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On the parable of the prodigal son

On the parable concerning the prodigal son.

59.515 1. Always, brethren, we ought to preach the loving-kindness of God (for through it we live and move and have our being); but especially at this time we are obliged to do this, for the common benefit, and the good deed for the stars about to rise from the font. For they shall shine forth through this, and we through it have been saved and are being saved; which was given to us instead of an inheritance from the creator God and our Father. Let us speak, therefore, about it, the things which the Lord Christ spoke, the man-loving Son of the man- 59.516 loving Father, the only worthy interpreter of the paternal substance; let us unfold the whole parable concerning the prodigal, so that we may learn from it how one must approach the unapproachable, and ask for forgiveness of our offenses. A certain man, he says, had two sons.

The Savior speaks parabolically, not dogmatically. For this reason he speaks of his own Father as of a certain man, and he speaks of his servants as of children, so that he might show the affection of God for men. A certain man, he says, had two sons. Who is this 59.517 man? The Father of mercies, and God of all comfort. And who were these two sons he had? The righteous, and the sinners; those who abide by his divine commandments, and those who transgress the Lord's commands. And the younger of them said to the Father. And who is this younger son? He who has an unstable mind, and is fanned by the breezes of youth. Nature recognized the one who formed it as Father, even if free will did not honor the one who made it. Father, give me the portion of the substance that falls to me. He asked well for the things of God from God; but he consumed badly what he received. And the father divided his living between them. He gave them, as their own house, the whole world; he gave them, as creator, the whole creation; he provided them with bodies and rational souls, so that, being reasonably guided by reason, they might do nothing unreasonable; he set over them his own law, the natural and the written, as a divine tutor, so that being tutored by it they might fulfill the will of the lawgiver. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together (as a younger son, he acted), and took his journey into a far country. He departed from God, and God departed from him; for he does not force the one who is unwilling to serve him. For all virtues are a matter of choice, not of necessity. There he scattered his substance, living prodigally. There he lost the whole wealth of his soul; there, delighting and being delighted, he was shipwrecked; there, playing and being played with, he became poor; there buying soul-destroying pleasures, and purchasing laughter, he received the fathers of tears; and the virtues which he had, he cast away; but the vices which he did not have, he took on. And when he had spent all (for the wealth of grace is not wont to remain with those who live shamefully), there arose a mighty famine in that land.

For where the grain of moderation is not cultivated, there is a mighty famine; where the vine of self-control is not planted, there is a mighty famine; where the cluster of purity is not trodden in the winepress, there is a mighty famine; where the heavenly new wine does not gush forth, there is a mighty famine; where there is an abundance of evils, there is certainly a lack of good things; where there is a plenty of wicked deeds, there is certainly a scarcity of virtues; where the oil of loving-kindness does not spring up, there is a mighty famine. Then therefore he himself began

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In parabolam de filio prodigo

Εἰς τὴν παραβολὴν περὶ τοῦ ἀσώτου.

59.515 αʹ. Ἀεὶ μὲν, ἀδελφοὶ, τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν κηρύττειν ὀφείλομεν (δι' αὐτῆς γὰρ ζῶμεν καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν)· μάλιστα δὲ ἐν τούτῳ τῷ καιρῷ χρεωστοῦμεν τοῦτο ποιεῖν, διὰ τὴν κοινὴν ὠφέλειαν, καὶ τὴν εὐεργεσίαν τῶν μελλόντων ἐκ τῆς κολυμβήθρας ἀνατέλλειν ἀστέρων. Καὶ γὰρ οὗτοι διὰ ταύτης ἐκλάμψουσι, καὶ ἡμεῖς δι' αὐτῆς ἐσώθημεν καὶ σωζόμεθα· ἥτις ἡμῖν ἀντὶ κληρονομίας ἐδόθη ἐκ τοῦ δημιουργοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς ἡμῶν. Εἴπωμεν τοίνυν περὶ αὐτῆς, ἅπερ εἶπεν ὁ ∆εσπότης Χριστὸς, ὁ φιλάνθρωπος Υἱὸς τοῦ φιλαν 59.516 θρώπου Πατρὸς, ὁ μόνος ἀξιόχρεως τῆς πατρῴας οὐσίας ἐξηγητής· ἀναπτύξωμεν πᾶσαν τὴν περὶ τοῦ ἀσώτου παραβολὴν, ἵνα μάθωμεν ἐξ αὐτῆς, πῶς δεῖ προσπελάζειν τῷ ἀπροσπελάστῳ, καὶ συγγνώμην τῶν πταισμάτων αἰτεῖν. Ἄνθρωπός τις, φησὶν, εἶχε δύο υἱούς.

Παραβολικῶς ὁ Σωτὴρ, οὐ δογματικῶς διαλέγεται. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο περὶ τοῦ ἰδίου Πατρὸς ὡς περὶ ἀνθρώπου τινὸς ὁμιλεῖ, καὶ περὶ τῶν δούλων ὡς περὶ τέκνων λαλεῖ, ἵνα δείξῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν περὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους στοργήν. Ἄνθρωπός τις, φησὶν, εἶχε δύο υἱούς. Τίς ἐστιν οὗτος 59.517 ὁ ἄνθρωπος; Ὁ Πατὴρ τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν, καὶ Θεὸς πάσης παρακλήσεως. Τίνας δὲ εἶχε τούτους τοὺς δύο υἱούς; Τοὺς δικαίους, καὶ τοὺς ἁμαρτωλούς· τοὺς ἐμμένοντας τοῖς θείοις αὐτοῦ προστάγμασι, καὶ τοὺς παραβαίνοντας τὰς ∆εσποτικὰς ἐντολάς. Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ νεώτερος αὐτῶν τῷ Πατρί. Καὶ τίς ἐστιν οὗτος ὁ νεώτερος υἱός; Ὁ τὴν γνώμην ἄστατον κεκτημένος, καὶ ταῖς αὔραις τῆς νεότητος ῥιπιζόμενος. Πατέρα ἐγνώρισεν ἡ φύσις τὸν πλάσαντα, εἰ καὶ μὴ ἐτίμησε προαίρεσις τὸν ποιήσαντα. Πάτερ, δός μοι τὸ ἐπιβάλλον μέρος τῆς οὐσίας. Καλῶς ᾔτησε τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἀλλὰ κακῶς, ἅπερ ἔλαβε, κατηνάλωσε. Καὶ διεῖλεν αὐτοῖς τὸν βίον ὁ πατήρ. Ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς, ὡς οἶκον ἴδιον, ὅλον τὸν κόσμον· ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς, ὡς κτίστης, ὅλην τὴν κτίσιν· παρέσχεν αὐτοῖς σώματα καὶ ψυχὰς λογικὰς, ἵνα τῷ λόγῳ εὐλόγως χειραγωγούμενοι μηδὲν ἄλογον πράξωσιν· ἐπέστησεν αὐτοῖς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ νόμον, τὸν φυσικὸν καὶ τὸν γραπτὸν, ὡς θεῖον παιδαγωγὸν, ἵνα τούτῳ παιδαγωγούμενοι πληρώσωσι τοῦ νομοθέτου τὸ βούλημα. Καὶ μετ' οὐ πολλὰς ἡμέρας συναγαγὼν πάντα ὁ νεώτερος υἱὸς (ὡς νεώτερος ἔπραξεν), ἀπεδήμησεν εἰς χώραν μακράν. Ἀπέστη ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἀπέστη ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ὁ Θεός· οὐ γὰρ βιάζεται τὸν μὴ βουλόμενον δουλεύειν αὐτῷ. Γνώμης γὰρ, οὐκ ἀνάγκης, αἱ ἀρεταὶ ἅπασαι. Ἐκεῖ διεσκόρπισε τὴν οὐσίαν αὐτοῦ ζῶν ἀσώτως. Ἐκεῖ τῆς ψυχῆς ὅλον τὸν πλοῦτον ἀπώλεσεν· ἐκεῖ τέρπων καὶ τερπόμενος ἐναυάγησεν· ἐκεῖ παίζων καὶ ἐμπαιζόμενος πένης ἐγένετο· ἐκεῖ ψυχοφθόρους ἡδονὰς ἀγοράζων, καὶ γέλωτας ὠνούμενος, πατέρας δακρύων ἔλαβε· καὶ τὰς μὲν ἀρετὰς, ἃς εἶχεν, ἀπέβαλε· τὰς δὲ κακίας, ἃς οὐκ εἶχε, προσέλαβε. ∆απανήσαντος δὲ αὐτοῦ πάντα (οὐ πέφυκε γὰρ τοῖς αἰσχρῶς βιοῦσι παραμένειν ὁ πλοῦτος τῆς χάριτος), ἐγένετο οὖν λιμὸς ἰσχυρὸς κατὰ τὴν χώραν ἐκείνην.

Ὅπου γὰρ τῆς σωφροσύνης ὁ σῖτος οὐ γεωργεῖται, ἐκεῖ λιμὸς ἰσχυρός· ὅπου τῆς ἐγκρατείας ἡ ἄμπελος οὐ πεφύτευται, ἐκεῖ λιμὸς ἰσχυρός· ὅπου τῆς ἁγνείας ὁ βότρυς οὐ ληνοπατεῖται, ἐκεῖ λιμὸς ἰσχυρός· ὅπου τὸ οὐράνιον γλεῦκος οὐ βρύει, ἐκεῖ λιμὸς ἰσχυρός· ὅπου εὐφορία κακῶν, ἐκεῖ πάντως ἀφορία τῶν ἀγαθῶν· ὅπου εὐθηνία πράξεων πονηρῶν, ἐκεῖ πάντως σπάνις τῶν ἀρετῶν· ὅπου τῆς φιλανθρωπίας τὸ ἔλαιον οὐ πηγάζει, ἐκεῖ λιμὸς ἰσχυρός. Τότε οὖν καὶ αὐτὸς ἤρξατο