Men ought to have been astonished and amazed not only at the arrangement of the sun and moon but also at the well-ordered movements of the stars and their unfettered courses and the timely rising of each of them; how some are signs of summer, others of winter; how some indicate the time for sowing, others the times of navigation.

He was truly laid as Man in a tomb of rock; but rocks were rent asunder by terror because of Him. He went down into the regions beneath the earth, that thence also He might redeem the righteous. For, tell me, could thou wish the living only to enjoy His grace, and that, though most of them are unholy; and not wish those who from Adam had for a long while…

He cried to the Father, saying, Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit [Luke 23:46]; I commend it, that I may take it again. And having said these things, He gave up the ghost [Matthew 27:50]; but not for any long time, for He quickly rose again from the dead. The Sun was darkened, because of the Sun of Righteousness [Malachi 4:2]. Rocks were rent,…

For this reason Solomon also, in Ecclesiastes, covertly alluding to this grace, says, "Come hither, eat your bread with joy," that is, the mystical bread. "Come hither," he calls, a saving, beatific call. "And drink your wine with a merry heart," that is, the mystical wine. "And let oil be poured out upon your head": you see how he hints also of the…

Well is the church named ecclesia ["assembly"], because it calls forth and assembles all men, as the Lord says in Leviticus: "Then assemble the whole community at the entrance of the meeting tent." It is worthy of note that this word assemble is used in the Scriptures for the first time in the passage when the Lord established Aaron in the high…

And if you would receive a testimony also, "listen," he says. "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'And it shall come to pass after this, says God, I will pour forth of my Spirit' "—and this word, 'I will pour forth,' implied a rich gift; 'for God gives not the Spirit by measure for the Father loves the Son, and has given all things…

Jesus says, "I thirst"—he who had brought forth water for them out of the craggy rock. Then he asked for fruit of the vine that he had planted. But what does the vine do? When the Lord was thirsty, this vine … having filled a sponge and put it on a reed, offers him vinegar. "They gave me also gall for my food, and in my thirst, they gave me vinegar to…

For those who in appearance are rich, though they have many possessions, are yet poor in soul. The more they amass, the more they pine with longing for what they lack. But the believer, paradoxically, is rich even when poor. Knowing that we have need only of raiment and food and being content with these, he has trampled riches underfoot.

Perhaps, as some say, it was to reveal an image that he came down in the likeness of a pure, innocent, simple dove, working with prayers for the sons he begot and for the forgiveness of sins; just as in a veiled manner it was foretold that the beauty of Christ's eyes would be manifested in this way.

He is not ashamed to assume flesh, who is the creator of those very parts. Who tells us this? The Lord said to Jeremiah: "Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you. Before you came forth out of the womb, I made you holy." If, then, in making humanity he was not ashamed of the contact, was he ashamed in making for his own sake the holy flesh, the veil…

Next you say, "and all his pomp." The pomp of the devil is the craze for the theater, the horse races in the circus, the wildbeast hunts and all such emptiness, from which the saint prays to God to be delivered in the words, "Turn away my eyes that they may not behold worthless things." Avoid an addiction to the theater, with its portrayal of sinful…

"The Son of man," it is written, "shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him." Note, my friend, before how many you will come to be judged. Every race of humankind will be present then. Think therefore of the numbers of imperial citizens. Think what the barbarian nations amount to. Take the numbers now living and those who have died in the last…