320 WORKS OF ST. CHRYSOSTOM. [HOMILY XII. this too is a property of extreme pervertedness, that even one that rebuketh you incurs your ridicule as one that is austere. Hear ye not Paul, saying, " Whatsoever ye do, whether ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory ofGod "? (i Cor. x. 31.) But ye do all to ill report and dishonor. Hear ye not the Prophet, saying, " Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice unto Him with trembling? " (Ps. ii. n.) But ye are wholly without restraint. 1 Is it not possible both to enjoy pleasure, and to do so with safety ? Art thou desirous of hearing beau tiful songs? Best of all indeed, thou oughtest not ; nevertheless, I condescend if thou wilt have it so : do not hear those Satanic ones, but the spiritual. Art thou desirous of seeing choirs of dancers ? Behold the choir of Angels. And how is it possible, saith one, to see them? If thou drive away all these things, even Christ will come to such a marriage, and Christ being pres ent, the choir ofAngels is present also. If thou wilt, He will even now work miracles as He did then ; He will make even now the water, wine (John ii.) ; and what is much more wonderful, He will convert this unstable and dissolving pleasure, this cold desire, and change it into the spiritual. This is to make of water, wine. Where pipers are, by no means there is Christ ; but even if He should have entered, He first casts these forth,2 and then He works His won ders. What can be more disagreeable than this Satanic pomp? where everything is inarticulate, everything without significancy ; and if there be anything articulate, again all is shameful, all is noisome. Nothing is more pleasurable than virtue, nothing sweeter than orderliness, nothing more amiable than gravity. Let any celebrate such a marriage as I speak of; and he shall find the pleasure ; but what sort of marriages these are, take heed. First seek a husband for the virgin, who will be truly a husband, and a protector ; as though thou wert intending to place a head upon a body; as though about to give not a slave, but a daughter into his hands. Seek not money, nor splendor of family, nor greatness of country ; all these things are superfluous ; but piety of soul, gentleness, the true understanding, the fear of God, if thou wishest thy darling to live with pleasure. For if thou seek a wealthier husband, not only wilt thou not benefit her, but thou wilt even harm her, by making her a slave instead of free. For the pleasure she will reap from her golden trinkets will not be so great as will be the annoyance that comes of her slavery. I pray thee, seek not these things, but most of all, one of equal condition ; if however this cannot be, rather one poorer 8 Asw fl(r9(, are dissolute; lit. " poured abroad." hen He would raise Jairus s daughter, Matt. ix. 25. than in better circumstances ; if at least thou be desirous not of selling thy daughter to a master, but of giving her to a husband. When thou hast thoroughly investigated the virtue of the man, and art about to give her to him, be seech Christ to be present : for He will not be ashamed to be so ; it is the mystery of His presence. Yea rather beseech Him even in the first instance, to grant her such a suitor. Be not worse than the servant ofAbraham, who, when sent on a pilgrimage so important, saw whither he ought to have recourse ; wherefore also he obtained everything. When thou art taking anxious pains, and seeking a husband for her, pray ; say unto God, " whomsoever Thou wilt do Thou provide : " into His hands commit the matter ; and He, honored in this way by thee, will requite thee with honor. Two things indeed it is necessary to do ; to commit the thing into His hands, and to seek such an orderly person as He Himself approves. When 3 then thou makest a marriage, go not round from house to house borrowing mirrors and dresses ; for the matter is not one of dis play, nor dost thou lead thy daughter to a pageant ; but decking out thine house with what is in it, invite thy neighbors, and friends, and kindred. As many as thou knowest to be of a good character, those invite, and bid them be content with what there is. Let no one from the orchestra be present, for such expense is superfluous, and unbecoming. Before all the rest, invite Christ. Knowest thou whereby thou wilt invite Him ? Whosoever, saith He, " hath done it to one of these least, hath done it to Me." (Matt. xxv. 40.) And think it not an annoying thing to invite the poor for Christ s sake ; to invite harlots is an annoyance. For to invite the poor is a means of wealth, the other of ruin. Adorn the bride not with these ornaments that are made of gold, but with gen tleness and modesty, and the customary robes ; in place of all golden ornament and braiding, arraying her in blushes, and shamefacedness, and the not desiring such things. Let there be no uproar, no confusion ; let the bridegroom be called, let him receive the virgin. The dinners and suppers, let them not be full of drunkenness, but of abundance and pleasure. See how many good things will result, whenever we see such marriages as those ; but from the marriages that are now celebrated, (if at least one ought to call them marriages and not pa geants,) how many are the evils ! The banquet hall is no sooner broken up, than straightway comes care and fear, lest aught that is borrowed should have been lost, and there succeeds to the pleasure melancholy intolerable. But this distress belongs to the mother-in-law, 3 Here he addresses the mother, all the participles being feminine.