Whichever of your riches I look upon, in unison they all cry out to me.
One after the other draws me to itself, and truly the spiritual riches of your treasury bewilder my poverty.
Who can tell of the treasures which are both in your possession and in ours?
Although they accompany you among the dead, yet their profits are traded among the living.
They take their leave of you and yet remain with you! Amazing! The treasures among the dead the living possess along with you.
Although you have your treasures, your sons and daughters have them too.You have both taken them and have left them.
It is a great wonder that, although you alone own the treasures, many own them with you.
They are with your body.On the height of Paradise, they are with the Son of your Lord.
The treasure of the righteous forefathers, while going in its entirety with each of them remained entirely with their sons.
-St Ephrem the Syrian, 3rd Madrāšâ On Abraham Qîdûnāyâ
#Patristics #Veneration_saints
One after the other draws me to itself, and truly the spiritual riches of your treasury bewilder my poverty.
Who can tell of the treasures which are both in your possession and in ours?
Although they accompany you among the dead, yet their profits are traded among the living.
They take their leave of you and yet remain with you! Amazing! The treasures among the dead the living possess along with you.
Although you have your treasures, your sons and daughters have them too.You have both taken them and have left them.
It is a great wonder that, although you alone own the treasures, many own them with you.
They are with your body.On the height of Paradise, they are with the Son of your Lord.
The treasure of the righteous forefathers, while going in its entirety with each of them remained entirely with their sons.
-St Ephrem the Syrian, 3rd Madrāšâ On Abraham Qîdûnāyâ
#Patristics #Veneration_saints
Let us give thanks to God who clothed Himself in the names of the body's various parts:
Scriptures refers to His "ears" to teach us that He listens to us;
it speaks of His "eyes," to show that He sees us.
It was just the names of such things that He put on,
and-although in His true being there is no wrath or regret.yet He put on these names because of our weakness.
R: Blessed is He who has appeared to our human race under so many metaphors.
We should realize that, had He not put on the names of such things, it would not have been possible for Him to speak with us humans.
By means of what belongs to us did He draw close to us:
He clothed Himself in language, so that He might clothe us in His mode of life.
He asked for our form and put this on, and then, as a father with his children,
He spoke with our childish state.
-St Ephrem the Syrian, On Faith, Hymn 31
#Patristics #Soteriology
Scriptures refers to His "ears" to teach us that He listens to us;
it speaks of His "eyes," to show that He sees us.
It was just the names of such things that He put on,
and-although in His true being there is no wrath or regret.yet He put on these names because of our weakness.
R: Blessed is He who has appeared to our human race under so many metaphors.
We should realize that, had He not put on the names of such things, it would not have been possible for Him to speak with us humans.
By means of what belongs to us did He draw close to us:
He clothed Himself in language, so that He might clothe us in His mode of life.
He asked for our form and put this on, and then, as a father with his children,
He spoke with our childish state.
-St Ephrem the Syrian, On Faith, Hymn 31
#Patristics #Soteriology
❤2
The Most High knew that Adam wanted to become a god,
so He sent His Son who put him on in order to grant him his desire. .
-St Ephrem the Syrian, Harp of the Spirit, no. 16
#Patristics #Soteriology
so He sent His Son who put him on in order to grant him his desire. .
-St Ephrem the Syrian, Harp of the Spirit, no. 16
#Patristics #Soteriology
❤1
No one has yet discovered or ever shall discover what God is in his nature and essence. As for a discovery some time in the future, let those who have a mind to it research and speculate. The discovery will take place, so my reason tells me, when this God-like, divine thing, I mean our mind and reason, mingles with its kin, when the copy returns to the pattern it now longs after.
This seems to me to be the meaning of the great dictum that we shall, in time to come, “know even as we are known.” But for the present what reaches us is a scant emanation, as it were a small beam from a great light —which means that anyone who “knew” God or whose “knowledge” of him has been attested in the Bible, had a manifestly more brilliant knowledge than others not equally illuminated.
This superiority was reckoned knowledge in the full sense, not because it really was so, but by the contrast of relative strengths. - St Gregory Nazianzus, 2nd Theological Oration, 17
#Patristics #Divine_epistemology
This seems to me to be the meaning of the great dictum that we shall, in time to come, “know even as we are known.” But for the present what reaches us is a scant emanation, as it were a small beam from a great light —which means that anyone who “knew” God or whose “knowledge” of him has been attested in the Bible, had a manifestly more brilliant knowledge than others not equally illuminated.
This superiority was reckoned knowledge in the full sense, not because it really was so, but by the contrast of relative strengths. - St Gregory Nazianzus, 2nd Theological Oration, 17
#Patristics #Divine_epistemology
The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways for his works.
Let us look at it together for a moment. What reality has no cause?
Godhead—no one can talk of the “cause of God,” otherwise it would be prior to God.
But what is cause of the manhood, which God submitted to for us? Our salvation, of course, what else could it be?
The passage is now free of complication, seeing that we find there clearly both expressions “created” and “begets me.”
Whatever we come across with a causal implication we will attribute to the humanity; what is absolute and free of cause we will reckon to the Godhead.
"Created” has a causal implication, has it not?
The text in fact runs: “He created me as the beginning of his ways for his works.” “The works of his hands are truth and judgment,” and for the sake of these works he was anointed with deity—deity being the humanity’s anointing. - St Gregory Nazianzus, 4th Theological Oration, 2
#Patristics #Christology #Arianism
Let us look at it together for a moment. What reality has no cause?
Godhead—no one can talk of the “cause of God,” otherwise it would be prior to God.
But what is cause of the manhood, which God submitted to for us? Our salvation, of course, what else could it be?
The passage is now free of complication, seeing that we find there clearly both expressions “created” and “begets me.”
Whatever we come across with a causal implication we will attribute to the humanity; what is absolute and free of cause we will reckon to the Godhead.
"Created” has a causal implication, has it not?
The text in fact runs: “He created me as the beginning of his ways for his works.” “The works of his hands are truth and judgment,” and for the sake of these works he was anointed with deity—deity being the humanity’s anointing. - St Gregory Nazianzus, 4th Theological Oration, 2
#Patristics #Christology #Arianism
O my soul, my soul, wake up—why do you sleep?
The end draws near, and you will be thrown into confusion,
come to your senses then, so that Christ the God spares you,
He who is everywhere and filling all things.
-St Romanos the Melodist, On The Infernal Powers
#Patristics #Eschatology #Soteriology
The end draws near, and you will be thrown into confusion,
come to your senses then, so that Christ the God spares you,
He who is everywhere and filling all things.
-St Romanos the Melodist, On The Infernal Powers
#Patristics #Eschatology #Soteriology
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.