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In sanctum Lucam (homilia 21) [Dub.]

Of Hesychius, presbyter of Jerusalem, an encomium for Saint Luke the apostle and evangelist.

1 Unable to bear the fear of being silent concerning the present feast, even if I, wretched one that I am, am exceedingly unskilled in speech and not worthy to speak, nevertheless, drawn by desire, I pay the debt according to my ability. And since I see a contest of both words and deeds at the present festival, with words striving to represent the greatness of the deeds, and the deeds in turn contending through an excess of wonders to surpass the swiftness of words, nevertheless I consider such a victory better, if I should be found defeated in praising the blessed Luke, who in teaching and wonders has surpassed all creation in heaven and on earth.

2 For what is greater than an evangelist? What is equal to his grace, who in his thought surpasses all perceptible motion, who with his tongue searched out the paternal bosom, who became the thunder of the ineffable mystery? A man of three cubits, woven together with clay, wrestling with passions, subject to diseases, allotted to death, he ascended to heaven in his thoughts, he saw by faith the beginningless generation, he beheld the Word coming forth impassibly from the paternal bosom and God begotten of God and the uncreated substance not divided into two gods, he saw the consubstantial Trinity worshipped on the throne, divided in hypostases and united in nature, with the Trinity neither being enclosed in one person, nor the substance being extended into a number. And the evangelist was found bolder than the seraphim; for they cover their faces because of the lightning flash, but he, through grace, theologized about the generation.

3 And again descending from heaven to earth and stooping into the awesome cave, with the eyes of faith he saw the mystery of God, superior to change and alteration, he saw a virgin mother unwed, he saw a womb broader than heaven, he saw a birth not as the beginning of God but His manifestation, he saw as an infant the incarnate creator of all the ages, he saw God emptied into the form of a servant, he saw the manger as the couch of the mystery, he saw the swaddling clothes as the ransom of the world, he saw the cross as a bridge to heaven, he saw the tomb as a weapon against death, he saw the eternal and incomprehensible wealth of the Holy Spirit, he saw fleeing into Egypt in the flesh the one who holds the earth in his hand. And the mystery was hidden from the seraphim, but the evangelist theologized about the wonder; for this reason Paul, proclaiming the dignity of the evangelists, cried out: "that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places through the church."

4 And behold for me the wisdom of the master; from every science and craft He chose disciples for himself, from fishermen, Peter, from tax collectors, Matthew, from tentmakers, Paul, from physicians, Luke. And He has not done this randomly or simply; for human nature was in the depth of error and there was need of fishermen. Again, the devil acted as a tax collector to Adam, snatching away his immortality; there was need of an evangelist tax collector. Disobedience clothed man in garments of skin; there was need of the tentmaker and of grace, in order to cut away with the chisel of the Word the deadness of the passions.

5 The race of men was variously sick with the fever of licentiousness, with the envy of avarice and with pleasure, with the despair of malice, with the irrationality of idolatry. For this reason He appointed Luke for them as an experienced physician and Paul cries out: "greets you

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In sanctum Lucam (homilia 21) [Dub.]

̔Ησυχίου, πρεσβυτέρου Ἱεροσολύμων, ἐγκώμιον εἰς τὸν ἅγιον Λουκᾶν τὸν ἀπόστολον καὶ εὐαγγελιστήν.

1 Φόβῳ τοῦ σιωπᾶν μὴ ἀνεχόμενος περὶ τῆς παρούσης ἑορτῆς, εἰ καὶ λίαν εἰμὶ

ἀμαθὴς τῷ λόγῳ ὁ τάλας ἐγὼ καὶ οὐκ ἀξίως ἔχων τοῦ λέγειν, ὅμως τῷ πόθῳ ἑλκόμενος τὸ χρέος κατὰ δύναμιν ἀπο δίδωμι. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ λόγων καὶ ἔργων ἅμιλλαν ὁρῶ ἐπὶ τῆς παρούσης πανηγύρεως, τῶν μὲν λόγων βιαζομένων παραστῆσαι τῶν ἔργων τὸ μέγεθος, τῶν δὲ ἔργων πάλιν φιλονεικούντων δι' ὑπερ βολὴν θαυμάτων νικῆσαι τῶν λόγων τὸ τάχος, ὅμως νίκην μᾶλλον βελτίω τὴν τοιαύτην ἡγοῦμαι, εἰ φανείην εἰς ἐπαίνους ἡττώμενος τοῦ μακαρίου Λουκᾶ, ὃς εἰς διδασκαλίαν καὶ θαύματα πᾶσαν τὴν ἐν οὐρανοῖς καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς κτίσιν ἐνίκησεν.

2 Τί γὰρ εὐαγγελιστοῦ μεῖζον; Τί δὲ τῆς χάριτος ἐκείνου ἴσον, ὃς τῷ λογισμῷ πᾶσαν τὴν αἰσθητὴν κίνησιν ὑπερβαίνει, ὃς τῇ γλώττῃ τοὺς πατρικοὺς κόλπους ἠρεύνησεν, ὃς γέγονεν τοῦ ἀπορ ρήτου μυστηρίου βροντή; Ἄνθρωπος ὢν τρίπηχυς, πηλῷ συμ πεπλεγμένος, πάθεσι πυκτεύων, ὑποκείμενος νόσοις, συγκεκλη ρωμένος θανάτῳ, εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνέβη τοῖς λογισμοῖς, εἶδε τῇ πίστει τὴν ἄναρχον γέννησιν, ἐθεάσατο τὸν Λόγον ἐκ πατρικῶν κόλπων ἀπαθῶς προελθόντα καὶ θεὸν ἐκ θεοῦ γεννηθέντα καὶ εἰς δύο θεοὺς τὴν ἄκτιστον οὐσίαν μὴ μερισθεῖσαν, εἶδε τὴν ἐπὶ θρόνου ὁμοούσιον τριάδα προσκυνουμένην, ἐν ὑποστάσεσι διῃ ρημένην καὶ φύσει ἡνωμένην, οὔτε τῆς τριάδος εἰς ἓν πρόσωπον συγκεκλεισμένης, οὔτε τῆς οὐσίας εἰς ἀριθμὸν ἐκτεινομένης. Καὶ τῶν σεραφὶμ ηὑρέθη τολμηρότερος ὁ εὐαγγελιστής· ἐκεῖνα μὲν γὰρ διὰ τὴν ἀστραπὴν τὴν ὄψιν καλύπτει, οὗτος δὲ διὰ τὴν χάριν τὴν γέννησιν ἐθεολόγησεν.

3 Πάλιν δὲ οὐρανόθεν εἰς γῆν καταβὰς καὶ ἐγκύψας τῷ φρικτῷ σπηλαίῳ, τοῖς τῆς πίστεως ὄμμασιν εἶδε μυστήριον θεοῦ τροπῆς καὶ ἀλλοιώσεως ἀνώτερον, εἶδε παρθένον ἀνύμφευτον μητέρα, εἶδε γαστέρα οὐρανοῦ πλατυτέραν, εἶδε τόκον οὐκ ἀρχὴν θεοῦ ἀλλ' ἐπιφάνειαν, εἶδε βρέφος σαρκωθέντα τὸν δημιουργὸν πάν των τῶν αἰώνων, εἶδε θεὸν ἐν δούλου μορφῇ κενωθέντα, εἶδε φάτνην μυστηρίου κλίνην, εἶδε σπάργανα οἰκουμένης λύτρα, εἶδε σταυρὸν εἰς οὐρανὸν γέφυραν, εἶδε τάφον κατὰ θανάτου ὅπ λον, εἶδε Πνεύματος ἁγίου πλοῦτον αἰώνιον καὶ ἀπερινόητον, εἶδεν εἰς Αἴγυπτον φυγόντα σαρκὶ τὸν κατέχοντα τὴν γῆν δρακί. Καὶ τὸ μὲν μυστήριον ἔλαθε τὰ σεραφίμ, ὁ δὲ εὐαγγελιστὴς τὸ θαῦμα ἐθεολόγησεν· διὰ τοῦτο Παῦλος, τῶν εὐαγγελιστῶν τὸ ἀξίωμα κηρύττων, ἐβόα· «ἵνα γνωρισθῇ νῦν ταῖς ἀρχαῖς καὶ ταῖς ἐξουσίαις ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις διὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἡ πολυποί κιλος τοῦ θεοῦ σοφία.»

4 Καὶ βλέπετέ μοι τὴν σοφίαν τοῦ δεσπότου· ἐκ πάσης ἐπι στήμης καὶ τέχνης ἑαυτῷ μαθητὰς ἐξελέξατο, ἐξ ἁλιέων τὸν Πέτρον, ἐκ τελωνῶν τὸν Μαθθαῖον, ἀπὸ σκηνορράφων τὸν Παῦλον, ἐξ ἰατρῶν τὸν Λουκᾶν. Καὶ οὐκ εἰκῇ οὐδὲ ἁπλῶς τοῦτο πεποίηκε· ἐν τῷ βυθῷ γὰρ τῆς πλάνης ἦν ἡ ἀνθρωπεία φύσις καὶ χρεία ἦν ἁλιέων. Πάλιν ἐτελώνησεν ὁ διάβολος τὸν Ἀδὰμ τὴν ἀθανασίαν ἀφαρπάσας· χρεία ἦν εὐαγγελιστοῦ τελώνου. Ἐνέδυ σεν ἡ παρακοὴ τοὺς δερματίνους χιτῶνας τὸν ἄνθρωπον· χρεία ἦν τοῦ σκηνορράφου καὶ τῆς χάριτος, ἵνα διατέμῃ τῇ σμίλῃ τοῦ Λόγου τὴν τῶν παθῶν νέκρωσιν.

5 Ἐνόσει ποικίλως τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος πυρετῷ ἀκολα σίας, φθόνῳ φιλαργυρίας καὶ τῇ ἡδονῇ, βασκανίας ἀπογνώσει, εἰδωλολατρείας ἀλογίᾳ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἔμπειρον αὐτοῖς τὸν Λουκᾶν κατέστησεν ἰατρὸν καὶ βοᾷ Παῦλος· «Ἀσπάζεται ὑμᾶς