Homily 1
On the Conception and Birth of Saint John
the Prophet and Forerunner
By Leontios, Presbyter of Constantinople
(Delivered in 557 A.D. in either September or December,
the day after an earthquake.)
1. "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people" (Lk. 1:68); for today too "dawn has visited us from on high" (Lk. 1:78). We were sleeping in idleness, and he awakened us with his love of human beings; he made the houses shake, in order that he might make us firm by healing our wounds; he whipped what has no soul, in order to chasten what has a soul; he threw the earth into disorder, in order that those in command might be convinced. He shook, he did not destroy; he visited, he did not reveal. "For the one whom the Lord loves, he chastens, and he whips each son whom he accepts" (Prov. 3:12; Heb. 12:6). It was an earthquake that freed Peter from prison; it was an earthquake that freed Paul from fetters; it was an earthquake that Elijah "was lifted up, as it were into heaven" (4 Kings 2:11); it was an earthquake that anticipated the Master's resurrection. Why an earthquake? Where there is a movement of the divinity, there is also an uproar of the elements. Have mercy on your neighbor, and an earthquake will not harm you. Abstain from evil and God will not become angry. You, too, must say diligently in prayer the words of David: "Lord, in your anger do not rebuke me, in your wrath do not chasten me" (Ps. 6:2). Do not overwhelm me as you did the giants, nor have me burnt like the Sodomites, but pity me as you did the Ninevites.
