CXXV. TO CYRIACUS THE BISHOP IN EXILE
(Cucusus, year 404.)
Come, let me again calm the ulcer of your sadness and scatter the thoughts that have gathered this cloud. For why are you grieving and why are you troubled? Is it because the winter is harsh and the shipwreck that has overtaken the Church is bitter? I know this too, and no one can deny it; nay, if you wish, I will fashion for you an image of the things happening. We see a sea churned up from the very abyss, the sailors having clasped their hands to their knees in place of oars and tillers, and, at a loss due to the magnitude of the storm, they see neither sky, nor sea, nor land, but lie on the mattresses, lamenting and weeping. And this is wont to happen at sea; but now, in our own sea, the turmoil is worse and the waves are more grievous. But do you implore our Master Christ, who does not overcome a storm by skill, but dissolves the tempest by a mere nod. Even if you have often implored and have not been heard, do not lose heart; for such is the custom of the benevolent God. A For could He not have delivered those three youths from danger, so that they might not fall into the furnace of fire? But when they had been taken captive, when they had been cast into a barbarian B land, and had fallen away from their ancestral inheritance, and were given up for lost by all, and no manner of evil remained for them, then Christ, our true God, performed the miracle and dissipated the fire. For the fire, not bearing the virtue of the righteous, leaped out and scorched the Chaldeans whom it found around the furnace (Dan. 3). And then the furnace became a church for them, and they called upon the whole of creation, both the visible and the invisible, angels and powers, and thus, encompassing all things, they said: Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord (Dan. 3:57). C Do you see how the patience of the righteous turned the fire into dew, and put the tyrant to shame, and sent letters throughout the whole world? Great, he says, is the God of Sedrach, Misach, and Abdenago. And behold what severity He established, that if anyone should speak a word against them, his house should be plundered and his possessions confiscated (Dan. 3:96). Do not, therefore, lose heart, nor be discouraged. For I too, when I was being driven out from the city, was not concerned about any of these things, but I said to myself: If the king—
wishes to send me into exile, let him exile me: the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof (Ps. XXIII, 1). If he wishes to have me sawn asunder, let him saw me: I have Isaiah as an example. If he wishes to cast me into the sea, I remember Jonah (John I). If he wishes to cast me into a furnace, I have the three youths who suffered this fate (Dan. III). If to casting me to the wild beasts, I have Daniel, who was cast into the lions’ pit, as a reminder (Dan. VI). If he wishes to stone me, let him stone me: I have Stephen, the first martyr (Acts VII). If he wishes to take my head, let him take it: I have John the Baptist (Mark VI). If he wishes to take my property, let him take it: Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked I shall depart (Job I, 21). The A Apostle admonishes me: God does not accept the person of man (Gal. II, 6); and again: If I were still pleasing men, I would not be a servant of Christ (Gal. I, 10). David also arms me, saying: I spoke of thy testimonies in the presence of kings, and I was not ashamed (Ps. CXVIII, 46). They have plotted many things against me, and they say that I communicated with some after the meal. If I have done this, may my name be wiped out of the book of the orthodox faith, and may it not be written therein; for behold, if I have done any such thing, may Christ cast me out of His kingdom! But if they perversely keep on objecting this to me, let them also cast out Paul from his rank, who after supper baptized the whole house (Acts XVI); and let them deprive the Lord Himself of authority, who gave the communion to the apostles after supper (Matt. XXVI, 26). They even accuse me of having slept with a woman. Strip my body, and you will find the mortification of my members. But they have done all these things out of envy. But does it, brother Cyriacus, distress your soul B at all that those who have driven me out of the city fly about in the forum with impunity, and a huge crowd of bodyguards follows them? But recall Lazarus and that rich man (Luke XVI): was not the former miserable in this life, while the latter flowed with pleasures and luxury? What harm, moreover, did poverty bring to him? Did he not, as a wrestler and victor, reach the bosom of Abraham? What, again, did wealth profit this one who was resting in purple and fine linen? Where are the lictors? Where the satellites? Where are the horses with golden bridles? Where are the parasites and the royal table? Was he not led away to the tomb as a thief, bound, taking his soul naked out of the world, and crying with a hollow voice, Father Abraham, send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger into water, and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame (Luke XVI, 24)? Why do you call him Father Abraham, whose life you did not imitate? He used to welcome every man into his house; you did not care for even one poor man. Nor is there any reason for us to mourn and weep, because he who was endowed with such riches did not receive a drop of water. For because he did not share crumbs with the C poor man, therefore he does not receive even a drop of water. In the winter he did not sow the seed of mercy, and therefore he did not reap the harvest in summer. And this was also done by the Lord with a sure purpose, so that the punishment of the wicked and the rest of the just might be placed opposite each other; so that they might see and recognize one another. For then each martyr will recognize his own tyrant, and each tyrant the martyr whom he tortured. Nor do I say these things of myself; hear what Wisdom says: Then the just shall stand in great constancy against those who have afflicted him (Wisd. V, 1). For just as one who is traveling under a blazing sun and is burning with thirst, when he finds a clear fountain but is forbidden to drink, is afflicted with great pain; or again, as when someone, tormented by great hunger, sits down at a table filled with all kinds of food, but is prevented by someone more powerful from touching the table and enjoying the food, he feels severe pain and torture, because though he is reclining at the table, he cannot enjoy the D feast, or while sitting by the fountain he cannot draw from the water: so in the day of judgment the wicked will see the saints rejoicing, yet they will not be granted to enjoy the royal table. For even God, when He wished to punish Adam, did this: He made him till the earth outside the region of Paradise, so that, by looking every day and every hour at that pleasant and desirable place from which he had departed, he should drink in perpetual sorrow of soul. If it has not been granted to us to enjoy mutual contact here, no one will prevent us there from living together, and from seeing those who cast us into exile, just as Lazarus saw the rich man, and the martyrs their tyrants. Therefore, do not lose heart; rather, recall this word of the prophet: Do not fear the reproach of men, and be not afraid of their blasphemies: for they shall be devoured by the worm like wool, and they shall be consumed like a garment (Isa. LI, 7–8). Observe also how the Lord, that is, He who holds the world, was harassed from His very swaddling clothes and cast into the land of the foreigners, that He might warn us by His own example not to break down in temptations. Let the passion of the Savior be in your mind, and indeed how many insults He Himself suffered for our sake. For some called Him a Samaritan, others a demoniac, a glutton, and a false prophet. They said, Behold a man who is a glutton and a wine-drinker (Luke VII, 34), and: By the prince of demons He casts out demons (Matt. IX, 34). What when they were leading Him to be thrown down from the cliff, and when they spat in His face? What when they put a cloak on Him, and crowned Him with thorns, and threw themselves at His feet in mockery, and did not omit any kind of derision against Him? What when they struck Him with palms? When they gave Him vinegar and gall to drink? When they struck His head with a reed? When those bloodthirsty dogs dragged Him here and there? What when He was led naked to death, and all the disciples had abandoned Him, and one of them had betrayed Him, another had denied Him, and the others had taken to flight, and He alone stood naked in the midst of that crowd (for it was a feast day, gathering everyone together then); what when, as if He were a guilty person and a criminal, He was nailed to the cross among criminals; and after He was taken down from the cross, He lay unburied until...