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an infinite excess of surpassing glory? Have you understood the manner of union, which is beyond mind and beyond all thought?

O the wonder, brothers, o the ineffable condescension of the philanthropic God's love for us, that the same kind of union He naturally has with His Father, He promises to have with us by grace, if we wish, and we likewise will have with Him by working His commandments; for what He has naturally toward the Father, this He gives to us toward Him by adoption and by grace. O awesome promise, that the glory which the Father has given to the Son, the Son also gives to us by divine grace; and what is greater, that just as He is in the Father and the Father in Him, so the Son of God will be in us and we in Him, the Son, if we wish, by grace. O unsurpassable grace, that the love with which God the Father loved His only-begotten Son and our God, He says this same love will be in us and that very Son of God in us. And rightly so; for having once become our kinsman in the flesh and having made us partakers of His divinity, He has made all such people His kinsmen. Moreover, since the divinity imparted (76) to us through communion is indivisible and inseparable, it is altogether necessary that we who have truly partaken of it be inseparably one body with Christ in one Spirit.

And that these things are so, hear Paul saying: "For in Christ Jesus there is neither slave nor free, not Jew, not Greek, not Scythian, not barbarian, but Christ is all and in all." Do you see how he did not say "but all are Christians," but one "Christ," as one body from many members. And hear him again declaring this elsewhere. For having first said: "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good" and having enumerated the differences of the gifts, later the same one added again: "But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills." And having made known to us the workings given through the Spirit to the holy members of Christ themselves, he adds and says: "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the one body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one drink. For the body is not one member but many." And just as again to each, as we said before, the portion is given by God in the undefiled mansions according to worth, so also in the body of the Church each one will be numbered in that part of Christ of which he is worthy. And he himself makes this clear a little later in this same epistle, saying: "But as it is, God has arranged the members, each one of them, in the body as He wished. So there are many members, but one body." (77) And in order to show the differences of the members, and what these are and who they are, he said: "Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues." Have you seen the differences of the members of Christ? Have you learned who are His members? Hear also of the union of the members, as he declares it in accordance with the Master.

For He, on the one hand, taught that we should have with Him the same kind of union He has with His own Father, while His disciple and apostle, on the other hand, [taught] what kind the husband has toward his wife and the wife toward her husband; wherefore he also says: "Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord, because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is also the head of the church, and He is the Savior of the body," and again: "Husbands, love your own wives, just as Christ also loved the

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ὑπερβαλλούσης δόξης ὑπεράπειρον ὑπερβολήν; κατενόησας ἑνώσεως τρόπον ὑπέρ νοῦν ὄντα καί ὑπέρ ἅπασαν ἔννοιαν;

Ὤ τοῦ θαύματος, ἀδελφοί, ὤ τῆς ἀφράστου συγκαταβάσεως τῆς πρός ἡμᾶς ἀγάπης τοῦ φιλανθρώπου Θεοῦ, ὅτι οἵαν τήν πρός τόν Πατέρα αὐτοῦ ἔχει ἕνωσιν φυσικῶς, τοιαύτην καί αὐτός ἔχειν ἐν χάριτι πρός ἡμᾶς, ἐάν θέλωμεν, ἐπαγγέλλεται, καί ἡμεῖς πρός ἐκεῖνον ὁμοίως ἕξομεν τάς αὐτοῦ ἐντολάς ἐργαζόμενοι· ὅ γάρ ἐκεῖνος φυσικῶς ἔχει πρός τόν Πατέρα, τοῦτο ἡμῖν πρός αὐτόν τῇ θέσει δίδωσι καί τῇ χάριτι. Ὤ ἐπαγγελίας φρικτῆς, ὅτι τήν δόξαν ἥν δέδωκεν ὁ Πατήρ τῷ υἱῷ καί ὁ Υἱός δίδωσιν ἠμῖν θείᾳ χάριτι· καί τό δή μεῖζον, ὅτι ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνος ἐν τῷ Πατρί καί ὁ Πατήρ ἐν αὐτῷ, οὕτως ὁ Υἱός τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν καί ἡμεῖς ἐν αὐτῷ ἐσόμεθα τῷ Υἱῷ, εἰ βουλόμεθα, τῇ χάριτι. Ὤ χάριτος ἀνυπερβλήτου, ὅτι τήν ἀγάπην ἥν ἠγάπησεν ὁ Θεός καί Πατήρ τόν μονογενῆ αὐτοῦ Υἱόν καί Θεόν ἡμῶν, αὐτήν ἐν ἡμῖν λέγει ἔσεσθαι καί αὐτόν ἐκεῖνον τόν Υἱόν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν. Καί εἰκότως· συγγενής γάρ ἅπαξ ἡμῶν γεγονώς τῇ σαρκί καί συμμετόχους αὐτοῦ τῆς θεότητος ἡμᾶς ἐργασάμενος, συγγενεῖς αὐτοῦ πάντας τούς τοιούτους πεποίηκεν. Ἄλλως δέ καί τῆς μεταδοθείσης (76) ἡμῖν διά τῆς κοινωνίας θεότητος ἀτμήτου οὔσης καί ἀχωρίστου, ἀνάγκη πᾶσα καί ἡμᾶς τούς ἐν ἐληθείᾳ ταύτης μετεσχηκότας ἀχωρίστους ἐν ἑνί Πνεύματι ἕν σῶμα μετά Χριστοῦ εἶναι.

Καί ὅτι ταῦτα οὕτως ἔχει, ἄκουε Παύλου λέγοντος· "Ἐν γάρ Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ οὐκ ἔστι δοῦλος οὐδέ ἐλεύθερος, οὐκ Ἰουδαῖος, οὐχ Ἕλλην, οὐ Σκύθης, οὐ βάρβαρος, ἀλλά τά πάντα καί ἐν πᾶσι Χριστός". Ὁρᾷς ὅπως οὐκ εἶπεν "ἀλλ᾿ οἱ πάντες χριστιανοί", ἀλλά "Χριστός" εἷς, ὡς ἐκ μελῶν πολλῶν σῶμα ἕν. Καί ἄκουε πάλιν αὐτοῦ τοῦτο δηλοῦντος ἑτέρωθι. Εἰπόντος γάρ πρῶτον· "Ἑκάστῳ δίδοται ἡ φανέρωσις τοῦ Πνεύματος πρός τό συμφέρον" καί τάς διαφοράς τῶν χαρισμάτων ἀπαριθμησαμένου, ὕστερον πάλιν ὁ αὐτός ἐπήγαγε· "Πάντα δέ ταῦτα ἐνεργεῖ τό ἕν καί τό αὐτό Πνεῦμα διαιροῦν ἰδίᾳ ἑκάστῳ καθώς βούλεται". Τάς διδομένας δέ διά τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐνεργείας αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἁγίοις μέλεσι τοῦ Χριστοῦ γνωρίσας ἡμῖν ἐπιφέρει καί φησι· "Καθάπερ γάρ τό σῶμα ἕν ἐστι καί μέλη ἔχει πολλά, πάντα δέ τά μέλη τοῦ σώματος τοῦ ἑνός πολλά ὄντα ἕν ἐστι σῶμα, οὕτως καί ὁ Χριστός· καί γάρ ἐν ἑνί πνεύματι ἡμεῖς πάντες εἰς ἕν σῶμα ἐβαπτίσθημεν, εἴτε Ἰουδαῖοι, εἴτε Ἕλληνες, εἴτε δοῦλοι, εἴτε ἐλεύθεροι, καί πάντες εἰς ἕν πόμα ἐποτίσθημεν· καί γάρ τό σῶμα οὐκ ἔστιν ἕν μέλος ἀλλά πολλά". Καθάπερ δέ πάλιν ἑκάστῳ, ὡς προείπομεν, κατ᾿ ἀξίαν ὑπό τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν ταῖς ἀκηράτοις μοναῖς ἡ ἀποκλήρωσις δίδοται, οὕτως καί ἐν τῷ σώματι τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἕκαστος ἐν ᾧ ἐστιν ἄξιος καταριθμηθήσεται μέρει τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Καί τοῦτο αὐτός μετ᾿ ὀλίγα δηλοῖ ἐν ταύτῃ αὐτοῦ τῇ ἐπιστολῇ λέγων· "Νῦν δέ ὁ Θεός ἔθετο τά μέλη ἕν ἕκαστον αὐτῶν ἐν τῷ σώματι καθώς ἠθέλησε· πολλά μέν οὖν μέλη, ἕν δέ σῶμα". (77) Ἵνα δέ καί τάς διαφοράς τῶν μελῶν καί τίνα ταῦτα και τίνες εἰσίν ἀποδείξῃ, ἔφη· "Ὑμεῖς δέ ἐστε σῶμα Χριστοῦ καί μέλη ἐκ μέρους· καί οὕς ἔθετο ὁ Θεός ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ πρῶτον ἀποστόλους, δεύτερον προφήτας, τρίτον διδασκάλους, ἔπειτα δυνάμεις, εἶτα χαρίσματα ἰαμάτων, ἀντιλήψεις, κυβερνήσεις, γένη γλωσσῶν". Εἶδες τάς διαφοράς τῶν μελῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ; Ἔμαθες τίνες εἰσί μέλη αὐτοῦ; Ἄκουε καί τήν ἕνωσιν τῶν μελῶν ἀκολούθως τῷ ∆εσπότῃ καί τοῦτον δηλοῦντα.

Ἐκεῖνος μέν γάρ οἵαν πρός τόν ἑαυτοῦ Πατέρα ἕνωσιν ἔχει, καί ἡμᾶς πρός αὐτόν τοιαύτην ἔχειν ὁμοίως ἐδίδαξεν, ὁ δέ γε τούτου μαθητής καί ἀπόστολος, οἵαν ὁ ἀνήρ ἔχει πρός τήν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ καί ἡ γυνή πρός τόν ἄνδρα· διό καί φησιν· "Αἱ γυναῖκες τοῖς ἰδίοις ἀνδράσιν ὑποτάσσεσθε ὡς τῷ Κυρίῳ, ὅτι ἀνήρ ἐστι κεφαλή τῆς γυναικός, ὡς καί ὁ Χριστός κεφαλή τῆς ἐκκλησίας καί αὐτός ἐστι σωτήρ τοῦ σώματος", καί αὖθις· "Οἱ ἄνδρες, ἀγαπᾶτε τάς γυναῖκας ἑαυτῶν, καθώς καί ὁ Χριστός ἠγάπησε τήν