In illud Memor fui dei

On the text, "I remembered God and rejoiced." "I remembered God and rejoiced," the psalmist David testified. He did not testify from his own nature, but sang from the Holy Spirit of God. David did not simply remember, but also wisely supplicated. He did not remember only with his lips, but his heart also taught. David did not forget by night or by day, but, asking for these things, remembered at every hour. And so that you may learn that we record truth and not falsehood, let us gather the melodies of the Holy Spirit from the written history itself. "I remembered God and rejoiced," said David. And if you wish truly to know that David remembered God both by night and by day, and rejoiced while remembering, pay close attention with great eagerness to what is said: "I remembered your name by night, Lord," and, "I will remember your name in every generation and generation." "At midnight I arose to confess to you, Lord." "In the mornings I meditated on you." "Evening and morning and midday I will relate and proclaim." "O God, my God, I rise early for you." And again, "To announce your mercy in the morning, and your truth by night." Do you see that there is no idle hour in which he forgot? Neither morning nor night. If you truly wish to learn that David did not simply remember God, but with heartfelt intensity, listen: "From the depths I cried out to you, Lord." "Lord, I will confess to you with uprightness of heart." And so that David may bring a conclusion to all the hours, he then says: "How I have loved your law, Lord! It is my meditation all day long.

Behold how, meditating on the oracles of the Lord the whole day and remembering God at every turn, what dignity of grace he received. Did he gather the rewards on earth? I think he both excelled and reigned on earth: here subduing enemies, there commanding angels; here wearing the purple of earthly kingship, and there flashing forth the glory of the kingdom in heaven; here shining with the voices of the Holy Spirit's euphony, and there illuminating with the radiance of all-virtuous wisdom. And these things we describe in part. But of all these, he obtained the better portion. For when the Holy Spirit saw God continuously hymned by David on earth, the Holy Spirit then proceeded to heaven on an embassy, saying: "Lord, David remembers you every day, and remembering, rejoices; and do you yourself remember him, Lord our God," and it says: "Remember, Lord, David and all his meekness." Then the benevolent God answers: "Since David remembers me continuously and intelligently, I too will proclaim before all my disposition and love toward him; I will magnify him above saints and angels and powers on earth." What does he say? "I have found David my servant, a man after my heart; and, I will set him as firstborn, high among the kings of the earth; and, His throne as the days of heaven." Having said this, David showed himself. Do you see that great profit comes to the man from remembering God? "I remembered God," said David, "and my heart rejoiced.

For other pleasures enter through the mouth and are processed through the latrine; but the pleasure of God, like a spring, delights the heart with honey-flowing words, so that such a one says: "How sweet to my throat are your oracles, sweeter than honey to my mouth." For he who remembers God has all the goods of joy dwelling in his heart: there is a spring gushing forth goods, there is honey and honeycomb and a burning lamp, there is a hidden treasure of the Holy Trinity. Then the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit come and take up residence with him, and he is no longer a catechumen but a God-bearing angel. Since, then, man has been deemed worthy of such grace, and since David enjoyed such joy and was delighted, let us also, enjoying the pleasure of God, continually remember God, so that we may enjoy his goods. Come, then, let us mine the virtues of the presence of the Savior, and hymn his earthly presence as a wholly virtuous monument, since I have heard from the tongue of the lawless Jews evidence of blasphemy, and since they disbelieve the Scriptures, which they read unworthily, and do not understand the mystery. For the fact that the Lord was born of a virgin scandalizes them, the wretched and utterly wicked say.

Oh, the folly! Oh, the unnatural lawlessness! What scripture or what prophet does not trumpet these graces of the Lord? Solomon, the charioteer of great wisdom, first blessed the Virgin, saying: "Blessed is the barren one, the undefiled, who knew no bed in transgression." For he calls her barren before the Holy Spirit alighted and before the sun blossomed. "She knew no bed in transgression," because she did not consort with a man. When the worthy Isaiah heard about the undefiled barren one, he immediately swaddled the wise man's saying and sang to the same tune: "You," he says, "spoke of an undefiled barren one; and I say: 'Rejoice, barren one who does not give birth.' For until now you have not borne; from now on rejoice, because you have been deemed worthy to receive the one whom the heavens cannot contain." As the two witnesses proclaimed these things, they sought to mix yet another into the mystery, so that the matter under inquiry might stand secure on three witnesses. As they were pondering this, each found David, the orator of melody, and they remind him of the future events of the economy. When he heard the mystery, he answered with a trumpet voice: "Behold, you have both spoken about the barren one; why have you not spoken about the glorious birth?" Immediately understanding the wisdom, Isaiah retorts with words: "Behold, the virgin will conceive in her womb and bear a son." And Solomon seconded: "She will have fruit in the oversight of souls." Hearing this, David said to them: "Behold, you have said that she will bear; in what place? In a city, or in a desert, or in a region?" They say to him: "You interpret the place and the city; for you have been deemed worthy of greater grace.

Then David, when the Spirit had told him of the act, proclaimed the mystery with a loud cry: You, he says, whisper in secret, but I with a high voice will hymn the birth. Behold, we heard of her in Ephratha, we found her in the fields of the forest. And understanding that the riddle was deep in these teachings, he painted it: Behold, we heard of her in Ephratha, we found her in the fields of the forest, that is, in Bethlehem, for it is called Ephratha. We heard of her in Ephratha, that she was pregnant, for there the report went out that the Virgin was pregnant. Then we found her in the fields of the forest, in the cave, where the light revealed itself. Here we heard she was pregnant, here we received the report about a husband; there we found the mother of the Lord. Behold, from your own we have presented to you three witnesses proclaiming the glory of the Virgin. Not that we have found only these, for all the prophets who have seen him hope in him, but it is just to stand on three witnesses. I, however, do not deal with three; but give me one most faithful witness who says the mystery is false, or that the Virgin gave birth from a man; or prove this, and having turned back, worship her as Theotokos. Or show the Savior held in a tomb and a coffin, or I show him to you seated at the right hand of the Father. For not

from the gentiles, but from your own race I bring forward the witness who says: The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I place your enemies as a footstool under your feet. He speaks of the Jews, for there is no other enemy than the one who denies the cross. But I, leaving the God-fighting synagogue, join myself to the God-inspired Church. If a Jew says to you, "Tell how the virgin gave birth without a man," say to him also: How did Adam give birth to Eve without a woman? How did the virgin give birth without seed? How did the earth sprout without seed? How did the virgin give birth? How did the rock gush forth water? How did the virgin give birth? Tell how Aaron's rod blossomed. How did the virgin give birth? Tell how the manna came from heaven. How did the jar multiply? How did the flower blossom from the root of Jesse? How did Elisha's oil gush forth into the jars? How did the virgin give birth? Tell how the fleece released dew for Gideon. Tell how Samson's bone gushed forth water. Tell how the furnace preserved the children. Tell how the rock was kindled for Manoah without wood. Tell how the bush burned and was not consumed. Tell how Elijah was not consumed in the fiery chariot. Tell how Moses entered the darkness and came out again. How did the virgin give birth? Tell how Isaiah saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne. Tell how Daniel revealed the hidden dream to Nebuchadnezzar. How did Ezekiel see the invisible one seated on a chariot of cherubim? How did the virgin give birth? Tell how Jeremiah was consecrated a prophet from the womb.

Tell me, how did the dead bones of the prophet raise the dead then? Tell me, how was the Red Sea struck with a rod? Tell me, how did the Jordan reverse its current? Tell me, how do trees bear fruit? Tell me, how does the vine produce the grape? Tell me, how did night give birth to day? How did the Virgin give birth? Tell me, how does the light of the sun warm the world? Tell me, how does the sky reveal the stars? And concerning these things there are unspeakable mysteries, hidden and incomprehensible in the heavens. If you, the examiner of the Jews, explain these to me, I know that you also comprehend the conception of the Virgin. But you are a stranger to both those and these mysteries; we, however, both honor these and believe those. Interpret the prophets, and behold the orators of the advent. Let the proclamation be crowned. Whatever he did and suffered, those who lived so many generations beforehand depicted. First, David entreats: Lord, bend the heavens and descend. And having obtained his request, he announces the good news and says: He bent the heavens and descended. And since he was to appear as a child, Isaiah says: A child was born to us. And that his mother was to take him and flee to Egypt: Behold, the Lord sits upon a light cloud, and he will come to Egypt, and the handiworks of Egypt will be shaken. The word fittingly called the Virgin a light cloud, because she did not receive the weight of human seed. And that he was to be baptized in the Jordan, Jeremiah says: How will you act in the pride of the Jordan?

And why do we count them one by one? Let us bring all the prophecies together as if concentrated into a single luminary. Concerning the interpretation, Gabriel says: Behold, I send my angel before your face, who will prepare your way before you. And concerning the meeting of Christ and the Baptist, David says: Mercy and truth met. And concerning the greeting of Elizabeth to the holy and pure Mother of God, Righteousness and peace kissed. And again concerning John and concerning the Lord, he says: Truth rose from the earth, and righteousness looked down from heaven. And concerning the apostles, he says: I said, You are gods. And concerning the testimony from above, David says: You are my son, I have begotten you today. And concerning the sick, he says: He sent his word and healed them. And concerning the sinners, he says: He bears our sins. And concerning the raised dead, The dead will rise. And concerning the souls held captive, And those sitting in darkness, light has dawned for you. And concerning Caiaphas and Herod, he says: Rulers of peoples gathered with Abraham. And concerning Judas, He who ate my bread magnified a heel against me. And concerning the synagogue of the Jews and the high priests, The Lord will come to judgment with the elders of the people. And concerning the cross: Come, let us cast wood into his bread. And concerning the thief on the right, The right hand of the Lord performed a mighty deed. And concerning the tomb: They placed me in a lowest pit. And concerning the crown of thorns, My vine sprouted thorns instead of grapes.

and concerning his being tempted by the Evil One: "An enemy reproached the Lord"; and concerning his being called Son of Man: "And upon the Son whom you strengthened for yourself"; and concerning his burial: "And I will give the wicked in place of his burial"; and concerning the resurrection of the Lord: "Awake, why do you sleep, Lord?"; and concerning his ascension: "God ascended with a shout"; and concerning his sitting above: "Sit at my right hand." And why do I say many things? For not even the orators proclaim all the prophecies that are sung concerning the grace of Christ. Do you wish to know the certainty of a good history? That the Old Testament painted the New Testament, and what is administered here was sketched there? Behold him there arriving at the tent of Abraham with two angels, and here entering the house of Zacchaeus with twelve disciples. Behold him there calling two brothers to the priesthood, and here choosing two brothers for the apostolate: Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Peter and Andrew among his apostles. Behold him there raising the son of the widow through Elijah, and here raising the only son of the widow through himself; there cleansing Naaman through Elisha, and here washing the leper through himself; there bringing in Miriam, the sister of the holy prophets, and here naming the same appellation of sister of the holy apostles; there magnifying four from among the prophets, and here honoring the number four as evangelists.

There he appointed twelve other prophets, and here he called twelve apostles in number; there he set forth assistants to the great prophets, and here seventy to the apostles. Thaddaeus, then, was the one who healed Abgar. There Jesus the son of Nun instructed the kings of Palestine, here Jesus the true God glorified the kings of the world; there twelve springs flow in Eden, here twelve disciples draw baptism from the sun of righteousness; there seventy palm trunks were shown, here seventy disciples of the apostles sprouted; there the bitter water was sweetened by a tree, and here the most bitter of sins was transformed into a sweet spring of graces by the tree of the cross; there the tent of witness was sanctified, here the tent of the pastophorion was glorified; there David sang the hymns, and here Paul chanted the teachings; there Elijah was shown forth as a virgin among the prophets, and here likewise John as a virgin among the apostles; there Elijah sat in the fiery chariot, and here John reclined on the breast of the Lord; for our God is a consuming fire. There three great ones were shown forth, bearing the name of the Savior, revealing the character of the glorious Trinity, the three holy mighty ones. For they were not simply among the ordinary, nor among the ignoble: Jesus the son of Josedek, the great among priests; then the three trustworthy martyrs adorn the pattern of the holy Trinity. Truly my mind is drawn to leap out into other things, into saving faith. For I do not depart from the prophet who says:

I remembered God, and I rejoiced; that which all-virtuous Wisdom proclaims in the Songs: "Awake, north wind, and come, south wind, blow through my garden, and let the spices flow." Who, then, is the north wind, or the south wind? Or what is the garden? Or what are the plants in the garden? Or what are the spices that flow? I think this to be, as Scripture interprets, that the north wind is the holy Virgin, the south wind the Savior of the world, the plants the holy martyrs and apostles, the spring watering the garden the baptism of the Savior, the seal of the cross the guardian of the garden, the spices the healings and the graces of the Savior. This, then, is: "Awake, north wind," that is, the Virgin from Galilee; "and come, south wind," come, Christ, from the heaven from the south, and breathe into the holy Virgin; blow into the world, and awaken the holy martyrs and apostles, and let the spices flow upon the sick and the erring. These spices are fixed in various graces, and become for the sick a sign of health, for the erring a proof of conversion, for sinners an advocate of repentance, for the righteous an aid of strength. How, then, shall we worthily hymn the healings of healings, the life-giving hope, the earthly life, the heavenly salvation? How was the earth perfumed when these spices flowed? And how, again, did the earth bear its own incense? And offering it to the Lord with fear, it said: "You, Lord, provide the heavenly spices, and I offer the earthly incense to your divinity.

You, O Master, anoint my back with your holy and immaculate footprints, and I, leaping with myrrh, offer myself to you. Then the earth, rejoicing in all these things together, cried out to all her fellow-slave creation: Come, all my offspring, gather together, and see on earth the one glorified in the heavens; come, see in the arms of a woman the one borne upon the Cherubim; come, see the one who supplies milk to females being fed on milk; come, see the one contained in the womb of a Virgin, the one not contained in the heavens; come, see the one receiving nourishment from a mother, the one who nourishes the ends of the earth; come, see the one handed over to teachers, the one who instructs teachers; come, see the one tempted by men, the one glorified by angels; come, see the one entering the house of Zacchaeus, the one seated above the heavens; come, see the one conversing with the Canaanite woman, the one hymned by the Cherubic liturgy; come, see the one associating with a sinful woman, the one seated at the right hand of the Father; come, see the one touched at the hem by the sick woman, the one worshipped by the incorporeal nature of the Powers; come, see the one born as a man, the one who is the maker of the ages; come, see the one who is an infant, the one who existed before the foundation of the world; come, see the one tempted by high priests, the one attended by angels; come, all creatures, seeing the Creator; and as life is on earth, all of you, live; come, all of you, be God-bearing.

Come, small with great, assemble, the poor with the rich, the slaves with the masters, the sinners with the righteous, the creeping and four-footed with the winged, and behold the one who bestowed life. Seasons of winter and autumn, change, and bear fruit contrary to nature, and bring your produce to the one who impregnated your fruits; do everything, and perfume the divinity; either bring your own incense, or gather aromatics from him. But when the earth was overlooked by the offspring in all these things, behold, everything, as it said, ran together, and the desert places blossomed, and showed much fragrance; so that they might fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah that sang: Let the desert rejoice, and bloom like a lily, and the wilderness of the Jordan will be wooded and fragrant. These things being done well, then the sea itself desired to enjoy the fragrance, and began to make itself public, and spoke back to the earth, saying: Now also yield the Lord to me; for the Master is not yours alone, because you received the grace of his entire divinity; invite him to come to me, lest I, coming to him, utterly destroy your whole face. For if I had not recognized him, and feared the one who sealed and bound me with unbreakable bonds, I would long ago have come and bent your boundaries. Or do you not know that I have proceeded more honored and more ancient than you? Before you appeared, I danced in the abysses. Give me back the Master who is my own, as the prophet said:

That the sea is his, and he himself made it; and then he added: "And the dry land his hands fashioned." You, then, were fashioned later. Dried-up one, mother of dust, insatiate, and tomb of corpses, house of blood, treacheries, and sins, why do you tyrannize your elder, and alone keep the Lord? Give him back to me now, so that what is said may be fulfilled: "In the sea are your ways." Give me back my own fashioner, so that he may fill my bosoms also with grace. And thus the earth, constrained by the sea at his nod, swelling with cosmic pride, paraded, saying: "Am I not inferior to you, you who are tossed, and gaping, and unstable, and hissing, you who belch forth cholera, driver of grass, and useless for life, salt-watered and foul-channeled, untrodden in journeys, kinsman of the storm, shattered by squalls? If you know, as you claimed, that you are more honorable, the Master would have first taken up residence in you. But now my worth appears in this, that I surpass you, because in me he first released the rays of his divinity.

So much more honored than you have I become, as I am mother of men, and you of creeping things; I am mother of the holy Virgin, who blossomed forth the Lord; you, of the evil serpent, which mocks your creatures; I am mother of prophets and apostles and holy men; you, mother of wild and evil creeping things, and of the corruption of ill-sailing; I am a paradise and fruitful, having flowers and spices; you, winds and harbors and disorders. If it were in me to detain the Lord, I would not have allowed him to come to you. But when, with the elements then opposing his commands, the Lord, who fills all and orders all, comes to the sea itself, wishing to glorify and honor the dry land of the waters with his holy footsteps, then the sea, spreading out its bosoms, received the Lord with great joy, saying: Come, all you creatures small and great, gather together those in the depths, swim up to the one who from the beginning enthroned you and granted you life; all contrary winds of winter, be muzzled, and shudder at the present divinity; all squalls and tempests, be still before the magnitude of his power; all winds and storms, be contracted, and all waves be calm and tranquil, and receive the Lord of life and death with joy. Who will announce to me today that I have the Lord as a sea-walking passenger? May I be magnified from today, because I have become a Cherubic seat, and have taken up Seraphic couches; because the one who sits there I have here walking.

the one who flies on the wings of the winds, I have him dispatched among the islands; the one who is raised above such high and lofty firmaments, I have him walking on my glorious land. Now I am no longer called sea, but heavenly font; now I have become a lamp, shining brightly, heavenly; now I have become a spring gushing forth healings; now I have become a sun, emitting rays; now I have become a heaven casting forth sparks, not supplying the things of nature, but gushing forth streams of grace. And as all creation rejoiced, both earth and the things under heaven were brightened with grace. For the erring turned back, the sinners repented, the impious became pious, the sick received health, the dead a workshop for life, the living a face of divinity. And as the demons were driven out, and the disease withered, and death was put to shame, then even those in Hades held by the enemy, having received word about him, were eager to see the glory and begged to be freed from their bonds. And when the leader of destruction and prince of darkness saw that he had accomplished these things here and was ready to plunder the realms of Hades, the Evil One deserted to the demons guarding there, saying: "The one who has come to his senses under heaven is coming under the earth to despoil the ends and to take captive our hidden treasuries." And the avenging spirits answered him, saying: "And who is stronger than you? Did you not say, 'There is none mightier than me who opposes me'? Now have you become faint-hearted, being relieved by him? At least try to fight.

Take courage, and you will find him defeated in every respect. But he says, "I tried and I tested, and from every side he seized my dominions; I warred against him in the desert, and he showed me desert from every side. Neither did I prevail against his disciples; for he bestowed the same glory upon them as well." And they said to him, "For now, go inside, close the bronze gates, let us secure the iron bolts, and prepare our arrows." As the evil ones were crying out these and similar things, behold, the Lord also arrives with fire-bearing armies. "Open the gates for me, rulers of the demons; for the King of Glory will enter." And those within were daring, and answered, "Who is this King of Glory, a Lord mighty and powerful in war?" And the general of the demons said to them within, "Did I not tell you that he is mighty and powerful in war, and strong in strength?" And the angels urged, "Lift the gates, before we shatter them and break the bolts; open in peace, before we enter in anger. Lift the gates, rulers of Hades, and the King of Glory will enter." And those seized with fear, as they were bandying words, said, "Who is this King of Glory?" They answered themselves, "He is the Lord of the powers, the Master of those above and those below.

And as they were rioting, not opening the gates, being disciplined by fear, at a nod of the divinity the gates were immediately shattered, and the bars were broken, and the proclamation of the prophecy, sounded like a trumpet so many generations before, was fulfilled: "He shattered bronze gates, and he broke iron bars." Then, being at a loss, the workers of slander, the lawless ones, said, "Having arrows and swords, let us rush upon him." But he who broke the gates also crushed them, and fulfilled the two proclaiming prophecies: "The Lord who breaks wars, Lord is his name." There he crushed the power of the bows, weapon and sword and war. And when the imprisoned saw the light of eternal life, they cried out, saying, "You shine marvelously from eternal mountains." They called the mountains the firmaments of Hades. All the foolish in heart were disturbed; that is, the devilish rulers were amazed: "They slept their sleep, and found nothing." For they were put to death by the Lord, and what they had in their hands they lost, and found nothing. "At your rebuke, the God of Jacob, those mounted on horses became drowsy." By horses he means the souls of the possessed, and by riders the evil demons, demons who mercilessly discipline the souls of men. They became drowsy and were put to death. Then, when they saw the salvation of the souls and their own destruction, their freedom and their own slavery, themselves being released, and

themselves held in indissoluble bonds, they cried out with a mighty shout: "You are terrible, and who will stand against you face to face? Lashing souls from heaven, you have hurled a just judgment upon us; for we did not judge justly. Therefore we are judged, therefore we obtain no mercy. For creation is merciless to one who did not show mercy." He shut them up in the chambers of Hades, punished by the stench of serpents, binding them with indissoluble bonds. And taking all the souls, the Lord gathered them together and fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah: "The partridge has gathered what it did not hatch." For the souls which the enemy had brought down into Hades, these the Lord gathered; those which the devil had hatched there, or rather scattered, these Christ gathered. "Arise," said the Lord, "and let us go up to heaven." And all this happened to fulfill the riddle of the prophecy: "Arise, and let us go up to the mountain," that is, to the heavenly Jerusalem. The gates below were opened, or rather shattered; of necessity, then, the gates of the heavens above must also be opened. For even the gatekeepers above, being ignorant, hindered. For as he descended, they did not know; therefore, when he ascended, they did not recognize him, and for a time they attempted to negotiate (for the Lord had with him the souls he had ransomed, and the thief, or rather disciple), saying: "Who is this coming with such a great host?" But the angels who led the way signified the dignity of the divinity. Yet they were not hastening, worn down by ignorance: "And if it is the Lord ascending, how did we not know him descending?

For did He not descend also at other times, and arrange the ark for Noah? He came to the tent of Abraham, to Jacob on the ladder, He spoke to Job through a whirlwind and cloud, to Moses on Mount Sinai, to Joshua at Jericho, to Elijah in the cave. And there is no generation where He did not descend, and He did not escape our notice. And now, as it is said, if the Lord is present ascending, how did we not know Him descending? Those leading answered: He is the one who descended then; so that He might not be known ascending, He put on a servant's form, that you might not know the master's magnificence. And learn the master's mystery, and the Lord's stratagem, and do not hinder the purpose of philanthropy. For if you had known Him descending in great humility for the sake of the creature, you would have prevented the descent and deprived man of salvation, and he would be bereft of the kingdom above. Now open, kneel down. Then they themselves answer: Unless we hear His divine voice, we would not open the doors. For no one passes through here unclean. For this, it is said, is the gate of the Lord; the righteous will enter through it. Then the Lord spoke with a precious voice: I am the one sought, open for me the gates of righteousness; having entered through them, I will confess to the Lord; that is, what I have done and suffered, how many good things I have done and how many evils I have received. I will announce the proofs of the righteous, the gifts of healings, the achievements of deeds. Open for me the gates of righteousness; having entered through them, I will confess to the Lord.

Then those holding the gates, recognizing the immaculate voice of the Lord, came out in fear to prostrate themselves: "We did not know you, Lord, descending; we worship you ascending." Then He Himself passed through without contradiction, and His followers. But they prevented those entering behind, saying: "These are the gates of the Lord; the righteous will enter through them. Shall the unjust also? Here, adulterers and tax collectors and robbers? Why is this done by Your holiness? You established these gates, You appointed us gatekeepers, You decreed for us the law that 'These are the gates of the Lord; the righteous will enter through them.' Has it not been said concerning You, 'He set a decree, and it will not be transgressed'? For You said, 'Only the righteous will enter.' Shall the unjust also? Here, adulterers and tax collectors are brought in, here magicians and bandits and robbers enter? Even if you first bring in the righteous, then lead the sinners by the hand afterward. But now you bring in all these; clearly they repented. But this thief, why do you bring him before all into the upper palaces? Where did he repent, where did he change his mind? He did not do a single day in his life, nor did he ever perform any good deed; but he did not even have one hour for repentance. Behold, we hold his sins in writing, which he did not erase through repentance, and you lead him into paradise before all the righteous?" The Savior says: "Seek his sin, which I erased before all? The record of his sins will be void, because his faith erased it. Let the bond of his injustices be dissolved by the good confession.

He did not repent before the time, but he understood at the time. Before death he was naked, without faith; in death his faith conquered the sea of floods. In a time of ease he did not know, but in a time of necessity he recognized what is right. When my disciples fled from me, this man fled to me. When Peter said, "I do not know the man," then this man confessed the King of the heavens. When priests were putting me to death, then this man called me Lord of life. For me the work of repentance is complete, for one who sees the intention and the zeal. For me the justification of patience has been accomplished, for one who inclines his heart toward the good. Through the side of Adam he closed paradise; this man, by his confession, opens the gate guarded by the fiery sword. Do not seek his sin, which you will not find. For this reason David prophesied so many generations before: "His sin will be sought, and it will not be found." Then the Savior ascended, having conquered every authority and power, and all the armies of the angels met him, and they prostrated themselves before him as before the Master, and every Cherubic order and Seraphic liturgy prostrated before him and before the Father who begot him. And all that the Father received, and he seated him on the throne at his right hand, he who never left the paternal bosom. For even if he descended to earth out of love for humanity, nevertheless he was in no way abandoned from the throne. And even if he became a perfect man by economy, he in no way suffered an ecstasy from his own natural divinity.

For Christ did not become God from human progress—far from it—but being God, he became human in order to save humanity. Therefore we do not proclaim a deified human, but we confess a God who became incarnate, as the inspired Paul said: hence every beginning and authority was subjected to him, as one existing before all creation, indeed as the maker of creation, co-ruling and co-reigning with his pure Father and the life-giving Spirit for the ages. Amen. For he is the one who will judge the inhabited world and everything under heaven, and render to each according to what they have done. Who then will speak of the mercy of his love for humanity, or the magnitude of his power? Who will express the wisdom of his goodness, or the majesty of his might? Who will recount the compassions of his benevolence, or trace the dignity of his surpassing excellence? That he did not abandon the heights, but came down to earth for us; that he escaped the notice of the rulers and authorities, and entered the pure womb of a Virgin; that he eluded the choirs of angels and archangels, and put on the form of a slave, in order to save the human being made in his image from corruption and death; and he died in the flesh, so that he might make us partakers of his immortal nature.

And what shall we give him in return for all that he has given us? What thanks or supplication? Even if all our limbs should take up voices, and our hairs should utter speech, and every organ of ours be filled with melodies, we could not worthily hymn his compassion and majesty shown to us in his condescension. But as far as we are able, we hymn the only supremely holy one, fulfilling the saying, "I remembered God, and I rejoiced." For through this cycle I have passed through the great and marvelous wonders of the Savior, so that by remembering each one I may rejoice—if indeed we have comprehended the memory as is fitting. But whether by pretext or truth, God is proclaimed; therefore let us say with the prophet, "I remembered God, and I rejoiced." And may the God of powers, who has displayed philanthropy and great goodness, accepting our weakness and prayers with grace, and leading us to better good providence, himself keep our soul unsullied, our body unstained, our spirit untainted, our life undisturbed, our faith inviolate, our brotherly love unharmed, our virginity blameless, our friendship unblemished, our love unfeigned, our virtue unshaken, our justice unhindered, our faith fruitful. May he open for us the gates of paradise, and quench the fiery sword, and open the door of the kingdom, and prepare the pure enjoyment, and set us at his right hand, and crown us with his right hand through the philanthropy of his goodness.

that glory is due to him, to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.