HOMILY X.] HOMILIES ON EPHESIANS. 101 but whilst our Father s house is burning, we are sleeping, as it were, a deep and stupid sleep. And yet who is there whom this fire does not touch? Which of the statues that stand in the Church? for the Church is nothing else than a house built of the souls of us men. Now this house is not of equal honor throughout, but of the stones which contribute to it, some are bright and shining, whilst others are smaller and more dull than they, and yet superior again to others. 1 There we may see many who are in the place of gold also, the gold which adorns the ceiling. Others again we may see, who give the beauty and gracefulness pro duced by statues. Many 2 we may see, standing like pillars. For he is accustomed to callmen also " pillars " (Gal. ii. 9) , not only on account of their strength but also on account of their beauty, add ing as they do, much grace, and having their heads overlaid with gold. We may see a multi tude, forming generally the wide middle space and the whole extent of the circumference ; for the body at large occupies the place of those stones of which the outer walls are built. Or rather we must go on to a more splendid picture yet. This Church, of which I speak, is not built of these stones, such as we see around us, but of gold and silver, and of precious stones, and there is abundance of gold dispersed everywhere throughout it. But, oh the bitter tears this calls forth ! For all these things hath the lawless rule of vainglory consumed ; that all-devouring flame, which no one has yet got under. And we stand gazing in amazement at the flames, but no longer able to quench the evil : or if we do quench it for a short time, yet after two or three days as a spark blown up from a heap of ashes overturns all, and consumes no less than it did before, so it is here also : for this is just what is wont to happen in such a con flagration. And as to the cause, it has devoured the supports of the very pillars of the Church ; those of us who supported the roof, and who formerly held the whole building together it has enveloped in the flame. Hence too was a ready communication to the rest of the outer walls : for so also in the case of buildings, when the fire lays hold of the timbers, it is better armed for its attack upon the stones ; but when it has brought down the pillars and leveled them with the ground, nothing more is wanted to consume all the rest in the flames. For when the props and supports of the upper parts fall down, those 1 [Field s text has here TroAAtp Se txeivuiv (SeAnou? instead of rroAAoi 6e a\\iav peAriovs, which is clearly better than Field s, be- 2 [In Field s text the word " many," n-oAAovs, is put in the preced ing sentence; but it is better where it stands here, to complete the sentence and to make it correspond with the two preceding sen tences. G. A.I parts also themselves will speedily enough followthem. Thus is it also at this moment with the Church : the fire has laid hold on every part.We seek the honors that come from man, weburn for glory, and we hearken not to Job whenhe saith, " If like Adam (or after the manner of men) I covered my transgressions By hiding mine iniquity in my bosom, Because I feared the great multitude." 3 Behold ye a virtuous spirit ? I was not ashamed, he saith, to own before the whole multitude my involuntary sins. And if he was not ashamed to confess, much more were it our duty to do so. For saith the prophet, " Set thou forth thy cause, that thou mayest be justified." (Isa. xliii. 26.) Great is the violence of this evil, everything is overturned by it and annihilated. We have forsaken the Lord, and are become slaves of honor. We are no longer able to rebuke those who are under our rule, because we ourselves also are possessed with the same fever as they. We who are appointed by God to heal others, need the physician ourselves. What further hope of recovery is there left, when even the very physicians themselves need the healing hand of others ? I have not said these things without an object, nor am I making lamentations to no purpose, but with the view that one and all, with our women and children, having sprinkled ourselves with ashes, and girded ourselves about with sackcloth, may keep a long fast, may beseech God Himself to stretch forth His hand to us, and to stay the peril. For need is there indeed of His hand, that mighty, that marvelous hand. Greater things are required of us than of the Ninevites. " Yet three days," said the prophet, "and Nineveh shall be overthrown." 4 (Jonah iii. 4.) A fearful message, and burdened with tremendous threat. And how should it be other wise ? to expect that within three days, the city should become their tomb, and that all should perish in one common judgment. For if, when it happens that two children die at the same time in one house, the hardship becomes intoler able, and if to Job this of all things seemed the most intolerable, that the roof fell in upon all his children, and they were thus killed ; what must it be to behold not one house, nor two children, but a nation of a hundred and twenty thousand buried beneath the ruins ! 3 Job xxxi. 33, 34. The verses in the Sept. stand thus: Ei & /cat a^apriav aicoucrno? e<cpuvj/a ri]v afiapTiay (JLOV. Oil yap &ieTpavr)V jroAuoxAiaf irATjflous, TOU /UTJ cayopeCffai tvuiitiov aiiruiv [hut Chry- sostom quotes only these words: ti ica\ ajiap-nW a/coi/<Ti a>? jitTparrijf 7roAix>xAi a> . The Hebrew is quite different, as shown in rendering of Rev. Ver. (above). G. A.]. * [The Septuagint has yet three days, &c., >t rpi? i)MP"i ic.r.A. So Chrysostom quotes it. The Hebrew text and the Rev. Ver., following it, Van*,forty days. G. A.]