On Palm Sunday

The Feast of Hosannas The Feast of Hosannas. The mystery in the form of the Spirit is revealed to you, O children, when I entered and proclaimed praises. O brothers: It is a great wonder, the economy of God, who is always awake to the praises of the horsemen. No mouth that passes by is able to speak his glory, of him who placed the good news of his grace in the nature of men. In the midst of the sea of mortality the nature of men was immersed, and it was enslaved to death, the tyrant, as to a king. It served all the waves of mortality, and death was revealed as a victor over our humanity. It did not please him to leave all his dominion over our servitude, so he sent his Son, and he brought down the nature of men from its fall. He uprooted from the soil of our earth all the pains, and he confessed to you, O blessed ones, the full measure of good things. And when he was fittingly buried, as was fitting, he ascended to the heavens and sat on the throne of the fiery ones. And as it pleased him, he freed the nature of men from servitude, after he had gone and left his memory in the holy Church. He placed in the world the chosen Church, which is without bodily death, and feasts within her like limbs, one after another. It did not please him that his Church should be without festivals, lest she stray from his bodily economy. And just as the body is from limbs, so her activity and her economy are known to you from the festivals.

A body without members cannot perform anything, and each of its members shows itself individually. And if one member were to be perfected for the whole body, there would be superfluities in it. And if one member is not sufficient for the whole body, nor can one feast show forth the whole Church. The feast of the birth of our Lord cannot show forth what was accomplished on the day of his baptism. Nor can the feast of his baptism verify that victory over the evil one at the end of his fast. Nor can all the glorious feasts within the Church show forth everything that was accomplished on this day. On this day was fulfilled the test of righteousness of Jacob the elder, and of David the king, and also of Zechariah. On this day was shown the word of Jacob the priest, which was written before the ages concerning the Saviour. Not because the tribe of Melchizedek ruled over Judah, nor because of the test that was performed by the one who was anointed from among his feet, until the one came to whom belongs the eternal kingdom, and then the anointed ones and kings ceased from Judah. To him belongs the eternal kingdom without end, and this is the completion of the mysteries and the meaning of the peoples. And as Jacob his father was anointed before the ages, there is in Judah no anointed one or king from him or any other.

The Jew has no way to open his mouth, for it was not the Messiah who was the king of whom Jacob the Elder spoke. He cannot show that he has a king from him and over him, and he has no place to show the priest among his people. And the priest and the king became as they became, the way in which the word of Jacob was fulfilled. And again he speaks concerning that which was scattered in every place: You have neither priest nor king to govern you. At what time did you go out from your land, O Talion? Were not priests and kings for you from before the Lord? In Egypt, when you were Moses and Miriam, priests were for you. And in the midst of Babylon, in the house of captivity, with Daniel. These three gave you in Babylon with Ezekiel, and Joshua the priest, and Ezra the scribe, with Zerubbabel. Why now are priests and kings hidden from you, and does not the weight of your evil deeds rest upon God? The Spirit taught Jacob the Elder to bless, and set the limit of your honor up to the Lord. He took from you that honor which was among your people, and you were not exalted to that greatness which was taken from her. At what time did captivity lead you to the regions, that it did not cut off for you the signs of the years that were to be? Four hundred years it cut off for you that you might be in the land of Egypt, and in the midst of Babylon, seventy years, and they are not redeemed.

Now the Gospel of Palm Sunday has come to you, son of the church. How many times have you been commanded to be silent and not speak? Be still and do not disturb, or an insult has passed to your honor, for the king for whose sake you were honored has come. Do not be divided, O circumcision of the flesh and foreskin of the heart; come, let it be sought out clearly in the words of Jacob. See the signs that he spoke beforehand concerning that king who is destined to come and pass over you, the prophets and kings. Bind his yoke with the release of the clusters of the vine, and do not let the arrogant boast and cut off from the releases. By this sign he shows the power of him who subdues all, and as one who is above, he tramples the mountains beneath his authority. And when he is pleased to take vengeance upon his custom, he says beforehand that those who do his will in the moment of his passion will be clothed in white. The king who comes washes his garment in pure wine, and in the blood of the grapes that is the vestment that is wrapped in it. Hidden is the blessing with which Jacob the priest blesses you, and as it were, he dyes the garments in wine and seals the vessels. And if his vestment is made, it is seen by all, greater than the clothing of the kings who were before him. Not every word that was spoken in the blessing of the church is revealed, nor does everyone know how the garments of which you spoke are dyed. Not even the word of Jacob is hidden from the Pharisees, and it is a great power for the faith of the orthodox.

Wine is death, for it stops up the face of the wound, and the body that is clothed cannot be stopped by death. And because he sold and delivered himself to the pain of death, he ascended to the heavens and drank from the cup of the living. He whitens with wine the garment that is clothed from the wound, and with the blood of the grapes that is the covering from the house of David. This that was said in the church concerning his covenant is a great scandal against Cyril, the apostle of zeal. What does that thinker of divinity say against Jacob, who gave death to the body from him? In the faith that he made, the excommunication is a curse that is in it, and he placed it on Jacob, the head of the curse that they thought was Jacob. Do not be angry, Jacob the king, against Cyril; with you he excommunicated everyone who said that Christ died. He excommunicated the heretic against the spirit of holiness, and also the apostles, and also the Lord himself, when he was named in the curse, he bound him. For which garment does the wine whiten? Listen, heretic: for that from Mary or for that which is woven from hands? If you say to the water of the clothed, Jacob said, never are waters whitened by wine according to your understanding. Wine, when it reaches water, makes a seal, and for which did Jacob say that it whitens it? For that body that took from him, the woman does not complete; for which do you know? Your mind inclined to the interpretation.

He knows, for like a physician, your drunkenness delivers your face to the pain of the solitary one. O the interpretation that fills all drunkenness, O the blasphemy that cannot be hidden from sorrow. It is not for you to say that God suffers, nor to mingle with the crowd of the present for the solitary one. Rejoice, O sorrow that gladdens him, the chosen Zacharias, and let the Church rejoice for the creation, the thirst of the one who afflicts her. The chosen one hopes for the daughter of Ur of the Chaldees, the king who comes, so that when she sees him, she goes out to meet him and receives him. Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Ur of the Chaldees, cries the herald, for behold, your king comes, the majestic one, and he will make you glad. The daughter of Ur of the Chaldees did not ask him whence he came, and he began to appease her with his governance as he was commanded. Your king is humbler than all kings by his will, and his sign is heavy and powerful, ruling over height and depth. Lighten from you the burden of the sorrows that have gathered for you, and do not be shaken by the multitude of the peoples that surround you. He is just, indeed, both humble and a savior, and even with the peoples he speaks peace, which is his own. From Ur of the Chaldees he destroys the swift-running horse, and also from Ephrem he raises up a chariot that will never be again. O the evangelist who brought the gospel to the sons of his people, and rejoiced in his own and proclaimed his own in his preaching.

For in that which he said, "Your king is coming," they rejoiced. And when he showed them his governance like a physician, they rejoiced. In that which was proclaimed, "The rider of the ass does not rejoice," while being prevented because the ass could not make war. And in that which he thought, "The horse will destroy the chariot as well," they were considered to have been raised up from their burdens. And concerning that which he proclaimed, "Even with the peoples he speaks peace," they understood that he was like a physician among the peoples of the house. Before the factions, Zion's love of the ass stood, because she heard that the king who proclaimed was great in spirit. How she rejoiced in this proclamation, "Uriah the complete," that the horse and the chariot perished from the house of her markets. With what purity, love of the ass, O herald of the king, that his proclamation of his riding is a son of a donkey. In this proclamation which proclaims, "I come to the peoples," they rejoiced that he speaks peace and tranquility with them as was proclaimed. If you wish, O woman, that I say peace and tranquility with you, behold, I have heard that when you see him, you will meet his way. If you had not learned from before the time about his habit, you would already have had an outlet in spirit when he follows you. Complete in deed are the words which he proclaimed, great in spirit, and Zion saw her king who came and did not receive him. He rode upon the ass, the son of a donkey, and went up to Uriah the complete, so that the word which he proclaimed, great in spirit, might not be falsified.

He stirred up his power against the multitude of the priests who were thirsting for blood, and they went out to meet him with branches of olive and praised him. Not every time that he entered into Jerusalem did they go out to meet him as they did on this day. On this day they went out to meet him, a multitude of priests, to see his glory and Lazarus whom his sign had revived. They were not content with their procession because of what it was, that a hidden power had stirred up the one who went out to meet him. There were those who scattered branches of olive and praised, and there were those who spread their garments in the road where he rode. There were women who with cymbals sang before him, and the sound of the Hosannas of their songs stirred up the crowds. The Pharisees and scribes shut their mouths from his praise, and in their place boys, children of milk, praised him. The praise of the children of milk surpassed that of the fathers, in that they cried out a new praise which the ear of man had not heard. Above nature the children of milk spoke, a new voice which the tongue of flesh had not uttered. A new praise the children sang to the new king, with a new mouth in which no other word had been uttered. O hour, be not in pride, the infants cried out, and Hosanna again to the son of David, who is glory.

A great wonder was in the city of Jerusalem on this day, and the people of the Jews did not understand it. For one wonder was that the king rode upon an ass, he whose glory the cherubim exalt. And another wonder was that the priests went out with branches of olive, and they did not know why they went out in their ranks. Only that they went out they knew, that they went out in a multitude, and what they said when they went out they did not know. Another wonder, at which heaven and earth marvelled, was that the children, the sucklings of milk, cried out "Hosanna." They taught the scribes and the priests their "Hosannas." And in a language that they had not spoken, they spoke a new thing. The scribes and the priests did not endure in their envy the new praise which the mouth of the sucklings of milk proclaimed. The voice of the praise which the children spoke, the tyrants heard, and envy was stirred in their heart against our Saviour. They saw that youths and maidens sang praise, and they began to be troubled like a woman whose child feels pain. The children and the priests cry out and say, "Blessed is our God," and their voices go up to our Saviour, "Woe to your disciples." O blind ones, blind of heart, our Saviour cast you down, "Be in your places, that you may not be disturbed in the senses of my body." For not yet had they heard in their ears the voice of his preaching, nor had their eyes seen the signs which his hands performed.

You saw the dead whom he raised from within the tombs, and also the death of him who raised them—your will has cut off death. You heard the voice of the prophecies of Jacob the priest and David the king and also of Zechariah. Jacob blessed the fruit that came from him, and his hope went up that from him would be prophets and kings until the coming. He gave a sign that on the side of the ass it would be revealed, and behold it has been fulfilled on this day, and you did not believe. And that sign which Jacob gave in the blessing of the staff, that same Zechariah gave when he saw him, that you might not be divided. And also concerning the youths who gave praise not according to custom, David shows by the Holy Spirit that you will again be scattered. From the mouth of the young men and the children, the praise that they sing to the Lord was established. And before David saw in spirit your standing upon it, and he explained and said, "Praise, youths, because of you." And you will say within your thought, "The lover of the ass," that poverty made him ride the lowly ass. It is not because I have no swift mount for riding; I rode the ass to bring the law before your eyes. For mine are the heavens and the earth and everything in them, and my will rules over the animals and over the birds.

The one who sent me, the son of the ass, not his own power was it, the power of my lordship stirred him and he was not hindered. And as you stirred in that one who was called the son of the ass, you were able to stir also in that one who was called the foal of the chariots. This thing that you did on this day, you mounted a colt to deliver to them that which was taken captive, the captives in spirit. For this one thing was done to complete the captivity and to give a pattern of humility to the deacons. For if he who came, the Lord, mounted a colt, how much more would they not be proud over the heralds? All the kings who were over the heralds were proud, they did not deign to lower their knees to the ground. And you, because you wished and mounted a colt through your humility, by it the heavens and the earth are shaken and are not moved. Why do you say to me, "Be silent in the praises that praise me"? Be silent, for you will be silenced by your words. And if you add with the voice of the acclamations that praise me, teach, for you will be silent like you. And if you say to me, "Be silent in the praises that sing glory," the rocks cry out glory other than this. And if the rocks sing glory to God, all of you priests of the daughter of Ur shall be silent, for what are you envious?

All this the Saviour accomplished on this day, as the disciples were prepared by the Spirit that taught them. The priests were opening the way of the Lord with their branches of olive, and the ass was bringing forth a burden from the daughter of the evil one. No more shall the mother of the Spirit of baptism give birth, the offspring that accomplished its desire through the evil of the slanderer. And whoever knows what the weight of the lance of the Spirit is, according to the will of the Lord Jesus, shall surrender his life. And whoever runs the fitting course of righteousness shall flee from the errors of the daughter of his voice, wherever he proclaims. And whoever is chosen in the holy church for the priesthood, according to the will of the head of the priesthood, shall lead his people. And all who have been entrusted in this world with the reins, and have partaken of it for whoever has ascended the throne, on the day when the king of height comes in his glory, shall be worthy to enter that kingdom which has been confessed to us.