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having been clothed, and delivered over to the cross and to death, the tomb of his death, on the one hand, being honored with zeal and devotion, and the Churches established throughout the whole world by his power, on the other hand, increasing daily, and multiplying, and still advancing with glory. For seeing these things with their own eyes, how are the children of the Jews not rightly clothed with confusion and shame? I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth, and in the midst of many I will praise him; for 23.1341 he stood at the right hand of the poor, to save my soul from them that persecute it. Of many; of whom, if not of all the nations that have believed in him, and of the Churches throughout the whole world? For he is the one who said: Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them. Therefore, throughout the whole world, in the midst of the Churches, the greatest thanksgiving proceeds from the Lord to the Father. A PSALM OF DAVID. 109. The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Our Savior noted a very precise and true statement, having said: If then David in spirit calls him Lord, how is he his son? for it was not possible for David to say, apart from the Holy Spirit, this: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand. For whence did human reasoning possess the knowledge of the Father's communion with him who was named his Lord? The throne, then, signifies his royal dignity, and the sitting the firm and established and unshakable permanence in the kingdom; and "at the right hand," being a partaker also of the Father's right-hand gifts. For the Son bestows all things on the right hand, bright and good and saving, as from the Father. And he calls enemies those who were shown through the preceding psalm; and not only them, but also all the opposing powers. For the Father proclaims through the present psalm that he will place all things under his feet. The Lord will send forth a rod of power out of Sion, and rule in the midst of your enemies. In these words, I consider "a rod of power" to be said of the word of the Gospel. But consider whether perhaps in another way "a rod of power" is spoken of here as the "rod of iron" called such in the second psalm. The word of the Gospel, then, which is of the power of our Savior and which proclaims the economy concerning him, would be the instructive and saving rod; while the one called "of iron" is destructive against his enemies and the adversaries of his Church, by which it is said he will shatter his enemies like a potter's vessel. Since, therefore, Christ established his Churches in the midst of cities and in the midst of the nations themselves between enemies and adversaries, it has been necessarily said that, The Lord will send forth the rod of your power, that you may rule in the midst of your enemies. With you is the dominion in the day of your power in the brightness of the saints, from the womb before the morning star I have begotten you. Aquila, From the womb of the morning, to you is the dew of your youth; but Symmachus: Like at dawn, to you is the dew of your youth; and the fifth edition, From the womb, from the morning, to you is the dew of your youth. And it seems, through these, to signify the economy of his incarnate birth. For from the womb, he says, there will be a morning dew of your childhood; or from the womb indeed 23.1344 your morning dew will be born for you in your youth. And I think that through these is signified that the incarnate birth was formed not from the seed of a man, but from the Holy Spirit. For just as dew is borne from above, from heaven, so in some way in the womb of the mother who bore him the formation of the flesh took place in his childhood. And instead of, from

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περιβληθέντος, σταυρῷ τε καὶ θανάτῳ παραδοθέντος, τὸ μὲν τοῦ θανάτου μνῆμα σπουδαῖς τε καὶ φιλοτιμίαις τετιμημένον, τὰς δὲ διὰ τῆς αὐτοῦ δυνάμεως καθ' ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης ἱδρυθείσας Ἐκκλησίας αὐξούσας ὁσημέραι, καὶ πληθυνούσας, καὶ ἔτι μετὰ δόξης προϊούσας. Ταῦτα γὰρ ὁρῶντες ὀφθαλμοῖς Ἰουδαίων παῖδες, πῶς οὐκ ἐντροπὴν καὶ αἰσχύνην εἰκότως περιβάλλονται; Ἐξομολογήσομαι τῷ Κυρίῳ σφόδρα ἐν τῷ στόματί μου, καὶ ἐν μέσῳ πολλῶν αἰνέσω αὐτόν· ὅτι 23.1341 παρέστη ἐκ δεξιῶν πένητος, τοῦ σῶσαι ἐκ τῶν καταδιωκόντων τὴν ψυχήν μου. Πολλῶν· τίνων ἢ πάντων τῶν εἰς αὐτὸν πεπιστευκότων ἐθνῶν, καὶ τῶν καθ' ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης Ἐκκλησιῶν; Αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ εἰπών· Ὅπου δύο ἢ τρεῖς συνηγμένοι ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου, ἐκεῖ εἰμι ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν. ∆ιὸ καθ' ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐν μέσῳ τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου τῷ Πατρὶ μεγίστη πρόεισιν εὐχαριστία. ΨΑΛΜΟΣ ΤΩ ∆ΑΥΙ∆. ΡΘʹ. Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος τῷ Κυρίῳ μου· Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου. Σφόδρα ἀκριβῆ καὶ ἀληθῆ λόγον ἐπεσημήνατο ὁ Σωτὴρ ἡμῶν εἰρηκώς· Εἰ οὖν ∆αυῒδ ἐν πνεύματι καλεῖ αὐτὸν Κύριον, πῶς υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ἐστιν; οὐ γὰρ ἐκτὸς Πνεύματος ἁγίου οἷός τε ἦν ὁ ∆αυῒδ εἰπεῖν τό· Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος τῷ Κυρίῳ μου· Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου. Πόθεν γὰρ παρῆν ἀνθρωπίνῳ λογισμῷ ἡ γνῶσις ἡ τοῦ Πατρὸς πρὸς τὸν ὠνομασμένον αὐτοῦ Κύριον κοινολογίας; Ὁ μὲν οὖν θρόνος τὴν βασιλικὴν αὐτοῦ ἀξίαν κατασημαίνει, ἡ δὲ κάθισις τὸ βέβαιον καὶ ἑδραῖον καὶ ἀσάλευτον τῆς ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ διαμονῆς· τὸ δὲ, ἐκ δεξιῶν, εἶναι καὶ δεξιῶν τοῦ Πατρὸς δωρημάτων κοινωνόν. Πάντα γὰρ τὰ δεξιὰ, φαιδρά τε καὶ ἀγαθὰ καὶ σωτήρια χορηγεῖ ὁ Υἱὸς ὡς παρὰ Πατρός. Ἐχθροὺς δὲ φησὶ τοὺς διὰ τοῦ προτεταγμένου ψαλμοῦ δεδηλωμένους· καὶ οὐ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάσας τὰς ἀντικειμένας δυνάμεις. Πάντας γὰρ ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ θήσειν ὁ Πατὴρ διαγγέλλεται διὰ τοῦ προκειμένου ψαλμοῦ. Ῥάβδον δυνάμεως ἐξαποστελεῖ Κύριος ἐκ Σιὼν, καὶ κατακυρίευε ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἐχθρῶν σου. Ῥάβδον δυνάμεως ἐν τούτοις ἡγοῦμαι τὸν εὐαγγελικὸν λόγον εἰρῆσθαι. Ἐπίστησον δὲ μήποτε καθ' ἕτερον τρόπον ῥάβδος δυνάμεως εἴρηται ἐνταῦθα ἡ ἐν τῷ δευτέρῳ ψαλμῷ κεκλημένη ῥάβδος σιδηρᾶ. Ὁ μὲν οὖν εὐαγγελικὸς λόγος, ὁ τῆς τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν δυνάμεως, καὶ τῆς κατ' αὐτὸν οἰκονομίας ἀπαγγελτικὸς, ἡ παιδευτικὴ καὶ σωτήριος εἴη ἂν ῥάβδος· ἡ δὲ κατὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν αὐτοῦ καὶ πολεμίων τῆς αὐτοῦ Ἐκκλησίας καθαιρετικὴ λεγομένη σιδηρᾶ, δι' ἧς ὡς σκεύη κεραμέως συντρίψειν λέγεται τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὐτοῦ. Ἐπεὶ τοίνυν ὁ Χριστὸς τὰς Ἐκκλησίας αὐτοῦ ἐν μέσαις ταῖς πόλεσι καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς μέσοις ἔθνεσι μεταξὺ τῶν ἐχθρῶν καὶ πολεμίων συνεστήσατο, ἀναγκαίως λέλεκται ὅτι, Ῥάβδον δυνάμεώς σου ἐξαποστελεῖ Κύριος, ἵνα κατακυριεύσῃς ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἐχθρῶν σου. Μετὰ σοῦ ἡ ἀρχὴ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ τῆς δυνάμεώς σου ἐν ταῖς λαμπρότησι τῶν ἁγίων, ἐκ γαστρὸς πρὸ ἑωσφόρου ἐγέννησά σε. Ἀκύλας, Ἀπὸ μήτρας ἐξωρθρισμένης σοι δρόσος παιδιότητός σου· ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος· Ὡς κατ' ὄρθρον σοι δρόσος ἡ νεότης σου· ἡ δὲ πέμπτη ἔκδοσις, Ἐκ μήτρας ἀπὸ ὄρθρου σοι δρόσος νεότητός σου. Καὶ ἔοικέ γε διὰ τούτων τῆς ἐνσάρκου γεννήσεως αὐτοῦ τὴν οἰκονομίαν σημαίνειν. Ἀπὸ γὰρ μήτρας, φησὶ, γενήσεται δρόσος ἐξωρθρισμένη τῆς παιδιότητός σου· ἢ ἐκ μήτρας γε 23.1344 νήσεταί σοι δρόσος σου ὄρθρου ἐν τῇ νεότητί σου. Σημαίνεσθαι δὲ διὰ τούτων ἡγοῦμαι τὸ μὴ ἐκ σπέρματος ἀνδρὸς, ἀλλ' ἐξ ἁγίου Πνεύματος συστῆναι τὴν ἔνσαρκον γέννησιν. Οἷα γὰρ δρόσος ἄνωθεν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ φερομένη, οὕτω πως ἐν τῇ μήτρᾳ τῆς κυοφορούσης αὐτὸν μητρὸς ἡ τῆς σαρκὸς ὑπέστη σύστασις ἐν τῇ παιδιότητι αὐτοῦ. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ, ἐκ