In sanctam pentecosten

On the Holy Pentecost Every day is bright, bearing the sun’s ray and adorned with the common light. For in this way the Master, having beautified creation, brought it forth into the open. But a festal day, solemn and all-celebrated, honored by word and worship of God, has more for joy. It displays a double comeliness, bearing both the bloom of nature and exhibiting the beauty of piety. Such also is today’s feast, illuminating the sensible eye of the body, while enlightening the noetic eye of the mind with the rays of the Word. For today is one of the three notable days proclaimed in the Law and sung through the grace of the Gospel. On this day, according to the Old Covenant, the Law was given. On this day, according to the New Grace, the descent of the Spirit was given. On this day Moses received the tablets of the Law. On this day the choir of the apostles received the descent of the Spirit in place of the tablets given through Moses. For the blessed Paul says in writing: “You are our epistle, inscribed not on stone tablets, but on the tablets of a fleshly heart.” You ask whether the Law was truly given on this day. For it is not explicitly written in the Old Covenant that the Law was given on Pentecost. But for those who investigate the divine writings, a treasure of knowledge emerges.

Let us see, then, what day it was on which the law was given. For the blessed Moses says—so pay close attention—: In the third month after their departure from the land of Egypt, the Lord said to Moses: Go down and solemnly charge the people, and they shall purify themselves today and tomorrow, and on the third day I shall appear. Pay close attention. In the first month was the exodus from Egypt; it was the fourteenth day of the first month. Set down the fourteenth day, and after that the days completing the month, that is, seventeen, and the thirty of the second month. And on the forty-eighth day of the second month God said: Solemnly charge the people today and tomorrow, and on the third day of the month I shall appear. So thirty of the second, seventeen of the first, and three of the third. And see the harmony of the events. When God appeared on Mount Sinai, he appeared as a burning fire. When the Holy Spirit appeared to the apostles, he appeared in the form of fire; for tongues as of fire were divided and sat upon each one of them. And just as, brothers, when God appeared according to the Old Covenant, there were many terrifying things that attended him. For indeed darkness and storm and trumpet and thunder surrounded the mountain, in order to prepare the people for fear of the lawgiver. So also when the Holy Spirit was about to come, lest the suddenness of the presence lead those receiving him into indifference, but that they might learn the worthy visitation of the Spirit, just as on the mountain darkness and storm preceded, so also it happened with the Spirit.

When the day of Pentecost was completed, there was a sound like a violent wind being borne. And then the Holy Spirit appeared and shook the house, dividing not its nature, but dividing its energies. For the Spirit is not divided, but divides the gifts, as Paul witnesses: All these things the one and the same Spirit works, distributing to each individually as it wills, dividing, not being divided, distributing, not being distributed, exercising authority, not being subject to authority. And the honor of authority which Paul gave to the Father, saying, "God is the one who works all things in all," he spoke the same word also concerning the Spirit, saying, "All these things," he says, "the one and the same Spirit works." But the Holy Spirit was called Paraclete. Why, if not because it comforts men, that is, consoles? And in Scripture you will find this idiom. The Apostle calls consolation "paraklesis." And it comforts not as a second god, but as God. For comforting is proper to God. For the Apostle says, lest you insult the title of Paraclete: "We intercede on behalf of Christ," as God comforts through us.

And so that Paul may not be thought, brothers, to introduce something novel in his teachings by presenting God as comforting men, receive proof from ancient testimony. The prophet Isaiah says to Jerusalem: "He who named you will comfort you." The Father comforts, the Son comforts. For he says: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, by which he anointed me; he sent me to proclaim good news to the poor, to comfort all who mourn." Moreover, the Savior, wishing to show the equal honor of the Spirit, says: "When I depart, I will send another Paraclete." And there would be no other, unless another had been set before. So the Holy Spirit appears in the form of fiery tongues. Why then tongues? Because of the usefulness of the proclamation. For the apostles needed tongues to fill the ends of the world through preaching, which the Holy Spirit was about to effect; this is shaped according to the gift. And also because of an ancient matter. For since at that time the giants were warring against God and wished to build a tower, God sent tongues and divided the harmony of the wicked; and now he sends the energies of tongues, to unite the divided world. And it was a strange thing. Tongues divided the world; tongues united the world, tongues for the sake of preaching. And why fire? Because impiety, raging like a forest fire and binding the whole world like a thornbush, held it fast; he sends fiery tongues consuming the thornbush of impiety. For it is he who says: "I came to cast fire upon the earth." Fire not for destruction. For the fire of God does not burn but sanctifies.

For this reason, one of the cherubim was sent to Isaiah, holding a coal of fire from the altar. And when he placed it upon his lips, he says to him: "Behold, I have removed your lawlessness and your sins." Therefore, celebrating this feast of the visitation of the Holy Spirit with reverence, let us send up glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Honor the coming of the Spirit. The coming of the Spirit is honored by the remission of sins. For where the Holy Spirit is, there is forgiveness. For the Lord says: "Receive the Holy Spirit; if you forgive the sins of some, they are forgiven them." The Holy Spirit proclaims that which sets free. For example: the Father sets free, the Son sets free, the Holy Spirit sets free. A slave cannot grant freedom. For what he does not have, he does not bestow. Therefore, that you may learn the new freedom of the Son and the Spirit, the Savior says concerning himself: "If the Son does not set you free, you are slaves." He attributed freedom to himself. Again, Paul says: "Thus we are reflected, as from the Lord of the Spirit; for the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." Sometimes it is called the Holy Spirit, sometimes the Spirit of the Son, sometimes the Spirit of the Father, not proclaimed in confusion, but interpreting the indivisibility of the divine essence. The Son calls it the Spirit of the Father: "Do not be anxious," he says, "about what you will say; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of the Father." The Son says the Spirit of the Father. Paul says the Spirit of the Son. For he speaks thus:

That you are sons, God sent the spirit of his son into your hearts crying: "Abba, Father." The spirit also gives life. For it says: Just as the father raises the dead and gives life, so also the son gives life to whom he wishes. You have seen father and son giving life. But see again the apostle, or rather the savior himself speaking through him: "It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh avails nothing." I will use the argument more concisely. The ordinations of the churches are sometimes ascribed by Paul to the father, sometimes to the son, sometimes to the spirit. For example, when he speaks of the father ordaining the offices in the church, he says: "God set in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers," and so on. Here he ascribed the ordinations to the father, because he is the one who has authority and appoints. Elsewhere, the same Paul ascribes them to the son. For he says: "He who descended, he is also the one who ascended above all the heavens, to fill all things; and he himself gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as pastors and teachers." See the authority through the word. He did not say: "And he himself assisted," but "He gave," from his own authority, not divided and separated from the kingdom of the father. For what the father wills, the son also wills, and what the son wills, the father also approves. What he ascribed to the father and the son, the same again attributes the ordinations to the holy spirit, summoning the Ephesian presbyters, and saying to them—Paul, who said these things, also utters these—.

Attend to yourselves and to the whole flock in which the Holy Spirit placed you as bishops to shepherd the Church. Observe the harmony of the expression. It did not say concerning the Father "He placed," and concerning the Spirit "He appointed," but with the same word: "God and Father placed in the Church, the Holy Spirit placed in the Church." The Father legislates in the Church. The Father legislates as king of the ages, concerning whom David says: "I desired to do your will, my God, and your law in the midst of my heart." So the Father legislates, the Son legislates. Listen to Paul saying: "Bear one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ." He showed the Father legislating, he showed the Son legislating. The same one, giving to the Holy Spirit also the dignity of legislation—or rather not giving, but restoring—says: "For the law of the Spirit of life set me free in Christ Jesus." Not that there are three legislators. For there is one law and one legislator. One God, even if proclaimed in three persons.

And how, he says, can God be called Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and yet not three Gods? Where the attributes of nature are common, the names of rank are also common. For example: God calls the many divided from a single nature by one name. And when he is angry with men, he calls every man subject to anger one man. And when he is reconciled to the world, he speaks as to one man. For example: God brings a flood because of sins and says, "My spirit will not remain among these men. I will wipe out the man whom I made." Yet there was not one, but countless myriads. But by the name of nature he called all as one, as one man the whole world, because of the commonality of essence. "What is man, that you remember him, or son of man, that you visit him?" says David. Not that he visited one. For he raised up the whole inhabited world. And I will use one concise word spoken through Moses, that Pharaoh went out against the sea and submitted to the divine law's punishment. Pharaoh falls with countless chariots in the sea. And many men were drowned with him, and many horses. But Moses, knowing that the nature of all men is one, says, "Let us sing to the Lord; for he has been gloriously glorified. He threw horse and rider into the sea." He named the multitudes of men one rider because of the commonality of essence.

If, then, among humans, where knowledge is confused, where the forms of appearance are various—for there is not one, nor equal in mind, but different tongues, different words—on account of the commonality of nature, the whole inhabited world is called one man. Where the rank is undivided, one kingdom, one power that is particular, I call the Trinity one God. But if, because I say God and God and God, I say three Gods, if I say Lord and Lord and Lord, do I say three Lords? Not at all. For the apostle calls the Father Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord. As also David: "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand.'" See: Lord to Lord. The apostle: "But the Lord is the Spirit." If, then, the Father is Lord and the Son is Lord and the Spirit is Lord, how do you, O apostle, the lawgiver of truth, the advocate of piety, cry out to the Ephesians, saying: "One Lord, one faith, one baptism"? One Lord, according to the sanctification of the seraphim. For they also cry out: "Holy, holy, holy Lord." But if the heretics contend that the lordship of the Father is different and that of the Son is different, I marvel how they endure serving two Lords. For it is the Savior's voice: "No one can serve two Lords." If you divide the authority, how do you serve the kingdom? For two ranks cannot be served at the same time, unless there is equal honor. For no one worships a king and a ruler. For where the rank is of equal honor, the worship is also of equal honor. In equal rank there is no conflict. Inequality stirs conflict. Equality awards peace.

Christ did not permit you to divide the honor. For he says: This is the will of the Father, that all honor the Son as they honor the Father. Honor the Father, that you may honor the Son. Or rather, honor the Son, that you may honor the Father. The Father appropriates the honor of the Son. The Son appropriates the honor of the Father. For the Savior says: He who hates me also hates my Father. Let the heretics not think, then, that they are granting something to God by calling him great in comparison to the Son. For the Father does not accept honor directed to him when the Son is insulted. And take a clear demonstration of this from the Old Testament. The friends of Job, who came to console him, reproached him for speaking boldly and justified God. But Job said to God: Who will give a judge between me and you, that I may know how many my sins are, that you have judged me thus? The friends of Job justified God, though the matter was unknown, and they condemned the righteous man all the more as having sinned, while they pleaded God’s cause as the one inflicting punishment. And they say to him: You have spoken greatly, you have spoken excessively against the capable one, and does God not disturb justice? He inflicted punishment according to your sins. If your sins were not many, you would not have been scourged. And they thought they were pleading for God, but they condemned the righteous man. Did God then accept those who spoke on his behalf contrary to justice? If he accepted advocacy on his behalf while the righteous man was dishonored, he also accepts honor to himself while the Son is dishonored. Listen to what the Lord says to the friends of Job:

Why did you not speak correctly against my servant? If he repels those who do not speak correctly against his servant, does he accept the one who sharpens his tongue against the Only-begotten? Away with it. Thus the penalty is inexorable for those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit. Listen to what the Savior says: Every blasphemy will be forgiven to men, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, neither in the present age nor in the future. What need is there for syllogisms about generated and ungenerated, created and uncreated? The argument of heresy is sharper than a whetted razor. But a razor, even if it is greatly and strongly whetted, can shave hairs, not cut wood. The word of truth, however, is not a razor, but is an axe. For this reason John the Baptist says: Behold, the axe lies at the root of the trees. He did not say razor. For it is not smooth, like those who smooth away vanity externally with their diction. But the word of God is an axe cutting the arrogance of the boastful, as John bears witness saying: Already the axe lies at the root of the trees. The crowd of those who speak deceitfully and weave heresies is a razor, as David says to Saul: Why do you boast in evil, O mighty one in lawlessness? All day long your tongue devised injustice; you made deceit like a whetted razor. The Father legislates; the Son commands; the Spirit exercises authority.

Listen to God saying: "Those whom the Lord has summoned will come as evangelizers." I implore you: lend me your ear, so that you may learn the harmony of the truth. For we do not fight with arguments, but we follow the Scriptures. And we pray to be slaves of the Scriptures, not to enslave the Scriptures to our own arguments. Faith does not accept syllogisms, not because it is irrational, but because it surpasses every rational argument. And to show you that faith arms itself against arguments, Paul says: "For our weapons are not fleshly, but powerful with God for the destruction of strongholds, purging arguments and every height raised up against the knowledge of God." But even if the lawless one often prevails by dialectic, do not be surprised. For David says: "The words of the lawless have overpowered us." The Father sends out the apostles; the Son sends them out; and the Holy Spirit sends them out. The Savior says to the apostles: "Behold, I send you into the world; go and make disciples of all the nations." And it says in the Acts of the Apostles: "Those who were sent out by the Holy Spirit went down to Seleucia." The Father calls apostles; the Son calls apostles. The prophet says: "From Mount Zion will come the one who evangelizes, and those whom the Lord has summoned as evangelizers." Therefore, it is God's to summon the evangelizers. If, then, it is God's to summon, for this reason the Spirit speaking through the prophets said: "Thus says the Holy Spirit: 'Set apart for me Paul and Barnabas for the work to which I have summoned them.'" These things have been said sufficiently by us.

May the God of peace increase us all in his faith and love, for to him belong all glory, honor, and worship, together with his only-begotten Son and his all-holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.