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Prayer to Christ

εὐχαί τε στοναχαί τε φίλαι, καὶ νύκτες ἄϋπνοι
ἀγγελικοί τε χοροὶ, ψαλμοῖς Θεὸν οἵ γ’ ἐρέθουσιν,
ἱστάμενοι ψυχάς τε Θεῷ πέμποντες ἐν ὕμνοις,
πολλῶν ἐκ στομάτων ξυνὴν ὄπα γηρύοντες.

Prayers and dear laments, and sleepless nights,
angelic choirs, and those who raise psalms to God,
They stand and send the souls to God through hymns,
So that they sing joining the sound of many voices.

Source

A. Tuilier & G. Bady (eds.) (2004), Saint Grégoire de Nazianze, Oeuvres poétiques Tome I. 1re partie. Poèmes personnels II, 1, 1–11. Texte établi par André Tuilier et Guillaume Bady. Traduit et annoté par Jean Bernardi (Paris, Les Belles Lettres), II. 1.1. 279-82. English translation by © David Hernández de la Fuente.

A Ηymn to Christ after Silence, at Easter

Ὄργανόν εἰμι Θεοῖο, καὶ εὐκρέκτοις μελέεσσιν
70 Ὕμνον ἄνακτι φέρω, τῷ πᾶν ὑποτρομέει.
Μέλπω δ’ οὐ Τροίην, οὐκ εὔπλοον οἷά τις Ἄργὼ,
Οὐδὲ συὸς κεφαλὴν, οὐ πολὺν Ἡρακλέα,
Οὐ γῆς εὐρέα κύκλα ὅπως πελάγεσσιν ἄρηρεν
Οὐκ αὐγὰς λιθάκων, οὐ δρόμον οὐρανίων.
75 Οὐδὲ πόθων μέλπω μανίην, καὶ κάλλος ἐφήβων,
Οἷσι λύρη μαλακὸν κρούετ’ ἀπὸ προτέρων.
Μέλπω δ’ ὑψιμέδοντα Θεὸν μέγαν, ἠδὲ φαεινῆς
Εἰς ἓν ἀγειρομένης λάμψιν ἐμῆς Τριάδος,
Ἀγγελικῶν τε χορῶν μεγάλους ἐριηχέας ὕμνους
80 Πλησίον ἑσταότων, ἐξ ὀπὸς ἀντιθέτου
Κόσμου θ’ ἁρμονίην, καὶ κρείσσονα τῆς παρεούσης,
Ἣν δοκέω, πάντων εἰς ἓν ἐπειγομένων
Καὶ Χριστοῦ παθέων κλέος ἄφθιτον, οἷς μ’ ἐθέωσεν
Ἀνδρομέην μορφὴν οὐρανίῃ κεράσας.
85 Μέλπω μίξιν ἐμήν. Οὐ γὰρ φατὸν ἔργον ἐτύχθην
Ἔργον, ὅπως πλέχθην θνητὸς ἐπουρανίοις.

I am an instrument of God and with fair-sounding melodies
70 I present a hymn of praise to the King before whom all tremble.
I do not sing of Troy, nor, as some do, of the fair-sailing Argo,
nor of the boar’s head nor of mighty Heracles,
nor of how the wide globe of the earth was joined to the seas,
nor of the brilliance of jewels nor the course of the heavenly bodies.
75 I do not sing of the madness of desire and the beauty of young men
for whom the poets of old gently plucked their lyres.
I sing of the great God who rules on high and the splendour
of my shining Trinity united into one;
of the great hymns of praise sounding forth from the angelic choirs
80 who stand close by; from their antiphonal voices derive
the cosmic harmony and that harmony greater than the present one
for which I hope, when all are eagerly brought together.
I sing of the eternal glory of Christ’s sufferings, by which he made me
divine, combining human form with the heavenly.
85 I sing of this mixture of mine, for I was created in a mysterious manner,
in such a way that I, a mortal being, was combined with the immortal.

Source

A. Tuilier & G. Bady (eds.) (2004), Saint Grégoire de Nazianze, Oeuvres poétiques Tome I. 1re partie. Poèmes personnels II, 1, 1–11. Texte établi par André Tuilier et Guillaume Bady. Traduit et annoté par Jean Bernardi (Paris, Les Belles Lettres), II. 1.34, 70-86. English translation from C.White (ed.) (1997), Gregory of Nazianzus, Autobiographical poems, (New York, Cambridge University Press), 168–171.

On Rational Natures

Περὶ νοερῶν οὐσιῶν.

Οἵη δ’ ὑετίοιο κατ’ ἠέρος εὐδιόωντος,
(439) Ἀντομένη νεφέεσσιν ἀποκρούστοις περιωγαῖς,
Ἀκτὶς ἠελίοιο πολύχροον ἶριν ἑλίσσει,
Ἀμφὶ δέ μιν πάντη σελαγίζεται ἐγγύθεν αἰθὴρ,
Κύκλοισιν πυκινοῖσι καὶ ἔκτοθε λυομένοισι·
Τοίη καὶ φαέων πέλεται φύσις, ἀκροτάτοιο
Φωτὸς ἀποστίλβοντος ἀεὶ νόας ἥσσονας αὐγαῖς.
Ἤτοι ὁ μὲν πηγὴ φαέων, φάος οὔτ’ ὀνομαστὸν,
Οὔθ’ ἑλετὸν, φεῦγόν τε νόου τάχος ἐγγὺς ἰόντος,
Αἰὲν ὑπεκπροθέον πάντων φρένας, ὥς κε πόθοισι
Τεινώμεσθα πρὸς ὕψος ἀεὶ νέον. Οἱ δέ τε φῶτα
Δεύτερα ἐκ Τριάδος βασιλήϊον εὖχος ἐχούσης,
Ἄγγελοι αἰγλήεντες, ἀειδέες, οἵ ῥα θόωκον
Ἀμφὶ μέγαν βεβαῶτες, ἐπεὶ νόες εἰσὶν ἐλαφροὶ,
(440) Πῦρ καὶ πνεύματα θεῖα δι’ ἠέρος ὦκα θέοντες
Ἐσσυμένως μεγάλῃσιν ὑποδρήσσουσιν ἐφετμαῖς,
Ἁπλοῖ τε, νοεροί τε, διαυγέες, οὔτ’ ἀπὸ σαρκῶν
Ἐρχόμενοι (σάρκες γὰρ ἐπεὶ πάγεν αὖθις ὀλοῦνται),
Οὔτ’ ἐπὶ σάρκας ἰόντες, ὅπερ δ’ ἐγένοντο μένοντες.
Ἤθελον εἰπεῖν πάμπαν ἀτειρέες· ἀλλ’ ἄνεχ’ ἵππον
Καὶ μάλα θερμὸν ἐόντα, νόου ψαλίοισιν ἐέργων.
Καί ῥ’ οἱ μὲν μεγάλοιο παραστάται εἰσὶ Θεοῖο·
Οἱ δ’ ἄρα κόσμον ἅπαντα ἑαῖς κρατέουσιν ἀρωγαῖς,
Ἄλλην ἄλλος ἔχοντες ἐπιστασίην παρ’ ἄνακτος,
Ἄνδρας τε, πτόλιάς τε, καὶ ἔθνεα πάνθ’ ὁρόωντες,
Καὶ λογικῶν θυέων ἐπιίστορες ἡμερίοισι.
Θυμὲ, τί καὶ ῥέξεις; τρομέει λόγος οὐρανίοισι
(441) Κάλλεσιν ἐμβεβαώς· ἀχλὺς δέ μοι ἀντεβόλησεν,
Οὐδ’ ἔχω ἢ προτέρω θεῖναι λόγον ἢ ἀναδῦναι.
Ὡς δ’ ὅτε τρηχαλέῳ ποταμῷ περάων τις ὁδίτης
Ἐξαπίνης ἀνέπαλτο, καὶ ἴσχεται ἱέμενός περ,
Πολλὰ δέ οἱ κραδίη πορφύρεται ἀμφὶ ῥεέθρῳ·
Χρειὼ θάρσος ἔπηξε, φόβος δ’ ἐπέδησεν ἐρωήν·
Πολλάκι ταρσὸν ἄειρεν ἐφ’ ὕδατι, πολλάκι δ’ αὖτε
Χάσσατο, μαρναμένων δὲ, φόβον νίκησεν ἀνάγκη.
Ὣς καὶ ἐμοὶ θεότητος ἀειδέος ἐγγὺς ἰόντι,
Τάρβος μὲν καθαροῖο παραστάτας ὑψιμέδοντος
Θεῖναι ὑπ’ ἀμπλακίῃ, φωτὸς κεκορημένον εἶδος,
Μή πω καὶ πλεόνεσσιν ὁδὸν κακίης στορέσαιμι.
Τάρβος δ’ ἄτροπον ἐσθλὸν ἐμοῖς ἐπέεσσι χαράξαι,
(442) Μέσφ’ ὅτε καὶ σκολιόν τιν’ ὁρῶ κακίης μεδέοντα.
Οὔτε γὰρ ἦν ἀγαθοῖο, κακοῦ φύσιν ἄμμι φυτεῦσαι,
Ἠὲ μόθον προφέρειν καὶ ἔχθεα οἷσι φίλοισιν·
Οὔτε μὲν ἀντιθόωκον ἀναστῆναι κακότητα
Ὕστατον, ἢ καὶ ἄναρχον ἔχειν φύσιν ὥσπερ ἄνακτα.
Ὧδέ μοι ἀσχαλόωντι Θεὸς νόον ἔμβαλε τοῖον.

On Rational Natures

Even as a sunbeam, travelling through rain-heavy, calm air, encountering clouds in its refracted, revolving movements,
produces the many-coloured rainbow curve; everywhere around, the upper air gleams brightly with many circles dissolving towards the edges; such is the nature of lights also, the highest light always shining brightly upon minds which are lesser beams. There is one who is the source of lights, a light inexpressible, eluding capture, fleeing the speed of a pursuing mind whenever it approaches, for ever outstripping the minds of all, that we may be drawn by desires to a height which is ever new. There are others who are second lights after the Trinity which holds the royal pride of precedence, shining angels without visible forn, moving around the mighty throne, as they are nimble intelligences. As fire and divine spirits they run swiftly through the air, eagerly obeying God’s great behests, being simple, intellectual, radiant, emanating not from flesh (for flesh when once compacted is afterwards destroyed), nor again coming into relationship with flesh, but rather remaining in their original state. I might have wished them also quite unyielding. But restrain the horse, for all its impetuosity, checking it with the curb of the mind. Some are attendants of the mighty God, while others use their powers to maintain the whole world, holding from the sovereign’s hand varying offices, overseeing men, cities, and all nations, acquainted with the sacrifices reasonable for mortals to make.
My heart, I ask what you will do now. Reason trembles to enter upon the beauties of the heavenly world. A mist has come upon me. I do not know whether to advance my speaking or to withdraw. I am like a traveller attempting to cross a raging stream who is suddenly borne upwards by the current and is held fast for all his eagemess to cross. His heart is in a great swirl because of the current. Necessity stiffens his courage, while fear constrains his urge to go on. Often he raises his foot upon the water and as often he falls back. With emotions in conflict, necessity overcomes fear. This is my case, as I come closer to the Godhead which lies beyond visible form. I fear to ascribe sin to the attendants of the pure one who rules on high, them who are a form of being sated with light, in case I should somehow pave a way to evil for still more beings. I am also afraid to set down in my account the idea of changeless good, as long as I see a crooked being holding sway in the realm of evil. For it was not the way of a good being to plant in us the nature of evil and to produce strife and hatred in creatures he loves.
Nor would he later establish evil upon a rival throne nor allow it an eternal nature, as if it were sovereign.
Such was the thought God planted firmly in my distressed mind.

Source

J.-P. Migne (1857-1866), Patrologiae cursus completus (series Graeca) 37 (Paris), 397-522. English translation from C. Moreschini (1997), St. Gregory of Nazianzus: Poemata Arcana, textual introduction by C. Moreschini, introduction, translation and commentary by D. A. Sykes, English translation of textual introduction by L. Holford-Strevens (Oxford, Clarendon Press), 27-29.

Hymn to God, attributed to Gregory of Nazianzus

Ὦ πάντων ἐπέκεινα· τι γάρ θέμις ἄλλο σέ μέλπειν;
Πῶς λόγος ὑμνήσει σέ; σύ γάρ λόγω οὐδενί ρητός.
Μοῦνος ἐῶν ἄφραστος· επει τέκες ὄσσα λαλεῖται.
Πῶς νόος ἀθρήσει σέ; σύ γάρ νόω οὐδενί ληπτός,
Μοῦνος ἐῶν ἄγνωστος· επει τέκες ὄσσα νοεῖται.
Πάντα σέ καί λαλέοντα, καί οὐ λαλέοντα λιγαίνει.
Πάντα σέ καί νοέοντα καί οὐ νοέοντα γεραίρει.
Ξυνοί γάρ τέ πόθοι, ξυναί δ’ὠδίνες ἁπάντων
Ἀμφί σε· σοι δέ τά πάντα προσεύχεται· εις σέ δέ πάντα
Σύνθεμα σόν νοέοντα λαλεῖ σιγώμενον ὕμνον.
Σοί ἐνί πάντα μένει· σοι δ’ἀθρόα πάντα θοάζει.
Καί πάντων τέλος ἐσσί, καί εἰς καί πάντα ὑπάρχεις,
Οὔχ ἐν ἐῶν, οὐ παντα· πανώνυμε, πῶς σέ καλέσσω,
Τόν μόνον ἀκλήιστον; Ὑπερνεφέας δέ καλύπτρας
Τίς νόος οὐρανίδης εἰσδύσεται; ἴλαος εἴης,
Ὦπάντων ἐπέκεινα· τι γάρ θέμις ἄλλο σέ μέλπειν;

O you who surpasseth all—for is there another way fit to celebrate you? With what speech to praise you? For no words name you.
Sole unspeakable being, you create all that words can name.
How could intellect contemplate you? For no mind can grasp you.
Sole unthinkable being, you create all that mind perceives.
Those that can speak, and those that cannot, all together proclaim you.
All that mind can conceive, and all that it cannot, glorify you.
All longing desires, all painful aspirations,
Are drawn to you. Every being adores you;
All who know signs of you, sing you silent hymns.
In you all rests; all else is assembled to drive toward you;
You are the end of everything, and the one, and the all, and neither,
Not one nor all. You, who names all things, who can call you,
Who alone cannot be called? Through your covering veils
What celestial mind could penetrate? Find favor with me,
O you who surpasseth all; for is there any other way fit to celebrate you?

Source

J.-P. Migne (1857-1866), Patrologiae cursus completus (series Graeca) 37 (Paris), 507-8. English translation by Joshua Hochschild (https://www.academia.edu/37902016/Hymn_to_God_by_Proclus_English_and_Greek_).