The text, entitled in Greek *Νοσήματα τῆς Παιδείας τῆς ἐποχῆς μας. Proposals for a Cure, was presented on 29 January 2017, to mark the feast day of the Three Holy Hierarchs – Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom, the patron saints of education in Greece – at the Metropolis of Glyfáda, Ellinikós, Vúla, Vuliagméni and Vári, whose headquarters are in Glyfáda, a town near Athens. The author personally entrusted me with the text of his lecture to be translated into Romanian on 4 April 2019, when we met in Thessaloniki (translator’s note).
Professor Dimitrie Țelenghídis, whom I had the great joy of meeting through the providence of the Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ, taught Dogmatics at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and is now retired. Born in 1949, married and the father of four children, Professor Țelenghídis is regarded as one of Greece’s greatest contemporary dogmatists, with a rich and varied body of work comprising numerous articles, studies and books to his name, some of which have been translated into Romanian over the years. It is worth noting that, from his youth, he had the blessing of knowing Saint Paisios the Athonite, renowned for the charisms with whichGod had endowed him, to spend many years in his company and to receive his spiritual counsel, which strengthened him in his endeavours to follow the way of life and thought of the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church. However, Professor Țelenghidis’s father, Father John, is also honoured for his holy and spiritual life (translator’s note).
According to medical science, the cure of an illness requires, in any case, knowledge of human physiology on the part of the treating doctor, a correct diagnosis of the illness and, above all, the1e prescription of the appropriate medication and, where necessary, pharmaceutical care.
At the same time, [recovery] also requires the patient to be aware of their condition, as well as their desire to regain their health.
Father Gheorghe Metallinós 2, as an excellent historian and anatomist 3, highlighted for us in his previous paper the ills of our education system 4, from a diachronic perspective, right up to the present day. His diagnosis was well-reasoned. For this reason, it 5 is, from a scientific point of view, correct and clear.
However, moving on from this point, the real difficulties arise, because, beyond the correct diagnosis of an illness, the main requirement is the patient’s full recovery as quickly as possible.
However, before moving on to the proposals [concerning] the remedy for the problems in our education system, please allow me to make a few remarks which I consider necessary.
First of all, let me state, by way of introduction, that Orthodox theology and the pastoral care of our Church are, in practice, par excellence, healing in nature—that is, therapeutic. For this reason, our Holy Patristic theology is characterised by a canon of an Ecumenical Council as a ‘doctoral science’6, in the [Holy] Spirit (see Canon 102 of the Quinisext Ecumenical Council 7). Priests, as spiritual shepherds and natural bearers of the Theology of the Church, are rightly regarded as spiritual doctors, especially those amongst them who are charismatic, as they are experienced in the Holy Spirit, possessing well-honed spiritual senses and proven criteria for diagnosing spiritual ailments and discerning spirits. On the basis of the above premises, the Ecumenical Orthodox Church 8 is the hospital or the spiritual place of healing, and the Gospel commandments and the deifying sacraments of the Church are regarded as spiritual medicines, for they are bearers of uncreated divine grace and of the9 work.
…Orthodox theology and the pastoral care of our Church are, in practice, par excellence, healing in nature, that is to say, therapeutic.
At this point, naturally, we are speaking of spiritual remedies, for we shall now turn our attention to the treatment of spiritual ailments.
According to the Church’s holy and spiritual experience, sin is regarded as a general illness of the soul. Thus, according to Saint Symeon the New Theologian, ‘every sinner… is sick in soul’ (ibid., Alphabetical Chapters, chap. I). Therefore, ‘just as we have bodily sensation, so too, as Christians, we are bound to have a noetic sensation of the soul and to perceive noetically 10 both sickness and health’. And this, of course, applies as long as we are speaking of basic physiology. However, in the case of the patient’s partial or total lack of sensation—that is, when their spiritual senses are not functioning properly or are almost completely numbed (11 aphasia)—things are very difficult; nevertheless, they are reversible and curable. We shall, in any case, need to address this situation as well, as it concerns us in a general sense.
Now, however, let us say a few words about therapeutic care and the person receiving it. The means and enduring aim of the Church’s pastoral care is regarded as, and is, as an infallible principle, the sincere and lifelong repentance of the spiritually ailing person. Moreover, Canon 102 of the Quinisext Ecumenical Council (691–692), to which we have already referred 12, clearly establishes the proper starting point for every form of spiritual therapeutic care practised by the Church. ‘He who practises the art of healing in the [Holy] Spirit’, it is characteristically noted, ‘must first examine the condition of the one who has sinned’. This means that no sin is treated in absolute terms, in terms of its nature, as an objective fact, but must be examined in conjunction with the particular circumstances of the person committing it and the conditions under which it was committed.
Before discussing in depth the therapeutic care and definitive healing that we shall recommend, we must, in any case, seek out and identify the root cause of the ills afflicting our education.
The root cause of the ills of our education system, in my view, must be traced, from a historical perspective, to the gradual estrangement of our people’s hearts from Christ. The indirect, yet essential, denial of the God-Man and His teachings is easily identified empirically both in the letter and, above all, in the spirit of the successive legislative acts of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs 13.
The root cause of the ills in education, in my view, must be sought, from a historical perspective, in the gradual estrangement of our people’s hearts from Christ. The indirect, yet essential, denial of the God-Man and His teachings is easily identified empirically both in the letter and, above all, in the spirit of legislative acts.
It is a well-known fact that, as a rule, what is enshrined in legislation and takes on an institutional character is usually already being lived out by the people in their daily lives. This is clearly a cause for concern, and we mention it because it is very directly linked to the remedy we are about to propose.
Just as a way of thinking or a practice, over the course of many years, gradually acquires the status of a natural state—that is, the status of a stable, natural mindset—which gradually erodes the sufferer’s desire for healing, whilst, at the same time, it leads to a habitualising of the passions, causing the distortion of the human person—in other words, the ontological corruption of the character of their nature—and likewise to a prolonged estrangement from the Physician of souls and bodies, that is, from [the Lord Jesus] Christ, has brought about so many shortcomings, dysfunctions and even infirmities within the educational system, which induces a state of ontological corruption of character.
This explains, in my view, why contemporary education does not concern itself, as it ought to, with the education and formation of the souls of its young, that is, on the basis of their ontological and natural attributes, in other words, on the foundation laid down by its Creator; nor, when it is not arbitrarily distorted—as is the case today— through intensive weekly educational programmes, it steadfastly confines itself to educating not the mind, but only the ‘reason’ 14 of pupils and students, providing them with a body of cognitive and informational material that is, in the final analysis, of a utilitarian nature. In other words, our education system is rationalist; it does not approach the human being ontologically, as a psycho-somatic whole 15. The consequence of this situation is that, rather than leading to education—alongside scientific knowledge par excellence—fostering the ability to think scientifically in a free and responsible manner, as well as the cultivation and development of scientific, as well as mental and spiritual ones, it is instead driven by – and leads to – the mass production of robotic individuals to serve a system that seeks to diminish the human person, with all that this entails – to put it with the utmost leniency and academic elegance.
As a logical consequence, from a human perspective, it seems entirely impossible to fundamentally change the nature of education and, above all, its purpose, given its structural orientation within the modern Greek state, unless there is an awareness of this serious problem and a sincere search for its ontological remedy. To be even more precise, it is entirely impossible for the problem of education to be resolved unless our people first change their way of life and their mindset regarding thought and living.
The certain cure for an illness, and especially for a spiritual illness, also requires self-knowledge on the part of the one who is suffering. However, self-knowledge is the fruit of a noetic process, which begins with the true self-examination of the guiding mind—watchful and enlightened by divine grace—which, after carefully examining the depths of the soul, leads the sufferer to a correct self-diagnosis, to discovering and understanding the cause of their illness, to recognising their condition, but also their personal responsibility for it. Consequently, only after an awareness of the illness has been achieved—first and foremost by the patient themselves, and secondly by those indirectly involved—can a deep desire arise to heal the causes of their ailments.
Otherwise, that is to say, if he recognises and experiences his own poor state and simply wishes to relieve himself of the unpleasant consequences of his choices, without caring about the root causes of this condition, then he will not receive the correct therapeutic care, and probably not even the prescribed medication, since he does not, fundamentally, wish to repent in an existential sense.
It is clear from the above that the beginning of the cure for the ills of our education lies within ourselves. However, this realisation does not guarantee our self-healing. A serious scientific approach to the ills of our education system requires both scientific therapeutic care and a guaranteed scientific practitioner of it, since, according to Saint John of Sinai, ‘without a doctor, few are healed’ (ibid., The Ladder, Chapter IV).
For this reason, then, we shall say a few words about therapeutic care and its provider.
Having diagnosed the nature of the ills afflicting our education and recognised the spiritual dimension of the problem in question, the first realistic and optimistic thing we can say with a view to fundamentally resolving [of this problem] is that its effective healing must be sought in the spiritual hospital of the Triune God, which is His Ecumenical, Orthodox Church. Therapy in this spiritual place of healing is absolutely guaranteed by the true Physician, that is, by Christ, on the fundamental premise, however, that the spiritually ill person (and those around them, whether socially or by kinship) will recognise and accept their illness, follow the therapeutic procedure prescribed by their spiritually-guided, experienced doctors, and take the necessary spiritual medicines without interruption. Of course, the spiritual medicines of the Church’s spiritual hospital do not act in a mechanical or magical way, [but] presuppose their free acceptance in faith by the spiritually sick person, in accordance with their own earnest disposition.
According to Saint Gregory Palamas, the healing of all the ailments of the soul, which are caused by sin, must begin with concupiscence 16. And since we have considered our estrangement from God, as modern Greeks, to be the primary cause of the ills of our upbringing, this cause, we would say, to put it precisely, is the turning of our minds away from the first commandment, which concerns the desire 17 for God (‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…’), which is why the cure for the ills of education can only lie in the mind’s return to the One who is the sole and wholeheartedly desired 18, that is, to the most ardent lover of our salvation, to God incarnate.
As for changing our people’s erroneous ways of thinking and living, the Church leadership could, under certain conditions, play a decisive role and have the final say; but so too could teaching staff at all levels of education, as, indeed, parents do within the family.
The ills of education clearly arise as consequences of our people’s sin, since, according to biblical and patristic Tradition, as expressed by Saint Gregory Palamas, the cause of the universal occurrence of evil is sin (see ibid., Homilies 61, 1). Therefore, quite rightly, the cure for the ills of sin must be sought in the realm of living spirituality and, above all, in the holy spiritual experience of God’s people.
Already in the Old Testament, God, as the All-Good Father and Teacher, very clearly recommends the following important things to His people: ‘If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, and heed His commandments… I will not bring any disease upon you, for I am the Lord who heals you’ (Exodus 15:26)19.
In another sense, the word of God is, we might say, entirely relevant to what is happening to us today, but also revealing of our future. ‘If you keep My commandments and carry them out,’ [God] tells us, ‘every good thing will come to you and you will live in safety, and there will be no war in your land… But if you do not listen to Me and do not carry out all My commandments… that is, if you do not fulfil all My commandments, then I shall act as follows: I will bring upon you every kind of sickness and poverty, which will consume your very being, and your possessions will be devoured by your enemies… ‘And if, despite all this, you do not listen to Me—in other words, if you do not return to Me—I will continue to punish you sevenfold and crush the arrogance of your pride…’ (Leviticus XXVI, 3–38)20.
God is, of course, ‘gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and He overlooks the iniquities of men’ (Joel 2:13)21, but only those who repent and turn away from their wicked ways. For He assures us, saying: ‘Turn to Me, and I will turn to you’ (Zechariah 1:3) 22. And since God punishes us with mercy, awaiting our return, let us turn to Him in good time, rejecting the works of darkness. Without repentance, we find that we continually fail, for we cast aside our security in God. For this reason, our repentance is the only therapeutic remedy, but also the ultimate cure for sin, the only one-way path to resolving our problems. There are many biblical examples of God’s love for those who repent, and the beneficial consequences of repentance are not limited to the actual quality of life here on earth, but extend, in a multifaceted way, into the life to come and into eternity (cf. Saint Gregory Palamas, Homily 62).
…our repentance is the sole therapeutic procedure, but also the remedy par excellence against sin, the only one-way path to resolving our problems.
Saint Nicholas Cabasilas (14th century), as an authentic representative of the Church’s holy patristic Tradition, provides us with the holy-spiritual key and the solution to the complex problem of education. He writes characteristically: ‘Here one might marvel at God’s goodness. No one can be cured of an illness if someone else takes the medicine. However, one may be spared the consequences of sin when others feel sorrow for him’ (idem, On the Life in Christ, Seventh Discourse, ed. I. Hesych. ‘The Evangelist John the Theologian’, Souroti, Thessaloniki, 2004, p. 409). We shall return to this quotation later.
As for the pain, what else could it be but that which arises from a genuine self-examination and self-diagnosis in the Holy Spirit: indeed, following the scientific diagnosis of the ills of education, which has been presented, we have been helped not only to accept the pathology of our education system, but, at the same time, to accept our direct involvement in it as parents, as educators and as ordinary citizens.
Naturally, on a practical level, in order to change the institutional framework of education, it is first necessary to change our people’s erroneous way of life and thinking. We have already stated earlier in our paper that, under clear conditions, the Church, the family and the school could all play an important role in changing our people’s erroneous way of life and thinking.
The necessary conditions are found, par excellence, in the inner and holy spiritual life of the aforementioned institutions, which must not be understood in an abstract sense, but on a personal level.
Today, the intelligible remnants of sin are visible to the naked eye to all the aforementioned institutions. The discernible ‘rubble’ of various passions has shaped the inner man, and we, the Greek people, have ceded an existential space to demonic powers, which have acquired strong institutional defences and rights. All this is not surrendered without a fight. The struggle of the Church, of parents and of teachers at all levels is, par excellence, a struggle against the worldly ruler of the hearts of those who have surrendered to him. That is why, beyond mere awareness of one’s condition, deep repentance is required, along with spiritual guidance from those who possess the discernment of spirits, the fulfilment of God’s commandments with love, ascetic tranquillity and an intense sacramental life, for only the [Holy] Sacraments of the Church bestow the superpower of divine grace, through the cooperation of which the power of the devil can be destroyed, the entire situation overturned, and a positive change brought about.
To be effective, we will probably need to become more keenly aware that our age is not as Christian as we believe. It bears a closer resemblance to the early Christian era, when the spirit of idolatry prevailed. Today, the spirit of atheism is dominant in our own country too, albeit in a more subtle form. It is possible that our age is even worse than the early Christian era, since in the early Christian era the faithful were ‘fervent in spirit’ (Romans 12:11), whereas today even the model of the noble and virtuous citizen from ancient Greek education is held in contempt.
To the extent of our self-knowledge, but also to the extent of our awareness of our distance from the epicentre of our existential quests—that is, from Christ—there will, as a natural consequence, follow the appropriate repentance, filled with existential anguish. And this, precisely, is the only and extraordinarily effective ‘pharmaceutical’ remedy—indeed, the only one that is grounded in biblical and patristic tradition.
The healing of our education is possible, in this instance, only through our repentance of an existential nature—deep and full of sorrow—perceived as the permanent and humble turning of our minds back to Christ.
And to be more specific and clear, I shall return to the text of Saint Nicholas Cabasilas. ‘One may escape the consequences of sin,’ he says, ‘when others feel sorrow for him’. On this point, the biblical example of Christ Himself is very expressive and convincing: He redemptively lifted the sin of the whole world through His love, full of sorrow and self-sacrifice, even unto death on the Cross. But the example of those who tore open the roof of the house for the sake of the paralysed man, with the aim of bringing him closer to Christ 23, is also edifying. Of course, in this case, to be precise, there was also the indirect cooperation of the paralysed man, who consented to being brought to Christ. If we here, or some of you—whether few or many—who are listening, approach the patristic text personally and, above all, in a vivid and intense way; in other words, if we feel existential pain, then it is certain that the ills of education will be healed in the long term, in accordance with the biblical and patristic word, for we like to believe, through God’s intervention, in a certain degree of cooperation on the part of the ‘sick’ within our education system. Even if those in charge of our education—who are themselves afflicted—are not convinced by the rationality of our arguments, there is still hope for healing. The truly paternal (or maternal) help of our Church can make a decisive contribution to this healing. The example of Saint Paul the Apostle with the Christians in Galatia is particularly telling. ‘My children,’ he writes, ‘for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you’ (Galatians 4:19). In other words, if our local Church were to take the lead, guided by the spiritual principles of Saint Paul the Apostle, this painstaking spiritual labour, and if the remnant 24 resulting from her arduous work is deemed sufficient by Christ, then the solution to the problem of our education will be granted to us all.
But the pain-filled love of all those present here may also, in a mysterious way, draw upon God’s grace and mercy for the restoration of the health of our education and its qualitative improvement, so that we may experience its manifold benefits on a personal, social and national level. And this is because compassion for others, in this specific instance, also contains within it our own repentance. We, too, are ‘the other’, as members of the same body. Whether indirectly or directly, to a greater or lesser extent, we are involved in turning away from God’s pleasing will.
…We, too, are the other, as members of the same body. Whether indirectly or directly, to a greater or lesser extent, we are caught up in straying from God’s good and pleasing will.
However, regardless of how our education may unfold, by offering our repentance and love, filled with sorrow, we shall receive directly, here and now, in a demonstrable way, the indisputable confirmation of our Lord’s satisfaction, for in this way we respond to His holy will. We shall taste the holy spiritual experience promised to the rest of our souls, as an inalienable joy of a spiritual nature and as peace of mind.
Beyond our personal experience, however, we are certain that at least some of those affected by our education will unwittingly receive our loving kindness, for we approach them with a spirit of deep personal repentance and cooperate, striving with a sense of duty towards its restoration.
But even if everything we have said about education does not yield a positive result, we are all duty-bound and able to assume, directly and immediately, a large share of the responsibility for the education of our people, in a very practical and effective manner. Within the Holy Metropolises and parishes to which we belong, we can, voluntarily and responsibly, according to our level of education and our specialism, fill the serious gaps in our education system.
In other words, we can work towards its restoration by dedicating some of our time and drawing upon the wealth of our knowledge and the spiritual heritage of our Church. We can offer lessons in language, history and the civilisation of the soul. And all of this, enriched by other initiatives, we can offer above all in a manner marked by sorrow, humility and a sense of duty, in other words, by repenting in a genuine way, accepting our mistakes and shortcomings—whether knowing or unaware—at all levels, and by taking on this responsibility in a practical and genuine manner, motivated not by a spirit of condemnation, but by a sorrowful, therapeutic response to the harmful aspects of our education; in other words, to bring about the repentance we claim.
A sincere willingness to make amends is, in fact, a spirit of repentance and humility, and for this reason, this spirit can be received by people, regardless of their religious and ideological convictions. In other words, when others—who need to make amends—see that we are sincerely repenting for our mistakes and working with humility and responsibility towards our own correction, then they too are decisively helped in their own willingness to make amends. They then feel the ease—both psychologically and logically—to change their minds and accept the correct position that we represent. However, what we represent is truly correct only when it is an outpouring of repentance and love filled with sorrow. In this case, the primary agent and driving force in the process of the reformation of others is the Holy Spirit Himself, Who is at work within us.
I believe that this is a practical and deeply existential way of approaching people and matters – and, for this reason, a Christianly appropriate approach – which we desire and through which we seek to bring about their transformation.
Based on the above premises regarding living with intensity, I believe we can genuinely inform our misinformed fellow citizens about the true purpose of education, which is the sharing of the ‘25’ holiness of our Triune God.
Conveying this message to all humanity was also the contribution par excellence of those honoured tomorrow as the protectors of education, namely the Three Holy Hierarchs 26, not merely in words, but above all in a practical and lived manner, through their very holy-spiritual lives. It is precisely for this reason that their veneration will endure for ever!
- 1
I have added explanations in square brackets to aid understanding of the text (translator’s note).
- 2
Speaking before Professor Dimitrie Țelenghídis, who was present at the event mentioned above, Father Gheorghe Metallinós († 19 December 2019) was a married priest and the father of three children. He was born in 1940 on the island of Kerkira (Corfu), where he completed primary school, lower secondary school and upper secondary school (1958). He studied Theology and Classical Philology at the University of Athens. After completing his military service, he was appointed as a teaching assistant in the Department of Patrology at the Faculty of Theology in Athens (1965). Between 1969 and 1975, he studied Theology, Philology, History, Philosophy and Sociology in West Germany, whilst also undertaking studies and research in the Archives in England. He went on to obtain a doctorate in Theology (Athens, 1977), as well as in Philosophy and History (Cologne, 1978). Whilst studying in Germany, he was ordained as a priest (1971). From 1984 until 2007, he was a full professor at the Faculty of Theology in Athens (National and Kapodistrian University), where he taught the subjects ‘History and Spiritual Life in the Orthodox East’, History and Theology of the Orthodox Liturgy, and Byzantine History. He also served as Dean of the same Faculty from 2004 to 2007. Renowned as a preacher and a man of exceptional theological calibre both in Greece and abroad, he was a member of numerous scholarly associations, representing the Churches of Greece and Cyprus at various Orthodox and interfaith congresses and gatherings. For example, from 1978 to 1992, he represented the Church of Cyprus in dialogue with the Lutheran World Federation. His body of work as a writer and theologian is rich and varied, comprising numerous articles, studies and dozens of books. To mention just a few of his books: Politics and Theology, The Church in the World, The Parish, Orthodoxy and the Greek Character, Hesitant Hellenism, Struggling Hellenism, The Theological Witness of Church Worship, etc. (translator’s note).
- 3
In the sense that he analyses problems in great detail (translator’s note).
- 4
In their papers, the author or authors refer to the ills or problems afflicting education in Greece, which are also found in Romania (translator’s note).
- 5
That is to say, the diagnosis (translator’s note).
- 6
Or medical (translator’s note).
- 7
That is, the Fifth-Sixth Ecumenical Council or the Second Council of Trullo, held in Constantinople in 691–692 (translator’s note).
- 8
But it also has universal significance. Indeed, the author uses the Greek term καθολική (catolichí), which means universal, total, etc. (translator’s note).
- 9
Both his grace and his work are divine and uncreated (translator’s note).
- 10
In other words, using our own minds (translator’s note).
- 11
In the sense that it is impossible to express these spiritual feelings (translator’s note).
- 12
It should be noted that this canon refers to the spiritual father’s mastery (translator’s note).
- 13
This is the name of the relevant ministry in Greece, where matters of education are combined with those of religious life. In Romania, the equivalent body, as far as education is concerned, is the Ministry of Education and Research, whilst religious affairs are regulated by the State Secretariat for Religious Denominations (translator’s note).
- 14
By cultivating a spiritual life in accordance with Orthodox Christian teaching, a person comes to live not only by the workings of reason and conscience, but also by those of the mind. Whether one speaks of a single noetic function of the soul, which manifests itself in the brain through reason and thought, and in the heart through the mind, or whether two functions of the soul are distinguished—one rational, manifested through reason and thought in the human brain, and another noetic one, exercised through the mind in the heart of a spiritually healthy person, this function or these functions reveal the noetic-rational dimension to which man is called to attain (translator’s note).
- 15
That is to say, consisting of soul and body (translator’s note).
- 16
That is to say, from the part of the soul that craves or desires. It should be noted that in Christian ascetic and spiritual literature, following the Platonic tradition, the soul is considered to have three parts, which are also regarded as powers or faculties: the understanding or rational power (λογιστικόν), the desiring power or concupiscence (ἐπιθυμητικόν) and the angry or irascible power (θυμικόν). The first faculty is regarded as the rational part (λογικὸν μέρος) of the soul, whilst the other two constitute the irrational part (ἄλογον μέρος) of the soul, also called the passive part (παθητικὸν μέρος), since it is through these latter two faculties that passions usually take hold of a person (translator’s note).
- 17
Or a craving (translator’s note).
- 18
Or ‘you’re welcome’ (translator’s note).
- 19
The verse has been rendered into Romanian in the form in which it was quoted by the author (translator’s note).
- 20
This is a Romanian translation of the author’s free paraphrase of the verses quoted (translator’s note).
- 21
Translation based on the verse quoted by the author. The biblical references to this verse, as well as to the verses quoted previously, have been tacitly corrected by the translator (translator’s note).
- 22
Translation into Romanian based on the author’s free rendering of the quoted verse (translator’s note).
- 23
See Matthew 9:1–8; Mark 2:1–12; Luke 5:17–26 (translator’s note).
- 24
See Romans 11:5 (translator’s note).
- 25
See St John Chrysostom, Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, Homily XXIX, γ΄, in PG 63, 205 (translator’s note).
- 26
They are commemorated on 30 January; for the context in which this text is presented, see the introductory paragraph (translator’s note).