st. john of damascus (676-749 - Cristo Raul

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Come
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SERMONS. I I
7
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then, brethren," he concludes, as many
as received the name of believers, who have been
. . .
counted worthy to be called the people of Christ, let
us not make our calling void, nor defile our faith by
unseemly deeds. Tis not enough to be called a
believer ;
let us manifest our faith by works
Let us remember the renunciation and the covenant
which we made in baptism. We renounced the devil
and his angels, and all his service. Let us keep our
renouncing
let us not return ;
again like the dog to his
vomit." He then enumerates the works of the devil,
which they should renounce ;
and the graces of the
Spirit, which they should follow (c. vi); ending with the
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prayer Hold thou the dominion over my heart, O
:
Lord, and keep
it as Thine inheritance. Make Thou
Thy dwelling in me, along with the Father and the
Holy Ghost. Widen in me the cords of Thy taber
nacle, even the operations of Thy most holy Spirit.
F^or Thou art my God, and I will praise Thee, together
with Thy Eternal Father and Thy quickening Spirit,
now, henceforth, and for ever.
Amen."
The third sermon is on Good Friday Sanda
Parasceve, the day of preparation for the Jewish
Sabbath. In some manuscripts
it is attributed to
St. John Chrysostom, and was included in the works
of that writer by Sir Henry Savile. Lequien seems
to think it
genuine, by asserting that it is wrongly
ascribed to Chrysostom, and by introducing
it in his
own edition of Damascenus s works without further
remark. I am bound to say that the style appears to
me to show a higher order of eloquence than is found