論祭司職分 第 3 章

That those who suspected we declined out of arrogance have injured their own reputation. Concerning the insult to those who honored us, then, and that we fled this honor not wishing to put them to shame, we can say what we have said;

but that it was not from being puffed up with any arrogance either, this too I shall now try, to the best of my ability, to make plain to you.

For if a choice of a generalship or of a kingdom had been set before us, and then I held this view, someone might reasonably have supposed this; and then no one would have judged us guilty of arrogance, but all of folly.

But when the priesthood is set before us—which stands as far above kingship as spirit stands above flesh—will anyone dare to charge us with disdain? And how is it not absurd to blame those who despise small things as

deranged, yet to exempt those who do this in regard to the most exalted things from charges of madness, and instead to subject them to accusations of pride? It would be as if someone, charging a man who despises a herd of oxen and is unwilling to be a herdsman not at all with pride but with derangement of mind, should then say of the man who refuses the kingship over the whole inhabited world and the lordship of all the armies everywhere that, instead of being mad, he is puffed up with pride.

But these things are not so, they are not; nor do those who say such things slander us rather than themselves;

for the mere thought that it is possible for human nature to despise that dignity is itself a proof against those who utter it, of the opinion they hold concerning the matter;

for if they did not reckon it to be among ordinary things of no great account, it would not even have occurred to them to suspect this.

For why has no one ever dared to suspect or to say anything of the sort concerning the dignity of the angels, that there is a human soul which out of arrogance would not choose to attain to the rank of that nature? For we imagine certain great things about those powers, and this does not permit us to believe that a man could think anything greater than that honor; so that one might more justly charge with arrogance those who accuse us of this;

for they would never have supposed this concerning others, had they not first themselves condemned the matter as being worth nothing.

That we did not flee out of vainglory either. But if they say that we did this with an eye to glory, they will be convicted of falling into contradiction with themselves and of being plainly at odds;

for I do not know what other arguments before these they could have sought, had they wished to clear us of the charges of vainglory.

That if we desired glory, we ought rather to have chosen the office. For if this passion had ever entered me, I ought rather to have accepted it than to have fled.

Why? Because this would have brought us much glory;

for that one of such an age, and only recently withdrawn from the cares of this life, should suddenly appear so admirable in the eyes of all as to be preferred above those who had spent their whole time in such labors, and to receive more votes than all of them, would have persuaded everyone to suspect great and wonderful things about us, and would have rendered us venerable and conspicuous.

But as it is, except for a few, the greater part of the Church does not even know us by name, so that it will not even be apparent to all that we declined, but only to a certain few, of whom I think not even all knew the truth clearly;

and it is likely that even many of these supposed either that we had not been chosen at all, or that we had been thrust aside after the election, having seemed unfit, and so did not flee voluntarily.

BASIL: But those who know the truth will admire you.

JOHN: And yet you said that it was these very people who slandered us as vainglorious and proud.

Whence then is the praise to be hoped for? From the many? But they do not know the truth.

Or from the few? But here too the matter has turned out for us to the opposite;

for it was for no other reason that you came in here just now, but to learn what we ought to say in our defense to those people.

And why am I being so precise about these matters now? Because, even if all knew the truth, not even so ought we to be judged guilty of arrogance or love of glory; wait a little, and you will know this too clearly;

and besides this, that not only those who dare such a daring deed—if indeed there be any such among men, for I myself am not persuaded there is—but also those who suspect it of others, will lie under no small danger.

That the priesthood is awesome, and the new worship far more awesome than the old. For the priesthood is performed on earth, yet it holds the rank of heavenly things;

for it was not a man, nor an angel, nor an archangel, nor

any other created power, but the Paraclete Himself who ordained this succession, and persuaded men, while still abiding in flesh, to represent the ministry of the angels.

Therefore the one consecrated ought to be as pure as if he were standing in the very heavens, in the midst of those powers.

Fearful indeed and most awesome were even the things before grace—such as the bells, the pomegranates, the stones on the breast, those of the ephod, the mitre, the tiara, the long robe, the golden plate, the Holy of Holies, the deep stillness within;

but if one examines the things of grace, he will find those fearful and most awesome things to be small, and the saying about the law to be true here too, that 'even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasses.' For when you see the Lord sacrificed and lying there, and the priest standing over the sacrifice and praying, and all reddened with that precious blood, do you think you are still among men and standing on earth? Are you not rather at once translated to heaven, and, casting out every fleshly thought, do you not with naked soul and pure mind look around upon the things in heaven? O the wonder!

O the loving-kindness of God!

He who sits on high with the Father is at that hour held in the hands of all, and gives Himself to those who wish to embrace and to receive Him; and all do this then through their eyes.

Do these things seem to you worthy of contempt, or to be of such a kind that anyone could be exalted against them? Will you also behold the surpassing greatness of this sanctity through another wonder? Picture to me Elijah before your eyes, and the countless multitude standing around, and the sacrifice lying upon the stones, and all the rest in stillness and deep silence, and the prophet alone praying; then suddenly the flame cast down from heaven upon the offering—these things are wonderful and full of every astonishment.

Pass over, then, from there to the things now performed, and you will see things not only wonderful, but surpassing all astonishment;

for the priest stands, bringing down not fire, but the Holy Spirit, and makes his supplication at length, not that some torch sent from above may consume the offerings, but that grace, falling upon the sacrifice, may through it kindle the souls of all and show them brighter than refined silver.

Who, then, unless mad or beside himself, will be able to despise this most awesome rite? Or are you unaware that no human soul could ever have endured that fire of the sacrifice, but all would have been utterly destroyed, had not the help of God's grace been great? V

That great is the authority and honor of priests. For if one considers how great a thing it is for a man, while still bound up with flesh and blood, to be able to draw near to that blessed and incorruptible nature, then he will see clearly with how much honor the grace of the Spirit has dignified the priests.

for through them both these things are performed and others nowise inferior to these, both in respect of dignity and of our salvation.

For those who dwell on earth and have their abode upon it have been entrusted to administer the things in heaven, and have received an authority which God gave neither to angels nor to archangels;

for it was not said to them:

'Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.' For those who rule on earth do indeed have the authority to bind, but only of bodies;

but this bond touches the very soul and passes through the heavens; and whatever the priests do below, that God ratifies above, and the Master confirms the decision of His servants.

And what is this but that He has given them all the heavenly authority? For 'Whosesoever sins you forgive,' He says, 'they are forgiven, and whosesoever you retain, they are retained.' What authority could be greater than this? 'The Father has given all judgment

to the Son.' But I see all of it committed to these men by the Son;

for it is as though they had already been translated to the heavens, and had transcended human nature, and been freed from our passions, that they have been raised to so great a rule.

Again, if a king should impart this honor to one of his subjects, that he might cast into prison whom he will and release again, this man is envied and conspicuous in the eyes of all;

but he who has received from God an authority as much greater as heaven is more precious than earth and souls than bodies—has he seemed to some to have received so small an honor that they could even imagine that one of those entrusted with such things would despise the gift?

for it is conspicuous madness to despise so great an office, without which we can attain neither salvation nor the promised good things.

That they are ministers of God's greatest gifts. For if one cannot enter the kingdom of heaven unless he be born again of water and the Spirit, and he who does not eat the flesh of the Lord and drink His blood is cast out of eternal life, and all these things are accomplished through none other but only through those holy hands, the hands of the priest, I mean—how could anyone without these either escape the fire of Gehenna or attain the crowns laid up? For these are they, these, who have been entrusted with the spiritual travail and committed with the birth that is through baptism;

through them we put on Christ and are buried together with the Son of God, and become members of that blessed Head; so that they might justly be to us not only more to be feared than rulers and kings, but even more honorable than fathers;

for the latter begot us of blood and of the will of the flesh, but the former are to us the cause of our birth from God, of that blessed regeneration, of the true freedom, and of the adoption according to grace.

The priests of the Jews had authority to cleanse bodily leprosy—or rather, not to cleanse it at all, but only to examine those who had been cleansed; and you know how greatly the priesthood was then contended for;

but these have received authority not to examine bodily leprosy cured, but spiritual uncleanness of soul—not to examine it once removed, but to remove it altogether; so that those who despise these men are far more accursed than those about Dathan, and deserving of greater punishment;

for the latter, even though they laid claim to an office not belonging to them, yet nevertheless held a wonderful opinion concerning it, and showed this by striving after it with much zeal;

but these, when the matter had been ordered for the better and had received so great an enhancement, then dared things contrary to those men, and much greater than theirs.

For it is not an equal thing, as regards the measure of contempt, to crave an honor that does not belong to one and to despise so great goods; rather, the latter is greater than the former by as much as is the difference between scorning and admiring.

Who, then, is so wretched a soul as to despise so great goods? I, for one, would never say there is such a one—unless someone were to suffer a demonic frenzy.

But indeed I return again to the point from which I digressed;

for not only in punishing, but also in doing good, God gave the priests greater power than natural parents, and the difference between the two is as great as that between the present and the future life;

for the latter beget for this life, the former for that.

And the latter could not even ward off bodily death from their children, nor repel a disease that had befallen them;

but the former have often saved the soul that was sick and about to perish, by making the chastisement milder for some, and by not even letting others fall into it from the outset—not only by teaching and admonishing, but also by helping through prayers.

For not only when they regenerate us, but also afterward, they have authority to forgive sins.

'Is anyone sick among you?' he says. 'Let him call for the elders of the Church,

and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;

and the prayer of faith shall save the one who is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.' Again, natural parents, if their children offend any of those in high places and of great power, can in no way help them; but the priests have often reconciled to men not rulers nor kings, but God Himself, when He was angry with them.

Will anyone, then, after these things, still dare to judge us of arrogance? For my part, I think that from what has been said, so great a reverence will lay hold of the souls of the hearers that they will judge of arrogance and rashness no longer those who flee, but those who of their own accord come forward and strive to acquire this honor for themselves.

For if those entrusted with the rule of cities, when they happen not to be intelligent and very keen, have both overthrown the cities and destroyed themselves besides, how much power do you think he needs who has been allotted to adorn the bride of Christ—both power from Him and that which is from above—that he may not go astray? VII

That Paul too was full of fear, seeing the greatness of the office. No one loved Christ more than Paul, no one showed greater zeal than he, no one was counted worthy of more grace;

yet nevertheless, after so many advantages, he still fears and trembles concerning this office and those ruled by him.

'For I fear,' he says, 'lest by any means, as the serpent deceived Eve, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is toward Christ.' And again:

'I was with you in fear and in much trembling.' A man caught up to the third heaven and made a partaker with God of things unutterable, and who endured as many deaths as the days he lived after believing—a man who would not even use the authority given him by Christ, lest any of the believers should be made to stumble.

If, then, he who went beyond God's commands and nowhere sought his own things but those of the ruled, was thus always afraid, ever looking to the greatness of the office, what shall we suffer—we who in many things seek our own, who not only do not surpass the commands of Christ but transgress them in greater measure? 'Who is weak,' he says, 'and I am not weak? who is made to stumble, and I do not burn?' Such ought the priest to be—or rather, not only such;

for these things are small and as nothing compared with what I am about to say.

And what is this? 'I could wish,' he says, 'that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.' If anyone can utter this saying, if anyone has a soul that reaches to this prayer, he would justly be accused for fleeing.

But if anyone falls as far short of that virtue as we do, then he deserves to be hated not when he flees, but when he accepts the office.

That one who comes into public life is led on to commit many sins, unless he is exceedingly noble. For if a choice of a military rank were set before us, and then those with authority to confer the honor dragged a coppersmith or a cobbler or some such craftsman into the midst and put the army into his hands, I would have praised that poor wretch for not fleeing and for doing everything so as not to cast himself into manifest evil.

For if it suffices simply to be called a shepherd and to handle the matter however it chances, and there is no danger, let whoever wishes accuse us of vainglory;

but if he who takes up this care must have much understanding, and before understanding much grace from God, and uprightness of character, and purity of life, and virtue greater than human, then do not deprive me of pardon, who am unwilling to perish in vain and to no purpose.

For if someone, taking command of a vast merchant ship full of rowers and laden with costly cargo, and then sitting at the helm, were to bid me cross the Aegean or the Tyrrhenian

sea, I would have leaped away at the first word;

and if anyone asked, 'Why?'—'That I might not sink the ship,' I would have said.

Then, where the loss is in money and the bodily danger reaches even to death, no one will blame those who use great forethought;

but where for those who suffer shipwreck it is reserved to fall, not into this sea, but into the abyss of fire, and a death awaits them which does not separate the soul from the body, but consigns it together with the body to eternal punishment—here, because we did not rashly cast ourselves into so great an evil, will you be angry and hate us? Do not, I beseech and entreat you.

I know my own soul, this weak and small soul;

I know the greatness of that ministry and the great difficulty of the matter.

That the priest is caught by vainglory and its terrors. For more waves than the winds that trouble the sea storm the soul of the consecrated man.

And first of all is that most dreadful reef of vainglory, more terrible than the one the mythmakers tell their marvels about.

For many indeed have had the strength to sail past it and escape unharmed;

but for me this is so difficult that, even now, when no necessity at all thrusts me toward that pit, I cannot keep myself clean of the peril.

But if one were to entrust this oversight to me, it would be all but binding my hands behind me and handing me over to the beasts that dwell on that reef, to tear me to pieces every day.

And what are these beasts? Wrath, despondency, envy, strife, slanders, accusations, lying, hypocrisy, plots, angers against those who have done no wrong, pleasures at the disgraces of fellow ministers, grief at their prosperity, love of praise, longing for honor—this last being the very thing that most of all hurls the human soul headlong—teachings aimed at pleasing, servile flatteries, ignoble fawnings, contempt of the poor, courtings of the rich, senseless honors and harmful favors that bring danger both to those who give and those who receive them, slavish fear befitting only the basest of slaves, abolition of frankness, much show of humility but the truth of it nowhere, while rebukes and reproofs are done away with—or rather, against the lowly they go beyond measure, but against those clothed with power no one dares even to part his lips.

For all these and more than these does that reef breed as its beasts; and those once caught by them are of necessity dragged down into such slavery that often, even to please women, they do many things which it is not even seemly to mention.

For the divine law has thrust them out from this ministry, but they force their way in;

and since they can do nothing by themselves, they do everything through others, and have clothed themselves with such power that they both admit and expel whatever priests they please;

and one may see things turned upside down—as the proverb says—the rulers led by the ruled, and would that they were men, but they are women, to whom it is not even permitted to teach.

Why do I say teach? The blessed Paul did not even allow them so much as to speak in church.

But I have heard someone say that they have even imparted to themselves such freedom of speech as to rebuke the presiders of the Churches and to upbraid them more bitterly than masters do their own servants.

And let no one think that I subject all to the aforesaid charges;

for there are, there are many who have been carried beyond these nets, and they are more than those who have been caught.

That the priesthood is not the cause of these evils, but our own slothfulness. But neither would I charge the priesthood with these evils—may I never go so mad—for neither do all who have understanding charge the iron with murders, nor wine with drunkenness, nor strength with insolence, nor courage with senseless rashness, but rather those who use amiss the gifts given by God;

all who have understanding declare them to be guilty, and punish them.

Since the priesthood, at any rate, might justly accuse us who do not handle it rightly;

for it is not itself the cause of the evils we have spoken of, but we have defiled it with so many pollutions—as far as it lies in us—by entrusting it to ordinary men.

And these men, having neither first examined their own souls nor considered the weight of the matter, eagerly accept what is offered; but when they come to act, blinded by inexperience, they fill with countless evils the people who have been entrusted to them.

This very thing, this, is what was very nearly going to happen in our own case too, had not God quickly drawn us out of those dangers, sparing both His own Church and our soul.

For whence, tell me, do you think arise so great tumults in the Churches? For I, for my part, think from no other source than from the choices and elections of those who preside being made carelessly and at random.

For the head ought to be strongest, that it might be able to govern the evil vapors sent up from the rest of the body below and to set them in due order; but when it happens to be of itself weak, unable to repel those disease-producing assaults, it both becomes weaker than it really is and besides destroys along with itself the rest of the body.

And that this might not happen now too, God kept us in the rank of the feet, which we obtained from the beginning.

For there are many things, O Basil, besides those already mentioned—many other things which the consecrated man must have, and which we do not have; and before all the others, this.

His soul must be wholly pure from desire of the matter; for if he chances to be passionately disposed toward this office, once he attains it he kindles a stronger flame, and being completely captured, in order to hold it securely he endures countless terrible things—even if he must flatter, even if he must submit to something ignoble and unworthy, even if he must spend much money.

For that some have even filled the churches with murders and laid cities waste while contending for this office, I pass over now, lest I should seem to some to be saying incredible things.

But one ought, I think, to have such reverence for the matter as both to flee the burden of the office at the outset, and, after having entered into it, not to wait for the judgments of others—if ever a sin sufficient to cause deposition should occur—but, anticipating them, to cast oneself out of the office;

for thus it was likely that one would also draw down mercy from God.

But to cling to it contrary to what befits the dignity is to deprive oneself of all pardon, and the more to kindle God's wrath, adding a second and more grievous offense.

But no one will ever endure to do this;

for it is a dreadful thing in truth, dreadful, to be greedy for this honor.

And I say this not in conflict with the blessed Paul, but indeed in full accord with his words.

For what does he say? 'If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a good work.' But I said that it is a dreadful thing to desire, not the work, but the authority and the power.

And this longing, I think, one must thrust out of the soul with all earnestness, and not allow it to take hold of one at the very outset, so that one may be free to do everything with liberty.

For he who does not desire to be displayed in this authority does not even fear deposition from it; and not fearing it, he would be able to do everything with the freedom befitting Christians.

For those who are afraid and tremble at being cast down from there endure a bitter slavery full of many evils, and are often compelled to offend both men and God.

But the soul ought not to be so disposed; rather, just as in wars we see the noble soldiers both fighting eagerly and falling bravely, so also those who come to this stewardship ought both to exercise the priesthood and to be released from the office in the manner befitting Christian men,

knowing that such a deposition brings no smaller a crown than the office itself.

For whenever anyone suffers something of this kind for the sake of enduring nothing unseemly or unworthy of that dignity, he both procures punishment for those who unjustly deposed him, and a greater reward for himself.

'For blessed are you,' He says, 'when they reproach and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake;

rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.' And these things hold true when one is cast out by those of his own rank, whether through envy, or to gratify others, or out of enmity, or for some other improper motive; but when one happens to suffer this even at the hands of his adversaries, I think there is no need of argument to show how great a gain they gather for him by their own wickedness.

This, then, one must scan on every side and search out exactly, lest some spark of that desire smolder unnoticed.

For it is a welcome thing if even those pure of the passion from the beginning are able, when they fall into the office, to escape it;

but if anyone, even before attaining the honor, nurtures this dreadful and savage beast within himself, there is no telling into what furnace he will cast himself after attaining it.

But we—and do not for a moment suppose that we, in our self-deprecation, would ever wish to lie to you—we possess this desire in great measure, and along with all the rest, this too no less frightened us and turned us to this flight.

For just as those who love bodies, so long as it is possible to be near the beloved, have a more grievous torment of the passion, but when they remove themselves as far as possible from the objects of their longing, they also drive away the madness;

so too with those who desire this office: when they are near it, the evil becomes unbearable, but when they give up hope, they quench the desire along with the expectation.

This, then, is one pretext, and no small one;

but even were it standing alone by itself, it would be enough to keep us away from this dignity.

But as it is, yet another has been added, no less than this.

And what is this? The priest must be sober and clear-sighted, and possess countless eyes on every side, as one who lives not for himself alone but for so great a multitude.

But that we are sluggish and slack, and scarcely sufficient even for our own salvation, you yourself would acknowledge—you who, most of all, out of love, are eager to hide our faults.

For do not speak to me of fasting, nor of keeping vigil, nor of sleeping on the ground, and the rest of the body's austerity;

for you know how far we fall short even of these.

But even if these things had been achieved by us with exactness, not even so, with our present sluggishness, could they have availed us anything for that oversight.

For to a man shut up in some little cell and caring only for his own affairs, these things would afford much benefit;

but for one parceled out among so great a multitude, possessing private cares for each of the ruled, what trustworthy gain could it contribute toward their advancement, unless he happen to have a vigorous and most robust soul? And do not be amazed if, alongside so much endurance, I seek another test—that of the courage in the soul.

For to despise foods and drinks and a soft bed we see to be no labor at all for many, especially for those of a more rustic disposition and reared so from earliest age, and for many others too, since both their bodily constitution and their habit ease the harshness in those toils;

but to bear insult and abuse and burdensome words, and the mockeries of inferiors—both those uttered idly and those with cause—and the reproaches made rashly and in vain by both rulers and ruled, is the part not of many, but of one or two perhaps;

and one might see those who are strong in those former things so dizzied at these as to grow more savage than the fiercest beasts.

we shall most of all bar such men from the precincts of the priesthood;

for that the presider neither chokes himself off from food nor goes unshod would in no way harm the common body of the Church, but fierce wrath works great calamities both upon the one who has it and upon those near him;

and against those who do not do those things no threat is laid up from God, but against those who simply give way to anger, Gehenna and the fire of Gehenna have been threatened.

Therefore, just as one who loves empty glory, when he lays hold of the rule over the many, supplies greater fuel to the fire, so too the one who, even by himself and in dealings with a few, cannot master his anger, but is easily carried away, when he is entrusted with the leadership of a whole multitude, like some beast goaded on every side and by countless points, can never himself live in peace and inflicts countless evils upon those entrusted to him.

For nothing so muddies the purity of the mind and the clearness of the understanding as disordered anger, borne along with great violence.

'For this,' it says, 'destroys even the prudent.' For just as in some night battle, the eye of the soul, darkened, cannot distinguish friends from foes, nor the dishonorable from the honorable, but treats all in turn after one fashion, and, even if it must incur some harm, easily endures everything in order to fulfill the soul's pleasure.

For the kindling of anger is a kind of pleasure, and it tyrannizes the soul more grievously than pleasure, throwing its whole sound condition into utter confusion, up and down.

For it readily lifts one to arrogance, and prepares one for untimely enmities and irrational hatred, and to give offense lightly and rashly and continually, and forces one to say and do many other such things, while the soul is dragged along by the great rush of the passion and has nowhere to plant its own strength so as to stand firm against so great an onset.

But I will no longer endure you playing the ironist further;

for who does not know, he says, how far you are from this disease? JOHN: 'What then,' I said, 'O blessed one, do you wish to lead me near the pyre and to provoke the beast that is at rest? Or are you unaware that we achieved this not by our own virtue, but by loving stillness? And that one so disposed, finding it a welcome thing while remaining by himself and dealing with only one or two friends, is able to escape the conflagration from there—much less when he has fallen into the abyss of so many cares? For then he drags down with himself not only himself, but also many others, to the precipice of destruction, and renders them more sluggish about the practice of gentleness;

for the multitude of the ruled is by nature wont, for the most part, to look upon the manners of the rulers as upon some archetypal image, and to conform themselves to those.

How, then, could anyone allay their inflammations while himself swollen with them? And who would quickly desire to become moderate among the many, while seeing the ruler given to anger? For the faults of priests cannot be hidden, but even the smallest quickly become manifest.

For an athlete too, so long as he stays at home and grapples with no one, can pass unnoticed, even if he happens to be very weak, but once he strips for the contests, he is easily exposed;

and among men, those who live this private and untroubled life have solitude as a screen for their own sins, but when brought into public view, they are compelled to strip off their quietude like a garment and to display their bare souls to all through their outward movements.

Therefore, just as their good deeds have profited many, calling them to an equal zeal, so too their faults have rendered men more careless about the working of virtue, and prepared them to be slack toward the labors on behalf of what is excellent;

wherefore the beauty of his soul must shine forth on every side, that it may be able both to gladden and to enlighten the souls of those who behold.

For the sins of ordinary men, as though done in some darkness, destroy

those who commit them alone;

but the fault of a man conspicuous and known to many brings common harm to all, both rendering those who have collapsed more supine toward the sweat for good things, and provoking to arrogance those who wish to give heed to themselves.

And apart from these things, the slips of the lowly, even if they come into the open, strike no one a noteworthy blow;

but those who sit at the summit of this honor are, first, conspicuous to all; and then, even if they stumble in the smallest things, the small appears great to others;

for all measure the sin not by the magnitude of what was done, but by the dignity of the one who erred.

And the priest must be fenced about, as with certain adamantine weapons, by intense earnestness and unremitting vigilance over his life, scanning on every side lest someone, finding a bare and neglected spot, strike a deadly blow;

for all stand around ready to wound and to cast down—not only enemies and foes, but also many of those who feign friendship.

Such souls, then, must be chosen as the grace of God showed forth the bodies of those holy ones to be, once in the Babylonian furnace;

for not vine-twigs and pitch and tow are the fuel of this fire, but something far more grievous than these, since neither is that perceptible fire here in question, but the all-devouring flame of envy encircles him, rising on every side and going over and searching out his life more exactly than the fire then searched the bodies of those children.

Whenever, then, it finds even a small trace of stubble, it quickly fastens upon it, and consumes that rotten part, while all the rest of the building—even though it happen to be brighter than the sun's rays—it scorches and darkens entirely with that smoke.

For so long as the priest's life is well-fitted on every side, it remains impregnable to plots;

but if he happen to overlook some small thing, as is likely for one who is a man and crossing the much-wandering sea of this life, none of his other good deeds avails him to escape the mouths of accusers, but that small slip overshadows all the rest, and all wish to judge the priest not as one clothed with flesh nor as one allotted a human nature, but as an angel freed from the rest of weakness.

And just as with a tyrant: so long as he holds power, all shudder at him and flatter him, because they cannot bring him down, but when they see that power waning, those who were friends a little before, casting off their hypocritical honor, suddenly become enemies and foes, and, having learned all his rotten points, set upon him to depose him from the rule—so too with priests: those who a little before, while he held power, honored and courted him, when they find some small handle, prepare themselves vehemently, intending to cast him down not merely as a tyrant, but in a manner harsher even than that.

And just as the tyrant fears his bodyguards, so this man too trembles most of all at those near him and ministering alongside him;

for none others so desire his office, nor know his affairs so well as these;

for being close at hand, if anything of the sort should happen, they perceive it before the others, and could easily both be believed when they slander, and, by making small things great, catch the one they falsely accuse.

For that apostolic saying has been reversed:

'And whether one member suffers, all the members rejoice;

or whether one member is glorified, all the members suffer'—except where someone, with much piety, is able to stand firm against all.

Into so great a war, then, do you send us out? And did you think our soul would suffice for a battle so varied and manifold? Where and from whom did you learn this? For if God has revealed it, show me the oracle, and I am persuaded;

but if you have none, and bring your verdict from human opinion, then cease at last from being deceived;

it is just that we should be persuaded concerning our own affairs by ourselves rather than by others, since no one knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him.

For that we should have made both ourselves and those who chose us a laughingstock, had we accepted this office, and with much loss should have returned to this state of life in which we now are, even if not before, yet now at least I think I have persuaded you by these words.

For not envy alone, but the desire for this office, far more vehement than envy, is wont to arm the many against the one who holds it.

And just as money-loving children are burdened by their fathers' old age, so too some of these men, when they see the priesthood prolonged over a long time, since it is unholy to do away with him, are eager to depose him from the office, all desiring to take his place and each expecting the rule to fall to himself.

That the desire of love of rule must be cast out of the soul of the priest. Do you wish me to show you yet another kind of this conflict, full of countless dangers? Come, then, and peep into the public festivals, at which it is the custom most of all to make the elections of ecclesiastical offices, and you will see the priest pelted with as many accusations as there are people in the multitude of the ruled.

For all who have authority to confer the honor are then split into many factions, and one would see the council of the elders in agreement neither with one another nor with the very one who has been allotted the bishopric, but each standing by himself, one choosing this man, another that;

and the cause is that they do not all look to the one thing to which alone they ought to look—the virtue of the soul—but there are also other pretexts that procure this honor;

for instance, 'Let this man be approved,' says one, 'because he is of illustrious birth'; another, 'because he is clothed with great wealth and would not need to be supported from the revenues of the Church'; another, 'because he has come over from the enemy.'

And one is eager to prefer above the others the man who is well-disposed toward himself, another the one related to him by family, another the one who flatters him more;

but no one is willing to look to the fit man, nor to make any test of his soul.

And I am so far from holding these grounds to be trustworthy for the scrutiny of priests, that not even if someone should display great piety—that piety which contributes no small thing toward the office for us—would I dare straightway to approve him on this ground, unless along with the piety he chanced to have also much understanding.

For I know many who, having shut themselves up the whole time and worn themselves away with fasting, so long as it was permitted them to be by themselves and to care for their own affairs, were well approved before God and added day by day no small portion to that philosophy;

but when they came into the multitude and were compelled to set right the ignorance of the many, some were not even sufficient for so great a task from the very start, while others, forced to persevere, casting off their former exactness, both did themselves the greatest harm and profited others nothing.

But neither, if someone has spent his whole time abiding in the lowest rank of the ministry and has driven on to extreme old age, shall we, merely out of respect for his age, advance him to the higher office.

For what if, even after that age, he remains unfit? And I have said these things now not out of any wish to dishonor gray hair, nor to lay down a law that those who come from the ranks of the monks must by all means be barred from such oversight—for it has happened that many also, coming from that flock, have shone brilliantly in this office—but striving to show this: that if neither piety by itself, nor long old age, would be sufficient to show its possessor worthy of the priesthood, then much less would the aforesaid pretexts accomplish this.

But some add other grounds yet more absurd;

they enroll themselves in the order of the clergy by aligning themselves with the adverse party, while others do so out of wickedness, and lest, being passed over, they should work great evils.

Could anything be more lawless than this—when wicked men, full of countless evils, are courted for the very things for which they ought to be punished, and on account of which they ought not even to cross the threshold of the church, are for these very things promoted to the priestly dignity? Shall we then still inquire, tell me, into the cause of God's wrath, when we hand over things so holy and most awesome to be ruined by men, some wicked, others worth nothing? For when some are entrusted with the oversight of things that nowise belong to them, and others with that of things far greater than their own power, they make the Church to differ in nothing from the Euripus.

And I formerly used to laugh at secular rulers, because they make their distributions of honors not according to the virtue in men's souls, but according to wealth and number of years and human patronage;

but when I heard that this same irrationality had also burst its way into our own affairs, I no longer regarded the matter as equally dreadful.

For what wonder is it that worldly men, lovers of glory from the many and doing all things for the sake of money, should sin in such ways, when those who profess to have been freed from all these things are in no way better disposed than they, but, though they have their contest over heavenly things, deliberate over them as over acres of land or some other such matter, and, simply taking ordinary, common men, set them over affairs so great—affairs for the sake of which the only-begotten Son of God did not refuse to empty His own glory, to become man, to take the form of a servant, to be spat upon, to be struck, and to die through the flesh the death of reproach? And they do not stop even at these things only, but add others yet more absurd;

for not only do they approve the unworthy, but they also cast out the suitable.

For as though it were necessary to ruin the security of the Church from both sides, or as though the former pretext were not enough to kindle God's wrath, so they joined to it the second, which is no less grievous;

for I think it is equally dreadful both to bar the useful and to thrust in the useless;

and this happens so that the flock of Christ may be able to find consolation and to take breath from nowhere.

Are not these things worthy of countless thunderbolts? Are they not worthy of a Gehenna more fierce, not only of this one that has been threatened against us? Yet nevertheless He bears with and endures so great evils, He who does not desire the death of the sinner, but that he should turn and live.

How could anyone marvel enough at His loving-kindness? How could one be astounded enough at His mercy? Those of Christ corrupt the things of Christ worse than enemies and foes, yet the good One still deals kindly and calls to repentance.

Glory to You, O Lord, glory to You.

What an abyss of loving-kindness is with You! What riches of forbearance! Those who, on account of Your name, from base and dishonored have become honored and conspicuous, use the honor against Him who honored them, and dare the things not to be dared, and outrage the holy things, thrusting away and casting out the diligent, so that in great calm and with utmost security the wicked may overturn everything they wish.

And if you wish to learn the causes of this evil too, you will find them similar to the former ones;

for they have one root and, as one might say, one mother—envy;

but they themselves are not of one form, but differ.

For one says, 'Let this man be cast out because he is young'; another, 'because he does not know how to flatter'; another, 'because he gave offense to so-and-so';

and one, so that so-and-so may not be grieved at seeing the man he himself nominated rejected while this other is approved; another, because he is kind and fair-minded; another, because he is fearsome to sinners; another, for some other such cause;

for they are not at a loss for as many pretexts as they wish.

When they have nothing else, they can fault even what really exists, alleging that one ought not to be brought to this honor all at once, but gently and little by little;

and they could find as many other causes as they please.

But I would gladly ask you here: what, then, must the bishop do, contending against so many winds? How shall he stand against so many waves? How shall he repel all these assaults? For if he handles the matter with right reason, all become enemies and foes both to him and to those chosen, and do everything to contend against him, casting in dissensions day by day and heaping countless mockeries upon those chosen, until either they expel these or bring in their own men; and it becomes much like what would happen if a helmsman should have pirates sailing along inside the very ship that is under sail, continually and at every hour plotting against him and the sailors and the passengers.

But if he prefers gratifying them above his own salvation, receiving those whom he ought not, he will have God for an enemy instead of them—and what could be harsher than that? And his relations with those people will be more difficult for him than before, since they all work together with one another and become the stronger for it;

for just as when fierce winds fall upon one another from opposite directions, the sea that was till then at rest suddenly rages and rises into peaks and destroys those sailing upon it, so too the calm of the Church, having received corrupting men, is filled with storm and many shipwrecks.

Consider, then, what manner of man he must be who is going to hold out against so great a storm and to manage well so many hindrances to the common good.

For he must be both dignified and free from arrogance, both awe-inspiring and kindly, both authoritative and sociable, both impartial and obliging, both humble and not servile, both vehement and gentle, in order that he may be able with ease to contend against all these things, and to bring forward the fit man with full authority, even if all oppose, and to refuse with the same authority the unfit one, even if all are agreed, but to look to one thing only, the building up of the Church, and to do nothing for the sake of enmity or favor.

Do I seem to you to have declined the ministry of this matter with good reason? And yet I have not even gone through everything with you;

but do not grow weary of bearing with a friend, a genuine one, who wishes to persuade you concerning the things for which you bring charges;

for these things are useful to you not only for the defense on our behalf, but perhaps will also contribute no small gain toward the very administration of the matter.

For it is necessary that the one who is going to enter upon this way of life should first search out everything well, and so take up the ministry.

Why so? Because, if for nothing else, at least the not being taken by surprise—when these things befall—will be the advantage of him who knows everything clearly.

Concerning widows. Do you wish, then, that we go first to the care of widows, or to the guardianship of virgins, or to the difficulty of the judicial function? For in each of these the concern is different, and the fear greater than the concern.

And first, that we may make our beginning from what seems to be of less consequence than the rest, the care of widows seems to those who attend to them to bring concern only as far as the expenditure of money;

but it is not so; rather, here too much examination is needed, when one must enroll them, since to register them simply and at random has wrought countless terrible things.

For they have ruined households and torn apart marriages, and have often been caught in unseemly conduct—in thefts and petty trading and other such things.