XVIII.  One thing connected with the Birth of Christ I would have you hate…the murder of the infants by Herod.59    Matt. ii. 16.  Or rather you must venerate this too, the Sacrifice of the same age as Christ, slain before the Offering of the New Victim.  If He flees into Egypt,60    Ib. v. 13. joyfully become a companion of His exile.  It is a grand thing to share the exile of the persecuted Christ.  If He tarry long in Egypt, call Him out of Egypt by a reverent worship of Him there.  Travel without fault through every stage and faculty of the Life of Christ.  Be purified; be circumcised; strip off the veil which has covered thee from thy birth.  After this teach in the Temple, and drive out the sacrilegious traders.61    John ii. 15.  Submit to be stoned if need be, for well I wot thou shalt be hidden from those who cast the stones; thou shalt escape even through the midst of them, like God.62    Ib. viii. 59.  If thou be brought before Herod, answer not for the most part.63    Luke xxiii. 9.  He will respect thy silence more than most people’s long speeches.  If thou be scourged,64    John xix. 1. ask for what they leave out.  Taste gall for the taste’s sake;65    Matt. xxvii. 34. drink vinegar;66    John xix. 29. seek for spittings; accept blows, be crowned with thorns,67    Matt. xxvi. 67, and xxvii. 28. that is, with the hardness of the godly life; put on the purple robe, take the reed in hand, and receive mock worship from those who mock at the truth; lastly, be crucified with Him, and share His Death and Burial gladly, that thou mayest rise with Him, and be glorified with Him and reign with Him.  Look at and be looked at by the Great God, Who in Trinity is worshipped and glorified, and Whom we declare to be now set forth as clearly before you as the chains of our flesh allow, in Jesus Christ our Lord, to Whom be the glory for ever.  Amen.

ΙΗʹ. Ἓν μίσησον τῶν περὶ τὴν Χριστοῦ γένναν, τὴν Ἡρώδου παιδοκτονίαν: μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ταύτην αἰδέσθητι, τὴν ἡλικιῶτιν Χριστοῦ θυσίαν, τοῦ καινοῦ σφαγίου προθυομένην. Ἂν εἰς Αἴγυπτον φεύγῃ, προθύμως συμφυγαδεύθητι. Καλὸν τῷ Χριστῷ συμφεύγειν διωκομένῳ. Ἂν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ βραδύνῃ, κάλεσον αὐτὸν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου, καλῶς ἐκεῖ προσκυνούμενον. Διὰ πασῶν ὅδευσον ἀμέμπτως τῶν ἡλικιῶν Χριστοῦ καὶ δυνάμεων, ὡς Χριστοῦ μαθητής. Ἁγνίσθητι, περιτμήθητι, περιελοῦ τὸ ἀπὸ γενέσεως κάλυμμα. Μετὰ τοῦτο δίδαξον ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ, τοὺς θεοκαπήλους ἀπέλασον: λιθάσθητι, ἂν τοῦτο δέῃ παθεῖν: λήσῃ τοὺς βάλλοντας, εὖ οἶδα, φεύξῃ καὶ διὰ μέσου αὐτῶν, ὡς Θεός. Ὁ Λόγος γὰρ οὐ λιθάζεται. Ἂν Ἡρώδῃ προσαχθῇς, μηδὲ ἀποκριθῇς τὰ πλείω. Αἰδεσθήσεταί σου καὶ τὴν σιωπὴν πλέον ἢ ἄλλων τοὺς μακροὺς λόγους. Ἂν φραγελλωθῇς, καὶ τὰ λειπόμενα ζήτησον. Γεῦσαι χολῆς, διὰ τὴν γεῦσιν: ὄξος ποτίσθητι, ζήτησον ἐμπτύσματα, δέξαι ῥαπίσματα, κολαφίσματα: ἀκάνθαις στεφανώθητι, τῷ τραχεῖ τοῦ κατὰ Θεὸν βίου: περιβαλοῦ τὸ κόκκινον, δέξαι κάλαμον, προσκυνήθητι παρὰ τῶν παιζόντων τὴν ἀλήθειαν: τέλος συσταυρώθητι, συννεκρώθητι, συντάφηθι προθύμως, ἵνα καὶ συναναστῇς, καὶ συνδοξασθῇς, καὶ συμβασιλεύσῃς, Θεὸν ὁρῶν ὅσον ἐστὶ, καὶ ὁρώμενος, τὸν ἐν Τριάδι προσκυνούμενόν τε καὶ δοξαζόμενον, ὃν καὶ νῦν τρανοῦσθαι ἡμῖν εὐχόμεθα, ὅσον ἐφικτὸν τοῖς δεσμίοις τῆς σαρκὸς, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν.