250

How could one understand This is my resting place for ever and ever, when at the end of this age it passes away, when heaven and earth pass away? For if all the earth passes away, then Zion, which is on earth, will also pass away. The preceding words, therefore, are about the spiritual Zion, concerning which it is written, Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion. And this is the most holy church, which he who said, Here I will dwell, for I have chosen it, also chose to have as a dwelling for himself. 1186 Ps 131,15-18 Another, instead of Her prey, has rendered Her widow, and says: The unprotected one and she who has no husband to care for her I will bless, along with the poor to whom, providing bread to the full, he says, I will satisfy her poor with bread, since each of such poor, being the seed of the righteous, is not diminished by bread. But in some copies it is found, Blessing, I will bless her prey. And blessed with the blessing of the Lord is the prey which the fishers and hunters sent by the Lord hunt upon every high mountain and in the holes of the rocks, of whom Andrew, Peter, and Philip, who inhabit the village of the hunters, bear a symbol; for all these dwell in Bethsaida, which is translated "house of hunters." Her priests, of this Zion, I will clothe with salvation. And the salvation of all is Christ, who came to seek and to save that which was lost. And besides being salvation, it is also a garment, concerning which it is written, Let my soul rejoice, for you have clothed me with a garment of salvation, while his saints also rejoice with a divine joy. There in Zion I will make a horn to sprout for David. This horn of the kingdom is raised up by God in the house of David, according to what was said by the righteous one, He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David. And for this horn, which is Christ, the Father has prepared a lamp, the divine law running before his advent, concerning which it is written, Your law is a lamp to my feet and a light to my paths. Or also John, until whom were the law and the prophets, is a lamp prepared for his Christ, concerning whom the Savior said, He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. When these things are spoken theologically concerning him who came from the seed of David according to the flesh, his enemies will be clothed with shame, wishing, if they were burned by fire, For a child is born, a son also is given to us, whose government is upon his shoulder, incurring greater shame, because by embracing the same things as other men he does not have the transcendent life. Wherefore also upon him his holiness will blossom, concerning which he says in Isaiah, And a flower shall come up from the root, following which the flowers of the earth were seen in our land, having received their being as such flowers from the holiness that blossoms forth from the Lord. For this which blossoms forth sanctifies those who draw near to it, being itself the holy one of God and also a flower, so that one might say, I am the flower of the field, the lily of the valleys. When, therefore, the flower and the lily of the field and of the valleys produces these things, the flowers will rightly be seen in our land, God having caused his holiness to spring forth so that we might be enlightened and young for the blessed and spiritual feast.

1187 Ps 132,2 The beard is a symbol of a man's age. and the myrrh descends from the beard of Aaron to the fringe of his garment. Aaron has the personage of the priesthood according to the shadow. The head of this, the archetypal and true priesthood, is filled with the divine myrrh of the name of Christ, concerning which it is said, Myrrh is your name. And this myrrh comes down upon the beard of each of those who are able to say, after having transcended the shadow, For I have become a man, I have done away with the things of a child. And one becomes such a man, having become an imitator of him, concerning whom it is written, Behold, a man, the Dawn is his name, and After me comes a man who is before me

250

πῶς νοῆσαι δύναιτο Αυτη ἡ κατάπαυσίς μου εἰς αἰῶνα αἰῶνος, παρερχομένης ἐπὶ τέλει τούτου τοῦ αἰῶνος, οταν παρέρχηται ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ; εἰ γὰρ πᾶσα ἡ γῆ παρέρχεται, καὶ ἡ Σιὼν ἡ ἐπὶ γῆς τυγχάνουσα παρελεύσεται. περὶ αρα τῆς πνευματικῆς Σιὼν τὰ προκείμενα, περὶ ης γέγραπται Ψάλατε τῷ κυρίῳ τῷ κατοικοῦντι ἐν Σιών. αυτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ ἁγιωτάτη ἐκκλησία ην καὶ ᾑρετίσατο εχειν εἰς κατοικίαν ἑαυτῷ ὁ εἰπὼν Ωδε κατοικήσω, οτι ᾑρετισάμην αὐτήν. 1186 Ps 131,15-18 Αλλος ἀντὶ τοῦ Τὴν θήραν Τὴν χήραν ἐξέδωκε καί φησι· Τὴν ἀπροστασίαστον καὶ ανδρα κηδεμόνα οὐκ εχουσαν εὐλογήσω αμα τοῖς πτωχοῖς οις εἰς πλησμονὴν αρτους παρέχων λέγει Τοὺς πτωχοὺς αὐτῆς ἐμπλήσω αρτων, ἐπείπερ εκαστος τῶν τοιούτων πτωχῶν δικαίου σπέρμα τυγχάνων οὐκ ἐλαττοῦται αρτοις. Φέρεται δὲ ἐν ἀντιγράφοις Τὴν θήραν αὐτῆς εὐλογῶν εὐλογήσω. εὐλογουμένη δὲ εὐλογίᾳ κυρίου θήρα ην θηρεύουσιν ἐπὶ παντὸς ορους ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐν ταῖς τρυμαλίαις τῶν πετρῶν οἱ ἀποστελλόμενοι ὑπὸ κυρίου ἁλιεῖς καὶ θηρευταί, ων σύμβολον φέρουσιν οἱ τὴν κώμην τῶν θηρευτῶν οἰκοῦντες ̓Ανδρέας Πέτρος Φίλιππος· ουτοι γὰρ πάντες τὴν Βηθσαϊδὰ οἰκοῦσι μεταλαμβανομένην εἰς τὸ οικος θηρευτῶν. Ταύτης δὲ τῆς Σιὼν τοὺς ἱερέας ἐνδύσω σωτηρίαν. σωτηρία δὲ πάντων ὁ Χριστὸς ἐληλυθὼς ζητῆσαι καὶ σῶσαι τὸ ἀπολωλός. πρὸς δὲ τῷ ειναι σωτηρία καὶ ενδυμά ἐστι, περὶ ου γέγραπται ̓Αγαλλιάσθω ἡ ψυχή μου, οτι ἐνέδυσάς με ἱμάτιον σωτηρίου, ἀγαλλιωμένων καὶ τῶν ὁσίων αὐτοῦ ἀγαλλιάσει θείᾳ. ̓Εκεῖ ἐν τῇ Σιὼν ἀνατελῶ κέρας τῷ ∆αυίδ. τοῦτο τὸ κέρας τῆς βασιλείας ὑπὸ θεοῦ ἀνατέλλεται ἐν οικῳ ∆αυὶδ κατὰ τὸ λεχθὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ δικαίου Ηγειρε κέρας σωτηρίας ἡμῖν ἐν οικῳ ∆αυίδ. ἡτοίμασε δὲ τούτῳ τῷ κέρατι Χριστῷ τυγχάνοντι λύχνον ὁ πατὴρ προτρέχοντα τῆς ἐπιδημίας αὐτοῦ θεῖον νόμον, περὶ ου γέγραπται Λύχνος τοῖς ποσί μου ὁ νόμος σου καὶ φῶς ταῖς τρίβοις μου. η καὶ ὁ ̓Ιωάννης, μέχρις ου ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται, λύχνος ἐστὶν ἑτοιμαζόμενος τῷ χριστῷ ἑαυτοῦ, περὶ ου ὁ σωτὴρ ̓Εκεῖνος ην ὁ λύχνος ὁ καιόμενος καὶ φαίνων ου ἠθελήσατε πρὸς ωραν ἀγαλλιαθῆναι τῷ φωτὶ αὐτοῦ. Τούτων θεολογουμένων περὶ τοῦ γενομένου ἐκ σπέρματος ∆αυὶδ τὸ κατὰ σάρκα, οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ αἰσχύνην ἐνδύσονται, θέλοντες, εἰ ἐγένοντο πυρίκαυστοι, Οτι παιδίον ἐγεννήθη, υἱὸς καὶ ἐδόθη ἡμῖν, ου ἡ ἀρχὴ ἐπὶ τοῦ ωμου αὐτοῦ, αἰσχύνην πλείονα ὀφλισκάνοντες, οτι τὰ αὐτὰ τοῖς αλλοις ἀνθρώποις ἀσπαζόμενος οὐκ εχει τὸν ὑπεραναβεβηκότα βίον. διὸ καὶ ἐπ' αὐτὸν ἐξανθήσει τὸ ἁγίασμα αὐτοῦ, περὶ ου φησιν ἐν ̔Ησαΐᾳ Καὶ ανθος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης ἀναβήσεται, ῳ ἀκολούθως τὰ ανθη τῆς γῆς ωφθη ἐν τῇ γῇ ἡμῶν τὸ ειναι ανθη τοιαῦτα εἰληφότα πρὸς τοῦ ἐξανθουμένου ὑπὸ κυρίου ἁγιάσματος. τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ ἐξανθοῦν ἁγιάζει τοὺς προσπελάζοντας αὐτῷ, αὐτὸ ον τὸ αγιον τοῦ θεοῦ αμα καὶ ανθος, ωστ' αν εἰπεῖν ̓Εγὼ ανθος τοῦ πεδίου κρίνον τῶν κοιλάδων. ἐπὰν ουν αὐτὰ ποιῇ τὸ ανθος καὶ τὸ κρίνον τοῦ πεδίου καὶ τῶν κοιλάδων, εἰκότως ὀφθήσεται τὰ ανθη ἐν τῇ γῇ ἡμῶν, ἐξανατείλαντος τοῦ θεοῦ τὸ ἁγίασμα αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τῷ πεφωτισμένους καὶ νεάζοντας ειναι ἐπὶ τὴν μακαρίαν καὶ πνευματικὴν ἑορτήν.

1187 Ps 132,2 ̔Ο πώγων σύμβολον ἀνδρικῆς ἡλικίας. καταβαίνει δὲ τὸ μύρον

ἀπὸ τοῦ πώγωνος τοῦ ̓Ααρὼν ἐπὶ τὴν ῳαν τοῦ ἐνδύματος αὐτοῦ. ὁ ̓Ααρὼν πρόσωπον εχει τῆς κατὰ σκιὰν ἱερωσύνης. ταύτης ἡ κεφαλὴ ἡ πρωτότυπος καὶ ἀληθῶς ἱερωσύνη πεπλήρωται θείου μύρου τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὀνόματος, περὶ ου ειρηται Μύρον ονομά σου. κάτεισι δὲ τοῦτο τὸ μύρον ἐπὶ τὸν πώγωνα ἑκάστου τῶν δυναμένων εἰπεῖν μετὰ τὸ ὑπερβεβηκέναι τὴν σκιὰν Οτι γέγονα ἀνήρ, κατήργη κατὰ τοῦ νηπίου. γίνεται δέ τις ἀνὴρ τοιοῦτος μιμητὴς γεγονὼς ἐκείνου, περὶ ου γέγραπται ̓Ιδοὺ ἀνήρ, ̓Ανατολὴ ονομα αὐτῷ, καὶ ̓Οπίσω μου ερχεταιἀνὴρ ος εμπροσθέν μου