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a clear tongue for the stammerers to speak, resting upon grace. 6. In Caesarea Philippi (this is Paneas, which was once exceedingly renowned among cities, which was named the city of Philip Caesar; and called Dan in the divine Scripture; For, it says, David numbered the people from Dan to Beersheba; in this place the Master, being with his servants, dried up the fountain of blood of the woman with an issue of blood), in this place, having gathered the first synod of his own disciples, and the rock of life having set up the seat upon a certain rock, he asked his disciples, saying: Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? Not ignorant of the ignorance of men, he who knows all things asked, but wishing to dispel this with the light of knowledge, as a certain darkness lying upon the eyes of the mind. And they said that some proclaimed John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. For since they saw such an abyss of miracles, they supposed that he was one of the prophets of old, raised from the dead, and thence had been deemed worthy of such grace. And this is clear; For Herod the tetrarch, it says, heard the report of Jesus, and said to his servants: This is John the Baptist; he has been raised from the dead, and for this reason the powers are at work in him. Attempting to dispel this suspicion, and to bestow the true confession, as a gift, a gift most surpassing of all, to those who are ignorant, what does he do, in whose hand all things are possible? As a man he puts forth the question; but as God he secretly makes wise the first called, and the first to follow, whom in his own foreknowledge he predestined as the worthy president of the Church. Into this one 96.556 as God he breathes, and through him he speaks. And what is the question? But whom do you say that I am? But Peter, burning with fiery zeal, and borne by the Holy Spirit: You are the Christ, he said, the Son of the living God. O blessed mouth! O all-blessed lips! O God-bearing mind, worthy of the divine initiation! O instruments, through which the Father uttered! Blessed are you indeed, Simon, son of Jonah (for this the Truthful One declared), because not flesh, not blood, not human thought, but my heavenly Father has revealed to you this divine and ineffable theology. For no one knows the Son, except the one who alone is known by him, the Father who begot, and the Holy Spirit, who also knows the depths of God. This is the unbending and unshakable faith, upon which as a rock the Church is founded, of which you have worthily become the namesake. Against this the gates of hades, the mouths of heretics, the instruments of demons, will indeed attack, but they will not prevail; they will arm themselves, but they will not conquer. The arrow of infants their wounds have become and will be. Their tongues will be weakened, and they will be against themselves. For he who opposes the truth devises evils against himself. This he himself acquired with his own blood, and to you as a most faithful servant he entrusts it. Preserve this unshaken, and unagitated by your prayers; for the trust is secure that it will never be overturned, nor shaken, nor conquered. Christ has spoken, through whom heaven is established and earth is made firm, and remains unshaken. For by the word of the Lord the heavens were made firm, said the Holy Spirit. But we ask that the surge be calmed, the turmoil be shattered, and that a calm and untroubled peace be awarded to us. For this beseech Christ, the undefiled bridegroom of this, who appointed you key-bearer of the kingdom of heaven, who granted you the authority to bind and to loose, whom with inspired mouth you truthfully proclaimed Son of the living God. O divine and ineffable matters! He himself proclaimed himself Son of man, and Peter Son of God, or rather, the one speaking in him

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γλῶσσαν τοῖς μογιλάλοις τρανὴν εἰς τὸ φθέγγεσθαι ἐπερειδομένην τῇ χάριτι. ϛʹ. Ἐν Καισαρείᾳ Φιλίππου (Πανεὰς αὕτη, ἥ ποτε ἐν πόλεσι ὑπερώνυμος, ἣ Φιλίππου Καίσαρος πόλις ὠνόμαστο· καὶ ∆ὰν ἐν τῇ Γραφῇ λεγομένη τῇ θείᾳ· Ἠρίθμησε γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ ∆αβὶδ τὸν λαὸν ἀπὸ ∆ὰν ἕως Βηρσαβέε· ἐν ταύτῃ σὺν τοῖς δούλοις ὁ ∆εσπότης γενόμενος, τῆς αἱμόῤῥου τῶν αἱμάτων τὴν κρήνην ἐξήρανεν), ἐν ταύτῃ τὴν πρώτην τῶν οἰκείων μαθητῶν συναγείρας σύνοδον, καὶ ἐπί τινος πέτρας τὴν καθέδραν ἡ πέτρα τῆς ζωῆς σχεδιάσασα, ἠρώτα τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ λέγων· Τίνα με λέγουσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι εἶναι τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου; Οὐκ ἀγνοῶν τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν ἄγνοιαν, ὁ πάντα εἰδὼς, ἐπερώτησε, ἀλλὰ ταύτην τῷ τῆς γνώσεως φωτὶ διαλύσαι βουλόμενος, ὥσπερ τινὰ ζόφον τοῖς νοεροῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἐπικείμενον. Οἱ δὲ, τοὺς μὲν Ἰωάννην τὸν Βαπτιστὴν, ἄλλους δὲ Ἠλίαν, ἑτέρους δὲ Ἱερεμίαν, ἢ ἕνα τῶν προφητῶν καταγγέλλειν ἔφασαν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἑώρων τὴν τοσαύτην τῶν θαυμάτων ἄβυσσον, ὡς εἷς εἴη τῶν πάλαι προφητῶν ὑπετόπαζον, ἐκ νεκρῶν ἐγηγερμένος, ἐντεῦθέν τε τῆς τοιαύτης ἠξίωτο χάριτος. Καὶ τοῦτο δῆλον· Ἤκουσε γὰρ, φησὶν, Ἡρώδης ὁ τετράρχης τὴν ἀκοὴν Ἰησοῦ, καὶ εἶπε τοῖς παισὶν αὐτοῦ· Οὗτος Ἰωάννης ὁ Βαπτιστής· αὐτὸς ἠγέρθη ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο αἱ δυνάμεις ἐνεργοῦσιν ἐν αὐτῷ. Ταύτην τὴν ὑποψίαν διαλύσαι πειρώμενος, καὶ τὴν ἀληθῆ ὁμολογίαν, οἷόν τι δῶρον, δῶρον ἁπάντων ὑπερφερέστατον, τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσι χαρίσασθαι, τί δρᾷ, ᾧ πάντα δυνατὰ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ; Ὡς μὲν ἄνθρωπος τὴν πεῦσιν προβάλλεται· ὡς δὲ Θεὸς λαθραίως σοφίζει τὸν πρῶτον κληθέντα, καὶ πρῶτον ἀκολουθήσαντα, ὃν τῇ οἰκείᾳ προγνώσει προώρισε τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐπάξιον πρόεδρον. Τούτῳ 96.556 ὡς Θεὸς ἐμπνεῖ, καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ φθέγγεται. Τίς δὲ ἡ πεῦσις; Ὑμεῖς δὲ τίνα με λέγετε εἶναι; Ὁ δὲ Πέτρος ἐμπύρῳ τῷ ζήλῳ καιόμενος, καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ θεοφορούμενος Πνεύματι· Σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστὸς, ἔφησεν, ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος. Ὢ μακαρίου στόματος! ὢ πανολβίων χειλέων! ὢ θεοφόρου νοῦ, ἀξίου τῆς θείας μυήσεως! ὢ ὀργάνων, δι' ὧν Πατὴρ ἀπεφθέγγετο! Μακάριος ὄντως εἶ σὺ, Σίμων, υἱὲ Ἰωνᾶ (τοῦτο γὰρ ὁ ἀψευδὴς ἀπεφήνατο), ὅτι οὐ σὰρξ, οὐχ αἷμα, οὐκ ἀνθρωπίνη διάνοια, ἀλλ' ὁ Πατήρ μου ὁ οὐράνιος ταύτην θείαν τε καὶ ἀπόῤῥητον θεολογίαν σοι ἀπεκάλυψεν. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ τὸν Υἱὸν ἐπιγινώσκει, εἰ μὴ ὁ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ γινωσκόμενος μόνος, ὁ γεννήσας Πατὴρ, καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, τὸ καὶ τὰ βάθη τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπιστάμενον. Αὕτη ἡ πίστις ἡ ἀκλινὴς καὶ ἀκλόνητος, ἐφ' ἣν ὡς πέτραν ἡ Ἐκκλησία ἐστήρικται, ἧς ἐπαξίως ἐπώνυμος γέγονας. Ταύτης ᾄδου πύλαι, αἱρετικῶν στόματα, δαιμόνων ὄργανα, καταδραμοῦνται μὲν, ἀλλ' οὐ κατισχύσουσι· καθοπλίσονται, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐκπορθήσουσι. Βέλος νηπίων αἱ πληγαὶ αὐτῶν γεγόνασί τε καὶ ἔσονται. Ἀσθενήσουσιν αὐτῶν αἱ γλῶσσαι, καὶ ἐπ' αὐτοὺς ἔσονται. Καθ' ἑαυτοῦ γὰρ τεύχει κακὰ ὁ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ ἀντικαθιστάμενος. Ταύτην αὐτὸς μὲν οἰκείῳ ἐκτήσατο αἵματι, σοὶ δὲ ὡς πιστοτάτῳ ἐγχειρίζει θεράποντι. Ταύτην ἀκλόνητον, καὶ ἀκύμαντον σαῖς λιταῖς διαφύλαξον· ὅτι μὲν γὰρ οὐ περιτραπήσεται πώποτε, οὐ σεισθήσεται, οὐ πορθηθήσεται, ἀσφαλὴς ἡ πεποίθησις. Χριστὸς ἔφη, δι' οὗ οὐρανὸς ἐστερέωται γῆ δὲ ἥδρασται, καὶ μένει ἀκράδαντος. Τῷ γὰρ λόγῳ Κυρίου οἱ οὐρανοὶ ἐστερεώθησαν, ἔφη τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον. Ἀλλ' αἰτοῦμεν πραϋνθῆναι τὸν κλυδῶνα, καταθραυσθῆναι τὸν τάραχον, καὶ εἰρήνην γαληνιαῖαν βραβευθῆναι ἡμῖν καὶ ἀκύματον. Τοῦτο Χριστὸν καθικέτευσον, τὸν ταύτης νυμφίον τὸν ἄχραντον, τὸν σὲ κλειδοῦχον τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν χειροτονήσαντα, τὸν τὸ δεσμεῖν καὶ λύειν εὐθύνας σοι χαρισάμενον, ὃν θεηγόρῳ στόματι, ζῶντος Θεοῦ Υἱὸν ἀψευδῶς ἀνεκήρυξας. Ὢ θείων καὶ ἀποῤῥήτων πραγμάτων! Αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν ἀνθρώπου Υἱὸν ἀνηγόρευσε, καὶ Θεοῦ Υἱὸν ὁ Πέτρος, ὁ ἐν τούτῳ δὲ λαλῶν μᾶλλον