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against themselves. We have blessed you from the house of the Lord; God is the Lord, and he has appeared to us. He speaks of the entire faithful people, who enjoy blessing in the house of God. For everywhere the prophets appear, calling blessed those who are about to believe. For what reason have you blessed, and whence is this calling blessed? Because God has appeared to us. For, it says, the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared, teaching us, so that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Here, then, the Prophet marvels at the incarnation, that being God, and Lord, and of that substance, he deigned an appear 55.338 ance. And he called the economy an appearance, the coming into a virgin’s womb, the becoming human, and the conversing with humans. For this reason, he says, we have blessed you, because you have enjoyed such a gift. Christ also, alluding to this, said: Many prophets and righteous men have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it; and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it. Appoint a festival with dense boughs, up to the horns of the altar. Another interpreter says: Bind together thick branches in a solemn assembly. Another, Bind the festival with fat offerings. He has gone back again from the prophecy to the history. And what he says is this: Celebrate a feast, hold a festival. And what is, Appoint a festival with dense boughs? According to the one interpreter, Offer fat sacrifices; but according to the other, Fasten garlands and branches to the temple. The Hebrew for this says thus, Esrou ag baad othim. Whether, then, it be this or that, it indicates a festival, and a joyous day, and a solemn assembly. For he transferred the discourse again from intelligible things to sensible things, and mentioned their return. You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, and I will exalt you. I will give thanks to you, for you have heard me, and have become my salvation. Here he shows that even apart from his benefactions one must give thanks to God, and for this reason glorify him, for his greatness, for his ineffable glory. For he alludes to this after speaking of the benefactions he received, adding this. For he says: Even apart from these things I will give thanks, and I will confess, because I have such a Master, so high, so great, so invisible, so incomprehensible; for, "I will exalt," means I will glorify. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. He is not content to offer this sacrifice alone, but also calls many to be partners in the praise and thanksgiving, and proclaims the philanthropy of God, everywhere hymning its permanence and its greatness. Knowing these things, then, let us also remain always giving thanks to the philanthropic God, and let us offer this sacrifice, so that we may also enjoy the good things to come, by the grace and philanthropy of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom be glory to the Father together with the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

TO THE 119TH PSALM. A Song of the Ascents. Another interpreter says, A Song of the Goings Up.

To the Lord in my affliction I cried, and he heard me. 1. While each of the other psalms has its own particular inscription, here many coming together have received one title, A Song of the Ascents, or as another interpreter said, of the Goings Up. And some also call them steps. And for what reason, he says, 55.339 are they so called? According to the history, it is because they discourse concerning the ascent from Babylon, and they make mention of the captivity there;

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τὴν καθ' ἑαυτῶν. Εὐλογήκαμεν ὑμᾶς ἐξ οἴκου Κυρίου· Θεὸς Κύριος, καὶ ἐπέφανεν ἡμῖν. Τὸν δῆμον ἅπαντα λέγει τὸν πιστὸν, τὸν εὐλογίας ἀπολαύοντα ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Καὶ γὰρ πανταχοῦ φαίνονται οἱ προφῆται μακαρίζοντες τοὺς μέλλοντας πιστεύειν. Τίνος ἕνεκεν εὐλογήσατε, καὶ πόθεν ὁ μακαρισμός; Ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς ἐπέφανεν ἡμῖν. Ἐπεφάνη γὰρ, φησὶν, ἡ χάρις τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡ σωτήριος παιδεύουσα ἡμᾶς, ἵνα ἀρνησάμενοι τὴν ἀσέβειαν καὶ τὰς κοσμικὰς ἐπιθυμίας, σωφρόνως καὶ δικαίως καὶ εὐσεβῶς ζήσωμεν, ἀπεκδεχόμενοι τὴν μακαρίαν ἐλπίδα καὶ ἐπιφάνειαν τοῦ μεγάλου Θεοῦ καὶ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ἐνταῦθα τοίνυν ὁ Προφήτης τὴν σάρκωσιν θαυμάζει, ὅτι Θεὸς ὢν, καὶ Κύριος, καὶ τῆς οὐσίας ἐκείνης, κατηξίωσεν ἐπιφά 55.338 νειαν. Ἐπιφάνειαν δὲ εἶπε τὴν οἰκονομίαν, τὸ εἰς μήτραν ἐλθεῖν παρθενικὴν, τὸ ἄνθρωπον γενέσθαι, καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις συναναστραφῆναι. ∆ιὰ δὴ τοῦτο, Εὐλογήκαμεν ὑμᾶς, φησὶν, ὅτι τοιαύτης ἀπηλαύσατε δωρεᾶς. Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς αἰνιττόμενος ἔλεγε· Πολλοὶ προφῆται καὶ δίκαιοι ἐπεθύμησαν ἰδεῖν, ἃ εἴδετε, καὶ οὐκ εἶδον, καὶ ἀκοῦσαι, ἃ ἀκούετε, καὶ οὐκ ἤκουσαν. Συστήσασθε ἑορτὴν ἐν τοῖς πυκάζουσιν, ἕως τῶν κεράτων τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου. Ἕτερος ἑρμηνευτής φησι· Συνδήσατε ἐν πανηγύρει πυκάσματα. Ἄλλος, ∆ήσατε ἑορτὴν ἐν πιμελέσιν. Ἐπὶ τὴν ἱστορίαν ἐξέβη πάλιν ἀπὸ τῆς προφητείας. Ὃ δὲ λέγει τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν· Ἑορτάσατε, πανηγυρίσατε. Τί δέ ἐστι, Συστήσασθε ἑορτὴν ἐν τοῖς πυκάζουσι; Κατὰ μὲν τὸν ἕνα ἑρμηνευτὴν, Θύσατε θυσίας λιπαράς· κατὰ δὲ τὸν ἕτερον, Στεφανώματα καὶ κλάδους ἀνάψατε τῷ ναῷ. Τὸ δὲ Ἑβραϊκὸν τοῦτο οὕτως εἶπεν, Ἐσροὺ ἂγ βαὰδ ὀθθίμ. Ἄν τε οὖν τοῦτο, ἄν τε ἐκεῖνο ᾖ, ἑορτὴν δηλοῖ, καὶ φαιδρὰν ἡμέραν, καὶ πανήγυριν. Ἀπὸ γὰρ τῶν νοητῶν ἐπὶ τὰ αἰσθητὰ μετήγαγε πάλιν τὸν λόγον, καὶ τῆς ἐπανόδου τούτων ἐμνημόνευσε. Θεός μου εἶ σὺ, καὶ ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι· Θεός μου εἶ σὺ, καὶ ὑψώσω σε. Ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι, ὅτι ἐπήκουσάς μου, καὶ ἐγένου μοι εἰς σωτηρίαν. Ἐνταῦθα δείκνυσιν, ὅτι καὶ χωρὶς τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν δεῖ εὐχαριστεῖν τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο δοξάζειν αὐτὸν, διὰ τὴν μεγαλωσύνην αὐτοῦ, διὰ τὴν ἀπόῤῥητον δόξαν. Τοῦτο γὰρ αἰνίττεται μετὰ τὸ εἰπεῖν τὰς εὐεργεσίας, ἃς εὐηργετήθη, οὕτως ἐπαγαγών. Λέγει γάρ· Καὶ χωρὶς τούτων καὶ εὐχαριστήσω, καὶ ἐξομολογήσομαι, ὅτι τοιοῦτον ἔχω ∆εσπότην, οὕτως ὑψηλὸν, οὕτω μέγαν, οὕτως ἀόρατον, οὕτως ἀκατάληπτον· τὸ γὰρ, Ὑψώσω, δοξάσω ἐστίν. Ἐξομολογεῖσθε τῷ Κυρίῳ, ὅτι ἀγαθὸς, ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ. Οὐκ αὐτὸς ταύτην ἀναφέρειν τὴν θυσίαν μόνον ἀρκεῖται, ἀλλὰ καὶ κοινωνοὺς πολλοὺς καλεῖ τῆς εὐφημίας καὶ τῆς εὐχαριστίας, καὶ τὴν Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν ἀνακηρύττει, πανταχοῦ τὸ διαρκὲς αὐτῆς ὑμνῶν καὶ τὸ μέγεθος. Ταῦτα δὴ οὖν καὶ ἡμεῖς εἰδότες, μένωμεν διαπαντὸς εὐχαριστοῦντες τῷ φιλανθρώπῳ Θεῷ, καὶ ταύτην ἀναφέρωμεν τὴν θυσίαν, ἵνα καὶ τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν ἀπολαύσωμεν, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, μεθ' οὗ τῷ Πατρὶ δόξα ἅμα τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΡΙΘʹ ΨΑΛΜΟΝ. Ὠδὴ τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν. Ἕτερος ἑρμηνευτὴς λέγει, Ὠδὴ τῶν ἀναβάσεων.

Πρὸς Κύριον ἐν τῷ θλίβεσθαί με ἐκέκραξα, καὶ εἰσήκουσέ μου. αʹ. Τῶν μὲν ἄλλων ψαλμῶν ἑκάστῳ ἰδία τίς ἐστιν ἐπιγραφὴ, ἐνταῦθα δὲ ὁμοῦ πολλοὶ συνελθόντες μίαν ἔλαβον προσηγορίαν, Ὠδὴ τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν, ἢ ὡς ἕτερος εἶπεν ἑρμηνευτὴς, τῶν ἀναβάσεων. Τινὲς δὲ αὐτοὺς καὶ ἀναβαθμοὺς καλοῦσι. Καὶ τίνος, φησὶν, 55.339 ἕνεκεν οὕτως εἰσὶν εἰρημένοι; Κατὰ μὲν τὴν ἱστορίαν, ὅτι δὴ περὶ τῆς ἀνόδου διαλέγονται τῆς ἐκ Βαβυλῶνος, καὶ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας μνημονεύουσι τῆς ἐκεῖσε·