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Homilies

St Photius the Great, tr. Mango, 1958

13. The Inauguration of a Church in the Palace

X

Homily of the Same Most-Blessed Photius, Archbishop¹ of Constantinople, Delivered in the Form of a Description of the Renowned Church in the Palace

Gay is the gathering I see today, and such as no human effort could have assembled without divine inspiration. Wherefore I accept the sweet gifts of Grace and, joining Christ’s flock as it thrives and rejoices, I exult therein, knowing full well that the pleasure and gladness of the festival are not confined to us alone, but that its holiness is carried up to our common Lord Himself. For the splendour of a festival, inasmuch as it is the ornament and pride of the celebrants, so does it make manifest the tokens of the Lord’s love. But when it does not celebrate a commemoration which is carried out in the usual yearly fashion, but introduces a fresh and newly-come honour to God, would it not appear all the more to light up God’s love for us, and further enhance the decorousness and splendour of the celebrants? But what is this so great a concourse and gathering of people? What is the celebration? What has called together and stirred up all of us? Do you wish me to say it? Or would it be better to let him tell and explain the object of this celebration, who is both its instigator and its wise architect? For he is also able to describe the subject in words who, having preconceived in his soul the forms of these things, has in his great wisdom created on earth this inimitable work.

Tell us then, most Christ-loving and pious of emperors, who both surpassest all thy predecessors and honourest them splendidly by sharing in the office, tell an audience which, as thou seest, is eager to listen, for what reason thou hast called us together. Show in words what thou hast already shown in deeds. Hast thou again won victories and trophies over the barbarians, with which time and time again thou hast graciously greeted us, and is this why thou hast convoked us, to gladden us and at the same time to send up in common our universal thanks to Him Who has granted the victory? Or, having received new tributaries and humbled the bold and inso-lent mind of the foreigner,² dost thou wish to ascribe with pious intent all thy achievements to God’s strong hand? Or hast thou re-erected subject cities which have long lain low, and built others from the foundations, and repeopled others, and consolidated the frontiers through the settlement of towns?³ Or is it because thou art rich⁴ and makest thy subjects prosperous? Instruct us who are looking up to thee as to the all-embracing eye of the universe, for which of these reasons thou hast called us together. Or dost thou keep silent out of modesty, not wishing thyself to recount to us thy achievements, into which praise must of necessity be woven, and designatest me to sound in words, under the inspiration of thy deeds, the cause of this gathering?

It is a different celebration today, friends, and a different mystery. A Virgin’s temple is being inaugurated on earth,⁵ a worthy house for the Mother of God, as much as any in this world. A Virgin’s temple is being inaugurated today on earth,⁶ a truly praiseworthy work of imperial magnificence, a church in the midst of the very palace, rising up as a second palace, divine and venerable, which makes the first palace appear, when compared and likened to it, as a private house, or rather, by its own fairness and inherent splendour, illumines and beautifies it also, and adds more dignity to its former ornament. On beholding it thou mightest say that it is not the work of human hands, but that a divine power superior to ours has formed its beauty.

The atrium of the church is splendidly fashioned: for slabs of white marble, gleaming bright and cheerful, occupy the whole façade,⁷ and by their evenness and smoothness and close fitting they conceal the setting of one to another and the juncture of their edges, so that they suggest to the beholder’s imagination the continuousness of a single piece of stone with, as it were, straight lines ruled on it—a new miracle and a joy to see. Wherefore, arresting and turning towards themselves the spectator’s gaze, they make him unwilling to move further in; but taking his fill of the fair spectacle in the very atrium, and fixing his eyes on the sight before him, the visitor stands as if rooted to the ground with wonder. Legends proclaim the lyre of Thracian Orpheus,⁸ whose notes stirred inanimate things. If it were our privilege also to erect truth into legends and make it awe-inspiring, one might say that visitors to the atrium were turned with wonder into the form of trees: so firmly is one held having but seen it once.

But when with difficulty one has torn oneself away from there and looked into the church itself, with what joy and trepidation and astonishment is one filled! It is as if one had entered heaven itself with no one barring the way from any side, and was illuminated by the beauty in all forms shining all around like so many stars, so is one utterly amazed. Thenceforth it seems that everything is in ecstatic motion, and the church itself is circling round. For the spectator, through his whirling about in all directions and being constantly astir, which he is forced to experience by the variegated spectacle on all sides, imagines that his personal own is transferred to the object.

Gold and silver cover the greater part of the church, the one smeared on tesserae, the other cut out and fashioned into plaques, or otherwise applied to other parts. Over here are capitals adorned with gold, over there are golden cornices. Elsewhere gold is twined into chains, but more wonderful than gold is the composition of the holy table. The little doors and columns of the sanctuary together with the peristyle⁹ are covered with silver; so also is the conical roof set over the holy table with the little pillars and canopy that support it.¹⁰ The rest of the church, as much of it as gold has not overspread or silver covered, is adorned with many-hued marble, a surpassingly fair work. The pavement, which has been fashioned into the forms of animals and other shapes by means of variegated tesserae, exhibits the marvellous skill of the craftsman, so that the famous Pheidias and Parrhasius and Praxiteles and Zeuxis are proved in truth to have been mere children in their art and makers of figments. Democritus would have said, I think, on seeing the minute work of the pavement and taking it as a piece of evidence, that his atoms were close to being discovered here actually impinging on the sight.¹¹ So full of wonder is everything. In one respect only do I consider the architect of the church to have erred, namely that having gathered into one and the same spot all kinds of beauty, he does not allow the spectator to enjoy the sight in its purity, since the latter is carried and pulled away from one thing by another, and is unable to satiate himself with the spectacle as much as he may desire.

But something has escaped me, although it should have been said first (for the wonder of the church does not permit the orator to do his own task fairly even in words), so it shall be said now. On the very ceiling is painted in coloured mosaic cubes a man-like figure bearing the traits of Christ. Thou mightest say He is overseeing the earth, and devising its orderly arrangement and govern-ment,¹² so accurately has the painter been inspired to represent, though only in forms and in colours, the Creator’s care for us. In the concave segments next to the summit of the hemisphere¹³ a throng of angels is pictured escorting our common Lord. The apse which rises over the sanctuary glistens with the image of the Virgin, stretching out her stainless arms on our behalf and winning for the emperor safety and exploits against the foes. A choir of apostles and martyrs, yea, of prophets, too, and patriarchs fill and beautify the whole church with their images. Of these one,¹⁴ though silent, cries out his sayings of yore, “How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth in the courts of the Lord”;¹⁵ another,¹⁶ “How wonderful is this place; this is none other but the house of God”;¹⁷ another, though he is not of our company and is not represented here,¹⁸ might well exclaim, prophesying these our things even against his will, “How goodly are thy houses, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! As the gardens are they by the river’s side, and as the tents which the Lord hath planted,”¹⁹ and not man.²⁰

In olden days a tabernacle was, upon divine command, built by Moses, beholder of God, to offer up sacrifice to God and expiate his people’s transgressions; and later by King Solomon the temple of Jerusalem, a fair work which eclipsed all the temples before it in beauty, size and magnificence. But as a shadow and a figure are below truth and reality, so are those inferior to the temple which has now been built by our faithful and great Emperor,²¹ not only because this one is of Grace and the Spirit, while those were of the Law and the Letter, but also because in point of beauty and execution and ingenuity they take second place.

But how can one attempt in so short a time to describe in words the wonders of this renowned church, when even sight itself, though it surpasses the other senses in alacrity, is proved incapable after a length of time of comprehending them in any way? Yet, even if my speech has fallen below the mark, I am not any the less content than if it had risen to the level²² of an adequate description. For my purpose was not to make an exhibition of eloquence, but to show that the church is most excellent and beautiful and that it defeats the canons of an ekphrasis.²³

But let the course of my speech steer round and turn towards thee,²⁴ the instigator of this gathering. Rejoice, therefore, among emperors most blest and beloved of God, and be thou renewed in thy bodily and mental prime that bears fruit in good works. As thou celebratest the inauguration both of the renowned church and the works of thy wisdom and thy hand, do thou bend thy bow and prosper and rule, because of truth and meekness and righteousness;²⁵ for thou art guided, as is plain to see, and shalt be guided by the right hand of the Most High, who formed thee and anointed thee from the cradle itself to be king over His own peculiar people. Rejoice with him and be with him renewed thou also, pride of all Caesars whom the sun has looked upon, who surpassest thy predecessors in wisdom and intelligence, and in the fact that thou hast received this high office by divine ordinance and not through ambition nor the canvassing of men. Join, therefore, in rejoicing and renewing thy spirits with him who has taken thee as partner and sharer of the imperial dignity for the common salvation of the subjects and as befits thy loyalty and most sincere love for him. For it is through you twain that the Trinity, piously worshipped and revered, while spreading and conveying to all Her providence, steers wisely and governs Her subjects.

Rejoice you also, fathers of the senate, grave and venerable old men, as you renew your spirits together with the faithful and great Emperor and the worshipful Caesar, and join in celebrating the dedication of this renowned church. The sacerdotal and hierarchal body that is present is also rejoicing and joining in the happiness, for they regard the consecration of the church as their own glory and pride. Rejoice and join the choir you also, the rest of the pious congregation, seeing a second heaven, the Virgin’s church, as it is dedicated on earth today. May we all enjoy her intercession and that blessed and endless happiness and joy in Jesus Christ our Lord, to Whom be praise and dominion now and for ever and ever. Amen.

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