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Greek · Homilies ·

Sermo exhortatorius

Athanasius the Great of Alexandria · khazarzar

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machine-draft · no human review 3 passages · 611 words

Work dossier · summary and historical context

Summary

The Sermo exhortatorius is a Greek homily traditionally attributed to Athanasius of Alexandria, though its authorship remains contested. Surviving in a single 10th-century manuscript, it likely dates to the 4th or 5th century and reflects Alexandrian ascetic theology. The text exhorts its audience to faith, truth, and purity, drawing on catechetical topoi and apocryphal traditions. It prescribes fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays, a practice common in early monasticism, and includes unusual ascetic remarks about women. The homily circulated in Byzantine monastic anthologies like the Philokalia but never entered the standard liturgical cycle. Its limited readership was confined to ascetic circles, and the khazarzar edition lacks critical apparatus, necessitating caution in scholarly use.

The Sermo exhortatorius is significant as a witness to early Christian paraenesis and ascetic practice, particularly the triadic demand of faith, truth, and purity and the prescription of Wednesday and Friday fasting. Its use of apocryphal traditions (e.g., eye-gouging reference) and unusual remarks on women's fasting offer insights into marginal ascetic currents. The contested authorship highlights the challenges of attributing late antique homilies, while its limited transmission underscores the selective preservation of monastic literature.

Historical context

The Sermo exhortatorius is situated within the 4th- to 5th-century Alexandrian Christian tradition, a period marked by intense theological debate (e.g., Arian controversy) and the flourishing of monasticism. Alexandria was a major center of Greek patristic literature, and Athanasius (c. 296–373) was a key figure in Nicene orthodoxy. The homily's ascetic focus aligns with the desert fathers and early monastic rules, though its attribution to Athanasius is uncertain due to the lack of external witnesses before the 9th century. The text survives in a single 10th-century Greek manuscript, suggesting limited transmission within Byzantine monastic libraries. Its inclusion in the Philokalia indicates later use among hesychast and ascetic communities, but it never became part of the Eastern Church's liturgical cycle. The khazarzar edition provides no critical apparatus, leaving textual decisions and lacunae unaddressed.

Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded

Annotation and terms

17 commentary units 3 background3 structure2 sense2 scripture2 parallel2 term2 reception1 caution 0 derived notes 5 open questions 3 narrative
What the kinds mean

Pipeline notes

  • coverageNo English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed.
  • limitThe English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve.
  • registerRegister: homily in ancient Greek; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them.
  • structurePassages: 3 narrative.
  • sourceSource edition: khazarzar — Migne PG text (public domain); khazarzar host and the digitising project state no licence for this layer

Term index

CopticRenderingCountFirst
no glossary terms recorded
khazarzar-athanasius-the-great-of-alexandria-sermo-exhortatorius:1 · narrativemedium
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Τρία γὰρ ἀπαιτεῖ ὁ θεὸς παρὰ παντὸς Χριστιανοῦ· πίστιν ὀρθὴν, ἀλήθειαν ἀπὸ γλώσσης καὶ ἁγνείαν ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος. Καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ὁμοίως φύλαττε, πρῶτον μὲν μὴ λαλήσῃς, ἄλλ' ὅτε ἀκούσῃς τινὸς καταλαλοῦντος, φύγε ἀναχώρησον ἵνα μὴ καὶ σὺ ὅμοιος γένῃς τοῦ καταλαλοῦντος, καὶ ἀπέλθῃς εἰς κόλασιν αἰώνιον, εἰς δράκοντας πυρίνους τρώγοντας τὴν γλῶσσαν. Εἶπεν γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς διὰ τοῦ προφήτου ὅτι τῶν διανευόντων οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ, ὑπὸ ἀνελεημόνων ἀγγέλων ἐξορύσσονται. Τότε οἱ γελῶν τες πικρῶς κλαύσουσιν, τότε οἱ φλυαροῦντες ἐλεεινὰ στενάξουσιν, καταδικαζόμενοι εἰς τὸν πύρινον ποταμὸν, εἰς τὸν δυνὸν Ἅδην, εἰς τὸν σκώληκα τὸν ἀκοίμητον, εἰς τὸν πικρὸν κλαυθμὸν, εἰς τὸν βρυγμὸν τῶν ὀδόντων. Τετράδην καὶ παρασκευὴν νήστευε, τὰς δὲ ἄλλας ἡμέρας ἐξουσίαν ἔχεις, κἂν θέλῃς νήστευε, κἂν θέλῃς μὴ νήστευε. Ὥσπερ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον κατὰ φύσιν τὸ ἀναπνέειν, οὕτως ἐποίησεν ἁρμόζειν καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας ἵνα πάντοτε νηστεύωσι. Ἀνισταμένου σου τὸ πρωῒ τὸν τύπον τοῦ τιμίου σταυροῦ ποίει εἰς πάντα τὰ μέλη σου. Καὶ περιπατῶν καὶ κοιμώμενος καὶ πάντοτε λέγε· Κύριε Ἰησοῦ Χριστὲ βοήθησον ἡμῖν. Ἑσπέρας καὶ πρωῒ εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἀπέρχου, καὶ ἐξομολογοῦ τῷ θεῷ τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου ἅσπερ ἔπραξας, καὶ βλέπε, ἄνθρωπε, μὴ ὀμόσῃς μήτε ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ μήτε ἐν τῇ γῇ, ὁ γὰρ οὐρανὸς θρόνος τοῦ δεσπότου ἐστὶν, ἡ δὲ γῆ ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ, ἀλλὰ ἐὰν βία σοι γένηται παρὰ τινὸς τοῦ ὀμόσαι, εἶπε αὐτῷ· Ἀλήθειαν λέγω καὶ οὐ ψεύδομαι. Μετὰ ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναι κῶν φλυάρων, μὴ συνκαθίσῃς ποτέ.
English
For God demands three things from every Christian: right faith, truth from the tongue, and purity from the body. And likewise keep the other things: first, do not speak, but when you hear someone slandering, flee, withdraw, so that you do not become like the slanderer and go to eternal punishment, into fiery serpents devouring the tongue. For God said through the prophet that the eyes of those who wink are gouged out by merciless angels. Then those who laugh bitterly will weep, then those who chatter pitiably will groan, condemned to the fiery river, to dread Hades, to the sleepless worm, to bitter lamentation, to gnashing of teeth. Fast on Wednesday and Friday; on the other days you have freedom: if you wish, fast; if you wish, do not fast. Just as God made man to breathe by nature, so he made it fitting for women to fast always. When you rise in the morning, make the sign of the precious cross on all your limbs. And while walking and sleeping and always say: Lord Jesus Christ, help us. In the evening and in the morning go to church, and confess to God the sins you have committed. And see, man, do not swear either by heaven or by earth, for heaven is the throne of the Lord, and earth is the footstool of his feet; but if someone forces you to swear, say to him: I speak the truth and I do not lie. Never sit with chatterers among men and women.
khazarzar-athanasius-the-great-of-alexandria-sermo-exhortatorius:2 · narrativehigh
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Καὶ βλέπε, ἄνθρωπε, μὴ ὀξυνθῇς, ὅτι ὁ διάβολος ἐπιφέρει τὴν ὀξυχολίαν, ἵνα ὀξυνθῇς, καὶ ἀπολέσῃς τὴν ψυχήν σου, τὴν δὲ πραΰτητα ὁ θεὸς διδοίη, ἵνα διὰ τῆς πραΰτητος καὶ τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης σωθῇς. Καὶ βλέπε, ἄνθρωπε, τὸν καλλωπισμὸν τῶν ἱματίων μὴ ἀγαπήσῃς, μηδὲ τὴν βλακείαν ποθῇς, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ταπεινὰ φόρει καὶ εὐτελῆ διὰ τὸν θεὸν, ἵνα ἐκεῖθεν ἐνδύσῃ σε ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν στολὴν δόξης, ἔνδυμα ἀφθαρσίας, στέφανον κάλλους, διάδημα βασιλείας, ἵνα τότε ἔχῃ ἡ ψυχή σου παῤῥησίαν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν λέγουσα· Κύριε ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ τούτῳ τῷ ματαίῳ πολλὰ ὑστερήθην ἵνα τὴν βασιλείαν σου ἀπολαύω δέσποτα, καὶ τότε ἐρεῖ ὁ δεσπότης ἡμῶν Χριστὸς φιλάνθρωπος καὶ ἐλεήμων· οὗ μὲν ὀλίγα ἐκοπίασας, πρῶτα ἡτοίμασά σοι ἐγὼ, ἀλλὰ δεῦρο εἴσελθε εἰς τὸν νυμφῶνα τῆς δόξης μου, καὶ ἀπόλαυσον ἃ ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ εἶδεν, καὶ οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσεν, καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη ὅσα ἡτοίμασα τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν τὸ ὄνομά μου. Ἐν ὀγδοήκοντα γὰρ ἔτη πληροῦται ὁ χρόνος τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, εἰ καὶ τρυφῶμεν καὶ πλουτῶμεν πεντήκοντα ἔτη καὶ ἑκατὸν καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα τί πρόκειται; Μακάριοι οἱ σπουδάζοντες ἐπιτυχεῖν τῆς ἀτελευτήτου βασιλείας. Μακάριος ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖνος ὁ διὰ τοῦ ἰδίου πλούτου λυτρώσηται τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν ἐκ τῆς κολάσεως, λυτροῦται γὰρ τὸν ἄνδρα ὁ ἴδιος πλοῦτος, καὶ πάλιν· Μακάριος ὁ συνιὼν ἐπὶ πτωχὸν καὶ πένητα, ἐν ἡμέρᾳ πονηρᾷ ῥύσηται αὐτὸν ὁ Κύριος. Ποίαν ἡμέραν πονηρὰν λέγει ὁ προφήτης; ἐδιηγεῖτο μὲν ἡμῖν περὶ τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς κρίσεως, τί γὰρ χειρότερον κολάσεως; ὄντως οὐδέν.
English
And see, man, that you do not become sharp-tempered, for the devil brings on irascibility so that you may become sharp-tempered and lose your soul; but God gives meekness, so that through meekness and mercy you may be saved. And see, man, that you do not love the adornment of garments, nor desire vanity, but rather wear humble and cheap clothes for the sake of God, so that from there our God may clothe you in a robe of glory, a garment of incorruption, a crown of beauty, a diadem of royalty, so that then your soul may have boldness before God, saying: "Lord, in this vain world I was deprived of many things so that I might enjoy your kingdom, O Master." And then our Master Christ, the lover of mankind and merciful, will say: "You labored but little; I first prepared for you, but come, enter into the bridal chamber of my glory, and enjoy what the eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man—all that I have prepared for those who love my name." For in eighty years the time of man is fulfilled, even if we live in luxury and wealth for fifty years or a hundred, and after that what lies ahead? Blessed are those who strive to attain the unending kingdom. Blessed is that man who by his own wealth ransoms his own soul from punishment, for a man's own wealth ransoms him; and again: Blessed is he who understands concerning the poor and needy; on an evil day the Lord will deliver him. What evil day does the prophet speak of? He was telling us about the day of judgment, for what is worse than punishment? Truly nothing.
khazarzar-athanasius-the-great-of-alexandria-sermo-exhortatorius:3 · narrativehigh
Source
Τί γὰρ ἀδυνατεῖ τῷ θεῷ ὄμβρους χρυσοῦ κατενεγκεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἵνα πάντες πλοῦτον ἔχωμεν; παρὰ τῷ θεῷ πάντα δυνατά εἰσι. Ἵνα ὁ πένης ἄφεσις τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν τοῦ πλουσίου γένηται, καὶ ὁ πλούσιος τοῦ πένητος, ὅτι τῷ θεῷ πρέπει τιμὴ καὶ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.
English
For what is impossible for God, to bring down showers of gold upon the earth so that we all might have wealth? All things are possible for God. Let the poor man become the remission of the rich man’s sins, and the rich man the remission of the poor man’s, because honor and glory are due to God for ever and ever. Amen.
Citation. Tergwame, “Sermo exhortatorius”, khazarzar-athanasius-the-great-of-alexandria-sermo-exhortatorius:1, machine-draft, 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/works/khazarzar-athanasius-the-great-of-alexandria-sermo-exhortatorius#s1
Colophon. Source: khazarzar · licence: Migne PG text (public domain); khazarzar host and the digitising project state no licence for this layer · model: deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor · provider: Relace · cost: $0.0020 · generated 2026-11-15.