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| Hymn III.
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Hymn III.
Blessed be that first day of
thine, Lord, wherewith this day of Thy Feast is stamped! Thy day
is like Thee, in that it shows mercy unto men, in that it is handed
down and comes with all generations.
This is the day that ends with the aged, and returns
that it may begin with the young! a day that by its love refreshes
itself, that it may refresh by its might us decayed creatures.
Thy day when it had visited us and passed, and gone away, in its mercy
returned and visited us again: for it knows that human nature
needs it; in all things like unto Thee as seeking us.
The world is in want of its fountain; and for it, Lord,
as for Thee, all therein are athirst. This is the day that rules
over the seasons! the dominion of Thy day is like Thine, which
stretches over generations that have come, and are to come! Thy
day is like unto Thee, because when it is one, it buds and multiplies
itself, that it may be like Thee!
In this Thy day, Lord, which is near unto us, we see Thy
Birth that is far off! Like to Thee be Thy day to us, Lord; let
it be a mediator and a warranter of peace.
Thy day reconciled Heaven and earth, because therein the
Highest came down to the lowest.
Thy day was able to reconcile the Just One, who was
wroth at our sins; Thy day forgave thousands of sins, for in it bowels
of mercy shone forth upon the guilty!
Great, Lord, is Thy day; let it not be small upon us,
let it show mercy according as it used to do, upon us
transgressors!
And if every day, Lord, Thy forgiveness wells forth, how
exceeding great should it be upon this day! All the days from the
Treasure of Thy bright day gain blessings. All the feasts from
the stores of this feast have their fairness and their ornaments.
Thy bowels of mercy upon Thy day make Thou to abound unto us, O
Lord! Make us to distinguish Thy day from all days! for great is
the treasure-house of the day of Thy Birth; let it be the ransomer of
debtors! Great is this day above all days, for in it came forth mercy to sinners. A store of medicines is this Thy great day, because on it shone forth the
Medicine of Life to the wounded! A treasure of helpful graces is
this day, for that on it Light gleamed forth upon our blindness!
Yea, it also brought a sheaf unto us; and it came, that from it might
flow plenty upon our hunger. This day is that forerunning
Cluster, in which the cup of salvation was concealed! This day is
the first-born feast, which, being born the first, overcomes all
feasts. In the winter which strips the fruit of the branches off
from the barren vine, Fruit sprang up400
unto us; in the cold that bares all the trees, a shoot was green for us of the house of
Jesse. In December401
when the seed is
hidden in the earth, there sprouted forth from the Womb the Ear of
Life. In March402
when the seed was
sprouting in the air, a Sheaf403
sowed itself in the earth. The harvest thereof, Death devoured it in Hell; which the
Medicine of life that is hidden therein did yet burst open! In
March when the lambs bleat in the wilderness, into the Womb the Paschal
Lamb entered! Out of the stream whence the fishers came
up,404
He was baptized and came up Who incloses all things in his net; out of the stream the fish whereof Simon took, out
of it the Fisher of men came up, and took him. With the Cross
which catches all robbers, He caught up unto life that robber!405
The Living by His death emptied Hell,
He unloosed it and let fly away from it entire multitudes! The
publicans and harlots, the impure snares, the snares of the deceitful
fowler the Holy One seized! The sinful woman, who was a snare for
men, He made a mirror for penitent women! The fig that cast its
fruit, that refused fruit,406
| 406 St. E. seems to
blend here the account of the withering of the fig-tree and that of
Zacchæus climbing into the wild fig-tree, as the Peshitto
renders it. | offered
Zacchæus as fruit; the fruit of its own nature it gave not, but it
yielded one reasonable fruit! The Lord spread His thirst over the
well, and caught her that was thirsty with the water that He asked of
her. He caught one soul at the well, and again caught with her
the whole city:407
twelve
fishers the Holy One caught, and again caught with them the whole
world. As for Iscariot, that escaped from His nets, the
strangling halter fell upon his neck! His all-quickening net
catches the living,408
and he that escapes from it escapes from the living.
And who is able, Lord, to tell me up the several succours that are hid in Thee? How shall the parched mouth be
able to drink from the Fountain of the Godhead! Answer today the
voice of our petition; let our prayer which is in words take effect in
deeds. Heal us, O my Master; every time that we see Thy Feast,
may it cause rumours that we have heard to pass away. Our mind
wanders amid these voices. O Voice of the Father, still [other]
voices; the world is noisy, in Thee let it gain itself quiet; for by
Thee the sea was stilled from its storms. The devils rejoiced
when they heard the voice of blasphemy: let the Watchers rejoice
in us as they are wont.409
From amongst
Thy fold there is the voice of sorrowfulness; O Thou that makest all
rejoice,410
let Thy flock rejoice! as for our murmur, O my Master, in it reject us not: our
mouth murmurs since it is sinful. Let Thy day, O Lord, give us
all manner of joy, with the flowers411
of peace, let
us keep Thy passover. In the day of Thy Ascension we are lifted
up:412
with the new Bread shall be the
memorial thereof. O Lord, increase our peace, that we may keep
three feasts of the Godhead. Great is Thy day, Lord, let us not
be despised. All men honour the day of Thy birth. Thou
righteous One, keep Thou the glory of Thy birth; for even Herod
honoured the day of His birth! The dances of the impure one
pleased the tyrant; to Thee, Lord, let the voice of chaste women be
sweet! Thee, Lord, let the voice of chaste women please, whose
bodies Thou guardest holily. The day of Herod was like him: Thy day too is like Thee! The day of the troubled one was troubled with sin; and fair
as Thou art is Thy fair day! The feast of the tyrant killed the
preacher; in Thy feast every man preaches glory. On the day of
the murderer, the Voice413
| 413 This was a common
name of old for St. John Baptist, with allusion to St. John i. 23. | was put to silence; but on Thy day are the voices of the feast. The foul one
in his feast put out the Light, that darkness might cover the
adulterers. The season of the Holy One trims lamps, that darkness
may flee with the hidden things thereof. The day of that
fox414
stank like himself; but holy is the feast of the True Lamb.415
| 415 It may be well to
observe once for all, that true is often use, as in John xv. 1, for “real,” in opposition
to “typical,” as in Scripture, so in the Fathers. | The day of the
transgressor passed416
| 416 The same Syriac
verb means to pass, and to transgress. | away like himself;
Thy day like Thyself abideth for ever. The day of the tyrant
raged like himself, because with his chain it put to silence the
righteous Voice. The feast of the Meek One is tranquil like
Himself, because His sun shines upon His persecutors. The tyrant
was conscious that He was not a king, therefore to the King of kings he
gave place. The whole day, Lord, suffices me not to balance Thy
praise with his blame. May Thy Gracious day cause my sin to pass
away, seeing that it is with the day of the impure one, that I have
weighed Thy day! For great is Thy day beyond comparison! nor can
it be compared with our days. The day of man is as of the
earthy: the day of God is as of God! Thy day, Lord, is
greater than those of the prophets,417
| 417 It might seem from
this that there were some days kept in their honour in the East. | and I have
taken and set it beside that of the murderer! Thou knowest, O
Lord, as knowing all things, how to hear the comparison that my tongue
hath made. Let Thy day grant our requests for life, since his day
granted the request for death. The needy king swore on his feast
that half his kingdom should be the reward of the dance! Let Thy
feast then, O Thou that enrichest all, shed down in mercy a crumb of
fine wheat flour! From the dry land gushed the Fountain, which
sufficed to satisfy the thirst of the Gentiles! From the
Virgin’s womb as from a strong rock sprouted up the seed, whence
was much fruit! Barns without number did Joseph fill;418
and they were emptied and failed in the years of the famine. One true Sheaf gave bread; the bread of
Heaven, whereof there is no stint. The bread which the First-born
brake in the wilderness,419
failed and passed away though very good. He returned again and broke the New
Bread420
which ages and generations shall not waste
away! The seven loaves also that He brake failed,421
and the five loaves too that He multiplied were consumed;422
the Bread that He brake exceeded the world’s needs, for the more it was divided,
the more it multiplied exceedingly. With much wine also He filled
the waterpots; they drew it out, yet it failed though it was
abundant: of the Cup that He gave though the draught was small,
very great was its strength, so that there is no stint thereto. A
Cup is He423
that contains all strong wines, and also a Mystery in the midst of which He Himself
is! The one Bread that He brake has no bound, and the one Cup
that He mingled has no stint!424
The Wheat
that was sown,425
on the third day came up and filled the Garner of Life.426
The spiritual Bread, as the Giver of
it, quickens the spiritual spiritually, and he that receives it
carnally, receives it rashly to no profit. This Bread of grace
let the spirit receive discerningly, as the medicine of Life. If
the dead sacrifices in the name of devils were offered,427
yea eaten, not without a mystery; at the holy thing of the offering, how much more does it behove us that this
mystery be circumspectly administered by us. He that eateth of
the sacrifice in the name of devils, becomes devilish without all
contradiction. He that eateth the Heavenly Bread, becomes Heavenly without
doubt! Wine teaches us, in that it makes him that is familiar
therewith like itself: for it hates much him that is fond of it,
and is intoxicating and maddening, and a mocker428
to him! Light teaches us, in that it makes like unto itself the
eye the daughter of the sun: the eye by the light saw the
nakedness, and ran and chastely hid the chaste man.429
As for that nakedness it was wine
that made it, which even to the chaste skills not to show
mercy!
With the weapon of the deceiver the First-born clad Himself, that with the weapon that killed, He might restore to
life again! With the tree wherewith he slew us, He delivered
us. With the wine which maddened us, with it we were made
chaste! With the rib that was drawn out of Adam, the wicked one
drew out the heart of Adam. There rose from the Rib430
a hidden power, which cut off Satan as Dagon: for in that Ark a book was hidden that cried and
proclaimed concerning the Conqueror! There was then a mystery
revealed, in that Dagon was brought low in his own place of
refuge!431
The accomplishment came after the
type, in that the wicked one was brought low in the place in which he
trusted! Blessed be He Who came and in Him were accomplished the
mysteries of the left hand, and the right hand.432
Fulfilled was the mystery that was
in the Lamb, and fulfilled was the type that was in Dagon.
Blessed is He Who by the True Lamb redeemed us, and destroyed our
destroyer as He did Dagon! In December when the nights are long,
rose unto us the Day, of Whom there is no bound! In winter when
all the world is gloomy, forth came the Fair One Who cheered all in the
world! In winter that makes the earth barren, virginity learned
to bring forth. In December, that causes the travails of the
earth to cease, in it were the travails of virginity. The early
lamb no one ever used to see before the shepherds: and as for the
true Lamb, in the season of His birth, the tidings of Him too hasted
unto the shepherds. That old wolf saw the sucking Lamb, and he
trembled before Him, though He had concealed himself; for because the
wolf had put on sheep’s clothing, the Shepherd of all became a
Lamb in the flocks, in order that when the greedy one had been bold
against the Meek, the Mighty One might rend that Eater.433
The Holy One dwelt bodily in the
womb; and He dwelt spiritually in the mind. Mary that conceived
Him abhorred the marriage bed; let not that soul commit whoredom in the
which He dwelleth. Because Mary perceived Him, she left her
betrothed: He dwelleth in chaste virgins, if they perceive
Him.434
The deaf perceive not the mighty
thunder, neither does the heady man the sound of the commandment.
For the deaf is bewildered in the time of the thunderclap, the heady
man is bewildered also at the voice of instruction; if fearful thunder
terrifies the deaf, then would fearful wrath stir the unclean!
That the deaf hears not is no blame to him; but whoso tramples [on the
commandments] it is headiness. From time to time there is
thunder: but the voice of the law thunders every day. Let
us not close our ears when their openings, as being opened and not
closed against it, accuse us; and the door of hearing is open by
nature, that it might reproach us for our headiness against our
will. The door of the voice and the door of the mouth our will
can open or close. Let us see what the Good One has given us; and
let us hear the mighty Voice, and let not the doors of our ears be
closed.
Glory to that Voice Which became Body, and to the Word
of the High One Which became Flesh! Hear Him also, O ears, and
see Him, O eyes, and feel Him, O hands, and eat Him, O mouth! Ye
members and senses give praise unto Him, that came and quickened the
whole body! Mary bare the silent Babe, while in Him were hidden
all tongues! Joseph bare Him, and in Him was hidden a nature more ancient than aught that
is old! The High One became as a little child, and in Him was
hidden a treasure of wisdom sufficing for all! Though Most High,
yet He sucked the milk of Mary, and of His goodness all creatures
suck! He is the Breast of Life, and the Breath of Life; the dead
suck from His life and revive. Without the breath of the air no
man lives, without the Might of the Son no man subsists. On His
living breath that quickeneth all, depend the spirits that are above
and that are beneath. When He sucked the milk of Mary, He was
suckling all with Life. While He was lying on His Mother’s
bosom, in His bosom were all creatures lying. He was silent as a
Babe, and yet He was making His creatures execute all His
commands. For without the First-born no man can approach unto the
Essence, to which He is equal. The thirty years He was in the
earth, Who was ordering all creatures, Who was receiving all the
offerings of praise from those above and those below. He was
wholly in the depths and wholly in the highest! He was wholly
with all things and wholly with each. While His body was forming
within the womb, His power was fashioning all members! While the
Conception of the Son was fashioning in the womb, He Himself was
fashioning babes in the womb.435
Yet not as
His body was weak in the womb, was His power weak in the womb! So
too not as His body was feeble by the Cross, was His might also feeble
by the Cross. For when on the Cross He quickened the dead, His
Body quickened them, yea, rather His Will; just as when He was dwelling
wholly in the womb, His hidden Will was visiting all! For see
how, when He was wholly hanging upon the Cross, His Power was yet
making all creatures move! For He darkened the sun and made the
earth quake; He rent the graves and brought forth the dead! See
how when He was wholly on the Cross, yet again He was wholly
everywhere! Thus was He entirely in the womb, while He was again
wholly in everything! While on the Cross He quickened the dead,
so while a Babe He was fashioning babes. While He was slain, He
opened the graves;436
while He was in the womb, He opened wombs. Come hearken, my brethren, concerning
the Son of the Secret One that was revealed in His Body, while His
Power was concealed! For the Power of the Son is a free Power;
the womb did not bind it up, as it did the Body! For while His
Power was dwelling in the womb, He was fashioning infants in the
womb! His Power compassed her, that compassed Him. For if
He drew in His Power, all things would fall; His Power upholds all
things; while He was within the womb, He left not His hold of
all. He in His own Person shaped an Image in the womb, and was
shaping in all wombs all countenances. Whilst He was increasing
in stature among the poor, from an abundant treasury He was nourishing
all!437
While she that anointed Him was
anointing Him, with His dew and His rain He was anointing all!
The Magi brought myrrh and gold, while in Him was hidden a treasure of
riches. The myrrh and spices which He had prepared and created,
did the Magi bring Him of His own. It was by Power from Him that
Mary was able to bear in Her bosom Him that bears up all things!
It was from the great storehouse of all creatures, Mary gave Him all
which she did give Him!438
She gave
Him milk from Himself that prepared it, she gave Him food from Himself
that made it! He gave milk unto Mary as God: again He
sucked it from her, as the Son of Man. Her hands bare Him in that
He had emptied His strength; and her arm embraced Him, in that He had
made Himself small. The measure of His Majesty who has
measured? He caused His measures to shrink into a Raiment.
She wove for Him and clothed Him because He had put off His
glory. She measured Him and wove for Him, since He had made
Himself little.
The sea when it bore Him was still and calmed, and how came the lap of Joseph to
bear Him? The womb of hell conceived Him and was burst open, and
how did the womb of Mary contain Him? The stone that was over the
grave He broke open by His might, and how could Mary’s arm
contain Him? Thou camest to a low estate, that Thou mightest
raise all to life! Glory be unto Thee from all that are quickened
by Thee! Who is able to speak of the Son of the Hidden One who
came down and clothed Himself with a Body in the womb? He came
forth and sucked milk as a child, and among little children the Son of
the Lord of all crept about. They saw Him as a little Child in
the street, while there was dwelling in Him the Love of all.
Visibly children surrounded Him in the street; secretly Angels
surrounded Him in fear. Cheerful was He with the little ones as a
child; awful was He with the Angels as a Commander: He was awful
to John for him to loose His shoe’s latchet: He was gentle
to sinners that kissed His feet! The Angels as Angels saw Him;
according to the measure of his knowledge each man beheld Him:
according to the measure of each man’s discernment, thus he
perceived Him that is greater than all. The Father and Himself
alone are a full measure of knowledge so as know Him as He is!
For every creature whether above or below obtains each his measure of
knowledge; He the Lord of all gives all to us. He that enriches
all, requires usury of all. He gives to all things as wanting
nothing, and yet requires usury of all as if needy. He gave us
herds and flocks as Creator, and yet asked sacrifices as though in
need. He made the water wine as Maker: and yet he drank of
it as a poor man. Of His own He mingled [wine] in the marriage
feast, His wine He mingled and gave to drink when He was a guest.
In His love He multiplied [the days of] the aged Simeon; that he, a
mortal, might present Him who quickeneth all. By power from Him
did Simeon carry Him; he that presented Him, was by Him presented [to
God]. He gave imposition of hands to Moses in the Mount,439
and received it in the midst of the river from John. In the power of His gifts John was enabled to baptize,
though earthy, the heavenly. By power from Him the earth
supported Him: it was nigh to being dissolved, and His might
strengthened it. Martha gave Him to eat: viands which He
had created she placed before Him. Of His own all that give have
made their vows: of His own treasures they placed upon His
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