On the text: "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations

^A For as the Apostle did—for he, being first among all righteous men, called himself the first of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15); nor did he say this only, but he believed it, having learned from the Master that after we have done everything, we must call ourselves useless servants (Luke 17:10). This is humility; let those of you who are distinguished by your achievements imitate this, and let those of you who are full of sins confess what you are. Let us strike our breasts and persuade our minds to conceive nothing great about themselves. For if we are thus disposed, this suffices for us for an offering and a sacrifice, as David also said: "A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; a broken and humbled heart God will not despise" (Ps. 50:19). He did not simply say "humbled," but "broken" as well; for that which is broken is shattered, and it cannot, however much it may desire, be puffed up. Thus let us not only humble our soul, but also break and prick it; for it is broken when it ^B remembers its own sins without ceasing. If we humble it in this way, it will not be able to be lifted up in pride even if it wishes, because, being restrained as if by a bridle by the conscience, it will be kept from rising and will be compelled to maintain modesty in all things.

Thus we shall be able to find grace before God: "For as great as you are," he says, "so much the more humble yourself, and you will find grace before God" (Ecclus. 3:20). Furthermore, he who has found grace before God will feel nothing of hardship, but even in this life he will be able, with the grace of God, to pass easily through all those adversities and to escape the punishments laid up for sinners in the other life, with the grace of God going before him everywhere, and rendering all things favorable and peaceful for him; which may we all attain in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom and with whom to the Father be glory, together with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

CONCERNING THE APOSTOLIC SAYING, "AND NOT ONLY SO, BUT WE GLORY IN TRIBULATIONS, KNOWING THAT TRIBULATION WORKETH PATIENCE" (Rom. 5:3), AND THE REST.

^C It is a laborious task for a farmer to yoke oxen, to draw the plow, to cut a furrow, to scatter seeds, to endure winter, to tolerate the cold, to dig a trench around, to keep the incoming abundance of water away from the crops, to raise the riverbanks higher, and to cut deeper furrows through the middle of the field. Yet these laborious things, which weary him with much toil, become light and easy while he conceives in his hope the waving harvest, the sharpened sickle, the threshing floor filled with sheaves, and the ripe fruits which are brought home with much joy.

Thus also, ^D the pilot boldly commits himself to the savage waves, often despising the storm and the raging sea; he knows how to endure unstable winds, sea-tempests, and long journeys, when he considers the packages of merchandise with him, the ports of trade, and the immense wealth to be acquired from thence. And the soldier likewise bears wounds, receives a cloud of javelins, tolerates hunger, cold, long journeys, and dangers in the battle line, while he considers with himself the trophies, the victories, and the crowns which result from these.

But why have I mentioned these things, or what do these examples signify? Because it has pleased me to take the opportunity from this to incite you to listening, and to urge you to endure labors for the sake of virtue. For if, because of the hope of future things, and so that one of them might attain those goods which end with this life, they sustain these things, it is much more fitting for you to persevere in listening, so that you may be imbued with spiritual doctrine, and fight generously and endure labors for the sake of eternal life.

For their hope is indeed uncertain and temporary, and often while they are fed by expectation alone, they finish their life, priding themselves on hope indeed, but not yet approaching the things themselves, even though they have endured those grave difficulties. For example, after many labors and sweats, the farmer sometimes, while he sharpens the sickle and prepares for the harvest, either because of rust setting in, or a multitude of locusts, or excessive rain falling, or some other misfortune brought about by the intemperance of the air, returns home with empty hands, after he has indeed sustained the labors but has missed the hoped-for fruits. In the same way, the pilot, while he rejoices in the abundance of merchandise, having crossed many seas with sails spread with great pleasure, very often at the very entrance of the port, either by encountering a rock, or by the ship being dashed against a stone hidden in the sea or against some crag, and being struck by such an unexpected event, with all the merchandise lost, after those infinite...

perils he barely escapes naked with his life. ^A Our affairs are not of such a kind; for our hopes are eternal, immovable, and secure, and they are not destroyed together with this present life, but look toward that incorrupt, blessed, and everlasting life, and they are not only not conspired against by the instability of the air or the occurrence of unexpected events, but they are not even dissolved by death itself. From these very hopes, one might see their fruit shining even in the trials themselves, and that the reward is great and abundant. For this reason the blessed Paul cried out, saying: *Not only so, but we also glory in tribulations* (Rom. 5.3). ^B I entreat you, let us not pass over what has been said lightly; but since, I know not how, the discourse has again brought us into the harbor of the excellent pilot Paul, let us enjoy the expression, which is brief, yet teaches us much philosophy. What then is that which has been said, and what did he hint to us by saying, *Not only so, but we also glory in tribulations*? Let us, if you please, carry the discourse of instruction a little higher, and we shall see great clarity, and the power of the thoughts born thence for us. But let no one be discouraged in body; but instead of dew, let the desire for spiritual hearing be present. For our discourse is about tribulation and the desire for eternal goods, and patience, and the reward resulting from these for those who have not relaxed. What then is the "not only"? ^C For he who said this implies to us that many other good things have preceded; and along with those he adds this—that which comes from tribulation; wherefore the same man also said: *Not only so, but we also glory in tribulations*. But that what is said may become clearer, bear with us for a brief hour, as we make our instruction longer in discourse.

For since the divine proclamation was announced by the Apostles, and they went about everywhere in the world sowing the word of piety, and uprooting error from the foundation, and overthrowing the ancestral laws of the impious, and driving away all lawlessness, and cleansing the earth, and ordering men to flee from the idols and temples and altars and the festivals and rites derived from them, but to acknowledge the one God of all, and to await the future hopes, and they spoke about the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and philosophized about the resurrection, and discoursed about the kingdom of heaven: for this reason a grievous war was ignited, and of all wars the most tyrannical, and everything was full of tumult and disturbance and sedition, and all cities, and every people, and home, and the inhabited and uninhabited world, as the ancient customs were being shaken, and the prejudice that had held sway so long was being rattled, and new doctrines were being introduced, such as no one had ever heard; ^D toward these things kings raged, and rulers were annoyed, and common men were troubled, and marketplaces were in an uproar, and tribunals were angered, and swords were bared, and weapons were prepared, and laws were indignant. Thence came punishments and torments and threats and everything that seemed to be the evils existing among men. As when the sea is raging and laboring with grievous shipwrecks, the affairs of the world were disposed, none the better, when a father would disown his child for the sake of piety, and a bride was divided against her mother-in-law, and brothers were separated, and masters were indignant against their servants, and nature was almost in revolt against itself, and not only a civil, but a domestic war was going through every house. For the word, entering like a sword, and cutting the diseased part from the healthy, caused the sedition to be great everywhere, and the contention, and from every side prepared infinite burdens and battles to be raised against those who believed. Thence some were led away to prisons, others to tribunals, others to the road leading to death; and for some their possessions were confiscated, others were often cast out of both their country and life itself, and from every side evils surrounded them more densely than snowflakes; battles within, fears without, from friends, from strangers, from those whom nature itself had bound to one another.

2. Seeing these things, then, the blessed Paul, that instructor of the world, that teacher of heavenly doctrines, since the evils were in hand and being enacted before their eyes, while the good things were in hopes and promises only—I mean the kingdom of heaven, and resurrection, and the possession of those good things that surpass all mind and speech; while the furnaces and pans and swords and punishments and all manner of torments and deaths were not in hopes, but in experience; and those who were about to struggle against these things had just been brought into the faith from altars and idols and luxury and licentiousness and drunkenness, having as yet meditated nothing lofty to think about concerning the eternal life, but holding rather to the present things; and it was likely that many of these would lose heart and be dissolved, and fall away being besieged every day—see what the sharer of the ineffable mysteries does, and attend to the wisdom of Paul. He is constantly discoursing to them about the things to come, and brings the prizes before their eyes, and shows the crowns, anointing them and comforting them with the hopes of eternal goods. And what does he say? *For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us* (Rom. 8.18). For what are you telling me of, he says, wounds and altars and executioners and punishments and famines and confiscations and poverty and bonds and chains? Place all the things that seem to be evils among men that you wish, and you say nothing worthy of those prizes and crowns and rewards. For the former pass away with the present life, but the latter have no end in the infinite age; and the former pass by, being temporal, but the latter remain continuously, coexisting with the ageless. Which thing he was hinting at elsewhere, saying this same thing...

^A “For that which is present, our light and momentary burden of affliction is working for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. iv, 17, 18). And again, so that he may lead them on to recognize the magnitude of the good things of that life, he introduces creation itself as grieving and groaning over present evils, and vehemently desiring the future as being very joyous, whilst he says thus: “For the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Rom. viii, 22). For what cause does it groan? For what cause does it travail? Because, forsooth, it awaits those future good things, and desires a change for the better. “For the creation itself,” he says, “shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God” (ibid, v. 21). But when you hear that it groans and travails, do not think that it is endowed with reason, but understand the idiom of Scripture. For when God wishes to announce to men some great and joyous thing through the prophets, He fashions even inanimate things themselves so as to perceive the greatness of the miracles that are taking place, not that we say creation is endowed with sense, but so that by those things which are fitting for men, the magnitude of the miracles may be expressed. This, forsooth, we are also accustomed to say, when something unexpected has happened: ^B “The city itself is sad, the very soil itself has become more sorrowful,” and when one speaks of fierce and terrible men, and those endued with a bestial mind, one often speaks thus: “It shook the very foundations, the stones themselves feared him”: not that the stones in truth feared him, but so that they might be able to express the summit of his ferocity and rage of heart. For this cause also the wonderful prophet David, commemorating the good things which had happened to the Jews, and that pleasure with which they were filled when they were delivered from Egypt, said: “When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a barbarous people, Judah was his sanctuary, Israel his dominion. The sea saw it and fled, Jordan was turned back. The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs of the flock, at the presence of the Lord” (Ps. cxiii, 1-4). Yet no one ever heard that this happened. For though the sea and the Jordan were turned back by God’s command, yet the mountains and the hills did not skip; but, as I said before, when he wished to express the highest pleasure, and the relief from the Egyptian vexation which had happened to them, he said that even inanimate things skipped and danced on account of those good things which had come to them; just as when he wished to announce some sad thing, which our sins had brought forth for us, he says, “The wine shall mourn, the vine also shall mourn” (Isa. xxiv, 7); and elsewhere, “The ways of Sion do mourn” (Lam. i, 4): but he also says that things devoid of sense weep, “O walls of the daughter of Sion, let down tears” (Lam. ii, 18): ^C yea, and he says that the earth itself and Judaea mourn and are drunken with sadness, not that these elements feel this, but, as I said before, each one of the prophets, while he wishes to indicate the vast magnitude of the good things which God bestows, and of the punishments which on account of our sins are inflicted upon us, speaks thus: for which cause the blessed Paul also introduces creation groaning and grieving, so that he may be able to express the magnitude of the gifts of God which shall receive us after this life.

But all these things are in hope, someone will say; but a small-hearted and miserable man, not long since delivered from idolatry, and not yet knowing how to philosophize about future things, is not easily corrected by these discourses, but seeks to find some consolation in the present time. Therefore, forsooth, this wise teacher also, who knows all things, consoles not only from future goods, but exhorts also from present advantages. And first, indeed, he commemorates the good things which have already happened to the world, which were not situated in hope and expectation, but which they were enjoying in reality: which is the greatest and most evident demonstration of things future and those which are hoped for: and when he had spun a long discourse concerning faith, and had made mention of the patriarch Abraham, who, though nature resisted, yet hoped that he would be a father, expected and believed, wherefore also he eventually was: from thence, taking the occasion, he exhorts that we should never fall into an infirmity of reasoning, but that we should erect our minds with the magnitude of faith, lift them up, and think high things: then he explains the dignity of the things which we have already attained. What, therefore, is that? That, forsooth, God gave His own Son, ^D the Only-begotten, the genuine, the beloved, for us wicked servants, and those burdened with numberless sins, and oppressed by such great loads of transgressions, He not only delivered from sins, but even made us just, commanding nothing burdensome or laborious or molestive, but requiring faith from us alone, He rendered us just, made us holy, adopted us as children of God, instituted us heirs of the kingdom, announced us fellow-heirs of the Only-begotten, promised a resurrection, the incorruption of bodies, the same condition and lot with the angels, which exceeds every reason and mind, habitation in the heavens, conversation with Him, and He already poured out upon us from thence the grace of the Holy Spirit, delivered us from the possession of the devil, vindicated us from the servitude of demons, destroyed sin, removed the curse, broke through the gates of hell, opened paradise, sending not an angel, not an archangel, but the Only-begotten Himself for our salvation, as he says through the prophet, “Not an ambassador, nor an angel, but the Lord Himself saved us” (Isa. lxiii, 9). Are these things not more splendid than six hundred crowns? That we have been sanctified? That we have been justified? That it was through faith? That the Only-begotten Son of God descended for us? That the Father delivered up His beloved Son for our sake? That we received the Holy Spirit? That it was with all facility? That we have obtained copious grace and gift? Having thus said these things, and [index: entries preserved]

having declared everything in a few words, he again ended his discourse by reverting to hope. For having said, "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have had access by faith into this grace in which we stand," he added, "And we glory in hope of the glory of God" (Rom. 5:1-2). Since, therefore, he had spoken of things both past and future—for to be justified, and for the Son to be sacrificed for our sake, and to be brought through Him to the Father, and to enjoy grace and gift, and to have been delivered from sins, and to have peace with God, and to partake of the Holy Spirit, these things belong to the past; but the things to come were that ineffable ^A glory—he added that very thing, saying, "In which we stand, and glory in hope of the glory of God." But hope, as I have already said, is not sufficiently powerful to set upright and lift up a faint-hearted hearer. See what he does again, and behold the vigor of Paul and his philosophical mind. For from the very things that seem to grieve and cause alarm and trouble the hearer, from these very things he weaves the crowns of consolation and glorying. For since he had enumerated all these things, he thereafter adds, saying, "I do not say only these things which I have spoken," he says, "such as that we have been sanctified, that we have been justified, that it is through the Only-Begotten, that we have enjoyed grace, peace, gift, remission of sins, fellowship of the Holy Spirit, that it was with all ease, without toils and without sweats, that it was by faith alone, that He sent ^B the only-begotten Son, that He gave one thing and promised another, ineffable glory, incorruption, resurrection of bodies, angelic lot, manner of life with Christ, dwelling in the heavens"—for he had set all these forth in saying, "and we glory in hope of the glory of God." Therefore he does not speak only of these things which are past and to come, but even of those things which seem to be painful among men: I mean the tribunals, the arrests, the deaths, the threats, the famines, the tortures, the gridirons, the furnaces, the plunderings, the wars, the sieges, the battles, the seditions, the contentions—these also he places in the order of gifts and accomplishments. For one ought not to rejoice and be glad only in those things mentioned, but one must glory also in these, as when he says, "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ" (Col. 1:24). Do you see a vigorous soul, a lofty mind, and an immoveable resolution, one that is not proud only of the crowns, but one that is sweetened by the contests? Not rejoicing in the rewards, but even finding delight in the wrestlings? Not glad in the recompenses, but glorying in the very pancratium? For do not speak to me of the kingdom of the heavens, nor of those unfading crowns, nor of the prizes, but of these present things themselves, which have affliction and toil and much misery—bring these into the midst, and I shall be able to show that one must glory in them much more greatly. For in outward contests, the wrestlings ^C have the toil, but the crown has the pleasure; but here it is not so, but even before the crowns, the wrestlings themselves bring much glorying. And that you may learn that these things have this manner, consider each of the saints from every generation, as he says: "Take, brethren, an example of affliction and patience" (Jas. 5:10), the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. But indeed, even this one who now proposes to us this contest and has convened the present spiritual theater—I mean Paul—after he had enumerated those thousand miseries of each of the saints, so as not to speak of them in detail now, he adds, saying, "They went about in sheepskins, in goats' skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy" (Heb. 11:37-38), and in all these they were rejoicing. And one might see this very thing, when after prison and the taunts, having been scourged, they were driven away; what does it say? "So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ" (Acts 5:41). Let ^D anyone who wishes, consider what I say, what happened in the time of the persecutions. A tender virgin entered, a stranger to marriage, having a body softer than wax; then, having been fastened to the stake on all sides, her sides were being torn, she was being rewarded with blood, and she was flowing with it, just as if she were being married and sitting in the bridal chamber. Thus with favor she bore what was happening for the sake of the kingdom of the heavens, being crowned in the very contests. Consider how great a thing it was to see a tyrant with armies and sharpened swords and so many weapons being conquered by a single maiden. Do you see that even the affliction itself has the greatest glorying? And you yourselves bear witness to these things said. For thus, although the martyrs have received their rewards, not the prizes and the crowns, but having been dissolved into dust and ashes, we run together with all eagerness to their honors, and we convene a spiritual theater, and we proclaim these, and we crown them for their wounds and their blood, for the tortures and the stripes, for those afflictions and the straits: thus even the afflictions themselves have glorying even before the reward. Consider how great Paul was then, dwelling in prisons, and being led into tribunals, how conspicuous, how brilliant, and how famous he appeared to all, and especially by those by whom he was fought and plotted against. And what do I say, conspicuous to men, when he was then

more fearful to the demons

"^A (2 Cor 12:9-10). Therefore, when he was writing to some who lived at Corinth and was inveighing against those who thought highly of themselves while condemning others, he was compelled, in sketching the image of his own virtuous deeds for us, to illustrate them—not from signs, not from miracles, not from honor, not from comforts, but from prisons, from judgments, from hunger, from cold, from wars, and from plots, addressing them with such words: "Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool, I am more," and indicating the "more" and in what he excelled, he says: "In labors more abundantly, in prisons more frequently, in lashes beyond measure, in deaths often; I will boast in the things of my weakness" (2 Cor 11:23, 30).

You see him boasting in these things much more than if he were taking pleasure in glorious crowns, and therefore saying: "And not only so, but we also glory in tribulations" (Rom 5:3). What is this, "not only so"? It is as if to say: ^B We do not merely refrain from losing heart when afflicted and oppressed by troubles, but as one promoted to a greater honor and glory, we glory rather because of the discomforts that befall us. Then, since he said that the greatest glory, praise, and boasting arise from tribulations, and since it is certain that glory brings pleasure—for where there is pleasure, there is totally glory also; and where there is such glory, there is totally pleasure—after he had shown that being afflicted is something splendid and illustrious and affords an occasion for boasting, he narrates another [of its] maximum effect and supreme, stupendous fruit. Let us see what that is. "Knowing," he says, "that tribulation works patience; and patience, probation; and probation, hope; and hope does not confound" (Rom 5:3-5). What is it, "knowing that tribulation works patience"? It has this greatest fruit, because it renders the afflicted human being more robust.

For just as trees that are nurtured in shady places free from winds, although they might germinate prosperously in outward appearance, become soft and spongy and are easily damaged by any impact, while those that are situated on the ^C tops of high mountains, are shaken by many great winds, endure the intemperance of the air, are hammered by the heaviest tempests, and are struck by much snow, become more robust than any iron—in the same way, bodies that are nurtured in many and various comforts, that are adorned with soft garments, that use continual baths and ointments, and that enjoy delicate foods of many kinds beyond what is necessary, are rendered utterly useless for undergoing the sweats and labors for religion, and are especially subject to torments; thus, indeed, also souls that lead a life devoid of miseries, that flow with delights, that are willingly addicted to present things, and that prefer a life without pain to undergoing afflictions for the kingdom of heaven like all the saints, having become softer and weaker than wax, are exposed as fodder for the eternal fire. But those that are exposed to perils, labors, and the ^D tribulations of affliction for God's sake, and are nurtured in them, become more solid and more generous than iron itself or adamant, and because they are exercised continually, they are rendered impregnable to adversaries and acquire an unconquered habit of patience and fortitude. And just as those who, when they first embark on a ship, are nauseated and suffer from vertigo, being disturbed and seized with disgust—but those who have crossed many and long seas, who have thousands of times boldly committed themselves to the waves, and have suffered frequent shipwrecks, undertake such sea-voyages with confidence—so, indeed, also the soul that has endured many temptations and borne great afflictions, having become accustomed thereafter to labors and having acquired for itself the habit of patience, is no longer fearful, nor subject to terrors, nor disturbed by incoming evils; but, strengthened by the constant exercise of things that happen and by frequent meditation on accidents, it bears most easily whatever discomforts arise.

Therefore, this skilled architect of the heavenly way of life, indicating this, was saying: "And not only so, but we also glory in tribulations," because before the attaining of the kingdom and the heavenly crowns, we report the greatest reward from hence, while through constant afflictions our soul is rendered more tolerant and our reason proves stronger. Therefore, when all these things are understood by us, most beloved, let us generously endure whatever adversities happen, because, when it has seemed so to God, it happens for our utility, and let us not cast away hope, nor lose heart in our souls, prostrate by the onset of afflictions, but standing strongly, let us continually give thanks to God for the benefits conferred upon us, that we may both enjoy present goods and attain future gifts, by the grace, mercy, and kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father be glory and power, together with the holy and life-giving Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.