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making them more vigorous than orators and sophists. Let no one, then, think it a shame to the Church that we have prepared barbarians to stand in our midst and speak; for this is the Church's ornament, this its adornment, this the proof of the power in the faith; this is what the prophet also proclaimed from of old, saying: There are no speeches nor words, whose voices are not heard; their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. This, too, another 63.502 again indicated, hinting at it in other words, saying: Wolves and lambs will pasture together, and the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the lion will eat straw like an ox; not speaking of lions and lambs and leopards and kids, but proclaiming and showing to us that the wildness of men, when mixed with the philosophy of the preaching, will come to such a state of tameness as to herd together with the tame and most gentle of men. And this you have seen today, the most barbarous of all men standing with the sheep of the Church, with the pasture being common and the fold one, and one table set before all.

2. Let the Jews be ashamed, who read the letters but are ignorant of their meaning; let the Greeks be veiled, seeing the truth shining more brightly than a sunbeam, who sit by stones and pursue the darkness; let the Church be adorned, she who shines and flies through all things. For just as the sun is common and the earth common and the sea and the air, so much more has the word of the preaching become common; wherefore Paul also said: That I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. And why do you marvel if this happens in the New, when it also happens in the Old? For the first forefather of both the Church and the Synagogue—of them according to the flesh, but of us according to the spirit—was a barbarian and was brought from the midst of Persia, I mean the patriarch Abraham, and he had neither heard the scriptures, nor partaken of prophecy, nor had a teacher, nor received a history; for Moses had not yet been born; having learned nothing from those before him, nor being taught the things that would be after him, but being born and raised in the midst of the land of the Persians, he thus suddenly became a philosopher, so as to anticipate many of the New commandments and demonstrate them through his works. For when he was commanded to go out from his homeland, and to leave his house and friends and relatives, and to come to a foreign land, he suffered nothing human, nor was he held back by sympathy, nor did he reason with himself and say: Shall I leave what is manifest and clear and go away to what is unmanifest and unclear? But having faith as his guide, and having acquired the promise of God in place of a staff, he let go of what was in his hands, and took hold of what was in his hopes; for in this too he was a forefather of the Church. For we too are commanded to look down upon the affairs of this life and things that are seen, and to stretch our hope toward things that are unseen, and to hold fast to faith, the anchor of our salvation, and to seek those things; wherefore Paul also said: For by hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is not hope; and again, For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.

And having gone out from his homeland, this blessed 63.503 Abraham, and having pitched a hut in a foreign land, again demonstrated apostolic precepts through his works. For when he set up that brilliant trophy, and won the wondrous victory, and overcame the barbarians, not by the strength of his body, but by the power of faith, and to receive a reward for those labors and hardship from the

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καὶ λογογράφων καὶ σοφιστῶν εὐτονωτέρους ἀποφαίνουσαν. Μὴ τοίνυν αἰσχύνην τις ἡγείσθω τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, ὅτι βαρβάρους εἰς μέσον ἀναστῆναι καὶ εἰπεῖν παρεσκευάσαμεν· τοῦτο γὰρ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας κόσμος, τοῦτο καλλώπισμα, τοῦτο τῆς ἐν τῇ πίστει δυνάμεως ἀπόδειξις· τοῦτο καὶ ὁ προφήτης ἄνωθεν προαναφωνῶν ἔλεγεν· Οὐκ εἰσὶ λαλιαὶ οὐδὲ λόγοι, ὧν οὐχὶ ἀκούονται αἱ φωναὶ αὐτῶν· εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐξῆλθεν ὁ φθόγγος αὐτῶν, καὶ εἰς τὰ πέρατα τῆς οἰκουμένης τὰ ῥήματα αὐτῶν. Τοῦτο καὶ ἕτερος 63.502 παραδηλῶν πάλιν, ἑτέροις ῥήμασιν ᾐνίττετο λέγων· Λύκοι καὶ ἄρνες ἅμα βοσκηθήσονται, καὶ πάρδαλις συναναπαύσεται ἐρίφῳ, καὶ λέων ὡς βοῦς φάγεται ἄχυρα· οὐ περὶ λεόντων καὶ ἀρνῶν καὶ παρδάλεων καὶ ἐρίφων διηγούμενος, ἀλλὰ προαναφωνῶν ἡμῖν καὶ δεικνὺς, ὅτι δὴ τὸ θηριῶδες τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἰς τοσαύτην ἥξει ἡμερότητα τῇ φιλοσοφίᾳ τοῦ κηρύγματος κερασθὲν, ὥστε μετὰ τῶν ἡμέρων καὶ πραοτάτων ἀνδρῶν συναγελάζεσθαι. Καὶ τοῦτο σήμερον ἑωράκατε, τοὺς πάντων ἀνθρώπων βαρβαρικωτέρους μετὰ τῶν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας προβάτων ἑστῶτας, καὶ κοινὴν οὖσαν τὴν νομὴν καὶ τὸν σηκὸν ἕνα, καὶ μίαν ἅπασι τράπεζαν προκειμένην.

βʹ. Αἰσχυνέσθωσαν Ἰουδαῖοι οἱ τὰ γράμματα ἀναγινώσκοντες, καὶ τὰ

νοήματα ἀγνοοῦντες· ἐγκαλυπτέσθωσαν Ἕλληνες, τῆς ἀκτῖνος φανοτέραν ὁρῶντες τὴν ἀλήθειαν λάμπουσαν, οἱ τοῖς λίθοις παρακαθήμενοι καὶ τὸ σκότος διώκοντες· καλλωπιζέσθω ἡ Ἐκκλησία ἡ διὰ πάντων λάμπουσα καὶ πετομένη. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἥλιος κοινὸς καὶ γῆ κοινὴ καὶ θάλαττα καὶ ἀὴρ, οὕτως πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὁ τοῦ κηρύγματος λόγος ἐγένετο κοινός· διὸ καὶ Παῦλος ἔλεγεν· Ἵνα τινὰ καρπὸν σχῶ καὶ ἐν ὑμῖν, καθὼς καὶ ἐν τοῖς λοιποῖς ἔθνεσιν. Ἕλλησί τε καὶ βαρβάροις, σοφοῖς τε καὶ ἀνοήτοις ὀφειλέτης εἰμί· οὕτω τὸ κατ' ἐμὲ πρόθυμον καὶ ὑμῖν τοῖς ἐν Ῥώμῃ εὐαγγελίσασθαι. Καὶ τί θαυμάζεις εἰ ἐν τῇ Καινῇ, ὅπου καὶ ἐν τῇ Παλαιᾷ τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο γίνεται. Ὁ γὰρ πρῶτος καὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας καὶ τῆς Συναγωγῆς πρόγονος γενόμενος, ἐκείνων μὲν κατὰ σάρκα, ἡμῶν δὲ κατὰ πνεῦμα, βάρβαρος ἦν καὶ ἐκ μέσης Περσίδος ἤγετο, ὁ πατριάρχης λέγω Ἀβραὰμ, καὶ οὔτε γραμμάτων ἀκούσας, οὔτε προφητείας μετασχὼν, οὐ τὸν διδάσκοντα ἔχων, οὐχ ἱστορίαν δεξάμενος· οὔπω γὰρ ἦν Μωϋσῆς γενόμενος· οὐ τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ τι μαθὼν, οὐ τὰ μετ' αὐτὸν ἐσόμενα διδαχθεὶς, ἀλλ' ἐν μέσῃ τῇ Περσῶν χώρᾳ τεχθεὶς καὶ τραφεὶς, οὕτως ἀθρόον ἐφιλοσόφησεν, ὡς καὶ τῆς Καινῆς πολλὰ προλαβεῖν ἐπιτάγματα, καὶ διὰ τῶν ἔργων ἐπιδείξασθαι. Καὶ γὰρ κελευόμενος ἐξελθεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς πατρίδος, καὶ ἀφεῖναι οἰκίαν καὶ φίλους καὶ συγγενεῖς, καὶ ἐλθεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀλλοτρίαν, οὐδὲν ἔπαθεν ἀνθρώπινον, οὐδὲ συμπαθείᾳ κατεσχέθη, οὐδὲ ἐλογίσατο πρὸς αὑτὸν καὶ εἶπεν· Τὰ φανερὰ καὶ δῆλα ἀφεὶς, ἐπὶ τὰ ἀφανῆ καὶ ἄδηλα ἀπελεύσομαι; ἀλλὰ τὴν πίστιν ὁδηγὸν ἔχων, καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν ἀντὶ βακτηρίας κτησάμενος, τὰ μὲν ἐν χερσὶν ἠφίει, τὰ δὲ ἐν ἐλπίσι προσελάμβανε· καὶ γὰρ καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο τῆς Ἐκκλησίας πρόγονος ἦν. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἡμεῖς κελευόμεθα τῶν μὲν βιωτικῶν ὑπερορᾷν πραγμάτων καὶ τῶν φαινομένων, πρὸς δὲ τὰ ἄδηλα τὴν ἐλπίδα τείνειν, καὶ τὴν πίστιν κρατεῖν, τὴν ἄγκυραν τῆς ἡμετέρας σωτηρίας, καὶ ἐκεῖνα ζητεῖν· διὸ καὶ Παῦλος ἔλεγε· Τῇ γὰρ ἐλπίδι ἐσώθημεν· ἐλπὶς δὲ βλεπομένη οὐκ ἔστιν ἐλπίς· καὶ πάλιν, Τὸ γὰρ παραυτίκα ἐλαφρὸν τῆς θλίψεως ἡμῶν, καθ' ὑπερβολὴν εἰς ὑπερβολὴν αἰώνιον βάρος δόξης κατεργάζεται ἡμῖν, μὴ σκοπούντων ἡμῶν τὰ βλεπόμενα, ἀλλὰ τὰ μὴ βλεπόμενα.

Ἐξελθὼν δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς πατρίδος ὁ μακάριος 63.503 οὗτος Ἀβραὰμ, καὶ ἐν ἀλλοτρίᾳ καλύβην πηξάμενος, ἀποστολικὰ πάλιν παραγγέλματα διὰ τῶν ἔργων ἐπεδείξατο. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τὸ λαμπρὸν ἐκεῖνο τρόπαιον ἔστησε, καὶ τὴν παράδοξον νίκην ἤρατο, καὶ τῶν βαρβάρων περιεγένετο, οὐκ ἰσχύϊ σώματος, ἀλλὰ δυνάμει πίστεως, καὶ μισθὸν λαβεῖν τῶν πόνων ἐκείνων καὶ τῆς ταλαιπωρίας παρὰ τῶν