TWELFTH HOMILY. On words: "This is the book of creation of heaven and glass, when they were created, in the day that God made heaven and earth. (Gen, II, 4.)

ANALYSIS.

1.- In this homily Saint Chrysostom takes up again the explanation of Genesis, and, again, develops briefly the history of creation. 3. He then explains how the earth hangs over the waters, and there he recognizes an act of that divine power, which saved the three young Hebrews from the flame and dried up the Red Sea to let the Hebrews pass. - 4. He then returns to it, and deals with the formation of man. "5. Our body," said he, "formed of mud and dust, must inspire us with sincere humility, and our soul, created in the image of God, deserves our nobility, keeping it always pure, and always holy. We can do this if we want to imitate the zeal and virtues of St. John the Baptist and St. Paul.

1. I come today to fulfill my promise, and resume our previous discussions. You know very well that such had always been my intention, and that I was about to do it, when the care of your salvation obliged me to treat a subject more appropriate to your needs. And indeed, some of our brethren took occasion of their weakness to be absent from our spiritual conferences, and thus altered the joys of our pious meetings. I therefore endeavored to bring them back to the fold, by my opinions and my exhortations, so that henceforth they no longer separate themselves from the flock of Jesus Christ. United by us by the name and the quality of Christians, they were actually attached to the Jews, who are still sitting in darkness and darkness, though the Sun of righteousness shines on the world. I have also engaged the catechumens who attend our meetings to make themselves worthy of the grace of baptism, and I implore them to shake off all drowsiness and laziness, so that, by strong desires and eagerness, they will dispose of themselves. receive the royal gift of regeneration. Thus they will deserve to reach the God who grants us the remission of our sins, and who liberally adds to them the most precious favors.

I have again applied myself with special care to instruct those who wander about the Passover celebration, and who do great harm in considering these errors as unimportant. So I placed the device on the wound, and I foresaw our catechumens against this false doctrine. Now it remains for me to offer you the accustomed feast of our instructions. Certainly I could not, without being truly reprehensible, neglect the salvation of my brethren, and not to interrupt the continuation of my explanations, to despise their weakness, and to let the favorable moment to resume them. But today I have satisfied, according to the measure of my strength, to the full extent of my duty: I have distributed to them the word of doctrine; I made known to them the treasure of the truth, and thus I poured the good seed into their hearts. It is therefore necessary that I approach the explanation of the passage of Genesis which has just been read to us: this explanation will only be useful to you, and you will bring back to your houses some happy fruits.

Now this is the passage: This is the book of the creation of heaven and earth, when they were created, in the day that God made heaven and earth, and all the plants of the field, when there is ( 66) had none on the earth, and all the grass of the field, when the earth did not produce it; for God had not yet poured rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate it. But there rose from the earth a spring that sprinkled the surface. (Gen. II, 4, 5, 6.) Consider here, I ask you the admirable wisdom of the sacred writer, or rather that of the Holy Spirit who inspired him; for first, he told us each part of creation separately, he described to us the works of the six days, the formation of man and the power God gave him over all creatures, and now he summarizes all his narrative in these words: This is the book of the creation of heaven and earth, when they were created.

Perhaps it will not be without interest to examine why Scripture calls Genesis the book of the creation of heaven and earth, though it includes so many other things. And indeed this book, which recounts the virtues of the ancient righteous, teaches us also of several points of doctrine, and in particular of the goodness of God, and of his indulgence towards the first man and all his descendants. It also covers a large number of other topics that need not be specified here. But do not be surprised, my dear brother; for usually the Scripture does not enter into minute details. It is content to expose briefly the principal facts, and abandons the rest to the zeal and research of its readers. The passage just read is a striking proof. For after having previously told us in detail all the works of the six days, she speaks only of them to say in general: this is the book of the creation of heaven and earth, when they were created, in the day that God made heaven and earth.

2. So you see that Moses, by naming here only heaven and earth, commits us to contemplate all the creatures. And indeed he understands them all under this designation, both those who are in heaven and those who are on the earth. Henceforth he will not resume the details of the creation, and will confine himself to recalling it summarily. Thus he calls the whole of Genesis the book of the creation of heaven and earth, though it contains many other things. He wants to teach us to discover them under this general title, since indeed all the creatures that exist either in heaven or on earth, are necessarily included in this book. In the day, says the Scripture, God made the heaven and the earth, and all the plants of the field, when there was none on the earth, and all the grass of the field, when the earth produced point. For God had not yet poured rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate it. But there rose from the earth a spring that sprinkled the surface. These few words contain a precious treasure, and I must explain them to you with great circumspection, so that by the help of divine grace I may make you enjoy these spiritual riches.

The Holy Spirit, who foresees all the succession of ages, wanted from the beginning to prevent human reason from contradicting the dogmas of the Church, and to pervert the true meaning of Scripture. This is why he takes up the whole order of creation here, and reminds us first of all of the works of the first and second days; and then he tells us how, in the third, the earth, by the command of the Lord, brought forth its various productions without the help of the sun which did not exist, and without the influence of the rain, nor the work of man . Because it had not been formed yet. Thus the repetition of these details is intended to repress the audacity of our imprudent critics. Let us re-read this passage: In the day that God made heaven and earth, and all the plants of the field, when there was none on the earth, and all the grass of the field, when the earth did not produce it. point. For God had not shed rain yet. on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate it: But there rose up from the earth a spring that sprinkled on the surface.

Scripture therefore reveals to us that suddenly, at the word and order of the Lord, all creatures emerged from nothingness, and received existence. Then the earth gave birth to the plants of the field, and under this name are understood all its various productions; but concerning the rain, the same scripture observes that God had not yet poured it on the earth, that is to say, it had not yet made it fall from the sky. Finally, it proves to us that the earth owed its fruitfulness to the work of man, since there was no man to cultivate it. Learn, she tells us, and do not forget what is the origin of all (67) the productions of the earth, and do not believe that they are the result of the care of man, nor the fruit of his works. The earth has given birth to the word and the order of the Creator. Let us conclude, therefore, that in order to germinate herbs and plants, the earth needs no help from the other elements, and that the Creator's command is sufficient for it.

But here is a new wonder more amazing still. The same God whose word has communicated to the earth so marvelous a fertility, and whose power surpasses all human intelligence, has established over the waters the immense mass and the enormous weight of the world. This is what the Psalmist teaches us by these words: He has spread the earth over the waters. (Ps. CLXXV, 6.) Can man pierce this mystery? For in the construction of a building, one first digs the foundations, and if one encounters a few veins of water, one exhausts them before to sit the first seated of the building. But the Creator acts quite differently to show his ineffable power, and to prove to us that at his order the elements produce effects contrary to their usual phenomena.

3. I explain by an example, so that you understand better my thought, and then I will resume the continuation of my subject. No doubt it is against the nature of the waters to carry a weight as heavy as that of the earth; and it is against the nature of the earth to rest solidly on a fluid body. But why surprise us? Whatever may be the creature you study with care, you will discover the action of the immense power of the Creator, and you will convince yourself that He governs all things by His will. See the fire: this element devours everything, and it consumes easily the hardest bodies: wood, stones and iron. But when God orders it, he does not even hurt the most tender bodies: and so he respected the three young Hebrews in the fiery furnace. (Dan, III.) But the prodigy spread even further, for this element deprived of reason proved to them more obsequious than it could be said. Not only did he not touch their hair, but he still seemed to surround them and press them amicably; so he retained his natural activity to display only his full and complete obedience to the Lord's orders, and he preserved safe and sound those admirable children who walked in the midst of the flames with as much security as in a meadow enamelled with flowers.

Moreover, so that it could not be believed that this material fire was devoid of all action, the Lord was anxious to preserve its activity. But he hung it from his servants, who triumphed over it, and were not hurt. As for the soldiers who had thrown the young Hebrews into the furnace, they knew how great is the power of the Lord, for the fire exerted all their violence upon them; and the same element, which, in the interior of the furnace, bent gently over the three children, raged outside and consumed the satellites of the tyrant. So you see how God changes the properties of the elements at will. He created them, and disposes of them according to his will. Do you still want me to show you the same miracle about the waters? The fire, as I said, respected the three children of the furnace, and did them no harm. thus forgetting all their violence against them, but he devoured their executioners, and displayed against them his inflexible activity; and in the same way the waters of the sea submerge some, and retire before the others for their leash: a free passage. I am referring here on one side to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and on the other to the Israelites. These, according to the command of the Lord, and under the guidance of Moses, crossed the Red Sea on dry ground; and those who wanted with Pharaoh to follow the same path were swallowed up under the waves. Thus the elements respect the servants of God, and for them they suspend their natural activity.

Let us, therefore, we men, irascible and violent men, and we, who, laxly subject to a thousand other passions, compromise the success of our salvation. We have reason in common, and we can not imitate the obedience of these unreasonable elements. For if the fire, the most active and the most violent of all, has been able to respect tender and delicate bodies, what will be the excuse of the man who, disdaining the divine precepts, refuses to subdue his anger, and of to stifle the feelings of an ulcerated heart with regard to his brothers. But here, what is truly amazing, is that the fire, which burns with such violence, suspends its activity, and that the man, being (68) reasonable, gentle and benevolent, acts against his nature, and by his negligence imitates in his morals the ferocity of savage beasts.

So Scripture, to designate the various passions that dominate in us, gives to the man endowed with reason the name of different animals. Thus, in his language, the word dog indicates impudence and violence. They are dumb dogs, and do not know how to bark. (Is. LVI, 10.) The horse represents the effervescence of the voluptuousness: They have become like horses running and neighing after the cavales: each of them has pursued the wife of his neighbor. (Jeremiah V, 8.) Sometimes the donkey marks the grossness and stupidity of the sinner: Man is compared to animals that have no reason, and he has become like them. (Ps. XLVIII, 13.) Sometimes she names the men lions and leopards by allusion to their ferocious and voracious appetites, and sometimes aspics because of their deceitful and deceitful spirit. Their lips, says the Psalmist, contain the venom of the asp. (Ps. CXXXIX, 4.) Finally she likens them to the serpent and the viper, because of the hidden poison of their malignancy. Also. Did the holy precursor say to the Pharisees: Serpents, and a race of vipers, who showed you to flee from the coming wrath? (Matthew iii, 7) Scripture still gives men other names, in order to characterize their different passions, and recall them with a salutary shame to the feeling of their nobility. Ah! May they not degenerate from their origin, and prefer the law of the Lord to those criminal passions that dragged them into sin!

4. But I do not know how I deviated from my subject. I return to it, and I approach the various instructions contained in the story of the sacred writer. After saying: This is the book of the creation of heaven and earth, he tells us in detail the formation of man; no doubt he had already told us that God had made man, and that he had done it in his image; but here he expresses himself more explicitly: God, he says, formed the man of the mud of the earth, and poured a breath of life on his face, and the man had a living soul. (Gen. II, 7.) How great and admirable are these words! and how much they surpass our intelligence! and God formed the man of the mud of the earth. Speaking of all visible creatures, I told you that often the Creator, to show his omnipotence, acted contrary to the laws of nature, and we find the same conduct in the creation of man. This is how he established the earth above the waters, which apart from faith our reason can not conceive. Thus, even at his command, all the elements produce effects opposed to their nature. Scripture teaches us something similar in the formation of man, telling us that God formed him of the mud of the earth.

What do you say? what! God has taken a little earth, and formed the man! Yes, it is so; Moses assures us; and even he does not content himself with saying that God took earth, but silt, that is to say all that is basest and most despicable. Truly, one would be tempted to tax this story with fable and paradox; but as soon as we remember who is the author of these wonders, we easily believe them, and we humbly adore the power of the Creator. For if you wish to measure the divine works to the weakness of your thoughts, and scrutinize them curiously, it will seem to you far more natural that a clay or a vase be formed from the mud of the earth than the body of man. You see, then, to understand all the sublimity of the language of Moses, we must meditate carefully, and repress the infirmity of reason. For the eye of faith alone can discover these wonders, although the sacred historian has proportioned his word to the weakness of our intelligence. And indeed, when he tells us that God formed man, and that he poured out on him a spirit of life, does not he seem to descend into a detail unworthy of divine majesty? but Scripture thus expresses condescendingly for our weakness, and it descends to the smallness of our mind, and then raises it to the sublimity of its revelations.

And God, taking silt, formed the man. Certainly, if we want to understand it, here is a great lesson of humility. For if we reflect on the origin of man the most superb pride suddenly falls, and the thought of our nothingness teaches us modesty and humility. Also, it is by an effect of his providence with respect to our salvation that God inspired this style and language to Moses. For he had already said that God (69) had formed man in his image, and that he had given him dominion over all visible creatures. But here, fearing that this same man would burst into pride, and that he would transgress the limits of a humble dependence, if he knew nothing of his origin, the Scripture recounts the story of his creation, and describes in detail the way he was trained. She tells him, therefore, that he was formed of the earth, and of the same matter as plants and animals, above which he rose only by the soul, a simple and immaterial substance. But he held this soul of divine goodness, and it was in him the principle of reason, and that of his empire over all other creatures. In spite of this knowledge so explicit of its origin, the first man was deceived by the serpent, and he imagined that he, who had been formed of the mud of the earth, could become like God. But if Moses had not added to his first story such precise details, in what extravagances would we not have fallen!

5. This is how the history of our origin is for us a great lesson of humility. And God, says the Scripture, formed the man of the mud of the earth; and he poured on his face a breath of life. Moses spoke to men who could not understand him, if he had not used such a simple and crude language. He tells us, then, that this man, made of the mud of the earth, received from the divine liberality a soul which was essentially reasonable, and that he thus became a perfect being. And God, he said, poured a breath of life on the face of man. This is how he refers to the soul that is in man, formed of the mud of the earth, the principle of life, action and movement. So, he adds immediately: And man became alive and animated; this man, he said, formed of the mud of the earth, received a spirit of life, and became alive and animated. What to say, alive and animated? That is to say, man was master of his actions, and in him the members of the body were subject to the will of the soul.

But I do not know how we reversed this beautiful order. Alas! our malice is so great that we force our soul to obey the passions of concupiscence. This soul, born to reign and to command, is thus dethroned with our own hands, and we bow under the slavery of the pleasures of the flesh, thus disregarding its nobility and eminent dignity. Because, please, remember your memories of the formation of the man, and ask yourself what he was. before God had poured out on him a spirit of life, and had become alive and animated. He was an inert body, heavy and useless. It is therefore only this breath of life that God poured upon him, which raised him to the honor of becoming a living and animated being. For the rest, it is easy to understand it, and by this account of Genesis, and by what happens every day before our eyes. As soon as the soul is separated from the body, it becomes a hideous and repulsive object. What am I saying, hideous and repulsive? he is frightening, fetid and deformed. And yet, when the soul resides there, this same body is beautiful, pleasant, and lovable. Moreover, he participates in the prudence of the soul, and executes his orders with rare dexterity.

Convinced of these truths and penetrated by the feeling of the dignity of our soul, let us avoid all that could dishonor it. Let us therefore fear to defile it with sin, and not reduce it under the slavery of the flesh. Ah! it would be too cruel and too inhuman to a creature so high in nobility and honor. It is through our soul that, despite the shackles of the body, we can, with a firm will and the help of grace, resemble celestial and immaterial virtues. Yes, although attached to the earth, we can live in a sort of heaven, equal these pure intelligences, and even surpass them. But how to achieve it? Here it is: when in a mortal body we realize a life entirely angelic, we rise before God to a degree of merit superior to that of the angels, because in the midst of the sad necessities of the body, we preserve intact the nobility of our soul .

Hey! who ever, will you say to me, arrived at this perfection? I am not surprised that the thing seems impossible to us, so weak is our virtue! but if you wish to convince yourself of the contrary, remember the saints who, from the beginning of the world to the present, have made themselves agreeable to the Lord. Is it necessary to name here John the Baptist, the child of sterility and the dweller of the desert, or Paul, the doctor of the nations, and this innumerable fury of elect who were of the same nature as us, and subjects (70)? to the same infirmities of the body. Their examples prove to you that this high virtue is not impossible for us, and they animate us to take advantage of it in order to acquire it from all the opportunities that the Lord gives us. And indeed, he knows our weakness, and the inclination that leads us to evil. That is why he has left us in the holy Scriptures remedies as effective as abundant, and it depends only on us to apply them to our wounds. Moreover, he puts before our eyes the life of the saints. as an urgent exhortation to virtue. Let us not neglect our duties; but let us flee from sin, and let us not be unworthy of the ineffable goods of heaven. May we obtain them, by the grace and goodness of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to be with the Father and the Holy Spirit, glory, empire and honor, now, and in all the centuries of ages! So be it.