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of him; for he asked for his sake. Thus through the apostles those who approached obtained healings. Thus the shadow and the handkerchiefs and the aprons of the apostles caused healings to spring forth. But as many as wish to be venerated as gods in a rebellious and apostate manner, these are not to be venerated and are worthy of the eternal fire. And as many as with a contemptuous, arrogant mind do not venerate the servants of God, as boastful and arrogant, are condemned as acting impiously toward God. And the children who contemptuously shouted against Elisha and became food for the bears bear witness. A second manner, in which we venerate created things, through which and in which God effected our salvation, whether before the coming of the Lord, or after his economy in the flesh, such as Mount Sinai and Nazareth, the manger in Bethlehem and the cave, holy Golgotha, the wood of the cross, the nails, the sponge, the reed, the holy and saving lance, the garment, the tunic, the linen cloths, the swaddling clothes, the holy tomb, the source of our resurrection, the stone of the monument, Zion the holy mountain, again the Mount of Olives, the sheep-pool and the blessed precinct of Gethsemane. These and such things I revere and venerate, and every holy temple of God and everything upon which God is named, not because of their own nature, but because they are receptacles of divine energy and through them and in them God was pleased to work our salvation. For I revere and venerate angels and men and all matter that partakes of divine energy and has ministered to my salvation, on account of the divine energy. I do not venerate Jews; for they are not partakers of divine energy nor did they crucify the Lord of glory, my God, for the purpose of my salvation, but rather being stricken with envy and hatred toward God and benefactor. "Lord, I have loved the beauty of your house," says David, "and the place of the tabernacle of your glory," and "worship at the place where his feet have stood," and "worship at his holy mountain." The holy Theotokos is a holy, animate mountain of God, the apostles are rational mountains of God; "the mountains skipped like rams, and the hills like lambs of sheep." A third manner, in which we venerate things dedicated to God, I mean the holy gospels and the other books; "for they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come." Patens and chalices, censers, lamps and tables, for it is clear that all these things are venerable; for see, when Belshazzar caused the people to be served with the priestly vessels, how God overthrew his kingdom. A fourth manner, in which are venerated the images seen by the prophets (for they saw God in an iconic vision) and the images of things to come, as the rod of Aaron picturing the mystery of the virgin and the jar and the table; and Jacob venerated upon the top of his staff, and it was a type of the savior. Furthermore, images of past events for a memorial; for the tent itself was a universal image ("see," he says to Moses, "the pattern which was shown to you on the mountain") and the golden cherubim, a molten work, and the cherubim on the veil, a woven work. Thus we venerate the type of the precious cross, and the likeness of the bodily form of my God and of her who bore him according to the flesh and of his servants. A fifth manner, in which we venerate one another as having a portion of God and being made in the image of God, humbling ourselves to one another and fulfilling the law of love. A sixth manner is of those in authority and power ("render," he says, "to all their dues, to whom honor, honor"), as Jacob venerated both Esau as his elder brother and Pharaoh as a ruler appointed by God. A seventh manner,

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αὐτοῦ· δι' αὐτὸν γὰρ ᾔτησεν. Οὕτω διὰ τῶν ἀποστόλων οἱ προσιόντες ἐτύγχανον τῶν ἰάσεων. Οὕτως ἡ σκιὰ καὶ τὰ σουδάρια καὶ τὰ σιμικίνθια τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐπήγαζον τὰ ἰάματα. Ὅσοι δὲ ἀνταρτικῶς καὶ ἀποστατικῶς θέλουσι προσκυνεῖσθαι ὡς θεοί, οὗτοί εἰσιν ἀπροσκύνητοι καὶ τοῦ αἰωνίου πυρὸς ἄξιοι. Καὶ ὅσοι καταφρονητικῶς ὑπερηφάνῳ φρονήματι μὴ προσκυνοῦσι τοῖς θεοῦ θεράπουσιν, ὡς ἀλαζόνες καὶ ὑπερήφανοι, ὡς εἰς θεὸν ἀσεβοῦντες καταδικάζονται. Καὶ μαρτυροῦσιν οἱ παῖδες οἱ Ἐλισσαίου καταφρονητικῶς καταβοήσαντες καὶ βορὰ τοῖς ἄρκτοις γενόμενοι. ∆εύτερος τρόπος, καθ' ὃν προσκυνοῦμεν κτίσματα, δι' ὧν καὶ ἐν οἷς ἐνήργησεν ὁ θεὸς τὴν σωτηρίαν ἡμῶν εἴτε πρὸ τῆς τοῦ κυρίου παρουσίας, εἴτε μετὰ τὴν ἔνσαρκον αὐτοῦ οἰκονομίαν, ὡς τὸ Σιναῖον ὄρος καὶ τὴν Ναζαρέτ, τὴν φάτνην τὴν ἐν Βηθλεὲμ καὶ τὸ σπήλαιον, τὸν Γολγοθὰ τὸν ἅγιον, τοῦ σταυροῦ τὸ ξύλον, τοὺς ἥλους, τὸν σπόγγον, τὸν κάλαμον, τὴν λόγχην τὴν ἱερὰν καὶ σωτήριον, τὴν ἐσθῆτα, τὸν χιτῶνα, τὰς σινδόνας, τὰ σπάργανα, τὸν τάφον τὸν ἅγιον, τὴν πηγὴν τῆς ἡμῶν ἀναστάσεως, τὸν λίθον τοῦ μνήματος, τὴν Σιὼν τὸ ὄρος τὸ ἅγιον, τὸ τῶν ἐλαιῶν αὖθις ὄρος, τὴν προβατικὴν καὶ Γεθσημανῆς τὸ ὄλβιον τέμενος. Ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα σέβω καὶ προσκυνῶ καὶ πάντα ναὸν θεοῦ ἅγιον καὶ πᾶν, ἐφ' ᾧ θεὸς ὀνομάζεται, οὐ διὰ τὴν αὐτῶν φύσιν, ἀλλὰ ὅτι θείας ἐνεργείας εἰσὶ δοχεῖα καὶ δι' αὐτῶν καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς ηὐδόκησεν ὁ θεὸς τὴν σωτηρίαν ἡμῶν κατεργάσασθαι. Καὶ ἀγγέλους γὰρ καὶ ἀνθρώπους καὶ πᾶσαν ὕλην τῆς θείας ἐνεργείας μέτοχον καὶ διακονησαμένην τὴν σωτηρίαν μου σέβω καὶ προσκυνῶ διὰ τὴν θείαν ἐνέργειαν. Οὐ προσκυνῶ Ἰουδαίοις· οὐ γὰρ θείας εἰσὶν ἐνεργείας μέτοχοι οὐδὲ σκοπῷ τῆς ἐμῆς σωτηρίας τὸν κύριον τῆς δόξης, τὸν θεόν μου, ἐσταύρωσαν, φθόνῳ δὲ μᾶλλον καὶ μίσει πρὸς τὸν θεὸν καὶ εὐεργέτην βαλλόμενοι. «Κύριε, ἠγάπησα εὐπρέπειαν οἴκου σου», φησὶν ὁ ∆αυίδ, «καὶ τόπον σκηνώματος δόξης σου,» καὶ «προσκυνήσατε εἰς τὸν τόπον, οὗ ἔστησαν οἱ πόδες αὐτοῦ», καὶ «προσκυνεῖτε εἰς ὄρος ἅγιον αὐτοῦ.» Ὄρος ἅγιον ἔμψυχον θεοῦ ἡ ἁγία θεοτόκος, ὄρη θεοῦ λογικὰ οἱ ἀπόστολοι· «τὰ ὄρη ἐσκίρτησαν ὡσεὶ κριοί, καὶ οἱ βουνοὶ ὡς ἀρνία προβάτων.» Τρίτος τρόπος, καθ' ὃν προσκυνοῦμεν τὰ τῷ θεῷ ἀνακείμενα, τὰ ἱερά φημι εὐαγγέλια καὶ τὰς λοιπὰς βίβλους· «ἐγράφησαν γὰρ πρὸς νουθεσίαν ἡμῶν, εἰς οὓς τὰ τέλη τῶν αἰώνων κατήντησαν.» ∆ίσκοι τε καὶ ποτήρια, θυμιατοί, λυχνίαι καὶ τράπεζαι, δῆλον γάρ, ὡς πάντα ταῦτα σεβάσμια· ὅρα γάρ, ὅτε Βαλτάσαρ ἐποίησεν ὑπηρετηθῆναι τὸν λαὸν τοῖς σκεύεσιν τοῖς ἱερατικοῖς, πῶς καθεῖλεν ὁ θεὸς τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτοῦ. Τέταρτος τρόπος, καθ' ὃν προσκυνοῦνται αἱ εἰκόνες αἱ ὀφθεῖσαι τοῖς προφήταις (ἐν εἰκονικῇ γὰρ ὁράσει εἶδον θεόν) καὶ αἱ τῶν ἐσομένων εἰκόνες, ὡς ἡ ῥάβδος Ἀαρὼν εἰκονίζουσα τὸ τῆς παρθένου μυστήριον καὶ ἡ στάμνος καὶ ἡ τράπεζα· καὶ Ἰακὼβ δὲ προσεκύνησεν ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον τῆς ῥάβδου, τύπος δὲ ἦν τοῦ σωτῆρος. Ἔτι δὲ τῶν γεγονότων εἰκόνες εἰς μνημόσυνον· αὐτὴ γὰρ ἡ σκηνὴ εἰκὼν ἦν παγκόσμιος («ὅρα» γάρ, φησὶ τῷ Μωσῇ, «τὸν τύπον τὸν δειχθέντα σοι ἐν τῷ ὄρει») καὶ τὰ χερουβὶμ τὰ χρυσᾶ, ἔργον χωνευτόν, καὶ τὰ χερουβὶμ ἐν τῷ καταπετάσματι ἔργον ὑφαντόν. Οὕτω προσκυνοῦμεν τὸν τύπον τοῦ σταυροῦ τὸν τίμιον, τοῦ τε σωματικοῦ χαρακτῆρος τοῦ θεοῦ μου τὸ ὁμοίωμα καὶ τῆς αὐτὸν κατὰ σάρκα τεκούσης καὶ τῶν αὐτοῦ θεραπόντων. Πέμπτος τρόπος, καθ' ὃν προσκυνοῦμεν ἀλλήλοις ὡς μοῖραν θεοῦ ἔχουσι καὶ κατ' εἰκόνα θεοῦ γεγενημένοις ἀλλήλοις τε ταπεινούμενοι καὶ νόμον πληροῦντες ἀγάπης. Ἕκτος τρόπος τῶν ἐν ἀρχαῖς καὶ ἐξουσίαις ὄντων («ἀπόδοτε» γάρ, φησί, «πᾶσι τὰς ὀφειλάς, τῷ τὴν τιμὴν τὴν τιμήν»), ὡς Ἰακὼβ τῷ τε Ἠσαῦ ὡς προγενεστέρῳ ἀδελφῷ καὶ Φαραὼ ὑπὸ θεοῦ χειροτονηθέντι ἄρχοντι προσεκύνησεν. Ἕβδομος τρόπος,