For it is very necessary that friendship should be followed by union; What can be equal to divine love? Further, it would seem that marriage and the concord of the members with the head are the best signifiers of bond and union, but even this is very far from the truth, and much more is needed to explain the essence of the matter. For marriage does not unite people in such a way that those united dwell and live in each other, as happened to Christ and the Church. Why did the divine Apostle, when he said about marriage, "This mystery is great," he added, "but I speak to Christ and to the church" (Ephesians 5:24), showed that he was surprised not at this, but at this marriage. The members are actually united to the head, and live by this union, and die when they are separated; but they also seem to be united to Christ more than to their head, and to live by Him more than by union with their head. And this is clear in the blessed martyrs, who endured one thing easily, but could not even hear of another; they laid aside their heads and limbs with pleasure, and could not depart from Christ even by the sound of their voice. And I'll say something new. For can anything be more intimately united to another than it is united to itself? But even such unity is less than this union. For each of the blessed spirits is one and the same with himself, but is more united to the Saviour than to himself. For he loves the Saviour more than himself, and Paul testifies to this word, praying to be separated from Christ (Rom. 9:3) for the sake of the wisdom of the Jews, that he might be given glory. If this is human love, it cannot be understood as divine. For if the wicked show such good reason, what is to be said of that goodness? When love is so supreme, it is necessary that the union in which he draws those who love should also exceed human thought, so that it is impossible to explain it by comparison.

Let us consider it in this way. There are many things that must be used for life, air, light, food, clothing, the very powers of nature and the limbs, but nothing has to be used every time and for everything, but sometimes one thing, and another at another time, because some other things help in other ways in the present need. For clothing clothes clothe us, but does not bring us food; But those who need a meal need to look for something else. And the light does not allow us to breathe, and the air is not for us instead of a ray; and the action of the senses of the members we do not always use and use them, but the eye, sometimes even the hand, is idle when it is necessary to listen; And to those who wish to touch, the hand is sufficient, and to smell, or to hear, or to see, the hand is not enough, but leaving it, we turn to another power. But the Saviour is always present with those who dwell in Him, so that He fills every need and is everything for them, and does not allow them to pay attention to anything else, nor to look for anything else. For there is nothing for those in need that He Himself is not for the saints, for He both gives birth and nurtures and nourishes them, and light and breath for them, and forms an eye for them by Himself, illumines them by Himself, and grants them to see Himself. He Himself is the Nourisher, but at the same time He is the food that He reveals as the bread of life. It also has what it delivers. He is life for the living, myrrh for the breathing, clothing for those who want to be clothed. By it alone can we walk, and it is also the way, and, moreover, the rest on the path, and its limit. We are members, He is the head. It is necessary to strive - He will fight, He is worthy of praise under and to put and to; we overcome, He is our crown ready. Thus, in all things, He turns to Himself and does not allow the mind to turn to anything else, nor to be inflamed with love for anything that exists. For if we direct our desire here, He Himself is present here and gives rest, if there he goes, and if he goes to another place, and on this path He supports and strengthens those who are ready to fall. "If I ascend to heaven, Thou art there ecu," it is said, "if I go to hell, if I take up my cry early, and dwell in the last seas, and there Thy hand shall guide me, and Thy right hand shall hold me (Psalm 138:8-10). By some amazing compulsion and by the violence of mankind, drawing to Himself alone, and uniting with Himself by one – such, I think, is the compulsion by which He compelled those whom He called to enter into the house and into the feast, saying to the servant, "Compel them to come in, that my house may be filled" (Luke 14:23).

That the life in Christ, not only in the life to come, but also in the present, is found in the saints, who both live and act by it, is evident from what has been said. And why is it possible to live in this way, and, as Paul says, to walk in the newness of life, that is, with those who do what works, Christ is so united and so attached to them, and I do not know how to express this, of this we will speak further. On the one hand, this comes from God, and on the other, from our diligence, and the one is entirely His doing, and the other requires zeal from us. However, we are. We contribute no more than is necessary, in order that grace may be preserved, and that the treasure may not be betrayed, and that the lamp which has already been lit may not be extinguished. And I mean those who bring nothing that opposes life and gives birth to death, for this is the only thing that every human good and every virtue serves, lest a man draw a sword against himself, and flee from prosperity, and cast down crowns from his head, since the essence of life is planted in our souls by Christ himself. co-existing with us in an ineffable way. For He is truly present and helps the firstfruits of life, which He Himself has given by His coming. And he is present, not as before, and in his manners, and in his conversation, and in his dealings with us, and in his fellowship, but in some other and most perfect manner, by which we become co-corporeal and co-living with him, members, and the like, which only pertains to this. For just as the love of humanity is ineffable, wherefore, having so much loved the most humbled, He wished to bestow upon them the greatest blessings, and as the union by which he unites himself with the beloved surpasses every image and every name, so the manner in which he is present and does good is wondrous and befitting the One Who does the wondrous. For those whom His death, by which He truly died for our life, are imitated in certain symbols, as in pictures, He renews and recreates by the very deed, and makes partakers of His life.

For in the sacred sacraments, depicting his burial and announcing his death, through them we are born and formed, and are prenaturally united with the Saviour. For it is through them, as the Apostle says, that we live in Him, and move and are (Acts 17:28). For Baptism bestows existence and full existence in Christ, for it is the first of all sacraments to bring them into life, having received the dead and corrupted. And the Anointing with Myrrh accomplishes the one who is born, imbuing him with the power of action corresponding to this life, while the Divine Eucharist preserves and sustains his life and health. For in order to preserve what has already been gained, and to strengthen the living, this gives the bread of life. That is why we live by this bread, we move in the world, having received our existence from the font. And in this way we live in God, having transferred life from this visible world to the invisible one, changing not the place, but the deeds and the life. For it was not we who moved or ascended to God, but He Himself came and descended to us. For it was not we who sought, but we were sought: for it was not the sheep that sought a shepherd, nor the drachma a mistress, but he himself came down to the earth, and found an image, and was in the places where the sheep had wandered, and raised it up, and raised it up from its wandering, without moving the people from thence, but made those who were on earth heavenly and put into them heavenly life. Not exalting them into heaven, but bowing down the heavens and bringing them down to them. For, as the prophet says, bow down the heavens and descend (Ps. 17:10). And so, by means of these sacred sacraments, as if by means of windows, the Sun of righteousness penetrates into this gloomy world, and mortifies the life in conformity with the world, and restores the life of the world, and the Light of the world overcomes the world, which is signified by the Saviour, saying: "For the world is victorious" (John 16:13), when He introduced into a mortal and changing body a permanent and immortal life. For as in a house, when a ray penetrates it, the lamp does not attract the eyes of those who behold, but attracts them by the all-conquering brightness of the ray: in like manner in this life the brightness of the future life, which penetrates into souls and penetrates them through the sacraments, overcomes the life in the flesh and darkens the beauty and brightness of this world. And such is the life in the Spirit, by which every desire of the flesh is conquered, according to Paul's words: "Walk in the Spirit, and do not commit the lusts of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16). The Lord continued this way, having come to us, and opened the door, having entered into the world, and having ascended to the Father, He did not allow it to be closed, but also from the Father through this door He comes to people, and moreover, He is always present with us, and abides, and will abide forever, fulfilling these promises. And so, this is not the house, but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven, the patriarch would say, by which not only angels descend to earth, for they are inherent in everyone who has been baptized, but also the Lord of angels Himself. For this reason, when, as if in writing, prescribing His baptism, the Saviour Himself wished to be baptized with the Baptism of John, showing that through Baptism only we can see the heavenly spaces, and thus it was indicated that it is impossible for an unbaptized person to enter into life, it is also indicated that the font is an entrance and a door. Open unto me the gates of righteousness (Ps. 117:19), says David, desiring, as I think, that these gates should be opened. For this is the very thing that many prophets and kings have desired to see, namely, the coming to earth of the Artist of these gates; Wherefore, saith David, if it should happen that he should take advantage of the entrance, and pass through this gate, he should have made a confession to the Lord that divideth the wall. "Having entered into it," he says, "let us drink of the Lord" (Psalm 117:19). For through these gates he would have been able to attain to the most perfect knowledge of God's goodness and love for mankind for the human race.

For of all the works of God, so many, and so beautiful and great, there is none that shows more clearly than others the wisdom and skill of the Creator, and it cannot be said that anything better or more varied can be made of what exists. But if it is possible for the work of God to be so good, so good, that it contends with wisdom and power and art, and, so to speak, is equal to infinity and, like an imprint, shows all the greatness of Divine goodness, thinking that it can overcome everything. For if this is always the work of God, to give good things, and for this He does all things, and this is the purpose of what has already been, and of what is to come, then this is the work of goodness, and the end of goodness. And this is the work of house-building done for people. For here God has not merely bestowed upon human nature a few blessings, reserving more for Himself, but He has invested the whole fulfillment of the Divinity, His whole Self, into it as its natural riches. Wherefore Paul said that the righteousness of God was chiefly revealed in the Gospel (Rom. 1:17): for if there be any virtue of God and righteousness, it consists in bestowing upon all without envy his blessings and the fellowship of blessedness. Wherefore the most sacred sacraments may rightly be called the gates of righteousness, because the love and goodness of God, which is extreme to the human race, in which Divine virtue and truth consist, have made them for us an ascent into heaven.

And in another way, according to some judgment and righteousness, the Lord raised up this trophy and gave us this door and this way. For he did not snatch away the corruptible by force, but gave a ransom for them, and bound the strong man, not because he had great power, but having condemned him with righteous judgment, he reigned in the house of Jacob, destroying the power of violence in the souls of men, not because he was able to destroy, but because it was right to destroy it. And David pointed to this, saying, "Righteousness and judgment are the preparation of the throne" (Ps. 88:15). Truth has not only dissolved these gates, but has also reached our race through them. For in the early days, before God came to men, there was no righteousness to be found on earth. For God Himself received her from heaven and sought her, from Whom she could not be hidden, even if she had existed, and yet did not find her: "All," it is said, "turned away, and together with the unspeakable, there are no theories of goodness, not one to one" (Ps. 13:3).

For the Saviour, by His death, not only freed us and reconciled us to the Father, but also gave us the realm to be children of God, uniting our nature with Himself through the flesh which He received. uniting each of us to his flesh by the power of the sacraments. And in this way He brought down His truth and life into our souls, so that through the sacred sacraments it became possible for men to know and do the true truth. If, according to the Scriptures, there were many righteous and friends of God before the coming of the Justifier and Reconciler, this must be understood chiefly in relation to the future, namely, that they were made so, and were prepared to have recourse to the righteousness that was to be revealed, and were set free when redemption was given, and saw when the light appeared, and forsook the images when the truth was revealed. And this is the difference between the righteous and the wicked, who were in bondage in the same and subject to the same bondage, that some endured this bondage and bondage with displeasure, and prayed that the prison might be broken and the bonds loosened, and desired that the head of the tyrant should be crushed captives, while to others nothing real not only did not seem strange, but they were also comforted; being enslaved.

And in those blessed days there were those like them, who did not receive the sun that shone in them, and tried as much as possible to extinguish it, doing everything that they thought could destroy its rays.

In the same way, in those times, God called certain righteous and beloved ones. For on their part they have done all and shown the possible truth, which has made them worthy of solution, when the One who is able to resolve appears, but has not resolved them. If this were true, they would also lay down this body, and be in the world and in the hand of God, saith Solomon (Wis. 3:13); Now, when they departed from here, they were received by hell. For the true truth and fellowship with God, not only as it had been before in foreign lands, was restored by our Lord, but He Himself brought it into the world, and the path that leads to heaven was not only found as it existed before, but He Himself paved it. For if this way had existed, some of the former would have discovered it; but now no one has ascended to heaven, except the Son of man who came down from heaven, who is in heaven (John 3:14). Since there was no remission of sins and no deliverance from punishment before the cross, how could one think of righteousness? For it would be incongruous, I think, to stand in the ranks of friends before reconciliation, and to glorify those who are still bound with chains crowned, in a word, if all this were done by this lamb (the Passover), what need would there be for this that follows? When shadows and images were the bliss sought, truth and deeds would be superfluous. Even the very fact that by the death of Christ enmity was destroyed and the mediastinum was destroyed, and peace and truth shone forth in the days of the Saviour, and all the like, what would have been the case if the friends of God and the righteous had been before the sacrifice of it? And the proof of this is as follows. For then the law united us to God, and now faith and grace and the like. From this it is evident that there was slavery then, but now sonship and fellowship are the communion of men with God, for the law is for slaves, but for friends and sons is grace and faith and boldness. From all this it is clear that the firstborn of the dead is the Saviour, and that none of the dead could be revived into immortal life before he was resurrected. In the same way, He alone leads people to sanctification and righteousness, and this was shown by Paul when he wrote: "The forerunner of us is the holy Christ" (Hebrews 6:20). For He entered into the Holy House, offering Himself to the Father, and brings in those who desired, who partook of His death, who did not die as he did, but in the font depicted this death, and proclaimed in some way anointed and fragrant to the Dead and Risen Himself. And by this gate he leads them into the kingdom, and leads them also to the crowns.

These gates are much more honorable and convenient than the gates of paradise. Those are not opened to anyone who has not first passed through this gate, but these are opened even when they are shut up. They can take them out, but they only bring them in, and they do not bring out anybody. Those could be shut up and opened again, but in these the veil and the mediastinum are forever destroyed and destroyed, and it is no longer possible to restore the barrier and attach doors and separate the worlds from one another with a wall. And not only were the heavens opened, but the heavens were opened, said the wondrous Mark (1:10), showing that there were no more doors, no bolts, no curtain of any kind. For he who reconciles and unites and reconciles the upper world with the lower world, and who destroys the middle of the fence, cannot deny himself, says Blessed Paul (2 Timothy 2:13). For the gates which were opened for Adam's sake, surely had to be closed, when Adam did not abide in that in which he ought to have been. And these were opened by Christ himself, who did not commit sin, and cannot sin, for his righteousness, it is said, endureth for ever. Wherefore it is absolutely necessary that they should remain open and bring into life, and bring no one out of life. "For I have come," said the Saviour, "that they may have life (John 10:10), and the life which the Lord has brought consists in making those who come through these sacraments partakers of His death and partakers of His sufferings, and without this no one can escape death. For he who is not baptized with water and the Holy Spirit cannot enter into life, neither can he who does not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood have no life in themselves.

And let's see above. It is impossible to live in God who is not yet dead to sins, and only God can put sin to death. For this ought to be done by men, for being righteous, we would have been able to renew the struggle if we had been defeated, but this became utterly impossible and beyond our power when we became slaves to sin. How can we become better by remaining in bondage? And though they be made better, yet the servant is not greater than his master.

And so it happened. God arrogates to Himself the struggle for men, for he is a man, and man overcomes sin, being pure from all sin, for he was God. And thus nature is freed from reproach and is taxed with the crown of victory when sin has fallen. And of men, though none have conquered or fought, yet men are loosed from these bonds; And the Saviour Himself did this by what He delivered, by which He gave to each of men the power to mortify sin and to become a partaker of its victory. Since, after this victory, he was to be crowned and triumphant, but he suffered wounds, and the cross, and death, and so forth, as Paul says: "Instead of the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, and did not heed the shame" (Hebrews 12:2), what happened? He did not commit any unrighteousness for which he should be punished, nor did he have anything in him of which the most shameless slanderer could accuse him, and the wounds, and the sorrow, and the death, were invented from the beginning for sins. How, then, did the Lord, being a lover of mankind, allow this? For it is not in the nature of goodness to be comforted by fear and death. Therefore, after sins, God allowed death and sorrow, so that He would not so much inflict punishment on the sinner, as offer medicine to the sick. Since this punishment could not be applied to the works of Christ, and the Saviour had no trace of infirmity in Himself, which had to be destroyed by the accepted medicine, the power of this chalice passes upon us and mortifies the sin that is in us, and the wounds of the innocent become a punishment for those who are guilty of many things. And since the punishment was great and wonderful, and much greater than was necessary to recompense for human evil, it not only freed from punishment, but brought such an abundance of blessings that those who are from the earth, hostile, bound, enslaved, and vanquished, ascend to heaven itself and there partake of the kingdom of God. For this death was precious, as far as it is impossible for man to understand, although it was bought by murderers for a small price by the permission of the Saviour, so that this also would make up for his wretchedness and dishonor, so that through the sale he might endure the reproach proper to slaves, and hoard the reproach. For by gain he esteemed dishonour for us, and by the insignificance of the price signifies that he accepted death for the sake of the world for nothing. He died voluntarily, who had done no wrong to anyone in anything, neither in relation to life nor to society, having begun for the murderers benefactions far exceeding all desires and hopes.

But what am I saying about this? God died, the blood of God was poured out on the cross. What can be more precious than this death, what is more terrible than it? Why has human nature sinned so much that such redemption was needed? What kind of ulcer must be that the power of such healing was needed to heal it? For it was necessary that sin should be atoned for by some punishment, and that only those who had suffered a fitting punishment for that in which they had sinned against God should be delivered from condemnation. For he who is punished can no longer be blamed for that for which he has been punished, and there is no man who, being pure, will suffer for others, since no one is able to bear the proper punishment either for himself or for the whole human race, even if it were possible for him to die a thousand times. For what is the price of the most insignificant servant, who has crushed the royal image and insulted its majesty? Wherefore the sinless Lord, having endured many sufferings, dies and bears the plague, taking upon himself the protection of men, as a man, frees the whole race from condemnation and grants freedom to those who are bound, because He Himself had no need of it, being God and Master.

And why the true life descends in us through the death of the Saviour is evident from the following. The way in which we attract it into our souls is to be performed by the sacraments, to be washed, to be anointed, to enjoy the sacred meal. To those who do these things, Christ comes, and dwells in them, and is united to them, and cleaves unto them, and plucks out sin in us, and pours out his life and power, and makes partakers of victory, O goodness, he girds up those who are washed, and praises those who supper. Why, then, and for what reason, from the font and the peace and the table is victory and a crown, which are the fruit of toil and sweat? For although we do not strive or labor in doing this, we glorify this feat and marvel at the victory, and glorify the trophy, and show a very great and ineffable love. And these wounds, and punishment, and death, we assimilate to ourselves, and as much as possible. We draw them into ourselves and are of the flesh of the Dead and the Risen. Why do we justly enjoy these blessings, which come from death and these feats?