Homilia de legislatore

On the fact that the Old and New Testaments have one lawgiver, and on the priestly vestment, and on repentance. The prophets proclaim the gospel of Christ’s kingdom, the ministers of the new grace interpret it, and the hearers, lovers, and praisers of the divine word receive it. It is not possible to delight in the word of truth without thirsting for the word of teaching. And just as it is not possible to enjoy food pleasantly without thirsting and hungering, so it is not possible to delight in a word of truth without thirsting for the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Therefore the Savior says: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. The true food of souls, the true delight of the pious, the true wealth of the pious is the word of God, which speaks through David: for at one time he exults as one wealthy, at another as one delighting, and he says: How sweet to my throat are your words, more than honey and honeycomb to my mouth. Here he has uttered the voice of one delighting. For the word of God was a delight to him, about which he often said: Delight in the Lord, and may he grant you the requests of your heart. Elsewhere, not only as one delighting, but also as one wealthy, he prides himself on the wealth of the law, saying: Your law is good to me, more than thousands of gold and silver. Do you see the delight of piety and the wealth in righteousness?

Therefore we must thirst for divine things and hunger for heavenly things, and have an ungrudging enjoyment from the royal table of Christ, and cling to the gospel of salvation, which did not begin now but was founded in the prophets and built up in the apostles. For the gospel did not begin from the time Christ appeared; rather, it was rooted in the books of the prophets and blossomed in the preaching of the apostles. For this reason Paul, wishing to show that the gospel did not begin from the economy but shone forth from the prophets, proclaims it through the economy. Paul, slave of Jesus Christ, called apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures concerning his son, who was born from the seed of David according to the flesh. Paul knows the Old and New Testaments are indivisible. For this reason he sometimes calls it the New Testament to show how the ends of the world were renewed. I know I have previously exercised this argument, but I take it up again for the sake of reminder. So he calls it the New Testament in contrast to the aged one, the better in contrast to the lesser, the eternal in contrast to the temporary. He also calls it the second testament. Why second? To unite them in intention. For what is separated from something is not called second. But since God spoke in both the first and the second, he himself calls them first and second in number, producing harmony.

For this reason Paul, proclaiming the undivided kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, sometimes calls the gospel the gospel of God the Father, sometimes the gospel of the Son, saying: Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God. But so that no one, hearing “gospel of God,” might think that the Son has no authority over the proclamation, in the same epistle a little further on he says: For God, whom I serve in my spirit, is my witness in the gospel of his Son. Do you see the wonder of the herald and the perfect understanding? So that it might not be thought that in the law he serves one god and in the gospel goes to another, he says: Blessed is God, whom I serve from my ancestors with a clear conscience. For I did not, he says, run from one to another, but the one I had in ignorance I received in knowledge. And again, the same man, wishing to show that the words of the Old Testament and the New are from one mouth and one master, brought forward a single testimony from Scripture, weaving the Old together with the gospel word, and says: It is written: You shall not muzzle an ox while it is threshing, and the laborer is worthy of his wage. For “You shall not muzzle” Moses said; “the laborer is worthy of his wage” Christ said in the gospels. But to show that one mouth spoke both those and these, he joined what was divided by time through the harmony of truth, saying: You shall not muzzle an ox while it is threshing, and the laborer is worthy of his wage. An image of this gospel is the nets of Peter, which today have been let down before our eyes and ears.

For Peter did not let down the nets once, but once in the narrative, yet many times in power. For whenever the gospel is proclaimed, I see nothing other than Peter and Andrew and the chorus of apostles spreading the net of the gospel. And it was a strange sight to see the Savior in the sea, and those being taught standing by the shore. A strange thing: the fish on the land, and the fisherman in the sea. The casting of that net was an image of the gospel word. He found, it says, the fishermen washing their nets, as though they had given up the catch. For if a fisherman has not abandoned the hunt, he does not wash the net. So the Savior found them having given up the catch, and the master of the hunt arrives. And what does he do? First he teaches the word of truth, then he orders the net to be let down. For since the words were unproven without the works, it was necessary that the demonstration through works follow the word: that when God commands, even things not found are hunted and things not existing are caught. Let down your net, he says. And Peter says: Master, having labored all night we caught nothing, but at your word I will let down the net. I marvel at Peter’s faith, despairing of the former and trusting the new. At your word I will let down the net. Why did he say “at your word”? Because at his word the heaven was fixed and the earth was founded and the sea was separated, the earth was crowned with its own flowers, and all things are constituted at your word, as Paul says: “bearing all things by the word of his power.” At your word I will let down the net.

The word came down before the net; the fish are not present. For if they were present, they would flee because of the disturbance of the fishers. But the word of that one who calls non-beings as beings came down. The power of the one who commanded came down before the net; a multitude of fish gathered; it was an image of the universal church; the net was being torn; they signaled to the ship that shared in the venture to come and help them. For two boats had to run together for the catch. For if the chorus of prophets is not present to assist the apostolic hand, and if the outcome of the apostles does not follow the prophetic prediction, the prey are not caught. Therefore, wishing to show that the catch of fish is an image of the church, and wishing to instruct Peter further by this example, he anointed him for courage and says to him: Do not be afraid; from now on you will be capturing men alive. From now on, he says, after you have experienced the power and learned that even irrational creatures obey a word and everything follows my nod. Having received a sufficient example, now use the hunt. And he did not say, you will be fishing for men, but, you will be capturing men alive. Because fish are caught from life into death, but men are hunted from death into life. From now on, he says, you will be capturing men alive. Why then does he say to him: Do not be afraid? Granted, the promise had a good appearance. Why then, do not be afraid? Because the memory of his former sins fell upon him. Do not be afraid, he says, of yourself as a sinner, but from now on consider yourself an apostle, commanded by the master’s word to net the world. Do not be afraid; let every sinner hear this from Christ. Do not be afraid.

Only from now on let him repent. So then, the net, to return to the preceding sequence, is an image of the Savior’s evangelical teaching. And the Gospel, this Paul sometimes calls the Gospel of righteousness, sometimes the Gospel of peace, sometimes the Gospel of power. For the grace of the proclamation is powerful, able to destroy wars and to scatter dissensions of men not agreeing in piety; and because it calls all to salvation, it is called the Gospel of righteousness; because it suppresses the war of the demons, it is called the Gospel of peace; because it preaches knowledge of God with simple words, it is called the Gospel of power. Listen to Paul saying: “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel; for it is the power of God for salvation.” For the powerful appears powerful then, when, not using elaborate arguments, it gains mastery over the ends of the earth, as the Savior says to Paul: “My grace suffices for you; for my power is perfected in weakness.” It was nothing great if with bare divinity it had illuminated the world, but that through a body it displayed the impassible and incorporeal glory. It was nothing marvelous if the living one, flashing forth life-giving glory, had given life to the world; but the power of the Word is that it destroys death by death and through insults flashes forth the immortal glory. Elsewhere he calls it the Gospel of peace. For he says: “Prepare our feet in readiness for the Gospel of peace.” Elsewhere he calls it the Gospel of righteousness, as he says: “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel; for the righteousness of God is revealed in it.” What is the righteousness of God?

Since the first law was given to Jews alone, but the Gospel to all, he calls it the Gospel of righteousness. For God is just, having made all alike, having enlightened all alike. And this was just: not to save some and not save others, not to call some and not call others. In the Old Testament the call was not just, but an economic pre-construction preparing the way for righteousness. For I do not say that this one is just and that one unjust, but that that one is a way for this one and a pre-construction for this one. He gave a law to Israel; and David says: "The one who announces his oracle to Jacob, his ordinances and judgments to Israel." He did not do so for every nation, and he did not reveal his judgments to them. Since, then, he revealed that one to a nation, but here, having weighed the word of truth in a balance, he mixed it equally for all. Pay attention, I ask. Righteousness is to save all alike, and for there to be no difference between slave and free, barbarian or Greek, woman or man; but as Paul says: "In Christ Jesus there is no barbarian, no Scythian, no male, no female, no slave, no free." Do you see the equality of honor? For since nature is of equal honor, even if we have been divided in our opinions, he gathers nature back to its ancient beauty. For when Adam was formed, there was no foreigner, no Scythian, no barbarian, no Greek, no slave, no free, no male, no female. For from the one he brought forth the two. Slavery was not generated by nature, but choice gave birth to it. But there is also forced slavery, that which arises from the necessity of famine or captivity.

There is also another kind of voluntary slavery, that which through marriage to maidservants sells its own freedom and comes under the yoke of slavery. The first kind of slavery arose from an evil disposition. And from where the root of slavery is found, listen. After the flood, Noah, drinking wine and not mixing it with the proper proportion due to inexperience, became drunk, not displaying a sickness of disposition but of ignorance; and he became drunk and, being drunk, was uncovered. And one of his sons, entering, saw his father’s nakedness and laughed. What then does the father say when he sobers up? Cursed be Canaan; he shall be a servant slave to his brothers. Do you see how sin gave birth to slavery? For this reason the Savior says: Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. Since, then, the liberator of the human race came and forgave sin—or rather, removed it. For by cutting out the root, he also cut out the fruits. He calls it the Gospel of righteousness because it enlightens all alike. The Jews supposed that the Gospel proclaimed through him was given to them alone. But the expectation turned out contrary to hope. Hence David says: We supposed, O God, your mercy to be in the midst of your people; according to your name, O God, so also is your praise upon the ends of the earth. And to show that showing mercy to the ends of the earth is righteousness, he added: Your right hand is full of righteousness. When a deep and prophetic question arises, run along with the discourse, not applauding but understanding; not simply accepting the sound of the words, but testing the meaning of the thoughts.

For if you sing the things of God with truth, and especially this utterance which David spoke: "We have received, O God, your mercy in the midst of your people; according to your name, O God, so also is your praise to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is full of righteousness," you find yourself also singing the things of God and being filled with the Holy Spirit. For the one who genuinely chants is renewed in soul and becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit. Do not consider psalmody a small matter; for it seems to charm the ear, but in truth it rouses the soul. Thus also the blessed Elisha the prophet, when urged by certain kings to prophesy the future, says: "Give me a man who knows how to chant." The one skilled in music came, and while he was chanting, it is said, the Holy Spirit came upon Elisha. What then? Is the Holy Spirit charmed by voices and drawn down by incantations, if it rested upon the prophetic soul? The purity of the prophet was sufficient to summon the Holy Spirit. Why then does he say: "Give me a man who knows how to chant"? Not so that the Spirit might be delighted through the psalmody, but so that, while that one chants, the mind of the prophet, being renewed, might become worthy of the visitation of the Holy Spirit. For this reason he calls the Spirit, to show that it was not charmed by the psalmody, but by the soul roused by the psalmody. It did not come upon the chanter, but upon the hearer. Now it is necessary to investigate the powers of the psalms in general, and especially of the holy psalm recited to us today: "The Lord has reigned, let the earth rejoice, let the many islands be glad." "The Lord has reigned"—how do you understand this?

Did he receive the dignity of kingship as something recent? For if the Lord had said "he reigns," he would have been describing his eternal worth. But now he says: "The Lord has reigned." It has been said by us before and will be said now. Before the coming of Christ, before the proclamation of the gospel, our nature was ruled by the devil, by sin, by death. Whence this? Paul says: "For just as sin reigned in our mortal body, so also will grace reign through Christ." Behold the reign of sin; where is that of the devil? Hear the Savior saying: "If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?" Behold the reign of the devil; where is that of death? Hear Paul saying: "Death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who did not sin." Since, then, the diabolical triad that tyrannized against the holy and undefiled triad held sway—that is, the devil, sin, and death—and the devil deceived, sin slew, and death buried, David announces good news to the tyrannized and says, so that they might cast off the yoke of slavery and receive the proclaimed dominion of Christ: "The Lord has reigned." The reign of death has ceased, the power of sin has ceased, the authority of the devil has ceased. The Lord has reigned; let the earth rejoice. For the earth that was once enslaved and now freed, once led astray and now glorified, once in tombs and now on thrones, once in dishonor and now in honor, ought to rejoice. The Lord has reigned.

Thus also it is said elsewhere—for it is necessary to adduce kindred thoughts—: "The Lord has reigned, he has clothed himself in comeliness." We put on a garment from outside to cover the unseemliness of our nature, but God—to cover what? The bodiless nature, full of light, or rather flashing with light? But he calls the very body of Christ a garment: "The Lord has reigned, he has clothed himself in comeliness." He calls the flesh of Christ comeliness; for it was comely, having no ugliness of sin. For he never committed sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth. The Lord clothed himself in power and girded himself. Since a belt adorns a king—and the belt is a mark of a king and a judge—he introduces him as both reigning and judging. For Isaiah says: "A rod will come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower will rise from it, and the spirit of God will rest upon it; and he will be girded about his loins with righteousness, and swathed about his sides with truth.

This garment of the Savior—I mean that of the flesh—the high priest secretly and in type possessed in the Law. And attend carefully how the shadows interpreted the truth, how the types of the Gospel shone forth beforehand. I speak gently and, as far as possible, descending to the hearing of the simple and the inexperienced, so that they may not be led here and there. The high priest, entering the Holy of Holies, wore a full-length robe, that is, a garment hanging from head to feet, an ephod, a girdle, breeches, a golden plate, a tiara—that is, a headdress—the oracle on the chest, and all that the Scripture prescribes and may be seen. The forms are one thing, the meanings another. For God does not at all take delight in hyacinth, purple, scarlet, and fine linen. For God requires purity of souls. But in these material flowers he delineates the image of the virtues. For if he truly took delight in those glorious vestments, why did he not clothe Moses before Aaron? But Moses was there, even stripped of that garment, and he clothed the priests. Moses did not bathe in water and bathed others; he was not anointed with oil and anointed others; he did not wear a priestly garment and clothed the priests—so that you may learn that for the perfect one virtue suffices for adornment. But take the priest from the beginning. For the very name of the garment is ambiguous and disputed, being transformed in the Greek language. So take a start from the head. First, what was it? The tiara, or what does it name? What after the tiara? Instead of: the tiara is the form of the garment.

Since the high priest was the head of the people, it was necessary that the one who becomes the head of all should have authority over his own head; for absolute authority without restraint is unbearable. But when the symbol of dominion is placed upon it, it is brought under law. He therefore commands that the head not be bare, but covered, so that the head of the people may learn that it has a head. For this reason also in the church, during the ordinations of priests, the Gospel of Christ is placed upon the head, so that the one being ordained may learn that he receives the true tiara of the Gospel, and that he may learn that even if he is the head of all, he nevertheless acts under these laws, ruling all and being ruled by the law, giving account of everything and being legislated by the Word. For this reason a certain noble one of the ancients, Ignatius by name, who excelled in priesthood and martyrdom, writing to a certain priest, said: Let nothing be done without your consent, and do nothing yourself without the consent of God. Therefore, the high priest's having the Gospel is a sign of being under authority. For this reason Paul says concerning a woman who has a veil: The woman ought to have a veil on her head, which was an image of authority. So the tiara was the form of authority. The golden plate was that on which the writing was inscribed, in which the name of God was stamped, and it first shows that the authority of God is the name of God. After the tiara and the plate, two emerald stones on the shoulders, having the six tribes on one side and the six on the other. This is a sign of the priestly aspect. He assigns to the priest the emerald, which has two beauties.

For it has a comely pallor and, being pure, serves as a mirror. Since the priest must both be sober in ascetic practice and have his life as a mirror for the many, it wishes the priest to bear the image of virtue upon his shoulders. Why upon the shoulders? Because the name of God is upon the head, the joint upon the joint. And why upon the shoulders? Because it is a sign of action. For the practical power is suspended in the shoulders. It wishes, then, the beauty of truth to be upon actions. For this reason God says to Jerusalem at one time: Place your heart upon your shoulders, dishonored daughter, for the Lord has created salvation. Scripture takes the hands and shoulders for actions, as when it says concerning David: And in the understandings of his hands he led them. Is understanding, then, in the hands? But it says in the understandings of the actions themselves. And upon the breast the priest received the logion with the twelve stones engraved, that is, sardius, topaz, emerald, carbuncle, sapphire, jasper, hyacinth, agate, amethyst, chrysolite, beryl, onyx. In these twelve stones the twelve tribes were divided. The saying is weighty. Above upon the shoulders there was one nature of the stones having one name, the emerald; but upon the breast below the stones were various. What does this mean? Since one nature gave us birth, but various opinions divided us, it gives one to opinion, the other to nature. There was, then, the name of God: the practical virtue, which consists of reason and truth.

And under the hem of the priest, the so-called border, there are flowers, pomegranates, golden pomegranates, and bells. What did these intend for the priest? Did God take pleasure in these flowers? Did he want earthly flowers to be around the priest? But in the form of the priest, it depicts the virtues. Above on the head is the name of God, on the chest the oracle, below the flowers and fruits, the achievements of the virtues, which are almsgiving, justice, philanthropy. Therefore we must have both the blooming beauties and the fulfilled ones. The flowers of the priest are encounter, conversation, good character, kind speech, faith, glory, truth, justice; and among these the bells, the harmony of good works. For every virtue produces a sound. Hence Paul says: For from you the word of God has resounded. From where did the sound begin? And Jesus went about, it says, teaching every city and every village and healing every disease and every infirmity. And a sound about him went out into the whole earth. Pay close attention. You have seen the adornment of the virtues? That priest was a type of Christ. We are not allegorizing here, unless we have taken starting points from Paul. If Paul had not interpreted the power of justice, we would not have been able to learn these things. Therefore Paul makes that priest a type of Christ and says: For Christ did not enter into handmade sanctuaries, copies of the true ones, but into heaven itself, to appear before the face of God on our behalf. So there was a dispute among the Jews of that time and a strange question.

Since the apostles were proclaiming the savior as king and priest and prophet, the Jews argued and said, "The things according to the law." "Another," he says, "is the tribe of kingship and another of priesthood. The Levitical tribe is of priesthood, but that of Judah is of kingship," he says. "If therefore Christ is king, he is no longer priest; if he is priest, he is no longer king." Paul, contending and adapting his argument to their suspicion, says, "Was Christ not raised according to the order of your priesthood? Among you, kingship and priesthood are divided, but in Christ they are united. For you," he says, "are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." For this reason he reasons and says, "For if the first priesthood was blameless, what need was there to say that a priest was raised according to the order of Melchizedek and not according to the order of Aaron?" For when the priesthood is transferred, a transfer of law necessarily occurs. Therefore our savior is high priest, not according to the principle of his divinity, but according to the type of his flesh: above, enthroned with God for our sake, and high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. Concerning him there is much discussion, but that is not for the present. Pay attention, I beg you. There were in the law whole burnt offerings, a sacrifice for sin, an offering. The savior, coming, puts an end to the typical offerings and makes his own body in place of every sacrifice. Paul says concerning the savior, "Therefore, entering into the world, he says, 'You did not desire sacrifice and offering, but you prepared a body for me; you did not approve of whole burnt offerings and those for sin; then I said, "Behold, I come." In the heading of a book it is written concerning me.'

Having stated the prophecy and said, "You did not desire sacrifice and offering for sin," Paul then said, "Behold, I have come." He removes the first so that he may establish the second. And where is the sacrifice and offering found? In the body of Christ. As the apostle Paul says, "I exhort you, brothers, by the mercies of God, as beloved children, walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself for us as a sacrifice and offering to God, for a fragrant aroma." For you, he is high priest; for himself, he is God. You were baptized into Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Why do you abolish the living names and introduce names that are the offspring of reasonings, saying "unbegotten and begotten," "created and uncreated," "always existing and not always existing"? Does God endure these vain words? One word, when a prophet once altered it, nearly caused destruction. And see the precision concerning a small word. Some, from inexperience, called the words of the prophets "an oracle of the Lord." If the people or the priest or the prophet asks you and says to you, "What is the oracle?" tell them, "You are the oracle of the Lord. For I will take you as an oracle and dash you, so that you may not say 'oracle.'" One word, when altered, God threatens, and you distort the entire precision of doctrines, striking out the name of the Father, denying the dignity of the Son, rejecting the glory of the Holy Spirit? Will you then escape the hands of God? It is grievous and fearful to distort the word of the living God, the Lord our God. When words are distorted, God is indignant. When doctrines are distorted, is he not indignant? Are you wiser than the Savior? Are you more precise than the Gospel?

Fear the judgment of God, fear that fearsome name, and strip off wickedness and take up repentance, and faith guarantees you salvation. For repentance brings salvation both for those in heresy and for those engaged in evil deeds. Repentance is the root of piety. Let us therefore repent and beseech God with repentance, so that he may annihilate wars, extinguish barbarians, shatter the uprisings of enemies, and grant us the enjoyment of all good things. Repentance greatly propitiates God, when someone genuinely runs to repentance. I mean something like this: Once the people sinned, they repented and wept; God says, "I heard the groan of Ephraim, lamenting and saying, 'You disciplined me, Lord, and I was not disciplined, but I became like an untrained calf; turn me back, and I will turn back.'" And what does God say to him? "Because my words are in him, I will not fail to remember him and have mercy on him." Let nothing terrify you—not rumor, not the darkness of barbarians, not a thick mist. Even if the enemies are countless in number, our champion is stronger. If you are afraid, looking askance at the multitude, the prophet Elisha says to you, "Do not fear; those with us are more numerous than those with them." There is a multitude of barbarians; here is a phalanx of angels. An angelic host, a chorus of prophets, the power of apostles, the intercessions of martyrs fight for the pious. Do not think that only martyrs intercede for us, but angels also beseech God in times of distress; and not only do they beseech, but they also receive a response from the benefactor. The prophet Zechariah says,

And the angel speaking within me answered and said to the Lord. This is the prayer of the angel: Lord Almighty, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, which you have overlooked for this seventieth year? What then? Did God dismiss the embassy of the angel? Far from it. But what? The Lord, it says, answered the angel speaking within me with comforting words and consoling speeches. Let us beseech the master of the angels, and he will send one angel, and he will scatter the entire phalanx of the enemy. I also loved the wax-painted writing filled with piety. I saw in an icon an angel driving away clouds of barbarians, I saw tribes of barbarians trampled, and David speaking truly: Lord, in your city you will bring their image to nothing. Let the blessed David now also say concerning us: Let their path be darkness and a stumbling, and an angel of the Lord pursuing them. God knows how to provide various means for the destruction of enemies. Great was the battle line of Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, and one angel, dispatched, laid low one hundred and eighty-five thousand. We humans measure events by human reasoning, and we say to ourselves: What will happen if a soldier is not found in these regions? If, before the general arrives, they plunder everything, what shall we do? Is it because you anticipate that God is anticipated? Is it because you are not everywhere that God is not everywhere? Is it that God can do one thing but not another? The lifeless sea obeyed and submerged. The speechless fish obeyed the catch of Peter.

And if an angel is commanded, will it not destroy all the enemies of the truth? Only let us be vigilant, only let us entreat, only let us supplicate. There was once a certain excellent general among the ancients—I speak by a common name, so that it may be clear to all—there was a certain general of the foreigners, Sisara. David also mentions him, saying: Do to them as to Midian and to Sisara, as to Jabin at the brook of Kishon. Jabin was king of the foreigners, Sisara was the commander-in-chief. He had eight hundred iron chariots and an innumerable multitude. The people of the Jews were afraid; they saw the cloud and trembled. What then does the benevolent God say through the prophetess Deborah to the champion of piety? Do not be afraid; behold, the Lord delivers him into your hands, and the success will not be of your hand, but into the hands of a woman. See how God punished arrogance. Men could not withstand, and a woman commanded. Sisara entered, fleeing, to the woman named Jael, and being overcome by the heat, he asked her for water. But she gives him milk to drink. And observe the wisdom of the woman. Since milk is cooling, inducing sleep, she gives him milk to drink, so that the scripture which says: He asked her for water and she gave milk, might be fulfilled, that she might both give him drink and put him to sleep. Then, when the foreigner had fallen asleep, that woman, it is said, took a peg and a hammer and attacked the enemy. And observe the wisdom of the woman. Why did she not take a sword or a dagger, but a peg? She was afraid, as a woman, lest he wake up and catch her holding a sword.

For this reason she does not take a man’s weapon, but a woman’s implement. For it is the custom for girded women to drive a peg into the wall and thus to go about their own work. So she constructs a second path from what is unsuspected. But since God cooperated and it was God’s work to fulfill the prophecies—for that stratagem was not hers, but the utterance was God’s: “By a woman’s hand will your death be”—God cooperated, binding the villain with sleep; and the woman, taking the peg and the hammer, drove it through his temple so forcefully that it touched the ground. And thus he died between the woman’s feet. Do not lack a pretext for God, and when he wishes, the absence of an army does not hinder him: God’s weapon, God’s soldier, God’s power, only God’s nod. Let us say this to Christ: “Speak a word, and your enemies will be scattered; speak a word, and you will have mercy on your city; speak a word, and you will pity your world.” Let us say to him: “Behold, your enemies have sounded and those who hate you have raised their head.” Do you wish to learn also of another woman’s stratagem, since God willed this? There was another man, Abimelech by name, who had slain seventy of his own brothers, and having seized power from such fratricide, holding all the people subject, he wrestled with a certain city, besieging its wall; and when all grew numb at the sight of the war, again God, strengthening a woman’s hand, caused a certain woman to appear from the wall, who, taking a fragment of a millstone, threw it at the tyrant’s head and crushed his skull.

And observe the boundless malice of the arrogant man, which died along with him. He says to the attendant spearman: "Draw your sword and strike me, so that they may not say, 'A woman killed him.'" His body was dying, but his arrogance remained. He laid aside his life, but he did not lay aside his vainglory. And now God does not lack a Deborah, God does not lack a Jael. We also have the holy virgin and Theotokos Mary interceding for us. For if an ordinary woman conquered, how much more does the mother of Christ put to shame the enemies of the truth? The enemy, clad in full armor, thought he was mocking a woman, and he found a general contending. He did not think he was touching a tomb, and it became his grave; he thought her dead, and he was killed by her. We have our Lady, the holy Mary the Theotokos; but we also need apostles. Let us say to Paul as those of that time said: "Cross over to Macedonia and help us." We have apostles, let us not be faint-hearted. We have our Lady the Theotokos, the holy ever-virgin Mary, let us not be hesitant. We have the chorus of martyrs, let us not be idle. Let us not only entreat, but, if it seems good, let us also fast. It is better to fast a fast of desire and not a fast of famine; it is better to fast a fast of love and not a fast of necessity. The Savior says concerning the demons: "This race does not go out except by prayer and fasting." Prayer and fasting put demons to flight, and do they not drive away barbarians? And I have already said, and I say again:

Let us call upon the holy, glorious virgin and Theotokos Mary; let us call upon the holy and glorious apostles; let us call upon the holy martyrs. If someone, placed in a time of need, runs to one of the powerful, that powerful man does not attend to him genuinely. Before the need, he says, "You did not know how to honor or serve me, but only in the need." A favor given outside of need is free from suspicion. If you serve the judge before the need, you will find an ally in the need. For he knows that it was not the need, but your affection that brought you. Let us therefore be friends of the martyrs not in the need, but in love. Before the storm, as in a storm, let us grieve, so that in the time of storm we may find spring. We say these things not as exercising authority, but as exhorting; not as legislating, but as entreating; we beseech all to be sober. And God is sufficient, beyond every faith, beyond every word, both to put the enemies to shame and to have mercy on the inhabited world and to honor the emperors and to establish the empire and to brighten His own glory in Christ Jesus our Lord; to whom is glory for the ages. Amen.