De Chananaea

On the Solution of the Canaanite Woman. This was spoken after his return from exile. 1. The storm is great, but it did not hinder the eagerness of those who came; the trials are many, but they did not dissolve your desire. The Church does not cease being warred against and conquering, being plotted against and prevailing. The more others plot against her, the more she grows; and the waves are dissolved, while the rock stands unmoved. By day, teaching; by night, vigils; day vies with night; there are gatherings there, and gatherings here. Night makes the marketplace a church; and eagerness is more vehement than fire. You need no exhortation, and you display your zeal. Who would not be amazed? Who would not marvel? Not only did those who were present not fall away, but even those who were not present joined. Such is the profit of trials; for just as rain descending upon the earth stirs up the seeds, so trial entering the soul stirs up eagerness. It is the word of God; the Church is unmoved. The gates of Hades will not prevail against her. The one who wars against her destroys himself, but shows the Church stronger; the one who wars casts down his own strength, but makes our trophy more brilliant. Job was good even before this; but after these things he appeared better. He was not so good when his body was unscathed as he was good when he was crowned with the ichor of his wounds. Never fear a trial if you have a prepared soul. Affliction does not harm, but produces endurance. For just as the furnace does not harm gold, so affliction does not destroy the noble man.

What does the furnace do to gold? It makes it pure. What does affliction do to the one who bears it? It produces endurance. It makes him higher, cuts off indolence, gathers the soul, makes the reasoning more prudent. They brought on a trial in order to drive away the sheep, and the opposite happened; for it brought in a shepherd. In what lies our success? In good repute. In what lies theirs? In shame. Where are their things? They are not even seen. I go around the marketplace, and I see no one. They were leaves, and when the wind blew they fell off; they were chaff, and were blown away, and the ripe grain appeared; they were lead, and melted, and the gold remained pure. Who drives them? No one; but they have conscience as an enemy dwelling with them after the sin. They know what they did. For even Cain wanted to kill his brother; but when he wanted to kill, the desire flourished; but after he committed the sin, he went about the whole world groaning and trembling. These men, even if they did not kill in deed, yet they killed in intention. The slaughter proceeded as far as their wickedness was concerned; but life was granted through the philanthropy of God. I say these things to anoint your zeal, so that you may never fear a trial. Are you a rock? Do not fear the waves; for on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it, it says. Sometimes the wars are from without, sometimes from within; but no one sinks the ship.

2. But lest we consume the entire time on accusations against them, surrendering ourselves to the fear of conscience, and leaving the executioner to bewail their mind and the reasoning of untimely desires, leaving them to be fugitives though no one drives them, leaving them to be dishonored though no one wars against them— Let us set forth the customary table. For it is not right to waste the occasion on accusations against enemies and to overlook the children wasting away from hunger. Yesterday, then, Paul set the table for us; today, Matthew. Yesterday, the tentmaker; today, the tax collector. Yesterday, the blasphemer; today, the plunderer. Yesterday, the persecutor; today, the covetous. But the blasphemer did not remain a blasphemer, but became an apostle; and the plunderer did not remain a plunderer, but became an evangelist. I mention both the former vice and the subsequent virtue, that you may learn how great the benefit of repentance is, that you may never despair of your salvation. Our teachers shone from sin before this, but later they shone from righteousness—a tax collector and a blasphemer, the firstfruits of wickedness. For what is a tax office? A lawful plunder, a violence with boldness, an injustice having law as its advocate. The tax collector is more severe than bandits. What is a tax office? Violence putting forward law as its advocate, having the physician as executioner.

Do you understand what I have said? The laws are physicians, but then they also become executioners; for they do not dissolve the wound, but increase it. What is the tax office? Shameless sin, robbery without pretext, more grievous than banditry. The bandit is at least ashamed while stealing; this man brazenly plunders. But this tax collector suddenly became an evangelist. How and in what manner? As Jesus was passing by, it says, he saw Matthew sitting at the tax office, and said to him, "Follow me." O the power of the word! The hook entered, and made the captive a soldier, turned the clay into gold; the hook entered, and immediately rising, he followed him. He was in the depth of wickedness, and ascended to the summit of virtue. Therefore let no one, beloved, despair of his own salvation. The things of wickedness are not of nature; we are honored with choice and freedom. Are you a tax collector? You can become an evangelist. Are you a blasphemer? You can become an apostle. Are you a robber? You can plunder paradise. Are you a magician? You can worship the Master. There is no evil that is not dissolved by repentance. For this reason Christ chose the firstfruits of wickedness, so that no one might have an excuse to flee at the end.

Do not say to me, "I am lost, and what then?" Do not say to me, "I have sinned, and what shall I do?" You have a physician superior to the disease, a physician who overcomes the nature of the illness, a physician who heals with a nod, a physician who corrects by will, and who is both able and willing. He brought you into being when you did not exist; now that you exist and have gone astray, he will be much more able to set you right. Have you not heard how he first took dust from the earth and formed man? How he turned earth into flesh? How sinews? How bones? How skin? How veins? How nose? How eyes? How eyelids? How eyebrow? How tongue? How chest? How hands? How feet? How all the rest? The underlying material was earth, a single substance; and art entered and produced a varied creation. Can you not tell the manner in which you were created? In the same way, you cannot tell the manner in which sins are removed. For if fire falling upon thorns consumes them, much more does the will of God consume our transgressions, uproot them entirely, and make the sinner like one who has not sinned. Do not seek the manner, do not pry into what happens, but believe in the miracle.

I have sinned, you say, many and great sins. And who is without sin? But I, he says, have committed grievous and great sins, beyond any human. This suffices for you as a sacrifice: You first confess your lawless deeds, that you may be justified. Recognize that you have sinned, and this will become the beginning of your correction. Be gloomy, be downcast, pour forth tears. For did the harlot pour forth anything else? Nothing other than tears and repentance; she took repentance as a guide, and approached the spring. 4. What then does the tax collector and the evangelist say? Let us listen. And Jesus went out from there and came to the regions of Tyre and Sidon; and behold, a woman. The evangelist marvels: Behold, a woman, the ancient weapon of the devil, she who cast me out of paradise, the mother of sin, the originator of transgression, that same woman comes, that same nature; a new and paradoxical wonder: Jews flee, and the woman pursues. And behold, a woman coming from those borders besought him, saying: Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me. The woman becomes an evangelist, and confesses both the divinity and the economy: Lord, the sovereignty; Son of David, the assumption of the flesh. Have mercy on me. See a philosophical soul. Have mercy on me; I have no achievements of life, I have no freedom of conduct; I take refuge in mercy, in the common harbor of sinners; I take refuge in mercy, where there is no judgment, where salvation is unexamined; and yet, being so wicked and lawless, she dared to approach.

And observe the woman's philosophy: she does not entreat James, she does not beg John, nor does she approach Peter, nor did she part the chorus. "I have no need of a mediator, but taking repentance as my advocate, I approach the source itself. For this reason he came down, for this reason he took on flesh, that I too might converse with him. Above, the Cherubim tremble before him, and below, a prostitute converses with him. Have mercy on me. The word is bare, and it finds a vast sea of salvation. Have mercy on me: for this reason you came, for this reason you took on flesh, for this reason you became what I am. Above, trembling; below, boldness. Have mercy on me: I have no need of a mediator. Have mercy on me. What do you have? I seek mercy. What is your suffering? My daughter is grievously possessed; nature is tormented, sympathy is exercised. The advocate of the little daughter came forth; she does not carry the sick one, but she carries faith: He is God, and he sees everything. My daughter is grievously possessed. A grievous grief: the sting of nature split the womb, the surge in the entrails. What shall I do? I am perishing. And why do you not say, 'Have mercy on my daughter,' but, 'Have mercy on me'? She, in her insensibility, has the affliction; she does not know what she suffers, she does not feel the pain, having the painlessness, or rather the insensibility, as a veil of the calamity. But have mercy on me, the spectator of the daily evils: I have a theater of calamity in the house. Where shall I go? To the desert? But I dare not leave her alone. But to the house? But I find the enemy within, the waves in the harbor, a theater of calamity. What shall I call her? Dead? But she moves. But alive? But she does not know what she does.

I do not know how to find a name that interprets the passion. Have mercy on me. If her little daughter had died, I would not have suffered such things; I would have consigned the body to the bosom of the earth, and with time I would have introduced forgetfulness, and I would have dispersed the wound; but now I have a corpse that works for me an unceasing spectacle, weaving my wound, multiplying my passion. How shall I look at eyes that are distorted? hands that are strangled? locks that are loosened? foam that is discharged? the executioner within, not visible? the scourger not seen, but the scourges visible? I stand as a spectator of others' evils, I stand as one whom nature goads: Have mercy on me. The surge is grievous, passion and fear: passion of nature, and fear of the demon. I cannot approach, nor can I restrain. Passion pushes me, and fear repels me. Have mercy on me. 5. Consider the woman's philosophy. She did not go to magicians, she did not call seers, she did not make amulets, she did not hire sorceress women, those who enchant demons and increase the wound; but she left the workshop of the devil, and comes to the Savior of our souls. Have mercy on me: my daughter is badly possessed. Know the passion, all you who have been fathers; help me with my word, all you who have been mothers. I cannot interpret the storm that the woman endured. Have mercy on me: my daughter is badly possessed. Did you see the philosophy of the woman? did you see her endurance? her courage? her patience? But he did not answer her a word. Strange things. She entreats, she beseeches, she weeps over the calamity, she heightens the tragedy, she narrates the passion.

and the lover of humanity does not answer; the Word is silent, the spring is closed, the physician withholds his remedies. What is this new thing? What is this paradox? You run to others, and you drive away this woman who runs to you? But consider the physician’s wisdom. He did not answer her with a word. Why? Because he was not examining her words, but learning the hidden things of her mind. He did not answer her with a word. What then of the disciples? Since the woman did not receive an answer, they approached him and say: Dismiss her, because she is crying out behind us. But you hear the external cry, I hear the internal one; the voice of the mouth is great, but that of the mind is greater. Dismiss her, because she is crying out behind us; another evangelist says: In front of us. The statements are contradictory, but not false; for she did both. For at first she cried out behind; but when he did not answer, she came in front, like a dog licking the feet of its master. Dismiss her; she has set up a theater, she has gathered a crowd; those people were looking at the human pain, but the Master was looking at the philanthropy and the salvation of the woman. Dismiss her, because she is crying out behind us. What then does Christ say? I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. When he answered, he made her wound worse; for he was a physician cutting, not to divide, but to unite. Here pay close attention to me, and direct your mind to me. For I wish to investigate a deep question. I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Is that all?

For this reason you became man, you took on flesh, you accomplished so many economies, in order to save one corner, and that perishing? And the whole inhabited world is deserted—Scythians, Thracians, Indians, Moors, Cilicians, Cappadocians, Syrians, Phoenicians—all the land that the sun beholds? Did you come for the Jews alone, and do you overlook the nations in desolation? And do you overlook the savor of burnt offerings? Do you overlook the smoke? Do you overlook your Father being insulted? Idols being worshipped? Demons being served? And yet the prophets do not say these things, but your forefather according to the flesh, what does he say? Ask of me, and I will give you nations as your inheritance, and your possession the ends of the earth. And Isaiah, the beholder of the Seraphim: And the root of Jesse shall be, and he who arises to rule over nations; upon him nations will hope. And Jacob: A ruler from Judah will not fail, nor a leader from his loins, until he comes for whom it is reserved, and he himself is the expectation of nations. And Malachi: Because in you the bronze gates will be shut, and they will not change what is set before them, for from the rising to the setting of the sun your name is glorified among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to the Lord, and a pure sacrifice. And David again: All you nations, clap your hands, shout aloud to God with a voice of exultation; for the Lord is most high, fearsome, a great king over all the earth. God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. And another: Rejoice, nations, with his people. And you yourself, when you came, did you not immediately call the magi, the citadel of the nations? The tyranny of the devil? The power of the demons?

Did you not descend and make them prophets? You call them magi; the prophets speak about the nations. Rising from Hades, you say to the disciples: "Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." And when the wretched, the miserable woman came, beseeching you for her daughter, begging you to resolve her calamity, then you say: "Was I not sent only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel?" And when a centurion approached, you say: "I will come and heal him." When the robber came: "Today you will be with me in paradise." When the paralytic came: "Rise, take up your bed, and go." When Lazarus came: "Lazarus, come out," and he came forth after four days. You cleanse lepers, raise the dead, strengthen the paralytic, heal the blind, save robbers, make a harlot more chaste than a virgin, and to this woman you answer nothing? What is new? What is strange? What is paradoxical? 7. Pay close attention, so that you may learn the courage of a woman and the wisdom and care of the Master, so that you may learn that delay brings profit, so that you may learn that refusal provides wealth, so that even if you pray and do not receive, you may never desist. Pay attention and strain yourself. When the Jews were delivered from the Egyptian tyranny and, having escaped the hands of Pharaoh, went into the desert and were about to enter the land of the Canaanites—those idolatrous and impious men, who worship stones, serve wood, and display great impiety—God gave them this law, saying: "Do not take from their sons as sons-in-law, nor give your daughter as a bride to them.

Do not give them gold, nor share a table with them, nor have intercourse with them, nor anything else of that sort, because the nations are lawless, into which I am leading you to inherit them. This, then, the law commanded them, almost explicitly: Do not buy, do not sell, do not perform a marriage, nor make contracts, but be, even if near in place, yet separated in manner. Have nothing in common with them: no transactions, no sales, no purchases, no intermarriages, no alliances by marriage, so that the necessity of kinship may not prepare you to slip into impiety, so that giving and receiving may not make you their friend; but be always an enemy to them. Nothing for you and the Chananaeans: take not their gold, nor their silver, nor their clothing, nor a daughter, nor a son, nor anything else of that sort; but be by yourself. You have a tongue that separates you, and I gave you a law; for this reason the law is also called a fence. For just as a fence surrounds a vineyard, so the law surrounds the Jews, so that they may not cross over and mix with the Chananaeans. For among them there were lawless mixtures, the laws of nature were corrupted, idols were worshipped, wood was served, God was insulted, children were slaughtered, fathers were spat upon, mothers were dishonored, everything was altered, everything was overturned, they lived the life of demons. For this reason they never made transactions, nor contracts, nor sales with them; but the law, established on the greatest matters, prevented marriages, contracts, and alliances by marriage with one another; they had nothing in common with them.

It was therefore forbidden by the law to have dealings with the Chananaeans, to give them gold, or anything else, lest the occasion of friendship become a pretext for impiety. The law served as a fence. "I planted a vineyard," it says, "and I placed a fence around it," that is, a law, not made of thorns, but of commandments, walling them off and keeping them away. The Chananaeans were therefore forbidden, abominable, impious, accursed, polluted, unclean. For this reason the Jews, fulfilling the law, could not even bear to hear them. Since this woman was from the Chananaeans—"Behold, a woman," it says, "coming out from those regions"—since this woman was from the Chananaeans, but she approached Christ, for this reason she said, "Who among you convicts me of sin, if I transgressed the law?" For he was a man, and he displayed human things. 8. Now pay close attention to the discourse. Since the woman was a Chananaean, and from those regions where there were madness, frenzy, and impiety, where the tyranny of the devil and the bacchic revels of demons prevailed, where nature was trampled and men were reduced to the irrationality of beasts, to the madness of demons, and the law also commanded, "You shall have nothing to do with Chananaeans: give nothing, take nothing from them, take no wife, take no son, make no contracts, have no dealings. For this reason I placed a fence." But Christ came, and taking up the weapons of men, was circumcised on the spot, offered sacrifices, offerings, and all the rest, and was about to dissolve the law.

so that they might not say, "Because you were too weak to fulfill it, you therefore dissolved it," he first fulfills it, and then dissolves it, so that you might not think he is weak, but that he fulfills everything according to custom. For this reason he cries out and says, "Who among you convicts me of sin?" Since, then, this also was lawful—to have nothing in common with the Chananaeans—so that the Jews might not begin to accuse him and say, "For this reason we did not believe you: you were lawless, you dissolved the law, you went into the land of the Chananaeans, you mingled with the Chananaeans, while the law says, 'Do not mingle'; for this reason he does not speak to her at all for the time being." Observe how he fulfills the law and does not betray salvation, and both silences the Jews and wins her back. "But he did not answer her a word," it says. Do not give me pretexts. "See, I do not speak; see, I do not converse; see, a calamity, and I do not display my own; see, a shipwreck, and the helmsman does not resolve the storm because of your ingratitude, so that you may have no pretext. See, a woman has surrounded me like a theater, and she does not yet receive an answer, so that you may not say, 'You gave yourself over to the Chananaeans and transgressed the law, and we have this as a pretext for not believing you.'" Observe how for this reason he did not answer the woman, so that he might answer the Jews; his silence toward the woman became a voice of ingratitude to the Jews. 9. He did these things not according to his own dignity, but condescending to their weakness. For when he cleansed the leper, he says, "Go, offer the gift that Moses prescribed." "You cleansed him, and you send him to the law of Moses?" Yes. Why?

Because of the Jews, so that they might not begin to accuse him, saying that he had transgressed the law. For this reason, also when he healed the leper, he healed him in an extraordinary way. And listen how: "And behold, a leper came forward and besought him, saying, 'Lord, if you wish, you are able to cleanse me.' And stretching out his hand, he touched him, saying, 'I wish it; be cleansed.'" In the law, it was not permitted to touch a leper. So when Naaman the commander came to Elisha the prophet, afflicted with leprosy, his disciple says to him, "Behold, a leprous commander is outside." But he sends the disciple to go out and tell him, "Go, wash yourself in the Jordan." And he did not dare to go out himself and see the leper, and touch him. Since, then, Elisha cleansed a leper, so that the Jews might not say that he cleansed in the same manner as Elisha, for this reason that one does not dare to touch, but this one touches, and says, "I wish it; be cleansed." And stretching out his hand, he touched the leper. Why did he touch? In order to teach you that he is not a slave subject to the law, but a Master set over the law. How then did he keep the law? By saying, "I wish it; be cleansed," and not immediately touching him. The word anticipated, the disease fled, then he touched the unclean one, and said, "I wish it; be cleansed." How? Immediately he was cleansed. The evangelist cannot find words to say, for even "immediately" is slow; he finds no expression equal in speed to the swiftness of the action.

Immediately. How? As soon as the word went forth, the disease fled, the leprosy was banished, and the leper was clean. For this reason he says: "Go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded," as a testimony to them. To whom? To the Jews, so that they might not say that I transgress the law. I healed him, and I say, "Offer the gift of the law," so that on that day their leper might accuse them, saying, "He commanded me to offer a gift according to the law." And just as Christ did many things for the sake of the Jews, rendering them without excuse in everything, so also here. "Have mercy on me, for my daughter is grievously possessed." But he did not answer her a word. Then his disciples came and said, "Release her, for she cries out behind us." What then does he say? "I was not sent except for the lost sheep of the house of Israel," so that the Jews might not say, "You abandoned us and went outside, and for this reason we did not believe you." "Behold," he says, "they come even from the nations, and I do not receive them; but you, even when fleeing, I call: 'Come to me, all who labor,' and you do not come. I cast this woman away, and she persists." "A people whom I did not know served me," he says; "they obeyed me at the hearing of an ear." And elsewhere: "I became manifest to those who did not seek me, and I was found by those who did not ask for me." — "Release her, for she cries out behind us." Let us see then what Christ says.

I was not sent except for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Were these words not dissuasive? He all but says, "Stand back, for you have nothing in common with me; I did not come for you, but I came for the Jews. I was not sent except for the lost sheep of the house of Israel." And she, having heard, said, "Yes, Lord, help me," and she prostrated herself, speaking; but he did not answer her. But observe the response: "It is not good to take the bread of the children and throw it to the little dogs." O the solicitude of the physician: by forbidding, he draws her in. "It is not good to take the bread of the children"—of whom? Of the Jews—"and give it to the little dogs," that is, to you. 10. Truly, these things were said by the Lord to the shame of the Jews; for being called children, they became dogs. For this reason Paul also says: "Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the circumcision; for we are the circumcision." The Gentiles were called dogs, and they became children. "My children, whom I again bring forth, until Christ is formed in you." This praise is an accusation of the Jew. "It is not good to take the bread of the children and give it to the little dogs." What then does the woman do? "Yes, Lord." O the violence of the woman, O the contentiousness of the soul! The physician says, "No," and she says, "Yes"; the Master says, "No," and she says, "Yes"—not accusing nor being shameless, but awaiting salvation. "It is not good to take the bread of the children and give it to the little dogs." "Yes, Lord. You call me a dog, I call you Lord; you insult me, I hymn you. Yes, Lord.

For even the little dogs eat from the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters. O the wisdom of the woman; from the example she found a fitting argument. You call me a dog, I am fed like a dog. I do not reject the reproach; I do not flee the name; I will therefore take the food of a dog. And she speaks of a thing that happens customarily. You stop your own; you called me a dog, give me a crumb; you have become my advocate in my request; in your refusal show your consent. Yes, Lord; for even the little dogs eat from the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters. What then of the one who refuses, who drives away, who repels, who says, "It is not good to take the bread of the children and throw it to the little dogs"? Who says, "I was not sent except for the lost sheep of the house of Israel"? – O woman, great is your faith. Have you suddenly become her praiser? Do you proclaim the woman? Were you not repelling, not driving away? Take courage; for this reason I delayed. For if from the beginning I had dismissed her, I would not have learned her faith. If she had received from the outset, she would have quickly withdrawn, and no one would have known her treasure. For this reason I delayed the giving, so that I might show her faith to all. O woman. God says, "O woman." Let those who pray with vulgarity hear. When I say to someone, "Beseech God, pray to him, supplicate him," he says, "I have prayed once, twice, three times, ten times, twenty times; and still I have not received." Do not desist, brother, until you receive; the end of the request is the granting of what is asked. Then desist when you receive, or rather not even then, but even then remain. And if you do not receive, ask so that you may receive.

When you receive, give thanks that you received. Many enter the church, complete countless verses of prayer, and leave, and they do not know what they said; the lips move, but the hearing does not hear. You do not hear your own prayer, and you want God to hear your prayer? I bent my knees, you say; but your mind was flying outside; your body was inside the church, and your intention was outside; your mouth was saying the prayer, and your mind was counting interest, contracts, agreements, fields, possessions, gatherings of friends. For the devil, being wicked and knowing that at the time of prayer we accomplish great things, then attacks. Often we lie supine on a bed and think of nothing; we came to pray, and countless thoughts arise, to make us leave empty. 11. Knowing, then, beloved, that these things happen in prayers, imitate the Canaanite woman—the man imitating the woman, the foreigner, the weak, the despised and contemptible one. But do you not have a daughter possessed by a demon? But you have a soul that sins. What did the Canaanite woman say? Have mercy on me; my daughter is badly possessed; say also, Have mercy on me; my soul is badly possessed. For sin is a great demon. The possessed person is pitied, the sinner is hated; that one has forgiveness, this one is deprived of defense. Have mercy on me; the phrase is brief, and it found a sea of philanthropy; for where there is mercy, there are all good things. Even if you are outside, cry out and say, Have mercy on me, not moving your lips, but shouting with your mind; for God hears even those who are silent. A place is not sought, but a beginning of conduct. Jeremiah was in the mire, and he drew God to himself.

Daniel was in the lion pit, and he propitiated God; the three youths were in the furnace, and by hymning God they prevailed; the robber was crucified, and the cross did not hinder him, but opened paradise; Job was on the dunghill, and he rendered God propitious; Jonah was in the belly of the whale, and he had God obedient. Even if you are in the bathhouse, pray; even if on the road, even if on the bed; wherever you are, pray. You are a temple of God; do not seek a place; only a disposition is needed. Even if you stand before a judge, pray; when the judge is angry, pray. The sea was before, the Egyptians behind, Moses in the middle; there was great constriction in prayer, but the breadth of the prayer was great. Behind, the Egyptians pursued; before, the sea; in the middle, the prayer; and Moses said nothing; and God says to him: Why do you cry out to me? The mouth does not speak, but the mind cries out. And you, therefore, beloved, when you stand before a raging judge, a tyrant, threatening the greatest things, and before other executioners doing the same, pray to God, and while you pray, the waves are calmed. The judge is against you? You take refuge in God. The ruler is near you? You call upon the Master. For is he a man, that you should go to a place? God is always near. If you wish to entreat a man, you ask what he is doing, whether he is sleeping, whether he is busy; serving, he does not answer you. But with God, none of these things; wherever you go and call, he hears; no business, no mediator, no servant interposes. Say, "Have mercy on me," and immediately God is present; for, he says, "While you are still speaking, I will say, 'Behold, I am here.'" O word full of gentleness.

She does not even wait to complete the prayer; you have not yet finished the prayer, and you receive the gift. Have mercy on me. Let us imitate this Canaanite woman, I beg you: Have mercy on me; my daughter is grievously possessed. And the Lord says to her: O woman, great is your faith; let it be for you as you wish. Where is the heretic? He did not say, Let me entreat my Father; he did not say, Let me supplicate the one who begot me; was there need of prayer here? Not at all. Why? Because the faith was great, the vessel was great, and great grace was poured forth. Where there is need of prayer, the vessel is weak. O woman, great is your faith. You did not see a dead man raised, nor a leper cleansed; you did not hear prophets, nor study the law; you did not see the sea divided, nor any other sign performed by me; rather, you were insulted by me, and you were at a loss; I forbade your passion, and you did not withdraw, but you remained; so now receive from me praise that is worthy and fitting: O woman, great is your faith. The woman died, and her encomium remains, brighter than a diadem. Wherever you go, you hear Christ saying, O woman, great is your faith. Enter the church of the Persians, and you will hear Christ saying, O woman, great is your faith; among the Goths, among the barbarians, among the Indians, among the Moors, over all the land that the sun beholds; Christ uttered one word, and the word is not silent, but with a loud voice proclaims her faith, saying, O woman, great is your faith; let it be for you as you wish. He did not say, Let your little daughter be healed; but, As you wish. Heal her yourself.

Be a physician; I entrust the remedy to you; go, apply it; let it be as you wish. Let your will heal her. The Canaanite woman healed by will, and does the Son of God not heal of himself? Let it be as you wish. The woman did not command, nor did she order the demon, but she only willed, and the will of the woman healed and cast out demons. Where are those who dare to say that the Son accomplished it through prayer? Let it be as you wish. Observe also the nobility of the expression: he imitates his own Father. For when God made the heaven, he said, Let there be heaven, and heaven came to be; let there be sun, and sun came to be; let there be earth, and earth came to be; he brought substance into being by command. So also he himself: Let it be as you wish. The kinship of the expression showed the communion of nature. And her daughter was healed. When? From that hour; not from the time her mother came into the house, but before she came. She came to find her possessed by a demon, and found her healthy, healed by her will. For all these things let us give thanks to God, because glory is due to him for ever and ever. Amen.