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and having received the inheritance, a cheap sheepskin and an unseen blessing fallen from the fiery chariot. He did not, however, send away the supplication without effect, nor did he despair of help, since what was sought was not at hand, nor did he speak any ignoble and faithless words, like one of the many: "And from where would I get money to pay off the debt?" 3.15.3 But just as an excellent physician, even when medicines are not present, finds a cure for the disease through extraordinary contrivances, so he says, "What do you have in the house, O woman? Remember if there happens to be anything, even a little, within." For no one is so poor as to be master of absolutely nothing. And when she said that there was an earthen jar and a small remnant of oil in it, he said, "Prepare for me a multitude of vessels." And she made them ready, and he through her filled them, and the debt was paid to the creditor; and the woman went away, having found a way out of her difficulties. 3.15.4 For that very small amount of oil, which she told the prophet she had, gushed forth miraculously and filled all the little jars that had been prepared; and the flow stopped at that point when there was no longer a vessel to receive it; and the grace was measured according to the need. Truly that was oil which no plant bore, but which the mercies of God cultivated. 3.15.5 Purchase this knowledge, if you can, you who are from the rising of the sun even to its setting, kings, rulers, rich men. You who are wise in worldly wisdom, acquire the gift of the prophet from the ploughs, which remained inalienable with the one who received it. For the possessions of your diligence have countless impending dangers of destruction: thieves digging through walls, tyrants seizing, and slanderers plotting, the sea sinking things and the earth breaking open with its chasms. 3.15.6 Let the right hand of God, therefore, be the hope and treasury for men, which led the people out of Egypt and supplied the abundance of good things in a desert land; which brought Habakkuk to Daniel, and saved Ishmael when cast from his mother's arms, and sufficed for those in every generation, and lastly multiplied five barley loaves like an infinite harvest, so that the one loaf might fill the stomach of a thousand hungry men and a basket of leftovers besides. To our God be the glory for ever and ever. Amen. 4.t.1 An accusatory sermon by the same Asterius on the festival of the Kalends

4.1.1 Two festivals have coincided on yesterday's and today's day, not harmonious and brotherly, but quite the contrary, holding themselves hostilely and oppositely to each other. For the one belongs to the worldly rabble, gathering much money of mammon and attracting the other kind of retail trade, the common and ignoble kind; but the other belongs to the holy and true religion, teaching intimacy with God and the virtue of a purified life. 4.1.2 Since many, preferring the luxury and business that come from vanity, have been left out of the assembly in the church, come, let us with a word drive out from their souls the foolish and harmful pleasure, like some frenzy that brings death in the midst of laughter and play. 4.1.3 And in this situation, I would emulate Solomon in his handling of the argument. For he too, advising the young to keep themselves safe from the snares of licentiousness, in order to make his own admonition effective and powerful, personifies licentiousness as a condemned woman; and by denouncing all her wickedness, he thus shows her to be worthy of hatred to those who are being enticed. 4.1.4 Therefore I too, having shown in my discourse the vanity of the human festival, will try

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τὴν δὲ κληρονομίαν λαβὼν μηλωτὴν εὔωνον καὶ εὐλογίαν ἀόρατον τοῦ πυρίνου ἅρματος ἐκπεσοῦσαν. Οὐ μὴν ἄπρακτον τὴν ἱκεσίαν ἀπέπεμψεν, οὐδὲ ἀπέγνω τῆς βοηθείας, ἐπειδὴ μὴ παρῆν τὸ ζητούμενον, οὐδὲ εἶπεν ἀγεννῆ τινα καὶ ἄπιστα ῥήματα, ὡς εἷς τῶν πολλῶν· Καὶ πόθεν ἐμοὶ ἀργύριον, ὥστε διαλῦσαι τὸ ὄφλημα; 3.15.3 Ὥσπερ δὲ ἄριστος ἰατρὸς καὶ φαρμάκων μὴ παρόντων ἐξ ἐπινοιῶν παραδόξων εὗρε τῇ νόσῳ τὴν ἴασιν, καί, Τί σοι, φησίν, ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας, ὦ γύναι; Μνημόνευσον εἴ τι καὶ ὀλίγον ἔνδον τυγχάνει. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ οὕτως πένης, ὡς καθάπαξ μηδενὸς κύριος εἶναι. Ὡς δὲ εἶπεν, ὅτι κεράμιόν ἐστιν καὶ λείψανον ἐν αὐτῷ βραχὺ ἐλαίου, Παρασκεύασόν μοι, εἶπεν, πλῆθος ἀγγείων. Καὶ ἡ μὲν ηὐτρέπισεν, ὁ δὲ δι' αὐτῆς ἐπλήρωσεν καὶ τῷ δα νειστῇ διελύθη τὸ ὄφλημα· ἡ δὲ γυνὴ ἀπῆλθεν ἐξ ἀπόρων εὑροῦσα τὸν πόρον. 3.15.4 Τὸ γὰρ ὀλίγιστον ἔλαιον, ὃ εἶναι παρ' αὐτῇ εἶπεν πρὸς τὸν προφήτην, ἐπήγασεν ἐκ τοῦ παραδόξου καὶ πάντας τοὺς εὐτρεπισθέντας ἀμφορίσκους ἐπλήρωσεν· ἕστη δὲ τότε τῆς ῥύσεως, ὅτε ἀγγεῖον οὐκ ἔτι ἦν τὸ δεχόμενον· καὶ τῇ χρείᾳ συνεμετρήθη ἡ χάρις. Ἀληθῶς ἔλαιον ἐκεῖνο, ὃ φυτὸν οὐκ ἐκαρποφόρησεν, ἀλλ' οἱ τοῦ Θεοῦ οἰκτιρμοὶ ἐγεώρ γησαν. 3.15.5 Ταύτην ὠνήσασθε τὴν ἐπιστήμην, εἰ δύνασθε, οἱ ἀπὸ ἡλίου ἀνίσχοντος μέχρι καὶ δυομένου, βασιλεῖς, δυνάσται, πλούσιοι. Οἱ σοφοὶ τῆς ἐγκοσμίου σοφίας, κτήσασθε τοῦ ἀπὸ ἀροτήρων προφήτου τὸ χάρισμα, ὃ ἀναφαίρετον τῷ λαβόντι συνῆν. Τὰ γὰρ τῆς ὑμετέρας σπουδῆς κτήματα μυρίους ἔχει παρακειμένους τῆς ἀπωλείας κινδύνους· λῃστὰς τοιχωρυ χοῦντας, τυράννους ἁρπάζοντας καὶ συκοφάντας ἐπιβουλεύοντας, θάλασσαν καταποντίζουσαν καὶ γῆν ὑπορρηγνυμένην τοῖς χάσμασιν. 3.15.6 Ἔστω τοίνυν ἐλπὶς καὶ ταμιεῖον ἀνθρώποις ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ δεξιά, ἡ τὸν λαὸν Αἰγύπτου ἐξαγαγοῦσα καὶ ἐν ἐρήμῳ χώρᾳ τὴν εὐθηνίαν τῶν ἀγαθῶν χορηγήσασα· ἡ τῷ ∆ανιὴλ ἀγαγοῦσα τὸν Ἀμβακούμ, καὶ τὸν Ἰσμαὴλ σώσασα τῆς μητρικῆς ἀγκάλης ἀπορριφέντα, καὶ τοῖς καθ' ἑκάστην γενεὰν ἐπαρκέσασα, καὶ τελευταῖον πέντε κριθίνους ἄρτους ὡς ἄπειρον γεωργίαν πληθύνασα, ἵν' ὁ εἷς ἄρτος χιλίων ἀνδρῶν πεινώντων πληρώσῃ γαστέρα καὶ πρός γε κόφινον τῶν λειψάνων. Τῷ δὲ Θεῷ ἡμῶν ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. 4.t.1 Τοῦ αὐτοῦ Ἀστερίου λόγος κατηγορικὸς τῆς ἑορτῆς τῶν Καλανδῶν

4.1.1 ∆ύο κατὰ ταὐτὸν ἑορταὶ συνέδραμον ἐπὶ τῆς χθιζῆς καὶ τῆς ἐνεστώσης ἡμέρας, οὐ συμφωνοί τε καὶ ἀδελφοί, πᾶν δὲ τοὐναντίον ἐχθρῶς τε καὶ ἐναντίως ἔχουσαι πρὸς ἀλλήλας. Ἡ μὲν γάρ ἐστιν τοῦ ἔξωθεν συρφε τοῦ, πολὺ συνάγουσα τοῦ μαμωνᾶ τὸ ἀργύριον καὶ τὴν ἄλλην καπηλείαν ἐφελκομένη, τὴν ἀγοραῖόν τε καὶ ἀνελεύθερον· ἡ δὲ τῆς ἁγίας καὶ ἀληθοῦς θρησκείας, οἰκείωσιν τὴν πρὸς Θεὸν καὶ τοῦ κεκαθαρμένου βίου τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐκπαιδεύουσα. 4.1.2 Ἐπειδὴ δὲ πολλοὶ προτιμῶντες τὴν ἐκ τῆς ματαιότητος τρυφὴν καὶ ἀσχολίαν ἀπελείφθησαν τοῦ κατὰ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν συλλόγου, φέρε, τὴν μωρὰν καὶ βλάπτουσαν τέρψιν λόγῳ τῶν ψυχῶν ἀπελάσωμεν, ὥσπερ τινὰ φρενῖτιν ἐν τῷ γελᾶν καὶ παίζειν τὸν θάνατον ἄγουσαν. 4.1.3 Ἐν καιρῷ δ' ἂν τὸν Σολομῶντα ζηλώσαιμι τῆς τοῦ λόγου μεταχειρήσεως. Καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος συμβουλεύων τοῖς νέοις ἀσφαλῶς ἑαυτοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν παγίδων τῆς ἀκολασίας τηρεῖν, ἵνα δραστήριον καὶ ἐνεργῆ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ νουθεσίαν ἐργάσηται, προσωποποιεῖ τὴν ἀκολασίαν εἰς γυναῖκα κατεγνωσμένην· πᾶσαν δὲ τὴν κακίαν αὐτῆς στηλιτεύων οὕτως μίσους ἀξίαν ἀποφαίνει τοῖς δελεαζομένοις. 4.1.4 ∆ιὸ κἀγὼ τὴν ματαιότητα τῆς ἀνθρωπικῆς ἑορτῆς ὑποδείξας τῷ λόγῳ πειράσομαι