Letter 182 (383)
Priests and Hierarchs: Their Calling
"Woe is me!" is Gregory's mood just before this retirement, illustrated by letter 182. Writing to Gregory of Nyssa on his return from Constantinople and readying himself to go into retirement by leave from Emperor Theodosius, he is eager to make his canonical status clear: he had been regularly nominated and consecrated to the see of Sasima, but had found it occupied by Anthimos. He had never been called or consecrated to the see of Nazianzus, but had merely accepted to help his aging father, the bishop, after whose death he remained as provisional caretaker, the see oj Nazianzus being kept vacant.
GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS TO GREGORY OF NYSSA,
LETTER 182 (383)
Woe is me, that my sojourn here has been extended!
The worst is that we are caught in a conflict of factions and we have not maintained the peace that we had received from the holy fathers. This peace-T know that you will resurrect it by the power of the Spirit which sustains you and your actions. As for us, T am only asking that no one would tell lies about us or about the lord-bishops; it is not against us that they have called another hierarch; they have not rejected us nor are they hostile to us. But, having addressed to them many prayers on account of my health-cadaverous!-and fearing meanwhile that the Church would not be cared for,
T asked them this favor which is not against the canons and would let me catch my breath: Let a pastor be given to the Church! Such a one was given to them thanks to your prayers, and worthy of Your Piety; I place him into your hands. I mean the respected Eulalios, the bishop most beloved of God, in whose hands may I give up my last breath! If anyone thinks that one should not consecrate in the lifetime of the hierarch in charge, let him rather know
THE FATHERS SPEAK
that this should not make him prevail against us, for it is manifest to all that we have not been promoted to the see of Nazianzus, but of Sasima, although only for a while, for the sake of my [ather, regarding those who had petitioned us that we would accept the direction of the Church at Nazianzus as a foreigner.
A certain "Gigantios" had invited Gregory to visit him in his retreat in Cappadocia. An epigram of Gregory suggests that he is playing on the name of his correspondent, in reality Signatios (see .the note in GaUay, tome J, note additionelle, p. 131). Gregory had to decline the invitation on account of his poor health; the letter is a paean for the restoration of Orthodoxy.
GREGORY OF NAZlANZUS TO GIGANTIOS, LETTER 100
(Latter Part of 381) Delighted by your invitation, I am still more delighted by what you write, not because of the compliments-that is unimportant-but because you think correctly and because the ties of charity that bind you to us are the hope of the same rewards and the sincere adoration of the Trinity, the Trinity whose name we utter more frequently than we breathe, whether or not there is danger in so doing. For the rest, we leave it to the circumstances, but our faith we keep immutably in our souls as the only riches inaccessible to envy and truly our own. And I myself, when I think of all those things, the tribulations that assailed us and assail us still, of capricious annoyances from above and from below, of the war which some war-loving people wage upon us who have
Priestsarzd Hierarchs: Their Calling
not wronged them; when I only look on the sole fact that I have been judged worthy of becoming a herald of truth, whereas the sound doctrine was rejected and exiled contemptuously "in a dry and weary land where no water is"
[Ps 63: 1], it is too little for me to say that I throw back every anguish, but I am overjoyed to have been esteemed worthy of favors greater than me. Why do I write that? It is because
I want to show that there is no solid friendship and intimacy except with those who have the same feelings. And those who have the same feelings-what sensible man would intentionally forsake them? Is there a greater feast than a feast passed in their company? If illness and winter shackle my good will, I shall bear the pain myself; but forgive us, and wish for another occasion of coming together.
The character, or lack of character, of Gregory of Nazianzus-the word is probably too strong-threatened once more to wreck his friendship with Basil, who had charged him with inaction, for his refusal to take a position in the conflicts of jurisdiction which opposed the bishops of Cappadocia to one another, following the division of the province by Emperor Valens. Gregory's letters 48 and 49 are his answers to Basil's criticisms.
GREGORY OF NAZlANZUS TO BASIL, LETTER 48
(ca. Easter 372) We are tired of being blamed on your account and of apologizing unto those who know our past and understand the present situation. What is more ridiculous and deplorable is to find ourself both victim and accused; that is just what
THE FATHERS SPEAK
happens now. Some accuse us of this, the others of that, each one according to his temper or according to the measure of his anger toward us. The most friendly ones accuse us of disdain and say we are rejected after having been used like a vulgar, worthless utensil, or like those stays for build~ ing a vault, which one removes as useless once the construction is ended. Let us pay no attention to such people, and let them say what they please; nobody should restrain their freedom of speech .... Now I will show you how I feel, but do not get mad at me. I will tell you what I cried aloud, overwhelmed by emotion. I did not boil with anger, I was not so upset that I would lose my reason, unaware of what I was saying, I will not take arms, I will not learn to fight any more than I did when the situation invited a fight, when everyone was armed and in a fury. I will not fight against the bellicose
Anthimos, even though he is a fighter out of season, for I am defenseless, unfit for war and laid open to wounds. Go fight him jf you wish-necessity often makes weaklings warlike!-or else recruit fighters to guard the passes when he comes for "stealing your mules" ["he," the usurper of the see of Sasima, to which Gregory had been elected], like
Amalek blocking the road to Israel [Ex 17: 8 ssq1. Instead of all that, give us peace! Why should I fight for piglets and poultry which do not even belong to me, as if they were souls or canonical rules? Why deprive the metropolis of her
"splendid Sasima," or unveil and reveal your secret thought, which had better remain hidden? Be a man, be strong, and draw all things to your own credit, like the rivers draw the brooks toward them. Do not give preference to our friendship and to an intimacy that proceeds from virtue and piety, and do not worry to know whether your actions shall be judged rightly. Belong only to the Spirit! As for me, I shall draw from your friendship this one benefit: not to put my trust in friends, and prefer nothing to God!
Priests and Hierarchs: Their Calling
GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS TO BASIL, LETTER 49
(ca. Easter 372) You reproach me with inaction and laziness because I have not taken possession of that Sasima of yours, because
I do not act like a bishop should, and because I do not rush into the fray like a dog on a piece of meat. For me the great· est action is inaction and-that Y0U may know my strong side
-I am so proud of being inactive that on this point I am a model of magnanimity to all. If they would imitate me, all of them, there would not be any contention between the Churches, and faith would not be torn to pieces, by being taken as a weapon in personal disputes!
We close this chapter with a letter of Saint Basil written to Amphilochios, a young lawyer, cousin of Gregory of Nazianzus, who had heard and heeded the call to the priest· hood. In 374, he was elected to the see of Iconium in Pisidia, made famous by the predication of Saint Paul. Here is Basil's
"charge" to the new bishop.
SAINT BASIL TO AMPHILOCHIOS, ELECTED BISHOP OF
I CONIUM IN PISIDIA, LETTER 161 (374)
Blessed is God, who from every generation chooses those who please Him, who distinguishes the choice vessels and uses them for the service of the holy things [npol:; -r~v AEl-rOUpy(av -r&v ayl(J)v]. It is He who-as you say your· self that you fled, not from us, but from the call which you expected to receive through us-it is He who caught you in
THE FATHERS SPEAK
the inescapable net of His grace and led you to the heart of Pisidia, in order that you catch men unto the Lord, and drag from the abyss to light those whom the devil had caught.
Act like a man and be strong; march in front of the people the right hand of the Most High entrusted to yOll.
Steer your ship prudently, stand above the tempests raised by heretical winds, keep your vessel from sinking in the briny and bitter waves of perverse doctrine, and wait for the stillness which the Lord shall give when a voice is found worthy to wake Him up, that He rebuke the winds and the sea
[Mt 8:26 and paral.].
If yOll wish to visit us who are driven by a long illness toward the inescapable issue, do not tarry or wait for us to give you a sign, for you know that to the heart of a father every occasion is welcome for embracing a dear son, and that the disposition of the soul is better than any discourse.
Do not complain that the burden is above your strength.
Supposing that you were alone to bear the load, it still would not be too heavy but quite bearable if the Lord carries it together with you, for, says the Psalmist, "cast your burden unto the Lord, and He will make good for it" [54:23]. Only let us exhort you to be watchful in aU things, lest you yield to damnable practices; rather, amend previous abuses through the prudence that God gave you; for Christ has sent you, not to follow others, but to be yourself the leader of those who are to be saved. And we pray you to intercede for us, so that if we are still in this life, we may be found worthy to see you in your Church; but should we die first, we shall meet with you in the Lord.
Priests and Hierarchs:
Shepherds of the Sheep The Three Hierarchs had to administer their Churches jn the most trying circumstances. Orthodoxy was a minority in the midst of a medley of heterodox and heretics, who were often favored by local officials. On the political side, the Church aimed at establishing a modus vivendi with the civil power, which was generally inclined to lean upon the ma~ jority. Whether they liked it or not, the bishops had to acknowledge the pluralism of the society and realized that true faith was not something they could ram down the throat
0/ reluctant people.
The Cappadocian hierarchy had to face some important changes in the government of the province: In 371, Emperor
Valens reorganized the administration 0/ the province by dividing it into two eparchies: Cappadocia Prima, tlte eastern part of the province with the capital Caesaraea (Kayseri); and Cappadocia Secunda, the southwestern part, with the capital Tyana, itself an insignificant little town, but strategically located on the road to Archelals (Aksaray), Ancyra
(Ankara), Nicaea (/znik), and Constantinople. There were precedents: Diocletian, emperor from 284 to 305, had divided Armenia into Greater and Lesser Armenia, the latter being contiguous with the eastern parts of POlltllS. Basil, consecrated archbishop of Caesaraea in 370, had as his opposite number in the imperial service the "archon" of the eparchy, with whom he maintained correct relations. Tlte towns of Nyssa and Nazianzus were now under the jurisdic-