Henry Savile’s Editorial Notice

those who were to be regenerated and had already been initiated ^A into the mysteries, having received their priest. They were not listened to in this; so that the holy Paul, bishop of Cratia, said with fearless candor: “Eudoxia, fear God, and show mercy to your children; do not profane the feast of Christ by the shedding of blood.” The forty bishops having returned, kept watch in their lodgings, some with tears, others with grief, while others were seized by an invincible stupor of mind, just as each one’s passion governed him.

The presbyters of John, however, who had the fear of God, having gathered the people in the public bath called Constantianae, kept the vigil, some reading the divine Scriptures, others baptizing the catechumens, as was fitting for Easter. These same things the mischief-makers and deceivers—those around Antiochus, Severianus, and Acacius—brought back to their patrons, asking that the people be prevented from the assembly there. The prefect at the time refused, saying: “It is night, and there is a great multitude; let no reckless incident occur.” Those around Acacius replied: “No one remained in the churches, and we fear that the Emperor, entering the church and finding no one, will perceive the favor of the people toward John, and condemn us as envious, especially since we have told him that there is absolutely no one who willingly attends to him, as a man devoid of peace.” Thus the prefect, having protested to them about what would happen, provides a certain Lucius, a Gentile as they said, a leader of the number of the targeteers, commanding him to go and moderately call the people back into the church. Having gone and not being heard, he returns to those around Acacius, describing the intensity and density of the people. After this, they earnestly entreat him, persuading him with golden words and the promise of greater advancement, so that he might hinder the glory of the Lord, instructing him either to persuade them with words to go to the church, or by wrath and disturbance to stop the meeting of the feast. He, having immediately taken with him clergy of the party of Acacius, went out at the second watch of the night, for the purpose for which he was sent. For they keep the people in our districts even until the first cockcrow, having four hundred newly recruited Thracian swordsmen, like Esau, excessively shameless, and he leaped suddenly into the night with the clergy who were pointing them out and the soldiers, recklessly, like a wolf, having cut through the crowds with glittering iron. Having moved inside the holy fonts to prevent those being initiated into the resurrection of the Savior, and having been boldly thrust against the deacon, he pours out the symbols; and having struck the presbyters, who were already somewhat aged, on the head with clubs, he stained the font with blood. Then it was possible to see that angelic night, in which even demons fall down in terror, transformed into a labyrinth. For women, naked with men, were fleeing in terror of being butchered or disgraced, embracing an ugly flight; another, having been struck in the hand, went off lamenting; another dragged a virgin after tearing her clothes; but all, having plundered the treasures, were claiming them for themselves. Thus, those of the presbyters and deacons who were captured were thrown into prison; the others, among the people ^B of the great city, were cast out of the church. Edicts were posted one after another in different places, containing various threats for the refusal of communion with John. But yet, even these things happening, the so-called bishops competed in doing more from the outside; and the assembly of the lovers-of-instruction, or rather the lovers-of-God, was not disbanded; but according to what is said in Exodus, the more they killed them, the more they multiplied.

The next day, in any case, the Emperor, having gone out to exercise in the nearby field, saw the untilled land around the Fifth [milestone] shining white, and being amazed at the sight of the flower of the newly-baptized (for they were about three thousand), he asked his guards: “Who is this gathering of those collected there?” Having misled him, they say: “They are the heterodox,” so as to provoke the Emperor’s anger. When the middlemen and patrons of this envy recognized it, they send back the most reckless of their followers for the scattering of the hearers and the capture of the teachers. Those who came, again seized a few of the clergy, but more of the laity. And Theodore said: “O most blessed Father, and with them being so many, as there were three thousand newly-baptized alone, how did a few soldiers master them, having disbanded the assembly?” THE BISHOP: “This is no sign of scarcity, nor a proof of indifference, but an advantage of piety and a demonstration of the care of the teachers, constantly rectifying the unconquerable nature of the mind.” And Theodore said: “You have spoken excellently; for it was not fitting that those learning prudence and gentleness from the holy John should defend him foolishly and tumultuously.”

Chapter X

THE BISHOP: Having been pleased at this, I pray, do not interrupt the words which have been born from evil events; for events are wont, for the most part, to give birth to words. Along with the clergy and laity who were seized, women of distinguished men were also captured. And there were those whose headscarves they snatched; and they even pulled off others’ earrings along with the lobe of the ear; as, for instance, seeing the wife of a certain Eleutherius, who was very fortunate, having abandoned her own headscarf and having changed into the apparel of a servant, she rushed into the city for the salvation of her modesty. For she was, as you might expect, wearing a beautiful form and a naturally graceful build. In this way, then, the prisons of the various officials were filled and turned into churches; and hymns and the offerings of the mysteries were performed in the prisons, while lashes and tortures and fearful oaths were contested in the churches, for the anathema of John, who until death had been an enemy to the malice of the devil. When Pentecost was completed, after five days, those around Acacius, and Severianus, and Antiochus, and Cyrinus having entered to the Emperor, say to him: “O King, you represent God to us, not being under any authority, but having authority over all, it is permitted to you to do what you will. Do not become softer than presbyters, and less holy than bishops; we said to you before all: John’s deposition is upon our own head. Do not, therefore, spare one man, having spared none of us.” By Jewish words, and perhaps, too, by deeds, having persuaded the Em-

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CHAPTER X

...commending him to God, leave the Church." Thus, Bishop John, following an open and undisguised order, departed from the episcopal residence with the bishops, saying to everyone: "Come, let us pray and bid farewell to the angel of the Church," joyful indeed because of the actual events, but grieving because of the sorrow of the people. Immediately, one of the pious nobles signaled these things to John: "Since Lucius, a man who is bold and shameless in his appearance, is ready in the public bathhouse with his soldiers to drag you out and expel you—even if you should contradict or delay—and since the city's populace is being stirred up, hurry to depart secretly, lest the people, in defending you, join battle with the soldiers." Then John, kissing some of the bishops with tears (for his grief would not allow him to kiss the rest), said farewell to the others in the sacrarium: "Remain here for now," he said, "so that I may depart and rest a little."

Having entered the baptistery, he called for Olympias, who would not depart from the Church, and likewise for Pentadia and Procla the deaconesses, and for Silvina, the wife of the blessed Nebridius, who adorned her widowhood with honor and modesty; and he said to them: "Come here, daughters, listen to me. Things relating to me have reached their end, as I see; I have finished my course, and perhaps you will no longer see my face. This is the one thing I ask: that none of you be distracted from your customary goodwill toward the Church; and whoever is brought to ordination against his will, with the consent of all, do not seek it for yourself; submit your head to him as to John, for the Church cannot exist without a bishop. Thus may you obtain mercy, and be mindful of me in your prayers." They, bathed in tears, cast themselves at his feet. Then, gesturing to one of the venerable presbyters, he said: "Take them away from here, lest they disturb the people." Thus, having been held back for a little while, they seemed to acquiesce.

And so he went toward the eastern part (for there was nothing western about him). In the western part, however, where the great vestibule of the Church is, he ordered the beast of burden which John was accustomed to ride to stand before the gate, so that he might disperse the people who were waiting for him from that part. Together with him went out the angel of the Church, unable to endure the desolation of the Church, which wicked leadership and powers had caused, displaying the appearance of a theater of iniquities. For there was, as in a theater, the hissing of the impious as they hissed and mocked, of the Jews and Gentiles deriding and jeering immoderately; but as in a prison, there were blows and tortures inflicted upon the viscera by the soldiers, and the tension of all the mental faculties, as much on account of the removal of the teacher as the blasphemy against God. For where there should be the remission of sins, there occurred the shedding of blood.

After that ineffable and inexplicable darkness, a flame from the middle of the seat upon which John was accustomed to sit—like a heart in the middle of a body, as it were, interpreting the Lord's oracles to the other members—seemed to be seeking the interpreter of the Word of God, and, not finding him, it consumed the seat, and rising on high, crept through the chains even to the roof, and like a viper, its belly wasted away, it was carried to the back of the church building, God rendering the reward of injustice as it were defined as a punishment for that, for the correction and admonition of those who do not know how to repent unless they see evils sent by God. Nor was it only for that reason, but in order to leave a monument to that wild Synod. Nor is this a wonder regarding the church, when the [36] Senate, which is called "that of the outsiders," many paces distant and opposite the church to the south, that fire, having wisely bypassed the intervening multitude of people like a bridge, laid it waste; not first the part of the church nearby, so that we might not ascribe that damage to the proximity, but the part closest to the Emperors' palace, so that it might prove by the miracle of the thing that it was wisely done by God. For it was possible to see, between two mountains of fire, the people safe and sound, going about their own business.

In this way, therefore, the fire, flying around and surging like a sea tossed by a violent south wind, moving as if by a signal, seized the neighboring houses round about without discrimination, and spared only the small chamber in which a supply of sacred vessels was stored—not out of reverence for the gold or the rest of the silver furnishings, but so that he would not give those who slandered him room to lie against the just man, as if he himself had claimed the most beautiful things for his own. Thus the fire, stirred up, reflected backward, investigating the envy of those who had perpetrated these things, to the convicting of Theophilus’s madness, in that he concocts that he had expelled John on account of the sacred vessels. And indeed, no one's soul perished in such and so great a tumult, neither man nor animal; rather, the filth of those there living wickedly was washed away by the power of the fire from the sixth hour to the ninth, with the work of many years destroyed in three daylight hours.

CHAPTER XI

DIAC. And while these things were happening, Father, where at last was the blessed John or the rest of the bishops? EPISC. The rest of the bishops were either detained in confinement, or were being dragged away, or others had hidden themselves. Furthermore, John, together with Cyriacus and Eulysius, was held in bonds in Bithynia by the prefect's soldiers, who were threatening punishment on account of the burning of the church. Afterward, Cyriacus and Eulysius were brought in chains with the rest of the clergy and, having been declared innocent, were released. But the holy John, to the rest of the confidence which he had always used before, added this last, writing to them these words: "If in other things you did not give me a place for defense, at least let me be heard in the affairs of the Church, whether I be the author, as you say, of its burning." Thus, not heard even in that, he was led night and day by the soldiers into a most desolate little town of Armenia, Cucusus by name, surrounded by the Isaurians, so that he might be slaughtered. Arsacius, brother of the blessed Nectarius, was substituted in the place of John, the great interpreter of sacred things, a man more mute than a fish, and less fit for doing things than a frog. For sometimes action itself speaks, when a good work has been done for its own sake. When he had prolonged his life for fourteen months, he died, having violated his oath on the Gospels. For he had sworn to his brother Nectarius that he would never admit the ordination of any bishopric, when Nectarius had reproached him for not wishing to be placed over the Tarsian Church, as if he were watching for his death. The cause of the perjury was first of all vanity, for which he was ambitious, so that he might thus...

one might say, betroth his brother's wife; and afterwards it was shame, since the rebukes brought upon him by his brother were prophetic. ^A In place of this Arsaces, Atticus is introduced from among the presbyters, a craftsman of every engine against John. Since he saw that none of the Eastern bishops were in communion with him, nor indeed the people of the city, because of the events that had followed so lawlessly and uncanonically, and since he was unskilled in the divine Scriptures, he brought it about that those who were not in communion were compelled by imperial rescripts. The rescript against the bishops had this threat: "If any bishop does not communicate with Theophilus, Porphyry, and Atticus, let him be cast out of the Church, and let him be thrown out of the possession of his own property." Hence, some who were weighed down by the burden of their possessions communicated even against their will; others, who were poorer and weaker in sound faith, were dragged into communion by the promises of certain gifts; others, however, ^B despising lineage, and possessions, and country, and ephemeral glory, and bodily affliction, preserved the nobility of the soul by flight, having in memory that evangelical saying: "If they persecute you in this city, flee into the other" (Matt. 10:23); and citing for themselves that saying of the Proverbs: "Possessions shall not profit in the day of wrath" (Prov. 11:4). Some reached Rome, others were saved ^C in the mountains, and others in the retreats of the ascetics, away from the Jewish wickedness. The rescript against the laity contained this: that those who were in offices should fall from their dignity according to their ranks, that the soldiers should lose their belts, and that the remaining commoners and craftsmen, being assessed at a heavy weight of gold, should be subjected to exile. Nevertheless, even these things were done, and the prayers of the faithful were performed in the open air with much hardship, in love for the Savior who said, "I am the way and the truth" (John 14:6), and again, "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). And the blessed John, having lived in Cucusus ^D for one year, fed a great many of the poor of Armenia, not so much with bread as with the word; for a great famine had reached that country at that time. But the fratricides, envying him even for this, transferred him to Arabissus, subjecting him to various hardships, so that he might leave this life. Even there he shone not a little in his virtues (for "a city cannot be hidden if built upon a hill, nor can a candle burning brightly be hidden by a wooden bushel"); for as it were from the sleep of ignorance, he awakened those who were utterly stupefied by unbelief from the entire surrounding region to the ray of the word. But being burned more intensely by the flame of envy, those around Severianus and Porphyry and certain other bishops of Syria brought it about that he should be moved from there too; for he was burdensome to them not only in the comforts they supposed he had, but much more in his hardships, as they were unaptly disposed toward the nature of temptations, not remembering the divine oracle to the Apostle when he was in tribulations: "My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9). For seeing that the thanks for John was being sung, after his migration from the Antiochians to the Armenians, and from there again to the Antiochians, they prayed to destroy his life, ^A being tormented as if by the lashes of the tales—for such is hateful envy—so that those who saw the clergy accompanying him, marveled and said: "Behold the terrible dead man, terrifying the living and those in power, just as ghosts terrify children." Amazing! Those who are clothed with worldly powers and ecclesiastical wealth, with authority and with the rule of affairs, are afraid of the priest, the lone man, the man without a city, the man infirm in body, the exile; they grow pale and tremble. No longer able, therefore, to endure hiding the snake in their dwelling, they sent word to the military camp and procure again a stricter rescript with a fine: that within a short deadline he be moved to Pityus, a desolate place of the Tzani, situated on the shore of the Pontic Sea. ^B The soldiers of the Praetorian Prefect who were escorting him pressed him so hard along the road, saying they had orders that if he died on the way, they would be rewarded with higher ranks. One of them, having less concern for the present service, showed some small human kindness by stealth; but the other was so cruel and difficult that he considered the flatteries made toward him by those who happened by, out of pity for the holy man, to be insults, caring only that John should die a hard death. For when there was a torrential rain, he would go out without any concern, so that the streams of water were carried across his back and chest. ^C And he considered the intense heat of the sun to be a delight, knowing that in this the Elisha-like skull of the blessed one would be troubled. To any city or village where there was the comfort of a bath, the wretch would not allow him to stop even for a moment. And in all these things, while walking for three months that most grievous road, the holy man remained shining like a star, having his little body like an apple reddened by the sun on the tips of the branches. ^D Having approached Comana, they passed it by like a bridge, staying outside the wall in the martyrium five or six miles away. On that very night, the martyr of that place stood by him, Basiliscus by name, who was martyred while being Bishop of Comana under Maximian in Nicomedia, along with Lucian, who was a presbyter of Antioch in Bithynia, saying: "Be of good courage, brother John; for tomorrow we shall be together." They say he had also previously said to a resident presbyter: "Prepare the place for brother John; for he is coming." John, having faith in the oracle, on the next day begged them to stay there until the fifth hour. They, however, did not listen, and drove him on; but having come about thirty stades, they turn back again to the place of the martyrium from which they had set out, since he held himself to be in a bad way. Having returned thus, he sought the bright garments worthy of his life, and having stripped off the former ones, he put on fresh ones, having changed even his shoes; and he distributed the rest to those present. And having partaken of the Master's mysteries, he made his final prayer in the presence of those there, saying the customary phrase: "Glory to God for all things," and having sealed it at the end with "Amen," he stretched out his feet, which had run beautifully for the salvation of those who had chosen repentance, and for the rebuke of those who had richly cultivated sin. If the rebukes did not benefit the wicked, this was not due to the weakness of him who spoke with boldness, but to the stubbornness of those who did not endure it. Adding to those of the

to his fathers, and having shaken off the dust, he passed to Christ, as it is written: Thou shalt come to thy grave as ripe corn, which is reaped in due time: but the souls of the impious shall die untimely (Job V, 26). Such a multitude of virgins, and ascetics, and of those who bore testimony of holiness, was present from Syria and Cilicia and Pontus and Armenia, that the most part thought they had arrived as if by a signal. Being prepared therefore for burial, and honored with festive celebration, like a victorious athlete, he is buried together with Basiliscus in the same martyr’s chapel.

^B CAP. XII. — In addition to these things, Theodorus, marveling, asked, using the words of Scripture: Since it is written, said he, Do not fail in the discourse of the elders; for they also learned of their fathers (Eccli. VIII, 9): tell us willingly what was the cause, why he alone took food, and whether he truly ate alone, as they say. ^C EPISC. It is confessed, indeed, that he ate alone: but I would not, most pleasing Theodorus, that thou shouldst have inquired into the things of gluttonous infants. For since thou art a man, thou oughtest to seek out the virtues of men: how he might be fearless, how he was concerning money, in temperance, in meekness and justice, in almsgiving, in prudence and fortitude, and in forgetfulness or memory. For food does not commend us to God, neither if we eat, nor if we do not eat, but knowledge working with action. But he ate alone, as I know in part, for these causes. First indeed he did not drink wine because of the heat of his head, unless perhaps during the heat he used rose-water: secondly, because his stomach was disordered by a certain infirmity, so that well-prepared dishes might seem unpleasant to him, and he required others that were not at hand. Then sometimes he would forget to eat, putting it off until evening; being partly occupied by ecclesiastical cares, partly abstracted by divine contemplations. For he struggled so that no part of the divine Scriptures might be unpassable to him; and such things love either starvation, or light food. Furthermore, it is the custom among guests, unless one sweats with them, or sips, or giggles with an indecent laugh, carrying a warm cup with the tips of his fingers, to turn the friendliness of the table into a curse. ^D To sum up, however, as I think, and more truly, he was very sparing toward luxurious guests, deeming it sacrilege that expenses should be made on such; and at the same time cutting off from the stewards opportunities for theft, lest they should decuple the prices of provisions in their books, claiming the needs of the poor for themselves. Furthermore, considering the multitude of the city, he saw that he must either honor all with such honor, as being the steward of Christ, or provide that thing to none. Looking also to the tumults of the table and the magnitude of the expenses for the poor, he shuddered at that thing, bidding a long farewell to such sorts of mischief; echoing to himself that which is in the Acts of the Apostles: Men and brethren, it is not for us to minister to tables, but we will appoint religious men for this work; but we will give ourselves to preaching and to prayer (Acts VI, 2, 4). For just as a circus horse, which can no longer run the stadium, is relegated to the mill, gyrating in an endless cycle; so having thus retired, the doctor spreads the table as if it were nets to catch men: and would that it were at least for the hungry and needy! whence it is permitted to gain the blessing of the Lord: I was hungry, and you gave me to eat (Matth. XXV, 35): but for the rich only, so that he may be well spoken of, either for the sake of fading glory, or that he may be invited back by them, or if none of these things, so that he may not be ill spoken of; unmindful of the curse of the Lord saying: Woe to you when all men shall bless you (Luc. VI, 26). He did not say, Poor, but, Men. For similarly were their fathers doing to the false prophets. Let us not seek therefore, as those who are eager for vainglory, O Theodorus, the glory of the false prophet. For John came, neither eating nor drinking, in the way of righteousness; and they say, He hath a devil. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say: Behold a man that is a glutton and a drinker of wine, a friend of publicans and sinners (Matth. XI, 18, 19). DIAC. Not that I would altogether find fault, excellent Father, or insect such severity of life, have I interposed this questioning to thine exact narration: for I knew both from the fame itself and from his writings which have reached us, and from his homilies or epistles, the purpose of that man; but so that, having discovered his purpose, I might emulate that thing. For who is so stolid in every respect as to be ignorant that the loss from the table is greater than the gain, unless there be need to receive the saints in necessity? EPISC. These things also I said, O most truth-loving Theodorus, not extenuating the virtue of our fathers, especially hospitality. For out of the other virtues which tend toward piety, that one is the first through which the masters of the patriarchs, one indeed found the Savior God as a guest, another had angels as hosts; one indeed [obtained] a son in old age, another truly found salvation from Sodom with his daughters: concerning whom both the Apostle speaks, stirring us to imitation, Be not forgetful of hospitality: for by this some have received angels into hospitality when they knew it not (Hebr. XIII, 2). It behooves the receiver of guests, however, to have both the prudence of the serpent and the simplicity of the dove, obeying the two dictates of the Lord: to this one, Give to every one that asketh thee (Luc. VI, 30); and to this one, Do not introduce every man into thy house (Eccli. XIV, 31), lest admitting a wolf for a sheep, or a bear for an ox, thou shouldst exchange gain for loss. First, however, one ought to test the place in which one is constituted, whether it be desert, or frequented; then his own genius, whether he can tolerate absurd mores; then to discern who ought to be affected by the benefit, whether he be rich or poor, whether sound or infirm, whether he is in need of food or clothes: for in these is active mercy occupied. For the blessed Abraham did not receive consuls, nor dukes, nor men preeminent of this worldly age, among whom there might be horses flashing with gold or bit, or rattling with bronze bells, far off emitting a noise of pride; but inhabiting a desert place, he received those who came together there. But those who were passing through the desert, either on account of virtue came to the patriarch, or on account of mendicancy, which is the final poverty. For poverty is the medium between excess and defect: excess indeed of riches, but defect of mendicancy.

^A inhabiting a city of the desert, might justly welcome the travelers arriving there, on account of the mores of the inhabitants. But if someone, dwelling in a very well-regulated city, such as that of Constantine, in which all are hosts, perhaps one of the presbyters should superfluously abandon the ministry of the Word, employing himself in taking care of provisions, he deceives himself, deeming a tavern-keeper to be instead of a teacher, and by the dilution of his thoughts causes the pure knowledge to vanish, reaping the prophetic reproach: "Your tavern-keepers mix wine with water" (Isai. 1. 22). For by as much as wine excels water for those who are weak, by so much does the teaching of the Word excel hospitality. For the one benefits those who are with him, but the other benefits also those who come after him; and the one profits not only those who are present, but also the absent—the present through the tongue, the absent through what is written. Such was the Savior in the flesh, who, having fed five thousand with loaves, not in a city, but in a desert, taught those who were present through his tongue, and saved the world through the written Gospels. For such especially are the words of the Spirit-bearing ones. And do not marvel, Theodore, if someone fills a hungry man with food, but rather if someone delivers a soul from some impurity. For he who fills the belly, either by a gift, or by money, or by bread, or by herbs, is easily found providing for the need; but the feeder of the Word is rarely found, and when found, he is either not believed, or is barely believed, since the evil spirits always oppose the salvation of souls. This famine of the teaching of the Word, threatening to bring it in the form of punishment, the Lord God said to the prophet: "I will bring upon them a famine, not a famine of bread and water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord" (Amos 8. 11). And concerning the sensible famine, it is possible for one who has abandoned a city or region in need to be saved in another, just as the holy patriarchs who descended from Palestine into Egypt; but concerning the famine of the mind, it happens to the Churches from nothing else but the shortage of teachers, as another prophet said: "They shall run to and fro from sunrise to sunset seeking the word of the Lord, and shall not find it" (Ib. v. 12). For what good does not grow out of teaching? And what untimeliness is not found out of untimely nourishment or ^B feasting? Diseases, fights, insults arising from the belly, and the things that follow from these. When was Eve cast out of paradise? Was it not that she listened to the serpent and ate of the tree, not being content with the appointed food? When did Cain commit the stain of fratricide? Was it not when he first tasted the first-fruits, reserving the first place for his own gluttony? When did the children of Job find the table to be an impromptu grave? Was it not when they were eating and drinking? When did Esau fall from his blessings? Was it not when he served his belly, deceived by the food? When did Saul fall from his kingdom? Was it not when he ate the best of the sheep against the law? When did the people of Israel provoke God? Was it not when they desired the Egyptian table, seeking meat and pots from the teacher? Why were Ophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli, put to death in one hour in the war? Was it not because they snatched with flesh-hooks from the cauldrons the meat that belonged to the sacrifice? And Jacob, that rebuked man, why did he kick? Was it not because he was filled, and grew fat, and grew thick and wide? And when did the ^C Sodomites commit acts against nature? Was it not when they corrupted their minds with continuous banquets, being recorded by Ezekiel for their insolence, saying: "In abundance of wine and satiety of bread they luxuriated" (Ezech. 16. 49), that is, the city, and its daughters, that is, the villages, always following the custom of the city? And when did the thought of temperance fail the ancient people? Was it not when they lived luxuriously on mats similarly; the prophet lamenting: "Who eat the kids from the flocks, and the sucking calves from the herds, drinking refined wine and anointing themselves with the first ointments, luxuriating on their beds, and suffering nothing over the destruction of Joseph" (Amos 6. 4-6)? Upon whom did Isaiah bring the lament? Was it not upon those rising early for banquets? saying thus: "Woe to those who rise up in the morning, and follow strong drink; who wait until the evening: for wine will burn them up: for they drink wine with harp and psaltery; but they do not look upon the works of the Lord" (Isai. 5. 11. 12). When were the priests of Bel put to shame by Daniel? Was it not when the ashes exposed them, having hunted them through foods or drinks? And what need is there for me to speak about those who ^D have chosen to walk the broad way, and revile the narrow? The Savior's word is sufficient for me for the rebuke of those who pursue the smell of meat: where he shows the nameless rich man, luxuriously feasting every day in the present life, desiring and missing the crumbs and the drop of the poor Lazarus. But let us also behold the choir of the saints of old, and let us learn at last with what character of teaching they used, with that of a dignified life and virtuous word, or with that of banquets and luxury. Was Enoch the first translated by faith, or by a banquet? Then did Noah save the generation of the habitable world by faith in the ark, when the earthly world was being cleansed from the continuity of banquets and impure deeds, or by fasting and prayers? Do not the Scriptures proclaim his shame, and not his glory, through the fact that he was undone by a drink from such a great storm? Was the blessed Abraham victorious over the five kings in Sodom by faith and righteousness, or by food and drink, having called Lot to mind? And Theodore said: If you bring Abraham into the middle, then hear also from me; for any person will tell you that he overcame the war by faith, but he hunted God through the table, as you yourself previously suggested. BISHOP: Hurrah! Since Abraham hunted God with a table, shall we all then, abandoning faith and the other virtues, cherish banquets? differing nothing from tavern-keepers or innkeepers who have fortified for themselves the highways for the sake of this very gain. And so, the virgins, who are struggling to be holy in body and spirit to the glory of God, since Mary gave birth to Christ, let them also give birth; for if they do this, they will not differ from prostitutes. For if the teachers, on account of Abraham, prepare tables, and the virgins, on account of Mary, let them give birth. Far be it, most honorable one, that we should insult things well done or being done in their own proper time; for each man’s conscience, if it wishes, suggests what is advantageous. Then did the wrestler Jacob gain the things of Laban by asceticism or by banquet-mastering?

^A No, he sought nothing else in his prayer except bread and clothing, saying: If you will give me bread to eat and clothing with which I may be covered, all that you give me, I will give you a tithe of it (Gen. 28:20). He did not say, "I will spend it on banquets." That interpreter of God and faithful servant, Moses, with what sort of furnished table did he assemble the people on the mountain? What craters, what cups did he have? He who drew forth the rock with a rod because of the people's infidelity, who governed six hundred thousand men, who carried the tablets of the law for the amendment of the people: did he produce translucent phials, or the breasts of swine, or birds of Phasis, or fish from the sea, or wine strained from Tyre, and set out sumptuous loaves for those who were being instructed, or did he provide doctrine? ^B

DIAC.

BISHOP.

not bound, and the fat you slaughtered; you ate, concerning whom Paul writes: For you endure it if someone enslaves you, if someone devours you, if someone takes from you (2 Cor. 11:20); even though you wore wool, you did not tend the sheep. And in Jeremiah he says concerning idle shepherds: Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard (Jer. 12:10). The Deacon says: He could surely have cared for them at certain times and looked after ecclesiastical matters, so that he might not appear to be ill-spoken of, being great in other respects. Bishop: This is precisely what is required of a priest, that he be not ill-spoken of, but rather that he liberally provide the word, care, zeal, and the rest of the priestly disposition. Ah, but you know, venerable Theodorus, that even in the case of wrong accusation, a blessing has been determined by the Lord when He says along with the other beatitudes: Blessed are you when they revile you and say every evil word against you (Matt. 5:11). But woe to you when all men shall speak well of you: for so did their fathers behave towards the prophets (Luc. 6:26). How could one who is trained in the divine oracles, and whose ear is accustomed to hear divine utterances, have endured the talkativeness of the table, when the Lord says: No man can serve two masters; and then, You cannot serve God and mammon (Matt. 6:24)? Let us ask, therefore, what is "mammon," lest we be found serving not two masters, but only mammon. For by "mammon" He does not now mean the devil, but the empty labor of this world, from which the Word has led away His own disciples.

Chapter XIII - Deacon/Bishop Dialogue

Deacon: Return, O most sacred Father, to narrating the other matters, since the argument concerning the table has been sufficiently demonstrated. And do not be angry with me for the objections raised; for, wishing to learn something more, I questioned your great learning more thoroughly. Bishop: Let this be said to you more clearly by me, most studious Theodorus (for I myself have become one of those who are eager to please crowds through the table), that a bishop, especially of a great city, who has abandoned the ministry of the word, who does not have the books of the law in his hands by night and by day, and who does not perform the care of the poor by himself, but through others, will be far from those who said: Behold, we have forsaken all and followed you; what then shall we have? (Matt. 19:27). He will be numbered among those who said: Lord, have we not in thy name done such and such things? (Matt. 7:22). He will hear with them: Depart from me, you cursed; I do not know you, from where you are (Luc. 13:27). For the Word does not acknowledge those who are unskilled laborers; for His eye is pure so as not to see evil. For many of those who are called bishops, while they desire to cut away their own neglect of spiritual things, they exchange one passion for another—avarice for vanity—wronging others with one hand for shameful gain, and with the other hand fashioning tables, and erecting pillars of lofty buildings, so that by these appearances they might seem good and industrious, reaping honor instead of dishonor, not remembering the Preacher who both built and hated, and clearly forbade such things when he wrote: I made for myself houses and gardens, and the rest; and behold, all is vanity; and I hated all my labor which I laboured under the sun (Eccl. 2:5, 11, 17). He did not say, Above the sun,

not to injure intellectual labors. I say these things, not including those who build or repair churches for a just cause and necessity; but for the sake of those who consume the goods of the poor in hanging porticoes, and reservoirs of rainwater on third floors, and the indecent baths of effeminate men in hidden places, both to scrape together more money, and to be loved by buffoons and mimes, who for their own benefit repay this one reward, that they permit everything for the pleasure of those who sin. Far be it from me, Theodore, a man of great name, to ever please the wicked: for I will not please them from any other quarter than from those things which do not please Christ. ^B *Diac.* Upon this, the wondrous Theodorus asked, saying: Since these things have been spoken so naturally, and there is no room for contradiction, if you know anything of those things which were done in Asia by Saint John, of whom our discourse is now, communicate it to us. *Episc.* And entirely so. *Diac.* Did you know it as a present witness? or did you receive it from another? *Episc.* But I was not wanting in the slightest part of this trial. *Diac.* What, then, were the things that followed, and what end did they receive, and from where did they have their beginning, show me in detail: since most especially Theophilus, wishing to honor or cover up his own rashness, says in his book that the blessed John, moved by the lust of power, had deposed sixteen bishops in one day, and ordained his own men in their place. *Episc.* That wondrous man did nothing alien to his own character, both when he wrote against John, and when he wrote falsehoods. For from those things from which he thinks he will hide his own foulness, from those same things he exposes it the more, even unwillingly adorning the innocence of John, after the manner of Balaam. For if, when he had deposed [them], there was no need of a document, nor of exile, since the deposition itself suffices for the confusion of those who are deposed; but since one endowed with virtue cannot be deposed, and, though defeated, he brings back the victory, envy remains, reaping ruin from an unjust victory, swelling like a bubble; and shattered in itself, writing and inscribing that of Isaiah the prophet, drawing upon himself that "woe," while he both does, and says, and writes all falsehoods. For "Woe," says Isaiah, "to those who write: for they write iniquity" (Isa. X, 1). But concerning those who were deposed in Asia, not sixteen, but only six bishops, so that I may speak before God the judge, I will subtract nothing from the quantity of the number, I will add nothing to the quality of the matters, but as the truth stands, so will I explain it to you. In the thirteenth indiction, the Asian bishops came to Constantinople for the sake of certain necessities: these were staying with us, with other bishops also present from Scythia, namely Theotimus, and from Thrace Ammon the Egyptian, and from Galatia Arabianus, all metropolitans and elders, up to the number of twenty-two bishops. And when all were gathered, and were communicating, a certain Eusebius from the Cilbian hills, bishop of Valentinopolis, having watched for the gathered Synod, coming on one Sabbath, delivered libels to the Synod, having prefixed, as was consequent, the name of John, against Antoninus, the bishop of Ephesus, inserting seven chapters. The first, indeed, that having melted down sacred vessels, he had made silver for the use of his son; ^C the second, that he had brought marble from the entrance of the baptistery into his bath: thirdly, that he had set up ecclesiastical columns, which had been lying for many years, in his own dining-hall: the fourth, that his boy had committed murder, whom he still kept in his service unblamed: the fifth, that he had sold the estates of the Church left by Basilina, the mother of the Emperor Julian, and claimed them for himself: the sixth, that having dismissed his own wife, he had again associated with her, and had procreated children from her: the seventh, that he held it as a law and statute to sell the ordinations of bishops according to the ratio of their revenues. There are present both those who gave and those who were ordained, and he himself who received: and besides these, I have proofs.

CAPUT XIV.

*Diac.* Contract this narration, I pray, Father: for those here present are hurt, with bishops recounting these things, much more with them committing them. *Episc.* Woe is me, who have been reserved for these days in which the Priesthood is sold for money, if indeed it is a priesthood. For I have acted foolishly in recounting these things, since the detractors of John have driven us to it. But I beseech you to bear with me patiently, so that from this also you may admire the moderation of John, who with his zeal quieted for the time, said to Eusebius: "Eusebius, brother, since it often happens that accusations which are made from perturbation of mind do not have easy proofs, I beseech you to be persuaded to cease to accuse brother Antoninus in writing, while we correct the causes of the trouble." To this, inflamed with anger, he used harsher words, carrying himself entirely against Antoninus, and persisting in the accusation. John exhorts Paul, the bishop of Heraclea (for he seemed to favor Antoninus), to compel them into friendship. And rising up, he entered the church, together with the bishops; for it was the time of the sacrifice: and having prayed for peace for the people according to custom, he sat with the remaining bishops. But the accuser Eusebius, having slipped in secretly, offers another libel before all the people and the bishops containing the same things: adjuring John with horrid oaths, by which he also embraced the safety of the Emperors, with much perturbation: so that the people, terrified by his imprudence, thought that he was asking John to procure his life for him from the Emperor. But John, as he saw the man's insistence, desiring to keep the people imperturbed, received the libel, and when the divine oracles had been read, he prays Pansophius, the bishop of Pissidia, to offer the divine gifts: he himself went out with the remaining bishops. For he did not want to perform the sacrifice with a troubled mind, obeying these things of the Gospel: "When you offer your gift" (Matt. V, 23), and the rest. And after the dismissal of the people, considering with himself, and sitting in the baptistery with the remaining bishops, he calls for the accuser before everyone, saying to him: "Again I say the same to you, that many, compelled by grief or anger, both say and write many things which they cannot prove. If, therefore, you know clearly the things of which you wish to accuse him (for we do not repel you if you can; nor do we drag you if you cannot), before the libel is read, choose what is expedient: for after it has been read, and has come into the ears of all, with the record of acts completed, it will no longer be permitted, since you are a bishop, to ask for an acquittal." After these things, he again ^D