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and the greatest of all, having honored him with the presence of the Only-Begotten. You have crowned him with glory and honor, and set him over the works of your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the seas. For to the rational nature, as having been made like God, he granted rule and power over all things. Man, having received the divine image, just as God is king of all, so he was established as ruler of the things on earth. But if it is said universally: And you set him over the works of your hands; and he says elsewhere: And the heavens are the works of your hands, it is clear that he also set him over the heavens. And perhaps it secretly signifies the sojourn in heaven of those being transferred there from earth, when they are about to inherit the kingdom of heaven as has been promised. And Paul says: Heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. Thus also the phrase, He put all things in subjection under his feet, must be understood now as the animals; but since a life 23.132 equal to the angels is laid up for men in heaven, being established there over the works of his hands, he will be a spectator of the heavens and of the things in them. And the blessed Paul also took this to be about the Savior, to be fulfilled in the age to come. Therefore the Father says to him: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.
PSALM OF DAVID 9. To the end, concerning the hidden things of the Son.
And many were the things secretly accomplished by him: both the birth in the flesh from a Virgin through the Holy Spirit, the extraordinary and miraculous powers, and his death itself and the descent into Hades and the revival from the dead. For all these things were done by him secretly. For he concealed them also from the rulers of this world. Indeed, concerning these hidden things the Prophet says: I will give thanks to you, Lord, with my whole heart, I will tell of all your wonderful works. He himself says such things also in the Gospels: I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and have revealed them to infants. For in the psalm too he gives thanks concerning the hidden things. And after the thanksgiving, which he made for our salvation, he promises to teach us about the wonders of the Father, exulting in the vision of the Father. And as Son, knowledge of the name of the divinity of the ineffable and unnameable Father was also present to him. And these things especially, he says, I will do, having conquered death, the enemy of life, concerning which it has been said: The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For it will be turned back, that is, to its first state, when it did not exist. For God did not make death; but by the envy of the devil death entered the world; and when this indeed has happened, all the other enemies and foes of your word will become weak and perish. And he will judge the world in righteousness, he will judge peoples in uprightness. If those in the world are not in similar works, the judgment of God would not be righteousness; he punishes the sinners and glorifies the righteous in like manner. He will judge peoples in uprightness. By 'world' he means the Church, which is inhabited by the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, according to the text: I and the Father will come to him, and make our home with him; but by 'peoples' he means the rest outside the Church, or those of the circumcision. For as many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law, while those who sin without the law will perish without the law. And the Lord became a refuge for the poor, a helper in seasonable times, in affliction. And let them hope in you who
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καὶ τὸ μέγιστον ἁπάντων, τῇ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς τιμήσας αὐτὸν παρουσίᾳ. ∆όξῃ καὶ τιμῇ ἐστεφάνωσας αὐτὸν, καὶ κατέστησας αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σου. Πάντα ὑπέταξας ὑποκάτω τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ, πρόβατα καὶ βόας πάσας, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὰ κτήνη τοῦ πεδίου, τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ τοὺς ἰχθύας τῆς θαλάσσης, τὰ διαπορευόμενα τρίβους θαλασσῶν. Τῇ γὰρ λογικῇ φύσει, ὡς ἂν ὡμοιωμένῃ Θεῷ, τὴν κατὰ πάντων ἀρχὴν καὶ δύναμιν ἐδωρήσατο. Ὁ ἄνθρωπος, τῆς θεϊκῆς εἰκόνος λαβὼν, ὡς βασιλεὺς ἁπάντων ἐστὶν ὁ Θεὸς, οὕτως ἄρχων κατέστη τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς. Εἰ δὲ καθολικῶς εἴρηται· Καὶ κατέστησας αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σου· λέγει δὲ ἀλλαχοῦ· Καὶ τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σου εἰσὶν οἱ οὐρανοὶ, δῆλον ὡς καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς οὐρανοὺς κατέστησεν αὐτόν. Καὶ μήποτε ἀποῤῥήτως τὴν ἐν οὐρανῷ διατριβὴν σημαίνει, τῶν ἀπὸ γῆς ἐκεῖσε μεθισταμένων, ὅτε μέλλουσι βασιλείαν κληρονομεῖν οὐρανῶν ὡς ἐπήγγελται. Λέγει δὲ ὁ Παῦλος· Κληρονόμοι μὲν Θεοῦ, συγκληρονόμοι δὲ Χριστοῦ. Οὕτω καὶ τὸ, Πάντα ὑπέταξεν ὑποκάτω τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ, νοητέον νῦν μὲν τὰ ζῶα· ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ βίος 23.132 ἰσάγγελος ἀπόκειται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐν οὐρανῷ, ἐκεῖ καταστὰς ἐπὶ τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ, θεωρὸς οὐρανῶν ἔσται καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς. Ὁ δὲ μακάριος Παῦλος καὶ τοῦτο περὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἐξέλαβεν, ἐν αἰῶνι τῷ μέλλοντι γενησόμενον. ∆ιό φησι πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ Πατήρ· Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου.
ΨΑΛΜΟΣ ΤΩ ∆ΑΥΙ∆ Θʹ. Εἰς τὸ τέλος ὑπὲρ τῶν κρυφίων τοῦ Υἱοῦ.
Πολλὰ δὲ ἦν αὐτῷ τὰ κρυφίως πεπραγμένα ἥ τε ἐκ Παρθένου διὰ Πνεύματος ἁγίου κατὰ σάρκα γέννησις, αἵ τε παράδοξοι καὶ θαυματουργοὶ δυνάμεις, ὅ τε θάνατος αὐτὸς καὶ ἡ εἰς ᾅδου κάθοδος καὶ ἡ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναβίωσις. Ταῦτα γὰρ αὐτῷ πάντα κρυφίως πέπρακται. Ἀπέκρυψε γὰρ αὐτὰ καὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας τοῦ κόσμου τούτου. Ὑπὲρ δὴ τούτων τῶν κρυφίων ὁ Προφήτης λέγει· Ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι, Κύριε, ἐν ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ μου, διηγήσομαι πάντα τὰ θαυμάσιά σου. Τοιαῦτα καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν Εὐαγγελίοις φησίν· Ἐξομολογοῦμαί σοι, Πάτερ, Κύριε τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς, ὅτι ἀπέκρυψας ταῦτα ἀπὸ σοφῶν καὶ συνετῶν, καὶ ἀπεκάλυψας ταῦτα νηπίοις. Καὶ ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ γὰρ περὶ τῶν κρυφίων εὐχαριστεῖ. Μετὰ δὲ τὴν εὐχαριστίαν, ἣν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἡμετέρας ἐποιήσατο σωτηρίας, περὶ τῶν θαυμασίων τοῦ Πατρὸς διδάξειν ἡμᾶς ἐπαγγέλλεται τῇ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐναγαλλόμενος θέᾳ. Ὡς δὲ Υἱῷ καὶ ἡ γνῶσις παρῆν τοῦ ὀνόματος τῆς θεότητος τοῦ ἀῤῥήτου καὶ ἀκατονομάστου Πατρός. Ταῦτα δὲ μάλιστα, φησὶ, ποιήσω τὸν τῆς ζωῆς νικήσας ἐχθρὸν θάνατον, περὶ οὗ λέλεκται· Ἔσχατος ἐχθρὸς καταργήσεται ὁ θάνατος. Ἀποστραφήσεται γὰρ εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω, τουτέστι τὴν πρώτην αὐτοῦ κατάστασιν, ὅτε μὴ ὑφεστήκει. Ὁ γὰρ Θεὸς θάνατον οὐκ ἐποίησεν· φθόνῳ δὲ διαβόλου θάνατος εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον· οὗ δὴ γεγονότος καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ πάντες ἐχθροὶ τοῦ λόγου σου καὶ πολέμιοι ἀσθενήσαντες ἀπολοῦνται. Καὶ αὐτὸς κρινεῖ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, κρινεῖ λαοὺς ἐν εὐθύτητι. Εἰ οἱ ἐν τῇ οἰκουμένῃ οὐκ ἐν ὁμοίοις εἰσὶν ἔργοις, οὐκ ἂν εἶεν δικαιοσύνη ἡ κρίσις τοῦ Θεοῦ· ὁμοίως τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας κολάζει, ἣ τοὺς δικαίους δοξάζει. Κρινεῖ λαοὺς ἐν εὐθύτητι. Οἰκουμένην μὲν τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, ἥτις οἰκεῖται ὑπὸ τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, κατὰ τό· Ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἐλευσόμεθα πρὸς αὐτὸν, καὶ μονὴν παρ' αὐτῷ ποιησόμεθα· λαοὺς δὲ τοὺς λοιποὺς παρὰ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, ἢ τοὺς ἐκ περιτομῆς. Ὅσοι γὰρ ἐν νόμῳ ἥμαρτον, διὰ νόμου κριθήσονται, τῶν ἀνόμως ἁμαρτανόντων ἀνόμως ἀπολλυμένων. Καὶ ἐγένετο Κύριος καταφυγὴ τῷ πένητι, βοηθὸς ἐν εὐκαιρίαις, ἐν θλίψει. Καὶ ἐλπιζέτωσαν ἐπὶ σὲ οἱ