Second Oration on Peace

complex; wise in his words, wiser in his soul; if he were dealing with those of lower status, he would descend to their capacity; if with those gifted with a more lofty mind, he would rise higher; the leader of guests, a suppliant, a depeller of evils—he alone truly embraced all those things which the Gentiles attribute to their own gods. I will also add that he is a patron of those married and of virgins, and a peacemaker and reconciler, and a guide for those who are hastening from this life to the next. O what an abundance of names his virtue provides for me, while I seek to catch a surname for him from every side! ^B

XXXVII. But when he had held such a course of life, and had been so instructed, and had instructed others, that his life and manner of customs served as a rule for the episcopacy, and his dogmas were held as the law of orthodox faith, what reward for his piety did he finally receive? For this is not to be passed over in neglect. He closed his life in a good old age, and was joined to his fathers, the patriarchs, and prophets, and apostles, and martyrs who had contended for the truth. And, to sum up a sort of epitaph in a few words, he was graced with more excellent honor at his departure than he had been adorned with upon his entry into the city; indeed, he stirred up many tears, but he laid up in the minds of all a glory of his name greater than those things which fall under sight. But, O dear and sacred head—you, I say, who beyond your other praises have excellently cultivated the measure of speech and silence—do you set the end here for our Oration, which, if it has by no means attained the excellence of your virtues, yet is certainly not inferior to our powers. And oh that you yourself, benign and placid, would look down upon us from above and govern this people, making them a perfect worshiper of the perfect Trinity, which is understood and worshipped in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and as for us, if things are to be peaceful, keep us in life and pasture the flock with me; but if the Church be ablaze with wars, lead us back or take us up, and place us with yourself and with those like you, even though it be a great thing that I ask, in Christ himself our Lord, to whom be all glory, honor, and power unto the ages. Amen. ^C

MONITUM ON ORATIONS XXII AND XXIII

I. These orations are inscribed "On Peace." Gregory had already delivered another oration at Nazianzus inscribed "On Peace," when the monks, having been distracted from him on account of a formula signed by Gregory the father which smelled of Arian fraud, had returned to unity. Now, however, it is not the same cause that inflames the zeal of the Theologian. For besides the war against the heretics, there was also raging in these times a mournful schism among the Catholics themselves, some of whom were attempting to draw Gregory "to Paul," others "to Apollo." By "Paul and Apollo" here, it is rightly understood by scholars that Melitius and Paulinus are meant, who were contending for the Antiochene bishopric, and...

on account of whom not only the East, but the whole world was being torn into opposite factions ^A in a pitiable manner. Amidst these conflagrations of discord, Gregory follows a middle path, and employing a vehement style of speech, he tries with all his might to recall the banished peace (n. 1): "O Peace of God," he says, "and God of peace, O friendly Peace, a good thing indeed praised by all, but observed by few, where have you left us after such a long space of time? When are you to return to us?" Then, inveighing against the present state of affairs, he shows how many and how great are the troubles which discord brings with it, especially for Christians, whose God is charity. He rebukes the fickleness of the dissenters (n. 5), by which it happens that he who yesterday was preached as an Elias or a John, today is held to be a Judas or a Caiaphas. Then turning his speech to the doctrine of the faith, he teaches what must be avoided in doctrine; and furthermore warns that some things are not even to be investigated at all, ^B some things are to be left to contentious men, but some things, "not with arms and iron (n. 11)," but by reason, are to be defended. Whence he cautiously and prudently concludes (n. 12), "that all superfluous shoots of questions must be completely pruned away, since the rule of piety is in safety, and the head of the faith has been once established."

II. Not long after, peace having already been initiated, and with Meletius and Paulinus being placed in the Antiochene see with the vote and suffrage of the dissenters themselves, under the condition "that with the death of one of the contestants, the one who survived should be acknowledged by all as bishop (60)," the Theologian delivered another oration. Here, briefly touching again upon the utility and delights of peace, he rises especially against the heretics who, under the pretext of religion and the guise of charity, were bitterly criticizing the dissensions of the Catholics. The orator calls them to witness and challenges them (61): "Be," he says, "partakers of our secrets. We invite you to an assembly, even though you are hostile; we use our enemies as witnesses, so that blushing with shame you may retreat defeated. We have indeed dissented (62), not on the Godhead, but on order and discipline.... This was our error, that we were affected with too much love for our pastor, nor from two excellent prelates could we discover which was more to be sought, until we agreed on this, that we should place both in equal praise and admiration." Such are the causes for dissension ^C and conditions of peace which Gregory brings forward here. They did indeed sin, but only through excessive love for a pastor. Between two pastors, conspicuous alike in life, character, and doctrine, they hesitated, uncertain and dissenting, until at length they agreed on this, that they would hold both in equal praise and admiration. For "of the faith and the divinity, there was one voice and one lip for all (63)." Furthermore, the Theologian now congratulates them in this oration on the peace which he had declared in his former oration that he desired, and at the same time he proves to the heretics that there was not as much dissension among the Catholics as seemed to them. Whence he exposes their envy and hypocrisy, and having refuted their errors concerning the Trinity, he lovingly prays for their salvation and promises the theological orations.

III. We judge it more probable, with Tillemont (64), that these orations were delivered at Constantinople around the middle of the year 379. Regarding the first, there is no doubt; and the title which the codices bear confirms this. But regarding the latter, scholars differ. Elias, indeed, Billius, and Papebrochius (65) thought it was delivered at Nazianzus while Gregory the father was still alive. Whence it obtains the first place in the published editions. Nevertheless, nothing can be gathered from this oration which favors their opinion. And first, indeed, as long as the elder Gregory held the care of the Nazianzene Church, there was never any dissension between Gregory the father and Gregory the son, and consequently no necessity for reconciliation can be imagined. ^D Next, if any conflict existed between the two Gregories and the monks, that pertained "to the faith," not to order and discipline (66), of which alone we are treating here. Also, not yet in these times had the heretics at Nazianzus arrived at such rashness and arrogance that the Theologian would have needed, to beat back their audacity, to argue and attack them so sharply and so frequently on the same matters, and furthermore to use "hard and solid" arguments, as he says (67), "concerning the Trinity," by which name the theological orations which he had promised are designated. Nor let it move anyone that the Theologian says (68), "of a kind father, and his obedient son, sitting together, and bringing mutual ornament to each other," which perhaps deceived Elias and others. For that, as is manifest from what has been said, can in no way be referred to the two Gregories. Rightly, according to Tillemont, it is understood either of a certain bishop who was leading the dissenters' factions, and who perhaps excelled our Gregory in dignity, whom he calls "father" for the sake of honor, and names himself "son"; or rather, and more probably, the Theologian himself is the "father," and by the name of "son" he designates one of the priests, whom, even though he had led the band of dissenters at Constantinople, he receives back into favor once peace was composed; for the sake of confirming which peace, it was necessary that both should sit together, join right hands before the people, and that both should pronounce their parting speech with one soul and one mouth.

ORATION XXII

^A Second Oration on peace, delivered in the city of Constantinople, because of a contention that had arisen among the people concerning certain bishops who were at odds with one another.

I. Friendly peace, not only sweet in name, but also in reality, which I have now given to the people and received in turn; I know not whether it be a sincere voice from all, and worthy of the Spirit, or rather public pacts violated with God as witness, so that our condemnation may be the heavier. Friendly peace, my meditation and my glory, which we hear is of God, and of whom we hear that he is God, even God himself, as in those words of the Apostle: *The peace of God* (Phil. iv, 7); and, *The God of peace* (II Cor. xiii, 11); and, *He is our peace* (Eph. ii, 14); and not even so do we revere it. Friendly peace, a good praised by all indeed, but kept by few, where have you left us for such a length of time now? And when will you return to us? I, indeed, desire and kiss you above all mortals, and when present I embrace you, and when absent I recall you with many wailings and tears—tears such as neither that patriarch Jacob shed for Joseph—sold, as it was thought, by his brethren, but snatched by a wild beast—nor David for his friend Jonathan, who fell in battle, ^B or later for his son Absalom. Of these, the one, torn in his paternal bowels, cried out: *A wild beast hath devoured Joseph* (Gen. xxxvii, 33), a wild and cruel beast; and, holding forth the bloody garment of the boy, he kissed it as if it were the flesh of his son, by the same act, forsooth, both kindling and soothing his own grief. The other now curses those mountains on which the battle had been fought, proclaiming all dire things: *Mountains of Gelboe*, he says, *let neither rain nor dew fall upon you* (II Reg. i, 21); and, *How are the bow and the strength of Jonathan fallen* (Ibid. 25)! But now he makes excuse for the parricide, as if he had never harmed him, and is reconciled with the dead; perhaps also suffering for the son on this account, that he had raised his hand against his father (for such is the paternal affection), and he who had repelled and defeated him as an enemy when he waged war, now desires him as a friend when he is dead: thus nature, than which nothing is more violent, overcomes enmity.

II. A miserable thing also was the ark occupied by foreigners, and Jerusalem razed to the ground and trodden upon by the Gentiles (I Reg. iv, 11); and the sons of Sion, those renowned ones, I say, and equal to gold, going into captivity, and even now still dispersed, and reduced to such a state that they are a people of the

world, strangers and sojourners. ^A Terrible, indeed, are even the things we now see and hear: fatherlands being raised from their foundations, and myriads falling; the earth burdened with blood and corpses, and a foreign nation overrunning and ravaging another region as if it were its own. Let no one blame this on the cowardice of its defenders; for they are the very ones who have subdued nearly the whole world with war and arms; but rather [blame it] on our wickedness, and the impiety prevailing against the Trinity. These things are terrible, and beyond terrible. Who among those who know how to judge calamities by what they have suffered, or by what others have suffered with them, will gainsay this? But nothing is as yet so great a calamity as peace pursued and driven away, and the comeliness of the Church stripped away, and her ancient dignity abolished and extinguished; and the order of things so inverted that we, who were once not a people and have become a people, and from not a nation have become a nation, are now at risk of being dissolved, so that we may become again no people and no nation, just as from the beginning, before you ^B ruled over us, and before we had come together into one name and order.

III.

IV. But if anyone should ask us: What is that which you honor and adore? The answer is ready: It is love. ^A For our God is love; and He delights in this name more than in any other. And if he should further ask us what is the sum of the Law and the Prophets, the Evangelist would not permit us to answer anything other than love. Why, then, are we who cultivate love so consumed by mutual hatreds? We who are of peace, why do we wage war that is implacable and irreconcilable? We who are of the corner-stone, why are we divided and torn asunder? We who are of the rock, why are we shaken? We who are of the light, why are we in darkness? And we who are of the Word, why are we filled with such silence, or nonsense, or madness—or, I know not what word to use—that while there is satiety—as they say—of food, and sleep, and song, and of the most shameful things, and a fullness of all things, not only of those that are painful but even of ^B those that are most pleasant, and all things shift and turn into one another; yet for us there is neither end nor measure to the inflicting and receiving of wounds, and that not only toward those who think differently and dissent in the doctrine of faith (for that would be less bitter, and zeal is a praiseworthy thing, if it remains within its own bounds, which might excuse it), but even toward those who profess the same faith and contend against the same adversaries and for the same cause. For this is the most wicked, or rather the most pitiable, thing of all.

V. And what is the cause of this? Perhaps the love of power, or the desire for wealth, or envy, or hatred, or pride, or something of those things by which we do not see even those who believe in no God to be troubled. And that which is clever and witty is the very inversion of the judgments. For when we are caught, we are pious and orthodox, and we falsely take refuge in the truth, as if we were contending for the faith: and we do this one thing that is—like most evils—worthy of praise, or rather, it is truly shameful, that we, blushing at the vice, pass over to a more ^C specious and honest name, that is, to piety. “O thunderstruck and shifty man,” one might say, “and creature of the Evil One and of the architect of vice, whoever you are who are so affected, or, to speak more truly, O most mindless one: this man was pious to you yesterday; how, then, is he impious today, when he has neither added nor taken away anything, neither in word nor in deed, but remains in the same sentiment of faith, breathes the same air, and beholds the same sun with the same eyes? Or, if you prefer, ^D as if questioned about numbers or measures, he answers nothing other than the same thing? Yet he, who was yesterday Joseph, is to you today a fornicator [alt-version omitted]

^A (for even to this point does the contention proceed, like a certain flame running through stubble and consuming what is near); and today a Judas, or a Caiphas, who was yesterday an Elias, or a John, or some other person from among those who had joined themselves to the side of Christ, and were girded with the same belt, and clothed in the same brown or black mantle—all of which a holy and grave life, according to my own law and opinion, affects. Nay, we go so far as to call that beautiful flower of sublime men—that is, their pallor, or their composed and quiet manner of speech, or the gravity of their gait joined with gentleness—yesterday philosophy, but today a pursuit of vain glory; and we ascribe the same power against evil spirits or diseases, now to Jesus, and now to Beelzebul—and we employ an unjust rule for these things, that is, contention and anger.

^B VI. And just as the same earth stands firm and stable for those who are healthy and in no way harmed, but moves for those who suffer from dizziness and are spinning, since the malady of the viewers is transferred to the thing viewed; or if you prefer, just as the same interval between columns appears greater to those who are nearer, but less to those who are further away—the air being, as it were, stolen by the distance, and our sight connecting the thicker parts—so we too are easily deceived on account of enmity, and we do not judge the same things in the same way, whether we are friends or not. ^C The occasion, moreover, beyond what is right, easily designates many for us as holy, and many as atheists, or rather, all as wretched: not only by that name, because they look at us and see a bad example (since vice is on a downward slope, even when no one is pulling), but also because we willingly grant everything to everyone, on the condition that they go mad with us. And formerly, there was no danger in uttering even5 something superfluous; but now we even tear apart with reproaches those who are gifted with the greatest piety! Indeed, when it was not lawful for anyone to read the law outside, nor to demand confessions—that is, as it seems to me, the consent of the people—now, on the contrary, we permit even the mysteries themselves to the judgment of profane men, throwing what is holy to the dogs, and casting pearls before swine. ^D And not only that, but we even feast their ears with mutual insults and abuses against one another; and we are not even able to see that it is not safe to entrust a weapon to an enemy, nor a word against a Christian to one who hates Christians. For what we have reproached today, we are reproached for tomorrow; and the enemy fawns, as the saying goes—not because he praises, but because he stores up poison bitterly, so that in due time he may spit it out against those who believe.

^A VII. Why do we commit these things, brothers, and for how long shall we commit them? When shall we emerge from this drunkenness, or remove the film from our eyes, and look up toward the light of truth? What is this darkness? What is this nocturnal conflict? What is this storm that does not distinguish the faces of friends from enemies? Why have we become a reproach to our neighbors, a derision and a scorn to those who are around us? What is this so persistent zeal for evil? Why are we tired out with such immortal labor? Or rather, why do I say "tired out"? No, from the very evil itself—as the insane are wont to do—we gain strength, and we rejoice when we are being consumed. And nowhere is there reason, neither friend, nor ally, nor physician, either easing or excising the suffering; no ministering angel, no God. But, in addition to other things, we have even shut off the benevolence of God toward ourselves. "Why, O Lord, have you stood afar off? And how long will you turn away completely? And when will you visit us?" Where will these things progress, and where will they end? I truly fear that our present state of affairs is a sort of smoke from the fire that is awaited, lest the Antichrist ^B arrive to these, and take our failings and infirmities as the occasion for his own power. For he will not, I think, attack those who are sound, nor those who are hedged about by charity; but the kingdom must first be divided against itself, and then the strong man within us must be tested and bound, and then the vessels be plundered; and we must suffer the things that we now see the enemy suffering from Christ.

VIII. "For these things I weep," says Jeremiah in the Lamentations, "and I seek for my eyes fountains of tears" equal to this calamity; and I call for the wise women, that they might stir up a lament, or at least assist; and I am afflicted with pain in my belly, and my senses are pricked, and I have no way how I might ease the pain, and with what words. Therefore, the old things are kept silent, and the new are mocked in the manner of a comedy. For my tragedy is a comedy to the enemies. For this reason we have taken no small amount away from the churches and added it to the stage; and this in such a city, which deliberately mocks divine things just as it does other things, and which would sooner laugh at something excellent and worthy of praise than let anything ridiculous pass by without being ^C laughed at—so that it would be a wonder to me if it did not also laugh at me, that is, at the stranger who is a herald of piety, saying these things and teaching that not all things are to be laughed at, but that some things are to be treated with seriousness. And why do I say "laugh at"? It would be a wonder if I were not even required to pay a penalty for wishing to do good. For such is the state of our affairs, that they bring no sorrow to me—neither the occupied churches (a thing that perhaps might happen to someone ^D of small-minded disposition), nor gold flowing to others, nor

perverse tongues, which do what is their own, speaking badly, since they have not learned to speak well.

^B IX. For there is no fear that the Divine may be circumscribed by place, or become something venal, so that it might belong entirely to the wealthier. And those who praise or disparage me will not change me (just as those who mix perfume with mud, or mud with perfume, confuse the qualities by their mixing), so that I might be vexed by the blasphemies as if I were one who changes. Otherwise, I would have paid much money to those who praise me, if they could make me better by their praises. But, as things are, it is not so; whence could it be? Rather, I remain what I am, both being disparaged and being admired. "Man wanders vainly in words," says Job; and as much as foam flows around a rock, or breezes around a pine or some other dense and tall tree, so much do tongues flow around me. And at the same time, I philosophize about some such thing to myself: If the accuser is false, the speech does not touch me more than it touches the one who speaks, even if he attacks me by name with insults; but if he is true, I shall blame myself more than the one who speaks (for the material of the speech is supplied to him by me, but his speech is not the cause of my being such). And having passed over the voices as if they were nothing, I shall become my own master, gaining from their wickedness only this one thing: to live more cautiously. ^C Third, however, which also has something [that is] greatest and most magnificent in this slander, is that we are insulted along with God; for the same persons both reject the Godhead and insult the proclaimer of the Godhead. Therefore, none of these things is grave, even if the majority thinks so. But what is burdensome is that no one is still believed to be faithful, nor [is] the one who is guileless and free from pretense [believed to be] virtuous, even if he is very strong in his soul and genuine in piety; but one is openly wicked, while another possesses gentleness as a mask and a color, in order to steal by what is apparent.

^D X. And indeed, everyone is not immediately judged to be dark-skinned because some are such, nor ignoble, or ugly, or cowardly, or intemperate, [just] because many act in this way; but each one is judged by himself and privately, and nothing of what is attributed to vice or praise is applied to all in common. Here, however, vice is easily spread to all, and a general accusation is made against the entire body, not only regarding what belongs to the many, but even what belongs to some. And the most terrible thing is that it does not stop only at us, but passes on to our great and venerable mystery. For among those who judge our affairs—which happens to everyone in a small degree—to those who judge the affairs of others, some are fairly gentle and humane, while others are altogether bitter and unreasoning. For indeed, from these, those who evaluate our affairs

^B blame us for our wickedness, leaving aside the doctrine of the accusation; others blame the law itself, as a teacher of vice, and this especially when they encounter many wicked men who have been deemed worthy of leadership.

XI. What is this, O men, and how long shall we be insane? Shall we not come to our senses, if only late? Shall we not awake? Shall we not be ashamed? Shall we not, if only for the sake of other things, avoid the tongues of our enemies, which even easily concoct false crimes? Shall we not put an end to this excessive zeal for contention? Shall we not recognize which of the things sought are attainable by us, and to what extent, and which are beyond our power? And which belong to the present time and to the earthly confusion which darkens the mind; and which to the future age and the freedom from there; so that we may be content with the former for the time being, and be purified by the latter, as those who will later be perfected and stand fast in their desire? Shall we not distinguish among ourselves which questions should not be sought at all, which moderately, and which should be conceded and left to contentious men, however they may be, being such as cause no detriment to our doctrine? Which should be given to faith alone, and which also to reasoning? And for which should one fight enthusiastically, logically, and not with the armor of soldiers? For even to raise one's hands is altogether outside our fold, and should be cast off to those who hate us.

XII. Shall we not consider this one rule of piety to be set before us: to worship the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the one deity and power in three persons, neither over-worshipping nor under-worshipping ^C (for it is pleasing to imitate somewhat those who behave wisely in these matters; for the one is impossible, and the other is impious and wicked), nor dividing the one magnitude by the novelty of names? For nothing is greater or less than itself. This being posited and established, we shall agree in other things as well, at least those of us who worship the same Trinity, and are of almost the same doctrine and body; and we shall lop off and take out of the way, as a common disease, the superfluous and useless offshoots and digressions of present-day questions. Or was it not enough for me (for I leave aside those that are still further off) the wicked spirit of Montanus against the Holy Spirit, and the boldness of Novatus ^D, whether...

or their impure purity, which entices the multitude under the guise of an honest name, and the frenzy of the Phrygians—still flourishing even now—both of those initiating and those being initiated, very similar to the frenzy of the ancients; and the madness of the Galatians ^A, abounding in many names of impiety; and the contraction of Sabellius, and the division of Arius, and the subdivision of the sophists of this present time that has sprung from these—all of whom differ among themselves as much as a talkative tongue differs from one that is sluggish and idle? But we even struggle among ourselves, we who keep sound regarding the Head, and who contend for the same things and against the same people.

XIII. I refer to the brotherly strife ^B that has lately arisen among us, from which both God and man are brought into ignominy; the former by not being born for us at all, nor nailed to the cross, and consequently not buried nor raised from the dead, as some of those who love Christ in a perverse manner have thought; but only honored here, where honor redounds to dishonor and contempt, and for that reason is dissected or composed into two sons: the latter, by not being perfectly assumed or honored, but by being in the greatest part cast aside and alienated, if indeed what is greatest in human nature is the divine image and the faculty of the mind. For it was necessary, they claim—since the Godhead has been united—for humanity to be divided, and for those who are otherwise wise to become senseless regarding the mind; and for me, who have fallen in my entirety, and upon the disobedience of the first-born and the craftiness of the adversary have been condemned in my entirety, not to obtain salvation in every part, ^C so that thus both the benefit of God and our own salvation might be diminished. And to this indignity there is added this: that we who have been gifted with salvation by God wage war for the sake of men, and such a spirit of contention abounds in us that we even lend ourselves to the ambitions of others, and take on personal enmities for the sake of other men's thrones; in one act committing two most grave sins: for we both kindle their ambition, and we ourselves take this as a support for our own vicious affection, just like those who are falling headlong off a cliff, grasping at the stones nearby, or the more rigid of the shrubs.

XIV. Yet it should have been our concern ^A rather to render them weaker through our own tranquility. For thus we would have provided better for them than by fighting on their behalf. But now, in my opinion, some very wretchedly join themselves as allies to others in war, and in turn take them as allies, to such an extent that the world, which had scarcely been gathered together at last and little by little through long labor, and not without the blood of many, has already been divided into two opposing parties. But whoever strives for peace and professes to be in the middle is ill-treated by both sides, being held in contempt or even provoked by war. And since we, who today are voicing these criticisms and for this very reason have accepted this chair, one full of strife and envy, stand on this side, it will be no wonder if we are crushed by both and, after many labors and toils, are removed from the midst; so that, once the intermediate wall and every obstacle is removed, they might immediately attack one another at close quarters and with all the fury of their spirits, with no partition or barrier remaining in between. ^B Therefore, to define and establish these things is, above all, the work of God, who binds all things together as if with certain chains; then, also, of those men who pursue integrity and have the good of concord known and perceived. This good begins from the Trinity, to which nothing is so proper as unity of nature and concord within itself; of this good the angels and divine powers are participants, for they conduct themselves peaceably both with God and with one another. It proceeds also to all created things, the ornament of which lies in concord; and finally it resides among us, as regards the soul, through the mutual accompaniment and fellowship of the virtues; and as regards the body, through the harmony and proportion of the limbs or elements with one another, ^C of which the one is and is called beauty, the other health.

XV. Although I also praise that saying of Solomon, who, as for all other things, so too for war and peace, has ordained a time, I will add only this: that the time for each must be observed—since, according to his law and word, it is possible for a war to be waged honorably at times—yet we must be more inclined toward peace as long as it is permitted, for this is something more sublime and God-like. For it would be absurd to suppose that concord is an excellent thing privately, but not equally useful and productive publicly; and that a house and a city are governed best when they suffer from no discords at all, or certainly from the very least, or if they do suffer, return to themselves as quickly as possible and are cured of the disease, whereas for the common body of the Church it is something different that is better and more becoming. ^D

^A And that each man should strive to be at peace with himself (for peace is the desirable thing for each individual, as is mastery over the passions); but to not show oneself the same toward others, but rather to consider the downfall of one's neighbor to be one's own glory—this is absurd. It is also absurd to think that, while God commands us to forgive those who sin against us, not only seven times but many times over (in such a way that the act of forgiving procures us forgiveness), we, for our part, are more eager to harass those who have done us no harm than to be benefited by others. And though it is known that such blessedness is laid up for the peacemakers that they alone, in the order of the saved, are called sons of God, we, while held by a love of enmities and rivalries, are yet in the opinion that we are doing something pleasing to God—to Him who suffered for our sake, in order that He might reconcile us to Himself and destroy the war within us. ^B

XVI.

[...to the point of] having satisfied my duty; for no one, even if exceedingly diligent for peace and endowed with the love of God, will, in my opinion, require anything more from me; for your part, you will see to what follows. For I shall not add anything harsher, since it is a father's law to spare his children. Would that it may fall to your lot to experience that great judge as propitious and peaceful, both now and in the day of retribution, in Christ our Lord himself, to whom belong glory and power for ever and ever. Amen. ^A

ORATION XXIII

Third Oration on Peace, which we composed after the dissension, we who are of the same faith.

I. Zeal is fervent, the Spirit is gentle, charity is kind, or rather charity is kindness itself, hope is long-suffering: zeal kindles, the Spirit mitigates, hope expects, charity binds, and does not allow the good that is in us to be dissipated, and if we are of a dissipated nature, and one of three, it either remains when it is, or is restored to integrity when it has been moved and shaken, ^B or returns when it has departed; not unlike a plant, which, when pulled to the contrary by force of hands, as soon as it is released, immediately returns to itself and its primary nature, and shows this to be its own—that though they are bent against their will, they are not raised up against their will. For vice is by nature ready at hand, and the path to what is worse is broad, a current running headlong, or like some straw that is easily ignited and kindled by a spark and a breeze, and becoming a flame, is consumed together with its own offspring. For flame is the offspring of matter, and it consumes the matter, just as wickedness consumes wicked men, and it passes away together with its fuel. But if someone has arrived at the habit of some good, and has been thoroughly imbued with it, it will be more difficult for this man to slip into vice ^C than it was to become good from the beginning. Since every good, confirmed by time and reason, acquires the force of nature, just as this charity also that is fixed in our souls, with which we worship the Love that truly exists, and whom we have loved, and have established as the leader and moderator of our entire life.

II. Where, then, are those who study and observe our affairs, whether they are faring well or ill, not to judge, but to disapprove; not to congratulate us, but to insult; and to slander the good things, while speaking of the bad in tragic terms ^D