On His Father, in the Presence of St. Basil, trans
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an of god/ and faithful servant/ and dispenser of the Mysteries of God,1 2 3 and man of desires of the Spirit:4 for these are the appellations Scripture gives to those who have attained sublimity and are superior to visible things. I will also call you the God of Pharao,5 of all the Egyptian and hostile powers; I will call you a pillar and mainstay of the Church,6 and the pleasure of the Lord,7 and a star in the world holding fast the word of life,8 a support of the faith and a resting place of the Spirit. Why should I enumerate all the titles which your virtue has gained for you, drawing them to you one by one and making them your own?
(2) But tell me whence you have come, and what is your purpose, and what favor have you come to confer upon us?
For I know that in all things you act with God and through 1 Cf. Jos. 14.6.
2 Cf. Num. 12.7.
3 Cf. 1 Cor. 4.1.
4 Cf. Dan. 9.23.
5 Cf. Exod. 7.1.
6 Cf. 1 Tim. 3.15.
7 Cf. Isa. 62.4.
8 Cf. Phil. 2.16.
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God for the benefit of those who receive you. Have you come to watch over us, or to seek the pastor, or to inspect the flock? We no longer exist, but for the most part have departed with him, unable to endure this place of affliction, especially now when we have lost our skilled pilot, the beacon of our life, to which we turned our eyes and directed our course, as it flashed the light of salvation above us. He has gone, with all this excellence and all the pastoral skill and practice acquired in his whole life, full of days of wisdom and crowned, to use the words of Solomon, with old age as a crown of dignity.9 The flock is left without guidance, it is downcast, as you see, and filled with sorrow and dejection. It no longer finds rest in the place of pleasure or sustenance in the water of refreshment.10 It seeks out the cliffs and desert places and abysses where it will be dispersed and perish. It despairs of ever obtaining another wise shepherd, although, while fully convinced that it will never find one like him, it would be content with one not too far below him.
(3) Three things, then, as I have said, and all in equal measure, render your presence necessary: ourselves, the shepherd, and the flock. Come, then, and according to the spirit of healing which is in you apply the suitable remedy to each. Order your words with discernment, that we may admire you all the more for your wisdom. And how will you order them? As for the shepherd, if you praise him in seemly fashion for his virtue, not only will you confer the tribute of a pure funeral oration on one who was pure, but you will also present the chosen pattern of his life to others as a moving example of true piety. In respect to us, you may discourse briefly on life and death, on the union and separation of body and soul, on the two worlds, both on that which is physically present but not permanent and on that which is
9 Cf. Prov. 2.16.
10 Cf. Ps. 22.2.
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perceived by the mind and is eternal. Persuade us to despise the deceitfulness, the disorder, and the instability of the one, rising and falling like the waves of the sea, but to attach ourselves to the other, which is firm and stable, divine and unchanging, free from all disorder and confusion. In this way, those who have departed before us would cause us less sorrow, and would even bring us joy, if your discourse would draw us forth and raise us on high, and hide our present distress in future hope, and convince us that we, also, are hastening to a good Master, that our true home is better than our place of sojourn, and that, just as there is a calm haven for those at sea, so for those who are tossed on the storms of this life there is a migration and transfer to the other life.
Or, just as those who have finished a long journey enjoy more ease and greater freedom from care than travelers still toiling on the way, so those who have reached the hospice be yond have a better and more tolerable life than those who are still advancing along the steep and crooked road of this life below.
(4) Thus, then, would you comfort us. But how will you comfort the flock? First of all, by pledging your care and guidance, for under your wings all would gladly take their rest, and we thirst more for your voice than those racked by thirst long for the purest fountain. Next, by convincing us that even now the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep11 has not forsaken us, but is present to tend and guide, and knows his own, and is known by them. He is not actually seen by bodily eye, but is with us in spirit, defending the flock against the wolves, and suffering no one, in the manner of a robber or a traitor, to leap into the fold and ravage and steal by an alien voice souls rightly formed in the truth. I am persuaded that his intercession avails more now than his teaching did in the past, since he is closer to God. He has
11 Cf. John 10.11.
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shaken off his bodily bonds and freed his mind from obscuring clay, and, divested of all obscuring elements, he holds direct and intimate converse with the prime and purest Mind, being deemed worthy—if it is not to bold to say so—of the privileged rank and freedom of the angels. But you, with the power of speech and the spirit that is yours, will treat and discuss these matters better than I can present them. Yet, in order that, through lack of acquaintance with his noble qualities, your discourse may not fall far short of his merit, I, from my personal knowledge of the departed, will give a brief outline or sketch of a eulogy to you, the skilled painter of such subjects, that you may depict more perfectly the splendor of his virtue and present it to the ears and minds of all men.
(5) The treatment of his country, race, bodily qualities, external splendor, and other things on which men pride them selves I shall leave to the laws of panegyric, and begin with what with us comes first and is most relevant. He was the son of undistinguished stock, and one not naturally disposed to ward piety. I am not ashamed of his beginnings, because of my confidence in the final issue of his life. It was a stock not planted in the house of God,12 but a most strange and unusual one, compounded of two extremes—pagan error and legal absurdity—and while it escaped some elements of each it combined features of both. For with regard to the first, its members reject pagan idols and sacrifices, but hold fire and lights in reverence; with regard to the second, they observe the Sabbath and petty regulations concerning certain foods, but they scorn circumcision. These lowly men call themselves
Hypsistarii13 and the Almighty alone is the object of their worship. What was to be expected of a man with this twofold
12 Cf. Ps. 91.14.
13 St. Gregory of Nyssa also refers to this obscure sect (Or. 2 Contra Eunom.), calling them Hypsistians. He says that they acknowledged a God whom they called the Highest (hence their name from the Greek) or the Omnipotent, but did not admit that he was Father.
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tendency to impiety? Indeed, I do not know which to praise more: the grace which called him or his own good will and purpose. At any rate, he so cleaned the eye of his mind of the infection that clung to it, and ran with such speed to the truth, that for some time he endured the loss of his mother and his sustenance for the sake of his heavenly Father and his true inheritance, and bore this disgrace more readily than others carry the highest honors. Wonderful as this really is, I do not wonder at it so much, and for the following reason. He shared this glory with many others, and all must be gathered into the great net of God and be caught by the words of the fishermen, although some are netted sooner and some later by the Gospel. But I must now relate what especially in his life moves me to wonder.
(6) Even before he entered our fold he was one of us.
Just as many of our own are not with us because their lives alienate them from the common body of the faithful, in like manner many of those outside are with us, in so far as by their way of life they anticipate the faith and only lack in name what they possess in attitude. My father was one of these, an alien branch, but inclined toward us by his way ol living. He was so pre-eminent in self-control that he was at once most beloved and most modest, a combination rarely achieved. What better or more striking proof of his uprightness can be advanced than the fact that he held the highest offices in the state, yet did not enrich himself by a single penny, although he saw others reaching with the hands of a Briareus into the public funds and swollen with their illgotten gains? For thus do I label wealth unjustly acquired.
While these facts are no small testimony to his prudence, many more examples will be presented in the course of my speech. As a reward for his conduct, I think, he received the faith. Let us show how this came about, for so important a matter should not be passed over in silence.
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(7) I have heard sacred Scripture saying: 'Who shall find a valiant woman?'14 and also that she is a gift of God, and that a good marriage is arranged by the Lord. Those outside, too, have the same thought—if indeed the saying is theirs:
'There is no greater boon for a man than a good wife, no worse, than the opposite.'15 It is impossible to mention anyone who was more fortunate than my father in this respect. For I believe that, if anyone, from the ends of the earth and from all human stocks, had endeavored to arrange the best possible marriage, a better or more harmonius union than this could not be found. For the best in men and women was so united that their marriage was more a union of virtue than of bodies.
Although they surpassed all others, they themselves were so evenly matched in virtue that they could not surpass each other.
(8) She who was given to Adam as a helper like him self, for it was not good for man to be alone,16 proved to be an enemy rather than a helpmate and an opponent rather than a consort, beguiling her husband by pleasure and alie nating him through the tree of knowledge from the tree of life. But she who was given by God to my father became not only a helper—for this would be less wonderful—but also a leader, personally guiding him by deed and word to what was most excellent. Although she deemed it best, in accordance with the law of marriage, to be overruled by her husband in other respects, she was not ashamed to show herself his master in piety. While she is deserving of admiration for this, he is to be admired all the more for willingly yielding to her.
While beauty, natural as well as artificial, is wont to be a source of pride and glory to other women, she is one who has ever recognized only one beauty, that of the soul, and the 14 Prov. 31.10.
15 Hesiod, Works and Days, 1.700 (freely quoted).
16 Cf. Gen. 2.18.
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preservation and, to the best of her power, the purification of the divine image in her soul. She rejected paint and other artificial means of adornment befiting women of the stage.
She recognized only one true nobility, that of piety, and the knowledge of our origin and final destiny. The only wealth she considered secure and inviolate was to strip one's self of wealth for God and the poor, and especially for kinsfolk whose fortunes had declined. Assistance merely to the extent of their need she regarded as a reminder of misfortune rather than as a release from it, but more generous benefaction as a means of giving honor and lasting consolation.
While some women excel in the management of their households and others in piety—for it is difficult to achieve both—she nevertheless surpassed all in both, because she was pre-eminent in each and because she alone combined the two. She increased the resources of her household by her care and practical foresight according to the standards and norms laid down by Solomon for the valiant woman, as though she knew nothing of piety. She devoted herself to God and divine things as though she were completely removed from household cares. In no wise, however, did she neglect one duty in fulfilling the other; rather, she performed both more effectively by making one support the other.
(9) What time or place for prayer escaped her? This was the first thought of her day. Rather, who had more con fidence in gaining a petition as soon as it was made? Who had such reverence for the hands and countenance of priests?
Who showed such honor for every form of philosophy?17
Who subdued her flesh more by fastings and watchings, or stood like a pillar during the night-long or daily singing of the psalms? Who had greater admiration for virginity, al though she herself was under the bond of matrimony? Who 17 Used here in the sense of the life of Christian perfection and ascetical practices.
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was a better champion of widows and orphans? Who relieved to a like degree the misfortunes of the distressed? These things, small perhaps, and, it may be, even despised by some because they do not lie within the reach of the majority—for the unat tainable, out of envy, is generally considered as not even credible—I esteem highly, for they were the inventions of her faith and undertakings of her spiritual fervor. So, too, her voice was never heard in the sacred assemblies or places, except when necessary and required by the liturgy.
(10) It was once counted a glory for the altar that no axe had been lifted upon it, no stone-cutter's tool seen or heard,18 with the higher meaning that whatever was con secrated to God should be natural and free from artifice. Why should it not redound to her great praise that she honored the sanctuary by her silence, that she never turned her back upon the holy table, nor spat upon the hallowed pavement, that she never grasped the hand or kissed the lips of any pagan woman, however honorable in other respects and however closely related? She would not even share salt, either willingly or perforce, with those coming from a profane and unhallowed table, nor suffer herself, contrary to the law of conscience, to pass by or look upon a polluted house. She would not let her ears or her tongue, which had received and uttered holy things, be defiled by pagan tales or theatrical songs, because nothing unholy is becoming to the holy. What is deserving of greater admiration is the fact that she restrained external manifestation of grief to such a degree, although she was deeply affected by the sufferings even of strangers, as never to let a cry of affliction burst forth before the Eucharist, or to let a tear drop from eyes mystically sealed, or let any sign of mourning remain when a festival day came, although many sorrows befell her. For she felt that the soul that loves
God should subject all human things to the divine.
18 Cf. Deut. 27.5.
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(11) I pass over in silence things more ineffable, of which God is witness, and the faithful handmaids to whom she con fided such matters. What concerns myself is not even worthy of mention, perhaps, as I have not proved worthy of the hopes held out for me. Still, it was a great undertaking on her part to promise me to God even before birth, with no timidity for the future, and to dedicate me immediately after I was born. By the grace of God, her prayer did not completely fail of attainment, nor was her auspicious sacrifice rejected.
Some of these things were already accomplished facts, some were to come into being, increasing by gradual additions.
Just as the sun strikes the earth most pleasantly with its morning rays and becomes hotter and more brilliant at mid day, so she, who from the beginning showed marked in dications of piety, shone later with a brighter light.
He, therefore, had at home a strong stimulus to piety, who had established in his house her who was endowed by origin and descent with the love of God and Christ, and who had received virtue as her patrimony. She had not been engrafted as he from the wild olive upon the garden olive, nor, on ac count of the perfection of her faith, could she endure to be unequally yoked. Although in other respects she surpassed all women in patience and fortitude, this alone she could not bear, namely, to be but half-united to God, because of the estrangement of him who was part of her, and not possess spiritual union in addition to physical union. Therefore, she prostrated herself before God day and night and besought
Him with many fastings and tears for the salvation of her head, and zealously devoted herself to her husband, and strove to win him in various ways, by reproaches, admonitions, attentions, estrangements, and most of all by her own character and fervent piety, by means of which the soul is especially swayed and softened and willingly constrained to virtue. It was inevitable that the drop of water, constantly striking the rock,
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should hollow it out and in time accomplish its purpose, as the sequel shows.
(12) These, then, were the things for which she prayed and hoped, in the fervor of faith rather than of youth. And no one ever had such confidence in the present as she had in her hopes, for she had learned from experience the bountifulness of God. My father's salvation was aided jointly by his reason, which gradually accepted the healing remedy, and jointly by the vision of dreams, a benefit which God often bestows on a soul worthy of salvation. What was the vision? This is for me the most pleasing part of the story. He thought that he was singing, what he had never done before, although his wife often prayed and made supplication, these words from the psalms of David: 'I rejoiced at the things that were said to me, we shall go into the house of the Lord.'19 The psalm was strange and with its singing came desire. When his wife heard it, having now gained her prayer, she seized the opportunity, interpreting the vision most happily and truthfully, and showing by her joy the magnitude of the benefit, and urging forward his salvation, lest anything might occur to hinder the call and undo what she had zealously sought.
It happened at that very time that many bishops were hastening to Nicaea to oppose the madness of Arius, for the evil doctrine dividing the Godhead had just arisen. My father gave himself to God and the heralds of the truth and con fessed his desire and begged of them common salvation. One of them was the famous Leontius, who governed our metro polis at the time. A marvelous thing then took place by God's grace, and I would certainly do an injury to grace itself if I passed it over in silence. There were not a few witnessses of the marvel.20 The teachers of the ritual for catechumens com19 Ps. 121.1.
20 To be admitted into the ranks of the catechumens, Gregory the Elder should have remained standing. He fell on his knees and the bishop inadvertently pronounced over him the formula for ordination to the priesthood.
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mitted a spiritual error, grace foreshadowed the future, and the formula for the priesthood was mingled with that for admission of the catechumen. O involuntary initiation! For bending his knee he was enrolled into the catechumenate in such a way that many of those present, not only those of su perior but also those of duller intellect, relying on such clear signs, prophesied the future.
(13) A short time later, this wonder was followed by another. I will commend this account to the ears of the faithful, for among the profane nothing good is deemed worthy of belief. He was drawing near to that regeneration through water and the Spirit by which we confess to God the formation and perfecting of man according to Christ, and the transformation and reformation of the earthy to the spirit.
He was advancing to the water of baptism with ardent desire and bright hope, after he had first cleansed himself as far as possible and purified himself in body and soul far more than those who were to receive the tablets from Moses.21 For their purification was confined to dress, a slight repression of the belly, and a brief period of continence. In my father's case, his whole past life was a preparation for the divine illumination, and before his purification there was already a purification that assured the safety of the gift, that perfection might be entrusted to purity and that the gift might not be endangered in a state of soul which was confident with the help of grace. As he came forth from the water a light shone round him and a glory worthy of the disposition with which he had approached the grace of faith. It was seen clearly by some others, also, who at the time kept silence concerning the wonder. They did not venture to speak of it, for each thought that the vision had been granted to himself alone, but a little later they communicated it to one another. But it was so clear and evident to him who baptized and initiated
21 Cf. Exod. 19.10-15.
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my father that he could not keep the mystery to himself but cried out publicly that he had anointed with the Spirit his own successor.
(14) No one will disbelieve this who has heard and knows that Moses, when he was still insignificant in the eyes of men and not yet deemed of any account, was called from the bush, which was on fire but was not burnt—rather, by Him who appeared in the bush22—and he was confirmed by that first miracle. I mean that Moses for whom the sea parted,23 and bread rained down,24 and the rock gushed forth water,20 and the pillar of fire and cloud led the way in turn,26 and the stretching forth of whose hands to represent the figure of a cross brought victory and overcame many thousands.27
Then there was Isaias, who saw the glory of the Seraphim,28 and after him Jeremias, who was entrusted with great power over nations and kings.29 The former heard the divine voice and was cleansed by a coal of fire before prophesying;30 the latter was known before his formation and sanctified before birth.31 Paul, also, the great herald of the truth and the teacher of the Gentiles in the faith, while still a persecutor, was encompassed with a light and acknowledged Him whom he was persecuting, and he was entrusted with his great ministry and filled every ear and mind with the Gospel.32
(15) But why should I enumerate all those who were called and adopted by God by wonders such as those which confirmed my father in piety? Although the beginnings were
22 Cf. Exod. 3.4.
23 Cf. Exod. 14.22.
24 Cf. Exod. 16.4.
25 Cf. Exod. 17.6.
26 Cf. Exod. 13.22.
27 Cf. Exod. 17.11.
28 Cf. Isa. 6.Iff.
29 Cf. jer. 1.10.
30 Cf. Isa. 6.6.
31 Cf. Jer. 1.5.
32 Cf. Acts 9.3fE.
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such as these, so incredible and so marvelous, nevertheless his later actions put to shame nothing that had gone before, un like those who quickly get their fill of what is good and then are disdainful of progress or even relapse completely into vice. This cannot be said of him. He was remarkably consistent with himself and his previous life. And so there was a harmony between his life before the priesthood and his excellences as a priest, and between his life after the priesthood and what had gone before. Nor would it have been becoming to begin one way and end another, nor to advance to an end different from that intended in the beginning. He received the priesthood, not with the ease and confusion now current, but after a brief interval, so that he might add to his own cleansing the skill and power of cleansing others, for that is the law of spiritual sequence. After he had received it, its grace was glorified all the more, since it was in reality a grace of God, and not, as Ecclesiastes says, an independent impulse or presumption of spirit.33
(16) He received a woodland and rural church, which had not been governed with pastoral care from long ago, but had been administered by only a single predecessor, a man of admirable and angelic character but simpler in heart than the present rulers of the people. After he had been quickly taken up to heaven, the church was neglected for a con siderable period and grew wild for lack of a leader. At first, he sought to soften the dispositions of the people, not by severe measures, but by words of pastoral knowledge and by setting himself before them as a model, like a spiritual statue, exhibiting the polished beauty of all excellent conduct. Next, he gave himself earnestly to meditation on the divine words, and although he was late in learning such matters, he gathered such wisdom within a short time that he was in no way inferior to those who had spent the longest time upon 33 Cf. Eccle. 1.17 (Septuagint) .
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them. And he received this singular grace from God, of be coming the father and teacher of orthodoxy. He was not like the wise men of our day, yielding to the times, defending our faith in equivocal and ornate language, like those who lack firmness of faith or adulterate the truth. But he surpassed in piety those outstanding in rhetorical skill, and in his knowledge and learning he was superior to believers, or, rather, while he bore off second prize in oratory, he took the first in piety. He acknowledged one God worshiped in Trinity, and three34 united in one Godhead. He did not Sabellianize as to the One, or Arianize as to the Three, either by impiously contracting and resolving the Godhead or by dividing it by unequal distinctions of greatness or nature. For, since every quality of the Godhead is incomprehensible and beyond our power of intellect, how can the transcendence therein be either con ceived or defined? How can the infinite be measured and the Godhead experience what is proper to finite things and be measured by distinctions of greater and less?
(17) These were the reflections of that great man of God and true theologian, and he was inspired by the Holy
Spirit concerning them. What else must be said but that, like the great Noe, the father of this second world, he caused this church to be called a second Jerusalem and a second ark borne above the waters? Clearly it rose, above the deluge of souls and the insults of the heretics, and in the measure it yielded to others in numbers it surpassed them in reputation.
It has fared even as holy Bethlehem, which was hindered in no way from being at once a small city and the metropolis of the whole earth, since it was the nurse and mother of Christ, who made and conquered the world.
(18) Here is proof of what I have been saying. When we had been bitterly attacked by the more zealous element38
34 Without paraphrasing, it would be impossible to indicate in English that 'three' here is neuter plural in Greek. Reference is made, ac cordingly, to the doctrine of the three divine Persons in one God.
35 I.e., the monks.
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in the Church on the ground that we had been led astray by a document and artful phrases36 into association with evil, he alone was believed to have an unwounded mind and not to have stained his soul with ink, although he had been car ried away by his simplicity and in his guilelessness had not been on guard against guile. But he alone, or, rather, he first, by his zeal for piety reconciled to himself and the rest the opposing faction, which was the last to desert us and the first to return, because of their reverence for him and the purity of his doctrine. And so a terrible storm in the churches was calmed, and a hurricane reduced to a gentle breeze, broken by his prayers and admonitions. At the time, I—if I may speak with the presumptuousness of youth—was his partner in piety as well as in action. Co-operating with him in every good work, accompanying him and running along beside him, as it were, I was deemed worthy to contribute a very large share of the labor. But here let my account of these mat ters, which has run a little ahead of itself, come to an end.
(19) Who could recount his many excellences or, while desiring to pass over most of them, find easily what to set aside? For whatever comes to mind always seems superior to what has gone before, I become absorbed in this, and I am more at a loss as to what I should omit than other pan egyrists are as to what they should say. And so the abundance of material is in a way a disadvantage to me, and my mind is put to the test when it strives to test his qualities, and can not find what is outstanding, when all are equal. There is a phenomenon which we observe in still waters. Whenever a pebble falls therein it becomes the center whence circle after circle develops, and each, constantly rippling, breaks up that which is beyond it. This is precisely what has happened to me. One thought comes into my mind, but another follows
36 Perhaps the Creed formulated by the Council of 'Antioch in 363.
Since the language of the formula and its explanation was somewhat ambiguous, it was open to interpretation in an heretical sense.
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and displaces it, and I grow weary in making a choice, since what I have first grasped continually yields place to that which follows after.
(20) Who was more zealous for the common weal? Who was wiser in domestic affairs, since God, who orders all things well and in sundry ways, allotted him a house and adequate means? Who was more sympathetic of heart or more generous of hand to the poor, that most dishonored part of our nature which ought to be held in equal honor. For in reality his at titude toward his own property was that of a steward of another's. He alleviated poverty to the extent of his power, expending not only his superabundance but even his necessities for this end—the clearest proof, surely, of charity toward the poor. He gave a portion not to seven only, according to the precept of Solomon,37 but even if an eighth also came for ward he did not deal meanly, but disposed of his wealth more cheerfully than others who we know acquire it. He took away the chain38 and the extension of the hand—I understand by this, meanness and testing the worthiness or unworthiness of the recipient, and the word of murmuring in the giving.39 It happens with most men that they give indeed, but they do not do so freely and readily, which is a greater and more perfect thing than the mere act of offering itself. For it is far better to be generous to the unworthy for the sake of the worthy than to deprive the worthy out of fear of the unworthy.
This seems to have a bearing on our duty of casting bread upon the waters,40 not that it may be swept away, or perish, in the eyes of the just examiner, but that it may come to that place where all our goods will be stored up, and be there to meet us in due time, even though we may think otherwise.
(21) But the best and greatest feature is that with his 37 Cf. Eccle. 11.2.
38 Cf. Isa. 58.9 (Septuagint).
39 Cf. ibid.
40 Cf. Eccle. 11.1.
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magnanimity went a contempt for ambition. Its extent and character I shall proceed to show. Although their wealth and the readiness to bestow it were shared equally by himself and his spouse, since they rivaled each other in contending for excellence, for the most part he left the function of dispensing it in her hands, for he believed her to be the best and most faithful steward of such matters. What woman and what sort of woman do I mean? She is one whose demands not even the Atlantic Ocean or any other still greater could satisfy, so great and so boundless is her love of liberality. She rivaled— but in a contrary sense—the horse leech of Solomon,41 overcoming by her insatiable desire for good any leaning toward evil, and unable to satisfy her zeal for beneficence.
Not only did she consider all the wealth they had from the beginning, as well as what they later acquired, as insufficient for her desires, but she would have readily sold herself and her children, if possible, as I have often heard her say, that the proceeds might be expended on the poor. Thus did she give full rein to her generosity, a fact which I consider a stronger argument than any example. For one also may easily find magnanimity in money matters among others, whether the money is spent on public or political ambitions or is lent to God through the poor—the only money which can be treas ured up for those who spend it. But we do not easily find any one who has forsaken the reputation connected with liberality.
Indeed, the readiness to spend freely is prompted in many by their love of reputation. But where the benefaction is to pass unnoticed, there also the impulse to give is less keen.
(22) Such, then, was his generous hand. Further details I shall leave to those who knew him, so that if anything of the kind is ascribed to me, also, it is from that fountain and part of that stream. Who acted more closely with God in admitting men to the sanctuary, or, in resenting outrages
41 Cf. Prov. 30.15.
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against it, or in cleansing, with reverent fear, the holy table from the unholy? Who with such unwavering judgment and balance of justice decided a case, or so hated wickedness, or so honored virtue, or preferred the most upright? Who was so disposed to pardon the sinner, or so encouraging to those running well? Who knew better the right time for employing the rod and the staff,42 though he wielded the staff the more?
Whose eyes were more on the faithful of the earth,43 especially on those who, despising the earth and the things of the earth, live a solitary and celibate life for God?
(23) Who reproved vanity more or had a greater love for humility? This was no feigned or superficial attitude, like that of most of those who now make a pretense of practicing asceticism and appear as elegant as the silliest women, who, lacking natural beauty, have recourse to pigments, and, al though showing themselves off prettily, are, if I may say so, uncomely in their comeliness and uglier through their ugliness.
His humility was not a matter of dress, but a disposition of soul. He did not affect it by a bending of the neck or a lowering of the voice, by a downcast look, or length of beard, or close-shaven head, or manner of walking, things which may for a while give the impression of humility, but are quickly discredited, for all pretense is lacking in stability.
While he led a most sublime life, he was most humble of heart, and although no one could approach his virtue, he was most approachable for consultation. His dress was ordinary, avoid ing pride and meanness alike, but he surpassed all by the spendor within. No one better overcame the disorder and in satiable appetite of the belly, but he was not ostentatious about it, desiring, on the one hand, to purify himself, and on the other, not be puffed up by seeking a reputation for doing the unusual. He believed it to be the mark of a politician, for 42 Cf. Ps. 22.4.
43 Cf. Ps. 100.6.
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whom there is no greater happiness than the present life, to do and say everything through which he may be held in esteem by those outside, but of a spiritual man and a Christian to look to one thing only, his salvation, and to regard as important what may lead to this and to despise what does not as worth less. Therefore, the Christian must condemn the visible and consider this only: how he may become interiorly perfect. He must esteem most highly whatever may increase his own merit and draw others by his example to the highest and best.
(24) But his noblest and most characteristic quality, re cognized even by the multitude, was his simplicity, and his guileless and forgiving disposition. Of the men of ancient and modern times, different individuals are believed to have been conspicuous for different virtues according to the grace each happened to receive from God. Job was conspicuous for in vincible patience in misfortune,44 Moses and David for meekness,45 Samuel for prophesying the future,46 Phineas for the zeal for which he was reputed,47 Peter and Paul for their eagerness in preaching the Gospel,48 the sons of Zebedee for their lofty eloquence, whence they were also called the sons of thunder.49 Why should I enumerate all of them, speaking as I am among those who know? But the distin guishing characteristic of Stephen and my father was freedom from malice. Not even when he was in danger did Stephen hate his persecutors, but while he was being stoned he prayed for those who were stoning him,30 as a disciple of Christ, for whose sake he had to suffer, bearing for God in his long-suffering fruit greater than death. With my father
44 Cf. Job 1.21.
45 Cf. Num. 12.3; Ps. 131.1.
46 Cf. 1 Kings 9.9.
47 Cf. Num. 25.7; Ps. 105.30,31.
48 Cf. Gal. 2.7.
49 Cf. Mark 3.17.
50 Cf. Acts 7.59.
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there was no interval between rebuke and pardon, so that grief itself was almost beguiled by the speed of forgiveness.
(25) We believe and hear that there are dregs, as it were, of the anger of God, '1 the residue of His action against those who deserve it, since the Lord is a God of vengeance."2 Al though He is inclined through His benignity toward mildness rather than severity, He does not completely pardon sinners, lest by His goodness they become worse. My father cherished no ill will against those who provoked him, although he was not entirely invulnerable to wrath, and in spiritual things especially he was wont to be carried away by zeal, unless he chanced to be prepared and armed and set in battle array to meet as an enemy from afar what was advancing to injure him. So not even by tens of thousands, as the saying goes, would this sweet disposition of his have been altered. For his wrath was not like that of the serpent,"3 causing him to smolder within, and to be ready to defend himself, nor quick to anger from the first excitement or exhibiting a desire of retaliation, but like the sting of the bee, that strikes but does not bring death. His benevolence was superhuman. The wheel and the lash were often threatened, and men were at hand to apply them, but the danger ended in the pinching of the ear or the slapping of the cheek or the cuffing of the temple.
In this fashion was the threat carried out. When clothing and shoes were pulled off and the culprit stretched upon the ground, his anger was directed, not against the evil-doer, but against his eager assistant, as a minister of evils. How could anyone have appeared kindlier or worthier to offer gifts to God? Often, he had scarcely begun to be stirred to anger when he immediately made excuses for the one who had provoked him, blushing for his faults as though they were his own.
51 Cf. Ps. 74.9.
52 Cf. Ps. 93.1.
53 Cf. Ps. 57.5.
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(26) The dew would more easily endure the morning rays of the sun than any trace of anger be left in his heart.
As soon as he spoke, his indignation departed with his words, leaving behind only his love for the good and never lasting longer than the sun. He did not cherish the anger that brings ruin even to the prudent or show any mark on his body of any passion within, preserving his calmness even when he was roused. The most surprising result of all this was that while he was not the only one to deliver censure, he was the only one to be both loved and admired by those he reproved, since his goodness overcame his warmth of feeling. And surely it is more profitable to be chastised by a just man than to be anointed by a bad one, for the asperity of the one is pleasant because of its usefulness while the goodness of the other is suspect because of his wickedness.
Although he was so simple and godlike of soul and char acter, he was yet an object of fear to the insolent because of his piety, or, rather, nothing made such an impression on them as the simplicity they despised. It was impossible for him to utter a prayer or an imprecation without the im mediate bestowal of some lasting benefit or temporary pain.
For the prayer proceeded from his inmost heart, while the imprecation was only on his lips, as a fatherly rebuke. Indeed, to many of those who offended him requital was not slow in coming, nor was the judgment upon them of lagging foot, to use the words of the poet.°4 But they were struck down at the very moment of passion, were brought tq their senses, turned to him, fell on their knees before him, obtained pardon, and withdrew, gloriously vanquished, and became better men, both for the chastisement and the pardon. Forgiveness also is often of great avail for salvation, as it curbs the evil-doer through shame and leads him from fear to love, a safer frame of mind. Some who were chastised were tossed by oxen,
54 The source of the allusion is unknown.
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galled by the loops of the yoke, who suddenly rushed upon them, since the beasts had never suffered this treatment be fore. Others were thrown down and trampled upon by even the tamest and most obedient horses. Others were seized by intolerable fevers and troubled by visions of their daring deeds. Still others were disciplined in different ways and learned obedience from the things they suffered.
(27) Such, therefore, being the outstanding character and renown of his mildness, did he yield the palm to others in industry and excellence in practical affairs? By no means.
While he himself was gentle, if any one ever was, his energy was in proportion to his gentleness. Although the two qualities, simplicity and severity, are generally repugnant and opposed to each other, the one naturally implying gentleness without enterprise, the other energy without kindliness, in him they were blended in a marvelous unity. On the one hand, he acted like a severe man, yet he displayed gentleness. On the other, he readily gave way as though a stranger to practical affairs, yet he displayed energy in patronage, in fearlessness of speech, and in every kind of ministry. He combined the wisdom of the serpent in regard to evil with the simplicity of the dove in regard to good, nor did he suffer' his wisdom to degenerate into evil action, nor his simplicity into stupidity, but he fashioned and perfected from both, so far as it was possible, one form of virtue. Since he became so outstanding in character and in the exercise of his priesthood, what wonder is it that he was deemed worthy of the manifestations by which God confirms piety?
(28) One of the wonders concerning him was that he suffered sickness and bodily infirmity. But why should it be surprising that holy men suffer ills, either for the purification of some small stain, or for proving their virtue or testing their philosophy, or for the instruction of the weaker, who learn from their example to be brave instead of faint-hearted
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in misfortune? He was sick, then, and the time of his sickness was the holy and glorious Easter, the queen of days, that splendid night that dissipates the darkness of sin, in which we celebrate with abundant light the feast of our salvation, and in which, dying with the Light who died on our behalf, we rise again with Him who rose. This was the time of his affliction. Its nature, to describe it briefly, was as follows. A violent, burning fever consumed all his vitals, his strength had failed, he was unable to take food, his sleep had departed, he was in great distress, suffering from palpitation of the heart.
The whole interior of his mouth, including the palate and the whole upper surface, had broken out into so many and such virulent and incessant ulcers that the swallowing even of water was not easy or without danger. Neither the skill of doctors, nor the prayers of his friends, however assiduous, nor any healing application was of avail. He was, then, in this condition, breathing shortly and with difficulty, not even perceiving those present, but wholly intent upon his departure and the things he had long desired and now made ready for him.
We were in God's temple, and occupied both with the sacred rites and with our supplications, for we had despaired of all else and betaken ourselves to the great Physician and the power of that night as the last source of succor. With what intention, shall I say? To celebrate the feast or to mourn?
To keep the festival or honor with funeral services one no longer here? Oh, those tears then shed by the whole people!
Oh, the voices, and cries, and hymns mingled with the singing of psalms! They sought the priest from the temple, the minister from the sacred rites, their worthy protector from God. My Mary55 led them and struck the timbrel,56 not of triumph but of supplication, learning then for the first time
55 St. Nonna, his mother.
56 Cf. Exod. 15.20.
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to put aside shame in the face of sorrow, and calling both upon the people and upon God: upon the people, to sym pathize with her in her distress and to vie in pouring out their tears; upon God, that He might hear her petitions, reminding
Him, with the inventive power of grief, of all His miracles in former times.
(29) What, then, was the response of the God of that night and of the sick man? Trembling comes upon me as I continue the story. And you, too, may tremble as you listen to me, but do not disbelieve—for that would be impious, since I myself am the relater and it concerns him. The time of the mystery was at hand. All were reverently in their places, in order and in silence for the sacred rites. My father was then revived by Him who raises the dead to life, and by the holy night. At first he moved a little, then with more vigor.
Then he called by name, very weakly and in an indistinct voice, one of the servants who were attending him, and bade him come forward and bring his clothes and lend his hand to support him. He came in consternation, and eagerly ministered to him. My father, making use of the guiding hand as a staff, imitated Moses on the mount, and forming his enfeebled hands in an attitude of prayer, and in union with or in behalf of the people, eagerly celebrated the Mysteries.57 He employed few words, such as his weakened condition allowed, but his intention, as it seems to me, was most perfect. What a most unusual and miraculous situation! In the sanctuary without a sanctuary, a sacrificer without an altar, a priest far from the sacred rites—yet all these things were at hand for him by the power of the Holy Spirit, and recognized by him, but completely invisible to those present. Then, after the customary words of thanksgiving and the blessing of the 57 St. Gregory does not mean that his father actually said Mass in his room, but that he was able to stand and say a few liturgical prayers while the Eucharistic Sacrifice was being offered in his church.
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people, he reclined again on his bed. After he took a little food and enjoyed some sleep, his spirit was revived and his health was gradually restored. When the new day of the feast came, for that is what we call the first Sunday after the Resur rection, he repaired to the temple of God, and with the whole congregation of his church present, he celebrated the renewal of his health and offered the sacrifice of thanksgiving.
To me this event seems to be worthy of being regarded in the same category as the miracle of Ezechias,08 who, when he was sick and prayed, was glorified by God with an ex tension of life. And this was signified by the bringing back of the shadow of the lines,59 according to the petition of him who was restored. And God honored him at once both by the favor and the sign, confirming the extension of his days by the extension of the day.
(30) The same miracle occurred not long afterwards in the case of my mother, and it, too, ought not to be passed over.
For I shall both pay her the honor which no one deserves more than she, and gratify him by associating her with him in my narrative. Hardy and vigorous and free from disease all her life, she herself was seized with sickness. Of the many ills she suffered, not to prolong my story, nothing affected her so grievously as the inability to eat. Her life was in danger for many days, and no remedy for the disease could be found.
How did God sustain her? Not by raining down manna, as of old for Israel,60 nor by striking the rock that gushed forth water for the thirsting people,61 nor by feeding her with the help of ravens, as the great Elias,62 nor by satisfying her need by a prophet carried through the air, as was done for Daniel of old when he suffered hunger in the lions' den.63 In what
58 Cf. 4 Kings 20.Iff.
59 Cf. Isa. 38.8.
60 Cf. Exod. 16.14.
61 Cf. Exod. 17.6.
62 Cf. 3 Kings 17.6.
63 Cf. Dan.14.33.
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manner, then? She thought that she saw me, her darling—for not even in dreams did she prefer any other of us—come up to her suddenly in the night with a basket of purest white bread, and after blessing and signing it with the cross ac cording to my custom, feed and comfort her, and that she then recovered her strength. And this vision of the night was a thing of reality. For from that time she returned to herself and was of better hope. This is evidenced by a clear and manifest token. For on the day after, when I visited her early in the morning, I noticed at once that she was more cheerful. Then I asked her as usual how she had passed the night and whether she required anything. 'You fed me very readily and kindly, my son,' she said, 'and now you ask how
I am! I feel splendid, and quite comfortable.' And at the same time her attendants made signs to me not to gainsay her and to accept her answer at once, lest she might be struck by despondency if the truth were revealed. I will add one more instance, common to both.
(31) I was voyaging from Alexandria to Greece over the Parthenian Sea. I sailed at a very unseasonable time, on an Aeginetan ship, impelled as I was by eager desire. What especially influenced me was that I had fallen in with a crew whom I knew well. We had proceeded but a little way when a violent storm arose, and one such as my shipmates said they had seldom experienced before. While all were afraid of a common death, I was in greater fear of spiritual death. Un fortunately, I was in danger of departing from life unbaptized, and I yearned for the spiritual water amid the waters of death.
Therefore, I cried aloud and begged and implored a brief space of time. And my shipmates, in spite of their common danger, joined in my cries as not even many relatives would have done, being kindly strangers who had learned sympathy from their perils. Thus did I suffer, and my parents suffered with me, sharing my danger which became known to them in
ON HIS FATHER
a dream. And they brought help from the land, calming the waves by prayer, as afterwards we learned upon reckoning the time when I returned home. This was also revealed to me in a salutary sleep which I at length experienced when the storm abated a little. I seemed to be holding fast to a Fury of fearful aspect, threatening danger, for the night represented her clearly to me. Another of my fellow voyagers, a boy very well disposed and dear to me and deeply concerned for me, under the circumstances, thought he saw my mother walk upon the sea and seize the ship and with no great effort draw it to land. And this vision was believed, for the sea began to grow calm, and we quickly arrived at Rhodes, without ex periencing any great distress in the meantime. As a result of that peril, we ourselves became an offering. We promised ourselves to God if we were saved, and, on being saved, we gave ourselves to Him.
(32) Such were the experiences common to both. But I think that some of those who know his life well have long been wondering why we have delayed on these points, as though we regarded them as his only claim to renown, and postponed mention of the difficulties of his times, against which he manifestly arrayed himself, as though he were un aware of them or did not consider them important. Come, then, let us add these also to our narrative. Our age brought forth its first and I think its last evil in the emperor64 who was an apostate from God and reason. He deemed it a small matter to conquer the Persians, but one of the greatest im portance to subject the Christians to his power. Together with the demons who led him and influenced him, he refrained from no form of wickedness, persuading, threatening, cajoling, and trying to draw them to himself not only by trickery but also by force. He could not indeed escape detection in striving to cloak persecution under sophistical artifices, nor in his
64 Julian the Apostate.
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manifest use of authority, as he endeavored, in one way or another, by guile or force, to get us completely in his power.
Who can be found who more utterly despised or defeated him than my father? Among many other proofs of his con tempt may be mentioned the incident of the bowmen and their commander whom he despatched against our churches with the object of receiving their surrender or reducing them by force. For when, after attacking many others, he came here with like purpose and demanded the surrender of God's temple on the orders of the emperor, he failed to accomplish his objective to such a degree that, unless he had quickly given way to my father, either by his own decision or upon the advice of some one else, he would have departed with his feet mangled, so on fire was the priest with wrath and zeal against him in behalf of his shrine. And how could any one appear to have effected the emperor's downfall more than he? In public, and with no fear of the times, he assailed the accursed one with the united prayers and petitions of the whole people; in private, he set his nocturnal array against him, wearing away those aged and tender limbs by lying on the ground and by watering the earth with his tears for al most a whole year. These practices he pursued for love of Him who alone knows secret things, striving to conceal them from us because of a piety removed from display, as I have said. And certainly he would have completely escaped notice had not I myself come suddenly into his room, and, having seen the signs of his lying on the ground, questioned his at tendants what they meant, and so learned the mystery of the night.
(33) But there is a further story of the same period and of the same courage. The city of Caesarea was in turmoil over the election of a bishop. One had just departed and another was being sought, and there arose a violent dissension that could not be easily resolved. The city was naturally inclined
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to be especially factious in this matter because of the fervor of its faith, and the splendor of the see only increased the rivalry. Such were the circumstances, and several bishops were at hand to consecrate the candidate chosen. The mul titude was split up into many factions, all proposing different candidates, and, as usually happens in such cases, according as one chanced to be influenced by friendship for an individual or by piety toward God. Finally, the whole people, with one assent, selected by force one of their leading citizens,65 a man of the highest character, but one who had not yet been sealed with holy baptism. Seizing him against his will, and with the help of the military detachment then in the city, they brought him into in the sanctuary and, leading him to the bishops, begged them to consecrate him and proclaim him bishop, mingling persuasion with force. They did not act in very orderly fashion, to be sure, but with great piety and ardor. And here it is not possible to mention anyone whom time showed more illustrious or more religious than he.
What happened then, and what course did the disorder take? The bishops were constrained, they purified him, pro claimed him, enthroned him, but by physical action rather than by spiritual judgment and disposition. This is manifest from what followed. For when they gladly withdrew and regained their freedom of judgment, they entered into council among themselves—that they were moved by the Spirit I am dubious. They resolved, at any rate, to consider nothing that had been done as valid, nor the appointment legitimate, pleading violence against him who had suffered no less violence, and seizing upon certain words uttered at the time more rashly than wisely.
But the great bishop and just appraiser of affairs was not carried away by those who adopted this course of action, nor did he approve their decision. He remained unbending and 65 Eusebius.
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indomitable, as if no pressure at all had been put on him.
For, since the violence was common, it followed necessarily that, if they brought a charge against him, they were open to a countercharge; or, if they acquitted him, they could likewise be acquitted; or, more justly still, not even if they acquitted him could they thereby be acquitted. If they were deserving of pardon, he certainly was, also; and if he was not to be excused, much less should they. For it would have been far better to have run the risk at the time and to have resisted to the very end than later to form designs against him, and in this crisis especially, when it would be better to dis solve existing enmities than to devise new ones. For matters stood as follows.
(34) The emperor was at hand, raging against the Christians. He was incensed at the consecration and threatened the new bishop, and the city was in the most immanent peril,66 as to whether it would cease to exist after that day, or survive and receive some merciful treatment. The un usual character of the election had added to the exasperation he felt at the destruction of the temple of Fortune in a time of prosperity, and he concluded that he had been robbed of his authority. The governor of the province was anxious to turn the occasion to his own account, and was somewhat ill disposed to the new bishop, inasmuch as he had never been on friendly terms with him, because of disagreement on political grounds. He summoned the consecrators by letter, requesting them to bring charges against the new bishop, and in no gentle terms, but adding threats, as though this was com manded by the emperor. When the letter reached my father also, he replied without fear or delay. Let us consider the re markable courage and spirit of his answer: 'Most excellent governor, we have one examiner and one Emperor of all our
66 The Greek reads literally 'on a razor's edge,' an expression going back to Homer, Iliad 10.173.
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actions, and He is now under attack. He will scrutinize the present election, which we have carried out in a manner that was lawful and pleasing to Him. In any other matter you may very easily employ force if you wish to do so, but no one shall take from us the right to defend what has been done as rightly and justly done. Unless you pass a law to that effect, you have no right to meddle in our affairs.'
The recipient himself admired this letter, although for a while he was annoyed, according to the reports of many of those familiar with the case. It also stayed the onset of the emperor, and delivered the city from danger, and ourselves— and it is not inappropriate for me to add—from disgrace. This was the work of a bishop of a small city and a suffragan see. Is it not far better to hold such a primacy than to speak forth from a superior see, to be strong in action rather than in name?
(35) Who is so far removed from our world as not to know what is last in order of his deeds but the first and greatest in significance? The same city was again in turmoil over the same matter when the bishop who had suffered honorable violence had been suddenly carried off and had departed to God, for whom he had contended so nobly and courageously in the persecutions. The agitation was as heated as it was unreasonable. Who was pre-eminent, as not even the sun among the stars, was not unknown; it was perfectly clear, not only to all others, but to the select and purest portion of the people, those concerned with the sanctuary, and the Nazarites67 among us. To them alone, or to them above all, should the right of making such appointments be long, for thus there would be no evil for the Church, instead of for the most wealthy and powerful, or for the impulse and rashness of the people, and even for the most corrupt of these.
But now I am almost ready to consider that civil government 67 I.e., the monks.
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is more orderly than ours, to which divine grace is attributed, and that such matters are better controlled by fear than by reason. For who of sound mind could ever have approached another, ignoring your sacred and divine person,68 molded by the hands of the Lord, the unwedded, without possessions, all but lacking flesh and blood, who in your words come next to the Word Himself, wise among philosophers, superior to the world among the worldly, my companion and my associate, and, to speak more daringly, the sharer of my soul, the partner of my life and education? I wish I were free to speak and des cribe you before others and not, because of your presence, be forced to consider each point carefully and pass over most of your praises, lest I be suspected of flattery. To return to what I began to say, the Spirit knew His own, for how could it be otherwise? But envy stood in the way, and on the part of those whom I am ashamed to mention. And would that it were not possible to hear it from others, who make it a point to ridicule our affairs. But passing this by, as rivers pass by rocks in the middle of their courses, let us honor with silence what deserves to be forgotten and proceed to what comes next in our discourse.
(36) The man of the Spirit had a clear insight into the things of the Spirit, and therefore he felt that he ought not to adopt a submissive attitude, nor contend with the aid of factions and prejudices, which depend more on favor than on God, but to look to one thing only, the good of the Church and the common salvation of all. Accordingly, he wrote letters, gave advice, united the people, the priests, and all others con nected with the sanctuary. He gave testimony, he voted and ordained, even while he was absent, and he assumed the prerogative of age in exercising authority over strangers as if they were his own people. Finally, since it was necessary that 68 St. Basil is being addressed in these terms.
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his consecration be canonical and one bishop of the number69 required for the proclamation was lacking, dragging himself from his couch, although broken by age and disease, he hastened courageously to the city, or rather he was borne along, with body dead or scarcely breathing, persuaded that, if anything happened to him, this zeal of his would be a noble burial. Thereupon occurred a prodigy not unworthy of belief.
He grew strong from the great exertion and, vigorous from his zeal, he took charge of affairs, he participated in the conflict, enthroned the bishop, and was escorted home, no longer on a funeral bier but as if in a divine ark. His forbear ance, which I have but lately ceased praising, was in this case even more fully shown. For when his colleagues could not brook the shame of defeat and the influence of the old man in affairs, and for that reason began to be annoyed at him and abuse him, he had the strength of endurance to overcome them also, finding in moderation his most effective ally, and in declining to meet abuse with abuse. For what a terrible thing it would be, he felt, if, when he had actually won the victory, he should suffer himself to be vanquished by his tongue. Consequently, he so won them over by his forbear ance, gaining time also as an aid for his judgment, that with their irritation changing to admiration they fell at his feet and excused themselves. They were ashamed of their previous conduct and, casting aside their hatred, submitted to him as their patriarch, their lawgiver, and their judge.
(37) The same zeal was shown in his opposition to the heretics, when, inspired by the emperor's70 impiety, they marched against us with the purpose of vanquishing us also and of adding us to the others who were nearly all enslaved.
For here, too, he was of no little assistance, both in his own 69 Three bishops were required to be present.
70 Valens.
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person, and through ourselves perhaps, whom he urged on, like well-bred dogs, against these most savage beasts, striving to train us in piety. One thing I have to blame in both of you, and I beg you not to be vexed at my frankness in speaking, for I will disclose the cause of my pain, even though you find this somewhat annoying. When I was disgusted with the evils of this life, and filled with a passionate desire for solitude, such, to my knowledge, as no one of our age possessed, when I strove eagerly to avoid the surge and dust of public life and escape to a place of safety, somehow or other you seized me and, by the glorious title of the priesthood, handed me over to this mean and treacherous mart of souls. As a result, some evils have befallen me and others are yet to be expected. For the man who has suffered in the past is somewhat diffident of the future, even though reason in its optimism may urge the contrary.
(38) There is another excellence of his which I must not leave unmentioned. He was capable of great endurance in all respects and was superior to the garment of the flesh. During his last sickness, a long and dangerous one, adding its assault to the affliction of old age, he had the weakness common to all men, but there was a circumstance that was not common, but was quite characteristic of him, and in keeping with the other marvels. Although there was never a time when he was not troubled by suffering but was in pain often every day, some times hourly, his only relief was the liturgy, to which his suf fering gave way, as though banished by decree. When he had lived almost a hundred years, exceeding David's limits of man's age,71 and had spent forty-five years, the average span of human life, in the priesthood, he closed his life in a good old age. And in what manner? With the words and habit of prayer, leaving behind no trace of vice, but many memorials of virtue. In consequence, there was for him, on 71 Cf. Ps. 89.10.
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the lips and in the hearts of all, a reverence greater than the lot of man. And it is not easy to find anyone who recol lects him and does not lay his hand upon his mouth, as Scripture says,'2 and honor his memory. Such was his life and such its completion and perfection.
(39) Since it was fitting that a memorial of his mag nanimity be left for posterity, what was more appropriate than this temple, which he erected for God and for us, helped a little, certainly, by the people, but defraying the greater por tion of the cost from his own means? It is a work not to be passed over in silence, for in size it surpasses most and in beauty nearly all. Graced with eight regular equilaterals, it rises aloft in the beauty of its two stories of pillars and porticoes, adorned with lifelike statues. Its vault above is brilliant, dazzling the eyes with its abundant sources of light, truly the dwelling place of light. It is surrounded by jutting equiangular ambulatories of the most brilliant material, which encompass a wide area within them. It is splendid in the loveliness of its doors and vestibules and welcomes those approaching from afar. I have not yet spoken of its external adornment, the beauty and size of its square and perfectly fitted stonework, both the marble in the bases and capitals which cover the corners, and the native stone, inferior in no way to that from abroad.
Nor have I mentioned the various and multicolored friezes, projecting or inlaid, from the foundation to the roof, which taxes the spectator by limiting his view. How could a brief account do justice to a work requiring so much time and so much toil? Or will it be enough to say that while many works, both private and public, adorn other cities, this by itself alone has been able to render us celebrated among men everywhere?
Such is his temple. But since there was also need of a priest, he provided one at his own expense. Whether he was worthy of the temple, I cannot say, but at any rate he provided him.
72 Cf. Job 39.34.
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And when sacrifices were required, he supplied them also in the misfortunes of his son and his patience in adversity, that God might receive from him a rational holocaust, a spiritual victim, to be consumed instead of the sacrifice of the Law.
(40) What do you say, my father? It this enough, and do you accept this eulogy accompanying you to the tomb as recompense for those labors you undertook for my education?
And according to your old custom, do you grant peace to my discourse, and set a limit upon it, shunning excess, that it may be of right measure? Or do you require some addition?
You bid me cease, I know, for I have spoken long enough.
But let me add one thing more. Reveal to us what glory you enjoy, what light encompasses you, and receive in the same abode your consort, soon to follow you, and the children you laid to rest before you, and me, also, when I have suffered no further or little more at least of the ills of this life. And before coming to that abode, receive me in this sweet stone, which you erected for both of us, honoring even here your priest and namesake. Excuse me both for the people whom
I left and for the people whom for your sake I accepted.73
And guide safe from danger the whole flock and all the bishops, whose father you were called, and especially me, who was overpowered by you and coerced in fatherly and spiritual guise, so that I may not entirely blame you for that tyranny.
(41) But what think you,74 O judge of our words and actions? If my discourse has been adequate and meets with your desire, indicate this by your decision and we shall accept it. For your decision is really the decision of God. But if it falls far short of his glory and your expectations, I have an ally near at hand. Let your voice be heard, awaited by his merits as a shower in season. Surely, he had bound you to himself by the closest ties, as pastor to pastor and as a father to his
73 He resigned the see of Sasima to become Bishop of Nazianzus.
74 St. Basil is being addressed here.
ON HIS FATHER
son in grace. What wonder, if. he75 who through you has thundered to the whole world should himself also reap some benefit from your voice. It remains only to join in spiritual reflection on the last rites with our spiritual Sara, the life long partner of our father Abraham.
(42) The nature of God and men, my mother, or, to speak more generally, the nature of divine things and earthly things is not the same. The divine both in its essence and in its properties is unchangeable and immortal, for the attributes of things constant remain constant. But how is it with us? Our nature is in a state of flux and corruption and suffers change upon change. Life and death as they are called, although they seem to differ very much, somehow succeed and replace each other. The one, beginning from the corruption which is our mother, passes through the corruption which is the uninter rupted change of the present, and ends in the corruption which is the dissolution of this life. The other, which gives us release from present ills and often translates us to the life above, cannot, to my way of thinking, properly be called death, as it is fearful more in name than in reality. We are even likely to be somewhat unreasonably afraid of what is not fearful and to pursue as preferable what ought to be feared. There is one life: to look to life. There is one death, sin, for it is the destruction of the soul. But all else, in which some take pride, is but a dreamful vision mocking realities, and deceitful phantasms of the soul. If such is our nature, mother, we shall neither pride ourselves on life, nor be over troubled by death. What dread fate do we suffer in being transferred hence to the true life, if, on being released from the vicissitudes, the insolence, the turmoil, and the base tribute exacted by this life, we shall be amid stable and unvarying things, as little lights which dance about the great Light?
75 St. Gregory the Elder was largely responsible for St. Basil's elevation to the episcopacy.
ST. GREGORY NAZIANZEN
(43) Does the thought of separation grieve you? Then let hope cheer you. Is widowhood a grievous burden? Yet it is not grievous to him. And where is love's goodness if it gives the easier role to itself and the more arduous one to its neighbor? Why should it even be grievous at all to one who is soon to be dissolved? The appointed day is near at hand; the pain will not last long. Let us not by ignoble thinking give weight to the merest trifles. Great is the loss we have suffered, for great was the blessing we enjoyed. Loss is common to all, but the enjoyment of blessings belongs to but few. Without being depressed by the first thought, let us be consoled by the second. For it is more reasonable that the better should prevail. You have endured most bravely and sensibly the loss of children still in their prime and qualified for longer life. Endure also the laying away of an aged frame, already weary of life, although the vigor of his mind preserved his senses unimpaired. But you need someone to care for you?
Where, then, is this Isaac of yours, whom he has left behind for you in place of all? Ask him for small favors, such as lending you his hand and serving you, and repay him with the greater benefits of a mother's benediction, and prayers, and the freedom of heaven. Are you vexed at being ad monished? I praise you for it. For you yourself have admon ished many who in the course of your long life have availed themselves of your sagacity. In no way do my words apply to you who are supremely wise. But let them be a common balm of consolation to those who mourn that they may realize that they are mortals escorting mortals to the grave.
SAINT AMBROSE
ON THE DEATH OF HIS
BROTHER SATYRUS
Translated by
JOHN J. SULLIVAN, C. S. Sp., Ph.D.
Duquesne University and
MARTIN R. P. McGUIRE, Ph.D.
The Catholic University of America
INTRODUCTION
ranius Satyrus, brother of St. Ambrose, died early in the year 375 (not in 379, as is still stated in most books of reference). The two brothers had been closely associated from boyhood and were unusually devoted to each other through similarity of temperament and their com mon pursuit of the highest Christian ideals. Both had entered upon careers in the imperial service and had risen to high posts. When Ambrose was unexpectedly elected Bishop of Milan, Satyrus resigned his position in the imperial govern ment and returned to Milan, where he devoted himself to the administration of the family property and also relieved Am brose to a large degree from the temporal cares of his episcopal household and diocese. Satyrus was excessively shy and simple in manner, but was a most efficient and successful admini strator. He also revealed great tact in composing occasional differences which arose between St. Ambrose himself and their strong-willed sister, Marcellina, the eldest of the three.
From an early age, she had become a consecrated virgin, and lived in her mother's house at Rome. Satyrus, whose health was not too robust, fell seriously ill after shipwreck and ex posure on a return voyage from Africa in 374 and died shortly after reaching home. The grief of Ambrose and his sister for