to set out the appropriate explanation for each subject of the metrical poems of the Theologian, at once indulging myself, as I take pleasure in the contemplations and theological remarks of his great mind, and at the same time providing benefit for those who come after by my discussions regarding these matters. Having been reminded of another royal and fatherly precept which admonishes, "My son, beware of making many books," and which brings forward the cause: that there is no end or limit to composing about the infinite wisdom of God, and that such immoderate study is a labor for soul and body; while the benefit derived from it, and indeed the power of all divinely inspired Scripture, is summarized in the fear of God and the keeping of the commandments, so that it is sufficient to grasp that. Therefore, having heard this injunction, I have guarded against proceeding with the explanation any further than the consideration of the unspeakable mysteries. I shall conclude by having explained the meaning of these final quatrains, which sufficiently and abundantly edify us both for contemplation and for action.
NICETAS OF PAPHLAGONIA: PANEGYRICAL ORATIONS ON THE GREATEST APOSTLES, AND CERTAIN OTHERS FOR FEAST DAYS.
(From the *Auctarium ad Bibliothecam Patrum* of François Combefis, Vol. I, p. 327.)
ORATION I. In honor of the Nativity of the most holy Theotokos. A
A day of exultation and a beginning of joy. Let us lay aside sadness and put on splendor. Let us speak of the mighty acts of the Lord, let us make all his praises heard in the gates of the daughter of Sion. Let us exult in his salvation. For today he has raised up for us a horn of salvation—and David, the ancestor of God, says, the ever-blooming and lofty one. A
A
NOTICE BY THE EDITOR
Under the name of Nicetas the philosopher, in Vatican codex 808. The same is found in my own manuscript, with no author's name prefixed. I sent it, along with some others, to the most learned Simon Wagnereck in Munich, who is now meditating on a commentary concerning these most holy Anargyroi [the Unmercenaries], which he has already begun well and will bring to a better conclusion. For what is there that this pen has not most amply accomplished? He wrote besides an exposition on some poems of Gregory Nazianzen, codex 949, under the name of Nicetas the philosopher of Paphlagonia: etc. Under the name of Nicetas, who is also David, the philosopher. Codex 365. And in the Augsburger [codex] among the theological codices, 44. In the Altempsian [codex] under the name of Nicetas the philosopher, Bishop of Dadybra. And without the mention of "bishop," among the rhetoricians of the Augsburger, codex 17. Which were published at Venice in quarto, in the year 1563.
The paraphrases of the poems of Gregory Nazianzen concerning the Principles are also claimed for Nicetas, who is also David, published from the library of the Republic of Augsburg, at Leiden in the Plantin office in the year 1591, in octavo, which David Hoeschel likewise believes to be by Nicetas. However, when I myself examined the matter more deeply, I discovered that these paraphrases, or expositions, published both at Venice and at Leiden, are in no way by Nicetas; and this [I learned] from a fairly ancient codex of the library of Saint-André-des-Arts, from Vatican codices, Parisian [Lutetian] ones, and others. And so that you may have the true exposition of Nicetas on the poems of Nazianzen, I shall not be burdened to arrange the titles of the poems and the beginnings of the paraphrases, as they are there, from the same Saint-André codex.
(a) Exposition of the poems of the great Gregory the Theologian, by the philosopher, the lord Nicetas, Bishop of Dadybra. Beginning of the proem: Of the other proem. Oration first, On the Principles. P.: Oration second, On the Son. P.: Oration third, On the Holy Spirit. Oration fourth, On the World. Oration fifth, On Providence. Oration sixth, On Intellectual Substances. P.: Oration seventh, On the Soul. P.: Oration eighth, On the Testaments and the Apparition of Christ. Oration ninth, On Human Virtue. P.: Oration tenth, On Human Nature. P.: Oration eleventh, On the Contempt of the Exterior Man and the Vanity of Present Things. Oration twelfth, On the Beatitudes and Definitions of the Spiritual Life. P.: Sentences expressed in distichs, of which this is the acrostich. etc. Sentences expressed in quatrains. etc. P.: It is gathered that this exposition of his did not extend beyond Nicetas, from the end of this last exposition, where he has these words:
[index: entries preserved]
A in his salvation. For he has raised up a horn of salvation for us today, in the house of David his servant; and as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, he has raised up for us a plant of peace, the root of Jesse, from which the rod produced Christ, the unfading flower. Who does not rejoice in his heart? Who does not exult in spirit? Who does not delight mystically? Who does not celebrate spiritually, seeing the salvation predestined in God and foretold through prophetic mouths, now proceeding to a clear outcome?
Let all creation dance; let the whole earth shout and leap with joy, because the remedy that destroys the primal sorrow has just now sprouted; because the erasing of the ancestral curse, under which the whole human race had fallen, is at hand through the great providence of God for us; and because such a gift is granted to us today from above, that not only is that curse removed, but all our nature is blessed; the partition wall of the old enmity is abolished, and love and peace between God and men arise.
Jeremiah indeed, the most compassionate and divine of the prophets, asks for water for his head and a fountain of tears for his eyes, so that he might worthily mourn for unhappy Israel. But who will give to my heart a fountain of divine thoughts, and to my words an easy flow of rushing rivers, so that I may declare the great honor of the present joy, and praise the preeminence of the divine gift? Not as it deserves (for so to hymn it is unattainable), but as far as it is permitted to me to speak, and is graspable by those who hear.
It is a birthday celebration, friends; the nativity of Mary, who later gave birth to Christ, our God; who, without seed, undefiled, caused the Word, who is beyond substance and incomprehensible and incorporeal, to be mingled with our bodily and human form. We have come together today to celebrate her birth, so that we may praise the beginning of her great works, which He who is mighty was pleased to do in her. For since many and infinite great works—more than one can possibly tell—are revealed in her, this is the first and most wonderful: that the manner of her birth, which transcends nature, was B prepared in a way more divine than nature. For Wisdom, foreseeing from above before the ages the outcomes of things that come to pass, brings forward the beginnings proportionally to the ends. Since, therefore, she was destined not only to be called Mother of God, but also daughter according to the spirit of adoption, and to be proclaimed Queen and Lady of the universe, through the exaltation and elevation toward the Son that is beyond all knowledge, therefore her conception was immediately strange, and her entry into life was novel, creating a path of faith toward the greater things through the lesser. For it was necessary that she should have, from her very origin, the examples of the power of God, C and D
A regarding the barren birth of her mother, should not disbelieve the virginity the announcement of which she would later receive. But let us see who her parents according to the flesh were, and how great they were in virtue, and in what way they were deemed worthy to give birth to the beauty of Jacob, which the Lord loved. Who does not know Joachim and Anna, the progenitors of the child of God, that honorable and God-beloved pair? And who is so slow, who is so unversed in the divine Scriptures, as to be unaware that these thrice-blessed ones attained the absolute summit of all piety and righteousness in their own generation? And this is evident, not only from the fruit—which they brought forth no less through prayer than through nature—but also from the history concerning them, which records that they lived a blameless manner of life and a life pleasing to God. They traced their lineage back to David and Judah, and by the nobility of their ways and the excellence of their character, and by the keeping of the commandments of God, they ennobled the whole of Israel. These people, while being rich, as has been said, in virtue, and abounding also in earthly goods—having flocks and herds and all other possessions in abundance—suspected that they were failing of perfect blessedness in this one thing alone: for they were growing old in life childless; and all things were full of grief, and all things were filled with despondency for them, because for Anna, like the ancient Sarah, the cycles of women had ceased, and for him there was no successor, and no spark of the family was to be seen. And in addition to these things, the reproach from neighbors smoldering—it is impossible to say how much it greatly fueled their despondency. Joachim indeed offered double gifts to the Lord, perhaps wishing to appease Him with these, and thinking to flee the reproach of childlessness; but he remained nonetheless in the same reproaches of unfruitfulness, until at last the righteous man, being at a loss and humbled, abandoned the carnal sacrifices, and those which the imperfect think they offer imperfectly, and regarding them as not at all desirable, he despised them. He had resolved to offer as a sacrifice to God a contrite spirit and a contrite and humbled heart; and he believed that through temperance and prayer he would grasp what he desired. For it was necessary for him who was to give birth to the most holy treasure of the Most Holy Spirit first to be filled with the divine operations of the Spirit Himself, and to be warmed toward the conception by a holy and spiritual zeal. How then does he do this? He communicates the divine plan to his spouse—for just as the barrenness was common to both, so also was the concern for childbearing—and he exhorts her to neglect all other things, and to persevere in fasting, confession, and prayer, until, he says, God may take away from us
the barrenness. A He himself, for his part, set before him the blessed Abraham as an example; and he enjoined his spouse to look toward Anna, who bore the same name, and in similar circumstances to cry out unceasingly to the Most High, just as she had done. He himself made haste to reach the mountains and the desert, where, having cleansed his mind for many days from the vexations of worldly life, and in quietude keeping company with himself alone and with God, he cried out thus: “O Lord Sabaoth, Lord God of Israel, who doest great and unsearchable things, glorious and extraordinary, of which, according to the Scripture, there is no number. You who commanded the rocks, and rivers of water gushed forth, a solace for the thirst of the people who were thirsty in the desert; and who commanded the rod, and it budded and brought forth almonds, as a seal of the priesthood and a confirmation for Aaron. O Lord my God, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, who made Sarah, who was past the age of childbearing, a mother for the first time; and not only her, but since then also gave fruit as You willed to Rebecca and Rachel, who were barren—look down, O Lord; attend, O Lord, from Your holy height, and understand our tribulation; and command nature to bring forth fruit, You who commanded the salvations of Jacob. Be pleased, O God, by Your power, to raise up for me also a seed in Israel; and the fruit shall be dedicated to You and to Your holy house for the ages.” Thus Joachim.
But Anna, also herself, the pattern of piety, the sanctuary of chastity, the dwelling-place of every virtue, the vehicle of all holiness—Anna, who is “Grace,” not in name only, but far more in reality, and a storehouse of all God’s grace, as one who has caused the very fountain of graces to gush forth, and has stayed the torrents of wickedness within her, while inundating the whole earth with rivers of sweet fragrance. Anna, the magnificent boast, ornament, and sweetness B of the entire female sex; she, too, remaining at home in fasting and wasting her flesh, and stretching her mind to the heavens with unceasing prayers, and submitting her entire intellect to God, besought the limitless goodness with these very words: “To You, O compassionate, long-suffering, and merciful Lord, just and true, I abandon my whole self, and I fix the eye of my soul upon You alone; toward Your inclination alone I direct my reasoning. ‘As the eyes of servants are unto the hands of their masters, as the eyes of a handmaid unto the hands of her mistress, so are my eyes unto You, O Lord my God, until You have compassion on me, and take away from me reproach and the contempt of barrenness; for every creature which You have fashioned bears fruit before You, O Lord; and every animal brings forth its own kind; and every nature of plants puts forth its own fruit. But I, accounted before You as a fruit-tree C that bears no fruit, am reserved for the fire. But I shall not despair, neither shall I be unmindful of Your limitless philanthropy; for I know well that even for others before me who suffered the same things and made earnest entreaty, You were favorably disposed and immediately granted them the fruit of their womb. I know also that other Anna who shed the reproach of childlessness, only that she might cry out to You. And now, Lord my God, ‘You are the same, and Your years shall not fail,’ and Your mercies are not lessened, and You are ready to bestow good gifts upon those who ask worthily; take away my barrenness, that I may also be glorified in myself. For that which is born will not be mine, but I shall offer it as a sacred gift to Your name and to Your holy house.” D
A And they truly were in the midst of these things; but what of the all-merciful Lord, who does all things and transforms them for the better, who accomplishes the petitions and thoughts of His saints superabundantly? Did He perhaps disregard the supplication of the righteous? Or did He attend to the cry, yet defer the gift to a later time? Or did He grant it immediately, but delay the kind of gift they asked for? By no means; rather, He responds immediately through the voice of a holy angel, [announcing] the conception and birth of the Theopais (the Child of God). He announces that she will be renowned unto the ends of the earth. O the power of faith! O the magnificent gift of the Most High! They, having despaired of nature, ask for that which transcends nature; He truly grants a grace that corrects the deficiency in them. And they, indeed, ask simply for a child, so that the reproach of childlessness might be removed, but He grants them His own Mother: one who heals not only the affliction of the parents, but who fills the whole human race with spiritual and true joy. B This one, conceived and carried in the barren womb more by the word of God’s promise than by the law of nature, issues forth today from her maternal chambers like the full moon. Today it is clearly possible to see, according to the prophetic inspiration, truth springing up from the earth and righteousness looking down from heaven. For the Lord, demonstrating His righteousness from above to those who asked in a worthy manner, gave benignity, declaring the word of the divine promise; and Anna, having accepted this by faith, produces the promised truth as if from the earth—that is, from her own womb—and presents her to all men as an animate and living fruit. Today she who is to be the Mother of God according to the flesh, but His daughter according to the spirit of holiness, undergoes a birth according to nature, and the daughter of the great King is known as the daughter of man; and she who is to stand at the right hand of the King of all in the heavens is just now born upon the earth, is delivered by midwives, is washed in water, is wrapped in swaddling clothes, and is deemed worthy of the care due to infants. And she who is expected to cradle in her virgin arms the One who contains the heaven and God is encompassed by aged arms, and she now flees from aged and maternal breasts, she who in a supernatural manner shall soon nurse the One who provides food for every living creature.
[ORATIO I. - IN DIEM NATALEM S. MARIE.]
now; and she now suckles the infant—lately a nursing mother—who in a supernatural manner still feeds every living creature: having thus provided milk. At this, Anna rejoices and is exceedingly glad; she embraces the fruit of her womb and glories in this new birth. She calls together the young women and summons the elders, exhorting all those of her own kin to rejoice and be glad with her; she stirs all who attend to her with pleasure and wonder. In return, she makes a thank offering to the Benefactor, saying: "Who am I, my Lord, my Lord, that Thou hast so listened to my prayer? That Thou hast taken away the reproach which I feared? That Thou hast granted more than I asked? For I merely asked for a child, but Thou hast, in addition to this, bestowed upon me the hope of salvation for Israel. For I see as in a sign what is to come; as in enigmas, in the graces contemplated in this daughter, I behold Thy saving grace shining forth incrementally, and it is a sign to me that He who was proclaimed by the prophets will be revealed through her. And who am I to emerge as the root of such a gift, the mother of such grace, and to be called the source of such great good things? But I do not misappropriate what is Thine; I shall not conceal Thy gift within myself, O Master. When she is weaned, I shall present her to Thy sanctuary, and I shall consecrate her to the Holy of Holies as a free gift." Thus Anna.
Joachim, for his part, also rejoicing with his own kinsmen and celebrating the feast with those of his tribe, offered gifts with greater abundance and munificence to the elders and the required dues to the priests. Exulting with joy, he rendered thanksgiving to the Savior, saying: "Lord my God, I will praise Thee, I will glorify Thy name, because Thou hast done wonderful things, a plan of old, truthful, and Thou hast deigned to show in us that Thy holy prophet Isaiah tells the truth; and it is possible now to see the barren one, who did not bear, rejoicing; and the one who did not travail, crying out and exulting over her child." And what is the hymn, what is the praise, what is the magnificent thanksgiving for these present things? For we have no speech or understanding to praise the magnitude of the benefit and the perfection of the Master’s gift. For the giving of the child to us was not according to nature, nor was the birth of the beautiful child according to nature’s laws; but much more so, it was from the power of the word of God. Wherefore the gift was perfect and worthy of love, as it came down to us from above from Thee, the Father of lights, and as it quietly indicated the glory that would afterwards be revealed in her. For the innovation to a better state of the human nature—being confessedly the work of the omnipotent hand—foretells something great and good in the things in which it occurs. Thus, the most blessed parents of the God-child, having brought her forth with such faith and diligence, were rearing her with greater and more fervent diligence of will;
until, in her third year, as they had vowed, they brought her forth and offered her to God as a gift and an oblation. Let us today honor the birth of the Theotokos, and let us rejoice even more than they, celebrating the feast spiritually and rejoicing, inasmuch as we obtain from her a greater benefit, and inasmuch as now, more than then, grace shines forth and glows more brilliantly and perfectly through the Mother of God. Let us honor her, not only for her progress according to the flesh from a barren womb, but much more for her birth according to the Spirit from grace from above, contemplating and revering this with the mind, applauding her with hymns, and magnifying and glorifying her. Having entirely stripped off the present age and drawn near to the super-celestial Bridegroom, and having entered into his most holy and uncorrupted bridal chamber to co-reign with him, she intercedes for our salvation and works with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION II. On the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross.
He who honors the cross, by that very act, confesses that he honors the Crucified; and he who honors the Crucified, beyond all doubt, worships the cross; for through one another, the glory and worship of both are established. For the cross was not glorified before the appearance of Christ—since it was an instrument of death, and an infamous one at that; and the Scripture says, "Jesus was not yet glorified," because he had not yet encountered the cross. Let us praise, therefore, the thrice-blessed cross of the Lord, and let us worship and glorify it, so that we may also together praise and exalt in it the God of glory. But in what way shall we praise it? Not by destroying ourselves with drunken revelry, but by hallowing ourselves with self-restraint and prayers. Not by being choked by worldly cares and commotions, but by being enlightened by hope and faith in the Lord. Let us not set our hearts on greed, but let us expand them toward theology and the knowledge of the truth. In short, let us be sanctified by the uplifting love of Christ, and let us not ruin or defile the inner man with prejudices of wickedness, with the malice of holding grudges, with the boastfulness of pride, with the vanity of vainglory, or with any other vice at all. Let us not be distracted by jesting, nor let us pollute our tongue with foul language, nor stain our conscience with insults or lies; nor let us become accustomed to swearing in vain, through which we fall into perjury—which is to say, into a denial of God. Rather, let us leave these things to impious and unbelieving nations, who have been enslaved to evil customs from childhood, and who pursue these vices as if they were natural traits due to long-standing habit, and who do not even recognize that they are doing wrong in this. But we, for whom the Crucified and His cross are to be worshipped and revered, if we truly wish to worship, must first purge ourselves from every defilement...
A of flesh and spirit through spiritual love, and having welcomed Christ in His entirety through every virtue, let us then worship in spirit and in truth. For God is spirit, He says, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. And just as the cross that is worshipped has something corporeal—namely, the material taken from the earth for its construction—while the entire glory and magnificence of its power is supplied interiorly by the Spirit of the Crucified, so must we also pay it a twofold worship and honor; primarily, the worship which is in spirit, and in the second place, that which is offered by the body. Let us therefore pay the debt of worship to the cross of Christ. Let us bend the knee of the body to it; but let us bend much more the unyielding neck of the heart, which is unable to submit to the law of God—I mean that headstrong and arrogant thought of self-love. Let us bow this first, and let us bend it low to the cross, easily accepting the yoke of subjection to Christ; and in this way, the bending of our knees will be acceptable. Let us worship and fall down in such a way as if we were falling down before Him who was crucified for our sake; and let us glorify Him with praises, and exalt Him with hymns. B Let us exalt Him among the nations; let us exalt Him upon the earth. Or rather, let us not cease to exalt and worship Him every day, until, being guided and shepherded by Him, we are able to pass through this evil age and its distresses. For just as it is impossible for our life to be lived without this solar light, so it is impossible for the soul of a person to live according to Christ without the rays of the cross of Christ that illuminate the mind. And just as the breathing of air is necessary for those who live, so for Christians the signing with the cross is indispensable. The cross is the sign of the Son of God, the glory of Christ, the exaltation of Jesus, the scepter of the kingdom of the heavens, the staff of God, the rod of rectitude, the rod of power—the rod which that Mosaic rod so very clearly prefigured. That Israel would never have been freed from the bitter slavery and misery of Pharaoh and the Egyptians of that time; it would never have crossed the sea, which was cut open for it, by treading as if upon a verdant plain, had not that rod in the hand of Moses transformed the elements C and destroyed those who were doing injustice. And we would never have been delivered from the tyranny of the spiritual Pharaoh and the demons battling under him; nor, if the idolatry had been rent asunder for us like the Red Sea, would we have crossed over to the inheritance of the fathers—that is, to the faith and truth of God—had not the cross of the Lord defeated the most wicked prince of this world and made the ascent into heaven, which was previously impassable, passable to those who wish it.
A The Cross is the radiance and adornment of the Catholic Church; the glory of the Apostles, the sanctification of the priests, the splendor of the martyrs, and their unyielding endurance against the wicked; the stability of the pious, the faith and hope of all the righteous, and the joy and crown of exultation of all the saints. Nor is the Law devoid of the power of the Cross, nor were the saints before the time of grace wondrous without it; but even in them, it was sketched out quietly, revealing its own glory and strength. For the great Moses himself once, with his hands outstretched to heaven in the form of a cross, routed Amalek. B The Cross is armor for all Christians, unbreakable and impregnable; a wall of bronze, inaccessible to all the assaults of robbers; a tower of strength against the face of our enemies. It is a royal seal, inviolable and uncorruptible; a fortified place for those who are pursued, for their salvation; a house of refuge for those who are warred upon by sin; a medicine of life for those who are in danger of death. Moses fashioned a type of the Cross, when of old in the desert he set up a bronze serpent across a vertical piece of wood, as if upon a mast; and if any serpent had injected into someone a lethal poison by its bite, he was commanded to look immediately upon that pillar. No sooner, therefore, did he pay attention to the type of the Cross, than the venomous bite was blunted, and the death-bearing injury was dissolved; and the one bitten immediately obtained healing without cost. If, then, the type of the Cross provided such a life-giving effect, how much more does the Cross itself? For if the shadow of Peter healed the infirm (as is witnessed and believed in the Holy Scriptures), much more did Peter himself. C The Cross is the consummation and seal of the priesthood; the strengthening and foundation of the empire; the power of the powerful, the panoply of the commanders, the victory of the soldiers, and the trophy of that victory; the safety of those in authority for their rule, and the order and stability of the subjects. The Cross is the wisdom of the learned, the discipline of the unlearned, the support and strengthening of the rich, the boasting and consolation of the poor, the joy and exultation for those in afflictions, the health and refreshment for those in sickness, and for those who in all the evils of life are being tested, it is edification and exhortation and consolation. The Cross is the exultation and crown of all the holy angels, the destruction and crushing of all the demons, the offense and affliction of the Jews, the refutation and condemnation of the unbelievers, the preservation and justification of the faithful, the resurrection of those who fall, and the raising up of those who are broken. D The Cross is the life of those who have died, the hope of those who have despaired,
A diligently searching for it, she found it through the aid of her most blessed mother, the most decorous Helena I mean. And having found it, she venerated it with devotion and exalted it to such a degree that its radiance overflowed unto the whole earth.
Who among those who have placed their hope in Him does not meet for its veneration? Who does not exalt and adore the footstool of the feet of the Lord our God, for He is holy? Who does not praise and magnify that which raised up and brought to life our dead generation from death and the ruin of Hades? Now the angels rejoice and the archangels dance, and with them the supermundane Principalities and Powers and all the heavenly Virtues sing in chorus, and invisibly present, they rejoice together with the Churches of God, seeing the saving Cross being adored and exalted in all the earth. For there is no other feast or joy for the good angels B equal to that which is enacted for the salvation of human souls.
Now the apostles are radiant and the prophets shine brilliantly at what is taking place. Now the martyrs are gladdened and the priests are adorned. Now all the choirs of the pious and the saints keep festival and exult, seeing the Cross, which they glorified and which glorified them, being glorified with sacred rite and lifted on high from the earth by sacred hands. Being lifted up together with it, they modulate and utter their thanksgiving to the all-good Savior of all with ceaseless and mystical voices.
Now the whole Church shines with radiance and is adorned; and like some heavenly gift, like an inviolate grove, like a treasure that may not be touched, she embraces the Cross to her bosom. Proposing it to the sight of all for a spectacle and likewise for exaltation and adoration, she grants to her children—who cry out strongly to the Lord—the abundance of His mercy, sanctification, and illumination. And now all the nations, C as many as the Lord has made, come and prostrate themselves before the life-giving and thrice-blessed wood. They adore before it, and through the Cross they glorify the name of the Crucified, for He is truly great and alone performs wonders.
But now the whole aerial host of demons and their procession is struck by the victory-bearing wood, and is broken and shattered, and is justly cast down from the heavenly dwellings. And all the churches of the saints and the assemblies of the pious, as if being exalted from earth to heaven by a ladder, and being exalted together with it, and leaning upon it as a rod of strength and as a royal scepter going forth—accompanying the Cross of the King of all today—are changed to a heavenly place, becoming heavenly instead of earthly, and immortal instead of mortal. And having overcome the flaming sword by the trophy-bearing wood, they proceed straight toward the Paradise above and the tree of life. D
...of all those who achieve, a ladder raising them to heaven, a reconciler of those at variance, the straight path and tension for those who walk upright, the correction and guidance for those led astray, the renewal and uplifting for those who repent. The Cross is the arbiter and giver of all the gifts of the divine Spirit. For whatever remains in Christ and is granted to those who are worthy, is granted through the faith and power of the Cross. The Cross—for those who are well-armed and marked with it—is the slayer and averter of nighttime fears, daytime arrows, and every matter moving about in the darkness, and of every fall and every demon (not only the midday one). The Cross—why should I speak at length?—is the most divine and most perfect of the excellent gifts of God, which He has bestowed upon men from of old. This restored the slip of our forefather and opened wide the ancient delights of paradise. This transformed the curse brought through the wood into a blessing, corruption into incorruption, bitterness into sweetness, exile into a kingdom, and death into life. This is not only an entry and an admission to the paradise above, but properly the tree of life, becoming so just as it did for the thief, so also for all who imitate his faith. Holding this in his hand, and leaning upon it as a pastoral staff, the great Peter repelled Simon the Magus, who had plotted against the Church, and crushed the wolves of Arabia; and on it he eagerly pastured and pastures the sheep of Christ. "I will take," says the divinely inspired Zechariah, "my beautiful rod" (I think he means the Cross), "and I will cast it before the enemies, and I will pasture my sheep, and I will scatter my covenant, which I made with all the nations." For in the Cross the letter indeed has been scattered, but the Spirit has blossomed forth and speaks with boldness. Being excellently fenced about with this, Paul, who frequented the heavens, journeyed around the whole inhabited world, demolishing in it the reasonings and every height that lifts itself up against the knowledge of God, and taking captive every thought to the obedience of Christ. The Cross is that with which all the apostles and all the martyrs, all the priests of the Lord, and all the holy ones are spiritually armed; some triumphantly excelling against the worship of idols, others against every form of lawlessness, glorifying the Crucified through the power of the Cross with various trophies of victory. The Cross, too, did Constantine, the great one of old, seeing it formed of light in the heavens, and understanding its power through the sign—later even digging up that very prototype of the wooden Cross on which Christ was stretched when He was crucified...
A by the fabrication of their all-holy Spirit, they fit things together, organizing them for the hymnody and glory of God, and for the praise and honor of His own magnificence.
Therefore, let us soundly proclaim things worthy of the Spirit who resounds within us! Let us sound the trumpet in Sion; let us proclaim on the holy mountain—in this very Church, the mystical and beloved city of God—and, having established sacred choirs, let us most holily celebrate the hymnodies of the sacred theologians. But how shall we celebrate them? Not by following the rules of the Sophists; not by glorifying with our speech the homelands that each one happened to inherit on earth; not by boasting of their earthly lineage; not by recounting the elegance of their birth and manner of life. For what praise could come to them from such things, when they had the God of all as their Father, the heavenly Jerusalem as their homeland, and the blessed patriarch Abraham as their kin—or rather, his faith and righteousness, to which they were entirely conformed; and for their manner of life, they had virtue, and the tutelage and preparation toward Christ through the Law? Nor, indeed, shall we praise in order, one by one, all the great deeds accomplished by them for the sake of the Word of God; for not only is that a task impossible to perform, but we would also exceed the law of fitting moderation. Yet this B moderation is itself praiseworthy—if any other is—just as it is seen to be present in all their operations, passions, and deeds, and indeed in these very discourses themselves. But let other things be stored away for another time and another discourse; for the present, let us offer an argument of praise and glory to the most eloquent friends of the Word, and, directing the song of praise to them, let us address them with the prophet in these words: "Rejoice, O children of Sion."
Rejoice, brilliant heralds of the paternal divine origin; most divine expositors of the works of the divine Son; living and polyphonic instruments of the life-giving Spirit, which, with sweetest voices and most harmonious melodies, have brought the entire world together to the one Word and God, and have instructed it to serve Him in spirit and truth.
Rejoice, Peter, you to whom the keys of the kingdom of heaven were entrusted; upon whom Christ established His own Church; whom, as He was departing to His own Father, He appointed pastor over His own sheep.
Rejoice, Paul, you who proved yourself a faithful and prudent steward of the paternal house, and for this reason were set over all that is His; you who, while still living in the body, were caught up to the third heaven and beheld with the eyes of the mind the intelligible paradise, and became a hearer of unspeakable words. C
Rejoice, Peter, you who formerly used to catch mute fish with a net; but afterward, having yourself been fashioned by Christ into a net woven by divine work, were cast into the sea of the world and D out of every race of rational fish
A gathering them, you were preparing a most precious feast for the Master's table.
Hail, Paul, who formerly was inflamed with the zeal of the law, but afterward were burning with the charity of grace; and who, instead of a persecutor, did yourself take to flight; and instead of a blasphemer and one who wrought injury, did prove yourself a most excellent preacher: and who, while with your own hands you were sewing skins devoid of life for the use of tents, were weaving together the hearts and minds of men with the divine Word, and were preparing these, by being pure, as a tent and a celestial dwelling for the Most High to inhabit.
You, indeed, were born in the flesh each in your own time, but you were foreknown in God the Father before the ages, and foreordained to be made like the glory of the Only-begotten; and when the fullness of the time had come, B and the Word was made flesh, you were the first to recognize and receive this, and were the first accounted worthy of this new birth from Him, and the first to have been empowered to dwell in Him, and you possessed the very Spirit of God witnessing that you are the children of God; and if children, then heirs; heirs indeed of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.
You, who became participants of the heavenly calling, have been named not only sons, but children of election; and not only were you chosen, but you were justified, and you were glorified. You, not of flesh and blood, but illuminated by the Father who is in heaven, and instructed in His Christ, and having seen the great light in the great light, C and having clearly believed in Him, and having through Him been thoroughly transformed in mind, and enlightened in soul—nay, rather, having been made bright and radiant lights, you were sent as a light to the nations, and were placed even to the ends of the earth for salvation.
Your faith, the blessed and only Potentate praised; the angels celebrated it, and the demons trembled; creation glorified it. Your hope, frequent storms have not shaken! and continual torrents of wayward thoughts did not break it down; neither did the tempests of tongues and pressures, as rivers falling upon it, dissolve it; nor the band of dangers and deaths, as the force of the winds, breaking upon it, overthrow it. Your love, neither Principalities, nor Powers, nor life, nor death, D nor indeed the whole world, when it was swayed in the most impetuous manner, could move from its own steadfastness and stability.
To you, first and sincerely and clearly, it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God; to the rest, however, alongside...
Oration I. On the holy and preeminent apostles Peter and Paul.
What is this delightful sound? What is this auspicious applause of those celebrating the feast? What is this wondrous and conspicuous parade of light and illumination? You are the peculiar people of God; you who are honored with the Christ-bearing name, you who, out of every race and life and way of living and age, have been moved by the fervor of faith and have filled this renowned sanctuary of the apostles. What is this rush? What is this zeal to reach this sacred assembly? Whence, as if by a single signal, have you been awakened from the very evening to empty your own houses and to fill this divine temple? And you seem to have gone out of yourselves; but by the unanimity of others, through the concord of mind and faith, and the harmony of tongue, you appear to strike up the tone of doxology as if from well-tuned instruments in a uniform and harmonious manner. Who is it that so harmoniously assembles this most sacred club or choir? Is it not clear that it is Peter and Paul, the preeminent and most ancient pinnacle of the apostles—Peter, the beginning of faith in Christ; Paul, the perfection of love—Peter, the immovable rock of the Church; Paul, who safely laid its foundation?
These, indeed, today, like winged minds having descended from the super-celestial and heavenly realms, and still living with those in birth and decay, in a spiritual and kindly manner associate with us; and moving quickly and walking in our midst, they invite us to a joy that is super-excellent; and summoning one from here and another from there by their quiet and lofty preaching, and as if into one body, they gather them all with the...
fishnet, and prepare a most costly banquet for the Master's table. A Hail, Paul, who were formerly burning with zeal for the law, but afterwards were set on fire by the love of grace; and who, instead of a persecutor, became a fugitive; and instead of a blasphemer and violent man, became a most approved preacher; and while with your hands you stitched inanimate skins for tent-making, by the divine Spirit you bound together hearts endowed with reason and mind, fashioning them into an incorruptible and heavenly tent for the indwelling of the Most High.
You, even if each of you attained to birth in the flesh at your own proper time, yet having been foreknown in God the Father before the ages, and predestined to be made conformable to the glory of the Only-Begotten, when the fullness of time came, and the Word became flesh, you were the first to recognize and receive Him; and you were the first to be deemed worthy of the birth from Him, and the first who were blessed to have Him tabernacling within yourselves, having the Spirit of God Himself bearing witness with your spirit that you are children of God; and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. You were not only partakers of the heavenly calling, but were also named the sons of election; and you were not only chosen, but also justified, and also glorified. You were not enlightened by flesh and blood, but by the Father who is in heaven did you learn to know His Christ, and in the great light you beheld the great Light, and clearly believed in Him, and were utterly transfigured in Him, and illuminated in soul; or rather, having become brilliant and divinely radiant lights, you were sent into the light of the nations, and were placed for salvation B to the ends of the earth.
Your faith, the blessed and only Potentate first declared blessed; angels hymned it, demons trembled before it, all creation glorified it. Your hope, neither frequent rains nor the continuous downpours of strange thoughts have unsettled; not even the storms of most wicked tongues and the heaviness of their weight, falling upon you like rivers, have dissolved it; no multitude of dangers and deaths, like wind blowing with violence, has shattered it. Your love, neither Principalities, nor Powers, nor life, nor death—nay, not even the whole world moved with the most savage ferocity—has moved it from its own steadfastness and permanence. To you, first and sincerely and clearly, it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God; to the rest, according
to the divine Word, in parables, in proportion to the closeness of each one’s affinity with the Word. For you, a lofty and divine and immediate precedence in the heights has been prepared around the unapproachable throne, worthily allotted according to your relationship with the most sovereign Word. I do not think it rash to say that the setting at the right and left of the King of the Universe has been prepared for you by the Father. You, the earth brought forth as truth, in accordance with the most sacred melody; the heavens manifested you as heralds of righteousness. For the earth indeed put forth a fair fruit; and the Lord, having implanted His own goodness in you, through your beaming rays, makes all creation good. Having fashioned you as first vessels of mercy and precious treasuries of His graces, filling you from the fullness of His priestly gifts, He then, out of our own fullness, bestows favors upon all generations of the nations in succession. And just as He formerly filled the interpreter of the Law with the spirit belonging and appropriate to him, and from him imparted it to those who were thought to be under him—if the calling of the seventy elders, according to the Scripture, is clear proof of this, with the spirit being taken from the Mosaic [portion] and measured out to them—so too, for you later, the leaders of grace and its ministers, He did not pour out the Spirit of adoption by measure, but poured Him out in His entirety as upon those most akin to Himself; and as from an inexhaustible fountain, out of your fullness, He makes all the children of grace good and deifies them.
The whole world, having emulated you—though not rightly—and having struggled to bury you in the depths of destruction, was so frustrated in its hopes that it recognized you all the more as its own masters and B kings; kings not who had seized a transitory kingdom by rapine, but [kings] who had donned an immortal and everlasting glory and kingdom. For all the earth and the sea, having stirred up the infuriated and multi-tongued herds of the nations—like the unstoppable force of waters—against these holy theologians, against those humble, grave men, covered by a mere coarse cloak, and carrying with them fundamentally no other baggage of the present age; and [though the nations were] contriving to destroy their body, to extinguish their message, and to eradicate their mind and faith so completely that not even a trace of memory would remain in life—yet, it was so turned back and cut off from its absurd endeavors, that one might behold that divine oracle fulfilled: by their word, the storm being commanded and settling into a gentle breeze, its billows being hushed, and all men rejoicing in the tranquility and being led into the harbor of the divine will.
ORATION III. IN PRAISE OF THE HOLY APOSTLES PETER AND PAUL
A You would have seen there at that time every nation of men and every tongue hearing their own proper language being spoken through the apostles by the Paraclete; and the soul bending before the Word who is preached as God; and the lips and tongue directing themselves to the doxology of the Trinity; and just as it had formerly been filled with the error of idols and demons, so afterwards it was filled with the living grace of the life-giving Spirit. And, as if seasoned with active salt by the divine proclamations of these men, it wiped away the moist and foul corruption of sin. For the impious rites, customs, and ceremonies by which it had endured for a long time and retained a stain difficult to wash away, being cleansed by the water of these men and sanctified by the participation of divine mysteries, it emerged as a sharer in heavenly bounties. And not only was the bodily creation thus conquered by the magnificence and firmness—or rather, the grace—of Peter and Paul; but even all the incorporeal and apostate Powers, having stirred up a most difficult and fierce war against them, were thus brought to nothing and overcome, as it was fitting that those should be brought to nothing who armed themselves against the most faithful followers of Jesus. For just as that first champion of human nature, who, for its sake, engaged in a wrestling match with the ruler of this world, took off his garment spiritually B and, triumphing openly, put him to shame on the cross; so truly Peter and Paul, the genuine imitators of his trial and victory, struggling on behalf of the nations against all Principalities and Powers and all the rulers of the world, and escaping through him unscathed just as one passes through the threads of a spider’s web—and taking pleasure in their sufferings, boasting in their daily deaths, and then having drunk the cup of the Master—they overthrow the adversary in him with might; and having taken captive those who were held under him for Christ, they were adorned with the crowns of justice and victory. And Peter, indeed, spreading out his sacred and venerable hands upon the cross, and dangling with his head downward toward the earth and his feet upward toward heaven, that he might glorify the Master both by the similarity and the C dissimilarity of his passion; and Paul, having been beheaded of his highly-venerable head and having filled up the remainder of the sufferings of Christ in himself, thus have they conquered the world. D In this manner it came about that strength is made perfect in weakness.
A And thus, having broken the destroyer, bright and brilliantly have they been taken up into heaven with Christ, the author of victory. And just as He, having been the first to conquer, sat down first at the right hand of the throne of majesty on high, so too these, having conquered in accordance with the likeness to Him, are deemed worthy of the second session at the right hand of Him. O the supernatural imitation of the inimitable! O the exaltation, by those of humble mind, toward the Most High! Earthly and heavenly; mortal and immortal; lowly and thrice-great! And those who were set as the offscouring and the refuse of the whole world have become more venerable than the Seraphim. And those who were afflicted by hunger and thirst and nakedness have been appointed as the stewards and masters over the saints of those good things which "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man," into which even the angels, to speak with them, desire to look. What is this mystery of goodness concerning you? How have you been named the same as both sons of men and of God? The one through nature, the other through adoption. How has the momentary and light burden of your tribulation worked for you so great an eternal weight of glory? We remember from your mystical instruction that God the Word became flesh and dwelt among us; but you, in reality, have become the body and the honorable members of Him who assumed flesh. A body most beautiful, godlike, and divinely radiant, receptive to no stain, nor spots, nor blemish. For as two most luminous and most graceful eyes you are set before the Body of the Lord, by which His whole Body is illuminated; through which the Lord, beholding the churches across the entire earth, builds and perfects them. And you are ears, clear and distinct, and responsive to the divine voice; having first heard the all-wise and all-powerful Word of God—I mean the first mystery of the Economy—you have subsequently sounded it into the ears of all. You are also most fragrant nostrils, and mystical cheeks. Holy nostrils, smelling most sweetly the fragrance of the holy ointments of Christ, and revealing the scent of His knowledge in every place. And cheeks, like vessels of aromatics, as if from the fountain of the theology-speaking tongue, germinating (according to the most mystical oracle) B the aromatics—that is, the mystical fragrances (namely, the doctrines of the Spirit)—and projecting them to the worthy. You are also believed to be active and energetic hands, not inscribing the divine words on tablets of stone, but on those of flesh; not with ink, but mystically writing them with the living Spirit of God. Hands, not only establishing a secure foundation—that of faith—but also building upon it works worthy of faith. For not with wood, nor with stubble and hay, but with gold and silver and most precious stones—that is, with doctrines and acts pleasing to God—you have built up the intelligent and living Church.
A Hands, working the divine mysteries, and yourselves the artisans of supernatural miracles, healing diseases by touch alone, driving away demons, binding up the paralyzed, cleansing lepers, straightening those bent double, raising the dead, and restoring vision to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and tongue to the stammering, making it clear and distinct; and every bodily infirmity and every wound of the soul, you heal in an ineffable and instantaneous manner. You have also appeared as the two shoulders and two breasts of the majesty of Jesus: the former, taking up the cross and being exalted/raised along with it, and as if following your own head, readily following after Him who was crucified. Shoulders, lifting the pleasant yoke of Christ, and easily bearing the light burden of the Gospel, and imposing it upon those worthy. Yes, truly, even gathering up the straying sheep and counting them among those that remain, and securing them in the folds above, and for their sake, B by cross and by death, in imitation of the Master, being sanctified. The breasts, not feeding the Church with perceptible milk, but with intellectual, and taking up not only milk—that is, the introductory word, suitable for those being initiated—but also wine, distributing the solid feasting of dogmas, and the theology befitting the perfect. He who would call you the inwards and the twin kidneys, the thighs, the legs, and the feet of the supersubstantial Majesty of Him who was incarnate, would not, I think, slip from what is fitting. For with you, the vital and inexhaustible quality of divine, or rather deifying, love is observed, and as if from a twin and living fountain, gushing forth secretly from your inward parts, being sprinkled upon faithful souls, it proves them fruitful to God. But the legs and feet, I think, are reasonably understood as those of the Word, because, traversing the whole earth in you, and going over every mind of mortals, it leads them by your hand to the knowledge of the truth. You are truly, according to the holy Zechariah, the two branches of olive trees, standing at the right and left of the golden lampstand—I mean the Church—and at the lamp placed upon it, Christ; the two, as he himself says, sons of oil, standing by the Lord of the whole earth. C You are also prefigured by the two rods which the Lord says He will take to Himself, as represented by that same prophet. Of these, one he named Beauty, on account of the exceeding comeliness of the soul; the other, the Cords, as His own portion; in these He promises that He will pasture the sheep, and that He will dissipate the covenant which He established with the peoples; it is clear that He is setting aside the law of the letter for the sake of the law of the spirit. For what Moses and Aaron had been in the worship according to the law and in the types—namely, being pedagogues toward Christ for the imperfect—this is what Peter D and Paul have become in the spirit; and performing the rites of the Gospel of grace, they scatter and overturn the shadowy and typical precepts of the law in it.
...and became Pauls in the spirit; and by ministering the Gospel of grace, they dispel and abolish A in it the shadowy and typical precepts of the Law. But what is this toward the praise of the glory of your magnificence? I am persuaded that your glory has surpassed not only all the cleverness of historians and the power of orators, but that even the most supreme theologians among us could say nothing worthy of your perfection. For just as there is no discourse capable of manifesting the glory that surpasses all things—for the divine majesty is exalted above not only speech but also thought, and not only human but even Seraphic thought—so too, the glory of those who have genuinely taken their stand at that majesty and have been vouchsafed the highest honor is inexpressible and inconceivable; and it is so all the more as it exceeds the whole of creation by its proximity to the Supersubstantial One. B Therefore, since every earth-born tongue falls short of praise according to its merit, having said a few things more, and having saluted you more mystically in spirit, we shall leave the magnificence of the glory of your holiness in silence.
Hail, most sacred heralds, apostles, and witnesses of the Trinitarian consubstantiality—or union—which was announced through you and made known to all creation.
Hail, rational and intellectual horses, chosen and God-selected; not, as some are called, whiter in the color of their body than snow, but shining brighter than snow with the purity of their soul; nor equal in their course to the winds, but, by the speed of their mind and their divinity, surpassing the flight of winds; nor springing forth all at once as far as an eye can see from a watchtower, as in the poetry, but traversing all creation like lightning with the Word, as far as this sun encompasses it with its great light. C Upon these the God-Word, mounting according to the divine Habakkuk, and causing them to mount into this intellectual sea, troubled the many waters within you—the minds of the nations—and this, His horsemanship, became the salvation of those who were being troubled.
Hail, precious stones, placed after the cornerstone into the foundations of the intellectual Sion.
Hail, venerable servants of God, faithful friends of Christ, sacred children of the Lord Spirit, glory of the Angels, praise of the Archangels, exaltation of the Principalities, boast of the Powers, gladness of the Virtues, exultation of the Dominions, honor of the Thrones, delight of the Cherubim, beauty of the Seraphim. D Hail, destroyers of the devil, benefactors of men, antagonists of error, advocates of truth, overthrow of idols, proclamation of the Trinity, disappearance of heresies, propitiation for sins, destruction of things that are aging, conversion of things being renewed, dissolvers of the letter, confirmers of the Spirit.
Rejoice, resurrection of the Churches, restoration of the fallen, recall of the despairing, comfort of those in distress, healing of those in suffering, consolation of those in mourning, safe harbor for those storm-tossed, unfailing wealth for the needy, true protection for the wealthy, guarantors for those in debt, defenders of those being saved. Rejoice and exult, O heavens, together with Him who sits upon you as if upon a throne in a manner befitting God; divine and intellectual heavens, and most mystical firmament of the Church which is in heaven, you who proclaim the glory of God with a loud voice and everlastingly announce the work of His hands, whose sound has gone forth clearly into all the earth, and the power of whose words has run to the ends of the inhabited world. Just as, therefore, through you or by you, the grace of the Lord of all has sounded forth to the ends of the earth, so too do you bring a favorable end to a favorable beginning, and by strengthening the divine word for all nations, confirm the holy faith within it; turn back the straying, steady the wavering, correct or uproot those who shamelessly reject it; and those who walk by your rule, preserve them firm and unswerving in the holy ordinances. Bind up the entire assembly of the faithful in the integrity of the divine body in the Holy Spirit; complete and harmonize the entire fullness of the Church into one new man, whose head is Christ. By your acceptable intercessions, take away war and all weapons, and by crowning the truly pious emperor with divine trophies of victory, fill the earth with divine peace and stable, tranquil life. Granting a quiet and piety-loving life, full of the righteousness and joy which is in Christ Jesus, to the body politic named after Christ, and steering them toward the Jerusalem above, of which you have become the firstborn children and citizens and guardians, lead all into the rest of God; in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is glory and power, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION IV. In praise of the holy and most celebrated Apostle Andrew.
A To all the friends and disciples of the Word of God, praise by way of words is owed according to one's capacity, just as imitation is owed by way of deeds; but this is especially due to those who are preeminent and ancient among them. For not only is the praise of divine men a thing praiseworthy in itself to God, and desirable to those who are being praised themselves, but it is also salvific for those who know how to praise auspiciously, B and profitable for those who join in the praise, and for all who listen with understanding, it becomes the cause of a more perfect edification. Let us then arise, O men, to the struggle proposed for us all. For today a struggle is proposed to us: for me, to garland the leader of the disciples, the peak of the apostles, the one who is the namesake of manliness, Andrew, with the flowers of praise, C and to delight in the memory of him, and as if conversing with him present and seen, to adorn myself with the accounts concerning him, and to share in the struggle with you, and to the extent of my power to work along with you, helping the mind exhausted by inexpressible groanings, and guiding the word, which is stumbling in the face of the subject matter, to encourage it into deep silence and attention of soul. Let us then pay the debt D with eagerness; one by way of eulogy, others by way of listening; and thus let us bear fruit. One, by way of action that is intellectual and learned; another, by word that is active and effective; one by song, another by desire and love; another by compunction; another through prayer. Let one bring true faith, another religious charity in Christ. Let someone bring a mild and quiet heart; another, an unceasing and eternal memory of Jesus. Let one bring unceasing prayer in the mind; another, a clear and luminous vision of Christ. May all bring fear of God, all bring continence, and all bring modesty of the senses of the soul, in order to extend ourselves toward piety; for the great Apostle will be glorified in us when one contributes one good thing, and another another, and all together demonstrate a likeness to him, and just as we give a gift, we offer him the fruit of imitation as if it were a festive offering. Thus Christ Himself, who rests in the saints and is glorified in those who are glorified, through whom is every movement toward virtue, and who is the beginning and middle and end of every good action.
Since therefore we have prepared the stage for the word as far as we are able, let us now set about the struggles themselves, and let us strive to achieve the height of the hymns; not rashly attempting what is inaccessible, but approaching what is inaccessible with fearful reverence; not with forward boldness attempting what is untouchable, but with modesty and all religion and fear, we extend the word to what is beyond reason and power, and raise the word toward what is beyond mind, to the uncontainable wealth of the treasures of the Spirit, from whose brief outpouring, or drop of grace, being deemed worthy of the intercession today, we first of all through his grace, from the law...
A to the Gospel, which produces a more perfect building up for those who hear it. Let us therefore arise, O men, to the struggle set before us. For the struggle set before us all today is common: for me, to twine around the diadem of the disciples, the summit of the apostles, Andrew, so named for his endurance, with the praises of my words as if with rose blossoms, and to take delight in his memory, and to converse with him as if he were present and visible, and to pride myself in the tales concerning him; for you, to partake in the struggle with me, and so far as strength allows, to cooperate, to suffer along with one who is weary in his mind with unutterable prayers, and to encourage by deep silence and attention one who is gasping out his discourse according to the magnitude of the subject. B Let us therefore willingly pay our debt; one, his praise, others, their hearing; and let us bear fruit: one, a reasonable action; another, a practical word; one, a hymn; another, longing; one, compunction; another, prayer; one, sincere faith; another, love for Christ. Let each bring his offering: one, a word of wisdom; another, a word of knowledge; one, a gentle and quiet heart; another, an unceasing and perpetual memory of Jesus; one, indefatigable prayer of the mind; another, a pure and light-filled vision of Christ. May all bring the fear of God, all continence, all humility, and may all extend themselves toward piety through patience. For thus the great Apostle will be glorified in us, as each of us performs one or another of his fine deeds, and all together display a clearer likeness to him, C and as if a festive gift, bring him the fruit of the soul’s imitation. Thus also Christ himself, who rests in his saints and is glorified in those who are glorified, from whom comes every impulse toward virtue, and who is the beginning, the middle, and the end of every good deed.
Since we have, as far as we were able, prepared the stage for this discourse, come now, let us take hold of the struggles themselves, and let us attempt to reach the height of the apostolic hymns; not rashly attempting those things which are unattainable, but approaching those that are inaccessible with fear. D Not with boldness presuming upon the untouchable; but with modesty and all reverence, stretching the mind toward things that are above reason, and elevating the word toward things that are above the mind, let us have hope in the inexhaustible wealth of the treasures of the Spirit; from which, by the intercession of him who is being praised today, being deemed worthy of a small outpouring, that is to say, a drop of grace, we shall carry forward the description of his path from the law onward.
ORATION IV. - IN PRAISE OF ST. ANDREW.
A Having then considered the disposition for which we shall offer praise: next, having summarized his success in the Gospel, we shall present his precious, and truly Christ-befitting, passing. Andrew, therefore (a thing and name most precious to God), the faithful and prudent steward of the Father of lights, the great herald and most approved disciple of the Word of God; the most holy minister and servant of the Holy Spirit; he, having been known by God beforehand, as being of a good soul and of an intellect that would be most upright, was for this reason also predestined to be conformed to the Only-Begotten of God. For when the time of the dispensation of the Word and of His manifestation had arrived, it was entirely necessary that those who were his own and near to him should be manifested together with Him. It was necessary that when the King was present, His guards should also be present. B But what was the sign of the manifestation of the King? A voice of one crying in the wilderness. A voice going before the face of the Word, and preparing His paths, filling the broken places and bringing low the high, straightening the crooked, and smoothing the rough [paths] of men's characters. And not the voice alone was the proof, but also the baptism of repentance; the Baptist being upon the waters, and the King being present immediately afterward to be baptized; and the proclamation, how divine! For to Him who was being baptized, the heavens were opened; the Spirit descended, and the voice of the Lord thundered upon the waters, as if by a finger, indicating from above through the dove the Beloved One. In this way did the heavenly King receive a testimony greater than John's from the Father; and you yourself, most blessed one, both the Baptist first and immediately after him, were joined by the love of the Spirit to Him who was being testified to. C For you did not approach that most divine One without any mediator; nor did you display perfection from the very starting-gate, so to speak, of your life; for how could that be? It was necessary that, having been tutored by the law of the letter, you should thus meet with the Spirit of the law; and having been initiated into the more imperfect commandments, you should thus advance to the perfection of the Gospel, so as to have a firm and immovable foundation within it. It was necessary that, the lamp running before, the eyes of the heart being already prepared, you should receive the light that is so bright and great; for this reason, as soon as you heard the voice crying in the wilderness, you did not, like the impious, reject it as if it were crying out in vain; nor, having deemed it worthy to be heard, did you refuse to listen, being stretched taut by the vanity of life, as the many do; nor, having come near to it, did you, having D listened with difficulty—as happens to the fastidious—immediately turn back; but first, you marveled at the manner of the birth, the upbringing, the diet, and the whole plan of life of the herald.
A
Attending to the power of the proclamation, and understanding the word to be something divine and salvific for all, you withdrew from parents, brothers, and kin. Becoming entirely given to his philosophy, you despised paternal inheritance, fishing, and seafaring. You despised all things that charm and drag the mind toward pleasure. And henceforth, thinking more highly than man, you exchanged urban life for the desert; noise for quiet; luxury for temperance; abundance for simplicity; and you considered living with the Baptist more precious than royal palaces. In a short time, through imitation, you drew to yourself all the virtue of your teacher: the precision of his word, the stability of his manner, the gravity of his character, the brilliance of his life, his contempt for earthly things, his intense focus on heavenly things, and, to speak once for all, you imprinted upon the good shape of your mind all his divine conduct.
B When he who was to come was present, and the Master was among his servants—the King of heaven living among the poor in the likeness of a poor man—here the immense excellence of your virtue is manifested. For as soon as you heard from the leader speaking about Jesus, "Behold the Lamb of God," you did not hesitate at the voice, nor were you conflicted about the testimony; nor did you, like those of little faith, demand some proof to be persuaded. Together with the word, you transferred yourself to the Word. Leaving the bridegroom’s friend, you most wisely clung to the Bridegroom, offering Him your mind as an immaculate bride and mystically uniting yourself to Him. You offered your body as well, seeking to remain with Him and to be a disciple (O the faith!), and you begged to be with Him and to serve Him for all time.
What shall we praise first in you? What, rather, shall we admire, O most admirable one? The purity of your faith? The sincerity of your love? Or the moderation of your mind and your excessive gentleness? For that you, having heard only the voice of the Baptist, should immediately leave him and run after Jesus is a clear demonstration of all virtue. Is it not a work of both gentleness and humility to leave that man, so renowned and of such brilliant glory, and seek to cling to Him who is meek and humble of heart, and who had not yet attained such glory? And is this not also a sign of the most perfect faith and the highest love for God? For it was fitting that he who was the first to approach to be a disciple by the word, and who was to be the first to be established in the participation of the divine intimacy, should be a participant in that Spirit, and C seeds of godliness...
ORATION IV — IN PRAISE OF SAINT ANDREW
A and prefer one virtue over others. Wherefore, A seeing that he had a certain natural affinity with Him, he was the first after the Baptist to recognize that He was the Messiah, the Christ testified to by the prophets; and he was the first of the apostles to approach Him with spontaneous steps, as the saying goes, and to take up residence with Him. For he could not bear to see others frequenting Him before himself, and thus to be surpassed in their zeal for the Good; he considered that to be the disposition of the timid rather than of those moved by more discerning prudence. Nor did he wait, as the others did, for a call from Him; but with the sharpness of his mind and his quick intelligence, having found the One who was sought, he was immediately united to Him by the fervor of his faith. Being of a disposition that loves the good, he could not bear to enjoy the Good alone; but, as if he had found a great treasure in Jesus, he hastened to show Him to Simon—to Simon, his brother by nature, his brother by intention, and his peer in craft (for both were fishermen), and his equal in zeal for their way of life; for both were experts in the Law, and likewise both were seekers and lovers of the same truth. Having found Him first, Andrew said, "We have found the Messiah." The statement was full of overflowing joy and wondrous pleasure. For nothing is known to gladden the soul so much as finding what one has sought with labor and great diligence. For things that we happen upon unexpectedly, even if they seem great, we do not grasp with such fervor; and for this reason, they remain more permanent and secure for their possessor. B And so he, with a soul untiring in its labors and a mind studious in the Scriptures, knew that Christ was to come for the salvation of men, and he was vigorous in hope, working to find the One who was awaited. And because he was deemed worthy to find Him before all others, and came into His sight and exchanged brief words with Him, he flourished in his heart with the love of the Good; and, his mind ignited by the light of knowledge, he became full of the joy of God. Not bearing to enjoy this alone, he hastened to take Peter too, as his companion in finding, just as he had been the first in searching. Therefore he says: "We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the Christ," and he led him to Jesus. These, as elect, precious, and proven stones, that cornerstone built upon Himself, and, by the bond of love, bound and fitted together [with Him], built upon them the whole sacred chorus of disciples in order. Let this be so; thus far the discourse has delineated for us the First-Called in a specific and peculiar manner. From this point on, however, the mode of excellence in the Gospel is common to all. For their faith, and their loving disposition toward the Master, is shared by all; identical for all the apostles were their call, their election, and their following of Christ; and indeed, their beholding of the wondrous works, and their hearing of the sublime mysteries.
A And all of them alike, as if beside themselves, so entirely established in the love of their Teacher, and glorifying in the reproaches, the persecutions, the ignominies, and the afflictions suffered for His sake; and indeed suffering with Him as He suffered, and crucified with Him as He was crucified, they rose again with Him into newness of life. And just as they were made partners of the Word of God through love and faith, so too did they all become partakers of the Spirit of life in equal measure: partially, indeed, before the passion; more effectively, after the passion and resurrection; and more divinely, after the ascension, and more perfectly, when the Godhead of the Paraclete descended upon all alike from heaven in the sound of a violent rushing wind, filling each one of them; and He established them as witnesses of what they had heard, as evangelists and preachers throughout all the earth. B Accordingly, it is not possible to prefer one of these witnesses of God to another; for all, like precious pearls fashioned by a single grace, or like precious stones of equal worth woven into one crown of glory, are precious in the sight of the King of heaven. And since all alike, like perfect rams leading the flock of the Chief Shepherd, were endowed with the Holy Spirit according to the divine oracle, they went forth from thence, each obtaining a different part of the inhabited world, as they served the Gospel according to the lot of their own apostolate.
But you, C most venerable Andrew, a thing worthy of God, the pattern of true bravery, the adamant of endurance, the statue of patience, the second rock after the Rock—the unshakable foundation of the Church immediately after Christ—having obtained the North as your lot, wandering through the Iberians, the Sauromatae, the Tauri, and the Scythians, and every region and city that lies toward the North and South of the Euxine Sea, you ran, glorifying Jesus in your thirst. You ran with beautiful feet, preaching the Gospel of Christ; since you were full of light, and were yourself light, to those in deep darkness; you ran as the most gentle to those who were most frenzied; and as most truly good to those who were unyielders and most hardened. For to the extent that the magnificence of your virtue D and glory...
A is superior, so too is the ferocity of these nations manifest. For the Lord, it says, knows those who are His, and knowing those who are fit for each service, and entering into them invisibly from their very first formation, He bestows from Himself the impulsion corresponding to each person’s predisposition, and directs each one toward the perfection in accordance with Him. He, having journeyed with you even to those who were entirely alienated and shrouded in deepest darkness, shed upon them intelligible splendors. For as if riding upon a cloud of light—a swift and mystical cloud—in your mind, and arriving among those lightless nations, He revealed through you a ray of the knowledge of God, proportioned to them and as far as was permissible. But what was the manner of the association of the Most Humane One with the most inhuman? First, by means of an identical language, He drew toward Himself their untamed hearing; for by nature, like is naturally inclined to be drawn to like. For this reason the Spirit also descended upon the apostles in the form of tongues; and beyond other signs, the division of tongues was wrought for them, so that by this communion of speech, rather than by any other miracles, the souls of the untamed might be tamed and brought to gentleness. Therefore, mingling the goodness of His ways with the sameness of speech, and mollifying and subduing the harshness, savagery, and cruelty of these people with His mildness and gentleness, He little by little won them over. Then, having rendered by habit the hostile-minded friendly and approachable, He thus opportunely led them toward the knowledge of God. For to attempt to grasp the lofty theology suddenly would not only have failed to help those foolish and dull-witted people, but would often have ignited an even greater conflagration of anger and wickedness. But to rely first upon common conversation, becoming accustomed to the impious, and winning their favor through a similarity with them, and using natural and familiar examples—to thus gradually incline them toward piety—this I believe to be the best order of teaching and a task of the apostolic mind. B In this manner the great apostle, traversing the sides of the North, made them the mountains of Zion. For as many as possessed a trace of truth, and as many as retained a portion of rational mind and intellect, when they beheld the man, and saw that he surpassed them in the brilliance of his discourse and the perfection of his life, just as much as they presumed themselves to surpass the beasts and cattle—altogether yielding to his virtue—they submitted their minds, and advanced toward the light proclaimed through him; and being illuminated by the word of grace, and cleansed by the water of regeneration, and perfected by the Spirit of adoption, they were fashioned into the holy Churches for the Most Holy One.
A Nor was the great mystery of the faith strengthened for them without blood; but as the Master and Lord sealed His own testament with His own blood, so likewise it was fitting that the most proven disciple should not only preach the salvation of God with mere words, but should also seal his teaching with his own blood. Since, therefore, it was not possible for all to yield absolutely to the truth, just as the Jewish hand had been raised previously against Jesus, so the Scythian mind was prepared against Andrew; there was the headlong wrath of kings, the murderous impulse of rulers, and the ferocious gathering of the peoples; and from this followed prisons and lashes, drag-netted limbs and lacerations. Yes, and indeed wood and stones and swords, and everything that came into the hands of the bloodthirsty, were wielded as weapons against that venerable head. And the victim was prompt, being readily offered as a sacrifice for those who were sacrificing him; and, as if to pay a debt to the One previously sacrificed for him, he poured out his own blood; and (O the imitation of God!) he offered it as an atonement for those who were killing him. And what did the great High Priest do? Receiving the sacrifice most gladly, and smelling the odor of fragrance, He restored the rational victim whole and entire once again, reserving him for greater glories and contests. In this way the great Andrew overcame his adversaries, and thus, being crucified with Christ, he conquered in all things through Him who loved him. Therefore, having encompassed all the regions of the North, and the whole seacoast of the Pontus, in the power of the word of wisdom and understanding, in the power of signs and wonders with the preaching of the Gospel; everywhere erecting altars, and setting priests and hierarchs over the B faithful, he approached this illustrious Byzantium. Hither the wonderful man coming by the way, and having built near the acropolis a temple to the Mother of God, a temple beautiful indeed in its construction, yet whose size was commensurate with the scarcity of those who had then first believed; and having assigned the great Stachys as a pastor worthy of this see, he thereafter displayed in this city [fruitful results of the spirit].
that would subsequently appear. For, like a grain of wheat, that holy Stachys, having fallen therein and being bedewed with heavenly irrigation, and being expanded and increased by the aptitude of the souls and minds subject to him, yields a hundredfold fruit of the holy faith even until today.
Traveling through Byzantium to Thrace, the most divine man—that I might cut across the things in between—proceeded through Macedonia and Thessalonica to the Peloponnesians, and finally arrived at Patras of Achaia. Being there, and in a holy manner summoning those who approached, the god-wise man exhorted them: "Lift up your eyes, O men of Achaia," he said, "to heaven; and acknowledge the sun and moon and stars, and every creation of things apprehended by the mind, to be a school of the Creator. He, being always alike unoriginate and immortal, infinite and incorporeal, incomprehensible and inaccessible, first established the intelligible world, and one free from matter, and one familiar to himself for glory; and second, he fashioned this sensible, corruptible, and corporeal world, consisting of heaven and earth, and all things that are in them. And having fashioned man alone of living creatures with his own hands, and having honored him with reason, and deemed him worthy of mind and wisdom, he made him a likeness of his own majesty. Having placed him in paradise at the beginning, he appointed him to rule over all things that are on the earth. But by the envy of the devil and his own heedlessness, having transgressed the commandment of God, and for this reason having fallen from paradise, and having been compared and likened to senseless beasts, he came to a total forgetfulness of Him; and leaning his mind henceforth upon creation and visible things, and impiously deifying what was deemed beautiful to the eyes, he slipped away from the truly existing God. And thus, for men themselves, the mind, being torn away from the love of the one and true God, was carried away into uncounted calamities of idols and error.
For this reason, God becomes man: God eternal, or rather, above all ages; God needing nothing, perfect, alone by nature good and above good; alone powerful in strength and above all power. This One, B having used mercy, was well-pleased to give to sinners as a propitiation his only-begotten Word, who is of equal power and co-unoriginate with him; who, having entered the holy Virgin, untouched by man, was born for us as the same God and man in a super-essential way; then, having been manifested with brilliant and god-befitting testimony from words and deeds; then, having communed with the saving sufferings for our sake and the divine cross, and having risen from the dead on the third day, and having been taken up before our eyes into heaven,
Oration IV. - IN PRAISE OF ST. ANDREW
and sits at the right hand of God; who also, after this, poured forth his Holy Spirit upon us in abundance, by whose power and invocation, as you see, demons are cast out from bodies, diseases flee, the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame are made sound, the dead rise again, and all incurable afflictions of souls and bodies are nullified by the name of Christ.Therefore we proclaim to you, O most wise men, and exhort you, not to turn away from the word of this salvation which is announced to you by us; but, being confirmed by these various powers, believe in the living God and in his Only-Begotten who became man for us, and was crucified and rose again, and ascended into heaven, and will come again with glory from the heavens, to make judgment of the living and the dead, and to render to each according to his C deeds. Believing in him, be baptized in his name; and having received the gift of the Holy Spirit, be enlightened in mind, and thus, having been cleansed by the religious rite of the Spirit from the impurity of the demons, become heirs of eternal life in Christ Jesus.
Such are the teachings often given, and with such great wonders—the most admirable man striking the whole land of Achaia with awe—he slowly led them away from the error of idols; he brought to the truth men and women alike, old and young, rulers and commoners, the wise and the unlearned, the rich and the poor. And the word spread and grew in strength to such an extent that Maximilla, the wife of the proconsul, and Stratocles his own relative, confessed the true God; and having been baptized, they persevered in the teaching of the Apostle. Thus, all the idolatry of the Greeks and Barbarians was destroyed; and the arrogance of the demons was likewise diminished and brought to nothing by the power of Jesus in Andrew; and thus the Churches of the Lord were exalted day by day, being strengthened in the faith. Since, therefore, the most blessed man had long continued in this manner, he had fulfilled the work of Christ; and he himself, having borne his body in extreme old age, longed for his departure, and summoned him from above, the super-celestial A Bridegroom, to himself. For the Father, who is above all, 12 stretched out His arms and awaited the wedding of the Only-begotten, and the Holy Spirit made straight for him the ascent and guided the way. And as he was going, the Bridegroom, meeting him in the way, received him with all-surpassing beauty, and the Seraphim standing around attuned the thrice-holy hymn. The Cherubim, too, upon the throne, heralded the blessed glory, and the Thrones B prepared for the reception, and all the heavenly Powers stood ready to receive the servant of God with the utmost honor. And just as some of the holy minds were coming down from heaven to him, and others, going up, were smoothing for him and making the ascent very easy, it was necessary that, having finally left behind the body as a shell below, he should be caught up disembodied to the Super-essential—and, after the heaviness of the flesh had been cast off, C naked in spirit, he should purely enter into the Spirit. It was necessary for the earth to remain on earth, for the sanctification that was to be of the earth, and for the pledge of faith to be left behind for the faithful, while he himself, light, should be carried off to heaven, to dwell with Him who is above the heavens.
But what was the instrument of this departure? The cross, the sign of the Crucified, the scepter of the King of all, D the glory of Christ, the unbreakable armor of all the saints. The cross, just as it was originally fashioned as an instrument of death by the Jews against Jesus, as a sign of life given to all the saints—so too, it became to the most faithful disciple of the Crucified Christ the instrument of death fixed at Aegeate, and the cause of it, because he failed in the woman and the brother—for Andrew’s faith and the teachings of life were rooted in the tree, not only in Maximilla and Stratocles, but in all the Achaeans together, and it became the cause of salvation for Achaia.
B Indeed, the aged man, having been raised up upon the tree, and not nailed to it, but bound for three days, as if from some watchtower or mountain peak looking down upon the crowds standing by him, and setting forth the words of the mystery, exhorted them to neglect the flesh; to yield to no pleasure of the body, and to consider nothing of what is seen or what is perishable as worthy of care. The man filled with God declared that it was necessary to be concerned with all diligence, with all art, and with all strength, only for the soul and its activity—I mean the truth according to faith, the ecstatic ascent to the highest of desirable things, and the social likeness and theological union.
B This alone, he maintained, we must care for above all else, as it is the work of God, and we must labor for it in the first place. All earthly possessions, as being ephemeral, he bade us disregard; the body's well-being, as something not enduring, to treat with contempt; and for a soul laboring for the sake of virtue, to be brave and not to flag. He taught that the only death a philosopher should know is sin and impiety. This, he said, is the true death: to be ignorant of the true Life, and to have the eyes of the heart clouded so as not to be illumined by the rays of faith in Christ. This, he declared, was a terrible and bitter death; but the death brought upon one by the unbelievers should be considered the cause of all sweet delight and life, as it ushers one to Life itself, to Light itself, to the Father of lights—to the Fashioner of all beauty, the Producer of all goodness.
Do not, therefore, my children, be indignant at those who destroy you. For unwillingly they bestow life; thinking to harm, they confer a benefit; imagining they are dishonoring you, they are honoring you; and supposing they are afflicting you, they are sending you on to the true and ever-flowing joy. Therefore, this judgment, deemed unjust, is no cause for sorrow, discouragement, or grief for me. It would indeed be very painful, truly a harbinger of death to me, if it were just; if we had been caught committing crimes; if we had presented ourselves to Aegeates as worthy of death. But since we are preaching the true life, the eternal and ineffable life which we have seen with our eyes and handled with our hands; the power of which we have known through experience; and since in our desire for all as far as it lies in us to become partakers of this Good, we fall into such things for its sake, we are not being punished, but glorified; we are not being chastised, but saved; nor, as one might suppose, are we being put to death, but being brought to life. For what did the most courageous man—in his philosophizing—consider being treated unjustly and tortured for the sake of virtue to be, if not to be justified and crowned? And what is it to be crucified and slain for the sake of Jesus, if not to be enlivened and deified, and, just as by the likeness of the passion, so also to be joined in the communion of glory, and to reign with Him through all ages?
And these things he said to the crowd; but again, the man who was truly the most philosophical, turning his discourse to Him who dwelt within him, said: "I thank thee, my delight and my adornment, my exultation and my exaltation, my light, my strength, my crown, my treasure, my glory, my grace, the longed-for Name, the divine Name. I thank thee, Jesus, my life, my breath, the exultation of my heart, the boast of my mind, whom I love with the love of God, whom I wish to enjoy with eternal delight, whom I possess, for whom I thirst, for whom I live, to whom I am bound, and toward whom I press and am carried up, and with earnest striving reach."
[GREEK COLUMN] Εὐχαριστῶ σοι. Χριστέ, τῷ Κυρίῳ μου καὶ Θεῷ A μου καὶ Βασιλεῖ μου, ὅτι με πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις, καὶ τῇ κοινωνίᾳ τετίμηκας τοῦ σοῦ πάθους· ὅτι με τὸν δρόμον τελέσαι καλῶς, τὸν ἀγῶνα νομίμως ἀγωνίσασθαι, καὶ τὴν πίστιν ἐνίσχυσας βεβαίαν τηρῆσαι. Καὶ νῦν διὰ τοῦ σταυροῦ τούτου ὑψούμενον, πρὸς σὲ χαρμοσύνως ὑπόλαβε, φιλοφρόνως δεξίωσαι, πατρικῶς ἐναγκάλισαι· καί γε παρὰ σοὶ μένειν, ἐν σοὶ ζῆν, ἀγαλλιᾶσθαι δι' αἰῶνος ἐν σοὶ, κατατέρπεσθαι καταξίωσον ἐν σοὶ, καὶ τῆς σῆς ὡραιότητος, τῆς σῆς βασιλείας κατατρυφᾷν, ἧς οὐδέν μοι τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς κατ' οὐδένα προτετιμῆσθαι καιρόν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ἀπαρχὰς, τὰς συναγωγὰς τῶν πιστῶν, τὰ τῶν ἐμῶν ἀκροθήνια πόνων, τὰ δράγματα τῆς γεωργίας τῆς ἐμῆς, ἃ τῷ σῷ περιπεποίημαι Πνεύματι, φυλασσέ μοι, Χριστέ, καὶ τήρει, καὶ σκέπε τῆς βασκανίας τοῦ πονηροῦ. Μεγάλυνον σοῦ τὸ ποίμνιον, ἀγαθέ, κραταίωσον, ἰσχυρέ· σθένωσον, πολλαπλασίασον, ὥστε πᾶσαν ψυχὴν ἀνθρώπου τῆς ἀπάτης ἐλευθερουμένην τοῦ δυσμενούς, πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου καθορμισθῆναι· ὥστε τῆς σῆς πλησθῆναι τὴν γῆν. Τοιούτοις ῥήμασι, καὶ ἔτι πολλῷ πλείοσι καὶ κρείττοσιν, ὦ τρισμακαριώτατε μαθητὰ, τῷ διδασκάλῳ καθομιλῶν, καὶ ὅλος ἐν τῷ Θεῷ ἐξεστώς, εἶδες μὲν ἀνεῳγότας σοι κρυφίως τοὺς οὐρανούς· εἶδες δὲ καὶ τὸν Βασιλέα τῶν οὐρανῶν, ὡς ὑπέσχετο, μυστικῶς ἐμφανισθέντα σοι, καὶ νοερωτάτοις καρδίας ὄμμασιν ὑψηλῶς καὶ θεοπρεπῶς αὐτῷ προσβαλών, καὶ ἀῤῥήτῳ τινὶ καὶ μυστικῇ θυμηδίᾳ καὶ τερπνότητι συνδεόμενος καὶ ἐφεπόμενος, συνανελήφθης μετὰ παρρησίας καὶ ἀγαλλιάσεως εἰς τοὺς οὐρανούς· καὶ οἷα χιτῶνα τὸ ἱερώτατον σκήνος τῷ ξύλῳ καταδεδεμένον ἀφεὶς, αὐτὸς ἐπήρθης τῷ πνεύματι, καὶ σύμμορφος ὄντως ὤφθης ἐν ὑψίστοις, τῷ σώματι τῆς δόξης Χριστοῦ. Χαῖρέ μοι τοιγαροῦν, ὦ πρωτόκλητε καὶ προβάθμις B τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ ἀρχηγέ· ὁ μετὰ τὸν σύγγονον μὲν τὴν τάξιν εὐθὺς, τὴν κλῆσιν δὲ πρὸ αὐτοῦ· τῆς εἰς τὸν Σωτῆρα δὲ πίστεως καὶ μαθητείας, οὐ τῷ Πέτρῳ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ὅλοις γενόμενος ἀπαρχὴ μαθηταῖς. Χαῖρε, ὅτι τῷ προδρόμῳ λύχνῳ προκαταυγασθείς, δι' αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὸν Ἥλιον τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἐχειραγωγήθης· ὅτι πρῶτος τὸν Ἀμνὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ καλὸν Ποιμένα τῶν προβάτων ἐπεγνωκώς, ὡς ἀρνίον ἄκακον, ἄχρι θανάτου, θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ, τούτῳ σαφῶς ἐπηκολούθησας· διὸ καὶ πρὸς τὸν οὐράνιον γεννήτορα συνυψούμενος, καὶ εἰς τὸ ἐσώτερον τοῦ καταπετάσματος συνεισιών, τοῦ ὑπερτάτου πάντων ὀνόματος κατηξιώθης. Χαῖρε, ὅτι τὸν ἀληθῆ τῶν ψυχῶν Νυμφίον, πρῶτος ἐπιγνώσεως καὶ δόξης, ὡς τάχιστα, προβάθμιος,
[LATIN COLUMN]
ORATION IV. — IN PRAISE OF ST. ANDREW.
Gratias tibi, Christe, Domino meo et Deo A meo et Regi meo, quod præter alia, etiam tuæ me socium passionis honoraveris: quod ut cursum probe consummarem, certamen legitime certarem, ac firmam servarem fidem, vires roburque præbueris. Nunc itaque per hanc elevatum crucem, ad te gaudio suscipe, amanter benigneque accipe, paterne amplectere: ac vero apud te manere, in te vivere, in æternum in te exsultare, in te delectari concede; tuoque decore ac regno potiri, cui nihil terrenorum usquam velim anteire. Sed et Ecclesiarum primitias, fidelium cœtus meorum laborum manubias, culturæ meæ manipulos, quos tuo acquisivi Spiritu, mihi, Christe, custodi, servaque, ac a nequissimi invidia protege. Adauge gregem tuum, qui bonus es; confirma ac robora, qui fortis es; conforta, multiplica, quo omnis hominis anima, inimici errore liberata, tuto se portu ad Evangelii veritatem recipiat; ut quam cito tui agnitione et gloria repleatur universa terra. Istiusmodi verbis, longeque iis pluribus ac potioribus, ter beatissime discipule, magistro collocutus, totusque Deo excedens, vidisti cœlos tibi occulte apertos, vidisti et cœlorum Regem, ut erat pollicitus, mystice apparentem, perspicacissimisque animi oculis sublimiter ac divine illi incumbens, arcanaque quadam ac mystica animi jucunditate et oblectatione ipsi devinctus ac comes, cum favore et exsultatione pari triumpho in cœlos receptus es: sacratissimumque tabernaculum tunica instar e ligno vinctum relinquens, ipse spiritu elatus, vereque in excelsis conformis factus corpori claritatis Christi es. Salve igitur mihi sis, primo in apostolis vocate graduque eorum prime et antesignane: ordine quidem dignitatis secunde statim a fratre, at prior illo vocatione; fide autem in Salvatorem discipulorumque matricula, B nedum Petro, sed et discipulis omnibus facte primitiæ. Salve, quod præcurrente lucerna primum illustratus, per illam ad Solem justitiæ adductus es: quod cum Agnum Dei bonumque illum ovium Pastorem cunctis prior ipse agnovisses, velut ovis innocens, ad mortem usque, idque mortem crucis, eum palam secutus es: quamobrem etiam ad cœlestem Patrem una sublimatus, inque interiora velaminis pariter ingressus, supremum omnium nomen consecutus es. Salve, quod verum animorum Sponsum, cumprimum nuntii (praeco) testimonio didicisses, totusque A statim charitatis modis vulneratus esses, ac ejus prorsus captus dulcedine, cervique in modum siti maxima te illi adjunxisses, ac vitali latice affatim potatus atque inebriatus esses, ex ejus in te pinguedinis abundantia plures inebriasti, torrensque voluptatis gentibus multis exstitisti, quibus velut aquam multam operientem maria Christi notitiam ubertim eructasti. Salve, quod ipsam Jesu faciem videre meruisti, ipsoque gubernatore tum spiritali, tum quod sensu percipitur, enavigato mari, atque ad crudivoras gentes profectus, non ab eis devoratus es, sed eos Christo venatu cepisti; nec ab eis consumptus es, sed et latitantem in eis draconem peremisti: mirandisque operibus in stuporem agens, cogensque ad Domini fidem, Ecclesias Christo crexisti. Salve sis, crucifixi crucifixe, benedicti benedictissime, dilectissimi dilectissime, discipule et præco, et apostole ministerque divinissime; angelorum decus, apostolorum firma basis, sanctorum fulcimentum, Ecclesiæ fundamentum et gloria. Salve, et exsulta valde in Christo Jesu, qui velut in curru Cherubico in te requiescit; ac tanquam nostræ gentis apostolus, patriæque tutelaris ac curator, clementer rogo et miseranter nostræ quoque humilitatis miserere; benignissimumque Patrem tuum ac Deum exorans, ad ipsum nobis viam dirige, ut ex ejus doctrina exque judiciorum justitiæ rationibus inculpate super terram conversati, omnium Regi Christo, te intercessore, cum gloria præsentari mereamur; quem decet omnis gloria, honor, adoratio, una cum Patre et Spiritu sancto, nunc et semper, et in sæcula sæculorum Amen.
Oration V. Eulogy of the holy and most celebrated apostle James, son of Zebedee.
Haud ita pridem vivus nos veræ Theologiæ fons, mysticum Paracleti tonitruum, concinna ac suave B Actuum apostolicorum de Jacobo explorata, quædam vero de illius rebus gestis ante passionem ambigua de adventu scilicet in Hispaniam, deque prædicatione, num solis Judæis prædicaverit, an etiam gentibus. Ill. annal. pater in notis, vix tandem acquiescens dicentibus venisse in Hispaniam, nec rem adeo absurdam videri, ut non decoqui possit, modo ne etiam gentibus Christum annuntiasse existimetur, sed solummodo Judæis; putat tunc potuisse venire, cum facta est magna illa Hierosolymis persecutio Stephani cæde, quando et dispersi omnes discipuli per Samariam et Galilæam, exceptis apostolis, qui ut gregis arietes ac reliquis fortiores illic remanserant, ut sic dispersam Ecclesiam denuo congregarent. Nihil enim vetat etiam aliquos apostolos discessisse, qui ipsi sic dispersis solatio essent, ac per eam etiam occasionem aliis locis Christum evangelizarent; velut etiam Ananias Damasci, aliique aliis locis. Verum sive tunc eaque occasione, sive postea atque alia non satis nobis nota, nihil vetat sanctissimum apostolum adiisse Hispaniam, ut ejus Ecclesiæ suadent monumenta; eodem fere instinctu quo Paulus postea; ut nempe Judæis, quorum ingens turba ex priori dispersione per Hispanias disseminata erat, Evangelii lucem inferret. Id certe primo satagebant apostoli, antequam in gentes dividerentur, eisque ex instituto (relictis Judæis ut pervicacibus atque indignis Christi munere) Christum prædicarent; ut scilicet antea in illis, quasi Christi mandato, operam probarent; neque id solum intra angustos Judææ limites, sed et ubique gentium, ubi celebriores erant ac numerosiores Judæorum cœtus, sive alias legis cultC
cultores, commorabantur. A First, the Theologian of the Word of God, gathering together in a most humane manner for the praise of his miracles, and worthily guiding them as a conductor of his wonders, C interprets "Mary of James" (mentioned in the notes on July 25, and also in those on May 25) as the mother of that same man, with a lengthy commentary—believing that she thus came to Italy in that dispersion under Stephen, and rested in a holy end at Veroli in the land of the Hernici; and he thinks he possesses proof of this from the monuments of that Church, which certainly a learned man should have been able to prove, or present to the reader as worthy of being proven. To me, it is certainly a monstrous thing that "Mary of James," who is read of in the Gospel, should be understood as the mother of James son of Zebedee or even of John. But from whence did this Mary arise, and why is she not equally called "of John"—John who, even if younger in age than his brother, was nonetheless more celebrated than all the rest, as Chrysostom and others attest? Certainly, "Mary of James," to Baronius himself and to those who are of his opinion regarding the two Jameses among the twelve, is Mary of Alphaeus (his wife, that is), not of Zebedee; and so too for the others, not even of him, but of James whose brother Judas calls himself, who is also called *mikros*, the Small or Minor, by Mark for the sake of avoiding identity of names—from wherever this surname may have clung to him, whether because he was the youngest of the brothers, though so conspicuous in his merits, or because he was a nephew of this very James through Symeon. Let the people of Veroli possess this so-called "Mary of James," as if they had the evangelical phrasing; let them rejoice in it. But let them not force upon us, as if it were invincible, from I know not what monuments, a "Mary of James" as the wife of Zebedee—who is not even Mary. The same illustrious father of the annals certainly acted more soundly in *Appar. 61*, arguing not from straw-like and supposititious monuments, but from the pure evangelical sources, and comparing Matthew and Mark—where one places the mother of the sons of Zebedee standing at the cross, the other calls her Salome: nor is she ever otherwise titled or called Mary, as any approved author has hinted. Nor did those who recently (that is, under Pope Clement VIII) augmented the Roman tablets, and did not sufficiently amend them according to the mind and zeal of so great a pontiff, act well, while they inscribed them thus for the 10th of the Kalends of November: "At Jerusalem, of Saint Mary Salome, who is read of in the Gospel as being concerned about the burial of the Lord." Where Baronius: "Concerning her, the Gospel of Matthew 15 and 16," and he treats of her on this day, as do Bede, Usuardus, and other more recent authors. In Matthew 15 and 16, Salome is not even named, but only "the mother of the sons of Zebedee," solicitous for her sons and asking for them; even if this is not in Matthew 15 or 16, but 20. Bede: "Likewise of blessed Salome, who is read of in the Gospel as being concerned with the other holy women about the burial of the Lord"; and Ado speaks no differently. What is this compared to the new tablets of this kind, such that it seems to have been copied from that text? The old Roman *Hieronymianum* also says: "Item, Salome, who is read of in the Gospel as being about, etc." How is Mary Salome at Jerusalem, if Mary of James—who is Mary Salome herself, according to the sense of the authors I am attacking—is at Veroli in Italy? Also the Roman Rosweyd: "And Salome, who is read of in the Gospel." The Corbie manuscript, the most ancient of all, does not have Salome, nor even Mary Magdalene: which is surprising, and contrary to all the rest, even if it is thus written in the index of the publisher, "Mary Magdalene, 14th of the Kalends of February, 19th of January," where, however, the tablets themselves read, "Of Jerusalem, Martha and Mary, sisters of Lazarus." Certainly, no ancient tablets or calendars have Magdalene inscribed for that day; but all place her on July 22, and indeed most simply, with only her name inscribed, "Of Saint Mary Magdalene," except only for the new Roman tablets, in which her arrival in Provence is explained, and whatever tradition of that province exists. I do not know why those Corbie tablets alone lack the name and memory of Magdalene. Is it because their author thought that she had died in Asia and did not pertain to him; or because he thought she was Mary the sister of Martha, and wished to honor her with her sister? Dacherius certainly represented it thus in his index: but in a matter of doubt, he should have proven it, and opened the points of his own opinion by which he might perhaps have persuaded someone of something, not as if imposing it. I certainly see the Greeks D celebrating Magdalene on that day of July 22, but Mary and Martha on June 4; the Basilian Menologion on the one day, the Nativity of Saint Mary Magdalene, and on the other, that of the holy women Martha and Mary. But these are for another work. Regarding Salome, the mother of James, the Greeks in the Menaion of May 8, in the laudations of Sophronius, say: "It is to be known that the father of the Theologian was Zebedee; but the mother was Salome, the daughter of Joseph who was betrothed to the Theotokos. And Joseph had four sons: James, Simeon, Judah, and Joses; and three daughters: Esther, Martha, and Salome, who was the wife of Zebedee. Hence the Savior was the cousin of John, as the brother of Salome, the daughter of Joseph." This is indeed concerning John; but the same reasoning applies to James, who was his own brother. Zebedee was the father of the Theologian: but the mother, Salome, daughter of Joseph, who took the Mother of God as his spouse. Furthermore, Joseph had four males: James, Simeon, Judah, and Joses; three females: Esther, Martha, and Salome, who was the wife of Zebedee. And so the Savior was the uncle of John, as the brother of Salome, daughter of Joseph. Nicephorus, following Hippolytus, lib. 1, c. 3, says something a little different, assigning to Joseph two daughters by Salome, daughter of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist: Esther and Thamar. Epiphanius, *Haer.* 78, also says there were two daughters: "and two daughters, Mary, and she who is called Salome." Two daughters, Mary and Salome. This name was most common among women: for Salome was the mother of the Maccabees, sister of Herod, a midwife at Bethlehem, and this woman herself, the wife of Zebedee, and many others; and it is marvelous that it could thus be transformed into a man through the dreams of the apocrypha, from which also Anna, Mary the mother of the sons of Zebedee, was taken, as Tamayo describes beautifully in *Anna*.
One or two other things I will note, lest I be too long, regarding the fact that they make Stephen the deacon of this James.
Julian in *Chron.* n. 16, fol. 3, which Tamayo says brings much honor to our Apostle. They cite as author Ignatius in his epistle to the Trallians. The words of Ignatius are, in that epistle, among those which are considered interpolated, since it possesses neither a pure Florentine copy nor ancient Latin versions: "What indeed are the deacons, if not imitators of the angelic powers, performing for him a pure and immaculate ministry; as Saint Stephen to the blessed James, and Timothy and Linus to Paul, and Anencletus and Clement to Peter." Indeed, the interpolator thus writes, and it is therefore of no value, as if they were true works of Ignatius. And even if they were Ignatius', what have these to do with James son of Zebedee; or why is Stephen his deacon or minister rather than Peter's, or even Andrew's, or John's? James may have been at Jerusalem, but he was with the rest of the Apostles, and he was not the prince among them, nor even in any more peculiar way the priest of the Church of that place, to whom the ministry of Stephen would have been attached; especially since, if we grant anything to that tradition of the Spains, the apostolate of James there meant he remained at Jerusalem less than all the others, and used no deacon to celebrate masses, but rather to preach Christ. And perhaps there is no other more powerful reason why the episcopate of Jerusalem was bestowed upon James, the brother of the Lord, and not usurped more peculiarly by any of the twelve, lest his function hinder his preaching, which the twelve knew to be his chief and proper duty established by Christ, and for which they were gifted with the firstfruits of the Spirit: it was permissible to make priests and bishops, but not so easily apostles, who were truly endowed with the apostolic spirit. These things, being so straw-like and so curiously forced, elevate the apostolate of pious tradition.A A table of venerable thoughts, and a most agreeable feast, has [the Lord] prepared for us; delighting in the abundant and vital banquet of which, and being filled and warmed by the abundance of grace, we have brought forth as it were a small belching of words from our heart—having nothing worthy to offer for such a benefit, yet, lest we leave ourselves with the terrible accusation of ingratitude, we have brought forth praise according to our ability.
Now, however, after him another mystical table has succeeded, and another cup, filled with life-giving drink, has been set before us; and the host is as generous and bountiful, in no way falling short of that one in magnificence; but in every way equal, a brother in nature, a brother in faith. B For both are from one father, just as below from Zebedee, so above from God; they differ only in their names, John and James, being in their deeds almost conjoined; equal in mind, equal in grace, equal in virtue, and in their intimacy with God. For truly there is one Lord, in the same way seen and believed, in the same way worshipped and served; one calling, one purpose, one hope, as also one baptism. C Equal in honor regarding the legal worship, equal regarding the translation to the spirit; of one mind and concord in the knowledge of the Father, of one mind in the will and love toward the Only-Begotten; and not only this, but also in the consent and submission to the Spirit, they are the same. For this reason also, Boanerges, which is "Sons of Thunder," have both been called by the Truth itself, as being fashioned and forged by one and the same Spirit for the grand proclamation of the Gospel; two eyes of the holy beauty of Jesus, occupying the highest lookout of the Master’s body; and, as prime recipients of the godlike rays, filled in like manner as simple, transparent, and light-bearing ones, and benevolently illuminating the whole body through themselves. D Leading in order likewise, as those who by love, the queen of virtues, have been knit to the Beloved of God more than all others. For this reason also they are first in throne, and equal in honor, and almost preeminent over all, as having been deemed worthy of equal and primary honor before the King of all.
In this way united and identified, the Sons of Thunder, how should they not receive the same discourse of praise? For if their struggles are equal, the proclamations are also the same; and those whose possession of virtue is common, it is clear that their crowns are also common. Who then, when things are indivisible, would divide them, and things united by nature and intent—
ORATION V. IN PRAISE OF SAINT JAMES, SON OF ZEBEDEE
A ...a table of venerable thoughts for us; and he prepared a most sweet hospitality, of whose abundant and life-giving banquet partaking, and being filled and warmed by the abundance of grace, we have offered him a small utterance of words from the heart; not having anything worthy to offer for his benefit, but so that we might not be brought to bear the terrible charge of ingratitude, we have offered praise according to our ability.
Now, however, after him, another mystical table has succeeded, and another cup, filled with life-giving drink, has been set before us; and the host, as lavish and generous as the former, is in no way inferior to him in magnificence; but in every way equal, a brother by nature, a brother by faith. B For both are from one father, as from Zebedee on earth, so from God above; John and James differ only in name, almost united in reality; equal in disposition, equal in grace, equal in virtue and in their intimacy with God. For truly there is one Lord, in like manner seen and believed, in like manner worshipped and served; one calling, one purpose, one hope, as also one baptism. Equal in honor regarding the worship under the Law; equal in the shift toward the Spirit. Like-minded in the acknowledgment of the Father; like-minded in the love directed even toward the Only-Begotten; and not only this, but they are also the same in their consent and submission to the Spirit.
Wherefore also Boanerges, which is "Sons of Thunder," both were called by the Truth itself, as though fashioned and struck by one and the same Spirit for the grand proclamation of the Gospel; two eyes of the holiness of Jesus, holding the highest lookout point of the Lord’s body; and as simple, clear, and light-bearing, being filled with the divine rays and likewise, in a goodly manner, illuminating the whole body through themselves. C They are leaders in rank likewise, as being bound and familiar to the Beloved of God more than all others by charity, which is the queen of virtues. Wherefore they are also seated on primary thrones, and are of equal honor and, so to speak, preferred by all, as having been deemed worthy of the same and primary honor before the King of the Universe.
In this way, the sons of thunder being united and identified, how should they not receive the same discourse of praise? For if the contests are equal, the proclamations are also the same; and whose possession of virtue is common, it is clear that their crowns are also common. Who then, when things are indivisible, would divide them, and things united by nature and intent—
A who would attempt to separate them? And in what way could a separate eulogy be woven for each of them? For whatever one might say about the one, this would perhaps also apply to the other. Or should we say that while they are identified in other respects, as has been said, they are distinguished in the manner of their transition to Christ? Should we then hold the eulogy in common in those regards, but divide the discourse according to these?
For, having obtained the same birth and upbringing from human parents, and having been trained under the same customs and teachings, and having occupied themselves with their paternal craft of fishing—spending most of their time at sea, casting hooks, letting down nets, and again cleaning them—afterward they were deemed worthy of the same invitation by the most godlike One. As if using one soul but two bodies, they both were shone upon by the same beam of the knowledge of God. And just as when lightning flashes from above, all who are attentive are equally illuminated by its radiance, so too these men, having been deemed worthy of the Lord’s call—which instructed them to follow Him and promised to make them fishers of men—did not hesitate at the strangeness of the word, nor did they parry the call with excuses, nor did they, like the Athenians, put off Paul until another time. B But as soon as their minds were illuminated by the word, and as if by the readiness of the material, they received the heavenly fire with the uprightness of their understanding; they immediately forgot themselves, forgot their natural affinity, and having left their father with the boat, and having disregarded their kin, and having departed from their habitual way of life, and having neglected every pleasure and every fleshly craving, they became entirely of the desire for Jesus.
They exchanged all the enjoyment of earthly things for this one holy and sublime longing; and they surpassed not only the natural affection of the body through the greatness of their spirit, but they were also held—more than was necessary—by the letter of the Law and the Mosaic traditions, so that they moved more sluggishly toward the Spirit. C Nor did they approach the Spirit with fervor and faith while despising the new lawgiver; they honored Him, but only as they would Moses or some other of the prophets. On the contrary, believing Jesus to be the God and Lord and Son of the living God—of all the holy ones from the ages—and the prophet foretold by the Scriptures, and the Christ who was to come, they followed Him with such warmth of faith; not stumbling at what was seen, but being guided by the Spirit toward that which is understood by the mind. For to them, He was not a stone of stumbling, as He was to those with crooked minds, nor was a rock of scandal placed for them, but a chosen, precious cornerstone, set upon the foundations of Zion. This Stone, James and John, having dug deep their mind and heart in the Spirit... D
and having found Him, and having fixed the foundations of their faith upon Him, became strong and unyielding against both the temptations perceived by the mind and those seen by the eyes. Whence they are vouchsafed the highest honor alongside the great Peter, and He reveals to them, as most faithful, the form that flashed forth from the thearchic body upon the mountain. To them He confides, as to those closest to Him, the agony and distress of the human nature within Him at the time of the passion; and immediately after the supper, He took them as partners of His prayer, even if the excess of grief wore them out and lulled their minds to sleep.
And regarding the entirety of the companionship of these two children of God with the Lord, and the fervor of their zeal, and the probity of their faith, and the perfection of their love; and indeed regarding the descent of the Spirit from above and the partition of tongues and the distribution of gifts, I consider that the one differed in no way from the other. Hence, their praise is one and common up to this point, since they were fashioned in one form of Christ and were perfected and characterized in the same way by one and the same Spirit. But since the time and the manner of their departure are proper to each, let us henceforth render the account of their praises separately.
The praise for the Evangelist has thus first been fulfilled according to our ability; and, spiritually feasting upon his great virtue, as far as we were able, we have moderately paid the debt. But now, O best and most approved disciple of Christ, come hither also to me, James, you spectator and doer of the sublime words of God; initiate and master of the ineffable mysteries. You are the lyre of the Spirit, sweet-sounding and melodious; playing the voice of theology, a voice tuneful and well-adjusted to those of upright mind; the great thunder of the Word of God, which resounded with a sublime and great crash the resurrection of Jesus to the Jewish minds, and shattered the hardness of their heart; which shook the Church of the nations, until then a desert, and gently led it toward the perception of the preached Word, and through the rejection of the ungrateful Synagogue, betrothed to Christ the grateful and pleasing bride. A Come hither to me, most blessed James, you who by the simplicity and goodness and uniformity of your character were loved by Him who alone is by nature good, and were declared the heir of the paternal blessings; and in this way, you supplanted and excelled Esau, who was hated before his birth, as one having been deemed worthy of the firstborn rights of the spiritual generation. You, who brought to the true Isaac the food of faith that was truly acceptable to Him, and on that account were well-pleasing before the Father, and for that reason received the perfect blessing; and
instead of grain and wine, being strengthened by the body and blood of the Only-Begotten, A became lord and judge of his own kin through Him. Come now, bring hither the God-speaking mouth, the high-sounding voice, and emitting a voice resonant with God, breathe into me a faithful and true word, a word worthy of your apostolic office or rather of your contest; for it is not permitted for me to attempt things that are beyond me. For a mortal man swims foolishly in speech, according to Scripture, but the breath of the Almighty, he says, is that which teaches me. For even now, as the most God-ruling Word was striving to fill all things, as He always does with His divinity, so also according to His intellectual and God-like soul; and while He was filling the nether regions by His descent thither through the cross, and was gathering all things B to Himself; and again the heavenly things, by His exaltation to the heavens, filling them with His own glory, and with the co-essential Spirit coming down from above upon the disciples like a violent wind, perfecting every sense for them, and every member of the body, and every movement and every operation towards piety; when their sight was illuminated and shone forth by the fiery tongues, and their hearing was sanctified by the roaring of the divine sound; and their smell, by the mystical rays of grace, blossomed as if with sweet-smelling odors of many fragrances; and their tongues, being supernaturally divinely-inspired and filled with a more excellent theology, were so adapted by the Spirit to every dialect of the nations that they were even accused of drunkenness by the profane; and through every touch, and every power of reason and intellect, the divine grace having entered, and C filling them entirely and through and through, and setting them outside of themselves and outside of the whole world (O blessed and enviable ecstasy! O that praiseworthy transformation, making them to be within God!): when the things which had been spoken to them at first by Christ and were dimly heard were clearly proven by the things that were present; and those things for which they had formed an outline in their minds with the faint traces of faith, of these they then beheld the manifest and evident fulfillment, casting away the discernment of reasonings and leaving behind double-mindedness, and having laid aside fear, and having purged from their soul every cowardice and every passion, they were henceforth in the intuition of that heavenly life; when, having received the most brilliant guarantee of perfection, they had grasped from that point D a most worthy and most God-perfect hope. Then indeed, then zeal, no less than the first, had seized the uninstructed people; and a fire consuming those who were opposed, kindled against the apostolic—or rather, the God-ruling—faith and counsel, in an adversary and God-fighting faction. And just as in the beginning the wicked one, sensing that his tyranny was being dismantled by the appearing of Jesus, raised up Judas to betrayal; and having stirred up the whole unruly mob, he raged for a conspiracy; and chief priests
and all the scribes he incited to deicide. Pilate delivered the innocent, and the soldiers mocked him; the cross was lifted up, and the Just One was crucified with the lawless. From this it seemed to the ungodly that things were going according to their mind: that Jesus was dead, his teaching had ceased, and the disciples had been scattered. But they failed to see that through their own wickedness they were paving the way for Christ's glory, while procuring shame and eternal ruin for themselves.
As it was then before the Spirit, so it was also after the Spirit; for the work of Jesus was being renewed in the apostles through the Spirit, the word of grace was spoke with boldness, and the great miracle of the resurrection was being magnificently proclaimed. Those who a little earlier had been fugitives, fearful and trembling, were now testifying to God with great and bold power. The lame man who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple was raised up; Tabitha was raised from the dead; and every disease and every infirmity was cured, not only by prayer or the touch of a holy hand, but by the very shadow of the disciples alone. And, to sum it all up, all the works of Christ—nay, even greater ones than those he had done, as his promise had been—were being accomplished in the name of the Teacher.
Since, therefore, these things were seen to be happening in this way, the father of murders was again enraged. The whole Synagogue under his command was enraged; a sword is whetted, a bow is bent, and a blade and war is fanned against the Church. A First, by commands, threats, imprisonments, and blows, believing she would terrify the holy theologians of the Word, she—oh, the impiety! Oh, the perversity!—attempted to restrain their theology. But when she felt that she was laboring in vain (for the counsel of God is not overturned by the madness of the foolish, nor do his true advocates easily yield; rather, like silver purified by fire, they know how to render the voice of faith even more resonant), for this reason she resorted thereafter to her customary memory of bloodshed. And having become heated with a prophet-killing zeal, she first stoned Stephen, as if sacrificing this one as a propitiatory offering with murderous hands, who—Christ-like—offered his prayer on behalf of those being sacrificed. B Having tasted the apostolic blood, the polluted one, being greatly pleased—as she is one who always takes delight in such things—meditated on destroying all, if it were possible, in the likeness of Stephen. But she could not see how to accomplish her plan, seeing that those believing were not being added one by one to the doctrine, but by thousands and myriads, as the Church was being consolidated and multiplied through the leaders of the Word.
What then does she do? Was she won over by the divine excellence of the signs? Did she fear him who opposes the proud, but grants grace to the humble, the one who
A shows himself mighty in wars? The praised in saints, the wondrous in glories, of whose power she had received many proofs, and did she desist from fighting against God? Not at all. But just as she previously approached Pilate, and with the cries of Sodom and Gomorrah, demanded the cross and death contrary to the Word of God, so afterwards falling down before Herod, she besought the slaughter of his apostles.
"There is no hope of salvation for your people, most excellent king," she said. "We have fallen; we have perished. We are in danger of being utterly abandoned and destroyed from before the face of the disciples of Jesus. It was not enough for him, while still alive, to lead the people astray after him, but now those who associated with him and have succeeded to his teaching have disturbed our nation; they have destroyed our twelve tribes. They have nearly drawn away all the peoples. They teach disloyalty to Caesar. They commit outrage against your royal majesty; they annul the ancestral law. And not only that, but they are also impious against the very God of our fathers, by deifying that Jesus who was crucified. If therefore, O greatest king, you do not inflict upon them their deserved punishment quickly, this matter will end in a manifest evil."
What, then, should we think Herod replied, as is likely? "And what must we do? How can we proceed to such mass slaughter against so great a multitude, without ourselves committing a greater harm and rendering the evil more burdensome?"
"But we do not advise," they say, "that your power be stirred up entirely against everyone. For in addition to the difficulty of the matter, it would not be pleasing to Caesar himself to pollute and desolate the city with so much blood. But [take] the most prominent of his disciples—and they are twelve in number, whom the whole crowd follows and is led astray by—if you would order these to be carried away, O most illustrious king, you will have God propitious, and you will grant a peaceful life to the whole nation; and we, being mindful of this benefit, will render back a worthy recompense."
Thus, together with this wicked counsel, Herod travailed with injustice. He conceived pain and brought forth iniquity. The soldiers were commanded, the company was readied, and the ambush was prepared. The multitude of the disciples, however, because of the distress that had occurred over Stephen, had left Jerusalem, and having been scattered elsewhere to the cities and villages outside, were preaching the word of truth. But the great James, since he had thundered out the Gospel of God more resoundingly—as a true son of thunder—throughout all Judea and Galilee, had returned to visit the church in Jerusalem again. He is suddenly snatched by a military hand and brought to the tribunal of Herod, where he is pelted with insults, washed in reproaches, examined with scourges, and ordered with a command altogether to deny Christ or else to suffer death. "Impossible," he exclaimed B. C D
the loss to be hanging over him? It is impossible, for a man possessing a sober mind, to choose darkness over light by comparison, or to deem death more preferable than life. Yet it is far more impossible for one who has come into the consciousness of the divinity and blessedness of Jesus Christ to deem anything else at all in the universe more worthy of reverence, or more deserving of love and faith toward Him than He. Therefore, he who believes that this whole universe was brought into being by God, and that through Him prophets and the Law were given in Israel, could not deny the Beloved, who is of the same nature and only-begotten, through whom all things were made, A whom the Father of glory has made, and in whom all things consist. This alone is burdensome to us, O King, this alone is the cause of our distress, that it is permitted to die for the divinity and glory of Jesus only once, and not a thousand times over. At these words, that most polluted man, thunderstruck and maddened, immediately ordered him to be led off, and for that blessed head to be cut off by the sword. It is no wonder that the sink of iniquity, the harbinger of the Antichrist, the fulfiller of impiety—it is no wonder if, having laid hands upon the apostles, he destroyed the right eye of the Church; yet it is more worthy of wonder if this had not been dispensed for her greater edification and more manifest victory. And even this is not so much a wonder, as it is that complete destruction was not unleashed from this upon the persecutors of Christ. B Therefore, the most blessed James, as an innocent lamb, as an immaculate sheep, sacrificed after the Lamb of God, and as a living sacrifice through the great high priest—rational and voluntary—offered to the living God, interceded on behalf of the apostles, and interceded on behalf of the Church: for the former, that the work of the apostolate might prosper; and for the latter, that it might be delivered from Jewish bloodthirstiness; that those warring against the Gospel might be shattered, but that those who delight in it might be redeemed. The effect of this supplication was the unexpected salvation of Peter, and his deliverance by the hand of an angel from his bonds and the prison and the leading away—to which Herod was intending to lead him off immediately after the Passover. And not only this, but also the divinely-inflicted plague upon Herod himself, by which, the little body instantly emitting worms, it violently tore away his soul. And from that point on, grace, pursuing the Gentiles, left the house of the Jews unto desolation. But, O most fervent herald of the truth of the Gospel! You who, with Peter and John, have occupied the order from top to bottom and the very summit of the apostolic throne: hail, as one who drank the cup of Christ before your fellow disciples, and who was baptized with the saving baptism according to the promise; and who were adorned with a double crown, of the apostolate and of martyrdom. Hail, because while you were still an infant you [held] the spiritual...
chose the preference for an earthly kingdom; for a great-souled spirit never endures to desire the small-minded; but, maturing into a man, you were deemed worthy of the first seat, closest to the King of glory. Hail, blessed onlooker and God-seer of the Word, for exchanging fishing for fishing, desire for desire, and inheritance for inheritance, you acquired the permanent in place of the unstable, and the heavenly and unchangeable in place of those that are below and fleeting. Hail, for just as you walked personally with the God-man while in the body upon the earth, so now, being closely united in the Spirit to the same, you encounter Him face to face in the heavens. Hail, and rejoice in the Lord your God and your King; and look upon us from above with favor; and, O thrice-blessed of the apostles, having kept your soul pure and blameless and free from the malice of the present age, present it unstained to the Master Christ, for the glory of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ORATIO VI. In Praise of the Holy and Most Celebrated Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian
He who urges me to praise the great son of thunder seems to me to be prompted by the great Spirit of God Himself; by whom, being tuned and harmoniously struck, he turned the world to his own sound. But this [task] exceeds the power of our speech by as much as it also surpasses human comprehension. For if we cannot easily understand this sound which is perceived by the senses, how could one attain to that which is understood [by the mind] and which transcends every bodily sense? And if we are unable to explain with precise speech the thunder which is generated in the clouds by the natural motion of the wind, how should we dare to attempt the hymning of that which is supernatural, and which was produced and fashioned by the Lord alone? Who is so deeply versed in divine things, so profound in heart? Who is so lifted above earthly things, and so exalted to the heavenly? Who is so much beside himself and so contained within God, that he dares to open his mouth, and to move his tongue for the praise of the disciples of God? Who is sufficient, not to speak of all of them at once, but even of one of them, to conceive in his mind the magnificence of their virtue according to its merit, and to be able to interpret it in words? What mind—to sum it up—what speech could touch upon the praises of John's great nature, or rather, of his God-like soul and mind, unless he himself should descend from the heavenly inner sanctuaries, and with God-imitating goodness approach the lowly, and, having prepared his most theological mouth for our ears, [should utter] his own praise, into the
glory of the Father, as far as it is possible for us, might he thunder forth to us? Come then, O divine Theologian and Evangelist, heavenly trumpet of the Word, resonant, harmonious, A which with the honey-sweet tones of truth has silenced all Greek vanity; and which, by the thunderous voice of your theology, has lulled to sleep all the multi-harmonic instruments of the orators and philosophers; which draws to itself every soul worthy of the Word; and which—I dare say—attracts to itself even the hearing of the heavenly Powers themselves, in a most transcendent way. Most worthy interpreter and scribe of the Father of lights; mouth of Christ, tongue of the Spirit, come to me in spirit, being yourself also a divine Spirit, as one born of the Spirit of God. Behold, I offer you a meek and quiet heart, and as a kind of intellectual and mystical garden, I put forward a mind that is humble and level. "Awake, O north wind, and come, O south; blow upon my garden, and let my spices flow" (Cant. IV, 16). For Solomon also speaks to you. You are, indeed, the north wind, in that you refresh with the purest voices of theology as with bright and life-giving breezes; and you scatter the choking heat of polytheism and the conflagration of heresies; and you soothe B and restore hearts crushed by these things. But you are the south wind, in that you warm with words of love, and those who are deprived of divine influence by the dullness of their mind and hardness of heart, and who are therefore barren and chilled, them you cherish and revive, filling them with vital moisture and rendering them fruitful.
With such breezes, with such rustlings, O blessed one, always blowing through us, grant that we may offer you this praise, woven from words, like a fragrant incense of most sweet scent made from various aromatics. For there is absolutely no need for us to be long-winded as we set out to sing the praises of the first among theologians. For just as the Divine loves what is keen and concise, both in all other things and much more so in speeches—and this is dear also to those who know how to theologize in the Divine—so I believe it is appropriate for him who is now being praised that we also offer a speech that is neither superfluous nor C over-lengthened, but as moderate as it is possible to be. Wherefore, we shall not recognize this heavenly man through those things which are extraneous and follow him from the earth—I mean lineage, and country, or any glory of life; for such praise is superfluous, and not only to the most sublime evangelist of truth, but not even to saints who fall far short of his virtue is such praise appropriate or agreeable. But let us leave it to those who are of the earth to boast and pride themselves on treasures that are from the earth; as for those whose birth was "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man" (Joan. I, 13)—but whom the heavenly Father, having foreknown them, chose at the proper time to be conformed to the Only-Begotten; and[regarding] the Holy Spirit, as one who has rested upon them as on saints, D and who has brought forth in them a new man, God-like through the word of truth, and adopted them to God: them, from that point on
let them be praised and admired in the Lord, according to the teachings, praising their soul, and rejoicing that they are glorified with the heavenly Father. A Hence, praise is appropriate to all the saints, as being born from one Father of lights; but not least to the chief and most ancient theologians of the Word; among whom Peter was preferred as the rock and immovable foundation of the holy faith; and James, as the first of the apostles to be a companion to Christ in the cup and the baptism of his passion, and who would be a foundation for the holy faith for the saints. But you, O blessed one, having attained the highest summit of apostolic majesty, since you loved—I mean charity—above all who share in it, and chose it exceedingly, and mastered it completely, and in it were made intimate with the truly beloved God the Word and with the Only-Begotten of God. This was for you the beginning of your impulse and ascent toward God. This is the most beautiful and most distinctive mark of your beatitude, and a unique boast, as if inherited more than by all other saints: the love of Jesus, through which the excellence of your intellectual beauty or God-likeness is displayed. B For just as there is nothing more beautiful than the beauty of the Fair One above the sons of men, nor is it possible to grasp it by the imagination; so he whom He loved uniquely, will carry off the first prizes of intellectual beauty from the others. For he would not have been loved to such an extent, as to be characterized almost by love alone, had not an abundance of goodness and God-imitation been present in him toward the One who loves, and had he not returned the friendship from himself in a corresponding manner. For the Wisdom of God expressly declares that He loves those who love Him. Therefore, every divine action and every superhuman contemplation, like a root, springs from the love of Christ in him; and everything done or said through him is a fruit of love, in which he, being wholly moved and constantly departing from himself, always saw God; and he knew this to be the fulfillment of the law of God, and to be God and deifying, having grasped its extremities with perfect dispassion and the purest mind. C But let us see from where, having begun his movement, and through what path he was led forward and emerged, he was lifted to this watchtower of perfection. For when the great and true light had just dawned upon those sitting in darkness; and from above from the heavens the Father of glory had thundered that the one being baptized was His beloved Son; and from below the one baptizing had testified that he was the Lamb of God; and besides, as the Spirit descended in the form of a dove, D and sealed the testimony of both, and as the radiance fell also upon the sons of Zebedee, and A they were enlightened, as if by a spark of knowledge, and were called by the God-like One as his attendants, without delaying their calling even for a moment; neither held back by the bonds of family, nor of friends, nor of companions, nor at all by the necessity of kindred affection; but having left behind all their possessions, and their father, and even the boat and the fisherman’s craft (O faith!), they follow Jesus, being united not in body, but even more in spirit and joined by the love of a sincere heart.
B And indeed, the radiance of the words of grace flowing from the God-like mouth illuminated their mind, and they were transformed into a new and God-like man; they were strengthened in faith by the miracles of Christ’s works, and day by day they fanned the spark of love into a flame. And just as plants that are more vigorous and better, having obtained a rich and good soil, and cultivated by the diligent care of the planter, grow faster to a height, and having fixed deep roots, they ripen in due season, and, as is natural, render much fruit; so the most excellent disciples of the Word, because they were of a most honest and good mind, to whom the rites of sacred wisdom were initiated, were fixed deeply in their minds; but as they beheld the magnificence of Christ’s works, they were lifted up in mind toward the heavenly height of faith, C and paid back the noble and ripe fruit of love.
Whence, having become faithful in minor things, they were considered faithful in greater things as well: having attained the perfection of faith through the splendor of Jesus’ works, and having been deemed worthy, as far as is possible for human nature, of the supersubstantial divinity. For the Supersubstantial One did not believe everyone with himself, but clearly beheld the hidden secrets of the heart of each; neither did He reveal himself suddenly to the disciples; but taking with Him those whom He deemed worthy, and, having taken those who were more faithful than the others, and leading them up to Tabor, He displayed His glory to them, D manifesting it gently.
This, then, is a clear proof of the faith not only of John, but also of James and Peter; and a manifestation of the perfection in love is the reclining on the chest of the Theologian. For since he had predicted to those reclining at the table that one of those feasting would betray the Master—causing, as is natural, the disciples’ hearts to be agitated with pain—no one dared to ask, except the one who excelled in sacred love, who was reclining next to the Teacher and, for a time...
A ascended, with all reverence leaning his chest upon the Lordly one, and placing his mouth to His ears, (O blessed and most God-favored boldness!) he inquired about him who was to betray Him; and by a sign, he was taught by the one who shares in the bread.
ORATION VI. — IN PRAISE OF ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST
A And with the Spirit also descending in the form of a dove, and sealing the testimony of both, there fell upon the sons of Zebedee, as upon the rest of the disciples of the Word, a certain solar radiance; and being illuminated as if by a spark of knowledge regarding Him to whom witness was borne, since shortly afterward that most divine fount of deity called them to His side, they did not delay even for a moment in their obedience to the call. They were not held back by the bonds of habit with their own people, nor with friends, nor with those of equal age, nor in the least by any affinities of kinship or companionship; but leaving everything they possessed, even their paternal home, even their very father along with the boat and the fishing craft (O the faith!), they followed Jesus, being united to Him in a true and genuine love of heart. And indeed, being illuminated in their minds by the rays of the graces of the words leaping forth from that divine mouth, and being transformed into new and god-like men; and being strengthened in faith by the miracles of His works, and from day to day rekindling the spark of love, just as plants that are more noble or more flourishing, having chanced upon rich and good soil, and being sufficiently accorded the care of the gardeners, grow faster toward height, and sending down deep roots, they thicken in their stem, and, as is likely, yield much fruit: so the most approved disciples of the Word, since they were of a most noble and good disposition—by whatever mysteries of wisdom they were initiated, they were deepened B in heart; while by those things by which they beheld the magnificence of the works of Christ, they were lifted up in mind toward the heavenly height of faith—they yielded a noble and mature fruit of love. Whence, having appeared faithful to Him in lesser things, they were also considered faithful in greater ones; and having committed the brilliance of the works of Jesus to the perfection of faith, they were deemed worthy of the supersubstantial deity, as far as is possible for human nature. For He who transcends all substance did not entrust Himself to the many, clearly beholding the hidden things of everyone's heart; nor to all the disciples suddenly; but having taken aside those whom He knew to be more worthy, and more faithful than the rest; and having led them up to the heights of Tabor, He showed them His own glory, being gently transformed. This, then, is a clear proof of the faith not of John alone, but also of James and Peter; but a certain indication of the perfection in love is the reclining of the Theologian upon the life-giving chest during the mystical supper. For since He had predicted that one of those feasting together would betray Him, the hearts of the disciples were, as is natural, filled with turmoil and the anxieties of grief; and no one dared to ask openly, except for him who excelled in the perfection of sacred love, who was reclining next to the Teacher; having risen up C,
A rulers established over the earth, and others having been allotted the apostolic authority for another part of the inhabited world, each one departed for his own province.
The great thunderbolt of the Word of God, that vessel filled with supernal theology, the eye of the apostles, the illustrious John, is allotted Asia, being as he was a man powerful in words and powerful in deeds. He was assigned a province replete with many and powerful cities, and full of peoples both most fierce and most wicked; peoples, that is, proud in the abundance of wealth and in the empty winds of reputation, glorying in the wisdom of the Greeks, but held the more tightly bound by error regarding their gods.
To these, the great apostle betook himself, and seeing the heart of every man thickened by the darkness of superstition, and perceiving in the Spirit that every soul had been seized by the devil and was strained toward his will, he did not delay the commandment of the Spirit. He was not disheartened in his mind by the arduous nature of the undertaking, nor did he fall into thoughts of vacillation or doubt. Turning his eyes toward Christ, who dwelt within him, he did not arm himself against men, but against the demons; nor against the captives, but first against the tyrant himself, with the intelligible B armor of the Spirit.
And he determined first to bind this one, both by the example and the power of Christ, and thus to take away his armor, and in that way to recover the captives; and, as I say, to divide the spoils for the adornment of the house of God, which is the Church. Did he then contemplate these things in a manner worthy of Christ, but then join battle with the adversary in a more ignoble way? Or did he indeed engage in the struggle strenuously—that is, according to the standard of the Gospel—yet leave the contest begun but imperfect? Or did he present a perfect work, yet not such that he attained in every way to the likeness of Jesus? By no means; but just as he had first received Christ not in part, but whole within the bosom of his soul, and for this reason was surrounded and reinforced by all the powers of the divine Spirit at once, so too did he render to God the work of his salvific ministry, perfectly completed in perfect likeness to Him. And just as He who is the first King of the heavens Himself, the Author of evil, desired to subdue not only by an abundance of power, but also by wisdom and by justice—that He might be all things at once: powerful and just and wise, or rather, that He might be wisdom and justice and power itself—and so that He might effect for Himself a glorious victory, and for the adversary a glorious and more certain ruin, He having taken the same form as those who had been injured, and having lived among men in wisdom and justice, C endures the persecution from the malice of the wicked one, which seeks in vain and plots his death. Wherefore, that one, by whom he was unjustly assailed, was justly pierced and was caught and vanquished in the works of his own hands; and having been condemned, he was in that way cast out of his tyrannical rule by the hand of God. In this way also, the beloved one of the Word D
A, having arrived in Asia, and having first come to one of the metropolises in it, the greatest one, Ephesus, he did not immediately upon his arrival and presence throw the city into turmoil; he did not suddenly strike the minds of the citizens with the magnificent preaching of the Gospel; but, as he walked with outsiders in wisdom, redeeming the time, he rendered himself in his kindly and modest character, in his gesture and bearing, and in his gentle address, accessible and peaceful to all. In his way of life, however, and in the varied and refined virtue, he was equally inaccessible and wondrous.
And he, indeed, devoted himself to God B by a rigorous temperance, by unceasing persistence in prayer, and by the tranquility and gentleness of his spirit; but the prince of malice, seeing him as a man in outward appearance, but perceiving him in his mind as an angel; as much as he reached down to the earth below, so much did he penetrate the heavens above with his mind; and knowing that he was one who would drive out all gods and demons and point the way to the doctrines of Jesus; he was inflamed with bitter envy, and from that moment he foresaw his own future ruin. Just as though he were the flame of fiery darts, burning with envy, he stirred up various temptations against the disciple of Christ; he kindled against him, first of all, a woman C jealous and brazen, whom he had found in the city to be an easily driven instrument.
This [woman], having been so far blameless in her walk, had proceeded to follow Nicetas, decorating only the things of John the Theologian, which are recorded in books as being from him, and concerning his apostleship in Asia, which could be seen as outstanding because of such a great province and the foremost of the world, for so great an apostolic office; in which Paul had planted the seeds of the Gospel, and had ordained Timothy as bishop of Ephesus. Rightly, therefore, does Nicetas censure those who wished to lack Greek records, even if by briefly touching upon it, he has retreated from the journey to John out of a certain fear, whose cause for being rebuked by Peter, he incurred, so that he was punished by shipwreck. It does not at all displease Bellarmine, as it is not considered satisfying enough for such an apostle, and it is the first thing that he judges worthy of note in Prochorus. But the woman, so jealous and brazen, did the evil spirit so incite in John, that she was truly, as they say, the one who was serving him with Prochorus, and was Roman in name. To me, certainly, he must be numbered among the apocrypha. For although the apocryphal books add many true things, whether by the tradition of the elders, or collected from other more certain monuments, such as those that occur in the *Protevangelium of James*, the brother of the Lord, and in the *Acts*, and other sources, they are not named by the very Fathers who are cited: it is a known fact whose faith, just as the apostle, while not perfectly instructed in Christian morals in the city, but having had Paul and Timothy as bishop, ought to have served D that path, so that he might even have had a supply of bread. For the passion of the holy Timothy, having indeed been destroyed, before John had come to it—by whom nearly all who were addicted to Christ are almost possessed. The elders, indeed, were leaders, and among them, the Theologian, and the Beloved, and the "Disciple whom he loved," and whatever is great and singular among the apostles is John, so that thus in Asia and the province, seeking the half-deserted churches, he might have been able to be. The woman in Ephesus, John’s preaching (as the sex is an instrument most suited to the devil) stood in the way, and the work was interrupted; but as the matter stands otherwise, which Prochorus describes: even if Nicetas had it, it did nothing to harm the sacred history, nor did it set forth that the woman censured the apostle by diabolical persuasion, he mentions.
John judges that Saint Mary was taken to Ephesus, according to those who hold to this in paragraph 44, note 29, or rather, the synodal epistle of the Ephesians holds it as well, when it reports: "Wherefore also Nestorius, the renovator of the impious heresy unto the Church of Constantinople, when the Theotokos and holy Virgin Mary concerning the Ephesians, where John the Theologian and the holy Deipara Virgin Mary had come..." Where it is noted by the addition, as if supplementing: *Some understand*, "they once dwelt"; *others*: "they have a dwelling." And which version is of the Theodori Pelt. S.J., even if he does not cite its name, into which he has inserted everything against tradition, he has included. But the Fathers plainly assert that these were their words. The words of the Father are: "Whence also Nestorius, the renovator of impious heresy, having arrived at that of the Ephesians, where John the Theologian and the holy Deipara Virgin Mary came, where John the Theologian and the holy Deipara Virgin [...]
Mary once dwelt, etc. A And the Beloved, the Disciple who leaned on the Lord’s breast, Nestorius, the renovator of the impious heresy, having arrived in the land of the Ephesians, where John the Theologian and the holy Theotokos Mary, was placed, etc.
Since the wicked one was eager to harm the just man, he subsequently stirred him up against himself; or rather, he raised up his own right hand against his own head; he is himself plucked out [(16)], and is justly cast down from his tyrannical power; he is thrust down into the deep by the chains of the darkness of the abyss, toward his own parent, who is cast down: B hence the just man is directed, and the God of the just is exalted: and indeed the darkness is taken away from human minds; but a great light, having arisen in John, draws every upright soul.
Thus he who was the architect of the destruction of the nation, and not in the virtue of God but in the wisdom and justice of the Apostle was cast out, was rejected. But those who were being led by him, as if one upon another were being incited to surging waves, were brought to the great light, to the Son, and were cleansed by the teachings of the truth, and having been instructed, were casting off the darkness of deception and of error, and were being washed by the great light of the knowledge of the truth through the laver of regeneration. The herald stood, sounding forth a clear and saving thunder to the nations. “Men,” he said, “as many as the Holy Spirit has touched their hearts; C come to me, and see the works of God and of the truth, and let your eyes be enlightened; hear the words of truth, and your hearing being enlightened, understand and know Him who truly is God.”
(16) *He is himself plucked out.* These things are seen to refer to the things told by Prochorus, about the demons being chased away and the places cleansed by John; which [the author of the Menologium] seems to see therein, if one gives attention to it.
A ...and the most wicked of the populace and of the leaders of Ephesus. And indeed, with tongues sharpened like a razor, [he caused] a tumult with deceitful tongues, as he thought, and inspired fear; and with wounds and prisons and stripes he harassed and vexed them, so that, if he could, he might deprive them of life itself; or if not that, at least remove them from their own places. Since, therefore, the unjust man set himself to harm the just by these means, he henceforth rouses this man against himself; or rather, the miserable man raises the all-powerful hand that was in him against his own head. He himself is torn out, and is justly despoiled of his tyrannical power; and being cast down into the B Tartarean chains of darkness, he is plunged headlong C toward his own father. From this point the just man is directed, and the God of the just is exalted; and the mist is taken away from human minds; and the great light, having risen in John, attracts every upright soul. Thus he who was overseeing the destruction of the nation, having been shaken off, not only by the power of God, but also by the wisdom and justice of the Apostle, was cast down. But those who were previously led by him, rising up one after another like a surge of waves; and approaching the Son of the great light, and being cleansed by the teachings of the truth and initiated, they were stripping off the darkness of deception and error; and they were putting on the great light of the true knowledge through the laver of regeneration. D A herald was standing there, sounding out to the nations a clear and saving thunder, saying: "Men, as many as the Holy Spirit has taken hold of in your heart, come to me, and see the works of God and of truth, and let the eye of your mind be enlightened. Hear the words of true wisdom, and being enlightened in your hearing, understand and know the God who truly is." Know, therefore, that on the twenty-eighth of the month of Pauni, the holy synod took place in Ephesus in the great church of the city, which is called Mary Theotokos. Although John had undertaken his journey through Asia; and he says nowhere that he had taken the holy Virgin with him until her dormition.
A Know God the Father Almighty, the creator of all things, both invisible and visible. Know God the Word, begotten of Him before the ages beyond all reason, through whom He made all things. Know the Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Father without time and without separation, fashioning all things together with the Son, and filling all things in essence. Understand the Three as one God, and as one nature, power, and kingdom; and worship the one Lord in three persons of equal dignity. Understand, and having abandoned the error handed down by your fathers, draw near to the true light. Draw near and be enlightened, and your faces shall not be ashamed; for the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The only-begotten Son, who is ever in the bosom of the Father, truly becomes man for the sake of men, born of the holy and unwedded Virgin Mary, and in all things, sin excepted, he is made like unto us. And having granted the remission of sins through baptism, and having redeemed us from death and corruption through the cross and resurrection, he reconciled us to the Father. He, even now, has placed in us his own work—the word of reconciliation—and has sent those who proclaim this salvation to you. Depart, therefore, from all the vanity of demons, from all idolatry, and cast off the deadly habit of all vice and lawlessness. By the law of faith which is in Christ Jesus, and by the law of the Spirit of his holiness, you shall be delivered from the wrath that is coming from heaven upon the impious, and you shall be made worthy of incorruptible glory and eternal life. But that you may not imagine you have been deceived by empty words from us, bring to me those among you who are maimed and in need of healing, that you may see that the kingdom of God approaches you not in word only, but far more in power. B Straightway, therefore, it was possible to see there demons fleeing from those possessed of them by the mere word of the Theologian; the lame being raised up, the blind receiving sight, the deaf hearing, and the stammerers being taught to speak clearly. It was possible to see the dead being raised through prayer, the lepers being cleansed, and every disease and every infirmity of the body being healed by the mere touch of his holy hand. And every sorcerous and magical art, and every evil artifice and wicked machination of demons, was being brought to naught through the power of Christ that was within him; and every enlightening and purifying initiation, and every grace and knowledge, liturgical and deifying, was being wrought in the hearts of the faithful. For the most excellent steward of the Spirit, being clothed in the whole Christ through the Lord the Spirit, made all things inaccessible and impassable to the enemy; and, exhorting every straight and virtuous soul through the Spirit, he reconciled it to the truth of which he was the ambassador.
A Thus the great Sun of the Gospel, visiting not only the city which holds the primacy of Asia, but also every subsequent province, city, and town according to the pattern I have mentioned, abolished all the sacrifices and rites of the demons; and, appointing shepherds and priests, he erected churches for Christ throughout the regions. Serving the Holy Spirit most excellently and wonderfully, and with great wisdom of word and yet greater power of deed; and having already for many years illuminated all of Asia and all the East with Christ; and having encountered countless overwhelming afflictions for the sake of the Gospel; and having sustained myriad plots from the shield-bearers of falsehood; he was, moreover, condemned to exile in the island of Patmos B by wicked emperors, since he was—the most blessed one saw—constrained, and his exhortation was common to all, even toward the apostle, that he should commit these things entirely to writing for the preaching of the Gospel. C Having accepted their request, he concurred with their exhortation, and along with his disciple Prochuros, having arrived at the aforementioned place, for three days he lived there without food, needing God concerning this. And after three days, a great lightning and thunder having occurred, so that the mountain was shaken, he fell upon Prochuros, and he became as dead. D But John, raising him up and seating him at his right hand, and looking up to heaven, began to say, "In the beginning was the Word," etc. And having concluded the most holy and all-revered Gospel, he handed it over to them. And having gone down, he disseminated all things to the ends of the world.
A Since he had been condemned by unjust kings, and because he saw that he was hemmed in by many—to the point that almost no one was left—there arose a common supplication from all to the Apostle that he should set forth in writing the entire saving proclamation. Welcoming this desire, he yielded to their entreaty; and having gone to a certain place with his disciple Prochorus, he spent three days in it without food, praying to God concerning this. And after three days, there occurred a great lightning and thunder, so that the mountain was shaken, and Prochorus fell to the earth and became as one dead. But John, having raised him up and seated him at his right hand, and having looked up into heaven, began to say, "In the beginning was the Word," etc. And having concluded the most holy and all-revered Gospel, he handed it over to them; and from there it was disseminated to all. At Rome, Peter is crucified head-downward, and Paul is beheaded; and John is handed over to the island. B The most blessed man saw himself—and the account holds—that the Apostle and Evangelist John, while still lingering in this life, was relegated to dwell on the island of Patmos on account of his witness to the divine Word. John, the brother of James, preaching the Word in Asia, was exiled to the island of Patmos, and from there he was recalled from exile to Ephesus by Nerva, and he died there; his body, having been sought by the faithful inhabitants of the city, was not found. For the litany: "The height of the Apostles, the trumpet of theology, the spiritual general; he who subjected the world to God, come, O faithful, let us bless the renowned John, who is departing from the earth and is not departing from the earth, but is living and awaiting the fearful second coming of the Master."
[LATIN COLUMN: alt-version omitted]
C NICETAS PAPHLAGONIUS relates that [John] was relegated to the island of Patmos by wicked princes; to which the most blessed man saw himself reduced. When all the islanders had accommodated their minds to the evangelical preaching, and had come to Christ through faith, and scarcely anyone was left wanting, a common supplication from all was deferred to the Apostle, that he should set forth in writing to them the entire saving preaching. Whose desire he praised, and he yielded to their petition; and coming into the mountain with the disciple Prochorus, he spent three days there fasting, praying to God for the sake of that matter. Which being finished, a huge lightning bolt and thunder occurred, so that the mountain was shaken, and Prochorus fell to the earth, and was made as one dead. Then John, having raised him up and ordered him to sit at his right hand, and lifting his eyes to heaven, began to say, "In the beginning was the Word," etc. After the most holy and all-venerated Gospel was completed, he handed it to them; and thence it pervaded all the ends of the world. These things themselves do not conflict with what Eusebius relates (lib. III, c. 24) concerning his approaching the writing of the Gospel, so that he might supply what he had noticed was lacking in the other three, regarding the earlier preaching of the Lord and before the imprisonment of John, from which point others pursue their narration; nor with what is related by Jerome in his *Catalogue*, that he wrote at the request of the bishops of Asia against Cerinthus and other heretics, and especially against the rising dogma of the Ebionites: for, to wit, the Asian bishops acknowledged their Father and master as an exile even on Patmos; and it was easy to write to him, and to ask him for this, because they feared that, especially at such an advanced age of his, or even by Domitian's new edict, John would be snatched from them, who alone, by the authority he possessed in the Church, could seem able to protect the divinity of Christ, which at that time was unknown to the Jews and Judaizing heretics.
D Nicetas makes no mention of the martyrdom of John, and that he was cast into a vat of boiling oil by Domitian and preserved by a divine miracle, just as the Menaea also do not: yet Prochorus pursues the matter in many places, who also relates that the event itself took place at Rome, whither John had been led by the order of the proconsul of that place. There is added a weighty witness, Tertullian, *De praescript. haeret.*, where he thus lauds the Roman Church: "How happy is that Church! on which the Apostles poured forth all their doctrine along with their blood; where Peter is equalized to the suffering of the Lord, where Paul is crowned with the end of John, where the Apostle John, after he had been cast into the fiery pot and suffered nothing, is relegated to an island." Tertullian is the unique source from whom, excepting the apocrypha, the Church received this account of John's martyrdom at Rome: for Jerome also follows his footsteps and follows and praises him as the author (lib. *Contra Jovin.*). For Eusebius, whom Baronius cites in his notes for May from book *Evang. Demonst.*, c. 7, has nothing of the sort; his only words are these: "And Peter is crucified at Rome, head down to the earth; but Paul is beheaded, and John is relegated to an island." That this should be understood as John having been constituted at Rome rather than any other place, or as having been deported from Rome to an island, no one certainly could gather from those words: and that which the Greeks did not have, and that authority of Tertullian having remained hidden from them, or having been thought not to have enough weight, they never made mention of that martyrdom of John. Truly, there is no Eusebius, as [Baronius] holds, to praise Rome rather than any other city, but he only celebrates the faith of the Apostles in Christ and the constancy of their love through so many hardships, and deaths themselves, and those things which would be considered equal to death by Roman laws, namely deportations to islands. Prochorus, an author of no faith, could not draw [the reader] to his view: but neither could Abdias of Babylon, who contends that the matter did not happen at Rome, but at Ephesus, and relates that it was not by Domitian, but by the proconsul that this punishment was inflicted on John; and he criticizes the publisher in his marginal annotation for Perionius, who wrote in his *John* that it happened at Rome. I do not wish to detract from Roman piety, or to overturn monuments if certain ones exist for the deed done there. Yet it can seem a wonder that the journey of so great an Apostle to Rome and his martyrdom have thus passed into obscurity among the rest of the ancients. Eusebius, lib. III, c. 48, as if he had no authoritative author to praise, as a witness of the exile itself, refers to it as if from hearsay: "In this persecution [of Domitian], the Apostle John, likewise the evangelist, who was still among the living, on account of the testimony he bore to the divine Word, is handed over to be relegated to the island of Patmos." A more luminous witness of the matter is Hippolytus, whom the Greeks also cite in their Menaea, somewhat more briefly than he was edited by me, albeit with the same meaning: "John, the brother of James, preaching the word in Asia, was relegated to the island of Patmos, and thence again recalled from exile to Ephesus by the emperor Nerva, he dies there. Whose body, having been sought by the faithful citizens, was not found." These are almost all the remaining points which Nicetas pursues, concerning his true death and translation, whether he was raised up and is now blessed in body and soul, as the pious opinion regarding the most blessed Virgin holds, or whether it pleased [God] to honor him in any other way; which opinion the author of the Synaxarion urges, and proves by many places of Chrysostom; and he brings forth from Caesarius, brother of Gregory the Theologian, the explanation of that [passage in] John XXI: *If I want him to remain, what is that to you?*, by which he shows that this passage provides no support to those who think that John is living in a mortal body. Which, however, Ephraim the bishop of Theopolis thought, according to Photius, as did Theophanes in a certain modulation. The pinnacle of the Apostles, the trumpet of theology, the spiritual leader of wars, him who subjected the world to God, the renowned John, come, O faithful, let us praise as blessed; who moved from the earth and did not depart from the earth, but lives and awaits the second fearful coming of the Master. There exists on this matter an oration by George of Trebizond in the *Orthodoxographa* of the Germans, although one should by no means depart from the common opinion that John is truly dead.
ORATION VI. — IN PRAISE OF ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST.
As the day of his consummation was at hand, A seeing that the time was approaching for him to depart to the Lord, and realizing that the power of time is such that it would submerge and abolish good things in the depths of oblivion, he is moved by the disposition of the Good, he who was the mirror of the self-existent Goodness, to write the holy Gospel; and he is inflamed with a love for sublime theology, both by the prompting of the Word of God dwelling within him, and by the entreaties and supplications of those who were most faithful in the Church.
B Having read the three Gospels which had been written before his, and having observed that their narrative was occupied rather with the bodily aspects of Christ, he himself applied his mind to higher and more divine discourses. Leaving aside all things that fall under sight, and having surpassed through the sharpness of a most pure mind and by the Spirit all that is intelligible and supermundane, and having left behind the Cherubim and passed by the Seraphim, he joins himself sincerely and immediately to the Beloved. And there, by intellectual perception and in a way more excellent than before, leaning his most intelligent breast against the most god-ruling breast, and applying his mouth to the mouth of Wisdom itself, he opened up from that source a certain living fountain of high and deifying theology. In its prologue, he hands down as a Theologian the pre-eternal and supersubstantial co-existence of the Word with the Father in the beginning; he hands down also His incarnation, in a few divine words, proclaiming highly and magnificently the whole divine preaching about Him, as if with the blast of a trumpet from heaven.
Then, he brings to mind in the Spirit the most sublime and paradoxical of Christ’s discourses and works, as many as the evangelists before him had omitted. C And having recorded everything in divine discourses, and having brought all things to completion by the words of God, and having condensed them in righteousness (as Isaiah speaks), he thundered this Gospel of his own to the ends of the earth: a lightning and fiery whirlwind of such a kind that it is destined to consume and burn up whatever heresy has ever existed or will exist. He established it as the boundary of truth and an inviolable rule for all faith and theology, and handed this down to the universal Church of Christ as a new testament taken from the mouth of Christ; possessing so much more veneration and divine dignity than that which was written of old for Moses on tablets, as the new excels the old, and the law of the Spirit and of truth excels the law of the letter.
And thus much for this. But because he had completed the ministry of the Spirit and the function of the Gospel (the work of the sublime apostolic office), as a truly faithful and prudent steward, and having by now arrived at a rich old age, he desired his dissolution, D or, to speak better, the transformation of his body into incorruption—for since he was always joined in heart and mind to Christ in the heavens, only his body and the part of him visible to the eyes was dwelling upon the earth.
A And so I believe he must remain, according to the evangelical saying, awaiting the coming of the Lord.
At this point the discourse has brought us, and being overwhelmed by the height and magnificence of John’s divinity, and by the super-excellence of his sanctity which defies comparison, we are compelled by the power of the songs to fall silent in the face of the Inaccessible. Yet, having addressed a few words to the soul beloved by God, and dear to Him, we shall bring our discourse to a close.
Hail, you who are truly beloved and the beloved one; hail, you who are exceedingly dear to Christ, the only Creator of beauty, who in the beauty of your soul, the beauty of your spirit, and the moral rectitude of your mind and intellect surpass all those who are dearly loved by Him. B
Hail, you who are untouched and intellectual, heavenly and mystical, inaccessible and transcendent. Hail, Virgin-souled, who were not ever defiled by any stain of carnal desire. Virgin of soul, by not being led astray by the beauty of the body, nor by the mind acting upon the spirit; just as the pure are pure to the core. Just as the manner of a chaste bride, having truly known the heavenly Bridegroom, and having been completely loved by Him and joined to Him, for "he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit" (I Cor. VI, 17).
On the Dormition of St. John
Since, therefore, the day of his consummation had arrived, the blessed one took the most faithful of his disciples, and having proceeded a little distance from Ephesus, and having ascended a hill, he commanded them to dig a grave. Then, raising his eyes to the Lord and his hands to heaven, he was clearly wholly departed, and was in ecstasy with God in his prayers. When he ceased, he turned around, and having suitably prepared those who were present with him through the exposition of divine mysteries and most excellent exhortations and virtuous admonitions, he entered inside the trench straightway, and lay down. They covered the grave with slabs, but on the next day, having arrived according to the command, and having removed the slabs—O, the wonders!—they found him not at all, as he had clearly departed to God. His garments were found as a testimony to his translation, or rather his resurrection.
For it is not fitting to suspect that he still lives in a mortal body, just as Elijah. For Jesus did not say to him, it is said, "He does not die," nor that he should await the final day in the manner of others, but that he left that virginal and holy tabernacle only for as long as it was necessary to experience death. Immediately, however, having grasped the true life in Christ, he received this gift and, as it were, a special prize for his surpassing love, namely, to live an incorruptible life even in the body; and to dwell with the Theotokos, as with a mother, in the Jerusalem above in jubilation.
The all-good God and our merciful Lord did not only deem His holy disciples and apostles, prophets and martyrs, and all who have pleased Him, worthy of the kingdom of heaven and eternal blessings, but He also rendered the places in which they excelled and were buried full of grace, and illumined them with many miracles. For the grave in which the great apostle and evangelist John the Theologian was buried, when he was about to be translated, suddenly bubbles up and gives forth annually, by the nod of the Holy Spirit on the eighth day of the month of May, a holy dust, which the locals call manna; those who draw near and receive it use it for the redemption from all sorts of afflictions, for the healing of souls, and for the health of the body, glorifying God and honoring His servant John.
and thus I believe he remains, according to the Gospel saying, awaiting the coming of the Lord. Arriving at this point in our discourse, and being struck with wonder at the unreachable height of John’s divinity and magnificence, and marveling at the incomparable excess of his holiness, we are compelled by the inaccessibility of our hymns to remain silent. Nevertheless, having addressed in a few words the soul beloved of God and venerable, we shall bring our discourse to a close. Hail, truly beloved of the Beloved; hail, you who are exceedingly loved by Christ, the sole author of beauty and the surpassing beauty, for in the beauty of your soul, in the beauty of your spirit, and in the comeliness and uprightness of your mind and intellect, you surpass all His beloved ones. Hail, untouched and intellectual beauty, heavenly and mystical, inaccessible and supernatural. Hail, you who are a Virgin in body, in that no stain of fleshly desire has ever been rubbed upon you; Virgin in soul, for never did you wander after the beauty of a body, nor even in your mind; Virgin in spirit, being pure of heart as one who is pure; truly acknowledging the heavenly Bridegroom as does a chaste bride, and most purely loving Him and being united with Him, for *he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit* (1 Cor. 6:17). *The memorial of the holy apostle and evangelist John the Theologian, namely the procession of the manna, and the gathering of the same, which is sent up from his tomb.*
ORATIO VI. — IN LAUDEM S. JOANNIS EVANG.
And that he might be a participant and comrade in the heavenly paradise in exultation. So, I think it is to be believed that, according to the Gospel sentence, the Lord bestows good things upon His disciples and apostles, prophets and martyrs, and all who have pleased Him, and grants them eternal goods; but furthermore, He has shown to be full of grace and illustrated with many miracles the places in which they have shined and been buried. For the sepulcher in which the great apostle and evangelist John the Theologian was buried, when he was to be translated, by the promptings of the Holy Spirit, every year on the eighth of May, suddenly overflows and emits dust, called “manna” by the townspeople. Those who approach and receive it use that amulet for the driving away of all manner of diseases and ailments, for the healing of souls, and for providing health to the body, praising God and showing honor to John, his emulator. Our ancient Menaea state, a little more briefly: “The memorial of the holy apostle and evangelist John the Theologian; or the sprinkling of the rose’s sweetness, and the gathering or collection of the manna, which erupts from his tomb.” The great Menaea also use that word *podionos* in the iambic Synaxarion prefixed to it, nor do I see in what other sense it might be conveniently expressed; unless that manna also had something purple, and of a rose color, such that the authors are found to have used the word in both senses. An illustrious testimony of this manna and sacred dust is that of Gregory Cyprius, Patriarch of Constantinople immediately after the city was taken from the Latins—on whose account he was a most fierce supporter of the schism and an agitator against his predecessor, John Beccus—in his 9th epistle to the Bishop of Ephesus, Isaac by name (a rich codex of whose epistles was lent to me by that most learned man, himself a lover and friend of the learned, and one deeply studious of books in which something exquisite for the illustration of letters, both sacred and profane, might be contained—I mean D. de Ballesdens, a man long since renowned among the excellent), whom I have mentioned elsewhere. Having brought the discourse to this point, and having wondered beyond measure at the divinity and magnificence of John—which we can never attain—and looking up to the excellence of his holiness that is greater than any comparison, we are compelled by the force of inaccessible songs to offer sacrifice in silence. Nevertheless, having addressed in a few words the soul beloved of God and venerable, we shall make an end of speaking. Hail, you who are truly beloved by Him who is Beloved. Hail, you who are a great friend to Christ, the sole author of beauty and the surpassing beauty: for in the beauty of your soul, in the beauty of your spirit, and in the honesty and uprightness of your mind and intellect, you surpass all His beloved ones. Hail, you who are integrity itself and of an unblemished mind, heavenly and mystical, inaccessible, and far superior. Hail, you who are a Virgin in body, in that you contracted no stain of carnal lust; Virgin in soul, because not even with a wandering mind did you ever adhere to any bodily form: a Virgin in spirit, being pure of heart as one who is pure; as one who, like a chaste bride, has truly acknowledged the heavenly Bridegroom and most chastely loved Him; and you are worthily known by Him and joined and mingled in mind; for indeed, *he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.* (And here follows a long eulogy of Pierre Séguier, Chancellor of France, and a discourse on the manna, the relics of the saints, and the miraculous nature of the grace bestowed through them, concluding with an excursus on the wonders surrounding the tomb of Rose of Lima, as an instrument of divine attestation).
or [in the case] of another bearing the same name as that one. Hail, genuine and faithful initiate of the Word of God, lover and minister; for that One, coming from the Father, has truly made His dwelling with you; because, keeping His commandments, you have remained in Him, and you have Him remaining in you for eternity, manifesting to you the divine glory uncovered. Hail, child of God and heir, and brother and co-heir of God; you who have been initiated into all the mysteries of the kingdom of God, and have clearly seen by revelation all things that are to come, and have delivered them, [as far as is permitted], sealed to the Churches. Hail, you who alone, even now, dwell in paradise in the body together with the Mother of God, and from there by the Spirit survey the whole earth; look upon us with favor, O thrice-blessed Theologian and Evangelist! Instruct us by your epistles, strengthen us by your theology, order us by your commandments; shepherd us, lift us up, and present us to God unto eternity, unto the glory of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, unto the ages.
ORATION VII. In Praise of the holy and all-praised Apostle Thomas.
A Laudable is the desire felt for the sake of the saints; and praiseworthy B is the divine grace bestowed through them upon those who are worthy; and all the more so, in proportion as they themselves are linked to all the saints by an excellence of holiness, and are joined more purely to all the saints by need. Let us, therefore, pursue with love and longing C the choirs of the saints, who are truly worthy to be loved and longed for, and of these especially him who has surpassed all, and is continuously joined with a most intimate connection and fellowship to the high college of the twelve apostles, who in divine likeness excels all. I say this of that most lovable and most excellent college of the twelve apostles.
Let us long for this one; let us emulate him; and let us imitate him (as far as is possible for us), in order that we may become his associates. For so, through them, we shall draw near to Christ, who dwells in them D; and we shall be blessed in reality (as the sacred eloquence holds), fulfilling our desire from them, and we shall not be ashamed when, having arrived at the gates of life, we encounter our adversaries. But let us not declare that this desire we profess toward them is fruitless; rather, let us bring forth an active [desire], and in a perfect life, as far as possible, let us show a clearer likeness, manifesting the reverence due to them; but in word, let us set forth for them the fitting praise, so that through both we may sanctify God, who is sanctified in them.
For just as there is one God, Father, Teacher and Lord and Leader, and Christ, who is also faith and grace and power of the Spirit, and the ministry of the apostles, and the recompense of rewards is one and the same for all the disciples, so also does the same praise exist for all; yet, because of the departure of each from the body, and their migration to the Lord, it is necessary that their own praise be rendered to each according to his own worth.
Who then is the one who today constitutes this sacred assembly or choir, and fills it with zeal, and satisfies the gladness and splendor of the Church, and gathers it for divine glorification and brings it together? Is not the cause manifest to all? Thomas is the great lamp of the Gospel, not casting light from bodily sensations, but from intellectual ones; and from the sparks of his own memory, radiating for us, and rising up and appearing to us, he calls us to his own glory. Thomas is the precious stone, and the revered and elect one; joined to the twelve by the crown of glory of the heavenly Zion, the pearl of [marginal marker C missing in image, likely here] great clarity, and with the purity of his mind 40, he sends forth the reflections of the Divine light to the darkened nations. Thomas, who is also Didymus—for this is the...
A declaration of the name; he is called Didymus because he was not born alone, but together with another from the same womb.
ORATION VII. — IN PRAISE OF SAINT THOMAS THE APOSTLE
He, as it were, calling the faithful throngs into his own B temple [(22)] to an assembly, and setting before them, as a spiritual banquet, his own deeds and triumphs, refreshes and recreates the soul not for those who behold with the body, but for those who believe in the spirit; and not limited by place, as bodies are, but as a divine spirit, indeed as the Spirit of God, he shines forth, beaming with spiritual grace and filling all with every joy; and by the splendor of his works, or rather his rays, he glorifies the Father who is in heaven 41. And though he still survived in this life and dwelt in the flesh, he accomplished nothing else in words and deeds than what would be pleasing to the Father; but, much more, having been freed from the body, and united to the God of spirit, tireless and eternal, like some heavenly light, he wanders through the inhabited world, and gazing down from above upon all at once, he makes them alert for the praise and glory of his own works and sufferings.
Thomas, therefore, having been known and predestined before the foundation of the world to be conformed to the image of the Only-begotten, and the time for his appearance having arrived, and the time for the choosing of the apostles being present, he stood with the others C and D responded to that sacred calling; and being called, he did not reject Him who called him, with an idle mind, nor did he hear Him with indifference, but, remaining until the time, he did not go back to things behind, according to those of very little faith.
A And this
on the name of the apostle
is a declaration. He is called Didymus, because he was not alone, but was born together with another from the same womb. This man, as if calling together into a terrestrial heaven—that is, his own church—the assemblies of the faithful, and setting before them his own miracles and achievements as a spiritual feast, entertains and delights every soul magnanimously, not by being seen in the body, but by being believed in the spirit; not limited to one place, as bodies are; but throughout the churches of the whole world, as he is a divine spirit, inasmuch as he was born of the Spirit of God, he shines forth with intellectual grace, and fills them with all joy, and by the radiance of his own works, or by hymns, he glorifies the Father who is in heaven. And even while he was still living in the life and in the flesh, he did nothing else in words and works but what seemed good to the Father; much more so, when freed from the body, and united with God in the spirit, untiringly and timelessly, like some heavenly mind, he traverses the world, and beholding all from above, he stirs them to the praise and glory of God through the memory of his own deeds and sufferings. B For he, having been known and predestined before the foundation of the world to be conformed to the image of the Only-begotten, when the time of the manifestation was at hand, and the season for the choosing of the apostles arrived, he too, along with the others, came to that sacred calling; and being called, he did not reject the one who called him, after the manner of the slothful; nor did he obey, and after remaining for a time, return to things behind as those of little faith; nor—does he A in truth persist until the end, yet obtain a lesser measure of grace or glory from the King of all than any of the leading apostles! For just as he was a participant with the foremost apostles in the calling, in the election, in the companionship, in the face-to-face vision of the divine Word and God Himself, and of those things wrought through Him, in hearing with his own ears the sublime mysteries, in the communion of the life-giving sufferings, in the mystical washing of the feet, in the bread, the cross, the burial, the resurrection, the appearance after the resurrection, and in the reception of the Son to the Begetter in heaven, and of the imparting of the Spirit afterwards through Him; so too was he a participant in the glorious mission to the nations, in the signs and wonders, and in the loud proclamation of the Gospel. Therefore, just as Thomas differed nothing in these matters from Andrew and Peter and the sons of Zebedee, so too, having attained an end concordant with those first ones, he has likewise obtained the same glory and equal honor before the Teacher and God. Unless perchance one would suppose his doubt or hesitation after the cross and the resurrection to be a form of failure—thinking wickedly and not knowing how to discern divine matters with understanding. For just as Peter, utilizing an excess of fervor, was permitted to deny, so that he himself might become more modest and more secure, and his threefold confession after the denial might become a basis of security for the others (for as the failure was common, so too the victory became one for all); so also the Twin [Didymus], possessing greater fervor and zeal toward the Teacher, fell into doubt, and was agitated in his reasonings concerning the resurrection more than the others, that he himself might become more gentle, and having been more accurately confirmed through the very struggle, he might implant a firmer faith in the others. For perhaps it was necessary that the mystery be investigated there first B and that the truth of the Gospel, having been thus tested, be handed over to the nations beyond dispute. Now a mild hesitation, indeed, reaching the hearts of the remaining disciples, stirred up thoughts that were not pious; and it suggested that what was being seen was a phantom. But they, while dodging a precise explanation out of cowardice, endured being set ablaze and having their minds divided. But you, O most noble and most fervent seeker of the truth, did not think that the resurrection should be accepted by the mere words of those reporting it—for that is a slippery thing, and it is not safe enough to believe the mystery by sight alone; for it is suspicious, since angels themselves are often able to be fashioned into the form of the desired one—but just as you knew the death and burial of Jesus through the experience of sight itself, so too, wishing to make the resurrection uncontradicted, both to yourself first and to everyone, you demanded the certainty that comes through experience: and you truly sought [to touch] the prints of the nails in the hands and feet, and the piercing of the all-blessed side of the body that had truly suffered C as proof of the body that had endured and died. This, which it had suffered, and of his body, [constituting] certain proofs—the open scars in his hands and the wound of the lance in his most blessed side—as soon as you touched them, you shouted out: "My Lord and my God!" D You uttered that voice, and you answered: "My Lord and my God!"
In Praise of the Holy Apostle Thomas
How blessed is that voice, sanctified by the Holy Spirit, which confirmed the minds of the apostles and healed the hesitation, and by confirming the faith of all, brought it to a sure foundation! O brief voice, yet having great power in itself, one which, by annihilating heretics, was enlightening the whole rule of the faith! "My Lord and my God!" Not another Lord and another God. Not that one handles, and another flees all touch; but the Lord, comprehended by the reason of assumed flesh, is Himself my God, absolutely complete and incomprehensible, who is looked upon and believed as being of one nature uniquely but of two [natures] according to person. Thus, let the divine Thomas urge you to know Christ; and just as Peter, both before the passion and after the resurrection, and this one also, now that Christ has been raised, confessed Christ as both one and twofold, in whom the Lord, approving, confirmed for Himself the Church founded upon this—the accurate confession.
Since, however, the Holy Spirit was being poured out from the Father through the Son (according to that which had once been promised), the disciples were full of that power, and having become full of the energy, they were not able to contain the labor of the grace within themselves; but having been scattered throughout the whole world, and having divided among themselves the other parts of the nations, they imparted the divine goodness. For they did not consider it worthy of themselves to do anything not pleasing to God, who had sent them, nor to the philanthropy of Jesus, nor to the command they were following. Therefore, the apostles were being sent in various directions, as He had sent them—to that most approved and thrice-greatest disciple of the Word, the mission to the Parthians and Medes and those beyond, the Ethiopians, fell; and how he went to these, and by what manner he would approach those who are fierce in appearance and ruder in the ways of their soul—it is a clear resolution to those who were perplexed. For the all-divine Jesus, that Incomprehensible One, who is not limited by any boundaries, who is always united in the heavens with the Father and always remains indivisibly with those below, having become like a man in stature and appearance, as if in the guise of a merchant, had arrived [at the land of the Indians], from those departing from Jerusalem and returning to their own land, approaching this man [alt-version omitted]
A And immediately after the touching, thou didst erupt with the cry, "My Lord and my God!" B O holy voice, uttered most holily in the Holy Spirit, which confirmed the minds of the apostles, healed doubt, and established all in firm faith! C O brief voice, holding within it great power, which, while putting heretics to flight, illuminates the entire rule of orthodoxy! "My Lord and my God!" Not one Lord and another God. Not one thing that is touched and another thing that evades all touch; but the Lord who is grasped by the assumption of nature, that same one is my God, absolute and incomprehensible in the nature of his divinity; being seen and believed according to his person as unique, according to his nature as dual. In this way, let divine Thomas be commissioned to know Christ; and just as Peter, before the passion and resurrection, so too this man, after the resurrection, proclaimed the one-faceted and dual nature of Christ, the Lord confirming the accuracy of this confession, and establishing his own Church upon it.
Since the Holy Spirit was poured out from the Father through the Son (according to what had been promised long ago); and the disciples, full of his power and filled with his operation, were not able to contain the labor-pains of grace within themselves; but unless they were scattered throughout the whole world, and each took a different portion of the nations upon it, and imparted the lordly goodness, they considered that they would have done nothing pleasing to the God who sent them, nor anything worthy of the kindness and command of Jesus; the apostles were indeed sent, some here and some there, just as the one who sent them divided them. D Yet to this most approved and thrice-greatest disciple of the Word, who had drawn the lot of the apostolate of the Parthians, the Medes, and the Ethiopians beyond them, and who wondered how he might approach them, and in what manner he might arrive among those who were hateful in appearance and yet harsher in the disposition of their souls, so as to enter into speech and discourse concerning piety—and while he was quietly pondering the burden of those nations, the solution appeared near at hand. For the most divine Jesus himself, the incomprehensible, the unlimited, who is always above with the Father without separation, and who always remains indivisibly below with those who are his own—this one, appearing like a man in stature, nature, and form, approached a certain merchant who was setting out for India and had just left Jerusalem and was returning to his own land. Having approached him (O the condescension of the Master! O the goodness of the servant!) he sold his own disciple as a servant; he provides him as a companion of the journey, and
A he constantly converses with him in secret, and prepares him to be confident through ineffable divine discourses. And indeed, in all the ways he follows him invisibly and frees him from every danger and every mishap; and to the one to whom he must preach the Word, he encourages his hearers by the words of wisdom, and causes to gush forth in him the water of life; and where he must reveal the power of miracles, he is present, showing forth wondrous signs for the amazement of those who see, and granting faith to those who behold.
Thus did the great Thomas depart for the Indians. From there B he was established as a worker of wonders for the kings of the Ethiopians, and for all those who rule that land; and just as Christ Himself, the Lord, became obedient to the Begetter, having taken the form of a servant and, for the sake of the dispensation, having humbled Himself and shown obedience unto death, C was exalted beyond all names, having been deemed worthy of the name above all, and sits at the right hand of the Majesty; so too the genuine disciple, and the servant of the Order, looking toward the Master’s humility, did not resent the disguise of servitude, nor did he shrink before the scoffers, D nor did he feel sadness, but joy; not ignominy, but honor; not reproach, but glory; but rather, conducting himself toward this temporary servitude with such great emulation as to show that he loved his Master, far from only seeking true freedom for himself, he also set free countless others who were enslaved to the darkness of infidelity and sin; and by the Spirit of grace, and by the water of baptism, regenerating them mystically, he presents them as blameless children, full of light, to the true and great Light.
But it is not possible to describe in a single discourse all the things that the thrice-blessed doctor achieved; A with which, as a mystagogue, and through which periods of his discourses and works, he brought all of Parthia, as well as Hyrcania and Bactria, to Christ; just as it would be to attempt to count the drops of rain. But that I may gather all things into the middle, the entry of the sacred herald to the king of India, the royal promise for the building, the taking on of the persons for the sake of money, the perils thereby created, the threats, the prisons, and the liberation through the propitious providence of God, and—lest I prolong the speech too far—the abyss B of his miracles, how he gave sight to many blind, and to the deaf...
the restoration of hearing; to those whom he raised up when they were paralyzed; to those who were afflicted with leprosy or were in any other way infirm in body, or were vexed by an unclean spirit, or were suffering due to some labor or wage—having invoked the name of Jesus, he bestowed health. This, I say, that we may omit those matters which are of historical account, and not of our present intention. That we may at last gather together even the A ocean of apostolic wisdom, and how he preached the Word of the life of God, which was in the beginning, and was always with the Father, and for our sake was made flesh, and for our sake died upon the cross, and was buried for three days; and how he rose again from the dead, and was taken up into heaven; and how the Apostles—as those who, after His own glory, shall come back from there—shall present the whole creation to be judged, and shall render an account of those things which they did during their life; and that those who are cleansed by the water of the believers, and are freed from every error of the demon and the wickedness B and malice of life, ought to be liberated, and ought to be joined only to the kingdom of God and to the justice of Christ Jesus. Such is the abyss of divine teachings and actions of the Apostle that we may leave them for history, and bestow the end upon the life of our discourse.
On the Life and Acts of the Holy Apostle Thomas
For since the most blessed one, having finished his course, and having sowed, as it were, a heavenly seed of the Word of God to all the nations I have mentioned, brought forth fruits unto Christ from an innumerable multitude of believers, and washed away [the sins of those] from the bath of regeneration with the cleansing of the Spirit; and illuminating others with the word of wisdom and grace, he appointed some as shepherds and teachers, for those whom he knew to be fervent in faith C and righteousness, and others to be shepherded and to be ruled, establishing in sacred order and according to the concordant disposition fitting for the holy ones, he had excited to Christ the most beautiful and many churches; it was necessary for him, at the last, in imitation of the Master, to lay down his life for everyone. For this is the proof of perfect love; and therefore he was clearly plotted against by those who still remained in error. He who was most wonderful was pierced in his sides with spears, and he yielded his holy and blessed soul, and truly Christ-like and Christ-loving, unto Him who was crucified and pierced for his sake. D
For it was not right that he who held Christ complete within himself, and through him performed miracles that were most divine, and was distinguished by all modes of virtue, should not share in the suffering. And what of that most economical doubt of Thomas, and the touching, which the Lord marked out for him through that experience! For he was permitted then to touch the stamp of the spear and the master’s sides, as a kind of reward for that all-encompassing touch, the one for the...
touching of the side he endured afterwards, and by conforming himself in every way to the Lord’s passion at the end, he was undoubtedly taken up into the same glory and everlasting kingdom.
The demons shuddered at this side, and fear and trembling gripped them. Burning with murderous zeal and goaded by the intensity of their own ministers, they had run to pierce it as they wished. But when they perceived Him covered by the incorporeal and divine Powers, they fled into the chaos and Tartarus, howling. The angels revered this side and, as they contemplate the drops of blood flowing out from it, they offer them to the Lord as a holy libation. The archangels praised it and honored it even more; and the choirs of the blessed soul, having risen, lauded it. The Principalities, Powers, and Virtues magnified it; the Dominations received it with human respect; and the most blessed Cherubim and Seraphim, with a harmonious song and god-befitting hymnody, presented it to the Lord Sabaoth, rejoicing and exulting in the King of glory.
The Church, budding with its drops, itself adores this side and rejoices. O side, wounding with your own wound Him who inflicted the blow; mimicking the passion, you glorify Him! O side, you have been pierced by the spear! O side, not the cause of the transgression committed by the old Adam, but the material of righteousness for the new, who has come into being!
O spear! Outwardly you cause death, but spiritually you reveal Him who was lifted up and lead the one who possesses you to eternal life, and to the service of His followers! For it happens even that you appear to be the mark of the unworthy, while to the one who was pierced for the sake of the Word, you were worthier—sweeter than honey. O spear, you were the instrument that fashioned a gate for the soul longing for God; a gate through which it might depart from the body, and, with the flaming sword cast aside, open the gates of paradise and, without any hindrance, introduce it among the Cherubim, and lead it to Him who sits above the Cherubim, with an assurance and exultation beyond all words.
Therefore I address you, O soul clearly pierced by the spear, and offered with glory and brightness to Christ. Hail, most eloquent disciple and most vigorous imitator of the Word; most fervent fulfiller of the Gospel, in performing even that which is most excellent in the commandments. Hail, you who desired to die with the master; and you did not desire it alone, but you also urged and drove your fellow disciples to this; and not only in words did you persuade them, but after many labors and dangers for Him, you later fulfilled it in deeds with such eagerness.
Hail, you who inquire into the resurrection more curiously than the others; not more for yourself than for the others.
of him who had been felt, once he had undergone the piercing in his side, and by adapting his own passion in the end to the passion of the Lord, and having become in every way conformed to Him, he was admittedly taken up into the same glory and eternal kingdom. The demons shuddered at this side, and fear and trembling seized them; and as they were burning with murderous zeal, and had most gladly run upon it—having pierced it through their own worthy ministers—when they observed it being attended by intellectual and divine Powers, they departed in lamentation into chaos and Tartarus. Angels venerated this side, as a type of the side of Jesus; and they offer up the drops of blood flowing from it as a sacred libation to the Lord. Archangels praised and honored this side; or rather, through this wound, they applauded the most holy soul that had been taken up. The Principalities glorified it; the Powers exalted it; the Virtues magnified it; and the Dominations welcomed it; while the most holy Cherubim and Seraphim, with a certain melodious praise and most god-befitting hymnody, presented it, rejoicing in the Lord Sabaoth, to the King of glory, as it exulted supernaturally. The Church also worships this side, and in its drops it blossoms and rejoices. O side, wounding with your own wound him who inflicted the blow! And by the imitation of the passion, glorifying him who was pierced for your sake! O side, not an occasion of transgression for the old Adam, but having become a subject of righteousness for the new! O lance! which in appearance produces death, but which, when understood, acts as a guide and as an escort to the eternal life for the One who died; to those who are unworthy you seem bitter, but to him who was deemed worthy to be pierced for the sake of the pierced Word, you are sweeter than honey. O lance, fashioning a gate of departure from the body for the soul that emulates God; and opening for this soul the gate of paradise, and knocking away the flaming sword; and leading it unhindered through the Cherubim, and presenting it to Him who sits upon the Cherubim with an indescribable boldness and exultation. Therefore, I salute you, O soul that is escorted by the lance, and is brought with glory to Christ. Hail, most eloquent disciple of the Word, and most practical imitator of His deeds; and most fervent fulfiller of the Gospel, and most approved completer of the commandment. Hail, because you desired to die together with the Master; and you not only desired it, but also loudly exhorted and urged the disciples to this; and you accomplished this zeal not only with words, but after many labors and dangers on His behalf, you later fulfilled it in your deeds as well. Hail, because you inquire about the resurrection more curiously than the others; not more for yourself than for the
all nations, confirming this great mystery by your inquisitive zeal, correcting the suspicion of a phantom, striking down the disbelief of the Jews, cutting off the madness of heretics, and making the path to a straight and blameless faith clear of all doubt for everyone. Hail, for with greatness of soul and abundance of the strength of the Spirit, you dared to approach those who were black in body and blacker than darkness in soul; and while you did not whiten their bodies—for why would that matter?—you made their souls whiter and more luminous than the sun. It is clear that the Savior has need of this alone. For the Bridegroom, who loves the soul, does not desire the beauty of bodies (since they are perishable), but the radiance of souls (for they are imperishable). You, A O groomsman and mediator of the Word, having scraped away their psychic deformity and blackness with the sword of the Spirit, and having illuminated them with the rays of grace, and having dyed them as with an indelible tincture of faith in Christ and love, and having intellectually whitened them, you fashioned for them a certain beauty, even a mystical elegance through the virtues. And you so zealously provided for their intellectual comeliness through the ministrations of the Spirit, that they were made into churches that are blameless, holy, and dear to Christ.
Hail to me, B and leap for joy, and dance, O thrice-blessed Thomas, the adornment of the saints, the sweetness of the apostles, the embellishment of the heavenly minds, the most longed-for sound of the Church, the celebrated discourse. Hail, O most holy tabernacle of the Lord’s Spirit, the plantation of Christ Jesus, and the diadem of the kingdom; the blessed seed and child of God and the Father, and heir of all goodness. Having made us too, O most holy sanctuary of the archetypal Trinity, partakers and sharers of this, deign that we may with you glorify and praise the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION VIII. In praise of the holy and most celebrated apostle James of Alphaeus.
Yesterday and the day before, C the most blessed of the apostles, Thomas, of his own sufferings and exodus...
A in the holy Gospels is held to be celebrated. He, indeed, gathering us as guests today for his own memory, and setting before us the numerous labors undertaken for the sake of the Master, and the holy struggles, and the cross courageously endured for the sake of the Crucified—who was himself nailed to the cross—prepares a most splendid and most magnificent banquet for our souls. And he summons not only humans here below to the joy consonant with him, but much more the entire choirs of the saints; and not these alone, but also all the supercelestial hierarchies of the holy and intellectual beings; and indeed he even brings with him the Lord of all, who supercelestially takes pleasure in the things being performed. Thus, nothing is more manifest than apostolic perfection, and nothing so gladdens both heaven and earth together, as the memory being performed of one of the twelve holy children of God.
And let us also bring forth fruit to the great disciple of the Word, paying the word, which we have greater than all things, and let us not be so ungrateful or senseless as to seem worse even than inanimate and irrational things. For even the earth, when plowed, or even dug around and receiving every care of agriculture, knows how to return to the farmer fruits many times over; and a tree of cultivation, having obtained the labor that is due, knows how to reward the one who cleans it with fruit. And even each of the irrational animals, not in vain has it enjoyed the care from those who have acquired or reared them, but it also knows how to repay the benefactor in return, in time, according to its own capacity. By a far greater reason, therefore, I deem it incumbent on those who are honored with speech, to dedicate to their own teachers the fruit of gratitude. To all indeed, but especially to those who are disciples B of the Word and our own instructors in the higher and ever-abiding education; who, by the education of the Lord and by God-conveyed teaching, opened for us the ears of the heart, and enlightened the eyes of the mind, so as to hear and know the great mystery of piety; and to abandon the darkness of impiety and vanity, and to run to the true light of righteousness.
D Let us therefore pay the debt of the word, as is strictly due, to the holy plowmen of the Word, and to the cultivators of our hearts, and to the ministers of salvation. Let us pay it to all the others, and with them also to him who is commemorated today for praise and glory; and let us bring forth fruit: some, striking the chord of holy praise and doxology; others, offering the perfection of intention and constant prayer of the mind; some, faith unadulterated and sincere; and others, a longing which is fervent and worthy of God; and some, auspiciously and skillfully praising the great Apostle according to the grace of the Word provided by him; others, prudently and faithfully listening to the eulogy, so that in all ways, [through him]
he is proclaimed in the holy Gospels. He is the one who today gathers us as guests to his memory, and who, setting before us the many labors [undertaken] for the Master, and the sacred struggles, and the cross borne for the sake of the Crucified, arranges for our souls a most brilliant and most sumptuous banquet; and he summons not only those on earth to the joy fitting to him, but much more indeed, all the choirs of the holy ones; and not these alone, but also A all the heavenly hierarchies of the sacred and intellectual spirits; and he brings with him the Lord of all things Himself, who supernaturally delights in what is being performed. Thus, there is nothing more illustrious than apostolic perfection, and nothing that so fills both heaven and earth with joy as the solemn remembrance being performed of one of the twelve sacred children of God. But let us also bear fruit to the great disciple of the Word, [offering] the word—the greatest thing we have—and let us not be so ungrateful or base as to seem worse even than inanimate and irrational things. For since even the earth, when plowed or dug around and receiving all cultivation, gives back to the husbandman fruits manifold; and a tree, when it attains the care of cultivation and the labor befitting it, knows how to reward the one who prunes it with fruit; and certainly, even each of the irrational animals has not enjoyed in vain the care of those who possess or raise them, B but they too know how to repay their benefactor at the appropriate time, according to their ability; how much more, I suppose, does it befit those honored with the word, that is to say, their teachers, to consecrate the fruit of gratitude. To all indeed, but especially to those who are disciples of the Word, and our instructors in the better and everlasting instruction; to those who have opened for us the ears of the heart with the discipline of the Lord and the godly teaching, and who have illuminated our eyes so that we might hear and know the great mystery of piety; and to abandon the darkness of impiety and vanity and run to the true light of righteousness. C This, therefore, is the great and admirable James; [the one] of learning... Let us therefore render the debt of the word in duty bound to the holy plowmen of the Word, and the tillers of our hearts, and the ministers of salvation. Let us render it to all others too, and along with them to him who is commemorated today for praise and glory; and let us bear fruit: some of us, by striking the chord of sacred praise and doxology; others, by bringing forward the perfection of intention and constant prayer in the mind; some, faith unalloyed and sincere; others, a fervent and God-befitting longing; and some, by happily and skillfully praising the great Apostle according to the grace of the Word provided by him; others, by prudently and faithfully hearing the eulogy, so that in every way, D
A the disciple’s law is held to be: to renounce all abundance of goods that comes from without; and to renounce all friendship with those joined by the ties of blood; and in addition to this, to alienate the soul from its own proper will. For only in this way can one, with the most strenuous labors and with sincere meditation and study of divine things, find time for the good will of God, and be perfected in it, and reach that harbor of the kingdom of heaven which is so desired.
Since, therefore, the divine James heard this law of the Spirit from the Truth itself, he was not offended in his hearing, nor was his heart burdened, nor did he reel at the height of the commandment; but, soaring in innate desire toward Him who was commanding those things that pertain to salvation, he immediately departed from all possessions and wealth that belonged to him; he departed from his kin, his parents, brothers, relatives, friends, and all who were connected with him in any way according to the flesh; and finally, having renounced his own soul, and being estranged from every low and earthly-minded will, he breathed only Jesus, lived only for Jesus; suspended in Christ alone, with his mind intent on Christ, he was entirely turned toward Christ: he was entirely His, not his own. B He had Him as God, Lord, Master, King, Shepherd, Father, Savior, and Guide. He believed Him to be the light and life of his own soul, its sanctification and redemption, its salvation and justification. He had Him as his authority and head; whence his eyes were also perpetually fixed upon Him. For he beheld Him intellectually and unceasingly as in a mirror. This, I think, is what Ecclesiastes indicates, when he says: *The eyes of the wise man are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness.* C
Just as, therefore, bodies that are perfectly transparent, being entirely and deeply filled with the sun’s ray, impart the brightness of that light even to those nearby: so you too, O you who behold God, having clung to the rays of the Sun of spiritual justice, and being entirely filled with His grace, and having had your most limpid mind imbued to its very depths with the whole divine splendor, and having become light itself by a certain excellent participation, you became an illumination for all nations.
I therefore call blessed your body, the sacred tabernacle of the glory of God the Father, and the divinely-framed D sanctuary of the Son, and the most harmonious instrument of the Holy Spirit. I praise your soul, in which the Father was well pleased, which the Only-Begotten chose, and upon which the Holy Spirit wondrously rested. I glorify your manifoldly-bright, all-seeing, heavenly mind, which—
A is a companion and spectator of the most high, tri-radiant Godhead.
ORATION VIII. — IN PRAISE OF ST. JAMES, SON OF ALPHÆUS.
Furthermore, I bless and adore and embrace you, O most blessed and magnificent one, you who are filled with the breath of the Lord and mystically reborn through what is divine, and who have been recognized as a holy, intelligent spirit, B according to the likeness of the Begetter; recognized, that is, as essentially suprasubstantial, as you indeed were recognized. And in the intimacy you have with Him, having transcended all things and having been deemed worthy of a state superior to the world, enjoying through divine inspiration an unmediated conversation—you, who C as a most beloved son have been admitted to the divine, fatherly table, and as one who rests upon the bosom of the first and truly beloved and inherently beloved Son.
And just as, regarding that which pertained to your life upon earth while in the mortal body, you were a companion, a fellow-feaster, and in every way one who lived and acted constantly with Him, having been deemed worthy D of the most sublime mysteries, a spectator of miraculous works, a most faithful auditor of His words, and a partaker of His reproaches and His saving passion, resurrection, and reception into heaven, and a participant in the most divine Spirit, just as Peter and Andrew and the sons of thunder held their share—so too, afterwards, have you partaken, after long and myriad labors for the sake of the Gospel, after all manner of struggles and hardships, after the circuits of land and sea, after the persecutions of the Jews, the assaults of the nations, the outrages, the scourgings, and all the snares of the impious; and finally, on the cross, through the grace by which you yourself were crucified, having indeed left behind on earth the sanctified body and the sanctified creation, and having been assumed in spirit to God with the angels attending you with glory, and being filled with purity by the Lord and your God and your King (O blessedness! O joyfulness!), you have been deemed worthy of the unpolluted and ineffable glory, and of eternal life and honor with Him.
A And yet the discourse, like a swiftest horse having snatched up its rider, has run ahead of the contests; and before the struggles it has proclaimed the crowns. But do not be unaware of the swiftness of that sudden light, flashing over the whole, and turning back more quickly to itself—even so apostolic grace, shedding light upon the hearts of the nations, in a moment flashes its power outside itself, and then in a moment leaps back into itself again. As it is possible, and concerning the divine Word, one attempts to emulate the speed or divinity of the deeds of those who are praised—and just as "the ways of the wisdom of God" in the sea, B and "her paths in the waters" are for many unsearchable and the footsteps are not recognized; so too the ways of the children of wisdom, I mean the disciples of Christ, are difficult to understand, and their actions are unsearchable to exactness—in short, their magnificent works exceed all human reason.
Wherefore, also for us, by the dignity of the subject, the discourse, not being easily able to attain it, says a long farewell to prolixity. For "what," as the Oracles say, "of the seas, or of the drops of the water, or of the days of the age, shall one recount C"? Or who shall investigate the abyss of the wonders and the divine science of James, his heavenly teaching and theology? Who shall write down the destruction and proof of human passions and diseases, the healing and removal; the resurrection of the dead, the recovery of the lame, the gaining of sight by the blind, and the curing of every bodily infirmity in the name of Jesus? Who shall chronicle the long journeys, the disturbances, the manifold uprisings and the onslaughts of the Hellenists; how much he endured in the city of the Free, having resisted the defenders of impiety; how much in Gaza and Tyre, and in the neighboring villages of other races, in which the thrice-blessed D one evangelized Christ; who shall recount the multitude of those who were led to Christ by him, and were cleansed and illumined by water and the Spirit; and who were prepared for the Church by priests established by him and by bishops, for God who exceeds every sanctity, and for them who are perfected? Who, by these, and by things following these, could explain the words and deeds of true wisdom? Not even one day’s apostolic theology, much less could any discourse accurately detail the God-ordained action, not to mention singing of all things in order, which he accomplished in many years in the Paraclete.
ORATION VIII. IN PRAISE OF SAINT JAMES SON OF ALPHAEUS
A For the discourse has truly seized its rider, like a very swift horse, and while yet before the trials, it dictates the crowns. But do not let admiration for its speed hold you. For in the manner of lightning, which suddenly lights up the whole world and returns to itself faster than a word, so the apostolic grace, suddenly illuminating the hearts of the nations and flashing forth its power in a moment, is as it were gone outside itself, and leaps back again into itself. As far, then, as is possible, the discourse concerning divine things B endeavors to emulate the swiftness—or rather, the divinity—of the matters praised by it. And just as the ways of God’s wisdom among the seas, and its paths among the waters, are praised by many because they are incomprehensible, and its tracks are not known, so too the ways of the children of wisdom—I mean the most blessed disciples of Christ—are hard to discern, and their actions are unknown to reach with precision; indeed, their magnificent works exceed all human intellect and all human C language.
Wherefore, for us too, the discourse, contracting itself because of the unreachability of the subject, bids a long farewell to prolixity. For, as the divine oracles say, who shall number the sand of the seas, or the drops of rain, or the days of the age? But the abyss of miracles, and the wisdom of the most sight-perceptive James, and the depths of heavenly teaching and Theology, who shall investigate? Who could record the overturning and expulsion of demons, the healing and removal D of human passions and diseases, the resurrection of the dead, the strengthening of the lame, the recovery of sight for the blind, and the cures of every bodily impairment in the name of Jesus? Who could record his long journeys, his instability, the dangers, the multiform uprisings and incursions of the Greeks; how much he endured at Eleutheropolis from the defenders of impiety; how much at Gaza and Tyre and the neighboring towns of the aliens, where the most thrice-blessed man preached Christ? Who could clarify in words the crowds who were brought to Christ through him and were cleansed and illuminated by water and Spirit, and who were fashioned for the church to the Most Holy by the priests and bishops appointed by him? Who could declare these things and the steps and actions of true knowledge—that is, of piety—following upon them? Not even for a single day could a discourse accurately relate the apostolic theology and the action made perfect by God, let alone recount everything in order, which he accomplished in many years in the Paraclete.
A But leaving these things to Him who works all things and knows all things, I praise your cross, most blessed one. For this is the most beautiful crown you have placed upon your long labors and struggles. I praise the cross, on which you stretched out your precious and holy hands, and glorified your God and Lord. I praise the cross, because for you it was fixed as a ladder from earth toward heaven, leading directly upward; which even more swiftly than a chariot of fire, and more sharply and divinely than flaming vehicles, lifted you high from the earth, and carried you, wafted by the breeze, to the Super-celestial One and brought you near and attached you to Him. For indeed, having journeyed through Egypt, and having pitched his tents in the dwellings of Kedar, B and for a long time appearing among the Egyptians as the true Israelite, and among the darkened ones as one who had been enlightened; and having made all those among them whom he found worthy, children of light and day, he thus ascended the cross for the sake of all: in one of the cities of Egypt (called Ostracina) being slaughtered like a lamb—but in all lands and cities propitiating Christ through his own sufferings; and not as one suffering something grievous, nor as one pained in soul, did he resent those who were crucifying him; but rather, as if receiving a benefit from them, he addressed them and smiled upon them, beseeching them to be saved, and exhorting them to surface from the Egyptian deceit and superstition, and warning them to recognize the Master of heaven and earth. Therefore, as if repaying them for the benefit, because in this too they had clearly shown him to be an imitator C of Christ, because they were preparing for him an easy and ready road through the cross, and a path convenient to heaven, he besought them, admonishing all to know Christ. To know Jesus, the true light, the sweet, the blessed, the holy, the immaculate, the timeless, that which is not overtaken by cloud, not interrupted by night, not obstructed by the body, not circumscribed by place, that which alone is worthy to be envied and desired; that which alone is worthy to be believed and loved; the ever-shining and all-shining light; the light that knows no setting and is not quenched. To know this as God, to desire this, to seek this through every divine-accomplishing act, D through every vision surpassing light, as really being, and radiating without beginning from Him who truly is, the Father. This one must worship in the Spirit of God, as the Word of God and true God, and one must revere and praise also His dispensation in the flesh, I mean the birth from a Virgin, which for our sake, in you already more broadly...
...will save them: and the Lord shall be known to the Egyptians, and they shall offer vows to the Lord, and perform them. B
Rejoice, in that also in thee, as in the most excellent, and as one standing in the most excellent inheritance of the Son of God, the lines have fallen, according to the most holy oracle; which lines are to be understood—and I suppose them to be the bonds of the love of the Spirit—with which He, having bound thee together with the other sons of the intelligible bridal chamber, drew thee along, and took thee as a fellow-heir and fellow-guest at that supreme and mystical supper, not in a sensible manner, but intelligibly; not temporarily, but eternally; not for the sake of fleeting pleasure, but of stable joy; nor by reason of such sweetness as human reason could fashion for itself, but of that which neither eye has seen, nor ear ever heard by experience, nor has the mind of any mortal conceived.
Rejoice, in that Thou hast attained not only by grace, but by reward and prize (as is the retribution for long struggles and labors in exchange for victory), the kingdom of heaven; and in all the divine virtues, and in all the works of truth and piety and justice; and furthermore, having been made like unto the Savior in the torment of the cross, and having for this reason been granted greater boldness, thou art sufficient to intercede for the Church with the King and God. It is permitted also, and there is the power, O most benign and most royal child of God, to remember our lowliness, and to supplicate the Lord, that we also, having ordered our lives worthily according to the Lord’s will, may become partakers of your portion, and may be deemed worthy to enjoy the celestial goods of God together with you, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is glory and power and honor and adoration, together with the eternal Father and the life-giving Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ORATIO IX. In praise of the holy and most celebrated apostle Philip.
“Draw water with joy from the fountains of the Savior,” the most vocal of the prophets proclaims to us. C Which... [32] D ...of the apostles’ successors, they fulfill the thing by the very profession of the institute, being helpers through true succession itself. That Philip, one of the seven, had four virgin daughters who prophesied at Caesarea in Palestine, Luke is the authority in the cited Acts xxi; and Clement and Polycrates seem to have drawn that which is said of the deacon or evangelist to Philip the apostle, one of the twelve. Eusebius, in Book III, ch. 39, reports Clement in these words enumerating the apostles who had wives, on account of those who would repudiate marriage. Will they perhaps also reject the apostles? For Peter indeed...
A provided children. Philip also gave his daughters in marriage. Paul also, in a certain epistle, does not fear to invoke his own wife; whom, however, he did not take about with him, so that he might more readily fulfill his ministry. Methodius the Martyr also testifies similarly concerning Paul’s marriage in his *Symposium*, and he does not seem to conclude this perfunctorily from Paul’s own words. Cardinal Baronius (year 58, n. 113) says concerning this authority of Clement: “But what Clement of Alexandria records, that Philip gave his daughters in marriage, is evidently not spoken of Philip the deacon, but of Philip the apostle: for, arguing against those who disapproved of marriage, etc.” To me, however, nothing is concluded thence, and I think that Clement must necessarily be speaking of Philip one of the twelve; because the name of apostle was so common, especially to those who were, as it were, the leaders among the disciples of the second order, and were almost joined to the highest apostles themselves, of which kind was James the brother of the Lord, the prelate of the Jerusalemites, whom Paul calls an apostle without qualification, and says that he saw no one B else of the apostles in Jerusalem, except James the brother of the Lord. The example and authority of Philip the deacon and Evangelist were of great weight for establishing marriage, especially because mention was made of him in Scripture with the praise of marriage and daughters; just as also of Peter and Paul himself, according to what those ancients understood.
Concerning Polycrates, there is a greater difficulty, whose authority is cited once and again by Eusebius: Book III, 31 and Book V, ch. 24, in both of which places in the common editions of Eusebius, it says: “Philip one of the twelve apostles.” So that no exposition seems to satisfy it, so that one might not think that the Philip, whose daughters are mentioned, was an apostle of the first order. Christophorson, however, in both places [has]: “Philip, I say, one of the seven deacons.” Where Valesius notes: “Christophorson has by no means performed the office of a good interpreter in this place, who instead of Philip one of the twelve apostles, substituted Philip one of the seven deacons.” In both places, written in the margin is: “Philip one of the seven deacons,” from wherever either the Genevans or Christophorson himself may have gotten that emendation; and would that it were from a codex proven by antiquity itself. Jerome likewise reads C in Polycrates: “of the twelve apostles.” But Rufinus, in the first place indeed, says: “But I speak of Philip, who was one of the apostles, who died at Hierapolis,” without that word *of the twelve*; to whom, therefore, either it was wanting, or it was a gloss rashly inserted into the text, and contrary to Scripture, by whose authority Polycrates seems to lean in [speaking of] the daughters of Philip. In the other [place], however, [he says]: “in whom is Philip the evangelist, who died at Hierapolis.” Which is the very emendation of Christophorson; nor could Rufinus easily be seen as a plagiarist who would substitute one for the other. It was easier for it to creep into Jerome, who was not acting as an interpreter of Eusebius, but was composing his Catalog from his History, as his memory suggested; in which it is not certain that he followed Eusebius everywhere, and I would wish that Valesius had attacked the authority of Rufinus, and had not detracted from Christophorson alone.
Eusebius in that ch. 31, book III, with the report from the dialogue of Caius, consistent with the foregoing concerning the departure of Philip and his daughters to the Asian city of Hierapolis, where the sepulcher of them and their father is visited, adds from Luke in the Acts of the Apostles concerning the daughters of Philip the evangelist in Caesarea of Judea, one of the D seven; as if he feels and thinks that those authorities consonant with Scripture are to be understood only of Philip, one of the seven and a deacon: and that there exists among the ancients and in Scripture itself the sure monument of his marriage: and of none of the other apostles, except Peter, as Jerome thought *against Jovinian*, or also Paul, in the opinion of those who explain the passages of Scripture concerning his marriage. He has four daughters of Philip, and indeed virgins and prophetesses, disciples: these same ones the holy text in the desert mentions: Polycrates, indeed, mentions only three, of those surely who rested in Asia, whose *stoicheia*, luminaries, he records in it of Christianity, and the first as it were stars; two, namely, at Hierapolis, who remained virgins; the third at Ephesus whom the father also gave to a husband, as Clement is the author, without any contradiction with the sacred text; in which they are thus called virgins, that it is not necessary to understand them as consecrated to God; or to whom marriage was forbidden. The Greeks commemorate the memory of that third one on September 4th and call her Ermione, who truly formed her life by the divine Spirit, as Polycrates is the author, and she was finished by an egregious martyrdom under the emperor Hadrian, as the Greeks [say] of many there. The Greeks add Eutychide as a sister [165 omitted] in the Menaea, about whom, however, they add nothing. The Greeks in the Menaea on October 11th celebrate the feast of the holy apostle Philip one of the seven deacons, whose daughters they say [emigrated] to the Lord and went to Tralli in Asia, or far from Ephesus, with no mention of martyrdom made; but the holy apostle Philip from the twelve, they have the birthday marked on November 14th, where there is nothing about his daughters; but only those things which here Nicetas, or even Metaphrastes, adorns with his pen concerning his struggle and consummation in Hierapolis in Asia with Bartholomew. And that two daughters of Philip the deacon remained virgins and were buried in the same place, certain of the ancients may perhaps have believed were the daughters of Philip the apostle himself from the twelve, and said that they were buried here and there near their father; that we should think so, nothing compels us. Certainly from the acts of the holy Ermione and her sister there related, it is clear that they had conceded to Asia, not for the sake of approaching their father, but John the Theologian, which same thing happened to the Magdalene, as is clear from the sincerer monuments of the ancients: from those to be sure which Modestus, prelate of the Jerusalemites, wrote severely about her, [in] the text of Photius 275, the oration *On the women ointment-bearers*: which passage of his I am surprised could have slipped into a pious and learned man, and a lover of letters, so that only the day before yesterday he would drag it to the holy Mother of God; as if that Mary Magdalene is the virgin and martyr who thus rested at Ephesus, a student of John, having followed John there; and as if this passage of Modestus stands in the way of the words of Juvenal, also a prelate of the Jerusalemites, by which he testified to the Empress Pulcheria that she (Mary) had rested in Jerusalem, and that her body had been translated; which also Damascene expressed in more [passages] Orat. 2 *On the dormition of the holy Mary*, as if from the Euthymiac history, very suspicious to me, and which to all apocrypha adds that [story] about Thomas being missed at the transit and funeral rites of holy Mary, when as if from a cloud divinely all the apostles were present and had arrived, so that they might honor that funeral and the rites. If indeed they had made the journey by human industry (even if warned by God), there would be some reason for that arrival of the traitor Thomas, and after three days from the burial of the little body of Mary, because he was performing the office of preaching in more remote places, and among the Indians: which, however, is done so by a miracle, as that history wills, it suffers no such delays from the distance of places; and it is clearly evident that this about Thomas is a fiction, from the fact that it is written in John 20 that he was away, when the Lord appeared to the apostles in the evening on the very day of the Resurrection. None of those apocryphal [works] of John the Phlogon [sic], Melito, John of Thessalonica, which exist for us, contain anything of the sort, which all it was permitted to publish, but it did not please, except Melito, because it had already been published, and toward whom I would seem to be able to do something of medicine, or to warn the reader against him and his bran. Andreas of Crete, the archbishop, himself educated in Jerusalem and famous in the clergy of that city, a little older than Damascene, and who is written to have been the first to treat this matter correctly by the authors brought forward by me in the *Bibliotheca Conciliorum*, having diligently searched the ancient monuments, found in them no Euthymiac History, nor did he think it worthy, to which the assumption of Mary
A had been entrusted, or to which it might have given firm faith, or which it might have brought in support of that thing—unless (as he had once quoted from Dionysius, cap. 3, *De divinis nominibus*) all his monuments, as he clearly professes in his speeches long ago [published by] Lipomanus, were represented to me by two-fold authority. Yet a light defense seems to be provided in his favor, and especially by Maximus, the most weighty scholiast of Dionysius, who sets it forth from the Lord’s sepulcher, and [claims] that because in this way it [the body of Mary] had received life, and had received the Lord's body, and having risen from there on the third day, had departed to us incorrupt, and that that which preceded it had initiated it. Certainly, it was most clearly eluting in him—[one could] understand [it] from the apostle and from both apostolic men—the infinite virtue of the *astheneia* (weakness), so that it might make all things clear. Indeed, he rendered the *Bibl.*, the power, whatever [else] he had in his codex, or what had crept upon him: this is, after all, the divine emptying, for us set forth by Paul. And so far, that faith of this Dionysius, to whose B oratory perhaps he might have applied [his own] trust, and to whose memory in consecrated Scripture such was kept; whose very houses of previous habitation [the people of] Caesarea hold in veneration, which Jerome and Paula, while they were still extant, had visited. This may have been, perhaps, poured out more than is just. It seems to me, however, that the man in that [matter] of Eusebius appears the most well-versed, in that he has touched upon the history of those first times, so that he might only insert [things] which are either in Scripture, or which [the writer] who is a theologian praises, [or which] he might have in his monuments, not [things] which common report has spread, or which are written by an uncertain author. C By which fact, [those things] being hushed up regarding James of Alphaeus, or regarding James the Lord’s brother, this is the case, in which there is little caution: another is substituted, and he who is truly the apostle is expunged, preserved by the Septuagint; for it is not his [work] which he wrote, nor [are they his words]. Therefore, it is to be noted of the highest negligence [to cite] Clem., Polycr., [or] Papias, whom Scripture thus openly declares to be Philip the evangelist, one [of the seven], or [as] Philip [of the] twelve, or Eusebius, who, with their testimonies related, [speaks] of Philip the apostle of the first order, and appends [information] as if for the sake of confirmation from the Acts of Philip’s daughters. Which because it must be admitted, the [man] D Christopherson must not follow the custom of Valerius after Rufinus’ amendment. Jerome must not be committed to this, as others might see: certainly, in other places he is mindful of himself, and it is clear that he spoke the contrary; which it is not the [purpose] of this institute to urge.
ORATION XVI. — IN PRAISE OF ST. THECLA
A and brought her to the better life through prayer; and, having thus become the cause of unspeakable joy and salvation to her whole house, she again went to seek her instructor. Having found him, and explained to him the providential event that had befallen her, she brought to him the greatest possible consolation and gladness, and became for the faithful a great cause of edification. In this manner does the all-blessed one fulfill her martyrdom to God: being the first, just as the great Stephen was to men, so she to women, by the excellence of her faith, opening the stadium for the struggle. Therefore, she also obtained greater aid from Christ than all others, because she was to be shown forth to all womankind as a most illustrious archetype of martyrdom.
Henceforth, above all human injury through Christ, and having surpassed the struggles of the combatants, she lived out her apostolic life pure until the very end. Sometimes returning to her own city, for the edification of those near to her and for their conversion to God, she for the most part preferred to dwell in Seleucia; and she had this one work always in her care: to magnify Christ. This one care was the constant meditation of her heart, to glorify Christ. For by word she exhorted all men and women to turn to the living God, and, abandoning the ancestral and abominable religions and all evil customs, she urged them to cling solely to the truth and faith in Christ; to have care only for a life in accordance with the Gospel, and to look to one thing alone: what is pleasing to God.
The most blessed virgin and apostle, testifying to such things with words, healed their sick in deed by the invocation of Christ, curing every bodily infirmity and every vexation of demons; and, to express it all at once, every disease and every malady. And not only this, but she also performed the rite of holy baptism; for she alone among women received this power—this, clearly, as a gift and a singular prize for the perfection of her struggle and faith—building everyone up and forming them into one holy Church in Christ Jesus.
Now, when she had well finished her course and had arrived at a good and blessed old age—in order that in this too she might have something greater than the other saints: a paradoxical passing and disappearance—envy was kindled against her by the most wicked of the city; but it was kindled even more by the physicians. The cause was that those who were ill, coming to her, neglected them. B C D
A And, being saved after this, he stepped into the ever-living pastures and dwellings.
This is the beginning of Philip’s discipleship. This is the origin of his calling and election. From this point, being crucified to the whole world, he was crucified only to Christ. And as one ranked among the leaders of the disciples, being their peer in honor, he directed his inclination toward the Master alone, being strengthened by His love only, being molded toward the beauty of virtue, being deemed worthy of the mysteries of the kingdom, and being, as far as possible, united and assimilated to the Word, the mystic guide.
And he did not enjoy this good thing for himself in such a way that he concealed it from his neighbors; but being entirely good in the intent of his soul, he shares the good with others. Finding Nathanael first, he announced to him the arrival of the One who was to come. Not anymore, he says, is salvation in the hopes of Israel. Not anymore do we imagine that which is not yet present, as one day to be, dimly in the thoughts of our mind. For He is present, and He whom the great Moses and the prophets of old foresaw in the Spirit, and predicted would be raised up in the last times as Savior for Israel—Him we have found, Jesus from Nazareth, and having believed in His supernatural works, we have most joyfully made our dwelling with Him. Having won him over completely with these words, as a most beautiful prey, he brings the man to Jesus; and this was the first pledge of his genuinely devoted spirit and a certain proof of sincere faith that he offered to Christ, yielding that true Israelite as fruit.
Therefore, since he lent his ear to all the words of grace in order, and having become an eyewitness of all His wonders, he was cleansed by the sacred teachings from every diminishing weakness; and casting off the mist of all ignorance, he was magnificently illuminated, progressing in the light of divine knowledge and heavenly wisdom. By the paradoxical works, he confirmed his faith; D and daily, being renewed in the inner man, he was strengthened into a perfect man, into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
The sure indication of this perfection is the confirmation of holy love, which that great Apostle, dedicating a perfect and holy love to the Master, obtained in return. Nay, rather, He who is the author of good things and who by nature is love, abounds always in the perfection of every virtue and admits neither any diminution nor any increase of it; but those who strive toward it through the cultivation of exercise or by imitation, in proportion to the light of virtue that provides progress, are themselves made partakers of perfection—some advancing to the rank and dignity of sons and heirs, others, who are reckoned as servants, obtaining the order of the faithful.
ORATION IX.—IN PRAISE OF ST. PHILIP THE APOSTLE.
A The holy and great disciples of the Word, being strangers to all the friendship that is practiced in the way of the world, but kinsmen and friends of the heavenly Father; and having alienated themselves from every erotic disposition of the present age, and being wounded by the love of the most God-ruling Bridegroom alone, and being united to Him through the Spirit, they have attained the high privilege of sonship. Wherefore the Holy Spirit also, though formerly He acted upon them insufficiently and obscurely as upon those who were yet imperfect, later, after the restoration of the Only-Begotten to the heavens, B arriving as upon those now perfected in a consummating—if I may so speak—and consecrating manner, and deifying them, established them as princes over the whole earth: not elevating them with transitory magistracies and offices, nor bestowing a kingdom that is the object of envy and easily overturned, but granting them an indissoluble glory and an authority that shall in no wise pass to others. For it was fitting that those who were born from above should also obtain an inheritance and a portion appropriate to the eternity of the Spirit; and that those who were established as partakers of the glory of the Only-Begotten, according to the likeness to Him, should also share in the possession of incorruption.
C Since, therefore, Christ had received all authority in heaven and on earth, the holy theologians, having received the whole inhabited world as their lot through Him, some went forth to take possession of the eastern regions, others the western; and some traversed the northern, others the southern clime of the earth, evangelizing it. But Philip, the great child of God, he who is the most luminous and true son of the Father of lights by participation; the faithful friend and, by grace, brother of the Only-Begotten; the precious offspring of the Paraclete, the tabernacle of the holiness of the Most High, the crown of the Church, the ornament of the apostles, the delight of the incorporeal powers—he, traversing the climes of Asia, D and announcing the doctrine of life to all lands and cities, and those...
A ordained to life, he reconciled to the true life through faith. Captives of the devil, lost to countless errors and seductions, he captured with the words of divine wisdom and exhortations, cleansing them with the water of regeneration, and illuminating and perfecting them through the Spirit of grace, thus indeed adopting them as sons to the Father who is in heaven. All who were held by various passions or diseases, or were possessed by demons, or were afflicted by any other sinister misfortune, and were in a bad state, he healed by a word alone and by the touch of his sacred hand. And in a spiritual manner, striking the faces of the invisible enemies, he crushed them; to the senses, however, those whom they had led astray he brought, by rebuking, admonishing, and entreating B, little by little, to the knowledge of the truth through his magnificent preaching and the stupendous working of miracles. Making priests and prelates for the faithful, and everywhere constructing altars to the Lord, and delivering the sacred rite of the holy mysteries [(35)], and establishing the evangelical law for them as far as permitted, the most blessed man thus became the cause of a double benefit to the believers: namely, that of the body and of the soul.
Just as a huge seine net cast into the sea, the longer it remains in the waters, the greater the abundance of fish it draws in; so truly the great Apostle, having lived for many years among many peoples of the gentiles, drew in a far more crowded multitude of those who, through his work, gave their name to Christ. It was fitting, however, that he, as a seine net of the Spirit, being drawn up by the hands of holy angels as if from the sea to the shore—that is, to the celestial station—if anything unworthy of the Dominical table had followed him, he should cast it away; but whatever was good, beautiful, and precious, he should offer with honor to the King of glory C.
But what was the manner of the Apostle’s departure? there is a city in Phrygia, great and illustrious, proud in its abundance of wealth and the height of its glory (they call it Hierapolis), in the vigor and multitude of its citizens, at that time yielding the first rank to none, perhaps, of the great metropolises in the East. To this city, the great Philip, after long circuits of his journeys, after perils, labors, and hardships of every kind, after various torments for the sake of the Gospel D...
and afflictions, and while evangelizing Christ Jesus to them, was led by the Spirit. A
The holy and great disciples of the Word, therefore, being strangers to all friendship of the world, but kinsmen and friends of the heavenly Father; having alienated themselves from every passionate desire of the present age, and being wounded only by the love of the most God-ruling Bridegroom, and united to Him through the Spirit, have been deemed worthy of the high adoption. Whence also the Holy Spirit acting upon them—before as if they were unfinished, imperfectly and obscurely; but afterwards, following the restoration of the Only-begotten to the heavens, B by bringing about a sacred rite, as if for the perfect, and deifying them—appointed them rulers over all the earth: not crowning them with ephemeral offices, nor granting an enviable and unstable kingdom, but bestowing an indissoluble glory and an unchangeable power. For it was fitting that those who were born from above should also obtain an inheritance proportionate to the eternity of the Spirit; and that those who were established as partakers of the glory of the Only-begotten, according to their likeness to Him, should also share in [God’s] incorruptible possession. C Since, then, Christ had received all power in heaven and on earth, the holy theologians, having been allotted by Him the whole inhabited world, went forth, some obtaining the eastern regions, others the western; and some traversed the northern, while others the southern climate, preaching the Gospel of the earth. But the great child of God, Philip, the radiant and genuine son of the Father of lights by participation; the faithful friend of the Only-begotten and his brother by grace; the precious offspring of the D Paraclete, the tabernacle of the holiness of the Most Holy, the crown of the Church, the ornament of the apostles, the delight of the incorporeal beings—this one, going about the regions of Asia, and throughout all lands and cities announcing the doctrine of life.
A He presented himself as having become man without sin. Appearing in the likeness of men, by words of truth and works of power, he illuminated for us the glory and knowledge of his Father; and although he was impassible, having conversed with sufferings—and for our sake with the cross and death—(for he was man), he rose on the third day and revealed himself to us; and while we were looking on, he was taken up into heaven (for he was God). Him we also expect to come again, as he said, from the heavens, to raise up the whole creation, and to judge and render to each according to his deeds. Recognize this one, we exhort you. Worship this one, we entreat you; and being baptized in his name, you shall be cleansed from every wicked and impure rite, and having become partakers of all grace, and partners of his holiness, you shall be deemed worthy of the inheritance of eternal life and of the kingdom, in Christ Jesus. Amen.
B The most blessed one, having admonished with such divine exhortations, and urging them on, preaching the word of righteousness both privately and in public assembly, attached to the truth a multitude that was superior in number, giving assent. And regenerating these through water and Spirit, and appointing those among them who were more prudent and had attained greater grace as bishops and priests, as is fitting, he raised up a holy, spotless Church to Christ.
But he who is the adversary of the truth, seeing it thus prospering, did not endure it; but having incited the more powerful and first men of that city, and having kindled zeal in them like fire, he suddenly seizes him with a military hand; and he scourges him bitterly, and casts him into a dire prison; then, having bound him with ropes by his heels, they suspend the just man on high, with his head toward the ground. C And one might see him like a spotless lamb, suspended through the air; and having his feet above, but his venerable head below, and in such a posture, he was as it were foreshadowing the straight path and contemplation of the mind toward the things above.
But the Lord did not leave him without consolation. For by a more inclined counsel of gentler providence, the divine apostle Bartholomew also was crucified along with him. For it happened that he was staying there at that time, and as he was a companion of the preaching, so also he became a companion of the suffering. And not only this, D but also Mary herself, the sister of Philip, sister to Mariamne,
[Note: The remaining text on this page is contained within footnotes (37) and (38) which describe the historical details of these martyrdoms.]
and the manifold trials, the labors, the toils, after the various tortures and tribulations undergone for the sake of the Gospel, he was led by the Spirit, even unto this place, to preach Christ Jesus. A Seeing, then, that the city was not only full of idols and polluted by mute statues and the worship of demons, but also—O, the excess of wickedness!—held in honor as a god and sought to appease with sacrifices a certain monstrous and abominable viper, he was inflamed in soul with divine zeal. Through most intense prayers, and by the word of the command of the living God, and by the invocation of the name of Jesus Christ, he killed that death-bearing viper, and with all kindness the wonderful man exhorted and advised all to look up to heaven and recognize the Master of heaven. He, being always God, perfect, without beginning, incorporeal, and incomprehensible, having willed, out of the excess of His goodness, to bring forth this visible world after the invisible one, fashioned heaven outside of all things, like an ever-moving sphere containing all bodies; and He established the earth in the midst of all, as a kind of center of the whole, in an immobile placement and state of equilibrium. And He solidified the abyssal and elemental water around the earth, and the earth around the water, bracing both elements through one another, B culminating them marvelously into a certain ineffable power, standing at the very center of the whole. Following these things, He poured out the air, void of much around, and leading around the ethereal expanse superposed above it; from which He made all plants and animals, according to the peculiar nature and form of each. But man alone, having fashioned him as an image of His own majesty, He made an inhabitant of paradise; whom, having transgressed the Lordly commandment and thereby having slipped from intimacy with Him, death and corruption, the wages of sin, overtook. Yet the most good One was not angered until the end, nor did He despise His own creature for eternity; but having first schooled them toward piety through the law and the holy prophets, now, at the consummation of the ages, He sent the only-begotten, co-equal, and consubstantial Word, in a way surpassing essence, from a venerable and holy D Virgin, born as man without the contagion of sin.
ORATION IX. IN PRAISE OF THE HOLY APOSTLE PHILIP
Maria was the sister of Philip, both by nature and by faith; she was his equal in zeal, like-minded in love; a virgin in soul, and a virgin in body, she was wholly wounded by the love of Christ. B Maria, a true handmaid of Christ, a worthy daughter of God, wholly filled with the all-holy Spirit, a faithful disciple of the Gospel, a diligent servant of the apostles, and a most fervent preacher of Jesus to the Greek women. She was ever constant to Philip, from whom she had received her share of the apostolate; and honoring him as her brother in body, but as her father in spirit, and serving him as a diligent handmaid, she herself was also full of apostolic power. Therefore, as he preached the Gospel, she worked with him; when he was imprisoned, she accompanied him; and when he was finally suspended, she suffered with him and endured his pain, in every way the most blessed woman sharing in the sufferings of Christ.
Then a strange spectacle occurred, full of every terror and alarm. Suddenly the earth was shaken, and that entire assembly was cast down and sank into a deep pit, in which almost the whole city, having gathered to transform the men of Jesus into a spectacle, had been drawn down to the ground. C As all the people were threatened with a terrible destruction, they cried out to those around Philip, promising that they would indeed abandon their error and believe in the true God. But they—by earnest supplications—sought to appease God, and as they prayed, the Lord suddenly appeared to them; the earth was at once strengthened and stopped from its downward subsidence, and the divine power, in the manner of a ladder, was stretched out to those who were perishing, to make a path for their salvation. This became an occasion of faith for the unbelievers. This miracle, in fact, brought almost that entire city to the God of Philip.
From then on, those who had been saved approached with eagerness to release the prisoners of Christ and to take them down from the tree—but they were halted, knowing the counsel regarding them from on high. D For you, O most blessed of the apostles, not having deigned to be released from your bonds, and having instructed the city in what was necessary, and having charged all the brethren to remain in the faith of Jesus and to persevere in His commandments—then, having spoken a prayer both of supplication and thanksgiving to your God and King, Christ, as He appeared to you in spirit and in a way transcending the world, you delivered your most blessed soul into His hands. And with a voice of exultation and confession, with the sound of intellectual and divine Powers celebrating a feast, you were taken up to your heavenly and most transcendent mansions.
B Bartholomew, too, having been taken down from the wood, together with the most wise Mariam, after they had reverently buried the body that carried Christ and had strengthened the Church, enlightened those who approached, and completed whatever was lacking in the ministry of the Gospel, each went on their own way. But you, most renowned and divine child of God, dancing through the heavenly dwellings and living for eternity with your Teacher and Lord, rejoice; and take delight, as a son of God by adoption, having obtained the lot to reign together with Him who is Son by nature, and to live with Him and rejoice unceasingly and converse with Him. Rejoice, for you desired to behold the Father of lights, and seeing Him, you were taught in the Son, as in an image, the archetype; and as in an effulgence, you perceived the Sun in the Only-Begotten, perceiving the Begetter; you were filled with true light, as a son of light, and appeared as light itself. Rejoice, most fervent and swift horse of Christ, which He mounted and, leading into the intelligible sea and guiding wondrously, through you He troubled many waters, the absurd thoughts of the nations. Rejoice, because having emulated and loved the volatile, swift, active, and eager nature of the intelligible horses of God—that is, the angelic powers—you were quite reasonably called Philip, and were shown to be a myriad-fold chariot of God, according to the Scripture, in which thousands of those who believed in Christ through you, the Churches flourishing, sound forth glory to God Sabaoth. Rejoice with me, and leap and dance, having obtained a throne of glory in the midst of the leaders, and been numbered with the first of the apostles, and been deemed worthy of the first rank before the King of all. Rejoice, but also become for us who are afflicted an exultation and delight and joy. Relieve the hardships of the poor; restore peace and good order to the Churches; and having accepted this meager praise of ours, fulfill, O thrice-blessed and divinely happy one, our desires according to Christ; and having brought us into harmony with the good and acceptable and perfect will of the Master, present us unashamed before God: in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power forever and ever. Amen. C From the miracles of the apostle. This most shining star and great apostle of the Lord, while he was going into Galilee itself...
and Samaria, and as he was proclaiming, still living in the body, a woman met him who was carrying out her dead child; and as a mother, she was beating her breast without measure. The proclaimer, taking pity on her, and stretching out his right hand to the dead, said, "Arise, Jesus Christ, who is proclaimed by me, commands you." And the word provided life-giving resurrection to the child, and caused the one who had risen to become a staff for the mourning woman for her house. She, grasping the footprints of the miracle-worker, kept saying, "Regenerate together with me through water him whom you have raised." And having obtained the grace, she became an apostle, evangelizing the resurrection of her son to all.
He led him also to Athens. There, the Athenians wished to minimize the simplicity of his word, but the performance of wonders persuaded them to resist. And consequently, they said, "What then ought we to do, we who have busied ourselves with words, being defeated by the words of this man? For, as you see, this man is rustic and without status, yet in his works he is shown to be powerful and renowned among us. Therefore, by letter, we shall signify this to the chief scribe of the Jews in Jerusalem." And having ratified the opinion, they send a person sufficient for the task of speaking.
He, at least, having arrived within Jerusalem, after the delivery of the writing, clarified the matters of the writing through words to the rulers, saying: "A certain man from these parts, saying he is Philip, has arrived unto us; he brings with him a rustic word, yet not a small one, since it unsettles our heart and homeland, and he proclaims a name, Jesus, whom also having on his tongue, he keeps away demons and ailments of every kind. But together with these, he performed a deed. Someone having left life, and having departed to the place of the dead, he raised up by the invocation of Jesus. It remains, therefore, that our matters perish and his increase, unless someone of you arrives to us more quickly." And immediately, with arrogant and boastful display, the chief scribe reaches Greece, being very enraged against Philip; and having neither tasted bread, nor anything else for the body , he demanded that a high platform be made for him; and having donned the exceptional high-priestly cloak, he was puffed up with pride, ascending the judgment seat, with all the learned men of the country, and those who had arrived with him, standing by in fear. A Nevertheless, the apostle, having been summoned, stood in the midst, ready to make a defense to the high priest. And the high priest questioned him in such words: "Did it not seem enough, O most miserable of all men, that you had crept in with the wickedness of your mind among the people of Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and ensnared the simpler ones among them in error, but you even attempted to test the wise men of the city of Athens, thinking to lead astray those who are essentially philosophers and prudent? And indeed you, as one lead astray by error, and having overlooked and scorned the present time, will explain your discourse to the wise men who are of your opinion."
[alt-version omitted]
B The teacher of this man, O men, being one who was engaged in the subversion of the Mosaic law, was rightly condemned by us to be crucified; and having been left naked, suspended on a high pole, he was surrendered to the tomb by the kindness of a certain rich man, Joseph, moved by entreaty, on the day of the feast of Pilate. And by the law of friendship, when his disciples were held, they came secretly in the dead of the night; this, surely, while preparing to seduce the common people; for everywhere a report has gone out that he has risen from the dead, and they boast that this fellow is their master and teacher. And one of them is this Philip, whom the king Archelaus desires to capture, in order to avenge the injury to the common people, and to destroy him with a bad death: whom, if you wish, bring bound to Jerusalem as quickly as possible.
C And indeed, the high priest ceasing his speech, those standing by gazed with intent eyes at Philip, to see what he would finally answer. Therefore, with a gentler expression and open lips, Philip said to the high priest thus: "Son of man, why do you love vanity and speak lies? Or why do you weigh heavy in vanity? Did you fill your hands with gold, that you might abolish the faith with the false accusation regarding the resurrection? Do you not know what seals you have affixed to the monument? These indeed will denounce your wickedness in the day of wrath."
D These things disturbed the high priest in a great manner, and rushing in fury, he could not lay hands on the apostle. For immediately the pupils of his eyes were darkened, and the remaining body was rendered useless. Then those who were present expected that he would be harmed by sorcery. Nevertheless, they having made an assault against the apostle, they themselves received the experience of the same blindness. But the apostle was not ignorant of their unbelief and ignorance, which the power of the demons in them possessed, and he lamented the matter with a groan: "Your kindness, O Lord," he said, "give life, and heal the bruises of them all, and turn their minds toward your knowledge."
And so, the apostle pouring forth prayer from the earth, healing was granted from heaven to those who had been struck.
A And he requested that a lofty judgment seat be made for him. Taking up the pontifical cloak, he ascended the throne of judgment, overflowing with arrogance, while all the learned men of that land, and those who had arrived with him, stood by in fear. The apostle being summoned, he stood in their midst to answer the pontiff. The pontiff questioned the apostle in these words: "Was it not enough, you most miserable of all men, that you crept into Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, where you led astray those whom you found more simple, but you also attempted to tempt the wise men of Athens, thinking, no doubt, that shrewd and prudent men could be seduced by you? B Indeed, I shall pass over you for the moment, as one who is misled by error, and I shall address my speech to the wise men, explaining your opinions. His teacher, men, while he was occupied with overturning the Mosaic law, was condemned by us to bear the cross according to the law, and being left hanging naked upon the wood, because of the importance of the day, Pilate, being moved by the supplication of a certain rich man named Joseph, permitted him to be given burial. Bound by the law of friendship, his disciples secretly stole him away in the dead of night, preparing this ruse to seduce the common people. Having spread the rumor everywhere that he had risen from the dead, they boast of him as their master and teacher. One of that company is this Philip, whom King Archelaus desires to get his hands on, intending to destroy him to avenge the common people. If you wish, quickly take him in chains to Jerusalem." When the pontiff had ceased speaking, those present turned their eyes intently to Philip to see what he would answer. Then, opening his lips softly and quietly, Philip said thus to the pontiff: "Son of man, why do you love vanity and speak a lie? Why do you burden your heart with vanity? C Did you not fill the hands of the guards with gold, in order to fabricate a calumny about the resurrection? Do you not know what seals you placed upon the tomb? These, on the day of wrath, will expose your wickedness to shame." These words greatly disturbed the pontiff; yet, though he rushed with fury to lay hands upon the apostle, he could not do so. For immediately, the pupils of his eyes were darkened, and the rest of his body became useless. At this, the event was considered a sorcery by those who were present. D Yet when they rushed against the apostle, they themselves experienced the same risk of blindness. But since the apostle was not ignorant of their disbelief and their ignorance, that the power of demons held sway over them, he groaned deeply and said, "May your own goodness, Lord, move you, and heal the ruin of both, and transform them to your knowledge." And so, while the apostle offered prayer from the earth, healing was granted from heaven to those who had been struck.
A And, having looked up with their physical eyes, they sought the intelligible health of the soul. But because the apostle knew that the mind of the unstable is often fickle, he did not grant them illumination. When the apostle prayed more earnestly, a divine power descended from heaven, shattered all their statues, B and utterly destroyed the demons lurking within them. A violent tremor then seized the earth, and all made the apostle their refuge, crying out with a loud voice: "God is mighty, who is preached by you, and in Him we believe without doubt, and we will gladly obtain the washing." And he began and baptized them all. But the high priest alone, when he saw those under him torn away, prompted by the suggestion of the deceiver, uttered blasphemous words against the Creator. And the earth, not enduring his madness, while all looked on, as in the case of Dathan and Abiron, C violently forced him inside itself and swallowed him alive. Then, having confirmed those who had been illuminated and having appointed over them a certain Narcissus as bishop—of whom the apostle Paul makes mention in his Epistle to the Romans—he himself arrived at the land of the Parthians and knelt, seeking a visitation from heaven. And immediately a figure of an eagle was shown to him, portraying the crucified Christ under golden wings. D Whence, being strengthened, he again held fast to the preaching, and having traversed the cities of the Candaces,
ORATION IX. — IN PRAISE OF ST. PHILIP THE APOSTLE
he sailed toward Azotus. [Note: The Latin column from "Rom. xvi, 11." through "Quid si allusio est ad Candacem reginam Æthiopum, cui fuerint Æthiopes Palæstinæ vicini, versus Arabiam, ex quibus apostolus, eorum peragratis urbibus," constitutes a scholarly commentary on the text, analyzing the identity of Narcissus, the geography of the mission, and the historical veracity of the account; it is here translated in its argumentative flow:]...robur est: visuque recepto sensilibus oculis, animæ sanitatem, quæ mente intelligitur, expetebant. Quod tamen apostolus instabilium hominum mentis inconstantiam haud raro expertus erat, non annuit ut illuminatione perficeret. Intentiusque ac instantius orante apostolo, divina virtus e cœlo demissa, eorum omnia simulacra elidit; ac qui in eis latitabant, penitus dæmonas perdidit. Factaque tunc terræ valida quassatio, omnesque ad apostolum confugiebant, magna voce clamantes: Fortis est Deus qui abs te prædicatur, eique citra omnem dubitationem credimus, ac lubentes lavacrum consequemur. Incipiensque apostolus, cunctos baptismo tinxit. Solus vero pontifex, ubi subditos avulsos cognovit, dolosi illius suggestione, nefanda in rerum Auctorem verba blasphemo ore evomebat. Ejusque terra dementiam non ferens, cunctis cernentibus, velut in Dathan et Abiron, viventem illum hiatu intus violento compressit atque absorpsit. Tum apostolus, confirmatis illis qui crediderant, præfectoque illis Narcisso quodam episcopo, cujus Paulus meminit in Epistola ad Romanos 8, ad Parthos profectus est genuque in oratione posito, divinam e cœlis visitationem quærebat. Moxque ostensa illi est Aquila figura, quæ sub alis auro rutilis Christi crucifixi formam exprimeret. Unde roboratus, prædicationi rursus incumbebat; Candacensiumque peragratis urbibus, conscensa navi, Azotum navigabat.
[The remainder of the Latin column is an analytical apparatus concerning the identity of Narcissus and the geography of the mission; it is translated here as it appears:]
alt-version omitted: The commentary discusses the potential identity of Narcissus as the freedman of Claudius (Rom. 16:11) and notes difficulties with the chronological data of the Greek text regarding the Apostle Paul’s presence at Athens, as well as the geographical challenges regarding the journey to Azotus and Parthia.
OF NICETAS PAPHLAGO: ON THE LIFE OF LEANDER AND PHILIP
A Having boarded a ship, he sailed to Azotus. Since a violent storm was tossing the vessel, the luminous sign of the Cross suddenly shone forth from the ship itself, illuminating the darkness of the night. After disembarking from the ship, the Apostle was led by a certain citizen of Azotus into an inland dwelling; as the day was already declining toward evening, he prolonged his prayers. Now the host's young daughter, standing near a window close by, was suffering from pain in her eye. Yet she was so soothed by the words of the Apostle that she forgot the very intensity of her pain. Then, approaching her own father, she complained that the disfigurement of her eye, along with the pain, was being neglected. He said to her, "Perhaps, child, I would willingly give even my life for you, if anyone could set right the deformity of your eye." The girl, smiling graciously, said, "There is, Father, if you wish, someone who can cure the pain and the deformity." "Where, child?" he asked. "In the inland room," the girl replied, "whom you received into the house yesterday evening when he arrived from the ship." He immediately ordered the Apostle to be summoned. The one who was summoned, having imbued them with the sweet doctrine of the truth, captivated their whole house and baptized them. When the girl asked the Apostle for the cure of her father's eye, the Apostle said, "I will grant you the knowledge of health, and to all who have received the gift of baptism. Rising in the morning, O maiden, invoke the name of Christ and place your hand on the suffering eye, and the injured eye will become sound and whole." The disciple did as the teacher had instructed, and cured her own ailment. From that time on, the wise Charitina, with the cooperation of her father Nicolides, became a follower of the Apostle, glorifying and blessing God with him.
B When the Apostle Philip reached Hierapolis, he taught those who were accompanying him not to despair in the face of temptations. Because of this, the local inhabitants wanted to kill him by treachery as an impostor, under the pretext that he might deceive their wives, just as he had supposedly done to many others. But a certain Heros, more honorable than the rest of the citizens by fortune, wishing to rescue the Apostle from being stoned, argued with those who were with him, saying something like this: "Fellow citizens, learn the plan I have in mind. Let us do nothing unjust toward this stranger; but if it pleases you, let us put his teaching to the test, to see if it might be for the sake of our soul's salvation." Since no one dared to contradict Heros, as he was a man of distinction, he himself was the first to grasp the feet of the Apostle, begging the saint to stay in his house. When they both arrived, Marcella, the wife of Heros, was indignant against her husband, seeking a dissolution of their marriage C and the return of her dowry, unless he cast Philip out of the house.
D Seeing that he had come to Azotus, was he to win over Charitina along with her father and family for Christ? The following events concerning Hierapolis perhaps pertain to Hierapolis of Syria, a ten days' journey from Damascus, an archbishopric under the Patriarch of Antioch, one of the principal cities of the Turkish empire, where, after such great deeds were performed, he came into Phrygia and Lycaonia, as is said here; finally he was perfected at Hierapolis in Phrygia, which is the received opinion of all. This, as much as can be asserted, although in a matter so ancient, and not corroborated by any other certain witness: although it favors that account concerning Philip the deacon, who, having thus baptized the eunuch of Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians, on the road while he was returning to Azotus, was snatched away by the Spirit, Acts viii, 27; which is an argument that these places were sufficiently close, such that the Apostle Philip could have traversed them continuously by divine preaching.
and the reversal of the dowry, unless he casts Philip out of the house. Now when the apostle saw that Heros was in great distress, he encouraged him to persevere in the faith. Heros himself, having knelt and prayed, made her who, a short while before, had been raging [against him], a suppliant to her own husband. "O sweetest husband," she said, "whence did this wonderful man come? How sweet is his speech and the state of his character!" "He is a herald of the great God, O wife," said Heros, "and a provider of the eternal kingdom; and if it seems good to you, let us approach his God without doubt." And both, falling before the apostle, received the regeneration which is from water and the Spirit, with their whole household. And from this, many of those in the neighborhood transferred themselves to the Lord. B But the inventor of wickedness, when he saw himself being defeated, and his own caught by the apostle, incited them to set fire to the house of Heros. And the apostle, knowing it in the Spirit, went out to them fearlessly; and they, exulting in him unpityingly, led him to the judicial council chamber. Aristarchus, the leader of the council, looking gravely at the apostle, said: "I know you to be one who prides himself on magic; but unless you lay these aside, I will destroy you with a bitter stoning. For what concerns your crucified God, we shall examine in due time," he said, and seizing the apostle by the hair, pushing him, he began to assault him. But the blessed Philip, wishing to discipline the insolence of Aristarchus—and perhaps for the sake of those who were present, so that they might know that he is a servant of a powerful God—in everyone's hearing, spoke thus: "O you who fashioned our hearts separately and turn their motions in any direction, fulfill in deed the speech springing from my heart, which is devoid of anger, O Lord, and let it be a lesson to all. Let the hand reached out against the hair of the head which You have sanctified, be dissolved." C The distortion of the limb of the insolent man followed hard upon his words. For immediately his hand withered, and his eye directed toward it was blinded, and his ears were both deafened. This struck those who had gathered with wonder, and with fear they implored him to grant forgiveness to the offender. And the apostle said to them: "The distortions of members are beyond human aid. For there is one who restores them, He who from the dust at the beginning fashioned man. So that unless you draw near—and the sufferer himself—you will not obtain healing." And besides this, someone who had died was being carried out for burial; and those who were present holding the bier...
ORATION IX. — IN PRAISE OF ST. PHILIP THE APOSTLE
A and the apostle, seeing him anxious in mind, urged him to persevere steadfastly in the faith. Then he himself, having knelt in prayer, made her who a little earlier was indignantly shouting, a suppliant to her husband. "O sweetest husband," she said, "whence came this marvelous man? How pleasant is his speech and the composure of his manners!" "He is a messenger and herald of the great God, O woman," said Heros, "and the author of the preparation for the heavenly kingdom. And, if you are willing, let us approach his God without any doubt." Both falling before the apostle, they received the regeneration which is from water and the Spirit, together with their whole house. Quo factum est, it came to pass that many of the neighbors also passed over to the Lord. B But the author of malice, as he saw himself being overcome and realized his own were caught in the apostolic nets, stirred them up to set fire to Hero's house. Then the apostle, understanding the matter in the Spirit, went out to them intrepid: whom they, cruelly insulting, led to the curia and the tribunal. Aristarchus, the prefect and president of the curia, looked harshly and threateningly at the apostle: "I know," he said, "that you glory in the powers of magic; but unless you cast these away, I will destroy you with a bitter shower of stones. For as for the things that pertain to your crucified God, we shall examine them in due time," he said, and seizing the apostle by the hair, he pushed and struck him. But the blessed man, wishing to chastise the insolence of Aristarchus—and perhaps also for the sake of those who were present, so that they might understand that he was a minister of the powerful God—spoke in this manner in the hearing of all. "You who have fashioned the hearts of us all individually, and turn them toward whatever motions You will, fulfill in deed the speech bursting forth from my heart, which is indeed devoid of anger, O Lord, and let it be an example of just punishment to all. May the hand that was extended against the hair of that head which You have sanctified, be withered." He had spoken, and the distortion of the insolent man's limbs immediately followed his words. For his hand at once withered; blindness invaded the eye fixed upon it, and both ears became deaf. This event threw those who had gathered into a stupor, and with fear and trembling they begged that pardon be granted to the one who had committed the offense. To whom the Apostle said: "Distorted limbs cannot be repaired by human aid. For there is only One who can restore and set them right, He who from the beginning fashioned man from dust so instructed in his members. D Therefore, unless you approach, and he himself who suffers, you shall not obtain health. Meanwhile, the funeral of a certain deceased person was being carried out; and those who were holding the bier, the companions of Aristarchus...
mocking the apostle, said: If you raise this man, we shall all, along with Aristarchus, worship your God. The saint, having fixed his eyes upon heaven, prayed for a long time, and with a gentle voice said to the one lying on the bed, "Theophilus." And immediately he sat up and opened his eyes. And the apostle added, saying: "Christ commands you: Arise, and speak without hindrance." And he, having stepped down from the bed, fell before the apostle, saying: "I thank you, O holy man of God, that you have saved me from many evils at this hour. For I was being violently dragged away by two dark, foul-looking, and merciless beings, and, had you not arrived, I would have been cast into a foul and destructive tartarus." Then this marvelous act stunned everyone, and they said: "How could he raise one whom he had never seen by calling him by name? Truly, the God whom he speaks of, preaches, and proclaims as strong, is powerful and true; let us run to him without hesitation and believe." And the apostle, having silenced the tumult with his hand, commanded Hero: "By tracing the sign of the cross with your hand upon Aristarchus, and invoking the name of the holy Trinity, restore the members that were withered by his ignorance." Having done this, Hero made Aristarchus whole. Upon this, everyone fell before the apostle, among whom was also the prefect, the father of the one who had risen from the dead, who held the highest place among all those gathered; he approached the apostle with his spouse, and, having readily received the instruction and teaching of the faith, and as a firm proof of his own faith, he offered the twelve golden gods he used to worship, to be distributed by the apostle to those in need. Moreover, having also well managed what remained, he firmly held to the rule of the true faith. When the apostle had perfected all those people there in the orthodox faith, and had ordained Hero as their bishop, and had created presbyters and deacons from among them; and since he had commanded that churches be built, and had established them, and had instructed everyone and prayed for them, he went himself into Phrygia, along with Lycaonia and Asia, preaching and announcing the good news of Christ; to whom be glory forever. Amen.
ORATIO X. - IN LAUDEM S. BARTHOLOMAEI APOST.
A Hot is the longing, B but the mind is weak; fervent is the love, but the speech is meager; for the spirit indeed C is eager, and dances and quivers, in order to render to each D the debt of praise: but
A the mind, having no source from which to derive a worthy conception of the subject, will be at a loss. Yet the word will be present, to attempt the things that are beyond those being praised. And even if [the mind], looking upon the magnitude of the subject, places a hand upon its mouth, and as if to restrain its own boldness, urges silence upon itself—as does someone of the more reasonable sort—yet when he is kindled by the fire of the Spirit, and, as if forgetting his own weakness, he cannot endure not to be stirred up toward the praise that is being given. For who is the solution to this impasse, if not the seeking of cooperation from those very ones who are being praised? For in the case of other subjects, not even the speaker has any help from elsewhere; but in the case of the holy and divine children of God, it is seen to be the opposite. For it is observed that they are made ready B for the most wise, and indeed most eloquent, speaker, even if grace from the one being praised does not bountifully provide for him.
And so, since the great Bartholomew has summoned us today for the praise of the glory of his grace, in accordance with the annual recurring memory, and—by setting the greatness of his holiness, his God-befitting appearance, the various miracles and the passions, and the cross endured for the sake of the Crucified—has kindled in us the love for the things that are his, and, having inflamed us also toward the proclamation of his extraordinary miracles, let us call upon the illumination from his grace, and the power of his Spirit—that, through sincere faith and collected prayer, we may be attached to him; and thus, in a manner worthy of Christ, we may bind with praises, as if with flowers, that holy and C Christ-befitting head.
A For the mind here fails, lacking the means to provide an idea worthy of the subject; the speech, too, is paralyzed, despairing of reaching the heights of those who are celebrated. And whenever it fixes its gaze upon the magnitude of the subject, it lays a hand upon its mouth, and like some other of the most reasonable things, it enjoins upon itself a muteness. But when it is set aflame by the fervor of the spirit, as if by an internal fire, it forgets its own infirmity and cannot endure not to be stirred up toward the praise being offered. What, then, is the resolution of this perplexity, unless we seek from the very ones being praised the co-operation they offer to the word? For in other subjects, no help comes from these, unless the speaker should approach sufficiently prepared from his own resources; but with regard to the holy and sacred children of God, the opposite is observed. For even the most philosophical mind becomes destitute of counsel, and the most rhetorical speech becomes perplexed, unless grace is bountifully bestowed by the very one being praised. B Since, therefore, the great Bartholomew has summoned us today to celebrate his glory with praises on this recurring annual memorial, and has inflamed our love toward him by putting forward his own holiness, his manifold miracles and sufferings, and the cross borne for the sake of the Crucified; and since he also incites us to the proclamation of his wonders, let us invoke the illumination of grace from him, and let us draw the power from his spirit through sincere faith and intense prayer; and thus, most holily and with truly Christian piety, crowning that sacred and Christ-befitting head with praises as if with flowers, in that manner, I think, we might for a time quiet our longing. C But fear took this away, because the same great High Priest, at the suggestion of the Supreme Pontiff of Rome, increased the former celebrity of Bartholomew and the rest of the choir of the twelve, and all the people, being devoted, worship with greater spirit. The sentiment of Bartholomew, which he cites from Dionysius, *On Mystical Theology*, where the words are slightly different, namely, that Theology is both copious and supremely slight; and that the Gospel is both as ample and great, and conversely, concise. Where in the scholium of Maximus an error has crept in, to be amended from the series itself and from Pachymeres. Maximus proves that it is a genuine work of the Areopagite, from the simplicity with which, in the preceding parts, he cited the authorities of those who lived with the apostles. D Where [it is inscribed]: In a similar manner he adduces the sentiment of St. Bartholomew, as the word "Saith" declares. For if he had taught it without writing, he would surely have said, "He said." As if, indeed, Maximus wishes to suggest that Bartholomew wrote something, and that this seems to him to be gathered from Dionysius himself. Nor does Lanselius think otherwise: that to have inferred from this that Maximus, a most wise man, thought so, is ridiculous; whence Pachymeres is no more a faithful paraphrast of Dionysius than of Maximus himself: "Then he sets forth a certain unwritten tradition of the holy apostle Bartholomew, saying that theology is much and very small," etc. Thus, therefore, also Maximus: He adduces an unwritten sentiment, as the word "Saith" declares: for if he had taught it in writing, he would surely have said, "He said." This is indeed more subtle than true, yet it has some weight for conjecture; as that which is by living voice, as if of a present matter, is signified by a rumor flying; but what is written is of the past, as if ratified, in that it is inserted in books and paper or tablets. Yet they are used indiscriminately in citing either the Scriptures or the unwritten sentiments of others. Or certainly, which I rather think—lest we think Maximus played so lightly—for "he saith" (in which there is scarcely any difference from the word "he wrote") he hunts with subtlety at the mind of Dionysius. Namely, if he had cited a written sentiment of Bartholomew, he was about to say "he writes," as is usual in such cases, and not "he saith." There is an argument for this in *The Divine Names*, ch. 4, § 12, where he says: "The divine Ignatius writes: 'My love has been crucified'"; which Maximus acknowledges cannot be understood unless of a written sentiment; but he thinks it either adventitious and brought into the text from the margin, or that Ignatius wrote to others than the Romans, and letters other than those he wrote just before he was to undergo martyrdom. As if he had held this saying as a solemn one, and, as the case arose, as a true disciple of John and of love, he had used it both by mouth and in writing. These things for my respect toward Maximus, as long as the lack of very light money does not sufficiently allow me to fulfill his vows, and to bring the begun and adult edition to its conclusion: such are the gifts of our people toward sacred literature!
ORATION X.— IN PRAISE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW THE APOSTLE
A and bowing my head, I might in this way, I think, soothe my longing. For there is nothing by which the divine love of divine things is so much encouraged and soothed as by the praise of those things that are desired. Come then, O most venerable and most illustrious one, come to me, be present in spirit, as you are a spirit most pure and most holy, and the offspring and likeness of the holy and divine Spirit. Breathe into my mind, breathe into my speech: into my mind, for the contemplation of your holiness and divinity; into my speech, for the manifesting of your own wondrous excellence, so that both—mind and speech—may be sanctified and made to shine for us, as we meditate upon and recount your wonders; since to take them into our memory alone B provides sanctification and illumination, no less for us who observe them as if in a mirror with the spirit, than for those who formerly walked with your sacred body upon the earth.
For, consecrated to God from childhood, in the form of piety and the reality of religion, and in the meditation upon the Law and the keeping of the commandments, you were being prepared for a more perfect knowledge of God. For the Lord knows how to sanctify His own from the womb, and from the first creation to enter into them and invisibly follow them, to direct them to Himself and guide them, since Christ, the author and finisher of faith [Heb. XII, 2], appeared and traveled throughout all Judea and Galilee, preaching the kingdom of heaven; and by wonderful words, and even more wonderful works, confirming the truth of the Gospels, He gathered to Himself the lost sheep of Israel [Matth. XV, 24]. Then indeed, then He called this true Israelite, Bartholomew. What then of him? Did he reject the One who called him? Or does he believe, but not follow? Or does he follow, but only for a time? Or until the end, but as just one of the multitude and of the faithful? Or was he numbered among the disciples, but as one standing in the second rank before the Master? By no means. But as soon as he saw the good shepherd, he recognized Him from the depths of his soul, and was recognized by Him, so as to be deemed worthy of the highest and first election, and to be joined to the leaders of the apostles, and to complete the sacred and venerable band of Twelve. From then on, having renounced all the possession of things on earth—country, parents, kinsmen, friends, and whatever is deemed beautiful and desirable by men—and even his own soul, the admirable man cast aside every desire of the body and every will of his own heart, so that he might attain to the friendship of Jesus and to the partaking of a more perfect knowledge [Phil. III, 14].
Thence pursuing and laying hold of the goal, being one who lived purely in the spirit, and in the spirit...
A walking, you were established as a friend of God and a son by adoption, and a brother to the Only-Begotten by grace. And how could you not be the table-mate and house-mate, the guest and intimate companion of Christ, sharing in the same path and the same way of life? You were a participant in all His revealed and hidden mysteries; a participant in the works and words of God, which the Father of lights was pleased to reveal to mortals. By serving Him with your hands, as was natural, you drew near and laid hold; and in your entire being, through all your senses, having approached the One who is beyond all sense, and by interacting with Him in the body, you were sanctified.
Therefore, I bless your sight, O eyewitness and initiate of the Word, and divinely-speaking disciple, for you have been sated with the vision of the unapproachable beauty, the supercelestial radiance—the One who is more beautiful in form than the sons of men. I bless your hearing, for you were filled directly with the voices of the mouth of God, and the mystical hearing and discourse of Christ. In my spirit, I embrace your most blessed lips and mouth; I kiss your cheeks and tongue, as having kissed the most divine One many times, and having been filled with His sweetness, and having been deemed worthy of His holiness. I bless your sense of taste, of smell, and of touch: the first, because you shared the same table as the Word and tasted the same salt—you were filled from the same table of food, sensible and intelligible, with the Savior, for it cannot be told how often. The second, because you were filled with the immaculate ointments and the B intelligible fragrance of the knowledge of the King of all. And the touch, because you often touched the most immaculate body in an immaculate way; for that which is fearful to the Cherubim and highly to be revered by the Seraphim, you handled with your own hands, having been made nearer, such as was fitting.
Furthermore, I truly envy and bless you even more, because you did not let your mind falter, nor did you distinguish yourself from Him in temptations, nor did you waver in your understanding; but you remain unshaken with the Master, and you sustain the same reproach; you share in the condemnation of Him who is being condemned; you sympathize with Him who is suffering, and you share the pain of Him who is in agony. For indeed, you were, in a way, crucified in your mind with Him who was crucified; you died with Him who was dying; and you were buried in the intent of your soul with Him who was being buried; whence also, when He rose again C you rose and lived with Him. And His testament is with you, that you are to be a house-mate with the chief apostles in the kingdom of the heavens; yes, indeed, that you are to be assumed into the regeneration to sit upon the same throne with them. Just as, therefore, of the passion of Jesus, and of the resurrection and ascension, you were an eyewitness and participant along with the foremost, so too, equally with them, you have been filled with the life-giving gift of the Paraclete. For when you had first been established by the word of the Lord, as an intellectual and super-mundane heaven, and had been purified by a lifestyle becoming to saints, and had been illuminated supernaturally by pure projections in your soul, and had been divinized beyond substance by more divine illuminations in your mind, and had been prepared, as a kind of throne of glory and D a resting place of holiness, within the inner man, then
the Holy Spirit, descending from heaven in the form of fiery tongues, received you; and having filled you wholly and completely, and having distributed of His deifying gifts in an overfilling manner, He sat and was established within you, making you a harmonious instrument of His own power, a mouth speaking of God, and a tongue prepared to speak of the divine. And just like a holy and precious vessel, moving and transferring you from nation to nation, through you He proclaimed most loudly to all the doctrine of the Economy, the saving incarnation, and resurrection, and kingdom of Jesus.
Who, then, could hymn the fountain-like power of the Spirit that is in you? Who could set in order the flood of your theology? Who could hymn the virtue and decorum that accompanied it? Who could worthily praise that perfection which is in the hidden parts of your mind? Who could describe the loftiness of your discourses? Who, the excellence of your deeds? Who, the gentleness and mildness of your character, and its Christ-like quality? Who, the unapproachable and fearful and godlike nature of your spirit? And how could anyone know the departure of the herald and preacher of divine peace from Jerusalem and Judea unto the nations, and his wanderings and displacement in every place and city for the sake of the Gospel? Who could enumerate the circuits, the journeys, the dangers, the labors, the flights, the blows, the imprisonments, the beatings with rods, the stonings, the insults? Who could count the summons before rulers, the charges before authorities, the slanders against the way of the faithful, the revilings, the pressures, the burnings, the outrages, the scourgings, the draggings, and the tearings asunder? How many and what things did he suffer with Philip in Hierapolis, and that first suspension upon the cross; and all the gathering and assault of the unbelievers there, and every agony and toil and hardship?
What mind could understand, and what discourse could express the multitude of Christ’s succors, the abyss of heavenly illuminations, of enlightenments, and of supports? Who is sufficient to trace out the magnitude of the contemplation, the height of the theology, and the unmeasured breadth of the divine wisdom of Bartholomew? For he, having the very Wisdom of God in substance—the infinite, the perfect, the most divine—fixed and established in his heart, searches all things by the Spirit, even the depths of God; yet he is discerned by no one of those who are on earth. For he himself judges all things—for he is spiritual—but he is judged by no one; for he is led by the mind of Christ. And, "Who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct Him?" Who could record the magnanimous deeds of the marvels wrought through him, how many things, working by the finger of God, he turned toward the conversion and knowledge of God those who had been estranged?
A Was it not, indeed, by urging them that he induced them to worship Jesus? For the most blessed man, having arrived among the Arabs, those called Eudemones (that is, the happy ones), and not only there, but among the Indians afterwards, and the eastern Ethiopians, being sent as the word of God and the light of knowledge and the teaching and embodiment of eternal life, loudly proclaimed Christ in their own languages. And driving away every demonic assault against men; and healing every disease and every infirmity in the name of Jesus; and granting life to not a few of the dead by the same power of the Name, he daily instructed and brought to Christ as many as believed. Cleansing these with the laver of regeneration and wiping clean their hearts with the deifying Spirit, the most admirable minister of sacred rites ordained B those among them who were most worthy and favored with more perfect grace as archpriests and priests. Adorning them with every sacred ordinance and setting before them the initiation into the divine oracles and the delivery of the mysteries, in as much as they were able to receive them, he traveled through the lands and cities, establishing immaculate churches for Christ. Such were the achievements of Bartholomew; such the excellencies of the great herald of the Church. And thus, while dwelling for many years among the most savage nations, he himself partook nothing of their beastliness, but imparted to them his own philanthropy; nor did he besmirch his own conduct with even the slightest stain of their ignorance or wickedness at all. Rather, by the excellence C of his goodness and his imitation of God, he dissolved the greater part of their impiety and perversity, just as the sun darts its rays from above onto the mire; and being not himself defiled, he rather melted away, vanished, and diminished the stench. And since, having most excellently finished his course and kept the faith, he had turned countless numbers to the Lord, and had become a path of salvation for many, he desired thereafter to obtain also an end worthy of his labors, his body already having become weary with a rich old age, and he thirsting with insatiable desire for his departure to Christ and for the repose of God. And the Lord did not neglect the desire of the righteous man; nor did He indeed grant it less than the measure D of his prayers. But just as, in all things, the man most blessed by God was Christ-like and had lived so as to be to those who see correctly a second Christ, both in being and in conduct, so it was necessary that an end corresponding to his whole life should follow. What then was the cause of this consummation, and let us see how it was in a manner worthy of Christ? For the holy Theologian was dwelling in a certain city of Great Armenia, which they call Albanopolis, in which he was, in his custom, magnificently proclaiming God with divine words, and setting at naught all gods and all demons, and him alone
B exhorting them to worship, namely Jesus. He insisted that they recognize him alone as the true God: God perfect, alone holy, without beginning, eternal, incomprehensible, eternal light born from eternal light, or rather, the outshining of God the Father; a light without beginning, and co-beginning with the beginning that ineffably and beyond all speech and mind sends forth the light. He, having taken on our entire nature, and having truly become a man like us from a holy and chaste Virgin, as our truth holds, and having lived among us for the space of three years with most divine words and most supernatural works, then for the sake of the dispensation met with the cross and death; then, rising on the third day and being taken up, while we watched him, into heaven, he has sat down at the right hand of God; who also is coming to judge the world in righteousness, and to render to each according to his work. "From him," he says, "we also having been sent, exhort and beseech you, brethren, believe and be baptized in his name; and having received the gift of the Holy Spirit, you shall remain heirs of eternal life and of an incorruptible kingdom, in Christ Jesus. Amen."
Such things, and much more numerous and divine things, the holy Bartholomew offered to the crowds present, in their own language and with a mild voice. And as some were convinced and gave assent to the word of truth, but others were hardened and moved by a daemonic zeal against him, suddenly the wickedest ones seize the most divine old man, and raising a cry, manifest him to the chief men of the city. These, having interrogated him quite boldly, and having heard the doctrine that was being proclaimed—that he who was God before the ages became man in time; and that he was crucified, and that he rose from the dead on the third day; and that he was taken up into the heavens, and that he is coming again to judge the living and the dead—as the impious heard these things, thunderstruck by the strange sound of the proclamation, and being vexed at the crucified one, they immediately scourged his herald and crucified him, proclaiming that it was right for the disciple of the crucified one to suffer the penalty of the cross. C And he, willingly approaching the wood, was fastened to it with the greatest joy. Henceforth, angels from heaven, descending and ascending upon him, prepared a most supernatural ascent. Heaven was opened to him from above, and all the hierarchies of the heavenly Powers were prepared for the reception and welcoming of the dearest disciple of the Lord. And he, having first sent up to the Father, like incense, a confession of thanksgiving and supplication at the same time, then gently and gladly being broken from the bonds of the flesh, by the Spirit of God D from the earth to heaven taking him up.
ORATION X. IN PRAISE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW THE APOSTLE
A being connected and fitted together with Him who takes him up from earth to heaven, thus he flies perfectly from the body, and dwells with glory toward God. And truly, having arrived as a child before the super-celestial Father with ineffable exultation, he is deemed worthy of the undefiled and everlasting inheritance, of the most divine delight, and of the highest and first honor with Peter and Paul beside the King of All. I therefore address you, most precious and most holy head to God. Hail, precious stone, one of the Twelve, worthy of the cornerstone, worthy of the most precious pearl, as being intimately joined to Him, and fitted, and woven together, and built up into a habitation of God in the Spirit. Hail, most brightly shining and conspicuous star, most beautiful and prominent, you who are joined to the Eleven, and are placed as a star within the woven crown of glory which the heavenly Bridegroom, according to the most mystical saying, fitted to the head of the Bride. Hail, delight of the Angels, healing of the Archangels, fragrance of the Principalities; you who are the splendor of the Powers, the majesty of the Dominions; you who sit upon a throne with the Thrones, and are the companion of the Cherubim, and a table-mate of the Seraphim. Hail, the ornament of the Apostles; the illumination of the Martyrs, and the sanctification and radiance of all the Saints; you, an object worthy of God, a name worthy of desire; you, the worthily-named and divinely-named Bartholomew. Truly the son that hangs the waters; for this is the meaning of the name. Hail, because you also, in divine imitation, just as the Son of God, by a word holds the waters aloft in the air and raises them from the earth, with which, according to the holy Scripture, He covers his upper chambers; so you also lift up many waters—the low-crawling minds of those who believe in Christ through you—with your Gospel; and having completely suspended the more spiritual from earthly opinion, and having lifted them more perfectly toward God, you cover in them the souls of the faithful who are of the second rank, and hold the place of upper chambers. Hail, blessed, famous, and divine one; you who have theologized the saving Gospel as great and small, much and little. Great, indeed, because it transcends the comprehension of B every rational mind and nature; small, on account of the condescension and the humility and similarity to those born of earth of Him who is above the heavens. Or, great, because of the majesty of the Deity; small, because of the littleness of human extremity, the new mixture and union of which constitutes the sum of the Gospel; and much, indeed, because it has within itself an immense, immeasurable abyss of understanding and wisdom in secret matters; and little, in return,
as it brings together a theology that is brief and concise. Rejoice and take delight, most brilliant and royal son of God, because a throne in the heavens has been prepared for you by the King of Glory, Christ; upon which you shall also sit with the most ancient and primary followers of the Word, judging, as the divine promise of the truth says, Israel. Rejoice, and visit us also with more divine appearances, rescue us from every affliction and storm, and from pain of heart and temptations; and from the face of the enemy, become for us a tower of strength; become also a mediator and a good peacemaker toward Christ, leading us to him unashamed, and reconciling us to the King of all; to the glory of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
The Reversion of the Relics of the Holy Apostle Bartholomew. How Wonderful is God in His Saints!
It is fitting for me now to lift up my voice, as I set out to narrate a strange and wondrous prodigy. For the holy apostle Bartholomew, having proclaimed the name of the Lord to men in various places, was crucified in Great Armenia of the East. Those of the faithful who happened to be present at his end placed him in a stone sarcophagus and laid him to rest in Urbanopolis. And since that sarcophagus was gushing forth perpetual healings, the peoples ran to it and were delivered from their afflictions.
A Witnesses of the devil, seeing these things, were enraged against that sarcophagus; and having held a council, they threw it, containing the holy body of the apostle together with the sarcophagi of four other holy martyrs, into the sea. And this happened in its entirety, so that such a great sea which they traversed might be sanctified by them, and the places through which the divine grace divided itself might be blessed.
B The apostle, sailing across the great gulfs of the Pontus and having crossed the straits of the Hellespont, navigated the Aegean and reached the Adriatic Sea; and having left behind on his left side the famous and largest island of Sicily, and having as companions the glorious martyrs who were in the other sarcophagi—Pappian, Lucian, Gregory, and Acacius—and the island which they call Lipara, he put into harbor. How wondrous are your works, O Lord! And what word is sufficient to praise them? For the glorious victor-martyrs, as if they wanted to rest in some place, having left the great apostle behind, immediately returned to where the divine providence had seen fit; each of them went to the place of lodging destined for him—Pappian, indeed, to the city of Sicily, Amylla; Lucian to Mesāna; Gregory to the city of Calabria, Columna; and Acacius to the city so called, Ascalum.
C Then the apostle intimates his arrival to Agatho. Immediately the bishop, with mature diligence, when he saw the great and horrendous prodigy, was filled with astonishment: "Whence to you, O Lipara, has so great and immense a treasure arrived?" he said. "How have you been magnified beyond measure and glorified! Come, leap for joy and exult! Receive it with your own hands and cry out: You have come favorably, apostle of the Lord." The bishop having spoken these and a few other things, concluded his praise of the apostle and the island.
D And when it was necessary to move the sarcophagus to a famous place, where the shrine established for the glory of the most celebrated apostle was to be erected, and with many dragging it, it would not respond, until by divine revelation the blessed Agatho, having brought a yoke of heifers and tied it with ropes, easily pulled that immense chest, by the power of the one dwelling within it, as the apostle's will intended.
A great miracle followed upon miracles, and many more besides. For the islets called by name Bourkanos...
and a fountain A bubbling forth night and day. A This is a small island which they call Vulcan’s, upon which only the arrival of the apostle, because it was harming Lipara by its proximity, was diverted by divine power; it receded seven stadia away, a miracle that the flowing stream has preached and set forth to this very day. O the miraculous, wonderful deed! O the prodigy surpassing measure! Where in all the world under the sun have such things been known? Now, since the bishop had raised a beautiful temple to the apostle, and in it had deposited that blessed and venerable sacred remain like a most precious treasure together with the urn, who can relate how many miracles occurred there daily?
When a very long time had passed, in the final B times, during the days of the Emperor Theophilus, and his fortress, in which the holy apostle was kept, was captured by the Agarenes, and as our iniquities abounded, and the whole island of Lipara remained desolate, the ruler of the city of Beneventum, hearing of the apostolic miracles, and stirred in faith toward the saint, having summoned some seafaring men from the city of Amalfi, and having promised to give them sufficient money, requested them to go and bring that precious treasure to him. And it came to pass.
The said ruler, at a great distance from C the sea, having summoned the bishop of that place and many others from the clergy and from the multitude of the people, went out to meet the apostle. And he deposited the holy remain, even the sacred object, in the venerable temple of Beneventum; where also the great apostle, working healings to all who were there, was revealed, to the glory of our God who exceeds all reason.
ORATION XI.
A Laudation of the holy and most renowned apostle and evangelist Matthew.
What could be more delightful than the memory of Matthew? And why, as though we did not yet possess the apostle, like the other [apostles]...
is the mere invocation of his name used to describe him, but also brings with it the dignity of the evangelist?
ORATION XI. In Praise of the Holy and Most Famous Apostle and Evangelist Matthew.
What could be more delightful than the memory of Matthew? For he does not merely set before us an apostle, as is the case with others B whose names we barely know; rather, by the invocation of his name, the dignity of the evangelist is also brought along. For when the apostle arrived, it was as if a spring—which, day and night, had been gushing forth—had felt his presence; and because its proximity was causing damage to the island of Lipara, it was, by divine power, immediately drawn away and departed seven stades afar, with the result that the wonder of its being dragged along, like the current of a river, continues to be proclaimed to this day. O paradoxical miracles! O surpassing prodigies! Where have such things been known under the sun? C And since the bishop also raised a very beautiful temple to the apostle, and therein deposited, as a precious treasure, that blessed and venerable relic with its urn, who can recount the miracles that were wrought there every day?
When, therefore, a long series of years had passed, in the final times, in the days of the Emperor Theophilus, the fortress in which the holy apostle lay was captured by the Hagarenes because of the multiplication of our iniquities, and the entire island of Lipara remained deserted. The ruler of the city of Benevento, having learned of the apostolic miracles, and moved by a fervent faith toward the saint, summoned certain seafaring men from the city of Amalfi, and having promised to give them sufficient funds, he requested them to go and bring back that precious treasure to him. And so it happened. D The aforesaid ruler, then, being at a great distance from the sea, having stirred up the bishop of the place and many others from both the clergy and the general populace, went out to meet the apostle, and having brought the holy relic into the city of Benevento, he deposited it in a venerable place. There, the great apostle also performed healings, showing himself to all those there, to the glory of our all-good God.
A nor does the name suggest merely the naming itself, but it also confers the dignity of an evangelist. Concerning the evangelist, the name of the name B records it, and it was an invention of the emperor. The same is stated by Bede, and he adds the name of Hortacus, implying that he came from the library of Abdias, from which I do not know if those who augmented these records were able to sufficiently safeguard the name of Iphigenia. Socrates also includes Ethiopia (bk. I, ch. 15): "Thomas undertook the mission to the Parthians; Matthew the mission to Ethiopia; Bartholomew was allotted the neighboring India." Thomas undertook Parthia, in which he performed the apostolic function; Matthew took Ethiopia; Bartholomew took India, which is adjacent to this. But he believes that he did not penetrate into the interior of India, to which the faith spread during the reign of Constantine the Great, and to which Frumentius was given as bishop. Therefore, Socrates speaks of the Asiatic Ethiopians, neighbors of the Holy Land, and perhaps he does not dissent from others who wrote that he suffered martyrdom either in Hierium or in Hierapolis of Syria among the Parthians or Persians. Among these, the Corbie Martyrology is certainly of great antiquity and authority. For the 11th of the Kalends of October: "In Persida, in the city of Tarrium, the birthday of the holy evangelist Matthew." He wrote "Hierium," which a copyist has corrupted in this way, or one who did not transcribe it accurately enough from there. The same source, on the day before the Nones of May, omits only the name of the city: "In Persida, the birthday of the holy apostle and evangelist Matthew." Concerning the place where he suffered or where he was buried, Baronius says he rather agrees with Venantius Fortunatus, who lived a thousand years ago: for he, while dealing with the individual apostles and the very places where they suffered and were buried, sings these things concerning Bartholomew and Matthew: C "Thence India brings forth the triumphant Bartholomew / And Naddaver, Matthew, an exceptional man." It would have been a great matter of faith for me too if Fortunatus were reporting things of his own time, or if it were not evident from Abdias himself that he had the Naddaver of Matthew, as he also had the India of Bartholomew, who others narrate went there in such a way that he was nevertheless crowned with martyrdom in Asia, regarding which Gregory of Tours writes (*De gloria martyrum*, ch. 34): "He suffered in Asia, the history of the struggle itself narrates"; and as Sophronius, according to Jerome, and our own Hippolytus, in Armenia. Eusebius (bk. V, ch. 10) himself indeed reports that it was a vague rumor that Bartholomew, one of the twelve apostles, preached in India, among whom the Gospel of Matthew written in Hebrew letters is said to have been left, and whom Pantaenus found there: not, however, that he died there. Contrary to the faith of the translator, Rufinus says that Pantaenus brought back that Gospel from there: which Eusebius does not say, as Henry Valesius also correctly observed. And it might have been something else that was kept in the Caesarean library collected by the martyr Pamphilus, which the Nazarenes used, and which Jerome himself received on loan: but not the authentic Gospel of Matthew itself, nor those which have been published as Syriac, one after another. Also, that Gospel which was found with the body of Barnabas during the reign of Emperor Zeno is said to be Matthew's: and thus Baronius (year 485, n. 4) praises the history, written by Alexander the monk; who, however, cited by him himself, and, as it exists in Lipomanus, mentions nothing of the Gospel of Matthew. D His words are: "They also found the Gospel placed above the breast of Barnabas; which Zeno later asked the bishop Anthimus to send to him, and he placed it in his palace; where, he says, it is kept to this very day, and on the great fifth day of Passover each year the gospel is read from that book in the palace oratory." Which is rather an indication that it was a Greek copy of the Gospel, from which the gospel could thus be read in Greek according to the custom of that Church, and that the Greek text was more according to the custom of Barnabas, who preached primarily to the Greeks, and because even the Jews placed in the diaspora were generally proficient in Greek; so that the apostles thought that the entire New Testament should be consigned by divine instinct in this one language.
A Matthew came to the sacred writing of the Gospel, being the first to introduce the New Testament to us, and just as Moses of old had consigned the magnificent things of all the works of God from above, so indeed this man, by theologizing the birth of Christ and following up with all of His miracles, transmits them to us by means of written divine memorial. Matthew, the faithful and prudent steward of the Father, the wise and great evangelist of the Word; the splendid herald of the Paraclete and the swift-writing scribe.
Matthew, whose name is interpreted as "given," B is said to be—from the world, as it were, a most beautiful offering—given to Christ and begotten by the divine Spirit, perfected by the Word of Truth, and again given to the nations as a light and salvation to the ends of the earth. He invites us today, and by presenting the argument of his own most splendid celebration, he prescribes the most pleasant and admirable enjoyment of a desirable feast; setting before us, as solid food, the Gospel authored by him, and pouring out the word of grace that proceeds from his mouth like a most mystical chalice, gladdening the hearts of all who love Christ.
But let us see what kind of life, and what kind of character the blessed man had at first, and to what end he arrived: we admire the surpassing and altogether unheard-of transformation for the better, and we glorify the miraculous God in His justice, and miraculous in His goodness. C
He was a tax collector at first, but later a disciple of Christ and an interpreter and narrator of the Gospel. The profession of a tax collector is considered most abhorrent to pious people, and most wicked to those of a religious mind. For what is more violent or more tyrannical than to amass money and to be an extractor of it? What is more contrary to the life and rules of the Gospel than to oppress widows, and to vex the souls of the poor unjustly, even if we consider it as done justly? For it is not truly just to oppress by a careful regard for the equity of nature, even if human law, long since sanctioned, dictates that one may do so. For this does not belong to God, nor to nature—namely, that some exercise tyranny, while others are pressed by tyranny; and that some are puffed up against the humble, while others are consumed by miseries: others revel and indulge in luxuries while they take away from the poor the final means of supporting their lives; others increase their wealth until they can D crush them, until they demand the very last coin; just as they demand the breath of life, so they harshly exact tribute. This is not how God set it from the beginning, not how He ordained it for men when they were first created. But as the Creator of all is one, so too there is one nature, and one law and order of life for all, both liberty and the [rest]
A status and ratio of life of the same rank were established from the beginning.
But from the moment that proud reason, and the superior nature’s irrational desire, and the serpent’s insidious counsel, and the contempt for the holy commandment, and the disobedience growing against nature, separated [mankind] far from God, and prepared it to be joined—if I may say so—to the envious one, then immediately cognate and tribal essences were divided into alien wills and different pursuits of life. Hence it came about that some dominate, and others are subjected to their dominion; some rule with tyranny, and others are ruled; and some demand taxes, while others are compelled to pay them: some are puffed up with arrogance and rise up against those of equal rank as if they were slaves, while others tremble at the fear of tyrants, and pay the annual tax like a debt, and perform servitude as if it were a duty.
The agents and accountants of this wicked sale, those who are most fervent in this nature and most keen—that is to say, those who are most skilled in calculating taxes and most fit for the business—are the most unfeeling of all, and the most impudent in their mindset, so that they allow no one to have any part of what is owed. Matthew was master of this practice before. Yet, because of his natural sharpness and the agility of his mind, he held the first rank among the publicans.
Since, therefore, the Lord, passing by him, looked upon the depth of his heart and C discovered the treasure of virtue hidden within him, while at the same time he was externally obscured by the wickedness and iniquity of the world—the one being spontaneous and innate goodness, the other an injury of fortune rather than a decision of a free mind—He calls him, and commands him to follow. And he, rising up, followed immediately. Not after long discourse from the Lord, nor with the passage of time, nor by greater custom; nor through the teaching of divine doctrine, nor through probable advice, nor through the exhibition of miracles, so that he might draw the prince of the publicans D away from his own pursuit; but passing by, He simply drew him with his voice alone: "Follow me." And he, hearing, did not attend to the money, nor did he form any opinion of the pleasure derived from profit; nor did he ponder the shame that those who were gathered with him might think toward his vocation; but immediately, at the voice, having become completely transformed and, as it were, illuminated in his mind by the sudden splendor of lightning, and having been immediately alienated from the money and the things he was dealing with, he was conquered by the divine call (O the faith!), and leaves behind his fellow tax-collectors. He abandons also the customs-house, and casts away the entire tax collection practiced within him—exchanging all that gold and silver for the precious pearl, and leaving behind the theft of earthly things, he runs continually toward the kingdom of heaven; or rather, having a heart more precious than all gold and silver, he offers his mind, which is a stone precious and desirable to God, and he is urged on by this, and he is sought; and toward
A the incorruptible and most blessed kingdom, having been called and chosen, he was in the end assumed to heaven.
In such a manner was Levi transformed and his ways changed, that he even changed his name to Matthew; and just as he had previously served as a tax collector for the king of the nation, being gathered in taxes, so he later served Christ, following the banquet of the spirit and the mystic words of the One calling him. He received Him into his house and treated Him with kindness, refreshing Him with a twofold meal; as much as he could provide as a man, yet as God, he honored Him with repentance, and by offering faith, which works through love—the most beautiful thing that He asks of us. Therefore, he eagerly sets aside his station as a tax collector, as if by right, for the One who provides lavishly for those who hunger, and he is seen to be the one who feeds those by whom he himself had been fed. B
Since, then, the blessed man had entirely extricated himself from that work of tax collecting and was prepared for the reception of Christ—that is, having cast off the spirit of the age and taken up the Spirit of God—from that point he was crucified to the world, and he was emptied of and purged of all worldly desires; and having been thoroughly purified from the arguments of vanity like dross, living only and treading in the footsteps of the Savior, in accordance with the keenness of his nature and the quickness of his mind, he applied a keen hearing to the preaching of the divine words of the Lord himself; and applying a simple, clear eye to all of Christ’s works, and putting his own self to the test of the saving sufferings, the cross, the death, the burial, the resurrection, and all which followed—he became a spectator and a partaker of all things in them, and in a wondrous way he surpassed himself (an observer of the unobservable!). He passed beyond himself, and being rapt away from the excess of God, as one born C of the Spirit of God, he clearly became a divine spirit. Wherefore he also consorts with the Paraclete as if He had been poured out from heaven: the substance itself flows into him and turns him, and he is filled with divine illuminations and gifts; he is filled with wisdom and intellect; and, in short, he is adorned with the grace given to the most ancient and chief dignitaries, with the powers of signs and wonders.
What then? Did he not receive the Spirit when He descended from heaven in the form of fire, together with the rest, and did he not announce to the nations according to the same labor? Or was he lacking in the divine wisdom and, so to speak, the eloquence of Peter and Paul? By no means. For just as the Spirit partitioned to each according to the nation and climate of the earth through which they wandered, according to the lot of each, or as the Paraclete determined, so too did he, through the office of his own mouth, explain D the word of life to those who were present; and, scorched by the fire of the zeal of God, he was inflamed in his soul, he was vexed, he was distressed, and he was unable to bear the pangs of his heart, and all the
A incorruptible and most blessed kingdoms, having been both summoned and chosen, he was at the end assumed. In such a way did Levi, having been wondrously transformed in his manner of life, change his name to Matthew; and just as he previously managed the customs for gold, collecting the due tribute for the ruler of the nation, so afterwards he managed the customs for Christ: following Him as He called him to the spiritual and mystical feast of words, and calling Him in turn once again to his own house, and receiving Him with courtesy, and nourishing Him with two kinds of food—as man, with the necessities of the body; and as God, appeasing Him through repentance and bringing forward a faith energized through love, the most beautiful of the things which He requires of us. Therefore he is willingly "taxed," the bountiful giver offering himself to those who hunger—he who hungers to be hungered for, and who feeds those who think themselves to be at a feast.
Having therefore completely cleansed himself from the customs collection, the blessed man prepared himself for the fitting reception of Christ, having cast off the spirit of the world and taken up the spirit of God. From thence he is crucified to the whole world and to all worldly desires, and he is emptied out and purified, and he is altogether filtered clean of the thoughts of vanity; and living for Jesus alone, and following Him footstep by footstep, he employed all his natural keenness of mind and the agility of his intellect and the sharpness of his understanding for the vision of the truth concerning Him; and he applied an intelligent and obedient ear to all His sacred and mystical theological teachings; and he directed a simple and light-filled eye toward all the wondrous works of Christ; and in addition, having become an eyewitness and companion of His saving passions—the cross, the death, the burial, the resurrection, and everything that follows them—you stand outside yourself in a wondrous way (O most wondrous spectator of things invisible!), and you become entirely of God who causes the ecstasy; and being born of the Spirit of God, you become, in the plain truth, a divine spirit. B For which reason the Comforter, poured out from above, associates with him as with His own offspring; and residing according to substance, and filling him with divine illuminations and gifts, He fills him with wisdom and understanding, and fills him with strength and knowledge; and He endowed him with the powers of signs and wonders, equally and in rivalry with the chief and most ancient [apostles].
What then? Did he receive the Spirit descending from heaven in the form of fire in the same way as the others, but not announce the grace from Him to the nations in the same way? Or did he fall short of the apostolic theosophy, or rather, the grand eloquence, of Peter and Paul? By no means. For while they were running throughout every nation and every region of the earth, as each had been allotted or as the Comforter had marked out, and were explaining the word of life to those they chanced upon by the service of their mouths, this man, scorched by the heat of the zeal of God, was agitated, and was being worn away, and was pained, not being able to bear the labor of his heart; and all the
world, as far as his purpose reached, he was eager to fill with the word of grace. But being hindered in his holy desire by the natural weakness of his holy body, he did not fall into sloth, nor did he surrender himself to ease and luxury, nor did he retreat into bodily diets and refreshments; but he traveled a second path, one that was short, effortless, and salutary for all generations of men. Gathering himself together as much as he could, and having clearly imprinted upon his mind the God-man’s manifestation of the Word to men and the whole divine dispensation, and having taken it as if it were present before his eyes, he records piety in writing; and those things which others delivered to the nations unwritten through the tongue, these the great Matthew, having summarized through written contemplation, has hung the whole mystery of the Word upon sacred proclamations.
For from above, having laid the foundation of the genealogy from Abraham, and proceeding in order, he evangelizes the birth of Christ according to the flesh; then his revelation, his baptism, and his temptation; then the election of the apostles, the sacred initiations, as many as the Lord spoke in parables, and as many as he spoke openly to the crowds and to the disciples; then the supernatural miracles, the healings of the sick, the cleansings of the demons, the cures of those suffering in various ways, the blessing of the loaves, the walking upon the sea, the transfiguration upon the mountain. And simply every supernatural miracle, and every act of Jesus, and every most noteworthy energy, does *he*, the best mystic-scribe of the Spirit, recount with the voices of God. Indeed, he also expressed the mysteries of his second coming; and furthermore, the sitting upon the foal, and the praise of the children, and the envy of the Jews; and the mystical supper, and the betrayal of Judas, and the feigned judgment and condemnation of Pilate; the reed, the crown, the mockery, the cross, the burial, the three-day resurrection and appearance. And having narrated in writing the entire dispensation of the Word, the most eloquent scribe of the Word set forth a common proclamation for all nations: a surety of piety, a pledge of faith, a fanning of love, a demonstration of God’s love for man, a proclamation of the kingdom, a confirmation of the dispensation, a support of truth, an illumination of souls, a beginning or fountain of sanctification and a subject of pure salvation, having published the Gospel according to him to the ends of the earth.
Thus, Matthew does not travel to one nation alone, while lacking the others by reason of the necessary limitation of the body and the weakness of nature; nor does he visit all nations, yet while conversing with only a few men, kindle the torch of the knowledge of God; nor does he converse with all people, but only with those who lived in his own generation; but to all generations in succession he evangelizes Jesus, and his kingdom, and his incarnation, A nor does he illuminate them with the bright rays of the knowledge of the truth in the same way for everyone; but, like the sun, he sends down the light-bearing rays of the Gospel upon the entire world at once, and pouring out his word into the dialect of all nations and into the mind of all men, generation after generation, he enlightens them with the light B fitting for theology, and bestows the benefit upon all equally. To those who bring to it the simple and faithful eye of the soul, he becomes a true and saving light; to the crooked, however, and those who do not gaze steadfastly upon him in faith, he stands as a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning.
This man proved the laws of Lycurgus and the trifles of Solon to be naught. He exposed these as not truly being the commonwealths of Plato and the long absurdities of words, and silenced the entirety of Aristotelian obscurity and inconclusive arguments, and every literary labor of those most eloquent among the Greeks, to such an extent that it is more divine and more philosophical, just as heaven is higher than the earth, and a lamp brighter and more radiant, which is ignited for us; or if you will, inasmuch as God is more noble than man, and truth is more distinct than a shadow.
It sufficed for the most blessed one to publish them for all the world for education; it sufficed for those who wished to cultivate piety, for the sake of piety; for the sake of wisdom and knowledge, for the lovers of knowledge and wisdom; and for those involved in praxis, for the sake of legislation; for those studying the contemplative life and eager for the light of God on high, for the sake of theology and unerring guidance; for all nations C it sufficed, in place of the Greek polymathy, to have bound those who are instructed by the word of the Gospel unto the highest philosophy and teaching and illumination.
Hence, the academies have been neglected, and the stoas and the peripatetics; the Athens and Thebes of those who were thought to cultivate philosophy have been neglected; for the debates of the self-appointed philosophers, and their laughable superciliousness, and the arrogance of those who appear to be learned, have been dispersed, since they err regarding the truth of wisdom, and as mystagogues and initiators of the gods have established themselves as godless, D and interpreters of the lawless mysteries, reaping the fruit of shameful desires, and receiving the reward worthy of the error.
All these things have been abolished and blown away, and like smoke have been dissolved and like dust have been lifted, since you, O blessed one, with an incorrupt mind, having stretched your thought up to heaven as though it were a duct,
a pipe
, you play the songs of the divine Gospel inscribed upon you. We have obtained this fruit from your wisdom. We pluck this fruit from your labors, worthy of memory and an imperishable fruit, which, abiding in the true vine and being pruned by the spiritual husbandman, [*] you have brought forth as a fertile branch: and being filled with this, we cast away the darkness of death, and we clothe ourselves in the light of life....as the Word, a faithful minister, who has deemed it worth the labor— A nor does he shed the rays of true knowledge upon all alike; but, like the sun, he sends forth the light-bearing rays of the Gospel throughout all the world at once, and into every language of the nations, and drawing every human mind, age after age, toward the proper light of theology, he pours out his beneficence equally upon all. To those who cast the simple and faithful eye of the heart upon it, he becomes a true and saving light; but to those who look upon it crookedly and not in faith, he becomes a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning. This made the laws of Lycurgus and the babbling of Solon appear as nothing. This silenced the unsubstantial republics and long-winded trifles of Plato; and it is as much more divine and more philosophical than all Aristotelian obscurity and endless verbiage, and all the writings of the most eloquent among the Greeks, as the heavens are higher than the earth, and the sun is brighter and more radiant than the lamp we use—or, if you will, as much as God is more precious than man, and truth is more distinct than a shadow.
For the most blessed tax-collector sufficed as an education for the whole world in place of all else; he sufficed for those wishing to be pious, for piety; for those who are lovers of knowledge and wisdom, for wisdom and knowledge; for those given to the active life, for legislation; and for those given to contemplation and yearning for the brightness of God above, for theology and unerring elevation. To all the nations, in place of Greek wordiness, the concise word of the Gospel sufficed for the highest philosophy, and for instruction, and for illumination.
From this time forth, the academies are neglected, and the stoas, and the peripatetic walks; Athens and Thebes are neglected, and the schools of those who imagine themselves philosophers; and the laughable arrogance and despicable conceit of those who dwell in vanity have been overlooked, because of which, failing to attain true wisdom, they became mystes and mystagogues of godless gods—godlessly—and revealers and celebrants of accursed mysteries, reaping a shameful fruit of shameful desire, and receiving the reward worthy of their error. All these things have been nullified and vanished, and dissolved like smoke and carried away like dust, ever since you, O blessed one, with an uncorrupted soul, and with a mind stretched from earth to heaven, like a hammered trumpet, like a horn trumpet, C blast the God-spoken Gospel that belongs to you. We have profited from your wisdom. We reap this ever-memorable and inexhaustible fruit of your labors, which you, remaining in the true vine and pruned by the intelligible husbandman, have brought forth like a fruitful branch; and being filled with this, we cast off the darkness of death and clothe ourselves in the light of life.
A Hail, for you have become a good archetype for the evangelists who followed you; and the zeal deriving from you spurred them also to the sacred writing of the Gospel, and incited them to the edification of all the Churches. B Hail and rejoice, most faithful friend of God, most approved minister of the Word, and most mystical scribe of the Paraclete; and mindful of those who are mindful of you—blessing those who bless you, and sanctifying those who sanctify you—lead us, O blessed one, and direct us in Christ Jesus; and present us spotless to the Paraclete, to the Monarchical, Holy-originating, and Life-originating Trinity, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION XII.
A Eulogy for the holy and most renowned Apostle Simon the Zealot.
How bright is this day, and what a distinguished festival, full of joy! For indeed all days C are ...
[Editorial Note regarding the surrounding text of note 50: The textual content is a dense scholarly apparatus regarding the identity of the Apostle Simon the Zealot, his distinction from Simon Peter, Nathanael, and others, and the confusion between the names Cananite and Zealot. It discusses the testimonies of Luke (vi, 15; Acts 1, 13), Hegesippus via Eusebius, Origen, Abdias, and the Roman Martyrology. This section serves as a critical historical commentary on the name and hagiography of Simon the Apostle.]
A of the faithful and those who worship piety, had remained attached to a small group. I am speaking of that illustrious and holy virgin Anastasia—virgin in body, virgin in spirit and mind. Anastasia—who once, having already erected a tremendous trophy by means of an extraordinary contest of martyrdom against the devil, subsequently brought home a greater triumph against diverse heresies, in that she defeated as many as were the most contentious, and asserted a most brilliant victory for the Orthodox. For the bishop, standing externally at a visible sight—her visible temple (at that time indeed unattractive and small, but through him increased in beauty and size: it is, in fact, the one that now has obtained the designation of "the Theologian")—internally, however, possessing an invisible habit of mind, leaning clearly upon Christ, the resurrection itself, through Anastasia, supports his own wavering ones in her, raises up those who have collapsed, firms up those who are faltering; and having found them scarcely breathing from the ravages of persecutors, he fills them with vital act and power. For with upright speech and doctrine, as with the truest wheat, he fills the hungry souls of good men; and with the purest bread of undefiled theology, he refreshes hearts wasting away from long famine.
B That blessed Joseph of old, sold to the Egyptians by fraternal envy, was not deceived by the allurements of a shameless mistress, but being surrounded by a fortified prison for the sake of chastity, and having skillfully and dextrously interpreted the dreams he saw, he became the prince of all Egypt, the dispenser and nourisher of grain, not only for Egypt, but also now for foreigners, as is heard. Gregory, however, not out of fraternal envy, but yielding to the exhortations of the Great Basil and those necessary to the faith; nay, brought to it by the counsels of a more intense providence—not tempted by a wicked mistress, but openly attacked by the plots of heretics acting maliciously—and falling into their various deceits and machines, as if instructed by prisons, and fleeing the crushed snares of the hunters by the power of superior wisdom—is demonstrated to have imparted the benefit not to one province or city, but, through one, to all that are under heaven. He, therefore, is shown to be a dispenser and magnificent arbiter of that food which perishes; the latter, of that which remains unto eternal life. And he, indeed, [dispensed] not only bodily, but also temporal provisions—and that by selling grain for a price; but the latter is brilliant as a lavish guest at a banquet, not only of spiritual food that sustains the soul, but also for the coming age; and he has set before those who are hungry a most rich and beautiful banquet, free of charge. By as much, therefore, as the mind is nobler than sense, by so much will that distribution of this grain be judged, by those who have sound reasonings of soul, to be more excellent than the former—as is my opinion.
C But although such was the divine Gregory toward those of the household of faith and those near to him, such was he always toward them; yet how he shone even toward his adversaries—in how many struggles he engaged for the sake of the truth—with what power of speech, I ask, should I represent it? How could I speak of anything in particular and not wander far from the pursuit of truth? How, attempting to recount all his deeds, could I not have made the oration burdensome with tediousness; or how, wishing to omit most things, could I not have caused great loss to the hearers? Clearly his necessary voice and sentiment, so that many things might be exhibited in few. For this is a part of his nature and disposition, as to strive thus magnificently and strenuously, so also to exhibit the magnificence of the struggles by the magnificence of his language.
When, therefore, the worst demons had yielded to Greek incantations, and error, and impure rites, and every impiety, by the service of the divine apostles and the triumphal battles of the martyrs; and the darkness of the wicked worship of idols had been lifted, and the light of true faith was illuminating every upright soul, since they could no longer weary the worshippers of piety with the works of foreigners in war, they stirred up the Christians against one another; nay, leading away whatever was weaker in us by error, and training [them] with corrupted speeches against those who shone with chief piety, they committed them to one another in sharp strife and most combative contention; and using fraud and audacity, partly they render the simpler ones obedient to their dictates by the artifice of persuasive oratory; partly, however, attacking the weaker, and terrifying them by the fear of forwardness, they attempt to subject them to their own impious meaning.
What, then, did the man most versed in divine things, the unbroken and immovable column of the most accurate Theology, do? Did he appear inferior to the wickedness of the most worthless, or did he yield at all to the force of those who were ravaging? Or did he remit anything small from piety? Or did he undergo only middling dangers for its sake? Not at all; but opposing prudence to their audacity; and to their craftiness and wily counsels, [opposing] presence of mind and confidence; nay rather, bringing forth fortitude against audacity and rashness, and prudence against craftiness and wiliness; and generally drawing up virtue in a hostile line against their entire wickedness; he so utterly routed, put to flight, and conquered them, that you might earlier see the path of a ship cutting the sea, or the ways of a serpent upon a rock, or the trace of flying eagles—as the proverb says—than detect the footsteps left by their impiety in the age. For to him, this was one work and study: that he might break the force of the lie, but champion the truth, and that he might be as alien as possible from the dissimilarity of the most wicked, and might adhere entirely to the opinion of consubstantiality. But they, [he sought] that, shaking that off from their heart, they might desist from their own error; and indeed, for the herald of truth, [he sought] that he might have all as companions of the good, according to the disposition of goodness.
ORATIO XII. — IN LAUDEM S. SIMONIS APOST.
A The feasts of the Lord are all full of exultation and the cause of spiritual joy for those who are led by the Spirit of God. For wisdom, having distributed the memories of her saints, and blessing and adorning the whole crown of the year with them as with rising stars, fills the souls of the pious with every variety of delight and gladness. But those days are especially radiant, shedding a pleasing joy upon those who love God, when each of the sublime apostles, having left the earth, has flown up to heaven; and having been freed from the toils undergone for the sake of the teacher, and from death, has migrated to the painless and blessed life in Him. For just as the stars in heaven are all bright by nature and pellucid, yet do not all shine with the same light—for star, he says, differs from star in brightness—so too are all days notable and joyful on account of the saints commemorated on them; but they are not all capable of imparting the same grace. Yet the memories of the twelve disciples of Christ excel the others as much in the magnitude of their glory and the exceeding abundance of their splendor as they themselves have surpassed the rest of the saints in the magnificence of their holiness. Therefore, let us exult and rejoice today, and taking our fill of the apostolic memory and grace, let us establish a spiritual and public festival for the day; and dismissing all bodily labor and every worldly anxiety and care, let us rest and understand who is the light of this day and the author of this wondrous grace; let us understand who is the leader of the festival, and in whom God of glory has today willed to be glorified. Do you wish that I manifest him who invites us to his own commemoration? Or is it not manifest to all, that Simon, the great apostle, by providing himself as a subject for a most brilliant solemnity to the Churches, stands as the leader and guide of our spiritual gladness and joy? Simon, one of the sublime choir of the twelve disciples; who, by every virtue of the chief ones, and by every grace of the Spirit, B being uniformly perfected, and excelling all others, is rightly called the Zealot. For this is zeal: a warmth glowing according to reason for the sake of the honor of God, and offering a sure protection for faith. He invites us today with a clear and gentle proclamation to a mystical feast, and sets before us himself as a bright and glorious table, offering as if it were immortal food both his own cross and the labors and struggles undergone for the sake of the Crucified, and for these most generous deeds, he welcomes and honors his guests as much as possible.Who then will not run to meet the solemnity? Who is so sluggish, so negligent, and so fastidious; who is so dissolute in their soul, and so much of a lover of pleasures of such a kind, that they would treat with contempt such a great joy and such a convival entertainer? For if he who is the son of man, having inherited a good soul, trained himself with such great diligence, and discharged the divine precepts and the pleasing gifts of grace so well that he deserved to be called a son of God C and deemed such, do you wish to learn the manner of his anagogical conduct toward his Father? I am ready to tell, and do you accommodate an attentive ear and mind to me. He, being instructed in things divine by an obedient ear and faithful mind, and bearing the oracles of the Lord in his heart, was from childhood accustomed to the law, and trained by the ordinances of the flesh, and exercised by the imperfection of the letter, he was prepared for the perfection of grace.
But when the accomplisher of the letter and the Spirit had come, and the time for the candle to shine had passed, but the Sun of righteousness had shone forth; when the darkness of night had withdrawn, and the dawn of the east now illuminated the mountain tops; he no longer endured to wait upon figures and shadows; he no longer suffered himself to be attached to that tutor. He counted the reward of the law as nothing; but, having shaken off that heavy yoke from his own shoulders, he took upon himself the sweet yoke of the Teacher; and having spurned the modest burden of circumcision, he made a choice of the light burden of grace. And having left Moses, he followed Jesus who was calling him. He, pouring upon him the rays of His own grace, and instilling in him a sense of His glory and majesty, and lifting him up with a more spiritual love, and confirming him with an indubitable faith, longing for the promise of the kingdom, and having linked and bound himself to Him, he joined himself to Him through the elevations of his most subtle mind and most abstruse contemplations.
And now, the most blessed man, attending to Him with a twofold reason, and in body indeed, as regards that which is seen, truly a son of the true—
A in all things unchangeably abounding, he would have been known as one who had achieved more than all others. Simon, who is called the Zelotes; being praised equally with the first in piety toward the Lord, but being adorned with more fervor than the rest, he was aptly called the Zelotes. For this is zeal: a warmth kindled by right reasoning for the honor of God, and providing safety to the faith.
He invites us today with a piercing proclamation and peaceful tranquility to a mystical banquet, offering himself as a costly and intellectual table. He sets forth his own cross, and the sufferings and heroic deeds endured for the sake of the Crucified, like untainted food, and with these he welcomes and honors his guests most brilliantly. Who, then, will not come to this festival? Who is so lazy, so negligent and contemptuous? Who is so slack and relaxed as to neglect such delight, such sweetness, and such a host? For he, being a son of man and having obtained a good soul, trained himself with such diligence, and was perfected by the ordinances of the Law and the dogmas of grace, that he was made and accounted a son of God.
Do you wish to know also the manner of his upward-leading way of life toward the Father? I am ready to recount it briefly; do you provide me with an understanding ear and mind. He, with obedient hearing and a faithful mind, understanding the divine oracles of the Lord, and gathering them into his heart from childhood, was for a time schooled by the Law, and training himself in the justifications of the flesh, and exercising himself in the imperfection of the letter, he was preparing for the perfection of grace. But since He who abolished the letter and was the perfecter of the spirit had come—and the time for the lamp to shine had passed, and the Sun of Righteousness had dawned, and the sadness of night was receding, and the sunrise was already illuminating the mountain peaks—he no longer endured to remain in the types and shadows; he no longer thought it necessary to remain importuning the pedagogue. Having cast off that heavy yoke from his own shoulders, he took upon himself the easy yoke of the Master; and having despised the burdensome weight of circumcision, he chose the light burden of grace; and having left Moses, he followed Jesus who was calling him. B Who, having turned His own grace into his heart, and having instilled in him a sense of His own glory and majesty, and having winged him with upward-leading love, and having confirmed him with an unshakable faith, and having stretched him forth with the hope C of the proclaimed kingdom, made him entirely His own and bound him fast, betrothing and joining him to Himself by most intellectual elevations D and most mystical contemplations. By a twofold reason, then, the most blessed man attended to Him, and in body, indeed, as regards that which is seen, truly a son of
man, but in spirit and so far as the mind could penetrate, beholding Him as the Son of God by nature; and from a twofold operation, he inferred a twofold nature; and by the safeguard of faith confirming this sublime contemplation, and again by the sagacity of contemplation strengthening faith; and finally, by a certain vital intimacy and the benevolence of a well-disposed spirit, cleaving and joined to Him who was beheld, and by an inner bond united to Him in mind, he was thenceforth separated from Him by no means; and he would suffer neither his mind, which cherished the memory, to be torn away, nor his bodily vision to be deprived of the object of his desire, unless by the most extreme necessity. As soon, therefore, as he was deemed worthy of the heavenly calling and the apostolic election, and had perceived the grace of the words and had witnessed the power of the works, he died instantly to all the world, and was made alive for Christ alone. He died to parents, kinsmen, friends, possessions, money, and—to speak in a word—to this entire age, and was crucified to all that is in it; and not only this, but having even become a stranger to himself, and having cast off all the sense and prudence of the flesh, he became Christ Jesus’ own, being captivated by His beauty and grace alone—a beauty beyond articulation and most mystical; and since you breathed only Him, and only Him you most highly honored and praised and blessed, how could it be that you would not attain to the highest and first ranks of honor with Him? Wherefore, being elevated also to the supreme order of the apostles, you became a hearer of His sublime mysteries and a spectator of His divine works; you became for Him a most faithful and prudent servant; a most industrious minister, eager for action; nay more, a most true and well-proven friend. And indeed, by the grace of the Spirit, and by understanding, and by wisdom, and by the other sacred consecrations and virtues, you were in no way inferior to the disciples. For a common and the same irradiation, from the Father of lights, shone upon that choir of the twelve, imparting to them, without any intermediary and in equal portions, the beneficent gifts. A But for you, the force of love and the ardor of zeal for the Master abounded to such a degree that your virtue passed even into a title. For just as to Simon, on account of the firmness and constancy of his faith, the name of Peter was added, and to the sons of Zebedee, on account of their magnificent proclamation, it fell to be called Sons of Thunder; so to you also came the appellation of the Zealot, on account of the abundance of divine zeal or emulation. I kiss your face, which is most like unto God, O most worshipful one, and I adore it, upon which the Lord looked with pleasure; which truly found grace in the sight of God. I kiss with the mind and with all reverence your most venerable lips and your tongue: the former, as if they were always joined in spirit to the divine lips and had attained to more divine kisses, and had subsequently received from Him to whom the kisses were fixed a deifying grace; the latter, as the stylus and pen of the Spirit, as an instrument of the oracles of God, as a praiser of Christ, and in truth as a praiser and an enthusiast; by whom He was exalted among the nations, He was exalted in the earth.
A I kiss your most honorable hands; I embrace also your most beautiful feet: hands that skillfully and auspiciously served the Lord; that ministered to the Gospel of grace; that were entrusted with the Word of life—the Word which they searched, which they handled, and found to be the Word of life. Joined to Him, and harmoniously fitted together by the divine Spirit, they were deemed worthy to become His hands: hands that are the practitioners of supernatural works, the consummators of the wondrous will of God. I adore also the feet, as a Cherubic chariot, as those bearing upon themselves Him who fills the heavens and the earth, who is present in this entire universe and also exists outside of the whole. Feet, indeed, which have traveled over almost the entire earth; feet that are straight and rise upward; feet that are winged and flying, like those of the Cherubim; feet running like lightning, and with incredible speed traveling around the earth, and in the blessings of goodness forestalling the faithful. I kiss, and with great honor I embrace also you yourself entirely, being whole in mind, diffused throughout your whole being. By the spirit I behold you as in a mirror, and by memory I am illuminated; as if by an intelligible, pristine, and immaterial light, I am bathed in the radiance of the face of your divine majesty. B But let us see, as far as it is possible, how the Zealot excelled in the labor of the Gospel. For as one who in truth became a disciple of the true light, and who had received the god-controlling light entire into a most clear mind, and having become wholly luminous, a son of light and light itself in reality—after the setting of the Light-of-the-Light upon the Cross, after that three-evening rising from Hades, after the ascent into the heavens (or rather, His super-ineffable concealment), after the more perfect arrival of the Paraclete; when, indeed, sitting together with the great and primary disciples of the Word in the upper room, amid tongues appearing like fire and the sound of a violent wind, he received the Spirit descending from the Father into an excellent and most royal heart—at that time, having been filled with perfect wisdom, and having been clothed from above with the power and authority of most god-befitting signs and wonders, you left the East, and, led by the Spirit, as a great sun of super-excellent radiance, you rose upon all of Libya, Africa, and Mauritania, and upon all those whose lot it was to dwell in the West. C Who, then, could understand, or who would be sufficient to set forth in speech the toils, the labors, the fears, the dangers of the journey, the vigils, the cares, the sorrows, the instability, the incursions of the infidel barbarians, the ambushes, the blows, the imprisonments, the assaults, the insurrections, the contradictions, and the slanders, and all his sufferings D for the sake of the Gospel and all his journeys for the sake of the Gospel; and all the tribulations which the most blessed one endured daily, suffering the attacks of our adversaries, he endured until He who was the Lord attended to him, and having hearkened to his prayer, opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. Until, having mercy, He brought him out from the lake of misery, and as a surge of the sea, having calmed the swelling of the minds of the impious who had raged against him, and having quelled the demonic onsets, and having changed them to consent by the power of his divine fear through signs and wonders; and having led them to the profession and faith of the truth of the Gospel, he rescued his own preacher from the storm of murderers; and the others, having been released from their various impieties, as if on a saving shore, he brought the great Simon to anchor. B And those who were supported by his unshakable faith, and cleansed by the water, and illuminated by the Spirit, and perfected by the holy mysteries through him, were made into immaculate churches, which surpass every stain in purity.
Thus the most God-praisable Zealot prevailed over the power arrayed against him, and thus he added daily to the Church those who were being saved—those who had been held captive by it. For in truth, seeing the mirror of God and seeing the simple and multi-form one as the same. And in the way that the sun is one in nature, and of one kind of light, yet is shown to be varied in its operations: so also the great apostle, being uniform, or rather Christ-like, in his goodness of conscience toward all; yet in his cares for the churches C he was seen to be varied. And now, indeed, he was seen using silence when appropriate, now offering the opportune word; now speaking more humanly to those who encountered him, and now, being hidden by the sublimity of the Gospel, now speaking openly of the truth, and preaching the Jesus who is proclaimed by him, testifying that He is God, pre-eternal, perfect, without beginning, and without end; God who is true, and living, and from the true and living Father who is always born of His own; incorporeal from the incorporeal; holy from the holy; light from light; life from life, equal in honor and divinity and goodness; by whom the heaven was spread out and the whole cosmos was adorned. D That this one became flesh for our sake, having entered from a virgin and holy womb; and, having fulfilled his life by the cross and passions and death, provided for us through the resurrection on the third day from the dead; whom we also see as assumed into heaven, and we expect that He will come visibly from there, and as judge will stand before Him all of creation.
And now, indeed, convicting the ignorance and impiety of those who have not known God, the creator of their own
A beings, and now exhorting and admonishing them by natural reasoning—as he says that it is shameful and sufficiently irrational for humans not to know their benefactor, or to be like the irrational beasts—and as he leads them to know the One who created them from the beginning, and again has bought us back with His own blood: now he is being snatched away to synagogues, and tribunals, and judges, and is being exposed with insults before them, and he speaks the Gospel openly; he is being mocked and ridiculed by some, and praised and admired by others; he is being beaten with rods upon his back, and crushed with clubs, and shut up in dungeons; and sometimes he even exults and glories in chains, as if in a superior and more divine auxiliary grace of Christ's apparition, he is freed from evils; at other times he works miracles which are entirely new and unheard of, raising the dead, and strengthening the lame, and by the invocation of the name of Jesus, grants health to the paralyzed, and commands sight for the blind, hearing for the deaf, and speech for the mute.
It is tedious to tell how many wonders he wrought in the rivers and marshes by that same power of innovation; the men B of... 51 C
ORATION XII. IN PRAISE OF THE HOLY APOSTLE SIMON
...the wanderings and journeys; finally, all the troubles and evils which the most blessed man, sustaining them daily through the assault of the adversary, was enduring for the Lord, until He, attending to him and having heard his prayer, opened the door of faith to the nations. Until, having compassion, He led him out from the pit of misery, and as if a storm of the sea, having reproved the uprising of the impious against him, and having calmed the swelling of their mind, and having quieted the demonic impulse, and having changed them by the force of fearful signs and portents into divine fear; and having brought them thus to the assent and faith of the truth of the Gospel, He rescued His own herald from the storm of murderers; and them, as if from the deep, redeemed from their varied and manifold impiety, He steered towards the most great Simon, as to a saving harbor. And they, indeed, leaning upon the rock of his unshakable faith, and cleansed by water and enlightened by the Spirit, and initiated and consecrated through him by the holy mysteries, were fashioned into immaculate Churches, he who surpasses all purity D from stain.
Thus the most blessed Zelotes overcame the power which stood arrayed against him; and thus capturing those whom it had enslaved, he added the saved daily to the Church. For one could see in him the pure likeness of God; one could see him simple and yet manifold. And just as the sun is one in nature, by the singular kind of light, yet is shown to be multifaceted in its operations: so too the great apostle, being uniform—that is, Christlike—in the goodness of his conscience toward all, was nevertheless seen to be manifold in his providences and his concerns for the Churches. And now, indeed, showing reasonable silence; now, however, timely speech; now he spoke more humbly to those he encountered, and veiled the higher truths of the Gospel; now he spoke the truth plainly, and testified that the Jesus whom he preached was God, pre-eternal, perfect, without beginning or end: God true and living, born of the true and living Father always; incorporeal from the incorporeal; holy from the holy; light from light, life from life, of equal honor and deity and goodness; through whom heaven and earth were produced, and the whole world was adorned. Him we now expect to have become flesh, having assumed our insignificance for our sake from a virginal and holy womb; and having dealt with the cross and sufferings and death, to grant us impassibility and eternal life through the three-day resurrection from the dead: whom we also saw being received into heaven, and expect that He will come again from there, appearing openly, to stand all creation before Him for judgment. And now, indeed, convicting the folly and impiety of those who have not known God, their own cre[ator...
and the architect of all, and now calling them to repentance and admonishing them, guiding the ungrateful toward the Benefactor by means of natural reflections, saying that it is shameful and sufficiently irrational not to know the Benefactor even as well as brute beasts do, He who founded them in the beginning and again redeemed us with his own blood; now, indeed, he is seized and dragged to gatherings and courts and the most wicked judges, and he speaks of the Gospel with boldness; and by some of these he is mocked and ridiculed, but by others he is praised and admired; now his back is tormented, he is beaten with rods, and he is locked in prisons, and at times he is adorned and glorified with chains. And at one moment he is deemed worthy of a better manifestation and succor from Christ, and of a wonderful release from those who afflict him; B at another moment, the wonderful Simon, the boast of the apostles, works miracles in the Spirit, shining forth like a bolt of lightning, traversing the ends of the earth, driving away the gloom of polytheism with his own saving and light-bearing divine teachings, and causing all to glorify one Godhead in three persons, undivided and indivisible. The wonderful Simon, having run to the ends of the earth like a rolling wheel, set all the earth that was raging with idolatry on fire, and having set it ablaze with piety, he kindled far-shining torches for the faithful; for he enlightened all, etc. The wonderful Simon, the all-resplendent and most venerable teacher of the nations, a divine net catching everyone from the perdition of the depths, the most truthful herald of high theology, now treateth all to a feast, setting forth his own achievements as a delightful banquet. He works the most paradoxical things, both raising the dead, and enabling the lame to walk, and making the paralyzed firm by the invocation of Jesus; and he already permits the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the speechless to speak. I omit saying how many innovations he demonstrated by the same power in rivers and marshes; those—
The Contest of the Holy Apostle Simon the Zealot
This apostle was one of the Twelve, and was with the apostles in the upper room when the Holy Spirit descended in the form of tongues of fire. Being filled with Him, and having traversed almost the whole earth, he set fire to the entire error of polytheism. For having traversed Mauretania and the country of Africa, and having later come to Britain, and having taught and enlightened many, he was fastened to a cross by the unbelievers, and his body is buried there. This Simon is Nathanael, who, burning with zeal, emulating the Almighty God, acquired his character as his calling.
A
He checks the onslaught of the air-borne, and in the name of Christ commands that the waters flow in the proper places; and by the same name he dries them up, rendering paths that were previously impassable accessible to the inhabitants. I pass this over, as well as all the other miracles which this most wonderful man displayed against the elements, and all those he performed for the benefit of men; and by these things bringing whole provinces and cities to marvel at the divine teaching of Jesus, he seals them with faith, and calling them away from evil habit, from error, and from superstition, he reconciles them to God through Christ. Now he is present to those who had already received the message, now to those who had not heard it; now again (he traverses) long stretches of land, now again (he endures) the exhausting crossings of the seas; again he frets and is agitated and suffers, falling in with the most fierce and harsh nations; again he rejoices and exults and is glad, seeing the storm turned into calm, and wilderness and unbelief transformed into gentleness and faith. At times he instructed those he happened to encounter one by one; at other times, he gave instruction simultaneously to many—to men and women, rich and poor, magistrates and private citizens—becoming to all a common teacher, a shepherd, and a good savior, following the likeness of Christ. B Such was the life and manner of the apostle, and this is a brief account of his long labors and most bitter travels. From there, having encompassed much land, and many coastal regions, and not a few islands with his preaching; and having consecrated many churches, and priests and bishops to the Lord; and already bringing the work of the holy service of the word to its end, and being already near to the crowns themselves, he sails across the Western Ocean and arrives at the islands called British, which they say are the end of the entire inhabited world; for they say that there is no land beyond these, nor is the sea beyond them navigable. C Arriving there, the thrice-blessed Simon, having proclaimed the word of truth; and having sealed many who believed in the word of grace, and having suffered many plots from those who contradicted the truth; at the end, seized by the men-at-arms of impiety, he is fastened to a cross; a death worthy of his desire, and of the labors (undertaken) on behalf of the Crucified, having received in return the cross for His sake; and by the likeness of the passion, both glorifying Him and being glorified in Him. Therefore, lifted up upon the cross like another Jesus, after long discourses to the crowds present, after fervent prayers to the Lord for the faithful and for the unbelievers—for the former, that they might remain unshaken in the truth; for the latter, that they might turn to the strong and living God, and believing, might attain salvation—after these things, I say, having completely withdrawn from the world and from the body, and having passed out of himself towards Him in whom he had always migrated through faith, he lays down his body as if it were certain dross, having long before died to the flesh; as if on a light and heaven-soaring wing of the Spirit lifted up to the heavens, he sees the gates of heaven opened to him; he sees the Son clearly sitting at the right hand of the paternal majesty; and escorted by all those angelic choirs of the saints, he approaches the supreme King of all in a manner which no one can explain in words, with exultation; and having reached Him face to face, and finished his course with a hymn of outstanding praise, he is accepted and united D with the supreme and primary God of the Word, having been gifted with the reward of glory. For no words can describe the preparation and the honor with which he was received, and he is joined and united with the highest and primary saints of God.
A come to pass. Thereafter, truly, departing completely from the world and from the body, and being turned entirely toward himself, and through himself toward Him in whom he ever dwelt by faith, he is refined like someone who long ago had mortified the clothing of the flesh; as though carried aloft into the heavens by the wing of a light and heaven-faring spirit, he sees the heavenly gates opened to him; and he sees clearly the Son of God established at the right hand of the Father’s majesty. And he himself, escorted by every angelic and holy order, approaches mystically and ineffably the King of all in exultation; and having encountered Him face to face and hymned Him supernaturally, and having been crowned with the crown of righteousness by the right hand of Jesus, and deemed worthy of an ineffable welcome and honor, he is joined and united to the highest and first children of God. This, divine and most eloquent disciple of the Word, is for you; this is the worthy reward of your long labors for the sake of the Master: to be joined to that very One; and just as you glorified Him upon the earth, so to be glorified with Him in the heavens; and just as you shared exceedingly in His sufferings, so also to be a partaker of His kingdom.
Rejoice, therefore, O most divinely-blessed and honorable Simon, the name of obedience—for this is its meaning—a thing worthy of praise to God, and worthy of longing, and for the angels indeed an object of emulation, but for demons a source of trembling; and for the faithful indeed reverend and lovely, but for the faithless heavy and abhorrent.
Rejoice, most fervent and industrious zealot of Christ, surpassing that Phinehas, Elijah, Elisha, and those prophets celebrated for this, by as much as, through having been a disciple of Christ and having attained to a greater knowledge of God and a warmer faith, you have brought forth a warmer zeal and eagerness for the sake of the Good.
Rejoice, because having honored through yourself the homeland that you had on earth, you rose completely above it, and lived in heaven as a heavenly child; and having recognized Zion, the metropolis of God, as your true homeland, you have been properly addressed as a Zionite rather than a Canaanite; inasmuch as just as you exchanged father for Father, inheritance for inheritance, and brothers for brothers, so also did you wisely exchange homeland for homeland, the perishable and dissolving for those things that are stable and incorruptible.
Rejoice, O minister of the Father, steward of the mysteries of the Son, and servant of the Spirit. O herald and deacon of the Father, witness and apostle of the Son, disciple and scribe of the Spirit, of the one B
deity the praiser; of the three persons the expounder of mysteries and spectator. A Hail and rejoice, for you shall reign with Christ forever, and shall sit with him on the throne of glory, being filled with unspeakable honor and brilliance. But do not forget our insignificance; rather remember this brief address, O thrice-blessed one, and as an imitator of the supremely good God, render with a rich hand the repayment for this intent; and guide us to the straight path of the Highest; and with your intercessions lead us in it, and by your overshadowings set us in order, and—once we have excelled in the perfect and good wills of God—receive us at the end, O wonderful Zelotes, into the blessed dwellings of the Father in exultation; in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is glory and power, now and always, and for the ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION XIII. In praise of the holy and all-celebrated Apostle Jude Thaddaeus
. B The blessed Jacob, who was also named Israel, when he was in the final moments of his life and was offering blessings to his sons, prophesying in the Spirit concerning what was to happen to each tribe, spoke thus: *Judah! Your brothers shall praise you. Your hands shall be upon the back of your enemies*. Regarding these words, Origen speaks enough, except for what we have gathered from him; he asserts that nothing else is had concerning Judas and Joseph (who are said to be brothers of the Lord with Jacob and Simon) in the Acts, as he claims, from which he says he saw that things concerning Simon were contained; which things consequently were overlooked by those martyrdoms of Abdias in Persia with Simon, and are opposed to the remaining tradition. C Jerome, not so much by a lapse of memory as by excessive fondness for Origen, made a distinction. Simon the Zealot, whom Luke identifies—explaining the Hebrew term *Cananites* as Judas the Zealot—he pushes to the point of disgust. In chapter 4, Epistle to the Galatians: *Good zeal, like Phinehas, Elijah, Matthias, and the Apostle Jude*. Contra Helvidius: *Jude the Zealot, in the other Gospel is called Thaddaeus*. But in Matthew, in the catalogue of the twelve apostles, he is called Thaddaeus; and he himself is the one whom he says was sent to Agbar or King Agarus, with Eusebius, from whom he borrowed this, in book 1, last chapter but one. He is openly called one and the same as the LXX: that he was clearly not an apostle, that no one was superior to him, and that he sent an equal apostle to him. Wherefore, Henry Valesius, the learned interpreter of Eusebius, rightly expostulates; he desires greater faith and diligence in that man. I would think that Jerome followed Origen, by calling him often Judas the Zealot—since the scripture phrase is Judas of James—which Origen’s locus in Matthew XXXV suggests; regarding that passage, Jesus Barabbas, regarding Jesus who is called Christ, he says: *In many exemplars it is not contained, because Barabbas was also called Jesus*. Which elevates that name; which name of Jesus, he says, is not common to any of them; as in other names we find just men, and of the same name are found the unrighteous men, such as Judas the apostle, the Zealot, and Judas the patriarch, and the Maccabean Judas, all praiseworthy: but Judas the traitor. D But neither is the Greek Menaion itself in this matter entirely pure. For because they wish that Thaddaeus (the apostle and disciple) be one and the same as the one from the LXX who went to Edessa, and there preached and healed Agarus, having removed what was left of the leprosy (having received the Lord’s epistle), they confuse those things that are distinguished by the rest. A gross error in the Synaxarion edited on the 10th of June, *in the Gospel according to him, and in the Acts, called “Jude”*. For the Greeks did not know a “Gospel of Jude,” but another one of Luke, in which he is called Judas. Even in the Acts, by the same writer. This, our own Tilianus shows more purely; the testament is had here, representing these places: *Memory of the holy apostle Jude, called brother according to the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and son of Joseph the betrothed, and brother of Jacob. He, being sent by Him to the whole world, having traveled through many places and many cities and peoples, those who were brought to the faith of Christ, and having traveled to Mesopotamia and arrived at the river-lands, having founded churches, and having preached the Gospel to the neighboring nations, reaching Edessa, and having encountered Agarus, and having healed him from the suffering of leprosy by which he was held bound, having been delivered from the unbelievers, he dies in the city of Arat. Knowing many dogmas and filled with the Epistle, he returns to the deification of the living after he departs from this life*.ORATIO XIII. — IN LAUDEM S. JUDAE APOST.
"Your hands shall be upon the back of your enemies; your father's sons shall bow down to you," and all that follows in the blessings. A All these things happened to him either not at all, or in a very small degree; but it is clear and most evident that they found their event in Christ, who, coming forth from Judah, fulfilled those prophecies.
For this is the true Judas, who makes confession to the Father, who is in heaven, according to the meaning of the name; and not he alone, but all who are truly his disciples by faith. For they do not falsely lay claim to the title, but are rightly and deservedly called Judaei [Jews or those of Judas]. For it is not he who is one in the open B who is a Jew, but he who is one in secret. Just as not all who are of Israel are Israel; nor are they the seed of Abraham, but all are children; but those who reach out to the hope of God alone by faith (for this is the work of Abraham), and are counted worthy to see God as far as is possible; for this is Israel. They also keep the Law of circumcision—not that which is in the letter and in the shadow, but that which is in spirit and in truth, in the despoiling or mortification of the old man. For they are consistently given to confession and prayer, in the assumption C or renovation of the new man.
Just as Christ is the root and fountain and cause of all divine operation, of all virtue, of all grace; for He is the second in analogy according to His likeness, and those who are from Him become partakers of the same; so too the power of confession, primarily in the Master, is perceived according to its participation in the disciples; and in all others, and before them all, it completes this act through a higher providence in the one who has obtained that very title.
Let us therefore praise Judas, according to the patriarch's prophecy, D known by the title of confession. Let us praise and venerate him who practiced the worthy deed of a sacred name; for just as he had in common with Christ this virtue, which is excellent beyond others, most fervent faith, and love most proven, and was the most perfect disciple in knowledge, completing the sacred number of the twelve apostles. Let us praise him, not the Iscariot (for he is far from the blessing, since he loved a curse, and the curse came upon him), but Judas, the one to be seen from both sides and most noble; who is gloriously brightened by excellences that are above nature: [p. 258] a descendant of Joseph, and brother of James; from above, a child of God, and a relative of Christ. The descendant of the King David, and a relative according to the flesh to Christ—since Joseph himself was a parent, and was the relative of the betrothed Mary. Near indeed the prominent one, and possessing the examples of righteousness—just as the one who has handed down.
A a superabundance of virtue, so too did he, far more than the others, become known and glorified by him.
I believe that this man was also assumed into the type of the holy Church gathered from the Jews. For because the Jewish race was to be rent into two parts—the one to be reconciled with God, and the other to be cast off—the one to be justified by faith, and the other to be condemned for unbelief, and the one to be built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, and the other, like branches dried and useless, to be broken off from the holy root; that infamous traitor was the type of the rejected Synagogue, while the most blessed Judas—he who was dedicated to the salvation of the remaining holy Church—stood forth as the type of the saved, who was shown to be the imitator of the best. And just as that one, having closely identified himself with the devil by sin, leads the way to perdition for those who follow him, so too this one, bonded to Christ through perfect justice, leads those who follow him towards B salvation.
Since, therefore, we have distinguished the equivocal meaning of the word—which is loathsome and detestable to the vulgar and the unlearned—let us proceed to the explanation of the name as it pertains to this holy Judas, so that we may contemplate him whom heaven has illuminated for us. Let us narrate the account of his life in detail, leaving aside the apostolic period and the reporting of his preaching and miracles (since we have not yet had the opportunity to lay hold of commentaries covering all these things thus far). Yet, we may crown him as if with garlands of roses, in the way we have done for others, joining ourselves to him with a heart that is very dear and acceptable to those who offer a truth-loving ear; so that we may weave a eulogy for a disciple of truth, C prepared from the common and universally accepted concepts.
His way of life and upbringing from the beginning was, without a doubt, just and good. For an excellent sprout, born from a good root and a good nature, was trained and instructed under a sober father. He avoided all the vanities and insane follies of the age; taking care that the power of his noble soul might not be corrupted if it were addicted to perishable things or lust. Instead, concentrating his entire focus upon himself, being well-trained in the meditation of the Law and magnificent in his discipline, he increased in progress every day no less in the habit of his mind D than in the stature of his body.
For since he, having been guarded by the Law as by a pedagogue, had advanced in the measure of his age and of personal growth; and since the great Light of justice, the only-begotten image of the paternal substance, had already shone upon the mortal mass through the most pure and virginal
conception, and had been taken up under the care of her spouse Joseph, who flourished in bodily age, and while being brought up with the testimony of John, and much more by the great works of the heavenly Father, was being revealed above the water; and since, for those who immediately perceived the works, he was quietly displaying the magnificence of his own divinity, while to those who were acting according to the false Judaeans, he was as one whose heart’s thoughts were stiffened—the envious ones—he did not disclose himself to their eyes; and, while he indeed loved his kin not merely by natural affection and biological closeness, but was joined to them by a higher communion of faith—for in these, mostly, he was destitute of those among his kin who were then using Christ as their master; nay rather, being at once joined to the bodily affinity (not to say the closeness of familial ties, nor merely natural affection) and to the charity of the Spirit; by faith—which no less reconciles the intimacy of character and life, than the great and amazing wonders of faith (namely, that he who existed to be his kinsman, as he considered him to be) joined him—in this, I say, the most blessed one, having straightway attained the highest intimacy or friendship with Him, just as he also began to preach the Gospel of the kingdom of God, he was also made a disciple of the Gospel. And to that intimacy of kinship and blood, joined by divine love, he adds that which is perfected by the tutelage of childhood, and being moved by the law as his peda- gogue, and easily understood by the Spirit into the righteousness of the law, and rightly discerning the Teacher, he is counted among the first order of the friends of Jesus, and is shown to be numbered among the holy and lofty choir of the twelve apostles.
From thence he becomes a hearer of the hidden mysteries of God, and an eyewitness; nay more, a participant and initiate of the deifying rites, and a minister of the divine wonders. For all the things that the Father wrought through the Only-begotten, these he again, sending out the twelve to the lost sheep of Israel, and initiating them into the great apostolate, and going along with them in the Spirit, wrought; with whom he himself, the thrice-blessed one, being sent, and having received that authority over the chiefs and first ones—as one in no way falling short of them in the spirit of holiness—he cast out demons, as if by the fire of the energy of Him who sent him; he cleansed the lepers, by word alone, at the invocation of the Name of Him who sent him; he raised the dead by the touch of his hand alone and by prayer, and opened the eyes of the blind, and made the lame walk straight, and every infirmity and every disease of the body, showing the whole world in himself the great power of the Word, proving Him by these wonderful deeds.
This first pledge of the Spirit and the first-fruits of grace, and such an exhibition of signs…
A having received, thereafter, having sustained the reproach of Christ, and having been in a certain manner crucified together with Him who was being crucified, and having suffered together with Him who performed the life-giving passion, and having been resurrected together with Him who rose again, he attained the greater and final gift of the breath of the Spirit.
After this, having been caught up from the earth and reaching toward heaven, and having beheld the Son being taken up with glory unto the heavenly Father, then, waiting for the promise, he received the perfect energy of the Spirit—which was bestowed upon the eleven—when it descended from above, even as upon a throne of glory raised up and high, a divine palace, or a mystical holy of holies, having previously prepared in himself a light-bearing heart, B and thus being made ready, he was, by the god-like Paraclete, and by the violent sound of His presence, braced; and, being purified by the tongues of fire and enriched with wisdom, and having become full of truth and grace, he thus also ran toward the lot of the apostolic office assigned to him.
He ran so that he might take to himself partners in the good; so that he might distribute to those who had no share in the fountain of grace which flowed in him, by means of his unique humanity and kindness. For just as a rain-bearing cloud, being filled with water, cannot long sustain its heavy burden, but being pressed by the Spirit—by which it is carried and constrained—it pours forth the rain upon the earth; so also the great Apostle Jude, being exceedingly made drunk by the flow of that heavenly Spirit and the intelligible rivers, could not for long contain the burden in his mind. C
But immediately having departed from the earthly Jerusalem, for the sake of the heavenly Sion, he went both to the North and to the East, being carried by the Lord the Spirit, who led him; and having crossed all Syria and Mesopotamia, he poured out for them the life-giving and life-nurturing doctrines of the Word; and not, as it were, in drops, or like the dews of the morning, to speak so, did he pour out the heavenly rain, but as a river, as one who was truly a river filled with the waters of God; and while, on the one hand, he astonished the ears of the Gentiles with divine discourses, on the other, he dazzled their eyes with wonderful works; and while he established the faith by the truth of his words, D he also confirmed the truth of his words by the brightness of his works: for by his words he commended the living and divine truth, and by his unheard-of works he commended the dignity of the nature of things above, using both for the verification of the Gospel, to which the nations gave credence. And as one who used in relation to things that surpass nature, for the purpose of persuading them of recognition and faith, the examples of things placed before their eyes, leading them by the hand to the understanding of the God who cannot be seen, and proposing himself as a kind of image of the faith in Christ that he preached, he thus, little by little, led those who were senseless to the knowledge of the truth.
A having received the manifestation: and after these things, having borne the reproach of Christ, and having been in a certain way crucified with Him who was being crucified, and having suffered with Him who suffered the most life-giving passion, and having risen with Him who was rising, thou obtained the gift of the Spirit, greater and more perfect through His inbreathing. And after this, having beheld the Son being lifted from the earth, reaching the vaults of heaven, and being taken up with glory to the heavenly Father; then, having awaited the promise of the Truth-teller, thou didst receive from heaven the perfect energy of the Spirit, sitting with the eleven in the upper room. For having prepared thy light-bearing heart—or rather, thy God-formed heart—as a throne of glory, uplifted and high, or a divine palace, a mystical sanctuary, or a holy of holies, thou didst thus readily receive the most God-ruling Paraclete coming to thee. And being braced by the vehement sound of His presence, and having been purified and made wise by the tongues of fire, and having become full of truth and grace, thou too didst run with thirst to the lot of the apostleship appointed for thee. Thou didst run, that thou mightest take partners in the Good; that thou mightest impart with an excess of philanthropy and kindness to those who were destitute of the grace springing up in thee. For as a rain-bearing cloud, filled with water, and not able to endure the weight for long, but being carried and compressed by the Spirit that constrains it, pours down the rain upon those on the earth: so also the great apostle Judas, having been supernaturally intoxicated by that heavenly deluge of the Spirit and by the intelligible streams, was not able to hold the conceiving mind for longer.
B But having immediately departed from the earthly Jerusalem for the sake of the heavenly Sion, and being borne toward the North and the East by the Spirit that led him; and having crossed all Syria and Mesopotamia, he pours out upon them the life-giving and soul-engendering doctrines of the Word. He does not pour out the heavenly shower as if in droplets and dewy sparks, so to speak, but like a river, as he was truly a river of God filled with waters. He was astounding the ears of the nations with divine words, and striking and bewildering their sight with wonderful works; and by the truth of his words he was establishing the greatness of his works, and by the brightness of his works he was confirming the sincerity of his words. Or, rather, by his words he was verifying the innovative and God-befitting nature of the Word of Truth, and by his paradoxical works the supernatural dignity of his deeds, and through both he delivered the truth of the Gospel most faithfully to the nations. And he used the nature of existing things as a guide to the knowledge and faith of those things which are above nature, and by examples of visible things he guided them to the understanding of the invisible God; and proposing himself as an image to the faith of Christ who was preached, he thus little by little led the senseless to the knowledge of the truth, persuading C ... D
them that the heaven and the sun and the stars, and this air, and the ether above it, and the earth and the sea, and all the plants and animals that naturally grow therein, are all created and servants of the God who created all things. And that one should think none of these is God, because these things are mutable and perishable, and have been given as ministers to the life of man in the world; and that they are by nature inferior to man, because they lack reason, and because they exist for his sake. If, therefore, man is not God, it is far from being the case that we should call those things that are worse than him gods. But this one alone is truly God, who does not become anything through another, but always is; who is not created, but makes all things; who is not changed nor turned, but is always the same, and moves and changes and transforms all things. It is necessary to know this one alone as God and to worship Him; for B He alone is holy by nature, alone good and just and wise, from whom all wisdom and justice, and every goodness and holiness, springs. He alone is powerful, as He is enriched with a power that accompanies every will; He alone is merciful and compassionate, who offers his Only-begotten, the co-essential, co-divine and co-good Son, becoming man for the sake of human nature which had sinned and slipped into the pit of Hades and destruction, and walking with men and being crucified for them, being buried, rising on the third day, being taken up on the fortieth day, and being carried up to the Father with glory, while we beheld. He, having accomplished the economy for us, beyond being, and now seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty on high, sent us to proclaim to you peace and every good; that by believing in Him you may be baptized, and be fulfilled into all the fullness of God; that having washed and cleansed the inner man from all impiety and wickedness, you may be filled with the Holy Spirit and become heirs according to the promise of eternal life in Christ Jesus. Amen. With such teachings, the most memorable Judas, always admonishing, disputing, and exhorting all Syria and the cities and regions of the East, and in every way applying himself to the imitation of God and goodness, dealt with them by all the devices of divine prudence. And at one time, falling into extraordinary trials and torments and scourgings, and dangers of death, he was delivered by the providence of Christ who dwelt within him; at another, he was encouraged by the more mystical illuminations and most sacred overshadowings of the Paraclete; and being now deemed worthy of more divine revelations and of the hidden things of God, and now being glorified and magnified by the abundance of wonderful works and by the operations of God’s miracles and signs, he thus magnified
...Lord Jesus, thus he gave assurance of the Gospel of Christ. Thus, among other things, having reached Edessa, which is the greatest metropolis of Syria, and having preached Christ there not without labor, and having snatched the whole city from the devil’s grip, and having brought it into proximity with Jesus through faith—especially by means of most divine words and most supernatural deeds—and having consecrated this city as a holy Church to the most holy (God), and having after these things fulfilled a clear and God-worthy martyrdom for God, he thus flew with joy toward Him. Having passed by as dreams all principalities and powers, the world-rulers of darkness, and all the spirits of wickedness, he mingled with the holy and divine angels, as the gates of the heavens were opened to him in a spiritual sense. Meeting the archangels, obtaining the honorable principalities, and passing through all holy powers, virtues, and dominions with inexpressible brightness and exultation, and indeed passing even through their super-celestial thrones and through the midst of the most exalted and venerable hosts of Cherubim and Seraphim, he approached Him who is praised upon the throne of the glory of His kingdom. Thou didst appear as a beloved and precious son, and as one who had conquered, and as one who had kept the works of Christ to the end; thou dost receive from Him again, in a more divine and exalted manner, authority over the nations. And according to the promise, thou sittest with Him and dost shepherd them, and shalt shepherd the nations, crushing them like potter's vessels C. And having taken of the tree of life that is in the midst of the paradise, and having eaten of it, thou hast attained the most exalted love and deification, and the abundant and long-lived delights and honors of the first children of God.
What speech, then, could be expressive of your majesty? Who has arrived at such a height of theology or contemplation as to dare to express the glory and magnificence of your holiness? For just as it is impossible for one still using a lowly body to behold your blessedness and divinity, so it is impossible to fittingly praise it with hymns of words. It is right, therefore, in greeting the most venerable and most blessed head, to say: Hail, O blessed eyewitness and genuine and active servant of God the Word. Hail, precious Judas, child worthy of the true Israel and God, and of Jesus Christ, who truly sees God! Because they indeed praised thee, and in the likeness of the Begetter, thy spiritual brothers worshiped and do worship thee; because, just as He is from the Father, so thou also art a divinely-planted shoot grown from Him, having emerged like a lion’s cub; and as a lion thou didst sleep, having lain down in the midst of thy inheritance; and there is no one to rouse thee, that is, to remove thee from thy spiritual inheritance, because thy…
and thy colt—the multitudes of the nations who came to believe through thee—thou didst bind with the tendril of thy words to the true vine; for thou didst also wash thyself, as in wine, in thy own blood, the sacred robe of the body. And thou didst have joyful, that is, radiant with graceful brightness, the eyes of the heart; and teeth whiter than milk, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, and sending forth the clear stream of theology. Rejoice, because not by spirit alone, according to the birth from above, as the other disciples, but also by body according to kinship, thou didst become a brother of God; and by the natural, thou didst take on the supernatural, and by the bodily, the spiritual intimacy; and through both thou didst show forth the strongest and most active love towards the one who alone is beloved; through which thou wast joined and adopted as a son to God; having become heir of God, and co-heir of Christ. Rejoice and be glad, because for you glory and the kingdom and the true joy were prepared, the unceasing, the super-luminous, the inaccessible; of which do thou also, O thrice-blessed one, I beseech thee, intercede for us to be partakers together with you in Christ Jesus our Lord; to whom be the glory and the power and the worship unto the endless ages. Amen.
ORATIO XIV. In praise of the holy and most celebrated apostle Matthias.
A How then, therefore, shall we overlook the holy Matthias? How shall we deem him worthy of less speech than the eleven? For since he was fashioned by one and the same instruction of Christ, by one grace and the same Spirit, he was finally brought to completion by the most blessed choir of the Twelve apostles: he who, whether it be that he does not obtain equal rewards of honor, both in heaven from the King of glory and the most just arbiter of rewards, and on earth from the dispensers of the word amongst the iniquitous? Let us therefore praise Matthias, a man venerable, blessed, and worthy of honor; a subject which, when understood by the rationale of the name, is praised as truly the gift of God, that is, to those who receive it. For this is what the name signifies, what it is called. Let us praise him with song; and, to the extent of our ability, let us magnify him who excelled all by the magnificence of the virtue of his praises: not only with words let us exalt the true disciple of Jesus, but also with gifts most B magnificent let us make acceptable to God, and let us fortify his memorial.
What, then, are the gifts with which the great and holy apostle is gladly received? I do not speak of gold and silver, nor of the radiance of pearls, or precious garments (which are the fruit of the earth, and which flow away and perish on earth), but let us offer him the gift of the hereafter, the desire for heaven, the contempt and neglect of the carnal, and the diligent work and care of spiritual matters: and indeed, for the sake of long-term existence, let us eschew the bodily pleasure and the desire for lust in favor of the longing for virtue; and for the sake of the food that perishes, let us bear fruit in laborious diligence, in reading the sacred utterances, and in the pure meditation of the law of the Spirit of life. For thus, truly, he who praises with C sincerity, even what is necessary for the body, God’s celestial munificence provides entirely, for He has promised it.
For not in vain does the sacred law appear to have commanded cessation from bodily labors, especially on those days when the solemnities of the feasts are celebrated; nor is it out of a design that we might relax our body into sloth or our soul into carnal softness, unto unchastity; but rather in that leisure, it cares for and acts upon the soul, and in body and mind and spirit we are freed from the earthly turbulence and labor and annoyance concerning vain things and directed to the good by nature (that good which is truly known to every rational nature) and we perform the operation of virtue; and while we pass our leisure from the labors and annoyances of secular life, we bring forward that better and abiding work; and with divine canticles and sacred Scriptures, let us enjoy the constant meditation of prayers, to the Lord.
A Since he, then, was fashioned by one teaching of Christ, by one grace, and by the selfsame Spirit, and was later revealed as the one who completed the most blessed duodenary choir of the apostles, how would he not be deemed worthy of equal honors and rewards, both in the heavens from the King of glory and most righteous Arbiter of rewards, and on earth, at least among those who are not unjust stewards of the word? Therefore, let us praise Matthias, the name that is venerable, blessed, and honorable—the thing that, according to the meaning of the name, is understood and praised; truly, of course, the gift of God, to those who receive him; for this is what the title implies. Let us praise him with a canticle; and, as far as we are able, let us magnify with apostolic praises him who, by the magnificence of his virtue, has surpassed all the brightness of praise; and let us not exalt the genuine disciple of Jesus with words alone, but let us crown his memory with gifts that are as splendid as possible and pleasing to God.
What, then, are the gifts with which the great and holy apostle is pleased to be honored? I do not speak of gold and silver, nor of the brightness of jewels, nor of the preciousness of garments—which are the fruit of the earth and which flow away and perish upon the earth—but let us offer as a gift the putting away of earthly things, the longing for heavenly things, the contempt and neglect of carnal things, and the industry and care for spiritual things. And in place of the bestial and irrational pleasure of the body, let us bring forth the desire and study of virtue; and in place of B the labor-intensive care and diligence for the food that perishes, let us produce the pure meditation upon the sacred oracles and the law of the Spirit of life. For so, truly, for those who sincerely glorify him, the provision of the necessities of the body from the heavenly Father also follows completely, as has been promised. For it is not in vain, as is evident, that the holy law has enjoined cessation from bodily works, especially during the days when sacred festivals are celebrated; and it is not so that we might abandon the soul to the pleasures of the body, through the ease and relaxation of the flesh; on the contrary, it provides through this cessation that both body, and mind, and soul might be removed from the downward circulation and from the toil and trouble regarding vain things, and that they might reach upward toward the naturally good, the truly existent, good, and lovely to every intelligent and rational nature; and, while passing our time free from the toils of life, we might prefer the better and abiding work of the word and of virtue; and with divine hymns and sacred meditations on the oracles and constant prayers, we may ever delight in the Lord. C D
A And since he was so gentle in spirit, and modest and mild in the disposition of his soul, as soon as the fame of Jesus rang in the ears of all men, and the wonders of Christ began to shine forth in Christ, he did not think it sufficient to receive the word by hearing alone; but he hastened to become an eyewitness of the miracles.
So when he saw, he did not doubt, as those of little faith do in their minds. He did not grow envious, like the malicious Jews; nor did he become slothful, like the most foolish of the Gentiles; but his heart flourished, and his spirit was rekindled. He marveled with his mind, and turned that wonder into longing; and by adding longing to longing, he progressed into a divine love. Through the intense and concentrated ardor of this godly love, having driven off every desire for earthly things and having shaken off every care of this present age, and having spurned all necessary things as if they were not necessary, and having abandoned dear ones as if they were strangers, he longed above all else in place of everything to acquire only Jesus. He desired to possess only Christ, to follow Him throughout his life, to be accounted worthy of His divine utterances, to be His servant rather than to be the master of all creation; and he regarded Him alone as the father, shepherd, teacher, and guide of his own life.
What, then, of the Lord? Did He spurn the disciple's zeal? Or did He receive it, yet rank him among the innumerable multitude of the faithful? Or did He number him among the few and easily counted, yet thrust him away from the first rank? By no means! But having first deemed him worthy of the second order of His disciples and having enrolled him among the Seventy, and having made him more perfect in all divine and holier doctrines and miracles, he thus, having progressed in all piety and virtue, worthily promoted him for his merits to the highest rank of the leaders B.
What, then, was the manner of his transition? Since the Lord Jesus had completed His stay on earth in the flesh, and had fulfilled the work of the saving dispensation, and had carried through the entire plan of the Father, He came to the life-giving and blessed passion of the cross. And Judas, one of the Twelve, having betrayed Him to the Jews for money, exchanged the apostolic office for a noose. And the Jews, having scourged Him (O long-suffering beyond the power of words!), and having insulted Him with blows of the fist, crucified Him. But He, having trampled down death and him who had the dominion of death, was raised from the dead, and having appeared in many ways to the disciples, was at last caught up into heaven while they were looking on. C When, therefore, these things had been thus accomplished, the great Peter at once arose (for to him the leadership of the word and the right to shepherd and govern the Church had been entrusted) and, in the midst of the multitude of the apostles, speaking publicly in the Spirit, he recalled the betrayal of Judas and the penalty he had suffered, by which his bowels were burst asunder. He said that it was not right to overlook the number of the Twelve, which the Lord had willed to be sacred among the apostles, now that it had been diminished by Judas, nor to ignore the place of him who had transgressed. D
A Since they saw it empty, they ought not to neglect it; but it was necessary that from the second rank—that is, from the sacred company of the seventy apostles, who had diligently followed Jesus from the very beginning of the evangelical preaching down to His taking up into heaven—they should determine one by the indication of the lot, to be substituted into the office of him who had fallen away.
And in this way, O most blessed one, you were brought forward in their midst and presented as more illustrious than the rest, and were joined with the holy Justus; then, by the sacred prayers of the leaders, and even more by the just suffrage of God—He who sees the depths of the minds—the lot falling upon you, B you were taken up from the Seventy, and having been elected by the eleven, you filled up the venerable number of the twelve. Thus, you surely made the mystical battle-line of God whole, and you wiped away the sorrow caused by the ruin of Judas among those first leaders of evangelical preaching by your own raising up; and having taken his episcopacy, as had been proclaimed by the sacred oracle, and having inherited the lot of the apostolic office, you were deemed worthy, after this apostolic dignity and seat—at first on earth and before the nations, but afterwards in the heavens—to sit together with the heavenly King along with those most ancient ones; thus you will appear joyful and splendid—as is the promise of Him who is truthful—sitting with the eleven and judging Israel. But this is for later.
Tunc vero una cum sacrorum theologorum primis antistitibus velut unus ex eis in cœnaculo illo C consedens, parique illis ratione promissum Spiritum sanctum exspectans; divinissimo illo Spiritu dum compleretur sancta Pentecoste ignearum specie linguarum e cœlo veniente, ac singulos eorum quibus insedit, sua virtute implente, impletus et ipse viva gratia es: impletus sapientia et intelligentia: nec hac quidem Paracleti virtute affluenter donatus es, illaque deficeris: quin potius substantia Dei Spiritus, velut mundum sanctumque templum, haud secus ac apostoli reliqui, omni cultu virtutis vitæque munditia, effectus, nulla verborum vi explicabili, divinissimaque ratione, in te totam divinitatem conquiescere fecisti*, atque in eum modum, non alia quidem, aliis desideratis, sed omnia illius dona consecutus, D cunctisque Dei dexteræ virtutibus instructus, opportune et ipse ad gentes majori oblitas caligine, abundantiore operturus luce profectus es.
Etenim sicut ignis, si in crassiorem humidioremque forsitan lignorum struem injicias, sitque ille exilis ac tenuis, mox exstinguitur et elanguescit, crassitiei illi ac humiditati victus concedens: sin autem maxime vorax acrisque exstiterit, etsi forte non protinus accendat inhabili fomite nec satis disposito, penitius tamen insidens imaque pervadens, ac sensim subjectam materiam exsiccans, in magnam ex improvisto flammam erumpit, et
A that great God-speaker of the Word, since he was full of that heavenly fire, and was himself such a fire, having left behind the lower Jerusalem, and having been summoned by the divine Spirit that sets the nations in motion, he went forth; and having gently brought to bear the activity of that same fire, and the most excellent theology, and the most powerful miracles upon the hardened impiety of their hearts, and having worn away their stubborn adhesion; having, as it were, removed the stain from their minds, and preparing them as fit recipients for the illumination of faith, he thus suddenly kindles them to the knowledge of the truth, and illuminates them with the Spirit, and renews them through the water: and he signs B them with the sacred unction, and sanctifies them with the word of God. And in the same way, himself filled with the heavenly fire with which he was kindled, he draws them into his own likeness. For he cleanses and instructs those who are novices, as though they were beginners, through the teachings of the oracles, and illuminates those who are more perfect with the higher dogmas, and combines them; and by training them in the highest theologies and perfecting them, he shows them to be blameless children of God, co-heirs, and fellow-members, and partakers of Christ: and thus, having gathered the holy flocks for the Lord, and having established them for the great High Priest and Chief Shepherd, he led them away—already liberated and loosed from the power of the evil one—and presents them to the heavenly Father and King of all.
Thus Matthias glorified the Lord, and thus the Lord glorified him; and there was a wondrous kind of contest in both of them. C For the one side was using every means to add those who could be saved to the Lord, seeking the glory of Him who sent him; the other side, in return, granted him, for those who believed through him, a crown of glory and the exultation of the soul.
Indeed, the circuits of the most blessed apostle are worthy of all admiration, and the deeds of valor which he performed among all nations: being, as they truly are, highly noteworthy and most worthy of celebration, not least of which was that which he demonstrated among the first who inhabit Ethiopia. For to those blacks in body—but much blacker in mind and soul, and D in no way distinguished from brute beasts—this wondrous man, while dwelling among them in the name of Jesus, and in the midst of wild beasts as a human himself—or rather, even in the midst of wicked men, as a good god dwelling for a long time—did not drag along any trace of their boldness, but rather gave them his own. He rubbed off onto their soul, which had become Christ-like, his own goodness, and he judged them worthy of an even better transformation. For being entirely opposed to those who were contrary to him, he softened the hardness and stubbornness of their hearts—the untamable and intractable—with his gentle and mild manners, and calmed their savagery with his meekness. Their brutal, guileful, and wicked nature he molded with the simplicity and kindness of his own character, and with the honey-sweetness of his words, and with the divine quality of his conduct, and by startling them with the majesty of his deeds.
And this great declarer of the Word, because he was full of that heavenly fire, and was fire itself, having left the lower Jerusalem and having gone to the nations to which the moving divine Spirit had called him, began gently to instill the power of the fire within him into them. By most excellent theologies and most powerful miracles, he bit by bit attenuated the impiety that had been set into their hearts; and having purged the ingrained stickiness, or rather the stain of their intellect, and having made them fit for the illumination of faith, he thus suddenly ignited them unto the knowledge of the truth, brightened them with the Spirit, renewed them with water, sealed them with holy chrism, and sanctified them with the pronouncement of God. And thus, having completely filled them with the heavenly fire that was in him, he made them like unto himself. For by the introductory teachings of the Scriptures, he cleansed and instructed them; by the more perfect doctrines, he enlightened and settled them; and by the highest theologies, he perfected and brought them to completion, showing them to be blameless children of God, co-heirs, one body, and partakers with Christ. And thus, finally, constituting them as holy churches for the Lord, and reverend flocks for the great High Priest and Chief Shepherd, he delivered and liberated them from the power of the wicked one, and set them before the heavenly Father and King of all.
Thus did Matthias glorify the Lord, and thus did the Lord glorify him in return; and there was a wondrous competition of sorts between them. For the one was adding those who were being saved to the Lord, seeking by every means the glory of Him who had sent him; and the other, in return, bestowed upon him, through those who believed by his means, a crown of boasting, and exultation, and the glory of the soul. Indeed, all the journeys of the most blessed one, and all the noble deeds which, in going about, he accomplished among all the nations, are highly to be admired as most worthy of account and most worthy of contemplation; but not least of all, the feat which he displayed among those who dwell in the first Ethiopia. For among those men who were black of body, but far blacker in mind and soul, and in no way different from raw-flesh-eating beasts, this admirable man—dwelling within Jesus, and living for a long time among wild beasts as a man, or rather acting as a good God among wicked men—did not at all draw to himself any trace of their insolence; rather, he imparted his own kindness to them. He did not let even a stain of vice touch his Christ-like soul; on the contrary, he deemed them worthy of a better transformation. For by simply healing the opposite with its opposite, he softened their heart, which was hard, stubborn, and haughty, with his own gentle, mild, and meek character; and he bent their savageness, treachery, and malice with his own benignity of mind, simplicity, and amiability; and he startled them with the honey-flowing stream of his words, and with the divine quality of his conduct, and with the majesty of his deeds.
A Stripping off the Ethiopians, you approached the most brilliant camps of the angels; and having dismissed those who were troublesome and burdensome, you were received, rejoicing, by your Benefactor and Savior Christ. And, having thirsted vehemently for the living and mighty God, and having appeared in confession and exultation before the face of his magnificent glory, you obtained that beatitude and sweetness which no power of words can express, and a most intimate reclining place with the firstborn sons of God.
Hail to me, therefore, most venerable and most perfect herald and disciple, because by the excellence of your holiness you have been deemed worthy of the highest and first rank of the saints. Hail, because there is an ascent toward God for those by whom, as it is written, the ascents in your heart are disposed; and in the valley of weeping—in a humble and contrite mind—having received the blessings of Him who disposes and gives law within you, you journeyed from strength to strength, having ascended to the supreme order of the apostles; to whom even the God of gods appears, as if in the high and heavenly Sion, [perceived] B by your contemplative heart.
Hail, Matthias, venerable, holy, and admirable, because having once fallen among those wild beasts who are more cruel than raw-eating animals, and having been locked in prison and darkness, and being kept, as it were, for an impure and most wicked feast, you were not consumed by them. But, having obtained the kind providence and divine support of the only good and superior God, you were freed from all the molestation of those murderers.
Hail and exult, because through many disturbances, labors, and hardships for the sake of the Gospel, you have obtained a firm and stable joy: because through afflictions, almost countless evils, and very great necessities for the sake of the truth, you have entered into that joy which is subject to no fleeting change, and is always and in the same way enduring. Hail, I pray you, stretch forth, prosper, and reign, as one who breathes forth goodness entirely, and as a true son of the great King.
Rejoice and be glad; and taking me as a partner in your lot, O blessed one, [and] of your love and grace, cause me to be prepared to appear with confidence before God, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is due all glory, power, and praise, unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION XV.
D Praise of the holy and most celebrated apostle and evangelist Mark.Just as the forms of all bodies are not similar, so neither are the properties of souls the same.
[Note: The text continues with an introduction regarding the Gospel of Mark.]
A Such, however, is the devotion that has been kindled in the people toward him, that they have snatched away even the fragments of the bier on which he lay as if they were relics, and the veil that covered him, having been divided into ten thousand pieces, has been distributed to the faithful as a gift of sanctification. Since the body had then with difficulty escaped those who were holding it, and had arrived at the great church of the Great Martyr Menas, there it was set down for a short time and received the greeting from the hymns, as is meet. B There, two women, simultaneously oppressed by evil spirits and terribly agitated, as soon as they touched the saint’s tomb, were restored to health in the presence of all the people, having obtained undeniable healing and praising God with a loud voice.
From there, when those around him had placed the precious treasure on a ship, although the sea was then rising and, with a violent south wind, the waves were being lifted to a height and making the voyage inaccessible, as soon as that divine tomb stepped onto the ship, one could see the Lord’s miracle manifesting immediately. For the storm was invisibly rebuked by the Great High Priest, C and the sea stood still in a calm; the waves were silenced, and the saint’s attendants crossed over in serenity, glorifying God; and having brought his most faithful builder and worshiper to the holy and most beautiful church of the Archistrategos, they reverently placed him on the right side in a marble tomb, a repository for all manner of diseases, the expeller of evil spirits, and, to speak concisely, the remedy for every kind of passion of soul and body for those approaching it.
Thus, the holy man of God, having been tested on earth through many afflictions, and having been proved like gold in a furnace, D and thus having been shown worthy of God, was deemed worthy of heavenly blessedness and of the honor among those in the heights of the saints. But the darkness was brought to nothing; it pursued the light, but did not overtake it. Rather, it benefited it to the extent that it thought to cause it grief. For by pursuing—in order to trample it and boast—it put the fleeing one further from itself, and even unwillingly caused it to draw nearer to the Good, whereas it familiarized itself with evil through its manifold snares.
Therefore, for a second ten-year period—and thirty years in all, and a little more besides—the great high priest Ignatius held the throne, and having reached his eightieth year, he was taken up in peace to the great High Priest, Christ. As for how many and how great the wonders with which the Lord, who is glorified in him, glorified him—and even now, being glorified, ceases not to do so—it would be a task for history, and not for the present time to relate. But having briefly reminded you of a few things from the many—as many as moderately indicate his faith and the grace of God that was in him—we shall pass over the individual details as they exceed counting. For a boy, being about eight or nine years of age,
A just as the virtue of the saints is manifold, with one person perfecting one way of life in the same Spirit, and with everyone—in accordance with the exceptional nature of each—being drawn toward the goal that is appropriate to him, so too their encomiastic discourse may be manifold and not altogether uniform if it is meant to reach the truth of the deeds. B Another, therefore, is the life of the apostles, and another the life of the prophets; just as the way of life of the divine hierarchs is different, and again, different from these is the resistance of the athletes unto blood, and the struggle unto the end for the sake of truth; even if all of them are professedly looking toward one goal, the pleasing of God. But the more difficult each of these subjects is for the speaker, and the more challenging it is to characterize, in that it is marked by numerous kinds of accomplishments, the more it is recognized as such. For everything, by word, and by the most magnificent apostolic perfection, is surpassed. C And if one should add, also, regarding the evangelists, how great the magnitude of the subject is! And if one should add the priestly liturgy, and besides these, the martyr’s struggle, and the crown woven by the King of all—this one is surely superior to any understanding of men and of wisdom. The praise bestowed by those who worthily praise those who deserve it, and indeed the praise which exceeds all human thought and wisdom, no one would be so rash as to presume to give, unless he were reconciled and enabled by the impetus of the divine Spirit from above. So let us invoke the power of the Paraclete, and draw to ourselves the wisdom and understanding from above through faith, so that the great apostle D and evangelist...
A M[arcus], a witness to the majesty of Jesus, may be celebrated with our praises, and as if sprinkling him with the flowers of our discourse, we may adorn him with an encomiastic address. For he stirs us up today, with his sweet and most delightful memory, to sound forth his own praise; he also fills us with a kind of fear and alacrity by the varied and magnificent cult of his virtues. But we, having invoked the power of the Paraclete and the voice of the one being praised, shall add thereto a little of what he himself shall grant; for thus we shall fulfill our duty to that most eloquent disciple of the Word to the best of our ability, and we shall satisfy the holy desire of the Church of God.
He is, therefore, this chosen and approved evangelist of Jesus, a clear theologian of the dispensation of the Word of God, the most luminous lamp of the Church, B who not only silenced the wise with his masterful sermons and sacred Scriptures, and finished his martyrdom, which was illustrious beyond measure, with sturdy contests and athletic sufferings, but also, having first heard the message of Jesus, did not shut his ears like the unbelievers, nor did he hear only to fail in understanding; nor did he hear with understanding only, but not with faith; nor, provided he heard with faith, did he neglect the word being preached. Rather, having been moved by the preaching, he put aside every fleshly kinship, every possession, and every earthly affection, and, looking toward the perfect things, he ran like a deer in his thirst, so as to be sated and refreshed by the life-giving springs of Christ. C
What then, brethren? Does the Lord, the fountain of gifts, the fullness of all good things, the unchanging image of the Father, the possessor of the deifying Spirit; how then, I say, did He receive this disciple who was so fervent in spirit? Did He perhaps repel him as though he were unfit? Or did He count him as one of the crowd of many believers? Or did He grant him the honor accorded to one of the first? No, indeed. But at once He looked upon him, and looked into the depths of his heart, and He who knew before the foundation of the world that he would be made conformable to His own body, He, having seen him, forthwith approved both his bodily approach and his goodness of soul; and He loved the sincerity of his faith, and He loved the purity of his mind, and, having loved those who are true to his way of life and guileless, D He added him to the college of the most faithful disciples.
Since it was impossible for him to be numbered among the most ancient, he being already counted among the completed cycle of the holy twelve, He counts him nonetheless among the second, that is, among the seventy disciples: he who is the chosen of the first, yet he is granted the grace and honor of being, after these, a venerable preacher of the Gospel and is proven to be a divine-speaking minister. For since he was a witness and inspector of those mysteries, and of those finished works, and of the life-giving sufferings, and of the resurrection, and of the ascension of the Lord, he also made him a mystery and an inspector of the Spirit...
A granting him a share in every heavenly gift in like manner, so that what might appear to be lacking from the prejudice of rank might be fulfilled by another gift. He fills him with wisdom, he fills him with greater grace and truth; he stirs up in you a clear and bright memory of the whole dispensation. Wherefore, B being entirely inspired by God, entirely beside yourself, O blessed Mark, for Christ, and being thoroughly warmed and breathed upon by His Spirit, and also urged and prompted to this—as they say—by the great and first of the apostles, Peter, you recount as an evangelist the baptism and the temptation, taking the beginning of your divinely inspired writing from the showing of Jesus to Israel. You write down the election of the apostles and the sublime legislation, and the divine preachings interwoven with parables; and in addition to these, the healings of those suffering from all kinds of ills, and the various miracles, and the transformation upon Tabor, you insert into your holy commentary. Thence you set forth the wondrous entry of Christ into Jerusalem, and the brilliant retinue and reception, in the manner of a triumph, with the branches of innocent olives and the spreading of garments. After these things, the holy supper, the betrayal, the unjust sentence, the cross, the funeral, burial, the third-day resurrection and appearing and ascension, having composed them with sacred divine orations, C you have taken excellent care that the great mysteries of our salvation should not slip from memory; but you have brought into the whole world, and into the souls of all men, as far as it depended upon you, the great light of the Gospel like a bright star; and, having labored by the same Spirit, you have set forth your Gospel—a table of piety and true knowledge common to all—as equal to the most holy Matthew and consistent with and of the same power as the other spirit-bearing writers of the Spirit. In that way, you obtained the same honor as the first apostles, and became a fellow-occupant of the throne with them. Thus, by following the coryphaeus and key-bearer of the kingdom of heaven, that good shepherd immediately after Christ and successor, Peter, and by being his companion in every city and nation in travels, discourses, and debates, as well as in signs and wonders, D you so distinguished yourself in his spirit and in the sacred functions of the Gospel and the other ministrations of the Spirit, that you became and were called his son in the spirit. By his command and appointments, you set out for Alexandria in Egypt and established a Church in it for Christ; having laid that unshakable foundation—having yourself been built up immediately after Jesus, and fitting and compacting together upon yourself all the gatherings of the faithful—and you have become for that city and for all Egypt what the holy James was for the Church in Jerusalem and for those of the circumcision.
A Perfected, then, by the two highest gifts of the Spirit—the apostolic, namely, and the hierarchic or pontifical—the most blessed man used the one toward those who were strangers to the faith, and the other toward those who had come to the faith through his work. As an apostle, he spoke freely to those who were still held by the Greek error, beseeching, rebuking, refuting impiety, accusing them of licentiousness, exposing the vanity of their superstition, branding the frailty of their idols, and testifying to the Creator and Sustainer of all things as God. He testified that they must believe in the living and true God, and in His Word, as being of the same nature as He is, and co-eternal, as the "firstborn of all creation" [Col. 1, 15] and the Only-Begotten. He taught them to know also the Holy Spirit as equal in B honor and dignity to these, and as enthroned with them, and of the same nature. He taught them—and besought them to believe and worship—the Father as unbegotten and the author of all things, the whole beginning that precedes all that exists; the Son, as being begotten of the Father before all ages and supersubstantially; and the Holy Spirit, as proceeding supersubstantially from the same fountainhead. He exhorted them and urged them with all his might to acknowledge the philanthropic condescension of this one supersubstantial and monarchic Trinity, and not to deny the incarnation of the Word of God; but rather to accept as a saving law and as the doctrines of truth that He was born from a chaste maiden, was baptized by John, and delivered the whole evangelical teaching. Furthermore, he exhorted them not to be ashamed of the crucifixion suffered for us, nor of the death, the spear wound, and the burial, as if these were signs of weakness and ignominy; but, C seeing and believing in the three-day resurrection from Hades with power, the co-resurrection of the dead, and the ascension into heaven, to be enlightened and glorified all the more, since these were clear proofs of divine power. He urged them to await also His second appearing from heaven with majesty, the transformation and renewal of this whole world for the better, the resurrection of the dead, the vivification of the just, and the condemnation of the sinners.
[Regarding] the Therapeutae, or those who cultivated the Christian [life] that even then existed, whom Mark the teacher established at Alexandria—since the believers in Jerusalem, as Luke reports, sold their possessions and brought the price to the feet of the apostles, having all things in common (which is for us the model of religious poverty, consecrated in Christ’s own family and by the apostles). That Eusebius thought and wrote this is severely criticized by Scaliger in the sixth book of his *De emendatione temporum*, and Henry Valesius concurs with him regarding that same Eusebius; nor do I think that those whom I have D as flatterers of Mark (except for Bede and Damianus), namely Nicetas, Procopius the rhetorician, Laurentius Justinianus, etc., are at variance with this, since they make no mention of this matter in their encomiums, just as the Greeks do not in their Menaea; whose judgment, therefore, I would not easily reject. For even if such ancient origins of the monks are pleasing, it is not easy to digest the many things that stand in the way. There were innumerable Jews in Alexandria from the first captivity; they were zealots of the law, among whom were some who, in their severer life, preferred a certain holiness to the common standards, whom Philo the Jew—since he lived in Alexandria and was most expert in Jewish affairs, and Christian matters could not have been hidden from him—would have been hard to persuade [to be Christian]. Other things follow, which Valesius pursues, that are far different from those which were the Christian rites, and which the book of Acts teaches us were accepted in the customs of the Christians in Jerusalem. Valesius shows against Scaliger that they were different from the Essenes. I am not permitted to inquire further. I approve highly of the origins of the Egyptian monks, after those designations in Jerusalem and among the apostles, which Ammonius (whom I have brought forth) attributes to the monks at Raithu and Sinai, and which the Life of Anthony and of Paul the Hermit insinuates; and if there is anything even older than these, provided it is of sound faith and not leaning on the dreams of apocrypha, nor is it less explored. If, however, the opinion of Eusebius, Jerome, Epiphanius, etc., pleases anyone, as being more pious and favorable to the monastic institute, let him go to Baronius, year 64.
A This man, indeed, as a truly truthful herald of the truth, preached to the peoples, handing it on both in writing and by word of mouth. Of these, some indeed assented to his words—those who were of upright mind, and whose hearts the invisible Spirit had touched. Bringing these to the truth of his doctrine, cleansing them with water, illuminating them with the Spirit, and initiating and perfecting them with the holy signs of divine things, he sealed them as immaculate children to God through the laver of regeneration. But as many as happened to be of perverse and impious heart, insulting the divine doctrine and being petulant against the most eloquent herald with a proud spirit and stiff mind, gnashed their teeth with raging fury; they plotted against him, proceeding through open machination in one instance, and whispering in secret counsels in another, snatching away those who were of the Church, bringing them before the magistrates and governors, slandering them, seizing their property, attacking them in every way, and distressing them with every machine and artifice (for such is the jealousy of the devil), and B thinking to trouble the most blessed man with every kind of invention.
He, however, just like a great and most hard sea-cliff, rooted, I will not say in the crust of the earth, but in the very bosom of the earth, remained unshaken and unbent by every assault of the flooding waves and tides, and by every violent blowing of the winds; so indeed he too, having been founded with a very deep counsel and spirit upon the true and intelligible Rock, and rooted immovably in Christ with most upright and strong reasonings, remained in Him with fitting and tranquil security. Terrified by no insult of those who would frighten him, he occupied himself with the faithful word that is according to doctrine; and remaining unsmitten and unbent C against every trial of the tempter, he firmly protected his Church and kept it unharmed by the injury of the opposing spirits.
Thus the great Mark, showing toward the Greeks the apostolic power that resides in words—and sometimes even that which resides in signs and wonders—fulfilled the salvation of those of the household of faith, as a most godly high priest. For what was the manner of his priestly service? By the words of divine wisdom and the teaching of the Spirit, he illuminated their souls each day; and cutting off carnal friendship and the habit of sin, he betrothed them to Christ by the law of the Spirit and the force of love; and restraining every harmful desire and senseless craving for the things on earth, he instilled in them a longing D only for the things of heaven—the standing and truly good things. To speak briefly, then, thus did he build up the souls of the faithful with holy sermons and doctrine, and again with actions, the holy rites of the most holy mysteries. [(56)] This is a grave testimony for the Liturgy of Mark, which is also used by the Egyptians, and Balsamon mentions it, although the passage does not occur, yet it is not entirely free for them to use it in Constantinople, but rather that which the Constantinopolitan Church uses everywhere in its rites, namely that of Chrysostom; and on certain days, that of Basil. Joannes edited the Liturgy of Mark.
A Furnished with the two highest gifts of the Spirit—the apostolic and the hierarchal—the most blessed man used the one for those outside the faith, and the other for those who had come to belief through him. As an apostle, he spoke freely to those still held by Hellenic error, exhorting, admonishing, and refuting their impiety, denouncing their licentiousness, ridiculing the vanity of their religion, exposing the weakness of their idols, and bearing witness to the Creator and Sustainer of all, God. He bore witness that they should believe in the living and true God, and in His Word, as being of the same nature and coeternal with Him, as the firstborn of all creation, and the Only-Begotten; and that they should recognize the Holy Spirit as equal in dignity, co-enthroned, and of the same nature. He taught, urged, and besought them to believe and worship the Father as unbegotten and the Author of all, the Principle preceding all that exists; the Son as begotten of the Father from before all ages and supersubstantially; and the Holy Spirit as proceeding from the same Cause, before all beginning. He exhorted and charged them with all his might to recognize the humble descent of this one, supersubstantial, and monarchical Trinity, and not to deny the incarnation of the Word of God; but rather to acknowledge his birth from a chaste virgin, his baptism by John, and all the evangelical teaching as a saving law and decrees of truth. Moreover, he urged them not to be ashamed of the cross, death, and burial endured for our sake as if they were signs of weakness and ignominy, but rather, by contemplating and believing in the resurrection on the third day from the grave with power, the general resurrection of the dead, and the ascension into heaven, to be enlightened and glorified, especially since these were clear proofs of divine power. He also exhorted them to expect the second appearing from heaven again with glory, the transformation and renewal of this whole world for the better, the resurrection of the dead, the vivification of the just, and the condemnation of the sinners.
B ... C ... D
Oration XV. — In praise of St. Mark the Apostle.
A ...preparing everything with holy devotion, delivering written prayers, and structuring both the mystic and bloodless celebration and liturgy of the life-giving body and blood according to divine, archetypal traditions and rites that are pure in the Spirit; and furthermore, having apostolically ordained, through the holy speech of mystic prayers and symbolic institutions, the form of baptisms and sacred ordinations, and simply the entire ecclesiastical hierarchy—he shone forth, not only for his own generation but for all those following, as a saving teacher of holy things and an excellent lawgiver of the New Testament. And he was not like that great Moses of old, who struck the Egyptians with a mighty hand and, having departed into the desert and the mountain, received a law from above—yet one that was in the letter; and while he gave laws, it was to Israel alone. But [Mark] contended with the spiritual Egyptians, that is, the opposing powers and all the impieties of the Egyptians, and having routed and overthrown them entirely, and having crossed their impiety and licentiousness as if they were the Red Sea, unharmed in Christ Jesus, he withdrew, as if into the desert, to a calm and serene state of mind. And having ascended the mountain of theology, he spoke mouth to mouth with God; and from there he was taught a law, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; and having been initiated into a sacred function not seen in types and shadows, but in truth and spirit, he established it not only for the Church of his own time, but for the universal Church. And he does not preside mystically over one nation alone, and that a small one hemmed in by narrow borders, but over the entire inhabited world and the whole Christian fullness; and whatever was said or delivered by him is held to be a New Testament, an apostolic tradition, and a law of truth, not only by the Alexandrians, but by all holy Churches everywhere.
B Since, therefore, he had exhibited the work of his ministry as acceptable to God and perfect, by making use of all apostolic signs and all divine sacred functions, and since he had perfected many with the chrism of the priesthood and had delivered a great many from the deception and error of idolatry, bringing them to Christ through faith, it was judged worthy that his honor should not be wanting in the triumph of the struggle.
[alt-version omitted]
C ...and since he had perfected many with the priestly anointing, and had delivered a great many from the worship of idols and from error, joining them to Christ through faith, it seemed worth the effort that he should not lack the honor of a triumphal battle.
D ...having singularly professed that he was sent by the Holy Spirit, not to baptize or even to write down sacred rites—although it is most certain from his Epistles to the Corinthians that he delivered to them matters pertaining to the rite of the Eucharist and other things of that kind in the Church, not only in writing but also by word. I have spoken elsewhere of James in my index of Hippolytus, and concerning the distribution of the office of governing the Church and establishing it between him, Peter, and John. Metaphrastes, Nicephorus, and others report this. What Nicetas writes, that fire was added to the other tortures, seems singular. It could be that, with the crowd rioting and raging, as the fierce character of the Alexandrians is, the corpse was cast into the fire; from which the disciples of Mark extracted and honorably buried it.
B Since the time for his departure and the receiving of crowns was now at hand, a sudden zeal was kindled among the most wicked of the Alexandrians—a demonic zeal, and one that could not be checked. They took counsel against him, and having reached the blessed one's dwelling and found him performing the work of the Lord, they dragged him away violently and dashed him against the ground. Then, having tied ropes around his neck, some dragged him forward through the middle of Alexandria, making him a spectacle and a laughingstock, while others followed and broke him with clubs and stones; and thus, through such savagery, he became a holy, God-beloved, and most acceptable sacrifice. In this way, O most admirable of apostles, most holy of hierarchs, most stalwart and noble of the victors, leaving behind your fleshly tabernacle to be torn further by murderous hands, you were received, crowned, by Christ the Judge of the contest and Savior. And later, as your holy body was sacrificed by fire, you were thus, in all things, consecrated to the One who loved you, and were offered to Him as a perfect and unblemished holocaust in the odor of sweetness. Hail, therefore, O divine and heaven-minded evangelist! Hail, for even if you were below the order of the Twelve, in the ministry of the Gospel and the gifts of the Paraclete you lacked nothing of their perfection. Hail, for numbered and joined with the apostles as an apostle, with the evangelists as an evangelist, with the patriarchs as a patriarch, and with the martyrs as a martyr, and being adorned by these things with a varied crown, you are deemed worthy to stand at the right hand of the All-King. Hail, for you bore the fine testimony of Jesus not once, but many times; you were not merely bound with ropes once and dragged through the middle of the city, and your flesh torn, and you dyed with your own blood, but after the first laceration you were cast into prison half-dead, and by an angel's voice in the night you were healed and encouraged; and on the morrow, being bound and dragged similarly once again, you beheld the Lord standing by and greeting you peacefully, and with unutterable joy and exultation you departed to Him. Hail, Mark, the commandment of the High, according to the meaning of your name; for truly you became, in a way, a commandment of the Most High, justifying those who follow and condemning those who are disobedient to your Gospel; hail and rejoice, and mindful of those who are mindful of you, pray that we may become partakers of your glory and grace, and of your gladness and brightness in the heavens, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is the glory, honor, and power eternal. Amen.
A Let us draw the sanctification from them upon ourselves, and let us pledge our own salvation as a worthy return to them.
It is indeed holy and most appropriate to praise and honor all who draw near to God, but most especially those who are most closely related to Him by intimacy. For not all exist in the same order and class; just as among the rulers of the earth, not everyone attains to one and the same seat or rank, but some are in the first, others in the last, and others between these, according to the measure of their virtue or the love of the one who presides over them; so I believe that even in the heavenly kingdom, some attain a superior and more eminent rank, others an inferior one, proportionally to their distance from the first and their descent from them. And if all are blessed and worthy to be praised and celebrated in honor, those who are in the first grade and are bound to Christ by the closest intimacy are so far more.
C In what place, then, shall we set Thecla, the ornament of the holy faith, the treasure of venerable virginity, the untouched bride of Christ and the inviolable bridal chamber? Where, I say, and in what order shall we place her, what praise shall we offer as suitable for her? Will she be numbered with those who have ordered their lives by virginity and holy behavior, as one who was indeed the standard of all chastity and religious life to the world? Truly, she would not endure to be absent from the triumphant army; nor would she yield the primary crown of martyrdom to any mortal; she who, the first of women, by the intensity of her struggle and the great strength of her spirit, removed the reproach of the female sex, and first contended in the spiritual pancratium; who with tender feet trampled upon that great dragon, and as a queen, adorned with a crown, sits at the right hand of the King of all. D What then? Shall she be numbered with the triumphant army? But she, having been a companion in the preaching with Paul, and having imitated him in teachings and deeds, and in the common arena of persecutions and temptations, having become an apostle of Jesus Christ, would not wish to be confined to the company of the martyrs. How then, in celebrating her praises, shall we provide what will be pleasing? Is it not clear that it should be in a way that she may be praised and admired, not merely for one or two excellences, but for all her sacred pursuits, in which she is testified to have excelled in the highest degree, and for which she is deservedly held in admiration?
[Referring to the footnotes: (59) and (60)] (59) The term *askêtria* is properly used for her, as she was a living norm for those who followed, having a hermitage on the mountain near Seleucia, where she lived a quiet life, away from the crowds of citizens, and where women and the sick would come to her; where also, covered by the rock while praying, so that she might be safe from impure men, her virginity remained inviolate. Let Thecla, therefore, be, as she is for the martyrs, so also for holy virgins, the leader and rule under a holy institution, truly with the great Paul, the author of that institution, as her guide. (60) That she was a companion to Paul in preaching, so that she exercised the office of teaching only privately and by necessity, or in the absence of Paul and other ministers, does not conflict with the very laws of Paul and the Church concerning the silence of women in the Church. Therefore what is said of her "singular excellence" is according to the custom of the Greeks, who readily call all those who have contributed anything of greater importance for the cause of the faith "apostles." Thus, all the early disciples and ministers were "apostles" to them; thus Constantine the Great was "equal to the apostles," and he is joined with them, as is the true "apostle" in the office of Martin. Likewise the Menaia, Anatol.
C First, then, [we praise] her virginal conversation from youth, or rather the love and faith toward Christ which she followed; since, by her power, it even earned our praise—the virtue by whose aid virginity, equally accumulating a high flower, advanced her even to the apostolic summit or peak. For now, the herald of the great truth, the most heavenly and magnificent thunder-clap of the Gospel, brighter than all light, the most sparkling [source] of the works and words of Christ (61)—I mean Paul, the mouth of Jesus, the organ of the Spirit, the most clear trumpet of God, the one calling to himself the ends [of the earth]—by this, I say, when he had traveled also the other parts of the inhabited world, and, as if sowing divine seed, had cast down the word of life; further, besides other things, having reached Iconium, and being hosted by a man and guided by him, D and at first indeed strengthening the body, but in truth, as regards the heavens, strengthening the hearts of those gathering together; and for those who were godless and following the evil custom he was refuting, and as for the superstitious [people] and the one who was dragging about the hateful and defiled [customs], he was lifting up the glory of the most high God, and [preaching] the ineffable incarnation of Jesus, the life-giving passion and the one that saves, the three-day resurrection from the dead, and the forty-day assumption from the earth and the appearance from the heavens and the judgment and the just repayment of what had been lived—[Paul] philosophizing [on these things], and chanting in words full of grace; yes, and he was praising the life that was both pleasure-loving and licentious as something to be loathed, and declaring blessed the blameless and pure and virginal [life] as the one that is proper and pleasing to God.
Those who were listening to the sublime herald, some indeed were sweet and gently listening, others were, in relation to the word, insensibly disposed; [some] were even murmuring, and thinking evil things against the good. Thekla the maiden, daughter of Theokleia, and betrothed to Thamyris, staying secretly [in the house] and having her home near to them, and through the window, as if listening, was hearing the teaching of Paul. And she had no way of seeing his face; but thus she depended upon his teaching and the mystical theology of his very words, so that she was altogether detached from the earth, and in her mind she was taken up to the Christ who was being preached. Thus, from the very first hearing, O faith! she departed and separated; and this, when she had neither made any trial of the signs, nor had she tested the doctrine of the Gospel for any time, but not even the evangelist—a thing most amazing—had she seen with her eyes; thus she assented to the truth, and by faith became so attached to him that for three days she forgot everything, even food and drink.
And the mother, with a certain affectionate and loving disposition, entering to her, and groaning and [being] distressed—for what is a mother?—was also feigning with honeyed words: "Child, dearest one," she cried, "dearest child, and—well—most delightful and..."
A πνύτατον καὶ ποθεινότατον· τί σοὶ καὶ τῷ ξένῳ Β τούτῳ ἀνδρὶ καὶ γόητι ; καὶ ἵνα τί πρὸς τὴν αὐ- τοῦ λαλιὰν τὴν ἀλλόκοτον ταύτην καὶ ξένην προσέδου τὴν ἀκοήν; ἵνα τί ἡ ἐξέστης ἐξαισίως ταύτην ἔκστασιν καὶ φρικτήν; ἵνα τί ἡ ὅλη ψυχὴ ὀπίσω τῶν λόγων ταύτης ἀπῄχθης τῆς πλάνης; Ἐπίστρεψον πρὸς τὴν γεννησαμένην σε, τὴν ἀθρεψαμένην σε· βλέψον πρός με, τέκνον ἐμόν· φθέγξαι πρὸς ἐμὲ Λόγον· φθέγξαι, σπλάγ- χνον ἐμόν, καὶ ἀποῤῥιψαμένη ταύτην τὴν παραφοράν, ἀνάστηθι ἐπὶ βρωτῶν, ὦ θύγατερ· ἀνάστηθι ἐπὶ ποτόν· καὶ ἵνα τί οὕτως ἀπονεν· νοημένη κάθῃ;
Πῇ μὲν οὖν οὑτωσὶ παρακαλοῦσα, πῇ δὲ καὶ αὐ- στηρότερον αὐτῇ χωρεμένη, Ἵνα τί, ὡς μία τῶν ἀφρόνων, ἐπέπληττεν, ἑαυτῆς ἀπεγνωκυῖα, καὶ ὥσπερ ἀπολωλεκυῖα σύνεσιν καὶ βουλὴν πα- ραλόγως οὑτωσὶ κάθῃ; Αἰδέσθητι μητέρα δια- τρεπομένην ἔν σοι· αἰδέσθητι συγγενεῖς, φι- λους, ὁμήλικας· αἰσχύνθητι ἐκ προσώπου τῶν σῶν οἰκετῶν. Ποῦ τὸ παρθένοις πρέπον ἐρύθημα τῆς αἰδοῦς; ποῦ τὸ βάδισμα; ποῦ ἡ σεμνότης; ποῦ ἡ τάξις, καὶ ἡ προτέρα κοσμιότης; Οὐκ οἶ- σθα ὡς πρῶτοι τῶν Ἰκονιέων ἡμεῖς, καὶ ὁ ζῆλος τῆς πόλεως πρὸς ἡμᾶς ὅλος, καὶ τὰ ἡμέτερα λά- λημα πᾶσιν, εἴτε δεξιῶς, εἴτε οὖν ἑτέρως ἔχει; Διὰ τί οὖν, χάρμα μὲν τοῖς βασκαίνουσιν, ἔλεγχον δὲ καὶ ὄνειδος τοῖς φίλοις ἐμπαρέχεις ἑαυτήν;
C Ἰδού σοι καὶ ὁ μνηστήρ. Ἰδοὺ τὸ ἄνθος τῶν πολιτῶν, τὸ κάλλος τῶν ὁμηλίκων, ὁ τοῦ Ἰκο- νίου ὀφθαλμός· ἰδοὺ ὁ σὸς Θάμυρις, Θέκλα· ἀνάστηθι, ἄσπασαι αὐτόν. Γνῶθι τὸν νυμφευσά- μενον, τὸν κατεγγυησάμενον· μὴ κενὴν τῶν ἐλπί- δων, μὴ τῶν σῶν ἄμοιρον χαρίτων, καὶ τῆς σῆς ἀποπέμψῃς ἀστοχοῦντα προσλαλίας.
Θάμυρις δὲ παρὼν καὶ αὐτός, τί μὲν οὐκ ἔδρα, τί δ᾽ οὐ προσελάλει τῶν ὅσα γαυνοῦν οἶδε καὶ κατα- μαλάττειν ψυχήν; Θέκλα, λέγων, ἐμοὶ κεχαρισμένη, ἐμοὶ ἡρμοσμένη, καὶ νυμφοστωλουμένη ἐμοί· ἐπίστρεψον τὸ βλέμμα πρὸς μνηστῆρα τὸν σόν· αἰδέσθητι φωνῆς νυμφίου τοῦ σοῦ· γενοῦ πρὸς ἐμοῦ ταῦ πεφιληκότος σε, τοῦ ἠγαπηκότος σε, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐμά, καὶ πᾶσαν κτῆσιν καὶ ὕπ- D ἀρξιν, καὶ ἐμαυτὸν πρὸς τοῖς πᾶσι, ταῖς σαῖς ἐγχειρίζοντος χερσίν. Ἐπίστρεψον, καὶ ἴδε τὸν σὸν Θάμυριν, Θέκλα, καὶ λόγου μετάδος· καὶ ἄλων μετάσχωμεν τῶν αὐτῶν· καὶ, εἰ βούλει, αὐτίκα νῦν ᾄδωμεν τὸν ὑμέναιον. Εἰ δ᾽ οὖν οὔτε σοι φίλον τοῦτο, σύνταξον ἐμοὶ, καὶ ἥξω πρὸς σέ· ὡς ἔγωγε τῆς σῆς ὅλος ἀρεσκείας, τοῦ σοῦ θελήματος, καὶ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ὅλος εἰμὶ τῆς σῆς· μόνον ἀκούσω φωνῆς· μόνον τῆς ἡδίστης ἐμοὶ λαλιᾶς, τῆς βουλῆς μόνον αἰσθοίμην τῆς σῆς. Μόνον μὴ κωφὴν τὴν ὡς σὲ εἴσοδον, μὴ κενήν, μὴ ἀνήνυτον, ὦ φιλτάτη, παρασκευάσῃς μοι τὴν παρουσίαν.
Καὶ οὐ μόνον τούτοις τοῖς ῥήμασιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ νεύ- μασι δυσωπητικοῖς ἐπικλίνειν δοκῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ φιλή- most precious and desirable thing! What have you to do with that wandering stranger and impostor? And why did you give your ear to his strange and alien talk? Why were you so strangely seized by this trance and terror? Why has your whole soul been led astray behind the words of this deceiver? Return to her who gave you birth, to her who raised you. Look at me, my child; speak a word to me; speak, my own heart, and casting off this madness, rise for food, O daughter; rise for drink; and why do you sit thus senseless?"
In this way she was pleading, and in this way, at times acting more severely toward her, she rebuked her—"Why do you sit there like one of the foolish, having despaired of yourself, and as if you had lost your understanding and judgment?"—"Revere your mother who is ashamed of you; revere your kin, your friends, your peers; feel shame before the faces of your servants. Where is the blush of modesty that belongs to virgins? Where is your walk? Where is your dignity? Where is your order and former decorum? Do you not know that we are among the first of the Iconians, and the zeal of the city is all toward us, and our speech is on everyone’s lips, whether for good or otherwise? Why, then, do you make yourself a source of joy to those who envy us, and a reproach and disgrace to your friends?
Behold, your bridegroom is here also. Behold the flower of the citizens, the beauty of your peers, the eye of Iconium; behold, your Thamyris, Thecla; rise, greet him. Recognize him who has betrothed you, him who has pledged you; do not send him away empty of hope, or deprived of your graces, or missing the conversation you owe him."
And Thamyris, who was also present, what did he not do, what did he not say, of all the things he knew to flatter and soften the soul? "Thecla," he said, "my favored one, my betrothed, adorned for me as a bride! Turn your gaze to your bridegroom; revere the voice of your bridegroom; be toward me who have loved you, who have cherished you, and who commit to your hands all my things, all my possessions and wealth, and myself above all. Turn and see your Thamyris, Thecla, and give me a word; let us share the same halls; and, if you wish, let us sing the wedding song this very instant. But if this is not pleasing to you, command me, and I shall come to you; for I am entirely of your satisfaction, of your will, and of your desire; I only wish to hear your voice; I only wish to perceive your sweetest speech to me, your counsel. Only do not make my coming to you, O dearest one, a deaf, empty, and fruitless entrance."
And not only by these words, but also by persuasive gestures, he appeared to be inclining her mind, but she—kissing—
A a thing most sweet and most beloved; what have you to do with this stranger and deceiver? And why have you lent your ear to this strange and outlandish babbling of his? Why have you fallen into this prodigious and terrifying ecstasy? Why have you with your whole soul followed the words of this error? Return to her who gave you birth, who reared you. Look at me, my child; speak a word to me; speak, my own heart, and casting aside this folly, rise up to eat, O daughter, rise up to drink; and why do you sit thus in despair?" So she was now entreating her, and now using harsher language towards her. "Why do you sit thus irrationally, like one of the foolish, as if you had lost your own mind, as if you had lost all sense and counsel? B Respect a mother who is put to shame in you; respect your kinsmen, your friends, your contemporaries; feel shame before the faces of your own servants. Where is the blush of modesty becoming to virgins? Where is your walk? Where is your gravity? Where is your order, and your former decorum? Do you not know that we are the first among the Iconians, and that the zeal of the whole city is directed toward us, and that our affairs are spoken of by all, whether they take a favorable turn or otherwise? Why, therefore, do you present yourself as a joy to the envious, but a reproach and disgrace to your friends? Behold! Your betrothed is also here. Behold the flower of the citizens, the beauty of your contemporaries, the eye of Iconium. Behold, Thamyris is here; Thecla, arise, kiss him. Recognize him to whom you are wedded, who has pledged you to himself. Do not send away C a man disappointed of his hopes, bereft of your graces, and denied your conversation." And Thamyris, who was himself present, what did he not do, what words did he not speak—words which he knew how to use to soften and melt the soul? "Thecla," he said, "you who are dear to me, pledged to me, and decked out as my bride, turn your gaze toward your betrothed; respect the voice of your own husband; come to me who love you, who cherish you, and who entrust all my possessions, every substance I have, and myself besides all these to your hands. Turn, and look at your Thamyris, Thecla, and grant me a word; let us partake of the same discourse, and, if it pleases you, let us straightway D sing the wedding song. But if this does not please you, command me, and I will come to you; for I am entirely yours to please, I am entirely subject to your will and your desire; only let me hear your voice; only let me perceive your most sweet conversation, only let me hear your counsel. Only do not prepare for me a deaf entrance toward you, do not make my coming empty and void, O dearest one." And not only by these words, but also by gestures and nods intended to sway her mind, he sought to entice her...
with caressing blandishments. Gently touching her veil and drawing her toward himself, he said, "Arise, let us eat; perhaps it is your fasting that has cast you into such a stupor." But once she had shared in the meal and her heart had been refreshed, she would return to herself, cast off this cheat and wicked man as a wanderer and a deceiver, and thus, having been restored to us, she would resume her love for her betrothed and soon return to the accustomed conversation of his spouse.
What, then, of the virgin? Did she look toward her mother? Did she pay heed to her suitor? Did she, yielding to any of her kin or friends, relax the intensity of her attention? By no means. Holding such speeches as being like the chirping of sparrows or the din of inanimate bodies, and like a thicket or a deeply rooted rock that does not follow those who pull at it, she listened in a tranquil state of mind and with a sensing soul only to the grace of Paul’s words.
And what was happening was truly worthy of astonishment. A delicate maiden, surpassing all the daughters of men in immense beauty and bodily grace, in the very flower of her age and the very prime of her youth—for she was of marriageable age, counting now among the young—she, having been neither instructed previously in the Scriptures nor tutored by the law of God and the prophets, as soon as she perceived the sound of the Gospel, and that, too, not directly but coming to her from the side, she departed from maternal affection, and departed from every desire of the flesh. Not only this, but also, departing from herself in spirit, and with a pure mind and a most faithful heart, having received the word that was preached, she embraced it within herself, and having been firmly established in it, she appeared to be on earth to those who are of the earth; yet she was truly in the heavens, and having heard the sacred oracles of Paul as if from the God above the heavens, she did not deign to turn at all to those calling from the earth.
And just as we, when we are commanded by our superiors concerning some necessary matter, are accustomed to disregard the prattling of infants so that we do not miss the more important discourse, so the blessed virgin, having received Christ wholly and purely through the most fervent faith, prudently and with all reverence held her ear to his herald, so that by his words, having known the will of the God known to her, and having performed it, she might preserve for herself the heavenly good, firm and unshaken. Having heard that temperance and continence, poverty and virginity, faith and love were being praised as things that firmly bind the soul to Christ, she immediately applied herself to the sacred teaching in work and deed; she held fast to continence, she clung to virginity, and chose poverty; by these means, fortified in the faith of her beloved Christ, she seemed to those who looked upon her to be in a stupor, when in truth she was wholly transported by the contemplation of God.
What, then, of Thamyris? He is filled from this with bitter zeal, anger, and rage; for such is the nature of the body’s allure. As long as the object of desire is present, it is kindled like fire by the passion for the beloved; but when frustrated in that desire, he immediately changed the affection and ignited the flame of desire into a fire of wrath against the one he deemed to be blocking his craving. Thus, he too is consumed by jealousy, he rages, he rails against the injury, he is inflamed, and he sets the whole of Iconium on fire, and he incites the whole multitude of the city and all the crowd against the one he supposed was causing him harm. At daybreak, he even descended upon the house of Onesiphorus, insulting, threatening, blaspheming, and swearing that he would treat Paul in the most disgraceful manner. He dragged him first into the marketplace and before the magistrates, railing at him as a corruptor and a pestilence to the city, and especially to the one betrothed to him; afterwards, he brought him before the governor. And when the tribunal was convened, and the governor was sitting upon the judicial throne, and the assessors were around him, and the people were gathered round, and the herald commanded silence, and Paul was brought to the bench, Thamyris accusing him said: "I do not think that your authority and most magnificent keenness of mind, nor any of those present, are ignorant of my circumstances. You know that I have a distinguished lineage, great wealth, and standing in keeping with my riches. Furthermore, I have been favored with good looks and have everything that is remarkable and everything that is noteworthy. And that I may not seem to be long-winded, all things concerning me are worthy of envy. I have also betrothed a wife to myself; you all know Theoclea. I have attached myself to her daughter. Everything was already prepared, and the time for the wedding had arrived, and all things had been ambitiously readied for it. But suddenly, by way of an evil demon, this man—a plague to men and before all to me (for by making use of sophisticated little speeches, he leads women astray and seduces virgins; for some he does not permit to be married to men as is lawful, while others he causes to despise their husbands)—he has corrupted my Thecla along with the rest; he has driven the Thecla who was betrothed to me out of her mind. If, therefore, this man is allowed to live, most excellent governor, you will have no city left; he has corrupted Iconium, and the entire surrounding region is ruined. And not only this, but every province and city, if it should submit to living according to his law, would before long perish through childlessness. For if marriage is the source for the continuity of the race and the cause of birth to men, and of the succession from one to another in turn, then celibacy—that is to say, being unmarried—would surely be the cause of childlessness and the total eradication of the race."
ORATION XVI. IN PRAISE OF SAINT THECLA
A When it was granted to Paul also to defend himself regarding his own affairs, he replied: "I am a Jewish man, from infancy accustomed to the God of heaven and earth; and for this reason, having been tutored by the law of God and instructed in the commandments, I was deemed worthy at an acceptable time of a more divine initiation. And once, at midday, most illustrious governor, I saw a light shining round about me from heaven, brighter than the sun, and I heard a living voice clearly speaking to me within—Christ Jesus, that very Christ whom, not knowing, I formerly persecuted in my unbelief. But having recognized through a superior revelation that He is truly the beloved Son of God, who also became the Son of man out of excessive love for humanity, so that He might restore our state—and, not to be prolix, having been instructed in all the counsel of God by superior words through Him—I was sent by Him to the nations, teaching every man and counseling them to turn to the strong and living God, and by exhortation urging every man to turn away from all lawlessness and injustice, and to work all righteousness and holiness in the fear of God, knowing that He has established a day in which He is about to set all humankind before Himself, and to render to each according to their deed B. And it is not my aim, most just judge, to abolish marriage once and for all; this is a clear slander against us. But I do advise avoiding all fornication and adultery, and all impurity and evil desire, and every passion; yet I receive and honor lawful and established marriage as undefiled. But if any mild and modest soul, choosing celibacy and virginity for its whole life, wishes to be at leisure alone with the Lord alone, and to apply itself to prayers without distraction, I judge this to be most beautiful, and more worthy of praise than that which is laudable, and more honorable than honorable marriage, as something indeed belonging to Him and more pleasing to God—as an immaterial and rational sacrifice, otherwise and voluntarily offered to the One who is above all, presenting human nature to Himself, and rendering it back."
When he heard these words, because he did not know how to judge the power of the truth (for every soul that is more strongly immersed in the present age and the deceits of life does not know how to look with steady gaze C at the very flashes of the truth), for this reason he himself, having neither the power to resist nor to agree with the things spoken by Paul, feigned business, and having bound him, he shut him in prison.
What then of Thecla? Did she flinch in terror at the abduction of the herald? Or did she relax her purpose even a little? Or did she temporarily hide her faith in the depths of her mind? Or did she not triumphantly proclaim her faith in a manifest way? Or did she indeed proclaim it, but not prudently?
A Not at all. But what does she do? She rises in the middle of the night in silence; she invokes the God of Paul to be her companion; she scorns her worldly finery, her earrings, her mirrors, and all the allurements of youth; and like that merchant in the Gospel, having found the precious pearl, she bought it at the cost of everything she possessed. And, like her teacher, considering what were gains for her to be loss for the sake of Christ, she gave some of these things to the porter and others to the jailer, only that she might be permitted to see Paul and to become his companion in the prison, on the floor, in his bonds, and indeed to partake more perfectly in the divine preaching of the Gospel. It was possible, therefore, to see there the one, like a most thirsty deer, running to the waters of God, and the other, like a flowing river, pouring forth the most abundant stream of theology for her receptive mind. And they were occupied with these things.
At dawn, a great disturbance seized her household. For Thecla was being sought; Thecla was being spoken of; she was being searched for among acquaintances, among relatives, and naturally among neighbors and friends. The servants were interrogated, the maids were punished, and all in the house were agitated. Yet she was discovered, and was found prostrate at the feet of Paul; and, according to Isaiah, she was licking the dust of his feet; indeed, she stood before him with such reverence and trembling as though before the Son of God and God himself. Thus the fear of God had taken hold of her so completely that, being fixed, held fast, and constrained by it, she had no concern or regard for those who were creating a disturbance on her account or who were themselves disturbed.
But what of Thamyris? He is frenzied once again; he is troubled, he is fanned into a rage once again; he gathers a crowd again, and much more so than before, inasmuch as he assumed the virgin's deception to be more certain. He denounces Paul to the governor again; and as though he had been clearly wronged, he demands that punishment be meted out. So he followed the bailiffs and ascended to the judgment seat again with eagerness. But she, too, as a disciple in truth of Paul, when summoned, went up with the greatest magnanimity. For she was not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; rather, joy and mystical exultation had taken hold of her heart because she was counted worthy to be put on display for Christ with Paul.
When, therefore, both stood before the judge, they did not deem Paul worthy of a word, since he had already made his defense and, from his very first reply, had not ignobly refuted the accusation. But from Thecla they demand an account for her refusal to marry and her turning away from Thamyris. She, however, did not deem them worthy of a single word; she was intent on Paul and, by her silence, gradually indicated her mind to those who were looking on, as it was not permitted for a disciple to speak in public while the master was present. Therefore, the magnanimous virgin, censuring the lack of discipline or the disorder of those who were questioning her, remained in this manner saying nothing.
ORATION XVI. IN PRAISE OF ST. THECLA
What, then, did the judge do? He had Paul scourged and driven from the city, but commanded that Thecla, while still alive, be consumed by fire. Since she would not comply, even her mother cried out with great shouts. Here, as my speech labors and my ability proves inadequate to represent the magnitude of the struggle, I entreat you to join in the contest with me, through both prayer and attention: through prayer, inwardly beseeching that a successful course may be granted to my account of these events; and through attention and tranquility, as if in some calm harbor, settling this story securely in your own minds.
The whole city had hastened to the theater: all the men, those born there and the newcomers, the obscure and the illustrious; all the women, the elder and the younger, the unknown and the noble; and even infants ran with their guardians to see. And, before all others, the governor himself, who had pronounced such an absurd and unjust judgment. Since the wood had been prepared for fuel, and everything was ready, and all things were set for the pyre, Thecla herself was brought forward. And here is the wonder: she did not turn pale at the threat of fire; she did not tremble in her soul. Instead, with a heart raised up and rejoicing in the Lord in whom she had believed, and with a flourishing countenance—as though she were eagerly disrobing to bathe, or as if she were a virgin approaching the bridal chamber—she signed herself with the sign of the cross and stepped onto the heaped-up wood.
Who was not crushed in heart by these lamentations? Whose limbs were not all undone? Whose cheeks were not filled with tears? Who did not feel indignation at the judgment passed, and who did not vehemently rebuke the judge there? For the sight aroused in everyone a pity—it is impossible to say how much—as they looked upon a girl, beautiful in body and delicate, who with the alacrity of an indomitable spirit despised the violence of the flame, and chose to be dissolved into ash by the fire at once, rather than to betray her own virginity and falsely deny Christ, who had joined himself to her.
I believe that all the powers of the heavens, seeing this, took pity on the manner of her struggle. A B C D
A There, the Lord himself took pity on what was happening. For how could he not have pitied her, who—without any signs or wonders, by the mere voice of a preacher, and one who was a prisoner and a fugitive at that—had believed in him so fervently that she despised not only her mother, her kin, her relatives, her wealth, her marriage, and all the pleasures and luxuries of life, but even her own soul for his sake? But since the God of wonders had looked down from heaven upon the earth, it was fitting that what took place should manifest the greatness of Him who did it.
What, then, was the Lord’s judgment? The fire was already kindled around the virgin, yet it did not touch her untouched body; and suddenly, as she prayed, a great sound erupted from the earth. Above, a cloud gathered and poured down such a volume of rain and hail that many there were in danger, the fire was extinguished, B and Thecla was saved. Thus does the God of the heights, the One who is wonderful in magnificence, perform prodigies. He is the One who shook out the Babylonian furnace and preserved the three singing children in it unharmed. Truly this was the work of the same hand: to make a cooling, dew-bearing furnace, and then, in an instant, to swamp it from above with water and quench it. This was the first wonder that Thecla saw performed in her favor, and she added faith to her faith, and an overwhelming love to her love for God. This water did not merely put out that fire, but quenched and withered the madness of Theocleia, and the zeal of Thamyris, which had been kindled like a fire. For the beautiful virgin, inflamed in her heart by heavenly fire, extinguished the power of the earthly fire.
How it was that she stopped the mouths of the lions, it is worth seeing. For when she was delivered from that danger, freed from all the vexations from home, she followed in the footsteps of her master. Finding him praying for her in a certain hollow of the earth, and receiving through him the seal in Christ, she traveled with him afterwards to Antioch. C And as she entered... D
A a certain youth, swelling with the flower of his body, encountered her. He was a Syrian by race, one of the first of the Antiochenes, Alexander by name. He, having been taken by the eyes of the maid, and having become entirely consumed by love (for the shameless gaze of the young is a powerful thing, as it sows the beauty that falls upon it like some most sweet dart in the depths of the heart), at first besought Paul, offering thousands of gifts, some giving them at once and others promising them, if only he would permit him to take Thecla as his wife. But he answered him that he had no power over her; for she belonged to another, and had been betrothed to another. What then did the youth do? For love is a thing hard to tolerate; and when it has gained youth, and pride, and varied kinds of luxury, it becomes intolerable. Therefore, having observed, as he thought, an opportune time, he himself waylaid her in a certain street. But what of her? B First, indeed, she defended herself with words, and checked the intemperance of the young man and his shameless attack. "Do not force the stranger," she said; "do not attack me like a boor. I am of the first of the Iconians, and because I did not wish to be joined in marriage to the chief of the city, I have been driven from my household; but stand aside, man. I am a handmaid of the Most High God; I am betrothed to Christ; I have been promised to Jesus Christ. Do not cause trouble, therefore. Do not try to touch what does not belong to you. Do not try to touch a body that cannot be touched, lest you repent of your shameless enterprise." And she, indeed, said these things. But he insisted with all his might. Then the virgin, calling upon Jesus, C rent his cloak, and knocked the garland from his head; and slipping out from the grasp of his hands, she thrust him away and left him on the ground. But he, mixing his shame with his passion and moved by heavy jealousy, denounced her to the governor of the city. Being questioned, and confessing that she had done so, the governor decreed that she be condemned to be cast to the beasts. Who did not groan at the sentence? Who did not shudder at the impiety of the judgment? Men, women, citizens, and strangers alike cried out that what was being done was an injustice; the decree was violent; the action was tyrannical: to force a virgin, and that a stranger, and one of the illustrious, and this for the very reason that she had been pursued by this man. But He who is long-suffering endured it, and from afar prepared all things that were for the glory of His own; and the virgin did not give way in her countenance; D she did not waver at the threat of the lions; she did not doubt the help from heaven; but, trusting all the more, and looking toward Him who had preserved her undefiled from the fire, first of all towards the lioness...
A seeing the pit full of water, and having fortified herself with the sign of the cross, she casts herself into the water in the name of Jesus Christ, saying: "In the water, I am baptized today." For she had already perfectly embraced the Holy Spirit within the bosom of her soul through the seal of Paul. And immediately a cloud of fire appeared around her, both shrouding the nakedness of her body and preserving her unharmed from the seals living in the waters.
From there the glorious victor and athlete emerged, so that she might be even more glorified, sanctifying Christ with her own limbs; she was bound to wild and most savage bulls, and the cause of this violence, the foolish Alexander, was her lover; for the governor was basely defeated by the madness of this man. And all the men, mocking what was happening, were indignant; but all the women were wailing, lamenting that violence. And they lifted up Tryphaena, who had nearly breathed her last by the theater. And they, having wickedly heated iron rods and attached them to the bulls' testicles, contrived to incite them further by the touch of the fire, and violently to destroy the prisoner of Christ. Fools! For they did not see what was defending her hand; for immediately the ropes were consumed by the flame, they stood back, but the virgin remained unharmed in her place. These things did He who saved Daniel from the gaping chasms of the lions; He who, by a pillar of fire and a cloud, glorified Israel on land and in the water; and He who made them masters of wild beasts, and stronger than the most wicked tyrants.
B Antioch shuddered, seeing these things, and with a loud voice they praised the God of Thecla. Trembling seized the governor, and, having called the victor to himself kindly and gently, he inquired by what power she had overcome such beasts. She, having taken courage, and opening her mouth to speak as a theologian there, poured forth the most brilliant testimony of Jesus. "And, if you would like, O governor," she says, "to hear the power within me, there is no barrier to speaking." [index: entries preserved]
A Christ is this Son of God, who, being invisible, timeless, incorporeal God, and ever existing with his Father, saw fit but a few years ago, for the sake of mankind, to become man; and, having been born in an ineffable manner from a holy Virgin, and having walked among men, he performed works that befit God alone. For by his word and command alone, he restored sight to the blind, ordered the mute to speak, healed the deaf and the withered, raised up the paralytic and the lame, put demons to flight, raised the dead, and performed countless other things for the sake of human salvation. Thereafter, in order to point out even to the dead the path of life, he was not ashamed of the death that is by the torture of the cross; but dying as a man, he rose on the third day by the power of God. And having been taken up, he sat at the right hand of God. After this, having poured out the Holy Spirit from above upon his own disciples, and sending them into all the earth, he commands them everywhere to urge all men to repent, and to turn their hearts to him, and to look with contempt upon idols of silver and gold as being lifeless and vain things. One of these disciples is my teacher, Paul, from whom I received the mystery; and, having clothed myself in Christ through faith, I remain unharmed, as you see, from the assault of the wild beasts; for this is the strong and living God, who made heaven and earth. And there is no other name under heaven, as Scripture says, by which we must be saved B.
When he heard these words, such amazement took hold of him from the face of the holy maiden, and so powerful a fear, that he immediately covered her with garments, and having written a decree, dismissed her immune from all harm. She, however, having returned again to Tryphaena, and to her daughter Falconilla (68), who had already been transferred to a worse fate due to the unbelief under which she had labored, brought them by prayers to a better—
(68) That is, her daughter Falconilla. The Damascene—or whoever the author of the oration attributed to him might be—whether he followed a fable or a history, has followed a path. She had died in unbelief, nor was she recalled to life, like the one whom he raised as a catechumen, Martin, who was both baptized and lived as a Christian afterward, which is the law of general salvation; not so that someone dead in unbelief, and already liable to eternal damnation, may be saved in that other age by the prayers of anyone, just as Trajan was supposedly saved by the prayers of Pope Gregory: which same C fable that true Damascene, as if it were a matter well-known in Rome, thus inserted—although it is nowhere known there—from wherever he might have drawn it, or suffered a fraud. That suspension of divine judgment, or of the sentence of eternal damnation, on account of the foreseen prayers of the saints, is a free conjecture and an evasion, not a solution supported by any certain reason, excepting against that universal rule which holds that there is no redemption in hell, that all salvation is prepared here, that it is closed against the deceased, etc. But I shall also reveal my own mind here; I believe that those ancient Acts, which either Basil, or Metaphrastes, or even Nicetas undertook to recount and adorn with style, were the very travels of Paul and Thecla, justly reprobated by the ancients, in which, however, many true aspects of Thecla were contained, which other Fathers accepted from them and proved. Indeed, the most ancient writers and those of the apostolic age, whose manner Jerome retains, believed them. It is more desired D that the ecclesiastical writer, such as Luke or an author of John's sentiment, should have written about them: that all of this should be avoided, and rather composed according to the rule of the Church, I would convince even the Ethiopians. Let Thecla keep her own veneration; let her preserve her glory in virginity, in martyrdom, as a kind of reflection of the apostolic sex; but let the ecclesiastical rule remain safe and whole: and, that all those things, drunk so deeply from the filth of the Fathers, are true and certain, others may judge. To me, it is explored that these things are venerable and to be believed, as long as other certain things are not lacking. Whether the fact is seen in the Protoevangelium of James, the brother of God by name, an ancient Judean and of the time of the apostles, from which source he drew whatever the Fathers handed down to us concerning the birth and infancy of St. Mary, and her nuptials: nor did he have any other author than Epiphanius, or Gregory of Nyssa, or the authors of the imperfects, than what exist for us, which the books of the Greek ecclesiastics have in general; from which also we have drawn whatever we have of holy—
A to God translated. Having thus become the author of immense joy and salvation for that entire house, she went again to her instructor, and having narrated the things that had happened to her by the more favorable counsel of God, she brought to him not only a very great consolation and joy, but also became a cause of great edification for the faithful.
In such a manner does the most blessed [virgin] discharge the martyrdom of God: she was the first, as the great Stephen was to men, so she was to women, opening by the excellence of her faith the stadium of the contest. Wherefore she also obtained from Christ greater aid than all others, because she was to manifest to all women a most illustrious form and exemplar of martyrdom.
Henceforth, having become superior to all human injury for Christ’s sake, and having surpassed the struggles of the triumphal arena, she lived an apostolic life purely until the end; and while sometimes returning to her own city, for the sake of providing necessary edification for her kindred and for turning them toward God, she for the most part chose to dwell in Seleucia, always having this one task as her diligent concern: to magnify Christ. This was her only care and the constant meditation of her heart, to glorify and praise Christ. For by her word she exhorted all men and women to turn to the living God, and, abandoning the ancestral and abominable religions and all wicked customs, she urged them to hold fast only to the truth and faith in Christ, to have care for life according to the principles of the Gospel, and to look to only one thing—that which is pleasing to God.
B With such words did the most blessed virgin and apostle bear witness, and in deed she cured their sick through the invocation of Christ, and every bodily infirmity, and every injury from demons; healing, to speak in a word, every disease and every languor. And not only this, but she also initiated them with holy baptism—for she alone of women received this power; a prize, indeed, and an exceptional gift of her perfect struggle and faith; she edified all and perfected them into one holy Church in Christ Jesus.
When, having run the race well, she had already arrived at a good and advanced old age, so that in this too she might have something more than the other saints—a wondrous end and a hidden departure—envy was stirred up against her by the most wicked of the city; but it was stirred up even more by the physicians. C The reason was that the sick, coming to her, neglected them. A conspiracy D was formed in this, too, that she might have greater excellence before the other saints, as in taking care to manifest an unheard-of and secret death, the jealousy of the most wicked citizens was kindled against her; but it was kindled especially among the physicians. The cause was that the sick, approaching her,
A either did these things or sent certain impious men against her; for they supposed that she was a priestess of Artemis and that, her virginity having been violated, as he says, the goddess would no longer work any power in her. Those who had plotted these monstrous things approached her in the sacred shrine, but she, seeing them and fleeing to the rock nearby, invoked Jesus with most earnest prayers for her deliverance. By the hand of God, the rock was immediately cleft, and, receiving the suppliant—oh, the wonder!—only the hem of her cloak remained outside, a clear proof of faith to those who see it even to this day.
This is the end of the beautiful virgin Thecla; this is the falling asleep, or rather the translation, of the holy apostle and protomartyr, in no way inferior to that of Enoch of old, nor to the translation of the great Elijah. For they, although they were hidden from the eyes of men in a marvelous way, yet still living in their mortal bodies, do not yet clearly commune with the purest light. But you, O daughter of God, while the visible rock was cleft for your undefiled body B and covered it like a holy and precious treasure until the end, invisible and untouchable, yet with your godlike soul you opened the intelligible rock, Christ, and rested in the highest inward and paternal tabernacles, no longer through faith alone, but also through sight; not in a mirror and in a riddle, but face to face, having encountered the only desirable and lovable Beauty; and as a beautiful one, you were joined to the more than beautiful, and as an immaculate bride, you were joined to the most immaculate Bridegroom, and you are eternally enjoying the delights of His beauty and sweetness—what praise worthy of you shall you receive from us? What mind is sufficient to understand, or what speech is sufficient to praise, your holiness? He alone can worthily and fittingly praise your virtue whom you glorified, whom you magnified, whom you sanctified in various trials and passions. He alone would have worthy honor, whom you considered to be preferred above all things and to be held in greater honor: to whom you gave yourself wholly and entirely; to whom you clung in spirit, and became one spirit with Him; whom you exalted among the nations, whom you exalted on the earth. He alone C [knows] your splendors, your virginal excellences, your victorious deeds, your...
D It is not unlike the confession of Jacob of Jerusalem narrated by Eusebius, as if his rivals did not know him to be a worshiper of Christ, when, having confessed Him, they cast him headlong from the pinnacle of the temple and proclaimed the seduced Just One. And it would be a greater miracle if this very Jacob of Alphaeus had been one of the twelve (being among the first sowers of the faith), who had promoted so much among that people in the first and second preaching of Peter. Certainly it is evident that many things written by the ancients should only be accepted by learned and upright men when examined by a fair balance; and deservedly here is the indignation of our Canus, in his never sufficiently praised *Theological Locations*, because either through simplicity or through insipid piety, our own people have not infrequently written ecclesiastical monuments less sincerely and accurately than the Gentiles themselves [wrote their] profane ones.
A Only he whom your soul has loved, according to the God-breathed oracles, he whom you have taken to your heart, whom you have pursued, whom you have apprehended, and by whom you have also been apprehended—he, I say, could worthily praise and honor your graces, your praises, the certitudes of your virginal soul, the deeds of your triumphant struggle, and your apostolic ways and journeys—for you are united exceedingly to him in heavenly and God-befitting nuptials, and joined to the Holy Spirit.
He indeed shall say of your loveliness and beauty: "You are altogether beautiful, my neighbor; there is no spot in you. Your eyes are those of a dove." This proclamation, coming from him alone, will please you more than all the words that men on earth can speak. But for us it is a great thing if, even standing far from your magnificence and turning our eyes only toward the image of your holy icon, we may offer an appropriate greeting. Hail, you dwelling-place and tabernacle of the supersubstantial Trinity; ornament and exultation of the supermundane minds; glory and beauty of the apostles; crown of the martyrs.
Hail, preeminent martyr, virgin martyr, and protomartyr; for you did not receive the divine Paul as just any one of the men on earth, but as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus himself. And as a great Israelite soul, ever beholding the Christ who was in him, you readily drew to yourself the sublime and living grace of his apostleship through the uprightness of your mind.
Hail, for you too have truly conquered the world in Christ; for you passed through fire unburnt and through water unsinking; you tamed wild beasts, you made bulls gentle; and you destroyed and crushed the fury of kinsmen, the madness of senseless suitors, the violence of unjust governors, the hidden assault of demons, and every evil power. C
Hail, Thecla, called by God, most gracious name, most honorable and most venerable, a thing and a name most beloved to God and men. Hail, for the Doorkeeper opened the true door to you, and having entered through it, you were saved. And having entered thence into the heavenly Paradise and the most blessed beauties and sights of the spiritual Bridegroom that are within it, and going forth to the contemplation of the wisdom and divine providence implanted in all things, you discover this as your ever-good and spiritual pasture and food.
Hail, for you have been sanctified in every way; you have been consecrated to God in every part. In spirit, indeed, you stand in the heavens at the right hand of the King, and you stand nearest to the Mother of God and Queen of all; and, clothed and arrayed, you immediately enjoy the spiritual beauty of the well-beloved Word. In soul, you dwell in the paradise of God with your illustrious teacher, being perpetually filled, so far as is possible, with the sweetness of his blessings; and in body, while the rock protects you...
πέτρα σκεπασθεῖσα, καὶ τῇ κατὰ σὲ συνοῦσα ἐκκλη- Β τῶν βασιλέων, καὶ Πρόβου ἡγεμ… [continuing from previous page]
A those were pursuing, they set aside certain vile men against her; for the wicked men supposed her to be a priestess of Artemis; and so, he says, by her virginity being violated, the goddess would no longer exert any power within her. They, therefore, having devised these things in an extraordinary manner, approached the holy sanctuary; but she, seeing them, and fleeing to the rock nearby, invoked Jesus with most earnest prayers for deliverance. And the rock being immediately rent by the hand of God, (O the miracle!) received the suppliant, only the hem of her mantle remaining outside, for a manifest faith to those who see it even until today. This was the end of the beautiful virgin Thecla; this, the falling asleep or migration of the holy apostle and protomartyr, nothing less venerable than the translation of that Enoch of old, nothing less than that of the great Elias. For those men, even if they were hidden from the eyes of men in a paradoxical way, yet still living with the mortal body, do not yet clearly converse with the most pure light. But you, O daughter of God, with the invisible rock being rent for your uncontaminated body, and covering this as a holy and precious treasure until the end, invisible and untouchable; while your God-like soul, the spiritual rock B of Christ having opened it, resting within the most high and paternal seats, no longer merely through faith, but also through sight; nor in a mirror and in a riddle, but face to face, having attained to the alone desirable and beloved beauty; and as one beautiful, joined to the surpassing beauty, and as an immaculate bride, joined to the most immaculate Bridegroom, and eternally enjoying the delights of his beauty and pleasantness, what equivalent praise will you have from us? What mind is sufficient to understand your holy dignity, and what speech is capable of hymning it? He alone can worthily praise your virtue, whom you glorified, whom you magnified, whom you sanctified in manifold trials and passions; he alone may bring you the honor of value, whom you deemed more precious than all things that exist; to whom you gave yourself wholly and entirely; to whom you were joined in spirit, and became one spirit with him; whom you exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth. He alone C your splendors…
ORATION XVII
A Eulogy for the holy, great martyr and virgin, Anastasia.
Glorious things are said of thee, O city of God [psal. lxxxvi, 3], asserts the most blessed David. Whom in truth he calls the city of God,
(70) All men call this Anastasia the elder, and by this they distinguish her from Anastasia the widow, the matron who suffered under the Emperor Diocletian, about the twentieth year, when she was suffering much from her husband Publius and was consoled by the holy man Chrysogonus; concerning whom these mutual letters at this time are extant. Concerning Anastasia the elder and the virgin, the spiritual daughter of holy Sophia, a doubt occurs to Nicetas, in which he has fallen into many wondrous things of the annals, and which he himself praises in the Acts as related by Lipomanus D and Surius, in the notes to the Martyrology; in which books Anastasia is read to have suffered under Diocletian: Menas, Sirleti, and Magna herself, with Valerius; but the more recent Roman charts have nothing older concerning this Anastasia, either from Jerome, or from Rosweyd, or from the Corbie manuscripts; nor is there anything of this. For which reason it is a token that those who recently brought forth the Roman charts, from nowhere else had it, that they thus assert it as they have placed it, at the time of Valerius, which as compared with those Greek Menologies, which it is necessary to see, as compared with the ancient Acts, which Lipomanus and Surius relate as Metaphrast had related, although they are not the same; since he accepted them to be adorned with a more ancient style, and they were not found in them or whatever was such that Nicetas did not indulge himself in changing them; or whether he had seen the Menology, or what Basil Porphyrogenitus had seen curated to be published and had transcribed from an archetype; whose age Nicetas is slightly before. In Sirlet [index: entries preserved]
A (this is what you have in the October volume: *Nativity of the holy great Anastasia of Rome. Anastasia was under the emperors Decius and Valerian, a Roman by birth, etc.*). The Great Menæa say: *Under Decius and Valerian*. But against this are the ancient Acts: *But they, immediately running to the prefect (he was, in fact, Probus, while Diocletian was then administering the empire), etc.* Nicetas: *Diocletian was then governing the empire of all.* It is a difficult point for conjecture that he mentions the virgin’s chief crime, which was that she clearly prophesied that the pagan empire was to be overthrown and would be transferred in a short time to Christian princes: which very thing is read in the Acts of other martyrs of that age, God surely comforting the Church from that time on, which was so direly vexed by Diocletian. The prophecy that he would shortly transfer the empire to the Christians. Although the ancient Acts do not contain such a charge, but only the preaching of Christ and the profession of a celibate life, it seems manifest that there was something peculiar in her case, the report of which was brought to the prefect, from the fact that she alone of that holy fellowship was snatched to the tribunal of Probus, while he did not seek her in marriage, nor was she a suitor, and there was free opportunity for Sophia to collect her dissected limbs, to attach them to the torso, and to care for the funeral in a place altogether neighboring to the City: B these things may not ill correspond to the earlier years of Diocletian, when he had not yet promulgated that fatal edict against the Christians, by which so many of every class were soon taken away by death; but from the reckoning of previous times, either he himself, or the prefects—who seemed to have been offended by something in particular, and to have held some charge of lèse-majesté—were torturing those accused of Christian superstition. Perhaps this may have been the cause that she is called "the elder," because she suffered martyrdom first, even though under the same emperor, although perhaps the widow Anastasia was younger in age. If anyone has a better conjecture, or has chanced upon more certain C monuments, he will do a favor if he produces them. This I certainly have, that those who so assertively set forth one or the other as if nothing stood in their way, or as if the faith of the Menæa alone were altogether certain, act with little caution; since it is certain that many things exist in them which are faulty, and must be accepted with great judgment; an example of which D
A is the congregation of the firstborn written in the heavens, which consists of the spirits of just men made perfect. Concerning this city, glorious things have truly been spoken. For almost everything
On the same month, the twenty-second day, the memory of the holy great martyr
Anastasia the Pharmacolytria (Deliverer from Potions).Anastasia is a great remedy for the faithful, Dissolving every potion, though burned herself. Anastasia was burned by voracious fire on the twenty-second.
How very beautiful your excellencies, O martyr! How glorious your struggles, O renowned one, and your confession! How many the miracles and infinite the divine wonders by which He has glorified you for ever, you who glorified Him while struggling in your holy limbs! Lover of the glory of the brave, O modest one, you hastened to imitate their zeal, whence you endured most severe labors; and by divine grace you lighten every labor, O all-praised one, from our souls and bodies, who honor your struggles and your virtues. You shone more brightly than the sun, O glorious one! Having finished your struggle, and with the rays of your many miracles, you illuminate the minds of all who draw near with faith to your holy casket, gushing forth divine streams, O Anastasia, martyr of great name. Glory, Idiomelon of the Saint. You have received the gift of resurrection, O all-praised Anastasia, having triumphed in the stadium. For you made the host of demons vanish, and surrendered them to the sea, O triumphant martyr worthy of wonder.
B The holy and most noble martyr Anastasia was in the time of the Emperor Diocletian in the city of the Romans, being the daughter of a certain Greek man named Praetextatus, and of a mother named Fausta; by whom she was brought to Chrysogonus, a man divinely inspired and pious, instructed in the holy scriptures, while she learned the faith in Christ from her mother, and was joined to a Greek husband in the bonds of marriage, Publius by name. And on account of his unbelief, she bore the conversation with him without affection, feigning illness, and not consenting to have sexual union with him. Wearing a modest and poor garment, she was always conversing with needy women, and secretly she served those struggling for Christ, entering the prisons where they were, partaking of their defilements, anointing them with oil, wiping away their blood, and providing appropriate food for them, with only one maidservant following her. On these accounts, at first she was abused by her husband, when he discovered her affairs. But when the latter was swallowed up by the surging sea, Anastasia gaining freedom, distributed all her possessions to the poor. Then she served more boldly those struggling for Christ, and gathered those who had finished their course and delivered them to a holy burial. And having encouraged many toward martyrdom, and being examined by various governors, and cast into the sea with other women, at last, tied to stakes and cast into the fire, she received the crown of martyrdom. Her gathering is celebrated in her martyrium, which is near the area of Domninus.
The holy and most strenuous Anastasia was during the time of the Emperor Diocletian in the city of Rome, the daughter of a certain gentile man, Praetextatus, but of a mother, Fausta; by whom she was offered to Chrysogonus, a man divine and religious, and instructed in the sacred letters: but the Christian faith she learned from her mother, and was joined in a marriage connection to an infidel man by the name of Publius. And because he was an infidel, she did not willingly have intercourse with him, and refused to be joined with him; and wearing a modest and poor robe, she was always occupied with needy women, and those who were struggling on account of Christ she would readily cherish, having entered the prisons where they were detained, and washing their filth and anointing them with oil, wiping away their gore, and providing suitable foods, with only one maidservant as a companion. Among these things, she first suffered grave injuries from her husband, when he had learned of her affairs. But when he was absorbed by the surge of the sea, Anastasia gained license, and distributed all her own things to the poor, and then more freely cherished the confessors of Christ, and those who had been finished she would carry away and deliver to a just burial. And having animated many toward martyrdom, and having been examined by various presidents, and having been cast into the sea with other women, at length she was tied to stakes and cast into the fire, and received the crown of martyrdom. Her assemblage is celebrated in her martyrium, which is near the porch of the Lord. Father Goar in *Theoph.* published *At the porch of the Lord*, which is not without error. What Gentianus Hervetus turned in the Acts of Marcian is not from the usage of that one and his follower.
How beautiful your excellencies, martyr! How glorious your struggles, most celebrated, and your confession! How many miracles and infinite divine prodigies, by which He clarifies you for the centuries, whom you did clarify by your struggle in your limbs! Loving the clarity of those struggling, chaste matron, you have imitated their zeal; whence you sustained most grave labors, and by divine grace you lighten every labor, O most clear one, from our souls and bodies, who worship your struggles and excellent gifts. You have shone more clearly than the sun, O illustrious one! Your struggle having been passed, and with the rays of many miracles you illuminate the minds of all, who to your divine urn gushing divine waters, O great-named martyr Anastasia, approach with faith. Glory of the Saint, Idiomelon. You have received the gift of the resurrection, Anastasia most clear in praise, triumphant crowned one in the stadium. For you have routed the host of demons and submerged them in the sea, triumphant martyr, who are worthy to be held in admiration.
Similar things are in the whole Canon, and there is no mention of relics anywhere, except that in that third verse about the urn,
Oratio XVII. IN LAUDEM S. ANASTASIAE
Scripture, setting itself as a sort of precise mark for this discourse, sometimes obscurely and symbolically, and sometimes clearly and splendidly, praises the magnificence of this city and recounts the glory hidden for it in the heavens. A If, therefore, we possessed such grace of speech and power of the Spirit that—even as the holy theologians—we could reach up to such a height of argument, it would perhaps be most reasonable and most useful of all to fix the eye of the mind on that sole, more-than-excellent brightness, and to direct the flow of our speech toward it. But since we are as far from its brilliance as we are from being able to comprehend with our eye this visible sun in its entirety, let us for the present pass over the praise of the heavenly city as a whole, as something unattainable, and let us stand in awe before its face; but by taking to our mind one part of it, the most beautiful and delightful—I mean the most radiant Anastasia—and by declaring her blessed for her most courageous patience and martyrdom, and by speaking of the things glorified regarding her, we would in effect be speaking of that heavenly city, since all of it is to be viewed in this as in a most spotless mirror, and it truly constitutes the city of God.
We know of two Anastasias, B both illustrious, and in terms of the flesh, born of an illustrious lineage, but far more illustrious in their confession of Christ; both of them sprung from senior Rome, and both exchanged that city for this, the immortal city of the saints. The one was for a short time joined to an ungodly man, yet lived incorruptly, and by the intervention of death was then delivered from his evil mind, and continued her life instructed in the pursuits of chaste widowhood and in all justice and holiness. The other, from childhood, was dedicated to the company of virgins, and having consecrated both soul and body to the Lord, she preserved her sacred virginity for Him undefiled unto the end. And indeed, that one left to posterity; for the Resurrection, that is to say the *Anastasis* (for this is the title famous only at Jerusalem for the glorious martyrion C built by Constantine on the site of the Resurrection and the Lord's Sepulchre), is not meant, but rather the martyrion and church and house of Anastasia, by that common usage of the Greeks, where they call temples by the very name of those to whom they are dedicated. Thus far concerning the Anastasia who is truly the "deliverer from poisons," as she who dissolves every work of demons and drives away every infirmity and disease by that singular gift of healings D with which she has been enriched by God, and by her charity and faith with which she so ministered to the confessors, not one who ever labored under the name of a sorceress, as Langus ignorantly dreamed; and although he, a heterodox man, imposed his view upon the simpler among our people, it is not so with the Genevan, a learned man and Archbishop of Aix, who recognized the true sense of the word and expressed it in the Greek *Fasti*, or as they call it, their Calendar. [index: entries preserved]
ORATION XVII. IN PRAISE OF S. ANASTASIA.
The divine Scripture, setting this forth as a kind of certain and precise goal for the discourse, now obscurely and symbolically, now plainly and brilliantly, praises the magnificence of this city and recounts its glory hidden in the heavens. If, therefore, there were in us such grace of speech and power of the Spirit that we, too, just like the sacred theologians, could look toward such a height of argument as is sufficient, it would perhaps be the most reasonable and most useful thing of all, having fixed the eye of the mind upon that one most supernatural radiance, to guide the very stream of our discourse toward it. But since we fall as far short of this glory as it is impossible to comprehend this visible sun entirely with the eye, let us, for the present, omit the general praise of the heavenly city as unattainable, and let us be in awe of it; but having taken into our mind one of its most beautiful and delightful parts—I speak of the most brilliant Anastasia—and having called blessed her most noble patience and martyrdom, and having spoken glorious things concerning her, we shall have spoken concerning that heavenly city, because it is all to be seen as in a stainless mirror, and it itself has truly been established as the City of God. A Our discourse knows of two Anastasias, both of them illustrious, and both of them being of illustrious stock according to the flesh, but far more illustrious according to their confession in Christ; both of them originated in the senior Rome, and both exchanged this for the immortal city of the saints. But the one was for a short time incorruptly joined to a man who was not pious, and then, being freed by his death from his wicked mind, she lived on in the study of chaste widowhood and in every justice and holiness. The other, however, having been assigned from childhood to the choir of virgins, and having consecrated both soul B and body to the Lord, preserved for Him her holy virginity undefiled until the end.
[Regarding the beginning of the *Metaphrastes*, which leads from this point: I have seemed to myself to find three, not by an unsuccessful conjecture, and that the Sirmium saint is a different person from the two Roman ones recorded here, as the recent Fr. Maria Florent has written in the Lucca Martryology.] [alt-version omitted]
ORATION XVII. IN PRAISE OF ST. ANASTASIA
A Since therefore it has seemed that these things are rightly held, come now, let us also, having invoked Christ the arbiter of the contest as our helmsman, and using the favor of the Spirit the Comforter, cast our discourse into this sea of the great Anastasia’s struggles; having this one thing only in our prayers, that the skiff of our mind may be safely directed to the harbor of truth, and that we may offer to the virgin-martyr the full cargo of every kind of merchandise—that is to say, of praises—as if they were welcome and pleasing gifts.
For others, indeed, who boast of the imperial and great city of Rome as their fatherland, and who have obtained a noble lineage among their own, it is perhaps permissible to think highly of themselves, and to seem to possess something more than the ignoble; as for those who have nothing of their own toward receiving approval, some glory is thought to accrue to them from that source. But as for her, I consider that nothing great of Rome has sprung up; there is nothing distinguished in her if she should happen to be of a renowned generation. On the contrary, it is a great thing for the city of the Romans to boast that Anastasia is its citizen. And they are distinguished on her account, not only those who are related by body, but far more those who are drawn close to her through faith. How then is it reasonable to think that she should be honored by the dignity of a fatherland or a family, she who ennobles all generations of the faithful through the excess of her holiness? No praise of earthly kin is to be attributed to the martyrs, nor at all to those who have been born from above, and have transferred their citizenship to heaven. Wherefore, we too, leaving behind things below, shall weave crowns of praise for the martyr from her own noble deeds. B C
Her life, or rather her behavior, from the beginning was good and excellent, such as it was fitting she should be reared, who was being kept for such a great martyrdom. For the all-blameless one practiced temperance—not only in regard to sleep, and food, and drink, but also in regard to all anger and irrational desire—and she bridled her tongue, and guided and adorned every sense and every movement of her soul. With unceasing prayer and the study of the holy Scriptures, she mortified her members which are upon the earth [Coloss. III, 5], and was quickened by the Spirit. Fortified by these weapons of virtue—or rather, having put on Christ entirely through the cultivation of virtues, as a breastplate of righteousness [Ephes. VI, 14], as a helmet of salvation, as a two-edged sword—since she had arrived at a more mature age, she set out to contend against the stronger wrestling match with the dragon; he who, according to Job [Job XLI, 18], reckons the sea as an ointment box, and considers the abyss as a walkway, and deems iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood. Against him, the tender and unwedded girl dared to test her strength and to struggle bravely. As for him, attacking with the goads of thoughts from her youth, and variously striking and joining battle with the rising motions of the passions—because he was not able to cause the maiden to fall... D
ORATION XVII. IN PRAISE OF SAINT ANASTASIA
Since, therefore, this is considered to be the right way to proceed, come now, let us too, having invoked Christ as our governor—the president of the games—and using the propitious Spirit, the Paraclete, as our wind, set our discourse upon this sea of the great Anastasia’s struggles, having this one thing only in our prayers: that the vessel of our mind might be navigated safely into the harbor of truth, and that we might offer up the whole cargo of her commendable deeds—as it were, pleasing and dear gifts—to the virgin martyr.
For others, who boast of the imperial and great city of Rome as their fatherland, and who have obtained a brilliant lineage among their own people, it is perhaps permissible to feel haughty and to seem to possess something more than the ignoble; those who have nothing of their own to exhibit for renown think that some glory accrues to them from that source. But for Anastasia, I think nothing great grew from Rome. Nothing about her is distinguished simply if she happened to come from a bright generation; on the contrary, it is a great thing for the city of the Romans to boast of Anastasia as a citizen. Those distinguished by her are not only those related by blood, but even far more those who are made kin to her through faith. How, then, is it reasonable to think that she is honored by the nobility of a fatherland or a lineage, she who ennobles all generations of the faithful through the superabundance of her holiness?
There is no praise for martyrs, nor in general for those born from above and who have transferred their citizenship to heaven, in the splendor of earthly relatives. Therefore, we too, leaving behind the things that are below, shall weave crowns of praise for the martyr from her own noble achievements.
The account of her life from the beginning, or her manner of living, was indeed beautiful and upright, such as it was fitting she should be raised who was being reserved for so great a struggle of martyrdom. For the all-immaculate one fulfilled her self-restraint, not only regarding sleep, food, and drink, but also every anger and irrational desire; curbing her tongue and disciplining and adorning every sense and every movement of her soul, and being devoted to constant prayer and the meditation of the sacred Scriptures, she mortified her members which were upon the earth 87 and was brought to life by the Spirit. Fortified by these weapons of virtue—or rather, having armed herself with Christ in His entirety through her virtues, as a breastplate of righteousness, as a helmet of salvation, as a two-edged sword 89—when she had reached a more perfect age, she courageously dared to try her strength against a more powerful struggle with the dragon; that dragon who, according to Job, considers the sea as a vessel of ointment 90 and considers the abyss as a place to walk, and who considers iron as straw and bronze as rotten wood.
Against him this tender and inexperienced maiden bravely dares to exert her might. But he, the dragon, rushing in with the goads of thoughts from her youth, and variously striking and joining battle with the rising motions of the passions—because he was not able to cause the maiden to fall...
A Probus, seized by anger, soon ordered the maiden to be brought by a bitter command.
Immediately, therefore, those who were under orders came to the virgin’s dwelling and, breaking down and bursting through the doors with axes and hatchets—because they were calling out for Anastasia alone—the holy Sophia begged them to wait for a little while, and said she would presently produce the one they sought. Having taken the child, and having stood her in secret before the altar, she spoke to her in these words:
“I, for my part, o most beautiful and most beloved of daughters, have shown as much care as I could, according to my ability, for the good upbringing and training of your conduct according to Christ. Now that you have arrived at the measure B of the age of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13), go with joy to Him. Today I surrender you to Him, a bride more sacredly and more perfectly, for you have been betrothed to Him from infancy. To Him I offer you now more earnestly; ascend with Him, as his companion, to the heavenly bridal chamber.
“Behold, o most dear child to me, the Bridegroom is present, calling in secret. The bridal chamber is ready; He who calls is true. Now the Queen and Lady and Mother of God, acting as a spiritual guide, is bringing you into the upper temple of the King. Now the apostles C and martyrs, beholding you disrobing for the stadium of martyrdom, are beseeching the Lord on your behalf, and hope to exult in your constancy. Now the angels are hastening, ascending and descending upon you (John 1:51), and with bright manifestations of joy, they are eager to greet you as the bride of Christ.
“Walk, therefore, upon the compressed and narrow way (Matt. 7:14), knocking without remission at the gate, until you are brought to the Life. This is the law of martyrdom: not to spare the soul, not to spare the body. To stand face-to-face with the persecutors; to despise their gods; to confess only Christ; to consider this alone to be a noble shamelessness—to be stripped, to be lacerated, and to be put to death for Christ. D Remember, my daughter, and see and know that it is righteous not only to suffer for Christ, but even to die many times over. For if He died for us, what great thing is it for a servant to suffer the same as the Master? This would also be most profitable: to purchase eternal exultation with a small distress; to reap a never-ending gladness from a brief pain; to exchange a temporary death for a life that never ends. This will also be easy, being strengthened by the faith of Christ. Christ will be present with you, o most dear one; He will be present, lightening the pains of the tortures. But if He should even permit you to be afflicted a little with pain, so that your trial may work patience (1 Pet. 1:7), do not think that you have been abandoned. Do not be dissolved, as if you were looked down upon, but let hope sustain your fainting spirit. For it is but a very little while, and the bitterness of the pains will be extinguished; there will rise, indeed, con-
consolation, glory, and grace. Life and light will rise for you in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. B
The virgin, taking up the word, said: "O mother, there is need of prayer, to be filled with living grace, so that one may resist such an attack from the persecutors. For you know that, according to the Lord’s saying, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. The body is a fragile vessel, not even able to resist the slightest injury. But if some power from heaven is provided, the soul is immediately braced, and the body is strengthened; and the mind, illuminated by divine rays, brings forth pious thoughts and theological discourses, glorifying its own Master and putting to shame those who oppose Him. For being wholly attached to God, it not only does not yield to tortures, but often irritates those who seek to torment it, just as if this were in some way helpful for attaining its desire and prayer."
"But let these words be, most honorable lady; know clearly that I have long since been imbued with your exhortations, and I will never be forgetful of your counsel. But by pouring out prayer to the Lord, and laying before Him my affliction with a suppliant vow, you will help me more by bringing me from heaven, through prayer, the power by which I might be able to stand against these corrupters."
C Not yet had the word exited her mouth, when the impudent ones burst into the chamber with a shameless rush; and applying the weights of iron, and seizing this holy lamb after the manner of bloodthirsty wolves, they stood her before the governor. But the virgin stood, having wholly clothed her mind in Christ; and indeed, with the extraordinary beauty of her countenance, she dazzled the eyes of those who looked upon her, while by the firmness of her mind, she wounded the adversary severely. As, however, beauty visible to the eyes vexed those who saw it (for everyone who is thwarted in what is sweet to him, naturally grieves and is indignant), so also that which was hidden, her hidden and altogether grave rival, incited him to a sharper emulation and a more severe fury. D
How, then, might I worthily represent in speech this struggle, preeminent in its singular excellence? "What is your name?" Probus asked, this being the very first question put to her. To whom she replied: "Anastasia, indeed, I am called among men and in their usage; but Christian is my true and proper name." To whom the governor, subjoining again: "What is the reason why they call you Anastasia?" "Because," says the maiden, "the Lord raises me up before you, that I may today put to shame both you and your father, Satan." O living voice! O bright and
A powerful confession! Probus, upon hearing this, was confused and collapsed (for he had no good hope left concerning her); the devil fell into his face; angels received the applause: and finally the Lord sealed her in the heavens.
What then, O arrogant judge? At first, he seemed to be trying to soothe her with flatteries and seductive language: "Believe me, I advise you, my daughter, fall down before the great gods, participate in the sacred mysteries, be joined by the covenant of marriage to one of the city's most illustrious and prominent men, and you will be enriched with an abundant supply of gold, silver, clothing, servants, and cattle. You will be the most B spectacular and blessed of women, adorned with every kind of good, and enjoying glory of every sort. Consider, then, O girl, and having taken counsel as befits the beauty of your face, put away your meditation on the vanity of these things; put on a healthy mind, and beware of provoking my anger; do not learn by experience, as fools do, how great an evil impiety is. I, pitying your nature and caring for your beauty, as a father advises a dear child, suggest what is of advantage to you. But if you do not obey, know that I shall deal with you otherwise."
But the martyr, as if shaking this advice of the serpent from her ears, said, "To me, O man, Christ is life C and it is a gleaming gain, more than anything, to die for him through whom I have not desired gold, or silver, or any of the things that are delightful upon earth; having him alone as a precious pearl, I count all things as rubbish, viler than the refuse you prize. The tortures, the scrapings, the mangling of limbs, and the tearing by beasts—these are more of a pleasure to me than an agony. Therefore, as for this body of mine, if you desire to mangle it, do not hesitate; but as for that which stands before your authority and is ready for your ways, do that without delay; for I, for my part, shall not offer worship to wooden and stone statues, either now or for all eternity."
With these words the most beautiful D maiden extinguished the judge's rage, but provoked a certain dire and heavy-laden demon within him, drawing out the entire madness of the destructive beast. First, then, he dishonored her with blows, as if she were daring to prattle. Next, he ordered her virgin tunic to be torn away, and having made that body, which was venerable even to angels, naked, the shameless man mocked and insulted her as a spectacle of shame. "Thus," he said, "it is fitting for you to behave indecently, exposing your nakedness before the eyes of all, and presenting yourself as a spectacle to all who see you. But if
you have remained even a glimmer of sound reason, casting away the persuasion that has come upon you, and rejecting this obstinate and contentious spirit, draw near to the benevolence of the great gods; and, putting on reverence for them as a lovely ornament, do not desire that such beauty as yours should be harvested prematurely. For there is no one who can rescue you from my hand if you disobey; and know well that I shall deliver every one of your limbs to be devoured by wild beasts." B "To me, O governor," the virgin martyr replied again, "there is no indecency in this shedding of garments; rather, it is a beauty to be stripped for Christ. And by casting off this garment, I cast off the 'old man' at the same time—for the things that are seen are symbols of the things that are understood—and I put on the 'new,' which is created according to God in righteousness and truth. But for you, it is indeed a shame and a disgrace that you have put on wickedness like a garment, and that impiety has entered into your entrails like water, and malice has clung to your bones like oil. Therefore, it is you who should be ashamed in these things, and not I; because, having shed the stain of the flesh along with this tunic, and having shaken off the burden that weighed me down, I shall henceforth follow Christ into heaven, light and unimpeded; whom I have put on secretly, according to the inner man, as a tunic of gladness and a garment of salvation. Furthermore, it was fitting that I should stand before this tribunal as if in an arena, with my body naked, to wrestle thus with you, my adversaries. Therefore, O executioners, do not delay, do not dally. Let the fire be kindled, let the wheel stretch me, let the sword be polished, let the razor be whetted. And if you wish, let a pit be dug, and let every instrument of death be made ready."
C Still further, being inflamed by the love of martyrdom, and as it were divinely inspired, the most chaste one added these words: "Do you threaten the amputation of my limbs, most cruel tyrant? Behold, I stand ready for this for your sake. Do you promise to punish me with death? I am prepared for this. This is the most welcome of all things to me, that by the loss of these limbs I may pass to the incorruptible life. Let my eyes, therefore, be gouged out, so that the mind alone, shining more clearly within, may be able to see God purely and without obstruction. Let my ears and nose be removed; I have an inner hearing of the heart, by which I hear mystical utterances; I have also nostrils, by which I scent the ineffable ointments of my God. Can you, most impure one, remove these with your sword? Let my tongue also be pulled out, so that it may no longer speak of the works of men, but that the soul may speak within itself and to God. Let my teeth be rooted out; let my lips be cut off; for there is no need of these for one who no longer requires earthly food, but is fed in a hidden and mystical way by the word of God alone. Moreover, let my ears be taken away; and, if you like, let my feet also be taken away. For my hands—those of the practical soul, that is—remain blameless."
A of that bold reply, which Probus heard, and was confounded, and collapsed; for he had no further good hope concerning her. The devil, however, was struck in the face. The angels clapped their hands; and the Lord in the heavens set his seal. What, then, did the haughty judge do? First, he seemed to try to charm her with blandishments, and he attempted to pillage, with flattering discourses, her who was unpillageable. "Believe me," he counseled, "O daughter, and by falling down before the great gods, and by partaking of the sacred rites, you shall be joined to one of the leading and most illustrious men of the city; and there will be added to you gold, silver, clothing, and an untold abundance of slaves and cattle. You will be a woman regarded and most blessed, abounding in all kinds of goods, and adorned with every variety of glory. Consider, therefore, O maiden, and having taken counsel for things appropriate to the beauty of your face, put away the vanity of these thoughts; and having put on a sound mind, do not wish to make trial of our indignation, nor wait, in the manner of the foolish, to learn by experience what an evil impiety is. I, both pitying [the ruin of] nature and concerned for your beauty, as a father to a dear child, suggest what is for your benefit; but if you are not persuaded, know well that I will act toward you in a different manner." B But the martyr, as if shaking this exhortation of the serpent from her ears, said: "For me, O man, to live is Christ; and it is a most bright gain for me to die for his sake; for whose sake I have desired neither gold, nor silver, nor any other of the delights that are upon the earth; but possessing him alone as a precious pearl within me, I consider everything as mud; everything you possess I consider of less value than dung. Moreover, tortures and rackings and the dismemberment of limbs and the tearing of nails and grindings by beasts are to me for pleasure—because of him—rather than for pain. Therefore, do not pretend to pity my little body as though it were feeble, but do what is present to your power and to the impudence of your ways—do this without delay; for as for me, I would never offer worship to wooden idols and statues of stone for all eternity." By these words the most beautiful virgin kindled the wrath of the judge, and having prepared the demon within him to be something grievous and heavy with anger, she drew upon herself the whole madness of the destructive beast. First, then, with blows upon the maiden's [cheeks], he disgraced that venerable face, as one daring to trifle away. Afterward, he commanded that her virginal tunic be torn from her; and having brought forth that whole body, which is shameful even to angels, into the open, the impudent man, mocking and dancing about at the spectacle, said: "Does it befit you thus to be disgraced, standing naked before the eyes of all, and furnishing yourself as a laughingstock to all who see you? But if any drop of sound reason has been sprinkled into you, emerging from the stupor that has fallen [upon you], C
A be taken away, in addition to these hands; and if it pleases you, take away my feet as well. I have hands that are beyond your reach, the practical powers of the soul, with which I would please God; I have feet that step over your snares, which are straightened toward Him through pure contemplation. But first, remove my nails, so that you may grant me more grounds for victory and crowns. Perhaps this pair of breasts I possess is also superfluous to me: why should they still offer a lure to licentious eyes? Let the razor be applied to these as well. The torments are a delight to me for Christ’s sake; I consider my tormentors to be my benefactors. Would that it were possible for me to glorify the Creator with all my limbs! Would that I could sanctify Him with both my body and my spirit. For in this way, presenting myself whole and entire to Him, perhaps I might wholly enjoy His sweetness. Hasten, therefore, O tyrant, to make the way for the attainment of my most beautiful desire, while laying up for yourself darkness and everlasting punishment.
Anastasia, having struck the theater with these words—delighting the angels and bringing joy to the Lord of the angels (for it is a great joy to the Lord God when a faithful servant is grateful)—and having confounded the demons and their prince, stood herself B fearless, and in her resolve unwavering, fixing the gaze of her mind upon Jesus alone and invoking the help that comes from Him. But the judge, since he saw a delicate girl not yielding to the deceits of flattery with a manly resolve, but with a steady and proud bearing of mind not only not frightened by his threats, but even beyond measure scorning the bitterness of the torments; and since he had no further way to unman the vigor of the unconquered one, he raged, he swelled with boldness, and he bellowed very harshly against the ever-virgin girl standing before him. First, therefore, he ordered that she be stretched out and bound to four stakes, slightly raised from the ground, and that fire, kindled with oil and pitch, sulfur and brushwood, be placed beneath her venerable vitals. And though she bore the intensity of the pains for a long time with ease (for she truly had Christ as her aid, even as her vitals were being scorched from beneath and her intestines and sinews were being simultaneously roasted and torn asunder; as her blood was being dried up and her veins were being reduced to ash, and the vital power was withdrawing from the limbs that were being burned, leaving them dead where it had departed, while her back was being torn apart C by lashes and her flesh was being scattered), no sensation of pain seemed to reach the champion. Becoming wholly one with the Spirit that sustained her, and through her ecstasy toward Him having left behind the power of sense perception, she neither cared for the wounds that the torturer was inflicting from above, nor did she turn her mind to the fires burning from below; but fixing her mind only upon Christ, D and drawing comfort from the providence of God, she would have rendered the executioners’ efforts useless. Indeed, she easily bore the pain and was relieved, returning to her natural state.
But not even so did the senseless man wish to understand. For there was indeed a battle, like the one that was visible, between Anastasia and Probus, just as there was also, of course, the one understood by the mind, between Christ and the Antichrist: the one [St. Anastasia] seeking to distance herself from the devil so that she might not pollute the image of the bridegroom with the filth of idols, and the other [Probus] zealously acting in such a way that he might cast her down and present to himself that which was not his own, but rather the handiwork of Him who was well-pleased in her.
They say that bears, lurking in their lairs, once they have received a wound to the heart from the hunter, become impossible to endure, and at once slay whatever falls in their way. Such was Probus at that time; he was thus powerless over his own anger.
A nor did she concern herself with the blows that were being rained down; nor would she turn her attention to the burnings from below. Rather, praying solely to Christ, and reminding Him of the wonders He had wrought long ago for the three youths in Babylon, and which He always reveals to those suffering on His behalf, she was cooled by her prayer as if by some dew, and endured her pains with great facility. Exhausted by this, that wild beast commanded that the immaculate dove be stretched upon a wheel. Crushed terribly by the mechanical device, with her bones shattering and her sinews and muscles being stretched, and with almost every joint of her body being dislocated—in what way is she delivered from such an onset of death? Having offered up an acceptable supplication to Him who is able to save her from death, which it perhaps is not superfluous to add: "God, God of spirits and of all flesh, who by Thy wisdom hast brought into being the things that are, and who didst fashion that most beautiful of visible things, man, after Thine own image, and for the sake of the dispensation of this present life, didst clothe him in flesh and skin, and build him up with bones and sinews, and didst place life and mercy within him; do Thou, Lord, Thou merciful caretaker, command through the prophet, saying: 'Call upon me in the day of thy tribulation, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.' B Behold, today, Thy handmaiden, the least of all, remembering this Thy gracious commandment, calls upon Thee with strength. Deliver and free me from the violence that holds me bound; and grant me release from the pains that now press upon me; and show me Thy mercy, and grant me Thy salvation, so that, having struggled lawfully in Thee until the end, I may send up glory to Thee, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, for Thou alone art glorified unto the ages. Amen."
Praying in this manner, she is released from that cruel machine; and by a superior hand, she at once returns to her natural, healthy state. Once again, therefore, that terrible judge commanded that, having been suspended in the air by sharp hooks, her whole body be lacerated with iron claws. And again, she, praying to Christ and enjoying a superior providence, loosened the strength of the executioners; and being taken down, she was easily released from her torments, and quickly returned to her natural well-being. But not even then did the senseless man wish to perceive the truth. C For it was truly a struggle—as it appeared to the eyes, between Anastasia and Probus; so, in a manner understood by the mind, it was between Christ and the Antichrist: the latter seeking to alienate her from the right mind and defile her with the pollutions of idols; the former striving to turn that man away, and to present His own workmanship to Himself uncontaminated.
They say that the bears in their dens, once they receive a wound to the heart from the hunters, become impossible to endure, and at once slay whatever falls in their way. Such was Probus at that time; he was thus powerless over his own anger,
A such was his bilious rage that he was scarcely able to rise from his throne and tear into the virgin flesh with his teeth. First, therefore, he armed himself against her chaste and venerable breasts; and after that ravenous beast had cut them away, he sought to destroy her with the most bitter pains. You know well, all you who are not ignorant of the structure of the body, that this part, consisting as it does of flesh, muscles, and nerves, is most highly sensitive, located as it is near the fountain of the senses—I mean the heart. When it is cut, it delivers a most painful death, as the vital blood surrounding the heart drains away along with the animal spirit. But she who bore the name of "resurrection"—being subject not to the law of nature but to that of the Resurrection—conquered death and easily survived those torments. O breasts, which provide not milk as nourishment for infants, but offer martyr-blood as a libation to Christ! O breasts, like two twin fawns of a doe leaping B from the body! For let Solomon chant something to these, or rather, let the Bridegroom acclaim the Bride for whom she is shorn of her breasts: *How beautiful are thy breasts made, my sister, my bride! How beautiful are thy breasts made!* Not from wine, but from one's own gore.
Next, the cruel one joined the struggle against her nails; and by tearing them all out inhumanly and extracting them from the root, he thought to bring unbearable pains upon her. But she, thinking of the extraction of these as if it were merely a shearing of hair, gave thanks to Christ, who strengthened her against the sufferings, and she eloquently refuted the judge, anathematizing his gods and demons, calling their worship a defilement of the soul. O nails, small indeed in size and last in order, yet who became the causes of great and perfect crowns! O nails, resembling the *onycha* and the *stacte* and other aromatics, with which that Moses, preparing the incense of composition, offered a sacrifice of sweet fragrance to God C.
Furthermore, the most bloodthirsty one added the amputation of the hands and feet alike to the nails. For it was fitting, perhaps, that not only the smaller but also the more robust parts of the holy martyr should be sacrificed to God; and just as a vine, luxuriant in shoots, the more it is pruned of superfluous growth, the more its vital power is gathered into a small space, yielding much fruit and fat bunches, from which wine flows copiously from the presses, so too the virgin, the more her members were cut, the more the flower of her confession blossomed. The bunches of her witness multiplied, giving forth the fragrance of patience; and the blood of her contest, flowing like a sweet-smelling and abundant wine, suffocated all that was alien and impious, while it gladdened all that was ours and religious. From this point on, therefore, even the teeth, by a violent command, were violently D plucked from their seats: the teeth, surely, *whiter than milk*, to use the words of Scripture, denoting the purity of the word unmixed with any malice; yet reddened by their own blood, they were offered as a victim of pleasant fragrance.
Then the tongue and throat were extracted, and she was ordered to be amputated at the root by the sword. The tongue, indeed, was intended for speaking divine praises and the testimony to Jesus; the pen of the *ready writer*; but for refuting impiety, a sharp sword, cutting off the head of falsehood and error.
And when all these things had been accomplished in her, like a fruit-bearing olive tree, the glorious virgin, though her tender branches had been cruelly cut away, sent forth no ignoble voice. Ignorance did not yield at all, nor did any indulgence of the mind. For every soul that is divine, fully liberated from the inclination toward the little body, and flying upward on the wings of the mind toward the contemplation of transcendent things, gladly welcomes the stripping away of the corruptible body; and she laments that it acts as an impediment to her attaining God more fully. Such a thing was visibly recurring then in Anastasia; for if she had been considered merely an instrument of voice, and had been condemned, and had kept the executioner waiting only for a short time until she was allowed to pray, she offered this last confession of her tongue to the Lord; and having first given thanks for his aid, and for the bounty that had sustained her until that hour, she then hastened to complete the course of her martyrdom. Thus, she offered intercession to the Lord for those who were sick in soul and body, and who were about to approach her. And having heard from the voice of heaven even the requests of those who were praying—"Come," said the executioner—he did not delay in the slightest. For since her instrument of voice was cut away, she did not remember his most pleasant of voices, but she listened to God, even when the *voice* was silent. And thus she handed over the theologian and most beautiful martyr to the bloodthirsty tyrant, and she undertook this tenth punishment. It was necessary, I think, for the one who was perfect in malice to be brought to the end of his madness against her who was perfectly among the martyrs, perfect in number, just as that ancient Pharaoh, smitten ten times by the scourge of God and still hardened, was also branded by these ten triumphs.
The precious blood of the virgin flowed on every side, from her hands, her feet, and her mouth, and from her breasts; and her body was dyed through and through, like royal purple. Here they say that she slackened her most immaculate self for a little while. As the nature of the body...
A —at the violent command were violently torn away. Teeth, whiter than milk, according to the Scripture, revealing the purity of her words, unmixed with any malice; yet reddening with their own blood, and like frankincense being offered up as a sweet-smelling sacrifice. Then, too, it was commanded that her tongue be drawn from her throat and be severed at the root with iron. Her tongue, dedicated as it was to theology and the testimony of Jesus, [was like] the pen of a ready-writing scribe; but for the refutation of impiety, it was a sharp sword, severing the head of falsehood. And when all these things had been accomplished upon her, like a fruitful olive tree ruthlessly having its branches cut away, she uttered no ignoble word. She did not yield at all, nor did she slacken the intensity of her resolve. For every divine soul, released from its attachment to the flesh and having flown upward on the light wing of the mind to the contemplation of supernatural visions, joyfully embraces the laying aside of the corruptible body; and, as if it were an obstacle to the more perfect attainment of the good, it is naturally aggrieved and impatient of its sojourn with it. Such a thing was seen to befall Anastasia at that time; for though now nearly every one of her members had been cut away, and since the organ of her voice had been condemned to be severed, she delayed only so much—having pushed aside the executioner—as to be granted a short time for prayer, and to offer this final profession to the Lord through her tongue; giving thanks first for the help and assistance [granted] until that very hour, and then praying that the course of her martyrdom might be completed with a favorable ending; and thus having offered up to the Lord her entreaties for those who were sick in soul or in body, and who were destined to approach her; and having heard a voice from heaven bearing witness to the granting of her petitions, she said to the executioner, "Come, do that which is incumbent upon you, fearing nothing. For even if you cut out the instrument of my voice, B so that I might not recall its most sweet utterances, yet God hears even those who do not speak." And so the noble martyr willingly extended her God-speaking tongue, and this too was removed by the murderous hand. This was the tenth punishment she underwent at the hands of the tyrant. For it was fitting, I think, that one who was perfect in malice, having attacked her who was perfect among the martyrs with perfect madness, should be disgraced by ten trophies, in a perfect number, just like the ancient Pharaoh who was scourged by God ten times and yet remained hardened. The precious blood of the virgin flowed, therefore, from every side—from hands, from feet, from the mouth, and from the breasts. And her body was saturated and dyed, just as if by a royal purple. Here they say that the most immaculate one languished for a little while. For just as those who are superior by nature...
[English so far ends: ...as though, even in the very transition of life, having collected the triumphant fragments of the martyr, and wrapped them in pure linen, and having bedewed them with a shower of tears, she addressed the victorious one in such words as these:]
A Filia mea, she would say, most lovely daughter, whom I raised so splendidly from infancy and instructed in the teachings of piety, teaching you all manner of virtue and presenting you as a chaste and undefiled bride to Christ: I give thanks that you have not let my admonitions slip into oblivion, but rather have made them the target and purpose of your intention. Wherefore, as the deer that longs for the springs of divine waters, and even then, still thirsting for God, the strong, the living, you passed into the place of the wondrous tabernacle and the sound of the festival of those confessing Him; B you were moved beyond the heavens, and brought to the spiritual bridal chamber, and united to the divine marriage bed. For you received the fragrance of the ointments of the immortal bridegroom, whose name is called poured-out ointment; wherefore you loved Him and drew Him to your heart, and made Him rest there. You were a dish for the King, O daughter, as the venerable Song speaks: his couch, his ascent, his purple, his interior paved with stones. Therefore, you were loved, both as a beloved one and as one wounded—by divine charity—all over; and as you drew Him in turn, you made Him rest within the bedchamber of your virginal heart. Simultaneously, you were wounded beyond words by divine love, drawn toward Him, whitened by your virtues, and [then] C as you drew Him back again, you made Him rest in your own virginal heart.
What therefore shall we render to the Lord for the magnitude of His gifts? What shall we say? What shall we offer? How shall I recount so great a benefit? The tongue is needy, the mind is needy. How shall I give thanks for Thy inexplicable goodness? How can I, O Lord, manifest something worthy of Thy infinite kindness? For the spirit perceives the magnitude of the grace, and is stirred by desire—it leaps, it is eager; but the tongue fails, and being devoid of speech, it cannot worthily represent what the mind conceives. Let the tongue now cease; let the mind rest from your goodness, O Author of all good things and Father! Pondering within itself, it praises that you deemed my most cherished daughter worthy to become yours: that you have gathered the fruit of my admonitions, the divine pledge, and carry it aloft into the heavenly storehouses: that you have judged my pearl worthy of a crown, and have made her a companion to the apostles and martyrs.
A She besought the Most High that the child might not be overcome by blandishments, that she might not be subdued by threats, that she might not be bent by torments, and that she might not appear in any way inferior to her persecutors. But when things had turned out favorably for her, and the virgin had attained a better consummation than she herself had expected, a report of this was brought to her by the voice of an angel. Using this same angel as her guide on the way, she gathered together the remains of the trophy-bearing martyr, wrapped them in clean linen cloths, and, drenching them with many tears, she spoke words such as these to the glorious victor: "My child," she said, "my most beloved child! Child, whom I reared well from infancy and brought up with the teachings of piety; I, who trained you in ways of virtue of every kind, prayed to present you as a chaste bride, an undefiled virgin to Christ. I give thanks to you that you did not forget my exhortations, but that your own intention concurred with my aim concerning you. Wherefore, B like a deer panting for the fountains of divine waters, deeply thirsting for the strong and living God, you passed into the place of the wondrous tabernacle, unto the house of God, in a voice of exultation and confession of the sound of those keeping festival. You were brought across the heavens, you were offered to the spiritual bridal chamber, and you were laid to rest in the divine nuptials. For the scent of the perfumes of the immortal bridegroom, whose name is called 'perfume poured forth,' took hold of you. Wherefore you loved him; you drew him; you caused him to rest within your heart. You became a litter for the King, my daughter, according to the most venerable Song, whose backrest is of gold, whose ascent is of purple, and whose interior is paved with stones. For this reason you were at once loved, and were wounded in an extraordinary way by divine love; being brought upward to him, having been made white with virtues and perfumed with incense, you in turn draw him and cause him to rest in the bridal chamber of your virginal heart. C What, then, shall we render to the Lord for the greatness of his gift? What shall I say? Who am I to become? How shall I hymn him? How shall I recount so great a weight of beneficence? My tongue is at a loss, and my mind is at a loss. O how shall I give thanks to your ineffable goodness? How could I utter anything worthy of your infinite philanthropy, O Master? For the spirit, gently perceiving the greatness of the grace, is agitated, leaping and eager; but it is at a loss, having no words to represent its conceptions in a manner worthy of your majesty. Now, therefore, let the tongue be silent; but let the mind, considering by itself the height of your beneficence, O Author and Father of all good things, offer praise, because you have deemed my most beloved child worthy to be yours; because you carry the fruit of my admonitions, as if it were a divine pledge, into the heavenly storehouses; and because you have judged my pearl worthy of your crown, and have made her a companion to the apostles and martyrs.
A
Therefore I rejoice; for to you again, O my honorable and dearest head, I turn my speech; and in you, most desired one, I rejoice. I rejoice as I gather up your scattered members; I am gladdened and delight, because now you have them preserved unharmed, and united to the Head, Christ; because they are no longer your own, but have become the property of Christ himself, for whom and on account of whom bloodthirsty beasts devoured them. O members, mown down like grain by iron, and bruised upon the threshing floor of temptations, and rendering the most pure wheat of confession to the Master! Members, like fat olives pressed by the machinery of evildoers, and dripping the oil of exultation by the compression! B I will not, therefore, I will not lament over these things; I will not rend my tunic, I will not cut my arm, I will not tear my cheeks, I will not let out a mournful cry, I will not intone a dirge, I will not utter a blasphemous word, I will not bewail your dismemberment. For you have not been cut away from me, dearest child, but rather you have been joined together. You have not been dispersed, but united. For since you die with Christ, faithful is the saying, that you shall also live with him [note: 2 Tim. II, 11]. Having been dishonored with him for a short time, you shall be glorified with him for eternity. But I beseech you, O daughter, or rather henceforth lady and spiritual mother, for the short time of my life in the flesh, and as you cross over to another life, stand by as a warder-off of labors, a propitiation for sins, a good consolation of the soul, and an eternal refreshment. And not to me C alone, not to me; but to all who faithfully call upon you, Bride of God, become a refuge and salvation, in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Having spoken these funeral words with very fervent and most sweet tears, and as she went down and kissed each limb, since she did not have the strength alone to carry them, two men suddenly appeared, venerable in their appearance, ascetics in their life, and taking up that sacred burden together with the honorable old woman; and having approached a venerable place near Great Rome, they buried her with candles and hymns, and laid her to rest.
Such was she who, having attained to such an upbringing at the beginning, D and having not been overcome by such a storm of torments, and having been deemed worthy of such a thrice-blessed end—to which of the women of old known for piety, or to which of those who flourished thereafter, if she were compared, would she not prove that which is compared to her to be falling not far short? For some indeed, in the matter of faith, gave proof of their excellence in the things of God; such as Sarah, the wife of Abraham; Rebecca, Rachel; and Anna, the mother of Samuel; Deborah, Judith; I think I shall add Esther, and Anna the daughter of Phanuel, and the other Anna, that of Joachim, and Elizabeth the wife of Zacharias. But others again are said to have carried off the victory by their love in Christ Jesus; such as that first martyr and glorious virgin Thecla; and before her, the Mary Magdalene read of in the Gospels; after them, Euphemia, Irene, [371 is the column number; 372 follows hereafter without break] and Catharina. Sophia, together with the daughters... [index: entries preserved]
of hers, I mean Faith, Hope, and Charity; Ripsimia, Febronia, and those who follow them. Of all these, Anastasia A in some ways surpassed them, and in others was their equal. Nay, she surpassed them all, if it be not bold to say so: those who are believed to shine magnificently in faith, she excelled by the perfection of charity; those who shine with the perfection of charity, she vanquished by the excellence of faith. If you will, she is supremely complete in faith among those who have attainment in faith; and by the excellence of charity, she gains the prize over those who love with pure sincerity. For she stands above all holy maidens in the heap of divine graces, inasmuch as she encountered more numerous and more bitter torments for the love of Christ and for the faith, and with a more bitter blow she crushed the adversary. But, O girl B perfectly immaculate and incorrupt, who first by ascetic exercise didst mortify the passions of the body—or rather, didst not even permit them to exist in thee from the beginning—and afterwards, in the wrestling-ground of the contest, didst strip away the very limbs to which it is natural for passions to be active, that thou mightest live for Christ alone in the Spirit! O bride of Christ, and sister, and mother, who didst imitate the all-chaste Mother of God as far as is possible; and who, having been cleansed beforehand in soul and flesh by the Spirit, and having received the first-fruits of the Spirit as a divine seed, and having travailed through various torments undergone for His sake, and having brought forth in thy heart Christ the Lord, the Spirit of salvation, unto whom thou didst joyfully depart! O nature most supernatural: the nature C of a woman in a masculine spirit; or rather, the nature of a man appearing in angelical mind and power; who wast encompassed by fire and iron and machines of every kind; and then wast deprived of thy breasts; thy hands and feet were cut off, and thy teeth extracted; thy tongue was first cut out, then thy neck severed; and yet thou didst not betray Christ, nor didst thou belie the faith which is in Him—receive these meager first-fruits of words. For what is this discourse in comparison with thy virtue, which the hosts of angels hymn and all the Powers of heaven praise? Yet, O most pure one, having accepted the intention, raise us up from the pit of misery D and from the mire of the clay, as thou art and art called the Resurrection; and since thou thyself didst mystically rest in Christ, the true Resurrection, set our feet upon the rock and direct for us the steps of our soul, so that by thy intercession, having attained a better life and a more divine resurrection, we may send up glory and praise and thanksgiving to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ORATIO XVIII. — IN LAUDEM S. EUSTATHII.
ON THE ANCIENT ACTS OF THE SAINTS EUSTATHIUS, THEOPISTE AND THEIR CHILDREN AND THEIR EULOGY BY NICETAS. FR. COMBEFISII MONITUM
The Acts of the holy martyr Eustathius and his companions, which I produce, are indeed ancient; their author, who prefaces them, is clearly one who is *polymathes* [of much learning], and, as it were, *kritikotatos* [most critical]; Leo Allatius has judged them to be a dissertation most worthy of the light, and those of the Simeonites, and has hitherto entrusted them to my keeping, and they denote these same martyrs. Nor does he wrongly judge them, for the very character—which even a man of the greatest gravity and simplicity, and one not given to tampering with the text by hand (which may be detected even by a slight conjecture) would deem to be most skillful in Christian simplicity—carries this judgment. Nor do I fear that, if they should come into the hands of those who are, as I believe, the most illustrious fathers of the annals, of those things which are current among them (namely, in the Latin edition published under the name of Metaphrastes) in the year of Christ 120, and thus he pronounces: *That many things were added to them; yet, with his own candour, he will hold them to be in a milder judgment: or rather works truly worthy of such a martyr, whose memory is illustrated by distinguished monuments in Rome; or perhaps in the territory of Paris, most dear in guardianship and treasure; and which, being forever flourishing and most worthy of veneration among both, is so august, so plain, and void of all falsity, to be venerated and praised; to them, as a gem, most precious and most adorned with its own annals.* Of these, under the name of Metaphrastes, I explain briefly what I mean.
I examined them more attentively; and indeed, from a manuscript approved by the most eminent Cardinal Mazarin, I made these same things Latin; I was offended by the style of the other interpreter, which was somewhat low, where the author himself does not shine or rise so poorly. Additions scarcely occur, or other things besides what the ancient author had edited. On the contrary, in the solemn manner of *metaphraseis* [transpositions/rewritings], they appear with minor additions and the order changed, except in style; the skill of my art, which seems to have added rather a disjointed sequence than an ornament to the work which shines with such excellent radiance. In this matter, the greater license, both of his and of the two books in Italian and the same in French, wanted to adorn the struggle of Eustathius, and in them he fashioned it; then, he who produced the sacred *Metamorphoses* in the French idiom, and in them produced Eustathius. They, for their part, had only the Metaphrastean Acts, and proposed them in Latin (for they appear to have been known in Greek).
Whom I produce, Nicetas the Paphlagonian (the contemporary of Ignatius of Constantinople, and most affectionate to him, and the author of the Life edited by Raderus), in praising Eustathius and his companions, I will truly say, most excellently fulfilled in them the office of an orator. He did not have that Metaphrastes, but the ancient one which I propose, the august Acts as they were. He did not detract from, add to, or change them; he merely illustrated them with rhetorical flowers and oratorical lights, that they might more sweetly caress the ears; and he tempered them with oratorical allurements, and composed them. Which, indeed, I do in his individual style of speaking; as in the individual panegyrics which I produce for the apostles and illustrious men; my own *Bibliotheca concionatoria* [Book of Sermons], which is close to being published, and is now awaiting the final strokes; to which the more certain things, and those accepted by the long tradition of the Churches, I do not attend to any apocryphal works by Abdias, but rather I pray and set forth with vigorous toil and clear eloquence, as a true *rhetor*, among the first champions of the Christian religion; I say nothing of his other panegyrics; among which he also praises Gregory the Theologian, whom no one else has adorned with such remaining splendor of eloquence, and I consider it to be most brilliant. May God grant that, where my Latin words are a little more dejected, this, with his own handful of words, may not displease his followers, and may please them, and may incline them to be delighted and edified in piety, as he praises also Anastasia the Elder, Hyacinth of Amastris, John Chrysostom, and others in his very cultivated Greek.
Our own remarkable witness of the acts, John of Damascus, in his *Oration III on Images*, truly refers to them as a golden stream; and from them he produced them in his own words. He refers to the effigy of the cross of Christ offered to Eustathius in the stag, and the oracle given to him regarding the future of his whole struggle—a certain structure of the future (although, through the variety of events—which the Greeks call *peripeteian*; which the providence of God played with so remarkably—it leads to the very goal of martyrdom); and he does not, as many, if they are such, consider them things added, but he treats the whole work as being tainted by few inconsistencies. In the Damascene himself, the gap produced by the bad translator is committed. We represent them sound and whole. The Latins also, the Metaphrast, call the wife "Placida," and attribute it to the fault of Trajan, while the Greeks hold it better as "Tatian, a Tatian-woman." And the august name of Eustathius himself, and that of victory, seem to have been taken from the very sacred font, just as the oracle itself indicates by his mouth, and will bear witness to his future constancy, and the crowds/people badly deform it in "Eustachius" in the Vita edited by Surius; although in the margin it is corrected to "Eustathius."
* Illustriam Christi martyrum lecti Triumphi, Paris, 1660, 8°.
ADMONITION OF COMBEFIS US CONCERNING THE ORATION ON EUSTATHIUS
AThe Acts of the holy martyrs Eustathius and his companions, which I produce, are truly the ancient Acts themselves; whose author, in the preface to them, seriously offers and points to those very same martyrs as his equals (which fact indeed a man in every way very modest, as well as a great critic—Leo Allatius, in that most worthy light of his concerning the Symeons and their writings, and in a dissertation handed over to me, previously unreleased—had judged). And that he does not point to them falsely, the character itself indicates, which a man most skilled in Christian simplicity has imparted to them: a character most grave and simple, and marred by the hand of no interpolator (which could be detected even by a slight conjecture). Nor do I think that the most illustrious father of annals would truly say of them, had they come into his hands, what he pronounced concerning those which he had examined (namely, those published in Latin under the name of Metaphrastes) in the year of Christ 120, n. 4: "We think, however, that many things have been added to them." But rather, in his own candor, he would hold them in a milder judgment: or better, he would venerate and praise them as the truly worthy Acts of a holy martyrdom, whose memory at Rome is illustrated by eminent monuments; and further, in the city and territory of Paris, protected by most dear pledges; and further, flourishing and most highly to be venerated forever in both Christian worlds; so august, so plain, and so lacking in all pretense; like a most beautiful and precious gem, adorning the most ample Annals.
BConcerning those things published under the name of Metaphrastes, I shall briefly explain what I myself think. I examined those more attentively; and I even made these same things Latin from another codex approved by the most eminent Cardinal Mazarin; I was offended for a time by the somewhat humbler style of the interpreter, where the author himself does not shine or rise badly. Scarcely any additions occur, or things other than what the ancient author had published. Rather, in the solemn manner of such *metaphraseis*, certain things appear slightly augmented, or changed in order and manner—except for the style; which practice has seemed to me to have brought in a *dussyntaton* rather than to have added ornament to the work which shines by its own noble rays. In which matter there was greater license, both on the part of him who, in two books (in Italian, which were rendered into French), desired to adorn the struggle of Eustathius and his companions, and who fashioned many things in it, and on the part of him who produced the sacred Metamorphoses in the French idiom, and in them Eustathius. They had only the Metaphrastean Acts, and those in Latin (for they do not seem to have known Greek), set before them; which they treated, in the way I have mentioned, themselves.
CConcerning the Nicetas Paphlagonian whom I produce (contemporary of Ignatius of Constantinople, most devoted to him, and the author of his Life edited by Rader), praising Eustathius and his companions, I will truly say that he has, in this Eulogy of his, most excellently performed the duty of an orator toward them. He did not have those Metaphrastean Acts set before him, but our own ancient ones, which are to be venerated and are august in their own form. He took nothing away, added nothing, and changed nothing; he only illustrated them with rhetorical ornaments, *emphaseis* of words, and oratorical lights; and he tempered and composed them with a certain knowing charm, so that they might touch the ears more sweetly and capture the mind. He was, to be sure, a man excellent in that genre of speech; whose panegyrics on each of the individual apostles I am producing; in my *Concional Library*, nearing publication and now looking toward completion; in which, whatever is more certain and accepted by the long tradition of the Churches, omitting entirely Abdias and other apocrypha, a man strenuous in labor, clear in eloquence, and truly pious, happily speaks and expounds concerning those first prelates of the Christian religion; to say nothing of his other panegyrics; and among them, that on Gregory the Theologian, whose theology and other ornaments I consider no one to have praised with such nerves of eloquence and so brilliantly. May God grant that where my Latin voice is somewhat deficient, he may not be displeasing to his own, in that little bundle of his, and that he may more propitiously delight and edify unto piety, praising the elder Anastasia, Hyacinthus of Amastris, John Chrysostom, Thecla, and others with an even more copious harvest for the most learned Greeks.
DAn excellent witness to our Acts, John Damascene speaks most truly, Orat. III, on images; whence he produced a quite long *perikope* from them, in their very own words. He reports the figure of the cross and Christ offered to Eustathius while hunting in a stag, and the oracle made to him, by which a prophecy of his future entire course and proposed struggle is had; surely of a certain structure (although with a wondrous diversity of chances and events—the Greeks call it *peripeteia*; by which the providence of God played excellently), with everything subsequently hanging together down to the very martyrdom; so that not only are many things not "added," but even a few things cause the whole work to tremble and be corrupted. In the very place in Damascene, an omitted gap made the interpreter perform badly. We represent all things sound, in a better codex. In the Latin Metaphrast, Placidus's wife is called "Trajana" by mistake, when the Greek more correctly has *Tatianen*, Tatiana. The very august name of Eustathius, and that from which he seems to have had the oracle of victory from the very sacred source—as if God himself were indicating it with the mouth of the priest, and attesting by it his future constancy and firmness—the common people badly deformed for themselves into "Eustachius"; which name the title itself puts forward in the Life edited by Surius; even if in the margin it is corrected to Eustathius.
ORATION XVIII. Encomium for the holy great martyr Eustathius, Agapius, Theopistus, and Theopiste.
A I shall praise the celebrated one among the trophy-bearers, Eustathius, even if I am bowed by afflictions; for it is holy, and not only holy, but also beneficial. For we shall not be silent just because we are weighed down by the evils of this life; but because it is right to welcome the friends of God with proclamations, we shall not withhold the praise that lies within our power; nor shall we postpone the hymn of the great martyr because we are pressured by the cares and anxieties of the Churches of God; rather, because that man was most proven in afflictions, most proven in the struggles and labors for piety, by which he is shown to be almost more venerable than all other martyrs, for these reasons we shall offer up the tribute of praise as a debt. BThe Martyrdom of the holy and glorious martyrs of Christ, Eustathius, Theopiste, and their children.
There lies before men, by nature, a domestic teaching for the perfection of virtues, teaching one to do to one’s neighbor what he desires to experience from another, and to fulfill to God the Benefactor the act of thanksgiving which He Himself also demands from those who are benefited. There lie before us, furthermore, very many teachings from the divine Scriptures, and the deeds of blessed and celebrated men, who are, as it were, living images for the imitation of good deeds, for those who wish to follow their virtues. I have therefore proposed, no less, to put forth in writing the noble deeds of ancient men, and those lately accomplished in our own times, for the benefit of the hearers and the turning back of those who say that it is not... C possible now for such things to be accomplished, as they were in ancient times, nor that all people know the times or the moments of difficulty, and that no conduct prohibited by life becomes an obstacle to the perfection of good works. For if he wishes to follow the first, the written Law, and furthermore to follow the teachings of the aforementioned holy Fathers, he will find an easy path to a virtuous manner of life. Such men, having written down their life from the beginning and their praise in the end, will show what they have done according to their works. D ...or follow their doctrine, the way of their discipline, which falls to us to recount; namely, those whose fame is demonstrated by their own clear works.In the days of Trajan the Emperor, while idol-worship was prevailing, there was a general of the army named Placidus, of a lineage most famous throughout the world, and most wealthy, exceeding all others in glory, and in possessions, and silver, and servants, and all other remainder of wealth. And he was a Greek, adorned with every manner of distinction, and in all things most fortunate by the right hand of success. For he was indeed in the hunt most eager, and a good and noble man, he who, calling his own servants, did not overlook their needs; nor did he wish to leave the worthy and good person without due reward, in his ignorance of the God who covers all things with His providence. But it is written: “Every nation that fears God and works righteousness is acceptable to Him,” and he, having attained this, was also attained by the merciful God, who wishes to save.
Having gone forth, then, one day upon the...
A mountains with his army and all his retinue, he saw a herd of stags grazing, and, as is the custom, once he saw the army, he pursued them. While the whole army was intent on tracking them, there appeared to him one stag, by far the largest of the whole herd, which, breaking through the precipitous places and inaccessible thickets, escaped. Perceiving this, and inflamed with the desire to capture it, leaving all his companions, and with only a few soldiers exerting themselves, he followed after it. When all the rest were exhausted, he alone continued the pursuit vigorously. But by providence, not flagging, and believing he would catch the prey which he had been chasing for a long time, he is found far removed from the army. Then the stag, having reached the summit of a high crag, stood there. The master of the soldiers, alone, having reached that place, and seeing no companion nearby, looked around him on all sides, and in what manner he might catch the prey, he pondered. But the all-wise and merciful God, who D cares for the salvation of men, and who devises every way—in a manner that He might provide for the salvation of humanity—does not lie in wait for him in this hunt by way of Peter, but, as one pursuing Paul, through His own manifestation.
Now while Placidus was standing there and gazing at the stag, and marveling at its size, and knowing not what way to capture it, the Lord showed him a prodigy: such that he should neither be horrified, nor should the magnitude of His power be overshadowed. But just as in the case of Balaam, when He made the ass speak, He reproved his folly; so here too in the stag, showing the figure of the venerable Cross standing between its horns, outshining the sun with its splendor, He shows him the image of the God-bearing body.
A It is the custom for the life of such a divine man as Eustathius and of those with him to produce pleasure and encouragement toward virtue in those who know it; and as often as it comes to mind, it becomes for those who love God a source of compunction and faith. He first obtained a Roman citizenship, but by the nobility of his lineage, the abundance of his wealth, the distinction of two eras, the beauty of his bodily stature, the excess of the courage of his spirit, the sharpness of his intellect, and the density of his wisdom, he had so endeared himself to the emperors of the Romans that he was entrusted with the command of armies. Because he stood against the enemy with the utmost tactical skill and often raised the greatest trophies against them, by the common vote of the Great Council he was proclaimed Great Commander over all. The man was good and, being ambidextrous in virtue, he displayed the more physical and visible part of it most ambitiously to the emperor and the common people; but the intelligible and good-natured disposition of his soul he dedicated to the Creator of all—even though he was still uninitiated at that time in the illuminations of the truth. For although he was occupied by Hellenic vanities, he nevertheless neglected no work that was praiseworthy and dear to God. By redeeming captives, comforting the afflicted, vindicating those who were wronged, assisting the needy, and in all ways being zealous to do good to everyone, the wonderful man imitated the philanthropy and commandment of Jesus, not yet having known Jesus through faith. B And as it happened with Cornelius—for I say, he went out to hunt wild animals with his army and all his retinue, and a herd of stags was seen by him grazing. Having deployed the army according to the custom, he made the pursuit against them. While the entire army was occupied with the hunt, there appeared to him one of the stags, far larger than the whole herd, having rushed down a precipice into closer parts of the woods and more impassable regions. Having seen this, Placidas, desiring to capture it, left everyone behind and pursued it with a few soldiers. When everyone grew weary, he alone remained in the pursuit. But by the providence of God, neither did the horse grow weary, nor did he himself despair of the capture; pursuing for a long time, he was found far from the army. That stag, having reached the summit of a high rock, stood upon it. The commander, having arrived near, with no one accompanying him, stood looking about on every side and considering in what way he might lay hold of the stag. But the all-wise and merciful God, who has devised all kinds of ways for the salvation of men, hunts this man in his hunt—not like Cornelius through Peter, but like Paul when he was pursuing, through His own appearance. While Placidas stood for a long time, gazing at the stag and marveling at its size, yet at a loss for how to capture it, the Lord shows him such a prodigy, not unsuitable nor exceeding the greatness of His own power. But just as in the case of Balaam, when He put speech into the donkey, He refuted his folly, so also here He shows, on the antlers of the stag, the figure of the venerable Cross shining more brightly than the sun; and between the antlers, C he shows him the image of the God-bearing body, which He deigned to assume for our salvation; and having given speech to the stag, He calls to Placidas in the human tongue, saying to him: "Placidas, why do you pursue me? Behold, for your sake I am present in this animal. I am Jesus Christ, whom you know not. For though you perform these works for the needy, they stand before me, and I have come to show myself to you, and to arrive at this: that through this, you might be converted and join those who follow my philanthropy. For it is not just that he who is a friend to me through good works should be enslaved to unclean demons. For that reason I have come into the world in this form, wishing to save the human race."
Hearing these things, the commander Placidas, having become terrified, fell from his horse to the ground. D When some time had passed, coming to himself and wishing to see the vision more accurately, he stood up and said: "Who is the voice that is revealing to me the one who speaks to me, so that having heard I may believe?" And the Lord says to him: "Behold, O Placidas. I am Jesus Christ, who have separated the indiscriminate matter, who have revealed the light and separated it from the darkness, who have fashioned from nothing the sun and the moon with the stars, and have arranged the seasons of the night and the times and the years and the days. I am the one who fashioned man on the earth, who was manifested on earth in the flesh for the salvation of men, and was crucified, and buried, and rose on the third day." Having heard these things, the commander Placidas fell again to the ground, saying—
A the book says, as he worshipped the living God unknowingly. Wherefore, he was held worthy of the knowledge of God from above, for this is what Eustathius also continued to do; and bearing fruit through every good work from a heart of goodness, he was guided toward that perfection which is through faith. For it is not truly worthy that one who labors sincerely in the pursuit of virtue should be choked by the depths of unbelief. Therefore, the Lord wondrously drew him also toward His own knowledge and faith. Does the Master call him, then, in the same way as the Centurion? By no means; but the one He sends through the voice of an angel to the great Peter, that the mystery of piety might be delivered to him; but Eustathius He calls by His own voice face to face. And what was the mode of his calling? While he was once busily engaged in the hunting of wild beasts, a heavenly hand hunted him in turn. For while he was pursuing one of the deer he had seen—a creature beautiful to behold, and appearing before his eyes as large and fat—he became, for this reason, separated from those hunting with him; and this was an act of divine providence, as is likely; and being caught all alone in a certain wilderness, he heard a voice from heaven, that of the Master. For that wondrous animal turned toward the man; and upon its head—the most paradoxical thing—was seen the form of the Crucified One; from which also a voice proceeded, saying, "O Placidas, why do you persecute me?" O for the newness of the calling! B regarding the image of the body, which for our salvation the most benevolent One Himself deigned to assume: and having placed a human voice within the deer, He calls Placidas to Himself, and says to him, "Placidas, why do you persecute me? Behold, I am present for your sake [in order to appear to you in this animal]. I am Jesus Christ, whom you worship without knowing. For your acts of kindness which you perform for those in need have stood before me, and I have come to manifest myself to you, and, through this deer, to meet you and hunt you back in turn, and to encompass you with the nets of my loving-kindness. For it is not just that one dear to me through his good works should be enslaved in service to unclean demons. For this reason I came upon the earth in this form, wishing to save the race of men." Having heard these things, the commander Placidas, becoming seized with fear, fell from his horse onto the ground. And when an hour had passed, having come to himself, he stood up, wishing to see more accurately the vision that had appeared to him, and says, "What is this voice? Reveal yourself to me, O you who speak, that having heard I may believe." And the Lord says to him, "Understand, O Placidas. I am Jesus Christ, who fashioned the heaven and the earth out of nothing, and arranged the whole of the indistinct material; who brought forth the light, and separated the darkness; I am He who constructed the sun for the light, and arrayed the moon with the stars for the radiance of the night. I am He who established the seasons, and times, and years, and days. I am He who fashioned man from the earth; who, for the salvation of men, appeared on the earth in the flesh, who was crucified, and buried, and rose on the third day." Having heard these things, the commander Placidas fell again to the ground, saying—
A of the voice of the living Word, miraculously sounding forth within a mute animal. And this voice was similar to that which once, from heaven, called the great Paul; for He is one and the same who calls both this man and that, and for similar reasons. For in accepting the zeal of both, He corrects their ignorance, as men who were pursuing piety, but not according to the mark. "Placidas, why do you pursue Me? For it is not permitted for you to hold Him who cannot be held, nor to overtake by running Him who cannot be consumed; rather, it is necessary that you be captured by Me, and caught in the meshes of My mercy." And being struck with astonishment at the sight of a figure so new and strange, and at the voice, he fell down and asked with great fear of soul, "Who are You, Lord?" He is said to have heard from that divine vision which appeared to him that He was Jesus, the God of the Christians; whom he indeed served by his deeds, but whose rationale of dispensation he did not know. He then warned and commanded him to hasten with all speed to the Church of the Christians and to a priest, so that from him he might request to receive, together with all his house, the participation in the mysteries and the purification of the illuminations; and that upon receiving this, he should know that He would rouse against him all the zeal of the enemy, and he would lose human glory and honor, and all things he possessed. He encouraged him to overcome his adversary by endurance, while He, the One answering, would be his champion from on high. B Stating: "I believe in You, Lord, that You are the Creator of the ages, the converter of those who have wandered, the restorer of those who have fallen, and the Life-giver of those who were dead." The Lord said to him, "If you believe in Me, go into the city, and approach the priest of the Christians, and seek from him the grace that is given through baptism." Placidas said, "Do You command me to announce these things to my wife and my children, so that they too may believe in You?" The Lord said to him, "Announce it, and having received the seal in Christ through baptism, you shall be cleansed from the defilement of your sins; then come here, and I will appear to you, and show you what is to come, and reveal to you the mysteries of salvation." The commander, having descended, now that evening had come, began to recount to his wife the great wonders of Christ. But as he finished relating the vision and what had been said to him through the apparition, his wife cried out, saying: "My lord, you have seen the Crucified One, whom the Christians worship. For He alone is the true God, who calls those who believe in Him with such signs." And crying out with even greater fervor, she said: "Have mercy on me, my Lord Jesus Christ, and on my two little children." And she said to her husband: "In the past night, I too beheld Him, saying to me: 'Tomorrow you, and your husband, and your children shall come to Me, and you shall know that I am Jesus Christ.' C It was my pleasure, therefore, to appear to you in such a form, and in that strange spectacle through the stag, so that having wondered at My power, you might believe in Me. Come, therefore, let us go in this night, and attain the baptism of the Christians. For through it those who believe in Him are reconciled to Him." Placidas said to her, "My wife, He who appeared also said this to me." Therefore, in the middle of the night, having taken D
C and in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit. And even now, I beseech you, reveal to me what you have promised." And the Lord said to him, "Blessed are you, O Eustathius, for you have accepted the washing of grace, and I have granted you immortality. Now, therefore, you have conquered the wicked one. Now the one who deceived you has been defeated. Now that corruptible man has fallen, and you have put on the incorruptible, which abides for ever and ever. Now the trial of faith shall be made manifest, for envy has been stirred up against you by the devil, because you have abandoned him, and he is eager to see you fail. You must endure a trial, and by enduring it, you shall receive the crown of victory. See, you have been exalted until now in the affairs of this life and in the glory of this fleeting wealth; therefore, you must be humbled from this height of vanity, and in turn be exalted again through spiritual wealth. Do not hide, and do not shrink from the wealth that was shown to you. Even though you appeared to be preeminent among mortals by bestowing benefits, and were eager to please the King, be eager to please the immortal King also, by keeping the faith; and in these present trials be shown to be another Job, being a victor over the devil. See that no thought of blasphemy arises in your heart. For when you are humbled, I will come to you, and I will restore you again to your former glory." And having said these things, the Lord ascended into the heavens; adding this in abundance: "Is it your will that I should presently inflict upon you the trial proposed, so that you may endure it at the end of days?" And Eustathius said: "I beseech thee, Lord, do not let the trial pass that is appointed for us, but rather command us to accept the trial, and give D us strength to bear [it]."
C what has been enjoined, and be merciful to our infirmity lest any thought creeping into our mind should shake our faith." To whom the Lord says: "Strive, for the devil will not overcome [you] through any wicked thought. My grace shall be with you, guarding your souls."
After coming down from the mountain and entering the house, he reported to his wife what had been told him by the Lord; and together they bent their knees, and worshipped the Lord, and prayed to him, saying: "Thy will, O Lord, be done to us."
When a few days had passed, a mortal pestilence fell upon his home, and all his manservants and maidservants died. When this had happened, Eustathius sensed that this was the trial that had been foretold to him, and he took it gratefully and strenuously exhorted his wife not to be faint-hearted. After a short time, all his horses and all his other cattle died; and immediately his remaining herds and the rest of his possessions perished. D Having thus received this blow with gratitude, he departed from his house, taking with him his wife and children to a remote place. And some wicked men, seeing them depart by night, suddenly swooped down on the house and plundered all the property that they possessed, everything that was in gold, silver, and clothing, such that nothing of their possessions remained except only for what they were wearing. After having suffered such disasters, and having had their remaining wealth and property entirely depleted, he was left in complete destitution.
In those days a public victory festival was being held regarding the victory over the Persians, and it was a time of greatest joy, for the king himself was celebrating it. And it was necessary that all military commanders be present at the festival, as many as were of general's rank, as well as the first of the senate; and it was required, and
A they were sought for, and yet they were nowhere to be found. Therefore, the emperor was grieved, and the entire senate was in great perplexity over what had occurred. Then the emperor said to Eustathius, "How long shall we remain here, my lady? Come, let us take our two little children (for we have nothing else left to us), let us depart from this land." For it had become a reproach to those who knew them. When night had fallen, after they had taken the two small children, they walked toward Egypt. Having accomplished two days' journey, they went down to the sea, and finding a boat, they drew near to the harbor and sought to board it and sail away. And it happened that the master of the boat was a barbarian and a fierce man. Having seen the wife of Eustathius, for she was remarkably beautiful, he was overcome with passion for her, and when they were out on the sea, he demanded of them their fare. Not having the means to pay, and the master withholding the wife—under the pretext that the fare was not paid, though in reality his heart was seized by a lawless passion for the chaste woman—Eustathius, seeing that the master of the boat was stubborn and would not listen though he implored him, left his wife behind unwillingly. Having taken the two little children, he proceeded weeping, saying, "Woe is me, my children, that your mother has been given over to a foreign man!"
Proceeding with groaning and with tears of the soul, he reached a river, and being burdened on both sides by the children, he was afraid to carry the two little ones through the waters, as the volume of water was vast. Therefore, he carried one across upon his shoulders, and leaving the other there on the bank, he crossed over. Having crossed, he placed him on the bank,
ACTA OF SAINT EUSTATHIUS, ANCIENT VERSION
A ...and was being consumed by his soul’s compassion and sympathy for them. What then, those great-minded and truly men of God? Did they utter an unholy word against God, being pressed by such an excess of evils? Or did they not sin with their lips, but were driven in mind into absurd reasonings? Or was it neither of these, but rather, entrusting themselves to the emperor and the Roman consuls and generals, did they beg for a release from their difficulties? By no means; but as veterans, and not as novices in the training of the Gospel, deliberating about their present (situation), they give thanks to the Lord, with a very bright and radiant posture of soul, because of the loss of their possessions; and having prayed regarding what was fitting, and having asked for patience in their sorrows, they take up their two infants—for nothing else of their substance was left—and setting out from their own city, they directed their journey toward Egypt. And it was necessary for them to pass through the sea; and when their voyage had an end, and the ship was at the shore, and it was time for the passengers to disembark, the shipmaster demanded the fare; and Eustathius then—then—fell into a storm at sea more grievous than the sea itself. For his wife was taken away by the shipmaster, who was the only comfort left to him. The pretext was that he had no way to pay the fare; but the truth was that a lawless passion for her had seized that barbarian, who was inflamed by the beauty of the chaste woman. ...to bring the things that were promised, so that no thought might come upon us and shake our mind from the faith in you. The Lord says to him, "Struggle, and be strong; for no evil thought will conquer you. For my grace shall be with you, guarding your souls." Having descended from the mountain and entered into the house, he announced to his wife what had been spoken to him by the Lord; and having knelt down together, they worshiped the Lord and begged Him, saying, "Your will, O Lord, be done to us." B When a few days had passed, it happened that a plague-bearing disease fell upon his house, and all his children and his household servants died. When this had occurred, Eustathius realized that the temptation that had been foretold to him had come, and receiving it with thanksgiving, he exhorted his wife not to lose heart. And after a little time, it reached his horses and all his other livestock; and immediately all his animals that he had perished. Having received this blow with thanksgiving, he departed from his house secretly along with his wife and children to a remote place. And some of the evildoers, seeing their departure, came by night and plundered all their possessions, both in gold and silver and clothing, so that nothing of their substance was left except what they were wearing. By such misfortunes and injuries, all their remaining wealth and substance came to nothing. In those days, a public festival of victory was being celebrated for the victory over the Persians, and with great rejoicing, as was fitting, it happened that the emperor was also celebrating. It was necessary for the general to be present at the festival above all, inasmuch as he was a general and the first of the senate; and he was being sought, and...
A the malice of the wicked one, tormenting the athlete more violently than all else, was also in this. For while he had stood for a long time beseeching, and entreating with tears, and supplicating that his wife be released, that implacable and unyielding man held her fast. For barbaric cruelty, mixed with a demonic frenzy, requires only the hand of the Almighty to break it. And He, having justly put that man to death not long thereafter, granted an undefiled and free life to the blessed woman. Then the blessed one, seeing himself also in danger of being thrust into the sea by the barbarism of the savage, left her unwillingly in their hands, but taking his two most beloved children upon his shoulders—oh, how often he turned back his gaze! How often he shrieked bitterly, because his heart was gnawed and wasting away at the recollection—comes upon a certain river. Here, indeed, a most sharp and heavy blow fell upon his inmost parts. What speech could aptly recount this suffering? How could anyone come to the memory of those temptations without tears? As for me, as often as I read this history, I am convinced that my mind is present there, and I feel the suffering as if it were recent. My heart is pained, my vitals are wrung, I am suffused with tears and pricked with remorse, as if the drama were being played out before my eyes. And I think I clearly see that great athlete before the contest, having taken up one of his dearest children upon his shoulders, for it was not possible for him B to carry both at once, and he was returning to get the other, after he had carried the first one across to the other bank, and had placed him there; and when he had returned and reached the middle of the river, he looked and saw that a lion had seized one child, and as he was departing, a wolf had seized the other from the other side. Seeing them being snatched away, and not knowing that the Lord was providing for their salvation, what do you suppose came into his mind, and what was he suffering at the sight of this? Or rather, what was he to feel at these things? For the intensity of the pain, suddenly and excessively rushing upon him, first distracts and subverts his reason; and it fills him with darkness and dizziness for a little while after the suffering. But as he returns to himself little by little, then he reveals the state of his own mind. For being a brave man, and using his God-fearing reason, he gives thanks with courage to the most wise and supremely good Providence, C for the way He thus directs things; and he bears his labors with an unshakable spirit, though he is ashamed if he sees himself softened more than is fitting. Such was that Job of old in his labors, that great pattern of endurance, whom God set up as an unshakable pillar of patience for generations past. Such was the great Eustathius—Eustathius according to his name, and unconquerable in his sufferings, a true image of manhood and constancy whom the Lord afterward raised up for His Church. For while he was suffering such terrible, such bitter, and unbearable mishaps and pains in his soul, he was not D a child yet, and he was returning, owing to the duty of saving the other. Having reached the middle of the river, he looked and saw that a lion had snatched his child, and was going away, despairing of it. Expecting then, having only the hope of the other, he looked and saw it likewise snatched away by a wolf. Seeing then his children become prey to wild beasts, tearing the hair of his head, and lamenting bitterly, he tried to cast himself into the water of the river. But the providence of God sustained him, and by not doing this, he came out of the water. But the lion having taken the child, and having saved it by the providence of God, crossed the river higher up, and was going towards the desert. Seeing this, some shepherds, and [index: entries preserved]
A seeing the child being carried alive by the lion, and having suffered no harm, conjecturing that the child had been preserved by the providence of God, which would also help them to rescue him from the beast, they ran down upon the lion with dogs. By the dispensation of God, the lion being struck with panic, threw down the child safe, and withdrew. The other child, having been snatched up by the wolf, was also preserved by divine providence; seeing this, some plowmen, running upon him with a clamor, took him from the wolf having suffered no harm. And both parties, the shepherds and the plowmen, were in one village; and taking the children, they reared them among themselves. But Eustathius did not know these things, but he kept going, lamenting and mourning and saying: Woe to me who once flourished like a tree, but now am stripped bare. Woe to me who once lived in great cheerfulness, but now am a captive. Woe to me, the commander of the army, who was guarded by myriads of troops, but now am left entirely alone, not even permitted to have my children. But Thou, O Lord, Lord, do not forsake me to the end, nor disregard my tears. I remember, O Lord, that it was said B by Thee that I must be tempted as was Job; and behold, I see something even more than that coming upon me. That man was deprived of his possessions, but he had a dunghill upon which he sat, and he was permitted to have his children; but I, wretched man, am suffering torments on all sides. He had friends who would console him; but I, having fallen among wild beasts in the desert, have had them snatch away my children. He, even though he had lost his branches, seeing the root of his wife standing with him, was consoled. But C I, wretched man, am stripped on every side, and have become a naked trunk, not even seeing a spark of my race, and being shaken like a branch in the desert by the storm of the evil one. Do not forsake me, Lord Jesus Christ, Thy slave who is greatly afflicted. Guard, O Lord, a watch over my mouth, and a door for my enclosure about my lips, that my heart may not incline to things that are wicked, and that I may not be cast out from Thy presence. Grant to me, O Lord, finally rest from my many tribulations.
Saying these things with sighs and tears D of soul, he reached a certain village, that named Badissus. And having entered it, he worked as a day laborer. And having remained in it for a longer time, he comforted the villagers, and being accepted by them, he stood guard over their fruits, and receiving his wages, he continued for fifteen years. But the children, as was said, were reared in another village, and were entirely ignorant that they were brothers. Furthermore, a foreign shipmaster, having taken the wife of Eustathius, abducted her to his own country. So much grace overshadowed the woman, that she was nowhere admitted to the company of foreigners. This, the woman, having escaped, asked of God, that she might be kept safe from the habit [index: entries preserved]
of the foreigners C—and having thus escaped that foreigner, she continued in safety.
After those days, there happened a rebellion D among those foreigners, to whom the wife of Eustathius was a guest; and they departed from the Roman territories. The emperor being in great anxiety over their rebellion, came to remember Placidus, and especially because he had brought many successes against those foreigners. Thinking of his reputation, and turning over the memory of his sudden change, he was troubled in mind. Being therefore anxious, and having made an inquiry, and considering all things concerning Placidus, and asking what he might be—whether he were alive or dead—he gave orders to each of the soldiers to seek him out, and he sent them into every city and country under his dominion, saying, "Whoever finds him, I will bestow upon him a greater honor, and gifts more than he possesses." Two of the soldiers, Antiochus and Acacius, who were formerly distinguished, were sent out by Placidus to seek him; having traversed almost the whole world, they arrived at that village in which Eustathius was dwelling. While they were passing by those places, they were stuck, wondering to inquire of him. And Eustathius, seeing them from a distance, and recognizing their manner of movement and remembering his former life, began to be anxious; and he prayed, saying, "Lord, God of mercies, who from all my tribulations dost save those who hope in Thee, as I saw them deliver me from the hope I had that I would one day be joined to my wife—for they are unhappy children—it was new to me that my wife...
C had been captured and devoured by beasts! Grant therefore, O Lord, God who art merciful, who alone art the true God, Jesus Christ, that at least on the day of the resurrection I may behold my children. Having said these things, he heard a voice from heaven saying: "Take courage, Eustathius; for in the present time you shall return to your former state, and you shall receive back your wife and your sons; and in the resurrection you shall see greater things, and you shall find the enjoyment of eternal goods; and your name shall be magnified unto generations of generations."
Having heard these things, Eustathius was struck with fear and sat down. Seeing the soldiers approaching him, he descended from the place where he had been sitting and stood upon the road opposite them. When he had come nearer to them, he recognized them more fully; yet they did not recognize him, and they said to him, "Greetings, comrade." And he said to them, "Peace be with you, brothers." They say to him, "We pray you, tell us if you have known any stranger here by the name of Placidus, with a wife and two children; and if you show him to us, we will give you money." But he says to them, "And for what reason do you seek him?" And they say to him, "He is our friend, and we have long had a desire to speak with him." Then Eustathius says to them, "I have not known such a man here; but for the meantime, turn aside for a little while to the house where I am lodging, for I also am a stranger here."
Having taken them, he brought them into his lodging, and said to the householder with whom he was staying: "These men are my acquaintances, and they have come for my sake in order to visit me. D Provide me, therefore, with food and wine, with which I may kindly entertain them, and I will repay you when the time of payment arrives." He provided him with
A what was needed.
But Eustathius, as he ministered to them, could not endure it when the state of his former life came to his mind; but going outside, he would weep and wash his face, and then re-entering, he would serve them. They, meanwhile, observing him, began little by little to come to a recognition of his appearance, and to know him, and they said to each other privately: "This man happens to be like the one who is being sought by us." One says to the other: "He is very like him, but I know that he has a distinctive mark, a certain scar on his neck, inflicted by a wound in war. Let us observe, therefore: if he has that mark on his neck, this is the man being sought by us." Having observed more carefully, therefore, they discern the scar on his neck; and at once springing up, they kissed him and, with tears being shed, asked him if he himself were the general, C Placidus. But he, restrained by tears, answered them, saying that he was not. Yet when they pointed out the mark and swore with an oath that he was their general, and asked him about his wife and children, he then confessed that he was the man; but regarding his wife and children, he reported that they were dead. As these things were being said, all the people of the village ran together for the great spectacle.
Then the soldiers, having calmed the tumult, were explaining to the villagers the things concerning the man’s virtue and his former glory. Having heard this, those from the village lamented, saying: "What a jewel of a man has served as our hireling!" Then the soldiers unveiled to him the mandate of the emperor and clothed him in the garments they had brought with them. D Having taken him, they hastened to their city. But all the villagers led him on with honor. As they went along the way, he related...
A to them the whole mystery of his personal drama, and how he had been renamed Eustathius at his baptism, and all that had happened to him. And when they had finished the journey of fifteen days, they came to the emperor. And they announced to him that they had found the commander Placidus. The emperor received him, and met him with many tears, and inquired of him the reason for his departure. And he told all that had happened to him in order to the senate. He told them about his wife, and about his children, and how she had been left in the sea, B and how the children had been carried off by wild beasts, and related all his affliction to them.
There was great joy at his finding. The emperor exhorted him, and girded him with the military belt again, as he had been commander before. And having inspected the army, and knowing that it was not sufficient for the war against the barbarians, he ordered a new levy of troops to be made. And it happened that in that very village where the sons of Eustathius were being brought up C, he came for that purpose. And when the new soldiers were brought to the commander, he saw them, and he stood them in order, being as he was a man of noble ways, and moved by nature with a certain affection. D And when those who had been sent to provide the new soldiers had arrived at that village, and had finished their business, they were about to return to the commander. And the people of that village, as they were sending them off, also sent with them the two youths, as they were strangers. And the soldiers took them, and brought them to the commander. And the commander, having seen them, and seeing how noble and fair of face they were, set them in the ranks. And having considered them, and being moved by his natural affection, he chose them to be his personal attendants.
A It was a work of Nicetas Paphlago, that the best of children should be reconciled to the best of fathers; whom indeed he, having formerly bewailed them as captured by wild beasts, thought had perished; but the most divine providence of Jesus, having saved one through shepherds and the other through the shouting and rush of plowmen, had prepared for both to be reared in the same town. Straightway, therefore, as if they were strangers, they were brought forward by the counts into the levies; and the master of the soldiers, being greatly moved by the grace of their countenances, the bravery of their souls, and the dexterity of their natures, took the youths to himself, and straightway made them his companions at table and in his bodyguard. B Since, therefore, that most strategic man, having made an incursion into the power of those barbarians in the might of Christ, had destroyed some with slaughter and taken others captive, he ransomed that whole land; he was brought at last to that very village in which his wife was dwelling as a stranger, and, living in poverty according to Christ, was practicing the philosophy of patience. Having pitched his own tent next to hers, he thought it necessary to let the army rest. Arriving here, I see the discourse standing in my way and struggling greatly against proceeding further. For wonder, falling upon me with pleasure and fear at once, both strikes the soul and checks the course of the discourse. For he who promises to bring bone to bone and joint to joint through the prophets, this one has also separated these blessed ones from each other, and through years of—
All those from that village escorted him. And as they were traveling, he recounted to them how he had seen Christ, and that he was renamed Eustathius in his baptism; and he told them everything that had happened to him. And having finished the journey in fifteen days, they came to the emperor and announced to him how they had found the one-time master of the soldiers, Placidus. And the emperor, going out to meet him, kissed him; and weeping much, he inquired of him the cause of his withdrawal. And he, in order, narrated to the emperor and the senate all that had happened to him; and concerning his wife and children, how she was left at sea and how his children had become prey to wild beasts; and he recounted all his affliction to them. C There was great joy at his finding. The emperor comforted him, and he was girded again according to his former rank as master of the soldiers. And having inspected the army, and knowing it to be insufficient for the incursion of the barbarians, he ordered a levy to be held. And it was written to every city and village of the Romans to be sent to the levies. It happened that those who were sent also reached that village in which the sons of Eustathius were raised. All those from that village, therefore, sent forth the two youths to them; whom, as they deemed them to be strangers, they handed over to the soldiers. They were of great size and very fair of face. D When all the levies were gathered and brought to the master of the soldiers, having looked upon them, he ranked them all into companies. And seeing those youths as more comely than all others, he established them in his own service. And considering within himself the nobility of their manner, being drawn by a certain natural affection towards—
A these, and recognizing their forms through certain signs, she was internally agitated with great desire, and her heart and bowels were moved, as she pondered whether these might indeed be her sons. Yet she restrained her agitation with a prudent mind. For while the foolish man is at once elated by a benefit merely hoped for in his expectation, and often vainly tosses his mind about in this, the mind of the prudent man remains unmoved in the expectations of good—not being more lifted up by success than he is contracted by failure. For one can barely believe firmly in a present good, knowing as he does that all human things are subject to change. Therefore, Theopistes long-sufferingly and wisely restrained the agitation of her bowels for the time being. Approaching the master of soldiers, she said that she was of Roman land, and that she had sat there as a captive for a long time, and she begged as a suppliant to be returned to her own fatherland. B Thus, therefore, the most chaste woman brought forward her supplication, and determining by certain marks, she recognized her own husband. Nor only she, but he too, beholding her countenance, gradually recognized his own wife. And in this way, these blessed ones, strengthened by their own accounts and having openly recognized one another, with what tears of joy, and with what words of thanksgiving did they confess to the Savior!
But because mention was also immediately made of the children, Eustathius said that they had been captured by beasts and devoured by them. But the wife, at the recent conversation of the young men—
ANCIENT ACTS OF ST. EUSTATHIUS
C me having been snatched away, I embarked upon a journey into the wild and the forest. Therefore, the sheep-herds, having snatched me from the lion's jaws, raised me in that town which you yourself know. But it is not clear to me what happened subsequently to my father and my little brother. Having heard these things from the older brother, the younger one jumped up, and weeping said: "I testify to the power of Christ, I am your brother. For I know the things which you have narrated to me; for those who raised me told me these things, that 'We snatched you from a wolf.'" And embracing him, he kissed him.The mother, hearing these things and recognizing the account up to the voyage, and surmising that it was indeed so regarding them, was deeply moved in her soul, and her bowels were troubled, especially when she saw the young men embracing one another, kissing one another, D and weeping; and she restrained herself while observing them and reasoning whether they might be her own sons—especially since they had spoken of a father who was a master of soldiers, and that the mother had been left behind on the sea.
On the following day, the woman approached the master of soldiers, saying: "I beseech you, my lord, I am of the land of the Romans, and I am a captive here; therefore conduct me to my fatherland." And as she was saying these things, she observed the signs on her husband; and recognizing him, and falling at his feet, she said: "I beseech you, my lord, do not be angry with your handmaid, but listen kindly, and tell me your former way of life. For I believe that you are the master of soldiers Placidus, who was renamed Eustathius in holy baptism; who, when Christ appeared to him through the stag, believed in Him, and having fallen into unbearable temptations, having taken his wife—which is I—and both of his two children
A strongly elated in their minds, he urgently encourages them to bring the man into their midst. Those who stood by, having inquired and learned through the account of the contests and the state of their characters, having grasped them with clear knowledge, and having received them as it were from the very hand of God, were filled with unspeakable exultation and joy; and as their paternal bowels of compassion were stirred toward them and renewed, they clasped one another in loving bonds. From thence, they did not only arrive at the unity of faith and the knowledge of God, according to the great Apostle, more perfectly; but, being fitted together by the bond of perfection and being taught by the workmanship of the Spirit, they were mingled with one another and with the body of Christ.
Wherefore it was not fitting that these should any longer serve an earthly king; and being thus prepared, the entire heavenly host awaited them, and the chamber of the celestial King stood open. The angels of God, ascending and descending upon them, prepared the way for their ascent to God. And they, having the desire of ascent toward the heavenly queen Sion, had their minds stretched toward her with all their strength. For indeed, with the grateful dispositions of good people, the heap of benefits kindled a greater heap of love toward the Benefactor.
The earthly emperor then, for Hadrian had at that time taken up the helm of the empire, [brought] them with him into the land
ACTA ANTIQUA OF SAINT EUSTATHIUS
Agapio and Theopisto, he set out for Egypt; who, finally, while we were crossing the sea and sailing, because the ship-master was a barbarian, caused my loss. He is the very one who brought me into this region. And Christ the Lord is my witness that nowhere has he, or any other, violated me; and thus far I have kept my chastity. Since, therefore, you are he whom I recognize by these signs and whom I reveal, do you in turn teach me the power of Christ.
Hearing these things from her, Eustathius himself, looking likewise upon her form and having recognized her, was seized with an uncontrollable joy, and shedding many tears, he said, "I am he whom you speak of." And rising, he embraced her, and they kissed one another, sending up glory to Christ the Lord, who in all ways benefits His servants and recalls and restores them from many tribulations. Then she said to her husband, "My lord, where are our children?" He answered, "They were snatched by wild beasts," and he narrated the manner in which he had lost the infants. But she said, "Let us give thanks to God, the author of all good things; for perhaps with the same kindness by which He granted us to find one another, He will also provide that we may recover our children." To which Eustathius said, "I have already said that they were snatched by wild beasts." Then the woman said to him: "When I was sitting in the garden yesterday, I heard two young men talking among themselves, recounting the misfortunes that had brought them to their state; and I recognized these to be our very own children. But neither did they know D themselves to be brothers, until, from the narration of the elder, they recognized one another as brothers and recognized themselves. If indeed these things are still hidden from you, know in what manner the divine clemency has graciously bestowed this very gift upon them. Learn it, therefore, from them yourself, and they will tell you." And when he had called the young men, from them
A their mind being highly elated, she advised him to bring the men into their presence immediately. Those who stood by, making inquiries and through the narratives of their struggles and the very disposition of their character, obtaining a clear knowledge of them, and as if they had received them from the hand of God, were filled with unspeakable exultation and joy; and, stirring up and renewing their paternal B affections towards them, they were embraced and bound together with affectionate clinches. From this point, not only did they attain more perfectly to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, according to the great Apostle, but they were also joined and compacted together by the structural design of the Spirit in the bond of perfection, and were blended with one another and with the body of Christ. Wherefore it was not fitting that they should any longer serve the earthly king; and being thus prepared, the entire heavenly host welcomed them, and the immaculate bedchamber of the supercelestial King was opened to them. Angels of God ascending and descending upon them paved the way for their ascent to God. And they, having a longing for the ascent to the heavenly Queen Zion, kept their minds stretched out towards it with all their power. For to the grateful souls of good people, a benefit added creates a greater intensity of love for the benefactor. The earthly emperor then—for Hadrian had at that time taken over the rule—himself down to the earth C with Agapius and Theopistus, set out for Egypt; "and during the voyage, he destroyed me, because of this, his own homeland; and Christ the Lord is my witness that neither he nor anyone else has defiled me, but I have preserved my chastity until this day. If you, therefore, are the one whom I recognize from the signs you possess, declare to me the power of Christ." Hearing these things from her, Eustathius, also looking upon her beauty in the same way, and recognizing her, seized with an uncontrollable joy and shedding many tears, said, "I am the one you speak of." And he arose and embraced her, and they kissed one another, sending up glory to the Lord Christ, who benefits his servants in every way and calls them back from many tribulations. And his wife said to him, "My lord, where are our children?" He replied, "They have been taken by beasts." And he narrated to her how he lost the infants. She said to him, "Let us give thanks to the beneficent God; for perhaps as he granted us to find one another, he will also provide for us to receive back our children." Eustathius says to her, "I told you, they have been taken by beasts." Then his wife said to him, "Yesterday as I was sitting in the garden, I heard two young men talking to one another and explaining incidents concerning their infancy; and I recognized them as being our sons. But they themselves did not know that they were brothers, except that from the narrative of the older brother they recognized one another. If, therefore, until this day you are ignorant of these things, know how the immense compassion of God granted the recognition to them. Learn, therefore, from them yourself, and they will tell you." D
A attempting to draw them away, he received them with magnificent honors. And for the victory [obtained] against the foreigners, and for the discovery of his kin, he prepared public festivals, exhorting them to offer thanksgivings and to sacrifice the victory-offerings to the gods. But that blessed man, one who was truly the commander of the King of heavens, was not softened either by royal flattery and reception, or by the honor of the people and the city; nor did he utter any small or ordinary voice for the divinity of Jesus to the emperors of the Romans and the peoples. But together with his noble root, and with his god-planted branches already planted and rooted in the paradise of God, as one worthy of the divine planting, he returned the fruit of confession, saying: "O Emperor, and all you who stand around, no longer think that we cling to royal glory, or abundance of money, or to pleasure that perishes and flows away. For we have been put to death to all these things through the faith of Christ; we have been taught to despise all these things, the enjoyment of which you hold to as necessary, and offer them to us as rewards for impiety. But just as we have died to these things through the power of Christ, so much more—having died to all the rituals of the so-called gods and demons—we live only to Christ Jesus, and to the almighty God and His Father, and to the adorable Spirit, who chose us and gained us into a living hope, knowing only one living and true God, [and] one Savior and Lord and King of the universe, and we desire to be brought to Him through death, and we hasten to Him before the punishments of death occur."
B When the tyrant was inflamed in his spirit with uncontrollable rage by these words, he ordered that Eustathius be stripped of his belt, and that he be cast, along with those who were with him, into the middle of the stadium, and that the most fearsome lion be unleashed against them. But the lion, having been released, and having come very close to the blessed ones, and having bowed his neck to them in a way that showed veneration, drew back in astonishment. Yet, not yielding to these things, that relentless beast, he ordered a great bronze bull to be immediately heated, and them to be thrown into it.
As they stood there with great eagerness and unspeakable joy, the valiant athletes, first having offered thanksgiving, and then having offered up supplication to the God of glory—as those who had been perfected by the machinery, remaining unburnt and unharmed by the fire—they have gone into the bridal chamber, bright spirits with bright souls. Having praised the Lord for a long time, and having blessed and magnified Him in the Spirit, they thus committed their all-holy souls to Him in peace.
This is the reward of Eustathius's constancy. This is the victory of the god-fearing faith. And this is the glory of the virtue of the beloved children, Agapius and Theopistus, C indeed the crown of the wife and the children.
And Eustathius says to him: "I have sent and continue to send unceasing petitions and supplications to my Christ, who pitied my humility, and called me back from captivity, and restored my wife and my children to me. For I have known no other, nor do I worship [any other], except God, who made all things." Then the emperor ordered him to be removed from his authority and commanded that he be paraded as a pagan along with his wife and his children. And thus he did with the examination of them.
And when the emperor saw their immovable faith in Christ, he ordered him, and his wife, and the children to be led into the stadium, and the lion to be unleashed against them. But the lion, having approached near the blessed and memorable ones, bowing his head and face, and having venerated them, departed, and rushed out of the stadium. Then the emperor, having seen D the paradoxical miracle—that the beast did not touch them—ordered the bronze bull to be heated, and those holy ones to be cast into it. The whole multitude of the faithful and the Greeks gathered to watch the holy ones being cast into the bronze machine.
And the holy ones having approached, they begged the executioners to give them time to pray. Stretching out their hands toward heaven, they prayed, saying: "Lord God of hosts, invisible to all, but to us seen, be pleased to hear us who pray to You. For behold, our prayer has been fulfilled, because, having been lost, we have been united again, and we have been deemed worthy of the lot of the saints."
Oration XVIII. — IN PRAISE OF ST. EUSTATHIUS
A and solely the Savior and Lord and King of all, we desire to be brought up to Him through death, and through punishments preceding death we hasten unto Him. At these B words the tyrant, inflamed by uncontrollable wrath, ordered Eustathius to be stripped immediately of the belt he was wearing, and to be brought down into the middle of the stadium with his companions, and that a most fearful lion be released against them. The lion being released, and having come near to the blessed ones, and having bowed its neck to them in an act of adoration—oh, wonder!—it thus retreated from them. But that relentless beast did not desist from them; rather, he ordered a great brazen bull to be heated with fire immediately, and that they be cast into it. So, as the brave athletes stood by with great eagerness and unspeakable joy, having first offered thanksgiving and then supplication to the God of glory—that they might be perfected inside that machine, yet remain unburned and preserved by the fire—they thus entered as into a bridal chamber, going into it with cheerful, bright, and radiant souls. For a long time they praised the Lord, and in the Spirit they blessed and magnified Him, and thus they surrendered their most holy souls to Him in peace. This is the reward of Eustathius’s steadfastness. This is the achievement of Theopiste’s faith. And this is the glory of the virtue of their beloved children, Agapius and Theopistus.
ANCIENT ACTS OF ST. EUSTATHIUS
C For it was fitting, he said, that you should pour out to the gods for them in thanksgiving, especially because of the finding of your wife and your children. But Eustathius says to him: I have sent up, and do send up, incessant prayers and supplications to my Christ, because He took pity on my humility, and called me back from captivity, and restored my wife and my sons to me. For another God I neither know, nor do I worship, except for the God who created all things by His word. D Then the emperor ordered him to be stripped of his command, and ordered him to stand as a pagan together with his wife and his children. And in this way he conducted the investigation regarding them. But when the emperor saw the unchangeable nature of their faith in Christ, he ordered that he, and his wife, and his children be brought into the stadium, and that a lion be released against them. The lion running up, and having stood near to the blessed and celebrated ones, having bowed its head and face, and having worshipped them, retreated and made an attempt to go out of the stadium. Then the emperor, having seen this paradoxical miracle—that the beast did not touch them—being at a loss, ordered a brazen bull to be burned with fire, and that the saints be cast into it. And all the multitude of the faithful and the Greeks gathered to see the saints being cast into the brazen machine. The saints, having approached, begged the executioners to give them a space of time to pray. Therefore, having stretched out their hands to heaven, they prayed, saying: O Lord God of powers, invisible to all, but seen by us, as You have willed it, hear us who pray to You. For behold, our prayer has been fulfilled, because, having been lost, we have been united again, and we have been deemed worthy of the lot of the saints.
virtue's renown, and a worthy prize for their long labors and toils for the sake of piety, namely, to close their life with a glorious end by martyrdom. The most blessed men emulated the virtues of all the holy and divine men from the ages; A they attained the goodness and hospitality of the great patriarchs, the patience and endurance of Job, the knowledge of upcoming events from the prophets and judges, and the victories and gallant deeds against enemies; they closed the mouths of lions like Daniel, and like the three youths in Babylon, they extinguished the power of fire. For the three days that their venerable bodies lay in the midst of that burning furnace, they were not scorched even to the extent of a single hair, but like gold or silver being tested, they displayed their beauty even more brightly. Hadrian shuddered to see them in this state; the children of the Romans also cried out, magnifying the power of Christ. Having imitated Paul's calling from heaven, the faith, hope, and charity of all the disciples, and the poverty, meekness, and gentleness in Christ of all the saints, they thus stepped forth bravely and steadily to their triumphal contests at the end; and having achieved a glory equal to the great and unconquered martyrs, they received worthy, varied, and manifold crowns from the right hand of Christ.
But, O thrice-blessed and most worthy to be pondered, and members of the saints, grant us to attain [a share]. For just as the three youths in Babylon, when tested by fire, did not deny you, so may we also be perfected by this fire, B and be accepted by you as a sacrifice well-pleasing [to you], being wholly burnt up in this fire. Grant, Lord, grace also to our relics, so that everyone who remembers us may obtain a portion in the kingdom of heaven and abundance upon the earth. Even if those struggling in the sea or a river call upon you through our name, may they be delivered from the dangers arising from sin, falling before you through our humility, and do you grant them forgiveness of sins; and to all who remember us and praise you, be a helper and benefactor. Grant, Lord, that the threat of the most terrible fire be changed into dew, and be pleased that we be perfected in it.
And when they had prayed thus, a voice came to them from heaven, saying: "It shall be for you as you have asked; and more than these things shall come to you, because you struggle for my sake, having endured many and great temptations, and have not been overcome. C Come, therefore, in peace, to receive your crowns of victory; and instead of temporary suffering, you shall enjoy for age upon age the good things prepared for the saints." Hearing these things, the blessed ones eagerly gave themselves to the fire. And upon their being cast into the furnace, the threat of the fire was immediately suppressed; and having praised the most-praised and immaculate Trinity, singing a song of victory, they gave up their God-speaking souls in peace; and the fire did not touch them, not even to a hair.
And after three days arrives the most impious emperor, and ordered the furnace to be opened to see what had become of the bodies of the saints. And finding their relics whole, D [they]...
S. EUSTATHII ACTA ANTIQUA.
...thought. And when they had cast them out, they laid them upon the ground. Wonder and amazement took hold of all those present, because the force of the fire had not prevailed even against a hair of them; but the most impious emperor, being terrified, withdrew. But the crowd cried out, "Great is the God of the Christians, Christ is the one only true God, and there is no other," and He protected His saints.
But the Christians secretly stole the bodies of the saints, and laid them in a notable place; and when the persecution had ceased, they built an oratory C and deposited them in it, celebrating the memory of the martyrs on the twentieth of September.
This is the life and institution of the saints and glorious martyrs. This is the end of their divine and glorious struggle. Therefore, let all who are called to the faith perform their memory, and call upon them for help, obtaining the promised good things; may it be that we all attain them, through their intercessions, by the grace and philanthropy of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and the power, now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen. D
ORATIO XIX. LAUDATION OF ST. HYACINTH OF AMASTRIS
A It was appropriate, then, that many precious stones should be co-edified into a dwelling-place of God in the Spirit, and that they should be glorified in the same; for the intellectual and living city of Christ is also founded and held together in this way, and the holy and divine Hyacinth is included among them; he is evidently pre-shining with such intellectual graces and splendors of almost all the saints, as he has attained to a more graceful title than all others. B There are various [traditions] regarding his origin, location, and bishopric, which have been discussed at length on the 21st of February in the preliminary commentary to the life of Saint George, Bishop of Amastris; he was given his first experience of light and the glorious palm of martyrdom by Saint Hyacinth, and thereafter his fellow citizens religiously venerated the sacred ashes of their countryman, as we read in the Acts themselves, which are appended to this commentary. It is clear from the sacred monuments of the Greeks how celebrated the cult of this martyr once was: for the Synaxarium edited by Genebrard, the Horologium, the Epitome of the Menologium, the Typicon of Saint Sabas, the Menæum of Chifflet, and other Greek Synaxaria note that they celebrate his annual memory on the 18th of July. It is a remarkable thing, and so bright a martyr is passed over by the Menæum printed at Venice and by Maximus, Bishop of the Cythereans. Nevertheless, his commemoration is noted in the Slavonic Menologium, and on that day it announces him. Saint Hyacinth the Martyr of Amastris, who died after many torments and the extraction of his teeth. Another Synaxarium of the Ruthenians, [sent] to me by George David of our missionary society in Moscow in the year 1688, contains the following in Latin: "Saint Hyacinth the Martyr of Amastris." I suspect the phrase is "in Amastris;" unless the city is named this way in Russian, which I do not know.
The Synaxarium, by order of the Emperor Basil, a more lengthy one, adorned St. Hyacinth with a eulogy, which, after our first volume of July, was rendered into Latin from the Greek: "Hyacinth, a martyr of Christ, son of pious parents, was the son of Theoclitus and Neonilla; he received the name from Bishop Heraclius of Amastris; at three years of age he raised a dead child by the invocation of Christ. As he grew in age and virtue, even to old age, he performed many works in the meantime; seeing that the idolaters had a tree [considered] vain and as if exhausted by superstition, he cut it down. Therefore, he was led to the governor of the city of Amastris, and being severely beaten, his teeth were forced out: he was also dragged outside the city bound with ropes, and pricked with sharp reeds. C Afterward, thrown into prison, he gave up his spirit to God. His relics were deposited in the city itself, flowing with perpetual healing." A brief eulogy contains things not read in the longer Acts. In those texts, the names of the parents are not mentioned. There is no mention of Heraclius, the Bishop of Amastris, nor of the miracle that the holy Hyacinth was said to have performed as a three-year-old child. Furthermore, the tree which is called "vain and as if exhausted" in our Acts is named by us as a lotus, beautiful to behold and pleasant in the composition of its leaves.
Our excerpts from the Ambrosian library agree with this eulogy, naming the mother of the holy martyr Theonilla, and calling the bishop of Amastris Heraclius; however, they call the governor of Amastris Canstridius. At the end, they add the following: "It is said that a wonderful thing happens every year in his memory. Under the ground where his tomb is, his sacred relics lie; when those who have gathered [there] for the chanting of hymns and prayers, and once the petition has been made, dust is given out, D which, received in a sacred vessel by the bishop, is distributed to the gathered crowd for the healing of souls and bodies and for health." It says: "This occurs every year in his commemoration by the person himself: his relics lying in the tomb below the earth, while hymns and prayers are sung to those who have gathered, dust is produced, which the bishop, receiving in a sacred vessel, distributes to them for the healing and remedy of souls and bodies." We mention this miracle in our Acts. 20. The later account is very similar to this eulogy in its summary of his life and is a supplement from the Synaxarium of Sirmond and the collection of Chifflet, in which he calls the bishop of Amastris Heraclius, and the governor of the same city Canstridius. Besides other discrepancies of lesser moment, these two verses are prefixed to the eulogy: *Receive, O Word, Hyacinth with this reed,* *That you may receive the scent of his hyacinth [flower].* Indeed, O Christ, receive Hyacinth in this reed.
This allusion to the name of the saint and the hyacinth flower is sufficiently clear here. But by "reed" or "stalk," I judge that the stem or stalk of the hyacinth flower is meant, and that the Greek poet intends to allude to the torture of the sharp reeds with which the idolaters punished the holy martyr.
Although in the preceding Greek fasti this holy martyr is referred to on the 18th of July, yet in the Menologium which Cardinal Sirleti produced and Canisius edited in volume II of the *Antiquæ Lectionis*, it is read thus: "On the same day, Saint Hyacinth the Martyr at Amastris." There, he is brought before the governor Castrisius and the magistrate of the city of Amastris, and having professed the Christian faith vehemently, he is dragged through the middle of the city with ropes, and wounded with sharp reeds; afterward, he is thrown into prison. He is to be commended to God himself. Regarding this, the Roman Martyrology says: "In Amastris in Paphlagonia, [the feast of] Saint Hyacinth the Martyr, who suffered much under Castritius and rested in prison." To this, Baronius also adds notes from the *Roman Martyrology* regarding what the Greeks say in the Menologium, where his passion is described. But I understand this [to refer] to the Sirletian Menologium, along with the superior Greek monuments, and the additions of the second or third edition assigned by Molanus to the 18th of July. Nevertheless, the *Roman Martyrology* is silent on this, [though] we have included him. Now I shall preface a few things about his Acts.
Nicetas, surnamed Paphlago, who lived after the middle of the ninth century, composed a panegyric in honor of Saint Hyacinth the Martyr of Amastris, in which he adorns the deeds of this most valiant athlete with rhetorical eloquence, but does not indicate an epoch for his life or passion. One could perhaps gather [the epoch] from the eulogies mentioned above, about the governor of Amastris, mentioned there, but I can conclude nothing certain regarding the age, unless someone is more fortunate than I at unearthing them. Although the governor is noted in the margin of the fourth century, since I have sought for it in vain until now, I cannot affirm any argument for the dates of this kind, and in fixing such epochs one often errs, and I would not dare to pronounce without witnesses. Wherefore, I am forced to leave the time undetermined, until, as I have said, I am shown it proven by ancient monuments. I see nothing left, unless it be that the panegyric, written in Greek by Nicetas the Paphlagonian, and published by Father François Combefis, a Dominican, from a manuscript of Cardinal Mazarin, together with a Latin translation in Paris in the year 1666, we here publish again.
ORATION XIX. — IN PRAISE OF ST. HYACINTH OF AMASTRIS
A He who is most admirable, raised up from his infancy through virtues, and confirmed by all the divine gifts of the Spirit, and who in deep old age delivered up his bright and illustrious martyrdom to God, is most brilliantly rewarded with promotion.
B. Therefore, let us also join in praising the servant of God who is worthy of praise and worthy of God, the most blessed Hyacinth, the intelligible and precious stone of God, the animate, living, and intelligent stone, having his mind oriented toward the heavenly Spirit, so imbued and illuminated with a bright and heavenly color that he himself appears as a part of the crown of glory adorned for the King of all. This man, then, today we propose for memory as his annual and holy commemoration, for an occasion of panegyric in the Church. As we have the ability, let us also weave together from the flowers of words his honors; and by truly declaring him blessed, and by participating in the rewards of his martyrdoms, we shall pay the duty owed to him, and we shall offer the debt of edification to the Church of God. B
Γ. His fatherland, indeed, is the Sion above, the bright and intelligible metropolis of all the saints, and the faithful one; but his true Father is God; his mother, however, is the grace of the Spirit; which, having so infused the one regenerated from above by water (or, if you prefer, by the Spirit), led him from the original form, changing him into the supreme form, and leading him on to the recognition of the truth of God and to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, and presents him as this most proven and most excellent athlete to the Lord. But his earthly fatherland is neither obscure nor nameless, nor were his parents base. Amastris, having nurtured and reared him, and having been brought up by such honorable and faithful parents, received him as a protector and citizen C presented by God herself.
Δ. Amastris of Paphlagonia, or rather of the whole world, is almost its eye. To it, the Scythians residing by the northern part of the Euxine, and those situated toward the south, as if to a common marketplace, bring their wares and receive in return what they need from it; a city between East and West, lacking nothing that the land and the sea provide. It was abundant in all things necessary, and adorned with bright buildings and walls, and indeed with good harbors and dwellings from above, and it was renowned in one thing: it barely fell short of being superior to all people in its piety toward God. And consider the depth of the ignorance and superstition of those people—for they did not exchange the image of the immortal God for the likeness of men or animals, as do many of the Greeks and Egyptians, in dedicating their worship to demons, D
but they were enslaved to a certain tree among them, called the lotus, glorious in appearance as might be expected, and lush in its branching—and because they were excessively attracted by the foolishness of their minds and conquered by its beauty, they thought they must revere it as God and appease it with sacrifices and offerings.
5. Thus, indeed, did their lack of perception, which had gained the upper hand, and the total absence of intellect in them, persuade them to give themselves over to the tree. But in truth it was also the work of those hands which from the beginning has been a manslayer. It is precisely because they were separated from the truth—which alone is able to move and to incite—that henceforth, through countless and diversely generated errors of superstition, they brought upon themselves disaster. For this reason, as I was saying, because they had received this baneful custom from their ancestors and had accepted a wicked and absurd, unaccustomed error of the common people, applying worship to the tree, they strayed entirely away from the true knowledge of God. Yet it was not destined that they would be neglected by the providence of Christ, nor in the end be abandoned. Rather, the Word, by producing in due season a noble plant, uprooted the plant of error—a plant of holy life, of perfect soul and of the fullness of Truth, he raised up against the plant of [the] error.
6. Therefore, the most holy Hyacinth was, from the very beginning, like a first sprout grown from the inspiration and operation of the all-powerful Spirit, exhibiting wonderful works: for Wisdom knows even from the womb what the necessary conditions are to sanctify those whom she has chosen in advance as her own. And being a judge of what is better, she provides them with both spontaneous wisdom and a will to choose from their very first formation and entry into the nature of things. Regarding these, we shall leave the history of their future glory to be told by certain clear signs, in that they do not exist as the result of human will, but are clearly the works of God. And [regarding these], we shall acknowledge the fruits of the soul of this athlete, who is victorious not only by divine grace, but who was also, as is manifest, a worthy worker of faith; and I have thought it right to celebrate this with praises. I shall likewise receive the souls of those who love the martyrs by recounting the deeds of this holy, strong-spirited martyr. For just as he had accomplished the first and second age, having concluded the rest of his life in all piety and works of righteousness, and since he had come into old age, he had displayed every virtue of faith. And the more he proved his total faith and virtue in his long life, the more did the most wicked citizens, those who had once been unbelievers, perform their religious rites to that tree I mentioned, offering their worship to it as if to a god—whereas he, being scorched by the zeal of piety, A was led upward by his virtues, and being fortified by all the divine gifts of the Spirit, and having rendered a brilliant and manifest martyrdom to God in a deep old age, he was deemed worthy of a most brilliant proclamation.
2. Therefore, let us too praise the praiseworthy child of God, the God-worthy, the most blessed Hyacinth, the intelligible and precious stone of God, the living, the breathing, the rational, who was so thoroughly dyed and adorned with the heavenly mind of the Spirit as with a brilliant and celestial color, that he himself shines forth as a part of the crown of glory plaited for the King of all. Today, on his annual and holy commemoration, let us too, as far as we have the power, crown him who is proposed to the Churches for a hymn, with the flowers of words; and having truly blessed him for his martyrdom struggles, and having shared in the rewards of his martyrdom, we shall both render to him a most grateful debt, and offer the required edification to the Church of God.
3. For him, the fatherland is the Jerusalem above, the brilliant and faithful intelligible metropolis of all the saints; his true father is God; his mother is the grace of the Spirit—which, having received him newborn from above through water, transformed his natural form into a supernatural one, and brought him to the knowledge of the truth of God and to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, and presented him to the Lord as a most approved martyr at the end and a most worthy athlete. But his earthly fatherland is not obscure, nor were the parents of Hyacinth nameless or ignoble. For Amastris, having brought him forth and nursed him, and having reared him under noble and faithful parents, received [him] as the patron and protector she herself had produced.
4. Amastris, that eye of Paphlagonia—or rather, one might say, of the whole world—toward which both the Scythians living/dwelling in the northern part of the Euxine and those situated to the south run, as if to a common marketplace, bringing their own goods and receiving in turn those from her; a city, situated as it were between every possession and the west, in want of none of the goods of earth or sea, but abounding plentifully in all things suitable; and having been used to brilliant buildings, strong walls, and truly most illustrious inhabitants from of old, was in this one thing—piety and religion toward God—inferior to almost all of humanity. And consider the depth of their ignorance or superstition: for they did not exchange the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of men or of any animals, as [do] the majority of the Greeks and Egyptians, dedicating their worship to demons, but—[to] a tree...
A regarding one of those among them, called the lotus, attractive in appearance, as is natural, and flourishing in its structure, [they] paid attention, and having been excessively charmed in their senseless mind and overcome by its beauty, they deemed this a god; and they thought it necessary to appease it with priests and sacrifices. [E] Thus their lack of perception, lording it over them, was enslaved to the unperceiving wood; this, too, [was] the work of the hand of the murderer of men from the beginning; for since he intended that they withdraw and be moved away from one truth and [that which is] alone, he thereafter ravaged [them] with myriad deceits and most manifold superstitions. The city mentioned then, from a certain tradition of the fathers that was divinely infatuated and an absurd preconception, worshipping the wood, was B thus hitting wide of the true knowledge of God; yet it was not destined to be neglected by the providence of Christ, nor to be disregarded by Him to the end; but He causes this precious and God-planted plant to spring up opportunely—a plant of holy life, and full of perfect soul and truth of God, [and] raises it up against the plant of error. [Z] The germination of Saint Hyacinth then from the beginning, or rather the energy of the almighty Spirit that accompanied him from infancy, and the exhibition of miracles—for Wisdom knows how to sanctify those who are hers from the womb, and those whom she foreknew would be useful to her, and would choose the better [part] by the voluntariness of their judgment, [she knows how] to accompany them from their first formation, and at times to pre-signify their future glory by certain tokens; these things then, as being not works of human intention but purely of God, we shall leave to those who wish to chronicle them; but that which is the fruit, admittedly, not of grace alone but also of the athlete's resolution, and a work worthy of his faith—this, it seems to me, is to be praised, and with the admirable feats of the holy martyr, to entertain the martyr-loving minds and souls. For since the blessed man had completed his first and second age, and thenceforth in all piety and works of righteousness, [and] had by now arrived at the age of old age, by as much as he himself, over the long time, was perfected in whole faith in God and virtue, by so much the more did the most lawless [ones] of the city, like those who were rebellious of old, [when] you have eaten of the Lotus, play the adulterer with the aforesaid wood; and those indeed, as if to God, were offering sacrifices to this [tree] in [an] unseemly [manner]; but he, being kindled with the zeal C of piety, and daily, if I may so speak, approaching them, was admonishing and warning them.
7.
“O citizens,” he would say, “as many of you as possess sound reasoning, I entreat you, with right judgment and a mind using [the faculty of] reason applied to those things being done by you, attend; know indeed and understand whom you worship and to whom you offer honor; for if you bring [these things] to God, [you should] understand to whom you bring the wood—that this, and all the rest of the trees, even if it is of a better nature than inanimate bodies, in that it possesses, at least, the faculty of nourishing and growing, is yet inferior to all living things, which are devoid of all sense and of any movement from place to place; just as also each of the irrational animals, being shown to be more perfect than the plants, by its having movement, but being categorized as inferior to man because it is devoid of reason; for creation is not made in the same way or with the same order by the creative wisdom; but all things are matched in harmony, from the better to the lesser, and from the like and God-formed to that which is far from God and unlike [Him], the creative work progresses, so that, by not being immediately [applied] to the last of works, through many things observed in the middle, [He], bestowing [His] fitting providence, guides those who are below to ascend to Him who is above, [first] proposing as it were certain steps, and by these, directing the ascents toward God.”8.
“For this reason, first, out of all visible creation, by the uncreated cause of all, the divine minds D were brought into existence—incorporeal, God-formed, light-bearing, possessing the likeness to Him who creates them through the timeless [cause] and knowledge; afterwards, through the mind, is created [a] reason, fashioned by the presence of man’s substance, being itself a kind of image and likeness of the Creator; [it is] lesser, indeed, than the [nature] of the minds, [but] greater than the participation of the irrational animals, having the peculiar [characteristic] of the irrational animals—as is the reason of the rational—[which is] to have the faculty of sensation, and [it is] simple, placed as the last [part] of creation; and that which is entirely inanimate and material, which we said before to be of the lowest mode, it surpasses.”9.
“Therefore, then, since there is neither sensation, nor reason, nor mind, [in these things], [O you who are] the most beautiful of creations, how is it right for you to worship them as gods (since the Creator of all things prepared even all things for His own glory), and how do you think that nature, which is more dishonorable than they, [is] God; and how [is it that] this lotus, being a fruit of the earth, and fixed in one place, [and] blown about by all the winds, and [consumed] by fire, and being subject to the [laws of] nature...” [alt-version omitted]A ... and B by steel, how, O men, do you not shudder to call this God? Are you not ashamed to honor an insensible nature with sacrifices and offerings? For if this be God, then everything is of a mixed nature; for logs—if indeed these are gods—are such as you cut down with axes and submit as fuel to the fire. And does it not run the risk of being a battle against God? This is full of great absurdity, full of total senselessness, to pay attention to and worship a rotting piece of wood and call it God. For if those who deified the heaven and sun, and moon and certain stars, and the remaining elements, and fire itself, received a just wrath, because they did not glorify God, nor did they give thanks to Him who produced and preserves all things, but became darkened in their own reasonings C, and worshiped the creature rather than the Creator—how much more do you, by abandoning the Artificer of the whole creation and taking refuge in this low-growing plant, basely attribute the dreaded name of God to it, and draw upon yourselves a just judgment for the one you hold in contempt?
4. If, therefore, you listen to me, O fellow citizens, and if you have any care for your own salvation, cut down this tree and cast it into the fire, D because it serves no other use for you; for you, who surpass in intelligence the creature subjected to our gaze, and know that our entire cause is not hidden, and that nature is inferior to the excellence of man, and that the creation of those superior substances—or rather, those guided by God as if by a hand, and who truly are gods to us—is directed by Him who is indeed always; and He always begets the only-begotten Word as light from his own substance, as splendor; and always puts forth from his own undivided mouth the co-essential Spirit. This Word by His power established the heavens, and by the Spirit He finishes and completes all the strength of the things created by Him. He, having first made man in His own image and likeness, and having placed him in paradise, and having given him a commandment, since he was condemned to corruption and death by the transgression of the commandment, did not despise him completely in his destruction, but having first instructed him by reason, law, and prophets, finally for our sake He gave His Son, born of an unwed maiden, becoming man, being baptized, being tempted, being crucified, being buried, rising on the third day, being taken up into the heavens—surely being expected to come again from thence; and whatever (that is, the whole human race) is added to His tribunal will render an account for what each has done. Him, O friends, I exhort you to know as God; Him I exhort you to worship, and to propitiate Him with spiritual sacrifices, Him in the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit
A how is it, O men, that you do not tremble to call this God; and are you not ashamed to honor with sacrifices and offerings a nature void of all sense? For if this is God, then every grove would also be God; for all things are of one nature, since they are but wood. But if trees are gods, how is it that you do not fear to be fighting against God, by cutting them down with axes and casting them as fuel into the fire? This is full of great folly and exceeding lack of sense, to pay heed to and worship as God a small, decaying, and useless piece of wood. For if those who deified the heaven itself, and the sun, and the moon, and certain of the stars, and the remaining elements, and even fire itself, have received their just wrath, because they did not honor or thank as God the producer and sustainer of all things, but having become vain in their own reasonings, they worshiped the creature rather than the Creator; much more do you, who abandon the planter of the whole creation and falsely attribute the fearful name of God to this lowly plant, draw down upon yourselves the just indignation of Him who is despised. B If, therefore, you listen to me, O fellow citizens, if you care for your own salvation, cut down this tree and cast it into the fire, seeing that it is of no use to you for anything else. But you, surpassing in your minds the entire visible creation, knowing that all things were made for our sake and are by nature worse than man, and leaving aside the creation of the holy and intellectual substances that are above us—or rather, being guided by them toward the knowledge of the One who truly is—let us be directed toward God: who alone is eternally, and eternally radiates the only-begotten Word from His own substance, like the sun its light, and eternally sends forth the Holy Spirit, who is connatural and indivisible from His own mouth. He by His Word established the heavens, and by His Spirit He completes and perfects all the power of the things created by Him. He being the first to make man according to His own image and likeness, and having placed him in paradise, and having given him a commandment, when he was condemned to corruption and death through the transgression of that commandment, He did not entirely overlook him as lost, but having first instructed him by reason, by law, and by the prophets, He afterward gave His own Son for us, born of a virgin who knew no man, becoming man, being baptized, being tempted, being crucified, being buried, rising on the third day, being taken up into the heavens, and being expected to come again from thence, and to present the whole creation to Himself, and to render to each according to his deeds. C This is the One I exhort you, O friends, to know as God; this is He whom I urge you to worship, and to propitiate with spiritual sacrifices, Him in the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit
understood and adored; the only just and living God; who assuredly prepared eternal punishments and fire for those who, scorning Him, deify creation; who, finally, promised the kingdom of heaven, and eternal life and glory to those who believe in Him, who are born again of water and the Spirit.
11. The divine Hyacinth, with such exhortations and with such constant admonitions, if any approached him, would rebuke, argue, and beseech them—striving in every way and by every means to liberate them from that foolish and most insane superstition—yet he accomplished nothing further. For the unthinking, bold, and rash populace, given to wicked customs and enslaved by the worst preconceived opinions, could scarcely be overcome, and lacked all sense for adopting a better way of life. Whence some, ears burdened by insensibility, and turning their backs like madmen, according to the Scripture, could not endure him as one speaking folly in vain; others, indeed, goaded by madness and bitter jealousies, repaid him with countless insults and indignities; and sometimes they mocked him, sometimes they reproached him, and at times they even threatened him and rushed upon him, gnashing their teeth at him. What, therefore, did the man of God do? He did not consider it sufficient to only look to his own affairs, as to how they might be in good order, and overlook the others who were in a bad state; neither did it seem to him the work of an excellent and perfect mind to only mourn for them in silence and to draw groans toward the Lord, but to be afraid to act and speak freely for the truth; nor to try to break and inhibit the impiety of the foolish only by word and doctrine, and not by deed also.
A 12. But since, as has been said, he was occupied with words first, and was unable by these to restrain them from that error, he consequently showed the power that resides in deeds, and girding up the loins of his mind, and having drawn power from Jesus Christ through the insistence of his prayers, he then seized a sharp axe in his hand, and stealing away from everyone at the height of the summer noonday, he cut out the plant of error by the roots. O soul of sturdy courage, using a sturdy body! O fervor of faith, like a thunderbolt, burning the tree of impiety and, as it were, lighting a fire to consume and devour the impious! O audacity of a constant and firm mind, and of an intellect more skillful than human reason, in one and the same action performing such great things; and, at the same time, destroying the instrument of deceit, B and at once correcting those who are suffering from this, and putting to shame those who are afflicted with it—many of those who were corrected, yet had not reached the depths of that error, he guided toward the truth, and glorified his own God; and surely, by these things, and by a most brilliant martyrdom, he was graced.
13. When, therefore, the priests had come to offer the customary sacrifice to the tree, and had seen it cut down and lying prostrate upon the ground, they were at first struck with great astonishment, as is natural. For it is so ordered, that what happens beyond expectation strikes the soul with amazement, and if that thing is good, fills it with joy and delight; but if it is evil, it fills the soul with sadness and pain. And indeed, if it happened by the agency of one who himself is not liable to any injury, he inflicts dire torments until it happens that he is soothed by some reasons. But when the agent was discovered, and was liable to punishment, whatever pain of soul he had suffered, he immediately transferred it into C rage and fury, not allowing them to be free whom he had attacked, before he saw them paying the penalty he thought they deserved for their deed.
14. This then happened to them too, although first they sought who had been the author of such a disaster for them. Then, slowly recollecting in their minds how great an exhortation Hyacinth had brought to them, and having reflected that it was the work of none other, and considering that they themselves would be partakers in the sacrifices if they abhorred the wicked [tree], and even more so if they railed at those who offered it, and deterred them by their words; then all of them with one rush, like wild beasts grinding their teeth, used every limb of their bodies as a weapon against the Holy One; (and how shall I recount that cruel and murderous [assault]?) with the tongue they reviled him as godless, no—rather as a God-killer—and they bit him with their mouths, and trampled him with their feet, and beat him with their fists, and tore his hair, and struck him on the ground, and beat him with sticks, and pelted him with stones, and thus, having abused him in every way, D they brought him to the governor of the city.
15. The Martyr, therefore, stood there, having clothed himself entirely with Christ in his mind, with his mental vision entirely fixed upon Him. Standing opposite, the bloody and deceitful men accused him vehemently. "To us," they said, "O governor, there was one grace and one good and auspicious expectation, God Himself, the high-throned, the gracious, the all-powerful and excellent, who looked down upon us through the leaves of the tree, and adorned our life with various benefits. And although He was thought to be a tree, yet He surpassed all plants with wonderful beauties; but the active and living power of this..."
A tree, as well as the one which was accomplishing many more things, and simultaneously was removing the instrument of deception, and was confounding those who were incurably affected by it, and was correcting many in whom the roots of error had not sunk so deeply, was guiding them to the truth, and was glorifying their own God; and indeed, because of these things, it was crowned with a most brilliant martyrdom.
ιγ'. For when the priests had arrived to offer the accustomed sacrifice to the tree, and saw that it had been cut down and lay dishonorably upon the ground, they were at first astonished, being seized, as is natural, with great amazement. For it is known that that which happens beyond expectation strikes the soul, and if it appears good, it fills it with cheerfulness and joy; but if evil, with sadness and discouragement. And if this has happened from a cause that is not accountable, it is natural that a terrible pain should strike the soul, until it is consoled by some reasoning. But when the author is manifest and answerable, the grief is suddenly transformed into anger, which does not release those who are enraged until they have inflicted upon the offender the punishment worthy of their own grief.
ιδ'. Suffering this, they first considered who among them had been the author of this calamity. Then, coming by degrees to a remembrance of the admonitions of Hyacinthus, and having perceived that the work could be of no one else than him who abhorred the participation of the sacrifices as profane, and who rebuked or was indignant at those who sacrificed, they all rushed upon him in a body. Gnashing their teeth like swine, and making every member of their bodies—and everything that happened to lie in reach of each one—an B weapon against the holy man (oh, how could I appropriately describe that murderous assault?), they reviled him with their tongues as a sacrilegious, bloodthirsty, impious—or rather, a god-killing—man, and spat upon him with their mouths. Leaping upon him with their feet, using their hands as fists, they dragged him by the hair, tore him along the ground, beating him with sticks and casting stones at him, and having thus abused him in every way, they brought him before the governor of the city.
ιε'. The Martyr stood there, mentally having put on Christ in His entirety, stretching the whole inclination of his mind toward Him. From the opposite side, men of blood and treachery stood and vehemently accused him: "To us, Governor," they said, "one grace before our eyes, one good and favorable expectation was our conspicuous God; the high-crowned, the fair-foliaged, the all-beautiful and flourishing one; the one shading with leaves, and delighting and refreshing our city with various adornments; who, even if he was thought to be a tree, yet in his marvelous beauties he was set apart from all plants; but the active and living power of these
A was not seated in any one of those who approached him, whom he did not favor with brilliant benefits. Suddenly, however, this demented old man pulled him up, cut off the joy of the city, and severed the pride of our land with an axe; for which reason we have brought him before your tribunal, that he might pay the just penalties for his impiety against the gods.”
16. When permission to speak for himself was granted to Hyacinth, he replied, “I indeed, most excellent governor, confess that I have cut down this tree, nor could I ever deny the truth. But I have not done this with any malicious intent, but because I could not bear to see the excess of such error: that men honored with reason have abandoned their own Creator, the Maker of heaven and earth, and have offered worship to the most insignificant of His creatures, making it a god. For what is more lowly than a tree growing today from the earth, and one more ignoble and worthless than many other trees, being unfruitful, or bearing bad fruit, and shortly after being cast into the fire? Seeing this honored, and judging the human ignorance to be great, and being moved by a love of humanity, since I was not able by my words to turn them away from that rotten hope, I persuade them henceforth by my deed, so that they might know that there is no power in a lifeless thing, either to inflict injury or to provide any benefit. Having removed the pretext for their destructive error, I think I am blazing a trail for all toward piety, so that, having acknowledged the God of all and His only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, they might adore Him and serve Him alone in the Holy Spirit.”
17. When the governor heard these words, he first ordered him to be stretched out upon the ground and beaten with wild rods. And when his flesh had been shredded for a long time, and his bones crushed, and the earth was being drenched with his blood, yet he uttered no sound, but remained silently intent upon the Lord Jesus, beseeching Him with ineffable prayers, and enduring the tortures with ease, the rabble cried out: “Call the executioner, O governor; call him who shall pluck out his teeth. As he has cut down our god, let his teeth be cut out; let them be dug out from the roots with iron pincers.” B And when the judge’s sentence had been passed upon him, not even thus did the thunderstruck mobs relax their madness; but they again ordered him to be bound, and like a felled tree, to be torn apart and dragged along the ground; and when he was dragged out of the city, to be pierced with sharp reeds and stoned with rocks. And when the whole murderous impulse and counsel against him had reached its end, they had treated him thus mercilessly, and dragged him up to the brow of the mountain, rendering him from head to foot but one single wound C and having put him to death, as the evening had already arrived, they left his body for the beasts to devour.
18. What then of the Lord? Did He neglect the care of His servant? Or, in the manner of him who takes away his own life, did He allow him to die? Or did He grant him aid only through a secret and mental apparition? By no means. For the night was already gone, and the sun had set beneath the earth, when the true Sun arose unto the Son of light; and the multitude of the heavenly host was around him, and the glory of the Lord, as it is evangelical to say, shone round about him. Then he, as if rising from a deep sleep, and feeling the divine vision around him, and being immediately eased of every pain of body, and filled with ineffable joy, stood upright on his feet, with such relief, and with such strength, as if he had not suffered the danger of any torments D at all.
19. Immediately, the blessed man, having bent his knee before God, and lifting his holy hands to heaven, with exultation of heart and sweet tears gave thanks to the Lord, giving thanks again and again for His constancy, which he had shown until that very hour; and he begged that he might finish the contest in this confession; that his martyred soul might attain to rest, and that his little body, consumed by many troubles, labors, and torments, might be rescued from the place of repose; but he prayed that for all time his guardian and protection might be [present] in the city, an available medicine for all manner of diseases, and a protector from all evils far away. He prayed for those laboring in God, for salvation, which he entreats by faith and vows; for sinners, that they may be converted by repentance; for magistrates, that they may hold to justice; for subordinates, that they may have obedience; for the rich, that they may have a disposition inclined toward almsgiving; for the poor, that they may serve with patience; for those who rejoice, that they may give thanks; for those who are suffering, that they may have comfort; for those who are sailing, to have a fair voyage; for those who are traveling, that they may finish their journey prosperously; for those who are engaged in war, victory’s trophies; for those who live in peace, that they may cultivate the works of all piety and justice. He entreats Christ-imitating goodness for all, and useful things for all, as a perfect disciple of Christ, being a patriot, for his fatherland, the deliverance from danger in its entirety — especially for those who are sincerely mindful of him and have approached the reliquary of his remains, and presented themselves to the buildings, and to the canticles and oblations, that he might receive the saving gift C as well.
20. Having prayed in this manner, the divine man, for a long time refreshed by the holy choir of angels standing by, and by his mind’s refreshment, then for a third time marking his deiform face (which at that time the mystical joy of the divine canticle filled in that place) he hands over his holy [soul] to them, the holy D
A one, and [he is] placed [in] the soul. This, then, the paradise of God had immediately, receiving him with joy beyond expression by the force of words, and him who in a most holy manner rendered worship, and him who was receiving the crown of incorruption from the Right Hand of the Master; this did the intellectual Powers of the heavens praise, and as a victor-bearer and Christ-bearer they welcomed him into their own fold. This did the apostles, who lived in an apostolic manner, most gladly receive and embrace; the choirs of martyrs also, as their own member, and as the most precious, receiving him, and harmonizing and joining together in themselves the most noble [part] of his members, and [he was] made a sharer of the same glory and blessedness in eternity. And not only they, but the hosts of prophets and of all the saints, as those who partake in the same grace B as themselves, beholding [him], celebrated a most brilliant and most divine feast concerning his dissolution and emigration toward Christ.
21. In this manner, then, the blessed soul attains to the mansions and seats of the celestial Father; but neither was that sacred and triumphal tabernacle, falling to the earth in this way, neglected, nor was it held in dishonor as the rest of the martyrs; but as it was honored with more abundant healings by Christ, so it was honored with human honors, and brought to pass the most manifest for the sake of the few [who sought] the bodies of the trophy-bearing martyrs. For at that time, when it was buried in the depths of the earth by God-fearing hands C, the precious and venerable treasury, it was not then visible, nor was it possible, through his wonder-working benefits, that the path becoming it should remain hidden; but by the most earnest supplications, the trophy-bearer, propitiating the Lord within, and without, through the healings performed at the tomb, and by such [signs] long before moving the city itself from unbelief to an orthodox faith and sincere [devotion], never even up to now ceases to be wonderful. For it is said, and he who sees it bears witness, that at the turning of each year, as the memory of the saint approaches, a prayer is raised up around the sacred tomb by all the people, and suddenly, a sound as of a strange, roaring wind from the depths below is emitted D and stirred up, and in this way it is violently exhaled, so that it extinguishes the lamps burning around the tomb, and—at the command—the mouth of the tomb and the structure covering it like a sarcophagus, which is between the holy place and this precious dust, it immediately proves [its power].
22. It is worthy to relate this to history also, that not many years ago, when the annual dust was being cast up, and the great toe of the hand of the wonder-working Martyr was also drawn up from below:
and is filled with spirit, and with holy awe bows down before Him, and is crowned by the Lord’s right hand with a crown of incorruption, this soul all the intellectual Powers of heaven praised, and as a triumphant Christ-bearer they claimed her for their own. This soul the Apostles embraced with the greatest gladness, welcoming her as one who had lived a most apostolic life. The holy choirs of Martyrs, accepting her as their own member and as the most precious of their members, and uniting and joining her to themselves in the Spirit, secured her as a partaker of their own glory and blessedness for ever. And not only they, but the companies of all the Prophets and Saints, seeing that she partook of their own holiness in an exceptional way, celebrated her departure and emigration to Christ as a most brilliant and god-befitting festival.
21 In this way, then, the thrice-blessed soul obtains the mansions of the heavenly Father. But that sacred and victory-bearing body—it was neither overlooked after falling to the earth, nor has it been honored like the rest of the martyrs. Rather, just as it has been enriched by Christ with greater prodigies and more abundant healings, so too, regarding human honors, it has received the most glorious status of nearly all victory-bearing bodies. B For then, having been entombed with honor in the depths of the earth somewhere near the city by the faithful, as a precious treasure, it became inaccessible to anyone’s sight from that time forward; yet it is not possible for it to remain hidden through the beneficent acts of its own wonders. For the trophy-bearing saint, by most earnest supplications within, winneth the Lord’s favor, while outwardly he persuades mortals by the miracles performed at the tomb; and by such means, having formerly led his city from unbelief to a correct and unfeigned faith, the admirable one does not cease even until now. For it is said, and what is seen confirms the belief, that at each revolution of the year, when the memory of the saint arrives, a prayer is sent up by the entire holy people around the sacred tomb; and suddenly dust, with a strange sound and the whistling of wind from the depths below, is sent up or cast forth, blowing out with such force that even the lamps burning around the tomb are extinguished by the blast; and the very mouth of the tomb and the construct covering it in the manner of a sarcophagus are immediately shown to be filled with the holy dust and this precious powder.
22 It is worthy also to hand this down in history, that not many years ago, when the annual dust was boiling up, the great thumb of the right hand of the wonderful Martyr arose from below along with it, D as if it had been severed from his living right hand just a moment before. And so he has ascended, I think, as if to offer a more perfect witness of his own deposition, and to stir up the faithful to the construction of the temple. O holy dust, sanctified by the holy one and distributed to all the people, and making those who possess it equal in virtue to the holy body! O dust, by nature indeed earthly, but by virtue and power heavenly! O dust, more to be revered than the manna which formerly rained from heaven, more holy than sanctification, more active in power! For the former was for the nourishment and upkeep of bodies, but this one is not for the healing of bodies alone—chilling them, especially, against the wasting of heat—but also for the lasting strengthening and enlightening of souls. B 23 But oh, the renowned glory of all martyrs, the exultation of the faithful and the crushing of the faithless! O goodly branch of a venerable fatherland, or rather, O holy branch that turns a corrupt fatherland to goodness, and restores the impure and honors the dishonored! O precious branch worthy of your heavenly Father’s plantation, truly like a palm tree, blooming with a perpetual flower of virtues, and abounding, like a cedar by the waters, with infinite fruits of healings! O precious stone, truly worthy of the great cornerstone! C A stone sharing the name with Hyacinth, I say, with that Hyacinth who is joined to the eleven precious stones ordered in sequence, and who constructs the rational judgment of the high priest! O holy stone, who according to Isaiah, art rolled upon the earth, the rampart or rather the wall and crown of Amastris, warding off all siege engines, battering rams, catapults, and ballistae of the enemy! O height and ornament of the Paphlagonians, the crown of the empire, the praise and glory of the priesthood, accept the first-fruits of the words of us who are unworthy even to take upon ourselves the memory of your deeds; and although they contribute nothing worthy of your magnificence, yet being such as they are, by their neighborly existence as fruit, and before all others, by the grace of the Pantocrator, having been granted—for the saint himself, having derived it from thence, is able to act unceasingly; and to the neighbors and fellow-citizens, those who indeed have been grafted on by your faith and love, D grant the greater abundance of the good gifts of God, to the glory of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, to the ages of ages. Amen.
ORATIO XX
I approach to praise the great Theologian, even though he excels in praises. For it is right—nay, it is not even enough that it is right, but it is also most befitting that the one departing be praised by a man of most great eloquence and by a master. Nor should it be necessary that he himself, who is delighted by such great things from him, should seem to have reached the summit of greatness of mind merely because it has appeared that he has reached it by virtue of that dignity.
A Thus complete and entire, just as if it had been severed from his living right hand just now. And he went up, I believe, both to provide a more perfect faith in the burial of the Saint here, and to stir up the faithful to the construction of the church. O holy dust, sanctified in the dust of the Saint, and distributed to all the people, and endowed with power equal to the holy body! O dust, in nature earthly, but in power heavenly; more venerable than the grace of the manna which once rained from heaven! More sacred in its holiness, more active in its power. For that was indeed for the nourishment and maintenance of bodies; but this is not only for the healing of bodies—especially from the wasting of cold and heat—but also for the lasting strengthening and enlightenment of souls. B 23. But, O ornament of all martyrs, and exultation of the faithful, and shattering of the unbelievers! O good shoot of a venerable fatherland; or rather, holy shoot, having made the evil fatherland good through yourself, and having purified the impure, and honored the dishonored! A precious shoot, and truly worthy of the planting of your Father who is in heaven, blossoming as a palm tree with ever-green virtues, and like a cedar by the waters, abounding in endless fruits of healing! O precious stone, and truly worthy of the cornerstone! O stone sharing a name with the Hyacinth; with that one, which is joined to the eleven precious stones in order C and helps to construct the breastplate of judgment of the high priest! O holy stone, rolling upon the earth, according to Isaiah, the wall and rampart of Amastris, or rather, the tower and crown, warding off all siege-engines and machines of enemies! The height of the Paphlagonians and the embellishment of the empire, the praise and boast of the priesthood, may you also receive the first-fruits of our words; and even if they show nothing worthy of your magnificence, they are nonetheless dear to you, because they are a fruit from the neighborhood. And for all others, the things which you previously prayed for from the King of all, do not cease to work them yourself; for you have the power, having received it from there. But to your neighbors and fellow citizens, as being more closely bound to you by faith and love, grant a greater abundance of the good gifts of God, to the glory of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen. D
ORATIO XX. Laudatio of the great Gregory, Archbishop of the city of Constantinople, surnamed the Theologian.
I approach to praise the great Theologian, even though he excels in praises. For it is just; and indeed not only just, but also highly fitting to perform the speech for a man most eloquent, and for a master of every rule of all eloquence. Nor is it necessary, that not only we, who fall so short of him in so many ways, but even those who seem to have arrived at the highest excellence of a magnificent soul, should be diverted from what is proportionate to the dignity.A Gregory brought his brilliance to the very ends of the earth. The manner in which he was brought into the light: he was obtained through the prayers and faith of his mother, no differently than that voice which ran ahead of the Word, or as if he had been invoked from the womb like Samuel; of these things, without a doubt, the result is heard by all. A refined education, and the skillful way he ought to have been raised, he who was destined to become a minister of sacred and decent duties. His talent was subtle, most capable even in youth and in a tender body; and he possessed such brilliance of mind, such sagacity, and such excellence as became the age he was to signify, as he was building a divine and magnificent temple of wisdom.
To these ends, B he undertook various journeys abroad for the sake of learning; for example, from Nazianzus to Caesarea; thence to Palestine, and from Palestine to Alexandria; from Alexandria to Greece, and to Athens, that great glory of doctrines and queen of them; where he encountered the divine Basil for the sake of study, and shared with him the practice of life and usage, not to mention that he became his companion in roof, in meat, and in table; and, by the concordant resolve of their minds, he approached him as an equal participant in every excellent discipline and of a like inspiration of soul. Athens, indeed, was the citadel of the world to which he came, into which, just as the other riches and ornaments of the region were being brought to the majesty of the imperial city, so too did there flow what was at that time most excellent for all—namely, letters and doctrine—as they flocked to the most excellent of cities.
In these, therefore, Gregory, approaching such men of most excellent knowledge, giving his effort to them, and being abundantly exercised in every manner of grammar and poetry; most highly cultivated in oratory, and having attained fully the entire force of speech, its elegance, and the facility of eloquence, he pursued not only philosophy in its organic sense, but, looking further to virtue and nature, he grasped with his mind whatever was more exquisite, more sublime; he who, in conclusion, gleaning from any discipline, and from the best of all the Greek wisdom (if I may so speak), and having fortified for himself a path, most excellent, to the contemplation of those things which exceed the power of the mind, he had dedicated himself perfectly to the Trinity—which, even before he was born, had predestined him to be a theologian; and he returned this body to the fatherland, and rendered his soul even more brilliant with the light of purity. And so, it is clear that he who desires to recount this as a philosopher; whether regarding the rudiments or the deeds, C putting forth the force of his speech not in a perfunctory way, since even in this there is something worthy of his prudence, his excellence of spirit, and his magnitude to speak of. Yet it is not our proposal to us, not from the inferior things, but from the more excellent, not from those things that are outside, profane, and considered as things around him, but from his own, in which he functioned exceedingly well by faith from the Gospel (as was said), that is to say, wisdom and theology, that we should praise the great and Theologian; invoking him, and joining in the assistance of hymns and praises, he offers his right hand kindly to a faltering speech.
He is, therefore, divine in mind and spirit: whose action is far greater than the effort of one imitating it; and contemplation excels remarkably: examining all things in the Spirit of God, and, as the Apostle says, "he himself judges no one." D A great offspring and son of heavenly thunder; by the mere precedence of time, he is in no way inferior to the magnificent voices of the sacred dogmas, but by the brightness of divine perceptions, he merited the proclamation of the consubstantiality of the Trinity, failing from the first in no way; for which reason he also obtained the name equal to him. And clearly, above all who preceded him, he openly celebrates God in the unity of the Trinity of Persons; and as regards nature, he declares that the Trinity is to be adored in its unity.
He, instructed in the whole of human wisdom and virtue, having been raised abundantly in soul and mind toward devout exercise, and as he was himself prepared by the Spirit as worthy of God, so he came to the washing of regeneration; not that he might wash away filth (if I may say so), but that he might give a more brilliant illumination to the soul, receiving baptism not because he was losing sins, but because he was about to receive greater gifts, admitting the grace of the Spirit.
In this way, conducting the beginning of a second and better and more perfect discipline of life, he held himself as entirely alien to that way of life which is hostile to the spirit: nay, he even somewhat exceeded earthly and animal wisdom and virtue; and being raised above all worldly affection, he migrated solely into the spirit; he determined to follow only the law of the spirit, holding one norm, and the knowledge of its virtue and wisdom which excels through the divine Spirit, he nurtured an internal love in his soul, and that magnificent one, he declined every way that was entirely unjust; and with divine mandates he properly performed all things, pursuing with his wishes for the supreme rewards that Christ, to be desired by all. And just as children, educated in the upbringing and rationalities of life, use even childish senses, but as they grow into men, because their thoughts and studies are what become them, they arrive by consecutive reason; so, indeed, that perfect thing might abolish their childish senses: so this great man, whatever discipline he had before the washing, and whatever he had elaborated regarding erudition, and then regarding actions and morals, as childish feeling re-
Alinquishing, nay rather, employing these as the rudiments and initial preparation for the pursuit of reaching perfection, he was fulfilling that apostolic imperative: *Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling* .
For since philosophy may be viewed in two ways, not only by those who are outside, but it is also held to be explored by our own people—namely, by the way of reason and by the way of contemplation—he, for his part, left the profane to those who are outside and profane, while he himself clung only to that which resides within. Indeed, it is clear that he led philosophy away from the world and from the soul, and that he transcended all confusion and perturbation in it, while he was concerned with the true and most sincere light of life, and with the light of doctrine, and with reason, and he endeavored with every study and most persistent diligence to make this shine forth.
Being intelligent, he knew that he could not achieve what he desired with successful results by any other means than if he were to cultivate his life with actions, and obtain help and aid from the Spirit from above: for he knew that the acquisition and consummation of the good is common to both—namely, that we should confer upon it both action, as is fitting [445: footnote dropped], and that the Spirit, in order that we might desire the good, should operate in us mystically and secretly, while we, following the counsel of the Spirit, should cooperate with Him by the resolve of a righteous mind. Thus, this man of magnificent soul, perceiving how we lead a good life in the cities and towns, and yet, when we apply ourselves to those things which place us at the threshold of life, we are hindered by the system—that is, we take up the sublime philosophy, and suddenly break away from parents and kin; but breaking away from the life of this age, he lifted up his feet and was led into the desert by the Spirit.
And just as the great voice of the Word, and he who runs before Him, the most B illustrious John, being greater than all the prophets, when he was touching upon the coming of the Lord, having already called those in the desert, and having been surpassed by the excellence of the life and by the contemplation of the creator, had adhered more closely to Him: after which, coming before the face of the Lord, he prepared His way [445: footnote dropped]: so clearly Gregory, having been pulled away beforehand by the turbulent affairs of the age and by the quiet life of that one, and being free from all commerce of wickedness, having been imbued with contemplations of divine things, and not to mention being filled with the fruit of repentance, he was sent forth a preacher of baptism to men, but as a greater master of the most absolute Trinity. But the oration will demonstrate this in its progress.
For indeed, as he previously employed the great Basil, as one who came through secular philosophy, as his spiritual assistant and companion, so he C likewise was occupied with the study of preparing all virtues together, fulfilling those things which consist in action, but in those which pertain to contemplation, he was advancing toward those things which are of contemplation; while rendering those things which are of action familiar to himself.
But what action? Let us work for a reward, so that, if we exist for the sake of the virtues, we may designate that action which shines magnificently before contemplation. What, therefore, are the virtues? First, firm solitude, or quiet, which is most pure. I mean solitude and quiet of soul as well as of body. For he did not merely withdraw himself from local civil and rustic tumults, but much more from the constancy of his own mind, and turning himself to God, he offered quiet and silence instead of ways; and having attained a tranquil and mild constitution of soul, as in a clear and D most pure mirror, he received the representations of celestial illuminations, unmixed with earthly figures and seductions.
Then, truly, a robust and continuous meditation. The meditation of the sacred oracles of the Spirit, which not only were uttered in the mystery of the heart, but which truly did not merely come from the lips; even, clearly, the matter itself, not with ink, but was inscribed by the Spirit in the spirit. He attained a continuous study of prayer and meditation, and obtained the soul of the spirit. For just as he strove to consecrate to God not only the body by the practice of solitude, but also the soul by the power of meditation, so he also joined his mind to the Spirit with continuous supplications.
When, however, the whole soul of a man is considered in these three, namely, reason, anger, and desire; but that he, as the most august [part], looked to reason and ruled over it, and that the others, for their part, should obey this and be governed by it (for such is total perfection), he performed each part as was apt and convenient for it; and in this peak of the man, he was seen as a philosopher, especially surpassing desire—which, not to mention that it should cut off the greater part of necessary food and sleep, and not define all things by the senses—it did not destroy the beauty and form of things, but did not lose it; it extinguished the desire for the things that perish and those that corrupt; it composed and restrained every motion of the members by discipline, and subjected the mind, which is most excellent.
Again, indeed, he builds up [the soul] in opposition to the mildness of anger: in which, truly, all bitterness of soul and the impulses of anger are dissolved; and blasphemy and clamor are dissolved: and he utterly uproots all malice and rancor (which are the offspring of evil); so that, as from a perfect root, all kindness and probity might sprout and flourish in him .
A Modesty (which they call humility) adorns him, and he, circumspect and purified in mind, attains the high citadel of Divine Wisdom.
Furthermore, he assumes fortitude and counsel against fear; not only, as before, against adverse passions, but he also inflicts strength and confirmation against the demons themselves. Nor does he contend against these alone, nor merely against that prince of the power of the air 51, but he is preserved against him; nor against those who are, on account of their unbelief, children of diffidence 52, who are driven by his promptings, with whom he was properly appointed to struggle. Moreover, he did not merely investigate such counsel as would conduce to his own private affairs, but what would be beneficial to all or to the majority; he did not follow his own will, but as a servant, he explored the Dominical and supremely good and perfect will for the benefit of the worthy; and, by forming the innermost recesses of his mind, he guarded against every kind of perverse counsel.
He cultivated the piety of right doctrine and the uprightness of morals; that is, he was cleansed from every shameful thought, from every profane word, and from all alien filth of the heretics, and being B transformed in mind in Christ, he advanced and excelled in many things.
And he possessed the knowledge of intellectual things, that is, of those things which are known by science, a certain unified contemplation; as also vision, the aspect of those things which can be seen by the eyes; such a heap of abundance had accrued to him, as, being purified above all else, he transmuted his mind into angelic contemplation. If you shall have numbered the sand, and the drops of rain, and the days of the age 53, even so, you shall recognize the vigor of his sacred eloquence, which emits fruit from a fertile seed. For the sense of Holy Scripture was, like a rose in its calyx, concealed by the obscurity of the diction. But he, explaining it clearly in the Spirit, and being filled beyond measure with its sweet fragrance, at once comprehended the most sacred wisdom with a most sacred endeavor.
Wisdom, therefore, is indeed both living and subsists by itself, since it is the Word before the ages with the Father, and as the Word is eternal with Him: but it is also wisdom, which is the Word of the sermons; by whose power the Word is seen by those who cultivate piety by a hidden method. The clearer and more incomprehensible the understanding of the theologian is, the more perfect a gift it produces, as he draws forth the more excellent and perfect sermons and doctrine of wisdom.
Thus the spiritual Israel (which is "seeing God") C gathers these virtues which are performed by action, and those which excel in contemplation, and, like a wise architect, arranges them one after another, and, circumspect and purified, he attains the high citadel of Divine Wisdom.
As for fear, he assumes fortitude and counsel; not only, as before, against adverse passions, but he inflicts power and confirmation against the demons also. Nor indeed does he contend against these alone, but also against the prince of the power of the air 51, and furthermore against the children of diffidence 52 themselves, namely the incredulous, who are driven by his influence; with whom he was suitably appointed to struggle. Moreover, he did not only investigate that counsel which would be conducive to his own private affairs, but also that which was useful for all or the many; nor did he follow the will of his own soul, but as an excellent servant, he explored the Dominical and supremely good and perfect will, and, by forming the inner chambers of his mind, he guarded against every kind of perverse counsel.
He cultivated the piety of dogma and the uprightness of morals, namely, being purified from every shameful thought, from every profane word, and from all strange filth of the heretics, and transformed in mind in Christ, he promoted and excelled in many things.
But knowledge, which is of things intellectual, that is, of those things which are known by science, was a certain unified contemplation; as also vision, the aspect of things that can be seen by the eyes; such a pile of abundance had reached him, as, being purified beyond all others, he transformed his mind into angelic contemplation. If you had numbered the sand and drops of rain and the days of the age 53, you would have understood the power of his sacred eloquence, which sends forth fruit from a fertile germ. For the sense of Holy Scripture was, like a rose in a pod, covered by the obscurity of the diction. But as he explains it clearly in the Spirit, and is filled beyond measure with its sweet fragrance, he at once comprehends the most sacred wisdom with a most sacred effort.
Wisdom therefore is, on the one hand, both living and subsists by itself, when it is the Word with the Father before the ages, and when it is the Word with Him from eternity: but it is also wisdom, which is the Word of sermons; by whose power the Word is seen by those who cultivate piety in a hidden way. The more illustrious and incomprehensible the understanding of the Theologian renders this, the more perfect a gift it effects, as he draws forth more excellent and perfect words and doctrine of wisdom.
Thus the spiritual Israel (which is "seeing God") collects the virtues which are performed in action, and those which excel in contemplation, and like a wise architect sets them one by another, D and he is surrounded and purified, and arrives at the high citadel of Divine Wisdom.
[alt-version omitted]
A Modesty (which they call humility) imposes the finest ornament upon reason; by which he would destroy every vain and elevated thought of the soul, and cast down every height that exalts itself against superior knowledge. For just as in this, reason is constituted so that it might turn back the wantonness of desire by the force of temperance, and the unbridled impulse of anger by gentleness; so, too, by castigating and suppressing its own swelling and pride with modesty, it renders itself a pious and modest captive, so that it may obey Christ. And just as by the very force and reason of nature, fragrance is a companion to the lily, so too is the greatest tranquility of mind a companion to these virtues, when someone has fulfilled them. Tranquility is the retreat of the passions, the uprooting and extinction of all sicknesses that afflict both soul and body; a blessed state, struck by no turmoil or trouble; the life of angels, the earnest of future blessedness. When the divine Gregory had arrived at this, and had established this seventh step of his action’s ascent, he thereupon imposed upon it a best and most stable triad of virtues—namely, faith, hope, and charity—as the most beautiful coping stone. Faith, indeed, in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one deity and power and kingdom; with the mouth a sincere confession, but with heart and mind, an irrevocable approval and assent. Hope, indeed, of these very things which we now behold obscurely and under a faint shadow through faith, is the expectation of a more perfect explanation later on, that is, of revelation and disclosure. Charity, however, is the highest ascent of this spiritual ladder: the sum of the Law and the prophets B, the bond of perfection, the continuous communion and structure of one's own mind with God in the Spirit through Jesus Christ, which no medium might sever.
Taking up fortitude and counsel into this fear, he dons strength—not only against his passions and vices, but even against demons—and is fortified. Nor does he prevail against these alone, but even against the prince of the power of the air himself; nor against him only, but also against the very children of disobedience, namely, the unbelievers who are driven by his whim; against whom he was on the point of engaging in battle at the appropriate time. By the spirit of counsel, he not only sought out what was profitable privately for his own affairs, but what would also be useful for all, or for the majority; and as a good servant, he explored not the will of his own soul, but the Lord’s, which is supremely good and perfect, and, forming this in the deepest penetralia of his mind, he avoided every kind of perverse counsel.
He cultivated piety by the truth of doctrines and the rectitude of morals: indeed, thoroughly cleansed from every base thought, every profane word, and every alien stain of the heretics, he was transformed in the newness of his mind in Christ, and promoted and performed these things in the highest degree. As for knowledge—which is the contemplation of intelligible things, that is, of those which are known by knowledge—a certain whole and dense contemplation had accrued to him; as also vision, the sight of those things which can be perceived by the eyes; so great a heap and abundance had come to him, to the extent that he was purified before everyone else, and transposed in his mind to angelic contemplation. C When you have counted the sand of the sea, the drops of rain, and the days of the age, you will understand how much his sacred discourses provide the power of understanding and bring forth fruit with fertile germ. For the sense of Holy Scripture was, like a rose in its calyx, covered by the obscurity of diction. But he, explaining it clearly in the Spirit, and being filled beyond measure with the sweet fragrance of that intelligence, immediately grasped that sacrosanct wisdom with a most sacred striving.
Wisdom, then, is that which is both living and which exists and subsists by itself—He who is the Word with the Father before the ages, and is understood eternally with Him: but there is also wisdom which is seen in those who cultivate these virtues through sacred and hidden reason in accordance with their acts. And the comprehension of the Incomprehensible becomes more illustrious and clearer to such a Theologian, in proportion as he, being endowed with a more perfect intelligence and abounding in it more richly, plucked the words and doctrine of wisdom more excellently and perfectly than all others.
Thus the spiritual Israel (he who truly sees God), by joining to the virtues which are performed by action those which are excelled by contemplation, and having set them one upon another in the manner of a ladder, like a wise architect D, by the same number weaves together those things which find their fulfillment in the contemplation of the mind; namely, first the operations or breathings of the Spirit, which Isaiah called the seven Spirits. These indeed rested truly and primarily in Christ, born as He was from the root of Jesse; but secondly, in that partnership and communion which is from Him, also in others who are participants in His piety, but most especially in him whom we laud; he who handles and understands these in his mind, or rather, who is driven and perfected by them, they rest mystically.
What, therefore, are the breathings and the Spirit? In the first place, wisdom; or rather, ascending from lower things upward, like the root and beginning of wisdom, he places the fear of the Lord before it, that chaste fear which, as David witnesses, remains for age upon age; fixed with this, the flesh and the mind are surrounded and purified, and he escapes to the high citadel of Divine Wisdom.
A And committing himself to these ascents, and disposing his heart by means of these through that which is free from the body—incomprehensible, from that which is a higher knowledge. For the Begetter alone knows the Begotten, and the Begetter alone is known by the Begotten 59. But just as the ray is an inseparable companion of the sun (if indeed it is fitting to test the infinite with examples, and to conjecture about it from them), and light is always joined to the ray; so too the Son is a companion to the Father, and the Spirit of the Father to the Son. And just as that sun can never exist without its ray and its light, so neither does the Father of lights 60 ever come to be understood without the Word and the Spirit. For from Him, as from a root which is of itself, and as the first author and original of the entire most august deity, they have obtained B their co-eternal existence in Him. And just as when three lamps are lit in a house with equal brightness, one light of the three is seen, yet in such a way that the uniform nature of the underlying lamps does not confuse their distinction, since each differs and is separated from its peer by its own proper marks: so, while one essence—that is, deity—is considered in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, certain immobile properties follow the individuals, by which the threefold distinction of the Persons consists without confusion.
What, then, are these properties? Plainly, unbegottenness, birth, and procession. For the Father is unbegotten, because He is subject to no author or principle; and whatever author or principle is understood or named, He is altogether the first author and entirely the original. But the Son is begotten, as the Word and Speech, born of the Father’s mind. And the Holy Spirit has processed, as the true outflow of the paternal essence. And just as the Son is the invariable likeness 61 of the paternal form and brightness, so too is the Spirit plainly the invariable likeness (5) of the Son. For just as the mind is C like a fountain for the internal speech within us, and is itself also the author of the speech which is brought forth by the mouth and touches the senses; truly it generates a concept mystically and secretly as its own living likeness; and yet again the concept brings forth and produces the likeness, namely the speech: so that Mind, greater than all thought, and primal—insofar as it is permitted to conjecture about the greatest things from small matters—generates as another self, unborn and substantial before the age, the Speech or Word; and as another Speech or Word, it again brings forth and emits the Spirit (the Word, that is, of its own power 62), and in Him it completes the entire universe.
But what is the manner of that holier doctrine? For it is better, I think, that we should remember it as far as has been granted to us, so that just as we hold the other forms of virtue, we may also hold the form of that divine preaching and doctrine. What therefore D is the holier doctrine and initiation? God is understood in three persons. God, who is first, alone, and truly. He "is," He was not "made"; although that happened later, concerning the Son and the humanity He assumed. He is lifegiving, not one who is given life; illuminating, not one who is illuminated; imbuing with holiness, not one who is imbued; lacking beginning and end, eternal, superior to essence, life, and deity; the creator of all essence, the strength of all power, the effective cause of every act and utterance; holding within Himself uniformly and in conjunction the causes of all things—universally speaking—of those that are, of those perceived by the intellect, of those utilizing reason, and of those perceived by the senses.
When no things had yet been produced into nature and brought forth, there was the true and first light, the Father of lights 60, from whom before the ages the Son and Word shines forth in like manner as the first and true light; incorporeal, a Trinity therefore in Unity; and Unity in Trinity, that which we worship is declared: Trinity, the per—
59 Matth. XI, 27. 60 Jac. I, 17. 61 Hebr. I, 3. 62 Cf. Ps. CIV, 30 (LXX).
A fact of his spiritual birth, and of that age which appeared to men. For the power of the Spirit, like an unstained seed of the Word, sowing the truth in the hearts of all; or, as if by rains, nourishing and consuming [it] through those continual sermons and conversations, and advancing it to the measure of spiritual maturity; it makes [the soul], by the Spirit, obedient; and thence it even brings forth this most beautiful adoption of the mind to those who are strangers, beyond measure and most widely.
He himself, however, proposing himself as an example of virtue worthy of every miracle and far absolute, first indeed manifests the reasons for his flight into Pontus, such as they are: namely, that he was led by a desire for a most illustrious solitude, and by an instinct for a higher philosophy, turning away from urban tumults, so that, in it, B as in a-brightest mirror, having contemplated [truth], and having obtained the anointing of the divine priesthood, observing it with a more perfect purification, and presenting it to himself as a firm and stable possession of the divine, so that he might use it purely and most purely, and grow accustomed to it. Then he reveals the dignity of the priesthood, such as it behooved him to be who was to be promoted to the episcopate; by what arguments he ought to lead the flock, by how active a reasoning, he who in sermons delivers the highest philosophy to others, adds faith to the Word by his own works and most certain actions.
What, then, is the work? And let us see what it was that he performed which is most magnificent. For what, indeed, is more worthy of the mind and faith of the Theologian? First, indeed, the temple, beautiful in its decoration, raised by his great care and diligence, as another heaven on earth, openly consecrated to him who dwells in the heavens. But that, since it belongs to those things which are his, is less a miracle. For if he himself had built a temple worthy of God and majestic by the cult of virtues, what is surprising if he contributed work to the fatherland, so that they might build a holy temple with stones?
Then, the honors of parents: which clearly were performed for the sake of the guardianship of orphans, the protection of widows, the patronage of the poor, the hospitality of the elderly and the needy; then what he himself established separately in the fatherland; to which he applied a helping hand for his friend and companion Basil; and not only for works that were his own for cherishing, but by words and noble exhortation he brought them [to others], that he might stir even stony hearts toward the poor and the needy.
And indeed, he countered the opposing studies with works rather than words; but toward those of his own household of faith, he offered helps and guidances, not so much looking to the body, as that by his doctrine and law all might be governed and pastured. For his brother Caesarius having now departed while still alive, when the father D had undertaken to rule the See of Nazianzus, being burdened with age and his body worn away by diseases, and unequal to bearing the troubles of the Church or its inequalities—Gregory was to him the staff of his old age, the cure for his diseases, the edifice of his body, the rest of his soul, the solace of his spirit; and what is most of all, the custody of his senses and soul, and the amendment of his succeeding faith.
For something of this kind occurred in his circumstances. For the fury of the Arians had permeated the whole world; and a new doctrine against the equality of the Trinity, like a certain plague or hail, was raging through all provinces and cities; and it even went so far as to add to itself emperors, princes, and peoples, and (which is most miserable of all) the rulers themselves; whom, either by fear, or by the ignorance of those who seemed to hold power (which is most miserable), it deceived. For when it was seen that the churches were taken away, the temples defiled by slaughters, the sacred things plundered, things holy polluted, and, as the proverb says, with unwashed feet thrown down and trampled. When those who were the witnesses of the faith and the cultivators of piety in the Church were all cast out into the public prisons, or exhausted by most grievous hunger, or by most bitter scourgings and a great number of various plagues and ignominies, or by most harsh exiles, or (to speak the truth) were tempted by tortures and molestations, and were facing extreme dangers, unless they gave consent to the impiety; and they indeed, migrating of their own accord from the cities, and seeking the deserted wildernesses, were exercising themselves in piety with beasts lacking reason, rather than dwelling with those who dared to speak blasphemy in the high places. Yet as many as had given themselves over to the contrary opinion, holding the churches, and considering them as if they were bulwarks fortified of their own iniquity, they would burst in upon those who decided to worship piety, and would disperse them.
Then truly, then also did the crime of heresy, like a violent rushing of waters, erupt against the fatherland of the great Gregory; and whoever it found light and weak, it snatched away and indeed dissolved; and led [one] to give consent to the most wicked, being deceived by the simplicity of mind, by letters, not by soul; and [one] brought to the side of the heretical, being seduced, since they adhered to the solid foundation of Gregory’s theology, they remained immovable, in no way shaken by heretical force or injury.
We must therefore follow in the past, [and relate] how he, being himself free from the crime of his own wicked generation, leading a common life, having found grace before God, was taught [to escape] the future flood of the world: but in what way he was taught to be liberated from evils: and [about] the ark, constructed with great skill, and into it all together...
A animal species being brought, along with his wife and children. In the same way, the floodgates of the heavens and the fountains of the deep were opened, and he alone—the seed for the coming generation—was saved. But Gregory, foreseeing a much heavier spiritual flood than that of Noah—one which carried with it a much greater wound to souls than any bodily corruption could inflict—fashioned an ark of his own church, and binding it with the secret doctrines of the true faith, he not only embraced in it those who were bound by the necessity of the same race, but even those who appeared to be foreigners (whom, indeed, the right hand of God had brought to his protection). He received them very eagerly, and feeding them with those most sweet nourishment of sermons on the Trinity, he saved them from the deluge that was drowning every soul.
Certainly, he (Noah) acted for the sake of his own family alone, looking only at the salvation of the eight souls bound to him by the closest necessity; but this man, disposed to care for many more, and being inclined toward the salvation of others just as much as his own, labored for those who were being cut off and those who were coming to be joined to him. He was covered by the abundance of his father’s teachings and the righteousness of the true faith, and whatever offense came from that, he removed it. Moreover, he mitigated the unbridled zeal of those not suited for peace by reconciling the discordant minds to the father; B and he bound the congregation of the Church with a firm bond of concord, and through his pastoral skill provided for the salvation of the people who were the Lord’s own possession C and followers of good works.
Therefore, he who, in a spiritual manner, frees souls and provides for them, surpasses the one who provides for bodily corruption; and he who bestows salvation upon a multitude—which is a greater number—surpasses him who bestows it upon a few. Gregory surpassed the reputation of Noah. However, if I appear to dwell too long on those matters which are minor compared to his, it is because it is worth the effort to show his perfection through greater miracles and deeds.
Those who are sanctified by the most holy to holy things are, from the moment they are born—as the divine Spirit testifies—clearly aliens to the womb; for their firm resolve concerning everything that has happened and everything that will happen resides within them. Some, therefore, [are destined] for the governance of a nation; others for the enacting of laws, or for the rule of the people, or for the highest priestly office; or for the prophetic vision, or for a miraculous working, or for the apostolic grace, or for the struggle of martyrdom, D or (to speak the word) for a spiritual ministry. Each fulfills and carries out at the proper time what belongs to his own function. Gregory, however, to whom the highest theology had been entrusted, and who was sent to pour into the universe the light of the preaching of the Trinity and the unity of the Divinity—even though by the body he was confined within the narrow limits of a short space—sent out the splendor of theology to the world with great magnificence, and he drew others toward the light of life. These things, as it were, were the stronger proofs of his reason and piety; they were for those in darkness, and for those who were confused (not by their own nature and purpose, but by the depravity of their souls), and for as many as were filled with heretical error.
Furthermore, it was fitting that he should be perfected in the episcopal mystery. For it seemed that he was not merely fulfilling the episcopal order, but the apostolic one, in merit of works and in sacred ordinations. It was worthwhile that his works were not those of the profane, but of the saints; and that he did not, through those who were unworthy of the office, recklessly divide the godhead into three other foreign contrarieties, but rather [did so] through those who were the most faithful dispensers of grace and true ministers of the Trinity. But at that time, there were no such men, except for Gregory, his father, and Basil, who was there; one of whom he appointed bishop with a cheerful spirit, giving him his own name and bestowing upon him the corresponding virtues; the other, when he had already accepted the governance of the Church of Caesarea, he initiates and ordains with a sacred rite, and adds gift to gift. Indeed, he confirmed this to the extent that it was visible to the eyes, that the Spirit, whom he once knew to be his own protector, remained perfect in him. And he, what was ordained to a certain city or region, according to the rule of the sacred canons, it was necessary to be called by that title, but they restrict his pastoral office to a barren land that was not a dwelling for men, so that it might not be sufficient for an episcopal see, yet, as I believe, might be filled sufficiently, in the view of the power of his doctrine, by the genius of the place.
The Holy Spirit, it seems, according to His own divine counsel, neither inhibited their kind of nature, nor did He establish that the other should choose greater dignities and a seat. For since he was a veteran of the Church, and it was perhaps necessary that he be fixed there—and there was not an easy way to transfer him—the regulation of the Church prohibited such a thing; and thus it was to be that the greatest of cities would suffer the loss of both its bishop and teacher. Finally, the sacred initiation (though it is...]
one that, as they say, might be performed in an orderly manner) being concluded, he was joined to the A heights of sacred imperturbability; and when he had presented himself to the hands of the high priest—not in the manner of Isaac, led away only to be slain, but having died entirely to that which pertains to the flesh, and living only in that which is of the spirit—he departed from his earthly inheritance, as something fleeting and perishable; and transferring himself to the higher and stable bulwarks of the life of reason, he existed as the most beautiful first-fruits and most noble, as it were, of the promises of the children.
For who, besides him, so endowed with the power of intelligence, offered up a prime burnt-offering, spiritual and pleasing to God, for that most intelligent sacrifice? Who so used that sacrifice with reason, and—having been immolated by the grace of all that is immaculate—made it for the Word? Who so presented his own body and soul, imbued with sanctity, as a living, holy sacrifice, well-pleasing to God, to the Holy Spirit? Who, having been thus imbued with sanctity in both body and soul, was thereafter made a priest of holiness and a minister of its efficacy? Who, before he was adopted, was admitted as a mediator of adoption to others with the Father in the spirit?
B What manner of pastoral skill was there, what manner of life-giving action, of which he did not provide a specimen? And what is it, that he did not most clearly set forth in the sermons of divine preaching, so that his word might have greater admiration than his action, and yet his action might carry away even greater admiration than his word or doctrine? Who was so clear and graceful in speech; and distinct, and elegant, and ornate; so truthful and perspicacious, that he seemed to be seen rather than heard in whatever he said? That is to say, he was one who performed the duties of a theologian for God, and was inspired by God, and constituted with the salts of grace; so that he might dry up every vice and most powerful heresy; and whatever was discordant in human character, or soft and fluid, he would translate into the constancy of the soul and the firmness of sound reason.
Who, besides him (while he was receiving that master-pastor), knew how to shepherd more successfully as a pastor, who nurtures with the flute of his sermons and leads them into good pastures? Who was so upright and C industrious that he knew how to impel the flock at the same time to increase its wealth, and how to keep it far from the ferocity of wolves?
Jacob indeed, the son of Isaac, attracted the one preferred to his brother by the most delicate gifts of his father. Then Esau, fleeing from the murderous, spirital envy of his brother, 77 and guided by auspicious dreams—which led him along the ladder stretched forth to heaven—betook himself to his mother's relatives, enduring the labors of Laban's daughters to win his own, and placing the rods in the watering troughs D of the virgins, as the divine Spirit truly testifies; for it is known that to Him there is a most certain and firm knowledge of all that has been done and all that shall be. And so, others were destined for this or that inclination of the divine will: either to the prefecture of a nation and the bearing of laws; or to the governance of a people, or the summit of the priesthood, or prophetic vision, or prodigious operation, or apostolic grace; or to the struggle of martyrdom; or (to say it in a word) to spiritual ministry, they chose their distinct robes and seats. For if a bishop had been given to an old and worthy Church, perhaps it would have been necessary for him to be fixed there, and he could not easily be transferred from it; since the ecclesiastical rule 12 prohibits transfers of that kind; and thus it was to be that the most excellent of cities would suffer the loss of its most excellent bishop and pastor. Finally, the sacred initiation (though it is...
A in dreams, but the wakefulness itself, which from the thing and its reality would lead, he daily demonstrated?
Instead of those three rods, he proposed the three Persons of the Deity in his discourse in the churches (for these clearly figured the channels of the conduits), and turning his mind toward them with piety—bearing the fetus of the womb, he rendered the best reason for the best contemplation; whereby, having submitted himself to that good Shepherd and supreme Provider, he might pass over to the supernal folds.
He took up all earthly faculties, which wisdom and virtue had prepared for him; and having hitherto been accepted by the angelic Powers not by the aid of his own substance, nor by the very species of his rank—that is, he was made acceptable to those in the camps of the angels—and having met with God in spirit, he did not just become a man B who saw God (let alone be called such), but, being made such through Him, he safely journeyed to the supernal and paternal tabernacles.
By this, a specimen of the theologian's wisdom and prudence is effected. A courageous spirit, and a vigorous prelude, he auspiciously starts the struggle that must be strenuously waged against the heretics, just as he girds himself for the more perfect conflicts. As the most pugnacious athletes, who do not immediately upon the first trial join battle with the stronger adversaries, but undergo a kind of training with those who are weaker, and are instructed with more abundant C labors, so that finally they may contend with the strength of the more powerful, they descend into the arena. Almost in the same way, Gregory, first having engaged with the impious in his homeland, applied his muscles as a strong wrestler against them with reason, and added manifold experience; then, having finished his life with a happy exit among his parents, and having performed his duties with laudatory discourse, and having been entrusted to the hands of the Chief of pastors as if to a safe fold by his own theology, he himself sets out for matters of greater import and for the dangers of doctrine. He D was approved as faithful in small things, and prepares for the care of many. Leaving Nazianzus, he travels directly to the imperial city. But at that time, a great mist was invading, and a grievous darkness of heresies; which, indeed, while some were fighting against others, were even more vehemently attacking the line of truth. For thus it was almost compared: it was as if vice and depravity were not just attacking virtue, but were bitterly attacking themselves. Upon those who held the right faith, a fierce storm was falling; everywhere a vast anxiety was poured out, and there was a great lack of counsel, since they had no one to shield the doctrine nor any defender.
It was possible to see it: across the vast and immense abyss, the sea stretched out, and the winds were dashing themselves against one another. These, indeed, blowing with milder orators, and twisting and turning [the ships] about, were gradually raising a storm, yet in such a way that they would not yet break the crashing, roaring waves. Then
suddenly, like a whirlwind, they rushed upon one another from all sides, and, colliding with an intolerable force of winds, they swell the sea, and tear it apart; the storm rising, the ships are alike lifted on high and depressed, and submerged by the sheer size of the waves and the surges.
A similar storm had invaded the city of Constantine; for most wicked spirits, setting the tongues and minds of some against others, were contending to tear apart and pridefully bring to ruin all who were attached to the true faith, and to bury in the deep of perdition those who remained. For some, having accepted the Libyan confusion of Sabellius, and through a misguided union, as it were a conflation—not knowing how great the distinction was—honored the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit merely in name; but they held the truths which these signify as naught, deeming them nothing but empty names lacking any reality, and combining for themselves a faith based on the Jewish opinion of the singularity of the principate, and on impiety. Others, the Arians, by their madness, and diametrically opposed to these—those whom I mentioned, fighting with the opposite opinion—were yet carried forward by an equal impiety; for they exceeded the impious, both in their conflation and in this division.
For just as the former, who feel that there is one nature of the Godhead, depart far from the truth regarding the person, so the latter, who, in addition to the three persons, introduce a division of nature, lead [the people] into impiety by the error of the Greeks; they introduce others who are foreign to the Father, and who are not of Him; nay, more, they pronounce them aliens to one another: by unequal, and, in truth, entirely unworthy degrees of the Godhead, they subject the Son to the Father, robbing the Spirit of the glory of the Father’s equal light; nay rather, they themselves, far removed and alien from the singular and one Godhead, incite some against others with their absurd opinions.
For those who had wandered from the middle path and had departed from the royal way (in which all virtue consists and true faith is maintained) were wholly occupied with excesses and defects, falling into the most dire contradiction and discord. And just as this happened to them in those matters concerning the Trinity, so it happened again to others in those matters regarding the incarnation of the Word of God: for while some, introducing two natures into Christ, felt that there were two Sons for themselves; others compelled them into one nature from one person: since he was there, and here, persisting in honest limits, he was at once to be torn apart and to be joined A regarding the nature of the matter.
For excess is indeed the opposite of defect, and defect of excess: yet both are excessive and improper; just as any vice is accepted, when it consists in this, that it is far removed from the right rule of mediocrity and proportion, just as if it were fighting against virtue. In this way it is perversely ordered, so that it does not only oppose the truth, but is by nature contrary even to error. They, therefore, being thus absurd in their fall, were at odds both with others and with the truth.
There were among them those who, while indulging in the union with the Father regarding the Son, yet felt the Spirit was alien to the Father, some impiously declaring him a son, others even a slave. Another kind of this depraved opinion: what of the Apollinarians, what madness is this of theirs? Who, it seems, taught that the Word had indeed taken on flesh, but insanely asserted that it lacked soul and mind.
This being the case, even among so many most dire opinions, against these fierce, monstrous storms, to the city of Augustus—tossed about as if by it—this admirable Gregorius, as a best governor from God, and under his auspices, leans in. And even as he, the true disciple of the Lord Jesus, as before this he was struggling on the sea at night, immediately upon his arrival, as he appeared, he suppresses the swelling of the waves; and, rebuking the winds, he turned the storm into a calm; as a strenuous imitator of Him, although it is permitted, he stood beside them as they were being tossed by the spiritual tempest, and commanding the storm, he calmed its waves.
And in what manner? He appears to me in a sight worthy of such a narrative. He enters Byzantium, not leading a retinue of attendants, nor surrounded by virtues. He has neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in his girdle; but adorned with faith, hope, and charity, as if with a splendor superior to the world itself than by the fashion of the world. Not with expensive B clothes, nor a multitude of mules for carrying baggage; he brought nothing else, whether small or great, of those things that it is the custom of men of great luxury to carry; but he brought the wisdom of Jesus and his poverty; and the restraint of the apostles, and, if I may say so, C an unequipped preparation.
Thus, therefore, arriving with such equipment as became him, to whom the apostolic function had been entrusted, first he dwells among those who were held to be his kin according to the spirit, as a guest: that is, in a small house near the great Anastasia [(13)]. This one, which perhaps might have seemed vile and almost useless, neglected by the heretics. D
in which also the author calls out his voice. A And what have been the labors and perils of that illustrious Virgin—Anastasia, I say, of her body, and of her spirit and mind—who long ago had already erected a mighty trophy against the devil in the glorious contest of her martyrdom, and had repeatedly recovered a greater triumph against diverse heresies through the labors of the Theologian; indeed, she was assailed by as many as were contentious, but asserted by the Orthodox with most brilliant victory.
For while from the outside she was of an appearance worthy to be beheld, and in her temple also (then indeed unadorned and small; yet by him increased in beauty and magnitude: for it is the very one which is now called the Theologian’s) there stood the priest; meanwhile within, in an unassailable state of mind, she was supported by him who leaned upon Christ for Anastasia, raising the broken, confirming the wavering; and when he had found her harassed by persecutors who were alive, he filled her with vital action and power. With upright speech and doctrine he filled the craving souls as with the truest wheat of good things; and he refreshed breasts fainting with long hunger with the immaculate bread of theology.
Joseph, that blessed man, though deceived by fraternal envy and sold to the Egyptians, and not betrayed by the mistress’s wiles; even though he was imprisoned for the sake of chastity, and interpreted dreams with his right hand, the prince of all Egypt, the dispenser and nourisher of grain, not only of one Egypt, but also of those abroad. Gregory, however, not yielding to fraternal envy, but to the necessary exhortations of Basil the Great and of the faith; nay, even moved by the counsels of a more profound providence, not attempting the wretched mistress’s defiled chastity, he openly fell into the snares of the heretics who were acting maliciously, and encountering their various deceits and mechanisms, escaping the snares of those who were hunting him with wiser doctrine, he served not one province or city; but for the one which is under the cosmos, he distributed the benefit.
He, therefore, is shown to be the dispenser and magnificent arbiter of that food which does not perish, but which remains unto eternal life. And he did so indeed, not only of bodily and temporal grain; and this he sold not for a price; but he himself was spiritual, and contained the souls; and he shines forth as a generous host unto the age; and he proposes the banquet to those who hunger without price and beautifully. How much, therefore, the mind is noble in perception, so much will the distribution of this grain be understood by those who have healthy souls, in my opinion, to be superior.
Truly, then, as the divine Gregory was such toward the domestic and necessary individuals of the faith, so he was always toward them: how he also shone toward his adversaries; in how many causes he encountered labors and perils; what contests he discharged, how, I ask, shall I represent this in speech? How shall I say that he was something preeminent, nor could I take it far from the truth? How, attempting to recount all his affairs, can I return a speech that is not irksome; or how could I omit most things, wishing not to cause immense loss to the listeners? His voice, and his opinion, were clearly necessary, so that many things might be explained in few words. For it was his part, and indoles, as to struggle magnificently and strenuously, so also to exhibit the magnificence of the contest in his speech.
When, therefore, the worst demons by their Grecian incantation, and by error, and by impure rites, and by every impiety, had ceased from the office of the divine apostles and the triumphant battles of the martyrs; and when the darkness of the wicked worship of idols had been removed, and the light of truth illuminated every soul, they could no longer fatigue the followers of piety with extraneous war; they incited the Christians against one another; nay, whatever was weak in us, leading them away into error, and with corrupt speeches they incited against them those who shone with exceptional piety, with sharp contention, engaging some with others; and using fraud and audacity, with the artifice of speech they rendered those hearing them to be followers of their simpler reasons; some, however, invading the weaker, and terrifying them with the fear of their forwardness, they strive to subject their impious sense to themselves.
What, therefore, is to be said of the man experienced in divine matters, the immovable column of the most accurate theology? Did he appear less than the wickedness of the most wicked? Or did he yield at all to the force of those who were entirely invading him? Or did he remit anything of his mean and piety? Or did he go through moderate perils for their sake? By no means; but opposing their audacity with prudence; and their craftiness with wily counsels, presence of mind, and confidence; nay rather, educing fortitude against audacity and rashness; and prudence against craftiness; he built an embattled front against their entire wickedness; and he so completely routed, put to flight, and thoroughly exhausted them, that he is like one cutting a path for a ship on the sea, or the traces of flying eagles, as the proverb has it, that you may see what vestiges of impiety were left behind for the age.
For indeed, for him, one thing was the work and the study, that he might break their force; but defend the truth; and that he might be most alien to the dissimilarity of the most wicked, and adhere entirely to the opinion of the pious. These, however, shaking it off from their soul, they insisted on their own error; and indeed, as heralds of the truth, they hold all partners of good to be such according to the character of their goodness.
A For they desired, as if they were patrons of a lie, to use the traitor and the enemy against him; and then they attempted to bring death upon him, which is what the right faith forbade. For those who are occupied with absurd reasons or actions, and are thus fashioned—as one is held by presumption and is free from the truth—if they should attempt to make corrections, they will not do so, like those who are fiercely opposed; and reproof, like the stripe and the blow, arouses and constructs against him who argues, by the counsel of a most bitter and cruel mind.
Indeed, concerning the Theologian, they disparaged his divine preaching—that is, speeches of such a kind that, far from advancing them toward the true and wholesome faith of the Trinity, they even joined it to the observing of commandments (from which salvation is believed to come through righteousness). To these efforts, he would add that mortification of the flesh and constant prayer, whereby the soul is cleansed of all its sum, and from this, in the ecstasy of the mind toward the Lord, the perception of divine illustrations, the fellowship of heavenly splendor, and lastly the fulfillment of the better wishes—by which a man is made perfect in God, and who by the renewal of the mind is transformed day by day into the likeness of Christ, not magnifying himself in life and doctrine to those who are worthy of salvation, but existing as a bulwark of salvation; while to the Arians, and to those who were their assistants—or indeed those who were further assistants in committing impiety against the Holy One—he was known as total ruin; for he knew that vice is rarely weary of the vice of assisting by a weary virtue, as is said, and the concord of associates (even if they differ or disagree among themselves); and so enmities, strife, and emulations, B angers, and those things which the great Apostle 88 afterward enumerated as the works of the flesh—and since this is the supreme sum of evils, they themselves accused him of doing nothing perfunctorily.
And these men, first indeed attempting with the speeches of malicious dialectics, striving to demolish the tower of truth; as if with a fortress, which relied upon the wisdom bestowed, and the confidence of their speeches and of his manner of speaking; and as if against an unyielding rock, they rushed upon the man of God with insolent audacity, and, driven by stupidity, and indeed assailing with impudence, they retreated, defeated by the excellence of the man; or rather, cast down by the wind or the whirlwind, they were scattered and ventilated by the spirit of his high speech, by the heat of the field; since it seemed most absurd that they, who by the strength of his speech and doctrine were already being surpassed by him in open debate, should then attempt to overwhelm him with stones.
And just as the murderous people of the Jews, when Stephen had spoken but one word to them 86; and because they could not bear that the heavens were opened to him, and that he should bear witness to the Son of man as equal in honor with the Begetter before the Father; they held their ears, and soon rising up, they stoned the sacred theologian A as he interpreted, just as they did Jesus, who before Stephen’s testimony, had cried out in the midst of the council itself: *I and the Father are one* 87; rising up they strove to stone him, as he had done, so that stones might be cast in vain: for what reason, then, did they not also seek to stone Gregory, the Father of God, and the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit, one Deity, which consists of three persons of the same substance, distinct yet not divided, as he discoursed excellently on the parts of the Theologian? Driven by immense rage and filled with fury, the leaders of that heretical host, because their prince and his dogmas had been utterly destroyed, sought to stone the most excellent interpreter of theology, as one who served his work and by the same means asserted the honor of the equal Trinity.
For while they were wickedly attacking the Deity that they were dividing, he rightly fostered that which fought for it with help; and the Spirit, who breathed in that grace, was present; He delivered him from the injury of those homicidal men; and keeping him unharmed from the hailstorm of stones, He prepared for him greater contests and more perfect crowns. For even those same men, having been convicted and disgraced, turned again to another most strong, and as they thought, altogether ineluctable fabrication. Namely, with various burdens of crimes, and inciting the prefect with these, making him more credulous and inclined toward the communion of the faith itself, and since accusing him, they brought Gregory, who had been suddenly apprehended, before the tribunal. And oh, the amazement! C The most approved disciple of the Peaceful One, and the most gentle arbiter of peace, was enduring the charge of being seditious and defiant; and because he was teaching, according to the divine Apostle 89, to embrace the faithful word, as one alien to the faith, he was being slandered by the impious for teaching his own things. He stood, however, as a strenuous man, as if he were someone among his own companions; not as someone before a great magistrate, judge, or one who was assisting.
Furthermore, in what manner appropriately, either against the arrogance of the prefect, or the pride of soul and the arrogance of speeches; or the prudence and gentleness of the man: to the contest, and to him, and to an exquisite satisfaction with words?
PREF. What does this mean, hey you, who are stirring up the magnificent and most august city with seditious machinations and mobs, especially when you are a stranger and a guest?
GREG. He said: What injury, what adversity, what seditious machination and petulance, scattered by rumors and by you, as you say, brings us to this? I am not conscious of any such things.
PREF. You, he says, with empty and profane words, are inciting the uncomposed mob to new things: you might seem to me to be provoking, you who are bringing spirits and insipid things upon yourself, and you are being driven by a certain sting into sedition (which is easily ceded to by these).
ORATION XX. — IN PRAISE OF SAINT GREGORY THE THEOLOGIAN
A To desire, moreover, to use the patrons of falsehood as an enemy, as a traitor, and to attempt both to bring about their death and to extinguish the right faith that he taught. For what mind have absurd reasonings or actions handed over to one who is preoccupied? And he is so disposed that he does not wish to be freed from the presumption by which he is held, fearing as enemies those who attempt to correct him; and, taking reproof in place of a stripe and a wound, he stirs up and prepares a bitter and most cruel counsel of heart against the one who exposes him.
And truly, to the Theologian, the discourses of divine preaching were held forth; namely, discourses of such a kind that they not only promoted them to the true and healthful faith of the Trinity, but also attached them to the charity of Christ through the keeping of the commandments (from which salvation and justice are believed to proceed). Added to these were the mortification of the flesh, and constant prayer, by which comes the total and full cleansing of the soul; from which arises the ecstasy of the mind toward the Lord, the perception of divine illuminations, the society of celestial splendors; and finally, the fulfillment of the better desires; by which the true man of God, made perfect, and who is transformed day by day into the likeness of Christ through the renewal of the mind, exists as a bulwark of salvation to those worthy of salvation—not less in the deity and magnificence of his life than in the illustrious clarity of his speech and doctrine. To the Arians, however, and to those who were their helpers and companions (furthermore, every phalanx of heretics were helpers in the attempt to bring about the death of the Holy Man; for vice knows how, not rarely, to be joined to vice, and B to associate the aggression of evildoers to the most approved soldier of peace and one tired of war—as has been said—so that it is concordant, although it is itself dissentient and discordant to itself)—to these, then, were hatred, strifes, emulations, angers, and the works of the flesh which the great Paul once enumerated; and what is the supreme evil of all, murder itself, was being prepared with no cursory effort.
And these, at first indeed trying with the discourses of wicked dialectic, litigating, making efforts to tear down the tower of truth; and as if repulsed by the guard of the wisdom in which he abounded, and by the confidence of his speech and discourse; and as if against a hard and firm rock, attacking the faith of the great man with insolent audacity—having been driven away by [their own] weakness, and approaching with impudence, but withdrawing defeated by the meagerness of their strength; or rather, having been crushed, and as dust by the wind and the whirlwind, having been shaken and winnowed from his divine discourse by the spirit of the summer threshing-floor; since it seemed most absurd to enter into new congresses of speech with him who surpassed every open force of speech and doctrine, they attempted thereafter to overwhelm him with stones.
And just as the murderous populace of the Jews, when Stephen had spoken one word to them—namely, that they themselves saw the heavens opened and the Son of Man at the right hand of the Father, when they could not bear to bring equal honor of the offspring with the Progenitor—stopping their ears and soon rising up, stoned the sacred C witness, having cried out in the middle of the council itself: "I and the Father are one," they strove to stone him, although he made it so that the stones were thrown in vain: for a like reason, when Gregory also was arguing in an excellent manner for the parts of the Theologian—that God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are one Deity, which consists as one in three persons of the same substance, distinctly and as if divisibly—they, driven by immense rage and filled with fury, the prince of the heretics and the bishop among them, as if their own dogmas were being fundamentally undermined, sought to stone the most excellent interpreter of theology, even as he was asserting that equal honor of the Trinity which was his work and the strength of his doctrine.
But because that deity which they were wickedly impugning and dividing was fostering him with aid as he fought rightly for it; and since that Spirit who breathed into his grace was present: he is delivered from the injury of the murderers; and, keeping him untouched by the hail of stones, he prepares him for greater contests and perfecter crowns. For those same people, convicted by that reason and affected by disgrace, turn themselves again to another—as they had thought—strongest and altogether insurmountable contrivance. Namely, burdening him with various crimes, and inciting the prefect of the city, more credulous and inclined toward the very communion of the faith, they bring the suddenly apprehended Gregory before the tribunal. And, O amazement! O the foolish D aggression of the wicked! The disciple of peace and the most gentle arbiter of peace was enduring the charge of being seditious and forward; and he who, according to the divine Apostle, was embracing the faithful word by teaching, was being accused by the impious as one who taught things alien to the faith, and things proper to heretics.
The strenuous man stood, however, as if to one of his companions and acquaintances; not as if he were standing before so great a magistrate and judge. How shall I explain in words, skillfully and appropriately, either the pride of the prefect, and his haughtiness of mind, and arrogance of speech; or the prudence and gentleness of the man, and the certain and exquisite satisfaction [made] to him?
PREF. What does this mean, hey you, that you are thus disturbing the magnificent and most august city with seditious agitations, especially when you are a foreigner and a guest?
GREG. To whom he said: What injury, or what seditious agitation and insolence, has been divulged by the accusers against us, and scattered by rumor? For I am conscious of no such things on my part.
PREF. Because, he says, you are inciting the uncomely crowd to new things with empty and profane words; and you seem to me to be stirring up trouble, for you are dedicating to yourself the minds of the ignorant and foolish, and are driving them into sedition (which is easily ignited in these).
A Since he was thus minded, and since he was so affected by these matters, fearing the dangers that were indeed rising up on behalf of the Trinity, as well as the exiles, the tortures, and death (the proofs, that is, of immortal life), he did not shrink from them; but he judged himself worthy of them in reality, by reason of the perils which he suffered.
They say that the Prefect, after hearing these things from him, was filled with admiration that a man so wise was in such a wonderful way tempered with virtue: so much so that the people, moved by piety and the divine preaching, broke out into such great applause, that they not only proclaimed him the "Theologian" by name—though he had previously been called that only there—but they also accorded him that title for the first time. Thus, in truth, he had absolutely conquered the theater; he had won over the judges (that is, the audience) to himself. And while he retreated to his home with reverence, they reproached the accusers so vehemently that they had nothing to say in return to the man who was arguing the importance of the case. Hence it is that, having been brought forth by the divine eloquence, he walked in the city squares with greater freedom, and spoke openly. Every brave soul, when it has not yet engaged in conflict, is for the most part fearful and tries to pull itself away from the battle; but when the struggle is finished, and the victory gained, it acts with courage and vigor.
A man indeed, like that Ausites, the blessed Job, for the excellence of his virtue was rendered an object of envy to the devil, and being demanded by him, he was first stripped of his property, and of his children, and even struck with the most grievous sores on his body; B and he was afflicted by the sharpest pains, and suffering the foolish talk of his wife, and using friends who were not prudent, and who afforded him not the slightest relief, nor were they at all devoted to God, but given over to foolishness—yet he was celebrated by a magnificent and illustrious proclamation at the end of his struggle; and, what is most excellent of all, the righteous preacher answered him with his voice, and from the whirlwind and the clouds. He, having been stripped of his property without any malicious emulation or ill-will, but rather having distributed it all to the poor according to the law of Christ; and not only having conferred his entire fortune upon them, but in one moment having suffered the bodily destruction of his children, yet enduring the loss with pain in his vitals, C he was afflicted not only in body, but even more so in the very center of his heart and soul, and suffered a deeper wound. For the Tempter employed, as if with javelins, the teeth and tongues of the most wicked men, and used them like sharp swords; and he smote him with the license of heretics to speak, and with their deeds, who—as if feigning friendship (among whom also was the Cynic Maximus; a man who, by his Cynic nature, his treacherous character, the impudence of his morals, and his snares—as is known to all, I shall say it: in one word, a machine, and artfully, conveniently, yet inconveniently applied—shone forth in that way, attempting to refute the truth and to vindicate it unto himself by the necessity of action, and by D a multitude of his thoughts), opposing his wonderful patience and long-suffering against all things, struck down the waves of insults no differently than the rising foam; but the administrator of envy suppressed all his malice and dark designs. But in the end, those things which were in question were doubled, and increased many times over, just as that good servant, having received authority over ten cities, or rather, like the faithful and prudent steward, was himself (and this is saying nothing great) set over all things that are his Master's. Yet the righteous preacher did not become proud: he became the Theologian, and then he was made magnificent, and then he was magnificently proclaimed.
Hence the Trinity, no differently than a lamp shining with a threefold light, being excellingly kindled in him, he could no longer endure to be constrained by silence: he did not think that he should any longer use indulgence toward those whose minds were weaker; but just as the most brilliant sun, when it is in the lap of the earth—for it temporarily protrudes above the horizon with rays that shed light on the mountain tops—conquers the density of shadows in the hollows of the earth; gradually advancing, it casts out the darkness entirely, and shares its light abundantly with the whole earth—unless there are some of that kind which feed by night and cannot bear the rays of the sun, which is to be compared to this, so that their sight is not so much illuminated by the excellence of the light as it is harmed, and because they are not suitable, they do not receive the splender as it is sufficiently explained; such are the dens and caves of rocks that it enters. And thus Gregory; for he who might rather be in that position—like the blushing of the sun—the Trinity rests, illuminating first those who are more sublime in mind, and filling every soul with lovable knowledge, yet yields an alien light to those who are obscured in the depths of the earth; for, not bearing the spiritual illumination of the divine rays, and therefore repelling the divine light, because it cannot receive the excellence of goodness through any evil of nature or depravity of soul.
Therefore, to the city and to those who are acting within it, and to the citizens, light arises in Gregory; but to the province, and to those who are outside, although they are deprived of the clarity of this light—or even to those who are nearby, and who occupy the furthest reaches of the earth—does the preaching not reach? Or does it arrive even to them, yet obscurely? Or clearly, but not firmly, and not permanently? By no means; but it cleanses and illuminates all things at once. It purges them with the remedy of heresy, those who were once possessed by ignorance; it illuminates them with the divine sermons of the noble and heavenly preaching; it increases—
A it perfects them through the union of the same most divine and holy nature.
I am not so carried away by the prolixity of my speech that I become nauseated; for which reason I am torn by a double emotion, and from here I am distracted in my studies. For fear indeed, lest I seem troublesome to many and ignorant of what is fitting, puts a check upon my speech; but what is better? For love, which forces me, does not allow me to hold back these things, which indeed compels and exerts its strength; conquering the whole breast, it makes me its own. For he, the Theologian, both in the magnificence of his discourses and in the divine excellence of his character, overcomes one as he suggests these things to the mind with lengthy comparisons, so that one might linger upon them and speak more.
This, therefore, comparing ourselves earnestly with Moses for the sake of the man, the great Gregory, let us consider from this also the excellence of the prelate’s deeds. Moses, I say, that one who was born of the holy root, and as an infant was exposed in the river for fear of Pharaoh; and being beautiful and elegant to the daughter of Pharaoh, was adopted as a son, and was prepared for the ruling of people? Does he not flee the humble and superstitious mind most willingly, and use a loftier contemplation, and being more pious, [is he not] superior to the world?
Not migrating like Moses to Mount B Madian, but ascending to the summit of the sacred peace of mind and of the lack of anxiety; nor like him, taking a mortal wife, but inflamed with the love of perfect wisdom, and adorned exceedingly with the crown of her graces; nor lacking in the understanding of cattle, but proved a most excellent shepherd of those who truly use reason, if any other mortal sees the Invisible 9; and having seen the revealed brilliance of the Lord, he is filled with contemplation 10 and with power; and he is sent to that Egypt. He is sent that he might acquire a people for the Lord; and freed from the murky ignorance of heretics, he might carry them over to the light of the truth living in the faith.
The rod, indeed, was not at all given into his hands by God 11; but rather, he himself became the rod of virtue, divinely sent. The rod, certainly, not that which is transformed into a seductive serpent 12, but that which is changed into the form of Christ, signaling the mind: not that which turns drinkable water into useless blood 13, but that which, by drinkable doctrine, wipes away their salt. Nor that which, by the onslaught of reptiles, afflicts the most voracious adversaries 14; but that which, by effective and living sermons, strikes the hardest mind and the proud like a whip; [striking] others indeed with a wound and a swelling sore, not by their own nature, but because of the moroseness of those who were defiled, having been wounded by the envy which heals all sores 15; to others, a consolation, a support, and grace. Indeed, to others, like hail, it is striking with fiery rays, consuming the souls of the obstinate with the density of its sermons and the divine fire 16; to others [it is] the figure of the tabernacle he was contemplating from the forms of the heavenly; there the lampstand C and the table; there the altars and the ark, and other things having been assumed in the likeness of heavenly things, he was contemplating by the law of the figure of God. These things, indeed, being handed down to the tribes, and showing himself as kin in body and kin in spirit to the priesthood of Aaron; but holding the office of leader entrusted by the Lord, when the reasonings of the divine counsel were accomplished, thus he lays down the ephemeral life, subject to death.
Thus indeed Moses; and he (to summarize in few words) was the mode of the life of his institution. But what of Gregory? Did he not shine forth as the most holy offspring of sacred parents? Was he not also exposed as a river to the age, and was he not marked as the Spirit’s own basket 7? He appeared elegant and dexterous in the disposition of the wisdom of the age, and was adopted as a son for the sake of his education, and was prepared. Does he not most willingly flee the humble and superstitious mind, and use a loftier contemplation, and being more pious, [is he not] superior to the world?
Not migrating like Moses to Mount D Madian, but ascending to the summit of the sacred peace of mind and of the lack of anxiety; nor like him, taking a mortal wife, but inflamed with the love of perfect wisdom, and adorned exceedingly with the crown of her graces; nor lacking in the understanding of cattle, but proved a most excellent shepherd of those who truly use reason, if any other mortal sees the Invisible 9; and having seen the revealed brilliance of the Lord, he is filled with contemplation 10 and with power; and he is sent to that Egypt. He is sent that he might acquire a people for the Lord; and freed from the murky ignorance of heretics, he might carry them over to the light of the truth living in the faith.
The rod, indeed, was not at all given into his hands by God 11; but rather, he himself became the rod of virtue, divinely sent. The rod, certainly, not that which is transformed into a seductive serpent 12, but that which is changed into the form of Christ, signaling the mind: not that which turns drinkable water into useless blood 13, but that which, by drinkable doctrine, wipes away their salt. Nor that which, by the onslaught of reptiles, afflicts the most voracious adversaries 14; but that which, by effective and living sermons, strikes the hardest mind and the proud like a whip; [striking] others indeed with a wound and a swelling sore, not by their own nature, but because of the moroseness of those who were defiled, having been wounded by the envy which heals all sores 15; to others, a consolation, a support, and grace. Indeed, to others, like hail, it is striking with fiery rays, consuming the souls of the obstinate with the density of its sermons and the divine fire 16; to others—
A the grace of his divine nature by reconciling the rays thereof, and brings it to perfection. I am not unaware that my speech is becoming so long that it may already be causing nausea; wherefore I am distracted by a double feeling, and am pulled in two directions by my interests. For the fear—that I might seem troublesome or lacking in decorum to most people—restrains the impulse of my speech. But what am I suffering? For, in truth, even when I wish to relax it, love, which compels me and forces its way, does not allow it; it vanquishes my innermost being, and openly leads me captive. For it, by suggesting to his mind more clearly—both the magnificence of the theologian's words and the divine excellence of his character in a longer range of discourse—with comparisons that range far and wide, convinces me to dwell upon them in my mind, and to speak still more. Let it be so, then, that even while diligently comparing the great Gregory to Moses—as far as our strength allows—we may also consider the amplitude of the prelate’s illustrious deeds. B To Moses, I say: to that man who was born of the holy root of Abraham, and who, on account of the fear of Pharaoh, was exposed as an infant in the river; who, being seen by the daughter of Pharaoh to be graceful, was openly adopted as her son; and who, for this very reason, was taught all the learning of the Egyptians, yet was not taught to unlearn the power of natural love for his kin. Because he was discovered to be not sufficiently well-disposed towards those who were raising him, and not in sympathy with them, he took flight, crossing over to the mountain of Midian, where he was joined in lawful marriage to a wife and became a shepherd of flocks; and, devoting himself to the contemplation of things divine, as much as it is granted to man to see, he beheld God in the bush. C The shadow of this form was contemplated there. There, the candelabra and the table; here, the altars and the ark, and other things assumed by the likeness of heavenly things, were contemplated earnestly by the man of God, using the reason of the figure. But these things he delivered to the tribes, granting the priesthood to Aaron, his kinsman in blood and kinsman in spirit; and entrusting the leadership of the people to Joshua his servant, and when every service of his works was fulfilled according to the reasons of the divine counsel, he thus laid down his perishable life, subject to death. Thus, indeed, was Moses; and this—to sum it up in a few words—was the manner of his life and his way of acting. D But what of Gregory? Did he not shine forth as the most sacred offspring of sacred parents? Was he not also exposed to the world as if to a river, and secured as if by a basket, by the seal of the Spirit? Having been seen as graceful and dexterous in his nature for secular wisdom, was he not adopted as a son into it, and was he not educated and prepared therein? Did he not, most gladly fleeing its humble sense and superstition, use contemplation that was more sublime and more in accordance with piety to attain wisdom that is higher than the world? Not migrating like Moses to the mountain of Midian, but ascending to the pinnacle of sacred tranquility of soul and imperturbability; not taking to himself a mortal wife like him, but inflamed with the love of perfect wisdom, and wonderfully adorned with the crown of her graces; not becoming a shepherd of irrational flocks, but a most approved shepherd of those who truly use reason, he sees the Invisible, if any other mortal does; and, having contemplated the glory of the Lord with face unveiled, he is filled, both with contemplation and power, and is sent into that Egypt. He is sent, indeed, to acquire a people special to the Lord; and, having set them free from the dark ignorance of the heretics, to transfer them to the luminous inheritance of the truth of those who live in the faith. He, again, having been sent with the power of signs into Egypt, and overcoming the hardness of the Egyptian heart, afflicts them with a manifold scourging and plague, and with a high arm delivers his own people; and indeed, redeeming them from Egyptian moroseness, and leading them by a pillar of fire and a cloud, he acts as their guide to the promised land. Then, having divided the Red Sea, he made the way plain for them with dry feet, and that same sea, having closed again upon itself, was at once the destruction and the tomb of the pursuers. Hence, the cleft rock pours forth rivers; and wood heals the bitterness of the waters. And although he draws down, as if with rain, birds—not like dust, but in an abundance of savory doctrine—and although he provides, from heaven, the true bread, which brings [alt-version omitted]; yet, by his extended hands, he puts to flight thousands of enemies; and by the just sentence of God, he in turn condemns the murmuring people to death. What is greatest of all, and holds the greatest admiration, he ascends the high mountain alone, and, having been purified in body by a forty-day fast and cleansed in mind, he is vouchsafed, in the presence of the dread scrutiny of God, a more excellent appearance in the form of fire, and voices, and trumpets, as if in symbols; and, receiving the laws inscribed on stone tablets, and the various rites of the sacrifices therein, he wipes them out. The rod was not, by any means, handed into his hands by God; but rather, he himself is made the rod of power sent by God. A rod, indeed, not one that is transformed into a seductive serpent, but one that is transformed into a form reflecting Christ and the mind. It is not one that changes drinkable water into blood, useless for drinking. It does not crush adversaries when a swarm of reptiles, and those most voracious, creeps in; but with effective and living words it lashes the hardest and proudest mind as if with a scourge; to some, indeed, a swelling wound and plague—not by its own nature, but due to the moroseness of those who had been wounded and defiled by envy, more incurably than any ulcer—but to others, a good consolation, a support, and a grace. And indeed, to some, coming on like hail and fire, it consumed the minds of the contumacious, both by the density of his words and by the fire of divine sensations.
A 475 Not from the shadow of things, but from the truth itself, by the standard of reality; nor according to the order of Aaron, but by that standard whereby divine Paul, discharging the duties of the Gospel of the kingdom; and, as the great High Priest Jesus Christ became a victim for His people, offering prayers, not once a year in the Holy of Holies he resided, but incessantly approached the spiritual and heavenly altar, bringing salvation to us.
In the same way, not only does he become an example of Moses the Theologian, but even more so: in that, inasmuch as truth excels the very shadow which marks it out, so much, I think, a more illustrious perfection is shown in him. What then? If he excelled in the life of imitation, so that he shone forth higher and more brilliant, did he fail in the imitation of the succeeding prophets and just men? Or did he excel others in virtue, whereas he was excelled by others? Or did he conduct himself in equal measure with them, or did he leave them behind by a small interval, barely reflecting the second place in virtue? By no means. For if he surpasses Moses and all the prophets, and those who gave the laws, to such a degree, how much more will he exceed the rest in the abundance of magnificent grace? But as for the continuous series of virtues, if they consider the monument of his life, it is worth the effort to recount the story once again.
Meanwhile, while Gregory is intent on these things, and while he brings back the erring sheep B; and seeks those that were lost, and binds up those that were broken, as the holy scriptures reveal, he places them in the meadows, and feeds them with the water of true refreshment; in all respects (both those that pertain to action and morals, and those that pertain to faith) like harmful grass and noxious things, he drives away iniquities, and leads them on the paths of justice; and by the law he sanctifies, not the cleansing of the temporary body, but the mortification of the feelings of the flesh; nor does he show the rite by which animal victims are sacrificed; but he shows the life-giving Spirit, which through faith stands forth; and like an arrow he strikes the hearts of the Anomoeans most skillfully, just as if with most luminous rays, he stretches forth with his holy doctrines, and brings light to the elect; of a sudden, the power of the tyrants is loosened and falls, as the legitimate authority is designated; and the power of the impious is entirely eliminated, while the pious ones take courage; to the heretics it is C justly denied, and to the people of God the horn of salvation is raised [*]; and the most clement emperor, supreme in his hatred of the wicked, constitutes him with himself; so that, indeed, those who would overturn the trinal monarchy, exchanging shame for honor, might be overturned; and those who with equal honor have exchanged nature for honor, and held what is equal to be above what is honored, and worship the same, might be driven out by those whom they had despised, having elevated those who were excepted in honor, in that they had stood in their way.
D 476 And thus he restored them to their own places, having removed them from the churches under injustice.
But from the very beginning of the empire that had been conferred, he is diligent in executing these two things. Which ones, pray? Surely, to confirm the decrees of the Niceaean Fathers in the ecumenical synod, and to extinguish the novelties of the heretics that had succeeded them, and to dispel the ecclesiastical disputes. This was the first plan of the great Theodosius; but as for placing Gregory in the Constantinopolitan see, and bestowing upon him the second work, he cared for it no less than the previous one, even if somewhat more slowly.
Gregory, however, who had a mind superior to all ambition, and was moved by paternal affections for the flock, received with the greatest willingness the church that had been conceded to him; but he deferred entering the see, as long as he could. Then, indeed, though he yielded nothing to the wishes of bishops, nor to many others, and especially to the prelate of Antioch; that great Meletius, who is said to have desired this for the sake of the struggles of the holy Trinity, which he sought with much earnestness. By the divine judgments of this man, the emperor, through the force of his insistences, and by the entreaties of the faithful citizens; or rather, obeying the divine dictates, he is raised to the seat of command, to the office of the exalted prelate. He is placed above the supernal candelabra; and as a preacher, he undertakes a higher watchtower. What then? As to what excels kings, so that they might reign over the earth, and tyrants might be crushed from the earth [*], the blessed Trinity raises the needy from the earth, and lifts the poor from the dung [*], should He not also place the most approved servant, and the most perfect prelate in the pontifical see?
But he does not move to the seat by the judgment of any person, against the sacred law of the Church, or by an illegitimate regulation. For neither is this translation such a thing, nor is it an election; but since it is the first and only one in the imperial city, he is placed there for the dignity of the bishop and for the duty of the see. For the fact that he was first, as I was saying, the prefect of Sasima, was only for the sake of promotion, and he did not receive the see, nor was he ordained completely in that place, and he did not celebrate the mystic initiation as a substitute for the prelate; because that was entirely inept for sustaining the episcopal see. But he cared for the Nazianzen chair at one time, when his father was the bishop: not as one who had been created his successor, or as one who had ever undertaken that see. Only at the exhortation and command of his Father, as one who would fulfill the lack of sacred ministry, he undertook the care of that place, so that he might be a support for his old age, and a support for paternal weakness. That he stood in such a condition is also clear from his own writings, in which he writes to Gregory, who was surnamed after him. For it is agreed among all that he was not created the prelate of Nazianzus, but of Sasima; even if in his reverence for his father, and for those who supplicate him in this regard.
A For a short time, as if we were receiving guests, but we received them only for a brief period. Therefore, after the Father had exchanged mortal life for the divine, as we have already found him filled with the grace of the Spirit and human doctrine of greater excellence, He afterwards established him as a most illustrious effect, as visible to the eyes on the throne of the august city as he was a spectacle to the soul; but he placed him as a good Shepherd, a great pontiff for the whole world.
It is worth while that we should not be silent about the manner of his entry into that uncomfortable see. For once that divine and saving command and decree had been published, that the Theologian should be placed in the see; and as if you were saying that he preached the Trinity as God; it was to be seen that almost the whole of creation, for the sake of his promotion, was moving. For then, I think, all the powers of heaven, in mind, immaterial, those going before, those following, the attendants, were joyfully applauding the sacred entry of the divine prelate: all the crowds of profane demons, as many as circle the aerial region, and as many as have reached the place near the earth, set themselves the task of seducing the race of men, hastening into the subterranean lairs; since they could not bear the lightning of the divine Spirit. But the assembly of the pious, arriving as a companion to the faithful emperor out of reverence for the faith, leading the greatest festive gathering towards the entrance of the prelate, broke into the sacred edifice with splendor and magnificence.
You would have seen there the applause of the entire people, songs of victory; and to whom they might render thanks to God, to whom to the emperor. You would have seen men, women, old men, boys, servants, nobles—every age, every class of human being—those who lived a solitary life, and those who lived the common, ordinary life, priests and laymen, in almost every human way, as if some flow from heaven, flowing in, those going before, those meeting, those jostling, others in opposition, some pushing and being pushed, all rejoicing, all exulting, all joyful in soul, all contending for the good contest. The virgins were not missing from that sacred spectacle. But they were entering the sacred festive enclosures, covered in honest gravity. For all there was the contest, and the contention, that they might approach the prelate; some, so that they might succeed those who were approaching near; others, so that they might see the entrance even from afar, just as if some advantage were being perceived from this. The soul that is joined in mind with the one in whom it believes, while it observes even his shadow from afar, is excited by devotion, rejoices, and strives with all its zeal to join itself to him: just as if with some spur of greater friendship, from the sight of the object, joined even in body, as if that were the goal.
Not so did the Jewish people once around the temple of Jerusalem, B when Solomon was celebrating its dedication, flow together; nor was the celebration of the people for David so full when the ark was located and placed to rest, and in that entrance they were overflowing; for Gregory was present. Indeed, those who shone with right faith, such was their running and eagerness; nor was the train of heretics absent from that common gathering of the people. But there were those, and others among them, who were cut by envy in their souls; nor did they bring their depravity into the light; some were driven into rage, thirsting for slaughter, and were inciting to kill; but by the hidden hand of God, that raging onslaught was restrained. And for them, indeed, the snares, the plots, the disturbances and seditions were meditating the shedding of innocent blood; C but the Trinity (since it is a lover of the good) was keeping its defender and champion safe from all wickedness.
You would have seen from there the gatherings taking place on both sides, and the battles joined, the Anomoeans to wit, as if towards those beholding them, defending the churches (for to those who had possessed them for a longer time, or even if the possession is most unjust, it is not rare that from continuous detention, the judgment of faith occurs, though the Homousians tenaciously retain the same things, defending them, as if they had acquired them as a recent gift, for the emperor’s kindness, as the best teacher and witness for the Theologian, as if by legitimate inheritance they had acquired them).
You would have seen that sacred melody actually being achieved, D to wit, the horn of the righteous truly exalted in glory; but the sinners seeing it, and being angry, and gnashing with their teeth, and pining away; their desire perished. For there was not any chance that in the long run falsehood would resist and withstand, nor that against the truth it would brace its battle line to the end: but as a winter storm, or cold that freezes, while the sun still lingers far off, and travels the southern path, it is late, it constricts all nature, and presses it: but it again, when those parts are already inclined towards the north, and when it revolves in the summer solstice, emitting clearer and stronger rays, grows hot, and the spirit recovers its life, whatever is in things that truly shine more merrily, winter easily retreats, and is dissolved, and is driven into internal recesses and hideouts in turn. In almost the same way, that heavy heresy, and that dark mist, and dark storm, not unlike the harshest winter, and the cloud spread over the Churches, and pressing the hearts of the pious, Gregory, with his sermons, like the sun, shining in it, Christ to wit, radiating; and having dissolved and consumed those more clearly and brightly shining things; and having changed the firmament of the Church into a state of glowing lights, and the clarity of peace.
Of this, indeed, the certain argument, and conjecture,
A they deemed worthy of their zeal, with an equal spirit and shared purpose.
The sun and moon, although visible to the eyes, are by no means hindered in their course. For to whom with the understanding is the sun perceived, not once, but perpetually, attending upon the heights of his mind, and passing through the heavens; B and furthermore, his wisdom, which excels through the usage of the ages like the beam of the moon shining forth, makes him a victor against the enemies of God, and a conqueror: for those whom they possessed as land, namely the Church, through possession.
He possesses, I say, that inheritance, not one that dissipates and easily flows away; but a stable one, migrating also to the future age, nor possessed only of those things which are on earth and visible to the eyes; but through it, as the C Jerusalem above, that free one [(Gal. IV, 26)], passing over [(Hebr. XII, 23)] not alone, but with the congregation, a crowd of the faithful, he obtains those untainted lots ascribed to the fathers, according to the reckoning of his labors.
That the promised land flows with milk and honey has been brought forth by the testimony of Holy Scripture [(Exod. III, 8)]; but for Gregory, it was indeed the honey of theology; for the doctrine was a stream flowing with milk. Or rather, it was a work laborious in virtue, which he supplied in abundance to those who cultivate the soul as a bee to its arguments, and most tenacious of labor; D but the milk was the latex of sermons, most broad and most nourishing. For by these most divine reasonings, he moved the Church.
This man acted with zeal, both before he had attained the seat, and even after attaining it. For he did not deem the repose from labors, but the increase of cares, anxiety, and the excess of toils, to be a position of power; he knew of only one refreshment of the soul, the progress of the disciples in the ways of piety; one refreshment and relaxation of the body, a retreat into himself and to places more remote from the usage and company of men, a turning to himself, and a diligence and care for the affairs of the soul: which indeed had him rising to the highest contemplations, having the willing consolation of the Paraclete; the remaining delights of the soul, and the relaxations of the body, he considered to be of the coarser sort and, in comparison, cast them aside.
For when a human soul is captured by these things and grows arrogant—namely by glory, riches, and pleasure—it is usually moved by the reasonings of the mind; nor is it softened by the love of money, nor by pride and haughtiness held by the vanity of empty glory; for from his tender years, the desire for such things was utterly extinguished in him. Nor (as happens to most people) was he overcome by the appetites of the belly; but having cast off all the fragility and transient pleasure of an easier life, he exercised himself for the sake of virtue with labors and sweat.
A They deemed it worthy of labor. The sun and the moon, though conspicuous to the eyes, were by no means hindered in their course. And why should they be? But he who is understood as the sun by the mind—not once, but perpetually—stood by his sublime mind and pervaded the heavens; nay, he also, as the most lucid appearance of that wisdom which is provided by the custom of the age, shining forth like the radiance of the moon, makes him a victor against the enemies of God and a conqueror: and having consigned them to death, he enters upon the land which they had possessed, namely the Church, in possession. Whereas before that sacred entry into the air, the density of the fog and darkness was such that the decrees of the age could not be submitted to the soul with equal belief. But when he entered the Church, with the whole city and the Emperor as companions, and with the entire assembly of the Church singing hymns of praise, and with the divine high priest placed upon the throne, and with the faces of all washed with a fervent shower of tears—their souls being truly stricken, and not being able to receive such a force of benefit with dry eyes; when, finally, the clamor, the joy, and the mingled sadness and supplication erupted by the gesture, manner, and mouth of the entire people; that most dense night and darkness were immediately dissolved; and a most splendid light, shining forth at once, thrust the hopes of the heretics into obscurity, while it bathed the souls of the pious—their bodies already excepted—in clarity, with sorrow overcoming and turning into joy that was B exceedingly great. Thus, for sure, the Lord is accustomed, just as He is to increase those who glorify Him with clarity, so also to reject those who despise Him.
Jesus, the leader of the war of Israel, was indeed admirable, having been created in the place of Moses; and having crossed the Jordan with all his forces with a dry footprint, and having deployed his line of battle against the nations and most powerful kings, and being prepared for war, he overturned with a bloodless victory whatever he had encountered—and it was right that he should overturn and destroy it—whom the right hand of the Most High protected above all. By the single blast of trumpets, the most robust walls were shaken and fell; and then entire cities and the whole crowded multitude of citizens were cut down: the most warlike kings, once the impression was made, were struck down not only by arms, but also by stones that had fallen from heaven like a shower of hail; and even they were bitten terribly by the stings of wasps that went before them. C And what is greater and more insolent, the sun stood still, the moon was checked, and heaven itself was present with Israel as a help in war, fighting against the senseless. By these means, with the providence and care of God having cut them off, they came to their substances and faculties by the lot of distribution, through the hand of Jesus, dividing their land and whatever had been of their dominion.
But Gregory, having been entrusted with the sacred prefecture of the true Israel, like a river rapidly gathering its waters, harmlessly passed over the long and foolish babblings of the impious; because he himself possessed a high hand that mightily protected him, just as he suddenly dashed to the ground, with the most clearly sounding trumpets of his theology, the illegitimately gathered sodalities and assemblies of the heretics—as if they were cities and towns—and he shattered the strong patrons of blasphemies and their high priests, as if by blows of stones and dense hail, with celestial senses; finally, as if by a great swarm of wasps, wounding them with the frequent stings of his discourses, he altogether destroyed some, as many, that is, as were driven by the greatest temerity and dared to fight obstinately with God; others he endowed with a better life, as many, surely, as D possessed, I say, and entered upon the inheritance—not one that flows away and easily slips off, but one that is stable and migrating to the future age, and not merely that which is on earth and visible to the eyes, but he passed through that free city (the Church, that is, of the firstborn); not only he himself, but with the assembly and the crowd that accompanied him, according to the measure of each person’s labors, he obtained the incorruptible lots inscribed to the fathers to be possessed.
It is recorded by the testimony of Holy Scripture that the promised land flows with milk and honey; but in Gregory, the honey is the sweetness of theology; the milk, doctrine flowing with constant moisture. Or rather the honey is the laborious toil of virtue, which he abundantly provided to the cultivator of souls, like a busy bee, most tenacious of work; the milk, truly, is the most abundant, and most nourishing, flow of discourses. While he ruled the Church with these, he was moved by these best and most divine reasons. He did these things before he attained the see; these things he did even after he had attained it, out of zeal. For he did not consider his prefecture to be a rest from labors, but an accession of cares, anguish, solicitude, and an overabundance of labors; yet he knew one joy of the soul, the progress of his disciples in the ways of piety; one refreshment and relaxation of the body, a withdrawal to places more remote from the use and custom of men; in the conversion to himself, the diligence and care of the reasons of the soul, by which, surely, his mind rising to the highest contemplations, he gladly had one consolation of the Paraclete; the other pleasures of the soul and relaxations of the body he cast off for those who were coarser and more prepared for the needs of the body. For since the soul of man is caught and becomes insolent by these three—namely, glory, riches, and pleasure—he was neither moved by the reasons of the mind, having been elated by the pomp and pride of empty glory; nor was he caught in soul, having been softened by the love of money; for indeed, from his very tenderest years, all desire of such things was extinguished in him. Nor did he (as happens to most) yield, having been conquered by the various pleasures of the belly; but having cast off all the fragility and transient pleasure of an easier life, he exercised himself for the sake of virtue with labors and sweat.
A And let them follow their own counsels; they would rather speak falsely to themselves than that they should addict themselves to the law of piety.
He, however, who had hitherto sustained the task of pleasing all—which was in him, according to the great Apostle, to "please all men"; which was yet more, that he might gain all; taking away the lust for pleasing and the crime of sycophancy, and, as from the beginning he held it, he was ignited with an immoderate desire for philosophy; he possessed a seat, specifically a celestial, invulnerable, and untransferable one; and knowing the reward for the labors of this life, and for that ascent, and the session thereafter; and knowing the honor that men would bestow, he yielded to those who desired to expose him to lawsuits; and, saying "Farewell to the cities," and to the urban turmoils, and freeing himself from business, he journeyed hitherto to his native land.
Having returned there again, and having purged his fatherly Church from the madness and stain of the Apollinarians, and having been entrusted with the domestic affairs, and from then on, having withdrawn himself into an august solitude in the territory, he gathered himself together from exterior cares; he bound together the churches over which he presided by letters; he himself, however, becoming more accustomed to the greater force of contemplation and the most absolute supreme philosophy, and employing that preceptor of mystic arcana, he then taught more expressly and perfectly the true knowledge of all the symbolic sacred emblems; and he also delivered that symbolic representation, superior and eminent, of the knowledge of the truth.
Others, indeed, of the prophets, were informed by others in visions and as rulers of the soul; and some C indeed were seen upon a throne "high and lifted up"; others were carried by four-formed animals, being invisible; others, just as the elect, in the shape of fire; and others again considering Him with a human form, and with various likenesses of shapes, and as those of a diverse kind, as if by nature, he is designated not by any certain species of form, and is the author of all things, and is perceived by them according to reason, and he takes all things into himself, and he takes on all things as if he were indulgence; as if in dark enigmas, and in representations, he is void of all quantity and quality, and they see him in the state of being before. But he, having been instructed in all the visions at once, which each saw separately, and in the light of the truth exhibited by the Gospel, was imbued with the highest compendium of contemplation; and being grafted onto the old, he is made a vessel of the entire plenitude of the knowledge of God, and a seat. In Christ, indeed, we believe that the whole plenitude of the divinity dwells bodily; but into this man, we perceive that the whole flows through the Spirit in Christ.
Jonas, indeed, the son of Amathi, and Daniel also, and the three children; the former, indeed, was cast to the sea beast; the latter, was given as food to lions in the pit; and D after those, he who was saved by the grace of God from the violent emerging currents, and having emerged, signed and closed his own navigation of the soul with a most safe exit.
A Since he had seen that the action regarding the more intense counsel he had proposed for himself had reached a favorable end, and one corresponding to his own diligence and hope—namely, with every popular tumult and contention having been utterly divided and torn apart by the wickedness and contradiction of the tongue of the Anomoeans; and with the entire sacred assembly of the Orthodox having been restored to the holy Churches, and having grown so in virtue and faith that a divine sanctification was seen to flourish completely upon them. There were indeed present, those more distinguished bishops and nobles whose arrival was expected; they were present, not that they might raise up fallen Churches (for this had already been done beforehand, illustriously, by the labors of the sacred high priest), but that they might confirm his acts. Not that they might strengthen and stabilize a wavering faith (which he had fortified with adamant deeds and words), but that they might approve his doctrine concerning the Deity with their vote. Nor that they might then defer the glory of the Consubstantiality to the Spirit, and assert that the Son is God equally with the Father, but that all, with common suffrage, might consent to his divine preachings.
B For what was previously granted to the great son of thunder, to declare the glory of the Only-Begotten, and, above the rest of the Evangelists, to preach clearly that He is God—for which reason he was also knowingly called the Theologian—this same thing was subsequently granted to him whom we are now praising, in regard to the Paraclete. For when some were delivering Him as alien to the Deity; while others were indeed associating Him with the Deity, yet could not be induced to call Him God openly, but rather consulted that moderation for the sake of their own sloth, or for the souls of those who were weaker; he alone, and almost alone before all others, preached the Spirit as God, consubstantial with the Father and the Word, clearly, and with great clarity and confidence; of which free preaching he also obtained a most magnificent reward, in that he obtained the name of Theologian, by which he excels others—a name far brighter than countless treasures of gold and all precious stones.
C Therefore, with the sacred assembly of bishops and the entire city testifying that the Church was enjoying victory, and truly attributing that exploit to his contests, labors, and sermons, as something greater than all things, and ascribing to him the cause of the change for the better, and regarding it as a worthy reward that he should be placed in a sublime see; he himself, weary of ecclesiastical affairs and turmoils, and also to avoid disputes arising from his institution and see, and thereby to procure peace for the Churches; not to mention now also declining the care of pleasing the court and the citizens. For most priests incline more toward their own desires than to allow others to follow their counsels; and they prefer that others yield to them than that they themselves be bound by the law of piety. But he, although he had until then endured pleasing everyone, so that, as far as it was in him, he might—according to the great Apostle—win everyone; yet, furthermore, as if removing the crime of a desire to please and of flattery, and casting it off; and also being kindled with an immoderate desire for the philosophy which he had loved from the beginning and had maintained as a pillar; and knowing that there is one seat—the celestial one, exposed to no envy, and untransferable—and that his ascent is the wage for the labors of this life, and his session is for that [life]; he spurned the honor that men might bestow; and yielding the height of the sees, which are exposed to litigations, to those who desired them; and bidding farewell to the Churches and the August ones, he removed himself from urban turmoils and business, and migrated to his homeland, which had been his until then.
D Having returned thither again, and having delivered his fatherly Church, purged of the plague of the insane Apollinarians, to those of the household of faith; and having from then on withdrawn into a corner of the earth as a solitary, he had collected himself entirely from the cares of external things; he was indeed strengthening and binding together the leaders of the Churches by letters; but he himself, becoming accustomed to the better way of contemplation and most absolute philosophy, and to the Supreme Desirable One, and using the very Instructor of secrets, is taught the true knowledge of all figurative, sacred symbols, both more expressively and more perfectly; and then [he is taught] the knowledge of the truth itself, which is superior to every symbolic representation and eminent above them.
Some of the prophets were informed by the power of the soul and the mind in visions of the Spirit; and some beheld Him borne upon a high and lifted throne; others saw Him borne on the quadriform animals, invisible; and at times in the appearance of electrum, at times of fire; others, again, contemplating Him in human form, in various images of figures and forms of different kinds, as upon One who by nature is not marked by any certain species or form, and is the Author of all, and for that reason, according to the capacity of those who see, He undergoes and puts on all things by indulgence; as it were in enigmas and obscure representations, lacking all quantity and quality, they saw Him in anticipation. But this man, having been most sincerely taught the illustrations and power of all the visions together, which they saw separately, and being imbued with the compendium of the most high contemplation of the truth manifested by the entire Gospel; and with that new sacred science built upon the foundation of the old, he is made a vessel of the entire fullness of the wisdom of God, and a seat. For we believe that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Christ; but in this man, we perceive that the whole Christ has passed through by the Spirit. That Jonah, son of Amathi, indeed, and Daniel also, and the three children; the former, indeed, cast into the marine beast; the latter, given as food to the lions in the pit; but... [the remainder of the passage on page 486 is covered by the OCR].
the prediction of the time A and the end has come. But since divine knowledge and a far more sublime state than your virtue are distant from me, do you yourself, blessed man, who stand before the inaccessible Trinity, draw closer to us with your divine spirit, and with the seraphic coal of fiery eloquence, and touch my unworthy lips, cleansing them from iniquity, and fulfilling them with more perfect sacred knowledge, and divine consummation; first indeed with the more secret doctrine of the holy Trinity and the divine fulfillment of your most marvelous virtues; since I am made a worthy praiser of your virtues, accept us into your protection; so that by your clearer and more divine light, and by the grace overflowing above us, we may deserve to give glory to God together with you, and to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, in one Deity, and kingdom, and power, now and always, and for ages of ages. Amen.
OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS IGNATIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE, HIS LIFE OR STRUGGLE, WRITTEN BY NICETAS, SERVANT OF JESUS CHRIST, THE PAPHLAGONIAN.
LIFE OR STRUGGLE OF OUR HOLY FATHER IGNATIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE, BY NICETAS, SERVANT OF JESUS CHRIST, KNOWN AS DAVID THE PAPHLAGONIAN
BIt is both excellent and salutary, when the life and deeds of all other saints are recounted and proclaimed, to hand them down to future generations as a teaching and an encouragement toward virtue: but it is particularly so for those who were gifted with the office of bishop, who by the splendor of their lives incited the bitter adversary to the greatest envy, and who, with the unconquered patience and greatness of soul of all, declared their outstanding fortitude against him. But if it happens that these men draw closer to our own time and age, they become all the more memorable and praiseworthy for all, since by their proximity they can be of much greater benefit to the Church. For that which has happened in the distant past, though it deserves belief on account of the authority of the writer, is nevertheless often despaired of by most as a subject for imitation; for they judge that it is better than the present, of those who were elders or those who were of old and separated by long intervals of time, and if it is believed [due to the authority of the writer], yet the desire to imitate it is despaired of by most; as [they judge] it to be better than the present.
THE LIFE OR CERTAMEN OF OUR HOLY FATHER IGNATIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE, Written by Nicetas, servant of Jesus Christ, who is also called David the Paphlagonian.
A It is both a most excellent and a saving thing to record and recount the lives of all the saints, and to transmit the history of their lives as an education in virtue and an encouragement to the generations that follow. B But this is especially true of those who have been adorned with the venerable high priesthood, and who, by the brilliance of their own life, have stirred up the bitter seeker and adversary to a state of unrestrained jealousy, and who, by the unyielding endurance of their labors and their nobility, have displayed a brilliant triumph over him. Now, if it should happen that they lived in the final times, and approached these times of ours, they would be far more worthy of memory and praise than all others, as they are able to edify the Church all the more effectively through their proximity. For what is ancient and separated by a vast length of time, even if it is believed on account of the trustworthiness of the written record, yet is more quickly abandoned by most people when it comes to imitation, for they reckon it to be superior to the present, and to those [who lived] C in the ages of our ancestors, who were able to attain much more than we can with our virtue. But as for those things which are believed to have been attained in our own times, I think these stir up the pious all the more, and inflame them with an equal zeal to emulate virtue. For this reason, my desire has been strongly spurred on—though there is also a goal [now]—to pursue this contest, not by my own word, but with God as my guide, the Spirit of Truth leading me, to show to those who do not know him, what sort of man and how great this prelate and pastor of the royal city was in his walk of life. I speak of Ignatius, who, although he came later in time, and was revealed to this generation of ours as D standing before those who were his ancestors, yielded nothing to the high priests before him in faith, in confession, or in the struggle for justice, and in his victory for God. Regarding him, I have sought from the beginning to recount his life, from its start to its end, with greater accuracy, and, having been fully persuaded by written and unwritten accounts concerning him—which I now recount impartially and without apostolic [favoritism], for I am confident that, first, before Him who is substantial and living, I shall write the truth—and secondly, that time is already sufficient to thin out and dispel the cloud of ignorance that has grown thick and dimmed the minds of many, so that those who wish to perceive the truth genuinely may truly know, celebrate with praises, and emulate the worker of justice and virtue, and justly reject the author of evil and his [index: entries preserved]
THE LIFE OF ST. IGNATIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE, BY NICETAS PAPHLAGON
C This blessed and divine prelate, Ignatius, had his native land on this earth in Constantinople; I speak of the most famous royal city of all the surrounding country and empire. D His parents were the emperor Michael and the empress Procopia, the most noble and faithful sovereigns. Now, Michael was the son of the patrician Theophylact, an illustrious man, and Procopia was born of the pious emperor Nicephorus. When the former had ascended to the heavenly kingdom, and his son Stauracius had administered the empire for a very short time and had also departed, this aforementioned Michael, who was the son-in-law of the deceased Nicephorus (having married his daughter), and was held in the highest honor in the palace (for he was curopalates), was chosen by God’s decree and by the votes of the entire senate, and had the scepter of the empire placed in his hands. Regarding his pious mind toward the divine, his other virtues, and his justice, I leave the narration to those who wish to chronicle everything done by him. For the present, it suffices to praise the gentleness and equity of his character, which he showed, not merely in appearance; and after he had guided the empire for a short time—or rather, a time very close to two years—most piously, he willingly abdicated it, ceding it to Leo the Armenian, who had seized it with tyranny, saying he was a commander first chosen by the Easterners, and was then plotting a revolt against the Bulgarians. The blessed man voluntarily withdrew from power, and from the arrogance of worldly display, and from civil wars and
A envy; and he deemed voluntary withdrawal and peace to be much better and more beneficial both for himself and for the common good, as a son of true peace. He departed from the city with his whole family, and B retired to the Princes' Islands; and there he lived a monastic life not merely in outward appearance, but in reality, having committed his own judgment to God the King of all.
To this blessed Michael, who so admirably exchanged earthly for heavenly rule, they say there were born five children in all; of whom two were daughters, the first named Georgia, and the youngest Theophano; and they fell asleep in the Lord, having preserved their life and monastic C habit in virginal purity. There were three of the male line, Theophylact, Stauracius, and Nicetas. Of these, Theophylact was the firstborn, and Stauracius, both of whom were crowned as the first of the emperors; then the one who was still quite young in years, Stauracius, died before his father’s abdication. Theophylact, however, being tonsured as a monk together with his parents, was renamed Eustratius. Nicetas, who was ten years of age, is said to have been created a domestic by his grandfather, the Emperor Nicephorus, for whose sake that office was first established; in his fourteenth year, having left the royal life to his good parents, he assumed the monastic habit, and was renamed Ignatius.
Leo then, that beast of ill-omened name, with whom the world had conceived and brought forth iniquity, having occupied the empire by force and tyranny, took no account of anything, nor did his eyes look upon the modesty and equity of the blessed, nor was he mindful of all the benefits with which the blessed ones had undeservedly honored him; to such an extent were those of an evil disposition enticed by his wicked arts, that though the emperor had designated him sponsor and godfather D of his own children in the sacred font of baptism, he was unable to soften that ferocious heart of his. For he drove them into exile, separated them from one another, and confined each one to a separate island, and kept them hemmed in by secure guards. Furthermore, he stripped the males of their virility, afflicting them with the castration of their members, for he was more than inhuman and cruel. Hence, as he had laid the foundations of his reign in wickedness, he ended it in a manner consistent with the beginning. For the impious Iconoclast heresy—hated by God, once plotted by that impious Leo, and strengthened by Constantine, Leo’s son, a father in every way worse than him—though it had been rightly and correctly laid to rest and abolished by a divine Providence through the holy seventh synod, this filthy beast and adversary of the truth attempted to revive again with the fire of his impiety. For he was indeed the protector of piety and the hierarch of the royal city; yet this man [Leo] assailed him with threats and flatteries—because he had proven much more firm than he had hoped—and, when he could not turn him from his purpose by his tyrannical hands, he cast him out of the throne, even though he had been guiding the Church in an apostolic manner for nine years already, and to the right side of the Strait, in a monastery [alt-version omitted]
A he banished him. There, the blessed man spent the seventeenth year B in a distinguished confession of faith, before migrating to God. As for the Constantinopolitan throne, he installed a certain Theodotus, a man nourished in worldly customs and entirely devoid of any worthwhile erudition or learning (though he did have this one thing, that he was an emulator of the impious Iconoclast heresy). From this he received the wages of sin, which is death, having begun, in accordance with his ways, a cruel and inhuman persecution of the faithful; and within seven years and a little more of his imperial power, he was cut down in the midst of the temple of the Mother of God (in the palace, in what they call the Pharos), a wretched man, like a dog, struck down by swords. C in this manner he brought forth the harvest of his own labors. For Michael Balbus, who was at that time praefectus, or domesticus, having been removed from the throne and put into custody, and his fellow conspirators, having been mocked by the clergy, entered the palace at the break of dawn, killed the tyrant, and immediately greeted someone else as emperor; and treating the corpse of the tyrant ignominiously, they threw it into a sack, without any preparation, and ordered it to be buried on the island of Prota, as the Scripture testifies: *He has dug a pit and hollowed it out, and he shall fall into the ditch which he has made*, and *his iniquity shall return upon his own head*.
Michael, a native of Amorium, of the Sabbatian sect, managed the scepters of the empire for nine years and a half, taking no care for the right faith, but rather bringing violence upon those who desired piety. Once Theodotus, called the Cassiteras, was dead, Michael took a certain Antony, whom they called the Bursodaphes, who had been metropolitan of Perge, a participant in the heresy, and promoted him to be patriarch of Constantinople.
After Michael, his son Theophilus reigned for thirteen years. In other matters, as they say, he was not a bad man, and a champion of equity. But he was not considered inferior to those before him in the persecution of the holy images, or in the harassment of the orthodox; and it was believed that this was done especially at the prompting of John, whom he had later raised to the patriarchal throne, after that Antony. D
When matters of the state and of the Church were in this condition, and for thirty years the Church had been suffering thousands of dangers, deaths, and afflictions, while the impious trampled and profaned the holy things, and touched the divine mysteries with polluted hands, Nicetas—or Ignatius—like an innocent plant in the house of God and educated in the monastic life, though he had not expected to appear without fruit before the One who planted him, nor with leaves—that is, flowers—without [index: entries preserved]
A Thus he who with such zeal had sown the seeds of impiety, reaped a harvest of his labors in proportion to them. For Michael, whom they also call Psellos, being at that time domestic of the Excubitors and having been denounced for plotting tyranny—and having been imprisoned—was released by his co-conspirators and allies who, having feigned the garb of clerics, had stolen into the palace at dawn and killed the tyrant. He was immediately proclaimed emperor, and he ordered the fallen tyrant to be sewn into a sack, cast into the island called Prote, and contemptuously shorn, so that the pain of his labor might return upon his own head, and his iniquity descend upon his own crown. B This Michael, an Amorian by birth and a Sabbatian in sect, held the scepters of power for nine years and a half; he took no care for orthodoxy, and indeed even brought violence upon those wishing to live piously. When Theodotus, who was called Cassiteras, had died, the same Michael took up Anthony, known as "the Tanner," who had already become metropolitan of Perge and a participant in the heresy but was then at leisure, and appointed him high priest of Constantinople.
After Michael, Theophilus his son became master of the kingdom for thirteen years. In other matters, as they say, he was not evil and held fast to justice; but in the rejection of sacred things and the persecution of the orthodox, he was considered no less harsh than any of his predecessors as a persecutor. And this was believed to happen mostly by the suggestion of John, whom Michael had elevated to the patriarchal throne after Anthony. C In these circumstances, while civil and ecclesiastical affairs were viewed in this light, and while for thirty years the Orthodox Church was encountering myriads of dangers, deaths, and afflictions, and the impious were trampling upon holy things with profane feet and handling divine things with impure hands, Nicetas, also called Ignatius, as a most noble shoot planted in the house of God and flowering in the courts of the monastic life, was not intended to appear fruitless before Him who planted him, nor to exist as only leaves, that is to say, as a mere show of attire like that cursed fig tree; but remaining alongside the divine streams and the abundant overflows of the Spirit, D and meditating upon the whole of the Old and New Testaments, devotedly occupied with the teachings of the holy Fathers, imitating their deeds, revolving their contemplative works in his mind, and nourishing and confirming his inner man, he brought forth to God the sweetest fruits of virtue. First, he showed forth self-restraint in fasting, diligence in the vigil, the singing of psalms when it was required, and prayer: add to this the callouses on his knees, his tears, the beating of his breast, the continence of his tongue, and endurance of suffering, being educated quite severely by a harsh tutor—who, to gratify the Iconoclasts, trained him very strictly—concerning temperance, endurance against every hardship, the inflexible purpose of his leader, and—unto these—gentleness and humility and obedience in all things to the fraternity according to God. B First, the blessed one, passing through these things in practice, being schooled by these and most excellently prepared, followed the growth of his body and attained the perfection of his youthful age. Afterward, he brought forth to God more perfect things: I mean faith—perfect and brought to God by a whole mind—sincere faith, hope that does not put to shame, and sincere love, perfected from a sincere heart toward God and his neighbor according to the commandment. Bringing forth these fruits, the divine Ignatius, if he attained these from his tender years and lived according to them throughout all time, while those who were impious against God were offending Him, he himself was attaining to piety most perfectly. For when his father and his tutor had both departed this life, and he was immediately entrusted with the care of his brothers and the supervision of their souls, he showed himself, as a good shepherd and leader of rational sheep, present to them, and he immediately made manifest to them the power of the Spirit that would later shine forth in him. Thus, by constant speeches and wise exhortations, he nourished their souls and led them to the ever-blooming pastures of God, C as he multiplied this talent of the Spirit and spiritual teaching, and he multiplied the flock to such an extent that since they could no longer be contained in one place or one monastery, through his own zeal he was able to build and establish from these all the necessary buildings—for the holy vessels and the provision of necessary needs—and to organize all of them in a manner becoming to them, receiving from the great leader and father his instructions, to consider it his work to offer prayers and praises to God, and as a secondary task to take responsibility for each of their daily services, and to do all things for the glory and praise of God. D Plate, therefore, and Iatros, and Terebinthos, which are called islands, being settled by the care and zeal of that man, became holy monasteries of monks, and the one lying opposite these upon the mainland near the shore
this I say, the one presiding over the great commander’s monastery, he founded in the end of his life, and consecrated it to God; its nobility of temple, greatness, and splendor, and that total ornament and majesty (which when it comes to expressing its dignity, it is in no way possible to do), I leave to the eyes of spectators, at the same time proceeding to set forth the remaining parts of his life. A This holy man, therefore, approved by God, by the decree of the Holy Spirit, and the vote of holy high priests confessing the faith, whom I have mentioned, who were suffering for the sake of the holy icons—men who were contending for piety and were fearful—was judged worthy of the holy priesthood; and by the hand of Basil (who was, according to the decree, the archpriest of the holy church of the Parthenon, and burdened with very many tribulations and persecutions for the sake of the holy icons at that time, B by whose hand, as by that of the visible one, the invisible power of the Holy Spirit operated), he was first of all made reader, or rather a herald of the divine Scriptures, then subdeacon, then deacon, and priest, according to the order and law. He always strove to return to the Benefactor a talent of grace multiplied, and not to bury it in sloth, but to increase it by zeal; just as, while he lived the monastic life, he drew many by his own asceticism and diligence, and just as through his priestly service he again baptized and sealed for God countless multitudes of children. For C since the mist of heresy, like a harsh night, prevailed to a great extent, and because of the tyranny of the godless hirelings who were in charge, almost all men who held to the orthodox faith according to Byzantium, and those who occupied the neighboring villages, being excited by one another through praises in honor of Ignatius, brought their own children and pleaded for them to be baptized and sanctified by him. And to see him, as one of Christ’s earlier disciples, performing a work, receiving those coming to him as if sent by Christ, D and teaching and admonishing everyone concerning his faith, forbidding them the perversion and insanity of the heretics, and all their uncleanness, and purifying them from all defilement of spirit and flesh, and training them in all virtue and decency and sobriety—these things and things like these he taught their parents, and first instructed their children, and consecrated them to God through water and the Spirit.
And the storm that was against the Church at that time was indeed grave and violent, and the persecution against the priests was cruel; those who through the prototype risked danger for the sake of the image—I mean the holy Ignatius and his entire household—had been prepared for by the right hand of the Most High. For who was distressed for the sake of piety and did not find from him, after the tribulations, a place of rest? Who, crushed by exile and chains, [498, A] and choked by famine, did not receive from him the relief for which they longed, and receive the abundant provision of necessities from him? But those who bore the violence of the tyrants, and those who were deprived of their own possessions and were being B driven out, whom the holy man Ignatius deemed worthy of a share in his own monastery—as much as he was able in the end to provide—he received into his own home, and relieved their sufferings with various comforts. Yet he did not grow wanton in clothes and robes, according to that cursed custom; but remaining by the divine and most abundant pouring forth of the Spirit, and meditating on the entire Old Testament and the whole New, and having devoted himself with love for learning to all the discourses of the holy Fathers, and imitating their conduct, and pondering their contemplation, and nourishing and strengthening the inner man completely in these things, he brought forth the sweetest fruit of virtue to God. He brought forth first fasting, C watching, appointed psalmody, and prayers, calluses on his knees, tears, smiting of the breast, continence of the tongue, and patience against all insults—the guide being indeed harsh in mind, and because he was giving way to the Iconoclasts, training him very harshly; in addition to these, gentleness, and humility, and full obedience to all the brotherhood according to the Lord. D First, through action, the blessed man practiced these things, and being trained by them, and performing them most beautifully, he was perfected, following the growth of his body and progressing in his childish age. Then he brought forth to God the more perfect things: I mean faith, and hope, and love; faith perfect, brought to the perfect God from a perfect and whole mind; faith unfeigned, hope that does not put to shame, love sincere, accomplished from a sincere heart toward God and his neighbor according to the commandment.
A And those falling into extreme poverty—especially those who were of the priestly and monastic orders B and had no other solace or release from the troubles of life—found refuge in this great Ignatius and Procopius—I mean his mother and his sister—who for a long time ministered to life’s needs and thus distributed their wealth generously and joyfully, imitating the mercy of God, so that truly that sacred oracle seemed to be fulfilled in them: "They have dispersed, they have given to the needy, their righteousness endures forever" (Ps. CXI, 9). For they were in a way pitied by those who were distressed, and they dispensed supplies, and their seed was in blessing. And indeed, in this way he assisted the athletes of Christ, suffering with those who suffered, and bringing aid to the needy; fervent in the study of prayer, and as the Apostle says, communicating in the necessities of the saints (Rom. XII, 13), he was thus preparing himself to contend for greater virtues. He displayed to those who saw them the grace of the high priesthood destined to appear in him in such a marvelous way, so that Theophanes, that great one, that combatant for piety, and famous for signs and miracles—the founder, I mean, of the monastery called Sigrene—having come long ago as a traveler to that blessed man when he was still a youth, and acting as his patriarch, reached out his right hand to bless him, as they say, treating him as his patriarch.
C While he was thus occupied with these excellent pursuits, Theophilus departed, and the entire empire fell to Theodora, the most religious empress, while her son Michael was still very young. Then the sect hostile to the holy images ceased its activity; for the sanctification of the holy Church flourished. Then John, of ill-omened name indeed (whom they called the lecanomant, or great diviner, by whom Theophilus is believed to have been led into error), was immediately removed from the patriarchal throne and the priesthood, of which he was unworthy, as one guilty of the heresy of Theophilus. And there arose for the completion of the salvation of God's people, Methodius, truly a good shepherd of Christ's sheep, and an orthodox teacher of the dogmas of the Church; he who had already endured many labors and dangers for the defense of the holy images, was raised by the vote of God and the cooperation of the empress to the See of the Church of Constantinople. He removed all those who were infected with the stain of heresy and established the Church anew, placing priests and bishops upon what was his correct foundation of faith. For as he had previously served under Tarasius, the holy and divine shepherd, and the pious Irene, and then had again fallen into the ruin of heresy, Nicephorus, that excellent man—who was still alive—and this Methodius, having by divine decree extirpated them, and being empowered by the divine impulse of Ioannicius, declared against all heretics and, as those who were still seeking the way of truth, showed the way. But after he had governed the Church of God most holily for four years, he departed to God in everlasting peace. For many then, at the administration of the Church, were D falling [original-script column: see facsimile]
into the straits of destitution and total poverty; and especially those who were of the priestly and monastic orders had no other consolation for their life and release from their griefs than the great Ignatius, and Procopia, I mean his mother, and his sister, who lived for a long time extended in this life. And thus, so unsparingly and cheerfully were they emptying their wealth, and imitating the mercy of God, that that sacred oracle was truly being fulfilled in them: For they were compassionate, one might say, all the day long, and were lending, and their seed was for a blessing. He, therefore, was contending in this way together with the contestants, suffering with those in pain, supplying those in need, and enduring by suffering together with the afflicted in their affliction; while by unceasingly persevering in prayer, and in the eucharist and the communion of the bread, and by communicating in the necessities of the saints, according to the Apostle, he was thus preparing himself for the greater contests for the sake of virtue. And he was demonstrating the grace of the high-priesthood that was destined to appear upon him in such a way to those who saw him, that even that great Theophanes in the contests for piety, and one who was great in signs and miracles—the founder, I mean, of the monastery called Sigriana—having one day arrived at him while the blessed man was still yet a youth, laid his right hand upon him, as the story goes, and blessed him as patriarch. With him, therefore, being distinguished in these achievements, Theophilus dies, and the affairs of the empire devolved upon Theodora, the most pious empress, the most honored and faithful of women; for her son Michael was at that time still quite young. From that point, the heresy against the holy icons expires, and the sanctification of the holy Church blooms forth. From that point also, John—the one immediately of ill-omened name, Jannes (for some called him a lecanomancer, and him who was responsible for the error of Theophilus)—is righteously deposed from the patriarchal throne and from the priesthood, and there arises as a horn of salvation for the people of God, Methodius, the truly good shepherd of Christ’s sheep and the orthotomous guide of the straight dogmas of the Church; he who, having previously endured many labors and dangers for the sake of the holy icons, rises, by the vote of God and the cooperation of the empress, as prelate of the Church of Constantinople. He deposes and casts down from the churches all who were led away by the pollution of the heresy; and he raises up a new Church, and appointed priests and high priests upon the foundation of the orthodox faith according to him. For indeed, since the heretics—just as previously also under Tarasius the divine and holy shepherd, and the pious Irene—having anathematized the heresy, and having thus been forgiven, had lapsed back and been brought again to the same ruin, then Nicephorus the Great, still living in the flesh, and this very man, the holy Methodius, by divine counsel having decreed the condemnation against all of them, and by the exhortations of the God-bearing Joannicius against all the A heretics, showed the straight path to those still wishing to walk uprightly. B C D
being chosen, and others for other reasons missing their mark, in order that the fore-ordained counsel of God might stand firm, Ignatius, the most holy priest, having already for many years excelled in the gifts of the priesthood, and having acquired for himself a good degree in much boldness and faith in Christ Jesus, and being for this reason sung on every tongue, though he refused much and most reverently shunned the burden of the dignity, nevertheless by the operation of the Holy Spirit, and the cooperation and vote of the bishops of God, he is judged worthy of the divine hierarchy, and is installed in the throne of the Queen City, and the lamp is placed upon the lampstand. A Before all the bishops and the people, the Queen City having sent and asked that it be made known through the Lord who was worthy, the great Joannicius prophetically votes for him. And thus, through the door, the good shepherd having entered the sheepfold, called his own sheep by name; and he led them out from all deadly and harmful pasture, and from all heretical destruction and ruin; and he guided and led them toward the ever-living and ever-flourishing pastures of the orthodox faith and justice. And he himself remained as far from every wickedness as he held fast to all justice; and especially toward the general achievements of the virtues, he was diligent in the perfection of piety. For prudence was a matter of study for him, not to procure for himself wealth and worldly glory and various pleasures of the body, but that he might well understand and do the good and acceptable and perfect will of God in a spirit of discernment. And fortitude for him was never to be overcome by sin, but to be free and to rule over the powerful; and sharply to rebuke the one who sins, according to the apostolic rule, and this often before all, and not to shrink in a servile manner, so that, he says, the rest may have fear. And temperance was not only the purity and cleanness of his own body, which from a tender age he had achieved through such frequent labors and sweats that he arrived at the highest apathy, or the complete mortification of the fleshly mind. B By this, therefore, the good of temperance was not defined, but with all diligence he so cleansed the Church subject to him, and brought it to sobriety by the gravity and continuity of the teaching of the Spirit, that not even the name of fornication or any other impurity was heard among those nearing him; but just as he himself walked the blameless road of the Lord blamelessly, so he, as a good paranymph, led also that one's bride in a blameless manner of life. And concerning justice, what is one to say? Which the blessed one wore so firmly and magnificently that he often underwent reproach for it at the hands of the unjust, and was judged most harshly as a truly mild shepherd and an imitator of God's justice. For it is not only in human affairs, but even in ecclesiastical disputes and trials, that the free speech of the high priest shone forth: as my discourse will now reveal.
That specific Bardas, all you who hear, you know, O Augusta Theodora, was not a good brother to the good empress, but rather was too bitter and cruel. For although he was distinguished and industrious in the management of civil affairs, in divine and ecclesiastical matters, never did anyone say that he was such that he had been made good toward the Church; but they say this of him in private, as a bridegroom, that he was spread about through the whole city; and not merely to the common people, but even to the high priest himself came the wicked rumor. What then? Did he fear the greatness of the person, or did he become silent at the wrongdoing? No, he did not remain silent toward the evil, but as for the festival of the manifestation of God, he was coming to participate in the mysteries of the Eucharist; C what does the high priest do? He forbids him from the communion, judging him unworthy of participation in the Lord's body. But he, being goaded by a bitter madness, and arming himself against his own soul, threatens the bishop with his own sword, and seeks to turn the sword against him. This was the beginning of scandals—this was the first occasion of ecclesiastical disturbance. From then on, that Bardas stored up heavy wrath against Ignatius, moving every stone, and slandering him before the emperor. Being Domestikos of the Schools at that time, and entirely guarding the whole administration of the empire for Michael, since he was his uncle, he approached the delicate youth and, enticing him with deceitful words, "Why," he said, "O master, do you surrender the empire to your mother and sisters? For you are not a weakling or underage; but see," he said, "you are grown and a man, and now you have come to manhood, you must take up a man's mind at last. Call for them, and command them to shave their heads. For this is pleasing to you, and to God, and to us all." Immediately, therefore, he sends for the venerable patriarch; for youth is easily persuaded, and easily carried away by empty hopes, and D if the superiority of power comes, light-mindedness turns into greater folly and fall, as often happens in such disorder and ignorance, or rather impiety, by which Michael is struck down. "Quickly," he said, "my mother and sisters, before the just...
A arbiters, and to be judged most harshly, he who was truly a gentle shepherd, and one imitating the justice of God. For indeed, not only in human affairs, but much more in ecclesiastical disputes and judgments, his inclination towards truth and justice was recognized, as was his arrogant and sharp posture against falsehood and all injustice. And this zeal and divine boldness of the high priest were shown not only towards the masses and the more vulgar, against whom another might perhaps speak boldly if they were acting unjustly, but even towards those clothed in the highest powers, and towards the emperors themselves; as my discourse shall now declare. I know that you all hear of that Bardas, as he was the brother of Theodora, the good empress, but not good himself, rather exceedingly bitter and inhuman; he whom no one said was useful regarding the Church, though he was diligent and active in the management of political affairs. They say he was so maddened by his own daughter-in-law that the rumor of this reverberated through the whole city; and not merely reached the masses, but the evil report came even to the high priest himself. What, then, did he do? He did not fear the greatness of the person, nor did he shadow the offense with silence, but he both rebuked it according to the commandment, and he censured it, and he exhorted him to spare his own soul and to wash away this terrible defilement. But he not only did not refrain from the evil, but even on the feast days of the holy Theophany—and he himself came, shamelessly, to partake of the divine mysteries—what did the high priest do? He cast him out of communion, judging him unworthy of the participation of the Lord's body. But he raved with bitter madness and armed himself against his own soul; he threatened to plunge his own sword into the bowels of the Hierarch; but the latter counter-threatened, calling upon Him who is able to return his sword upon him. This becomes the beginning of scandals; this is the first cause of the ecclesiastical disturbance. From there, that Bardas stored up heavy wrath and enmity for himself against Ignatius, and pulled every rope, as they say, to slander him to the emperor. He was, at that time, a patrician and domestic of the schools, and because he was his uncle, he was usurping for himself the whole administration of Michael. Once, approaching the youth and bewitching him with deceitful words, "Why," he said, "O master, do you yield the empire to your mother and your sisters? For you are no longer an infant; you are not unperfect in age. But look," he said, "you have been married, and you are already entering into manhood; you ought to take on the spirit of a man from now on. Summon the patriarch and command him to shear your mother and your sisters. For it is pleasing to God and to all of us that you alone should rule from now on, and those who will be born of you." Immediately, therefore, he sends for the venerable Hierarch; for youth is easily inclined and easily carried away by empty hopes. If, moreover, there is an added height of power, his frivolity is greater, and for the most part, he advances to greater folly and falling. Then, therefore, laying the beginning for the disorders and ignorance—or rather, the impieties—against himself, Michael said, "Quickly, my mother and sisters, before the just [God...]" A B C D
take them away from this world, send them off to houses of religious life." The patriarch spoke freely: "It is impossible for me to do this," he replied; "for when I first took up the rudders and the sacred seat of the Church, I pledged my faith by a written oath never to plot any conspiracy against your rule, nor to devise any design at all. And now, what is the crime of the queens? And what is the cause against them, that your majesty has conceived such things against them?" When the patriarch spoke thus, Bardas accused him of treason and, in the presence of the emperor, reviled him as Gebobasileutus [an imitation of the emperor Gebo]. This Gebo was a foolish and not entirely sane man, who had arrived a few days earlier from Dyrrachium, wearing ecclesiastical dress and A claiming to be the son of the Empress Theodora by another man; many of the common people, believing he was about to reign, followed him, but at that time he was held under secure guard on the island of Oxia. The patriarch, therefore, having become a subject of suspicion to Michael because of these things, immediately returned to the church. Michael, however, straightway ordered his mother and sisters to be led off to those places called the houses of Carianus, and to be shorn. Not long after, he chased Ignatius himself from the patriarchate and banished him to the island of Terebinthus. On the same day, moving that Gebo from Oxia to Prince's Island, he had his legs and arms cut off, gouged out his eyes, and killed him, thinking that by this means he might take revenge upon the patriarch. Not three days had passed since his downfall when certain men, considered the foremost among the bishops, appeared, demanding of him a document of resignation—or rather, a renunciation—on account of the current wickedness of the times. And who were these? Those who had previously sworn to him in writing, and had even prayed that they might fall away from the very transcendent Trinity itself if they were to set aside their own shepherd without a canonical condemnation. But they returned having achieved nothing. After a few days, however, the patricians and the most illustrious of the judges, going out with the previously mentioned bishops, by every device, both promises and threats, forced him to resign the throne in writing, if he did not wish to expose himself to manifest danger. But he remained no less firm and unmoved than a maritime rock B rooted deep in the earth, yielding nothing to the assaults of the waves. Therefore, since there was no reasonable ground to act unlawfully, there being no opportunity given by the blameless one, with bare head and shameless face, as the saying goes, they descended to every injustice and lawlessness. And our Lord Jesus Christ, inasmuch as He is true God and the Son of the true Father, not only as God is He eternal, knowing all things before their birth, but also as He became man for our sakes, foreknowing all things with His deified mind, says: "It is necessary that scandals should come; but woe to him through whom the scandal cometh!" C Therefore, of all the sects that have infiltrated the Churches from His divine presence until this day, those who are leaders of the scandals and the first to participate in the promised punishment are no less, I think, than all the heretics who have acted wickedly in their generation, and who have been the cause of countless scandals in the world—and they shall receive their judgment from above. For it is not because they falsely claim to confess God in correct doctrines and through countless writings that they will be justified, but rather by their deeds, according to the holy word; they denied Him, having become abominable and disobedient, and unacceptable for every good work, and because of this they will be condemned. Nor is it that they act in the outward appearance D of piety, feigning religion, and manage everything so as to be considered just by men, that they are righteous before the Knower of hidden things and God the Judge; but seeing that they crushed the nerve of piety and did not conform to the precepts of the Gospel—which is a danger to mention—but were sold to avarice, pleasures, and ambition, injuring the innocent in every way, and trampling upon the sacred state of the Church, which they overturned with their countless impieties and abominations, and contaminated with the divine name and the sacred holy Church, and because the mystery of piety appears to consist more in bare words than in deeds and truth—for this reason they will incur the judgment of condemnation from God.
The root and source of all these evils, and their first and most certain cause, was he who was a murderer from the beginning; who, failing from the good, became the artificer of all wickedness, and does not cease to spew his poison until now into those who are ready to receive it among all generations; and he pours it out all the more widely, to the extent that he finds those more suited to his purposes. Such men are often permitted to master affairs and to be exalted to the empires of the earth, as is revealed of their thoughts in the divine oracles; so that the wheat may be separated from the chaff, and the just may be cooked by the fire of trial, like gold in a furnace, and be reserved for the heavenly treasures; and that whatever is adulterous and unworthy of the kingdom of God may be rejected. And indeed, I think no one who cultivates piety will contradict these things.
Let us see, furthermore, what happened next to the blessed Ignatius, and how many evils the ancient enemy of holy men devised against the faith hidden within him through his ministers by his malice. But since I understand that I am unable to recount everything distinctly, and that I would not be equal to such great matters, I have turned my speech to narrating the principal events.
A scandals must needs come; but woe to him through whom the scandal comes! Now, as for all the heresies that have been surreptitiously introduced into the Churches from the time of His theandric presence until the present day, the authors of these heresies, as the leaders of the scandals, would first and deservedly share in that mournful lamentation. Yet I believe that those who have acted wickedly in this generation will certainly suffer the wrath from above, no less than those ancient and oft-heralded heretics, as they have become the cause of countless scandals to the world. For they will not be justified simply because they pretend to confess God through sound dogmas and countless writings; rather, they will be condemned because, according to the holy Word, they have denied Him by their works, having become abominable and disobedient and reprobate for every good work. Nor, because they have put on a semblance of piety, or at least a shape and a hollow mask of godliness, while they conduct all their affairs with an eye toward being justified before men, are they therefore righteous before the Overseer and Examiner of secrets; but because they have denied the power of piety and the life according to the Gospel, having sold themselves out to every form of self-love, greed, pleasure-seeking, and ambition, and having used all manner of injustices, perjuries, crossings-out, and wicked actions against the innocent, and insults, they have dissolved and confounded all ecclesiastical good order. They have so defiled the divine matter and name of the holy Church with their various lawlessnesses and transgressions that there is a danger, one might almost say, that the mystery of piety might be thought to exist B only in our empty words, and not in truth and reality; for these reasons they will receive the most just condemnation from God.
The root and principal cause of all these evils, however, is clearly He who was a murderer from the beginning; for having fallen away from the good, he became the creator of all malice and does not cease, even to this day, to regurgitate his own poison into those who are ready to receive it in every generation. And he lavishes his own malice all the more liberally in proportion as he finds those who are more suitable to his own wicked purpose. Yet such men are often allowed to hold power and to be exalted with worldly authorities, so that, according to the divine oracle, the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed, and so that the wheat may be distinguished from the chaff, and the righteous man may be refined by afflictions—like gold in a furnace—and stored up in the heavenly mansions, while that which is rejected as dross and unworthy of the kingdom of God is cast away. To this, I think, no one who is pious will take exception. But let us see what followed concerning the holy Ignatius, and how many evils the enemy and plotter against the saints contrived through those who served his malice, against the truth and virtue hidden within him. But knowing that it is impossible to recount everything in detail, and that I would not be equal to such great matters, I have turned my speech to narrating the principal events and shall attempt...
as far as possible, to preserve the truth everywhere, that I may not pass over anything worthy of remembrance. Therefore, after the officials of the emperor, having made many attempts at the time, were unable to obtain any concession toward illegality from Ignatius, who refused to excuse himself through noble resistance, they took the matter into their own hands. After deliberating at great length among themselves and exhausting every counsel, they designated Photius, who was then protospatharios and protoasekretes, to be high priest of the queen of cities.
Now this Photius was not of the base or the unknown, but was of noble and illustrious birth, and was considered most successful in all secular wisdom and in the prudence of those involved in politics. For in grammar and poetry, in rhetoric and philosophy—and indeed in medicine—and in almost every branch of external knowledge, he possessed such an abundance that it could be said he not only surpassed almost everyone of his own generation, but was already contending with the ancients themselves. For all things converged in him: an aptitude of nature, diligence, and wealth, through which he procured for himself an abundance of every book; and, above all things, a love of glory, on account of which he spent sleepless nights, diligently devoted to reading. But since he was destined to enter in upon the Church itself—though would that he had not!—he did not study the sacred and ecclesiastical volumes as a secondary matter. Yet he was ignorant of an ignorance, to speak as a theologian would, which was very unworthy of his wisdom. For he did not wish to turn his mind to the fact that, A *If anyone wishes to become wise in this world, let him become foolish, that he might become wise.* (1 Cor. iii, 18). He did not choose the way of humility, through which the great grace of God and true wisdom are given and perfected; nor did he consent to be converted and become as a little child for the sake of the kingdom of God, as the testimony of the Lord requires. Nor yet did he consent to dig up his own soul and deepen his mind through every submission, according to the Lord, and through a more lowly and humble manner of life, and thus through freedom from passions to draw near to the Rock, even Christ, and to lay upon Him a firm foundation of faith, and by good deeds thus to build himself up in wisdom. The "wise" man did not consider these things; he was far from it. Nothing of this came to his mind, but instead he established his heart and mind upon a shaky and sandy foundation—that is, on secular wisdom and the arrogance of a discourse not disciplined according to Christ—and, puffed up by the empty praises and applause of men, and lifted high by vain glory, through it he approached the pride that is hostile to God, B by which he was initiated into every kind of vice and every cause of scandal. Whence, having laid down an unapproved beginning for his priestly office, he found that the end was consistent with the beginning. For he did not reject the Church, which was being handed over to him in an unholy and unlawful manner by the secular rulers, nor, as if to another man's wife, did he hesitate to be wedded to her in adultery; on the contrary, he laid claim to her with great shamelessness, as if she were clearly his own and not another’s, and he gloried in his own shameful conduct, and was praised for his iniquity; and within six days, having been initiated from the hands of men, he invaded the chair. For it is said that he had to be seen, according to the adage, as a temporary, fictitious, or masked saint. For on the first day he was a monk instead of a layman, on the second a reader, and then subdeacon, then deacon, and then presbyter; and sixthly, he who was Christ’s nativity, he also, having ascended the sacred tribunal, proclaimed peace to the people, while imagining nothing worthy of true peace.
A And he did not shrink from betrothing to himself, adulterously, the Church which was being uncanonically and unlawfully yielded to him by worldly rulers, even as one espoused to another man; on the contrary, he embraced her joyfully, or rather shamelessly, and claimed as his own that which was clearly another's, glorying in his own shame and boasting in his own iniquity, and, being perfected by the hands of men in six days in all, he took hold of the desired chair; and it was truly possible to see one becoming a "saint of the day," according to the proverb. For on the first day he was a monk instead of a layman, on the second a reader, on the next a subdeacon, then a deacon, then a presbyter; and on the sixth day (which was Christ’s nativity), he also, having ascended the sacred tribunal, proclaimed peace to the people, while imagining nothing worthy of true peace.
There was for him an instructor and initiator in all things, that Gregory called Asbestas, concerning whom they said that he had once been Bishop of Syracuse, but having been accused at Byzantium of certain crimes, he had already been deposed by the Church of the Romans for acting against the canons. Ignatius, when he was just about to be ordained, sent word that he should not be present at the ordination until his case could be examined more accurately at leisure. This the patriarch did in the beginning—not well, as it seemed to the many, but nevertheless done in justice.
From this point, who could express the turmoil and the darkness? Who could portray the contention, and strife, and malice from that terrible Sicilian after such a small word? For immediately upon hearing it, he did not philosophize regarding the announcement, nor hide his own shame like a prudent man; but having cast away the candles of his own hands upon the ordination, and having become utterly brazen, he reviled the innocent one most extremely before the whole Church, and furiously asserted that a wolf was entering the Church instead of a shepherd. And Peter of Sardis, the one called the "Wretched," and Eulampius of Apamea, and certain others of the [more notable] clergy followed him, irrationally severing themselves from the Church.
For eleven whole years of his first hierarchy, Ignatius, testing him and offering all manner of words and gifts, was unable to extinguish the malice of Asbestas. He went through all the houses of the powerful, being reviled in vain and slandering bitterly, and the profane man did not deign to call the saint even a Christian; but especially being honored by Photius and his kin, he was believed to be some great man of God; whence also Photius, being ordained first by him, drew from the faith had in him the whole of the man's madness against the innocent one. And it was as if he had been consecrated patriarch to this very end, that he might punish the guiltless with every contrivance and in every way, so he strove, not for the priesthood B alone, but he would strip him even of his life, if he could; although he took from those who were willing, through his metropolitans, chirographs beforehand, that he would bestow the ancestral honor upon Ignatius, and would do everything according to his will, and in nothing would act against him.
Yet after the ordination, two months passed, and he having violated his oaths—first, those appointed over the church, as many as he found more kindred to the patriarch, he threw into chains, and punished with violent stripes and scourging; and then again with flatteries, and promises of gifts and advancement, and demanding chirographs, and to all C so that he might send and make an exact inquiry against Ignatius, and those hiding secretly against him for the kingdom. Immediately then, the cruel rulers and soldiers, seizing the bold ones of Terebinth, and having made an all examination, and every torture, after they had finished torturing those men under his authority, since they had exhausted them and produced nothing, so that they might rightly punish, they made use of iniquity. For having taken the holy man and some of his own, and having crossed to the so-called Hiera, they shut him up in a pen of goats; from there they transported him to the place called Prometi, where that Leo, surnamed Lalacon, being the domestic of the Numbers, D was, he pressed his jaws so much with such blows, as if the aged priest were to lose two teeth, in the manner of murderers, and having secured his feet with small guard, he departed, leaving two boys only to serve him. The struggle for them and the gentleness was such, that they would give him the scroll of abdication, and from the throne he would yield. But he, seeing the wolf cruelly rushing against the flock, as much as he could, he repelled the attack. After a few days had passed, they transferred him to Numera, in iron chains; the month of August was pressing, and having put him on a ship, they exiled him to Mitylene. All those suspected of being his kin and friends, some they delivered to unbearable and deadly blows; others, the most philanthropic, they drove out of the city.
When he also cut the tongue of the chartophylax Blasius for his speaking out for the truth, and Photius, residing in Mitylene, the assembly of the wicked against the church, and in the holy temple of the most glorious Apostles, pronounces judgment of deposition against the absent Ignatius; and not only that, but he also anathematizes and denounces him, being himself accuser and judge. And as many as he saw aiming at his own goal and agreeing with such a conspiracy, and those subscribing to what was demanded, he had as his most true fellow-ministers; as many as gave heed to the reckless judgment and were unwilling to agree to these senseless actions, these he delivered to the praetor to be punished in various ways. Since many were gossiping, and at the reckless judgments...
A Indeed, he would have deprived him not only of his priesthood, but, had it been possible, even of his life itself. And this he did, although he had previously demanded written undertakings from the metropolitans who had received him, [insisting] that they should pay to Ignatius the honor due a father, and that they should do everything according to his will, and in no way grieve him. Yet two months had not even passed since his ordination when he violated his oaths. First, he cast into prison those who were set over the Church and whom he found to be more intimate with the patriarch, and he caused them to be tortured with violent afflictions and scourges; then again, through flattery, and by offering gifts and promotions, and by demanding [signed] scrolls, he labored in every way to send [men] and to make a precise investigation against Ignatius, as if he were secretly plotting against the empire.
Therefore, cruel officials and bold soldiers immediately B occupied Terebinthos. And after they had made a full examination and applied every torture—having tormented the men under him—when they ceased their inquiries, as they had nothing left for which to punish him justly, they resorted to manifest injustice. For, having seized the holy man along with those who were with him, and having crossed over to the so-called Hiera, they shut him up in a goat-shed as a prisoner; from there they transported him to the places called those of Prometes. Where that Leo, nicknamed Lalakon, being the domestic of the Numeri, struck his cheeks with his fists so violently that two molars fell out of the mouth of the most holy elder. Then they bound his feet C with two iron bars, after the manner of murderers, and having shut him up in a narrow cell, they departed, leaving him only two boys for his service.
But their whole struggle and eagerness was that he should give them a written resignation, and voluntarily yield the throne. But Ignatius, seeing the wolf so fiercely rushing upon the flock, warded off the attack as much as it lay in his power. A few days having passed, they transported him to the Numeri and locked him up in chains; then, when the month of August approached, they threw him into a ship and banished him to Mitylene. As for all those who were suspected of being his intimates and friends, some they handed over to unbearable scourging and lethal blows, while others they banished from the city—to speak in the most humane terms. At that time, they even cut out the tongue of the chartophylax Blasius because of his boldness on behalf of the truth.
While Ignatius was dwelling D in Mitylene, Photius, having gathered his church of evildoers and coming to the holy shrine of the most glorious Apostles, pronounced a sentence of deposition against the absent Ignatius. And not only that, but he also anathematized and excommunicated him, becoming himself both accuser and judge. And all whom he saw concurring with his purpose and this irrational action, and subscribing to what was being done, he kept among his first and most genuine friends and concelebrants. But those who were offended by his reckless judgment and did not wish to consent to these insanities, he handed over to the praetorium and to manifold punishments in prisons. Many, therefore, were murmuring, and because of these injustices...
A all condemned Photius. But he, being reproved by his own deeds and conscience, conceives a plan that is wicked rather than wise. For he does not intend to heal evil with good, but evil with evil; or rather, to add a greater evil to a lesser one. For just as those who climb the road of virtue ascend toward God by good works as if by a ladder, so do those who abandon the straight path attach themselves to the author of wickedness by evil deeds, and they do not cease to pile one evil upon another until they are swallowed up in the pit of their own deeds. He determines, therefore, to send ambassadors to the Elder Rome and to request legates from Pope Nicholas, under the pretext of correcting the Church—or rather, a clean excision of those still adhering to the Christian-condemning heresy of the Iconoclasts—but in truth so that he might make the deposition of Ignatius more manifest by the hand of the Romans. He sends, therefore, Theophilus, bishop of Amorium, and Samuel, bishop of that place until then, who was under Laodicea, having been honored with the dignity of archbishop. Through these men the noble rascal does not hesitate to write falsehoods to the Pope; for he writes that Ignatius, having resigned due to old age, disease, and bodily weakness, had withdrawn from the Church and, remaining in the island and monastery where he lived, was deemed worthy of all honor and care by the rulers, by the whole city, and by his Church. The Pope, B having received them and being ignorant of the truth of the matters, sends these men back. Meanwhile, the athlete returns from his exile, having spent six months in Mitylene; he returns through the providence of the rulers, being settled at Terebinthus, not so much for honor as for dishonor, and not for rest and consolation, but for greater tribulation and injury. For how many evil things the enemy wrought in him, and how many tribulations and insults Nicetas, the drungarius of the imperial fleet, called Oryphas, brought upon him, seeking to please Photius and the rulers, what speech can express? Who can report one by one the attacks, the insults, the damages, and the beatings which he fashioned with murderous hand against the associates of the blessed man? Yet another C catastrophe befell the saint. For at that time, that most murderous nation of the Scythians—those called Rus—having advanced through the Euxine Sea to the Strait, and having plundered all the fields and all the monasteries, even ran over the islands surrounding Byzantium, looting all the vessels and property, and killing all those they captured. In addition to these, they also rushed with barbarian force and fury into the monasteries of the patriarch, snatched away every piece of property found therein, and, having captured twenty-two of his more intimate servants, they—
those who have slaughters, and with their right hands… were full of gifts. What did they decree concerning perjury? They suddenly add the thirtieth canon, which says: A *If a bishop, making use of secular powers, obtains a church through them, let him be deposed* (6). But what follows in the same chapter, they maliciously and deceitfully kept silent about. For it was necessary, if they were truly defending the apostolic sanction, to observe not a part, but the whole canon; and if they had admitted the accusation against Ignatius, to depose him in that same manner—and those communicating with him—inasmuch as they were caught manifesting the sins of their own hands. But on the other hand, in decreeing what is illicit, they make this pronouncement: that he was doing this to overturn Ignatius without his being harmed. But what follows in the canon, wherein they themselves are subjected to the censure, they dissembled; for that which those kept silent about, the patriarch himself proclaimed aloud. O villainy! O amazement! For who is ignorant that Ignatius was canonically and lawfully created by the vote of all the high priests B and with the consent of the whole Church? But Photius, using the cruel Bardas and the secular princes as his collaborators—against the laws and even more by tyranny than by ecclesiastical rite—invaded the throne? But they did not know or understand, as they walk in the darkness of greed and ambition, that they are caught in the very snares of the counsels which they had prepared for others. O villainy! O perversity! For who does not know that Ignatius was chosen by the vote of all the high priests together, and with the consent of the entire Church—but this Photius, rather, having used the cruel Bardas and the secular rulers as his agents, overturns the throne uncanonically and tyrannically? But they did not know, and did not understand, as they walk in the darkness of greed and vainglory, that they are caught in the same counsels.
After long altercation and labor, and with much procrastination, they—alone using C power manically, disregarding law and justice—clad him in common and sordid garments, and then stripped off those pontifical vestments he had been wearing. There was a certain subdeacon named Procopius, expelled from the Church, since he was insane and profane in his morals, whom the patriarch had not long before removed from his rank. This man, having first removed the patriarchal pallium and the other sacred vestments, proclaimed that solemnity: "Indignus!" Zacharias and Rhodoaldus, and some other wicked men, shouting the same thing, were voting with this impious vote. But not long after, the divine vengeance followed, when he most justly removed those men from the grace of the holy father Zacharias’s sickle. But how Photius might otherwise display his secret hatred against him to the whole world, and how he might show himself to be far removed from the peaceful and gentle pastor Jesus, while he was D planning such things and inflicting such injuries upon a just man—of this judgment, there was no one who did not condemn it, and [condemn] even more the madness, or rather the inhumanity, of the act.
A ...and after him a patrician, to whom, as a reward for his perjury, he offered the dignity of Magister. By these means, having collected the rest [of the people] from every rank, even from the lowest of all, and not only them, but also from the so-called "double-baptizers," B and from every order, so to speak, of men—men most shameful and most polluted—having bought them with gold and honors, they brought them forward one by one, swearing that Ignatius, who had served as high priest for nearly twelve years, had been ordained without a vote and had seized the Church. What, then, did these vain judges, in whose hands were iniquities, and whose right hand was filled with bribes, offer in response to this perjury? They immediately produced the thirtieth canon, which says: C "If any bishop, having used secular powers, shall through them gain control of a church, let him be deposed." But the rest of the chapter—that all those who communicate with him are also [to be deposed]—the deceitful men maliciously suppressed. For it was necessary, if indeed they were struggling to guard the apostolic law, not to guard it in part, but entirely; and if the accusation were true, they ought to have deposed, just as they did him, those who were ordained by him and who communicated with him; and thus the sinners would have been clearly caught in the works of their own hands. D But thinking most unjustly, they proclaimed only what contributed to the harm of the man being insulted by them, while they concealed what followed, by which they themselves would be subjected to the same censure—a fact which the patriarch himself, when they were silent, aptly cried out to them: "O wickedness! O stupidity!" For who does not know that Ignatius was appointed canonically and lawfully by the vote of all the bishops together and with the consent of the whole Church, while Photius himself, having used rather the terrible Bardas and secular rulers as collaborators, seized the throne more by tyranny than by ecclesiastical [order]? But those who walk in the darkness of greed and the madness for glory did not know, nor did they understand, that they are caught in the very snares of the counsels they devised.
After much contention, exertion, and weariness in their words, following no law of justice, but maddened by the use of power alone, they dressed him in ragged and filthy garments, and, having clothed him in priestly vestments, they stripped him from behind. There was a certain excommunicated subdeacon, Procopius by name—senseless in speech, profane in life—whom the patriarch had formerly cast out of his degree for this reason. This man, being the first to snatch away the omophorion and the rest of the vestments, shouted, "Unworthy!" Zacharias and Rhodoaldus, and some other impious men, shouting the same, voted in favor of the unholy decree. Yet not long after, justice followed them all, and the sickle of the divine Zacharias assisted in most justly cutting them down. For how else could Photius have made clear the anger that lay hidden within him against the blameless man to the whole world, and how could he have shown himself to be as far as possible from the peaceful and gentle shepherd Jesus, than by planning such things and so unjustly attacking a just man? This judgment, there was no one who did not blame it, and acknowledge its foolishness, or rather its inhumanity.
A For not only did those who held to the side of right reason weep at what had happened, but even Photios's own relatives and intimates sighed over the proceedings, and predicted that these things would redound to the ruin of the judge of injustice himself. But what of that man? Was he awed by men, or for fear of God who loves justice and judgment, did he cease his anger from that time? Not at all; rather, heaving hatred upon hatred, and wickedness upon wickedness, he strove with every zeal and device not only to kill him—but, what is worse than death, to destroy him as one worthy of death. Therefore, at that time, as they had intended, once they had deposed and anathematized him, they handed him over to the most cruel and impious men to be bitterly tormented, until he should sign his own deposition with his own hand.
Those who beat and afflicted him were present; and although there was a biting cold, they kept him pressed in a single tunic, crucified him, burned him, held him in close custody for two weeks, and wore him out with total famine. Not only this, but they made him sit, elevated, upon the very sarcophagus of Copronymus, and hung heavy stones from his feet, and by the sharpness of the marble, while he remained seated, they bitterly bruised him and wore him down, causing him great agony. These are the things, and more than these, with which that evil seed, so to speak—those lawless sons, that Morotheodoros, and John the Gorgonite, and Nicholas the Scutelopsis, son of Theodulos—insulted the most holy man, acting with reckless insolence against him in words and deeds.
B After the tortures, therefore, that these men brought upon the confessor of Christ; after the threats; after the chains that they fastened upon his venerable feet; after the slaps; after having stretched him out cruciform upon his face on the marble, and kept him bound all night; after having set him upon the sarcophagus for the entire following night, and then having released him from his bonds only to throw him upon the ground and crush him, and crimson the earth with his blood—after all these things, while he was still breathing slightly (for his bowels were also suffering from severe looseness), Morotheodoros seized the holy man's hand by force, and taking a paper, he fixed a cross as if through his hand; he then took this and delivered it to Photios. He, having received the cross, signed with his own hand as follows: "I, Ignatius, unworthy Archbishop of Constantinople, confess that I entered the throne without election, and that these years I did not sanctify [the church], but played the tyrant."
When this signature was sent to the Emperor, the blessed man was released from that confinement and, reaching the maternal estate of Pose, he rested there for a short time from his many labors. But the enemy did not cease to weave deceits in his heart and to contemplate wicked things against the innocent. Therefore, he suggests to the rulers that they should bring him back to the temple of the Apostles and force him, first of all, to read his own deposition from the ambo and to anathematize himself; and after that—O, the murderous counsel! O, the atrocity!—to gouge out his eyes and to cut off his hand. C D
A August was the month, and Constantinople was shaken by extraordinary earthquakes; every house was trembling, and every heart was palpitating with fear; and every person, seized by the dread of death, cried out that there was but one cause for the earthquake, one cause for the injustice and lawlessness committed against the patriarch Ignatius. But the earthquake, extending for forty days, bent their cruelty and audacity so much that the rulers themselves publicly swore an oath that neither that holy exile, nor the host at whose house he was hiding, would be subject to harm; but that he, having been declared innocent of the crime, would remain securely in his own monastery without any molestation. When the athlete of Christ heard this, he immediately revealed himself to the patrician Petronas; who, being the emperor's maternal uncle, took the precious ornament that hung on the emperor’s breast and gave it to the patriarch as a pledge. Having hung this from his neck, he went to Bardas; and the latter said, "Why, pray, are you wandering about from place to place in the manner of a fugitive?" To whom Ignatius replied, "Christ, our King and Father, commanded: 'If they persecute you in one city, flee to another' (Matt. x, 23)." Overcome by the innocence and virtue of the man, Bardas ordered him to be sent back, unharmed and free, to his monastery. Immediately the earth stopped moving. And the Bulgarians, too, were at that time, by the providence of God, oppressed by severe famine, and being softened by the emperor’s gifts as well, laid down their arms and approached the holy baptism.
B At that time, the aforementioned legates of Rome, having been smoothly corrupted by gifts from Photius, returned to Rome. Pope Nicholas, having interrogated them about the patriarch Ignatius and questioned them severely, and having convicted them by their own words, declared that they had acted as leaders of a brigand-like faction rather than a legitimate synod, and smote them with anathema, condemning them to perpetual deposition. Not only the legates, but he also proclaimed Photius himself a tyrant and an adulterer, and with the sentence of a legitimate synod, smote and deposed him with the anathema of his entire Church; and he declared that he differed in no way from Maximus the Cynic, who insulted Gregory the Theologian and threw the Church into every kind of turmoil. Wherefore, as the author of scandals, he subjected both him and those ordained by him—as being clearly of one mind with him—to the same condemnation by apostolic authority, as though they were co-conspirators. Nor content with this, he excluded his followers, and the emperor himself with his entire senate, from the assembly of the faithful by letters. After Nicholas had accomplished these things with divine zeal, he sent this lawful judgment to the patriarchs of the East.
C Around those days, a very great fire occurred in the buildings of the Sophia, and it is impossible to express in words the destruction and damage it brought upon those living nearby. Yet this event did not bring those who had decided to act perversely to a better mind; rather, according to the proverb D
A *erring and sending into error*, they kept progressing toward the worst. For Bardas, coveting the empire, first as curopalates, and soon after being declared Caesar, abused the folly of his nephew, the emperor, and betrayed himself as a slave to every intemperance and unrestrained lust. Michael, his mind entirely corrupted by youthful desires, treated divine things as a fable or a plaything, having himself become a laughingstock of all filth and sin, and the very father of sin. He most dementedly consecrated as priests and bishops, in a profane imitation of the Church, certain most impure and profane mannikins and buffoons, entirely devoid of the divine Spirit and heavenly grace, and most fully instructed in the worst arts of the demon—men devoid of all reverence and shameless. Among them he appointed as patriarch a certain Theophilus, a protospatharius, a buffoon and a mime, and the most profane among the profane, desiring to provoke laughter and unseemly derision for himself, a man to be detested and mocked. By these acts, injury was done to the holy oblation, and the name of God, being subjected to insults, was blasphemed among the nations.
Michael, however, gloried so much in this infamy that he was not even ashamed to proclaim it publicly: B "To me Theophilus is patriarch, to the Caesar Photius, and to the Christians Ignatius." Into such a chasm of madness—or rather, impiety—did he finally descend! That sacrilegious buffoon, as I said, Theophilus, with his overt insolence licking the royal courts, mocked and held in contempt the mysteries and sacraments through nefarious crimes, lasciviousness, and jests, in a most shameful imitation involving the contempt of divine things; a thing which not even the most impious of the Gentiles dared to do at any time. When Photius saw these things being done in his presence, he neither rebuked this most unworthy behavior, nor did he resist the impiety, nor did he utter a single word, whether grave or light, against the fact that a divine matter was being turned into a mockery. Nor should this be wondered at: he was a C hired shepherd, not a true pastor; therefore, he had no care for the perishing sheep. Yet he was intent with his whole heart on only two purposes: first, that by flattering those who seemed to hold power, and by gratifying and complying with them in every way, he might secure the patriarchate for himself; and second, that he might strip Ignatius, if by any means possible, even of his life. And that these things are true, and not empty words, the facts themselves proclaim. For who, upon hearing of that artifice, did not immediately perceive the savage soul of the man? For one day, a certain stranger, previously unknown to all, D clad in the habit of a monk, by the name of Eustratius, hurried straight to the patriarchate, and having entered, openly presented two false letters which he had ready; these that most wise Photius had devised through deceit, as later became manifest: the one written in the name of Ignatius to Pope Nicholas, in which the state
of his patriarchate was unchanged, and which clearly set forth the injuries of the emperor—injuries which he said the pontiff had not even wished to look upon, and therefore they A had been brought back by him. There was another letter, purportedly sent from Nicholas to Photius himself, which cleared up the previous dissension between Photius and the pontiff, and established love and friendship for all future time. This artisan of troubles at once seized these and handed them over to the emperor and the Caesar; and by telling monstrous lies against the innocent man, he inflamed the princes: "Ignatius," he said, "is defaming your Majesty even to foreign nations, and this most wicked slanderer is accusing the power of your empire. Even if he had a just cause, he should rightly be deprived of his life for plotting such things against your serenity. But behold," he said, "these letters are witnesses of his treachery, and let them be proof of these words, which have not harmed us at all, but rather helped us, since the pope has been informed of the truth and has confirmed his love toward us. Yet I considered it unworthy that your Majesty should be trodden upon by him." Thus spoke the sycophant Photius. B The guards were summoned; Ignatius, circumvented by this slander, was held in close custody, searched sharply, and interrogated as to whether things were so. The courier was also brought into the midst and ordered to declare from whom he had received the letters to Pope Nicholas. The courier replied that he had first received the letters and travel money from that man, Cyprian, a disciple of Ignatius. But since, even when a whole month was given for investigation, he could neither point out Cyprian, nor did he appear to know anyone from Ignatius's retinue, the fraud was detected and he was most severely scourged with leather thongs by Caesar. Although Photius did everything to liberate him, he achieved nothing thereby. Eventually, so as to comfort the man, he created him a prefect of the lictors. When this perfidy of Photius was exposed, there was no one who did not bear these wicked arts with the greatest indignation.
Not long after, the annual sacred day of Christ's Ascension was being C celebrated, when toward evening the earth began to quake with such a tremor as never before, and it did not cease for the whole of the following night. A certain obscure roar and huge bellowing emitted from earth and sea so broke men's hearts with fear that they were nearly dissolved. The statue of Justinian was also torn from the knees and fell. Then that Basil, who had formerly been bishop of Crete but had been transferred to Thessalonica due to the incursion of the Hagarenes (not without shame to Photius, who was then occupying the Constantinopolitan cathedra), dared to approach Michael himself. He exhorted him, partly with the authority of admonition and partly D that of a teacher, to refrain from such impious and sacrilegious mimicry and mockery of sacred things; for he maintained that from this the wrath of God was being kindled. Michael, most gravely offended by these rebukes, struck the venerable old man with most atrocious blows, snapping his teeth out by the roots, and so lacerated his back with whips that
A so that he nearly perished in the torments; but about this the hired shepherd cared not at all. For he himself also secretly rejoiced in what was being done, and, by spending his time and feasting more frequently together with that boy and those impure mimes, he was not far from their habitual ways and mockery. But his entire concern was turned toward oppressing Ignatius; for he longed to hear something against him, and his ears itched. And if he ever happened upon a slanderer of him, who might happen to spread even a slight calumny about him, he would immediately enroll this man in the album of his friends, and listen with great pleasure to the detractor. For truly nothing so captivates minds possessed by envy and hatred as a sinister narrative about the one they hate. Therefore, through the friends and subordinates of Ignatius, as many as he could entice with gifts and honors and render obsequious to himself, he was always investigating, and in return hunting for a cause against the just man’s soul. Among these was that Ignatius, the disciple of this holy Ignatius, who, like Demas of old, loving the present age, crossed over to the camp of Photius; and for a time he was prefect of the monasteries in the Propontis, and was then created by him archbishop of Hierapolis. He, to compensate for the benefit, said, "I marvel, master, as to how such a transgression and crime of Ignatius has either escaped your notice, or is being altogether neglected. For in the middle of the island’s square a sacred house has been erected to the forty martyrs; but adjoining it is an oratory of the Mother of God, whose altar the Rhos lately, when they were depopulating the island, overturned, but which Ignatius has restored and replaced." What then did Photius do? Did he, thinking this a small or non-existent fault, hold his peace? Or did he for this reason kindle a light fire of turbulence? By no means; but he exaggerated the matter to the emperor B as some huge and inexpiable crime; and, having communicated a plan with his faction, he dispatched Amphilochius of Cyzicus and Theodore of Patrae, archbishops, and even Pantaleon the senator, surnamed Bothrus, to the island, who with sacrilegious hands dismantled that holy altar. Photius had given orders, moreover, that the altar be carried down to the seashore, be dipped forty times in the waves, and only thus be brought back and put in place. What are we not to marvel at in you, O man (for the excess of your wickedness forces me, though unwilling and a stranger to such things, to attack you with reproaches)? Or rather, what are we to scoff at first, or what last? The stupidity of your mind, or the depravity of your perverse intellect? The magnitude of your envy, or the pursuit of your ambitious wickedness? Does your long meditation on books, and your sleepless nights, and your supply of almost innumerable codices C teach you these things? Likewise the shifting change of those reading and disputing, and your constant striving for the praise of erudition? Do the tablets of the Old and New Law, the sayings of the wise among the pagans, and the decrees of the holy Fathers set these fruits before you to be taken from letters, so that you might pursue a man poor and a beggar, and seek to slaughter him who is contrite in spirit and heart?
A Was not the unbearable fury of your soul sated by the tyrannical expulsion from his throne, the most unjust proscriptions, the shackles and chains, the infinite exiles, the slanders, the hardships, and the torments with which you defiled him? Truly, you defiled him as much as you yourself became defiled. And yet, not contented with this, as if drawing from the very fountain of a river to condemn another, you thought to destroy him by abominable schemes, and you dared to judge the man who is justified by God, and while attempting to evade the test of your own transgressions, you did so with great foolishness, as though God did not oversee human affairs, or as though He would not repay each person according to his deeds at the proper time. I think even you, in the day of your visitation by God, shall hear the One who says: "Why do you declare my statutes, and take my covenant in your mouth," and why do you assume to yourself the priestly utterance? I deem it much better for a man who is utterly unlettered and ignorant to live with a good conscience in an irreproachable manner, than for one who—while he is lauded in volumes of human and divine wisdom—nurses a murderous desire to harm another. And hearing this sentiment of the great Basil, one would be struck with amazement when someone says, B that among all the arch-heretics who have flourished across the habitable world, none dared to commit such outrages, except for Eustathius of Ancyra, whose wicked crime the synod of Gangra exposes. But your "most wise" self (for indeed, our Photius did not blush in the least; rather, he boasted magnificently, thinking that this would enhance his prestige, as though inventing something new and foreign to ecclesiastical discipline). Thus did Photius behave.
But as for me, I shall not pass over the dream appearing to Caesar Bardas (for it is not proper to leave it out in silence). For although most people are preoccupied with the anxieties and thoughts of the day, and many are influenced by images presented by demons, it is nevertheless true that often, through the decree of God, images are presented and fashioned by holy angels—especially for rulers and kings, even if they are not righteous. C Yet the spirit of prophecy—whether towards those men themselves or for the benefit of others—often knows how to work effectively, as we have learned in the case of Pharaoh and Nabuchodonosor. Thus this Caesar Bardas, having called in Philotheus, a certain logothete of the gentiles, a man whom he trusted, was troubled and overwhelmed with much panting, and said: "Philotheus, I have seen a vision, and it has shattered my bones and loosened the joints of my limbs. For I was walking by night, as it were, on a path, intending to enter the Great Church with the king, D and lo, there appeared to me in public procession the emperor, proceeding to the great basilica, and I saw the images of the archangels through all the windows above.
A And when we had arrived near the ambo, there appeared as it were two chamberlains, severe and cruel; one of whom, taking the emperor himself bound, and dragging him to the right side, cast him out from the solea, condemning him as a guilty man and one condemned; the other in like manner led him away to the left side. And suddenly, looking around, I perceive an old man sitting in the patriarchal throne in the sanctuary, in appearance utterly like the prince of the apostles, Peter, and two stern attendants stood by him, displaying the dignity of superiors. B I see also prostrate at the knees of the seated one, Ignatius, supplicating him, and bedewed with many tears; so that Peter himself, pitying the state of Ignatius, groaned. Furthermore, Ignatius cried out: "Key-bearer of the kingdom of the heavens, and rock upon which Christ God established His Church, it is not unknown to you, for you know how unjustly I have been treated; comfort my wretched old age." The blessed Peter said to him: "Show me your tormentor, and God shall bring about the out-working of the trial"; and indicating with his hand against Ignatius, he pointed: "Here," he said, "he who afflicted me more than all, against whom no justice for my tormenting was found." He who sat upon the throne, having assented to him to stand by on the right, drew a small sword, and speaking openly to all who heard, pronounced the sentence. "Seize," he says, "the impious Bardas, and outside in the atrium, hack him limb from limb." C Immediately, therefore, being dragged to the punishment, I saw that he was being hacked in truth according to the command issued to the emperor. This, on being told to the astonished Caesar with tears, Theophilus, who was then present, said: "Spare, O master, the wretched old man, and looking toward the tribunal of God, do not harm him, whether justly or unjustly." But Bardas did not wish to understand, that he might act for the best; but having buried those warnings in oblivion, he hastened to fulfill his sins, that he might draw upon himself the just vengeance of God. For immediately, at the beginning of the solemn fast, he sent that Leon, surnamed Ptolemaeus, a relative of Photius, along with a garrison into exile, and commanded him to be kept under custody, so that he could not even perform the sacred rites, nor could there be any opportunity for anyone to visit or speak with him. D And when three months had passed by, the prediction of the dream was ripening. For during the expedition undertaken by Michael to Crete, Bardas, having withdrawn to the place called the Gardens, as he was suspected of plotting treachery against the emperor (for he was pursued by divine vengeance), he paid the final penalty to God, and was miserably hewn limb from limb by the sword. He perished by such an ignominious death, so that even his intimate, whom he had cherished with the highest benefits, and who had received from him the dignity of the patriarchate, was taken away. But though he had miraculously esteemed him, and extolled him in all his commendations, yet after he was slain, he sang a different tune, and as if he were some execrable crime worthy of such
A a death, he denounced him. This wicked veteran and sophist was of such a character, that he would always adapt himself to the times and to circumstances, and would sway his will to follow those in power. For, having failed the requirements of faith and being under the influence of people—since he rested his mind on a rotten foundation—he was an unbeliever to all, being both an accuser of those who were humbled and B yet a sycophant to those in authority, seeking only to please the powerful and not be stripped of his dignity. An unsteady man is exposed; for while he acts as an advocate for those who are being slandered, he proves to be the only one who looks to please the powerful, so that he may not fall from the authority he holds.
The Emperor, having reversed his journey, suddenly returned to the imperial city. It was Pentecost, and he gave the command to Basil, the patrician and chamberlain of the sacred cubicle, conferring upon him the dignity of Caesar. But Photius, C who had plotted many things against Pope Nicholas—since he could do nothing else—convinced the Emperor, after many urgings, to hold a synod. He wished to depose Nicholas and to excommunicate those who held communion with him. He sent the resolution to those who were sent by the Pope, who had indeed been dispatched to him. Having gathered all the bishops under his authority, that high-spirited man, along with some vile, low-born men—and pretending to bring in representatives of the Eastern patriarchs, creating a pseudo-synod—he deposed Nicholas, as he thought, and anathematized him. Indeed, he exerted every effort D especially to incite that King of the Franks, Lothair, and Theutberga, his wife, whom he seduced (or whom he suborned), as well as the Emperor’s wife, promising that he would be acclaimed in Constantinople, if they would assist him in this lawless and wicked desire, and that the man who was rightly cast out of the Church would be removed. Since they promised to do this, that fool labored in vain, revealing his own folly. Hence, the subscriptions and oaths of men—sacred and profane, metropolitans and patricians—were all vanity, all more foolish and ridiculous than theatrical fables. For that arrogant pride, which he had clung to since he was a child, had lifted him up to the brink of insanity, and he dared to do such things boldly and impudently. All these things being managed, he sent the insane and sacrilegious acts—concerning his own self—to Zachary, bishop of Chalcedon, whom he had consecrated as metropolitan, and to Theodorus, who had been transferred from Caria to the bishopric of Laodicea, in Italy. And he sent his irrational and wicked deeds to Italy. He himself, adhering to the holy fast and to those whom he considered his own faithful followers—or rather the bastards, whom he could steal—was caught in his own knavery as he tried to snare the innocent with his honors. But he was frustrated in his hope, for the blessed man was far above any accusation. The blessed one, however, was caught in the works of his own malicious hands. When he was in doubt as to whom he should finally entrust with the summit of the empire, he would malign Basil to Michael, and in turn, slander Michael to Basil, thinking that by comparing their friendship, he was simulating benevolence toward both, so that he alone might eventually possess the empire and turn them toward himself.
A And he kept him as a guardian of his life, praising him highly with every sort of eulogy; but once he was dead, he sang a different tune, declaring him to be a polluted and thrice-accursed man, worthy of such a demise. Such was that terrible sophist, always changing according to the times and circumstances, and carried about by the desires of those in power. For he who misses the divine guidance and impulse through a lack of faith, and has placed his hope in men—since he supports his mind on a rotten foundation—is proved faithless toward all and an accuser of the humble; B towards the exalted, he is a flatterer, looking only to please the powerful, so that he might not fall from power. At that time, then, the emperor immediately returned to the queen of cities. It was Pentecost, and equipping the patrician and chamberlain Basil with a crown, he proclaimed him emperor. But the crafty Photius, weaving many intrigues against Pope Nicholas, since he had no other means to act against him, persuaded the emperor with many exhortations to convene a synod, to depose Nicholas, and to send off an excommunication against those who held communion with him, equal in weight to the one previously sent by him. Having therefore gathered all the bishops under him, that brilliant man—bringing along some wretched and obscure little men as delegates, supposedly from the eastern patriarchates—and holding a pseudo-synod, he brought about a deposition, as he thought, and an anathema against Nicholas for no reason at all. For by means of brilliant gifts, he particularly cajoled the king of Francia, Lodoech, and Engilberga, his wife, promising that he would acclaim these as emperors in Constantinople if they would cooperate with his illicit and lawless desire, and forcefully thrust that just man from his Church. When they promised faster than a word, the vain man was vainly boasting. Hence came the subscriptions and voices of canonical persons and laymen, of metropolitans and patricians: all things were novel, all things more vain and ridiculous than the fables whispered about on the stage; for the conceit of soul that had followed him from childhood, having hoisted him up to the highest arrogance and madness, persuaded him to dare such things fearlessly and shamelessly. He then, having prepared these things, sent his irrational and wicked deeds through the hand of Zacharias the Deaf, whom he had ordained metropolitan of Chalcedon, and Theodore, who had been transferred from Caria to Laodicea, to Italy. But he himself kept his inborn hatred against the saint, and, stealing away as many of his genuine—or rather, bastard—followers as he could, and enticing them with the vanities of dignities, he lay in wait through them for the heel of the innocent; but he missed his hopes, for the blessed man was far above all accusation, while Photius was caught in the works of his own hands. Being truly ignorant as to whom the power of the empire was flying, at one time he maligned Basil to Michael, and again, he disparaged Michael to Basil, thinking he was securing the friendship of both by simulating benevolence toward both, so that whoever of them might be declared monarch, he would attach him to himself.
A However, these things did not please Basil, and he was thoroughly disgusted by the knavish tricks of the wise man. A short time later, Michael himself was assassinated near the sanctuary of the martyr Mamas, receiving a death worthy of his folly, or rather, his injustice and impiety; he died after having reigned for fifteen years and eight months with his mother, and having held sole power for nearly nine years, and having done evil in the sight of the Church of the Lord. The first indiction was beginning, and it was the twenty-fourth of September, when Basil, heading to the palace, was proclaimed emperor. B Immediately, he sent men to intercept the party of Zacharias of Chalcedon, and turned them back from the middle of their journey. The day after his proclamation, he removed Photius from the patriarchal throne and banished him at once to a certain monastery called Scepe; and the next day he sent Elias, the most illustrious drungary of the imperial fleet, with the imperial dromon, to the most holy patriarch, that he might bring him from the island to the Queen of Cities with the honor that was fitting; and for the time being, he settled him in his own ancestral palaces, which they call Mangana. C But in order that all the wickedness enacted against the holy man might be made manifest, He who catches the wise in their own craftiness, and thwarts the plans of the perverse, put a thought into the mind of Emperor Basil as well. He sent to Photius, ordering him to transmit to him without delay all the autograph documents he had taken when he descended from the patriarchate. But he swore falsely that he had taken nothing of the kind from there, because he had been pressed to depart. Now, as these things were being said by him to the praepositus Baanes, those who were attending to his needs, troubled by the confusion of the followers of Photius, perceived them carrying seven sacks, filled and sealed with lead, into the nearby reed-bed to hide them; D and the men with the praepositus, seeing this, snatched them from their hands and carried them to the emperor. When they opened them, they discovered two volumes decorated on the outside with gold and silver and silken vestments, and on the inside carefully and diligently written in graceful letters. The one contained seven synodical acts against Ignatius which never existed, nor ever took place, but were vainly fabricated by a malicious mind alone. At the beginnings of these, in each of the acts, Ignatius was inscribed through color-paintings by the artistry of the Syracusan Asbestas himself (for the man was also a painter, to the piling up of his own evils, I believe). And—oh, the unrestrained fury! Oh, the madness that leaves no room for excess!—in the first act he portrayed him being dragged and scourged, and wrote above his head: «The Devil.» Do you not tremble at the excess of this blasphemy? But do not be surprised. For if they called the master of the house Beelzebub, what of those of his household? In the second act he portrayed him being spat upon and violently dragged, with the inscription: «The beginning of sin.» In the third, he portrayed him being deposed, and: «The son of destruction.» In the fourth, he portrayed him bound in chains,
and inscribed upon it: «The greed of Simon Magus.» At the beginning of the fifth, he depicted him with iron collars around his neck, with the taunt: «He who exalts himself above all that is called God or worshiped.» In the sixth, he depicted him as being condemned, with the label: «The abomination of desolation.» In the seventh and final act, he painted him being dragged away and beheaded; and the inscription he wrote upon it was: «The Antichrist.» A I am ashamed, in truth, to have these things on my tongue, or to bring them to mind, and I would have kept entirely silent about them—be well assured of this—had I not seen those who perpetrated these things, and their associates, not only not covering their faces in shame, but even priding themselves in them and falsely attributing a reputation for holiness to him. For truthful is He who said: «When the wicked comes into the depth of evils, he becomes contemptuous; but dishonor and reproach follow him» (Prov. XVIII, 3). Those who were present at the reading of those sacrilegious proceedings swore by the fear of the Lord and by the glory of His strength that fifty-two articles, undoubtedly false and acknowledged by all as such, had been written, proceeding from an impious or rather maniacal mind, to the accusation of the blessed Ignatius. B Indeed, at the end of every accusation, they left a blank line, so that if they could deceive any person worthy of the noose with gifts or honors, he would have room to write in his falsehood. And these things were what the one book of the devil contained. The other was a synodical book fabricated against Nicholas, pope of Rome, weaving all manner of slander and absurd blasphemy for the deposition and anathema of a holy man, impiously and wickedly dramatized—a work worthy of the dictation of the evil demon himself and the ministry of Photius. The impudent one, having had these books copied twice without variation, delivered two of them to the aforementioned Zacharias and Theodore, along with many praises and many brilliant gifts, to be taken to the king of the Franks, in order that he might cast Pope Nicholas from his throne as if he had been deposed. The other two he kept to himself. C Having seized these four books, the emperor first made them manifest to the senate and the Church, and thus exposed to the view of the entire state the whole of Photius's machination and evil conscience. Every person was struck with amazement upon seeing and hearing these things, not only at the perversity and foul-mouthedness of the sophist, but also at the excess of the long-suffering and forbearance of God. But these books were later brought to the synod, and after they had been presented to their author, they were, in that manner, given to the fire. At that time, Emperor Basil, holding a *silentium* in the palace of the Magnaura, brought in the patriarch and crowned him with many praises. It was a Sunday, and the twenty-third day of November, just as it was when he was first D sent into exile, who, by the protection and goodness of God, having been restored to his throne after nine full years of showing forth a perfect struggle for virtue, was set back over the Church. And the lamp, having been lit more brightly than before, was placed upon the lampstand, as the shepherd recognized his sheep, and he was recognized in turn by the sheep. Accordingly, as almost the whole city was in triumph, and as he was escorted by the throngs that followed and preceded him in rejoicing, he was led through the sacred atrium toward the upper parts of the temple, and the order of the patricians, coming out to meet him on the right side as he entered, bowed in veneration. The liturgy at that time was performed according to custom. It was appropriate, moreover, that we should not omit the sacred omen that occurred at his entry. For he who was to be, and they who were, venerating—the priest, namely, making the offering for us in the sanctuary—cried out: «Let us give thanks to the Lord our God»; and the people immediately replied, «It is meet and right.» Thus, the holy Ignatius, having received his throne back for the good of all, and having resumed the rudders of the Church, holds back not only Photius from the sacred rites, and those initiated into his rites, but also all his followers who were in communion with him: he prayed, moreover, to the emperor that he should call an ecumenical council, as he judged that all of the Church's wounds would be healed by it.
C And he himself, relying on the protection and kindness of God, after having displayed a perfect struggle for virtue for nine complete years, was restored to the Church; and the lamp, having been lit more brightly, was placed upon the lampstand more conspicuously than before, and the shepherd recognized his sheep, and he was recognized more clearly by his own. Therefore, since almost the entire city was rejoicing at his ascent, preceding and following him in exultation, he himself was led up through the Holy Well; and as he entered the upper galleries of the Great Church through the right-hand door, the order of patricians met him, paying reverence and greeting him; and the sacred liturgy was being performed at that time according to custom. It is not right to pass over the holy omen that occurred at his entry; for as he was entering and the people were prostrating themselves, the priest who was making the offering in the sanctuary cried out, "Let us give thanks to the Lord," and the people answered, "It is meet and right." Thus, the holy Ignatius, having recovered his own throne under auspicious signs and having taken the helm of the Church again, excluded from the holy liturgy not only Photius and those ordained by him, but also all who had been in communion with him; he besought the emperor to convene an ecumenical council, through which he judged that all the scandals would be healed. Immediately, therefore, John of Perge, as one suffering as a companion to Ignatius in all his afflictions, was chosen on his part, and on the part of Photius, Peter of Sardis, as legates to Pope Nicholas; along with them also went Basil, called Pinakas, holding the rank of D spatharios; and they sailed on two dromons. But Peter, who was called "Dilaios" (the wretched), having encountered danger in the Gulf of Dalmatia, perished wretchedly. But John, having arrived safely with Basil, found Pope Hadrian, as Nicholas had already departed from this life in the body. Not much time, therefore, passed, and the legates arrived: Stephen and Donatus, bishops of the Pope of Rome, and Marinus, one of the seven deacons, with them. And from the patriarchates of the East, the emperor having satisfied the ruler of Syria with gifts and letters, Joseph, archdeacon and syncellus, came as legate for Michael, the Pope of Alexandria in Egypt; and Thomas, metropolitan of Tyre, filled the place of Michael, the patriarch of Antioch in Syria, and Elias, presbyter and syncellus, was present in place of Theodosius, patriarch of Jerusalem. All these, together with the most holy patriarch of Constantinople, Ignatius, and the twelve bishops with him who had labored with him and struggled alongside him from beginning to end, took their seats on the right side of the catechumens of the renowned temple of the Wisdom of God, with Emperor Basil. With the precious and life-giving wood and the holy Gospels set forth, and with the holy senate present, first of all, the letters sent by Hadrian, Pope of Elder Rome, and those from the patriarchs of the East, D were read in order, and everything required by sacred law was confirmed.
They demonstrated before all the loyal and blameless integrity of the delegated legates, and the canonical and legitimate status of those who sent them. Then, on the following day, all the priests and bishops who had received consecration from the most holy patriarchs Methodius and Ignatius, but who had been drawn into communion with Photius through all sorts of villainy, various punishments, and clever schemes, all presented petitions of repentance. Prostrating themselves before the holy synod with tears, they made confession, and, in accordance with the emperor’s intercession on their behalf and the vote of the Romans, they were granted pardon, as having acted under duress. Upon accepting the prescribed penance, they were deemed worthy of the episcopal throne, just like those who were blameless.
B Consequently, that synod, consisting of one hundred and two bishops, conducting all things decorously, in order, and with sound reasoning according to canonical decrees, brought forward the guilty Photius against his will. They sternly rebuked him for his murderous intent against the hierarch Ignatius and his irrational and frenzied deposition of him. They also exposed his perjuries, defamations, and all the acts he was caught committing against Pope Nicholas. Then they asked him if he had any justification to offer in response to the sentence of condemnation passed against him by the Romans long ago. Because he remained silent, as he possessed no reasonable apology for the charges brought against him, and because he was urged by the legates themselves, by the emperor, and by the senate to ask for forgiveness so that he might at least be granted communion with the faithful as a layman, he utterly spurned their counsel out of stubbornness. Therefore, by a common and most just vote, they condemned, deposed, and excommunicated him as an intruder and an adulterer, and as the cause of the most grievous persecutions and countless scandals in the Churches of God. And they pronounced [the sentence] together with the deposition-sentence of Pope Nicholas, which had been set forth against him first with great precision and by a canonical, that is to say, a synodal judgment. They subscribed to the deposition, not merely using ink for their signatures, but—most terrifyingly, as I have heard confirmed by those who knew—dipping their pens in the very blood of the Savior. In such a way did they excommunicate Photius, and in such a way did they treat him.
At this point, it seems to me that I must accuse the synod; I will blame this judgment of theirs, even if it is a bold thing to do. For they ratified all the acts and the canons defined therein, just as in the preceding seven ecumenical synods, and confirmed the condemnation of those ordained by [the condemned]. C But, as I have said—the most holy synod, accepting and receiving them [the legates and the acts] most piously, since they behaved with more compassion than strict justice toward the heretics—the latter, seizing the opportunity again, took advantage of their own impiety and cruelly revived it. Thus, because this synod acted with more leniency and not without deep affection, nor did it pronounce judgment from the apostolic canon of condemnation, maliciousness once again found a place against the Church. For the man who had been cast out by men previously corrupted, and [who had been] condemned as if he were one of the household, returning postliminously, invaded the patriarchal throne by force; and by eluding the sacred laws and apostolic sanctions, by trampling underfoot all ecclesiastical traditions, and by perjuring himself with the testimonies and signatures of all, and by trampling on the cross, as I said, he compelled himself to become [what he was not], and by worsening the first [crimes] with extreme [new ones], he defiled and profaned the consciences of all. And this is what is desired in this synod, that I, too, having been received into communion, should have been admitted into the fold like a wolf, beyond his expectation. This is what some, conjecturing wisely from the signs of the times, had sensed. For a synod had not yet been celebrated, and this was only hoped for, when, through the schemes of those brought here from elsewhere, and through the means [of their path], fury suddenly seized them, and others, rushing in, suddenly [were driven] from the outside through the middle of the city.
A I warmly welcome and accept those things that are divinely inspired; yet, I find fault with this eighth synod in one regard only—not that it judged the guilty ones too severely or with heavy wrath and malice, as some think, but rather, on the contrary, it is perhaps to be blamed by a just judge for having made its decision more mercifully than was necessary, not being impartial, nor delivering a purely apostolic verdict. For the thirtieth chapter, by which the slanderer first condemned the blameless one, as if he had obtained control of the Church through secular power, should have been applied with greater force now against him—that he, not by the vote of God and the priests, but by an excess of love of power and vainglory, had acted the tyrant over the Church through secular power. For these reasons it was necessary to depose him, and also because he deigned to be ordained by one who had been deposed, and [to depose] all those who held communion with him, according to the apostolic decree; and they ought not, by becoming more merciful than God and the judgment of God, to have invalidated the decision of the all-holy Spirit. This has turned everything upside down; this judgment has been the cause of countless evils and scandals. For I believe that if they had pronounced the verdict then, according to the apostolic and canonical manner, upon all of them—not only declaring the cause of the schism and the scandals, but also all who held communion with him—no wickedness would have found any further entry against the Church. But just as first, at the time of the synod regarding the divine Tarasius against the Iconoclasts, they dealt with the heretics with too much indulgence, and they, having again seized the opportunity, renewed their own impiety even more harshly, so now, because this synod acted with indulgence and did not pronounce the judgment in a standard and canonical manner, wickedness again found a place against the Church. And through those who had been rejected B and the discarded, as if they were his companions, he rushed in and again usurped the hierarchical throne, mocked the sacred laws, trampled underfoot every apostolic canon and every ecclesiastical tradition, and forced all, like himself, to become those who renounce their own written testimonies and those who trample upon the cross; C and by making the last things worse than the first, he defiled and corrupted the consciences of all. This is, in my view, the defect of this synod: through the acceptance and communion of those who had fallen, it brought the wolf—as it did not anticipate—into the sheepfold. And some sagaciously conjectured this from the omens that followed at that time. For before this synod had even been convened, but while it was still being hoped for, buffaloes being driven in from outside were passing through the middle of the city; suddenly seized by madness, D and others rushing here and there, one ran straight towards the great church;
and having entered the holy place, he ran as far as the ambo. It was the ninth hour of the day; and he did not appear like a good messenger to those who knew how to judge such things. A greater proof of this was the most terrifying earthquake that occurred at that time. It was the ninth of January, and many churches, most of the porticos, and houses were leveled to the ground, an immense slaughter both of beasts and of men took place, and even the great house of the Wisdom of God was in danger of collapsing in many parts, had it not received the worthy care of the rulers. These things happened before the synod. And after it, suddenly there came a violent tempest of wind. The month of October was beginning; and the wind attacked so violently that it rolled up the lead of many churches, many palaces, and even the patriarchal house as if it were parchment and tore it down to the ground. Not only that, but also the very heavy bronze top piece installed on the vertex of the four-sided monolithic column in the Hippodrome was cast down far away and shattered. These signs did not happen in vain, but were clear evidence of the future instability and disturbance impending over the Church through the author of confusion, the devil. Events which perhaps would not have happened if the matters concerning him had been decided after the apostolic decree, as has been said. Yet these things do not stain the glory of the patriarch, because he did not have the authority to do everything he wished; rather, in accordance with the ancient ecclesiastical tradition, he yielded the power of judgment to the Romans. But not even that synod wanted to be as indulgent toward those who had communicated with Photius—even if they were greatly compelled—as was the simplicity, or let me say the levity, of the emperor, being overcome by the entreaties of individuals and giving in to their praises, thus abandoning the righteousness of God in most cases. But these things happened in this way.
C But the great Ignatius himself, having taken hold of the helm of the Church a second time, showed even to those who wished to be willingly blind that the enemy had boasted against him in vain. For he governed the Church in a more knowledgeable, and in a way more divine and secure manner than before, as one who had gathered sufficient experience for himself through long hardships and various afflictions. He showed himself entirely incorruptible and impartial in judgments, extremely scrupulous in ordinations, assisting those who were being wronged, sympathizing with those who were grieving, providing for those in need, and cheerfully comforting their poverty as much as he was able. He encouraged and comforted those who were weak in faith or even in body, and he restored the faint-hearted through the grace of the teaching of the Spirit. Becoming all things to all men, he strove, as far as lay in him, to win everyone in the bowels of Jesus Christ. Two paths were always his concern: one looking straight towards God through pure and unceasing prayer; the other directed towards the building up and maintenance of the Church.
A one, that is, in person, but twofold in natures, operations, and wills, we proclaim. And being engaged more diligently in the contemplation of divine things and in theology, and being cleansed through the study of the holy Scriptures, and purified by ceaseless prayer, may we despise base cares, and not submit to the passions of shame, nor fall into unprofitable anxieties. And let all savage anger and all irrational desire be taken away from us; or rather, let anger be a weapon for us against sin and the father of sin. And let desire, being transformed towards that which is truly and properly desirable, become a helper to us for the keeping of the Lord's commandment. Having therefore such injunctions, beloved, given to us first by the prophets, then by the exalted disciples and evangelists of Christ, and after that by the Fathers and holy teachers—or rather, spoken always by one and the same Spirit, and proclaimed in many ways among us—let us not despise them, nor follow after virtue sluggishly and carelessly, but let us pursue the work of virtue keenly and studiously; that, being cleansed from sins by kindness towards the needy and by faith, and having been purified from all defilement of flesh and spirit by perfect love and sincere humility, walking according to the will of God, we may be found worthy of the kingdom of the heavenly Father in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore put away every passion, and let us turn aside from every thought of wickedness, so that we may be able to be offered B clean to the Cleanest One. Let us cast away the ruinous passion of gluttony, as being alien to all virtue, and the producer of every kind of evil; and in its place let us put on most seemly temperance as a double garment, the companion of angels, the bedfellow of the saints, the provider of the joy and delight above. Let fornication not even be named among us; so that we may not be defiled, not only by work and deed, but not even by the monsters of impure thoughts. With all force and zeal, with all humility and prayer, let us pluck out the evil root from its very foundation, and let us first remove or diminish the muddy spring, the merchandise of pleasure, the spark of intemperance, the most obscene idol of the heart. For thus the sacred beauty of temperance will bloom within us, and thus we shall draw to ourselves the intelligible Bridegroom, and in a way worthy of things holy, the holy One. Let us flee from avarice and all covetousness as from idolatry. For such is the law C as the Apostle teaches, since those who desire it have wandered away from the faith and have pierced themselves with many sorrows. Since, therefore, it alienates us from the saving faith and renders our life full of many pains, how should it not be fled from and held in abomination by everyone who does not wish to sell his soul like a huckster? Wherefore, if our conversation is in heaven, if we think of heaven, and aspire to immortal life and eternal salvation, having food and raiment, let us be therewith content. For thus, being well instructed, we may expeditiously [climb] the steep ascent of virtue.
knowing that just as it is impossible for a bird tied to the earth to fly up toward heaven, so too is it impossible for one bound by attachment to earthly possessions and wealth to run straight along the path that leads to God. B Therefore, let us flee from wrath, which is the offspring of frenzy, the mother of indecency, and the corruption of the evil one, lest we be consumed by its flame. Let us acquire gentleness, equanimity, and patience. For these are the marks of the philanthropy of Jesus, and these He commands, being preeminently possessed of them. Indeed, all the maxims of the Lord’s mouth are a school of gentleness and long-suffering, through which the highest of all virtues is established and perfected. We must also detest sadness and despondency, which are impediments and stumbling blocks to the way. Let us cast off sadness, which is born from the failure or lack of requested things, which drags down and burns our soul, and weighs it down and constricts it so severely C that we are unable to look upon the Author of true joy and run toward Him in the exultation of the Holy Spirit. Let us cast off despondency, the offspring of evil sadness, the mother of weariness, a friend of despair, which is slackening, listless, and unsuitable for every divine commandment and every good work. Rather, let us put on sadness according to God, the mother of repentance, which is full of compunction and imbued with heavenly joy. Let us put on cheerfulness, diligence, and service to every virtue. Being fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfast in prayer, we might thus be able to overcome the vain and accursed glory—and that far worse and more severe D pride of wickedness, the chief daughter of the devil—in Christ Jesus: while by the utmost humiliation of spirit we explode and trample down the vain praise which is the queen of all vices, and by faith and the power of God we cast down the pride of the devil—and thus, having exhausted the sentiment of all vices, and having put aside all harmful affections of the mind, we purely put on the integrity of God and the Author of integrity. Thus, when we are adorned with every virtue, the dearly beloved Only-Begotten of God will love us, and He will come to us with the Father, as He promised, and will make His abode with us.
On the Divine Ignatius, regarding his custom of admonishing and instructing separate groups.
Such were the constant exhortations of the divine Ignatius; such were the admonitions and instructions he employed, addressing separately the monks and hermits, training them more practically through active discourses and inciting them to the love of religion by exercising them in the passions, while giving those of the world, and especially the rich, instructions on how to live, that they might not be high-minded or think proudly, nor trust in the uncertainty of riches; [and telling] those in authority not to be puffed up, nor to exalt themselves over the poor, while exhorting them. Separately, one might again say: for priests and bishops, as a most hierarchical [man] and...one most learned in the Scriptures, he corrected them according to the canonical ordinances; and to all, to speak generally, through what he did and taught, he set forth the law and the commandment of God. He had already reached a sleek and fruitful old age, and he longed for his release, yearning for a deliverance from his long-standing labors, illnesses, and tribulations. And indeed, he attained this, and with great hopes for the future, he laid aside this present life. He was removed from tumults, confusion, and envy, and from the hatred and contradiction of absurd and wicked men; and in peace he fell asleep and slumbered unto that same [end]; and having commended his spirit into the hands of the Lord, as a holy man he is added to the holy, as a great hierarch to the hierarchs, as a confessor to the confessors, and as one who had labored for the justice and truth of God no less than they, he is added to the great Fathers.
B It is worthy not to pass over in silence the manner of his departure. The saint lay breathing his last, and he himself, like that great one, was being awaited by the choir on high. The instruments of his voice had already failed, the vital power was extinguished, all his limbs were lifeless, and his soul was entirely looking toward its departure. And behold, the minister, according to the rite of the Church—for it was the middle of the night—cried out with a loud voice and proclaimed the solemn: "Command, Master, to bless." And the blessed one, slowly signing his mouth with his hand and moving his venerable lips slightly, with an almost deadened voice, which those who stood nearest could barely perceive, asked whose holy memory was being celebrated that day. They said, "That of James, O Master, the brother of the Lord, your friend." C And the blessed one, with deep-felt piety, said to them, "My own. Farewell, then." Then he said: "Blessed be our God at all times, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen." And at the same time, together with the doxology, he finished his prayer and concluded his life with thanksgiving. Immediately, therefore, they care for his life—for so one might call his body, since he had departed to Life, and he is and has become life—and his own people, according to custom, clothe him in his hierarchical vestments, and upon him they venerably place the venerable omophorion of the Brother of the Lord, which, having been sent to him from Jerusalem some years prior, he had honored and revered with such great devotion, as if he were seeing in it the great Apostle James himself, the first hierarch. On account of this, he had consented to be buried with it. D And it happened on that very day of his memory—for it was on the twenty-third of October that he himself departed to the Lord—serving as a clear indication of his intimacy with the brother of the Lord and his passing to him. And thus, that sacred and venerable pledge, having been holy and religiously prepared for the funeral, is enclosed in a wooden sarcophagus, and having first been deposited at the church of the Great Sophia of God, it is honored with the appropriate doxology and veneration.
A Such piety, moreover, had taken possession of the people that they tore to pieces even the bier on which he lay, as if it were relics, and the veil with which he was covered was rent into a thousand parts and divided among the pious as a holy pledge. When, therefore, the body was snatched with difficulty from the hands of the people, it arrived at the noble church of the Great Martyr Menas; and, being deposited there for a time, it was received with honoring sacred hymns, as was fitting. In this place, two women possessed by evil demons and horribly agitated gained most certain health solely by contact with the tomb, while the entire assembly looked on; and they gave great thanks to God with a loud voice. B Hence, when those about him had placed this precious treasure of relics upon a ship—and the sea had already been swelling vehemently, and a violent storm of the South wind was raising giant waves that seemed as if they would hinder the voyage—as soon as the sacred ark touched the ship, something marvelous was immediately wrought by the Lord's power: for, as that great high priest invisibly rebuked the storm, and the waves fell gently, the sea settled into a calm. Therefore, those in charge of the funeral crossed the calm sea, celebrating the Lord, and carried Ignatius, the builder and worshipper of that noble temple of the Prince of the heavenly host and Archangel, and with great veneration placed him, encased in a marble tomb, on the right side of the temple, a place to which the sick of every kind (to speak briefly) both of body and soul are brought, and upon staying by the tomb, are powerfully cured.
Thus the holy man of God, having been buffeted by many tribulations on earth, and having been tested like gold in a furnace, and thus having been shown worthy of God, was deemed worthy of heavenly beatitude and the honor in the heights which the saints enjoy. C But the darkness acted foolishly, having persecuted the light—which they never apprehended; indeed, they were the more helpful in their persecution, the more they thought they were vexing it. For while they persecuted this light in order to seize and trample it underfoot, and thence to insult it, they did indeed drive the light as far as possible from themselves, but even against their will, they moved it so much the closer to the Supreme Good, the more they joined themselves to the extreme of evil through their own most wicked schemes.
Ergo, Ignatius was patriarch again for ten years; but for three decades, and a little more, the great high priest in general held the throne; and at eighty years of age, he departed in peace to that great High Priest, Christ.
D As for how many and how great were the signs and wonders by which God celebrated him—and by which the Lord, who is glorified in him, never ceases to celebrate him—that is the work of a history and of a proper volume, not of this present undertaking. I shall briefly set forth a few things out of many (for to pursue them one by one would be endless), which nonetheless moderately declare the grace of God and his own faith. For a boy, some eight or indeed nine years of age, being sick...
A with a spirit of infirmity, and suddenly stricken B so as to be altogether speechless and deaf, and entirely motionless, and carried by his own family to the common infirmary of the faithful, namely, to the tomb of the God-bearing Father; after four days was deemed worthy of the saint's visitation, and suddenly arose on his own feet, and having opened the door of the temple by himself, and having gone out, he was speaking to those present and hearing them, praising God and proclaiming the miracles of the saint.
Another, through the malice, I suppose, of the evil one, seized by an epileptic fit, was foaming at the mouth, and was deprived of his voice through the natural phlegm, as it was a piteous and difficult sight to witness. He, having called upon the saint with unwavering faith, sees him in a dream as if holding a key in his hand, and putting it into his mouth and turning it, as if opening a door, he then turned to him and said: "Do you know who I am?" And when he said that he did not know, he heard from him: "I am Ignatius the patriarch." And behold, he says, you are made whole from the ailment you have had until now. When he awoke, he found himself perfectly healthy, as if he had never seen a trace of such an affliction.
Another again, having fallen into a bowel malady, and being in the final extremities, having been given up by the help of doctors, called upon the saint from afar with complete faith, and saw him in a dream appearing to him and commanding him to have a good heart. And immediately C his bowel, having been purified from the flow, restored the sick man to perfect health with an appetite for food.
Again, a certain woman, legally living with her husband, and having become the mother of three children, offered a dry breast, so that the infants born of her were immediately given to foreign nurses to be fed, until it came to the mind of her relatives to hasten to the saint. And when they came to the saint, and his hairs D were wiped away, and given to the woman who had just given birth to drink, immediately such a great supply of milk appeared, as if it were far more than what was needed, flowing from her breasts. And they say that this did not happen to one woman alone, but to another as well who was suffering from the same nature-driven illness, who likewise recovered health from the liquor obtained from the same hairs of the saint.
Another noble and illustrious woman, also legally joined to her husband, had been known for many years to be barren and childless. The woman, having fallen with faith before the tomb of the saint and having taken holy oil from there, and having anointed herself with faith, and having invoked the prayer of the great high priest, was immediately released from the bonds of barrenness, and henceforth appeared as a mother of many children.
And indeed, not only to those who approach the holy tomb are these miracles present, but to those...
who dwell in foreign lands and at the ends of the earth, the God-inspired Father appears when invoked. A faithful witness of this to us is the A governor of Sicily, who affirmed it with solemn oaths; for when he was about to engage in battle in Sicily against the Agarenes, and was seized with great anxiety and fear, he fervently invoked the great Ignatius for assistance. "I saw him," the governor says, "appearing clearly in the air, seated as if on a white horse, and signaling to me to turn my battle line to the right side, for I would immediately see the glory of God." When the commander, whose name was Musilices, had done this, he conquered the enemies in a great battle and took them captive. B How, indeed, could we pass over in silence the marvelous case of another woman, and the even more wondrous miracle performed upon her by the saint? For being pregnant with a male child, and already in travail to give birth, the infant descended feet-first, and was unable to come forward; meanwhile, the most acute and intolerable pains increased for the woman in labor. And when matters reached such a state that the woman was in danger of perishing along with the child, surgeons were present to operate on the fetus and extract it limb by limb as it was cut. But by a more divine providence, they were reminded of our great worker of miracles. And it happened that one of those present held a very small fragment of the veil that had been distributed to the faithful people during the care of his funeral; he brought this forward and, having invoked the saint, applied it to the woman's flank. C When it had merely touched the woman, the infant was immediately turned head-first and born safely and unharmed; he was named Ignatius by his parents, so that the very name might bring to mind the miracle performed upon him by the patriarch. And why should this be considered inferior to those apostolic prodigies? What does it yield to the virtue of Peter and Paul? For the power of the Holy Spirit was working in them, so that their handkerchiefs and aprons brought forth great signs. The same power, in this way, through this apostolic man—a man truly new and God-bearing—brought it about that the coverings of the bier which had touched those sacred relics, as well as the iron fetters with which wicked men had burdened his holy feet, are believed to have worked no less for the glory of God and the salvation of the faithful. D I pass over mentioning how many suffering from kidney pain he has cured when entreated with all one's soul, how many elephantine or lepers he has cleansed, how many blind he has enlightened, how many broken and bedridden he has raised up, and how he has restored withered hands and feet. I omit how many feverish ones, or those tormented by wicked spirits, he has healed—and heals even to this day—and how, through his venerable bonds, he drives away almost every disease and every infirmity of all those who, with sincere faith, take refuge at his holy tomb. For indeed, even if I wished to, I could not recount everything in words. Yet, adding one more such miracle, we shall add to the narrative a few of those things recorded which occurred after the passing of the holy man. For indeed—in the way in which that Lydi sacristan...
A should we pass over such a deed in silence? Coming to the monastery sent by the impudent Photius, intending to drive away all who were supplicating at the tomb of the saint with insults and whips, he added wickedness to wickedness, and ordered the earth most close to the holy tomb to be dug up; in appearance, indeed, as though the patriarch had secretly buried a great quantity of gold there, but in truth, that he might heap indignity upon the sacred remains. Thus, envy having entirely mastered him, he rested not even in the madness of his soul, nor even after death. But B at the word of that unlawful order, the plague of the unholy man moved forward. Not only did the patience of God not endure him, but having most sharply exacted the penalty, He afflicted the proud man with horror, and as a victim streaming with blood from above and below, he was carried off, and within three days, punished by God, he expired.
These are the things C of our Father’s deeds, and these are the prerogatives of the good shepherd. Thus the most blessed one, while he lived on earth, was most righteous and most Christ-loving; saying and doing everything for the glory of God and the edification of the Church, and having departed to God, he is most beneficial and salvific, as one who directly intercedes for us to God.
But what of that which is said about Photius? Did he, having accepted the judgment which took place against him as just, depart from his manifold machinations? Or, having been humbled under the mighty hand of God, did he commit himself to the divine will? He did indeed cease from his wicked D machinations, but he became neither more moderate nor better after his condemnation. By no means. For the entire duration of his ten-year exile, he devised countless evil things against the saint, since he was consumed everywhere and found no escape, he tried to win over to himself the favor of the emperor. And he devised every counsel, every plan, every device for this purpose; he found a way, at last, by which he achieved his aim through simplicity, or rather, through the lightness of the imperial mind; and observe how plausible it is, and worthy of his own soul. Having examined the names of each, I say, of Basil the emperor, and Eudocia his spouse, and their children, Constantine, Leo, Alexander, and Stephen; having taken the first letter of each and put them together, from there he receives the pretext for his deception. For he fabricates a genealogy which never existed—that the illustrious Armenian king, who reigned in the time of the holy martyr Gregory, was the ancestor. He invents the lineage from him, and at his own pleasure, he deduces the family, and strings together others from other fabulous narratives. When at last he arrives at the parent Basil, he writes, that he was born to him as a man of such sort as Basil himself was, and he predicts that he would live most happily and for the longest time of all past kings; and countless lies
A of the kind that derive from a six-century-long reign of kings, he weaves into his prophecy. He produces this book to those who would hear these things, written on parchment that is very ancient, in Alexandrian letters, so that it might appear as old as possible, and he places it in the library of the palace, having imitated the ancient bindings from a very old volume.
The one who was ministered to by these means, and who was induced to accept the deception of this drama, was that Theophanes, who was at that time a clerk in the imperial service, and was thought by the emperor to have sufficient learning; he, having later become bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, having received this prize, as is clear, for this trickery. For he, having taken that fabricated book, and having kept it in the library, as I have said, then having immediately seized upon it, he shows it to the emperor, as the most wondrous and mysterious of all the books. It is not possible, he says, to reveal it—not to himself, nor to any other person, whoever it may be, or to Photius, to know this. Therefore, he is immediately sent to him. He pretends that he is unable to tell the secret to anyone else, except to the emperor, because it was written concerning him. What then? The emperor's anxiety is brought back by this story, and he returns to favor with Photius. For there is a custom that auspicious words, however vain their pretensions, can flatter and soften an ambitious nature, and reduce it completely to one's own power. Thus began the origin of friendship between Basil and Photius. From this, the peaceful state of the Church was utterly overturned. This was the first stirring B and the beginning of the renewal of the dissension. And Photius, being constant in the palace, furtively collects the benevolence of the emperor, and at length wins the whole man to himself by his sorceries and the charms of his character. Soon there arises another occasion of necessity, that Theodore, the one in the habit and dress of a monk, but most wicked and most crafty of all in his deceits, I speak of Santabarenus, of whom, I think, you have all heard. How I do not know, he was found (for as it is said, like is often gathered with like), a man deemed to be in possession of singular sanctity, foreknowledge, and the knowledge of future things: by which virtues, however, he was esteemed not only by all, but on the contrary, as they say, he was renowned for magical arts, and as a master of augury, of divination, and of arts of summoning spirits: he is introduced to the emperor, and is commended with boundless praises. And when he was already in the emperor's inner circle, he uses Photius to ambush the patriarch, and arranges for the usurping of his lost seat. When he perceived that this would be difficult, he makes it plain that he might restore him to the priesthood, in that he strives with all the might of a holy man, by the observance of the canons and ecclesiastical laws, although he is vehemently troubled by him; yet he admits him, and indulges in a plea, even though he might have fought against him, and if he might have fought against those who fought against him—naturally, then, he would be removed from his rank and dignity: for he had already been lawfully deposed C by a synod; D and how could we pass over the matter in silence? Because he, having been sent by the shameless Photius, entered the monastery, so that he might drive away all the sick who were beseeching at the holy tomb with scourges and insults; and having done this, he adds evil to evil, and orders them to dig up the earth in the nearest proximity to the sacred tomb, and to excavate the ground to a depth, under the pretext that, in that very place, a large amount of gold had formerly been hidden by the patriarch; but in truth, so that he might inflict dishonor upon the venerable relics. Thus, envy, having completely taken control of his magus-like soul, did not let him rest even after death. But at the same time as the word of that impious command, the divine wrath pursued the wicked man—for nowhere here did the long-suffering of God endure further at his expense, but justly inflicted a most swift blow. Straightway, therefore, that arrogant man, crying out mightily, as if being slaughtered, and being sprinkled from above and below with his own blood in streams, and being carried home, he died within four days, being punished. Such are the accounts of our Father; such are the noble qualities of the good shepherd. Thus, the most blessed one, while living on earth, was most law-abiding and most God-loving, saying and doing all things for the glory of God and for the edification of the Church; and having passed to God, he is most beneficial and saving, as one who directly intercedes for us with God. But what of the man called Photius? Did he accept the judgment that occurred regarding him as just, and abstain from his complex plots? Or having been humbled under the mighty hand of God, did he attach himself to the divine will thereafter? Or did he not depart completely from his evil schemings, but became more moderate and gentle than his own self through his condemnation? Not at all. For the whole ten-year period of his exile, stirring up countless evil intentions against the holy man, since he saw him everywhere unassailable and unassailable, he schemes to draw the benevolence of the emperor to himself; and moving every counsel, and every path of reasoning toward this, he found a way at last by which he might begin to take control of the simplicity, or rather the lightness, of the king; and consider how plausible it is, and worthy of his soul. For having examined each of the names, of the king himself, I say, Basil, and Eudocia his wife, and of the children, Constantine, Leo, Alexander, and Stephen; and taking the first letter from each and putting them together, from there he takes the occasion for the deception. For having fashioned a story, that is, a genealogy which is not true, nor did it ever exist, he sets forth in his narrative Tiridates, that great king of the Armenians, I mean the one who lived at the time of the holy martyr Gregory, as a forefather, and from him he weaves the genealogy with names as he wished, and tracing others from others with a fabricated history, when at last he comes down to the father of Basil, he wrote that he would beget such a man as Basil himself was.
A And since he had opposed his own confessions, he might be justly deprived of his dignity. For he who had been canonically deposed by a synod, and not by a partial [judgment], but by an ecumenical [council], and indeed who had not even dared to touch the beginning of the hierarchy, and was more than that condemned—to argue that he could be accepted without a greater and more authoritative synod was to hold [the law] of no account. B But that man, esteeming neither the canons nor the law, entrusted to himself the care of the priesthood, and already among the imperial palace, in what is called the Magnaura, he was seated, appointing exarchs and conferring holy orders. For whatever could be for the reproach of the Church of God, for the affliction of men, and for the awaiting of his own destruction, that most sacrilegious of men dared to do. To such an extent did he abuse the simplicity of the emperor and the long-suffering and patience of God, that man of ambition and most evil example. And having won over all the palace [parties] to himself, and having drawn them into his own faction, he was hiding his malice internally much more openly than before, C and having compared his strength with a much greater secular power than before, after three days had passed, he invaded the patriarchal tribunal, having recalled his pristine and patricidal tyrannical mindset; and being renewed with fury against the holy man, he oppressed all his domestics and servants with guards, beatings, exiles, and other intolerable evils and miseries. Moreover, he harassed with a thousand arts all those who resisted his advancement [made] against the laws and ecclesiastical sanctions. For some he soothed with gifts and honors, or with the exchange of episcopal sees, and drew them into society and communion. Others he first harassed with unheard-of calumnies—torturing them—whom, nevertheless, if they joined his side, he straightway released, the whole cause having been scattered to the winds. And so he, who was a sacrilegious man, became a fellow-communicant and co-minister [to the emperor]. D He who was previously termed a thief, an adulterer, and profane by that same man was, by that man himself, sworn to be the great and venerable high priest. But those whom he saw firmly refusing his communion—for all were resisting, and all were truly holding onto the Christian faith, as confirmed and deposed by the holy and ecumenical synod, considering it not allowable to communicate with those who are, by the synod, canonically condemned and deposed, nor to be mixed into this one body with those who have trodden underfoot the precious cross of Christ a thousand times and are being led down to the punishment of the handwriting [of their errors]—those, therefore, whom he had no way to persuade to communicate with him, either by guards or by scourging, the cruelest of all men and most savage, he handed over to his son-in-law. This Leo was the one called Katakalon, whom he had promoted from being a commander of the guards to [the rank of] honor, and exchanging the honor with him, he sent all of them to him; and in a short time he managed the murder, and Leo used such cruelty against the holy men who showed an unyielding resistance on behalf of the truth until the end. And many of those who were overcome by the most intolerable tortures
A they would send back as valuable gifts to the one who sent them. Who can sufficiently B set forth the wickedness of that time, or rather, who can describe the snares and machinations of that crooked serpent? How often did he slander them with a deceitful tongue, and yet, as if purging them of the charges, if they agreed to communicate with him after these things, he would restore them to the same position, and sometimes promote them to greater dignities. And if anyone, offended by his previous insane conduct, had abstained from his society, he would condemn him again; and if the condemned yielded, he would soon admit him. He was so burning with a thirst for power and glory that, for the sake of his own dominion, he would mingle divine laws with human, and disturb all things, even sacred ones. But in the first place, he did this: he would transform the ordinations of the patriarch, and restore those condemned by him to their sees. But since this was not pleasing to the emperor, see what he attempted. He strove to remove the elect of the holy Ignatius B and replace them with those who stood against him. And since he did not please the emperor in this way, see what he dared to do: he tried to ordain those who had already been ordained by the holy man. And since this seemed most absurd to him, the wicked man was not at all deterred; wearing the omophorion and the oraria, and whatever else pertains to the symbol of priestly perfection, he would perform the rites, adding in secret his own prayers—if indeed they may be called prayers, and not rather cursed execrations—and would give them to each one in place of a gift of largesse. And that sin might be committed without measure, he demanded payments: whether he was initiating, or conferring honors and dignities, or changing bishoprics. And whomever he deemed worthy of a benefit, he would bind them to himself, and by exacting signed pledges he would guard himself, pursuing his own glory and his own interests everywhere. Nor did he ever believe that he would prosper by the divine will or providence, but by his own manifold artifice and malice he would communicate with himself; and so he disturbed the whole state of the Church, offended the minds of all mortals with his worst examples, and caused the name of Christ to be blasphemed through his own impious arts. C And so, when he again invaded the patriarchate, that Theodorus (whom he himself, while an exile, had created metropolitan of the Fathers—whom some wittily called Aphantopolis, that is, a city that exists nowhere—and whom he appointed as representative to Pope John, as I have written), this Theodorus he forced, throughout the whole Church and the whole republic, to ascend the sacred tribunal once again to his destruction. And that he might solidify the lie written in the letter by Peter the secretary, he steals the metropolitan signatures as if they were a reward; and thus he makes them, ignorant of his deceit, subscribe to the document, while pretending it was a secret purchase of land. Such was that master of all fraud and iniquity. But by what reason we shall easily suppress the case of that Euphemianus, bishop of the Euchaita, whose bishopric he coveted for the sake of the nearby city of the Santabareni? He forced this man to cede his bishopric, and he substituted one of his own to the Santabarenum. But D after he had held the second throne, that Theodorus—who had been appointed metropolitan of Patras by the one sitting in exile, and whom those around him wittily called the bishop of Aphantopolis—he sent to Pope John as representative, having written that he had ascended the throne of the whole Church and the state by necessity, and unwillingly. And that the lie of the letter of Peter, the keeper of secrets, might be confirmed—who later brought slanders against Sardis—through him he steals the seals of all the metropolitans; and he gathers even those who knew nothing to sign the document, under the pretext that it was for a secret matter; so great was the man's imposture, and so deep was his wickedness. How are we to pass over in silence the affairs of that Euphemianus? For he was the bishop of the Euchaita, and since the city of the Santabareni was adjacent to that diocese, he forced him to resign, and in his stead he sought and appointed another who [was] his agent, [alt-version omitted]
A whom he not only appointed, but also removed other bishops from neighboring metropolises in whatever number he wished, and bestowed them upon others. And not only those, but since he also forced a man who was already a metropolitan to resign, namely Nicephorus, from being director of the orphanage, and moved Amphilochius from Cyzicus to Nicaea; and upon the death of the man, he replaced him with Gregory of Syracuse, whom he also, after he died shortly thereafter, as I have mentioned in the funereal orations, lived a life comparable to the great Fathers; nor is there anything else so great, as that he whetted his tongue like a razor against the righteous Ignatius until the end of his wretched life.
For these reasons—and others even more abominable—the wrath of God came upon the children of disobedience. For immediately, at that very time, the emperor’s son and beloved firstborn, Constantine, was snatched away; whom this audacious Photius, in favor of the emperor and by his own hand [in the church], registered among the census of the saints and honored with monasteries and temples, not fearing to flatter men.
B Immediately, also, the great city of the Syracusans perished in a terrible destruction, and every island, and every city and region is being plundered and laid waste, even until today, by the enemy, with no one among those who seem to be interceding with God for them—but, according to what is written, *We have become just like sheep, for whom there is no shepherd* (Matt. ix, 36). For iniquity, having grown old and strengthened by many examples, has been considered a law by the lawless, and the custom of wickedness has in a way become nature to the scornful, bringing down the wrath of God.
C But it would be tedious to go through all the innovations and illegalities of that Photius, the chief of hypocrites and enemy of the cross, and of all his successors and those who share his greed, which is matter for a history, and not for the purpose of the present discourse.
We, however, singing of the infinite patience and forbearance of the God of all, pray that we be removed from the lot of those who cause scandals and divisions through their D worst desires, and that we be counted among the holy clergy, who through faith and the love of God, humility and meekness, possess the heavenly kingdom and the holy priesthood of God, by the intercessions of the super-holy and immaculate Mother of God, and of the chosen and holy angels, and of the praiseworthy apostles, and of the all-glorious martyrs, and of all the saints; and together with all our holy Father Ignatius, archbishop of Constantinople, the truly new confessor and God-bearer, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and honor and worship with the beginningless Father, and with the co-beginningless and life-giving Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
and not only this, but he also seized as many episcopates from the neighboring metropolises as that man desired, and gave them to him. And not only these things, but he would also seat him beside himself and name him first in order of the throne; and he forced Nicephorus, who was metropolitan of Nicaea, to resign and become orphanotropheus, while he transferred Amphilochius of Cyzicus to Nicaea. And when he died shortly after, he appointed in his stead Gregory of Syracuse—whom he also B lauded with such eulogies after he too died not long after, as having lived a life on a par with the great Fathers, for no other reason so much as that the wretch had until the end sharpened his tongue like a razor against the saint. Because of these things and others even more absurd than these, the wrath of God came upon the sons of disobedience; and immediately then, Constantine, the thrice-beloved and first-born son of the emperor, died, whom this audacious man, in order to gain the favor of the father, did not scruple to enroll of his own accord among the saints, honoring him with human-pleasing rituals in monasteries and churches. Immediately, too, the great city of Syracuse perished in a terrible calamity; and every island, and every city and region is being plundered and destroyed even up to today by the enemies, with none of those who seem to hold the priesthood appeasing God with prayer; but according to what is written, "We have become indeed like sheep having no shepherd." For iniquity, having endured over time and been solidified by many examples, has been deemed law by the lawless, and this illegitimate custom, having become in a way a second nature to the scorners, draws upon itself the whole wrath of God. But to go through in detail the innovations and illegalities of Photius himself, the chief of the hypocrites and cross-fighters, and of all his successors in turn and the sharers in his love of power, is a task for history, and not of the present purpose of this discourse. We, however, hymning the transcendent patience and forbearance of the God of all, pray to be removed from the portion of those who work out scandals and divisions through their own basest desires, and to become sharers of the lot of the saints, who by faith and love of God, humility and meekness, are deemed worthy of the heavenly kingdom and the holy hierarchy of the Most Holy One, through the intercessions of the all-pure and all-immaculate Mother of God, and of the elect and holy angels and the all-praised apostles and the all-glorious victors, and through the acceptable and holy supplications of all the saints. In addition to all these, [we pray for those of] our Father among the saints, Ignatius, Archbishop of Constantinople, the truly new confessor and God-bearer, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is the glory and the honor and the worship, together with the unoriginate Father, and His co-unoriginate and life-creating Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen. D
EXPOSITION OF THE FRAGMENTS OF THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE BY NICETAS PAPHLAGON, WHO IS ALSO CALLED DAVID
Cap. VI, vers. 32. *If you love those who love you, etc.* By Nicetas, who is also called David. The philosophers have declared that friendship consists of three things: pleasure, I mean, and utility, and virtue. But the first two causes are easily moved, not permanent; they do not have stability in the sons of men. For as soon as the pleasure has ceased, and the utility has passed, the affection is dissolved along with them. Hence, distance of time and place knows how to plot against those who love in this way, covering their friendship with oblivion as if with a thick fog and darkness. A However, that which is established by virtue is not obscured in the same way, but remains firm and untouched through every distance of time and place, and it does not fail for any reason; rather, it becomes even stronger and brighter when it is attacked, so that it is properly called not only friendship but also charity, which, according to the Apostle, never falls away. For benevolence is the beginning of friendship, as sight is of desire; but friendship is the beginning and fountain of charity; and charity is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. Therefore, most people think that the former consists only in words and empty language, and that charity is not real unless it be witnessed by work and truth; just as the disciple of true charity B mandates, warning not to love by word and tongue, but by deed and truth.
Cap. VIII, vers. 5. *A sower went out to sow, etc.* By Nicetas of Paphlagonia. See that the divine seed is not snatched away by the birds of the sky—that is, by the spirits of the air—or that the wick of your heart is not extinguished; or that its vital moisture be not dried up for you by a solar heat, that is, by inborn passions and inward pressures; or that this divine seed of the fear of the Lord and of faith, choked by thorns, as it were, and the various cares and anxieties of the body, might not be revealed to the sower as fruitless and worthless.
By Nicetas, who is also called David. Let us, therefore, keep watch that we do not fall into any of these losses, but let us purge the field of our mind from every such injury; and by drawing down, through our meditations, the early and late rain—the varied teaching of the Spirit—and by calling down with tears the moderate heat from the Sun of Righteousness, we shall happen upon the blessing of God, like good and fertile soil, yielding the fruit of our virtues, if not a hundredfold, then at least sixty or thirty.
A B
EXEGESIS OF THE ARCANE POEMS OF THE GREAT GREGORY THE THEOLOGIAN BY LORD NICETAS, PHILOSOPHER AND BISHOP OF DADYBRA. PROOEMIUM.
Those among the Greeks who appeared to be the most philosophical and learned, whenever they embarked upon speculations beyond what is seen and perceived by the senses, grasping at some kind of physiology or theology, as they were wont to do, would put forth a great many volumes, so that they might both revel in their own manifold wisdom and speculation, C and impart the benefit of their theorems to those who approached them. But they did not resolve to philosophize so much for the instruction and correction of their own understanding and that of their disciples as to the detriment of true knowledge on account of sin; for since they initially established the fountain of all wisdom in their own discourses regarding the things that exist, they did not deign to recognize [the truth] and thus, in it and through it, be led to all true knowledge. For this reason, they are found to have philosophized nothing reasonable or worthy of God, neither concerning the first principles, nor concerning the things that follow the first principles, nor concerning the end of all things that have come to be. Whence, having missed the one and only wisdom and truth of the God who truly exists, and having been carried away by myriad opinions and errors and contradictions toward themselves and one another, they were rejected as not being in agreement with the discourses concerning God—for how could they, who were not initiated by Him regarding Himself, attain to the whole... D
A of the Patristic blessings and themselves be shown to be heirs? And so we, the very last and the least, applying our mind to the one honored above all the elders and teachers, Gregory the Theologian, as the leader of our soul, and being edified more abundantly by his theological works—even though some say that his discourse is difficult in style and comprehension, or that certain matters are inaccessible and impossible strictly to interpret—have set out for ourselves to honor the divine Father with his holy commemorations, and at the same time to interpret his theology regarding the divine nature, by exerting or extending our mind—if indeed the undertaking is truly bold, and by it we are directed toward the breadth of his truth—so that by this means we may perhaps procure no small benefit for others of the learned from our explanation of his theological dogmas. The first discourse proposed for our consideration is *Concerning the First Principles*.
Those who hold the highest position of mundane wisdom define all things that exist and all that come to be into three most authoritative and primary causes or principles: these they call mind, matter, and form, claiming them to be co-archontic and co-causes of all things, and they fix upon no manner of thought—neither beginning nor end—as able either to receive or to possess these. Matter, they say, is the quaternion of the so-called elements; and to this is added a fifth, the celestial body—the specific B form or the perfect substance-property of each thing, which some have called substantial quality and others have called idea. These three causes of all things that exist and that are coming to be—always existing together and co-eternal, having neither beginning nor end, demonstrated to be separate and distinct in themselves—are fixed upon. From the productive material and the formal cause, all humans and all living things, and every individual plant are produced; and at different times different things are brought into the world by generation, and by corruption they pass away, according to a certain accidental, infinite, and undefined cycle of succession. Thus, they are held to be without beginning and without end, as in continuous circularity. Such is the madness of these arrogant men, to the point that—to remind you briefly—they attribute to them what is worthy of the atheism C, anarchy, and confusion of their own making; and for the highest principle and cause, they attribute to the supreme [Being] through a certain insult—that matter, and that form without substance—that it co-exists always, dogmatizing with equal status in the same way, while we, leaving the ugliness of their mindless and irrational stupidity to be condemned by the theologians, follow the true wisdom of the great Gregory.
D or were left to their own reasonings? Neither did they honestly fashion a concordant, firm, and determined discourse concerning the things that occur from God. Wherefore, clearly, wisely, and in a manner befitting goodness, the super-essential Word of God the Father, in a super-essential way, refuted them as unworthy of faith and rendered them vain; and having become man through the overshadowing of the paternal Spirit upon the most pure Mary, and having entered into human life without sin, He revealed in words what pertains to the one and only Trinitarian Godhead. He declared what occurred through Him or had been done previously, in accordance with the Word and the prophets; and regarding His end, He made known to receptive and intelligent ears, through noble and worthy discourses, what was appropriate. By all His works and divine signs, He confirmed His own words and established them, and thus He showed the whole of worldly wisdom to be foolish, as much as it is possible for anyone, through the cross and the burial and the resurrection, to return to the Father from whom He had gone forth, and to His own proper glory. Sending His own connatural Spirit in His place to His own servants, He spreads abroad His sacred-hidden revelations of God, His truth of wisdom, and His great works through His ministers raised up in every generation. They seem, indeed, to be various and of many forms—and perhaps to some they might even be suspected of opposing one another—those proclamations of God that have been set forth in order by the prophets and apostles and the holy teachers who followed. But there is no contradiction among those who profess the true glory; for all the God-inspired theologies, starting from one and the same holy Spirit as their principle and tending toward one goal of truth, are concordant with themselves and harmonious with one another. The New follow the Old Scriptures, and the Old agree with the New, and they present no contradiction to those who have understanding—unless someone should attribute to some what was said by others, or if that which was spoken obscurely or enigmatically by the prophets on account of the time should be said clearly and openly by the evangelists; or, additionally, if what was said concisely and swiftly by the apostles should be set forth expansively and in detail by the teachers for the edification of the Church. If anyone, therefore, should judge such things to be a discordance of the holy texts, such a one falls altogether far from the goal of truth. There is then no discordance or contradiction among true theologians regarding the simple and one word of truth, or among one another, just as it is shown to be among the philosophers of the outside world; for those who belong to the one Lord of the Spirit of truth, always adhering devoutly to their predecessors in faith and piety as to their own fathers and guides after Christ, drawing to themselves their grace and wisdom, and if it is necessary to add anything from themselves, referring this not to themselves but gratefully to the Fathers, are deservedly shown to be heirs of the Fathers’ praise.
A heirs to the ancestral blessings. Therefore we, who are the last and least of all, fixed our mind upon Gregory the Theologian, who is honored by us above all elders and teachers, as the guide of our souls, and being more abundantly edified by his theological works, we set forth for our own explanation a few of his works that are difficult to phrase and difficult to contemplate—or rather, his divinely-uttered verses—the more abstruse ones that are hidden from the many. B By doing so, we honor the divine Father with sacred memorials, and at the same time, we necessarily insert or extend our own mind toward his God-wise mind through the interpretation of his words, even if the undertaking is truly bold. And through this, being directed toward the breadth of the true knowledge according to him, we shall perhaps procure no small benefit for other educated persons through this explanation of theological dogmas.
The first verse proposed to us for examination is *On Principles*. Those who presume to reach the utmost pinnacle of worldly wisdom conclude by referring all existing and generated things to three most sovereign and primary causes or principles; C these they call mind, matter, and form, and they hypothesize that these are co-eternal and co-causes of all things, such that in no way can they ever receive or be able to receive either a beginning or an end.
The mind, indeed, they have named God, as flowing through all things and observing all things. By matter, they speak of the quaternity of the so-called elements—and to this, a fifth body is added, the celestial. By form, they mean the peculiar and complementary property of the substance of each thing, which some have called "substantial quality" and others "idea." D Therefore, they ordain that these three causes of existing and generated things are to be perceived distinctly by themselves as eternally existing and co-eternal, having neither beginning nor end. From these—the active, material, and formal causes—they hold that men and all animals, and all individual plants, are always brought into the world in turn through generation, and pass away through destruction, according to a certain fortuitous, infinite, and indefinite cyclic succession; thus they are completed in a continuous state without beginning or end.
Such is the vanity of these "wise" men, to summarize in few words—an undertaking which, in truth, is worthy of their atheism, as it posits anarchy and disorder, and dogmatizes that the formless disgrace of matter and the insubstantial form always coexist with the supreme principle and cause of all things with equal power. We, leaving behind their irrational, vain wisdom whose shame and absurdity have been sufficiently refuted by the theologians, shall turn to the true wisdom of the great Gregory, etc.