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comes. For he who pays the penalties for this, blesses those who are delivered from it, and who adorn their own life with righteousness. And he blesses not the one who has used righteousness once, but the one who always and continually follows in its footsteps. Remember us, O Lord, in the good pleasure of your people; visit us with your salvation. Here he alludes to the new people and the Church from the gentiles, which He deemed worthy of salvation, whose fellowship the multitude of the Jews is taught to seize. But what good pleasure here, or what visitation at all does he suppose, but that which God the Word has made for us through the flesh? Whence also the angels who appeared to the shepherds called the mystery good pleasure; for they cried out in praise, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." That I may see the goodness of your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance. We entreat, he says, to partake of the gladness of your new nation, and to become partakers of the goodness granted to them. And understand the goodness of the elect to be the great philanthropy from God that came to the elect, so that even prostitutes and tax collectors and sinners and poor fishermen received the election. The prophet desired to see this; for the wonder was worthy of contemplation; and to rejoice in the gladness of your nation, so as to enjoy the fellowship of the mysteries. We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly. For, he says, we have inherited from our fathers, as a kind of inheritance, the transgression of your laws. And he calls fathers not the holy patriarchs, but those who came after them; for he has shown this through what follows. Our fathers in Egypt did not understand your wonders; and they did not remember the multitude of your mercy. 2. For from the beginning, he says, our race has been sinful. For though so many wonders were done in Egypt for their sake, they were not willing to perceive your power. Therefore the prophet also says: "Woe to the sinful nation, a people full of iniquities, a wicked seed, lawless sons." They did not understand, therefore, he says, the wonders that happened in Egypt, even though in the midst of the Egyptians they did not feel the punishments that occurred; nor indeed, when they were freed from the Egyptians, did they understand that it was not because of their own righteousness, but because of the divine mercy of the visitation from there. The preceding psalm spoke of these things and the things in the wilderness concisely, accusing the people of nothing; but the present one, taking up the narrative again, brought forward how the Jews sinned. And they provoked him when they went up by the Red Sea. For when they saw the Egyptians pursuing, and the sea blocking their flight, they were not willing to wait for your help, but cried out against the great Moses, saying: "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you brought us out to die in this wilderness?" But nevertheless, you deemed them worthy of salvation even when they proved ungrateful. For he also added this: And He saved them for His name's sake, to make His power known; and He rebuked the Red Sea, and it was dried up; and He led them through the deep, as through a wilderness; and He saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemies. For by His word, having laid bare the bottom of the sea, He made that great deep traversable by horse and desolate for them. For since in deserts there is great ease for those running, there being neither plants nor hindering fences, he has indicated the ease of the crossing by the comparison with the desert. The water covered those who afflicted them; not one of them was left. For He made all the Egyptians to be submerged. And the same sea brought salvation to the Hebrews, but punishment to the Egyptians. And they believed His word, and they sang His praise. For while the men were singing hymns, Moses the

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έρχεται. Ὁ γὰρ τὰς ὑπὲρ ταύτης εὐθύνας ἐκτίνων, μα καρίζει τοὺς ταύτης ἀπηλλαγμένους, καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ τὸν οἰκεῖον βίον διακοσμοῦντας. Μακαρίζει δὲ οὐ τὸν ἅπαξ τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ χρησάμενον, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἀεὶ καὶ διηνεκῶς τοῖς ταύτης ἑπόμενον ἴχνεσι. Μνήσθητι ἡμῶν, Κύριε, ἐν τῇ εὐδοκίᾳ τοῦ λαοῦ σου· ἐπίσκεψαι ἡμᾶς ἐν τῷ σωτηρίῳ σου. Ἐνταῦθα τὸν νέον λαὸν αἰνίττεται καὶ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν τὴν ἐξ ἐθνῶν, ἣν τῆς σωτηρίας ἠξίωσεν, ἧς ἁρπάσαι διδάσκεται τὴν κοινωνίαν ἡ Ἰουδαίων πληθύς. Ποίαν δὲ εὐδοκίαν ἐνταῦθα, ἢ ποίαν ὅλως ἐπίσκεψιν ὑπο τίθεται, ἀλλ' ἢ ἣνπερ ἡμῶν ὁ Θεὸς Λόγος διὰ σάρκα πε ποίηται; Ὅθεν καὶ τὸ μυστήριον εὐδοκίαν προσηγόρευον οἱ τοῖς ποιμέσιν ἐπιφανέντες ἄγγελοι· ∆όξα γὰρ ἐν ὑψί στοις Θεῷ, καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς εἰρήνη, ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδο κία, δοξολογοῦντες ἐβόησαν. Τοῦ ἰδεῖν ἐν τῇ χρηστό τητι τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν σου, τοῦ εὐφρανθῆναι ἐν τῇ εὐ φροσύνῃ τοῦ ἔθνους σου, τοῦ ἐπαινεῖσθαι μετὰ τῆς κληρονομίας σου. Ἀντιβολοῦμεν, φησὶ, τῆς τοῦ νέου σου ἔθνους μεταλαχεῖν εὐφροσύνης, καὶ κοινωνοὶ γενέ σθαι χορηγουμένης ἐκείνοις χρηστότητος. Χρηστότητα δὲ τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν γενο μένην τοῖς ἐκλεκτοῖς νόησον πολλὴν οὖσαν, ὥστε καὶ πόρνους καὶ τελώνας καὶ ἁμαρτωλοὺς καὶ πτωχοὺς ἁλιεῖς τὴν ἐκλογὴν ὑποδέξασθαι. Ταύτην ἰδεῖν ὁ προφήτης ἐπ εθύμει· θεωρίας γὰρ ἄξιον τὸ θαῦμα ἐτύγχανεν· εὐφραν θῆναι δὲ ἐν τῇ εὐφροσύνῃ τοῦ ἔθνους σου, ὥστε τῆς κοινωνίας τῶν μυστηρίων ἀπολαῦσαι. Ἡμάρτομεν μετὰ τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν, ἠνομήσαμεν, ἠδικήσαμεν. Ὥσπερ γάρ τινα, φησὶ, κλῆρον παρὰ τῶν πατέρων διεδεξάμεθα τὴν τῶν σῶν νόμων παράβασιν. Πατέρας δὲ καλεῖ οὐ τοὺς ἁγίους πατριάρχας, ἀλλὰ τοὺς μετ' ἐκείνους γενομένους· τοῦτο γὰρ διὰ τῶν ἐπαγομένων ἐδήλωσεν. Οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ οὐ συνῆκαν τὰ θαυμάσιά σου· καὶ οὐκ ἐμνήσθησαν τοῦ πλήθους τοῦ ἐλέους σου. βʹ. Ἄνωθεν γὰρ, φησὶν, ἡμῶν τὸ γένος ἁμαρτητικόν. Τοσούτων γὰρ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ δι' αὐτοὺς γεγενημένων θαυμά των, συνιδεῖν τὴν σὴν οὐκ ἠθέλησαν δύναμιν. ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁ προφήτης λέγει· Οὐαὶ ἔθνος ἁμαρτωλὸν, λαὸς πλή ρης ἀνομιῶν, σπέρμα πονηρὸν, υἱοὶ ἄνομοι. Οὐ συνῆκαν οὖν, φησὶ, τὰ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ γενόμενα τέρατα, καί περ ἐν μέσῳ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων αἴσθησιν μὴ λαβόντες τῶν γενομένων κολάσεων· οὔτε μὴν ἐλευθερωθέντες τῶν Αἰ γυπτίων ἐνόησαν, ὅτι οὐ διὰ τὰς αὐτῶν δικαιοσύνας, διὰ δὲ τὸ θεῖον ἔλεος τῆς ἐκεῖθεν ἐπισκοπῆς. Ταῦτα δὲ καὶ τὰ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ συντόμως εἶπεν ὁ φθάσας ψαλμὸς, μηδὲν τοῦ λαοῦ κατηγορήσας· ὁ δὲ νῦν ἐπαναλαβὼν τὴν διήγη σιν, ὅπως δι' ἃ ἥμαρτον οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι παρήγαγε. Καὶ παρεπίκραναν ἀναβαίνοντες ἐν ἐρυθρᾷ θαλάσσῃ. Θεασάμενοι γὰρ τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους διώκοντας, καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν ἐπέχουσαν τὴν φυγὴν, τὴν ἐπικουρίαν προσ μεῖναι τὴν σὴν οὐκ ἠθέλησαν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ μεγάλου Μωϋσέως κατεβόων λέγοντες· Παρὰ τὸ μὴ εἶναι μνήματα ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ, ἐξήγαγες ἡμᾶς ἀποκτεῖναι ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ταύτῃ. Ἀλλ' ὅμως καὶ ἀγνώμονας φανέντας σωτηρίας ἠξίωσας. Τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ἐπήγαγε· Καὶ ἔσωσεν αὐτοὺς ἕνεκεν τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ, τοῦ γνωρίσαι τὴν δυνα στείαν αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἐπετίμησε τῇ ἐρυθρᾷ θαλάσσῃ, καὶ ἐξηράνθη· καὶ ὡδήγησεν αὐτοὺς ἐν ἀβύσσῳ, ὡς ἐν ἐρήμῳ· καὶ ἔσωσεν αὐτοὺς ἐκ χειρὸς μισοῦντος καὶ ἐλυτρώσατο αὐτοὺς ἐκ χειρὸς ἐχθρῶν. Λόγῳ γὰρ τῆς θαλάττης τὸν πυθμένα γυμνώσας, τὴν πολλὴν ἐκεί νην ἄβυσσον ἱππήλατον αὐτοῖς ἀπέφηνε καὶ ἔρημον. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐν ταῖς ἐρήμοις πολλὴ τοῖς τρέχουσιν εὐκο 55.662 λία, μήτε φυτῶν ὄντων, μήτε φραγμῶν κωλυόντων, τὴν τῆς διαβάσεως εὐκολίαν δεδήλωκε τῇ τῆς ἐρήμου παρα βολῇ. Ἐκάλυψεν ὕδωρ τοὺς θλίβοντας αὐτούς· εἷς ἐξ αὐτῶν οὐκ ὑπελείφθη. Πάντας γὰρ τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους ὑποβρυχίους πεποίηκε. Καὶ ἡ αὐτὴ θάλαττα Ἑβραίοις μὲν σωτηρίαν, Αἰγυπτίοις δὲ τιμωρίαν ἐπ ήγαγε. Καὶ ἐπίστευσαν τῷ λόγῳ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ᾖσαν τὴν αἴνεσιν αὐτοῦ. Τῶν γὰρ ἀνδρῶν ὑμνούντων Μωϋ σῆς ὁ