In pentecosten (homilia 13) (olim sub nomine Joannis Chrysostomi)

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It is permitted for me, looking to the present occasion, to break forth more loudly with that Davidic voice, which no man uttered, but God forged. What is this he says? All you nations, clap your hands, shout to God with a voice of exultation. Why? Because the Lord of glory has ascended into the heavens, and the Holy Spirit has descended upon the earth; because the master's fire was kindled, and the master's bread was baked; because the Holy Spirit is spoken of as God, and the Marathonian is blinded; because we have received the promise of the Holy Spirit, and have not tasted of orphanhood at all; because the bridegroom Christ was taken up, we have not endured widowhood. For it is necessary, when the bridegroom has gone away, for the guardian himself to be present with her, since many corrupters draw near on the earth. Therefore, the bridegroom Christ, having gone away, entrusted the whole world to the bride, immediately leaving behind all the necessities as a provider for the maiden. What necessities? Wine, the mystical; oil, that of the anointing; bread, the precious body; revenue, the fruit-bearing of the faithful; wool, the garment for the newly-illuminated; linen, the whiteness of brotherly love. For the writer of Proverbs, having beheld the work of this bride, said: She made for her husband double garments and cloaks. What double garments? White and purple ones; white, the apostolic ones, not stained by impiety, and purple, the martyrs' ones, which they dyed with their own blood. And what of Luke, the writer of the Apostolic Acts? For it is necessary to examine him. You have heard him crying out: When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where the disciples of the Lord were sitting. And why were they sitting? Because they had not yet received the diversity of tongues, because besides their rustic speech they knew nothing else. The disciples of the Lord were sitting before the coming of the Holy Spirit, honoring their inactivity, stitching together the net of the promise, preparing themselves for the hunt of rational fish. For the disciples of the Lord said to themselves as they sat: Let none of us rush to teach before the coming of the Holy Spirit. We are unlearned and ignorant men, knowing nothing besides how to stammer; but those who oppose us are lawyers and philosophers, and ready to speak against us. The Lord has declared us teachers of the nations; how can we catechize Romans, or instruct Parthians, or enlighten Galatians, if we do not receive the repository of various tongues? While the apostles were perhaps debating these things among themselves, suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as you just heard. A sound was sent from above, and not a noise given up from below. Why? So that the apostles might not think the dragon was hissing from below, but that the Spirit was bedewing from above. A sound came, because the law was ceasing; a sound came, because tongues were being refashioned. Why then did a sound run before the miracle, and before the

In pentecosten (homilia 13) (olim sub nomine Joannis Chrysostomi)

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Ἔξεστί μοι πρὸς τὸν παρόντα καιρὸν ἀφορῶντι μεγαλοφωνότερον τὴν ∆αυϊτικὴν ἐκείνην ῥῆξαι φωνήν, ἣν οὐκ ἄνθρωπος ἐξηγόρευσεν, ἀλλὰ θεὸς ἐχάλκευσεν. Ποίαν ταύτην φησίν; Πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, κροτήσατε χεῖρας, ἀλαλάξατε τῷ θεῷ ἐν φωνῇ ἀγαλλιάσεως. ∆ιὰ τί; Ὅτι κύριος τῆς δόξης εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνῆλθεν, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς κατῆλθεν· ὅτι τὸ δεσποτικὸν πῦρ ἀνήφθη, καὶ ὁ δεσποτικὸς ἄρτος ὠπτήθη· ὅτι τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα θεολογεῖται, καὶ ὁ Μαραθώνιος ἀποτυφλοῦται· ὅτι τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ἐδεξάμεθα, καὶ ὀρφανίας τὸ σύνολον οὐκ ἐγευσάμεθα· ὅτι ὁ νυμφίος Χριστὸς ἀνελήφθη, χηρείαν οὐχ ὑπεμείναμεν. Ἀναγκαῖον γὰρ ἀποδημήσαντος τοῦ νυμφίου, συμπαρεῖναι αὐτὸν τὸν φύλακα, ἐπειδὴ πολλοὶ φθορεῖς ἐπὶ γῆς πελάζονται. Ἀποδημήσας οὖν ὁ νυμφίος Χριστὸς κόσμον ὅλον τῇν νύμφῃν παρέθετο, καταλείπων αὐτίκα τὰ χρειώδη πάντα ὡς προνοητὴς τῆς κόρης. Ποῖα χρειώδη; Οἶνον, τὸν μυστικόν· ἔλαιον, τὸ τοῦ χρίσματος· ἄρτον, τὸ τίμιον σῶμα· πρόσοδον, τὴν τῶν πιστῶν καρποφορίαν· ἔριον, τὸ τῷ νεοφωτισμῷ περιβόλαιον· λῆνον, τὴν τῆς φιλαδελφίας λευκότητα. Ταύτης γὰρ τῆς νύμφης τὴν ἐργασίαν θεωρήσας ὁ παροιμιαστὴς ἔλεγεν· ∆ισσὰς στολὰς καὶ χλαίνας ἐποίησε τῷ ἀνδρὶ αὐτῆς. Ποίας δισσὰς στολάς; Λευκὰς καὶ πορφύρας· λευκὰς μὲν τὰς ἀποστολικὰς μὴ ῥυπωθείσας τῇ ἀσεβείᾳ, πορφύρας δὲ τὰς μαρτυρικάς, ἃς ἐκογχύλευσαν τῷ ἰδίῳ αἵματι. Τί δὲ καὶ ὁ συγγραφεὺς τῶν ἀποστολικῶν Πράξεων Λουκᾶς; Ἀναγκαῖον γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐπισκέψασθαι. Ἤκουσεςαὐτοῦ βοῶντος· Ἐν τῷ συμπληροῦσθαι τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς πεντηκοστῆς ἦσαν ἅπαντες ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό· καὶ γίνεται ἄφνω ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἦχος ὥσπερ φερομένης πνοῆς βιαίας καὶ ἐπλήρωσεν ὅλον τὸν οἶκον οὗ ἦσαν καθήμενοι οἱ τοῦ κυρίου μαθηταί. ∆ιὰ τί δὲ ἐκάθηντο; Ὅτι οὐδέπω τὴν ποικιλίαν τῶν γλωσσῶν ἐδέξαντο, ὅτι πλὴν τῆς ἀγροικιζούσης λέξεως οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἐπίσταντο. Ἐκάθηντο οἱ τοῦ κυρίου μαθηταὶ πρὸ τῆς ἐπιφοιτήσεως τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος, ἀργίαν τιμῶντες, τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τὴν σαγήνην συρράπτοντες, πρὸς τὴν θήραν τῶν λογικῶν ἰχθύων ἑαυτοὺς εὐτρεπίζοντες. Ἔλεγον γὰρ πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς οἱ μαθηταὶ τοῦ κυρίου καθήμενοι· Μηδεὶς ἡμῶν πρὸ τῆς ἐπιφοιτήσεως τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος πρὸς διδασκαλίαν ὁρμήσει. Ἡμεῖς οἱ ἰδιῶται καὶ ἀγράμματοι, πλὴν τοῦ ψελλίζειν μηδὲν ἐπιστάμενοι· οἱ δὲ ἀντικείμενοι ἡμῖν, νομικοὶ καὶ φιλόσοφοι, καὶ πρὸς καταρρητόρευσιν ἕτοιμοι. ∆ιδασκάλους ἡμᾶς τῶν ἐθνῶν ὁ κύριος [ἡμᾶς] ἀπεφήνατο· πῶς δυνώμεθα Ῥωμαίους κατηχῆσαι, ἢ Πάρθους παιδεῦσαι, ἢ Γαλάτας φωτίσαι, ἐὰν μὴ τῶν ποικίλων γλωσσῶν δεξώμεθα τὴν ἐνθήκην; Ταῦτα τῶν ἀποστόλων πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς ἴσως ἀμφιβαλλόντων, ἐγένετο ἄφνω ἦχος ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καθὼς ἀρτίως ἤκουες. Ἄνωθεν ἦχος ἐπέμπετο, οὐχὶ δὲ κάτωθεν κτύπος ἀνεδίδετο. ∆ιὰ τί; Ἵνα μὴ δόξωσιν οἱ ἀπόστολοι τὸν δράκοντα κάτωθεν συρίζειν, ἀλλὰ ἄνωθεν τὸ πνεῦμα δροσίζειν. Ἦχος ἐγένετο, ἐπειδὴ νόμος ἐπαύετο· ἦχος ἐγένετο, ἐπειδὴ γλῶσσαι μετετορνεύοντο. ∆ιὰ τί οὖν τοῦ θαύματος ἦχος προέδραμεν, καὶ πρὸ τῶν