Homily I.

 1. It is right that any one beginning to narrate the formation of the world should begin with the good order which reigns in visible things. I am abou

 2. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” I stop struck with admiration at this thought. What shall I first say? Where shall I begin

 3. Do not then imagine, O man! that the visible world is without a beginning and because the celestial bodies move in a circular course, and it is di

 4. One day, doubtless, their terrible condemnation will be the greater for all this worldly wisdom, since, seeing so clearly into vain sciences, they

 5. It appears, indeed, that even before this world an order of things existed of which our mind can form an idea, but of which we can say nothing, bec

 6. Such being the different senses of the word beginning, see if we have not all the meanings here. You may know the epoch when the formation of this

 7. Among arts, some have in view production, some practice, others theory. The object of the last is the exercise of thought, that of the second, the

 8. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” If we were to wish to discover the essence of each of the beings which are offered for our

 9. Do you suppose that a heavier body prevents the earth from falling into the abyss? Then you must consider that this support needs itself a support

 10. There are inquirers into nature who with a great display of words give reasons for the immobility of the earth. Placed, they say, in the middle of

 11. We might say the same thing of the heavens. With what a noise of words the sages of this world have discussed their nature! Some have said that he

 Homily II.

 1. In the few words which have occupied us this morning we have found such a depth of thought that we despair of penetrating further. If such is the f

 2. But the corrupters of the truth, who, incapable of submitting their reason to Holy Scripture, distort at will the meaning of the Holy Scriptures, p

 3. God created the heavens and the earth, but not only half —He created all the heavens and all the earth, creating the essence with the form. For He

 4. “Darkness was upon the face of the deep.” A new source for fables and most impious imaginations if one distorts the sense of these words at the wil

 5. Do not then go beyond yourself to seek for evil, and imagine that there is an original nature of wickedness. Each of us, let us acknowledge it, is

 6.  And the Spirit of God was borne upon the face of the waters  .

 7.  And God said, Let there be light  .

 8. “  And God called the light Day and the darkness he called Night  .”

 Homily III.

 1. We have now recounted the works of the first day, or rather of one day. Far be it from me indeed, to take from it the privilege it enjoys of having

 2. And God said “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” Yesterday we heard God’s decree,

 3. In the second place, does the firmament that is called heaven differ from the firmament that God made in the beginning? Are there two heavens? The

 4. “  And God said, let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and

 5. But let us continue our explanation: “  Let it divide the waters from the waters  .”

 6. Survey creation you will see the power of heat reigning over all that is born and perishes. On account of it comes all the water spread over the e

 7. Therefore we read: “  Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters  .” I have said what the wo

 8. “  And God called the firmament heaven  .”

 9. But as far as concerns the separation of the waters I am obliged to contest the opinion of certain writers in the Church who, under the shadow of h

 10. “  And God saw that it was good  .” God does not judge of the beauty of His work by the charm of the eyes, and He does not form the same idea of b

 Homily IV.

 1. There are towns where the inhabitants, from dawn to eve, feast their eyes on the tricks of innumerable conjurors. They are never tired of hearing d

 2. “  And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so  .” And the water

 3. “Let the waters be gathered together.” It was ordered that it should be the natural property of water to flow, and in obedience to this order, the

 4. To say that the waters were gathered in one place indicates that previously they were scattered in many places. The mountains, intersected by deep

 5. And God said: “  Let the waters be gathered together unto one place and let the dry land appear  .” He did not say let the earth appear, so as not

 6. “  And God saw that it was good  .”

 7. Thus, in the eyes of God, the sea is good, because it makes the under current of moisture in the depths of the earth. It is good again, because fro

 Homily V.

 1. “  And God said Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself 

 2. “  Let the earth bring forth grass yielding seed after his kind  .” So that although some kind of grass is of service to animals, even their gain i

 3. Up to this point, the order in which plants shoot bears witness to their first arrangement. Every herb, every plant proceeds from a germ. If, like

 4. What shall I say? What shall I leave unsaid? In the rich treasures of creation it is difficult to select what is most precious the loss of what is

 5. “  Let the earth bring forth grass  .” What spontaneous provision is included in these words,—that which is present in the root, in the plant itsel

 6. “  Let the earth  ,” the Creator adds, “  bring forth the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself 

 7. But let us return to the examination of the ingenious contrivances of creation. How many trees then arose, some to give us their fruits, others to

 8. Plants reproduce themselves in so many different ways, that we can only touch upon the chief among them. As to fruits themselves, who could review

 9. But what need is there to continue, when in the same fig tree we have the most opposite flavours, as bitter in the sap as it is sweet in the fruit?

 10. “  Let the earth bring forth  .” This short command was in a moment a vast nature, an elaborate system. Swifter than thought it produced the count

 Homily VI.

 1. At the shows in the circus the spectator must join in the efforts of the athletes. This the laws of the show indicate, for they prescribe that all

 2. “  And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, and to divide the day from the night  .”

 3. And let no one suppose it to be a thing incredible that the brightness of the light is one thing, and the body which is its material vehicle is ano

 4. “  And let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years  .”

 5. But those who overstep the borders, making the words of Scripture their apology for the art of casting nativities, pretend that our lives depend up

 6. But what effects are produced? Such an one will have curly hair and bright eyes, because he is born under the Ram such is the appearance of a ram.

 7. They do not, however, stop here even our acts, where each one feels his will ruling, I mean, the practice of virtue or of vice, depend, according

 8. Let us return to the words which follow. “Let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years.” We have spoken about signs. By times, we u

 9. “  And God made two great lights  .”

 10. See again another evident proof of its greatness. Although the heaven may be full of stars without number, the light contributed by them all could

 11. On its variations depends also the condition of the air, as is proved by sudden disturbances which often come after the new moon, in the midst of

 Homily VII.

 1. “  And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life  ” after their kind, “  and fowl that may fly above the e

 2. “Let the waters bring forth moving creatures after their kind.” God caused to be born the firstlings of each species to serve as seeds for nature.

 3. The food of fish differs according to their species. Some feed on mud others eat sea weed others content themselves with the herbs that grow in w

 4. It is not thus with us. Why? Because we incessantly move the ancient landmarks which our fathers have set. We encroach, we add house to house, fiel

 5. I myself have seen these marvels, and I have admired the wisdom of God in all things. If beings deprived of reason are capable of thinking and of p

 6. Let husbands listen as well: here is a lesson for them. The viper vomits forth its venom in respect for marriage and you, will you not put aside t

 Homily VIII.

 1. And God said “  Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle and creeping things, and beast of the earth after his kind an

 2. “  Let the earth bring forth a living soul  .” Why did the earth produce a living soul? so that you may make a difference between the soul of cattl

 3. There are also innumerable kinds of birds. If we review them all, as we have partly done the fish, we shall find that under one name, the creatures

 4. What a variety, I have said, in the actions and lives of flying creatures. Some of these unreasoning creatures even have a government, if the featu

 5. How shall we make an exact review of all the peculiarities of the life of birds? During the night cranes keep watch in turn some sleep, others mak

 6. It is said that the turtle-dove, once separated from her mate, does not contract a new union, but remains in widowhood, in remembrance of her first

 7. “  Let the waters bring forth the moving creatures that have life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven  .” They r

 8. If we simply read the words of Scripture we find only a few short syllables. “Let the waters bring forth fowl that may fly above the earth in the o

 Homily IX.

 1. How did you like the fare of my morning’s discourse? It seemed to me that I had the good intentions of a poor giver of a feast, who, ambitious of h

 2. “  Let the earth bring forth the living creature  .”

 3. “  Let the earth bring forth the living creature  .” Thus when the soul of brutes appeared it was not concealed in the earth, but it was born by th

 4. Virtues exist in us also by nature, and the soul has affinity with them not by education, but by nature herself. We do not need lessons to hate ill

 5. But let us return to the spectacle of creation. The easiest animals to catch are the most productive. It is on account of this that hares and wild

 6. Beasts bear witness to the faith. Hast thou confidence in the Lord? “Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk and thou shalt trample under fee

5. But let us continue our explanation: “  Let it divide the waters from the waters .”  22  Gen. i. 6. The mass of waters, which from all directions flowed over the earth, and was suspended in the air, was infinite, so that there was no proportion between it and the other elements. Thus, as it has been already said, the abyss covered the earth. We give the reason for this abundance of water. None of you assuredly will attack our opinion; not even those who have the most cultivated minds, and whose piercing eye can penetrate this perishable and fleeting nature; you will not accuse me of advancing impossible or imaginary theories, nor will you ask me upon what foundation the fluid element rests. By the same reason which makes them attract the earth, heavier than water, from the extremities of the world to suspend it in the centre, they will grant us without doubt that it is due both to its natural attraction downwards and its general equilibrium, that this immense quantity of water rests motionless upon the earth.  23  According to Plutarch (περὶ τῶν ἀρέσκ: etc. iii. 10) Thales and the Stoics affirmed the earth to be spherical, Thales (id. 11) placing it “in the middle.” Pliny, Hist. Nat. ii. 4, says that the earth “universi cardine stare pendentem librantem per quæ pendeat; ita solam immobilem circa eam volubili universitate, eandem ex omnibus necti, eidemque omnia inniti.” Therefore the prodigious mass of waters was spread around the earth; not in proportion with it and infinitely larger, thanks to the foresight of the supreme Artificer, Who, from the beginning, foresaw what was to come, and at the first provided all for the future needs of the world. But what need was there for this superabundance of water? The essence of fire is necessary for the world, not only in the economy of earthly produce, but for the completion of the universe; for it would be imperfect  24  On κολοβός, docked, curtailed, cf. Matt. xxiv. 22. if the most powerful and the most vital of its elements were lacking.  25  The supremacy of fire was the idea of Heraclitus. Τὸ πῦρ Θεὸν ὑπειλήφασιν ῞Ιππασος …καὶ ῾Ηράκλειτος. Clem. Alex., Protrep. v. 55. Plutarch has an essay on the comparative use fulness of fire and water. Now fire and water are hostile to and destructive of each other. Fire, if it is the stronger, destroys water, and water, if in greater abundance, destroys fire. As, therefore, it was necessary to avoid an open struggle between these elements, so as not to bring about the dissolution of the universe by the total disappearance of one or the other, the sovereign Disposer created such a quantity of water that in spite of constant diminution from the effects of fire, it could last until the time fixed for the destruction of the world. He who planned all with weight and measure, He who, according to the word of Job, knows the number of the drops of rain,  26  Job xxxvi. 27, LXX. knew how long His work would last, and for how much consumption of fire He ought to allow. This is the reason of the abundance of water at the creation. Further, there is no one so strange to life as to need to learn the reason why fire is essential to the world. Not only all the arts which support life, the art of weaving, that of shoemaking, of architecture, of agriculture, have need of the help of fire, but the vegetation of trees, the ripening of fruits, the breeding of land and water animals, and their nourishment, all existed from heat from the beginning, and have been since maintained by the action of heat. The creation of heat was then indispensable for the formation and the preservation of beings, and the abundance of waters was no less so in the presence of the constant and inevitable consumption by fire.

22 Gen. i. 6.
23 According to Plutarch (περὶ τῶν ἀρέσκ: etc. iii. 10) Thales and the Stoics affirmed the earth to be spherical, Thales (id. 11) placing it “in the middle.” Pliny, Hist. Nat. ii. 4, says that the earth “universi cardine stare pendentem librantem per quæ pendeat; ita solam immobilem circa eam volubili universitate, eandem ex omnibus necti, eidemque omnia inniti.”
24 On κολοβός, docked, curtailed, cf. Matt. xxiv. 22.
25 The supremacy of fire was the idea of Heraclitus. Τὸ πῦρ Θεὸν ὑπειλήφασιν ῞Ιππασος …καὶ ῾Ηράκλειτος. Clem. Alex., Protrep. v. 55. Plutarch has an essay on the comparative use fulness of fire and water.
26 Job xxxvi. 27, LXX.

Ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τὰ συνεχῆ τῆς ἐξηγήσεως τὸν λόγον ἐπαναγάγωμεν. Ἔστω διαχωρίζον, φησὶν, ἀνὰ μέσον ὕδατος καὶ ὕδατος. Ἄπειρος μὲν ἦν, ὡς ἔοικε, τῶν ὑδάτων ἡ χύσις, πανταχόθεν ἐπικυμαινόντων τῇ γῇ καὶ ἀπαιωρουμένων αὐτῆς: ὡς καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὰ ἄλλα στοιχεῖα δοκεῖν ἀναλογίαν ἐκβαίνειν. Διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ ἐν τοῖς κατόπιν ἐλέγετο ἄβυσσος πανταχόθεν περιβεβλῆσθαι τῇ γῇ. Τὴν δὲ αἰτίαν τοῦ πλήθους ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς ἀποδώσομεν. Πάντως δὲ οὐδεὶς ὑμῶν οὐδὲ τῶν πάνυ κατησκημένων τὸν νοῦν, καὶ περὶ τὴν φθειρομένην ταύτην καὶ ῥέουσαν φύσιν ὀξυωπούντων, ἐπισκήψει τῇ δόξῃ, ὡς ἀδύνατα ἢ πλασματώδη ὑποτιθεμένων κατὰ τὸν λόγον: οὐδὲ ἀπαιτήσει ἡμᾶς εὐθύνας, ἐπὶ τίνος ἡ τῶν ὑδάτων ἥδραστο φύσις. Ὧ| γὰρ λόγῳ τὴν γῆν βαρυτέραν οὖσαν τοῦ ὕδατος ἀπαιωροῦσι τοῦ μέσου τῶν ἐσχάτων ἀπάγοντες, τῷ αὐτῷ δήπου πάντως καὶ τὸ μυρίον ὕδωρ ἐκεῖνο, διά τε τὴν κατὰ φύσιν ἐπὶ τὸ κάτω φορὰν, καὶ διὰ τὴν πανταχόθεν ἰσορροπίαν, περὶ τὴν γῆν ἀτρεμεῖν συγχωρήσουσιν. Οὐκοῦν ἄπλετος ἡ τοῦ ὕδατος φύσις τῇ γῇ περιεκέχυτο, οὐχὶ συμμέτρως ἔχουσα πρὸς αὐτὴν, ἀλλ' εἰς τὸ πολλαπλάσιον ὑπερβάλλουσα, οὕτως ἐξ ἀρχῆς τοῦ μεγάλου τεχνίτου προβλεψαμένου τὸ μέλλον, καὶ διὰ τὴν ἐφεξῆς χρείαν τὰ πρῶτα διαθεμένου. Τίς οὖν χρεία τοῦ ἀμύθητον ὅσον ὑπερβάλλειν τὸ ὕδωρ; Ἐπειδὴ ἀναγκαία τῷ παντὶ τοῦ πυρὸς ἡ οὐσία, οὐ μόνον πρὸς τὴν τῶν περιγείων οἰκονομίαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τὴν συμπλήρωσιν τοῦ παντός. Κολοβὸν γὰρ ἂν ἦν τὸ ὅλον ἑνὶ τῷ μεγίστῳ καὶ καιριωτάτῳ πάντων ἐλλεῖπον. Ἀντικείμενα δὲ ταῦτα ἀλλήλοις, καὶ φθαρτικὸν ἕτερον τοῦ ἑτέρου: πῦρ μὲν τοῦ ὕδατος, ὅταν ἐπικρατῇ δυνάμει: ὕδωρ δὲ πυρὸς, ὅταν ὑπερβάλλῃ τῷ πλήθει. Ἔδει δὲ μήτε στάσιν εἶναι πρὸς ἄλληλα, μήτε ἐν τῇ παντελεῖ τοῦ ἑτέρου ἐκλείψει ἀφορμὴν παρασχεθῆναι τῷ παντὶ πρὸς διάλυσιν. Τοσαύτην τοῦ ὑγροῦ τὴν φύσιν οἰκονομῶν τὸ πᾶν προαπέθετο, ὥστε μέχρι τῶν τεταγμένων ὅρων τῆς τοῦ κόσμου συστάσεως κατὰ μικρὸν τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ πυρὸς ἐξαναλισκόμενον ἀντισχεῖν. Ὁ τοίνυν ἅπαντα σταθμῷ καὶ μέτρῳ διαταξάμενος (ἀριθμηταὶ γὰρ αὐτῷ, κατὰ τὸν Ἰὼβ, καὶ σταγόνες εἰσὶν ὑετοῦ) ᾔδει πόσον τῷ κόσμῳ χρόνον ἀφώρισεν εἰς διαμονὴν, καὶ πόσην χρὴ τῷ πυρὶ προαποθέσθαι δαπάνην. Οὗτος ὁ λόγος τῆς τοῦ ὕδατος περιουσίας κατὰ τὴν κτίσιν. Ἀλλὰ μὴν τό γε τοῦ πυρὸς ἀναγκαῖον τῷ κόσμῳ, οὐδεὶς οὕτως ἔξω τοῦ βίου παντάπασιν, ὥστε τῆς ἐκ τοῦ λόγου διδασκαλίας προσδεῖσθαι: οὐ μόνον ὅτι αἱ συνεκτικαὶ τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν τέχναι τῆς ἐμπύρου ἐργασίας ἐπιδέονται πᾶσαι, ὑφαντικὴ, λέγω, καὶ σκυτοτομικὴ, καὶ οἰκοδομικὴ, καὶ γεωργία, ἀλλ' ὅτι οὔτε δένδρων βλάστησις, οὐ καρπῶν πέψις, οὐ ζῴων ἐγγείων ἢ τῶν ἐνύδρων γένεσις, οὐχ αἱ τούτων τροφαὶ ἢ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἂν συνέστησαν, ἢ πρὸς χρόνον διήρκεσαν, τοῦ θερμοῦ μὴ παρόντος. Οὐκοῦν ἀναγκαία μὲν τοῦ θερμοῦ ἡ κτίσις διὰ τὴν τῶν γιγνομένων σύστασίν τε καὶ διαμονήν: ἀναγκαία δὲ τοῦ ὑγροῦ ἡ δαψίλεια διὰ τὸ ἄπαυστον εἶναι καὶ ἀπαραίτητον τοῦ πυρὸς τὴν δαπάνην.