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many” repenting “to the Lord in the day” illuminated by the sun of righteousness, for which the patriarch Abraham, having conceived a love, upon seeing it rejoiced, and with him those who through faith and works have become his sons and his children, so as to say in thanksgiving: “This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” 1.162 And what follows “many nations taking refuge in the Lord” is that they be called the people of Him to whom they have fled for refuge, no longer remaining godless and having no hope; concerning these things God says in the prophet: “I will call those who were not my people, ‘my people,’ and he will say, ‘You are the Lord my God’,” so that they might be called “a holy nation, a holy priesthood, a race of God.” 1.163 For He says to those who have fled to God in the aforementioned manner, by Him to whom they have fled for refuge: “But you shall be for me a chosen race, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, my own people, that you may declare my virtues.” 1.164 And what follows for those who have become the people of God, but to dwell in the midst of the heavenly and blessed Zion? For then, then it will know, by a divine and precise vision, “that the Lord Almighty has sent” the one who redeemed it, who said concerning his own Father: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives.” 1.165 For to preach the good news to the poor in spirit Jesus, who dwells in the midst of Zion, was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with the power of God, proclaiming release to its children who had been taken captive by invisible enemies. For thus will the all-king, its benefactor, inherit Judah, those who confess. For Judah is interpreted as “confession.” Therefore, He will first inherit those who are called to salvation; for from of old they were his portion even before they suffered dispersion and captivity. 1.166 And where will He inherit Judah, which is His portion, but in the holy land in which he who has honored his Father, God, and his mother, the Church which is Jerusalem, will enjoy a long and prosperous life, which He will yet choose again, taking it to himself and reigning in its midst, when it knows that He has come to dwell in its midst, sent from the Lord Almighty, when, having bowed the heavens, He came down to us men, saying: “I have come down from heaven to do the will of Him who sent me,” “to seek and to save the lost.” 1.167 For thus they will no longer remain in perdition, those for whom He has come so that He might become for them the cause of eternal salvation. And it will also be for Jerusalem, which is being completed by us and is the Church of the living God, to have such faith and works that produce blessedness, so that He who washed and made it radiant with his own blood might still choose it. 1.168 Zach. II, 17: Let all flesh be reverent before the face of the Lord, because he has been roused from his holy clouds. 1.169 The name “flesh,” being a homonym, has many meanings, as is shown from the divinely inspired Scripture itself. For when it is said in the Psalms, “God gives food to all flesh,” it refers to all mortal creatures that are sustained in life by food, as also in: “All flesh gathers together according to its kind.” But when the Apostle writes: “For who ever hated his own flesh? But he nourishes and cherishes it,” the body united with the rational soul is indicated, as can be learned from the apostolic text itself, which runs thus: “So men ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. For who ever hated his own flesh,” and so on. 1.170 And there are times when only human beings are indicated by the name “flesh,” as in: “Hear my prayer; to you all flesh shall come.” And it comes to God in relationship and disposition not what is irrational, but humanity, being deemed worthy of the lavish gift of the holy

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πολλὰ» μετανοοῦντα «ἐπὶ τὸν Κύριον ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ» τῇ ὑπὸ ἡλίου τῆς δικαιοσύνης καταλαμπομένῃ, ἧς ὁ πατριάρχης Ἀβραὰμ ἔρωτα λαβών, ἰδὼν αὐτὴν ἐχάρη καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ οἱ κατὰ πίστιν καὶ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ υἱοὶ καὶ τέκνα αὐτοῦ γεγενημένοι, ὡς εὐχαριστοῦντας φάναι· «Αὕτη ἡ ἡμέρα ἣν ἐποίησεν ὁ Κύριος, ἀγαλλιασώμεθα καὶ εὐφρανθῶμεν ἐν αὐτῇ.» 1.162 ∆ιαδέξεται δὲ τὸ «καταφυγόντα ἔθνη πολλὰ ἐπὶ τὸν Κύριον» τὸ λαὸν χρηματίσαι τοῦ πρὸς ὃν καταπεφεύγασιν, οὐκέτι ἄθεα καὶ ἐλπίδα μὴ ἔχοντα μένοντα· περὶ τούτων ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ ὁ Θεός φησιν· «Καλέσω τὸν οὐ λαόν μου λαόν μου, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐρεῖ· Κύριος ὁ Θεός μου εἶ σύ», ὥστ' αὐτοὺς «ἔθνος ἅγιον, ἱεράτευμα ἅγιον, γένος Θεοῦ» προσαγορεύεσθαι. 1.163 Φησὶν γὰρ πρὸς τοὺς καταφυγόντας πρὸς Θεὸν τῷ εἰρημένῳ τρόπῳ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ πρὸς ὃν καταπεφεύγασιν· «Ὑμεῖς δὲ ἔσεσθέ μοι γένος ἐκλεκτόν, ἔθνος ἅγιον, βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα, λαός μου ὃν περιεποιησάμην τὰς ἀρετάς μου διηγεῖσθαι». 1.164 Τί δὲ ἀκολουθεῖ τοῖς γενομένοις λαὸς Θεοῦ, ἢ τὸ κατασκηνῶσαι ἐν μέσῳ τῆς ἐπουρανίου καὶ μακαρίας Σιών; Τότε γὰρ τότε γνώσεται, θείᾳ καὶ ἠκριβωμένῃ θεωρίᾳ, «ὅτι Κύριος παντοκράτωρ ἀπέστειλεν» τὸν λυτρωσάμενον αὐτήν, λέγοντα περὶ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἑαυτοῦ· «Πνεῦμα Κυρίου ἐπ' ἐμέ, οὗ εἵνεκεν ἔχρισέν με, εὐαγγελίσασθαι πτωχοῖς, κηρύξαι αἰχμαλώτοις ἄφεσιν.» 1.165 Ἕνεκα γὰρ τοῦ εὐαγγελίσασθαι τοὺς πτωχοὺς τῷ πνεύματι ἐχρίσθη Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ δυνάμει Θεοῦ Ἰησοῦς ὁ κατασκηνῶν ἐν μέσῳ τῆς Σιών, κηρύσσων ἄφεσιν τοῖς αἰχμαλωτισθεῖσιν ὑπὸ ἐχθρῶν ἀοράτων τέκνοις αὐτῆς. Οὕτω γὰρ κατακληρονομήσει ὁ παμβασιλεὺς εὐεργέτης αὐτῆς τὸν Ἰούδα, τοὺς ἐξομολογουμένους. Ἰούδας γὰρ ἐξομολόγησις ἑρμηνεύεται. Κληρονομήσει δὲ οὖν πρότερον τοὺς ἐπὶ τὴν σωτηρίαν καλουμένους· ἐκ πάλαι γὰρ ἦσαν μερὶς αὐτοῦ καὶ προτοῦ τὸν σκορπισμὸν καὶ τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν πάθωσιν. 1.166 Ποῦ δὲ καὶ κατακληρονομήσει τὸν Ἰούδαν ὄντα μερίδα αὐτοῦ, ἢ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν τὴν ἁγίαν ἐν ᾗ μακροχρόνιος ἔσται εὐπαθὼν ὁ τιμήσας τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ Θεὸν καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν οὖσαν Ἰερουσαλήμ, ἣν ἔτι αἱρετιεῖ πάλιν προσλαμβανόμενος καὶ βασιλεύων ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῆς, γινωσκούσης ὅτι ἐλήλυθεν κατασκηνῶσαι ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῆς, παρὰ Κυρίου παντοκράτορος ἀποσταλείς, ὅτε κλίνας οὐρανὸν κατέβη πρὸς ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους φάσκων· «Καταβέβηκα ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἵνα ποιῶ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πέμψαντός με», «ζητῆσαι καὶ σῶσαι τὸ ἀπολωλός». 1.167 Οὕτω γὰρ οὐκέτι ἐν ἀπωλείᾳ μενοῦσιν οἱ ὑπὲρ ὧν ἐλήλυθεν ἵν' αἴτιος αὐτοῖς σωτηρίας αἰωνίου γένηται. Ὑπάρξεται δὲ καὶ τῇ συμπληρουμένῃ ὑφ' ἡμῶν Ἰερουσαλὴμ οὔσῃ Ἐκκλησίᾳ Θεοῦ ζῶντος τοιαύτην πίστιν ἔχειν καὶ μακαριότητος ποιητικὰ ἔργα, ἵν' αἱρετίσῃ αὐτὴν ἔτι ὁ τῷ ἰδίῳ αἵματι ἀποπλύνας καὶ λαμπρύνας αὐτήν. 1.168 Zach. II, 17: Εὐλαβείσθω πᾶσα σὰρξ ἀπὸ προσώπου Κυρίου, διότι ἐξεγήγερται ἐκ νεφῶν ἁγίων αὐτοῦ. 1.169 Ἡ σὰρξ προσηγορία ὁμώνυμος οὖσα πολλὰ σημαίνει, ὡς ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς θεοπνεύστης παρίσταται γραφῆς. Ὅταν γὰρ ἐν Ψαλμοῖς λέγηται «Τροφὴν διδόναι τὸν Θεὸν πάσῃ σαρκί», πάντα τὰ θνητὰ ζῷα τὰ ἐκ τροφῆς διακρατούμενα ἐν τῷ ζῆν παρίσταται, ὡς καὶ ἐν τῷ· «Πᾶσα σὰρξ κατὰ γένος συνάγεται.» Ὅταν δὲ γράφῃ ὁ Ἀπόστολος· «Τίς γάρ ποτε τὴν ἑαυτοῦ σάρκα ἐμίσησεν; ἀλλ' ἐκτρέφει καὶ θάλπει αὐτήν», τὸ σῶμα τὸ συνεζευγμένον τῇ λογικῇ ψυχῇ δηλοῦται, ὡς ἀπ' αὐτῆς τῆς ἀποστολικῆς λέξεως ἔστι μαθεῖν οὕτως ἐχούσης· «Οὕτως ὀφείλουσιν οἱ ἄνδρες ἀγαπᾶν τὰς ἑαυτῶν γυναῖκας ὡς τὰ ἑαυτῶν σώματα. Τίς γάρ ποτε τὴν ἑαυτοῦ σάρκα ἐμίσησεν», καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. 1.170 Ἔστιν δὲ ὅτε καὶ μόνοι οἱ ἄνθρωποι φανεροῦνται τῇ τῆς σαρκὸς προσηγορίᾳ, ὥσπερ ἐν τῷ· «Εἰσάκουσον προσευχῆς, πρὸς σὲ πᾶσα σὰρξ ἥξει.» Ἔρχεται δὲ πρὸς Θεὸν σχέσει καὶ διαθέσει οὐχ ἡ ἄλογος, ἀλλ' ἡ ἀνθρωπότης, καταξιουμένη τῆς δαψιλοῦς δωρεᾶς τοῦ ἁγίου