IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 815.
PROCOPIUS DIACONUS.
NOTITIA.
(Fabricius, *Bibliotheca Graeca*, ed. Harles, vol. VII, p. 562.)
Procopius, deacon, whom I do not believe to be different from the *chartophylax*, wrote an encomium for St. Mark the Evangelist, which Henschenius published in Latin in the *Acta Sanctorum* for April 25, p. 345, from the translation of Giovanni Francesco Albani of Urbino, and in Greek in the Appendix, p. 48, vol. III, from a Vatican manuscript. It begins: *Πάλιν ἀποστολικὴ καταστράπτει πανήγυρις*. It also exists in Latin in Combefis’s *Bibliotheca Concionatoria*, vol. VI, and in Greek and Latin before the *Catena on Mark*, published by Petrus Possinus, Rome 1773, folio. [See vol. VII, p. 769 seq. of the old edition. Harles.] Allatius, p. 81, *De Simeonibus*, mentions an encomium by Procopius, deacon and *chartophylax*, on the angels Michael and Gabriel. FABR. See below, vol. IX, p. 37, among the eulogies and lives of the saints, ibid. p. 98 and p. 100 — and in vol. X, p. 173 and p. 544. Procopius the *chartophylax* is numbered among the melodists of the Greeks.—Proc. *Sermo in celebrationem orthodoxiae sanctorum et venerabilium imaginum*, in Turin Royal Codex 70, fol. 380. See the catalogue of Greek codices, p. 166, and Carolus du Fresne (cited there), who in the index of authors attached to his *Glossarium mediae et infimae aetatis*, p. 51, refers to the same title from a codex of Eusebius Renaudot. Procopius the deacon’s *Homilies*—for the New Year, for St. John the Evangelist, for the Life of St. Thomas—are in the Ambrosian Library in Milan, as Montfaucon attests in *Bibliotheca bibliothecarum*, vol. I, p. 503. In the Paris public library, according to the second catalogue of codices, vol. II, there is Procopius the deacon’s *Homilia in principium anni* in codex 156; *In laudem S. Lucae evangelistae* in codex 1546; and *In SS. Michaelem et Gabrielem* in codex 1220a. HARL.
ΠΡΟΚΟΠΙΟΥ ΔΙΑΚΟΝΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΧΑΡΤΟΦΥΛΑΚΟΣ ΕΓΚΩΜΙΟΝ ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΑΓΙΟΝ ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΟΝ ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΣΤΗΝ ΜΑΡΚΟΝ.
ENCOMIUM OF PROCOPIUS THE DEACON AND CHARTOPHYLAX ON THE HOLY APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST MARK.
(Edited by the Bollandists, *Acta Sanctorum*, April, vol. III, p. 350, appendix, p. xlvii, from a manuscript codex of the Vatican Library with a translation by Jos. Franciscus Albanus of Urbino.)
A 1. Again the apostolic festival shines forth, and again I rejoice with the fellow-members of the community; again the illustrious commemoration of Christ's disciple recurs, and I again prepare to sing hymns, and I sharpen my tongue to weave an encomium; speaking humbly and meagerly indeed (for there is no abundance of elegant words available to it, nor are the charms of graceful speech present, and even if it were to abound in these, it would still be insufficient for this kind of praise), yet leaping...
A for joy, it stands in utter amazement at the abundance of his goodness. Mark, the son of Peter, the fellow-dancer of the Keeper of the Keys of Heaven, the evangelist and herald of the ineffable mysteries, the light of all Egypt, and he who was the first to take his seat upon its throne! For this is no small thing to serve as a cause for praise; since it is more difficult to cultivate a soil choked with thorns than to work a field already cleansed. For he receives us today as if at a banquet, and as if they were dishes, he sets before us his own illustrious deeds. For with the sweet spring, rendering the season more cheerful, his festival day has shone forth, and like a light-bearing sun, it has illuminated the souls of men. It has gathered everyone together, adorned by the illustrious deeds of Mark, just as now the earth is surrounded by flowers; and as if by a signal, the assemblies of the faithful bless the Apostle. The multitudes of the nations hymn the guide to the mysteries, they magnify him as the writer of Christ, and they honor him as a witness to His presence; or rather, to speak more truly, the whole world divinizes such great deeds as his and applauds them, for the entire inhabited earth has received the fruit and benefit of his teaching.
B
Encomium in S. Marcum Apostolum et Evangelistam
2. But no discourse, no tongue has sufficient power to praise him as is fitting. For what should one celebrate first, and what last? His titles are manifold, and his struggles are truly wondrous. He saw Him whom the eye could not see, while He was clothed in the veil of our mortality; and he abandoned the land that gave him birth; he was called by the divine voice, and he cast off the affection of his kinsmen. He held the honors of his race as naught, and regarded an abundance of wealth as a passing shadow. He loved God alone above all things; he deemed that alone to be true happiness which He had announced, and that alone to be the true discipline to which he had been inscribed. For he was numbered among the Apostolic company of the seventy disciples, like a bright light joined to clear stars C by Him who had called him, to which in this theater of our mortality nothing on earth can be aptly compared.
3. In truth, Mark is the son of Peter, and verily he is a match for his mind—for nature bestows its own properties upon one's kin, and makes the advantages of each common to them—for his power of persuasion reveals it, as does his following of Him who formed him, and other sister-virtues and customs of his fervor. For, according to the prophet Amos, who speaks from the person of the divine Spirit proclaiming: "Behold, I am He who establishes the thunder D, and creates the spirit, and announces to the heavens His Christ" (Amos IV, 13); from the furthest parts of the earth even to the ends of the world he traveled, proclaiming God the Creator of all things, and harvesting the abundant yield of many good works; for he illuminated the inhabited world, subduing the darkness of error...
A washing away those polluted by the stains of idolatry, and—not to mention more—bringing them, purged through holy baptism, to God. For he held the Word like a shield and a spear, and he demonstrated his preaching to be more certain than all else to everyone, and he led the multitudes like a shepherd toward the true life.
4. Whence many prodigies welled forth, and by them the crowds were transferred to the knowledge of God and true religion: he who was before lame in his feet, having been restored to wholeness, became a teacher for those running the good race; he who was before blinded in the pupils of his eyes, having afterward recovered a most keen gaze, led others by the hand to the light of knowledge; his touch tempered the excess of heat to the moderation necessary for the accustomed combination of conflicting qualities, cooling the fever by which they were boiling over into superstitions; whence the fire of the sacrifices that were offered to idols was turned into smoke and darkness, the demons who were the authors of the deceit were reduced to ashes, and true religion flourished. These were your illustrious deeds and admirable trophies, O Mark: for with these arts you led captive the commanders of armies, you, a man once unlearned; with these weapons you stormed the error of the heathens, you, a poor man dressed in a single tunic; with these powers, together with Peter—you, the son of Peter—you subdued the race of the Italians; departing from the sunrise and flying to the sunset, and everywhere spreading your preaching, B just as the sun itself diffuses its rays to the extreme ends of the earth: not using sophistic arguments, not ornate discourses, but simple speech and truth alone, by which victory is reported over all who resist in vain.
5. That any speech easily collapses if it does not hold and preach what is true, you may learn from this: Pythagoras, indeed, defending false opinions and fashioning many fables, was never able to persuade the Italians; Democritus, doing the very same thing, had no listener among the Abderites; Orpheus, soothing all wild beasts with the sweetness of his speech, did not persuade the Thracians, his own countrymen, of the fables he sang. For all those men, although abounding in many words and prideful in empty wisdom, were utterly lost as if in a kind of drunkenness, and they were submerged into the depths of silence (for such is false and idle glory). But Mark, setting forth and producing the teachings of the divine Spirit, foreign to boasting, transformed even those he had as adversaries into obedient followers. For he was fortified by heavenly aid, and pure faith was stronger than the gates of Hades; and to such an extent did he have a celebrated name that he is called a herald of truth to this very day. C For it was fitting that the incarnation of Christ for us be brought to a saving end, and it was likewise fitting that the memory of this holy man be preserved immortal with praises; for through him God was preached to His creatures, through him conversion was prepared for those who had wandered, and the way to the Creator was shown.
6. Since therefore the advent of the compassionate God D
A proclaimed, and with a tongue full of God drew many other nations, and especially the Italics, to the knowledge of the truth; as a wise architect, for these he fashioned the vessel of the Gospel, in which he inscribed new laws, which the prediction of Jeremiah had formerly announced, saying: *And I will establish for the house of Israel and for the house of Judah a new covenant, putting my laws into their hearts*; so that not only by preaching, but also by the evangelical Scripture, he might manifest to posterity the incarnation of the eternal Word and His life spent among men, placing before our eyes, truly, His divine miracles, and the torments He endured for our sake; His resurrection from the tomb, and His ascension to the heavens, from whence He had descended. Great indeed was this work of thine, O Mark, and worthy of God! Thy labor is profitable to the world and famous! For thy voice surpassed the sound of thunder; the light of thy Gospel shone above the rays of the sun. For the latter are often covered by a cloud, and are darkened by even a tiny object coming in the way; but the evangelical radiance reveals even the beauty of thy soul. For it would not have been set forth for this purpose, had not the virtue within also shined forth; and it always shines, and gives light to those nearby, and calls back those who are afar, and, adorned with an unstudied beauty and illuminated by concise wisdom, it declares the wonderful works of God to the ears of all.
B 7. Thus faith flourished, thus truth was victorious: thus the Trinity in unity, and the unity in Trinity, is worshipped and proclaimed; thus by all creation the unoriginated Father, and the co-originated Son, together with the consubstantial and life-giving Spirit, are glorified as God and worshipped; the one God in three hypostases, the singular and divine nature, the one all-creating and incomprehensible power. For error has been driven away; polytheism has become a vain devotion; those who divided all things into three parts according to their own myth—alas for their folly!—having laid claim to what was not their own, have perished with a sound; the demons, the destroyers of men, have been rendered powerless; for they could not bear to see God having become man, and were ashamed, having been overcome by the human body; for they would not have deemed their defeat a victory of the one who is superior. And now the praise of God, as the prophets said, has been spread abroad to all the ends of the earth.
C 8. The Apostle converted the Western regions to Christ, explaining the compassionate condescension of God, and teaching that God alone is to be served and worshipped. And he did not cease from those many toils, nor did he grow weary in drawing the plow of the apostleship; but he also traversed the Libyan land, and from thence, having migrated D toward the rising sun, and sowing the seeds of the Gospel even there, he persuaded them to acknowledge the God who was being preached. And furthermore, in the other populous cities of Egypt, the...
A many-threaded nets of his preaching he cast out, and by his words and wonders he hauled in a full catch. He banished demonic worship, and like the holy stone, as the prophecy says, he overturned the altars of error, and razed the idols of vanity that were in them to the ground; not by sending forth the blasts of trumpets, nor by casting down the walls of Jericho, but by uprooting with his words the deception of the manslayer—which is more difficult to contend with than those walls—and by raising up temples to the Lord of all. In these temples, he whitened the souls that were dark and dusky, reconciled them to God, and made them his own through baptism.
9. For this man, in the division of Egypt, was assigned by the Divine Spirit as master above all others; he was the first high priest of this region and was appointed pastor by the great Peter. He brightened the apostolic work he had undertaken with struggles, and adorned his public ministry with varied labors. He did not use luxuries, nor was he wasted by idleness and sloth; but he was beset on all sides by temptations—by both great and small men—and surrounded by a host of manifold evils, so that, as Paul also did, he might suppress all swelling and pride. B O divine disciple, who traversed the whole earth! O body not wearied by such great works! O redeeming preaching, ever-verdant and immortal in power! For divine works, and those which are of God, do not suffer corruption. It is fitting at this point to cite the saying of David, by which he extols the magnificence of the divine works, and to adapt it to the blessed Mark: "Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and the usefulness of their words to the ends of the world." For this voice is most appropriate for you, O man wise in God, and this alone is more suitable than any rhetorical amplification; for it clearly indicates your course, your struggles, your afflictions, your hardships, and the unfading crown, which not the gold from Ophir fashioneth, nor do Indian jewels and pearls adorn, C but which the immortal judge and president of the contests himself crafteth, and with which he rewards his own servants with truly fatherly love.
10. For your feet are beautiful, according to the prophetic prediction, which traversed the circle of the earth; your tongue is beautiful, for it happily announced the peace that surpasses all understanding; your hands alike are beautiful, which served with the pen of the Gospel. But why do I mention only these most sacred members? He was entirely consecrated by apostolic labors, and entirely adorned with the marks of martyrdom, so that he might enjoy all the rewards and prizes of the martyrs. For he who was a priest and offered sacrifice, because of Christ himself became a sacrifice; and the pastor took upon himself those things that were proper to the flock, together with the flock itself. For he also, like a sheep, was sent into the midst of wolves with D the rest of the apostolic gathering, and was offered as a living sacrifice to God. For he was bound by the hands of lawless men, having snatched many from the gullet of the devil.
A He was led in chains, disgraced, and blasphemed, yet he bore it meekly and without complaint, imitating the Master. He was stained with the blood of his own flesh, he who had cleansed that land of the filth of the demons (for this is the senselessness of the more ignorant, to return evil for the authors of good). Finally, having been tested by all manner of afflictions, like gold, he flew off toward the inaccessible light, reaping the manifold and various rewards of his struggles.
11. Such is the course of the apostle, such are the fruits of the evangelist, full of wonder and worthy of the applause from above. And how should the great Mark, who surpasses all, not be allotted the pinnacle of praise? For what could be more exalted than an apostle? What more worthy of honor than a scribe of Christ? What is there to compare with the glory of martyrdom? B And when the priestly vestment is also added to him, adorned with athletic struggles, what else is left for the fullness of glory? Nothing else, surely, than the company of angels and that divine palace, in which he is gathered with the other chosen servants of God, and rejoices, bearing the countenance of the Teacher, and illuminated by the beauties of the divine monarchy. For to him whom the glory of God in this world was a care, to him the heavenly and endless glory surely follows.
12. But he is not deprived of praises from below, even if he has no need of them. For now Alexandria, or rather all of Egypt, having obtained Mark as its first bishop, having found a mystical Nile irrigating the intelligible fields of souls, just as the physical Nile usually irrigates the fertile fields of the earth, magnifies him as apostle, as evangelist, as martyr, C and resounds with hymns to him that are in harmony with his titles. She sees him lying in the tomb, even if his spirit travels in the realms above, and she rejoices, enriched by the treasure of his dust: she addresses him with funeral songs, and speaks to him as if he were living, talks to him as if he were present in spirit, and delights in the graces found there; and in offering the honors due to the Apostle, she receives in return even greater graces.
13. For when the winds of temptation blow, and the people of the city circle the tomb, they are released from their troubles. A barbarian brow threatens them with dire things, but they rush as suppliants to the Chief Shepherd; a swarm of passions harasses them, and they take refuge by him as at a pharmacy, pouring out their healings; D or rather, the whole land, inscribing Mark as teacher and helper, invokes his aid in the misfortunes that befall it, and on his annual feast days, paying the debt of praise as is proper, it boasts, clapping and dancing in jubilation; and it embraces his divine Gospel as if it were tables inscribed by God, or better to say, it reveres it as the very mouth of Christ, and from him it expects the God-breathed words to be sent forth.