Memra 12: On the Hidden and Public Ministry of the Church

Memra 12: On the Hidden and Public Ministry of the Church My brethren: It is fitting for you, when you believe that there is a hidden renunciation of the heart that leaves the earth and ascends to heaven, that you also renounce in the body, from your possessions and your inheritance, and then you keep the hidden commandments of the one who quickens all, and you know that there is a hidden prayer of the heart for him who is bound to the Lord and is healed by him faithfully. Pray also with your body together with your heart, just as Jesus blessed and prayed in body and in spirit. And the apostles and the prophets likewise prayed. Do not be lacking in understanding: that from your spiritual fathers you are not disciplined. Do not lose your spiritual fathers, and acquire fathers in the flesh who are not true, and stray from the truth of the Lord and his preachers. And when you know that there is a hidden fast of the heart, which is from evil thoughts, fast also openly, as the Lord and his first and last preachers fasted.

And when you know that the body is a hidden temple and the heart a hidden altar for the spiritual service, you will hasten at this visible altar and before this visible temple, so that when you are not in these, you will live forever in that great and eternal Church in heaven, and at that spiritual altar which is adorned and elevated, where angels minister before it and all the saints, and Jesus bows and hovers before them, above them and above all your members. And when you know that the perfect are baptized in Jesus Christ and are secretly overshadowed, believe and trust in this visible baptism, that it is of the Spirit and hidden, and that it forgives sins for the one who believes in it and is baptized in it and does good works. For it is not here that the Lord and his first and last heralds established the Church, the altar, and the baptism which are seen by the eyes of the body, but rather that from these visible things there should be those invisible things in heaven for the eyes of the flesh, when your bodies are temples and your hearts altars, and you reveal and understand when you are in this visible Church with its priesthood and its service, that you may be good companions for all in the ways of life that are likened to it in vigil and fasting and in the patient endurance of the Lord and his heralds, and you may do and teach.

Then, when you are in great humility and reverence before all the faithful, both great and small, that church in heaven and that altar in the spirit are revealed to you; and you sacrifice upon it thanksgiving with the prayer of the heart and with the petitions of the body, while you believe in this visible altar, and this priesthood of the minister who serves it is true for you, because everything that exists in this visible church is in the likeness of that hidden church. You are then divided and you spread out toward this visible church, and toward that visible altar, and toward this visible priesthood, and toward this visible baptism, which is hidden; the body is not a temple, nor the heart an altar, nor the inheritance of glory. Nor is that church of Rome and its altar and its splendor and its priesthood revealed to you, because all the saints who are pure in heart and dwell in its glory and its splendor are not revealed there, for they do not spread out toward this blessed mother who gives birth daily and brings forth good fruits and sends them to that great church of Rome. This visible church is manifest to all: its altar, its baptism, and its priesthood; the Lord established it because the Lord prayed in it, and his apostles prayed in it, and they were baptized in it, and they sacrificed in it his body and his blood, and they truly served as priests in it. It is the church in truth and the blessed mother who brings forth all the children, both body and heart, in whom the Lord dwells.

And because of the descent of the Spirit that dwells in it, that temple and altar are in truth. Because the Lord dwells there, as it is written: "Your bodies are temples of the Lord, and in your inner person Christ dwells." For that church in heaven from there begins everything that is fitting to be, and from there light shines upon all the ends. And upon its likeness was the church on earth, and its priests, and its altar, and in the order of its liturgy the body serves outwardly and the heart ministers inwardly; and in it they are imaged, and after it they proceed, while they are exercised in this visible church. Therefore this church is greater than all, and she is the mother of all the baptized. Especially, moreover, because her person is that of the Lord who lives in her and he enlightens in her. The bearer, however, of the living bread, like children, this church and her altar and her baptistery and the milk of the breast until they are weaned; and then they come to the nourishment and knowledge of the body and the heart, and they make their bodies temples and their hearts altars, and they eat the food of the living and the remnant from the milk, until they become perfect and eat the Lord himself in truth, as it is said: "When you have eaten me, then he also will live because of me." And when they have eaten the true food, as the Apostle says: "For the perfect, the true food is that of those who by power are taught to know what is height and depth and length and breadth.

Then that one ascends to that church of height and completes them and enters that city of King Jesus and ministers there in that great and abundant palace, the mother of all living and perfect ones. So do not look upon the visible church, for she is the one that raises all infants. And do not look upon this one of the heart, for she is the one that heals all the sick; and upon that one of height, for she is the one that perfects all the saints. For the three churches have life and their ministries, but glory surpasses glory. When one passes from the ministry of this church and does not reach that of the heart and that of height, he departs from this world without sins, and his good works accompany him, and his end is fair. And when one passes from that of the heart, again it is better. And when one strives in his heart for that church in heaven and then passes, blessed is his spirit, for he becomes perfect and goes to see the Lord face to face. But when a person is diligent in this visible church, he is in that of the heart and that of height. Just as when a person stands in these visible waters, from them he stands in fire and spirit, which are invisible. And like a person who, when he believes, loves, and when he loves, is perfected, and when he is perfected, reigns. For without this visible baptism, no person stands in fire and spirit.

And do not think that this visible church is inferior to that of the heart and that of height. For if one were to be released from it and serve on the mountain, he would err or go astray. But wherever it is, it is true for him that there is life in it and its standing does not cease. For just as the wet nurse of a nursing infant teaches him to eat bread that is more substantial than milk, so this visible church teaches her sons to eat something that is more substantial and much greater, in which they may grow. For the nursing infant has no need of food; the infant is weak for food, and milk is what suits him. And the spirit of the minister in the visible church is not weaker than that of the heart and that of the spirit, because one spirit ministers to all three. But the sons of men are very weak. And unless one raises them like infants, they cannot receive true food. And what mother is the wet nurse who has many sons, some of thirty hours and some of thirty days? Is it possible that she set one food for them? If she sets before them one true food alone, the one of thirty days dies, and the one of thirty hours wastes away. And if she sets milk alone, the one of thirty days lives and hears, and the one of thirty hours is nourished and dies.

Therefore also our Lord and his apostles commanded the stewards of the whole church: for thirty days they command him: that he not eat with pagans and not mix with the wicked, the impious, the cursed, and with all whose works are evil. And after thirty years they say to him: take the care of the sick and be all things to all people and do not say concerning anyone that he is Aramean or old or evil, even though he is such. And set the whole church as is better for you: and thus you will increase. For the whole church, whatever is fitting for it, they commanded him. Because after thirty days, if he goes to the house of the wicked, he destroys himself. And after thirty years, if he goes to the house of the wicked, he converts them; otherwise he is converted: he does not destroy himself because he has become a man of spirit. And thus again they command him for the one whose nature is weak and who is not capable of working and also of eating until he is in need. But it was not concerning bread that the apostle was in need: but that when he is idle from visible work and hidden work, he does not know what to do: he learned cunning and deceit and hypocrisy and fell into proud thoughts and into error and into mockery and into improper tales and went astray from being a Christian.

the one whose mind is great and whose heart is wise, and who knows that he does a work that is not seen, to him our Lord and his apostles say: Do not be concerned that your body of what sort you clothe, nor that your soul of what sort you adorn. But you, above, seek, and above, be nourished. For this one, in this way, is able to correct, to perfect, to instruct, and to teach the assemblies that are fitting to give life to all, and to abolish from the assemblies the kinds that are not good, and the songs that are not proper, and laughter, and mockery that is not sought, and foul words, and evil deeds. For these customs and this practice do not allow our Lord to this one who is the helper of all who labor on the earth, for he says to him, as to Shemʿon: If you love me, tend my sheep, my lambs, my kids, and my ewes. And this one who tends the sheep of the Messiah is not able to come and administer the redemption and labor on the visible earth. But he is weak and tends and perfects the sheep that were entrusted to him, and his face is revealed on that day before the one who commanded him: Tend for me my sheep, my kids, and my ewes. And blessed is the one who enters that church in heaven in which our Lord is manifestly priest, just as this visible sun is priest over this visible church and over these temples of the body. For from these, how many times does this sun set, and from that above, the radiance of the face of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ does not pass away.

Also, for in every place the Lord is, but it is in the church in heaven that he is manifestly seen. And those who humbled themselves and were gentle and pleasant to everyone, and who struggled and made war only against the evil spirits, and purified their hearts from their evil thoughts, as the Apostle said: "Your contest was not with human beings of flesh and blood, but with the rulers and authorities and evil spirits and with Satan the destroyer." And those who struggled against Satan and overcame him, for this church in which the Lord is manifestly present, they are seated above all, and they receive the glorious splendor of his person. For the Lord said: "Blessed are those who are pure in heart, for they shall see God." For there are also other blessings and other places, each according to his works, but that great place is for those who have been purified from evils and from base thoughts; they ascend and see him, and they are glorified with the Lord Jesus and receive blessings from his priesthood. How shall we ascend to the mountain of the Lord, and how shall we dwell on his holy mountain? That is the church in heaven. Which one, then, has purified his hands and chosen in his heart? This one receives blessing from the Lord and righteousness from God the Savior, who is the Lord Jesus Christ. Glory to him forever and ever.

Amen. The end of Memra 12: On the Hidden and Public Ministry of the Church.