[4217] Ps. lxxix. 12.
[4218] Prov. ix. i.
[4219] Zech. iii. 9.
[4220] Ps. cxix. 164.
[4221] 1 Sam. ii. 5.
[4222] Peninnah who had "many" children is called Imperfect in her children, because Many is an indefinite word; where Hannah's one child Samuel was so perfect a man that he was as it were seven to his mother. For Seven is mystically, as Six or Ten is arithmetically, the perfect number. (Six because it is the sum of its own factors, 1, 2, 3; Ten, because it is the basis of numeration; Seven because it is the number of Creation; for God rested on the Sabbath Day.).
[4223] Jude 14.
[4224] Gen. v. 22.
[4225] Luke iii. 34.
[4226] Josh. vi. 4. &c.
[4227] 1 Kings xvii. 21.
[4228] Ib. xviii. 33.
[4229] 2 Kings iv. 25, where the LXX. has "he contracted himself upon the child until seven times, and the child opened his eyes;" saying nothing about the sneezing of the child, which the Hebrew and Vulgate mention, while they omit the number in the case of Elisha's similar action. S. Bernard has a curious explanation of the seven sneezes of the child (in Cant. xvi).
[4230] Ex. xxv. 32, 37.
[4231] Levit. viii. 33.
[4232] Ib. xiv. 8.
[4233] 1 Kings viii. 6.
[4234] 2 Chron. xxxvi. 32.
[4235] Different words are used here as in the New Testament for Baskets. The second implies a larger size; it is the word used for the "basket" in which St. Paul was let down from the wall of Damascus, Acts ix. 25.
[4236] S. Gregory makes this explanation because there were certain heretics who taught that our Lord at His Ascension laid aside His Humanity. It is said that this was held by certain Manichæans, who based their idea on Ps. xix. 4, where the LXX. and Vulgate read, "He hath set His Tabernacle in the Sun."
[4237] Ephes. iii. 13.
[4238] The reference is to the Macedonians or Pneumatomachi, followers of Macedonius, Patriarch of Constantinople, who had passed from extreme or Anomoean Arianism to Semi-Arianism, and was forcibly intruded on the See by order of Constantius in 343, but was afterwards deposed. After his deposition he broached the heresy known by his name, denying the Deity of the Holy Ghost; some of its adherents, with Macedonius himself, maintaining Him to be a mere creature; others stopping short of this; and others calling Him a creature and servant of the Son. The heresy was formally condemned in the Ecumenical Council of Constantinople in 381.
[4239] John iii. 8.
[4240] S. Gregory here commends the practice of reserve in respect of the Deity of the Holy Ghost. To believe it is necessary to salvation, he would say; but in view of the prevailing ignorance it is well to be careful before whom we give Him the Name of God. But he demands that his hearers should give to the Holy Ghost all the Attributes of Godhead, and should bear with those who, like himself, gave Him also the Name, as he prays that they all may have grace to do (Bénoît).
[4241] Heb. v. 12.
[4242] Isa. viii. 14; Rom. ix. 33; 1 Pet. ii. 8.
[4243] i.e., inasmuch as He has granted you a right faith in the Consubstantiality and Unity of the Trinity, I am sure He will in time grant you the grace also to call Him by the Name of God.
[4244] 2 Tim. ii. 5.
[4245] The Constantinopolitan followers of Macedonius at the period were noted for their strict asceticism. The attempt to revive the Night Office among the secular Clergy of the Diocese brought great odium on S. John Chrysostom a few years later.
[4246] i.e., by Isaiah.
[4247] Job xxxviii. 4, Ps. v. 10, xxxvi., cxxxix. 7-15, cxlii., Isa. xi. 1-3, xlviii. 16, Mal. iii. 6, Wisd. i. 2, John i. 14, iii. 24, xv. 26, xvi. 14, 15, Acts xiii. 2, Rom. iv. 17, xv. 16, 19, 1 Cor. ii. 10, vi. 19, viii. 2, 2 Cor. iii. 1, 6, xiii. 4, 2 Thess. iii. 5, 1 Tim. vi. 10, Heb. ix. 14.
[4248] Heb. xii. 20.
[4249] Deut. iv. 24.
[4250] Ps. civ. 3.
[4251] Ps. cxlviii. 4.
[4252] epi periopes; Billius renders "In specula sua," "On His watch tower," and the meaning is admissible, but the context seems rather to point to the passive sense of Majesty or Glory. The word is not in the Lexicon, and Suicer does not notice it; but the corresponding adjective has only the passive sense. Specula, however, is used in the sense of Eminence, but apparently only geographically.
[4253] Isa. lxi. 1.
[4254] Ib. xi. 2; lxiii. 14.
[4255] Exod. xxxi. 3.
[4256] Isa. lxiii. 10.
[4257] 2 Kings ii. 11.
[4258] Ps. li. 12; cxliii. 10.
[4259] Joel ii. 28.
[4260] John xiv. 16.
[4261] Ps. xxxiii. 6.
[4262] Job xxxiii. 4.
[4263] Ps. civ. 30.
[4264] John iii. 3.
[4265] Wisd. i. 6.
[4266] 1 Sam. xvi. 23.
[4267] The Hebrew word means "a cultivator of sycamores." The LXX. rendering is due to the process of maturing the fruit, which grows on the stem of the trunk, and is made to mature by puncturing it with an iron instrument, when after three days the fruit is fit to eat. The Hebrew word occurs only this once in the Bible; Aquila renders it by "Looking for;" Symmachus by "propping with stakes."
[4268] Amos vii. 14.
[4269] Susannah.
[4270] Dan. vi. 22.
[4271] 1 Cor. xiv. 22.
[4272] Isa. xxviii. 11.
[4273] The actual order of the words in the Greek of Acts ii. 6 is, They heard each individual in his own dialect them speaking; so that the position of the comma affects the meaning.
[4274] Gen. xi. 7.
[4275] Ps. lv. 9.
[4276] Ib. lii. 4.
[4277] Arians, Macedonians, and kindred sects.
Oration XLII.
The Last Farewell in the Presence of the One Hundred and Fifty Bishops.
ThisOration was delivered during the Second OEcumenical Council, held at Constantinople a.d. 381. Historical as well as personal motives render the occasion of the deepest interest. The audience consisted of the one hundred and fifty Bishops of the Eastern Church who took part in the Council, and of the speaker's own flock, the orthodox Christians of Constantinople. He had by his own exertions gathered that flock together, after it had been ravaged by heretical teachers. He had won the admiration and affection of its members, by his courageous championship of the Faith, his lucid teaching, and his fatherly care for their spiritual needs. He had been, against his will, enthroned with acclamation in the highest ecclesiastical position in the Eastern Church, and called to preside over the Synod of its assembled Bishops. Finding himself unable to guide the deliberations of the Council in regard to a question of the highest importance, and perceiving that he himself and his position were made by some of the Bishops a fresh cause of dissension, he felt bound to resign his high office, and endeavour by this personal sacrifice to restore peace to the Church. His language is worthy of the occasion. Obliged to deal with the topics which had caused dissension, he handles them with gentle and discriminating tact; he speaks with great self-restraint in his own defence; he sets forth with tenderest feeling the common experiences of himself and his flock; he gives with dignity and clearness his last public exposition of the Faith; and finally, in language of exquisite beauty, spoken with the quivering tones of an aged man, he bids a tender farewell to his flock, his cathedral, and his throne, with all their affecting associations. It was an occasion whose pathos is unsurpassed in history. Orator and audience were alike deeply moved, and the emotion has been renewed in all those who have read his words, and realised the scene of their delivery.
1. What think ye of our affairs, dear shepherds and fellow-shepherds: whose feet are beautiful, for you bring glad tidings of peace and of the good things [4278] with which ye have come; beautiful again in our eyes, to whom ye have come in season, not to convert a wandering sheep, [4279] but to converse with a pilgrim shepherd? What think ye of this our pilgrimage? And of its fruit, or rather of that of the Spirit [4280] within us, [4281] by Whom we are ever moved, [4282] and specially have now been moved, desiring to have, and perhaps having, nothing of our own? Do you of yourselves understand and perceive--and are you kindly critics of our actions? Or must we, like those from whom a reckoning is demanded as to their military command, or civil government, or administration of the exchequer, publicly and in person submit to you the accounts of our administration? Not indeed that we are ashamed of being judged, for we are ourselves judges in turn, and both with the same charity. But the law is an ancient one: for even Paul communicated to the Apostles his Gospel: [4283] not for the sake of ostentation, for the Spirit is far removed from all ostentation, but in order to establish his success and correct his failure, if indeed there were any such in his words or actions, as he declares when writing of himself. Since even the Spirits of the Prophets are subject to the prophets, [4284] according to the order of the Spirit who regulates and divides all things well. And do not wonder that, while he rendered his account privately and to some, I do so publicly, and to all. For my need is greater than his, of being aided by the freedom of my censors, if I am proved to have failed in my duty, lest I should run, or have run, in vain. [4285] And the only possible mode of self-defence is speech in the presence of men who know the facts.
2. What then is my defence? [4286] If it be false, you must convict me, but if true, you on behalf of whom [4287] and in whose presence I speak, must bear witness to it. For you are my defence, my witnesses, and my crown of rejoicing, [4288] if I also may venture to boast myself a little in the Apostle's language. This flock was, when it was small and poor, as far as appearances went, nay, not even a flock, but a slight trace and relic of a flock, without order, or shepherd, or bounds, with neither right to pasturage, nor the defence of a fold, wandering upon the mountains and in caves and dens of the earth, [4289] scattered and dispersed hither and thither as each one could find shelter or pasture, or could gratefully secure its own safety; like that flock which was harassed by lions, dispersed by tempest, or scattered in darkness, the lamentation of prophets who compared it to the misfortunes of Israel, [4290] given up to the Gentiles; over which we also lamented, so long as our lot was worthy of lamentation. For in very deed we also were thrust out and cast off, and scattered upon every mountain and hill, from the need of a shepherd: [4291] and a dreadful storm fell upon the Church, and fearful beasts assailed her, who do not even now, after the calm, spare us, but without being ashamed of themselves, wield a greater power than the time should allow; while a gloomy darkness, far more oppressive than the ninth plague of Egypt, the darkness which might be felt, [4292] enveloped and concealed everything, so that we could scarcely even see one another.
3. To speak in a more feeling strain, trusting in Him Who then forsook me, as in a Father, "Abraham has been ignorant of us, Israel has acknowledged us not, but Thou art our Father, and unto Thee do we look; [4293] beside Thee we know none else, we make mention of Thy name." [4294] Therefore, says Jeremiah, I will plead with Thee, I will reason the cause with Thee. [4295] We are become as at the beginning, when Thou barest not rule [4296] over us, and Thou hast forgotten Thy holy covenant, and shut up Thy mercies from us. Therefore we, the worshippers of the Trinity, the perfect suppliants of the perfect Deity, became a reproach to Thy Beloved, neither daring to bring down to our own level any of the things above us, nor in such wise to rise up against the godless tongues which fought against God, as to make His Majesty a fellow servant with ourselves; but, as is plain, we were delivered up on account of our other sins, and because our conduct had been unworthy of Thy commandments, and we had walked after our own evil mind. For what other reason can there be for our being delivered up to the most unrighteous and wicked men of all the dwellers upon the earth? First Nebuchadnezzar [4297] afflicted us, [4298] possessed during the Christian era with an anti-Christian rage, hating Christ just because he had through Him gained salvation, and having bartered the sacred books for sacrifices to those who are no gods. He devoured me, he tore me in pieces, a slight darkness enveloped me, [4299] if I may even in my lamentation keep to the language of Scripture. If the Lord had not helped me, [4300] and righteously delivered him to the hands of the lawless, by casting him off (such are the judgments of God) to the Persians, by whom his blood was righteously shed for his unholy sheddings of blood, since in this case alone justice could not afford even to be longsuffering, my soul had shortly dwelt in the grave. [4301] The second [4302] no more kindly, if he were not even more grievous still, for while he bore the name of Christ, he was a false Christ, and at once a burden and a reproach to the Christians, for, while to obey him was ungodly, to suffer at his hands was inglorious, since they did not even seem to be wronged, nor to gain by their sufferings the glorious title of martyr, inasmuch as the truth was in this case perverted, for while they suffered as Christians, they were supposed to be punished as heretics. Alas! how rich we were in misfortunes, for the fire consumed the beauties of the world. [4303] That which the palmerworm left did the locust eat, and that which the locust left did the caterpillar eat: then came the cankerworm, [4304] then, what next I know not, one evil springing up after another. But for what purpose should I give a tragic description of the evils of the time, and of the penalty exacted from us, or, if I must rather call it so, the testing and refining we endured? At any rate, we went through fire and water, [4305] and have attained a place of refreshment by the good pleasure of God our Saviour.