The heavenly sign as divine testimony and call to courage
Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, is writing to the emperor Constantius about the cross of light seen over Jerusalem at Pentecost, and now explains why he reports the vision and what it should confirm for the emperor.
of spirit and power—not merely proclaimed by human beings, but witnessed from heaven by God. Since we, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, received this marvel with our own eyes, we have rendered and will render fitting worship with thanksgiving to God the King of all and to the only Son of God, and we have made and will make earnest prayers for your God-loving might in the holy places. It was necessary not to hand these heavenly visions over to silence, but to announce them as good news to your inspired piety at once, and so I have hastened to do through this letter. My purpose is that, building upon the good foundation of the faith already present in you the knowledge of what God has recently shown, you may take up a more secure hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, and that, taking courage and filled as usual with all boldness, since you have God himself as your ally, you may carry forward the trophy of the cross most readily, with the boast of boasts, bearing the sign shown in heaven—the very sign whose shape heaven displayed to human beings and boasted of all the more. This wonder, most God-loving emperor, has now been accomplished in accordance with the testimonies of the prophets and the voices of Christ laid down in the holy Gospels, and it will be accomplished again in greater measure. For in the Gospel according to Matthew, the Savior, granting to his blessed apostles knowledge of things to come and conversing with those after them through them, declared most clearly in advance: “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven” (Matthew 24:30).
Greek
πνεύματος καὶ δυνάμεως, οὐχ ὑπ' ἀνθρώπων μόνον καταγγελλόμενον, ἀλλ' ἐξ οὐρανῶν θεόθεν μαρτυρούμενον. 5 Ἐπεὶ τοίνυν ἡμεῖς, οἱ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ οἰκήτορες, τὸ τοῦ θαύματος παράδοξον αὐταῖς ὄψεσι παραλαβόντες, θεῷ μὲν τῷ παμβασιλεῖ καὶ υἱῷ τῷ μονογενεῖ τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν πρέπουσαν μετ' εὐχαριστίας προσκύνησιν ἀπεδώκαμεν τε καὶ ἀποδώσομεν, εὐχὰς ἐκτενεῖς καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ θεοφιλοῦς σου κράτους ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις τόποις πεποιημένοι τε καὶ ποιησόμενοι, ἔδει δὲ τὰς ἐπουρανίους ταύτας θεοπτίας μὴ παραδοῦναι σιωπῇ, ἀλλ' εὐαγγελίσασθαι σου τὴν ἔνθεον εὐσέβειαν ἐξαυτῆς διὰ τούτων ἐσπούδασα τῶν γραμμάτων· ἵν' ἀγαθῷ θεμελίῳ τῆς παρὰ σοὶ προϋπαρχούσης πίστεως τὴν ἐκ τῶν προσφάτως θεόθεν ἐπιδειχθέντων γνῶσιν ἐποικοδομήσας, βεβαιότερον μὲν τὴν εἰς τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἀναλάβῃς τὴν ἐλπίδα, θαρσῶν δὲ καὶ πασῆς ἀνδρείας συνήθως πεπληρωμένος, ὡς ἂν αὐτὸν θεὸν ἔχων σύμμαχον, τὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ τρόπαιον ἑτοιμότατα προφέρῃς, καύχημα καυχημάτων, τὸ δειχθὲν ἐν οὐρανῷ σημεῖον ἐπαγόμενος· οὗ καὶ τὸ σχῆμα δείξας ἀνθρώποις οὐρανὸς μειζόνως ἐκαυχήσατο. 6 Τὸ μέντοι θαυματούργημα τοῦτο, βασιλεῦ θεοφιλέστατε, προφητῶν μαρτυρίαις καὶ Χριστοῦ φωναῖς ἁγίοις εὐαγγελίοις ἐγκειμέναις ἀκολούθως, ἐτελέσθη τε νῦν καὶ πάλιν μειζόνως τελεσθήσεται· ἐν γὰρ τῷ κατὰ Ματθαῖον εὐαγγελίῳ μελλόντων πραγμάτων γνῶσιν ὁ σωτὴρ τοῖς μακαρίοις ἀποστόλοις αὐτοῦ δωρούμενος καὶ δι' ἐκείνων τοῖς μετ' αὐτοὺς ὁμιλῶν λευκότατα προαναφωνῶν ἔλεγε· "Καὶ τότε φανήσεται τὸ σημεῖον τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐν οὐρανῷ".