St. Hesychius the Presbyter of Jerusalem and his homiletical heritage

Contents Introduction Chapter I. Life and works of St. Hesychius, presbyter of Jerusalem. 1.1. Life of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem 1.2. Works of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem (except for sermons) 1) Biblical commentaries 2) Church history 3) Sentences 4) Unreliable works 1.3. The influence exerted by St. Hesychius of Jerusalem 1.4. The homiletical heritage of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem I. Reliable sermons that do not raise doubts about the authorship of St. Hesychia. II. Sermons of dubious authenticity (dubia et spuria). ΙΙΙ. Unpreserved sermons. Chapter II. Sermons of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem 2.1. Features of sermons 2.2. Holy places of Palestine in the sermons of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem 2.3. Christological teaching 2.4. Soteriology 2.5. Some images, comparisons and metaphors used in the sermons of St. Hesychia Conclusion Sources and literature List of abbreviations Appendix 1. Rev. Hesychius of Sinai and his creation. Appendix 2. Translation of the sermons of St. Hesychia. 1. First Homily for the Meeting of our Lord Jesus Christ 2. Second Homily for the Meeting of our Lord Jesus Christ. 3. First word for Holy Easter 4. The second word for Holy Easter (translation by Archpriest Maxim Kozlov). 5. First word in honor of St. Mary the Mother of God 6. Second word in honor of St. Mary the Mother of God 7. Eulogy in honor of St. Apostle Andrew. 8. A word of praise to our venerable father Anthony 9. A word of praise to St. to the Apostle Stephen 10. Homily in honor of James, brother of the Lord and David the Father of God (fragment) 11. First Homily on the Four Days of Lazarus 12. Second Homily on the Four Days of Lazarus 13. Homily in Honor of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul 14. Homily in Honor of St. Martyr Procopius [Persa], 15. Homily on fasting 16. Homily on the Conception of the venerable Forerunner 17. Eulogy in honor of St. martyrs (fragment) 18. Homily about Lazarus and the Week of Vaiy 19. Martyrdom of Saint Longinus the Centurion, 20. Eulogy in honor of St. Longinus the Centurion 21. Eulogies in honor of St. Apostle and Evangelist Luke Name of St. Hesychia of Jerusalem is known to many Orthodox Christians. We know about him primarily as a hesychast monk, a teacher of the mind-heart Jesus Prayer. In the “Philokalia”, translated and supplemented by St. Theophan the Recluse included the essay “On Sobriety and Virtue,” which is attributed to this ascetic and enjoys great authority in the monastic environment. However, almost all modern patrolologists and theologians recognize that this work belongs to another saint who lived in the 8th or 10th century - St. Hesychius of Sinai. Most scholars are confident that an error occurred, since the above work contains hidden quotes from the “Ladder” of St. John Climacus and the ascetic works of St. Maximus the Confessor, who lived about 200 years later than St. Hesychius of Jerusalem (5th century). The Centurions on Sobriety and Virtue are of great interest as one of the earliest experiments in the systematic presentation of the teaching about the Jesus Prayer. And the fact that their author is another saint, especially with the same name, does not in the least detract from their significance. We have to admit that in fact the life and authentic works of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem is a mystery for the Russian-speaking reader. The name Hesychius itself was very common in the East; many outstanding people bore this name. It is possible to count at least five Hesychias who left some writings: St. Hesychius of Egypt - bishop and martyr of the 3rd century. (maybe this is the same person with Hesychius, the corrector of the text of Holy Scripture); Hesychius of Alexandria Lexicographer (4th century) - in 386 he compiled a dictionary of classical Greek literature; St. Hesychius, presbyter of Jerusalem - a very famous exegete and preacher of the 5th century; Hesychius of Miletus ─ chronograph of the 6th century; St. Hesychius of Sinai (VII-X centuries) – ascetic ascetic, teacher of the Jesus Prayer. The Jerusalem presbyter, who will be discussed in this work, was lost for a long time among this host of church writers named after him and was practically forgotten. Disciple of St. Gregory the Theologian, an ascetic of one of the Palestinian deserts, an excellent expert on the Holy Scriptures, a magnificent preacher, a fighter against Nestorianism, St. Hesychius of Jerusalem was very famous in his time. He was called "teacher of the Church", "luminary", "blessed", "second theologian" (meaning, after St. Gregory of Nazianzus). When he delivered his sermons, the people applauded him, just as St. John Chrysostom. Quite a large number of works by St. Hesychia: exegetical and homiletical. But not a single one of his creations was translated into Russian before the revolution. Only in the late 90s. XX century prot. Maxim Kozlov translated one short Easter sermon by a Jerusalem presbyter. To this day there is not a single study in Russian about St. Hesychius of Jerusalem. This work gives a brief overview of the life and works of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem, as well as the teachings of this holy father (mainly based on the material of his sermons, not excluding, however, his exegetical works). The choice of the homiletical heritage of St. Hesychia as material for translation and study of his doctrine is due to the fact that this part of his creations is by far the most accessible. In 1978─1980 French patrolologist M. Obino prepared a critical edition of the holiday sermons of St. Hesychia. The same scientist had published a Greek text and a French translation of two Easter homilies earlier (in 1972) in the “Christian Sources” series, providing it with an extensive commentary 1 . The appendix provides a translation of all the sermons of St. Hesychia, both genuine and dubious (dubia), and those that most likely do not belong to this holy father, but are nevertheless placed among his creations (spuria). The translation is made according to the edition of M. Obino 2; we relied on his commentary on the Easter homilies when we analyzed the features of the Christology of St. Hesychia, as well as in explaining some of the images and metaphors that St. Hesychius uses to express the Sacrament of salvation. Where possible, we have tried to supplement these comments with references to those sermons of St. Hesychia, which were not taken into account by M. Obino. Sermons of St. Hesychia is not only an excellent example of homiletical creativity of the late 4th - early 5th centuries, but also a historical source that contains information about the topography of Palestine and the development of the Jerusalem liturgy. Therefore, a separate chapter examines those passages from the sermons of St. Hesychia, which are most important in this regard. When presenting the theological views of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem focuses on Christology. Firstly, because it is the teaching about Christ and His economy that is the main content of the homily of the holy father; secondly, because in the works of St. Hesychius we find some theological formulations that can be interpreted as Monophysite. In order to reject any accusations of heresy against the saint, it is necessary to consider his Christological views in more detail. Since a detailed commentary on all the sermons would significantly increase the volume of the work, we limit ourselves to considering only some of the most striking comparisons and metaphors. The main content of the commentary on these most interesting passages consists of parallel, similar in meaning texts from other holy fathers (both Eastern and Western), which are close to the interpretation of St. Hesychia. This approach allows us to determine to what extent a given author follows the general tradition and to what extent he deviates from it. Chapter I. Life and works of St. Hesychius, presbyter of Jerusalem. 1.1. Life of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem Good scientific article about St. Hesychia of Jerusalem was compiled by I. Kirchmeyer for the Dictionnaire de Spiritualité 3. He thoroughly examined the available information about this author, who, unfortunately, remains little known not only in Russia, but also abroad, due to the fact that most of his works remain unpublished. We borrow from this article its best elements in order to trace the main stages of the life of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem. Quite little is known about the life of this saint. The only biographical message dedicated to St. We find Hesychius of Jerusalem in the synaxarion for March 28, placed in the Monthly Dictionary of the Emperor. Basil, where it is reported that St. Hesychius studied in Constantinople with St. Gregory of Nazianzus. It also mentions his monastic tonsure, priestly ordination and qualities as a commentator on Holy Scripture, 4 but it does not specify when exactly he lived. It is indicated that St. Hesychius, having retired from the world, spent a monastic life in the desert, where he had the opportunity to visit holy men one after another, with the goal of receiving from each of them, like a hardworking bee, the nectar of virtue. We find two even less clear messages in the Chronography of St. Theophan the Confessor, who, mentioning the episcopal installation of St. Cyril of Alexandria in 412, notes that by this date St. Hesychius is already actively developing his teaching activity: “In the same year, Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria died, and Cyril, his nephew, was ordained in his place. In the same year, Hesychius, presbyter of Jerusalem, accepted the teaching position (taj didaskalaij) 5 . Ave. Theophan further adds that the year of death of St. Hesychia coincides with other important events that, as we know, actually happened at different times: the arrival of the imp. Maximin to residence in Constantinople (431), marriage of the emperor. Valentinian III with Eudoxia (437) and the death of St. Melania the Younger (439). The chronological inaccuracy of these data casts doubt on the historical reliability of the work of St. Feofan. If we believe the first testimony (412), then we should assume that the preaching activity of St. Hesychia could have begun approximately 20 years before the Third Ecumenical Council in Ephesus (431). This chronological reference point seems quite probable: it allows us to explain the fact that in 429, due to his age and acquired fame, Hesychius was in fairly good standing with Bishop Juvenal of Jerusalem, as evidenced by the Life of St. Euthymius the Great, written by Cyril of Scythopolis: “And Archbishop Juvenal went down to the Lavra, having with him St. Passarion, who was then chorebishop and archimandrite of the monks, and the enlightened Hesychius (tÒn pefwtismnon `HsÚcion) presbyter and teacher of the church (tÒn presbÚteron ka tÁj kklhsaj did£skalon)... The Great Euthymius rejoiced in spirit, especially seeing with the Patriarch Passarion, this true Abraham, and Hesychius the Theologian (tÕn qeolÒgon `HsÚcion), who were both glorious lamps (fwstÁraj) shining throughout the entire universe” 6 . From this text it follows that in 429 St. Hesychius played an important role among those close to the Bishop of Jerusalem: his learning and eloquence were well known, perhaps he even held the position of secretary under the patriarch, as indirectly indicated by the inscription made at the end of the Life of St. much Longinus the Centurion, compiled by St. Hesychius from sources that the latter discovered in the library of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ. Other evidence, dating back approximately 20 years after the events described above, suggests that St. Hesychius was still alive on the eve of the Fourth Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon (451). This is a text from the so-called. “Assurances” ─ a work attributed to the Monophysite John Rufus, Bishop of Mayum: “When an extraordinary church council was about to take place (Chalcedon - I.E.), the sky suddenly became dark and was filled with mist and dark clouds, and there was a rain of stones in the holy city in all the surrounding villages and in many places in Palestine, which, in shape, were absolutely identical and similar to those that we made various strange signs on them, so that many people collected these stones there; but when some used them unwisely, they became blind. And they said that Hesychius, a rhetorician from Jerusalem, collected a lot of them and showed them to the Empress Eudokia, and sent them to Constantinople, as a demonstration of this miracle, which was intended to strike the people for the retreat of their bishop." Evdokia, wife of the Emperor. Theodosius II actually lived around this time in Jerusalem (443). Whatever the circumstances of the miracle reported by John Rufus and its interpretation, it can be assumed that St. Hesychius was still alive in the middle of the 5th century. If you believe this source, it seems that St. Hesychius was seriously worried about the alleged apostasy of the bishops who were supposed to arrive at the Council of Chalcedon in 451. This means that he allegedly did not agree with the anti-Monophysite sentiments of this Council. It is possible that he died after the Council of Chalcedon, if we take literally the testimony of Pope Pelagius, who places St. Hesychius is among the rebels and claims that he wrote books against the council of Chalcedon and against the letter of St. Leo to Bishop Flavian of Constantinople: “It is known that he willingly received that same Eutyches in Jerusalem and wrote books against the holy Council of Chalcedon and against the letter of Leo of blessed memory, written to Flavian, high priest of Constantinople” 8. Of course, one can assume that the sympathies of St. Hesychius, closer to the Alexandrian school than to the Antiochian school, had a pronounced pro-Alexandrian character, and that at the end of his life he could show himself to be lenient towards the defeated Eutyches or even enter into some kind of dogmatic disputes. But such assumptions will not be supported by any factual evidence other than the testimony of Pope Pelagius. To assert this, it is necessary to have other, earlier evidence that would confirm the opinion of Pelagius, and also to study well the works of St. himself. Hesychia, many of which have not yet been published. In some of his sermons, which probably date back to the beginning of his preaching activity, that is, to the period when Christological disputes had not yet become so fierce, we indeed find some inaccuracies in the use of dogmatic formulas that can be interpreted in a Monophysite spirit. However, as we will see later, these inaccuracies may be the reason for the underdevelopment of theological language at that time and do not provide grounds for blaming St. Hesychia in heresy. Perhaps the opinion (constat) that Pope Pelagius speaks of was formed on the basis of some doubts expressed by St. Hesychius regarding the bishops going to Chalcedon. It can be assumed that St. Hesychius, being so committed to the dogmatic views of St. Cyril of Alexandria, did not want to agree with any compromise, lenient provisions, which the resolution of the Council of Chalcedon should have contained. However, there is no evidence of opposition on his part to this resolution. Apparently, St. Hesychius accepted him, because otherwise the Orthodox Church would not have honored the Jerusalem presbyter among the saints. As will be seen from what follows, his theological views were very close to the views of the so-called. neo-Chalcedonians, who appeared a little later. It can be said with complete confidence that St. Hesychius played an important role, both as an interpreter and as a preacher, in the first half of the 5th century. He earned the reputation of an authoritative spiritual writer, saint, blessed and even theologian in Palestinian circles already in the 6th-7th centuries. Blzh. John Moschus in the Spiritual Meadow tells about the vision of Abba Kyriakos from the Lavra of Kalamon: the Abba saw Pr. The Mother of God, accompanied by St. John the Evangelist and St. John the Baptist. The Mother of God did not want to enter the ascetic’s cell, telling him: “You have My enemy in your cell. How do you want Me to enter?” After the vision ceased, Abba Kyriakos, immersed in sadness, stood up and took a book to dispel his grief by reading. It was the book of "blessed Hesychius, presbyter of Jerusalem." Having unfolded it, Abba found at the very end of it two words of the wicked Nestorius and, realizing what was the matter, returned the book to the one who gave it, with the words: “Take your book back, brother. She brought me not so much benefit as harm.” This brother immediately cut out two words of Nestorius from the book and set it on fire 9 . This episode, of course, does not cast any doubt on St. Hesychius is the shadow of a heretic, but only testifies to the fact that already in the 6th century his creations were widespread among the monastic community, and also that St. Hesychius led a polemic against Nestorianism. He lived just at a time when Christological debates began to become violent; he saw how three bishops succeeded each other on the throne of Jerusalem: John (386─417), Prailius (417─422) and St. Juvenaly (422─458). He could meet in the Holy City with the blessed one. Jerome of Stridon, St. Cyril of Alexandria, Ave. Melania the Younger, Peter Iver. Thus, his ministry took place during the reign of Emperor Theodosius II (408─450). The grave of St. Hesychius was shown already in 570 near the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem, where there was a chapel in his honor, liturgical meetings took place and gifts were distributed to the poor. One anonymous Western pilgrim notes: “Then, when we came out to the great gate, we went to Saint Hesychius (ad sanctum Isicium), who lies body (in corpore) in the same place where bread is given to poor people and pilgrims, which Helen commanded to do.”10 These meetings took place on September 22, according to the Palestine-Georgian calendar, when his memory was celebrated: “In Hesychii presbyteri aedificio, memoria eius” 11. The Greek synaxarion, placed in the Monthly Book of Emperor Basil, indicates the memory of St. Hesychius on March 28, but in the Chetyi-Menaia his name is absent. It should be noted that there is uncertainty in this matter because of the large number of saints with the name Hesychius, and, it seems, for the reason that in March the memory of several of them is celebrated at once, especially St. Hesychius the Wonderworker, who lived in the 8th century. Here, as throughout the East, the memory of St. Hesychia of Jerusalem is performed with all the saints on Saturday of Cheese Week. In the canon of St. Theodore the Studite for this day in the 9th canto of St. Hesychius is included in the ranks of the great teachers of the Church: St. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, Athanasius of Alexandria, John Chrysostom, two Cyrils - Jerusalem and Alexandria, Sts. Epiphany of Cyprus and Gregory of Nyssa. St. Hesychius is called here “another theologian,” meaning after St. Gregory of Nazianzus. 1.2. Works of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem (except sermons) St. Hesychius was a fairly prolific exegetical writer and an equally talented preacher. But not many of his works have survived to this day. And those that have come down to us are mostly unpublished. We do not find extensive theological and theological-polemical treatises among them. These are mainly commentaries on books of Holy Scripture and sermons. As mentioned above, St. Hesychius “interpreted and explained all Scripture and brought great benefit to many.” In order for this information to be confirmed, it took the painstaking work of many scientists of modern times, thanks to which, in addition to some exegetical works, the homily of St. Hesychia. His works in general, even in the incomplete form in which they have been preserved, give an idea of ​​an extraordinary and very educated man. Here we list all works attributed to St. Hesychius of Jerusalem, including doubtful and most likely inauthentic ones, excluding his homilies, which will be discussed in the next chapter. 1) Bible Commentaries Commentary on Leviticus 12. This work is an extensive text preserved in Latin. The dedication inscription mentions two Greek names, Hesychius as the author and Deacon Eutychian as the addressee: "Venerabili diacono Eutichiano peccator Christi servus Isychius presbyter in Christo salutem." This indicates the Greek origin of the work, which is confirmed by some information contained within the text, which suggests that it was compiled in Jerusalem in the period between the Council of Ephesus and the Council of Chalcedon, that is, between 431 and 451. The purpose of Hesychius’s compilation of this Commentary was to reveal the highest mystical meaning in the text, which is simple regulations on the ministry of the Old Testament priests, in order to thus establish the authority of this book of the Old Testament, which was attacked by many heretics. The absence of a Greek original and the fact that biblical references reproduce the text of the Vulgate have long led to the treatise In Leviticum being considered the work of a Latin author. This was opposed by A. Vaccari, who argued that the text belonged to Hesychius, based, among other things, on the hypothesis that the compiler could have used the text of the Seventy, and the translator or editor replaced it with the text of the Vulgate for the convenience of the Western reader 13 . Finally, the affiliation of the Commentary of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem was confirmed by A. Wenger, who in 1956 found in the Strasbourg library a Greek excerpt from a text in a manuscript codex of the 8th century and, on its basis, showed that the translator edited the Christological passages, with the goal of bringing them into conformity with the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon 14 . Some publishers suggest that the translator of this Commentary into Latin was a certain Jerome (6th century) 15. Commentaries on the Prophets. The peculiarity of the “gloss” on the books of the prophet Isaiah, the minor prophets and probably Daniel is that St. Hesychius (as he himself explains in the prologue) 16 did not set out to create a continuous commentary on these books, he simply offers an edited biblical text, divided into small syntactical units (stcoi) and accompanied by extremely short scholia, designed to facilitate the reading and understanding of Holy Scripture. The text of the commentary on the book of St. Isaiah (CPG 6559) was published by M. Faulhaber at the beginning of the 20th century 17. He also published some excerpts of interpretations on the books of St. Hosea, Obadiah and Zechariah (CPG 6557─6558) 18. In their main part, the interpretations on the minor prophets have not yet been published, but on the Ave. Daniel, it seems, they have been completely lost. Only two small fragments of interpretation on the book of the prophet Ezekiel (CPG 6560) have survived. A hint that such a commentary existed is contained in the treatise In Leviticum 19. Commentaries on the Psalms. Currently St. Three different commentaries on the Psalms are attributed to Hesychius of Jerusalem. a) Large commentary (CPG 6554). Its most complete edition is found in one Parisian manuscript (Paris, gr. 654); interpretations of individual psalms are contained in two Vatican manuscripts: Vat. gr. 525 (on Psalms 9 and 36─47) and Vat. gr. 1223 (on Psalms 51─76). The indirect edition preserves commentaries on Psalms 77─107 and 118, which makes it possible to partially fill the voids in other editions, with the exception of the last section of the Psalter (Ps. 119─150). The text contained in the Patrology of Minya 20 is greatly abbreviated and includes elements of interpretation by other authors, mainly St. John Chrysostom 21. b) Treatise De titulis psalmorum (“On the Inscription of Psalms” ─ CPG 6552). This title was given to this work in 1746 by Cardinal N. Antonelli in a series of interpretations of the Psalter, which he published under the name of St. Athanasius the Great. The cardinal made a double mistake, since the content has nothing to do with the explanation of the inscription of the psalms and does not belong to St. Afanasy. In fact, the composition belongs to St. Hesychius of Jerusalem and is a verse-by-verse interpretation of the text of the psalms, which modern philologists call a “commentary.” According to the Greek patrolologist P. Christou, this work should be given the name “Periphrase of the Psalms,” since the content is a short allegorical periphrasis of the Psalms 22. It is quite possible that St. Hesychius wrote an explanation of the entire book in this form, although some believe that some unknown author composed this paraphrase on the basis of a more extensive work by St. Hesychia. This work apparently also exists in a Georgian translation 23 . c) T.n. Anonymous's comment is something between a comment and a simple series of glosses. Some catenas from this commentary are attributed to St. Hesychius of Jerusalem. Despite the fact that scholars have presented quite strong arguments in favor of the reliability of the last two commentaries on the Psalms, there are some doubts about this. For example, some scholars attribute the treatise De titulis psalmorum to St. Ephraim the Syrian. The Christology of the “anonymous commentary” is vaguely reminiscent of the Monophysites. And the very fact of the existence of three commentaries on the Psalms attributed to the same author raises suspicion. Of course, the last word in this area has not been said, and these works require careful study. Commentary on Bible Songs (CPG 6555). It was reconstructed from exegetical catenas attributed to St. Hesychia. This is a series of short scholia for the thirteen songs of the Old and New Testaments (Ex. 15 ─ Luke 2). The commentary on the book of Job (CPG 6551) is preserved only in the Armenian translation ─ in the handwritten codex of the Mekhitarists of St. Lazarus, dating back to the 13th century 24. The commentary consists of 24 homilies dedicated to the first 20 chapters of the book of Job. The fragments of interpretation of other chapters preserved in the catenas give us the right to assert that the Commentary covered a larger number of chapters, if not the entire book. Perhaps the translation covered the interpretation of the entire book of Job, but the part containing the interpretation of the chapters following chapter 20 was lost in the manuscript tradition. Although the interpreter is based on the biblical text of the Seventy, he sometimes resorts to both the Hebrew text and other Greek translations. Job is presented by the author mainly as a prototype of the suffering Christ. Commentaries on the New Testament. a) Collectio difficuliatum et solutionum excerpta per compendium ex evangelica consonantia. According to its title, the present work appears to be a later abridgement of a much longer work called the Gospel Symphony ('Euaggelik¾ sumfwna). Its purpose was to explain the reason for the apparent disagreements and contradictions found in the gospel stories 25. Various fragments of interpretations on individual books of the New Testament (CPG 6560): on the Gospels of Matthew and John, the Acts of St. Apostles, Epistles of St. James, Jude, First and Second Epistle. Petra (PG 93, 1387D─1392A). This work (CPG 6582), an excerpt from which is given in the acts of the V Ecumenical Council in Constantinople (553) and is used in the polemical work of the future Pope Pelagius In defensione trium capitulorum 26. St. Hesychius undoubtedly described the period between the Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon (431─451); the surviving passage criticizes the principles of exegesis and Christology of Theodore of Mopsuestia. Antichalcedonism of St. Hesychius, who states Pelagius, does not agree with the judgments of Cyril of Scythopolis, relating this saint. father to the Orthodox. The Small Collection of Sayings (CPG 6583) consists of two series of spiritual aphorisms attributed to St. Hesychius of Jerusalem ancient manuscripts (Jerusalem, S. Sabas gr. 408; Paris, gr. 955), although they are usually signed with the name of St. Nile of Sinai and placed among his creations 27. These maxims were probably part of the collection of apothegmas spoken of by St. Photius of Constantinople 28. Fragments of this collection were discovered in some Georgian and Armenian manuscripts kept in the library of the monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai (Sinait. georg. 8 and 35). Identical to them are the texts in Church Slavonic contained in the so-called. “Bees”, ancient Slavic collections of patristic and other sayings, published by V. Semenov 29. 4) Unreliable works The so-called chapters on the prophets (CPG 6596: PG 93, 1345A─1385C) do not belong to St. Hesychius of Jerusalem, but to some later author. The Testament of Abraham (Testamentum Abrahae) is a Christian apocrypha, preserved in two editions, published in 1892 by M. James and attributed in some manuscripts to St. Hesychius of Jerusalem 30. It is obvious that St. Hesychius is not the author of this work. One can, however, assume that it is usually associated with the name of St. Hesychia because the latter was his editor. With a reasonable degree of probability it can be argued that St. Hesychius had access to the library of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ. Here he could find manuscripts containing information about the saints who lived in Palestine or were most revered in the Jerusalem church. One of these manuscripts contained the life of St. much Login of the Centurion, which St. Hesychius rewrote and added praise to him. It is possible that the “Testament of Abraham” was also the subject of study by St. Hesychia. Finally, Capita temperantia et virtute (PG 93, 1480B─1544), the work best known to the Russian-speaking reader, attributed to St. Hesychius of Jerusalem, which, apparently, is the work of St. Hesychius of Sinai 31. 1.3. The influence exerted by St. Hesychius of Jerusalem The fate of the works of St. Hesychia of Jerusalem gives us some guidelines when we want to trace his influence on subsequent church writing. A significant part of his biblical commentaries disappeared from view after the first attempts to compile exegetical catenas and homiletical collections for the liturgical readings of the annual cycle of worship (synaxari, menology, etc.) appeared. Little has survived of the individual works of St. Hesychia. The Greek and Syrian East knows it almost only from the remains of the interpretation of In psalmos, collected in the 12th century by the monk Euthymius Zigaben (PG 128, 908BC), as well as thanks to the catenas, which were preserved only by the Syrian writer Bar Hebraeus, †1286) 32. Only in the Armenian translation has a commentary on the book of Job reached us. It is difficult to say how widely St. Hesychius became known in the West thanks to the translation of the treatise In Leviticum into Latin. The Latin bishop Amalarius of Metz quotes St. Hesychia in his work Liber offitialis 33, another Latin writer, the abbot of the monastery of Fulda Rabanus Maurus (†856) in his Commentary on the book of Leviticus in many places rewrites the interpretations of St. Hesychius, as he himself says in the prologue to his work 34. St. Hesychius was also one of those authorities (“auctoritates”) who attracted attention as spiritual writers. All significant Western medieval writers refer to it. These are such famous figures as Alexander of Galsky (†1245), Bonaventure (†1274), Thomas Aquinas (†1274). Works of St. Hesychia was subsequently used in polemics with representatives of the Reformation 35 . 1.4. The homiletical heritage of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem St. Hesychius of Jerusalem undoubtedly had an exceptional gift as a preacher. In addition to the fact that his sermons are of great interest as a historical source for the study of the characteristics of the Palestinian liturgy in the 5th century, from the point of view of form and content they are one of the brightest examples of homiletical creativity of this period, which can be compared with the works of such famous church preachers as St. Gregory the Theologian and St. John Chrysostom. Homilies of St. Hesychia of Jerusalem, even in the form in which they have been preserved, give us an idea of ​​the author as a man of the broadest education, brilliantly knowledgeable of the Holy Scriptures, skillful with the pen, possessing a rich language, expressive style and a sense of poetic rhythm. A number of sermons are attributed to St. Hesychius, most of which remained in the shadows for a long time and were published quite recently through the diligence of the French patrolologist M. Aubino 36 . Some of them are of very dubious authenticity; we learn about the existence of several unpreserved sermons from indirect sources. Before proceeding to an analysis of the features of the homiletical work of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem, we will list the titles of his sermons, as well as, where it is possible to establish, those manuscripts from which the publishers borrowed the text of this or that homily. I. Reliable sermons that do not raise doubts about the authorship of St. Hesychia. 1) Two words for the Presentation of the Lord 37. The first sermon also exists in a Georgian translation (CPG 6580). The second was in the editing stage for a long time and was published in Greek only in 1978 by the aforementioned M. Obino. According to the modern liturgist Yu. Ruban, the sermons of St. Hesychia for the Presentation are the first homilies for this holiday, undoubted in terms of authorship, from those contained in patristic writing 38 . 2) Two short sermons for Easter (CPG 6567─6568) are represented by the only Greek manuscript of the Sinait. gr. 492 (VIII-IX centuries) 39. This manuscript has repeatedly aroused the interest of researchers, since it contains only ancient sermons attributed to such authors as St. Gregory of Nazianzus, St. Amphilochius of Iconium, Theophilus of Alexandria, St. Proclus of Constantinople, St. Hesychius of Jerusalem. It has been noted that this collection of sermons contains no texts from later authors at all. Based on its contents and dating, this ancient manuscript probably contains the texts most frequently read in the Jerusalem church. Particular attention to the still unpublished texts of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem converted in 1956. A Wegner. In 1972, a critical edition of the text of two Easter homilies from Sinait. gr. 492 was carried out by M. Obino in the French series “Christian Sources” 40. 3) Two sermons in honor of the Mother of God (Homiliae i-ii de sancta Maria deipara ─ CPG 6569–6570: PG 93, 1453–1460 and 1460–1468) were apparently delivered on the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The first is evidenced by Armenian sources 41 , the second is also preserved in the Georgian translation 42 . 4) A word of praise (gkèmion) in honor of St. Andrew (CPG 6571) is given by St. Photius of Constantinople in a slightly modified edition 43. An excerpt from it is known in the Latin translation 44. 5) Two more words of praise in honor of St. Anthony the Great (CPG 6572) and St. much Procopius of the Persian (CPG 6578) undoubtedly belongs to St. Hesychius of Jerusalem 45. 6) A word of praise in honor of St. Stefan (CPG 6573) was edited and published before M. Obino in 1968 46. 7) Two sermons on the Raising of Lazarus (CPG 6575─6576). The latter text, until recently, was represented only by a Greek fragment under the name of St. John Chrysostom (PG 62, 777C─780). 8) Homily in honor of the apostles Peter and Paul (CPG 6577). 9) The Homily for Lent (CPG 6579) appears in the Greek Sinait manuscript. gr. 491 (f. 210─216). 10) Word on the Conception of St. Prophet John the Baptist (CPG 6587). A fragment from it is given by St. Photius 47. 11) A fragment from the Eulogy in honor of Jacob, the brother of the Lord, etc. David, the father of God (CPG 6574) is also in the “Library” of St. Photius 48. 12) The Homily on the Resurrection of the Dead (CPG 6581) survives only in the Georgian translation (manuscripts: Tiflis, A 1109 and Jerusalem, georg. 4) 49. II. Sermons of dubious authenticity (dubia et spuria). 1) Eulogies in honor of St. ap. Bows (CPG 6586). 2) Martyrdom of St. Longinus the Centurion (CPG 6589) 50, despite the fact that at the end there is the signature of St. himself. Hesychia 51 raises doubts about the authorship and is placed by most scholars in the category of controversial works (dubia). It is, in fact, not a sermon, but the life of St. Longinus with some elements of praise. The style of presentation and some rhetorical devices indicate that St. Hesychius has some connection, if not with the compilation, then at least with the editing of this work. It is curious that we find it in the Latin as well as the Slavic translation in the Great Chetya-Menaion of Met. Macria (month of October). 3) A word of praise in honor of St. much Longinus of the Centurion (CPG 6590) apparently also does not belong to St. Hesychius of Jerusalem. In content it differs significantly from the Martyrdom of St. Longina. In addition, there are Latinisms in it, which may indicate either that we are dealing with a legend (a text intended for liturgical reading) of Latin origin, but translated into Greek, or that this work was compiled in Greek, but the author lived for a long time in a Latin-speaking environment and learned some Latin terms. 4) Fragment of the Word in honor of St. martyrs (CPG 6588) is classified as dubia. 5) Homily for the week of Vaii (CPG 6594), which was previously attributed to Titus, Bishop of Bostra (†372) 52, who was exiled under the emperor. Juliana the Apostate, only with some degree of probability may belong to St. Hesychia (manuscript: Jerusalem, Bibl. Pair. gr. 136). 6) The word about the Samaritan woman (CPG 6591) has reached us only in Arabic translation and is attributed to a certain Theodulus of Jerusalem. ΙΙΙ. Unpreserved sermons. 1) The Homily of the Nativity (CPG 6595) was lost in the fire of the National Library of Turin in 1904. The surviving fragment of this homily should most likely be attributed to Hesychius of Miletus, a 6th-century chronographer. 53. 2) Sermon In resurrectionem (PG 93, 1452D─1453A), also placed among the works of St. Gregory of Nyssa (PG 46, 627─652), actually belongs to Sevirus of Antioch 54. 3) Part of the Word on the Cross (Sinait. gr. 493) practically no longer exists, with the exception of a few completely unusable fragments. Chapter II. Sermons of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem 2.1. Features of Sermons If we compare the sermons of St. Hesychius with the homilies of other holy fathers, we will notice that he has many similarities with the latter. Speech of St. Hesychia is quite simple and clear in presentation and use of words, free from abstraction, always inspired and convincing, although these qualities are not found in equal measure in all sermons. However, there are some differences regarding both the content of the sermons and their form, and the author’s approach to the interpretation of Holy Scripture. The main content of the homilies we study is an explanation of the dogmatic meaning of a particular holiday or a description of the life and exploits of a saint, and this is done for the most part with the help of interpretation of the corresponding passage of Holy Scripture read on a given day during the service. We find in St. Hesychia has very little moral teaching or spiritual instruction. There is an opinion that he is an ascetic writer, and that his works also have a monastic orientation. Introduction to the homiletical heritage of St. Hesychius, as well as with some of his exegetical works, shows that this opinion is not entirely correct. Although St. Hesychius was a monk; he has little to do with the realities of monastic life or asceticism in the narrow sense of the word. He only hints at this in his Commentary on Leviticus, when he considers the episode of Martha and Mary 55 or mentions the “wisdom of the wilderness” 56. His interpretation of the parable of the seed thrown into the ground provides a traditional interpretation that distinguishes between virginity, abstinence and marriage 57 . The most characteristic passages about a life devoted to celibacy were written under the influence of memories of the unsullied purity of the Mother of God 58 . Although St. Hesychius and praises famous ascetics: St. John the Baptist, St. Anthony the Great, etc. ─ nowhere does he say that the path of monastic life is obligatory for a Christian, nowhere does he touch upon the issues of the spiritual work of a monk. When he recommends following the zeal of famous ascetics and living according to their rules, this cannot be regarded as a call to withdraw from the world. St. Hesychius feels his unworthiness in comparison with the famous ascetic ascetics and does not look at himself as a teacher of monks 59 . What he says about the necessity and tactics of spiritual warfare 60 is applicable to any Christian. The instructions regarding fasting are simple and accessible; they are clearly addressed to a person living in the world, and not to a hermit monk 61 . Let us remember that during the heyday of his preaching activity, St. Hesychius lived in Jerusalem, in a crowded city, fulfilling the obedience of a church teacher. Everyone perceived him more as an expert on the Holy Scriptures, an enlightened presbyter, than as an abba or spiritual mentor. He himself is contemplative (remember his spiritual interpretation of Scripture) and suggests that the contemplative life should indeed be accompanied by a real withdrawal from worldly life. Apparently, the works of St. Hesychia of Jerusalem was not oriented toward a monastic environment from the very beginning, or at least was not written from a monastic perspective. Unlike the highly educated representatives of the Alexandrian “gnosis,” he tries to speak simply, his speech is intended for the unlearned (indoctus) 62. Although he uses, like all St. fathers, theological terms such as oÙsa, fÚsij, kr©sij, etc., although he often mentions the four cardinal virtues 63, his philosophical vocabulary is rather meager. St. Hesychius does not feel any special sympathy for this, as he considers, “ignorant wisdom” 64, to which he contrasts “philosophy leading to the Heavenly Kingdom” 65. He says quite little about the knowledge of God, about “Christian gnosis,” although the word qeologa (theologia) is often found in his works 66. Even the ascetic monastic terminology of St. Hesychia seems to be less dependent on the desert traditions of Palestine and Egypt. In it we do not find traces of the systematization that is usually associated with the name of St. Evagrius of Pontus. In the sermons of St. Hesychius, we practically do not find any polemics against heretics, although their very content constitutes, as it were, one general confession of faith in the incarnation of God the Word, which St. defended with such fervor. Cyril of Alexandria, which gives reason to assume that St. Hesychius's Christology is strongly dependent on the latter and that his homilies have a pronounced anti-Nestorian orientation. Yet quite often in the sermons of St. Hesychius contains polemical attacks in relation to Jews and pagans, which are more characteristic of patristic writing of the 2nd-3rd centuries 67. St. Hesychius is, first of all, an exegete of Holy Scripture; all his thinking is permeated with the biblical spirit. With a high degree of probability, it can be argued that it was the biblical and liturgical texts that offered St. For Hesychius, certain topics for reflection set before him the framework for the development of these reflections, and determined the use of certain words and expressions. St. Hesychius cannot imagine composing any biblical commentary or sermon without a thoughtful evaluation of the Word of God. In his works, he almost always deliberately refuses to talk about his own inner spiritual experience or explain his achievements in spiritual life. We will notice some similarities in him with the works of St. fathers and teachers of the so-called Church Alexandrian movement, which sometimes showed hostility to certain theological concepts and methods of interpretation of Holy Scripture used in the Antiochian school. But I think it would be a mistake to say that St. Hesychius of Jerusalem is also one of the representatives of Alexandrian theology: his “independence” is too obvious. It is obvious that St. Hesychius of Jerusalem is a representative of a special type of Christian culture, different from the traditions of the Alexandrian school, which was nourished from other sources. The interpretation of some passages, indeed, can be called allegorical 68. However, such places are quite rare. It would be more correct to talk about a typological interpretation of Holy Scripture. When explaining this or that place from Holy Scripture, St. Hesychius always tries to provide parallel biblical references. This perception of the Bible as something single and whole, combining the Old and New Testaments, seems to St. Hesychius is the basis, the necessary condition that is required in order to correctly understand the meaning of the Word of God 69. The principle of the symphony, which is the basis of one of the works of St. Hesychia (“Gospel Symphony” ─ PG 93, 1391), is characteristic of all his exegetical works. “The Old and New Testaments,” he says, “are similar to each other, since they aim at the same goal, this goal is spiritual life” 70. However, according to St. father, the correspondence of the New Testament to the Old does not mean identity between them. We should talk about their complementarity and hierarchy. The economy of our salvation ends the operation of the old Law and illuminates it in the light of the new truth. Therefore, Christian reading of the Bible should not be like the reading that occurs among Jews. St. Hesychius does not at all deny that the Old Testament in itself, without connection with the New Testament, has a certain meaning, 71 however this meaning cannot be considered by us outside the realities of Christianity, which explain it, giving it true meaning. Therefore St. Hesychius makes a clear distinction between the letter (direct, immediate, historical meaning) and the spirit (meaning abstracted from everything temporary and transitory, relating to the end of times): “One is the outline of a shadow, the other is the action of truth. One is an image, the other is what the image points to” 72. A Christian needs to be able to “peel off the letter to reveal the fruit of the mind” 73 . Some other intention of resorting to allegorism in St. There was no hesychia. His use of sacred texts is quite bold. There is one characteristic feature of his sermons that immediately catches the eye and can even serve as a certain guideline in determining the authorship of some sermons attributed to St. Hesychia. Considering this or that text of Holy Scripture, St. Hesychius tends to supplement it with his own comments, and these explanations are included in the biblical saying as its integral part, so that the narrative or dialogical speech is conducted on behalf of the Savior, the Mother of God or some saint. As an illustration, let us give an example from a sermon in honor of the apostles Peter and Paul. The Lord, who appeared to Saul on the way to Damascus, calls out to him: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? ( Acts 9:4 ) What advantages have I deprived you of? Have I closed heaven before you? Was it because of Me that the leaves of the fig tree were put on? Am I involved in the fact that you are going into the ground? Was it because of Me that you lost your power, were excommunicated from your inheritance, and had your image debased? Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? You had the Law, but I, as the Good One, brought grace. You worked for the letter, and I gave the Spirit. Shadows bother you, but when I came, I revealed the truth. You considered yourself offended for the images, but I delivered healing, one for many, not requiring silver, for money lovers; I have appointed to explain to you the meaning of the Sabbath, I have healed the wound of your circumcision, I have abolished the altar of groaning, and instead of those who groan, I have revealed a single sacrifice, not groaning and always rejoicing. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? Be ashamed of Abraham's tent and remember the altar of Isaac, recall the struggle of Jacob. Why did you consign Joseph's dreams to oblivion? Why don’t you pay attention to the rod of Moses, to the mantle of Elijah, to the courage of Elisha? All these are prototypes of Me, their prophecies were fulfilled on Me... Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? Watch where you string your arrows. Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool (Acts 7:49). Where are you throwing your spears? I am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John 14:10). Who are you throwing stones at? I have exhausted the waters with My handful and measured the heavens with a span, and have contained in measure the dust of the earth (Isa. 40:12). Against whom are you arming your tongue? I make clear the tongue of the deaf, I created the deaf and the hearing, I created the seeing and the blind. Look who you call a deceiver. I multiplied visions and used parables through the prophets (Hos. 12:10). Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? David praises me, but you revile me; he composes hymns, but you blaspheme; he plays the cithara, you stamp your feet; he plucks the strings, but you intend to take the weapon. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? That you fight Me with My own weapons, hide behind the Law and fight against Me; you run for My sake, and execute Me? You defend My glory, but you do not know how to take up the sword, how the war will be organized.” Saul answers the Lord: “Who are you, Lord, for I was filled with radiance, struck by the light, I became a prisoner of the radiance. Who are you, Lord? I want to see Your beauty, I strive to fly to the clouds, I want to recognize this radiance of glory (Heb. 1:3), to find out who is the image of the hypostasis, who is He who holds everything by the word of His power. Who are you, Lord? I heard Your voice and was fed up with the Law, I no longer have any desire for the Law, I no longer want to be a wooden ark overlaid with gold, I all want to become a sacred royal manger bearing Gold.” What follows is Jesus’ answer: “I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute, I am Jesus, who once was and is now; Who exists before all and after all; at the beginning and at the end; Son of David, but Himself before David; from Abraham, but the Creator; from Adam, but He Himself created Adam; from Isaac, but Himself crowned the altar of Isaac; from Jacob, but He Himself was contemplated on the stairs, surrounded by a host of angels (see Gen. 28:12). I am Jesus, whom you persecute, but in pursuing you cannot reach; for where or how can you seize the radiance of glory? What kind of network is capable of containing the image of a hypostasis? Who can grasp with his hand the One who contains all things with the word of His power? I am Jesus whom you persecute. I am saving you in order to make you the bridegroom of My Bride. Why are you persecuting Me, the One for Whom a little later you yourself will be persecuted?” 74. In almost all sermons of St. Hesychia, the authenticity of which is beyond doubt, there are similar dialogues: between the Mother of God and Gabriel, ap. Andrew and Christ, Lazarus and the Old Testament righteous people in hell, St. John the Baptist and the Lord, martyr. Longinus and the Savior. Sometimes the preacher himself enters into a dialogue with a person, as if asking him to clarify an incomprehensible passage of Scripture. In the second sermon on the resurrection of Lazarus, even hell makes a definite speech, which, seeing that Lazarus leaves the underworld, expresses its indignation at the One who called the righteous 75. Another distinctive feature of the sermons of St. Hesychius is the frequent use of antitheses, which seem to be a reflection of his very poetic thinking. Almost all of these antitheses are accompanied by a careful search for consonances, even some rhyme, especially at the end of words. These similarities of sounds enhance the parallelism and contrasts. The more you read into the sermons of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem, the more you become convinced that his soul is the soul of a poet, capable of making visible images the most diverse, including absolutely abstract concepts, in order to make the understanding of Holy Scripture extremely accessible to his listeners. 2.2. Holy places of Palestine in the sermons of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem The contribution of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem into the treasury of our knowledge about the geography of Jerusalem and Palestine, since his texts contain many allusions to the features of the topography of the Holy Land. Bethlehem, Zion, Calvary, Cross, Resurrection, Ascension ─ all these words designate the corresponding holy places of Jerusalem and Palestine, or rather the basilicas built in honor of the gospel events at these places. In one place, in a commentary on the words of Ps. 42:3, he writes: “Remember Golgotha, the mountain (Óron) truly holy, since the Holy of Holies sanctified the universe on it with His Cross; remember the treasury of gifts, Bethlehem, Zion, the Resurrection and the Ascension, for in each of these places He pitched His tents (skhnèmata)” 76. In his eulogy to the martyr Stephen, St. Hesychius mentions the names of those places in Jerusalem with which the life of the First Martyr is connected: he is “a citizen (polthj) of the Cross, native (okeoj) of Bethlehem, a native (kgonoj) of the Resurrection, a minister of the meal (trapezopoiÒj) for Zion, a messenger (kÁrux) of the Ascension” 77 . It should be noted, however, that sometimes the words StaurÒj and 'An£stasij do not point to the thrones of Golgotha ​​and the Resurrection, but to the mystery of the Death and Resurrection of the Lord. In the second sermon for Easter we read: “I don’t know how to depict its beauty, how to describe its radiance, how to tell the joy [given] by the Cross, how to explain the royal grandeur [revealed] by the Resurrection?” Here the highlighted words are more suitable in meaning to the description of the completed Sacrament than to certain archaeological sites. Among the holy places in Jerusalem, Zion is most often mentioned. Most likely, this refers to the Basilica of St. Zion, built in the southwestern part of the city. According to ancient legend, which is confirmed by St. Hesychius, at this place there was once the Zion Upper Room, in which the Lord celebrated the Last Supper with His disciples and appeared to them after the Resurrection; Here the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles took place. “Zion,” writes St. Hesychius in the Commentary on the Psalms, ─ is full of blessings, for in him the Mystery of the Divine Meal took place (toà qeoà depnou must"rion), and some other miracles that happened there" 78 . Elsewhere we read: “It is called the temple of Zion, for it is located where Christ celebrated the Passover supper together with His disciples” 79 . “There (i.e., in Zion ─I.E.), the Only Begotten Son sacrificed Himself, there He began His suffering, there He established the Sacrament in remembrance of His suffering” 80. Fragment of a sermon dedicated to St. James, brother of the Lord, who was preserved by St. Photius, also draws this parallel between Bethlehem and Zion: “In you, holding the lamp, one star was lit, and in the same - many. She showed the way to the Magi, and she illuminated the Parthians, Medes, Elamites and people from all nations with the light of her radiance. You suck milk from virgin breasts, but this one draws the Spirit from the Father’s bosom. You leavened the Bread, and Zion held a feast. You fattened the Ox in a manger, and Zion offered Him up on the altar. You hid Jesus in swaddling clothes, and Zion exposed the rib to Thomas, who wanted to feel it” 81. In the second Easter sermon of St. Hesychius again makes an allusion to the churches of Jerusalem: “The sacred and royal trumpet united us in this meeting, the trumpet which Bethlehem filled 82 and Zion set on fire, for which the Cross was the hammer, and the Resurrection the anvil.”83 The preacher here refers to Christ in His relations with the various churches of Jerusalem: He is born in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, transferred to the church of Zion; this trumpet is forged on the anvil of the Cross; and will be resurrected in Anastasis, that is, in the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem.” In general, the Easter sermons of St. Hesychia are especially valuable not only for clarifying the Christology of the saint we are considering. father, but also as a historical source that helps to take a fresh look at the preacher himself, at the place where he delivered his teachings and partly unravel those hidden hints that he so often makes. Easter was not only the most important Christian holiday, but also the main, as we would now say, patronal holiday of Jerusalem. Quite a lot of information has been preserved about the Easter service performed in the Holy City, as well as about the architecture of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, the patronal feast of which was St. Easter. In his sermons delivered on this day, St. Hesychius, in his characteristic manner, makes many hints that make it possible to quite accurately determine the time and place at which these sermons were delivered. In order to correctly date the first and second sermons of St. Hesychia on Easter, it is necessary, as far as possible, to imagine the topography of the Holy Sepulcher at the beginning of the 5th century 84. In 1961, renovation work took place at the Church of the Resurrection of Christ. The architects were able to determine with great precision which of the existing parts of this building complex were part of the original structures, allowing them to reconstruct the layout of the ancient city before it was destroyed by the Persians in 614 and then rebuilt. In the buildings erected by Emperor Constantine, three parts can be distinguished: “Resurrection” (Anastasis), “Parvis” (Parvis or “ante crucem”) and Martyrium (Martyrium). The Church of the Resurrection (Anastasis) was initially located in the western part of the complex of buildings: it was a church with an altar dedicated to the Resurrection of Christ, a rotunda that towered over the holy cave (tÕ erÕn ¥ntron), where the Body of the deceased Christ was once laid. Parvis was in the center: it was a fairly spacious open-air area (aqrion), decorated with a shiny stone tiled floor and surrounded by portals. Eteria often calls it with the expression “ante Crucem” 85 (the place “before the Cross”), since the Cross rose in the south-eastern corner of the building on the top of a rocky mound. In 420, this ancient cross was replaced by a golden cross, decorated with precious stones, a gift from Emperor Theodosius. On the south side of the eastern portal there was a small chapel, called “post Crucem”, because it rose “behind the Cross”, where the Tree of the Cross was transferred on the morning of Good Friday to offer it for veneration by the faithful. Finally, in the east, there was the Basilica of Constantine, which was also called Martyrium, as well as the main church, or the Church of Golgotha ​​post Crucem 86 (“beyond the Cross”). In the 5th century, it was considered a church dedicated to the Passion of the Savior, while the patronal feast of the church Anastasis was celebrated on Easter 87. Eusebius of Caesarea in his Vita Constantini III, 36–39 gives a detailed description of this magnificent basilica 88. It was in this basilica, dedicated to the Passion of Christ, that the shrine of the Tree of the Cross was kept 89 The complex of buildings also included the Baptistery, which was supposed to be next to the Anastasis: it was here that the newly baptized would be found on Holy Saturday after leaving the font, before entering the Basilica of Constantine and joining the already assembled faithful. This baptistery was apparently located in the north, since scientists discovered there a spacious cistern with an inscription from Ps. 28, 3: “The voice of the Lord on the waters.” This geographical data about Anastasis, Parvis and Martyrium will allow us to better understand the images that St. uses. Hesychius in his Easter sermons. In what place and at what time of day did the Jerusalem presbyter Hesychius deliver his first Easter sermon? Eteria tells us little about the liturgy celebrated on St. Easter. Fortunately, the Armenian Lectionary of the Church of Jerusalem 90 has been preserved, which contains a lot of valuable information about the peculiarities of liturgical practice in the Holy City in the first half of the 5th century. Here is how the services of this day are described here: “On Saturday evening, on Holy Easter, we rise to Holy Martyrium; The clergy immediately begin the celebration of Holy Easter Eve, and we read twelve readings.” Then the first night liturgy is celebrated, the liturgical readings of which the Lectionary notes very precisely: 1 Cor. 15, 1─11 and Matthew 28, 1─20 (Gospel of the Resurrection, the empty tomb and the message to the myrrh-bearing women). “There,” continues the Lectionary, “we offer the Holy Mysteries.” Here we are talking about the night liturgy in the Basilica of Constantine. We read further: “As the day approaches, we celebrate the liturgy in Holy Resurrection, before Holy Golgotha, and immediately read the Gospel in Holy Resurrection according to John. 19, 38 ─20". Finally, the Lectionary mentions the third liturgy: “At dawn, in the assembly of the holy day of Resurrection, we gather in the same holy Martyrium and read: Ps 64; Ps.64, 2; Acts 1, 1 ─14; Ps. 147, 12; Mk. 15, 42 ─16, 82" 91 . So, the first and third liturgies were celebrated in the Martyrium, the second in the Church of the Resurrection. Although the data we have does not allow us to determine with absolute accuracy the place where the Easter sermons were delivered, with a high degree of probability we can assume that this took place in Martyrium, since the Shrine of the Cross was located there. If we accepted this hypothesis, we would better understand the persistence of St. Hesychia, with which he twice calls on his listeners to live the “saving Cross”, “near the Cross of the Savior”, and his frequent appeals to the Tree of the Cross as to a certain person (“oh, blessed Tree”). When was the sermon preached, at night or in the morning? Most likely, at night, because in the sermons there are many hints of this: “on this holy night let us form a solemn assembly”; “The sky is brilliant, illuminated by a round dance of stars,” “let’s form a solemn meeting with luminous processions of lamps.” The comparison of the Word with a lamp installed on the candlestick of the Cross takes on its own special meaning if we accept this hypothesis (the preaching of the first sermon during the all-night vigil in Martyrium). In addition, this assumption allows us to date the sermon to the first years of the preaching activity of St. Hesychius, beginning of the 5th century. The scientist A. Renu discovered and quite convincingly proved that the notes of the pilgrim that Etheria left and the Armenian Lectionary reflect two different orders of the Jerusalem liturgy: the first testify to the ancient order that the pilgrim Etheria saw in 381-384, i.e. before the beginning of the 5th century; The lectionary reflects another order of the liturgy, slightly modified in order to more clearly express the circumstances of the Lord’s life with the help of new rituals, signs and symbols (historical trend). A. Renu tried to restore the original version of this rite: “On Saturday evening, on the day of Holy Easter, we rise to St. Martyrium, and the bishop lights the lamp, and the clergy immediately begin the celebration of Holy Easter Eve... And while we are giving the blessing, in the middle of the night, a large number of newly baptized people enter with the bishop” 92 A. Renu emphasizes that the Armenian word kanl ’et is translated as “lamp” and in the Armenian Bible corresponds to the Greek lÚcnoj. Perhaps the hint of the present sermon is connected with this: “They no longer light a lamp (lÚcnon) and supply it in secret, but I call the Law in secret, but on a candlestick (p t¾n lucnan); The lamp is the Word, for for the unbelievers the Word appeared and was hidden under the Law, as if under a bushel, but when it ascended to the Cross and was placed on a candlestick, then it shone throughout the entire circle of the universe” 93 . Is St. not hinting here? Hesychius on this single lamp, the symbol of Christ, which the bishop lit at the beginning of the Easter Christmas Eve service on Saturday evening in the Martyrium of Constantine? A comparison between both Armenian manuscripts shows that at the beginning of the 5th century, this took place in Martyrium, and not in Anastasis, as it would happen later. The fact that the bishop lit this lamp shows, among other things, that during this period of the evolution of the Jerusalem liturgy, the rite of the Easter lighting of the lamps was reduced to the lighting of a single lamp, which was the source of light for all those gathered in the church. Sermon of St. Hesychia thus reflects the customs of the most ancient Jerusalem liturgy: it indicates the rather young age of the author, which he had in the first years of the 5th century. St. Hesychius, who lived in the first half of the 5th century, could have witnessed how the structure of the Jerusalem liturgy, namely the Easter service, was changing. Thus, it can be assumed that the first word of St. Hesychia for Easter was said in the morning on the very day of the holiday in the Martyrium of Constantine, where the Tree of the Cross was kept, or on Holy Saturday in the evening, at the all-night vigil, following the twelve readings. We have some data that allows us to clarify the place and hour of the second sermon. This is indicated by the preacher's use of biblical quotations, which were probably taken by St. Hesychia from the liturgical readings scheduled for the day. From the Armenian Lectionary we learn that at the Easter Christmas Eve liturgy they read an excerpt from Matt. 28, 1 ─20, at the night liturgy on the very day of Easter (at least at the end of the 4th – beginning of the 5th centuries) ─ text from Mark 15, 42 ─ 16, 8. The reading from Matthew began with a description of the events that happened after the Resurrection ─ with the story of the empty tomb. The text from Mark contained a slightly more extensive story: starting with the burial of Christ. What text was inspired by St. Hesychius: Matthew or Mark? The answer to this question is not so simple, since the text of the sermon itself mostly contains allusions rather than literal references. However, we can say that the preacher borrows, as necessary, texts from parallel passages in the Synoptic Gospels. The allusions to the earthquake and the angels at the entrance to the cave certainly come from the passage in Matt. 28, 2, read the night before. Otherwise it seems more likely that St. Hesychius is inspired by the story of Mark, read on the morning of the very day of Easter (mention of Joseph of Arimathea, about the peace that the myrrh-bearing women bring). Probably St. Hesychius preached this second sermon on Sunday, St. Easter at the morning liturgy, which was celebrated in the Martyrium. The use of verses from the book of St. Hosea (Hos. 6, 1 ─2) confirms this hypothesis. The “Great Lectionary of the Church of Jerusalem” has survived and has come down to us in a Georgian translation; it reflects, in its most ancient editions, the liturgical customs of the Holy City in the 5th century. A passage from the prophet Hosea (ch. 5, 13 – ch. 6:3) is prescribed there for reading in the morning on St. Day. Easter. Was it not this reading that inspired St. Hesychius, those arguments drawn from the prophecy that he gives in his sermon? 94. Let's look at another interesting place. In the first sermon on Easter we read: “Look, beloved, at reigning Rome, exalted in the midst of the square with the signs of the Cross.” It can be assumed that here we are talking about the forum of Constantinople, “New Rome”, in which there was a huge column crowned with a statue of the emperor. Constantine, holding in his right hand a globe, on top of which stood a cross. St. Nicephorus Callistus in his “Ecclesiastical History” speaks about it this way: “In the forum (fÒrJ) which we now also call the forum of Constantine, (the emperor), having placed a large porphyry column brought from Rome, erected on it his own statue, made of bronze, carrying in his right hand a huge golden apple with a valuable cross fixed on top, and this inscription: “To you, Christ God, I I offer this city" 95. The historian Socrates Scholasticus also reports about the same cross. But is it not possible to assume that the forum mentioned by St. Hesychius, was in Jerusalem itself, very close to the Holy Sepulcher? It is known that the Capitol was built on Golgotha. “From the era of Hadrian to the reign of Constantine,” writes Bl. Jerome, ─ for approximately one hundred and eighty years, at the site of the Resurrection there was an image of Jupiter, at the site of the Cross ─ a marble statue of Venus, placed there by the pagans who worshiped them there; the perpetrators of the persecution thought that they would defeat our faith in the Resurrection and the Cross if they desecrated holy places with their idols” 97. It was at the foot of this Capitol, erected on a podium facing the Holy Sepulchre, that there was a forum, thus located in the very center of the city. St. could have pointed to this cross, placed on Calvary and towering above the forum. Hesychius to his listeners: point to the triumph of Christians who were once in such a humiliated position. The cross placed in the middle of the forum subjugated the empire. As we see, a careful study of the text of such short homilies allows us to identify in the sermons of St. Hesychia contains much more information than it seems at first glance to contain. 2.3. Christological teaching Study of the Christology of St. Hesychia, based on the material of his sermons, forces us to turn to the study of how, to express in the word the Mystery of the Incarnation, this author uses the technical theological terms of his era (diairen, merzein, tmnein, ¥llo ka ¥llo, ¥lloj ka ¥lloj, etc.) to express the idea of the duality of natures in Christ, and also in order to reject any idea of division in Him and emphasize the unity of His Person. We must trace how other saints used similar terminology. fathers, who, like St. Hesychius speaks of the “dispassion” of the Word in the “passion,” of the “state of Christ in death,” of the restoration of Adam, of the reprehensible curiosity (polupragmosÚnh) in the investigation of this great Mystery. This will allow us to identify those features in the use of theological terminology that are characteristic of St. Hesychia. The matter is complicated by the fact that St. Hesychius we encounter theological formulas that at first glance may seem Monophysite. To clarify the Christological views of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem has special significance in his Second Word for Easter. The peculiarities of terminology, which were pointed out above, do not allow us to form a more or less complete picture of the Christology of St. Hesychia. In his sermons it is impossible to identify any special features that would allow us to attach his Christological teaching to a specific theological school. The teaching about Christ of this holy father is expressed almost without recourse to any technical formulas. In almost every sermon in which at least some mention is made of the economy of Christ, St. Hesychius cites a number of antithetical paradoxes describing the great Mystery of the Incarnation and Redemption, which necessarily leads the preacher to the question of the humanity and divinity of Christ. However, terms such as ØpÒstasij, fÚsij, prÒswpon are quite rare in the language of this preacher. The exception is the second sermon on Easter, in which St. Hesychius uses theological terms that were quite common in his time. As in his other sermons, in the Second Homily for Easter, St. Hesychius gives a number of antitheses to indicate the duality of natures in Christ. He calls Christ “the herald (trumpeter) of the Resurrection” and, with the help of a series of very apt and expressive contrasts, shows how Jesus reveals Himself in this Mystery as God and as man. Indeed, we observe many paradoxes on the saving day of Easter: “a tomb that gives birth to life”, “a grave free from corruption, yet hospitable to incorruption”, “a three-day chamber that laid the Bridegroom to rest”, “a bridal chamber that raised the incorruptible spouse after the wedding”. In this spouse we recognize Christ, whose dream in the tomb resembles the dream of Adam, and His virgin spouse is the Church. Such contrasts, inspired by the gospel stories, speak in favor of the duality of natures in Christ: “The tomb holds the dead, the earth shakes before God; He is declared dead by the body, God is declared a miracle; dead ─ burial, God ─ resurrection, dead ─ tears of women, God ─ words of angels. Joseph buried Him as a dead man, but, buried as a man, He, like God, disarmed death. And again the soldiers guarded Him as if he were dead, but when they saw God, the gatekeepers of hell trembled.”98 We immediately notice the antithetical parallelism here: nekrÒn / qeÒn; æj ¥nqrwpoj / æj qeÒj. Thus, here too Christology is expressed almost without recourse to any technical formulas: “the image of the servant that I took (kkthmai) from you”; “The Incarnate Word gave (ddwken) flesh in order to serve the (immaculate) passions”; “it is unacceptable to separate (cwrzesqai) the Word from the flesh.” But there are three exceptions that shed some light on the author’s interpretation of the unity of two natures in Christ: the naming of Christ the Incarnate Word (Ð lÒgoj Ð sarkwqej), the mention of “(immaculate) passions” (p£qh, p£qhma) and a very precise development of terminology, including the pronouns ¥llo ka ¥llo and ¥lloj ka ¥lloj. The author calls the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity Jesus, Christ, Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ, Master, Savior, All-King, and asserts that this same Jesus, Who was crucified and rose from the dead, Who is a man (“I saw a risen Man”; “He was born a man and rose again, clothed with a man”) is at the same time the “Word Incarnate” (Ð lÒgoj Ð sarkwqej), “King of Heaven”, “God”, “Son of God”. It is obvious that this expression ─ Ð lÒgoj Ð sarkwqej ─ is a borrowing from John. 1, 19 (Ð lÒgoj s¦rx gneto). In the form in which it is found in the Evangelist, we find it in St. Irenea of ​​Lyons 99. The participle sarkwqej appears for the first time in St. Meliton of Sardis 100. From St. Athanasius to St. Cyril of Alexandria, this formula was consistently used by many saints. fathers. But some were shocked by the expression “The Word became flesh,” because it seemed to imply the exclusion of the soul from human nature, assumed by the Lord. Some, in particular Apolinarius of Laodicea, proposed to interpret the words of the Evangelist John 101 in this way. St. Cyril of Alexandria rejects this interpretation of this passage: “When we say that He became incarnate (sesarkîsqai), we affirm that He became completely man (¥nqrwpon Ðlokl"rwj)” 102. “Body” in these texts refers to the full humanity of Christ. St. Hesychius uses the same expression in his other works. Thus, in the Commentary on the Psalms we read: “He sent His Word ─ What can be clearer than this by the Incarnation (s£rkwsij) of the Savior? For he means the sent Incarnate Word (Ð lÒgoj Ð sarkwqej), since he says: “He who receives him whom I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me (John 13:20)" 103. It is obvious that St. Hesychius, in the interpretation of this Gospel expression, stands in direct dependence on St. Cyril of Alexandria, calling the man Jesus the Incarnate Word. This Incarnate Word, by His human nature, is accessible to “passions.” St. Hesychius does not distinguish between the two terms p£qh and p£qhma, which denote the entirety of impeccable, sinless human weaknesses and physical suffering that Christ endured during His life and during His Crucifixion. The best explanation of this is given by St. Hesychius. In his Commentary on the Book of St. Isaiah, he writes: k¨n g¦r sarkwqej p£qV tÍ sark, oÙ p£scei tÍ qeÒti 104 . In the Commentary on the book. Leviticus we read: “Ipsius ergo est Verbi incarnati passio, quae provenit in carne” 105. All this again agrees with what St. says. Cyril of Alexandria, who in the 12th anathematism against Nestorius, focusing on the biblical saying of 1 Peter. 4, 1 (Cristoà oân paqÒntoj sark), says: “Whoever does not confess that God the Word suffered in the flesh (paqÒnta sark), was crucified in the flesh (sark), received death in the flesh (sark) and finally became the firstborn from the dead, because He is Life and life-giving, like God: anathema” 106 . St. Hesychius speaks of the “dispassion” of the Word during the suffering of the cross. In the Commentary on the book. Leviticus we find other texts of St. Hesychia on the same topic: “God and man was Jesus Christ, Who became incarnate for us, keeping the divinity impassible (impassibilem), He left only humanity to suffer (passionibus): thus, the fulfillment of His sufferings, that is, propitiation for us, was not only the suffering of the flesh (passae carnis), but much more and the impassive divinity about (impassibilis divinitatis)” 107. “Because the Impassible One (impassibilis) suffered for us, he endured the sufferings of the flesh... The Passion of Christ, through which we were given remission of sins, were passions (passiones) not of some pure man, but of God Incarnate” 108. “Along with all this, the goat signifies Christ presented (at the judgment seat), for just as in the first case he was sacrificed in the flesh, so now, according to divinity, He is called the Living One. But, since the impassive and the suffering are one and the same (unus et impassibilis et passibilis est), then, of necessity, the priest lays his hand on the Living One, so that the hand would be shown unlaid, since the Word of God, the Living, impassive, immortal, having assumed flesh for us, offered Himself as a sacrifice” 109 . As we see, St. Hesychius cannot be accused of “theopaschism,” as theologians of the Antiochian school often did in relation to representatives of the Alexandrian school. St. Cyril skillfully defended himself against these accusations, clarifying the concept of the assimilation of passions, as we see from his letter sent to Nestorius: “We confess that the very Son, born of God the Father and the Only Begotten God, although impassive (¢paq"j) by his own nature (kat¦ fÚsindan), nevertheless suffered for us in the flesh (sark pponqen), according to the Scriptures (1 Peter 4:1), and in a crucified body dispassionately (¢paqîj) assimilated (okeioÚmenoj) to himself the suffering of his own flesh (t¦ tÁj daj sarkÕj p£qh)” 110. St. Hesychius in his sermon specifically points out that the incarnate Word concerns the manifestation of human (æj ¥nqrwpoj, æj nekrÒj) and divine (æj qeÒj) nature. But at the same time, he emphasizes, just as specifically, that, despite this duality, the Word is one, one, remains the same. In other words, St. Hesychius denies the existence of two persons in Christ. The use of the masculine and neuter adjective ¥lloj, which St. uses. Hesychius, allowed the Greek theologians of his time to designate a person or nature: thus, they explain that Christ is Man and God, that is, another and other (¥llo ka ¥llo), but this is one Person, and not two, so that we cannot call Him other and other (¥lloj ka ¥lloj). Evidence of the use of this formula, borrowed from St. Hesychium, probably from St. Cyril of Alexandria, we will find in many authors. But at St. Hesychius we find features and even some development of this terminology. To understand what it is, it is necessary to give examples from other saints. fathers, predecessors and contemporaries of the Jerusalem presbyter. St. Gregory of Nazianzus showed a wonderful example of the use of this terminology in his famous letter to Kledonius: “...Although there are two natures (fÚseij dÚo) ─ God and man (as in man there is soul and body), but not two Gods... Briefly put: in the Savior (t¦ x ïn Ð Swt¾r) there is another and another (¥llo mn ka ¥llo), because the invisible is not identical with the visible and the pre-temporal with that which is under time; but there is no place in Him for the other and the other (¥lloj d ka ¥lloj). This will not happen! For both are one in dissolution (t¦ g¦r ¢mfÒtera n tÍ sugkr£sei) ─ and God became man, and man became deified... When I say: one and the other, I mean this differently than what one should understand about the Trinity. There is another and another (¥lloj ka ¥lloj), so as not to merge the Hypostases for us, and not another and another (¥llo ka ¥llo), for the Three Hypostases in Divinity are one and identical (n g¦r t¦ tra ka taÙtÕn tÍ qeÒthti)” 111 . But here is a little-known text from St. Proclus of Constantinople, who also uses similar terminology: “I acknowledge that You, Lord and God, You alone (na); I learned that even if You were other and different (¥llo ka ¥llo), You are alone (na); I know that You are not one and the other (¥llon ka ¥llon); I do not divide You, the One Who is indivisible (¢diareton); I do not separate You, the One Who is inseparable (¢cèriston); I do not subject You to division, the One Who cannot be divided (¢mriston); The One whom I see, Whom I touch, Whom I know, I call in the only way: “My Lord and my God” 112. Naturally, St. Cyril of Alexandria, in his polemic against Nestorius, insists that in Christ, in the Incarnate Word, there cannot be two different Sons. Nestorius proposes to introduce this duality: he mainly uses the formula ¥lloj ka ¥lloj. Here are the words from one of Nestorius’ sermons: “The Divine Logos was not one (¥lloj) and another (ka ¥lloj), a man in whom He came into being (n ú ggonen). On the contrary, there was one face of both (n ¢mfotrwn tÕ prÒswpon) in honor and glory (¢xv ka timÍ), glorified by all creation, in no way and at no time divided by the difference of will and desire. (terÒthti boulÁj ka qel»matÒj)» 113 . Everything seems to be in accordance with Orthodox teaching. But Nestorius's terminology is rather vague and the formulations are ambiguous. It is expressed either in abstract or in concrete terms. According to Nestorius, the unity of the face of Immanuel is due to the fact that the face of God the Word uses the human face of the man Jesus as an instrument or organ. A single person is the union of these two elements, two natures: invisible (divine) and visible (human). Nestorius argues that each of these natures in Christ has its own identity. Its terminology is not always accurate. Sometimes he speaks of two persons in Christ, sometimes of one person. But the weakest link in his theological concept appears when he tries to explain this unity itself. Here he resorts to the idea of ​​one person being “used” by another as a tool. Since Nestorius felt that this theory was unconvincing, he further introduces the concept of "double use" or "compensation" of persons. All these examples show that during St. Hesychia Christological debates could not be conducted without referring to the terminology ¥lloj ka ¥lloj and ¥llo ka ¥llo. And St. Hesychius follows this general rule; all that remains is to find out how he understands these formulas and whether he has any peculiarities in using them. Consider an excerpt from his sermon: “You will say that He is both this and that (aÙtÒn d toàton); [not two] ─ one and the other (oÙk ¥llon ka ¥llon), and not one in the other (oÙd ¥llon n ¥llJ), and not one through the other (oÙd ¥llon dí ¥llou)” 114. As we see, the difference between St. Hesychia consists in the fact that he uses this expression in a very peculiar way for the specific purpose of clarifying the various ways of duality of natures in Christ, which he intends to reject. One and the same Man and God, not one in the other (¥lloj n ¥llJ) ─ St. Hesychius thus eliminates the idea of ​​the infusion of the Logos into the man Jesus, which would destroy the idea of ​​the unity of the Hypostasis of Christ; one and the same Man and God, not one through the other (oÙd ¥llon dí ¥llou) ─ here is a denial that the human hypostasis could turn out to be, as it were, an instrument of God the Word. Statements concerning identity and unity reinforce this negative formulation: “He (tÕn aÙtÒn), both this and that” ─ He Who is God and He Who is Man. “The Incarnate Word, being One (ej g¦r ín), united (sun"gagen) according to His will, both (taàta k¢kena) together (ej n) in an ineffable way.” The formulation, when the adjective “united” (ej), taken in the masculine gender, means the Person is “Orthodox”, but it takes on a Monophysite meaning if this adjective is used in the neuter gender (n). This is n at St. Hesychia is quite an alarming sign. It may seem to indicate one single nature in Christ. This expression may give reason to doubt the Orthodoxy of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem. We remember that Pope Pelagius claims that St. Hesychius gave refuge to Eutyches, who was fleeing the strict definitions of the Council of Chalcedon. It is known that the authorship of the so-called. "anonymous commentary" on the Psalms attributed to St. Hesychius of Jerusalem is disputed, since the Christology of this work is vaguely reminiscent of the Monophysites. Here are two texts from St. Hesychia, which have a meaning similar to the passage under consideration: “He not only took upon himself (¢nlabe) the image of a slave, but in an indescribable way (¢¸·»tJ lÒgJ) so clothed himself (perizwse) in it, that is, united (¼nwse), and so closely adhered to Himself (perisfigxe) humanity that the Word and flesh, since He became flesh, is called one (n)" 115. “The divinity and humanity of Christ,” writes St. Hesychius, ─ in the Incarnation (sarkèsei) Words united into one thing (ej n kat»nthsan)» 116. All this may raise suspicions about the Orthodoxy of St. Hesychia. But are these suspicions well founded? Of course, it would be more accurate and correct to use the formula ej na. But is it possible to see that St. Does Hesychius speak somewhat differently, an indication that the Jerusalem presbyter, already old by the time of the Council of Chalcedon, was lenient towards Eutyches? Is it possible to assume that after 451 St. Would Hesychius have insisted on this too unclear formula (ej n), which we see in his sermon and which after the Council would have been outdated? We think not. If we formally follow this logic, then St. Cyril of Alexandria should be called a Monophysite because he used the infamous formula ma fÚsij toà lÒgou sesarkwmnh. It is obvious that we are dealing with a Christological terminology that has not yet been formed. However, the expression ej n is also found in other ancient authors whom the Church recognizes as Orthodox. For example, in the writings of St. Cyril of Alexandria, preceding the Nestorian disputes, we find terminology of the same kind: the Word is one with His body, with His church; the divine and human natures are united in Him into (something) one (ej n; ej n ti). Here are three examples from the works of St. Cyril of Alexandria, very close in time and terminology to St. Hesychia: “The pure beauty of God and the Father, and the image and form that exists in Him and from Him, God the Word, plunges Himself into exhaustion (ej knwsin), not forced to this, but by the good will of the Father and his own free will, and becomes a man, keeping Himself absolutely undefiled (¢lèbhton) and undistorted (¢parapohton) the dignity of His nature, but perceiving (proslabèn) according to the economy (okonomikîj) humanity. And He is conceived as one Son in two elements (ej x ¢mfon), since the divine and human nature unforeseenly and inexpressibly find themselves converging and united together (sundedramhkÒtwn ka sunenecqntwn) into something one (ej n) and in an incomprehensible way composed into unity (ej nÒthta) 117 . Another text from St. Cyril, where he interprets a passage from the book of Leviticus, which prescribes the offering of two birds for the cleansing of a leper: “The Only Begotten, being by nature God, bore (pefÒrhke) the flesh of the holy Virgin and is ineffably and incomprehensibly composed as if from two (k duon), that is, the highest nature (fÚsewj tÁj ¢nwt£tw) and human and humanity; however, the Lord Jesus Christ is one (ej). So, this word contemplates the union (t¾n sundrom"n) of two (k duon) together (ej n ti)" 118. And here is an excerpt from a later work “On the Incarnation of the Only Begotten”: “Composing two in one (ej n ¥mfw sullgwn), He, as it were, mixes (¢nakirn£j) with each other the properties of both natures (t¦ tîn fÚsewn dièmata)” 119. We cannot make any claims to St. Kirill for the inaccuracy of the wording, since he had not yet entered into a live dispute with Nestorius. In the same way, St. Hesychius should be free from attacks and accusations of Monophysitism, since it is quite possible that he preached his sermon before the Council of Chalcedon, that is, before a clearer Christological terminology was developed. Since many works of St. Hesychius remains unpublished, then, I think, it is premature to draw unfounded conclusions about his Monophysitism. We risk making the mistake of paying attention only to some obscure passages from his works, dating perhaps from the beginning of his preaching activity. Pope Pelagius remains so far the only one who claims the Monophysite sympathies of Hesychius after the Council of Chalcedon. Therefore, we will not make too many claims to our author for the fact that he uses not entirely correct expressions, which, however, in the context of the entire sermon, which seeks to more clearly show the difference of natures in Christ, allows for a completely Orthodox interpretation. The expression of St. Hesychia oÙd ¥llon n ¥llJ condemns those who allow the idea of ​​the inhabitation of the Logos into the man Jesus. However, a similar metaphor is used even in Holy Scripture (Col. 2:9): “In Him, in whom all the fullness of Godhead dwells bodily (katoike p©n tÕ pl»rwma tÁj qeÒthtoj swmatikîj).” St. Cyril of Alexandria himself used a similar expression, which has become classic: “the body that has become the church (naÒj), the tabernacle (skhn¾, skÁnoj) of the Word”; “inhabitation, noiken, katoiken) Words into the body.” It all depends on how you interpret these metaphors. Excessive abuse of these formulations could lead to heresy, which is what happened in the case of Nestorius. In his letter to St. He writes to Cyril: “It is correct and in accordance with the Gospel tradition to confess that the body of Christ is a church (naÒn) of His divinity, a church connected with the deity by some high divine union (kat' ¥kran tin¦ ka qean ¹nwmnon sun£feian), in which the divine nature has adopted (okeioàsqai) for itself that (t¦ toÚtou), which is characteristic of the body. But with the word assimilation (tù tÁj okeiÒthtoj ÑnÒmati) to attribute (prostrbein) to Him the qualities of the body connected with it (t¦j tÁj sarkÕj diÒthtaj), ─ such as birth, suffering, death, ─ there is, beloved brother, a wrong thought that only the mind can accept Hellenes, or a mind infected with the teachings of the extravagant Apollinaris, Arius or any other heretics..." 120. The answer of St. is also known. Cyril, given rather quickly: “Whoever does not confess the flesh of the Lord as life-giving and actually belonging to the Word of God the Father Himself, but as belonging to someone else, different from Him, and united with Him in dignity (kat¦ t¾n ¢xan), that is, having acquired only divine (in itself) dwelling (mÒnhn qean nokhsin)... anathema" 121 . However, in his letter, Bishop. John of Antioch St. Cyril is inclined to accept this Eastern formula: “...God the Word became incarnate and became man, and at His very conception united with Himself the church received from Her (the Mother of God) (tÕn x aÙtÁj lhfqnta naÒn) 122 . Even the term qeofÒroj in relation to Christ could be interpreted both in the Orthodox and in the Nestorian sense 123. That the metaphor of inhabitatio could be used to the detriment of the idea of ​​unity is an obvious fact. Therefore St. Hesychius rejects this metaphor altogether. The formula oÙd ¥llon dí ¥llou St. Hesychius excludes the idea of ​​two characters in Christ, one of which would be the instrument of the other. St. Hesychius shows himself to be radically hostile to this idea, rejecting any instrumental relationship in the God-Man. Concerned with showing the unity of the hypostasis in Christ, without washing away the differences in Him between humanity and divinity, the author of the sermon cannot help but touch upon the problem of the Word’s assimilation of the properties of human nature: on the one hand, he declares that it is unthinkable for the Word “to be separated” (cwrzesqai) “from the body” and its immaculate “passions”; on the other hand, ─ emphasizes the “dispassion” of the Word. He does not try to clarify what the image of the union of natures is in the Incarnate Logos; he does not delve far into the problem of “assimilation” by the Word of “passions” and “flesh”, as St. does. Cyril of Alexandria. Intuitively understanding that only a method of denial is possible here, St. Hesychius speaks of the interpenetration of "passions" (the manifestation of the "flesh") and miracles (the manifestation of the deity) precisely in order to reject the idea of ​​​​a separation between the Word and the "body". Turning to the data from the PGL Lampe (dictionary entries ¢cèristoj and cwrzein), we see that these words were used at first to eliminate the division in the Trinity: between the Word and the Father. St. Cyril and his supporters, emphasizing the unity of the hypostasis in Christ, directed all their efforts to remove any danger of “division” within the Second Hypostasis of the Trinity. They contrasted words denoting such a division (diairen, ¢podiairen, katamerzein, diatmnein, katatmnein) with negative adjectives or adverbs: ¢di£statoj, ¢diÒristoj, ¢mristoj, ¢di£spastoj. In order to reflect the danger of the Monophysite interpretation of the Christological dogma, the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (451) would, as it were, balance its definition by adding two more adverbs ¢sugcÚtwj, ¢trptwj to the pair ¢diairtwj, ¢cwrstwj: “We teach to confess... the same Christ, the Son of the Lord's Only Begotten, in two natures, unmerged, unchangeable, inseparably, inseparably knowable..." 124. This word cwrzein and related terms may correspond to the Latin (separare, dividere, abscindere) in the Commentary on Leviticus: "Jacintha the apostate, who believes that the humanity of Christ existed before it was indivisible ( inseparabiliter) was united with the deity...” 125. “Just as the head cannot be separated (dividi) from the feet, so the deity of Christ after the union is not separated (neque dividitur) from humanity. But when it is said that He is either anointed, or born, or suffers, or rises, or appears, then we call Him the Word Incarnate, not separated, and, of course, called an anointed man, and not anointed by God, but the same God along with that man (sed Deum eumdem simul et hominem)" 126. “And He does not tear (see Lev. 21:10) clothes, that is, the clothes of the flesh: for since the Word became flesh, He remains entirely in His flesh, and in no way outside of it, neither at crucifixion, nor at burial, nor during any other suffering that relates to our nature, He does not separate Himself from it (nec se abscidit)” 127. But we find the most interesting text in Book IV of the same Commentary on Leviticus. It is interesting in that the original Greek text of one passage from this book, published by A. Wegner, has been preserved: “Then the living bird (see Lev. 14:7) is released into the field: thus the deity is dispassionate, even if it remains inseparable (¢cwrstoj, inseparabilis) from the body that suffered; therefore, as inseparable (èj ¢cwrstoj: the Latin translation “separabilis” is erroneous) the deity is immersed in blood, but as dispassionate (æj ¢paq"j) it is released into the field, that is, to the breadth of contemplation” 128. Thus, “passions” and suffering, that is, human nature in Christ, coexist in Him “united” (sumpeplcqai) with miracles in which His divine nature is manifested: this explains those paradoxes mentioned above that accompany the God-man, who died and rose again. Nothing so clearly illustrates the unity of the Divine person, uniting in Himself the properties of two natures, as the mystery of the death and Resurrection of Christ: He, “Who, as a dead man, descended into hell, He, as God, freed the dead” 129. Here another problem arises, just as often discussed in the time of St. Hesychia is the theme of “the state of Christ in death.” Who went down to hell and stayed there for three days? Only the Logos or the Logos with the human soul that He took upon Himself? The body lying in the tomb, was it abandoned by the Word? This question from St. The fathers decided as follows. St. Athanasius the Great allowed the separation of Christ's human soul from the body in death, but argued that the Word was inseparable from both body and soul 130. But at the same time, St. Athanasius opposed any division of Christ into several active subjects 131. St. says the same thing. Gregory of Nyssa: “Although the deity voluntarily separated (dizeuxen) the soul from the body, it showed that it abides in both... Since the human composition is dual, the divine nature is simple and uniform, then even during the separation of the body from the soul, the indivisible is not divided along with the complex, but on the contrary remains the same” 132. What opinion does St. hold on this issue? Hesychius? Having said that it is impossible for the Word to be separated from the body, Hesychius puts forward as proof (g£r) that Christ, as God the Word Incarnate, not only freed the dead from hell, but He also descended to this place as a dead man. How to understand this last phrase? Most likely St. Hesychius means that the Incarnate Logos descended into hell with something human, more precisely, with a human soul. Still, even in death, the humanity of Christ remains inseparable from divinity, since the Risen One, who is in heaven, is the same Jesus of Nazareth. St. Hesychius emphasizes with particular insistence that Christ was resurrected without the help of angels, that the stone from the tomb was rolled away by an angel only later. This has traditionally been pointed out by many saints. fathers 133. This is evidence that the Lord was resurrected by his own power, the power of his divine nature. Of course, the Christology of St. Hesychia is sometimes presented in somewhat awkward terms, if we consider it in the light of the terminology developed later in the course of the great Christological debates. These gaps and inaccuracies suggest that the Easter sermons of St. Hesychia were pronounced in the first quarter of the 5th century, before the third Ecumenical Council in Ephesus (431). According to St. Hesychia, the whole history and divine pedagogy of the Old Testament leads to the Savior and receives its completion in the person of Christ who saves us, Who is “the cornerstone on which any understanding of the Law is based for us” 134. Theodore of Mopsuestia St. Hesychius reproaches him for “following the path of Jewish wickedness,” asserting that Christ is “not the Word Incarnate... but a man, through the exaltation of life and the perfection of suffering united with God the Word”; for the fact that Theodore “wrote an essay on the prophecy of the psalms, rejecting all predictions about the Lord” 135, treated the Holy Scriptures as an archaeological scientist denying the close connection between the Old and New Testaments. Approach of St. Hesychia is directly opposite: he is based on the conviction that any step in the development of the Old Testament Revelation has the goal of approaching the knowledge of the Word made man 136, that It is the focus of the entire Old Testament, since “Christ and His sufferings constitute the principle of theology” 137. Therefore, the Mystery of the Incarnation 138 begins already with the creation of the world. If we wanted to briefly formulate the teaching of the vast majority of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem, we could say that the author is inspired by three main themes: the Incarnation, the Cross and the Resurrection of Christ. These three main events in world history had one goal - to save perishing fallen man from sin and death. St. Hesychius speaks clearly and specifically about Adam’s sin, without going into deep philosophical reasoning. He does not try to explain how and why the fall of the first man occurred, but with amazing clarity he shows what its consequences are, what its severity is for Adam and Eve and for those descended from them: on the one hand, the fall brought physical and spiritual death, which deprives the creation of what God intended him for 139, man is deprived of his union with God, loses the grace of the Holy Spirit 140, he is removed from filial dignity; on the other hand, the Fall blinds a person’s consciousness 141 and leads the sinner’s nature to physical and mental poverty 142 . This is how St. speaks about it. Hesychius’s eulogy in honor of the martyr Procopius: “The apostasy has made the human race captive; Adam was deluded, but did not accept the feeling of disappointment: God for him is not God, stones are gods, the Creator is not the Creator, the works of hands, the sculptures of fingers are creators... Then the enemy of life jumped off; Thou shalt not kill (Exod. 20, 13–17) considered it a joke, did not commit adultery, ridiculed it, did not steal, thought it depended on circumstances, did not bear false witness, called it nonsense and a myth, [said that] the commandment not to covet anything, that of your neighbor was something hostile to life, and the Law was alien to the existing order of things” 143. “God struck us,” we read in another place, “when he condemned Adam to death, when he sentenced us to eat bread by the sweat of our brow, when he commanded the earth to produce thorns and thistles for us, when because of the primeval things he expelled the entire race from the “paradise of sweetness.” 144. Elsewhere we read: “The human race fell ill in many different ways: with the fever of licentiousness, with envy.” love of money and sensual pleasure, ignorance of witchcraft, madness of idolatry" 145. From now on, any person is not only deprived of an inheritance, but is also the bearer of a certain dirty spot (Úpoj), which he received from Adam 146. When St. Hesychius tries to explain the way this generational corruption of nature is transmitted; he argues that the nature of the primordial Adam before the Fall was good 147 and that the cause of sin is not the body. Therefore, if a child is born infected with sin, then this should not be attributed to the generative act as such, but to the fact that infected parents can only give birth to infected children 148. Salvation from sin, from the hereditary corruption that every person receives from the forefather Adam, is carried out by Christ when He is incarnated and goes through the main stages of human life on earth: birth, growth, death. The Incarnation of Christ is perceived as the beginning of deliverance from these troubles: “We have found Him whom Adam lost, Whom Eve lost, Whom the cloud of our sinfulness hid from our eyes, Whom our disobedience separated from us” 149. The good exhaustion of the Divinity (t¾n ¢paqÁ knwsin tÁj qeÒthtoj), the immutability and impermanence of the incarnation 150, the humiliated state in which Christ was on earth had a certain redemptive meaning: “I was born from a Woman ─ and the guilt of Eve was resolved; I bore the image of a slave ─ and freed Adam from his debt; I lay down in a manger ─ and having become like cattle, I was freed from the curse and freed from shame; I put on rags ─ and healed the wound of nakedness" 151. Baptism is also viewed from a sotereological perspective: “If I am not baptized, then who will sanctify the water of baptism, who will crush the heads of the serpent, how will the elements be made white, how will the creation be cleansed, how will Adam’s dirty garments be washed?” 152. But these passages should not be understood to mean that Adam was already redeemed at the moment of the Incarnation. The salvation of man begins with the Incarnation of God the Word, is accomplished during His earthly life and is fulfilled on the Cross and in the Resurrection. “From the immeasurable abyss of His goodness and love for mankind,” says St. Hesychius, ─ God pours out to us His holy feasts, in which our salvation was accomplished” 153. Elsewhere we read: “For for our sake Christ is circumcised, for us he is baptized, and for us he makes cleansing according to the Law. When He wept, He washed His nature; when he was scourged, he freed us from captivity; when he lifted up the Cross, he lightened us from the burden of sinfulness; when he was spat on, then he healed Adam from being spat upon with a curse” 154. Each event in the life of Christ is thus considered as one of the steps to salvation, for it sanctified all stages of human development, every age and brought the God-Man closer to the goal of His coming to earth ─ to the Cross and Resurrection: “First He was buried in the womb of the flesh, then ─ in the womb of the earth, in one case by pregnancy sanctifying those who are born, in the other by the Resurrection reviving the dead.” 155. The Cross and Resurrection are inextricably linked. The word “cross” itself is most often used in the Easter homilies of St. Hesychia. The suffering of Christ began even before the Sacrifice of the Cross, when he voluntarily bore upon Himself the impeccable passions inherent in human nature: “The sorrow of nature has been in defense of sorrows since the time when the Savior’s stay [on earth] began” 156. “Have You not endured hunger, and thirst, and labor?.. Having labored in traveling on land, You walk without difficulty on the waves of the sea” 157. “The Potter wanted to save the dying clay in no other way, but only in such a way that he himself intended to lie with it” 158. It should be recognized that the very concept of atonement, which we find in the Holy Scriptures, as well as in some St. fathers, including St. Hesychia of Jerusalem is of a purely legal nature: it is a slave ransom, a debt paid for those who, unable to repay, remain imprisoned. The theme of the intermediary, the Cross connecting man with God, is also legal. But, as can be seen from the sermons of St. Hesychia, the image of atonement and the mediator were not the only ones in patristic writing; rather, on the contrary, they were included in an almost endless series of other images, each of which is, as it were, one aspect of an event that human words cannot express. In the Gospel we meet the image of the Good Shepherd looking for a lost sheep, a “strong man” defeating a robber and taking away his spoils, a woman who found and cleansed a lost drachma. The most common patristic image is the image of a victorious warrior who destroyed an enemy fortress and crushed the gates of hell. At St. Hesychius we find many similar images: “How great is the day [of the Resurrection ─T. E.], into which Adam was reborn, sin was oppressed, death was crushed, the Potter regained his vessel, the Shepherd his sheep, the Merchant his pearl?” 159. The resurrected Christ, “having trampled death, captured the tormentor and plundered hell, ascended to heaven as a King ─ with victory, as a Leader ─ with glory, as a Leader” 160. St. Hesychius does not use the term qwsij; in his sermons there is the idea of ​​the redemption of man, but it is understood not only legally, but also in the sense of healing a person from that sinful corruption (Úpoj), which is inherent in every descendant of Adam. The absence of the term “deification” is rather explained by his tendency to speak simply, figuratively without going into terminological subtleties, but this does not exclude the very idea of ​​deification from his works. In the Incarnation of Christ, human nature achieved deification, but in the works of St. Hesychia, we do not encounter statements directly linking deification with various actions or states of Christ at different stages of His saving activity. The idea of ​​progressive deification, deification in time, seems to St. Hesychius is completely alien and belongs to the Nestorian tendency. If we remember why St. Hesychius denounced Theodore of Mopsuestia, we will never allow the thought that the Jerusalem presbyter could share the latter’s opinion about the progressive deification of the man Jesus. 2.5. Some images, comparisons and metaphors used in the sermons of St. Hesychia In almost every homily of St. Hesychia we encounter many figurative expressions with the help of which the preacher tries to express deep dogmatic truths. The simplicity and accuracy with which he uses these expressions speaks of a person not only well educated, but possessing the gift of artistic expression. The question arises whether St. followed here. Hesychius, some general tradition or was it individual? To answer this question, we decided to turn to those patristic texts that use similar images, similes and metaphors, and also to outline the history of interpretation of some biblical themes and texts 161 . Seated on cherubim. Often in the sermons of St. Hesychia Christ is called “Seated on the Cherubim”, on the “Cherubim Throne”. The Lord ascending to heaven “raises the image of a slave to the throne of the cherubim (ej t¾n kaqdran tîn ceroubn)” 162 . The mother's womb of the Mother of God is “a seat, not inferior to the throne of the cherubim” 163 The Bethlehem manger 164, the colt on which Christ sat when he solemnly entered Jerusalem 165, is compared with the same throne. We encounter a similar metaphor in the exegetical works of St. Hesychia. In the Commentary on the Psalms, he writes: “Having entered the upper room of Zion, when the doors were locked, He (Christ) revealed His greatness and wisely showed through this miracle that He Himself was seated on the cherubim.” 166 Here we must remember the two Cherubim, covered with gold, which were in the Holy of Holies of the Jerusalem Temple (1 Kings 6, 23 ─28; 8, 6─7): their outstretched wings were perceived as the place on which the Lord sits, from where the expression Ð kaq»menoj p tîn ceroubn (Ps. 79, 2 and 98, 1. Dan.3:55). In the book of the prophet Isaiah we read: “Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who sits on the cherubim! You alone are the God of all the kingdoms of the earth; You created heaven and earth “(Is. 37:16). We should also remember the vision of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1:5 ─28). As can be seen from the above texts, the use of this expression is for St. Hesychia is the means by which he solemnly proclaims the divinity of Christ 167. The Savior in some places is called the leader (¹nocoj) of the cherubic chariot: “As the director of the cherubic chariots (Ð tîn ceroubikîn ¡rm£twn ¹nocoj) ─ in swaddling clothes (n sparg£noij), as “He who is in the bosom of the Fathers” ─ in a manger?” 168. We see here an allusion to Ps. 67, 18 ─19 and on the four animals from the vision of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1, 5 ─14 and 10, 5─21), which make up Yahweh’s chariot. In the first sermon on Easter, St. Hesychius also calls Christ the leader 169. The resurrected Christ, as a triumphant, ascends to heaven in a chariot drawn by Cherubim, He holds the reins of this chariot. As we can see, this image is borrowed from Holy Scripture and is quite common in patristic writing. Here it is worth citing the text of St. Proclus of Constantinople, although the epithet ¹nocoj is not used in it: “Therefore heaven now beholds this King who rises (¢nabanonta), covered with His sufferings like purple, crowned with thorns, sparkling with mercy, holding the weapon of the Cross (Óplon tÕ staurikÒn) with which He fought hordes of demons. He sat on the chariot of the redemptive economy, was carried by spirits, like horses harnessed to a chariot on two wheels ─ the Old and New Testaments. Below ─ the captives unanimously see off the Victor with applause; above ─ the angels greet with a trumpet the ascension (¥nodon) of the King” 170. St. Hesychius often calls Christ the Sun of Truth, borrowing this expression from the book of St. Malachi (Mal.3:20). In the second sermon in honor of Mary the Mother of God we read: “The Jews, being adamant, and even more stiff-necked, seeing the “Sun of Truth” appearing in their native land, did not hasten to imitate in knowledge those who were brought from afar by the star” 171. This image, borrowed from prophecy, began to be used quite early in patristic writing in relation to Christ. Already Clement of Alexandria wrote: “The Sun of Truth, which has taken possession of everything, equally bypasses humanity, imitating the Father, Who shines His sun on all people and sends the dew of truth” 172. Here are some more interesting texts. St. Proclus of Constantinople: “I went out to meet Christ, the Sun of Truth, together with the rational Virgins” 173. “The stars (newly baptized) came out of the water, and the Sun of Truth appeared above them” 174. Ave. Epiphanius of Cyprus: “The Sun of Truth, after three days, has risen today and enlightened the whole creation, the three-day and eternal Vine has vegetated, Christ, who has filled the entire universe with joy” 175. St. Hesychius often uses the verb ¢natllein, which is a technical term for sunrise. In the Gospel of Mark (Mark 16:2) it is found in the context of the Resurrection of Christ. The same verb is used by St. Hesychium in order to designate the ascent of the “Sun of Truth,” Christ, through the Cross into heaven. St. Hesychius often borrows images and comparisons from his surroundings, namely from the setting of the church in which these sermons were delivered. Thus, the lighting of the church, the presence of lamps in it, gives rise to the use of a special metaphor, depicting Christ in the form of one source of light, a large lamp, from which believers light their lamps. In the first sermon on Easter, St. Hesychius calls on his listeners to form a solemn assembly on this holy night with luminous processions (dvdoucaij eraj panhgurswmen) 176 . It should be noted that the use of this word dvdouca (carrying torches, torchlight procession) in St. Hesychia is relatively rare. It is also found in a fragment of another sermon: “In you, the torchlight procession was made up of one star, in the same - many. That [star] showed the way to the Magi, but this [Zion] illuminated the Parthians, Medes, Elamites and people from all nations with the light of its radiance" 177 . This word is borrowed from the dictionary of pagan mysteries 178. We find similar terminology in other St. fathers. St. John Chrysostom, for example, writes: “O Easter, enlightenment with a new light, decoration of a bright festive procession” 179. Didim the Blind: “On the top of the solid golden candlestick there is a lamp ─ the Word, shining around the Trinity. From this lamp the prudent virgins, who made up the torchlight procession (a dvdoucoàsai parqnoi), lit their lamps and came out to meet their divine Bridegroom” 180. St. Gregory the Theologian: “Wasn’t the day of renewal and the first Sunday that followed that sacred and luminous night (¹ met¦ t¾n er¦n nÚkta ka dvdoucan)?” 181. Elsewhere in the first Paschal homily of St. Hesychius already uses the Gospel image: “They no longer light a lamp and put it in a secret, but I call the Law in a secret, but on a candlestick; The lamp is the Word, for for the unbelievers the Word appeared and was hidden under the Law, as if under a bushel, but when it ascended to the Cross and was placed on the candlestick, then it shone throughout the entire circle of the universe” 182 . The metaphor of a lamp and a candlestick is quite common among St. Hesychia: in the laudatory speech of St. To the martyr Stephen, he calls the first martyr “candlestick of the Word” (lucnan toà LÒgou) 183. The theme of a lamp, which should be placed on a candlestick, instead of being hidden under a bushel, found great popularity among St. fathers. Parallel Gospel passages (Matt. 5, 14─16; Mark 4, 21; Luke 8, 16 and 11, 33) with all sorts of options (spud, hiding place, bed, vessel) gave rise to very diverse interpretations. Often St. the fathers remember the golden candlestick that had seven lamps, which the prophet Zechariah saw (Zechariah 4:2). A candlestick (lucna, candelabrum) can represent the soul and body of Christ 184, the Virgin Mary 185. Most often, the candlestick is understood as an image of the Church 186. Ave. Maximus the Confessor gives a very peculiar etymology of this word (lÚcnoj = lÚein + nÚcoj); he writes: “So, that candlestick (lucnan), which they saw through the prophet, we can contemplate in what was said only covertly. The Lamp (lamp£dion) that is placed on it is the Light of the Father and Truth, which enlightens every person coming into the world, ─ Our Lord Jesus Christ, through joining to that of us and to our body became and began to be called the Lamp, revered, being one in nature with God and the Father, the hypostatic Wisdom and the Word, preached in the Church of God, life in virtues and through keeping the commandments, exalted and shining among the nations thanks to pious faith, shining to all who are in the church (I mean this world)... It is obvious that He calls Himself a lamp (lÚcnoj), since He is by nature God and became flesh by dispensation: indeed He, Who is light in essence, just as fire is maintained in a lamp by means of a wick (di¦ qrualldoj), so also He, not being limited (¢perigr£fwj) by the soul, is nevertheless kept in an earthen vessel (Ñstr£kJ) body... Therefore, He is called in Scripture a lamp (see Ps. 119, 105)─ for the word “lamp” (lÚcnoj) comes from the words tÕ lÚein (“allow”, “free”) and tÕ nÚcoj (“night”); at night, those who are zealous in explaining the meaning of words call darkness ─ It is He alone, since He is a lamp, liberating from the darkness of ignorance and the darkness of evil, and has become the path of salvation for everyone... The candlestick (lucnan) is the holy Church, having shone on which, through preaching, the Word of God enlightens all those who find themselves in this world, as in some kind of church... But in the distance (mÒdion) symbolically He calls the Jewish synagogue, referring to the carnal ministry of the Law. Behind the thickness (tù p£cei) of symbols contained in the letter (of the Law), they had absolutely unrecognizable light of true knowledge of spiritual things. Under this veil, the Word did not want to be contained at all, wanting to be placed in a high place and at the pinnacle of church beauty...” 187. Among the sea of ​​patristic works, it is necessary to highlight mainly those texts that are closer to the interpretation of St. Hesychia, i.e. those in which the Cross plays the role of a candlestick. This interpretation of this gospel image is more common among Western fathers. St. Hilary of Pictavia writes: “So the lamp of Christ (lucerna Christi) should not be placed in a hidden place (sub modio) or hidden under the cover (operimento) of the synagogue, but, hanging on the tree of suffering (in ligni passione), He will provide eternal light to those living in the Church” 188. Blzh. Augustine: “The lighting of a lamp is the Incarnation of the Word, and the candlestick is the Tree of the Cross; The lamp shining on the candlestick is Christ hanging on the Cross” 189. But the closest to the interpretation of St. Hesychia is a text belonging to Chromatius, bishop. Aquileian (†407), participant in the council of 381, convened against the Arians in Aquileia: “Let us understand that the Lord Himself is depicted in the form of a lamp because of the humiliation of the received body (propter assumpti corporis humilitatem). Therefore He is not only called the Sun of righteousness by the grace of divinity (secundum gloriam divinitatis), but is also a lamp by the pledge of the received body (secundum assumpti corporis sacramentum); for when He was humbled in this world regarding grace and eternal greatness (cum esset gloriae et maiestatis aeternae humilis), then He appeared as a lamp... So, this lamp, that is, the Incarnation of Christ, depicted by the Law and the Prophets, of course, does not hide under the darkness of the predictions of the Law, as if under a bushel, and is not hidden from the unbelief of the scribes and Pharisees, as under some kind of vessel of infidelity (vase perfidiae), but, established on the Cross, as on a candlestick, illuminates the entire house of the Church. So, by the mystery of the Incarnation He is a lamp, and by the grace of the deity He is the Sun of Truth. Finally, on the very candlestick of the Cross (in ipso crucis candelabra), the Lord shone like the sun, when, through the apostolic sermon, as if with certain rays, He filled the entire universe with the brightest light of His knowledge” 190 . We find a similar place in the sermon placed among the works of St. John Chrysostom: “...On the Cross, like a lamp on a candlestick (æj n lucnv lÚcnoj) He enlightened the universe” 191 . Another text: “...Again, the bright wisdom of Christ, having lit the lamp (lÚcnon) and placed it on the candlestick of the Cross (p t¾n lucnan toà stauroà), illuminates the entire universe for the purpose of piety. Divine wisdom, using this lamp, found one lost drachma and added it to the nine angelic drachmas” 192. Ave. Roman Sweet Singer: “Then He ascended to the Cross, like a lamp on a candlestick (æj n lucnv Ð lÚcnoj), and from there looked out over the primordial Adam sitting in darkness and gloom, and the Inseparable One is diligent in going to him” 193. In the second Easter sermon we come across an interesting comparison: “Our sacred and royal trumpet united us in this meeting, a trumpet that filled Bethlehem and set Zion on fire, for which the Cross was the hammer, and the Resurrection the anvil. I don’t know how to depict its beauty, how to describe its radiance, how to tell the joy [given] by the Cross, how to explain the royal grandeur [revealed] by the Resurrection? With which hand will I touch this pipe? 194 What kind of pipe is this? This metaphor sometimes means in St. Hesychia Gospel 195. As a rule, this gospel trumpet is contrasted in St. Hesychius zither of the Old Testament 196. Elsewhere the word s£lpigx is applied to the Apostles 197 or one of the Apostles, namely the apostle. Peter, which is called the “trumpet of the Sacrament” 198. But in the Easter homily the trumpet apparently signifies Christ, who convenes and unites Christians on this Easter holiday, 199 being, as it were, forged between an anvil and a hammer. Calling Christ “the herald (lit.: trumpeter) of the Resurrection,” St. Hesychius shows how Jesus is revealed in this mystery as God and man. Bethlehem, Zion, Cross, Resurrection ─ all these holy places mark the main stages that the Incarnate God the Word went through in His earthly life: birth, death, resurrection. About a hundred years later, St. Roman the Sweet Singer, in one of his kontakia, will use the same metaphor of a trumpet to point to Christ: “After insults, after many blows, He who abides everywhere and fulfills everything was hung on a tree like a trumpet” 200 . A blacksmith heats the metal in a furnace before working it on an anvil. The memory of the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles is associated with the appearance of tongues of fire resting on each of the Apostles (Acts 2:3). Is it possible to admit the idea that St. Does Hesychius compare Christ to gold, which is thrown into the fire of suffering in order to heal (purify) human nature (Job 22:25; Ps. 11:7 and 65:10; Proverbs 10:20)? Let us cite passages from St. fathers, in whom we find the metaphor of a hammer (sfàra) and an anvil (¥kmwn). St. Basil of Seleucia, speaking about Baptism, uses the same vocabulary: “Like a smelter (n cwneuthrJ), He forges anew (¢nacalkeÚei) the one who descends into the water” 201. St. Epiphanius of Cyprus depicts the enemies of Christ during His suffering and says of them that “they encountered an invincible anvil (tù ¢htt"tJ ¥kmoni) and were defeated” 202. We read a similar text from St. Hesychia in the laudatory speech of St. ap. Andrey is 203. We see here all the same metaphors: trumpeter, hammer, anvil, bellows (¢skÒj). The hammer here also symbolizes the Cross; the fact that fire is connected with the Spirit confirms the assumption that we are talking about some great spiritual fire taking place in Zion. In the hints that the author makes about the Cross, we can notice different degrees of its perception: first he talks about the signs of the Cross, that is, about images of the Cross and miracles intended by God in order to arouse faith in people: “so that no one refuses to believe in the signs of the Cross” 204; “look at Rome, beloved, which reigns majestically under the signs of the Cross raised in the middle of the Forum” 205. In the Interpretation on the book. Prophet Isaiah St. Hesychius says this about the image of the Cross: Ð de zwgr£fwn tÍ ceir tÕn staurÕn, tÁj douleaj tÁj toà kurou sÚmbolon 206 . Signs (shmeon) mean miracles, events that attract attention due to the extraordinary nature of the fact that occurred. Let us quote Hesychius himself: “The sufferings of the Lord’s body are the actions of divine power (virtute divinitatis actae sunt); in fact, how then could such great things happen, i.e., an eclipse of the sun, an earthquake, the disintegration of stones, and the like? Some share Christ, saying: “He who was of Mary suffered; Who did not suffer from the Father.” But we have one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things (1 Cor. 8:6), for Paul says according to this: although He suffered as a man, yet in His suffering He performed miracles (miracula) as God, but He was never divided (nusquam divisus).”207 In other places the preacher points to the relics of the Cross kept in Jerusalem in the Martyrium, in the basilica built by the emperor. Constantine the Great. In the Church of the Resurrection, the Cross was raised on Golgotha, between the church called the Resurrection (Anastasis) and the Basilica of Constantine. Beginning in 420, this Cross was gold, decorated with precious stones (a gift from Emperor Theodosius II), as evidenced by St. Theophanes the Confessor: “In the same year (5920 from the creation of the world), the pious Theodosius, following the example of blessed Pulcheria, sent many expensive gifts to the Archbishop of Jerusalem... and a golden Cross, decorated with precious stones, in order to install it on Saint Golgotha" 208 . For the author of the sermon, it seems that faith in the miracles that occurred during the Crucifixion is not enough “to please the blessed and blessed tree of the Cross” 209 . Listeners are invited to live near this saving Cross 210 . Hence the pathos that seizes the preacher in the presence of the great shrine: “O Tree, more magnificent than the sky... O Tree, thrice blessed, O Tree, which brought salvation to the world” 211. The preacher is so passionate about his topic that he calls the ap. Paul as a slave of the Cross. Ap. Paul sometimes calls himself a slave (see Rom. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; Titus 1:1), but a slave of Jesus Christ, and not a slave of the Cross, although he constantly remembers the crucified Lord. The Tree of the Cross is here, as it were, personified and identified with the Crucified and Risen Christ, Who accomplishes salvation, fights the army of the devil, etc. Already St. Cyril of Jerusalem used the same phrase in his public conversations: “The Holy Tree of the Cross, visible to us to this day, testifies, and has almost filled the entire universe with itself through those who receive from it here with faith” 212. Emperor Julian the Apostate, according to St. Cyril of Alexandria, reproached Christians for deifying the Cross 213. Appeals to the Cross as a living being are characteristic of later church hymnography 214 . Hint of St. Hesychia will become more understandable if we remember that when he delivered his sermon (at the all-night vigil), the rite of veneration of the Cross had just been performed. “At dawn, on Friday,” we read in the Armenian Lectionary, “the venerable Tree of the Cross is placed in front of Holy Golgotha. And those who gather there worship him until the sixth hour." 215 Elsewhere, the Cross is seen as the Sacrament of Redemption: “The Sun of Truth,” our Lord Jesus Christ, “rose through the Cross (di¦ stauroà¢nteilen) and illuminated the entire circle of the inhabited earth” 216. When He lifted up the Cross, He lightened us from the burden of sinfulness 217. The cross brings peace to the warring together with Christ, for, like a sword, it cuts off the head of a tyrant 218. The cross is compared to the anvil on which Christ is forged; with a hook with which the apostles catch the universe; with a sword cutting off the enemy's head; the royal and bridal chamber into which the Bridegroom Christ ascends; a candlestick on which the Lamp of the Word is placed, a bridge leading to heaven, a trophy ─ a sign of victory over the devil 219. St. Hesychius mentions many times the educational significance of the rod of Moses (£bdoj) as a symbol of the Cross 220. The author of the sermon emphasizes some contrast between ma·£bdoj mwsak" (“one rod of Moses in itself”) and the rod suggenev prÕj tÕ toà stauroà xÚlon (the same rod “due to its relationship with the Tree of the Cross”): in the first case, the rod of Moses eliminates Egyptian slavery; in the second ─ due to its typological significance ─ it already eliminates sin. The book of Exodus does not say this directly, but St. We find a fairly close interpretation of Irenaeus of Lyon and Origen 221. Even the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, to which Adam stretches out his hand, is seen as a prototype of the Tree of the Cross, on which the crucified Christ stretched out His hands 222. The theme of Christ with outstretched arms is found elsewhere in St. Hesychia. In the Commentary on the Psalms, explaining the verse “All day long I have stretched out my hands to You” (Ps. 87:10), he writes: “It is obvious that we are talking about the Cross. The High Priest, who offers sacrifice (qusan) for us, spreading (ktenwn) his hands in prayer, fulfills for us the redemptive economy (okonoman) of suffering” 223 . Some St. fathers we find similar texts. In one of the sermons attributed to St. John Chrysostom, we read: “Truly, You sheltered us, Jesus, from great destruction, stretched out your fatherly hands, hid us under Your fatherly wings” 224. St. Amphilochius of Iconium says: “He spreads out (tanÚetai) on the Tree, Who spread out the heavens (tenaj) with His word” 225. The difference between St. Hesychia of Jerusalem consists in the fact that he presents this gesture of Christ as a response to the gesture of the unfortunate Adam, who stretched out his hand to pluck the forbidden fruit 226. St. Hesychius speaks of the protective power of the Cross (“phylacteries ─ fulakt”rion·─ Cross”) 227 . Here, of course, there can be no talk of any kind of superstition: Christians at all times have considered the Cross as a sign of victory over the devil and a weapon in the fight against him. The cross was one of the signs that was inscribed, for example, on doorposts. However, the word fulakt»rion is used quite rarely in ancient Christian literature. St. Hesychius often uses the word past£j: “Zion, when the doors were closed (see John 20:26), received and had within itself, within the bridal chamber (past£da), the Bridegroom” 228. This word also denotes the altar of the church in honor of St. ap. Stephen 229 or the rotunda of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ 230. Taken in a metaphorical sense, it is also applied in relation to the Sacrament of the Incarnation: “The true light... comes from your womb, as if from some royal palace (k tinoj past£doj basilikÁj) 231. The examples given by Lampe in the PGL show that the word past£j most often means either the union of the Word and humanity in the womb of Mary, or, as in the Easter sermon of St. Hesychia, the union of Christ and the Church in the tomb, which is compared to the bridal chamber. In Easter sermons there are very often references to this mystical marriage. For example, St. John Chrysostom writes: “Therefore, only he is the groom, if we consider all of humanity as the bride; even John, the greatest of the prophets, was not a groom... And the apostles are not all grooms, although without a doubt they received by grace the likeness of Christ, becoming sons of Christ through the Spirit of Christ” 232. Here is a text belonging to St. Proclus of Constantinople, very close in meaning to the sermon of St. Hesychia: “Never has a tomb (mnÁma) met the Destroyer (porqht"n) of death... Never has the earth been adorned with a tomb containing life (zwodÒcJ), which is less a tomb than a bridal chamber (numfîni): verily, He who was buried did not undergo corruption, but there below He entered into marriage (numfeÚsato). Never did nature give birth (loceÚqh) three days and three nights in order to come to the Resurrection: truly, He Who was formed in the womb of the Virgin in a way that He alone knew, ─ This same One also revealed His Resurrection, uniting His soul with His own Body, which was separated from it for three days” 233. The dream of Christ in the tomb resembles the dream of Adam (Gen. 2:21), during which God created a wife for a man, taken from his rib 234. In patristic writings a parallel is often drawn between the Incarnation of the Word within Mary and the burial of Jesus within the earth 235 . For example, at St. We read to Proclus of Constantinople: “The door (qÚra) of life, He entered when the doors were locked (kekleismnwn qurîn), He entered ─ He alone knows how. Just as, indeed, He was born without destroying the doors (pÚlaj) of virginity, so He ended up inside the house without opening the lock (kleqron); just as he rose (¢nlqen) from the grave, and, moreover, remaining closed (kekleismnou), in the same way, without opening the doors, He entered with His body where He resided according to divinity” 236. In these texts, the parallel established between the incarnation of the Word within Mary and the burial of Jesus within the earth is almost always used to designate the virgin birth of Christ: a new tomb hewn in a rock in which no one had yet been laid (Matt. 27, 60; Mark 15, 46; 23, 53; John 19:41); closed and sealed exit from the tomb (Matt. 27, 66); appearing in the midst of the Apostles, with doors closed (John 20:19)." Christ, hidden in the womb of Mary, sanctified by this His generation every human birth; hidden within the earth, through the Resurrection He gives life to those who were killed by sin. To designate the enemy of the human race, the devil, St. Hesychius uses the word cqrÒj. Others have St. fathers we also find another name for it: polmioj 237. This enemy is called invisible. Without a doubt, St. Hesychius alludes to the words of St. Paul (Eph. 2:2; 6:12), who call the devil and evil spirits princes of the air. The idea that air is an element dominated by demons, as well as the idea that Christ, ascended on the Cross, cleanses this element from unclean demons, we find in many holy fathers. St. John Chrysostom says: “Why is He (Christ) slain on the height of the platform (krou), and not under the roof (ØpÕ stghn)? To purify the airy nature" 238. In another text attributed to St. We read to John: “And Christ and God were exalted on him, so as to destroy the demons nesting (mfilocwroàntaj) in the air, and make our ascent to heaven unhindered (eÙepbaton)” 239. Another name for a demon used by St. Hesychius ─ “tyrant” (tÚrannoj). In the examples given by Lampe, the most ancient author is Clement of Alexandria (“this crafty tyrant and serpent ─ ponhrÕj oØtos tÚrannoj ka dr£kwn”) 240. And here is the text attributed to St. Epiphanius of Cyprus: “With the spear that opened the side of God (tÍ qeopleÚrJ), he pierced (diatr”saj) the disembodied heart (¥sarkon) of the tyrant... Therefore, if you follow Christ in silence, you will see where he bound the tyrant, where he hung him by the head” 241. The devil is compared to an earthly ruler who tortures and mercilessly mocks his slaves. Christ, by His suffering on the Cross and Resurrection, delivers people from this slavery. The cross drives out the army of the devil 242; he, like a sword, cuts off the head of the tyrant and brings peace to the militants along with Christ 243; Christ tramples death, takes the tyrant captive and plunders hell 244. In order to depict the victory of Christ over hell, St. Hesychius uses the verb skuleÚein (to remove the armor from a killed enemy). The expression “to trample under foot (katapaten) death” goes back to 1 Cor. 15, 25 ─27: Christ stepped (Øptaxen) with His feet on the enemy, i.e. death. The phrase katapaten q£naton is found already in St. Melito of Sardis (“pede deculcavit mortem”) 245, we also find it in St. Athanasius of Alexandria 246, Ave. Roman the Sweet Singer 247 and other fathers. Most often this refers to trampling underfoot the devil and hell 248 . St. Hesychius says about Christ that He “as a dead man descended into hell, and as God freed the dead” 249, “having plundered hell, he ascended to heaven” 250. Here the preacher touches on a classic theme for patristic writing: the descent of Christ into hell. This is one of the most mysterious and difficult to explain events in New Testament history. We find mention of it in the Holy Scriptures (Acts 2:22 ─24; 29─32; 1 Peter 3:18 ─21; 4:6; Eph. 4:9), in the New Testament apocrypha 251, in many Eastern and Western fathers and church writers of the 2nd-8th centuries. 252, as well as in liturgical texts (mainly Octoechos and Triodion). It should be noted, however, that the descent into hell began to be mentioned quite late in the Creeds. For the first time it is mentioned in the so-called. the fourth formula of the Council of Sirmium (359): ej t¦ katacqÒnia katelqÒnta ka t¦ kese okonom"santa 253, then a little later the symbol of the Council of Aquileia (381), according to the text transmitted by the presbyter Rufinus: “Descendit in inferna... In Ecclesiae romanae symbolo, non habet additum descendit in inferna: sed neque in Orientis ecclesiis habetur hic sermo" 254. It is probable that the West was influenced on this point of doctrine by the Syriac Symbols. Thus, official church recognition of Christ’s descent into hell did not occur immediately. However, belief in the very fact of this event was traditional in the ancient Church. The word katabanein itself is borrowed from Eph. 4, 9 ─10; texts such as 1 Peter 3:19 always attracted the attention of early Christian writers. St. Hesychius follows this general church tradition. But in him we also find some development of this theme. In his sermon on the resurrection of Lazarus, St. Hesychius describes Lazarus' stay in hell and his descent from there. Lazarus preaches in the underworld to the Old Testament righteous about the coming of the Messiah the Savior into the world and receives from them complaints addressed to the Savior about their painful situation in hell, so that Lazarus would transfer them to Christ when he returns to life 255. Hell is personified, presented as if it were a living creature, outraged by the fact that the dead are being taken away from it 256. Christ encourages Lazarus, calls on him not to be afraid of the gatekeepers of hell, for they will not dare to restrain him, called by Christ 257. These gatekeepers trembled when they saw Christ Himself coming to deliver the first parents from dark captivity 258. When Christ descends into the abyss of hell, he takes Adam by the right hand and leads him out of hell 259. Some texts by St. Roman the Sweet Singer also depict this in poetic form: “You were laid in a tomb, and you gave us paradise as a home. Having descended into the depths of hell, You lifted me up (¢nÚywsaj). Having despised the doors of hell, You opened the doors of heaven for me." 260 “Then Jesus Christ wakes up (xanstatai) as if from a dream and tightly binds the hands of it (hell), shouting to the captives: rise (¢n£sthte), you who are in hell and leap, saying to him: hell, where is your victory" 261. Mention of the “gatekeepers of hell” (see Job 38:17) is quite common in St. fathers when they begin to talk about Christ’s descent into hell or the Resurrection. St. Athanasius the Great cites the confession of faith of the fathers gathered in Arimin: “We know that this Only Begotten Son of God... descended into the underworld and there completed His economy (and the gatekeepers of hell (pulwro¯dou), when they saw Him, were horrified)” 262. St. Cyril of Jerusalem writes in one of his censorious words: “Death was horrified when it saw that a new Someone had descended into hell, uncontained by the bonds there. Why, when you saw Him, were you afraid (pt"xasqe), you gatekeepers of hell?" 263. In the ancient Church, the glorification of the risen Christ often consisted of describing the scene of His ascension into heaven. At the same time, Ps. was often quoted. 23:7, as does St. Hesychius in his first Easter homily 264 to depict in vivid colors how Christ comes from hell and enters heaven, leading with Him hosts of the righteous, how He approaches the heavenly abodes, how the angels who prepare the way for Him meet Him 265 . Here is a very beautiful text from St. Proclamation of Constantinople on the same topic: “Take the gates of your princes and look at the Stone, which was broken off without the help of a human hand from the virgin mountain (Dan. 2:34; 45) and which crushed the devil: He truly trampled underfoot hell and the devil, like an asp and a basilisk (Ps. 90:13). Take the gates of your princes and look at the Offspring (bl£sthma) of the Virgin and the Avenger (kdikon) of Eve. Take the gates of your princes and see the One who filled the breasts of the Virgin with milk (galakto¸·uen). Take the gates of your princes and look at the One whom John welcomed from the womb of his mother. Take the gates of your princes and see the One who rises upward to ascend. (¥nodon), wonderful and wondrous. Take the gates of your princes and look at Him who united the earthly with the heavenly. Take the gates of your princes and look at the One who made heavenly people. Take your gates of princes and see God, who existed before the ages (proaiènion), Who exalts the earth" 266. Introduction to the life and homiletical heritage of St. Hesychia of Jerusalem gives the attentive reader the opportunity to come into contact with a special world, with a special sphere of life of the Church. IV - AD. V century - oratorical and practical preaching. The brightest representative of this type of preaching was St. John Chrysostom. But, as we see, among such great luminaries as the famous saint of Constantinople, there are also lesser-known, but no less eloquent and powerful in word and deed preachers, whose works are valuable pearls in the treasury of the spiritual wisdom of the Church. In the so-called “golden age of patristic writing,” great teachers and preachers flourished: St. Athanasius the Great, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, Gregory of Nyssa and others. The subject of the sermons of these saints were the dogmas of Christianity, which were attacked by heretics. Highly educated bishops, whose language was distinguished by philosophical depth and theological richness, were able to express the basic truths of the Christian faith using the concepts of pagan philosophy. This process of “churching” philosophical language continued subsequently and reached its apogee in the works of St. Maximus the Confessor. But along with this, at all times, near such pillars of the Church there were people whose role was no less significant. These people, being no less educated, deliberately refused to consider deep theological topics in their sermons; they refused not because they did not understand anything about them, but because they did not dare to theologize about incomprehensible things at a time when others, called by God to this special ministry, were doing so. At a time when the theoretical teaching of Christianity was already sufficiently identified in its essential features and more or less well mastered in detail, the creation of another dialectical dogmatic system, giving Christian teaching the character of a comprehensive philosophical worldview, was not a direct immediate task of the Church, called upon to give people only the doctrine necessary for salvation. Even among dogmatic preachers, such “theology” was considered inappropriate and an idle undertaking of worldly vanity. Therefore, starting from St. John Chrysostom, the preachers directed all the power of their eloquence to the moral teaching of Christianity, to the explanation of the Holy Scriptures, to the spiritual guidance of their flock. The truths of faith begin to be explained in the simplest and most accessible language possible. It was during this period that church hymnography flourished - a special form of preaching. One of the representatives of this oratorical-practical type of preaching was St. Hesychius of Jerusalem. Listener and student of St. Gregory the Theologian, an ardent champion of the theology of St. Cyril of Alexandria, an excellent expert on the Holy Scriptures, he learned from his teachers the beauty of style, clarity and clarity of thoughts, biblical thinking, and a certain penchant for lyricism and poetry. Being an extraordinary exegete and rhetorician, he nevertheless does not dare to rise to the heights of theology or engage in fierce theological debates. The main aspiration of St. Hesychia ─ convey to your listeners in a simple, clear, but nevertheless beautiful and poetic language, the meaning of a particular holiday or text of Holy Scripture. His sermons are like large hymns, in which the passage from the Word of God just read during the service serves as the basis and sets the tone for the entire speech. It should be assumed that this type of preaching over time developed into one of the types of early church hymnography - kontakion. Comparing the sermons of St. Hesychia with kontakion etc. Roman the Sweet Singer (VI century), you involuntarily notice the similarities between them. A rather small number of manuscripts containing the works of St. have reached us. Hesychius of Jerusalem. The lack of material, and its very content, do not allow for a scientific synthesis of the theological views of St. father. It is difficult to say whether some of the elements we find in his works are accidental or whether they quite adequately express the author's teaching. This work introduces only one part of the theological heritage of St. Hesychia ─ his homily. The exegetical works of this saint have not yet been translated; they require study and a new, updated publication. father. Such a study is necessary primarily to clarify his Christology. Accusations of St. Hesychia in monophysitism does not have sufficient argumentation. Those theological inaccuracies that we encounter in the sermons of this saint. Father's works indicate rather the lack of development of theological terminology during the period in which he worked, rather than the non-Orthodoxy of the author. Very close to the Alexandrian currents, but not going into speculative reasoning, undoubtedly having the gift of a preacher, St. Hesychius is convinced that understanding the mystery of Christ is the only true knowledge and that culture should only be biblical. St. does not strive to make any effort to develop the dogmatic language of his era. His Easter homilies are the exception rather than the rule in this regard. In his use of imagery, metaphors and similes, St. Hesychius basically follows the general patristic tradition. The composition of biblical references that he cites to confirm certain dogmatic truths is also not distinguished by any exclusivity. The peculiarity of the sermons of St. Hesychia is their very language ─ very expressive, figurative and poetic. Comparisons, metaphors, and contrasts make up almost the entire material of the Jerusalem presbyter’s sermons. The desire to introduce dialogical speech into the composition of their homilies with a rather bold use of the texts of Holy Scripture, the presentation of church doctrine as if on behalf of God and the saints ─ all this gives the sermons of St. Hesychia of Jerusalem has a special unique flavor that makes them recognizable among the homiletical works of other authors. All this makes this little-known theologian a credible witness to the Christian tradition, and perhaps this is one of the reasons that his works overcome language barriers even in the 21st century. 1. Apocryphal apocalypses. Translation by M. Vitkovskaya and V. Vitkovsky. St. Petersburg, 2000. 2. Athanasius the Great, St. Creations. T. 3. Trinity-Sergius Lavra. 1903. 3. Barsov N.I. History of primitive Christian preaching. St. Petersburg, 1885. 4. Barsov N.I. Essays on the history of Christian preaching. Vol. 3. Representatives of the oratorical-practical type of preaching in the 4th century. in the East. Kharkov, 1895. 5. Bible: Books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. M.: Russian Bible Society, 1999. 6. Gregory the Theologian, St. Creations. T. 3. M., 1844. 7. Gregory the Theologian, St. . Creations. Part 4. M. 1844. 8. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Creations. T. 8. M. 1871. P. 44. 9. Acts of the Ecumenical Councils in Russian translation. T. 1, Kazan. 1910. 10. Acts of the Ecumenical Councils in Russian translation. T. 2, Kazan. 1892. 11. Acts of the Ecumenical Councils in Russian translation. T. 5. Kazan, 1913. 12. Philokalia in Russian translation. T. 2. M., 1884. 13. Eusebius of Caesarea. Life of Blessed Basileus Constantine. M., 14. 1998. 15. Ephraim the Syrian, St. Creations. T. 8. Sergiev Posad, 1914. 16. Hieronymus of Stridonsky, Blessed. Creations. T. 2. Kiev, 1894. 17. Jerome, blessed Creations. T. 16. Kyiv, 1901. 18. Hilarion (Alfeev), abbot. Christ ─ Conqueror of hell. The theme of the descent into hell in the Eastern Christian tradition. St. Petersburg, 2001. 19. John Chrysostom, St. Creations. T. 2. St. Petersburg, 1899. 20. John Chrysostom, St. Creations. T. 8. St. Petersburg, 1902. 21. John Chrysostom, St. Creations. T. 10. St. Petersburg, 1904. 22. John Chrysostom, St. Creations. T. 11.SPb., 1905. 23. John Moschus, bl. Spiritual Meadow. Sergiev Posad, 1915. 24. Hippolytus of Rome, St. Apostolic Tradition. // Theological works. 1970. Sat. 5. pp.283–296. 25. Justin Philosopher, martyr. Essays. M., 1892. 26. Cyril of Alexandria, St. Creations.Book 3. / Ed. A. I. Sidorova. M., 2000. 27. Cyril of Alexandria, St. Creations. T.5. M., 1887. 28. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Creations. M., 1855. 29. Kontakion and Ikos of St. Roman Sladkopevets. M., 1881. 30. Lossky V.N. Essay on the mystical theology of the Eastern Church. Dogmatic theology. M., 1991. 31. Melito of Sardis, St. About Easter. Kiev, 1998. 32. Origen. Against Celsus. M. 1996. 33. Palestinian Patericon. Per. I. Pomyalovsky. Vol. 2. St. Petersburg, 1898. 34. Monuments of ancient Christian writing in Russian translation. T. 1. M. 1860. 35. Patristics. New translations, articles. ─ Publishing house in the name of St. Prince Alexander Nevsky. Nizhny Novgorod, 2001. 36. The Scriptures of the Apostolic Men in the Russian translation by Archpriest. P. Preobrazhensky. SPb. , 1895. 37. Ruban. Yu. Presentation of the Lord. Experience in historical and liturgical research. SPB., 1994. P. 155. 38. Sventsitskaya I. Apocryphal Gospels. M., 1996. 39. Semenov V. Sayings of Hesychius and Barnabas according to Russian lists. St. Petersburg, 1892. 40. Semenov V. Materials for the literary history of Russian “Bees”. M., 1895. 41. Sergius (Spassky), archbishop. Full Months of the East. T. 3. M., 1997. 42. Socrates Scholasticus. Church history. St. Petersburg, 1850. 43. Uspensky N. D. Byzantine liturgy. // Theological works. Sat. 21. M., 1980. P. 5─53. 44. Filaret (Gumilevsky), archbishop. Historical teaching about the Fathers of the Church. T. 3. TSL, 1993. 45. Florovsky G., prot. Eastern fathers of the V-VIII centuries. Paris, 1933. 46. Aland 1968 ─ The Greek New Testament, 2nd edn. /Hrsg. Aland K., Black M., Martini C.M., Metzger B.M. and Wikgren A.,. Stuttgart: Württemberg Bible Society, 1968. 47. Altaner B. Stuiber A. Patrologie. Leben, Schriften und Lehre der Kirchenväter. Freiburg, Basel, Wien, 1978. 48. Aubineau 1972 ─ Homélies pascales: Hésychius de Jérusalem, Basee de Séleucie, Jean de Béryte, Pseudo-Chpysostome, Léonce de Constantinople. / Éd. Aubineau M. (SC 182). Paris, 1972. 49. Aubineau 1978–1980 ─ Les homélies festales d'Hésychius de Jérusalem. Les homélies i-xxi, vol. 1–2. / Éd Aubineau M. (SH 59). Brussels: Societé des Bollandistes, 1978–1980. (TLG 2797/028–053). 50. 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P. 457─470. 102. *Wright W. Catalog of the Syriac Manuscripts in the British Museum. T. 2. Londres, 1872. 103. *Zerfass R. Die Schriftlesung im Kalhedraloffizium Jerusalems. Munster, 1968. 104. Cr»stou 1987 ─ Cr»stou P. `Ellhnik¾ Patrologa, tÒmoj 3oj. Qessalonkh, 1987. AnBoll. = Analecta Bollandiana. Brux., 1882─. CCSG = Corpus Christianorum. Ser. Graeca. /Hrsg. von der Abtei St Peter in Stenebrugge. Turnhout, 1977─. CPG = Geerard. M. Clavis Patrum Graecorum, vols. 1–5. Turnhout: Brepols, 1974–1998. CSCO = Corpus scriptorum christianorum orientalium / Ed. Consilio Universitatis Cathoíicae Americae et Universitatis Cathoíicae Lovaniensis. R. et al., 1903─; Louvain, 1913─. DS = Dictionnaire de spiritualité ascétique et mystique. Doctrine et Histoire. / Publiésuos la direction de Marcel Viller, S. J., assisté de F. Cavallera, et J. De Guilbert. S. J., avec le concours d'un grand nombre de collalorateurs. T. 1─17. Paris, 1937─1995. PG = Patrologia cursus completus. Ser. Graeca. /Ed. Migne. J.P.Vols. 1–162. Paris, 1857–1886. PL = Patrologia cursus completus. Ser. Latina. /Ed. Migne. J.P.Vols. 1–217. Paris, 1844─1864. SC = Sources chrétiennes. Paris, 1942─. SH = Subsidia hagiographica. Brux., 1971─. TLG = Tesaurus Linguae Graecae: Canon of Greek Authors and Works (TLG CD-ROM). University of California, Irvine, 1999. TU = Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur. Leipzig-Berlin, 1883─. Appendix 1. Rev. Hesychius of Sinai and his creation. All attempts to accurately identify the author of Sotnitsa about sobriety and virtue have so far been unsuccessful. The only thing we can reliably say is that he lived after St. John Climacus and St. Maximus the Confessor, since he uses their texts in his work. For the first time we find a reference to his name in the collection of Hieromonk Mark, compiled for Eulogia, sister of the Emperor. Michael Palaiologos between 1259 and 1267. The most ancient manuscript containing Sotnitsa dates back to 1289. There are two testimonies about St. Hesychia, which are referred to by those who believe that this holy father lived in the 7th-8th centuries. This is the testimony of St. Theodore the Studite in his Testament 267, which is more of a vague hint than an exact statement; and the opinion of St. Photius of Constantinople 268 regarding a number of “sentences” (gnîmai) attributed to a certain Hesychius 269. Thus, we can only accept these opinions, without having the means to verify them with the data of manuscript tradition. Apparently, St. Hesychius was the abbot of the monastery of the Burning Bush on Mount Sinai 270. His work De temperantia et virtute (Per n»yewj ka ¢retÁj) exists in two editions: one has the traditional form of two “hundreds” (long edition), the other contains 24 chapters arranged in alphabetical order, each of which contains chapters from different places of the long edition, and all of them together reproduce approximately half of the work (short edition). The publication of the Sotnitsa was carried out in Paris in 1563 on the basis of the only rather mediocre Parisian manuscript Paris gr. 1037 (XIV century). It is this text that is given in the so-called. “The Great Library of the Ancient Fathers” 271, from where it ended up in the edition of Min (PG 93, 1479─1544). This text is presented at its best in the first volume of the Philokalia of St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain. How to explain the fact of the presence of two editions, about which we find evidence already from the 13th century? It can be assumed that the lengthy edition was the basis for the short one. But then it remains unclear for what reason the abridger systematically eliminated from the lengthy edition borrowings from St. Maximus the Confessor and St. Mark the Ascetic, to which, however, the author of the lengthy edition does not directly refer. We find these borrowings in the first hundred. Rather, it should be assumed that both editions, which appeared around the same time, are different revisions of the same older and now lost original, or that the lengthy edition is a text supplementing the short edition. Whatever the origin of the various editions of the Sotnitsa, the reliability of the work itself is not in doubt, and it had its dissemination and influence on the Byzantine spiritual tradition precisely in the two forms that we have now. Appearing quite late, the work of St. Hesychius of Sinai enjoyed the greatest veneration in Byzantium and Russia. There are more than seventy manuscripts of the Sotnitsa in lengthy, short (24 chapters) editions, which mostly date back to the period of the spiritual revival of the traditions of hesychasm, that is, the 14th century. For St. Gregory the Sinaite Ave. (PG 150, 1324D), St. Simeon the New Theologian Ave., for Sts. Callista and Ignatius Xanthopoulov (PG 147, 635─812) and St. Nile of Sora. Hesychius of Sinai is a teacher of silent prayer, a hesychast. It is not surprising that St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain includes the creation of St. Hesychius in his “Philokalia”. Through Church Slavonic translations of the collection of St. Nicodemus, carried out by St. Paisius Velichkovsky, the Sotnitsa became a classic of Russian monastic literature. Appendix 2. Translation of the sermons of St. Hesychia. 1. First Homily on the Meeting of our Lord Jesus Christ This holiday is called the Day of Purification, and anyone who calls it the Feast of Feasts, the Sabbath of Sabbaths, the Holy of Holies would hardly be mistaken, for it heads the entire Mystery of Christ’s Incarnation, it depicts the entire appearance of the Only Begotten Son. In it the Christ Child was offered and confessed as God; The Creator of our nature was brought in his arms, as if sitting on a throne, and brought Simeon and Anna ─ two verbal turtle doves. For if, it seems, we delve into the Gospel words themselves, we will see there the place of God’s settlement. So, Luke told us the history of the holiday as follows: And when the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him before God, as it is prescribed in the law of the Lord, that every male child who opens the womb should be dedicated to the Lord, and to sacrifice, according to what is said in the law of the Lord, two turtle doves or two chicks of doves (Luke 2:22). ─24) 272 . It was necessary that He who became a slave for our sake would offer cleansing sacrifices for us, so that he who did not spare His Blood would not spare a pair of turtle doves. But, look, how He, according to the Law, as the Lawgiver, fulfills the prescription of the Law and Himself, who gives freedom of the spirit, does not refuse, however, from serving the letter: He does not reject Moses, in order to become a trustworthy witness in due time. And when the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled. Them ─ who? After all, Joseph was not a father and did not have to be cleansed; but neither Mary nor the Child needed cleansing, for it is said: If a woman receives seed and gives birth to a male child, she will be unclean for seven days (Lev. 12:2). But Mary did not accept the seed, which means she did not need cleansing. If a woman receives the seed and gives birth to a male child, she will be unclean for seven days. Why? Because she introduced the same Adam into life. If she gives birth to a female child, she will be unclean for two weeks (Lev.12:5). What is the reason for the double number of days here? Because from Eve the same Eve is again born, a wife is born - an old vessel, an unusable wineskin, a cracked cup, a rod of lies, a leader of disobedience, a serpentine adviser. But, having heard reproaches to your wife, also find out what kind of correction comes from her. The wife introduced virginity into life, contained in her womb God, Whom creation cannot contain, and brought into the world in the flesh the One who restored our race; She was the first to recognize Jesus as risen from the dead, the first to begin preaching the Resurrection, and the first to announce joy to the disciples. If a woman, it is said, accepts the seed. The Mother of God, although she was a wife, did not, however, endure what is characteristic of wives: she did not accept a man’s seed into her womb, Mary’s field did not see a plow, the virgin vine did not know a spade - therefore, the offering was made not for Her, but for the whole race. For for our sake Christ is circumcised, for us he is baptized, and for us he performs cleansing according to the Law. When He wept, He washed His nature; when he was scourged, he freed us from captivity; when he lifted up the Cross, he lightened us from the burden of sinfulness; when he was spat on, then he healed Adam from being spat on by a curse. When the days of their purification were fulfilled, he says, they brought Him to Jerusalem, as prescribed in the law of the Lord, so that every male child who opens the womb should be dedicated to the Lord. This contains the Law. Christ, as we said, as the Lawgiver fulfilled His Law, surpassing the Law; for He did not open, but put a seal on the closed gates of the Virgin; did not destroy the seal of nature, did not cause damage to the Mother who gave birth, but preserved in Her the pure image of virginity. If you do not believe, learn from Ezekiel, who says: And he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, facing east, and it was shut. And the Lord said to me: this gate will be shut, it will not be opened, and no one will enter through it, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered and gone out through it, and it will be shut (Ezek. 44:1-2). Let every male child who opens his womb be dedicated to the Lord (Luke 2:3). But He is not only holy. This One surpasses holiness as much as He surpasses creation, and rises above the commandment of the Law. But let them sacrifice, according to what is said in the law of the Lord, two turtle doves or two chicks of pigeons (Luke 2:24). Luke portrays the Law as unfulfilled not through ignorance, but as led by Wisdom. For the Law said: a lamb and a young dove (Lev.12:6), but the poor are commanded to bring two turtle doves or two young doves and wheat flour (Lev.12:8). Luke passes by the offering of the rich man, but mentions only the offering of the Poor One, who voluntarily became poor for our sake. For, he says, He had no dwelling, how could He acquire a lamb? Wrapped in swaddling clothes, He was laid in a manger, how could He bring a ram? Moreover, He did not need a lamb, for He Himself was the Lamb of God (John 1:29), the true Ram. He sacrificed Himself for the world, therefore one thing is revealed by the commanding Law, while the other is shown by the economy of Christ. He goes on to say: Then there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was a righteous and pious man, looking forward to the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. He was predicted by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he saw Christ the Lord (Luke 2:25-26). Great wealth! Multi-colored warrior weapons! A tree full of fruit! A vine full of brushes! Not only was there a man, but he also had the name Simeon. Moreover, he is righteous and not just righteous, but also pious, and looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the fact that the Holy Spirit was on him, and that it was foretold to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he saw the Christ of the Lord. Then there was a man ─ where? In Jerusalem. This word is full of amazement, this speech is full of miracles: in Jerusalem there was a man about whom the prophet Zephaniah represents God Himself speaking: I will look around Jerusalem with a lamp and will not spare (Zeph. 1:12). Does Light need a lamp? He does not say this, but he calls the Law a lamp. And then there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. What is the meaning of the named name? ─ “Hearing God.” As if taking a similarity from the way of life, he creates a name on the basis of spiritual economy: for where there is “hearing of God,” there is complete obedience to the Law, observance of the commandments, the course of a pious life, approaching the final goal of salvation ─ in this the true man is depicted, this is stated in one word. And this man was righteous and pious, looking forward to the consolation of Israel ─ the goal of such a righteous person is not to seek his own, but others and many, to be diligent in the common salvation, and not for his own pleasure. The Spirit, ─ says, ─ the Holy One was upon him. ─ Simeon was honored to become the Master's chariot, the throne of God, and therefore received the King of Ages into his arms. And he was predicted by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he saw Christ the Lord. So, he is promised to move from life to Life, from light to Light, from day to Day ─ promised not to be defeated in the struggle, but to be resurrected, to receive in due time a renewal of maturity. This one was brought by inspiration to the church (Luke 2:27) ─ The source sends the thirsty to the source. And when the parents brought the Baby Jesus to perform the legal rite on Him, he took Him in his arms. He carried in the arms of the One who contains in his hands the entire inhabited and uninhabited universe of the One who exhausted the waters with his handful and measured the heavens with a span (Is. 40:12). But how does Simeon offer a sacrifice that it was not right for him to offer? After all, he was neither a priest (this is not said here), nor a Levite, nor a servant of the church, ─ and only the tribe of Levi was entrusted with what concerned worship. He was not a priest, but he was righteous, and righteousness surpasses the priesthood. He was not a Levite, but he was pious, and it is the pious who has the anointing on him. And, taking the Child, he says: Now you are releasing Your servant, O Master, according to Your word, in peace (Luke 2:29). Now you release ─ it was fitting for him to be released, for he saw the Redemption of the captives, the remission of sins; a King was born, freeing those in prison, loosening those in prison, calling to life those in death, lightening the burden of the earth. Now you are releasing Your servant, O Master. How do you know? “I see,” he says, “the Lord, clothed in the image of a slave. Being the Master, He would not have bore the image of a slave if He had not wanted to clothe the slave in the image of the Master. He would not have changed the law of nature and, being High, would not have been humiliated if He had not deigned to raise the humiliated to heights. But how do You release him, according to Your word, in peace, if not because You bring into being the creation with one word, and with the Word you completely liberate the ruler of the creation? With peace. With what world? With peace brought by the Cross, for this sword cut off the head of the tyrant and brought peace to the militants along with Christ. For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared. We saw what many would like to see and did not see - God in the flesh; The sun shining in a cloud. For my eyes have seen Your salvation, that is, they have seen Your Incarnation, through which You arranged the salvation of people, although they did not see the deity clearly, for by nature none of the people can see God. For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all nations, a light to enlighten the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel. Common and inseparable benefits among Jews and pagans. So, let the Jew not envy, let the Pharisee not oppress himself, let the scribe not be tempted, let Herod not worry about his kingdom, let Anna and Caiaphas not fear for their priesthood: He who comes gives to everyone, takes from no one, exalts himself unenviably, and does good without measure. But Joseph and His Mother, hearing what Simeon said, were amazed at how Christ descended to be born the Son of Man. Mary was amazed how a woman’s womb contains God, how a Slave gives birth to the One who liberates the creature from slavery. Then he says: Behold, this One is destined for the fall and the uprising of many in Israel and for the subject of controversy (Luke 2:34), for the fall of those who remain in unbelief, ─ for the uprising ─ of those moving from unbelief to faith. Christ was the corner stone, but the blind, whose eyes wander, were offended. So, it is not the fall of those who fall that should be attributed to Him, but the rising. For if something fell and did not rise, then you rightly assume that it itself is the cause of its fall. When one of those who fell through negligence rises up of his own free will, then the fall of such a careless person becomes the rebellion of Christ. Wasn't Peter next to Judas when one said: What will you give me, and I will deliver Him to you? (Matthew 26:15), the other: will I lay down my soul for You (John 13:37)? For he had to see that it was impossible for him, as a mortal, to lay down his soul for the Immortal. And one more thing: even if I had to die with You, I will not deny You (Matthew 26:35; Mark 14:31). One could say: “If You strengthen me, I will not deny You. If you strengthen me, then even though I am weak, I am not afraid of shipwreck. If You take part in the struggle with me, I will no longer be afraid of death.” But one had the error of the tongue, the other the error of the heart. That is why Peter, having fallen, rose up and became the leader of other fallen ones; This same [Judas], led from the depths to the abyss, cast down the pieces of silver and, taking a rope, hanged himself (Matthew 27:5). The subject of controversy is the Cross, for when the Jews crucified, the sun was darkened, the synagogue was slandered, and the earth shook. The people shouted: Crucify Him! (Mark 15:17), and the stones, unable to bear the weight of the slander, disintegrated. The elders and scribes said: We remembered that the deceiver, while still alive, said: after three days I will rise again (Matthew 27:63). The centurion exclaimed: Truly He was the Son of God (Matthew 27:54). But to this day, the word of the Cross is a temptation for the Jews, and folly for the Greeks, but for us, who are called, it is Christ, God’s Power and God’s Wisdom (1 Cor. 1:23 ─24). And a weapon will pierce your own soul, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed (Luke 2:35). It is said “the sword of discord” because, just as a sword cuts and divides bodies, so discord tears souls apart with doubts: after all, although She was a Virgin, she was still a woman; although she was the Mother of God, she was still composed of our mixture. So the sword pierced Her soul, so that the thoughts of many hearts might be revealed. What are your thoughts? Various ─ concerning the sufferings of Christ, which took place at the appointed time. Either He is not recognized as a Prophet, or is not accepted as the Deliverer of Israel, or is doubted because of hesitation before suffering, or when He was next to the disciples, they ask Him: Are you the only one who came to Jerusalem and do not know about what happened in it these days? (Luke 24:18). When He asked: about what? They said: what happened to Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet and so on? So, they considered Him to be the Prophet and Deliverer of Israel, but because of His suffering, they formed an opinion about Him that He only seemed to be the Deliverer of Israel. Luke does not mention this in vain, but to show that the foolish things of God are wiser than men (1 Cor. 1:25). For the suffering on the Cross shocked and confused not only the disciples in general, but also the chosen [disciples], and even His Mother. It established the whole universe in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom and with whom may there be glory to the Father with the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. 2. Second Homily on the Meeting of our Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t you know that the Spirit made Simeon a prophet, predicting from above that he would not see death until he saw Christ (Luke 2:26)? Now you are releasing Your servant, O Master, according to Your word, in peace (Luke 2:29). Was it not Him, guided by Him, that blessed Joseph and Mary? Was it not at His command that he turned to Mary with the words: Behold, this one is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel (Luke 2:34)? Was it not by inspiration from Him that Anna turned out to be like a prophetess? Was it not Him who, filled with Him, proclaimed the redemption that was to come through the Child? It would be appropriate to weave an explanation of this for you as needed, but time is also wasted, and, to spare your hearing, the word should be shortened. If you do not tolerate the absence of speech, for you are feasting at the table and cannot get enough of sacred words, then from where the writer of the Gospels began the narrative assigned to you, from there it is appropriate for us to shorten the explanation in order to yield both to time and to your love. And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon (cf. Luke 2:25). Truly, no small praise is woven by the Spirit in the beginning for this Simeon. “Behold,” he says, “there was a man in Jerusalem, whom the ancient prophets were looking for and longed to see the Law, but found grace and, having found it, crowned him with what is discussed further. What is a wreath made of? Pay attention: And this man was righteous and pious, waiting for the consolation of Israel (cf. Luke 2:25). It is appropriate to praise and bless Simeon, for he was not only righteous, but also pious, he turned away from all evil, like one who awaits the consolation of Israel, he did not become numb, working in virtues, and did not weaken, turning away from evil. And the Holy Spirit was on him. This is surprising and in accordance with what was said before, for it was a church, kept the bridal chamber of the body pure and cleansed the inner peace of the soul from all worldly cobwebs, which is why it attracted the indwelling of the Spirit. And it was predicted to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he saw Christ the Lord. Look how great it is to be the church of God: those who decorate their lives in this way pass from life to Life. That is why Simeon was predicted by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he saw Christ the Lord, that is, until he saw Him who abolishes death; until he sees Him who raises the dead; first, until he sees Him who transforms graves into bridal chambers; until he sees the One who will enable him to fearlessly depart from here. And he was brought in the Spirit to the church (cf. Luke 2:27). You should not pass or run past this, for this is proof that he did this at the command of the Spirit who dwelt in him and without Him he did not at all rush to places of meetings or on any business, for he does not go to the church otherwise than guided by Him. And when the parents brought the Baby Jesus to perform the legal rite over Him, he took Him in his arms. Who pointed him to the Child Whom he did not know? It is obvious that the Spirit who dwelled in him and instructed him from above and, of course, once said to Simeon: “Run, elder, run, hurry now, quickly capture the blessing, before the star appears, before the wise men come, so that we are not then put to shame. You must receive the Light that is from Me first before the star arrives in Bethlehem, so that everyone will know that it was guided by Me in its course and borrowed its radiance from Me. However, no matter how you are punished, if the uncircumcised gather the firstfruits of the blessing.” And he blessed God and said: Now you are releasing Your servant, O Lord, according to Your word in peace. He blessed God the Father together with God the Son, the Son ─ with the Spirit, since he was instructed by the Spirit, carried in his arms the Son, who deigned to appear in the flesh and become a Child for our sake, while the Father Himself was the performer of these such great sacraments. But what does he give thanks for? “Now,” he says, “you release Your servant, O Lord, so that there is no longer any fear of death in me, I joyfully go to the dead to tell them about Life. You let go according to Your word in peace, with that peace about which the prophet David, inspired by You, said: In peace together I will sleep and rest (Ps. 4:9). For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which many prophets desired to see, but now, at the very end, You appeared to the human race as the Most High, Who for our sake humbled Himself to become like a Child, for it was not otherwise that the Potter wanted to save the perishing clay, but only in such a way that He Himself intended to roll along with it. My eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, ─ all peoples because, as the Creator of all those under You, for all, of necessity, You arrange the Sacrament of salvation. Light for the enlightenment of the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel: first the Gentiles are enlightened, after which Israel is glorified, for this One was born so that the first would become last, and the last ─ first, in order to take possession of the birthright of those who were born before, but were punished due to negligence. Both His father and Mother marveled at what was said about Him. Why do you call Joseph father, evangelist and writer of the Divine Gospel? You yourself said that Gabriel revealed to the Virgin when She asked how conception would take place and how the Virgin would give birth: The Holy Spirit will come upon You, and the power of the Most High will overshadow You (Luke 1:25). ─ “I have not forgotten my words,” says [Luke], ─ even if I had fallen into oblivion, the Spirit would have reminded me. But the Incarnate One then wanted to call Joseph that way, so that the one who ambushed the Mystery of our salvation would be misled.” They were surprised at what was said about Him, since the old man raised the Child and sang hymns to God. And Simeon blessed them, for it was fitting to bless those who served as a blessing for those who were under the oath. And he said to Mary His Mother: “Behold, this One is appointed for the fall and the rising of many in Israel,” for this is the One about whom Peter, citing the prophecy of Isaiah, informed the churches: Behold, I lay in Zion a cornerstone, chosen, precious; and he who believes in Him will not be ashamed (Isa. 28:16; 1 Peter 2:6). Then, explaining the prophecy and speaking in accordance with Simeon, he gives the following words: So He is a treasure to you who believe, but to you who do not believe He is a stone that the builders rejected. But which has become the head of the corner, a stone of stumbling and a stone of temptation, over which they stumble, not obeying the word (1 Peter 2:7-8). So, this lies on the fall of the unbelievers and on the uprising of the believers, for the first, who seemed to stand in accordance with the Law, were overthrown; the latter, who, due to many sins, found themselves among the fallen, resorted to the rod of faith and returned. Behold, this One is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign of discord. What is this sign? ─ The Cross, it is a sign, since together with the passions it was full of miracles and caused controversy; after all, He was naked and eclipsed the sun; was nailed and shook the stones; His side was opened with a spear, and He opened the coffins of the dead. Therefore, They turned out to be a sign of controversy, for the unbelievers, rejecting the second 273, looked only at the first 274; Believers, along with passions, contemplate miracles. Thus, the host of Pharisees looked at Him then as a deceiver, but the centurion called Him the Son of God and, having named Him, bowed. The following also agrees with this: And a weapon will pierce your own soul, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. The weapon that passes through Your soul ─ doubt ─ occurred during the Cross, for You were surprised to see hanging on the Cross, Born without decay, Conceived without a husband, who did not open his mother’s womb and celebrated His own Nativity dispassionately and incorruptibly. What happened next? Let the thoughts of many hearts be revealed, it is true that the thoughts of different people, but first of all those who studied with the Lord and saw His suffering and the miracles that came from Him, and the disasters following the thoughts coming from everywhere; when Cleopas was languishing, because of this Christ, having met them on the way to Emmaus, revealed himself to him; when Cleopas was asked why they were gloomy and troubled at heart, since circumstances allowed them to speak about Christ in a low and so insignificant way, then, not seeing Who he was speaking to, he opened his mouth and answered: But we hoped that He was the One who should deliver Israel ( Luke 24:21), that is, our hope in Him was in vain. The weak thought of Mary Magdalene was also revealed: when Christ was crucified, He seemed weak, so she said to Him: Master! if you have carried Him, tell me, and I will take Him (John 20:15). Let the language of the Gospel narrative direct itself to the rest. And there was Anna the prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, from the tribe of Asher, who had reached a great old age, having lived with her husband for seven years from her virginity, a widow about eighty-four years old. Anna’s wealth is brilliant, she gathers a treasure of blessings from everywhere: firstly, because she was a prophetess, being a wife and having such a weak vessel, she cleansed it and attracted the Spirit of God to herself so that He would dwell in her; secondly, because she was an old woman and, having grown old in body, did not grow old in mind; thirdly, because she was a widow and not just a widow, but had lived with her husband for only seven years; having reached extreme old age, having endured the yoke of widowhood for so many days and for so long a time, she did not share a bed with another suitor, but instead reached old age in the eightieth year of her life. But since she knew what was wisely proclaimed by the Spirit in the eighty-fourth psalm, she wanted to say what David the Psalmist sang, offering to us: You have been pleased, O Lord, with Your land, You have returned the captivity of Jacob, You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people, You have covered all their sins, You have taken away all Your wrath, You have turned away the fierceness of Your anger. Truth will arise from the earth, and righteousness will come from heaven (Ps. 84, 1 ─4; 12), for this is the Redemption of Jerusalem, about which the wife thus further wanted to narrate and proclaim, and prophesy, for it is said: She did not depart from the church (Luke 2:37). Many live in the church, but while living in it, they act arrogantly, since they do not live the way Anna lived, serving God day and night in fasting and prayer, for with fasting she cleansed the body, with prayer she inspired the thoughts of the soul and turned out to be a church that settled in the Church. And at that time she, coming up ─ for, of course, she, like Simeon, was moved by the Spirit to glorify the Child ─ thanks, glorified God ─ not just glorified, but glorified with gratitude, proclaiming what was in agreement with what Simeon said. And she spoke about Him to everyone awaiting deliverance in Jerusalem. What did she say and what did she talk about? “Do not be deceived by the flesh, do not be offended by the image of a slave, do not let the Child trouble you. He who forms babies in the womb is the child himself; He who is looked upon as the Father of Times is a small child, otherwise we would not be able to bear to see the Deliverer, otherwise we would not be able to accept. For our sake He humbled Himself, for our sake He came down, spares our eyes, hides the glorious, but offers the humble.” To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. 3. First word for Holy Easter The sky is brilliant, illuminated by a dance of stars; The world is even more brilliant when the morning star rises; but the coming of night is not as brightly illuminated by the stars as the victorious voice of God and our Savior now flaunts; for He says: Take courage, I have overcome the world (John 16:13). When God won the invisible war, naturally we ourselves will gain victory over the demons. May we now remain near the saving Cross in order to receive the first fruits of the gifts of Jesus. On this holy night, let us form a solemn assembly with luminous processions, sending up a divinely inspired song and singing a heavenly hymn. The Sun of Truth, our Lord Jesus Christ, illuminated the present day throughout the entire circle of the universe, rose through the Cross, and saved the faithful. Therefore, let no one disbelieve the signs of the Cross, but let him bow to the blessed and blessed Tree of the Cross and the signs of the Cross, for the door of heaven has been opened to us. They no longer light a lamp and supply it in secret, and I call the Law in secret, but on the candlestick; The lamp is the Word, for for the unbelievers the Word appeared and was hidden under the Law, as if under a bushel, but when it ascended to the Cross and was placed on the candlestick, then it shone throughout the entire circle of the universe. Look, beloved, at reigning Rome, exalted in the middle of the square with the signs of the Cross. Look at Paul, who composed immortal epistles and wrote that he was a slave of the Cross; he was not ashamed of the Cross, a temptation for the Jews; he acquired madness for the Hellenes, a stronghold of Wisdom; he awakened the Churches of the entire universe with the Tree of the Cross. One rod of Moses stopped the Egyptian plagues, just as the Rod of the Tree of the Cross eliminated the sins of the people. There Pharaoh persecuting Israel is drowned, here the devil is crushed, and those who worship the Savior are saved. There Adam stretched out his hands, bringing death upon us, but here our Lord, stretching out his hands, saved everything. But, O Tree, more magnificent than heaven and surpassing the vaults of heaven; Oh, the blessed tree, which transported our souls to heaven; O Tree, bringing salvation to the world and driving out the army of the devil; O Tree, which allowed the thief to enter paradise and rejoice with Christ: Truly, truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise (Luke 23:42). Let us imitate the good will of this murderer, and especially the faith of the spirit-bearer confessed for this. For what is he saying? Remember me, Lord, in Your Kingdom (Luke 23:41)! And for this one confession of faith, he enters paradise and walks around the heavens. Truly, ─ he says, ─ truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise. May we also remain at the Savior’s Cross, saying these words: Lord, remember me in Thy Kingdom, so that we too may become partakers of paradise and enjoy the Kingdom of Heaven. The real triumph, brothers, is the reward for victory, the reward of the All-Tsar, the Son of God. Today the devil is defeated by the Crucified One, but our race is formed by the Risen One. For the present day cries out for my resurrection and says: “In my course I saw a strange sight: an open tomb and a risen Man, rejoicing bones, rejoicing souls and formed people, opening heavens and exclaiming powers: Take, O gates, your princes and beyond (Ps. 23:7). Today I saw one ascending to the Heavenly Kingdom, a girded Light brighter than lightning and rays, brighter than the sun and sources of water, more powerful than clouds and stormy winds, I saw Eternal Life.” First, He was buried in the womb of the flesh, then in the womb of the earth, in one case by pregnancy sanctifying those born, in the other by Resurrection reviving the dead, for sickness and sorrow and groaning will be removed (Is. 35:10). For who knew the mind of the Lord, or who was his counselor (Rom. 11:34), except the Word, who became incarnate and nailed to the Tree, and rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven? This is the day of gospel joy; on this day the Lord arose, resurrecting with Himself the race of Adam, for He was born a man and rose again, clothed in man. Today, thanks to the Risen One, paradise is opened and Adam is reborn, and Eve is consoled, accusation is eliminated and the Kingdom is prepared, and man is saved and worships Christ, for He, having trampled death, taken captive the tormentor and plundered hell, ascended to heaven as a King ─ with victory, as a Leader ─ with glory, as a Leader ─ with teaching, speaking To the Father: Behold, I and the children whom You have given Me, O God (cf. Heb. 2:13) etc. And I heard from the Father: Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool (Ps. 109:1; Heb. 1:13). To him be glory, now and unto ages of ages. Amen. 4. Second Homily for Holy Easter (translation by Archpriest Maxim Kozlov) 275. Our sacred and royal trumpet united us in this meeting, a trumpet that was filled by Bethlehem and set on fire by Zion, for which the Cross was the hammer and the Resurrection the anvil. I don’t know how to depict its beauty, how to describe its radiance, how to tell the joy [given] by the cross, how to explain the royal greatness [revealed] by the resurrection? Which hand will I touch this pipe? With what words will I salute the tomb that gives birth to life, the grave that is free from corruption and hospitable to incorruption, the three-day palace that gives rest to the groom, the bridal chamber that raises up the incorruptible spouse after the wedding? The dead are held by the coffin, the earth shakes before God; He is declared dead by the body, God is declared a miracle; dead ─ burial, God ─ resurrection, dead ─ tears of women, God ─ words of angels. Joseph buried Him as a dead man, but, buried as a man, He, like God, disarmed death. And again the soldiers guarded Him as if he were dead, but when they saw God, the gatekeepers of hell trembled. You will say that He is both this and that; [not two] ─ one and the other, and not one in the other, and not one through the other; for the Incarnate Word, being One, united both together according to His will in an ineffable manner; It gave flesh in order to serve (immaculate) passions; The Godhead served Him for signs and wonders; but just as it is unacceptable to separate the Word from the flesh, it is also necessary to combine passions with miracles. For Who, as the dead, descended into hell, He, as God, freed the dead, and therefore the angels serve the tomb, appear dressed in white robes as friends in front of the bridegroom to the myrrh-bearing wives and say to them: You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, crucified. He's not here. He rose again, as he said (see Mk 16:6; Mt 28:6). That is, heaven is the place for Him (cf. Mk 16:6), send the aromas there (Mk 16:1). He rose again, we did not raise Him up. For your sake we rolled away the stone (cf. Mt 28:2), for before we descended [from heaven], the tomb was empty. He rose again, as He said Himself. What the angel said cannot be interpreted by anyone except the prophet: Hosea announces the time of the resurrection, Isaiah also knows it, but does not know the image [of the resurrection]. These are the prophetic words of Hosea: Let us go and return to the Lord our God, for He has wounded ─ and He will heal us; struck ─ and will bind up our wounds in two days; on the third day He will raise us up and we will live before Him (Hosea 6:1 ─2). Listen also to what the [prophetic] trumpet of Isaiah proclaimed: Lebanon is put to shame, Sharon has become a swamp. Galilee and Carmel will be naked. Today I will rise, says the Lord, today I will be glorified, today I will be exalted. Today you will see, now you will be ashamed (cf. Isa 33:9 ─11). After all, [the prophet] addressed his word to the Jews: “Today I will rise again, when I raise up Adam, whom transgression cast down; Now I will be glorified when I demonstrate steadfastness in enduring suffering before the pagans, now I will be exalted, lifting up your firstfruits (cf. 1 Cor 15:20) into heaven and raising up to the throne of the cherubim the image of a servant (Phil 2:7), the one that I took from you, now you will see that images cease and the truth flourishes, now you who slander with words and words will be ashamed. ignorant of deeds." Glory to God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. 5. First word in honor of St. Mary the Virgin Mary Every prudent tongue decently greets the Virgin and Mother of God and imitates in strength Gabriel, the chief of the angels. And one says to Her, Rejoice, the other says, Lord from You - for the sake of the Lord who was born from Her and appeared to the human race in the flesh. One calls Her the Mother of Light; another Star of Life; another calls it the Throne of God, another ─ the most expansive Church of heaven, another ─ a seat, not inferior to the throne of the cherubim; the other ─ A garden unsown, fruitful, uncultivated; A fruitful, prosperous, inviolable vineyard; pure Turtledove; pure Blueberry; A cloud that conceived Rain without decay; A container containing the brightest beads of the sun; A mountain from which comes a Stone that cannot be cut down by anyone, covering the entire earth; A ship filled with cargo and not needing a helmsman; An enriching treasure. Others liken Her to a fragile Candlestick, lit by Herself; The ark, which is wider, longer and more glorious than the ark of Noah: for that was an ark for animals, this one is for Life; that one contained corruptible animals, but this one contained imperishable Life; that one carried Noah, the same one ─ the Creator Noah; that one had two and three compartments, but this one contained the entire fullness of the Trinity ─ after the Spirit came upon Her, and the Father overshadowed, and the Son dwelt in the gaping womb. The Holy Spirit will come upon You, and the power of the Most High will overshadow You; therefore the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35). Look how great the dignity of the Virgin Mary is. After all, the Only Begotten Son of God, the Creator of the world, was carried by Her as a fruit, and recreated Adam, and sanctified Eve, and abolished the serpent, and opened paradise, and put a seal on the womb. And this is very fair and in accordance with the word: after all, He opened paradise because He intended to bring a thief into it and escort there all the heirs of the Kingdom. And he retained the seal of the womb, for the Incarnate One, being God and the Word, did not need any door for entry or exit. Of course, for You, O Virgin, the prophets share praise, and each of the God-bearing men speaks of how great and wonderful the sacraments were entrusted to him. And one calls You the Rod of Jesse in order to praise the inviolability and firmness of virginity. Another compares you to a bush that burns and does not burn, in order to praise the human nature of the Only Begotten and the Virgin Mother of God: for it burned and was not consumed; This one gave birth and did not open the doors of the womb, conceived and did not corrupt the womb, gave birth to a Child and kept the womb sealed, received milk within herself and kept her nipples intact, carried a baby and did not know the father of the child, became a mother and did not become a bride. The son was fed, but the father was not found; the field bore fruit, but the fruit had no cultivator; the harvest was ready, but the seed was not accepted; the river flowed, but the source was closed on all sides ─ showing that She became a mother and did not suffer what is characteristic of a mother: You gave birth like a woman, but did not suffer corruption like a woman; bore fruit according to the law of nature, since she endured the appointed time of tribulation, although she conceived outside the law of nature. Another called You the closed Gate, facing the East and bringing in the King when the doors were locked (John 20:19). You are also called the leading Gate, for You became for the Only Begotten the door to real life; You are called the gate facing the east because the true Light, which enlightens every person coming into the world (John 1:9), comes from your womb, as if from some kind of royal palace. You brought in the King when the doors were locked, but You also brought Him out again, for the King of glory neither when he was conceived nor when he was fully born, did not open the doors of Your womb and did not loosen the bonds of virginity. The Bridegroom who came from You called You in the Songs a closed Garden and proclaimed You a sealed Source: a closed Garden - since Your sickle, that is, the harvest, was not accompanied by corruption, and the flower from the rod of Jesse was cultivated in You (it is clear that for the human race, and it is clear that for those who stand here) by one pure and unmixed Spirit. He calls You the sealed source because the River of Life, flowing from You, filled the universe, but the marriage branch did not draw from Your source. David does not cease to exclaim about You, chanting the Incarnate One from You: Rise, O Lord, to the place of Your rest, You and the ark of Your holiness (Ps. 131:8). Rise up. Where? From the bosom of the Father, but not in such a way that You are separated from the Father - for this is not permissible to think or speak about - but so that You complete the economy that was assigned to You from above before centuries and generations. Arise to raise up the fallen, to correct the criminals, to take over Your creation, still tormented by the enemy. Arise, O Lord, to the place of Your rest, which You have set aside for yourself on earth and prepared in Bethlehem: a cave and a manger and swaddling clothes. For in heaven You do not need peace, but You yourself are the Peace of every creature, but on earth for our sake You endure the things of the flesh. Have You not endured hunger, thirst, and labor? But You Yourself are the Bread of Life for the hungry, and You Yourself, when thirsty, are the consolation of the thirsty ─ for You have become a river of incorruptibility ─ and, having labored in traveling on dry land, You walk without difficulty on the waves of the sea. Rise, O Lord, to the place of Your rest, ─ You and the ark of Your holiness, that is, the Virgin and Mother of God. For if You are Beads, then This, rightly, is the Ark; if You are the Sun, then Virgo, of necessity, is called Heaven; if You are the Unfading Color, then it means that the Virgin is the Branch of incorruption, the Paradise of the Resurrection. Isaiah just proclaimed about Her by inspiration from above, saying this: Behold, a Virgin will be with child and give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel (Is. 7:14). Behold, Virgo. Which? ─ The most worthy of women, the chosen of virgins, the divine adornment of our nature, the praise of our dust, who delivered Eve from shame and Adam from the threat, who cut off the serpent’s insolence, She who was not touched even by the shadow of lust, Who was not damaged by the worm of voluptuousness. Behold, the Virgin will receive with child. Where, oh prophet? “I don’t speak [about this],” he replies, “for this was left to Gabriel. Many explain the miracles of the Mother of God, however, many of these remain unclear; I was entrusted only with the birth of the Ever-Virgin, Micah with the place in which the miracle took place, David with the time, for he announced in the Psalm prophecy: From the womb before the star I gave birth to You (Ps. 109:3). Therefore, ask Gabriel how this is possible, for he descends from heaven, he is sent for this very matter to the Virgin, he appears at the time of the Birth, and, of necessity, he is entrusted with explaining the essence of the Birth. If you want to learn from me, pay attention to the following words of prophecy: And she will give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel. What does Emmanuel mean? God is with us. But can God be conceived from marriage and corruption, can he be born or incarnate on a husband and a bed? In no way, but by the action of God, by inspiration from above, from the coming of the Spirit. Therefore, when the Virgin says to Gabriel: How will this be when I don’t know my husband? (Luke 1:34), that is: “The miracle amazes me, the speech astonishes me,” then the Angel’s greeting confused the Virgin. “You are telling Me something wonderful and extremely frightening. I am afraid of the novelty of the gospel, I am embarrassed by the excessive unusualness of what is said. How will this happen to me when I don’t know my husband? How can I be a Mother without becoming a Bride? I did not corrupt the flower of youth, I did not loosen the girdle of virginity, I did not loosen the bonds of the mother’s womb, I did not remove the seal from the womb.” The angel immediately answers: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you (Luke 1:35); that is: “If You had known a husband, You would not have given birth to God, who was pleased to take from You the image of a servant without decay, You would not have become an instrument of the Incarnation of the One Who brought everything into existence. But, since You appeared pure from the marriage bed, since You kept the church incorruptible and the tabernacle free from all uncleanness, then the Father makes an abode with You, and the Spirit makes his home, and the Only Begotten in the flesh is born from You. So, do not doubt in any way, giving birth in the cave of the Creator of all creation, do not doubt, placing in the manger the One who sits on the Cherubim, who has no place in the inn and has become the Mother of the King of the high and low.” For He who is from You voluntarily becomes a beggar in order to make the rich moderate and become an example of patience and a teacher of gratitude for the poor. He is voluntarily placed in the manger, so that those who are like cattle would run up and find the Word lying in the manger, so that they would receive from Him the dignity of reason, so that those who expect to find food for themselves would discover Food, so that, like cattle, thinking to find a handful of barley in the manger, they would run up and eat the True Bread, the Food of Life, the Meal of Light, the Food of Joy, the Sweetness of Incorruption, from which comes the knowledge of the Kingdom, the guarantee of adoption, the heavenly lot, communion with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. 6. Second word in honor of St. Mary the Mother of God Every memory of the righteous is full of praise, and every praise of the lovers of God is glorious, for they all distinguished themselves in piety, they all took labor for the sake of confessing the Truth, they all were inspired during times of danger, so that they may receive the crowns of Truth. This day is the most glorious holiday, for it contains the praise of the Virgin, it is a holiday that surpasses everything as much as she is worthy to voluntarily contain the Word of God Himself without any oppression. Gabriel, first and before all the Archangels, called to Her: Rejoice, O Blessed One! The Lord is with You; Behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a Son, and you will call His name Immanuel (Luke 1:28, 31). Gabriel's gospel to her is the beginning of joy, for the first virgin was subjected to the torment that occurred as a result of the sentence for the crime, and many groans arose from her, and therefore every woman because of her is in torment, therefore every birth because of her is in bitterness. Thanks to her greeting, the Second Virgin abolished all oppression of the female sex and blocked every source of suffering that occurs during childbirth, and dispersed the cloud of cowardice hanging over women during childbirth, and shone with the light of joy of everyone of the same sex, when she heard from Gabriel: Rejoice, full of grace! The Lord is with you. She does not accept the greeting in silence, but, hearing the voice addressed to Herself and seeing the Angel in the house who brought the notification, and embarrassed by the utterance of the words about the birth, - of course, She also utters certain words to the Archangel: “Everything,” she says, “I hear from you now that is strange and unusual.” And: “How did you dare to boldly enter the Unbrided Virgin and proclaim incredible words? For you say that I will give birth to a child without seed. You said that without marriage the mother’s womb will conceive and without communication with her husband will bear fruit. What do I see, what have I heard - since ancient times, a previously uncultivated field will bear an ear of grain? Will land that is not planted produce grapes? Wine without grapes? A flowing river without a source? Why has no one, since ancient times, heard with their ears or seen with their eyes what is happening now? How will I believe you who have appeared before Me?” What does Gabriel answer to Her? “I said what I learned, I say what I heard: the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35) I speak as subordinate to Him who was before the existence of all creation, who is the Creator and Decorator of all things, the Father of ages, the Creator of the world, the Maker of all things, who is more ancient than the heavens, the Creator of angels, the Shaper of mankind, the Savior of the lost (see 1 Tim. 4:10). I cannot in any way proclaim more than this or say otherwise, and so, I am commanded, O Virgin, I can only serve the cause of evangelism to You. So, marvel with me at this Sacrament and accept the gospel without doubt.” She says: Behold, the Servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word (Luke 1:38). Therefore, let us also learn from the Archangel words of Gabriel about the Birth of the Lord, let us follow in his footsteps and, like him, in simplicity let us honor the power of Birth. Let us learn piety from the Magi, and even more so we will be punished, for they, who were looking for the Child, led by the star, did not say to those asking: “How is it possible for the conception of God, the seedless womb, the incorruptible Birth, how after birth the Mother remains in virginity, how once a year the One who is first of all, as in time - Existing before the age, how is contained in the nature of the womb, Inconceivable, as not changing becomes flesh, the Incorporeal, like the all-praised God the Word, having humbled Himself in the virgin womb, inexpressibly incarnated from it in the form of a slave, like the Perfect One - a baby, like the Nourisher ─ feeds on the breast, like the All-Container embraces with his arms, like the Father of the future age ─ a child, like the One who is above and below, like the One who dwells in heaven and on earth, like the driver of the Cherubic chariot ─ in swaddling clothes, like He who is in the bosom of the Father ─ in a manger, like a tormentor bound by courage ─ in swaddling clothes; and much more, which is scary to talk about?” But, having silently entered the cave with gifts and after questioning, having brought the reverence due to the King and God, they joyfully desired to return to their country, having accepted the beginnings of the knowledge of God for the pagans. That's how jealous the pagans were, but the Jews, being adamant, and even more stiff-necked, seeing the Sun of Truth appearing in their native land, did not hasten to imitate in knowledge those who were brought from afar by the star. But I, beloved, seeing your readiness to hear divine words and love for what is being explained, overcome by your curiosity, am prompted to the desire to teach, consoled by the applause of your love; for you restrainedly applaud the spoken words, like knowledgeable students, you, like sailors, help the helmsman, you hold the rudder of the tongue with prayers. Who can adequately proclaim your zeal? Who will explain your disgust for the pagan Hellenes? Who will tell about your courage against heretics? Truly, the Jews are abominable among other nations, for they always hunger and thirst for nothing else but to commit unpunished murders; They rejoice in nothing else except to throw prophets into pits, to drag along the ground and stone the righteous, to behead with swords and saw through the preachers of piety, to cut off parts of the hands and feet of the pious, and with bloody hands to hold instruments intended for protection, to stain their hands with the constant killing of the righteous. These added to the most wicked insolence against our Savior that they unceremoniously cried out before Him right in His presence: We know that God spoke to Moses; We do not know where He comes from (John 9:29). O daring deeds! Oh, the abomination of the Jews, doomed to exile! No matter how many times I was prompted to avoid disgust with the Jews, just as many times they clearly gave reason: sometimes reproached by the words of the prophets, convicted by the denunciations of the Law, sometimes pressed on all sides by the books of the venerable Gospels, just as now the Divine Scriptures present them before our eyes boldly uttering shameless sounds about the Lord of all and saying, as you have already heard: God spoke to Moses; We don’t know where He comes from. Oh, the impudence of murderers! Oh, the unbridled language of screaming robbers! Oh, the resistance of those who are blind in their minds! After all, when Herod found out from them: where should Christ be born? (Matthew 2:4), they said: in Bethlehem of Judea, and they proved this using prophecy, and brought sacred testimony: A great prophet arose in Israel (Luke 7:16). And now, covering their faces, they shout: God spoke to Moses; We don’t know where He comes from. Truly, they do not know, they do not understand, they walk in darkness (Ps. 81:5). Truly, this is a stupid and foolish people (Deut. 32:6). Christ rightly told them: We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; We sang songs of lamentation to you, and you did not weep (Luke 7:32). Who, then, will not form an unfavorable opinion against them? Who will not expose their quarrelsome malice? After all, how many times did Christ perform miraculous acts before them, raising the paralytic, cleansing the lepers, healing the afflicted, delivering the demon-possessed, opening the eyes of the blind, raising the dead from their graves, turning water into wine - and doing much more that is even difficult to list. And if only they had a little faith! Even if you are not convinced by us, O Jew, unbend and read the Holy Scriptures that are in your possession. Let you not accept either Peter or Paul. Let the Evangelists be rejected by you. So, at least listen to Moses. What is written in the Law? ─ The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers, ─ Listen to Him (cf. Deut. 18:15). Look what Isaiah prophesies: Behold, a virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel. (Isa. 7:14). Hear Jeremiah crying loudly: This is our God, and no one else can compare with Him. And further he says: After that He appeared on earth and spoke among people (Baruch. 3, 36, 38). Listen also to what Zechariah points out: Behold the Man, ─ His name is BRANCH (Zechariah 6:12) and Malachi: the Sun of righteousness will rise for you, and healing in His rays (Mal.4:2). Recognize and confirm, together with others, the word about the bleeding woman, who was treated for many years and received healing by touching the hem of her robe. What then? Read with diligence Ezekiel and the man of desires (Dan.9:23). Why? These are the gates of the Lord,” he says, “the Lord entered through them and went out, and the gates will be shut (cf. Eze. 44:2). Daniel says: And I saw, behold, someone like a son of man walking on the clouds of heaven (cf. Dan. 10:16). Go before Jacob and find out what he says in blessings. The prince will not fail from Judah, nor the leader from his feet, until that which is appointed for him comes, and He is the hope of the nations (cf. Gen. 49:10). Know the cithara of the Spirit and see what David sings with such zeal: Mother Zion, says man, and man was born in it, and He, the Most High, founded it (Ps. 86:5). After all, the Mother remains a Virgin even after Christmas, preserving the seals of virginity that nature has imposed. Hear what David also says: In his days righteousness will continue to flourish: he will rule from sea to sea and from rivers to the ends of the world (Ps. 71:7 ─8). Isn't this what some of our teachers predicted? Isn’t this what some of the Savior’s disciples wrote down on tablets and charters? Wasn’t this the same thing that the sons of the circumcision preached about Him before, trumpeting about it everywhere? Did not the descendants of Abraham proclaim this? Don't you want to believe this? Pay attention to the demons shouting and saying: What is it to us and to you, Son of the Living God (cf. Mark 5:7)? Be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord Christ, both angels and men and demons, as well as all creation. If you refuse to believe them, accept the testimony of the Father thundering from heaven addressed to Him: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:17), and to Him be glory forever and ever. Amen. 7. Eulogies in honor of St. Apostle Andrew. The apostolic trumpet has gathered us to the celebration, the trumpet that Christ forged with the hammer of the Cross on the anvil of the Gospel in the fire of the Spirit, fanned, I dare say, by the bellows of the Old and New Testaments; the trumpet, about which the one who borrowed from her prophetic, as well as psalmic praise, did not accidentally say: Blow the trumpet (Ps. 80:4). For Andrew bestows gifts of grace on everyone, gives the aid of the Spirit to everyone, gathers everyone to fight, wanting those who are called first to be crowned together with everyone else. Sound the trumpet, for sacraments worthy of the trumpet of Christ have spread throughout the whole earth, they must be preached to all nations. Blow the trumpet, for the sign of the spiritual trumpet is the general triumph and purpose of war and battle, competition and combat with weapons in the right and left hands to accomplish what is before us. Blow the trumpet to capture the enemy with this sound and destroy the walls of mental Jericho. Let this voice enter the ears of the deaf, and awaken from the dead those sleeping, as if in death, with the painful sleep of sin. Blow the trumpet for the new moon, for now our life has become a new moon, old age has passed, wrinkles have been smoothed out, from the old the new has been born thanks to the renewal of the Sacrament on the blessed day of our holiday. For what day is more auspicious than the one in which all nations clasp their hands? The whole earth is brought to a feast, kings flock to honor the fisherman; the living ask for food from someone who is considered dead; the wise hasten to the unlearned as to a teacher; a common meal for the glorious and the poor, a common celebration for all cities. The apostolic trumpet has gathered us to the celebration ─ Andrew, the firstborn of the choir of the apostles, the pillar of the newly founded Church, before Peter ─ Peter, the foundation of the foundation, the beginning of the firstborn, before the calling ─ called, before the sealing ─ sealed, before the drawing ─ drawn, proclaiming the Gospel when he had not yet believed, before the teaching, revealing Life, proclaiming Bread that I have never touched with my hands. Was there anything great or small that you heard as a lesson? Where do you live? ( John 1:38 ) ─ you asked Jesus. He answered: Go and see. And what was so special about this word that Andrei was so eager to acquire and proclaim? Did Christ reveal His glory in these words? Did he indicate what power He would have? Did He proclaim Himself as the Creator and Creator? Did He make the lame to run? Did he open the eyes of the blind? Have you done deeds that exceed nature? So where do you get this from, that you talk about Him like that? How did you become a prophet, and how did you also become a God-bearer? Why are you confusing Peter's ears? Why are you in a hurry to get ahead of someone you cannot get ahead of? But you say that John 276 moved you to these words. But he said, when you were nearby, only this: Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). But you have heard about the Lamb, but you preach the gospel about God; you have left what is below, but are curious about what is above; was by the lake, and threw his net into the sky. Doesn’t this net know how to catch, doesn’t it pull out the fisherman’s fishing rod? Earth and sky depend on your hands! What do you say: We have found the Messiah, what does it mean: Christ (John 1:41)? But where, how and when did you lose Him? They are looking for something lost, but how can He who saves all be lost? How can you seek and say that you have found the One who is everywhere? But Andrew knows, who says: “We have found the One Whom Adam lost, Whom Eve lost, Whom the cloud of our sinfulness hid from our eyes, Whom disobedience separated from us, ─ and He who is very close began to be considered abiding everywhere. We have found the One about whom David explains and, magnifying, sings: In the day of my sorrow I sought God (Ps. 76:2). Zephaniah also exclaims: Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth (Zeph. 2:3), for He, having found, raises up the poor, raises them from the earth, frees them from corruption, shows that He is the Highest of the high. The honest prophet Hosea did not reveal anything new to us when he said: In their sorrow they will seek Me from early morning and say: “Let us go and return to the Lord our God, for He has wounded and He will heal us, He has struck and He will bind up our wounds. He will revive us in two days, and on the third day we will rise again and be alive before Him, and we will strive to know the Lord; We will find Him like the dawn, and He will come to us like the early rain, like the latter rain to water the earth (Hos. 6:1 ─3). Now let someone call a Jew to trial, let him bring the foolish one to the judgment seat. Read the prophet and pick up the book. I will bring against you what is from you, for it was written in you, although it was done in me. So, here is an explanation of the prophecies. Prove how and when this happened to you, for you yourself admit that you were amazed, and we see, I don’t see care for you, I don’t notice your healing. On the contrary, the wound became inflamed, the disease became more severe, the hopeless illness led to death. Therefore, since you cannot indicate the fulfillment of the prophecy, I will explain the prophetic word and point out the time, and will call all creation as witnesses, for I will testify not with my own words, but with the Divine miracles of the Lord. So, God struck us when he condemned Adam to death, when he sentenced us to eat bread by the sweat of our brow, when he commanded the earth to produce thorns and thistles for us, when because of the primeval things he expelled the whole race from the paradise of sweetness. But the vulnerable is healed, but the afflicted is bound. How and in what way? Listen to Isaiah, who says: The punishment of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we were healed (Isaiah 53:5), so that none of those in the world were deceived by the prophet. Pay special attention to the following: He wounded us, and He will revive us in two days, and on the third day we will rise again (cf. Hos. 6:1-2). Does he not mention the time in which you crucified Christ, in which you did not believe in the Life that appeared hanging on the Tree? You recognize the spectacle you staged and the miracles of the spectacle, since Christ ascended to the Cross as to a wedding celebration. For, having no sin, He did not need clothing, was immaculate and did not have to be covered, there was nothing shameful in Him, on the contrary, He showed beauty in Himself. In the same way, creation could not bear the radiance of the Lord's beauty, but Light conquered light, the sun gave way to the Sun, the sensual to the Spiritual, the transitory to the Abiding, limited to a place existing outside of any place, the powerful [in appearance] Powerless, ruling the night ─ Setting the limits of night and day. For it was then night, since darkness covered the whole earth, although from the ninth hour until evening day continued again, and night, according to the law laid down for it, again followed day, and day again replaced night. The course of two days passed in order, and the definition of the prophecy was fulfilled: He will revive us in two days. Then the following came into fulfillment: On the third day we will rise again. For Christ has risen, and we have been raised together. He who liberated the dead rose from the dead and revived our race, for according to this the divine Paul says: As in Adam all die, so in Christ all shall live (1 Cor. 15:22). This tomb is a witness to this, a joy for the living, a consolation for the dead. The witness is also that stone that rolled away and rolled away all the demonic idols, and not only rolled away, but also smashed and crushed and scattered with the winnowing fan of the Cross and revealed them on the earth as dust on the ground and as smoke in a chimney (see Dan. 2:35) in the noisy stream of the Spirit. Witnesses are those wives who, like other wives once upon a time, brought material and spiritual peace to the Bridegroom every day and night. The witness is a priest dressed in white robes, an angel of the Church, crying out to them: Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth crucified (cf. Matt. 28:5). But you ask what time? After all, he says: We will find Him like the dawn. Luke can tell you this: On the very first day of the week, very early, bringing the prepared spices, they came to the tomb, and with them some others; but they found the stone rolled away from the coffin. And when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. When they were perplexed about this, two men suddenly appeared before them in shining clothes. And when they were in fear and bowed their faces to the ground, they said to them: Why are you looking for the living among the dead? (Luke 24:1-5). “Why do you think of Life as alien to life? The One whom you seek is seated in heaven, the One sought here rests in the bosom of the Father, who became dead in order to possess the living and the dead, was not separated from life, for He Himself gives life to everyone, from Him life is breathed into every nature, in Him the movable moves, the composed is formed, the active acts.” Leaving there, the women met Jesus and in the morning saw the Morning, and said to Him, as David sang in prophecy: For with You is the source of life, in Your light we see Light (Ps. 35:10). If you say: “Although the wives found [His], the apostles did not find him” ─ and: “What is the benefit of this for everyone? How did this acquisition become the salvation of all nature?” - then you are looking for what is unnecessary, you are reproaching recklessly. They found wives, since through Eve they had died before. The one that caused the loss gained profit. Read the end of the prophecy again: We will find Him as the dawn, and He will come to us as the early rain, as the latter rain waters the earth. This was wisely fulfilled in accordance with what was said. This word does not need a contemplative interpretation; we do not want to give an allegorical explanation of the prophet’s thoughts. He will come to us as the first rain, and as the latter rain waters the earth. So, just as He appears early to the wives, He is late to the apostles, for now early in the morning He brought to the wives: Rejoice (Matt. 28:9), then in the upper room of Zion the world says (John 20:19) to the disciples: Rejoice to the wives ─ to free you from the sentence of sorrow; peace to the disciples - to abolish the enmity that the serpent generated. That is why He spoke to them with such thoroughness: “Peace be with you, for the devil must expect war, enmity will be directed towards him, for his horn must be crushed, his poison must be squandered, his sting must be trampled under foot. Now I will forge weapons with which I will make war against him.” Therefore, it was not in vain that Andrew proclaimed to Peter: We have found the Messiah, which means: Christ, since God also says through the prophecy of Isaiah (John 1:41): If you seek, seek and dwell with Me (cf. Is. 21:12). Therefore, Andrew dared to ask Christ: “I see that you do not seem to have a home on earth, you do not build a dwelling in decay, you do not settle in a dwelling made of bricks. Where do you live, [tell me] so that I can become the doorkeeper of the house of the Lord. I wish it would be better to be at the threshold of the house of God than to live in the villages of sinners (Ps. 83:12). Where do you live? If I had found out, I wouldn’t have left the door.” But now the meal prepared by the Church from the Gospels, I did not present the dishes to her only as a minister, so I will move on, if it seems useful to you, to another meal. Let Andrei’s calling be crowned, I will show the election of a warrior. Let the dignity of the vinedresser be presented by the vocation that Matthew thus portrays to us: From that time Jesus began to preach and say: Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand (Matthew 4:17). Since then. From which one? ─ From when He sanctified the Jordan and brought the gift of Baptism, and crushed the head of the serpent in the waters, and brought down the gift of the Spirit from heaven, opened the path of life, opened the gates of salvation. From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say: repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. For the Lender has come, forgiving the debts of all, the generous King has returned home, the Judge has appeared, freeing stewards from worries, freeing them from fetters, blotting out the handwritings of all, closing His eyes so as not to see iniquity; stopping his ears so as not to hear about the sinner’s judgment (cf. Isa. 33:15). Repent, wash your deeds with words, wipe your lips with your tongue, cleanse your life with prayer, make a sacrifice, which is the beginning of many things. Repent, because the repentant not only moves away from misfortunes, but also participates in the inheritance of blessings; not only becomes free from evil, but becomes a worker of righteousness. Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Strong, show strength; weak, strengthen yourself; lame, flee (see 1 Cor. 9:24); those running, hurry up; those who hasten, do not be self-confident, but trust in God, by whom the running is governed. For it is not from him who wills, nor from him who runs, but from God who shows mercy (Rom. 9:16). Repent, for evil is not something that conquers repentance, there is no poison that could eliminate the power of this honey: the devil fights with everyone and resists everything, fights with everyone, only with repentance he does not dare to fight, for it spews out the sheep from his mouth, snatches the captive from the hands of the tyrant. Passing near the Sea of ​​Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers: Simon, called Peter, and Andrew, his brother (cf. Matt. 4:18). Seeing many, He noticed only two, for the rest were unworthy of the Lord's gaze. I saw two brothers, not only their bodies, but also their soul, nature and beauty, way of life and kinship. I saw two brothers, Simon, called Peter, but not yet called, but now worthy of the call. After all, look at what Christ told him: You are Simon, you will be called Cephas, which means Peter 277 (John 1:42). Behold, before confession you already have a reward and before you worked in the vineyard you received a denarius; before you brought the altar, a sacrifice was made; before preaching ─ crowned; before the gospel ─ anticipated the reward of theology. Andrew became the culprit of this for you, and Matthew attributes this grace to him: And Andrew, his brother. However, as he said elsewhere: I saw two brothers, and now he also pays attention to the second, wanting to announce that Andrei has become Peter’s benefactor. Therefore he says: Simon, called Peter, and Andrew his brother, so that the instruction that Solomon wrote in Proverbs is fulfilled: Let brothers be useful in need (Prov. 17:17), in much patience, in hard labor, in great hardships; for this is what Wisdom called necessary and inevitable manifestations of need: let the brothers be useful in need. Therefore, being forced to the calling, you did not despise Peter, for you heard him say to him: We have found the Messiah, who is called Christ (John 1:41). “Run, Peter,” he says, “before other Peters take possession of Him, before others anticipate primacy, for He wants to recruit an army for Himself, He is the One who gathers from the roads and crossroads (see Matt. 22:9), Who seals harlots and tax collectors. Wherever He throws the seed, the earth bears fruit; Wherever He plants a shoot, immediately a vineyard comes up; Where He casts the net, many fish will be found.” I saw two brothers, Simon, called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting nets into the sea; for they were fishermen. Marvel at the love of Christ, for He called the poor and ignorant and uneducated fishermen. After all, Wisdom does not need defenders, but servants, for no one gives Her anything, but everyone receives everything from Her; no one lends to Wealth, for everyone borrows from Him. So, what good are wise men if they preach? He who wishes to be a partaker of true wisdom must become foolish. Marvel at the wisdom of Christ and bless the election of the apostles. What did they exchange for what? He shows this when He says to them: “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Forget everything ancient, renounce your parents according to the flesh in order to find the true Father. The whole world will be small, judged by its Creator. Follow Me to go ahead of the patriarchs, to be accepted as the inheritance of the prophets and, being last, to become first, so that, coming at the eleventh hour (see Matt. 20:6), you will come before those who were hired early in the morning. Follow Me, for by following Me you will have an easy life, without silver you will become rich, without medicine you will become doctors of the universe, without weapons you will be stronger than your enemies. Follow Me, for I am the Light of the world, I am the Way and the Life and the Truth (John 14:6), I lead to the Father, I will let those who follow Me tread on the asp and the basilisk and trample the lion and the serpent (cf. Ps. 90:13).” And immediately, leaving the nets, they followed Him. Therefore, it is appropriate to please the prudence of the apostles, for what they had they left behind; What means of life they had, they despised. All their treasure and all their wealth were nets; they had a means of subsistence - a net; fishing gave them hope of survival. They abandoned this too, and did not say to themselves: “He speaks to us empty words and useless fables, proclaiming that he will make us fishers of men. And where can you get such a network? Where is the net that can catch these? What kind of lake, what kind of sea, that will bring us people into the net? What is the benefit of such fishing? Where will we use the prey after catching?” But those who were converted by the Caller and strengthened in faith, having known partly of the hidden Word, followed Him and immediately appeared born again, more glorious than kings, like angels, servants of God, preachers of salvation, servants of the Resurrection, brightest of the sun and moon and stars; for their glory is not as under the heavens, but above the heavens; they have an unquenchable Light, an endless Path, an ever-bringing Radiance, which, let us pray, may illuminate our thoughts. And let us escape the darkness itself, and turn away from ourselves the bitterness of this life, and, swimming across the troubled sea, we will escape the turbulence of the soul-destroying waves, and we will become the fish of the illiterate apostles of Christ, caught in the heavenly net, the dishes of the Lord's table, which the King of kings, the Author of our salvation, partakes of as food; to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 8. A word of praise to our venerable father Anthony With the memory of the righteous the world is adorned, with the memory of the righteous the world is sanctified, with the memory of the righteous human nature is exalted, with the memory of the righteous everyone who hears is glorified. Now we remember Anthony, a citizen of heaven, a teacher in all virtues, in the body ─ an imitator of the incorporeal, a lamp of churches, a teacher of priests, the color of virginity, the radiance of purity, a crown of those who wander in the mountains and dens (Heb. 11:38), a model of patience, a worker of self-control, an invincible fighter, a pillar of the prophets, a mirror of the apostles, a strong leader. God and people, having nothing on earth, yet looking entirely to heaven, stretching out his eyes to grief and directing his run to the reward there. Faithful like Abraham; like Isaac, obedient; patient like Jacob; like Joseph feeding Egypt; like Moses administering various miracles for teaching; he sang psalms like David, and cast out demons, and magnified God in his church; like Daniel, he commanded the lions; like the Baptist, he populated the desert with many people; as a Theologian, he reclined (through exercise in the words of the Gospel) on the chest of Jesus (John 21:20); died every day, like Paul (1 Cor. 15:31). However, we also draw, and the winepress overflows, and the vessels remain filled, and the winepress overflows (Joel 3:13), no matter how long we run, the distance becomes so great; No matter how long we sail, the immeasurability of the sea becomes clearer. Therefore, we can also say the words of Paul: It will not be enough for me, who tells the story, to talk about Gideon, Barak, Sampson, Jephthah, David and Samuel and about (other) prophets (Heb. 11:32), for when the competitions were arranged, this father united these in himself, but there is a need for many words, and I must be a guide in these subjects, since the spoken word encourages action. One is the outline of a shadow, the other is the action of truth. One is an image, the other is what the image points to; words create the image of a deed, but the tongue does not speak as the hand does. One is the sound of sayings, the other is the fragrance of good deeds: the first fills the air, the second reaches the sky and assures those who are in grief; it supplies next to those who live in heaven. “I don’t have enough time,” he says, “to tell the story.” If Paul did not have enough time to talk about the good works of the saints, ─ Paul, in whom Christ spoke, in whom the fullness of the Church spoke, the perfect treasure of knowledge was hidden (for he was a mine of knowledge, by inspiration from above he searched the Law and the Prophets, his language sounded throughout the whole world, like the trumpet of one of the spectacles) ─ what will we do, the poor and the weak? What will we do, whose speech is untrained, whose tongue is weak, whose mind is slow and whose heart is uneducated? we, who are neither trained in external things nor, even to the slightest degree, trained in internal things? A lifestyle does not provide freedom of speech, nor does a life that contradicts the word. How can we weave Anthony a tunic of praise? May David's harp crown him today, for he wrote about him and about his holy deeds in the chapter book: Blessed is the man who fears the Lord; he delights greatly in His commandments; his seed will be mighty on the earth (Ps. 111:1-2). His seed is all parts of Egypt, especially the union of the saints of the whole earth. They consider him the father and doer [of virtue], they organize their lives according to his statutes and believe, following his laws, to achieve the transition from this life. It is enough to give a saving word about the way of life of those brought up on tradition and philosophy. Let the prophet Isaiah also say about this: Blessed is he who has seed in Zion and a dwelling in Jerusalem (Is. 31:9). Let these words of Jeremiah's prophecy be spoken: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you came out of the womb, I sanctified you (Jer. 1:5); for he practiced holiness as something ordinary. From his mother’s womb he received for himself a lot ─ holy humility, ─ and he set chastity for Christ’s sake as the beginning of wisdom. Here we will put on the head of the righteous man this crown from the story of Job: “There was a man in the land of Egypt named Anthony, a blameless, true, pious, righteous man, shunning all evil, and this man was noblest from the east of the sun (Job 1:1).” What sun? ─ From the Sun of Truth, and His east were the apostles, with whom Anthony had an affinity; let it be called the fence of spiritual nobility. And Solomon himself can say something in Proverbs about this righteous man: A man is a great thing, and a man who shows mercy is honorable, but a great thing is to find a faithful husband (cf. Proverbs 20:6). May we find, may we also find the one whom Wisdom is looking for. However, he said that finding a faithful husband is a great thing. Paul is not like that. But what does he say? Who by faith conquered kingdoms ─ hints at Anthony and his zealots, for he despised, conquered the kingdoms of the world, glory, honor and wealth, received promises about the future, stopped the mouth of lions, that is, pleasures, avoided the edge of the sword, that is, external wisdom, was strengthened from weakness ─ intemperance, was strong in the war against the devil, put to flight regiments of strangers, that is, demons. Wives received their dead; mothers brought sinful children to the Righteous. However, he was beaten, died by the sword, experienced chains and prison, received beatings, was stoned, sawed down ─ having endured this much for the sake of piety, he had compassion for everyone as the father of all, wandered in mantles and goatskins, competing with Elijah in meekness, enduring shortcomings in the flesh and sorrow, for he knew what the path of sorrows is that leads to Kingdom of Heaven, when Anthony preferred to suffer with the people of God rather than have temporary sinful pleasure (Heb. 11:25). The whole world was not worthy of him, therefore, while still living on earth, he moved to heaven. Now let us delve into the literal meaning of the prophecies, which also has value. May Christ, the Head, confirm the praise in the members, even now He says: The Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force, and he who makes the effort takes it away (Matthew 11:12); Indeed, Anthony exhausted his body, curbed his soul, cut off pleasure, abstained from pleasure, avoided satiety, indulged in sleep as much as necessary just to maintain his nature, considered even the very name of fornication an abomination, and enjoyed all the expanses of the earth. He lived for virtues alone, becoming dead for passions. The enemy was like a toy for him, the devil fell under his feet. He boldly stepped on the asp and basilisk, trampled upon the mental lion and serpent (Ps. 90:13). He considered temptation a benefit for himself, and sorrow a commodity. I considered it joyful to be in mourning over sins, and to live in poverty as riches. He had everything because he had nothing. He was master of everything, for he was enslaved to nothing. He despised everything, but had no need for anything. In the same way, let us also enter into his zeal, we who have gathered today for the celebration of his holy memory, we who are amazed at his sacred life and who by faith commemorate his blessed dormition, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father be glory, honor, power with the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 9. Eulogies from St. to the Apostle Stephen The whole earth celebrates Stephen, for he cultivated the whole universe in order with his words, filled all its people with sacred laws. He scattered the dogmas of piety everywhere and allowed all churches to show off the light of his teaching. And just as the sun, rising from a certain corner in the sky, is destined to illuminate all creation, so the Crown of grace 278, shining from Jerusalem, filled all cities and lands, tribes and peoples, tribes and tongues with the unquenchable light of theology. But above all, in justice, we must organize celebrations for him, for he is a citizen of the Cross, native to Bethlehem, a native of the Resurrection, a minister of the table for Zion, a messenger of the Ascension. With us he made tents and tents; with us he received the lot of service and the lot of martyrdom. Here he has an altar for sacrifice and a seat for preaching, a field for teaching, an open place for orbit. From here he was taken up to heaven and went from us to Christ. Therefore, we constantly compile festive spectacles for him, and often we crown his tomb, and, as if jumping into a winepress, we ascend and sing the wedding song of the grape pickers: Lord, how you have crowned us with weapons of favor (Ps. 5:13). For the zeal of Stephen is a weapon for the faithful, his tongue is a sword for the pious, freedom of confession is armor, courageous courage, oratory is material for theology, teaching is instruction in the Law, knowledge of the Prophets, knowledge of the Gospels, contemplation of heavenly things, especially above heavenly things, explanation of the sacraments. However, who is capable of uttering praise worthy of Stephen? What shall I call it? Witness of Light, servant of Life, soldier of Christ, lamp of the Word, pearl of the Spirit, flower of patience, foundation of wisdom, example of dispassion, firstfruits of teachers, pillar of the Church, teacher of grace, ladder of virtues, stele of prosperity, forerunner of the apostles, firstborn of martyrs, chief of knowledge? He was a minister of widows, but ordained himself to serve the churches; assigned to bring in food, he brought in dogmas instead. He carried the offerings for the meal to the altar, but he ate the bread of heaven, not of the earth. He turned the vessel of intoxication into a Cup of grace, mixing the Spirit instead of wine, and offering mysterious and spiritual water instead of sensual water. He was great in word and deed, in teaching and working miracles, in shaming the Jews and driving away demons, and in healing ailments of body and soul. He opened his mouth and caught every ear; set the tongue in motion ─ and death escaped, lies were bound in fetters, love grew. As a lamb, he fought for the Shepherd with wolves; being a dove, he subjugated the snake to the Eagle. Silently the face of an angel appeared to the judges (see Acts 6:15). He smiled, seeing the slanderers around, and, seeing the false witnesses approaching, he spoke to them these words from the song of David: The arrows of the infants were their wounds (Ps. 63:8). No matter what arrow the slanderer shoots, he will not wound the worker of truth; no matter what thorn the evil one throws, he strives and struggles in vain, for he does not hurt the good, does not break the gentle, and does not see the blameless. What was the type of slander? This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and against the Law (Acts 6:13). This man. Which? Performer of signs and wonders that are above men; emanating a perfect source of wisdom; dispensing grace from himself, as from a storehouse; accomplishing powers that we cannot bear; the one by whom we got rid of jealousy and envy, whom the deaf hears when he calls him, and the blind sees, having received sight from him, the lame asks him for his legs, and receives his hands at his voice; one through which the stretchers of the paralytic are made unnecessary, through which there is no difference between the healthy and the sick, through which lepers are freed from suffering, thanks to which there is no need for doctors, because of which it is unnecessary to use medicine. This man does not stop speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the Law. What words are these? For we heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth would destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us (Acts 6:14). You are rightly called false witnesses and slanderers, for you call the Truth not the Truth, because you call your prophecies about you blasphemy and consider a deviation from the Law that which he himself promised would come true. Whose voice is this, whose prophecy, whose sermon? Who appointed Isaiah, Who commanded Micah to say this: Therefore for you Zion will be plowed up like a field, and Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins (Micah 3:12); And the daughter of Zion remained like a tent in a vineyard and like a hut in a vegetable garden (Isa. 1:8)? Who inspired David to say this: Remember, O Lord, to the children of Edom the day of Jerusalem, when they said: “You destroy, destroy it to its foundations” (Ps. 136:7)? What about Moses? Doesn't he also confirm what Stephen said? Isn’t it these curses that he inscribed on you, curses that have now come true in actual experience; and isn’t everyone aware of the reasons why they are fulfilled? Let us imagine in the words of Moses the wounds that befell the Jewish people. By searching for this in the Word of God, you will discover how it is fulfilled, without turning out to be false anywhere, neither in small nor in large. And if after this you go away (Lev.26:21), for they never turned their hearts to God in abundance, especially in recent times, in which they turned away from the call of Christ. That is why it was added: And you do not want to listen to Me ─ that means they did not listen when Christ called ─ then I will add to you seven blows for your sins (Lev.26:21). For when they refused the seven gifts of the Spirit, the seven wicked spirits became seven blows for them, and they entered and dwelt in them, and the last became worse for them than the first (see Matt. 12:45). And I will send the beasts of the field against you. The pagans, he says, were at first beasts due to ignorance, for in the forms of beasts and four-legged animals and reptiles they served the gods. David, praying, says about them: Let those who create them and all who trust in them be like them (Ps. 113:16). God has now sent these pagans against them, speaking through the Lawgiver about the following things: And they will take you away, and destroy your livestock, and make you small, and your ways will be desolate (Lev. 26:22). The last of these, sensually and in a spiritual sense, happened to them under the domination of the pagans. However, it is not here that God set a limit to the threats announced to the foolish people through Moses, but something more serious and greater is spoken of. For he says: You will be engaged to your wife, and another husband will sleep with her. The house will stand, and you will not live in it; you will plant a vineyard and not use it. Your calf will be slaughtered before your eyes, and you will not eat it (Deut. 28:30). And having threatened many others, he did not hide the reason why this would happen, but brings it with many threats that turn out to be connected with what we recently said: And your life will hang before your eyes, and you will be afraid night and day, and you will not be confident in your life. In the morning you will say: “How will the evening be? “And in the evening you will say: “How will the morning be?” ─ both from the fear of your heart, with which you will be seized, and from the visions of your eyes, with which you will see (Deut. 28, 66-67). So, hear about the end of this and about the fulfillment and do not reproach Stephen, who proclaims to the people what is in accordance with the Law and the Prophets. You will be betrothed to your wife ─ to the Old Testament ─ and another husband will sleep with her ─ the pagan people took her to themselves. The house will stand, and you will not live in it. ─ It is clear that the Church, for you see that it is destroyed. You will plant a vineyard and not use it, for it was not produced by vine clusters, but by thorns. Or he presented the vine of Christ (after all, Christ was from them the Jews) ─ The vine of our life; yet we gather His brushes, we pour out the wine, we drink the new wine. Your calf will be slaughtered before your eyes, and you will not eat it, for they brought the Sacrifice of Christ, they offered the Heavenly Calf on the altar, but food is intended for us, our meal. And for what reason? Because they were sick with unbelief, instead of knowledge they showed ignorance; at a time when they should have been theologizing, they slipped into blasphemy. They entered into inner peace and did not accept the Bridegroom; they decorated the bridal chamber with wreaths, and denied themselves from marriage; and when the Cross was erected, the elements shook, but they did not change. This is what is said next: And your life will be hanging before your eyes. Who is this Life? ─ Christ saying: I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). Where does it hang? On the Tree of the Cross. For He who hangs the earth with a word hangs on a Tree, on which He who bears is carried, on which He who hangs is suspended, on Whom He who lifts up is exalted: When I am lifted up, ─ he says, ─ I will draw everyone to Me (John 12:32). And you will be afraid night and day, and you will not be confident in your life. So, the cause of fear was unbelief. You will be afraid night and day, for this day and night are those in which there was darkness about the sixth hour throughout the whole earth (Matthew 27:45). For which reason Zechariah is at a loss as to what else this should be called, how to properly name it, what the time of the Cross should be called - according to the darkness that happened or according to the law of the day. Therefore he says this: And on that day there will be no light, but cold and frost. The great day is known only to the Lord: neither day nor night, only in the evening the light will appear. And on that day living waters will flow from Jerusalem, half of them into the first sea, and half of them into the last sea (Zech. 14:6-8). This was fulfilled in a sensual and spiritual way. On that day there will be no light, for the sun has set in the middle of the day, and darkness and ignorance have taken hold of the hearts of the Jews. There will be cold and frost. Peter testifies to this, warming himself by the fire because it was the middle of winter (see John 18:18). But at the same time there was a different cold, since then the love for God of the Jews cooled most of all, for otherwise they would not have crucified the Savior and Deliverer who came to them. There is a great day. How great is the day on which Adam was reborn, sin was oppressed, death was crushed, the Potter regained his vessel, the Shepherd his sheep, the Merchant his pearl? Known only to God. How then did He who knew everything most of all not foreknowledge of this day, on which He sacrificed the Only Begotten Son? Neither day nor night, since the course of the day did not become night. Only in the evening will light appear ─ when the darkness ceases after the ninth hour. In fact, it was both night and day. And on that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem. Where? From the ribs of Life, for from where Eve was taken, from there, naturally, the Church is formed. Half of them are at sea first. Obviously in the sea of ​​Epiphany. And half of them are the last ones at sea. It is clear that there is a sea of ​​repentance. For tears of repentance are a consequence of the gift of baptism; the proof of this is obvious: he who does not accept baptism repents in vain, if he does not resort to baptism, prays in vain, asks for forgiveness in vain, sheds tears in vain. For without baptism there is no remission of sins. The one who was baptized acquired active repentance: he cries ─ and he is freed; groans, laments, and prays ─ and is immediately cleansed. However, hear how the rest of the things predicted by the Law are fulfilled: In the morning you will say: “How will the evening be?” And in the evening you will say: “How will the morning be?” Why? From the fear of your heart, with which you will be seized, and from the visions of your eyes, with which you will see. When, as a result of the signs and wonders that took place during the Cross: when the earth shook, the sun fled, the sky was hidden, stones were split, the curtain was torn, coffins were opened, ─ cowardly and agitated, they, in justice, were forced to speak to each other: “How will there be an evening to kill our Life on the Cross, to hide the Heavenly in the earth, to cover the Immortal in the tomb, to take from the midst of the Marvelous, why do we have such terrible phenomena?” But even having done this, they do not benefit from the vision; they do what is contrary to themselves. And therefore they said in the evening: “How will the morning be? Because on the night of the Resurrection, strange miracles happened again, because, seeing the grave, the bridal chamber; the sealed coffin; the dead man coming out with Life; the warriors who became like the dead; the wives bearing the ointment; the angels guarding the burial shrouds; another angel sitting on the stone - the preacher of the Resurrection, ─ then they said: “How will it be morning to give us silver to the soldiers, to bribe Pilate to us, to hide the truth for us by deception, to tell us that His disciples, coming at night, stole Him while we were sleeping (Matthew 28:13).” The Law and through it Moses testify to this, and even more so, in both cases, God; testifies to a foolish people, shaming which the theologian Stephen calls them a blasphemer. And the high priest said: Is this so? (Acts 7:1). Didn't you see how it was? Have you prepared a trap? Have you bribed the slanderers? Is it not you who bribe false witnesses? “But there is,” he says, “a need for lies and hypocrisy; we need cunning for the trap laid out. So we sold Joseph (see Gen. 37:28), killed Naboth (see 1 Kings 21:13), crucified Christ.” Stefan, finding the time convenient for teaching, lavished many means of salvation on those listening from the people, drew a conclusion from his speech, considering it necessary for himself, as a witness of the truth, to say to those who have ears to hear, as those who strive to fight God and are sick with the spirit of rebellion, the following: Stiff-necked! People of uncircumcised heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit, just like your fathers and you (Acts 7:51). But how do you say at the beginning: Men, brothers and fathers, listen to me (Acts 7:2)? “That,” he says, “befits the nobility of Abraham; this, too, befits the wickedness of these.” This is the good root, this is the evil branch. This is a sign of belonging to the herd, but this is the dissipation, cruelty and unbridledness of many. This was prompted by Isaiah's song of praise: Say, our brothers, who hate us and disdain us, that the name of the Lord may be glorified (Isa. 66:5). The end prompts these people to do this, and against their will they force me to say: “I appealed to the brothers, I turned to the fathers, so that no one would think that I blame them as opponents, shame them as enemies. I addressed them as hard-hearted and uncircumcised because truth should be valued more than kinship, and no friends, no brothers, no fathers, no other relatives should be spared if they break the Law.” The sons of Judah could not bear these words, but gnashed their teeth like wild beasts, eager to devour the speaking Stephen. They gnashed their teeth (Acts 7:54). For it is said about them: Sons of men, their teeth are weapons and arrows, and their tongue is a sharp sword (Ps. 56:5). Stephen turned his eyes not to them, but to God and, neglecting the earth, moved himself into the courts of heaven, and with a clear voice proclaimed: Behold, I see the heavens opened (Acts 7:56). That is: new acquisition, a path prepared for everyone, a gate open to everyone who wants to enter. Let the courageous strive diligently, let the true warrior now use weapons, let him now show the greatness of his strength. For the Organizer of the competition watches and begins, distributing wreaths and awards. Behold, I see the heavens open. And about the One who is the Opener, he did not allow those who wished to see to be mistaken. And therefore he cried out: And the Son of Man, standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:56), who is called God the Word incarnate. From where the Son of God became the Son of Man, from there this very One, who from the Father, from the Virgin entered the earth and into the limits of heaven, abolished the mediastinum of enmity, removing the barrier, arranging a new habitation for angels and men, if people wish. Descends to earth ─ remains to serve in heaven; becomes flesh below ─ remains Spirit above; together with the clay remains with the clay, together with God ─ Mind. So, Stephen theologized about this, and disorderly shouts replaced ordered theology, and shouts gave way to shouts, and those who stoned followed the teachings of the sacred laws. Needing weapons, they took weapons from the ground, not having swords, casually grabbed stones, and leading out of the city, made a sacrifice. For ancient Jerusalem was not an appropriate place for sacrifice, but it was also appropriate to slaughter a lamb next to the Lamb of the Shepherd, there it was tedious to take possession of a warrior ─ the guarantee of victory, but here a trophy is given to commemorate the victory over everyone. But what means of accomplishment did he take with him? Prayer and the fragrance that comes from it, and the putting off of the body is clothed in prayer. What was the prayer? Lord Jesus, receive my spirit (Acts 7:59), that is: Thou, take Thine; the pledge which You gave me I return; accept the pearl that You have entrusted to me; what I have in Your image, I send this to You. Receive my spirit, for the souls of the righteous no longer enter hell crying, they no longer accept the dark places of death of living spirits. With You, who became the firstfruits of the living and the dead, to rule over both the dead and the living, the earth of the dead is safe (and not without reason). Receive my spirit. Do not allow Your sparrow to fall into the net of those who catch, so that my departure from the earth suffers harm from those gathered at the gates of the enemy, so that my ascension to heaven does not lead me into confusion. But he offered this prayer for himself, and another for the Jewish people: Lord, do not put this sin on them (Acts 7:60). And this means that he did not say not to impute to them, but do not put it, of course, so that you learn that our Judge is an accurate Weigher, weighing everyone’s cases during the Judgment. For if He put the mountains on the scales and the hills on the scales (see Isa. 40:12), how much less will He not measure our mistakes or good deeds? “Do not put this sin on them. Do not place them on the scales of judgment, do not burden those who are burdened because of me, so that my blessing does not become the cause of a curse for others, so that my gain does not turn out to be a loss for the Jews. I do not want my sacrifice to become harmful to those who offer it. For, although they offer sacrifice with an evil thought, I still honor them; against my will, they became for me the reason for coming to You, the Kingdom of Heaven, liberation from earth, relocation to heaven, evidence of victory, confession of what is in You and from You. For You are the Voice to us, turning to which I immediately gave myself up as a sacrifice and through confession poured out my blood into Your hands, as into a cup. Everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Heavenly Father (Matthew 10:32). To him be glory forever and ever, amen. 10. Eulogies in honor of Jacob, brother of the Lord and David the Father of God (fragment) It was read by Hesychius, presbyter of Jerusalem, on the day of remembrance of Jacob, brother of the Lord and David the Godfather. If our Savior had not humbled Himself, becoming obedient even to the point of death, He would not have acquired His own relatives, He would not have been called clay, the Father of the clay vessel. In the person of Zion I greet Bethlehem as if it were here; in my daughter I see a mother. In you, the torchlight procession was made up of one star, in the same - many. That 279 showed the way to the Magi, this 280 illuminated the Parthians, Medes, Elamites and people from all nations with the light of its radiance. You suck milk from virgin breasts, but this one draws the Spirit from the Father’s bosom. You leavened the Bread, and Zion held a feast. You fattened the Ox in a manger, and Zion offered Him up on the altar. You hid Jesus in swaddling clothes, and Zion exposed the rib to Thomas, who wanted to feel it. You have a Virgin who gave birth when the instruments of nature were closed, but this one, when the doors were closed, received and had within herself, within the bridal chamber, the Bridegroom. How can I praise the servant and brother of Christ, the archangel of the New Jerusalem, the chief of the priests, the leader of the apostles, the peak among peaks, the most brilliant among lamps, the brightest of stars? Peter speaks to the people, and James legislates, and a few words shortened the length of the subject under study: I ​​do not intend to make it difficult for those who turn to God from the Gentiles and further (Acts 15:19). “I, whose judgment they want to know, do not decide to abandon the Law and not to neglect the decree, for the Judge of all speaks in me - both the dead and the living. Mine is only a tool, and the Master is above me. I only provide the language, and the tone of the word is set by the Creator and the Word. Pay attention not to the cane, but to the Writer. Let obedience accept what it hears.” 11. The first word on the four-day Lazarus Behold, Lazarus again offers us today a luxurious meal, a meal in which everything is amazing, multi-colored and bright, constituting truly divine curiosity and a kind of royal grandeur; for the Father serves the table, the Son pours the wine, the Spirit anoints the feast; the angels stand guard over the bridal chamber, not allowing Judas to enter, nor allowing Caiaphas to enter, driving out the hypocrites when they still appear in the distance, pushing out those who killed the Lord with some sharp and harsh scourges, driving away the blasphemers with a prepared sword, bringing in the robber, solemnly accompanying the harlot, joyfully receiving the wise men for a meal, offering publicans first places in the bridal chamber. But who are the feasters? This is the essence of this word for us. ─ All the dead, each of whom is clothed in a certain pure wedding garment, sharing places with Adam and Eve. The honor of these and even greater blessings for this race belongs to the Resurrection from the dead, the beginning of which was the great Lazarus, worthy of all trust, a lushly blooming field of virtues, a prolific vineyard of faith, the rose of the Kingdom of Christ; the firstborn, whom the voice of the Only Begotten conceived; the language of the Word; trumpet of Wisdom; incessant pipe; the lyre played by the Father; the cithara, the strings of which God touches; the tympanum which God strikes; Psalter Born of God, himself born of his own kind. What is the voice? ─ Lazarus! get out (John 12:43). Hearing him, the entire family of the dead was encouraged; death was struck with fear and, cast down on its face out of fear, was trampled upon by its own captives. "Lazarus! go out, for we need this coming of yours.” “It is not given to me,” he says, “that the hosts of the dead should be brought out; it is not yet the time to proclaim freedom to the whole creation, it is not yet the time for the race to ascend before the Creator of the race descends.” "Lazarus! go out, we need your speed, so that the living will know how the dead tremble before the One who came from Mary; so that Pilate may know whose voice frees the dead, removes corruption, transforms tombs into bridal chambers. Lazarus! get out. Release yourself from the bonds and leave the darkness, enter the day and leave the night. Hurry to life, called by Life. Become a partaker of joy, for the cause of sorrow has been removed. Lazarus! get out. Do not think about bonds, for the chains have fallen. Do not think about the bolts, for they will break. Do not beware of the gatekeepers, for the gates of brass do not dare to hold you, called by Me. Lazarus! get out. The heavens, which convey the glory of God (Ps. 18:1), will seem brighter to you. The earth will appear to you and begin to exalt the cave of Bethlehem above the royal palaces and extol the manger as the throne of the cherubim. The sun will appear to you and illuminate you with even brighter rays. You will see Peter as he awakens with the crow of a rooster and sheds warm tears of repentance. You will see Judas as he joins the council; how, knowing Whom he is betraying, he does not dare to keep the silver of betrayal; knowing Whom he betrays, he testifies that the One betrayed by him is God; Knowing Whom he is betraying, he resorts to a noose and puts a rope on himself to strangle him. Thus she became a strong harness for his blasphemies and, in justice, a harsh and terrifying rein for his apostasy. Lazarus! get out. You will see the Jewish synagogue, how it betrays the One who gives Himself freely, how it tears its wedding tunic with its own hands and shows a deviation from the stripes that have not yet been inscribed on it 281. You will see the Church of the pagans, how she applies faith to faith, zeal to zeal, hope to hope, love to love, and crowns the marriage contract with the application of virtues.” Hearing this sacred voice, Lazarus hurried to go to the Caller and, saying goodbye, said to the host of the dead: “Life is calling me and I cannot stay; I am drawn to the Word and voice of God, for my feet naturally rush to Him; The Creator commanded ─ and nature seeks that which is above nature. Do you want to say something to the Caller? I will be an ambassador from you, so that He comes to you or you, the lower ones, raise up to Him or lower the Highest, for as the Good He will endure everything. I will intercede for you, the righteous, but you, sinners, can also send an embassy to Him through me. You better speak, O Adam, for we need to know your need. Aren't you worried about the whole race? Being yourself the father of all the fallen, do you care about the fallen, or do you pity only the elect, or do you want only those who have kept the mark of the image pure to be liberated? But be careful that great harm to the jug does not occur from such unsuitable vessels. Be careful that you do not become unfit for disobedience along with the race of other sinners. But speak, O Adam, quickly, for the time of ascension is imminent. Be afraid lest you be reprimanded for such negligence with such a strong sound of the trumpet. So, say what you want, for I will say to the One who speaks the voice: “Do not be angry, Lord. We lack the fortitude to make this call, because I need to find what the worms have eaten, I need to collect the remains scattered on the ground and decomposed into dust. For, being imperfect, can I ascend to the Perfect, can I leave the earth, reach the Caller and appear to the One who hastens to raise Adam unharmed? In addition, death has many gates, so that all those who enter are bound and cannot go back out.” After these words, Lazarus began to rise from the ground. The dead, each approaching, kissed Lazarus, for he was in a hurry to leave, and told him their troubles so that he would announce them. And Abel was the first to say: “Tell the Deliverer: what is the use for me to speak after death, since the bonds of corruption have not been removed?” And Noah, lamenting, brought a voice: “Why have you entrusted to me such a great and spacious ark? Now I am held in a cramped and dark dwelling, unclean and gloomy; I am in possession of a coffin that is so few cubits in size.” Abraham was indignant in the same way, saying: “I brought the Creator my only begotten son, and he looks at me at this time, bound in terrible bonds.” Isaac was indignant: “Having become the image of the immortal Sacrifice, I still endure the bitter chain of death.” Jacob reproached that he, who could fight with God, did not have the strength to fight against the most painful death. Joseph, inclined by chastity, removing sleep from himself, jealous of holiness, indignant, threatened to break the bonds, but not having the strength to resist death, he uttered a piercing groan, not receiving relief. Moses exclaimed: “Why am I, the lawgiver, sitting here as a captive?! Why am I with the Egyptian army, which with a wave of my hand I drowned in the depths of the sea; Why do I share with him the abyss of corruption, the bitterness of this destruction and the impurity of blood? David, taking the lyre, said to Lazarus: “Say to Him who was born of the Virgin: if You Yourself do not hasten, then we, forced by horrors, will hasten. If You slow down, we will not be able to hold on. If You Yourself do not come down, then we ourselves will quickly ascend to You. I wait to sing to the living; I have been singing praises to the dead for quite some time now. I want to explain to those living on earth the mysteries of hymn and say how the heavens preach the glory of God, how the firmament proclaims the works of His hands, what it means that day communicates speech to day, what night reveals knowledge to the night, what it means there is no tongue, and there is no dialect where their voice is not heard, why their sound spread throughout the whole earth, and to the ends of the universe their words, what it means He set His dwelling in the sun, Who is it, Who, how the bridegroom comes out of His palace and rejoices like a giant to run the race, as His departure from the edge of heaven, and His procession to their edge (Ps. 18:2 ─7). Heaven preaches the glory of God when He descends from them to earth and heaven does not feel widowhood. The firmament proclaims the works of His hands when He, restoring Adam, raises him up with glory not even the firmament, after the bonds - unenslaved, after corruption - incorruptible, after death - immortal. Day to day conveys speech, the day of the Lord's Nativity ─ the day of the Royal Cross, for, as the first saw God in the flesh, coming from the womb, so the second sees God in the flesh, hanging on a tree. And the night reveals knowledge to the night, the night of betrayal ─ the night of the Resurrection: for the first announces the fall of Judas, the second ─ the rebellion of Adam. There is no language, and there is no dialect where their voice is not heard, it is obvious that the voices of angels, the voices that they addressed to the myrrh-bearing women and which passed into the entire family of words. Every ear was touched by this speech, and every intelligent tongue was gifted by God, when their sound spread throughout the whole earth, and to the ends of the universe their words, the words of Peter and John, Andrew and Thomas and the choir of other illiterate ones, the holy band of simpletons, whom Wisdom hired to become messengers of Her words. He made His dwelling place in the sun, the Father ─ in the Son, for He rose for us as the Sun of Truth, for in Him dwells all the fullness of the Divinity bodily (Col. 2:9). And He, like a bridegroom, comes out of His palace; clothed in white robes, god-like, radiant, He came out of the heavenly palace, from the chamber of the royal tomb. He will rejoice, like a giant, to run the race when, like a winner, he ran from earth to heaven, and the clouds received Him as a victorious man risen from the dead. From the end of heaven was His departure, and His procession to the end of heaven, for from where He descended, there He was, but to where He was, He ascended again with the flesh, Descending to us and Abiding with the Father, Ascending for us and ending up with the Father, along with the firstfruits of our [nature].” The voice hurried Lazarus, and the call, freeing him from his shackles, lifted him up from the ground, as if on wings. And like a deer, he drove him out of the coffin, and like a chamois from the grave, dead, blind, bound, for he was still covered with swaddling clothes, his eyes were still covered by the sir, his eyes were still covered with cloth. The pupils were eaten, and they were not there, and could not perceive the sun's rays under the shrouds. The ears were stopped, the breathing was obstructed, the tongue had a belt and a bridle (for the mouths of the dead were bound), the neck was braided with belts, the shoulders were tied in shrouds, tied together to the hips, so that they could not be separated from each other, the legs were as if one next to the other, like a log next to a log. And he was like a kind of separate pillar, a visible monument to those held in hell. And so he came out and confused the Jews, scattered the Pharisees, forced the Sadducees, struck by fear, to rush to each other, but he pleased his relatives and friends, and worshiped with great care and haste the Resurrected One, and proclaimed to Life the mysteries of hell. Christ said to the crowd of Jews standing around: “Untie him, let him go (John 11:44), give permission to him who does not require permission; untie the one who walks with his feet tied; untie the one who is held back by burial shrouds, but walks orderly, without hesitating in the least; untie the one who sees, although his eyes are closed; the one who hears without hindrance, although his ears are stopped; one who, with stopped nostrils, smells the fragrance of life. Untie it to make your fingers themselves witnesses of the miracle; so that you no longer deny the sign, ashamed of your own hands; so that, after you have touched the trophy taken from death, the shrouds that you accepted would become proof of your folly. Untie him, let him go, for I have appointed a dead man as a messenger of Life. He who came out of hell will announce the One who descended from heaven; the one who rose from the grave will announce to the nations about the One born from the womb of the Father; the one who crumbles into dust will clearly tell about the One who created the human race from the beginning; the one who has risen from the dust will become a reassurance by showing clay vessels just like him a newly molded jug. Let him go, let him not remain silent about the sign that has taken place, let the fear of his Benefactor not make him unreasonable, let him not be persuaded by the passion for money, let the desire for glory not delight him, and let his addiction to worldly pleasures not make him slow. He found out why he suffered and where he went. There he experienced the damage, powerlessness, and fragility of this world. What is underground convinced him not to care about what is on earth, and not to consider earthly words reliable. Let him go to tell Caiaphas and call Pilate as a witness; present to the servants the One whom they intend to beat with a stick; confirm the disciples, convict the tempters, command the wives to prepare the ointment. Let him go, for as he goes, the synagogue is oppressed, a multitude of Sadducees is thrown into confusion, the whole circle of the earth trembles, the vault of heaven is cleared of a heap of clouds, a delightful host of stars appears, the sky becomes higher, seeing the power of Him who descended from him and what is expected of him; to Him be glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen. 12. Second word on the four-day Lazarus I love the place of church meetings, which gathers this spiritual feast around me, the feast is a meeting of the Church of God, watered by the Mystical Chalice, nourished by the Life-Giving Lamb, for the King of the Angels has settled on earth, feasts and pleasures are prepared for the faithful, and the sorrow of nature has been acting in defense of sorrows since the time when the Savior’s stay [on earth] began; for nature, as soon as it felt the radiance of the Lord, was filled with joy from songs of praise and leaps. Barren women gave birth to the forerunners of grace, in the very wombs of the mother, babies danced, glorifying, for the baby leaped in her womb and glorified (cf. Luke 1:41). For the virgin birth, the Virgin was blessed, the sky through the star called the Magi from afar, the earth was filled with angels rejoicing with those who live on earth, demons released those they possessed, bodies were freed from diseases, the paralytic then appeared running, the blind man rose at that time seeing, the leper washed away his leprosy, then the sea of passions, full of blood, dried up, one of the tongue-tied became a good speaker, the other again received hearing to accept words that had recently been blocked from him. And what should be said about the unexpected drinking of wine at a wedding (see John 2:1 ─11), about the dead jumping out of their tombs (see Luke 7:15; John 11:44)? For He said: Young man! I'm telling you, get up! (Luke 7:15), and he who heard this sound was terrified, imagining that the dead man had not really died. He also released Lazarus from the coffin, but in such a way that the summoned one, wrapped in swaddling clothes, hastened to appear as fleeing men, rotting in the coffin for four days, with his entrails largely eaten away by worms, having lost all the harmony of his body, witnessing the decay and stench of the coffin. But the fragrance of Life recreated the decomposed entrails, and the coffin for the summoned one became like a mother’s womb and, as if placed not in the coffin, but in the womb, as if newly cast, Lazarus, the old and the new man, was forged. Oh, a new miracle! For the sake of our life, the coffin was carried in the womb of a person, in funeral clothes, as if some kind of baby, wrapped in shrouds, and the voice of the Lord, familiar to the deceased, pulled him out of the coffin along with the shrouds: Lazarus! - says ─ get out (John 11:43)! And following the word, the dead quickly began to emerge, after the members were connected to each other in the coffin: the eye returned to its place, the nose took its position, the cheeks hurried to take on their previous appearance, the neck was equally wrapped from shoulders to head, the burial shrouds were tied from hands to knees, the fastenings moved along with the members of the body, the arrangement of the fingers was formed, the combinations of tendons were again connected, clothed in their composition the nature of the bones, the arteries were stretched along with the veins, the brain was recreated, the skin was woven, the hair was put in order. Slowly in his limbs he prepared himself to run according to the word [of the Lord]. Like a horse struck by a conventional sign, so a dead horse immediately rushed to run at the voice of the Lord, called, revived and emerging from the grave. Lazarus! get out. Before saying rise again, he orders you to come out! He urges the one still lying down to run! Resurrect first, Master, and immediately after this command the resurrected one to flee! Why, before the resurrection, do You order the one who is still lying to come out? “Yes,” he says, “I command the one lying down to run, so that, by complicating the dead with two commands, I do not delay the outcome. I tell him: get out, so that in one shorter time the action of resurrection and movement will be accomplished.” Lazarus, inspired by this, immediately stepped out of the tomb like a guard, or better yet, like a dead man sitting near the tomb. Hell below, as if forced to give up the dead, shouted: “Who is this, who, with a voice as if sleeping, raises the dead from their graves?! Who is this One who abolishes the ancient laws of the dead?! Who is this One who stirs up the dead to resist me?! Who is this One who addresses the dead with a sermon about the return?! Who is this One who accustoms those in the graves to the idea that it is possible to return to life?! Who is this One who so easily unties my bonds?! Who is this One who deprived me of all my dead so that they could stage a round dance?! I see that the rod of my dominion over people has disappeared. My prison of death has become dilapidated. Elijah, having taken away my dead man, returned him to the joy of the woman (see 1 Kings 17:23). After Elijah, when Elisha came, the theft of the dead was arranged for me twice (see 2 Kings 4, 35; 2 Kings 13, 21). Now this more hated defender of the dead has come against me, calling upon the already rotten dead as living, and from now on I doubt whether I have power over the rotting dead, for a dead man has been stolen from me, whom I subjected to decay. The four-day-old body triumphs over me, organizing a round dance together with those living in funeral robes. From now on, I am disgraced when the deceased runs away from me along with the funeral shrouds. Who will now be afraid of me, defeated by the rotting dead and who has become, as it were, a kind of guardian of the dead deposited for safekeeping? For Lazarus, like some valuable thing entrusted to the tomb for safekeeping, like gold that was given back along with seals, tied with funeral ribbons, was placed in the tomb and then returned back along with the shrouds. The crowd of Jews, unbelievers and doubters of the great miracles that had taken place, probably said then before Lazarus, as they once did before those serving near the tomb (see Matt. 28:12 ─13): “This is not the same one.” Therefore, just as someone intending to return a value entrusted for safekeeping and anticipating the suspicion of the entruster, carefully guards the seals on this value so that the appearance of the seals assures the depositor; in the same way, the Lord Christ, returning Lazarus to the Jews, the treasure placed among the dead for four days, brings him out along with the signs of the burial shrouds, like some kind of seals, so that those who will untie him will immediately see that it is not someone else, but the one whom they buried. But the disease of unbelief remained unhealed, for, having learned, they hated the dead man because of the miracle and formed a secret council: They decided to kill Lazarus too, because for his sake many of the Jews came and believed in Jesus (John 12:10-11). Oh, wicked advice! Is what has happened true, O priests, or is it false? For if it is true, then it is in vain that you deliberate to put to death someone who can rise again. If the miracle was a forgery, then in vain you attach high importance to this miracle. If what has happened becomes the subject of rumors, then it is better to ask the one about whom they are falsely spreading rumors that he has risen, so that all those who come will learn from the person being asked that he has not risen from the dead. If you kill him, you will do a service to the rumor by losing evidence against the rumor, so your plan will be difficult on both sides. O disease that causes much lamentation! Healing performed by the hated, causing wounds to the one who hates; A benefactor is like a hated pest; The one who saves is like the enemy who kills. It was proper to rejoice and not be sad when the dead are raised. The dead man is risen; I received cause for joy by finding a Physician applying a healing plaster to the dead. Man, you have real deliverance from those who torment you. Do you have a sick child? Call upon the One who resurrects the dead in sickness. Is your child worried about demons? You have a cure for passions. Are any of your relatives dying? You are close to snatching the dead from death. What gifts did you give, thinking of finding a helper in sorrows? This is what you found for nothing and turn your gaze away from what you found! So, since you are not afraid of making losses, give profits to those who want it; leave Lazarus to live, so that death does not cause anything more painful to the people whom He who came to her freed; May you not do anything to live in even greater despair of the grave. The dead man felt the hope of life in the tomb and, without damaging the shroud at all, was resurrected, but living with you, he is afraid of destroying the gift that he acquired in the tomb. What word about the constant deceit of the Jews occupies me when the revival of Lazarus leads me to the memory of the Resurrection? When the tombs shake, forced to bring back the dead, the earth is troubled, trembling with fear, the sound of trumpets will sound from heaven in the ears of people, for it is said: The trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible (1 Cor. 15:52). Then, like lightning, the Judge will come down from heaven; the army of angels, struck with fear from what happened, will precede the Judge, for it is said: The powers of heaven will be shaken (Matthew 24:29). Then there will be a meeting of the righteous in the clouds in the air; the cry of demons being dragged to judgment; the devil, sad and driven in chains; tyrants dragged to give a terrible answer; the treacherous deeds of the rich being punished; crown-worthy patience of the poor; the confessed benefactions of kings; the lives of priests explored; the venerable host of maidens; harlots, reproached and hidden; the revered sedateness of the chaste; the punished licentiousness of adulterers; the crowned kindness of the generous; hidden shame of slanderers; the blessed hosts of those who truly repented; the scourged pretense of hypocrites. You all heard not my word, but Paul, crying out to everyone: We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that everyone can receive according to what he did while living in the body, good or bad (1 Cor. 5:10). So, having brought all this to memory in order, extinguish pleasure, lover of pleasure, for it is the substance for the fire of Gehenna. Hold your belly, pampered one, for gluttony is a combustible burden; Condemning this, the prophet cried out to the Sodomites: However, this is the iniquity of Sodom: in pride and the abundance of bread and abundance (cf. Ezek. 16:49). Do not allow yourself to excess, rich as straw to an unquenchable flame. Be attached to patience, poor one, for godly patience is the cooling of hell. Forget about your wickedness, Hellene, only thorns are useful to fire. Rise from heretical dogmas, as from graves, heretic, before that voice comes, crying out to the dead: Behold, the Bridegroom comes, come out to meet Him (Matthew 25:6), Christ our God, who has to judge the living and the dead (cf. 1 Peter 4:5). Let us glorify Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. 13. A word of praise in honor of the holy apostles Peter and Paul It is pleasant to smell a rose brought in spring, but if it is intertwined with a lily, then, of course, it becomes more fragrant, because the myrrh mixes with the world, so the pleasure from the fragrance is doubly sweet. Glorious in himself is Peter and glorified of all the glorious, as the head of the apostolic host, as the eye of discipleship, as a monument of zeal and an example of faith, as a trumpet of the Sacrament, a tongue and a teacher of many languages, as an impeccable shepherd, as a never-sleeping helmsman, an unshakable steward, as a medicine merchant preparing a mental collurium of repentance, like a fisherman in the sea from which fish caught in heaven, whose net has threads ─ miracles, bait ─ suffering, hook ─ Cross, sea ─ Resurrection; he is like the keeper of the keys to the treasury, in which the Father has the treasure, the bridal chamber the Son, the table the Spirit, the rejoicings the angels. But when Paul joins him, they will appear as a doubly fortified and impregnable fortress; a stream that has two sources, inexhaustibly watering the whole earth; a sea with two bays, sailing into which every ship is saved. The turtle dove cooes with the swallow, the dove babbles with the cicada, the pipe and the harlequin sing a sacred and sweet song like honey. A young man with a godly person ─ and their straight path, as Wisdom declared in Proverbs (Proverbs 20:11). The lamb grazes with the wolf ─ and the Shepherd is glorified, and the miracles of the extraordinary Performer are crowned. The bull and the lion feed on the same pasture ─ and he who strengthens the bull and tames the lion reaps praise. Wasn't Paul a lion when he was still called Saul, when he killed, scattered the flock, smote the shepherds, gnashed his teeth in Jerusalem, terrified the cities, made noise in the marketplaces and hunted in uninhabited fields, dragging men and women into prison (Acts 8:3)? He ran thoughtlessly, for he did not complete the journey; he waved his fists in vain, as he skinned his fingers, for it was impossible to find a suitable accuser. Therefore, Christ, as Wisdom Itself, the Good Himself revealed, used meekness and, putting aside the sublime, offers the humble. Therefore, He did not kindle a fire, did not raise a storm, did not shake the foundations of the mountains, did not draw the two-edged sword of an angel, but cried out in a quiet and humane voice, saying: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me (Acts 9:4)? What advantages did I deprive you of? Have I closed heaven before you? Was it because of Me that the leaves of the fig tree were put on? Am I involved in the fact that you are going into the ground? Was it because of Me that you lost your power, were excommunicated from your inheritance, and had your image debased? Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? You had the Law, but I, as the Good One, brought grace. You worked for the letter, and I gave the Spirit. Shadows bother you, but when I came, I revealed the truth. You considered yourself offended for the images, but I delivered healing, one for many, not requiring silver, for money lovers; I have appointed to explain to you the meaning of the Sabbath, I have healed the wound of your circumcision, I have abolished the altar of groaning, and instead of those who groan, I have revealed a single sacrifice, not groaning and always rejoicing. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? Be ashamed of Abraham's tent and remember the altar of Isaac, recall the struggle of Jacob. Why did you consign Joseph's dreams to oblivion? Why don’t you pay attention to the rod of Moses, to the mantle of Elijah, to the courage of Elisha? All these are prototypes of Me, their prophecies were fulfilled on Me. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It was I who showed Jeremiah the rod of the almond tree (see Jer. 1:11), I painted the golden lampstand to Zechariah (see Zech. 4:2), I pointed out to Daniel the unbreakable stone (see. Dan.2:34), I expanded the belly of the whale for Jonah (Jonah 1, 11), I was contemplated by the great Ezekiel, the ruler of the cherubim (Ezek.4:23), I am the well-known Lamb of Isaiah (see Isaiah 53:7). Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? Watch where you string your arrows. Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool (Acts 7:49). Where are you throwing your spears? I am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John 14:10). Who are you throwing stones at? I have exhausted the waters with My handful and measured the heavens with a span, and have contained in measure the dust of the earth (Isa. 40:12). Against whom are you arming your tongue? I make clear the tongue of the deaf, I created the deaf and the hearing, I created the seeing and the blind. Look who you call a deceiver. I multiplied visions and used parables through the prophets (Hos. 12:10). Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? David praises me, but you revile me; he composes hymns, but you blaspheme; he plays the cithara, you stamp your feet; he plucks the strings, but you intend to take the weapon. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? That you fight Me with My own weapons, hide behind the Law and fight against Me; You strive for My sake, and you put Me to death? You defend My glory, but you do not know how to take up the sword, how the war will be organized.” Christ says this to Saul, who answers and says: Who are you, Lord? (Acts 9:5). Paul's zeal is excellent, for when he was called, he immediately obeyed. He accepted the word and immediately felt the glory of the Speaker and said: “Who are you, Lord, for I was filled with radiance, struck by the light, I became a prisoner of the radiance. Who are you, Lord? I want to see Your beauty, I strive to fly to the clouds, I want to recognize this radiance of glory (Heb. 1:3), to find out who is the image of the hypostasis, who is He who holds everything by the word of His power. Who are you, Lord? I heard Your voice and was fed up with the Law, I no longer have any desire for the Law, I no longer want to be a wooden ark overlaid with gold, I all want to become a sacred royal manger bearing Gold.” Let the sons of all heretics be put to shame and let the mouths of heretics be stopped. For behold, Paul, being called, does not do many works, but simply believes, worships and does not argue, praises and lays aside blame. Who are you, Lord? ─ he says. He would not have called Him Lord if he had not felt that the Caller is God. The One whom he knew as God, he confesses as the Creator; He proclaimed Him whom He confessed as the Creator as the Immortal, and thought of Him as the Imperishable. He revered Him as Immortal, but before that he did not know about the Cross, did not know about the Tomb. He didn't know about the slaps, the spear stuck in the rib, the blows. But what does Christ say to him? I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute (Acts 9:5). The brevity of the question receives the same short answer: I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute, I am Jesus, who once was and is now; Who exists before all and after all; at the beginning and at the end; Son of David, but Himself before David; from Abraham, but the Creator; from Adam, but He Himself created Adam; from Isaac, but Himself crowned the altar of Isaac; from Jacob, but He Himself was contemplated on the stairs, surrounded by a host of angels (see Gen. 28:12). I am Jesus, whom you persecute, but in pursuing you cannot reach; for where or how can you seize the radiance of glory? What kind of network is capable of containing the image of a hypostasis? Who can grasp with his hand the One who contains all things with the word of His power? I am Jesus whom you persecute. I am saving you in order to make you the bridegroom of My Bride. Why are you persecuting Me, the One for Whom a little later you yourself will be persecuted? But you tire your legs in vain, you sweat in vain, you toil to no avail: He who is persecuted by you sits in the bosom of the Father. I am Jesus, Whom you persecute, not knowing that you are fighting against your Life. Why are you fighting with Wisdom, throwing arrows at the Benefactor, whom you have no other; do you trample on the Food, thanks to which the earth without delay raises you a meal of fruits? You despise the Savior, but if He had not taken you by the hand, who would have freed you from your sins, who would have freed you from your bonds, from whom would you have received the handwriting back?” Thus, this Paul is first a persecutor, now an evangelist; formerly a pirate, now a helmsman; formerly a wolf, and now a shepherd; formerly lead, but now gold; formerly blasphemed, now praised and praised by all; This is the leader among teachers, the chosen one among God-bearers, the clearest among the prophets, the wisest among the apostles, the invulnerable among fighters, the most glorious among the preachers of Truth, the strongest among the warriors of piety. For who boasted that he was beaten with sticks three times (2 Cor. 11:23)? Who, like him, is proud of the fact that five times the Jews gave him forty stripes minus one? Whoever says that instead of the wedding font he suffered a shipwreck, spent night and day in the depths of the sea, and traveled many times; but by accepting offerings from everyone, he himself makes everyone even richer? Who has been in danger from robbers, in danger from fellow tribesmen, in danger on rivers, in danger in the desert, in danger from pagans, in danger among false brothers, and has not squandered the wealth of patience? Who bears the care of all the churches and does not groan from carrying heavy loads, does not weigh down his shoulders, does not bend his spine? Who exactly feels such a great aversion to sin and has acquired such a spacious heart to accommodate sinners? Nobody! But he always intercedes for us, so that we may become partakers of eternal blessings in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 14. Eulogies in honor of St. Martyr Procopius [Persa], and also on what was heard from the psalm: The death of His saints is honorable before the Lord (Ps. 115:6) and on the words of the Apostle: All things work together for good to those who love God (cf. Rom. 8:28), as well as on the instruction to the apostles: Behold, I send you out like sheep among wolves (Matthew 10:16). Christ crowned the sacrifice of Procopius, seeing that it was a fully prepared and very courageous calf with golden horns, adorned with many virtues, the first of His beloved flock of martyrs, with power goring the enemies of the Shepherd, with one look and voice dispersing fierce and bloodthirsty lions, with faith and jealousy putting spotted leopards to flight, with courage and wisdom dispersing various types of wild ones. animals roaring and seeking our death; a joyful spring coming to us after a cloudy winter of error; in deeds appearing as a disciple of Paul; spreading John's theology everywhere; imitated the manly ardor of Elijah the Tishbite; labored in the field of Samuel from infancy, like him; superior in strength to Samson, for he did not destroy the locks of the Spirit; walking next to David, as he cut off the head of the many-headed Goliath; also likened to Noah's Ark, being a casket full of virtues; who, like Abraham, renounced home and kinship and attachment to the fatherland; by killing the body even before the martyrdom, he made himself a burnt offering, like Isaac. Jacob fought with God, but Procopius for God and collected divine trophies throughout the universe. Moses crushed one golden calf-idol and destroyed many thousands of Jews, blasphemers of the Law. Procopius did not do this, but without an ax he overthrew all the statues of idols, and brought many peoples and cities and lands to Christ, catching them with his tongue, filled with prophetic words. He was pure, like Enoch, like Job, immaculate, just and God-fearing and shunned evil (Job 1:1), for his boldness of confession showed him to be true, and his very way of life showed him to be righteous, as the end of the struggle announced him as pious, as one who shunned all evil - abstinence from the pleasures of the body, asceticism of various types, measures and methods. Therefore, he was pure, like Enoch, blameless, like Job, for he was unable to defame and blame him, feeding on the accusations of sinners and spewing slander against the righteous, he did not dare to speak against him: Does Procopius honor the Lord for nothing (cf. Job 1:9)? For Procopius did not see it abounding in herds of sheep, nor did Procopius acquire herds of camels carrying heavy loads. Where can the Martyr get grazing donkeys? How does someone who did not leave a single piece of land get a pair of oxen to graze the land? But the common slanderer, blaming the steadfastness of the Martyr, did not dare to bring these words against him: Skin for skin, but for his life a man will give everything he has (Job 2:4). Did he have a host of sons or a crown of daughters around him? Did he have children of his household or descendants of concubines, or a strong body? Wasn't bread his food and water his drink? Wasn’t his fast continuous? Wasn't his diet more meager than complete abstinence from food? In the same way, Abel, dying, sued Cain: the body was contained by the earth, and the sky by the mouth; hell [received] a tongue, and the Judge a voice; clay ─ clay, and the Merchant ─ pearl, ─ however, dying, he sued Cain. Procopius is not so, but also asks God for his enemies and intercedes, and moves himself to intercede for the Samaritans, and does good to his opponents after death, and restores their hearing to the deaf, and grants the blind to see the sun again, straightens the legs of the lame, and those who previously could not move a finger appear running; lepers do not approach the tombs, but before they arrive, their sores fall off, and, having been cleansed, they dance as at a wedding celebration, appearing before the groom as his friends. But who can praise Procopius in order? Which of his sufferings shall we name first? Which one should we put second? Which one will we apply third? What is the fourth? In what appropriate place is the fifth found? What sixth crown should we bestow upon him? What seventh will we weave as a reward for his struggle? Which eighth ladder of praise will we climb? What ninth tower of praise shall we erect? Which of the words can we pass over in silence as the last? The falling away made the human race captive; Adam was deluded, but did not accept the feeling of disappointment: God for him is not God, stones are gods, the Creator is not the Creator, but the works of hands, sculptures of fingers are creators; how many iron images the blacksmith took out of the furnace and cleaned of impurities from the melt, the belly of which was hollowed out on an anvil, the spine of which was made wider with a hammer, the shoulder was hollowed out, the neck was made a little higher, the head was forged and the skull was attached; whose ears were hollowed out with a lead and a file sharpened, lips outlined, eyes sculpted, pupils shaped, hair curled, eyebrows rounded, eyelashes made. Then the enemy of life jumped down; Thou shalt not kill (Exodus 20:13 ─17) considered it a joke, Thou shalt not commit adultery he ridiculed, Thou shalt not steal was thought to depend on the circumstances, Thou shalt not bear false witness was called nonsense and a myth, [he said that] the commandment Thou shalt not covet anything from your neighbor was something hostile to life, and the Law was alien to the existing order of things. Procopius, stepping into the middle, addresses the drunken people with a general admonition. “Men, brethren. Why do you harm each other? For what reason do you raise swords against each other? Why does each of you not see that he is throwing arrows at his relatives and those who are close to [him]? Give me eyes that are blinded by reason, but rather turn my legs that are lame in spirit. Why do you give divine veneration to idols and liken the Creator of all things to creatures, and place the one who spiritualizes creation on an equal basis with the soulless, and place the one who produced the word among the dumb? The gold is not ours, but we were taken from the earth, we were trampled under foot. Silver is the acquisition of dust; how can dust benefit a rational soul? The wealth of clothing is food for moths and a deception of the eyes that is barely visible and deceives a person. Wasn't he a rich man known to everyone and dressed in fine linen (see Luke 16:19)? But the fine linen was replaced by the oven and the heat of the members, and the frying pan that burned the tongue. Didn't Herod dress in royal clothing (see Acts 12:21)? However, the worms devoured the body and clothes together. What light, purple, gold-embroidered tunic did Pharaoh wear (Ex. 15:4)? But he ends up buried in the Red Sea. You, if you desire purple, adorn yourself with chastity. If you want fine linen, improve in virtue. Practice patience and you will become a royal necklace. Give alms, for its fabric is woven on earth and cut in heaven. If you are in a hurry to weave a tall wreath on your head, ask for humility, for nothing is as glorious with God as this, for its sake do not avoid temptations, do not worry about dangers, do not beg to be freed from hard work, do not fear death. Do not avoid temptation, for blessed is the man who endures temptation (James 1:12); do not avoid persecution, for blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:10). Do not worry about dangers, for the torments of hell have befallen me; and I called on the name of the Lord (cf. Ps. 114:3), says David, and, like a Helper, He comes from heaven. Do not be afraid of death, because just now, when the church was singing psalms, you heard: Honorable before the Lord is the death of His saints (Ps. 115:6), and very just. Indeed, ─ bread before the harvest? The farmer does not dare to firmly believe this, for he is afraid of locusts, and he is afraid of locusts, he is afraid of dew that harms plants, he does not calm down, thinking about the blows of hail; worries about damage caused by gusts of wind; when the grain is collected with a sickle and is gathered by hand and tied into sheaves, and transported on carts along with straw, and ends up on a threshing disk, and is lifted with a winnowing shovel, and, having been winnowed and sealed, is trusted to be preserved inside the storehouse, ─ then only he is firmly confident in this and, as one enriched, rejoices, as one who has not labored in vain, is exalted; and when he opens the vault and loosens the bolts and opens the doors, he is warmly received by the citizens; when he offers bread in the marketplace among the merchants, he boasts of the labors of his hands. In the same way, the Sower of the race, the Cultivator of our mixture, is not firmly convinced of Adam before he sees him pass from the earth, before he goes through temptations, before he runs the field of dangers for the sake of wisdom. When he leaves the earth, then He rejoices over him, and is firmly confident in him, and exalts himself, and says to him: Well done, good and faithful servant! (Matthew 25:21). Then he adds: Enter into the joy of your master. Then he says: Come, ye blessed of My Father (Matthew 25:34). Then, in order to convince of the [gifted] blessings, he adds that all things work together for good to those who love God (cf. Rom. 8:28): whether sorrow haunts a person, or oppression seizes faith, whether nakedness oppresses, or danger surrounds, or a sword is sharpened, ─ none of this separates the faithful from Christ, nothing can separate the warrior from the King. For, even if sorrow torments them, those who contemplate Christ, the Author of joy, rejoice; if crowdedness envelops, those looking at the Teacher spread out; if persecution overtakes, those who wait for heaven do not think about earth, but rather their aspirations become stronger in their feet; if there is hunger, those who feel it] are satisfied with the Bread of Life; if nakedness oppresses them, they clothe themselves with the spirit, clothe themselves with grace, and rightly do not worry about clothing; if danger threatens, they look to the Military Leader, recognize the Ally in the fight and, rightly, do not dare to curb the boldness of the word; if the sword is sharpened, the tongue that they want to cut cannot tolerate being silent, for there are prepared for each of those present, gentle sheep and blameless rams and lambs, joyfully accepting the commands of the Shepherd: Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves (Matthew 10:16), that is, be bold and go, hasten quickly, gather the nations, expand the flocks, drive away the wolves, show the strength of the Shepherd. You are no lower than Moses, no weaker than Jeremiah, you have been entrusted with no less grace than Ezekiel. He who sent Elijah is with you, He also sends each of you as a prophet. So, look who Moses is and to whom he was sent, ─ he is only the image of victory erected and raised by Him: the lawgiver was without armor and was sent to those who behold the faces, but the rod of one who does not have armor subjugates heavily armed warriors and overcomes armies. Instead of being fully armed, cover yourself with the armor of the following commandment: Therefore, be wise as serpents and simple as doves (Matthew 10:16), for prudence is wonderful, integrity is also amazing, but in addition to each [of them], the help and benefits associated with them are acquired. And not only prudence, not only integrity, can justify and save a person, which is why it is necessary to acquire both the wisdom of snakes and the simplicity of doves. The snake is reasonable, but has no integrity, and as soon as it is noticed, it is fair to drive away like a poisonous animal; the dove is only pure and therefore can become an object of evil intent for everyone. Therefore, you mix integrity with prudence and be blameless in everyday things, but prudent in spiritual things. If you buy or sell a field or enter into some other transaction related to everyday affairs, then you seek honesty, for honest people are better off being offended than being offended themselves; being deceived when drawing up a contract is considered more beneficial for heavenly and earthly life than being deceived in such a way. When you exercise the Law, then exercise prudence, look for the purpose of what is written: ask how this is possible, for the sake of what the letter of the Law wants to say, what the spirit of prophecy prescribes, whether it is a simple word, or whether the pen of teaching is expressed in parables. Pay attention to what the other banners of the army fighting for the Sender are, and learn strategy. They will hand you over to the courts (Matthew 10:17), but be brave, for the Father is not separated, the Son is not removed, the Spirit is not removed, the angels protect. And in their synagogues they will beat you. Rejoice greatly, for you are fighters for piety and, covered with bruises due to the blows of the whip, you are the brightest rays of the sun. And they will lead you to rulers and kings for Me, to testify before them and the pagans (Matthew 10:18). Do not be at all numb by this, for My sake you will appear before the rulers, for My glory you will be brought before kings. He is with you who anoints kings, who in you sets boundaries for rulers, assigns to them a seat of judgment and gives them a scepter. Moreover, keep in mind that you will not only be detained and brought before kings and rulers, but you will become witnesses for them (obviously for all Jews, but also for pagans), so that they may know the power of Him about whom you testify, because the beggars curb the rulers, the rude villagers confuse the council of consuls and spit on the famous council, the common people they dishonor tyrants and shame kings. When they betray you, do not worry about how or what to say (Matthew 10:19), for you are the tongues of the Word and the pipes of Wisdom, and the messengers of Life, and the rhetoricians of one who does not need rhetoricians, and therefore the following follows for you: For in that hour it will be given to you what to say. Until this hour, the Word does not give you [special] grace, so that you do not think that the words you spoke were yours, for it is not you who will speak, but the Spirit of your Father will speak in you, for you fight for Him, suffer for His sake, to please Him. This means that we must expect a reward from Him, think about receiving the word, inherit the reward for confession, hope to accept the full armor that the enemy cannot defeat, for it is forged by God. Brother will betray brother to death, and father his son; and children will rise up against their parents and kill them (Matthew 10:20). Nature separates itself, but grace unites, clay fights against itself, but the Creator does not allow clay to be abandoned. Clay pieces hit each other, but as soon as they are connected together with the help of a potter's wheel, then, of necessity, the Potter will be remembered. And you will be hated by everyone for My name, your power is in glory, your contentment is in honor, and no less in hope, for you will be hated by everyone, but the Loving One does not allow you to be left in trouble among all, but waits and kindles a warmer love. And you will be hated by everyone because of My name; he who endures to the end will be saved. Hear the word, O faithful one, and keep the commandment, and cultivate patience with diligence, and reap the ear from it with much joy. Cut the bunch of grapes, trample the grapes in the grindstone. Do not say any more: “Fears are different, torments are severe, bonds bring sadness, what is from the fatherland pleases, but what is found in a foreign land is scary; few are called, but many are rejected; wisdom is reviled and virtue is ridiculed, I am overcome by fear from my family, I am attacked by danger from relatives, and I am besieged by my own thoughts.” Don’t say that, don’t think about it, don’t weaken the power of patience, don’t grow sheaves of disdain in yourself, but look with seriousness at this Cross as at a royal palace, contemplate and look out in It for this sacred inner peace ─ Resurrection. Picture within yourself the King, hanged on the Tree, the Lord, lawlessly struck by slaves, the Lawgiver, boldly spat upon by those under the law, Rich in all robes, shamelessly naked. Okay, but do you contemplate the Resurrection in anything? The shrouds of the one who is stripped reveal the wealth, the strength of the one who is struck is represented by the angels, the glory of the one who is stifled is shown by the voices coming from heaven, and to Him be glory now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen. The root and foundation of piety is fasting performed according to God, with the fear [of God] and holy prayers, filled with alms. God does not desire abstinence from bread and water, but abstinence from evil deeds, for it is not what enters the mouth that defiles a person; but that. What comes out of the mouth defiles a person (Matthew 15:11). Let us fast, beloved, let us perform a fast appropriate to God, about which the Lord speaks: And you, when you fast, anoint your head with good deeds and alms, and wash your face, put off all uncleanness of sin (Matthew 6:17). There is a fast that is reprehensible, and there is a fast that is praiseworthy. Many, while fasting, committed murder, and many, while fasting, saved others. The Ninevites fasted and were saved, and thanks to fasting they changed the wrath of God. They passed a sentence on themselves, but fasting prevented them from fulfilling it, for the prophet says: Three more days, and Nineveh will be destroyed (Jonah 3:4). He did not say in three days, and Nineveh will be destroyed (for if he said: in three days, then God would have destroyed), but he said: three more days, as if saying: “I tolerated you for so long, and you did not repent. I will bear with you for three more days, and if you do not repent within three days, then the city will be destroyed.” And in such a short time they would not have repented if not for these three days, that is, thanks to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Jews fasted and plotted to kill the Apostle Paul (see Acts 23:12). Jezebel declared a fast and killed Naboth, and took possession of the poor man's vineyard (see 1 Kings 21:9). Fasting and murder ─ what kind of fasting is this? Daniel was fasting when he was thrown into the lion's den, but thrown into the den he cried out to Christ, saying: From the depths I cried to Thee, O Lord, Lord, hear my prayer (cf. Ps. 129:1). Seeing lions on the right and on the left, he cried out again, saying: Do not hand over to the beasts the soul that confesses to You (Ps. 73:19). Look, the Lord has not abandoned those who trust in Him. The king of earth sealed the den, the king of heaven sealed the mouth of the lions. The fire in the furnace was fasting and did not want to consume his fellow slaves, but while fasting, he jumped out of the furnace, giving space between the three to the Fourth (see Dan. 3:92). The whale was fasting in the sea when he accepted Jonah into the storehouse of his belly (Jonah 2:1), for he had the prophet as a kind of guarantee, showing the sign of fasting. Since he became a shipwrecked man instead of a ship, he carried the guest through the sea and the depths, and great horror; and, in order not to destroy the guest in the vaults of the womb, he returned this pledge unharmed, handing it over to the Lord who handed it over. David fasted, and because of fasting and repentance, God forgave him for his sin with Uriah’s wife (see 2 Sam. 12:16). Elijah fasted for forty days and received the keys to heaven: when he wanted, he forbade the rain and, when he wanted, he called on it with fasting and prayer (see 1 Kings 18, 41 ─45). Our Lord fasted for forty days and put the devil to shame; He committed no sin, and wickedness was not found in His mouth. He fasted to give us an example that by fasting we can achieve atonement for sins. So, let us fast, beloved, with a pure fast, about which the Apostle James speaks, that pure piety is to look after our brothers in their sorrows, to keep ourselves undefiled from the world (James 1:27). Joshua fasted and commanded the sun and moon (see Joshua 10:13). The apostles, having nothing on earth, received the power to knit and decide, and the saying was fulfilled on them: they are like having nothing, but possessing everything (2 Cor. 6:10). For it is said that Peter and John at the ninth hour entered the church to pray (see Acts 3:1). And a man lame from his mother's womb, who had never walked, sat there. He expected to receive something from the apostles. Peter answered, saying to him: “What you expect to receive, I do not have, but I have what you do not expect to receive. You hope to receive silver, but I give you healing, for the health of the body is better than immeasurable wealth. I confess to you the Truth: I have no silver or gold. For Christ commanded me, saying: Take with you neither gold, nor silver, nor copper (Matthew 10:9). He gave us authority, saying: Cast out demons, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers. Freely you have received, freely give (Matthew 10:8). In the name of Jesus Christ, arise and walk (Acts 3:6).” And taking him by the right hand, he lifted him up. The slave lifts him up, taking him by the hand, but the Master heals with a word, for a slave is not higher than his master (Matthew 10:24). But today, when the hospitals are open, I see only one Doctor appointed for them - Christ. Oh, a new miracle! Different diseases in hospitals located in different places are treated by one Doctor. One person comes to a certain place covered in the wound of sin and leaves healed, having received a healing ointment from fasting. Another in another place, stinking of the rot of fornication, is healed of the stench by Christ, the Physician of souls and bodies, taking the medicine of fasting. Another, inflamed by the fever of love of money, cools the disease with fasting and is saved by it, as by medicinal herbs. He knows how to quickly make the barren pregnant, how to show the barren mother’s womb to the fertile and bestow sons of the prophets as a reward for abstinence. For what do we learn from Divine Scripture? And Anna was sad, ─ she says, ─ and complained, and did not eat (1 Samuel 1:7). But fasting gave the barren Samuel the prophet. Do you see the gifts of fasting? You see what fruits it brings to those who cling to it, how it dries up the springs of fornication, and it opens the wombs dried up by barrenness and destroys the thorns of sin, born from words, and they no longer bear the fruits of wickedness. But not only can fasting, according to God, but also make the harsh meek, transform the uncompassionate into compassionate, soften, like a blacksmith [iron], the hardness of the unyielding. It is necessary not only for sinners, but is also useful at certain times for the righteous, as we showed earlier. Moses, when he fasted for forty days and forty nights, entered into that darkness and saw God like no other born man, according to the testimony of God Himself about him, saying: If a prophet of the Lord happens to you, then I reveal myself to him in a vision, I speak to him in a dream. But it is not so with My servant Moses, mouth to mouth, face to face, as if someone were speaking to his friend (Num. 12:6 ─8). Such a special divine gift brought fasting to the prophet and surrounded the face of the fasting person with the radiance of some unapproachable light, and gave the prophet tablets written by the finger of God. Let us approach this fast with a clear face, welcome it with joyful souls, and let us not abstain from food, but resist sins, let us not appear humble in face before people, but before the Lord, with an arrogant soul, and, giving to the poor, let us not plunder others, and, currying favor with God with words, let us not kill our brothers with our deeds, always remembering what the apostle says: Try to have peace with everyone and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14). But together with food, abstaining from all evil, let us say to Him: You have mercy on everyone, because you can do everything, and you cover the sins of people for the sake of repentance (Wisdom 11:24), for all glory is due to You, to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen. 16. Word on the Conception of the honest Forerunner Most majestic and all-glorious are the leaps of the God-bearing prophets, for according to God they move their feet and, at the inspiration of the Spirit, they act with their hands; the pipe for them is the Word and the Son, Christ and God, it speaks in their tongue, That Word, which made up the beauty of the heavens and created the radiance of the solar chariots, established monthly changes for the moon, united and separated the system of stars, arranging for each its own course, indicating for all their common and only path. It did not allow the clouds to float as they had to, but as soon as the time comes, It calls them, and the fruit of the field seeks [water], and the farmer asks and thirsts and prays, and all who are below send intercessors to heaven. It said to the sea: Rage and become furious and rise up, but let the waves break within you (see Jer 5:22). Therefore, let it be afraid lest the movement of the abyss of the sea forget the Creator; let the depth not swallow the traveler, so that the elements do not become death for the heir. It measures out flowers, plants, fruits, shoots, and each place is especially distinguished by the benefits that grow, and the whole earth, divided in many places into numerous pieces, is a single body. It distributes flutes among the prophets and divides pipes, and forges trumpets, makes cymbals and distributes timbrels, distributes inheritances and casts lots for the gifts of grace. The Baptist John received a doubly better and more glorious land as his inheritance, for, while still young, he resisted the times, crossed the boundaries of nature, and the womb was not able to hold the baby, the mother was not able to stop the prophet. He had no voice, and he filled the whole earth with glorious words. The tongue had no pipe, but the song spread throughout the entire universe. The trumpet of the mouth was silent, but the sound of the dogmas reached the heavens, and such a brave child made the clay stronger for the potter. The time has not yet come, the birth has not yet occurred, labor has not yet begun, the months have not yet been completed; and a baby without a tongue speaks with the help of his feet, and instead of a kind of flute he used jumps; and kicked the mother’s womb like a tympanum; and, as if using a cymbal, he knocked on the womb; and found for myself a lyre, clear, loud, euphonious, whose strings are the mother’s womb; and commanded his mother to say to Mary: Blessed are You among women, and blessed is the fruit of Your womb! (Luke 1:42). Blessed are You among women, for You have resolved the bonds, freed the nature, and given a reason to praise the birth of Eve. Blessed are You among women, for thanks to You a barren woman becomes a mother, and a baby speaks clearly, and a little child makes sounds that are beyond all eloquence, and the one who once spoke inaudibly is an Evangelist. And blessed is the fruit of Your womb! I am the voice and the thunder, the guide and the lamp, the mediator and herald, the prophet and the apostle, the trumpeter, proclaiming the grace-filled gifts of Life, arranging the path without any obstacles, the Baptist, visible in the flesh, the Forerunner of the King, whose throne is everywhere, whose throne is carried by all the elements. Everyone solemnly accompanies Him, but no one knows what the appearance or image of the Accompanied One looks like. Everyone trembles, thinking about His glory, they find themselves struck in spirit, pierced by the very thought that they rushed to imagine His essence and power.” So, let John compose hymns, citizen of the desert, builder of the fortresses of the Jordan, beholder of the dove winged by God, beholder of the Cloud of the Father, the incessant voice that represents the dignity of the Son, makes manifest the glory of the Word, reveals the glory of the Only Begotten. Let John compose hymns, playing a song on the flute, after which everyone rushes. For who, having heard it, does not repent, does not hasten to wash himself, does not desire to cleanse himself, does not prepare a jug for the fountain, wanting to draw and drink and cool the heat? Who, knowing that the Kingdom of Heaven is approaching, would not desire to come before his brother and would not rush to get ahead of his neighbor? Let John sing the hymns, to whom the first miracles and the last, great and most luminous, were revealed. The first miracles - Gabriel shows him the birth, the angel explains the conception to Zechariah. The priest standing between the church and the altar receives a gift from heaven, but the sons of Judah turn out to be pitiful, for there the priest received a revelation from above, but here they sharpen a knife and take up weapons, and plot murder and create a tragedy. What did Gabriel say to Zechariah? Fear not, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John; and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord; He will not drink wine or strong drink, and will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb; and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God; and he will come before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to return the hearts of the fathers to the children, and to the disobedient the way of thinking of the righteous, in order to present to the Lord a people prepared (Luke 1:13-17). Do you hear how John is endowed with such great wealth even before his birth and is the owner of so many benefits even before conception in the organs of the body responsible for childbirth. “Do not be afraid, Zechariah,” he says, “this means: “The Deliverer comes - and the people are delivered from sinning. Your prayer has been heard, for the time has come to accept the Creator of heaven and earth. And your wife Elizabeth will give birth to you a son - she will give birth to a barren woman, in order to become an example of a miracle for the Virgin and Mother of God. And you will call his name: John, indeed, an unusual name, since the work to which the name is given is also unusual: a new purpose, for the future Sacrament that he had to serve is also new. And you will have joy and gladness - joy, since you will give birth to one greater than whom no one born of women has risen (cf. Matt. 11:11); joy, for whoever is born of you will be the end of the Law and the Prophets.” And many will rejoice at his birth ─ those who accept his preaching of repentance and are cleansed in the bath of baptism; The scribes do not rejoice, and the Pharisees grieve along with them, for he predicts to them about a shovel and threatens with an ax, and announces about beating, but instead of this they have a thorny forest, overgrown, inhabited by animals, dense. Why did Gabriel, exalting the Baptist, proclaim in another place: He will be great before the Lord? It will be great, for it will point to the Lamb who takes away the sins of the whole world (see John 1:29), and before the Lord because the feeling of heavenly blessings does not seem great to people, but among the Jews the sacraments of Christ are the subject of ridicule, and they ridicule the preachers of the truth, raising persecution against the rhetoricians of grace as against enemies. He will not drink wine or strong drink, lest the Spirit who chose him to dwell in him be oppressed. And he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb ─ he says this not just like that and not in vain, speaking in advance about the gift and revealing the gifts of grace, but in order to proclaim the Light before the Light comes; to announce the Creator before the elements contemplate Him; point to the Sun before the course of the day sees Him; before His outcome of the night is noticed. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. For he was the teacher of the great Andrew, who turned out to be the teacher of John the theologian before they themselves were caught in the net. Having learned from him, ─ behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, ─ the apostles, following Him, say: Rabbi, where do you live? (cf. John 1:29), hastening to enter the dwelling of the Inconceivable. This one will come before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah - not in soul and body. Away, away from fads! These are the children of the Hellenics who talk idle talk about the fact that souls pre-exist and move from body to body, as they say, going on a rampage, luring the crowd to themselves with words that are empty and attractive to the mob. The Creator gave each soul its own body, which is why John, although the second Elijah and out of jealousy is called by his name, is still not in soul and body; but the One who gave him action in the spirit also gave to John the Baptist and the Baptist the measure of gifts that he received. He who provided the ancient with strength, the same one proclaims that he will equip the new. This one will return the hearts of fathers to children, and the disobedient way of thinking of the righteous. The fathers are called Israel, the children the pagans, but the fathers turn to the children because the children acquire the Source of Life, and, as prudent and faithful, they appropriate the food of joy, and, having taken possession of the table, are surrounded by light. That is why those who are called fathers are rightly called disobedient; for they were announced to Isaiah the prophet: I knew that you are stubborn, and that there are veins of iron in your neck, and that your forehead is copper (Isaiah 48:4) ─ so that the inflexibility of the synagogue and the excessive disobedience of its heirs may be revealed. The righteous among the pagans, although they did not fully know righteousness, are now learning it with zeal; although they have not known the door of piety, but now, hastening with joy, they are led into the bridal chamber; although they were far from the light, they now look with purified gaze at the Sun Itself. Why does Gabriel, speaking about the perfections of John, also proclaim something else: To present to the Lord a prepared people? Which one prepared? Isn't it Christ anyway? He who fashioned, remade; The One who rolled the potter's wheel from the beginning, He subsequently rolled it out; The One who said: let man become a living soul (see Gen. 2:7), He said: I do not want the death of a sinner (Ezek. 33:11). This is what Gabriel proclaimed, who descended from heaven; in accordance with these words, John was born, conceived from the seed in the womb of Elizabeth, already from the womb joyfully meets the One who began to dwell in the womb, and theologizes about the One who is in the womb, himself still held by the bonds of the womb; Having been born, he is sent to the desert to become like the angels, to talk with God, to become free from the vanities of life and rumors, to cultivate courage in himself, to learn from the sensual beasts how to fight with the hidden ones and fight with the invisible [beasts]. When a certain age comes and the time comes, he becomes a companion of a meal for which there is no cook and for which a butcher was not hired, for his food was wild honey, not prepared by anyone, and his food was locusts, a sacrifice that was not touched by iron, a slaughter without a knife, which does not need vats for washing, for which coals are not needed. He had no need to prepare external delicate dishes, but from himself he prepared exquisite dishes. And the camel's hair provided the Baptist with clothing, so that the spirit of the weary body might be warmed, and the worms of pleasure might be killed in the flesh of the weary one. However, he also encircled his loins with a leather belt. Then the mortification of pleasures shone brighter than gold, holiness sparkled brighter than electra, and purity covered the rays of multi-colored stones. So, thus exercising himself in wisdom, he became a perfect and true ascetic and a gentle ascetic, an impeccable warrior, and a righteous bride-guide, and a pious preacher, and a mediator, and a Forerunner, and one who turns away from every evil deed (see Job 1:8). How many times did the devil envy him, seeing that he was so philosophical? But still he was unable to resist. Why, with a strong thirst and desire to do this, does he find himself tied up? Why did he intend to resist the fighter, ridicule the warrior, mock the one whom he could not hold in his hands? What abundance did he want to promise to someone who had nothing to do with worldly happiness? Did he really want to resist him by taking away the sons whom he did not give birth to? or daughters whose father he was not; or fields that he did not have; or houses that he never built, donkeys or oxen, or camels that he never acquired for himself; or a wife whom he did not know, did not have, did not take as his wife? Therefore, I will say again: let John compose hymns, since he shared the preaching of salvation for the benefit of everyone. He ordered the soldiers to be content with their dues; tax collectors ─ not to take more than the required taxes; the people ─ accept the short path of life leading to Christ; to those who have - give to those who do not have; to the abundant ─ to give to the poor a surplus, so that the body is not in need when its members supply each other with what is necessary. These people hurried in crowds to the source of baptism, and the Savior Himself walked with them, like a Shepherd who wanted to follow the sheep and become a partaker of that source to which He Himself pointed out to the lambs. The fingers of the Baptist trembled! His hands were numb, every member of him, from head to toe, was shaking under his clothes! And not having the strength, like a slave, to contradict the Master and not refusing to serve such a great command, he ventured to beg the Great Commander: “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me? (Matthew 3:13). How can I wash the Pure One? How can I contain the Inconceivable? How will I whiten the Light? How can I cleanse the Sun? What is required from my hand? Why do You need a tongue that You yourself fashioned? What will I say to You, the Baptized One? What will I say in the direction of this very Jordan? Why do I plant a dove, the Spirit descending from heaven? What will I say to the cloud in which the voice of Your Father is carried? Don't You know who I am, Master? Don't you know how I was born? I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me? Are you conceived in iniquity (cf. Ps. 50:7) like me? Did Your Mother give birth to You in sins, or did Your birth have a seed? Did pregnancy occur during decay or was conception through intercourse? Wasn’t the womb the bridal chamber and the womb the worker? Is it milk from intercourse with your husband? Has anyone touched Your Mother's breasts? Did the Virgin fall under Eve’s curse?” But what does the Deliverer answer him? Leave it now, for this is how we must fulfill all righteousness (Matthew 3:15). Leave now, that is: “Why are you revealing what is hidden before its time? Why are you revealing something that should remain hidden for now? Why are you disturbing the ears of the Jews? Why are you throwing arrows into the ears of the devil? Why do you drive out demons from the earth before the Cross? Why do you bring fear to those who, albeit against their will, intend to serve the Sacrifice of the Cross?” Leave it now. Why are you causing a great loss to yourself? Why are you depriving the entire family of benefits? If I am not baptized, how will you hear the voice, how will you learn about the Council of the Father, how will you be confident in the sacraments of the Son, how will you witness the coming of the Spirit, how will you contemplate the open heavens? If I am not baptized, then who will sanctify the water of baptism, who will crush the heads of the serpent, how will the elements be whitened, how will the creation be cleansed, how will Adam’s dirty clothes be washed? Leave now, for thus it behooves us to fulfill all the righteousness which the Law prescribes, which the Prophets preach, and grace is introduced, and a new sermon about the Kingdom is spread. I was born from a Woman ─ and the guilt of Eve was resolved; I bore the image of a slave ─ and freed Adam from his debt; I lay down in a manger ─ and having become like cattle, I was freed from the curse and freed from shame; I put on rags and healed the wound of nakedness. For the sake of Israel I was circumcised, and now, in turn, I am baptized for the Gentiles, and thus all righteousness is sealed in My laws, as well as in my deeds.” So, the power of the words proclaimed by the Word and God was one and the same; therefore, convinced that he must serve the Sacrament and seeing the dove, becoming more exalted, and thanks to hearing the voice of the Father, having acquired even clearer boldness, he turned his tongue against the tyrants and accused Herod of iniquities, and exclaimed before the king with a great voice: “You must not have the wife of your brother Philip (cf. Mark 6:18)! If you do not keep the Law, then you cannot hold the scepter! If you break a commandment, take off your purple! If you despise God, then you have not accepted the throne, get off it! “Do not be arrogant,” he says, “with weapons, for the laws protect the kingdom. Do not neglect virtue, for it is a throne of chrysolite. You must not have the wife of your brother Philip!” “I,” says [Herod], “care about procreation.” “Aren’t you violating the order of transferring the royal seed? Whose, tell me, do you want to call the one who will be born of Herodias, who commits adultery with you: the first groom or the second adulterer, who ascended to the bed according to the Law or who unlawfully seized it? Will not the one born from her be called the son of Philip? The one who gave birth is a stranger to him. However, do you want him to be called a descendant of Herod? But this is not your field, it is someone else’s plot, lawlessly sown by you.” However, the tyrant did not accept the advice, but gave the teacher a bribe - bonds. And he sent the Baptist to prison and plotted murder. He ordered the knife to be drawn and intended to inflict a wound, but, fearing the people, he put it off. However, he still found a convenient time, as he believed, for the lawless spectacle, and the day of truncation, which had previously been considered untimely, seemed favorable to him. On the coming birthday of Herod, for whom it would have been better not to have been born at all, not to enter into this common field of life for people, not to be involved in the elements, not to be blessed by creation, not to use the moon for outrageousness, not to waste the light of the sun in vain, not to offend the course of the stars, not to disgrace the hours of the day and the limits of the night (for, breaking the Law, he was not ashamed of the day, being outrageous, he did not spare the night, was not ashamed of the flow of the sun, transgressing the limits imposed by the Creator) ─ so, on the coming birthday, when the relatives of the blasphemer and the one who discredits the royal birth gathered, the daughter of Herodias danced in front of the meeting and pleased Herod, therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. She, at the instigation of her mother, said: Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter. And the king was saddened, but, for the sake of the oath and those reclining with him, he ordered it to be given to her, and sent to cut off John’s head in prison. And they brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and she took it to her mother. His disciples came and took his body and buried it; and they went and told Jesus (Matthew 14:6 ─12). Alas! How many evils women have filled people’s lives with, how many thorns they have scattered and how many thorns they have grown! The wife concluded a paradise before the primordial, the wives brought the race of giants to the flood! And they saw, ─ it is said, ─ the sons of God of the daughters of men, that they were beautiful, and they came in to them, and the Lord grieved in His heart, and said: “I repented that I created man on the earth, and I will destroy every high place from the face of the earth” (see Gen. 6, 2; 6 ─7). The wife seduced the great Patriarch Joseph and made sure that the prophet remained in bonds, and arranged it so that the God-bearer sat in prison as an adulterer; wore a heavy collar around his neck, like a seducer (see Gen. .39, 7─20). The wife betrayed the captive Sampson to the foreigners (see Judges 16, 18 ─20). The wife forced Elijah to become a fugitive throughout the entire land of Israel (see 1 Kings 19:3). The wife now dances and blinds the feasters, and with a lawless spectacle deprives the tyrant of self-control. For the braid of her hair was a net in which she caught the young men; tinting the eyes ─ in a way that misleads those looking. She applied blush for beauty, and it was no coincidence that she turned out to be a baited hook for those gathered. She opened her mouth and spewed death on her tongue. She turned her neck, and the sight was the founder of death. She exposed her breasts, and gave those looking out of idle curiosity the opportunity to look at the threshold of hell. She bared her thighs, lifting her colorful dress over her legs, and the whistling demons, seeing the lustful ones, became the instigators of death for those gathered at the spectacle. And the wave was insidious, and the look was unclean, the sounds were destructive, the movement was harmful to the soul, the kiss was deadly. However, Herod, having been caught, promised with an oath to give whatever she asked for the crafty dance. She, at the instigation of her mother, said: Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter. You see how far the pleasure of driving you crazy with the help of women can take you. Notice how quickly decay enslaves the galloping man, how, weakened by intoxicating drinks, he does not even care about the scepter, does not remember power, lies in front of everyone as an object for fun. What does the dancer tell him? Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter. She spoke these words not calling, but commanding, for not as a daughter approaches the king with fear or shame, or with some hesitation, but as a mistress to a slave, as one who has power over bonds to a captive. “Give me,” she said, “here on a platter is the head of John the Baptist. Here I wish for the slaughter of a prophet, I want the murder of the denouncer of adultery to be committed here. Here, where you saw my nakedness, I, as one celebrating a triumph, exact payment for it.” Give me John's head on a platter. ─ Herodias commanded and ordered the adulteress: “If you do not give, you will no longer have the adulterous woman with you; after you have drunk wine, you lie down on the bed, and it is empty. If you abstain from lying down, who will you sleep with? The mother is ashamed of the corruption when John trumpets, she is ashamed of the slaves, and she is ashamed of the bodyguards. The queen will become a byword for everyone because of John's intemperate tongue. Everyone will portray her tragedy in the theater, because it was the Baptist, the culprit of the tragedy, who blabbed about it, jumping forward in front of everyone. He raised the sound of the trumpet against us, he was the first to begin to say that the queen does not care about the fact that she exposes adultery. Moses dies, and this one speaks in his name; The law falls asleep, and John wakes it up, directing it against us; calls the queen an adulteress, encourages many to follow him and become impudent.” Give me the head of John the Baptist. Give, because if you don’t give, then we don’t need to hold him, because the executioner who came to kill him will go over to his side, turning against us. Everyone knows you as an adulterer's slave, as a dancer's captive. The bed testifies to this, the feast testifies, the wine, strong drinks, the binding of oaths, the reckless promise of the king. Therefore, give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter, for I thirst to drink his blood and examine his members, to see among the royal dishes the head of one who condemns the royal deeds. I need to bring it, still trembling, to my mother as a gift from the royal meal, since Herodias accepts it as her share of the meal, which is arranged in honor of your birthday.” And this is a daughter! And the king was saddened, but, for the sake of the oath and those reclining with him, he ordered it to be given to her. And the king was saddened, but, for the sake of the oath and those reclining with him, he ordered her to give it. Didn't Herod discover sorrow? Isn't the tyrant worthy of an apology? But then it was possible to refuse the dancer if he really wanted. It was possible, if he wished, to ask to be released from the oath. What then? If Herodias had demanded that the tyrant gouge out his eyes, would the king have to sit on the throne blind? What? If she ordered the ears to be cut off and the nose to be cut off, would that mean that the tyrant would suddenly become a freak? And what else? If she demanded to lose her hands, why now lose her fingers and scepter? No way! But it was better to tell the girl: “I swore to give whatever you asked of me, for I wanted to hear that you ask for the pearls that brides wear, or that you demand some field full of flowers, or that you desire the best city that I have, the city of my kingdom. But now you do not demand from me what is mine, but you seek what I cannot give you, you seek the head of the Prophet. And how can the king give you what belongs to the Creator? If you demanded heaven, or earth, or sea, would the king answer for his oaths? “No way, because it is not in my power to give what is above me, what is not in my area and is above my hands.” Herod does not say this, but he is sad because his conscience stung him. The natural internal law led to confusion. Moreover, he was afraid of the people and the crowd, for for many reasons even noble people considered the Baptist a miracle worker. But still, since he was tormented by the murder and longed for slaughter, and believed that the death of the prophet would be his own liberation, he was afraid to break the oath and sent an executioner to serve the maiden’s command. And so, the head of the Baptist is brought on a platter; the beauty of the prophets; boldness of the Word; the grace of repentance; polyphonic pipe; godly trumpet; tongue that parted the clouds; eyes that see the unseen; ears that clearly listen to the Divine Mysteries; the head that touched the Head of all; and it came to pass, when she was given to the maiden, that, like a leopard, she snatched up the sacrifice of the lamb, and like a she-wolf, she carried away the head of the royal lion. And she brought the accuser to the mother, who even after death could not refrain from denunciation, and after the slaughter did not abandon his boldness in speaking. But the prophet is tempered, and the word spreads everywhere; they stopped the pipe, and the voice emanating from it fills the entire visible universe; the tongue is hidden in the ground, and the sounds emanating from it fill the phyla; roaring louder than thunder, he deafened the nations, uttered sounds of every kind, the first of which ─ Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29) ─ echoed throughout the whole earth. Do not in any way condemn the whole world because of one woman; do not throw away all the products of the Creator because of some unclean vessel. Although the wife concluded paradise, the wife opened the bridal chamber of the Kingdom. The wives brought the race of giants to the flood, but the wives opened the way to the royal throne for the host of the apostles. The wife seduced Joseph (Gen. 39:7 ─20), but the wife also impregnated Elisha (see 2 Kings 8:1). The wife tied up Sampson, but the wife also controlled the army in the fight against Barak (see Judges 4, 8 ─9). The wife drove Elijah to wander in the desert, but the wife fed him, who was tormented by hunger (see 1 Kings 17:15). The wife tripped up Peter (see John 18:17), and the wife became Paul's helper, as he himself boasts (see Rom. 16:2). Do you really think that the word that wants to protect your wife will weaken? It will not weaken; in a short time the reward will be delivered to her. The wife gave birth to our Savior. She gave birth and breastfed the Creator of the race, she nourished the Nourisher of creation, who with a wave of the creature exudes springs, carried in her arms the One who measured the sky in a span and the earth in a hand, who tamed and imprinted the sea with his palm; To him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen. 17. Eulogies in honor of St. martyrs (fragment) So, you, men, brothers and fathers, having entered the garden of the Spirit abounding in flowers, diligently reap there the fruits of virtues, not just one, but many, or better yet, not many, but all, for virtue needs virtue just as a wing needs a wing, a wheel needs a wheel, a step needs a step, an oar needs an oar, a rudder needs a rudder. If you do not hit stone against stone, the fire will not rush upward, that is, to its place; if we do not rise from law to law, we will not reach heaven; If you do not connect commandment with commandment, running is pointless. And how can we achieve that a wreath is laid on us? Fasting is wonderful, but without prayer it cannot attack demons. This race is driven out only by prayer and fasting (Matthew 17:21). Prayer is beautiful, but without alms it cannot ascend to heaven, for you heard when the angel said to Cornelius: Your prayers and your alms have come as a memorial before God (Acts 4:10). This means that alms raises prayer to heaven. So, almsgiving is amazing, but without faith there is no forgiveness of sins, for through almsgiving and faith sins are cleansed (cf. Proverbs 15:17). Meekness is worthy of admiration, but without humility it cannot depict the royal image in itself, for it is said: Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart (Matthew 11:29). Faith is so beautiful that even the smallest part of it can move mountains, but without love it is vain and unnecessary. If I have faith, it is said, so that I can move mountains, but do not have love, then I am nothing” (1 Cor. 13:2). Let us strive, beloved, to achieve these virtues in order to be worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. Beloved, do not be zealous only in faith, do not be sluggish only in regard to zeal, do not be industrious only in the study of the Scriptures, but in regard to morals - alien to wisdom, for one must be rich in good deeds, in speech, in wisdom, in chastity, in righteousness, in courage, in piety, in prudence and holiness, for like evil before hell punishes those who are in it, so virtue, even before the Kingdom, prepares its workers for [future] pleasures. 18. A Word about Lazarus and the Week of Vai As an immeasurable abyss pours forth springs of water in abundance, and the springs, in turn, release untamed rivers, and the rivers visit the earth and irrigate it in order to bring forth bread for food and wine for the joy of men, and people, eating, fulfill what is written: The poor eat and are satisfied; and those who seek Him will praise the Lord (Ps. 21:27), ─ so is the inexpressible love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ: from the immeasurable abyss of His goodness and love for mankind, He pours out to us His holy holidays, in which our salvation was accomplished. He exudes a holiday, and the grace of the Holy Spirit, active in the holiday, fills the river streams (Ps. 45:5) ─ I’m talking about God-bearing men who have acquired teaching in teaching (cf. Rom. 12:7) ─ they visit the mental and spiritual land of human nature, cheering the holy Church, which is the city of the great King (Matt. 5, 35) ─ Jesus Christ ─ according to what is written: River streams make glad the city of God (Ps. 45:5). The Church, rejoicing and delighting from the fatness of its heart, praises and glorifies the Lord who reigns in it. Let us speak today about Him Who Himself foretold Himself through His holy prophet; Let us seek, according to our strength, the salvation that the King accomplished for us on this holiday; let's study why not only people, but also angelic powers sang His royal dignity. The reason for the solemn hymn was, it seems, the resurrection of Lazarus, as the Gospel says: They decided to kill Lazarus also, because for his sake many of the Jews came and believed in Jesus (John 12:10-11). The reason for the glorification of believers, it seems, is the same, hidden and mysterious - the resurrection of all human nature. And just as the sign of Lazarus and this resurrection forced people to solemnly sing the praises of Jesus, so the sign of the resurrection of all human nature prompted them to praise the holy angels; and to the extent that the general resurrection exceeds the resurrection of Lazarus, so great will be the glory then. And the consciousness of those emitting cries, confused by the miracle, moved them to praise; The divine dispensation through the resurrection of all human nature imperceptibly prompts not only people, but also the holy angels to wonder and glorify Jesus. For they saw, truly they saw and were perplexed, and they recognized the Wisdom that they had not noticed before, revealed by God, the Creator of all things, through the Church of the faithful, previously hidden in Him ─ I speak of the teachings, commandments and miracles of the Lord Jesus, as the divine Paul says in one place: So that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known through the Church to the principalities and powers in the heavens ( Eph. 3:10). For the angels learned in heaven what they had never seen or heard before, since they are creatures, and creation is not something that does not need to be taught, but they cannot know what will happen in the future unless they are initiated into the mysteries of the holy, venerable and venerable Trinity. So, they knew and were confident in the resurrection of Adam, seeing the Lord raising the widow’s son (see Luke 7:14 ─15); for the earth became like a widow when her firstborn son died. Seeing again that He was resurrecting the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue (see Mark 5:41), they were perplexed because He was resurrecting Eve together with Adam. When he again raised up the servant of the foreign centurion (see Lk. 7:2), they were also taught from this that He also resurrected foreign peoples. Here are three different dead people. But when He raised the fourth dead man from the grave, Lazarus, again composed of the four elements; stinking; rotting; one who has been taken over by worms; then it was given to the Principalities, the Powers, heavenly and earthly, to know that He resurrects all human nature, composed of the four elements, even if it stank in the sin of breaking [the commandments], even if it rotted in the wickedness of idolatry, even if even it turned out to be captured, like worms, by demons and captive to their will. So, seeing this, the angels secretly, and the people openly, became confused and amazed, and began to shout and say: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! (Cf. Matthew 21:9). They praised Him not only as the One who performed signs, but also as the King who took captive all those who had been captivated by the devil and death for centuries. That is why the divine prophets proclaim Him as a King [reigning] over just such people. Since the prophets who predicted turned out to be the organizers of the meal for rational souls, and, just as the months of the year take turns delivering food to human bodies, so they take turns, or, better said, all together and constantly feed the souls of the faithful with holidays, and water Christians with divine teachings, as one of them says in some place: They will get drunk with the fatness of Your house (cf. Ps. 35:9). Let us listen to [them], all who love the Kingdom of the Lord, and they will tell us this; that the great Zechariah, glorious among the prophets, prophesies about him. Let us gather together what the messenger preaches, who precedes the Kingdom by many years. Let us enjoy, as mental participants in the meal, the verbs that come from the mouth of God through Zechariah, the organizer of the dinner, for He has given him to feed us on this holiday, as the Lord says that man will not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). Since hateful sadness befell people, but joy was desired, he begins to exclaim with joy, saying: Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion (cf. Zech. 9:9). “Rejoice greatly,” the prophet exclaims to the captives. Oh, the depth of wealth and wisdom and knowledge of God! (Rom.11:33). Why rejoice? And why are you so happy and rejoice? Because He who returns you has come, as the Father of the King who returns you foretold, saying: When the Lord returned the captivity of Zion, we were as if we were seeing in a dream: then our lips were full of joy, and our tongue was singing (Ps. 125: 1-2). Rejoice, ─ he says, ─ for you are returning from the captivity of demons and from the ends of this age to Jerusalem above, which your father Abraham inherited, as the blessed Apostle Paul says in some place: You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem and the host of angels, to the triumphant council and church of the firstborn, written in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous who have reached perfection (Heb. 12:22–23). From there sickness, sorrow and sighing will be removed (cf. Isa. 35:10), there is the settlement of all the rejoicing righteous. Then, indeed, rejoice and rejoice and rejoice greatly, daughter of this Zion. “Why,” he says, “should I rejoice greatly, O prophet?” “Rejoice, because this terrible one will no longer hold you captive, rejoice greatly because He who delivers you is not like other kings, but an Eternal King, and His Kingdom is everlasting, as the angel Gabriel says to His Mother and the Virgin Mary: And of His Kingdom there will be no end (Luke 1:33). And since His Kingdom is eternal, so is your salvation eternal. Therefore, rejoice greatly, preach, daughter of Jerusalem." “What should I preach, O prophet?” “Preach about your King, about Him who came down from the heights of heaven to save you, [preach] thanksgiving, praise, singing hymns. Proclaim: Hosanna in the highest, from where You came to save me, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! And pay attention to my [prophecy] from the Evangelist, how he preaches Christ twice, for when Hosanna speaks in the highest, he signifies the highest nature of the Divine, but when he who comes in the name of the Lord speaks blessed, he points to the human essence, the blessed Seed, in which blessed Abraham was blessed; in his Seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed, for it is said: Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! (cf. Mark 11:10). Let us return again to the previous voice and, as it were, milk the prophetic udder, for there is still milk and the blessings of contemplation in it. He says: Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; preach, daughter of Jerusalem! (cf. Zechariah 9:9). Why is the daughter of Zion, and not Zion, and the daughter of Jerusalem, and not Jerusalem? Please, proceed with this wisely. As the names of herbs and birds, and quadrupeds, and men are given according to the difference of form and strength; Likewise, each line of divine words has its own power and mysterious meaning. Therefore, we will look for why the faithful prophet now calls the faithful Jerusalem first the daughter of Zion, then the daughter of Jerusalem. For he says: Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; preach, daughter of Jerusalem! Zion is interpreted as “thirsty,” for it is a collection of the righteous and prophets, from the century before the coming of Christ, who longed to please God and become united with the divine and venerable essence of the divine nature, as the prince of the apostles Peter says: That they might become partakers of the divine nature (cf. 2 Peter 1:4). These, seeking and thirsting for the Lord, were called Zion, as one of them said: My soul thirsts for the mighty, living God (Ps. 41:2). When they reached and approached, and moreover, saw and beheld His face, they became Jerusalem, seeing God and the watchtower of all knowledge, as another list says. He calls the daughters of this Zion those who believe in Christ, who, thanks to their faith, thirst and through the fulfillment of the Gospel commandments strive to find the Lord hidden in them, as the Holy Spirit says: This is the generation of those who seek the Lord, who seek the face of the God of Jacob (cf. Ps. 23:6). And when they reach, they are called the daughter of the above-mentioned Jerusalem, contemplating God and observing spiritual knowledge. The Prophet, in the Spirit asking God to proclaim this Zion also Jerusalem, says: Remember Your host, which You acquired of old (Ps. 73:2). So, together with this thy mother, Zion, rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; preach, daughter of Jerusalem, shouting to heaven with your mother: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! What does the Gospel say? And when they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage (Matthew 21:1). So that the faithful could taste Him, He went up to the Mount of Olives, which is the faithful Church from the [Jewish] people. Then Jesus sent two of His disciples, which are two choirs - prophets and apostles, ─ for the apostles who taught all nations had with them the inspired words of the prophets, testifying about Christ, an image of which the great Ezekiel saw in prophetic visions: A wheel, ─ says, ─ in a wheel flying and running (cf. Ezekiel 1:16 ). When Jesus said to them: Go to the village that is right in front of you (Matthew 21:2) - then he sent them into the whole world inhabited by pagans, for they were opponents until the Church of the faithful was formed from the [Jewish] people. At the appropriate time, He sent them to the village of the pagans, which was right in front of them, for it was already ready to receive the two choirs - apostles and prophets - that were mentioned before. And to bring to Him a colt, which is the pagans, means to sit down and reign over them, as the Psalmist says: God reigned over the nations, the Lord sat on His holy throne (cf. Ps. 46:9). On whom no man sat (Mark 11:2) ─ they had no God sitting and reigning over them, no Law, no prophets. Having untied him, he says, bring him to Me, for the apostles untied the pagans from darkness, that is, from ignorance of God, from error, from sinfulness, from slavery to the enemy, from the power of darkness (cf. Luke 22:53), from the prince of this age (cf. John 12:31; Eph. 6:12). And they brought them to the Lord, their Maker and Creator. And, behold, He sat down as on cherubim, crying out and saying: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest! (Luke 19:38), for so says Luke. Peace in heaven ─ why does he say that? Did not the angels have peace in heaven? No, of course, they had peace among themselves, which surpasses all understanding (cf. Phil. 4:7), as the wisest Paul says. They had peace in heaven, but they did not have it among men; the sky had a future world. For when the angels saw that all human nature was resurrected through the sign of the resurrection of Lazarus, and that the pagans, like a young donkey, were released and brought to their Creator so that He might reign over them, then the heavens along with the people were pacified, and with one accord they cried out and said: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest! And they put garments on them (Matt. 21:7), which signify the grace given to them from Him among the pagans, and through it Jesus sat on top of them, but not only in this way, but thanks to [their] own virtues, as the Evangelist shows, saying: Others spread their clothes along the road. In this he hints at their own virtues, which they united with grace, as the divine Paul clearly says: Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom by faith we have gained access to that grace in which we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God (Rom. 5:1-2). Up to here is what concerns grace. And not only this, but we also boast in sorrows, knowing that from sorrow comes patience, from patience experience, from experience hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Rom. 5:3-5). They spread it on the ground because their virtues were physically, clearly, and sensually visible in the face of the pagans, as the Apostle says to them in another place: And do what you have heard and seen in me (cf. Phil. 4:9). However, let's return to the previous one. The people who preceded and accompanied exclaimed (Matthew 21:9) with praise and olive branches and fronds, which signify the active occupation of the outer man; with date branches, which indicate the spiritual, active, cognitive and purifying activity of the inner man. He exclaimed, saying: Hosanna in the highest! For truly all the people of the righteous and prophets and priests, who preceded and followed, cried out with faith and said: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! (Matthew 21:9). As the Evangelist says: Nevertheless this happened, that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, who says: Tell the daughter of Zion (Matthew 21:4-5). Who are you talking to, O prophet? Here you are preaching, here you are speaking. “I,” he says, “wanted to see and hear, and not only me, but also many prophets and righteous people. But I say to those who have found and to those who have learned that they see and hear the King of Zion, so that they should say: Tell the daughter of Zion: behold, your King is coming to you (Matthew 21:5). And I don’t just say it’s coming, but it’s coming to you, that is, to become yours and live in you. Behold, your King is coming to you, righteous and saving (Zech. 9:9), saving those who believe in Him from slavery to the enemy. The meek one, sitting on a donkey and on a colt, the son of a yoked one, that is, humble and in His humility destroying the chariots of the kingdom of Ephraim (cf. Zech. 9:10), that is, the devil, who reigned over Israel and over the pagans. He destroyed, according to what is written, the kingdom of the Jewish people, for until the Anointed Christ came, the kingdom of the Jews remained, and then it was abolished. I will destroy, he says, even the horses in Jerusalem (Zechariah 9:10), that is, all the arrogance of their power - through the colt of His humility. After all, the patriarch Jacob, blessing Judah and announcing the blessing given to his fathers, Abraham and Isaac, which is Christ, says: He binds his colt to the vine (Gen. 49:11). To the vine planted from Egypt, which filled the whole earth with the teachings of its prophets and righteous men, He tied the unclean pagans, for according to the Law the donkey is an unclean animal, and so are the pagans. He ties his colt to a vine. For what? So that they would receive from him the Law and the Prophets and the knowledge of God contained in them, that is, Christ, who is the blessing and cleansing of the Gentiles. For it is said: And to the vine of the best grape of the son of his donkey (Gen. 49:11) ─ to the vine of the best grape, that is, to the offspring of the vine, who is Christ from the vine of the synagogue that grew out of Egypt, as Jacob himself says to Him: From the offspring, my son, arise (cf. Gen. 49:9). And in Him the pagans were inextricably resolved. Therefore, may we also in Christ be resolved inextricably. If we make every effort to be saved and benefit from His holidays, then He will also resurrect us together with Lazarus from our dead deeds, created without Him. So, let us share with Him the meal in Bethany, which is interpreted as a “house of obedience,” so, in fact, let us, with our bodily senses, gather together our thoughts from the captivity of forgetfulness, exclaiming and saying: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! in order to enter His Jerusalem not to suffer, as then, but to save it and be glorified from it, as David foretells it: Praise, Jerusalem, Lord; Praise, O Zion, your God (Ps. 147:1). He says praise and praise twice - with soul and body, for He strengthens the faith of your gates, which are faith, hope, love, care, generosity, patience. Bless your sons in you (cf. Ps.147:3), who are faithful babies who received the Lord with branches, that is, with new fruits, sucking the milk of the teachings of Christ, for those who believe in Him immediately praise, sing a solemn song, glorify, as it is written: From the mouths of babes and sucklings You have ordained praise (Matthew 21:16). Let us become a holy cart for Him instead of an unclean donkey, so that He may sit on us. Let us harness the chariot of our thoughts for Him, and He will reign over us forever, and His Kingdom will have no end (Luke 1:33). Let us embrace a joyful lifestyle, like olive branches, so that our face shines like oil (cf. Ps. 103:15), as the Psalmist says, and also: Serve the Lord with joy (cf. Ps. 2:11). Let us again cultivate in the inner man the soil of divine and spiritual exercises, like a tree of dates, and let us follow, thanking Him, and instead of white robes, right, spotless, simple faith, instead of speed, long-suffering hope, driving away and killing every thought that arises to turn us away from the knowledge of God (see 2 Cor. 10:5); and instead of the sweetness of dates, the sweetness of love, made up of the previously mentioned faith and hope, and the rest [virtues], so that the saying will be fulfilled on us: The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, will rise like a cedar in Lebanon (cf. Ps. 91:13). Let us accompany Him to the holy city, let us enter with Him into the church, so that He will overthrow in it the tables of money changers and demons selling doves, thoughts soaring in wandering; so that He would drive away from us, along with all those who sell and buy among us, and instead of a den of thieves, as in that old church, He would make us a holy church in which Christ lives and walks; so that He would give light to our blind, make the deaf hearing and the lame to walk, and raise the dead along with Lazarus ─ for where Life dwells, there is the Resurrection ─ so that together with Lazarus and the people and His disciples, and together with babes and suckling [breasts], and together with the holy angels, we exclaim, crying: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of Lord, Christ, Lord and God, King of the ages! To Him be glory, honor and worship together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. 19. Martyrdom of Saint Longinus the Centurion, standing at the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with him two soldiers, recorded by Hesychius, presbyter of Jerusalem. There are many descriptions of martyrdoms: just as the paintings of artists, in which you see cities painted, show the grandeur of the towers, and the figures of men and women, or youths, or elders, or royal palaces, or bridal chambers, or sad, or extremely rejoicing, ─ just like those who write down words about the exploits of martyrs, they show the listeners the strength of the soul, courageous character, intercession in terrible suffering, fearlessness, courage and fearlessness, then the help of Christ descending to them, then many signs, then wealth revealed in words of grace. How can I adequately describe the story of the wise and courageous Longinus, especially his testimony about Christ, which he began by confessing Him? After all, it was precisely at the time when the whole host of the apostles, confused by fear, rejected or abandoned Him: after the lame were healed, the blind received sight, the lepers, with their festering skin and shameful body, were cleansed, others were released from misfortunes, freed from diseases and brought to better morals, ─ all of them 283, amazed at the sight of the Cross, overwhelmed by a storm [of doubts], expected a shipwreck; The confession of the venerable and pious centurion Longinus reached the ears of the insidious Jews, like a wolf, when he said: Truly, He was the Son of God (Matthew 27:54). He was not ashamed of Pilate, who had turned himself against Christ, and was not afraid of the fear that came from such a large people, while the crowd, consisting of countless numbers, was numb. Therefore, I want to tell and record his most beautiful feat, which the samovids witnessed from the beginning and passed on to the next generation after them: thus, the tales of the martyrdom of Longinus, passed down from generation to generation and thus reaching us, were preserved like some purest pearls adorning the sacred bridal chamber of Christ. So, when Pilate, who was asked to allocate a guard, gave soldiers to guard the Tomb of the Only Begotten Son of God, Longinus was their leader: for he was the one who, together with the soldiers subordinate to him, guarded the Cross of Christ. But after the Resurrection of Christ took place, about which the writings of the divine Gospels conveyed to us, and the soldiers informed the bishops and elders of the Jewish Sanhedrin about the miraculous events that had taken place, they, fearing the people and wanting to hide the miracle, gave the soldiers enough pieces of silver so that they would distort the news of the Resurrection of Christ; in the same way, with a lot of money, they convinced Pilate to accept this slander. Longinus does not agree to deceive the truth; does not take gold against Christ; does not allow himself to honor mammon more than God; does not fall, enslaved by greed, into the all-consuming depths; he does not extend himself to the deceitful cunning that plots against Christ, who raises Adam, tramples death and gives life to the dead. Therefore, Pilate and the Jewish princes, stricken with anger, looked for a reason to accuse Longinus and did not have a suitable one, for Longinus was known and revered throughout the entire detachment of soldiers. When he wanted to devote himself entirely to Christ 284, he took off his military belt ─ the sign of Caesar ─ and from that time on he lived in his house with two soldiers, who together with him became heirs of the blessed feat, becoming the heralds of what they saw and heard. And leaving Jerusalem, he moved with them to another place and passed through the land of Cappadocia, and, just like Thomas for the Indians, Peter for the Romans, John for the inhabitants of Asia, Paul for those living from Jerusalem down to Illyricum (Rom. 15:19) and anyone else for other [nations], he became a preacher, preaching the gospel of Christ and from Him and with Him the fulfilled Sacrament. The Jews, burned with envy and driven by malice, could not bear the testimony of Longinus, which had already spread widely throughout the earth. Then they convinced Pilate to write a lie to Caesar against blessed Longinus, that he was planning to go over to the enemies of the Roman Empire and, neglecting weapons, proclaimed the King Christ to the people, and also filled his fatherland and the whole earth with words about Him. Together with these letters they sent money, having captured the ears of Caesar, they petitioned for death for Longinus. Royal letters are delivered to Pilate in Judea against Longinus and those with him, who command that his heads be cut off with a sword, as if he had neglected the weapon. With great haste, Pilate presents Caesar's letters to the executioners. They, quickly passing through Cappadocia, arrived at the place and, seeing Longinus practicing piety and wisdom, and silence on his father’s estate, moving away from all civil affairs, they silently seized the estate, wanting to carry out the orders of Pilate and Caesar, fearing that Longinus would put him to flight. Therefore, they decided, pretending that they had come for something else, to suddenly attack this man, and none of them yet dared to lay hands on him. Then, having entered and met Longinus, and not recognizing in him the one whom they themselves and Pilate were looking for, they began to ask where Longinus was. He, revealing the action of the Spirit of God in himself, says: “Follow me and I will show it to you.” Then the Blessed One, as he should have, rejoiced and hastened to the martyr’s sacrifice, saying: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of peace, who bring good news (Rom. 10:15). Now I will see the heavens opened, now I will recognize the glory of the Father, now I will contemplate the inexpressible radiance of the Spirit. Now I will say: Lord Jesus Christ, receive my spirit (cf. Acts 7:59), like Stephen, the first of the martyrs, whose most beautiful voice I will hear. Now, with victorious sounds and songs and with royal trophies, I will enter the heavenly Jerusalem, with its golden towers, into the very fatherland of angels, into the capital of the entire host of saints. Now I will take off my clay tunic, put aside the shackles of the body that cause suffering and be freed from corruption, I will perceive incorruption, I will have within me a life free from the storm that this short-lived life brings, and I will no longer be subject to waves and severe shipwrecks. There is only one immortal haven of this life - the one where the saints reside. Rejoice, soul, as you go to your Creator, show a cheerful face when the time comes, and may we receive with joy and friendliness, as our intercessors, so many righteous people and with generosity serve at the table those who call us to the royal feast! Having said this to himself, Longinus invited those who came to him to his house and, having brightly received them as guests, and serving them with a cheerful lyceum and very great joy, sharing a meal with them, began after dinner to ask them why they needed Longinus. Then they, having demanded an oath from him that he would not divulge their words and not reveal the secret, spoke about the letters written by Caesar to Pilate and that they were sent to cut off the heads of Longinus and the other two who were with him. The saint asked who these two were who were with Longinus. He himself, realizing that those who spoke to him were those who preferred the bribe of the Jews to Christ, with great haste wrote to his own people so that they would quickly come to him, so that together with him they would become participants in great blessings. So, having treated them one day and the second, on the third day he took them with him to the field, where they awaited those invited by the Saints. And when they were already close, he announced to them that he was the Longinus they were looking for. They, at first not believing, then becoming convinced, began to cry and, tearing their hair, cried out to Longinus in a plaintive voice: “Friend, what kind of deed did you want to do? Why did you bring into your house those who came to execute you? For what reason did you prepare dinner for those appointed for your murder and serve at the meal not only for a day, but for two and three? Or did you not think of seeing your house stained with the blood that we are looking for? Now, what should be said? Forgive me, take payment for hospitality ─ liberation from death that comes from us, for we do not dare to lay a sword on you, we are numb with excitement; we blush with shame; Remembering the meal, we fear God ─ the chief of hospitality. It is better for us to be in danger from Pilate than to act treacherously with the head of Longinus, so as not to be tormented by our conscience all our lives and not to see demons eating and talking with us. How then will the meal be good for us if we lay hands on you? For not only our hands, but also our legs and our whole body will become numb if we do this, if we kill the benefactor and the hospitable.” This they said to Longinus. Of course, they did not convince the zealous and complacent ascetic to abandon his feat for the sake of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but he courageously answered them, saying: “Do not desire. So that I appear as a traitor to Life and become a tempter of grace. I will not be like a wolf who approaches the chosen ones from among the sheep, nor will I renounce the confession I once made. May I not lose that Glory that shakes the elements, Which I saw. May the entire host of creation not become my accuser, for he too was there: that is why the sky closed its eyes, and the sun hid the chariot of light, the bright days stopped their run, night came into life, because it could not bear the weight of the Cross and rejected the accusations of Jewish theology. I saw all this with my own eyes and my own vision. How can I squander benefits that are so dear to me? May I not give the angels any reason to reproach them!” While Longinus was still saying this, those of the soldiers participating with him came who, by order of Caesar, also had the lot to suffer death. Longinus met them with a cheerful face and very great joy and, kissing their eyes and necks together, said to them: “Rejoice, warriors of Christ, winners of divine competitions and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven; Rejoice, for the gates of heaven have opened for us, the angels want to take our souls with them and bring them to the Only Begotten Son of God. Behold, I see the lamps, I notice the crowns, and I foreknow the rewards with which we will stand before the throne of the Bridegroom!” And, having said this, he says to the executioners: “So, do what you have been ordered to do quickly.” And he told the steward of his house to give him, as someone invited to the marriage and wedding party, clean clothes. Having put it on and pointing with his hand to the hill on which he bequeathed to bury his blessed body, and with great joy, bowing his knees and, together with his comrades who had accomplished victorious feats with him, betrayed himself [to the executioners], he was beheaded, and all three were counted among the host of apostles and martyrs, for they showed the courage of the first and the good zeal of the last. The executioners, taking the head of Saint Longinus, brought it to Pilate and, in order to please the Jews and because of the money they took, they did the following. When the executioners brought the head of the Saint to Jerusalem, Pilate ordered it to be shown to the Jews, who strongly desired the death of Longinus, and, having sold this spectacle for a lot of money, he ordered to buy the blood of the righteous for himself at the usual price. Then Pilate ordered the head of Saint Longinus, precious to God, terrible to demons, dear to angels and worthy of wonder to the elements, to be thrown out to the gates of the city. There, at the city gates, like some kind of inconspicuous treasure, it was laid among a heap of dirt, the precious beads of Christ were preserved unharmed, and for the time being his coffin and ark were dirt, which aroused the great anger of the man-loving God, and in this was the grace of the economy. For a certain widow wife, originating from Cappadocia, the mother of her only son, who had lost the sight of her bodily eyes, believed that she would be freed from suffering, and went with her only son to Jerusalem, hoping here while worshiping holy places to regain her sight. And that's when she... Led by the hand by her son, she collected the dust of the earth and thought to anoint her eyes with it, for in it she expected to find for herself, as it were, an eye ointment in order to see the light again, ─ suddenly an illness happened to her only-begotten son, and she released him from her mother’s hands; then severe blindness of her eyes came over her and she languished in very bitter suffering because of the misfortune that had happened. And crying out in a plaintive voice, she cried out to God: “How long, O Lord, will you forget me to the end and beyond (Ps. 12:2)? Am I the only sinner who is being punished so bitterly? Am I worse than the harlot who prepared the ointment for You and whom You accepted? You deprived me of light and took away my only begotten son, and there is no longer any hope for salvation for me.” When she was overcome with great grief and cried inconsolably, blessed Longinus appeared to her in a dream and told her everything that concerned him, saying: “I am Longinus the Centurion, who confessed at the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ that truly He was the Son of God (Matthew 27:54). And so, I want to reveal to you how Pilate, having spread lies about me, aroused Caesar against me and ordered to cut off my head, bring it here and throw it outside the city. For the Jews, bribing him with money, contributed to this. And a heap of dirt was thrown on her, so you need to guard this inheritance so that you are healed, for when you open it, your eyes will also be opened; If you do this, I will present you with glory and your son, who will comfort your sorrow.” Comforted by these words, as well as renewed, courageous and faithful, she hastened to complete the task, led by the place where the dirt was piled up, she learned from the leaders and believed them, for they had already arrived at the indicated place, she began to dig with her own hands and, by the providence of God, quickly finding the head precious to God, she immediately saw the rays of the sun. Having covered it and cleansed it with all care, and anointed it with valuable myrrh, she returned, carrying these beads with her, and settled there. The very next night, Longinus, again appearing before her and having her son next to him, bright and smiling, and as if dressed in wedding clothes, said: “Look at the one whom you so desired, O wife. This is the one you thought was stolen from your hands. God, having freed him from this life, appointed him to serve in the Heavenly Kingdom. And now I have him with me, for I received him from the Savior, and he will never depart from my right hand. So, having taken my head and the body of your son and given them burial in one coffin, weep no more for your only begotten, for with me was given great glory and a sacred altar, and mysterious sacrifices, and festivals full of songs 285, and universal praise, and many more things that cannot be done on earth, but in heaven eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and in the heart of man it did not come (1 Cor. 2:9) what God had prepared for us, who showed love for us in deed and word.” Having accepted these words as a prophetic command, the young man’s mother immediately rebelled and rushed to her fatherland. She took with her the precious and sacred head and returned to her homeland, and with great joy she brightly buried the remains of her son near the church of St. Longinus in the village of Sandalis, as St. Longinus commanded her, for he himself was from here. She, exclaiming within herself, said in her heart and proclaimed with her lips: “Let us know that all things work together for good to those who love God (cf. Rom. 8:28). I was looking for physical vision, and with it I received spiritual vision. The loss of my son befell me, but behold, I have him as an heir, dedicated to God with royal glory. I see a young man wearing purple, I see a youth in great glory. A son with a face shining like stars, smiling at his mother and shining next to Longinus, like a morning star in the rays of the sun, appearing both day and night, not only in dreams, but also in reality, appears to me in the abodes of the martyrs. His lot was among the prophets, although he did not seek the life of the prophets; he carries the Cross with Longinus - the sacred trophy of the Heavenly Kingdom ─ and proclaims among the Angels, and exclaims, as a disciple of Longinus, with the Archangels. How many Seraphim are inferior to Longinus in praise, and the Cherubim do not prevent him from singing! He also lifts up a sacred, songful voice that puts enemies to flight, a mysterious and victorious voice: “Truly, the Son of God was and is and will be, Who was before the age and to the ages.” He is older than centuries and remains ageless; His kingdom is eternal, and His dominion will not be destroyed forever, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen". I, Hesychius, presbyter of Jerusalem, having searched for a long time, with great difficulty was able to find the Martyrdom of Saint Longinus the Centurion, who at the Cross of Christ said: Truly, this was the Son of God; I found him in one entry in the library of the [Church] of the Resurrection and combined his confession with his praise. However, those who fear the Lord will be convinced that this is truly the holy Longinus the Centurion, who confessed Him at the Cross of Christ, through whose intercession and intercession may all of us who read and hear this word be saved in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power and the Kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. 20. Eulogies in honor of St. Longinus Sotnik Competition winners! Citizens of the sky! Soldiers of Christ! Heirs of the Kingdom! Intercessors for peace before the Lord! Companions of the Cherubim, doctors of the sick, cleansers of lepers and cast out demons! Witnesses of faith, tramplers of idols, trampling the devil through the body and not experiencing torment, stopping the mouths of wild beasts and dulling swords! Sealed by Christ and known from Him! Beautiful flowers of churches, strong intercessors, stars of the universe! Holy First Martyrs, John the Baptist, Stephen, Longinus the Centurion! When our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea (cf. Matt. 2:1), it was announced to King Herod that the King of Israel had been born. Herod, having received the gospel, immediately made a special order in accordance with the expectations of the Magi, then, becoming embittered, he sent Longinus the Centurion, saying: “Go, find out for sure whether a King has been born, so that when I come, I will worship Him, for I was struck by these Magi.” Longinus, having gone to Bethlehem of Judea, saw on the way a great light shining brightly around him and heard a voice saying to him: “Flee Longinus, My beloved, and I will make you a centurion of martyrs.” He, falling to the ground, bowed to the One who sent him the voice and said: “Let it be done to me according to Your word, O Lord God,” and went to Bethlehem of Judea to worship the Child, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he said to Him: “Rejoice, King of the world!” And returning to Herod he said to him: “Truly, He who is born is the Son of God, the King and Savior of the whole world!” Herod, angry, said to him: “Do you testify about Him with an oath?” Longinus the Centurion said for the second time: “Truly, the Son of God is this and the Savior of the world!” Herod said to Longinus: “What sign did you see done by Him, that you speak thus and call Him the Son of God?” The Holy One of God, Longinus, answered him: “When I went to Bethlehem of Judea and was thinking to myself, who could be this One who was born, then, on the way, a great light suddenly shone upon me and I became as if in a frenzy, and I found myself in Bethlehem of Judea, and I saw the heavens open and the angels of God ascending and descending to the Child and reverently honoring Him (cf. John 1:51), and the Holy Spirit descending on Him and the power and glory resting on Him, and I, having known and been convinced, believed that, truly, this is the Son of God and the Redeemer of the world, Christ.” King Herod said to Longinus: “I will give you half of my kingdom if you deliver Him into my hands.” Saint Longinus said to him: “I have transferred to serve in the army of the King of Ages and cannot do this, but if you want, you too believe, and you will become the heir of eternal life and the Kingdom; because for this reason I, being free, said [in myself]: having returned to him, I will preach the gospel to him, so that he becomes the heir of eternal life and the Kingdom, and I will be awarded much honor, for I will bring you good joyful news.” Having become angry with him, Herod said to his noblest people: “Since I awarded him the greatest honor and made him a centurion, he imagines himself to be something that he is not. So, take off his cloak and tear off his necklace, and pull the sword from his hip, for he has shown himself to have disdained weapons, and throw him into the inner prison, putting strong stocks on his neck and limbs, until I come up with many torments for him. After them I will order his head to be cut off.” And immediately at that hour he gave the following order, saying to his soldiers: “Infants in Bethlehem from two years old and below (Matthew 2:16) immediately put them to death.” And the soldiers went out at the command of the king and killed all the infants. Herod, being very irritated with the Savior for having been ridiculed by the Magi, called Saint Longinus, sat on the throne, and ordered him to be tormented. When he was brought, the king saw a golden necklace around his neck and a royal cloak enveloping the saint, and a sword at his hip; He gnashed his teeth at his entourage like a lion and became enraged like a wild beast, saying to them: “I didn’t tell you, wicked warriors, tear off his necklace and cloak and clothes?!” And those close to the king said: “We swear by your health, O king, we did everything according to your order, and so, having undressed him, we threw him into prison; where did he get these clothes from and who is the one who dressed him, we do not know.” Herod said to Saint Longinus: “Wretched one, who has cast himself down from such glory, confess to me before your torment, who is it that clothed you in this robe?” Saint Longinus answered: “As before the Truth itself, I say and do not lie, I received it from none other than the King of the ages, Jesus Christ.” Herod said: “Then this is the one who clothed you with this garment?” Saint Longinus answered: “He sent His angel, and he put this robe on me and sealed me with the seal of the King of the ages, Jesus Christ.” Herod said to his entourage: “Since he stubbornly lies, leaving behind the property that was entrusted to him by his king, then, taking from him the clothes that fit him, commit him to fire.” Those close to him began to do what they were commanded and did not find a way to touch him and take off his clothes. “Behold, we see,” those close to the king then said, “something similar to a shadow casting clothes over him, and we cannot tear it off him.” Herod said: “I swear by the Inevitable One among men, 286 now I know that this is a sorcerer over whom an invisible veil is spread.” Saint Longinus said: “I swear by the Heavenly King, who has now descended from heaven, I do not know what sorcery is, for He also hates magicians and sorcerers. And how can I, being His slave, have an unclean heart of magic and deception? But I told you that the power of God shines around me, and it protects me.” Herod, confused by Longinus' answers, ordered his soldiers to fill his mouth with lead. Saint Longinus said: “Now I am dying, suffering for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, having become His friend and being loved by Him, for I was possessed by great fear because of your wiles.” Herod, gnashing his teeth, speaks against Longinus to his entourage: “Throw Longinus, the obstinate warrior, onto three sharp wooden stakes, throw heavy iron plates over him so that, crushed and crushed, he will lose his strength and, instead of being beautiful, will become ugly, so that when they see him, all the people who knew him before will groan.” And they did what they were commanded. After he was thrown into prison for thirty days, where not very burdensome stocks were put on him, Herod again sought Saint Longinus, saying to his entourage: “Bring me the prisoner Longinus at the trial seat, so that I, seeing him, gloomy in appearance and exhausted, will put him to death.” Those close to him, having gone to prison and seeing his shining face, were afraid to bring him to the judgment seat, but because of what they were commanded by Herod, having invited him, they brought the beautiful ascetic of Christ to the judgment seat. Herod, seeing his face like the face of an angel, gnashed his teeth at his entourage and tore his clothes and said: “You presented this prisoner to me without a trace of punishment!” And Herod, becoming very angry with his companions, drove them out; He ordered the prison guards to be beheaded, and ordered the execution of every tenth of the soldiers standing before him, and growled at his soldiers, and became furious, believing that some kind of conspiracy was being prepared against him. He said to Saint Longinus: “Swear to me by the salvation of the gods that you will never again speak or swear to the Born, you will not call Him King; thus, if you do this, you will avoid the torment and punishment awaiting you.” Saint Longinus answered the king: “I swear by the glory of Jesus Christ, who saves those who believe in Him, you will not persuade me to renounce my God, for, trusting in Him, I will not be afraid of your torment!” Herod ordered to test him with whips. The saint praised [God], saying: “Lord God, Eternal King of kings and Lord of lords, who makes kings sit on the floor and raises up the poor from the ground, You alone have mercy, You Yourself sent Your angel to strengthen me.” Herod, seeing that Longinus did not feel torment, said to his entourage: “Take him back to prison, bind him with chains and, having punished him, bring him to me so that I will honor you with great honor.” They, having seized Saint Longinus, led him with much cruelty into prison and did to him everything that they were ordered. When he spent three days in prison, while Herod was in deep bewilderment regarding the Born King, Saint Longinus prayed in the night, saying: “Lord Jesus Christ, send Thy angel and bring out Thy servants who are being punished here.” And while he was praying, a great earthquake occurred, so that the prison shook, and the light shone on Saint Longinus, and a voice was heard saying to him: “Get up hastily, for now is not the time for you to complete your testimony.” And immediately everyone's bonds were loosed, and the prison was opened, and about a thousand men came out and fled from the city, and great confusion occurred in the city. The troublemaker in the city was Saint Longinus, and no one could see him, for their eyes were darkened. Herod looked for him, and there was great confusion and great noise in the city, and they spoke against the noble citizens. Herod sent a memorial note to the pagans asking them to bring the prisoner, Saint Longinus ─ believing that this servant of God had fled from the city ─ struck with blindness, fell ill and so being eaten by worms, Herod died (Acts 12:23). And Archelaus, the son of Herod, who had the nickname of his father, reigned in his place. Saint Longinus awaited salvation from God in the holy city. When Archelaus died, Herod, the brother of Philip, of Judea and Galilee, reigned. And Longinus was accepted into his detachment, and contemplated the greatness of God and the miracles performed every day by our Lord Jesus Christ, until, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, king of Rome, Herod, the brother of Philip (who himself, having betrayed the spirit, died a terrible death) was cut off because of Herodias the head of John the Baptist. And Herod, the son of Herod, the brother of Archelaus, began to reign in place of Herod of Galilee, the brother of Philip. In the twenty-fifth year of his reign, before the eighth calends of April, that is, the twenty-fifth of March, during the consulate of Rufus and Ruvellion, in the fourth year of the second Olympiad, under Joseph Caiaphas, the high priest of Judea, our Lord Jesus Christ was handed over to Pilate for crucifixion. Pilate, having learned that He was a Galilean and from the region of Herod, sent Him to Herod, since he was in Jerusalem. The same one, having mocked Him and humiliated Him, dressed Him in light clothes and sent Him back to Pilate (Luke 23:11). Pilate, having called the high priests and rulers, dealt with them, saying: You brought this man to me as one who corrupts the people (cf. Luke 23:13-14). They all handed Him over to be crucified and crucified Him who takes away the sins of the world (cf. John 1:29), nailing Him to the Cross; Pilate, having handed Him over to the soldiers, assigned the centurion Longinus to them, who was given a different name in the army - Primian. Thus, Saint Login was among those soldiers who guarded Christ ascended to the Cross. From the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the earth (Matt. 27:45). When the centurion stood around the ninth hour, guarding the Cross, he saw a great light surrounding him, but there was darkness throughout the whole earth. I also saw many angels standing before the Cross, and how the whole earth shook, and how the curtain in the church was torn in the middle (Luke 23:45), and I saw the face of the Lord, shining like lightning. And before He gave up the spirit, Saint Longinus reflected in his heart, saying: “Truly, this is the Son of God and the Savior of the whole world” (see Matt. 27:54). And thinking like this, he fell on [his] face at the feet of the Lord, but a frenzy fell on the soldiers, and they were as if in a dream. Saint Longinus exclaimed with a great voice: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, for I have believed that You are the Son of God, the Savior of the world!” Jesus said to him: “Man, today you were born, and the memory of you will last until the last days.” Hearing this, Saint Longinus said to Jesus: “Lord, I am leaving this city, for those close to [the king] are threatening me.” Jesus said to him: “Create on your forehead the likeness of the Cross, for I will baptize you in your own blood, and go.” After he had created the cross, the Centurion and the soldiers remained to guard the Honorable Cross, staying near it, when, at about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice: “Eloi, Eloi” ─ that is: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”, ─ gave up the ghost (cf. Mark 15:33 ─39). And behold, there was a great thunder, the earth shook, and the sun was darkened from the sixth hour to the ninth hour, and the stars of heaven showed their light, and the stones were scattered, and the tombs were opened, and the curtain in the church was torn in two, from top to bottom,” and “many bodies of the fallen saints were resurrected (Matthew 27:51-52). The centurion Primian, also known as Longinus, standing before the Cross, glorified God for all these miracles that had happened and said: “Truly, this is the Son of God and the savior of the world!” “And all the people who came together to see this spectacle saw what was happening and returned, changing their faces” (cf. Luke 23:48). The centurion Longinus, who believed in the Cross, told the hegemon about the miracles that had happened. Leaving everything there, he went to his fatherland, to the second Cappadocia near Tiana, to a place called Andraly, in Hebrew called Gavraly, and changed his clothes and became a shepherd of sheep. Herod, reading the chronicles, discovered that Saint Longinus had once disturbed the kingdom and rebelled against his father and said that everyone should become Christians. And having learned from Eparch Lucius exact information about both his confession and his steadfastness, he launched a persecution against Christians, and the idolaters searched for Saint Longinus. When Longinus came to his land, arrests of the pious took place in those days, and the king sent three princeps with much force to find Saint Longinus. Having called three princes and soldiers, Herod gave them a command, saying: “If you do not bring me the head of Longinus the Centurion, then your heads will be cut off with the sword.” So, having received such a command, they quickly set off, being very pressed; Having walked around the whole earth from Antioch to Rome and Illyricum, they did not find him. Turning back and greatly grieving, they passed through Cappadocia and, passing near Tiana, they found Saint Longinus, but entering the village of Andraly, they asked those living there, and no one gave any answer about him, for they loved him very much. And, having received no answer, the warriors left the village in great sadness. Saint Longinus was grazing sheep not far from the road along which the messengers passed; and Saint Longinus sat along the way. Seeing from afar that they were coming, he recognized them and stood up; when they approached him, he said to them: “It’s good that you came, brothers.” Since they did not recognize who the one who was speaking to them was, Saint Longinus said to them: “Why, brothers, are you gloomy and look as if you are tired of a long journey?” They said: “Listen, brother, about our grief. A command came out from King Herod about Longinus the Centurion to seize him; so [the king told us] that if you do not bring his head, your heads will be cut off with the sword. We, humans, have been looking for him for nine months now and have not found him. Behold, you have heard what evil has happened to us. If you know anything about the so-called Longinus the Centurion, tell us.” Saint Longinus said: “I do not know this man. But when you enter my house, rest and tomorrow you will set out on your journey.” And they went into his house to rest with him. And the morning came, and Saint Longinus said to them: “What did Longinus do that you are looking for him with such zeal?” The men answered him that they were looking for him by order of the king, for he had created an uprising in his kingdom, urging him to worship the Crucified Christ and the King of the ages. And they were uneasy and reasoned with each other and said: “What are we going to do?” Saint Longinus said to them: “Do not be upset, brothers, and do not lose heart, for I am the one you are looking for, the servant of God and Jesus Christ, Longinus, for whom you were sent.” The men, having heard this, became confused and became dumb, not having the strength to speak. And Longinus said to them: “Do not lose heart, brothers, but let us eat and drink better, and let us go to the one who sent you. For I gave my body to Christ in order to win my soul from Him.” Having heard this, they said to him with tears: “No, it is better that we go and speak in your defense before the one who sent us, for if you are really Longinus, then we will die together with you. And we will work with you to bring you to the one who sent us.” Seeing that they were crushed by the Spirit of God, he said to them: “If you want to show mercy to me, then do this: take my head and bring it to the king, and you will be carefree all the days of your life.” They, possessed by fear, could not make up their mind. When he began to beg them for the second time to do this, they told him: “Then intercede for us in your army, so that this will not be counted against us as a sin.” When he agreed to do this, they cut off his head. Thus, having beheaded Longinus, they delivered the head to the king, and the confusion of the lawless ceased. The head of Saint Longinus was under the protection of Eparch Lucius. The men of the village in which Saint Longinus stayed, taking his body, buried him in that village. And a certain wife, a widow named Khrest, was bothered by an evil spirit that greatly annoyed her, but she was from a noble family. And she thought the next day to make a trip to the East, having heard about those healed by Jesus, and decided to go that night. And Saint Longinus appeared to her without his head. And when she asked: “Who came here?”, Saint Longinus said to her: “Do you want to be healthy?” She said: “Yes, sir, I really want this.” And the saint said to her: “Go to Jerusalem and find out where the house of Lucius the eparch is, and find the head of Longinus the Centurion, and transport it to my body, and you will be saved, for I am Longinus, who herded the sheep along the road, and I did not find peace in the tomb in which I was buried to this day, but do this and you will be healed in the name of Jesus Christ. And not only will you be healed, but I will also accept your son with my army, for it is I without a head who speaks to you.” The wife, having heard this, got up and said goodbye to the friends she had, set off along the road and, approaching the tomb, exclaimed in a great voice: “Master, lying in this place, as you told me in a vision, I am coming, help me!” And immediately the place shook, and a voice was heard saying to her: “Come, Christ is your Helper.” And hearing this voice, she walked all her way in joy; Having entered Jerusalem, she found out from the inhabitants of the city about the house of Lucius the Eparch in order to find the head of Saint Longinus. And the eparch gave it away for a price of two hundred denarii in silver. And taking her, the wife praised and glorified God for the fact that she had finally been awarded divine grace. Taking the head of the honorable Longinus, together with her son Christion, she prepared to go back in the evening. And, behold, three angels appeared to her, the glory of which was impossible to look at, and in their hands were shining candles, and they, preceding her, sang hymns to God all night long. When dawn began, they stopped to take food at the place where they had come. And three days later she brought the head of honest Longinus to his village, having made a journey with her son Christion, and returned to her city, and did not go to bed, it was six o’clock in the morning. They hastened to the honest church of the martyr, which was built by the lovers of Christ; and immediately the doors opened before them of their own accord, and they saw the open coffin, and light shone around the church. The young man, having entered the tomb with peace and aromas, put his head to the body, and it, having united with him, turned out to be attached, as before the cutting off. When he came out of the tomb, the place immediately closed by itself. And they returned home, rejoicing and glorifying God. On the second night, Saint Longinus appeared to Christ, saying: “Now I have found peace, for you have given me the head, and you will be healthy from this day forward. I ask you this: should I take your son into the heavenly army or into the earthly one?” And she, answering him, said with fear: “I ask you, take him into the heavenly army!” And when he heard this, he retreated from her. The next day the young man was sent to the vineyard to care for the vines. And after he had worked for five hours, Saint Longinus appeared to him and said: “Young Christion! Do you wish, in accordance with your name, to fight for Christ? Looking up, he saw him shining like lightning and said: “Who are you, sir, who wants to accept me into the army?” He answered: “I am Longinus, the one to whom the head was delivered through your mother, but just as she delivered the head to me, so I wish to lead you to God.” And Christion said to him: “If this is so, let it be done to me according to your word.” And immediately the young man gave up his ghost. His mother, when the days [of work] were over, having taken food for breakfast, went to her son in the vineyard at the usual hour, and when she arrived, she found him dead. And seeing this, she fell on her face to the ground, lost heart and tore her clothes, and lay as if dead. And the angel who appeared strengthened her and said to her: “Why are you crying?” She said: “My son, who was alone with me, perished; the fruit of my womb was cut off untimely.” And the angel said to her: “I am not deceiving you, woman, do not cry for him, for he was not cut off and did not perish, but remains in the bosom of Jesus Christ. So go to the village and call on God-fearing men, and when they come, let them carry the body of your son and bury him in the tomb in which the most faithful Longinus lies, and in three days you will see your son in the heavenly army.” And having said this, the angel became invisible; She, having rebelled, went to the village, and an angel immediately appeared to console her, and it became so that the inhabitants learned about what had happened. And she told them everything, and after listening to her, they went to Bishop Tian and told him what had happened. Bishop Paphnutius, immediately calling upon God-fearing men, went to the place where the young man died and ordered his mother to be summoned. When she arrived, the bishop told her: “Do not cry for him, for he, having acquired the Kingdom of Heaven, of course, intercedes for us. So let us rather rejoice and not be sad.” And, having said this, he ordered to take the body of the young man and place it with Saint Longinus, and offered an auspicious sacrifice to the Heavenly God. The pious wife became a deaconess and a servant of the glorious faith; Having consoled her and admonished her a lot, the bishop retired to the city. When evening came and night fell, at the fourth hour of the night, Saint Longinus appeared to her, saying: “Why do you slander me?” She, horrified and in great trepidation, said: “Who are you, sir?” And he said: “I am Longinus, who took your son into the army.” Khresta, remembering her son, exclaimed and said: “Sir, if you had taken him into the army, you would not have killed him.” The most honest Longinus said to her: “Now you are slandering me. However, get up and leave your house, and you will see your son, who has been accepted into the army.” Taking her by the hand, he led her out, and behold, she saw the sky open and a great light in the night, and, looking up, she saw, as if in a frenzy, the Heavenly King and her son who preceded [Him]. Saint Longinus said to her: “Now you have seen your son, that he has been accepted into the army; Do you believe now? She said: “Yes, sir, it’s enough for me that I said so against you, sir.” And immediately he became invisible. She stayed day and night in the holy church, doing prayers and psalmody and works of mercy, also performing healings by invoking the name of Christ and the holy martyr, glorifying God all her days for all the good things that happened to her. And she died in the days of Paphnutius the bishop, and they laid her next to Saint Longinus in his church [...] to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 21. Eulogies in honor of St. Apostle and Evangelist Luke Obsessed with fear, I do not dare to remain silent about the upcoming holiday, although I, miserable, am very unlearned in words, and do not know how to say it worthily, however, attracted by love, I fulfill my duty to the best of my ability. Since I see at this coming triumph a competition both in words and in deeds (for when words are forced, one must imagine the greatness of deeds, and when deeds, in turn, compete, then the superiority of miracles must overcome the speed of words) ─ I still considered this victory much better, although in praise I turn out to be weaker than blessed Luke, who in teaching and in miracles conquered all creation in heaven and on earth. For who is greater than the Evangelist? Who is equal in grace to the one who, with the help of rational power, goes beyond all sensory movement, who with a word tried to explore the bosom of the Father, who became the thunder of an inexpressible mystery? Being a man three cubits tall, molded from dust, struggling with passions, in illness, like everyone else doomed to death, with his thoughts he ascended to heaven; by faith I saw the beginningless Birth, I contemplated the Word dispassionately coming from the bosom of the Father, and God being born from God, and the uncreated essence, not divided into two Gods; I saw on the throne the venerable, consubstantial Trinity, distinguished in the Hypostases and united by nature, for neither the Trinity is contained in this Person, nor the essence extends to any number. The evangelist turned out to be even braver than the Seraphim, for they close their eyes because of the radiance, but this one, thanks to grace, theologized about the Nativity. And, again descending from heaven to earth and looking into the terrible den, with the eyes of faith he saw the Mystery of divine change and the greatest height of change; saw the Virgin ─ the Unbrided Mother; saw a belly wider than the heavens; I saw the Birth ─ not the beginning of God, but a manifestation; saw the Incarnate Child ─ the Creator of all ages; I saw God exhausting Himself to the form of a servant; I saw a manger ─ the bed of the Sacrament; saw the swaddling clothes ─ the redemption of the universe; I saw the Cross ─ the bridge to heaven; saw the Coffin ─ a weapon against death; saw the eternal and incomprehensible riches of the Holy Spirit; I saw in my flesh one running from Egypt, holding a handful of earth. This Sacrament amazed even the Seraphim, but the Evangelist theologized about the miracle, therefore Paul, proclaiming the glory of the evangelists, cries out: So that now the manifold wisdom of God may be made known through the Church to the principalities and powers in heaven (Eph. 3:10). Look at the wisdom of the Lord, from every art and craft He chose His disciples: Peter from the fishermen, Matthew from the tax collectors, Paul from the tent makers, Luke from the doctors. And it was not by chance and for a reason that He created this, for since human nature was in the abyss of error, there was a need for fishermen. Since the devil became a tax farmer for Adam, who had lost his immortality, there was a need for an Evangelist-tax collector. Since disobedience clothed man in leathern garments, there was also a need for a skin-maker of grace, so that with the knife of the Word he would cut the deadness of passions. The human race has fallen ill in many ways: with the fever of licentiousness, the envy of the love of money and sensual pleasure, the ignorance of witchcraft, the madness of idolatry. Therefore, Paul offers them an experienced physician, Luke, and cries out: Luke, the physician, greets you (Col. 4:14); for, truly, Luke is the physician of souls. Do you want to see his hospital? Look at the sky. Do you want to see his healing art? Look at his passage through the universe. Do you want to see his medicine box? Look at the surgical operation on the tongues of the Jews. Would you like to see medicinal herbs? Look at the different healings. Do you want to see what kind of patients he examines? Look at the heretics next door. For then those who rejected the Spirit were overcome by the weakness of blasphemy, when those who rejected the Son fell ill with atheism; but, like a doctor, he distributes useful things to each of them, saying to the first: do not offend the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30), and to the second: whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father (John 5:23). Truly, the great doctor Luke! But do you want to see his art? Look into the Holy Gospel, for other Evangelists have compiled a monotonous narrative. In view of which I say: Matthew began with the genealogy of the flesh, saying: The book of the kinship of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1). Mark also announced the dispensation according to the flesh, saying: Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee (Mark 1:9). John, the eagle of the gospel, the lyre of theology, announced only the beginningless and invisible birth and co-eternal existence. Let the mouths of the slander be stopped, for the One was born from the One and no one witnessed the birth from above. After all, there was no time then, for He Himself is the Creator of all ages. There was no angel, for He Himself is the One who creates His angels as spirits, His servants as blazing fire (cf. Ps. 103:4). There was no heaven, for the heavens were created by the Word of the Lord, and all their host by the spirit of His mouth (Ps. 32:6). There was no sun, for He Himself is the Sun of Truth. There was no moon, for He set the moon and stars (Ps. 8:4). There was no earth, for He said: Let the waters be gathered and dry land appear (Gen. 1:9). So, there were no witnesses to the birth from above, divine and incomprehensible, since only the Father saw how He Himself gave birth, and the Son saw how He was born. Therefore, John alone announced the beginningless birth and co-eternal existence. Blessed Luke, chosen from among the evangelists, the merchant of this amazing stone and precious pearl, the indefatigable guardian of the city, the experienced physician of souls, the indestructible wall of kings, described the entire Sacrament of the One, the Good News of Gabriel, the discretion of the Virgin, the influx of the Holy Spirit, the image of God, the good exhaustion of the Divine, the immutability and imperishability of the Incarnation, inviolability virginity, sudden conception, incorruptible birth, the good news of the Angel who said to the Virgin: Rejoice, full of grace! The Lord is with you! (Luke 1:28). Oh, warm greeting, you were not befitting anyone else but the Holy Virgin! Eve gave birth, but in suffering; Sarah gave birth, but in sorrow; Rebekah gave birth, but in lamentation; Anna gave birth, but in tears; Elizabeth gave birth, but in decay; they all gave birth in suffering, since they all conceived in corruption. You alone, rejoice, Gate of God and Cloud of Mystery. You are alone, rejoice, Unconstrained church of the Infinite. You alone, rejoice, for He who became incarnate from You wipes away every tear from every face (cf. Isa. 25:8). You alone, rejoice, Mother and Heaven, Bride and Cloud, Virgin and Throne; for, as a Mother, you gave birth to One who is from You, both before You and after You; how the Virgin conceived the Word and gave birth to the Sacrament; like the Throne You carried in the womb of Him, Whom in essence nothing limits. Therefore, the prophet Isaiah, struck by the mystery of the Virgin, cried out: Behold, a noise is heard from the city, a voice from the church (cf. Is. 66:6). What are you saying, prophet? ─ Of course, a riddle and a deep thought. Behold, the noise of a cry is heard from the city, a voice shouting from the church calls John a noise, a cry ─ leaping (see Luke 1:41); calls Elizabeth a city, proclaims a cave a church. Behold, the noise of a cry is heard, saying: She has not yet suffered from childbirth, but has given birth; before her pains came, she was resolved and gave birth to a male son (Isa. 66:7). He equally embraced everything contained in the Sacrament: speed, Birth, and miracles, because the Child was not [born] from a carnal relationship. Before, ─ he says, ─ before her pains came (for Saint Mary did not suffer from the same pains as Eve), she was resolved and gave birth to a male son ─ grace did not fit within the boundaries of nature, for the Sacrament of economy is inscrutable. Therefore, Rejoice, O Blessed One! The Lord is with you, for our Lord Jesus Christ opened the wombs of love for mankind, dwells in the Apostles, makes perfect the Evangelists, of whom He appointed blessed Luke as a rhetorician and teacher of the Church. This blessed Evangelist Luke is a native of Syria, a physician by art, who became a disciple of the apostles, who later followed Paul until his martyrdom, and after that, unwaveringly serving the Lord, he proclaimed the word. Decorated with all the virtues and resplendent with the gifts of divine grace, having reached the age of eighty-four, he rested in Thebes, Metropolis of Boeotia, filled with the Holy Spirit. He wrote the Gospel, showing in the introduction that others had written it before him and that it was necessary for the Hellenic believers to give an accurate account of the economy. The holy Evangelist Luke rested in the month of October on the eighteenth day, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power with the Immortal Father and the All-Holy and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. Kirchmeyer 1968. See the article by the same author dedicated to St. Hesychius Sinai (presumably 7th-10th centuries), to whom is attributed the treatise De temperantia et virtute, published among the works of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem (PG 93, 1480D─1544): Kirchmeyer. J. "Hésychius le Sinaite". // DS 7. Paris, 1968. Col. 408–410. Menologium graecorum, m. 28: “He explained and presented all the Holy Scriptures with clarity and offered for the common benefit why he was very famous and amazing for everyone” (PG 117 373D─376A). Thphn. Conf. Chronographia 818: PG 108 225C─228A et 241C─244A. C. de Boor. P. 92. Cyr. Skyth. Vita S. Euthymii 16. Schwartz. P. 27. Rus. per. see: Palestinian Patericon. / lane I. Pomyalovsky. Vol. 2. St. Petersburg, 1898. P. 28. Quote from the book: Aubineau 1972. P. 38–39. Pelag. I Papa. In defensione Irium capitulorum II: "Constat eundem Eutychem in Hierosolimis libenter exceperit, et libres contra sanctam synodum Calchedonensem et contra epistolam beatae memoriae Leonis ad Flauianum Constantinopolitanum antistitem datam scripserit." Quote from: Aubineau 1972. P. 39. Jo. Mosch. Pratum spirituale 46: PG 87, 2901B. Rus. lane see: John Moschus, bl. Spiritual Meadow. Sergiev Posad, 1915. P. 47. Quote from: Aubineau 1972. P. 40. Calendier Palestino-Géorgien du cod. Sinaiticus 34. Itinerarium, 27. Cited. from: Aubineau 1972. P. 41. CPG 6550: PG 93, 787─1180. See: Cr'stou 1987. S. 278. L. Santifalle. Das Alienburger Unzialfragment des Levitikuskommentars von Hesychius aus der ersten Hälfte des 8. Jahrhunderts. // Zentralblatt für Bibliothekswesen, Bd. 60, 1943, S. 241─268. A. Siegmund, Die Überlieferung der griechischen christlichen Literatur in der lateinischen Kirche, Munich-Pasing, 1949, S. 87─88. Sichard J. (Isychii presbyteri Hierosolymorum In Leviticum libri septem. Baie, 1527) and J. Le Gros (Isychii, presbyteri hierosolymitani, In Leviticum commentaria emendata et annotationibus aucta. Paris, 1581). M. Faulhaber. Hesychii Hierosolymitani interpretatio Isaiae prophetae. Fribourgen-Brisgau, 1900. See fig. 1. M. Faulhaber. Die Propheten-Catenen nach römischen Handschriften, Fribourgen-Brisgau, 1899. S. 21─26; 32─33. See: K. Jüssel. Die dogmatischen Anschauungen des Hesychius von Jerusalem. Münster, 1932. Bd. 1. S. 22─23. For Greek text see: PG 27, 649─1344. C. Tcherakian. Le commentaire sur Job par Hésychius prêtre de Jérusalem, Venise, 1913. For text see: PG 93, 1391─1448. Acts of the Ecumenical Councils in Russian translation. Kazan, 1913. T. 5. pp. 82–83. PG 79, 1252B─1264A; 1240C─1250B. Phot. Bibliotheca cod. 198: PG 103, 665C. Semenov V. Sayings of Hesychius and Barnabas according to Russian lists. St. Petersburg, 1892. For the Slavic text, see: Semenov V. Materials for the literary history of Russian “Bees”. M., 1895. P.58─60. The testament of Abraham. /Ed. James M.R. //TU 2.2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1892. Göttsberger J. Barhebräus und seine Schollen zur Heiligen Schrift. Fribourgen Brisgau, 1900. P. 177. Wright W. Catalog of the Syriac Manuscripts in the British Museum. T. 2. Londres, 1872. P. 916. Amalar. Metz. Liber offitialis IV, 36, 5 / Ed. Hansens J.M. Amalarii episcopi opera liturgica omnia. // Studi e Testi 139. Vatican, 1948. R. 518. PL 108, 247A. These interpretations will subsequently be used as material for the so-called. Glossa ordinaria (PL 113, 295─380). J. Kirchmeyer. "Hesychius de Jérusalem". // DC 8. Paris, 1968. Col. 408. CPG 6565─CPG 6566: PG 93, 1468─1478. Yu. Ruban. Meeting of the Lord. Experience in historical and liturgical research. St. Petersburg, 1994. P. 155. Codex Sinaiticus gr. 492 is well known to paleographers and patristic text editors, this 8th-9th century uncial manuscript contains very rare texts. The codex was inventoried by V. Gardthausen: Calalogus codicum graecorum sinaiticorum / Εd Gardthausen V. Oxford, 1886. P. 119. See fig. 2. See: C. Tcherakian. Commentaire sur Job par Hésychius de Jérusalem. Venise, 1913, pp. 293–303. See: M. Tarchnisvili, Geschichte der kirchlichen georgischen Literatur. // Studi e Testi 185. Vatican, 1955. P. 194. Hesych H. In s. Andream: PG 93, 1477─1480A. Wed: PG 104, 197─200. Fr. Combefis, Bibliotheca Patrum concionatoria. T. 6. Paris, 1662. P. 19─22. Much. Procopius suffered in the 3rd century under the emperor. Diocletians. In honor of this saint, imp. Constantine the Great built the church. In the 9th century. St. Theophan wrote the canon of torments. Procopy based on surviving acts of martyrdom. See: Sergius (Spassky), Archbishop. Full Months of the East. T. 3. M., 1997. P.259─260. Compare: PG 93, 1479─1480 et PG 104, 241B─244A. Phot. Bibliotheca cod. 275. See: Molitor 1956. R. 75─76. Hesych. H. Hom. I in s. Longinum: PG 93, 1545─1560B. Hesych. H. Hom. I in s. Longinum 16, 1─6: “I, Hesychius, presbyter of Jerusalem, searching for a long time, with great difficulty was able to find the Martyrdom of St. Longinus the Centurion... I found it in one entry in the library of the [Church of] the Resurrection and combined his confession with his praise.” Compare: PG 93, 1449AB; PG 92, 1057AC, et PG 97, 44─45. See: Kugener M. A. Une homélie de Sévère d'Antioche, attribuée à Grégoire de Nysse et à Hésychius de Jérusalem. // Revue de l'Orient chrétien. T. 3, 1898. P. 435─451. Hesych. H. In Lev. II, 7: PG 93, 864A. Hesych. H. In Lev. IV, 13: PG 93, 948D─949A; In Ps. 49, 8: PG 93, 1197B; In Ps. 83, 1: PG 55, 736A. Hesych. H. In Lev. VII, 27: PG 93, 1163AC. Hesych. H. Hom. I de s. Maria deipara. 5, 15–22. Hesych. H. In s. Antonium 4, 7; In conceptionem venerabilis praecursoris 5, 1; 12, 11. Hesych. H. In Lev. VII, 25: PG 93, 1121BC et 1137AC; VII, 26, 1142B; VII, 27, 1175AC. Hesych. H. Hom. de jejunio 7, 1. Hesych. H. In Lev. IV, 12: PG 93, 928A. Hesych. H. In Lev. I, 4; 11; V, 16: PG 93, 823D, 906D, 987A et 993CD; In Ps. 6, 2: PG 93, 1181A. In ss. martyres (fragm.) 1, 10. Hesyh. H. In Lev. V, 18: PG 93, 1015B. Hesych. H. In Ps. 106, 37: PG 93, 1308A; In Lev. V, 10: PG 93, 902C. Hesych. H. In Lev. VIII, 26: PG 93, 1142CD; In Ps. 102, 7 ─10: PG 93, 1285A. Hesych. H. Hom. II de s. Maria deipara 5, 1; In s. Stephanum 10, 1ff; In s. Procopium 4, 1; In concept. venerab. praecurs. 10, 2. Hesych. H. Hom. de jejunio 2, 10–12; Hom. I de Hypap., 1, 7; In s. Stephanum, 17, 4─6. Hesych. H. In Lev. VII, 25: PG 93, 1117BC. Hesych. H. In Ps. 80, 1: PG 55, 728D. Some scholars argue that the opinion of St. Hesychia was different on this matter. See: Quasten J. Patrology. T. 3. Utrecht, 1960. P. 489. Hesych. H. In s. Antonium 3, 11─12. Hesych. H. In Lev. VII, 26: PG 93, 1154B. Hesych. H. In ss. Petrum et Paulum, 2, 25─5, 13. Hesych. H. Hom. II in s. Lazarum, 5, 1─20. Hesych. H. In Ps. 42, 3. Quote from: Aubineau 1972. P. 129─130. Hesych. H. In s. Steph. 2, 1─6. Hesych. H. In Ps. 50: PG 93, 1205B. Hesych. H. In Ps. 54: PG 93, 1217B. Hesych. H. In Ps. 109: PG 93, 1324BC. Hesych. H. In s. Jacobum et David: PG 93, 1480. The translation of the word pl»rwsen is very difficult. In terms of allegory, it seems likely that this is simply an allusion to the Nativity of Christ in the specific site of Bethlehem, on which the Church of the Nativity was subsequently built. But, since the whole context involves borrowing vocabulary from the vocabulary of a blacksmith-craftsman (sunekrÒthsen, pÚrwsen, sfàra, ¥kmwn), then one must also see here some technical meaning of the verb plhroàn. What does it mean: Bethlehem filled the pipe? Most likely there is a hint here about pouring metal into some form. St. Hesychius wants to emphasize here that this pipe was smelted and forged in fulfillment of the prophecies about Christ. Hesych. H. Hom. II in s. pascha 1, 1─6. We focus on this issue on the comments of M. Obino, who in turn used the work of Catholic scientists who participated in excavations carried out in Jerusalem in 1961. See: H. Vincent et F.-M. Abel. Jerusalem. Recherches de topographie, d'archéologie et d'histoire. II // Jerusalem nouvelle. Paris 1914─1926. They combined and used all sources on this topic, namely: the so-called. “Pilgrimages” of Bardigalens and Eteria, “Life of St. Constantine" Eusebius of Caesarea, "Life of St. Melania”, “Catechetical Teachings” of St. Cyril of Jerusalem and others. See fig. 3. See: Eus. Caes. Vita Constantini III, 35. Egeria. Itineraria. 37, 4: “A place in the open air: this is a kind of atrium, very large and very beautiful, which is between the Cross and the Resurrection” Quoted. according to: Aubineau 1972. P. 51. Blzh. Jerome in the funeral homily of St. Paulae reports about the pilgrimage of St. Paula to Jerusalem in 385: “Prostrataque ante crucem, quasi pendentem Dominum cerneret, adorabat” (Hier. Strid. Epitaphium sanctae Paulae (epist. 108): PL 22, 883). Egeria. Itineraria 25, 1: “Proceditur in ecclesia maiore, quam fecit Constantinus, quae ecclesia in Golgotha ​​est post Crucem” and 30, 1: “Proceditur in ecclesia maiore quae appellatur Martyrium.” Propterea autem Martyrium appellatur, quia in Golgotha ​​est, id est post Crucem, ubi Dominus passus est, et ideo Martyrio.” Quote according to: Aubineau 1972. P. 52. This “post Crucem” basilica should not be confused with the “post Crucem” chapel, located on the south-eastern side of the porch, at the southern end of the eastern portal. See: Paulin. Nol. Epist. 31, 6 (402): “Condita in passionis loco basilica, quae auratis corusca laquearibus, et aureis diues altaribus, arcano positam sacrario crucem seruat” (PL 61, 329B). From this testimony it follows that the tree of the Cross was kept in a special chamber among the shrines of the church built by St. Constantine, near the entrance, in the east. From there, on the morning of Good Friday, it was transferred from Golgotha ​​to the chapel “post Crucem” in order to be offered for worship to the faithful. Eusebius of Caesarea. Life of Blessed Basileus Constantine. M., 1998. P. 119─121. This detail is very significant, since it allows us to determine the place and time of the Easter sermons of St. Hesychius of Jerusalem. See: Aubineau 1972. p. 58. Quote from: Aubineau 1972. P. 58─59. Let us immediately note that in the first Easter sermon of St. Hesychius contains no hint of such readings. Quote from: Aubineau 1972. P. 59. Hesych. H. Hom. II in s. pascha 2, 4─9. See: Aubineau 1972. P. 113─115. Nieceph. Const. Hist. eccles. VIII, 49: PG 145, 1325CD; Hist. eccles. VIII, 29: PG 146, 112A. Socr. Hist. eccles. I, 17: PG 67, 120B. Rus. per. see: Socrates Scholastic. Church history. St. Petersburg, 1850. P.75─78. Hier. Srtid. Epist. 54, 3: PL 22, 581. Rus.. transl. see: Jerome of Stridonsky, blessed, Creations. T. 2. Kiev, 1894. P.130. Hesych. H. Hom. II in s. pascha 2, 1─11. Iren. Adv. haer. Ι, 18; 19. Melit. Sard. De pascha 506, 804. Rus. lane see: Meliton of Sardis, St. About Easter. Kiev, 1998. S. 59, 73. See lamp PGL sub verb. sarkoàn. Cyr. Alex. In Jo. Ev. IV, 3: PG 73, 585G; Pusey 1872. P. 537. (Cyril of Alexandria, St. Creation. / Edited by Sidorov A.I. Book 3. M., 2002. P. 43). See also: In Jo. Ev. IV, 4 et V, 2: PG 73, 628A, 776C; Pusey 1872. P. 574. (Ibid. P. 67; 157─158); In Isaiam II, 1 et IV, 1: PG 70, 312D; 320A; 868B; Apologia XII cap. contra Orientales, anath. 3: PG 76, 329; Schwartz 1960. P. 40. Apologeticus contra Theodoretum pro XII cap., anath. 6: PG 76, 425A; Schwartz 1960. P. 129. Epist. 2, ad Succenum 2: PG 77, 241Β; Schwartz 1960. P. 159. Hesych. H. In Ps. 106 (vers. 20): ¢psteilen tÕn lÒgon aÙtoà (PG 93, 1304A). See also: Quaest. ex evangel. consonantia 21: Ólon tÕn sarkwqnta lÒgon (PG 93, 1409C). Hesych. H. In Is. 55, glose 4: Faulhaber 1900. P 121. Hesych. H. In Lev. II: “It is therefore the sufferings of the Word Himself, which He endured in the flesh” (PG 93, 852D). Cyr. Alex. Epist. 3 ad Nest.: PG 77, 121D. Rus. lane see: Acts of the Ecumenical Councils. T. 1, Kazan. 1910. P. 199. Hesych. H. In Lev. V: PG 93, 991A. Ibidem II: PG 93, 852A; 856C. Cyr. Alex. Epist. 3, 6: PG 77, 113; Schwartz 1960. P. 13. Rus. lane see: Acts of the Ecumenical Councils. Kazan. 1910. P. 194. Gr. Naz. Epist. ad Cled. : PG 37, 180AB. Rus. lane see: Gregory the Theologian, St. Creations. Part 4. M. 1844. pp. 197–198. Procl. Const. In s. Apost. Thomam (or. 33) 47: PG 59, 686. Nest. De mysterio Epiphaniae. Quote from: Aubineau 1972. P. 140. Hesych. H. Hom. II in s. pascha 3, 1─5. Hesych. H. In Ps. 92: PG 55, 765. Hesych. H. In Ps. 107: PG 93, 1309D. Cyr. Alex. De S. Trinitate dialogu s I: PG 75, 693A. Cyr. Alex. Glaphyra in Lev. : PG 69, 560C. Rus. lane see: Cyril of Alexandria, St. Creations. T.5. M., 1887. pp. 198–199. Cyr. Alex. De incarnatione Unigeniti: PG 75, 1244B; Durand 1964. P. 283. Nest. Epist. 5 ad Cyr.: PG 77, 56A. Pusey 1872. P. 641. Rus. lane see: Acts of the Ecumenical Councils. T. 1, Kazan. 1910. P. 149─150. Cyr. Alex. Epist. 3 ad Nest. 12, 11: PG 77, 121G. Camelot 1969. P. 207. Rus. lane see: Acts of the Ecumenical Councils. T. 1, Kazan. 1910. P. 199. Cyr. Alex. Epist. ad Jo. Antioch.: PG 77, 177A. Camelot 1969. P. 213. Rus. lane see: Acts of the Ecumenical Councils. T. 2, Kazan. 1892. P. 149. Cyr. Alex. Fragm. Hom. “Quod non sit dicendus homo Deophorus”: PG 77, 1109C. Pusey 1872. P. 459. See also the article in Lampe PGL sub verb. qeofÒroj, paragraph I, 2b. Quote by: Lossky V.N. Essay on the mystical theology of the Eastern Church. Dogmatic theology. M., 1991. P. 267─268. Hesych. H. Ιn Lev. II: PG 93, 877C. Quoted from: Aubineau 1972. P. 150. Compare: PG 93, 953A. Hesych. H. Hom. II in s. pascha 3, 7─8. Ath. Alex. Contra Apollin. II, 17: “This spirit was separated from the body on the Cross. Thus the body died and its resolution took place; and God the Word was immutable in the body, and in the soul, and in Himself, He was in the bosom of the Father, as a demonstration of His immutability.” (PG 26, 1161B). Rus lane see: Athanasius the Great, St. Creations. T. 3. Trinity-Sergius Lavra. 1903. P. 359. Ath. Alex. Epist. ad Epictetum 5─6: “The body was laid in the tomb when the Word went down, as Peter said, to preach to those in spiritual prison (1 Peter 3:19). This most of all reveals the foolishness of those who claim that the Word was changed into bones and flesh. If this were so, then there would be no need for a coffin, because the body itself would condescend to preach to the spirits who were in hell. And now he came down to preach the Word, and Joseph wrapped the body in a shroud and laid it on Golgotha; and it became clear to everyone that the body was not the Word, but it was the body of the Word.” (PG 26, 1060AB). Rus lane see: Athanasius the Great, St. Creations. T. 3. Trinity-Sergius Lavra, 1903. pp. 295–296. Ath. Alex. Contra Apollin. I, 13─14; II, 17: PG 26, 1117AB; 1161B. Rus lane see: Athanasius the Great, St. Creations. T. 3. Trinity-Sergius Lavra. 1903. P. 330─331; 358─359. Gr. Nyss. De tridui spatio: PG 46, 617A. Rus lane see: Gregory of Nyssa, St. Creations. T. 8. M. 1871. P. 44. Contemporary of Hesychius, St. Peter Chrysologos, Bishop of Ravenna, writes in one of his sermons: “He rolled away the stone not in order to help the Lord to come out, but in order to show that the Lord had already risen” (Petr. Chrys. De resurrectione Domini (serm. 75): PL 52, 413 A. Hesych. H. In Lev. II, 6: PG 93, 845C. Acts of the Ecumenical Councils. T. 5. Kazan, 1913. P. 82─83. Hesych. H. In Lev. V, 16: PG 93, 985AB; VII, 26, PG 93, 1150B. Hesych. H. In Lev. V, 16: PG 93, 986D. Hesych. H. In Ps. 92: PG 55, 765D. Hesych. H. In Ps. 81: PG 55, 732C; 754CD. Hesych. H. In Ps. 52, 3: PG 93, 1209D. Hesych. H. Ιn Lev. I, 5: PG 93, 843A. Hesych. H. In Ps. 85, 1: PG 55, 740AB. Hesych. H. In s. Procopium 4, 8–24. Hesych. H. In s. Andream 4, 1─6. Hesych. H. In s. Lucam 5, 1─3. Hesych. H. In Ps. 50, 7: PG 93, 1201AB. Hesych. H. In Lev. III, 12: PG 93, 922BC; In Ps. 50, 12: PG 93, 1201D─1204A. Hesych. H. In Lev. III, 12: PG 93, 922D─923A; 925C-926A; IbidemV, 15: PG 93, 974D and 976D. Hesych. H. In s. Andream 2, 30─33. Hesych. H. In s. Lucam 7, 7. Hesych. H. In concept. venerab. praecur. 17, 13─17. Hesych. H. In concept. venerab. praecur. 17, 9. Hesych. H. In Laz. et in ramos palm.1, 10 Hesych. H. Hom. I de Hypap. 2, 25─31. Hesych. H. Hom. I in s. Pascha 5, 12-15. Hesych. H. Hom. II in s. Laz. 1, 6─7. Hesych. H. Hom. I de s. Maria deipara, 3, 13─18. Hesych. H. Hom II de Hypap. 7, 4─6. Hesych. H. In S. Stephanum 16, 9─11. Hesych. H. Hom. I in s. pascha 6, 8─9. Where possible, we tried to make references to Russian translations of the relevant works of the holy fathers. The texts that have not yet been translated into Russian were translated from those publications to which references are given, or (in case of unavailability of these publications) ─ from the French translation of the relevant passages that are given by M. Obino in the commentaries on the Easter homilies of St. Hesychia. Hesych. H. Hom. I in s. pascha 4, 16. Hesych. H. Hom. I de S. Maria deipara 1, 8. Wed: “Do not doubt, placing in a manger He who sits on the backs of Cherubim” (Ibidem 6, 4) Hesych. H. Hom. I in s. Laz. 3, 12. Hesych. H. In Laz. et in ramos palm. 9, 1. Hesych. H. In Ps. 98, 1: PG 55, 780. See: Lampe PGL sub verb. qrÒnoj, ceroubm, ceroubikÒj. Here we find some interesting texts on this topic. See: Procl. Const. Hom. Ι in s. pascha (hom. 15): “All things were created by Him: Angels to be servants, Powers to be ministers, Cherubim to be a throne” (PG 65, 800D). Quote from: Aubineau 1972. R. 165. Hesych. H. Hom. II de s. Maria deipara 4, 13. Compare: Hom. I de Hypap. 5, 5. Hesych. H. Hom. I in s. pascha 6, 9. Procl. Const. In crucifixionem (or. 29) 3, 13. Quoted from: Aubineau 1972. R. 100. Hesych. H. Hom. II de s. Maria deipara 7, 13. See also: Hom. I in s. pascha 1, 11; In s. Antonium 6, 11–12; In concept. venerab. praecur. 9, 6; In s. Lucam 6, 16; In Ps. 103: PG 93, 1288G. Wed: Hesych. H. In Lev. VI: “Vestimentum abominabile ex duobus contextum (see Lev. 19:19) induit: qui Solis iustitiae se asserens militem et qui ad ministerium creaturae datus est solem placat, vel reliqua sidera... sicut Manichaei et alii multi haeretici” (PG 93, 1031B). Clem. Alex. Protrepticus XI, 114, 3─4. Procl. Const. In Resurrectionem Domini (or. 31) 7. Quote. from: Aubineau 1972. R. 73. Procl. Const. In crucifixionem (or. 29) II, 6. Epith. Cyp. In die Resurrectionis Chr. (hom. 3, spuria): PG 43, 465A. Hesych. H. Hom. I in s. pascha 1, 10. Hesych. H. In ss. Jacobum et David, 1, 5: PG 93, 1479AB. See lamp sub verb. dvdouca. Jo. Chrys. Ιn pascha sermo VI, 62, 4 (spuria): PG 59, 745. Rus. lane see: John Chrysostom, St. Creations. T. 8. St. Petersburg, 1902. P. 957. Didym. Alex. In Zach. I, 279─280: Doutreleau 1962 (SC 83). P. 339. See: Ibidem. II, 81: SC 84. P. 466. Gr. Naz. In novam Dominicam (or. 44) 5: PG 36, 612G. Rus. lane see: Gregory the Theologian, St. Creations. T. 4. M., 1844. P. 144. Hesych. H. Hom. I in s. pascha 2, 4. Hesych. H. In s. Stephanum 4, 3. Didym. Alex. In Zach. I, 280: Doutreleau 1962 (SC 83). P. 340. Procl. Const. De incarn. Domini (or. 2) 6: PG 65, 700CD. Jo. Dam. In Dormition (hom. 1) 8: PG 96, 712G. Andr. Cr. In nativitalem S. Mariae (or. 4): PG 97, 868C. Taras. Const. In S. Deiparae Praesentationem: PG 98, 1490B. Iren. Adv. haer. V, 20, 1: “Thus the Church preaches the truth everywhere, and she is the seven-branched lamp (pt£muxoj) bearing the light of Christ” (PG 7, 1177C). Rus. per. see: Irenaeus of Lyons, St. Creations. St. Petersburg, 1900. P. 488. Hier. Strid. In Zach. 1, 4: PL 25, 1442. Ambr. Med. Exp. Ev. sec. Lucam VII, 98: PL 15, 1724C. Max. Conf. Quest. ad Thal. 63 fragm., 122─123: PG 90, 668B─669A. Hil. Pict. Comm. in Ev. Matthaei 4: PL 9, 936A. Aug. Hyp. Adv. Quinque haereses (serm. 10) 7: PL 42, 1114. Chrom. Aquil. Tractatus V in Ev. Matthaei 5, 2─5: PL 20, 343A. Jo. Chrys. In adorationem venerandae crucis (spuria): PG 62, 747. Rus. lane see: John Chrysostom, St. Creations. T. 11. St. Petersburg, 1905. P. 949. Jo. Chrys. In dracmam et in illud: “Homo quidam habebat duos filios”: PG 61, 781. Rus. lane see: John Chrysostom, St. Creations. T. 10. St. Petersburg, 1904. P. 949. Rom. Mel. Hymne XLV, 4: Grosdidier 1964 (SC 128). P. 583. Hesych. H. Hom. II in s. pascha 1, 1─6. Hesych. H. In Ps. 80: “Blow the trumpet on the new moon, on the blessed day of your holiday... the trumpet (s£lpigga) is the word of the Gospel, and the blessed day is the Lord’s Easter” (PG 55, 729). Hesych. H. In Ps. 97, 2: PG 55, 779; PG 93, 1268B. Hesych. H. In S. Andream 1, 1: S£lpigx ¹m©j ¢postolik¾ prÕj pan»gurin ½qroisen. Hesych. H. In SS. Petrum et Paulum 1, 7. See the application of this metaphor in relation to the righteous Lazarus ─ Hom. I in S. Laz. 2, 6; St. John the Baptist ─ In concept. venerab. praecurs. 3, 7; 28, 3; prophet Isaiah ─ Hom. II in s. pascha 4, 8. Wed: Rom. Mel. Hymne XL, 12: “Hurry, Mary, and gather My disciples, with the clear trumpet of your throat, sound the trumpet of peace into the fearful ears of My secret friends” (Grosdidier 1964 (SC 128). P. 401). Rus. lane see: Kontakion and Ikos of St. Roman Sladkopevets. M., 1881. P. 138. Rom. Mel. Hymne XXXVII, 20: Grosdidier 1964 (SC 128). P. 259. Bas. Sel. In s. pascha (serm. 1) 5: PG 28, 1080D. Epiph. Cyprus. In Sabbato magno (hom. 2, spuria): PG 43, 440B. Hesych. H. In s. Andream 1, 1–6. Interestingly, almost the same text is found in the Latin version: “Tuba nos apostolica congregavit in celebritatem, tuba ea quam, ut Christus molliretur, cruce quasi malleat Euangelio quasi incude, quasi igne Spiritu, Novo ac Veteri Testamento quasi ausim dicere usus est follibus, tuba nos igitur apostolica congregauit." (Fr. Combefis. Bibliotheca Patrum concionatoria. T. 6. Paris 1662. P. 19─22). Hesych. H. Hom. I in s. pascha 2, 1. Hesych. H. In Is. cap. 59, glose 29: Faulhaber 1900. P. 135. Hesych. H. In Lev. I: PG 93, 822D, 824D. Thphn. Conf. Chronographia, anno mundi 5920: PG 108, 233A. Hesych. H. Hom. I in s. pascha 2, 2. Ibidem 4, 1─6. The greatness of this Cross is also noted by its colossal size. See: Jo. Chrys. In pascha sermo VI, 51 (spuria): “This Tree is very high (oÙranÒmhkej), stretching from earth to sky, an immortal planting, established in the middle between heaven and earth, support and affirmation for everything” (PG 59, 743. Nautin 1950. P. 177). The resurrected Christ is often presented as a giant. Wed: Hermas. Pastor. Sim. IX, 6. (Writings of the Apostolic Men. St. Petersburg, 1895. P. 227). Cyr. H. Cat. baptismale X, 19: PG 33, 685B. Rus. lane see: Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Creations. M., 1855. P. 149. Cyr. Alex. Contra Julianum VI: PG 76, 796D. See: Rom. Mel. Hymne XXXIX 7, 1: “O blessed Tree (ð xÚlon trismak£riston), for me and for all people who have your grace, you are a rod that guides the life of sinners who love you” (Grosdidier 1964 (SC 128). P. 332). See also: Rom. Mel. Hymne XXXIX, l, l: “The Holy Tree, the gift of our life, was planted in the middle of paradise by the Almighty, so that Adam, approaching it, would suddenly find eternal and immortal life” (SC 128. P. 326). Quote from: Aubineau 1972. P. 52. Hesych. H. Hom. I in s. pascha 1, 13. Hesych. H. Hom. I de Hypap. 2, 29. Hesych. H. Hom. I de Hypap. 6, 15. Hesych. H. Hom. II in s. pascha 1, 3; In s. Andream, 1, 2; 4, 14─15; 5, 10; Hom. I in s. Long. 15, 21; In s. Lucam 3, 8. Ibidem 3, 7─10; compare: Hesych. H. In Is. cap. 41, glose 29: Faulhaber 1900. P. 86. See: Iren. Adv. haer. III, 21, 8: “Therefore Moses, showing the image, threw the rod to the ground, so that, having become flesh (turned into a serpent), he would expose and swallow up all the opposition of the Egyptians, who rebelled against the order of God” (PG 7, 953BC). Rus. lane see: Irenaeus of Lyons, St. Creations. St. Petersburg, 1900. P. 302. Orig. Homilia IV in Ex. 6: “The rod that enslaves Egypt and tames Pharaoh is the Cross of Christ, with which this world is conquered, which triumphs over the ruler of this world... Thus the Cross of Christ, the same Cross, the preaching of which was “madness” for the world, turned into wisdom, and into such wisdom with which it eats up all the wisdom of Egypt, that is, the wisdom of this world” (SC 16. P. 125─126). To triumph over the ruler of this world, to destroy the slavery of the Egyptians, means to stop sin by the power of the Cross. Hesych. H. Hom. I in s. pascha 3, 13─14. Hesych. H. In Ps. 87, 10: PG 55, 745. Jo. Chrys. In pascha sermo VI, 38 (spuria): PG 59, 741. Nautin 1950. P. 160. Rus. lane see: John Chrysostom, St. Creations. T. 8. St. Petersburg, 1902. P. 951. Amph. Icon. In diem Sabbati magni 2: PG 39, 89D. See: Jo. Chrys. In pascha sermo VI, 50 (spuria): “...Having erected instead of that tree (i.e. the tree of the knowledge of good and evil), a Tree (i.e. the Cross), nailing to it the hand that once served the forefather for sin, He showed that all life truly hangs on it” (PG 59, 743. Nautin 1950. P. 176). Rus. lane see: John Chrysostom, St. Creations. T. 8. St. Petersburg, 1902. P. 954. Hesych. H. Hom. I in s. pascha 3, 5─6. Hesych. H. In ss. Jacobum et David 1, 14. Hesych. H. In s. Stephanum 3, 2: poll£kij aÙtoà t¾n past£da stefanoàmen. Hesych. H. In s. Procopium 11, 14: kataskÒpei met¦ toàton t¾n er¦n taÚthn past£da, t¾n 'An£stasin. Hesych. H. Hom. I de s. Maria deipara 2, 25. Jo. Chrys. In pascha sermo I, 18 (spuria): PG 59, 725. Nautin 1950. P. 79. Rus. lane see: John Chrysostom, St. Creations. T. 8. St. Petersburg, 1902. P. 928. Procl. Const. In s. pascha (or. 13): PG 65, 789D, 792A. Quote from: Aubineau 1972. P. 134. Tert. De anima 43, 10: “Si enim Adam de Christo figuram dabat, somnus Adae mors erat Christi dormituri in mortem, ut de iniuria lateris eius vera mater viventium figuraretur Ecclesia” (PL 2, 723B). See: Orig. Contr. Cels. II, 69: Borret 1967. P. 451. (Russian translation, see: Origen. Against Celsus. M. 1996. P. 175–175). Ephr. Syr. Comm. in Ev. concordant XXI, 21: SC 121. P. 385. (Russian translation, see: Ephraim the Syrian, St. Creation. T. 8. Sergiev Posad, 1914. P. 331). Hier. Strid. Comm. in Ev. Matthaei IV, 27, 60: PL 26, 215B. (Russian translation, see: Jerome, Blessed Creations. T. 16. Kyiv, 1901. P. 310). Procl. Const. In pascha (or. 13) I: PG 65, 792A. Procl. Const. In. Apost. Thomam (or. 33) 7, 19─20: PG 65, 792 A. See: Lampe PGL sub. verb. tÚrannoj. Jo. Chrys. De cruce et latrone hom. I, 1: PG 49, 400. Rus. lane see: John Chrysostom, St. Creations. T. 2. St. Petersburg, 1899. P. 444. Jo. Chrys. In adorationem venerandae crucis: PG 62, 748. Rus. lane see: John Chrysostom, St. T. 11. Creations. St. Petersburg, 1905. P. 950. Clem. Alex. Protreptic. 1, 7, 5: Mondésert 1949. P.61. Epiph. Cypr. In Sabbato magno (hom. 2, spuria): PG 43, 456. Hesych. H. Hom. I in s. pascha 4, 4. Hesych. H. Hom. I de Hypap. 6, 15─17. Hesych. H. Hom. I in s. pascha 6, 7─8. Melit. Sard. Fragm. XIII: Perler 1966. P. 238. Ath. Alex. Or. de incarn. Verbi 27: PG 25, 141D. Rus. lane see: Athanasius the Great, St. T. 1. Creations. TSL, 1902. P. 224. Rom. Mel. Hymne XLIII, 26, 3, Hymne XLIV, 2, 8; Hymne XLV, 6, 7: Grosdidier 1964 (SC 128). P. 532, 552, 584. Melit. Sard. In pascha 102. Rus. lane see: Meliton of Sardis, St. About Easter. Kyiv, 1998. P. 72. Hipp. Rom. Tradition apost. 4: "infernum calcet". Rus. lane see: Hippolytus of Rome, St. Apostolic Tradition. // Theological works. 1970. Sat. 5. P. 284. Tert. Ad martyras I, 4: “sed vos ideo in carcerem pe rvenistis, ut illum (diabolum) etiam in domo sua conculcetis” (PL 1, 620A). Hesych. H. Hom. II in s. pascha 3, 8. Hesych. H. Hom. I in s. pascha 6, 8. Test. XII patriarcharum IV, 1; V, 10–11; IX, 4─5. (Russian translation, see: Apocryphal Apocalypses. / Translation by M. Vitkovskaya and V. Vitkovsky. St. Petersburg, 2000. P. 60, 95, 126). Ev. Petri, 39─42. (See: Sventsitskaya I. Apocryphal Gospels. M., 1996. P. 12). Ev. Bartholomaei, 1─33. Ev. Nicodimi, 18─27. (See: Monuments of ancient Christian writing in Russian translation. T. 1. M. 1860. P. 48─56). Ign. Antioch. Epist. ad Magnesios 9, 2: Camelot 1969. P. 104. (Russian translation, see: Writings of the Apostolic Men in the Russian translation by Archpriest P. Preobrazhensky. St. Petersburg, 1895. P. 282). Iust. Martyr. Dial. cum Tryph. 72, 4: PG 6, 645B. (Russian translation, see: Justin the Philosopher, torment. Works. M., 1892. P. 252). Melit. Sard. In pascha 102 (Russian translation, see: Meliton of Sardis, St. About Easter. Kyiv, 1998. P. 72). Iren. Adv. haer. III, 20, 4 et IV, 27, 2; 33, 12: PG 7, 945A; 1058B; 1081B. (Russian translation, see: Irenaeus of Lyon, St. Creation. St. Petersburg, 1900. P. 297, 391, 412). Iren. Dem. praedic. apost. 78. (SC 62. P 144. Russian translation, see: Ibid. P. 607). Tert. De anima 55, 2: PL 2, 745A. Orig. Hom. XVIII in Numeros 4: SC 29 P. 372. Comm. in Epist. ad Romanos V, 10: PG 14, 1052A. Cyr. H. Cat. baptismale XIV, 19: PG 33, 848G. (Russian translation, see: Kirill of Jerusalem, St. Creations. M., 1855. P. 238). Hier. Strid. In Jonas 2, 7: PL 25, 1136B. (Russian translation, see: Jerome, Blessed Creations. T. 13. Kyiv, 1896. P. 228). Cyr. Alex. In Johannis Evang. XI, 2: PG 74, 456A. Pusey 1872. P. 642. (Russian translation, see: Cyril of Alexandria, St. Creation. / edited by Sidorov A.I. Book 3. M., 2002. P. 684). De incarn. Unigeniti: PG 75, 1216D. De recta fide ad Theodos. 22: PG 76, 1165A; Hom. paschalis VII, 2: PG 77, 552B. Rom. Mel. Hymne XXXVIII: SC 128. P. 263─311. For more information on this topic, see: Hilarion (Alfeev), abbot. Christ ─ Conqueror of hell. The theme of the descent into hell in the Eastern Christian tradition. St. Petersburg, 2001. Ath. Alex. De synodis 8: PG 26, 693A. Rus. lane see: Athanasius the Great, St. Creations. T. 3. TSL, 1903. P. 99. Ruf. Aquil. Exp. symboli 12 et 16: PL 21, 344AB. Hesych. H. Hom. I in s. Laz. 6, 4─8, 12. Hesych. H. Hom. II in s. Laz. 5, 1─20. Hesych. H. Hom. I in s. Laz. 3, 7. Hesych. H. Hom. II in s. paschа 2, 11. Hesych. H. Hom. II in s. pascha, 4, 13. Rom. Mel. Hymne XXXVI, 2: SC 128. P. 207. Rus. lane see: Kontakia and Ikos of the Ave. Roman the Sweet Singer. M., 1881. P. 119. Rom. Mel. Hymne XLIII, 25: SC 128. P. 531. Ath. Alex. De Synodis 8: PG 26, 693. Rus. lane see: Athanasius the Great, St. Creations. T. 3. TSL, 1903. P. 99. Cyr. H. Cat. baptismale XIV, 19: PG 33, 848G. Rus. lane see: Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Creations. M., 1855. P. 238. Hesych. H. Hom. I in s. pascha 5, 9. See similar places: Iust. Martyr. Dial. cum Tryph. 36, 4─6: PG 6, 553G. (Russian translation, see: Justin Philosopher, torment. Works. M., 1892. P. 189─190). Iren. Dem. praedic. apost. 84 (Russian translation, see: Irenaeus of Lyons, St. Creations. St. Petersburg, 1900. P. 609). Adv. haer. IV, 33, 13: PG 7, 1082A. Orig. Comm. in Ev. Joannis VI, 56. Jo. Chrys. In pascha sermo VI, 61 (spuria): PG 59, 744. (Russian translation, see: John Chrysostom, St. Creations. T. 8. St. Petersburg, 1902. P. 956). Gr. Naz. In. pascha (or. 45) 25: PG 36, 657BC. (Russian translation, see: Gregory the Theologian, St. Creations. T. 3. M., 1844. P. 179). Ambr. Med. De mysteriis VII.36: PL 16, 400B. Procl. Const. In crucifixionem (or. 29) 4, 17─20. Quote according to: Aubineau 1972. P. 90─91. a An asterisk * denotes those publications that were either directly accessible to the author or were cited indirectly through other sources. Theod. Stud. Testam. PG 99, 1816B. Phot. Const. Bibliotheca 198: PG 103, 665C. They are placed among the works of St. Nil Ankyrsky: PG 79, 1252B. Kirchmeyer. J. "Hésychius le Sinaite". // DS 7. Paris, 1968. Col. 408. Magna bibliotheca veterum patrum. T. 11. Paris, 1654. P. 985─1018. In cases where the translation of certain passages from the Holy Scriptures does not coincide with the Synodal translation, we make our own translation from Greek, focusing on the translation of the Seventy (when translating passages from the Old Testament) and on the edition of the New Testament by K. Aland (see Bibliography). Patristics. New translations, articles. ─ Publishing house in the name of St. Prince Alexander Nevsky. Nizhny Novgorod, 2001. This probably refers to the klav - several stripes on the clothes of noble people in the Byzantine Empire. These stripes indicated a special position in the society of a given person or even his royal dignity. On the icons of Jesus Christ, the Lord is depicted in a brown himation (chiton) with a golden clave, indicating that He is the King of the world, the Almighty. Literally: to be born in Christ. 'Adrastea ─ Adrastia, "The Inevitable", an epithet and synonym for the pagan goddess Nemesis.