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only, but also, They shall be, he says, one flesh. Just as Christ also loved the Church. He came to the first example. For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. How? For he has become of our substance, just as Eve was flesh from the flesh of Adam. And he rightly mentioned bones and flesh; for these are the principal parts in us, flesh and bones; the one underlying like a keel, the other like a building. But that is clear; how is this so? Just as there is such great nearness there, so, he says, is it also here. What does it mean, of his flesh? That is, genuinely from him. And how are we thus members of Christ? Because we have been born according to him. And how of his flesh? You know, all you who partake of the mysteries; for from this we are immediately remolded. And how? Hear this blessed one saying again: Since therefore the children have shared in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same. But here he shared in us, not we in him; how then are we of his flesh, and of his bones? Some say the blood and the water, but it is not so; but what he wants to show is this, that just as he was born without intercourse from the Holy Spirit, so we too are born in the font. See how many examples, so that that birth might be believed. O the folly of the heretics! that what is born of water, that it is born, they confess to be a true birth; but that we become his body, they do not accept. If then we do not become this, how will what is said, Of his flesh, and of his bones, be fitting? But consider: Adam was formed, Christ was born; from Adam's side came corruption, from Christ's side gushed forth life; in paradise death sprouted, on his cross its destruction has occurred. 4. As therefore the Son of God is of our nature, so are we of his substance; and as he has us in himself, so also we have him in us. For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. Behold also a third ground; for he shows that a man leaves those who begat him and from whom he was born, and is intertwined with her; and thenceforth the flesh, the father and the mother and the child, is blended from the union of both; for when the seeds have been mixed, the child is born; so that 62.140 the three are one flesh. Thus therefore we become one flesh with Christ through participation; and we much more than the child. Why so? Because from the beginning it has been so. Do not tell me that she is such and such. Do you not see that even in the flesh we have many defects? For one is lame, another has crooked feet, another withered hands, another some other weak member; and yet he does not feel pain nor cut it off, but often even prefers it to the other; reasonably so; for it is his own. As much love, therefore, as each has for himself, so much he wants us to have for his wife; not because we share one nature, but this claim upon us with respect to the wife is greater. since they are no longer two bodies, but one, he being the head, and she the body. And how does he say elsewhere, But the head of Christ is God? This I also say, that just as we are one body, so also Christ and the Father are one. The Father, then, is found to be our head also. He sets down two examples, that of the body, and that of Christ; wherefore he also adds: This mystery is great; but I speak in reference to Christ and to the Church. What is this? He calls it a great mystery, because the blessed Moses, or rather God, hinted at something great and wonderful; for the present, however, I speak, he says, in reference to Christ, that he too, leaving the Father, came down, and came to the bride, and became one spirit: For he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. And he said well, It is a great mystery; as if he were to say: But yet the allegory does not subvert love. Nevertheless, you also individually, let each one so love his own wife as himself; and let the wife see that she fears her husband. For truly, truly

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μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ, Ἔσονται, φησὶν, εἰς σάρκα μίαν. Καθὼς καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἠγάπησε τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν. Ἐπὶ τὸ πρῶτον ὑπόδειγμα ἦλθεν. Ὅτι μέλη ἐσμὲν τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ, ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐκ τῶν ὀστῶν αὐτοῦ. Πῶς; Ἀπὸ γὰρ τῆς ἡμετέρας γέγονεν ὕλης, ὥσπερ καὶ ἡ Εὔα σὰρξ ἀπὸ τῆς σαρκὸς τοῦ Ἀδάμ. Καλῶς δὲ ὀστῶν καὶ σαρκὸς ἐμνημόνευσε· ταῦτα γάρ ἐστιν ἐν ἡμῖν τὰ κυριώτερα, σάρκες καὶ ὀστᾶ· τὰ μὲν ὥσπερ τις τρόπις ὑποκείμενα, τὰ δὲ ὥσπερ οἰκοδομία. Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνο μὲν δῆλον· τοῦτο δὲ πῶς; Ὥσπερ ἐκεῖ τοσαύτη ἐγγύτης ἐστὶν, οὕτω, φησὶ, καὶ ἐνταῦθα. Τί ἐστιν, ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ; Τουτέστι, γνησίως ἐξ αὐτοῦ. Καὶ πῶς τοῦ Χριστοῦ μέλη οὕτως ἐσμέν; Ὅτι κατ' αὐτὸν γεγενήμεθα. Καὶ πῶς ἐκ τῆς σαρκός; Ἴστε ὅσοι μετέχετε μυστηρίων· ἐκ τούτου γὰρ εὐθέως ἀναπλαττόμεθα. Καὶ πῶς; Πάλιν ἄκουε τοῦ μακαρίου τούτου λέγοντος· Ἐπεὶ οὖν τὰ παιδία κεκοινώνηκε σαρκὸς καὶ αἵματος, παραπλησίως καὶ αὐτὸς μετέσχε τῶν αὐτῶν. Ἀλλ' ἐνταῦθα αὐτὸς ἡμῖν ἐκοινώνησεν, οὐχ ἡμεῖς αὐτῷ· πῶς οὖν ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ ἐσμεν, καὶ ἐκ τῶν ὀστῶν αὐτοῦ; Τινὲς τὸ αἷμά φασι καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ, οὐκ ἔστι δέ· ἀλλ' ὅπερ δηλοῦν βούλεται, τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὅτι ὥσπερ ἄνευ συνουσίας ἐκεῖνος γεγέννηται ἐκ Πνεύματος ἁγίου, οὕτω καὶ ἡμεῖς γεννώμεθα ἐν τῷ λουτρῷ. Ὅρα πόσα ὑποδείγματα, ὥστε πιστευθῆναι τὴν γέννησιν ἐκείνην. Ὢ τῆς ἀνοίας τῶν αἱρετικῶν! τὸ ἤδη τεχθὲν ἐξ ὕδατος, ὅτι τίκτεται, γέννημα ἀληθινὸν ὁμολογοῦσιν· ὅτι δὲ γινώμεθα αὐτοῦ σῶμα, οὐ δέχονται. Ἂν τοίνυν τοῦτο μὴ γινώμεθα, πῶς ἁρμόσει τὸ, Ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐκ τῶν ὀστέων αὐτοῦ, λεγόμενον; Σκόπει δέ· ἐπλάσθη ὁ Ἀδὰμ, ἐτέχθη ὁ Χριστός· ἐκ τῆς πλευρᾶς τοῦ Ἀδὰμ εἰσῆλθε φθορὰ, ἐκ τῆς πλευρᾶς τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐπήγασεν ἡ ζωή· ἐν παραδείσῳ ἐβλάστησε θάνατος, ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ αὐτοῦ ἡ ἀναίρεσις γέγονεν. δʹ. Ὡς οὖν ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ τῆς ἡμετέρας φύσεως, οὕτως ἡμεῖς τῆς οὐσίας αὐτοῦ· καὶ ὡς ἡμᾶς ἐκεῖνος ἔχει ἐν ἑαυτῷ, οὕτω καὶ ἡμεῖς αὐτὸν ἔχομεν ἐν ἡμῖν. Ἀντὶ τούτου καταλείψει ἄνθρωπος τὸν πατέρα αὑτοῦ καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὑτοῦ, καὶ προσκολληθήσεται πρὸς τὴν γυναῖκα αὑτοῦ, καὶ ἔσονται οἱ δύο εἰς σάρκα μίαν. Ἰδοὺ καὶ τρίτον δικαίωμα· δείκνυσι γὰρ, ὅτι τοὺς γεννησαμένους τις ἀφεὶς καὶ ἐξ ὧν ἔφυ, ἐκείνῃ συμπλέκεται· καὶ λοιπὸν ἡ σὰρξ ὁ πατὴρ καὶ ἡ μήτηρ καὶ ὁ παῖς ἐστιν ἐκ τῆς ἑκατέρου συνουσίας συγκραθεῖσα· καὶ γὰρ μιγέντων τῶν σπερμάτων, τίκτεται ὁ παῖς· ὥστε 62.140 τοὺς τρεῖς εἶναι μίαν σάρκα. Οὕτως οὖν ἡμεῖς πρὸς τὸν Χριστὸν γινόμεθα μία σὰρξ διὰ μετουσίας· καὶ πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἡμεῖς, ἢ τὸ παιδίον. Τί δή ποτε; Ὅτι ἐξ ἀρχῆς οὕτω γέγονε. Μή μοι λέγε, ὅτι τοιάδε ἐστί, καὶ τοιάδε ἐστίν. Οὐχ ὁρᾷς, ὅτι καὶ ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ πολλὰ ἔχομεν ἐλαττώματα; Ὁ μὲν γάρ ἐστι χωλὸς, ὁ δὲ διεστραμμένους ἔχει τοὺς πόδας, ἕτερος χεῖρας ξηρὰς, ἄλλος ἄλλο τι μέλος ἀσθενές· καὶ ὅμως οὐκ ἀλγεῖ οὐδὲ ἐκκόπτει, ἀλλὰ καὶ προτίθησιν αὐτὸ πολλάκις τοῦ ἄλλου· εἰκότως· αὐτοῦ γάρ ἐστιν. Ὅσην τοίνυν ἕκαστος πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἀγάπην ἔχει, τοσαύτην πρὸς τὴν γυναῖκα ἡμᾶς βούλεται ἔχειν· οὐχ ὅτι φύσεως μιᾶς κοινωνοῦμεν, ἀλλὰ πλέον τοῦτο ἡμῖν τὸ δικαίωμα τὸ πρὸς τὴν γυναῖκα. ἐπειδὴ οὐκέτι δύο εἰσὶ σώματα, ἀλλ' ἓν, ὁ μὲν κεφαλὴ ὢν, ἡ δὲ σῶμα. Καὶ πῶς φησιν ἀλλαχοῦ, Κεφαλὴ δὲ Χριστοῦ ὁ Θεός; Τοῦτο καὶ ἐγώ φημι, ὅτι ὥσπερ ἓν σῶμα ἡμεῖς, οὕτω καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἕν. Εὑρίσκεται ἄρα καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ κεφαλὴ ἡμῶν ὤν. ∆ύο τίθησιν ὑποδείγματα, τὸ τοῦ σώματος, καὶ τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ· διὸ καὶ ἐπάγει· Τὸ μυστήριον τοῦτο μέγα ἐστίν· ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω εἰς Χριστὸν καὶ εἰς τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν. Τί ἐστι τοῦτο; Μέγα μυστήριον αὐτό φησιν, ὅτι μέγα τι καὶ θαυμαστὸν ᾐνίξατο ὁ μακάριος Μωϋσῆς, μᾶλλον δὲ ὁ Θεός· τέως μέντοι, Εἰς Χριστὸν, φησὶ, λέγω, ὅτι καὶ αὐτὸς τὸν Πατέρα ἀφεὶς κατῆλθε, καὶ ἦλθε πρὸς τὴν νύμφην, καὶ ἐγένετο εἰς πνεῦμα ἕν· Ὁ κολλώμενος γὰρ τῷ Κυρίῳ, ἓν πνεῦμά ἐστι. Καὶ καλῶς εἶπε· Μέγα μυστήριόν ἐστιν· ὡς ἂν εἰ ἔλεγε· Πλὴν ἀλλ' οὐχ ἡ ἀλληγορία ἀνατρέπει τὴν ἀγάπην. Πλὴν καὶ ὑμεῖς οἱ καθ' ἕνα, ἕκαστος τὴν ἑαυτοῦ γυναῖκα οὕτως ἀγαπάτω, ὡς ἑαυτόν· ἡ δὲ γυνὴ ἵνα φοβῆται τὸν ἄνδρα. Ὄντως γὰρ, ὄντως