The Physician of the Soul
It is containing a disease. Crush yourself as much as you can; seek also the mourning of like-souled brothers to help you toward freedom. Show me your bitter and abundant tear, so that I may mix mine as well; take also the priest, a fellow-mourner of the affliction, as a father.
For who is such a false father or one adamant regarding the soul, as not to journey with the grieving children or to rejoice with them again? A priest is a son of God according to religion; he mourns sin just as Jacob mourned for Joseph's blood-stained tunic (Gen 37:31), as David mourned for Absalom's destruction, as Eli mourned for Hophni and Phinehas falling in the battle line, as Moses mourned for the people who innovated the godless calf-making (Ex 32).
Be emboldened before the One who begot you according to God, before the bodily fathers; show Him unashamedly the hidden things, strip bare the soul's secrets as one showing a hidden disease to a physician; He himself will attend to both decency and the cure; for the shame of parents touches those whom they have suffered. For the glory of those who begot is likewise their shame. The term of life is uncertain, brothers. Let us outpace the departure through care.
for it is absurd that those who plan according to the flesh cleanse themselves from material things before the circumcision of the so-called dog, lest the moisture that causes disease should work rot through excessive heat; but those who need care according to the intellect do not outrun the uncertainty of death and the heat of the testing fire, which burns unbidden and is never quenched.
You had the evangelical drachma and were enriching yourself well with the money, then through laziness you lost it. Light the lamp of repentance (Matt 25:1), bow down with care, seek the treasure hidden to the poor through afflictions (Matt 13:44). Having found it, lift it up and save it, so that we neighbors may rejoice with you in the joy in Christ, to whom glory is due, now and forever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Greek
περιέχουσαν σε νόσον. Σύντριψον σαυτὸν ὅσον δύνασαι, ζήτησον καὶ ἀδελφῶν ὁμοψύχων πένθος βοηθοῦν σοι πρὸς τὴν ἐλευθερίαν, δεῖξον μοι πικρόν σου καὶ δαψιλὲς τὸ δάκρυον, ἵνα μίξω καὶ τὸ ἐμόν, λάβε καὶ τὸν ἱερέα κοι νωνὸν τῆς θλίψεως ὡς πατέρα. 13.12.2 Τίς γὰρ οὕτως πατὴρ ψευδώνυμος ἢ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀδαμάντινος, ὡς μὴ συνοδύρεσθαι τοῖς τέκνοις λυπομένοις ἢ πάλιν συνευφραίνεσθαι χαίρουσιν; Ἱερεὺς υἱοῦ τοῦ κατὰ θρησκείαν οὕτως ὀδύρεται ἁμαρτίαν, ὡς Ἰακὼβ τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ τὸν ᾑμαγμένον χιτῶνα, ὡς ∆αβὶδ τοῦ Ἀβεσσαλὼμ τὸν ὄλεθρον, ὡς ὁ Ἠλὶ τὸν Ὀφνὶ καὶ Φινεὲςπεσόντας ἐπὶ τῆς παρατάξεως, ὡς Μωϋσῆς τὸν λαὸν τὴν ἄθεον μοσχοποιΐαν καινοτομήσαντα. 13.12.3 Πρὸ τῶν σωματικῶν πατέρων θάρρησον τῷ κατὰ Θεόν σε γεννήσαντι, δεῖξον αὐτῷ ἀνερυθριάστως τὰ κεκρυμμένα, γύμνωσον τὰ τῆς ψυχῆς ἀπόρρητα ὡς ἰατρῷ πάθος δεικνύων κεκαλυμμένον· αὐτὸς ἐπιμελήσεται καὶ τῆς εὐσχημοσύνης καὶ τῆς θεραπείας· πλέον ἡ αἰδὼς τῶν γονέων ἅπτεται τῶν πεπονθότων αὐτῶν. Ἡ γὰρ ἐκείνων δόξα τῶν γεννησαμένων ἐστὶν καὶ ἡ αἰσχύνη ὁμοίως. Ἄδηλος, ἀδελφοί, τῆς ζωῆς ἡ προθεσμία. Φθάσωμεν τῇ ἐπιμελείᾳ τὴν ἔξοδον. 13.12.4 Ἄτοπον γὰρ τοὺς μὲν τῆς σαρκὸς λελογισμένως ποιουμένους τὴν πρόνοιαν καθαίρειν ἑαυτοὺς τῶν ὑλῶν πρὸ τῆς ἐπιτολῆς τοῦ λεγομένου κυνός, ἵνα μὴ διασαπὲν ἐκ τῆς ἄγαν θερμότητος τὸ ὕγρον νοσοποιὸν σῆψιν ἐργάσηται, τοὺς δὲ κατὰ διάνοιαν ἐπιμελείας χρῄζοντας μὴ προφθάνειν τοῦ θανάτου τὴν ἀδηλίαν καὶ τοῦ κολαστηρίου πυρὸς τὴν ζέσιν, τοῦ ἀλήκτως φλέγοντος καὶ μηδέποτε ψυχομένου. 13.12.5 Τὴν δραχμὴν εἶχες τὴν εὐαγγελικὴν καὶ καλῶς ἐπλούτεις τῷ χρήματι, εἶτα διὰ ῥᾳθυ μίαν ἀπώλεσας. Ἅψον τὸν ἐκ τῆς μετανοίας λύχνον, κατάκυψον ἐπιμελῶς, ζήτησον τὸ κειμήλιον τοῖς γηΐνοις ἐγκρυπτόμενον πάθεσιν. Εὑρηκὼς ἀνελοῦ καὶ σῶσον, ἵνα σοι συγχαρῶμεν οἱ γείτονες χαρὰν τὴν ἐν Χριστῷ, ᾧ πρέπει δόξα, νῦν καὶ ἀεί, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.
About this text
Vivid sermons against greed and empty vanity, and for mercy to the poor and the enslaved.
Original English Translation of Asterius of Amasea’s Homiliae — new OET from PG 40 Greek.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG 40 (Khazarzar) (Greek)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.