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I remembered God, and I was glad; whom all-virtuous Wisdom proclaims in the songs: Awake, O north wind, and come, O south; blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out.

So what is the north wind, or the south? Or what is the garden? Or what are the plants in the garden? Or what are the spices that flow out? I think it is this, as Scripture interprets, that the north wind is the holy Virgin, the south is the Savior of the world, the plants are the holy martyrs and apostles, the spring watering the garden is the baptism of the Savior, the guardian of the garden is the seal of the cross, the spices are the healings and the graces of the Savior. This, then, is: Awake, O north wind, that is, the Virgin from Galilee; and come, O south; come, Christ, from heaven from the south, and breathe into the holy Virgin; blow upon the world, and raise up the holy martyrs, and apostles, and let the spices flow out upon the sick and the wandering.

These spices are condensed into various graces, and become for the sick a proof of health, for the wandering a means of conversion, for sinners an advocate of repentance, for the righteous a help to strength. How then shall we worthily hymn the healings of healings, the life-giving hope, the earthly life, the heavenly salvation? How was the earth perfumed, when these spices flowed? and how in turn did the earth bear its own incense? And offering to the Master with fear, it said: "You," it says, "Master, provide the heavenly spices, and I offer the earthly incense to your divinity; you, Master, perfume my back with your holy and all-pure footsteps, and I, leaping up, offer you myrrh." Then rejoicing in all these things together, the earth cried out to all its fellow-servant creation: "Come, all my offspring, be gathered, and see on earth the one glorified in heaven; come, see in the arms of a woman borne the one who sits upon the Cherubim; come, see nourished with milk the one who supplies milk to females; come, see contained in the womb of a Virgin, the one not contained in the heavens; come, see receiving nourishment from a mother, the one who nourishes the ends of the earth; come, see handed over to teachers, the one who instructs teachers; come, see tempted by men, the one glorified by angels; come, see entering the house of Zacchaeus, the one who sits above the heavens; come, see speaking with the Canaanite woman the one hymned by the Cherubic liturgy; come, see approached by a sinful woman the one who sits at the right hand of the Father; come, see touched on the fringes of his garment by the sick woman, the one worshipped by the bodiless nature of the powers; come, see born as a man, the one who is the maker of the ages; come, see as an infant the one who exists before the foundation of the world; come, see, tempted by high priests, the one escorted by angels; come, all creations seeing the creator; and as 61.694 life is on earth, all of you live; come, all be borne by God; come, small with the great gather together, the poor with the rich, the slaves with the masters, the sinners with the righteous, the creeping things and the four-footed creatures with the birds, and see the one who has granted life.

O seasons of winter and of autumn, be changed, and bear fruit contrary to nature, and bring your after-fruits to the one who has made your fruits pregnant; do all things, and perfume the divinity; either offer your own incense, or gather the spices from him. But when in all these things the earth was observed by its offspring, behold all things, as it said, ran together, and the desert places sprouted, and showed forth great fragrance; that they might fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah

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Ἐμνήσθην τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ηὐφράνθην· ὃν ἡ πανάρετος Σοφία ἐν τοῖς ᾄσμασιν ἀνακηρύττει· Ἐξεγείρου, βοῤῥᾶ, καὶ ἔρχου, νότε, διάπνευσον κῆπόν μου, καὶ ῥευσάτωσαν ἀρώματα.

Ἄρα τίς ἐστιν ὁ βοῤῥᾶς, ἢ ὁ νότος; ἢ τίς ἐστιν ὁ κῆπος; ἢ τίνα τὰ ἐν τῷ κήπῳ φυτά; ἢ τίνα τὰ ἀρώματα τὰ ῥέοντα; Ἐγὼ τοῦτο εἶναι οἶμαι, ὡς ἑρμηνεύει ἡ Γραφὴ, βοῤῥᾶν εἶναι τὴν ἁγίαν Παρθένον, νότον τὸν Σωτῆρα τοῦ κόσμου, φυτὰ τοὺς ἁγίους μάρτυρας καὶ ἀποστόλους, πηγὴν ἄρδουσαν τὸν κῆπον τὸ βάπτισμα τοῦ Σωτῆρος, φύλακα τοῦ κήπου τοῦ σταυροῦ τὴν σφραγῖδα, ἀρώματα εἶναι τὰ ἰάματα καὶ τὰ χαρίσματα τοῦ Σωτῆρος. Τοῦτο οὖν ἐστιν· Ἐξεγείρου, βοῤῥᾶ, τουτέστιν, ἡ Παρθένος ἐκ τῆς Γαλιλαίας· καὶ ἔρχου, νότε· δεῦρο, Χριστὲ, ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἀπὸ μεσημβρίας, καὶ ἔμπνευσον εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν Παρθένον· διάπνευσον εἰς τὸν κόσμον, καὶ ἐξέγειρον τοὺς ἁγίους μάρτυρας, καὶ ἀποστόλους, καὶ ῥευσάτωσαν τὰ ἀρώματα ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀσθενεῖς καὶ πεπλανημένους.

Ταῦτα τὰ ἀρώματα εἰς διαφόρους πήγνυται χάριτας, καὶ γίνεται τοῖς ἀσθενοῦσιν ὑγιείας τεκμήριον, τοῖς πεπλανημένοις ἐπιστροφῆς ἔλεγχος, τοῖς ἁμαρτωλοῖς μετανοίας συνήγορος, τοῖς δικαίοις εὐρωστίας βοήθημα. Πῶς οὖν ἐπαξίως ὑμνήσωμεν τῶν ἰαμάτων τὰ ἰάματα, τὴν ζωοποιὸν ἐλπίδα, τὴν ἐπίγειον ζωὴν, τὴν οὐράνιον σωτηρίαν; Πῶς ἐμυρίζετο ἡ γῆ, ὅτε ταῦτα ἔῤῥεον τὰ ἀρώματα; πῶς δὲ πάλιν ἡ γῆ ἔφερε τὰ ἴδια θυμιάματα; καὶ τῷ ∆εσπότῃ μετὰ φόβου προσφέρουσα ἔλεγε· Σὺ, φησὶ, ∆έσποτα, παρέχεις τὰ οὐράνια ἀρώματα, κἀγὼ τὰ ἐπίγεια τῶν θυμιαμάτων προσφέρω τῇ σῇ θεότητι· σὺ, ∆έσποτα, μυρίζεις μου τὰ νῶτα τοῖς ἁγίοις σου καὶ παναχράντοις ἴχνεσι, κἀγὼ μύρα σκιρτῶσα προσφέρω σοι. Εἶτα ἐπ' ἀμφοτέροις τούτοις τοῖς ἅπασιν εὐφραινομένη ἡ γῆ πρὸς τὴν σύνδουλον ἅπασαν κτίσιν ἐβόα· ∆εῦτε, συνάχθητε πάντες οἱ ἔγγονοί μου, καὶ ἴδετε ἐπὶ γῆς τὸν ἐν οὐρανοῖς δοξαζόμενον· δεῦτε, βλέπετε ἐν ἀγκάλαις γυναικὸς βασταζόμενον τὸν ἐπὶ τῶν Χερουβὶμ καθεζόμενον· δεῦτε, ἴδετε γαλακτοτροφούμενον, τὸν ἐποχετεύοντα γάλα ταῖς θηλείαις· δεῦτε, ἴδετε ἐν γαστρὶ Παρθένου χωρούμενον, τὸν ἐν οὐρανοῖς μὴ χωρούμενον· δεῦτε, ἴδετε παρὰ μητρὸς τροφὴν λαμβάνοντα, τὸν τὰ πέρατα διατρέφοντα· δεῦτε, ἴδετε διδασκάλοις παραδιδόμενον, τὸν διδασκάλους παιδεύοντα· δεῦτε, ἴδετε ὑπὸ ἀνθρώπων πειραζόμενον, τὸν ὑπὸ ἀγγέλων δοξαζόμενον· δεῦτε, ἴδετε εἰς τὸν οἶκον Ζακχαίου εἰσερχόμενον, τὸν ὑπεράνω τῶν οὐρανῶν καθεζόμενον· δεῦτε, βλέπετε μετὰ τῆς Χαναναίας διαλεγόμενον τὸν ὑπὸ τῆς Χερουβικῆς λειτουργίας ἀνυμνούμενον· δεῦτε, ἴδετε ὑπὸ γυναικὸς ἁμαρτωλοῦ συνερχόμενον τὸν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ Πατρὸς καθεζόμενον· δεῦτε, ἴδετε τὸν ὑπὸ τῆς ἀσθενούσης γυναικὸς τοῖς κρασπέδοις ψαυόμενον, τὸν ὑπὸ τῆς ἀσωμάτου φύσεως τῶν δυνάμεων προσκυνούμενον· δεῦτε, ἴδετε γεννηθέντα ὡς ἄνθρωπον, τὸν ὑπάρχοντα τῶν αἰώνων ποιητήν· δεῦτε, ἴδετε νηπιάζοντα τὸν πρὸ καταβολὴς κόσμου ὑπάρχοντα· δεῦτε, ἴδετε, ὑπὸ ἀρχιερέων πειραζόμενον, τὸν ὑπὸ ἀγγέλων δορυφορούμενον· δεῦτε, ὅλα τὰ κτίσματα τὸν κτίσαντα βλέποντα· καὶ ὡς ἔστιν 61.694 ἡ ζωὴ ἐπὶ γῆς, πάντες ζήσατε· δεῦτε, πάντες θεοφορήθητε· δεῦτε, μικροὶ μετὰ τῶν μεγάλων συνέλθετε, οἱ πένητες μετὰ τῶν πλουσίων, οἱ δοῦλοι μετὰ τῶν κυρίων, οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ μετὰ τῶν δικαίων, τὰ ἑρπετὰ καὶ τὰ τετράποδα μετὰ τῶν πετεινῶν, καὶ βλέπετε τὸν τὴν ζωὴν χαρισάμενον.

Οἱ καιροὶ τοῦ χειμῶνος καὶ τοῦ φθινοπώρου ἀλλάγητε, καὶ παρὰ φύσιν καρποφορήσατε, καὶ τὰς ἐπικαρπίας ἑαυτῶν προσκομίσατε τῷ ἐγκυμώσαντι ὑμῶν τοὺς καρπούς· πάντα ποιήσατε, καὶ μυρίσατε τὴν θεότητα· ἢ τὰ ὑμέτερα προσαγάγετε θυμιάματα, ἢ παρ' ἐκείνου τρυγήσατε τὰ ἀρώματα. Ὡς δὲ ἐν πᾶσι τούτοις παρωράθη τοῖς ἐγγόνοις ἡ γῆ, ἰδοὺ πάντα, καθὼς εἶπε, συνέτρεχον, καὶ οἱ ἔρημοι τόποι ἐβλάστησαν, καὶ πολλὴν εὐωδίαν ἐδείξαντο· ἵνα τὴν προφητείαν Ἡσαΐου τελέσωσι