accursed, and iniquity is added to his iniquity, so that he may not enter into the righteousness of God: for the baptism profited him nothing. He approached the apostles, saying: "Give me this power, that on whosoever I lay my hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit" (Acts 8:19). Peter, however, said to him: "You have no part or lot in this matter, because you wanted to acquire the gift of God with money" (Acts 8:21, 20). This man did not obey the prophets, he did not renew his rational field: this man neither received the Holy Spirit, who had been preached by the prophets. Fear such an example, and renew in yourselves your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. If you cut out the thorns, you will receive the seed, you will bear fruit, and you will be a partaker of the Holy Spirit. Thus Cornelius, obeying the prophets, renewed himself, cut out the thorns, and bore fruit unto God (Acts 10). For an angel was seen by him, saying: "Cornelius, your alms have ascended before the Lord." This righteous farmer pulled up the thorns, renewed himself as a man, his fruits ascended in the sight of God. Do you see the fruit of repentance? It ascended from earth to heaven, and stood with confidence before God. For just as good works pray with confidence, so those that are otherwise accuse zealously. You heard the good works praying for Cornelius: hear the murder committed by Cain zealously accusing: for thus God says to Cain: "The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me." Hear also the punishment defined: C "Groaning and trembling you shall be upon the earth" (Gen. 4:10, 12): hear also the reward of almsgiving and prayer, what the angel says: "Send to Joppa, and summon Peter, and he himself will teach you what you ought to do" (Acts 10:5, 6). Peter came, and when he began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon the apostles. Do you see the reward of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, the Holy Spirit given? This is the time of fasting and almsgiving: foreseeing this time, Elias fasted for forty days: therefore he is taken up in a chariot of fire, and to this day he is in the body. This time Moses prophesied when he fasted for forty days: therefore he received the law for the correction of his fellow-tribesmen. This time Christ taught us, who fasted forty days; that he might teach us that this method is to be embraced eagerly, by which the rational field is renewed, by which thorns are uprooted, by which desires are extinguished, by which the works of the devil are dissolved, by which the waters of the Jordan are sanctified, by which a man is regenerated, by which the Holy Spirit descends, by which life and resurrection are given. The prophets prophesied this, Christ taught this, let us love this, let us receive this: let us add almsgiving and prayer, that we may attain the Holy Spirit, like Cornelius; and let us glorify the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. To Him be glory unto the ages. Amen.
ADMONITION ON THE TWO ORATIONS CONCERNING PATIENCE
These two orations are of the same stamp as the preceding ones on Fasting: they are clearly the work of a shallow Greekling, who affects eloquence and sprinkles everything with countless and mostly inept epithets. And if he ever puts forth some good things, he ruins them by his manner of narration. He uses unusual words, and because of this unusual manner of speaking, he often caused trouble for the Latin interpreter. We say this having experienced it: for it is not without difficulty that we have translated certain things into Latin.
ON PATIENCE, AND THAT THE DEAD ARE NOT TO BE BEWAILED IN A BITTER MANNER
Come, let us today approach the sermon of instruction more diligently than in the past days: for the sermon is wont often to bring relief from labor, and moderate instruction can release sorrow. For I see many of those who were with you yesterday are not present today; but either they have been called to the Lord, or they are lying in their beds, and all these are awaiting death. Therefore I see you in mourning, much tumult in the city, the utmost perturbation in the Church, the immoderate tears of those who mourn, the absurd habits and actions of many. Certainly I have often consoled you regarding this matter and warned you, namely, about patience and the giving of thanks in enduring the departure of children and kinsmen; and I have said that they should not act so dishonestly, nor should it be thought that those who have migrated to God have perished: especially if they be innocent infants who have left this life. Wherefore let us not bewail them, but rather ourselves, who lead our lives in sins. For if we do not keep watch today, when will we ever be converted? If the death of your brother does not persuade you to be wise, who will convert you? Unless, seeing him lying dead, you amend your life, when at last will you entreat God? Behold we see, behold we learn by experience. Therefore, I pray, let us spare ourselves, lest we be troubled in vain and to no purpose, and let us not imagine that we are immortal. For one is the path of death, and no other: it is a common cup, and it is given to all: one hour, and a bad hour: a bridge that has no exit, a debt of all, the first-fruits of all, and the end of all. It is the sword of God, which does not accept a face. For death does not fear a king, it does not honor a high priest, it spares not old age, nor beauty, it spares not youth, it does not pity the only-begotten, it is not turned by tears, it trembles not before a prince, it fears not tyrants, it is not avoided by money, it accepts not the face of anyone, nor the back; but death invades all equally. Those who are with us today, tomorrow will be there before us: those who today embrace us in friendship, tomorrow will be miserably carried out from us: those who today are in life, tomorrow in the grave: those who today are conspicuous, tomorrow will be gnawed by worms: those who today are anointed with perfumes, tomorrow will be stinking: those who today are delighted here, tomorrow will mourn there: and in a word, those who today have parasites, tomorrow will be condemned there. Often seeking them and ignorant of their passing, we ask one another: is that prince there? And we hear, He has passed on at last; and, Where is that dynast? we ask, and we learn that he is dead; and, Where is that proud king? Thither, they say, he is gone; and, Where is that friend? Thither he has departed. Thither, to where? Where the Judge of judges is: thither, where that formidable one is, mightier than all formidable things: thither, where the Eternal King and Judge incorruptible is. Thither? Where and how, in what place, or in what manner those who preceded us fare, no one can say: this alone we know, that they are there, where the only Eternal and only Immortal one is; where the only Good and only Benign one is, the maker of souls and bodies. Into that great and formidable tribunal he has gone, where there is not laughter, but mourning; where there is not pursuit of beauty, but darkness; where there is not an embrace, but a trial; where there is not accusation, but apology; where there are not riches, but horror; where there is not acceptance of persons, but just judgment: where we all stand naked, slave and free, noble and private, sinners and righteous, rich and poor; some confounded, others crowned. Where is the pride of kings there? Where
A is the haughtiness of rulers? Where is the lack of compassion of the wealthy? Where is the partiality of judges? Where is the multiform beauty of youth? Youth, that insensate thing, that has long hopes of life; youth, that seditious heart, that over-anxious pleasure; youth, that falls much and often, that falsely flatters the flesh; youth, flattered toward deception, which is mud, which is miserable, which is the quickly-withered grass, the harvest ready to perish; youth, the dream prone to forgetfulness, the unsubstantial shadow; youth, the indolent hand, the pain-free heart, the wide-stretched eye, the lamp ready to go out; youth, the boiling of the blood and the habit of stains; youth, the unmanageable horse, fit for every destruction. Yet, he who is haughty here, is miserable there; he who is drunk here, is there in need of a drop of water; he who is ready for reviling here, is there burning in his tongue; he who is clothed here in silk garments, is there standing naked. Do not say to me: "Give me today, and take tomorrow"; for I do not observe you here, as to who you are, but I await you there, as to where you are. Do not say to me: "God is a lover of mankind, and I shall sin, He suffers with me"; but look also at this, that here He shows mercy, there He examines; here He overlooks, there He investigates; here He awaits conversion, there He delivers to the fire. Where is the wise man there, brethren? Where is the powerful? Where is the turmoil? Where is the luxurious banquet? Where are the feasts? Where are those who drink wine with timbrels and harps? Where is the parasitism and the theaters, and this while our brethren are hungry and thirsty, unfortunate and suffering, going naked, weeping, desiring death, and seeking it out of dejection? Alas! The cup terrible to all becomes desirable to those in need, and the life desired by all has become hated by those; and this light, desired by us, has become loathsome to those! Blessed be God, who does all things for our profit. Death is not evil, brethren, but also useful. It is not my word: "Death is rest for a man," the divine Job declared; because he who has died has been justified from sin, has ceased from the greed of life, and has stopped from adding evil to evil, and has given up adding to his burden, and has rested from provoking his God. Hear with understanding: death is consolation for infants, death is relief for slaves, refreshment for the weary, payment for debtors; death is the release of the anxious, the visitation of those who are afflicted; death is a barrier to sin. If death were not set before us, we would devour one another; if we did not have a judge coming, we would have no hope of life; if we did not await punishment, we would not at all cease from evils, nor would we cast off the corruption arising from transgression. Do you see the philanthropy of the Master? The penalty from transgression has become therapeutic. For if the one who died is righteous, rejoice, because with confidence he goes toward the Master in rest; but if indeed he is a sinner, do not grieve; for he has gained for himself that he was about to add more evils. If, therefore, we remained here, we would justly weep for the dead; but since we all surely go thither, let us not so lament those who have gone a little before us; let us not, by those things which we perform well over the dead, overthrow those things by which we practice poorly. Do you not see what we do for those who have gone before? We escort them with psalms and hymns, by this signifying our thanksgiving toward the Master; and we clothe them in new garments, announcing beforehand the new garment of our incorruption. We pour on ointment and oil, trusting that the chrism of baptism accompanies them as a provision for the journey; we accompany them with incense and tapers, showing that, having been released from the dark life, they have gone toward the true light; we arrange the coffin lying toward the East, indicating his resurrection through that posture. Therefore, let not we who believe in the resurrection so grieve, even as the rest who have no hope.
B Consequently, if the dead are to rise, just as indeed they will rise, let us not so act unseemly over those who have fallen asleep, I beseech you; let not we who are faithful emulate the faithless; let us not rend our tunics, but rather let us pierce our souls, because the same cup awaits us too. Let us not beat our arms, lest we emulate the Gentiles; let us not summon the wailing women, lest we the more stir up the wrath of God; let us not uncover the hairs of the head, lest we shame our Head, Christ; let us not grieve for long days, lest we disbelieve in the resurrection; let us not speak anything blasphemous with our tongue, lest we harm both the one who has fallen asleep and ourselves. Have you given a child? Give thanks, sing hymns, worship the Lord who gave, who entrusted to you; glorify Him who chose whom He fashioned, and who received the fruit of your womb incorrupt; glorify Him who saves the offspring of your entrails; worship according to the great-souled Job; give thanks, because you brought to the Master an unblemished sacrifice, a holy victim, a pure offering, a new Isaac, as once Abraham did. Christ has taken, let us worship; He who fashioned has refashioned, let us not murmur; the Creator has sought His creature, let us not fight; for we are not able. Have you given a brother? Worship the Christ who took him, because for your sake He once became mortal. Have you given an infant? Give thanks to Him, because for your sake He once became an infant in a manger. Has He taken a slave from you? Sing hymns to Him, because for your sake the Maker of all took the form of a slave. Have you buried an only-begotten son? Glorify, fall down, revere, remember that for your sake God delivered His only-begotten Son in the flesh unto death. Have you given a maiden living in her chamber? Give thanks, lest by being indignant you give another. Have you sent away the mother of your children? Sing hymns, be secured, do not offend the Master, lest even you should go away. What are you doing, man? For we are taking up the same thing again. Do you see a dead man lying, and do you dare to blaspheme? Do you stand at such a mystery, and do you fight with the One who separated the soul? "Give rest," you say to God, and yet you insult God? Why do you judge the Judge? Why do you strike against the Unconquerable? Why are you troubled with wrath? Why are you drunk with grief? Do you not see what this great mystery is? Do you not see what a grievous passage awaits us too? And even if it is grievous, we pass through it. Do you not see that the way is heavy? But we all walk through it. Come to your senses, O man. The one who is lying there trembles, and you play? He is examined, and you imagine things? He trembles, and you do not prepare yourself? He is confounded, he is entirely stirred up, seeing things which he never saw, and hearing things which he never heard. Wherefore he also sweats, as those who reap in the field, and he is positioned with all of us, and he greets all, as long as the tongue is able to speak. Farewell, he says, farewell, brethren, and pray for me. For I am going to a place where I never traveled, and to a world of souls from whence no one returned, and to fearsome mansions where no one is my companion, and to a fearsome judgment seat where I do not know what happens to me, and to strange matters about which no one has told. Behold, I seek a helper, and there is no helper; behold, I seek one to deliver me, and there is no one who rescues; behold, I seek the one to accompany me, and there is no one who suffers with me. Where is the father who begat? Where is the mother who experienced birth pangs? Where is the brother? Since brother does not redeem brother, how shall man redeem man? These things those who are leaving us speak to us, and henceforth they go their eternal way. For who is the man who shall live, and shall not see death? Or who shall deliver his soul from the hand of Hades? Blessed be God, that a man, brethren, behold, lies there, and henceforth he is attached to none of the things of life; behold, he has rested, behold, he has ceased from vanities. A small fever, and all things were rendered idle; one hour, and he who appeared is as if he did not appear; one moment, and his spirit shall go forth, and he shall return to his earth from which he was taken. In that day all his thoughts shall perish.
A And yet, at that very hour, a man abandons his father and mother, friends and kinsmen, sons and daughters, and departs alone, solitary, bearing his eternity with him. Let us join together before we ourselves pass away and sit down, and let us free the one lying there from the disturbance; let us calm ourselves, let us look and see this great mystery; shudder, and receive this very truth; look upon the kings, and do not be high-minded any longer; look upon the princes, and do not think great things. Behold the one lying there, and no longer think yourself a king or a prince. For what kind of king is he, who cannot even redeem himself? But behold, he too trembles at the cup; behold, he struggles just like one of the common people; behold, he is altogether pitiable. He who was just now formidable is dead; behold, he is led away like a criminal, whom criminals trembled at yesterday; behold, he is troubled, behold, he is totally shaken, behold, all his wisdom and power have been absorbed, behold, he has become stunned. For he saw the angelic powers, and he forgot his own power; he saw the formidable hosts of angels, and he considered his own potency as a spider’s web; he saw the forms of the Master, and he changed his own form [the Latin here suggests he changed his *nature* in response to the divine presence]; he heard the sentence against his soul, and his whole body trembled, and he reflects within himself, stunned and considering with himself where the pride of kings and the power of princes has migrated. B Indeed, behold the true rank, behold the valid power, behold the non-fictitious potency, behold the terrible forms, behold the immortal host. Thinking of these things and similar ones, and even more arcane matters which only those who lived before us have known by experience, some lie on their beds, starting up, wishing to flee but with a vain effort; others gnash their teeth, others strike their cheeks, others roll their eyes pitiably as they see the powers of the body gradually failing, the tongue which could express and firmly hold its own deposit; [they see] the opposing powers standing by, repeating the accounts, accusing, attempting to seize: then [they see] the thief entering, revealing, and forcibly abstracting the soul from the body.
Then we have need of many prayers, many good deeds, much angelic mediation, much guidance in the ascent through the air. For if, when we migrate into a strange region and city, we need a guide, how many patrons and conductors do we need, who might save us while passing through the invisible principalities and powers and world-rulers of this air, whom divine Scripture calls pursuers, publicans, and exactors? C Then the best companion for our journey is almsgiving and commiseration, which can lead us without harm to the gate of heaven and save us: there, the poor, whom we took pity on here before death, are our best patrons. Therefore, let us anticipate before we are anticipated; let us run before we are overtaken; life is short, the art is long, the end is near, the fear is great, and there is no one who can rescue. Let us go out to the tomb, as long as we are in the body; let us look at our vain thinking, what kind of house it has; let us look at what we shall be a little later, and let us not err; let us look at how we are dissolved, and let us amend ourselves; let us look at what we end in, and let us be solicitous about our end. You who gaze upon appearances, scrutinize them carefully in the tomb; you who exalt yourselves over rank and power, look into the coffins, and fear God; you who keep the memory of injuries and quarrels toward one another and do not dissolve it, come, see how you shall dissolve them. D Look attentively at the bier: see lying there those who were once kings, see princes in coffins, see the horrific spectacle of the remains, and say: Who is a king there, who is a prince, who is a soldier, who is a general, who is rich, who is poor, who is a youth, who is an old man, who is handsome, who is an Ethiopian? Can you say that all these things are not ash, not dust, not a stench? Are not all things which were once lovely now seen as horrific? O folly! What is this great mystery around me! He who was lovely to me yesterday now lies horrific: what I held yesterday as a limb, I now see as something alien: the one whom I was embracing in my arms a little while ago, I now do not even wish to touch: I irrigate him with tears as my own, but I flee from his putrefaction as from a stranger: affection compels me to approach the rotting one, but I am hindered by the corruption and the worms: I reflect on the image of the one lying there as he was a little while ago; but I see it in him in no way. Where is the beauty of his face? Behold, I see it already black. Where are his nodding and beautiful eyes? Behold, they have rotted away. Where is the adornment of his hair? 811 Behold, it has fallen out. Where is his outstretched neck? Behold, it has been crushed. Where is that vivid tongue? Behold, it is silent. Where is the beauty of his hands? Behold, it has been dissolved. Where is the tallness of his stature? Behold, it has flowed away. Where is the luxuriousness of his clothes? Behold, it has putrefied. Where are the perfumes and aromatics? Behold, they have gone foul. Where is the wantonness of youth? Behold, it has passed away. And in sum, where is the man full of pride? Behold, he is dust again, he has become dust.
Yet, do not think only of the tomb; but from there pass over to the resurrection; and consider with yourself and believe that this one who lies there is to rise again, and the tongue which is now silent will then again speak, when to God every knee of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth shall bow, and every tongue shall confess; and as Daniel says: I was watching until thrones were set, and the Ancient of Days sat. His throne was a flame of fire, his wheels were a burning fire; a river of fire was drawn before him: thousand thousands were attending him, and ten thousand times ten thousand were ministering to him. The judgment sat, and the books were opened (Dan. 7:9, 10). There is, without doubt, much fear there, much trembling, ineffable necessity, incessant weeping, unending groans. When he comes suddenly upon a throne high and lifted up, then the heaven shall be folded as a scroll, the stars shall be scattered, the angelic powers shall run before, the tombs shall be opened, the bodies shall rise again, the fountains shall be dried up, the abysses shall be moved, the whole earth shall be shaken. What shall we be then? What indeed, when we give an account of our deeds, our thoughts, our idle words, of those things which we did in the night, those in the day, those voluntarily, and those involuntarily? One must care for this, it is necessary to ponder this night and day. What shall we be able to say then that is consistent with reason? What excuse, I ask, O man, shall we bring? Behold, you occupy yourself with delights for fifty or a hundred years, you are rich, you beget children, you join sons and daughters in marriage, you rule as king over nations and peoples, and after these things death comes, and after death the judgment, of which there will be no end, and no repentance after it. For he says: In death there is no one who is mindful of you; in hell, however, who shall confess to you? (Ps. 6:6). Certainly no one. For even if we offer a thousand crowds, and entreat much, there will be no one to rescue. Therefore, we most declare as blessed the infants who die: therefore we all say, Would that we had died as infants! Do not, therefore, because we see things that we wish for ourselves in our children, be affected with grief. For to us the cup of death is dangerous, but to infants it is salutary; and what to all is horrific is for them desirable, and what to us is the beginning of the punishment to be undergone there, is to them the beginning of salvation. For what would they render accounts for, who have not experienced sin? For what would they be punished, who have no knowledge of good or evil? O the blessed death of blessed infants! O death of those uncorrupted, truly the beginning of eternal life! O end which is the beginning of immortal joy! But what do the faint-hearted say? A son, they say, I had, my only-begotten, handsome and noble; this was the succession of my race, this was the heir of my wealth, this was the consolation in my sorrow, this was the staff of my old age, this was the glory of my fatherland, this was the branch of my root, entirely pleasant in form, entirely mild, clever, affable, and lovable to his own as well as to strangers, both to those seeing and to those hearing. This one, being such, was suddenly snatched from my hands; he whom I used to see is no longer present, but leaves his parent and has migrated to the Creator: not leaving his nurturer, he has migrated to the one calling him; separated from his mother’s womb, he has descended into the monument of the earth, the mother of all. Must I not, I ask, mourn such a son? Must I not seek him as the apple of my eye? I cannot, he says, I cannot: for even if you should oppose me with a thousand proofs, and even if you should warn me six hundred times that sons are not to be mourned by their parents, you will not persuade me, because God has so defined it, and has annexed the bond of nature, and has placed fire in the bowels of parents toward their children. I do not say this, O man, nor do I decree by law that children are not to be mourned: if I were to say this, I would bring forth that which cannot be. For I, too, obey the laws of nature, and I do not withstand the time of affliction: I too am mortal, born from a mother and of the same flesh.
...nature. I know the lamentation of fathers, I know the sighing of mothers, I know their sea of despondency, I know the anxiety of their distress; I understand the internal image they form of their children, how they paint within themselves the child who is not present as if he were present, contemplating that image with tears, setting all their customs, words, and actions before their eyes. But Job, that wonderful man, was not so; for when his children and offspring, and oxen and camels, and all things that he possessed, came to ruin, he was not troubled, he did not blaspheme, as the many do, but he arose, and having fallen to the earth from which he was taken, worshipping the Master, A he said: *Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so it came to be. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever* (Job 1. 21). I am a servant, and I am subject, and I do not set myself against Him who made me; for the thing is not strange: the children have died, but they have not perished. For what shepherd does not have power over his flock? The good shepherd has chosen his sheep. A little while, and we too shall depart. Let us imitate this man, and not lament so immoderately. Let us weep as believers, and not behave unseemly as unbelievers; as Christ wept for Lazarus, so let us weep; for show- B ing you measures and limits, He wept. For how could He have needed to weep for him whom He was about to awaken after a short time? But it was in order that you might learn how far to weep, so that we might both display the sympathy of nature, and ward off the imitation of the unbelievers; and let us also pray for that, that we might be in the same portion as those who are separated from life during the time of virtuous age; and that having departed there, we should not see our own children in rest, while we ourselves should be in unbearable torment. For as many infants as were separated before the filth and corruption of this difficult and most-lamentable flesh, utter such voices to those who begot them, if not in words, yet in deeds: "Do not weep for us, fathers, benefiting nothing; for you were planning to have us with you in the vain life, where everything is joyless and painful, where everything is unreliable and unstable, where nothing is permanent or secure; but our Master and God, having loved us, snatched us from the vain life, as if from a lion’s mouth; having separated us from the sins of this age, as roses from thorns; as most-beloved lambs, so the good shepherd has set us apart from you, as from darkness into light. And we dwell in the land of the living, where all is calm and undisturbed, where all is luminous and pleasing to God, where no one injures or is tyrannized, where there is no sin nor tainting, where there is light which is unapproachable and joy inexpressible, where there is no pain nor tears, where there is no care nor anxiety, no sighing nor lamentation, but only God praised and glorified. The holy angels peacefully separated us from the body; we passed through the principalities and powers of the air without hindrance; for we had good guides. For they did not find in us what they sought, they saw nothing in us of that which they hoped. They saw the body spotless, and were put to shame; they saw the soul innocent and pure, and were confounded; they saw the tongue spotless and pure and blameless, and were silenced; we passed through, and brought them to nothing; we went past them, and sang over them; *The snare is broken, and we were delivered* (Ps. 123. 7). Blessed be God, who has not given us for a prey to their teeth (Ps. 123. 6). Whence also the angels who met us were rejoicing, the righteous welcomed us, the holy ones were delighted, saying: 'Well have the lambs of Christ come.' The delight of paradise was opened to us, the bosom of Abraham was shown to us; for the Master received us right pleasantly; He spoke to us in a cheerful voice; He beheld us with a cheerful eye; wherefore He also inscribed us in the book of life. For we said to the merciful Judge: 'Righteous Judge, Lord, You have deprived us of earthly things, do not deprive us of heavenly things; You have separated us from parents, do not separate us from the saints; we have Your seal of baptism whole, we have offered ourselves to You spotless through great infancy.' Do not therefore C mourn for us as if we had been snatched from salvation before the time, nor weep, because we have been brought from the worse to the better, if instead of corruptible things we have received the incorruptible. We sing hymns with angels, we dance with the saints; but we also intercede for you who are in sins; we have been numbered with the infants killed by Herod for Christ; we rejoice with the children of Job. Therefore do not be anxious for us, but rather lament yourselves; for you are considering your own defense for your own end; and as knowing and firmly believing that it was for our benefit that our Master chose, and assigned us to the portion of those who are being saved, whenever young children and those who are incorrupt come to us from you hither, rejoice and be glad, and sing with righteous Job: *The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so it came to be; blessed be the name of the Lord from now, and even for evermore* (Job 1. 21). Amen."
On Patience
Thirsty travelers imagine the absent fountain in their minds, and by the desire for it they hasten with keen impetus, so that they might find the cure for their thirst, and cool the flame burning within by the waters. In the same way, you too, beloved, thirsting for the word of truth, come with zeal to the true fountain, our Lord Jesus Christ. For He Himself is the one who says: *If anyone thirsts, let him come to me, and drink* (John 7. 37); and again He Himself says: *Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness* (Matt. 5. 6). Desiring this fountain, the blessed David sang, saying: *As the deer longs for the fountains of water, so my soul longs for Thee, O God* (Ps. 41. 2). But that we may not seem to remain outside the Scriptures through these prefaces, come, let us take hold of the words; for thus the discourse will be shown to be more brilliant to us, and the Church is shown to us to be radiant. But let us return to the subject at hand. What then was that which we have just heard the blessed D David saying: *Waiting I waited for the Lord, and He paid attention to me, and heard my supplication* (Ps. 39. 2)? Patience has appeared to us a great trophy; for we find all the saints crowned by patience, and having this as a teacher, know in your hearts the blessed Abraham, who became a hundred years old and had not yet begotten children, but by patience the fruit of this was harvested before his eyes. The tree lost its leaves, and the root was heavy; the flesh was aged, and his mind was flourishing; but nevertheless by patience he harvested Isaac. Look at the blessed Job, the athlete of the world, who wrestled and tore asunder the power of the devil; how many times did the devil wrestle, and did not break the athlete? He emptied the quiver of arrows, he brought up the engines, and the tower he did not shake; he raised the waves, and the ship he did not sink; he broke the branches, and the root he did not pull up; he raised the tempests, and the rock he did not shake. You saw the patience of the righteous man? You saw the contest of the athlete? You saw the rock standing firm? You saw the soldier drawn up in battle array? You saw the tower standing? You saw the righteous man being glorified and the devil fleeing with shame? Look for me, if it pleases, at the crowning point of his patience. For after the capture of the oxen, and the destruction of the sheep, and the fall of the house, and the misfortune of the children (for he saw them born differently in time, but together all undergoing the...