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out of love for mankind God became man, and was content to become a slave, much more will He bring the slaves into His own house. Let us love this, let us cherish this, not for one day nor a second, but for all time, that it may acknowledge us; if it acknowledges us, the Lord also will acknowledge us; if it knows us not, the Lord also will not know us, and will say: I know you not. But may it not be that we hear this voice, but that blessed one: Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; which may we all attain, by grace and love for mankind, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father, and the rest.

HOMILY I. Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons, grace to you and

peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 1. Here, since he is writing to his equals, he does not put forward his dignity as a teacher, but another which is also great. What is this? He calls himself a servant, and not an apostle. For this is truly a great dignity and the sum of 62.182 good things, to be a servant of Christ, and not merely to be called so. The servant of Christ, this man is truly free from sin, and being a genuine servant, will not deign to become the servant of any other; since not even so would he be a servant of Christ, but by halves. And again when writing to the Romans he says: Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ; but when writing to the Corinthians and to Timothy, he calls himself an apostle. For what reason then does he do this? Not because 62.183 they are better than Timothy; far from it; but rather because he honors them and attends to them most of all to whom he wrote; for he also bears witness to their great virtue. Otherwise, there he was about to command many things, for this reason he took up the dignity of an apostle; but here he commands them nothing, except what they also saw for themselves. To the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi. Since it was likely that the Jews also called themselves saints from the first oracle, when they were called a holy nation, a peculiar people, for this reason he added, To the saints in Christ Jesus. For these alone are holy, but those are henceforth profane. With the bishops and deacons. What is this? Were there many bishops of one city? By no means; but he called the presbyters so. For at that time they still shared the names, and the bishop was called a deacon. For this reason, writing to Timothy he said: Fulfill your ministry; he being a bishop. For that he was a bishop, he says to him, Lay hands suddenly on no man; and again: Which was given you with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery; but presbyters would not have ordained a bishop. And again writing to Titus he says: For this cause I left you in Crete, that you should appoint presbyters in every city, as I had appointed you; if any be blameless, the husband of one wife; which things he says concerning the bishop. And having said these things, he immediately added: For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God, not self-willed. As I said therefore, the presbyters of old were called bishops and deacons of Christ, and the bishops presbyters; whence even now many bishops write to a fellow-presbyter, and to a fellow-deacon. But henceforth the distinctive name has been assigned to each, the bishop, and the presbyter. With the bishops, he says, and deacons, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Here one might reasonably ask: Why ever

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φιλανθρωπίας ὁ Θεὸς ἄνθρωπος ἐγένετο, καὶ ἔπεισεν αὐτὸν δοῦλον γενέσθαι, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τοὺς δούλους εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν εἰσάξει τὴν αὑτοῦ. Ταύτην ἀγαπήσωμεν, ταύτην στέρξωμεν, μὴ μίαν ἡμέραν μηδὲ δευτέραν, ἀλλὰ διὰ παντὸς τοῦ χρόνου, ἵνα ἡμᾶς ἐπιγνῷ· ἂν αὐτὴ ἡμᾶς ἐπιγνῷ, καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἐπιγνώσεται· ἂν αὐτὴ ἀγνοήσῃ, καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἀγνοήσει, καὶ ἐρεῖ· Οὐκ οἶδα ὑμᾶς. Ἀλλὰ μὴ γένοιτο ταύτης ἀκοῦσαι ἡμᾶς τῆς φωνῆς, ἀλλὰ τῆς μακαρίας ἐκείνης· ∆εῦτε, οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ Πατρός μου, κληρονομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου· ἧς γένοιτο πάντας ἡμᾶς ἐπιτυχεῖν, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, μεθ' οὗ τῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς.

ΟΜΙΛΙΑ Αʹ. Παῦλος καὶ Τιμόθεος, δοῦλοι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, πᾶσι τοῖς ἁγίοις ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τοῖς οὖσιν ἐν Φιλίπποις, συνεπισκόποις καὶ διακόνοις, χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ

εἰρήνη ἀπὸ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. αʹ. Ἐνταῦθα ἅτε πρὸς ὁμοτίμους ἐπιστέλλων, οὐ τίθησιν αὑτοῦ τὸ τῆς διδασκαλίας ἀξίωμα, ἀλλ' ἕτερον καὶ αὐτὸ μέγα. Ποῖον δὴ τοῦτο; ∆οῦλον ἑαυτόν φησι, καὶ οὐκ ἀπόστολον. Μέγα γὰρ ὄντως καὶ τοῦτο ἀξίωμα καὶ τὸ κεφάλαιον τῶν ἀγαθῶν, δοῦλον εἶναι Χρι 62.182 στοῦ, καὶ μὴ ἁπλῶς λέγεσθαι. Ὁ τοῦ Χριστοῦ δοῦλος, οὗτος ὄντως ἐλεύθερός ἐστι τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, καὶ γνήσιος ὢν δοῦλος, οὐδενὸς ἄλλου καταδέξεται δοῦλος γενέσθαι· ἐπεὶ οὐδ' ἂν οὕτω γένοιτο τοῦ Χριστοῦ δοῦλος, ἀλλ' ἐξ ἡμισείας. Καὶ Ῥωμαίοις μὲν πάλιν ἐπιστέλλων λέγει· Παῦλος δοῦλος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ· Κορινθίοις δὲ καὶ Τιμοθέῳ ἐπιστέλλων, ἀπόστολον ἑαυτὸν καλεῖ. Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν τοῦτο ποιεῖ; Οὐχ ὅτι 62.183 Τιμοθέου αὐτοὶ κρείττους· ἄπαγε· ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ὅτι αὐτοὺς τιμᾷ καὶ θεραπεύει μάλιστα πάντων, οἷς ἐπέστελλε· καὶ γὰρ καὶ πολλὴν αὐτοῖς ἀρετὴν μαρτυρεῖ. Ἄλλως δὲ, ἐκεῖ μὲν οὖν ἔμελλε πολλὰ διατάττεσθαι, διὰ τοῦτο ἀνέλαβε τὸ τοῦ ἀποστόλου ἀξίωμα· ἐνταῦθα δὲ ἐπιτάττει μὲν αὐτοῖς οὐδὲν, πλὴν ὅσα καὶ ἀφ' ἑαυτῶν συνεώρων. Τοῖς ἁγίοις ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τοῖς οὖσιν ἐν Φιλίπποις. Ἐπειδὴ εἰκὸς ἦν καὶ Ἰουδαίους ἁγίους ἑαυτοὺς καλεῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ πρώτου χρησμοῦ, ἡνίκα ἐλέγοντο λαὸς ἅγιος, περιούσιος, διὰ τοῦτο προσέθηκε, Τοῖς ἁγίοις ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ. Οὗτοι γὰρ μόνοι ἅγιοι, ἐκεῖνοι δὲ λοιπὸν βέβηλοι. Συνεπισκόποις καὶ διακόνοις. Τί τοῦτο; μιᾶς πόλεως πολλοὶ ἐπίσκοποι ἦσαν; Οὐδαμῶς· ἀλλὰ τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους οὕτως ἐκάλεσε. Τότε γὰρ τέως ἐκοινώνουν τοῖς ὀνόμασι, καὶ διάκονος ὁ ἐπίσκοπος ἐλέγετο. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο γράφων καὶ Τιμοθέῳ ἔλεγε· Τὴν διακονίαν σου πληροφόρησον· ἐπισκόπῳ ὄντι. Ὅτι γὰρ ἐπίσκοπος ἦν, φησὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν, Χεῖρας ταχέως μηδενὶ ἐπιτίθει· καὶ πάλιν· Ὃ ἐδόθη σοι μετὰ ἐπιθέσεως τῶν χειρῶν τοῦ πρεσβυτερίου· οὐκ ἂν δὲ πρεσβύτεροι ἐπίσκοπον ἐχειροτόνησαν. Καὶ πάλιν πρὸς Τίτον γράφων φησί· Τούτου χάριν κατέλιπόν σε ἐν Κρήτῃ, ἵνα καταστήσῃς κατὰ πόλιν πρεσβυτέρους, ὡς ἐγώ σοι διεταξάμην· εἴ τις ἀνέγκλητος, μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἀνήρ· ἃ περὶ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου φησί. Καὶ εἰπὼν ταῦτα, εὐθέως ἐπήγαγε· ∆εῖ γὰρ τὸν ἐπίσκοπον ἀνέγκλητον εἶναι, ὡς Θεοῦ οἰκονόμον, μὴ αὐθάδη. Ὅπερ οὖν ἔφην, καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι τὸ παλαιὸν ἐκαλοῦντο ἐπίσκοποι καὶ διάκονοι τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ οἱ ἐπίσκοποι πρεσβύτεροι· ὅθεν καὶ νῦν πολλοὶ συμπρεσβυτέρῳ ἐπίσκοποι γράφουσι, καὶ συνδιακόνῳ. Λοιπὸν δὲ τὸ ἰδιάζον ἑκάστῳ ἀπονενέμηται ὄνομα, ὁ ἐπίσκοπος, καὶ ὁ πρεσβύτερος. Συνεπισκόποις, φησὶ, καὶ διακόνοις, χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ἐνταῦθα ζητήσειεν ἄν τις εἰκότως· Τί δήποτε