this light; and though it encompasses the eye with its presence, yet the eye turns itself away from, and is absent from it; and though its disordered condition is not only rendered absent from the light which is present, but the light to see which it was formed, is even painful to it. So the eye of the heart too, when it is disordered and wounded, turns away from the light of righteousness, and dares not and can not contemplate it.

VI. And what is it that disorders the eye of the heart? Evil desire, covetousness, injustice, worldly concupiscence; these disorder, close, blind the eye of the heart. And yet, when the eye of the body is out of order, how is the physician sought out, what an absence of all delay to open and cleanse it, that they may be healed whereby this outward light is seen! There is running to and fro, no one is still, no one loiters, if even the smallest straw fall into the eye. And God, it must be allowed, made the sun which we desire to see with sound eyes. Much brighter, assuredly, is He who made it; nor is the

light with which the eye of the mind is concerned, of this kind at KATIO

all. That light is eternal Wisdom. God made thee, O man, after His own image. Would He give thee wherewithal to see the sun which He made, and not give thee. wherewithal to see Him who made thee, when He made thee after His own image? He hath given thee this also; both hath He given thee. But much thou dost love these outward eyes, and despisest much that interior eye; it thou dost carry about bruised and wounded. Yea, it would be a punishment to thee if thy Maker should wish to manifest Himself unto thee; it would be a punishment to thine eye, before that it is cured and healed. For so Adam in Paradise sinned, and hid himself from the face of God. As long, then, as he had the sound heart of a pure conscience, he rejoiced at the presence of God; when that eye was wounded by sin, he began to dread the Divine light, he fled back into the darkness, and the thick covert of the trees, flying from the truth, and anxious for the shade.

VII. Therefore, my brethren, since we too are born of him, and as the Apostle says, In Adam all die; for we were all at first two persons; if we were loth to obey the physician, that we might not be sick; let us obey him now, that we may be delivered from sickness. The physician gave us precepts, when we were whole; He gave us precepts that we might not need a physician. They that are whole, He saith, need not a physician, but they that are sick. When whole, we despised these precepts, and by experience have felt how to our own destruction we despised his precepts. Now we are sick, we are in distress, we are on the bed of weakness; yet let us not

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despair. For because we could not come to the Physician, He hath vouchsafed to come Himself to us. Though despised by man when he was whole, He did not despise him when he was stricken. He did not leave off to give other precepts to the weak, who would not keep the first precepts, that he might not be weak; as though He would say, "Assuredly thou hast by experience felt that I spoke the truth when I said, Touch not this. Be healed then now, at length, and recover the life thou hast lost. Lo, I am bearing thine infirmity; drink then the bitter cup. For thou hast of thine own self made those my so sweet precepts, which were given to thee when whole, so toilsome. They were despised, and so thy distress began; cured thou canst not be, except thou drink the bitter cup, the cup of temptations, wherein this life abounds, the cup of tribulation, anguish, and suffering. Drink then," He says, "drink, that thou mayest live." And that the sick man may not make answer, "I can not, I can not bear it, I will not drink;" the Physician, all whole though he be, drinketh first, that the sick man may not hesitate to drink. For what bitterness is there in this cup, which He hath not drunk? If it be contumely, he heard it first when he drove out the devils. He hath a devil, and by Beelzebub he casteth out devils. Whereupon, in order to comfort the sick, He saith, If they have called the Master af the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of His household? If pains are this bitter cup, He was bound, and scourged, and crucified. If death be this bitter cup, He died also. If infirmity shrink with horror from any particular kind of death; none was at that time more ignominious than the death of the cross. For it was not in vain that the Apostle, when setting forth His obedience, added, Made obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

VIII. But because He designed to honor His faithful ones at the end of the world, He hath first honored the cross in this world; in such wise that the princes of the earth who believe in Him have prohibited any criminal from being crucified; and that cross which the Jewish persecutors with great mockery prepared for the Lord, even kings, his servants at this day, bear with great confidence on their foreheads. Only the shameful nature of the death which our Lord vouchsafed to undergo for us is not now so apparent, Who, as the Apostle says, was made a curse for us. And when, as He hung, the blindness of the Jews mocked Him, surely He could have cone down from the cross, Who, if He had not so willed, had not been on the cross; but it was a greater thing to rise from the grave than to come down from the cross. Our Lord, then, in doing these

divine, and in suffering these human things, instructs us by his bodily miracles and bodily patience, that we may believe and be made whole to behold those things invisible which the eye of the body hath no knowledge of. With this intent, then, He cured those blind men of whom the account has just now been read in the Gospel. And consider what instruction He has by this cure conveyed to the man who is sick within.

IX. Consider the issue of the thing, and the order of the circumstances. Those two blind men sitting by the wayside cried out, as the Lord passed by, that He would have mercy upon them. But they were restrained from crying out by the multitude which was with the Lord. Now do not suppose that this circumstance is left without a mysterious meaning. But they overcame the crowd who kept them back by the great perseverance of their cry, that their voice might reach the Lord's ears; as though he had not already anticipated their thoughts. So then the two blind men cried out that they might be heard by the Lord, and could not be restrained by the multitude. The Lord was passing by, and they cried out. The Lord stood still, and they were healed. For the Lord Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? They say unto Him, That our eyes may be opened. The Lord did according to their faith, He recovered their eyes. If we have now understood by the sick, the deaf, the dead, the sick, and deaf, and dead within; let us look out in this place also for the blind within. The eyes of the heart are closed; Jesus passeth by that we may cry out. What is Jesus passeth by? Jesus is doing things which last but for a time. What is Jesus passeth by? Jesus doth things which pass by. Mark and see how many things of His have passed by. He was born of the Virgin Mary; is He being born always? As an infant He was suckled; is He suckled always? He ran through the successive ages of life until man's full estate; doth He grow in body always? Boyho succeeded to infancy, to boyhood youth, to youth man's full ftature in several passing successions. Even the very miracles which he did are passed by; they are read and believed. For because these miracles are written that so they might be read, they passe by when they were being done. In a word, not to dwell long on this, He was crucified; is He hanging on the cross always? He wasburied, He rose again, He ascended into heaven, now He dieth no ore; Death shall no more have dominion over Him. And His Divinit abideth ever, yea, the immortality of His body now shall never fai, But nevertheless all those things which were wrought by Him in time have passed by; and they are written to

be read, and they are preached to be believed. In all these things, then, Jesus passeth by.

X. And-what are the two blind men by the wayside but the two people to cure whom. Jesus came? Let us show these two people in the Holy Scriptures. It is written in the Gospel, Other sheep 1 have which are not of this fold; them also must I bring, that there may be one fold and one Shepherd. Who then are the two people? One the people of the Jews, and the other of the Gentiles. I am not sent, He saith, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. To whom did He say this? To the disciples; when that woman of Canaan who confessed herself to be a dog cried out that she might be found worthy of the crumbs from the Master's table. And because she was found worthy, now were the two people to whom He had come made manifest, the Jewish people, to wit, of whom He said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel; and the people of the Gentiles, whose type this woman exhibited, whom He had first rejected, saying, It is not meet to cast the children's bread to the dogs; and to whom, when she said, Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table, He answered, 0 woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt. For of this people also was that centurion of whom the same Lord saith, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. Because he had said, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof, but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. So then the Lord even before His passion and glorification pointed out two people, the one to whom he had come because of the promises to the Fathers, and the other whom for His mercy's sake He did not reject; that it might be fulfilled which had been promised to Abraham, In thy seed shall all the nations be blessed.

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XI. Attend, now, dearly beloved. The Lord was passing by, and the blind men cried out. What is, was passing by? As we have already said, He was doing works which passed by. Now upon these passing works is our faith built up.. For we believe on the Son of God, not only in that He is the word of God, by whom all things were made; for if He had always continued in the form of God, equi with God, and had not emptied Himself in taking the form of a servant; the blind men would not even have perceived Him, that they might be able to cry out. But when He wrought passing works, that is, when He humbled Himself, having become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, the two blind men cried out, Have mercy on us, thou Son of David. For this very thing that He, David's Lord and

Creator, willed also to be David's son, He wrought in time, He wrought passing by.

XII. Now what is it, brethren, to cry out unto Christ, but to correspond to the grace of Christ by good works? This say, I brethren, lest haply we cry aloud with our voices, and in our lives be dumb. Who is he that crieth out to Christ, that his inward blindness may be driven away by Christ as He is passing by, that is, as He is dispensing to us those temporal sacraments, whereby we are instructed to receive the things which are eternal? Who is he that crieth out unto Christ? Whoso despiseth the world, crieth out NAM 201 unto Christ. Whoso despiseth the pleasures of the world, crieth out unto Christ. Whoso saith, not with his tongue but with his life, The world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world; crieth out unto Christ. Whoso disperseth abroad and giveth to the poor, that his righteousness may endure forever; crieth out unto Christ. For let him that hears, and is not deaf to the sound, sell that ye have, and give to the poor; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not; let him as he hears the sound as it were of Christ's fsotsteps passing by, cry out in response to this in his blindness, that is, let him do these things. Let his voice be in his actions. Let him begin to despise the world, to distribute to the poor his goods, to es teem as nothing worth what other men love, let him disregard injuries, not seek to be avenged, let him give his cheek to the smiter, let him pray for his enemies; if any one have taken away his goods, let him not ask for them again; if he have taken any thing from any man, let him restore fourfold.

XIII. When he shall begin to do all this, all his kinsmen, relations, and friends will be in commotion. They who love the world, will oppose him. What madness this! you are too extreme: What! are not other men Christians? This is folly, this is madness. And other such like things do the multitude cry out to prevent the blind from crying out. The multitude rebuked them as they cried out; but did not overcome their cries. Let them who wish to be healed understand what they have to do. Jesus is now also passing by; let them who are by the wayside cry out. These are they, who know God with their lips, but their heart is far from Him. These are by the wayside, to whom, as blinded in heart, Jesus gives His precepts. For when those passing things which Jesus did are recounted, Jesus is always represented to us as passing by. For even unto the end of the world there will not be wanting blind men sitting by the wayside. Need then there is that they who sit by the wayside should cry out. The multitude that was with the Lord would repress the