Amphilochius of Iconium, On the Phrase "Father"

In illud: Pater si possibile est

so that they might cover up the blasphemy of their own choice. Tell me then, Lord, for what reason having come to the passion do you decline to suffer

For if I did not wish to grant life to the race of men through death, I, being the impassible Word, would not have entered into passible flesh. But si

is preserved from the water, or how is the crystallized firmament not dissolved and liquefied by the heat of the fire? And that I may not occupy your

by deceiving the deceiver, I shall undo the deceit. He with deceitful words deceived Adam, I with cowardly words deceive the deceitful one. But he utt

but shattered his own goads, being unable to endure the hardness of the resistance. Let no one, therefore, condemn me for cowardice through ignorance,

the Father, either unsparing or unable, did not free me from the passion, nor did I, refusing the passion, ask for the cup to pass by. For if the pass

the Father, either unsparing or unable, did not free me from the passion, nor did I, refusing the passion, ask for the cup to pass by. For if the passion were involuntary, I would truly have been a coward, but since death was voluntary, I appeared to be a coward, so that by outwitting the devil I might free humanity. Therefore, not perceiving this, the devil dragged me as if intending to swallow me, not knowing that he would have to vomit up even those he had swallowed. For as soon as I arrived at Hades, I plundered its tombs, I stripped its vaults bare. And I stripped them bare not by fighting openly, but by invisibly granting the resurrection. For I loosed no one, and yet all were set free; I said nothing, and yet freedom was proclaimed; I called no one, and yet all ran together. For as soon as I arrived as king, the tyrant was despised; I shone as light and the darkness was dissolved. For one could see every prisoner looking to freedom, and every captive dancing at the resurrection; so that the dead themselves were marveling at me for the victory, and mocking death for its defeat and saying: Where, O death, is your sting? Where, O Hades, is your victory? And these things were so. And for what has been said, let us send up glory to the all-king of all, Christ, because to him is due glory, honor, and worship, with the immaculate Father and the all-holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen.

πατὴρ ἢ ἀφειδῶν ἢ ἀδυναμῶν οὐκ ἠλευθέρωσέν με τοῦ πάθους, οὔτε ἐγὼ παραιτού μενος τὸ πάθος ᾔτησα παρελθεῖν τὸ ποτήριον. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἀκού σιον τὸ πάθος, ἀληθῶς ἐδειλίων, εἰ δὲ αὐθαίρετος ὁ θάνατος, ἔδοξα δειλιᾶν, ἵνα σοφισάμενος τὸν διάβολον ἐλευθερώσω τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Ὅθεν τοῦτο μὴ συνορῶν ὁ διάβολος εἵλκυσέν με ὡς καταπίνειν μέλλων, ἀγνοῶν ὅτι καὶ τοὺς καταποθέντας ἐμέσαι εἶχεν. Ἅμα γὰρ ἐπέστην τῷ ᾅδῃ, ἐσκύλευσα αὐτοῦ τοὺς τάφους, ἐγύμνωσα τὰς θήκας. Ἐγύμνωσα δὲ οὐ φανερῶς μαχόμενος, ἀλλ' ἀοράτως τὴν ἀνάστασιν παρεχόμενος. Οὐδένα γὰρ ἔλυον καὶ πάντες ἀνίεντο, οὐδὲν ἐλάλουν καὶ ἐλευθερία ἐκηρύττετο, οὐδένα ἐκάλουν καὶ πάντες συνέτρεχον. Ἅμα γὰρ ἐπέστην ὡς βασιλεύς, κατεφρονήθη ὁ τύραννος, ἔλαμψα ὡς φῶς καὶ διελύθη τὸ σκότος. Ἦν γὰρ ἰδεῖν πάντα μὲν δεσμώτην ἐλευθερίαν βλέποντα, πάντα δὲ αἰχμάλωτον ἀναστάσει χορεύοντα· οὕτως ὡς αὐτοὺς τοὺς νεκροὺς ἐμὲ μὲν θαυμάζοντας ἐπὶ τῇ νίκῃ, τὸν δὲ θάνατον διασύροντας ἐπὶ τῇ ἥττῃ καὶ λέγειν· Ποῦ σου, θάνατε, τὸ κέντρον, ποῦ σου, ᾅδη, τὸ νῖκος; Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν οὕτως. Ὑπὲρ δὲ τῶν εἰρημένων δόξαν ἀναπέμψωμεν τῷ παμβασιλεῖ τῶν ὅλων Χριστῷ, ὅτι αὐτῷ πρέπει δόξα, τιμὴ καὶ προσκύνησις σὺν τῷ ἀχράντῳ πατρὶ καὶ τῷ παναγίῳ πνεύματι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.