the Father of love, who is Love itself—for He delights in being called by these names above all others, that He might legislate A brotherly love, He who gave the new commandment to love one another even as we have been loved; He who grants us to rule well, and to be ruled, for the sake of fear, and to shrink back with reason [(29)], and in turn to take heart through reason; He who also equips the great flocks, and makes the small ones great through grace—may He Himself, according to the multitude of His goodness, console us with much consolation, and lead us forward [(30)], shepherding and preserving the flock with me; and may He equip you for every good work, and persuade you to celebrate the martyrs in a spiritual manner, and count you worthy of the delight from thence, where [(31)] is the dwelling place of all who rejoice, and having appeared in righteousness, may He sate them with His glory, He having appeared in Christ Jesus [(32)] our Lord, to whom be glory and power, honor and worship, for ever and ever. Amen. B
NOTICE ON ORATION XII
I. "He had bowed his neck to the hands of those inaugurating him, but not his soul," says Gregory (33). Accordingly, after he was ordained bishop, just as he had previously done after the order of priesthood was conferred upon him, he took to flight, which he had meditated doing almost at the very moment of the imposition of hands. Not only a love of solitude, but also a fear of contentions, persuaded him to this flight. For a great dissension had already broken out between Basil and Anthimus, one of whom was the prelate of Caesarea, the other of Tyana. Since Cappadocia had recently been divided into two provinces, or into First and Second Cappadocia, it came to pass that spiritual power was also divided into two metropolises. Basil presided over First Cappadocia, and Anthimus over the second. Hence the origin of the dissensions. For "very many" things "were being attached to the new metropolis from the former one (34)." The two prelates were disputing especially over Sasima. Therefore, our Theologian was created bishop of Sasima by Basil. But since the man of peace feared that he might appear to be waging war for the sake of the Sasimensian see, "he fled quickly to the mountain, that he might enjoy the delights of dear solitude, and give himself entirely to philosophy (35)," that is, to the exercise of the solitary and monastic life.
II. But Gregory, "constant in other things," as he himself testifies (36), "was sluggish in this, that he could not bear his father's anger." He yielded, therefore, to his parent and quickly returned from his flight. Then, his father began to exhort his son again and again, and more vehemently, to take up the governance of the Sasimensian Church. But he, persevering constantly in his purpose, refused altogether. Then at last his father, by prayers, by threats, by authority, and by arguments, obtained that his son, fellow-working with him, should take care of the Nazianzene Church, and like some great eagle flying very high, his offspring should not uselessly fly constantly around him nearby (37); yet on this condition, that he should not be unwillingly bound to this Church, and that, the parent being dead, he should have the free faculty of leaving and going wherever he wished.
III. On this occasion, therefore, and at this very time, namely at the end of the year 372, he delivered this twelfth oration. In it, he attributes due praises to Gregory his father, who, although "more powerful and more fervent" than any other (n. 3), sought a helper for himself, nor did he [seek] men's judgment
he feared them, especially at a time when "episcopal dignity, through the fault of many, was judged to be full of a kind of wonderful pleasure" (n. 3). He then explains his own desire for solitude and quiet on one hand, and on the other, the fear by which he is struck, lest he should fail God calling him and the service of the Church. Between these feelings—namely, "fear and desire"—he follows such a middle path that he satisfies partly desire and partly the Spirit (n. 5); and he thus makes an agreement that he would neither deny himself entirely to the Church, nor depart from the desire for his beloved solitude, if at some point it might be permitted for him to return to it. Whence he set the time for recovering his liberty at his parent's death; and he states this condition so clearly and so explicitly that it is a wonder that anyone exists, or ever has existed, who has called or believed our Theologian to have been the bishop of the Nazianzen Church.
ORATION XII
To his father, when he had committed to him the care of the Nazianzen Church.
I. I opened my mouth and drew in the Spirit, and I give all that is mine, and myself as well, as a gift to the Spirit—action and speech, leisure and silence. Let Him alone possess me, and lead me, and move my hand, and mind, and tongue toward those things which are necessary and which He wills; and let Him again lead me away from those things from which it is fitting and better to abstain. I am a divine instrument, an intellectual instrument, an instrument being tuned and played by a skilled Craftsman, that is, by the Holy Spirit. Did He work silence yesterday? I devoted myself to silence. Does He touch my mind today? I will utter the sound of speech, and I will devote myself to speaking. In truth, I am neither so talkative that I desire to speak when the Spirit elicits silence in me, nor so sluggish in silence and ignorance that, when it is appropriate to speak, I would set a guard upon my lips; but I open or close my door to the Mind, and to the Word, and to the Spirit, whose nature and divinity are one and the same.
II. I will speak, therefore, since I am commanded to do so; and indeed I have this speech for this good shepherd, and for you, the sacrosanct flock, saying those things which I judge to be better for me to say and for you to hear this day. What has befallen you, that you should have need of a colleague? For I will begin with you, O head dear and venerable to me, not inferior to that head of Aaron, upon which that spiritual and priestly oil flows down even to the beard and the garment. What is the cause, that while you are still able to support and guide many, and indeed are guiding them in the power of the Spirit, you should place a staff and a prop beneath your spiritual labors? Is it because it does not escape your notice that, along with that most illustrious man Aaron, Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aa-
Aaron, were also anointed with the oil of priesthood? A For I shall purposefully pass over Nadab and Abihu, lest my speech import any evil omen. Furthermore, shall I pass over the fact that Moses, while he still enjoyed the span of his life, designated in his own place Joshua, who was to be the legislator and military commander for those hastening to the land of promise? (For I will not be unwilling to pass over that incident of Aaron and Hur, who supported the hands of Moses on the mountain so that Amalek might be overthrown by the cross, which was foreshadowed and prefigured so long before, as if it were not entirely suitable or applicable to us. For Moses did not have them as his associates in the institution of the laws, but took them as helpers in prayer and as a support for his weary hands.)
B III. But what ails you, what is weakening? Is it your body? I am ready to support it; indeed, I have already supported it, and just as that Jacob of old, I have been supported in my turn by paternal blessings. But what of your spirit? Who is more valiant and more fervent, especially at this age, when the affection of the flesh subsides and gives way, like that which, by its presence, offers opposition and an impediment to the brilliance of light? For these usually wage war against each other and hold opposing camps; and the body is in good condition while the soul is weary, or the soul flourishes and has its eyes fixed on heaven while pleasures subside and wither away along with the body. But I have also admired your C ancient simplicity and nobility of spirit, in that you did not even foresee this—which is very common in these times—lest the spirit that moves you be thought a drone, and we appear to most people to be receiving these things in a carnal manner, even though we profess to receive them spiritually. Since, through the fault of the many, it has come to pass that this dignity, ample and royal, is judged to be full of a certain wondrous pleasure—however much someone may preside over a flock more restricted than this one of ours, and one that brings more troubles than pleasures. And as for your simplicity of soul, or your fatherly affection, by which it happens that you neither admit anything base yourself, nor rashly suspect it of others (for he who is not easily impelled to evil does not easily suspect evil of another), let these words of mine suffice. It follows now that I should address this brief oration to your—or rather, my—people.
D IV. We have been tyrannized over, O friends and brothers; for your faith, if not at that time, now at least we shall call upon; we have been
A oppressed by the old age of a father and a friend, to speak mildly, by his kindness. And I ask you, as each of you is able, bring help and stretch out a hand to one who is hard-pressed and torn between desire and the Spirit. The former urges flight, and mountains, and solitudes, and rest of soul and body, and for the mind to withdraw into itself, and to turn away from the senses, so that it may commune purely with God, and be illuminated clearly by the rays of the Spirit, with nothing of the lower and murky things mingling in, nor anything intruding upon the divine light, until we come to the source of these illuminations here, and stand, when our desire and yearning have been dissolved, and the mirrors have been removed by the truth. B But the Spirit desires to bring me into the midst, and that I should bear fruit for the common good, and that this should be of benefit—to benefit one another—and to make the illumination public, and to bring to God a chosen people, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a purified image in many. For it is better and more excellent, just as a garden is more than a single plant, and an entire heaven with its own beauties is more than a single star, and a body is more than a single limb, so also, when one person helps an entire Church to be perfected for God, it is more excellent; and one ought not to look solely to his own interests, but also to those of others. For even Christ himself, though he could have remained in his own honor and divinity, did not only empty himself as far as the form of a servant, but even endured the cross, having despised shame, so that in his own sufferings he might consume sin, and by his death might kill death. Those are the figments of desire; these are the teachings of the Spirit. Being, then, between desire and the Spirit, and not knowing to which I should yield more, C I will share with you what I think I have found to be the most beautiful and safest way, so that you may help me to discern and take hold of this counsel.
V. It seemed to me, then, to be the best and safest course to take a middle path between desire and fear, and to satisfy desire in part and the Spirit in part. This, however, can be done if I neither flee the sacred office entirely—so that I might not, which is dangerous, reject grace—nor, on the other hand, take upon my shoulders a burden heavier than my strength can bear—which is troublesome and bitter. For the former belongs to another kind of head, and the latter to other kinds of strength; indeed, both are signs of a mind not entirely sound. But it is the mark of a pious man, who is also looking out for his own security, to measure the sacred function by his strength; D so that, just as in the case of food, one accepts what is in accordance with one's capacity, and rejects what is beyond one's strength; for thus health is produced in the body, and for the soul, security exists through moderation in both.
A For this reason, I do not refuse to share duty with my noble father, like a chick not useless to a great and high-flying eagle, flying nearby. But after this, I will give my wing to the Spirit to be carried wherever He wishes, and in whatever way He wishes; nor will there be anyone who can force me or lead me elsewhere, while I consult with Him. For, while it is inherited labor from a father, and the flock is more familiar than that of a stranger and alien; I might add, that it is also dearer to God, if my affection does not deceive me and habit does not steal my perception; yet it is not more expedient than for willing leaders to preside over willing subjects, nor safer, since our law does not seek to lead by force, nor by compulsion, but voluntarily. For this B arrangement would not maintain another authority, since what is held by force loves to leap into freedom once it captures an opportunity; but ours is not an authority, but a guidance, and it preserves above all else the voluntary element. For the mystery of piety [is the possession of] those who are willing, not those who are tyrannized.
VI. C These are the things I have had to say to you, men of Nazianzus, simply and with all goodwill, and this is the secret of my mind. But may that prevail which is to profit both you and me, the Spirit indeed guiding our affairs (for the discourse again ascends to the same point), to Whom we have given ourselves, and whose head has been anointed with the oil of perfection in the Father Almighty, and the Only-Begotten Word, and the Holy Spirit and God. For how long shall we cover the lamp under a bushel, D and begrudge others of the perfect Godhead, when it ought already to be placed upon the lampstand and shine for all Churches and souls, and for the whole fullness of the inhabited world, no longer conjectured, nor shadowed forth in the mind, but openly and plainly proclaimed? Which indeed is the most perfect proof of theology for those who have been deemed worthy of this grace in the same Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory, honor, and power for ever and ever. Amen.