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the difference between us and the Jews. For see, we have the victim on high, the priest on high, the sacrifice on high. Let us then offer such sacrifices as can be offered on that altar; no longer sheep and oxen, no longer blood and fat. All these things have been done away, and in their place has been brought in the spiritual worship. And what is the spiritual worship? The things of the soul, the things of the spirit (God, He says, is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth); things which require no body, which require no instruments, no places; which are, for instance, gentleness, moderation, almsgiving, forbearance, longsuffering, humility. These are the sacrifices, which one may see in the Old Testament also, fore-shadowed from the beginning. For offer, says David, to God a sacrifice of righteousness; and again: I will offer to You a sacrifice of praise; and: a sacrifice of praise shall glorify me; and: A sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit; and: What does the Lord require of you, but to hear Him? Burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin You did not desire. Then I said, Behold I come to do Your will, O God; and again: To what purpose do you bring me frankincense from Saba? and another: Take away from me the sound of your songs, and the psalm of your instru 63.93 ments I will not hear; but instead of these, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice. Do you see with what sacrifices God is well-pleased? Do you see how even from the beginning some have been set aside, and others brought in their place? Let us then offer these. For those are of wealth and belong to those who have it, but these are of virtue; those are from without, these from within; those any man could perform, but these few. And as much as man is better than a sheep, by so much is this sacrifice better than that; for here you offer your soul as a victim. And there are other sacrifices, which are truly whole burnt-offerings, the bodies of the holy martyrs; there both soul and body are holy; those have a great savor of a sweet smell. You too can, if you will, offer such a sacrifice. For what, if you do not burn your body with fire? but you can with another fire; for instance, with that of voluntary poverty, with that of affliction. For when it is in your power to live in luxury and expense, but you choose a laborious and bitter life, and mortify the body, is this not a whole burnt-offering? Mortify your body and crucify it, and you yourself will receive the crown of this martyrdom. For what the sword does there, let your readiness of mind do here. Let not the love of money burn or possess you, but let this unseemly desire be burnt up and quenched by the fire of the spirit, and be cut in pieces with the sword of the Spirit. This is a goodly sacrifice, not needing a priest, but the one who offers it himself; a goodly sacrifice, performed below, but immediately received above. Do we not wonder that of old fire came down and consumed everything? It is possible now also for a fire much more wonderful than that to come down, and consume all the things that are set forth; or rather, not consume, but carry them up to heaven; for it does not make them ashes, but offers them as gifts to God. Such were the offerings of Cornelius; For your prayers, he says, and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. Do you see a most excellent pairing? Then we are heard, when we ourselves also hear the poor who approach us. He who stops his ears, he says, from hearing the poor, God will not hearken to his prayer. Blessed is he that considers the poor and needy; in the evil day the Lord will deliver him. And this is none other than that day, which becomes evil for sinners. What is, He that considers? He that understands what a poor man is, he that learns his affliction; for he that has learned his affliction, will by all means and immediately have mercy on him. When you see a poor man, do not pass by, but immediately think what you would be, if you were he; what would you not have wished all men to do? He that considers, it says. Consider that he is free like you, and partakes of the same nobility as you, and possesses all things in common with you; but this man, who has nothing less than you, you often do not even make equal to your dogs. For they are satisfied with bread, but this one has often gone to sleep

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ἡμῶν καὶ τῶν Ἰουδαίων τὸ μέσον. Ὅρα γὰρ, ἄνω ἔχομεν τὸ ἱερεῖον, ἄνω τὸν ἱερέα, ἄνω τὴν θυσίαν. Οὐκοῦν τοιαύτας ἀναφέρωμεν θυσίας τὰς ἐν ἐκείνῳ δυναμένας προσφέρεσθαι τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ· οὐκέτι πρόβατα καὶ βόας, οὐκέτι αἷμα καὶ κνῖσσαν· πάντα ταῦτα λέλυται, καὶ ἀντεισενήνεκται ἀντὶ τούτων ἡ λογικὴ λατρεία. Τί δέ ἐστιν ἡ λογικὴ λατρεία; Τὰ διὰ ψυχῆς, τὰ διὰ πνεύματος (Πνεῦμα, φησὶν, ὁ Θεός· καὶ τοὺς προσκυνοῦντας αὐτὸν, ἐν πνεύματι καὶ ἀληθείᾳ χρὴ προσκυνεῖν)· ὅσα μὴ δεῖται σώματος, ὅσα μὴ δεῖται ὀργάνων, μὴ τόπων· τὰ δέ ἐστιν οἷον ἐπιείκεια, σωφροσύνη, ἐλεημοσύνη, ἀνεξικακία, μακροθυμία, ταπεινοφροσύνη. Τὰ θύματα ταῦτα καὶ ἐν τῇ Παλαιᾷ ἴδοι τις ἂν ἄνωθεν προδιατετυπωμένα. Θύσατε γὰρ, φησὶν ὁ ∆αυῒδ, τῷ Θεῷ θυσίαν δικαιοσύνης· καὶ πάλιν· Θύσω σοι θυσίαν αἰνέσεως· καί· Θυσία αἰνέσεως δοξάσει με· καί· Θυσία τῷ Θεῷ πνεῦμα συντετριμμένον· καί· Τί Κύριος ἐκζητεῖ παρὰ σοῦ, ἀλλ' ἢ τὸ ἀκούειν αὐτοῦ; Ὁλοκαυτώματα καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτίας οὐκ ηὐδόκησας. Τότε εἶπον· Ἰδοὺ ἥκω τοῦ ποιῆσαι, ὁ Θεὸς, τὸ θέλημά σου· καὶ πάλιν· Ἵνα τί μοι λίβανον ἐκ Σαβὰ φέρετε; καὶ ἕτερος· Ἀπόστησον ἀπ' ἐμοῦ ἦχον ᾠδῶν σου, καὶ ψαλμὸν ὀρ 63.93 γάνων σου οὐκ ἀκούσομαι· ἀλλ' ἀντὶ τούτων, Ἔλεον θέλω, καὶ οὐ θυσίαν. Ὁρᾷς οἵαις θυσίαις εὐαρεστεῖται ὁ Θεός; ὁρᾷς καὶ ἄνωθεν ἤδη τὰς μὲν ἐκκεχωρηκυίας, τὰς δὲ ἀντεισελθούσας; Ταύτας τοίνυν προσάγωμεν. Ἐκεῖναι μὲν γὰρ πλούτου καὶ τῶν ἐχόντων εἰσὶν, αὗται δὲ ἀρετῆς· ἐκεῖναι ἔξωθεν, αὗται ἔνδοθεν· ἐκείνας καὶ ὁ τυχὼν ἐργάσασθαι δύναιτ' ἂν, ταύτας δὲ ὀλίγοι. Ὅσῳ δὲ προβάτου κρείττων ὁ ἄνθρωπος, τοσούτῳ αὕτη ἐκείνης ἡ θυσία· ἐνταῦθα γὰρ τὴν ψυχήν σου ἀναφέρεις θῦμα. Ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλα θύματα, τὰ ὄντως ὁλοκαυτώματα, τὰ τῶν ἁγίων μαρτύρων σώματα· ἐκεῖ ἅγια καὶ ψυχὴ καὶ σῶμα· ἐκεῖνα ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας ἔχει μεγάλην. ∆ύνασαι καὶ σὺ, ἐὰν θέλῃς, τοιαύτην θυσίαν ἀναγαγεῖν. Τί γὰρ, ἐὰν μὴ τῷ πυρὶ καύσῃς τὸ σῶμα; ἀλλ' ἑτέρῳ πυρὶ δύνασαι· οἷον, τῷ τῆς πενίας τῆς ἑκουσίου, τῷ τῆς θλίψεως. Τὸ γὰρ ἐξεῖναι μετὰ τρυφῆς καὶ πολυτελείας διάγειν, τὸν δὲ ἐπίμοχθον καὶ κατάπικρον ἀναιρεῖσθαι βίον, καὶ τὸ σῶμα νεκροῦν, οὐχὶ ὁλοκαύτωσίς ἐστι; Νέκρωσόν σου τὸ σῶμα καὶ σταύρωσον, καὶ λήψῃ καὶ αὐτὸς τοῦ μαρτυρίου τούτου τὸν στέφανον. Ὅπερ γὰρ ἐκεῖ τὸ ξίφος ἐργάζεται, τοῦτο ἐνταῦθα ἡ προθυμία ποιείτω. Μὴ καιέτω, μηδὲ κατεχέτω χρημάτων ἔρως, ἀλλὰ κατακαιέσθω καὶ κατασβεννύσθω ἡ ἐπιθυμία αὕτη ἡ ἄτοπος τῷ πυρὶ τοῦ πνεύματος, καὶ κατακοπτέσθω τῇ μαχαίρᾳ τοῦ Πνεύματος. Αὕτη θυσία καλὴ, οὐ δεομένη ἱερέως, ἀλλ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ προσφέροντος αὐτήν· θυσία καλὴ, κάτω μὲν ἐπιτελουμένη, ἄνω δὲ εὐθέως ἀναλαμβανομένη. Οὐχὶ θαυμάζομεν ὅτι τὸ παλαιὸν πῦρ κατιὸν ἅπαντα ἀνήλισκεν; Ἔξεστι καὶ νῦν πῦρ κατελθεῖν πολὺ θαυμαστότερον ἐκείνου, καὶ πάντα ἀναλῶσαι τὰ προκείμενα· μᾶλλον δὲ οὐκ ἀναλῶσαι, ἀλλ' ἀναγαγεῖν εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν· οὐ γὰρ τέφραν αὐτὰ ποιεῖ, ἀλλὰ δῶρα προσφέρει τῷ Θεῷ. Τοιαῦται ἦσαν αἱ τοῦ Κορνηλίου προσφοραί· Αἱ προσευχαί σου γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ αἱ ἐλεημοσύναι σου ἀνέβησαν εἰς μνημόσυνον ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ὁρᾷς συζυγίαν ἀρίστην; Τότε ἀκουόμεθα, ὅταν καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀκούωμεν τῶν προσιόντων πενήτων. Ὃς ἀποφράσσει, φησὶ, τὰ ὦτα αὐτοῦ τοῦ μὴ ἀκοῦσαι πτωχοῦ, τῆς δεήσεως αὐτοῦ οὐκ εἰσακούσεται ὁ Θεός. Μακάριος ὁ συνιῶν ἐπὶ πτωχὸν καὶ πένητα· ἐν ἡμέρᾳ πονηρᾷ ῥύσεται αὐτὸν ὁ Κύριος. Οὐκ ἄλλη δὲ αὕτη ἐστὶν, ἀλλ' ἢ ἡ ἡμέρα ἐκείνη, ἣ πονηρὰ γίνεται τοῖς ἁμαρτωλοῖς. Τί ἐστιν, Ὁ συνιῶν; Ὁ νοῶν τί ἐστι πένης, ὁ τὴν θλῖψιν αὐτοῦ καταμανθάνων· ὁ γὰρ μαθὼν αὐτοῦ τὴν θλῖψιν, πάντως καὶ εὐθέως αὐτὸν ἐλεήσει. Ὅταν ἴδῃς πένητα, μὴ παραδράμῃς, ἀλλ' εὐθέως ἐννόησον τίς ἂν ἦς, εἰ σὺ ἦς ἐκεῖνος· τί οὐκ ἂν ἠθέλησας πάντας ποιεῖν; Ὁ συνιῶν, φησίν. Ἐννόησον ὅτι ὁμοίως σοι ἐλεύθερός ἐστι, καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς σοὶ κοινωνεῖ εὐγενείας, καὶ πάντα σοὶ κοινὰ κέκτηται· ἀλλὰ τοῦτον τὸν οὐδὲν ἔλαττον ἔχοντά σου, οὐδὲ τῶν κυνῶν πολλάκις τῶν σῶν ἴσον ποιεῖς. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄρτου κορέννυνται, οὗτος δὲ πολλάκις ἐκοιμήθη