Homilia de capto Eutropio

Homily When Eutropius was found outside the church and dragged away, and concerning paradise and the Scriptures, and on the verse, "The queen stood at your right hand." 1. Sweet is a meadow and a paradise, but far sweeter is the reading of the divine Scriptures. For there are flowers that wither, but here are thoughts that flourish; there the west wind blows, but here the breeze of the Spirit; there thorns form the walls, but here the providence of God gives security; there cicadas sing, but here prophets cry aloud; there is delight from the sight, but here is profit from the reading. Paradise is in one place, but the Scriptures are everywhere throughout the world; paradise is subject to the constraints of the seasons, but the Scriptures in winter and in summer alike are luxuriant in leaves and heavy with fruit. Let us therefore give heed to the reading of the Scriptures; for if you give heed to the Scripture, it casts out your despondency, it plants your delight, it destroys your vice, it roots your virtue, it does not allow you, amid the turmoil of affairs, to suffer the fate of those who are tossed by the waves. The sea rages, but you sail in calm; for you have the reading of the Scriptures as your pilot; for the tempest of affairs does not break this cable. And that I do not lie, the events themselves bear witness. The church was besieged a few days ago; an army came, and it sent forth fire from its eyes, and it did not wither the olive tree; swords were drawn, and no one received a wound; the imperial gates were in agony, and the church was in safety; and yet the war flowed hither. For here the fugitive was being sought, and we stood by, not fearing their fury.

Why then? We had a sure pledge: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." And I mean the Church, not a place only, but a manner of life; not the walls of the Church, but the laws of the Church. When you flee for refuge in the Church, do not flee to the place, but to the disposition. For the Church is not a wall and a roof, but faith and a way of life. Do not say that the one who was betrayed was betrayed by the Church; if he had not abandoned the Church, he would not have been betrayed. Do not say that he both fled for refuge and was betrayed; the Church did not abandon him, but he abandoned the Church. He was not handed over from within, but from without. Why did he leave the Church? Did you wish to be saved? You ought to have held fast to the altar. There were no walls here, but the providence of God was your protection. Were you a sinner? God does not send you away; for he did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. The harlot was saved because she held fast to his feet. Did you hear what was read today? I say this so that you may never doubt when you flee for refuge to the Church. Remain in the Church, and you are not betrayed by the Church. But if you flee from the Church, the Church is not to blame. For if you are inside, the wolf does not enter; but if you go outside, you become the prey of wild beasts—yet this is not the fault of the fold, but of your own faint-heartedness. Nothing is equal to the Church. Do not tell me of walls and weapons; for walls grow old with time, but the Church never grows old. Barbarians tear down walls, but not even demons prevail against the Church. And that these words are no boast, the facts bear witness.

How many have warred against the Church, and those who warred have perished? But she has ascended above the heavens. Such is the greatness of the Church: when warred against, she conquers; when plotted against, she prevails; when insulted, she becomes more radiant. She receives wounds, and does not fall from her injuries; she is tossed by waves, but is not sunk; she is storm-tossed, but does not suffer shipwreck; she wrestles, but is not defeated; she boxes, but is not overcome. Why then did he permit the war? That he might show the trophy more radiant. You were present on that day, and you saw how many weapons were set in motion, and soldierly fury fiercer than fire, and we were hastening to the imperial courts. But what? By the grace of God, none of those things struck terror into us. 2. And I say these things so that you also may imitate them. And why were we not struck with terror? Because we feared none of the present terrors. For what is terrible? Death? This is not terrible; for we quickly depart to the harbor that knows no waves. But confiscations of property? Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I depart. But exiles? The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof. But false accusations? Rejoice and be glad, when they speak every evil word against you falsely, because your reward is great in the heavens. I saw the swords, and I reckoned the heaven; I expected death, and I pondered the resurrection; I saw the passions below, and I counted the prizes above; I saw the plots, and I reckoned the crown above; for the very subject of the contests was sufficient for encouragement and consolation. And I was led away, but what was happening was no insult to me.

For insolence is one thing only: sin. For even if the whole world insults you, but you do not insult yourself, you have not been insulted. Betrayal is only that of the conscience. Do not betray your conscience, and no one betrays you. I was being led away, and I saw the events—or rather, I saw my words becoming events, my discourse, the discourse through words, being proclaimed in the marketplace through events. What discourse? The one I always spoke. A wind blew, and it brought down the leaves. The grass withered, and the flower fell away. The night departed, and the day appeared; the shadow was exposed, and the truth appeared. They rose as high as the heavens, and they came down as low as the plains. For the waves were calmed above through human events. How? The events were a teaching. And I said to myself: Will those after these things come to their senses? Will not two days pass, and the events be handed over to forgetfulness? The reminders were ringing in the ears. Let me say it again, let me speak it again. What is the benefit? Rather, there is benefit. For even if not all hear, half will hear; and if not half hear, a third part; and if not a third, a fourth; and if not a fourth, perhaps ten; and if not ten, perhaps five; and if not five, perhaps one; and if not one, I have my reward complete. The grass withered, and the flower fell away; but the word of God remains forever. 3. Did you see the cheapness of human affairs? Did you see the precariousness of power? Did you see wealth, which I always called a runaway—and not a runaway only, but also a man-slayer? For it does not abandon only those who have it, but it also slaughters them.

For whenever someone cultivates it, then most of all does he betray it. Why do you cultivate wealth that is yours today and another's tomorrow? Why do you cultivate wealth that can never be securely held? Do you wish to cultivate it? Do you wish to secure it? Do not bury it, but give it into the hands of the poor. Wealth is a wild beast: if it is held fast, it flees; if it is scattered, it remains. For he scattered, it says, he gave to the poor, his righteousness endures forever. Scatter it, so that it may remain; do not bury it, so that it may not flee. Where is wealth? I would gladly ask those who have departed. I say these things not to reproach—God forbid—nor to inflame wounds, but to build you a harbor from the shipwrecks of others. When the soldiers came, and the swords, when the city was burning, when the diadem had no strength, when the purple was insulted, when everything was full of madness, where was wealth? Where were the silver vessels? Where the silver couches? Where the servants? All in flight. Where the eunuchs? They all ran away. Where the friends? They changed their masks. Where the houses? They were shut up. Where the money? The one who had it fled. And the money, where? It was buried. Where was all this hidden? Am I being burdensome, am I being tiresome, always saying that wealth betrays those who use it badly? The time has come, showing the truth of my words. Why do you hold it fast, when in trial it benefits you nothing? If it has strength, let it stand by you when you fall into necessity; but if it flees then, what need do you have of it? The facts themselves bear witness. What is the benefit? Sharpened swords, death threatened, a raging army, the expectation of so great a threat—

And wealth is nowhere. Where has the runaway fled? He himself prepared all these things for you, and in the time of need he flees. And yet many always accuse me, saying, You have cleaved to the rich—for indeed they too have always cleaved to the poor. But I have cleaved to the rich—not to the rich, but to those who use wealth badly. For I always say that I do not denounce the rich man, but the robber. One thing is a rich man, and another a robber; one thing is a man of means, and another a covetous man. Divide the matters, and do not confuse things that cannot be mixed. Are you rich? I do not forbid it. Are you a robber? I accuse you. Do you have your own? Enjoy it. Do you take what belongs to others? I do not keep silent. Do you wish to stone me? I am ready to pour out my blood, only I hinder your sin. I do not care about hatred, I do not care about war; I care about only one thing, the progress of those who hear. And the rich are my children, and the poor are my children; the same womb travailed for both; the same pangs gave birth to both. If, then, you have cleaved to the poor man, I accuse you; for the loss is not so great for the poor man as for the rich. For the poor man is not greatly wronged; he is harmed in money; but you are harmed in soul. Let him who wishes cut off, let him who wishes stone, let him who wishes hate; for plots against me are occasions of crowns, and wounds are the number of prizes. 4. I do not fear a plot, then; I fear only one thing, sin. Let no one convict me of sinning, and let the whole world wage war against me. For this war makes me more illustrious. So also I wish to instruct you. Do not fear the plot of a powerful man, but fear the power of sin.

A man will not harm you unless you strike yourself. If you have no sin, even if ten thousand swords are present, God will snatch you away; but if you have sin, even if you are in paradise, you fall out. Adam was in paradise, and he fell; Job was on a dung heap, and he was crowned. What did paradise profit that one? Or what did the dung heap harm this one? No one plotted against that one, and he was tripped up; the devil plotted against this one, and he was crowned. Did he not take his wealth? But he did not plunder his piety. Did he not snatch away his children? But he did not shake his faith. Did he not tear his body apart? But he did not find the treasure. Did he not arm his wife? But he did not trip up the soldier. Did he not shoot bows and arrows? But he did not receive wounds. He brought up siege engines, but he did not shake the tower; he brought on waves, but he did not sink the ship. Keep this law for me, I beg you, and I touch your knees—if not with my hand, then with my mind—and I pour out tears. Keep this law for me, and no one will harm you. Never call a rich man blessed; never call a man wretched [except one] in sin; call blessed the man in righteousness. For it is not the nature of things, but the disposition of men, that makes both this one and that one. Never fear swords, if your conscience does not accuse you; never fear in war, if your conscience is clean. Where are those who have gone away? Tell me. Did they not all submit? Did not those who were in authority tremble at them more? Did they not court their favor? But sin came, and everything was exposed; and

The servants became judges, the flatterers became executioners; those who kissed his hands, they themselves dragged him from the church, and the one who yesterday kissed his hand, today is an enemy. Why? Because neither yesterday did he love with truth. For the time came, and the masks were exposed. Did you not yesterday kiss his hands, and call him savior, and guardian, and benefactor? Did you not weave countless praises? Why today do you accuse? Yesterday a praiser, and today an accuser? Yesterday praises, and today you mingle accusations? What is the change? What is the reversal? 5. But I am not such a man; but I, when plotted against, became a protector. I suffered countless terrible things, and I did not retaliate. For I imitate my own Master, who on the cross said: Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing. But I say these things, so that you may not be corrupted by the suspicion of the wicked. How many changes have occurred since I came to preside over the city, and no one is brought to their senses? But when I say no one, I do not condemn all; may it not be. For it is not possible that this rich field, having received seeds, should not also bring forth grain; but I am insatiable, I do not wish a few to be saved, but all. And if even one is left behind perishing, I perish, and I think I am imitating that shepherd, who had ninety-nine sheep, and ran after the one that had gone astray. Until when money? Until when silver? Until when gold? Until when wine poured out? Until when flatteries of servants? Until when garlanded mixing bowls? Until when satanic banquets, and full of diabolical activity? Do you not know, that the present life is a journey abroad?

Are you not a citizen? You are a traveler. Do you understand what I said? You are not a citizen, but a traveler and a wayfarer. Do not say, "I have this city, and I have that one." No one has a city. The city is above. The present things are a road. We are therefore traveling day by day, as long as nature allows. There is someone on the road depositing money; there is someone on the road burying gold. When you enter an inn, tell me, do you adorn the inn? No, but you eat and drink, and you hurry to leave. The present life is an inn. We have entered, we lodge in the present life; let us hasten to leave with good hope, let us leave nothing here, so that we do not lose it there. When you enter the inn, what do you say to the servant? See where you deposit your things, do not leave anything here, so that nothing is lost, neither small nor worthless, so that we may carry everything to the house. So too let us in the present life: let us look upon life as an inn, and let us leave nothing here in the inn, but let us carry everything to the mother city. You are a traveler and a wayfarer, or rather even more worthless than a traveler. And how? I will tell you. The traveler knows when he enters the inn, and when he leaves; for he is master of his departure, just as of his entrance; but I, entering the inn, that is, into the present life, do not know when I will leave. And sometimes I prepare provisions for a long time, and the Master calls me at once: Fool, the things you have prepared, whose will they be? For in this night they take your soul. The departure is unknown, the possession unstable, countless cliffs, waves from every side.

Why are you raving over shadows? Why do you abandon the truth and rush after shadows? 5. These things I say, and in saying them I will not cease, working continuous pain and soothing the wounds—not for the sake of those who have fallen, but for the sake of those who stand. For those men have departed and met their end; but those who stand have become safer through their calamities. And what, he says, shall we do? Do one thing only: hate money, and love your life. Cast away your possessions—I do not say all of them, but cut off the superfluous. Do not covet what belongs to others; do not strip the widow bare; do not plunder the orphan; do not seize the house—I do not speak of persons, but of things. And if anyone's conscience is caught, he himself is the cause, not my word. Why do you snatch where there is envy? Snatch where there is a crown. Do not snatch the earth, but heaven. The kingdom of heaven belongs to the violent, and the violent snatch it away. Why do you snatch the poor man who accuses you? Snatch Christ who praises you. Did you see the ingratitude and madness? You snatch a poor man who has little? Christ says: Snatch me; I am grateful to you for the snatching. Snatch and take by force my kingdom. If you wish to snatch the kingdom below—or rather, even if you wish to think of it—you are punished; but if you do not snatch the kingdom above, then you are punished. Where there are worldly things, there is envy; where there are spiritual things, there is love. Meditate on these things each day, and do not again, after two days, seeing another man carried on a chariot, clothed in a silk garment, with a lofty headdress, be disturbed and thrown into confusion. Do not praise the rich man, but only the one who is in righteousness.

Do not wrong the poor man, but learn to hold a right and unerring judgment of things. Do not keep away from the Church, for nothing is stronger than the Church. Your hope is the Church, your salvation is the Church, your refuge is the Church. She is higher than the heavens, she is wider than the earth. She never grows old, but always flourishes. Therefore Scripture, showing her firmness and immovability, calls her a mountain; her incorruptibility, it calls her a virgin; her magnificence, it calls her a queen; her kinship with God, it calls her a daughter; her fruitfulness, it calls her a barren woman who bears seven. Countless names, to set forth her nobility. For just as her Master has many names—he is called Father, he is called way, he is called life, he is called light, he is called arm, he is called propitiation, he is called foundation, he is called door, he is called sinless, he is called treasure, he is called Lord, he is called God, he is called Son, he is called Only-begotten, and he is called form of God and image of God—is one name not enough to set forth the whole? By no means; but for this reason there are countless names, that we may learn something about God, even if little. So indeed the Church is called many things. She is called a virgin, and yet she was a harlot before this; for this is the wonder of the bridegroom, that he took a harlot and made her a virgin. O new and strange things! Marriage among us destroys virginity; marriage with God raised up virginity. Among us, she who is a virgin, when she marries, is not a virgin; with Christ, she who was a harlot, when she marries, has become a virgin.

7. Let the heretic interpret this alone—the one who busies himself with the generation from above and says, "How did the Father beget?" Say to him: How did the Church, being a harlot, become a virgin? And how did she who gave birth remain a virgin? "For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy," says Paul; "for I espoused you to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." O wisdom and understanding! "For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy." What is this? "I am jealous," he says. Do you, the spiritual man, feel jealousy? "For I am jealous," he says, "as God does." And does God feel jealousy? Yes, he feels jealousy—not by passion, but by love and by zeal. "For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy." Shall I tell you how he feels jealousy? He saw the earth being corrupted by demons, and he gave up his own Son. For the words spoken of God do not have the same force; for example, God feels jealousy, God is angry, God repents, God hates. These words are human, but the meanings are fitting for God. How does God feel jealousy? "For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy." Is God angry? "O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger." So does God also sleep? "Arise, why do you sleep, O Lord?" Does God repent? "I repented that I made man." Does God hate? "Your feasts and your new moons my soul hates." But do not attend to the cheapness of the words; rather, take the meanings as fitting for God. God feels jealousy, for he loves. God is angry—not by passion, but by punishment and chastisement.

God "slumbers," not sleeping, but being long-suffering. He chose the words. So also when you hear that God begets, do not suppose a division, but the consubstantial. For God has used these words many times from us, and we from him, that we might be honored. 9. Do you understand what I said? Pay close attention, beloved. There are divine names, and there are human names. He took from me, and he gave to me himself. "Give me your things, and take my things," he says. You have need of my things; it is not I who have need, but you; for since my essence is incorruptible, and you are a man, entangled with a body, seeking even bodily words, so that you, entangled with a body, taking from the words familiar to you, might understand the thoughts that surpass you. What names did he take from me, and what names did he give to me? He himself is God, and he called me god: there the nature of the thing, here the honor of the name: "I said, You are gods, and all sons of the Most High." Here there are words, but there the nature of things. He called me god, for I was honored. He himself was called man, he himself was called Son of Man, he himself was called way, he himself was called door, he himself was called rock. These things he took from me, those words he gave to me from himself. Why was he called way? That you might learn that through him we go up to the Father. Why was he called rock? That you might learn the fitness and unshakability of faith. Why was he called foundation? That you might learn that he bears all things. Why was he called root? That you might learn that in him we bloom. Why was he called shepherd? Because he pastures us. Why was he called sheep? Because he was sacrificed for us, and became a propitiation. Why was he called life?

Because he raised us up when we were dead. Why was he called light? Because he delivered us from darkness. Why was he called arm? Because he is consubstantial with the Father. Why was he called Word? Because he was begotten from the Father. For just as my word is begotten from my soul, so also the Son was begotten from the Father. Why was he called garment? Because I have put him on when I was baptized. Why was he called table? Because I eat him when I have partaken of the mysteries. Why was he called house? Because I dwell in him. Why indweller? Because we become his temple. Why was he called head? Because I have become his member. Why was he called bridegroom? Because he betrothed me as a bride. Why was he called chaste? Because he took me as a virgin. Why was he called master? Because I am his handmaid. 9. For observe the Church, as I was saying, that sometimes she is a bride, sometimes she is a daughter, sometimes she is a virgin, sometimes she is a handmaid, sometimes she is a queen, sometimes she is barren, sometimes she is a mountain, sometimes she is a paradise, sometimes she is fruitful with many children, sometimes she is a lily, sometimes she is a fountain; she is all things. Therefore, having heard these things, do not suppose that they are bodily, I beseech you; but stretch your mind; for bodily things cannot be such as these. What I mean is this: a mountain is not a virgin; a virgin is not a bride; a queen is not a handmaid; the Church is all things. Why? Because these things are not in a body, but in a soul. For in a body these things are confined; but in a soul it has a great sea. The queen stood at your right hand. A queen? She who was trampled on, she who was poor, how did she become a queen? And where did she go up? The queen herself stood on high. How? Because the King became a servant; he was not, but he became.

Learn, then, the things of the Godhead, and be wise in the things of the dispensation. Learn who he was, and who he became for your sake, and do not confuse the matters, nor make the theme of his love for mankind an occasion for blasphemy. He was high, and this is lowly; high not in place, but in nature. He was undefiled, his essence imperishable, his nature incorruptible, incomprehensible, invisible, unattainable, always being, being in the same way, surpassing the angels, higher than the powers above, conquering reasoning, surpassing thought, unable to be seen, but only to be believed. Angels saw and trembled, the Cherubim spread their wings, all things in fear. He looked upon the earth, and made it tremble; he threatened the sea, and dried it up; rivers from the desert; he set the mountains in measure and the valleys in a balance. How shall I speak? How shall I set it forth? His majesty has no limit, his wisdom has no number, his judgments are unsearchable, his ways past finding out. But this one, so great and of such magnitude—if it is safe to say this also—so great and of such magnitude. But what shall I suffer? I am a man, and I speak in a human way; I possess a tongue of clay, I ask forgiveness from the Master. For I have not used these words out of recklessness, but out of the poverty of my weakness, and of the nature of our tongue. Be gracious, Master, for I do not say these words out of recklessness, but I have no others; yet neither do I stand still in the meanness of the word, but I rise up on the wing of the thought. This one, so great and of such magnitude. I say these things, so that you, not remaining in the words, nor in the poverty of what is said, may learn to do this yourself.

Why do you marvel if I do this, when he himself also does so whenever he wishes to present something that surpasses human things? Since he converses with human beings, he also employs human images, which are not sufficient to present what is said, nor able to bring the whole measure into the middle, but are sufficient for the weakness of the hearers. 10. Strain yourself, and do not grow weary as the word is lengthened. For just as when he appears, he does not appear as what he is, nor does his essence appear naked (for no one has seen God as he is; for by his condescension even the Cherubim trembled; he condescended, and the mountains smoke; he condescended, and the sea is dried up; he condescended, and heaven is shaken; and if he had not condescended, who could have borne it?); just as, then, he does not appear as what he is, but as the one who sees is able to see, for this reason he sometimes appears old, sometimes young, sometimes in fire, sometimes in a breeze, sometimes in water, sometimes in arms, not changing his essence, but shaping his appearance according to the variety of those who are present. So indeed, whenever he wishes to say something about himself, he employs human images. For example, what I mean: He went up into the mountain, and he was transfigured before them, and his face shone as the light, and his garments became white as snow. He opened up, he says, a little of his divinity, he showed them the God who dwells within, and he was transfigured before them. Pay close attention to the word with precision. He says, And he was transfigured before them, and his garments shone as the light, and his appearance as the sun.

Since I said, "So great and so mighty," and I said, "Be merciful to me, Master" (for I do not rest in the expression, but I am at a loss, and I have no other expression to put together), I want you to learn that I was taught this from the Scripture. The evangelist, then, wished to show his radiance, and he says, "It shone." How did it shine? Tell me. Intensely. And how do you say? As the sun. As the sun, you say? Yes. Why? Because I have no other star brighter. And was it white as snow? Why, "as snow"? Because I have no other substance whiter. For that it did not shine in this way is shown by what follows. And the disciples fell to the ground. If it had shone as the sun, the disciples would not have fallen; for they saw the sun every day, and they did not fall; but since it shone beyond the sun, and beyond the snow, for this reason, unable to bear the radiance, they fell down. 11. Tell me, then, O evangelist, did it shine beyond the sun, and do you say, "As the sun"? Yes; wishing to make the light known to you, I have no other star greater, I have no other image that reigns among the stars. I said these things so that you might not rest in the cheapness of the expression. I showed you the falling of the disciples. They fell to the ground, and were stupefied and were overwhelmed. Rise, he says, and he raised them up, and they were weighed down. For they could not bear the excess of the radiance, but stupor seized their eyes; so the light that appeared was beyond the sun. And he said

An evangelist, "Like the sun," since this star is familiar to us, and surpasses all the rest of the stars. But, as I was saying, so great and so mighty a one desired a harlot. Did God desire a harlot? Yes, a harlot—I mean our nature. Did God desire a harlot? And while a man, if he desires a harlot, is condemned, does God desire a harlot? Yes, indeed. Again, a man desires a harlot in order to become a fornicator. But God desires a harlot in order to make the harlot a virgin; so that the desire of man is the destruction of the one desired, but the desire of God is the salvation of the one desired. Did so great and so mighty a one desire a harlot? And why? In order to become her bridegroom. What does he do? He does not send any of his servants to her, he does not send the angel to a harlot, he does not send an archangel, he does not send the Cherubim, he does not send the Seraphim; but the lover himself comes. Again, having heard of "love," do not suppose it to be sensible. Pick out the meanings from the words, like the best bee flying over the flowers and taking the honeycomb, but leaving the plants. He desired a harlot; and what does he do? He does not lead her up on high; for he did not wish to bring a harlot into heaven, but he himself comes down below. Since she could not ascend on high, he himself came down below. He comes to the harlot, and is not ashamed; he comes into her hut. He sees her drunk. And how does he come? Not with his essence bare, but he becomes what the harlot was—not in will, but in nature he becomes this, so that seeing him she might not be terrified, so that she might not start back, so that she might not flee. He comes to the harlot, and becomes man.

And how does this happen? He is conceived in a womb, grows little by little, and comes along the path of my age. Who? The economy, not the divinity; the form of the servant, not the form of the Master; my flesh, not that one's essence. He grows little by little and mingles with men, although he finds her full of sores, bestialized, burdened by demons. And what does he do? He comes to her. She saw him and fled. He calls the magi. Why are you afraid? I am not a judge, but a physician. I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. He calls the magi immediately. O new and strange things! The firstfruits are immediately magi. He who bears the world lies in a manger, and he who encompasses all things is wrapped in swaddling clothes. The temple lies there, and God dwells in it. And magi come and worship immediately; a tax collector comes and becomes an evangelist; a harlot comes and becomes a virgin; a Canaanite woman comes and enjoys loving-kindness. This is the mark of a lover: not to exact accounts for sins, but to forgive transgressions of offenses. And what does he do? He takes her, he betroths her to himself. And what does he give her? A ring. What kind? The Holy Spirit. Paul says: Now he who establishes us with you in God, who also sealed us, and gave the earnest of the Spirit. He gives her the Spirit. Then he says: Did I not plant you in paradise? She says: Yes. And how did you fall from there? The devil came and took me from paradise. You were planted in paradise, and he cast you out; behold, I plant you in myself, I bear you. How? He does not dare to approach me. Nor do I lead you up into heaven.

But here is something greater than heaven: within myself I carry you, the Master of heaven. The Shepherd carries, and the wolf no longer comes—or rather, I even let him approach. And he carries our nature; and the devil comes near, and is defeated. I planted you in myself. For this reason he says, I am the root, you are the branches; and he planted it in himself. And what then? But I am a sinner, he says, and unclean. Do not be concerned; I am a physician. I know my vessel, I know how it was distorted. Before this it was clay, and it was distorted. I refashion it through the washing of regeneration, and I hand it over to the fire. For observe: he took dust from the earth, and made man; he formed him. The devil came, and distorted him. He himself came, took him again, kneaded him anew, recast him in baptism—but he did not leave his body to remain clay, but made it earthenware. He handed the clay over to the fire of the Spirit: He himself will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire—in water, that you may be refashioned; in fire, that you may be made firm. For this reason the Prophet, foretelling from above, said: You will shatter them like vessels of a potter. He did not say, like earthenware vessels, which each person possesses; for those are vessels of a potter which the potter works on the wheel; but the potter's vessels are clay, while ours are earthenware. So then, proclaiming beforehand the recasting that comes through baptism, he says: You will shatter them like vessels of a potter. He refashions, he says, and recasts. I go down into baptism, and my form is refashioned, and the fire of the Spirit recasts it, and it becomes earthenware.

That these words are no boast, hear Job: "He made us clay"; and Paul: "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels." But see the strength of the earthen vessel. For it was not baked with fire, but with the Spirit. How is it earthen? "Five times I received forty lashes minus one, three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned," and the earthen vessel was not broken. "I have spent a night and a day in the deep." He spent it in the deep, and the earthen vessel was not dissolved; he was shipwrecked, and the treasure was not lost; the ship went under, and the cargo sailed on. "But we have this treasure." What treasure? The supply of the Spirit, righteousness, sanctification, redemption. What treasure? Tell me. "In the name of Jesus Christ, rise and walk." "Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you." "To you I say, you evil spirit, come out of him." 12. Did you see a treasure brighter than royal treasuries? For what can a king's pearl do such as the words of an Apostle? Put ten thousand diadems on the dead, and he does not rise; but one word went forth from an Apostle, and it brought back nature in its rebellion and restored it to its original state. "But we have this treasure." O treasure that is not only guarded but also guards the house where it is stored! Did you understand what I said? The kings of the earth and the rulers, when they have treasures, build great houses—walls, bars, doors, guards, bolts—so that the treasure may be guarded; but Christ did the opposite: not in a vessel of stone, but in an earthen vessel he placed the treasure.

If the treasure is great, why is the vessel weak? But the vessel is not weak for this reason, because the treasure is great; for it is not kept by the vessel, but it itself keeps the vessel. I set down the treasure; who can steal it any longer? The devil came, the whole world came, countless foes came, and they did not steal the treasure. It was scourged, and the treasure was not betrayed; it was sunk into the sea, and it made no shipwreck; it died, and the treasure remains. He has therefore given the pledge. Where are those who blaspheme the worth of the Spirit? Pay attention. But God is the one who establishes us with you in Christ, who also gave the pledge of the Spirit. You all know that the pledge is a small part of the whole; hear how. Someone goes to buy a house for a great price, and says, "Give me a pledge, so that I may have confidence." Someone goes to take a wife, arranges a dowry and property, and says, "Give me a pledge." Pay attention: in the sale of a slave too there is a pledge, and in all transactions there is a pledge. Since, then, Christ was making a contract with us (for he was about to take me as a bride), he also writes a dowry for me—not of money, but of blood. And he writes this dowry for me: the recompense of good things, which eye has not

He saw, and ear did not hear, and it did not ascend upon the heart of man. He wrote, then, into the dowry: immortality, praise together with angels, release from death, freedom from sin, inheritance of the kingdom (great is the wealth), righteousness, sanctification, release from things present, discovery of things to come. Great was my dowry. Pay attention with precision; see what he does. He came to take the prostitute—for I speak of her as she was, unclean—so that you may learn the bridegroom's love. He came, he took me, he writes a dowry for me; he says: Do I give you my wealth? How? You lost, he says, paradise? Take it. You lost, he says, your comeliness? Take it; take all these things. But my dowry was not given to me here. 13. Pay attention: for this reason he foretells in this dowry; he wrote for me in the dowry resurrection of bodies, incorruption. For incorruption does not altogether follow resurrection, but these were two things. For many rose again and fell again, like Lazarus, and the bodies of the saints. But this one is not so, but resurrection, incorruption, the dance with angels, the meeting of the Son in the clouds, and the saying, So shall we always be with the Lord, the release from death, the freedom from sin, the drowning of the end.

What is that? “Things which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not ascended upon the heart of man, which God has prepared for those who love him.” Do you give me good things that I do not know? He says, Yes; here I betroth myself, here love me. Why do you not give me the dowry here? When you come to my Father, when you come into his royal courts. I came to you—was it not you who came to me? I came not that you might remain, but that I might take you and ascend. Do not seek the dowry here; all is in hope, all is in faith. And do you give me nothing here? He says: Receive the pledge, that you may believe me concerning the future; receive the tokens, receive also the betrothal gifts. Therefore Paul says, “For I have betrothed you.” God has given us the present things as betrothal gifts; the present things are betrothal gifts, they are a pledge; the whole dowry remains there. How? I say: here I grow old, there I do not grow old; here I die, there I do not die; here I grieve, there I do not grieve; here poverty, and sickness, and plots, there nothing of the kind; here darkness, and light, there light only; here plotting, there freedom; here sickness, there health; here a life that has an end, there a life that has no end; here sin, there righteousness, and sin nowhere; here envy, there nothing of the kind. Give me, he says, these things. Wait, that your fellow servants also may be saved; wait. He who establishes us, and has given us the pledge. What pledge? The Holy Spirit, the supply of the Spirit. But I speak concerning the Spirit. He gave the apostles the ring, saying: Receive and give to all. Is the ring divided? It is divided and not divided; it is divided and not consumed. Learn the supply of the Spirit.

Peter received the Holy Spirit, and Paul received the Holy Spirit. He went throughout the inhabited world, he set sinners free from their sins, he straightened the lame, he clothed the naked, he raised the dead, he cleansed lepers, he silenced the devil, he choked demons, he conversed with God, he planted the Church, he tore down temples, he overturned altars, he dissolved wickedness, he planted virtue, he made men into angels. 14. All these things we were. The pledge filled the whole inhabited world. And when I say “the whole,” I mean as much land as the sun looks upon—sea, islands, mountains, glens, and hills. Paul went about as though winged, wrestling with one mouth—the tentmaker, the one handling the awl and stitching hides; and this craft was no hindrance to virtue, but the tentmaker was stronger than demons, the unlettered man more philosophical than philosophers. From where? He received the pledge, he carried the ring and bore it about. All saw that the King had betrothed our nature; the demon saw it and withdrew; he saw the pledge and trembled and gave way; he saw the garments and fled. O the power of the Spirit! He gave authority not to a soul, not to a body, but even to a garment; not to a garment, but even to a shadow. Peter went about, and his shadow put diseases to flight, drove out demons, and raised the dead. Paul went about the inhabited world, cutting out the thorns of impiety, casting in the seeds of piety, like the best of plowmen holding the plow of teaching. And to whom did he come? To Thracians, to Scythians, to Indians, to Moors, to Sardinians, to Goths, to wild beasts, and he changed them all. From where?

From the pledge. How did it endure? From the grace of the Spirit. A private man, naked, barefoot—the one who also gave the pledge of the Spirit. For this reason he says: And who is sufficient for these things? But our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of a New Covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. See what the Spirit did: he found the earth full of demons, and made it heaven. For do not consider the present things, but take them up in your reasoning. Then there was lamentation, then everywhere altars, everywhere smoke, everywhere the savor of sacrifices, everywhere fornications, everywhere initiatory rites, everywhere sacrifices, everywhere demons reveling, everywhere a citadel of the devil, everywhere fornication crowned—and there was one Paul. How was he not overwhelmed? How was he not torn apart? How did he open his mouth? He entered the Thebaid, and took captives. He entered the imperial courts, and made the emperor a disciple. He entered the courtroom, and the judge says to him: You almost persuade me to become a Christian; and the judge became a disciple. He entered the prison, and took the jailer. He went to the island of the barbarians, and made the viper a teacher. He went to the people of the Romans, and drew in the senate. He went to rivers, he went to desert places everywhere in the inhabited world. Neither land nor sea is without a share in his achievements; for he gave the pledge of the ring, and having given the pledge, he says: What I now give you, and what I promise. For this reason the Prophet says to her: The queen stood at your right hand in clothing woven with gold.

He does not mean a garment, but virtue. This is why Scripture says elsewhere: How did you come in here without a wedding garment? So he does not mean a garment, but fornication, and the filthy and unclean deed. Just as, then, filthy garments are sin, so garments woven with gold are virtue. But this garment belonged to the king; he himself gave it to her as well, for she was naked, naked and shameful. The queen stood at your right hand in a garment woven with gold. He does not mean garments, but virtue; he did not say, in gold. Pay attention; this very expression has great nobility of meaning. He did not say, in gold, but, woven with gold. Listen with understanding. A golden garment is entirely gold; but a garment woven with gold has some parts gold and some parts silk. Why then did he not say that the bride wears a golden garment, but one woven with gold? Pay close attention. He means the way of life of the Church, the varied one. For since we are not all of one manner of life, but one practices virginity, another widowhood, another piety—the garment of the Church is the way of life of the Church. 15. Since, then, our Master knew that if he cut one road, many would hesitate, he cut varied roads. Can you not enter through virginity? Enter through monogamy. Can you not through monogamy? Then at least through second marriage. Can you not enter through chastity? Enter through almsgiving. Can you not through almsgiving? Enter through fasting. Can you not

Can you do this? Come, take that one. Can you not do that one? Come, take this one. This is why he did not show the garment as gold, but as shot with gold. Either it is silk, or it is purple, or it is gold. Can you not be gold? Become silk. I receive you, only in the garment. This is why Paul too says: If anyone builds on this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones. Can you not be a precious stone? Become gold. Can you not be gold? Become silver, only on the foundation. And again elsewhere: There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars. Can you not be the sun? Become the moon. Can you not be the moon? Become a star. Can you not be a great star? Become at least a small one, only in heaven. Can you not be a virgin? Marry with chastity, only in the Church. Can you not be without possessions? Show mercy, only in the Church, only in the garment, only under the queen. The garment is shot with gold, the garment is embroidered. I do not shut the road against you; for the abundance of virtues has made the king's household easy. She is clothed in a garment shot with gold, embroidered. Her garment is embroidered; and if you wish, unfold the depth of the word that has been spoken, and see the garment shot with gold. For here some are monks, and others practice honorable marriage, not far behind those; and some are once-married, and widows flourish. Why a paradise? Why embroidered? Having various flowers, and trees, and many pearls. Many are the stars, but one is the sun; many are the ways of life, but one is the paradise.

Many are the temples, but one is the paradise; many are the temples, but one is the mother. One is a body, another eyes, another a finger, but all are one. For the same thing is the small and the great and the lesser. The virgin has need of the married woman; for the virgin is from marriage, so that she may not despise marriage. The virgin is the root of marriage. All things are bound together, the small to the great and the great to the small. The queen stood at your right hand, clothed in a garment shot with gold, arrayed in varied colors. Henceforth, Hear, O daughter. The wedding-guide says that you are about to go out to the bridegroom, who surpasses your substance, surpasses your nature. I am the wedding-guide. Hear, O daughter. Did she immediately become a woman? Yes; for there was nothing bodily. For he joined her as a woman, and loves her as a daughter, and provides for her as a slave, and keeps her as a virgin, and walls her about as a paradise, and cherishes her as a member, and provides for her as a head, and plants her as a root, and feeds her as a shepherd, and joins her as a bridegroom, and forgives her as a propitiation, and is sacrificed as a sheep, and preserves her in beauty as a bridegroom, and provides for her guardianship as a husband. Many are the meanings, so that we might enjoy even a small part of the dispensation. Hear, O daughter, and see, and behold the things of marriage, and the spiritual things. Hear, O daughter. She was first a daughter of the demons, a daughter of the earth, unworthy of the earth, and now she has become a daughter of the king. And this is what her lover willed. For the lover does not examine manner; love does not see ugliness; and for this reason it is called love, because it often loves even the ugly.

Thus Christ also did: he saw her unformed (for I would not call her beautiful), and he loved her, and he makes her new, without spot or wrinkle. O bridegroom adorning the bride's unformedness! Hear, daughter, hear, and see. He says two things, "Hear," and, "See," the two from you, the one for the eyes, the other for the hearing. Since, then, her dowry was in hearing—even if some foresaw more sharply, let them wait for the weaker; and I praise you for having anticipated, and I pardon those who follow—since her dowry was in hearing (what is "in hearing"? In faith. For faith is from hearing; in faith, not in enjoyment, not in any experience), I said before that he divided her dowry into two parts, and some he gave her as a pledge, and some he promised her for the future. What did he give her? He gave her forgiveness of sins, release from punishment, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, the master's body, a divine table, spiritual, the resurrection of the dead. For all these the apostles had. Therefore some he gave, and some he promised; and some were in experience and enjoyment, and some in hope and in faith. And hear. What did he give? Baptism, the sacrifice. These are in experience; but see. What did he promise? Resurrection, incorruption of bodies, union with angels, the dance with archangels, citizenship with him, the undefiled life, the good things which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not ascended upon the heart of man, which God has prepared for those who love him.

Understand what is said, do not destroy it; for this reason I labor, that you may understand. Her dowry, then, was divided into two: into things present and things to come; into things seen and things heard; into things given and things believed; into things experienced and things enjoyed; into things in the present life and things after the resurrection. These you see, those you hear. See, then, what he says to her, lest she suppose that she received only these things—although they were great and secret and surpassing all understanding. Hear, daughter, and see: hear those things, and see these; lest you say, Again in hope? Again in faith? Again in the future? And see: some things I give, others I promise; those, then, are in hope, but these receive as pledges, receive as earnest-money, receive as proof. I promise you a kingdom; believe from the things present, believe me. Do you promise me a kingdom? Yes. I have given you the greater thing—the Lord of the kingdom, who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all; how shall he not also with him freely give us all things? Do you give the resurrection of bodies? Yes. I have given you the greater thing. What? To be released from sin. How is it the greater? Because sin gave birth to death. I have slain the mother, and shall I not slay the son? I have dried up the root, and do I not destroy the fruit? Hear, daughter, and see. What am I to see?

Dead raised, lepers cleansed, the sea bridled, the paralytic made firm, paradise opened, loaves gushing forth, sins loosed, the lame leaping, a robber made a citizen of paradise, a tax collector made an evangelist, a prostitute made more modest than a virgin. Hear, and see: hear those things, and see these. From things present take the proof; and concerning those things I have given you pledges; these are better than those. And what do you wish to say? These are mine. Hear, daughter, and see. This is the dowry. What does the bride bring in? Let us see. And do you also bring in something, so that you may not be without a dowry? What do I have, she says, to bring in from altars, from fat, from demons? What do I have to bring in? What? Mind and faith. Hear, daughter, and see. And what do you wish me to do? Forget your people. What people? The people of demons, of idols, of smoke, of fat, of blood. And see, and forget your people, and your father's house. Leave the father, and come to me. I left the Father, and came to you, and will you not leave your father? But the word "I left," in the case of the Son, do not think it means abandonment. I came down, I arranged, I took up flesh. This is the bridegroom's, this is the bride's, that she may leave her parents, and we may be joined to one another. Hear, daughter, and see, and forget your people, and your father's house. And what do you give me, if I forget? And the king will desire your beauty. You have the Master as your lover. If you have him as your lover, you also have his things; if you are able to perceive what is said.

For the thought is subtle, and I wish to stitch shut the tongue of the Jews. But stretch your mind with me; for whether one hears or does not hear, I dig, I plow. Hear, O daughter, and see, and forget your people and your father's house, and the king will desire your beauty. The Jew here calls beauty that which is perceptible, not that which is intelligible, but that which is bodily. 17. Attend, let us learn what bodily beauty is, and what intelligible beauty is. There is a soul, there is a body—two essences they are; there is beauty of body, and there is beauty of soul. What is beauty of body? A brow well-stretched, an eye smiling, a cheek reddening, lips turning crimson, a neck held high, hair waving, fingers long, stature upright, a whiteness blooming forth. This bodily beauty—does it come from nature, or from choice? It is agreed that it comes from nature. Attend, that you may learn the thoughts of philosophers. This beauty—of the face, of the eye, of the hair, of the forehead—does it come from nature, or from choice? It is evident that it comes from nature. For the shapeless woman, even if she cultivates beauty ten thousand times, cannot become shapely in body; for the things of nature are unmoved, bound by limits, not crossing over. The beautiful woman, then, is always beautiful, even if she has no love of beauty; but the shapeless woman cannot make herself shapely, nor can the shapely woman make herself shapeless. Why? Because these things are of nature. Have you seen, then, bodily beauty? Let us go within, into the soul—the slave-girl to the mistress. Let us go to the soul. Look at that beauty—or rather, hear of it; for you cannot see it, for it is invisible.

Hear that beauty. What, then, is the beauty of the soul? Chastity, gentleness, almsgiving, love, love of the brethren, affection, obedience to God, fulfillment of the law, righteousness, contrition of mind. These are the beauties of the soul. These things, then, are not of nature but of free choice. And he who does not have them can receive them, and he who has them, if he grows slack, has lost them. For just as I said in the case of the body, that the shapeless cannot become shapely, so also in the case of the soul I say the opposite, that the shapeless soul can become shapely. For what was more shapeless than the soul of Paul, when he was a blasphemer and an insolent man? And what was more shapely than he, when he said, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith? What was more shapeless than the soul of the robber? And what became more shapely than he, when he obeyed, Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise? What was more shapeless than the tax collector, when he was extorting? And what more shapely, when he gave his own counsel? You see that you cannot change the shapeliness of the body; for it is not of free choice but of nature. But the shapeliness of the soul is procured for us by free choice. You have received the definitions. What ones? That the beauty of the soul comes from obedience to God. For if the shapeless soul obeys God, it puts off its shapelessness and becomes shapely. Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? And he said, And who are you, Lord? I am Jesus. And he obeyed, and obedience made the shapeless soul shapely. Again he says to the tax collector, Come, follow me. And the tax collector rose up and became an apostle; the shapeless soul became shapely. From where? From obedience.

Again he says to the fishermen, "Come after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men"; and from their obedience their mind became beautiful. Let us see here what beauty he means. "Hear, O daughter, and see, and forget your people and your father's house, and the king will desire your beauty." What beauty will he desire? The beauty of the soul. From where? Because she forgot. He says, "Hear, then, and forget." These things are of free choice. "Hear," he said. The ugly woman hears, and this ugliness of the body is not dissolved. Say to the sinful woman, "Hear," and if she obeys, she sees what kind of beauty it is. Since, then, the ugliness of the bride was not natural but of free choice (for she did not hear God, but transgressed), for this reason he leads her by another remedy. You became ugly, then, not from nature but from free choice; and you became beautiful from obedience. "Hear, O daughter, and see, and forget your people and your father's house, and the king will desire your beauty." Then, so that you may learn that he speaks nothing perceptible when you hear "beauty," do not think of an eye, nor a nose, nor a mouth, nor a neck, but reverence, faith, love, the things within; for "all the glory of the daughter of the king is within." And for all these things let us give thanks to God, the giver, for to him alone belong glory, honor, and might unto the ages of ages. Amen.