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The feast of all feasts has arrived, and has filled the world with gladness; a feast which is the citadel of all good things, the source and root of our blessings, through which heaven was opened, the Spirit was sent down, the middle wall of partition was taken away, the barrier was loosed, things separated were united, darkness was extinguished, the light shone, heaven received the nature from earth, earth him who sits upon the Cherubim; slaves have become free, enemies sons, strangers heirs. Through it the long-standing enmity was destroyed and the long war, and the peace long-desired by both angels and the just has come. And Paul cries out, saying: Christ is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of the barrier, the enmity in his flesh. Through it was erected the bright and glorious trophy of the cross, the spoils of Christ, the first-fruits of our nature, the plunder of our King. What, then, could be equal to this feast? God on earth, man in heaven, angels dance with men, men have fellowship with angels and the other powers above; demons flee, death is loosed, paradise is opened, the curse has vanished, sin has been put out of the way, error is driven off, truth has returned; and the nature, 63.822 for which the Cherubim guarded paradise, is united to God today. Do not, then, be held in doubt on hearing these things; for what is full of astonishment, and beyond all hope and expectation, is for God to become man; but this having happened, all that follows after comes in a logical and sequential manner. For not rashly and in vain did he so humble himself, unless he was going to exalt us. Therefore, he was born according to the flesh, that you might be born according to the spirit; he was born of a woman, that you might cease to be the son of a woman; he endured a slave to become his father, that he might make the Master a father to you, the slave. Therefore let us all exult and leap for joy, rejoicing in our own good things. For if the patriarch Abraham rejoiced to see the day of the Lord, and he saw it, and was glad; much more should we, seeing God in swaddling clothes, that awesome and paradoxical sight, rejoice and exult and marvel and be astonished at the greatness of so great a benefit. But how did this wonderful and great thing come to be? how were we who had stumbled, who were shown to be unworthy of the earth, and who had fallen from the dominion below, raised to such a height? how was the war ended? how was the wrath taken away? How? for this is the wonderful and astonishing thing, that not by us who had stumbled running to him, nor by the enemies and foes being cast down, 63.823 but by him who was justly indignant calling to us, so peace came to be. For we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us. What is this? He is insulted, and he pleads? Yes, he says; for he is good, and for this reason he pleads; and, if you wish, taking the argument further up we will try to show that, even with no prior achievement by man, through goodness alone He has gifted him with both present and future things. But pay close attention. Before the angels and the other powers in the heavens came to be, God was, never having taken a beginning of being, but being ever without need; for such is the Divine. He made angels, archangels, and other incorporeal beings; and he made them for no other reason, but for goodness alone; for of those whose service he had no need, he would not have become the creator, were he not exceedingly good. And after their creation he also makes man, for this same reason again, and this whole world; and having filled it with countless good things, he set that small and humble one over so many works, declaring him to be on earth what He himself is in the heavens. And having made him, and established him in such honor, as a palace for a king, he appointed paradise, the most beautiful of places on earth. And not with this alone did he dignify him, but also reason

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Ἡ πασῶν τῶν ἑορτῶν ἐπεδήμησεν ἑορτὴ, καὶ τὴν οἰκουμένην εὐφροσύνης ἐπλήρωσεν· ἑορτὴ ἡ τῶν καλῶν ἁπάντων ἀκρόπολις, ἡ πηγὴ καὶ ῥίζα τῶν παρ' ἡμῖν ἀγαθῶν, δι' ἧς ὁ οὐρανὸς ἀνεῴχθη, πνεῦμα κατεπέμφθη, τὸ μεσότοιχον ἀνῃρέθη, ὁ φραγμὸς ἐλύθη, τὰ διεστῶτα ἡνώθη, τὸ σκότος ἐσβέσθη, τὸ φῶς ἔλαμψεν, οὐρανὸς ἐδέξατο τὴν φύσιν τὴν ἀπὸ γῆς, γῆ τὸν ἐπὶ τῶν Χερουβὶμ καθήμενον· οἱ δοῦλοι γεγόνασιν ἐλεύθεροι, οἱ ἐχθροὶ υἱοὶ, οἱ ἀλλότριοι κληρονόμοι. ∆ι' αὐτῆς ἡ χρονία ἔχθρα κατελύθη καὶ ὁ μακρὸς πόλεμος, καὶ ἡ πάλαι ποθουμένη καὶ ἀγγέλοις καὶ δικαίοις παραγέγονεν εἰρήνη. Καὶ βοᾷ Παῦλος λέγων· Χριστός ἐστιν ἡ εἰρήνη ἡμῶν, ὁ ποιήσας τὰ ἀμφότερα ἓν, καὶ τὸ μεσότοιχον τοῦ φραγμοῦ λύσας, τὴν ἔχθραν ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ αὐτοῦ. ∆ι' αὐτῆς τὸ τρόπαιον ἔστη τοῦ σταυροῦ τὸ λαμπρὸν καὶ περιφανὲς, τὰ λάφυρα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, τὰ ἀκροθίνια τῆς φύσεως τῆς ἡμετέρας, τὰ σκῦλα τοῦ βασιλέως ἡμῶν. Τί ποτ' οὖν τῆς ἑορτῆς ταύτης ἴσον γένοιτ' ἄν; Θεὸς ἐπὶ γῆς, ἄνθρωπος ἐν οὐρανῷ, ἄγγελοι συγχορεύουσιν ἀνθρώποις, ἄνθρωποι τοῖς ἀγγέλοις κοινωνοῦσι καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις ταῖς ἄνω δυνάμεσι· δαίμονες δραπετεύουσι, θάνατος λέλυται, παράδεισος ἀνέῳκται, κατάρα ἠφάνισται, ἁμαρτία ἐκποδὼν ἐγεγόνει, πλάνη ἀπελήλαται, ἀλήθεια ἐπανῆλθε· καὶ ἡ φύσις, 63.822 δι' ἣν ἐφύλαττε τὸν παράδεισον τὰ Χερουβὶμ, τῷ Θεῷ ἥνωται σήμερον. Μὴ οὖν ἀπορίᾳ συνέχου ταῦτα ἀκούων· τὸ γὰρ ἐκπλήξεως γέμον, καὶ ὑπὲρ ἐλπίδα καὶ προσδοκίαν ἅπασαν, ἄνθρωπον γενέσθαι Θεόν· τούτου δὲ γενομένου, τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα ἅπαντα κατὰ λόγον καὶ ἀκολουθίαν ἕπεται. Οὐδὲ γὰρ εἰκῆ καὶ μάτην τοσοῦτον ἑαυτὸν ἐταπείνωσεν, εἰ μὴ ἔμελλεν ἡμᾶς ἀνυψοῦν. Ἐγεννήθη τοίνυν κατὰ σάρκα, ἵνα γεννηθῇς κατὰ πνεῦμα· ἐγεννήθη ἐκ γυναικὸς, ἵνα παύσῃ γυναικὸς ὢν υἱός· ἠνέσχετο πατέρα αὐτοῦ γενέσθαι δοῦλον, ἵνα σοὶ τῷ δούλῳ πατέρα ποιήσῃ τὸν ∆εσπότην. Οὐκοῦν ἀγαλλιασώμεθα καὶ σκιρτήσωμεν ἅπαντες, ἐν τοῖς ἡμετέροις ἀγαθοῖς εὐφραινόμενοι. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ πατριάρχης Ἀβραὰμ ἠγαλλιάσατο ἰδεῖν τὴν ἡμέραν Κυρίου, καὶ εἶδε, καὶ ἐχάρη· πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἡμᾶς Θεὸν ἐν σπαργάνοις ὁρῶντας, τὸ φρικτὸν ἐκεῖνο καὶ παράδοξον θέαμα, χαίρειν καὶ ἀγάλλεσθαι χρὴ καὶ θαυμάζειν καὶ ἐκπλήττεσθαι τῆς τοσαύτης αὐτοῦ εὐεργεσίας τὸ μέγεθος. Ἀλλὰ πῶς τοῦτο γέγονε τὸ θαυμαστὸν καὶ μέγα; πῶς ἡμεῖς οἱ προσκεκρουκότες, οἱ τῆς γῆς ἀνάξιοι φανέντες, καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς τῆς κάτωθεν ἐκπεσόντες, πρὸς τοσοῦτον ὕψος ἀνήχθημεν; πῶς ὁ πόλεμος κατελύθη; πῶς ἡ ὀργὴ ἀνῃρέθη; Πῶς; τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ θαυμαστὸν καὶ ἐκπλήξεως γέμον, ὅτι οὐχ ἡμῶν τῶν προσκεκρουκότων προσδραμόντων, οὐ τῶν ἐχθρῶν καὶ πολεμίων καταβληθέν 63.823 των, ἀλλ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ δικαίως ἀγανακτοῦντος παρακαλέσαντος ἡμᾶς, οὕτως εἰρήνη γέγονεν. Ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ γὰρ πρεσβεύομεν, ὡς τοῦ Θεοῦ παρακαλοῦντος δι' ἡμῶν. Τί τοῦτο; αὐτὸς ὕβρισται, καὶ αὐτὸς παρακαλεῖ; Ναὶ, φησίν· ἀγαθὸς γάρ ἐστι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο παρακαλεῖ· καὶ, εἰ βούλεσθε, ἀνωτέρω τὸν λόγον ἀγαγόντες πειρασόμεθα δεῖξαι, ὅτι καὶ μηδενὸς προϋπηργμένου τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ κατορθώματος, δι' ἀγαθότητα μόνην καὶ τὰ παρόντα καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα αὐτῷ ἐδωρήσατο. Ἀλλὰ προσέχετε μετὰ ἀκριβείας. Πρὶν τοὺς ἀγγέλους γενέσθαι καὶ τὰς ἄλλας δυνάμεις τὰς ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, ἦν ὁ Θεὸς, ἀρχὴν οὐδέποτε τοῦ εἶναι λαβὼν, ἀνενδεὴς δὲ ὢν ἀεί· τοιοῦτον γὰρ τὸ Θεῖον. Ἐποίησεν ἀγγέλους, ἀρχαγγέλους, καὶ ἄλλας τῶν ἀσωμάτων οὐσίας· ἐποίησε δὲ δι' ἕτερον μὲν οὐδὲν, δι' ἀγαθότητα δὲ μόνην· ὧν γὰρ τῆς θεραπείας οὐκ ἔχρῃζε, τούτων οὐδὲ ἂν δημιουργὸς ἐγένετο, μὴ σφόδρα ὢν ἀγαθός. Μετὰ δὲ τὴν τούτων δημιουργίαν ποιεῖ καὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον, διὰ τὴν αὐτὴν ταύτην πάλιν αἰτίαν, καὶ τὸν κόσμον ἅπαντα τοῦτον· καὶ μυρίων αὐτὸν ἐμπλήσας ἀγαθῶν, τὸν μικρὸν ἐκεῖνον καὶ εὐτελῆ τοῖς τοσούτοις ἔργοις ἐπέστησε, τοῦτο αὐτὸν ἀποφήνας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὅπερ ἐστὶν αὐτὸς ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. Ποιήσας δὲ αὐτὸν, καὶ ἐν τοσαύτῃ καταστήσας τιμῇ, καθάπερ βασίλεια βασιλεῖ, τὸ κάλλιστον τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἀπέταξε τὸν παράδεισον. Οὐ τούτῳ δὲ μόνον αὐτὸν ἀπεσέμνυνεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ λόγον