Homilies 1 part 7/11

For such is the power of the Lord: it disarms the rebellious of their wrath and impious thoughts, and, applied with such skill, tames them, and makes gentle sheep out of biting beasts.

Concerning this, what does Scripture say? That, coming to the high priest, he asked of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, so that he might bring the Christians to Jerusalem.

O the conflict and the contrast between the letters that Paul sought at that time, and those which he later wrote proclaiming Christ!

The former bound Christians in chains; the latter placed chains upon the former persecutor for the sake of Christ — many, heavy, and grievous chains to bear;

Saul the Hebrew, champion of the Law, enemy of the cross, foe of the gospel —

but in the later, sober-minded letters:

"Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ."

What a little while before was a reproach has now become a boast, and what was once held in contempt is today recalled as glory.

For no glory-seeking, exultant king ever paraded so proudly in the splendor of his rule as Paul did in the cross and the nails, proclaiming himself in writing a prisoner to all, and adorning himself more with iron than maidens adorn themselves with gold.

"And suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him."

Why did He not appear to him in the form of a man, as also to Stephen from heaven, but in the appearance of fire or light? Because to Stephen, as one who was perfect and knew the mystery of the incarnation, and who would in no way be harmed by the lowliness proper to our nature, He fittingly showed Himself in this way, just as indeed He also ascended into heaven; but to Paul, who for this reason did not accept to call Jesus God, because He had come to us in a body, He does not appear as a man, lest He confirm the stumbling-block for the unbeliever, but rather in the likeness of lightning and light, so that He might draw him away from the Law and Moses.

For there too, this same God, revealing Himself to Moses, spoke in fire;

and giving the Law on Sinai, shining with fire, He placed the tablets in the Hebrew's hand.

He shines round about him, then, so that Paul, applying his mind to the resemblance between what happened then and what is happening now, and, as it were rousing himself from some forgetfulness, might recognize that these theophanies belong to one and the same power;

and He sends the radiance from heaven, so that Paul, no longer turning his thoughts about Bethlehem and Galilee, should not merely call Christ "Son of David" and "man" and all the other names belonging to the dispensation, but might be clearly taught that, being God, He came to us from above — whence He now appears also.

He did not say, "I am God" or "the Son of God," but "Jesus";

[thereby confirming] the faith of the incarnation, at which the Jews took offense.

"I am He whom you struck, whom you scourged, whom you dragged and led away, now to Caiaphas, then to Pilate; whom you continually called the carpenter's son; whom you counted among the dead, laughing loudly at those who proclaimed the resurrection."

"Speaking now to those very ones, I do not appear [in visible form];"

"enlightening the soul, while bringing blindness upon the eyes."

"Believe, then, that I appeared also to Stephen, when, saying this to you, he was disbelieved."

"It is hard for you, then, to kick against the goads."

By "goads" He means the nails of the cross.

For just as one who dashes himself against sharpened iron does not destroy the iron — how could he, being hard? — but wounds himself, so too the one who contends against God draws upon himself a ruin of his own choosing.

"Be sober-minded, then, from now on, and, having lost your sight through this wondrous radiance, understand now above all that for this reason I clothed myself with a body and became man: so that not all who converse with the Godhead unveiled might be struck blind."

And Paul, led by the hand, was taken away — a pitiable sight, or rather, a gracious one, and worthy of rejoicing.

The wolf was bound, the plunderer was brought to his senses, the savage one was tamed, he who used to run now walked gently; the tyrant of the disciples was led away as a disciple; he whose hands were defiled with the blood of Stephen was led to drink the blood of the Other.

For three days he continued living in blindness.

For he who had sinned against the Trinity was justly condemned to a punishment equal in number to his sin.

Thus, then, the divine man was initiated into piety.

But when he had tasted the truth and learned by experience that Christ lives and is and reigns over all things, and that he was neither destroyed by death nor stolen away by the disciples, he quickly transferred from the Law to the Gospel and proclaimed to all that Christ is God — he whom but yesterday and the day before he had reviled with blasphemies — and he became as great an ally as he had once been an enemy.

Suddenly and unexpectedly entering the synagogues of Damascus, he proclaimed publicly the words of the Law and the Prophets — not to establish the Law, but from it to build up the case for Christ, comparing the sayings of the prophets with the events that had come to pass, and by means of the Law casting out the Law.

As indeed he himself says, writing to the Romans:

"For I through the law died to the law" —

that is, "Guided by the Mosaic writings, I came to recognize the piety of the Gospel."

Amazement, then, seized Damascus, and everyone exclaimed to one another in wonder:

"Come, behold the Hebrew of Tarsus, the ardent disciple of the ancestral Law, now the vehement advocate of Jesus, proclaiming him God and demonstrating from our own writings that this is the Savior promised!"

There was fear, then, lest he persuade the whole city, lest he win over the entire populace and turn it away from the Law.

For indeed he is a diligent student of Scripture, sharp of mind, forceful in speech, resourceful in manner, and possessed of great credibility;

since he knows our teachings precisely, he does not seem to be led astray through ignorance, but rather to have found the truth through testing and judgment.

Into this perplexity the very first preaching of the noble convert cast a great city, a populous nation; and Damascus was then thrown into greater turmoil than the Christians in Jerusalem had once been, when Paul was stoning Stephen.

For just as admirable champions, wherever they transfer their allegiance, carry victory along with them there, so too this divine man made great, without exception, those to whom he lent his weight.

Thus, having proclaimed the Gospel in Phoenicia and having sown there the first seeds of his apostleship, in the very place where he himself had been enlightened with knowledge, he came to Jerusalem, a strange and yet welcome sight to those there —

at first they saw him gladly and sought the catch, hoping to see a multitude of Christian captives and seeking the fulfillment of his many promises.

But when, as the report went on, they discovered that Saul had become Paul, that his mind had changed along with his name, and that he was now a servant of Christ and a more fervent disciple than even the other apostles, at first they regarded what was said as a joke and mockery; but when, upon testing it, they found that his mind agreed with his words, they resolved on one thing only: that the young man should perish — since it was not possible for the Hebrew religion to prevail so long as Paul lived and spoke.

And all the time that followed clearly demonstrated this.

For still, even though many were Christians, they were not content to live purely according to the Gospel, but wavered between the two, and sometimes even resorted to circumcision, so that by doing things partly gratifying to the Hebrews they might soften their anger; but he alone, with unshaken conviction, taught nothing diminished — but proclaimed the message unadulterated with a pure voice, and advanced so far in freedom of conviction that once, when the Galatians, through their own fickleness and neglect of their teachers, were reverting to a life according to the Law, he wrote them that remarkable letter, through which he taught them to practice piety and worship in the newness of life according to Christ, no longer heeding the letters written on the stone tablets — he even engaged, in his very words, with the chief of the apostles himself, and continued everywhere to take him to task and to spar with Peter, as one muddying the new way of life by resorting to the old and abolished doctrines.

And he showed no reverence either for the grey hairs of the old man or for the seniority of his apostleship, when he saw the truth endangered.

But against the Galatians he rose up vehemently, while against him he struck repeatedly — as far as was fitting — tempering his frankness with propriety.

And everywhere he continued speaking and persuading;

but if anywhere, encountering wicked characters, he suffered something terrible — whether he dwelt in prison, or received scourgings, or was struck with stones — he did not abandon his zeal on account of the failure that had occurred;

but after a brief interval he would again draw near to his enemies, turning over the same arguments and devising many methods of approach, adapting himself most resourcefully to whatever need arose, and he would invariably depart having persuaded either all of them or the majority.

Indeed, many times, after being found beaten with incurable blows and cast out in the outskirts of that city which he was initiating into piety, and even thought to be dead because of the severity of his sufferings, on the next day he would take his place in the marketplace and, stretching out his right hand, would again teach those who had brought him near to death;

so little did he care for his own body.

But keeping his eyes fixed on the goal of the heavenly calling, he strove steadfastly, passing from country to country, from city to city, contending in the toils of land, arraying himself against the dangers of the sea, addressing with wisdom mobs inflamed with rage, making his defense before judges filled with anger;

leading the Hebrews to the knowledge of Christ by means of the writings honored among them, putting the Greeks to shame by means of foreign literature and the unwritten laws of nature;

confirming Christians, building up converts and nourishing them with fitting instruction, just as gardeners nourish young plants with a measured and carefully-rationed flow of water.

Let us now learn especially that which most displays his power in speech.

Athens is the city that presides over Achaia, the hearth of learning, as those who praise it have called it of old — an ancient workshop of wise men and of those who live by eloquence.

Since, then, Paul, having traversed Illyricum and scattered everywhere the sparks of faith — which the Spirit, taking them up, fanned into flame and kept unquenched — came, in the course of his circuit as need required, also to the wise Athenians,

...so that he might deliver a public oration to those who claimed, on the strength of their learning, to hold sovereignty together over all mankind.

But he, uplifted by the greatness of his nature and by the wealth of the gift from above, did not take possession of a single covered hall, nor did he sit in a single lecture-room to hold discourse, as even the foremost of their philosophers were accustomed to converse with those who came near them; but running up to the Areopagus, where there sat a harsh and dreaded council that judged cases of murder, and finding a great multitude gathered there, he stood and delivered a public oration surpassing the practiced orators who contended there daily.

And taking his starting point from an inscription that had been affixed to an altar, and from there aptly proclaiming to them the Unknown God, and bringing the whole discourse to its conclusion, he fell so far short of erring in his arguments as one unversed in external wisdom, that he persuaded Dionysius, the foremost of the Areopagites, together with his wife, and converted them, and made them servants of Christ — from one altar and a small inscription turning them away from many altars.

Descending as victor from that place where the warlike demon of the Greeks had held the greatest sway, and passing from there to the neighboring city of Corinth, the metropolis of Achaia, and having spoken the saving teaching in the synagogues, he departed leading away a convert — not one of the ordinary or common sort, but the very ruler of the synagogue together with his entire household — and having conquered the Law utterly and exalted the cross as a lofty trophy, he thus left that city too bowed in submission to Christ.

As time went forward and the message of piety made progress, he continued, like some general, daily winning cities, villages, and fields for his King, cutting the sinews of the tyrant who had formerly held sway.

He passed, then, from Corinth to the region of Pisidia, then, taking hold of Lycaonia and the cities of Phrygia, and from there visiting Asia, then Macedonia, he was the common teacher of the whole inhabited world, benefiting those present by his tongue, and turning those absent by his letters;

he alone was such that his knee never grew weary from constant traveling, nor did his tongue ever grow numb, unfailingly expounding the mysteries of the Gospel to enemies and friends alike.

Such, then, was he in his teaching;

but what kind of man was he in the rest of the discipline of his life? Always and continually devoted to the word and enslaved to the Gospel, he did not even receive as a gift, from anyone, the bread he ate; but the day held for him the contest against countless enemies, while the night held the awl, the leather, and the labor of his trade — so that from this he might have his sustenance, and might appear to all a burden-free apostle, a herald at no one's expense, sparing even his hosts as far as bread itself was concerned.

Let us listen to these words, O priests — you who not merely share in the altars, but even grow rich from them, and live in luxury, and make the sacred wealth your own personal property, and issue burdensome commands to your subordinates, in the name of Christ, as though to slaves.

The priesthood is not a lordship, but rather, to one who understands, a servitude;

it is not a dignity of ruler's arrogance, but a stewardship of reverent service.

Did not the divine Paul have the right to eat and drink from the sacred things, and at least to receive some small reward for his countless labors, for the care of his body which was buffeted daily? Yet he did not make use of this right, so that, having received nothing on earth, he might claim everything in the heavens.

Therefore he was also deemed worthy of things beyond human capacity, while still bound to corruptible flesh.

And so that he might behold a pledge of the good things to come and of the honors that await there, he was caught up as far as the third heaven, he sees visions surpassing the portion allotted here, and he hears unspeakable words, as he himself says — and this while being modest about it and everywhere shunning boastfulness and parading his own advantages,

unlike those who are puffed up over small gifts — out of necessity he discloses only a little of what belongs to himself, and even this he clothes in another person's guise, leading suspicion far away from himself.

Elijah the Tishbite, then, since he was taken up on high in the form of a fiery chariot, is celebrated everywhere, and he left behind a great marvel for human life;

but how far he reached, no account has ever explained.

For perhaps, having been lifted only a little above the earth by the power that conveyed him, he was delivered to the place allotted him to dwell.

But Paul's translation was found to be far more glorious and illustrious, given also the measure to which he was raised.

For, of the seven heavens that are spoken of, he arrived at very nearly the half.

Let the Hebrews, then, henceforth lay aside their pride, they who boast greatly over Moses because he alone reached the very summit of Sinai and entered within the darkness and the clouds.

For my Paul, instead of a mountain, ascended to the heavens; instead of a cloud, he passed beyond the very air that lies above the clouds.

For it was fitting that the man who belongs to Christ should surpass Moses by exactly as much as the Gospel surpasses the Law.

As for the theophanies and the things spoken by God to him, and how, when bound, he was set free, and, when despondent, was strengthened, with God communicating to him both waking and in dreams — what need is there even to speak of this, seeing that he himself did not conceal his own grace, but plainly revealed it to all together, saying:

"Do you seek proof of Christ speaking in me?" For the others, whether prophets or apostles, had operations from above that were time-limited and periodic, and sometimes the divine presence was with them, and sometimes it was not.

But this divine man, since he had once been set apart as God's own special temple for him to dwell in, thus always possessed Christ as the deviser of his counsel, the teacher of his speech, and the fellow-worker in his affairs.

And John, the son of Zebedee, was reckoned great, because, more boldly than the other disciples, he reclined upon the Lord's breast;

and because of this he is especially celebrated by all.

But this man — how should he not justly be reckoned above ordinary men, seeing that it was not the Jesus in the body, but the Word stripped of flesh, whom he gave rest to every day, having made himself a useful and pure vessel for the Creator? And though I have much and various things to tell — as many as this divine man said and did while instructing the whole world, on land and sea, in courts of law, in marketplaces, among the crowds, in the courts of kings — I willingly pass over the multitude of them.

For I did not set out to compose a full history of his achievements, so that nothing might be lacking, but rather to render a eulogy — and this only to the extent that my own capacity allows.

But having mentioned one last thing alone, I shall bring my discourse to a close.

For after having traversed the whole inhabited world, and having placed the word upon the lampstand, he kindled the great torch of evangelical knowledge; he came also to the Romans, as to the ruling city, so that, having initiated and persuaded those who ruled over all men, and having gained disciples, he might, out of the abundance thus remaining, also converse with the rest of mankind.

And finding Peter also there, a laborer in the same task, and forming with him a certain sacred and God-inspired pair, he taught in the synagogues those who were under the Law, while in the marketplaces he won over the Gentiles;

and he was a manifold teacher of good things, making manifest the pure and unadulterated knowledge of God, establishing precise rules of moral virtue, and driving far away from men the dances, the drunkenness, and every kind of unrestrained self-indulgence in pleasure, in which especially the whole populace, and the ruler then reigning, were entangled.

The introduction, then, of that most excellent and temperate way of life came into sharp collision with Nero.

and he grieved more at the ending of his pleasure than he would have grieved even had he been cast out of his kingdom itself

For he was, if ever any man was, a sophist of pleasures, a man given to luxury and entertained with flute-players, foolish and effeminate, a master of harlots, not a king of men

...concern for how he might banish from the city the teacher of piety and self-control

And emulating Herod's purpose, he led the apostles away to prison, as that man did John; and having, after the same likeness, another Herodias — his own licentious and pleasure-loving intent — seeking the heads of both Peter and Paul, he bound them both with the crown of martyrdom;

nailing the one to the wood, and cutting off the head of Paul, and leaving to us and to the world the sufferings of the saints as a festival, and the occasion for so great a feast

These things, O thrice-blessed ones, the yearly observance has brought to you, proclaiming you everywhere as the common champions of the whole world, and making better the minds of men through the honor paid to you

For virtue, when honored, rouses many to emulation;

in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion, now and always, and unto the ages of ages

Encomium of Asterius, Bishop of Amasea, on the Holy Hieromartyr Phocas. — Good and profitable to those who strive after virtue is the remembrance of the noble deeds of the saints

For it instructs those who desire virtue and piety not by word alone, but also sets before them, as vivid teachers, the deeds of those who have lived rightly

Wherefore also our Lord, in giving the precepts for the noblest achievements, says:

"But whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great";

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven"

For instruction by reasoned discourse is a lesser and weaker teacher than practical action;

and by as much as we say that sight is more exact than hearing, by so much it is agreed that deed prevails over word

Thus we learn the sciences;

thus we are trained in the arts, being led first by word toward the learning, and afterward confirming what was dim by hand and by experience

And though the geometer labors much over his book, and has his hearing filled by his teacher, he will grasp the meaning of the various figures in no other way, unless he studies out the points and lines and circles upon the tablet

Nor indeed does word alone instruct in his object of study the man who has set his desire on astronomy, unless his teacher, skillfully turning the sphere before him, delivers to his very eyes the motion of the pole

And the student of medicine too, though he has labored much over Hippocrates and the other masters, is an unskilled healer, until he has gone among the many sick and learned from the sufferers themselves how to heal

So indeed we too, the disciples of the martyrs, making the deeds of these steadfast men — deeds that preceded their confession — our teachers, learn to guard piety even unto the utmost dangers, looking upon their very sacred shrines as upon inscribed monuments, engraved with letters that declare with precision the agony of their martyrdom

And just as those who draw near to the oak of Mamre, or to the purchased cave which Ephron the Hittite sold for the burial of Sarah, where indeed the patriarch himself also lies together with his sons, immediately, upon the sight of these places, renew in their minds the image of the past, and behold with the understanding the faithful patriarch, the firstfruits of piety, the circumcision that was in him;

and they take account also of those who sprang from his root, Isaac and Jacob, and, together with the remembrance of these men, become spectators of the whole history concerning them;

so, having come to the place of Phocas, I am filled, from the place itself, with the remembrance of all the accounts told of him together;

I see the man who was a gardener by occupation, guileless in soul, hospitable, pre-eminent among the men of the seacoast, benefactor of the inland region, the saint among saints, and more glorious than those glorified for Christ's sake

For holy indeed and divinely inspired is the whole roster of noble martyrs, who by suffering repaid the grace given for Christ's suffering, and by blood fulfilled to the Savior of all the recompense owed for His blood

Yet even among these very ones, the glory of all is not one, nor have equal rewards been allotted to all by a single measure; rather, not even the roster of the saints escapes ranking as first and second

The cause of this, I think, is the exceeding exactness and impartiality of the Judge

For He surveys both the magnitude of the torments and the constancy of the endurance, and, testing the contest, He distributes to the contestants rewards according to their worth

And it is by no means strange that justice should be so honored by God, seeing that even among us generals and presidents of the games do not treat those who excel as equal to the other contestants, but assign to each proportionate gifts according to the measure of his achievement

I have gone through these things in order to show that he who today has furnished us the occasion for our assembly is more illustrious than his companions and fellow-contestants

For the others are not all known to all, nor do they all have their manly courage widely renowned;

but there is no one who does not know Phocas;

rather, just as the ray of the sun is spread before every eye, so too the fame of this martyr has resounded in every ear;

and, to put it briefly, as many as have come to know Christ the Master have also come to know His faithful servant;

rather — if it please you — setting aside the praises common to the others, I shall relate to you, lovers of the martyrs, the distinctive narratives of this martyr

The holy man, then, that great benefit of Christians, was brought forth by neighboring Sinope, an ancient and well-known city, rich in men of endurance and philosophy

Let no one now hold against me the difference of religion, but only consider whether it has shown itself, altogether, a nurse and mother of excellent men

His occupation in life was the tending and cultivation of a garden, which he possessed somewhere before the gate of the city, at the mouth of the isthmus, and which he worked diligently, providing for himself and for those in need a support for life

And he opened, most readily, his small and poor hearth to strangers as well

And dwelling by the highway, he set out what he had in common for those who came through;

and he was a new Lot — not of the Sodomites, but of the Sinopeans

And as time went on, he found the commandment of hospitality not without its reward;

for from his love of strangers he gained the occasion of a life-giving death;

hear now, taking up the story briefly, whence and how this came about

When the word of our piety had been proclaimed, and the divine preaching had gone forth to every ear, making known Christ and His mysteries, the nations raged, according to the psalm, and the kings and rulers gathered together against Him;

and the peoples of error were enraged that Jesus had become king

And every Christian was sought out as a criminal; he who was near was punished, and he who was far off was tracked down

Wherefore neither the humbleness of his occupation nor his being a gardener hid Phocas; but he too, as a most genuine initiate of Christ, was informed against

And indeed there came upon him the men of this wretched and fleeting life, who had been commanded to carry him off untried, without any chance of defense

For the charge was of such a kind that this noble man himself confessed it with a ringing voice;

and even when no one asked, he showed it by his deeds, and when someone inquired, he cried it out with great joy

So then, the executioners of his punishment, who were also the cause of our present feast, came and lodged with the very man they sought, neither knowing him nor being known by him

And, unaware, they had their quarry within their nets — the dogs the ram, the wolves the lamb, the birds of prey with hooked talons the dove;

as the prophet Isaiah says:

"the kid lay down together with the leopards, and the lamb was pastured together with the wolves, and the lions shared a common dwelling with the calf"

And since, as is wont to happen, shared table and familiarity produced mutual trust, the martyr inquired of them who they were and for what reason they had come to his city

And they, respecting the man's eager welcome and hospitality, and having charged him to tell no one what would be said, disclosed to him the secret, and confessed the plot of their conspiracy: that they were seeking Phocas, to put him to punishment;

and they asked that he add this further kindness to his hospitality — to labor together with them in the hunt for the man they sought

The servant of the Lord heard, and, receiving the word with a soul unshaken, suffered nothing base or unmanly, nor, growing fearful, did he resolve to flee the danger — and this though he had ample and unhindered opportunity to escape;

but, quite the contrary, he consented to their request;

"And I," he said, "will assist you in the matter at hand"

"for I know the man, and shall easily seek him out and inform against him;"

"and this not long from now, but after a single day;"

"only rest yourselves here, at this poor lodging"

Having thus given them a sure pledge, he divided himself between two tasks: the entertaining of his own murderers, and the preparing of his own grave