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252

the Lord will arise, his glory will be seen upon you. But first, there is need of light and dawn for those who are about to see his glory, so that, being in the day of divine light, they may become beholders "of the glory of the only-begotten of God." Then he says: Nations will come to your light and kings to your brightness. And I understand in these words two orders of those who are saved: first, the company of those who have lived rightly in piety among the Jewish nation, since prophets and patriarchs and priests and God-lovers and high priests, and countless men and women among their ancients, have preserved the way of piety, so that they are no small part of the city of God, who "and all these, though perfected through faith, did not receive the promises" according to the holy Apostle, "since God had foreseen something better for us, that they should not be made perfect without us." For this reason they were also held in the regions of death, awaiting the presence of Christ there. This is what John the Baptist also teaches, asking Christ and saying: "Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect another?" Since, therefore, all the saints who had fallen asleep were expecting him, the present discourse, reasonably proclaiming the good news to their souls, indicated the Savior's descent to them, saying: Arise, shine, for your light has come. The first order, then, of those saved from the former people was this, but the other order, that of the church from the Gentiles, called second through the grace of Christ, about which he adds in sequence: and nations will come to your light. For with the light you formerly used, by which prophets and patriarchs and all those among the Jews who lived piously were enlightened in the eyes of their soul, with this also the foreign and alien nations will be enlightened. But also with the brightness which you, the former city, used, being cleansed with divine words, wiping away and being made brilliant, purged of all filth and every stain, with this brightness the kings of the foreign peoples will also make use, being purified and cleansed by the power of the divine mysteries. It is a thing to marvel at and be utterly astounded by the outcome of the oracle, how in our time it was fulfilled when the highest kings were deemed worthy of the grace "through washing." Then, since he mentioned Gentiles and kings, he very consistently teaches the former city of God to consider all those from the Gentiles who approach the pious way of life as her own children. Therefore he says to her: Lift up your eyes round about and see your children gathered together; all your sons have come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on shoulders. Therefore all those from the Gentiles who have believed in God through Christ have received the promise "to rest in the bosom of Abraham" and Isaac and Jacob, the Savior himself having taught this. And in many other places the church from the Gentiles has been called daughter of Zion and daughter of Jerusalem. The mother, therefore, of the new Jerusalem, which was formed from the Gentiles, was the one that long ago lived rightly among the former people, and we are all her children. For this reason it has been said: all your sons have come from afar; for we were somewhere far off, far "from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world," but "you," he says, "who once were far off, have been brought near." For this reason it has been said: all your sons have come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on shoulders. For being tender souls and still infants, "like newborn babes," "longing for" "the rational and pure milk," and through the regeneration in Christ becoming "children of Abraham," they are supported, being lifted on shoulders and assisted by their guiding teachers, such as Paul was, saying: "just as a nursing mother cares for her own children, so we, being affectionately desirous of you, were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of

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ἀνατελεῖ κύριος, ἡ δόξα αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ σὲ ὀφθήσεται. δεῖ δὲ πρότερον φωτὸς καὶ ἀνατολῆς τοῖς μέλλουσιν αὐτοῦ ὄψεσθαι τὴν δόξαν, ὅπως ἐν ἡμέρᾳ θεϊκοῦ φωτὸς γενόμενοι θεωροὶ «τῆς δόξης τοῦ μονογενοῦς τοῦ θεοῦ» καταστῶσι. Τότε δέ φησι· πορεύσονται ἔθνη τῷ φωτί σου καὶ βασιλεῖς τῇ λαμπρότητί σου. καί μοι νοεῖ ἐν τούτοις δύο τάγματα σῳζομένων, πρῶτον μὲν τὸ σύστημα τῶν ἐν θεοσεβείᾳ κατωρθωκότων παρὰ τῷ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνει, ἐπεὶ καὶ προφῆται καὶ πατριάρχαι καὶ ἱερεῖς καὶ θεοφιλεῖς καὶ ἀρχιερεῖς, ἄνδρες τε καὶ γυναῖκες μύριοι παρὰ τοῖς παλαιοῖς αὐτῶν γεγόνασι τὸ πολίτευμα τῆς θεοσεβείας ἀποσώσαντες ὥστ' εἶναι αὐτοὺς οὐ μικρὸν μέρος τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ πόλεως, οἳ «καὶ πάντες οὗτοι διὰ πίστεως τελειωθέντες οὐκ ἐκομίσαντο τὰς ἐπαγγελίας» κατὰ τὸν ἱερὸν Ἀπόστολον, «τοῦ θεοῦ περὶ ἡμῶν κρεῖττόν τι προβλεψαμένου, ἵνα μὴ χωρὶς ἡμῶν τελειωθῶσι». διὸ καὶ ἐν τοῖς τοῦ θανάτου συνείχοντο χώροις τὴν αὐτόθι τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίαν ἐκδεχόμενοι. ὃ δὴ διδάσκει καὶ ὁ βαπτιστὴς Ἰωάννης πυνθανόμενος τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ λέγων· «σὺ εἶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος, ἢ ἕτερον προσδοκῶμεν»; ἐπεὶ τοίνυν προσεδόκων αὐτὸν πάντες οἱ προκεκοιμημένοι ἅγιοι, εἰκότως τὰς τούτων ψυχὰς εὐαγγελιζόμενος ὁ παρὼν λόγος τὴν μεχρὶς αὐτῶν κάθοδον τοῦ σωτῆρος ἐδήλου λέγων· ἀνάστηθι φωτίσθητι, ἦλθε γὰρ τὸ φῶς σου. τὸ μὲν οὖν πρῶτον τάγμα τῶν ἐκ τοῦ προτέρου λαοῦ σῳζομένων τοῦτ' ἦν, τὸ δ' ἕτερον τάγμα τὸ τῆς ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἐκκλησίας δεύτερον διὰ τῆς Χριστοῦ χάριτος κεκλημένον, περὶ οὗ ἑξῆς ἐπιφέρει καὶ πορεύσονται ἔθνη τῷ φωτί σου· ᾧ γὰρ πάλαι κέχρησο φωτί, ᾧ καὶ προφῆται καὶ πατριάρχαι καὶ πάντες οἱ παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις θεοσεβῶς πολιτευσάμενοι τοὺς τῆς ψυχῆς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐφωτίσθησαν, τούτῳ καὶ τὰ ἔθνη τὰ ἀλλόφυλα καὶ τὰ ἀλλογενῆ φωτισθήσεται. ἀλλὰ καὶ τῇ λαμπρότητι, ᾗ κέχρησο σύ, ἡ προτέρα πόλις ἐσμηγμένη λόγοις θείοις ἀποσμηχομένη καὶ λαμπρυνομένη πάντα τε ῥύπον καὶ πᾶσαν κηλῖδα καθαιρομένη, ταύτῃ τῇ λαμπρότητι καὶ οἱ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων βασιλεῖς χρήσονται καθαιρόμενοι τῇ τῶν θείων μυστηρίων δυνάμει καὶ ἀποσμηχόμενοι. Θαυμάσαι δέ ἐστι καὶ ὑπερεκπλαγῆναι τοῦ θεσπίσματος τὸ ἀποτέλεσμα, ὅπως καθ' ἡμᾶς ἐπληροῦτο τῶν ἀνωτάτω βασιλέων τῆς «διὰ λουτροῦ» χάριτος καταξιουμένων, εἶτα ἐπειδὴ ἐθνῶν ἐμνημόνευσε καὶ βασιλέων, ἐθνῶν σφόδρα ἀκολούθως τὴν προτέραν τοῦ θεοῦ πόλιν, διδάσκει πάντας τοὺς ἐξ ἐθνῶν προσιόντας τῷ θεοσεβεῖ πολιτεύματι οἰκεῖα τέκνα ἡγεῖσθαι. διό φησι πρὸς αὐτήν· ἆρον κύκλῳ τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς σου καὶ ἴδε συνηγμένα τὰ τέκνα σου· ἥκασι πάντες οἱ υἱοί σου μακρόθεν, καὶ αἱ θυγατέρες σου ἐπ' ὤμων ἀρθήσονται. διὸ πάντες οἱ ἐξ ἐθνῶν εἰς τὸν θεὸν διὰ Χριστοῦ πεπιστευκότες ἐπαγγελίαν εἰλήφασιν «ἀναπαύσασθαι εἰς κόλπους Ἀβραὰμ» καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακώβ, τοῦτο τοῦ σωτῆρος αὐτοῦ διδάξαντος. καὶ ἐν ἑτέροις δὲ πλείοσιν ἡ ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἐκκλησία θυγάτηρ ἀνηγόρευται Σιὼν καὶ θυγάτηρ Ἰερουσαλήμ. μήτηρ τοίνυν τῆς νέας Ἰερουσαλὴμ τῆς ἐξ ἐθνῶν συστάσης ἐτύγχανεν ἡ πάλαι παρὰ τῷ προτέρῳ λαῷ κατορθώσασα, κἀκείνης τέκνα πάντες ἡμεῖς. διὸ λέλεκται· ἥκασι πάντες οἱ υἱοί σου μακρόθεν· ἦμεν γὰρ πόρρω που μακρὰν «τῆς πολιτείας τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ ξένοι τῶν διαθηκῶν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, ἐλπίδα μὴ ἔχοντες καὶ ἄθεοι ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ», ἀλλ' «ὑμεῖς» φησί «ποτε οἱ μακρὰν ὄντες, ἐγγὺς ἐγενήθητε». διὸ λέλεκται· ἥκασι πάντες οἱ υἱοί σου μακρόθεν, καὶ αἱ θυγατέρες σου ἐπ' ὤμων ἀρθήσονται· ἅτε γὰρ ἁπαλαὶ οὖσαι ψυχαὶ καὶ ἔτι νήπιαι «ὡς ἀρτιγέννητα βρέφη τὸ λογικὸν καὶ ἄδολον γάλα» «ἐπιποθοῦσαι», διά τε τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ ἀναγεννήσεως γενομένης «τέκνα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ» ὑποβαστάζονται ἐπ' ὤμων αἰρόμεναι καὶ ὑποκουφιζόμεναι ὑπὸ τῶν χειραγωγούντων αὐτὰς διδασκάλων, οἷος ἦν ὁ Παῦλος λέγων· «ὡς ἂν τροφὸς θάλπῃ τὰ ἑαυτῆς τέκνα, οὕτως ὁμειρόμενοι ὑμῶν εὐδοκοῦμεν μεταδοῦναι ὑμῖν οὐ μόνον τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ