64 WORKS OF ST. CHRYSOSTOM. [HOMILY III. yes, verily. Now then, thou wouldest not choose to make use of a soiled vessel, and dost thou approach with a soiled soul ? Observe the vast inconsistency of the thing. At the other times ye come not, no, not though often ye are clean ; but at Easter, however flagrant an act ye may have committed, ye come. Oh ! the force of custom and of prejudice ! In vain is the daily Sacrifice, 1 in vain do we stand before the Altar ; there is no one to partake. These things I am saying, not to induce you to par take any how, but that ye should render your selves worthy to partake. Art thou not worthy of the Sacrifice, nor of the participation ? If so, then neither art thou of the prayer. Thou hearest the herald, 2 standing, and saying, " As many as are in penitence, all pray."3 As many as do not partake, are in penitence. If thou art one of those that are in penitence, thou oughtest not to partake ; for he that partakes not, is one of those that are in penitence. Why then does he say, Depart, ye that are not qualified to pray," whilst thou hast the effront ery to stand still ? But no, thou art not of that number, thou art of the number of those who are qualified to partake, and yet art indifferent about it, and regardest the matter as nothing. Look, I entreat : a royal table is set before you, Angels minister at that table, the King Himself is there, and dost thou stand gaping ? " 4 Are thy garments defiled, and yet dost thou make no account of it ? or are they clean ? Then fall down and partake. Every day He cometh in to see the guests, and converseth with them all. Yes, at this moment is he speaking to your conscience; "Friends, how stand ye here, not having on a wedding garment ? " He said not, Why didst thou sit down ? no, before he sat down, He declared him to be unworthy, so much as to come in. He saith not, " Why didst thou sit down to meat," but, " Why earn est thou in?" And these are the words that He is at this very moment addressing to one and all of us that stand here with such shame less effrontery. For every one, that partaketh not of the mysteries, is standing here in shame less effrontery. It is for this reason, that they which are in sins are first of all put forth ; for just as when a master is present at his table, it is not right that those servantswho have offended him should be present, but they are sent out of 1 [On Chrysostom s view of the eucharistic sacrifice, see Proleg omena, p. 21, note. G. A.]a i. e. the Deacon, ASavacrtos Trpoerrafas SiaKovw itTjpvfai ev>x>7v K. T. A. Socr. Hist. ii. 11. id qu. avayiviavneiv. Athan. defug 24.* Vid. Bingh. Antiqu. xiii. 2. and xiv. 5. (The text here seems to bt^ corrupt, Field s text is, " As many as are in penitence, all pray," {Seijflrjre wa^res) which is evidently inconsistent with the context. The text should probably be, " As many as are in penitence, depart ; as many a_s are not in penitence, pray all." So Field suggests ii. .a note saying, Locus corruptus videtur, sic fortasse redintegrandus: ocrot iv jucTcu/oia an-eAfleTe, ocroijui) eV Hfravoia ^a^^ijre navTf;. G. A.] 4 Vid. Bingh. Antiyu. xv. 2. the way : just so also here when the sacrifice is brought forth, and Christ, the Lord s sheep, is sacrificed; when thou hearest the words, " Let us pray together," when thou beholdest the cur tains drawn up,5 then imagine that the Heavens ar.e let down from above, and that the Angels are descending ! As then it is not meet that any one of the uninitiated be present, so neither is it that one of them that are initiated, and yet at the same time defiled. Tell me, suppose any one were invited to a feast, and were to wash his hands, and sit down, and be all ready at the table, and after all refuse to partake ; is he not insulting the man who invited him ? were it not better for such an one never to have come at all ? Now it is just in the same way that thou hast come here. Thou hast sung the Hymn6 with the rest : thou hast declared thyself to be of the number of them that are worthy, by not departing with them that are unworthy. Why stay, and yet not partake of the table ? I am unworthy, thou wilt say. Then art thou also unworthy of that communion thou hast had in prayers. For it is not by means of the offerings only, but also by means of those canticles that the Spirit descendeth all around. Do we not see our own servants, first scouring the table with a sponge, and cleaning the house, and then setting out the entertainment ? This is what is done by the prayers, by the cry of the herald. We scour the Church, as it were, with a sponge, that all things may be set out in a pure church, that there maybe " neither spot norwrinkle." (Eph. v: 27.) Unworthy, indeed, both our eyes of these sights, and unworthy are our ears ! " And if even a beast," it is said, " touch the mountain, it shall be stoned." (Ex. xix : 13.) Thus then they were not worthy so much as to set foot on it, and yet afterwards they both came near, and beheld where God had stood. And thou mayest, afterwards, come near, and behold : when, however, He is pres ent, depart. Thou art no more allowed to be here than the Catechumen is. For it is not at all the same thing never to have reached the mys teries, and when thou hast reached them, to stumble at them and despise them, and to make thyself unworthy of this thing. One might enter upon more points, and those more awful still ; not however to burden your understand ing, these will suffice. They who are not brought to their right senses with these, certain ly will not be with more. That I may not then be the means of increas- 6 aiJi<j>i6vpa, curtains before the choir or altar, vid. Chrysost. in Matt. Horn. 84. _fin. where, however, it has not the ecclesiastical sense, Epiphan. Epist. 51. 9. apud Hieron. ed. Vallars. wherethe curtain had a figure of Christ or some Saint, (to which Epipha-nius objects.) vid. also Evagr. Hist. vi. 21. 6 The Angelic Hymn, Holy, Holy, Holy, vid. Chrysost in a Cor. Honi. 18. Cyril. Micros. Myst. v. 6.