Gifts And Wickedness

Εἰ οὖν ὑμεῖς πονηροὶ ὄντες οἴδατε δόματα ἀγαθὰ διδόναι τοῖς τέκνοις ὑμῶν, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς δώσει ἀγαθὰ τοῖς αἰτοῦσιν αὐτόν.  Δόματα ἀγαθὰ καλεῖ τὰς πνευματικὰς δωρεάς· ὁ δὲ Λουκᾶς Πνευμα ἅγιον εἶπεν ἀντὶ τοῦ εἰπεῖν, ἀγαθά· καὶ οὐδὲν τὸ διάφορον· τὸ γὰρ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, αὐτὸ ἐστι τὸ φύσει ἀγαθόν· διὸ καὶ τοῖς μετόχοις αὐτοῦ δίδωσιν ἀγαθά· τοὶς δὲ ἅγαν πονηροῖς, διὰ τὸ ανενδότως ἁμαρτάνειν, τρόπον τινὰ φύσις αὐτοῖς ἡ κακία γίνεται· οἶός ἐστιν ὁ Σατανᾶς καὶ οἱ δαίμονες· δονατὸν γὰρ καὶ τούτους φύσει κακοὺς εἰπεῖν, καίπερ μὴ φύσει κακοὺς δημιουργηθέντας, ἀλλ' ἐξ αὐτοπροαιρέτου κακίας ἀπεσκληκότας. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον Εὐάγγελιον

'If then you who are wicked know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him?' 1 By good gifts He speaks of spiritual gifts. And like Luke 2 he speaks of the Holy Spirit when he uses the word 'good', and without confusion, for the Holy Spirit is in his own nature good and thus to those who participate in Him he confers good gifts. But to those who are wicked, that is, unbridled in their sins, wicked things befit them on account of their nature, as it is with Satan and the demons. For one may attribute to these an evil nature, but not that they were created wicked, but rather that by their own wills they passed into wickedness. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Matthew, Fragment 1 Mt 7.11 2 Lk 11.13

Witch Spirits

Puellam quamdam habentur, spiritum pythonem. Quid pythonica divinatio gerat artis, in libro Regum inveniemus, ubi, rogante Saul, pythonissa vel  animam Sameulis, vel pro ea potius spiritum immundum evocavit ab inferis. Quod magicae  phantasiae genus ab Apolline Pythio repertum, atque ab ejus cognomine sic dicunt esse vocatum.  Sed et Hebraeum nomen congruit, qui Pythona os abyssi dicunt. Isti homines servi Dei excelsi sunt. Non voluntatis ista confessio est, quam praemium sequitur confitendi; sed timore Spiritus sancti  cogente, vera spiritus mendax loquitur, non ausus luce praesente suas ultra celare tenebras.  Peccatori autem dicit Deus: 'Quare tu enarras justitias meas?' Ne corrumpamur amari Melle doli, si vera canat, qui falsa ministrat ut Arator ait. Praecipio tibi in nomine Jesu Christi exire ab ea Barjesum qui fidei impugnator erat, et artis infirmitate, et oculorum amissione caecavit. Hanc vero,  quae perversa licet mente, vera tamen loquebatur, arte soulmmodo nefaria privare curavit. Quia  enim indignum erat ut verbum Evangelii spirtus immundus annuntiaret, abscedere hunc et silere praecepit, quia daemonia cum tremore debent Dominum confiteri, non autem laudare cum gaudio. Sanctus Beda, Super Acta Apostolorum Expositio, Caput XVI

'A certain girl having a pythonic spirit' 1 What this art of pythonic divination that she had might be, we find in the book of Kings, when for Saul's questioning, the witch called up the spirit of Samuel, or rather an unclean spirit, from Hell. 2 Which magical phantasy is found to be of the skill of the Pythian Apollo, and by his title it is named. But even the Hebrew name is appropriate, who name the mouth of the abyss Pythona. 'These men are servants of the most high God.' This confession is not of the will from which reward follows to the confessor, but it is forced by fear of the Holy Spirit, and so the lying spirit speaks truth, not daring anymore to conceal its darkness with the light present. For God says to the sinner, 'Why do you speak of my righteousness?' 3    'That we not be corrupted with the honey of bitter cunning, as if he may sing truth, who serves lies.' as Arator said. 'I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out from her.' That Bar Jesus who fought against the faith with the weakness of his art, the Apostle blinded with the taking away of his vision. 4 But this girl, who had a perverse mind, yet spoke the truth, he cured with the taking away of the evil, for indignant that an unclean spirit should announce the word of the Gospel, he commanded it to be silent and come out of her, since the demons should confess God in fear, not praise him joyfully. Saint Bede, from the Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 1 Acts 16.16 2 1 Kings 1.28 3 Psalm 49.16  4 Acts 13.8-11

Slaves Of Satan

Affligit Pharao filios Israel luto et latere. Israel similitudo est populi nostri. Pharao autem est diaboli, qui imposuit jugum gravissimum servitutis ex luto et latere operari; id est, terrenis et lutulentis operibus incubare, admistis etiam paleis, hoc est, levibus et irrationabilibus factis, ut his vitiroum actibus populum Dei comprimere, et pectora omnium muro incredulitatis posset occludere, ut nemo esset, qui regnum ejus aut disperderet, aut vinceret. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Exodum, Caput III Source: Migne PL 83.287a-b

The Pharaoh afflicts the sons of Israel with mud and bricks. Israel is a figure for our people, Pharaoh of the devil, he who imposes a heavy yoke of servitude with the labour of mud and bricks, that is, he oppresses with worldly and defiling work, sending us even to straw, that is, fatuous and irrational deeds, that with these deeds of vice he oppress the people of God and enclose their hearts within a wall of disbelief, that there be none who might destroy or conquer his kingdom. Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Exodus, Chap 3

A Fearful Fame

Πολλοὺς ἔγωγε οἴδα μὴ δυνηθέντας γνωσθῆναι διὰ κατορθωμάτων, διὰ φαυλότητος μᾶλλον καὶ ἄκρας πονηρίας ἐπισήμους δειχθέντας καὶ φοβερούς. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΡΛΓ' Θεοδοσιῳ

I at least have known many who, not being capable of understanding correction, are rather through depravity and the depths of wickedness famed and feared. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 133, To Theodosius

Forbidden Knowledge

Si sapientiam et doctrinam Babyloniorum peccatum est discere, cur Danihel didicit quod non licebat? Si Danihel sciret sapientiam Chaldaeorum esse peccatum, nunquam acquiesceret discere quod non licebat sicut nolebat comedere de mensa regis, neque bibere de vino ejus ne pollueretur. Nam et Moyses omnem sapientiam Aegyptiorum didicerat. Petrus Archidiaconus  Liber De Diversis Quaestiunculis  Migne 96 1348

If it is a sin to learn the wisdom and teaching of the Babylonians, why did Daniel learn what was not permitted? 1 If Daniel had known the Chaldean wisdom to be a sin, he would never have agreed to learn what was not permitted, just as he was unwilling to eat from the table of the king and to drink his wine lest he be defiled. 2 For even Moses learned all the wisdom of the Egyptians. 3 Peter of Pisa, The Book of Diverse Questions 1 Dan 1.4 2 Dan 1.8  3 Acts 7.22

Opposing The Righteous

Transmigra in montes sicut passer. Vult iustum ad desertum migrare, ut ibi eum facilius elidat. Ut sagittent in obscuro rectos corde. Numquam enim in luce pugnant, sed semper in tenebris. Quapropter iustus aiebat: Lucerna pedibus meis verbum tuum, Domine. Iustus autem fecit? Id est, nihil dignum fecit, ut mereatur interfici.  Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarioli Psalms, Psalm X

Flee to the mountains like a sparrow. 1 He wishes that the righteous man go to the wilds, that there he might more easily destroy him. That they shoot in shadows at the righteous in heart. 2 For never in the light do they fight, but always in the darkness. For which reason the righteous man said, 'Your word is a light for my feet, O Lord.' 3 What has the righteous man done? 4 That is, he has done nothing that he deserve to be slain. Saint Jerome, Commentarioli on the Psalms, Psalm 10 1 Ps 10.2 2 Ps 10.3 3 Ps 118.105 4 Ps 10.4

Victory And Defeat

Ista palo Sisaram hostem interficit, id est, ligni crucis virtute diabolum interimit, quod Barac, id est, prior populus per legis praecepta facere non potuit; sola enim ista per lignum, in quo spiritualibus sacramentis credentium salus est, fidei hostem affigit; quem deinde mortuum pellibus obtegit, id est, inclusum in carnalium cordibus derelinquit. Non enim latent mortifera ipsius, nisi in corruptibilitate vitae viventibus, et peccata mortalia perpetrantibus, qui, dum prave viventes, segregantur a corpore Christi, efficuntur membra diaboli. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Librum Judicum, Cap II

And this woman Jael kills the enemy Sisara with a peg, 1 that is, with the power of the wood of the cross she slays the devil, which Barac, that is, the prior people, were not able to do through the commands of the Law, for only through this wood, in which is the salvation of the faithful with spiritual sacraments, is the enemy of the faith defeated. And she then wraps the dead man in pelts, that is, he perishes closed up in the carnal thoughts of the heart. For the death bearing nature of this is not hidden, unless to those living corrupt lives, and those committing mortal sins, those who while living in a depraved way, separated from the body of Christ, are made into members of the devil. Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On The Book of Judges, Chap 2 1 Judg 4.17-21

Raphael And The Wedding

Assumens Raphael quatuor ex servus Raguelis, et duos camelos, in Rages Medorum perrexit, et indicans ei cuncta de Tobia, recepit pecuniam, cumque secum ad nuptias fecit venire. Servi Raguel et cameli praedictores sunt de gentibus electi, per quos Dominus et alios colligit. Servi, quia serviunt necessitati eorum quibus evangelizant. Cameli, quia et onera infirmitatis eorum fraternae subjectione charitatis portant. Quare autem quatuor servi et cameli sint duo, supra monstratum est, ubi vaccae duae, et quatuor occiduntur arietes. [Sunt duae vaccae occisae, quia quicunque pro Christo, vel ipsi corpus suum sponte mortificant, ut hostia viva fiant, vel in manus infidelium tradunt occidendum: tales nimirum per arma justitiae, a dextris et sinistris, id est, in prosperis et adversis, contra hostem stare didicerunt. Sunt quatuor aristes occisi, quia sancti doctores et martyres quatuor libros sancti Evangelii fide et operatione conservant, quia quatuor virtutibus primis, prudentia, fortitudine, temperantia, justitia, muniuntur.] Tales adjuvante Raphael producunt Gabelum ad nuptias Tobiae, cum in unitatem Ecclesiae Christi novos populos, ipso divinitus opitulante, sancti praedictores aggregant. Sanctus Beda, In Librum Beati Partis Tobiae Allegorica Interpretatio

Raphael, taking four servants from Raguel and two camels, travelled to Rages in Media and telling him everything concerning Tobias, he received the money and brought him back with him to the wedding. 1 The servants and camels of Raguel are the preachers which are chosen from the nations, by which the Lord gathers others. And they are servants because they serve the needs of those whom they evangelize. And they are camels because they bear their weaknesses in the service of fraternal charity. 2 And why there are four servants and two camels we have shown above in the sacrifice of the two cows and the four rams. 3 That is, the two cows are those who for Christ either readily mortify their bodies that they be a living sacrifice, or give them into the hands of the infidels to be killed. And such folk certainly, by the arms of righteousness, in the right and left hand, that is, in prosperity and adversity, have been taught to stand against the enemy. And four rams are slain because the holy teachers and martyrs cherished four books for the working of faith, because with the four cardinal virtues, prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice, they are fortified. Such was the help that Raphael gave for the wedding of Tobias, that is, when the holy preachers with the Divine wealth gather a new people into the unity of the Church of Christ. Saint Bede, from An Allegorical Interpretation of the Book of Tobit 1 Tobit 9.6 2 cf Gal 6.2 3 Tobit 8.22

Work And Progress

Τοὺς πήχεις αὐτῆς ἐκτείνει ἐπὶ τὰ συμφέροντα τὰς δὲ χεῖρας αὐτῆς ἐρείδει εἰς ἄτρακτον. Ἄτρακτός ἐστι νοῦς καθαρὸς, συμπλέκων ἀρετὴν ἐπ' ἀρετῇ, καὶ δόγματι δόγμα· ἢ λόγος προφορικὸς, ἔλκων ἀπὸ τοῦ νοῦ πνευματικὴν θεωρίαν. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαὶ Εἰς Παροιμίας

She stretches out her arms to the things brought before her, her hands clutch the spindle. 1 The spindle is the pure mind, gathering up virtue on virtue, and teaching on teaching. The word is the weft passing to and fro, by which the mind is led to spiritual insight. Origen, On Proverbs, Fragment 1 Prov 31.19

Boat And Church

Ascendit in naviculam, et transfretavit et venit in civitatem suam. Ascendit, inquit, in naviculam, Christus Ecclesiae suae navem, saeculi fluctus semper mitigaturus ascendit, ut credentes in se ad coelestem patriam tranquilla navigatione perducat, et municipes civitatis suae faciat quos humanitiatis suae fecit esse consortes. Non ergo Christus indiget navi, sed navis indiget Christo, quia sine coelesti gubernatione navis Ecclesiae per mundanum pelagus, tali et tanto discrimine ad coelestem portum non valet pervenire. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Homilia L, De Paralytico Curato, Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis Homilia CVIII Source: Migne PL 52.340b, PL 57.503b-c

He went into the boat and passed across and came to his own city. 1 He went, it says, into the boat, that is, Christ went into the ship of his own Church, ever subduing the waves of the age, that those faithful to Him may be led with calm navigation to the celestial fatherland, and he may make them citizens of His own city whom He has made coheirs of His own flesh. Christ, therefore, does not need the boat, but the boat needs Christ, because without heavenly guidance the ship of the Church passing through the waters of the world, lacking such and so much discrimination would not be able to come to the celestial harbour. Saint Peter Chrysologus, from Homily 50, On The Curing of the Paralytic, and Saint Maximus of Turin from Sermon 118 1 Mt 9.1

Seeking The Lord

Ζητήσατε τὸν Κύριον καὶ κραταιώθητε· ζητήσατε τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ διαπαντός. Τί ἐστι τὸ ζητεῖν τὸν Κύριον; τὸ τὰ ἐκείνου φρονεῖν, τὸ ἀεὶ αὐτὸν λογίζεσθαι, τὸ ἀεὶ ἐν διανοίᾳ ἔχειν, τὸ μηδέποτε παύεσθαι ὁμιλοῦντα αὐτῷ διὰ τῆς προσευχῆς καὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν πράξεων. Ἄμαχοι δὲ οἱ ζητοῦντες ἔσονται καὶ ἀήττητοι. Παρορμήσας μέντοι ὁ λόγος τοὺς τῶν ἐθνῶν κήρυκας ἐπὶ τὸ προθύμως ἐκζητῆσαι τὸν Κύριον, ἔτι μᾶλλον αὐτοὺς ἐπιῥῥώννυσι λέγων, Κραταιώθητε, τουτέστι, Μὴ χαυνοῦσθε εἰς τὸ ζητεῖν αὐτον. Τοῦτο δὲ προσφωνεῖ αὐτοῖς, ὡς δεομένοις κράτους καὶ δυνάμεως εἰς τὸ ἰσχῦσαι τὸ προστεταγμένον ποιῆσαι· ὅπερ ἧν τὸ ἔθνεσι κηρύξαι, Ἔλλησί τε καὶ βαρβάποις, κατὰ τὸ, Κύριος δώσει ῥῆμα τοῖς εὐαγγελιζομένοις δυνὰμει πολλῇ. Διδάσκων δὲ πῶς δεῖ τὸ ζητεῖν ποιεῖν, καὶ ὅτι οὐχ ἅπαξ ἢ δὶς, ἀλλὰ παρὰ πάντα τὸν βίον τὴν ἄνωθεν ἐπικουρίαν προσήκει ζητεῖν καὶ τὴν ὠφέλειαν καρποῦσθαι, ἐπήγαγε· ζητήσατε τὸ πρόσθπον αὐτοῦ διαπαντός· οὐ τρίτον τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ, κατὰ τὸν ὑπὸ Μωῦσέως δοθέντα νόμον ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ φαινόμενοι, ἀλλὰ παρὰ πάντα τὸν βίον. Εὐσέβιος ὁ Καισάρειος, Ὑπομνηματα Ἐις Τους ψαλμους. ψαλμος ΡΔ'

Seek the Lord and be strengthened, seek His face always. 1 What is it to seek the Lord? To think the things of Him, to think of Him always, to always have Him in one's mind, never ceasing to associate with Him in prayer and good works. And they who seek Him shall be unconquerable and invincible. When, therefore, the word of the preacher of the peoples exhorts that the Lord be sought with zeal, as encouragement, he says, 'Be strengthened', that is, do not weary in your deed of seeking. And He also speaks to those who are lacking in strength and virtue, that He shall strengthen those to whom it is commanded to do this, as it was preached to the Gentiles, Greek and Barbarian, according to which, 'The Lord shall give a word of much virtue to the evangelized.' 2 And he teaches in what manner one should seek Him, that it should not be only once or twice, but through one's whole life one's work to seek the supernal help, and to seize on profit there. The line then reads, 'Seek his face always.' Not that three times a year, as is relayed in the law of Moses, one should come into His sight, 3 but all through one's life.  Eusebius of Caesarea, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 104 1 Ps 104.4 2 Ps 67.12 3 Exod 34.23, Deut 16.16

The Value Of Examination

Quoniam probasti nos Deus, igne nos examinasti sicut examinatur argentum. Sed quae tandem comparationis similitudo est, examinatos eos igni, sicut examinatur argentum? Est, ut arbitror, examinandi argenti illa sola ratio est, ut sordes  quae ex prima terrae materie adhaeserint decoquantur, ut quae fraudulenter ex alterius metalli natura admixta fuerint purgentur. Deus itaque credentes in se no tamquam fidei eorum ignarus examinat: sed quia etiam secundum Apostolum tentatio probationem affert, examinantur credentes no ad cognitionem Dei, sed ad sui probationem: ut igne purgati, et ab admixtione vitiorum carnalium defaecati, splendeant examinatae innocentiae claritate. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis,Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum LXV

'You tested us, O God, with fire you examined us as silver is examined.' 1  But what is this likeness of comparison that He examines them with fire as silver is examined? It is, so I judge it, that silver is examined in such a manner for one reason only, that the baseness which remains in it from the earth might be burnt away, that which has been deceitfully mixed into it of some other metal might be purged. Thus God does not examine the faithful as if He were ignorant of their faith, but because, as the Apostle says, testing leads to approval, 2 and so the faithful are not examined for the sake of God's knowledge, but for their own approval, that purged with fire and stripped of the admixture of carnal vices those examined might shine with the light of innocence. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 65 1 Ps 65.10 2 Rom 5.4

Treasure And Earthen Vessels

Ἔχομεν δὲ τὸν θησαυρὸν τοῦτον ἐν ὀστρακίνοις σκεύεσιν, ἵνα ἡ ὑπερβολὴ τῆς δυνάμεως ᾖ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ μὴ ἐξ ἡμῶν. Ὀστράκινα λέγει σκεύη τὰς εὐτελεῖς λέξεις καὶ τὸ ἄπλαστον τῆς ἑρμηνείας. εἰ γὰρ οἱ κήρυκες τοῦ εὐαγγελίου κατ' ἀνθρωπίνην φιλοσοφίαν ἐπρέσβευον τῆς ἀληθείας, ὑπωπτεύθη ἂν ἐξ ἀνθρωπίνης τέχνης καὶ μὴ ἐκ δυνάμεως θεοῦ κεκρατῆσθαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τῇ σωτηριώδει παιδεύσει· ἀγραμμάτων δὲ καὶ ἰδιωτῶν ὄντων τῶν διακονουμένων ἡ ὑπερβολὴ τῆς δυνάμεως τοῦ κατὰ τὴν γνῶσιν θησαυροῦ, ἐκ θεοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἐκ θνητῶν ὑποληφθήσεται. τούτῳ συνᾴδει τὸ εἰ καὶ ἰδιώτης τῷ λόγῳ ἀλλ' οὐ τῇ γνώσει, καὶ τὸ ὁ λόγος μου καὶ τὸ κήρυγμά μου οὐκ ἐν πειθοῖς σοφίας λόγοις· εἶχεν γὰρ τὸν θησαυρὸν τῆς γνώσεως οὐκ ὢν κατ' αὐτὴν ἰδιώτης, ἐν ὀστρακίνοις σκεύεσιν ἰδιώτης ὢν τῷ λόγῳ. Δυδύμος του Ἀλεξανδρέως, Εἰς Την Δευτεραν Ἐπιστολήν Προς Κορινθίους, Ἐκλογή

We have this treasure in earthen vessels, whence the greatness of its power is by God and not by us. 1 An earthen vessel he calls his common manner of speech and his simple diction. For if the preachers of the Gospel had announced the truth according to human philosophy, there would have been a suspicion that it was a matter of mere human artifice rather than the virtue of God by which men were brought to the teaching of salvation. But when unlettered and simple are the servants, the greatness of the power, according to the treasury of knowledge, is judged to be from God and not from mortal men. And this is consonant with: 'Even if unskilled in speech, not so in knowledge,' 2 and 'My speech and my preaching was not by the persuasion of clever words.' 3 For he had the treasury of knowledge, according to which he was not unskilled, and it was in earthen vessels, as much as his speech was unskilled. Didymus the Blind, Commentary on Second Letter to the Corinthians, Fragment 1 2 Cor 4.7 2 2 Cor 11.6 3 1 Cor 2.4

The Rise of a Scholar

Velut lampade quamdam divina luce fulgentem Didymum Dominus accednit. De cujus vita, atque institutis, quoniam ad Ecclesiae gloriam Dei munere concessus creditur, licet in transcursu, necessario tamen commemoranda nobis pauca videntur. Is namque in parva aetate, cum adhuc etiam prima litterarum ignoraret elementa, luminibus orbatus, majore desiderio scientiae veri luminis inflammatur: nec desperationem cupita adipiscedni passus est, cum audisset scriptum in Evangelio: Quod apud homines impossiblie est, possibile est apud Deum.  Hac igitur  divina  pollicitatione confisus indesinenter Dominum deprecabatur, non ut oculorum carnalium visum, sed ut illuminationem cordis acciperet. Miscebat tamen precibus studi ac laborem, et juges continuatasque vigilas, non ad legendum, sed ad audiendum adhibebat, ut quod aliis visus, hoc illi conferret auditus. Cum vero post lucubrationis laborem, somnus, ut fieri solet, legentibus advenisset, Didymus silentium illud non ad quietem, vel otium datum ducens, tanquam animal ruminans cibum, quem ceperat, ex integro revocabat, et ea quae dudum, percurrentibus aliis, ex librorum lectione cognoverat, memoria et animo retexebat, ut non tam audisse quae lecta fuerant, quam descripsisse ea mentis suae paginis videretur. Ita brevi, Deo docente, in tantam divinarum humanarumque rerum eruditionem ac scientiam venit, ut scholae ecclesiasticae, doctor exsisteret, Athanasio episcopo, caeterisque sapientibus in Ecclesia viris Dei admodum probatus. Rufinus Aquileiensis, Historia Ecclesiasticae, Lib II, Cap VII

The Lord kindled Didymus as a lamp shining with Divine light. Of his life and character, since it is believed that he was given by God for the glory of the Church, it seems necessary to us make brief mention. When he was of few years, while he was yet ignorant of the elements of letters, he was deprived of light, yet he was inflamed by a greater desire for the true light of knowledge, nor was he afflicted with despair of gaining what he desired, since he had heard that it was written in the Gospel, 'What is impossible for men is possible for God.' 1 Trusting in this Divine promise, he prayed to the Lord unceasingly, not that he might receive sight in his physical eyes, but that he might have illumination of heart. He combined labour with prayers and study and took to the toil of continuous vigils, not for reading but listening, that what sight gave to others hearing might give to him. But when after their work as usual sleep had come over the readers, Didymus, deeming that silence was given neither for rest nor idleness, like a clean animal chewing the cud, 2 what he had taken in, he would recall entire, and these things which others had raced through in their reading of books, in his mind and memory he would turn over and over, so that he seemed not so much to have heard what was read as to have written it out on the pages of his mind. Thus in a short time, with God teaching, he arrived at such erudition of Divine and human things that he became a teacher of the ecclesiastical school, having won the approval of bishop Athanasius and other wise men in the church of God. Rufinus of Aquileia, Ecclesiastical History, Book 2, Chap 7 1 Lk 18.27 2 Lev 11.3

A Martyr's Company

Τί δὲ καὶ ἑαυτὸν ἔκδοτον δέδωκα τῷ θανάτῳ, πρὸς πῦρ, πρὸς μάχαιραν, πρὸς θηρία; ἀλλ’ ἐγγυς μαχαίρας ἐγγὺς θεοῦ, μεταξὺ θηρίων μεταξὺ Θεοῦ· μόνον ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς τὸ συμπαθεῖν αὐτῷ πάντα ὑπομένω, αὐτοῦ με ἐνδυναμοῦντος τοῦ τελείου ἀνθρώπου.   Ἅγιος Ἰγνάτιος Ἀντιοχείας, Ἐπιστολή Προς Σμύρναιοις

And why have I also given myself over to death, to fire, to the sword, to wild beasts? To be near the sword is to be near to God; he who is in the company of wild beasts is in company with God; provided only I undergo all this in the name of Jesus Christ that I may suffer  with Him, 1 He the perfect man strengthening me. 2 Saint Ignatius of Antioch, from the Letter to the Smyrneans 1 Rom 8:17 2 Phil 4:13