The sun when it appears, declaring at his rising a marvelous instrument, the work of the most High:
Read Chapter 43
Cyril of Jerusalem
AD 386
How could anyone who lifts his eyes to the sun not admire the way in which it is regulated? When it first appears, it could in fact seem to be something of little account, whereas in reality it has a truly great power. It gives us light from its rising in the east until it sets in the west. When the psalmist says that it rises in the morning "like a bridegroom from his chamber," he gives an image of its temperate rays that do not bother the eyes at its rising, because at its appearance "like a bridegroom," we find it pleasant. Only when it directs its horses toward midday do we for the most part shelter ourselves from its burning rays. Note above all how it regulates itself, although it is not the sun itself that appoints the rule but him who gave it its course to follow. In the summer, rising, it lengthens the days so as to give people more time for work. In the winter, it shortens its course, not so as to lengthen the time of cold but so that, the nights being longer, it would cooperate with human beings, promoting their rest, and with the earth to make it fruitful. Note also the harmony with which the days balance each other. In the winter they are shorter and in the summer longer, in spring and autumn they accord with one other, seeking a similar length. The night is regulated in the same way. As the psalmist says, "One day to the next hands on the message, and night to night transmits the news." Day and night, with their orderly procession, cry out in unison to heretics that there is no other God than the Creator of all things, who has given them rule and order. - "Catechetical Lectures 9.6"
