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death and corruption, and whatever is of the same genus and species as these. Therefore, having learned through what means both evil and a life of virtue are formed, and since the power for either of these lies before us according to the free will of our choice, let us flee the form of the devil, let us cast off the wicked mask, let us take up the divine image, let us become pure in 44.1277 heart, that we may become blessed, the divine image being formed in us through a pure way of life, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

HOMILY 7.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Of the sacred

tabernacle of testimony, which the lawgiver constructed for the Israelites according to the pattern shown by God on the mountain, all things were, each of them, holy and sacred, whatever was enclosed within the surrounding rope; but the innermost part among these was unenterable and inaccessible, called the Holy of Holies; this emphatic coinage of a name showing, I think, that it did not partake of holiness in equal measure with the others; but by as much as the consecrated and holy differed from the common and profane, by so much was that unenterable place more sacred and purer than the holy things around it. I think, therefore, in the same way, of the beatitudes previously shown to us on this mountain, that all of them, each one, are sacred and holy. all that the divine Word previously constructed; but that which is now set before our contemplation is truly an unenterable place and a Holy of Holies. For if seeing God has no excess in goodness, to become a son of God is surely beyond all good fortune; for what conception of words? what meaning from names will comprehend the gift of so great a promise? Whatever one might grasp with the mind, that which is signified is surely beyond it; if you should name what is set forth by promise in this beatitude as good, or honorable, or lofty, what is signified is more than according to the emphasis of the names; the attainment is beyond prayer, the gift beyond hope, the grace beyond nature. What is man when judged in relation to the divine nature? Whose voice of the saints shall I speak, by which the human is disparaged? according to Abraham, earth and ashes; according to Isaiah, grass; according to David, not even grass, but like grass. For the one says, All flesh is grass; but this one says, Man is like grass; according to Ecclesiastes, vanity; according to Paul, wretchedness. For by the terms with which the Apostle named himself, by these all humanity is pitied. These things are man; but God, what is He? How shall I say the 'what', which it is not possible to see, nor for the ear to contain, nor for the heart to receive? With what sounds shall I proclaim the nature? What example of this good shall I find among the things that are known? What new sounds shall I invent for the meaning of the ineffable and unutterable? I have heard the divinely-inspired Scripture relate great things concerning the transcendent nature; but what are these in relation to that nature itself? For the Word spoke as much as I was able to receive, not as much as 44.1280 that which is signified is. For just as those who breathe the air, each according to his own capacity, one has taken in more of the air, another less; yet the one who has contained much air in himself has not made the whole element to be within himself, but this one too has taken from the whole as much as he was able, and the whole remains; so also the theologies of Holy Scripture, which have been set forth for us by those borne by the Holy Spirit, in relation to the measure of our mind, are lofty and great and beyond all magnitude; yet they do not touch upon the true magnitude. Who has measured, it says, the heaven with a span, and the water with his hand, and all the earth with a handful? Do you see the magnificence of him who describes the ineffable power? but what are these things in relation to the

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θάνατος καὶ φθορὰ, καὶ ὅσα τούτοις ὁμογενῆ καὶ ὁμόφυλα. Οὐκοῦν μαθόντες, διὰ τίνων ἥ τε κακία καὶ ὁ κατ' ἀρετὴν μορφοῦται βίος, ἐξου σίας ἡμῖν πρὸς ἑκάτερον τούτων κατὰ τὸ αὐτεξού σιον τῆς προαιρέσεως προκειμένης, φύγωμεν τὴν τοῦ διαβόλου μορφὴν, ἀποθώμεθα τὸ πονηρὸν προσωπεῖον, ἀναλάβωμεν τὴν θείαν εἰκόνα, γενώμεθα καθαροὶ τῇ 44.1277 καρδίᾳ, ἵνα γενώμεθα μακάριοι, τῆς θείας εἰκόνος ἐν ἡμῖν μορφωθείσης, διὰ τῆς καθαρᾶς πολιτείας, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίω ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

ΛΟΓΟΣ Ζʹ.

Μακάριοι οἱ εἰρηνοποιοί· ὅτι αὐτοὶ υἱοὶ Θεοῦ κληθήσονται. Τῆς ἱερᾶς τοῦ

μαρτυρίου σκηνοπηγίας, ἣν κατὰ τὸν ἐν τῷ ὄρει παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ δειχθέντα τύπον ὁ νο μοθέτης τοῖς Ἰσραηλίταις κατεσκευάσατο, πάντα μὲν ἅγιά τε καὶ ἱερὰ καθ' ἕκαστον ἦν, ὅσα τῷ περισχοι νίσματι κατὰ τὸ ἐντὸς περιείληπτο· τὸ δὲ ἐνδότατον ἐν τούτοις ἄδυτόν τε καὶ ἄβατον ἦν, Ἅγιον ἁγίων λεγόμενον· δεικνύσης, οἶμαι, τῆς ἐπιτατικῆς ταύτης ὀνοματοποιΐας, τὸ μὴ κατὰ τὸ ὁμότιμον τοῖς ἄλλοις μετέχειν κἀκεῖνο τῆς ἁγιότητος· ἀλλ' ὅσον διέφερεν τοῦ κοινοῦ καὶ βεβήλου τὸ ἀφιερωμένον καὶ ἅγιον, τοσοῦτον ἐκεῖνο τὸ ἄδυτον τῶν περὶ αὐτὸ ἁγίων ἱερώ τερόν τε καὶ καθαρώτερον εἶναι. Οἶμαι τοίνυν ἐγὼ κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον, τῶν ἐν τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ προ δειχθέντων ἡμῖν μακαρισμῶν, πάντα μὲν ἱερά τε καὶ ἅγια καθ' ἕκαστον εἶναι. ὅσα προλαβὼν ὁ θεῖος κατε σκεύασε λόγος· τὸ δὲ νῦν τῇ θεωρίᾳ προκείμενον, ἄδυτον ὡς ἀληθῶς καὶ Ἅγιον ἁγίων εἶναι. Εἰ γὰρ τὸ ἰδεῖν τὸν Θεὸν ὑπερβολὴν ἐν τῷ ἀγαθῷ οὐκ ἔχει, τὸ υἱὸν γενέσθαι Θεοῦ ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν εὐκληρίαν πάντως ἐστίν· ποία γὰρ ῥημάτων ἐπίνοια; τίς ἐξ ὀνομάτων σημασία τῆς τηλικαύτης ἐπαγγελίας τὴν δωρεὰν περιλήψεται; Ὅπερ ἄν τις τῇ διανοίᾳ νοήσῃ, ὑπὲρ ἐκεῖνο πάντως ἐστὶ τὸ δηλούμενον· ἐὰν ἀγαθὸν, ἢ τίμιον, ἢ ὑψηλὸν ὀνομάσῃς τὸ κατὰ τὸν μακαρισμὸν τοῦτον δι' ἐπαγγελίας προκείμενον, πλέον ἢ κατὰ τὴν ἔμφασιν τῶν ὀνομάτων ἐστὶ τὸ δηλούμενον· ὑπὲρ εὐ χὴν ἡ ἐπιτυχία, ὑπὲρ ἐλπίδα τὸ δῶρον, ὑπὲρ τὴν φύσιν ἡ χάρις. Τί ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος ὡς πρὸς τὴν θείαν φύσιν κρινόμενος; Τίνος εἴπω τῶν ἁγίων φωνὴν, δι' ἧς ἐξευτελίζεται τὸ ἀνθρώπινον; κατὰ τὸν Ἀβραὰμ γῆ καὶ σποδός· κατὰ τὸν Ἡσαΐαν χόρτος· κατὰ τὸν ∆αβὶδ οὐδὲ χόρτος, ἀλλ' ἐοικὸς χόρτῳ. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ λέγει, Πᾶσα σὰρξ χόρτος· οὗτος δέ φησι· Ἄνθρω πος ὡσεὶ χόρτος· κατὰ τὸν Ἐκκλησιαστὴν ματαιό της· κατὰ τὸν Παῦλον, ταλαιπωρία. Οἷς γὰρ ἑαυτὸν ὁ Ἀπόστολος κατωνόμασεν, τούτοις ἅπαν κατοικτί ζεται τὸ ἀνθρώπινον. Ταῦτα ὁ ἄνθρωπος· ὁ δὲ Θεὸς τί; Πῶς εἴπω τὸ τί, ὃ μήτε ἰδεῖν δυνατὸν, μήτε ἀκοῇ χωρῆσαι, μήτε καρδίᾳ λαβεῖν; Ποίαις φωναῖς ἐξαγ γείλω τὴν φύσιν; Τί εὕρω τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ τούτου ἐν τοῖς γινωσκομένοις ὑπόδειγμα; Ποίας καινοτομήσω φω νὰς, πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ἀφράστου τε καὶ ἀνεκφωνήτου ση μασίαν; Ἤκουσα τῆς θεοπνεύστου Γραφῆς μεγάλα περὶ τῆς ὑπερκειμένης φύσεως διεξιούσης· ἀλλὰ τί ταῦτα πρὸς αὐτὴν τὴν φύσιν; Ὅσον γὰρ ἐγὼ ἐχώρουν δέξασθαι, τοσοῦτον εἶπεν ὁ λόγος, οὐχ ὅσον ἐστὶ τὸ 44.1280 δηλούμενον. Ὡς γὰρ οἱ ἀναπνέοντες τὸν ἀέρα κατὰ τὴν ἐν ἑαυτῷ ἕκαστος εὐρυχωρίαν, ὁ μὲν πλεῖον, ὁ δὲ ἔλαττον τοῦ ἀέρος ἀνέλαβεν· οὐ μὴν ὁ πολὺν ἐν ἑαυτῷ κατασχὼν τὸν ἀέρα, ἅπαν τὸ στοιχεῖον ἐντὸς ἑαυτοῦ πεποίηται, ἀλλὰ καὶ οὗτος ἔλαβεν ἐκ τοῦ ὅλου ὅσον ἠδύνατο, καὶ τὸ ὅλον ἐστίν· οὕτως καὶ αἱ τῆς ἁγίας Γραφῆς θεολογίαι, αἱ παρὰ τῶν τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύ ματι θεοφορουμένων ἡμῖν ἐκτεθεῖσαι, πρὸς μὲν τὸ ἡμέτερον τῆς διανοίας μέτρον, ὑψηλαὶ καὶ μεγάλαι καὶ ὑπὲρ πᾶν εἰσι μέγεθος· τοῦ τε ἀληθινοῦ μεγέ θους οὐ προσαπτόμεναι. Τίς ἐμέτρησε, φησὶ, τὸν οὐρανὸν σπιθαμῇ, καὶ τῇ χειρὶ τὸ ὕδωρ, καὶ πᾶ σαν τὴν γῆν δρακί; Ὁρᾷς τὴν μεγαλοφυΐαν τοῦ τὴν ἄφραστον διαγράφοντος δύναμιν; ἀλλὰ τί ταῦτα πρὸς τὸ