OF GREGORY, PRESBYTER OF CAESAREA IN CAPPADOCIA, ORATION ON THE HOLY DEIFORM FATHERS, AND ON CONSTANTINE THE MOST PIOUS EMPEROR.
A Having been bidden to obey those in authority, according to the apostolic exhortation, O Theophilus, and as if forgetting my own weakness and neglecting elegance of speech, I submitted to the venerable Father who proposed that I write briefly concerning the assembly of the three hundred and eighteen holy Fathers at Nicaea, and that I deliver it to the most holy church of that same city, so that it might possess written accounts of the spiritual struggle of those whose bodily presence it once enjoyed. B And while my words, spoken according to my own capacity, might appear to the vastness of the virtuous life of these Fathers as mere drops of dew contending with the waves of the sea, it belongs to his perfection not to pay attention to the quality of the words, but to requite with ambitious compassion the prompt and eager will to obey.
When Maximian, Licinius, and Maxentius, who impiously reigned in Rome, had subjected to torments and death many who were of the Christian faith and refused to sacrifice to demons, and had found an end worthy of their insane idol-worship, then, in a miraculous manner, and with an outcome exceeding all hope, there arose from the West like the Morning Star
A Constantine, the most Christ-loving emperor, the architect of the orthodox state, and the guardian of the immaculate faith. Having transferred the scepter from the Western lands to the East, he was suffused in his soul by divine light; girded with piety, he first engaged in the struggle against the devil and issued public edicts for the freedom of the Christians. He dispelled the gloom that the ungodly had inflicted upon the faithful; he cast down the venerated idols; he triumphed over the non-existence of falsehood; he made the proclamation of the truth manifest; and he bestowed honor and boldness of speech upon those who had honored the Lord. The bodies of the faithful, maltreated by whips, were restored to health, while those devoted to demons B were subjected to torture and exile. It was a sight to behold—the recovery of the faithful from persecution and the regaining of sobriety by those who had been deceived by demonic error—resembling an angelic choir, with all glorifying the Lord with boldness.
The most faithful emperor rejoiced at the daily increase of Christians, considering in his mind that everything was the result of divine operation, which in so short a time had drawn his subjects to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. For what similar thing had happened to his predecessors? For the neighboring peoples, being as perfidious as they were, had frequently rebelled against the emperors before him, and the tumults of civil seditions, with their mutual slaughters, allowed them no rest. But when Constantine, by the grace of our Savior Jesus Christ, assumed the power of the empire, as if by a divine command, the evils [ceased], the nations quieted down, and the subjects embraced peace. C But the enemy of good, who hated this progress of men toward a better knowledge, could not endure it; nay, just as long ago he had envied the first-created man his life of happiness, free from labor, and through the serpent had sown disobedience to the commandment in his ears, so too at that time, ulcerated by the conversion of idol-worshippers to God, he stirred up the spirit of the Python.
This was Arius—a Christian in name, and enrolled among the presbyters of the Alexandrian Church; entrusted, woe the day, with the interpretation of the divine Scriptures; held fast by vainglory and love of money, the arms of his father, the devil. Having seen how, after Peter, who was illustrious in martyrdom and numbered among the apostles, D and after Achillas, his successor
A Alexander, most pure among prelates and a champion of the apostolic dogmas, was placed over the Church of the Alexandrians, the impious Arius, like a venomous serpent, spewed forth the venom of envy that lay hidden in the depths of his heart. Yet against Alexander himself he could not give vent to his troublesome insolence. For Alexander was irreproachable in life and character, and abstained from every evil, according to the Lord’s testimony concerning Job. What then does the wretch contrive? He arms himself against the doctrine of the holy man, wherever an opening for attack appeared, and thus, “he sets his mouth against the heaven, and speaks iniquity against the Most High.” For while the holy Alexander confessed the Son to be equal in honor to the Father and of the same essence, the distraught Arius, B on the contrary, began to babble that the Son was a creature and a work, and that there was a time when He was not, and things even more impious than these, which are truly worthy of silence and the depths of oblivion.
Therefore, the divine Alexander, seeing this evil spreading like a sacred disease (for it had recently invaded the neighboring Egypt, the Thebaid, and Libya), and fearing lest it might seize the entire body of the faithful, after many personal admonitions, which he gave with a fatherly spirit to the untamed man, and after various proofs from the divine Scriptures, in which both the Old and New Testaments abound, C knowing that the impious man was still entangled in the darkness of error, takes refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ, whom he was insulting, that He might be a helper to the common cause against the work of the God-fighter; with fasting, vigils, and tears he invokes the One who is the inspector of truth to be his ally. But as the impious man became even more savage and fuming, Alexander calls upon more men to be his companions in the danger, and dispatches letters to the bishops established throughout those regions, and denounces the monstrous products of Arius’s heart against the Orthodox faith. Wherefore, he on the one hand fortifies their ears so that no one might be perversely led astray by the D gaping maw of Arius's way of thinking; and on the other, he urges them to make these things known without delay to the most excellent Sovereign by common counsel. When that glorious victor, having learned of these matters, was struck in his mind, as if by a goad, by the hearing of profane and obscure things and unwelcome news, he straightway employs divine missives, through which he urges those in authority and those of the bishops who were able, to gather at Nicaea, the metropolis of Bithynia, for the examination of what had reached them, and for the demonstration of the true and blameless faith, and for the cutting off and total destruction of the demoniacal heresy of those who harbored such evil thoughts.
A As these matters had thus progressed, the synodical tome published by them will show to those who diligently read it what bishops, preserved by the foreknowledge of the life-giving Spirit, were found at that time, and from which parish each of those who assembled had come. The holy Fathers, then, like certain industrious bees, as if from flowery meadows, taking leave of their own respective churches, arrived at Nicaea, a place prepared for the symbol of orthodoxy. The divine Constantine, having heard of the arrival of the holy Fathers, an arrival holy and reverend to the angels, immediately from the vestibule honored them with becoming tributes; and having sent some of the sacred senate ahead, he provided for them, through his efficiency and the fitting supply of their needs, freedom from distraction. When he learned that through his efforts everything had been well provided for the Fathers, he then offered his own presence at Nicaea, leading himself away with a sober mind and prudent counsel from external and worldly tumults, as one occupied with a divine matter, and with the salvation of the soul, so that he might address the assembly of the holy Fathers in a way befitting the task. For indeed, some of them were distinguished by apostolic graces, others were carrying the stigmata of Christ in their bodies; of whom I shall set forth a few, so that I may provide the readers with greater faith regarding the saints and contribute something to the salvation of their souls. The holy Jacob, president of the Nisibenians, indeed set many free from diseases; it is testified that he even raised the dead. The holy Paul, bishop of Neocaesarea in Euphratensis, lost his generative organs through fire, having become a plaything of the madness of Licinius; Paphnutius the Egyptian also, a man who bore signs, and many others of these holy ones—some had their eyes gouged out, others had their hamstrings cut; others had their hands and feet damaged by bonds of raw hide. B C But the adversary of good things, seeing this heavenly chorus of the holy ones on earth, did not allow them to remain altogether untried by his own stings; but just as he made Judas a traitor of the Lord among the apostles, so also into that sacred chorus of the saints he introduced the Arab wolves, covered in sheepskins; D
I refer to Menophantus of Ephesus, Patrophilus of Scythopolis, and Theonas of Marmarica, with a few other disciples of the madness of Arius, concerning whom it shall be spoken in the following. A Since that which brought forth the truth required investigation, and a place suitable for the gathering was sought, the most noble emperor partitioned off a very large hall from the palace that was there—the eye, so to speak, of the imperial bedchambers, whose beauty and magnificence have been preserved by the protection of the holy Fathers even to our own age—and dedicated that same, or rather the first-fruits of the palace, to the holy council. In that place, he ordered seats equal in number to the Fathers to be prepared, having regard both for the quiet of the elders and for showing honor to the priesthood. When, therefore, they had already arrived, the emperor himself also enters; and not with an arrogant and haughty look, gazing with royal affectation, but with a composed brow and a modest gait he approaches; and he embraces the holy men who met him, and speaks to them graciously; and with a certain gentle smile, bringing forth the flower of kindness, he displays the joyful state of his soul for the assembly of the saints. B Furthermore, he manifested his humility before God, and his utmost submission to the Fathers, by placing his own small bench among the episcopal seats.
When, therefore, the saints and the pious emperor were seated, Eustathius of Antioch (for the holy synod C had assented that he should offer words to the emperor) said: "We give thanks to God, most excellent emperor, who directs your earthly empire; who through you has abolished the error of idols, and has placed the spirits of the faithful in rightful freedom. The stench of the demons has ceased; the superstition of the Gentiles has been overturned by the manifold worship of God. The darkness of impiety is being dispelled; the world is being illuminated by the light of divine knowledge. The Father is glorified; the Son is worshiped together; the Holy Spirit is proclaimed. The Trinity, consubstantial, one Godhead in three persons and hypostases, is preached. By this, emperor, the empire of your piety is fortified; keep this for us inviolate. Let no heretic, entering into the Church, take away anything from the Trinity, leaving behind that which remains without honor and defamed. Arius, D who took his name from frenzy, is the cause of this speech and gathering; he who, I know not how, was enrolled in the presbytery of the Alexandrian Church, while we were unaware, proved to be an alien to the teaching of the thrice-blessed prophets and apostles. For he is not ashamed to deprive the only-begotten Son and Word of the Father of the common essence of the Father, and, a worshiper of the creature, he strives to count the Creator among created things. If you could persuade him, emperor, to change his opinion so as not to resist the apostolic doctrines; or if
those impieties A in which he remains entangled by a perverse opinion, you would utterly banish him from Christ and our assembly, lest he should happen to plunder the souls of the simpler ones with the muddy allurements of his words.
The most serene Constantine, perceiving from the speed of their gathering the warmth of their zeal regarding the faith, and acting as a son who loves his fathers speaking on behalf of concord and harmonious agreement, said: B “Proceed, Fathers, that with all diligence and effort we may, through the prophetic predictions and apostolic traditions, discover and attain to the one truth, without any unseemly fraternal hatred or vain glory. For it would be grave, now that the impiety of polytheistic worship has been overthrown, that our enemies have been subjected to us, and civil wars have been stilled, if we believers should wound one another, not with swords, but with dogmas; and if we should attempt to overturn with doctrinal disputes and a variety of words the evangelical teaching, which consists in simplicity and is without any artifice, and which has its power not in words but in works. Therefore, committing to God and the Father, and to the only-begotten Son of the Father, and to the life-giving Spirit C the revelation of those things which we now seek, let us apply ourselves to the examination of the question. For we shall readily provide that we ourselves may also be present and participate with you in these struggles, until the truth is finally revealed. For we believe that the rich advent of the Holy Spirit will not be lacking to us, through whom our faith is to be confirmed, possessing nothing of the crime of heretical opinion, and being devoid of any sinister understanding of God.”
From there that illustrious gathering of the Fathers, strengthened by the presence of the life-giving Spirit, proceed with concordant minds to inquire into and declare the truth of the orthodox faith. And striking Arius with many testimonies from the Old and New Testament—like a penetrating dart D proving the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father—they decree that he is outside the true faith and the holy Church, and they subject him to anathema, together with his writings and his words. Truly, guarding against any entrance ever being opened to heretical depravity toward that truly divine symbol, they weave its exposition with such skill that by each individual statement they abolish the contrary sense of individual heresies; a fact which, from the exposition of the acts of the synod which is preserved in the palace, has been manifest to all.
A Since however there appeared to them to remain a question concerning the lady of days, I mean the most celebrated day of Pascha, which was being celebrated by many until that time on no certain prearranged day; and thus some were in the vestibules of the holy fast of Quadragesima, others were completing the middle struggles of abstinence, and others, finally, were celebrating the symbols of the saving Resurrection itself: and some were wasting away in sadness and the pouring forth of tears and abstinence from food, while others were exulting in the Lord’s triumphs, by which hell is broken and death is abolished, for which Adam arose and Satan was bound: the God-bearing Fathers, instructed by the inspiration of the life-giving Spirit concerning this also, together with the excellent prince Constantine, decreed that the whole Christian race should celebrate the holy day of the Resurrection of Christ our God on one and the same day; so that by prayer and abstinence, and by joy and chorus, they might preserve the common home, the universal Church everywhere, for itself. B Having also made an edition of other ecclesiastical questions and divine canons, they composed a tome of right faith. When this was done, the most excellent emperor decided that such a sacred tome should be confirmed by the subscription of every one of the Fathers. After, therefore, it had been exposed and read publicly, when by now almost everyone had subscribed, something marvelous occurred, worthy to be committed to memory, for the glory of the faithful indeed, but for the shame of the unbelieving. For it happened that two of the holy bishops, Chrysanthus and Musonius, before they had yet appended their own subscriptions to the synodical decision, departed this life by the providence of God. The God-bearing Fathers, therefore, having come to the common place of their rest, as if they were present with them and would hear what was said, addressed them thus: C “O Fathers and brethren, you have fought the good fight with us, you have finished the course, you have kept the faith.” If therefore you judge that what was done was pleasing to God (for now you see more clearly), what prevents you from also confirming the decision with us by your own subscriptions? Having said these things together, they placed the sealed decision in the coffin of the holy men, and spent that whole night in sleepless prayer. But on the following day, when they had come to the coffin, and the seals which had been placed upon it remained safe, when they had unrolled the sacred tome D they found that the subscriptions of the holy bishops had been entered into it; so that, beyond all doubt, even those who were of a different religion than the Christian, held it as confessed, that that sacred choir of holy Fathers consisted in the presence and aid of the holy consubstantial Trinity, and was kindly cherished by it.
A Moreover—to speak of what we omitted in the preceding part—while the holy synod was celebrating its triumph over the blasphemy of Arius the god-fighter, a pagan philosopher attacked it, who, driven by a spirit of contention rather than truth, was defending the perverse opinion of Arius. At that time, Menophantes, Patrophilus, and Theonas, along with others mentioned earlier, emboldened by the arguments of this philosopher, laid bare the foul wound of the Arian abomination and insolently associated themselves with that philosopher against the truth. But He who once fished for fishermen, and who is the Savior of the persecutor, here too wrought something new and worthy of His own wonders. For He miraculously dissolved the contentious difficulty of the philosopher's propositions by the silence of the Word; and He appointed one of the saints, adorned not with worldly wisdom but with an angelic way of life, to be an adversary to the champion of Hellenic atheism and heretical blasphemy. This saint, imitating the Lordly threat which the Lord is seen to have used against the demons and the sea, straightway addressed the philosopher, saying: “Be silent, be muzzled,” and by that word rendered the verbose man speechless. So much so that, his voice having failed him on the spot, he approached the choir of the saints with trembling and fear, and begged for the loosening of his bonds and the gift of holy baptism. B Thus did the Lord of signs call the philosopher with his whole household to salvation, and made him who had yesterday been an accuser of the orthodox faith into a defender of the truth. They say that Menophantes and his followers, astonished by this miracle, seemed of their own accord to consent to the holy synod, smiting the impious Arius and his dogmas with anathema; yet afterwards, like mad dogs, they returned to their own vomit.
When, therefore, the holy synod of the three hundred and eighteen holy Fathers had reached the goal for which it had been gathered, and the time for their return was pressing, the pious Constantine, having received them in turn at his table and addressed them with words of exhortation, and having made provision for the needs of their churches and granted sustenance everywhere for the sick and the poor, sped their departure with words of this nature: C “You see,” he said, “with your instruction, my religion toward God, and how heartily I have taken care to overthrow the idols, and have striven that the faith of the Christians might be proclaimed everywhere, so that no vestige of foreign religion remains among us, except that we Christians alone adore and embrace the holy and consubstantial Trinity. This I deliver to you today, pure and sincere. But it shall be a matter of your prayers and diligence to ensure that, with God’s help, it may be promoted with greater increase day by day.” Having said these and similar things, and seeing some of them with gouged-out eyes, others with hands rendered numb by grievous torture, others with bodies bent by the stretching of their sinews, others finally with their genital parts cut away in their struggle, and knowing that, while they had courageously struggled for
Christ in the persecutions, they preserved for the sake of the danger of A their confession as visible remnants of the tortures inflicted upon them, he would venerate the scars of the triumphant athletes; he would embrace the numbness of their limbs. To these afflicted limbs he would sometimes apply the limbs of his own body, and at other times the imperial purple, believing that he himself was being sanctified by them. And he even applied the pupils of his own eyes to their gouged-out eyes, expecting in that interaction to have the eyes of his own mind illuminated. Thus having embraced the saints, he returned to the New Rome, exulting in the proclamation of the true faith.
B The most holy Fathers, as was fitting, having repaid the most excellent emperor with expressions of gratitude and blessings—those through which an expansion of peace is sought, and the strengthening of the empire, the establishment of the bishops, and the overthrow of enemies—themselves departed from the city of Nicaea, having sustained and fortified the generosity of its hospitality with their prayers. And the event that immediately occurred on this account bears witness to this. For when, on the following day, they were about C to offer up prayers to the Savior of all for their return home and for the city that had received them, it happened that at the place called the navel of the eastern entrance, oil gushed forth in springs around the middle of the apse, around which the chorus of the saints had stood. This source, appearing even to the present day, shows the fruitful results of the prayers that were poured out at that time. And now Nicaea is celebrated and named among all those by whom the synod of the three hundred and eighteen holy Fathers is honored. D But the struggle and concern which those men have on its behalf will be proved by the miracle that took place in it in our own generation. For although the Assyrians, being men of ungrateful mind and ways, had devastated the Roman empire itself, through which salvation had been granted to them, and were consuming everything with nothing other than blatant barbaric arrogance, it remained itself immune from every Babylonian injury, with none of its men, or women, or even infants being destroyed in it by fire or sword, although they had often attacked it secretly and openly. It is said, moreover, that the proud tribune of their army dared with shameless spirit to violate the temple of those same saints; and that he rushed to perform there the loathsome pollutions of magic, and was bitterly threatened, both by a nocturnal vision and by the...
terrifying events that occurred in the daytime, so that, having changed his wicked designs, he began to honor the temple, or rather the Dweller in the temple, Christ our true God, and to appease Him with lamps lit; and from that time forth he forbade the entire Babylonian army from entering the holy precinct; and he showed a strange gentleness, not corresponding to the ferocity of a barbarian, toward those dwelling therein; which very thing was for many of the foreigners a cause of salvation. For if anyone among them, even if only boasting in the pretense of being a Nicene, was captured by them, he immediately warded off the danger impending from them by that bare simulation.
B These are the gifts of hospitality in the Fathers, which were able to demonstrate their care for Nicaea even to future ages. For these, like clear rivers divided from the one fountain of Nicaea, returned to their own flocks, bringing back the fruit of their blessed pilgrimage, the saving symbol of the faith for the world. And when, in their venerable old age, and with the progress they had made in their life of virtue, they had illustrated the course of their ministry, they attained a blessed lot. But the merciful and servant-loving God, the Benefactor who glorifies those who glorify Him, having granted their souls the enjoyment of the happiness laid up in heaven, did not leave even their most chaste bodies without reward, but by a paradoxical miracle honored His ministers even through these. For He brought upon them common death, C like a natural sleep; whence it has come to pass that even until now the God-receiving bodies of these Fathers have remained incorrupt in the parish of each. And there are many other witnesses to these things, who by chance became eyewitnesses of the aforementioned in various places, and who, when the coffins of the saints were opened at some time, as if they were sleeping, embraced them in their coffins. And we ourselves are witnesses of such a spectacle, and not false ones. For as concerns the most holy prelate of the Church of the Caesareans, Leontius, a man equal to the angels—many were the sweats he shed for the faith even before his presence at the council held in Nicaea; and through him many martyrs and athletes of victory cast down the adversary; and many, having used his life and teaching, became citizens of heaven—of these, one is the great Gregory, among the athletes, and the relics of the holy martyrs...