On Pentecost

On Pentecost — Narsai A discourse of twenty-seven On the day of the feast of Pentecost A prayer O mortals, seek the forgiveness of sins to increase the body with the power of his wisdom. My brothers, the treasury of the Spirit, the Creator opened before the mortals and enriched the sign from the treasures of the greatness of his power. With a hundred he placed his wealth, enriching all, and while he was scattered, he preserved in it the treasury of praises. A broad sign he made of the treasure of his mysteries and sent it forth with the Spirit and placed in it the glorious Spirit in the scattered one. Like cymbals in the limbs of his body, he sang hidden things and proclaimed with his voice to the earthly and the heavenly. Like a trumpet, the command cried out in the language of flesh and the spiritual and corporeal ones were gathered to him. A firm foundation was the channel for the living Spirit and all rejoiced in the sweetness of his melodies. The power that gives life to all dissolved the pains that were bound in him and began to give life to all by the breath of his lips. The sick one who lies in the pains of iniquity, the burden of sacrifice, began to heal the pains of the body and the blemishes of the soul. A tree that withered in the harsh heat of the thorns, it put forth fruit and bore fruits of sweetness. A vine that was oppressed, it put forth cultivation and brought forth a shoot; it produced from it a cluster of wine and yielded glory.

The treasury of the Son, the abundance of the Spirit, he took and gave. He turned toward his father and set his path, and gave him his wealth. With love and mercy, he anointed the Spirit toward the life of the body, and he embraced the body through the beginning that he took from it. He covered the hair with the stole of the glory of mercy that he had, and he gave the fear of the power of the Spirit like a pledge. He gathered and called the assembly of the life without end, and to the feast of the fullness of blessings that are not exhausted. With a mystery, he made known the partnership with her love, and he opened her treasury and sealed her words through the deeds. He chose from the body one member as a beginning, and he sanctified it with the Spirit and received its sacrifice as a redemption. He made it a treasury of secrets and of fears, and he ruled in his hand that he might enrich all from his gift. In him he confessed to the sons of his body and the inheritance of life, and he made it a request that he might give his own to drink from his life. He filled them with the power of his divinity that is not diminished, that he might give power to mortality that weakens power. He reigned and confessed to the deacons of his proclamation, that they might be enriched from the fullness of the power that he took. His heart was gladdened as he went to his sender, for behold, he goes and sends the messages of my father. The Paraclete called the wealth of the confession of his words, that he might be able to bring about the poverty of the betrayal of the self.

He called them the treasury of the Holy Spirit, hope in their minds, that when they would see his wealth being distributed openly. He called again the power that hides in height above all, that is able to conceal and conquer all by the might of his greatness. You stood in the place of Judah where you waited until the power of the Spirit came into your members. In Zion you stood like a touchstone of righteousness from which emerged a sign able to leave behind iniquity. The iniquity of the peoples he desired to abolish through the cause of the people, and he set the cause because of Jacob, turning iniquity. In Zion he showed that his light is and he cut his covenant while illuminating all and offering incense through his censer. In the place he chose and called by his name, and he set his laws; there he interprets the power of the wonders and the covering of the mysteries. To Mount Zion he journeyed and called the tribes of the peoples, and they rejoiced in the dissolution of the legal sacrifices. In Zion he also interprets the wonder of this feast which earthly and heavenly beings celebrate. There he commanded that the lovers of her love should stand, that they might receive the reward of the love they showed toward him. He bound them with the sign of the spiritual reward, so that they would not be separated when one turns from the side of another. He cast upon them the seal of the Spirit mysteriously, and marked them with the breath of his lips, which were his own.

With the breath of his mouth he showed them the power of his gift, from which comes forth the reward of the wealth of the king. He breathed upon their faces and confirmed them with the confession of his words, and taught them to leave sins and to know iniquity. He placed in their hands the key of mercy and decreed judgment to open the door to both sides, to the good and the evil. He strengthened the one who took the high kingdom that was entrusted to him, and to them he commanded that they should stand in the midst and proclaim my victory. There they stood in the place where I endured suffering and affliction, that there I might give a demonstration of my greatness to their afflictions. Before the multitudes I endured suffering from the dissolute, and every oppressor labored to show himself to me as my mighty power. Where the lowly mocked and laughed at my humility, there they proclaimed with my valor that is not to be despised. That my suffering was a wandering and full of afflictions and rejected by all, I taught them through the deeds of my wisdom. That they wronged the glory that was due to me as a victor, behold it is hidden while all tongues sing to me. That they did not praise me with the cithara of David's composition, my victory was composed in twelve strings from their tribes. Like the cithara of the twelve, he arranged them, that their praises might be with twelve voices as with strings. And without repaying them the sound of thanksgiving that the guilty owed, he struck his victory with the cithara of his twelve.

The twelve voices cried out his victory like trumpets, so that the tribes, having fallen silent, might sound the depths of their limbs. On the joyful feast of Pentecost he established his victory in the order of the lamb, and on the feast of Pentecost he sealed his victory. He freed all in the mystery of salvation from within Egypt, and distributed his wealth like the tablets of Mount Sinai. On the feast when the tablets of stone were inscribed, he engraved spiritual letters on the movements of the soul. On the day he bequeathed inheritance to the bodily ones, he distributed spiritual wealth to the spiritual ones. At the sacrifice when he wrote the covenant filled with death, he sealed the kingdoms for the covenant that gives life. In the thunder of voices and the thunders of Mount Sinai, he mingled from silence the voice of the spirit that renews all. There the voice that filled the vessel ceased and terrified the servants, and here the voice that raises hope for the soul and body. There the fire and the smoke and the violent movement ceased, and here the light that was divided by the sign of the fire. There the servants served servants with voices of powers, and here he calls with a gentle voice that fills the cry. There the desire of the earthly ones for the earthly ones, and here the beauty of the spiritual ones for the heavenly ones. In the great vessel there was dissolved there also the middle one, which would bring words to the people whose heart was divided.

Here the head of the Twelve is strong, rejoicing, and he makes the voice of the Spirit reign within the thoughts of his limbs. Moses cries out of fear and is full of bitter thoughts, while Simon proclaims hope and love and faith. Moses cast down the tablet that sent the bride a sin, and Simon veiled the Church of the peoples with the ladder of glory. He rebuked his people to bring forth censers and broke the tablets, and he spread out and revealed the nakedness of the bride of the king. Here the lovers of the bride cry out like trumpets and show forth her hidden beauty, the holy Church. The voice of the Spirit was heard by the Israelites and they trembled at it, and here the spiritual ones hear it and follow its way. They cried out to Moses, “You speak to us of God, but the voice of the Creator was not heard by the poor God.” By the spiritual bride, the Spirit follows everyone, that when they hear the new gospel of the voice of the Creator. Upon this hope the workers went out and were hired in the vineyard, that they might receive a great reward for their service. The strong workers heard the command of the king of Rome and prepared their limbs and members to put on armor. He cries out from silence like a trumpet before the kingdom and gives a sign to the powers for the way of the king. He mixes the voice and stirs the earth and shows the mountain, while he was covering and kindling with bitterness and love.

In a tremor he shows the harsh anger against the arrogant, and by the sign of the fire he reveals his invisible wealth. He became for us a mediator, a voice of the mighty in the likeness of the Spirit, and filled the dwelling of the flesh with the wonder of his revelation. He saw tongues that were being divided in the likeness of fire, and he placed upon them a hidden sign upon their heads. By the sign of fire he gave spiritual wealth that is invisible, while it is received in abundance. In the radiance of the light the king divides the forces, the spiritual phalanxes that are indestructible. By the tongues in the likeness of fire he revealed his wisdoms, and taught them a new book that they did not know. Again, the power that is victorious in that very vision, in the likeness of fire, destroys the root of death. With a hidden movement he moves them as for battle, and he gives them the sword of the Spirit to destroy iniquity. He changes his wealth into the forms of all the ranks, distributing them according to the measure of their recipients. To the tongues that did not know, they were sent, and they wrote books and read them spiritually. They wrote spiritual letters on the tablets of the heart, and the mouth interpreted in flesh the power of the knowledge. They were limbs in the likeness of members to the finger of the Spirit, and the hidden one struck the Spirit in the body with a sensible instrument.

O organ of the dead, a voice of mortality that changes its voice and sings life among the dead! O lyre of the bones of a corruptible body, that mounts insensible ones to where there is no sense in its custom! O father of a broken reed that sings sufferings, that pursues its voice, sensation, from the senses! O idiots who shone and laughed at the sophists, and the cripples of speech who cut off the course of its running! O hunters who hunt a corruptible prey, who hunt the prey of death and bring it to life! O wretched ones, needy of dwelling and seekers of alms, who became rich from silence and distributed life from their treasures! The weak in strength went out to the battle with the strong, and in visible members conquered the invisible! The simple of heart acquired spiritual wisdom and gave taste to the wisdom of the tree of knowledge that was planted in the earth! The blind of heart, hidden from light, groped in the earth, became lamps and pursued darkness and illuminated the earth! The corporeal, laden with the weight of earthiness, became spiritual and acquired wings of flight! The earthly, sons of the dust of the earth, began to live to sow in the evil of the heavens! The hunters of spells went out to hunt eloquence, and cast the net of proclamation and bound it to the earth!

Hunt from the sea and hunt from the dry land, all languages, and play before them that they may eat with a spiritual food. Take up the trumpet of proclamation in the forest of iniquity and kindle the lamps of the stages that lead astray the evil one. By the sign of the trumpet they took authority to work on the earth, and they kindled the forest and sowed good seed, wheat. By the light of the trumpet they set up the wisdoms of all languages and set before them a sweet taste for foolish peoples. By the power of the spirit they compelled all peoples to see a wonder, while they beheld a new thing that was happening, not customary. They were amazed and marvelled, one at another, while they heard distinct voices from one people. The dead saw a great wonder in mortality, while a thirsty nature was sprinkling drops of water. There the divided peoples received one unity, for before them was a new hearing of the sound of voices. The Syrians cried out to the Jews according to their speech, and wrath subsided, anger ceased, and peace prevailed. The Cushites sang with the Romans one voice, and they sang praise in one tongue to one Creator. The Medes signalled to the Elamites, "What is this?" and the mouth interpreted and set before them a hearing from the question. The uncircumcised asked the circumcised people as kinsmen, "What is this that has happened among your tribes?

A people speaks to peoples, though it was not seen, nor was this thing known among the people until now. In one language, Abram received and delivered to his sons, and in it were also composed the wonders of the faith. The hidden sign loosed the questions of the two sides, and taught that the mouth is this thing which was known. That command which gave languages and divided peoples, became one who rejoices in one language with many. The scribe who taught the new book to that childhood, became one who brings perfection to this thing which was. The reed which traced words in the heart of that youth, became one who added a heart of wonder and translated well. The key which opened the two gates of the soul, filled with a rod, in it were the openings of humility, the treasure of the Spirit. The rod of the shepherd struck the mind to ascend to the height, and its voice overturned him and cast him into lands where he would no longer be troubled. Up to the stage, the dancers arranged themselves before the hidden, and here the hidden descended in his will to the humble. The stream of water which irrigated the earth, continued, and they began in it to ask the wicked one how they might be saved in it. The heart of humility was equal in the house of the wicked one, and the voice justified that equality and scattered and cast it away. A sign was made to them in the form of evening, and he continued, that they might not be destroyed by the hand of the oppressor from their lives.

He was a torrent, rushing mightily to ascend to the height, and he who knows all bound the covenant in the languages. He gave languages in the form of wrath, not as one who is angry, but to cast the commands of the rod into the mouths of the mighty. For the sake of profit, he made that rebellion which was outside the covenant, and in it he formed the mysteries of this which was at the end of the sacrifices. In all that the blessed one accomplished, from all the mouths that before the sacrifices he who precedes knows and thus accomplishes. He knew, indeed, that with one sacrifice he would cover all, and beforehand he formed the remission of sins in the sacrifice of the lamb. He is pleased with this, that he gives the Spirit through languages, and he formed its interpretation in that which was accomplished for the ancients. The power of his essence he revealed to his servants, and the covenant was wise, that the covenant was of the first and the last. He divided the wealth and gave languages with the sign of the fire, and the covenant taught that he who divides here and there is one. There he divided and made the covenant dwell in the regions, and here he divided and the covenant debated in the spiritual realms. There he hid why the covenant divided, and here he examined and revealed the power of this and that. To there, like children, he raised the rod and the covenant terrified, and here he opened the door of his mercies to perfection. When it was good that there be a third, there he made wise, here he changed the covenant through supplication and need.

He terrified the ignorant and made them wise here like the knowers, and he purified the sign like medicines for the wound of the soul. He concealed the power of the hidden mysteries that cannot be searched out, and here he examined and revealed the wealth of his great glory. He showed his glory through the heralds of his proclamation, so that he might raise the sign to the eyes of the beholders beyond the order. He revealed his hidden things through the visible garment of the body, and he made heard the voice of the greatness of his power in the language of flesh. He had mouths, movements, and senses instead of his hiddenness, and they completed and fulfilled his action in soul and body. Not deficient through the deficient, he desired to fill the deficiencies of the bodily and spiritual. O deficient ones who divided the wealth of the undeficient one, and visible ones who proclaimed the hidden one through manifest senses. O sons of the earth, born on the earth and dwelling on the earth, who sought a path to the high kingdom through their words. O the transient one who today turns back to the transient one again, who became through love a dwelling for the spirit that does not change. In the temple of the enclosure, the Creator desired that his love dwell, and through the sense of touch he showed the wealth of the greatness of his power. Through the visible he revealed his hiddenness, hidden from all, and through the poor he distributed the wealth of his goodness. Through the mouth of the weak he filled the mysteries of his secrets, for he has a son who is wholly like the father who begot him.

He terrified the ignorant and made them wise here like the knowers, and he purified the sign like medicines for the wound of the soul. He concealed the power of the hidden mysteries that cannot be searched out, and here in the flesh he cried out concerning the Spirit that is from him, and as he made the Son equal to the Father, so also he made the Spirit equal. With the sound of words the hearers heard the equality that exists in the hypostasis of the Son and the Spirit with his essence. They were hidden with him as if they were without beginning, and he examined and formed the image of the one who was to receive his image. In the visible image he revealed the examination of the Son and the Spirit, and he showed them to the heavenly and earthly ones. Through the mouth of the flesh he knew spiritual and corporeal ones, by means of the service of the name of the Trinity, three hypostases. Go forth, teach all the peoples, and baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son who is from him and of the Holy Spirit. And the earthly ones were baptized and sanctified in the name of the Trinity, for the heavenly ones, what need have they of this name? Paul was called to learn from him like a treasurer who opened in his hand the key of the mystery, the treasure of the Spirit. Through the Church he revealed his wisdom, God, all of it, to the known powers that did not know. And the spiritual ones learned in the Church the power of the hiddenness, but they did not confess one essence like the mouth of the Church. The powers of the heavenly ones were made wise in her, but they did not learn from the wisdom that she learned and revealed. The Church learned from her great source of the great ones, and she wrote the book that was thought out in it by the children who are from her.

The apostles received the power of the Spirit and grew rich and increased, and from it they spread out the table of the healing of the wound of humanity. They divided that gift full of blessings among the peoples, and they spread it before the sick as they were commanded. They sent out heralds after the world in haste, and they subdued it with the sweet yoke of the name of the Creator. In love they heard that daughter of the voice, to teach and to baptize, and they completed it with words and deeds without ceasing. They proclaimed and made known the name of the Trinity, three hypostases, one equality that cannot be divided by division. Mighty workers mounted upon rebellious peoples as upon beasts, and they made them go under the chariot of the King of kings. With the armor of the Spirit they destroyed all the powers of the names of gods, and they taught humanity to call upon the name of the one God. They uprooted paganism and Judaism, which bore no fruit, and they planted truth, the fruit that pleases the master of the vineyard. They burned the forest of evil error in the field of humanity, and they sowed the seed of the word of life within souls. They uprooted the law of idolatry with its branches of error, and they laid foundations for the worship of the truth of the one Father. They dispelled the cloud that was spread over humanity, and they toiled against the growth of righteousness.

The twelve apostles were lamps in the darkness of the world, and they kindled and clothed it with the garment of faith. In the order of the months they served the earth with all their changes, and they purified every spiritual one according to the thoughts. They opened paths and inns as they were commanded, and they gathered and filled the house of feasting with good and bad. On sea and land they pursued with humanity to show humanity, and in all places they sowed the seeds of life for the dead. They spread the net of preaching to the four winds, and it gathered and filled the catch of humanity that is humble and loving. In the form of clouds they watered the earth full of life, and they brought forth life from the dead soil of its dryness. They cast lots and divided the peoples and regions, and each one of them went to the portion that his sign set. Simon made a new sound heard in the land of Rome, and he taught the door of lordship of one Creator. The head of the disciples reached the mother of cities, and like a foundation he set in it the eyes of faith. Like a trumpet the son of thunder cried out to the Ephesians, and he gathered to draw the river of his preaching. He spread his name by the deeds of his zeal, so that all might perceive in him when he cried, "Come, take life." By the thunder of his voice the heart of humanity was shaken, and it was softened to give fruits of hope and love.

Matthew cultivated the land of Judea with the sound of his words, and he cast into it the seed of life, and it bore the fruit of glory. The barren land that was parched by falsehoods, the channel of interpretation of mysteries and the power of the truth restored it. The circumcised people who boasted in the seal of the flesh saw that they were being signed among the peoples with the spirit, and he broke their seal. He circumcised the people like one lacking in the things that had gone up, and he gave them a spiritual food, the three names. In the likeness of a child he was guided by the name of the Father, and when he became wise, he taught them the three equal hypostases. The preachers sowed catholicity in the regions of all peoples, and they brought forth in the land one confession of the name of the Creator. To Mark he entrusted the sound that called him to the Romans, and he interpreted there the power of the deeds of the preaching. He anointed the face of the new king with the regions of the king, and the king wondered if there is a king above his head. The king and the people listened to his words, which were chosen, and they received and confessed that there is a king who reigns over all. Luke poured the channel of his words in the land of Egypt, and in the likeness of the Nile he spread over all peoples the gospel of life. To the Syriac language with the Egyptian he made them remember him, and they contended against those who had anointed his tongue to be like that of the serpent.

He resembles a planter in his voice toward the daughter of her race, and he placed the seed within the furrows of his proclamation. With his own mouth he spoke and made heard the sound of salvation, and he roused them as from sleep to the service of life. By this means he enriched them with the power of tongues, so that everyone received the good hope through the word of his mouth. Through the gift of tongues he taught them to go forth on the path of proclamation to all regions. With a new speech they laid the foundations of the house of truth, and they completed and built from all peoples one confession. Paul the chosen one sought the pure gold of truth, and he refined everyone so that they might become wise in the house. He cries out to all who work in the arts and are skilled, that they should not mix the dust and the stars in this house. It was fitting for him to warn the heretics, and he knew how to choose the forest of the house of iniquity. Like a commander at the head of an army, he always encourages, so that no one might cast aside the armor of the spirit and be condemned. He teaches the ways in which one may offer spiritually, and he shows us that the spiritual adversary is he. They put on the truth, they set up the ladder of the salvation of life, and they took up the sword of the word of the spirit in your minds. Behold, he has taught us the worker of the spirit, the small Timothy; come, be prepared to put on armor in his order.

Behold, they set out the path of proclamation, the servants of the king. Come, enter it to the feast of life without end. Behold, they cultivated the land of virtues by means of their labors. Uproot from it the forest of thorns that choke the midst of the grain. Behold, they opened the doors that were shut in the face of man. Come, hasten, that you may not be caught in the slackness of the soul. Behold, they raised the sign of faith in the depth of the waters. It conceals all the pains of his body and the blemishes of his soul. Behold, he sharpened the weapon for the battles of righteousness. Do not be terrified before the calumnies of the slanderer. Behold, they taught you how to conquer and with what to think. He receives his rewards in the treasure of the storehouse of faith. Behold, they opened the treasury full of blessings before the aged. He took a gift and gave a gift, and he lived and gave life. Behold, he sought a spiritual drink for the earthly ones. He gave drink to himself and to his congregations from its sweetness. Behold, the sun of righteousness dawned within the darknesses. Pursue the straying shadows of error from your minds. That you may not fall short of perfection like the preachers. Cast words instead of deeds like the hearer. That your word may be short, that it may reach the height of their conduct. Journey with them in the love of the soul whose wing is clipped. Cry out with them one confession to the one Creator, who enriched all from the gift of the greatness of his power.