Epiphanius of Salamis, Homily on Palm Sunday

Homilia in festo palmarum

Of our Father among the saints, Epiphanius, bishop of Cyprus, on Palm Sunday. Lord, bless.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, delight and exult and be glad, all the Church of God; for behold, again the King comes to you. Behold your bridegroom comes, sitting upon a colt as upon a throne. Let us go out to meet him, let us hasten to see his glory, let us come beforehand joyfully in honor of his entry. Again salvation to the world, again God comes to the cross. Again the king of Zion, the expectation of the nations, comes to Zion, again he bestows salvation on the world, again the light appears, again error has ceased, again the truth flourishes, again the Church dances, again the Synagogue is widowed, again the demons are ashamed, again the curse is loosed, again the Hebrews are troubled, again the dragon is crushed, again the nations rejoice, again Zion is adorned. Christ comes sitting on a colt as on a throne; O heavens, exult; O angels, sing hymns; O mountains, rejoice; O hills, leap; O rivers, clap your hands; you in Zion, dance; O Churches, rejoice; O priests, sing hymns; O prophets, come beforehand; O disciples, preach; O peoples, meet him; O elders, run together; O mothers, dance; you who are nursing, sing; O young men, cry out; O nations, be gathered. All creation, all nature, every order, every breath, all the earth, every dignity, every age, every nation, every kingdom, let us royally meet the King of kings, let us masterfully worship the Master of masters, let us divinely sing to the God of gods, let us as God's bride dance for the 43.429 bridegroom of incorruption; let us, being bright, brightly light our lamps; let us exchange the tunics of our souls in a manner befitting God, let us prepare well the paths of life, let us open the entrances of our souls to the King, let us bear the palms of victory as for the victor over death, waving the branches of the olive trees in a manner befitting God for the branch from Mary; let us sing the hymns of angels to the God of angels; with the children let us cry out in a manner befitting God, with the crowd the things of the crowd, and let us, the crowds, shout: Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; God is the Lord, and has appeared to us, has appeared to us who were sitting in darkness and the shadow of death. He has appeared, the resurrection of the fallen, he has appeared, the deliverance of the captives, he has appeared, the recovery of sight for the blind, he has appeared, the consolation of those who mourn, he has appeared, the rest of those who labor, he has appeared, the refreshment of those who thirst, he has appeared, the vindication of the oppressed, he has appeared, the redemption of the despaired, he has appeared, the consolation of the despaired, he has appeared, the union of those who are separated, he has appeared, the vindication of the oppressed, he has appeared, the healing of the sick, he has appeared, the calm of those who are storm-tossed.

Therefore let us also, the people, shout with the crowd, saying today to Christ, Hosanna, that is, Save now, O God in the highest. Oh, what new and paradoxical deeds and wonders! Yesterday Christ raised Lazarus from the dead, and today he himself comes to death. Yesterday, as life, he bestowed life on another, and today the life-giver comes to death. Yesterday he loosed the burial cloths of Lazarus, and today he himself willingly comes to be bound in burial cloths. Yesterday he led a man out of darkness, and today he comes to be placed in dark places and the shadow of death for the sake of man. Yesterday, six days before Pascha, through the five senses the Three-Day One bestows on the two sisters their one brother who had been dead for four days, and today to the

Homilia in festo palmarum

Τοῦ ἐν ἁγίοις Πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἐπιφανίου ἐπισκόπου Κύπρου εἰς τὰ Βαΐα. Κύριε, εὐλόγησον.

Χαῖρε σφόδρα, θύγατερ Σιὼν, τέρπου καὶ ἀγάλλου καὶ εὐφραίνου, πᾶσα ἡ

Ἐκκλησία τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἰδοὺ γὰρ πάλιν ὁ Βασιλεὺς πρὸς σὲ παραγίνεται. Ἰδοὺ ὁ σὸς νυμφίος ἐπὶ πώλου ὡς ἐπὶ θρόνου καθήμενος ἔρχεται. Ἐξέλθωμεν εἰς ἀπάντησιν αὐτοῦ, σπεύσωμεν ἰδέσθαι τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, προφθάσωμεν φαιδρῶς εἰς τιμὴν τῆς εἰσόδου αὐτοῦ. Πάλιν τῷ κόσμῳ σωτηρία, πάλιν ὁ Θεὸς ἐπὶ σταυρὸν ἔρχεται. Πάλιν ὁ βασιλεὺς Σιὼν, τῶν ἐθνῶν ἡ προσδοκία ἐπὶ τὴν Σιὼν ἔρχεται, πάλιν τῷ κόσμῳ σωτηρίαν χαρίζεται, πάλιν τὸ φῶς ἐφίσταται, πάλιν ἡ πλάνη πέπαυται, πάλιν ἀνθεῖ ἡ ἀλήθεια, πάλιν ἡ Ἐκκλησία χορεύει, πάλιν ἡ Συναγωγὴ χηρεύει, πάλιν αἰσχύνονται δαίμονες, πάλιν κατάρα λύεται, πάλιν Ἑβραῖοι ταράττονται, πάλιν ὁ δράκων συντρίβεται, πάλιν τὰ ἔθνη εὐφραίνονται, πάλιν Σιὼν καλλωπίζεται. Χριστὸς ἐπὶ πώλου ὡς ἐπὶ θρόνου καθήμενος ἔρχεται· οἱ οὐρανοὶ, ἀγάλλεσθε· ἄγγελοι, ὑμνήσατε· τὰ ὄρη, εὐφραίνεσθε· οἱ βουνοὶ, σκιρτήσατε· ποταμοὶ, κροτήσατε· οἱ ἐν Σιὼν, χορεύσατε· αἱ Ἐκκλησίαι, χαίρετε· ἱερεῖς, ὑμνήσατε· προφῆται, προφθάσατε· μαθηταὶ, κηρύξατε· λαοὶ, ἀπαντήσατε· πρεσβῦται, συνδράμετε· αἱ μητέρες, χορεύσατε· οἱ θηλάζοντες, ᾄσατε· νεανίσκοι, βοήσατε· τὰ ἔθνη, συνάχθητε. Πᾶσα κτίσις, πᾶσα φύσις, πᾶσα τάξις, πᾶσα πνοὴ, πᾶσα ἡ γῆ, πᾶσα ἀξία, πᾶσα ἡλικία, πᾶσα ἐθναρχία, πᾶσα βασιλεία, βασιλικῶς τῷ Βασιλεῖ τῶν βασιλέων ἀπαντήσωμεν, δεσποτικῶς τῷ ∆εσπότῃ τῶν δεσποτῶν προσκυνήσωμεν, τῷ Θεῷ τῶν θεῶν θεϊκῶς ἀναμέλψωμεν, τῷ 43.429 νυμφίῳ τῆς ἀφθαρσίας θεονύμφως χορεύσωμεν· τὰς λαμπάδας φαιδροὶ φαιδρῶς ἐφαψώμεθα· τοὺς χιτῶνας τῶν ψυχῶν θεοπρεπῶς ἐξαλλάξωμεν, τὰς τοῦ βίου ὁδοὺς καλῶς ἑτοιμάσωμεν, τὰς εἰσόδους τῶν ψυχῶν τῷ Βασιλεῖ διανοίξωμεν, τὰ βαΐα τῆς νίκης ὡς νικητῇ τοῦ θανάτου βαστάσωμεν, τοὺς κλάδους τῶν ἐλαιῶν τῷ ἐκ Μαρίας κλάδῳ θεοπρεπῶς ἐπισείοντες· τὰ ἀγγέλων τῷ Θεῷ τῶν ἀγγέλων ὑμνήσωμεν· μετὰ τῶν παίδων θεοπρεπῶς ἀνακράξωμεν, μετὰ τοῦ ὄχλου τὰ τοῦ ὄχλου καὶ οἱ ὄχλοι βοήσωμεν· Ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις. Εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου· Θεὸς Κύριος, καὶ ἐπέφανεν ἡμῖν, ἐπέφανε τοῖς ἐν σκότει καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτου καθημένοις ἡμῖν. Ἐπέφανεν ἡ τῶν πεπτωκότων ἀνάστασις, ἐπέφανεν ἡ τῶν αἰχμαλώτων ἀνάῤῥυσις, ἐπέφανεν τῶν τυφλῶν ἡ ἀνάβλεψις, ἐπέφανεν ἡ τῶν πενθούντων παράκλησις, ἐπέφανεν ἡ τῶν κοπιώντων ἀνάπαυσις, ἐπέφανεν ἡ τῶν διψώντων ἀνάψυξις, ἐπέφανεν ἡ τῶν καταπονουμένων ἐκδίκησις, ἐπέφανεν ἡ τῶν ἀπεγνωσμένων λύτρωσις, ἐπέφανεν ἡ τῶν ἀπεγνωσμένων παράκλησις, ἐπέφανεν ἡ τῶν χωριζομένων ἕνωσις, ἐπεφάνη ἡ τῶν καταπονουμένων ἐκδίκησις, ἐπεφάνη ἡ τῶν νοσούντων ἴασις, ἐπεφάνη ἡ τῶν χειμαζομένων γαλήνη.

∆ιὸ καὶ ἡμεῖς, οἱ δῆμοι, μετὰ τοῦ ὄχλου βοήσωμεν, λέγοντες σήμερον Χριστῷ, Ὡσαννὰ, τουτέστι, Σῶσον δὴ, ὁ ἐν ὑψίστοις Θεός. Ὢ καινῶν καὶ παραδόξων πραγμάτων καὶ θαυμάτων! Χθὲς Χριστὸς ἐκ νεκρῶν ἤγειρε Λάζαρον, καὶ σήμερον ὁ αὐτὸς ἐπὶ τὸν θάνατον ἔρχεται. Χθὲς ἄλλῳ, ὡς ζωὴ, ζωὴν ἐχαρίσατο, καὶ σήμερον ζωοδότης ἐπὶ τὸν θάνατον ἔρχεται. Χθὲς Λαζάρου τὰ σπάργανα ἔλυσε, καὶ σήμερον ὁ αὐτὸς ἐν σπαργάνοις δεσμευθῆναι ἑκὼν παραγίνεται. Χθὲς ἐν σκότοις ἐξήγαγεν ἄνθρωπον, καὶ σήμερον ἐν σκοτεινοῖς τεθῆναι καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτου ἔρχεται διὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Χθὲς πρὸ ἒξ ἡμερῶν τοῦ Πάσχα διὰ τῶν πέντε αἰσθήσεων τὸν τετραήμερον ὁ τριήμερος ταῖς δυσὶ τὸν ἕνα χαρίζεται ἀδελφὸν, καὶ σήμερον ἐπὶ τὸν