On Lazarus and the Palm Branches · §6 · Hesychius of Jerusalem

The Infants' Praise and Christ's Mount

…meditation, patience, and endurance. “He has blessed your children within you” (Psalm 147:13). These are the faithful infants who received the Lord with the branches, that is, with new fruits, who nurse on the milk of Christ’s teaching. For as soon as they believe in Him, they praise, they sing hymns, they give glory, as it is written: “Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise” (Psalm 8:2; Matthew 21:16).

Let us become a holy mount for Him in place of the unclean colt, so that He may ride upon us. Let us yoke the chariot of our thoughts to Him, “and He will reign” over us “forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:33).

Let us take up a cheerful way of life like olive branches, “to make our face cheerful with oil” (Psalm 104:15), as the psalmist says, and again: “Serve the Lord with gladness” (Psalm 100:2). Again, let us carry in the inner man the divine and spiritual…

Greek

μελέτη, μακροθυμία, ὑπομονή. «Εὐλόγησε τοὺς υἱούς σου ἐν σοί», οἵτινές εἰσι τὰ πιστὰ νήπια τὰ δεξάμενα τὸν κύριον μετὰ τῶν κλάδων, τουτέστι μετὰ καρπῶν νέων, τὰ θηλάζοντα τὸ γάλα τῆς διδασκαλίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ· πιστεύοντες γὰρ εἰς αὐτὸν εὐθέως αἰνοῦσιν, ὑμνοῦσιν, δοξολογοῦσιν, καθὼς γέγραπται· «Ἐκ στόματος νηπίων καὶ θηλαζόντων κατηρτίσω αἶνον.» Γενώμεθα αὐτῷ ὄχημα ἅγιον ἀντὶ ἀκαθάρτου πώλου, ἵνα ἐπιβῇ ἐφ' ἡμᾶς. Ζεύξωμεν αὐτῷ τὸ ἅρμα τῶν λογισμῶν ἡμῶν, «καὶ βασιλεύσει» ἐφ' ἡμᾶς «εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, καὶ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔσται τέλος.» 5 13 Λάβωμεν ἱλαρὰν πολιτείαν ὡς κλάδη ἐλαιῶν, «τοῦ ἱλαρῦναι τὸ πρόσωπον ἡμῶν ἐν ἐλαίῳ», καθώς φησιν ὁ ψαλμῳδός, καὶ πάλιν· «∆ουλεύσατε τῷ κυρίῳ ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ.» Ἄρωμεν πάλιν ἐν τῷ ἔσω ἀνθρώπῳ τὴν θεϊκὴν καὶ πνευματικὴν

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About this text

Hesychius of Jerusalem's sermon on Lazarus and the palm branches, in a fresh English translation of the whole homily. The raising of Lazarus is the sign that Christ will raise all humanity; Zechariah's call to the daughter of Zion to rejoice is read phrase by phrase; and the hearers are urged to carry palms of faith, hope, and love and to become a holy temple for Christ.

Hesychius of Jerusalem (fl. c. 412–450) preached this homily on Lazarus and the palm branches. The Greek heading names him as priest of Jerusalem; the homily was once credited to Titus of Bostra. It is a different sermon from his Homily II on Saint Lazarus.

Hesychius reads the raising of Lazarus as the sign that Christ will raise all humanity, and so explains why men and angels hailed Christ as King when He entered Jerusalem. He then reads Zechariah’s call, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion,” phrase by phrase, together with the colt, the garments, and the branches of the Gospel story.

At the end he urges his hearers to bind themselves to Christ, to carry palm branches of faith, hope, and love, and to follow Him into the temple, so that He may drive out the sellers within them and make them a holy temple instead of a den of robbers.

Fresh English translation from the Greek text of PG 93.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 93 (Greek)

We have not yet re-checked this work against its source. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Greek on any section to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

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