Homily IV

all pleasant things, but pass over these as well, and speed past them as if they were mere shadows. And since many are enslaved to the flesh and held fast by the tyranny of worldly things, dwelling in them like wild beasts that lurk in dens, ^A he cut off their sympathy for these things by filling their lives with many grievous things—fears, anxieties, cares, agonies, dangers, cowardice, and the great swarm of bodily passions, and the siege laid by the body, and many other things which cannot be expressed in words—so that, even if they shudder at this cloud of evils, they might desire to sail into the calm harbor and enjoy that continuous serenity which does not have its blessings mixed with evils, but possesses pure blessings, which are truly blessings. For the things here that seem to be good, such as wealth, glory, and power, are names of good things but are mixed with their opposites; whereas those things there are sincere and pure, possessing blessedness ^B not in name only, but in reality. In order, then, that we may attain these, let us emulate the virtue of the martyrs, their bravery, their zeal, their faith, their contempt for things present, and their desire for things to come. For it is possible to achieve all these even without persecution. For even if fires are not set before us, a more intense desire ^C is present; even if the teeth of wild beasts are not there, a harsher anger from a beast is set upon us; even if executioners are not standing by to tear our sides, envy is there, gnawing at the mind more cruelly than any executioner. We must, therefore, strip ourselves for these passions, and arming ourselves against them with the strength derived from the reasoning of the philosophers, thus pass through the present life, and be in a state of conflict ^D throughout our entire life; so that, having labored for a little time, we may be crowned forever, and enjoy the incorruptible blessings, and be always with the Lord, and enjoy that communion which transcends all word and thought—may we all attain this, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom to the Father be the glory, together with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen.

Homily IV.

An hortatory homily delivered in the church of Saint Anastasia to those who were absent; and a demonstration concerning the struggles and contests of the blessed and righteous Job.

1. As those who have gathered are fewer than usual, so shall we also employ greater zeal. For it would not be just for the sloth of those who were absent to spoil our own diligence; rather, precisely for this reason we shall set before you a more bountiful table, so that those who were not present, having learned of the loss by experience, may henceforth be more eager regarding these assemblies. Therefore, I entreat your charity to attend to what is said; for thus there will be a twofold gain for you: by conveying what is said to those who are absent, you will make them more diligent, and you will render your own soul more seasoned in philosophy. For just as the nature of the earth, if neglected, brings forth evil weeds, but if it frequently enjoys the hands of husbandmen, it yields mature fruit; so too the soul of a man, if it lies in sloth, begets the thorns of offenses, but if it enjoys providence, it brings forth the flourishing fruit of virtue. Therefore also a certain wise man exhorts, saying: "As a field is a man who is foolish, and as a vineyard is a man who is lacking in understanding; if you leave it, it will be left desolate and will luxuriate in useless weeds" (Prov. 24:30–31). So that this may not happen now, we constantly handle the sickle of the word; and if anything wicked sprouts, we cut it off incessantly; but if there is anything mature and bearing fruit, we nourish and irrigate it, and lead it to its peak, demonstrating constant care. For we are in need of a twofold providence, or rather a threefold one: first, that we may be delivered from wickedness; second, that we may acquire virtue; and after these, that we may preserve what has been acquired; and here especially there is need of much toil, since that evil demon, who also envies our blessings, attacks those who have attained success more fiercely. And just as pirates and sea-robbers do not plunder ships that contain only sand, but pass them by, yet if they see one carrying precious cargo and stored-up wealth, they attack it, boring from below, assailing from above, moving every machine; so too the devil is accustomed to attack, envy, and plot against those who have gathered the most virtue.

So many, indeed, were the people throughout the world in the case of Job, and he stripped himself to wrestle with him alone, and moved all his machines; but yet he could not cause a shipwreck, but rather created a fuller cargo and greater commerce. For such is virtue: when attacked, it becomes more powerful, and when plotted against, it becomes more secure. Which indeed happened to that blessed man, who, being attacked from every side, stood more secure, and receiving countless arrows, did not give way; but he emptied the devil’s quiver, and he himself did not fall nor was he tripped...

^A but, standing firm, he endured every temptation with great courage: that which arose from poverty, that from famine, that from disease, that from the grief of children’s loss, that from friends, that from enemies, that from his wife, that from his servants. For there is no human calamity that was not inflicted upon his body. Yet he was superior to all the nets and wiles of the devil; and what is more wonderful is that all these things rushed upon him, and all with intensity, and all at once.

β'. For you should not consider this alone—that he suffered such things—but consider also that it was not bit by bit, nor with any interval, but all at once and together. And this addition of temptations is not a small thing. For among all other men, one can find no one who suffers everything at once; but if one struggles with poverty, he nevertheless enjoys good health; if he is surrounded by both poverty and disease, he often has an wife who brings him comfort for his sufferings, a wife who is like a harbor to him. But if he has no such wife, yet at least she is not one who gives such destructive advice; or if she gives such destructive advice, yet he does not lose all his children at a single moment of time. If even at a single moment of time, yet not in such a way; if in such a way, yet he has friends who console him; if they do not console him, at least his own servants do not insult him; if they do insult him, yet they do not also spit in his face; if they do spit in his face, yet he is not held by such a disease; if he is held by such a disease, he at least enjoys a home and a bed, and he is not sitting in the dung heap; if he sits in the dung heap, yet he has someone to stretch out a hand to him; if he has no one to stretch out a hand, yet he has no one to attack him. But this man endured all these things; and, what is more wonderful, as I have already said, all at once. This makes all the evils appear twice and three times greater, because the one who is struggling with them has not even the relief of taking a breath; rather, from the continuity of the inflicted evil, greater pain and agitation arise, which is what happened to him. ^B For after the loss of the sheep and the fire followed the plundering of the oxen, and after this the loss of the asses; after this, the seizure of the camels and the slaughter of the servants; and after this, the destruction of his children, and that terrible and strange kind of death, and that more terrible tomb (for the same thing was both destruction and tomb), and the table, which had just before received his children as they ate, now received them mangled; and the bowls and cups receiving blood instead of wine, and the mangled limbs. Yet after this grave tragedy, even weightier things await him, without him having recovered his breath, not even for a little. From there come the swarms of worms, the running sores, the sitting upon a dung heap, the potsherd with which he grazed his sides, the stench of the wounds, which introduced that new kind of famine, and not allowing him to touch even the food present, it induced a disgust heavier than famine itself. And these things did not persist for two, or ten, or twenty, or a hundred days, but for many months. Nor did these bodily ^C calamities stop here; but while he was in this state and was being tortured from every side, the wife’s machinations also attacked him from within. The wife became the devil’s weapon; she strikes at her husband with her tongue, and having entered into a pact with the devil, she assails him with arrows, those which we spoke of above, being more bitter and more destructive. Nor was this the end of the contests; but they were the beginnings and preludes of the battle. For because the devil had gained nothing from this, a chorus of friends approached who, under the guise of sympathy, like enemies jump upon the one lying prostrate and irritate the sores, succeeding one another and not letting him breathe, circling him in many rings and dancing a cruel dance. Shall I also speak of the intolerable temptation of the night, which was itself new and strange? For to all other men, though they may suffer countless grave things, though they may dwell in a prison, though they may be bound in chains, though they may mourn their calamities, though they may suffer the mutilation of their bodies, though they may be pressed by famine and disease and labors and hardships; yet the coming night brings a medicine of consolation, letting the body be free from labors and the soul free from cares. But to this man, even then, the harbor was turned into a reef, and the medicine became the ulcer; the consolation was an addition of a weightier and more terrible pain; a storm came upon him in the night, which brings tranquility to other men. He would flee from the day, as if from waves, because of those intolerable pains; but he found even greater waves, whirlpools, rocks, and hidden shoals, so that he already longed for the waves of the day. Thus he himself, describing this new evil, cried out, saying: "If I lie down, I say, 'When is evening?' and if I rise, I say, 'When is the morning?' (Job 7:4)." For what reason, tell me? For in the day, you rightly ask for the night; for the evening is what he calls the night, which gives rest from the daily evils. But when the night arrives, then there is tranquility and forgetfulness of pains and anxieties. Why, then, do you again ask for the day? Because the night is more troublesome to me than the day; for it does not grant me immunity from labors, but an increase of them, and tumults and disturbances; and declaring this very thing, he said: "You terrify me with dreams, and you shake me with visions (Ibid. v. 14)." For he was terrified by those fearful ^D nightly visions, with intolerable fear, overwhelmed by terror to the point of losing his mind, enduring those calamities? But the patient man did not give up. Wherefore I ask your charity to wait yet a little while; for we have not yet said everything, nor have we added the other surmounting factor. It was one thing that one body should endure all the evils that happen to men; but another that all should happen at once, and he should have not even the slightest rest or delay. I wish to add a third. What is that? That the evils not only all rushed in at once, but also with great force and vehemence; for his poverty was heavier than any poverty; likewise his disease, his sitting, the loss of his children, and of all his goods. But consider: has someone lost his goods? But not completely all, nor in such a way,

^A nor were they of such a nature. Did he fall into disease? But not such a disease, for he laboured under a fever, or a mutilation, or ^B some similar common sickness. That former plague was unusual, one that was unknown to the sufferer. For no speech can explain how bitter those ulcers were and how much pain they brought; but it is enough that someone said he was scorched by his soul, so that the magnitude of his wounds might be shown. New and unusual also was his seat. For no poor man has ever sat for all time in the open air, as he endured, stripped of clothes, deprived of all shelter, sitting on the dunghill, swarming with worms. Someone has often had a wicked wife, but no one has ever been so wicked as to attack her husband in such a calamity, and to whet a sword against his soul, and to advise such counsels. And the case of his friends was strange, and that of his servants; and that of the famine, again, was newer, because though invited, he did not taste of his table. Shall I tell also of a fourth excess? I mean the wealth and prosperity that went before. For he who has lived in poverty from the beginning would have borne it more easily, as one practised in the suffering; but he who was brought down from such prosperity, because of his untrained and unpractised state, it is likely that he endured a sharper sensation, and a more bitter pain, and greater turmoil. It is possible to mention also a fifth: what kind is this? That each of the other men, being conscious of many evil things in himself, knows the reason for what he suffers; and this is no small thing for consolation. But he had not even ^C this to consider: that he was paying penalties for sins and transgressions, which most of all troubled his reasoning. For when he looked at his own life, and his conscience shining brighter than the sun, and the multitude of his righteous deeds, he knew that he was worthy of crowns and prizes and ten thousand rewards; but when he looked at his body and his ulcers and all those things that had come upon him, seeing himself suffering things more grievous than those who have dared the ultimate evils, he could not even find the cause to relate for why he was suffering these things; wherefore, taking refuge in the incomprehensible nature of God's dispensation, he said: As it seemed good to the Lord, so it has come to pass (Job 1. 21). And curbing his wife from what was possible, he also put together a reasoning showing his great piety, saying thus: If we have received good things from the Lord, shall we not endure evil things? (Job 2. 10).

Of the athlete who lived before the grace and the law, and that he was a common refuge for all, and a common father, and a physician, and a judge

Shall I tell also of another excess, one especially crowning and declaring that athlete, and showing his soul to be high and reaching as far as the heavens? What then is this? The difference of ^D time: for being born before the grace and before the law, he so philosophized. And this is no small thing, but one able to weave ten thousand crowns. For the same righteous deeds do not have the same rewards, when one has performed these in former times, and another in the later times, but much greater [rewards] for the former. For it was not equal, when Christ had arrived and shown so much and exhorted and advised us to philosophize, and to show such things before His presence and before the law and before the prophets. Wherefore, upon arriving, He seeks a greater addition of virtue, saying: Except your righteousness shall exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5. 20). For in proportion as the teaching has become more abundant, so much more righteous and greater measures of virtue He set. But this man, having enjoyed no teaching, not having encountered writings, nor books, nor having seen others, nor having the means to run back to the former time and consider those who had acted righteously; for there was not yet scripture, the history handing down things that had happened; but in an untrodden path, in an un-navigated sea, in such a great drought of wickedness, he alone and first, that man then carved out this path of philosophy, having been shown as extreme in the sum of good things with excess. For it is the greatest thing to accomplish even the lesser parts of virtue, but it is much greater to be the extreme of everything in the highest degree; and that patience is the extreme of all things, no one will gainsay. These things, at least, the devil himself knowing, said: Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life; but put forth thine hand, and touch his flesh (Job 2. 4). Whence it is clear that this virtue is the extreme of all things, and one needing a certain youthful and iron soul.

§ 4. You have seen him in the temptations, so far as it was possible for you to see; for my speech could not even by itself portray the accuracy. For pain and torments and the tyranny of despondency and the turmoil arising from such tempests, no power of speech can explain to those who have heard, as the experience of the things themselves can. Come then, I will show him to you again (for this is not a small thing, but calling for a soul very much given to philosophy) demonstrating great philosophy in wealth and in prosperity. Who then was he while being rich? A common haven of all, a common father of all, a common physician, nay rather, even something greater than a physician: hear at least himself saying: I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame (Job 29. 15). Do you see how he was greater than a physician, acting in the place of nature for the maimed and the crippled? And those things which physicians could not correct by art, these he restored by consolation, becoming to them in place of limbs because of his great providence towards them. For just as if they were healthy and sound-footed and seeing, so did those who had these limbs maimed conduct themselves, not perceiving their lameness nor their blindness because of his great providence. Wherefore also he did not say that "I was comforting the lame and the blind," but, "I was their foot and eye"; and again, "I was a father of the weak." Not even here did he say, "I was comforting the orphans," but, "I was a father to them," pointing out through this that he did not even allow a sensation of orphanage to occur, nor did he allow the terrible thing to appear, just as there [he averted] the blindness by the abundance of his providence for those who had suffered such things, removing the very sensation of the evils. And he did not only heal bodies that were maimed, nor did he correct orphanhood, becoming to some in place of limbs, to others in place of parents, but he also stood as a self-appointed judge; or rather, even more than a judge: For, says he, the cause which I knew not, I searched out, and I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of their teeth (Ibid. 29. 17). This is much more than a judge. For those who are judges sit waiting for the wronged, and after their entreaty, then, the most approved of those who judge provide the aid from themselves; as for the many, they do not even do this. But this man overcame even the most approved, and outstripped them by a great measure. For he did not wait for the wronged to come to him, nor did he set out with aid after their entreaty, but he himself taking the lead, went about seeking the wronged, and not even simply seeking, but with much wakefulness, with much care. And you will know this clearly, having learned the power of the word; for he did not say, "I sought," but, "The cause which I knew not, I searched out"; that is, I investigated, I inquired through, being curious, I continued

so that I might discover if anyone had been secretly wronged. Did you see a vigilant soul? Behold also the fortitude and the ^B care: "And I broke the jaws of the unrighteous." I released that biting force, he says, so that it might now be useless for committing further iniquity. He helped both, therefore—the former, by preventing them from suffering evil, and the latter by restraining them from doing evil and rendering them more moderate. Furthermore, consider his steadfastness and perseverance: "And I snatched the spoil from the middle of their teeth." For I did not despair, nor did I desist, even though the thing was already captured; but I drew back what had already been swallowed, showing the solicitude of an excellent and vigilant shepherd toward his fellow servants.

The Humility of Job

^C 5. But what can be said about the contempt of riches? For he practiced this virtue also in an excellent manner. For not only did he not lust after what belonged to others—which many do now—but not even after his own, but even from these he refrained with great superabundance; and therefore he said: "If I have rejoiced when my wealth was great, and I have not trusted in precious stone" (Job 31:25, 26). Wherefore, when these were taken away from him, he bore the loss most easily; and when they were present, he dispensed charity lavishly, stretching out his right hand to all and opening his home. And he did not do this—as many are wont to do who inquisitively inquire of those who ask, who they are—but, he says, "My door was open to every comer. For the infirm were not deprived of my help: the stranger did not go forth from my door with an empty bosom" (Job 31:32, 34). Did you see the generosity? Did you see the humanity, did you see the kindness, the humility? Do you wish also to learn about chastity? "I have made a covenant," he says, "with my eyes, that I should not even think about a strange virgin" (Job 31:1). What Christ later coming prescribed, he executed in deed. Did you see him rich? Did you see him poor, did you see him in good health, did you see him sick? Did you see his affairs turning out according to his desire? Did you see him experience the loss of all things? Did you see how he showed himself toward his children, toward his servants, toward those who suffered wrong, toward orphans? "If I have gone with the mockers" (Job 31:5), he says; that is, neither did I seek these associations, namely, of buffoons. And this is no small sign of self-control. For he pursued every virtue: and even when he was in such affluence, he behaved more accurately than those who had nothing: for he who had nothing was not so much alienated from the love of money as this man who possessed so many and such great things. For everywhere it is the purpose of the mind that is crowned. And he had ascended to the very summit of temperance, and had executed virtue with the corresponding accuracy.

Emulate these things, beloved, imitate these things; and taking this image depicted for you, impress it upon your conscience; and if you are in sorrow, flee to him; if in riches, seek the medicine from here, so that you are neither depressed by poverty nor inflated in riches. If you have lost children, you have consolation from here: for here you will find the summit of both calamities and patience; if you fall into sickness, consider the swarms of worms which his flesh gave forth; and you will bear all things patiently; if a friend plots against you, bring the saint into the midst again, and you will overcome your anger; if those of little value attack you, weigh what he himself suffered from his servants, and you will receive much medicine; if some evil suspicion invades you, consider what they said about him, that he had not yet paid the due penalties for his sins, and what kind of things they reproached him with; and you will overcome that kind of disease as well. For there is no calamity, as I said in the beginning, among men that this man—firmer than adamant—did not suffer; receiving and tolerating, that is, hunger, poverty, sickness, the loss of children, the loss of so many riches simultaneously. And after that, also consider that, attacked by the plots of his wife, by the annoyances of his friends, assaulted by his servants, he was shown to be firmer than any rock through everything; and these things [were] before the law and grace.

these things written down: let us thus depart, and let us emulate the athlete, and let us imitate his contests; that we may also attain to the future blessings, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom to the Father be the glory, together with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen.

Homily V

1. How most sweet is the reading of the Scriptures, and sweeter than every meadow and more delightful than paradise, especially when knowledge is added to the reading. For the meadow, and the beauty of flowers, and the shade of trees, and roses, and ivy, and myrtle delight the sight, yet after a few days they wither: but the knowledge of the Scriptures fortifies the mind, purifies the conscience, pulls up illiberal affections, plants virtue, raises the reasoning power aloft, does not permit us to be drowned in unexpected tumults of affairs, makes us higher than the darts of the devil, transports us to the very heaven, releases the soul from the bonds of the body, renders its wings light; and whatever good thing anyone could name, it plants within the mind of the hearers. ^C Wherefore I do not cease lamenting those who are absent, and pronouncing blessed those who are present, because you are gathering an inexhaustible treasure and unspendable wealth and abundance that knows no envy, and you depart homeward filled with much gladness. For nothing could provide such pleasure as a conscience that is pure: for a pure conscience, even if it be burdened with countless sins, becomes light by enjoying constant hearing. Nor does it add to previous transgressions, but consumes even those that exist, and renders the soul less prone to attempt the same things again. For this very reason I exhort your love to keep repeating these things to those who are absent, and to bring them quickly back to their common mother, and to make them partakers of spiritual gains; for this fellowship does not cause any diminution, but an increase. But, oh, the tyranny of wealth! Which leads astray the greater number of our brothers! For nothing is what is drawing them away, but that grievous disease and that never-extinguished furnace: this mistress, more barbarous than any barbarian, and more grievous than any wild beast, and wilder than demons, taking those who are her own captives, carries them about the marketplace now, issuing grievous commands, and not allowing them even a little to breathe from their pernicious labors. But what will they do, when that fearful day arrives, the impartial vote, and the judge who cannot be deceived? ^D When the veils of the heavens are drawn together, and the host of angels descends with the Judge? When all things appear naked and manifest? For not the cleverness of rhetoricians then, nor abundance of wealth, nor anything else will be able to corrupt the justice. For because he is impartial and knows all things clearly, the actual sins stand before his eyes, as if depicted on an image: then neither king, nor commoner appears, nor poor, nor rich, nor wise, nor unlearned, but all these masks are taken away, and by the appearance of the things done, each one is shown; it is not possible to see one crowned with a diadem, nor clothed in purple; it is not possible to see one carried on chariots and having countless lictors who bluster in the marketplace; but all these things are out of the way, and each one is brought in naked, having the subject matter of his deeds, whether for glory or for salvation; for as each of these things happens to be done, so the vote is given. Much good may you receive, because you listen with such sighing, and the beating of your brow, the fruit of the zeal of these words; for each one of you shows the fruit of these seeds. For these reasons I lament those who are absent, because, able to enjoy such care, they become befouled with sores and daily wounds, and do not even know that they are sick: whence it is difficult for them even to be healed. For who will converse with them about this, concerning gold and garments and the luxury of the house? The wives who dwell with them? But one care and concern prevails for them, that concerning the provision of the household. But the servants? How, when they have no freedom of speech, and they also have one goal, to fulfill their service? But the judges? No account of anything else is with them, but the concern for political affairs. But the kings and those who have the diadems? But for them too, the whole labor is about rule and power and money, all the zeal. But they themselves for themselves? How, when they have not even power to breathe from the crowd of affairs, but spend both night and day on these things? Who then would not be more pitiable than those who receive countless wounds, but do not meet here, where they might be able to learn that, even if they have wounds, it is possible to be released from them, and attain to health? When then will they take care of their own soul? For it is a thing to be desired that those who constantly meet at church, and enjoy spiritual instruction, and obtain such care, might be able to prevail and bridle their wicked desires, and look toward the working of virtue.

2. But, so that we may not continually accuse them and deprive you of your accustomed nourishment, come, let us again set before you your habitual table, and recount for you the gain of the actual singing of psalms. For behold, the psalm having entered has mixed the diverse voices, and caused one all-harmonious song to be brought up, and young and old, and rich and poor, and women and men, and bond and free, we all offered up one melody. For if a cithara-player, having tempered the diverse strings by the precision of his art, makes the many produce one, while remaining many; what is strange, if the power of the psalm and the spiritual song has wrought this same thing? For it did not indeed only [bring together] us who are present, but