were? They were sent to take vengeance in the cases of the Israelites, of David, of the Sod- omites, of the Valley of weeping.751 (Ex. xxiii. 20.) Not so however now, but, on the contrary, 273 they sang upon the earth752 (2 Sam. xxiv. 16.) with exceeding joy. And He led these down to men753 (Gen. xix. 13.), and led men up to them. And observe, I pray you, the marvel in this: He brought these first down hither, and then he took up man to them; earth became heaven, because that heaven was about to receive the things of earth. Therefore when we give thanks, we say, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will to men.” Behold, he saith, even men appeared well-pleasing to Him thereafter. What is “good will”? (Eph. ii. 14; Deut. xxxii. 8, Sept.) Reconciliation. No longer is the heaven a wall of partition. At first the Angels were according to the number of the nations; but now, not to the number of the nations, but that of the believers. Whence is this evident? Hear Christ saying, “See that ye despise not one of these little ones, for their Angels do always behold the face of My Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. xviii. 10.) For each believer hath an Angel; since even from the beginning, every one of those that were approved had his Angel, as Jacob says, “The Angel that feedeth me, and delivereth me from my youth.”754 (Gen. xlviii. 15, 16, nearly.) If then we have Angels, let us be sober, as though we were in the presence of tutors; for there is a demon present also.755 Therefore we pray, asking756 for the Angel of peace, and everywhere we ask for peace757 (for there is nothing equal to this); peace, in the Churches, in the prayers, in the supplications, in the salutations; and once, and twice, and thrice, and many times, does he that is over the Church give it, “Peace be unto you.” Wherefore? Because this is the Mother of all good things; this is the foundation of joy. Therefore Christ also commanded the Apostles on entering into the houses straightway to say this, as being a sort of symbol of the good things; for He saith, “When ye come into the houses, say, Peace be unto you;”758 for where this is wanting, 751 Judg. ii. 5; see Ps. lxxxiv. 6 (2 Sam. v. seems hardly applicable). 752 Downes conjectures, “Peace on earth.” Luke ii. 13. 753 Gr. αὐτοὺς, one suspects ἄνους (ἀνθρώπους), which has been conjectured. 754 “Feedeth” is said of God in the text. On the passage, St. Chrys. does not notice the mention of the Angel. He quotes it, however, in his first Homily de laudibus B. Pauli. He also infers the doctrine from Acts xii. 15; Hom. xxvi. St. Jerome, on Isa. lxvi. 20, quotes all these passages. Bp. Bull, Ser. xii. adds, Eccl. v. 6. 755 See St. Hermas, Past. 1, ii. pr. 6, § 1, and Cotelerius, note 14, t. i., p. 93, who cites Origen, Hom. xii. in Luc. S. Greg. Nyss. de Vita Mosis, p. 194; Petavius, Theol. Dog. de Ang. l. ii. c. 8, cites St. Basil, contr. Eunom. p. 70, and on Ps. xxxiii. p. 220, &c. 756 [There was among the forms of prayer in Chrys.’s day this, “Ask for the angel of peace.” See Field’s An- notations.—J.A.B.] 757 In Hom. xxxii. on St. Matt. he mentions a prayer for Peace. See also Const. Ap. 1. viii. c. 37 fin. 758 St. Matt. x. 12, St. Luke x. 5, but neither accurately. [That is, neither Gospel is here accurately quoted. Chrys. often makes slight mistakes in quoting, as we do.—J.A.B.] 481 Colossians 1:15-18