Psalms 100:6

9. And whence wast thou fed? And what pleased thee, when he did not eat with thee? “Mine eyes,” he saith, “were upon such as are faithful in the land, that they might sit with me” ( ver. 6 ). That is, that with Me they might be seated. In what sense are they “to sit”? “Ye shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” The faithful of the earth judge, for to them it is said, “Know ye not, that we shall judge angels?” “Whoso walketh in a spotless way, he ministered unto me.” To “Me,” he saith, not to himself. For many minister the Gospel, but unto themselves; because they seek their own things, not the things of Jesus Christ.…

What then, saith one, is the head of virtue? Humility. Wherefore Christ also begins with it, saying, “Blessed are the poor.” This head hath not locks and ringlets, but beauty, such as to gain God’s favor. For, “Unto whom shall I look,” saith He, “but unto him that is meek and humble, and trembleth at my words?” And, “Mine eyes are upon the meek of the earth.”And, “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a contrite heart.” This head, instead of locks, and flowing hair, bears sacrifices acceptable to God. It is a golden altar, and a spiritual place of sacrifice;“For a contrite spirit is a sacrifice to God.” This is the mother of wisdom. If a man have this, he will have the rest also.

When in these thou hast led him on from childhood, by little and little thou wilt lead him forward even to the higher things. The Psalms contain all things, but the Hymns again have nothing human. When he has been instructed out of the Psalms, he will then know hymns also, as a diviner thing. For the Powers above chant hymns, not psalms. For “a hymn,” saith one, “is not comely in the mouth of a sinner” ( Ecclus. xv. 9 .); and again, “Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they sit together with me” ( Ps. ci. 6, 7 , Sept.); and again, “he that worketh haughtiness hath not dwelt in the midst of my house”; and again, “He that walketh in a blameless way, he ministered unto me.” ( Ps. ci. 6 , Sept.)

4. But God, who is good, multiplied His loving-kindness towards us, not only when He granted the common salvation of us all through His Word, but now also, when enemies have persecuted us, and have sought to seize upon us. As the blessed Paul saith in a certain place, when describing the incomprehensible riches of Christ: ‘But God, being rich in mercy, for the great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in follies and sins, quickened us with Christ.’ For the might of man and of all creatures, is weak and poor; but the Might which is above man, and uncreated, is rich and incomprehensible, and has no beginning, but is eternal. …

22. God certainly wishes bishops or priests to be such as the chosen vessel teaches they should be. As to the first qualification it is seldom or never that one is found without reproach; for who is it that has not some fault, like a mole or a wart on a lovely body? If the Apostle himself says of Peter that he did not tread a straight path in the truth of the Gospel, and was so far to blame that even Barnabas was led away into the same dissimulation, who will be indignant if that is denied to him which the chief of the Apostles had not? Then, supposing you find one, “the husband of one wife, sober-minded, orderly, given to hospitality,” the next attribute, διδακτικόν , apt to teach , not merely as the Latin renders the word, apt to be taught, you will hardly find in company with the other virtues. …

22. So bounteous was his hand, further details I leave to those who knew him, so that if anything of the kind is borne witness to in regard to myself, it proceeds from that fountain, and is a portion of that stream. Who was more under the Divine guidance in admitting men to the sanctuary, or in resenting dishonour done to it, or in cleansing the holy table with awe from the unholy? Who with such unbiassed judgment, and with the scales of justice, either decided a suit, or hated vice, or honoured virtue, or promoted the most excellent? Who was so compassionate for the sinner, or sympathetic towards those who were running well? Who better knew the right time for using the rod and the staff, yet relied most upon the staff? Whose eyes were more upon the faithful in the land, especially upon those who, in the monastic and unwedded life, have despised the earth and the things of earth?

106. Then, again, because the Angel is sent to Cornelius, the Holy Spirit speaks to Peter: “For the eyes of the Lord are over the faithful of the earth.” Nor is it without a purpose that when He had said before, “What God hath cleansed call not thou common,” the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentiles to purify them, when it is manifest that the operation of the Spirit is a divine operation. But Peter, when sent by the Spirit, did not wait for the command of God the Father, but acknowledged that that message was from the Spirit Himself, and the grace that of the Spirit Himself, when he said: “If, then, God has granted them the same grace as to us, who was I that I should resist God?”