Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume XIII/Ephraim the Syrian and Aphrahat/Hymns For the Feast of the Epiphany/Hymn VIII

(.&#8212;Happy are ye whose bodies have been made to shine!)

1.&#160; God in His mercy stooped and came down,&#8212;to mingle His compassion with the water,&#8212;and to blend the nature of His majesty&#8212;with the wretched bodies of men.&#8212;He made occasion by the water&#8212;to come down and to dwell in us:&#8212;like to the occasion of mercy&#8212;when He came down and dwelt in the womb:&#8212;O the mercies of God&#8212;Who seeks for Himself all occasions to dwell in us!

2.&#160; To the cave in Horeb He stooped and came down,&#8212;and on Moses He caused His majesty to dwell;&#8212;He imparted His glorious splendour to mortals.&#8212;There was therein a figure of Baptism:&#8212;He Who came down and dwelt in it,&#8212;tempers within the water&#8212;the might of His majesty,&#8212;that He may dwell in the feeble.&#8212;On Moses dwelt the Breath,&#8212;and on you the Perfecting of Christ.

3.&#160; That might then none could endure;&#8212;not Moses chief of deliverers,&#8212;nor Elijah chief of zealots;&#8212;and the Seraphin too vail their faces,&#8212;for it is the might that subdues all.&#8212;His mercy mingled gentleness&#8212;in the water and by the oil;&#8212;that mankind in its weakness&#8212;might be able to stand before Him&#8212;when covered by the water and the oil.

4.&#160; The captive priests again in the well&#8212;hid and concealed the fire of the sanctuary, &#8212;a mystery of that glorified fire&#8212;which the Highpriest mingles in Baptism.&#8212;The priests took up of the mire,&#8212;and on the altar they sprinkled it;&#8212;for its fire, the fire of that well,&#8212;with the mire had been mingled;&#8212;a mystery of our bodies which in the water&#8212;with the fire of the Holy Spirit have been mingled.

5.&#160; The famous Three in Babylon&#8212;in the furnace of fire were baptized, and came forth;&#8212;they went in and bathed in the flood of flame, they were buffeted by the blazing billows.&#8212;There was sprinkled on them there&#8212;the dew that fell from heaven;&#8212;it loosed from off them there&#8212;the bonds of the earthly king.&#8212;Lo! the famous Three went in and found a fourth in the furnace.

6.&#160; That visible fire that triumphed outwardly,&#8212;pointed to the fire of the Holy Ghost,&#8212;which is mingled, lo! and hidden in the water.&#8212;In the flame Baptism is figured,&#8212;in that blaze of the furnace.&#8212;Come, enter, be baptized, my brethren,&#8212;for lo! it looses the bonds;&#8212;for in it there dwells and is hidden&#8212;the Daysman of God,&#8212;Who in the furnace was the fourth.

7.&#160; Two words again our Lord spake&#8212;which in one voice agree in unison:&#8212;He said, &#8220;I am come to send fire,&#8221;&#8212;and again, &#8220;I have a baptism to be baptized with.&#8221;&#8212;By the fire of Baptism is quenched the fire,&#8212;that which the Evil One had kindled:&#8212;and the water of Baptism has overcome&#8212;those waters of contention&#8212;by which he had made trial&#8212;of Joseph who conquered and was crowned.

8.&#160; Lo! the pure fire of our Redeemer&#8212;which he kindled in mankind of His mercy!&#8212;Through His fire He quenched that fire&#8212;which had been kindled in the defiled and sinful.&#8212;This is the fire wherein the thorns&#8212;are burnt up and the tares.&#8212;But happy are your bodies&#8212;that have been baptized in the fire&#8212;which has consumed your thickets,&#8212;and by it your seeds have sprung up to heaven!

9.&#160; Jeremiah in the womb He sanctified and taught.&#8212;But if the lowly bosom of wedlock&#8212;was sanctified in conceiving and bringing him forth,&#8212;how much more shall Baptism sanctify&#8212;its conception and its bringing forth&#8212;of them that are pure and spiritual!&#8212;For there, within the womb&#8212;is the conception of all men;&#8212;but here, out of the water,&#8212;is the birth whereof the spiritual are worthy.

10.&#160; For Jeremiah though sanctified in the womb,&#8212;they took up nails and cast him into the pit.&#8212;Holy was the prophet in his befoulment,&#8212;for clean was his heart though he was in the mire.&#8212;Be ye afraid, my brethren&#8212;for lo! to-day is washed away&#8212;your secret befoulment,&#8212;and the abomination of your sins.&#8212;Turn not again to uncleanness,&#8212;for there is but one cleansing of your bodies!

11.&#160; The presumptuous who is baptized and again sins,&#8212;is as the serpent that casts its slough and again puts it on, that is renewed and made young, and turns again&#8212;&#8212;putting on anew its skin of old;&#8212;for the serpent does not&#8212;cast off its nature.&#8212;Cast ye off the tempter&#8212;the corrupter of souls,&#8212;even the old man;&#8212;let it not make old&#8212;the newness ye have put on!

12.&#160; Elisha cast the wood into the water, and made the heavy float and the light sink:&#8212;their natures were exchanged in the water.&#8212;There a new thing came to pass not according to nature.&#8212;How much easier then, O Lord,&#8212;is this for Thy grace; that in the water should sink&#8212;transgression which is heavy,&#8212;but that the soul which is light&#8212;should be drawn forth and raised up on high!

13.&#160; Joshua, son of Nun, on Jericho&#8212;laid a curse on its walls and a doom on its fountains.&#8212;They whom Joshua cursed to their destruction,&#8212;again in the mystery of Jesus have been blessed.&#8212;There was cast into them salt,&#8212;and they were healed and sweetened:&#8212;a mystery of this salt,&#8212;the sweet salt that came from Mary,&#8212;that was mingled in the water,&#8212;whereby was healed the noisomeness of our plagues.

14.&#160; Lo! quiet waters are before you,&#8212;holy and tranquil and pleasant;&#8212;for they are not the waters of contention&#8212;that cast Joseph into the dungeon;&#8212;nor yet are they the waters,&#8212;those waters of strife,&#8212;beside which the people strove,&#8212;and gainsaid in the wilderness.&#8212;There are waters whereby&#8212;there is reconciliation made with Heaven.

15.&#160; Hagar saw the spring of water,&#8212;and from it she gave drink to her forward son, him who became as a wild ass in the wilderness.&#8212;Instead of that fountain of water is Baptism.&#8212;In it are baptized the sons of Hagar,&#8212;and are become gentle and peaceful.&#160; Who has seen rams like these,&#8212;that are yoked, lo! and labour&#8212;along with tame bullocks,&#8212;and the seed of their tillage is reaped an hundredfold!

16.&#160; In the beginning the Spirit that brooded&#8212;moved on the waters; they conceived and gave birth&#8212;to serpents and fishes and birds.&#8212;The Holy Spirit has brooded in Baptism,&#8212;and in mystery has given birth to eagles,&#8212;Virgins and Prelates;&#8212;and in mystery has given birth to fishes,&#8212;celibates and intercessors; and in mystery of serpents,&#8212;lo! the subtle have become simple as doves!

17.&#160; Lo! the sword of our Lord in the waters!&#8212;that which divides sons and fathers:&#8212;for it is the living sword that makes&#8212;division, lo! of the living from the dying.&#8212;Lo! they are baptized and they become&#8212;Virgins and saints,&#8212;who have gone down, been baptized, and put on&#8212;the One Only begotten.&#8212;Lo! many have come boldly to Him!

18.&#160; For whoso have been baptized and put on Him&#8212;the Only begotten the Lord of the many,&#8212;has filled thereby the place of many,&#8212;for to him Christ has become a great treasure:&#8212;for He became in the wilderness&#8212;a table of good meats,&#8212;and He became at the marriage feast&#8212;a fountain of choice wines.&#8212;He has become such to all in all things,&#8212;by helps and healings and promises.

19.&#160; Elisha was the equal of the Watchers&#8212;in his doings, glorious and holy.&#8212;The camp of the Watchers was round about him;&#8212;thus let Baptism be unto you,&#8212;a camp of guardians,&#8212;for by means of it there dwells in the heart&#8212;the hope of them that are below&#8212;and the Lord of them that are above.&#8212;Sanctify for Him your bodies,&#8212;for where He abides, corruption comes not near.

20.&#160; They are no more, the waters of that sea&#8212;which by its billows preserved the People,&#8212;and by its billows laid low the peoples.&#8212;Of contrary effect are the waters in Baptism.&#8212;In them, lo! the people have life;&#8212;in them, lo! the People perishes:&#8212;for all that are not baptized,&#8212;in the waters that give life to all,&#8212;they are dead invisibly.

21.&#160; They are no more, the waters of that sea&#8212;which were tempestuous, and boiled against Jonah,&#8212;and plunged into the depths the Son of Amittai.&#8212;Though he fled he was bound in the prison-house;&#8212;God cast him in and bound him&#8212;in dungeon within dungeon;&#8212;for he bound him in the sea.&#8212;and He bound him in the fish.&#8212;For him Grace stood surety,&#8212;and she opened the prison and brought forth the preacher.

22.&#160; The Prophets have called the Most High a fire,&#8212;&#8220;a devouring fire,&#8221; and &#8220;who can dwell with it?&#8221; &#8212;The People were not able to dwell in it;&#8212;its might crushed the peoples and they were confounded.&#8212;In it, with the unction ye have been anointed;&#8212;ye have put Him on in the water;&#8212;in the bread ye have eaten Him;&#8212;in the wine ye have drunk Him;&#8212;in the voice ye have heard Him;&#8212;and in the eye of the mind ye have seen Him!