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In laudem conceptionis sancti Joannis Baptistae

An encomium on the conception of Saint John the prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist.

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1. Moses the great, the servant of God, the chief of the prophets, the traveler of the sea, the charioteer of the air, the table-setter of manna, the lawgiver of God, the one who received the sacred tablets, the first introducer of things beneficial to life, this one, so great and of such stature, constructed a tabernacle for the people of Israel, according to the pattern he was taught by God on the mountain. And he made each individual thing holy and sacred, as many as were encompassed within the enclosure; but the innermost part of these was a sanctuary and untrodden, 50.788 called the Holy of Holies. Following this example of the tabernacle, Solomon also built a temple, not only in the luxury of its material, nor in the variety of its art, but also in the form of its construction, eclipsing all the temples on earth; so that they would never come to desire those among the Egyptians. And he makes the temple in the image of the whole world, both the perceptible and the intelligible. For just as there is earth and heaven, and the firmament is a partition in between; so God also commanded that one to be, and cutting this temple in two, and leaving a veil in the middle, He allowed the part outside the veil to be accessible to all, but the part within, inaccessible and unseen by all, except the high priest alone, as the angel 50.789 commanded, speaking to Moses, to say to the sons of Israel: On the tenth day of the seventh month, you shall afflict your souls; that is, concerning the Feast of Tabernacles; for then at the Feast of Tabernacles, once a year, the high priest alone would enter into the Holy of Holies to burn incense. Therefore, at this Feast of Tabernacles, Zacharias also entered to burn incense according to his priestly division, and he saw the angel standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. And the angel said to him: Fear not, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink neither wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.

Have you seen a promise, surpassing prophetic power? This prophecy of Zacharias bound and loosed his tongue; for it bound it when the birth was disbelieved; and it loosed it when the birth occurred. O the wonder! John, an evangelist from the womb, a wonder-worker from the belly, a companion of the desert, and one who lives like the angels, the one after the law among the prophets, a second Elijah, and a most true herald, driving out error with the zeal of the Spirit, the forerunner and baptist, the one who says: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand; the son of Zacharias, and the offspring of the barren woman, and the perfect result of the people's prayers; the genuine introducer of repentance, and an advocate for the faithful who confess; the fulfillment of the law, and a leader of grace, and a refutation of the impiety of the Jews; the affirmer of heavenly doctrines, and an incorruptible judge of the people's transgressions; the one born beyond hope from a barren womb, and by the grace of him from the rock

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In laudem conceptionis sancti Joannis Baptistae

Ἐγκώμιον εἰς τὴν σύλληψιν τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰωάννου τοῦ προφήτου Προδρόμου καὶ Βαπτιστοῦ.

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αʹ. Μωϋσῆς ὁ μέγας, ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ θεράπων, τὸ κεφάλαιον τῶν προφητῶν, ὁ τῆς θαλάσσης ὁδοιπόρος, ὁ τοῦ ἀέρος ἡνίοχος, ὁ τοῦ μάννα τραπεζοποιὸς, ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ νομοθέτης, ὁ τὰς πλάκας τὰς ἱερὰς δεξάμενος, ὁ πρῶτος εἰσηγητὴς τῶν συμφερόντων τῷ βίῳ, οὗτος ὁ τοσοῦτος καὶ τηλικοῦτος σκηνὴν τῷ λαῷ Ἰσραὴλ κατεσκεύασε, καθ' ὃν ἐν τῷ ὄρει παρὰ Θεοῦ ἐδιδάχθη τύπον. Καὶ πάντα μὲν ἅγιά τε καὶ ἱερὰ τὰ καθ' ἕκαστον ἐποίησεν, ὅσα τῷ περισχοινίσματι κατὰ τὸ ἐντὸς περιείληπτο· τὸ δὲ ἐνδότατον τούτοις ἄδυτόν τε καὶ ἀνεπίβατον ἦν, Ἅγιον ἁγίων 50.788 λεγόμενον. Τούτῳ τῷ παραδείγματι τῆς σκηνῆς καὶ Σολομὼν ᾠκοδόμησε ναὸν, οὐχὶ τῇ πολυτελείᾳ τῆς ὕλης μόνον, οὐδὲ τῇ ποικιλίᾳ τῆς τέχνης, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ σχήματι τῆς οἰκοδομῆς πάντας τοὺς ἐπὶ γῆς ναοὺς ἀποκρύπτοντα· ὥστε αὐτοὺς μηδέποτε εἰς ἐπιθυμίαν ἐλθεῖν τῶν παρὰ Αἰγυπτίοις. Καὶ ποιεῖ τὸν ναὸν πρὸς τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ κόσμου παντὸς, τοῦ τε αἰσθητοῦ καὶ τοῦ νοητοῦ. Καθάπερ γάρ ἐστι γῆ καὶ οὐρανὸς, καὶ μέσον διάφραγμα τὸ στερέωμα τοῦτο· οὕτω κἀκεῖνον ἐκέλευσε γενέσθαι ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ εἰς δύο διατεμὼν τὸν ναὸν τοῦτον, καὶ καταπέτασμα ἀφεὶς μέσον, τὸ μὲν ἔξω τοῦ καταπετάσματος πᾶσι συνεχώρησεν εἶναι βατὸν, τὸ δὲ ἔνδον, ἄβατον πᾶσι καὶ ἀθέατον, πλὴν τοῦ ἀρχιερέως μόνου, ὡς ὁ ἄγγελος ἐν 50.789 ετείλατο, λαλήσας τῷ Μωϋσῇ, εἰπεῖν τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραήλ· Ἐν τῷ μηνὶ τῷ ἑβδόμῳ δεκάτῃ τοῦ μηνὸς, ταπεινώσατε τὰς ψυχὰς ὑμῶν· τοῦτ' ἔστι, περὶ τῆς σκηνοπηγίας· τότε γὰρ ἐν τῇ σκηνοπηγίᾳ ἅπαξ τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ μόνος ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς εἰσῄει εἰς τὰ Ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων θυμιᾷν. Ἐν ταύτῃ οὖν τῇ ἑορτῇ τῆς σκηνοπηγίας εἰσῆλθε καὶ ὁ Ζαχαρίας θυμιᾶσαι κατὰ τὴν ἐφημερίαν αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἶδε τὸν ἄγγελον ἑστῶτα ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τοῦ θυμιάματος· Καὶ ἐταράχθη Ζαχαρίας ἰδὼν, καὶ φόβος ἐπέπεσεν ἐπ' αὐτόν· εἶπε δὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ ἄγγελος· Μὴ φοβοῦ, Ζαχαρία· διότι εἰσηκούσθη ἡ δέησίς σου, καὶ ἡ γυνή σου Ἐλισάβετ γεννήσει υἱόν σοι, καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰωάννην· καὶ ἔσται σοι χαρὰ καὶ ἀγαλλίασις· καὶ πολλοὶ ἐπὶ τῇ γεννήσει αὐτοῦ χαρήσονται. Ἔσται γὰρ μέγας ἐναντίον Κυρίου, καὶ οἶνον καὶ σίκερα οὐ πίεται, καὶ Πνεύματος ἁγίου πλησθήσεται ἔτι ἐκ κοιλίας μητρὸς αὐτοῦ. Καὶ αὐτὸς προπορεύσεται ἐν πνεύματι καὶ δυνάμει Ἠλίου, ἐπιστρέψαι καρδίας πατέρων ἐπὶ τέκνα, καὶ ἀπειθεῖς ἐν φρονήσει δικαίων, ἑτοιμάσαι Κυρίῳ λαὸν κατεσκευασμένον.

Εἶδες ἐπαγγελίαν, προφητικὴν ὑπερβαίνουσαν δύναμιν; Αὕτη ἡ προφητεία τοῦ Ζαχαρίου ἔδησε καὶ ἔλυσε τὴν γλῶτταν· ἔδησε γὰρ, ἀπιστηθέντος τοῦ τόκου· ἔλυσε δὲ αὐτὴν, γενομένου τοῦ τόκου. Ὢ τοῦ θαύματος! Ἰωάννης ἐκ κοιλίας εὐαγγελιστὴς, ἐκ γαστρὸς θαυματουργὸς, τῆς ἐρημίας σύντροφος, καὶ τῶν ἀγγέλων ὁμοδίαιτος, ὁ μετὰ τὸν νόμον ἐν προφήταις, δεύτερος Ἠλίας, καὶ ἀληθέστατος κήρυξ, τῷ ζήλῳ τοῦ Πνεύματος τὴν πλάνην ἐξελαύνων, ὁ πρόδρομος καὶ βαπτιστὴς, ὁ λέγων· Μετανοεῖτε· ἤγγικε γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν· ὁ τοῦ Ζαχαρίου υἱὸς, καὶ τῆς στείρας τὸ βλάστημα, καὶ τῶν εὐχῶν τοῦ λαοῦ τέλειον αὐτούργημα· ὁ τῆς μετανοίας γνήσιος εἰσηγητὴς, καὶ πιστῶν συνήγορος ἐξομολογουμένων· ὁ τοῦ νόμου πλήρωμα, καὶ τῆς χάριτος ἀρχηγὸς, καὶ τῆς ἀσεβείας τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἔλεγχος· ὁ τῶν ἐπουρανίων δογμάτων βεβαιωτὴς, καὶ κριτὴς ἀδέκαστος τῶν τοῦ λαοῦ πταισμάτων· ὁ ἐκ στείρας ἀγόνου παρ' ἐλπίδα τεχθεὶς, καὶ χάριτι τοῦ ἐκ τῆς πέτρας