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Of the Commissioners (Hellebichus Commander of the Troops, and
Caesarius Master of the Offices) sent by the Emperor Theodosius
for the inquisition of the offenders, on account of the overturning of
the Statues.
1. Most opportunely have we all this day sung together, "Blessed
be the Lord God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. For
marvellous, and beyond all expectation, are the things which have
happened? A whole city, and so great a population, when just about
to be overwhelmed--to sink under the waves, and to be utterly and
instantly destroyed--He hath entirely rescued from shipwreck in a
single moment of time! Let us give thanks then, not only that God
hath calmed the tempest, but that He suffered it to take place; not
only that He rescued us from shipwreck, but that He allowed us to
fall into such distress; and such an extreme peril to hang over us.
Thus also Paul bids us "in every thing give thanks." But when he
says, "In every thing give thanks," he means not only in our
deliverance from evils, but also at the time when we suffer those
evils. "For all things work together for good to them that love
God." Let us be thankful to Him for this deliverance from trials;
and let us never forget them. Let us devote ourselves to prayer, to
continual supplications, and to much piety.
2. When the sad conflagration of these calamities was first kindled,
I said, that it was a season not for doctrine, but for prayer. The
very same thing I now repeat, when the fire has been
extinguished--that it is now especially, and more than before, a
time for prayer; that now is the season especially for tears and
compunction, for an anxious soul, for much diligence, and for much
caution. For at that time the very nature of our tribulation
restrained us, however unwillingly, and disposed us to sobriety; and
led us to become more religious; but now when the bridle is removed,
and the cloud has passed away, there is fear lest we should fall back
again into sloth, or become relaxed by this respite; and lest one
should have reason to say of us too, "When He slew them, then they
sought Him, and returned, and enquired early after God."
Wherefore also Moses admonished the Jews, saying, "When thou
shalt have eaten, and drunk, and art full, remember the Lord thy
God." The goodness of your disposition will now be rendered
manifest, if you continue in the practice of the same piety. For at
that time, many imputed your earnestness to fear, and the approach of
calamity; but now, it will be purely your own achievement, if you
still persevere in maintaining this earnestness. Since with a boy
too, as long as he is guided by some tutor whom he fears, if he lives
with sobriety and meekness, there is nothing to admire, for all
persons ascribe the sobriety of the stripling to his fear of the tutor.
But when he remains in the same seemly behaviour, after the restraint
from that quarter is done away with, all persons give him credit too
for the sobriety that was seen in his earlier age. Thus also let us
act; let us continue in the same state of godly fear, in order that
for our former diligence too we may gain much praise from God.
3. We had expected innumerable woes; that our property would be
plundered, that the houses would have been burnt together with their
inmates, that the city would have been plucked up from the midst of the
world, that its very fragments would have been utterly destroyed, and
that its soil would have been placed under the plough! But, lo! all
these things existed only in expectation, and did not come into
operation. And this is not the only wonder, that God hath removed so
great a danger, but that He hath also greatly blessed us, and adorned
our city; and by this trial and calamity hath made us more approved!
But how, I will state. When those who were sent by the Emperor
erected that fearful tribunal for making inquisition into the events
which had taken place, and summoned every one to give account of the
deeds which they had perpetrated, and various anticipations of death
pervaded the minds of all, then the monks who dwelt on the
mountain-tops shewed their own true philosophy. For although they had
been shut up so many years in their cells, yet at no one's entreaty,
by no one's counsel, when they beheld such a cloud overhanging the
city, they left their caves and huts, and flocked together in every
direction, as if they had been so many angels arriving from heaven.
Then might one see the city likened to heaven, while these saints
appeared everywhere; by their mere aspect consoling the mourners, and
leading them to an utter disregard of the calamity. For who on
beholding these would not deride death, would not despise life. And
not only was this wonderful, but that when they drew nigh to the
magistrates themselves, they spoke to them with boldness on behalf of
the accused, and were all ready to shed their blood, and to lay down
their heads, so that they might snatch the captured from the terrible
events which they expected. They also declared that they would not
depart until the judges should spare the population of the city, or
send them themselves together with the accused to the Emperor.
"He," said they, "who rules over our portion of the world is a
godly man, a believer, one who lives in the practice of piety. We
therefore shall assuredly reconcile him. We will not give you leave,
nor permit you to embrue the sword, or take off a head. But if ye do
not desist, we also are quite resolved to die with them. We confess
that the crimes committed are very heinous; but the iniquity of those
deeds does not surpass the humanity of the Emperor." One of them is
also reported to have uttered another saying, full of wisdom, to this
effect: "The Statues which have been thrown down are again set up,
and have resumed their proper appearance; and the mischief was speedily
rectified; but if ye put to death the image of God, how will ye be
again able to revoke the deed! or how to reanimate those who are
deprived of life, and to restore their souls to their bodies?" Many
things too they said to them of the Judgment.
4. Who could but be astonished? Who could but admire the moral
wisdom of these men? When the mother of one of the accused,
uncovering her head, and exposing her grey hairs, laid hold of the
horse of the judge by the bridle, and running beside him through the
forum, thus entered with him the place of justice, we were all struck
with astonishment, we all admired that exceeding tenderness and
magnanimity. Ought we not, then, to have been much more impressed
with wonder at the conduct of these men? For if she had even died for
her son, it would have been nothing strange, since great is the
tyranny of nature, and irresistible is the obligation arising from the
maternal pangs! But these men so loved those whom they had not
begotten, whom they had not brought up, yea rather, whom they had
never seen, whom they had not heard of, whom they had never met, whom
they knew only from their calamity, that if they had possessed a
thousand lives, they would have chosen to deliver them all up for their
safety. Tell me not that they were not slaughtered, that they did not
pour forth their blood, but that they used as much boldness with their
judges as it was likely that no other men would do, but such as had
already renounced their own lives; and that with this sentiment they
ran from the mountains to the tribunal. For, indeed, if they had not
before prepared themselves against every sort of slaughter, they would
not have been able to speak thus freely to the judges, or to have
manifested such magnanimity. For they remained all day long sitting
before the doors of the place of justice, being prepared to snatch from
the hands of the executioners those who were about to be led off to
punishment!
5. Where now are those who are clad in threadbare cloaks, and
display a long beard, and carry staves in the right hand; the
philosophers of the world, who are more abject in disposition than the
dogs under the table; and do every thing for the sake of the belly?
All these men then forsook the city, they all hasted away, and hid
themselves in caves! But they only, who truly by works manifest the
love of wisdom, appeared as fearlessly in the forum, as if no evil had
overtaken the city. And the inhabitants of the city fled away to the
mountains and to the deserts, but the citizens of the desert hastened
into the city; demonstrating by deeds what, on the preceding days, I
have not desisted from saying, that the very furnace will not be able
to harm the man who leads a virtuous life. Such a thing is philosophy
of soul, rising superior to all things, and to all prosperous or
adverse events; for neither is it enfeebled by the former, nor beaten
down and debased by the latter, but abides on the same level through
the whole course of things, shewing its own native force and power!
Who, indeed, was not convicted of weakness by the difficulty of the
present crisis? Those who had held the first offices in our city, who
were in places of power, who were surrounded with immense wealth, and
who were in high favour with the Emperor, leaving their houses utterly
deserted, all consulted their own safety, and all friendship and
kindred were found worthless, and those whom they formerly knew, at
this season of calamity, they desired not to know, and prayed to be
unknown of them! But the monks, poor as they were, having nothing
more than a mean garment, who had lived in the coarsest manner, who
seemed formerly to be nobodies, men habituated to mountains and
forests; as if they had been so many lions, with a great and lofty
soul, whilst all were fearing and quaking, stood forth and relieved
the danger, and that, not in the course of many days, but in a brief
moment of time! And as distinguished warriors without coming into
close conflict with their adversaries, but merely by making their
appearance in the ranks, and shouting, put the foe to rout, so also
these in one day descended, and said their say, and removed the
calamity, and returned to their own tabernacles. So great is the
moral wisdom that was brought among men by Christ.
6. And why do I speak of the rich, and of those in authority?
When those very persons who had been invested with power to judge the
criminals; who acted with the highest authority, were entreated by
these selfsame monks to grant a sentence of pardon, they said, they
had no power over the result; for that it was unsafe and dangerous,
not only to insult the Emperor, but even to dismiss those who had
insulted him, when taken, without punishment. But these men were too
powerful for any one to resist; and besieging them by magnanimity and
perseverance, they induced these officers by their importunity to
exercise a power which they had not received from the Emperor; and
even succeeded in persuading the judges, when men had been manifestly
convicted of the guilt, not to declare the sentence of condemnation,
but to defer the final result to the decision of the Emperor; and they
promised certainly to persuade him to grant a pardon to those who had
transgressed against him; and they were about to set out on a journey
to him. But the judges, reverencing the moral wisdom of these men,
and being struck with their loftiness of spirit, did not permit them to
undertake this long journey, but promised that if they should only
receive their words in writing, they would themselves depart and
successfully importune the Emperor to dismiss all anger (which,
indeed, we are now expecting that he will). For when sentence should
have been given, they, on being admitted into court, uttered words of
the highest wisdom, and besought the Emperor by letters to shew
mercy; and they reminded him of the Judgment, and said that they
would lay down their own heads, if his mercy was not granted. And the
judges took down these words in writing, and departed. This, more
than the brightest crown, will adorn our city. And what has here
taken place, the Emperor will now hear; yea, the great City will
hear, and the whole world will hear, that the monks who dwell at the
city of Antioch, are men who have displayed an apostolic boldness;
and now when their letters are read at court, all men will admire their
magnanimity; all men will call our city blessed; and we shall shake
off our evil reputation; and it will be known every where, that what
has happened was not the work of the inhabitants of the city, but of
strangers and corrupt-minded men; and that this testimony of the monks
will be a sufficient evidence of the character of the city.
7. Therefore, beloved, let us not be distressed, but let us
entertain favourable hopes; for if their boldness toward men has been
able to prevent such a danger, then what will not their boldness toward
God effect? These things also let us tell the Greeks, when they
dare to dispute with us respecting their philosophers! From hence it
is manifest that their stories of former days are false, but that the
things of old reported among us are true; that is, the things
concerning John, and Paul, and Peter, and all the rest. For
inasmuch as these monks have succeeded to the piety of those men, they
have consequently exhibited their boldness. Inasmuch as they were
brought up in the same laws, they have consequently imitated their
virtues. So that we stand in no need of writings for the purpose of
shewing the apostolical virtues, whilst the very facts cry aloud, and
the masters are shewn forth by the scholars. We have no need of
disputation to display the trifling of the Greeks, and the
little-mindedness of their philosophers, whilst their deeds now loudly
proclaim, as they did aforetime, that all with them is a fable, a
stage-play, a piece of acting.
8. And the same magnanimity was displayed by the priests too, as
well as the monks, and they shared among them the charge of our
safety. One of them, indeed, proceeded to court, esteeming all
things as secondary to the love of you; and being himself ready, if he
could not persuade the Emperor, to lay down his own life. And
these, who remained here, have displayed the same virtues as the monks
themselves; and holding fast the judges with their own hands, they
would not let them enter into the court, before they gave a promise
respecting the result of the trial. And when they saw them making
signs of refusal, they again exerted themselves with much boldness;
and as soon as they saw that they did consent, embracing their feet and
knees, and kissing their hands, they gave an exceeding proof of either
virtue, of liberty and meekness. For that theirs was not the boldness
of presumption, they plainly signified by their kissing the knees, and
embracing the feet of the judges. Again, in proof that this was not
flattery, nor a kind of fawning servility, nor the fruit of a slavish
spirit, their former acts attested their boldness. And these are not
the only good results we have reaped from the trial, but also an
abundance of sobriety and meekness; and our city has become all at once
a monastery. Not thus would any one have adorned it, had he erected
golden statues in the forum, as it has now been adorned and
distinguished, in producing those beautiful images of virtue, and
displaying its true riches!
9. But it may be that the things which the Emperor hath decreed are
painful. No! not even these are really burdensome, but have brought
much advantage with them. For what is there, I ask, which is
oppressive in any of them? that the Emperor hath shut up the
Orchestra, that he hath forbidden the Hippodrome, that he hath
closed and stopped up these fountains of iniquity. May they never
again be opened! From thence did the roots of wickedness shoot forth
to the injury of the city! From thence sprung those who blast its
character; men who sell their voices to the dancers, and who for the
sake of three obols prostitute their salvation to them, turning all
things upside down! Art thou distressed, O beloved! for these
things? Truly it were fitting that for these thou shouldest be glad,
and rejoice, and express thy thanks to the Emperor, since his
castigation hath proved a correction, his punishment a discipline, his
wrath a means of instruction! But that the Baths are shut up?
Neither is this an intolerable hardship, that those who lead a soft,
effeminate, and dissolute life, should be brought back, though
unwillingly, to the love of true wisdom.
10. But is it complained of, that the Emperor hath taken away the
dignity of the city, and hath no more permitted it to be called a
metropolis? But what was he to do? Could he praise what had been
done, and acknowledge it as a favour? Then who would not have blamed
him, for not shewing even the outward form of indignation? Seest thou
not that fathers do many things of a similar nature towards their
children? They turn away from them, and forbid them the table. This
also hath the Emperor done by imposing such punishments as have nothing
in them hurtful, but carry with them much correction. Think what we
expected, and what has taken place, and then we shall especially
discern the favour of God! Dost thou grieve that the dignity of the
city is taken away? Learn what the dignity of a city is; and then
thou wilt know clearly, that if the inhabitants do not betray it, no
one else will be able to take away the dignity of a city! Not the fact
that it is a metropolis; nor that it contains large and beautiful
buildings; nor that it has many columns, and spacious porticoes and
walks, nor that it is named in proclamations before other cities, but
the virtue and piety of its inhabitants; this is a city's dignity,
and ornament, and defence; since if these things are not found in it,
it is the most insignificant in the world, though it may enjoy
unlimited honour from Emperors! Dost thou wish to learn the dignity
of thy city? Dost thou wish to know its ancestry? I will tell it
exactly; not only that thou mayest know, but that thou mayest also
emulate.
What then is after all the dignity of this city of ours? "It came to
pass, that the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch."
This dignity, none of the cities throughout the world possesses, not
even the city of Romulus herself! For this it can look the whole
world in the face; on account of that love toward Christ, that
boldness and virtue. Dost thou wish farther to hear of a different
dignity and commendation belonging to this city? A grievous famine was
once approaching, and the inhabitants of Antioch determined, as far
as each person had the means, to send relief to the Saints dwelling at
Jerusalem. Behold a second dignity, charity in a time of famine!
The season did not make them niggardly, nor the expectation of the
calamity backward in helping; but when all are apt to be scraping up
what is not their own, then they distributed their own, not merely to
those who were near, but also to those who were living afar off!
Seest thou here the faith towards God, and the love towards their
neighbour? Wouldest thou learn another dignity of this city? Certain
men came down from Judaea to Antioch, defiling the doctrine
preached, and introducing Jewish observances. The men of Antioch
did not bear this novelty in silence. They did not hold their peace,
but having come together, and made an assembly, they sent Paul and
Barnabas to Jerusalem, and caused the Apostles to provide that pure
doctrines, cleared from all Jewish imperfection, might be distributed
throughout all parts of the world! This is the dignity of the city!
this is its precedence! this makes it a metropolis, not in the earth,
but in heaven; forasmuch as that all other honours are corruptible,
and fleeting, and perish with the present life, and often come to
their end before the close of it, as they have done in the present
instance! To me, a city that hath not pious citizens is meaner than
any village, and more ignoble than any cave.
11. And why do I speak of a city? For that thou mayest exactly
understand that virtue alone is the ornament of the inhabitants, I
will not speak to thee of a city, but I will endeavour to demonstrate
this by bringing forward what is more venerable than any city--the
Temple of God which was in Jerusalem. For this was the Temple in
which were sacrifices and prayers and services; where was the Holy of
Holies, and the Cherubim, the Covenant, and the golden pot; the
great symbols of God's providence towards that people; where oracles
from heaven were constantly being received, where prophets became
inspired, where the fashioning was not the work of human art, but
proceeded from the wisdom of God, where the walls were on every side
resplendent with much gold, and where, in surpassing excellence,
costliness of material and perfection of art met together, and
demonstrated that there was no other temple like this upon earth! Yea
rather, not only the perfection of art, but also the wisdom of God
assisted in that building. For Solomon had learned all, not
intuitively and from himself, but from God; and having received the
design of it from the heavens, he then marked it out and erected it.
Nevertheless, this Temple, thus beautiful and marvellous and
sacred, when those who used it were corrupted, was so dishonoured,
despised, and profaned, that even before the captivity it was called
"a den of robbers, a cave of hyaenas;" and afterwards it was
delivered over to hands that were barbarous, polluted, and profane!
12. Wouldest thou learn the same truth respecting cities? What
could be more illustrious than the cities of Sodom? For the houses
and the buildings were splendid, and so were their walls; and the
country was fat and fertile, and" like the Paradise of God." But
the tent of Abraham was mean and small, and had no fortification.
Yet when a foreign war took place, the strangers broke down and took
the walled cities, and departed, carrying away their inhabitants
captives. Abraham, however, the citizen of the desert, they could
not resist when he attacked them! And so it was likely to be. For he
had true piety: a power much greater than numbers and the defence of
walls. If thou art a Christian, no earthly city is thine. Of our
City "the Builder and Maker is God." Though we may gain
possession of the whole world, we are withal but strangers and
sojourners in it all! We are enrolled in heaven: our citizenship is
there! Let us not, after the manner of little children, despise
things that are great, and admire those which are little! Not our
city's greatness, but virtue of soul is our ornament and defence. If
you suppose dignity to belong to a city, think how many persons must
partake in this dignity, who are whoremongers, effeminate, depraved
and full of ten thousand evil things, and at last despise such honour!
But that City above is not of this kind; for it is impossible that he
can be a partaker of it, who has not exhibited every virtue.
13. Let us not therefore be senseless; but then let us grieve when
any one deprives us of our dignity of soul, when we commit sin, when
we have offended the common Lord of all; since as regards the things
that have now befallen us, so far are they from injuring the city,
that if we are watchful, they will greatly benefit us. For even
already our city seems to be like a decorous, noble, sober-minded
matron. Fear hath made her gentler and more dignified, and hath
delivered her from those miscreants who were concerned in the late
audacious deeds. Let us therefore not give way to womanish
lamentations. For I have heard many about the forum saying,
"Alas! for thee, Antioch! What hath befallen thee! How art thou
dishonoured!" Truly when I heard, I smiled at the puerile mind
which could give vent to these words! Such words were not becoming
now; but when thou seest men dancing, drunken, singing,
blaspheming, swearing, perjuring themselves, and lying, then apply
such a saying as this: "Alas! for thee, O city, what hath
befallen thee!" But if thou seest the forum containing a few meek,
modest, and temperate persons, then pronounce the city,
"Blessed!" For the fewness will never be able to injure it in any
respect, if there be virtue withal; as on the other hand, numbers
will never profit it at all, whilst iniquity is there. "If," saith
the prophet, "the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the
sea, the remnant shall be saved;" that is to say, "Multitude will
never prevail with Me." So also Christ spoke. He called cities
wretched; not because of their littleness, nor because they were not
of metropolitan rank. And Jerusalem itself again, He calls wretched
for the very same reason, speaking thus; "O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem; thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are
sent unto thee!" For what advantage, I ask, does a multitude
bring, if their system of living be vicious? Nay, on the contrary,
even injury results from it. What else, indeed, hath wrought the
evils which have lately sprung up? Was it not the sloth, the
recklessness, and the depravity of the inhabitants? Did the dignity
of the city, did the magnificence of its architecture, or the
circumstance that it was a metropolis, do it any service? If with the
king who is on earth, nothing could protect it when it had done thus
amiss, but all these privileges are taken away; much more with the
Lord of angels will its dignity fail to protect it? For at that
Day, it will nought avail us, that we have dwelt in a metropolis,
that has many spacious porticoes, and other dignities of this kind!
And why do I say, at That Day? For as regards the present life,
what can it benefit thee that this thy city is a metropolis? Pray,
has any one restored a distressed family by means of this? or received
any revenue from this dignity? or dispelled sadness? or got rid of any
bodily infirmity? or put away a vice of the soul? Beloved! let us
not trifle, nor regard the opinions of the multitude, but understand
what is indeed the dignity of a city; what it is that makes a city
truly a metropolis?
14. I say all this, though I expect that the city will again
regain even this outward distinction, and appear in its own proper
place of precedence. For the Emperor is both philanthropic and
godly. But I am desirous that if it should be restored, ye may not
think too much of this; nor be boastful of it; nor place the honour of
our city to that account. When you wish to pronounce an encomium on
the city, tell me not of the suburb of Daphne, nor of the height and
multitude of its cypresses, nor of its fountains of waters, nor of the
great population who inhabit the city, nor of the great freedom with
which its market-place is frequented even to midnight, nor of the
abundance of its wares! All these are things of the outward sense,
and remain only as long as the present life. But if you are able to
mention virtue, meekness, alms-giving, nocturnal vigils, prayers,
sobriety, true wisdom of soul; commend the city for these things! To
those who inhabit the desert, the presence of these things makes it
more illustrious than any city; and again the vilest of all places,
should these things not be found with its citizens. Let us make this
estimate not in the case of cities only, but also of men. And if you
see a big man, who has been brought into good condition, tall, and
surpassing others in length of limb, do not admire him, until you have
ascertained what the man's soul is.
Not from the outward comeliness, but from the beauty that. appertains
to the soul, should we pronounce any persons blessed! David was
little, and short of stature; nevertheless, one so short and little,
and bare of all arms, brought down at one blow so large an army, and
treat tower of flesh; and this without hurling spear, or letting fly
arrow, or unsheathing sword, but doing all with a small pebble! For
this reason a certain one exhorts, saying," Commend not a man for
his beauty, neither abhor a man for his outward appearance. The bee
is little among such as fly, but her fruit is the chief of sweet
things."
15. Thus also let us speak both of a city, and of men, and utter
such wisdom one to an other, and be continually thankful to God, as
well for present as for past mercies; and call upon Him in common with
all our might, that those who now dwell in prison may be discharged,
and that those who are about to be sent into exile may return back
again. They too are our members. With us they have buffetted the
waves, with us they have withstood the storm! Let us, then, beseech
the merciful God, that with us they may enjoy the calm! Let no one
say, "What farther concerns me? I am freed from danger; such an
one may perish; such another may be destroyed!" Let us not provoke
God by this indifference; but lament, as if we ourselves were in the
same peril.
So let us supplicate God with intense earnestness, fulfilling that
saying of Paul, "Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with
them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the
body. Weeping also with them that weep; condescending to men of low
estate." This will also be of the greatest advantage to ourselves;
for nothing useth so much to delight God, as that we should be very
ready to mourn for our own members. Him therefore let us supplicate in
common, both for things present, and for things to come; in order
that He may deliver us from punishment hereafter. For the things
present, whatever they are, are endurable, and have an end; but the
torments there are immortal, and interminable! And while we are
consoled, let us also ourselves endeavour to fall no more into such
sins, knowing that hereafter we shall enjoy no pardon! Let us,
then, all in common prostrate ourselves before God; and both while we
are here, and when we are at home, let us say, "Thou, O Lord,
art righteous in all things which Thou hast done towards us; for Thou
hast brought upon us by a just judgment whatever Thou hast brought."
If "our sins rise up against us, undertake for us, for thy Name's
sake;" and do not permit us any more to experience such grievous
troubles.
"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine
is the kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, for ever and ever.
Amen.
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