Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fourth Sunday in Advent

Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.” (Luke 1:39–45)

Not yet born, already John prophesies and, while still in the enclosure of his mother’s womb, confesses the coming of Christ with movements of joy since he could not do so with his voice. For Elizabeth says to holy Mary: As soon as you greeted me, the child in my womb exulted for joy. John exults, then, before he is born, and before his eyes can see what the world looks like he can recognize the Lord of the world with his spirit. In this regard I think that the prophetic phrase is apropos which says: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you came forth from the womb I sanctified you. Thus we ought not to marvel that, after he was put in prison by Herod, from his confinement he continued to announce Christ to his disciples, when even confined in the womb he preached the same Lord by his movements.

Maximus of Turin, Sermon 5.4

Believe what says the angel who was sent
From the Father's throne, or if your stolid ear
Catch not the voice from heaven, be wise and hear
The cry of aged woman, now with child.
O wondrous faith! The babe in senile womb
Greets through his mother's lips the Virgin's Son,
Our Lord; the child unborn makes known the cry
Of the Child bestowed on us, for speechless yet,
He caused that mouth to herald Christ as God.

Prudentius, The Divinity of Christ 585–93.

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Third Sunday in Advent

Rejoice, O daughter of Zion!
        Make a proclamation, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Rejoice and enjoy yourself from your whole heart,
    O daughter of Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away your injustices;
        he has ransomed you from the hand of your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst,
        you shall not see evil any longer.
In that time the Lord will say to Jerusalem,
“Take courage, Zion!
        Do not let your hands get weak.
The Lord your God is among you;
        the Mighty One will save you.
And he will bring upon you the festivity
        and renew you in his affection,
and he will rejoice because of you in delight
        as in a day of festival.
And I will gather together those who are crushed.
        Alas, who took up a reproach against her?
Behold, I will act among you for your sake
        in that time,” says the Lord.
“And I will save the oppressed one
        and the rejected one.
I will gather them for glory,
        and they will be renowned in all the earth.
And they will be ashamed in that time,
        when I do well for you,
and in the time when I will gather you,
        because I will give you renowned ones,
and for glory among all the peoples of the earth,
        when I return your captives before you,” says the Lord.

(Zephaniah 3:14–20 LXX)

As far as the factual account goes, he clearly promises them peace after the return from Babylon, when their former faults are forgotten and God promises to accompany and protect them. On the other hand, as far as the deeper meaning goes, he necessarily ordered them to rejoice exceedingly, and as well to be glad with their whole heart at the removal of their sins—through Christ, obviously. That is to say, the spiritual and holy Zion, that is, the Church or vast company of the believers, has been justified by Christ and by Him alone; we have been saved through Him and by Him, escaping harm from the unseen foe, with Him as our mediator appearing in a form like ours as God and King of all, the Word of God the Father. Because of Him, we shall witness troubles no longer, that is, we shall be liberated from everyone able to do harm; after all, He is the instrument of benevolence, He is peace, the wall, the provider of immortality, the dispenser of crowns, who repels war waged by the spiritual Assyrians and annuls the schemes of the demons.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Zephaniah 3.14

I am aware that some commentators understood this of the return from Babylon and the renovation of Jerusalem, and I do not contradict their words: the prophecy applies also to what happened at that time. But you can find a more exact outcome after the Incarnation of our Savior: then it was that He healed the oppressed in heart in the washing of regeneration, then it was that He renewed human nature, loving us so much as to give His life for us. After all, “greater love than this no one can show than for one to lay down one's life for one's friend,” and again, “God so loved the world as to give his only-begotten Son so that everyone believing in Him might not be lost but have eternal life.” … The salvation of human beings rests with divine lovingkindness alone: we do not earn it as the wages of righteousness; rather, it is a gift of divine goodness. Hence the Lord says, “on your behalf I shall save and welcome” and make My own what has become another's, render it conspicuous, make it more famous than all others, free it from its former shame, and from being captives and slaves I shall make them free people and My own. Now, as I have said, this He both made a gift of to those returning from Babylon at that time and also granted to all people later: we who were once in thrall to the devil, but are now freed from that harsh captivity and unmindful of the error of polytheism, have become God's own, being famous beyond pagans and barbarians, according to the prophecy, and we who were once far off have become near, according to the divine apostle.

Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on Zephaniah 3.16–20

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Second Sunday in Advent

St John the Baptist Preaching in the Desert, Claes Corneliszoon Moeyaert

“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will observe the way before my face. And immediately, the Lord, whom you seek, will come into his own temple. And the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he comes,” says the Lord Almighty. “But who will endure the day of his entrance, or who will stand in his appearance? Because he enters as a fire of a furnace and as a kind of cleansing. He will sit, smeltering and cleansing, as if it were silver and as if it were gold; and he will purify the children of Levi and pour them out just like gold and like silver, and they will become those who bring to the Lord a sacrifice in righteousness. And the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem will please the Lord, just as in the days of old and just as the previous years. And I will approach you with justice, and I will become a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulteresses and against the ones who swear oaths in my name, against liars and against the ones who withhold wages of workers and the ones who oppress the widow and the ones who maltreat orphans and the ones who pervert justice of the resident alien and the ones who do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty. “Because I am the Lord, your God, and I do not change. (Malachi 3:1–6 LXX)

And so, that we might not inquire of what God the Word became flesh, He Himself teaches further, There was a man, one sent from God, whose name was John. He for testimony, to bear witness to the light … he was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light. By what God, then, was John sent—the forerunner who bore witness concerning the light? It was indeed by that God of whom Gabriel is the messenger, who also announced the good news of His birth. By the God who also promised through His prophets that He would send His messenger before the face of His Son, and He would prepare His way, that is, bear witness concerning the light in the spirit and power of Elias. And Elias, in turn, of what God was he servant and prophet? Of Him who made heaven and earth, as he himself acknowledges. Therefore, if John was sent by the Creator and Maker of this world, how could he bear witness concerning that light which descended from the beings that are unnameable and invisible? For all the heretics have given out as certain that Demiurge is ignorant of the power that is above him, of which John is recognized to be the witness and the revealer. On this account the Lord said He considered him more than a prophet. For all the other prophets announced the coming of the Father’s light; moreover, they desired to be worthy of seeing Him whom they prophesied. But John both foretold Him, just as the others had, and saw and pointed Him out when He came, and persuaded many to believe in Him, so that he held the office of both prophet and apostle. In this he is more than a prophet, because first are apostles, then prophets. But all things come from one and the same God.

Irenaeus of Lyons, Against the Heresies, 3.11.4

Of these two comings the Prophet Malachi says: “And suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek”; that is one coming. Of the second coming he says: “And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire, or like the fuller’s lye. He will sit refining and purifying.” In what immediately follows the Savior Himself says: “I will draw near to you for judgment, and I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, adulterers, and perjurers.” It was with this in view that Paul says in due warning: “But if anyone builds upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—the work of each will be made manifest, for the day of the Lord will declare it, since the day is to be revealed in fire.” Paul indicates these two comings also in writing to Titus in these words: “The grace of God our Savior has appeared to all men, instructing us, in order that, rejecting ungodliness and worldly lusts, we may live temperately and justly and piously in this world; looking for the blessed hope and glorious coming of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” Do you see how he speaks of a first coming, for which he gives thanks, and of a second we are to look for? We find the same lesson in the wording of the Creed we profess, as delivered to us, that is, to believe in Him who “ascended into heaven and sat down on the right of the Father, and is to come in glory to judge living and dead, of whose kingdom there will be no end.”

Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 15.2

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the First Sunday in Advent

For what thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before our God, night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith? Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints. (1 Thessalonians 3:9–13)

Paul says that there is nothing so valuable that it can be enough to compensate for the salvation which the Gentiles have obtained. Since they had advanced by the perseverance of their faith and the practice of a better life, he wanted to see them all the more in order to be able to teach them what they needed to go on to perfection, the sacraments, as it were, of spiritual things which cannot easily be proclaimed, so that they might discover who and how great was the judge whom they were waiting for. It is one thing to accept the faith and another to accept its exposition. The debate about the nature of the Father and the Son is different from that about their persons. The Father is unbegotten but the Son is begotten. The persons appear to be different but the nature is one and indivisible. The unity is not in person but in substance. The Holy Spirit is not to be regarded as inferior merely because He is placed third. Whatever is clear about the second person applies to the third as well.

Paul prays that his journey will be properly organized, by God the Father first of all, because all things come from Him. He wants the power and foresight of the Father and the Son to protect his coming, so that he will be accepted by those who hear him, and the hindrances of the devil may be removed so that he can make his way to them.

In order that the joy with which he rejoices in them may be increased, Paul prays that they may grow in all good things, so that when he comes to them he may find in them even more praiseworthy things than what he had heard from Timothy. He wants them to be found blameless with the saints in the love of God the Father and at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, when the cross-examination starts and tests each one before His judgment seat. Paul calls Him God because of the terror of his majesty, but Father because of the kindness by which he has been pleased to adopt those who believe in Him as His children, something which will be made clear when the Lord returns.

Ambrosiaster, Commentary on 1 Thessalonians 3

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Last Sunday of the Church Year

Listen to me, listen to me, my people, and you kings, give ear to me, because the law will go forth from me, and my judgment as a light to the nations. My righteousness approaches quickly, and even my salvation will go forth as a light, and nations will hope in my strength. Islands will wait for me and will hope in my strength. Lift your eyes up to the sky and look at the earth below, for the sky will become solid like smoke, and the earth will grow old like a garment, and those who inhabit it will die just like these things, but my salvation will endure forever, and my righteousness surely shall not cease. (Isaiah 51:4–6 LXX)

But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven. Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” (Mark 13:24–37)

From the sky and the earth, from the things on high and those below, learn of My power. I produced these elements with great ease and, conversely, I can make them disappear. “But My salvation shall be for eternity, and My righteousness shall not fail.” This is what the Lord has likewise said in the holy Gospels: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”

Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on Isaiah 16.51.6

How well, indeed, you philosophers teach us, and how usefully you advise us, that after death rewards and punishments fall with lighter weight! Whereas, if any judgment awaits souls at all, it ought rather to be supposed that it will be heavier at the conclusion of life than in the conduct thereof, since nothing is more complete than that which comes at the very last—nothing, moreover, is more complete than that which is especially divine. Accordingly, God’s judgment will be more full and complete, because it will be pronounced at the very last, in an eternal irrevocable sentence, both of punishment and of consolation. Then souls are not to transmigrate into beasts, but are to return into their own proper bodies. And all this once for all, and on “that day, too, of which the Father only knows” in order that by her trembling expectation faith may make full trial of her anxious sincerity, keeping her gaze ever fixed on that day, in her perpetual ignorance of it, daily trembling that for which she yet daily hopes.

Tertullian, On the Soul 33

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Les Disciples Admirent les Constructions du Temple by James Tissot

Then as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?” And Jesus, answering them, began to say: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and will deceive many. But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows. “But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues. You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations. But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. (Mark 13:1–13)

There is no discrepancy in the Gospels as to facts, although one tells one detail which another passes over or describes differently; rather, they supplement each other when compared, and thus give direction to the mind of the reader. But it would take too long to discuss them all now. To their questions the Lord replied by telling what was to happen from that time on, whether of the destruction of Jerusalem, which had given rise to their inquiry, or of His coming in the Church in which He does not cease to come until the end—for He is recognized when He comes to His own, while His members are daily born, and of this coming He said: “Hereafter you shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds,” of which clouds the Prophet said: “I will command my clouds not to rain upon it”—or, finally, of the end itself at which He will appear “to judge the living and the dead.”

Augustine of Hippo, Letter 199, To Hesychius 25

Everything tends to its end, not in order that it may not be, but that it may remain in that toward which it tends. Everything is for the sake of its end; furthermore, the end does not concern itself with anything else. But, since the end is everything, it remains completely for itself. And since it does not reach out beyond itself and since it brings gain for itself rather than for any other time or thing, the object of all its hope is ever directed toward the end itself. For this reason the Lord thus exhorts us to a steadfastness in the devout faith that continues to the end: “Blessed is he who shall persevere to the end,” and certainly not as if dissolution were a blessing and non-existence a gain, and as if the reward of faith were to be found in the destruction of everyone, because the end is the unequaled measure of the blessedness that has been offered to us, and thus they are blessed who persevere to the end of the perfect happiness, since the expectation of faithful hope does not extend beyond this.

Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity 11.28

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Then He said to them in His teaching, “Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.” Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.” (Mark 12:38–44)

But now, what it is necessary for me to say on the subject of him inner and the outer man, may be expressed in the words of the Savior to those who swallow a camel, and wear the outward garb of the hypocrite, begirt with blandishments and flatteries. It is to them that Jesus addresses Himself when He says: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of uncleanness. Or know you not, that He that made that which is without, made that which is within also?” Now why did He speak of the cup and of the platter? Was He who uttered these words a glass-worker, or a potter who made vessels of clay? Did He not speak most manifestly of the body and the soul? For the Pharisees truly looked to the “tithing of anise and cumin, and left undone the weightier matters of the law;” and while devoting great care to the things which were external, they overlooked those which bore upon the salvation of the soul. For they also had respect to “greetings in the market-place,” and “to the uppermost seats at feasts:” and to them the Lord Jesus, knowing their perdition, made this declaration, that they attended to those things only which were without, and despised as strange things those which were within, and understood not that He who made the body made also the soul.

I perceive that Jesus also looks on willingly at the gifts of the rich men, when they are put into the treasury. All too little, at the same time, is it if gifts are cast into the treasury by the rich alone; and so there are the two mites of the poor widow which are also received with gladness; and in that offering verily something is exhibited that goes beyond what Moses prescribed on the subject of the receipt of moneys. For he received gifts from those who had; but Jesus receives them even from those who have not.

Hegemonius, The Disputation with Manes 21, 42

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to All Saints' Sunday

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1 John 3:1–3)

Paul also says, For you have died, and your life has been hidden with Christ in God, died, namely, by snuffing out your former life which was in sins, and having a new life in Christ through faith, whose depth has not yet visibly appeared to us. And Paul also explains this in other words, saying, When Christ, your life, appears, they you also will appear with him in glory. We shall be like him, he says, because when we shall enjoy with attentive regard his unchangeable and eternal divinity, we also shall be immortal and like him indeed, because we shall be happy. And yet, we shall not be like our Creator, because we are creatures. For, Who among the children of God shall be like God? Although this can also seem to be said about the immortality of the body and in this we shall indeed be like God, but only like the Son who alone among the persons of the Trinity received a body, in which he died, rose and brought it to the heavenly heights.

Many say that they have hope of the heavenly life in Christ but they make this confession ineffective by living carelessly. He who is eager to strive vigorously to perform good actions gives clear evidence in his case of his hope from on high, being convinced that no one will arrive at the likeness of God in the future except by making himself holy with the holiness of God in the present, that is, unless he imitate by rejecting wickedness and worldly desires, however, and by living soberly and righteously and faithfully. For thus are we ordered to imitate the purity of divine holiness in accord with the capacity of our nature, as we are admonished to hope for the glory of the divine likeness in accord with our own, that is, created, measure.… But he who has hope in the Lord makes himself holy, as far as he can, by striving himself and in everything requiring the grace of Him who says, Without me you can do nothing, and by saying to him, Be my helper, do not forsake me.

Venerable Bede, Commentary on 1 John 3.2–3

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to Reformation Sunday

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. (John 8:31–36)

Oh, pitiable slavery! Very often when men are afflicted with wicked masters, they request to have themselves put up for sale, not seeking to not have a master, but simply to change. But the slave of sin, what can he do? To whom can he appeal? Before whom can he appeal? Before whom can he request to have himself put up for sale? Then too, the slave of a man sometimes, when exhausted by his master’s harsh orders, finds rest in flight. Where does the slave of sin flee? He drags himself with himself wherever he flees.… Let us all flee to Christ. Against sin let us appeal to God, the giver of freedom. Let us request to have ourselves put up for sale that we may be redeemed by his blood. For the Lord says, “You were sold for nothing, and without money you shall be redeemed.” Without payment, without your payment, because by mine. The Lord says this; for He gave the payment himself, not silver, but His own blood. For we had remained both slaves and in need.

The Lord alone, then, sets free from this slavery; He, who did not have it, Himself sets free from it. Indeed, He alone came in this flesh without sin. For little children whom you see being carried in their mothers’ hands do not yet walk and they have already been shackled; for they have contracted from Adam what is to be broken by Christ. This grace which the Lord promises also pertains to them when they are baptized; for He alone can set free from sin, who came without sin and became a sacrifice for sin.

Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on the Gospel of John 4–5

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost

Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.” Then Peter began to say to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You.” So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” (Mark 10:23–31)

The wealthy and legally correct man, not understanding these things figuratively, nor how the same man can be both poor and rich, and have wealth and not have it, and use the world and not use it, went away sad and downcast, leaving the state of life, which he was able merely to desire but not to attain, making for himself the difficult impossible. For it was difficult for the soul not to be seduced and ruined by the luxuries and flowery enchantments that beset remarkable wealth; but it was not impossible, even surrounded with it, for one to lay hold of salvation, provided he withdrew himself from material wealth,—to that which is grasped by the mind and taught by God, and learned to use things indifferent rightly and properly, and so as to strive after eternal life. And the disciples even themselves were at first alarmed and amazed. Why were they so on hearing this? Was it that they themselves possessed much wealth? Nay, they had long ago left their very nets, and hooks, and rowing boats, which were their sole possessions. Why then do they say in consternation, “Who can be saved?” They had heard well and like disciples what was spoken in parable and obscurely by the Lord, and perceived the depth of the words. For they were sanguine of salvation on the ground of their want of wealth. But when they became conscious of not having yet wholly renounced the passions (for they were neophytes and recently selected by the Savior), they were excessively astonished, and despaired of themselves no less than that rich man who clung so terribly to the wealth which he preferred to eternal life. It was therefore a fit subject for all fear on the disciples’ part; if both he that possesses wealth and he that is teeming with passions were the rich, and these alike shall be expelled from the heavens. For salvation is the privilege of pure and passionless souls.

But the Lord replies, “Because what is impossible with men is possible with God.” This again is full of great wisdom. For a man by himself working and toiling at freedom from passion achieves nothing. But if he plainly shows himself very desirous and earnest about this, he attains it by the addition of the power of God. For God conspires with willing souls.

Clement of Alexandria, Salvation of the Rich Man 20–21

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost

Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’” And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Mark 10:17–22)

There is no other second goodness existing in the Son, save that which is in the Father. And therefore also the Savior Himself rightly says in the Gospel, “There is none good save one only, God the Father,” that by such an expression it may be understood that the Son is not of a different goodness, but of that only which exists in the Father, of whom He is rightly termed the image, because He proceeds from no other source but from that primal goodness, lest there might appear to be in the Son a different goodness from that which is in the Father. Nor is there any dissimilarity or difference of goodness in the Son. And therefore it is not to be imagined that there is a kind of blasphemy, as it were, in the words, “There is none good save one only, God the Father,” as if thereby it may be supposed to be denied that either Christ or the Holy Spirit was good. But, as we have already said, the primal goodness is to be understood as residing in God the Father, from whom both the Son is born and the Holy Spirit proceeds, retaining within them, without any doubt, the nature of that goodness which is in the source whence they are derived. And if there be any other things which in Scripture are called good, whether angel, or man, or servant, or treasure, or a good heart, or a good tree, all these are so termed inexactly, having in them an accidental, not an essential goodness.

Origen, On First Principles 1.2.13

When the Gospel was read, dearest brethren, we heard the Lord say: “If you will enter into life, keep the commandments.” Who is there, brethren, who does not want life? And yet who is there who wishes to keep the commandments? If you are unwilling to keep the commandments, why do you seek life? If you are slothful in the work, why do you hasten to the reward? That rich young man said that he had kept the commandments, and he heard still greater commands: “If you will be perfect, one thing is lacking to you: sell all that you have, and give to the poor.” You will not lose it, but “You shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” For how does it profit you to do this and not follow me? What that man heard, most beloved, we, too, have heard; the Gospel of Christ is in heaven, but it does not cease to speak on earth. Let us not be dead to it, for He thunders; let us not be deaf, for He shouts. But if you are unwilling to do the greater things, do the lesser ones. These are the greater ones: “Sell all that you have, and give to the poor; and come, follow me.” The lesser ones are these: “You shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not seek false witness, you shall not steal, honor your father and mother, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Caesarius of Arles, Sermons 153.1

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them. (Mark 10:13–16)

But, in turn, if, in the case of the greatest sinners and those sinning much against God, when afterward they believe, the remission of their sins is granted and no one is prevented from baptism and grace, how much more should an infant not be prohibited, who, recently born, has not sinned at all, except that, born carnally according to Adam, he has contracted the contagion of the first death from the first nativity. He approaches more easily from this very fact to receive the remission of sins because those which are remitted are not his own sins, but the sins of another.

And, therefore, dearly beloved Brother, this was our decision in the council that no one ought to be cut off by us from baptism and from the grace of God, who is merciful and kind and loving to all. Since this must be observed and maintained towards all, we think it ought to be even more observed regarding infants themselves and the newly born who deserve more, for this very reason, from our help and from the divine mercy because immediately at the very beginning of their birth, wailing and weeping, they can do nothing but plead.

Cyprian of Carthage, Letters 64.5

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched—where

“Their worm does not die
And the fire is not quenched.”

And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched—where

“Their worm does not die
And the fire is not quenched.”

And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire—where

“Their worm does not die
And the fire is not quenched.”

For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another. (Mark 9:38–50)

If today a man is thrown out of the assembly of this church because of some wicked deed, in how much grief and tribulation will his soul be? If it causes unbearable pain to be thrown out of this church, where the one who is rejected can eat and drink and speak with men and has the hope of deserving to be called back again to the church, how much pain do we think there will be if, because of his sins, a man is separated from that Church which is in heaven, segregated from the assembly of the angels and the company of all the saints? For such a man it will not be enough punishment for him to be cast outside, but in addition he will be shut out into the night, to be consumed by an eternal fire. The man who has merited to be shut out of that heavenly Jerusalem will not only have for punishment the fact that he will not be able to eat or drink, but he will also suffer the flames of hell, “where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.” There will be the wailing of lamentation and repentance without any remedy, that worm too which does not die, and the fire which is not extinguished; there death is sought as an end to torment, and it is not found. Why is death sought and not found in hell? Because those who are unwilling to accept life in this world when it is offered to them will seek death in hell and will not be able to find it. There will be night without the light of day, bitterness without pleasure, darkness without light. There neither riches nor parents nor spouses nor children nor neighbors will be able to help a man.

Caesarius of Arles, On the Feast of a Church [Sermon 227.4]

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it. For He taught His disciples and said to them, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day.” But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him. Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, “What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?” But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, “Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me.” (Mark 9:30–37)

Let vanity not be known among you; rather, let simplicity and harmony and a guileless attitude weld the group together. Let each persuade himself that he is not only inferior to the brother at his side, but to all men. If he knows this, he will truly be a disciple of Christ. For, as the Savior says: “Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled and he who humbles himself shall be exalted.” And again: “If any man wishes to be first among you, he will be last of all”; and the servant of all: “for the Son of man has not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” And the apostle: “For we preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord; and ourselves merely as your servants in Jesus.” Knowing, then, the fruits of humility and the penalty of conceit, imitate the Master by loving one another and do not shrink from death or any other punishment for the good of each other. But the way which God entered upon for you, do you enter upon for Him, proceeding with one body and one soul to the invitation from above, loving God and each other. For love and fear of the Lord are the first fulfillment of the law.

Gregory of Nyssa, On the Christian Mode of Life 8

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. And He asked the scribes, “What are you discussing with them?” Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.” He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.” Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.” (Mark 9:14–29)

So much did the apostles realize that everything which pertains to salvation was bestowed on them by the Lord that they asked for faith itself to be given them by the Lord when they said: “Increase our faith,” for they did not presume that its fullness would come from free will but believed that it would be conferred on them by a gift of God. The Author of human salvation teaches us how even our faith is unstable and weak and by no means sufficient unto itself, unless it has been strengthened by the Lord’s help, when he says to Peter: “Simon, Simon, behold Satan has sought to sift you like wheat, but I have asked my Father that your faith might not fail.” Someone else, finding that this was happening in himself, and seeing that his faith was being driven onto the rocks of a disastrous shipwreck by the waves of unbelief, asked the same Lord for help with his faith when he said: “Lord, help my unbelief.” So much did the evangelical and apostolic men realize that every good thing is accomplished by the Lord’s help, and so certain were they that they could not by their own power and free will preserve their faith itself unharmed, that they besought this as a help and a gift to them from the Lord.

John Cassian, Conference of Abba Paphnutius: On the Three Resurrections 16:1–2

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Give comfort, fainthearted in mind! Be strong; do not be frightened! Look, our God is repaying judgment, and he will repay! He himself will come and save us! Then blind people’s eyes will be opened, and dumb people’s ears will hear. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the stammerer’s tongue will be clear, because water has broken forth in the desert, and a ravine in a thirsting land. And the waterless place will turn into marshes, and there will be a spring of water in the thirsty land; there birds’ happiness will be a dwelling of reed and marshes. (Isaiah 35:4–7 LXX)

Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee. Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him. And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly. Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.” (Mark 7:31–37)

Now what can [those who deny the incarnation] say to this, or how can they dare to face this at all? For the prophecy not only indicated that God is to sojourn here but also announces the signs and the time of his coming. For they connect the blind recovering their sight, and the lame walking, and the deaf hearing, and the tongue of the one who stammers being made plain, with the divine coming which is to take place. Let them say, then, when such signs have come to pass in Israel, or where in Judah anything of the sort has occurred. Naaman, a leper, was cleansed, but no deaf man heard nor lame walked. Elijah raised a dead man; so did Elisha; but none blind from birth regained his sight. For in good truth, to raise a dead man is a great thing, but it is not like the wonder wrought by the Savior. Only, if Scripture has not passed over the case of the leper and of the dead son of the widow, certainly had it come to pass that a lame man also had walked and a blind man recovered his sight, the narrative would not have omitted to mention this also. Since, then, nothing is said in the Scriptures, it is evident that these things had never taken place before. When, then, have they taken place, save when the Word of God himself came in the body? Or when did he come, if not when lame men walked, and those who stammer were made to speak plainly, and deaf men heard, and men blind from birth regained their sight?

Athanasius, On the Incarnation 38

Deafened ears, of sound unconscious, every passage blocked and closed,
At the word of Christ responding, open all the portals wide,
Hear with joy friendly voices and the softly whispered speech.
Every sickness now surrenders, every listlessness departs,
Tongues long bound by chains of silence are unloosed and speak aright,
While the joyful paralytic bears his pallet through the streets.

Prudentius, Hymns 9.64–69

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Your testimonies are wonderful.
        On account of this, my soul examined them.
The revelation of your words will give light
        and instruct infants.
I opened my mouth and excited a spirit,
        because I was desiring your commandments.
Look upon me, and have mercy upon me,
        according to the justice of those who love your name.
Make my steps straight according to your word,
        and do not let any lawlessness have dominion over me.
Redeem me from the false accusation of people,
        and I will keep your commandments.
Show forth your face upon your servant,
        and teach me your righteous ordinances.
My eyes were traversed with streams of waters,
        since they did not keep your law.

(Ps 118:129–136 LXX [Ps 119:129–136])

I opened my mouth and drew in breath, because I longed for thy commandments. If you are attracted to a literal interpretation here, it explains the tendency of a speaker. First the mouth is opened, the breath is drawn in, and then the tongue is moved to allow the voice to sound forth. But if you interpret spiritually, as you should, the mouth connotes the entry to the mind which is opened when we hasten to learn something. It draws in breath when by the divine gift it is filled with a spirit of wholesome longing, and begins with constant heart to seek what previously it was known to have sought only through God’s grace. So the weak little ones opened their mouths and drew in breath, in other words, strength for action, which they could not attain of their own accord. So that you may better realize that this first part is addressed to the good of the understanding rather than to the function of speaking, there follows: Because I longed for thy commandments. They first expressed zeal of will, to explain later their longing for the commandments; the sequence could not be logical if they said that they would first speak and then long for what was to their benefit.

Direct my steps according to thy word, and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. My steps denotes movements of the soul, for just as by our steps we move from place to place, so by those paces of the soul, so to speak, we advance to things better or worse. The blessed troop asked that these steps be directed according to the Lord’s word, so that they should not be seduced by evil vices, and slip into deadly errors. According to thy word means “according to the commands which You lay down for improving the life of the human race.” Next comes: And let not any iniquity have dominion over me. It was essential that if the Lord were to deign to direct their steps according to His word, no iniquity should prevail over them, for it could not be so utterly banished that it could not assault them further. But when it does not prevail, we escape it, whereas slavery to it consigns us down to destruction. The phrase, any iniquity, is not idle, for they know that if it prevails over them at any point, it carries them off, and it is no use keeping the Law in many matters if we are seen to transgress it in any respect. Scripture says: If anyone keeps the whole law but offends in one point, he becomes guilty in all.

Cassiodorus, Explanation of the Psalms 118.131, 133

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem. Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?” He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.” He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban”—’ (that is, a gift to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.” (Mark 7:1–13)

For the tradition of those elders, which they pretended to observe according to the Law, was contrary to the Law given by Moses. Wherefore also Isaiah says, Your vintners mingle wine with water: signifying that the Elders mingled with the strict commandment of God a diluted tradition: contriving, that is, a law spurious, and contrary to The Law: as also the Lord made manifest, saying unto them, Why do you transgress the commandment of God, because of your own tradition? Yes, not only did they by perversion make void the Law of God, mingling water with wine; but they even set up in opposition their own law, which even to this day is called Pharisaical. Wherein they take away some things, some they add, others they expound at their own will: and of these their teachers make special use. And being minded to maintain these traditions, they have no mind to submit themselves to God’s Law, training them up for the coming of Christ: but they called the Lord Himself to account for healing on the Sabbath, which however, as we said before, was not forbidden by the Law. (For themselves too in a manner used to do a work of healing, in that they would circumcise a man on the sabbath.) But with themselves they found no fault, when by their tradition and Pharisaical Law (of which I spoke before) they were transgressing the Commandment of God, and not having that which the Law commands, i.e., Love towards God.

But that this is the first and greatest commandment, and the next that towards our neighbor, the Lord taught, when He said that the whole Law and Prophets hang on these commandments. Nor did even He bring down any other commandment greater than this: but this same one He renewed to His Disciples, bidding them love God with all their heart, and all others as themselves. But had He come down from another Father, never would He have adopted His first and chief commandment from the Law: rather surely he would have tried at any rate to bring it down as somewhat greater from the perfect Father, instead of using that which had been given by the God of the Law.

And Paul too says, Love is the fulfilling of the Law: and that when all other things are done away, there abides faith, hope, charity, and that the greatest of these is charity: and that neither knowledge without love towards God avails anything: nor understanding of mysteries, nor faith, nor prophecy, but that all things are void and in vain without love: and that it is love which completes the perfect man, and that he who loves God is perfect, both in this world and in the future. For we never come to an end in our loving of God, but the more we shall have looked upon Him, so much the more we love Him.

Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 4.12.1–2

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

And now, fear the Lord and serve him in uprightness and in righteousness and put away the foreign gods that our fathers served in the region of them beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if it is not pleasing to you to serve the Lord, choose for you yourselves today whom you will serve, whether the gods of your fathers in the region of them beyond the river or the gods of the Amorites among whom you live upon their land. I and my household will serve the Lord because he is holy.’” And in response, the people said, “May it never happen to us that we should depart from the Lord to serve other gods. The Lord our God, he is God. He brought us up and our fathers from Egypt and protected us on the whole way that we went on it and among all the nations that we passed by. And the Lord drove out the Amorites and all the nations dwelling in the land from our presence, but we also will serve the Lord for he is our God.” (Joshua 24:14–18 LXX)

Therefore, what Joshua said to the people when he settled them in the holy land, the Scripture might also say now to us. The text reads as follows, “Now fear the Lord and worship him in sincerity and righteousness.” And it will tell us, if we are being misled to worship idols, what follows, “Destroy the foreign gods which your fathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and worship the Lord.”

Origen, Exhortation to Martyrdom 17

Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”… From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (John 6:60, 66–69)

“To whom shall we go?” Peter asks. In other words, “Who else will instruct us the way you do?” or “To whom shall we go to find anything better?” “You have the words of eternal life”; not hard words, as those other disciples say, but words that will bring us to the loftiest goal, unceasing, endless life removed from all corruption. These words surely make quite obvious to us the necessity for sitting at the feet of Christ, taking Him as our one and only teacher and giving Him our constant and undivided attention. He must be our guide who knows well how to lead us to everlasting life. In this way, we shall ascend to the divine court of heaven, and entering the church of the firstborn, delight in blessings passing all human understanding.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of John 4.4

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

Daniele da Volterra. Elijah on Mount Horab

He lay down and slept there under the tree. Look, someone touched him and spoke to him, “Arise and eat!” Elijah looked and behold, by his head a loaf of barley and a flask of water. He arose and ate and drank and returned to sleep. The angel of the Lord returned for a second time and touched him and said to him, “Arise, eat, because the way is difficult for you.” He arose and ate and drank. He went in the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights until he arrived at Mount Horeb. (1 Kings 19:5–8)

Elijah was sleeping under a tree. Now an angel came to him and woke him up (sleep was weighing him down because of his fatigue, affliction and discouragement) and provided him with strength and comfort through the meal that he prepared for him.… Allegorically, the bread baked in the ashes, which [the angel] offers to Elijah, has two different meanings: on the one side, it immediately shows the toils of penitence which the ashes symbolize perfectly, since they are a figure of mourning and of a contrite heart; the unleavened bread soaked in ashes and the water are also the food of the poor and the miserable. But we can say, with greater accuracy, that they are figures of all the righteous, for whom the providence of the Creator has established a course of life in the paths of privation. Therefore he leads them through much suffering, privation of food and a severe fast in order to purify them completely from all the filth of earthly things. Then he guides them to the mountain, which is the perfection and the accomplishment of the saints.

Ephrem the Syrian, On the First Book of Kings 19.4

And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.… Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” (John 6:35, 47–51)

Now wicked men hunger for bread like this, for weak souls will hunger; but the righteous alone, being prepared, shall be satisfied, saying, “But I will see Your face in righteousness. I will be satisfied with the seeing of Your glory.” For he who partakes of divine bread always hungers with desire; and he who thus hungers has a never-failing gift, as Wisdom promises, saying, “The Lord will not let a righteous soul starve.” He promises too in the Psalms, “I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her poor with bread.” We may also hear our Savior saying, “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Well then do the saints and those who love the life which is in Christ raise themselves to a longing after this food. And one earnestly implores, saying, “Which way the deer yearns after the springs of waters, thus my soul yearns after You, O God. My soul thirsts for the living God. How long will I be present and appear before the face of God?” And another; “O God, my God, to You I rise early. My soul thirsts for You. How often my flesh longs for You in the desolate and inaccessible and waterless earth. Thus I appeared to You in the holy place, to see Your might and Your glory.”

Since these things are so, my brethren, let us mortify our members which are on the earth, and be nourished with living bread, by faith and love to God, knowing that without faith it is impossible to be partakers of such bread as this. For our Savior, when He called all men to him, and said, “If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink,” immediately spoke of the faith without which a man cannot receive such food; “He that believes on Me, as the Scripture says, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”

Athanasius, Festal Letter 7.6–7

Jacopo Bassano, The Feeding of the Five Thousand

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone—however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks—when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. (John 6:22–35)

The Lord had said in the Gospels: “Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for that which endures unto life everlasting, which the Son of Man will give you. For upon him the Father, God Himself, has set His seal. They said therefore to Him, ‘What are we to do in order that we may perform the works of God?’ In answer Jesus said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.’” When the Lord explained the mystery of His Incarnation and divinity, He also spoke of the doctrine of our faith and our hope, so that we should labor not for the food that perishes, but for that which remains forever, that we should bear in mind that this eternal food was given to us by the Son of God, that we should know that God the Father had set His seal upon the Son of Man, and that we should recognize this as the work of God: to believe in Him whom He has sent. And who is He whom the Father has sent? It is He upon whom the Father has set His seal. And who is it upon whom the Father has set His seal? It is, of course, the Son of Man, that is, He who offers the food of eternal life. And finally, who are they to whom He offers it? It is they who will labor for the food that does not perish. Thus, the labor for this food is at the same time the work of God, namely, to believe in Him whom He has sent.

Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity 8.42

But how finely the Divine wisdom has arranged the order of the prayer, in making room, after heavenly things—that is, after the name of God, the will of God and the Kingdom of God—for a petition for earthly needs also! For the Lord had also given the command: “Seek first the Kingdom, and then these things also will be added unto you.” And yet we ought rather to understand Give us our daily bread this day in a spiritual sense. For “our bread” is Christ, because Christ is life and the bread of life: “I am,” He says, “the bread of life,” and a little earlier: “bread is the word of the living God, that descends from heaven”; and further, because His body is also deemed to be in the bread: “This is My body.” Therefore in asking daily bread we ask to live perpetually in Christ and undivided from His body.

Tertullian, On Prayer 6

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:14–21)

The apostle expresses the sort of prayers he has for the Ephesians: that God give you—he says—the riches of His glory. He also discloses what these riches of the glory of God are: the power to be strengthened by His Spirit in order that they be strong against the flesh and the desires of the flesh, and against the most evil powers of the world. This comes about and is produced by the Spirit of God. But how are they strengthened—that is, rendered strong—by the Spirit of God? In the interior person for Christ to dwell, says he. For when Christ begins to dwell in the interior person, i.e., in the soul, people are rendered strong in power by the Spirit, all adversities are expelled. Now Paul adds how Christ dwells in the interior person: by faith in your hearts, he says. So it is a simple and fine thing—simple, in that faith alone provides so great a service, so great a benefit. What? That Christ would dwell in our hearts. What do we acquire with Him indwelling? That we would be stronger through the Spirit and thus have the riches of the glory of God; and that having been rendered strong we might sustain no harm, might despise the world, and conquer all the most evil powers. These are the riches of God. We look forward even to glory and the promise, rooted and grounded in love. This most important precept has been laid down everywhere by Paul and has been presented by me quite frequently by way of admonition: for the stability and foundation, the whole status of the soul with respect to eternity, is in love. This love, I have often said, is love for God, for Christ, and toward men. This love makes our faith rooted and grounded.

Marius Victorinus, Commentary on Ephesians 1.3.16–17

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:11–22)

Through His Mystery, surely, we have been reconciled to God and are no longer aliens nor adversaries. For when we were worshiping other gods and serving idols, it was as if we were at war with the Father, that is, with God. But a middleman, Christ, reconciled us in Himself by His Mystery and passion.… Christ, says Paul, is our peace, whom elsewhere he calls mediator. For Christ has put Himself between the separated realms: because souls born from the fount of God are held in this world—or were being held; and a middle wall, a kind of barrier and partition, was intruding through the allures of the flesh and worldly desires. Christ, by His Mystery, passion, cross, and teaching, broke down the middle wall. That is, conquering the flesh (and teaching that it is to be conquered) and breaking down the desires of the world (and teaching that they are to be broken down), Christ razed the middle wall. But it is in the flesh, Paul is saying, that Christ is certainly breaking down the hostilities. Therefore it is not of our labor (as I have pointed out) that we break them down; rather, faith alone in Christ is salvation for us. For He has broken down all the hostilities in His flesh. So too He broke down the law of commandments, nullifying it in its decrees—as He did not nullify it as far as works or sabbaths are concerned (for these have been decreed in the law and are themselves commandments). Christ did not nullify the law, I say, as far as precepts regarding such observances understood in a fleshly sense are concerned. Once the [other decrees] were nullified, the middle which had intruded was razed; and souls are no longer hindered by the world as if by a barrier (that is, by worldly, i.e., fleshly, cravings, thoughts, and desires) from seeing, recognizing, and following God, and even being joined to God.

This deed is the Mystery of the cross: that all things inimical to souls and to our spirit (i.e., worldly desires, cravings of the flesh, and the flesh itself which is somehow corrupted and weak) might be carried off to their punishment. Through the cross, then Christ eliminated the hostilities—that is, everything opposing souls. And where did He eliminate them? In His own self. For this reason Christ assumed flesh: that He might overcome the flesh in His own self; and that in this way, He might through the flesh be of use to the flesh by eliminating its corruption, by assuming pure and eternal flesh, and the whole body of Deity through the resurrection—since all things are made spirit, as Paul teaches in many places and is self-evident.

Marius Victorinus, Commentary on Ephesians 1.2.14–16

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Mercy and Truth have met together, Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other by Evelyn de Morgan

I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me,
because he will speak peace for his people
and for his holy ones
and those who turn their heart to him.
But his salvation is near to those who fear him,
so that glory would dwell in our land.
Mercy and truth met together.
Righteousness and peace embraced.
Truth grew up from the land,
and righteousness looked down from heaven.
Indeed, the Lord will give goodness,
and our land will give its fruit.
Righteousness will go before in front of him,
and it will place his steps on the way. (Psalm 84:9–14 LXX [Ps 85:8–13])

He passes to the third section, in which he proclaims the coming of the Lord Savior with a most beautiful figure. For after praying that the Lord would appear to him, he is filled with sudden enlightenment, as though he has obtained his request, and he says: I will hear, that is, I shall not hinder myself by speaking, for I now realize that I have heard what I am to believe. We recognize that this type of utterance is peculiar to divine Scripture, for in my opinion nothing like it is found in secular books. You see the power of prophecy made manifest by these words. The Lord, that is the Holy Spirit, speaks within so that the psalmist may appear to be able to speak without. He listens inwardly so that he may be listened to outwardly. The prophet silently learns what the people can hear when it strikes their ears. Next comes: For he will speak peace to his people and to his saints. God’s Peace is the Lord Christ; he says that the Holy Spirit will speak of this Peace, for He is to tell of His Incarnation. When the psalmist spoke of the people, he said his people, not the uncommitted. He referred to the holy men who pleased the Lord by their edifying manner of life. The Lord Christ is their Peace, but He is a stumbling block and a foolishness to the unfaithful; they endure war in their sacrilegious hearts, for they do not follow the Author of peace along upright paths. But let us scrutinize this verse a little more attentively, for he refutes sinful minds by witnessing to the truth itself. Here the nature of the holy Spirit is clearly stated: He is the Lord God. Where are they who say that the holy Spirit is inferior to Father and Son, and is so lowly that He is thought not to have discretion over His own will? Let us listen to the holy Spirit who of His own accord said through His prophet that He was the Lord God.…

For though mercy and truth, peace and justice are abstractions, he allotted footsteps to two and embraces to the other two, both being bodily attributes. After he has stated from what nation the Lord was to be born, he now explains what benefits the coming of the holy incarnation has imparted. Through the Lord’s gift, the two Testaments have been united in an interlinked chain. In the New Testament comes mercy, by which the human race is freed through grace; in the Old stands truth, in which the Law and the proclamation of the prophets are contained, as was already said at Psalm 70. These two have met each other not to maintain their opposition, but to fulfill the grace of promised perfection; for it is clear that what was seen to be divided by eras has become one. So as to emphasize clearly the nature of the alliance, he restated with varied repetition of terms the fact that the two states, justice and peace, had lastingly entered into reciprocal harmony by a kind of loving embrace. Such an embrace tends to occur when people see each other after a long time; in loving enthusiasm they hug each other with arms entwined.

Cassiodorus, Explanation of the Psalms 84.9, 11