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to hope in the Lord or to hope in a ruler.” 4.226 Preparing this virtue of humility, God commands in Jeremiah: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor let the strong man boast in his strength, nor the rich man in his wealth, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands the Lord, and does judgment and mercy in the midst of the earth.” The same things the mother of Samuel thankfully uttered, having given birth miraculously, only changing “the wise man in his wisdom,” putting forth in its place: “Let not the prudent man boast in his prudence.” 4.227 All forbidden boasting is blameworthy and harmful, as James wrote generally about all things in his epistle: “All such boasting is evil,” bringing shame and reproach, as Jeremiah said most reprovingly to those who put on airs: “Be ashamed of your boasting and of your reproach” all the day. To someone possessed by such vanity and love of glory the word says: “Why do you boast in evil, O mighty one, iniquity all the day?” 4.228 But the boast of the house of David is magnified and the pride of the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the Savior who arose from Judah. And this happens when those who seem to be of the church think they succeed by their own power and not by the grace of Him who said: “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.” 4.229 Zach. XII, 8: And it shall be in that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and he that is feeble among them in that day shall be as the house of David, and the house of David as the house of God, as an angel of the Lord before them. 4.230 In the day in which the mighty deeds of the chiliarchs of Judah occurred, the Lord magnificently defends the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the saying being fulfilled for each of them concerning “him who dwells in the help of the most High”: “His truth will surround you as a shield.” And in another psalm, the Lord defends those who fear him, as each one says: “For you are my defender, into your hands I will commit my spirit.” 4.231 It shall be for the inhabitants of the spiritual Jerusalem to take up and put on the full armor of God, having girded their loins with truth and their feet secured with shoes in preparation of a peace befitting God, moreover having put on the breastplate of righteousness, above all to take up the shield of faith with which will be quenched the flaming arrows of the evil one. 4.232 With the King of all creation fighting for the inhabitants of the great city Jerusalem with his shield, there will be strength and power, so that he who was formerly weak among them will receive the strength of the house of David, “the Church of the living God” being the temple of God, so that each of those having ecclesiastical knowledge and virtue cries out by way of a hymn: “The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” 4.233 And since those who say these things, while walking on earth, have a heavenly citizenship, being almost equal to angels, rising from the dead, it is fitting that the house of David, which is interpreted as “strong of hand,” will be an angel of God, having the gift and the preeminence from the one born of the immaculate virgin Mary, who is called “angel of great counsel,” as Isaiah, who often proclaimed beforehand his coming hither, said from the person of the choir of saints: “A child is born to us, and a son is given, and his name is called angel of great counsel.” 4.234 We must attend to the precision of the prophecy which reveals to us that the infant from Mary has been born, but that the Son, the Only-Begotten from the bosom of the Father, has been given. For a son was not given, a child not having been born to us, according to the Docetists who think impiously, nor again has the child of the virgin been born, the Father not having given

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ἐλπίζειν ἐπὶ Κύριον ἢ ἐλπίζειν ἐπ' ἄρχοντα.» 4.226 Ταύτην τὴν ἐν ἀτυφίᾳ παρασκευάζων ἀρετὴν ἐν Ἰερεμίᾳ ὁ Θεὸς ἐντέλλεται· «Μὴ καυχάσθω ὁ σοφὸς ἐπὶ τῇ σοφίᾳ αὐτοῦ, μηδὲ καυχάσθω ὁ ἰσχυρὸς ἐπὶ τῇ ἰσχύϊ αὐτοῦ, μηδὲ ὁ πλούσιος ἐπὶ τῷ πλούτῳ αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ' ἢ ἐν τούτῳ καυχάσθω ὁ καυχώμενος, ἐπὶ τῷ συνιέναι τὸν Κύριον, ποιεῖν τε κρίμα καὶ ἔλεον ἐν μέσῳ τῆς γῆς.» Τὰ αὐτὰ χαριστηρίως ἀνεφθέγξατο παραδόξως τεκοῦσα ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ Σαμουήλ, μόνον ἐναλλάξασα τὸ «ὁ σοφὸς ἐπὶ τῇ σοφίᾳ αὐτοῦ», ἀντ' αὐτοῦ προενέγκασα· «Μὴ καυχάσθω ὁ φρόνιμος ἐπὶ τῇ φρονήσει αὐτοῦ.» 4.227 Πᾶσα ἀπαγορευομένη ἡ καύχησις ψεκτὴ καὶ ἐπιβλαβὴς τυγχάνει, ὡς χαράξαι περὶ πάντων καθόλου τὸν Ἰάκωβον ἐν τῇ ἐπιστολῇ ἑαυτοῦ· «Πᾶσα καύχησις τοιαύτη πονηρά ἐστιν», αἰσχύνην καὶ ὀνειδισμὸν ἐπιφέρουσα, ὡς τὸν Ἰερεμίαν ἐλεγκτικώτατα τοῖς ἐναβρυνομένοις λέγειν· «Αἰσχύνεσθε ἀπὸ καυχήσεως ὑμῶν καὶ ἀπὸ ὀνειδισμοῦ» ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν. Πρός τινα ἐνεχόμενον τῇ τοιαύτῃ χαυνότητι καὶ φιλοδοξίᾳ ὁ λόγος φησίν· «Τί ἐγκαυχᾷ ἐν κακίᾳ, ὁ δυνατός, ἀνομίαν ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν;» 4.228 Μεγαλύνεται δὲ τὸ καύχημα τοῦ οἴκου ∆αυὶδ καὶ ἔπαρσις τῶν κατοικούντων Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐπὶ τὸν ἐξ Ἰούδα ἀνατείλαντα Σωτῆρα. Συμβαίνει δὲ τοῦτο ὅταν οἱ δοκοῦντες εἶναι ἐκκλησιαστικοὶ ἰδίᾳ δυνάμει κατορθοῦν οἰῶνται καὶ μὴ χάριτι τοῦ εἰρηκότος· «Μάθετε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ ὅτι πραῢς καὶ ταπεινός εἰμι τῇ καρδίᾳ.» 4.229 Zach. XII, 8: Καὶ ἔσται ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ὑπερασπιεῖ Κύριος ὑπὲρ τῶν κατοικούντων Ἰερουσαλήμ, καὶ ἔσται ὁ ἀσθενῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ὡς οἶκος ∆αυίδ, ὁ δὲ οἶκος ∆αυὶδ ὡς οἶκος Θεοῦ, ὡς ἄγγελος Κυρίου ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν. 4.230 Ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐν ᾗ γέγονεν τὰ ἀνδραγαθήματα τῶν χιλιάρχων Ἰούδα, μεγαλοπρεπῶς ὑπερασπιεῖ ὁ Κύριος τῶν κατοικούντων τὴν Ἰερουσαλήμ, πληρουμένου ἐφ' ἑκάστου αὐτῶν τοῦ εἰρημένου περὶ «τοῦ κατοικοῦντος ἐν βοηθείᾳ τοῦ ὑψίστου»· «Ὅπλῳ κυκλώσει σε ἡ ἀλήθεια αὐτοῦ.» Καὶ ἐν ἄλλῳ ψαλμῷ, ὑπερασπιεῖ Κύριος τῶν φοβουμένων αὐτόν, ὡς ἕκαστον λέγειν· «Ὅτι σὺ ὁ ὑπερασπιστής μου, εἰς χεῖράς σου παραθήσομαι τὸ πνεῦμά μου.» 4.231 Ὑπάρξεται τοῖς κατοικοῦσιν τὴν πνευματικὴν Ἰερουσαλὴμ τὸ ἀναλαβεῖν καὶ ἐνδύσασθαι τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ πανοπλίαν, ζωσαμένους τὴν ὀσφὺν ἐν ἀληθείᾳ καὶ τοὺς πόδας ἠσφαλισμένους ἐν ὑποδήμασιν ἐν ἑτοιμασίᾳ θεοπρεποῦς εἰρήνης, ἔτι μὴν θώρακα δικαιοσύνης ἐνδυσαμένους, ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἀναλ̣αβεῖν τὸν θυρεὸν τῆς πίστεως ἐν ᾧ σβεσθήσεται τὰ πεπυρωμένα βέλη τοῦ πονηροῦ. 4.232 Τοῦ βασιλέως πάσης τῆς κτίσεως ὑπερμαχοῦντος ἀσπίδι τῇ ἑαυτοῦ τῶν κατοικούντων τὴν μεγαλόπολιν Ἰερουσαλήμ, ἰσχὺς καὶ δύναμις ἔσται, ὡς τὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς πρότερον ἀσθενοῦντα σθένος ἀναλαβεῖν τοῦ οἴκου ∆αυίδ, «τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τοῦ ζῶντος Θεοῦ» ὑπαρχούσης ναοῦ Θεοῦ, ὡς ἕκαστον τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικὴν γνῶσιν καὶ ἀρετὴν ἐχόντων βοᾶν ὑμνῳδίας τρόπῳ· «Ἰσχύς μου καὶ ἡ ὕμνησίς μου Κύριος, καὶ ἐγένετό μοι εἰς σωτηρίαν.» 4.233 Καὶ ἐπεὶ οἱ ταῦτα λέγοντες ἐπὶ γῆς περιπατοῦντες οὐράνιον ἔχουσι πολιτείαν, ὅσον οὐδέπω ἰσάγγελοι ἐκ νεκρῶν ἐγειρόμενοι, εἰκότως ὁ τοῦ ∆αυὶδ οἶκος, τοῦ ἑρμηνευομένου ἱκανοῦ χειρί, Θεοῦ ἄγγελος ἔσται, σχὼν τὴν δωρεὰν καὶ τὴν ὑπεροχὴν πρὸς τοῦ γεννηθέντος ἐκ τῆς ἀχράντου παρθένου Μαρίας, καλουμένου «ἀγγέλου βουλῆς μεγάλης», ὡς ὁ πολλάκις προαναφωνῶν αὐτοῦ τὴν δεῦρο κάθοδον Ἠσαίας εἶπεν ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ χοροῦ τῶν ἁγίων· «Παιδίον ἐγεννήθη ἡμῖν καὶ υἱὸς ἐδόθη καὶ καλεῖται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ μεγάλης βουλῆς ἄγγελος.» 4.234 Ἐπιστατέον τῇ ἀκριβείᾳ τῆς προφητείας φανερούσης ἡμῖν γεγεννῆσθαι τὸ ἐκ τῆς Μαρίας βρέφος, τὸν δὲ Υἱὸν δεδόσθαι τὸν ἐκ τῶν κόλπων τοῦ Πατρὸς Μονογενῆ. Οὐ γὰρ ἐδόθη υἱός, μὴ γεννηθέντος ἡμῖν παιδίου κατὰ τοὺς δοκητὰς ἀσεβῶς φρονοῦντας, οὐδ' αὖ γεγέννηται τὸ τέκνον τῆς παρθένου, οὐ δεδωκότος τοῦ Πατρὸς