Farewell Discourse (Oration 42)

745 NOTICE ON ORATION XLII

I. About the middle of May in the year 381, many Eastern bishops, summoned by the Emperor Theodosius, arrived in Constantinople. Having first condemned the ordination of Maximus the Cynic in the synod, Gregory, though protesting and resisting, was appointed over the Constantinopolitan Church by the unanimous vote of the Fathers. Not long after, Meletius, the bishop of the Antiochene see, died—a man distinguished for his holiness and doctrine, who had shortly before, consulting the interests of harmony more than his own advantage, permitted Paulinus to be placed with him in the episcopal see, albeit on the condition that, upon the death of one, the other should be recognized as sole bishop of the Antiochene see. But after the death of Meletius, younger prelates began to stir up dispute over this matter, and they set out to treat of the election of a successor in the synod with great tumult. Gregory, however, most devoted to peace and fairness, and who, with the passing of Meletius, held the primacy in the council, endeavored to recall the instigators of the discord to a sounder mind with gentle words. He set before the eyes of all how great were the evils to the Church which the preceding Antiochene schism had borne, due to which the East and West had already been miserably torn into two opposing factions, and what graver things still threatened if another bishop were substituted in the place of Meletius. He therefore lovingly exhorted them to allow Paulinus, now burdened with old age, to sit alone without a colleague, and afterward, when he should have passed from this life, to elect another according to the custom of the ancestors. But his desires were rendered utterly vain; indeed, his friends insistently begged Gregory to go along with the others; the Theologian, shuddering at this, finally conceived the plan of resigning and withdrew from the synod. Meanwhile, Egyptian and Macedonian bishops arrived at Constantinople, who, being less hostile to Gregory than to the Eastern bishops, caused trouble for those who had elected him, on the grounds that, contrary to the laws and canons of the Church, they had placed Gregory, already bishop of Sasima, over the Constantinopolitan Church, and by stirring up many other things, they inflamed a greater fire of discord. In such confusion of affairs, Gregory, burning with a love of solitude, and—as he himself says (15)—like a noble horse impatient of the reins by which he was still held, taking the occasion of the dissensions, leaped into the midst of the synod. Having prefaced many things that he wove into his poem *On His Own Life* (16), he offered himself, like a second Jonah, to settle the tempest and requested permission to depart. While the bishops were troubled at such a proposal and uncertain of what they should do, although not yet consenting, Gregory escaped, intending to seek the same permission to depart from the Emperor. Having obtained this, he immediately delivered this most excellent and celebrated oration before one hundred and fifty bishops, the entire clergy, and the whole flock of the faithful.

II. In this oration, which, as Baronius says, "cannot be read with dry eyes," the orator approaches to bid farewell to the Constantinopolitan Church. First, he modestly addresses the Fathers of the council, and gently 746 indicating that they had come indeed not to bring back astray sheep to the way, but to visit a pastor acting in a foreign land, he does not blush to render an account of his administration and doctrine, and to submit to judgment publicly before all. Therefore, he calls upon the flock entrusted to him to refute him if he speaks falsely, or to confirm him with their testimony if he speaks truly. Then, with a tragic account, he describes the state in which he found the Constantinopolitan flock when its governance was committed to him. "This flock," he says (n. 2), "was small and imperfect, and not even a flock, but a certain small and tenuous vestige of a flock, unorganized, lacking a pastor, enclosed by no boundaries, nor hedged by a fold, wandering in mountains and caves, scattered and thrown here and there." He attributes the causes of these calamities to the sins of Christians, to the cruel edicts of preceding emperors, and to the envy and persecutions of heretics; all of whom had so provoked the kindness of God to wrath that it wanted little until the whole Christian world should be plunged into original darknesses, much more grievous, surely, than the ninth Egyptian plague. But in speaking of such things, the mind of Gregory shudders, and for that reason he withdraws so tearful a spectacle from the eyes of his listeners, that he might dwell entirely on praising the goodness and mercy of God. From there he rebukes the heretics, who, inflated by their numerous offspring, proudly looked down upon the small flock of Gregory. He shows with what tiny increments the flock of the Constantinopolitan Church, like the people of Israel, had been wonderfully raised to this perfection which presses the mouths of its detractors; nor does he doubt that, with God’s help, it will progress even higher. "For it is much more wonderful," he says (n. 6), "that it has arrived at such great magnitude from so little, than that it should be brought from the state it is in now to the highest degree of splendor and glory, since God counts not abundant impiety or infinite dust, but vessels of election." This chosen flock, therefore, nourished by the food of truth and preserved by all his cares, Gregory offers to the Fathers of the council as the most excellent gift; and he asks them to lift their eyes around them and see the venerable gathering of presbyters, the modesty of the deacons, the harmony of the readers, and the zeal of the whole people for learning, with which, like flowers, he has woven a crown of glory intended for their own heads.

^A III. Although the mere presence and inspection of the Constantinopolitan flock was the greatest argument, as though inscribed upon a column, of such a pastor’s teaching before the Fathers of the council, the Theologian nevertheless does not hesitate to declare his faith concerning the most holy Trinity more openly, so that the prelates might acknowledge and judge whether or not he is envied with merit. Therefore, he demonstrates the divinity of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, not indeed with many arguments, but with those clearer than light. He touches incidentally upon the poisoned errors of Sabellius and Arius; and he himself, walking the middle and royal road, professes the Trinity in unity, and the unity in the Trinity. He observes, however, that the generation of the Son and the procession of the Holy Spirit can be neither comprehended by the intellect nor explained in any words, and he contends that whoever presumes to scrutinize them too curiously rises up rashly against the divinity. Then, using that same argument which Samuel once employed among the Israelites, he again calls his flock to witness whether he has in any matter shown himself an unfaithful steward of Christ, whether he has consulted his own private advantage at the cost of the flock’s 747 harm, or whether he has burdened it with distress. But when his manner of acting, as much in administering as in teaching, is found to be devoid of any fault or reproach, he demands from the Fathers of the council the reward of a good stewardship. “Lift us up,” he says (n. 20), “wearied by long labors, and refresh us. Let this gray hair of mine move you. Appoint another, who possesses a voice not unlearned, who is pure of hands, and who can bear the cares of the Church together with you... Behold this body of mine, withered, in truth, by age, disease, and toil.” He adjures them by the very Trinity which they worship, not to deny his requests, but to grant him the document of his mission. He asks for this one thing only, that they choose a successor who might provoke emulation rather than pity; and having spoken a few words about the qualities of the pastor to be provided, he at length says a final farewell to his Anastasia, to the great church of St. Sophia, and to the other holy buildings of that city. He bids farewell also to the episcopal throne itself, to the council of bishops, to the assembly of priests, and in turn to the rest of the ministers of the Church, to the monks, virgins, married and widowed, to the poor, to the emperors, and to the courtiers, to the East at once and the West, “for whom,” he says, “and by whom we are attacked.” Finally, crying out, he says: “Farewell, angels who preside over this Church; farewell, holy Trinity, my meditation and my pride. May you be preserved by these things, and may you preserve these—namely, this my people. And you, little children, keep the deposit, I beseech you: remember my stoning,” etc.

^B IV. Here the Theologian fell silent, preparing from then on to fight with hand and ink; and the voice of so great a herald of the truth never again resounded in Constantinople. We may seem to have drawn out this analytical synopsis longer than was proper; but we were greatly pleased, both by the argument and sublimity of this most ornate oration, and by this most magnificent and unheard-of deed of Gregory, which Sozomen rightfully judged to be worthy of the utmost admiration. “In truth,” he says (17), “it occurs to me to admire this most wise man, as for many other things, so especially in this affair. For he was not puffed up by pride because of his eloquence, nor did he desire to preside over the Church, which he had received in a state of near extinction and death, out of a yearning for empty glory; but he returned the deposit to the bishops demanding it (he would have said more correctly, ‘consenting’); he complained nothing of his many labors, nothing of the dangers which, struggling against heresies, he had endured.” And certainly, in this matter, Gregory exhibited examples of extraordinary humility, modesty, and charity; for which reason he has left to posterity, with full right, a most precious memory of himself. Baronius seems to have thought that this oration was delivered before the Theologian had requested permission to depart from the emperor. But the common opinion of scholars does not favor this view. Even the Bollandists explicitly contradict it. “It is,” they say (18), “the thirty-second oration [now the forty-second], which was preceded by a meeting with the emperor, without whose permission he could not have made this such solemn abdication.” Tillemont holds the same view (19). Furthermore, at that time the pious emperor was staying in Constantinople, who had received Gregory kindly, and had confirmed with great applause his elevation to the Constantinopolitan see by the bishops. In no way, therefore, would it have been permitted for Gregory to depart before Theodosius had approved his departure. And it may indeed seem 748 surprising that he complied with Gregory’s wishes so quickly. Hence it is certain that Gregory, fortified by the consent of Theodosius, pronounced this last farewell at Constantinople towards the end of June of the year 381. The synod was still in session. For, as is manifest from the synodical epistle (20), given to Theodosius on the seventh of the Ides of July of the same year, Nectarius, after Gregory’s departure, was appointed to the Constantinopolitan Church by the Fathers of the council.

ORATION XLII.

FINAL FAREWELL. Final farewell, before one hundred and fifty bishops.

^A I. How do our affairs appear to you, O dear shepherds and colleagues, whose feet are beautiful as you announce peace and good things, with which you have come hither? And they are beautiful also to us, because you have come at an opportune time, not to bring back a straying sheep into the way, but to visit a shepherd who is a stranger. How does our sojourn appear by your judgment? And what is the fruit of this, or rather, of the Spirit that dwells within us, by whom we are always moved, and have now been moved, desiring to possess nothing of our own, and perhaps possessing nothing? Do you perceive this by yourselves, and do you understand it, and are you the kinder critics of our affairs? Or must it be done by us, as those who are required to give an account of military command, or popular leadership, or the administration of funds, that we too should publicly render to you the accounts of what we have administered? ^B For we are not ashamed to be judged, since we also judge in our turn, and both with equal charity. This is an ancient law. For Paul also communicated the Gospel to the apostles; not that he might be ambitious—for the Spirit is far removed from all love of glory—but that what he was doing rightly and with praise might be confirmed, or that what was lacking in his duty might be corrected, if there were indeed anything of that sort in what was said or done by him, as he himself indicates when he writes concerning himself: "For the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets," according to the order of the Spirit who manages and distributes all things well. ^C But if he did so privately and before some, while I submit to judgment publicly and before all, do not be surprised at this. For I have more need of the benefit that is derived from free reproof than he did, if in any matter I appear to have failed in my duty, so that I may not run, or have run, in vain. And there is no other way to offer a defense than by addressing those who know the matters. ^D II. What then is our defense? And if it is false, prove it; but if it is true, confirm it by your testimony, you, I say, for whose sake and among whom the discourse is spoken. For you are to me both my defense, and my farewell, and my joy, and my crown of boasting, if I may dare also to boast something of the deeds of the Apostle...

^A This flock, once small and imperfect—at least as far as the senses of the eyes could judge—was not even a flock, but a small and thin trace of a flock, or a remnant, unorganized, lacking a shepherd, hemmed in by no boundaries, having no right to free pasture, nor enclosed by a fold; wandering in mountains, and in caves, and in holes of the earth, ^B scattered and thrown here and there, and protected or pastured as each one’s lot happened to be, and stealing for itself its own salvation; like that flock which lions drove away, or a storm dissolved, or a gloomy mist dispersed—which the prophets lament, comparing it to the sufferings of Israel, when it was delivered to the nations; we also lamented, in as much as we were worthy of lamentation. For in truth we were driven away and cast out, and scattered upon every mountain and hill ^C because of the lack of a shepherd; and a certain evil winter took hold of the Church, and terrible wild beasts have fallen upon us, who do not spare us even now, when the sky has cleared; but, for being brazen, they show themselves more powerful and more cruel than the time permits; and a certain sad gloom occupied and covered everything, much heavier, indeed, than that ninth plague of the Egyptians, that is, I mean, the palpable darkness, by which we were almost unable to see one another.

750 III. And, to say something which might exude greater compassion, trusting as in a parent in Him who has afflicted us: “Abraham did not know us, and Israel did not recognize us; but Thou art our Father; to Thee we look; besides Thee we know no other; we call upon Thy name.” For this reason I will state the cause, though I will speak judgments to Thee, ^D says Jeremiah, “We have been as from the beginning, when Thou didst not rule over us, and Thou hast forgotten Thy holy covenant, and hast shut up Thy mercies from us.” For this reason we have become an object of reproach to Thy beloved; we, I say, the worshippers of the Trinity, the perfect clients and suppliants of the perfect Godhead; and not rushing to such a pitch of audacity as to drag down and cast upon ourselves anything of those things which are above us; nor being so proud and arrogant, that which impious tongues and...

the enemies of the Godhead perform, let us reduce our rule to a servile order; but rather, it is on account of our other sins, and because we did not order the course of our lives as was worthy of thy commandments, but walked after our own evil mind and thought. For what other cause can be brought forward why we were delivered to most iniquitous men, and the most wicked of all whom the earth bears? The first, Nabuchodonosor, crushed us—he, I say, who after Christ burned with fury against Christ, and for this reason hated Christ, because he had obtained salvation through Him; and he exchanged the sacred books for impious sacrifices. ^B *He devoured me, he broke me in pieces* (cf. Jer. LI, 34), *thin darkness covered me* (cf. Ps. LIV, 6), so that I might not, even while mourning, depart from the words of Scripture. Unless the Lord had helped me, and had justly delivered him into the hands of the lawless, casting him out into Persia (such are the judgments of God!), and for unholy bloodshed just blood had not been shed, wherein alone Justice could not bear to exercise long-suffering (it was a case where the penalty was near), *my soul had almost dwelt in hell* (cf. Ps. XC, 17). The second was nothing more humane than the former, nay, even more severe, in that, bearing the name of Christ, he was a pseudo-christ, and a burden together with a reproach to Christians; for whom it was both impious to act and inglorious to suffer; so that they might not even appear to be receiving injury, nor the illustrious name of martyrdom be added to their torments, but rather that even here a counterfeit might be made of the truth, so that they who suffered as Christians were punished as the impious. Woe is me! for we have become rich and copious in evils, for *fire has devoured the beautiful things of the earth* (cf. Joel I, 19). *The residue of the caterpillar the locust has eaten, and the residue of the locust the cankerworm has eaten* (cf. Joel I, 4); then the beetle, and then I know not what other and other evil springing up one after another. But what does it avail to pursue all the evils of that time with a tragic oration, and that which then invaded us—whether it is proper to call it a penalty, or an exploration and purgation? But we have *passed through fire and water* (cf. Ps. LXV, 12), and by the benign will of the Saviour we have come forth into a cool place.

IV. Enimvero, ut eo se, unde digressa est, oratio referat: ^D this crop was once small and needy, and worthy not only not of God, who has cultivated and cultivates the whole world with the beautiful seeds and doctrines of piety, but not even worthy of a poor and humble little man, as it indeed seemed; and it was not even a crop at all, nor worthy of barns, nor perhaps of the threshing-floor, nor of the sickle; nor was it worthy of heaps, nor of sheaves, or certainly they were small and immature, such as are on the housetops, nor filling the hand of the mower, nor of those who...

pass by to offer a blessing. Such was our cultivation, such our harvest: great to be sure, and well-eared, and rich to the Seer of hidden things, and worthy of such a husbandman; it is this that the valleys of souls multiply, being well-cultivated by the Word, ^A though not known to the many, nor gathered into one, but collected little by little, like the stubble in the harvest, and the small grape-cluster in the vintage, when there is no main bunch. I think I will add those things too, and very seasonably, as when Israel was found in the desert as a wild fig, or one or two berries ripe in an unripe cluster, the blessing of the Lord kept and consecrated as first-fruits, yet small and rare and not filling the mouth of the eater; and as a signal on a hill, and as a mast on the mountains, or whatever else is singular and not observed by the many. These, then, were the circumstances of our former poverty and dejection.

V.

^A the mountains with the height of its glory, and surpassing the cedars—and whom we must count as these mountains, and whom as these cedars of God, is a question for another time.

VI. Such was this flock once, and such it is again now, so succulent and reaching out so broadly; even if it has not yet attained perfection, it is nonetheless advancing toward it by daily increments, and, as I augur, will continue to do so. The Holy Spirit foretells this to me, if I have any power in the art of prophecy and can foresee the future; and at the same time, from what has already come to pass, I conceive an unwavering hope and perceive it through reasoning, as one nurtured by reason. For it is far more miraculous that it should have grown to such magnitude from so small a beginning than that it should now advance from its present state to the highest degree of splendor and glory. For from the moment it began to be gathered together by Him who calls the dead to life, when bone began to be joined to bone and joint to joint, and the Spirit of life and regeneration was given to the dry bones, I know well that the whole resurrection must be fulfilled. Therefore, let not those who provoke God exalt themselves in their own eyes; nor let them imagine that they possess anything—as if holding a shadow, or a dream of those awakening, or a blowing breeze, ^B or the tracks of a ship on the water. Let the pine howl, for the cedar has fallen. Let them be instructed by the misfortunes of others, and let them learn that the poor shall not be forgotten to the end; nor will He endure, without an outburst of indignation, the hacking off of the heads of the mighty, as Habakkuk says, or of the Divinity itself—which is being cut and divided ^C evilly into that which rules and that which is ruled—as if the Divinity could be insulted more greatly than by being brought down, and the creation weighed down to an equality of honor with the Godhead.

VII. I think I hear also the voice of Him who gathers the brokenhearted and receives the oppressed: "Enlarge the place of your cords, and stretch out to the right and left; fix them, and do not spare the curtains. I have delivered you, and I will help you. In a little wrath I struck you, but in everlasting mercy I will glorify you." The measure of loving-kindness is greater than the measure of discipline. The former was for the sake of wickedness; the latter, for the sake of the adored Trinity. The former, for the sake of purging; the latter, for the sake of My glory; as I glorify those who glorify Me, and provoke those who provoke Me. ^D Behold, these things are sealed with Me, and this is the inviolable law of requital. But you were eagerly embracing the walls, and the tablets, and the stones carved with skill and elegance, and the long porticos and the walk-arounds, and

you were shining and gleaming with gold, and scattering it partly like water and partly piling it up like sand; not realizing that a faith that dwells in the open air is better than a sumptuous impiety, and that three gathered in the name of the Lord are considered by God to be more numerous than many myriads who deny his divinity. ^A Or will you prefer all the Canaanites to Abraham alone? Or the Sodomites to Lot alone? Or the Midianites to Moses, a sojourner and a stranger? What then? Will you contend that those three hundred men with Gideon, who lapped, were inferior to the many thousands of men who turned their backs? Or to the household slaves of Abraham, in number not much greater, but who chased and put to flight those many kings and innumerable hosts, even though they themselves were few? And how do you think one should understand that which is written: *If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved*? Or in what way that other text: *I have left for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal*? It is not so, I say, it is not so. God does not take pleasure in the multitude.

VIII. You, indeed, count the myriads, but God counts those who obtain salvation; you count the measureless dust, I count the vessels of election. For nothing is so ample and magnificent before God as a purified doctrine, and a soul perfected by the teachings of the truth. For indeed, to God who created all things, and from whom are all things, and for whom are all things, no gift can be offered that is worthy enough—not if the work and wealth of one man were devoted to this end, nor even if someone were to wish to honor him by gathering together the works and resources of all men into one. *Do not I fill heaven and earth?* says the Lord. And: *What kind of house will you build for me? Or what is the place of my rest?* But since it is necessary for us to fall short of his dignity, ^C I ask of you what is the second best: piety, that common wealth before me, equal for all, in which perhaps even the most destitute man of great soul will surpass the most radiant one. For such generosity is a matter of the will, not of wealth and resources. I will indeed receive these things also from your hands, do not doubt it. You shall no longer ^D add to treading my courtyard, but the feet of the meek shall tread it, those who have rightly and sincerely acknowledged me, and my Only-begotten Word, and the Holy Spirit. How long will you possess my holy mountain as an inheritance? How long will the ark be among the foreigners? But for now, enjoy yourselves a little longer in the things that are not your own, and take your fill of desiring. For as you have planned to cast me off, so I also will cast you off, says the Lord Almighty.

^B IX. These things I seemed to hear the Speaker say, and to perceive Him acting; and furthermore, I seemed to hear Him crying out to the people—to this people, I say, now grown from small to great and numerous, and now sufficiently gathered together from a dispersed state, and from a wretched, and perhaps envious state: *Pass through my gates, and be enlarged.* Is it right that you should always have to labor, dwelling in tents, while those who oppress you are carried away by immoderate joy? Then, also, to the angels who are appointed over the city (for I am convinced that some preside over one Church and others over another, just as John teaches me through the Apocalypse): *Clear the way for my people, and cast the stones out of the path,* so that there may be no stumbling-block or obstacle for the people on the divine road and entry—now indeed to the hand-made temples, but a little later to the Jerusalem above, and to the Holy of Holies there, which I know to be the end of the hardship and intense struggle of this life for those who walk the path well. Among whom you also are, *called saints,* a *peculiar people,* a *royal priesthood, the Lord's most precious portion,* from a drop an entire river, from a spark a heavenly flame, from a mustard grain a tree, the *rest for the birds.*

^C X. These things we bestow upon you, dear pastors, these we offer, with these we welcome our friends, and guests, and companions in pilgrimage. We have nothing more beautiful or more illustrious to offer you, since we have sought out what is most excellent among our goods; that you may understand that we, although outsiders and strangers, do not labor under penury; but that we are indeed poor, yet *making many rich.* If these things are small and of no account, I would gladly hear what things are greater and of more value. For if to have supported and strengthened with sound doctrines the city which is the eye of the world, the most powerful by land and sea, a kind of knot and bond of the eastern and western regions, to which the ends of the whole earth run together, and from which they begin, as from a common emporium of the faith; if, I say, to have supported this city, and that when it was being agitated on every side by so many tongues, is not to be reckoned a great and worthy achievement, then surely nothing else could appear great and worthy of pursuit. But if it is a glorious and praiseworthy thing ^D (grant us also some of the honor for these things), we too have contributed some share to these visible results.

XI. Lift up your eyes round about, and see, whoever you are who passes judgment on our doctrine. ^A Behold this woven crown of glory, in place of the Ephraim of mercenaries and the crown of pride. Behold the council of presbyters, adorned with grey hair and wisdom; the modesty of the deacons, not far removed from that same Spirit; the orderliness of the readers; the people’s eagerness to learn, as much in men as in women, equal in the honor of virtue; and as much of the men among the philosophers as among the simpler ones, all wise in divine things; as much in those who rule as in the subjects, here all rightly subject; as much among soldiers as nobility, and the studious and the literate, all soldiers of God, gentle and mild in other matters, but bellicose on behalf of the Spirit, all honoring the senate above (to which not the base and abject letter, but the life-giving Spirit opens the way), all truly learned and erudite, and worshipers of the Word; ^B then also the women, as much those who, in the yoke of matrimony, are bound to God rather than to the flesh, as those who, exempt from marriage and free, have consecrated all that they are to God; and finally, as much among the young as among the old, of whom some step toward old age in an excellent manner, while others use violence to obtain immortality, being renewed by the better hopes conceived in their soul.

XII. To this crown (what I say, I do not say according to the Lord, but yet I will speak), I myself also contributed something to the weavers. Some of these are the work of our own discourses, not those which we cast forth rashly, but those which we have embraced with love; not of a harlot-like sort (as someone said who was slandering us, a man both in speech and in ^C character harlot-like), but indeed very grave and chaste. Some of these are the offspring and fruit of my own Spirit, just as the Spirit is accustomed to beget those who have withdrawn themselves from the body. I do not doubt that I shall have the most sincere among you as witnesses of this, or perhaps all, since you have all been cultivated by our labor: and the confession of the Trinity is the sole reward which I seek from you. For we neither seek, nor have we sought, anything else. For virtue must be without reward, so that it may remain virtue, looking only to the good itself.

XIII. Do you wish us to add something more youthful? ^D Do you see the opposing tongues grown tame, and those who declared war on the Divinity now bringing us no trouble? This too is the Spirit's doing, and this too is of our cultivation. For we do not teach without discipline, nor do we attack our adversaries with contumely, as many do, not by...

fighting with arguments, but by fighting against those who speak, and at times covering up the weakness of their own reasoning with insults; just as they say that cuttlefish vomit forth their ink before them, so that they may escape from those who hunt them, or hunt by remaining hidden. ^A But we show that we are warring for Christ, by warring according to Christ, who is peaceful and gentle, and who bore our infirmities. Nor do we make peace at the expense of the doctrine of truth, letting anything go for the sake of an appearance of gentleness; for we do not hunt after the good in a wicked way. And we make peace by fighting lawfully, and within our own borders ^B and the canons of the Spirit. Thus I think of these things, and I lay down this law for all stewards of souls and treasurers of the Word: neither to irritate with harshness, nor to be puffed up through fawning submission, but to be reasonable concerning the Word, without exceeding the measure in either direction.

XIV. On the Doctrine of Faith.

XIV. But perhaps it is now worth our while to set forth for you, who desire it, a doctrine of the faith itself, whatever it may be among us. For I myself shall be sanctified by the constant remembrance of it, and this people will be benefited, finding, if not from anything else, a wondrous pleasure in such words; and you will know ^C whether we are envied in vain, while we strive in the manifestation of the truth to equal some and, in the case of others, to precede them. For just as with subterranean waters, some are hidden completely in the depths, others boil up when constricted and promise an eruption to the ears, though they still delay, while others break forth to the surface; in the same way, among those who theologize about God (to say nothing of those who are entirely perverse and perfidious), some have an entirely hidden and secret piety within themselves; ^D others are near to the birth-pangs—those, that is, who flee from impiety but do not proclaim piety with a free and fearless mind, whether they utilize a certain counsel concerning the doctrine of the faith, or whether they take refuge in this out of fear and sloth; though in spirit and mind they are sound, as they claim, yet they do not care for the health of the people, just as if they had only themselves, and not others, committed to their care and trust; others, however, bring the treasure into the midst, unable to contain the birth-pangs of piety, just like those who are in labor, and not considering it salvation to be saved only themselves, unless...

^A they cause this good to redound to others as well. And would that I myself might be placed in that number, and as many as are endowed with a praiseworthy boldness along with me, and do not fear to profess a pious doctrine!

XV. And one thing indeed, and that a brief summary of our doctrine, and as it were inscribed upon a pillar and known to all, is this people, being such a true and sincere worshiper of the Trinity that they would rather suffer themselves to be torn from this life than to disjoin any one of the Three from the Godhead; all of them endowed with the same sentiment of faith, burning with the same zeal, joined and connected with one another, with us, and with the Trinity by one and the same doctrine of faith. But to run through these things briefly one by one: that which is without beginning, and the Beginning, and that which is with the Beginning, is one God. Nor is the nature of that which is without beginning to be "without beginning," or "unbegotten." For the nature of no thing is declared by what we say it is *not*, but by what it *is*. For it is the affirmation of that which is, not the removal of that which is not. Nor is the Beginning separated from that which is without beginning by the fact of its being a beginning. For the beginning is not a nature to it, just as the "without beginning" is not for the other. For these are considered *about* the nature, but they are not the nature itself. And in the same way, that which is with the one without beginning and with the Beginning is nothing else at all than what those are. The name of the one without beginning is Father; of the Beginning, Son; and of that which is with the Beginning, Holy Spirit. And the nature in these three is one: God. ^B And the union is the Father, from whom and toward whom the things that follow are referred, not so as to be confounded and mixed together, but so as to cohere; inasmuch as they are not separated or distinguished by time, nor by will, nor by power. For these things have made us to be many, as each one of us is at variance with himself and with his neighbor. But to those for whom there is a simple nature and the same essence, to them the term "one" also properly applies.

XVI. But let us leave aside the contentious and stubborn deflections and counter-balancings of the argument into either extreme; not pulling down the Three by means of the One, like Sabellius, and through a wicked contraction doing away with the distinction; nor again attacking the One by means of the Three, like Arius, and through a wicked division overturning the One. ^C For we are not seeking to exchange one evil for another, but to avoid straying from the Good. For truly these things are the games of the devil, who weighs our affairs in a ruinous way. But we, walking the middle and royal path, in which the virtues are also situated—as is agreed by those expert in these matters—believe in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, both consubstantial and of one glory, in whom also baptism finds its perfection. ^D

as well in names as in realities—this thou knowest, whoever has been initiated therein—since it is an abjuration of impiety and a confession of divinity, and thus we are made perfect; believing in one, as regards essence and an adoration exempt from all division; but in three, as regards hypostases, or persons, as some prefer. For let those who contend with one another on these matters cease their foolishness, just as if the piety of our faith consisted in names and not in realities. For what do you say, you who bring forward three hypostases? Do you say this because you suppose there are three essences? I have no doubt that you would raise a great clamor against those who so suppose. For you proclaim one and the same essence of these three. What then of you who say "persons"? Do you fashion in your minds one thing ^A as if it were a composite, and three faces, or something altogether in human form? Far be it! You yourselves would cry out against this; nor would anyone who thinks so ever behold the face of God, whatever that may be. What, then, do "hypostases" mean to you, or "persons" to you? For I will ask: does it mean that there are three things that are distinguished, not by natures, but by properties? Very well. How could some be more in agreement and say the same thing than when they think thus, even if they differ in syllables? See what a peacemaker I show myself to be for you, leading you from the letter to the sense, just as if one were to combine and reconcile the Old Testament and the New.

^B XVII. But we must return again to the same subject. Let "ungenerate," and "generate," and "proceeding" indeed be said and understood, if it pleases anyone to devise names; for we shall not fear that things which lack body should be understood in a corporeal manner, as seems good to those who slander the Godhead. Let it be called a creature, yes, a creature of God—for that is a great and honorable thing for us—but never God. I will admit that a creature is God only when I myself have become truly God. For this is how the matter stands: if it is God, it is not a creature, for a creature is among us, who are not gods. But if it is a creature, it is certainly not God; for it had its beginning in time. And that which had a beginning once was not. ^C But that which is older than the "once was not," this is not in the proper sense. And how can that which is not in the proper sense be God? Therefore, neither of the three is a creature, nor is either one; nor is that which is inferior to this, and came into being for my sake, lest it be only a creature, and more dishonorable than we are. For if I exist for the glory of God, but this other exists for my sake (like the fire-tongs for the sake of the forge, or the saw for the sake of the door), I win in the matter of cause. For according to the measure that God is of ^D creatures...

created things, so much more is that which was created for my sake, for God’s sake, ^A more dishonorable and ignoble.

XVIII. Therefore, let there be no access to the Church of God for the Moabites and Ammonites, that is, for dialectical and impious discourses which, by curiously peering into the generation and procession of God—which can be explained by no words—rashly rise up against the Divinity; just as if it were necessary that things which exceed all power and capacity of words should either be capable of being grasped by them alone, or else do not exist at all, because they themselves cannot comprehend them with their intellect. We, however, clinging to the footsteps of divine Scripture and removing the stumbling blocks that cause trouble to the blind, will hold fast to salvation, being ready to endure all things ^B before we would rashly or arrogantly set to work against God. We shall leave the testimonies of Scripture to others, since they have already been frequently committed to writing by many, and not carelessly by us. At the same time, it would be, in my opinion, highly disgraceful to be collecting now arguments for those matters which were long ago certainly explored. For it is not the best order to teach first and learn afterwards—not to mention divine matters, so great and sublime—but not even anything else that is small and worthy of little account. Likewise, to resolve and explain the difficulties raised from the Scriptures is not a matter for the present time, but for a greater and more perfect study and work than the present undertaking allows. But the doctrine of our faith, to summarize it, is such. And I have not mentioned these things in order to do battle with adversaries (for we have already fought many times, albeit moderately), but in order to show you the character of my teachings, ^C as to whether I am a defender of your dogmas, standing against the same, and for the same, on the battlefield.

XIX. You have, O men, the defense of my arrival in this city: if it deserves praise, I give thanks to God and to you, at whose summons I came; but if I have failed your expectations, I give thanks nonetheless. For it is not entirely blameworthy, as I am persuaded, and I do not deny credit to your own affirmations in this regard. Have we defrauded this people through avarice? Have we sought our own private interests, as I see many doing? Have we caused trouble to the Church? Towards others perhaps, by whom we are thought to have been chosen in their absence, ^D we have opposed our word; but as for you, nothing at all in so far as I am conscious of myself. "I have not taken an ox from you," says Samuel the great, protesting to Israel on behalf of the king; I have not taken your souls...

"—God is witness among you—nor this nor that, mentioning more things lest by enumerating them individually I draw out my speech; but I have kept the priesthood pure and unadulterated. ^A But if I have hungered after power, or height of thrones, or treading the courts of kings, may I possess no other brilliance, or if I have acquired it, may I cast it away and lose it.

XX. What then is it that I say? For I am not an unrewarded worker of virtue, nor have I reached such a magnitude of virtue. Give me a reward for my labors. What reward? Not that which some might perhaps suppose, among those who are led to suspect anything; but that which I am entitled to ask in safety. Relieve us from our long labors; have respect for this gray hair; grant honor to my pilgrimage. Substitute another, who may be troubled for your sake, who is clean of hands, who is not unskilled in speech, who is capable of granting you all things and carrying with him the ecclesiastical ^B cares; since there is special need of such things now. And you see for yourselves how my body is, spent by time, by sickness, and by labor. What need have you of a timid and cowardly old man, who is, so to speak, dying every day, not only in body but also in my anxieties; who can scarcely even speak these words to you? Do not disbelieve the voice of your teacher; for you have never disbelieved it. I am weary of having my gentleness made a crime. I am weary of fighting with speech, with envy, with enemies, and with my own people. Some strike at the chest, and they achieve less of what they desire; for what is openly hostile is easily guarded against. But others watch the back, and are more troublesome; for he who is least suspected inflicts a more lethal wound. ^C And if I were a ship's captain, and one of the most skillful, and then the sea were raging around us ^D and boiling about the ship, and there were great sedition among those sailing, some contending with others about one thing or another, and clashing against themselves and against the waves, how long could I endure sitting at the helm, so as to fight both against the sea and those sailing, and to rescue the ship safely from the double storm? For if, when all were struggling in every way and helping, the salvation would still be difficult, how could it be possible, when they are contending against each other, for the ship not to go down?

XXI. What need is there to speak of other things? But how shall I bear this holy war? For let there be named also war

^A a war that is sacred, just as it is also barbarian. How shall I unite and bring into one these who sit on opposing thrones, and who feed the flock in opposite parties, and with them the people torn asunder, and set against one another? As is the case in the fissures of earthquakes, where the neighboring and surrounding parts are accustomed to be moved together, or in pestilential diseases where the servants and the household are carried off together, the sickness easily spreading from others to others. And not only the people, but even the segments of the world are moved by the same feeling as those who are at variance, so that now the East and the West are separate and divided into two contrary parts, and they seem to be segments, in their minds and wills, no less than in their borders. For how long will these things be heard: "mine and yours," "old and new," "more eloquent or more spiritual," "nobler or ignobler," "richer in multitude or poorer"? I am ashamed of my gray hairs, ^B if I am called by others' names, having been saved by Christ.

XXII. I do not bear your circuses, and theaters, and this madness that rivals them, as much in expenditures as in the zeal of the souls. We yoke horses, we counter-yoke, we neigh against one another in competition, and we almost strike the very air, as they do, and we cast dust into the sky like those who are deranged; and under strange guises we fulfill our own contentions, and we become bad arbiters of ambition and munificence, and unjust and absurd judges of affairs. For the same men, today communicating with us in the equal commerce of holy things and faith, if our leaders and overseers carry us so, tomorrow are of a contrary see and opinion ^C if the wind has blown back. Hatred and friendship follow the names; and, what is most serious, we are not ashamed to speak contrary things before the same listeners; nor do we stand by our own selves, since contention changes us from time to time. You might say they are certain Euripuses, now overflowing, now subsiding with reciprocal flow. As therefore, if adolescent boys were playing in the middle of the forum, it would be most shameful, and unworthy of us, to abandon our own pursuits and ways of life to play with them (for the games of children are not suitable for old age); in the same manner, if others are mutually tossing and throwing themselves about, I, who perceive something better than the many, would not choose to be one of them, rather than to be what I am, free with obscurity. And furthermore, thus ^D

^A I should not be surprised if I were even bound, as being inconvenient and morose, and appeared to many to be foolish, as is said to have happened to one of the philosophers among the Greeks, who was accused of taking wisdom for madness because he laughed at everything, seeing that things sought after by the many with constant zeal were worthy of laughter; or even if I were thought to be filled with new wine, as the disciples of Christ were later thought, when they spoke in tongues; the multitude being ignorant, of course, that this was the power of the Spirit, and not a derangement of the senses.

^B XXIII. For consider also our crimes. You have been presiding over the Church, they say, for such a long time, supported by the help of the occasion and the favor of the emperor, in a matter of such magnitude and such importance. What evidence of a change have you shown us? How many have been insolent toward us before this? What suffering have we not endured? Have we not endured insults? Not threats? Not exiles? Not plunderings of goods? Not confiscations? Not the burning of presbyters ^C at sea? Not temples defiled with the blood of the saints, and transformed from temples into sepulchers? Not public slaughters of elderly bishops, or, to use a more appropriate term, patriarchs? Not the fact that every place was inaccessible to the pious alone? Not whatever else of calamity anyone could reach with words? What of these things have we returned to those who have done them, since the turn of events gave us the power to retaliate, as was just, and it was necessary to punish the insolent? Let us pass over the others; but—to mention our own affairs, that we may not speak of yours—have we not suffered persecution? ^D Have we not been insulted? Have we not been driven from churches, from houses, and from the deserts themselves, which is the most terrible thing of all? Have we not endured a maddened populace? Insolent prefects? Emperors insulted along with their edicts? What then? We have become stronger, and our persecutors have escaped. For this, I say, is a sufficient punishment for me against those who have done wrong: the power to return the injury. But to them it does not seem so; for they are excessively precise and just regarding retaliation, and on this account they demand the things that belong to the time. Which prefect, they ask, has been punished? Which populace has been chastised? Who are the instigators of the rabble? What fear have we ourselves instilled in our adversaries for the future?

^A XXIV. Perhaps they would even reproach us for these things (since they have already reproached us): the lack of a lavish and sumptuous table, the absence of dignified clothing, the humble processions, and the lack of haughtiness toward those who happen upon us. For I was unaware that we were in competition with consuls, prefects, and the most illustrious military commanders, who possess such wealth and resources that they do not know ^B where to cast their own. And it is required that we tighten our belts, while they live in luxury on the goods of the poor, and that while using necessities for superfluous ends, they even defile the altars themselves with their belching. I was unaware that we ought to be carried on elegant and spirited horses, to be raised up magnificently on seats and in chariots, to be led about with arrogance and display, to be stroked as if by a soothing hand, and for everyone to yield the way to us as if we were wild beasts, scattering and dividing to either side of the road, or for there to be such a great ^C throng of people going before us that our magnificent approach is visible from afar. If these things have been burdensome and bitter to you, they are past: forgive me this injury. Create another bishop who pleases the multitude; for me, give me solitude, rusticity, and God, whom alone we shall please, even through a meager diet and way of life. But it is considered burdensome to be deprived of assemblies, gatherings, public meetings, and these plaudits, by which we are carried aloft as if on wings, and of intimates, friends, honors, the beauty and grandeur of the city, and finally this splendor which encompasses and illuminates those who look upon these things but do not have their gaze collected within. But this will be less burdensome to me than to linger longer in the tumult ^D and to be stained by the troubles and fervor of civil life, and to find it necessary to bend myself to the customs of the rabble. For they do not seek priests, but rhetoricians; not stewards of souls, but guardians of money; not pure sacrificers, but strong and robust defenders. I shall in some measure excuse them: we have trained them this way, we who become all things to all people, though I do not know whether it is so that we may save everyone, or that we may lose them.

XXV. What do you say? Are we persuaded by these words, and have we won the victory? Or must a more powerful discourse be applied to move your hearts? Therefore, by the Trinity Itself, which we worship and you worship, by our common hope, and by the union of this people ^D, I beseech you: grant me this favor. Send me away with your prayers; let this be the proclamation of my struggle; give me a certificate of discharge, just as emperors are accustomed to do for soldiers; and, if your will permits, with a favorable and distinguished testimonial and witness—that I may have the sanction—or if not, as you wish; I shall not differ on this matter, until God sees how our affairs stand. What, then, shall we introduce in our place? He will see...

until God shall see ^A how our affairs stand. Whom, then, shall we substitute? The Lord will see to it for Himself, appointing a shepherd for governance, just as He saw a sheep for a burnt offering. This one thing I ask: let it be someone who provokes emulation, not pity; who does not defer in all things to everyone, but who, in certain matters, even incurs the offense of men for the sake of what is right. The former is most pleasant for the present; the latter is most useful for the future. You, then, prepare your farewell speeches for me; I, in turn, will render to you my valedictory.

XXVI. Farewell, Anastasia, whose name is derived from piety.

lovers of Christ, and helpers of my infirmity. Farewell, lovers of my discourses, and the courses, and the concurrences, and the styles, as well manifest as hidden, and the screens of this pulpit, pressed by the multitude of people pushing against one another in their eagerness to listen. Farewell, emperors and palaces, and all the emperor’s servants and chamberlains: if indeed they be faithful to the emperor, which I by no means count as certain; but to God, for the most part, they are faithless. Clap your hands, shout aloud, exalt your orator on high. The wicked and talkative tongue has fallen silent for you; yet it shall not be silent ^A altogether. For it will fight with hand and ink. But for the present we have kept silent.

XXVII. Farewell, great city, endowed with the love of Christ (for I will testify to the truth, even if this zeal is not according to knowledge; yet the separation has rendered us kinder). Approach the truth; turn yourselves at last, though late, to better fruit; worship God more than you have been accustomed. It is not shameful to change one's opinion; but to persist in evil is fatal and ruinous. Farewell, East and West, for whom and by whom we are attacked; He who will bring you peace is my witness, if but a few imitate my withdrawal. For they who have yielded their thrones will not suffer the loss of God as well; but they shall have the heavenly throne, one much more lofty and secure than these. Above all, and before all, I will cry out: Farewell, angels, protectors of this Church, and of my presence and absence, if indeed our affairs are in the hand of God. Farewell, ^B Trinity, my meditation and my glory. May you be preserved by these, and may you preserve them, this my people (for they are mine, even if we are governed otherwise); and may I hear that you are daily increased and exalted on high, both in speech and in life and in character. Little children, guard the deposit, I beseech you; remember my stonings. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.