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ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
HOMILIES ADDRESSED TO THE PEOPLE OF ANTIOCH, CONCERNING THE STATUES, I-V
[The Oxford translation, revised by Rev. W. R. W. Stephens, M.A.
Prebendary of Chichester Cathedral, and Rector of Woolbeding, Sussex.]
HOMILY I
[This Homily was delivered in the Old Church(1) of Antioch, while St.
Chrysostom was yet a Presbyter, upon that saying of the Apostle, 1 Tim. v.
23, "Drink a little wine for thy stomach's sake, and thy often
infirmities."]
1. YE have heard the Apostolic voice, that trumpet from heaven, that
spiritual lyre! For even as a trumpet sounding a fearful and warlike note,
it both dismays the enemy, and arouses the dejected spirits on its own
side, and filling them with great boldness, renders those who attend to it
invincible against the devil! And again, as a lyre, that gently soothes
with soul-captivating melody, it puts to slumber the disquietudes of
perverse thoughts; and thus, with pleasure, instills into us much profit.
Ye have heard then to-day the Apostle discoursing to Timothy of divers
necessary matters! for he wrote to him as to the laying on of hands,
saying, "Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's
sins."(2) And he explained the grievous danger of such a trangression, by
showing that so men will undergo the punishment of the sins perpetrated by
others, in common with them, because they confer the power. on their
wickedness by the laying on of hands. Presently again he says, "Use a
little wine for thy stomach's sake, and thine often infirmities." To-day
also he has discoursed to us concerning the subjection of servants, and the
madness of misers, as well as on the arrogance of the rich, and on various
other matters.
2. Since then it is impossible to go through every part, what part of the
words rehearsed would you have us select for the subject of our address to
your charity?(3) For as in a meadow, I perceive in what has been read a
great diversity of flowers; a multiplicity of roses and violets, and of
lilies not a few; and everywhere the various and copious fruit of the
Spirit is scattered around, as well as an abundant fragrance. Yea, rather
the reading of the divine Scriptures is not a meadow only, but a paradise;
for the flowers here have not a mere fragrance only, but fruit too, capable
of nourishing the soul. What part then of the things rehearsed do you
desire that we bring before you this day? Do you wish what seems the more
insignificant, and easy for any one to understand, to be that which we
should handle at present? To me, indeed, this seems proper, and I doubt not
you will concur in this opinion. What then is this that might seem plainer
than anything else? What but that, which seems so easy, and obvious for any
one to say? Well l what is that? "Use a little wine for thy stomach's sake,
and thine often infirmities." Well then, let us employ the whole of our
discourse upon this subject; and this we would do, not for the love of
praise, nor because we study to exhibit powers of oratory (for the things
about to be spoken are not our own, but such as the grace of the Holy
Spirit may inspire); but in order that we may stir up those hearers who are
too listless, and may convince them of the greatness of the treasure of the
holy Scriptures; and that it is neither safe, nor free from peril, to run
through them hastily. For if indeed a text so simple and obvious as this
one, which seems to the multitude to contain nothing that need be insisted
on, should appear to afford us the means of abundant riches, and openings
toward the highest wisdom, much rather will those others, which at once
manifest their native wealth, satisfy those who attend to them with their
infinite treasures. Assuredly then, we ought not hastily to pass by even
those sentences of Scripture which are thought to be plain; for these also
have proceeded from the grace of the Spirit; but this grace is never small,
nor mean, but great and admirable, and worthy the munificence of the Giver.
3. Let us not therefore listen carelessly; since even they who roast the
metallic earth, when they have thrown it into the furnace, not only take up
the masses of gold, but also collect the small particles with the utmost
care. Inasmuch, then, as we likewise have to roast(1) the gold drawn from
the Apostolic mines, not by casting it into the furnace, but by depositing
it in the thoughts of your souls; not lighting an earthly flame, but
kindling the fire of the Spirit, let us collect the little particles with
diligence.(2) For if the saying be brief, yet is its virtue great. For
pearls too have their proper market, not owing to the size of the
substance, but the beauty of their nature. Even so is it with the reading
of the divine Scriptures; for worldly instruction rolls forth its trifles
in abundance, and deluges its hearers with a torrent of vain babblings, but
dismisses them empty-handed, and without having gathered any profit great
or small. Not so however is it with the grace of the Spirit, but, on the
contrary, by means of small sentences, it implants divine wisdom in all who
give heed, and one sentence often times affords to those who receive it a
sufficient source of provision for the whole journey of life.(3)
4. Since then its riches are so great, let us arouse ourselves, and
receive that which is spoken with a watchful mind; for I am preparing to
plunge our discussion to an extreme depth. The admonition itself hath no
doubt seemed beside the purpose, and superfluous to many: and they are apt
to talk much in this way, "Was Timothy of himself not able to judge what it
was needful to make use of, and did he wait to learn this of his
teacher.(4) And then did the teacher not only give directions, but also set
them down in writing, graying it there as on a column of brass in his
Epistle to him? and was he not ashamed to give directions about things of
this nature, when writing in a public manner, to his disciple?" For this
end then, that thou mayest learn that the admonition, so far from being
beside the purpose, was a necessary and highly profitable one; and that the
thing proceeded not from Paul, but from the grace of the Spirit, viz, that
this should have been (I say) not a spoken precept, but one deposited in
letters, and to be handed down to all future generations through the
Epistle, I shall proceed at once to the proof.
5. For besides the subjects which have been mentioned, there is another,
about which some are no less perplexed, enquiring within themselves on what
account God permitted a man possessing such confidence towards Him,(5)
whose bones and relics expelled demons,(6) to fall into such a state of
infirmity; for it is not merely that he was sick, but constantly, and for a
length of time; and by these recurring and prolonged infirmities he was not
permitted to have even a brief respite. "How does this appear," it may be
asked? From the very words of Paul, for he does not say, on account of the
"infirmity," but on account of the "infirmities;" and not merely
"infirmities," but he clearly speaks of these as being constant, when he
says "thine often infirmities." Let those then attend to this, whoever they
are, who being given over to a lingering(7) sickness are querulous and
dejected under it.
6. But the subject of enquiry is not only, that being a holy man he was
sick, and sick so continually, but that he was at the same time entrusted
with the public affairs of the world. For if he had been one of those who
have retreated to the tops of mountains; who have fixed their cells in
solitude, and who have chosen that life which is free from all business,
the matter now enquired into were no such difficulty; but that one thrust
forward in the throng, and in whose hands the care of so many Churches was
placed, and who superintended whole cities and nations; nay, the world at
large,(1) with so much alacrity and diligence, should be subjected to the
straitening of infirmities! This it is which may most of all bewilder one
who does not duly consider it. Because, even if not for himself, yet for
others at least, it was necessary he should have health. "He was the best
general," says the objector. "The war was waged by him, not only against
the unbeliever, but against demons, and against the devil himself. All the
enemy contended with much vehemence, scattering the forces, and capturing
prisoners;(2) but this man was able to bring back myriads to the truth, and
yet he was sick! For if," he says, "no other injury to the cause had come
of this sickness, yet this alone was sufficient to discourage and relax the
faithful. If soldiers, when they see their general detained in bed, become
discouraged and slack for the fight, much rather was it probable that the
faithful should betray somewhat of human nature, when they saw that
teacher, who had wrought so many signs, in continual sickness and suffering
of body."
7. But this is not all. These sceptics propose yet a further enquiry, by
asking for what reason Timothy neither healed himself, nor was healed by
his instructor, when he was reduced to this state. Whilst the Apostles
raised the dead, cast out devils, and conquered death with abundant ease,
they could not even restore the body of one sick man! Although with respect
to other bodies, both during their own lives and after death, they
manifested such extraordinary power, they did not restore a stomach that
had lost its vigour! And what is more than this, Paul is not ashamed, and
does not blush, after the many and great signs which he had displayed even
by a simple word; yet, in writing to Timothy, to bid him take refuge in the
healing virtue of wine drinking. Not that to drink wine is shameful. God
forbid! For such precepts belong to heretics; but the matter of
astonishment is, that he accounted it no disgrace not to be able, without
this kind of assistance, to set one member right when it was disordered.
Nevertheless, he was so far from being ashamed of this, that he has made it
manifest to all posterity.(3) You see then to what a depth we have brought
down the subject, and how that which seemed to be little, is full of
innumerable questions. Well then, let us proceed to the solution; for we
have explored the question thus deep, in order that, having excited your
attention, we might lay up the explanation in a safe storehouse.
8. But before I proceed to solve these questions, permit me to say
something of the virtue of Timothy, and of the loving care of Paul. For
what was ever more tender hearted than this man, who being so far distant,
and encircled with so many cares, exercised so much consideration for the
health of his disciple's stomach, and wrote with exact attention about the
correction of his disorder? And what could equal the virtue of Timothy? He
so despised luxury, and derided the sumptuous table, as to fall into
sickness from excessive austerity, and intense fasting. For that he was not
naturally so infirm a person, but had overthrown the strength of his
stomach by fasting and water drinking; you may hear Paul himself carefully
making this plain. For he does not simply say, "use a little wine;" but
having said before, "drink no longer water," he then brings forward his
counsel as to the drinking of wine. And this expression "no longer" was a
manifest proof, that till then he had drunk water, and on that account was
become infirm Who then would not wonder at his divine wisdom and
strictness? He laid hold on the very heavens, and sprang to the highest
point of virtue. And his Teacher testifies this, when he thus speaks, "I
have sent unto you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful son in the
Lord;"(4) and when Paul calls him "a son," and a "faithful and beloved
son," these words are sufficient to show that he possessed every kind of
virtue. For the judgments of the saints are not given according to favour
or enmity, but are free from all prejudice. Timothy would not have been so
enviable, if he had been Paul's son naturally, as he was now admirable,
inasmuch as having no connection with him according to the flesh, he
introduced himself by the relationship of piety into the Apostle's
adoption; preserving the marks of his spiritual wisdom(1) with exactness in
all things. For even as a young bullock(2) linked to a bull, so he drew the
yoke along with him, to whatever part of the world he went: and did not
draw it the less on account of his youth, but his ready will made him
emulate the labours of his teacher. And of this, Paul himself was again a
witness when he said, "Let no man despise him, for he worketh the work of
the Lord as I also do."(3) See you how he bears witness, that the ardour of
Timothy was the very counterpart of his own?
9. Furthermore, in order that he might not be thought to have said these
things out of favour or kindness, he makes his hearers themselves to be
witnesses of the virtue of his son, when he says, "But ye know the proof of
him, that, as a son with a father, so he hath served with me in the
Gospel;"(4) that is, "ye have had experience of his virtue, and of his
approved soul." At the same time, however, that he had reached to this
height of good works, he did not thereby grow confident; but was full of
anxiety and fear, therefore also he fasted rigidly, and was not affected as
many are, who, when they have kept themselves to it but ten, or perhaps
twenty months,(5) straightway give up the matter altogether. He, I say, was
in no wise thus affected, nor did he say anything like this to himself.
"What further need have I of fasting? I have gotten the mastery of myself;
I have overcome my lusts; I have mortified my body; I have affrighted
demons; I have driven away the devil; I have raised the dead; I have
cleansed lepers; I am become terrible to the adverse powers; what further
need have I of fasting, or to seek safety from that quarter?" Anything like
this he did not say, he did not think of; but, in proportion as he abounded
with innumerable good works, so much the more did he fear and tremble.(6)
And he learnt this spiritual wisdom from his preceptor; for even he, after
he had been rapt into the third heaven, and transported to paradise; and
had heard unutterable words; and taken part in such mysteries; and
traversed the whole world, like some winged being, when he wrote to the
Corinthians, said, I fear "lest by any means having preached to others, I
myself should be a castaway."(7) And if Paul was afraid after so many
signal good works; he who was able to say, "The world is crucified unto me,
and I unto the world;"(8) much more does it become us to fear; and the
rather in proportion as we have stored up(9) numerous good works. For then
the devil becomes fiercer; then he is more savage, when he beholds us
regulating our lives with carefulness! When he sees the cargo of virtue
stowed together, and the lading become heavy, then he is in haste to
accomplish a more grievous shipwreck! For the insignificant and abject man,
although he may be supplanted and fall, brings not so great an injury to
the common cause. But the man who has been standing most conspicuously as
it were on some eminence of virtue, and who is one manifestly seen and
known of all men, and admired of all; when he is assaulted and falls,
causes great ruin and loss. Not only because he falls from this elevation
but makes many of those who look up to him more negligent. And as it is in
the body, some other limb may be destroyed without there being any great
damage, but if the eyes be deprived of sight, or the head be seriously
injured, the whole body is rendered useless; so also we must say of the
saints, and of those who have performed the highest good works; when such
are extinguished, when they contract any stain, they bring upon all the
rest of the body a universal and, intolerable injury!
10. Timothy then, being aware of all these things, fortified himself on
every side; for he knew that youth is an age of difficulty; that it is
unstable; easily deceived; very apt to slip; and requires an exceedingly
strong bridle. It is indeed a sort of combustible pile easily catching
anything from without, and quickly kindled; and for that reason he took
care to smother it on all sides; and strove to abate the flame in every
way. The steed(10) that was unmanageable and restive he curbed with much
vehemence, until he had tamed him of his wanton tricks; until he had made
him docile; and delivered him under entire control, into the hands of that
reason which is the charioteer. "Let the body," saith he, "be infirm; but
let not the soul be infirm; let the flesh be bridled; but let not the race
of the spirit towards heaven be checked." But moreover, one might
especially wonder at the man for this, that being thus diseased, and
struggling with such an infirmity, he did not become indifferent to God's
business, but flew everywhere faster than those who have sound and
vigourous constitutions; now to Ephesus; now to Corinth; often to Macedonia
and Italy; appearing everywhere, by land and by sea, with the Teacher,
sharing in everything his struggles and continuous dangers; while the
spiritual wisdom of his soul was not put to shame by his bodily infirmity.
Such a thing is zeal for God! such lightness of wing does it impart l For
as with those who possess well-regulated and sound constitutions, strength
is of no avail, if the soul is abject, slothful, and stupid; so with those
who are reduced to extreme weakness, no hurt arises from their infirmity,
if the soul be noble and well awake.
11. The admonition however, and the counsel, such as it is, appears to
some to give authority for drinking wine too freely. But this is not so. If
indeed we closely investigate this very saying, it rather amounts to a
recommendation of abstinence. For just consider that Paul did not at first,
nor at the outset give this counsel. But when he saw that all strength was
overthrown, then he gave it; and even then not simply, but with a certain
prior limitation. He does not say merely, "Use wine," but "a little" wine;
not because Timothy needed this admonition and advice, but because we need
it. On this account, in writing to him, he prescribes the measure and limit
of wine-drinking for us; bidding him drink just so much as would correct
disorder; as would bring health to the body, but not another disease. For
the immoderate drinking of wine produces not fewer diseases of body and of
soul, than much drinking of water, but many more, and more severe; bringing
in as it does upon the mind the war of the passions, and a tempest of
perverse thoughts, besides reducing the firmness of the body to a relaxed
and flaccid condition. For the nature of land that is long disturbed by a
superabundance of water, is not thereby so much dissolved, as the force of
the human frame is enfeebled, relaxed, and reduced to a state of
exhaustion, by the continual swilling of wine. Let us guard then against a
want of moderation on either side, and let us take care of the health of
the body, at the same time that we prune away its luxurious propensities.
For wine was given us of God, not that we might be drunken, but that we
might be sober; that we might be glad, not that we get ourselves pain.
"Wine," it says, "maketh glad the heart of man,"(1) but thou makest it
matter for sadness; since those who are inebriated are sullen beyond
measure, and great darkness over-spreads their thoughts. It is the best
medicine, when it has the best moderation to direct it. The passage before
us is useful also against heretics, who speak evil of God's creatures; for
if it had been among the number of things forbidden, Paul would not have
permitted it, nor would have said it was to be used. And not only against
the heretics, but against the simple ones among our brethren, who when they
see any persons disgracing themselves from drunkenness, instead of
reproving such, blame the fruit given them by God, and say, "Let there be
no wine." We should say then in answer to such, "Let there be no
drunkenness; for wine is the work of God, but drunkenness is the work of
the devil. Wine maketh not drunkenness; but intemperance produceth it. Do
not accuse that which is the workmanship of God, but accuse the madness of
a fellow mortal. But thou, while omitting to reprove and correct the
sinner, treatest thy Benefactor with contempt!"
12. When, therefore, we hear men saying such things, we should stop their
mouths; for it is not the use of Wine, but the want of moderation which
produces drunkenness, Drunkenness! that root of all evils. Wine was given
to restore the body's weakness, not to overturn the soul's strength; to
remove the sickness of the flesh, not to destroy the health of the spirit.
Do not then, by using the gift of God immoderately, afford a handle to the
foolish and the impudent. For what is a more wretched thing than
drunkenness! The drunken man is a living corpse. Drunkenness is a demon
self-chosen, a disease without excuse, an overthrow that admits of no
apology; a common shame to our kind. The drunken man is not only useless in
our assemblies; not only in public and private affairs; but the bare sight
of him is the most disgusting of all things, his breath being stench. The
belchings, and gapings, and speech of the intoxicated, are at once
unpleasant and offensive, and are utterly abhorrent to those who see and
converse with them; and the crown of these evils is, that this disease
makes heaven inaccessible to drunkards, and does not suffer them to win
eternal blessedness: for besides the shame attending those who labour under
this disease here, a grievous punishment is also awaiting them there! Let
us cut off then this evil habit, and let us hear Paul saying, "Use a little
wine." For even this little he permits him on account of his infirmity; so
that if infirmity had not troubled him, he would not have forced his
disciple to allow himself even a small quantity, since it is fitting that
we should always mete out even the needful meat and drink, which are given
us, by occasions and necessities; and by no means go beyond our need, nor
do anything unmeaningly and to no purpose.
13. But since we have now learnt the tender care of Paul, and the virtue
of Timothy, come and let us, in the next place, turn our discourse to the
actual solution of those questions. What then are the questions? For it is
necessary again to mention them, that the solution of them may be plainer.
For what reason then did God permit that such a saint, and one entrusted
with the management of so many matters, should fall into a state of
disease; and that neither Timothy himself nor his teacher had strength to
correct the disorder, but needed that assistance which was to be had by
drinking wine? Such, indeed, were the questions proposed. But it is needful
to bring forward a precise solution; so that if any should fall not only
into the like sickness and disease, but into poverty, and hunger, and
bonds, and torments, and discomfitures, and calumnies, and into all those
evils which belong to the present life, although they were great and
wonderful saints, you may still be able to find, even for their case, in
the things which are to-day to be advanced, an exact and very clear reply
to those who are disposed to find fault. For ye have heard many asking such
questions, as, "Why ever is it that such an one, a moderate and meek man,
comes to be dragged daily before the seat of judgment by another who is
lawless and wicked, and to suffer evils without number, and God permits
this? For what reason again was another man, upon false accusation,
unjustly put to death?" "Such a man," says the objector, "was drowned;
another was thrown down a precipice; and we might speak of many saints, as
well in our own days as in the days of our forefathers, who have suffered
divers and chequered tribulations." To the end, therefore, that we may see
the reason of these things, and that we ourselves may not be disturbed, nor
overlook the case of others who thus meet with a stumbling- block, we
should attend with earnest heed to the reasons now about to be advanced.
14. For of the diversified and manifold affliction which befalls the
saints, I have reasons eight in number to declare unto your love. Therefore
let all direct themselves to me with the strictest attention, knowing that
there will be no pardon nor excuse left us hereafter for stumbling at the
things which happen, if after all, when there are so many reasons, we are
just as much perplexed and disturbed as if there were not one to be found.
The first reason then is, that God permits them to suffer evil, that they
may not too easily be exalted into presumption, by the greatness of their
good works and miracles.
The second, that others may not have a greater opinion of them than
belongs to human nature, and take them to be gods and not men.
The third, that the power of God may be made manifest, in prevailing, and
overcoming, and advancing the word preached, through the efficacy of men
who are infirm and in bonds.
The fourth, that the endurance of these themselves may become more
striking, serving God, as they do, not for a reward; but showing even such
right-mindedness as to give proof of their undiminished good will towards
Him after so many evils.
The fifth, that our minds may be wise concerning the doctrine of a
resurrection. For when thou seest a just man, and one abounding in virtue,
suffering ten thousand evils, and thus departing the present life, thou art
altogether compelled, though unwillingly, to think somewhat of the future
judgment; for if men do not suffer those who have laboured for themselves,
to depart without wages and recompense; much more cannot God design, that
those who have so greatly laboured should be sent away uncrowned. But if He
cannot intend to deprive those of the recompense of their labours
eventually, there must needs be a time, after the end of the life here, in
which they will receive the recompense of their present labours.
The sixth, that all who fall into adversity may have a sufficient
consolation and alleviation, by looking at such persons, and remembering
what sufferings have befallen them.
The seventh, that when we exhort you to the virtue of such persons, and we
say to every one of you, "Imitate Paul, emulate Peter," ye may not, on
account of the surpassing character of their good works, sloth-fully shrink
from such an imitation of them, as deeming them to have been partakers of a
different nature.
The eighth, that when it is necessary to call any blessed, or the reverse,
we may learn whom we ought to account happy, and whom unhappy and wretched.
These then are the reasons; but it is necessary to establish them all from
the Scriptures, and to show with exactness that all that has been said on
this subject is not an invention of human reasoning, but the very sentence
of the Scriptures. For thus will what we say be at once more deserving of
credit, and sink the deeper into your minds.
15. That tribulation then is profitable to the saints, that they may
exercise moderation and lowliness, and that they may not be puffed up by
their miracles and good works, and that God permits it for this end; we may
hear David the prophet, and Paul saying the same. The former says, "It is
good for me, Lord, that I have been in trouble, that I might learn thy
statutes:"(1) and the latter having said, "I was caught up into the third
heaven, and" transported to Paradise, goes on to say, "And lest I should be
exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was
given me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me."(2)
What can be clearer than this? "That I might not be exalted above measure,"
for this reason, saith he, God permitted "the messengers of Satan to buffet
me;" by messengers of Satan, indeed, he means not particular demons, but
men(3) ministering for the devil, the unbelievers, the tyrants, the
heathens, who perseveringly molested, and unceasingly worried him. And what
he says is just this: "God was able to repress these persecutions and
successive tribulations; but since I had been caught up into the third
heaven, and transported to Paradise, lest through the abundance of these
revelations I might be lifted up and think much of myself, he permitted
these persecutions, and suffered these messengers of Satan to buffet me
with persecutions and afflictions, that I might not be too much exalted."
For although Paul and Peter, and all that are like them, be holy and
wonderful men, as indeed they are, yet they are but men, and require much
caution lest they should be too easily exalted; and as saints more than
others. For nothing is so apt to exalt to presumption as a conscience full
of good works, and a soul that lives in confidence. To the end, therefore,
that these might suffer nothing of this kind, God permitted that there
should be temptations and tribulations; these being powerful to keep them
down, and to persuade to the exercise of moderation in all things.
16. That this very particular also contributes much to the showing forth
of God's power, you may learn even from the same Apostle, who told us the
former. In order that you may not say, (what indeed unbelievers think),
that God in permitting this, is some infirm being, and suffers such persons
to be continually afflicted, from not being able to deliver His own from
dangers: this very thing, I say, observe how Paul has demonstrated by means
of these events, showing not only that the events were far from accusing
Him of weakness, but that they proved His power more strikingly to all. For
having said, "There was given me a thorn in the flesh; a messenger of Satan
to buffet me," and having thus signified his repeated trials, he goes on to
add, "For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from
me; and He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for My strength
is perfected in weakness."(4) "My power," He means, "is seen then when ye
are in weakness; and yet through you, who seem to grow weak, the word
preached is magnified, and is sown in all quarters." When therefore he was
led to the dungeon, after having received a great number of stripes, he
took prisoner the keeper of the prison.(3) His feet were in the stocks, and
his hands in the chain; and the prison shook at midnight while they were
singing hymns. See you, how His power was perfected in weakness? If Paul
had been at large, and had shaken that building, the thing would not have
been so wonderful. "For this reason," He saith, "remain bound; and the
walls shall be shaken on every side, and the prisoners shall be loosed; in
order that My power may appear the greater, when through thee, confined and
in fetters, all that are in bonds shall be loosed." This very circumstance
then it was which at the time astounded the keeper of the prison, that
being so forcibly confined, he, through prayer alone, prevailed to shake
the foundations, and throw open the doors of the prison, and to unbind all
the prisoners. Nor is this the only occasion. But with Peter too, and Paul
himself, as well as the other disciples, one may see this occurring
constantly; and in the midst of persecution, the grace of God ever
flourishing, and appearing by the side of the tribulations, and thus
proclaiming His power. Wherefore He saith, "My grace is sufficient for
thee, for My strength is perfected in weakness."
17. But to show that many would be too often ready to imagine things of
them above human nature, unless they saw them enduring such afflictions,
hear how Paul was afraid on this very point; "For though I would desire to
glory, I shall not be a fool, but now I forbear, lest any man should think
of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me."(1) But
what is it that he means? I am able, he declares, to speak of far greater
miracles; but I am unwilling; lest the magnitude of the miracles should
raise too high a notion of me among men. For this reason Peter also, when
they(2) had restored the lame man, and all were wondering at them, in order
to restrain the people, and persuade them that they had exhibited nothing
of this power of themselves, or from their native strength, says, "Why look
ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made
this man to walk?"(3) And again at Lystra, the people were not only filled
with astonishment, but led forth bulls, after crowning them with garlands,
and were preparing to offer sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas. Observe the
malice of the Devil. By those very same persons through whom the Lord was
at work, to purge out ungodliness from the world, by the same did that
enemy try to introduce it, again persuading them to take men for gods;
which was what he had done in former times. And this is especially that
which introduced the principle and root of idolatry. For many after having
had success in wars, and set up trophies, and built cities, and done divers
other benefits of this kind to the people of those times, came to be
esteemed gods by the multitude, and were honoured with temples, and altars;
and the whole catalogue of the Grecian gods is made up of such men. That
this, therefore, may not be done towards the Saints,(4) God permitted them
constantly to be banished,--to be scourged,--to fall into diseases; that
the abundance of bodily infirmity, and the multiplicity of those
temptations, might convince those who were then with them, both that they
were men, who wrought such wonders, and that they contributed nothing of
their own power; but that it was mere grace, that wrought through them all
these miracles. For if they took men for gods, who had done but mean and
vile things, much rather would they have thought these to be such, had they
suffered nothing proper to humanity, when they performed miracles, such as
no one had ever before Seen or heard of. For if when they were scourged,
thrown down precipices, imprisoned, banished, and placed in peril every
day, there were, notwithstanding, some who fell into this impious opinion,
how much rather would they have been thus regarded, had they endured
nothing which belongs to human nature I
18. This then is the third cause of affliction; and the fourth is, that
the saints might not be supposed to serve God from a hope of present
prosperity. For many of those who live in debauchery, when blamed as they
often are by many, and invited to the labours of virtue; and when they hear
the saints commended for their cheerfulness under great hardships,(5)
attack their character on this ground; and not men only, but the devil
himself hath taken up this suspicion. For when Job was surrounded with
great wealth, and enjoyed much opulence, that wicked demon,(6) being
reproached by God on his account, and having nothing to say; when he could
neither answer the accusations against himself, nor impugn the virtue of
this just man; took refuge at once in this defence, speaking thus, "Doth
Job fear thee for nought? Hast thou not made an hedge about him on all
sides."(7) "For reward then," saith he, "that man is virtuous, enjoying
thereby so much opulence." What then did God? Being desirous to show, that
it was not for reward that his saints serve Him, He stripped him of all his
opulence; gave him over to poverty; and permitted him to fall into grievous
disease. Afterwards reproving him,(8) that he had suspected thus without
cause, He saith, "He let holdeth fast his integrity; to no purpose didst
thou move me to destroy his substance." For it is a sufficient reward, and
compensation to the saints, that they are serving God; since this indeed to
the lover is reward enough, to love the object of his love;(9) and he seeks
nothing besides, nor accounts anything greater than this. And if such be
the case with regard to a man, much more in relation to God; which
therefore that God might demonstrate, He gave more than the devil asked;
for the latter said, "Put forth thine hand, and touch him;"(10) but God
said not thus, but, "I deliver him unto thee." For just as in the
contests(1) of the outer world, the combatants that are vigorous, and in
high condition of body,(2) are not so well discended, when they are enwrapt
all around with the garment soaked in oil; but when casting this aside,
they are brought forward unclothed into the arena; then above all they
strike the spectators on every side with astonishment at the proportion of
their limbs, there being no longer anything to conceal them; so also was it
with Job. When he was enveloped in all that wealth, it was not visible to
the many, what a man he was. But when, like the wrestler, that strips off
his garment, he threw it aside, and came naked to the conflicts of piety,
thus unclothed, he astonished all who saw him;(2) so that the very theatre
of angels shouted at beholding his fortitude of soul, and applauded him as
he won his crown! For, as I have already observed, he was not so well seen
of men, when clad in all that wealth, as when, casting it away like a
garment, he exhibited himself naked as it were in a theatre, in the midst
of the world, and all admired his vigor of soul, evidenced as this was not
only by his being stripped of all things, but by the conflict, and by his
patience in respect of his infirmity. And as I said before, God Himself did
not smite him; in order that the devil might not again say, "Thou hast
spared him, and hast not inflicted so great a trial as was necessary:" but
he gave to the adversary the destruction of his cattle, and power over his
flesh. "I am sure," saith He, "of this wrestler; therefore I do not forbid
thee to impose on him whatever struggles thou desirest." But as those who
are well skilled in the sports of the palaestra, and have reason to rely on
their art and bodily strength, often do not seize their antagonists
upright, nor take an equal advantage, but suffer them to take them by the
middle,(4) that they may make a more splendid conquest; so also God gave to
the devil to take this saint by the waist, that when he had overcome, after
an attack so greatly to his disadvantage, and stretched his adversary on
the ground, his crown might be so much the more glorious!
19. It is tried gold! Try it as thou desirest; examine it as thou wishest,
thou wilt not find in it any dross. This shows us not only the fortitude of
others, but also brings much farther(5) consolation; for what saith Christ,
"Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say
all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be
exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven: for in like manner did
their fathers unto the prophets."(6) Again, Paul writing to the Macedonians
in his desire to console them, says, "For ye, brethren, became followers of
the churches of God which are in Judea. For ye also have suffered like
things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews."(7) And
again, he consoles the Hebrews in like manner, reckoning up all the just
who had lived(8) in furnaces; in pits; in deserts; in mountains; in caves;
in hunger; and in poverty.(9) For communion of suffering brings some
consolation to the fallen.
20. But that this also introduces arguments for the resurrection, hear the
same Paul again, saying, "If after the manner of men I have fought with
beasts at Ephesus, what shall it profit me if the dead are not raised."(10)
And further, "If in this life only we have hope, we are of all men the most
miserable."(11) We suffer, he tells us, innumerable evils during the
present life; if then there is no other life to be hoped for, what can be
more wretched than our condition? Hence it is evident that our affairs are
not bounded Within the limits of this present state; and this becomes
manifest from our trials. For God could never suffer those who have endured
so many and so great evils, and who have spent all the present life in
trials and dangers without number, to be without a recompense of far
greater gifts; and if he could not suffer this, it is certain that he has
prepared another, a better and brighter life, in which he will crown those
who have wrestled in the cause of godliness, and proclaim their praises in
the presence of the whole world. So that when you see a just man straitened
and afflicted; and in sickness, and in poverty, as well as innumerable
other woes, till he ends this present life; say to thyself, that if there
were no resurrection and judgment, God would not have permitted one, who
endured such great evils for His sake, to depart hence without enjoying any
good thing; from whence it is evident, that for such He has prepared
another life, and one which is sweeter and much more endurable. For if it
were not so, then he would not suffer many of the wicked to luxuriate
through the present life; and many of the just to remain in ten thousand
ills: but since there is provided another life, in which he is about to
recompense every man according to his deserts; one for his wickedness,
another for his virtue; on that account he forbears, while he sees the
former enduring evil, and the latter living in luxury.
21. And that other(1) reason too I wilt endeavor to bring forward from the
Scriptures. But what was it? It was, that we might not say, when exhorted
to the same virtue, that they were partakers of another nature, or were not
men. On this account, a certain one speaking of the great Elias, says,
"Elias was a man of like passions with us."(2) Do you perceive, that he
shows from a communion of suffering,(3) that he was the same kind of man
that we are? And again, "I too am a man of like passions with you."(4) And
this guarantees a community of nature.
22. But that you may learn that this also teaches us to consider those
blessed whom we ought to consider blessed, is evident from hence. For when
you hear Paul saying, "Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and
thirst, and are naked, and are buffetted, and have no certain dwelling
place."(5) And again; "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteheth, and scourgeth
every son whom he receiveth;"(6) it is certain that it is not those who are
enjoying quietness, but those who are in affliction for God's sake, and who
are in tribulation, whom we must applaud, emulating those who live
virtuously, and cultivate piety. For so speaks the prophet: "Their right
hand is a right hand of iniquity. Their daughters beautified, ornamented
after the similitude of a temple. Their garners full, bursting from one
into another; their sheep fruitful; abundant in their streets; their oxen
fat. There is no breaking down of the fence, nor passage through; nor
clamor in their streets. They call the people blessed whose affairs are in
this state."(7) But what dost thou say, O prophet? "Blessed," saith he,
"the people whose God is the Lord;" not the people affluent in wealth, but
one adorned with godliness;(8) that people, saith he, I esteem happy,
although they suffer innumerable hardships!
23. But if it were necessary to add a ninth(9) reason, we might say, that
this tribulation maketh those who are troubled more approved; "For
tribulation worketh patience; and patience, probation; and probation, hope;
and hope maketh not ashamed."(10) Do you see that the probation, which
comes of tribulation, fixes in us the hope of the good things to come, and
that the abiding in trials causes us to have a good hope of the future? So
that I did not say rashly, that these tribulations themselves mark out to
us hopes of a resurrection, and make those who are tried the better; for,
he saith, "as gold is tried in a furnace, so an acceptable man in the
furnace of humiliation."(11)
24. There is besides a tenth reason to mention; and what is it, but the
one I have before frequently referred to? viz. that if we have any spots,
we thus put them away. And the patriarch, making this matter plain, said to
the rich man, "Lazarus hath received(12) his evil things,"(13) hence "he is
comforted." And besides this, we may find another reason, which is to this
effect; that our crowns and rewards are thus increased. For in proportion
as tribulations are more intense, so also are the rewards augmented; yea,
even far more: "for the sufferings of the present time," it is said, "are
not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us."(4)
Thus many then being the reasons which we have to advance for the
afflictions of the saints, let us not take our trials amiss, or be
distressed, or disturbed on account of them; but both ourselves discipline
our own souls, and teach others to do the same.
25. And if, O beloved, thou seest a man living in virtue, keeping fast
hold of spiritual wisdom, pleasing God, yet suffering innumerable ills, do
not stumble! And although thou seest any one devoting himself to spiritual
affairs, and about to achieve something useful, yet presently supplanted,
be not discouraged! For I know there are many who ofttimes propose a
question to this effect: "Such a one," say they, "was performing a
pilgrimage to some Martyr's shrine; and whilst conveying money to the poor,
met with a shipwreck, and lost all. Another man, in doing the like, fell
among robbers, and scarcely saved his life, leaving the place in a state of
nudity." What then should we say? Why that in neither of these cases need
one be sad. For if the one met with a shipwreck, yet he hath the fruit of
his righteousness complete inasmuch as he fulfilled all his own part. He
collected the money together, he stowed it away,(1) he took it with him, he
departed on his pilgrimage; but the shipwreck that followed was not of his
own will. "But why did God permit it?" In order that he might make the man
approved. "But," says one, "the poor were deprived of the money." Thou dost
not so care for the poor, as the God who made them? for if they were
deprived of these things, He is able to provide a greater supply of wealth
for them from another quarter.
26. Let us not then call Him to account for what He does; but let us give
Him glory in all things. For it is not lightly and to no purpose that He
often permits such events. But beside that He does not overlook those that
would have enjoyed comfort from such wealth; and instead of it, affords
them some other supply of sustenance; He also makes him who suffers the
shipwreck more approved, and provides him a greater reward; inasmuch as the
giving thanks to God, when one falls into such calamities, is a far greater
matter than giving alms. For not what we give in alms only, but whatever we
have been deprived of by others, and borne it with fortitude; this too
brings us much fruit. And that you may learn, that the latter is indeed the
greater thing, I will make it evident from what befell Job. He, when a
possessor of wealth, opened his house to the poor, and whatever he had he
bestowed; but he was not so illustrious when he opened his house to the
poor, as when, upon hearing that his house had fallen down, he did not take
it impatiently. He was not illustrious when he clad the naked with the
fleece of his flock, as he was illustrious and renowned when he heard that
the fire had fallen, and consumed all his flocks, and yet gave thanks.
Before, he was a lover of man; now, he was a lover of Wisdom. Before, he
had compassion on the poor; but now he gave thanks to the Lord! And he did
not say to himself, "Why is it that this hath happened? The flocks are
consumed from which thousands of the poor were supported; and if I was
unworthy to enjoy such plenty, at least He should have spared me for the
sake of the partakers."
27. Nothing of this sort did Job utter, no nor think, because he knew that
God was dispensing all things for good. That you may learn, moreover, that
he gave a heavier blow to the devil after this, when, being stripped of all
things, he gave thanks, than when, being in possession of them, he gave
alms; observe, that when he was in possession, the devil could utter a
certain suspicion, and however false, he yet could utter it: "Doth Job
serve thee for nought?" But when he had taken all, and stripped him of
everything, and the man yet retained the same good will towards God, from
that time his shameless mouth was stopped, and had nothing further to
allege. For the just man was more illustrious than in his former state.(2)
For to bear nobly and thankfully the privation of all things, is a far
greater thing than it was to give alms whilst living in affluence; and it
has been accordingly demonstrated in the case of this just man. Before,
there was much benignity to his fellow-servants; now, there was exceeding
love shown towards the Lord!
28. And I do not lengthen out this discourse without purpose; forasmuch as
there are many, who, often whilst engaged in works of mercy, as supporting
widows, have been spoiled of all their substance. Some again, by the
accident of some fire, have lost their all; some have met with shipwreck;
others, by false informations and injuries of that sort, though they have
done many alms-deeds, have fallen into the extremes of poverty, sickness,
and disease, and have obtained no help from any one. Lest we should say
then, as many often do, "No man knoweth anything;"(2) what has just been
said may suffice to remove all perplexity on this point. Suppose it is
objected that "such an one, after having done many alms-deeds, has lost
all?" And what if he had lost all? If he gives thanks for this loss, he
will draw down much greater favour from God! And he will not receive
twofold, as Job did, but a hundredfold in the life to come. But if here he
does endure evil, the very circumstance of his sustaining all with
fortitude will bring him a greater treasure; for God permits him to fall
from plenty to poverty, for the purpose of calling him thus to the more
frequent exercises, and greater conflicts. Hath it happened as is often the
case, that the fire seizing upon thy house, hath burnt it up and devoured
all thy substance? Remember what happened to Job; give thanks to the Lord,
who though he was able to forbid, did not forbid it; and thou wilt receive
as great a reward as if thou hadst deposited all thy wealth in the hands of
the poor! But dost thou spend thy days in poverty and hunger, and in the
midst of a thousand dangers? Remember Lazarus who had to buffet with
disease, and poverty, and desolateness, and those other innumerable trials;
and that after so high a degree of virtue!(1) Remember the Apostles, who
lived in hunger, and thirst, and nakedness; the prophets, the patriarchs,
the just men, and you will find all these not among the rich or luxurious,
but among the poor, the afflicted, and the distressed!
29. Saying these things to thyself, give thanks unto the Lord, that he
hath made thee to be of this part, not hating thee, but loving thee
greatly; since He would not have permitted those men either to suffer thus,
if he had not exceedingly loved them, because He made them more illustrious
by these evils. There is nothing so good as thanksgiving; even as there is
nothing worse than blasphemy. We should not wonder that when we become
intent upon spiritual things, we suffer much that is grievous. For as
thieves do not dig through and assiduously keep watch there, where there is
hay, and chaff, and straw, but where there is gold and silver; so also the
devil besets those especially who are engaged in spiritual matters. Where
virtue is, there are many snares! where alms-giving is, there is envy! But
we have one weapon which is the best, and sufficient to repel all such
engines as these; in everything to give thanks to God. Tell me, did not
Abel, when offering the first fruits to God, fall by the hand of his
brother? But yet God permitted it, not hating one who had honoured him, but
loving him greatly; and beside that which came of that excellent sacrifice,
providing him another crown by martyrdom. Moses wished to protect a certain
one who was injured, and he was put into the extremest peril, and banished
his country.(2) This too God permitted, that thou mightest learn the
patience of the saints. For if, foreknowing that we should suffer nothing
of a grievous kind, we then put our hands to the work of religion, we
should not seem to be doing anything great, as having such a pledge of
safety. But as it is, those who do such things are the more to be wondered
at, even for this; because, though they foresee dangers, and punishments,
and deaths, and ten thousand evils, still they did not desist from those
good works, nor become less zealous from the expectation of terrors(3)
30. As, therefore, the Three Children said, "There is a God in heaven, who
is able to deliver us; and if not, let it be known unto thee, O king, that
we will not serve thy gods, and that we will not worship the golden image
which thou hast set up."(4) Do thou also, when about to perform any duty to
God, look forward to manifold dangers, manifold punishments, manifold
deaths; and be not surprised, nor be disturbed, if such things happen. For
it is said, "My Son, if thou come to serve the Lord, prepare thy soul for
temptation."(5) For surely no one choosing to right,(6) expects to carry
off the crown without wounds! And thou, therefore, who hast undertaken to
wage a complete combat(7) with the devil, think not to pursue a life
without danger, and full of luxury! God hath not pledged to thee His
recompense and His promise here; but everything that is splendid for thee
in the future life! Be glad and rejoice then, if when thou hast thyself
done any good action, thou receive the contrary, or if thou See another
suffering this; inasmuch as this becomes to thee the source of a higher
recompense! Do not be downcast: nor give up thy zeal, nor become the more
torpid; but rather press onward with more eagerness; since even the
Apostles, when they preached, although scourged, stoned, and constant
inmates of the prisons, did not only after deliverance from dangers, but
also in those very dangers, announce with greater forwardness the message
of Truth. Paul is to be seen in prison, yea, even in chains, instructing
and initiating:(8) and moreover doing the very same in a court of justice,
in shipwreck, in tempest, and in a thousand dangers. Do thou too imitate
these saints, and cease not from good works, so long as thou art able; and
although thou seest the devil thwarting thee ten thousand times, never fall
back! Thou perchance, bearing with thee thy wealth, hast met with
shipwreck; but Paul carrying the word, far more precious than all wealth,
was going to Rome, and was wrecked; and sustained innumerable hardships.
And this he himself signified, when he said, "Many times we desired to come
unto you, but Satan hindered us."(9) And God permitted it; thus revealing
the more abundantly His power, and showing that the multitude of things
which the devil did, or prevented from being done, neither lessened nor
interrupted the preaching of the Gospel. On this account Paul gave God
thanks in all things; and knowing that he was himself thereby rendered more
approved, he exhibited his exceeding forwardness on every occasion, letting
none of these impediments prevent him!
31. As often then as we are frustrated in spiritual works, so often let us
again take them in hand; and let us not say, "for what reason did God
permit these impediments?" for He permitted them to this end, that He might
show thy alacrity much more to others, and thy great love; this being the
special mark of one that loves, never to desist from those things which are
approved by him whom he loves. The man, indeed, who is flaccid and
listless, will fall back from the first shock; but he who is energetic and
alert, although he be hindered a thousand times, will devote himself so
much the more to the things of God; fulfilling all as far as he is able;
and in everything giving thanks. This then let us do! Thanksgiving is a
great treasure; large wealth; a good that cannot be taken away; a powerful
weapon! Even as blasphemy increases our present mishap; and makes us lose
much more beside than we have lost already. Hast thou lost money? If thou
hast been thankful, thou hast gained thy soul; and obtained greater wealth;
having acquired a greater measure of the favour of God. But if thou
blasphemest, thou hast, besides this, lost thine own safety; and hast not
regained possession of thy wealth; yea and thy soul, which thou hadst, thou
hast sacrificed!
32. But since our discourse has now turned to the subject of blasphemy, I
desire to ask one favor of you all, in return for this my address, and
speaking with you; which is, that you will correct on my behalf the
blasphemers of this city. And should you hear any one in the public
thoroughfare, or in the midst of the forum, blaspheming God; go up to him
and rebuke him; and should it be necessary to inflict blows, spare not to
do so. Smite him on the face; strike his mouth; sanctify thy hand with the
blow, and if any should accuse thee, and drag thee to the place of justice,
follow them thither; and when the judge on the bench calls thee to account,
say boldly that the man blasphemed the King of angels! For if it be
necessary to punish those who blaspheme an earthly king, much more so those
who insult God. It is a common crime, a public injury; and it is lawful for
every one who is willing, to bring forward an accusation. Let the Jews and
Greeks learn, that the Christians are the saviours of the city; that they
are its guardians, its patrons, and its teachers. Let the dissolute and the
perverse also learn this; that they must fear the servants of God too; that
if at any time they are inclined to utter such a thing, they may look round
every way at each other, and tremble even at their own shadows, anxious
lest perchance a Christian, having heard what they said, should spring upon
them and sharply chastise them. Have you not heard what John did? He saw a
man that was a tyrant overthrowing the laws of marriage; and with boldness,
he proclaimed in the midst of the forum, "It is not lawful for thee to have
thy brother Philip's wife."(1) But I urge thee on, not against a prince or
a judge; nor against the marriage ordinance outraged; nor in behalf of
fellow-servants insulted. But I require thee to castigate an equal, for
insolence against the Lord. Truly, if I had said unto thee, punish and
correct those kings or judges who transgress the laws, would you not say
that I was mad? But John forsooth acted thus. So that even this is not too
much for us. Now then, at least, correct a fellow-servant; an equal; and
although it should be necessary to die, do not shrink from chastising(2) a
brother. This is thy martyrdom, since John was also a martyr. And although
he was not commanded to sacrifice, nor to worship an idol, yet for the
sacred laws that were despised, he laid down his head. Do thou too then
contend, even to the death, for the truth, and God will fight for thee! And
make me not this cold reply. "What matters it to me? I have nothing in
common with him."(3) With the devil alone we have nothing in common, but
with all men we have many things in common; for they partake of the same
nature with us; they inhabit the same earth, and they are nourished with
the same food; they have the same Lord; they have received the same laws,
and are invited to the same blessings with ourselves. Let us not say then,
that we have nothing in common with them; for this is a satanic speech; a
diabolical inhumanity. Therefore let us not give utterance to such words,
but exhibit such a tender care as becomes brethren!
33. This indeed I, for my part, engage with the strictest certainty, and
pledge myself to you all, that if all you who are present will but choose
to take in hand the safety of the inhabitants of this city, we shall
speedily have it amended throughout. And this, even although but the least
part of the city is here; the least as to multitude, but the chief part as
it respects piety. Let us take in hand the safety of our brethren! One man
inflamed with zeal is sufficient to reform a whole community! But when not
merely one, or two, or three, but so great a multitude are able to take on
them the care of the neglected, it is in no other way but by our own
supineness, and not from our want of strength, that the majority perish and
fall. Is it not indeed absurd? When we happen to see a fight taking place
in the forum, we go into the midst of it, and reconcile the combatants! But
why do I speak of a fight? If, perchance, we see an ass fallen down, we all
make haste to stretch out a hand to raise him up. Yet we neglect our
perishing brethren! The blasphemer is an ass; unable to bear the burden of
his anger, he has fallen. Come forward and raise him up, both by words and
by deeds; and both by meekness and by vehemence; let the medicine be
various. And if we thus administer our own part, and take pains for the
safety of our neighbours, we shall soon become objects of desire and
affection to the very persons who have the benefit of our correction; and
what is more than all, we shall enjoy those good things which are laid up
in store. Which God grant that we may all obtain, by the grace and mercy of
our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom and with whom, to the Father with the
Holy Ghost, be glory and power and honor, both now and always, and forever
and ever. Amen.
HOMILY II.
[Spoken in Antioch in the Old Church, as it was called, while he was a
presbyter, on the subject of the calamity that had befallen the city in
consequence of the tumult connected with the overthrow of the Statues of
the Emperor Theodosius, the Great and Pious. And on the saying of the
Apostle, "Charge them that are rich that they be not high-minded," 1 Tim.
vi. 17. And against covetousness.]
1. What shall I say, or what shall I speak of? The present season is one
for tears, and not for words; for lamentation, not for discourse; for
prayer, not for preaching. Such is the magnitude of the deeds daringly
done; so incurable is the wound, so deep the blow, even beyond the power of
all treatment, and craving assistance from above. Thus it was that Job,
when he had lost all, sat himself down upon a dunghill; and his friends
heard of it, and came, and seeing him, while yet afar off, they rent their
garments, and sprinkled themselves with ashes, and made great
lamentation.(1) The same thing now ought all the cities around to do, to
come to our city and to lament with all sympathy what has befallen us. He
then sat down on his dunghill; she is now seated in the midst of a great
snare. For even as the devil then leaped violently the flocks, and herds,
and all the substance of the just man, so now hath he raged against this
whole city. But then, as well as now, God permitted it; then, indeed, that
he might make the just man more illustrious by the greatness of his trials;
and now, that he may make us more sober- minded by the extremity of this
tribulation. Suffer me to mourn over our present state. We have been silent
seven days, even as the friends of Job were.(2) Suffer me to open my mouth
to-day, and to bewail this common calamity.
2. Who, beloved, hath bewitched us? Who hath envied us? Whence hath all
this change come over us? Nothing was more dignified than our city! Now,
never was anything more pitiable! The populace so well ordered and quiet,
yea, even like a tractable and well tamed steed, always submissive to the
hands of its rulers, hath now so suddenly started off with us, as to have
wrought such evils, as one can hardly dare to mention.
I mourn now and lament, not for the greatness of that wrath which is to be
expected, but for the extravagance of the frenzy which has been manifested!
For although the Emperor should not be provoked, or in anger, although he
were neither to punish, nor take vengeance; how, I pray, are we to bear the
shame of all that has been done? I find the word of instruction broken off
by lamentation; scarcely am I able to open my mouth, to part my lips, to
move my tongue, or to utter a syllable! So, even like a curb, the weight of
grief checks my tongue, and keeps back what I would say.
3. Aforetime there was nothing happier than our city; nothing more
melancholy than it is now become. As bees buzzing around their hive, so
before this the inhabitants every day flitted about the forum, and all
pronounced us happy in being so numerous. But behold now, this hive hath
become solitary! For even as smoke does those bees, so fear hath driven
away our swarms; and what the prophet says, bewailing Jerusalem, we may
fitly say now, "Our city is become 'like a terebinth that hath lost its
leaves,(1) and as a garden that hath no water.'"(2) For in like manner as a
garden when its irrigation fails, exhibits the trees stripped of their
leaves, and bare of their fruits, so has it now fared with our city. For
the help from above having forsaken her, she stands desolate stripped of
almost all her inhabitants.
4. Nothing is sweeter than one's own country; but now, it has come to pass
that nothing is more bitter! All flee from the place which brought them
forth, as from a snare. They desert it as they would a dungeon; they leap
out of it, as from a fire. And just as when a house is seized upon by the
flames, not only those who dwell therein, but all who are near, take their
flight from it with the utmost haste, eager to save but their bare bodies;
even so now too, when the wrath of the Emperor is expected to come as a
fire(3) from above, every one presses to go forth in time, and to save the
bare body, before the fire in its progress reaches them. And now our
calamity has become an enigma; a flight without enemies; an expulsion of
inhabitants without a battle; a captivity without capture! We have not seen
the fire of barbarians, nor beheld the face of enemies: and yet we
experience the sufferings of captives. All men now hear of our calamities;
for receiving our exiles, they learn from them the stroke which has fallen
upon our city.
5. Yet I am not ashamed, nor blush at this. Let all men learn the
sufferings of the city, that, sympathizing with their mother, they may lift
up their united voice to God from the whole earth; and with one consent
entreat the King of heaven for their universal nurse and parent.(4) Lately
our city was shaken;(5) but now the very souls of the inhabitants totter!
Then the foundations of the houses shook, but now the very foundations of
every heart quiver; and we all see death daily before our eyes! We live in
constant terror, and endure the penalty of Cain; a more pitiable one than
that of those who were the former inmates of the prison; undergoing as we
now do a new and strange kind of siege, far more terrible than the ordinary
kind. For they who suffer this from enemies, are only shut up within the
walls; but even the forum has become impassable to us, and every one is
pent up within the walls of his own house! And as it is not safe for those
who are beseiged to go beyond the walls, while the enemy without is
encamped around; so neither, to many of those who inhabit this city, is it
safe to go out of doors, or to all-pear openly; on account of those who are
everywhere hunting for the innocent as well as the guilty; and seizing them
even in the midst of the forum, and dragging them to the court of justice,
without ceremony, and just as chance directs.(6) For this reason, free-men
sit in doors shackled up with their domestics; anxiously and minutely
enquiring of those to whom they may safely put the question, "Who has been
seized to-day;" who carried off;(7) or punished? How was it? and in what
manner?" They live a life more wretched than any kind of death; being
compelled daily to mourn the calamities of others; while they tremble for
their own safety, and are in no better case than the dead; inasmuch as they
are already dead with fear.
6. But if any one who is devoid of this fear and anguish, chooses to enter
the forum, he is presently driven back to his own dwelling, by the
cheerless spectacle; finding hardly perchance one or two people, and those
hanging their heads and creeping about with downcast looks, where but a few
days before the multitude swept along more incessantly than(8) the streams
of rivers. Yet all these have now been driven away from us! And, as when
many trees in a thick wood of oak are cut down in all directions, the
spectacle becomes a melancholy one, even like that of a head with many
patches of baldness; even so the city itself, its inhabitants being
diminished and but few appearing here and there, is now become dreary, and
sheds a heavy mist of sorrow over those who witness it. And not the ground
only, but the very nature of the air, and even the circle of the sun's
beams, seem now to me to look mournful, and to shine more dimly; not that
the elements change their nature, but that our eyes being confused by the
cloud of sadness, are unable to receive the light of the rays clearly, or
with the same relish. This is what the prophet of old bewailed, when he
said, "The sun shall go down at noon, and the day shall be darkened."(1)
And this he said, not as though the Day Star(2) should be eclipsed, or the
day should disappear, but because those who are in sorrow, are not able to
perceive the light even of noon day on account of the darkness of their
anguish; which indeed has been the case now. And wherever any one looks
abroad, whether upon the ground or upon the walls; whether upon the columns
of the city, or upon his neighbours, he seems to see night and deep gloom;
so full is all of melancholy! There is a silence big with horror, and
loneliness everywhere; and that dear hum of the multitude is stifled; and
even as though all were gone beneath the earth, so speechlessness hath now
taken possession of the city; and all men seem like stones, and being
oppressed by the calamity like a gag on their tongues; they maintain the
profoundest silence, yea, such a silence as if enemies had come on them,
and had consumed them all at once by fire and sword!
7. Now is it a fit season to say, "Call for the mourning women, that they
may come, and for the cunning women, and let them take up a wailing. Let
your(3) eyes run down with water, and your eyelids gush out with tears."(4)
Ye hills take up wailing, and ye mountains lamentation! Let us call the
whole creation into sympathy with our evils. So great a City, and the head
of those which lie under the eastern sky, is in danger of being torn away
from the midst of the civilized world! She that had so many children, has
now suddenly become childless, and there is no one who shall come to her
aid! For he who has been insulted has not an equal in dignity upon earth;
for he is a monarch; the summit and head of all here below! On this account
then let us take refuge in the King that is above. Him let us call in to
our aid. If we may not obtain the favour of heaven, there is no consolation
left for what has befallen us!
8. Here I could wish to end this discourse; for the minds of those who
are in anguish are indisposed to extend their discourses to a great length.
And as when some dense cloud has formed, and flying under the solar rays,
returns back to him all his splendour again, so indeed does the cloud of
sadness, when it stands before our souls, refuse to admit an easy passage
for the word, but chokes it and restrains it forcibly within. And this is
the case not only with those who speak, but with those who hear; for as it
does not suffer the word to burst forth freely from the soul of the
speaker, so neither does it suffer it to sink into the mind of those who
listen, with its natural power. Therefore also the Jews of old time, while
slaving at the mud and bricks, had not the heart to listen to Moses, while
he repeatedly told them great things respecting their future deliverance;
despondency making their minds inaccessible to the address, and shutting up
their sense of hearing. I could have wished then, as to myself, to have put
an end here to my discourse; but thinking that it is not only the nature of
a cloud to intercept the forward passage of the sun's rays, but that often
just the opposite happens to the cloud; since the sun continually falling
upon it with much warmth, wears it away, and frequently breaks through the
midst of it; and shining forth all at once, meets cheerfully the gaze of
the beholders. This also I myself expect to do this day; and the word being
continually associated with your minds, and dwelling in them, I hope to
burst the cloud of sadness, and to shine through your understandings again,
with the customary instruction!
9. But afford me your attention! Lend me your ears awhile! Shake off this
despondency! Let us return to our former custom;(5) and as we have been
used always to meet here with gladness, so let us also do now, casting all
upon God. And this will contribute towards our actual deliverance from
calamity. For should the Lord see that His words are listened to carefully;
and that our love of divine wisdom stands the trial of the difficulty of
these times, He will quickly take us up again, and will make out of the
present tempest a calm and happy change. For this too is a thing in which
it behoves the Christian to differ from the unbelievers, the bearing all
things nobly; and through hope of the future, soaring above the attack of
human evils. The believer hath his stand on the Rock; for this reason he
cannot be overthrown by the dashing of the billows. For should the waves of
temptation rise, they cannot reach to his feet. He stands too lofty for any
such assault. Let us not then sink down, beloved! We do not care so much
for our own safety, as God who made us. There is not so much solicitude on
our part, lest we suffer any dreadful misfortune, as with Him who bestowed
upon us a soul, and then gave us so many good things beside. Let us mount
on the wings of these hopes, and hear the things about to be spoken with
our accustomed readiness.
10. I made a prolonged discourse lately unto you beloved, and yet I saw
all following it up, and no one turning back in the middle of the
course.(1) I return thanks to you for that readiness, and have received the
reward of my labours. But there was another reward, besides that attention,
which I asked of you at that time; perchance you know and recollect it. And
what was the reward? That you should punish and chastise the blasphemers
that were in the city; that ye should restrain those who are violent and
insolent against God! I do not think that I then spoke these things of
myself; but that God, foreseeing what was coming, injected these words into
my mind; for if we had punished those who dared to do such things, that
which has now happened would never have happened. How much better would it
have been, if necessity so required, to run into danger; yea, to suffer in
castigating and correcting such persons (which would have brought us a
martyr's crown), than now to fear, to tremble, and to expect death, from
the insubordination of such persons! Behold, the crime was that of a few,
but the blame comes on all! Behold, through these, we are all now placed in
fear, and are ourselves suffering the punishment of what these men dared to
do! But if we had taken them in time, and cast them out of the city, and
chastised them, and corrected the sick member, we should not have been
subjected to our present terror. I know that the manners of this city have
been of a noble character from old times;(2) but that certain strangers,
and men of mixed race,--accursed and pernicious characters,--hopeless of
their own safety, have perpetrated what has been perpetrated. For this very
reason I was always lifting up my voice, and unceasingly bearing my
testimony, saying, Let us punish the madness of those blasphemers,--let us
control their spirit, and provide for their salvation;--yea, though it be
necessary to die in doing it, the deed would yet bring us great gain: let
us not overlook the insult done to our common Lord; overlooking such things
will bring forth some great evil to our city!
11. These things I foretold, and they have now actually taken place;--and
we are paying the penalty of that listlessness! You overlooked the insult
that was done unto God!--Behold, he hath permitted the Emperor to be
insulted, and peril to the utmost to hang over all, in order that we might
pay by this fear the penalty of that listlessness; was it then vainly, and
to no purpose I foretold these things, and assiduously urged your Charity?
But nevertheless, nothing was done. Let it, however, be done now; and being
chastened by our present calamity, let us now restrain the disorderly
madness of these men. Let us shut up their mouths, even as we close up
pestiferous fountains; and let us turn them to a contrary course, and the
evils which have taken hold of the city shall undoubtedly be stayed. The
Church is not a theatre, that we should listen for amusement. With profit
ought we to depart hence, and some fresh and great gain should we acquire
ere we leave this place. For it is but vainly and irrationally we meet
together, if we have been but captivated for a time, and return home empty,
and void of all improvement from the things spoken.
12. What need have I of these plaudits, these cheers and tumultuous signs
of approval?(3) The praise I seek, is that ye show forth all I have said in
your works. Then am I an enviable and happy man, not when ye approve, but
when ye perform with all readiness, whatsoever ye hear from me? Let every
one then correct his neighbour, for "edify ye one another,"(4) it is said,
and if we do not this, the crimes of each one will bring some general and
intolerable damage to the city. Behold, while we are unconscious of any
part in this transaction, we are no less affrighted than those who were
daringly engaged in it! We are dreading lest the wrath of the Emperor
should descend upon all; and it is not sufficient for us to say in defence,
"I was not present; I was not an accomplice, nor a participator in these
acts." "For this reason," he may reply, "thou shalt be punished, and pay
the extreme penalty, because thou wert not present; and didst not check,
nor restrain the rioters, and didst not run any risk for the honour of the
Emperor! Hadst thou no part in these audacious deeds? I commend this, and
take it well. But thou didst not check these things when being done. This
is a cause of accusation!" Such words. as these, we shall also hear from
God, if we silently suffer the continuance of the injuries and insults
committed against Him. For he also who had buried his talent in the earth,
was called to account, not for crimes done by himself, for he had given
back the whole of that which was entrusted to him, but because he had not
increased it; because he had not instructed others; because he had not
deposited it in the hands of the bankers; that is, he had not admonished,
or counselled, or rebuked, or amended those unruly sinners who were his
neighbours. On this account he was sent away without reprieve to those
intolerable punishments! But I fully trust that though ye did not before,
ye will now at least perform this work of correction, and not overlook
insult committed against God. For the events which have taken place are
sufficient, even if no one had given any warning, to convince men ever so
disposed to be insensible, that they must exert themselves for their own
safety.
13. But it is now time that we should proceed to lay out before you the
customary table from St. Paul, by handling the subject of this day's
reading, and placing it in view for you all. What then was the text read
today?(1) "Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-
minded."(2) When he says, "the rich in this world," he makes it manifest,
that there are others who are rich, that is, in the world to come: such as
was that Lazarus, poor as to the present life, but rich as to the future;
not in gold and silver, and such like perishable and transitory store of
wealth; but in those unutterable good things "which eye hath not seen, nor
ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man."(3) For this is true
wealth and opulence, when there is good unmixed, and not subject to any
change. Not such was the case of that rich man who despised him, but he
became the poorest of mankind. Afterwards at least when he sought to obtain
but a drop of water, he did not get possession even of that, to such
extreme poverty was he come. For this reason he calls them rich "in the
present world," to teach thee that along with the present life, worldly
wealth is annihilated. It goes no further, neither does it change its place
with its migrating possessors, but it often leaves them before their end;
which therefore he shows by saying, "Neither trust in uncertain riches;"
for nothing is so faithless as wealth; of which I have often said, and will
not cease to say, that it is a runaway, thankless servant, having no
fidelity; and should you throw over him ten thousand chains, he will make
off dragging his chains after him. Frequently, indeed, have those who
possessed him shut him up with bars and doors, placing their slaves round
about for guards. But he has over-persuaded these very servants, and has
fled away together with his guards; dragging his keepers after him like a
chain, so little security was there in this custody. What then can be more
faithless than this? what more wretched than men devoted to it? When men
endeavour with all eagerness to collect so frail and fleeting a thing, they
do not hear what the prophet saith: "Woe unto them who trust in their
power, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches."(4) Tell me
why is this woe pronounced?--"He heapeth up treasure," saith he, "and
knoweth not for whom he will gather it,"(5)--forasmuch as the labor is
certain, but the enjoyment uncertain. Very often you toil and endure
trouble for enemies. The inheritance of your wealth after your decease,
coming as it does, in many instances, to those who have injured you, and
plotted against you in a thousand ways, has assigned you the sins for your
part, but the enjoyment to others!
14. But here, it is worthy of enquiry, for what reason he does not say,
"Charge those who are rich in the present world, not to be rich; charge
them to become poor; charge them to get rid of what they have;" but,
"charge them, not to be high-minded." For he knew that the root and
foundation of riches is pride; and that if any man understood how to be
unassuming, he would not make much ado about the matter. Tell me, indeed,
for what reason thou leadest about so many servants, parasites, and
flatterers, and all the other forms of pomp? Not for necessity, but only
for pride; to the end that by these thou mayest seem more dignified than
other men! Besides, he knew that wealth is not forbidden if it be used for
that which is necessary. For as I observed,(6) wine is not a bad thing, but
drunkenness is so. A covetous man is one thing, and a rich man is another
thing. The covetous man is not rich; he is in want of many things, and
while he needs many things, he can never be rich.
The covetous man is a keeper, not a master, of wealth; a slave, not a lord.
For he would sooner give any one a portion of his flesh, than his buried
gold. And as though he were ordered and compelled of some one to touch
nothing of these hidden treasures, so with all earnestness he watches and
keeps them, abstaining from his own, as if it were another's. And
certainly, they are not his own. For what he can neither determine to
bestow upon others, nor to distribute to the necessitous, although he may
sustain infinite punishments, how can he possibly account his own? How does
he hold possession of those things, of which he has neither the free use,
nor enjoyment? But besides this,--Paul is not accustomed to enjoin
everything on every man, but accommodates himself to the weakness of his
hearers, even, indeed, as Christ also did. For when that rich man came to
him, and asked him concerning Life, he did not say at one, "Go, sell that
thou hast,"(1) but omitting this, he spoke to him of other commandments.
Nor afterwards, when he challenged' Him and said, "What lack I yet?" did He
simply say, "Sell what thou hast;" but, "If thou wilt be perfect, go and
sell that thou hast."(3) "I lay it down for your determination. I give you
full power to choose. I do not lay upon you any necessity." For this reason
also, Paul spoke nothing to the rich concerning poverty, but concerning
humility; as well because of the weakness of his hearers, as because he
perfectly knew, that could he bring them to exercise moderation, and to be
free from pride, he should also quickly free them from eagerness about
being rich.
15. And further, after giving this admonition, "not to be high-minded," he
also taught the manner in which they would be able to avoid being so. And
how was it? That they should consider the nature of wealth, how uncertain
and faithless it is! therefore he goes on to say, "Neither trust in
uncertain riches." The rich man is not one who is in possession of much,
but one who gives much. Abraham was rich, but he was not covetous; for he
turned not his thoughts to the house of this man, nor prayed into the
wealth of that man; but going forth he looked around wherever there chanced
to be a stranger, or a poor man, in order that he might succour poverty,
and hospitably entertain the traveller. He covered not his roof with gold,
but fixing his tent near the oak, he was contented with the shadow of its
leaves. Yet so illustrious was his lodging, that angels were not ashamed to
tarry with him; for they sought not splendour of abode, but virtue of soul.
This man then let us imitate, beloved, and bestow what we have upon the
needy. That lodging was rudely prepared, but it was more illustrious than
the halls of kings. No king has ever entertained angels; but he, dwelling
under that oak, and having but pitched a tent, was thought worthy of that
honour: not receiving the honour on account of the meanness of his
dwelling, but enjoying that benefit on account of the magnificence of his
soul, and the wealth therein deposited.
16. Let us too, then, adorn not our houses, but our souls in preference to
the house. For is it not disgraceful to clothe our walls with marble,
vainly and to no end, and to neglect Christ going about naked? What does
thy house profit thee, O man! For wilt thou take it with thee when thou
departest? This thou canst not take with thee, when thou departest. But thy
soul, when thou departest, thou shall assuredly take with thee! Behold now
this great danger has overtaken us! Let your houses stand by you! Let them
deliver you from the threatened peril! but they cannot! And ye yourselves
are witnesses, who are leaving them solitary, and hurrying forth to the
wilderness; fearing them as ye would do snares and nets! Let riches now
lend assistance! But it is no time for them to do so! If then the power of
riches is found wanting before the wrath of man, much rather will this be
the case, before the divine and inexorable tribunal! If it is but a man
that is provoked and offended, and even now gold is of no avail, much more
will the power of money be utterly impotent then, when God is angry, who
has no need of wealth! We build houses that we may have a habitation; not
that we may make an ambitious display. What is beyond our wants, is
superfluous and useless. Put on a sandal which is larger than your foot!
you will not endure it; for it is a hindrance to the step. Thus also a
house larger than necessity requires, is an impediment to your progress
towards heaven. Do you wish to build large and splendid houses? I forbid it
not; but let it be not upon the earth! Build thyself tabernacles in heaven,
and such that thou mayest be able to receive others;(4)--tabernacles which
never fall to pieces. Why art thou mad about fleeting things; and things
that must be left here? Nothing is more slippery than wealth. To-day it is
for thee; tomorrow it is against thee. It arms the eyes of the envious
everywhere. It is a hostile comrade, a domestic enemy; and ye are witnesses
of this, who possess it, and are in every way burying and concealing it
from view; as even now too our very wealth makes the danger more
insupportable to us! Thou seest indeed the poor ready for action,
disengaged, and prepared for all things; but the wealthy in great
perplexity, and wandering about, seeking where they may bury their gold, or
seeking with whom they may deposit it! Why, O man, dost thou seek thy
fellow slaves? Christ stands ready to receive, and to keep thy deposits for
thee; and not to keep only, but also to augment them, and to pay them back
with much interest. Out of His hand no man can forcibly take them away. And
He not only keeps the deposit, but for this very thing He also frees thee
from thy perils. For among men, they who receive treasures in trust think
that they have done us a favour, in keeping that of which they took charge;
but with Christ it is the contrary; for He does not say that He has
conferred, but that He has received a favour, when He receives thy
deposited treasures; and for the guardianship which He exercises over thy
wealth, He does not demand a recompense of thee, but gives thee a
recompense!
17. What defence then can we claim, or what excuse, when we pass by Him
who is able to keep, and who is thankful for the trust giving in return
great and unspeakable rewards, and in place of this guardianship commit our
treasures to men who have not the power to keep them, and who think they
grant us a favour, and pay us back at last only that which was given them.
Thou art a stranger and a pilgrim with respect to the things here! Thou
hast a country which is thine own in the heavens! There transfer all;--
that before the actual enjoyment, thou mayest enjoy the recompense here. He
who is nourished with good hopes, and is confident respecting things to
come, hath here already tasted of the kingdom! For nothing ordinarily so
repairs the soul, and makes a man better, as a good hope of things to come;
so that if thou transfer thy wealth there, thou mayest then provide for thy
soul with suitable leisure. For they who spend all their endeavours upon
the decoration of their dwelling, rich as they are in outward things, are
careless of that which is within, letting their soul abide desolate and
squalid, and full of cobwebs. But if they would be indifferent to exterior
things, and earnestly expend all their attention upon the mind, adorning
this at all points; then the soul of such men would be a resting place for
Christ. And having Christ for its inhabitant, what could ever be more
blessed? Wouldest thou be rich? Have God for thy friend, and thou shall be
richer than all men!--Wouldest thou be rich? Be not high-minded!--This rule
is suitable not only to things future, but to things present. For there is
no such object of envy, as a man of wealth; but when pride is super-added,
a two-fold precipice is formed; the war becomes fiercer on all sides. But
if you know how to exercise moderation, you undermine the tyranny of envy
by your humility; and you possess whatever you do possess with safety. For
such is the nature of virtue, that it not only profits us, as it respects
futurity, but it also here bestows a present reward.
18. Let us not then be high-minded in reference to riches, or indeed to
any other thing; for if even in spiritual things the man who is high-minded
is fallen, and undone, much more so as to carnal things. Let us be mindful
of our nature. Let us recollect our sins. Let us understand what we are;
and this will provide a sufficient groundwork for complete humility. Tell
me not, "I have laid up the revenues of this or that number of years;
myriads of talents of gold; gains that are increasing every day." Say as
much as you will, you say all in vain, and to no purpose. Very often in one
hour, yea, in one short moment, just as the light dust, when the wind
rushes down upon it from above, are all these things swept out of the house
by a blast. Our life is full of such examples, and the Scriptures abound
with lessons of this sort. He who is rich to-day, is poor tomorrow.
Wherefore, I have often smiled, when reading wills that said, let such a
man have the ownership of these fields, or of this house, and another the
use thereof. For we all have the use, but no man has the ownership.(1) For
although riches may remain with us all our lifetime, undergoing no change,
we must transfer them in the end, whether we will or no, into the hands of
others; having enjoyed only the use of them, and departing to another life
naked and destitute of this ownership! Whence it is plain, that they only
have the ownership of property, who have despised its use, and derided its
enjoyment. For the man that has cast his substance away from him, and
bestowed it on the poor, he uses it as he ought; and takes with him the
ownership of these things when he departs, not being stripped of the
possession even in death, but at that time receiving all back again; yea,
and much more than these things, at that day of judgment, when he most
needs their protection,(1) and when we shall all have to render up an
account of the deeds we have done. So that if any one wishes to have the
possession of his riches, and the use and the ownership entire, let him
disencumber himself from them all; since, truly, he who doth not this must
at all events be separated from them at death; and frequently before his
death will lose them, in the midst of dangers and innumerable ills.
19. And this is not the only disaster, that the change comes suddenly; but
that the rich man comes unpractised to the endurance of poverty. But not so
the poor man; for he confides not in gold and silver, which are lifeless
matter, but in "God, who giveth us all things richly to enjoy." So that the
rich man stands in more uncertainty than the poor man, experiencing, as he
does, frequent and diversified changes. What is the sense of this? "Who
giveth to us all things richly to enjoy."(2) God giveth all those things
with liberality, which are more necessary than riches; such, for example,
as the air, the water, the fire, the sun; all things of this kind. The rich
man is not able to say that he enjoys more of the sunbeams than the poor
man; he is not able to say that he breathes more plenteous air: but all
these are offered alike to all. And wherefore, one may say, is it the
greater and more necessary blessings, and those which maintain our life,
that God hath made common; but the smaller and less valuable (I speak of
money) are not thus common. Why is this? In order that our life might be
disciplined, and that we might have training ground for virtue. For if
these necessaries were not common, perhaps they who are rich, practising
their usual covetousness, would strangle those who were poor. For if they
do this for the sake of money, much rather would they do so for the things
referred to. Again, if money was also an universal possession, and were
offered in the same manner to all, the occasion for almsgiving, and the
opportunity for benevolence, would be taken away.
20. That we may live then securely, the sources of our existence have been
made common. On the other hand, to the end that we may have an opportunity
of gaining crowns and good report, property has not been made common; in
order that hating covetousness, and following after righteousness, and
freely bestowing our goods upon the poor, we may by this method obtain a
certain kind of relief for our sins.(3) God hath made thee rich, why makest
thou thyself poor? He hath made thee rich that thou mayest assist the
needy; that thou mayest have release of thine own sins, by liberality to
others. He hath given thee money, not that thou mayest shut it up for thy
destruction, but that thou mayest pour it forth for thy salvation. For this
reason also He hath made the possession of riches uncertain and unstable,
that by this means he might slack the intensity of thy madness concerning
it. For if its possessors, even now whilst they can have no confidence in
regard to it, but behold a multitude of snares produced from this quarter,
are so inflamed with the desire of these things; if the elements of
security and stability were added to wealth, whom would they have spared?
From whom would they have refrained? From what widows? From what orphans?
From what poor?
21. Wherefore let us not consider riches to be a great good; for the great
good is, not to possess money, but to possess the fear of God and all
manner of piety. Behold, now if there were any righteous man here, having
great boldness toward God,(4) notwithstanding he might be the poorest of
mortals, he would be sufficient to liberate us from present evils! For he
only needed to spread forth his hands towards heaven, and to call upon God,
and this cloud would pass away! But now gold is treasured up in abundance;
and yet it is more useless than mere clay for the purpose of deliverance
from the impending calamities! Nor is it only in a peril of this kind; but
should disease or death, or any such evil befall us, the impotency of
wealth is fully proved, since it is at a loss, and has no consolation of
its own to offer us amidst these events.
22. There is one thing in which wealth seems to have an advantage over
poverty, viz. that it lives in a state of daily luxury, and is supplied
with an abundance of pleasure in its banquets. This however may also be
seen exemplified at the table of the poor; and these enjoy there a pleasure
superior to that of the rich. And marvel not at this, nor think what I say
a paradox; for I will make the matter clear to you from the evidence of
facts. Ye know of course, and ye all confess that in feasts it is not the
nature of the viands, but the disposition of those who feast upon them,
which usually causes the pleasure; for instance, when any one comes to the
table hungry, the food will taste sweeter than any delicacy, or condiment,
or a thousand exquisite preparations for the palate, although it may be the
most common article of diet. But he who without tarrying for necessity, or
first waiting till he is hungry, (as the custom is with the wealthy), when
he comes to the table, notwithstanding he finds the most refined dainties
spread before him, has no sensation of pleasure, his appetite not being
previously excited. And that you may learn that this is the actual state of
the case, besides that you are all witnesses to it, let us hear the
Scripture telling us the same truth; "The full soul," it is said, "loaths
the honey comb, but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet."(1) Yet
what can be sweeter than honey, and the honey comb? Still he saith it is
not sweet to the man that is not hungry. And what can be more disagreeable
than bitter things? And yet to those who are poverty stricken they are
sweet. But that the poor come to the meal with need and hunger, and that
the rich do not wait for this is manifest, I suppose, to every one. Hence
they do not reap the fruit of a genuine and unmixed pleasure. Nor is it
only in the article of food, but any one may perceive that the same thing
occurs with respect to drinks; and as in the one case hunger is the cause
of pleasure, far more than the quality of the viands, so also in the other,
thirst usually makes the draught sweetest, although what is drunk is only
water. And this is that which the prophet intimated, when he said, "He
Satisfied them with honey out of the rock."(2) But we do not read in any
part of Scripture that Moses brought honey out of the rock, but throughout
the history we read of rivers, and waters, and cool streams. What then is
it that was meant? For the Scripture by no means speaks falsely. Inasmuch,
then, as they were thirsty and wearied with drought, and found these
streams of water so cooling, in order to show the pleasure of such a
draught, he calls the water honey, not as though its nature were changed
into honey, but because the condition of the drinkers made these streams
sweeter than honey. You see how the condition of the thirsty is wont to
make the draught sweet? Yea oftentimes have many of the poor, when wearied,
and distressed, and parched with thirst, partaken of such streams even with
such pleasure as I have said. But the rich, whilst drinking wine that is
sweet, and has the fragrance of flowers? and every perfection that wine can
have, experience no such enjoyment.
23. The same thing happens as every one may perceive with regard to sleep.
For not a soft couch, nor a bedstead overlaid with silver, nor the
quietness that exists throughout the house, nor anything else of this kind,
are so generally wont to make sleep sweet and pleasant, as labour and
fatigue, and the need of sleep, and drowsiness when one lies down. And to
this particular the experience of facts, nay, before actual experience, the
assertion of the Scriptures bears witness. For Solomon, who had passed his
life in luxury, when he wished to make this matter evident, said, "The
sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much?"(4) Why
does he add, "whether he eat little or much?" Both these things usually
bring sleeplessness, viz. indigence, and excess of food; the one drying up
the body, stiffening the eyelids and not suffering them to be closed; the
other straitening and oppressing the breath, and inducing many pains. But
at the same time so powerful a persuasive is labour, that though both these
things should befall him, the servant is able to sleep. For since
throughout the whole day, they are running about everywhere, ministering to
their masters, being knocked about(5) and hard pressed, and having but
little time to take breath, they receive a sufficient recompense for their
toils and labours in the pleasure of sleeping. And thus it hath happened
through the goodness of God toward man, that these pleasures are not to be
purchased with gold and silver, but with labour, with hard toil, with
necessity, and every kind of discipline. Not so the rich. On the contrary,
whilst lying on their beds, they are frequently without sleep through the
whole night; and though they devise many schemes, they do not obtain such
pleasure. But the poor man when released from his daily labours, having his
limbs completely tired, falls almost before he can lie down into a slumber
that is sound, and sweet, and genuine, enjoying this reward, which is not a
small one, of his fair day's toils. Since therefore the poor man sleeps,
and drinks, and eats with more pleasure than the rich man, what further
value is left to riches, now deprived of the one advantage they seemed to
have over poverty? For this reason also, from the beginning, God tied the
man to labour, not for the purpose of punishing or chastising, but for
amendment and education. When Adam lived an unlabourious life, he fell from
Paradise, but when the Apostle laboured abundantly, and toiled hard, and
said, "In labour and travail, working night and day,"(1) then he was taken
up into Paradise, and ascended to the third heaven!
24. Let us not then despise labour; let us not despise work; for before
the kingdom of Heaven, we receive the greatest recompense from thence,
deriving pleasure from that circumstance; and not pleasure only, but what
is greater than pleasure, the purest health. For in addition to their want
of relish, many diseases also attack the rich; but the poor are freed from
the hands of physicians; and if at times they do fall into a sickness, they
recover themselves quickly, being far removed from all effeminacy, and
having robust constitutions. Poverty, to those who bear it wisely, is a
great possession, a treasure that cannot be taken away; the stoutest of
staves; a way of gain(2) that cannot be thwarted; a lodging that is safe
from snares. The poor man, it may be objected, is oppressed. But then the
rich man is still more subject to adverse designs. The poor man is looked
down upon and insulted. But the rich man is the subject of envy. The poor
man is not so easily assailed as the rich man, offering, as the latter does
on every side, countless handles to the devil, and to his secret foes; and
being the servant of all, on account of the great extent of his business.
Standing in need of many things, he is compelled to flatter many persons,
and to minister to them with much servility. But the poor man, if he knows
how to be spiritually wise, is not assailable even by the devil himself.
Job therefore, strong as he was before this, when he lost all, became still
more powerful, and bore away an(3) illustrious victory from the devil!
25. But besides this, the poor man cannot possibly be injured, if he knows
how to be spiritually wise. Now what I said of pleasure, that it consisted
not in a costly provision of meats, but in the disposition of those who
eat, this also I say respecting an insult; that the insult is either
created or destroyed, not by the intention of those who insult, but by the
disposition of those who bear it. For example. Some one hath insulted thee
with much language, fit or unfit to repeat. If thou shall laugh at the
insults, if thou take not the words to heart, if thou showest thyself
superior to the blow, thou art not insulted. And just as if we possessed an
adamantine body, we should not be hurt, were we even attacked on all sides
by a thousand darts, for darts beget wounds not from the hand of him who
hurls them, but from the bodies of those who receive them, so too in this
case, insults are constituted real and dishonourable ones, not from the
folly of those who offer them, but from the weakness of the insulted. For
if we know how to be truly wise, we are incapable of being insulted, or of
suffering any serious evils. Some one it may be hath offered thee an
insult, but thou hast not felt it? thou hast not been pained. Then thou art
not insulted, but hast given rather than received a blow! For when the
insulting person perceives that his blow did not reach the soul of those
who were reviled, he is himself the more severely fretted; and whilst those
who are reproached remain silent, the insulting blow is turned backwards,
and recoils of its own accord upon him who aimed it.
26. In all things then, beloved, let us be spiritually wise, and poverty
will be able to do us no harm, but will benefit us exceedingly, and render
us more illustrious and wealthy than the richest. For tell me who was
poorer than Elias? Yet for this reason he surpassed all the wealthy, in
that he was so poor, and this very poverty of his was his own choice from
an opulence of mind. For since he accounted the wealth of all riches to be
beneath his magnanimity, and not worthy of his spiritual wisdom, therefore
he welcomed this kind of poverty; so that if he had considered present
things as of much worth, he would not have possessed only a mantle. But so
did he contemn the vanity of the life that now is, and regard all gold as
clay east into the street,(4) that he possessed himself of nothing more
than that covering. Therefore the king had need of the poor man, and he who
had so much gold hung upon the words of him who had nothing more than a
sheepskin. Thus was the sheepskin s more splendid than the purple, and the
cave of the just man than the halls of kings. Therefore also when he went
up to heaven, he left nothing to his disciple save the sheepskin. "By the
help of this," said he, "I have wrestled with the devil, and taking this,
be thou armed against him!" For indigence is a powerful weapon, an
unassailable retreat, an unshaken fortress! Elisha received the sheepskin
as the greatest inheritance; for it was truly such; a more precious one
than all gold. And thenceforth(6) that Elias was a twofold person; an Elias
above and an Elias below!
I know ye account that just person blessed, and ye would each desire to be
that person. What then if I show you that all among us, who are
initiated,(1) have received something far greater than he did? For Elias
left a sheepskin to his disciple, but the Son of God ascending left to us
His own flesh! Elias indeed, cast off his mantle, before he went up; but
Christ left it behind for our sakes; and yet retained it when He ascended.
Let us not then be cast down. Let us not lament, nor fear the difficulty of
the times, for He who did not refuse to pour out His blood for all, and has
suffered us to partake of His flesh and of His blood again,(2) what will He
refuse to do for our safety? Confident then in these hopes, let us beseech
Him continually; let us be earnest in prayers and supplications; and let us
with all strictness give our attention to every other virtue; that so we
may escape the danger that now threatens, and obtain the good things to
come; which God grant we may all be worthy of, through the grace and
lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom, and with Whom be glory to
the Father together with the Holy Ghost, forever and ever. Amen.
HOMILY III.
[On the departure of Flavian,(1) Bishop of Antioch, who was gone on an
embassy to the Emperor Theodosius, on behalf of the city. Of the dignity of
the Priesthood. What is true fasting. Slander worse than devouring the
human body. And finally of those who had been put to death on account of
the sedition; and against those who complained that many innocent persons
were apprehended.]
1. WHEN I took on that throne, deserted and bereft of our teacher, I
rejoice and weep at the same time. I weep, because I see not our father
with us! but I rejoice that he hath set out on a journey for our
preservation; that he is gone to snatch so great a multitude from the wrath
of the Emperor! Here is both an ornament to you, and a crown to him! An
ornament to you, that such a father hath been allotted to you; a crown to
him, because he is so affectionate towards his children, and hath confirmed
by actual deeds what Christ said. For having learnt that "the good shepherd
layeth down his life for the sheep,"(2) he took his departure; venturing
his own life for us all, notwithstanding there were many things to hinder
his absence, and enforce his stay. And first, his time of life, extended as
it is to the utmost limits of old age; next, his bodily infirmity, and the
season of the year, as well as the necessity for his presence at the holy
festival; and besides these reasons, his only sister even now at her last
breath! He has disregarded, however, the ties of kindred, of old age, of
infirmity, and the severity of the season, and the toils of the journey;
and preferring you and your safety above all things, he has broken through
all these restraints. And, even as a youth, the aged man is now hastening
along, borne upon the wings of zeal! For if Christ (saith he) gave Himself
for us, what excuse or pardon should we deserve, having undertaken the
charge of so numerous a people, if we were not ready to do and to suffer
anything for the security of those committed into our hands. For if
(continues he) the patriarch Jacob, when in charge of flocks, and feeding
brute sheep, and having to give account to man, passed sleepless nights,
and bore heat and cold, and all the inclemency of the elements, to the end
that not one of those animals might perish, much less doth it become us,
who preside over those, who are not irrational, but spiritual sheep; who
are about to give an account of this charge, not to man, but to God, to be
slack in any respect, or shrink from anything which might benefit the
flock. Besides, in proportion as the latter flock is superior to the
former; men to brutes, and God to men; so it behoves us to manifest a
greater and more intense anxiety and diligence. He knows well that his
concern is now, not for one city only, but for the whole of the East. For
our city is the head and mother of all that lie towards the East. For this
reason he would encounter every danger, and nothing would avail to detain
him here.
2. On this account I trust that there may be a good hope; for God will not
disdain to took upon such earnestness and zeal, nor will He suffer his
servant to return without success. I know that when he has barely seen our
pious Emperor, and been seen by him, he will be able at once by his very
countenance to allay his wrath. For not only the words of the saints, but
their very countenances are full of grace. And he is a person too endowed
with abundant wisdom; and being well skilled in the divine laws, he will
say to him as Moses said to God, "Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin;-
-and if not, slay me together with them."(1) For such are the bowels of the
saints, that they think death with their children sweeter than life without
them. He will also make the special season his advocate and shelter himself
behind the sacred festival of the Passover; and will remind the Emperor of
the season when Christ remitted the sins of the whole world. He will exhort
him to imitate his Lord. He will also remind him of that parable of the ten
thousand talents, and the hundred pence. I know the boldness of our father,
that he will not hesitate to alarm him from the parable, and to say, "Take
heed lest thou also hear it said in that day, 'O thou wicked servant, I
forgave thee all that debt, because thou desirest me; you ought also to
forgive thy fellow-servants!'(2) Thou dost to thyself a greater benefit
than them, since by pardoning these few offences thou gainest an amnesty
for greater." To this address he will add that prayer, which those who
initiated him into the sacred mystery taught him to offer up, and say,
"Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."(3)
3. He will moreover inform him, that the offence was not common to the
whole city, but the deed of certain strangers and adventurers, men that act
upon no deliberate plan, but with every sort of audacity and lawlessness;
and that it would not be just for the disorderly conduct of a few to
extirpate so great a city, and to punish those who had done no wrong; and
that even though all had been transgressors, they had paid a sufficient
punishment, being consumed by fear so many days, and expecting every day to
be put to death, and being exiles and fugitives; thus living more
wretchedly than condemned criminals, carrying their life in their hands,
and having no confidence of escape! "Let this punishment (he will say)
suffice. Carry not thy resentment further! Make the Judge above merciful to
thyself, by humanity towards thy fellow-servants! Think of the greatness of
the city, and that the question now is not concerning one, or two, or
three, or ten souls, but of a vast multitude too numerous to be reckoned
up! It is a question which affects the capital of the whole world. This is
the city in which Christians were first called by that name.(4) Honor
Christ. Reverence the city which first proclaimed that name, so lovely and
sweet to all! This city hath been the tabernacle of Apostles; the dwelling
place of the just! And now this is the first and only instance of
insurrection against its rulers; and all past time will bear favourable
witness to the manners of the city. For had the people been continually
given to sedition, it might have been necessary to make an example of such
iniquity; but if this hath happened only once in all time, it is plain that
the offence has not arisen from the habit of the city, but that it was the
transgression of those who had in an evil hour by mere random chance
arrived there.
4. These things and more than these the priest will say with still greater
boldness; and the Emperor will listen to them; and one is humane, and the
other is faithful; so that on both sides we entertain favourable hopes. But
much more do we rely upon the mercy of God, than upon the fidelity of our
Teacher and the humanity of the Emperor. For whilst the Emperor is
supplicated, and the priest is supplicating, He Himself will interpose,
softening the heart of the Emperor, and exciting the tongue of the priest;
facilitating his utterance;--preparing the mind of the other to receive
what is said and with much indulgence, to accede to the petitions. For our
city is dearer to Christ than all others both because of the virtue of our
ancestors, and of your own. And as Peter was the first among the apostles
to preach Christ, so as I said before, this city was the first of cities
that adorned itself by assuming the Christian appellation, as a sort of
admirable diadem. But if where only ten just men were found, God promised
to save all who dwelt therein, why should we not expect a favourable issue,
and become assured of all our lives, when there are not only ten, twenty,
or twice so many only, but far more; who are serving God with all
strictness.
5. I have heard many saying, "The threats of a king are like the wrath of
a lion;"(1) being full of dejection and lamentation. What then should we
say to such? That He who said, "The wolves and the lambs shall feed
together; and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and tile lion shall
eat straw like the ox,"(2) will be able to convert the lion into a mild
lamb. Let us therefore supplicate Him; let us send an embassy to Him; and
He will doubtless allay the Emperor's wrath, and deliver us from the
impending distress. Our Father hath gone thither on this embassy. Let us go
on embassy from hence to the Majesty of heaven! Let us assist him by
prayers! The community of the Church can do much, if with a sorrowful soul,
and with a contrite spirit, we offer up our prayers! It is unnecessary to
cross the ocean, or to undertake a long journey. Let every man and woman
among us, whether meeting together at church, or remaining at home, call
upon God with much earnestness, and He will doubtless accede to these
petitions.
Whence does this appear evident? Because He is exceedingly desirous, that
we should always take refuge in Him, and in everything make our requests
unto Him; and do nothing and speak nothing without Him. For men, when we
trouble them repeatedly concerning our affairs, become slothful and
evasive, and conduct themselves unpleasantly towards us; but with God it is
quite the reverse. Not when we apply to him continually respecting our
affairs, but when we fail to do so, then is he especially displeased. Hear
at least what He reproves the Jews for, when He says, "Ye have taken
counsel, but not of Me, and made treaties,(3) but not by My Spirit."(4) For
this is the custom of those who love; they desire that all the concerns of
their beloved should be accomplished by means of themselves; and that they
should neither do anything, nor say anything, without them. On this account
did God not only on that occasion, but again elsewhere, uttering a reproof,
speak the same language. "They(5) have reigned, but not by Me; they have
ruled, and they made it not known to Me."(6) Let us not then be slow to
take refuge in Him continually: and whatever be the evil, it will in any
case find its appropriate solution.
6. Doth a man affright you? Hasten to the Lord above, and thou wilt suffer
no evil. Thus the ancients had release from their calamities; and not men
only, but also women. There was a certain Hebrew woman, Esther was her
name. This Esther rescued the whole people of the Jews, when they were
about to be delivered over to destruction, by this very method. For when
the Persian king gave orders that all the Jews should be utterly destroyed,
and there was no one who was able to stand in the way of his wrath, this
woman having divested herself of the splendid robe, and clothed herself
with sackcloth and being besprinkled with ashes, supplicated the merciful
God to go in with her to the king; and offering up her prayer to Him, these
were the words she uttered, "O Lord, make my words acceptable,(7) and put
eloquent speech in my mouth."(8) Let this be the prayer which we offer to
God for our Teacher. For if a woman, supplicating on behalf of the Jews,
prevailed to allay the wrath of a barbarian, much rather will our Teacher,
entreating on behalf of so great a city, and in conjunction with so great a
Church, be able to persuade this most mild and merciful Emperor. For if he
hath received authority to loose sins committed against God, much more will
he be able to take away and blot out those which have been committed
against a man. He is also himself a ruler and a ruler of more dignity than
the other. For the sacred laws take and place under his hands even the
royal head. And when there is need of any good thing from above, the
Emperor is accustomed to fly to the priest: but not the priest to the
Emperor. He(9) too hath his breast-plate, that of righteousness.(1) He too
hath his girdle, that of truth, and sandals (2) of much greater dignity,
those of the Gospel of peace. He too hath a sword, not of iron, but of the
Spirit; he too hath a crown resting on his head. This panoply is the more
splendid. The weapons are grander, the license of speech greater,(3) and
mightier(4) the strength. So that from the weight of his authority, and
from his own greatness of soul; and more than all the rest, from the hope
which he has in God, he will address the Emperor with much freedom and much
discretion.
7. Let us not then despair of our safety, but let us pray; let us make
invocation; let us supplicate; let us go on embassy to the King that is
above with many tears! We have this fast too as an ally, and as an
assistant in this good intercession. Therefore, as when the winter is over
and the summer is appearing, the sailor draws his vessel to the deep; and
the soldier burnishes his arms, and makes ready his steed for the battle;
and the husbandman sharpens his sickle; and the traveller boldly undertakes
a long journey, and the wrestler strips and bares himself for the contest.
So too, when the fast makes its appearance, like a kind of spiritual
summer, let us as soldiers burnish our weapons; and as husbandmen let us
sharpen our sickle; and as sailors let us order our thoughts against the
waves of extravagant desires; and as travellers let us set out on the
journey towards heaven; and as wrestlers let us strip for the contest. For
the believer is at once a husbandman, and a sailor, and a soldier, a
wrestler, and a traveller. Hence St. Paul saith, "We wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers. Put on
therefore the whole armour of God."(5) Hast thou observed the wrestler?
Hast thou observed the soldier? If thou art a wrestler, it is necessary for
thee to engage in the conflict naked. If a soldier, it behoves thee to
stand in the battle line armed at all points. How then are both these
things possible, to be naked, and yet not naked; to be clothed, and yet not
clothed! How? I will tell thee. Divest thyself of worldly business, and
thou hast become a wrestler. Put on the spiritual armour, and thou hast
become a soldier. Strip thyself of worldly cares, for the season is one of
wrestling. Clothe thyself with the spiritual armour, for we have a heavy
warfare to wage with demons. Therefore also it is needful we should be
naked, so as to offer nothing that the devil may take hold of, while he is
wrestling with us; and to be fully armed at all points, so as on no side to
receive a deadly blow. Cultivate thy soul. Cut away the thorns. Sow the
word of godliness. Propagate and nurse with much care the fair plants of
divine wisdom, and thou hast become a husbandman. And Paul will say to
thee, "The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.
He too himself practised this art. Therefore writing to the Corinthians, he
said, "I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase."(7)
Sharpen thy sickle, which thou hast blunted through gluttony--sharpen it by
fasting. Lay hold of the pathway which leads towards heaven; rugged and
narrow as it is, lay hold of it, and journey on. And how mayest thou be
able to do these things? By subduing thy body, and bringing it into
subjection. For when the way grows narrow, the corpulence that comes of
gluttony is a great hindrance. Keep down the waves of inordinate desires.
Repel the tempest of evil thoughts. Preserve the bark; display much skill,
and thou hast become a pilot. But we shall have the fast for a groundwork
and instructor in all these things.
8. I speak not, indeed, of such a fast as most persons keep, but of real
fasting; not merely an abstinence from meats; but from sins too. For the
nature of a fast is such, that it does not suffice to deliver those who
practise it, unless it be done according to a suitable law.(8) "For the
wrestler," it is said, "is not crowned unless he strive lawfully."(9) To
the end then, that when we have gone through the labour of fasting, we
forfeit not the crown of fasting, we should understand how, and after what
manner, it is necessary to conduct this business; since that Pharisee also
fasted,(10) but afterwards went down empty, and destitute of the fruit of
fasting. The Publican fasted not; and yet he was accepted in preference to
him who had fasted; in order that thou mayest learn that fasting is
unprofitable, except all other duties follow with it. The Ninevites fasted,
and won the favour of God.(1) The Jews, fasted too, and profited nothing,
nay, they departed with blame.(2) Since then the danger in fasting is so
great to those who do not know how they ought to fast, we should learn the
laws of this exercise, in order that we may not "run uncertainly," nor
"beat the air," nor while we are fighting contend with a shadow. Fasting is
a medicine; but a medicine, though it be never so profitable, becomes
frequently useless owing to the unskilfulness of him who employs it. For it
is necessary to know, moreover, the time when it should be applied, and the
requisite quantity of it; and the temperament of body that admits it; and
the nature of the country, and the season of the year; and the
corresponding diet; as well as various other particulars; any of which, if
one overlooks, he will mar all the rest that have been named. Now if, when
the body needs healing, such exactness is required on our part, much more
ought we, when our care is about the soul, and we seek to heal the
distempers of the mind, to look, and to search into every particular with
the utmost accuracy.
9. Let us see then how the Ninevites fasted, and how they were delivered
from that wrath--"Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste
anything,"(3) saith (the prophet). What sayest thou? Tell me--must even the
irrational things fast, and the horses and the mules be covered with
sackcloth? "Even so," he replies. For as when, at the decease of some rich
man, the relatives clothe not only the men servants and maid servants, but
the horses also with sackcloth, and give orders that they should follow the
procession to the sepulchre, led by their grooms; thus signifying the
greatness of the calamity, and inviting all to pity; thus also, indeed,
when that city was about to be destroyed, even the irrational nature was
enveloped in sackcloth, and subjected to the yoke of fasting. "It is not
possible," saith he, "that irrational creatures should learn the wrath of
God by means of reason; let them be taught by means of fasting, that this
stroke is of divine infliction. For if the city should be overturned, not
only would it be one common sepulchre for us, the dwellers therein, but for
these likewise. Inasmuch then as these would participate in the punishment,
let them also do so in the fast. But there was yet another thing which they
aimed at in this act, which the prophets also are wont to do. For these,
when they see some dreadful chastisement proceeding from heaven, and those
who are to be punished without anything to say for themselves;-- laden with
shame,--unworthy of the least pardon or excuse:--not knowing what to do,
nor from whence they may procure an advocacy for the condemned, they have
recourse to the things irrational; and describing their death in tragical
fashion, they make intercession by them, putting forward as a plea their
pitiable and mournful destruction. When therefore, aforetime, famine had
seized upon the Jews, and a great drought oppressed their country, and all
things were being consumed, one of the prophets spoke thus, "The young
heifers leaped in their stalls; the herds of oxen wept, because there was
no pasture; all the cattle of the field looked upward to Thee, because the
streams of waters were dried up."(4) Another prophet bewailing the evils of
drought again speaks to this effect: "The hinds calved in the fields and
forsook it, because there was no grass. The wild asses did stand in the
forests; they snuffed up the wind like a dragon; their eyes did fail,
because there was no grass."(5) Moreover, ye have heard Joel saying to-day,
"Let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her
closet;--the infants that suck the breast."(6) For what reason, I ask, does
he call so immature an age to supplication? Is it not plainly for the very
same reason? For since all who have arrived at the age of manhood, have
inflamed and provoked God's wrath, let the age, saith he, which is devoid
of transgressions supplicate Him who is provoked.
10. But, as I said before, we may see what it was that dissolved such
inexorable wrath. Was it, forsooth, fasting only and sackcloth? We say not
so; but the change of their whole life. Whence does this appear? From the
very language of the prophet. For he who hath discoursed of the wrath of
God, and of their fasting,(7) himself too, when speaking of the
reconciliation, and teaching us the cause of the reconciliation, speaks to
this effect; "And God saw their works."(8) What kind of works? That they
had fasted? That they had put on sackcloth? Nothing of the sort: but
passing all these points in silence, he adds, "That they turned every one
from their evil ways, and the Lord repented of the evil that He had said He
would do unto them." Seest thou, that fasting did not rescue from this
danger, but it was the change of life, which rendered God propitious and
kind to these barbarians?
11. I have said these things, not that we may disparage fasting, but that
we may honour fasting; for the honour of fasting consists not in abstinence
from food, but in withdrawing from sinful practices; since he who limits
his fasting only to an abstinence from meats, is one who especially
disparages it. Dost thou fast? Give me proof of it by thy works! Is it said
by what kind of works? If thou seest a poor man, take pity on him! If thou
seest in enemy, be reconciled to him! If thou seest a friend gaining
honour, envy him not If thou seest a handsome woman, pass her by! For let
not the mouth only fast, but also the eye, and the ear, and the feet, and
the hands, and all the members of our bodies. Let the hands fast, by being
pure from rapine and avarice. Let the feet fast, by ceasing from running to
the unlawful spectacles. Let the eyes fast, being taught never(1) to fix
themselves rudely upon handsome countenances, or to busy themselves with
strange beauties. For looking is the food of the eyes, but if this be such
as is unlawful or forbidden, it mars the fast; and upsets the whole safety
of the soul; but if it be lawful and safe, it adorns fasting. For it would
be among things the most absurd to abstain from lawful food because of the
fast, but with the eyes to touch even what is forbidden. Dost thou not eat
flesh? Feed not upon lasciviousness by means of the eyes. Let the ear fast
also. The fasting of the ear consists in refusing to receive evil speakings
and calumnies. "Thou shalt not receive a false report,"(2) it says.
12. Let the mouth too fast from disgraceful speeches and railing. For what
doth it profit if we abstain from birds and fishes;(3) and yet bite and
devour our brethren? The evil speaker eateth the flesh of his brother, and
biteth the body of his neighbour. Because of this Paul utters the fearful
saying, "If ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not
consumed one of another."(4) Thou hast not fixed thy teeth in the flesh,
but thou hast fixed the slander in the soul, and inflicted the wound of
evil suspicion; thou hast harmed, in a thousand ways, thyself and him, and
many others, for in slandering a neighbour thou hast made him who listens
to the slander worse;(5) for should he be a wicked man, he becomes more
careless when he finds a partner in his wickedness; and should he be a just
man, he is lifted to arrogance, and puffed up; being led on by the sin of
others to imagine great things concerning himself. Besides,(6) thou hast
struck at the common welfare of the Church; for all those who hear not only
accuse the supposed sinner, but the reproach is fastened on the Christian
community; neither dost thou hear the unbelievers saying, "Such a person is
a fornicator, or a libertine;" but instead of the individual who hath
sinned, they accuse all Christians. In addition to this,(7) thou hast
caused the glory of God to be blasphemed; for as His Name is glorified when
we have good report, so when we sin, it is blasphemed and insulted!
13. A fourth reason is, that thou hast disgraced him who is ill reported;
and hast thus rendered him more shameless than he was, by placing him in a
state of enmity and hostility. Fifthly, thou hast made thyself liable to
chastisement and vengeance; by involving(8) thyself in matters which in no
way concerned thee. For let not any one tell me in reply, "Then I am an
evil speaker when I speak falsely, but if I speak what is true, I cease to
be so." Although it be with truth thou speakest evil, this also is a crime.
For that Pharisee spake evil of the Publican with truth; but nevertheless
this availed him not. For was not the latter, I ask, a publican and a
sinner? It is manifest to every one that he was a publican. But at the same
time inasmuch as the Pharisee spoke ill of him, he departed from the temple
with the loss of every advantage. Dost thou wish to correct a brother?
Weep; pray unto God; taking him apart, admonish, counsel, entreat him! So
also Paul did, "Lest," saith he, "when I come again, my God will humble me
among you, and I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not
repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they
have committed."(9) Show thy charity towards the sinner. Persuade him that
it is from care and anxiety for his welfare, and not from a wish to expose
him, that thou puttest him in mind of his sin. Take hold of his feet;
embrace him; be not ashamed, if thou truly desirest to cure him. Physicians
too do things of this sort, oftentimes, when their patients are hard to
please;(1) by embraces and entreaties they at length persuade them to take
a salutary medicine. Thus also do thou. Show the wound to the priest;(2)
that is the part of one who cares for him, and provides for him, and is
anxious on his behalf.
14. But not only do I now admonish the evil speakers; but those besides,
who hear others ill spoken of, I exhort to stop up their ears, and to
imitate the prophet who saith, "Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him
will I punish."(3) Say to thy neighbour, "Hast thou any one to praise or
highly to commend? I open my ears, to receive the fragrant oil; but if thou
hast any evil to say, I block up the entrance to thy words,--for I am not
to admit dung and dirt. What profit doth it afford me to learn that such a
one is a bad man? The greatest injury indeed results from this, and the
worst loss!" Say to him, "Let us be anxious about our own faults; how we
may render up an account of our own transgressions; and exhibit this sort
of curiosity and meddlesome activity respecting our own lives. What excuse
or pardon shall we find; whilst we never even take into consideration our
own affairs, but thus inquisitively pry into those of others!" And as it is
mean and extremely disgraceful to peer into a house, and to observe what is
within as one passes, so also to make inquisition into another man's life
is the last degree of illiberality. But what is yet more ridiculous is,
that those who lead this sort of life, and are neglectful of their own
affairs, when they have mentioned any of these secret matters, beseech and
adjure him who has heard it, not to mention it more to any other person;
thus making it plain that they have done an action which deserves censure.
For if thou beseechest him to tell this to no other person, much more did
it not become thee to tell these things first to him. The matter was safe
while in thy possession; now, after betraying it, thou art grown anxious
for its safety. If thou art desirous that it be not carried abroad to
another,(4) do not thyself tell it. But when thou hast betrayed the custody
of the matter to another, thou doest what is superfluous and useless, in
charging him, and putting him on oath for the safety of what has been
spoken.
15. "But it is sweet to slander." Nay, it is sweet not to speak evil. For
he that hath spoken evil is henceforth contentious; he is suspicious and he
fears, repents, and gnaws his own tongue. Being timorous and trembling,
lest at any time, what he said should be carried to others, and bring great
peril, and useless and needless enmity, on the sayer. But he who keeps the
matter to himself, will spend his days in safety, with much pleasantness.
"Thou hast heard a word," we read, "let it die with thee; and be bold; it
will(5) not burst thee."(6) What is the meaning of this? "let it die with
thee?" Extinguish it; bury it; neither permit it to go forth, nor even to
move at all; but, as the best course, be careful not to tolerate others in
the practice of evil speaking. And should you perchance, at any time
receive an impression from it, bury it, destroy what has been uttered,
deliver it over to oblivion; in order that you may become like those who
have not heard it; and spend the present life with much peace and security.
Should the slanderers learn that we abhor them more than those do whom they
accuse, they themselves will henceforth abandon this evil habit, and
correct the sin; and will afterwards applaud, and proclaim us as those who
were their saviours and benefactors. For, as to speak well, and to applaud,
is the beginning of friendship, so to speak ill and to calumniate, has been
the beginning and foundation of enmity, and hatred, and a thousand
quarrels. From nothing else have our own affairs been more neglected, than
from the habit of prying into and meddling with the concerns of others; for
it is not possible for one who is given to evil speaking, and busying
himself with other men's lives, ever to look after his own life. His whole
study being expended upon meddling with other men's matters, all those
which belong to himself must of necessity be left at hazard and neglected.
For it is well if one who spends all his leisure on the anxious
consideration of his own sins, and the judgment of them, can make any
progress. But when thou art always busy about other men's matters, when
wilt thou pay any heed to thy own evils?
16. Let us flee then, beloved, let us flee slander! knowing that it is the
very gulph of Satan, and the place where he lurks with his snares. For in
order that we may be careless of our own state, and may thus render our
account heavier, the devil leads us into this custom. But more than this it
is not only a very serious matter, that we shall hereafter have to give
account of what we have spoken, but that we shall make our own offences the
heavier by these means; depriving ourselves of all excuse. For he who scans
with bitterness the conduct of others, can never obtain pardon for the sins
committed by himself. For God will determine the sentence, not only from
the nature of our transgressions, but from the judgment which thou hast
passed upon others. Therefore He gave the admonition, "Judge not, that ye
be not judged."(1) For the sin, of whatever kind, will not there appear any
more such as it was when committed, but will receive a great and
unpardonable addition from the judgment passed by thee upon thy fellow
servants. For as he who is humane, and merciful, and forgiving, cuts away
the greater mass of his sins, so he who is bitter, and cruel, and
implacable, greatly increases the magnitude of his own offences. Let us
then expel from our mouth all slander, knowing that if we do not abstain
from it, though we might feed upon ashes, this austerity would avail us
nothing. "For not that which entereth into, but that which cometh out of
the mouth defileth the man."(2) If any one were to stir up a cesspool, when
you were passing, say, would you not reproach and rate the man who did it?
This then also do with respect to the slanderer. For the stirred cesspool
does not so grossly offend the sense of those who smell that ill savour, as
the stirring up other men's sins, and the exposure of an impure life,
offends and disturbs the soul of those who hear of it. Therefore let us
abstain from evil speaking, from foul language, from blasphemy; and let us
not speak ill of our neighbour, nor of God!
17. For many of our evil speakers have run into such madness, as to lift
up their own tongue from their fellow servants against their Master. But
how great an evil this is, you may learn from the affairs in which we are
now involved. A man is insulted, and, lo! we are all fearing and trembling,
both those who were guilty of the insult, and those who are conscious of
nothing of the kind! But God is insulted every day! Why do I say every
day?--every hour rather, by the rich, by the poor, by those who are at
ease, by the afflicted, by those who calumniate, and those who are
calumniated, and yet no one ever hears a word of this! Therefore He has
permitted our fellow servant(3) to be insulted, in order that from the
danger which has happened through this insult, thou mayest learn the
benignity of the Lord! And notwithstanding that this is our first and only
offence, we do not on that account expect to gain an excuse, or pardon. But
we provoke God every day, and we show no signs of returning to Him, and yet
He endures it with all long-suffering! Seest thou then how great the
benignity of the Lord is? Yet, in this present outrage, those who had done
amiss were taken and thrust into prison, and paid the penalty; nevertheless
we are still in fear, for he who has been insulted has not as yet heard(4)
what has taken place, nor pronounced sentence, and we are all trembling.
But God every day hears of the insults offered Him, and no one heeds it,
although God is thus merciful and loving toward man. With Him it suffices
only to acknowledge the sin, and so to cancel the accusation. But with man
it is altogether the reverse. When those who have sinned confess, then they
are punished the more; which indeed has happened in the present instance.
And some have perished by the sword, some by fire; some given to wild
beasts, and not men only, but children. And neither this immaturity of age,
nor the tumult of the people, nor the circumstance that they were
infuriated by demons when they perpetrated these deeds;(5) nor that the
exaction was thought to be intolerable;(6) nor poverty, nor having offended
in company with all; nor promising that they would never hereafter dare to
repeat such deeds; nor anything else, could at all rescue them; but they
were led away to the pit,(7) without reprieve; armed soldiers conducting
and guarding them on either side, lest any one should carry off the
criminals; whilst mothers also followed afar off, seeing their children
beheaded, but not daring to bewail their calamity; for terror conquered
grief, and fear overcame nature! And just as when men beholding from the
land those who are shipwrecked, are deeply distressed, but are not able to
approach and to rescue the drowning, so too here, the mothers restrained
through fear of the soldiers, as it were by so many waves, not only dared
not go near to their children, and rescue them from condemnation, but were
afraid even to shed tears?
18. Assuredly ye gather from thence the mercy of God, how unspeakable, how
boundless, how transcending all description! Here indeed the person who has
been insulted is of the same nature;(1) and only once in all his lifetime
has experienced this; and then it was not done to his face; nor while he
was present to see or hear it; and nevertheless, none of those who
perpetrated these deeds obtained pardon. But with regard to God nothing of
the kind can be said; for the interval between man and God, is so great, as
no language can at all express; and throughout every day He is insulted,
although present, and seeing and hearing it: and yet He sends not forth the
lightning, nor commands the sea to overflow the land, and submerge all men;
nor does He bid the earth to cleave asunder and swallow up all the
contumelious; but He forbears, and suffers long, and still offers to pardon
those who have insulted Him, if they only repent and promise to do these
things no more! Truly now is the season to proclaim "Who can utter the
mighty acts of the Lord? who can show forth all His praise?"(2) How many
men have not only cast down, but also trodden under foot the images of God!
For when thou throttlest a debtor, when thou strippest him, when thou
draggest him away(3) thou tramplest under foot God's image. Hear for a
certainty Paul saying, that "a man ought not to cover his head, forasmuch
as he is the image and glory of God."(4) And again, hear God Himself
saying, "Let us make man in Our Image, after Our likeness."(5) But if thou
sayest that man is not of the same substance as God,--what matters that?
For neither was the brazen statue of the same substance as the Emperor; yet
nevertheless, they who defied it paid the penalty. Thus also with regard to
mankind, if men are not of the same substance as God, (as indeed they are
not), still they have been called His image; and it were fitting they
should receive honour on account of the appellation. But thou for the sake
of a little gold dose trample them under foot, dose throttle them, and drag
them away; and hast not to this day in any wise paid the penalty!
19. May there be then speedily some favourable and propitious change! This
certainly I foretell and testify, that although this cloud should pass
away, and we yet remain in the same condition of listlessness, we shall
again have to suffer much heavier evils than those we are now dreading; for
I do not so much fear the wrath of the Emperor, as your own listlessness.
Surely it is not sufficient by way of apology that we supplicate(6) two or
three days, but it is necessary that we should make a change in our whole
life,(7) and that whilst abstaining from wickedness we should persevere
continually in virtue. For as those who are sickly, unless they keep up a
constant regimen, would find no advantage by their observing a two or three
days' discipline; so those who are in sin, if they do not exercise sobriety
at all times, will find no benefit in two or three days' amendment. For as
it is said, that he who is washed, and is again afterwards polluted with
the mire, hath gained nothing; so he who has repented for three days, and
has again returned to his former state, has accomplished nothing. Let us
not therefore, now act as we have always. done hitherto. For many times,
when we have been surprised by earthquakes, as well as famine and drought,
after becoming more sober and gentle for three or four days, we did but
return again to the former course. For this cause our present troubles have
happened. But if we have not done so before; yet, now at least let us all
persevere in the same piety; let us preserve the same meekness, that we may
not again need another stroke. Was not God able to have prevented what has
taken place? He did, however, permit it, that He might make those who
despised Him more sober-minded, through dread of a fellow-servant!
20. But let not any one say that many of the guilty escaped, and that many
of the innocent incurred punishment. For I hear of numerous persons who
frequently say this; not only in the case of the present sedition, but also
in many other circumstances of this. nature. What then should I reply to
those who make such observations? Why, that if he who was captured was
innocent of the present sedition, he had wrought some other transgression
before this still more grievous, for which, not having afterwards repented,
he has paid the penalty at the present time. For thus is the custom of God
to deal with us. When we sin, He does not straightway visit the
transgression, but lets it pass, giving us space(8) for repentance, in
order that we may be amended and converted. But if, because we have not
paid the penalty, we suppose that the offence too is blotted out, and make
light of it; then somewhere, where we think not of it, we are sure
afterwards to be punished. And this takes place in order that, when we sin
and are not punished, we may not be free from fear, unless we amend,
knowing that we shall certainly fall into punishment where we do not expect
it. So that if thou sinnest, beloved, and art not punished, do not grow
presumptuous, but for this very cause be the more alarmed, knowing that it
is an easy matter with God to recompense again when he pleases. For this
reason then he hath not punished thee, that thou mightest receive space for
repentance. Let us not therefore say, that such a person whilst innocent
incurred punishment; and another whilst guilty escaped, for he who incurred
it, being guiltless, as I observed, paid the punishment of other
transgressions; and he who now escapes it, if he repents not, will be
captured in another snare. If our minds are thus disposed, we shall never
forget our own sins, but, always fearful and trembling lest we should have
to pay the penalty, we shall readily recollect them. For nothing is so apt
to bring sin to remembrance as punishment and chastisement. And this is
shown by Joseph's brethren. For when they had sold the just man, and
thirteen years had passed away, suspecting they had fallen into punishment,
and fearing for their lives, they remembered their sin, and said one to
another, "We are verily guilty concerning our brother Joseph."(1) Seest
thou, how fear brought their guilt to recollection? And yet when they were
sinning they perceived it not, but when they were fearful of being
punished, then they remembered it? Knowing, therefore, all these things,
let us make a change and amendment of our lives; and let us think of
religion and virtue, before we think of deliverance from the impending
distress.
21. And in the meanwhile I desire to fix three precepts in your mind, to
the end that you may accomplish me these during: the fast,--viz. to speak
ill of no one; to hold no one for an enemy; and to expel from the mouth
altogether the evil custom of oaths. Anti as when we hear that some money
tax is imposed, each one going within, and calling his wife and children
and servants, considers and consults with them how he may pay this tribute,
so also let us do with respect to these spiritual precepts. Let every one
when he has returned home call together his wife and children, and let him
say, that a spiritual tribute was imposed this day: a tribute by which
there will be some deliverance and removal of these evils; a tribute which
does not make those who pay it poor, but richer; that is to say, to have no
enemy, to speak evil of no man, and to swear not at all. Let us consider;
let us think; let us resolve how we may fulfill these precepts. Let us
exert every endeavour. Let us admonish each other. Let us correct each
other, that we may not go to the other world as debtors, and then, needing
to borrow of others, suffer the fate of the foolish virgins, and fall from
immortal salvation. If we thus set our lives in order, I warrant you and
promise, that from this there will be deliverance from the present
calamity, and a removal of these dreadful ills; and what is greater than
all, there will be the enjoyment of the good things to come. For it were
fitting that I should commit to you the whole body of virtue; but I think
it the best method of correction, to take the laws by parts, and reduce
them to practice, and then to proceed to others. For as in a given field,
the husbandman, digging it all up piecemeal, gradually comes to the end of
his task; so we too if we make this rule for ourselves, in any wise to
reduce to a correct practice these three precepts during the present Lent,
and to commit them to the safe custody of good habit, we shall proceed with
greater ease to the rest; and by this means arriving at the summit of
spiritual wisdom, we shall both reap the fruit of a favourable hope in the
present life; and in the life to come we shall stand before Christ with
great confidence, and enjoy those unspeakable blessings; which, God grant,
we may all be found worthy of, through the grace and loving kindness of
Jesus Christ our Lord, with Whom be glory to the Father and the Holy Spirit
forever and eve r. Amen.
HOMILY IV.
[An exhortation to the people respecting fortitude and patience, from the
examples of Job and the Three Children in Babylon. The Homily concludes
with an address on the subject of abstaining from oaths.]
1. BLESSED be God! who hath comforted your sorrowing souls, and stayed
your agitated spirits! For that ye have received no small consolation is
evident by the desire and readiness to listen which ye are now showing. For
it is impossible that a soul in anguish, and oppressed with the cloud of
despondency, should have power to hear with readiness anything that is
spoken. But I see you are attending to us with much good will, and with an
intense earnestness; and that you have shaken off gloomy thoughts, and put
aside the sense of present distress, in your affectionate desire of
listening. For this cause, I thank God heartily together with you, that the
calamity has not overmatched your philosophy; nor fear relaxed your vigour;
nor tribulation quenched your alacrity; nor danger dried up your zeal: nor
the fear of men overcome the desire for God; nor the difficulty of the
times overthrown your earnestness; nay, so far from overthrowing, it has
strengthened it; so far from slackening, it has given it more intensity; so
far from quenching, has kindled it the more. The forum is indeed empty, but
the church is filled; the former supplies material for melancholy, the
latter is an occasion of joy and spiritual gladness! When therefore,
beloved, you betake yourself to the forum, and the sight of the solitude
calls forth a groan, fly back to thy Mother, and straightway she will
console thee with the multitude of her offspring and will show thee the
chorus of the Brethren complete, and will drive away all thy despondency!
For in the city we are as earnestly longing to see human beings, as those
who inhabit the deserts; but when we take refuge in the church, we are
straitened for room by the multitude. And as when the sea is in uproar, and
rendered furious by the violent tempest, fear compels all to fly for refuge
from without into the harbour; so also now, the waves of the forum, and the
tempest of the city, drives together every one from all sides into the
church, and by the bond of love knits the members close to one another.
2. Let us then give thanks to God even for these things, that we have
reaped so much fruit from the tribulation; that we have received so great
an advantage from the trial. If there were no trial, there would be no
crown; if there were no wrestlings, there would be no prize; if there were
no lists(1) marked out, there would be no honours; if there were no
tribulation, there would be no rest; if there were no winter, there would
be no summer. And this may be observed, not only amongst men, but even with
the very seeds; for if, in that case, we expect the ear of corn to spring
and flourish, there must be much rain, much gathering of the clouds, and
much frost; and the time of sowing is also a rainy season. Since therefore
the winter, a winter not of the elements, but of souls, has now set in, let
us too sow in this winter that we may reap in the summer; let us sow tears,
that we may reap gladness. This is not my word, it is a prophetic promise,
"They who sow in tears, shall reap in joy."(2) The rain which cometh down,
doth not so make the seeds to sprout and grow, as the shower of failing
tears maketh the seed of godliness to spring up and flourish. This it is
that cleanseth the soul; watereth the mind, and causeth the growing, germ
of doctrine to push rapidly forwards. For this reason also, it is needful
to plough up a deep furrow. This the Prophet signified when he spoke thus,
"Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns."(3) Therefore, as
when he who has set the plough on the field, turns up the earth from below,
preparing beforehand a safe lodgment for the seeds, in order that they may
not lie dispersed over the surface, but may be hidden in the very womb of
the earth, and deposit their roots in safety: so also it is our business to
act; and making use of the plough of tribulation to break up the depth of
the heart. For another Prophet admonishes of this, when he says, "Rend your
hearts and not your garments."(4) Let us then rend our hearts, that if any
evil plant, any treacherous thought be present in us, we may tear it up by
the roots, and provide a pure soil for the seeds of godliness. For if we do
not now break up the fallow ground; if we do not now sow; if we do not now
water it with tears, whilst it is a time of tribulation and fasting, when
shall we ever be brought to compunction? Will it be when we are at ease,
and in luxury? But this is impossible. For ease and luxury generally lead
to indolence, just as tribulation leads back again to diligence; and
restores to itself the mind that had wandered abroad, and been dreaming
after a multitude of objects.
3. Let us not then grieve on account of this despondency, but even give
thanks to God, for great is the gain that comes of tribulation. The
husbandman, when he has sown the seed he had gathered with so much labour,
prays that a shower may come; and the ignorant man, looking on, will be
surprised at all that takes place; and perhaps say to himself, "what can
this man be doing? He is scattering what he has collected; and not only
scattering, but he is also mixing it up in the earth with much industry, so
that it will be no easy matter for him to collect these together again; and
besides mixing them with the earth, he is moreover desiring a heavy rain,
so that all he has cast therein will rot, and become mire." Such a person
is also terrified when he observes the thunders bursting through the
clouds, and the lightnings striking downwards. But not so the farmer. He is
glad and rejoices whilst beholding the heavy rain. For he does not regard
what is present, but awaits the future. He does not attend to the
thunderings, but is reckoning the number of his sheaves. He thinks not of
the decaying seed, but of the flourishing ears of corn; not of the tedious
ram, but of the delightful dust of the threshing floor. Thus indeed, also,
should we regard, not our present tribulation, nor the pain of it, but the
benefit that may arise from it--the fruit that it will bring forth. Let us
wait for the sheaves of the threshing floor; for if we be sober, we shall
be able to collect much fruit from the present time, and to fill the
granaries of our minds. If we be sober, we shall not only be far from
taking any harm from this trouble, but we shall also reap innumerable
benefits. But should we be slothful, even tranquillity will destroy us!
Either of these things is injurious to him who takes no heed; but they both
profit him who lives with strictness. And even as gold if it be covered
with water, still shows its own proper beauty, and although it should fall
into the furnace, would again come forth brighter than before; but on the
other hand, should clay or grass be mixed with water, the one dissolves and
the other corrupts; and should they fall into the fire, the one is parched
and the other is burnt up; so also in truth it is with the just man and the
sinner! For should the former enjoy repose, he remains illustrious, even as
gold is when immersed in water; and though he falls into trial, he becomes
the more illustrious, like gold when subjected to the test of fire; but the
sinner, if he obtains rest, is enervated and corrupted like the grass and
the clay, when they come in contact with water; and should he undergo
trial, he is burnt up and destroyed, in the same way as the grass and the
clay are by the action of fire!
4. Let us not then be out of heart for the present evils; for if thou hast
any sins(1) remaining, they will disappear, and easily be burnt up by the
tribulation; but if thou possessest virtue, thou wilt become thereby more
illustrious and distinguished; for if thou art continually vigilant and
sober, thou wilt be superior to all injury. For it is not the nature of the
trials, but the listlessness of those who are tried, that is apt to cause
their overthrow. So that if thou desirest to rejoice, and to enjoy ease and
pleasure, seek neither for pleasure nor ease, but seek for a soul full of
patience, and one that is able to manifest fortitude; since if thou hast
not this, not only will trial put thee to shame, but repose will destroy
and overthrow thee yet more signally. For to prove that it is not the
attack of evils, but the listlessness of the mind which subverts our
salvation, hear what Christ saith: "Whosoever heareth these sayings of
mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his
house upon a rock; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the
winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded
upon a rock." And again: "Every one who heareth these sayings of mine, and
doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house
upon the sand; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds
blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell, and great was the fall of
it."(2) Do you perceive that it was not the attack of these trials that
produced the overthrow, but the folly of the builders? For there was rain
there, and there was rain here; there were floods there, and there were
floods here; here the beating of winds, and there again the same. The one
man built a house, and the other built a house. The building was the same;
the trials were the same; but the end was not the same; because there was
not the same foundation. For the folly of the builder, not the nature of
the trials, caused the fall of the building; otherwise the house that was
founded upon the rock should have fallen, whereas nothing of that kind
befell it. But do not suppose that these things were spoken merely of a
house; for the discourse relates to a soul, giving proof by its works that
it hears the divine word, or rejects it. Thus Job builded up his soul. The
rain descended;--for the fire fell from heaven and devoured all his flocks;
the floods came;--the frequent,--the constant,--the successive messengers
of his calamities, telling him of the destruction of his herds--of his
camels--of his children. The winds blew,--the bitter words of his wife:- -
"Curse God," she said, "and die."(1) Yet the house fell not: the soul was
not supplanted: the just man did not blaspheme; but even gave thanks thus,
saying, "The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. As it pleased the
Lord, so is it come to pass."(2) Seest thou that not the nature of the
trials, but the negligence of the indolent, is wont to cause the overthrow?
since tribulation makes the strong man stronger. Who saith this? It is the
man who lived in tribulation, the blessed Paul; he speaks thus:
"Tribulation worketh patience, and patience probation, and probation
hope."(3) And even as the violence of the wind, when it rushes upon strong
trees, and sways them in all directions, does not root them up, but renders
them still firmer and stronger by these attacks; so the soul that is holy,
and lives in a religious state, is not supplanted by the inroads of trial
and tribulation, but stimulated thereby to more patience; even as the
blessed Job, whom they made more illustrious and honourable.
5. At the present time then, a man is angry with us, a man of like
passions, and of like soul, and we are afraid: but in the case of Job it
was an evil and malignant demon who was angry; nay, he was not simply
angry, but set in motion all sorts of machinations, and brought forward
every stratagem; and yet even with all he could not conquer the fortitude
of the just man. But here is a man, who is at one time angry, at another
time is reconciled; and we are nevertheless dead with fear. On that
occasion it was a devil that waged war, who is never reconciled to human
nature, but has engaged in a war without treaty, and a battle without truce
against our race; yet nevertheless, the just man laughed his darts to
scorn. What apology then, or what pardon can be ours, if we cannot sustain
a human trial; we who are taught such spiritual wisdom under grace; when
this man before grace, and before the Old Testament, endured this most
grievous war so nobly! These things, beloved, we should therefore always
discourse of with one another; and by words of this kind encourage
ourselves. For ye are witnesses, and your conscience is a witness how much
gain we have already received from this trial! The dissolute man hath now
become sober; the bold man meek; the slothful man active. They who never at
any time saw a church, but constantly spent their time at the theatre. now
remain in the church the whole day long. Tell me then, dost thou grieve on
this account, that God hath made thee earnest through fear; that He hath
led thee by tribulation to a sense of thine own safety? But is thy
conscience pained? Yea, is thy mind pierced every day as with a dart,
expecting death, and the greatest wrath? Nevertheless, from thence too we
shall gain a great advance toward virtue, if our piety is made more earnest
by means of the distress. For God is able to free you from all these evils
this day. But not until He sees that you are purified; not until He sees
that a conversion has taken place, and a repentance firm and unshaken, will
He entirely remove the tribulation. The goldsmith, until he perceives the
gold well refined, will not draw it out from the furnace; and even so God
will not take away this cloud before He hath thoroughly amended us. For He
Himself who hath permitted this trial, knows the time for removing it. So
it is also with one who plays the harp; he neither overstrains the string,
lest he break it, nor relaxes it too much, lest he mar the consonance of
its harmony. Thus does God act. He neither places our souls in a state of
constant repose, nor of lengthened tribulation; making use of both these at
His discretion; for he neither suffers us to enjoy continual repose, lest
we should grow listless, nor on the other hand does he permit us to be in
constant tribulation, lest we sink under it, and become desperate.
6. Let us then leave to Him the time for the removal of our evils; let us
only pray; let us live in piety: for this is our work, to turn to virtue;
but to set us free from these evils is God's work! For indeed He is more
desirous to quench this fire than thou who art tried by it: but He is
waiting for thy salvation. As tribulation then came of rest, so also after
tribulation, rest must be expected. For neither is it always winter, nor
always summer; neither are there always waves, nor always a calm; neither
always night, nor always day. Thus tribulation is not perpetual, but there
will be also repose; only in our tribulation, let us give thanks to God
always. For the three youths were cast into the furnace, and did not even
for this forget their piety; neither did the flames affright them, but more
earnestly than men sitting in a chamber, and suffering nothing to alarm
them, did they, whilst encircled by the fire, send up to heaven those
sacred prayers(1)-- therefore the fire became a wall unto them, and the
flame a robe; and the furnace was a fountain; and whereas it received them
bound, it restored them free. It received bodies that were mortal, but
abstained from them as if they had been immortal! It knew their nature, yet
it reverenced their piety! The tyrant bound their feet, and their feet
bound the operation of the fire! O marvellous thing! The flame loosed those
who were bound, and was itself afterwards bound by those who had been in
bonds; for the piety of the youths changed the nature of things; or rather
it did not change the nature, but, what was far more wonderful, it stayed
the operation of them, even whilst their nature remained. For it did not
quench the fire, but though burning, made it powerless. And it was truly
marvellous and unaccountable, that this not only happened with respect to
the bodies of these saints, but also with respect to their garments, and
their shoes. And as it was in the case of the Apostles, the garments of
Paul expelled diseases and demons,(2) and the shadow(3) of Peter(4) put
death to flight; so indeed also in this case the shoes of these youths
extinguished the power of the fire. 7. I know not how I should speak, for
the wonder surpasses all description! The force of the fire was both
quenched and not quenched: for whilst it came in contact with the bodies of
these saints, it was quenched; but when it was needful to burst their
bonds, it was not quenched; wherefore it broke their bonds, but touched not
their ancles.(5) Do you see how very near it was? Yet the fire was not
deceived, and dared not penetrate within the bonds. The tyrant bound, and
the flame set loose; that thou mightest learn at once the fierceness of the
barbarian, and the submissiveness of the element. For what reason did he
bind, when he was about to cast into the fire? In order that the miracle
might be the greater; that the sign might be the more unaccountable; that
thou mayest not suppose that the things seen were an optical delusion. For
if that fire had been no fire, it would not have consumed the bands; and
what is much more, it would not have seized upon the soldiers who were
placed without the furnace; but as the case was, it showed its power upon
those without; but towards those within, its submissiveness. But observe, I
pray, in everything, how the devil by the very same means with which he
fights with the servants of God, pulls down his own power; not
intentionally, but because the wisdom and abundant contrivance of God turns
all his weapons and devices upon his own head; which assuredly happened on
that occasion. For the devil at that time inspiring the tyrant, neither
suffered the heads of the saints to be cut off with the sword, nor that
they should be delivered to wild beasts, nor punished in any such manner;
but that they should be thrown into the fire; to the end that not even any
relics of these saints should remain, their bodies being altogether
consumed, and their ashes being mingled with the ashes of the fagots. But
God accordingly employed this very circumstance for the taking away of
impiety(6) And how? I will tell you. Fire is accounted by the Persians to
be a god; and the barbarians, who inhabit that country even now honour it
with much worship. God, therefore, being desirous to pull up by the roots
the material of impiety, permitted the punishment to take this form, in
order that He might give the victory to His servants before the eyes of all
these fire- worshippers; persuading them by the plain fact, that the gods
of the Gentiles are in dread not of God only, but even of the servants of
God.
8. Consider, moreover, how the crown of this victory was woven by the
adversaries, and the enemies themselves were made witnesses of this trophy.
For "Nebuchadnezzar," it says, "sent to gather together the princes, the
governors, and the captains, the judges, the sheriffs, and all the rulers
of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image, and they were all
gathered together."(7)
The enemy prepares the theatre, and he himself collects together the
spectators, and prepares the lists; a theatre too, not of chance persons,
or of some private individuals, but of all those who were honourable and in
authority, to the end that their testimony may be worthy of credit with the
multitude. They had come summoned for one thing; but they all departed
having beheld another thing. They came in order to worship the image; and
they departed, having derided the image, and struck with wonder at the
power of God, through the signs which had taken place with respect to these
young men. And observe, where the field for this display was spread out. No
city, nor select enclosure furnished room for this theatre of the whole
world, but smooth and naked plains. For in the plain of Dura, outside the
city, he set up the image, and the herald came and cried, "To you it is
commanded, O people, nations, and languages, that at what time ye hear the
sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all
kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image;" (for a fall
indeed it was to worship the idol) "and whoso falleth not down, and
worshippeth, shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery
furnace."(1) Seest thou how difficult these struggles are made; how
irresistible the snare; and how deep the gulph, and a precipice on either
hand? But be not afraid. In whatever degree the enemy increases his
machinations, so much the more does he display the courage of the young
men. For this reason is there this symphony of so many musicians; for this
reason the burning furnace; in order that both pleasure, and fear, may
besiege the souls of those present. Is there any one of harsh and
unyielding character among them? "Let the melody of every kind of music,"
saith he, "enchant and soften him." But is he superior to this artifice,
"let the sight of the flame affright and astound him." Thus was fear as
well as pleasure present; the one entering to assault the soul by the ears,
the other by the eyes. But the noble character of these youths was not by
any such means to be conquered; but even as, when they fell into the fire,
they mastered the flames, even so they derided all desire and all fear. For
it was for them the devil had prepared all these things beforehand. For he
had no doubts of his own subjects, but was exceedingly confident that no
one would resist the royal mandate. But when all fell down, and were
subdued, then the youths alone are led into the midst; in order that from
this too the conquest may become the more illustrious, they alone
conquering and being proclaimed victors among so vast a multitude. For this
would not have been so surprising if they had acted courageously at the
first, when as yet no one had been overthrown. But the greatest, and most
astonishing fact was, that the multitude of those who fell down, neither
affrighted, nor enfeebled them. They did not say to themselves any such
things as many are ofttimes wont to say; "If we were the first, and the
only persons to worship the image, this would have been a sin: but if we do
this with so many myriads, who will not make allowance? who will not think
us worthy of defence?" nothing of that sort did they say or think, when
they beheld the prostrate forms(2) of so many tyrants.(3) Consider thou
also with me the wickedness of those who were their accusers, and how
maliciously and bitterly they brought the accusation! "There are," say
they, "certain Jews whom thou hast set up over the works of the province of
Babylon."(4) They did not merely make mention of the nation, but they also
bring to mind their honourable condition, that they may inflame the wrath
of the king; almost as if they had said, "These slaves, these captives, who
are without a city, thou hast made rulers over us. But they shew contempt
for such honour, and treat insolently him who has given them this honour!
Therefore they say this; "The Jews whom thou hast set over the works of the
province of Babylon, obey not thy decree, nor serve thy gods."(4) The
accusation becomes their greatest praise; and the crimes imputed, their
encomium; a testimony indeed that is indubitable, since their enemies bring
it forward. What then does the king? He commands that they should be
brought into the midst, so that he may affright them in every way. But
nothing dismayed them, neither the wrath of the king, nor their being left
alone in the midst of so many, nor the sight of the fire, nor the sound of
the trumpet, nor the whole multitude looking fire at them; for deriding all
these things, as if they were about to be cast into a cool fountain of
water, they entered the furnace uttering that blessed sentence, "We will
not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set
up."(5)
9. I have not referred to this history without reason, but that ye may
learn that whether it be the wrath of a king, or the violence of soldiers,
or the envy of enemies, or captivity, or destitution, or fire, or furnace,
or ten thousand terrors, nothing will avail to put to shame or terrify a
righteous man. For if where the king was godless the youths were not
dismayed at the tyrant's wrath, how much more ought we to be confident,
having an emperor who is humane and merciful, and to express thankfulness
to God for this tribulation, knowing from what has now been said, that
tribulations render men more illustrious both in the presence of God and of
man, if they know how to bear them with fortitude! For indeed if these had
not been made slaves, we should not have known their freedom! If they had
not been captives, we should not have learned their nobility of soul! If
they had not been exiles from their country below, we should not have known
the excellency of their citizenship above! If the earthly king had not been
angry with them, we should not have known the favour with which they were
regarded by the heavenly King!
10. Thou too then, if thou hast Him for thy Friend, be not despairing,
although thou fallest into the furnace: and in like manner if He be angry,
think not thou art safe though thou be in Paradise. For Adam indeed was in
Paradise, yet, when he had provoked God, Paradise profited him nothing.
These youths were in the furnace; yet, since they were approved, the
furnace injured them not at all. Adam was in Paradise, but when he was
supine, he was supplanted! Job sat down on the dunghill, yet, since he was
vigilant he prevailed! Yet how much better was Paradise than a dunghill!
still the excellency of the place benefitted in no degree the inhabitant;
forasmuch as he had betrayed himself; as likewise indeed the vileness of
the place did to one no injury, who was fortified on every side with
virtue. As to ourselves then, let us fortify our souls; for if the loss of
wealth should threaten us, or even death, and yet no one can rob us of our
religion, we are the happiest of men, Christ commended this when he said,
"Be ye wise as serpents."(1) For just as he exposes the whole body in order
that he may save the head,(2) so also do thou. Although it should be
necessary to expose wealth, or the body, or the present life, or all
things, for the purpose of preserving thy religion; be not cast down! For
if thou depart hence in possession of that, God will restore to thee all
things with more abundant splendour, and will raise again thy body with
greater glory; and instead of riches, there will be the good things that
surpass all power of description. Did not Job sit naked on a dunghill,
sustaining a life more grievous than ten thousand deaths? Yet since he did
not cast away his piety, all his former things came back to him in greater
abundance, soundness and beauty of body; his full band of children; his
possessions; and what was greater than all, the splendid crown of his
patience. For as it happens with trees, should any one pluck away the fruit
and the leaves together; should he even cut off all the branches letting
the root only remain; the tree will rise again entire, with greater beauty,
so indeed is it also with us. If the root of piety remain, although wealth
be taken away, although the body destroyed, all things again revert to us
with greater glory than before. Casting away therefore all anxiety and
superfluous care, let us return to ourselves; and let us adorn the body and
the soul with the ornament of virtue; converting our bodily members into
instruments of righteouness and not instruments of sin.
11. And first of all, let us discipline our tongue to be the minister of
the grace of the Spirit, expelling from the mouth all virulence and
malignity, and the practice of using disgraceful words. For it is in our
power to make each one of our members an instrument of wickedness, or of
righteousness. Hear then how men make the tongue an instrument, some of
sin, others of righteousness! "Their tongue is a sharp sword."(3) But
another speaks thus of his own tongue: "My tongue(4) is the pen of a ready
writer."(5) The former wrought destruction; the latter wrote the divine
law. Thus was one a sword, the other a pen, not according to its own
nature, but according to the choice of those who employed it. For the
nature of this tongue and of that was the same, but the operation was not
the same. And again, as to the mouth likewise, we may see this same thing.
For these had a mouth full of filth and of wickedness, therefore against
such it is said by way of accusation, "Their mouth is full of cursing and
bitterness;"(6) not such was his, but "My mouth shall speak of wisdom, and
the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding."(7) Again, there were
others who had their hands full of iniquity, and accusing these he said,
"Iniquities are in their hands, and their right hand is filled with
gifts."(1) But he himself had hands practised in nothing but in being
stretched out towards heaven. Therefore he said of these too, "The lifting
up of my hands (let it be) an evening sacrifice."(2) The same may also be
perceived with reference to the heart; for their heart indeed was foolish,
but this man's was true; hence he speaks of them thus, "Their heart is
vain;" but of his own, "My heart is inditing of a good matter."(3) And as
to the ear, one may see that the case is the same; for some have a sense of
bearing like that of beasts, which is not to be charmed or moved to pity;
and reproaching such the Psalmist says, "They are like the deaf adder, that
stoppeth her ears."(4) But his ear was the receptacle of the divine words,
and this he again makes manifest, when he says, "I will incline mine ear to
a parable, I will open my dark speech upon the harp."(5)
12. Knowing these things then, let us fortify ourselves with virtue on all
sides, and thus we shall avert the wrath of God, and let us make the
members of the body instruments of righteousness; and let us discipline
eyes, and mouth, and hands, and feet, and heart, and tongue, and the(6)
whole body, to be employed only in the service of virtue. And let us
remember those three precepts, of which I discoursed(7) to your Charity,
exhorting you to consider no one as an enemy, nor to speak evil of any one
of those who have aggrieved you; and to expel from your mouth the evil
custom of oaths. And with respect to the two former precepts, we will
discourse to you on another occasion; but we shall speak to you during the
whole of the present week respecting oaths; thus beginning with the easier
precept. For it is no labour at all to overcome the habit of swearing, if
we would but apply a little endeavour, by reminding each other; by
advising; by observing; and by requiring those who thus forget themselves,
to render an account, and to pay the penalty. For what advantage shall we
gain by abstinence from meats, if we do not also expel the evil habits of
the soul? Lo, we have spent the whole of this day fasting; and in the
evening we shall spread a table, not such as we did on yester-eve, but one
of an altered and more solemn kind.(8) Can any one of us then say that he
has changed his life too this day; that he has altered his ill custom, as
well as his food? Truly, I suppose not! Of what advantage then is our
fasting? Wherefore I exhort(9) and I will not cease to exhort, that
undertaking each precept separately, you should spend two or three days in
the attainment of it; and just as there are some who rival one another in
fasting, and shew a marvellous emulation in it; (some indeed who spend two
whole days without food; and others who, rejecting from their tables not
only the use of wine, and of oil, but of every dish, and taking only bread
and water, persevere in this practice during the whole of Lent); so,
indeed, let us also contend mutually with one another in abolishing the
frequency(10) of oaths. For this is more useful than any fasting; this is
more profitable than any austerity. And this same care which we display in
abstaining from food, let us exhibit with respect to abstinence from oaths;
since we shall be chargeable with the reproach of extreme folly, while we
regard not things that are forbidden, and expend all our care upon things
indifferent; for to eat is not forbidden, but to swear is forbidden; we,
however, abstaining from those things that are permitted, daringly venture
upon those things that are forbidden! On this account I beseech your
Charity to make some change, and to let the beginning of it be visible from
this day. For if we spend the whole of the present fast with such zeal,
having in this week attained the practice of not swearing at all; and in
the following having extinguished wrath; and in that which succeeds it,
having pulled up evil-speaking by the roots; and after that, having amended
what yet remains; thus going forward in our course, we shall come by little
and little to the very summit of virtue; and we shall escape the present
danger; and shall make God propitious; and the multitude will come back
again to our city; and we shall teach the fugitives that we are to place
our hopes of safety neither in security of place, nor in flight and
retirement; but in piety of soul, and in virtue of manners. And thus shall
we obtain the good things of this and of the future life; which, God grant!
we my all be found worthy of, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord
Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father, together
with the Holy Ghost, now and for ever and ever. Amen.
HOMILY V.
[The exhortation of the last Homily is Continued in this. The people are
exhorted to bear with fortitude the impending wrath of the Emperor. The
cases of Job and the Ninevites are referred to as examples. It is shewn
that men ought not to fear death, but sin. What it is to die miserably is
explained; and the Homily concludes with an earnest dissuasive against the
use of oaths.]
1. THE discourse concerning the three young men, and the Babylonian
furnace, did, as it would seem, yesterday give no small comfort to your
Charity; and still more the example in the case of Job, and that dunghill
more to be venerated than any kingly throne. For from seeing a royal throne
no advantage results to the spectators, but only a temporary pleasure,
which has no profit; but from the sight of Job's dunghill, one may derive
every kind of benefit, yea, much divine wisdom and consolation, in order to
patience. Therefore to this day many undertake a long pilgrimage,(1) even
across the sea, hastening from the extremities of the earth, as far as
Arabia, that they may see that dunghill; and having beheld it, may kiss the
land, which contained the wrestling- ground(2) of such a victor, and
received the blood that was more precious than all gold! For the purple
shines not so brilliantly, as did that body when dyed(3) not in another's
blood, but in its own! Even those very wounds were more precious than all
manner of jewels! For the nature of pearls is of no help to our life; nor
do they satisfy any necessary want on the part of those who have them. But
those wounds are a consolation for all sadness; and that thou mayest learn
this to be the truth, suppose any one were to lose a beloved and only son.
Shew him ten thousand pearls, and you will not console his grief, or
lighten his anguish; but recall to his mind the wounds of Job, and thou
wouldest easily be able to minister comfort by speaking thus: "Why
sorrowest thou, O man? Thou hast lost one son; but that blessed man, after
he had been bereaved of the whole family of his children, both received a
plague in his own flesh, and sat down naked upon the dunghill, streaming
with gore from every part, and his flesh gradually wasting away; even he
who was just, and true, so devout a man, who stained from every evil deed,
and had even God for a witness to his virtue." By speaking thus thou
wouldest extinguish all the sufferer's sadness, and remove all his
distress. Thus the wounds of the just man become more useful than pearls!
2. Figure to yourselves then this wrestler; and imagine that you see that
dunghill, and himself sitting in the midst of it! That golden statue! set
with gems! I know not how to express it: for I am unable to find any
material so precious as to compare it with that body stained with blood! So
far above every substance, however costly, was the nature of that flesh,
beyond all comparison more precious, and those wounds more splendid than
the sun's beams; for these illumine the eyes of the body; but those
enlighten the eyes of the mind! those struck the devil with utter
blindness! Therefore it was, that after that blow, he started back and
appeared no more. And do thou, O beloved, learn thence too what advantage
there is in tribulation! For when the just man was rich, and enjoyed ease,
he had the means of accusing him. However falsely, yet still he had it in
his power to say, "Doth Job serve thee for nought?" But after he had
stripped him and made him poor, he dared not even open his mouth any more.
When he was wealthy, he prepared to wrestle with him, and threatened to
overthrow him; but when he had made him poor, and taken away all he had,
and thrown him into the deepest distress, then he started back. When indeed
his body was sound, he lifted up his hands against him,(4) but when he had
battered his flesh, then he fled,--defeated! Seest thou how to the
vigilant, poverty is much better and more beneficial than riches; and
infirmity and sickness, than health; and trial, than tranquillity; inasmuch
as it makes the combatants more illustrious and vigorous?
3. Who hath seen or heard of such an astonishing contest? The fighters in
worldly contests, when they have battered the heads of their adversaries,
are then victorious, and are crowned! But this adversary, when he had
battered the body of the just man, perforating it with ulcers of every
kind, and had reduced him to great weakness, was then conquered, and drew
back. Even when he had pierced his ribs in every direction, he was no
gainer thereby; for he spoiled him not of his hidden treasure, but he made
him more conspicuous to us; and through that piercing he gave to all the
privilege to look into his interior, and to discern completely the whole of
his wealth! When he expected to prevail, then he withdrew with much
ignominy, and never again uttered a syllable! What is the matter, O devil?
For what cause withdrawest thou? Was not everything done that thou chosest?
Hast thou not taken away his flocks, his herds, his droves of horses and of
mules? Hast thou not also destroyed his troop of children? and battered his
flesh to pieces. For what reason with-drawest thou? "Because," saith he,
"every thing I chose(1) is come to pass, and yet that which I most desired
should come to pass, and for which I did all those things, is not come to
pass; he hath not blasphemed! For it was in order to this, continues he,
that I was doing all those things; and as this is not come to pass, I am no
gainer by having deprived him of his wealth; or by the destruction of his
children; or by the plague inflicted upon his body; but the reverse of what
I purposed hath come to pass; I have made my enemy more illustrious; I have
added lustre to his reputation." Perceivest thou, O beloved, how great was
the reward of tribulation? His body was fair and sound before, but it
became more venerable, when pierced through and through by these wounds!
And thus wool, fair as it is before the dyeing, when it becomes purple,
takes an indescribable beauty, and an additional grace. But if he had not
stripped him, we should not have known the good condition(2) of the victor;
if he had not pierced the body with ulcers, the rays within would not have
shone forth. If he had not made him sit down upon a dunghill, we should not
have known his wealth. For a king sitting on a throne is not so
illustrious, as this man was notable and conspicuous, whilst sitting upon
his dunghill! For after the royal throne, comes death; but after that
dunghill, the kingdom of heaven!
4. Collecting then all these reasons, let us raise ourselves from the
dejection which oppresses us. For I have laid these histories before you,
not that ye may applaud what is spoken, but that ye may imitate the virtue
and the patience of such noble men; that ye may learn from the very facts,
that there is nothing of human ills to be dreaded, save sin only; neither
poverty, nor disease, nor insult, nor malicious treatment, nor ignominy,
nor death, which is accounted the worst of all evils. To those who love
spiritual wisdom, such things are only the names of calamities; names which
have no substantial reality. But the true calamity consists in offending
God, and in doing aught which is displeasing to Him. For tell me, what is
there in death. which is terrible? Is it because it transports thee more
quickly to the peaceful haven, and to that life which is free from tumult?
Although man should not put thee to death, will not the very law of nature,
at length stealing upon thee, separate the body from the soul; and if this
event which we fear does not happen now, it will happen shortly.
5. I speak thus, not anticipating any dread or melancholy event:(3) God
forbid! But because I am ashamed for those who are afraid of death. Tell
me, whilst expecting such good things as "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
nor have entered the heart of man,"(4) dost thou demur about this
enjoyment, and art negligent and slothful; and not only slothful, but
fearful and trembling? And is it not shameful that thou art distressed on
account of death, whereas Paul groaned on account of the present life, and
writing to the Romans said, "The creation groaneth together, and ourselves
also which have the first fruits of the Spirit do groan."(5) And he spoke
thus, not as condemning the things present, but longing for the things to
come. "I have tasted," saith he, "of the grace, and I do not willingly put
up with the delay.(6) I have the first fruits of the Spirit, and I press on
towards the whole. I have ascended to the third heaven; I have seen that
glory which is unutterable; I have beheld the shining palaces; I have
learnt what joys I am deprived of, while I linger here, and therefore do I
groan." For suppose any one had conducted thee into princely halls, and
shewn thee the gold everywhere glittering on the walls, and all the rest of
the glorious show; if from thence he had led thee back afterward to a poor
man's hut, and promised that in a short time he would bring thee back to
those palaces, and world there give thee a perpetual mansion; tell me,
wouldest thou not indeed languish with desire, and feel impatient, even at
these few days? Thus think then of heaven, and of earth, and groan with
Paul, not because of death, but because of the present life!
6. But grant me, saith one, to be like Paul, and I shall never be afraid
of death. Why, what is it that forbids thee, O man, to become like Paul?
Was he not a poor man? Was he not a tent maker? Was he not a man of humble
position? For if he had been rich and high born, the poor, when called upon
to imitate his zeal, would have had their poverty to plead; but now thou
canst say nothing of this sort. For this man was one who exercised a manual
art, and supported himself too by his daily labours. And thou, indeed, from
the first hast inherited true religion from thy fathers; and from thy
earliest age hast been nourished in the study of the sacred writings; but
he was "a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious,"(1) and ravaged the
Church! Nevertheless, he so changed all at once, as to surpass all in the
vehemence of his zeal, and he cries out, saying, "Be ye imitators of me,
even as I also am of Christ."(2) He imitated the Lord; and wilt not thou
who hast been educated in piety from the first, imitate a fellow- servant;
one who by conversion was brought to the faith at a later period of life?
Knowest thou not, that they who are in sins are dead whilst they live; and
that they who live(3) in righteousness, although they be dead, yet they
live?(4) And this is not my word. It is the declaration of Christ speaking
to Martha, "He that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he
live."(5) Is our doctrine, indeed, a fable? If thou art a Christian,
believe in Christ; if thou believest in Christ, shew me thy faith by thy
works.(6) But how mayest thou shew this? By thy contempt of death: for in
this we differ from the unbelievers. They may well fear death; since they
have no hope of a resurrection. But thou, who art travelling toward better
things, and hast the opportunity of meditating on the hope of the future;
what excuse hast thou, if whilst assured of a resurrection, thou are yet at
the same time as fearful of death, as those who believe not the
resurrection?
7. But I have no fear of death, says one, nor of the act of dying, but of
a miserable death, of being beheaded. Did John then, I ask, die miserably?
for he was beheaded. Or did Stephen die miserably? for he was stoned; and
all the martyrs have thus died wretchedly, according to this objection:
since some have ended their lives by fire; and others by the sword; and
some cast into the ocean; others down a precipice; and others into the jaws
of wild beasts, have so come by their death. To die basely, O man, is not
to come to one's end by a violent death, but to die in sin! Hear, at least,
the prophet moralising on this very matter, and saying,"The death of
sinners is evil."(7) He does not say that a violent death is evil; but what
then? "The death of sinners is evil."(8) And justly so; for after the
departure from this life, there is an intolerable punishment; undying
vengeance, the envenomed worm; the fire unquenchable, the outer darkness,
the chains indissoluble; the gnashing of teeth, the tribulation, and the
anguish, and the eternal justice.(9)
8. Since therefore such evils await sinners, what advantage can it be to
them, though they should end their days at home, and in their bed? Even so,
on the other hand, it can do no harm to the righteous to lay down the
present life through sword, or steel, or fire when they are to depart to
the good things that are immortal. Truly "the death of sinners is evil."
Such a death was that of the rich man, who despised Lazarus. He, when he
had terminated his life by a natural end, at home and on his bed, and with
his relatives about him, experienced after his departure to the other world
a fiery torment; nor was he able to obtain there even a little comfort, out
of all the pleasure he had enjoyed in the present life! But not so was it
with Lazarus; for when lying upon the pavement, while the dogs came and
licked his sores, he had suffered a violent death (for what could be more
painful than hunger?), but on his departing hence he enjoyed eternal
blessings, luxuriating in the bosom of Abraham! In what respect, then, did
it injure him that he died a violent death? or what did it profit the rich
man, that he died not with violence?
9. But, says some one, "We have no fear of dying by violence, but of dying
unjustly; and of being punished in a similar way with the guilty,--we who
have had nothing to do with the crimes of which we are suspected." What
sayest thou, tell me? Art thou afraid of dying unjustly, and wouldest thou
wish to die justly. But who is there so wretched and miserable, that when
he had the alternative of dying unjustly, would rather depart by an act of
justice? For if it be necessary to fear death, it is necessary to fear it
when it comes upon us justly; since he indeed who dies unjustly, is by this
very means made a partaker with all the saints. For many of those who were
approved and distinguished by God, have been subjected to an unjust end;
and first of all Abel. For it was not that he had sinned against his
brother, or done Cain any harm; but inasmuch as he had honoured God,
therefore was he slaughtered. But God permitted it. Was it, think you,
because He loved him, or because He hated him? Most clearly, because He
loved him, and wished to make his crown the brighter, by that most unjust
murder. Seest thou then, that it becomes us not to be afraid of dying by
violence; nor yet of dying unjustly; but of dying in a state of sin? Abel
died unjustly. Cain lived, groaning and trembling! Which then, I would ask,
was the more blessed of the two; he who went to rest in righteousness, or
he who lived in sin; he who died unjustly, or he who was justly punished?
Would you have me declare unto your Charity, whence it is that we are
afraid of death? The love of the kingdom hath not penetrated us, nor the
desire of things to come inflamed us: otherwise we should despise all
present things, even as the blessed Paul did. Add to this, on the other
hand, that we do not stand in awe of hell; therefore death is terrible. We
are not sensible of the unsufferable nature of the punishment there;
therefore, instead of sin, we fear death; since if the fear of the one held
possession of our souls, the fear of the other would not be able to enter.
10. And this I will endeavour to make manifest, not from anything of a
remote nature, but from what is at our own doors; and from the events which
have happened among us in these days. For when the Emperor's letter came,
ordering that tribute to be imposed which was thought to be so intolerable,
all were in a tumult; all quarrelled with it; thought it a sore grievance,
resented it; and when they met one another said, "Our life is not worth
living, the city is undone;--no one will be able to stand under this heavy
burden;" and they were distressed as if placed in the extremest danger.
After this, when the rebellion was actually perpetrated, and certain vile,
yea, thoroughly vile persons, trampling under foot the laws, threw down the
statues, and involved all in the utmost peril; and now that we are in fear
for our very lives, through the indignation of the Emperor, this loss of
money no longer stings us. But instead of such complaints, I hear from all
a language of a different kind. "Let the Emperor take our substance, we
will gladly be deprived of our fields and possessions, if any one will but
ensure us safety for the bare body." As therefore, before the fear of death
pressed upon us, the loss of our wealth tormented us; and after these
lawless outrages had been perpetrated, the fear of death succeeding,
expelled the grief for that loss; so if the fear of hell had held
possession of our souls, the fear of death would not have possessed them.
But even as it is with the body, when two kinds of pain seize upon us, the
more powerful usually overshadows the weaker one, so also would it now
happen; if the dread of future punishment remained in the soul, that would
overshadow all human fear. So that if any one endear-ours always to have
the remembrance of hell, he will deride every kind of death; and this will
not only deliver him from the present distress, but will even rescue him
from the flame to come. For he who is always afraid of hell, will never
fall into the fire of hell; being made sober by this continual fear!
11. Permit me, that I now say to you at a fitting time, "Brethren, be not
children in understanding; howbeit in malice be ye children."(1) For this
is a childish terror of ours, if we fear death, but are not fearful of sin.
Little children too are afraid of masks, but fear not the fire. On the
contrary, if they are carried by accident near a lighted candle, they
stretch out the hand without any concern towards the candle and the flame;
yet a mask which is so utterly contemptible terrifies them; whereas they
have no dread of fire, which is really a thing to be afraid of. Just so we
too have a fear of death, which is a mask that might well be despised; but
have no fear of sin, which is truly dreadful; and, even as fire, devours
the conscience! And this is wont to happen not on account of the nature of
the things, but by reason of our own folly; so that if we were once to
consider what death is, we should at no time be afraid of it. What then, I
pray you, is death? Just what it is to put off a garment. For the body is
about the soul as a garment; and after laying this aside for a short time
by means of death, we shall resume it again with the more splendour. What
is death at most? It is a journey for a season; a sleep longer than usual!
So that if thou fearest death, thou shouldest also fear sleep! If for those
who are dying thou art pained, grieve for those too who are eating and
drinking, for as this is natural, so is that! Let not natural things sadden
thee; rather let things which arise from an evil choice make thee
sorrowful. Sorrow not for the dying man; but sorrow for him who is living
in sin!
12. Would you have me mention another reason on account of which we fear
death? We do not live with strictness, nor keep a clear conscience; for if
this were the case nothing would alarm us, neither death, nor famine, nor
the loss of wealth, nor anything else of this kind. For he who lives
virtuously, cannot be injured by any of these things, or be deprived of his
inward pleasure. For being supported by favourable hopes, nothing will be
able to throw him into dejection. What is there that any one can possibly
effect, by which he can cause the noble-minded man to become sorrowful?
Take away his riches? He has yet wealth that is in the heavens! Cast him
out of his country? He will take his journey to(1) that city which is
above! Load him with fetters? He has still his conscience free, and is
insensible to the external chain! Put his body to death? Yet he shall rise
again! And as he who fights with a shadow, and beaten the air, will be
unable to hit any one; so he who is at war with the just man, is but
striking at a shadow, and wasting his own strength, without being able to
inflict any injury upon him. Grant me then to be sure of the kingdom of
heaven; and, if thou wishest, slay me this day. I shall be thankful to thee
for the slaughter; forasmuch as thou sendest me quickly to the possession
of those good things! "This, however," says some one, "is what we
especially lament, that hindered as we are by the multitude of our sins, we
shall not attain to that kingdom." Such being the case then, leave off
lamenting death, and lament thy sins, in order that thou mayest be freed
from them! Grief, indeed, hath had its existence, not that we should sorrow
for the loss of wealth, nor for death, nor for anything else of that kind,
but that we may employ it for the taking away of our sins.(2) And I will
make the truth of this evident by an example. Healing medicines(3) have
been made for those diseases only which they are able to remove; not for
those which are in no respect assisted by them. For instance (for I wish to
make the matter still plainer), the medicine which is able to benefit a
malady of the eyes only, and no other disease, one might justly say was
made only for the sake of the eyes; not for the stomach, nor for the hands,
nor any other member. Let us then transfer this argument to the subject of
grief; and we shall find, that in none of those things which happen to us,
is it of any advantage, except to correct sin; whence it is apparent that
it hath had its existence only for the destruction of this. Let us now take
a survey of each of those evils which befall us, and let us apply
despondency as a remedy, and see what sort of advantage(4) results from it.
13. Some one is mulcted in property: he becomes sad, but this does not
make good his loss. Some one hath lost a son: he grieves, but he cannot
raise the dead, nor benefit the departed. Some one hath been scourged,
beaten, and insulted; he becomes sorrowful. This does not recall the
insult. Some one falls into sickness, and a most grievous disease; he is
dejected. This does not remove his disease, but only makes it the more
grievous. Do you see that in none of these cases does sadness answer any
useful purpose? Suppose that any one hath sinned, and is sad. He blots out
the sin; he gets free from the transgression. How is this shewn? By the
declaration of the Lord; for, speaking of a certain one who had sinned, He
said, "Because of his iniquity I made him sad for a while; and I saw that
he was grieved, and he went on heavily; and I healed his ways."(5)
Therefore also Paul saith, "Godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation
not to be repented of."(6) Since then what I have said clearly shews, that
neither the loss of riches, nor insult, nor abuse, nor stripes, nor
sickness, nor death, nor any other thing of that kind can possibly be
relieved by the interference of grief, but sin only can it blot out and do
away, it is evident that this is the only reason why it hath its existence.
Let us therefore no more grieve for the loss of wealth, but let us grieve
only when we commit sin. For great in this case is the gain that comes of
sorrow. Art thou amerced? Be not dejected, for thus thou wilt not be at all
benefited. Hast thou sinned? Then be sorry: for it is profitable; and
consider the skill and wisdom of God. Sin hath brought forth for us these
two things, sorrow and death. For "in the day thou eatest," He saith, "thou
shall surely die;" and to the woman, "In sorrow thou shall bring forth
children."(1) And by both of these things he took away sin, and provided
that the mother should be destroyed by her offspring. For that death as
well as grief takes away sin, is evident, in the first place, from the case
of the martyrs;(2) and it is plain too from what Paul saith to those who
had sinned, speaking on this wise, "For this cause many are weak and sickly
among you, and many sleep."(3) Inasmuch, he observes, as ye have sinned, ye
die, so that ye are freed from sin by death. Therefore ne goes on to say,
"For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are
judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with
the world."(4) And even as the worm is brought forth from the wood, and
devours the wood; and a moth consumes the wool, from whence it originates;
so grief and death were born of sin, and devour sin.
14. Let us not then fear death, but let us only fear sin, and grieve on
account of this. And these things I speak, not anticipating any thing
fearful, God forbid! but wishing you when alarmed to be always thus
affected, and to fulfil the law of Christ in very deed. For "he," saith
Christ, "that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy
of Me."(5) This He said, not that we should bear the wood upon our
shoulders, but that we should always have death before our eyes. Even so as
Paul, that is, died daily, and laughed at death, and despised the present
life. For indeed thou art a soldier, and standest continually at arms; but
a soldier who is afraid of death, will never perform a noble action. Thus
then neither will a Christian man, if fearful of dangers, perform anything
great or admirable; nay, besides this, he will be apt to be easily
vanquished. But not so is it with the man who is bold and lofty minded. He
remains impregnable and unconquerable. As then the Three Children, when
they feared not the fire, escaped from the fire, so also we, if we fear not
death, shall entirely escape from death. They feared not the fire (for it
is no crime to be burnt), but they feared sin, for it is a crime to commit
impiety. Let us also imitate these and all such, and let us not be afraid
of dangers, and then we shall pass safely through them.
15. As for me, "I am not a prophet nor the son of a prophet,"(6) yet I
understand clearly thus much of the future, and I proclaim, both loudly and
distinctly, that if we become changed, and bestow some care upon our souls,
and desist from iniquity, nothing will be unpleasant or painful. And this I
plainly know from the love of God toward man, as well as from those things
which He hath done for men, and cities, and nations, and whole populations.
For He threatened the city of Nineveh, and said, "There are yet three
days,(7) and Nineveh shall be overthrown."(8) What then, I ask, Was Nineveh
overthrown? Was the city destroyed? Nay, quite the contrary; it both arose,
and became still more distinguished; and long as is the time which has
elapsed, it has not effaced its glory, but we all still celebrate and
admire it even to this day.(9) For from that time it hath been a sort of
excellent haven for all who have sinned, not suffering them to sink into
desperation, but calling all to repentance; and by what it did, and by what
it obtained of God's favour, persuading men never to despair of their
salvation, but exhibiting the best life they can,(10) and setting before
them a(11) good hope, to be confident of the issue as destined in any wise
to be favourable. For who would not be stirred up on hearing of such an
example, even if he were the laziest of mortals?
16. For God even preferred that His own prediction should fall to the
ground, so that the city should not fall. Or rather, the prophecy did not
even so fall to the ground. For if indeed while the men continued in the
same wickedness, the sentence had not taken effect, some one perhaps might
have brought a charge against what was uttered. But if when they had
changed, and desisted from their iniquity, God also desisted from His
wrath, who shall be able any longer to find fault with the prophecy, or to
convict the things spoken of falsehood. The same law indeed which God had
laid down from the beginning, publishing it to all men by the prophet, was
on that occasion strictly observed. What then is this law? "I shall speak a
sentence," saith He, "concerning a nation or a kingdom, to pluck up, and to
pull down, and to destroy it; and it shall be, that if they repent of their
evil, I will also repent of the wrath which I said I would do unto
them."(1) Guarding then this law, he saved those who were converted and
released from His wrath those who desisted from their wickedness. He knew
the virtue of the barbarians; therefore He hastened the prophet thither.
Thus was the city agitated at the time, when it heard the prophet's voice,
but instead of being injured it was benefited by fear. For that fear was
the cause of its safety. The threatening effected the deliverance from the
peril. The sentence of overthrow put a stop to the overthrow. O strange and
astonishing event! the sentence threatening death, brought forth life! The
sentence after it was published became cancelled; the very opposite to that
which takes place among temporal judges! for in their case the proclamation
of the sentence causes it to become valid, is fully to ratify it; but on
the contrary, with God, the publication of the sentence, caused it to be
cancelled. For if it had not been published, the offenders would not have
heard; and if they had not heard, they would not have repented, and if they
had not repented,(2) they would not have warded off the punishment, nor
would they have obtained that astonishing deliverance. For how is it less
than astonishing, when the judge declares sentence, and the condemned
discharge the sentence by their repentance! They, indeed, did not flee from
the city as we are now doing, but remaining in it they caused it to stand.
It was a snare, and they made it a fortification! It was a gulph, and a
precipice, and they turned it into a tower of safety! They had heard that
the buildings would fall, and yet they fled not from the buildings, but
they fled from their sins. They did not depart each from his house as we do
now, but each departed from his evil way; for, said they, "why should we
think the walls have brought forth the wrath? we are the causes of the
wound; we then should provide the medicine." Therefore they trusted for
safety, not to a change of habitations,(3) but of habits.(4)
17. Thus did the barbarians! and are we not ashamed, and ought we not to
hide our faces, whilst instead of changing our habits, as they did, we
change only our habitations; privily removing our goods, and doing the
deeds of men that are drunken? Our Master is angry with us; and we,
neglecting to appease His wrath, carry about our household stuff from place
to place, and run hither and thither, seeking where we may deposit our
substance; while we ought rather to seek where we may deposit our soul in
safety; or rather, it behoveth us not to seek, but to entrust its safety to
virtue and uprightness of life. For when we were angry and displeased with
a servant, if he, instead of defending himself against our displeasure,
went down to his apartment, and collecting together his clothes, and
binding up together all his movables, meditated a flight, we could not
tamely put up with this contempt. Let us then desist from this unseasonable
endeavour, and let us each say to God, "Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit,
and whither shall I flee from Thy presence?"(5) Let us imitate the
spiritual wisdom of the barbarians. They repented even on uncertain
grounds! For the sentence had no such clause, "If ye turn and repent, I
will set up the city;" but simply, "Yet three days, and Nineveh shall be
overthrown."(6) What then said they? "Who knoweth whether God will repent
of the evil He said He would do unto us?" Who knoweth? They know not the
end of the event, and yet they do not neglect repentance! They are
unacquainted with God's method of snewing mercy, and yet they change upon
the strength of uncertainties! For neither was it in their power to look at
other Ninevites who had repented and been saved; nor had they read
prophets; nor had they heard patriarchs; nor had they enjoyed counsel, or
partaken of admonition; nor had they persuaded themselves that they should
certainly propitiate God by repentance. For the threatening did not imply
this: but they were doubtful, and hesitating concerning it; and yet they
repented with all diligence. What reason then shall we have to urge, when
those, who had no ground for confidence as to the issue, are seen to have
exhibited so great a change; but thou who hast ground of confidence in the
mercy of God, and who hast frequently received many pledges of His care,
and hast heard prophets, and apostles, and hast been instructed by actual
events; hast yet no emulation to reach the same measure of virtue as these
did! Great assuredly was their virtue! but greater by far was the mercy of
God! and this may be seen from the very greatness of the threat. For this
reason God did not add to the declaration, "But if ye repent. I will
spare:" in order that by setting forth a sentence without limitation, He
might increase the fear and having increased the fear, He might constrain
them more speedily to repentance.
18. The prophet is indeed ashamed, fore-seeing what the issue would be,
and conjecturing that what he had prophesied, would remain unaccomplished;
God however is not ashamed, but is desirous of one thing only, viz. the
salvation of men, and corrects His own servant. For when he had entered the
ship, He straightway there raised a boisterous sea; in order that thou
mightest know that where sin is, there is a tempest; where there is
disobedience, there is the swelling of e waves.(1) The city was shaken
because of the sins of the Ninevites; and the ship was shaken because of
the disobedience of the prophet. The sailors therefore threw Jonah m the
deep, and the ship was preserved. Let us then drown our sins, and our city
will assuredly be safe! Flight will certainly be no advantage to us; for it
did not profit him; on the contrary, it did him injury. He fled from the
land indeed, but he fled not from the wrath of God; he fled from the land,
but he brought the tempest after him on the sea; and so far was he from
obtaining any benefit by his flight, that he plunged those also who
received him into the extremest peril. And whilst he sat sailing in the
ship, although the sailors, the pilots, and all the necessary apparatus of
the ship were there present, he was placed in the utmost danger. After,
however, having been thrown out into the deep, and having put away his sin
by means of the punishment, he had been conveyed into that unstable(2)
vessel, I mean, the whale's belly, he enjoyed great security. This was for
the purpose of teaching thee, that as no ship can be of any use to him who
is living in sin, so him who has put away his sin, the sea cannot drown,
nor monsters destroy. Of a truth, the waves received, but they did not
suffocate him. The whale received him, but did not destroy him; but both
the animal and the element gave back to God unhurt that, with which they
were entrusted; and by all these things the prophet was taught to be humane
and merciful; and not to be more cruel than wild beasts, or thoughtless
sailors, or unruly waves. For even the sailors did not immediately at first
give him up, but after much compulsion; and the sea and the monster guarded
him with great kindness; all these things being under God's direction.
19. Therefore he came back again; he preached; he threatened; he
persuaded; he preserved; he affrighted; he amended; he established; by one,
and that the first preaching! Many days he needed not, nor continued
counsel; but speaking these simple words only, he brought all to
repentance! On this account God did not lead him directly from the ship
into the city; but the sailors committed him to the sea; the sea to the
whale; the whale to God; God to the Ninevites; and by this long circuit he
brought back the fugitive, that he might instruct all, that it is
impossible to fly from the hands of God; that whithersoever any one may
roam, dragging his sin after him, he will have to undergo a thousand evils;
and though no mortal were present, yet on every side the whole creation
will rise up against him with the utmost vehemence! Let us not then provide
for our safety by flight, but by a change of the moral character. Is it for
remaining in the city that God is angry with thee, that thou shouldest fly?
It is because thou hast sinned, that He is indignant. Lay aside therefore
the sin, and where the cause of thy wound lies, thence remove(3) the
fountain of the evil. For the physicians too give us directions to cure
contraries by contraries. Is fever, for instance, produced by a full diet?
They subject the disease to the regimen of abstinence. Does any one fall
sick from sadness? They say that mirth is the suitable medicine for it.
Thus also it befits us to act with respect to diseases of the soul. Hath
listlessness excited the wrath? let us shake this off by zeal, and let us
manifest in our conduct a great change. We have the fast, a very great
auxiliary and ally in our warfare; and besides the fast, we have the
impending distress, and the fear of danger. Now then, in season, let us be
at work on the soul; for we shall easily be able to persuade it to whatever
we choose; since he who is alarmed and trembling, and set free from all
luxury, and who lives in terror, is able to practise moral wisdom without
difficulty, and to receive the seeds of virtue with much alacrity.
20. Let us therefore persuade it to make this first change for the better,
by the avoidance of oaths; for although I spake to you yesterday. and the
day before,(1) on this same subject; yet neither to-day, nor to-morrow, nor
the day after, will I desist giving my counsel on this subject. And why do
I say to-morrow and the day following? Until I see that you are amended, I
will not abstain from doing so. If those, indeed, who transgress this law,
are not ashamed, far less should we who bid them not transgress it, feel
this frequency of the admonition to be a matter worthy of shame. For to be
continually reminding men of the same topics is not the fault of the
speaker, but of the hearers, needing as they do perpetual instruction, upon
simple and easily-observed precepts. What indeed is easier than not to
swear? It is only a good work of habit. It is neither labour of the body,
nor expenditure of wealth. Art thou desirous to learn how it is possible to
get the better of this infirmity, how it is possible to be set free from
this evil habit? I will tell thee of a particular method by which if
pursued thou wilt certainly master it. If thou seest either thyself or any
other person, whether it be one of thy servants, or of thy children, or thy
wife, ensnared in this vice; when thou hast continually reminded them of
it, and they are not amended, order them to retire to rest supperless;(2)
and impose this sentence upon thyself, as well as upon them, a sentence
which will bring with it no injury, but a gain. For such is the nature of
spiritual acts; they bring profit and a speedy reformation. The tongue when
constantly punished, when straitened by thirst. and pained by hunger,
receives a sufficient admonition, even whilst no one is its monitor; and
though we were the most stupid of mortals, yet when we are thus reminded by
the greatness of the punishment during a whole day, we shall need no other
counsel and exhortation.
21. Ye have applauded what I have spoken. But still shew me your applause
too by deeds. Else what is the advantage of our meeting here? Suppose a
child were to go to school every day, yet if he learnt nothing the more for
it, would the excuse satisfy us that he every day went there? Should we not
esteem it the greatest fault, that going there daily, he did it to no
purpose. Let us consider this with ourselves, and let us say to ourselves,
For so long a time have we met together at church, having the benefit of a
most solemn Communion,(3) which has in it much profit; and should we return
back again just as we came, with none of our defects corrected, of what
advantage is our coming here? For most actions are done, not for
themselves, but for the effects which follow through their means; as, for
example, the sower does not sow for the mere sake of sowing, but in order
that he may reap too; since if this were not to follow, the sowing would be
a loss, the seeds rotting without any kind of advantage. The merchant doth
not take a voyage merely for sailing's sake, but that he may increase his
substance by going abroad; since, if this be not attained beside, extreme
mischief will result, and the voyage of merchants were but for loss. Let us
indeed consider this in relation to ourselves. We also meet together in the
church, not for the mere purpose of spending time here, but in order that
we may return having gained a great and spiritual benefit. Should we then
depart empty, and without having received any advantage, this our diligence
becomes our condemnation! In order that this may not occur, and extreme
mischief result, on departing from this place, let friends practise with
one another; fathers with children; and masters with servants; and train
yourselves to perform the task assigned you; so that when ye come back
again, and hear us giving you counsel on the same subjects, ye may not be
put to shame by an accusing conscience, but may rejoice. and be glad,
whilst ye perceive that ye have accomplished the greatest part of the
admonition.
22. Let us not moralize on these things here only. For this temporary
admonition does not suffice to extirpate the whole evil; but at home also,
let the husband hear of these things from the wife, and the wife from the
husband. And let there be a kind of rivalry among all in endeavouring to
gain precedence in the fulfilment of this law; and let him who is in
advance, and hath amended his conduct, reproach him who is still loitering
behind; to the end that he may stir him up the more by these gibes. He who
is deficient, and hath not yet amended his conduct, let him look at him who
hath outstripped him, and strive with emulation to come up with him
quickly. If we take advice on these points, and are anxiously concerned
about them, our other affairs will speedily be well adjusted. Be thou
solicitous about God's business, and he will take care of thine! And do not
say to me, "What if any one should impose upon us the necessity of taking
oaths? What if he should not believe us?" For assuredly, where a law is
transgressed, it is improper to make mention of necessity; forasmuch as
there is but one necessity which cannot be dispensed with, viz. that of not
offending God! This, however, I say further; cut off in the meantime
superfluous oaths, those that are taken uselessly, and without any
necessity; those to your own family, those to your friends, those to your
servants; and should you take away these, you will have no further need of
me for the others. For the very mouth that has been well disciplined to
dread and to avoid the frequent oath, should any one constrain it a
thousand times, would never consent to relapse again into the same habit.
On the contrary, as now, with much labor and vast importunity, by alarming,
threatening, exhorting, and counselling, we have scarcely been able to
bring it over to a different habit, so in that case, although any one were
to impose ever so great necessity, he could not possibly persuade to a
transgression of this law. And as a person would never choose to take a
particular poison, however urgent the necessity might be, so neither would
he to utter an oath!
23. Should this amendment then take place, it will be an encouragement and
inducement to the attainment of the remaining parts of virtue. For he who
has not accomplished anything at all becomes listless, and quickly falls;
but he who is conscious with himself that he has fulfilled at least one
precept, coming by this to have a good hope, will go on with greater
alacrity towards the rest; so that, after he has reached one, he will
presently come to another; and will not halt until he has attained the
crown of all. For if with regard to wealth, the more any one obtains of it,
the more he desires, much rather may this be seen with reference to
spiritual attainments. Therefore I hasten, and am urgent that this work may
take its commencement, and that the foundation of virtue may be laid in
your souls. We pray and beseech, that ye will remember these words, not
only at the present time, but also at home, and in the market, and
wheresoever ye pass your time. Oh! that it were possible for me familiarly
to converse with you!(1) then this long harangue of mine would have been
unnecessary. But now since this may not be, instead of me, remember my
words: and while you are sitting at table, suppose me to enter, and to be
standing beside you, and dinning into you the things I now say to you in
this place. And wheresoever there may be any discourse concerning me among
you, above all things remember this precept, and render me this recompense
far my love toward you. If I see that you have fulfilled it, I have
received my full return, and have obtained a sufficient recompense for my
labours. In order then that ye may both render us the more active, and that
yourselves too may be in the enjoyment of a good hope; and may provide for
the accomplishment of the remaining precepts with greater facility;
treasure up this precept in your souls with much care, and ye will then
understand the benefit of this admonition. And since a vestment broidered
with gold is a beautiful and conspicuous object, but seems much more so to
us when it is worn upon our own person; thus also the precepts of God are
beautiful when being praised, but appear far more lovely when they are
rightly practised. For now indeed ye commend what is spoken during a brief
moment of time, but if ye reduce it to practice, you will alike commend
both yourselves and us all day long, and all your lives long. And this is
not the grand point, that we shall praise one another; but that God will
accept us; and not only accept us, but will also reward us with those gifts
that are great and unspeakable! Of which may we all be deemed worthy,
through the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through
whom, and with whom, to the Father together with the Holy Ghost, be glory,
now and always, for ever and ever. Amen.
Taken from "The Early Church Fathers and Other Works" originally published
by Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. in English in Edinburgh, Scotland, beginning in
1867. (LNPF I/IX, Schaff). The digital version is by The Electronic Bible
Society, P.O. Box 701356, Dallas, TX 75370, 214-407-WORD.
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