Little Faith

Nolite ergo solliciti esse, dicentes: Quid manducabimus, aut quid bibemus, aut quo operiemur? Haec omina, inquit, gentes inquirunt... Ac per hoc quid amplius habet a gentili, cujus adhuc infidelitas dum sollicitat animum, hujus vitae curis fatigat. Qui ergo de istis tantum confisus est a Domino, saltem modicam habet fidem: qui autem adhuc de his sollicitus est, infidelis censetur. Unde rara et paucorum est perfecta fides. Et ideo dubitanti adhuc Petro, post Domini jussionem, recte dicitur: Modicae fidei quare dubitasti? Quicunque ergo dubitat in aliquo praeceptorum Dei, vel minus ex eo confidit, quam promisit potens Deus, modicus est fide. Hinc quoque Jacobus: Qui indiget sapientia, postulet eam ex fide, nihil haesitans; quia qui haesitat similis est fluctui maris, qui a vento movetur. Quod si in divinis haesitare Christiano non convenit, in humanis et caducis post promissa quomodo fidelis dubitare poterit? Quid igitur fugis, Christiane? Quanto magis in promissis Dei haesitaveris, tanto minus invenies pro quibus sollicitus desudas. Et si, bonitate Dei etiam dubius acceperis quod sollicite quaesisti, non tua sollicitudo id fecit inefficax, sed Dei largitas, qui solem suum oriri facit super bonos et malos. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Lib IV Cap VI Source: Migne PL 120.311d-312b

Do not therefore be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat, or drink, or wear?' All these things, He said, the Gentiles seek... 1 And because of this the more a man is as the Gentiles, while unfaithfulness yet troubles the soul, he shall be wearied with the cares of life. Therefore he who has confidence in the Lord concerning these things alone, he has little faith, and he who yet is anxious for these things, he is reckoned faithless. Whence perfect faith is rare and of few. And therefore to the yet doubtful Peter, after the exhortation of the Lord, rightly it was said, 'Man of little faith, why did you doubt?' 2 Whoever, then, doubts some commandment of God, or lacks confidence in Him, what Almighty God promises, he is of little faith. Whence James also says: 'He who lacks wisdom, let him ask from faith, doubting in nothing, because he who hesitates is like a wave of the sea tossed about by the wind.' 3 If it is not fitting for a Christian to doubt in Divine things, how after the promises shall it be possible for the faithful man to doubt in human and fallen things? Why, then, do you flee, O Christian? The more you doubt the promises of God, the more you shall find yourself trembling over what you fret over. And if from the goodness of God, you, who are a doubter, receive what you have anxiously sought, it was not your worry that did this, but it was from the largess of God, who makes the sun rise over the good and the wicked. 4 Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 4, Chap 6 1 Mt 6.32 2 Mt 14.31 3 James 1.5 4 Mt 5.45

Cares And Contemplation

Sollicitudo etenim necessario turbat, sicut scriptum est, Sollicita es, et turbaris ergo plurima: cura vero gravat. Unde est illud Domini: Ne graventur corda nostra crapula et ebrietate, et curis hujus saeculi. Sollicitudo male sustollit, cura pejus deprimit, acedia pessime dissolvit. Mens enim in otio acediosa fructum actionis perdit, et contemplationis lucem minime invenit. Porro depressa curis, in altum se nequaquam erigit, turbata serena esse nequit. Cor enim quod tranquillim non est, serenum esse nullatenus potest, sin autem serenum, nec perlucidum. Cor vero contemplantis perlucere oportet, tanquam speculum, aut aquam limpidissimam et quietem, ut in ipso, ac per ipsum, sicut in speculo, per speculum, videat mens suam ad imaginem Deo imaginem. Ad hoc ergo cor mundandum est Deum speculari cupientis, non solum a noxiis ac superfluis, sed etiam necessariis cruis: et excitandum lectione, meditatione, oratione. Beati enim mundicordes, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt: quod ipse nobis prestare dignetur. Isaac, Cisterciensis Abbas, Sermo XXV Source: Migne PL 194.1774b-c

Indeed worry does trouble one, as it has been written: 'You are worried and therefore troubled by many things.' 1 but care is a burden. Whence our Lord's warning: 'Do not let your hearts grow dull with revelry and drunkenness and with the cares of this world. 2 Worry wickedly occupies, worldly care is a worse burden, listlessness is the worst ruin. A soul in listless leisure loses the fruit of its action and never finds the light of contemplation. A mind oppressed by cares can no more raise itself on high than a troubled mind can know peace. A heart which is not tranquil is far from being peaceful, and equally far from being bright with light. But a contemplative heart must be as bright as a mirror, like some still stretch of clear water, so that in it and through it, as in a mirror, the mind may see itself, 3 an image in the image of God. The heart, therefore, which desires the sight of God must be cleansed, not only from harmful and unneeded cares, but even necessary ones. It must be ever stimulated by reading and meditation and prayer. 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God,' 4 which may He deign to grant to us. Isaac of Stella, from Sermon 25 1 Lk 10.41 2 Lk 21.34 3 1 Cor 13.12 4 Mt 5.8

Storms And Faith

Et ascendente eo in naviculam, secuti sunt eum discipuli. Et ecce tempestas magna facta est in mari, et reliqua. Navem discipulis introgessis tempestas oritur, mare commovetur, navigantes turbantur, Ipse vero somno consopitus timentium metu excitatur, oratur ut opem afferat. Et increpitis iis quod modicae essent fidei, vento et mari tranquillitatem imperavit, cum admiratione hominum praeceptis ejus ventum et mare obedisse. Igitur secundum haec ecclesiae, intra quas verbum Dei non vigilaverit, naufragae sunt: non quod Christus in somnum relaxatur, sed quod somno nostro consopiatur in nobis. Maxime autem illud accidit, ut a Deo praecipue in periculi metu et vexatione speremus. Atque utinam vel spes sera confidat sese periculum posse evadere, Christi intra se virtute vigilante. Perpetuam autem nobis objurgationis suae recordationem reliquit, dicens: Modicae fidei, quid timidi estis? Metum scilicet motuum saecularium, cum quibus Christi fides vigilet, nullum esse oportere. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, In Evangelium Matthaei Commentarius,  Cap VIII Source: Migne PL 9.958c 959a

And when He went into the boat, the disciples followed. And behold a great storm arose in the sea... 1 When the disciples enter the boat the storm arises, the sea is disturbed, the sailors are troubled. He, however, sunk in sleep is roused by the fear of those distressed, and asked to bring help. And chiding them for being of little faith, He orders the wind and the sea to be calm, and to the wonder of men the wind and the sea are obedient to His commands. Therefore according to this the Churches who do not watch over the word of God are made shipwrecks; not that Christ is sunk in sleep, but because our sleep lulls Him to sleep in us. For the most part it happens that we hope in God amid the fear and the troubles of danger. And that our hope be confident in being able to escape dangers, let it have the watchful virtue of Christ. He has left for us an admonishment that we be mindful, saying. 'O men of little faith, why are you fearful?' 2 Certainly there should be no fear of worldly disturbances in those for whom the faith of Christ is vigilant. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 8 1 Mt 8.23 2 Mt 8.26

Care and Nourishment

Sed inter ista inimici jacula imperterritus manet, nobisque portum securitatis fidum tutumque demonstrat. Sequitur enim, 'Jacta in Dominum cogitationem tuam, et ipse te enutriet: non dabit in aeternum fluctionem justo. Ademit nobis etiam in Evangelis Dominus sollicitudinis necessitatem, dicens: Nolite solliciti esse de crastino; sufficit enim diei malitia sua. Quaerite primum regnum Dei et justitiam ejus et omnia praestabuntur vobis: omnem scilicet curam in promerendo Dei regno et justitia collocandam. Jactanda ergo super eum cura est: ipse enim enutriet, secundum illud: Super aquam refectionis enutruvit me. Enutriens autem non relinquet in fluctibus istius saeculi, sicuti enutritus Jacob omnem tempestatem et odiorum et durae servitutis evasit dicens: Deus qui enutrivit me a juventute mea. Ipse enim vitae auctor est, ipse cibi largitor, non terreni tantum, sed etiam spiritalis. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis,Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum  LIV

But among these attacks of the enemy he remains fearless, showing to us that complete faith is a secure port. For it follows, 'Cast your thoughts on the Lord and He shall nourish you; He shall not give the righteous into eternal flux.' 1 And in the Gospel the Lord takes away from us the necessity of worry, saying. 'Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for the day's evil suffices for itself. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all things shall be given to you.' 2 For every care should be for the gaining of God's kingdom and the gathering of righteousness. Cast, then, all your care on Him, for He shall nourish you according to which, 'Over refreshing waters He led me'. 3 And nourishing He does not abandon one to the waves of this world, just as the nourished Jacob escaped every storm and hate and hard servitude, saying, 'God has nourished me from my youth.' 4 He is the author of life, He is the giver of bread, not only of the earth, but even of the spirit. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 54 1 Ps 54.23 2 Mt 6 34,33 3 Ps 22.2 4 Gen 48.15

A Pope Laments His State

Quadam die nimiis quorumdam saecularium tumultibus depressus, quibus in suis negotiis plerumque cogimur solvere etiam quod nos certum est non debere, secretum locum petii amicum moeroris, ubi omne quod de mea mihi occupatione displicebat, se patenter ostenderet, et cuncta quae infligere dolorem consueverant, congesta ante oculos licenter venirent. Ibi itaque cum afflictus valde et diu tacitus sederem, dilectissimus filius meus Petrus diaconus adfuit, mihi a primaevo juventutis flore amicitiis familiariter obstrictus, atque ad sacri verbi indagationem socius. Qui gravi excoqui cordis languore me intuens, ait: Nunquidnam novi tibi aliquid accidit, quod plus te solito moeror tenet? Cui, inquam: Moeror, Petre, quem quotidie patior, et semper mihi per usum vetus est, et semper per augmentum novus. Infelix quippe animus meus occupationis suae pulsatus vulnere, meminit qualis aliquando in monasterio fuit; quomodo ei labentia cuncta subter erant; quantum rebus omnibus quae volvuntur eminebat; quod nulla nisi coelestia cogitare consueverat; quod etiam retentus corpore, ipsa jam carnis claustra contemplatione transibat; quod mortem quoque, quae pene cunctis poena est, videlicet ut ingressum vitae et laboris sui praemium amabat At nunc ex occasione curae pastoralis saecularium hominum negotia patitur, et post tam pulchram quietis suae speciem, terreni actus pulvere foedatur. Cumque se pro condescensione multorum ad exteriora sparserit, etiam cum interiora appetit, ad haec procul dubio minor redit. Perpendo itaque quid tolero, perpendo quod amisi. Dumque intueor illud quod perdidi, fit hoc gravius quod porto. Ecce etenim nunc magni maris fluctibus quatior, atque in navi mentis tempestatis validae procellis illidor. Et cum prioris vitae recolo, quasi post tergum ductis oculis viso littore suspiro. Quodque adhuc gravius est, dum immensis fluctibus turbatus feror, vix jam portum videre valeo quem reliqui, quia et ita sunt casus mentis, ut prius quidem perdat bonum quod tenet, si tamen se perdidisse meminerit; cumque longius recesserit, etiam boni ipsius quod perdiderat obliviscatur; fitque ut post neque per memoriam videat, quod prius per actionem tenebat. Unde hoc agitur quod praemisi, quia cum navigamus longius, jam nec portum quietis quem reliquimus videmus. Nonnunquam vero in augmentum mei doloris adjungitur, quod quorumdam vita qui praesens saeculum tota mente reliquerunt, mihi ad memoriam revocatur. Quorum dum culmen aspicio, quantum ipse in infirmis jaceam agnosco; quorum plurimi Conditori suo in secretiori vita placuerunt, qui ne per humanos actus a novitate mentis veterascerent, eos omnipotens Deus hujus mundi laboribus noluit occupari Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Dialogi, Liber I

One day being excessively wearied with the troubles of worldly affairs in which business we are often bound far more than we should be, I sought a secluded place fit for lamentation, where every one of my occupations that displeased me might openly show itself, and that all things that are accustomed to inflict sorrow might be gathered together and present before my eyes. And thus having sat there gravely afflicted for a long while, Peter, my dearest son and deacon, came, a man whom, from his younger years, I bound closely to me in friendship, and as a companion in the investigation of Sacred Scripture. He, marking me beset by weakness of heart, said, 'Have some tidings come to you that cause you to grieve more than you are accustomed? ' To which I said, 'O Peter, the grief which I suffer every day is ever old through use and ever new by daily increasing. For my unhappy soul, belaboured with worldly business, reminds me of how it was when I was in the monastery, and how then all fallen things were beneath it, as much as it stood above all transitory things, and that it thought on nothing but heavenly things, and though enclosed in a body in contemplation it passed beyond the enclosure of the flesh. And as for death, which almost to all is grief, that very same as an entrance into life and as a reward of its labours it loved. But now, on account of my pastoral cares, my soul suffers the affairs of worldly men, and after so beautiful a rest, it is defiled with the dust of worldly deeds. And when it does go forth at the demand of many others to exterior matters, its desire for interior things on its return has lessened. Thus I do consider what I suffer and consider what I have lost. And looking on what I have lost makes what I now bear more grievous. For behold now I am tossed by the waves of a great sea and the ship of my soul is struck by the storms of a terrible tempest. And so when I recall my former state of life, I sigh as if looking back on a forsaken shore. And what grieves me yet more is that while I am borne off by the great waves I can now scarce see the port I left, for such be the downfalls of our soul, that first it loses that goodness it had, yet remembering what it has lost, and then, carried away farther, it forgets the good it has lost and no longer holds in memory what it did do. And so it is, as I said, that sailing farther on, we no longer see the harbour of peace from whence we departed. Sometimes also increase is given to my sorrow by remembering the lives of certain folk who with their whole soul abandoned the present world, whose eminence beholding, I also recognise my own infirmities and falls, many of whom did in a retired life please their Creator, who lest by the business of men they wear out their souls, the almighty God was unwilling they be occupied with the labours of this world. Saint Gregory the Great, Dialogues, Book 1

Anxiety And Tomorrow

Nolite ergo solliciti esse de crastino. Crastinus enim dies sollicitus erit sibi ipse. Sufficit diei malitia sua.   Commune judicium est, diem esse labentium temporum cursum luce solis illuminatum, quem nox interjecta discriminat, et interventu suo diei diem subrogat: furturi autem temporis significantia continetur in crastino. Ergo de futuro sollicitos nos esse Deus vetuit. Incuria autem sollicitudinis relaxatae, non negligentiae, sed fidei est. Cur enim solliciti simus in crastino; cum crastinus dies sibi ipse sollicitus sit? Ergo anxietatem nostram ipsa pro nobis dies sollicita depellit. Sed sollicitudo, ut arbitror, proprius est hominis affectus: hanc enim excitat aut curae, aut metus, aut doloris anxietas. Dies vero cursus est temporis: et sola providentiam consecuta sollicitudinis recipiunt affectum. Constituetur ergo dies esse animal, quod et caveat, et prospiciat, et curet; cui et malitia propria sufficiat, neque extrinsecus accidenti sit cumulanda peccato. Sed natura rei non cupit diei deputare mentis affectum: ergo et quod sibi ipsa sollicitia est, et quod ei malitia sua sufficit, et quod inhibemur solliciti esse de crastino; totum sub dictis coelestis significantiae continetur. Jubemur igitur non ambigere de futuris; satis enim vitae nostra malitia, et dierum quibus vivmus peccata sufficiunt, ut circa haec purganda et promerenda omnis vitae nostrae meditatio laborque versetur, ne etiam de futurorum diffidentia inexpiabilis irreligiositas contrahatur. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, In Evangelium Matthaei Commentarius, Cap V

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow. For tomorrow will be anxious about itself. Sufficient for the day are its own evils. 1 It is the common judgement that a day is a lapse of time the course of which is illuminated by the light of the sun, into which the coming of night divides it from and replaces it with another day; the significance of the future is contained in tomorrow. God forbids us to be anxious about the future. Release by indifference to worries is not negligence, but faith. Why should we be anxious for tomorrow when tomorrow is anxious for itself? Therefore, our anxieties the anxious day dispels for us. But worry, so I judge, is a sentiment unique to human beings, for it provokes this feeling on account of concern, fear or sorrow. A day's course is in time, and only those who have  foreknowledge are moved by anxiety. Let a day, then, be understood as an animal that is wary, and keeps watch, and frets, and its own evil is sufficient for itself without the addition of sin heaped up from elsewhere. But the nature of the thing does not wish that the state of our mind should be determined by a day. For what has its own worries, its own evils suffice for it, and we are prohibited for being anxious about tomorrow with everything contained by the significance of the heavenly words. We are instructed, therefore, not to doubt concerning the future. There is enough wickedness in our life and the sins in which we live daily are sufficient that all our thoughts and labour should be engaged with the purging and expiation of them, lest exhibiting indifference for the future we should be drawn into unforgivable irreligiosity. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, from the Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Chapter 5 1 Mt 6.34

Seeking Causes

Et dedi cor meum ad inquirendum et considerandum in sapientia de omnibus quae fiunt sub sole. Hanc occupationem malam dedit Deus filiis hominum, ut occuparentur in ea.   Verbum Anian Aquila, Septuaginta, et Theodotio περιπασμὸν similiter transtulerunt, quod in distentionem Latinus interpres expressit, eo quod in varias sollicitudines mens hominis distenta lanietur. Symmachus vero ἀσχολίαν, id est, occupationem transtulit. Quia igitur saepius in hoc volumine nominatur, sive occupationem, sive distentionem, sive quid aliud dixerimus, ad superiorem sensum cuncta referantur. Dedit ergo Ecclesiastes primo omnium mentem suam ad sapientuam requirendam, et citra licitum se extendens, voluit causas rationesque cognoscere: quare parvuli corriperentur a daemone, cur naufragia et justos et impios pariter absorberent; utrum haec et his similia casu evenirent, an judicio Dei. Et si casu, ubi provendentia? si judicio, ubi iusitia Dei. Haec, inquit, nosse desiderans, intellexi superfluam curam et sollicitiudinem per diversa cruciantem a Deo hominibus datam, ut scire cupiant, quod scire non licitum est. Pulchre autem causa praemissa, a Deo data distentio est. Quomodo enim in Epistola ad Romanos scribitur: Propter quod tradidit eos Deus in passiones ignominae. Et iterum: Propter quod tradidit eos Deus in reprobum sensum, ut faciant quae non oportet. Ac deinde: Propterea tradidit eos Deus in desideria cordis in immunditiam. Et ad Thessalonicenses: Propterea mittet eis Deus operantionem erroris. Et prius causae ostenduntur, quare vel passionibus ignominae, vel sensui reprobo, vel cordis sui desideriis concedantur, aut quid fecerint, ut operationem erroris accipiant. Ita et in praesentiarum idcirco Deus distentionem malam dedit hominibus, ut distendantur in ea, quia prius sponte sua et propria voluntate haec vel illa fecerunt. Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarius Ecclesiasten, Liber I

'And I gave my heart to enquiring and considering in wisdom all the things that are beneath the sun. This evil occupation God has given to the sons of men, that they be occupied by it. 1  The Hebrew word 'Anian' Aquila, the Septuagint and Theodotion translate similarly as περιπασμὸν, which is expressed in our language as pursuit, that is, when by the various cares the mind of man is stretched and torn. Symmachus has ἀσχολίαν, which is translated as occupation. And so what is often named in this book as occupation or pursuit, or some other name, all refer to the meaning given. Ecclesiastes thus first gives his mind to the seeking of wisdom and as far as he may he stretches himself, wishing to know causes and reasons, why little ones are taken by death, why both the righteous and the impious are destroyed in a shipwreck, whether there are similar matters of chance determining these things, or whether it is a matter of the judgement of God. And if it is by chance, then where is providence? And if it is by judgement, then where is the justice of God? These things, he says, desiring to know, I understand as an overwhelming care and anxiety through the different troubles God has given to man, that they long to know what it is not permitted to know. Beautiful is a cause given in advance, God gives the pursuit of it. It is written in the Letter to the Romans, 'On account of which God gave them to disgraceful passions 2 And again 'On account on which God gave them to a depraved mind, that they do what they should not 3 And then 'Thus God gave them to the uncleanliness in the desires of their heart.' 4 And to the Thessalonians it is said: 'Therefore God sent to them the working of error.' 5 And what is said before these lines I have quoted show the causes, that is, why they fall into disgraceful passions, or into depraved minds, or to the desires of their heart, or whatever they may do when they take to the doing of wrong. Thus in this giving God gives men to evil pursuits, that they pursue them, because before man out of his own accord and his own will this or that would do. Saint Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Book 1 1 Eccl 1.13 2. Rom 1.6 3 Rom 1.28  4 Rom 1.24  5 2 Thes 2.10

The Usefulness of Frights

Οὐδὲ οἱ φόβοι τοῖς εὐφρονοῦσιν ἄρχηστοι· ὡς δὲ ἐψω φημι, καὶ λίαν καλοὶ, καὶ σωτήριοι. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ γίνεσθαι αὐτοὺς ἀπευχόμεθα, γινομένοις γε παιδευόμεθα. Κάμνουσα γὰρ ψυχὴ, ἐγγυς ἐστι Θεοῦ, φησί που Θαυμασιώτατα λέγων ὁ Πετρος· καὶ παντὶ διαφυγόντι κίνδυνον, πλείων οἰκείωσις περὶ τὸν περισώσαντα. Μὴ οὖν ὅτι μετεσχήκαμεν τοῦ κακοῦ δυσχεραίνωμεν· ἀλλ' ὅτι διαπεφεύγαμεν, εὐχαριστήσωμεν. Μηδὲ ἄλλοι φανῶμεν τῷ Θεῷ παρὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῶν κινδύνων, καὶ ἄλλοι μετὰ τοὺς κινδύνους· ἀλλὰ βουληθῶμεν εἴτε ἐνδημοῦντες, εἴτε ἐκδημοῦντες, εἴτε ἰδιωτεύοντες, εἴτε τὰ κοινὰ πράττοντες, δεὶ γὰρ οὔτω λέγειν, καὶ μὴ λείπειν, τῷ σώσαντι κατακολουθεῖν, καὶ γίνεσθαι τῆς ἐκείνου μοίρας, μικρὰ τῶν μικρῶν καὶ χαμαὶ ἐρχομένων φροντίσαντες, Καὶ δῶμέν τι διήγημα τοῖς εἰς ὕστερον, μέγα μὲν εἰς δόξαν ἡμῶν, μέγα δὲ εἰς ὠφέλειαν ψυχῆς· τὸ δὲ αὐτὸ καὶ παίδευμα τοῖς πολλοῖς χρησιμώτατον, ὅτι κρείττων ἀσφαλείας κίνυδνος, καὶ συμφορὰ εὐημερίας αἱρετωτέρα· εἴ γε πρὸ μὲν τῶν φόβων ἥμεν τοῦ κόσμου, μετὰ δὲ τοὺς φόβους τοῦ Θεοῦ γεγενήμεθα. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, Ἐπιστολή Κ' , Καισαριῳ

Not even frights are without usefulness to the wise, or, as I should say, they are extremely valuable and salutary. For even if we wish that they might not occur, when they do happen they instruct us. For the troubled soul is near to God, as the most admirable Peter somewhere says,1 and everyone who escapes a danger is brought into nearer relation to the one who saved him. Let us not then be annoyed that we had a share of some evil but let us give thanks that we are delivered. And let us not show ourselves one thing to God in time of dangers, and another after the danger, but let us resolve, whether at home or abroad, whether we are in private or involved in public matters, for I must say this and not pass over it, that we follow the one who has preserved us, and that we be a part of that one, coming to think little of the little concerns of earth, and let us be a tale to those who come after, great for our glory and great for the benefit of our soul, and with that a very useful lesson to many, that danger is better than security and that misfortune is preferable to success, at least if before with our fears we were of the world but after them we become God's. Saint Gregory Nazianzus, Letter 20, to Caesarius his brother 1 Source unknown but cf Ps 34.19

Grief over the Times

Μὴ σφόδρα δάκνου τοῖς λυπηροῖς. Ἂ γὰρ ἂν ἥττον λυπώπεθα ἥττόν ἐστι λυπηρά. Οὐδὲν δεινὸν εἰ ανεθλφθησαν οἱ αἰρετικοὶ, καὶ τῷ ἔαρι θαῥῥοῦσι τῶν φωλεῶν ἐξερπύσαντες, ὡς αὐτὸς γράφεις. Μικρὰ συριοῦσιν, εὔ οἴδα, εἴτα καταδὐσοντι, καὶ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ, καὶ τῷ καιρῷ πολεμούμενοι· καὶ τόσῳ μᾶλλον, ὅσῳπερ ἂν τῷ Θεῷ τὸ πᾶν ἐπιτρέπωεν. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, Ἐπιστολή ΟΒ', Γρηγοριῳ Νυσσης

Do not let troubles turn you to excessive grief. For the less we grieve over things the less grievous they are. It is not strange that the heretics have thawed and encouraged by the spring are creeping out of their holes, as you write. They will hiss for a short time, I know, and then will hide away, overcome both by the truth and the times, and all the more so the more we entrust the whole matter to God. Saint Gregory Nazianzus, Letter 72, to To Gregory of Nyssa

Steering A Steady Course

Καὶ γὰρ οἰς μὲν εὔκολος πρὸς μεταβολὴν ὴ διάνοια, τούτοις οὐδεν ἀπεικος καὶ τὸν βιον εἰναι μὴ τεταγμνέον· οἶς δὲ πεπηγυία ἡ γνωμη, καὶ ἀεὶ ἐστῶσα καὶ ἡ αὐτὴ, τούτοις ἀκολουθον συμφώνως τῇ προαιρέσει τὴν ζωὴν διεξάγειν. Τῶ ὄντι γὰρ κυβερνήτη μὲν οὐκ ἐφεῖται γαλήνην ποιεῖν ὁτε βούλεται· ἡμιν δὲ ἀκυμονα ἐαυτοῖς καθιστᾷν τὸν βιον καὶ πάνυ ῥᾴδιον, ἐάν τοὺς ἔνδοθεν ἐκ τῶν παθῶν ἐπανισταμένους ἡμιν θορύβους κατασιγάσωμεν, καὶ τῶν ἔξωθεν προσπιπτόντων ὑψηλοτέραν τὴν γνώμην καταστηθώμεθα. Καὶ γὰρ οὔτε ζημίαι, οὔτε ἀῥρωστίαι, οὔτε αἱ λοιπαὶ δυσχέρειαι τοῦ βίου, ἄψονται τοῦ σπουδαίου, ἔως ἄν ἔχῃ τὴν διάνοιαν τῷ Θεῷ ἐμπορευομενην, καὶ τὸ μελλον ἀποσκοποῦσαν, καὶ τῆς χαμόθεν ἐγειρομένης ζάλης κούφως καὶ εὐσταλῶς ὑπεραίρουσαν. Ἐπεὶ οἵ γε σφοδρῶς ταῖς τοῦ βίου μερίμναις κατειλημμένοι, οἶον ὄρνιθες πολύσαρκοι εἰκῆ τὸ πτερὸν ἔχοντες, κάτω που σύρονται μετὰ τῶν βοσκημάτων. Σε δὲ τοσοῦτον ἰδεῖν ὑπὸ τῶν πραγμάτων ἐπετράπημεν, ὄσον οἱ ἐν πελάγει ἀλλήλους παραμειβόμενοι. Ἅγιος Βασίλειος Καισαρείας, Ἐπιστολή ΣϞΓ', Ἰουλιανῷ Source: Migne PG 32.1036a-b

As with the mind disposed to change, it is probable that life is not ordered; so with thought fixed and ever steadfast in itself, it follows that life is in accord with purpose. Indeed it is not given to the helmsman to make a calm when he wishes; but with us, it is no trouble at all to settle down life by stilling the storms of passion that surge within, that is, by rising above things that assail us from without. Neither loss, nor sickness, nor the other ills of life touch the steady man insofar as his mind walks with God, looking toward the future, and so easily and lightly he weathers the billows that rise up from below. Thus do not be gravely troubled with the cares of life, for such men are like fat birds who have wings and yet they lope along beside the grazing beasts. But you, the more you are given over to difficulties, should be like those who skim over the sea. Saint Basil of Caesarea, from Letter 293, To Julianus