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In ramos palmarum (homilia 2)

A discourse on the palm branches by Leontius, presbyter of Constantinople. It is fitting for the initiates of piety not only to embrace grace, but also to cherish the law; for what grace has confirmed, these things the law also proclaimed beforehand; and what the law prefigured, these things grace has sealed. And the witness to this is the Lord himself, who both lit the law as a lamp and illuminated grace as a torch, saying to the Jews: If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me what he learned from me. And that the Lord is one and the same, who both proclaimed the future things through the prophets and confirmed the things foretold through the evangelists, take the proof from what has just been read. You just heard the evangelist John proclaiming: The next day a great crowd that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet him and were crying out: Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel. Truly fitting for the savior is the hymnology, proper for the trophy-bearer is the blessing. A song of victory is the melody of the crowd; for they already smelled the life-bearing fragrance of Christ, which signifies the defeat of death. Blessed is he who comes to give us authority to tread upon snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, not by the firmness of feet, but by the foundation of faith. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, so that he might also give the same wage to those from the first hour and to those working in his spiritual vineyard at the eleventh hour; for since he is good, a Jewish evil eye does not trouble us. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord to dissolve the devil's dividing wall and to join earthly things with heavenly things; for where there is one kingdom, there every tyranny is also dissolved. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel. Why has Christ been revealed as king of Israel only, and not of all the ends of the earth? Listen with understanding. Israel is interpreted as a mind seeing God. Therefore, as many as see God from the mind, these are ruled by the master Christ. For Christ does not call by necessity, but persuades by disposition, as one can hear him saying: I love those who love me, and those who seek me will find grace. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. The crowd took palm branches, so that they might praise Christ, the palm tree of righteousness. For concerning him the prophet said: The righteous one will flourish like a palm tree, he will be multiplied like the cedar in Lebanon. Why is the master Christ called a palm tree and a cedar? Because of the passion of the flesh, which he willingly condescended to endure by the cross, and the fruitfulness of his divinity. For while his flesh suffered, his divinity remained impassible, just as the prophet says concerning the flesh of the Lord in his passion: We saw him and he had no form nor beauty; but his appearance was dishonored, failing beyond all men, he was dishonored and was not esteemed. And again he is called a cedar because of the loftiness of his divinity and the incorruptibility of his humanity. For even if he was buried, yet his flesh did not see corruption; but rather he diminished the diabolical moths and remained whole. This blessed, acclaimed voice of the crowd, the master Christ, having foreseen for many years with the unerring gaze of his divinity, cried out through Isaiah the prophet

In ramos palmarum (homilia 2)

Λεοντίου πρεσβυτέρου Κωνσταντινουπόλεως λόγος εἰς τὰ βαΐα Τοὺς εὐσεβείας καθήκει μύστας μὴ τὴν χάριν μόνον ἀσπάζεσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν νόμον περιπτύσσεσθαι· ἃ γὰρ ἡ χάρις ἐβεβαίωσεν, ταῦτα καὶ ὁ νόμος προεκήρυξεν· καὶ ἃ ὁ νόμος προεζωγράφησεν, ταῦτα καὶ ἡ χάρις ἐσφράγισεν. Καὶ τούτου μάρτυς αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος, ὁ καὶ τὸν νόμον ὡς λύχνον ἅψας καὶ τὴν χάριν ὡς λαμπάδα φωτίσας, λέγων πρὸς Ἰουδαίους· Εἰ ἐπιστεύετε Μωσεῖ, ἐπιστεύετε ἂν ἐμοί· περὶ γὰρ ἐμοῦ ἐκεῖνος ἔγραψεν ἃ παρ' ἐμοῦ μεμάθηκεν. Καὶ ὅτι εἷς καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς κύριος, ὁ καὶ διὰ τῶν προφητῶν τὰ μέλλοντα ἀναφωνήσας καὶ διὰ τῶν εὐαγγελιστῶν τὰ προλεχθέντα βεβαιώσας, ἐκ τῶν ἀρτίως ἀναγνωσθέντων λάμβανε τὴν ἀπόδειξιν. Ἤκουες ἀρτίως τοῦ εὐαγγελιστοῦ Ἰωάννου βοῶντος· Τῇ ἐπαύριον ὄχλος πολὺς ὁ ἐλθὼν εἰς τὴν ἑορτήν, ἀκούσαντες ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἔρχεται εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα, ἔλαβον τὰ βαΐα τῶν φοινίκων καὶ ἐξῆλθον εἰς ὑπάντησιν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔκραζον· Ὡσαννά, εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου, βασιλεὺς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. Ἁρμόζουσα ὄντως τῷ σωτῆρι ἡ ὑμνολογία, πρέπουσα τῷ τροπαιούχῳ ἡ εὐλογία. Ἐπινίκιον τὸ τοῦ ὄχλου μέλος· ἤδη γὰρ ὠσφράνθησαν τὴν ζωηφόρον τοῦ Χριστοῦ εὐωδίαν, τὴν τοῦ θανάτου ἧτταν ἐμφαίνουσαν. Εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος δοῦναι ἡμῖν ἐξουσίαν πατεῖν ἐπάνω ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίων καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ, οὐ ποδῶν στερρότητι, ἀλλὰ πίστεως ἑδράσματι. Εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου, ἵνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν μισθὸν ἀποδώσῃ τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης ὥρας καὶ τοῖς ἑνδεκάτῃ ὥρᾳ εἰς τὸν πνευματικὸν τούτου ἀμπελῶνα ἐργαζομένοις· αὐτοῦ γὰρ ἀγαθοῦ τυγχάνοντος Ἰουδαϊκὸς πονηρὸς ὀφθαλμὸς οὐ ταράττει ἡμᾶς. Εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου τὸ διαβολικὸν μεσότοιχον λῦσαι καὶ τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις τὰ ἐπίγεια συνάψαι· ὅπου γὰρ μία βασιλεία, ἐκεῖ καὶ πᾶσα τυραννὶς διαλέλυται. Εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου, βασιλεὺς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. ∆ιὰ τί βασιλεὺς τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ μόνον, οὐχὶ δὲ πάντων τῶν περάτων τῆς γῆς ὁ Χριστὸς ἀναδέδεικται; Ἄκουε συνετῶς. Ἰσραὴλ νοῦς ὁρῶν θεὸν ἑρμηνεύεται. Ὅσοι οὖν ἀπὸ διανοίας ὁρῶσι θεόν, οὗτοι βασιλεύονται ὑπὸ τοῦ δεσπότου Χριστοῦ. Οὐ γὰρ ἀνάγκῃ καλεῖ Χριστός, ἀλλὰ διαθέσει πείθει, ὡς ἔστιν αὐτοῦ ἀκοῦσαι λέγοντος· Ἐγὼ τοὺς ἐμὲ φιλοῦντας ἀγαπῶ, οἱ δὲ ἐμὲ ζητοῦντες εὑρήσουσι χάριν. Εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου. Βαΐα φοινίκων ὁ ὄχλος ἔλαβεν, ἵνα τὸν φοίνικα τῆς δικαιοσύνης Χριστὸν εὐφημήσωσιν. Περὶ γὰρ αὐτοῦ ὁ προφήτης ἔλεγεν· ∆ίκαιος ὡς φοῖνιξ ἀνθήσει, ὡς ἡ κέδρος ἡ ἐν τῷ Λιβάνῳ πληθυνθήσεται. ∆ιὰ τί φοῖνιξ καὶ κέδρος ὁ δεσπότης Χριστὸς προσαγορεύεται; ∆ιὰ τὸ πάθος τῆς σαρκός, ὅπερ ἑκουσίως διὰ σταυροῦ ὑπομεῖναι κατεδέξατο, καὶ τὸ ἔγκαρπον τῆς θεότητος. Καὶ γὰρ τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ παθούσης ἡ θεότης ἀπαθὴς διέμεινεν, καθώς φησιν ὁ προφήτης περὶ τῆς σαρκὸς τοῦ κυρίου ἐν τῷ πάθει· Εἴδομεν αὐτὸν καὶ οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος οὐδὲ κάλλος· ἀλλὰ τὸ εἶδος αὐτοῦ ἄτιμον ἐκλεῖπον παρὰ πάντας ἀνθρώπους, ἠτιμάσθη καὶ οὐκ ἐλογίσθη. Κέδρος δὲ πάλιν ὀνομάζεται διὰ τὸ ὑψηλὸν τῆς θεότητος καὶ τὸ ἄσηπτον τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἐτάφη, ἀλλ' ἡ σὰρξ αὐτοῦ οὐκ εἶδε διαφθοράν· ἐμείωσε δὲ μᾶλλον τοὺς διαβολικοὺς σῆτας καὶ ἔμεινε σῶος. Ταύτην τὴν εὐλογημένην φωνὴν τοῦ ὄχλου τὴν εὔφημον ἐκ πολλῶν τῶν χρόνων ὁ δεσπότης Χριστὸς προθεωρήσας τῷ ἀπλανεῖ τῆς θεότητος βλέμματι, ἐβόα διὰ Ἡσαΐου τοῦ προφήτου