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Inventio imaginis in Camulianis

On the same month, the 9th, The finding of the not-made-by-hands and divine icon of the Camulians, written by our father among the saints Gregory

bishop of Nyssa.

1 Our Lord Jesus Christ, our righteous and only true God, who by the essence of divinity is invisible, who by power is invincible, who by might is ineffable, who by nature is a lover of mankind and good, who in giving is without regret; the unchangeable image of the Father, who before the ages was invisibly begotten of the Father and in the last days was born of a virgin mother, here and again deigned to appear in a holy icon through his own goodness and immeasurable compassion. And there indeed guiding magi on their journey by a star, but here leading those of infant mind to perfect knowledge of himself. O ineffable love of mankind, O immeasurable care, O unspoken forbearance, O indescribable gift, O incomprehensible mysteries; truly a paradoxical and awesome wonder, that in us earthen vessels the creator is seen in an immaterial form. There he appeared as a new-born from a virgin through birth, here the same deigned today to be venerated in a bodily icon. O wonder and more paradoxical than wonders; for again a condescension of a man-loving master towards his own servants has occurred.

2 Come therefore, brothers and fathers, listen and I will relate to you, all who fear the Lord, what happened in Camuliana, the new Bethlehem, and the things concerning the precious icon and the blessed Bassa, who was renamed Aquilina, I, the humble Gregory, will set forth, as they were revealed to me, the unworthy one, by the Holy Spirit.

3 This blessed woman, being a Hellene and having a husband named Camulus, he too being a Hellene and a toparch, but raging madly against the Christians according to the edict of Diocletian the emperor, having been illumined by divine grace sought to depart from both her husband and his religion, hastening to have her hope and knowledge in the Lord and king of life alone in secret because of the fear she had of her lawless husband, and she always besought the Lord to receive holy baptism, occupying herself with all-night prayers and daily fasts, bearing in herself all purity of soul and body, and persevering in chastity. Wherefore she was also deemed worthy of the revelation of the Holy Spirit. 4 For as she was praying to our Lord Jesus Christ with tears and a contrite heart, God who does the will of those who fear him heard her prayer, having measured her faith and says: "3since for the salvation of men I came down from the Holy Spirit and Mary the virgin, so now I come to you, pitying your tears. Prepare therefore a clean table and place on it a white linen cloth and an untouched, transparent vessel with water and prepare them in an adorned chamber and cast yourself onto the ground outside the bedroom and my right hand will cover you and I will appear to you as I wish"3. 5 And so the blessed Aquilina fell down, as the divine voice commanded her. And the Lord Christ descended to her, O strange and dreadful mystery, who is always and everywhere present and never overlooks those who hope and cry out to him and long for him. Oh! the condescension and ineffable love for mankind, that he deemed his servants worthy of such great gifts; and they came together

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Inventio imaginis in Camulianis

Τῷ αὐτῷ μηνὶ θʹ, Ἡ εὕρεσις τῆς ἀχειροποιήτου καὶ θείας εἰκόνος τῶν Καμουλιανῶν, συγγραφεῖσα παρὰ τοῦ ἐν ἁγίοις πατρὸς ἡμῶν Γρηγορίου

ἐπισκόπου Νύσης.

1 Ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς ὁ δίκαιος καὶ μόνος ἀληθινὸς θεὸς ἡμῶν, ὁ τῇ οὐσίᾳ τῆς θεότητος ἀόρατος, ὁ τῷ κράτει ἀήττητος, ὁ τῇ δυνάμει ἀνεκλάλητος, ὁ τῇ φύσει φιλάνθρωπος καὶ ἀγαθός, ὁ τῇ δόσει ἀμεταμέλητος· ἡ εἰκὼν τοῦ πατρὸς ἡ ἀπαράλλακτος, ὁ πρὸ αἰώνων ἀοράτως ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς γεννηθεὶς καὶ ἐπ' ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐκ μητρὸς παρθένου τεχθείς, ἐνταῦθα καὶ αὖθις ἐν ἁγίᾳ εἰκόνι φανῆναι κατηξίωσε δι' ἰδίαν ἀγαθότητα καὶ ἄμετρον εὐσπλαγχνίαν. καὶ ἐκεῖ μὲν μάγους ὁδηγῶν πρὸς πορείαν δι' ἀστέρος, ἐνταῦθα δὲ τοὺς νηπιάζοντας τὴν φρένα πρὸς τελείαν γνῶσιν ἐπανάγων τὴν πρὸς ἑαυτόν. ὢ ἀφράστου φιλανθρωπίας, ὢ ἀμέτρου κηδε μονίας, ὢ ἀφάτου ἀνεξικακίας, ὢ ἀνεκδιηγήτου δωρεᾶς, ὢ ἀκαταλήπτων μυστηρίων· ὄντως παράδοξον θαῦμα καὶ φοβερόν, ὅτι ἐν ἡμῖν τοῖς πηλίνοις χαρακτῆρι ἀΰλῳ καθορᾶται ὁ κτίστης. ἐκεῖ ἐκ παρθένου νέος ἐφάνη διὰ γεννήσεως, ἐνταῦθα ὁ αὐτὸς σωματικῇ εἰκόνι σήμερον προσκυνεῖσθαι κατηξίωσεν. ὦ θαῦμα καὶ θαυμάτων παραδοξώτερον· πάλιν γὰρ συγκατάβασις δε σπότου φιλανθρώπου πρὸς τοὺς οἰκείους δούλους γέγονε.

2 δεῦτε οὖν, ἀδελφοὶ καὶ πατέρες, ἀκούσατε καὶ διηγήσομαι ὑμῖν πᾶσι τοῖς φοβουμένοις τὸν κύριον, ὅσα γέγονεν ἐν τῇ Καμουλιανῶν νέᾳ Βηθλεέμ, καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς τιμίας εἰκόνος καὶ μακαρίας Βάσσης τῆς μετακληθείσης Ἀκυλίνης ἐπὶ μέσον προ θήσω ἐγὼ ὁ ταπεινὸς Γρηγόριος ὡς ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος φανερωθέντα μοι τῷ ἀναξίῳ.

3 Αὕτη ἡ μακαρία, Ἑλληνὶς οὖσα καὶ σύζυγον ἔχουσα Κάμουλον τοὔνομα, Ἕλληνα καὶ αὐτὸν ὑπάρχοντα καὶ τοπάρχην, ἐμμανῶς δὲ ἔχοντα κατὰ τῶν Χριστιανῶν κατὰ τὸ πρόσταγμα ∆ιοκλητιανοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως, ἐλλαμφθεῖσα τῇ θείᾳ χάριτι ἐζήτει τοῦ τε ἀνδρὸς καὶ τῆς τούτου θρησκείας ἀποστῆναι, σπεύδουσα πρὸς μόνον τὸν ζωῆς δεσπότην καὶ βασιλέα τὴν ἐλπίδα καὶ ἐπίγνωσιν ἔχειν ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ διὰ τὸν φόβον ὃν ἔχει τοῦ παρανόμου ἀνδρός, καὶ ἐδυσώπει ἀεὶ τὸν κύριον δέξασθαι τὸ ἅγιον βάπτισμα, παννύχοις ἀσχολουμένη προσευχαῖς καὶ ταῖς καθ' ἑκάστην νηστείαις, πᾶσαν καθαρότητα ψυχῆς καὶ σώμα τος ἐν ἑαυτῇ περιφέρουσα, καὶ τῇ ἁγνείᾳ προσκαρτεροῦσα. διὸ καὶ τῆς ἀποκαλύψεως τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος κατηξίωται. 4 προσευχομένης γὰρ αὐτῆς πρὸς τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν μετὰ δακρύων καὶ συντετριμμένης καρδίας, ὁ τὸ θέλημα τῶν φοβουμένων αὐτὸν ποιῶν θεὸς εἰσήκουσε τῆς δεήσεως αὐτῆς καταμετρήσας τὴν πίστιν αὐτῆς καί φησιν· "3ἐπειδὴ διὰ τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων σωτηρίαν κατῆλθον ἐκ πνεύματος ἁγίου καὶ Μαρίας τῆς παρθένου, καὶ νῦν παραγίνομαι πρὸς σὲ τὰ δάκρυά σου οἰκτείρας. εὐτρέπισον οὖν τράπεζαν καθαρὸν καὶ ἐπίθες ἐν αὐτῇ κίδαριν λευκὴν καὶ σκεῦος ἄθικτον διαυγὲς μετὰ ὕδατος καὶ ἑτοίμασον αὐτὰ ἐν ταμείῳ κεκοσμημένῳ καὶ ῥῖψον σεαυτὴν εἰς τὸ ἔδαφος τὸ τοῦ κοιτῶνος ἐξώτερον καὶ σκεπάσει σε ἡ δεξιά μου καὶ ὀφθήσομαί σοι ὡς βούλομαι"3. 5 καὶ ἔπεσεν οὕτως ἡ μακαρία Ἀκυλίνα, καθὼς προσέταξεν αὐτῇ ἡ θεία φωνή. καὶ κατέβη πρὸς αὐτὴν ὁ δεσπότης Χριστός, ὢ ξένου καὶ φρικτοῦ μυστηρίου, ὁ πάντοτε καὶ πανταχοῦ παραγενόμενος καὶ μηδέποτε παρορῶν τοὺς ἐλπίζοντας καὶ βοῶντας πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ ποθοῦντας αὐτόν. βαβαὶ τῆς συγκαταβάσεως καὶ ἀφάτου φιλανθρωπίας, ὅτι το σούτων δωρεῶν τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ κατηξίωσε· συνῆλθον δὲ