In nativitatem praecursoris

OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS, ATHANASIUS

On the birthday of the Forerunner, and on Elizabeth, and on the Theotokos.

A farmer with a ploughing ox and hard toil, cutting furrows, raises up the furrows of a land that has been left untilled and left to be trodden by wild asses; for the longer the land has remained unworked, the more the ox set to the ploughing is bent with more laborious toil, wearing down its yoke-bearing neck; but a woman made barren and grown old by long years, and having fallen into two evils, both barrenness and weakness, barrenness of nature and weakness of old age, by a word, and not by toil, the Creator of nature, God the Word, both renews the old age of the body, and corrects the barrenness of nature. And Elizabeth, the wife of the priest Zacharias, bears witness to my word, she who did not laugh like Sarah, but believed like Hannah, who was renewed in her relaxed limbs like an eagle; for she bore a child, renowned, venerable, a companion of the streams of the Jordan. Truly great among women is Elizabeth, as a kinswoman of the glorious Virgin, as you have just heard Gabriel saying to the Virgin: "And behold, Elizabeth your kinswoman." O nobility of lineage! O exercise of piety! O purity of life! O chastity of body! O soul beloved of God! O vessel receiving myrrh! The serpent supplanted Eve; the angel announced the best things to Elizabeth. Truly great among women is Elizabeth, who both bore John the Baptist and reproached the unbelieving Zacharias. And that Zacharias was unbelieving, considering the weakness of the body more certain than the promise of God, you have heard previously from the evangelist Luke saying: "And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense." The appearance is a counselor for the vision. The angel stood on the right, because a blessed birth was about to happen, proclaiming the right-hand path of the kingdom of the heavens, according to the saying: "God knows the ways on the right; but those on the left are crooked;" not distinguishing the path, but hinting at the manner. "And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense." Let those present hear, and understand, that angels stand by the altar; and where there is the presence of angels, there is the dwelling of God. Zacharias the priest was performing his course of duty, from day to day attending to the liturgy; not proceeding through the whole, but ministering in his course. But the angels of God appointed to the altar do not perform a course of duty, but night and day they stand by the altar without separation. They know both the one who despises and the one who does not despise; they know both those who approach with piety, and those who do not so run to it; they are aware of both those who swear truly and those who swear falsely; they seal both those who bear fruit and those who are numb. Do not consider that the altar is adorned with stones; for it is borne by angels, it is surrounded by archangels. For if every boundary of the nations is set according to the number of angels, according to the saying: "He set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God;" how much more is the altar filled with angels, where the

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In nativitatem praecursoris

ΤΟΥ ΕΝ ΑΓΙΟΙΣ ΠΑΤΡΟΣ ΗΜΩΝ ΑΘΑΝΑΣΙΟΥ

Εἰς τὸ γενέθλιον τοῦ Προδρόμου, καὶ εἰς τὴν Ἐλισάβετ, καὶ εἰς τὴν Θεοτόκον.

Χώραν μὲν ἀποχερσωθεῖσαν, καὶ ὀνάγρων κα ταπάτημα γενέσθαι καταλειφθεῖσαν, βοῦς ἀροτὴρ κα μάτῳ ῥυμοτομῶν, ἐγείρει τοὺς αὔλακας· ὅσον γὰρ ἀκατέργαστος ἡ χώρα τῷ χρόνῳ μεμένηκε, τοσοῦτον ὁ πρὸς τὴν ἀροτρίασιν βοῦς παριστάμενος ἐπιπονω τέρῳ καμάτῳ συγκάμπτεται τὸν ζυγοφόρον ἐπεκτρίβων αὐχένα· γυναῖκα δὲ στειρωθεῖσαν καὶ μακροῖς χρόνοις παλαιωθεῖσαν, καὶ δυσὶ κακοῖς περιπεσοῦσαν, ἀγονίᾳ τε καὶ ἀτονίᾳ, ἀγονίᾳ φύσεως καὶ ἀτονίᾳ γη ραλεότητος, λόγῳ, καὶ οὐ πόνῳ, ὁ τῆς φύσεως δη 28.908 μιουργὸς Θεὸς Λόγος καὶ τὴν τοῦ σώματος παλαιό τητα ἀνακαινίζει, καὶ τὴν τῆς φύσεως στείρωσιν διορθοῦται. Καὶ μαρτυρεῖ μου τῷ λόγῳ ἡ γαμετὴ τοῦ ἱερέως Ζαχαρίου, Ἐλισάβετ, ἡ μὴ γελάσασα κατὰ τὴν Σάῤῥαν, ἀλλὰ πιστεύσασα κατὰ τὴν Ἄνναν, ἡ τοῖς κεχαλασμένοις μέλεσιν ὡς ἀετὸς ἀνακαινισθεῖσα· ἐπωλοτρόφησε γὰρ παῖδα γνώριμον, αἰδέσιμον, τῶν Ἰορ δανείων ῥείθρων συνόμιλον. Ὄντως μεγάλη ἐν γυναιξὶν Ἐλισάβετ, ὡς συγγενὴς τῆς ἐνδόξου Παρθένου, καθὼς ἤκουες ἀρτίως τοῦ Γαβριὴλ πρὸς τὴν Παρθένον λέγοντος· «Καὶ ἰδοὺ Ἐλισάβετ ἡ συγγενής σου.» Ὢ εὐγένεια γένους! ὢ ἄσκησις εὐλαβείας! ὢ καθαρότης βίου! ὢ ἁγνεία σώματος! ὢ θεοφίλεια ψυχῆς! ὢ μυ ροδόχον σκεῦος! Τὴν Εὔαν ἐπτέρνισεν ὁ ὄφις· τῇ Ἐλι σάβετ τὰ βέλτιστα ὁ ἄγγελος. Ὄντως μεγάλη ἐν γυ ναιξὶν Ἐλισάβετ, ἡ καὶ τὸν Βαπτιστὴν Ἰωάννην βαστάσασα, καὶ τὸν ἄπιστον Ζαχαρίαν ὀνειδίσασα. Καὶ ὅτι ἄπιστος Ζαχαρίας τὴν τοῦ σώματος ἀσθένειαν βε βαιοτέραν τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπαγγελίας λογισάμενος, ἤκουες τῇ προτέρᾳ τοῦ εὐαγγελιστοῦ Λουκᾶ λέγοντος· «Ὤφθη δὲ αὐτῷ ἄγγελος Κυρίου, ἐκ δεξιῶν ἑστὼς τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τοῦ θυμιάματος.» Σύμβουλος ἡ ὀπτασία τῆς θεωρίας. Ἐκ δεξιῶν ὁ ἄγγελος ἵστατο, ἐπειδὴ δεξιὸς ἤμελλε τόκος τίκτεσθαι, τὴν δεξιὰν ὁδὸν τῆς τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείας κηρύττων, κατὰ τὸ φάσκον ῥητόν· «Ὁδοὺς τὰς ἐκ δεξιῶν οἶδεν ὁ Θεός· διεστραμμέναι δέ εἰσιν αἱ ἐξ ἀριστερῶν·» οὐ τὴν ὁδὸν διαλλάττων, ἀλλὰ τὸν τρόπον αἰνιττόμενος. «Ὤφθη δὲ αὐτῷ ἄγγελος Κυ ρίου ἐκ δεξιῶν ἑστὼς τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τοῦ θυμιάματος.» Ἀκουέτωσαν οἱ παρόντες, καὶ συνιέτωσαν, ὅτι ἄγγελοι τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ παρίστανται· ὅπου δὲ ἀγγέ λων παράστασις, ἐκεῖ Θεοῦ κατασκήνωσις. Ζαχαρίας ὁ ἱερεὺς ἐξεφημερίαν ἐποίει, ἐξ ἡμερῶν εἰς ἡμέρας παριστάμενος τῇ λειτουργίᾳ· οὐχὶ δι' ὅλου χωρῶν, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ ἐφημερίᾳ λειτουργῶν. Οἱ δὲ ἀποκληρω θέντες ἄγγελοι τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰς θυσιαστήριον ἐφημερίαν οὐ ποιοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ νύκτωρ καὶ μεθ' ἡμέραν ἀδιασπά στως παρίστανται τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ. Ἴσασι καὶ τὸν καταφρονοῦντα, καὶ τὸν μὴ καταφρονοῦντα· γνωρί ζουσι καὶ τοὺς εὐλαβῶς προσιόντας, καὶ τοὺς οὐχ οὕτω προστρέχοντας· ἐπίστανται καὶ τοὺς εὐορκοῦν τας, καὶ τοὺς ἐπιορκοῦντας· σφραγίζουσι καὶ τοὺς καρποφοροῦντας, καὶ τοὺς ναρκιῶντας. Μὴ ὅτι λίθοις κεκαλλώπισται τὸ θυσιαστήριον σκόπει· ὑπὸ γὰρ ἀγγέ λων βαστάζεται, ὑπὸ ἀρχαγγέλων κυκλοῦται. Εἰ γὰρ πᾶν ὅριον ἐθνικὸν κατὰ ἀριθμὸν ἀγγέλων ὁροθετεῖται, κατὰ τὸ φάσκον ῥητόν· «Ἔστησεν ὅρια ἐθνῶν κατὰ ἀριθμὸν ἀγγέλων Θεοῦ·» πόσῳ μᾶλλον τὸ θυσιαστή ριον ἀγγελοπλήρωτον, ὅπου ὁ

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