Epiphany Hymn 8: Fire and Spirit in the Water

God in his mercy stooped and came down

to mingle his compassion with the water,

and to blend the nature of his majesty

with the wretched bodies of men.

He made the water an occasion

to come down and dwell in us,

like the occasion of mercy

when he came down and dwelt in the womb.

O the mercies of God,

who seeks for himself every occasion to dwell in us!

Refrain: Happy are you whose bodies have been made to shine!

To the cave in Horeb he stooped and came down,

and on Moses he caused his majesty to dwell;

he gave his glorious splendor to mortals.

There was in this a figure of baptism:

he who came down and dwelt in it

tempers within the water

the might of his majesty,

so that he may dwell in the feeble.

On Moses dwelt the Breath,

and on you the Perfecting of Christ.

No one could endure that might then:

not Moses, the chief of deliverers,

nor Elijah, the chief of zealots;

and the seraphim too veil their faces,

for it is the might that subdues all.

His mercy mingled gentleness

in the water and through the oil,

so that mankind in its weakness

might be able to stand before him

when covered by the water and the oil.

Again, the captive priests, in the well,

hid and concealed the fire of the sanctuary,

a mystery of that glorified fire

which the High Priest mingles in baptism.

The priests took up some of the mud,

and they sprinkled it on the altar;

for its fire, the fire of that well,

had been mingled with the mud:

a mystery of our bodies, which in the water

have been mingled with the fire of the Holy Spirit.

The famous Three in Babylon

were baptized in the furnace of fire, and came out;

they went in and bathed in the flood of flame; they were buffeted by the blazing billows.

There was sprinkled on them there

the dew that fell from heaven;

it loosed from them there

the bonds of the earthly king.

See, the famous Three went in and found a fourth in the furnace!

That visible fire, which triumphed outwardly,

pointed to the fire of the Holy Spirit,

which, see, is mingled and hidden in the water.

Baptism is figured in the flame,

in that blaze of the furnace.

Come, enter, be baptized, my brothers and sisters,

for see, it looses the bonds;

for in it there dwells, hidden,

the Mediator of God,

who was the fourth in the furnace.

Again, our Lord spoke two sayings,

which agree in unison as with one voice:

he said, “I have come to send fire,”

and again, “I have a baptism to be baptized with.”

By the fire of baptism the fire is quenched,

the one that the Evil One had kindled;

and the water of baptism has overcome

those waters of contention

by which he had tested

Joseph, who conquered and was crowned.

See the pure fire of our Redeemer,

which he kindled in mankind out of his mercy!

Through his fire he quenched that fire

which had been kindled in the defiled and sinful.

This is the fire in which the thorns

and the tares are burned up.

But happy are your bodies,

which have been baptized in the fire

that has consumed your thickets,

and by it your seeds have sprung up to heaven!

He sanctified Jeremiah in the womb and taught him.

But if the lowly bosom of marriage

was sanctified in conceiving him and bringing him forth,

how much more will baptism sanctify,

in its conceiving and bringing forth,

those who are pure and spiritual!

For there, within the womb,

is the conception of all people;

but here, out of the water,

is the birth of which the spiritual are worthy.

For as for Jeremiah, though he was sanctified in the womb,

they took up nails and threw him into the pit.

The prophet was holy in his filth,

for his heart was clean though he was in the mud.

Be afraid, my brothers and sisters,

for see, today is washed away

your secret filth

and the abomination of your sins.

Do not turn back to uncleanness,

for there is only one cleansing of your bodies!

The presumptuous man who is baptized and sins again

is like the serpent that casts off its skin and puts it on again: it is renewed and made young, and then turns back,

putting on anew its old skin;

for the serpent does not

cast off its nature.

Cast off the tempter,

the corrupter of souls,

the old man;

do not let it make old

the newness you have put on!

Elisha threw the wood into the water, and made the heavy thing float and the light thing sink:

their natures were exchanged in the water.

A new thing happened there, not according to nature.

How much easier, then, O Lord,

is this for your grace: that in the water should sink

transgression, which is heavy,

but that the soul, which is light,

should be drawn out and raised up on high!

Joshua, son of Nun, laid on Jericho

a curse on its walls and a doom on its springs.

The springs that Joshua cursed to their destruction

have been blessed again in the mystery of Jesus.

Salt was thrown into them,

and they were healed and made sweet:

a mystery of this salt,

the sweet salt that came from Mary,

which was mingled in the water,

and by which the foulness of our plagues was healed.

See, quiet waters are before you,

holy and calm and pleasant;

for they are not the waters of contention

that threw Joseph into the dungeon;

nor are they the waters,

those waters of strife,

beside which the people quarreled

and spoke in defiance in the wilderness.

These are waters by which

reconciliation is made with heaven.

Hagar saw the spring of water,

and from it she gave drink to her willful son, the one who became like a wild donkey in the wilderness.

In place of that fountain of water there is baptism.

In it the sons of Hagar are baptized,

and they have become gentle and peaceful. Who has seen rams like these,

yoked, see, and laboring

alongside tame bullocks,

and the seed of their plowing reaped a hundredfold!

In the beginning the Spirit that brooded

moved on the waters; they conceived and gave birth

to serpents and fish and birds.

The Holy Spirit has brooded in baptism,

and in a mystery has given birth to eagles,

virgins and prelates;

and in a mystery has given birth to fish,

celibates and intercessors; and in the mystery of serpents,

see, the subtle have become simple as doves!

See the sword of our Lord in the waters,

the one that divides sons and fathers!

For it is the living sword that makes

a division, see, of the living from the dying.

See, they are baptized and they become

virgins and saints,

who have gone down, been baptized, and put on

the One, the only Son.

See, many have come boldly to him!

For whoever has been baptized and put him on,

the only Son, the Lord of the many,

has by this filled the place of many,

for Christ has become a great treasure to him:

for in the wilderness he became

a table of good food,

and at the wedding feast he became

a fountain of choice wines.

He has become such to all in all things,

by helps and healings and promises.

Elisha was the equal of the Watchers

in his deeds, glorious and holy.

The camp of the Watchers was all around him;

so let baptism be to you

a camp of guardians,

for by means of it there dwells in the heart

the hope of those who are below

and the Lord of those who are above.

Sanctify your bodies for him,

for where he dwells, corruption does not come near.

They are no more, the waters of that sea

which by its billows preserved the People,

and by its billows laid the peoples low.

The waters in baptism work the opposite way.

In them, see, the peoples have life;

in them, see, the People perishes;

for all who are not baptized

in the waters that give life to all

are dead, though it is not seen.

They are no more, the waters of that sea

which raged and boiled against Jonah,

and plunged the son of Amittai into the depths.

Though he fled, he was bound in the prison house;

God threw him in and bound him

in a dungeon within a dungeon;

for he bound him in the sea,

and he bound him in the fish.

Grace stood surety for him,

and she opened the prison and brought out the preacher.

The prophets have called the Most High a fire,

“a devouring fire,” and “who can dwell with it?”

The People were not able to dwell in it;

its might crushed the peoples, and they were confounded.

In it you have been anointed with the anointing oil;

you have put him on in the water;

in the bread you have eaten him;

in the wine you have drunk him;

in the voice you have heard him;

and in the eye of the mind you have seen him!