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signifies that we must be clothed in natural contemplation, so that we may not see the visible things in terms of sensation and passion, but through the reason in them, be led up to their creator. But the left hand being bared, signifies that good deeds must be made manifest in us, according to the word of the Savior, so that men may see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven. But the garments being black, signifies that we must be inconspicuous to the world, as having our citizenship in heaven. And if someone were to take the pallium, being four-cornered, to mean the four cardinal virtues, he will reasonably not be mistaken in this.
QUESTION 68. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Response. The priest proclaims peace to the Church from the height of his throne, imitating the
Lord of the throne, who was taken up, leaving and giving his own peace. But the people responding, And with your (844) spirit, indicates, "You have granted us peace, Lord, and concord with one another; but give us peace, the indivisible union with you, so that, being at peace with your Spirit, which you placed in us at the beginning of creation, we may be inseparable from your love.
QUESTION 69.
If the dead are raised at all, why, he says, do our bodies not rise at all? Why also do we believe that in being baptized, they are transformed into incorruptibility?
Response. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .
QUESTION 70. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Response. If you seek a mystical clarification of Scripture, it should be understood thus: Praise the Lord
with the sound of the trumpet, with the trumpet shaken in memory of the resurrection [or. assumption], as it is written; Praise him with psaltery and lyre; with our tongue and mouth, being struck by the spirit as by some plectrum. Praise him with timbrel and dance; in flesh and soul, from which prayers pass over to God as if in a dance. Praise him with strings and pipe; in the heart, and in all the inner parts and sinews, which he has called an organ. Praise him with well-sounding cymbals; with the lips, through which the harmonious melodies of the psalmody are woven.
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σημαίνει ὅτι χρή περιβεβλῆσθαι ἡμᾶς τήν φυσικήν θεωρίαν, ὥστε μή πρός αἴσθησιν καί πάθη τά ὁρώμενα βλέπειν, ἀλλά διά τοῦ ἐν αὐτοῖς λόγου, πρός τόν τούτων δημιουργόν ἀνάγεσθαι. Τό δέ τήν ἀριστεράν χεῖρα παραγυμνοῦσθαι, σημαίνει ὅτι χρή τάς ἀγαθάς πράξεις ἐν ἡμῖν προφαίνεσθαι, κατά τόν τοῦ Σωτῆρος λόγον, ὅπως ἴδωσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι τά καλά ἡμῶν ἔργα, καί δοξάσωσι τόν Πατέρα ἡμῶν τόν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. Τό δέ μαῦρα τά ἐνδύματα εἶναι, σημαίνει ὅτι χρή ἡμᾶς ἀφανεῖς εἶναι τῷ κόσμῳ, ὡς τό πολίτευμα ἔχοντας ἐν οὐρανῷ. Εἰ δέ τις τό παλλίον τετράγωνον ὄν, καί εἰς τάς γενικάς τέσσαρας ἀρετάς ἐκλάβοι, τοῦτο εἰκότως οὐχ ἁμαρτήσεται.
ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΞΗ΄. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ἀπόκρισις. Εἰρήνην ὁ ἱερεύς ἀπό τοῦ ὕψους τῆς καθέδρας τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ ἐπιφθέγγεται, τόν
Κύριον τῆς καθέδρας μιμούμενος, ἀναλαμβανόμενον εἰρήνην τήν οἰκείαν, καί ἀφιέντα καί διδόντα. Τό δέ, Καί τῷ πνεύματί (844) σου τόν λαόν ἀποκρινόμενον, δηλοῖ, Εἰρήνην μέν ἡμῖν παρέσχες, Κύριε, καί τήν ἐν ἀλλήλοις ὁμόνοιαν· εἰρήνην δέ δός ἡμῖν, τήν πρός σέ ἀδιαίρετον ἕνωσιν, ἵνα τῷ Πνεύματί σου εἰρηνεύοντες, ὅ ἡμῖν ἐν ἀρχῆ τῆς δημιουργίας ἐνέθηκας, ἀχώριστοι τῆς σῆς ἀγάπης τυγχάνωμεν.
ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΞΘ΄.
Εἰ ὅλως νεκροί ἐγείρονται, τί ὅλως, φησί, τά σώματα ἡμῶν οὐκ ἀνίστανται; Τί καί ἐν τῷ βαπτίζεσθαι, εἰς ἀφθαρσίαν αὐτά μεταποιεῖσθαι πιστεύομεν;
Ἀπόκρισις. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .
ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ Ο΄. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ἀπόκρισις. Εἰ τῆς Γραφῆς ζητεῖς μυστικήν διασάφησιν, οὕτως νοητέον· Αἰνεῖτε τόν Κύριον
ἐν φωνῆ σάλπιγγος, ἐν τῇ μνήμῃ τῆς ἀναστάσεως [ἴσ. ἀναλήψεως] σάλπιγγι σειομένῃ, ὡς γέγραπται· Αἰνεῖτε αὐτόν ἐν ψαλτηρίῳ καί κιθάρᾳ· τῆ γλώσσῃ ἡμῶν καί τῷ στόματι, ὡς πλήκτρῳ τινί τῷ πνεύματι κρουομένων. Αἰνεῖτε αὐτόν ἐν τυμπάνῳ καί χορῶ· ἐν σαρκί καί ψυχῇ, ἀφ᾿ ἧς ὡς χορείας πρός Θεόν διαβαίνουσι δεήσεις. Αἰνεῖτε αὐτόν ἐν χορδαῖς καί ὀργάνῳ· ἐν καρδίᾳ, καί ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔσωθεν σπλάχνοις καί νεύροις, ἅπερ ὄργανον κέκληκε. Αἰνεῖτε αὐτόν ἐν κυμβάλοις εὐήχοις· τοῖς χείλεσι, δι᾿ ὧν τά ἐναρμόνια τῆς ψαλμωδίας πλέκεται μέλη.