Homily IV. on the giving of thanks (περὶ
εὐχαριστίας),
is on text 1 Thess. v.
16. Our Lord, it
is remarked, wept over Lazarus, and He called them that mourn
blessed. How §
4. is this to be
reconciled with the charge “Rejoice alway”?
“Tears and joy have not a common origin. On the one hand,
while the breath is held in round the heart, tears spontaneously gush
forth, as at some blow, when an unforeseen calamity smites upon the
soul. Joy on the other hand is like a leaping up of the soul
rejoicing when things go well. Hence come different appearances
of the body. The sorrowful are pale, livid, chilly. The
habit of the joyous and cheerful is blooming and ruddy; their soul all
but leaps out of their body for gladness. On all this I shall say
that the lamentations and tears of the saints were caused by their love
to God. So, with their eyes ever fixed on the object of their
love, and from hence gathering greater joy for themselves, they devoted
themselves to the interests of their fellow-servants. Weeping
over sinners, they brought them to better ways by their tears.
But just as men standing safe on the seashore, while they feel for
those who are drowning in the deep, do not lose their own safety in
their anxiety for those in peril, so those who groan over the sins of
their neighbours do not destroy their own proper cheerfulness.
Nay, they rather increase it, in that, through their tears over their
brother, they are made worthy of the joy of the Lord. Wherefore,
blessed are they that weep; blessed are they that mourn; for they shall
themselves be comforted; they themselves shall laugh. But by
laughter is meant not the noise that comes out through the cheeks from
the boiling of the blood, but cheerfulness pure and untainted with
despondency. The Apostle allows us to weep with weepers, for this
tear is made, as it were, a seed and loan to be repaid with everlasting
joy. Mount in mind with me, and contemplate the condition of the
angels; see if any other condition becomes them but one of joy and
gladness. It is for that they are counted worthy to stand beside
God, and to enjoy the ineffable beauty and glory of our Creator.
It is in urging us on to that life that the Apostle bids us always
rejoice.”