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5

14S_030 As Trinity: Note a Trinity of three hypostases, and he calls fertility the paternal procession beyond concept into the manifestation of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; and well the 'as Trinity', since it is said not as a number, but as a glory; "The Lord is God, the Lord is one".

From whom every family. Families must be understood as the orders from the same rank, as if joined to one another, cherubim, seraphim, principalities, powers; and among us the spiritual ones, as kinsmen, and successions, as Moses also indicates the kinship relations.

That all existing things: All of God's creations are good, and have become and are very good, as long as they remain in the natural order in which they were created, but the deviation from the natural, whether it occurs in angels, or in souls, or in any bodies whatsoever, destroys the beauty and by its failure creates shamefulness.

Wholly towards truth: He expresses the economy here well, that one of the Trinity suffered. But note, that one of the hypostases communicated with us wholly and that he called our Lord Jesus Christ Himself simple, then composite, recalling to Himself the ultimate human nature; well, therefore, do we say, that one of the holy Trinity was on the cross. This is against the Nestorians and the Acephali; for behold, he says, one of the hypostases wholly communicated with us, as the Apostle says, "in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily". But this "wholly" is also against Apollinarius; for it indicates that he assumed a perfect man.

14S_032 And has received an extension: For the father to have said 'extension', I take to be the temporal measure of the Lord's sojourn in the flesh.

And of the unconfused: For He Himself, God the Word, remained, having become what He was not, unconfusedly; and note, that the 'unconfused' has been proclaimed from apostolic times.

And whatever other divine works: He calls the teachings of the saints divine-working lights, as producing a light of knowledge and making gods of those who obey.

The secret tradition of the guides: Note that the things concerning elevated matters and being beyond the hearing of the many, whether about theology or about the economy of the life-giving God, the divine Apostles handed down secretly, mystically revealing them to the perfect; and that from the Apostles comes the 'unconfusedly' and 'immutably', which he said, and that of the 'whole man'; wherefore the Apostle also, writing to the Thessalonians, says, "that they should keep whatever they heard, whether by word or by letter"; and to Timothy again saying he had given a "deposit in mystery", which is here stated manifestly.

Through the sacred veils: Note that in one order must be placed both the holy Scripture and the traditions of the bishops (whom he is accustomed to call hierarchs, as rulers of the priests, that is presbyters and deacons and doorkeepers, as he says in our hierarchy; whence also we obey their sayings concerning the doctrines), from which oracles, he says, the grosser things are attributed to the super-essential beings for our understanding and mystagogy, as, in the case of God, when he appears as fire, and as an old man in Daniel, 14S_034 and as a man wrestling with Jacob, and such like things; and in the case of angels, as the cherubim, being also beast-formed, and others in the form of men and youths.

Of the divisible symbols: That Scripture speaks of the Divine in human terms, naming it from human things, attributing to it feet and hands and faces.

When incorruptible: That in the resurrection the saints, with incorruptibility and immortality, will attain the Christ-like state, shining beyond the sun, as also the

5

14S_030 Ὡς Τριάδα: Σημείωσαι Τριάδα τρισυπόστατον καί γονιμότητά φησι τήν πατρικήν ὑπέρ ἔννοιαν πρόοδον εἰς ἔκφασιν τοῦ Υἱοῦ καί τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος· καλῶς δέ τό ὡς Τριάδα, ἐπειδή οὐκ ἀριθμός, ἀλλά δόξα εἴρηται· «Κύριος ὁ Θεός, Κύριος εἷς ἐστιν».

Ἐξ ἧς πᾶσα πατριά. Πατριάς νοητέον τάς τάξεις τάς ἐκ τῆς ὁμοταγίας, οἱονεί συνημμένας ἀλλήλοις, χερουβίμ, σεραφίμ, ἀρχάς, ἐξουσίας· ἐφ' ἡμῶν δέ καί τάς πνευματικάς, ὡς συγγενεῖς, καί ἀλληλουχίας, ὡς δηλοῖ καί Μωϋσῆς τάς συγγενείας.

Ὅτι τά ὄντα πάντα: Πάντα τά τοῦ Θεοῦ δημιουργήματα καλά, καί καλά λίαν γεγόνασι, καί εἰσίν, ἐφ' ὅσον ἐν τῇ κατά φύσιν, ὡς γεγόνασι, μένουσι τάξει, ἡ δέ τοῦ κατά φύσιν παρατροπή, εἴτε ἐν ἀγγέλοις, εἴτε ἐν ψυχαῖς, εἴτε ἐν ὁποιοισοῦν σώμασι γινομένη, τό κάλλος ἀπόλλυσι καί τῇ τούτου διαμαρτίᾳ τό αἶσχος δημιουργεῖ.

Πρός ἀλήθειαν ὁλικῶς: Τήν οἰκονομιαν ἐνταῦθα φράζει καλῶς, ὅτι εἷς τῆς Τριάδος ἔπαθε. Σημείωσαι δέ, ὅτι μία τῶν ὑποστάσεων ἡμῖν ἐκοινώνησεν ὁλικῶς καί ὅτι αὐτόν τόν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν ἁπλοῦν εἶπεν, εἶτα σύνθετον ἀνακαλούμενον πρός ἑαυτόν τήν ἀνθρωπίνην ἐσχατιάν· καλῶς οὖν λέγομεν, ὅτι εἷς τῆς ἁγιας Τριάδος ἦν ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ. Τοῦτο κατά Νεστοριανῶν καί Ἀκεφάλων· ἰδού γάρ, φησί, μία τῶν ὑποστάσεων ὁλικῶς ἡμῖν ἐκοινώνησεν, ὥς φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος, «ἐν ᾧ κατοικεῖ πᾶν τό πλήρωμα τῆς θεότητος σωματικῶς». Τοῦτο δέ τό ὁλικῶς καί κατά Ἀπολλιναρίου ἐστί· δηλοῖ γάρ τέλειον ἄνθρωπον ἀνειληφέναι αὐτόν.

14S_032 Καί παράτασιν εἴληφε: Τό 'παράτασιν' εἰρηκέναι τόν πατέρα, ὑπολαμβάνω τό χρονικόν μέτρον εἶναι τῆς ἐν σαρκί τοῦ Κυρίου διαγωγῆς.

Καί ἀσυγχύτου: Ἔμεινε γάρ αὐτός Θεός Λόγος γενόμενος, ὅπερ οὐκ ἦν ἀσυγχύτως· καί σημείωσαι, ὅτι τό ἀσύγχυτον ἐκ τῶν ἀποστολικῶν κεκήρυκται καιρῶν.

Καί ὅσα ἄλλα θεουργικά: Θεουργικά φῶτά φησι τάς διδασκαλίας τῶν ἁγίων, ὡς φῶς γνώσεως ἐμποιούσας καί θεούς τούς πειθομένους.

Καθηγεμόνων κρυφία: Σημείωσαι, ὅτι τά περί τῶν ἀνηγμένων καί ὑπέρ τήν τῶν πολλῶν ἀκοήν ὄντα, εἴτε περί θεολογίας εἴτε καί περί τῆς τοῦ ζωοποιοῦ Θεοῦ οἰκονομίας κρυφίως παρεδίδοσαν οἱ θεῖοι Ἀπόστολοι, μυστηριωδῶς ἀποκαλύπτοντες τοῖς τελείοις· καί ὅτι ἐκ τῶν Ἀποστόλων ἐστί τό ἀσυγχύτως καί ἀμεταβλήτως, ὅ εἶπε, καί τό τοῦ ὅλου ἀνθρώπου· διό καί ὁ Ἀπόστολος, γράφων Θεσσαλονικεῦσι, φησί, «χρῆναι φυλάττειν αὐτούς, ὅσα ἤκουσαν, εἴτε διά λόγου, εἴτε δι' ἐπιστολῆς»· καί Τιμοθέῳ πάλιν «παραθήκην» λέγων «δεδωκέναι ἐν μυστηρίῳ», ὅπερ ἐνταῦθα ἐκφαντορικῶς εἴρηται.

∆ιά τῶν ἱερῶν παραπετασμάτων: Σημείωσαι, ὅτι ἐν μιᾷ τάξει θετέον τήν τε ἁγίαν Γραφήν καί τάς τῶν ἐπισκόπων παραδόσεις (οὕς ἱεράρχας εἴωθε καλεῖν, ὡς ἄρχοντας τῶν ἱερέων, τουτέστι πρεσβυτέρων καί διακόνων καί πυλωρῶν, ὥς φησιν ἐν τῇ καθ' ἡμᾶς ἱεραρχίᾳ· ὅθεν καί ταῖς αὐτῶν ρήσεσι περί τά δόγματα πειθόμεθα), ἐξ ὦν, φησι, λογίων τά παχύτερα τοῖς ὑπερουσίοις περιτίθεται διά νόησιν καί μυσταγωγίαν ἡμετέραν ὡς ἐπί μέν Θεοῦ, ὅταν φαίνηται ὡς πῦρ, καί ὡς γέρων ἐν ∆ανιήλ, 14S_034 καί ὡς ἀνήρ παλαίων τῷ Ιακώβ, καί ὅσα τοιαῦτα· ἐπί δέ ἀγγέλων, ὡς τά χερουβίμ, ἅτε καί θηριόμορφα, καί ἄλλοι ἐν τάξει ἀνδρῶν καί νεανίσκων.

Τῶν μεριστῶν συμβόλων: Ὅτι ἀνθρωπολογεῖ τό Θεῖον ἡ Γραφή ἐκ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων αὐτό ὀνομάζουσα, πόδας καί χεῖρας καί πρόσωπα αὐτῷ περιτιθεῖσα.

Ὅταν ἄφθαρτοι: Ὅτι ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει οἱ ἅγιοι μετά ἀφθαρσίας καί ἀθανασίας τῆς χριστοειδοῦς τεύξονται καταστάσεως, λάμποντες ὑπέρ τόν ἥλιον, ὡς καί ὁ