On Mysteries and Baptism

On the Mysteries of the Church and on Baptism Homily Twenty-One On the Mysteries of the Church and on Baptism The sweet desire of baptism has opened for you, my Lord, and has given to your body the sweetness of immortal life. In the heat of iniquity your mind was dried up, and its fruits withered, and its gift fell like dew and was sprinkled on your self. The harsh thirst of death has killed your body and buried it in water, and life stirred in its death. The filth of passions has washed away the beauty of your procreation, and turned your form into a remedy of the Spirit that cannot be destroyed. O the skill of the physician who purifies the remedy of the renewal of your body with oil and water and the power of the Spirit that is hidden from all. A new craft has the master of crafts brought forth, who fashion a human from a human without copulation. A finding that was not found: a divine sign that without seed gives birth to a human from within water. Where anywhere has it happened that like this a womb of water gives birth to children without intercourse? To whom has it been heard that a body gives birth to one not of its own kind, as now a mute nature gives birth to speech? Even if water has given birth to a creeping thing and to a flying thing, a human from water has never been heard to have been born. It is a wonder, this, and how great a wonder it is to say: a full womb of water swells and gives birth to perfect children.

It is all new, and great is the wonder of that which is administered in it, so that in a short hour there occurs the conception of the infant and the birth. Apart from the order that is established in the fonts, her order proceeds, and is not hindered by the nurture of little by little. Come, hearer, hear the wonder of the new birth, that in one hour there occurs her conception and also her delivery. Come, beholder, behold the form that forms the children, and while the word is being turned in the mouth, it comes forth from the womb. Come, distinguisher, distinguish and be amazed, as a distinguisher, by the power of the essence that gives strength to the weak. And again, the dead see in the font, because of the immersion, that he casts off his sorrows in baptism and puts on life. Again, be amazed, as a penitent, at the mysteries of our renewal, and learn to be hidden in the visible waters. Again, approach the priesthood, the salt of the earth, and see how it purifies the body by spiritual means. Enter with her to where she enters for mercy, and pray that you may be worthy to hear the voice that speaks with her. Listen to how the power of the Spirit works with her, and makes her wise to give strength to the stagnant waters. A hidden sign interprets for her the hidden mysteries, and explains them in a clear voice before the hearers. The motherhood of the new birth performs before her, and shows her that she may form a spiritual image.

In the likeness of a priest he becomes a priest for the hidden power, and he writes with her hands names above the water. O writer who writes the spirit on a pliant tablet, and the indissoluble nature of whose words is dissolved in the water. O how great is your skill, son of mortals, and no man knows what is hidden in it because of its greatness. O how sharp is the reed of your thought for painting mysteries, and there is no painter who can depict like your forms. O for you the priest bends spiritually on the earth, so that the spiritual ones who are likened to you are not dominant. O for you the priest, how great is the rank of the deaconess who serves, so that the servants of fire and spirit tremble from him. It is sufficient to say how great is the rank of your dignity, that you have passed through to the heavens by the name of your authority. Sharp and glorious is the nature of the spirit, more than you, and it does not permit that mysteries be painted in the likeness of you. Great is the angel, and how can one say greater than you? And when he is changed with your service, he is smaller than you. Holy is the seraph, and beautiful the cherub, and swift the watcher, and they cannot run with the beginning of the word of your mouth. Glorious is Gabriel, and great is Michael, and their names bear witness, and the mystery of the seal is placed in your hands, closing every mouth. In you is hidden what is near when you approach the service, and it is fitting for you to open the door to their sanctities.

The voices of glory are immersed and stand from your right, and when they complete the mystery of your salvation, they cry out praise. In love they are bent beneath the will that conceals in your mysteries, and they honor you because of the order that serves you. And if the spirits are not perceptible, they honor your order, while not great is the crown of praises for the greatness of your rank. Be amazed at every moment how much the greatness of your rank has increased, for it has reached height and depth beneath its authority. In height and depth the authority of the priests of the Church is concealed, and they command the heavenly and the earthly. In the place of the cross they stand like pillars, and upon their words the sin of humanity rides from the cross. The key of divine mercies is placed in their hands, and according to their will they distribute life to mortals. The hidden power empowers them to perform this, that in the revelations they show its love to the work of his hands. Its love appears in the mystery that he entrusted to the earthly ones, that humanity may live from humanity through his gift. The power of his gift he entrusted into the hands of the priests of the Church, that they might strengthen in it the weakness of humanity that is guilty of sin. The debt of humanity the priest pays through his service, and he washes his body in the water and renews it. Like a firstborn he seals bodies in baptism, and like a firstborn he consumes the forest of mortality.

The medicine of the Spirit raises up in the waters like a firstborn, and it purifies the image of man from filth. With the swiftness of the Spirit it cleanses the pollution of body and soul, and instead of earth it stands in the midst of the heavens. The fragrance of the waters prepares and places in the likeness of a censer, and the priest approaches and reveals the power of his mystery. His limbs are covered with linen outwardly, and a stole of the Spirit clothes his soul inwardly. Wholly in his entirety he stands for the sake of the spectators, that through his service the mystery of man might be revealed concerning the future. Like a mirror he becomes to the eyes of his hearers, that they might see in him and hope to be glorified. He places a sign before their eyes in the garments upon him, that they might learn to be clothed spiritually. This he teaches by means of the arrangement upon his members, that glory clothes the mystery which is in his hands for the one who approaches him. In his hands is placed the treasure of life hidden in the waters, and the priest approaches and distributes that which is not given. The key of his word extends, opens the door of gift, and with the sound of his voice he distributes gifts to the servants of the king. As upon the sea he stands, also in the likeness of Moses, and instead of a staff he raises the sound of his voice over the silent ones. With the word of his mouth he strikes the waters like the son of Amram, and his voice is heard better than the voice of the son of the Hebrews.

s it in the midst of the waters. Moses heard him, but because he did not hear him well, he was not sanctified. The priest of the Church hears him, and stands and sanctifies. Only the one who divides the sea of Israel, the wickedness of his people did not suffice to purify by the power of the mystery. The great priesthood is that which has no comparison among those who give the power of forgiveness of wickedness to the senseless. Toward that sign of the Son, creation hangs its gaze, and from him it learns that there is no new creation like the Son. In that form of the world that was, he also imitates, and makes a sound like the one who cried out in the beginning on the earth. Like the Creator, he also commands the silent waters, and changes the darkness from them by the power of life. The voice of the Creator created lights from nothing, and he from something creates something by the power of the Creator. It is not his own creation that he creates in the depth of the waters, but the sign of the Son, creation from nothing. That command which said, "Let there be," and there were rational and silent ones: he commands in it, and there becomes a new man. That daughter of the voice which the waters heard and brought forth reptiles, she hears from the mouth of the priest and brings forth a man. The birth that brings forth now is greater than that one, as much as a rational man is greater than a silent one. Like a seed, he casts his word into the depth of the waters, and it sinks and brings forth a new birth that is not by nature.

The voices of the Spirit his mouth interprets with the silent one, and he cries out power to give life to the speechless. A new sound the deaf hear from the speakers, like that sound which Mary heard from Gabriel. And the good news brings forth even that one in the hands of the people, like that proclamation which the watcher announced at the birth of the son of the sea. In the place of the watcher he fills his order and is better than the watcher, who proclaims the good news to the poor of good news with the voice of his words. In the house of being he stands in the midst of the people, and by his words he confirms the signs of the two sides. He reconciles with the mystery the hidden one who covers and reveals in her love, and the power from him goes out to her and completes his words. In the name of being he sanctifies the three names of the water, which suffice for the perfection of the purification of the impure. The impurity of the people the water purifies, not by the water, but by the power of the name of being which works the taste. The power of being descends into the visible waters, and by the power of his power he weakens the force of the evil one and death. Evil and death are abolished in that baptism, and the resurrection of the body and the salvation of the soul are proclaimed in it. As in a grave, the body and soul are buried in it, and they die and live in the mystery of the resurrection which will be at the end. The order of the grave fills the people mysteriously, and the voice of the priesthood like the voice of the herald at the end.

In the grave of waters the priest buries the whole man, and warms him with the power of life, concealing him in his words. At the gate of the tomb of baptism the candidate stands, and completes there the mystery of death and resurrection. With a clear voice he proclaims the power of the hand that performs: that as the man comes into the water and turns into life. He reveals and shows the sign to the one who is baptized, that with the name he comes and lives quickly. The name of the Trinity he recites and says three times: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one equality. The names the clear voice repeats and says thus: that the baptized enters in the name of Father, Son, and Spirit. Not, however, does he say that I baptize, but that the one who is baptized, not that I baptize, except that which is set in the names. The names grant forgiveness of sin, not to the man, and they sow new life in the deadness. In their names the one who is baptized is baptized as in a grave, and they call and raise him from his death. Three times he bows his head in their names, that he may learn the order that when they are three, they are one. In the mystery of our Savior the font of baptism becomes, in that schema of the three days that are within the grave. Three days our Savior was in the tomb of the dead; also the baptized one three times three days.

He died in the mystery of that death which revives all, and lives a life in the form of life without end. The sinner and death he casts off and throws away in baptism, in the form of the garments of the tomb he strips off and puts on. In the likeness of an infant from within the womb, he emerges constricted from the water, and changes his garments, receiving them thus and putting them on. He resembles an infant when he comes up from within the water, and like an infant he puts on all his clothing. He opens his limbs, raises his garments over his members, and adorns him like a bridegroom on the day of the wedding feast. The groomsmen of the wedding feast fill him also in baptism, and by his adornment he becomes the glory that is prepared for him. By the beauty of his garments he proclaims the beauty that is to come. Here is the mystery and the perfection of the truth that cannot be falsified. He hastens and calls to the high kingdom that is unshakable, and of the truth he first becomes the mystery of its proof. In that mystery he puts on the glory that cannot be destroyed, garments that become like the mystery in the future things. In the mystery he also comes and is changed and adorned, and mysteriously becomes like the life that does not die. It is the mystery of the birth of that birth which will be at the end, and the conduct of his life is that transformation of the high kingdom. On the path of spiritual life he begins to tread, and like spiritual beings he lives on spiritual food.

He becomes her son spiritually in a mystical way, and to her son he also becomes the completion that he has prepared. He is a new birth for her, and the renewal is abundant for the earthly ones, and there is no measure to the greatness of the food that is consumed in him. In the form of milk, the divine mysteries boil, and he leads her like a mother to the future ones. The mother of the spirit prepares the milk of the spirit for her life, and instead of nurses, he places in her mouth body and blood. With body and blood, the Church nourishes the sons of her womb, and reminds them of the great love of her humility. In her humility, she gives them her body and blood, a pledge of life, so that the power may be established to give life from her vitality. He verifies for her that through the food of his body, he gives life to her children by means of the wonders that he rides mystically. The bull of the word offers the sacrifice of his incarnation, and he offers his sacrifice through the service of one of her children. Through her children, that which is written in the story of the erring one is completed, for her love went out and received them in baptism. With love and mercy, he went out to meet them and received them, and he joined them as if they were dead who had fallen and lived. The power of his wonders he spreads and reveals before their eyes, and he rejoices them with food and drink spiritual. He gives them the pledge of the power of the spirit, and clothes them in the stole of the glory of baptism.

He offered himself for the sake of his own person, which he had spiritually prepared, and he consumed the food of life that is hidden in his consumption. He set in motion the good course of the conduct of life, so that they would not stumble on the path of the filth of death. He summoned and called the heavens on the day of their renewal, and he rejoiced that he had been merciful toward their sins. The womb of waters gave birth to him spiritually, and the power of his grace completed and fulfilled their needs. The watchers and men rejoiced, and they also rejoiced in their repentance, that the words of the mysteries had adhered to the deeds. Heaven and earth rejoiced that they had been reconciled with their father, and they received the oaths of their courses that had been ordained. Demons unjustly seized the inheritance of man, and a certain man arose and said, "Mine!" and he spread himself out. "Mine!" the thief said to the gluttons, and he removed from them the booty that he had snatched from his father's house. Through Adam the erring one led astray, who sowed error in the world, and the son of Adam erred and followed the cry of his entire race. A great error put on a warm garment in place of his fathers, and he received likeness but not reality, the servants of the evil ones. Like a fugitive he descended into the arena for the sake of his people, and he took up the contest with Satan and defeated him and conquered him. At the head of the assembly he contended with the slayer of man, and he made a mockery of the eyes of the angels and of men.

He turned the wood of the cross and cast it from his trust. At that time when he thought to enter death, he swallowed and was consumed. By the death of man he was made proud, the chosen thought, and by the death of one man the pride of man was abolished. One man died on the cross in place of the dead, and taught the way of the living to walk in the path of his death and his life. His death and his life fashion man in baptism, and when they died with him, they rose and were renewed mystically. On the new path of life the dead walk with him, and by the customs of the heavens they imitate on earth. By the food of his body they drive death from their bodies, and by his blood life gives life to their thoughts. Body and soul are nourished by the food of his body and his blood, and they conquer Satan and death by the power of his gift. By the power of his gift they were washed and purified from their sins, and they received strength to contend against afflictions. They put on hidden power from the waters against the evil of afflictions, and began to extinguish the power of the adversary. Like athletes they ascended from the font of baptism, and received the way of the watchful and of man sacramentally. The voice of their victory cried out to earth and heavens, and demons heard and trembled and were confounded by the new voice. They wove crowns for them, height and depth, by the hand of man, who saw that they had won the great battle against the enemy.

The priests, having rested from their labors, took from the king and gloriously bore honor above the host. Within the palace of his mysteries he established it, and set before them the life of the immortal one, a table of life. He fixed a beautiful vessel in the earth, that upper zone, that they might be sealed in it mysteriously until the end. He sought holiness to sanctify them with the name of his holiness, until they ascend to the holy one hidden in the height. He chose priests to minister in it in a holy manner, and instead of sacrifices they offer the sacrifice of the mystery of his Son. The mystery of his Son, every man offers before his will, and through it he blots out the iniquity of the man who calls upon his name. He placed the coin of his word in their hands through causes, that they might trade with it and acquire the spiritual life of life. As a firstborn, man receives the inheritance of the sons, and from them is cleansed the foul filth of iniquity, the defiling one. The beautiful vessel stands from the stillness from within the waters, and is better than the sun that shines, the light of their pastors. The plants of light are in the earth through the light that is in them, and the world shines with the beautiful flames of their conduct. The spirit follows after the birth of baptism, and according to the birth also the pattern of height and ascent. Like eagles, the wings of their conduct are raised, and they enter and live in the beautiful nest of the holy Church.

In the likeness of the Spirit hovering, the priest hovers over their faces, and sets the table of perfection that they may be established in him. A living sacrifice he prepares and places before their eyes, and he invites them to be buried in the love of the self. The mystery of power he begins, as a spiritual painter, and like a physician he purifies words before the beholders. With the reed of his word he forms the image of the king who was raised up, and as with a finger he shows his suffering and also his exaltation. Death and life his voice proclaims in the ears of the people, and forgiveness of iniquity he distributes, giving in bread and wine. The mystery of death he shows before the communicants, and he reveals the power of the life that is hidden in his words. As for a dead person he prepares a bed with the vessels of holiness, and he brings and places bread and wine as is customary. The day of the commemoration of the king he celebrates mysteriously, and he appoints ministers in brightness for the demonstration. Two deacons he appoints, according to the order, one here and one there, that they may guard the mystery of the king of kings. Fear and love he casts upon the movements of their minds, as they are buried in bread and wine as in the king. A splendid schema is wrapped from within over their faces, and in their cheeks they show the beauty of their minds. With their fingers they form the sign of the angels that was wrapped in the glorious vestments in the temple of the tomb.

Two angels saw the disciples at the tomb of the Lord, that the place of His body was emptied as if of His body. And the spirits in fear honored the place of His body. How many bodies honored the mystery of the honored one! In that form of the two watchers, two deacons now stand to hover over the mysteries. The priest fills the place of the mouth on behalf of all mouths, and like an interpreter mediates his voice with the covering. He calls to the hidden one who sent the hidden power, that He may give power in bread and wine to give life. Toward the covering he directs the gaze of all their minds, that they may look at the hidden things through the revealed things. Above their understanding he cries out and says to the earthly ones, and they ascend to you, O Lord who is hidden in the height. He comes and says, "How great is the cause of the light above!" And many times he calls to the fire for his fellowship. Look at the fire in the offering of the sacrifice that is on your behalf, which receives the sign in love on behalf of your life. Look steadfastly at the bread and wine on the table, that the power of the Spirit may change them into body and blood. See the revealed things in the manifest senses of your limbs, and form the hidden things in the hidden movements of your minds. Remember your death in the sign of the full one, death and life, and praise and cast down to the giver of power in the weak things.

as if by nature he seals his word by their voices, fitting, proper, and holy, the sacrifice of the living. He, like a scribe, writes words at the head of his tongue, and they raise a hand at the voice of the true ones. Witnesses testify to the voices of the sounds on their behalf, and on behalf of nature he seals by them the mystery of their lives. A document of thanksgiving he makes clear, writing by his utterances, and they are pledges that they will pay the debt of glory. With a voice they pay the glory of his writings, and he conveys it to the divine will. With the offering the priest raises the prayer of the people and sanctifies it through the participation of the living mystery. With great fervor he prays for himself and for all, that his word may be a sacrifice accepted before the Most High. Like spirits he resembles in his words while he is zealous, and in a holy manner he teaches the people to enter the holy sanctuary. The voice of sanctification of the angels comes to the people, that they cry out, "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord." That echo which the seraphim cried three times, that same one he makes heard in the ears of the people at the time of the mysteries. Like Isaiah, he also is strong in what he makes heard, while the multitude of the people is reminded of the vision that the great one saw mystically. That vision which the great one saw mystically, he reveals in deed through faith.

The completed mystery of the fire: he saw the vision of Isaiah, who approached him. The seraph of fire was to him as if by his hand, the hand of fire. To his mouth he approached, though he did not truly approach, and he truly burned the wickedness of his body and his soul. The seer saw no perceptible vision, and he did not offer a completed spiritual sacrifice before him. He examined the mystery of the body and blood, and saw in the completion that in the likeness of fire he consumes the wickedness of mortality. The power of that mystery which the seer saw, the priest dispenses, and like a censer he clothes his hand with fire in the bread. In place of the seraph, he fills the people, as for Isaiah, and with movements he covers wickedness and gives life. The seraph of spirit did not clothe his hand with a spiritual vision, and this wonder of the hand of flesh is clothed for the spirits. Light wings did not suffice to bring food into the belly, and a heavy body stretches its hand even to the small. For body and soul he nourishes with the food of the power of the mystery, and from the dead he makes a living being, not dead. The dominion of death silences its voice from the dead, and the hold of evil loosens and passes away from the dead. With food he killed evil in the beginning and made servants, and through food the Creator wills to give life now. By the hand that plucked the fruit wickedly, through it he extended to us the fruit of life wisely.

He gave to Adam the taste of death, and he gave to Adam the opening of the desire of his sweetness. In him, the completed one, he fulfills his will and shows his love, that he might confirm for you that daughter of the voice which called his image. He gave to you to give the life-giving bread in your mortality, that as your will spreads your self by the power of his will. By the power of his will the priest distributes the life-giving bread, and drives out iniquity and establishes the spirit within the members. The power of the spirit descends toward the son of the dying, and dwells in the bread and sanctifies it by the greatness of his power. O wonder, that when the spirit fills all of him, until the earthy one commands, it is not approached. O gift, that when it is given from the beginning, until the son of the living permits, it is not taken. The spirit is toward all and in all height and depth, and it passes and shows itself to the priest in his words. To the height above he stretches his hands with his intention, and completes the petition of his self beneath. Not in a completed one does the spirit descend, a non-traveler; the power from him descends, acts, and fulfills all. His power touches the visible altar, and establishes power for the bread and wine to give life. His power empowers the hand of the priest who bears his power, and the weak flesh is not separated from its shell. The spirit in the bread is clothed in his bodily hands.

He lifts his gaze to the heights and is released from it. He breaks the bread and raises the wine, and signs and says: In the name of the Father and the Son and the Spirit, equal nature. In the name of the Being, three hypostases, he completes his words. And as if from the dead, he raises the mystery in the true schema. In truth, the Lord of the mystery stood from within the tomb, and without division, the mystery bestows the power of life. New life is given from the breaking of the bread and wine, and forgiveness of sin is granted from the partaking to their recipients. One makes the bread and wine in communion, according to that which mixes blood with flesh in all the senses. He raises the wine and water in the cup before consecrating, according to that which also in the blood water mixes with the tastes. With these, the priest completes the mysteries of perfection, and thus he makes heard a voice full of love and mercy. Love and mercy are concealed in him in the voice of the word of his mouth, so that the maker is called the made, the Father of him. By the path of his voice, the voices of the hearers proceed, when they are prepared to call the hidden being Father. O gift to humanity, incomprehensible, which takes the name without the world being able to exhaust his name. They call Father in the words of the living to establish all, they ask of him holiness and the high kingdom.

Your holy name is sanctified in the oblation, and the whole congregation is established in the life without end. Together they ask for holiness and the help of the Spirit, for hidden desire, the offering of the sacrifice, and the remission of iniquity. Through their petitions they show the love of their pastors, how eagerly they long to participate in the future things. With a voice of thanksgiving he seals the words of the completion of the mysteries, and he distributes the sanctified to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Holy Father, and holy is his Son, and the Spirit from him; to them is due sanctity and praise from all mouths. After the voice of sanctity and the payment of praise, he extends the gaze of their pastors toward the gift. With senses and movements they hasten together to approach the bread and wine, which conceal in themselves the remission of iniquities. With faith he strengthens the power to see the hidden things, and as to a king he presents the sanctified within their bosoms. He causes the body of the King to dwell, that it may dwell in the chosen bread, and the life of the dead is proclaimed in it to the one who eats of it. He says “the body” also to the one who gives it, and the blood he covers the mixed wine that is in the cup. He gives the bread and says “the body of the King Messiah,” and he gives to drink the wine in the likeness of the blood of the Messiah. He affirms the body and blood, that the bread and wine are they, and it is good and true concerning the giver and the receivers.

He proclaims with him the forgiveness of iniquity and the life of the dead, and while it is not revealed, faith increases the mysteries. Faith shows the soul a hidden vision, and teaches it not to be divided over the revelations. The bread and wine are seen by the eyes of the bodily senses, and the movements of the soul are the power of the concealment of the hidden one from all. By the movements of the soul it is right to look upon the mystery of salvation, and faith is placed for us as a sign before our minds. Take the bread and break it, that you may be able to forgive iniquity, and drink the wine and confess that the life-giver distributes his drink. Honor the mystery as the body and blood of the king, that your thoughts may be raised to the praises of the house of the kingdom. Believe that you are able to receive life through your mortality, and extend your thoughts toward the goal of the hope that is in it. In that hidden thought, look hiddenly at what is seen, and do not be divided over the renewal of the revelations. It is not in the bread that you look upon the vision, nor in the wine, but in the power that sanctifies the bread and wine. The bread and wine are placed as signs for the eyes of the body, that it may participate with the mind in the revelations. The body has no way to see the hidden things with the mind, nor to abide in the mysteries like thoughts. For this reason the gift was given through the bread, that in the revelations the hope might be established toward the hidden things.

To him and to the soul, full of the sweetness that is hidden in the mystery, and to his coming are the revelations of the body and the drink. Behold, in the revelations the hidden is revealed from its concealment, and without confusion his Lord mingles with him in bread and wine. With bread and wine he prepared a sign for the future things, that he might be alive for the renewal that he prepares. Come, O dead, see the sign that is hidden in our mystery, and do not be separated from the meaning of the full life. Come, be strengthened by the power of his spiritual help, that he may assist us in the contest of harsh sufferings. Come, hasten to approach him in holiness, that you may receive from him the medicine that heals our wounds. As a medicine he applies it at all times to the senses and the members, that he may drive away from them the weakness of the body and the laxity of the soul. It is a good medicine that by its goodness purifies its power, and there is no sickness hidden or revealed that rebels against it. The physician of height gives it to the earth-dwellers, that by his help they may heal the pains of their minds. In faith we have placed all our hope upon our mysteries, that from him may come the health of the body and the salvation of the soul.