On That Saying: My Grace Is Sufficient for Thee

^A that he heard the divine voice from heaven, and that he became trembling when he considered the miracle, and that he was commanded to loosen the sandals from his feet, and that he heard the place on which he stood was holy ground; and that with signs he led the people out of Egypt, and through the Red Sea, as though it were through dry land, he led the army of Israel across. He recounts also the idolatry of the wicked on the mountain, when those sea-travelers likened the Divine to a calf, and attributed the victories brought back from the Egyptians to the idol. He recounts to them also the captivity of the nation in Babylon, and how David was pleasing to God, because he found grace before God, and was called the father of Christ. He recounts also the house built by Solomon, and that God does not dwell in places made by hands. After he has thus run through the histories of the fathers, with the Holy Spirit called to his aid, he proceeds to rebuke them with reproaches, and says: "Stiff-necked, inflexible and indomitable; for what affliction, pray, bent your neck; what calamity inclined your head? Did you not serve Pharaoh for four hundred years in Egypt? Was it not for eight years that Chusarsath, king of Syria, brought you under his dominion? Were you not subject to the kingdom of the Moabites for eighteen years? Did you not, in turn, bear the yoke of slavery to the Canaanites for twenty years? Did you not again obey the Midianites for seven years? Was it not for eighteen years, yet again, that you were subdued by the Ammonites? Were you not obedient to the Philistines for forty years? Were you not given over to the servitude of the Babylonians for seventy years? Did not Salmanasar transport you to inhabit the mountains of the Chaldeans; and did no calamity ever change your minds? Stiff-necked [people], whom the Egyptian basket did not tame, whom the burden of straw did not soften, whom the violent necessity of making bricks did not bend." ^B Then truly, having heard these voices, they cast him out of the city and stoned him (Acts 7:57). Where they had crucified the King, there they strike the soldier with stones. "And casting him out of the city, they stoned him." But even after the throwing of stones, the athlete looked for victory, and called upon the Creator with such words as these: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (Acts 7:59). Lord Jesus, who underwent the passion by the judgment of the Father, who endured death by the counsel of the Parent, receive my spirit. Separate now the soul from the body, transfer that incorporeal thing from here; receive my spirit, adorned with every kind of virtue; receive my spirit. For "I have finished the course, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7); therefore I beseech you, receive my spirit. For as long as I am surrounded by this mortal body, I am afraid; as long as I carry this earthly flesh, I tremble lest I lose the fruits after my labors; I fear greatly that after the struggle I may remain deprived of the crown, that I may lose the rewards after the contests. Receive, therefore, my spirit. Let the devil now mourn, as one who has lost the victory; let the author of evils lament, as one who did not prove superior to a mortal; let the incorporeal beings groan, because those who are in the body mock their passions. Receive my spirit. Having placed his knees, he cried with a loud voice: "Lord, do not lay this sin to their charge" (Acts 7:60). And, so that you may understand that he prays with feeling, he does not pray perfunctorily while standing and inclined, but with knees placed on the ground, he said with compunction and sorrow, with much compassion and affection: "Lord, do not lay this sin to their charge." And when he had said this, he fell asleep. For death is sleep to the just, and departure is rest to the wise. And for this reason sleep is death, that as if from a certain stupor, having been awakened in the resurrection, they may enjoy eternal goods; of which goods may we all become partakers, by the grace and intercession of Christ, through whom glory to the Father in the Holy Spirit the Paraclete, as from the beginning, now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen.

NOTICE

ON THE TEXT: MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR THEE: FOR MY POWER IS MADE PERFECT IN INFIRMITY (2 Cor. 12:9).

^C 24. On the text, "My grace is sufficient for thee, for my power is made perfect in infirmity."

a'. When God was creating this all-harmonious world from the beginning, He wrought miracles upon miracles, not serving the law of nature, but fashioning all things by the power of His might. For example: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). Do you see the order and the consequence? First the roof, then the pavement. For, as I said, He was not subject to the law of nature, nor to art, but worked by his power. The roof was standing, and the floor did not appear; for the power of the Artificer contained the whole. Question the heretic: "Tell me, I pray, how was the roof made, and the floor not made subject? Explain the reason to me, tell me the manner." But you are silent, and you take refuge in faith. What pardon are you worthy of, while you take refuge in faith regarding mundane and earthly things, and curiously and rashly scrutinize divine and heavenly things? He created the heaven and the earth: He created the earth as the floor, and placed the waters beneath it. Did you see the foundation of the building? The earth is higher, the waters are lower. Some architects do otherwise: they drain the waters, and then lay the foundation. But God placed the foundation upon the waters, so that you might not marvel at the power of the foundation, but at the power of the Artificer. But, as I was saying, listen diligently: for I am about to speak philosophically. When He fabricated this world, formed with such a harmonious order, He made all other things from one substance. But if the discourse is obscure, I will make it clearer, if you attend. He made all other things from one substance, both those that are above and those that are below (for that world, and this, is a world); but the individual works were from one substance. For example: all things above are incorporeal, all things below are bodies; things above are intelligible, things below sensible; things above invisible, things below visible. Things that are below are all bodies: heaven, sun, moon, earth, sea, trees, plants, oxen, sheep, horses; all are visible and sensible; all are subject to touch and sight. All things above are invisible and intelligible: angels, archangels, thrones, dominions, principalities, powers, Cherubim and Seraphim. Nor are these things visible, nor are those bodies, nor are these incorporeal; but both are bodies, and those incorporeal—all things from one substance were made, both the things below and the things above; and some from bodies, and those [others]...

from incorporeals—some that are bodies and some that are incorporeal. Man alone was made of a double substance, the better and the worse, of soul and body; for the soul is invisible and intellectual, but the body is sensible and visible. ^A Why, then, were these two worlds made from a single substance, while neither the things above are bodies, nor the things below incorporeal, yet man alone is composed of an incorporeal [part] and a body? Hear the cause, and learn the wisdom of the Maker. Because there were these two worlds differing in substance, the one incorporeal, the other corporeal; the one invisible, the other visible; the one above, intellectual, the other below, sensible—in order that the difference of the works might not introduce different creators, and it might not be said that one made the things above and another the things below, He placed a double animal in the world to proclaim the creation of both the things above and the things below. ^B Man is a double world, having for the things above the soul as kin, and for the things below the body; a kind of bond and bridge, having one Creator, who fashioned both the things above and the things below; and just as a virgin, the soul is interwoven in the midst of the body. Since, then, the substance is double, double also is its need. Pay close attention to the argument: double also is its need. There is a body, and there is a soul. He appointed food for the body, and for the soul, the Word. The body is nourished by bread, ^C and the soul is nourished by the Word; the body has a covering, garments; the soul also has a covering, virtue. *The queen stood at thy right hand in gilded clothing, surrounded with variety* (Ps. XLIV, 10). Scripture does not speak of sensible garments, but of those of virtue. *All the glory of the king’s daughter is from within, in golden borders* (Ibid., v. 14). What then? Man is double, and the substance is double; and the soul needs a Word that teaches, understands, pushes away the passions, and corrects the wounds. ^D Therefore, let us not attend only to the sensible table, but let us also set before you the intellectual one, making the feast for you from the words of Paul, and bringing into the midst the tent-maker—the layman, the unlearned man, the teacher of the world, he who is terrible to demons, who drives away diseases, who runs above and below, who came into paradise, who ascended into the third heaven, who has such grace in his craft, who was not hindered by his trade, but practiced his pursuit and shone with achievements. Let us bring him into the midst; for I do not take my fill of his praises. I am a lover of his beauty; for ^A it is not bodily, so that it might rot, but spiritual, never withering. The body was dissolved, and his form shines above the sun. The sun runs above, Paul runs in opposition below; the one shining sensible light, the other leading intellectual [light] into souls; the one departing in the night, the other shining even in the night. He took kings, and filled them with piety; he took women, and made them braver than men; he took the young, and made them more prudent than the aged; he corrected each nature, every age—he who has the chisel, he who sews skins; for I will not cease constantly speaking of his craft. A bride prepared, more venerable than kings, wealthier than the rich, ^B stronger than soldiers, safer than walls; his tongue a lyre, sweeter than honey, deeper than the sea, higher than heaven, hotter than fire, sharper than iron; having the grace of God, a temple of God, the mouth of Christ, the lyre of the Spirit, the herald of the catechumens, the trainer of the faithful, going about everywhere, a wall that never falls, his epistles conquering the world and the ark. 2. For just as Noah, having fastened planks, made an ark, so also Paul, having written epistles, prepared a mental ark; this is better than that. For that one was receiving the brutes, and keeping the brutes; but this one receives the brutes, and transforms them. ^C What is it I say? A wolf entered into the ark, and a wolf went out; a wolf entered into the epistles of Paul, and a sheep went out; a magician entered, and was corrected; a proconsul entered, and became better. And that ark saved Noah alone with two or three names; but this ark took captive the world. It sails everywhere every day, and the planks are not dissolved; for they are not [bound] by pitch, but are anointed with the Spirit. Noah departed from it, and it [still] sails; Paul died, and the ark lives; every day it takes captive, and you are ^D submerged; for it has the grace of the Pilot of the world holding it. Since, then, such are the epistles, such are the planks, such is the salvation, come let us release the tongue here, interpreting one phrase for you, and consuming the whole homily upon it. For such is the abundance of the Scriptures. For sitting and hearing him saying that he was caught up into the third heaven, and heard *unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter* (2 Cor. XII, 4); then proceeding and saying: *In the abundance of the revelations, that I should not be exalted, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan, to buffet me* (Ibid., v. 7); I feared that one of the hearers, not knowing the meaning, might be simply scandalized; I made it a necessity to bring this phrase into the midst, and to examine it thus. For whether one was ignorant, it will be clear; or if not, it will be more recognizable and easy to grasp; for he who knows will be reminded; and he who does not know will learn. For I have heard many who do not know the meaning and say that Paul was delivered to Satan. What are you saying, tell me? Delivered, he says, to Satan, that he might strike his head; and the devil threw him into a headache. Is this all? The teacher of the world, the citizen of paradise, the temple of Christ, as I said, the lyre of the Spirit, the vessel of election, he who ran through the world, he who pulled up the thorns of sins, he who cast in the seeds of piety, he who runs on land, he who struggles in the sea, he who has made a day and a night in the deep, he who is crowned in prisons, he who set up a trophy in the tribunal, he who has run through all the world, that sleepless one, whose garments banished diseases, whose life prepared [people] to escape death—did the devil have him subject to his hand? And yet I hear that he does the opposite. Someone committed fornication among the Corinthians; Paul heard, and what does he say? *And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he might be taken away from among you who has done this deed. For I indeed, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have already judged as present him who has so done this, in the name of our Lord, when you are all gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such a one to Satan unto the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus* (1 Cor. V, 2-5). Consider the authority of Paul: he delivered the fornicator to Satan, that Satan might strike him, that this punishment might become for him a cleansing of the sin. For that this happened, he says in the second epistle: *Confirm your charity toward him, that we may not be circumvented by Satan* (2 Cor. II, 8). You delivered to Satan, and you say: *That we may not be circumvented by Satan*? For he does not know, he says, a measure, Satan. I delivered when it was necessary, I take back when it is necessary; I delivered to Satan as to an executioner, that our man might only be wiped clean; let us take him. For if we abandon him for longer, we are circumvented by Satan; for Satan does not know a measure. I delivered, that he might correct himself; but if we leave him [so], he will kill him as [he did] Judas. For this reason he says: *Confirm your charity toward him, that we may not be circumvented by Satan.* How beautifully he spoke! He is no longer Satan's; for he is not in fornication, but in repentance; so let not that one take my own. When he was his, I gave him [to him], that what was his might become mine. O wisdom of Paul! Through the wolf he saved the sheep; through the pirate he hauled up the shipwrecked sailor; through the enemy he brought the soldier back into order. Instead of a bitter medicine I have used the stroke of the devil. If it will only train, I depart from him. Let him punish, that he who fornicates may perceive what he has done. When he wipes away the sin, when he wipes away the rot, and cleanses the wound, then the soul is shown strong. I do not leave the gold in the fire; lest it be scorched, I haul it up. For this is [the way] of the wise man, to know the measure, how much to give to the fire, and how much to take. *That we may not be circumvented by Satan.* For his thoughts are not his [Satan's].

For he that knows his thoughts, and has such great authority—as to be able to set bounds for him, and a term, and a time, and a limited time, snatching [a soul] away from him—delivers such a one to Satan, but for the destruction of the flesh. Because an insatiable beast is never satisfied by our flesh, therefore he says, For the destruction of the flesh, ^A so that he might not touch his soul; just as God says concerning Job: *Go, strike his flesh, but do not touch his soul* (Job 2:6). God sets boundaries even for the devil. Thus also the servant of God, imitating the Lord in His power, passes judgment upon him, which the devil has not dared to transgress. For if he had done so, he would have conquered Paul. For when he was in prison, the devil attempted something of the kind: for because the prison was shaken and the bonds were loosened, the prison guard awoke and seized a sword to kill himself, urged on by the devil (Acts 16:27). Since the pastor was inside, the wolf came to snatch the sheep so that it might not be kept safe. But the pastor, though bound, restrained him, saying: *Do yourself no harm* (Acts 16:28). O the humanity of the pastor! He is bound, and he pities the one who binds him; leaving his own affairs, he cares for the man's. *Do yourself no harm.* You see the doors open, but I, a benevolent member of the household, am here: the doors are open, but I remain inside; until I provide for your salvation, I do not go out. I entered for this reason, that once freed from your chains, I might free you from your sins. You bound me, I loose you. *Do yourself no harm:* for we are all here. What then? The wolf stood ready to kill, pushing the sword into the prison guard; the pastor cried out. The wolf heard, released the sheep, and the pastor caught him who was about to deliver it up. *What must I do,—he says—that I may be saved?* (Acts 16:30). O what salvation! What ineffable kindness! Being bound, he saved the prison guard; he made the prison a church. *When—he says—shall I be baptized, that I may be saved?* Prison is no hindrance, place is no obstacle: it is grace that has no need of a place, nor of an opportune time; let the prison itself be a church. ^B And [alt-version omitted] he fishes, in prison, in the sea, on an island, on the mainland, in the desert, in society. For a fisherman does not cast his nets unless he sees the sea. But because Paul was a fisherman—not sensible, but spiritual—he fished both in a boat and on a mountain, in springs, in streets, in meadows, in rivers, and no place hindered his craft. But, as I was saying, although I may often wander, I shall not depart from the question. Why, then, is this done? That he who was endowed with such great authority—so as to command the devil and set bounds for him, and prescribe a measure—should be delivered to the devil? Have you not heard Christ saying: *Tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy* (Luke 10:19)? What then does it mean, *There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me*? It arises from the fact that they do not know the propriety and the sense of the words. Some take "to buffet" (colaphizare) only as a blow to the head; but a "colaphism" is called an affliction, a humiliation. The enemy buffeted him, struck him, humiliated him; for it is not said only of the head. And he himself uses the same word elsewhere. For when he was an unlearned man, to express his own thoughts, he uses common language: *Even unto this hour we hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted* (1 Cor. 4:11), we are afflicted with hardships by enemies, we are assailed by snares, we are hindered, we are plagued with injuries; this is what it means to be "buffeted," to be afflicted, to be scourged, to suffer grave things, to be cast into prison, to be led away, to be driven into exile, to be exposed to famine. He called all these hardships a "colaphism" and a humiliation. Pay attention, and do not pass over this: here is need of interpretation. What then? Let us clearly weigh the matter. Keep the interpretation I have spoken of, attend to what is said. A colaphism is a humiliation brought on by enemies; whether through prison, or through abduction, or through judgment, or through famine, or in any other way whatever. What then is the meaning of that: *Lest the greatness of the revelations should exalt me, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me. For which thing I thrice besought the Lord: and He said to me: My grace is sufficient for thee; for power is made perfect in infirmity* (2 Cor. 12:7-9). Observe who this messenger of Satan is. For he did not say, "there is given to me a satanic messenger," but, *A messenger of Satan*. ^C It is the custom in Scripture, as has already been said often—and now it will be said again: *For to write the same things to you, to me indeed is not weari- ^D some, but to you it is safe* (Phil 3:1)—for I am teaching, and not showing off eloquence; I am planting, and not merely passing by; I am not a traveler, but I am casting seed. For a traveler runs so that he may complete his journey: but he who sows also digs; he casts in the grain, then he furrows the earth, so that he may dig it in deeper, lest the seed lie exposed to the birds. What the farmer does with seeds, this I do with thoughts. For just as there are crows among the seeds, so there are demons and devils and worldly cares among the thoughts. Therefore I cover this over, lest worldly, devilish care might snatch it away. For if I leave it exposed, the devil snatches it away; if I bury it deeper, it is preserved. For there is no need of time, but of will; not of rain, but of fervent spirit. Hear fervently, embrace diligently, and no one will be able to snatch it away. Who, then—as I was already saying—is the custom of Scripture? That it often imposes names from character, and does not bestow upon a man that appellation which his parents established from the beginning, but that which either vice or virtue requires. For example: if he sees someone impudent, he calls him a dog, not by his own name, but by the name of his vice; if rapacious, he calls him a wolf, not by the parents' name, but from his wickedness; if he sees another acting wickedly, he bestows that name upon him. But, that I may not seem to speak rashly, and that I may offer proof of the statement, I will bring witnesses before you. The vision which Isaiah the son of Amos saw against Judea and against Jerusalem (Isai. 1). *Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken: I have brought up children and exalted them: but they have despised me. The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel has not known me, and my people have not understood. Woe to the sinful nation!* To whom do these things apply? To the Jews. A people full of sins. He recounts their iniquities, sins, obstinacy, tyranny, punishment. In the beginning he said, *Against Judea, and against Jerusalem*; and afterwards he says: *Hear the word of the Lord, you princes of Sodom* (Ibid. v. 10-13), *attend to the law of God, you people of Gomorrah. To what purpose do you offer me the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord. I am full of the burnt offerings of rams: and the fat of lambs, and the blood of bulls and he-goats I do not want. If you offer me fine flour, it is a vain incense, it is an abomination to me. Your new moons and sabbaths my soul hates.* Which sabbaths does He hate? which new moons, which incense, which bulls, which sheep? The Sodomites knew none of these: they had existed before Moses, before Abraham; from Lot they had come; the Sodomites had perished. Does He address the Sodomites who were burned, who were extinguished? Here He speaks *Against Judea, and against Jerusalem*: He attacks Sodom, but it had already paid the penalty. Whom does He address? These things are spoken without consequence, unless you attend to the significance of the words; but if you have learned, you will find the consequence. For He is not addressing the Sodomites, but the Jews, whom He calls Sodomites. Because they were following their habits, He imposes this name upon them for similar deeds. Again elsewhere: *Dumb dogs, the Jews, who cannot bark* (Isai. 56:10); not because they had passed into the nature of dogs, but because they imitated dogs in their habits. John, the citizen of the desert, the lofty spirit, the invincible mind, who while walking on the ground touched the celestial vault, the child of a barren womb, who loosed his father's mute tongue, the voice of the mute; who cried in the desert, in the mother's womb (for the womb was a desert, inasmuch as it was barren), that double herald, the despiser of children, transcending visible things, approaches the Jews, and said to them: *Ye serpents, generation of vipers* (Matt. 23:33). ^A Was it because they were serpents and vipers by nature? Never, but because they were deceitful in spirit. Another prophet again: *They are become as horses, lusting after females; everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife* (Jer. 5:8). Is he addressing horses? Not at all, but lascivious and wicked men. Christ Himself to the Jews: *You are children of the devil* (John 8:44). Were they children of the devil, and of a diabolical nature? Not at all, but they imitated his purpose, and accepted his name, which He explains thus: *You are children of the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father*; he [original-script column: see facsimile] ex-

was a murderer from the beginning*. Hold fast to this rule: that the shameless are dogs; that the rapacious are wolves; that the guileful are snakes; that the treacherous are asps; that the senseless are donkeys; that the lustful and intemperate are horses gone mad with desire; that the unclean are crows; that those who emulate the acts of Sodom are Sodomites, they who model themselves on those deeds. Therefore nature is not evil, but it is the judgment that is corrupted. Hold fast with precision, and observe that titles are assigned according to conduct, and appellations according to the disposition of the mind. And this is so not only in Scripture, but also in common usage. If we see a mild man today, we say, "This man is a sheep"; if we see someone acting with shamelessness, we say, "Is this even a man? He is a dog"; if we see a guileful man, we call him a snake. Do you see that common usage also recognizes this rule? If we see a man filled with many wickednesses, we say, "He is a Satan"—not because he is Satan, nor is he a partner of his by nature, but by the disposition of the mind, because he emulates his works according to human ability. Therefore, names come from conduct. When, therefore, you hear Paul saying, *There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan* (2 Cor. 12:7), do not believe he means the devil himself, but those who perform the works of the devil: the Greeks, the Jews, the demons. Just as the demon at that time was a messenger of Satan, so too *Alexander the coppersmith showed me many evils* (2 Tim. 4:14)—an angel of Satan, for he did the things of Satan. What sort were those who cast him into prison? What sort were those who scourged him? He calls men messengers of Satan, those who do the things of Satan, those who cut off the Gospel, those who obstruct the preaching, those who scourged him, those who drove him away. Attend: the whole difficulty is solved.

^D 4. Pay close attention, that you may know the speaker is struggling, and that Paul is suffering human trials. For since Christ ascended, he entrusted to them the preaching and the beautiful embassy. For Christ came to us as an ambassador, sent by the Father to embassy peace. For there was a war between humanity and God; and He sent an ambassador—not a slave, but a Son. O, the care of the One sent! O, the philanthropy of the One who sent Him! When you hear of the Sender and the Sent, do not think of a change of place, but a condescension of the economy. For although He was with us, He was also with the Father. And Paul says: *We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were exhorting through us: be reconciled to God* (2 Cor. 5:20). Are you ambassadors for Christ? Indeed. And where is the Ambassador? He has departed. Where has He departed? To the Father. Why? Behold new things. In human affairs, when one nation embassies to another, the ambassador enjoys safety by the law of the embassy; but if the ambassador suffers anything, a great war is stirred up between the nations. In the case of God, the opposite happened. He came from the Father to men, the Ambassador was slaughtered, and then peace came into being. But ambassadors arriving bear gifts, and receive gifts. What, then? What gift did He come bringing to me, and what is the gift? It is paradoxical. As the Ambassador is paradoxical, so the gift is paradoxical. He came bringing His blood as a gift, He came bringing His body as a gift. And what gift did He receive from me? Faith. And who gave me the grace for this? I believed, He granted it, the enmity was dissolved. Do you see the ease of the matter? Do you see the swiftness of the reconciliation? When an ambassador comes to a nation, he does not deign to converse with one in the marketplace or any of the poor, but immediately he enters early to the king. This Ambassador came and immediately conversed with a harlot, a thief, a magician, and a tax collector. Do you see the philanthropy of the Ambassador? For He did not come to one or two, but to the common nature; and He came clothed in my garment, so that He might not, by appearing in His naked divinity, terrify the prey; but He came to man as man. Since, therefore, He came, He led up our firstfruits, and calling the apostles, He entrusted the embassy to them: "Receive the embassy." How are we able, I pray? *Receive the Holy Spirit* (John 20:22). You were slaughtered, and what are we to suffer? *Receive the Holy Spirit*, and *I am with you* (Matt. 28:20): with you, because I am embassy-ing; for I did not abandon you. Since, therefore, He ascended, He entrusted the embassy to them. And why do you wonder if the King Himself, the Father, also embassies? *We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were exhorting through us.* The One who was insulted is exhorting. To what end? *Be reconciled to God.* O philanthropy! O unspeakable goodness! Since, therefore, He ascended and entrusted the embassy to the apostles—and affairs were uncorrected, and the inhabited world was full of thorns, and impiety was playing the tyrant, and wickedness was prevailing, and altars were being lit, and smoke was polluting, and blood was being poured out, and nature was being trampled, ^B and labor pains were being scorned, and laws and new decrees were being dissolved, and they were sacrificing their daughters and sons to the demons; and all other things were festivals, and choruses of rhetoricians, and gatherings of philosophers, and bacchanals of demons, and the power of the devil, and sharpened swords, and everywhere precipices, and everywhere cliffs, and the prevailing custom, and the labor pains of fathers, and the impiety of ancestors, having a way of pleasure, and the laws of kings corrupted, and slaves and masters, and rulers and private citizens, and rich and poor, all intertwined with impiety, and possessing many machinations; and the apostles were all twelve, or rather eleven—for one became a captive of the beasts; they were, therefore, eleven. This Paul, then, not possessing power of words, not having a superfluity of wealth, not having a sharpened tongue, not greatness of country, not distinction of lineage, not strength of body—naked, solitary, more voiceless than fish, obscure from obscure people, a private citizen, ignorant, was going around sowing the seeds of piety throughout the inhabited world, and all were opposing him; and one was casting him in, and scourging him; another was taking him, and dragging him into prison; another was taking him, and casting him into frying pans; another was scandalizing him; and countless wars. *Without were fightings, within were fears* (2 Cor. 7:5). *Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool, I am more: in labors more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes save one, thrice was I beaten with rods, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of rivers, in perils of robbers, in perils from my own kindred, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and pain, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness, besides what is external, my daily pressure, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not burned?* (2 Cor. 11:23–29). The brother was falling, he was grieving; the enemy was plotting, he was suffering. *You know this, that all who are in Asia turned away from me* (2 Tim. 1:15). Again: *My little children, of whom I am in labor again, until Christ be formed in you* (Gal. 4:19). Where was he to suffice for those outside, for those inside, for the scourges, for the sorrows, for the sea, for the perils, for the prisons, for the abductions, for the frying pans, for the enslavements, for the crowds, for the kings, for his own, for strangers, for false brethren plotting, for brethren being weak, for those departing to the others, for his own, for those being tripped up? Where did the body suffice, where did the soul suffice? He was bound with a chain, he dwelt in a prison, he was writing epistles; from this place he was being cast out, from that place he was being plotted against; here angels of Satan, there an angel of Satan, many messengers of the devil, some for prison, others for tribunals. He did not suffice, he was perishing, his soul was being sliced. He did not see the dogs, and he was being bitten, he was being plotted against from everywhere. He approaches God, and says to Him: "I pray Thee, let me breathe a little. Where shall I suffice? The messenger of Satan strikes me, the enemies, the plotters, the Greeks, the Jews, false brethren, weak brethren; I am in labor, and it becomes a miscarriage; am I not giving birth? And others plot; today into prison, tomorrow into the sea, after these things into the deep, then into hunger, into thirst, into nakedness, into frying pans, into furnace..."

515 ^A tundant. To his second prayer, he gave no response. He approached a third time, and then he answered. ^B Therefore, so that you may learn, if you ask for that which is not for your profit, and receive the contrary, that it is not to be taken ill. You often ask for that which you think will be profitable, but it is not. God does not look to the tears, but to those things which are harmful. For a child often asks its mother for bread; yet if he asks for something that brings injury, she does not give it, nor does she pay heed to his pain, but looks to his utility. One who is feverish is also often bothersome to the physician, asking him to give a cold draught, yet he does not grant it; for he does not attend to the present, harmful desire, but studies the future health. Thus also Paul did not know how to ask for what was useful. By what indulgence, then, are we worthy? Since, indeed, losing heart, he approached him, saying: "Let me catch my breath for a little, let me be freed from dangers, grant me a little rest: I am human, and you have entrusted the whole world to me." He approached him first, and he gave no response; a second and a third time he approached. ^C For this reason, "I thrice sought the Lord" (2 Cor. 12:8). Why so? That I might preach without trouble, that I might have no assailant, that no enemy might be present, no scourges, no dangers, no prisons, no abductions, no nakedness. For this I approach, this I ask. I have labored, I have sweated, I have been affected by miseries, cast out from everywhere. What, I pray, does God answer him? He did not nod to the petition, he did not give what he was asking for; but he said to him: "My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is made perfect in weakness" (Ibid. v. 9). "My grace is sufficient for you." You see what you suffer, you do not see what you do: you see what enemies do against you, you do not see what I do in you. They scourge you, I give grace. Have you entered into prison, or have you not? I have entered, and I ask you. Did you see the angel of Satan there, or not? I saw him, who was casting me into it. Did he bind you, or did he not? What did I do? Did I not shake the walls? Did I not open the doors? Did I not loose the chains? Did I not hand over the prison guard as a captive to you? Did the angel of Satan harm you? Did my grace not profit you? Did that miracle not make you more splendid? My grace is sufficient for you. And do you seek both these things and those? You do not want scourges, why do you seek signs? You do not want dangers, why do you seek miracles? When you are being scourged, you see; when you raise the dead, do you not see? When your garments were torn, you saw; when your words put sicknesses to flight, did you not 516 see? When you were coming into judgment in chains, you saw; when Festus (a) said to you, "In a small way, you persuade me to become a Christian" (Acts 26:28), did you not see? My grace is sufficient for you. You have taken a great weapon, the power of the Spirit, which conquers plots, and makes you more splendid. What do you want? To suffer nothing? And how would my power be shown? It would indeed be shown, but not as it is now shown. In what way? Because Paul, lamenting, was saying: "Woe to me, I am a herald of the kingdom, a disciple of Christ, I preach immortal things; and I am scourged, I am treated with contumely, I am led away—so that you may not therefore lose heart, these things make you more splendid: unless you suffered these things, you would not be so conspicuous." You entered into prison. Unless you had been bound, and if you had only entered, he would have detained you, and led you out: even now, however, when you were bound, he loosed you, the bound one. Your feet were held by the wood, and grace shook the walls. I say these things so that no one may be astounded by the plots structured against us. We say these things, not equating ourselves to Paul (for we are not so foolish), but so that we may show that God brings this very thing to the humble. "My grace is sufficient for you." We have not been cast out. Where is the grace? Where six hundred enemies structured their plots. Where is that grace? There were many lovers, who did not want me to be separated from you. Where is the grace? They even added the Jews to our number. "My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore, let not the tribulations which have been given to the lot of the gospel move you. "My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is made perfect in weakness." How are you scourged, and do you remove the scourgers? You are sought by plots, and do you overcome those plotting? For "my power is made perfect in weakness." What, therefore, Paul heard, is this what you want? Is this sufficient for you? That I should fall by scourges, be afflicted with disgrace and ignominy, this I want. "For which reason I am pleased in weaknesses, in contumelies, in persecutions" (2 Cor. 12:10). O the grateful spirit of the servant! He approached him, asking to be freed from tribulations: but when he heard that the Lord not only did not want this, but even wanted the contrary: "This, therefore, seems so to you," he says, "that I should be afflicted; this I want, in this matter I have gratitude." He did not say only, "I want"; but, "This pleases me, I crave, I desire to be scourged, to be driven, to be in straits." "For which reason I am pleased in weaknesses, in contumelies, in persecutions, in straits." Why? That the power of Christ may dwell in me, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

(a) Not Festus, but King Agrippa says this in the Acts.

MONITUM CONCERNING THE FOLLOWING ORATION

ON THE PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON (a). (Luke 15:11)