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the fragrance of His knowledge and wisdom, so that those hearing the words of your teaching may smell the fragrance in the senses of the soul and rejoice with spiritual gladness. But the multitudes gathered to you and singing loudly to God, signify to you the heavenly orders and the innumerable powers of the angels, who for your salvation praise the heavenly Master. And the praise and the hymn, (370) sung by them, alludes to that mystical hymn, which the holy angels sing without ceasing, so that you too might make yourself such a one and, as an earthly angel with the immaterial mouth of your heart, you might unceasingly praise mystically the God who has fashioned you. And the friends and acquaintances and the rulers who are present teach you by their presence that you must become numbered among and live together with the apostles, prophets, martyrs and all the saints, through every work of the commandments and through the wealth of virtues. If you reason thus while celebrating and have become such as the discourse has depicted, you celebrate a spiritual feast in what you do while celebrating, and you celebrate together with the powers of the angels above. But if not so, and you have not made yourself such a one through the working of the commandments, what is the benefit to you in celebrating? There is a fear that you too, like the Jews of old, may hear, “I will turn,” He says, “your feasts into mourning and changing your joy into sorrow.” What then? Shall we not celebrate bodily and sensibly, if we are not able to become such as you have shown us in the discourse? By all means. “Celebrate,” he says, and perform what is for the honor of God and His saints, with as much strength as you have, and summon all, if possible, kings, rulers, high priests, levites, monastics, laity, so that through all God may be glorified through you, and their glory, as being offered up to God from you alone, will be reckoned to you and you shall be well-pleasing to Him. But do not suppose that by this you glorify God and His saints or make any addition to their glory. For how? “For that which was made glorious,” he says, “has no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excels,” (371) nor are the saints in need of earthly and human glory. But so that you may receive mercy from God through their intercession, celebrate. But even so, do not suppose what is happening to be a true feast for you, but rather consider this a type and shadow and symbol of a feast. For what communion, tell me, could sensible and inanimate things, completely devoid of sensation, ever have with intelligible and divine and animate things, or rather to say, spiritual and living things, and providers of eternal life? Let your feast, celebrating reasonably and piously, be not the light of lamps that is extinguished in a short time, but purely the lamp of your soul itself, which is the knowledge of divine and heavenly realities, supplied by the Holy Spirit to the Israelite mind. Let this shine forth for you throughout your whole life, appearing to all in the worldwide house brighter than the rays of the sun, a pure light of the word seasoned with the salt of the Spirit, according to the commanding precept: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Instead of many lamps, let there be for you the luminous concepts, through which the whole cosmos of virtues is woven and the variety of the spiritual temple and its beauty are splendidly shown to those who see rightly. Instead of myrrh and spices, let the intelligible fragrance of the Holy Spirit give you its sweet scent, whose odor is ineffable and whose exhalation is luminous to the sense of smell. Instead of a multitude of people, let the orders of holy angels gather with you, glorifying God for you and ever rejoicing at your salvation and ascent and progress.

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εὐωδίαν τῆς γνώσεως καί τῆς σοφίας αὐτοῦ, ἵνα οἱ ἀκούοντες τῶν λόγων τῆς διδασκαλίας σου εὐωδιάζωνται τά αἰσθητήρια τῆς ψυχῆς καί εὐφραίνωνται εὐφροσύνην πνευματικήν. Τά δέ συναθροισθέντα σοι πλήθη καί ᾄδοντα μεγαλοφώνως Θεῷ, τά οὐράνιά σοι τάγματα παραδηλοῦσι καί τάς ἀναριθμήτους τῶν ἀγγέλων δυνάμεις, τάς ἐπί τῇ σῇ σωτηρίᾳ τόν οὐράνιον ἀνυμνούσας ∆εσπότην. Ὁ αἶνος δέ καί ὁ ὕμνος, (370) ὁ δι᾿ αὐτῶν μελῳδούμενος, τόν ὕμνον ἐκεῖνον τόν μυστικόν, ὅν ἀσιγήτως οἱ ἅγιοι ἀναμέλπουσιν ἄγγελοι, ὑπαινίττεται, ὡς ἄν καί αὐτός ἑαυτόν τοιοῦτον ἀποτελέσῃς καί ὡς ἐπίγειος ἄγγελος τῷ ἀΰλῳ στόματι ἀκαταπαύστως τῆς καρδίας σου ἀνυμνῇς τόν πεποικότα σε Θεόν μυστικῶς. Οἱ δέ γε φίλοι καί γνωστοί καί τῶν ἀρχόντων οἱ συμπαρόντες διδάσκουσί σε διά τῆς παρουσίας ὅτι δεῖ σε συναρίθμιον καί ὁμοδίαιτον διά πάσης ἐργασίας τῶν ἐντολῶν καί διά τοῦ πλούτου τῶν ἀρετῶν ἀποστόλων, προφητῶν, μαρτύρων καί πάντων γενέσθαι ὁσίων. Ἐάν οὕτως ἑορτάζων λογίζῃ καί τοιοῦτος γέγονας οἷον ὁ λόγος ἀναζωγράφησεν, ἑορτήν ἑορτάζεις ἐν οἷς ποιεῖς ἑορτάζων πνευματικήν καί συνεορτάζεις ταῖς ἄνω τῶν ἀγγέλων δυνάμεσι. Εἰ δέ οὐχ οὕτως οὐδέ τοιοῦτον σεαυτόν διά τῆς ἐργασίας τῶν ἐντολῶν ἀπειργάσω, τί σοι τό ὄφελος ἑορτάζοντι; ∆έος μή καί σύ, ὡς οἱ πάλαι Ἰουδαῖοι, ἀκούσῃς «Μεταστρέψω, φησίν, εἰς πένθος τάς ἑορτάς σου καί τήν χαράν σου εἰς λύπην μεταβαλών». Τί οὖν; Οὐχ ἑορτάσομεν σωματικῶς τε καί αἰσθητῶς, εἰ μή τοιοῦτοι δυνηθῶμεν γενέσθαι οἵους ἡμῖν τῷ λόγῳ ὑπέδειξας; Καί πάνυ μέν οὖν. «Ἑόρταζε» φησί, καί τά πρός τιμήν Θεοῦ καί τῶν ἁγίων αὐτοῦ ἐπιτέλει, ὅση σοι δύναμις, καί πάντας, εἰ οἷόν τε, συγκάλει, βασιλεῖς, ἄρχοντας, ἀρχιερεῖς, λευΐτας, μοναστάς, λαϊκούς, ἵνα διά πάντων δοξασθῇ ὁ Θεός διά σοῦ καί τούτων ἡ δόξα, ὡς ἐξ ἑνός σοῦ ἀναφερομένη πρός τόν Θεόν, σοί λογισθήσεται καί αὐτῷ εὐαπόδεκτος ἔσῃ. Μή οἵου δέ ὡς ἐντεῦθεν τόν Θεόν καί τούς ἁγίους δοξάζειν αὐτοῦ ἤ προσθήκην τινά τῆς δόξης αὐτοῖς ἐμποιεῖν. Πῶς γάρ; «Οὐ γάρ δεδόξασται, φησί, τό δεδοξασμένον ἕνεκα τῆς ὑπερβαλλούσης δόξης αὐτοῦ», (371) οὐδέ ἐνδεῶς ἔχουσιν οἱ ἅγιοι δόξης ἐπιγείου καί ἀνθρωπίνης. Ἀλλ᾿ ὅπως ἐλέους τύχῃς ἀπό Θεοῦ διά τῆς ἐκείνων πρεσβείας, ἑόρταζε. Ἀλλά μηδέ οὕτως ἑορτήν σοι ἀληθινήν εἶναι τό γινόμενον ὑποτόπαζε, τύπον δέ μᾶλλον καί σκιάν καί σύμβολον ἑορτῆς τοῦτο λογίζου. Ποίαν γάρ, εἰπέ μοι, κοινωνίαν σχοῖέν ποτε τά αἰσθητά καί ἄψυχα καί πάντῃ αἰσθήσεως ἄμοιρα πρός τά νοητά καί θεῖα καί ἔμψυχα, ἤ πνευματικά μᾶλλον εἰπεῖν καί ζῶντα καί ζωῆς αἰωνίου παρεκτικά; Ἔστω σοι ἑορτή, λελογισμένως καί εὐσεβῶς ἑορτάζοντι, μή λαμπάδων φῶς εἰς τό ὀλίγον σβεννύμενον, ἀλλά αὐτή καθαρῶς ἡ τῆς ψυχῆς σου λαμπάς, ἥτις ἡ γνῶσις ὑπάρχει τῶν θείων καί οὐρανίων πραγμάτων, ἡ ὑπό τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος χορηγουμένη τῷ Ἰσραηλιτικῷ τήν διάνοιαν. Αὕτη ἔστω σοι διά πάσης ἐκλάμπουσα τῆς ζωῆς σου, ὑπέρ τάς τοῦ ἡλίου ἀκτῖνας φαίνουσα πᾶσι τοῖς ἐν τῇ παγκοσμίῳ οἰκίᾳ, φῶς καθαρόν τοῦ λόγου ἠρτυμένον τῷ τοῦ Πνεύματος ἅλατι, κατά τήν κελεύουσαν ἐντολήν «Λαμψάτω τό φῶς ὑμῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὅπως ἴδωσι τά καλά ἔργα ὑμῶν καί δοξάσωσι τόν Πατέρα ὑμῶν τόν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς». Ἀντί λύχνων πολλῶν, ἔστωσάν σοι αἱ φωτοειδεῖς ἔννοιαι, δι᾿ ὧν ὁ κόσμος ἅπας τῶν ἀρετῶν ἐξυφαίνεται καί ἡ ποικιλία τοῦ πνευματικοῦ ναοῦ καί τοῦ κάλλους αὐτοῦ λαμπρῶς τοῖς ὁρῶσι ὀρθῶς ὑποδείκνυται. Ἀντί μύρων καί ἀρωμάτων, εὐωδιαζέτω σε ἡ νοητή τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος εὐωδία, ἧς ἄρρητος ἡ ὀσμή καί ἡ ἀναθυμίασις φωτοειδής τῆς ὀσφρήσεως. Ἀντί πλήθους λαοῦ, συνίτωσάν σοι τά τάγματα τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων δοξάζοντα τόν Θεόν ἐπί σοί καί ἀεί χαιρόμενα ἐπί τῇ σωτηρίᾳ καί ἀναβάσει καί προκοπῇ σου.