1

 2

 3

 4

 5

 6

5

Are you killing my child? I will hunger with my own, and not grow rich with strangers. What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to call my sins to remembrance, and to slay my son? You have killed my son, you seem some harsh man to me; is your coming not righteous? What shall I do, tell me. Did you not flee your God? Did you not do the things of Jonah? You seem a harsh man to me. You breathe fire, you desire murder, you bring drought, you burn up captains of fifty; for your deeds have been made known to me. Is it not enough for you that you have strangled your own people, but you have also come here to do the same things? You have tricked many, but you will not trick me; give me my son. What then of Elijah? He was immediately bent down; for he knew the Lord's signal. Therefore, groaning greatly as one defeated, he cried out, saying: Woe is me, Lord, the witness of the widow with whom I am dwelling, have you brought evil upon her, to slay 61.706 her son? It is your work; for I have recognized it, Master. Behold, I am pressed by a widow; for you always send me to the harshest women. I fled Jezebel, and I have fallen into this one's hands. I have endured many temptations, but I cannot bear her tongue. You are the one who said to me, Master: Go to Zarephath of Sidon; behold, I will command a widow woman there to sustain you. And behold, she torments; for she does not sustain. I am held as a murderer; and rightly am I held; for the boy was blooming at my arrival; how then he was suddenly given over to death, I do not know.

Deliver me, Lord, from this trouble; she has made a spectacle of me, she has put me to shame, she has brought great affliction upon me. Give the soul, and I will provide the rain; satisfy the widow, and I will water the land; give the boy his life back, and I will move my tongue to give rain. These things, however, are because of the aforementioned resurrection of Lazarus, and the contradiction of the Jews, that the Master acts with authority in one way, and a servant raises in another. Elijah raised a dead person, but yet he did not act with authority; for he suffered much and was afflicted and fell into anguish. Therefore he cried out in prayer, saying: Woe is me! And where there is "woe is me," there is anguish of soul. For thus you will also find the prophet elsewhere lamenting and saying: Woe is me! for I am left as one gathering stubble in the harvest, and as a gleaning in the vintage; and again another prophet, Woe, woe for the day! for the day of the Lord is near, and it is as a misery; and again another, Woe is me! for he has perished from the earth. Everywhere "Woe is me" is anguish. So also Elijah here: Woe is me, Lord, the witness of the widow, you have brought evil to slay her son. And he breathed upon the child a third time. See then here, how in the law the mystery of grace is prefigured. For "He breathed a third time" represents the entrance of the undivided Trinity. And he called upon God, and said: Let, I pray, Lord, the soul of the child return to him. And it was so.

What do you say, O Jew? Is the Lord such as Elijah? Is Elijah such as the Lord? Did the Lord bend his knee? Did he prolong his prayer? For to Him all prayer is sent up; he only uttered a voice, "Lazarus, come forth," as a master calling a servant. What then? Did he come forth as a servant obeying a master? He came forth, he did not delay, Hades did not wait, death did not rebel, the powers below did not put it off; but rather they were astonished. For Hades, having had Lazarus for four days already in its own regions, dissolved on all sides, like a boat without bolts, was henceforth without care; the powers below had no thought that Lazarus would henceforth be snatched away from the nether regions. But when the Master's voice, suddenly descending into the tomb with a great light, began swiftly to replant the hairs of Lazarus on his head, to encase the marrow in the emptiness of the bones, to direct the filling of the veins toward life-giving blood, the powers below were astonished, crying out to one another: Who is this who calls? who is this who commands with authority? who is the

5

τέκνον μου φονεύεις; μετὰ ἰδίων λιμώξω, καὶ μὴ μετὰ ξένων πλουτήσω. Τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοὶ, ὦ ἄνθρωπε τοῦ Θεοῦ; εἰσῆλθες πρός με τοῦ ἀναμνῆσαι τὰς ἁμαρτίας μου, καὶ θανατῶσαι τὸν υἱόν μου. Σὺ τὸν υἱόν μου ἐθανάτωσας, σκληρός μοί τις φαίνῃ· οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ εἴσοδός σου εἰθεῖα; Τί διαπράξω, ἀπάγγειλόν μοι. Μὴ ἔφυγες τὸν Θεόν σου; μὴ τὰ τοῦ Ἰωνᾶ διεπράξω πράγματα. Τραχύς τίς μοι φαίνῃ. Πῦρ πνέεις, φόνον ὀρέγῃ, ἀβροχίαν βαστάζεις, πεντηκοντάρχας κατακαίεις· ἐγνώσθη μοι γὰρ οὖν τὰ κατὰ σέ. Οὐκ ἀρκεῖ σοι ὅτι τοὺς ὁμοφύλους σου ἔπνιξας, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὧδε παραγέγονας τὰ ὅμοια διαπράξασθαι; Πολλοὺς ἔπαιξας, ἐμὲ δὲ οὐ παίξεις· δός μοι τὸν υἱόν μου. Τί οὖν ὁ Ἠλίας; Συνεκάμφθη εὐθέως· ἔγνω γὰρ τοῦ Κυρίου τὸ σφύγμα. ∆ιὸ μέγα στενάξας ὡς ἡττηθεὶς, ἐβόησε λέγων· Οἴμοι, Κύριε, ὁ μάρτυς τῆς χήρας, μεθ' ἧς ἐγὼ οἰκῶ μετ' αὐτῆς, σὺ ἐκάκωσας τοῦ θανα 61.706 τῶσαι τὸν υἱὸν αὐτῆς· σὸν τὸ ἔργον· ἐπέγνω γὰρ, ∆έσποτα. Ἰδοὺ ὑπὸ χήρας βιάζομαι· ἀεὶ γὰρ σκληροτάταις γυναιξὶ παραπέμπεις με. Τὴν Ἰεζάβελ ἔφυγα, καὶ εἰς ταύτην περιέπεσα. Πολλοὺς πειρασμοὺς ὑπέμεινα, ταύτης δὲ τὴν γλῶτταν βαστάσαι οὐ δύναμαι. Σὺ εἶ ὁ εἰρηκώς μοι, ∆έσποτα· Πορεύθητι εἰς Σάρεπτα τῆς Σιδωνίας· ἰδοὺ ἐντελοῦμαι γυναικὶ χήρᾳ τοῦ διατρέφειν σε ἐκεῖ. Καὶ ἰδοὺ διαστρέφει· οὐ γὰρ διατρέφει. Ὡς φονεὺς κατέχομαι· καὶ καλῶς κατέχομαι· ἀνθηρὸς γὰρ ἦν ὁ παῖς ἐν τῇ εἰσόδῳ μου· πῶς οὖν ἀθρόυς θανάτῳ παρεδόθη, οὐκ οἶδα.

Λύτρωσαί με, Κύριε, τῆς ὀχλήσεως ταύτης· θέατρόν μοι περιέστησεν, αἰσχύνην μοι περιέθηκε, θλίψιν μοι πολλὴν ἐπήγαγε. ∆ὸς τὴν ψυχὴν, καὶ παρέχω τὴν βροχήν· πληροφόρησον τὴν χήραν, καὶ ἀρδεύω τὴν χώραν· δὸς τοῦ παιδὸς τὴν παλαιβίωσιν, καὶ κινῶ τὴν γλῶτταν πρὸς ὀμβροδοσίαν. Ταῦτα μέντοι διὰ τὴν προῤῥηθεῖσαν τοῦ Λαζάρου νεκρεγερσίαν, καὶ τὴν τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἀντιλογίαν, ὅτι ἄλλως ∆εσπότης αὐθεντεῖ, καὶ ἄλλως δοῦλος ἐγείρει. Ἠλίας ἤγειρε νεκρὸν, ἀλλ' ὅμως οὐκ ηὐθέντησεν· ὠδυνήθη γὰρ πολλὰ καὶ ἐθλίβη καὶ στενώσει περιέπεσε. ∆ιὸ ἐβόησεν ἐν προσευχῇ λέγων· Οἴμοι! Ὅπου δὲ τὸ, οἴμοι· ἐκεῖ ὀδύνη ψυχῆς. Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ εὑρήσεις τὸν προφήτην ὀδυρόμενον καὶ λέγοντα· Οἴμοι! ὅτι κατελείφθην ὡς συνάγων καλάμην ἐν ἀμητῷ, καὶ ὡς ἐπιφυλλίδα ἐν τρυγητῷ· καὶ πάλιν ἕτερος προφήτης, Οἴμοι, οἴμοι εἰς ἡμέραν! ὅτι ἐγγὺς ἡ ἡμέρα Κυρίου, καὶ αὐτὴ ὡς ταλαιπωρία· καὶ πάλιν ἄλλος, Οἴμοι! ὅτι ἀπόλωλεν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς. Πανταχοῦ ὀδύνη τὸ Οἴμοι. Οὕτω καὶ Ἠλίας ἐνταῦθα· Οἴμοι, Κύριε, ὁ μάρτυς τῆς χήρας, σὺ ἐκάκωσας τοῦ θανατῶσαι τὸν υἱὸν αὐτῆς. Καὶ ἐνεφύσησε τῷ παιδαρίῳ τρίτον. Ὅρα οὖν ἐνταῦθα, πῶς ἐν τῷ νόμῳ τῆς χάριτος τὸ μυστήριον εἰκονογραφεῖται. Τὸ γὰρ, Ἐνεφύσησε τρίτον, τῆς ἀδιαιρέτου Τριάδος τὴν εἴσοδον παριστᾷ. Καὶ ἐπεκαλέσατο τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ εἶπεν· Ἐπιστραφήτω δὴ, Κύριε, ἡ ψυχὴ τοῦ παιδαρίου εἰς αὐτόν. Καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτω.

Τί λέγεις, ὦ Ἰουδαῖε; μήτι τοιοῦτον ὁ Κύριος, οἷον Ἠλίας; μήτι τοιοῦτον Ἠλίας, οἷον ὁ Κύριος; μὴ ἔκλινεν ὁ Κύριος γόνυ; μὴ ἐπλάτυνε τὴν προσευχήν; Αὐτῷ γὰρ πᾶσα προσευχὴ ἀναπέμπεται· φωνὴν ἀφῆκε μόνον, Λάζαρε, δεῦρο ἔξω, ὡς δεσπότης δοῦλον καλῶν. Τί οὖν; ἐξῆλθεν ὡς δοῦλος ὑπακούσας δεσπότῃ; Ἐξῆλθεν, οὐκ ἐβράδυνεν, οὐκ ἀνέμεινεν ὁ ᾅδης, οὐκ ἐστασίασεν ὁ θάνατος, οὐκ ἀνεβάλοντο αἱ κάτω δυνάμεις· ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον κατεπλάγησαν. Ὁ γὰρ ᾅδης ἔχων τὸν Λάζαρον ἤδη τέσσαρας ἡμέρας ἐν τοῖς ἰδίοις χωρίοις πανταχόθεν διαλυθέντα, ὡς ἀγόμφωτον σκάφος, λοιπὸν ἀμέριμνος ἦν· αἱ κάτω δυνάμεις οὐκ εἶχον ἔννοιαν, ὡς Λάζαρος τῶν καταχθονίων ἀνασπασθήσεται λοιπόν. Ὡς δὲ ἀθρόον ἡ ∆εσποτικὴ φωνὴ ἐν τῷ τάφῳ κατελθοῦσα σὺν φωτισμῷ πολλῷ ἤρξατο θᾶττον τὰς μὲν τρίχας τοῦ Λαζάρου ἀντιφυτεύειν τῇ κεφαλῇ, τὸν μυελὸν ἐνθηκιάζειν τῇ κενότητι τῶν καλάμων, τῶν δὲ φλεβῶν τὴν μέστωσιν πρὸς ζωτικὸν κατευθύνειν αἷμα, κατεπλάγησαν αἱ κάτω δυνάμεις πρὸς ἀλλήλας βοῶσαι· Τίς οὗτος ὁ καλῶν; τίς οὗτος ὁ αὐθεντῶν; τίς ὁ