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1. That you have sustained a severe blow, and that the weapon
directed from above has been planted in a vital part all will readily
admit, and none even of the most rigid moralists will deny it; but
since they who are stricken with sorrow ought not to spend their whole
time in mourning and tears, but to make good provision also for the
healing of their wounds, lest, if they be neglected their tears should
aggravate the wound, and the fire of their sorrow become inflamed, it
is a good thing to listen to words of consolation, and restraining for
a brief season at least the fountain of thy tears to surrender thyself
to those who endeavour to console thee. On this account I abstained
from troubling you when your sorrow was at its height, and the
thunderbolt had only just fallen upon you; but having waited an
interval and permitted you to take your fill of mourning, now that you
are able to look out a little through the mist, and to open, your ears
to those who attempt to comfort you, I also would second the words of
your handmaids by some contributions of my own. For whilst the tempest
is still severe, and a full gale of sorrow is blowing, he who exhorts
another to desist from grief would only provoke him to increased
lamentations and having incurred his hatred would add fuel to the flame
by such speeches besides being regarded himself as an unkind and foolish
person.
But when the troubled water has begun to subside, and God has allayed
the fury of the waves, then we may freely spread the sails of our
discourse. For in a moderate storm skill may perhaps play its part but
when the onslaught of the wind is irresistible experience is of no
avail. For these reasons I have hitherto held my peace, and even now
have only just ventured to break silence because I have heard from thy
uncle that one may begin to take courage, as some of your more esteemed
handmaids are now venturing to discourse at length upon these matters,
women also outside your own household, who are your kinsfolk, or are
otherwise qualified for this office. Now if you allow them to talk to
you I have the greatest hope and confidence that you will not disdain
my words but do your best to give them a calm and quiet heating. Under
any circumstances indeed the female sex is the more apt to be sensitive
to suffering; but when in addition there is youth, and untimely
widowhood, and inexperience in business, and a great crowd of cares,
while the whole life previously has been nurtured in the midst of
luxury, and cheerfulness and wealth, the evil is increased many fold,
and if she who is subjected to it does not obtain help from on high even
an accidental thought will be able to unhinge her. Now I hold this to
be the foremost and greatest evidence of God's care concerning thee;
for that thou hast not been overwhelmed by grief, nor driven out of thy
natural condition of mind when such great troubles suddenly concurred to
afflict thee was not due to any human assistance but to the almighty
hand the understanding of which there is no measure, the wisdom which
is past finding out, the "Father of mercies and the God of all
comfort." "For He Himself" it is said "hath smitten us, and He
will heal us; He will strike, and He will dress the wound and make
us whole."
For as long as that blessed husband of thine was with thee, thou didst
enjoy honour, and care and zealous attention; in fact you enjoyed such
as you might expect to enjoy from a husband; but since God took him to
Himself He has supplied his place to thee. And this is not my saying
but that of the blessed prophet David for he says "He will take up
the fatherless and the widow," and elsewhere he calls Him "father of
the fatherless and judge of the widow;" thus in many passages thou
wilt see that He earnestly considereth the cause of this class of
mankind.
2. But lest the continual repetition of this name of widow should
upset thy soul, and disconcert thy reason, having been inflicted on
thee in the very flower of thy age, I wish first of all to discourse
on this point, and to prove to you that this name of widow is not a
title of calamity but of honour, aye the greatest honour. For do not
quote the erroneous opinion of the world as a testimony, but the
admonition of the blessed Paul, or rather of Christ. For in his
utterances Christ was speaking through him as he himself said "If ye
seek a proof of Christ who is speaking in me?" What then does he
say? "Let not a widow be enrolled under threescore years of age" and
again "but the younger widows refuse" intending by both these sayings
to indicate to us the importance of the matter. And when he is making
regulations about bishops he nowhere prescribes a standard of age, but
in this case he is very particular on the point, and, pray, why so?
not because widowhood is greater than priesthood, but because widows
have greater labour to undergo than priests, being encompassed on many
sides by a variety of business public and private. For as an
unfortified city lies exposed to all who wish to plunder it, so a young
woman living in widowhood has many who form designs upon her on every
side not only those who aim at getting her money but also those who are
bent upon corrupting her modesty. And besides these we shall find that
she is subjected to other conditions also likely to occasion her fall.
For the contempt of servants their negligence of business, the loss of
that respect which was formerly paid, the sight of contemporaries in
prosperity, and often the hankering after luxury, induce women to
engage in a second marriage. Some there are who do not choose to unite
themselves to men by the law of marriage, but do so secretly and
clandestinely. And they act thus in order to enjoy the praise of
widowhood; thus it is a state which seems to be not reproached, but
admired and deemed worthy of honour among men, not only amongst us who
believe, but even amongst unbelievers also. For once when I was
still a young man I know that the sophist who taught me (and he
exceeded all men in his reverence for the gods) expressed admiration
for my mother before a large company. For enquiring, as was his
wont, of those who sat beside him who I was, and some one having said
that I was the son of a woman who was a widow, he asked of me the age
of my mother and the duration of her widowhood, and when I told him
that she was forty years of age of which twenty had elapsed since she
lost my father he was astonished and uttered a loud exclamation, and
turning to those present "Heavens!" cried he "what women there are
amongst the Christians." So great is the admiration and praise
enjoyed by widowhood not only amongst ourselves, but also a amongst
those who are outside the Church.
And being aware of all this the blessed Paul said "Let not a widow
be enrolled under threescore years of age." And even after this great
qualification of age he does not permit her to be ranked in this sacred
society but mentions some additional requisites "well reported of for
good works, if she have brought up children if she have lodged
strangers if she have washed the saints feet if she have relieved the
afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work."
Heavens! what testing and scrutiny! how much virtue does he demand
from the widow, and how precisely does he define it! which he would
not have done, had he not intended to entrust to her a position of
honour and dignity. And "the younger widows" he says "refuse; and
then he adds the reason; "for when they have waxed wanton against
Christ they will marry." By this expression he gives us to
understand that they who have lost their husbands are wedded to Christ
in their stead. Observe how he asserts this by way of indicating the
mild and easy nature of this union; I refer to the passage "when they
have waxed wanton against Christ they will marry," as if He were
some gentle husband who did not exercise authority over them, but
suffered them to live in freedom. Neither did Paul confine his
discourse on the subject to these remarks, but also in another place
again he has manifested great anxiety about it where he says "Now she
who liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth; but she who is a widow
indeed and desolate hath set her hope in God, and continueth in
prayers and supplications day and night." And writing to the
Corinthians he says "But she is more blessed if she abide thus. You
see what great praise is bestowed upon widowhood, and this in the New
Testament, when the beauty of virginity also was clearly brought to
light. Nevertheless even the lustre of this state could not obscure
the glories of widowhood, which shines on brightly all the same,
keeping its own value. When then we make mention of widowhood from
time to time, do not be cast down, nor consider the matter a
reproach; for if this be a matter of reproach, far more so is
virginity. But this is not the case; no! God forbid. For inasmuch
as we all admire and welcome women who live continently whilst their
husbands are yet alive must we not be delighted with those who manifest
the same good feeling concerning their husbands when they have departed
this, life, and praise them accordingly? As I was saying then, as
long as you lived with the blessed Therasius you enjoyed honour and
consideration such as is natural for a wife to receive from a husband;
but now in his place you have God who is the Lord of all, who hath of
old been thy protector and will be so now still more and with yet
greater earnestness; and as I have already said He hath displayed no
slight token of his providential care by having preserved thee whole and
unharmed in the midst of such a furnace of anxiety and sorrow, and not
suffering thee to undergo anything undesirable. Now if He has not
permitted any shipwreck to take place in the midst of so much rough
water, much more will He preserve thy soul in calm weather and lighten
the burden of thy widowhood, and the consequences of it which seem to
be so terrible.
3. Now if it is not the name of widow which distresses you, but the
loss of such a husband I grant you that all the world over amongst men
engaged in secular affairs there have been few like him, so
affectionate, so gentle, so humble, so sincere, so understanding,
so devout. And certainly if he had altogether perished, and utterly
ceased to be, it would be right to be distressed, and sorrowful; but
if he has only sailed into the tranquil haven, and taken his journey to
Him who is really his king, one ought not to mourn but to rejoice on
these accounts. For this death is not death, but only a kind of
emigration and translation from the worse to the better, from earth to
heaven, from men to angels, and archangels, and Him who is the Lord
of angels and archangels. For here on earth whilst he was serving the
emperor there were dangers to be expected and many plots arising from
men who bore ill-will, for in proportion as his reputation increased
did the designs also of enemies abound; but now that he has departed to
the other world none of these things can be suspected. Wherefore in
proportion as you grieve that God has taken away one who was so good
and worthy you ought to rejoice that he has departed in much safety and
honour, and being released from the trouble which besets this present
season of danger, is in great peace and tranquillity. For is it not
out of place to acknowledge that heaven is far better than earth, and
yet to mourn those who are translated from this world to the other?
For if that blessed husband of thine had been one of those who lived a
shameful life contrary to what God approved it would have been right to
bewail and lament for him not only when he had departed, but whilst he
was still living; but inasmuch as he was one of those who are the
friends of God we should take pleasure in him not only whilst living,
but also when he has been laid to rest. And that we ought to act thus
thou hast surely heard the words of the blessed Paul "to depart and to
be with Christ which is far better." But perhaps you long to hear
your husband's words, and enjoy the affection which you bestowed upon
him, and you yearn for his society, and the glory which you had on his
account, and the splendour, and honour, and security, and all these
things being gone distress and darken your life. Well! the affection
which you be stowed on him you can keep now just as you formerly did.
For such is the power of love, it embraces, and unites, and fastens
together not only those who are present, and near, and visible but
also those who are far distant; and neither length of time, nor
separation in space, nor anything else of that kind can break up and
sunder in pieces the affection of the soul. But if you wish to behold
him face to face (for this I know is what you specially long for)
keep thy bed in his honour sacred from the touch of any other man, and
do thy best to manifest a life like his, and then assuredly thou shalt
depart one day to join the same company with him, not to dwell with him
for five years as thou didst here, nor for 20, or 100, nor for a
thousand or twice that number but for infinite and endless ages. For
it is not any physical relation, but a correspondence in the way of
living which qualifies for the inheritance of those regions of rest.
For if it was identity of moral constitution which brought Lazarus
although a stranger to Abraham into the same heavenly bosom with him,
and qualifies many from east and west to sit down with him, the place
of rest will receive thee also with the good Therasius, if thou wilt
exhibit the same manner of life as his, and then thou shalt receive him
back again no longer in that corporeal beauty which he had when he
departed, but in lustre of another kind, and splendour outshining the
rays of the sun. For this body, even if it reaches a very high
standard of beauty is nevertheless perishable; but the bodies of those
who have been well pleasing to God, will be invested with such glory
as these eyes cannot even look upon. And God has furnished us with
certain tokens, and obscure indications of these things both in the
Old and in the New
Dispensation. For in the former the face of Moses shone with such
glory as to be intolerable to the eyes of the Israelites, and in the
New the face of Christ shone far more brilliantly than his. For tell
me if any one had promised to make your husband king of all the earth,
and then had commanded you to withdraw for twenty years on his account,
and had promised after that to restore him to you with the diadem and
the purple, and to place you again in the same rank with him, would
you not have meekly endured the separation with due self-control?
Would you not have been well pleased with the gift, and deemed it a
thing worth praying for? Well then submit to this now, not for the
sake of a kingdom on earth, but of a kingdom in Heaven; not to
receive him back clad in a vesture of gold but robed in immortality and
glory such as is fitting for them to have who dwell in Heaven. And if
you find the trial very unbearable owing to its long duration, it may
be that he will visit you by means of visions and converse with you as
he was wont to do, and show you the face for which you yearn: let this
be thy consolation taking the place of letters, though indeed it is far
more definite than letters. For in the latter case there are but lines
traced with the pen to look upon, but in the former you see the form of
his visage, and his gentle smile, his figure and his movements, you
hear his speech and recognize the voice which you loved so well.
4. But since you mourn also over the loss of security which you
formerly enjoyed on his account, and perhaps also for the sake of those
great hopes of distinction which were dawning (for I used to hear that
he would speedily arrive at the dignity of praefect, and this, I
fancy, it is which more especially upsets and distresses thy soul)
consider I pray the case of those who have been in a higher official
position than his, and yet have brought their life to a very pitiable
end. Let me. recall them to your memory: you probably know Theodore
of Sicily by reputation: for he was one of the most distinguished
men; he surpassed all in bodily stature and beauty as well as in the
confidence which he enjoyed with the Emperor, and he had more power
than any member of the royal household, but he did not bear this
prosperity meekly, and having entered into a plot against the Emperor
he was taken prisoner and miserably beheaded; and his wife who was not
a whit inferior to thy noble self in education and birth and all other
respects was suddenly stripped of all her possessions, deprived even of
her freedom also, and enrolled amongst the household slaves, and
compelled to lead a life more pitiable than any bondmaid, having this
advantage only over the rest that owing to the extreme severity of her
calamity she moved to tears all who beheld her. And it is said also
that Artemisia who was the wife of a man of high reputation, since he
also aimed at usurping the throne, was reduced to this same condition
of poverty, and also to blindness; for the depth of her despondency,
and the abundance of her tears destroyed her sight; and now she has
need of persons to lead her by the hand, and to conduct her to the
doors of others that she may obtain the necessary supply of food. And
I might mention many other families which, have been brought down in
this way did I not know thee to be too pious and prudent in disposition
to wish to find consolation for thy own calamity out of the misfortunes
of others. And the only reason why I mentioned those instances to
which I referred just now was that you might learn that human things
are nothingness but that truly as the prophet says "all the glory of
man is as the flower of grass." For in proportion to men's elevation
and splendour is the ruin wrought for them, not only in the case of
those who are under rule, but also of the rulers themselves. For it
would be impossible to find any private family which has been immersed
in such great calamities as the ills in which the imperial house has
been steeped. For untimely loss of parents, and of husbands, and
violent forms of death, more outrageous and painful than those which
occur in tragedies, especially beset this kind of government.
Now passing over ancient times, of those who have reigned in our own
generation, nine in all, only two have ended their life by a natural
death; and of the others one was slain by a usurper, one in battle,
one by a conspiracy of his household guards, one by the very man who
elected him, and invested him with the purple, and of their wives
some, as it is reported, perished by poison, others died of mere
sorrow; while of those who still survive one, who has an orphan son,
is trembling with alarm lest any of those who are in power dreading what
may happen in the future should destroy him; another has reluctantly
yielded to much entreaty to return from the exile into which she had
been driven by him who held the chief power. And of the wives of the
present rulers the one who has recovered a little from her former
calamities has much sorrow mingled with her joy because the possessor of
power is still young and inexperienced and has many designing men on all
sides of him; and the other is ready to die of fear, and spends her
time more miserably than criminals condemned to death because her
husband ever since he assumed the crown up to the present day has been
constantly engaged in warfare and fighting, and is more exhausted by
the shame and the reproaches which assail him on all sides than by
actual calamities. For that which has never taken place has now come
to pass, the barbarians leaving their own country have overrun an
infinite space of our territory, and that many times over, and having
set fire to the land, and captured the towns they are not minded to
return home again, but after the manner of men who are keeping holiday
rather than making war, they laugh us all to scorn; and it is said
that one of their kings declared that he was amazed at the impudence of
our soldiers, who although slaughtered more easily than sheep still
expect to conquer, and are not willing to quit their own country; for
he said that he himself was satiated with the work of cutting them to
pieces. Imagine what the feelings of the Emperor and his wife must be
on hearing these words!
5. And since I have made mention of this war, a great crowd of
widows has occurred to me, who in past times derived very great lustre
from the honour enjoyed by their husbands, but now are all arrayed in a
dark mourning robe and spend their whole time in lamentation. For they
had not the advantage which was enjoyed by thy dear self. For thou,
my excellent friend, didst see that goodly husband of thine lying on
his bed, and didst hear his last words, and receive his instructions
as to what should be done about the affairs of the family, and learn
how by the provisions of his will they were guarded against every kind
of encroachment on the part of rapacious and designing men. And not
only this, but also when he was yet lying dead thou didst often fling
thyself upon the body, and kiss his eyes, and embrace him, and wail
over him, and thou didst see him conducted to burial with much honour,
and didst everything necessary for his obsequies, as was fitting, and
from frequent visits to his grave thou hast no slight consolation of thy
sorrow. But these women have been deprived of all these things,
having all sent out their husbands to war in the hope of receiving them
back again, instead of which it has been their lot to receive the
bitter tidings of their death. Neither has any one come back to them
with the bodies of their slain, or bringing anything save a message
describing the manner of their death. And some there are who have not
even been vouchsafed this record, or been enabled to learn how their
husbands fell, as they were buried beneath a heap of slain in the thick
of battle.
And what wonder if most of the generals perished thus, when even the
Emperor himself having been blockaded in a certain village with a few
soldiers did not dare to go out and oppose the assailants, but remained
inside and when the enemy had set fire to the building was burnt to
death together with all that were therein, not men only, but horses,
beams and walls, so that the whole was turned into a heap of ashes?
And this was the tale which they who departed to war with the Emperor
brought back to his wife in place of the Emperor himself. For the
splendours of the world differ in no-wise whatever from the things
which happen on the stage, and the beauty of spring flowers. For in
the first place they flee away before they have been manifested; and
then, even if they have strength to last a little while, they speedily
become ready to decay. For what is more worthless than the honour and
glory which is paid by the multitude? what fruit has it? what kind of
profit? what serviceable end does it meet? And would that this only
was the evil! but in fact besides failing to get anything good from the
possession, he who owns this most cruel mistress is continually forced
to bear much which is painful and injurious; for mistress she is of
those who own her, and in proportion as she is flattered by her slaves
does she exalt herself against them, and ties them down by increasingly
harsh commands; but she would never be able to revenge herself on those
who despise and neglect her; so much fiercer is she than any tyrant and
wild beast. For tyrants and wild animals are often mollified by
humouring, but her fury is greatest when we are most complaisant to
her, and if she finds any one who will listen to her, and yield to her
in everything there is no kind of command from which in future she can
be induced to abstain.
Moreover she has also another ally whom one would not do wrong to call
her daughter. For after she herself has grown to maturity and fairly
taken root amongst us, she then produces arrogance, a thing which is
no less able than herself to drive the soul of those who possess it into
headlong ruin.
6. Tell me then dost thou lament this that God hath reserved thee
from such a cruel bondage, and that He has barred every avenue against
these pestilential diseases? For whilst thy husband was living they
ceased not continually assaulting the thoughts of thy heart, but since
his death they have no starting point whence they can lay hold of thy
understanding. This then is a discipline which ought to be practised
in future--to abstain from lamenting the withdrawal of these evils,
and from hankering after the bitter tyranny which they exercise. For
where they blow a heavy blast they upset all things from the foundation
and shatter them to pieces; and just as many prostitutes, although by
nature ill favoured and ugly, do yet by means of enamels and pigments
excite the feelings of the youthful whilst they are still tender, and
when they have got them under their control treat them more insolently
than any slave; so also do these passions, vainglory and arrogance,
defile the souls of men more than any other kind of pollution.
On this account also wealth has seemed to the majority of men to be a
good thing; at least when it is stripped of this passion of vainglory
it will no longer seem desirable. At any rate those who have been
permitted to obtain in the midst of their poverty popular glory have no
longer preferred wealth, but rather have despised much gold when it was
bestowed upon them. And you have no need to learn from me who these
men were, for you know them better than I do, Epaminondas,
Socrates, Aristeides, Diogenes, Krates who turned his own land
into a sheep walk. The others indeed, inasmuch as it was not possible
for them to get rich, saw glory brought to them in the midst of their
poverty, and straightway devoted themselves to it, but this man threw
away even what he possessed; so infatuated were they in the pursuit of
this cruel monster. Let us not then weep because God has rescued us
from this shameful thraldom which is an object of derision and of much
reproach; for there is nothing splendid in it save the name it bears,
and in reality it places those who possess it in a position which belies
its appellation, and there is no one who does not laugh to scorn the
man who does anything with a view to glory. For it is only he who has
not an eye to this who will be enabled to win respect and glory; but he
who sets a great value on popular glory, and does and endures
everything for the sake of obtaining it is the very man who will fail to
attain it, and be subjected to all the exact opposites of glory,
ridicule, and accusation, scoffing, enmity and hatred. And this is
wont to happen not only among men, but also among you women, and
indeed more especially in your case. For the woman who is unaffected
in mien, and gait, and dress, and seeks no honour from any one is
admired by all women, and they are ecstatic in their praise and call
her blessed, and invoke all manner of good things upon her; but a
vain-glorious woman they behold with aversion and detestation, and
avoid her like some wild beast and load her with infinite execrations
and abuse. And not only do we escape these evils by refusing to accept
popular glory, but we shall gain the highest advantages in addition to
those which have been already mentioned, being trained gradually to
loosen our hold of earth and move in the direction of heaven, and
despise all worldly things. For he who feels no need of the honour
which comes from men, will perform with security whatever good things
he does, and neither in the troubles, nor in the prosperities of this
life will he be very seriously affected; for neither can the former
depress him, and cast him down, nor can the latter elate and puff him
up, but in precarious and troubled circumstances he himself remains
exempt from change of any kind. And this I expect will speedily be
the case with your own soul, and having once for all torn yourself away
from all worldly interests you will display amongst us a heavenly manner
of life, and in a little while will laugh to scorn the glory which you
now lament, and despise its hollow and vain mask. But if you long for
the security which you formerly enjoyed owing to your husband, and the
protection of your property, and immunity from the designs of any of
those persons who trample upon the misfortunes of others "Cast thy
care upon the Lord and He will nourish thee." "For look," it is
said, "to past generations and see, who ever placed his hope on the
Lord and was put to shame, or who ever called upon Him, and was
neglected, or who ever remained constant to His commandments and was
forsaken?" For He who has alleviated this intolerable calamity, and
placed you even now in a state of tranquillity will also avert impending
evils; for that you will never receive another blow more severe than
this you would yourself admit.
Having then so bravely borne present troubles, and this when you were
inexperienced, you will far more easily endure future events should any
of the things contrary to our wishes, which God forbid, occur.
Therefore seek Heaven, and all things which conduce to life in the
other world, and none of the things here will be able to harm thee,
not even the world-ruler of darkness himself, if only we do not injure
ourselves. For if any one deprives us of our substance, or hews our
body in pieces, none of these things concern us, if our soul abides in
its integrity.
7. Now, once for all, if you wish your property to abide with you
in security and yet further to increase I will show thee the plan, and
the place where none of those who have designs upon it will be allowed
to enter. What then is the place? It is Heaven. Send away thy
possessions to that good husband of thine and neither thief, nor
schemer, nor any other destructive thing will be able to pounce upon
them. If you deposit these goods in the other world, you will find
much profit arising from them. For all things which we plant in
Heaven yield a large and abundant crop, such as might naturally be
expected from things which have their roots in Heaven. And if you do
this, see what blessings you will enjoy, m the first place eternal
life and the things promised to those who love God, "which eye hath
not seen, nor ear heard, neither have they entered into the heart of
man," and in the second place perpetual intercourse with thy good
husband; and you will relieve yourself from the cares and fears, and
dangers, and designs, and enmity and hatred which beset you here.
For as long as you are surrounded with this property there will
probably be some to make attempts upon it; but if you transfer it to
Heaven, you will lead a life of security and safety, and much
tranquillity, enjoying independence combined with godliness. For it
is very irrational, when one wishes to buy land, and is seeking for
productive ground, if, Heaven being proposed to him instead of
earth, and the possibility presented of obtaining an estate there he
abides still on earth, and puts up with the toils that are connected
with it; for it often disappoints our hopes.
But since thy soul is grievously upset and vexed on account of the
expectation often entertained that thy husband would attain the rank of
prefect, and the thought that he was untimely snatched away from that
dignity consider first of all this fact, that even if this hope was a
very well grounded one nevertheless it was only a human hope, which
often falls to the ground; and we see many things of this kind
happening in life, those which were confidently expected having
remained unfulfilled, whereas those which never even entered the mind
have frequently come to pass, and this we constantly see occurring
everywhere in cases of governments and kingdoms, and inheritances, and
marriages. Wherefore even if the opportunity were very near at hand,
yet as the proverb says "between the cup and the lip there is many a
slip" and the Scripture saith "from the morning until the evening the
time is changed."
So also a king who is here to-day is dead tomorrow; and again this
same wise man illustrating the reversal of men's hopes says "many
tyrants have sat down upon the ground, and one that was never thought
of has worn the crown." And it was not absolutely certain that if he
lived he would arrive at this dignity; for that which belongs to the
future is uncertain, and causes us to have various suspicions. For on
what grounds was it evident that had he lived he would have attained
that dignity and that things would not have turned out the other way,
and that he would have lost the office he actually held either from
falling a victim to disease, or from being exposed to the envy and ill
will of those who wished to excel him in prosperity, or from suffering
some other grievous misfortune. But let us suppose, if you please,
that it was perfectly evident that in any case had he survived he would
have obtained this high distinction; then in proportion to the
magnitude of the dignity would have been the increased dangers, and
anxieties, and intrigues which he must have encountered. Or put these
even on one side, and let us suppose him to traverse that sea of
difficulties safely, and in much tranquillity; then tell me what is
the goal? not that which he has now reached; no, not that, but
something different, probably unpleasant and undesirable. In the
first place his sight of heaven, and heavenly things would have been
delayed, which is no small loss to those who have put their trust in
things to come; and in the next place, even had he lived a very pure
life yet the length of his life and the exigencies of his high office
would have prevented his departing in such a pure condition as has now
been the case. In fact it is uncertain whether he might not have
undergone many changes and given way to indolence before he breathed his
last. For now we are confident that by the grace of God he has taken
his flight to the region of rest, because he had not committed himself
to any of those deeds which exclude from the kingdom of Heaven; but in
that case after long contact with public business, he might probably
have contracted great defilement. For it is an exceedingly rare thing
for one who is moving in the midst of such great evils to hold a
straight course, but to go astray, both wittingly and against his
will, is a natural thing, and one which constantly occurs. But, as
it is, we have been relieved. from this apprehension, and we are
firmly persuaded that in the great day he will appear in much radiance,
shining forth near the King, and going with the angels in advance of
Christ and clad with the robe of unutterable glory, and standing by
the side of the King as he gives judgment, and acting as one of His
chief ministers. Wherefore desisting from mourning and lamentation do
thou hold on to the same way of life as his, yea even let it be more
exact, that having speedily attained an equal standard of virtue with
him, you may inhabit the same abode and be united to him again through
the everlasting ages, not in this union of marriage but another far
better. For this is only a bodily kind of intercourse, but then there
will be a union of soul with soul more perfect, and of a far more
delightful and far nobler kind.
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