In sanctum Andream

Hesychius, presbyter of Jerusalem, encomium on Saint Andrew the apostle. 1 An apostolic trumpet has gathered us for a festival, a trumpet which Christ forged with the cross as hammer, the gospel as anvil, the Spirit as fire, and, I dare say, with the old and new covenant as bellows, having forged it; a trumpet for which it is not inappropriate to borrow a praise both prophetic and psalmic: "Blow the trumpet." For Andrew imparts grace to all, lends the provision of the Spirit to all, enlists all for the contest, he who was called before all, wishing to be crowned with all. "Blow the trumpet," since the mysteries of Christ are worthy of a trumpet to be disseminated throughout the whole earth, they are owed to be proclaimed to all the nations. "Blow the trumpet," since the festival is a sign of a spiritual trumpet; for there is need of war and battle, of contest and struggle, of right and left weapons for the accomplishment of the task at hand. "Blow the trumpet," that you may overtake the enemy with the sound and cast down the walls of spiritual Jericho. Let the sound enter the ears of the deaf, let it raise from the dead those who sleep the heavy sleep of sin, equal to death. "Blow the trumpet at the new moon"; for now our life has become a new moon, it has put off old age, it has wiped away the wrinkles, it has become new from old through the renewal of the mystery "on a notable day of our feast." For what is more notable than the present feast, on which all the nations will clap their hands?

All the earth gathers for a feast, kings run together to honor the fisherman, the living seek as food the one who seems dead, the wise hasten to the illiterate as to a teacher; the poor man's banquet is common to the world, the festival is common to all cities. 2 An apostolic trumpet has assembled us for a festival, Andrew, the firstborn of the choir of apostles, the first-founded pillar of the church, the Peter before Peter, the foundation of the foundation, the beginning of the firstfruits, the one who calls before being called, the one who seals before being sealed, the one who leads before being led, proclaiming a gospel not yet believed, opening a door which as yet he had not entered, revealing life before learning, promising bread which he had not yet taken in his hands. For was there anything great or small among the things for learning that he had heard? "Where are you staying?" he himself said to Jesus. And he: "Come and you will see." And what did the word contain such that Andrew anticipates and utters it? Did Christ reveal his own glory in these things? Did he show himself to be of whatever power he possessed? Did he proclaim himself creator and maker? Did he ordain the running of the lame? Did he kindle the eyes of the blind? Did he compel beyond nature? Whence then do you have such things to say about him? How have you suddenly become a prophet, how a God-bearer? Why do you disturb the ears of Peter? Why do you hasten to overtake one whom you cannot overtake? But John, you will say, moved you to these words. Yet he uttered these things only in your presence;

Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." But you, having heard "lamb," proclaim God, you have left the lower things and busy yourself with the higher, you have abandoned the lake and sent the net into the sky; for does this net know how to hunt, does the fishing rod draw? The earth and the heaven hang from your hand. What do you mean: "We have found the Messiah called Christ"? For where and how and when did you lose him? One finds what is lost; but how can the one who saves all be lost? How can the one who is present everywhere be found or be spoken of as found? But indeed Andrew knows what he says: We have found whom Adam lost, whom Eve was deprived of, whom the cloud of sin hid from our eyes, whom disobedience separated and made to be thought far away though near and present. We have found him whom David boasted to seek: "In the day of my distress," he says, "I sought God." And Zephaniah cries out: "Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth"; for when found, he raises the humble, lifts them from the earth, delivers them from corruption, and shows them higher than the high.

He found that which a most excellent prophet, Hosea, spoke of to us concerning his discovery: "In the day of their distress, they will rise early and say to me, 'Let us go and return to the Lord our God, for he has struck and healed us; he will strike and bandage us; he will make us healthy after two days, and on the third day we will rise up before him, and we will pursue knowing the Lord; we have found him ready like the dawn, and he will come to us like early and late rain to the earth.'" Here, call the Jew to judgment, bring the ungrateful one to court. Read the prophet and embrace the book. Let what is from him be brought forth against him; for it is written by him, even if it has been fulfilled by me. I therefore set forth the interpretation of the prophetic words. Show me somehow how and when it happened in your case; for that you were struck, you yourselves confess and we perceive; but I do not see your healing, I do not behold the cure. On the contrary, the wound is inflamed, the disease has become more severe, the sickness, given up as hopeless, has hastened toward death. Since, then, you cannot provide the proof of the prophecy, I will interpret the prophetic word; I present the time and show the place, and I call upon all creation to bear witness, not with my own words but with the divine miracles of the Lord. God has struck us, then, when he condemned Adam to death, when he condemned us to eat bread by the sweat of our brow, when he commanded the earth to bring forth thorns and thistles for us, when through the first-formed he cast the whole race out of "the paradise of delight.

But having struck, he healed, and having wounded, he bandaged. How and in what manner? Listen to Isaiah saying: "The discipline of our peace is upon him; by his wound we were all healed," so that none of the things spoken by the prophet have been falsified. For what follows will show this most clearly: "He will strike us and heal us after two days, and on the third day we shall arise." Do you then remember the time when you crucified Christ, when you beheld life hanging on a tree and did not believe? Do you recognize the drama performed by you and the wonders of that drama, when Christ, naked on the cross, was led forth as to a wedding? For having no sin, he had no need of a garment; he was blameless and ought not to be hidden; nothing was unseemly for him, for he himself reveals what is seemly. Yet creation could not bear the flashes of the Lord's beauty, but light was overcome by light, sun gave way to sun, the sensible to the intelligible, the one that runs to the one that is everywhere, the one in place to the one beyond place, the one that sets to the one that never sets, the one that moves the night to the one that established the boundaries of night and day. It was night then, for darkness covered the whole earth, but day again ran from the ninth hour until evening, and again night followed day according to its own law, and again day succeeds night. The course of two days has taken place in order, and the limit of the prophecy has been fulfilled: "He will heal us after two days.

Then the following also took effect: "On the third day," he says, "we shall arise." For Christ arose, and we arose with him. The liberator of the dead ascended from the dead, and our race revived, since, as the divine Paul says: "Just as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive." Witness is this tomb, the joy of the living, the consolation of the dead. Witness is this stone, which was rolled and rolled away all the idols of the demons, and not only rolled away, but also crushed, ground fine, and winnowed with the winnowing fan of the cross, and "blown away from the earth like chaff from a threshing floor and like vapor from a chimney" by the rush and roar of the Spirit. Witnesses are these women themselves, who, instead of the women of old, bring sensible and intelligible myrrh to the bridegroom each day and night. Witness is the white-robed priest, the angel of the church, crying out to them: "Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek Jesus the Nazarene, the crucified one." But do you seek the hour? For he says: "We shall find him ready at dawn." Luke will be able to announce this to you as well: "On the first day of the week, at deep dawn, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the door of the tomb; and entering, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And while they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood before them in flashing garments. And when they became frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, they said to them:

Why do you seek the living among the dead? Why do you reason about life things alien to life? He whom you seek here sits in the heavens; he whom you handle here reposes in the bosom of the Father; he who became dead that he might rule over the dead and the living did not abandon life; for he himself lends life to all, from him every nature is inspired, in him the moving are moved, the stable are established, the active act." From there the women, having gone out, met Jesus, and saw the dawn as dawn, and said to him what David sang in prophecies: "That with you is the fountain of life, in your light we shall see light." But if you say, "The women found, but the apostles did not find," and "How is this a common gain? How does what was found become the salvation of the whole nature?" you seek superfluously, you accuse in vain. For the women found what through Eve they had previously lost. The one who provided the occasion of the loss found the gain. But read the remaining part of the prophecy: "As the morning dawn we shall find him ready, and he will come to us as early and late rain to the earth." These things have been clearly fulfilled literally. The word does not need theory; we do not need to allegorize the meaning of the prophet: "He will come to us as early and late rain to the earth." See him, then, appearing as early rain to the women, and as late rain to the apostles; for early here he greeted the women with "Rejoice," and late in Zion he addressed the disciples with "Peace.

Rejoice to the women, that he might dissolve the sentence of grief; Peace to the disciples, that he might break the enmity which the serpent planted. Therefore he spoke to them with this distinction: Peace to you; for with the devil there is war, enmity toward him remains; for his horn must be shattered, his venom must be poured out, his sting must be trampled. Now I shall forge weapons with which war shall be waged against him. Not in vain, then, did Andrew announce to Peter: We have found the Messiah called Christ, since God also spoke such things through the prophecy of Isaiah: If you seek, seek and dwell with me. Hence Andrew dared to question Christ: For I know that you have no house on earth, you do not build in corruption, you do not pitch a tent in brick. Where do you dwell? that I may become doorkeeper of the master's court. For I have chosen to be cast aside in the house of my God rather than to dwell in the tents of sinners. Where do you dwell? If I learn, I will not leave the door. But this is now the church's

A table was set from the Gospels; I, however, have only set out its dishes as a servant. Therefore, if it seems good to you, I will move to another table. The name Andrew crowns him; it shows the soldier his election. The worth of the vine-dresser was demonstrated by the wage which Matthew thus set before us: "From that time Jesus began to preach and say: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." "From that time." When?—From the time he sanctified the Jordan and planted the gift of baptism and crushed the head of the dragons in the waters and brought down the gift of the Spirit from heaven, he opened a way of life, he threw open the gate of salvation: "From that time he began to preach and say: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." For the creditor who cancels all charges for everyone came; the ungrudging king arrived; the judge is present, freeing the guilty from prison, the one who loosens the fetters, the one who cancels all charges for everyone, "the one who closes his eyes so as not to see injustice, the one who weighs down his ears so as not to hear a judgment of blood." "Repent": wash your deeds with word, wipe your mouth with tongue, cleanse your life with prayer, offer a sacrifice which rules over many. "Repent": therefore the one who repents is not only freed from evils but also receives an inheritance of goods, not only is free from vice but also becomes a farmer of righteousness. "Repent":

For the kingdom of heaven has drawn near." Let the strong exert themselves, the weak be strengthened, the lame run, and those who run hasten, and those who hasten not be confident in themselves, but in God who directs the course: "For it is not of the one who wills nor of the one who runs, but of the merciful God." "Repent": for there is no evil that conquers repentance, there is no venom that can extinguish the power of this honey. The devil wrestles with all, resists all, and fights all; only against repentance does he not dare to wrestle, for it casts the sheep out of his throat, it snatches the captive from the very hand of the tyrant. "And as Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother." He saw many but passed them by, because they were unworthy of the Master's eyes. "He saw two brothers," not only in body but also in soul, in nature and in grace, in way of life and in kinship. "He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter," not who would be called; for he had already been deemed worthy of the name. For he knew that Christ had said to him: "You are Simon; you will be called Cephas, who is called Peter." Behold, before the confession you have the reward, and before you work the vineyard you have received the denarius, before you kindle the altar you have accepted the sacrifice, before you preach you have been crowned, before you proclaim the gospel the prize of theology has met you. And Andrew was the cause of this, and for this reason Matthew added:

And Andrew his brother," although he had once said, "He saw two brothers," yet now he takes up the second as well, wishing to proclaim Andrew as the benefactor of Peter. For this reason he says, "Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother," the one who fulfilled the commandment which Solomon prefigured in Proverbs: "Let brothers be useful in necessities," in matters of great benefit, in very urgent affairs, in things that press exceedingly; for wisdom called these necessary and indispensable causes: "Let brothers be useful in necessities." Therefore Andrew did not overlook Peter when the call was urgent; for you have heard how he said to him, "We have found the Messiah who is called Christ." Run, Peter, he says, before other Peters anticipate you, before others seize the primacy; for this one recruits from wherever he wishes, this is the one who gathers from "the roads and fences," who seals pimps and tax collectors. Wherever he casts the seed, there the land bears fruit; wherever he plants the vine, the vine immediately rises; wherever he casts the net, it is found full of fish. "He saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen." Marvel at Christ's ambition, that he has chosen the poor, the uneducated, the illiterate, and fishermen. For wisdom does not need advocates but servants; for no one provides anything to her, but from her we all receive everything; for no one lends to the rich man, for we all borrow from him.

What need, then, will there be of wise men in the proclamation? For the one who is to partake of true wisdom must become a fool. 8 Marvel at the wisdom of Christ and bless the choice of the apostles. What things they exchanged for what! For what follows makes clear what he says to them: "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." Forget all the old things, deny the parents of the flesh so that you may receive the true father. Let the whole world be small to you, when compared to its own maker. "Come after me": for I lead you to life, I guide you by the hand to the light. "Come after me," so that you may anticipate the patriarchs, so that you may receive your lot before the prophets; and being last, you will become first, so that those around the eleventh hour may become superior to those hired early in the morning. "Come after me": for following me you will have a life without toil; for without money you will become rich, without drugs you will be physicians of the world, without weapons you will be found mightier than your enemies. "Come after me": "For I am the light of the world," "I am the way and the life and the truth," I guide by the hand to the Father, "I give to those who walk after me the power to tread upon the asp and the basilisk and to trample the lion and the dragon." "And immediately, leaving their nets, they followed him." So it was fitting to bless the good sense of the apostles; for they left behind what they had, they disregarded the means of livelihood they possessed. Their entire treasure and all their wealth were the nets; for they had their life in their seines; the catch of fish sustained their hopes of living.

They abandoned these things as well, and did not say to themselves: "This man is talking nonsense to us, telling superfluous tales; he claims he will make fishermen into catchers of men. And where is such a net? Where is a dragnet capable of hunting such prey? What lake, what sea will bring us men in our nets? And what will be the profit of the catch? Where shall we use the catch after the catch?" But attending to the one who called, confirmed in faith, and having perceived that the word held some hidden meaning, they followed him. And immediately they rose above the earth and appeared more glorious than kings, like angels, ministers of God, heralds of salvation, servants of immortality, more radiant than the sun, moon, and stars. For their glory is not as that under the heavens but above the heavens; they have an inextinguishable light, an unceasing course, rays ever visible. Let us pray that we may be illuminated in our minds by these rays. And let us flee the darkness itself, avoid the brine of life, and as we traverse the unsteady sea, escape the surge of soul-destroying waves, and become fish of the upper dragnet of Christ's unlettered apostles, a dish for the Lord's table at which the King of kings dines, deeming our salvation his food. Glory and power to him for ever and ever. Amen.