came into the world to save sinners. "O come, let us worship and fall down, let us weep before Him." The Word, calling us to repentance, lifts up His voice and cries aloud, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." There is, then, a way of salvation, if we will. Death in his might has swallowed us up; but again the Lord hath wiped away tears from off all faces. The Lord is faithful in all His words. He does not lie, when He says, "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." The great Physician of souls is ready to heal thy disease; He is the prompt Deliverer, not of thee alone, but of all who are in bondage to sin. These are His words - His sweet and lifegiving lips pronounced them : "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." What excuse have you, what excuse has any one, when He utters such language as this? The Lord is willing to heal thy painful wound, and to enlighten thy darkness. The Good Shepherd leaves the sheep that have not strayed, to seek for thee. If thou give thyself up to Him, He will not delay. He in His mercy will not disdain to carry thee upon His own shoulders, rejoicing that He has found His sheep which was lost. The Father stands waiting thy return from thy

wanderings. Only arise and come, and whilst thou art yet a great way off He will run and fall upon thy neck; and, purified at once by thy repentance, thou shalt be enfolded in the embraces of His love. He will put the best robe on thy soul, when it has put off the old man with his deeds: He will put a ring on thy hands when they have been washed from the blood of death: He will put shoes on thy feet, when they have turned from the evil way to the path of the Gospel of peace. He will proclaim a day of joy and gladness, to the whole family of both angels and men, and will celebrate thy salvation far and wide. For He Himself says, Verily I say unto you that joy shall be in heaven before God over one sinner that repenteth." And if any of those who think they stand should find fault, because thou art so quickly received, the good Father Himself will make answer for thee, saying, "It was meet that we should make merry and be glad; for this," my daughter, was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found."

Revised translation by the Editors of this volume.

GREGORY OF NYSSA

Gregory of Nyssa was a younger brother of Basil, the Bishop of Cæsarea, and like him was born at Cæsarea. The year of his birth seems to be 335 A.D. His father, who was by profession a rhetorician, died while Gregory was still young, and the boy was brought up by his mother and grandmother. His education, owing to his weak constitution, was almost entirely at home, but here he had the invaluable assistance of his brother Basil. Like so many distinguished men of the Church, he was in early life an advocate; but, influenced by his sister, he was baptized and entered the ministry. Basil was elected Bishop of Cæsarea in 370, and in order to strengthen his position in the conflict with Arianism, he persuaded Gregory, much against his wish, to be consecrated Bishop of Nyssa, a small town in the west of Cappadocia. In the persecution of the orthodox under Valens, Gregory was driven into exile; but on the death of Valens in 378, he returned to Nyssa. Meanwhile his fame as a theologian had increased so that in 381 he was summoned to Constantinople to the Council and was there treated with the greatest consideration. The latter years of his life are not well known. He seems, however, to have enjoyed the imperial favor. He died in 395.

The style of Gregory is probably the best of those of the Greek Fathers, and he was able to handle the degenerate Greek of his times with accuracy and force. He is greater than his brother as a theologian, but his inferior as an orator. By some he is regarded as more a manipulator of words than a genuine artist. He is certainly often artificial and forced. He is at his best, however, in enthusiastic panegyrics, and his style is at times highly dramatic.

The works of Gregory of Nyssa are in a less satisfactory condition than those of any other Greek Father. They are

preserved in manuscripts in poor condition, and have never been adequately edited. They comprise dogmatic treatises of great subtlety; ascetic, moral, philosophical, and apologetical works; orations, letters, and a few expositions. The best edition is by Fronton le Duc, in two volumes, folio, Paris, 1615.

For accounts of Gregory, see Rupp, Gregory des Bischofs von Nyssa Leben und Meinungen, 1834; Dupin, History of Ecclesiastical Authors, London, 1696, ii., 176-184; Harnack, Dogmengeschichte, 1888, ii., 163 ff.; Dorner, Person of Christ, English translation, Div. I., ii., 311 ff.; Hermann, Gregorii Nyssa sententiæ de salute adipiscentes. See also the various Church Histories.

The funeral oration on Meletius was delivered at Constantinople during the Council of Constantinople in 382 A.D. Meletius was the Bishop of Antioch and was attending the Council, of which he was the first president. Gregory, although the Bishop of an insignificant town, had delivered the sermon at the opening of the Council, and was now called upon to pronounce the eulogy on its presiding officer. To modern taste, the eulogy seems overwrought and artificial, but, as in the case of the speeches of many of the most eminent orators of the East, there was doubtless an elaborate dramatic delivery which rendered the effect less tawdry.

HE late apostle has enlarged for us the num

ber of the Apostles, having been called into the Apostolic order. For the saints have drawn to themselves one of like nature; the crowned athletes, a crowned athlete; the pure in heart, one chaste of soul; the ministers of the Word, another herald of the Word. Most blessed be our father for his fellowship with the Apostolic band, and his departure to be with Christ! Unhappy indeed are we! for our premature orphanhood forbids us to felicitate ourselves on our father's good fortune. For him indeed it was better to depart and be with Christ, but hard to us is the