On the Forefeast of the Feast of Lights
Oration 3
Oration 3
By St. Theodore the Studite
Come, let us survey the forecourts of the Feast of Lights with luminous divine visions. Let us also enter the waters, so that we may become partakers of their abundant divine radiance. And having become luminous in form through the Holy Spirit, let us praise with wholehearted thanksgiving Jesus, the Cause of light, the Radiance of the Father’s glory.
Formerly the Israelites purified themselves before drawing near to the mountain blazing with fire, seeing it full of darkness and tempest; yet even then they did not ascend, because it was not safe, but remained below, terrified by the manifold threats of God. Moses himself removed his earthly sandals when he wished to approach the God-trodden ground, at the time when he was wondrously initiated into the lofty vision of the fire-bearing bush, which prefigured a greater mystery. Likewise Joshua the son of Nun received a command from the angel not to approach that ground at all while wearing sandals, out of reverence for the holy land. And what did the three youths do? Did they not expose themselves to the all-devouring fire with souls and bodies purified, when the burning force was transformed for them into refreshing coolness? With what a great miracle did God reward these saints: that at one and the same moment these two opposing energies should coexist around them! And Daniel, the “man greatly beloved in spirit” — had he not prepared himself by purifying fasting, and thus remained in the den with the lions, again receiving his body completely unharmed?
But would you like me to carry the discourse over into the New Testament? Look at Paul, the great preacher of truth: he prepared himself for three days and nights with fasting and prolonged prayers, and then clothed himself with Christ, the true Light. Look also at the Evangelist Matthew, how he made use of his possessions: he renounced even these, abandoned all his tax-collecting affairs unfinished, and thus came to become a disciple of Jesus. And I have not yet mentioned Zacchaeus, who first lifted himself up bodily and mentally, and thus was deemed worthy to host Jesus; and together with his great promise he was also deemed worthy of a higher address. And Cornelius too—after he prayed and fasted for four days—then saw the angel who brought him the glad tidings, and thus saw his hopes fulfilled. And you, beloved friend — for I will now leave the others aside — you who wish to approach divine things not without reverence and much preparation: will you approach so simply, without preparation, the superluminous mystery through which you were spiritually born and were called a son of light? And do you not fear lest you suffer the same fate as one who attempts to gaze upon the sun with weak eyes?
But rightly, I think, these things have been said and expressed. Come then, let us proceed as best we can to the Prefeast of Lights, and with purified eyes let us see how the theology of the true Light, which rose through the Nativity, is gradually revealed up to the day of the light-bearing Baptism. Let us also pray now that our mind may be enlightened as it follows the events historically, and that speech may become capable of expressing fittingly the secret content of each rite.
As soon as the Transcendent One was born of the Virgin, He presented angels as hymn-singers of the mystery. Let us examine this more deeply. Why did this happen? So that it might be made known to all that the One whom the angels hymned at the beginning of the creation of the stars as Creator, the same they now hymn and glorify when they see Him taking, through birth, our own form. For this reason a star announces Him to all — a star that clearly surpasses the nature of the other stars, both by the way it moves and by the fact that it shines even by day. And to what does this aim? To reveal that He who was born is supernatural: man according to what is seen, but God according to what is understood.
From here is also derived the doctrine of circumcision, which is not devoid of theology for those who seek to investigate. It is perfectly clear that the name Jesus, given to Him then according to Gabriel’s announcement, signifies a divine nature, since it means “Savior.” And let the God-fighter not appeal to the homonymy with Joshua the son of Nun, hastening to give his own explanation, for to that one the name was given relatively and not properly, as to God the Word. For not all who are called by that name are lords by nature. Many are also called gods, yet they are not gods by nature. But one is the Lord, one is God, true by nature. So too many bear the name Jesus, but one alone is Jesus, the Savior of all.
Then He was led to Jerusalem, and we know the words of Symeon, who received Him in his arms: for “the salvation of God, prepared before the face of all peoples,” and “a light for revelation to the Gentiles,” and whatever other titles he gave Him, are also theologized of the Father. For the Father too has been called Savior and Light by the learned. And things that share the same designation also indicate the same nature. Indeed, the Son says to the Father: “All that is Mine is Yours, and Yours Mine.” We confess that this interchange applies with respect to the essence, not to the distinct hypostases, for such a notion belongs to the confusion of Sabellius, which we have rejected.
He then descends into Egypt, and indeed secretly. But hear what Isaiah says: “Behold, the Lord sits upon a light cloud and will come into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt will be shaken at His presence.” It is perfectly clear that here he means that the One who descended there is the incarnate God. He returns from Egypt and chooses to dwell in Nazareth, from which He also received His name. But do not become dizzy in your thoughts when you hear of the descent and ascent of God, of local movement and transition. If indeed the Word had not taken a body, the mind would naturally be shaken and troubled. But since He took a body, none of this is strange or inconsistent. For just as “God was manifested in the flesh,” so also “God in the flesh” moves from one place to another and accepts all the properties of embodied life.
Later, when He became twelve years old, He sat among the teachers as one knowledgeable, astonishing them with the questions He posed and with His prudent answers. And who indeed could speak so excellently at that age, except the incarnate God? And when He was questioned by His mother, who asked Him wishing to hear from His mouth the revelation of His supremely glorious Father, He gave her an answer to this as well.
Do you see how, through the shaping of the narrative, the rational content of the events was revealed? And how the Lord of glory was hymned in each of them, like a King who comes forth from the royal chambers — namely, the maternal womb — and travels decorously from place to place? Rightly, therefore, did the son of thunder, John, cry out: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
But what shall we say of John who came forth from the wilderness, that strange and long-desired sight for the Israelites — the angel of God, who was ordained an apostle before the Apostles? Yet such a great King needed such a soldier, and the greatest High Priest such a great Prophet. And let us understand what and how great a mystery lies before us: for it would have been unfitting, while the friend of the Bridegroom was present, for the Bridegroom to be absent; and while the voice cried out, for the Word not to be heard. What then happens — how did God arrange it? John is somewhat withdrawn into obscurity from even his infancy, living supernaturally like a “lamp under a bushel” in the wilderness. There he hears divine voices and is deemed worthy to see divine visions. He is initiated into the mysteries and taught — just as when he was still in the womb - who Jesus is: that He is the Son of God, and that He upon whom he would see the dove in spiritual form “descending and remaining upon Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.”
And when “the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ” was fulfilled, and the period of the thirty-year extension came to an end, then behold “the lamp set upon the lampstand, burning and giving light to all in the house,” if we understand the house to mean the Synagogue of Israel. Then also appeared the true Light that enlightens the world. O the wonder! The sun to the star, the Word to the voice, the Bridegroom to the friend — for this was the plan of the divine Economy: that in this manner of approach “all righteousness might be fulfilled” in the person of Jesus, and, to speak evangelically, “the one might increase, and the other decrease.” Indeed, how could the light of the lamp not diminish, or even withdraw altogether, once the Sun of righteousness was already shining forth splendidly with His miracles?
Do you see how much time was required for Jesus to be completed bodily, during which He was subject to His parents? “O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!” Why, indeed? Let those who are lofty in contemplative ascents and know the depths of the Spirit give their own explanation. In my own opinion, however, for three reasons: first, so that the Lawgiver of all lawgivers might legislate obedience of children to parents by His own submission; second, so that He might sanctify all stages of age; and third, so that the All-perfect might not display a way of life foreign and unlike our own, since He wished to present to us the perfect way of life.
For even now, although He had reached perfect manhood, Arius dared to proclaim that His body was without a soul; Apollinaris, following the former in impiety, babbled that our Lord had no mind; and the new Manichaean, reaching the height of impiety, dogmatized that He ought not to be depicted. Let us see how great the difference is between these. He who calls His body soulless removes life from the body of the Master, for whatever lacks a soul is surely outside of life. He who babbles that the Lord is without mind reckons Him among irrational nature, for whatever lacks mind is irrational. And he who claims that He should not be depicted entirely denies the bodily nature of the Master’s body; for if it is not depictable, it must be incorporeal. Indeed, if He has a body, and every body can be touched and has some color, it necessarily follows that it can be depicted — unless we speak nonsense. For if it cannot be depicted, then without doubt it falls outside the limits of the corporeal and belongs to the nature of the incorporeal. Nothing, it seems, can restrain a tongue that speaks impiously when it is supported by the power of authority.
But let us lift our gaze to the prophetic visions and see how the most sacred Baptism is prefigured in them, for to this the continuation of the discourse now calls us. What does Isaiah say? Let us cite selectively: “Rejoice, O thirsty wilderness, for water shall burst forth in the desert, and a ravine in a thirsty land.” He addresses human nature, which is a wilderness with respect to fruitfulness — fruitfulness that presupposes faith and good works. And therefore, since it thirsts for the water of adoption, there sprang forth for its sake, like a river’s stream, the water of Baptism in the Jordan. And then what happened? “And the dry land shall become marshes” — that is, rich in faith. “And in the thirsty land there shall be a spring of water” — that is, this fountain of adoption. “And there shall be joy of birds there” — that is, of those reborn through Baptism, who in their way of life resemble birds, since they too by nature delight in dwelling in waters.
And according to Gideon, what is the basin full of water? Here the discourse signifies the font, womb-like in form, circular and turned on all sides, like sinlessness. Into it was poured the healing dew of the noetic fleece, full of the Holy Spirit. Here the newly-initiated children of God are reborn, thus replacing their birth “from flesh and blood.” And they are raised “to a perfect man,” so as to conquer the race of demons through Trinitarian worship.
And according to Elijah, what is the threefold pouring of water upon the altar and the whole burnt offering? I believe it signifies either the threefold hypostasis of the divine blessedness, which the priest invokes at Baptism, or the threefold immersion of the one being baptized. And Naaman rises from the water, according to Elisha’s command, completely cleansed: “His flesh,” it says, “returned like the flesh of a little child, and he was cleansed.” This miracle symbolizes the complete removal of the wounds of sins from the baptized and signifies that he rises from the water with a soul cleansed of every stain of former transgressions.
And if you wish to learn also of the gratuitous nature of spiritual rebirth, hear Isaiah who says: “You who thirst, go to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat, drink without money and without price.” That is, whoever desires some gift, even if he does not receive it, has gained life. But these things are in any case received and partaken of here only partially.
My own poor mind, too, has offered, according to its capacity, an appropriate contribution to the pre-festal celebration. But you, I pray, observe what wondrous events are taking place. The fonts are filled with waters. We see springs and fountains, rivers and lakes become vessels of the Spirit. The nature of the waters has been exalted to surpassing honor. Multiform lights, resembling stars, are prepared to adorn the whole earth on that sacred night. And in every city and land there are heralds of the Church who minister these divine and lofty mysteries and sanctify the waters by the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them.
May we too be sanctified by partaking of them, and may we be enlightened on this day by the all-radiant Spirit, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.