Panegyric

ADMONITION REGARDING THE HOMILY ON SAINT EUSTATHIUS

^A Chrysostom mentions the address he delivered on Saint Eustathius in the first homily on the words of Jeremiah, number 1, in these words: "Therefore, having recently discussed Peter and Paul, and the controversy that arose between them at Antioch, and having shown you that that struggle, which seemed to be a loss, was more useful than any peace; and having led you to that steep and rugged path, since we saw you were exhausted, we led you to another subject, while we embraced the praises of the blessed Eustathius in an address, and after him, we ran through the praises of the noble Roman martyr; when the theater became more illustrious for us, the applause greater, and the uproar of those acclaiming louder." That celebrated homily on the controversy between Paul and Peter therefore preceded this one on Eustathius; [602] indeed, the homily on St. Romanus the martyr followed this one on Eustathius, which we subjoin here at the persuasion of Chrysostom. Now, all these addresses were delivered at Antioch: in what year, however, is unknown.

A few words must be said about Eustathius, the prelate of Antioch, who suffered much for the Catholic faith and was driven into exile. Burning with zeal to promote true doctrine and hostile to the Arians—whom he had denounced as being estranged from his society and communion—he incurred the hatred and envy of Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, and his Arian associates. Furthermore, he published many works against the Arians, the mention of which is found in Jerome and Theodoret. He also entered into a controversy with Eusebius of Caesarea, and attacked him in his writings as being hostile to the Nicene faith. The latter, in return, accused Eustathius of the Sabellian opinion—for it was a common crime among the Arians to impute this to those who fiercely opposed the Arian heresy. Eustathius inveighed most sharply not only against Eusebius, but also against Patrophilus of Scythopolis and Paulinus of Tyre. Enraged by these things, the enemies of the truth laid traps for the man and invented crimes.

Historians do not agree as to what kind of calumny the adversaries of Eustathius employed. Athanasius says that Eustathius was accused before the Emperor Constantine the Great of heaping insults upon his mother, and without any delay was driven into exile with a great multitude of accompanying presbyters and deacons. ^B Socrates and Sozomen, however, relate that the Eusebians, burning with hatred, deposed Eustathius at a synod held at Antioch, for the cause of both Sabellianism and another crime not worth mentioning. But Theodoret reveals what that crime was: that Eusebius of Nicomedia, pretending to be about other business, came to Antioch with not a few associates and was kindly received by Eustathius. There, he says, they themselves were the authors of a scheme, having hired a prostitute who made her living by the beauty of her body, to have her accuse the holy prelate of having had carnal relations with her. The woman was brought into the assembly, and showing an infant brought to her breasts, she affirmed that she had borne it from the coition of Eustathius. Eustathius, however, not ignorant of the conspiracy formed against him, ordered the woman to produce any witness she might have for such a crime; and when she could produce no one, the Eusebians themselves tendered an oath to her. The woman swore that the infant was Eustathius’s; and immediately the most iniquitous judges condemned the man as an adulterer, despite the protests of the other bishops who had gathered there, men who were tenacious of the truth and upright, who had advised Eustathius not to acquiesce to the iniquitous sentence. Jerome also mentions this same accusation in *Apologia* 2 against Rufinus: "These," he says, "are the machines of the heretics, that is, of your masters, that when they are convicted of treachery, they betake themselves to curses. Thus Eustathius the bishop found sons while he was ignorant of it."

Eulogy on our Father among the Saints, Eustathius, Archbishop of Great Antioch

1. "Do not praise anyone before his death, but after his death" (Eccl. 11:30). A certain wise man, skilled in philosophizing, having learned with accuracy the nature of human affairs and having known their instability, and how nothing in them possesses anything faithful or stable, advises all men generally not to felicitate anyone before his end. Therefore, since the blessed Eustathius has passed away, we can now felicitate him with all freedom. For if one ought not to felicitate anyone before his end, after his end the felicitation for those who are worthy would be above reproach. For he has passed the straits of worldly affairs, he has been relieved of the disturbance of the waves, and has reached that serene and steady harbor; he is no longer subject to the uncertainty of the future, nor is he liable to a fall, but now standing as if upon a rock and a high promontory, he laughs at all the waves. Therefore the felicitation is safe and the eulogy blameless; for it does not fear change, nor does it suspect a fall. We, however, who are still living, like those tossing in the middle of the sea, are subject to many changes; and just as those are now raised to a height as the waves swell, and now are carried down to the very depths—but neither the height is safe, nor the lowliness permanent; for...

Homily on the Holy Eustathius, Bishop of Antioch

^A ...both these things depend upon waters that flow and do not stand still; so, indeed, in human affairs there is nothing firm and constant, but the changes are frequent, and they happen at a light moment. This one, on account of prosperity, is lifted up on high, while that one, on account of adversity, is deeply cast down; but let neither the one be puffed up, nor the other lose heart, for each will quickly meet with a change. But not he who has departed to heaven, and has gone on to Jesus, whom he desired, who has arrived at a place free of disturbances, where pain and sickness and groaning are absent. There is no image of change there, no shadow of turning, but all things are fixed and immovable, all things firm and established, all things incorrupt and immortal, all things without end and eternal. For this reason, he says, "Before death do not praise anyone" (Eccli. 11:28). Why? Because the future is uncertain, and nature is weak; the will is sluggish, and sin is prone to beset us; the snares are many. "For know," he says, "that you walk in the midst of snares" (Eccli. 9:13). The temptations are continuous, the crowd of affairs is great, and there is the perennial war of the demons, and the constant onsets of perturbations. Therefore, "Before death," he says, "do not praise anyone." It is safe, then, to praise the worthy after death; or rather, not simply after death, but after such a death, when someone has departed from life with a crown, when with confession and unfailing faith. For if one can praise those who have died in any manner, how much more those who have died in this way?

^B And who, one might say, praised those who have died in any manner? That wise Solomon, Solomon himself; for do not pass over the man lightly, but weigh who he was, and in what manner he lived, with what security and pleasure he led a soft life, free of hardships. For he ran through every kind of enjoyment, and devised multiple modes of recreation for the soul, and discovered various and diverse species of pleasures, which he also recounted, saying, "I built myself houses, I planted vineyards, I made for myself gardens and fruit-trees, I made for myself pools of waters; I purchased for myself menservants and maidservants, and household slaves were born to me; the possession of herds, of oxen and flocks was mine; I gathered silver and gold like sand; I made for myself singers and songstresses, cupbearers, and those who pour wine" (Eccl. 2:4-8). What then, after such an abundance of wealth, possessions, delights, and pleasures, does this same man report? "I praised," he says, "the dead who are already dead more than the living, and better than both of these is he who has not yet been born" (Eccl. 4:2). Truly this man is a trustworthy accuser of delights, who brings such a judgment upon them. For if any of those who had passed their lives in poverty and beggary had brought this judgment against delights, he would have appeared to disparage them not from the truth of the matter, but because he had not experienced them; but when he who has run through all of them, and has searched out each of their paths, condemns them, then the accusation is free from all suspicion. Perhaps you think that I have digressed from the proposed subject; but if we pay attention, we shall find that what has been said is most closely connected to it. For in the commemorations of the martyrs, it is fitting and consistent to institute a discourse on philosophy. We do not say these things so as to condemn the present life, far from it; but because we lash out at delights; for to live is not an evil, but to live rashly and inconsiderately.

The relics of the saints are spiritual fountains.

the virtue of the aromatics lying within. And if a spring, and a root, and the nature of plants and aromatics possess such power, much more so do the bodies of the saints. And that what we say is not false, you yourselves are witnesses. For the body of the martyr lies in Thrace, yet you, not dwelling in Thrace, but being removed far from that region, perceive the sweet odor from such a great distance; and for this reason you have gathered together, and neither the length of the journey has hindered you, nor has the multitude of time extinguished it. For such is the nature of spiritual achievements: it is not interrupted by any bodily obstacle, but flourishes and increases every day, and neither does the multitude of time wither it, nor does the length of the road partition it. ^A And do not wonder if, at the beginning of my discourse and praise, I called the holy man a martyr; for he finished his life with a fitting end. How, then, is he a martyr? I have often said to your love that it is not only death that makes a martyr, but also the intention. For the crown of martyrdom is often woven not only from the outcome, but also from the resolve. And it is not I who give this definition of martyrdom, but Paul, who says, "I die daily" (1 Cor. 15:31). How do you die daily? How is it possible for one mortal body to receive ten thousand deaths? By the intention, he says, and by being prepared for death. Thus also does God declare it; for Abraham did not whet the sword, he did not stain the altar, he did not sacrifice Isaac, yet nevertheless he fulfilled the sacrifice. Who says this? He Himself who accepted the sacrifice: "For you have not spared," He says, "your beloved son for My sake" (Gen. 22:12). And yet He received him alive, and brought him back healthy; how then did He not spare him? Because, He says, I judge such sacrifices not by the outcome of events, but by the intention of those who choose them. The hand did not slaughter, but the resolve slaughtered; the sword did not dip into the throat of the child, it did not cut his neck; yet it is a sacrifice even without blood. Those who have been initiated know what is said; and for this reason that sacrifice also took place without blood, because it was to be a type of this one. Do you see the image in the Old Testament prefigured? Do not deny the truth.

3. This martyr, then—for the discourse has demonstrated him to us as a martyr—prepared himself for ten thousand deaths, and endured them all in his resolve and readiness; and many of the dangers brought against him he endured by actual experience. For they even drove him from his homeland and moved him to a foreign land, and stirred up many other things against that blessed man at that time, having no just cause to accuse him, except that, having heard Paul saying, "They venerated and served the creature rather than the Creator" (Rom. 1:25), he fled from the impiety and feared the transgression; but this is worthy of crowns, not of accusation. ^B But you, consider for me the malice of the devil. Since the Hellenic war had recently been brought to an end, and all the Churches had just breathed [freely] from the grievous and successive persecutions, and not much time had passed since all the peoples had been shut out, the altars extinguished, and all the madness of the demons abolished, and these things grieved the wicked demon, and he could not bear the peace of the Church with a calm mind, what then does he do? He brings in another ^C grievous war. The former was foreign, but this one was civil; and such [wars] are more difficult to guard against, and easily overcome those who fall into them. At that time, therefore, this blessed man was at the helm of our Church, and the sickness was rising, like some grievous plague from the regions of Egypt, then, walking through the cities in between, it hastened to fall upon our city. But he, being vigilant and sober, and foreseeing all future things from afar, was warding off the approaching war; and like some wise physician, before the sickness could fall into the city, sitting there, he prepared the medicines, and was steering this sacred ship with great security, running in every direction, organizing the sailors, the passengers, all who were sailing, preparing them to be sober and vigilant, as pirates were attacking and attempting to steal the treasure of the faith. And he did not employ this providence only there, but he sent out everywhere those who would teach, exhort, debate, and preemptively fortify the approach against the enemies. For he had been well instructed by the grace of the Spirit that the one presiding over the Church must not care only for that which was entrusted to him by the Spirit, but for all that is situated throughout the inhabited world; and he learned these things from the sacred prayers. For if, he says, one must offer prayers on behalf of the universal Church from the ends to the ends of the inhabited world, much more must one display providence on behalf of all of it, and care for all equally, and be concerned for all. And what happened in the case of Stephen, that also happened in his case. For just as, not being able to withstand the wisdom of Stephen, they, the Jews, stoned that holy man; so also these, seeing the fortifications made secure, finally cast the herald out of the city. But the voice did not fall silent, but the man was cast out, yet the word of the teaching was not cast out. For Paul was bound, and the word of God was not bound (2 Tim. 2:9); and this man was in a foreign land, and his teaching was among us. Casting him out, therefore, they rushed in, closing their ranks like a violent torrent; but they neither swept away the plants, nor buried the seeds, nor harmed the cultivation; so well and with such skill had it been rooted by the wisdom cultivated by him. But it is worth saying for what reason God permitted him to be driven from here. The Church had recently breathed [freely]; it had no ordinary consolation in his supervision; he fortified it from every side, and warded off the assaults of the enemies. Why, then, was he cast out, and why did God permit those who were leading him away? For what reason? And do not think that the saying alone is the solution to this question; but even if it is to the pagans, even if it is to the heretics—

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CHAPTER 4.

...the solution to this question. Whether you are speaking with pagans or with heretics about matters of this kind, what we shall say will suffice to resolve every question. God indeed permits His true and apostolic faith to be opposed by many, while He allows heresies and paganism to enjoy secure tranquility. Why so? So that you may learn the weakness of the former, which, when they are not at all harassed, are destroyed of their own accord; and that you may recognize the strength of the faith, which, while it is opposed, increases through the work of those who set themselves against it.

That this is no conjecture of mine, but a divine response sent down from above, let us hear what Paul says regarding this—for he too once suffered something human: for though he was Paul, he still partook of our nature. And what is this that he suffered? He was driven about, he was assailed, he was beaten with rods, he was attacked by countless kinds of snares, from without, from within, by those who seemed to be of his own household, and by strangers. But what need is there to recount how many afflictions he endured? Exhausted, therefore, and no longer able to bear the assaults of his enemies who were always interrupting his teaching and opposing his word, he falls as a suppliant before the Master and implores Him, saying: "There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me. For this I besought the Lord three times, and He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness'" (2 Cor. 12:7-9).

And although some think that this refers to a bodily infirmity, it is not so; it is not at all. Rather, he calls those who opposed him the "messenger of Satan," for the word "Satan" is Hebrew, and "Satan" signifies an "adversary." He calls, therefore, the instruments of the devil and the men who serve him, his messengers. Why, therefore, one might ask, is "to the flesh" added? Because the flesh was being scourged, while the soul was being buoyed up, lifted by the hope of the things to come. For it did not touch the soul, nor did it overturn the inward thoughts, but the torments stood within the flesh, nor could they penetrate within. Because, therefore, this was being cut, this was being scourged, this was being bound (for no one can bind the soul), he says, "There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me," implying temptations, afflictions, and persecutions.

Then what? "For this," he says, "I besought the Lord three times," that is, I prayed many times, he says, that I might breathe a little from the temptations. But you remember the reason I gave for why God permits His servants to be scourged, to be vexed, and to suffer countless evils: to show His own power. For behold, here too, even when he had prayed that countless evils and adversaries might depart from him, he did not obtain what he asked; and he adds the reason why he did not obtain it. What, then, is the reason? For nothing prevents mentioning it again. "My grace is sufficient for you," He says, "for My power is made perfect in weakness."

^B 4. You see that for this reason God permits the angels of Satan to set upon His servants, and to cause them countless trials, so that His own power may be made manifest. "For even if we discourse with pagans, even if we discourse with the wretched Jews, it suffices to prove the divine power, that the faith, having been brought in against countless [609] wars, has prevailed, while all the world was fighting against it, and was with great intensity repelling those twelve men—the apostles, I mean—who were, in a short time, being scourged, driven about, and suffering countless terrible things; yet, while doing these things, they were able to gain the victory with such great superabundance."

On account of these things, God also allowed the blessed Eustathius to be carried off into exile, so that He might the more show us the power of the truth and the weakness of the heretical. Therefore, when he was about to depart for exile, he was leaving the city, but he did not leave behind his love for you; nor, because he was being expelled from the Church, did he consider himself a stranger to the office of overseer or to the care he bore for you, but he was all the more concerned and anxious. Therefore, he called everyone and admonished them not to yield, nor to give way to the wolves, nor to betray the flock to them, but to remain within, so as to stop their mouths, to confute them, and to confirm the more simple of the brethren.

And that he commanded/this well, the result finally proved. For if you had not remained in the Church, the greater part of the city would have been corrupted, with the wolves devouring the sheep in the wilderness; but his word prevented them from exercising their wickedness with impunity. And not only the result showed this, but also the words of Paul; for, having been taught by him, he admonished them in this way. For what does Paul say? When he was about to depart from Rome on his final journey, after he was no longer to see his disciples, he said: "For I shall no longer see you" (Acts 20:25). He said this, not to inflict pain upon them, but wishing to confirm them. Therefore, being about to depart from there, he confirmed them in this manner, saying: "I know that after my departure fierce wolves will enter in among you, and from among your own selves men will arise speaking perverse things" (Ibid., vv. 29-30).

A triple war: the nature of the beasts, the cruelty of the war, and that those who wage the war are not strangers but domestic, and therefore it is more grievous. For if someone should wound me or wage war from without, I shall be able to overcome him easily; but if an ulcer should arise from the body itself within, the evil becomes difficult to heal; which is what, indeed, happened then. Therefore he admonished them, saying: "Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock" (Ibid., v. 28). He did not say, "Abandoning the sheep, flee outside." Having been instructed by these things, the blessed Eustathius admonished his disciples; which, naturally, this wise and noble teacher, having heard, fulfilled the word by his deeds. For, when they entered, he did not abandon the sheep, even though he had not ascended the throne of his prefecture; but that noble soul, excelling in philosophy, did not care for this; for he left the honors of the throne to others, but he himself undertook the labors of the office, and moved about within among the wolves; for the teeth of the wild beasts did not hurt him at all, so firmly was he possessed of a faith that he was not vulnerable to their bites. Since, therefore, he moved about within, and the battle that was being waged against him occupied them all, he provided great tranquility for the sheep. And he did not only do this, stopping their mouths, and...