Make it your care and endeavour therefore to minister to widows out of the ministry of a clean conscience, that what they ask and request may be granted them at once upon their praying for it. But if there be bishops who are careless and give no heed to these matters, through respect of persons, or for the sake of filthy lucre, or because they neglect to make inquiry; they shall render no ordinary account, [iv. 6] For they receive, forsooth, to administer for the nourishment of orphans and widows, from rich persons who keep men shut up in prison, or ill-treat their slaves, or behave with cruelty in their cities, or oppress the poor; or from the lewd, and those who abuse their bodies; or from evildoers; or from forgers; or from dishonest advocates, or (p. 75) false accusers; or from hypocritical lawyers; or from painters of pictures; or from makers of idols; or from workers of gold and silver and bronze (who are) thieves; or from dishonest tax-gatherers; or from spectators of shows; or from those who alter weights or measure deceitfully; or from inn-keepers who mingle water (with their wine); or from soldiers who act lawlessly; or from murderers; or fi'om spies who procure condemnations; or from any Roman officials, who are defiled with wars and have shed innocent blood without trial: perverters of judgement who, in order to rob them, deal unjustly and deceitfully with the peasantry and with all the poor; and from idolaters; or from the unclean; or from those who practise usury, and extortioners. Now they who nourish widows from these (sources) shall be found guilty in judgement in the day of the Lord; for the Scripture has said: Better is a supper of herbs with love and amity than the slaughter of fatted oxen with hatred. For if a widow be nourished with bread only from the labour of righteousness, it shall even be abundant for her; but if much be given her from (the proceeds) of iniquity it shall be insufficient for her. But again, if she be nourished from (the proceeds) of iniquity, she cannot offer her ministry and her intercession with purity before God; and even though she be righteous and pray for the wicked, her intercession for them will not be heard, but that for herself alone; for God makes trial of the hearts in judgement, and receives intercessions with discernment. But if they pray for those who have sinned and repent, their prayers will be heard. But those who are in sin, and do not repent, not only are they not heard when they pray, but they even call to remembrance their transgressions before the Lord.
[iv. 7] Wherefore, O bishops, fly and avoid such ministrations; for it is written: There shall not go up upon the altar of the Lord ( that which cometh) of the price of a dog, or of the hire of a harlot. For if widows pray for fornicators and transgressors through your blindness, and be not heard, not receiving their requests, you will perforce bring blasphemy upon the word through your evil management, as though God were not good and ready to give.
Take good heed therefore that you minister not to the altar (p. 76) of God out of the ministrations of transgression. For you have no pretext to say, We do not know’; for you have ao heard that which the Scripture saith: Depart from an evil man, and thou shalt not fearj and trembling shall not come nigh unto thee. [iv. 8] But if you say: ‘ These are they alone who give alms; and if we receive not of them, from whence shall the orphans and widows and those in distress be provided? ’ God saith to you: ‘ To this end did you receive the gifts of the Levites, the firstfruits and offerings of your people, that you might be sustained and even have over and above, that you might not be constrained to receive from evil persons.’ But if the Churches are so poor that those in want must needs be supported by such, it were better for you rather to be wasted with famine than to receive from evil persons.
Search out and make trial, therefore, that you may be receiving from the faithful, who communicate with the Churches and conduct themselves well, (wherewithal) to nourish those in distress, and may not receive from those who are expelled from the Church until they are found worthy to be members of the Church. But if you are in want, tell the brethren, and let them treat together and give; and thus perform your ministrations in righteousness, [iv. 9] And teach your people and tell them that it is written: Honour the Lord with {the fruits of) righteous labour, and with the chief est of all your increase. Wherefore, nourish and clothe those in want from the righteous labour of the faithful; and those things which are given by them, as we have already said, bestow for the ransom of the faithful; and redeem slaves and captives and prisoners, and those who are treated with violence, and those condemned by the mob, and those sentenced to fight with beasts, or to the mines, or to exile, and those condemned to the games. And let the deacons go in to those who are in distress, and let them visit each one and provide him with what he lacks.
[iv. 10] But if ever it should happen that you are constrained and receive unwillingly some pieces of money from any evil person, you shall not employ them for (the purchase of) food; but if they be few, spend them on firewood for yourselves and for the widows, lest a widow, receiving of them, be forced to buy her some food with them. And so, unsullied by iniquity, the widows will pray and receive from God all good things for which they ask and make petition, all of them (p. 77) together and each one severally: and you also will not be reproached with these sins.
Chapter XIX
That it is a duty to take care of those who for the name of Christ suffer affliction as Martyrs.
[v. i] You shall not turn away your eyes from a Christian who for the name of God and for His faith and love is condemned to the games, or to the beasts, or to the mines; but of your labour and of the sweat of your face do you send to him for nourishment, and for a payment to the soldiers that guard him, that he may have relief and that care may be taken of him, so that your blessed brother be not utterly afflicted. For let him that is condemned for the name of the Lord God be esteemed of by you as a holy martyr, an angel of God, or God io upon earth, even one that is spiritually clothed with the Holy Spirit of God; for through him you see the Lord our Saviour, inasmuch as he has been found worthy of the incorruptible crown, and has renewed again the witness of (His) passion. To those therefore who are bearing witness it is the duty of all you the faithful to minister with care, and to refresh them out of your possessions through your bishop. But if there be a man who has nothing, let him fast, and that which would have been spent by him that day let him give for his brethren. But if thou art rich, thou must minister to them according to thy power, or even give thy whole possession and redeem them from bonds; for they it is who are worthy of God, and the sons who perform His will; as the Lord has said: Every one that shall confess me before men, I also will confess him before my Father. And you shall not be ashamed to go to them where they are imprisoned. And when you do these things, you shall inherit everlasting life, for you become sharers of their martyrdom. For let us learn how our Lord said in the Gospel: Come unto me, all ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom which was prepared for you from before the foundations of the world. For I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; and I was thirsty, and ye gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and ye gathered me; and I was naked, and ye covered me; I was sick, and ye visited me; and I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then will the righteous answer and say: Our Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and gave thee to eatf or thirsty, and gave thee to drink! (p. 78) or naked, and covered thee? or sick, and did visit thee? or a stranger, and gathered thee? or in prison, and came unto thee? And he will answer and say to them: All that ye did to one of these little and mean ones, ye did it to me. And then shall they go into life everlasting.
[v. 2] But if there be one who is called a Christian, and he fall away and be tempted by Satan, and be convicted of evil deeds and condemned for (his) deeds, whether of theft or murder: avoid such persons, lest any one of you be put on trial by those who seize him. For if one seize thee and question thee, and say to thee: ‘ Art thou also a Christian, like this man? ’ thou canst not deny that thou art a Christian, but must needs confess it. But thou wilt not be condemned as a Christian, but punished as a malefactor. For he asks thee whether thou art ‘ like this man ’: and thy confession is rendered void. But if thou deny, thou hast also denied the Lord. Therefore avoid them, that you may be without offence. But the faithful who are violently and unjustly seized and imprisoned as evildoers, or even bound, help (as) your members with abundant care and with much pains, that you may deliver them from the hand of evil men. But if any man come near to them and be seized with them, and for no offence suffer affliction for his brother’s sake, blessed is he in being called a Christian; for he has confessed the Lord, and he shall live before God. For if a man come near to those who are bound for the name of the Lord and be seized with them, he shall be blessed in being found worthy of such company.
[v. 3] And those again who are persecuted for the faith and pass from city to city, according to the Lord’s command, do you receive and refresh; and when you receive them, rejoice, for you are made sharers of their persecution. For our Lord spoke concerning them in the Gospel thus: Blessed are ye, when they shall persecute you and revile you for my name's sake. For when a Christian is persecuted and bears witness and is slain for the faith, he becomes a man of God; and he is now no more persecuted by any man, for he has won him i5 approval of the Lord. [v. 4] But if he deny, and say that he is not a Christian, he shall be called an offence; and (though) not persecuted by men, yet is he (p. 79) cast °ff by God for his denial; and he shall receive henceforth no portion with the saints in the kingdom everlasting, according to the Lord’s promise, but his inheritance shall be with the ungodly. For the Lord God has said: Whosoever shall deny me and my words before men, or shall be ashamed of me: I also will be ashamed of him, and will deny him before my Father who is in heaven, when I come with power and glory to judge the dead and the living. And again you find it written: Every one that loveth his father or his mother more than me, is not worthy of me / and every one that loveth his son or his daughter more than me, is not worthy of me; and every one that taketh not up his cross rejoicing and glad and cometh after me, is not worthy of me; and every one that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it; and every one that shall save his life, by denying, shall lose it. For what shall a man be profited if he acquire the whole world, and forfeit his soul? or what shall he give in exchange for his soul? And again: Fear not them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the sold; but fear me rather, that am able to destroy soul and body in hell.
[v. 5] Now every one who learns any craft watches his master and sees how by his skill and his knowledge he executes the work of his craft; and he himself copies him and executes the work which he has set him, that he may not be ill spoken of by him. But if he abate anything of the (tasks) set him, he is not perfect. We, then, who have our Lord for master and teacher, why do not we imitate His teaching and His conversation? For He left riches and favour, and power and glory, and came thus in poverty; and moreover He parted with Mary His blessed mother, and with His brethren, and with His life itself, and endured persecution even unto the cross. And these things He endured for our sake, that He might redeem us, who are of the People, from the bonds of the Second Legislation, of which we have already spoken, and might redeem you also, who are of the Gentiles, from the worship of idols and from all ungodliness, and get you for an inheritance. If then He suffered thus for our sake, to redeem us who believe in Him, and was not ashamed, why do not we also imitate His sufferings, while He gives us endurance? — and this for our own sake, that we may be delivered from the death of fire. For He endured for our sake, but we for our own sake. Or has our Lord any need that (p. 80) we should suffer for Him? Rather it is this alone that He desires, to make proof of the love of our faith, and of our free will. [v. 6] Let us then part with our parents and our kinsfolk, and with all that is in this world, and even with our life.
We must indeed pray that we come not into temptation, yet if we be called to martyrdom, let us confess when we are interrogated, and when we suffer let us endure, and when we are afflicted let us rejoice, and when we are persecuted let us not grieve; for so doing, not only shall we delivei ourselves from hell, but we shall also teach those who are young in the faith, and the hearers, to do the like: and they shall live before God. But if we fail in faith towards the Lord, and deny through the infirmity of the body — as our Lord said: The spirit is willing and ready, but the body is weak we shall not only destroy ourselves, but shall kill also our brethren with us. For when they see our denial, they will think that they have been made disciples of an erring doctiine; and when they stumble, we shall render an account for them as well as for ourselves, every one of us, to the Lord in the day of judgement.
But if thou be taken and brought before the authority, and deny the hope that thou hast towards the Lord by thy holy faith, and thou be set at large to-day, but to-morrow fall sick of a fever and take to thy bed; or if thy stomach ail thee and retain no food, but vomit it out with grievous pains; or thou be afflicted with a disease of the belly, or with a disease in one of thy members; or thou bring up blood and bile from within thee by reason of dire disorders; or thou have an ulcer in one of thy members and be cut by the hands of physicians, and die in manifold afflictions and torments: what then will thy denial have availed thee which thou hast denied, O man? For behold, thy soul has inherited pains and afflictions, and thou hast destroyed thy life for ever before God; and thou shalt burn and be tormented without respite everlastingly: even as the Lord has said: Every one that loveth his life, shall lose it; and every one that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it. Now a Christian who denies, loves his life for a little while in this world, that he may not die for the name of the Lord God; but he has destroyed himself for ever in fire, for he has fallen of himself into Gehenna. For Christ has denied him, as He said in the Gospel: Whosoever shall deny me before men, I also will deny him before my Father who is in heaven; but those (p. 81) whom the Lord has denied th ety put forth and cast into the outer darkness: and there is their weeping and their gnashing of teeth. For He said: Every one that loveth his life more than me, is not worthy of me.
Let us be earnest then to commit ourselves to the Lord God; and if any man be found worthy of martyrdom, let him accept of it with joy, seeing that he has been counted worthy of so great a crown, and that his departure from this world is by martyrdom. For the Lord our Saviour has said: There is no disciple better than his master: but every one shall be perfected as his master. Now our Lord consented to all these His sufferings that He might save us; and He submitted to be beaten, and that men should blaspheme Him and spit in His face, and to drink vinegar and gall; and at last He endured even to be hanged upon the cross. Let us therefore, who are His disciples, be also His imitators. For if He bore and endured all things for us, even to the sufferings (of His passion), how much more ought we, for our own sakes, to be patient when we suffer? And we ought not to doubt; for so He has promised us, that if we should be burned with coals of fire, while we believe in our Lord Jesus Christ and in God His Father, the Lord God Almighty, and in His Holy Spirit, — to whom be glory and honour for evermore, Amen. —
Chapter XX
Concerning the Resurrection of the Dead.
[v. 7] God Almighty will raise us up through God our Saviour, as He has promised. And He will raise us up from the dead even as we are — in this form in which we now are, but in the great glory of everlasting life, with nothing wanting to us. For though we be cast into the depths of the sea, or be scattered by the winds like chaff, we are still within the world; and the whole world itself is inclosed beneath the hand of God. From within His hand therefore will He raise us up: as the Lord our Saviour has said: A hair of your head shall not perish; but in your patience ye shall possess your souls.
Now concerning the resurrection, and concerning the glory of the martyrs, the Lord spoke in Daniel thus: Many that sleep in the breadth of the earth shall rise up in that day: some unto life everlasting, and some unto reproach and shame and dispersion. But they that understand shall shine as the luminaries which are in the heaven; and they that have been strengthened by the word, as the stars of heaven. As (of) the sun, then, and the moon, (p. 82) the luminaries of heaven, (such) glorious light has He promised to give to them that understand, and confess His holy name, and bear witness.
But not to the martyrs alone has He promised the resurrection, but to all men; for He speaks thus in Ezekiel: 1 The hand of the Lord came upon me: and the Lord brought me forth in the spirit, and set me in the midst of a valley: and it was full of bones. 2 And he caused me to pass over against them: and they were many, and they were exceeding dry. 3 And he said unto me: Son of man, shall these bones live? And L said: Thou knowest, Lord Adonai. 4 And the Lord said unto me: Prophesy unto these bones, and say to them: Ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus saith the Lord Adonai unto these bones: Behold, I will cause the spirit to enter into you, and ye shall live; 6 and I will put sinews upon you, and will build up flesh upon you, and will clothe you with skin; and I will give the spirit in you, and ye shall live: and ye shall know that 1 am the Lord. "'And I prophesied as he spake unto me. And as I prophesied, there was made a sound and a movement; and the bones drew nigh, bone unto bone. 8 And I saw that there came upon them sinews and flesh, and skin was stretched over them above: but there was no spirit in them. 9 And the Lord said unto me: Prophesy unto the spirit, and say: Thus saith the Lord Adonai: Come, spirit, from the four winds, and enter into these dead, and they shall live. 10 And I prophesied, as he spake unto me: and the spirit entered into them, and they lived: and they stood upon their feet in a great army. 11 And the Lord said unto me: Son of man, these bones are the house of Israel; for they say: Our bones are dried zip, and our hope is perished, and we are not. 12 Thus saith the Lord Adonai: Behold, I open your graves, and I will bring you forth from thence, 0 my people, and will bring you in to the land of Israel; 13 and ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall open your graves, to bring up my people from the graves. u And I will give my spirit in you, and ye shall live. A nd I will cause you to dwell in your land: and ye shall know that I am the Lord, that have spoken and have performed it. And all the inhabitants of the earth shall be silent, saith the Lord. And again by Isaiah He said: All they that sleep and are dead shall rise; and all they that are in the graves shall awake: for thy dew is a dew of healing unto them. But the land of the wicked shall perish. And many other things also He said by Isaiah and by all the prophets concerning the resurrection and the life everlasting, and concerning the glory of the righteous; and as touching the wicked also, concerning their dishonour and exposure and downfall, and concerning their undoing (p. 83) and overthrow and condemnation. For that which He said, the land of the wicked shall fall, He speaks concerning their body; because it is of the earth, and shall be reckoned unto the earth in dishonour. Because they served not God, they shall fall into fire and torment. And in the Twelve Prophets again He speaks thus: Behold, ye wicked, and see, and understand marvels: and return to corruption.
For I do a work in your days, the which if a man recount it unto you, ye will not believe. Now these things, and many more than these, are spoken concerning those who believe not in the resurrection, and concerning those who deny God, and those who serve not God, and concerning transgressors of the law and the heathen; and when they shall see the glory of the faithful, they will be turned back to be destroyed in fire, because they believed not.
But we have learned and have believed; and by our Lord’s resurrection from the dead is made sure to us the resurrection which God, who lies not, has promised us. For our Saviour, by rising Himself first, was made an earnest also of our resurrection. And those also who are called from the Gentiles, and even the heathen, read and hear concerning the resurrection that which is spoken and proclaimed to them by the Sibyl thus: When all things have been made dust and ashes, God Most High will allay the fire, even he that kindled it. And then again will God himself raise up the bones and the ashes of -men, and will clothe them with their form. For he will raise up men as they were before: and then shall be the judgement, wherein God will judge in the world to come. And the wicked and the ungodly the earth will cover again; (but) the just and the righteous shall live in the living w or Id. And God will give them spirit and grace and life: and then shall they all see one another.
And not only by the Sibyl, brethren, was the resurrection preached to the Gentiles, but by the holy Scriptures also our Lord proclaimed beforehand, to the Jews and the heathen and Christians at once, and announced the resurrection of the dead which is to be for men; and even by a dumb bird, we mean the Phoenix, which is but one alone, by means whereof God gives us again abundant demonstration of the resurrection. For if he had a mate, many would be seen by men; but now one only is seen, once in five hundred years, which enters Egypt (p. 84) and comes to the altar which is called ‘of the Sun’, bringing cinnamon. And as he prays toward the East, a fire is kindled of itself and burns him up, and he is reduced to ashes. And from the ashes again there is formed a worm; and it grows in his form and becomes a perfect Phoenix. And then he departs and goes away whence he came.
If then by means of a dumb animal God shows us concerning the resurrection, we who believe in the resurrection and in the promise of God ought much more, as men deemed wrorthy
2 Orac. Sibyll. iv 179-185, 187, 189-190 (ed. Geffcken). of so great glory that we should receive an incorruptible crown in the life everlasting, to rejoice, if martyrdom come to us, in the great grace and in the honour and glory of martyrdom for God, and to accept of it joyfully with all our soul, and to believe in the Lord God who will raise us up in glorious light. As in the beginning God commanded by a word, and the world was made, and said: Let there be light, and night and day, and heaven and earth and sea, and birds and living creatures of the sea, and creeping things of the earth and fourfooted beasts, and trees; and everything was made by His word and established in its nature, as the Scripture has said: these works themselves, which came into being through the obedience which they rendered Him, bear witness to God who made them that by Him they were made from that which was not; and they also show a sign of the resurrection. As then He made every thing, so will He the more rather quicken and raise up man, who is of His own forming. For if from that which was not He fashioned and established the world, much easier is this, that from that which is He should quicken and raise up man, who is the formation of His hands: even as also, in the human seed, He clothes man in the womb with a form and causes him to grow.
If then He raises up all men, — as He said by Isaiah: All flesh shall see the salvation of God, — much more will He quicken and raise up the faithful; and (yet more) again will He quicken and raise up the faithful of the faithful, who are the martyrs, and establish them in great glory and make them His counsellors. For to mere disciples, those who believe in Him, He has promised a glory as of the stars; but to the martyrs He has promised to give an everlasting glory, as of the luminaries which fail not, with more abundant light, that they may be shining for all time.
As disciples (p. 85) of Christ, therefore, let us believe that we shall receive from Him all the good things which He has promised us in the life everlasting; and so let us imitate all His teaching and His patience. For as touching His birth from a virgin, and His coming, and the will of His passion, we have assurance through His holy Scriptures, even as the prophets foreannounced and foretold all things concerning His coming, and all have been accomplished and established in our hearts: for even the demons, trembling before His name, lauded His advent. Concerning those, therefore, which IO have come to pass of the things we have already mentioned, you also have believed and have been fully assured; but we yet more, who were with Him and have seen Him with our eyes, and have eaten with Him, and have been made the associates and witnesses of His coming. As touching also His great and unspeakable gifts which He is yet to give us, according as He has promised, let us believe and hope that we shall receive them; for (by this) is all our faith put to the proof, if we believe in (those) His promises which are yet to be (fulfilled). 0
If then we are called to martyrdom for His name, and go forth from the world confessing (Him), we shall be pardoned all sins and offences, and shall be found pure. For He spoke in David concerning the martyrs thus: Blessed are they whose iniquity is forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute his sins. [v. 8] Blessed therefore are the martyrs, and clear of all offences; for they have been removed and taken away from all iniquity: as He said in Isaiah of Christ and of His martyrs: Behold, the righteous {man) is perished, and there is none that under standeth; and godly men are taken away, and no man layeth it to heart. For the righteous is gathered up from the presence of evil: and his burial shall be in peace, [v. 9] Now these things are said of those who bear witness for the name of Christ.
But again, sins are forgiven by baptism also to those who from the Gentiles draw near and enter the holy Church of God. Let us inquire also, to whom sins are not imputed. To such us Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the patriarchs, as also to the martyrs. Let us hear then, brethren, for the Scripture saith: Who shall boast himself and say: I am clear of sins? Or who shall be confident and say: I am innocent? And again: There is no man pure of defilement: not though his life be but one day. To every one therefore who believes and is baptized his (p. 86) former sins have been forgiven; but after baptism also, provided that he has not sinned a deadly sin nor been an accomplice (thereto), but has heard only, or seen, or spoken, and is thus guilty of sin. But if a man go forth from the world by martyrdom for the name of the Lord, blessed is he; for brethren who by martyrdom have gone forth from this world, of these the sins are covered.
Chapter XXI
Concerning the Pascha and the Resurrection of Christ our
Saviour.
[v. io] Wherefore, a Christian ought to keep himself from vain speech and from words of levity and profanity. For not even on Sundays, in which we rejoice and make good cheer, is it permitted to any one to speak a word of levity or one alien to religion: as our Lord also teaches us in the Psalm by David, saying thus: And now, ye kings, understand; and be instructed, all ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice unto him with trembling. Give ye heed to discipline, lest the Lord be angry, and ye perish from the way of justice: for his wrath will shortly be kindled against you. Blessed are all they that trust on him. We must conduct our festivals and our rejoicings, then, with fear and trembling; for a faithful Christian, it saith, must not sing the songs of the heathen, nor have anything to do with the laws and doctrines of strange assemblies; for it may happen that through (their) io songs he will make mention also of the name of idols, which God forbid that it should be done by the faithful; [v. 11] for the Lord by Jeremiah upbraids certain folk and speaks thus: They have left me, and have sworn by them that be no gods. And again He saith: Lf Israel will return, let him return unto me, saith the Lord; and if he will put away his abominations out of his mouth, and w ill fear before my face, and swear, As the Lord liveth. And again He saith: L will take away the name of idols out of your mouth. And by Moses again He saith to them: They have provoked me to jealousy by that which is no god; and with their idols they have angered me. And in all the Scriptures (p. 87) He speaks of these things.
[v. 1 a] And not by idols only is it not lawful for the faithful to swear, but neither by the sun, nor by the moon; for the Lord God speaks by Moses thus: My people, if ye shall see the sun and the moon, ye shall not be led astray by them, and ye shall not serve them: for these have been given you for light upon the earth. And by Jeremiah again He saith: Ye shall not learn accordmg to the ways of the gentiles; and ye shall not fear the signs of heaven. And by Ezekiel He speaks thus: And he 3° brought me in to the court of the house of the Lord, between the porch and the altar. And I saw there men whose backs were toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east: and they were worshipping the sun. And the Lord said unto me: Son of man, is this a light thing to the house of Judah to do these abominations which they do here, that they have filed the earth with iniquity, and have turned again to provoke me to anger? And they are become as scoffers: but L will deal ( with them) in wrath; and mine eye shall not spare, and I will not have mercy. And they shall cry in mine ears with a loud voice, and I will not hear them. You see, our beloved, how sternly to and bitterly sentence is passed on those who worship the sun or swear thereby, that the Lord should deal in His wrath. Therefore it is not lawful for a believer to swear, neither by the sun nor by any other of the signs of heaven or the elements; nor to make mention with his mouth of the name of idols; nor to utter a curse out of his mouth, but rather blessings and psalms and (words from) the dominical and divine Scriptures, which are the firm foundation of our faith: and especially in the days of the Pascha, wherein all the faithful throughout the world fast; as our Lord and Teacher said when they asked Him: Why do Johns disciples fast, but thine fast not? And he answered and said to them: The sons of the bridechamber cannot fast, as long as the bridegroom is ivith them. But the days zv ill come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them: and then they shall fast in those days. But now by His work- 2; ing is He with us, but visibly He is absent, because He has ascended to the heights of heaven and sat at the right hand of His Father.
[v. 13] Wherefore, when you fast, pray and intercede for them that are lost; as we also did when our Saviour suffered, [v. 14] For while He was yet with us before He suffered, as we were eating the Passover with Him, He said to us: To-day, in this night, one of you will betray me, (p. 88) And we said unto Him, each one of us: Is it /, Lord? And he answered and said to us: He that putteth forth his hand with me into the dish. And Judas Iscariot, who was one of us, rose up and went his way to betray Him. Then our Lord said to us: Verily I say unto you, a little while and ye ivill leave me; for it is written: / will strike the shepherd, and the lambs of his flock shall be scattered. And Judas came with the scribes and with the priests of the people, and betrayed our Lord Jesus.
Now this was done on the fourth day of the week. For when we had eaten the passover on the third day of the week at even, we went forth to the Mount of Olives; and in the night they seized our Lord Jesus. And the next day, which was the fourth of the week, He remained in ward in the house of Caiaphas the high priest. And on the same day the chiefs of the people were assembled and took counsel against Him. And on the next day again, which was the fifth of the week, they brought Him to Pilate the governor. And He remained again in ward with Pilate the night after the fifth day of the week. But when it drew on (towards day) on the Friday, they accused him much before Pilate; and they could show nothing that was true, but gave false witness against Him. And they asked Him of Pilate to be put to death; and they crucified Him on the same Friday.
He suffered, then, at the sixth hour on Friday. And these hours wherein our Lord was crucified were reckoned a day. And afterwards, again, there was darkness for three hours; and it was reckoned a night. And again, from the ninth hour until evening, three hours, (reckoned) a day. And afterwards again, (there was) the night of the Sabbath of the Passion. — But in the Gospel of Matthew it is thus written: At even o?i the sabbath, when the first day of the week drew on, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the tomb. And there was a great earthquake: for an angel of the Lord came down and rolled aivay the stone. — And again (there was) the day of the Sabbath; and then three hours of the night after the Sabbath, wherein our Lord slept. And that was fulfilled which He said: The Son of man must pass three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, as it is written in the Gospel. And again it is written in David: Behold, thou hast set my days in measure. Now because those days and nights came short, it was so written.
In the night, therefore, when the first day of the week drew on, He appeared to Mary Magdalene and to Mary (p. 89) the daughter of James; and in the morning of the first day of the week He went in to (the house of) Levi; and then He appeared also to us ourselves. And He said to us, teaching us: ‘ Are ye fasting for Me these days? or have I any need that ye should afflict yourselves? But it is for your brethren that ye have done this; and do ye the same in these days when ye fast, and on the fourth of the week and on the Friday always, as it is written in Zechariah: The fourth fast, and the fifth fast, which is the Friday. For it is not lawful to you to fast on the first of the week, because it is My resurrection; wherefore the first of the week is not counted in the number of the days of the Fast of the Passion, but they are counted from the second day of the week, and are ffivef days. Wherefore, The fourth fast, and the fifth fast, and the seventh fast, and the tenth fast shall be to the house of Israel. Fast then from the second day of the week, six days wholly, until the night after the Sabbath; and it shall be reckoned to you as a week. But the tenth, — because the beginning of My name is Yod, — wherein was made the inception of the fasts. But (fast) not after the custom of the former People, but according to the new testament which I have appointed you: that you may be fasting for them on the fourth day of the week, because on the fourth of the week they began to destroy their souls, and apprehended Me. — For the night after the third of the week belongs to the fourth of the week, as it is written: There was evening and there was morning, one day. The evening there fore belongs to the following day: for on the third of the week at even I ate My Pascha with you, and in the night they apprehended Me. — But fast for them also on the Friday, because thereon they crucified Me, in the midst of their festival of unleavened bread, as it is said of old in David: In the midst of their festivals they set their signs, and they knew not.
1 And be ye constant in fasting during these days always, and especially you who are of the Gentiles. For because the People was not obedient, I delivered them (the Gentiles) from blindness and from the error of idols and received them: that through your fast and theirs who are of the Gentiles, and your service during those days, when you pray and intercede for the error and destruction of the People, your prayer and intercession may be accepted before My Father who is in heaven, (p. 90) as though from one mouth of all the faithful on earth; and (that) all things which they did unto Me may be forgiven them. For this cause also I have already said to you in the Gospel: Pray for your enemies, and: Blessed are they that mourn, over the destruction of them that believe not.’
Know therefore, our brethren, that (as regards) our fast which we fast in the Pascha, it is on account of the disobedience of our brethren that you are to fast. For even though they hate you, yet ought we to call them brethren; for we have it written in Isaiah thus: Call them brethren that hate and reject you, that the name of the Lord may be glorified. For their sake therefore, and for the judgement and destruction of the (holy) place, we ought to fast and to mourn, that we may be glad and take our pleasure in the world to come; as it is written in Isaiah: Rejoice, all ye that mourn over Zion; and again He saith: To comfort all them that mourn over Zion: instead of ashes, the oil of gladness; and instead of a spirit afflicted with pain, a vesture of glory, [v. 15] VVe ought then to take pity on them, and to have faith and to fast and to pray for them. For when our Lord came to the People, they did not believe Him when He taught them, but put away His teaching from their ears. Therefore, because this People was not obedient, He received you, the brethren who are of the Gentiles, and opened your ears that your heart might hear; as our Lord and Saviour Himself said by the prophet Isaiah: I appeared imto them that asked not after me, and I was found of them that sought me not; and I said, Behold, I am here, to a people that called not (upon) my name. Now of whom did He speak thus? Was it not of the Gentiles, because that they had never known God, and because that they were serving idols? But when our Lord came to the world and taught you, you believed, you who have believed in Him, that God is one; and they also who are worthy shall believe, until the number is filled up of them that are to be saved, a thousand thousand, and ten thousand times ten thousand, as it is written in David.
But concerning the People, who believed not in Him, He said thus: I spread forth my hands all the day long to a people that obey not and resist, and walk in a way that is not good, and go after their sins: a people that is provoking before me. [v. 16] See, then, that the People provoked our Lord in that they believed not in Him. Wherefore he saith: They provoked the holy Spirit; and he was turned to enmity unto them. And again (p. 91) He speaks otherwise of them by Isaiah the prophet: Land of Zebulun, land of Napht ah, the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the nations, a people that sitteth in darkness: ye have seen a great light; and they that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, light is risen upon them. They that sit in darkness He said concerning those who have believed in our Lord Jesus from (among) the People. For by reason of the blindness of the People a great darkness was round about them. For they saw Jesus, but that He is the Christ they knew not; and they understood Him not, neither from the writings of the prophets nor from His works and His healings. But to you of the People who have believed in Jesus we say: Learn how the Scripture bears witness to us and saith, they have seen a great light. You then who have believed in Him have seen a great light, even Jesus Christ our Lord; and they also shall see who are (yet) to believe in Him. But they that sit in the shadoiv of death are you who are of the Gentiles; for you were in the shadow of death, because you had set your hope on the worship of idols, and knew not God. But when Jesus Christ our Lord and Teacher appeared to us, light rose upon you, for you beheld and set your hope on the promise of the kingdom everlasting; and you have departed from the customs and practices of (your) former error, and no more serve idols as you were wont to serve them, but have already believed and been baptized in Him: and a great light is risen upon you.
Thus then, because the People were not obedient, they were made darkness; but the hearing of the ear of you who are of the Gentiles was made light. Wherefore, do you pray and intercede for them, and especially in the days of the Pascha, that by your prayers they may be found worthy of forgiveness, and may return to our Lord Jesus Christ. [v. 17] It behoves you then, our brethren, in the days of the Pascha to make inquiry with diligence and to keep your fast with all care. And do you make a beginning when your brethren who are of the People keep the Passover. For when our Lord and Teacher ate the Passover with us, He was betrayed by Judas after that hour; and immediately we began to be sorrowful, because He was taken from us. By the number of the moon, as we count according to the reckoning of the believing Hebrews, on the tenth of the moon, on the second day of the week, (p. 93) the priests and elders of the people assembled and came to the court of Caiaphas the high priest; and they took counsel to apprehend Jesus and put him to death: but they feared, saying: Not in the festival, lest the people make a tumult; for all men were hanging upon Him, and they held him for a prophet on account of His miracles of healing which He did among them.
But Jesus was that day in the house of Simon the leper, and we together with Him, and He related to us that which was about to happen to Him. But Judas went out privily from us, thinking that he would evade our Lord, and went to the house of Caiaphas where the chief priests and elders were assembled, and said to them: What will ye give me, and I will betray Him to you when I have found an occasion? But they appointed ajid gave him thirty pieces of silver. And he said to them: ‘ Make ready young men armed, because of His disciples, that if He go forth by night to a desert place I may come and lead you And they made ready the young men and prepared to seize Him. And Judas was watching, when he might find him an occasion to betray him.
But by reason of the multitudes of all the people, from every city and from all the villages, who were coming up to the temple to keep the Passover in Jerusalem, the priests and elders took counsel and commanded and appointed that they should keep the festival straightway, that they might seize Him without disturbance. For the inhabitants of Jerusalem were engaged with the sacrifice and the eating of the Passover; and moreover, all the people that were without were not yet come, for they had deceived them as to the days. That they might be convicted before God of erring utterly in all things, therefore they anticipated the Passover by three days, and kept it on the eleventh of the moon, on the third day of the week. For they said: ‘ Because the whole people is gone astray after Him, now that we have an occasion let us seize Him; and 2o then, when all the people are come, let us put Him to death before all, that this may be known openly, and all the people may turn back from after Him.’
And so in the night when the fourth day of the week drew on, (Judas) betrayed our Lord to them. But they made the payment to Judas on the tenth of the month, on the second day of the week; wherefore they were accounted by God as though on the second day of the week they had seized Him, because on the second of the week they had taken counsel to seize Him and put Him to death; and they accomplished their malice on the Friday: as Moses had said concerning the Passover, thus: It shall be kept by you (p. 93) from the tenth until the fourteenth: and then all Israel shall sacrifice the passover.
[v. 18] Therefore you shall fast in the days of the Pascha from the tenth, which is the second day of the week; and you shall sustain yourselves with bread and salt and water only, at the ninth hour, until the fifth day of the week. But on the Friday and on the Sabbath fast wholly, and taste nothing, [v. 19] You shall come together and watch and keep vigil all the night with prayers and intercessions, and with reading of the Prophets, and with the Gospel and with Psalms, with fear and trembling and with earnest supplication, until the third hour in the night after the Sabbath; and then break your fasts. For thus did we also fast, when our Lord suffered, for a testimony of the three days; and we were keeping vigil and praying and interceding for the destruction of the People, because that they erred and confessed not our Saviour. So do you also pray that the Lord may not remember their guilt against them unto the end for the guile which they used against our Lord, but may grant them a place of repentance and conversion, and forgiveness of their wickedness. For he who was a heathen and of a foreign people, Pilate the judge, did not consent to their deeds of wickedness, but took xvater and washed his hands, and said: I am innocent of the blood of this man. But the People answered and said: H is blood be upon us, and upon our children', and Herod commanded that He should be crucified; and our Lord suffered for us on the Friday. Especially incumbent on you therefore is the fast of the Friday and of the Sabbath; and likewise the vigil and watching of the Sabbath, and the reading of the Scriptures, and psalms, and prayer and intercession for them that have sinned, and the expectation and hope of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, until the third hour in the night after the Sabbath. And then offer )'our oblations; and thereafter eat and make good cheer, and rejoice and be glad, because that the earnest of our resurrection, Christ, is risen. And this shall be a law to you for ever, unto the end of the world. For to those who have not believed in our Saviour He is dead, because their hope in Him is dead; but to you who believe, our Lord and Saviour is risen, because your hope in Him is immortal and living for ever.
Fast then on the Friday, because thereon the People killed themselves in crucifying our Saviour; and on the Sabbath also, because it is the sleep (p. 94) of our Lord; for it is a day which ought especially to be kept with fasting: even as blessed Moses also, the prophet of all (things touching) this matter, commanded. For because he knew by the Holy Spirit and it was commanded him by Almighty God, who knew what the People were to do to His Son and His beloved Jesus Christ, — as even then they denied Him in the person of Moses, and said: Who hath appointed thee head and judge over us? — therefore he bound them beforehand with mourning perpetually, in that 3° he set apart and appointed the Sabbath for them. For they deserved to mourn, because they denied their Life, and laid hands upon their Saviour and delivered Him to death. Wherefore, already from that time there was laid upon them a mourning for their destruction.
[v. 20] But let us observe and see, brethren, that most men in their mourning imitate the Sabbath; and they likewise who keep Sabbath imitate mourning. For he that mourns kindles no light: neither do the People on the Sabbath, because of the commandment of Moses; for so it was commanded them by him. He that mourns takes no bath: nor yet the People on the Sabbath. He that mourns does not prepare a table: neither do the People on the Sabbath, but prepare and lay for themselves the evening before; because they have a presentiment of mourning, seeing that they were to lay hands on Jesus. He that mourns does no work, and does not speak, but sits in sorrow: so too the People on the Sabbath; for it was said to the People concerning the mourning of the Sabbath thus: Thou shalt not lift thy foot to do any work, and thou shalt speak no word out of thy mouth. Now who testifies that the Sabbath is a mourning for them? The Scripture testifies, and saith: Then shall the jo people lament, family over against family: the family of the house of Levi apart, and their women apart; the house of Judah apart, and their women apart: even as, after the mourning of Christ until now, on the ninth of the month of Ab (August) they come together and read the Lamentations of Jeremiah and wail and lament. Now nine represents Theta; but Theta denotes God. For God therefore they lament, even for Christ who suffered — rather, on account of God our Saviour, but over themselves and their own destruction. Does any man lament, brethren, except he have a grief? Therefore do you also mourn for them on the day of the Sabbath of the Pascha (p. 95) until the third hour in the night following; and thereafter, in the Resurrection of Christ, rejoice and make good cheer for their sake, and break your fast; and the surplus of your fast of six days offer to the Lord God. And let those of you who have abundance of worldly possessions minister diligently to those who are poor and needy and refresh them, that the reward of your fast may be received.
Wherever, then, the Fourteenth of the Pascha falls, so keep it; for neither the month nor the day squares with the same season every year, but is variable. When therefore that People keeps the Passover, do you fast; and be careful to perform your vigil within their (feast of) unleavened bread. But on the first day of the week make good cheer at all times; for he is guilty of sin, whosoever afflicts his soul on the first of the 2c week. And hence it is not lawful, apart from the Pascha, for any one to fast during those three hours of the night between the Sabbath and the first of the week, because that night belongs to the first of the week; but in the Pascha alone you are to fast these three hours of that night, being assembled 3g together, you who are Christians, in the Lord.
Chapter XXII
That Children should be taught Crafts.
[iv. n] And teach your children crafts that are agreeable and befitting to religion, lest through idleness they give themselves to wantonness. For if they are not corrected by their parents, they will do those things that are evil, like the heathen. Therefore spare not to rebuke and correct and teach them; for you will not kill them by chastising them, but rather save them alive: as our Lord also teaches us in Wisdom, saying thus: Chasten thy son, that there may be hope for him: for thou shalt strike him with a rod, and deliver his io soul from Sheol. And He saith again: Whosoever spareth his rod, hateth his son. Now our rod is the Word of God, Jesus Christ: even as Jeremiah also saw Him (as) an almond rod. Every man accordingly who spares to speak a word of rebuke to his son, hates his son. Therefore teach your sons the word of the Lord, and punish them with stripes, and bring them into subjection from their youth by your word of religion, (p. 96) And give them no liberty to set themselves up against you their parents; and let them do nothing without your counsel, lest they go with those of their own age and meet together and carouse; for in this way they learn mischief, and are caught and fall into fornication. Now, whether this happen to them without their parents, their parents themselves will be accountable before God for the judgement of their souls; or whether again by your licence they are undisciplined and sin, you their parents will likewise be guilty on their account before God. Therefore be careful to take wives for them, and have them married when their time is come, lest in their early age by the ardour of youth they commit fornication like the heathen, and you have to render an account to the Lord God in the day of judgement.
Chapter XXIII
On Heresies and Schisms.
[vi. 1] Before all things beware of all abominable and evil and bitter heresies, and fly from them as from a blazing fire, and from those who adhere to them. For if when a man makes a schism, he condemns himself to fire together with those who go astray after him, how much more if one go and sink himself in the heresies. For know this, that if any of you covet the primacy and dare to make a schism, he shall inherit the place of Korah and Dathan and Abiram, he and they that are with him, and with them he shall be condemned to fire. For even the adherents of Korah were Levites, and ministered in the tabernacle of witness; but they coveted the primacy, and desired the high priesthood; and they began to speak evil of the great Moses, because, said they, he is married to a heathen woman — for he had an Ethiopian wife — and is defiled with her; and many others, and they of the following of Zimri, who committed fornication with the Midianite women, are with him. And the people, said they, that are with him are defiled; and his brother Aaron, too, was the author of idolatry, who made for his people the molten and graven image, [vi. 2] And they spoke evil of Moses, [vi- 3l who wrought so many mighty works and signs from God for the People; who did these excellent and marvellous works for their benefit; who brought the ten plagues upon the Egyptians; who divided the Red Sea that the waters stood up as a wall on this side and on that, and caused the People to pass over as in (p. 97) the dry desert, and drowned their enemies and them that evil entreated them, and all that were with them; who made sweet for them the fountain of water, and brought them forth streams from the flinty rock, so that they drank and were satisfied; who brought them down manna from heaven, and with the manna gave them also flesh; who gave them a pillar of fire by night for light and guidance, and a cloud by day for a covert, and in the desert stretched forth the hand to them for the dispensation of the Law, and gave them the Ten Words of God. And they spoke evil against the friend and good servant of the Lord God, as men glorying in righteousness, and boasting of holiness, and making a show of purity, and in hypocrisy making a display of service. And thus, as puritans and sticklers for holiness, they said: ‘ Let us not be polluted with Moses and the people that is with him, because they are defiled.’ And there rose up two hundred and fifty men, and they (Korah, &c.) led them astray to forsake the great Moses, that (men) might suppose concerning them that they were giving God more glory and ministering to Him more zealously. For among that multitude of the people aforesaid but one censer of incense was offered to the Lord God 5 but they who were in the schism, two hundred and fifty men with their leaders, offered each one a censer of incense, two hundred and fifty censeis, as though forsooth they were far more religious and pure and zealous than Moses and Aaron and the people that was with them.
But the more numerous ministry of those in the schism availed them nothing, but fire was kindled from before the Lord, and devoured them; and those two hundred and fifty men were burned up, holding the censers in their hands. And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up Korah and Dathan and A biram, and their tents and their vessels, and all that were with them: and they went down alive to Sheol unto punishment. And thus were the error-leaders of the schism swallowed up by the earth; and those two hundred and fifty men who went astray were burned with fire while the whole people beheld it. But the most of the people the Lord spared, among whom were many sinners, whom the Lord would judge each according to his works. And the most of the people He spared; but those who supposed that they were pure and holy, and performing a better ministry, the fire devoured, because that they were in the schism. And the Lord said (p. 98) to Moses and to Aaron: Take the censers of brass from the midst of the burning, and make {of) them fine plates, and overlay the altar therewith; that the children of Israel may see, and no more do so. And scatter the strange fire there; because it hath sanctified the censers of {them that were) sinners in their souls.
Let us regard therefore and see, beloved, the end of the schismatics, what befell them. For though they should appear pure and holy and chaste, their last end is given unto fire and burning everlasting. Let this then inspire you with fear, that even the fire of the schismatics was judged with fire: not because it sanctified the censers, but because they in their souls sanctified them; that is, forasmuch as the fire was performing its work, they also supposed in their heart, and in their souls, that their censers were holy. For it behoved the fire, which was employed for the ministry of transgression and the provocation of God, not to obey them but to cease from its operation, or to be quenched, and not to devour or burn or consume that which was put upon it. But now, because it did not the will of the Lord God, but obeyed the schismatics, therefore it
2 Nu. xvi32f. 13 Nu. xvi 36-38. was said: And scatter also the strange fire there; that is, With fire the Lord judgeth the fire.