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and of the body, and life is twofold, operating appropriately in each of the parts within us, it would be good for those who are lamenting in their bodily life (for many are the occasions for lamentation in this life) to prepare for the soul the harmonious dance. For the more life is made gloomy by dejection, the more the occasions for gladness are gathered for the soul. Self-control is somber, humility is dejected, suffering loss is a lamentation, not having equality with those in power is a cause for grief, but “He who humbles himself will be exalted” and he who struggles with poverty will be crowned and he who abounds with sores and through all things shows his own life to be worthy of lamentation will rest in the bosom of the patriarch, in which may we also be, by the mercy of Jesus Christ who saves us, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 5.390

HOMILY 7

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together. The commander of the ecclesiastical power has now increased, by what he has taught, the strength of his hearers, so that they are able both to strike those arrayed against them and to furnish themselves with the preparations for striking. For the things we have been previously taught, through which we have learned to apply to all things the measure derived from time and to make the opportune moment in every matter the criterion of what is good, brings us to this power, so that the arm of our soul is strengthened and we send forth at the target the stones destructive to the enemy and again recall them, with which we might strike the foe, so as to always have the means to strike down the adversary with the same things. Those, therefore, who look only to the letter and attend to the ready meaning of what is said will perhaps apply the Law of Moses to the present sayings, in which the law commands 5.391 to cast stones, if any were found transgressing; such as we have indeed learned from history itself in the case of those who sinned regarding the Sabbath and of the one who stole the holy things and in the case of the other offenses, for which the law ordained punishment by stones. But if the Preacher had not also made the gathering of stones opportune, about which no law commands nor does any deed from history instruct the like, I would have agreed with those who interpret the saying through the law, as there being a time to cast stones then, whenever someone either transgresses the Sabbath or has stolen something of what was dedicated. But now the addition of the need to gather the stones again, which is determined by no law, leads us to another thought, so that we might learn what this kind of stone is, which after being cast must again become the possession of the one who threw it. For whenever we cast the stones at the opportune time, we are taught to gather them again at the opportune time. To me, therefore, it seems that not even the law should be understood so barely according to its ready sense. For what that is God-befitting and great is revealed in the bare thought 5.392 of what is written? If someone was caught gathering sticks on the Sabbath, was it necessary for this reason that the man be stoned to death, when no injustice appeared in the offense? For what injustice did he do to anyone by collecting sticks that happened to be scattered in the desert for the need of a fire? For he is not accused of taking what belongs to another, so that it might seem that the injustice is reasonably punished, but what lay before all in common becomes for him the cause of the casting of stones. But because he did this on the Sabbath, for this reason he is condemned as an evildoer. Who does not know that each of the things that happen is judged by its own nature, whether it is bad or not of such a kind, while the time, in which the act is performed, is considered external to the nature of what is done? For what does the interval of time have in common with that which is accomplished by our choice? If someone asks us what a day is, we will certainly answer that it is the sun being above the earth, and we make its measure morning and evening. But such a definition of day does not pertain to any single one of the days in the weekly cycle

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καὶ σώματος, διπλῆ δὲ καὶ ἡ ζωὴ καταλλήλως ἐν ἑκατέρῳ τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν ἐνεργουμένη, καλὸν ἂν εἴη τῇ σωματικῇ ζωῇ κοπτομένους (πολλαὶ δὲ τῶν θρήνων κατὰ τὸν βίον τοῦτον αἱ ἀφορμαί) τῇ ψυχῇ παρασκευάζειν τὴν ἐναρμόνιον ὄρχησιν. ὅσῳ γὰρ πλέον καταστυγνάζεται διὰ κατηφείας ὁ βίος, τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον αἱ τῆς εὐφροσύνης ἀφορμαὶ τῇ ψυχῇ συνα θροίζονται. στυγνὸν ἡ ἐγκράτεια, κατηφὲς ἡ ταπεινότης, θρῆνος τὸ ζημιοῦσθαι, πένθους ὑπόθεσις τὸ μὴ τὸ ἴσον πρὸς τοὺς κρατοῦντας ἔχειν, ἀλλ' Ὁ ταπεινῶν ἑαυτὸν ὑψωθήσεται καὶ ὁ ἐναθλῶν τῇ πενίᾳ στεφανωθήσεται καὶ ὁ τοῖς ἕλκεσι βρύων καὶ διὰ πάντων θρήνου ἄξιον τὸν ἑαυτοῦ βίον ἐπιδεικνύμενος τῷ κόλπῳ τοῦ πατριάρχου ἐναναπαύσεται, ἐν ᾧ καὶ ἡμεῖς γενοί μεθα ἐλέει τοῦ σῴζοντος ἡμᾶς Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν. 5.390

ΟΜΙΛΙΑ Ζʹ

Καιρὸς τοῦ βαλεῖν λίθους καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ συναγαγεῖν λίθους. ηὔξησεν ἤδη, δι' ὧν ἐδίδαξε, τὴν τῶν ἀκουόντων ἰσχὺν ὁ τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς δυνάμεως ταξιάρχης, ὥστε καὶ βαλεῖν δύνασθαι τοὺς ἀντιτεταγμένους καὶ τὰς εἰς τὸ βαλεῖν παρασκευὰς συμπορίζεσθαι. ἃ γὰρ προεπαιδεύθημεν, δι' ὧν πᾶσιν ἐφαρμόζειν τὸ ἐκ τοῦ χρόνου μέτρον καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ παντὶ εὐκαιρίαν ποιεῖσθαι τοῦ καλοῦ κριτήριον μεμαθήκαμεν, εἰς ταύτην ἡμᾶς ἄγει τὴν δύναμιν, ὡς τονωθῆναί τε ἡμῶν τῆς ψυχῆς τὸν βραχίονα καὶ κατὰ σκοποῦ πέμπειν τοὺς ἀναιρετικοὺς τοῦ ἐχθροῦ λίθους καὶ πάλιν ἀνακαλεῖσθαι τούτους, οἷς ἂν τὸν πολέμιον βάλωμεν, εἰς τὸ ἀεὶ ἔχειν διὰ τῶν αὐτῶν κατακοντίζειν τὸν ἀντικείμενον. οἱ μὲν οὖν πρὸς τὸ γράμμα βλέποντες μόνον καὶ τῇ προχείρῳ παριστάμενοι διανοίᾳ τῶν εἰρημένων τὸν Μωυσέως νόμον ἴσως τοῖς παροῦσι ῥητοῖς ἐφαρμόσουσιν, ἐφ' ὧν προστάσσει ὁ νόμος 5.391 βάλλειν λίθους, εἴ τι παρανομοῦντες εὑρίσκοιντο· οἷα δὴ καὶ δι' αὐτῆς μεμαθήκαμεν τῆς ἱστορίας ἐπί τε τῶν εἰς τὸ σάββατον ἐξαμαρτόντων καὶ τοῦ τὰ ἱερὰ κεκλοφότος καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων πλημμελημάτων, οἷς τὴν διὰ τῶν λίθων τιμωρίαν ὁ νόμος ἐπέταξεν. ἐγὼ δὲ εἰ μὴ καὶ τὸ συναγαγεῖν λίθους εὔκαιρον ὁ ἐκκλησιαστὴς ἐποιεῖτο, περὶ οὗ νόμος οὐδεὶς ἐγκελεύεται οὔτε τις ἐξ ἱστορίας πρᾶξις ὑφηγεῖται τὸ ὅμοιον, συνεθέμην ἂν τοῖς διὰ τοῦ νόμου τὸ ῥητὸν ἑρμη νεύουσιν, ὡς τότε ὄντος καιροῦ τοῦ βαλεῖν λίθους, ὅταν τις ἢ παρανομήσῃ τὸ σάββατον ἤ τι τῶν ἀνατεθέντων ὑφέληται. νυνὶ δὲ ἡ προσθήκη τοῦ δεῖν πάλιν συναγαγεῖν τοὺς λίθους, ὅπερ οὐδενὶ νόμῳ διώρισται, εἰς ἄλλην ἡμᾶς ἄγει διάνοιαν, ὡς ἂν μάθοιμεν ποῖον τοῦτο τὸ γένος λίθων ἐστίν, ὃ μετὰ τὴν βολὴν πάλιν κτῆμα τοῦ προεμένου γίνεσθαι χρή. Ἐπειδὰν γὰρ βάλωμεν κατὰ καιρὸν τοὺς λίθους, πάλιν συνάγειν αὐτοὺς ἐν καιρῷ διδασκόμεθα. ἐμοὶ μὲν οὖν δοκεῖ μηδὲ τὸν νόμον οὑτωσὶ ψιλῶς ἐκλαμβάνειν κατὰ τὴν πρό χειρον ἔννοιαν. τί γὰρ θεοπρεπές τε καὶ μέγα τῇ ψιλῇ διανοίᾳ 5.392 τῶν γεγραμμένων ἐμφαίνεται; εἰ φρυγανιζόμενός τις ἑάλω κατὰ τὸ σάββατον, διὰ τοῦτο καταλευσθῆναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἔδει, μηδεμιᾶς ἀδικίας ἐν τῷ πλημμελήματι φαινομένης; τί γὰρ ἠδίκει τινὰ κάρφη κατὰ τὸ συμβὰν διερριμμένα κατὰ τὴν ἔρημον πρὸς τὴν τοῦ πυρὸς χρείαν συγκομιζόμενος; οὐ γὰρ τὸ ἀλλότριον ἀφαιρεῖσθαι κατηγορεῖται, ὥστε δοκεῖν εὐλόγως τὴν ἀδικίαν κολάζεσθαι, ἀλλὰ τὸ κοινῇ πᾶσι προκείμενον αἴτιον αὐτῷ γίνεται τῆς τῶν λίθων βολῆς. ἀλλ' ὅτι ἐν σαββάτῳ τοῦτο ἐποίησε, διὰ τοῦτο ὡς κακουργῶν κατακρίνεται. τίς οὐκ οἶδεν, ὅτι τῶν γινομένων ἕκαστον τῇ ἰδίᾳ κρίνεται φύσει, εἴτε κακὸν εἴτε μὴ τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν, ὁ δὲ χρόνος, καθ' ὃν ἐνεργεῖται ἡ πρᾶξις, ἔξωθεν τῆς τοῦ γινομένου φύσεως θεωρεῖται; τί γὰρ κοινὸν ἔχει τὸ χρονικὸν διάστημα πρὸς τὸ ἐκ προαιρέσεως ἡμετέρας ἀποτελούμενον; ἐὰν ἔρηταί τις ἡμᾶς, τί ἡμέρα ἐστί, τὸ ὑπὲρ γῆς εἶναι τὸν ἥλιον πάντως ἀποκρινούμεθα καὶ μέτρον αὐτῆς ὄρθρον καὶ ἑσπέραν ποιούμεθα. ὁ δὲ τοιοῦτος λόγος τῆς ἡμέρας οὐ μιᾷ τινι μόνῃ τῶν κατὰ τὴν ἑβδομαδικὴν περίοδον