Coptic Homilies in the Dialect of Upper Egypt

Coptic Homilies in the Dialect of Upper Egypt

continued

Appendix: the Syriac Version of the Discourse of Proclus on the Incarnation

1 (From a MS. in the Vatican.) Rich are the beautiful streams of the Divine Goodness. Innumerable are the benefits of spiritual assemblings. A glorious thing is the merchandise of the Ecclesiastical Market and beloved in the honour of the feast at the altar. Glorious are the profits of the Cross. Indescribable is the trodden-out produce of Salvation. Unenvied and abundant is the treasure of the celestial gifts. Grace knoweth no poverty, for Christ doth not borrow riches from [any] other place. And, O my beloved, look into, if thou wishest, the Divine Books, and thou shalt know with exactness the immeasurableness of the riches, and the greatness of the gift of the Giver. For they shall teach thee with exactness how, at divers times and in multitudinous ways, our Lord Jesus Christ hath never ceased to confer benefits upon the human race since the beginning. For first of all Adam, [who] was driven forth from Paradise; He took [him], and after he had been condemned, He made him a fellow-occupant of His throne in heaven. Abel, who had been slain as a sacrifice; after his death He made the shepherd to become the accuser of the murderer (?). He saw Noah sailing in the ark, and He preserved him [as] the spark of the race. He found Abraham a sojourner in a strange land, and

2 Cod. Syr. Vat. He made him the Father of Nations. He saw Joseph in bonds, and He set him up for ever as a pattern of chastity. He found Moses a fugitive from Egypt, and He made him the governor of a people which could not be counted. Joshua, the spy of Palestine, He made to be the man who put a bridle on the Sun and Moon. He took David from [following] a small flock, and made him the root of kings, and the head of the generations of the Awful Mystery. The she-ass of Balaam, though she was without reason, He made to be endowed with the faculty of speech. [For] the Red Sea, because of the necessity, He gave sailors (?). He made the dry rod of Aaron to be the mother of blossoms out of the ordinary course of nature. He set up a serpent of brass [to be] a marvellous physician in the wilderness.

3 Elijah, a fugitive slave on the earth, He made to be mounted on a heavenly chariot. He made the flame of the Babylonian furnace to be the nurse of the Three Children. He made the lions that were in the pit to stand up like disciples before the instruction of Daniel. He turned the fish of the sea into the couch of prophecy. He changed the house of Rahab the harlot into an altar of the love of receiving strangers. The tongue sufficeth not to relate [the instances of His love], for the wealth thereof surpasseth speech. Now therefore, every house of the merchandise of salvation is filled at the Ecclesiastical Festival. For there are terrestrial gifts and celestial rewards, and here are the selling of passions and the acquisition of spiritual excellences. There are the offerings of possessions and the selling of reward[s], [and here]... There are (sic) the cloud which produceth rain [and] the Gospel healing, and here are the Trinity uncreate and the Apostolic Trumpets. There, instead of savage passions, hymns of praise set to tones of music are sung. Here are the dismissal of Adam of the dust and the lightning flashings of the Lord from heaven. There are the expulsion of the old tyrant and the worship of the Virgin mystery. Here the hand-written list of sins is torn up, and a bill of freedom is ordered and written. There are the death of the passions and the joy of souls.

4 O festival, he who is below…And all his merchandise. There with a loud voice repentance is preached, [and there are] the beneficial binding up of the Forty Days' Fast, [and] the reward of the wages of continence and angelic virginity, [and] the almsgiving which is acceptable, [and] the happiness of simplicity (or, integrity), [and] the incalculable understanding of longsuffering, [and] the patient endurance which cannot be wrecked, [and] the faith which is without perversity, [and] the incomprehensibility of the coming [of our Lord] in the flesh. Now in whatsoever way thou shalt thresh the matter with the mind, thou wilt find that this miracle is in the greatest degree beyond all possibility of investigation. 5 For the mind is too feeble which seeketh to discover how God, Who is immutable, became man, and how the Word, Who cannot mingle [with anything], became united unto clay, and how the impassible God became a form in the flesh without having changed: because He is of the Father Who hath no beginning, and because He cannot be depicted. For He Himself is very God, and, without falsehood, man; with the Father because He is equal in substance; with myself because He is equal in race, [except] that He hath not sinned. Of Divine Nature. Uncreate is He. [His] assumption [of humanity] is without falsehood. And He is One, the Son, and is not divided into Two Natures, but the Adorable Government hath united to the Two Natures One Person. One is the Son, even though the heretics scoff, and the Jews rave, and the heathen are shaken [in derision]. He was not separated from the Father, and dwelt with the children of men. He took upon Himself flesh, and was not changed. He became man, and was not separated (or, divided). The whole of Him was in heaven, the whole of Him was on earth, and in every place is the whole of Him, for the Divine Nature cannot be divided. He endured sufferings in that which He put on (i. e., flesh); He was free from sufferings because of that which He was. We say the Son, not God, Who is of grace, but by Nature God the Word:

6 as the Son of the Father in Nature indivisible; Wisdom, as the Governor of things divine and human; Power, as the Preserver of all things which exist; Truth, as the veritable Form of the Father; Image, as equal in substance with His Begetter Who is immutable; Light, as the Sun of souls; Life, for in Him we live, and move, and have our being; Righteousness (or, Justice), as He Who rewardeth every man according to his works; Holiness, as the destroyer of sin; Salvation, as He Who by blood bought the world; Resurrection, as the Restorer of him that had been cast into the grave. 7 But is it necessary that I should say other things? I say, however, O Jew, and I am not ashamed, and I will cry with a loud voice: it was the adorable Dispensation of God that negotiated my redemption. For what He was, He was because of Himself. What He became, He became because of me. He wrought wonderful things as God, and He bore sufferings as the Son of man. In what He was He remained. And because He loved He became man, because of the leaven of that which had been formed (i. e., the lump) He is the Son of man, for in truth having taken flesh from a woman He was born [like a man]. He is the Way, like a guide, to the Father; the Door, like one who leads into the Paradise; the Shepherd, like him that seeketh [the sheep] which he hath lost; the Ram, like one who is sacrificed on behalf of the world; the Lamb, as the Purifier of the uncleanness of the world.

8 The Divine Dispensation of God [worketh] in many ways. High priest, that is, He was God, [and] He was. Without mother, that is, He was superior to us. Without father, that is, He was like unto us. He was not reckoned among the generations in any place. Above He was ineffable: below (i. e., on the earth) He was never expounded, and in every place He could not be interpreted. Body, soul, mind, He assumed, that through all these He might become (?) a likeness [of ourselves]. Because of these things, and because He redeemed [thee], be ashamed, O Jew, and also because of the sufferings which He bore for thee, and the miracles [which He wrought] on thy behalf. But [thou sayest], Are they miracles? And, O fighter against God, what hast thou to shew in this respect which can be compared with what we have? Which miracle is more worthy of admiration: the heaven which rained bread, or the God Who put on flesh? The sea which was divided by the passage [of the Israelites], or the Virgin who, after giving birth to a child, was still a virgin? The rod which turned a rock into a watery deep, or the Cross which bought and sanctified the world? Be ashamed of [these] miracles [, O Jew], and worship thou Him that put on flesh.

9 But [thou sayest,] are these things [truly] miracles? These (i. e., the following) I say [are] miracles. The conception which took place without seed. Birth-pangs which did not follow carnal union. The Virgin undestroyed. Virgin and mother, and virgin again. The course of the star [in the East]. The praise of the angels. The fear of the shepherds. The presentation of the offerings of the Magians. The obedience (or, submission) of the sea. The flight of the winds. The walking on the sea. The stilling of the storm. The leaping of the paralytic. The keen sight of the blind men. The smiting of the devils. The resurrection of the dead. The tottering of Creation. The lamentation of the heavens. The darkening of the Sun. The rending of the rocks. The cleaving of the Temple. The overthrow of Sheol. The emptying of the graves. The death of the thief. The fixing of the handwriting [on the Cross]. The dissolution of the Synagogue. The growth of the Church. The increase of the fear of God. The worship of the Cross. And when thou hast vomited forth error, proclaim, with Moses, 'This is my God, and I will worship Him'—to Him be praise, and honour, for ever and ever. Amen.

10 Here endeth the Discourse of the Sabbath which bringeth in the Fast.

Appendix: the Ethiopic Version of the Homily of Proclus on the Incarnation

1 May the festival of the Virgin this day make to blossom our tongue, O my brethren! May it be called upon to give praise, and may it become unto us this day, and unto those who have gathered together [here], a guide of salvation, a faithful one. For pure and without blemish is His word, and He Whom we preach is the glory of the generation of women. And there is honour to them because of the Virgin, and through this honour the Synods of the Church are glad, and earth and sea crown the Virgin. The sea [because on] its back multitudes of ships come and go, and the earth because it receiveth the footsteps of those who journey over it with gladness; and creation exulteth and rejoiceth. Women are held in high honour, and men utter cries of gladness throughout all the earth, for, to oppose the multitudes of sins which are exceedingly many in this world, grace and righteousness have been gathered together by Saint Mary, who is the vessel of virginity which cannot be destroyed. She is the garden of the spirit of the Second Adam. She is the union of existence, and she is the possessor of salvation, whereby she hath purchased us. [She is] the pure edifice wherein one liveth daintily. [She is] the Word, the flesh, and is indeed the wood of the bush, wherein was a soul, which the fire consumed not. [She is] the Deity, whereof in truth the cloud hath been stripped away. And she carried with her flesh Him Who was above the Cherubim, and Who came [down] from heaven. [She is] the pure rain [upon] the wool, wherefrom the Shepherd clothed Himself in the garb of the Lamb, Mary, the handmaiden, mother and virgin.

2 She is heaven, and she became the bridge from God to man, [the bridge] of His incarnation in our life, wherein was woven the awful fabric of His flesh. His apparel was miraculous, the Fashioner thereof was the Holy Spirit, the thread thereof was from above, the shadow of the Power, the fibre thereof existed from the beginning, the flesh of Adam, the web thereof was of the virgin, [whose] flesh was pure, and the Weaver was His Grace which He put on. And His Maker was the Word which was obedient to His Father which is in heaven. 3 The womb of the Virgin was not too strait for Him in any respect, and He was brought forth by a woman, God, not stripped of flesh, and not man an inferior, but God with His flesh. And He Who was in times past the door, the door of man, redeemed him; He Who was brought forth worked righteousness. By the obedience of a woman at His coming He healed woman, who had disobeyed His word, of the venomous vomit of the serpent, and by woman, by whom was brought forth Cain, the first worker of sin, was brought forth our Redeemer Jesus Christ, without seed of offspring. And the Lover of man was not ashamed to be brought forth by a woman, for what He had made was life, and He Who was the Creator did not destroy His habitation in her womb, and He was without disgrace. Had she not remained a virgin after giving birth to God, verily He Who was brought forth by her would have been an ordinary man, and His birth would not have been miraculous. But, seeing that after she had given birth to Him she continued to be a virgin, verily He Who was born of her was a miraculous Being, for through a closed barrier God came. Thomas, His disciple, having perceived the nature of His substance, cried out and said, 'My Lord and my God.'

4 Thou shalt not be ashamed of His birth from a woman, for a woman became the means of salvation. If He had not been born of a woman, His mother, He could not have died in His flesh. And if He had not died in His flesh, He could not have destroyed by His death him that hath dominion over death, Diabolos. The materials used by the architect when he buildeth them into a building are not disgraced, and the brickmaker doth not destroy the clay whereof the bricks are made when he restoreth old brickwork, and in like manner by His birth from a pure virgin He was not destroyed. When He created her He was not defiled, and similarly, when He was born of her He was not destroyed. Hail, Belly, wherein was written the freedom of all the world! Hail, Womb, wherein was wrought the shield against death! Hail, Field, wherein germinated the Crop of the Ploughman without seed! Hail, Palace, wherein lived God the High-Priest, Whose nature is unchanging, and Who, in His mercy, arrayed Himself after the manner of the order of Melchisedek!

5 And now, we say, the Word became flesh, and although the Jews have refused to believe in God, yet did God make flesh, and put it on [Himself], even though the Arami vainly imagine it to be a mystery. Because of this thing it is written, 'To the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Nations (or, Heathen) madness,' that is to say, the Cross, which is marvellous above all speech. If the Word did not dwell in the womb we shall not sit [in] our flesh on the great throne. If God suffered disgrace by dwelling in the womb, the angels who are sent to the children of men suffer degradation in their office. He Who in His own nature could not suffer pain, by reason of His compassion for us, became one who could suffer pain in His flesh. He Who was the Lord Christ did not thereby acquire the qualities (or, attributes) thereof—God forbid!—but for our sakes, being God, He became a man, and even thus do we believe. And we do not preach a man who became God, having changed himself, but we believe in God, Who became incarnate, and Who made a handmaiden to be [His] mother.

6 Now, in His Divine Nature, He had no mother, and in His fleshly nature He had no father on the earth; for He is of like substance with the Father. How can one liken Him to Melchisedek, [the names] of whose father and mother were not written [in genealogies], if He was an ordinary (or, humble) man? Christ was not without a mother, for He had a mother on the earth. And as He was God His Being was not of the flesh, because He had no [earthly] father, for He had a Father in heaven. Now, in his character of Christ, He had no mother in heaven above, for He is the Creator, and He had no father [on earth] below, for He was created in His flesh. The salutation of the angel caused Mary to be greatly ashamed; now 'Gabriel' was the name of the angel who saluted Mary, and the interpretation thereof in Hebrew is 'he is God'. He saluted her first of all in order that His incarnation might be believed [by her]. Understand, O man, the means whereby He came, and glorify the power of Him that became incarnate. Much did the first generation of man owe as the debt for his sin, for through Adam the Devil made us sinners and slaves. The Devil had taken possession of us, and he bore the testimony [which was against] us, and he set down on his bill of indictment the suffering of our flesh. And the Evil One stood up and wrote a statement of claim against us, and he acted craftily in respect of us, and he watched the bill of our debts increasing, and [at last] he demanded us in death.

7 Now from all this it follows of necessity that there cannot be two [Persons]. One Person hath redeemed all of us from our litigation, and similarly One [Person], our Lord, was given for the redemption of us all. For to Him is all righteousness to save man, and degraded man did He deliver from a state of helplessness. For us He redeemed the debt. From a state of helplessness He bought us into a state of divinity; for there was no being of flesh who could redeem us. Therefore it was necessary for Him that had no sin in Himself to die in His flesh because of our sin. This was the means whereby He Who is Himself the Creator Who created saved us from our sins. Nothing is impossible with His graciousness, nothing is [too great] for Him to give. 8 Now He obtained strength and gladness of life for sinners, and caused the overthrow of death, which was right. And according to the design which He Himself knew, He became incarnate, and He became a man like unto ourselves, and He died in the flesh wherewith He had clothed Himself. And He redeemed [us] by that which He had put on, according to that which Paul saith, 'For in Him we have found our redemption by His Blood, [and] the remission of our sins'. This thing could not have been wrought by any other than He. He is not mortal, for He is the Being Who cannot die. And like unto Him there is no other in respect of His flesh; there is none who shall be, and there is none who hath been, He Who was brought forth by the Virgin, that is, God, Who became incarnate, standeth alone. And He was [not] of weight like unto the many who were weighed with Him, for He Who redeemed us is greater than we, greater than all of us, in every matter, and in every computation. He redeemed us [and made us] to be redeemed men because He was the Son Who was equal with His Father, and He saved us because He was the Creator, Whose power is infinite.

9 And because He was the Loving One He did not disdain to shew mercy upon us, nay, He suffered for us openly; and because He was the High Priest, He brought us to His faithful Father as something for which He had made petition, and would not be denied from possessing. Where can be found another who is like unto Him, or who shall be compared with Him? Nowhere. 10 And consider His love towards the men who wished to condemn Him to death! After they had crucified Him He made their dead to live, and He changed the transgressions of those who slew Him into [their] salvation. He saved degraded man from his helpless state, and because he was degraded He wished to save him, even as Paul saith, 'We have all sinned,' and our sins have brought us nigh unto the Devil, and the Devil hath given us over unto death. And the generation of man was in great suffering, and there was none to deliver [him], and those who had been sent, the keepers of medicine, the Prophets, were unable to heal him. And when they saw that the wound was waxing sore in the whole nature of man, they cried out unto the Keeper of medicine Who was in the heavens, and spake, and one said, 'Lord, bow the heavens, and come down.' And another said, 'Heal Thou me, and I shall be healed.' And another said, 'Lift up Thy power, and come, deliver us.' And another said, 'Thus shall God dwell with man.' And another said, 'Let Thy mercy find us quickly.' And another said, 'Woe is me, O Lord, for the good man hath perished from the earth.' And another [said], 'O Lord, look Thou to my help; O Lord, hasten to my help.' And another said, He Who is shall come, and shall not tarry.' And another said, 'I have gone astray like a sheep which is lost, seek Thou Thy servant.'

11 With all these [prayers], however, creation was not healed, nay, she was oppressed. But He Who is in truth King in His Being, and Whose Being is eternity, came, and He gave Himself [to be] the redemption, and He Who put on flesh of the virgin gave the price of death for the generation of man, and He bought him for ever from the curse of the Law. Now, He Who redeemed us was not an ordinary man, O Jew, for the race of man was in bondage to sin, but He redeemed us; and the Lord was not a mediator through the flesh, for the flesh is an enemy. O Manichean, had He not put on [the flesh], He could not have saved us. But in the womb of the virgin, there did He put on that which had sinned, and there took place the awful change in Him that redeemed us. And it was not the Spirit which became incarnate, but He, the Son, took flesh from the virgin, and the Spirit overshadowed the Son as He became incarnate of her.

12 Now if thou sayest, [There are] 'Two Christs' and 'Two Words', know that it is not so in the Trinity wherein we believe, but in a Tetrad. Now, therefore, hold not in abhorrence the garment of His flesh which was woven in heaven above, and become not a disciple of Arius, for this man blasphemously divided Him Whose Being is a Trinity, and thou shalt not separate blasphemously the substance of the Being of Christ. Who was it that appeared unto those who sat in the darkness and shadow of death? And who is he who dwelleth in the shadow? Hearken unto Paul who saith, 'Who hath delivered us from the shadow.' And again he saith, 'For ye are the first of darkness.' And who is He that appeared? David taught us, saying, 'Blessed is He Who cometh in the Name of the Lord.' And who is He that shall come? Let us hearken unto David again: 'God hath declared Himself. The Lord hath appeared unto us.' [His] Being was joined in union, and He remained without change. He came to save him (i. e., man), and His own death was necessary.

13 [Besides] all this, how was it possible for an ordinary man to save him (i. e., man)? It was impossible for God, his Mediator, to suffer in the flesh, but being God He became man, and through His Divinity He saved him; and in that He had become incarnate He suffered in the flesh. And for this reason when the Church saw Him, as they were crowning Him with the crown of thorns, weeping for the Temple, she cried out, 'O children of Jerusalem, get ye forth and see the crown wherewith His mother hath crowned Him.' For He put on the crown of thorns, and He made whole him that had suffered from the thorns. He Who was in the bosom of His Father was in the womb of the virgin. He Who was in the arms of His mother was glorified on the wings of spirits. He before Whom the angels bowed in homage reclined at meat with the tax-gatherers. He upon Whom [not] one of the Seraphim dared to look did Pilate examine in the hall of judgement. And creation trembled because of Him. They set up the Cross. No place was empty of Him. He was shut in the grave. And heaven was laid out (or, rent) like sackcloth. And in His Divinity He was watching. He was counted among the dead; He moved about in Sheol. And He Who was treated with contumely like a thief here below was proclaimed holy above, for He is holy.

14 But I see [the mystery of] the miracles of Him Who was thus, and I preach His Divinity. Emmanuel did not open the door of the virgin, like a man; He did not burst the bolt of her virginity, for He was God. As He entered the womb without corruptible matter, so was He produced, and so was He conceived; He came in without corruptible matter, and He went out without corruptible matter, even as Ezekiel the Prophet saith, 'He brought me by the way of the gate of saints, outside the door which looketh towards the east, and it was closed. And God said unto me, Son of man, this gate is closed, and it shall not be opened. And no one shall go in through it except the God of Israel. He alone shall go in through it, and come out from it, and it shall remain closed. Behold, then, the true and open testimony concerning the holy God-bearer, Mary. And now, from this time onwards, let there be cast aside all contention and unbelief, and let us expound the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, so that God may give us a portion in the kingdom of heaven, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to Whom, and to the Father, and to the Holy Spirit, be glory and power, for ever and ever. Amen.

Appendix: the Syriac Version of the Discourse of Alexander on the Soul and the Body

1 (Brit. Mus. MS. Add. 17,192, ff.) Now the Word was sent [down] from heaven without Frl. 278 a grudging, and it is ready to give drink to our hearts, if it be that we ourselves are ready to be [obedient] to the power of the Word. For power [cometh] not by what we say, but by our hearkening [thereto]. As the rain produceth not fruit without the earth, nor doth the earth [produce fruit] without the rain, so neither doth the Word produce fruit without hearing [on our part], nor doth hearing produce fruit without the Word. For the Word produceth speech in us, but it is the hearkening [thereto] which giveth us the faculty of listening. Since now the Word giveth power, do ye also, without grudging, give hearing, having first of all purified yourselves from all envy and unbelief. For envy and unbelief are evil possessions and the enemies of righteousness. For envy is the opposite of love, and unbelief of belief, just as bitterness is the opposite of sweet, and darkness of light, and wickedness of good, and death of life, and falsehood of truth. Now, therefore, those who are filled with these opposites are dead men. For those who possess envy and unbelief hate love and faith, and those who hate these are the enemies of God.

2 For ye know now, O my beloved brethren, those who possess envy and unbelief are the enemies of righteousness. Guard ye yourselves against the enemies of justice, and receive ye faith and love, for through them cometh salvation to all the saints, from the beginning until this day. Therefore make ye manifest the fruits of love, not only in word, but also in deed, and the works to the Lord through patient endurance. For behold, our Lord also made manifest towards us His love, and not in word only, but in deeds, for He gave Himself as a redemption for us, and also that we should not be like unto the world, either in word or in deed. For the world standeth by the word, but we [stand] by both word and deed. For it was not sufficient for God to say only, 'Let us make man in Our own image and likeness,' but unto the word He united action. For God took dust from the earth, and He formed man in His own image and likeness, breathing into him the breath of life, that Adam might become a living soul. Now therefore man having, through error, turned aside somewhat to death, that which had been fashioned required to be fashioned anew for redemption by the Handicraftsman. For it was that which had been fashioned that had become corruption in the earth. That breath which appertaineth to the living soul is, when it is separated from the body, seized and carried off to a dark place which is called Sheol.

3 Now the soul and the body are separated: the former becometh a fettered thing in Sheol, and the latter lieth free in the earth. Now between these, the soul and the body, there is a great gulf [fixed], so that the flesh is set free, being dissolved, but the soul is unable [to escape], being fettered. For like a king who hath been taken prisoner, the city having been destroyed; or again, like a general who is loaded with fetters, his troops having been scattered; or like a steersman who hath fallen [into the water], his ship having sunk; even so is the soul which is fettered, its body being set free, for it is like unto a city which hath no king, and its members are like unto the troops which have no governor, and they are sunk in death, like the ship which hath no steersman. Now the soul was wont to govern its man, for it was to the body like the king of a city, and also like the governor of a troop, and like the steersman of a ship. Now therefore it can no longer govern its man, because the soul hath been chained to immovability. Therefore doth it wander away into error, because it hath turned aside from the straight way, and it hath joined itself to the courses which tempt [the soul], to fornication, and idolatry, and to murders, and deeds of blood, whereby it hath destroyed its man.

4 Now the soul, having been taken to Sheol, is bound in fetters by the Evil Tempter. But as a king reconstructeth a city which hath fallen down, or a general collecteth together [again] the soldiery who had been scattered, or the steersman maketh ready [again] the ship which had foundered, so also is it with the soul. It was a helper of its body before it was dissolved in the earth, for it itself was not in bonds. Now the soul is fettered, not by bonds, but by sins. Therefore being unable [to free itself] it left its body lying free in the earth. It itself, however, having been struck down into Sheol, became a footstool for death. For it became a thing worn out for all the children of men. Man went forth from Paradise to this region, where are gatherings of iniquities, and adulteries, and fornications, and murders, and deeds of blood; now these are the things which destroy man, and all of them make [him go] to death. [And whilst Sheol] was fighting against man, in order that it might also destroy him, man was without any one to encourage him and to be a helper [to him]; and he would never [enjoy] rest.

5 Now at what period of his life doth a man rejoice? Is it when in the womb of his mother? But there he is nigh unto death. Is it when he is being fed with milk at the breast? But he never enjoyeth happiness there. Is it when he is in the vigour of early manhood? But that period also is one of danger because of the vigour of the lusts [of his body]. Is it when he is an old man? But in that period he groaneth because of his old age, and because of his expectation of death. For what is old age except the expectation of death? But all who are on the earth die, young men and old men, little and great; for the measures of the statures [of men] do not subdue death, for man is destroyed however [large he be]. Now the sight of the death of a man is a sorrowful thing. When one looketh at a dead body [one seeth that] the face is changed, the form [is that of] a dead thing, the body is shrunk, the mouth is silent, [the body is] cold to the touch, the eyes are closed, the limbs are without motion, and the body of the dead man becometh in the ground decaying flesh. The ligaments are rotten, the bones are bleached, the muscles are dissolved, the body is fine dust, and is not a man.

6 What, then, is man? He is a flower which bloometh for a [short] time. In the womb he knoweth nothing, in his youth he suffereth pain, and in old age he is made helpless by death. Now therefore after all this service of death, and the destruction of man, God visited the formation which He had formed in His own image and likeness. And He visited it for this reason—that it might not be any longer the mark of death continually. God the Father sent His Son, Who was without flesh, from heaven, that He might put on flesh in a virgin womb. And He became a man like unto thyself that He might redeem man who was lost, and He gathered together all his limbs which had been scattered. Now that was a matter for the Divine Providence: having divided man [into two parts], these did Christ bring together, and He made one [in] the man. And for this reason also Christ suffered in order that we might live for ever. If this be not so, why did Christ also die? Was He, think ye, under the obligation of the liability of death? Why, then, did He put on the flesh?

7 Was He not arrayed in glory? Also, why did He become man? For was He not God? Why, then, did He come down upon the earth, and put on flesh in the womb? For was He not reigning in heaven? In what manner now was it necessary that God should come upon the earth, and put on flesh, and be laid in swaddling bands in a manger, and be fed with milk at the breast, and be baptized by a servant, and hung upon the Cross, and buried in the earth, and rise again from the dead on the third day? In what way, I say, was it necessary? It is well known that for the sake of man He bore disgrace, in order that He might redeem man who was lost, even as He cried out by the hand of the prophet, 'I have endured pain like a woman in birth-pangs.' For it is indeed true that He bore suffering for our sake, and endured pains, and revilings, and scourgings, and also death and burial. For thus also hath He said by the hand of the prophet, 'He hath brought me down into the depth.' Who was it, then, that brought Him down? The wicked nation.

8 Observe ye, O children of men! Observe the reward wherewith Israel rewarded Him! They killed Him, who wrought benefits for them, having rewarded Him with evil things for good things, and affliction for gladness, and death for life. For Him Who had raised up their dead, and healed their lame folk, and cleansed their lepers, and given light to their blind, Him, I say, did they kill and hang upon a tree. Observe ye, O children of men, for all generations saw new and wonderful things. They hung upon a tree Him that hung out the earth, and they fastened thereto Him that had fixed the world [in its place]. And they bound Him that had unbound sins. And they made to drink vinegar Him that had made [them] to drink righteousness. They tore the Hands and the Feet of Him that had healed their hands and their feet. And they compelled Him to shut His Eyes, Him that had made them to see. And they buried Him that had raised the dead before He suffered.

9 But whilst our Lord was hanging on the tree, the graves were rent, and Sheol was opened, and souls came forth, and the dead rose, and many of those who had risen appeared in Jerusalem when the mystery of the Cross was fulfilled. Now our Lord dissolved Death, and also dissolved the enmity [thereof]. He bound the strong one, and set up against him the passion of the victory (or, merit) of the Cross. He lifted up His own Body on the Cross, in order that it might be seen that it was the body which had been lifted up, and that it was Death which had fallen under the feet of the flesh. Then the heavenly hosts were stupefied with admiration, and the angels marvelled, and the [Four] Elements were shaken (or, moved), and all creation tottered when it saw [this] new mystery, and the awful sight which had been [seen] on the earth. The people as they mocked rejoiced, and at the same time, when as yet the mystery was not known, the earth tottered. The mountains and the valleys

10 rocked and were shaken, the sea was greatly disturbed, and the whole Creation of God was troubled. The luminaries in the heavens were terrified, the sun fled, and the moon also fled, the stars ceased to shine, and the day did not abide. An angel came forth in trouble from the temple, and rent in twain the curtain of the temple; darkness covered the earth, because the Eyes of the Lord thereof were closed. A light went round about Sheol, and beyond there arose the planet Venus. Then the Lord went down into Sheol, not in the body, but in the spirit, for in every place He was operative. In the body He raised up the dead, but in the spirit He set free the souls from Sheol. For whilst the Body of our Lord was hanging [on the Cross], then were the graves rent asunder, and Sheol was opened, and the dead were rising, and the souls were ascending into heaven when the Lord dissolved Sheol. And He trod under foot Death, and rent asunder the Enemy. Now the souls came forth from Sheol, but the dead appeared from the earth.

11 Observe ye therefore how much His dying was able [to effect]. The Elements could not endure His Passion, nor the earth His Body, nor Sheol His Spirit. For everything was troubled, and everything was moved (or, shaken) at the Passion of Christ. The Lord cried out, as in the matter of Lazarus, 'Come forth, O dead, from your graves! Come forth from your coffins! I announce unto you the Resurrection, I Christ.' Then the earth could not endure the Body of our Lord which was buried in it, and it cried out, saying, 'My Lord, spare me these evils. Remove from me wrath, release me from the curse, because I received the blood of the righteous and the bodies of men. And moreover, Thine own Body was buried in me. What is this wonderful mystery? Why didst Thou descend into the earth but for the sake of man, who is scattered about in every place? For in every place Thy beautiful image is scattered. But if Thou speakest the word of command, all bodies shall stand up before Thee. Now however that Thou hast come to the earth, and dost seek out the members of the creatures whom Thou hast fashioned, take Thy man, take Thy deposit, take Thine Image, take Adam.'

12 Then the Lord rose from the dead on the third day, the third part of man only having been dead. Then all the generations of the children of men were redeemed by Christ, for One had been judged and myriads were set free. Now this One was the cauterisation of the sore in man, and He redeemed man. And He ascended into the heights of heaven, and took up [as] an offering to the Father, neither gold, nor silver, nor precious stones, but man whom He had fashioned in His own image and likeness. This One did the Father exalt at His right hand, on a high throne, and He made Him the Judge of the Gentiles, and the Captain of the armies of the angels, and the Charioteer of the Cherubim, and the Son of the true Jerusalem, and the Bridegroom of the Virgin, and King for ever and ever. Amen.