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On the Theophany

ORATION 38.

On the Theophany, or the Birthday of the Savior. I. Christ is born, glorify Him; Christ from heaven, go out to meet Him; Christ on earth, be exalted. Sing to the Lord, all the earth; and, that I may sum up both in one, Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, for Him who is of heaven and then of 36.313 earth. Christ in the flesh, exult with trembling and with joy; with trembling, because of sin; with joy, because of hope. Christ of a Virgin; O women, be virgins, that you may become mothers of Christ. Who does not worship Him who is from the beginning? Who does not glorify Him who is the last?

II. Again the darkness is dissolved, again the light is established, again Egypt is punished with darkness, again Israel is enlightened by a pillar. The people that sat in the darkness of ignorance, let them see the great light of full knowledge. The old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. The letter gives way, the Spirit prevails, the shadows flee, the truth comes in. Melchizedek is completed; he who was without mother, becomes without father; without mother before, without father after. The laws of nature are dissolved. The world above must be filled. Christ commands; let us not resist. All you nations, clap your hands, for a Child is born to us, a Son is given to us, whose government is upon His shoulder (for it is raised up with the Cross), and His name is called, Angel of the great counsel of the Father. Let John cry, Prepare the way of the Lord. And I too will cry out the power of this day: He who is without flesh is made flesh, the Word is made coarse, the invisible is seen, the intangible is touched, the timeless has a beginning, the Son of God becomes the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and for ever. Let Jews be scandalized, let Greeks mock, let heretics rage with their tongues. They will believe then, when they see Him ascending into heaven; and if not then, yet when they see Him coming from heaven, and sitting as Judge.

III. These things are for later. But for now the festival is the Theophany, or Birthday; for both are said, two titles being given to one thing. For God was manifested to men by birth. On the one hand, being and ever being from the ever-existing One, beyond cause and reason (for there was no reason superior to the Word); on the other hand, for our sake becoming later, that He who gave being, might also grant well-being; or rather, that as we had fallen from well-being through wickedness, He might bring us back to it again through His incarnation. And the name is, for His manifestation, Theophany; and for His birth, Birthday. 36.316

IV. This is our festival, this we celebrate today, the coming of God to men, that we may dwell with God, or return (for it is more fitting to say so), that putting off the old man, we may put on the new; and as in Adam we died, so in Christ we may live, being born together with Christ, and crucified together, and buried together, and raised together. For I must suffer the good exchange; and as from the better things came the grievous, so from the grievous must the better things return. For where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; and if the taste condemned, how much more did the suffering of Christ justify? Therefore let us keep the feast, not in a festive way, but in a godly way; not in a worldly way, but in a super-worldly way; not our own things, but His who is ours, or rather

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In theophania

ΛΟΓΟΣ ΛΗʹ.

Εἰς τὰ Θεοφάνια, εἴτουν Γενέθλια τοῦ Σωτῆρος. Αʹ. Χριστὸς γεννᾶται, δοξάσατε· Χριστὸς ἐξ οὐρανῶν, ἀπαντήσατε· Χριστὸς ἐπὶ γῆς, ὑψώθητε. Ἄσατε τῷ Κυρίῳ, πᾶσα ἡ γῆ· καὶ, ἵν' ἀμφότερα συνελὼν εἴπω, Εὐφραινέσθωσαν οἱ οὐρανοὶ, καὶ ἀγαλλιάσθω ἡ γῆ, διὰ τὸν ἐπουράνιον, εἶτα ἐπί 36.313 γειον. Χριστὸς ἐν σαρκὶ, τρόμῳ καὶ χαρᾷ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε· τρόμῳ, διὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν· χαρᾷ, διὰ τὴν ἐλπίδα. Χριστὸς ἐκ Παρθένου· γυναῖκες παρθενεύετε, ἵνα Χριστοῦ γένησθε μητέρες. Τίς οὐ προσ κυνεῖ τὸν ἀπ' ἀρχῆς; τίς οὐ δοξάζει τὸν τελευταῖον;

Βʹ. Πάλιν τὸ σκότος λύεται, πάλιν τὸ φῶς ὑφίσταται, πάλιν Αἴγυπτος σκότῳ κολάζεται, πάλιν Ἰσραὴλ στύλῳ φωτίζεται. Ὁ λαὸς, ὁ καθήμενος ἐν σκότει τῆς ἀγνοίας, ἰδέτω φῶς μέγα τῆς ἐπι γνώσεως. Τὰ ἀρχαῖα παρῆλθεν· ἰδοὺ γέγονε τὰ πάντα καινά. Τὸ γράμμα ὑποχωρεῖ, τὸ πνεῦμα πλεονεκτεῖ, αἱ σκιαὶ παρατρέχουσιν, ἡ ἀλήθεια ἐπεισέρχεται. Ὁ Μελχισεδὲκ συνάγεται· ὁ ἀμήτωρ, ἀπάτωρ γίνεται· ἀμήτωρ τὸ πρότερον, ἀπάτωρ τὸ δεύτερον. Νόμοι φύσεως καταλύονται. Πληρωθῆναι δεῖ τὸν ἄνω κόσμον. Χριστὸς κελεύει· μὴ ἀντιτείνωμεν. Πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, κροτήσατε χεῖρας, ὅτι παιδίον ἐγεννήθη ἡμῖν, υἱὸς καὶ ἐδόθη ἡμῖν, οὗ ἡ ἀρχὴ ἐπὶ τοῦ ὤμου αὐτοῦ (τῷ γὰρ σταυρῷ συνεπαίρεται), καὶ καλεῖται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, μεγάλης βουλῆς, τῆς τοῦ Πατρὸς, Ἄγγελος. Ἰωάννης βοάτω· Ἑτοιμάσατε τὴν ὁδὸν Κυρίου. Κἀγὼ βοήσομαι τῆς ἡμέρας τὴν δύναμιν· Ὁ ἄσαρκος σαρκοῦται, ὁ Λόγος παχύνεται, ὁ ἀόρατος ὁρᾶται, ὁ ἀναφὴς ψηλαφᾶται, ὁ ἄχρονος ἄρχεται, ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ Υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου γίνεται, Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς, χθὲς καὶ σήμερον, ὁ αὐτὸς καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἰουδαῖοι σκανδαλιζέσθωσαν, Ἕλληνες διαγελάτωσαν, αἱρετικοὶ γλωσσαλγείτωσαν. Τότε πιστεύσουσιν, ὅταν ἴδωσιν εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀνερχόμενον· εἰ δὲ μὴ τότε, ἀλλ' ὅταν ἐξ οὐρανῶν ἐρχόμενον, καὶ ὡς κριτὴν καθεζόμενον.

Γʹ. Ταῦτα μὲν ὕστερον. Τὰ δὲ νῦν Θεοφάνια, ἡ πανήγυρις, εἴτουν Γενέθλια· λέγεται γὰρ ἀμφότερα, δύο κειμένων προσηγοριῶν ἑνὶ πράγματι. Ἐφάνη γὰρ Θεὸς ἀνθρώποις διὰ γεννήσεως· τὸ μὲν ὢν, καὶ ἀεὶ ὢν ἐκ τοῦ ἀεὶ ὄντος, ὑπὲρ αἰτίαν καὶ λόγον (οὐδὲ γὰρ ἦν τοῦ Λόγου λόγος ἀνώτερος)· τὸ δὲ, δι' ἡμᾶς γενόμενος ὕστερον, ἵν' ὁ τὸ εἶναι δοὺς, καὶ τὸ εὖ εἶναι χαρίσηται· μᾶλλον δὲ, ῥεύσαντας ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ εὖ εἶναι διὰ κακίαν, πρὸς αὐτὸ πάλιν ἐπα ναγάγῃ διὰ σαρκώσεως. Ὄνομα δὲ, τῷ φανῆναι μὲν, Θεοφάνια· τῷ δὲ γεννᾶσθαι, Γενέθλια. 36.316

∆ʹ. Τοῦτό ἐστιν ἡμῖν ἡ πανήγυρις, τοῦτο ἑορτά ζομεν σήμερον, ἐπιδημίαν Θεοῦ πρὸς ἀνθρώπους, ἵνα πρὸς Θεὸν ἐνδημήσωμεν, ἢ ἐπανέλθωμεν (οὕτω γὰρ εἰπεῖν οἰκειότερον), ἵνα τὸν παλαιὸν ἄν θρωπον ἀποθέμενοι, τὸν νέον ἐνδυσώμεθα· καὶ ὥσπερ ἐν τῷ Ἀδὰμ ἀπεθάνομεν, οὕτως ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ ζή σωμεν, Χριστῷ καὶ συγγεννώμενοι, καὶ συσταυ ρούμενοι, καὶ συνθαπτόμενοι, καὶ συνανιστά μενοι. ∆εῖ γάρ με παθεῖν τὴν καλὴν ἀντιστροφήν· καὶ ὥσπερ ἐκ τῶν χρηστοτέρων, ἦλθε τὰ λυπηρὰ, οὕτως ἐκ τῶν λυπηρῶν, ἐπανελθεῖν τὰ χρηστότερα. Οὗ γὰρ ἐπλεόνασεν ἡ ἁμαρτία, ὑπερεπερίσσευ σεν ἡ χάρις· καὶ εἰ ἡ γεῦσις κατέκρινε, πόσῳ μᾶλλον τὸ Χριστὸν παθεῖν ἐδικαίωσεν; Τοιγαροῦν ἑορτάζωμεν, μὴ πανηγυρικῶς, ἀλλὰ θεϊκῶς· μὴ κοσμικῶς, ἀλλ' ὑπερκοσμίως· μὴ τὰ ἡμέτερα, ἀλλὰ τὰ τοῦ ἡμετέρου, μᾶλλον δὲ