Homily 23
On the Holy Martyr Mamas
By St. Basil the Great
On the Holy Martyr Mamas
By St. Basil the Great
I am not unaware of the greatness of the encomia demanded by this festival; but just as I know this, so also I am conscious of my own weakness. For the subject requires that something worthy be said both of those who have gathered here, and of the hope they have placed in us, and of the subject itself. Since today we are celebrating the memory of the greatest of the martyrs, every mind is alert and every ear prepared, expecting to hear something worthy of the martyr; and out of longing for him, they have come to the church. For grateful children demand great encomia for their fathers, and would never consent that the greatness of those being praised should be placed in jeopardy through the smallness of the speaker. Thus, the greater the eagerness, the greater the danger. What, then, shall we do? And how shall we both fulfill your desires and ourselves not depart without accomplishing what is required of the occasion? Let us invite each soul to depart having renewed in its mind the things with which it came to the commemoration, having fed itself from its own resources, and gladdened itself with its own provisions.
Remember the martyr for me, all of you who have benefited through dreams of him; all of you who, having come upon this place, have found him a fellow-worker with you in prayer; all of you for whom, when he was called upon by name, he stood beside you in your deeds; all of you whom he has brought back from your journeys; all of you whom he has raised up from sickness; all of you to whom he has restored children who had already died; all of you for whom he has extended the appointed term of life. Gather all these things together for me, and compose an encomium from a common contribution. Share with one another what each of you knows with the one who does not know; let the one who does not know receive from the one who does know what he does not know; and thus, by feasting one another from our common contribution, pardon the weakness of our speech. For these are the encomia of a martyr: the abundance of spiritual gifts.
For we do not have the means to exalt him according to the convention of encomia from without; we have no illustrious fathers and ancestors to speak of. For it is shameful to adorn with foreign ornaments one who shines forth by his own virtue. Such things, after all, are customarily taken up in encomia according to the conventions of custom. But the encomia demanded by truth require what belongs to each man himself. For neither does a father's good fortune in the race make a horse swift, nor is it an encomium of a dog that it is descended from the swiftest. Rather, just as in other animals the excellence of each is seen in the creature itself, so also a man's proper praise is that which is attested by the achievements that belong to him. What has a father's distinction to do with the child? Thus the martyr did not receive his distinction from elsewhere; rather, he himself, by the life that followed, kindled a lamp of renown. The others derive their distinction from Mamas, not Mamas from others.
Let the children who have been taught piety by him take their glory from him. For he himself pours forth virtue from within. He is not like a torrent made imposing by waters flowing in from elsewhere, but a spring pouring forth beauty from its own depths. Let us marvel at the man, adorned not with another's ornament, but distinguished by what is his own. Do you see the splendid horse-breeders? Do you see their white monuments? What are they but stones that are passed by? Yet at the memory of the martyr, every region has been stirred, and every city has been transformed for the feast. Nor do the relatives of those men hasten to the tombs of their fathers; rather, all hasten to the place of piety.
They call this man father, the leader of truth, but not fathers and leaders according to the flesh. Do you see how virtue is honored, and not wealth? Thus the Church, by the very things with which she honors those who have gone before, exhorts those who are present. “Do not,” she says to me, “strive after wealth; nor after the wisdom of this world, which is being brought to nothing; nor after glory, which is fading away; for these things vanish with life. Rather, be a worker of piety. For this will also raise you to heaven; this will also make your memory immortal and secure for you enduring renown among men.”
Therefore, if anyone remembers the shepherd, let him not marvel at wealth. For we have gathered together to praise one who was not rich; do not depart marveling at a rich man, but at poverty joined with piety. A shepherd—nothing great, nor a sophisticated occupation. Surely, if you were angered, would you not say by way of reproach to the one who provoked you, “Are you a shepherd?” A shepherd possessing nothing more than his daily sustenance, carrying a wallet slung over him, bearing a club, and provisions for the day, with no concern whatsoever for tomorrow. At war with wild beasts, a companion of the gentlest animals, fleeing the marketplace, fleeing the law courts, knowing nothing of informers, knowing nothing of commerce, knowing nothing of wealth, having no shelter of his own, dwelling beneath the common shelter of the world, looking toward heaven by night, and through the stars reading the wonder of Him who made them. A shepherd. Let us not be ashamed of the truth. Let us not imitate the storytellers from outside; let us not cloak the truth in the elegance of words. Naked is the truth, without an advocate, displaying itself by itself. The humbler the subject, the more you will marvel at the encomium.
A shepherd and a poor man—these are the honors in which a Christian may glory. If you seek the leaders of the school of piety, they are fishermen and tax collectors; if you seek the disciples, they are poor shoemakers. No rich man, no worldly distinction anywhere. All these things have been brought to an end together with the world. Behold, then, whose day we are celebrating, in whom we all rejoice, through whom a life has been transformed. Since we have been reminded of the shepherd, do not despise the name.
You have heard that Abel, the first man who was pleasing to God, was a shepherd. Who was his imitator? Moses, the great lawgiver, who escaped the ordeal of Pharaoh, who hated the treachery of his fellow Israelites; he was shepherding on Mount Horeb, and through the very things with which he shepherded, he conversed with God. It was not while sitting in judgment that he saw an angel in the bush, but while shepherding that he was deemed worthy of that heavenly encounter.
Who came after Moses? Jacob the patriarch, displaying endurance in shepherding and, in a small image, giving expression to his whole life.
To whom did he hand on his zeal? To David. David passed from shepherding to kingship. For shepherding and kingship are sisters, insofar as the one was entrusted with the oversight of irrational creatures, while the other was entrusted with the oversight of rational beings. Thus this is the foundation of the greater office. For this reason the Lord, embracing both, is both shepherd and king, shepherding the irrational and leading the more rational under the oversight of His kingship. Do you wish to learn how great a shepherd is? “The Lord shepherds me.” And how is shepherding a sister of kingship? “Who is this King of glory?” The shepherd here is king there. And do not suppose that while others bear witness to Him, He Himself is ashamed of this designation. Rather, having silenced the false shepherds, He gathers the true testimony of shepherding into Himself: “I am the good shepherd.” I am He, and I have not changed.
How is it that, when He speaks of great things, saying, “With My hand I established the earth; I stretched out the heaven alone,” He speaks in the same way when He says those other things that are worthy and fitting to be said of God: “I am the good shepherd”? He drives away the false shepherds and gathers the truth into Himself: “I am the good shepherd.” Learn who the shepherd is, and who the good one is. He Himself explains it: “The true shepherd lays down his life for the sheep; but the hireling, who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, does not care for them when he sees the wolf coming.” Here the Church raises the question: if the Lord is the shepherd, who is the hireling shepherd? Is it perhaps the devil? And if the devil is the hireling shepherd, who is the wolf? But the wolf is the devil, the untamed beast, the predatory one, the treacherous one, the common enemy of all. Let the hireling shepherd, then, have his own proper designation. At that time the Lord, turning away from those who were then opposed to Him, called them hireling shepherds. And even now there are such men—would that there were not—who make the designation of hirelings their own.
At that time there appeared the chief priests and Pharisees, and that whole Jewish party. Those men He called hireling shepherds: those who had received the authority to shepherd not for the sake of the truth, but for what was expedient for themselves. Those who pray under a false pretext so that they may devour the bread of widows and orphans—these are hirelings. Those who minister to their own interests, who pursue the present and do not look toward what is to come, are hirelings, and not shepherds.
And even now there are many hirelings, sacrificing their own lives for the sake of miserable little glory, and even now causing division over the sound words of the Lord. For when the Lord had said these things, a division arose among them. Some were saying, “He has a demon”; others, “A demon cannot make the eyes of the blind see.” Do you see how ancient is the disease of division? For immediately the winnowing shovel separates the chaff from the wheat: the light and unstable is separated from what is nourishing, while that which is fit for spiritual nourishment remains with those who cultivate it.
For this reason a division arose, and some were of one opinion, others of another. Division is fitting for the Jews; but the Church of God, having received the seamless tunic, woven from above, the tunic that was kept undivided by the soldiers, She who has put on Christ must not tear the garment. “And I know My own, and My own know Me.” The heretic seized upon this for the construction of his own blasphemy. “Behold,” he says, “it has been said that ‘My own know Me, and I know My own.’”
What, then, does He mean by “to know”? To comprehend the essence? To measure its magnitude? To understand those things concerning the Godhead which you, in the recklessness of your speech, claim to understand? Or, from what follows, do you not understand the measure of knowledge?
What do we know of God? “My sheep hear My voice.” See how God is understood: by our hearing His commandments; by our doing what we hear. This is the knowledge of God: the keeping of the commandments of God. Why, then, this meddlesome curiosity concerning the essence of God? Why this inquiry into things beyond the world? Why these conceptions of invisible things? “My own know Me, and I know My own.” It is enough for you to know that He is the good shepherd, that He laid down His life for the sheep. This is the limit of the knowledge of God.
But how great God is, and what His measure is, and what His essence is like—such questions are perilous for the one who asks, and impossible for the one who is asked; and silence is the remedy for such matters. “My sheep hear My voice,” He said; He does not dispute. That is, they do not misunderstand, they do not contend. You have heard “Son”: do not concern yourself with the manner of His begetting; do not yourself devise theories about it, nor reduce what has no explanation to causes; do not divide what has been joined together by creating a schism. For this reason the Evangelist has secured you beforehand.
You heard earlier, and you will hear again: “In the beginning was the Word,” so that you will not suppose that the Son, as though born in the human manner, was taken from non-being. “Word,” He called Him, because of the passionless; “was,” He said, signifying the timeless; “beginning,” He said, in order to join the One who was begotten to the Father. You have seen how an obedient sheep listens to the voice of its Master: “In the beginning, and was, and Word.” Do not say, “How was He?” and, “If He was, He was not begotten,” and, “If He was begotten, He was not.” He who says such things is not a sheep. He wears the skin of a sheep, but within is a wolf who speaks. Let the treacherous one be recognized. “My sheep hear My voice.” You have heard “Son”? Consider the likeness to the Father. I say “likeness” because of the weakness of our second-order bodily comparisons. For the truth at least—I am not afraid to approach the truth—I am not an eager slanderer. I say identity, while preserving the distinction proper to Son and Father. In the hypostasis of the Son, understand the Father's form, so that they may preserve for me the precise account of the image, so that you may understand with reverence toward God: “I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me”—not a confusion of essences, but an identity of characteristics. But none of this is difficult, beloved, since the readiness of your hearing has compelled our weakness to say something in the midst and to speak forth, so that the power of God may shine forth all the more through the weakness of the instrument.
Perhaps, indeed, this is why our weakness has been pressed so hard, so that He who strengthens what is weak may be glorified all the more. And He who has led us through this festival, and given the words the conclusion of a prayer, and is still completing the head of the cycle—for this day defines for us the cycle that has passed, and becomes again the head of the cycle that is coming—may He, then, who has joined together and granted the activity of what is to come, preserve us in it unharmed, undisturbed, unbroken by the wolf; may He preserve this Church steadfast, guarded by the great towers of the martyrs. May He turn away every plot and assault of heretical devices; and may we, in peace and quiet, be taught all the divine sayings, and be taught the grace bestowed by the Spirit; for to Him belong the glory and the dominion, together with the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
- From PG 31, 589B–600B. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
How is it that, when He speaks of great things, saying, “With My hand I established the earth; I stretched out the heaven alone,” He speaks in the same way when He says those other things that are worthy and fitting to be said of God: “I am the good shepherd”? He drives away the false shepherds and gathers the truth into Himself: “I am the good shepherd.” Learn who the shepherd is, and who the good one is. He Himself explains it: “The true shepherd lays down his life for the sheep; but the hireling, who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, does not care for them when he sees the wolf coming.” Here the Church raises the question: if the Lord is the shepherd, who is the hireling shepherd? Is it perhaps the devil? And if the devil is the hireling shepherd, who is the wolf? But the wolf is the devil, the untamed beast, the predatory one, the treacherous one, the common enemy of all. Let the hireling shepherd, then, have his own proper designation. At that time the Lord, turning away from those who were then opposed to Him, called them hireling shepherds. And even now there are such men—would that there were not—who make the designation of hirelings their own.
At that time there appeared the chief priests and Pharisees, and that whole Jewish party. Those men He called hireling shepherds: those who had received the authority to shepherd not for the sake of the truth, but for what was expedient for themselves. Those who pray under a false pretext so that they may devour the bread of widows and orphans—these are hirelings. Those who minister to their own interests, who pursue the present and do not look toward what is to come, are hirelings, and not shepherds.
And even now there are many hirelings, sacrificing their own lives for the sake of miserable little glory, and even now causing division over the sound words of the Lord. For when the Lord had said these things, a division arose among them. Some were saying, “He has a demon”; others, “A demon cannot make the eyes of the blind see.” Do you see how ancient is the disease of division? For immediately the winnowing shovel separates the chaff from the wheat: the light and unstable is separated from what is nourishing, while that which is fit for spiritual nourishment remains with those who cultivate it.
For this reason a division arose, and some were of one opinion, others of another. Division is fitting for the Jews; but the Church of God, having received the seamless tunic, woven from above, the tunic that was kept undivided by the soldiers, She who has put on Christ must not tear the garment. “And I know My own, and My own know Me.” The heretic seized upon this for the construction of his own blasphemy. “Behold,” he says, “it has been said that ‘My own know Me, and I know My own.’”
What, then, does He mean by “to know”? To comprehend the essence? To measure its magnitude? To understand those things concerning the Godhead which you, in the recklessness of your speech, claim to understand? Or, from what follows, do you not understand the measure of knowledge?
What do we know of God? “My sheep hear My voice.” See how God is understood: by our hearing His commandments; by our doing what we hear. This is the knowledge of God: the keeping of the commandments of God. Why, then, this meddlesome curiosity concerning the essence of God? Why this inquiry into things beyond the world? Why these conceptions of invisible things? “My own know Me, and I know My own.” It is enough for you to know that He is the good shepherd, that He laid down His life for the sheep. This is the limit of the knowledge of God.
But how great God is, and what His measure is, and what His essence is like—such questions are perilous for the one who asks, and impossible for the one who is asked; and silence is the remedy for such matters. “My sheep hear My voice,” He said; He does not dispute. That is, they do not misunderstand, they do not contend. You have heard “Son”: do not concern yourself with the manner of His begetting; do not yourself devise theories about it, nor reduce what has no explanation to causes; do not divide what has been joined together by creating a schism. For this reason the Evangelist has secured you beforehand.
You heard earlier, and you will hear again: “In the beginning was the Word,” so that you will not suppose that the Son, as though born in the human manner, was taken from non-being. “Word,” He called Him, because of the passionless; “was,” He said, signifying the timeless; “beginning,” He said, in order to join the One who was begotten to the Father. You have seen how an obedient sheep listens to the voice of its Master: “In the beginning, and was, and Word.” Do not say, “How was He?” and, “If He was, He was not begotten,” and, “If He was begotten, He was not.” He who says such things is not a sheep. He wears the skin of a sheep, but within is a wolf who speaks. Let the treacherous one be recognized. “My sheep hear My voice.” You have heard “Son”? Consider the likeness to the Father. I say “likeness” because of the weakness of our second-order bodily comparisons. For the truth at least—I am not afraid to approach the truth—I am not an eager slanderer. I say identity, while preserving the distinction proper to Son and Father. In the hypostasis of the Son, understand the Father's form, so that they may preserve for me the precise account of the image, so that you may understand with reverence toward God: “I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me”—not a confusion of essences, but an identity of characteristics. But none of this is difficult, beloved, since the readiness of your hearing has compelled our weakness to say something in the midst and to speak forth, so that the power of God may shine forth all the more through the weakness of the instrument.
Perhaps, indeed, this is why our weakness has been pressed so hard, so that He who strengthens what is weak may be glorified all the more. And He who has led us through this festival, and given the words the conclusion of a prayer, and is still completing the head of the cycle—for this day defines for us the cycle that has passed, and becomes again the head of the cycle that is coming—may He, then, who has joined together and granted the activity of what is to come, preserve us in it unharmed, undisturbed, unbroken by the wolf; may He preserve this Church steadfast, guarded by the great towers of the martyrs. May He turn away every plot and assault of heretical devices; and may we, in peace and quiet, be taught all the divine sayings, and be taught the grace bestowed by the Spirit; for to Him belong the glory and the dominion, together with the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
- From PG 31, 589B–600B. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
Ὁμιλία ΚΓ΄
Εἰς τὸν ἅγιον μάρτυρα Μάμαντα
Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας
Εἰς τὸν ἅγιον μάρτυρα Μάμαντα
Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας
Οὐκ ἀγνοῶ τὸ μέγεθος τῶν ὑπὸ τῆς πανηγύρεως ἐγκωμίων· ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ τοῦτο ἐπίσταμαι, οὕτω καὶ τῆς ἀσθενείας τῆς ἐμαυτοῦ ἐπαισθάνομαι. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ ὑπόθεσις ἀπαιτεῖ ἄξιόν τι ῥηθῆναι τῶν συνελθόντων καὶ τῆς ἐλπίδος ἧς ἔχουσιν ἐφ’ ἡμῖν, καὶ τῆς ὑποθέσεως. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῇ μεγίστῃ τῶν μαρτύρων ἄγομεν τὴν μνήμην σήμερον, ὀρθὴ πᾶσα διάνοια καὶ ἐμπαράσκευος ἀκοὴ, εἰπεῖν τι ἄξιον τοῦ μάρτυρος προσδοκῶσα, καὶ πόθῳ τῷ περὶ αὐτὸν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἐπάγει. Καὶ γὰρ εὐγνώμονες παῖδες μεγάλα ἀπαιτοῦσι τὰ τῶν πατέρων ἐγκώμια, καὶ οὐκ ἂν καταδέξαιντο ἐν μικρότητι τοῦ λέγοντος κινδυνεύειν τῶν ἐγκωμιαζομένων τὸ μέγεθος. Ὥστε ὅσῳ μείζων ἡ προθυμία, τοσούτῳ μέγας ὁ κίνδυνος. Τί οὖν ποιήσομεν; Πῶς δὲ καὶ τὰς ὑμετέρας ἐπιθυμίας ἀποπληρώσομεν, καὶ αὐτοὶ μὴ ἀπέλθωμεν ἀσυντελεῖς τῶν παρόντων; Παρακαλέσομεν ἑκάστην ψυχήν, ἃ ἔχουσα ἦλθεν ἐν τῇ μνήμῃ, ταῦτα ἀνακαινίσασαν τῇ διανοίᾳ, οἴκοθεν ἐπισιτισάμενην, τοῖς οἰκείοις ἐφοδίοις ἑαυτὴν εὐφράνασαν ἀπελθεῖν.
Μνήσθητέ μοι τοῦ μάρτυρος, ὅσοι δι’ ὀνείρων αὐτοῦ ἀπηλαύσατε· ὅσοι, περιτυχόντες τῷ τόπῳ τούτῳ, ἐσχήκεσαν αὐτὸν συνεργὸν εἰς προσευχήν· ὅσοις, ὀνόματι κληθεὶς, ἐπὶ τῶν ἔργων παρέστη· ὅσους ὁδοιπόρους ἐπανήγαγεν· ὅσους ἐξ ἀῤῥωστίας ἀνέστησεν· ὅσοις παῖδας ἀπέδωκεν ἤδη τετελευτηκότας· ὅσοις προθεσμίας βίου μακροτέρας ἐποίησεν. Πάντα μοι συναγαγόντες, ἐγκώμιον ἐκ κοινοῦ ἐράνου πονήσατε. Ἀλλήλοις διάδοτε, ἃ οἶδεν ἕκαστος, τῷ μὴ εἰδότι· ἃ μὴ οἶδε, λαμβανέτω παρὰ τοῦ εἰδότος, καὶ οὕτως ἐκ συνεισφορᾶς ἀλλήλους συνεστιάσαντες, ἡμῶν τῇ ἀσθενείᾳ σύγγνωτε. Ταῦτα γὰρ ἐγκώμια μάρτυρος, ὁ πλοῦτος τῶν πνευματικῶν χαρισμάτων.
Οὐ γὰρ ἔχομεν αὐτὸν κατὰ τὸν νόμον τῶν ἔξωθεν ἐγκωμίων ἀποσεμνύνειν· οὐκ ἔχομεν λέγειν πατέρας καὶ προγόνους περιφανεῖς. Αἰσχρὸν γὰρ ἀλλοτρίοις κόσμοις κοσμεῖσθαι τὸν τῇ οἰκείᾳ ἀρετῇ διαφανῆ. Συνηθείας γὰρ νόμοις τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐν τοῖς ἐγκωμίοις παραλαμβάνουσιν. Ἐπεὶ ὅ γε τῆς ἀληθείας ἴδια ἑκάστου ἀπαιτεῖ τὰ ἐγκώμια. Οὔτε γὰρ ἵππον ταχὺν ποιεῖ ἡ τοῦ πατρὸς περὶ τὸν δρόμον εὐμοιρία, οὔτε κυνὸς ἐγκώμιον τὸ ἐκ ταχυτάτων φῦναι. Ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ ἄλλων ζώων ἡ ἀρετὴ ἐν αὐτῷ θεωρεῖται ἑκάστῳ, οὕτω καὶ ἀνδρὸς ἴδιος ἔπαινος ὁ ἐκ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων αὐτῷ κατορθωμάτων μαρτυρούμενος. Τί πρὸς τὸν παῖδα ἡ τοῦ πατρὸς περιφάνεια; Οὕτως οὐκ ἔλαβεν ἑτέρωθεν τὸ περιφανὲς ὁ μάρτυς· ἀλλ’ αὐτὸς τῷ ἐφεξῆς βίῳ λαμπτῆρα εὐκλείας ἀνῆψεν. Ἀπὸ Μάμαντος οἱ λοιποί, οὐκ ἀφ’ ἑτέρων Μάμας.
Παῖδες οἱ παρὰ τούτου τὴν εὐσέβειαν διδαχθέντες τούτῳ σεμνυνέσθωσαν. Αὐτὸς γὰρ οἴκοθεν βρύει τὴν ἀρετήν. Οὐκ ἔστιν ὥσπερ χειμάρρους ἀλλοτρίᾳ συρροίᾳ σεμνυνόμενος, ἀλλὰ πηγή ἐστιν ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκείων λαγόνων προχέουσα τὸ κάλλος. Θαυμάσωμεν τὸν ἄνδρα μὴ ἀλλοτρίῳ κόσμῳ κοσμούμενον, ἀλλὰ τῷ ἰδίῳ ἀποσεμνυνόμενον. Ὁρᾷς τοὺς λαμπροὺς ἱπποτρόφους; Ὁρᾷς τὰ λευκὰ αὐτῶν μνήματα; Πῶς λίθοι εἰσὶ παρατρεχόμενοι; Μνήμῃ δὲ μάρτυρος καὶ πᾶσα μὲν χώρα κεκίνηται, πᾶσα δὲ πόλις πρὸς ἑορτὴν μεταπεποίηται. Οὐδὲ οἱ συγγενεῖς τῶν πρὸς τοὺς τῶν πατέρων ἀποτρέχουσι τάφους, ἀλλὰ πάντες ἐπὶ τὸν τόπον τῆς εὐσεβείας.
Πατέρα τοῦτον τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τῆς ἀληθείας, ἀλλ’ οὐχὶ πατέρας καὶ σωμάτων ἀρχηγοὺς ὀνομάζουσιν. Ὁρᾷς πῶς ἀρετὴ τιμᾶται, καὶ οὐχὶ πλοῦτος; Οὕτως ἡ Ἐκκλησία, δι’ ὧν τιμᾷ τοὺς προλαβόντας, προτρέπεται τοὺς παρόντας. Μή μοι, φησὶ, σπούδαζε περὶ πλοῦτον· μὴ περὶ σοφίαν τοῦ κόσμου τὴν καταργουμένην· μὴ περὶ δόξαν τὴν ἀπαθοῦσαν· ταῦτα τῷ βίῳ συναφανίζεται· ἀλλ’ εὐσεβείας ἐργάτης ἔσο. Αὕτη γὰρ καὶ εἰς οὐρανόν σε ἀνοίσει, αὕτη καὶ ἀθάνατόν σου τὴν μνήμην καὶ διαρκῆ τὴν εὔκλειαν παρὰ ἀνθρώποις παρασκευάσει.
Ὥστε, εἴ τις μέμνηται τοῦ ποιμένος, μὴ θαυμαζέτω τὸν πλοῦτον. Συνήλθομεν γὰρ ἐπαινέσαι οὐχὶ πλούσιον ὄντα· μὴ ἀπέλθῃς πλούσιον θαυμάζων, ἀλλὰ πενίαν μετ’ εὐσεβείας. Ποιμὴν οὐδὲν μέγα, οὐδὲ σοφὸν ἐπιτήδευμα. Οὐκ ἂν, ὀργισθείς, ἀντὶ ὀνείδους εἶπες τῷ παροξύναντί σε· Ποιμὴν εἶ; Ποιμὴν οὐδὲν πλέον τῆς ἐφημέρου τροφῆς κεκτημένος, πήραν ἀνημμένος, καὶ κορύνην φέρων, καὶ τὰ πρὸς ἡμέραν ἐφόδια, οὐδεμίαν μέριμναν περὶ τῆς αὔριον ἔχων. Θηρίοις πολέμιος, ἡμερωτάτων ζῴων σύννομος, φεύγων ἀγορὰν, φεύγων δικαστήρια, οὐ γνωρίζων συκοφάντας, οὐ γνωρίζων ἐμπορίαν, οὐκ εἰδὼς πλοῦτον, οὐκ ἔχων ἰδίαν σκέπην, ὑπὸ τὴν κοινὴν τοῦ κόσμου διαιτώμενος, ἐν νυκτὶ πρὸς οὐρανὸν ἀναβλέπων, καὶ διὰ τῶν ἀστέρων ἀναγινώσκων τὸ θαῦμα τοῦ πεποιηκότος. Ποιμήν. Μὴ ἐπαισχυνώμεθα τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Μὴ τοὺς ἔξωθεν μυθοποιοὺς μιμώμεθα, μὴ περιστέλλωμεν τὴν ἀλήθειαν εὐπρεπείᾳ ῥημάτων. Γυμνὴ ἡ ἀλήθεια, ἀσυνηγόρητος, αὐτὴ ἑαυτὴν δεικνῦσα. Πλείονι λόγῳ τὸ ταπεινόν· ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον θαυμάσεις τῷ ἐγκωμίῳ.
Ποιμὴν καὶ πένης, ταῦτα τῷ Χριστιανῷ τὰ σεμνολογήματα. Ἐὰν τοὺς ἀρχηγοὺς τοῦ διδασκαλείου τοῦ κατ’ εὐσέβειαν ζητήσῃς, ἁλιεῖς τε καὶ τελῶναι· ἐὰν τοὺς μαθητάς, σκυτοτόμοι πένητες. Οὐδεὶς πλούσιος, οὐδαμοῦ περιφάνεια. Ταῦτα πάντα μετὰ τοῦ κόσμου κατήργηται. Ἰδοὺ τοίνυν τίνος ἡμέραν ἑορτάζομεν, ἐπὶ τίνι φαιδροὶ πάντες ἐσμὲν, ἐπὶ τίνι βίος μεταπεποίηται. Ἐπειδὴ ὑπεμνήσθημεν τοῦ ποιμένος, μὴ καταφρόνει τῆς προσηγορίας. Ἤκουσας, ὅτι ὁ πρῶτος εὐαρεστήσας Ἄβελ ποιμὴν ὑπῆρξε.
Τίς ἐκείνου μιμητής; Μωϋσῆς ὁ μέγας νομοθέτης, ὁ τὴν πεῖραν Φαραὼ ἀποδράσας, ὁ μισήσας τῶν συννόμων τὸ ἐπίβουλον, οὗτος ἐν τῷ ὄρει τῷ Χωρὴβ ἐποίμαινεν· δι’ ὧν ἐποίμαινε Θεῷ προσωμίλει. Οὐ δικαζόμενος εἶδεν ἐπὶ βάτου ἄγγελον, ἀλλὰ ποιμαίνων ἐκείνης τῆς ὁμιλίας τῆς οὐρανίου ἠξιώθη. Τίς μετὰ Μωϋσέα; Ἰακὼβ ὁ πατριάρχης, ἐν τῷ ποιμαίνειν ὑπομονὴν τὴν περὶ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐπιδεικνύμενος, μικρᾷ εἰκόνι τὸν ὅλον ἑαυτοῦ χαρακτηρίσας βίον. Τίνι παρέδωκε τὸν ζῆλον; Τῷ Δαβίδ.
Δαβὶδ ἐκ ποιμαντικῆς παρῆλθεν εἰς βασιλείαν. Ἀδελφαὶ γὰρ ποιμαντικὴ καὶ βασιλική· παρ’ ὅσον ἡ μὲν τῶν ἀλόγων, ἡ δὲ τῶν λογικῶν τὴν ἐπιστασίαν ἐπεπίστευτο. Οὕτως ὑποβάθρα τῆς μείζονος ἐπιστήμης ἐστὶν αὕτη. Διὰ τοῦτο ἀμφότερα συλλαμβάνων ὁ Κύριός ἐστι καὶ ποιμὴν καὶ βασιλεύς, τοὺς ἀλόγους ποιμαίνων, τοὺς λογικωτέρους ὑπὸ τὴν ἐπιστασίαν τῆς βασιλείας ἄγων. Βούλει μαθεῖν πηλίκον ἐστὶ ποιμήν; «Κύριος ποιμαίνει με.» Πῶς δὲ ἀδελφὴ βασιλείας ποιμαντική; «Τίς ἐστιν οὗτος ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης;» Ὁ ἐνταῦθα ποιμὴν ἐκεῖ βασιλεύς. Καὶ μὴ νομίσῃς παρ’ ἄλλων μὲν μαρτυρεῖσθαι, αὐτὸν δὲ ἐπαισχύνεσθαι τῇ προσηγορίᾳ ταύτῃ. Ἀλλὰ κατασιωπήσας τοὺς νόθους ποιμένας, ἐφ’ ἑαυτὸν περιίστησι τὴν ἀληθῆ τῆς ποιμαντικῆς μαρτυρίαν· «Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός.» Ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ οὐκ ἠλλοίωμαι.
Πῶς, ὅταν τὰ μεγάλα λέγῃ· «Ἐγὼ τῇ χειρί μου ἐστερέωσα τὴν γῆν· ἐγὼ ἐξέτεινα τὸν οὐρανὸν μόνος»· ὡς ὅταν τἄλλα λέγῃ τὰ ἀξιοπρεπῆ καὶ ἄξια περὶ Θεοῦ λέγεσθαι, οὕτως λέγει· «Ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός»; Ἀποδιώκει τοὺς νόθους, καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν εἰς ἑαυτὸν περιίστησιν. «Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός.» Μάθε τίς ἐστιν ὁ ποιμὴν, καὶ τίς ἐστιν ὁ καλός. Αὐτὸς ἑρμηνεύει. «Ὁ ἀληθινὸς ποιμὴν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ τίθησιν ὑπὲρ τῶν προβάτων· ὁ δὲ μισθωτός, καὶ οὐκ ὢν ποιμήν, οὗ οὐκ ἔστι τὰ πρόβατα ἴδια, οὐ μέλει αὐτῷ, ὅταν ἴδῃ λύκον ἐρχόμενον.» Ἐνταῦθα ζητεῖ ἡ Ἐκκλησία, εἰ ποιμὴν ὁ Κύριος, τίς μισθωτὸς ποιμήν; Μὴ ὁ διάβολος; Καὶ εἰ ὁ διάβολος μισθωτὸς ποιμήν, τίς ὁ λύκος; Ἀλλὰ λύκος μὲν ὁ διάβολος, τὸ ἀνήμερον θηρίον, τὸ ἁρπακτικόν, τὸ ἐπίβουλον, ὁ κοινὸς πάντων ἐχθρός. Ἐχέτω τοίνυν ἰδίαν προσηγορίαν μισθωτὸς ποιμήν. Μισθωτοὺς ποιμένας τότε μὲν πρὸς τοὺς τότε ἀποστρεφόμενος ὁ Κύριος ἔλεγεν. Εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ οἱ νῦν, ὡς οὐκ ὄφελον, οἱ τὴν προσηγορίαν τῶν μισθωτῶν οἰκειούμενοι.
Τότε ἀρχιερεῖς ἐνεδείκνυντο καὶ Φαρισαῖοι, καὶ πᾶν ἐκεῖνο τὸ κόμμα τὸ Ἰουδαϊκόν. Ἐκείνους μισθωτοὺς ἔλεγε ποιμένας, τοὺς οὐ διὰ τὸ ἀληθές, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ αὐτῶν χρειῶδες τὴν τοῦ ποιμαίνειν ἐξουσίαν λαβόντας. Οἱ ἐπὶ προφάσει ματαίᾳ προσευχόμενοι, ἵνα κατεσθίωσι τὸν ἄρτον τῶν χηρῶν καὶ τῶν ὀρφανῶν, οὗτοι μισθωτοί. Οἱ τὴν χρείαν θεραπεύοντες, οἱ τὸ παρὸν διώκοντες, οὐ πρὸς τὸ μέλλον ἀτενίζοντες, μισθωτοί, καὶ οὐ ποιμένες εἰσίν.
Καὶ νῦν μισθωτοὶ πολλοὶ δοξαρίου δυστήνου τὴν ἑαυτῶν ζωὴν ἀποδιδόντες, οἱ καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ τοῖς ὑγιαίνουσι τοῦ Κυρίου ῥήμασι σχίσμα ποιοῦντες. Εἰπόντος γὰρ ταῦτα τοῦ Κυρίου, σχίσμα ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐγένετο. Οἱ μὲν ἔλεγον· «Δαιμόνιον ἔχει»· ἄλλοι· «Δαίμων ὀφθαλμοὺς τυφλοὺς βλέπειν ποιεῖν οὐ δύναται.» Ὁρᾷς πῶς παλαιὸν τὸ πάθος τοῦ σχίσματος; Εὐθὺς γὰρ τὸ πτύον διακρίνει μὲν τὸ ἄχυρον ἀπὸ τοῦ σίτου· καὶ τὸ μὲν κοῦφον καὶ ἄστατον ἀποσχίζεται τοῦ τροφίμου, τὸ δὲ πρὸς τροφὴν πνευματικὴν ἐπιτήδειον παραμένει τῶν γεωργούντων.
Διὰ τοῦτο σχίσμα ἐγένετο, καὶ οἱ μὲν οὕτω διέφερον, οἱ δὲ οὕτως. Ἰουδαίοις πρέπει τὸ σχίζεσθαι· ἡ δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἐκκλησία, τὸν χιτῶνα τὸν ἄῤῥαφον, τὸν ἐκ τῶν ἄνωθεν ὑφαντόν, δεξαμένη, τὸν ἄσχιστον ὑπὸ στρατιωτῶν διαφυλαχθέντα, ἡ Χριστὸν ἐνδυσαμένη, μὴ σχιζέτω τὸ ἱμάτιον. «Καὶ γινώσκω τὰ ἐμά, καὶ γινώσκουσί με τὰ ἐμά.» Ἥρπασεν ὁ αἱρετικὸς πρὸς τὴν ἰδίαν κατασκευὴν τῆς βλασφημίας. «Ἰδοὺ,» φησίν, «εἴρηται, ὅτι Γινώσκουσί με τὰ ἐμά, καὶ γινώσκω τὰ ἐμά.»
Γινώσκειν ἄρα τί λέγει; Τὴν οὐσίαν νοεῖν; Τὸ μέγεθος ἐκμετρεῖν; Ἐκεῖνα κατανοεῖσθαι τῆς θεότητος, ἃ σὺ τῇ σεαυτοῦ θρασυστομίᾳ κατεπαγγέλλῃ; Ἢ ἐκ τῶν κατόπιν οὐ νοεῖς τὸ μέτρον τῆς γνώσεως;
Τί γινώσκομεν Θεοῦ; «Τὰ ἐμὰ πρόβατα τῆς φωνῆς μου ἀκούει.» Ἴδε πῶς νοεῖται Θεός· ἐκ τοῦ ἀκούειν ἡμᾶς τῶν ἐντολῶν αὐτοῦ· ἐκ τοῦ ἀκούοντας ποιεῖν. Τοῦτο γνῶσις Θεοῦ, τήρησις ἐντολῶν Θεοῦ. Πῶς οὐ πολυπραγμοσύνη περὶ οὐσίας Θεοῦ; Οὐ ζήτησις τῶν ὑπερκοσμίων; Οὐκ ἐπίνoια τῶν ἀοράτων; «Γινώσκει με τὰ ἐμά, καὶ γινώσκω τὰ ἐμά.» Ἀρκεί σοι εἰδέναι, ὅτι ποιμὴν καλός· ὅτι ἔθηκε τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ὑπὲρ τῶν προβάτων. Οὗτος ὅρος τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπιγνώσεως.
Πόσος δὲ Θεός, καὶ τί τὸ μέτρον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ποταπὸς τὴν οὐσίαν, τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐπικίνδυνα μὲν τῷ ἐρωτῶντι, ἄπορα δὲ τῷ ἐρωτωμένῳ· σιωπὴ δὲ θεραπεία τῶν τοιούτων ἐστίν. «Τὰ ἐμὰ πρόβατα τῆς ἐμῆς φωνῆς ἀκούει,» εἶπεν, οὐ συζητεῖ. Τουτέστιν, οὐ παρακούει, οὐ φιλονεικεῖ. Ἤκουσας Υἱόν, μὴ μοι τρόπους γεννήσεως μήτε αὐτὸς τεχνολόγει, μήτε ὑπὸ αἰτίαν ἀνάγαγε τὰ μὴ αἰτιολογήματα, μὴ διὰ σχίσματος διόριζε τὸ συνημμένον. Διὰ τοῦτο προλαβὼν ἠσφαλίσατό σε ὁ εὐαγγελιστής.
Ἤκουσας πρῴην, καὶ δι’ ἀκούσεις· Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, ἵνα μὴ τὸν Υἱὸν γέννημα ἀνθρώπινον νομίσῃς ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος παρειληφθέντα. Λόγον σοι εἶπε διὰ τὸ ἀπαθές. Ἦν σοι εἶπε τὸ ἄχρονον. Ἀρχὴν σοι εἶπεν, ἵνα συνάψῃ τὸν γεννηθέντα τῷ Πατρί. Εἶδες πρόβατον εὐπειθὲς πῶς ἀκούει φωνὴν Δεσπότου. Ἐν ἀρχῇ, καὶ ἦν, καὶ Λόγος. Μὴ εἴπῃς τὸ, Πῶς ἦν; καὶ, Εἰ ἦν, οὐκ ἐγεννήθη, καὶ εἰ ἐγεννήθη, οὐκ ἦν. Οὐκ ἐστὶ πρόβατον τὸ ταῦτα λέγον. Προβάτου δέρμα ἔσωθεν δὲ λύκος ἐστὶν ὁ φθεγγόμενος. Ἐπίβουλος γνωριζέσθω. Τὰ ἐμὰ πρόβατα τῆς ἐμῆς φωνῆς ἀκούει. Ἤκουσας Υἱόν; Νόμισον τὴν πρὸς Πατέρα ὁμοιότητα. Ὡμοίωτα λέγω δι’ ἀσθένειαν τῶν δευτέρων σωμάτων. Ἐπεὶ τό γε ἀληθὲς (οὐ φοβοῦμαι γὰρ προσβαίνειν τὴν ἀλήθειαν), οὐκ εἰμὶ ἕτοιμος συκοφάντης. Ταυτότητα λέγω, φυλάσσων Υἱοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς ἰδιότητα. Ἐν ὑποστάσει Υἱοῦ, μορφήν νόησον πατρικήν, ἵνα μοι τὸν ἀκριβῆ τῆς εἰκόνος διασώσωσι λόγον, ἵνα μοι νοήσῃς θεοσεβῶς· Ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ Πατρί, καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοί· οὐκ οὐσιῶν σύγχυσιν, ἀλλὰ χαρακτήρων ταυτότητα. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἐκεῖνόν ἐστιν οὐδὲν, ἀγαπητοί, ὅπου γε καὶ τὴν ἡμετέραν ἀσθένειαν ἐξεβιάσατο τὸ εὐπειθὲς τῆς ὑμετέρας ἀκοῆς εἰπεῖν τί ἐν μέσῳ καὶ φθέγξασθαι, ἵνα ἡ δύναμις τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν τῇ τοῦ ὀργάνου ἀσθενείᾳ μᾶλλον διαφανῇ.
Τάχα γὰρ διὰ τοῦτο ὑπερεπίεσεν ἡμῶν τὸ ἀσθενές, ἵνα ἐπὶ πλέον δοξασθῇ ὅ τὸ ἀσθενὲς ἐνισχύων. Ὁ δὲ περιαγαγὼν ἡμᾶς τὴν πανήγυριν ταύτην, καὶ πέρας δοὺς τοῖς ῥήμασιν εὐχῆς, καὶ κεφαλὴν ἔτι ἐπιτελεῖ τοῦ κύκλου (ἢ γὰρ αὕτη ἡμέρα ὁρίζει ἡμῖν τὸν παρελθόντα κύκλον, καὶ κεφαλὴ γίνεται πάλιν τῷ ἐπερχομένῳ), ὁ τοίνυν ἐπισυνάψας καὶ χαρισάμενος τοῦ μέλλοντος τὴν ἐνέργειαν, διαφυλάξαι ἡμᾶς ἐν αὐτῷ ἀβλαβεῖς, ἀνεπηρέαστους, ὑπὸ τοῦ λύκου ἀδιάρρακτους· ἄσειστον τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν ταύτην, φρουρουμένην τοῖς μεγάλoις πύργοις τῶν μαρτύρων διατηρήσαι. Πᾶσαν ἐπιβουλὴν καὶ προσβολὴν αἱρετικῶν μηχανημάτων ἀποστρέφειν· ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ δὲ πασῶν ἡμῖν διδασκέσθαι τὰ θεῖα λόγια, καὶ διδάσκεσθαι τὴν ἐπιχορηγουμένην χάριν τοῦ Πνεύματος· ὅτι αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος σὺν τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.
