we do not have the goal of justifying the teaching of faith. Let's move on to the present time and the proposed study. I find that the grace of baptism was not only announced in the Gospels after the suffering of the cross, but that even before the incarnation of the Lord, the Old Testament Scripture everywhere prefigured the image of our re-existence, not clearly revealing its appearance, but mysteriously prefiguring God’s love for mankind. And just as the Lamb was foretold and the cross was foretold, so baptism was foretold both in action and in word. Let us remind the inquisitive of these prototypes, because the time of the holiday necessarily requires this remembrance. Hagar, the slave of Abraham, the story of which Paul allegorically explains, talking with the Galatians (Gal. 4: 22-28), expelled from the master’s house because of Sarah’s anger (for it is difficult for the legitimate wives of a slave to be suspected of being close to the master), walked alone through the desert land, having with her Ishmael, who had been fed by her. since there turned out to be a lack of what was necessary, and she herself was on the verge of death, and the child before her, since the water that was in the skin was exhausted (and it was impossible for the Synagogue, while it revolved only among the images of the ever-flowing Source, to have enough life in itself), then an angel suddenly appears and shows her a well of living water, drawing from which, he saves Ishmael (Gen. 21:14-20). So, pay attention to the mysterious prototype, how at the very beginning salvation was given to the perishing through living water, which had not existed before, but was given by grace by an angel. Again, later on, the same Isaac was to be married, for whose sake Ishmael was expelled with his mother from under his father’s roof. And the servant of Abraham, having been sent as a matchmaker to bring a bride to (his) master, finds Rebecca near the well, and the marriage from which the race of Christ was to descend receives its beginning and the first agreement by water (Gen. 24:11-27). Also, Isaac himself, when he was leading his flocks, dug wells everywhere in the desert, which the foreigners blocked and covered with earth (Gen. 26:15–22), in the image of those wicked of subsequent times, who forbade and hindered the grace of baptism, opposing the truth; however, the martyrs and priests who dug the treasures won, and the gift of baptism flooded the entire universe. We find the same meaning of the words (of Scripture) in the fact that Jacob, hastening to marriage, unexpectedly met Rachel at the well; on the well lay a large stone, which many shepherds, gathering together, rolled away in order to get water for themselves and the sheep (Gen. 29:1-10). But Jacob alone rolls away the stone and waters his bride's sheep. This event, I think, is a mysterious image and shadow of the future. For who is the stone laid on, if not Christ himself? Isaiah speaks about him: and I will lay “for the foundation of Zion a stone of great value, chosen, a cornerstone, pure” (Is. 28:16), and Daniel in the same way: “a stone was cut off from the mountain without hands” (Dan. 2:45), that is, Christ was born without a husband. For just as it is extraordinary and strange for a stone to be cut from a rock without a mason or stone-cutting tools, so it is beyond any miracle to see a birth from a brideless Virgin. So, for a long time the intelligent stone - Christ - lay in the treasure trove, hiding in the depths and secrecy the bath of rebirth, still needing a long time, as if in a long rope, in order to be open. And no one rolled away the stone except Israel, who is the mind that sees God. Further, he also draws water and waters Rachel’s sheep, that is, having revealed the hidden sacrament, he supplies living water to the flock of the Church. Add to this what is said in Scripture about the three rods of Jacob. From the time the rods were laid at the fountain, the rich Laban became poor, and Jacob became rich and having many sheep (Gen. 30:31–43). Allegorically, Laban signifies the devil, and Jacob signifies Christ. For after baptism, Christ took all the flocks from Satan and became rich himself. The great Moses at that time was a beautiful infant, falling under the general and sad definition that the cruel Pharaoh pronounced on male infants and was left on the bank of the river, not naked, but placed in an ark (Ex. 2, 3); because allegorically the law had to be in the ark. It was placed near the water, for the law in close proximity to grace and the daily washing of the Jews were soon to be replaced in subsequent times by a perfect and wondrous baptism. And according to the divine Paul, the very people who passed through the Red Sea preached salvation from water (1 Cor. 10:1-4). The people passed by, and the Egyptian king and his army drowned, and this event was foreshadowed by the sacrament. For even now, when the people, fleeing from Egypt - evil sin, descend into the water of rebirth, they themselves are liberated and saved, and the devil with his servants (I’m talking about the spirits of evil) are suffocating with sadness and in poverty, considering the salvation of people their own misfortune. This would be enough to prove the subject that we have suggested (to reveal). However, the inquisitive should not ignore what follows. The Jewish people, as we know, suffered a lot and ended their painful wandering in the desert, not before receiving the Promised Land until they crossed the Jordan under the leadership of the leader and ruler of their life, Jesus. Jesus, who laid twelve stones in the stream, obviously prefigured the twelve disciples, the ministers of baptism (Joshua 4:9). And what was amazing and beyond every human mind, the sacred performance of the Elder Thesbite, other than an omen, the very work of faith in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and redemption? For when the entire Jewish people, having trampled upon their father’s piety, fell into the error of polytheism, and King Achaab amused himself with idolatry, having the hated Jezebel as an evil friend in life and as an all-filthy teacher of wickedness; Then, filled with spiritual grace and coming out to meet Achaav, with witnesses - the king and all the people, he entered into an amazing and extraordinary struggle with the priests of Baal. By inviting them to sacrifice an ox without fire, he showed how ridiculous and pathetic those who pray in vain and cry out to non-existent gods are. Finally, having called on his true God himself, he wonderfully accomplished the proposed struggle, adding and adding a lot; and simply, having prayed, he brought fire down from heaven onto the dry wood that was there, (but) commanding and ordering the servants to bring a lot of water and watering the wood three times from waterpots, with prayer he kindled fire from the water; so that through an unusual combination, and affinity, and assistance of elements that are opposite in nature, they would show with greater extraordinaryness the power of their God (1 Kings 18:16-40). Thus, with this wondrous sacred act, Elijah clearly foreshadowed to us the mystery of baptism that would subsequently take place. For fire is kindled with water poured three times in order to show that where the mystical water is, there is also a flaming, burning, fiery spirit, burning the wicked and sanctifying the faithful. Also, his disciple Elisha cleanses the petitioner who came to him, Naaman the Syrian, who was ill with leprosy, from the disease by drinking water in general and immersing him in the river in particular, clearly foreshadowing the future (2 Kings 5.1-15). For from the rivers Jordan alone, having received into itself the firstfruits of sanctification and blessing, as if from some figurative source, poured out the grace of baptism to the whole world. All these are indications of rebirth through the bath (baptism) in the deeds and events themselves. Let us finally look at the prophecies in words and sayings. So, Isaiah cries out, saying: “Wash yourselves and be clean, take away the wickedness from your souls” (Isaiah 1:16). David: “Come to him and be enlightened, and your faces will not be ashamed” (Ps. 33:6). And Ezekiel makes a beautiful promise more clearly and understandably: “And I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be cleansed from all your uncleanness and from all your idols, and I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you, and I will take away the heart of stone from your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put My spirit in you” (Ezek. 36:25-26). Zechariah prophesies most clearly, (depicting) Jesus clothed in unclean clothing, that is, our slave flesh, and having taken off his dark robe, he adorns him in clean and bright clothing (Zech. 3:1-6); By this figurative example, teaching us that in the baptism of Jesus, all of us, having been stripped of our sins, as if from a beggarly garment made from rags, are clothed in the sacred and most beautiful (clothing) of rebirth. Where shall we place this saying of Isaiah, who cried out in the desert: “Rejoice, thirsty desert, let the desert rejoice, and let it bloom like a tree. And the desert of Jordan will prosper and rejoice” (Is.35:1-2). It is clear that joy is not preached to lifeless and insensitive places, but by desert he figuratively means a rough and unsettled soul. David also understands this when he says: “My soul is like a waterless land” (Ps. 142:6), and again: “My soul thirsts for the Mighty, Living God” (Ps. 41:3). In the Gospel also (says) the Lord: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37), and to the Samaritan woman: “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst” (John 4:13–14). “And the honor of Carmel” (Is. 35:2) will be given to a soul that has similarity with the wilderness, that is, grace from the Spirit (Holy). Since Elijah lived on Carmel, this mountain became famous due to the virtue and glory of those who lived on it; and John the Baptist, who shone forth in the spirit of Elijah (Luke 1:17), sanctified the Jordan, therefore the Prophet foretold that the honor of Carmel would be given to this river. And the glory of Lebanon (Is. 35:2) was attributed to the river in comparison with the tall trees; for how Lebanon has a sufficient subject for surprise - the very trees that it grows and nourishes; so the Jordan is glorified for the fact that it revives and plants people in the paradise of God, always flourishing and showered with virtues, whose “leaf,” in the words of the psalm, “will not fall away” (Ps. 1:3), and God will rejoice at the fruits, harvested in due time, as a good planter rejoicing in his own deeds. The divine David also prophesied about the voice that the Father spoke from heaven over baptized by the Son, so that those who heard him, who until then had seen only the sensual humiliation of Him as a man, would be led to the knowledge of the natural dignity of His Divinity. In the book (of Psalms) he wrote the following: “the voice of the Lord on the waters, ... the voice of the Lord in splendor” (Ps. 28:3-4). sizes, if someone wanted, explaining everything separately, to present it in one book. All of you, who flaunt the gift of rebirth and boast of saving renewal, show me, after (receiving) the mysterious grace, a change in morals, and through the purity of your lifestyle, let me know about the difference in the change for the better. For in what is visible to the eye, nothing has changed: the features of the body remain the same, and the outer appearance of the visible nature does not change. But it is quite necessary to have some clear indication by which we would recognize a newly born person, using some clear signs to distinguish the new (man) from the old. Such signs, I think, consist in the free movements of the soul, according to which it, moving away from the ancient habitual way of life and entering a new path, will clearly show to those who know it that it has become different, without leaving any old sign on itself. The method of this transformation, if you believe me and keep (my) word as the law, will be as follows. If anyone, before baptism, was intemperate, an acquisitive predator of others, an offender, a liar, a slanderer, or given over to similar and similar vices; Let him now be well-behaved and chaste, content with his own and giving of his own to those who are in poverty, truth-loving, respectful, benevolent, in short, striving in every praiseworthy deed. For just as darkness is dispelled by light and just as blackness disappears when it is painted over with white paint, so the old man will disappear when he is adorned with works of righteousness. You see how Zacchaeus, by changing his lifestyle, killed the publican within himself, returning and giving fourfold to those to whom he had wrongfully caused harm (Luke 19:8). Evangelist Matthew, another publican, who was engaged in the same work as Zacchaeus, after being called (Matthew 9:9), immediately changed his life, as if in some form. Paul was a persecutor, but after (accepting) grace he became an Apostle, and bore heavy chains for Christ as a sign of retribution and repentance for those unjust chains that, having taken from the law, he could not lay on the Gospel (Acts 9: 1-3). This is how rebirth should be, this is how the habit of sin should be eradicated, this is how the sons of God should live, for we are called after (receiving) grace the sons of God. Therefore, we must carefully look at the properties of our Parent, so that, forming ourselves and our lives in the likeness of the Father, we become true children of the One who called us to graceful adoption. For if someone does not justify the Fatherly nobility by deeds, then this is a bad sign - he is illegitimate, a foundling. Therefore, it seems to me that the Lord in the Gospel, establishing the rules of life for us, used the following expressions (addressing) to the disciples: “Do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who harm you and persecute you: that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven, as his sun shines on the evil and on the good, and rains on the righteous and on the unjust” (Matt. 5, 44–45). For then, he says, they will be sons when they imprint in their thoughts the likeness of the Father’s goodness in their love for others. Therefore, after (we have received) the dignity of adoption, the devil plots more strongly against us, casting envious glances when he sees the beauty of a newborn man, hurrying to the heavenly dwelling, from where he fell, and arouses fiery temptations on us, trying to take away the second decoration, as he took away the first. But when we feel his attacks, we must apply to ourselves the apostolic saying: “As we were baptized into Christ Jesus, we were baptized into His death” (Rom. 6:3). If we have become conformed to his death (Phil. 3:10), then sin in us is completely dead, having been pierced by the spear of baptism, like the fornicator by the zealot Phinehas (Num. 25:8). So, flee from us, hated one, for you want to rob the dead, who was in union with you from ancient times, but has now lost the ability to feel pleasure. A dead person does not nourish carnal love, a dead person is not swayed by wealth, a dead person does not slander, a dead person does not lie, does not steal what does not belong to him, does not offend anyone. For another life, the rules of life were shown to me, I was taught to despise worldly things, to ignore earthly things, to hasten to heavenly things, as Paul definitely testifies that the world was “crucified” to him and he to the world (Gal.6.14). These are the speeches of a truly regenerated soul, these are the words of a newly consecrated person, remembering his own promise that he made to God when the sacrament was communicated to him - a promise to neglect all pain and pleasure for the sake of love for Him. What we have said is sufficient for the sacred subject of the day, which the turning year has brought to us at its appointed time. It is good to conclude the word with an appeal to the humane Giver of such a gift, raising a small voice in reward for great deeds. For You, Master, are truly a pure and ever-flowing source of goodness; You justly turned away from us and kindly had mercy on us, hated us and reconciled with us, cursed and blessed us, expelled us from paradise and called us again, took off the leaves of the fig tree - a shameful covering and clothed us with valuable clothing, opened the prison and freed the condemned, sprinkled us with clean water and cleansed us from filth. Adam, called by you, will no longer be ashamed and will not hide, convicted by his conscience, burying himself under the bush of paradise. The fiery sword will no longer fence off paradise, making the entrance inaccessible to those approaching it. But everything for us, heirs of sin, has changed to joy. Paradise and heaven itself are more accessible to man, the creation both in the world and above the world, which was anciently at war with each other, came into friendly agreement, and we people began to agree with the angels, piously professing their theology. For all this, let us sing a song of joy to God, which the lips animated by the Spirit prophetically proclaimed in ancient times: “Let my soul rejoice in the Lord: for he has clothed me with the robe of salvation, and has clothed me with the robe of gladness: as a bridegroom, put a crown on me, and as a bride, adorn me with beauty” (Isa. 61:10). The beautifier of the bride, of course, is Christ, who was here before, who is here (and now) and who is to come, blessed now and forever. Amen. You might be interested in: