Let us therefore concede the hymn for him to more magnificent tongues; let us summon A the more sonorous trumpets of the teachers for him. Arise now for me, O brilliant painters of athletic deeds; adorn with your arts the mutilated image of this commander. Illuminate with the colors of your wisdom the crowned athlete whom I have depicted too obscurely. May I depart vanquished by you, who are about to represent the martyr's extraordinary deeds in a painting; may I rejoice today to have been surpassed by your skill in such a victory. Let me see the struggle between the hand and the fire more accurately depicted by you; let me see the wrestler more splendidly portrayed in your image. Let the demons weep, now struck again by the martyr's triumphs among you. Let the burning and victorious hand be shown again. Let Christ, the judge of the contests, also be inscribed on the tablet; to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. B
HOMILY XVIII. On the Martyr Gordius.
1. It is a law of nature among bees not to leave their hives before their queen leads the way in flight. Since, therefore, I have now seen the Lord’s people going forth for the first time toward the heavenly flowers, the martyrs, I seek their leader. Who has roused this great swarm? Who has changed the winter gloom into spring brightness? For now, for the first time, the people, as if they were bees, having poured out of the city, have occupied in full force C the beauty of the suburbs, this venerable and most fair stadium of the martyrs. Since, therefore, the miracle of the martyr has also led us, having risen up and forgotten our weakness, come, let us also, with a voice raised to the best of our ability, buzz like bees around the flower of this man’s deeds, bestowing a task both pious and agreeable to those present. For "when the just man is praised, the people will rejoice," as the wise Solomon was just telling us. And yet, I was doubting to myself what the enigma of the proverb-writer could possibly mean. Could he mean that the people rejoice when some rhetorician or skilled orator has composed a speech to stir the admiration of the hearers, with some elegant sound D that rings around their ears: namely, that they rejoice in both the invention and arrangement of the thoughts, and the splendor of the language and the harmonic concert
A approved? But he surely would never have said this, since he nowhere uses such a style of speech, nor has he exhorted us to pursue the praises of the blessed with magnificent and splendid words: he who has everywhere preferred a plain style and discourse bereft of ornament. What, then, is it that he says? It is that the peoples rejoice with a spiritual joy, if they only recall to memory the excellent deeds of the righteous, since by these things which they hear, they are led on to the emulation and imitation of good things. For the history of men who have lived well in the state provides a certain light, as it were, for those who are to obtain salvation, to guide them along the way of life. Wherefore, as soon as we have heard the life of Moses, as the Spirit Himself narrates it, immediately we have emulated the virtue of the man, and that gentleness of character appeared to be something to be desired and praised by everyone. And indeed, for other men, eulogies are constructed from the amplification of words; but for the righteous, the truth of their deeds is sufficient to demonstrate the excellence of their virtue. Wherefore, when we narrate the lives of those who have shone in piety, we first glorify the Master through His servants; then we praise the righteous by the testimony of those things which are known to us; and lastly, we exhilarate the people by the hearing of good deeds. For the life of Joseph is an exhortation to chastity, and the stories of Samson are an incitement to fortitude.
2. Therefore, the school of the righteous does not know the law of heralds: but it holds instead of heralds the testimony of the deeds performed; since this suffices for the praise of the saints, and imparts enough utility to those who are striving toward virtue. For the law of heralds is to investigate the fatherland, to trace lineage from on high, and to recount the upbringing; but our law, having silenced the voices of neighbors, completes the eulogy and praise from those things that belong to each one’s own self. For what am I rendered more splendid and illustrious thereby, if at some time my city has sustained heavy and great contests, and, having routed the enemy, has erected clear trophies? What then, if it has a site so opportune that it is comfortable in both winter and summer? And if it is also fertile in men and suitable for feeding cattle, what gain is there in this for me? But even in herds of horses it surpasses all the regions that are under the sun. Why can these things make us better in the virtue befitting a human being? Or shall we not also deceive ourselves if we discourse about the summits of some neighboring mountain, how they transcend the clouds and extend as far as possible into the air, when we ascribe praises to men from these things? It is the most ridiculous thing of all, when the whole world has been despised by the righteous, for us to celebrate their praises from the few things that they despised. Remembrance, therefore, is sufficient for lasting utility. For it is not indeed for those who are blessed, B or who are holy, that there is C need of such things for their approval, but for us, who are in this life, memory is necessary for D our own profit. For [original-script column: see facsimile]
A just as illumination naturally follows fire, and a sweet scent follows ointment, so too does usefulness necessarily follow good works. Yet it is by no means a small thing to attain accurately the truth of those times. For a faint report has been spread to us, preserving the noble struggles of the man in the contests. And in some way, our situation seems to resemble that of painters. For they, too, when they copy images from images, fall very far short, as is natural, of the archetypes; and for us, having been left behind by the very sight of the events, there is no small danger of diminishing the truth. But B since the day has arrived which brings a reminder of the martyr, who struggled brilliantly in his testimonies for Christ, let us say what we know. He was born from this city, and for this reason we love him all the more, because the world is familiar to us. For just as fertile trees bring forth to their own land the fruits they nurture, so too did this man, having sprung from the womb of our city and having risen to the greatest height of glory, grant to the mother who bore and nurtured him the enjoyment of the fruits of his piety. For good indeed are the fruits from abroad, whenever they are sweet and nourishing; yet those that are our own and native are much sweeter than those from abroad, and in addition to their enjoyment, they grant us a certain adornment through their familiarity. C Enrolled in a prominent military service, he was entrusted with the command of a hundred soldiers, and he was distinguished among the ranks of the soldiers by his bodily strength and the courage of his soul. But when the tyrant of that time extended the bitterness and cruelty of his soul even to the war against the Church, and raised a god-opposing hand against piety, and decrees were spread everywhere, and notices were posted in every marketplace and every prominent place, that Christ was not to be worshipped, or else death and ruin would be the penalty for those who worshipped Him; and there was a command for all to submit to idols, and to consider stones and wood shaped by the craft of art as gods, or else for those not obeying to suffer irreparable things; there was confusion and turmoil throughout the city, and plundering against the pious; substance was being seized, the bodies of those who loved Christ were being torn with lashes, women were being dragged through the middle of the D city; neither youth was pitiful, nor was old age respected.
but those who had admitted to no evil were undergoing the punishments of criminals. The prisons were cramped, the opulent houses were deserted, the wildernesses were filled with refugees. Yet the crime of those enduring these things was piety; and father betrayed son, and son reported father, brothers raged against brothers, and slaves rose up against their own masters. A certain terrible night had overtaken the life of man, with everyone A failing to recognize one another due to the devil’s insanity. Houses of prayer were being torn down by impious hands, altars were being overturned, and there was no offering, nor incense, nor place to sacrifice, but a vast sadness, like a cloud, occupied everything. The worshippers of the Divine were being driven away, the entire chorus of piety was dismayed, but demons were dancing in triumph, defiling everything with stench and blood.
Then that noble man, anticipating the necessity of the courts, having cast off his belt, was an exile. Having despised his magistracy, having despised glory, having despised wealth of every kind, his relatives, friends, household, the pleasures of life, and the rest that men are eager for, he fled to the deepest solitudes inaccessible to man, deeming a life with wild beasts milder than communion with those who served idols. He imitated the zealot Elijah, who, when he saw the idolatry of Sidon prevailing, fled to Mount Horeb and lived in a cave, seeking God, until he saw the Desired One, as far as it is possible for man to see God.
3. Such, therefore, was Gordius, who had fled C civic tumults, the marketplace crowd, the arrogance of magistrates, the courts, the informers, the sellers, the buyers, the perjurers, the liars, the foul language, the buffoonery, and everything else that the populous cities drag along with them, just as small boats are dragged by large ships. As he had cleansed his ears, had cleansed his eyes, and, before all, had cleansed his heart, so that he might be able to see God and become blessed; he saw through revelations, he was taught the mysteries, not by men, nor through men, but employing as his great teacher the Spirit of truth. Whence, having pondered how useless, how vain, how more fragile than any dream and shadow his life was, he was provoked more vehemently to desire the heavenly calling. And as an athlete, sensing that he had sufficiently trained and anointed himself for the struggle D with fasts, vigils, prayers, and with constant and unceasing meditation on the oracles of the Spirit, noting that very day on which the whole city, fully celebrating a festival for the demon that loves war, was about to watch an equestrian contest [and] the theater
A occupied, observed. When, therefore, all the people had gathered in a prominent place, neither was the Jew absent, nor the Greek; nay, rather, there was a great multitude of Christians mingled with them, who, living incautiously and sitting together with the council of vanity, and not avoiding the gatherings of those doing evil, were at that time themselves also spectators of the speed of the horses and the skill of the charioteers. But masters had also sent their slaves, and children were running from their schools to watch; and there were present likewise as many women as were common and obscure. The stadium was full, and all were now intent on watching the horse-race. B Then, truly, that noble man, great in soul, great in spirit, coming down from above from the mountains into the theater, did not fear the people, did not consider to how many hostile hands he was delivering himself; but with an intrepid heart and a proud spirit, just as if passing by thick rocks or many trees, he passed by those who were sitting in the stadium, and stood in the midst, confirming that sentiment: *Justus ut leo confidit* (The righteous is as a lion, confident). And he was of such an intrepid spirit that, being placed in a conspicuous spot of the theater, with firm confidence and a shout he uttered that voice which some who are still alive have heard: *Inventus sum a non quærentibus me: palam apparui his, qui me non interrogabant* (I was found by them that sought me not: I appeared openly to them that asked not after me). By these words he signified that he had not been led to dangers by necessity, but had voluntarily offered himself to the contest, imitating the Lord, who, when He was not recognized by the Jews in the darkness of the night, revealed Himself.
C 4. Immediately, therefore, the theater in its strangeness turned towards the sight, a man being of a horrid aspect, whose head, on account of his long stay in the mountains, was unkempt, his beard grown long, his clothing filthy, his whole body withered, he who carried a staff and was clad in a scrip; in all of which a certain grace, by which he was illumined within, shone forth. But as soon as it was known who he was, a mixed clamor was at once raised by all; the kinsmen of the faith applauding for joy, but the adversaries of the truth inciting the judge to take him from their midst, and condemning him to death in advance. Therefore, all things were filled with shouting and tumult; the horses were neglected, the charioteers were neglected; the display of the chariots was an empty noise. For no one’s eye was intent on seeing anything else but Gordius, nor would any ear suffer to hear anything else but his words D.
A. And a certain indistinct rumor, like a breeze, passing through the whole theater, surpassed the noise of the circus. But when silence was proclaimed to the people by the heralds, the pipes were stilled, and the various musical instruments fell silent; Gordius was heard, Gordius was watched. And immediately he was dragged before the magistrate sitting there and arranging the contest. Meanwhile, therefore, with a mild and gentle voice B he was asked who he was and whence he came. But when he told his country, his lineage, the nature of the rank he held, the reason for his flight, and his return: "I am here," he said, "to show by my deeds both my contempt for your commands and my faith in God, in whom I have placed my hope; for I have heard," he said, "that you surpass many in cruelty; therefore, I chose this time as suitable for fulfilling my desire." With these words, the anger of the magistrate was kindled like fire, and he stirred up the whole fury of the man against himself. And, "Call," he said, "the executioners. Where are the leaden scourges? Where are the whips? Let him be stretched upon the wheel, let him be tortured upon the rack; let the instruments of torture be brought; let the wild beasts, the fire, the sword, the cross, the pit be made ready." "But what gain," he said, "does that wicked man have, since he dies only once?" Nay, Gordius replied immediately, "How great a loss I suffer, that I cannot die many times for Christ!" The magistrate, however, beyond his natural ferocity, became even more savage as he looked upon the man’s dignity, whose great sublimity of soul he considered his own disgrace. And the more he saw the spirit of the latter dauntless, the more he was inflamed, and he strove all the more to overcome the man’s constancy by devising tortures. Thus the magistrate C.
5. But the martyr, looking toward God, soothed his soul with these words of the sacred Psalms, saying: *The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me*; and that: *I will not fear evils, for thou art with me*; and as many things akin to these, which he had learned from the divine oracles, as those that encourage one to bravery. For he was so far from yielding to the threatened evils and cowering, that he even provoked the sufferings upon himself. "Why do you delay?" he said; "Why do you stand there? Let the body be torn, let the limbs be racked; inflict whatever tortures you wish. Do not begrudge me my blessed hope. For the more you increase the torments, the greater the reward you prepare for me." We have made a covenant with the Lord concerning these things. D
A Instead of the welts appearing upon the body, a luminous garment will bloom for us in the resurrection; instead of ignominy, crowns; instead of a prison, paradise; instead of the condemnation with evildoers, a life with the angels. Sow many things in me, that I may reap a multiplied harvest. But since they could not overcome him with terrors, 79 and the thing was impossible, changing their plan, they began to flatter him. For such is the stratagem of the devil: he terrifies the cowardly, and softens the brave. Such also were the wiles of the evildoer at that time. For when he saw 80 that he did not yield to threats, he tried to encompass him with deceits and allurements. And he promised gifts; some he gave, and others he guaranteed would come from the emperor, such as high rank in the military, sources of wealth, whatever he might wish.
6. B Since they were unsuccessful in this trial (for having heard the promises, 81 the blessed man laughed at his folly, if he supposed he could give anything worthy of comparison with the kingdom of heaven), then he was powerless with rage, and was unsheating the sword, and set the executioner by his side, and with hand and tongue, defiling himself with slaughter, condemned the blessed man to death. The whole theater was crossing over to this place; and as many of the inhabitants as were left, having poured out in front of the wall, were watching that great and competitive spectacle, a sight wonderful to angels and to all 82 creation, painful to the devil, and fearful to demons. The city was emptied of its inhabitants, just as if by some current, the multitude having suddenly flowed toward this place. No woman consented to be absent C from the sight, 83 no man — obscure or illustrious — was absent. The guards were abandoning the watches of their houses; the shops of the merchants were unclosed; the goods for sale were lying about the marketplace; the one guard and security for all was that everyone had gone out alike, and not even an evildoer remained in the city. Slaves were abandoning the service of their masters; and whatever was of strangers or of the locals, all were present here to gaze upon the man. Then also, a virgin daring to endure the view of men, and an old man and an invalid, having done violence to their own infirmity, were outside the walls. Now, therefore, his friends, standing around the blessed man hastening through death to life, were embracing him with groans, D bidding him a final farewell, and with abundant and fervent tears, they were beseeching him not to surrender himself to the fire, not to consume his own youth, not to abandon this sweet sun. Others, with persuasive counsels, were attempting to deceive him: "Speak the refusal with a word only, but in your heart keep the faith as you wish."
A For God does not attend to the tongue, but to the mind of the speaker. Thus it will be possible for you both to mollify the judge and to render God propitious.
7. He was inflexible and adamantine, and invulnerable to every assault of temptation. You might compare the unwavering constancy of his mind to the house of the wise man, which neither the intolerable violence of the winds, nor the rushing rain bursting from the clouds, nor the bursting torrents can shake, because of the security of the rock. Such was that man, preserving the foundation of the faith in Christ unshaken B. And indeed, when he perceived with spiritual eyes the devil running about, inciting one to weeping and helping another to persuade, to those weeping he spoke that word of the Lord: "Weep not for me; but weep for the enemies of God, who dare such things against the pious, who through this flame which they kindle to burn us, are storing up for themselves the fire of hell." Cease weeping, and breaking my heart. For I am ready not only once to die for the name of the Lord Jesus, but even a thousand times, if that were possible. But to those who were advising him to deny with his tongue, he answered that the tongue, which was created by Christ, could not speak anything against its Creator. For "with the heart we believe unto righteousness, and with the mouth we confess unto salvation." C Is the military order then in such despair of salvation? Is there no pious centurion? I remember the first centurion, who, standing by the cross of Christ, having recognized his power from the miracles, while the wickedness of the Jews was still hot, did not fear their anger, nor did he shrink from proclaiming the truth, but confessed, and did not deny, that he was truly the Son of God. I also know another centurion, who, when the Lord still dwelt in the flesh, recognized that He is God and King of the powers, and that by His command alone He is able to send help to those in need through the ministering spirits; whose faith the Lord declared to be greater than all Israel. Was not Cornelius, being a centurion, deemed worthy D of the vision of the angel, and at last obtained salvation through Peter? For his alms and his prayers were heard before God. I wish to be a disciple of those men. How then shall I deny my God, whom I have worshipped from a child? Will not the heaven shudder from above? Will not the stars be darkened for my sake? Will the earth in any way sustain me? "Be not deceived: God is not mocked." From our own mouth He judges us.
by our words He justifies, and 91 by our words He condemns. Have you not read the fearful threat of the Lord? That, "Whoever shall deny me before men, I also will deny him before my Father, who is in heaven."
8. But why do you suggest such sophistry to me, and why would I purchase such trickery for myself? To gain a few days? But I shall lose an entire eternity. To escape the pains of the flesh? But I shall not see the good things of the just. It is clear madness to be destroyed by artifice, and with cunning and deceit to negotiate eternal punishment for oneself. But I also give counsel to you. If you think [things] badly, re-learn piety; but if you are feigning to suit the time, "Putting away falsehood, speak truth." Say: "That the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father." For every tongue shall utter this voice, when "In the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth." All men are mortal, but martyrs are few. Let us not wait to become corpses, but let us pass from life to life. Why do you await an automatic death? It is fruitless, profitless, common to cattle and to men. For whoever has come into life by birth is either consumed by time, or dissolved by disease, or destroyed by the more violent necessities of accidents. Since, therefore, it is necessary by all means to die, let us procure life for ourselves through death. Make voluntary what is compelled. Do not spare a life which it is necessary to lose. Even if earthly things were of such a nature as to remain forever, we should nonetheless have had to strive to exchange them for heavenly things; but if they last for a short time, and are so inferior in dignity, it would be a huge madness, for the sake of pursuing them, to lose the beatitudes stored up in hope. Having said these things, and having marked himself with the sign of the cross, C he walked toward the blow, without having changed his color at all, nor having altered anything of the brightness of his countenance. For he was disposed not as one about to encounter an executioner, but as one about to entrust himself to the hands of angels, who immediately, upon receiving him newly slain, would translate him to the blessed life as they did Lazarus. Who shall recount the shout of that crowd? What thunder has ever sent down from the clouds as great a roar to the earth as that which ascended then from the earth to heaven? This is the stadium D of that crowned athlete. This day [saw] that admirable...
spectacle, which time did not obscure, nor long usage dissolve; nor did the excess of subsequent events overcome it. For just as we always admire the sun when we behold it, so too do we always hold fresh the memory of that man. For *the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance* (Ps. CXVII, 7); both among those who dwell on earth, as long as the earth shall be, and in heaven, and before the righteous Judge; to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
HOMILY XIX. ON THE HOLY FORTY MARTYRS.
1. What satiety can there be B in commemorating the martyrs, for one who pursues them with love, since the honor which we pay to good fellow-servants is a proof of our favorable disposition toward our common Lord? For it is clear that he who honors noble men in similar circumstances will not fall short of imitating them. Sincere praise the one who has endured martyrdom, that you may become a martyr in intention, and may come forth—without persecution, without fire, without scourges—having been deemed worthy of the same rewards as they. But for us, not one man is set forth for veneration, nor two only, nor does the number of those being honored extend C just to ten; but forty men, as if having one soul in diverse bodies, showed in one harmony and concord of faith, one endurance in torments, and one constancy for the truth. All are similar to one another, equal in their thinking, equal in their struggle. Wherefore they were also deemed worthy of equal crowns of glory. Who then could reach the worth of these men? Not even forty tongues would suffice to celebrate the virtue of so many men. And truly, if we were to follow only one with reverence and honor, he would certainly surpass the power of our eloquence, let alone so great a multitude, a military phalanx, a body difficult to overcome, which, just as in wars it is invincible, so in praises it is D unapproachable.
2. Come then, let us bring them into our midst by means of this commemoration, and let us set forth for those present the common benefit to be gained from them, having displayed to all, as if on a tablet, the fortitude of these men. For indeed, deeds done bravely in war are often…