Letter 598

To Anastasius the Bishop. The luminary of the great Church in Byzantium [Constantinople], or rather of the whole world, John [John Chrysostom, archbishop of Constantinople], that wondrous priest, being endowed with discernment, often beheld that almost at every hour the house of the Lord did not lack, nor was ever without, the attendance of the angels, and most especially at the time of the divine and bloodless sacrifice [the Eucharist]. Filled therefore with astonishment and gladness, he recounted the matter privately to the genuine ones among his spiritual friends. For when the priest begins, he says, to perform the holy offering, very many of the blessed Powers, descending suddenly from heaven, clothed in certain exceedingly radiant robes, with bare foot, with intent gaze, and with the face inclined downward, surrounding the altar with reverence and with great stillness and silence, stand by until the completion of the awe-inspiring mystery; then, having been dispersed throughout the whole venerable house, here and there each of them, to the bishops, presbyters, and all the deacons who happen to be present and who are administering the body and the precious blood, work together with them, assist them, and labor along with them. These things I write, so that you, having learned the fearfulness of the divine liturgy, may neither yourselves be disposed to be negligent, dissolving away from the divine fear, nor permit any others to converse or to whisper during the offering, nor to nod about boldly, or to shift from a grave posture, nor to look about here and there, or to wander idly and vulgarly. For the Lord says to Moses, and through him to all the priests: "Make the sons of Israel reverent, and let them not be contemptuous."

Ὁ τῆς ἐν Βυζαντίῳ μεγάλης Ἐκκλησίας, μᾶλλον δὲ παντὸς τοῦ κόσμου φωστὴρ Ἰωάννης ὁ θαυμαστὸς ἱερεὺς, διορατικὸς ὑπάρχων, πολλάκις τεθέαται, πᾶ- σαν μὲν σχεδὸν ὥραν μὴ ὑστεροῦντα, ἢ διαλειπόμε- νον τὸν οἶκον Κυρίου τῆς τῶν ἀγγέλων ἐπιστασίας, μάλιστα δὲ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς θείας καὶ ἀναιμάκτου θυσίας. Ἐκπλήξεως οὖν καὶ εὐφροσύνης γέμων, τοῖς γνησίοις τῶν πνευματικῶν φίλων κατ’ ἰδίαν διηγήσατο τὸ πρᾶγμα. Ἀρχομένου γὰρ, φησὶν, τοῦ ἱερέως τὴν ἁγίαν ποιεῖσθαι προσκομιδὴν, πλεῖσται ἐξαίφνης τῶν μακαρίων δυνάμεων ἐξ οὐρανοῦ κατελθοῦσαι, ὑπερ- λάμπρους τινὰς στολὰς περιβεβλημέναι, γυμνῷ τῷ ποδὶ, συντόνῳ τῷ βλέμματι, κάτω δὲ νεύοντι τῷ προσώπῳ περιστοιχίσασαι τὸ θυσιαστήριον μετ’ εὐ- λαβείας, καὶ πολλῆς ἡσυχίας, καὶ σιωπῆς, παρίσταν- ται μέχρι τῆς τελειώσεως τοῦ φρικτοῦ μυστηρίου· εἶτα διαφεθέντες καθ’ ὅλον τὸν σεβάσμιον οἶκον, τῇδε κἀκεῖσε ἕκαστος αὐτῶν τοῖς παρατυχοῦσιν ἐπισκό- ποις, καὶ πρεσβυτέροις, καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς διακόνοις τὴν χορηγίαν ποιουμένοις τοῦ σώματος καὶ τοῦ τιμίου αἵματος συνεργοῦσαι συμπράττουσι, καὶ συνενοσχοῦσιν. Ταῦτα δὲ γράφω, ἵνα μαθόντες τὸ φοβερὸν τῆς θείας λειτουργίας, μήτε αὐτοὶ διατεθῆτε ἀμελοῦντες τοῦ θείου φόβου διαχεόμενοι, μήτε δὲ ἄλλους τινὰς συγχωρῆτε ὁμιλεῖν, ἢ ψιθυρίζειν ἐπὶ τῆς προσεκομιδῆς, μήτε νεύειν θαρσαλέως, ἢ παρασαλεύεσθαι τῆς ἐμβριθοῦς στάσεως, μήτε ὧδε κἀκεῖσε περιβλέπεσθαι, ἢ ῥέμβεσθαι ῥαθύμως καὶ χυδαίως. Λέγει γὰρ ὁ Κύριος τῷ Μωϋσῇ, δι’ αὐτοῦ πᾶσιν τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν· « Εὐλαβεῖς ποιήσατε τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραήλ, καὶ μὴ καταφρονῆτάς. »