234

your." Those who were led away captive to Babylon he freed from slavery, but he did not deliver them from this corruptible life. But to us he has granted the hopes of the resurrection, and given the pledge of the Spirit, and clothed us in the tunic of incorruptibility. "Who crowns you with mercy and compassion." — "By grace you have been saved, as the divine Apostle says, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God, so that no one may boast." And again, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first. But for this reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the first, Christ Jesus might display all his longsuffering, for a pattern of those who would believe 80.1688 in him for eternal life." The crown, therefore, is of grace and loving-kindness. Thus also the divine Isaiah cries out in the person of the bride: "Let my soul rejoice in the Lord; for he has clothed me with a garment of salvation, and he has clothed me with a tunic of gladness; he has placed a miter on me as on a bridegroom, and as a bride he has adorned me with an ornament." And a little later, "And you will be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God." All these are the bridegroom's dowry and gifts. For the bride brought faith alone. 5. "Who satisfies your desire with good things." Since there is a blameworthy desire, which the divine law forbids, he well adds "with good things." For the Master fulfills our good desires; "For ask," he says, "and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you; for everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." — "But seek the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you besides." — "Your youth will be renewed like the eagle's." This new creation, again, the Master bestowed on us through holy baptism, and having scraped off the old age of sin, he made us young instead of old. In harmony with this, God says through Isaiah the prophet: "But those who wait for me will renew their strength, they will grow wings like eagles." For since, having been created, we received the divine and royal characters, and then we both obscured and corrupted them by the manifold practices of sin, the prophetic word promises us the recovery of the kingdom. For this is a royal bird, and entrusted with the kingdom of the birds. It also teaches us the manner of divine generosity. 6. "The Lord performs acts of mercy, and judgment for all who are wronged." — "Not for the righteous deeds that we did, as the divine Apostle says, but according to his great mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit." And seeing us wronged by the enemy of truth, he opened to us the fountains of mercy, but against that one he brought forth a just sentence. 7. "He made known his ways to Moses; his wills to the sons of Israel." He did not accomplish this salvation of ours out of repentance; but from above he foretold these things through the prophets, and through the divine Moses he foreshadowed our salvation. And the sea received a type of the all-holy 80.1689 baptism; and the rock was revealed as a shadow of the immortal streams; and the manna an image of the heavenly food. And the other things too, so that I may not go through them one by one, can thus be found foreshadowed among them. 8. "The Lord is compassionate and merciful, long-suffering and full of mercy." The cause of these good things, he says, is the abyss of divine goodness, the immeasurable mercy, the sea of loving-kindness. 9, 10. "He will not be angry forever, nor will he be wrathful for eternity. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities." He did not bear to measure out punishment according to our sins, nor to extend his indignation against us for very long. 11, 12. "For as the heaven is high above the earth, so the Lord has made his mercy mighty toward those who fear him. As far as the East is

234

σου." Τοὺς μὲν ἀπαχθέντας ἐν Βαβυλῶνι δορυαλώτους δου λείας μὲν ἠλευθέρωσε, τῆς δὲ φθαρτῆς οὐκ ἀπήλλαξε βιοτῆς. Ἡμῖν δὲ κεχάρισται τῆς ἀναστάσεως τὰς ἐλπίδας, καὶ τὸν ἀῤῥαβῶνα τοῦ πνεύματος ἔδωκεν, καὶ τὸν τῆς ἀφθαρσίας ἡμᾶς ἐνέδυσε χιτῶνα. "Τὸν στεφανοῦντά σε ἐν ἐλέει καὶ οἰκτιρμοῖς." -"Χάριτί ἐστε σεσωσμένοι, ᾗ φησιν ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος, καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐξ ὑμῶν· Θεοῦ τὸ δῶρον, ἵνα μή τις καυ χήσηται." Καὶ πάλιν, "Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς ἦλθεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἁμαρτωλοὺς σῶσαι, ὧν πρῶτός εἰμι ἐγώ. Ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦτο ἠλεήθην, ἵνα ἐν ἐμοὶ πρώτῳ ἐνδείξηται Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς τὴν πᾶσαν αὑτοῦ μακρο θυμίαν, πρὸς ὑποτύπωσιν τῶν μελλόντων πιστεύειν 80.1688 ἐπ' αὐτῷ εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον." Χάριτος τοίνυν καὶ φιλαν θρωπίας ὁ στέφανος. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ θεσπέσιος Ἡσαΐας ἐκ προσώπου τῆς νύμφης βοᾷ· "Ἀγαλλιάσθω ἡ ψυχή μου ἐπὶ τῷ Κυρίῳ· ἐνέδυσε γάρ με ἱμάτιον σωτηρίου, καὶ χιτῶνα εὐφροσύνης ἐνέδυσέ με· ὡς νυμφίῳ περιέβαλέ μοι μίτραν, καὶ ὡς νύμφην κατεκόσμησέ με κόσμῳ." Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα, "Καὶ ἔσῃ στέφανος κάλλους ἐν χειρὶ Κυρίου, καὶ διάδημα βασιλείας ἐν χειρὶ Θεοῦ σου." Ταῦτα δὲ ἅπαντα ἕδνα τοῦ νυμφίου καὶ δῶρα. Πίστιν γὰρ ἡ νύμφη προσενήνοχε μόνην. εʹ. "Τὸν ἐμπιπλῶντα ἐν ἀγαθοῖς τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν σου." Ἐπειδή ἐστιν ἐπιθυμία ψεκτὴ, ἣν ὁ θεῖος νόμος ἀπαγορεύει, καλῶς τὸ ἐν ἀγαθοῖς προστέ θεικε. Τὰς γὰρ ἀγαθὰς ἡμῶν ἐπιθυμίας ὁ ∆εσπότης πληροῖ· "Αἰτεῖτε γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ δοθήσεται ὑμῖν· ζητεῖτε, καὶ εὑρήσετε· κρούετε καὶ ἀνοιγήσεται ὑμῖν· πᾶς γὰρ ὁ αἰτῶν λαμβάνει, καὶ ὁ ζητῶν εὑρί σκει, καὶ τῷ κρούοντι ἀνοιγήσεται." -"Ζητεῖτε δὲ τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ, καὶ ταῦτα πάντα ἐκ περισσοῦ προστεθήσεται ὑμῖν." - "Ἀνακαινισθήσεται ὡς ἀετοῦ ἡ νεότης σου." Ταύτην πάλιν τὴν νεουργίαν ἡμῖν ὁ ∆εσπότης διὰ τοῦ παν αγίου βαπτίσματος ἐδωρήσατο, καὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀποξύσας τὸ γῆρας, νέους ἀντὶ γεγηρακότων εἰργά σατο. Συνῳδὰ τούτοις διὰ Ἡσαΐου τοῦ προφήτου φησὶν ὁ Θεός· "Οἱ δὲ ὑπομένοντές με, ἀλλάξουσιν ἰσχὺν, πτεροφυήσουσιν ὡς ἀετοί." Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τοὺς θείους καὶ βασιλικοὺς δημιουργηθέντες ἐδεξάμεθα χαρακτῆρας, εἶτα τούτους ἠμαυρώσαμέν τε καὶ διεφ θείραμεν τοῖς παντοδαποῖς τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐπιτηδεύ μασιν, ὑπισχνεῖται ἡμῖν ὁ προφητικὸς λόγος τὴν τῆς βασιλείας ἀνάκτησιν. Βασιλικὸς γὰρ οὗτος ὁ ὄρνις, καὶ τῶν πτηνῶν τὴν βασιλείαν πεπιστευμένος. ∆ιδάσκει δὲ ἡμᾶς καὶ τῆς θείας φιλοτιμίας τὸν τρό πον. ʹ. "Ποιῶν ἐλεημοσύνας ὁ Κύριος, καὶ κρῖμα πᾶσι τοῖς ἀδικουμένοις." -"Οὐ γὰρ διὰ τὰς δικαιοσύ νας, ἃς ἐποιήσαμεν, ᾗ φησιν ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸ πολὺ ἔλεος αὑτοῦ, ἔσωσεν ἡμᾶς διὰ λουτροῦ παλιγγενεσίας, καὶ ἀνακαινώσεως Πνεύ ματος ἁγίου." Καὶ θεασάμενος ἡμᾶς ἠδικημένους ὑπὸ τοῦ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐχθροῦ, ἡμῖν μὲν ἠνέῳξε τὰς τοῦ ἐλέου πηγὰς, κατ' ἐκείνου δὲ τὴν δικαίαν ἐξενήνοχε ψῆφον. ζʹ. "Ἐγνώρισε τὰς ὁδοὺς αὑτοῦ τῷ Μωσῇ· τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραὴλ τὰ θελήματα αὑτοῦ." Οὐκ ἐκ μεταμε λείας δὲ ταύτην ἡμῶν ἐπραγματεύσατο τὴν σωτη ρίαν· ἀλλ' ἄνωθεν ταῦτα διὰ τῶν προφητῶν προ εθέσπισε, καὶ διὰ τοῦ θεσπεσίου Μωσοῦ τὴν ἡμετέ ραν ἐσκιογράφησε σωτηρίαν. Καὶ τοῦ παναγίου βα 80.1689 πτίσματος ἡ θάλασσα τύπον ἐδέξατο· ἡ πέτρα δὲ τῶν ἀθανάτων κρουνῶν ἀπεφάνθη σκιά· τῆς ἐπουρανίου δὲ τροφῆς εἰκὼν τὸ μάννα. Καὶ τ' ἄλλα δὲ, ἵνα μὴ καθ' ἕκαστον διεξέρχωμαι, οὕτως ἔστιν εὑρεῖν παρ' ἐκείνοις ἐσκιογραφημένα. ηʹ. "Οἰκτίρμων καὶ ἐλεήμων ὁ Κύριος, μακρό θυμος καὶ πολυέλεος." Τούτων δὲ, φησὶν, αἴτιον τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἡ τῆς θείας ἀγαθότητος ἄβυσσος, ὁ ἀμέ τρητος ἔλεος, τῆς φιλανθρωπίας τὸ πέλαγος. θʹ, ιʹ. "Οὐκ εἰς τέλος ὀργισθήσεται, οὐδὲ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα μηνιεῖ. Οὐ κατὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν ἐποίη σεν ἡμῖν, οὐδὲ κατὰ τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῶν ἀνταπέ δωκεν ἡμῖν." Οὐκ ἠνέσχετο ταῖς ἡμετέραις ἁμαρ τίαις μετρῆσαι τὴν τιμωρίαν, οὐδὲ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον καθ' ἡμῶν ἐκτεῖναι τὴν ἀγανάκτησιν. ιαʹ, ιβʹ. "Ὅτι κατὰ τὸ ὕψος τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἐκραταίωσε Κύριος τὸ ἔλεος αὑτοῦ, ἐπὶ τοὺς φοβου μένους αὐτόν. Καθόσον ἀπέχουσιν Ἀνατολαὶ