State super vias et videte et interrogate de semitis antiquis quae sit via bona et ambulate in ea et invenietis refrigerium animabus vestris

31 Oct 2014

Patience

Ipsam animam ipsumque corpus in saeculo isto expositum omnibus ad iniuriam gerimus eiusque iniuriae patientiam subimus: et minorum delibatione laedemur? Absit a seruo Christi tale inquinamentum, ut patientia maioribus temptationibus praeparata in friuolis excidat! Si manu quis temptauerit prouocare, praesto est dominica monela: Verberanti te, inquit, infaciem etiam alteram genam obuerte. Fatigetur inprobitas patientia tua: quiuis ictus ille sit dolore et contumelia constrictus, grauius a domino uapulabit; plus inprobum illum caedes sustinendo: ab eo enim uapulabit cuius gratia sustines. Si linguae amaritudo maledicto siue conuicio eruperit, respice dictum: Cum uos maledixerint gaudete. Dominus ipse maledictus in lege est et tamen solus est benedictus. Igitur dominum serui consequamur et maledicamur patienter, ut benedicti esse possimus! Si parum aequanimiter audiam dictum aliquod in me proteruum aut nequam, reddam et ipse amaritudinis uicem necesse est aut cruciabor inpatientia muta. Cum ergo percussero maledictus, quomodo secutus inueniar doctrinam domini, qua traditum est non uasculorum inquinamentis, sed eorum quae ex ore promuntur hominem communicari, item manere nos omnis uani et superuacui dicti reatum? Sequitur ergo ut, a quo nos dominus arcet, idem ab alio aequanimiter pati admoneat.  

Tertullianus, Liber De Patientia

This same soul and body we bear in this age we expose to injury from everything, and we submit patiently to the hurt; and by the loss of lesser things shall we be wounded? Let it not be that a servant of Christ be defiled by a thing that the patience prepared for grave trials should forsake him in frivolous affairs. If someone attempts to provoke you by physical violence, ready is the counsel of the Lord: ' To him who strikes you,' He says, ' Turn the other cheek.'1 Let shamelessness be fatigued by your patience. Whatever that blow may be, conjoined with pain and insolence, it shall receive a heavier beating from the Lord. By enduring a wound from a shameless man, the more he will be beaten, by him whose grace sustains you. If a bitter curse or reproach break forth from the tongue, attend to the saying, ' When they curse you, rejoice.'2 The Lord Himself was 'cursed' in the the law; and yet He alone is Blessed. Therefore, let us servants follow our Lord and be cursed patiently, that we may be able to be blessed. If I hear with too little patience some impudent or wicked word spoken against me, I must of necessity either return it with bitterness, or else be tortured with mute impatience. How, therefore, on being provoked by a curse, shall I be found to have followed the teaching of the Lord, where it is said 'not by the dirt of vessels, but of the things which are sent forth out of his mouth is a man defiled,'3 and impeachment awaits us for every vain and needless word.4 It follows then that from what the Lord wards us, the same thing He admonishes us to suffer patiently from another.

Tertullian, On Patience

1 Mt 5.39
2 Mt 5. 11 
3 Mt 15.10
4. cf. Mat 12.36

29 Oct 2014

Words and Silence

Εἶπε πάλιν, ὅτι Ἐὰν μνησθῇ ἄνθρωπος τοῦ γεγραμμένου ῥητοῦ, ὅτι Ἐκ γὰρ τῶν λόγων σου δικαιωθήσῃ, καὶ ἐκ τῶν λόγων σου καταδικασθήσῃ, αἰρεῖται μᾶλλον τὸ σιωπᾷν. 

Αποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος

Again father Poimen said, 'If a man were mindful of the word of Scripture, that is, 'From your words you will be justified and from your words you will be condemned', he would often prefer to be silent.'

Sayings of the Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

28 Oct 2014

Encouraging Penitence


In diebus, inquit, illis venit Ioannes Baptista praedicans in deserto Iudaeae, et dicens: Poenitentiam agite, appropinquavit enim regnum coelorum. Poenitentiam agite, quare non magis gaudete? gaudete magis, quia succedunt humanis divina, coelestia terrenis, temporalibus sempiterna, malis bona, secura anxiis, aerumnis beata, mansura perituris. Poenitentiam agite. Poeniteat plane, poeniteat qui divinis praetulit humana, qui servire voluit mundo, et dominationem mundi cum mundi Domino non habere. Poeniteat qui maluit perire cum diabolo, quam regnare cum Christo. Poeniteat qui virtutum libertatem fugiens, captivus voluit esse vitiorum. Poeniteat, et satis poeniteat, qui ne vitam teneret, manus tradidit morti. Appropinquavit enim regnum caelorum. Regnum coelorum est praemium iustorum, iudicium peccatorum, impiis poena. Beatus ergo Ioannes, qui poenitentia iudicium voluit praeveniri; peccatores non iudicium voluit habere, sed praemium; impios voluit regnum intrare, non poenam.

Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo CLXVII 

Source: Migne PL 52.637
'In those days came John the Baptist preaching in the Judean desert and saying, 'Repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.' 1 Repent, but why not rejoice? Rejoice because the divine succeeds the human, the celestial the mundane, eternity time, good evil, security anxiety, blessedness hardship, peace destruction. Repent. Repent openly. Let him repent who preferred the human to the Divine, let him repent who wished to serve the world and not to have power with the lord of the world, let him repent who prefers to destroy with the devil rather than to reign with Christ, let him repent who fleeing the freedom of the virtues wished to be a captive of the vices, let him repent and repent who clinging on to life gave a hand to death. The kingdom of heaven is near. The kingdom of heaven is the reward of the just, the judgement of sinners, the punishment of the impious. Thus did the blessed John wish that penitence arrive before judgement; he did not wish to bring sinners to judgement but rather to reward; he would have the godless enter the kingdom rather than have them punished.

Saint Peter Chrysologus, from Sermon 167


1 Mt 3. 1-2

27 Oct 2014

The Benefits Of Ageing

Ἔλεγε πάλιν· Ὅτε ἤμην νεώτερος, ἔλεγον ἐν ἑαυτῷ ὅτι, Τάχα τί ποτε ἐργάζομαι ἀγαθόν· νῦν δὲ ὡς ἐγήρασα, βλέπω ὅτι οὐκ ἔχω ἑν ἔργον καλὸν ἐν ἐμαυτῷ  

Αποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος


Source: Migne PG 65.289d
Again father Matoes said, 'When I was younger I said to myself, 'Perhaps I am doing some good,' but now that I am old I see that I do not have one good work in me.'

Sayings of the Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

26 Oct 2014

Be Confident

Εἶπε πάλιν· Εἰ δυνατὸν, ὅσα Βήματα Βάλλει ὁ μοναχὸς, ἢ ὅσας σταγόνας πίνει εἰς τὸ κελλίον αὐτοῦ, οφείλει θαρρεῖν τοῖς γέρουσιν, εἰ ἄρα οὐ πταίει ἐν αὐτοῖς. 

Αποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος

Again Father Anthony said, 'If possible, whenever a monk moves a step or drinks a drop in his cell, he should be confident to go to his elders, lest he insult them.'

Sayings of the Fathers, Palladius of Galatia


25 Oct 2014

Understanding The Poor


Namque hodie beatus Psalmista ad intelligentiam nos supernam convocat per clamorem: Beatus qui intelligit super egenum et pauperem. Et quae est intelligentia, ubi est, professa paupertas? Vis est intelligentiae, si rimetur viscera, si deprehendat occulta, si tecta nudet. Verum subjecta oculis, exposita in publico, ingesta rebus, non est intellgere sed videre. Nuditate algibus, tabidus fame, siti aridus, lassitudine tremens, defectu luridus, quod egenus sit intelligere qui labor ? Et si labor intelligentiae nullus est. unde est intelligentiae fructus? Oremus, fratres, ut ipse nobis intelligere intelligenda concedat, qui se intelligi in paupere sic demonstrat. Quod ipse qui coelum tegit sit nudus in paupere, quod in esuriente esuriat saturitas rerum, quod sitiat in sitiente fons fontium,intelligere,quomodo non magnum est? Quomodo non beatum intelligere, quod ei sit ampla paupertas cui angustum est coelum; qui ditat mundum, quod egeat in egente; quod frustum aquae calicem dator omnium quaerit; quod se Deus amore pauperis sic deponat, ut non adsit pauperi, sed ipse sit pauper? Hoc cui videre dederit Deus, ipse videt. Sed quomodo aut in se transfuderit pauperem, aut se in pauperem fuderit, dicat ipse iam nobis: Esurivi, inquit, et dedisti mihi manducare. Non dixit, esurivit pauper, et dedistis illi manducare; sed esurivi ego et dedistis manducare mihi. 

Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo XIV, De fructibus eleemosyne, in Psalmum XL

Source: Migne PL 52.231c-232b
For today the Psalmist calls us to understand with the cry, 'Blessed he who has understanding of the destitute and poor.' 1 And what is this understanding, where is it, this grasp of poverty? Strong is the understanding if it rummages deep within, if it brings to light things hidden, if it exposes things concealed. Truth placed before the eyes, exposed to public view, heaped up among things, is not understood but merely seen. Naked with the freezing, starving with the hungry, parched with the thirsty, weary with the shivering, faint with the pale, may this be what it is to understand the destitute and may it not be a labour? For if there is no labour in understanding, what is the fruit of understanding? Let us pray, brothers, that He grant us to understand what should be understood, He who showed understanding for the poor. How is it not great to understand that He who protects the heavens may be naked with the poor, that He who permeates all things may be hungry with the hungry, that the fount of founts may thirst with the thirsty? How is it not blessed to understand that poverty may be abundance for Him for whom the heavens are narrow, that He who enriches the world wants with those who lack; that the giver of all things vainly seeks a cup of water; that God lowers himself out of love for the poor, that He is not only with the poor, but He Himself is poor? He whom God gives to see this, he sees. But does He take the poor man into himself or does He pour Himself into the poor man? He Himself says to us: 'I hungered and you gave me to eat.' He does not say, a poor man hungered and you gave him to eat but hungered and you gave me to eat. 2

Saint Peter Chrysologus, from Sermon 14, On The Fruits of Mercy, On Psalm 40


1 Ps 40.2 
2 Mt 25.35

20 Oct 2014

Count Sebastian

Referam autem factum quod ipso gestum est tempore. Fuit comes quidam Sebastianus, famosi illius gener comitis Bonifacii, acer consilio, et strennus in bello; cuius Geisericus, sicut consilia necessaria habebat, ita et praesentiam formidabat, cupiens autem illum exstinguere, occasionem mortis de religione quaesivit. Cogitavit rex ut praesentibus episcopis atque domesticis suis, Sebastianum taliter conveniret. Sebastiane, inquit, scio quia fideliter nobis adhaerere iurasti, cuius veritatem sacramenti labores tui vigilantiaque demonstrant. Sed ut nobis connex semper iugisque maneat amicitia tua, hoc placuit praesentibus sacerdotibus nostris, ut euius efficiaris cultor religionis quam et nos et noster populus veneramur. Cui Sebastianus, rem inveniens miram multisque necessariam pro tempore acute, respondit: Quaseo, domine rex, ut nunc unus panis mundissimus ac similagineus afferatur. Qui cum ignorasset Geisericus Sebastiani victoriam, illico iussit afferri, Apprehendens itaque Sebastianus mundissimum panem, ita effatus est: Hic panis ut ad tantum decorem splendoris veniret, quo mensae regiae necessarius haberetur, discussa spuria furfuris, ex massa similaginis conspersus, per aquam transivit et ignem: idcirco et aspectu clarus, et esu sauvis habetur. Ita et ego mola catholicae matris commolitus, et cribro examinationis ut simila munda purgatus, rigatus sum aqua baptismtis, et igne sancti Spiritus coctus, Et ut hic panis de furno, ita et ego per officia sacramentorum divinorum, artifice Deo, de fonte mundus ascendi. Sed fiat, si velis, quod ipse, propono. Iste panis confrigatur in frustra, madidetur aqua, et iterum conspergatur, mittaturque in furnum, si melior exierit, faciam quod hortaris. Quam propositionem Geisericus cum omnibus qui aderant cum audisset, ita ligatus est, ut se solvere omnino non posset; quem alio generis argumento postea virum occidit. 

Victor Vitensis, Historia Persecutionis Africae Provinciae
I shall tell here of a deed that occurred at the same time. There was a certain Count Sebastian, son in law of the famous Count Bonifacius, sharp in counsel and mighty in war, of whom King Geiseric had need of advice, and yet his presence troubled him, and he came to desire to destroy him, and he sought an excuse for his death in religion. The King amid his Arian clergy and domestics contrived to have Sebastian come into his presence. He said to him, ' Sebastian, I know that you have sworn to adhere faithfully to us and your labours and vigilance demonstrate the truth of your oath, but that your friendship may persist firmly forever, it pleases our gathered clergy that you adopt the religion which we and our people practice.' To this Sebastian, devising something wonderful and quite necessary to many in difficult times, replied, 'Lord King, I would have brought bread most pure and made of the finest flour.' Geisreic, ignorant of Sebastian's coming victory, ordered it brought. Sebastian took the bread and said, 'This bread, to come to such splendor that it would become fit for the royal table, had worthless bran shaken from the mass of flour and passed through water and fire; thus it became fair to see and sweet to taste. Likewise I in the mill of the Catholic Mother was ground and by the sieve of examination I was similarly cleansed to purity, moistened by the water of baptism and baked by the fire of the Holy Spirit. And just as this bread came from the oven, I, through the office of the Divine Sacraments, which have God as author, rose pure from the font. Let it be, if you wish, as I propose: let this bread be broken apart, softened with water, again moistened, and put in an oven; if it comes out better I shall do as you suggest.' Hearing this, Geiseric and those with him were like those fettered, utterly unable to free themselves. But later on, on some other grounds, he had the man killed.

Victor Vitensis, History of the Persecution of the African Province

18 Oct 2014

Praise of a Teacher

Καὶ μὴ τοῦθ, ὃπερ εἶδος διαλεκτικὴ κατορθοῦν μόνη εἲληχε· τὸ δέ γε πάλιν ταπεινὸν τῆς ψυχῆς ἡμῶν, ἐκτεθαμβημένων μὲν τῇ μεγαλογιᾳ καὶ θαυματουργιᾳ καὶ ποικίλῃ και πανσόφῳ δημιουργιᾳ τῇ τοῦ κόσμου, καὶ τεθαυμακότων μὲν ἀλόγως ὑπεπτηχότων δὲ ὑπὸ ἐκπλήξεως, εἰδότων δὲ οὐδ᾽ ὁτιοῦν ἐπιλογίσασθαι δίκην ἀλογων ζώων, ἐξεγείρων καὶ ἀνορθῶν μαθήμασιν ἑτέροις, τοῖς φυσικοῖς, σαφηνίζων ἕκαστα τῶν ὄντων, καὶ διακρίνων καὶ μάλα σοφῶς εἰς τὰ πρώτιστα στοιχεῖα, κᾳτ᾽ ἐπιπλέκων τῷ λόγῳ καὶ ἐπιπορευόμενος τήν τε τῶν ὅλων καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ μέρους ἑκάστου φύσιν τροπήν τε τὴν πολυειδῆ καὶ μεταβολὴν τῶν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ· ἓως φέρων ὑπὸ σαφοῦς τῆς παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ διδασκαλίας, καὶ λόγων, ὦν τε ἔμαθεν ὦν τε ἐξεύρετο περὶ τῆς τῶν ὅλων οἰκονομίας τῆς ἱερᾶς καὶ φύσεως τῆς ἀμωμήτου, ἀντὶ ἀλόγου λογικὸν ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἡμῶν ἐγκατέθετο θαῦμα. τοῦθ᾽ δ᾽ δὴ μάθημα ὑψηλον καὶ ἔνθεον ὄν ἡ ἐρασμιωτάτη πᾶσιν έκδιδάσκει φυσιολογία. τί δεὶ λέγειν τὰ τῶν ἱερῶν μαθημάτων, γεωμετρὶαν μὲν τὴν πὰσι φὶλην καὶ ἀναμφισβήτητον καὶ ἀστρονομίαν τὴν μετεωροπόρον; ἃ δὴ ἓλαστα ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἡμῶν ἐνετυποῦτο διδάσκων ἢ ἀναμιμνήσκων ἢ οὐκ οἰδ᾽ ὁ τι χρὴ λὲγειν, τὴν μὲν ὡς ὑποβαθραν πάντων ἁπλῶς ποιησάμενος οὐσαν ἄσειστον, τὴν γεωμετρίαν, καὶ κρηπὶδα τινὰ ἀσφαλῆ· ἀνάγων δὲ καὶ μέχρι τῶν ἀνωτάτω διὰ τῆς ἀστρονομίας, ὥσπερ διὰ κλίμακός τινος οὐρανμήκους ἑκατέρου τοῦ μαθήματος βατὸν ἡμῖν τὸν οὐρανὸν παρασκευάσας. 

Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ὁ θαυματουργός, Εἰς Ὀριγένην Προσφώνητικος

Nor did he share merely the discipline of dialectics; but even the lowness of mind which is amazed at the magnitude, the wondrousness, and the magnificent and absolutely wise construction of the world, for our marveling in a reasonless way, and our being overpowered with fear, and our knowing not, like the irrational creatures, what conclusion to come to, that, too, he stimulated and corrected by other studies of nature, illuminating each thing, and with acute sagacity analysing them to their primary elements, taking them up in discourse, and going over the the whole and the parts of each, and the way of diverse changes in the world, until he carried us along with him under his clear teaching; and by those reasonings which he had partly learned from others, and partly discovered himself, he placed in our minds a rational instead of an irrational wonder at the sacred economy of the universe and its flawless nature. This is that sublime and heavenly study taught by natural philosophy, beautiful to all. What need is there now to speak of the sacred mathematics geometry, so precious to all and above all dispute, and astronomy, the ways of the heavens? These different studies he imprinted on our souls, training us in them, or recalling them into us, or doing something else which I know not how to tell; and the one he made plain as the unshakable foundation of all, namely geometry, and by astronomy he lifted us up to things most high, as he made the heavens passable to us by equipping us with both of these studies, as though they were a ladder reaching the skies.

Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus, Oration to Origen

15 Oct 2014

Letter To A Daughter

Dilecetissime filiae Abrae Hilarius in Domino salutem.

Accepi litteras tuas, in quibus intelligo desiderantem te mei esse et certe ita habeo. Sentio enim quantum praesentia horum qui amantur optabilis sit. Et quia gravem tibi esse absentiam meam scirem, ne me forte impium esse erga te existimares, qui tam siu a te abessem: excusare tibi et profectionem mean et mora volui, ut intelligeres me non impie tibi, sed utiliter deesse. Namque cum te, filia, ut unicam, ita, quantum a me est, et unanimem habeam; vellem te puclherimam omnium et sanissimam vivere. Nuntiatem ergo mihi est, esse quemdam iuvenem, habentem margaritam et vestem inaestimabilis pretii: quam si quis ab eo posset mereri, super humanas divitias et salutem et dives et salvus fieret. Ad hunc his auditis profectus sum: ad quem cum per miltas et longas et difficiles vias venissem, videns eum statim procidi. Adest enim tam pulcher iuvenis, ut ante comspectum eius nemo audeat consistere. Qui ubi me procidisse vidit, interrogari me iussit quid vellem, et quid rogarem: et ego respondi, audisse e de veste sua et margarita, et ob id venisse; et si eam mihi dignaretur praestare, esse mihi filiam quam vehementer diligerem cui hanc vestem atque margaritam quaererem. Et inter haec prostratus in faciem fleo plurimum, et noctibus et diebus ingemiscens, rogo uti audire dignaretur precem meam. Post quae, quia bonus est iuvenis ey melius illo nihil est, ait mihi, nosti hanc vestem atque hanc margaritam, quam a me lacrymis rogas uti eam filiae tuae concedam? Et ego respondi illi, Domine, auditu cognovi de ipsis, et fide credidi: et scio quia optimae sunt, et salus vera est hac veste uti, et hac margarita ornari. Et statim minstris suis praecepit, ut mihi et vestem hanc et margaritam ostenderent: et confestim ita fit. Ac vestem primo vidi: vidi, filia, vidi quod eloqui non possum. Numquid non sericum secundum subtilitatem eius spartum erat? Numquid candori eius nives comparatae non nigrescebant? Numquid aurum iuxta fulgorem eius non lividatur? Ipsa enim multicolor, et nihil prorsus comparatum ei poterat aequari. Post quam vidi margaritam: qua visa statim concidi. Non enim potuerunt oculi mei sustinere tantum eius colorem. Nam nec coeli, nec lucis, nec maris, nec terrae species pulcritudini eius poterat comparari. Et cum prostratus iacerem, ait mihi quidam de assistentibus, Video te sollicitum et bonum patrem esse, et hanc vestem atque hanc margaritam ad filiam tuam desiderare: sed ut magis desideres, ostendo tibi quid adhuc haec numquam tineis comeditur, non usus atteritur, non sorde inficitur, non vi scinditur, non damno amittitur: sed semper talis qualis est permanet. Margaritae vero haec virtus est, ut si quis eam induerit, non aegrotet, non senescat, non moriatur. Nihil omino in se habet, quod sit noxium corpori: sed utenti ea nihil accidit, quod aut mortem afferat, aut aetatem demutet, aut impediat sanitatem. Quod ubi audivi, filia, exanimari magis desiderio margaritae et vestis istius coepi: et sicut prostratus iacebam, indeficienti fletu et intenta oratione iuvenem precari coepi, dicens: Domine sancte, miserere preci meae, et miserere sollicitudini et vitae meae. Si enim hanc vestem mihi et margaritam non concedis, miser futurus sum, filiamquae meam viventem perditurus: ego propter hanc vestem et margaritam peregrinari volo. Scis, Domine, quia tibi non mentior. Post quam vocem mean audivit, iubet me levare; et ait mihi, moverunt me preces et lacrymae tuae et bene est quod hoc credisiti. Et quia dixisti, et pre hac margarita ipsam vitam tuam velle impendere, non possum eam tibi negare: sed scire debes propositum et voluntatem meam. Vestis, quam ego dedero, talis est, ut si quis voluerit veste alia colorata et serica et aurata uti, vestem meam capere non possit. Sed illi dabo eam, quae contenta sit, non serico habitu, sed nativis coloribus et insumptuoso textu vestiri: ita ut propter consuetudinem, purpuram perangustam vestis habeat: non etiam purpura ipsa diffundatur in vestem. Magarita vero, quam a me petis, naturae eius est, ut habere eam nemo possit, qui margaritam aliam habuerit: quia aliae margaritae aut de terra aut de mari sunt; mea autem, ut ipse tu vides, speciosa et pretiosa est, incomparabilis et coelestis est, nec dignatur ibi esse ubi aliae sunt. Non enim rebus meis convenit cum rebus hominis: quia qui veste mea et margarita utitur, in aeternum sanus est; non febre exardescit, non velneri patet, non annnis demutatur, non morte dissolvitur; aequalis enim semper et aeternus est. Ego tamen hanc vestem et hanc margaritam meam petenti tibi dabo, ut eam filiae tuae perferas. Sed prius scire debes quid velit filia tua. Si se huius vestis et margaritae meae dignam faciat, id est, si vestes sericas at auratas et infectas habere noluerit, si omnem margaritam alteram oderit; tunc haec quae me rogas tibi praestabo. Post quam vocem, filia, laetus exsurgo, et secretum hoc habens, hanc ad te epistolam feci: rogans te per multas lacrymas meas, ut te huic vesti et margaritae reserves, neque miserum senem tali damno tuo facias, si hanc vestem et hanc margaritam non habueris.

Saint Hilarius Pictaviensis, Ad Abram Filiam Suam

Source: Migne PL 10.549a-551b
Hilary to a most delightful daughter Abra, greetings in the Lord.

I have received your letter in which I understand your desire to be with me and I think likewise. I feel indeed that the presence of those who are loved is desirable. And because I know my absence is a grave matter to you, lest you judge me to act impiously against you, I should offer some excuse for my delay, that you understand that I do not treat you so, but lack greater ability. For with you daughter, as my only one, so much more it is to me that I act in harmony with you. It was announced to me that there was a certain youth who had a pearl and most precious cloth, which if someone was able to merit, would make him most rich and secure above human wealth and health. Hearing about it I went off for it and I came to it by many long and difficult roads, and seeing it I fell prostate. There was there a youth so fair that before his face no one could stand. This one who saw I had come, questioned me about why I had done so and what I had to ask, and I answered that I had heard about the cloth and pearl and that because of them I had come; and if I were worthy to be in their presence that I would love my daughter all the more, for it was for her that I sought this cloth and pearl. And while saying this I was prostrate and weeping many tears, and night and day I groaned, asking that my prayer was worthy to be heard. After these things, because the youth is good and that there is no better, he said to me, 'With many tears you ask that I yield this our cloth and this our pearl to your daughter?' And I replied to him, 'Lord, having heard about these things, and with trusting faith, I know that they are the best and that true security is given by this cloth used and by adornment with this pearl.' Instantly he ordered his servants to show me the cloth and the pearl and immediately it was done. The cloth I saw first. I saw, daughter, I saw that of which I am not able to speak. Has silk ever been woven with such skill? Compared to it would snow not be black? Would not gold beside it by dull in its lustre? It was multicolored and nothing could be its equal. After that I was shown the pearl and on seeing it I fell down. My eyes were not able to sustain its hue; neither the sky nor light nor the sea nor any pleasant sight on earth could be compared to it. Having thrown myself down, one of the assistants said to me, 'I see you wish to be a caring and good father and that you desire this cloth and pearl for your daughter, but that you desire it more, I will show to you the good of this cloth and pearl. This cloth no moth consumes, no use wears, non dirt stains, no violence tears, no damage destroys, but it remains always as it is. This pearl in truth is virtue, that if she wear it, she shall not sicken, nor grow old, nor die. Nothing it has in it that may harm the body, but by its use such things do not happen, not death, not age, and health never fails.' When I had heard this, my daughter, with my whole soul I greatly desired the pearl and cloth, and prostate as I was, with tears I began to beg the youth, saying, 'Holy Lord, be merciful to my prayer and have mercy on my anxious life. If you will not give this cloth and pearl, I shall be most wretched and my living daughter will perish. On account of this cloth and pearl I have flown along in my travels. You know, Lord, that I do not lie to you.' After he had heard my voice, he ordered me to rise up, and he said, ' Your prayers and tears have moved me and good it is that you have believed. And because you said that you would endanger your own life for this pearl, I am not able to refuse it, but you should know my command and my will. The cloth which I shall give is of such a sort that if you wish to give it some other hue, even silk or gold, it cannot be done. I shall give it to one who is not pleased with silk but with natural color and to be clad in plain garb, for on account of its nature, the cloth must through suffering become purple and not by any other means may it be coloured. The pearl which you seek from me is of such a nature that no one may possess it who would have another pearl, for other pearls are of the earth or the sea but mine, which you see to be most beautiful and precious, is of the sky, and so it is peerless and no other is worthy of it. My ways do not fit with the ways of men, for he who wears my cloth and pearl, forever they are well, no fever burns them, no wound do they suffer, the years do not change them and death does not destroy them; forever and eternally they are. Yet I shall give to you this cloth and pearl which you seek from me that you present them to your daughter, but before that you should know what your daughter wishes. If she is worthy of this cloth and pearl, if garments of silk and gold she does not wish to have and every other pearl she despises, then I shall give you what you ask.' With this said, daughter, I rose up joyfully, and this secret knowing, I wrote you this letter, asking you though many tears that you choose this cloth and pearl, lest you make an old man miserable by your loss, lacking such cloth and pearl.

Saint Hilary of Poitiers, from Letter to Abra his daughter

14 Oct 2014

The Fall of Ptolemy

Ἄλλος τις πάλιν Πτολεμαῖος ὀνόματι, δυσδιήγητον, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀνεκδιήγητον ἀρετῆς βιον ζήσας, τοκατκχὰς οἴκησεν ἐπέκεινα τῆς Σκήτεως τὴν καλουμένην Κλιμακα, Τοπος δέ ἐστιν οὔτω καλούμενος, εἴς ὄν οὐδεις ἠδυνήθη οἴκῆσαί ποτε τῶν μοναχῶν, τοῦ ἀπὸ δεκαοκτὼ σημείων εἰναι τὸ φρέαρ τοῦ ὑδατος. Βαστάσας οὖν ἐκεῖνος κεράμια Κιλικίσια πλείονα ἐκείσε ἀπήνεγκεν. Καὶ τῷ Δεκεμβρίῳ καὶ Ἰανουαρίῳ μηνὶ συναγαὼν τὴν δρόσον ἐκ τών πετρῶν, δροσίζει γὰρ ἐν ἐκείνοις τοῖς μέρεσι τότε πολλὰ, και τὰ κεράμια πληρώσας τῆς δρόσου διήρκεσεν ἑαυτῷ ἐπὶ δεκαπέντε ἔτη οἰκήσας ἐκεῖ, πλείονα χρόνον μηδενὶ συντυγχὰνων. Ὅς ἀποξενωθεις διδασκαλίας πνευματικῆς, καὶ συντυχίας ἀνδρῶν ὁσιων, και ὠφελείας ἁγίων Πατέρων, καὶ συνεχοῦς κοινωνίας τὡν μυστηρίων τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἐμάνη, ἐκτραπεὶς τῆς εὐθείας ὁδοῦ, ὡς τὸ παρά τισι τῶν ἐσεβῶν λεγόμενον, αὐτοματισμὸν και τοῦτον τὸν ἄθλιον ὁμολογειν. Πτολαῖος λεγεται φέρεσθαι μετέωπρος ἐξεστηκὼς τῶν κατὰ φυσιν φρενων μέχρι τῆς δευρο ἀλώμενος ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ, ἐκδοτον ἑαυτον δεδωκὼς γαστριμαργίᾳ καὶ ὀινοφλυγιᾳ, μηδενὶ μηδὲν ὁμιλῶν, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον· Οἰς μὴ ὑπάρχει κυβέρνησις, οὖτοι πίπτουσιν ὥσπερ φύλλα. 

Παλλαδιος, Ἡ Προς Λαυσον Ἱστορια

Again another monk named Ptolemy sought to live a life of virtue almost impossible to describe, dwelling beyond Scete in a place called Climax, this place being so called because no monk can live there since the well of the brethren is eighteen miles away. But he, carrying a number of pots, collected the dew with a sponge from the rocks during the months of December and January, for there is a plentiful fall of dew then in those parts, and made it suffice during the fifteen years he lived there. During this long time, however, he had no contact with anyone, and so he became a stranger to spiritual teaching and intercourse with holy men, and the benefit derived from the Holy Fathers, and the constant communion of the mysteries of Christ, on account of which he wandered from the straight way and spoke from his own mind that sacred things were nothing. It is said he, suspended aloft in his pride, is roaming about in Egypt up to the present day, and that he has given himself over to gluttony and drunkenness, speaking no edifying word to anyone, as it is written: 'They who have no guidance fall like leaves.' 1

Palladius of Galatia, Lausiac History 

1 Prov 11.4 LXX

13 Oct 2014

Monasticism Comes To Rome


Nulla eo tempore nobilium feminarum noverat Romae propositum Monachorum, nec audebat propter rei novitatem, ignominiosum, ut tunc putabatur, et vile in populis nomen assumere. Haec ab Alexandrinis Sacerdotibus, Papaque Athanasio, et postea Petro, qui persecutionem Arianae haereseos declinantes, quasi ad tutissimum communionis suae portum Romam confugerant, vitam beati Antonii adhuc tunc viventis, monasteriorumque in Thebaide, Pachomii, et virginum ac viduarum didicit disciplinam. Nec erubuit profiteri, quod Christo placere cognoverat. Hanc multos post annos imitata est Sophronia, et alia: quibus rectissime illud Ennianum aptari potest: Utinam ne in nemore Pelio. Huius amicitiis fruita est Paula venerabilis. In huius cubiculo nutrita Eustochium, virginitatis decus: ut facilis aestimatio sit, qualis magistra, ubi tales disciulae. Rideat forsan infidelis lector, me in muliercularum laudibus immorari, qui, si recordetur sanctas feminas, comites Domini Salvatoris, quae ministrabant ei de sua substantia, et tres Marias stantes ante crucem, Mariamque proprie Magdalenen, quae ob sedulitatem et ardorem fidei, turritae nomen accepit, et prima ante Apostolos, Christum videre meruit resurgentem, se potius superbiae, quam nos condemnabit ineptiarum: qui virtutes non sexo, sed animo iudicamus; contemptaeque nobilitas ac divitiarum maiorem gloriam ducimus. 

Sanctus Hieronymus, Epistula CXXVII, Ad Principiam

Source: Migne PL 22 1089-1090
No noble lady at Rome in that time had made profession of the monastic life, or had dared on account of how peculiar and disgraceful it then seemed, even vile, to take up such a name among the people. From some priests of Alexandria, and from the bishop Athanasius, and then from Peter, who was fleeing the persecution of the Arian heretics, all seeking for refuge in Rome as the safest haven in which they could find communion, from these Marcella learned of the life of the blessed Antony, then still alive, and of the monasteries of Pachomius in the Thebaid, and of the discipline laid down for virgins and for widows. Nor did she blush to profess a life which she had learned pleased Christ. Many years after her example there was Sophronia and others, of whom it may be well said by Ennius: 'Would that never in Pelion's woods came the axes...' 1 Paula was the fruit of her venerable friendship, and it was in Marcella's cell that Eustochium, glory of virgins, was nourished. Thus it is easy to judge the quality of the mistress by such pupils. The faithless reader may perhaps laugh for my lingering on the praises of women, but let him remember the holy women who were companions of our Lord and Saviour and ministered to Him of their substance, and how the three Marys stood before the cross and especially how Magdalen, because of the ardor of her faith receiving the name of the tower, was the first, before all the Apostles, to merit seeing the risen Christ, and thus he will convict himself of pride rather than condemn me for ineptitude. By soul and not by sex we judge virtue, and by contempt of nobility and riches we rate glory.

St Jerome, from Letter 127, To Principia


1 Ennius, Medea, fragment

4 Oct 2014

The First Confession

Ἤμαρτεν δ' Ἀδὰμ τὴν ἀμαρτίαν τὴν πρώτην, καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἀμαρτίαν εὐθέως ἐκρύπτετο· εἰ δὲ μὴ ᾔδει κακόν τι ἐργασάμενος, τίνος ἤνεκεν ἐκρύπτετο; Οὑδε γὰρ γράμματα ἦν, οὐ νόμος, οὐ Μωσῆς· πόθεν οὖν ἔγνω τὴν ἁμαρτίαν καὶ κρύπτεται; Καὶ οὐ κρύπτεται μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐγκαλοὺμενος, ἐφ᾽ ἕτερον πειρᾶται μετατιθέναι τὴν αἰτίαν, λὲγων· Ἡ γυνὴ ἢν ἔδωκας μοι, αὔτη ἔδωκέ μοι ἐκ τοῦ ξύλου, καὶ ἔφαγον· κὰκείνη πάλιν ἐφ᾽ ἔτερον μετάγει τὸ ἔγκλημα, τὸν ὄφιν. Και ὅρα Θεοῦ σοφίαν· ειπόντος γὰρ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ, ὅτι Ἤκουσα τῆς φωνῆς σου καὶ ἐφοβήθην, ὁτι γυμνός εἰμι καὶ ἐκρυβην, οὐκ ἤλεγξεν εὐθέως ὁ θεος τὸ γεγονὸς, οὐδε εἶπε· Διὰ τὶ γὰρ ἒφαγες ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου; ἀλλὰ πῶς; Τίς σοι ἀνήγγειλε, φησὶν, ὅτι γυμνος εἶ, εἰ μὴ ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλον οὖ ἐνετειλάμην σοι τούτου μόνου μὴ φαγεῖν, ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἔφαγες; Οὔτε ἐσίγησεν, οὔτε φανερῶς αὐτὸν ἤλεγξεν· οὐκ ἐσίγησε μὲν, ἴνα αὐτὸν ἐκκαλέσηται πρὸς ὁμολογίαν τῆς ἁμαρτίας· οὐκ ἤλεγχε δὲ φανερῶς, ἵνα μὴ αὐτοῦ τὸ πᾶν γένεται, κὰκεῖνος ἓρημος εἴη τῆς ἀπὸ τῆς ἐξομολογήσεως γινομένος συγγνώμης ἡμιν. 

Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Εἰς Τους Ἀνδριαντας Ὁμῖλία,
Adam sinned the first sin, and after the sin immediately he hid; but if he had not known he had been doing some wrong, why did he hide? For then there were neither letters, nor law, nor Moses; whence then does he recognise the sin and hide? And not only does he hide, but when called to account, he tries to attribute the cause to another, saying, 'The woman You gave me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.'1 And again the woman transfers the accusation to another, the serpent. And see the wisdom of God; for when Adam said, ' Hearing Your voice I was afraid, for I am naked, and I hid,'2 God does not at once convict him of that done, nor say, 'Why did you eat of the tree?' But how? 'Who told you," He asks, 'that you are naked, unless of that Tree of which alone I commanded you not to eat you have eaten?'3 He did not keep silence, nor did He openly convict him. He did not keep silence, that He might call him forth to the confession of his crime. He did not convict him openly, lest all might come from Himself, and the man should be deprived of that pardon which is given to us from confession.

Saint John Chrysostom,
On the Statues

1 Gen 3.12
2 Gen 3.10 
3 Gen 3.11

1 Oct 2014

Fear And Evil

Μηδὲν τοίνυν φοβώμεθα τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς φύσεως ἡμιν ἐπαγαμένων, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκεῖνα τὰ ἐκ πονηρᾶς ἡμιν ἐγγινόμενα προαιρέσεως· ἐκεῖνα γὰρ ἠμιν τίκτει τὴν κόλασιν. Τοῦτο δὲ λογιζώεθα διηνεκῶς ἐπὶ τῶν συμβαινόντων ἡμιν ἀδοκήτως, ὅτι οὐ διορθώσομεν αὐτὰ ἀλγοῦντες, καὶ παυσόμεθα ἀλγοῦντες· κακεῖνο μετὰ τούτου πάλιν, ὅτι ἐὰν πάθωμέν τι δεινὸν κατὰ τὸν παρόντα βίον ἀδίκως, διαλύομεν πολλὰ τῶν ἁμαρτήματα, καὶ μὴ ἐκεῖ· και γὰρ ὁ πλούσιος οὐδεν ἐνταῦθα δεινὸν ἀπέλαβε, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐκεῖ ἀπετηγανίζετο. Καὶ ὅτι τοῦτο ἧν αἴτιον τοῦ μηδεμιας αὐτὸν ἀπολαῦσαι παραμυθίας, ἄκουσον τί φησιν ὁ Ἀβραάμ· Τέκνον, ἀπέλαβες τὰ ἀγαθα σου, διὰ τοῦτο ὀδυνᾶσαι· ὅτι δὲ καὶ τῷ Λαζάρῳ τὰ ἀγαθὰ μετὰ τῆς άρετῆς καὶ τὸ μυρία ἐνταῦθα παθεῖν δεινὰ προεξένησε, τοῦ πατριάρχου καὶ ταῦτα λέγοντος ἄκουσον. Εἰπών γὰρ τῷ πλουσίῳ, Ἀπέλαβες τὰ ἀγαθὰ σου, ἐπήγαγεν, ὅτι Και ὁ Λάζαρος τὰ κακά· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο παρακαλεῖται. Ὥσπερ γὰρ οἱ ἐν ἀρετῇ ζῶντες καὶ θλιβόμενοι διπλοῦν τὸ κέρδος μαρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ λαμβάνουσιν, οὕτως ὁ ἐν κακίᾳ ζῶν καὶ τρυφῶν διπλῆν ἔξει τὴν κόλασιν. Πάλιν λέγω οὐχὶ τὼν φευγόντων κατηγορῶν (Ψὑχὴν γὰρ τεταπεινωμένην μὴ προσταράξῃς, φησὶν), οὐδε ἐπιτιμῆσαι βουλόμενος (ὁ γὰρ νοσῶν παρακλήσεως δεῖταἰ) ἀλλὰ διορθῶσαι σπουδάζων, μὴ τῇ φυγῇ τὴν σωτηρίαν ἡμῶν ἐγχειρίζωμεν, ἀλλὰ φύγωμεν ἁμαρτίας, ἀποστῶμεν ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ τῆς πονηρᾶς. Ἐαν ταύτας φυγωμεν, κᾶν μεταξὺ μυρίων ὤμεν στρατιωτῶν, οὐδεὶς ἡμᾶς πλῆξαι δυνήσεται· ἐὰν ταύτας μὴ φύγωμεν, κὰν εἰς αὐτὴν τῶν ὀρέων τὴν κορυφὴν ἀναβῶμεν, πολεμίους ἐκεῖ εὑρήσομεν μυρίους. 

Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος,  Εἰς Τους Ἀνδριαντας
Therefore we should not fear anything from nature, but on account of those things which are born of the evil of our choice; for because of that punishment falls upon us. Let us continually think that we shall not make good by grieving the events which come upon us unexpectedly, and so we shall cease to grieve; and again, that if in this present life we suffer any evil unjustly, that here we discharge many sins, not there; for the rich man received no evil here, and therefore he was scorched there; and that this was the reason why he did not enjoy any consolation, hear what Abraham says, 'Son, you have received your good things; therefore you are tormented.' But as for the good things and virtue of Lazarus and his having here suffered a thousand ills, hear also Patriarch's words. Having said to the rich man, 'You have received your good things,' he says, 'and Lazarus evil things, and for this reason he is comforted.' For as they who live virtuously, and are afflicted, receive a double reward from God, so he who lives in wickedness, and luxuriates, shall have a double punishment. Again, I speak not to accuse those who flee, (it is said: Add not more trouble to a soul that is vexed) nor do I wish to rebuke (for the sick need consolation), but to advance zeal for improvement. Let us not entrust our safety to flight, but rather flee from sins, and so let us depart from the way of evil. If we escape these things, although we be in the midst of a crowd soldiers; none will be able to wound us; if we do not flee these things, though we ascend to the very peak of the mountains, we shall there find innumerable enemies.

Saint John Chrysostom, from

On the Statues