John Chrysostom, On "I remembered God"

her who sang in melody; Let the desert rejoice, and blossom as the lily, and the deserts of the Jordan will rejoice with wood and give off a sweet smell. When these things were being done so well, then the sea itself desired to enjoy the sweet smell, and began to make herself public, and speaking to the land, she retorted: And now, concede the Lord to me; for the Master is not yours alone, for you have received the grace of his whole divinity; ask him to come to me, lest I, coming to him, might destroy your whole face. For if I had not known him, and had not feared the one who sealed me and fettered me with unbreakable bonds, I would have long ago come and bent your borders. Or did you not know that I have been more honored and born before you? For before you appeared, I was dancing in the abysses. Give me back my own Master, as the prophet said: For the sea is his, and he made it; and then he added: And his hands formed the dry land. You, therefore, were formed later. Dried up one, mother of dust, insatiable one, and tomb of the dead, house of blood, of deceit, and of sins, why do you tyrannize your elder, and alone possess the Lord? Give him back to me then, that what was said may be fulfilled, Your ways are in the sea; give me back my own creator, that he may also fill my bays with grace. And so the land, being constrained by the sea, at his nod, puffing up the world, paraded, saying: For am I not worse than you, you who are flowing, and gaping, and unstable, and hissing, dashing on the shore and full of bile, charioteer of seaweed, and useless for life, flowing with brine and emitting a foul smell, untrodden by paths, of the same tribe as the storm, roughened by tempests; if you knew, as you said, that you are more honored, the Master would have first dwelt in you; but now from this my dignity is shown, that I surpass you, because in me first he released the rays of divinity.

I have been established as so much more honored than you, inasmuch as I am the mother of humans, and you of reptiles; I am the mother of the holy Virgin, who brought forth the Master like a flower; but you are of the evil dragon, who sports with your creatures; I am the mother of prophets and apostles and holy men; but you are the mother of wild and evil reptiles, and the destruction of those who sail with difficulty; I am a paradise and fruitful, having flowers and spices, but you, winds and harbors and disorders. If it were in my power to keep the Lord, I would not have permitted him to come to you. But as, when the elements at that time were acting contrary to his commands, the Lord who fills all things and governs all things comes to the sea itself, wishing to glorify and honor with his holy footsteps the continent of waters, then the sea, spreading out its bays, received the Lord with great joy, saying: Come, all you creatures, the small with the great, come together, you who are in the depths, swim up to him who enthroned you from the beginning, and who granted you life; all you contrary spirits of winter, be muzzled, and shudder at the divinity of the one who is present; all you storms, tempests, be quiet before the greatness of his power; all you winds and storms, draw back, and all you waves, be still and be calm, and receive the Lord of life and death with joy.

Who will announce to me today that I have the Lord as a passenger walking on the sea? May I be magnified from this day, for I have become a Cherubic throne, and have taken up Seraphic couches; for he who sits there, I have him walking here; he who flies on the wings of the winds, I have him journeying 61.695 among the islands; he who is exalted above so many high and lofty firmaments, I have him walking on foot upon my unadorned surface. Now I am no longer called sea, but a heavenly pool; now I have become a lamp, flashing exceedingly, a heavenly one; now I have become a spring gushing forth healings; now I have become a sun, shining with rays; now I have become

τὴν μελῳδήσασαν· Ἀγαλλιάσθω ἡ ἔρημος, καὶ ἀνθείτω ὡς κρίνον, καὶ ὑλοχαρήσει καὶ εὐωδιάσει τὰ ἔρημα τοῦ Ἰορδάνου. Τούτων οὕτω πραττομένων καλῶς, λοιπὸν καὶ ἡ θάλασσα αὐτὴ ἐπεθύμησε τῆς εὐωδίας ἀπολαύειν, καὶ ἤρξατο δημοσιεύειν ἑαυτὴν, καὶ τῇ γῇ λέγουσα ἀντέβαλεν· Καί μοι λοιπὸν τὸν Κύριον παραχώρησον· μὴ γὰρ μόνον σός ἐστιν ὁ ∆εσπότης, ὅτι ὅλης αὐτοῦ παρεδέξω τῆς θεότητος τὴν χάριν· παρακάλεσον αὐτὸν ἐλθεῖν πρός με, μήποτε ἐγὼ ἐρχομένη πρὸς αὐτὸν, ὅλον σου ἐξαφανίσω τὸ πρόσωπον. Εἰ μὴ γὰρ ἐπέγνων αὐτὸν, καὶ ἐδεδοίκειν τὸν ἐμὲ σφραγίσαντα καὶ πεδήσαντα ἀλύτοις δεσμοῖς, πάλαι ἂν ἐλθοῦσα ἔκαμψά σου τὰ πέρατα. Ἢ οὐκ ἔγνως, ὅτι προτιμοτέρα καὶ προγενεστέρα σου κεχώρηκα; πρὸ τοῦ γάρ σε φανῆναι, ἐγὼ ἐν ταῖς ἀβύσσοις ἐχόρευον. Ἀπόδος μοι τὸν ∆εσπότην τὸν ἴδιον, καθὼς ὁ προφήτης εἶπεν· Ὅτι αὐτοῦ ἐστιν ἡ θάλασσα, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐποίησεν αὐτήν· καὶ τότε ἐπήγαγε· Καὶ τὴν ξηρὰν αἱ χεῖρες αὐτοῦ ἔπλασαν. Σὺ οὖν ὕστερον ἐπλάσθης. Ἐξηραμμένη, μήτηρ κονιορτοῦ, ἀκόρεστε, καὶ τάφε νεκρῶν, αἱμάτων, δολίων καὶ ἁμαρτημάτων οἶκος, τί τυραννεῖς τὴν πρεσβύτιδά σου, καὶ μόνη κατέχεις τὸν Κύριον; Ἀπόδος μοι λοιπὸν αὐτὸν, ἵνα πληρωθῇ τὸ εἰρημένον, Ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ αἱ ὁδοί σου· ἀπόδος μοι τὸν ἴδιον πλαστουργὸν, ἵνα καὶ τοὺς ἐμοὺς κόλπους πληρώσῃ ἐν χάριτι. Καὶ οὕτω συνεχομένη παρὰ τῆς θαλάσσης ἡ γῆ τῷ αὐτοῦ νεύματι, κοσμοφυσῶσα ἐπόμπευε λέγουσα· Μὴ γάρ σου χείρων ὑπάρχω, ἐρεομένη, καὶ κεχαυνωμένη, καὶ ἀστατοῦσα, καὶ συρίζουσα, ἐπικρορύητε καὶ χολέρας, πόας ἡνίοχε, καὶ ἀχρησίμευτε βίου, ἁλμυρονάματε καὶ δυσοδόχυτε, πορείαις ἀνεπίβατε, καταιγίδος σύμφυλε, τετραχυμμένη τοῖς λαίλαψιν· εἰ οἶσθα, ὡς σὺ ἔφης προτιμοτέρα εἶναι, ἐν σοὶ πρῶτον ἂν ἐσκήνωσεν ὁ ∆εσπότης· νῦν δὲ τούτου φαίνεταί μου τὸ ἀξίωμα, ὅτι σου ὑπάρχω ὑπερέχουσα, ἐξότι ἐν ἐμοὶ πρῶτον τὰς ἀκτῖνας ἀπέλυσε τῆς θεότητος.

Τοσοῦτόν σου προτιμοτέρα καθέστηκα, ὅσον ἐγὼ μήτηρ ἀνθρώπων, καὶ σὺ ἑρπετῶν· ἐγὼ τῆς ἁγίας Παρθένου μήτηρ εἰμὶ, ἥτις τὸν ∆εσπότην ἐξήνθησε· σὺ δὲ τοῦ πονηροῦ δράκοντος, ὅστις ἐμπαίζει τὰ ζῶά σου· ἐγώ εἰμι μήτηρ προφητῶν καὶ ἀποστόλων καὶ ἁγίων ἀνδρῶν· σὺ δὲ ἀγρίων καὶ πονηρῶν μήτηρ ἑρπετῶν, καὶ δυσπλοούντων φθορά· ἐγὼ παράδεισος καὶ ἐπικάρπιος ἔχουσα ἄνθη καὶ ἀρώματα, σὺ δὲ ἀνέμους καὶ λιμένας καὶ ἀταξίας. Εἰ ἦν ἐν ἐμοὶ τοῦ κατέχειν τὸν Κύριον, οὐκ ἂν παραγενέσθαι αὐτὸν πρὸς σὲ παρεχώρησα. Ὡς δὲ, τῶν τηνικαῦτα ἀντιπραττόντων τῶν στοιχείων τοῖς νεύμασιν, ὁ πάντα πληρῶν, καὶ πάντα οἰκονομῶν Κύριος πρὸς αὐτὴν τὴν θάλασσαν παραγίνεται, τοῖς ἁγίοις ἴχνεσι δοξάσαι καὶ τιμῆσαι τῶν ὑδάτων τὴν ἤπειρον βουλόμενος, λοιπὸν ἡ θάλασσα τοὺς κόλπους ἁπλώσασα μετὰ πολλῆς χαρᾶς τὸν Κύριον ὑπεδέξατο λέγουσα· ∆εῦτε, πάντα τὰ ζῶα τὰ μικρὰ μετὰ τῶν μεγάλων, συνέλθετε τὰ ἐν τοῖς βάθεσιν, ἐπαναπλεύσατε τὸν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὑμᾶς ἐνθρονιάσαντα, καὶ τὸ ζῇν ὑμῖν χαρισάμενον· πάντα τὰ ἐναντία τοῦ χειμῶνος φιμώθητε πνεύματα, καὶ τοῦ παρόντος φρίξατε τὴν θεότητα· πᾶσαι αἱ καταιγίδες, λαίλαπες, ἡσυχάσατε τῆς δυναστείας τὸ μέγεθος· πάντες οἱ ἄνεμοι καὶ χειμῶνες συστάλητε, καὶ πάντα τὰ κύματα ἠρεμήσατε καὶ γαληνιάσατε, καὶ τὸν Κύριον τῆς ζωῆς καὶ τοῦ θανάτου μετὰ χαρᾶς ὑποδέξασθε.

Τίς ἀναγγελεῖ μοι σήμερον, ὅτι πελαγοβάτην ἔχω ἐπιβάτην τὸν Κύριον; Μεγαλυνθείην ἀπὸ τῆς σήμερον, ὅτι Χερουβικὴ ἐγενόμην καθέδρα, καὶ Σεραφικὰς στιβάδας ἀνέλαβον· ὅτι τὸν ἐκεῖ καθεζόμενον ὧδε ἔχω βαδίζοντα· τὸν ἐπὶ πτερύγων ἀνέμων ἱπτάμενον, ἐν ταῖς νήσοις ἔχω στελλό 61.695 μενον· τὸν ἐπάνω τοσούτων ὑψηλῶν καὶ μετεώρων στερεωμάτων ὑψούμενον, ἐπὶ τῆς ἐμῆς ἀγλαϊστοῦ χώρας τοῦτον ἔχω πεζεύοντα. Νῦν οὐκ ἔτι προσαγορεύομαι θάλασσα, ἀλλὰ κολυμβήθρα οὐράνιος· νῦν ἐγενόμην λύχνος, σφόδρα ἀστράπτουσα, οὐράνιος· νῦν ἐγενόμην πηγὴ ἰάματα βρύουσα· νῦν ἐγενόμην ἥλιος, ἀκτῖνας αὐγάζουσα· νῦν ἐγενόμην