[LATIN COLUMN] 715 S. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE. A Fear came to my aid, as the doctrine was losing its strength. I come to you now to speak for a little while, and I offer what is mine; when I have tightened the reins upon you, then I will yield to the discourse, so that the word may not toil in vain: I find stones and sprouting thorns, and I clear the field, so that the word may cast the seed with a lavish hand.
From the earthquake, how changed are the people of Antioch! B What loss have you suffered from this brief sorrow? You have become angels instead of men; you have been translated to heaven, if not in place, then in habits. And that I do not speak from adulation, the things themselves bear witness. For what was lacking to you for the sake of repentance? You cast out envy, you exterminated ungenerous affections, you sowed virtue, spending the whole night in sacred vigils, with much charity and intense fervor of spirit. No one remembers usury; no one speaks of avarice. Nor are the hands merely cleansed of sins, but the tongue also is free from iniquity and insult; no one offers injury to his neighbor, no one goes to satanic banquets; the houses are clean, the forum purified of filth as evening approaches, seeing nowhere the choirs of youths, or the theatrical songs of singers. There are indeed choirs, but not of lasciviousness; choirs, certainly, but of good deeds. In the forum, it is possible to hear hymns; and from those sitting at home, one psalm-singing, another chanting hymns; night arrives, and all gather into the church, a tranquil port and void of waves. C I thought that after one or two days the vigils would weigh down your bodies; but now, the longer the vigils proceed, the greater the increase of love becomes for you. Those who were chanting have failed, and you act manfully; those who were chanting are weary, and you have been increased in strength and vigor. Where are the rich now, I ask? Let them learn the philosophy of the poor. They sleep, but the poor, placed on the ground, do not sleep, but bend their knees, imitating Paul and Silas (Acts xvi).
D Verily, those men chanted and shook the prison; but you chant and have strengthened the shaken city. The ends of the things are contrary, but both tend toward the glory of God. For that one shook the prison so that he might shake the mind of the unfaithful, so that he might release the keeper of the prison, so that he might announce the word of God; you have strengthened the city so that you might release the wrath of God; and both this and that were dispensed in a varied manner. Yet I rejoice, not because the city has been strengthened, but because it has been strengthened by your prayers, because your psalmody served as foundations. Wrath [was] above, and your voice on the earth; the voice sent from the earth checked the wrath rushing down from above. The heavens were opened, and the sentence had slipped down: the sword [was] sharpened; the city was reduced to the ground, the wrath implacable. We had need of nothing else except repentance, tears, groanings, and all things were resolved. God uttered the sentence, and we have dissolved the wrath. Not at all has he erred who would call you the curators and saviors of the city. Where are the princes? Where those great defenders? You are truly the towers, the wall, the bulwark of the city. They through their own wickedness weakened the city, you through your virtue have strengthened the city. If anyone is asked why the city was shaken, even if he says nothing, it is yet acknowledged that it happened because of sins, avarice, injustice, wickedness, pride, and lies. Whose? The rich men's. Again, if anyone asks whence the city was strengthened, it is acknowledged that it was through psalmody, prayers, and vigils. Whose? The poor men's. The things that shook the city are theirs; those that strengthened it are yours; therefore you have been the saviors and curators. But here let us make an end of the sermon, persisting in vigils and psalmodies, sending forth glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
CONCERNING THE HOMILY ON JUDAS THE TRAITOR
Not without some hesitation do we place this homily, which now for the first time comes to light, among the genuine and sincere discourses of Chrysostom: for although that mention of the Daphnian suburb of Antioch, with which the discourse begins; although the memory of the Pythian Apollo worshipped by the pagans in that suburb, as well as certain other similar things, seem to refer to Chrysostom preaching; there are not a few things that savor of a stranger, namely the perpetual exclamations and interrogations, which, although the holy doctor often is accustomed to use, not so frequently...ON THE BETRAYAL OF JUDAS
Now Daphne is pleasant, now it is religious, not only because it sends forth most limpid streams, not because it nurtures the most delightful foliage of trees; but because it has received the foreign plant, the cross: now the fountain is truly temperate and terrible to the Pythian demon. It no longer offers (a) only wicked men to be trodden upon, but provides a grove for you, the pious, an image of that lovable place, namely the garden, in which the betrayal of the Savior, that bold deed, was performed, and the business of our salvation took its beginning. But what I am to say to the present assembly, I do not have in abundance: the assembly moves the tongue to accuse Judas, but ...the loving-kindness of the Savior turns my mouth toward Himself. I am held by two things, A hatred for the traitor and love for the Master, but love, being greater and more powerful, prevails over hatred. Therefore, leaving the traitor, I hymn the Benefactor—not as He is worthy, but as I am able. How did He bow the heavens and descend to the earth? How did He who fills the whole creation come to me, becoming for my sake what I am? How, when He knew he would be a traitor, did He accept him as a disciple, and command the enemy to follow Him as a friend? How was He untroubled concerning the betrayal, but concerned for the salvation of the one who was betraying Him? B For, He says, when evening had come, Jesus reclined with the twelve disciples, and as they were eating, He said: "Amen, amen I say to you, that one of you will betray me" (Matt. 26: 20, 21). He predicted the betrayal so that He might prevent the transgression; He made the prediction without naming anyone, so that it could not triumph over the disciple’s lawlessness while it was still hidden from those reclining with Him. Who has witnessed such loving-kindness in a Master? He is betrayed, and yet He loves the traitor. Who is scorned, and yet shows mercy? He is sold, and yet treats the wicked merchant as a table companion, and spares the one who plotted against Him? And as they were eating He said, "Amen, amen I say to you that one of you will betray me." He ate as a man, and as God He spoke of what was to come; C He took on what was fitting to my nature for my sake. And when all the disciples were struck by the word, and were scourging their own consciences severely, and were turning the time of the supper into a time of gloom, each saying, "Is it I, Lord?" (Matt. 26: 22) and desiring through the question to find release from the anxiety of the evil suspicion—the Savior, healing the souls of those struck at an inopportune time, makes clear through the answer the one who was unknown: "He," He says, "who dips his hand with me in the dish, this one will betray me; and indeed the Son of man goes, as it is written of him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed: it were good for him if that man had not been born" (Matt. 26: 23, 24). He shows pity to him who does not wish to be pitied; He spares him who did not spare his own soul. He refrained from exposing him who had long ago exposed himself, giving him time for repentance and healing the other disciples who were in gloom; but the traitor became no better from these things. For it was necessary for him to have risen immediately from the supper after those most chilling words, it was necessary to take the fellow-disciples as intercessors, it was necessary to embrace the knees of the Savior, and soothe Him with such words: "I have sinned, O lover of mankind, I have sinned, I have transgressed, I have transgressed against men, having sold for a small price the priceless pearl, I have sinned in abandoning the inexhaustible wealth for a few coins. Forgive me, the merchant of loss and perdition; forgive me, who had my reason stolen by gold; forgive me, who was evilly deceived by the Pharisees." He said none of these words, nor did he even consider them, D but by his hasty voice he declared the impudence of his soul, crying out: "Is it I, Lord?" O shameless tongue, O callous soul! As if ignorant he asks concerning the things he is meditating, and he thought to elude the sleepless eye. He bore the guile in his soul, and through his tongue he brought forward the plea of ignorance; he had accomplished the betrayal in his mind, and, as he thought, he hid the sin with his mouth. He used the same words as the other disciples, though he did not share their manner; being a wolf in his intent, he answered with the voice of sheep. What, then, does the Savior say to him? "You have said it." With a long-suffering voice He rebuked the wickedness of the evil one. For He could have said to him: "What are you saying, you loathsome and wicked one? What are you saying, you slave of money and true companion of the devil? Do you dare to feign ignorance? Do you dare to hide what cannot be hidden? Was I not present with my divinity while you were doing evil? Did I not see you with the eye of divinity approaching the high priests? Did I not hear you when you were away saying, 'What do you want to give me, and I will deliver him to you?' Do I not even know for how much you sold me? What then? After being exposed do you act so brazenly? Why do you struggle to cover what you desire to do? To me all things are naked." Christ, being able to answer thus, did not speak so, but simply, with long-suffering and meekness: "You have said it," teaching us to treat our enemies thus. Nevertheless, after such a journeying, Judas remained ill, not through the negligence of the physician, but through that of the patient. For the one brought all the medicines of salvation, but the other did not wish to receive them, but knowing only avarice, he loved gold more than Christ, and became benevolent and faithful to those who hired him. And approaching, Judas said to Christ: "Hail, Rabbi," and kissed him (Matt. 26: 49). This is a strange manner of betrayal, coming from a kiss and a greeting. But Jesus said to him: "Friend, for what are you here?" Why do you bid me 'hail,' intending to inflict pain? Why do you heal with your step, while striking with the deed? You call Him teacher, when you are not a disciple? Why do you wound the rights of love? Why do you make the symbol of peace a sign of betrayal? [725] Whom have you imitated in doing this? Did you thus see the harlot kissing my feet a while ago? Did you thus see the centurion falling on his knees? Did you thus see the demons falling down? I know who showed you the way of your deceitful kiss; the devil suggested to you the manner of this embrace, and you, persuaded by an evil counselor, fulfill his will. "Friend, for what are you here?" Fulfill the evil pacts which you made with the Pharisees; complete the document of the sale; subscribe to what you dictated; deliver Him who desires to be delivered; possess at last, along with the money-box, the purse of injustice; give way to the robber who is about to receive through his confession the rank which you lost through betrayal. Then they came and laid hands on Jesus, and took him (ibid.). And that prophetic saying was receiving its end: "They surrounded me like bees around a honeycomb, and they were ignited like fire among thorns" (Ps. 117: 12); and again, "Many dogs surrounded me, fat bulls encompassed me" (Ps. 21: 17). But oh, the long-suffering that belongs to Him alone! In heaven the Cherubim and Seraphim, not daring to look at His surpassing glory, cover their faces with their own wings as if with hands, and on earth, while His flesh was held by the hands of the lawless, He endured it. You see of what a long-suffering and loving-kindness Master you have become servants? Become, therefore, such toward...
enemies their fellow servants? Be therefore like yourselves toward your enemies, as you saw the Lord toward His enemies. For you too are to be invited to a spiritual banquet; you are to recline with the Master; let no Judas be found in your midst in his way of life; all of you, with serenity and peace, approach; all of you, with a pure conscience, let us run to the Savior. For He Himself is the fasting and the feast of the faithful; He is the nourisher and the nourishment; He is the shepherd and the lamb. To Him be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.
OPERADUBIA
AD HOMILY IN SANCTUM BASSUM
Having read the genuine works of Chrysostom, I refer this homily to be read, though I suspect it belongs to another region. Perhaps another may judge otherwise: wherefore I have been content to publish it among those that are doubted and dubious, rather than reject it as spurious. This Bassus, bishop and martyr, seems to be that Nicene bishop who is said to have suffered under Decius and Valerian.
The Latin translation is by Fronton du Duc.
IN COMMEMORATION OF ST. BASSUS. A SERMON DELIVERED ON FEAR, AND ON THOSE WORDS, LEARN FROM ME FOR I AM MEEK AND HUMBLE OF HEART.
A 1. Even if, when such a fountain of words has been customarily poured out to you by our preceding priests and teachers, I ought to repress the meager drops of our own words, especially since we are hindered by the long-standing infirmity of the body, the weakness of the voice, and the succession of duties, O Christ-loving listeners; yet since you, gripped by an insatiable love for holy discourses, invite us to speak, come, by the grace of the Savior aiding us well, let us present to your virtue a few things that fit and are suitable for the time. For this, I think, is more appropriate both for us who speak and for you who listen, who by reason and mind provide for yourselves those things that are better and more profitable. And the holy and famous martyr and bishop Bassus, who has gathered this sacred assembly for us today, already possesses the rewards which he earned by his own contests, and he has no need of any contribution or weighing of our praises, but he makes prayers to the Lord for us, as is his custom, as one who, on account of the struggle of martyrdom, excels greatly in boldness of speech B and grace, and has been gifted with the crown of immortality, which Christ has also prepared for the faithful. For the gifts of God are abundant, as the Apostle testifies, who both in the past distributed the rewards of the martyrs to those who sincerely call upon Him, and now especially, when the annual memory of that fear is soon to be celebrated, and the kindly and merciful wrath of God provokes us to the glorification of God on account of those terrible threats. For we truly saw the wrath from which kindness flashed, when fear of the earthquake besieged us on all sides, when we saw all created things being shaken, and the floor being quaked with great force; and the Savior did not at all deviate from His own mercies, when we expected a bitter end, when we thought our houses would immediately become our tombs, when, held by the shaking, we found no place or way of refuge, when, arriving at mid-day, we did not hope to see the evening, when the sword suspended from above hung over us, and below, benevolence fought strenuously with prayers, when the people cried out with one voice, "Lord, have mercy," and the Lord was moved by mercies; for He who with only a glance moves all things, stilled the trembling creation with His hand. Why do I not sum these things up in a few words? At that time, had not the Lord of Hosts helped us, our soul would have almost dwelt in hell (Ps. XCIII, 17). For whom does the magnitude of the Savior’s benevolence not strike with astonishment?