In illud Isaiae Ego dominus deus feci lumen

On the Prophetic Saying That Says: "I, Lord God, Made Light and Darkness, Making Peace and Creating Evils." 1. The words spoken are few, but the fountain of honey is sweet, honey that knows no surfeit. For this sensible honey dissolves its pleasure on the tongue and passes into decay; but the honey of teaching is stored in the conscience, providing lasting joy and leading us toward incorruption. And the one is compounded from plants, the other is woven from the divine Scriptures. This honey the one who spoke well has filled you with today, and he has seized the prize of obedience, and has shown the power of love and the nobility of faith. Come then, let us also set before you again the customary table with great eagerness; for we greatly rejoice that, although there is a brilliant horse race, so great a crowd has arrived here, having scorned the pastime there. Therefore we ourselves also set up the bowl with great abundance, a bowl that produces not drunkenness but establishes sobriety. For such is the wine of the Scriptures, such are the dishes of this table; it does not fatten the flesh. And we say these things not dishonoring the nature of the flesh, but preferring the nobility of the soul; nor rejecting its use, but curbing its excess. For even if we philosophize, we must philosophize in such a way as not to give a handle to the mouths of heretics. For this body is inferior to the soul, but not opposed to the soul; rather, the soul is simple, but it is served by the desires of the body.

The master craftsman God did not constitute this universe from one, two, or three substances, but introduced various and different natures, displaying the abundance of his own wisdom in the difference of the things that come into being. For he made not only heaven, but also earth; not only earth, but also the sun; not only the sun, but also the moon; not only the moon, but also the stars; not only the stars, but also the air; not only the air, but also the clouds; not only the clouds, but also the ether; not only the ether, but also lakes, and springs, and rivers, and mountains, and glens, and hills, and meadows, and gardens, and seeds, and plants, various kinds of herbs, and different forms, and different energies, and different natures, which one might see everywhere going around the world; and running over the body of the inhabited world with one's reasoning, one will say with the Prophet: "How great are your works, Lord. You made everything in wisdom." So if you wish to see a theater, leaving that satanic one, come to this spiritual one; if you wish to hear a lyre, leaving that melody, and straining the tension of your mind, come to this one that rouses your thought, that strengthens your mind. Behold different notes and varied strings, sending up from all sides one all-harmonious melody to the master craftsman God. For just as a certain note of the spirit composed of different notes has one melody, the doxology to the one who made it; and the strings sound by themselves, and they also sound with one another.

And so that you may learn how they sound by themselves, strike the string of heaven with your reason, and you will hear it sounding greatly and sending up glory to God. Therefore, the Prophet, perceiving this, said: "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament announces the work of his hands." From that string, pass over to the string of day and night, and you will see that these notes, too, sound more sweetly than any lyre or cithara—especially when there is someone who knows how to pluck these strings. And how do they sound? you ask. Heaven moves neither mouth nor tongue, nor palate, nor teeth, nor lips; how then does the voice proceed? And how does day speak? For these are not vocal organs, but rather the course of the sun and moon, day and night, the passage of time. So that none of the more obtuse, hearing these things, may be disturbed and troubled, listen to how the Prophet contends for what has been said. For after saying that "The heavens declare the glory of God," and that "Day utters speech to day, and night announces knowledge to night," he did not stop there, but added: "They are not utterances, nor words, whose voices are not heard.

What he says is this: not only do day and night and heaven have a voice, but they have such a voice as is more distinct, clearer, and more resonant than the human voice. How and in what way? Listen to the text itself: "They are not speeches, nor words, whose voices are not heard." What then is this? It is a commendation of the voice, a praise of the sound. For my voice is known to one who speaks the same language as I, but not to one of a different tongue. For example, when I speak in the Greek tongue, if someone knows that language, he will hear me; but the Scythian, the Thracian, the Moor, and the Indian will not, for the difference of language does not allow my speech to be distinct to him. Again, when the Scythian and the Thracian speak, I will not be able to hear them, nor will one person understand another's language; but in the case of heaven, night, and day, this is not so, but their voice is such that it is heard by every tongue, every speech, every nation, and is clear and manifest. Therefore, after saying, "The heavens declare the glory of God," and, "Day unto day utters speech," he added: "They are not speeches, nor words, whose voices are not heard." What he says is this: day, night, heaven, and all created things have such speech and such a voice that their voice is heard by all speeches—that is, by all tongues, by all nations. For there is no speech, he says—that is, there is no nation, there is no language—where the voice of heaven is not heard.

But also the Scythian, the Thracian, the Moor, the Indian, and the Sauromatian, and every tongue, and every language, and every nation will be able to hear this voice. How and in what way? Listen to this then, so that you may learn how the heaven speaks while silent. For when you see its beauty, its magnitude, its position, its permanence, its brightness, and gathering all these things within yourself, you glorify the Creator, you praise the one who made it, the heaven has uttered a voice, sending up glory to God through your tongue. And this is what is meant by the saying, "The heavens declare the glory of God." How and in what way? By sending the beholder, through the beauty of their own brightness, to wonder at the Creator. For when, seeing such a work, you say, "Glory to you, O God, what a great body you have wrought and placed in the midst," the heavens have offered up this glory, using your tongue, and through sight conveying the wonder. Thus, while silent, they offer up glory to God, and all hear this voice. For since it is not possible to learn these things by hearing, but by sight and contemplation, and sight is one for all, even if the tongue is different, both barbarians and Scythians and Thracians and Moors and Indians hear this voice, that is, seeing the wonder, struck by the beauty, the brightness, the magnitude, and all the other things concerning the heaven, those who think rightly offer up glory to the Creator. The same can be said about day and night. Just as this one, by its beauty, its position, its

in its magnitude, its brightness, its duration of time, its usefulness, its activity, and all other things that send the spectator into wonder, it causes glory to be borne up to the Creator. So it is with night and day. For when you see the good order of these seasons, and how the day, having completed its own measure, does not strive to expel the night from its own boundaries, nor does it display any greed, nor, because it is brighter than the night, does it force itself to occupy the whole time, but withdraws; and the night in turn, having completed its own course, yields to the day, and this has happened for so many years, and there is no confusion, no disturbance, and neither has the one expelled the other, nor has the other taken advantage of the one, although the one is brighter and the other darker. Again, having admired this good order, will you not send up glory to God? And just as two sisters, living familiarly with each other, having divided a paternal inheritance by weights and measures, do not take advantage of each other even in the slightest, so also night and day, having divided all time between them, maintain such equality, not taking advantage of each other even in the slightest, as you have learned through experience itself. Let the greedy and those who expel their brothers from the inheritance hear this; let them be ashamed of the good order of the seasons, the equality of night and day, and let them dissolve their own disease.

Thus then, Day utters a word to day, and night announces knowledge to night, not by emitting a voice, but through their good order, rhythm, equality, and unhindered measures, proclaiming the Creator more clearly than a trumpet, not in one corner of the inhabited world, but over all the earth that the sun beholds. For these voices are borne everywhere throughout the inhabited world, since the sky is everywhere, and day is everywhere, and night is everywhere, and they extend their teaching both on land and on sea. For this reason the Prophet did not simply say that the heavens utter the glory of God, but that they "declare" it, that is, they also instruct others, and have the human race as their disciples, and they set themselves forth as a great school in the midst, offering the beauty of their own nature instead of books and letters, to both the unlearned and the wise, and to all, to read, as in a book, the teaching about the wisdom and power of God that lies within them. So also men, not by speaking, but even by being silent, glorify God through other means; for this reason Christ said, "Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, who is in the heavens.

Just as someone seeing a brilliant life, even when the one living it is silent, offers glory to God, so too, seeing the beauty of the heaven, he glorifies the one who made it. For this reason he said: "The heavens declare the glory of God," through those who behold them. "Day utters a word to day, and night announces knowledge to night." Knowledge—of what kind? That concerning the one who made them. For just as day leads man out to work, so night, succeeding it, gives rest from countless labors, releases him from cares, and, putting the weary eye to sleep and calming the eyelids, prepares the pupil to receive the ray again with full strength. So the usefulness of this is not small, but very great. For if it did not give man rest from countless labors by receiving him, the day's leading him out to work would be of no benefit; for since nature forbids continuous toil, the animal would have been destroyed and perished, and the ray would have brought him no advantage. Therefore, the one that makes the day useful to man is especially this one, which through its own service leads the one who enjoys its company to the knowledge of God. For when one considers how great is the usefulness of the day, and how great that of the night, and

how this one succeeds that one, and alternately, as in some chorus, preserving our race by succeeding one another, even if someone is more sluggish than all men, by stirring up his own reasoning he will be able to know the wisdom of the supreme craftsman God, which he displayed through day and night, having allotted that one for work and this one for rest from labors. 3. But we have gone out of our way to say all this from the prooemia. Since, however, some of the things read to us today have perhaps disturbed many of those who are not attentive, and those inexperienced in the Scriptures, come then, let us proceed with great force to these matters. For the woman with the issue of blood was read, who by her touch stopped the sources of blood, and by the power of her faith plundered so great a treasure—for what happened was a theft, but a theft that was approved, and the woman who plundered, after being exposed, was praised. For Jesus himself, who was plundered, proclaims the woman. Also read were the stigmata of Paul, the wounds, the prisons, the arrests, the shipwrecks, the bonds, the chains, the manifold and continuous plots, the daily deaths, the hunger, the thirst, the nakedness, the daily opposition. But what am I to do? It is necessary to flee, using great vehemence, lest Paul again detain me and lead me away from the subject at hand.

For you know, often when I was walking elsewhere and turned away, you have met me in the middle of the discourse and detained me, and so drew me that you persuaded me to break off the discourse at that point. So that we do not suffer this also today, let us, as if casting a bridle upon the discourse as it is borne there with great vehemence, draw it back in this way and lead it to the prophetic saying. What then is the saying? "I am Lord," he says, "who made light and darkness, who makes peace and creates evils." Do you see that not idly nor in vain have we made our course to this passage, but passing over all other things, we have been eager to meet here? For indeed, to one not paying attention, the saying causes much disturbance. Rise up, then, and strain your hearing, and casting out every worldly care, pay attention to what is said. For I wish now to give you this reward for your presence here, and having filled you with spiritual foods, to dismiss you in such a way that those who have been left behind may learn by experience what loss they have suffered; they will know, if you receive what is said with accuracy and are able to transmit it to them. "I am Lord God, who made light and darkness, who makes peace and creates evils." I keep turning this over repeatedly, so that it may be implanted in your mind, and then I will bring on the solution. For not only does this one say this, but another prophet also, uttering concordant words, said: "Is there any evil in a city which the Lord did not make?" What then is the meaning of what is said? For it is necessary to bring one solution to all. What then is the solution? If we learn the force of these words.

But pay close attention, for it is not idly or in vain that I continually give you this instruction, but because we are now proceeding to the depth of the thoughts. Among things, some are good, some are bad, and some are intermediate; some of these seem to many to be bad, but are not, but are only so called and suspected. But to make what I say clearer, come, let us exercise the argument with examples. Poverty seems to many to be a bad thing, but it is not; rather, for one who is sober and philosophizes, it is even a remover of evils. Wealth, again, seems to many to be a good thing, but it is not simply good, unless one uses it properly. For if wealth were simply good, then those who possess it ought also to be good; but if not all the wealthy are virtuous, but only those who have used wealth well, it is evident that wealth is not simply good in itself, but is some material for virtue lying in the middle. Consider this. There are qualities in the body, from which those who have them are named after them. For instance, whiteness is not a substance, but a quality and an accident supervening upon substance; if this attaches to someone, we call such a person white. Again, sickness is also a quality and an accident; if it attaches to someone, we call such a person sick. If, then, wealth were virtue, the one possessing wealth ought to be virtuous and be called so; but if the wealthy person is not necessarily virtuous, then wealth is not virtue, nor simply good, but this depends on the intention of the user. Again, if poverty were evil, then all those in poverty ought to be evil.

If many of those in poverty have laid hold of the heavens, then poverty is not an evil. 4. What then, that many blaspheme because of poverty? he says. Not because of poverty, but because of their own folly and pettiness they do this. And proof of this is the blessed Job, who, being in extreme poverty and brought down to the very abyss of poverty, not only did not blaspheme, but continued blessing God, saying: The Lord gave, the Lord took away; as it seemed good to the Lord, so it happened; may the name of the Lord be blessed for ever. But also because of wealth, he says, many plunder and covet. But not because of wealth, but because of their own folly; and witness to this again is this same man, who in such wealth not only did not seize the things of others, but even gave away his own, and made a harbor for strangers, saying thus: My house was open to every stranger who came. And Abraham, having such great wealth, spent everything on those who passed by; and wealth made neither this man nor that man a covetor, just as poverty made neither that man nor Lazarus a blasphemer; but each shone forth in this way, not even having the necessities of food, so that the one received testimony from God, who clearly knows the hidden things, and the other was carried away from here by angels leading the way, and became a tent-companion of the patriarch, and enjoyed the goods that he did. Therefore these are among the intermediate things: poverty and wealth, health and sickness, and life and death, glory and honor, slavery and freedom, and all such things.

For it is not necessary to go into everything, so as not to lengthen the discourse, but by providing you with starting points in these matters, to proceed to what is urgent. For give a wise man a starting point, and he will be wiser. Therefore all these things are among the indifferent, since those who use them can do so for good or for evil. For that these are among the indifferent, like wealth, Abraham showed, having used it properly. And the rich man in the story of Lazarus also showed this, having spent his possessions to the ruin of his own head. So wealth is neither simply good nor simply evil. If it were simply good, and not indifferent, the rich man in the story of Lazarus would not have been punished in such a way; if it were evil, Abraham would not have been so highly esteemed while being wealthy. Something similar is also the case with illness. For if illness were evil, then the one who has it would also have to be evil. So Timothy would have been evil in this respect, struggling with a severe illness. For he says, "Use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent weaknesses." But if he was not only not evil on account of this, but even received an addition of great reward, having borne the illness nobly, it is clear that illness is not evil. And another prophet also suffered from his eyes, but he was not evil on account of this; on the contrary, he prophesied and foresaw the future, and the illness was no hindrance to virtue. But neither is health simply good, unless one uses it properly, but for evil activity or foolish idleness; for this too is not blameless. That is why Paul said, "If anyone does not wish to work,

Nor should he eat. But these things are among the indifferent, becoming at one time this, at another time that, depending on those who use them. And what need is there to speak of health and disease, wealth and poverty? For even this very thing, which seems to the many to be the chief of goods and the crown of evils—I mean death and life—not even these will be simple, but these too are among the indifferent, becoming each of these depending on the judgment of those who use them. What I mean is this: living is good when one uses it as one ought; but when it is used for sins and lawless acts, it is no longer good, but it is better for such a person to die. Again, what seems to many to be an object of flight could become the cause of countless goods, when it has the appropriate cause. And the martyrs show this, who are more blessed than all because of their death. For this reason Paul did not simply desire to live in Christ, but because this was for him the fruit of his work. And what shall I choose, he says, I do not know; I am constrained by both, having the desire to depart and to be with Christ—for that is far better—but remaining in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. For this reason too the Prophet says, "Precious before the Lord is the death of his saints"—not simply death, but death of this kind. And again elsewhere, "The death of sinners is evil." Do you see that this too is among the indifferent, not simply good nor simply evil, but depending on the judgment of those who receive it?

For this reason the most wise Solomon, enumerating the useful mean of these things and philosophizing about them, and showing that this is not simply good and that bad, but that they become good with the appropriate occasion, even if they seem burdensome, when they lack the proper occasion, used to say, "There is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to live and a time to die." For rejoicing is not good everywhere, but there is where it is even harmful; nor is grieving good everywhere, but there is where it is even deadly and destructive. And Paul, showing this same thing, said, "Grief according to God produces repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but the grief of the world produces death." Do you see that this too is among the indifferent? Therefore its opposite, I mean rejoicing, is also among the indifferent. For this reason he did not simply command rejoicing, but rejoicing in the Lord. But the account of the indifferent has been sufficiently clarified for us, if indeed we have attentive hearers. It is time, then, to proceed to what is not indifferent, but to the good things, which could never become bad, and to the bad things, which could never become good.

For these things that have been said sometimes become this, sometimes that: for example, wealth is sometimes evil, when it is spent on greed, and sometimes good, when it is spent on almsgiving; and other such things follow this rule. But there are some things that could never become evil; and others, opposite to these, are always evil and could never become good: for example, impiety, blasphemy, licentiousness, cruelty, inhumanity, gluttony, and all such things. I do not say that a bad man could never become good, nor that a good man could never become bad; but that these things themselves could never become so. For these things would remain in their own order, both the good and the bad; but a man, when he chooses those, is good, and when he chooses the opposite, is bad. Thus there are these three divisions: for some things are good and could never become bad, such as temperance, almsgiving, and all such things; some things are bad and could never become good, such as licentiousness, inhumanity, cruelty; and some things become sometimes this, sometimes that, according to the intention of those who use them.

Wealth sometimes serves greed, sometimes almsgiving, but according to the intention of the user. Poverty sometimes serves blasphemy, sometimes praise and philosophy. Since, then, many of the more irrational (for we must now proceed to the solution) call not only evils, which could never become good, but also some of the intermediate things evils, such as poverty, captivity, slavery—which we have shown are not among evils but among intermediate things—and many, as I said earlier, call these things evils, though they are not evils; concerning which the prophet speaks, of those things called evil according to the opinion of the many, not of the truly evil things: concerning captivity, slavery, famine, and all such things. For that these are not evils, but even destructive of evils, let us first bring forward famine, which seems to all to be dreadful and terrible. How then is it not evil? Learn, and be taught to philosophize. When the people of the Hebrews had drifted into the utmost lawlessness, then the great Elijah, worthy of the heavens, wishing to remove the disease of indolence and to correct it, brought on a famine, saying: "As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, if there will be rain, unless through my mouth"; and he, possessing only a sheepskin, shut up the heaven; such was his boldness toward God. Do you see that poverty is not an evil? The poorest of all men would not have enjoyed such boldness, walking on the ground, showing such power by a single word. Having said this, he then brought on famine, as an excellent tutor and corrector of the evils that were occurring.

And just as when a violent fever falls upon a body, even the veins of the earth themselves are dried up, and torrents fail, and plants, and the hollows of the earth are thereafter barren. And the people then reaped no small benefit, being freed from the impulse toward lawlessness, and being restrained, and becoming more moderate, and docile toward the prophet. For those who used to run to the idols and slaughter their own sons to the demons—these same people, when so many priests of Baal were being slain, did not become indignant, did not resent it, but bore what happened in silence and fear, having become better because of the famine. 6. Do you see that famine is not only not an evil, but even a destroyer of evils, having corrected the diseases in the manner of a drug? And if you wish to see that captivity itself is not among evils, consider what the Jews were like before the captivity and what they were like during the captivity, so that you may learn that neither is freedom simply a good, nor is captivity an evil. For when they were in freedom and had their own fatherland, they did such things that their prophets cried out against them daily, with the laws being trampled, the idols being worshipped, and the commandments of God being transgressed. But when they were carried off to a foreign land and dwelt in the country of the barbarians, they were so restrained and became better, and guardians of the law, as it is possible to learn this from the psalm which it is necessary to bring forward today, so that you may learn the fruit of the captivity. And what is the psalm? "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion.

On the willows in the midst of it we hung our instruments. For there those who had taken us captive questioned us about the words of songs, saying: Sing to us from the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the song of the Lord on foreign soil? Do you see how captivity restrained them? For before this, even when the prophets were urging them not to transgress the law, they would not endure it; but after this, even when the barbarians were pressing upon them and those who ruled over them were compelling and urging them to transgress, they did not obey, but said: We will not sing the song of the Lord on foreign soil, since the law did not permit this. Observe also the three youths, not only suffering no harm from captivity, but even becoming more illustrious because of it; and Daniel likewise. And what of Joseph? What evil did he suffer, though he became a foreigner, a slave, and a prisoner? Was it not through this alone that he was esteemed and shone? And what of that barbarian woman, who, living in wealth, pride, and freedom, what benefit did she derive from these? Was she not more wretched than all, because she did not wish to use these things properly? Therefore these matters have been clearly demonstrated to us: which are evils, which are goods, and which are intermediate; and that the prophet speaks concerning the intermediate things, not the truly evil ones, but those that seem so to the many—captivity, slavery, deportation.

Why then these things have been said, it is necessary to state. Being philanthropic and swift to mercy, but reluctant to punish and chastise, so as not to hand the Jews over to punishments, God sent prophets, frightening them through words, so as not to punish them through deeds, which he also did in the case of the Ninevites. For there too he threatened to destroy the city, not in order to destroy it, but in order that it not be destroyed; which indeed came to pass. This then he was doing at that time as well, and he sent prophets, threatening an invasion of barbarians, wars, captivities, slaveries, deportation, sojourn in a foreign land. And just as an affectionate father, having a dissolute and idle child, wishing to correct him, seeks straps, threatens ropes, saying: I will bind, I will flog, I will kill, and becomes fearsome in words, so as to check the child's vice by this means; so too God threatened continually, wishing to make them better through fear. Seeing this, the devil, wishing to undo the correction arising from such a threat, sent false prophets, and while the prophets threatened captivity, slavery, and famines, those spoke the opposite: peace, prosperity, and the enjoyment of countless goods. Hence the prophets, reproaching them, said: Peace, peace; and where is peace? And those who are learned know that all the things that occurred between the prophets and the false prophets were loosening the zeal of the people. Since therefore by loosening them in this way they corrupted the people, God says through the prophets: I, God, make peace and create evils. And what evils?

These things that have been said—captivity, slavery, and all such things—not fornication, and licentiousness, and greed, nor any other of such things. For this reason also the other prophet, having said, "If there is evil in a city which the Lord did not make," means this evil: famines, diseases, divinely sent plagues. So also Christ, when he says, "Sufficient for the day is its own evil," speaks of toils, labor, misery. 7. This then the prophet says: Do not let the false prophets unnerve you; for God is able to give you peace and to hand you over to captivity—that is, the one who makes peace and creates evils. And that you may learn that this is true, let us examine the very words with precision. For having said above, "I am the one who made light and darkness," he then added, "Making peace and creating evils." He has set two opposites above, and two opposites after these, that you may learn that he is not speaking about fornication, but about calamities. For what is contrasted with peace? It is evident: captivity, not licentiousness, nor fornication, nor greed. Just as above he set two opposites, so also here; and the opposite of peace is not fornication, nor adultery, nor licentiousness, nor the remaining vices, but captivity and slavery. But what they experience with the elements, this they also experience with things. What I mean is: just as he made light and darkness, and to many light seems pleasant, but darkness burdensome, and they slander the night as being something evil, so also with things.

But one must not blame the night, nor the darkness, nor simply slavery and captivity. For tell me, what evil does darkness have? Is it not a rest from labors? Is it not a release from cares? Is it not a removal of grief? Is it not an addition of strength? And if there were no darkness and night, when would we enjoy the light? Would not this living creature, man, be destroyed and perish? Just as darkness seems to the foolish to be evil, but is not, but rather cooperates with the day for us and makes those who have rested in it more fit for their labors in the day, so too is captivity not evil—concerning which the prophet was speaking when he said, "The one who makes peace and creates evils"—but rather more useful to those who use it properly; it makes people more temperate and gentle by cutting off arrogance. For virtue is unslavable, and nothing can overcome it—not slavery, not captivity, not poverty, not disease, not even that which is most tyrannical of all, death. And all those who have endured all these things and shone all the more through them make this clear. For what harm did slavery do to Joseph? (For nothing prevents me from bringing the same man forward again.) What harm did the bonds do? What harm did the chains? What harm did the false accusation? What harm did the plot? What harm did his sojourn in a foreign land? What harm did the destruction of Job's herds and flocks, the violent and untimely death of his children, the blow to his body, the streams of worms, the unbearable pain, his seat on the dung heap, the plot of his wife, the reproaches of his friends, the insults of his servants?

What of Lazarus—lying at the gate, licked by the tongues of dogs, the perpetual hunger, the rich man’s disdain, the wounds, the unbearable disease, the lack of those who would stand by him, the neglect of those who would help? What of Paul—those snowstorms of his imprisonments, his arrests, his deaths, his drownings, the rest of his trials, which cannot even be numbered in speech? Having considered all these things, let us flee vice, let us pursue virtue; and let us pray not to enter into trial; but if ever we fall into it, let us not be distressed, nor be vexed; for these are weapons of virtue for those who use them aright, and we shall be able to gain renown through all things if we are sober, and to enjoy the eternal goods; may it be that we all attain them in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.