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What does the prophetic enigma mean, saying, "sound the trumpet at the new moon, on the appointed day of our feast"? What then is the appointed feast?

RESPONSE The Word commands the teachers of the Church to sound the trumpet through the word of teaching; and to sound with a trumpet, that is, with the mortification of the body; and at the new moon, which is according to the moon; for the moon is called "men." The "appointed feast" of the trumpets was celebrated by the Jews in the seventh month; on the tenth of the same month they observed the fast of Atonement and on the fifteenth the Feast of Tabernacles. But we celebrate spiritually in this way, in the seventh month, that is, in the seventh law of grace, observing the appointed day of the Gospel; for the God of all gave seven laws to nature from the beginning; two to Adam, the one before the transgression not to eat from the fruit of the tree and the one after the transgression to eat bread "in the sweat of the face," a third upon Noah, a fourth upon Abraham, that of circumcision, a fifth of Moses, a sixth of the prophets, a seventh of the gospel, in which we offer to God the firstfruits of the fruits of virtue at the beginning of the illuminations; for on the first of the month those according to the law offered the firstfruits of the crops. And on the tenth of the month we observe the fast 14Α_144 of Atonement, being initiated through the name of our Lord Jesus who became our atonement, fasting from all wickedness; and on the fifteenth we keep the feast of tabernacles; for by adding to the mystery concerning our Lord Jesus the five perceptive powers of the soul, occupied with none of the sensibles but united to the Lord himself, we receive in him the fixing of the virtues.

QUESTION 93 A difficulty from the Moralia of Saint Basil, in the homily 'On Fasting':

"when," he says, "perfection was despaired of, then enjoyment was permitted." RESPONSE Perfection was despaired of at that time when man, through disobedience, perverted the natural powers given to him. It was impossible, therefore, for nature, being entangled in material passion, to return to perfection until the creator of nature, having become man supernaturally, restored nature to its natural state. And he says enjoyment was permitted, instead of being handed over to the autonomy of error.

QUESTION 94 From the same, on the first psalm; for what reason at the beginning of the psalms

did he take as an example the foundations of a house, and the keel of a ship, and the heart of an animal? 14Α_146 RESPONSE Since the house, being composed of stones, becomes a refuge from cold and heat, and moreover a shelter and protection for man, from this we learn, following the natural contemplation, that the house is the ascetic practice composed of principles according to virtue, providing us shelter from the diabolical heat of temptations, warmth from its coldness according to despair, and protection from plotting demons. And he took the ship as the soul of each person, having as a kind of keel the stability of prudence, and as attached planks, the mortification of the body, which with precision, as with pitch, secures the harmonies of the soul and does not allow any of the salty wickedness to enter, sailing upon the sea of life and traversing this age, in the manner of a merchant the present things

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Τί δηλοῖ τὸ προφητικὸν αἴνιγμα "σαλπίσατε" λέγων "ἐν νεομηνίᾳ σάλπιγγι, ἐν εὐσήμῳ ἡμέρᾳ ἑορτῆς ἡμῶν"; Τίς ἄρα ἡ εὔσημος ἑορτή;

ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ Τοὺς διδασκάλους τῆς Ἐκκλησίας σαλπίζειν διὰ τοῦ λόγου τῆς διδασκαλίας ὁ

Λόγος παρακελεύεται· σάλπιγγι δὲ σαλπίζειν, τουτέστιν τῇ νεκρώσει τοῦ σώματος· ἐν νεομηνίᾳ δὲ τῇ κατὰ τὴν σελήνην· μὴν γὰρ ἡ σελήνη λέγεται. «Εὔσημος» δὲ «ἑορτὴ» κατὰ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους τῷ ἑβδόμῳ μηνὶ ἐπετελεῖτο ἡ τῶν σαλπίγγων· τῇ δεκάτῃ δὲ τοῦ αὐτοῦ μηνὸς τὴν νηστείαν τοῦ Ἱλασμοῦ καὶ τῇ πεντεκαιδεκάτῃ τὴν Σκηνοπηγίαν ἐπετέλουν. Ἡμεῖς δὲ πνευματικῶς ἑορτάζομεν οὕτως, τῷ μὲν ἑβδόμῳ μηνί, τουτέστιν τῷ ἑβδόμῳ τῆς χάριτος νόμῳ τὴν εὔσημον τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου ἡμέραν ἐπιτελοῦντες· ἑπτὰ γὰρ νόμους ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς ἐξαρχῆς τῇ φύσει παρέσχετο· τῷ μὲν Ἀδὰμ δύο, τὸν πρὸ τῆς παραβάσεως ἀπὸ τοῦ καρποῦ τοῦ δένδρου μὴ φαγεῖν καὶ τὸν μετὰ τὴν παράβασιν «ἐν ἱδρῶτι τοῦ προσώπου» τὸν ἄρτον ἐσθίειν, τρίτον τὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ Νῶε, τέταρτον τὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἀβραάμ, τὸν τῆς περιτομῆς, πέμπτον τὸν Μωσέως, ἕκτον τὸν προφητικόν, ἕβδομον τὸν εὐαγγελικόν, ἐν ᾧ τὰς ἀπαρχὰς τῶν καρπῶν τῆς ἀρετῆς κατὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῶν φωτισμῶν τῷ Θεῷ προσάγομεν· τῇ γὰρ πρώτῃ τοῦ μηνὸς τὰς ἀπαρχὰς τῶν καρπῶν οἱ κατὰ νόμον προσῆγον. Τῇ δεκάτῃ δὲ τοῦ μηνὸς τὴν νηστείαν 14Α_144 τοῦ Ἱλασμοῦ τελοῦμεν διὰ τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ τοῦ γενομένου ἡμῶν ἱλασμοῦ μυσταγωγούμενοι, νηστεύοντες ἀπὸ πάσης κακίας· τῇ δὲ πεντεκαιδεκάτῃ τὴν σκηνοπηγίαν ἄγομεν· προστιθέντες γὰρ τῷ κατὰ τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν μυστηρίῳ τὰς πέντε τῆς ψυχῆς ἀντιλημπτικὰς δυνάμεις, εἰς μηδὲν τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἀσχολουμένας ἀλλ᾽ αὐτῷ συνημμένας τῷ Κυρίῳ, τὴν πῆξιν ἐν αὐτῷ λαμβάνομεν τῶν ἀρετῶν.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ 93 Ἐκ τῶν Ἠθικῶν τοῦ ἁγίου Βασιλείου ἄπορον ἐν τῷ 'Περὶ νηστείας' λόγῳ·

«ὅτε», φησίν, «ἀπεγνώσθη ἡ τελείωσις, τότε συνεχωρήθη ἡ ἀπόλαυσις». ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ Τότε ἀπεγνώσθη ἡ τελείωσις, ὅτε τὰς δοθείσας αὐτῷ φυσικὰς δυνάμεις ὁ

ἄνθρωπος διὰ τῆς παρακοῆς παρέτρεψεν. Ἀδύνατον οὖν ἦν ἐνσχεθεῖσαν τὴν φύσιν τῇ ὑλικῇ προσπαθείᾳ ἐπανελθεῖν εἰς τὸ τέλειον μέχρις ὁ τῆς φύσεως ποιητής, ὑπὲρ φύσιν γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος, τὴν φύσιν εἰς τὸ κατὰ φύσιν ἐπανήγαγεν. Συγχωρηθῆναι δὲ τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν λέγει ἀντὶ τοῦ παραδοθῆναι τῇ αὐτονομίᾳ τῆς πλάνης.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ 94 Τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐκ τοῦ πρώτου ψαλμοῦ· τίνος χάριν ἐπὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς τῶν ψαλμῶν

παράδειγμα ἔλαβεν οἴκου θεμέλια καὶ τρόπιν πλοίου καὶ ζῴου καρδίαν; 14Α_146 ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ Ἐπειδὴ ὁ οἶκος ἀπὸ λίθων συγκείμενος ἀποφυγὴ μὲν ψύχους καὶ καύσωνος

γίνεται, ἔτι δὲ σκέπη καὶ φυλακὴ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, ἐκ τούτου μανθάνομεν, ἑπόμενοι τῇ φυσικῇ θεωρίᾳ, οἶκον εἶναι τὴν ἄσκησιν ἐκ τῶν κατὰ τὴν ἀρετὴν συγκειμένην λόγων, σκέπην μὲν παρέχουσαν ἡμῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ διαβολικοῦ τῶν πειρασμῶν καύσωνος, θέρμην δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὴν ἀπόγνωσιν ψύξεως, φυλακὴν δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐπιβουλευόντων δαιμόνων. Πλοῖον δὲ ἔλαβεν τὴν ἑκάστου ψυχήν, οἷόν τινα τρόπιν τὴν κατὰ τὴν φρόνησιν ἔχουσαν πῆξιν, σανίδας δὲ προσηρτημένας, τὴν τοῦ σώματος νέκρωσιν, τῇ ἀκριβείᾳ οἷον ἀσφάλτῳ τὰς ἁρμονίας τῆς ψυχῆς ἀσφαλίσασαν καὶ μὴ συγχωροῦσαν εἰσδῦναί τι τῆς ἁλμώδους κακίας, ἐπιπορευομένην δὲ τὴν θάλασσαν τοῦ βίου καὶ διαπορευομένην τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦτον, ἐμπόρου τρόπον τὰ παρόντα