On the Flesh of Christ. (HTML)

Marcion, Who Would Blot Out the Record of Christ's Nativity, is Rebuked for So Startling a Heresy. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 6958 (In-Text, Margin)

... announcement) did he bring down Christ from heaven. “Away,” says he, “with that eternal plaguey taxing of Cæsar, and the scanty inn, and the squalid swaddling-clothes, and the hard stable. We do not care a jot for that multitude of the heavenly host which praised their Lord at night. Let the shepherds take better care of their flock, and let the wise men spare their legs so long a journey; let them keep their gold to themselves. Let Herod, too, mend his manners, so that Jeremy may not glory over him.[Matthew 2:16-18] Spare also the babe from circumcision, that he may escape the pain thereof; nor let him be brought into the temple, lest he burden his parents with the expense of the offering; nor let him be handed to Simeon, lest the old man be saddened at the ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 418, footnote 2 (Image)

Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen

Origen. (HTML)

Origen Against Celsus. (HTML)

I (HTML)

Chapter LI (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3163 (In-Text, Margin)

Now the Scripture speaks, respecting the place of the Saviour’s birth—that the Ruler was to come forth from Bethlehem—in the following manner: “And thou Bethlehem, house of Ephrata, art not the least among the thousands of Judah: for out of thee shall He come forth unto Me who is to be Ruler in Israel; and His goings forth have been of old, from everlasting.”[Matthew 2:6] Now this prophecy could not suit any one of those who, as Celsus’ Jew says, were fanatics and mob-leaders, and who gave out that they had come from heaven, unless it were clearly shown that He had been born in Bethlehem, or, as another might say, had come forth from Bethlehem to be the leader of the people. With ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 426, footnote 5 (Image)

Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen

Origen. (HTML)

Origen Against Celsus. (HTML)

I (HTML)

Chapter LXVI (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3204 (In-Text, Margin)

... was necessary that He should be taken away by His parents, acting under the instructions of an angel from heaven, who communicated to them the divine will, saying on the first occasion, “Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost;” and on the second, “Arise, and take the young Child, and His mother, and flee into Egypt; and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”[Matthew 2:13] Now, what is recorded in these words appears to me to be not at all marvellous. For in either passage of Scripture it is stated that it was in a dream that the angel spoke these words; and that in a dream certain persons may have certain things ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 55, footnote 9 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Hippolytus. (HTML)

The Refutation of All Heresies. (HTML)

Book V. (HTML)

Further Exposition of the Heresy of the Naasseni; Profess to Follow Homer; Acknowledge a Triad of Principles; Their Technical Names of the Triad; Support These on the Authority of Greek Poets; Allegorize Our Saviour's Miracles; The Mystery of the Samothracians; Why the Lord Chose Twelve Disciples; The Name Corybas, Used by Thracians and Phrygians, Explained; Naasseni Profess to Find Their System in Scripture; Their Interpretation of Jacob's Vision; Their Idea of the “Perfect Man;” The “Perfect Man” Called “Papa” By the Phrygians; The Naasseni and Phrygians on the Resurrection; The Ecstasis of St. Paul; The Mysteries of Religion as Alluded to by Christ; Interpretation of the Parable of the Sower; Allegory of the Promised Land (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 427 (In-Text, Margin)

... the children of the desolate one, than those of her which hath an husband;” that is, things by being born again become immortal and abide for ever in great numbers, even though the things that are produced may be few; whereas things carnal, he says, are all corruptible, even though very many things (of this type) are produced. For this reason, he says, “Rachel wept for her children, and would not,” says (the prophet), “be comforted; sorrowing for them, for she knew,” says he, “that they are not.”[Matthew 2:18] But Jeremiah likewise utters lamentation for Jerusalem below, not the city in Phœnicia, but the corruptible generation below. For Jeremiah likewise, he says, was aware of the Perfect Man, of him that is born again—of water and the Spirit not carnal. ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 108, footnote 8 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Hippolytus. (HTML)

The Refutation of All Heresies. (HTML)

Book VII. (HTML)

God's Dealings with the Creature; Basilides' Notion of (1) the Inner Man, (2) the Gospel; His Interpretation of the Life and Sufferings of Our Lord. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 851 (In-Text, Margin)

... nature, and may not (thus) be overwhelmed with sorrow. And so there will be the restitution of all things which, in conformity with nature, have from the beginning a foundation in the seed of the universe, but will be restored at (their own) proper periods. And that each thing, says (Basilides), has its own particular times, the Saviour is a sufficient (witness) when He observes, “Mine hour is not yet come.” And the Magi (afford similar testimony) when they gaze wistfully upon the (Saviour’s) star.[Matthew 2:1-2] For (Jesus) Himself was, he says, mentally preconceived at the time of the generation of the stars, and of the complete return to their starting-point of the seasons in the vast conglomeration (of all germs). This is, according to these ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 235, footnote 17 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Hippolytus. (HTML)

The Extant Works and Fragments of Hippolytus. (HTML)

Dogmatical and Historical. (HTML)

The Discourse on the Holy Theophany. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1802 (In-Text, Margin)

... baptized of him, “O generation of vipers,” why look ye so earnestly at me? “I am not the Christ;” I am the servant, and not the lord; I am the subject, and not the king; I am the sheep, and not the shepherd; I am a man, and not God. By my birth I loosed the barrenness of my mother; I did not make virginity barren. I was brought up from beneath; I did not come down from above. I bound the tongue of my father; I did not unfold divine grace. I was known by my mother, and I was not announced by a star.[Matthew 2:9] I am worthless, and the least; but “after me there comes One who is before me” —after me, indeed, in time, but before me by reason of the inaccessible and unutterable light of divinity. “There comes One mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 375, footnote 2 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Cyprian. (HTML)

The Epistles of Cyprian. (HTML)

To Florentius Pupianus, on Calumniators. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 2806 (In-Text, Margin)

... which He condescended to show and to reveal, He also added this: “Whoso therefore does not believe Christ, who maketh the priest, shall hereafter begin to believe Him who avengeth the priest.” Although I know that to some men dreams seem ridiculous and visions foolish, yet assuredly it is to such as would rather believe in opposition to the priest, than believe the priest. But it is no wonder, since his brethren said of Joseph, “Behold, this dreamer cometh; come now therefore, let us slay him.”[Matthew 2:20] And afterwards the dreamer attained to what he had dreamed; and his slayers and sellers were put to confusion, so that they, who at first did not believe the words, afterwards believed the deeds. But of those things that you have done, either in ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 375, footnote 2 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Cyprian. (HTML)

The Epistles of Cyprian. (HTML)

To Florentius Pupianus, on Calumniators. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 2806 (In-Text, Margin)

... which He condescended to show and to reveal, He also added this: “Whoso therefore does not believe Christ, who maketh the priest, shall hereafter begin to believe Him who avengeth the priest.” Although I know that to some men dreams seem ridiculous and visions foolish, yet assuredly it is to such as would rather believe in opposition to the priest, than believe the priest. But it is no wonder, since his brethren said of Joseph, “Behold, this dreamer cometh; come now therefore, let us slay him.”[Matthew 2:23] And afterwards the dreamer attained to what he had dreamed; and his slayers and sellers were put to confusion, so that they, who at first did not believe the words, afterwards believed the deeds. But of those things that you have done, either in ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 520, footnote 10 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Cyprian. (HTML)

The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)

Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. (HTML)

Book II. (HTML)

That Christ should be born in Bethlehem. (HTML)CCEL Footnote 4013 (In-Text, Margin)

... Ephrata, art not little, that thou shouldst be appointed among the thousands of Judah. Out of thee shall He come forth to me, that He may be a prince in Israel, and His goings forth from the beginning from the days of old.” Also in the Gospel: “And when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judah, in the days of Herod the king, behold, Magi came from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east, and we have come with gifts to worship Him.”[Matthew 2:1-2]

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 527, footnote 17 (Image)

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 16, footnote 6 (Image)

Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. (HTML)

The Testament of Levi Concerning the Priesthood and Arrogance. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 89 (In-Text, Margin)

18. And after their punishment shall have come from the Lord, then will the Lord raise up to the priesthood a new Priest, to whom all the words of the Lord shall be revealed; and He shall execute a judgment of truth upon the earth, in the fulness of days. And His star shall arise in heaven,[Matthew 2:2] as a king shedding forth the light of knowledge in the sunshine of day, and He shall be magnified in the world until His ascension. He shall shine forth as the sun in the earth, and shall drive away all darkness from the world under heaven, and there shall be peace in all the earth. The heavens shall rejoice in His days, and the earth shall be glad, ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 366, footnote 2 (Image)

Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents

Apocrypha of the New Testament. (HTML)

The Protevangelium of James. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1604 (In-Text, Margin)

... Herod said: Go and seek him; and if you find him, let me know, in order that I also may go and worship him. And the Magi went out. And, behold, the star which they had seen in the east went before them until they came to the cave, and it stood over the top of the cave. And the Magi saw the infant with His mother Mary; and they brought forth from their bag gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned by the angel not to go into Judæa, they went into their own country by another road.[Matthew 2:1-12]

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 366, footnote 2 (Image)

Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents

Apocrypha of the New Testament. (HTML)

The Protevangelium of James. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1604 (In-Text, Margin)

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 366, footnote 3 (Image)

Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents

Apocrypha of the New Testament. (HTML)

The Protevangelium of James. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1605 (In-Text, Margin)

22. And when Herod knew that he had been mocked by the Magi, in a rage he sent murderers, saying to them: Slay the children[Matthew 2:16] from two years old and under. And Mary, having heard that the children were being killed, was afraid, and took the infant and swaddled Him, and put Him into an ox-stall. And Elizabeth, having heard that they were searching for John, took him and went up into the hill-country, and kept looking where to conceal him. And there was no place of concealment. And Elizabeth, groaning with a loud voice, says: O mountain of God, receive mother ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 366, footnote 8 (Image)

Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents

Apocrypha of the New Testament. (HTML)

The Protevangelium of James. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1610 (In-Text, Margin)

... not his body, but they found his blood turned into stone. And they were afraid, and went out and reported to the people that Zacharias had been murdered. And all the tribes of the people heard, and mourned, and lamented for him three days and three nights. And after the three days, the priests consulted as to whom they should put in his place; and the lot fell upon Simeon. For it was he who had been warned by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death until he should see the Christ in the flesh.[Matthew 2:19-23]

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 376, footnote 4 (Image)

Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents

Apocrypha of the New Testament. (HTML)

The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew. (HTML)

Chapter 16. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1656 (In-Text, Margin)

... with great joy; and going into the house, they saw the child Jesus sitting in His mother’s lap. Then they opened their treasures, and presented great gifts to the blessed Mary and Joseph. And to the child Himself they offered each of them a piece of gold. And likewise one gave gold, another frankincense, and the third myrrh. And when they were going to return to King Herod, they were warned by an angel in their sleep not to go back to Herod; and they returned to their own country by another road.[Matthew 2:1-12]

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 376, footnote 6 (Image)

Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents

Apocrypha of the New Testament. (HTML)

The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew. (HTML)

Chapter 17. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1658 (In-Text, Margin)

And when Herod saw that he had been made sport of by the magi, his heart swelled with rage, and he sent through all the roads, wishing to seize them and put them to death. But when he could not find them at all, he sent anew to Bethlehem and all its borders, and slew all the male children whom he found of two years old and under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the magi.[Matthew 2:16]

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 376, footnote 7 (Image)

Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents

Apocrypha of the New Testament. (HTML)

The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew. (HTML)

Chapter 17. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1659 (In-Text, Margin)

Now the day before this was done Joseph was warned in his sleep by the angel of the Lord, who said to him: Take Mary and the child, and go into Egypt by the way of the desert. And Joseph went according to the saying of the angel.[Matthew 2:14]

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 378, footnote 1 (Image)

Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents

Apocrypha of the New Testament. (HTML)

The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew. (HTML)

Chapter 25. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1668 (In-Text, Margin)

After no long time the angel said to Joseph: Return to the land of Judah, for they are dead who sought the child’s life.[Matthew 2:26]

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 406, footnote 6 (Image)

Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents

Apocrypha of the New Testament. (HTML)

The Arabic Gospel of the Infancy of the Saviour. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1787 (In-Text, Margin)

... gifts, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And they adored Him, and presented to Him their gifts. Then the Lady Mary took one of the swaddling-bands, and, on account of the smallness of her means, gave it to them; and they received it from her with the greatest marks of honour. And in the same hour there appeared to them an angel in the form of that star which had before guided them on their journey; and they went away, following the guidance of its light, until they arrived in their own country.[Matthew 2:1-12]

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 406, footnote 7 (Image)

Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents

Apocrypha of the New Testament. (HTML)

The Arabic Gospel of the Infancy of the Saviour. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1788 (In-Text, Margin)

9. And when Herod saw that the magi had left him, and not come back to him, he summoned the priests and the wise men, and said to them: Show me where Christ is to be born. And when they answered, In Bethlehem of Judæa, he began to think of putting the Lord Jesus Christ to death. Then appeared an angel of the Lord to Joseph in his sleep, and said: Rise, take the boy and His mother, and go away into Egypt.[Matthew 2:13-14] He rose, therefore, towards cockcrow, and set out.

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 407, footnote 1 (Image)

Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents

Apocrypha of the New Testament. (HTML)

The Arabic Gospel of the Infancy of the Saviour. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1789 (In-Text, Margin)

12. Here was fulfilled the prophecy which says, Out of Egypt have I called my son.[Matthew 2:15] Joseph indeed, and Mary, when they heard that that idol had fallen down and perished, trembled, and were afraid. Then they said: When we were in the land of Israel, Herod thought to put Jesus to death, and on that account slew all the children of Bethlehem and its confines; and there is no doubt that the Egyptians, as soon as they have heard that this idol has been broken, will burn us with fire.

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 429, footnote 4 (Image)

Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents

Apocrypha of the New Testament. (HTML)

The Gospel of Nicodemus; Part I.--The Acts of Pilate: Second Greek Form. (HTML)

Chapter 9. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1896 (In-Text, Margin)

And having thus spoken, Pilate rose up from the throne with anger, wishing to flee from them. The Jews therefore cried out, saying: We wish Cæsar to be king over us, not Jesus, because Jesus received gifts[Matthew 2:11] from the Magi. And Herod also heard this—that there was going to be a king—and wished to put him to death, and for this purpose sent and put to death all the infants that were in Bethlehem. And on this account also his father Joseph and his mother fled from fear of him into Egypt.

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 429, footnote 5 (Image)

Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents

Apocrypha of the New Testament. (HTML)

The Gospel of Nicodemus; Part I.--The Acts of Pilate: Second Greek Form. (HTML)

Chapter 9. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1897 (In-Text, Margin)

... does not translate them to higher things, but rather blocks and cuts off the way thither through the affections, malignant in proportion as they are proud, which he inspires into those of his own company; which are not able to nourish the wings of virtues so as to fly upwards, but rather to heap up the weight of vices so as to press downwards; since the soul will fall down the more heavily, the more it seems to itself to have been carried upwards. Accordingly, as the Magi did when warned of God,[Matthew 2:12] whom the star led to adore the low estate of the Lord; so we also ought to return to our country, not by the way by which we came, but by another way which the lowly King has taught, and which the proud king, the adversary of that lowly King, cannot ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 252, footnote 3 (Image)

Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises

Doctrinal Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)

The Enchiridion. (HTML)

In Speaking of Sin, the Singular Number is Often Put for the Plural, and the Plural for the Singular. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1163 (In-Text, Margin)

... not say serpents though the people were suffering from many; and so in other cases. When, on the other hand, the original sin is expressed in the plural number, as when we say that infants are baptized for the remission of sins, instead of saying for the remission of sin, this is the converse figure of speech, by which the plural number is put in place of the singular; as in the Gospel it is said of the death of Herod, “for they are dead which sought the young child’s life,”[Matthew 2:20] instead of saying, “he is dead.” And in Exodus: “They have made them,” Moses says, “gods of gold,” though they had made only one calf, of which they said: “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt,” —here, too, ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 286, footnote 5 (Image)

Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings

Writings in Connection with the Manichæan Controversy. (HTML)

Reply to Faustus the Manichæan. (HTML)

Faustus states his objections to the morality of the law and the prophets, and Augustin seeks by the application of the type and the allegory to explain away the moral difficulties of the Old Testament. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 843 (In-Text, Margin)

... both his own life and the chastity of Sara. Now it is part of sound doctrine, that when a man has any means in his power, he should not tempt the Lord his God. So it was not because the Saviour was unable to protect His disciples that He told them, "When ye are persecuted in one city, flee to another." And He Himself set the example. For though He had the power of laying down His own life, and did not lay it down till He chose to do so, still when an infant He fled to Egypt, carried by His parents;[Matthew 2:14] and when He went up to the feast, He went not openly, but secretly, though at other times He spoke openly to the Jews, who in spite of their rage and hostility could not lay hands on Him, because His hour was not come, —not the hour when He would be ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 296, footnote 2 (Image)

Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings

Writings in Connection with the Manichæan Controversy. (HTML)

Reply to Faustus the Manichæan. (HTML)

Faustus states his objections to the morality of the law and the prophets, and Augustin seeks by the application of the type and the allegory to explain away the moral difficulties of the Old Testament. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 886 (In-Text, Margin)

... our condemnation of what the truth of Scripture itself teaches us to condemn. In Scripture, all fornication and adultery are condemned by the divine law; accordingly, when actions of this kind are narrated, without being expressly condemned, it is intended not that we should praise them, but that we should pass judgment on them ourselves. Every one execrates the cruelty of Herod in the Gospel, when, in his uneasiness on hearing of the birth of Christ, he commanded the slaughter of so many infants.[Matthew 2:16] But this is merely narrated without being condemned. Or if Manichæan absurdity is bold enough to deny the truth of this narrative, since they do not admit the birth of Christ, which was what troubled Herod, let them read the account of the blind ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 327, footnote 3 (Image)

Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings

Writings in Connection with the Manichæan Controversy. (HTML)

Reply to Faustus the Manichæan. (HTML)

Faustus seeks to justify the docetism of the Manichæans. Augustin insists that there is nothing disgraceful in being born. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1014 (In-Text, Margin)

... this, why do not our opponents themselves say it? While they assert the death of Christ to have been not real but feigned, why do they make out that He had no birth at all, not even of the same kind as His death? If they had so much regard for the authority of the evangelist as to oblige them to admit that Christ suffered, at least in appearance, it is the same authority which testifies to His birth. Two evangelists, indeed, give the story of the birth; but in all we read of Jesus having a mother.[Matthew 2:11] Perhaps Faustus was unwilling to make the birth an illusion, because the difference of the genealogies given in Matthew and Luke causes an apparent discrepancy. But, supposing a man ignorant, there are many things also relating to the passion of ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 577, footnote 8 (Image)

Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings

Writings in Connection with the Donatist Controversy. (HTML)

Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist. (HTML)

In which Augustin replies to all the several statements in the letter of Petilianus, as though disputing with an adversary face to face. (HTML)

Chapter 93 (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 2224 (In-Text, Margin)

202. said: "But what have you to do with the kings of this world, in whom Christianity has never found anything save envy towards her? And to teach you shortly the truth of what I say, A king persecuted the brethren of the Maccabees. A king also condemned the three children to the sanctifying flames, being ignorant what he did, seeing that he himself was fighting against God. A king sought the life of the infant Saviour.[Matthew 2:16] A king exposed Daniel, as he thought, to be eaten by wild beasts. And the Lord Christ Himself was slain by a king’s most wicked judge. Hence it is that the apostle cries out, ‘We speak wisdom among them that are perfect; yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 81, footnote 2 (Image)

Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels

The Harmony of the Gospels. (HTML)

Book I (HTML)

Of the Four Living Creatures in the Apocalypse, Which Have Been Taken by Some in One Application, and by Others in Another, as Apt Figures of the Four Evangelists. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 783 (In-Text, Margin)

... Him, when publicity began to be given to them by the persons who had heard them, were like to call back the king’s mind then to its original design, Joseph obeyed the warning conveyed to him in the dream, and fled with the child and His mother into Egypt. Afterwards, when the things which had been done and said in the temple were made quite public, Herod perceived that he had been mocked; and then, in his desire to get at the death of Christ, he slew the multitude of children, as Matthew records.[Matthew 2:3-16]

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 509, footnote 3 (Image)

Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels

Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament. (HTML)

On the words of the Gospel of John vii. 6, etc., where Jesus said that He was not going up unto the feast, and notwithstanding went up. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3989 (In-Text, Margin)

... in Galilee.” So then He did not go up on that feast day. For His brethren wished that He should go first; therefore had they said, “Pass from hence into Judæa.” They did not say, “Let us pass,” as though they would be His companions; or, “Follow us into Judæa,” as though they would go first; but as though they would send Him before them. He wished that they should go before; He avoided this snare, impressing His infirmity as Man, hiding the Divinity; this He avoided, as when He fled into Egypt.[Matthew 2:14] For this was no effect of want of power, but even of truth, that He might give an example of caution; that no servant of His might say, “I do not fly, because it is disgraceful;” when haply it might be expedient to fly. As He was going to say to His ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 19, footnote 2 (Image)

Augustine: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies

Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John. (HTML)

Chapter I. 15–18. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 44 (In-Text, Margin)

2. I do not think that I need spend much time in endeavoring to persuade you that we are Christian men; and if Christians, by virtue of the name, belonging to Christ. Upon the forehead we bear His sign; and we do not blush because of it, if we also bear it in the heart. His sign is His humility. By a star the Magi knew Him;[Matthew 2:2] and this sign was given by the Lord, and it was heavenly and beautiful. He did not desire that a star should be His sign on the forehead of the faithful, but His cross. By it humbled, by it also glorified; by it He raised the humble, even by that to which He, when humbled, descended. We belong, then, to the gospel, we belong to the ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 20, footnote 2 (Image)

Augustine: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies

Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John. (HTML)

Chapter I. 15–18. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 49 (In-Text, Margin)

... into the world.” And where was that light? “In this world it was.” And how was it “in this world?” As the light of the sun, of the moon, and of lamps, was that light thus in the world? No. Because “the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not;” that is to say, “the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.” For the world is darkness; because the lovers of the world are the world. For did not the creature acknowledge its Creator? The heavens gave testimony by a star;[Matthew 2:2] the sea gave testimony, and bore its Lord when He walked upon it; the winds gave testimony, and were quiet at His bidding; the earth gave testimony, and trembled when He was crucified. If all these gave testimony, in what sense did the world not ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 189, footnote 1 (Image)

Augustine: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies

Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John. (HTML)

Chapter VII. 25–36. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 591 (In-Text, Margin)

... the Christ?” proposed a question among themselves, by which it appeared to them that He was not the Christ; for they said in addition, “But we know this man whence he is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is.” As to how this opinion among the Jews arose, that “when Christ comes, no man knoweth whence He is” (for it did not arise without reason), if we consider the Scriptures, we find, brethren, that the Holy Scriptures have declared of Christ that “He shall be called a Nazarene.”[Matthew 2:23] Therefore they foretold whence He is. Again, if we seek the place of His nativity, as that whence He is by birth, neither was this hidden from the Jews, because of the Scriptures which had foretold these things. For when the Magi, on the appearing ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 189, footnote 2 (Image)

Augustine: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies

Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John. (HTML)

Chapter VII. 25–36. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 592 (In-Text, Margin)

... place of His nativity, as that whence He is by birth, neither was this hidden from the Jews, because of the Scriptures which had foretold these things. For when the Magi, on the appearing of a star, sought Him out to worship Him, they came to Herod and told him what they sought and what they meant: and he, having called together those who had knowledge of the law, inquired of them where Christ should be born: they told him, “In Bethlehem of Judah,” and also brought forward the prophetic testimony.[Matthew 2:6] If, therefore, the prophets had foretold both the place where the origin of His flesh was, and the place where His mother would bring Him forth, whence did spring that opinion among the Jews which we have just heard, but from this, that the ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 423, footnote 2 (Image)

Augustine: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies

Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John. (HTML)

Chapter XVIII. 33–40. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1839 (In-Text, Margin)

2. Hear then, ye Jews and Gentiles; hear, O circumcision; hear, O uncircumcision; hear, all ye kingdoms of the earth: I interfere not with your government in this world, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Cherish ye not the utterly vain terror that threw Herod the elder into consternation when the birth of Christ was announced, and led him to the murder of so many infants in the hope of including Christ in the fatal number,[Matthew 2:3] made more cruel by his fear than by his anger: “My kingdom,” He said, “is not of this world.” What would you more? Come to the kingdom that is not of this world; come, believing, and fall not into the madness of anger through fear. He says, indeed, prophetically of God the Father, ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 423, footnote 2 (Image)

Augustine: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies

Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John. (HTML)

Chapter XVIII. 33–40. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1839 (In-Text, Margin)

2. Hear then, ye Jews and Gentiles; hear, O circumcision; hear, O uncircumcision; hear, all ye kingdoms of the earth: I interfere not with your government in this world, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Cherish ye not the utterly vain terror that threw Herod the elder into consternation when the birth of Christ was announced, and led him to the murder of so many infants in the hope of including Christ in the fatal number,[Matthew 2:16] made more cruel by his fear than by his anger: “My kingdom,” He said, “is not of this world.” What would you more? Come to the kingdom that is not of this world; come, believing, and fall not into the madness of anger through fear. He says, indeed, prophetically of God the Father, ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 165, footnote 12 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm XLVIII (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1574 (In-Text, Margin)

... trembling hold upon them, but from the consciousness of sins? Let them run then, king after a king; kings, let them acknowledge the King. Therefore saith He elsewhere, “Yet have I been set by Him a King upon His holy hill of Sion.” …A King then was heard of, set up in Sion, to Him were delivered possessions even to the uttermost parts of the earth. Kings behoved to fear lest they should lose the kingdom, lest the kingdom be taken from them. As wretched Herod feared, and for the Child slew the children.[Matthew 2:16] But fearing to lose his kingdom, he deserved not to know the King. Would that he too had adored the King with the Magi: not by ill-seeking the kingdom, slain the Innocents, and perished guilty. For as concerning him, he destroyed the Innocents: but ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 539, footnote 8 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm CIX (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 4939 (In-Text, Margin)

... made the worlds ’ ‘ For by Him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him: and He is before all things ’ Since the hypothesis implied in the phrase ‘out of the non-existent’ is manifestly impious, it follows that the Father is always Father. And He is Father from the continual presence of the Son, on account of whom He is called[Matthew 2:12] Father. And the Son being ever present with Him, the Father is ever perfect, wanting in no good thing, for He did not beget His only Son in time, or in any interval of time, nor out of that which had no previous existence.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 3, page 165, footnote 3 (Image)

Theodoret, Jerome and Gennadius, Rufinus and Jerome

The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret. (HTML)

Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus. (HTML)

The Immutable. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 995 (In-Text, Margin)

Orth. —So again the divine apostle, reminding us of the blessing of Judah, and pointing out how it received its fulfilment exclaims “For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah.” So too the Prophet Micah and the evangelist[Matthew 2:5-6] Matthew. For the former spoke his prediction, and the latter connects the prophecy with his narrative. What is extraordinary is that he says that the open enemies of the truth plainly told Herod that the Christ is born in Bethlehem, for it is written, he says, “And thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah art not the least among the Princes of Judah for out of thee shall come a ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 3, page 165, footnote 4 (Image)

Theodoret, Jerome and Gennadius, Rufinus and Jerome

The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret. (HTML)

Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus. (HTML)

The Immutable. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 996 (In-Text, Margin)

... evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah.” So too the Prophet Micah and the evangelist Matthew. For the former spoke his prediction, and the latter connects the prophecy with his narrative. What is extraordinary is that he says that the open enemies of the truth plainly told Herod that the Christ is born in Bethlehem, for it is written, he says, “And thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah art not the least among the Princes of Judah for out of thee shall come a Governor who shall rule my people Israel.”[Matthew 2:6] Now let us subjoin what the Jews in their malignity omitted and so made the witness imperfect. For the prophet, after saying “Out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be Ruler in Israel” adds “Whose goings forth have been of old, from ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 3, page 198, footnote 2 (Image)

Theodoret, Jerome and Gennadius, Rufinus and Jerome

The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret. (HTML)

Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus. (HTML)

The Unconfounded. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1277 (In-Text, Margin)

Orth. —Yet after the conception He was an unborn babe in the womb; after His birth. He was a babe and was called a babe, and was worshipped by shepherds, and in like manner became a boy, and was so called by the angel.[Matthew 2:13] Do you acknowledge all this? or do you think I am inventing fables?

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 3, page 328, footnote 2 (Image)

Theodoret, Jerome and Gennadius, Rufinus and Jerome

The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret. (HTML)

Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus. (HTML)

Letter or Address of Theodoret to the Monks of the Euphratensian, the Osrhoene, Syria, Phœnicia, and Cilicia. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 2186 (In-Text, Margin)

... Lord Himself in the words “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father save me from this hour; but for this cause came I unto this hour.” And again “My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death.” And in another place “I have power to lay down my soul (life A.V.) and I have power to take it again. No man taketh it from me.” And the angel said to Joseph, “Take the young child and His mother and go into the land of Israel; for they are dead which sought the young child’s soul (life A.V.)”[Matthew 2:20] And the Evangelist says “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and man.” Now what increases in stature and wisdom is not the Godhead which is ever perfect, but the human nature which comes into being in time, grows, and is ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 3, page 331, footnote 9 (Image)

Theodoret, Jerome and Gennadius, Rufinus and Jerome

The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret. (HTML)

Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus. (HTML)

Letter or Address of Theodoret to the Monks of the Euphratensian, the Osrhoene, Syria, Phœnicia, and Cilicia. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 2232 (In-Text, Margin)

... over all as God. Similarly the prophet Isaiah writes “A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.…Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows,” and shortly afterwards he says “Who shall declare His generation?” This is spoken not of man but of God. Thus through Micah God says “Thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah art not the least among the princes of Judah, for out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel, whose goings forth have been as of old from everlasting.”[Matthew 2:6] Now by saying “From thee shall come forth a ruler” he exhibits the œconomy of the incarnation; and by adding “whose goings forth have been as of old from everlasting” he declares the Godhead begotten of the Father before the ages.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 259, footnote 3 (Image)

Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters

Defence of His Flight. (Apologia de Fuga.) (HTML)

The Lord an example of timely flight. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1436 (In-Text, Margin)

... when He was sought after, as we do: and also when He was persecuted, to flee and avoid the designs of His enemies. For it became Him, as by hunger and thirst and suffering, so also by hiding Himself and fleeing, to shew that He had taken our flesh, and was made man. Thus at the very first, as soon as He became man, when He was a little child, He Himself by His Angel commanded Joseph, ‘Arise, and take the young Child and His Mother, and flee into Egypt; for Herod will seek the young Child’s life[Matthew 2:13].’ And when Herod was dead, we find Him withdrawing to Nazareth by reason of Archelaus his son. And when afterwards He was shewing Himself to be God, and made whole the withered hand, the Pharisees went out, and held a council against Him, how they ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 5, page 127, footnote 2 (Image)

Gregory of Nyssa: Dogmatic Treatises; Select Writings and Letters

Dogmatic Treatises. (HTML)

Against Eunomius. (HTML)

Book II (HTML)

He expounds the passage of the Gospel, “The Father judgeth no man,” and further speaks of the assumption of man with body and soul wrought by the Lord, of the transgression of Adam, and of death and the resurrection of the dead. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 437 (In-Text, Margin)

... Who was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin, left no part of our nature which He did not take upon Himself. Now the soul is not sin though it is capable of admitting sin into it as the result of being ill-advised: and this He sanctifies by union with Himself for this end, that so the lump may be holy along with the first-fruits. Wherefore also the Angel, when informing Joseph of the destruction of the enemies of the Lord, said, “They are dead which sought the young Child’s life[Matthew 2:20],” (or “soul”): and the Lord says to the Jews, “Ye seek to kill Me, a man that hath told you the truth.” Now by “Man” is not meant the body of a man only, but that which is composed of both, soul and body. And again, He says to them, “Are ye angry at ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 115, footnote 12 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Pammachius on the Best Method of Translating. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1684 (In-Text, Margin)

... the sheep shall be scattered.” In this instance according to my judgment—and I have some careful critics with me—the evangelist is guilty of a fault in presuming to ascribe to God what are the words of the prophet. Again the same evangelist writes that at the warning of an angel Joseph took the young child and his mother and went into Egypt and remained there till the death of Herod; “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.”[Matthew 2:13-15] The Latin manuscripts do not so give the passage, but in Hosea the true Hebrew text has the following:—“When Israel was a child then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.” Which the Septuagint renders thus:—“When Israel was a child then I ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 115, footnote 16 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Pammachius on the Best Method of Translating. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1688 (In-Text, Margin)

... primarily to the mystery of Christ? Or should we not rather pardon the shortcomings of the translators on the score of their human frailty according to the saying of James, “In many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word the same is a perfect man and able also to bridle the whole body.” Once more it is written in the pages of the same evangelist, “And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.”[Matthew 2:23] Let these word fanciers and nice critics of all composition tell us where they have read the words; and if they cannot, let me tell them that they are in Isaiah. For in the place where we read and translate, “There shall come forth a rod out of the ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 116, footnote 5 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Pammachius on the Best Method of Translating. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1693 (In-Text, Margin)

... but she who is to conceive him, and bear him, the virgin herself. In the same evangelist we read that Herod was troubled at the coming of the Magi and that gathering together the scribes and the priests he demanded of them where Christ should be born and that they answered him, “In Bethlehem of Judæa: for thus it is written by the prophet; And thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah art not the least among the princes of Judah, for out of thee shall come a governour that shall rule my people Israel.”[Matthew 2:5-6] In the Vulgate this passage appears as follows:—“And thou Bethlehem, the house of Ephratah, art small to be among the thousands of Judah, yet one shall come out of thee for me to be a prince in Israel.” You will be more surprised still at the ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 199, footnote 17 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Eustochium. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 2792 (In-Text, Margin)

... of the evangelist John “In the beginning was the word” and “the word was made flesh.” She declared that she could see the slaughtered innocents, the raging Herod, Joseph and Mary fleeing into Egypt; and with a mixture of tears and joy she cried: ‘Hail Bethlehem, house of bread, wherein was born that Bread that came down from heaven. Hail Ephratah, land of fruitfulness and of fertility, whose fruit is the Lord Himself. Concerning thee has Micah prophesied of old, “Thou Bethlehem Ephratah art not[Matthew 2:6] the least among the thousands of Judah, for out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Therefore wilt thou give them up, until the time that she which travaileth ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 60, footnote 5 (Image)

Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen

The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril. (HTML)

On the Clause, and in One Lord Jesus Christ, with a Reading from the First Epistle to the Corinthians. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1168 (In-Text, Margin)

... Lord, as thou hast it in the Gospels, Then the Devil departed from Him, and the Angels came and ministered unto Him; for the Scripture saith not, they succoured Him, but they ministered unto Him, that is, like servants. When He was about to be born of a Virgin, Gabriel was then His servant, having received His service as a peculiar dignity. When He was about to go into Egypt, that He might overthrow the gods of Egypt made with hands, again an Angel appeareth to Joseph in a dream[Matthew 2:13]. After He had been crucified, and had risen again, an Angel brought the good tidings, and as a trustworthy servant said to the women, Go, tell His disciples that He is risen, and goeth before you into Galilee; lo, I have told you: almost as ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 69, footnote 9 (Image)

Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen

The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril. (HTML)

On the Words, the Only-Begotten Son of God, Begotten of the Father Very God Before All Ages, by Whom All Things Were Made. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1317 (In-Text, Margin)

20. For godliness it sufficeth thee to know, as we have said, that God hath One Only Son, One naturally begotten; who began not His being when He was born in Bethlehem, but Before All Ages. For hear the Prophet Micah saying, And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephrata, art little to be among the thousands of Judah. Out of thee shall come forth unto Me a Ruler, who shall feed My people Israel: and His goings forth are from the beginning, from days of eternity[Matthew 2:6]. Think not then of Him who is now come forth out of Bethlehem, but worship Him who was eternally begotten of the Father. Suffer none to speak of a beginning of the Son in time, but as a timeless Beginning acknowledge the Father. For the Father is the ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 74, footnote 18 (Image)

Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen

The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril. (HTML)

On the words Incarnate, and Made Man. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1383 (In-Text, Margin)

... come into it, said in astonishment, Will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? Yea, saith David by anticipation in the Psalm inscribed For Solomon, wherein is this, He shall come down like rain into a fleece: rain, because of His heavenly nature, and into a fleece, because of His humanity. For rain, coming down into a fleece, comes down noiselessly: so that the Magi, not knowing the mystery of the Nativity, say, Where is He that is born King of the Jews[Matthew 2:2]? and Herod being troubled inquired concerning Him who was born, and said, Where is the Christ to be born?

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 210, footnote 9 (Image)

Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen

Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)

In Defence of His Flight to Pontus, and His Return, After His Ordination to the Priesthood, with an Exposition of the Character of the Priestly Office. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 2604 (In-Text, Margin)

... fell through disobedience. This is the reason for the generation and the virgin, for the manger and Bethlehem; the generation on behalf of the creation, the virgin on behalf of the woman, Bethlehem because of Eden, the manger because of the garden, small and visible things on behalf of great and hidden things. This is why the angels glorified first the heavenly, then the earthly, why the shepherds saw the glory over the Lamb and the Shepherd, why the star led the Magi to worship and offer gifts,[Matthew 2:9] in order that idolatry might be destroyed. This is why Jesus was baptized, and received testimony from above, and fasted, and was tempted, and overcame him who had overcome. This is why devils were cast out, and diseases healed, and the mighty ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 210, footnote 9 (Image)

Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen

Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)

In Defence of His Flight to Pontus, and His Return, After His Ordination to the Priesthood, with an Exposition of the Character of the Priestly Office. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 2604 (In-Text, Margin)

... fell through disobedience. This is the reason for the generation and the virgin, for the manger and Bethlehem; the generation on behalf of the creation, the virgin on behalf of the woman, Bethlehem because of Eden, the manger because of the garden, small and visible things on behalf of great and hidden things. This is why the angels glorified first the heavenly, then the earthly, why the shepherds saw the glory over the Lamb and the Shepherd, why the star led the Magi to worship and offer gifts,[Matthew 2:11] in order that idolatry might be destroyed. This is why Jesus was baptized, and received testimony from above, and fasted, and was tempted, and overcame him who had overcome. This is why devils were cast out, and diseases healed, and the mighty ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 334, footnote 4 (Image)

Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen

Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)

On the Arrival of the Egyptians. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3788 (In-Text, Margin)

... address myself as is right to those who have come from Egypt; for they have come here eagerly, having overcome illwill by zeal, from that Egypt which is enriched by the River, raining out of the earth, and like the sea in its season,—if I too may follow in my small measure those who have so eloquently spoken of these matters; and which is also enriched by Christ my Lord, Who once was a fugitive into Egypt, and now is supplied by Egypt; the first, when He fled from Herod’s massacre of the children;[Matthew 2:13] and now by the love of the fathers for their children, by Christ the new Food of those who hunger after good; the greatest alms of corn of which history speaks and men believe; the Bread which came down from heaven and giveth life to the world, that ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 351, footnote 13 (Image)

Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen

Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)

On the Theophany, or Birthday of Christ. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3896 (In-Text, Margin)

... the Word. Know as Isaiah bids thee, thine Owner, like the ox, and like the ass thy Master’s crib; if thou be one of those who are pure and lawful food, and who chew the cud of the word and are fit for sacrifice. Or if thou art one of those who are as yet unclean and uneatable and unfit for sacrifice, and of the gentile portion, run with the Star, and bear thy Gifts with the Magi, gold and frankincense and myrrh, as to a King, and to God, and to One Who is dead for thee. With Shepherds glorify Him;[Matthew 2] with Angels join in chorus; with Archangels sing hymns. Let this Festival be common to the powers in heaven and to the powers upon earth. For I am persuaded that the Heavenly Hosts join in our exultation and keep high Festival with us to-day ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 351, footnote 17 (Image)

Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen

Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)

On the Theophany, or Birthday of Christ. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3900 (In-Text, Margin)

XVIII. One thing connected with the Birth of Christ I would have you hate…the murder of the infants by Herod.[Matthew 2:16] Or rather you must venerate this too, the Sacrifice of the same age as Christ, slain before the Offering of the New Victim. If He flees into Egypt, joyfully become a companion of His exile. It is a grand thing to share the exile of the persecuted Christ. If He tarry long in Egypt, call Him out of Egypt by a reverent worship of Him there. Travel without fault through every stage and faculty of the Life of Christ. Be purified; be circumcised; ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 361, footnote 13 (Image)

Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen

Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)

The Oration on Holy Baptism. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 4028 (In-Text, Margin)

... it burned the bush indeed, but did not consume it, to shew its nature and to declare the power that was in it. And it was Light that was in the pillar of fire that led Israel and tamed the wilderness. It was Light that carried up Elias in the car of fire, and yet did not burn him as it carried him. It was Light that shone round the Shepherds when the Eternal Light was mingled with the temporal. It was Light that was the beauty of the Star that went before to Bethlehem to guide the Wise Men’s way,[Matthew 2:9] and to be the escort of the Light That is above us, when He came amongst us. Light was That Godhead Which was shewn upon the Mount to the disciples—and a little too strong for their eyes. Light was That Vision which blazed out upon Paul, and by ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 9, page 198, footnote 3 (Image)

Hilary of Poitiers, John of Damascus

Title Page (HTML)

De Trinitate or On the Trinity. (HTML)

Book X (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1198 (In-Text, Margin)

... Myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it up again. This commandment received I from the Father. He lays down His life of Himself, but I ask who lays it down? We confess without hesitation, that Christ is God the Word: but on the other hand, we know that the Son of Man was composed of a soul and a body: compare the angel’s words to Joseph, Arise and take the child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for they are dead who sought the soul of the child[Matthew 2:20]. Whose soul is it? His body’s, or God’s? If His body’s, what power has the body to lay down the soul, when it is only by the working of the soul that it is quickened into life? Again, how could the body, which apart from the soul is inert and dead, ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 35, footnote 1 (Image)

Ambrose: Select Works and Letters

Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)

On the Duties of the Clergy. (HTML)

Book I. (HTML)

Chapter XLI. After praising Judas' and Jonathan's loftiness of mind, the constancy of the martyrs in their endurance of tortures, which is no small part of fortitude, is next brought before us. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 310 (In-Text, Margin)

213. What shall I say of those two-year-old children of Bethlehem,[Matthew 2:16] who received the palm of victory before they felt their natural life within them? What of St. Agnes, who when in danger as regards two great matters, that is, chastity and life, protected her chastity and exchanged life for immortality?

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 396, footnote 2 (Image)

Ambrose: Select Works and Letters

Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)

Concerning Widows. (HTML)

Chapter V. Liberality to the poor is recommended by the example of the widow the Gospel, whose two mites were preferred to the large gifts of the rich. The two mites are treated as mystically representing the two Testaments. What that treasure is for which we are taught to offer, after the example of the wise men, three gifts, or after that of the widow, two. St. Ambrose concludes the chapter by an exhortation to widows to be zealous in good works. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3340 (In-Text, Margin)

30. Happy is she who out of her treasure brings forth the perfect image of the King. Your treasure is wisdom, your treasure is chastity and righteousness, your treasure is a good understanding, such as was that treasure from which the Magi, when they worshipped the Lord, brought forth gold, frankincense, and myrrh;[Matthew 2:11] setting forth by gold the power of a king, venerating God by the frankincense, and by myrrh acknowledging the resurrection of the body. You too have this treasure if you look into yourself: “For we have this treasure in earthen vessels.” You have gold which you can give, for God does not exact of you the precious gift of shining metal, but ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 559, footnote 2 (Image)

Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian

The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)

The Seven Books of John Cassian on the Incarnation of the Lord, Against Nestorius. (HTML)

Book II. (HTML)

Chapter IV. He produces testimonies to the same doctrine from the Apostle Paul. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 2405 (In-Text, Margin)

... appeared,” he indicated the approach of a new grace and birth, for thenceforward the gift of a new grace began to appear, from the moment when God appeared as born in the world. Thus by using the right word, and one exactly suitable, he shows the light of this new grace almost as if he pointed to it with his finger. For that is most properly said to appear, which is shown by sudden light manifesting it. Just as we read in the gospel that the star appeared to the wise men in the East:[Matthew 2:2] and in Exodus: “There appeared,” he says, “to Moses an angel in a flame of fire in the bush:” for in all these and in the case of other visions in the Holy Scripture, Scripture determined that this word in particular should be used, that it ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 559, footnote 2 (Image)

Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian

The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)

The Seven Books of John Cassian on the Incarnation of the Lord, Against Nestorius. (HTML)

Book II. (HTML)

Chapter IV. He produces testimonies to the same doctrine from the Apostle Paul. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 2405 (In-Text, Margin)

... appeared,” he indicated the approach of a new grace and birth, for thenceforward the gift of a new grace began to appear, from the moment when God appeared as born in the world. Thus by using the right word, and one exactly suitable, he shows the light of this new grace almost as if he pointed to it with his finger. For that is most properly said to appear, which is shown by sudden light manifesting it. Just as we read in the gospel that the star appeared to the wise men in the East:[Matthew 2:7] and in Exodus: “There appeared,” he says, “to Moses an angel in a flame of fire in the bush:” for in all these and in the case of other visions in the Holy Scripture, Scripture determined that this word in particular should be used, that it ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 12, page 27, footnote 2 (Image)

Leo the Great, Gregory the Great

The Letters and Sermons of Leo the Great. (HTML)

Letters. (HTML)

To the Bishops of Sicily. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 169 (In-Text, Margin)

... Incarnation of the Word. Hence there is one time when at the angel’s announcement the blessed Virgin Mary believed she was to be with child through the Holy Ghost and conceived: another, when without loss of her virgin purity the Boy was born and shown to the shepherds by the exulting joy of the heavenly attendants: another, when the Babe was circumcised: another, when the victim required by the Law is offered for him: another, when the three wise men attracted by the brightness of the new star[Matthew 2:16] arrive at Bethlehem from the East and worship the Infant with the mystic offering of Gifts.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 12, page 145, footnote 8 (Image)

Leo the Great, Gregory the Great

The Letters and Sermons of Leo the Great. (HTML)

Sermons. (HTML)

On the Feast of the Epiphany, III. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 860 (In-Text, Margin)

Although I know, dearly-beloved, that you are fully aware of the purpose of to-day’s festival, and that the words of the Gospel[Matthew 2:1-12] have according to use unfolded it to you, yet that nothing may be omitted on our part, I shall venture to say on the subject what the Lord has put in my mouth: so that in our common joy the devotion of our hearts may be so much the more sincere as the reason of our keeping the feast is better understood. The providential Mercy of God, having determined to succour the perishing world ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 12, page 148, footnote 3 (Image)

Leo the Great, Gregory the Great

The Letters and Sermons of Leo the Great. (HTML)

Sermons. (HTML)

On the Feast of the Epiphany, IV. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 882 (In-Text, Margin)

Led then, dearly beloved, into Bethlehem by obeying the guidance of the star, the wise men “rejoiced with very great joy,” as the evangelist has told us: “and entering the house, found the child with Mary, His mother; and falling down they worshipped Him; and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh[Matthew 2:10-11].” What wondrous faith of perfect knowledge, which was taught them not by earthly wisdom, but by the instruction of the Holy Spirit! Whence came it that these men, who had quitted their country without having seen Jesus, and had not noticed anything in His looks to enforce such systematic adoration, observed this method in ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 13, page 314, footnote 1 (Image)

Gregory the Great II, Ephriam Syrus, Aphrahat

Selections from the Hymns and Homilies of Ephraim the Syrian and from the Demonstrations of Aphrahat the Persian Sage. (HTML)

Ephraim Syrus: Three Homilies. (HTML)

On Our Lord. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 578 (In-Text, Margin)

... folly. For if that Pharisee retained the Pharisees’ pride, how could our Lord cause him to acquire humility, when the treasure of humility was not under his hand? But since our Lord was teaching humility to all men, He showed that His treasury was free from every form of pride. But this was for our sakes, that He might teach us, that whatever treasuries pride enters into, it is by boastfulness that it gains access to them. On this account let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.[Matthew 2:3] Our Lord then did not employ harsh reproof, because His coming was of grace: He did not refrain from reproof, because His later coming will be of retribution. For He put men to fear in His coming of humility; because it is a fearful thing to fall ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 13, page 396, footnote 4 (Image)

Gregory the Great II, Ephriam Syrus, Aphrahat

Selections from the Hymns and Homilies of Ephraim the Syrian and from the Demonstrations of Aphrahat the Persian Sage. (HTML)

Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations. (HTML)

Of Persecution. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1127 (In-Text, Margin)

... born they carried Him off in flight into Egypt that Herod, His persecutor, might not slay Him. In the days when Moses was born, children used to be drowned in the river; and at the birth of Jesus the children of Bethlehem and in its borders were slain. To Moses God said:— The men are dead who were seeking thy life; and to Joseph the angel said in Egypt:— Arise, take up the child, and go into the land of Israel, for they are dead who were seeking the life of the child to take it away.[Matthew 2:20] Moses brought out his people from the service of Pharaoh; and Jesus delivered all nations from the service of Satan. Moses grew up in Pharaoh’s house; and Jesus grew up in Egypt when Joseph brought Him there in flight. Miriam stood on the edge of ...