Even Years: Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermon 15 on Canticle of Canticles, 4-6
(Opera omnia. Edit. Cister., 1957, 1, 84-86)
Agnosco enim nomen, quod in Isaia legi: Servos
suos, inquit, vocabit nomine alio, in quo qui benedicendus est super terram,
benedicetur in Domino, Amen. O nomen benedictum, oleum usquequaque effusum!
Quousque? De caelo in Iudaeam, et inde in omnem terram excurrit, et de toto
orbe clamat Ecclesia: Oleum effusum nomen tuum. Effusum plane, quod non solum
caelos terras que perfudit, sed aspersit et inferos, adeo ut in nomine Iesu
omne genu flectatur, caelestium, terrestrium et infernorum, et omnis lingua
confiteatur et dicat: Oleum effusum nomen tuum. Ecce Christus, ecce Iesus,
utrumque infusum angelis, utrumque effusum in homines, et illos homines qui
computruerant tamquam iumenta in stercore suo, homines et iumenta salvans,
quemadmodum multiplicavit misericordiam suam Deus. Quam carum, quam vile!
Vile, sed salubre. Si vile non esset, mihi non
effunderetur; si salubre non esset, non me lucraretur. Particeps nominis sum,
sum et hereditatis. Christianus sum, frater Christi sum. Si sum quod dicor,
heres sum Dei, coheres Christi. Et quid mirum si Sponsi est effusum nomen, cum
ipse quoque effusus sit? Nam semetipsum exinanivit, formam servi accipiens
Denique ait: Sicut aqua effusus sum. Effusa est plenitudo Divinitatis,
habitans super terram corporaliter, ut de illa plenitudine omnes, qui corpus
mortis gestamus, caperemus, ac vitali repleti odore diceremus: Oleum effusum
nomen tuum....
Est procul dubio inter oleum et nomen Sponsi
similitudo, nec otiose Spiritus Sanctus alterutrum comparavit Est autem, dico,
in triplici quadam qualitate olei, quod lucet, pascit, et ungit, si vos melius
non habetis. Fovet ignem, nutrit carnem, lenit dolorem: lux, cibus, medicina.
Vide idem nunc et de Sponsi nomine. Lucet praedicatum, pascit recogitatum, invocatum
lenit et ungit. Et percurramus singula.
Unde putas in toto orbe tanta et tam subita fidei
lux, nisi de praedicato Iesu? Nonne in huius nominis luce Deus nos vocavit in
admirabile lumen suum, quibus illuminatis, et in lumine isto videntibus lumen,
dicat merito Paulus: Fuistis aliquando tenebrae, nunc autem lux in Domino?
Hoc denique nomen coram regibus, et gentibus, et filiis Israel portare iussus est isdem Apostolus; et portabat nomen tamquam lumen, et illuminabat patriam,
et clamabat ubique: Nox praecessit, dies autem appropinquavit abiciamus ergo
opera tenebrarum, et induamur arma lucis: sicut in die honeste ambulemus. Et
monstrabat omnibus lucernam super candelabrum, annuntians in omni loco Iesum,
et hunc crucifixum.
Quomodo lux ista insplenduit ac perstrinxit
cunctorum intuentium oculos, quando de ore Petri, tamquam fulgur, egrediens,
claudi unius corporales plantas solidavit et bases, multos que spiritualiter
caecos illuminavit! Numquid non ignem sparsit, cum ait: In nomine Iesu Christi
Nazareni, surge et ambula?
Nec tantum lux est nomen Iesu, sed et cibus est.
An non toties confortaris, quoties recordaris? Quid aeque mentem cogitantis
impinguat? Quid ita exercitatos reparat sensus, virtutes roborat, vegetat mores
bonos atque honestos, castas fovet affectiones? Aridus est omnis animae cibus,
si non oleo isto infunditur; insipidus est, si non hoc sale conditur Si
scribas, non sapit mihi, nisi legero ibi Iesum. Si disputes aut conferas, non
sapit mihi, nisi sonuerit ibi Iesus. Iesus mel in ore, in aure melos, in corde
iubilus.
Odd Years: Basil the Great, Book on the Holy Spirit, ch. 26
| Ὁ
γὰρ μηκέτι κατὰ
σάρκα ζῶν, ἀλλὰ
Πνεύματι Θεοῦ ἀγόμενος,
καὶ ὑιος Θεοῦ
χρηματίζων, καὶ
σύμμορφος τῆς
εἰκόνος τοῦ Υἱοῦ
τοῦ Θεοῦ
γενόμενος,
πνευματικὸς ὀνομάζεται.
Καὶ ὡς ἡ
δύναμις τοῦ ὁρᾷν ἐν
τῷ
ὑγιαίνοντι ὀφθαλμῷ,
οὕτως ἡ ἐνέργεια
τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐν
τῇ κεκαθαρμένῃ
ψυχῆ…
| If a man no longer lives according to the flesh, but is led by the Spirit of God and is called son of God and is conformed to the image of God, he is described as a spiritual man. As the power of seeing is to be found in the healthy eye, so the working of the Spirit is to be found in the purified soul.
| | Καὶ
ὡς ὁ λόγος δὲ ἐν
ψυχῇ, ποτὲ μὲν ὡς
τὸ ἐγκάρδιον
νόημα, ποτὲ δὲ ὠς
ὁ
προφερόμενος
διὰ γλώσσης, οὕτω
τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον·
νῦν μὲν ὅταν
συμμαρτυρῇ τῷ
Πνεύματι, καὶ ὅταν
κράζῃ ἐν ταῖς
καρδίαις ἡμῶν·
Ἀββᾶ ὁ Πατήρ· νῦν
δὲ ὅταν λαλῇ ὑπὲρ
ἡμῶν, κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον,
ὅτι Οὐχ ὑμεῖς ἐστὲ
οἱ λαλοῦντες, ἀλλὰ
τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ
Πατρὸς τὸ λαλοῦν
ἐν ὑμῖν.
| The word is in the soul; sometimes as the thought of the heart, sometimes as spoken by the tongue. So too the Holy Spirit is in the soul: at one time he joins with our spirit in bearing witness and cries out in our hearts: Abba, Father; at another time he speaks on our behalf, as we are told: It is not you who will be speaking: it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking in you.
| | Ἤδη
δὲ καὶ ὡς ὅλον ἐν
μέρεσι, νοεῖται
τὸ Πνεῦμα κατὰ
τὴν τῶν
χαρισμάτων
διανομήν.
Πάντες γὰρ ἀλλήλων
ἐσμὲν μέλη, ἔχοντες
δὲ χαρισματα
κατὰ τὴν χάριν
τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν
δοιεῖσαν ἡμῖν
διάφορα.
| Again, the Spirit is understood, in relation to the distribution of gifts, as a whole in its different parts. We are all joined to one another as different parts of one body, and have different gifts in accordance with the grace God has given us.
| | Διὰ
τοῦτο Οὐ
δύναται ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς
εἰπεῖν τῇ χειρὶ,
Χρείαν σου οὐκ ἔχω·
ἢ πάλιν ἡ κεφαλὴ
τοῖς ποσὶ,
Χρείαν ὑμῶν οὐκ
ἔχω, ἀλλὰ πάντα
μὲν ὁμοῦ
συμπληροῖ τὸ σῶμα
τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐν
τῇ ἑνότητι τοῦ
Πνεύματος·
αλλήλοις δὲ ἀναγκαίαν
τὴν ἐκ τῶν χαρισμάτων
ἀντιδίδωσιν ὠφέλειαν.
| Therefore, the eye cannot say to the hand: 'I do not need you', nor can the head say to the feet: 'I do not need you.' On the contrary, all the members together make up the body of Christ in the unity of the Spirit, and mutually contribute the necessary service in accordance with the gifts received.
| | Ὁ
μὲν γὰρ Θεὸς ἔθετο
τᾶ μέλη ἐν τῷ
σώματι, ἕν ἕκαστον
αὐτῶν καθὼς ἠθέλησε.
Τὰ μέντοι μέλη
τὸ αὐτό μεριμνῶσιν
ὑπὲρ ἀλλήλων,
κατὰ τὴν
πνευματικὴν
κοινωνίαν τὴς
συμπαθείας αὐτοῖς
ὑπαρχούσης.
Διόπερ Εἴτε
πάσχει ἕν
μέλος,
συμπάσχει
πάντα τὰ μέλη·
εἴτε
δοξάζεται ἕν
μέλος,
συγχαίρει
πάντα τὰ μέλη.
Καὶ ὡς μέρη δὲ ἐν
ὅλῳ, οἱ καθ’ ἕνα
ἐσμὲν ἐν τῷ
Πνεύματι· ὅτι
οἱ πάντες ἐν ἑνὶ
σώματι, εἰς ἕν
Πνεῦμα ἐβαπτίσθημεν…
| God arranged the organs of the body, each one of them, as he chose; but these different parts have the same concern for one another in accordance with their sympathetic interaction, born of the spirit which they share. And so, if one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it; if one part is honoured, all the other parts share its joy. As parts in the whole, so are we, individually, in the Spirit, because we were all baptized in one body into the one Spirit.
| | Ὥσπερ
ἐν τῷ Υἱῷ ὁρᾶται
ὁ Πατὴρ, οὕτως ὁ
υἱὸς ἐν τῷ
Πνεύματι. Ἡ
τοίνυν ἐν τῷ
Πνεύματι
προσκύνησις τὴν
ὡς ἐν φωτὶ
γινομένην τῆς
διανοίας ἡμῶν ἐνέργειαν
ὐποβάλλει, ὡς ἐκ
τῶν πρὸς τὴν
Σαμαρεῖτιν εἰρημένων
ἄν μάθοις. Ἐν
τόπῳ γάρ εἶναι
τὴν
προσκύνησιν ἐκ
τῆς ἐγχωρίου
συνηθείας ἠπατημένην
ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν
μεταδιδάσκων, ἐν
Πνεύματι καὶ ἀληθείᾳ
χρῆναι
προσκυνεῖν ἔφησεν,
ἑαυτὸν λέγων
δηλαδὴ τὴν ἀλήθειαν.
| Just as the Father is seen in the Son, so the Son is seen in the Holy Spirit. Worship in the Spirit suggests the activity of our intelligence, which is carried on, as it were, in the light, as may be learned from the words spoken to the woman of Samaria. She was misled by the custom of her country into the belief that God was worshipped in a place. Our Lord corrected her; he said that men must worship in Spirit and in truth, and by 'truth' he clearly meant himself.
| | Ὥσπερ
οὖν ἐν τῷ Υἱῷ
προσκύνησιν
λέγομεν, τὴν ὡς ἐν
εἰκόνι τοῦ Θεοῦ
καὶ Πατρὸς, οὕτω
και ἐν τῷ
Πνεύματι, ὡς ἐν ἑαυτῷ
δεικνύντι τὴν
τοῦ Κυρίου
θεότητα…
| We speak of worship in the Son, which is worship in the one who is the image of God the Father. Similarly we speak of worship in the Spirit, as the one who shows in himself the divinity of the Lord.
| | Ὥστε
οἰκείως καὶ ἀκολούθως
διὰ μὲν τοῦ φωτισμοῦ
τοῦ Πνεύματος
τὸ ἀπαύγασμα τῆς
δόξης τοῦ Θεοῦ
καθορῶμεν·
διά δὲ τοῦ
χαρακτῆρος ἐπὶ
τὴν οὗ ἐστιν ὁ
χαρακτὴρ καὶ ἡ ἰσότυπος
σφραγὶς ἀναγόμεθα.
| So then, to express it properly and in order, through the illumination of the Spirit we behold the radiance of God's glory, the Son; and through the Son, the stamp of God's very being, we are brought to the one to whom belong the stamp and the identical seal.
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