593 A of licentiousness and slander, and of the blessed Susanna’s constancy in chastity unto death. Do you see for how long God leaves one by oneself? He leaves one by oneself as if testing gold in a furnace to prove the righteous in trials; just as He also did in the case of Abraham. Isaac was being led to a burnt offering, the altar had been built, the wood had been piled up, and the sheep was nowhere to be found. The father takes the knife, and still no sheep; he rushed to slaughter, and then God by His voice restrained his hand. I have said these things so that each of you, when being tried, even if you draw near to death, may not despair of help from God, but may wait until the end. Susanna, then, was being led away to die; there was no one to help. When she saw that there was no human intervention available, she ran back in her mind to the faithful witness in heaven, to the unsleeping eye, and said with a voice: "O eternal God, knower of hidden things, who knows all things before their birth, You know that they bear false witness against me; and behold, I die having done none of the things which these men have wickedly wrought against me." And He heard her, He who said: "While you are yet speaking, I am present" (Isa. 58:9). And while she was being led away to be destroyed, God awakened the spirit of a younger lad, whose name was Daniel. And he cried out with a loud voice: "I am clean from the blood of this woman." All the people turned back, and said: "What is this word that you have spoken?" But he, standing in the midst of them, said: "Are you such foolish children of Israel, who have condemned a daughter of Israel without questioning, and without knowing the truth? Return to the judgment." B For they have borne false witness against her. And all the people returned with haste. And Daniel said: "Separate them far from one another." And he questioned the one, saying: "O you who have grown old in evil days, now your sins which you used to commit have come upon you. Tell me, therefore, under what tree did you see them speaking with one another?" He said: "Under a mastic tree." And Daniel said: "Rightly have you lied to your own C head; for the angel of God is about to have the sword, to cut you in two." And having removed this one, he calls the other, and says: "O seed of Canaan, and not of Judah, beauty has deceived you, and desire has perverted your heart. Tell me, therefore, under what tree did you see them speaking with one another?" He said: "Under an evergreen oak." And Daniel said to him: "Rightly have you also lied to your own head; for the angel of God is about to have the sword, to cut you in two." And all the people cried out with a loud voice, saying: "Blessed is the Lord who saves all those who hope in Him." And innocent blood was saved on that day. And that which was said by David from the person of Susanna was fulfilled: "But Thy right hand took hold of me; and they in vain sought my soul, the lawless elders; they shall enter into the lowest parts of the earth; they shall be delivered into the hands D of the sword; for the angel of God is about to have the sword to tear them apart; they shall be portions for foxes" (Ps. 62:9, 12). But the king shall rejoice in God; the husband of Susanna. Everyone who swears by Him shall be praised, that is, everyone believing in Him; because the mouth of those speaking unjust things has been stopped; the unjust mouths of the lawless elders. Then the mourning of her parents was turned into joy; the husband rejoiced, glorifying God; the relatives rejoiced; the neighbors were glad; her house was filled with joy, and in short, it was a public festival of God, of angels, and of men. Have you seen in a female body a courageous soul? Have you seen the chastity of a woman, whose memory remains immortal after victory? She was glorified by men, she was magnified by angels, she was crowned by God; imitate her, you women, so that you too may be deemed worthy of the same honor before God in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power unto the ages of ages. Amen.
NOTICE
Rightly did Savile place this homily among the *amphiballomena*, or "dubious" works; and among the spuria, Fronto Ducaeus, whose words are these: "How frequently blessed John Chrysostom, and how willingly, digresses to the praises of the three youths thrown into the fire at Babylon, can be known from his 18th Homily on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, his 8th on the Epistle to the Ephesians, the 4th to the people of Antioch, and on that saying, 'That no one is harmed except by himself,' and many others. For which reason it should seem less of a wonder to the reader that this treatise is even now found described among his works with his name prefixed by the early editors, which contains an abundant explanation of the Canticle of the Three Youths that departs somewhat from his other homilies, yet belongs to some ancient author."ON THE THREE YOUTHS, AND ON THE BABYLONIAN FURNACE, ORATION
1. A new, in truth, and most great spectacle of piety has the chorus of the three youths displayed to us, having contended in the good contest in Babylon, and throughout the whole world gathering together the miracle of their martyrdom. For the glory of the saints is not circumscribed by a place, nor is the memory of the righteous limited by time; "For a righteous man shall be for an everlasting memorial" (Ps. 111:7). Whence, even if the martyrdom was brought to completion in the most ancient times, yet throughout all time the strategy of their endurance is sung. We know the events through the readings, we know the history through memory, we know as if in an image by word both the lawlessness of the tyrant and the confession of the saints, and the furnace burning with fire, but reflecting back against the anger of the tyrant, and against the threat of fire displaying the unquenchable confession of the martyrs; or rather, what is to prevent us from taking up from above the contests of those truly God-beloved and thrice-blessed ones and speaking of them? Nebuchadnezzar the king, or rather the tyrant (for this is the name proper to the lawless), was ruling over Babylon; but he was also a barbarian in his soul, and savage in his manner. He, being drunken with much injustice and wealth and power, was ignorant of his own nature, and not even suspecting himself to be a man, he expected to be worshipped as a God. And his innate madness, combined with his success, fostered his excessive arrogance, and the long-suffering of God, which patiently bears with the impious...
A permitted all things for the sake of exercising the pious. This lawless man fashioned an image of gold—that is, a golden statue—and forced those who had been fashioned in the image of God to adore the image he had created. In order to display much magnificence, he gave it a height of sixty cubits and a width of six cubits, and he crafted a sleek and elegant image, so that by the sheer magnitude of the figure or the beauty of its composition he might overcome the truth and force it to succumb to deception. The craftsmanship shone, the gold glittered, the herald shouted, the tyrant threatened, the furnace was set ablaze; and, in addition to all these things, the so-called musical instruments were instilling a violent frenzy of impiety into the foolish, and the spectacle was snatching away the minds of all observers—the very ideas of the things being seen.
But the saints were by no means going to yield to the command of impiety; rather, while nearly everyone, as if carried by a certain violent torrent of deception, was falling headlong into the precipice of idolatry, these three noble youths, having settled themselves like a rock upon piety, were not swept away by the torrent of iniquity. For it was fitting for them to say: B "If it were not that the Lord was with us, perhaps they would have swallowed us alive. When their fury raged against us, perhaps the water would have overwhelmed us. Our soul has passed through the torrent; perhaps our soul might have passed through the intolerable water" (Ps. cxxiii, 2–5). They were not caught in the snares, but having run well toward piety and having been borne aloft on the high wings of faith, they escaped unharmed, according to the dictum of the author of Proverbs: "Like a doe from the snares, and like a bird from the net" (Prov. vi, 5). And not only did they see the snare spread wide for the entirety of mankind, but they repeated that pious voice together with the author of the Psalms: "Sinners shall fall into their own net" (Ps. cxl, 10). Nor did the three captives look to their own small number—though they were troubled by so many—but they knew well that even the smallest spark of piety is sufficient to burn up and destroy all impiety. Therefore, although they were only three, they supported and strengthened one another. For they knew that the way is narrow and confined that leads to life, and few there are who find it (Matt. vii, 14). They remembered the patriarch Abraham, who, although he was the only worshipper of God in the whole world, did not follow the crowd of the impious, but the law of piety and justice was his reward; hence, it was justly that from him, as from the best root, these fruits of piety sprouted. For from him were born the patriarchs, the lawgiver Moses, and the prophets, and all the theologians, and especially from him came that saving and immortal flower of justice, the humanity of our Savior; from him, too, these three youths arose, and they did not deny their nobility. They remembered also Lot, who lived among the Sodomites, but in his morals was far removed from them; there stood before their minds Joseph, who in Egypt alone embraced continence and was a model of piety. Wherefore, these too, surrounded by so many thousands, when they saw the many, realized that the way that leads to perdition is broad and spacious, and "many there are who find it" (Matt. vii, 13); but when they turned their eyes again to themselves and to the furnace, they remembered the One who says in Wisdom: "As gold is tested in the furnace, so God chooses hearts" (Prov. xvii, 3). For this reason, neither the war-song sounding out with the trumpet terrified them, nor did the lyre, soothing the ears, break the strength of their piety, nor did all the rest of the symphony of music dissolve the excellent and harmonious composition of piety; but they offered a preeminent confession in place of the excellent symphony.
But that malicious and impious tyrant, when it was reported that the companions of Ananias were not obeying the command of iniquity, while the diabolical pride was urging on his mind—and I would almost say he was putting on the very countenance of the prince of wickedness—summoned them and said: "Is it true, Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, that you do not worship my gods, and do not adore the golden image which I have erected?" (Dan. iii, 14). C He supposed that their piety was some sort of simulation and deceit, and he inquired whether they would dare to resist royal commands, they who profess piety; and he was to be taught by experience itself that the men of God do not only despise the threats of a tyrant, but even overcome the very vapor of fire by the virtue of piety. "Now, therefore, when you shall hear the sound of the trumpet, and the pipe, and the harp, and the sackbut, and the psaltery, and the symphony, and all kinds of music, fall down and adore the golden statue which I have erected" (Dan. iii, 15). D Fall down and adore! It is impossible for those who adore demons not to fall into ruin and fall away from the truth. "But if you do not adore," he says, "in the same hour you shall be cast into the furnace of burning fire." Clearly, if there is a furnace, it is evident that there is also fire; and if there is fire, it is evident that it is also burning; but he amplifies and exaggerates his threats so that he might bend the purpose of their piety: "In the same hour you shall be cast into the furnace of burning fire." And this arrogance would have been tolerable thus far; but see what he subordinates after these things: "And who is the god that shall deliver you out of my hands?" He is another Pharaoh, for he too said to Moses, "Who is the Lord, that I should hear him? I do not know," says the impious man, "the Lord, and I will not let the people go" (Exod. v, 2). O the immense arrogance of men! O the great long-suffering of God! A human being shouts! And God sustains it; clay speaks, and the Potter patiently bears it; words are made with a tongue of flesh, and the Lord of incorporeal angels shows mercy! "Who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire" (Ps. ciii, 4). It would now be fitting at this place to remember the one who says, "Why is earth and ashes proud?" (Eccli. x, 9). Do you wish to marvel at the long-suffering of God? Consider the insult brought against you; how it is wont to seem intolerable to you. Often someone is insulted by a servant, and immediately, objecting that he is a free man who has been insulted, he demands punishment for the crime committed and punishes the author of the insult with the inevitable penalty of death; another is insulted by a man of low and private condition, when he himself is one of the number of those who are occupied in the administration of the Republic; then, suddenly irritated by the insult, he is carried away in haste toward vengeance, and he neither looks at the common nature nor the equal condition of all, but looks at the dignity with which he is endowed, from which the fact that we are able to see that there is one and the same condition of our race can be removed: since we were all formed from the earth, and we shall be dissolved into the earth; and there is one way to life, and our exit is equal. "You were compacted of clay," he says, "as was I." Nevertheless, clay indeed demands a prerogative of honor from those who are in equal condition; but God, who excels all in nature and by law, and who is as much superior as it is proper that the Creator be considered more sublime than his creatures, being offended by blasphemies and despised by the ungrateful, does not indeed flare up—since perturbation cannot fall upon him—but afterward he chastises those who persist in their foolishness, because he is the arbiter of truth and an inexorable judge. That all who sin may not be destroyed immediately, he defers the punishment and offers patience, so that he may entice them to repentance. But let us return to the matter at hand. A man clothed in flesh dared to say, "Who is the god that shall deliver you out of my hands?" But the most blessed youths, upon hearing these things, did not flare up on account of the blasphemy; for they themselves were familiar with the divine long-suffering; but they replied to the tyrant with a voice of faith against the words of treachery that had been usurped, they had dissolved the iniquity with the law, and with the liberty of justice they overcame the threats of injustice: "It must be known to you, O king," they say, "that we do not worship your gods, and we do not adore the golden statue which you have erected" (Dan. iii, 18). Cease from this madness, O man; be ashamed of the ignominious adoration of that image. For if you erected the image, how can you adore what you have made? Who ought to be the craftsmen of others? Are they men of God, or the God of men? For if they are truly gods, the dignity of the craftsman and the creation is appropriate to them; but, as we have frequently said before, unless an art [alt-version omitted]
[forged by men] had been present, the Greeks would not have had gods. Or rather, let us consider this as well: if there were any perception in the idols, it would be fitting for the men who fashioned them to worship them. For it is a law of nature that the creature should worship the Creator, not that the *creator* should bow down to his own creation. Therefore, we, as companions of piety, following the divine law, say: "We do not serve your gods, and we do not worship the golden image which you have set up; but there is a God in heaven who will deliver us from your hands" (Dan. 3:18). Then, so that they might not seem to be tempting God, or relying with audacity on the hope of being delivered from the fire, they immediately add: "But if not—" (ibid.)—that is, even if He does not deliver us, but allows our bodies to be burned by the fire, not even then will we depart from piety; for we do not serve God for a reward, but we confess the truth out of gratitude. When the tyrant heard this promise of faith, he was even more inflamed and ordered the furnace to be heated seven times over; for it was necessary that the most refined silver be purified seven times: "The words of the Lord are pure words, silver refined in the earth, purified seven times" (Ps. 11:7). Therefore, the furnace was heated sevenfold, so that the saints might be purified sevenfold. A And that the people of God are called silver, remember Wisdom which says: "The tongue of the righteous is refined silver" (Prov. 10:20); and listen to the prophet Jeremiah speaking about those who are rejected from piety: "Call them *reprobate silver*, because God has rejected them" (Jer. 6:30). If the imperfect are reprobate silver, then clearly the perfected are the most refined silver; for as much as the furnace was kindled, so much more did the longing of their martyrdom shine brightly. For the three holy children entering in with faith trampled the flame, breathing a thin and dewy air in the very midst of the intense fire. For He who creates and transforms all things blunted the heat of the fire and cut off its searing activity, the song of praise confirming the miracle: "The voice of the Lord cutting through the flame of fire" (Ps. 28:7). B And indeed, the fire was stilled and remained quiet within, while the holy children danced, as though enjoying that very promise which God, through the prophet Isaiah, promises to every soul full of piety and faith, that: "Even if you pass through fire," He says, "I am with you, and the flame shall not burn you" (Is. 43:2). And it was possible to see the promise proceeding by means of works. For the fire did not touch the members of the saints; it did not scorch the eyes, which rightly looked toward piety and, through the beauty of the things seen, recognized the Maker of the world; it did not harm the ears, which were filled with the divine law; it did not approach the mouth, nor did it touch the lips, being awestruck by the tongues that were hymn-singers and recorders of hymns. Each of the saints’ members had its own guardian: the hands, the lifting up of prayers and the distribution of alms; the chest, the power of piety dwelling within them; the stomach and the lower members, the practice of temperance; the feet, the race of virtue. And why must I spend time speaking of each individual thing? Not even the hair did the fire dare touch, because it was covered all the more by the tiara of piety; and it even spared their garments for the sake of the decorum of the saints. What then? On account of this, God commanded the fire to seize the Chaldeans, and so that they might not, by thinking it to be sorcery, dim the power of the fire, blunt the glory of the martyrs, and slander the miracle of truth—for this reason they remained quiet inside, while the fire consumed the Chaldeans on the outside, so that it might safely persuade those who saw it that, regarding the saints, it did not forget its own nature, but honored piety; just as the lions did with Daniel in the pit. C Thus, from this they truly established an angelic choir, and the thrice-blessed children praised God, and they gathered all creation—the super-celestial and that which is seen by the eyes—into one choir of hymn-singing.
3. But it is necessary not to leave this unexamined: for what reason did they not show all creation equally, but set forth the creation in parts? It is sufficient to say what leads to the truth: "Bless, all you works of the Lord, the Lord" (Dan. 3:57). But since this great theater of piety was gathered together in the region of the impious, it was necessary to instruct the Babylonians as to what the works are, and who the Maker of all things is. And they begin from the angels and terminate at men. Angels were imagined to be gods; and it is told among the Greeks that: "These," he says, "whom we worship as gods, are angels of the great God." So that the foolish might be instructed that angels are not of the number of those being worshipped, but of those who worship, for this reason they shout: "Bless, angels of the Lord, the Lord" (Ibid. v. 58). The sun and moon and all the choir of stars were worshipped. For this reason, they also take these into the worship of hymns. "Bless," he says, "sun and moon; bless, stars of heaven, the Lord" (Ibid. v. 62, 63). Then after these, "All rain and dew, the Lord" (Ibid. v. 64). What, then, does the "All rain and dew, and all spirits" mean? It would be worth observing. Droughts and violent, untimely winds often occur; and the inventors of falsehood, who rejoice in vanity, are always accustomed to attribute everything to some kind of matter and the evil of disorder, not knowing that nothing is ownerless, nor has anything been created in vain, but that God manages all these things, both for the instruction of men and for the avoidance of impiety. For the good order of the created things proclaims the Creator, while the disorder demands the worship of the created things. For if the rain or the winds were something divine and venerable, they would not be out of order; for the divine does not admit to disorder. For this reason they say, "All rain and dew, and all spirits, the Lord." Rain and winds were also worshipped—some as nourishers, others as cultivators of the earth's fruits; and the ground itself was worshipped, and its fruits were allotted to various demons; calling the vine the gift of Dionysus, and the olive that of Athena; and other fruits to others. And the same word of truth, safeguarding against this, says, "Bless, all things that grow on the earth, the Lord" (Ibid. v. 76). For He is the Creator and Master of all things that have grown and that grow. Then after this, "Mountains and hills" (Ibid. v. 75). Are the mountains and hills excluded? Not at all; but since in the hills the small [shrines] of the demons were built, and idols were worshipped there, for this reason he says, "Bless, mountains and hills, the Lord." But nevertheless, having mentioned the hills, he mentions also the springs, rivers, and the sea; for these also were deified; and they called the springs Nymphs, the sea Poseidon, and certain ones Sirens and Nereids; and that rivers were also worshipped, the things in Egypt bear witness even up to the present day through the rising of the Nile, not revering it as God by its nature, but serving the water itself as a god. For this reason they also call the rivers, springs, and the sea into the hymn-singing. Then, the birds of the heaven and the cattle; for not even these are excluded from being deified; for the eagle was worshipped, and the hawk; and the Egyptians honored the wild beasts and the cattle with the title of gods; and the error prevailed to such an extent that they even named cities after the animals being worshipped: and cities of Dogs, Sheep, Wolves, and Lions are spoken of among them. But after all these things, the human race is finally brought forward. "Bless," he says, "you sons of men, the Lord" (Ibid. v. 82). The human race is ranked last, not according to dignity, but according to creation. "Bless, Israel, the Lord" (Ibid. v. 83). This, which was an elect race among the men on earth, he then brings forward, and at that point he sets forth many differences in the nation, and brings forward the priests of the Lord for the conviction of the priests of the falsely-named gods. Then he says, D "Bless, you priests of the Lord, the Lord" (Ibid. v. 84). And "Bless, you servants of the Lord, the Lord" (Ibid. v. 85). Then: "Bless, spirits and souls of the righteous, the Lord" (Ibid. v. 86, 87). What [concerning] the holy...
and the humble of heart, it is the Lord A whom it remembers? To show that God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (Prov. 3:34), and that He burned up the arrogant outside the furnace, but preserved the holy and humble in the midst of the fire. Therefore, the fire rejoiced with the saints; for it too was commanded to join all things in praising the Creator: "Bless, fire and heat, the Lord" (Dan. 3:66): so that the Babylonian magi, among whom fire is worshipped, might learn, not that fire is to be adored, but that it is one of the things that adore.
But yet, let us bring our discourse to a close by coming to the final degree. "Bless," he says, "Ananias, Azarias, Misael, the Lord" (Ibid. v. 88). What benefit is there, then, that after so many ranks had been enumerated, they at last were mentioned by their own names? Were they not among the children of Israel who were blessing? Were they not numbered among the servants of the Lord when they said, "Bless, you servants of the Lord, the Lord"? Or when [it says], "You holy and humble of heart," were they not counted among the holy? What, therefore, is the meaning of that addition, "Bless, Ananias, Azarias, Misael, the Lord"?
But it is because that event was above nature, because it exceeded human nature (inasmuch B as they had entered the furnace in the body and trodden the fire), that, lest any of those who had been deceived, because of the novelty of the miracle, should dare call them gods and worship them all the more justly, as having been [the ones] by whom the fire was overcome, so that no such thing might happen to the spectators, for this reason they declare their own servitude and confess that they themselves are worshipping, saying, "Bless, Ananias, Azarias, Misael, the Lord."
It is also said that God did not permit Daniel to be taken for this martyrdom. For because he had interpreted the king's dream, and had been treated with divine honors by the king himself, and had been called by the name of Baltasar, who was worshipped among the Persians, lest the power of the fire be thought to have been restrained on account of the name of Baltasar imposed upon him, God provided that Daniel should not be brought into the midst, so that the miracle of piety might be sincere.
And these things, indeed, thus far; but may it befall us, through the prayers and patronage of those who have undergone martyrdom, that we be inflamed with the same zeal, that we may be deemed worthy of the same praises, and that we may attain the same kingdom, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion unto ages of ages. Amen.