Sickness And Wonder

Τί ἔτι; Καλὸν φιλανθρωπία καὶ πτωχοτροφία καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἀσθενείας βοήθημα. Μικρὸν ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως πρόελθε, καὶ θέασαι τὴν καινὴν πόλιν, τὸ τῆς εὐσεβείας ταμεῖον, τὸ κοινὸν τῶν ἐχόντων θησαύρισμα, εἰς ὃ τὰ περιττὰ τοῦ πλούτου, ἤδη δὲ καὶ τὰ ἀναγκαῖα ταῖς ἐκείνου παραινέσεσιν ἀποτίθεται, σῆτας ἀποσειόμενα καὶ κλέπτας οὐκ εὐφραίνοντα καὶ φθόνου πάλην καὶ καιροῦ φθορὰν διαφεύγοντα· ἐν ᾧ νόσος φιλοσοφεῖται καὶ συμφορὰ μακαρίζεται καὶ τὸ συμπαθὲς δοκιμάζεται. Τί μοι πρὸς τοῦτο τὸ ἔργον, ἑπτάπυλοι Θῆβαι καὶ Αἰγύπτιαι καὶ τείχη Βαβυλώνια καὶ Μαυσόλου Καρικὸς τάφος καὶ Πυραμίδες καὶ Κολοσσοῦ χαλκὸς ἄμετρος, ἢ ναῶν μεγέθη καὶ κάλλη τῶν μηκέτι ὄντων, ἄλλα τε ὅσα θαυμάζουσιν ἄνθρωποι καὶ ἱστορίαις διδόασιν, ὧν οὐδὲν τοὺς ἐγείραντας πλὴν δόξης ὀλίγης ὤνησεν; Ἐμοὶ δὲ θαυμασιώτατον, ἡ σύντομος τῆς σωτηρίας ὁδός, ἡ ῥᾴστη πρὸς οὐρανὸν ἀνάβασις. Οὐκ ἔτι πρόκειται τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν θέαμα δεινὸν καὶ ἐλεεινόν, ἄνθρωποι νεκροὶ πρὸ θανάτου καὶ τετελευτηκότες τοῖς πλείστοις τοῦ σώματος μέλεσιν, ἀπελαυ νόμενοι πόλεων, οἰκιῶν, ἀγορῶν, ὑδάτων, αὐτῶν τῶν φιλτάτων, ὀνόμασι μᾶλλον ἢ σώμασι γνωριζόμενοι· οὐδὲ προτίθενται συνόδοις τε καὶ συλλόγοις κατὰ συζυγίαν τε καὶ συναυλίαν, μηκέτ' ἐλεούμενοι διὰ τὴν νόσον, ἀλλὰ μισούμενοι· σοφισταὶ μελῶν ἐλεεινῶν, εἴ τισι καὶ φωνὴ λείπεται. Τί ἂν ἅπαντα ἐκτραγῳδοίην τὰ ἡμέτερα, οὐκ ἀρκοῦντος τοῦ λόγου τῷ πάθει; Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνός γε μάλιστα πάντων ἔπεισεν ἀνθρώπους ὄντας ἀνθρώπων μὴ καταφρονεῖν, μηδ' ἀτιμάζειν Χριστόν, τὴν μίαν πάντων κεφαλήν, διὰ τῆς εἰς ἐκείνους ἀπανθρωπίας· ἀλλ' ἐν ταῖς ἀλλοτρίαις συμφοραῖς τὰ οἰκεῖα εὖ τίθεσθαι, καὶ δανείζειν Θεῷ τὸν ἔλεον, ἐλέου χρῄζοντας. Διὰ τοῦτο, οὐδὲ τοῖς χείλεσιν ἀπηξίου τιμᾶν τὴν νόσον, ὁ εὐγενής τε καὶ τῶν εὖγεγονότων καὶ τὴν δόξαν ὑπέρλαμπρος, ἀλλ' ὡς ἀδελφοὺς ἠσπάζετο, οὐχ ὅπερ ἄν τις ὑπολάβοι κενοδοξῶν, τίς γὰρ τοσοῦτον ἀπεῖχε τοῦ πάθους;, ἀλλὰ τὸ προσιέναι τοῖς σώμασιν ἐπὶ θεραπείᾳ διὰ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ φιλοσοφίας τυπῶν, καὶ φθεγγομένη καὶ σιωπῶσα παραίνεσις. Καὶ οὐχ ἡ μὲν πόλις οὕτως, ἡ χώρα δὲ καὶ τὰ ἐκτὸς ἑτέρως· ἀλλὰ κοινὸν ἅπασιν ἀγῶνα προὔθηκε τοῖς τῶν λαῶν προεστῶσι, τὴν εἰς αὐτοὺς φιλανθρωπίαν καὶ μεγαλοψυχίαν. Καὶ ἄλλων μὲν οἱ ὀψοποιοὶ καὶ αἱ λιπαραὶ τράπεζαι καὶ τὰ μαγείρων μαγγανεύματα καὶ κομψεύματα καὶ οἱ φιλόκαλοι δίφροι, καὶ τῆς ἐσθῆτος ὅση μαλακή τε καὶ περιρρέουσα· Βασιλείου δὲ οἱ νοσοῦντες καὶ τὰ τῶν τραυμάτων ἄκη καὶ ἡ Χριστοῦ μίμησις, οὐ λόγῳ μέν, ἔργῳ δὲ λέπραν καθαίροντος. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, Λόγος ΜΓ', Εἰς τὸν μέγαν βασίλειον, ἐπίσκοπον Καισαρείας Καππαδοκίας, ἐπιτὰφιος Source: Migne PG 36.577c-580c

What more? Philanthropy is noble, and also support of the poor, and aid given to human infirmity. Go a little way from the city and behold a new city, a storehouse of piety, a common treasury of those who possess, in which the excesses of their wealth, and even their necessities, because of his exhortations, are stored, from which the moth has been shaken and which no more appear pleasing to the thief, 1 escaping the strife of envy and the corruption of time's passing. There sickness is regarded philosophically, and misfortune is thought a blessing, and sympathy is put to the test. Why should I compare this work with Thebes of the seven gates, and Egyptian Thebes, and the walls of Babylon, and the Carian tomb of Mausolus, and the Pyramids, and the immeasurable bronze weight of the Colossus, or the size and beauty of shrines that are no longer exist, and all those other things at which men wonder, and of the historic record, from which those who raised them gained nothing but a small scrap of fame? Mine is the most wonderful, it is the short road to salvation, the easy ascent to heaven. No longer before our eyes is set a terrible and piteous spectacle, men dead before death, the greater part of whose limbs have been mortified, who have been driven away from their cities and homes and public places and fountains, and even from their loved ones, who are now recognised only by their names rather than by their features. They are no longer placed before us at our gatherings and meetings, according to our associations and fellowships, and those composers of tragic songs are not pitied but abhorred, if any of them still have a voice. Why should I try to express in tragic style all our experiences, when no tongue can measure the suffering? But it was him above all others who persuaded men not to despise those who are men, nor dishonour Christ, the one Head of all, by their inhumanity toward them, but to use the misfortunes of others to firmly establish themselves, and to lend to God that mercy of which they have need. Therefore He did not disdain to honour disease with his lips, even though he was noble, and of good lineage and of brilliant reputation, but he greeted them as brothers, and not, as some may suppose, from vainglory; for who was so far removed from such an affliction? But he took the lead in tending to bodies, as a consequence of his philosophy, and so gave not only spoken but also silent instruction. The effect of this is seen not only in the city, but in the country and beyond. Even the foremost of the people have competed with one another in their philanthropy and generosity to them. Others had their cooks, and expensive tables, and the dishes and dainties of gourmands, and exquisite carriages, and soft and flowing robes, Basil had the sick and the healing of their wounds, and the imitation of Christ, by cleansing leprosy, not by a word, but by action. Saint Gregory Nazianzus, from Oration 43, Funeral Oration on Saint Basil the Great, Bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia. 1 Mt 6.19-20