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a power hidden from many, which the word of God, cutting up and changing like a plough, makes smooth; and having removed the thorns, and the superfluous matter, it places its own seeds; then watering with rational streams, it makes it drunk. Therefore it has been said: "Make her furrows drunk, and multiply her produce." Then instead of: "She will rejoice in her drops as she springs up;" according to Symmachus: "With her drizzles you will soften 23.644 her and her growth," it is said. And all these things happen to be signs of him who has visited his Church; which indeed, having been foretold long ago, have not otherwise come to pass than through the manifestation of our Savior; through which those who have been deemed worthy of his grace, having received the seeds from heaven into their souls, bring forth flourishing fruits; some producing a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. And seeing in the Church of God the different orders of those progressing in Christ, one will know the fruitfulness of the things decreed by the present prophecy. "You will bless the crown of the year of your goodness, and your fields will be filled with fatness." Since the Savior is said to have come to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of recompense, according to the Scripture that speaks in his person: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me; he has sent me to preach good news to the poor; to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to call the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of recompense;" fittingly here also it signifies the day of recompense. And this is the age that is to come after the consummation of the present one. Therefore, that that year will be adorned as with a crown by the young and beautiful flowers of those who are to live in it, the present oracle proclaims, saying: "You will bless the crown of the year of your goodness." For that year of the age to come, being of the goodness of God, will have a blessed crown, the entire choir of the saints. Which crown, having blessed it, the Christ of God will place upon himself, being adorned with the flowers of their husbandry. But he himself will also become their crown according to Isaiah who said: "And the Lord of Sabaoth will be the crown of glory. Then also the fields of God will be filled with fatness, and the mountains of the desert will then be made fat." Moreover, "the hills" will then "be girded with gladness." And in addition to all these things the rams of the sheep will be clothed in their own fleeces. You will understand these things, having supposed for yourself the difference among those who are saved; of whom some, as having lived a life inferior in comparison with the better ones, were allegorically called fields of God filled with fatness; therefore it has been said: "Your fields will be filled with fatness;" but others already flourishing in various virtues were named mountains of the formerly desert Church; who, also being richly watered from the indicated river, are said to be made fat; but also those who are even higher than these, tropically called hills, will be girded with gladness. And these three orders in the coming year of God's goodness will attain blessedness; being perhaps from those, of whom some produced 100, some 60, some 30. But some rulers and leaders who will be set over them will be adorned with exceptional powers; therefore it has been said: "The rams of the sheep were clothed;" instead of: "They will be clothed." And by rams of the sheep you will understand the rulers, the leaders of the aforementioned, who were clothed or rather will be clothed. But what they will be clothed with, it has left for us to understand; but the divine Apostle teaches their clothing, saying: "This corruptible must 23.645 put on incorruption;" and again: "Not that we would be unclothed, but would be further clothed, that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life." Therefore the rams will put on what is fitting for them

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πολλοὺς λανθάνουσα δύναμις, ἣν ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγος ἀρότρου δίκην ἀνατέμνων καὶ μεταβάλλων, λεῖον ἀπεργάζεται· περιελών τε τὰς ἀκάνθας, καὶ τὴν περιττὴν ὕλην, ἐντίθησι τὰ ἑαυτοῦ σπέρματα· εἶτα τοῖς λογικοῖς νάμασιν ἀρδεύων, μεθύσκει αὐτήν. ∆ιὸ λέλεκται· «Τοὺς αὔλακας αὐτῆς μέθυσον, καὶ πλήθυνον τὰ γεννήματα αὐτῆς.» Εἶτα ἀντὶ τοῦ· «Ἐν ταῖς σταγόσιν αὐτῆς εὐφρανθήσεται ἀνατέλλουσα·» κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον· «Ταῖς ψεκάσιν αὐτῆς χαυνώ 23.644 σεις αὐτὴν καὶ τὸ βλάστημα αὐτῆς,» εἴρηται. Καὶ πάντα δὲ ταῦτα σημεῖα τυγχάνει τοῦ ἐπισκεψαμένου τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν αὐτοῦ· ἃ δὴ πάλαι προλεχθέντα οὐδ' ἄλλως εἰς ἔργα κεχώρηκεν ἢ διὰ τῆς τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐπιφανείας· δι' ἧς οἱ κατηξιωμένοι τῆς αὐτοῦ χάριτος, τὰ ἐξ οὐρανῶν σπέρματα ταῖς αὐτῶν ψυχαῖς ἀποδεξάμενοι, καρποὺς εὐθαλεῖς παρέχουσιν· οἱ μὲν ρʹ ποιοῦντες, οἱ δὲ ξʹ, οἱ δὲ λʹ. Ὁρῶν δέ τις ἐν τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ διάφορα τάγματα τῶν ἐν Χριστῷ προκοπτόντων, τὴν παγκαρπίαν εἴσεται τῶν διὰ τῆς προκειμένης προφητείας θεσπιζομένων. «Εὐλογήσεις τὸν στέφανον τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ τῆς χρηστότητός σου, καὶ τὰ πεδία σου πλησθήσεται πιότητος.» Ἐπειδὴ κηρῦξαι ἐνιαυτὸν Κυρίου δεκτὸν, καὶ ἡμέραν ἀνταποδόσεως ἐληλυθέναι λέγεται ὁ Σωτὴρ, κατὰ τὴν φάσκουσαν ἐξ αὐτοῦ προσώπου Γραφήν· «Πνεῦμα Κυρίου ἐπ' ἐμὲ, οὗ εἵνεκεν ἔχρισέ με· εὐαγγελίσασθαι πτωχοῖς ἀπέσταλκέ με· κηρῦξαι αἰχμαλώτοις ἄφεσιν καὶ τυφλοῖς ἀνάβλεψιν· καλέσαι ἐνιαυτὸν Κυρίου δεκτὸν, καὶ ἡμέραν ἀνταποδόσεως·» εἰκότως καὶ ἐνταῦθα τὴν ἡμέραν σημαίνει τῆς ἀνταποδόσεως. Ἔστι δὲ αὕτη ὁ μέλλων ἐπιστήσεσθαι αἰὼν μετὰ τὴν τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος συντέλειαν. Ἐκεῖνον τοίνυν τὸν ἐνιαυτὸν ὥσπερ στεφάνῳ κοσμηθήσεσθαι διὰ τῶν νεαρῶν καὶ ὡραίων ἀνθῶν τῶν μελλόντων ἐν αὐτῷ πολιτεύεσθαι, τὸ παρὸν θεσπίζει λόγιον φάσκον· «Εὐλογήσεις τὸν στέφανον τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ τῆς χρηστότητός σου.» Ὁ γὰρ ἐνιαυτὸς ἐκεῖνος ὁ τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος, χρηστότητος ὢν Θεοῦ, στέφανον ἕξει ηὐλογημένον, σύμπαντα χορὸν τῶν ἁγίων. Ὅντινα στέφανον, εὐλογήσας, περιθήσεται ὁ Χριστὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, τοῖς τῆς αὐτῶν γεωργίας ἄνθεσιν ὡραϊζόμενος. Ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸς αὐτῶν γενήσεται στέφανος κατὰ τὸν Ἡσαΐαν φήσαντα· «Καὶ ἔσται Κύριος Σαβαὼθ ὁ στέφανος τῆς δόξης. Τότε δὲ καὶ τὰ πεδία τοῦ Θεοῦ πλησθήσεται πιότητος, καὶ τὰ ὄρεα δὲ τῆς ἐρήμου τότε πιανθήσεται.» Ἔτι μὴν καὶ «οἱ βουνοὶ» τότε «ἀγαλλίασιν περιζώσονται.» Καὶ πρὸς τούτοις ἅπασιν οἱ κριοὶ τῶν προβάτων τοὺς ἰδίους ἐνδύσονται πόκους. Νοήσεις δὲ ταῦτα, τὴν διαφορὰν ὑποθέμενος ἑαυτῷ τῶν σωζομένων· ὧν οἱ μὲν, ὡς ἐν παραθέσει τῶν κρειττόνων τὸν βίον ὑποβεβηκότες, ἀλληγορικῷ τρόπῳ πεδία Θεοῦ προσηγορεύθησαν πιότητος πληρούμενα· διὸ λέλεκται· «Τὰ πεδία σου πλησθήσεται πιότητος·» οἱ δὲ ἤδη ἐν διαφόροις ἀρεταῖς ἀνθοῦντες ὄρεα τῆς πρὶν ἐρήμου Ἐκκλησίας ὠνομάσθησαν· οἳ, καὶ αὐτοὶ πλουσίως ἀρδόμενοι ἐκ τοῦ δηλωθέντος ποταμοῦ, πιανθήσεσθαι λέγονται· ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ ἔτι τούτων ὑψηλότεροι βουνοὶ τροπικῶς καλούμενοι ἀγαλλίασιν περιζώσονται. Καὶ τρία μὲν ταῦτα τάγματα κατὰ τὸν μέλλοντα ἐνιαυτὸν τῆς χρηστότητος τοῦ Θεοῦ τεύξεται τῆς μακαριότητος· τάχα που ἐξ ἐκείνων ὄντες, ὧν οἱ μὲν ἐποίουν ρʹ, οἱ δὲ ξʹ, οἱ δὲ λʹ. Οἱ δὲ τούτων ἐπιστησόμενοι ἄρχοντές τινες καὶ ἡγεμόνες τινὲς αὐτῶν, ἐν δυνάμεσιν ἐξαιρέτοις κοσμηθήσονται· διὸ λέλεκται· «Ἐνεδύσαντο οἱ κριοὶ τῶν προβάτων·» ἀντὶ τοῦ· «Ἐνδύσονται.» Κριοὺς δὲ προβάτων τοὺς ἄρχοντας τοὺς ἡγουμένους τῶν προλεχθέντων νοήσεις, οἵτινες ἐνεδύσαντο ἢ καὶ μᾶλλον ἐνδύσονται. Τί δὲ ἐνδύσονται, ἡμῖν καταλέλοιπεν νοεῖν· διδάσκει δὲ τὸ ἔνδυμα τούτων ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος λέγων· «∆εῖ τὸ φθαρτὸν τοῦτο 23.645 ἐνδύσασθαι ἀφθαρσίαν·» καὶ πάλιν· «Ἐφ' ᾧ οὐ θέλομεν ἐνδύσασθαι, ἀλλ' ἐπενδύσασθαι, ἵνα καταποθῇ τὸ θνητὸν ὑπὸ τῆς ζωῆς.» Ἐνδύσονται τοίνυν οἱ κριοὶ τὸ ἐμπρέπον αὐτοῖς