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comes to the cross. But to Mary indeed a four-day-old corpse; but to the Church Christ bestows himself for three days. There Bethany alone marvels, but here the whole Church celebrates. She celebrates feasts of feasts, having in her midst the king of the incorporeal ones as both bridegroom and king; she celebrates feasts, like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God, growing thick with leaves that do not fall; she celebrates feasts, being like a spring lily of paradise in which is Christ, the truly flourishing lily, the one not 43.432 judging, but saving the world. In which is Christ, the violet that truly heals the passions of the sick; in which is the vineyard, who says: I am the true vine; in which is the olive grove, who truly has mercy on those who hope in him; in which the pre-eternal branch from the root of Jesse has sprouted, without tilling and without the planting of human seed; in which is the ever-flowing spring; in which are not Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, Euphrates, but Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, who water the paradise of Christ’s Church.

Where today all youth, like a fruitful olive tree, holding olive branches, we ask Christ the merciful; planted in the house of the Lord, blossoming in his courts like spring, we celebrate a feast, seeing the winter of the law has receded. Celebrate, O Church of Christ, not typologically, not bodily, but dancing spiritually. Celebrate feasts, seeing the downfall of the idols, and having the resurrection of the churches. For with Paul I cry out to you with the sacred and great voice: The old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new; and indeed also wondrous. Therefore rejoice in the Lord, O youth of Christ, rejoice; rejoice, O Church of Christ, be glad and be merry, O daughter of God. For all your glory, as a daughter of Christ the king, is from within and from without; no longer widowed, but blossoming with the God-man; no longer on God's left hand because of idolatry, but standing at his right, and adorned because of the knowledge of God; no longer stained with the blood of servitude, but sealed with divine blood; no longer revering Obel, but Emmanuel; no longer glorifying the Troad, but the Trinity; no longer honoring Plato, but our almighty God; no longer Heracles the averter of evil, but the Paraclete and maker of all things. You no longer worship Aristotle who philosophized, but God who saved you unto the ends of the ages. Cronus has fallen, because God the Word has been incarnate; not indeed from a man out of passion, but appearing from Mary in a theandric manner. See the grace of the day; see the splendor of the feast. Rejoice therefore and be glad, O daughter of Zion, delight and exult, O whole Church of God; Lift up your eyes round about, and see your children of the nations, once scattered, now gathered. See the acclamation of the feast; see the symphony of the people, see every tongue in one glory, see every mouth as one mouth, see those who were formerly prey being sheep in you, see the acclamation of the celebrating nations, which is the imitation of the incorporeal angels, 43.433 see the symphony, the choirs of the incorporeal, see the stations like the ranks of angels. I see the hymns as hymns of angels, I see the children as newborn lambs, saying to Christ, Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes, with whom clap greatly with your hand and cry out with a clear and lion-like voice, speaking words of festival and thanksgiving: Behold, I and the children whom God has given me, to her who was once childless and an unknown barren woman; blessed is he who has come, and indeed is coming in the name of the Lord; the Lord is God and has appeared to us. He who comes, who is nowhere contained; coming, who is nowhere held; blessed is he who comes, and is not separated from the heavens; blessed in a manner worthy of himself, and coming again in a manner worthy of God; blessed is he who came to me on a colt typologically, as on a cherubic colt.

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σταυρὸν ἔρχεται. Ἀλλὰ τῇ Μαρίᾳ μὲν τετραήμερον νεκρόν· τῇ δὲ Ἐκκλησίᾳ τριήμερον ἑαυτὸν χαρίζεται ὁ Χριστός. Ἐκεῖ Βηθανία μόνη θαυμάζει, ἐνταῦθα δὲ πᾶσα Ἐκκλησία ἑορτάζει. Ἑορτάζει ἑορτῶν ἑορτὰς, τὸν βασιλέα τῶν ἀσωμάτων ἐν αὐτῇ ἐν μέσῳ ὡς νυμφίον ἔχουσα ὁμοῦ τε καὶ βασιλέα· ἑορτάζει ἑορτὰς, ὡς ἐλαία κατάκαρπος ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀφυλλοῤῥόως πυκάζουσα· ἑορτάζει ἑορτὰς, ὡς κρίνον ἐαρινὸν παραδείσου ὑπάρχουσα ἐν ᾗ Χριστὸς, τὸ ὄντως εὐθαλὲς κρίνον, τὸ μὴ 43.432 κρῖνον, ἀλλὰ σῶζον τὸν κόσμον. Ἐν ᾗ Χριστὸς, τὸ ἴον τὸ ὄντως ἰώμενον τὰ πάθη τῶν νοσούντων· ἐν ᾗ ὁ ἀμπελὼν, ὁ λέγων· Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀληθινή· ἐν ᾗ ὁ ἐλαιὼν, ὁ ὄντως ἐλεῶν τοὺς ἐλπίζοντας ἐπ' αὐτόν· ἐν ᾗ ὁ τῆς ῥίζης Ἰεσσαὶ ἐβλάστησε κλάδος ὁ προαιώνιος, ἀγεωργήτως καὶ ἀνορύκτως τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης σπορᾶς· ἐν ᾗ ἡ πηγὴ ἡ ἀένναος· ἐν ᾗ οὐ Φυσὼν, Γεὼν, Τίγρις, Εὐφράτης, ἀλλὰ Ματθαῖος, Μάρκος, Λουκᾶς, καὶ Ἰωάννης, οἱ τοῦ Χριστοῦ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ποτίζοντες παράδεισον.

Ἔνθα πᾶσα σήμερον νεολαία, ὡς ἐλαία κατάκαρπος τὰς ἐλαίας κατέχοντες, τὸν ἐλεήμονα αἰτοῦμεν Χριστόν· πεφυτευμένοι ἐν οἴκῳ Κυρίου, ἐν ταῖς αὐλαῖς αὐτοῦ ἐαρινῶς ἐξανθοῦντες, ἑορτάζομεν ἑορτὴν, τὸν χειμῶνα τὸν νομικὸν ὑποχωρήσαντα βλέποντες. Ἑόρταζε, Χριστοῦ Ἐκκλησία, οὐ τυπικῶς, οὐ σωματικῶς, ἀλλὰ πνευματικῶς ἐγχορεύουσα. Ἑόρταζε ἑορτὰς, τὴν τῶν εἰδώλων κατάπτωσιν βλέπουσα, καὶ τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν τὴν ἀνάστασιν ἔχουσα. Μετὰ γὰρ Παύλου βοῶ σοι τῆς ἱερᾶς καὶ μεγάλης φωνῆς· Τὰ ἀρχαῖα παρῆλθον· ἰδοὺ γέγονε τὰ πάντα καινά· ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ παράδοξα. ∆ιὸ χαίρετε ἐν Κυρίῳ, Χριστοῦ νεολαία, χαίρετε· χαίροις Χριστοῦ Ἐκκλησία, τέρπου καὶ εὐφραίνου, θύγατερ Θεοῦ. Σοῦ γὰρ πᾶσα ἡ δόξα, ὡς θυγατρὸς τοῦ βασιλέως Χριστοῦ ἔσωθεν ὁμοῦ τε καὶ ἔξωθεν· οὐκέτι χήρανδρος, ἀλλὰ θέανδρος ἐξανθοῦσα· οὐκέτι ἐξ εὐωνύμων Θεοῦ διὰ τὴν εἰδωλολατρείαν, ἀλλ' ἐκ δεξιῶν παρισταμένη, καὶ κεκοσμημένη διὰ τὴν θεογνωσίαν· οὐκέτι αἵματι δουλικῷ φυρωμένη, ἀλλὰ αἵματι θεϊκῷ σφραγιζομένη· οὐκέτι τὸν Ὠβὴλ, ἀλλὰ τὸν Ἐμμανουὴλ σέβουσα· οὐκέτι τὴν Τρωάδα, ἀλλὰ τὴν Τριάδα δοξάζουσα· οὐκέτι τιμῶσα τὸν Πλάτωνα, ἀλλὰ τὸν παντοκράτορα Θεὸν ἡμῶν· οὐκέτι Ἡρακλῆ τὸν ἀλεξίκακον, ἀλλὰ τὸν Παράκλητον καὶ πάντων ποιητήν. Οὐκέτι προσκυνεῖς Ἀριστοτέλην σοφίσαντα, ἀλλὰ Θεὸν τὸν εἰς τέλη τῶν αἰώνων σε σώσαντα. Πέπτωκε Κρόνος, ὅτι σεσάρκωται Θεὸς Λόγος· οὐ μὴν ἀνδρὸς ἐκ παθείας, ἀλλὰ θεανδρικῶς ἐκ Μαρίας ἐπιφανείς. Ὁρᾶτε τῆς ἡμέρας τὴν χάριν· ὁρᾶτε τῆς ἑορτῆς τὴν λαμπρότητα. Χαίρου τοίνυν καὶ εὐφραίνου, θύγατερ Σιὼν, τέρπου καὶ ἀγάλλου, πᾶσα ἡ Ἐκκλησία τοῦ Θεοῦ· Ἄρον κύκλῳ τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς σου, καὶ ἴδε συνηγμένα τά ποτε διεσκορπισμένα τῶν ἐθνῶν τέκνα σου. Ἴδε τῆς ἑορτῆς τὴν εὐφημίαν· ἴδε τοῦ λαοῦ τὴν συμφωνίαν, ἴδε πᾶσαν γλῶσσαν εἰς μίαν δόξαν, ἴδε ἅπαν στόμα ὡς ἓν στόμα, ἴδε τὰ πρὶν θήρεθνα ἐν σοὶ τυγχάνοντα πρόβατα, ἴδε ἐθνῶν ἑορταζόντων ἐπιφήμισμα, ἀγγελικῶν ἀσωμάτων ὑπάρχον τὸ μίμημα, 43.433 ἴδε συμφωνίαν, ἀσωμάτων χοροστασίαν, ἴδε στάσεις ὡς ἀγγέλων τάξεις. Ὁρῶ τοὺς ὕμνους ὡς ἀγγέλων ὕμνους, ὁρῶ τοὺς παῖδας ὡς νεοφύτους ἄρνας, Ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις, εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος, Χριστῷ λέγοντας, μεθ' ὧν κροτήσασα μέγα τῇ χειρὶ βόησον λαμπρᾷ καὶ λεοντιαίᾳ τῇ φωνῇ, ἐφεόρτιά τε ὁμοῦ καὶ εὐχαριστήρια λέγουσα· Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ καὶ τὰ παιδία, ἅ μοι ἔδωκεν ὁ Θεὸς, τῇ ποτε ἀτέκνῳ καὶ ἀγνώστῳ στείρᾳ· εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐλθὼν, ἀλλὰ μὴν ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου Θεὸς Κύριος καὶ ἐπέφανεν ἡμῖν. Ὁ ἐρχόμενος, ὁ μηδαμοῦ χωρούμενος· ἐρχόμενος, ὁ μηδαμοῦ κρατούμενος· εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος, καὶ τῶν οὐρανῶν μὴ χωριζόμενος· εὐλογημένος αὐτοπρεπῶς, καὶ πάλιν ἐρχόμενος θεοπρεπῶς· εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐπ' ἐμὲ ἐπὶ πώλου τυπικῶς παραγενόμενος ὡς ἐπὶ πώλου χερουβικοῦ.