The priest serves as the common father, as it were, of all the world. It is proper therefore that he should care for all, even as God, whom he serves cares for all. . . . From this, two advantages result. First, hatred toward those who are outside the circle is transcended, for no one can feel hatred toward those for whom he prays. Those apart are made better by the prayers that are offered for them, by losing their ferocious disposition toward us. For nothing is so apt to draw men under teaching as to love and to be loved.

Let us then exhort the saints to give thanks for us. And let us exhort one another toward gratitude. To ministers especially this good work belongs, since it is an exceeding privilege. Drawing near to God, we give thanks for the whole world and the good things we commonly share. The blessings of God are shared in common, and in this common preservation you yourselves are included. Consequently, you both owe common thanksgivings for your own peculiar blessings and for those shared in common with others, for which you rightly should offer your own special form of praise. . . . So then let us give thanks also for the faith that others have toward God. This custom is an ancient one, planted in the church from the beginning. Thus Paul also gives thanks for the Romans,^[1] for the Corinthians^[2] and for the whole world.

I think that supplication is a prayer offered with a special request for something a person lacks. From this is distinguished prayer which is more plainly offered with simple praise, not to obtain a request but simply to praise the nobility of great things. And I think that intercession is a petition for certain things addressed to God by someone who has some greater boldness, while thanksgiving is a statement of gratitude made with prayers for receiving good things from God, either when it is a great thing that is received and acknowledged with gratitude or when the greatness of the benefit is apparent only to the one who has benefited.

Supplications are on behalf of secular rulers, that they may have obedient subjects, and thus peace and tranquillity. Prayers are for those to whom power has been entrusted, that they may govern with justice and truth, so that all may prosper. Intercessions are for those in dire necessity, that they may find help. And thanksgivings refer to gratitude for God’s daily providences.

Here supplications express the desire for good things from God. Prayers express the desire to be released from various evils. Intercessions ask for freedom from undeserved consequences. And thanksgivings express gratitude for blessings.

I prefer to understand by these words what the entire, or almost the entire, church observes: that we take as supplications those prayers which are said in celebrating the mysteries, before we begin to consecrate what lies on the table of the Lord. Prayers are said when it is blessed and sanctified and broken for distribution; and the whole church, for the most part, closes this complete petition with the Lord’s Prayer. The original Greek word helps us to understand this distinction: the Scripture seldom uses the word euche in the sense of oratio, but generally and much more frequently euchē means votum; whereas proseuchē, the word used in the passage we are treating, is always rendered by oratio. . . . Now, all the things which are offered to God are vowed, especially the oblation at the holy altar, for in this sacrament we show forth that supreme offering, by which we vow to abide in Christ, even to the union of the body of Christ. The outward sign of this is that we, being many, are one bread, one body.^[1] Consequently, I think that at this consecration and this preparation for Communion the apostle fittingly wishes that proseuchas, that is, prayers, should be made, or, as some have unskillfully rendered it, adoration, that is, what takes place at the offering, although this is more commonly expressed in Scripture by euchē. Intercessions, however, or, as your texts have it, requests, are offered while the blessing is being given to the people, for at that time, by the laying on of hands, the bishops, as intercessors, offer the members of their flock to the most merciful Power. When this is completed and all have received the holy sacrament, the whole is ended by thanksgiving, and this last is the very term called to our notice by the apostle.

Supplication’ is a beseeching or petition for sins. . . . Prayers are those by which we offer a vow to God. . . . Intercession is customarily offered, in moments of fervor, for other men and women—our family, the peace of the world. To use St. Paul’s words, we pray for all men, for kings and all in authority. . . . Thanksgiving is when the mind recollects what God has done or is doing or looks forward to the good which he has prepared for those who love him, and so offers its gratitude in an indescribable transport of spirit. Sometimes it offers still deeper prayers of this sort; when the soul contemplates in singleness of heart the reward of the saints and so is moved in its happiness to pour forth a wordless thanksgiving.

Then Celsus next exhorts us to help the emperor with all our power, and cooperate with him in all that is right, and fight for him, and be fellow soldiers if he presses for this, and fellow generals with him. We may reply to this that at appropriate times we render to the emperors divine help, if I may so say, by taking up even the whole armor of God.^[1] And this we do in obedience to the apostolic utterance which says, I exhort you, therefore, first to make prayers, supplications, intercessions and thanksgivings for all men, for emperors, and all that are in authority.^[2] Indeed, the more pious a man is, the more effective he is in helping the emperors—more so than the soldiers who go out into the lines and kill all the enemy troops that they can.

If you think that we have no interest in the emperor’s welfare, look into our literature, read the Word of God. We ourselves do not keep it concealed, and in fact it is in some cases by chance handed over to outsiders. Learn from this literature that it has been enjoined upon us, that our charity may more and more abound, to pray to God even for our enemies and to beg for blessings for our persecutors.

The soul of some Christians might be slow at hearing this and may resist this exhortation. For at the celebration of the holy mysteries it may be necessary to offer prayers for a heathen king. Paul shows them the advantage of fulfilling this duty at least to reconcile them to the advice, that we may lead a peaceable and quiet life. . . . For God has appointed government for the public good. When therefore they use force for the common good and stand on guard for our security, isn’t it reasonable that we should offer prayers for their safety in wars and dangers? Such prayers are not excessive flattery but agreeable to the rules of justice.

My very special reason for saying all this was that after I had briefly defined and interpreted these terms [i.e., the terms of 1 Timothy 2:1], no one should think of overlooking the passage that follows, for all men, for kings and for all those who are in high station, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all piety and charity, and that no one should imagine, by a common frailty of the human mind, that these prayers are not also to be made even for those at whose hands the church suffers persecution. For the members of Christ are to be gathered from every class. Hence he continues and says, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. And that no one might say there can be a way of salvation without partaking of the body and blood of Christ but simply by living a good manner of life and worshiping one God Almighty, Paul continues: For there is one God and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus. This makes it clear that what he had said above, He will have all men to be saved, is to be realized only through a mediator who would not be God, as the Word is always God, but the man Christ Jesus, since the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.^[1]

As the life of the body is the soul, so the blessed life of a man is God. As the sacred writings of the Hebrews have it, Happy is that people whose God is the Lord.^[1] Yet even such a people cherishes a peace of its own which is not to be scorned, although in the end it is not to be had because this peace, before the end, was abused. Meanwhile, it is to our advantage that there be such peace in this life. For, as long as the two cities are mingled together, we can make use of the peace of Babylon. Faith can assure our exodus from Babylon, but our pilgrim status, for the time being, makes us neighbors. All of this was in St. Paul’s mind when he advised the church to pray for this world’s kings and high authorities—in order that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all piety and worthy behavior. Jeremiah, too, predicting the Babylonian captivity to the Old Testament Jews, gave them orders from God to go submissively and to serve their God by such sufferings, and meanwhile to pray for Babylon. For in the peace thereof, he said, shall be your peace^[2]—referring, of course, to the peace of this world, which the good and bad share in common.

Therefore, because God is merciful and wishes all men to be saved, he says, I will visit their crimes with an iron rod and their sins with whips. I will not, however, remove my mercy from them.^[1] . . . For God is jealous and does not wish that soul which he betrothed to himself in faith to remain in the defilement of sin, but wishes it immediately to be purified, wishes it swiftly to cast out all its impurities, if it has by chance been snatched away to some.

Do not be afraid to pray for the Gentiles. God himself wills it. Fear only to pray against anyone. For that God does not will. And if you pray for the heathen, you ought of course to pray for heretics as well, for we are to pray for all humanity and not to persecute. And this is good also for another reason: We are partakers of the same nature. God calls us to have good will and affection toward one another.

See how great the darkness is [in discussing the nature of God], and how everywhere there is need of faith. This much is sure and solid. But let us now come to matters less sure, for example, as to the relation of the divine will and its way of working. Is God’s will already immediately his working? Is it a particular type of causality? If God is immutable, how does God’s will enter into physical movement? . . . Is the movement in God’s willing reducible to the familiar seven types of causality?^[1] Is God’s movement more like the movement of the mind? Not quite. For in many things the mind is even absurdly moved. When God wills, is he already at work or not? If to will is to work and God wills all men to be good and to be saved, why doesn’t this come immediately to pass? There is here a subtler distinction between God’s [primordial] willing and God’s actual working within history.^[2]

To those who with simplicity of heart receive the preaching of the cross and the resurrection, the same grace should be a cause of equal thankfulness to the Son and to the Father. Now, moreover, that the Son has accomplished the Father’s will (and this, in the language of the apostle, is that all men should be saved), they ought for this gift to honor the Father and the Son alike. This is because our salvation would not have been accomplished had not the good will of the Father proceeded to actual operation for us through his own power. And we have learned from Scripture that the Son is the power of the Father.

Is God not good to all, then? He is certainly good to all, because he is the Savior of all, especially the faithful. And so the Lord Jesus came that he might save what was lost;^[1] he came, indeed, to take away the sin of the world^[2] to heal our wounds. But not all desire the remedy, and many avoid it. . . . He heals those that are willing and does not compel the unwilling.

That God wishes all men to be saved means that he wishes that all who freely and willingly desire it shall find salvation.

Accordingly. When we hear and read in sacred Scripture that God wills that all should be saved, although we know well enough that not all are saved, we are not on that account to underrate the omnipotent will of God. Rather, we must understand the Scripture, who will have all to be saved, as meaning that no one is saved unless God wills his salvation. It is not that there is no one whose salvation God does not will, but that no one is saved unless God wills it. Moreover, God’s will should be sought in prayer, because if he wills, then what he wills must necessarily be. And, indeed, it was of prayer to God that the apostle was speaking when he made that statement.

To pray Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven is to pray that men may be like angels, that as angels fulfill God’s will in heaven, men may fulfill his will, instead of their own, on earth. No one can say this sincerely except one who believes that every circumstance, favorable or unfavorable, is designed by God’s providence for his good, and that he thinks and cares more for the good of his people and their salvation than we do for ourselves. It may be understood thus: the will of God is the salvation of all men, according to that text of Paul, who wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

And what is written, that he wills all men to be saved, while yet all men are not saved, may be understood in many ways, some of which I have mentioned in other writings of mine; but here I will say one thing: He wills all men to be saved is so said that all the predestinated may be understood by it, because every kind of man is among them.

The third kind of absolute worship is thanksgiving for all the good things he has created for us. All things owe a debt of thanks to God and must offer him ceaseless worship, because all things have their existence from him, and in him all things hold together.^[1] He gives lavishly of his gifts to all, without being asked. He desires all men to be saved and to partake of his goodness. He is long-suffering with us sinners, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.^[2] He is the Son of God, yet he became one of us for our sake and made us participants of his divine nature, so that we shall be like him,^[3] as John the Theologian says in his catholic epistle.

As angels fulfill God’s will in heaven, men may fulfill his will, instead of their own, on earth. No one can say this sincerely except one who believes that every circumstance, favorable or unfavorable, is designed by God’s providence for good. God thinks and cares more for our good and our salvation than we do for ourselves. It may be understood thus: the will of God is the salvation of all.

For God’s purpose, according to which he did not make the human being to perish but to live forever, abides unchanging. When his kindness sees shining in us the slightest glimmer of good will, which he himself has sparked from the hard flint of our heart, he fosters it, stirs it up and strengthens it with his inspiration, desiring all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

He says that there is one God, that is, not as some say, many, and that he has sent his Son as mediator, thus giving proof that he desires that all be saved. But is not the Son God? Most truly he is. Why then does he say, One God? To distinguish the one God from idols, not from the Son.

Through his body the church has been allied to Christ and has been enabled to become a partaker in the Word of God. We know this both from the fact that he is called the mediator of God and humanity, and from the apostle’s saying that in him we have access through faith in the hope of the glory of God.^[1]

But what is he who is at once the Most High and man, what but the Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus who gave himself as a ransom for us? This text indeed refers properly to his incarnation, for our redemption was made by his blood, our pardon comes through his power, our life is secured through his grace. He gives as the Most High; he prays as man. The one is the office of the Creator; the other of a redeemer. Be the gifts as distinct as they may, yet the Giver is one, for it was fitting that our Maker should be our Redeemer.

O how beautiful and mystical and kind!^[1] For to intercede does not imply to seek for vengeance, as is most men’s way (for in that there would be something of humiliation), but it is to plead for us by reason of his mediatorship, just as the Spirit is also said to make intercession for us. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. For he still pleads even now as man for my salvation. He continues to wear the body which he assumed, until he makes me divine by the power of his incarnation; although he is no longer known after the flesh—the same as ours, except for sin.

By the distinction implied in the word mediator he reveals to us the whole aim of the mystery of godliness. Now the aim is this. Humanity once revolted through the malice of the enemy, and, brought into bondage to sin, was also alienated from the true Life. After this the Lord of the creature calls back to him his own creature and becomes Man while still remaining God, being both God and man in the entirety of the two separate natures. Thus humanity was indissolubly united to God, the man that is in Christ conducting the work of mediation, to whom, by the firstfruits assumed for us, all the lump is potentially united.^[1]

Christ Jesus, himself man, is the true Mediator, for, inasmuch as he took the form of a slave,^[1] he became the Mediator between God and men. In his character as God, he received sacrifices in union with the Father, with whom he is one God. Yet he chose, in his character as a slave, to be himself the sacrifice rather than to receive it, lest any one might take occasion to think that sacrifice could be rendered to a creature. Thus it is that he is both the Priest who offers and the Oblation that is offered.

But how are we reconciled unless what separates us and him is broken? For he says through the prophet, The Lord’s ear is not dull, that it cannot hear, but your sins separate you and your God.^[1] Therefore, because we are not reconciled unless what is in the middle has been removed and what should be in the middle has been put there—for there is a separating middle, but over against it is a reconciling mediator. The separating middle is sin. The reconciling mediator is the Lord Jesus Christ, For there is one God and one mediator of God and man, the man Christ Jesus. And so, in order that the separating wall which is sin may be taken away, that Mediator has come, and the Priest himself has become the sacrifice.

May attention to the economy of God which ministered to those of former times be reckoned by you as precious medicine for weak eyes. Let the memory of it stay with you at all times of the day. Meditate, apply your mind, and learn wisdom from it, that you may be able to receive into your soul with honor the memory of the greatness of God and find eternal life for yourself in Christ Jesus, the Mediator between God and mankind and the Uniter in his two natures.

Valentinus, indeed, on the strength of his heretical system, might consistently fantasize a spiritual flesh for Christ.^[1] Any who refused to believe that that flesh was human might then pretend it to be anything he liked. This pretense characterizes all heresies. For if his flesh was not human and was not born of man, I do not see of what substance Paul himself spoke, when he said The man Christ Jesus is the one mediator between God and man.

Let not the venom of Apollinaris^[1] flatter itself because it is written, And in appearance he was found as a man,^[2] for the manhood of Jesus is not thereby denied but confirmed, since elsewhere Paul himself speaks of him as Mediator of God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus. It is the customary manner of Scripture so to express itself as we also read in the Gospel, And we saw his glory—glory as of the only-begotten of the Father.^[3] As he is there called only-begotten Son of God, so he is said to be man, and the fullness of humanity that was in him is not denied.

This refers to the perfect humanity by which salvation is wrought. The fact that Jesus shares a common humanity with us is the whole key to salvation.

There is one conciliator of peace, who joins in himself what has been in disjunction. Paul calls Christ man precisely because he is the Mediator, the one in whom human and divine natures are joined in friendship.

It was in order to make the mind able to advance more confidently toward the truth that Truth itself, the divine Son of God, put on humanity without putting off his divinity and built this firm path of faith so that man, by means of the God-Man, could find his way to man’s God. I speak of the mediator between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus. For it is as man that he is the Mediator and as man that he is the way.

Hence we respond to this objection of theirs,^[1] which they propose from the gospel, in a way which allows no man to be so lacking in understanding that he thinks we are compelled by this text to believe and confess that the mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, did not have a human soul. In the same way I inquire how they respond to objections so palpable as ours, whereby we show through countless places in the Gospel writings what was narrated of him by the Evangelists, namely, that he was found with feelings that are impossible without a soul.

Now, we could not be redeemed, even through the one mediator between God and man, Man himself, Christ Jesus, if he were not also God. For when Adam was made—being made an upright man—there was no need for a mediator. Once sin, however, had widely separated the human race from God, it was necessary for a mediator, who alone was born, lived and was put to death without sin, to reconcile us to God and provide even for our bodies a resurrection to life eternal—and all this in order that a man’s pride might be exposed and healed through God’s humility.

Who can so organize what he does as this man organized what he suffered?^[1] But the man, the Mediator of God and man, was the man about whom one reads that it was foretold, And he is a man and who will know him?^[2] For the men through whom these things happened did know the man of God. For he who was hidden as God was apparent as man. He who was apparent suffered these things. He who was hidden is the very same One who ordered these things. Therefore he saw that all the things were finished which were necessary to be done before he took the vinegar and delivered over his spirit.

We have heard from the Gospel reading [commenting on Lk 2:1-14], dearly beloved brothers, that when the Redeemer of the world, our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, was about to be born into the world, an edict went out from Caesar Augustus, who then held the highest place with respect to worldly reigns. The edict said that the entire world was to be enrolled. We must not suppose that this happened by chance, but we must understand that it was provided through a most certain divinely arranged plan of this same Redeemer of ours. And, indeed, just as in his divinity the Mediator between God and human beings foresaw the mother of whom he willed to be born when he should so will, so also in his humanity he chose the time when he wished for his nativity. Moreover, he himself granted that this time should be such as he willed, namely, that in a calm among the storm of wars a singular tranquillity of unusual peace should cover the whole world.

And so, when he had planned everything by himself in union with his Child, he still allowed us, through the former time, to be carried away by undisciplined impulses. . . . And so, when our unrighteousness had come to its full term, and it had become perfectly plain that its recompense of punishment and death had to be expected, then the season arrived in which God had determined to show at last his goodness and power. O the overflowing kindness and love of God toward man! God did not hate us, or drive us away, or bear us ill will. Rather, he was long-suffering and forbearing. In his mercy, he took up the burden of our sins. He himself gave up his own Son as a ransom for us—the holy one for the unjust, the innocent for the guilty, the righteous one for the unrighteous, the incorruptible for the corruptible, the immortal for the mortal.^[1]

Do not wonder that the whole world was redeemed, for it was no mere man but the Only-begotten Son of God who died for it. The sin of one man, Adam, availed to bring death to the world; if by one man’s offense death reigned for the world, why should not life reign all the more from the justice of the one?^[1] If Adam and Eve were cast out of paradise because of the tree from which they ate, should not believers more easily enter into paradise because of the Tree of Jesus? If the first man, fashioned out of the earth, brought universal death, shall not he who fashioned him, being the Life, bring everlasting life? If Phinees by his zeal in slaying the evildoer appeased the wrath of God, shall not Jesus, who slew no other, but gave himself a ransom for all, take away God’s wrath against man?

The apostle Paul, teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth, taught the church which he gathered from the Gentiles how it ought to interpret the books of the law. These books were received from others and were formerly unknown to the Gentiles and were very strange. He feared that the church, receiving foreign instructions and not knowing the principle of the instructions, would be in a state of confusion about the foreign document. For that reason he gives some examples of interpretation that we might also note similar things in other passages, lest we believe that by imitation of the text and document of the Jews we be made disciples. He wishes, therefore, to distinguish disciples of Christ from disciples of the synagogue by the way they understand the law. ^[1] THIS TRUMPET AMONG THE APOSTLES. VINCENT OF LÉRINS: Consequently, to announce to Catholic Christians a doctrine other than that which they have received was never permitted, is nowhere permitted and never will be permitted. It was ever necessary, is everywhere necessary and ever will be necessary that those who announce a doctrine other than that which was received once and for all be anathema. If this be so, is there anyone alive so bold as to preach dogmas other than those taught by the church, or so foolish as to accept doctrines besides those accepted by the church? Crying aloud, crying aloud again and again and again, crying aloud to everyone, always and everywhere throughout his writings, Paul remains this vessel of election,^[1] this doctor of the Gentiles, this trumpet among the apostles, this herald of the earth, this heaven-conscious man. He is crying aloud that whoever announces a new doctrine is anathema. ^[2]

So, then, let us celebrate this heavenly joy, together with the saints of old who kept the same feast. Yes, they keep the feast with us, and they are examples to us of life in Christ. Not only were they commissioned to preach the gospel, but if we look back at their lives, we will see that they also lived it. St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, You, therefore, follow me.^[1] Let us follow him then, because that command has been passed down to us. The admonition originally given to the church at Corinth reaches to all Christians of all time in every place. For the apostle Paul was a teacher of all nations in faith and truth.

If the Son was born a perfect and complete king, it is also clear that he is a judge and arbiter. For it is especially the mark of a king that he makes decisions and judgments both to grant honors and to punish. And another source might help you to see that he has the power to grant heavenly honors. So we shall bring forward the man who is better than all men, and we shall show that Christ granted this man a crown. . . . Who is the one who is better than all men? Who other than that tentmaker,^[1] that teacher of the entire world, the one who coursed over land and sea as if equipped with wings, the chosen instrument,^[2] the attendant of Christ the bridegroom, the one who planted the church,^[3] the wise builder,^[4] the preacher, the one who ran the course and fought the good fight,^[5] the soldier, the trainer of athletes, the one who left memorials of his own virtue everywhere in the world.

In this way is [the true Christian] always pure for prayer. He also prays in the society of angels, as being already of angelic rank, and he is never out of their holy keeping; and though he pray alone, he has the choir of the saints standing with him [in prayer].

Let us remember one another in concord and unanimity. Let us on both sides always pray for one another. Let us relieve burdens and afflictions by mutual love, that if any one of us, by the swiftness of divine condescension, shall go from here first, our love may continue in the presence of the Lord, and our prayers for our brothers and sisters not cease in the presence of the Father’s mercy.

And also, O honored and venerable Simeon, you earliest host of our holy religion and teacher of the Resurrection of the faithful, be our patron and advocate with the Savior God, whom you were deemed worthy to receive into your arms. We, together with you, sing our praises to Christ, who has the power of life and death, saying, “You are the true light, proceeding from the true light; the true God, begotten of the true God”.

[During the Eucharistic Prayer] we commemorate those who have already fallen asleep: first, the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, that in their prayers and supplications God would receive our petition.

For he who wears the purple himself goes to embrace those tombs, and, laying aside his pride, stands begging the saints to be his advocates with God, and he that wears the crown implores the tentmaker and the fisherman, though dead, to be his patrons.

For the souls of the pious dead are not separated from the Church, which even now is the kingdom of Christ; otherwise there would be no remembrance made of them at the altar of God in the partaking of the body of Christ, nor would it do any good in danger to run to baptism, that we might not pass from this life without it; nor to reconciliation, if by penitence or a bad conscience anyone may be severed from his body.

Then we commemorate also those who have fallen asleep before us, first patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, that at their prayers and intercessions God will receive our petition. Then on behalf of the holy fathers and bishops who have fallen asleep before us, and in a word all who in past years have fallen asleep among us, believing that it will be a very great benefit to the souls for whom the supplication is put up, while that holy and most awful sacrifice is set forth.

And so the flesh shall rise again, wholly in every man, in its own identity, in its absolute integrity. Wherever it may be, it is in safe keeping in God’s presence, through that most faithful “mediator between God and man, (the man) Jesus Christ” [1 Tm 2:5], who shall reconcile God to man, and man to God; the spirit to the flesh, and the flesh to the spirit.

Now concerning the place, let it be known that every place is suitable for prayer if a person prays well. For in every place you offer incense to me . . . says the Lord^[1] and I desire then that in every place men should pray, But everyone may have, if I may put it this way, a holy place set aside and chosen in his own house, if possible, for accomplishing his prayers in quiet and without distraction.

Certainly, the Lord gives the authority for praying in every place, in the words: Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.^[1] And the words of the apostle are legitimate, because the word every does not include places designated for human usage or for unclean or shameful human deeds, but it does take in the regions from the confines of Jerusalem to every place in the world duly appointed, in conformity with the prophecy of sacrifice,^[2] that is, consecrated to God, for the celebration of the glorious mystery.

The object of Paul is to distinguish the Christian from the Jewish prayers. Therefore observe what he says, In every place lifting up holy hands, this being something which was not permitted the Jews, for they were not allowed to approach God, to sacrifice and perform their services elsewhere. Rather, assembling from all parts of the world in one place, they were bound to perform all their worship in the temple. . . . Henceforth the consideration is not of the place but of the manner of the prayer. Pray everywhere, but, everywhere lift up holy hands. That is the thing required. And what is holy? Pure. And what is pure? Not washed with water, but free from covetousness, murder, rapacity, violence, without wrath and doubting.

But what reason is there in going to prayer with hands indeed washed, but the spirit has become fouled?—inasmuch as to our hands themselves spiritual cleansing is necessary, that they may be lifted up pure from falsehood, from murder, from cruelty, from poisonings, from idolatry and all the other blemishes which, conceived by the spirit, are effected by the operation of the hands.

He must be quite cognizant, certain and confident of his own innocence who stretches out and extends his hands to God. Hence the apostle says, I wish then that men pray everywhere, lifting up pure hands. He rightly lifts his hands to God, he pours forth prayers with a good conscience, who can say, You know, O Lord, how holy, how innocent, how pure from every fraud, injury and plunder are the hands which I lift up to you; how unstained and free from all deceit are the lips with which I pour forth prayers to you so that you may have pity on me. Such a person deserves to be heard quickly and can obtain what he asks even before he has finished his prayer.

But the good farmer also, when he prepares to turn the soil in order to plant life-sustaining foods, undertakes to do this by nothing other than the sign of the cross. For when he sets the share beam on the plough, attaches the earthboard and puts on the plowhandle, he imitates the form of the cross, for its very construction is a kind of likeness of the Lord’s suffering. Heaven, too, is itself arranged in the form of this sign, for since it is divided into four parts—namely, east, west, south, and north—it consists in four quarters like the cross. Even a person’s bearing, when he raises his hands, describes a cross; therefore we are ordered to pray with uplifted hands so that by the very stance of our body we might confess the Lord’s suffering.

Whenever we lift up pure hands in prayer, without diverting distractions or contention, we are playing to the Lord with a ten-stringed instrument. We play, as the psalmist wrote, with ten-stringed instrument and lyre, with melody upon the harp.^[1] Our body and soul and spirit—our harp—are all in harmony, all their strings in tune.

Whatever the mind has been thinking about before it prays will certainly come to it while it is praying. Therefore, before we begin to pray, we ought to be trying to be the kind of people whom we wish God to find when we pray. The mind is conditioned by its recent state. In prayer, the mind remembers recent acts or thoughts and experiences, sees them dancing before it like ghosts. And this annoys us, or depresses us, or reminds us of past lust or past worry, or makes us (I am ashamed to say) laugh like fools at some absurdity or circumstance, or go over again some recent conversation. Whatever we do not want to creep into our time of prayer, we must try to keep out of the heart when we are not praying. St. Paul’s words were, Pray without ceasing,^[1] and In every place lifting up pure hands without wrath or controversy. To obey this is impossible, unless the mind is purified from sin, is given to virtue as its natural good and is continually nourished by the contemplation of God.

In our prayers, too, modesty is most pleasing and gains us much grace from our God. . . . A noble thing, then, is modesty, which, though giving up its rights, seizing on nothing for itself, laying claim to nothing and in some ways somewhat retiring within the sphere of its own powers, yet is rich in the sight of God, in whose sight no one is rich. Richness is modesty, for it is the portion of God. Paul bids that prayer be offered up with modesty and sobriety. He desires that this should be first, and, as it were, lead the way of prayers to come, so that the sinner’s prayer may not be boastful but veiled, as it were, with the blush of shame. Indeed, it may merit a far greater degree of grace, in giving way to modesty at the remembrance of its fault.

Let us then hold fast modesty and that moderation which adds to the beauty of the whole of life. For it is no light thing in every matter to preserve due measure and to bring about order, wherein that is plainly conspicuous which we call decorum, or what is seemly. This is so closely connected with what is virtuous that one cannot separate the two. . . . This seemliness which we offer to God we may believe to be far better than other things. It befits also a woman to pray in an orderly dress, but it is especially fitting to her to pray humbly covered and to pray giving promise of purity together with wholesome conversation.

Equally with men, women are called to approach God without wrath or doubting, lifting up holy hands, not following their own desires, nor being covetous or rapacious. . . . Paul however requires something more of women, that they adorn themselves in modest apparel, with self-effacement and sobriety . . . such attire as covers them completely, and decently, not with superfluous ornaments, for the one is becoming, the other is not.

For what reason will you be able to state, what defense, when the Lord lays these pearls to your charge and brings the poor who have perished with hunger into your midst? On this account Paul said, not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls or costly raiment. For these would be a snare. . . . Take off all ornament and place it in the hands of Christ through the poor.

Gems and gold and costly garments and lavish, embroidered flowers of various colors and anything else perishable in nature in no way adorn souls. But the following do: fasts, holy vigils, gentleness, reasonableness, poverty, courage, humility, patience—in a word, disdain for everything passing in this life.

While Paul forbids women teaching in church, he very much wants them to exercise their authority in the home as the teachers of virtue.

I think the prohibition in the law against a man wearing female garments refers not so much to clothing as to manners and to our habits and actions, since one act is becoming to a man, another to a woman. Therefore, the apostle, as the interpreter of the law, says, Let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted them to speak, but to be submissive, as the law says. But if they wish to learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home.^[1] And to Timothy he says, Let a women learn in quietness^[2] in all submissiveness. I permit no woman to teach or have authority over men. How unsightly it is for a man to act like a woman!

The divine law indeed has excluded women from the ministry, but they endeavor to thrust themselves into it. And since they can effect nothing of themselves, they do all through the agency of others. In this way they have become invested with so much power that they can appoint or eject priests at their will. Things in fact are turned upside down, and the proverbial saying may be seen realized—Those being guided are leading the guides. One would wish that it were men who were giving such guidance, rather than women who have not received a commission to give instruction in church. Why do I say give instruction? The blessed Paul did not suffer them even to speak with authority in the church. But I have heard someone say that they have obtained such a large privilege of free speech as even to rebuke the prelates of the churches and censure them more severely than masters do their own domestics.

For with us indeed the woman is reasonably subjected to the man, since equality of honor causes contention. And not for this cause only, but by reason also of the deceit which happened in the beginning. You see Eve was not subjected in her original condition as she was made. Nor was she called to submission when God first brought her to the man. She did not hear anything from God then about submissiveness. Nor did Adam originally say any such word to her. Rather he said indeed that she was bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh,^[1] but of rule or subjection he mentioned nothing. This occurred only after she made an ill use of her privilege. She who had been made a helper was found to be an ensnarer. Then the original relation was ruined, and she was justly told for the future: your turning shall be to your husband.^[2]

It was said, moreover, that it was not good for man to be alone. Yet we know that Adam did not commit sin before woman was created. However, after creation, she was the first to disobey the divine command and even allured her husband to sin. If, therefore, the woman is responsible for the sin, how then can her coming be considered a good? But, if you consider that the universe is in the care of God, then you will discover this fact, namely, that the Lord must have gained more pleasure for himself in being responsible for all creation than condemnation from us for providing the basis for sin. Accordingly, the Lord declared that it was not good for man to be alone, because the human race could not have been propagated from man alone. . . . For the sake therefore of the successive generations of men it followed that woman had to be joined to man. Thus we must interpret the very words of God when he said that it was not good for the man to be alone. If the woman was to be the first one to sin, the fact that she was the one destined to bring forth redemption must not be excluded from the operations of divine Providence. Although Adam was not deceived, the woman was deceived and was in sin. Yet woman, we are told, will be saved by childbearing, in the course of which Christ became born of woman.

But you should not be surprised that she [the church] who is gathered out of the dispersion of the nations and prepared to be the bride of Christ has sometimes been guilty of these faults. Remember how the first woman was seduced and was in the transgression and could find her salvation, so the Scripture says, only in bearing children, which for our present purpose means those who continue in faith and love with sanctity. The apostle, therefore, declares what is written about Adam and Eve thus, This is a great mystery in Christ and in the church. Christ so loved her that he gave himself for her, while she was yet undutiful, even as he says, When as yet we were ungodly according to the time, Christ died for us; and again, While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.^[1]

So, too, we must believe that Adam transgressed the law of God, not because he was deceived into believing that the lie was true but because in obedience to a social compulsion he yielded to Eve, as husband to wife, as the only man in the world to the only woman. It was not without reason that the apostle wrote, Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived. He means, no doubt, that Eve accepted the serpent’s word as true, whereas Adam refused to be separated from his partner even in a union of sin. This does not imply that he was on that account any less guilty, since he sinned knowingly and deliberately.

And the fact too that this grace was revealed by means of a woman agrees with the interpretation that we have given. For since, as the apostle tells us, the woman, being deceived, was in the transgression, and was by her disobedience foremost in the revolt from God, for this reason she is the first witness of the resurrection. This is so that she might retrieve by her faith in the resurrection the overthrow caused by her disobedience. Indeed, by making herself at the beginning a minister and advocate to her husband of the counsels of the serpent, she brought into human life the beginning of evil and its train of consequences. Therefore, by ministering to his disciples the words of him who slew the rebel dragon, she might become to men the guide of faith, whereby with good reason the first proclamation of death is annulled.

The claim that she will be saved by childbearing is said of all women, not just of Eve.

The salvation that comes to women through childbearing applies only to the children who are reborn in Christ.

When Paul speaks of the salvation that comes through childbearing, he refers to the baptism and rebirth to which their children are led by the believing mother.

The present book of Scripture,^[1] then, speaks of this love with which the blessed soul burns and is on fire with regard to the blessed Word of God. And she sings this wedding song through the Spirit, by which the church is joined and united with its heavenly bridegroom Christ, desiring to be mingled with him through the Word so that she may conceive from him and be enabled to be saved through this chaste bearing of children.

Therefore, just as the power which destroys what is born is begotten along with physical birth, so it is clear that the Spirit bestows a life-giving power upon those born through it. What, then, can be deduced from what we have said? That separating ourselves from life in the flesh, which death normally follows upon, we may seek a kind of life which does not have death as its consequence. This is the spiritual significance of the life of virginity. That this is true will be clearer if we explain a little further. Everyone knows that the function of bodily union is the creation of mortal bodies. But life and incorruptibility are born to those who remain united in their participation in the Spirit. It is not having children as such that is important but this spiritual regeneration. Excellent is the apostolic saying about this, that the mother blessed with such children will be saved by childbearing, just as the psalmist utters in the divine hymns, He establishes in her home the barren wife as the joyful mother of children.^[1]

[The heretic Marcus], handing mixed cups to the women, bids them to consecrate these in his presence. When this has been done, he produces another cup of much larger size than the one the deluded woman has consecrated, and pouring from the smaller one consecrated by the woman into the one brought forward by himself, he at the same time pronounces these words, “May that Charis who is before all things, and who transcends all knowledge and speech, fill your inner man, and multiply in you her own knowledge, by sowing the grain of mustard seed in you as in good soil.” Repeating certain other similar words, and thus goading on the wretched woman [to madness], he then appears a worker of wonders when the large cup is seen to have been filled out of the small one, so as even to overflow by what has been obtained from it. By accomplishing several other similar things, he has completely deceived many, and drawn them away after him.

[I]t matters not to them, however different their treatment of subjects, provided that they can conspire together to storm the citadel of the one truth. All are puffed up, all offer you knowledge. Their catechumens are perfect before they are fully taught. The very women of these heretics, how wanton they are! For they are bold enough to teach, to dispute, to enact exorcisms, to undertake cures.

[A female heretic], lately conversant in this quarter, has carried away a great number with her most venomous doctrine, making it her aim to destroy baptism. This is in accordance with nature; for vipers and asps . . . themselves generally live in arid and waterless places. But we, little fishes after the example of our [great] fish, Jesus Christ, are born in water, and find safety in no other way than by permanently abiding in water; so that most monstrous creature, who had no right to teach even sound doctrine, knew full well how to kill the little fishes, by taking them away from the water!

When a widow is appointed, she is not ordained, but is chosen by name. But if she lost her husband a long time previously, appoint her. But if she recently lost her husband, do not trust her. And even if she is old let her be tested for a while, for often the passions [even] grow old within someone who gives place for them in herself. Let the widow be instituted by word only and [then] let her be reckoned among the [enrolled] widows. But she shall not be ordained, because she does not offer the oblation nor has she a [liturgical] ministry. But ordination is for the clergy on account of their [liturgical] ministry. But the widow is appointed for prayer, and this is [a function] of all.

It is neither right nor necessary therefore that women should be teachers, and especially about the name of Christ and the redemption of his Passion. For you have not been appointed to this, O women, and especially widows, that you should teach, but that you should pray and entreat the Lord God. For he the Lord God, Jesus Christ our teacher, sent us the Twelve to instruct the people and the Gentiles; and there were with us women disciples, Mary Magdalene and Mary the daughter of James, and the other Mary; but he did not send them to instruct the people with us.

[T]here suddenly arose among us a certain woman, who in a state of ecstasy announced herself as a prophetess and acted as if filled with the Holy Spirit. . . . Through the deceptions and illusions of the demon, this woman had previously set about deluding believers in a variety of ways. Among the means by which she had deluded many was daring to pretend that, through proper invocation, she consecrated bread and performed the Eucharist. She offered up the sacrifice to the Lord in a liturgical act that corresponds to the usual rites, and she baptized many, all the while misusing the customary and legitimate wording of the [baptismal] question. She carried all these things out in such a manner that nothing seemed to deviate from the norms of the Church.

Similarly, in regard to the deaconesses, as with all who are enrolled in the register, the same procedure is to be observed. We have made mention of the deaconesses, who have been enrolled in this position, although, not having been in any way ordained, they are certainly to be numbered among the laity.

[T]he so-called “presbyteresses” or “presidentesses” are not to be ordained in the Church.

[W]hen one is required to preside over the Church and to be entrusted with the care of so many souls, the whole female sex must retire before the magnitude of the task, and the majority of men also, and we must bring forward those who to a large extent surpass all others and soar as much above them in excellence of spirit as Saul overtopped the whole Hebrew nation in bodily stature.

A deaconess does not bless, but neither does she perform anything else that is done by presbyters and deacons, but she guards the doors and greatly assists the presbyters, for the sake of decorum, when they are baptizing women.