Six Books On The Priesthood, St. John Chrysostom

Holy Trinity Orthodox Mission
Saint John Chrysostom

Six Books on the Priesthood
English Translation by Graham Neville
Edited by Veronika Riml, von Altrosenburg
Content:
Introduction. 1. Johns Deceit. 2. Basils Reproaches. 3. Johns Reply. 4. The
Difficulties of Pastoral Care. . !o"e # The Chief Thin$. %. John Continues his
&polo$ia. '. The (lory of the Priesthood. ). The Difficulty of the Priesthood. *. The
Character and Te+ptations of a Bishop. 1,. Particular Duties and Pro-le+s. 11. The
Penalty for .ailure. 12. The /inistry of the 0ord. 13. Te+ptations of the Teacher. 14.
The 1eed for Purity. 1. The Contrast Bet2een Bishop and /on3. 1%. The Conclusion
of Johns &polo$ia.
Introduction.
(raham Nevilles version of St John Chrysostoms Six Books on the Priesthood to English
readers of the twentieth century was u!lished in "#$% !y S&P&C&'& in (reat Britain and
su!se)uently rerinted in "#*% !y St +ladimirs Seminary Press, New -ork& .he original
translation !y .&/& 0oxon was u!lished !y S&P&C&'& in (reat Britain in "#12& 3t was felt !y
some 4rthodox Church leaders that the British Pu!lication was highly aroriate for a
scholastic audience and erhas not sensitive enough to the needs of English seaking 4rthodox
readers& .his is the reason !ehind the few simlifications that 3 have attemted to make& .hough
3 do not consider these changes to !e erfect, 3 can only hoe that 3 will !e forgiven for any
serious errors&
3n 5#" St& John Chrysostom sat down in /ntioch to write his six !ooks on 6Priesthood 75#18#"
CE9& :e was highly influenced !y (regory, and he !uilt uon his ideas a!out the function of the
riest as teacher and sheherd, descri!ing in more detail the difficulties, erils and temtations
he encounters in his service& But he also added new themes that were not touched in (regorys
treatise& 3n discussing the resonsi!ility of the riest for the souls of his flock and his liturgical
and sacramental functions, Chrysostom found in them a reason to ascri!e to him an awesome
dignity, a high honor, and even a character which is different from human:
"
6;hen one is re)uired to reside over the Church, and to !e entrusted with the care of so
many souls, the whole female sex must retire !efore the magnitude of the task, and the
ma<ority of men also= and we must !ring forward those who to a large extent surass all
others, and soar as much a!ove them in excellence of sirit as Saul overtoed the whole
:e!rew nation in !odily stature: or rather far more& >or in this case let me not take the
height of shoulders as the standard of in)uiry= !ut let the distinction !etween the astor
and his charge !e as great as that !etween rational man and irrational creatures, not to say
even greater, in as much as the risk is concerned with things of far greater imortance&
7Book ?:?97$9
6>or the riestly office is indeed discharged on earth, !ut it ranks amongst
heavenly ordinances= and very naturally so: for neither man, nor angel, nor archangel, nor
any other created ower, !ut the Paraclete :imself, instituted this vocation, and
ersuaded men while still a!iding in the flesh to reresent the ministry of angels&
;herefore the consecrated riest ought to !e as ure as if he were standing in the heavens
themselves in the midst of those owers& 7Book5: %9
Chrysostom sees that the role of riests in the sacraments of reconciliation, !atism and
Eucharist makes our salvation deendent uon them:
6>or if any one will consider how great a thing it is for one, !eing a man, and
comassed with flesh and !lood, to !e ena!led to draw near to that !lessed and ure
nature, he will then clearly see what great honor the grace of the Sirit has vouchsafed to
riests= since !y their agency these rites are cele!rated, and others nowise inferior to
these !oth in resect of our dignity and our salvation& >or they who inha!it the earth and
make their a!ode there are entrusted with the administration of things which are in
:eaven, and have received an authority that (od has not given to angels or archangels&
>or it has not !een said to them, @;hatsoever ye shall !ind on earth shall !e !ound in
:eaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall !e loosed in :eaven&A&&&& this
!inding lays hold of the soul and enetrates the heavens= and what riests do here !elow
(od ratifies a!ove, and the 0aster confirms the sentence of his servants& >or indeed what
is it !ut all manner of heavenly authority which :e has given them when :e says,
@;hose sins you remit they are remitted, and whose sins you retain they are retainedBA
;hat authority could !e greater than thisB @.he >ather has committed all <udgment to the
SonBA But 3 see it all ut into the hands of these men !y the Son& >or they have !een
conducted to this dignity as if they were already translated to :eaven, and had
transcended human nature, and were released from the assions to which we are
lia!le&7Book 5:C9
6>or transarent madness it is to desise so great a dignity, without which it is not
ossi!le to o!tain either our own salvation, or the good things which have !een romised
to us& >or if no one can enter into the kingdom of :eaven excet he !e regenerate through
water and the Sirit, and he who does not eat the flesh of the Dord and drink :is !lood is
excluded from eternal life, and if all these things are accomlished only !y means of
those holy hands, 3 mean the hands of the riest, how will any one, without these, !e a!le
to escae the fire of hell, or to win those crowns which are reserved for the
victoriousB7Book 5:C9
?
John Chrysostom reaches the conclusion that the authority of the riests over the Sacraments of
Batism, Eeconciliation, and /nointing is a reason for them to !e more feared and honored than
kings and Jewish riests and to !e more loved than arents:
6.hese verily are they who are entrusted with the angs of siritual travail and the !irth
which comes through !atism: !y their means we ut on Christ, and are !uried with the
Son of (od, and !ecome mem!ers of that !lessed :ead& ;herefore they might not only
!e more <ustly feared !y us than rulers and kings, !ut also !e more honored than arents=
since these !egat us of !lood and the will of the flesh, !ut the others are the authors of our
!irth from (od, even that !lessed regeneration which is the true freedom and the sonshi
according to grace& .he Jewish riests had authority to release the !ody from lerosy, or,
rather, not to release it !ut only to examine those who were already released, and you
know how much the office of riest was contended for at that time& But our riests have
received authority to deal, not with !odily lerosy, !ut siritual uncleanness FF not to
ronounce it removed after examination, !ut actually and a!solutely to take it away&
;herefore they who desise these riests would !e far more accursed than Gathan and
his comany, and deserve more severe unishment& &&&(od has !estowed a ower on
riests greater than that of our natural arents&&& >or our natural arents generate us unto
this life only, !ut the others unto that which is to come& /nd the former would not !e a!le
to avert death from their offsring, or to reel the assaults of disease= !ut these others
have often saved a sick soul, or one which was on the oint of erishing, >or not only at
the time of regeneration, !ut afterwards also, they have authority to forgive sins& @3s any
sick among youBA it is said, @let him call for the elders of the Church and let them ray
over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Dord& /nd the rayer of faith shall
save the sick, and the Dord will raise him u: and if he have committed sins they shall !e
forgiven him&A /gain: our natural arents, should their children come into conflict with
any men of high rank and great ower in the world, are una!le to rofit them: !ut riests
have reconciled, not rulers and kings, !ut (od :imself when :is wrath has often !een
rovoked against them&7Book 5: $9
4istorical Bac3$round.
4nly three decades searate the two earliest atristic treatises on riesthood= yet they
seak in two different languages, exress two different attitudes, and even use two different
theologies& ;e can exlain this only in art !y the enthusiasm of Chrysostom early in his career
as a riest in the great city of /ntioch& / casual look at the Christian literature of the time shows
that some of his descrition of the glamor, dignity and authority of the clerical office was
commonlace&
3n his farewell address to his congregation at Constantinole in 5*", St& (regory
NaHianHen says,
@ Perhas we may !e reroached, as we have !een !efore, with the ex)uisite character of
our ta!le, the slendor of our aarel, the officers who recede us, our haughtiness to
those who meet us& 3 was not aware that we ought to rival the consuls, the governors, the
most illustrious generals, who have no oortunity of lavishing their incomes= or that our
!elly ought to hunger for the en<oyment of the goods of the oor, and to exend their
necessaries on suerfluities, and !elch forth over the altars& 3 did not know that we ought
5
to ride on slendid horses, and drive in magnificent carriages, and !e receded !y a
rocession and surrounded !y alause, and have everyone make way for us, as if we
were wild !easts, and oen out a assage so that our aroach might !e seen afar& 3f these
sufferings have !een endured, they have now assed away: >orgive me this wrong& Elect
another who will lease the ma<ority: and give me my desert, my country life, and my
(od&A729
St& (regory of Nyssa, in his sermon on Eihany in 5*5, illustrates how the ordaining words of
the !isho can transform the character of the riest since they reresent the same divine ;ord
which changes the water of Batism, the !read of the Eucharist and the stones when consecrating
an altar,
@.he ower of that divine word !estows a secial dignity on the riest, and the !lessing
searates him from the ranks of the eole& -esterday he was !ut one of the crowd, !ut now he
has !een aointed to govern and reside, heal and instruct& 4utwardly he looks like he did
!efore, !ut inwardly he is transformed !y an invisi!le ower and (race&A7*9
3t aears that the great triumhs that Christianity en<oyed over the Pagans and the /ryan
heretics !y the ascent of .heodosius to the throne in 52* have !olstered the ower, influence and
honor of its leaders& .his does not only aear in the tone of the atristic writings of the eriod,
!ut also in the actions of the Church leaders& :istory gives us several examles& 3n 5#1, St&
/m!rose of 0ilan excommunicated .heodosius after his massacre of thousands of
.hessalonians when they had killed an army commander& .he Emeror, stried of the ensigns
of royalty, had to aear in the midst of the church of 0ilan, and hum!ly solicit, with sighs and
tears, the ardon of his sins& .heodosius was restored to communion after a delay of eight
months& 7#9 .he great temle of Serais at /lexandria was destroyed in 5#" under the direction
of its /rch!isho St& .heohilus& 7"19
3n a few decades, St& 3sidore of Peluse would lament the loss of the ancient values of
riesthood& :e writes to a !isho, @ 3t is not long since the Church had slendid teachers and
aroved disciles, and it would !e so again if !ishos would lay aside their tyranny and show a
fatherly interest in their eole&&&A ;riting to an am!itious deacon, he says, @ .he eiscoate is a
work not a relaxation= a solitude not a luxury= a resonsi!le ministration not an irresonsi!le
dominion= a fatherly suervision not a tyrrannical autocracy&A7""9
5t. (re$ory Theolo$ian "s 5t. John Chrysosto+.
.he evolution of the teaching of the early Church on Priesthood !etween (regory and
Chrysostom can !e attri!uted to a com!ination of factors, a change of times and the enthusiasm
of a young riest& /lthough it may have !een a !asis for further a!use of ower !y the clergy of
the 0iddle /ges in the ;est, and of the Scholastics definition of a riest as one who has the
ower to cele!rate the Eucharist and forgive sins, Chrysostom is not the one to !lame& :is
teaching must !e taken as a whole, and more weight should !e given to his later writings& .wo
years after writing Priesthood 7c&5#59, he says in his homily on Second Corinthians:
@But there are occasions in which there is no difference at all !etween the riest and those
under him= for instance, when we are to artake of the awful mysteries= for we are all alike
counted worthy of the same things: not as under the 4ld .estament IwhenJ the riest ate some
things and those under him others, and it was not lawful for the eole to artake of those things
whereof the riest artook& But not so now, !ut !efore all one !ody is set and one cu& /nd in the
rayers also, one may o!serve the eole contri!uting much& >or in !ehalf of the ossessed, in
%
!ehalf of those under enance, the rayers are made in common !oth !y the riest and !y them=
and all say one rayer& 7"?9&&& /gain when we exclude from the holy recincts those who are
una!le to artake of the holy ta!le, it !ehoveth that another rayer !e offered, and we all alike
fall uon the ground, and all alike rise u& 7"59 /gain, in the most awful mysteries themselves,
the riest rays for the eole and the eole also ray for the riest= for the words, @with thy
sirit,A are nothing else than this& .he offering of thanksgiving 7"%9 again is common: for neither
doth he give thanks alone, !ut also all the eole& >or :aving first taken their voices, next when
they assent that it is @meet and right so to do,A then he !egins the thanksgiving 7"C9& &&&.he
/ostles fre)uently admitted the laity to share in their decisions& >or when they ordained the
seven, and 0atthias they first communicated with the eole, !oth men and women& 7/cts ": "C
K /cts$: ?, 5&9& :ere is no ride of rulers nor slavishness in the ruled= !ut a siritual rule &&& >or
so ought the Church to dwell as one house= as one !ody so to !e all disosed= <ust as therefore
there is one Batism, and one ta!le, and one fountain, and one creation, and one >ather&
;hy then are we divided, when so great 7$9 things unite us= why are we torn asunderB &&&&
>or in this way will he that is greater !e a!le to gain even from him that is less& >or if 0oses
learnt from his fatherFinFlaw somewhat exedient which himself had not erceived 7Exod& "*:
"%F ?29, much more in the Church may this haen&A7"$9
1otes
7"9 ;inslow:.he Gynamics of Salvation:/ Study of (regory of NaHianHus, "#2#: 2,*&
7?9 Luasten: Patrology, volume 5= "#$1: ?%5, ?%%&
759 (regory NaHianHen: 4ration ?, 3n Gefense of :is >light to Pontus& Slightly adated from the translation
of the Nicene and PostFNicene >athers, second series, volume 2, ages ?1%F??$&
7%9 Phili Schaaff:: :istory of the Christian Church, vol& 5, "#"1: #"#
7C9 'elly JNG: (olden 0outh: .he Story of John Chrysostom& N-: Cornell Mniversity Press, "##C:*5&
7$9 John Chrysostom: .reatise on the Priesthood, Books "F$& /dated from the translation of the NPN>,
first series, volume #, ages 55F*5& 3talics and !old tye are added for emhasis&
729 (regory NaHianHen: 4ration %?, .he Dast >arewell= adated from the translation of the Nicene and
PostFNicene >athers, second series, volume 2, age 5#5&&
7*9 (regory of Nyssa: 4n the Batism of Christ, )uoted in Goors to the Sacred, !y Joseh 0artos, New
-ork, Gou!leday,
"#$$:%2#,%*1&
7#9 Edward (i!!on: Gecline and >all of the Eoman Emire, Chater ?2, a!ridged edition, New -ork,
"#$1:5##,%11& Chadwik :: .he Early Church, "#$2:"$2F$*&
7"19 3!id& (i!!on, chater ?*, & %"CF"*= Chadwick, & "$*&
7""9 ;ace : K Piercy ;C: / Gictionary of Christian Biograhy& Pea!ody, 0/: :endrickson, "##%: C%C&
7"?9 Prayer of a!solution after u!lic enance in the early Church
7"59 .he rite of excommunication in the early Church&
7"%9 i&e&Eucharist
7"C9 .he Givine Diturgy&
7"$9 Chrysostom: :omilies on Second Corinthians: "* 7on ? Cor& *: ?%9= NPN>, first series, volume "?:
5CCF$$&
1. Johns Deceit.
I had many genuine and true friends, men who understood the laws of friendshi and faithfully
o!served them& But out of this large num!er, there was one in this grou who excelled all the rest
in his friendshi for me, striving on leaving as far !ehind him as ossi!le those who regarded me
C
with indifference& :e was one of those who were constantly at my side as we were engaged in
the same studies and emloyed the same teachers& ;e had e)ual eagerness and enthusiasm for
our studies and shared the same high ideals as a result of our common interests& Not only when
we were attending school, !ut also even after we had left it, we found ourselves of the same mind
when we had to decide what course of life would !e !est to choose& 3n addition to this, there
were other !onds which held this accord un!roken and secure& Eegarding the greatness of our
fatherland, neither of us could !oast more than the other, nor was 3 !urdened with riches while he
lived in overty, !ut on the contrary, our means corresonded as closely as our tastes& 4ur
families were also of the same class and everything was in keeing with our disosition&
But when the time came to ursue the !lessed life of monks and the true hilosohy, our
!alance no longer remained even& :is scale rose uwards, while 3, still entangled in the lusts of
this world, dragged mine down, weighting it with youthful vanities, there!y forcing it to stay on
a lower level& >rom that time on, our friendshi remained as firm as ever !ut our intimacy was
!roken as our interests had changed and we no longer sent the same time together&
/s soon as 3 !egan to emerge a little from the flood of worldliness, he received me with
oen arms& -et we could not maintain our former e)uality, for he had got the start of me, and
having dislayed his great eagerness, he rose again a!ove my level and soared to great heights&
Being a good man, however, and lacing a high value on my friendshi, he withdrew from all the
rest of his friends and sent all of his time with me&
:e had desired to do this !efore, !ut had !een revented, as 3 had exlained, !ecause of
my frivolous conduct& >or it was imossi!le for a man who attended the lawFcourts, and was
thrilled !y the leasures of the stage, to often !e in the comany of someone who was glued to
his !ooks and never even set foot in the marketFlace& ;hen these hindrances were removed and
he had !rought me into the same condition of life as himself, he gave free vent to the desire that
he had conceived long !efore& :e would not leave me alone for one moment, and ersistently
urged that each of us should a!andon our homes and share a lace together& :e succeeded in
ersuading me and the arrangements were in hand&
But the continual lamentations of my mother hindered me from granting him the favor, or
rather from acceting it from him& >or when she erceived that 3 was meditating this ste, she led
me to her rivate room and sat me on the !ed where she had given !irth to me& She !urst into
tears and then soke words more touching that her tears: @0y child,A she said, @it was not the
will of :eaven that 3 should long en<oy your fathers virtues& :is death followed soon after the
angs which 3 endured at your !irth, leaving you an orhan and me a widow !efore my time,
with all the !urdens of widowhood, which only those who have !orne them can roerly
understand& >or no words are ade)uate to descri!e the stormy condition which a young woman
faces who, having <ust left her fathers house without any exerience of the world, is suddenly
comelled to shoulder cares too great for her age and sex& >or, as 3 know too well, she has to
correct the laHiness of servants and !e on the watch for their misconduct, to reel the schemes of
relatives, and to !ear with dignity the threats of u!lic officials and their rudeness over the harsh
imosition of tax rates& /nd if the dearted one should have left a child, even when that child is a
girl, she will cause great anxiety to her mother, although free from much exense and fear& But a
son fills her each day with ten thousand alarms and many anxieties, to say nothing a!out the
exense she must incur if she wishes to !ring him u as a gentleman& Still, none of these
thoughts ersuaded me to enter into a second marriage or introduce another hus!and into your
fathers house& No, 3 remained atient in the midst of the storm and uroar, and 3 did not shun the
iron furnace of widowhood& 0y foremost hel was the grace from a!ove, and 3 found great
$
consolation in those terri!le trials !y gaHing continually at your face and treasuring in you a
living image of my dead hus!and& So while you were still a !a!y and had not yet learned to
seak, at a time when children give the greatest delight to their arents, you afforded me much
comfort& Nor can you reroach me that, although 3 !ore my widowhood !ravely, 3 reduced your
atrimony which 3 know has !een the fate of many orhans& Besides keeing the whole of it
intact, 3 did not omit any exense needed to give you an honora!le osition, even sending for
this urose some of my own fortune and from my marriage dowry&
@-et, do not think that 3 am saying these things as a reroach to you& But in return for all
these !enefits, 3 ask for <ust one favor: do not lunge me into a second widowhood nor revive the
grief which is now laid to rest, !ut lease !e atient until my death& 3t may !e that 3 shall deart
!efore long& .he young indeed look forward to a distant old age, !ut we who have grown old,
have nothing to wait for !ut death& ;hen you have committed my !ody to the ground, and my
!ones have !een mingled with your fathers !ones, then set sail for a long voyage on whatever
sea you choose& .hen, there will !e no one to hinder you& But as long as 3 am alive, !e content to
live with me& Go not oose (od in vain !y overwhelming me with these calamities, for 3 have
never caused you any harm&A
@4f course, if you have reason to comlain that 3 distract you with worldly cares and
force you to attend to !usiness, then ay no attention to natures laws, or education, or custom, or
anything else, !ut then shun me as an enemy& 4n the contrary, if 3 do everything to rovide
leisure for your <ourney through this life, then let this !ond, if nothing else, kee you !y me&
Even if you say that you have a thousand friends, not one will allow you to en<oy so much
freedom as this, for there is no one who cares for your welfare as 3 do&A
/ll this and more my mother said to me, and 3 reeated this to my no!le friend& But far
from !eing disheartened !y these arguments, he was all the more insistent in his original
re)uests&
;hile we were in this situation, he continually entreated me, and 3 ket refusing my
assent& Suddenly, !oth of us were distur!ed !y a reort that we were a!out to !e romoted to the
dignity of the riesthood& /s soon as 3 heard this rumor, 3 was seiHed with alarm and
!ewilderment: with alarm, that 3 should !e seiHed against my will, and with !ewilderment, as 3
tried again and again to guess what could have entered the minds of men to form such a lan for
us& >or myself, 3 found nothing worthy of such an honor&
.hat no!le friend of mine came to me rivately, and thinking that 3 had not heard the
rumor, !egged that we might, in this instance as formerly, decide and act together& :e said that he
would readily follow whichever course 3 might ursue, whether to escae or to let ourselves !e
catured& Perceiving his eagerness, and considering that 3 would inflict a loss uon the whole
!ody of the Church, if through my own weakness 3 should derive the flock of Christ of a young
man so good and so well )ualified to govern, 3 a!stained from disclosing to him the urose
which 3 had formed, even though 3 had never !efore concealed any of my lans from him& 3 now
told him that it would !e !est to ostone our decision to another time, as it was not immediately
urgent, and ersuaded him not to worry a!out it& /t the same time, 3 encouraged him to hoe
that, if such a thing should even haen to us, 3 would act in concert with him&
/fter a short time, when the one who was to ordain us had arrived, 3 remained in hiding&
Basil, ignorant of this, was taken off on some other retext& :e su!mitted to the yoke, execting
from my romises that 3 would certainly follow him, or rather, thinking that he was following
me& Seeing that he resented !eing seiHed, some of the eole who were resent deceived him !y
exclaiming how strange it was that the one generally considered to !e the more hotFtemered
2
7meaning me9, had su!mitted to the decision of the >athers, whereas he, who was considered a
much more reasona!le and su!missive man, had shown himself hotFheaded and conceited,
unruly, restive and contradictory&
:aving yielded to these remonstrances, and afterwards having learned that 3 had escaed
cature, he came to me in dee de<ection and sat !y my side& .hen he tried to seak, !ut hindered
!y his distress, was una!le to exress in words the violence to which he had !een su!<ected& No
sooner had he oened his mouth, than seech failed him, as grief cut his words short !efore they
ever assed his lis& Seeing his tearful and agitated condition, and knowing that 3 was the cause, 3
laughed with <oy, and taking his right hand, 3 made him em!race me& 3 raised (od !ecause my
lan had succeeded as 3 had always rayed it might& But when he saw that 3 was delighted and
!eaming with <oy, he understood that 3 had deceived him and was even more wounded and
distressed&
2. Basils Reproaches.
;hen at last he had recovered a little from his agitation of mind, he said:
Even if you have washed your hands of me and have no further regard for me 7though 3
do not know why9, you should at least consider your own reutation& /s it is, you have set every
tongue wagging, and the world is saying that you have declined this ministry through love of
vainglory, and no one will clear you of this accusation& /s for me, 3 cannot even !ear to go into
the market lace as there are so many who come u to me and reroach me every day& ;henever
they see me anywhere in the city, all my intimate friends take me aside and cast the greater art
of the !lame uon me& .hey say that: @None of his lans could !e ket secret from you, so you
should not have concealed them !ut should have communicated them to us, and we would have
!een a!le to devise some lan for caturing him&A 3 am too ashamed to tell them that 3 did not
know that you had !een lotting this trick for a long time, for fear that they should say that our
friendshi was a mere retence& Even if it is so, as indeed it must !e N you cannot deny it
yourself after what you have <ust done to me N it is only right to hide our misfortune from the
outside world and from those who have an indifferent oinion of us& 3 shrink from telling them
the truth and how things really stand !etween us& 3 am comelled in future to kee silent, and
stare at the ground, and avoid eole who meet me& 3f 3 escae the condemnation on the former
charge, 3 am <udged as !eing a liar, as they will never !elieve that you laced Basil amongst
those who are not ermitted to know your secret affairs&
But this is of no great matter to me as it has seemed agreea!le to you, !ut how shall we
endure future disgraceB Some accuse you of arrogance and others of vainglory, while the more
merciful accusers charge us with !oth of these offences and add that we have insulted those who
have honored us& .hey say it would have served them right if we had treated them even more
contemtuously& .hey assed over many distinguished and exerienced men, and advanced mere
youths, who only yesterday were immersed in the interests of the world and had never dreamed
of o!taining such a dignity in order that they may, for a !rief season, knit their eye!rows, wear
dusky garments and ut on a grave face& .hose who have, from early manhood to rie old age,
diligently racticed selfFdisciline, are now to !e laced under the authority of youths who have
not even heard of the laws which ought to guide them in exercising their authority&
*
3 am constantly assailed !y ersons who say such things and worse, and 3 am at a loss as
to how to rely to them& 3 ray that you tell me, as 3 do not suose that you took flight and
incurred such hatred from such distinguished men without cause or consideration& -ou must have
reached your decision after careful reasoning and circumsection, so 3 infer that you have some
argument ready for your defense& .ell me, then, whether there is any good excuse which 3 can
make to those who accuse you& 3 do not demand any satisfaction for the wrongs you have done to
me, nor for your deceit and your treachery, nor for the advantage which you have derived from
me in the ast& 3 laced my very life in your hands, yet you have treated me with as much guile
as if your concern was to guide against an enemy& /nd if you knew that this decision of ours was
rofita!le, you should not have avoided the gain& 3f, on the contrary, you thought it harmful, you
should have saved me also from the loss, as you always said that you esteemed me over others&
But you have done everything to make me fall into the snare, even though you had no need of
guile and hyocrisy in dealing with one who, in word and action, was always oen and sincere
towards you&
Nevertheless, as 3 said !efore, 3 do not accuse you of these things, nor do 3 reroach you
for the lonely osition in which you have laced me !y !ringing to an end those times together
from which we derived no small leasure and rofit& /ll these things, 3 !ear in silence and
meekness, not that you have acted meekly in your transgression against me, !ut !ecause, from
the day that 3 cherished your friendshi, 3 made a rule for myself that whatever sorrow you might
cause me, 3 would never force you to aologiHe& -ou know yourself that you have afflicted no
small loss on me, if at least you remem!er what was said a!out us reeatedly !y strangers and !y
ourselves, that it was a great advantage for us to !e of one mind and secure in our mutual
friendshi& Everyone said that our concord would !e of great !enefit to ourselves and to others&
:owever, 3 never erceived how it could !e of advantage to others, !ut 3 did say that we should
at least derive this !enefit from it, and that those who wished to contend with us would find us
difficult to master& 3 never ceased to remind you of these things !y saying that the time we live in
are dangerous and that our enemies are many& (enuine love no longer exists and the deadly
disease of envy has cret in its lace& ;e 6go a!out in the midst of snares and walk uon
!attlements of cities&
"
.here are many in our midst who stand ready to re<oice if misfortunes
should !efall us whereas it is difficult to find anyone to console us in our sorrow& Beware that !y
searating, we do not incur ridicule damage worse than ridicule& 6/ !rother aided !y a !rother is
like a strong city and a kingdom securely !arred&
?
Go not dissolve this genuine love nor !reak
down the fortress&
3 was continually saying such things and more, not susecting anything like this, !ut
thinking that our relationshi was sound and that 3 was wanting gratuitously to heal the healthy&
But is seems that 3 was unwittingly administering medicine to a sick man& Even so, 3 have not
!een fortunate enough to do any good and have gained nothing from my excess of forethought&
:aving discarded my advice all at once without giving it a thought, you have turned me adrift
like a vessel without !allast on a !oundless ocean, taking no heed of those cruel waves which 3
must encounter& 3f 3 haen to undergo calumny or mockery or any other kind of insult or
menace which fre)uently occur, to whom shall 3 turn to for refuge, to whom shall 3 confide my
distress, who will hel me drive !ack my assailants and sto their assaultsB ;ho will comfort me
and reare me to !ear the illFmannered conduct of othersB .here is no one since you stand aloof
from this terri!le strife and cannot even hear me cry& Can you now see what harm you have
doneB Now that you have dealt the !low, do you realiHe what a deadly wound you have inflicted
uon meB
#
But let it all ass, for the ast cannot !e undone, nor can one find a ath through athless
difficulties& ;hat shall 3 say to the outside world, how shall 3 defend their accusationsB
"& Ecclus& #&"5& ?& Cf& Prov& "*&"# 7DOO9&
. Johns Reply.
John: Be of good cheer, 3 relied, for 3 am not only ready to answer for myself in these matters,
!ut 3 will try as well to exlain those other matters you have excused me from exlaining& 3f you
like, 3 will make them the starting oint of my defense& 3t would !e stuidity on my art to think
only of raise from the u!lic and to try to silence their accusations& 3ndeed, it would !e strange
if 3 were to ac)uit myself in the eyes of my dearest friend that 3 am not wronging him, and were
to treat him with indifference greater than the Heal which he has dislayed towards me& By
treating me with such for!earance, he has refrained from accusing me of the wrongs which he
says he has suffered from me !y setting his own interests aside&
;hat wrong have 3 done to you since 3 have decided to em!ark uon the sea of aologyB
3s it that 3 misled you and concealed my uroseB 3 did it for your !enefit and for the !enefit of
those to whom 3 surrendered you, as you were !oth deceived&
>or if decetion is evil and we never have the right to make use of it, 3 am reared to
ay any enalty you like& 3f, on the other hand, you will never inflict unishment uon me, 3 shall
su!<ect myself to the same <udgment ronounced !y <udges on criminals when they are
convicted& 3f it is not always harmful, !ut !ecomes good or !ad according to the intentions of
those who use it, you must sto accusing me of decetion and rove that 3 used this means for an
evil end& /s long as there is no roof, it would only !e fair for those who wish to conduct
themselves rudently, to a!stain from reroaches and accusations, and even to give a friendly
recetion to the deceiver& / timely decetion used with a right urose has such advantages, that
many ersons have often had to undergo unishment for a!staining from fraud&
3f you consider the history of famous generals who have en<oyed the highest reutation
from the earliest times, you will find that most of their triumhs were achieved !y this stratagem,
and are more highly commended than those who con)uer in oen fight& >or the latter conduct
their camaigns with great exense of money and men, so that they gain noting !y the victory,
!ut suffer as much distress as those who have !een defeated& Besides this, they are not even
ermitted to en<oy all the glory which ertains to the victory as no small art of it is reaed !y
those who have fallen, !ecause in sirit they were victorious, and their defeat was only a !odily
one& 3f they had not fallen when wounded, and if death had not come to sto them, there would
have !een no end to their rowess& But one who has !een a!le to gain the victory !y stratagem
involves the enemy in ridicule as well as in disaster& /gain, in the other case, !oth sides e)ually
carry off the honors for valor, whereas in this case, they do not e)ually o!tain those which are
!estowed on wisdom& No, the riHe !elongs to the victors alone& ;hat is more, they reserve, for
their country, the <oy of victory unimaired& /!undant resources and multitudes of men are not
like shrewdness of mind& ;hen you use them continually in war, the suly !ecomes exhausted
and fails its ossessors, whereas the nature of wisdom increases the more it is used&
.he need of deceit is found not only in war, !ut also in eace, in reference to the affairs
of the state, and also in rivate life, in the dealings !etween hus!and and wife, father and son,
!etween friends, and also children and arents& .he daughter of Saul would not have rescued her
"1
hus!and out of her fathers hands excet !y deceiving him& /nd when her !rother wanted to save
from danger the very man she had rescued, he made use of the same weaons as she did&
Basil: None of this alies to me& 3 am not an enemy nor am 3 striving to hurt you, !ut
<ust the oosite& 3 entrusted all my lans to your <udgment, and always followed the ath you
told me to take&
John: But, my dear good friend, this is the very reason why 3 took the recaution of
saying that it was a good thing to emloy this kind of deceit, not only in war, !ut also in eace,
and in dealing with our dearest friends&
/s roof that deceit is !eneficial not only to the deceivers, !ut also to the deceived, go to
any hysician and in)uire how they cure their atients from disease& .hey will tell you that they
do not rely only uon their rofessional skill, !ut sometimes they resort to deceit which hels
them to restore the sick man to health& ;hen the lans of hysicians are hindered !y the whims
of their atients, and the o!stinacy of the comlaint !affles their counsels, it is necessary to ut
on the mask of decetion as they do on the stage, in order to hide what is really taking lace&
;ith your ermission, 3 will relate to you one on of the many tricks which 3 have heard
hysicians devise& / man was suddenly overcome !y a violent fever and his temerature ket
rising& .he atient re<ected the remedies which could have allayed the fever !ut craved for a
draught of ure wine& :e assionately entreated all those who aroached him to !ring the wine
and satiate this deadly craving& 3t would not only have inflamed his fever, !ut would have driven
the unhay man frantic& 3n this case, rofessional skill was !affled and at the end of its
resources and )uite useless& Gecetion steed in and dislayed its ower in the way which 3 will
now relate&
.he hysician took an earthen vessel straight out of the kiln and steeed it in wine& .hen
he drew it out emty and filled it with water& Next, he gave orders for the room where the atient
was lying to !e darkened with curtains so that the light might not reveal the trick& :e then gave
the vessel to the atient to drink from, retending that it was filled with undiluted wine& Geceived
!y the smell, the man did not examine what was given to him, !ut convinced !y the odor, and
deceived !y the darkness, he eagerly snatched the vessel& ;hen he had drunk his fill, the feeling
of suffocation was shaken off and he escaed the imminent eril&
Go you see the advantage of decetionB 3f you were to collect all the tricks of hysicians,
the list would stretch intermina!ly& -ou will find that it is not only those who heal the !ody who
make use of this remedy, !ut those who treat the diseases of the soul& By this means, St& Paul
won over multitudes of Jews&
"
;ith this intention he circumcised .imothy,
?
although he warned
the (alatians in his letter that Christ would not rofit those who were circumcised&
5
>or this
cause, he su!mitted to the law,
%
recogniHing the righteousness of the Daw !ut loss after receiving
faith in Christ&
C
(reat is the ower of deceit, rovided it is not alied with a mischievous intention& 3n
fact, action of this kind should not !e called deceit, !ut rather good management, cleverness and
skill, leading to ways where resources fail, and correcting defects of the mind& 3 should not call
Phineas a murderer, although he slew two human !eings with one stroke,
$
nor Eli<ah, after he
slaughtered a hundred soldiers and their catain
2
and the torrents of !lood he caused to !e shed
!y the destruction of those who sacrificed to devils&
*
3f we were to concede this and examine the
deeds in themselves, not considering the intention of the doers, one could then condemn
/!raham for murdering his son,
#
and accuse his grandson and his descendant of wickedness and
decetion& >or the one got ossession of the !irthright
"1
and the other transferred the wealth of
the Egytians to the host of the 3sraelites&
""
""
But this is not the case N away with such an audacious thoughtP ;e not only ac)uit them
of !lame, !ut we also admire them !ecause of these things, since (od commended them for the
same& :e alone can <ustly !e called a deceiver who erforms the action for un<ust ends& 4ften, it
is necessary to deceive in order to o!tain the greatest !enefits, whereas the straightforward man
does great harm to those he does not deceive&
"& /cts ?"&?1& ?& /cts "$&5& 5& (al& C&?& %& " Cor& #&?1& C& Phil& 5&2& $& Num& ?C&2F*&
2& ? 'ings "&"1, "?& *& " 'ings "*&%1& #& (en& ??&"1& "1& (en ?2 ""& Ex& ""&?&
!. "he Di##iculties o# Pastoral Care.
I could have argued at greater length that it is ossi!le to use the ower of decetion for a good
end, or rather that it
is not right to call that kind of action deceit at all !ut an admira!le kind of good management&
But since 3 have already said enough, it would !e irksome and tedious to lengthen my discourse
on the su!<ect& Now it is u to you to show that 3 have not emloyed this method to your
advantage&
Basil: ;hat kind of advantage have 3 derived from this good management or wise olicy,
or whatever you wish to call it, in order to ersuade me that 3 have not !een deceived !y youB
John: ;hat advantage could !e greater than to !e seen doing those things which Christ,
with his own lis, declared to !e roof of love for :imB /ddressing the leader of the aostles,
Christ said, @Peter, lovest thou meBA= and when he confessed that he did, the Dord added, @3f thou
lovest me, tend my shee&A .he 0aster asked the discile if :e was loved !y him, not in order to
learn the truth N why should :e who enetrates the hearts of men N !ut to teach us how great
an interest :e takes in the suerintendence of these shee& .his !eing evident, it will likewise !e
manifest that a great and indescri!a!le reward will !e in store for him who la!ors for these shee
uon which Christ laces such a high value& ;hen we see anyone !estowing care uon mem!ers
of our household or uon our flocks, we take this concern for them as a sign of love towards us,
although they can all !e !ought for money& ;ith how great a gift then will :e give as a reward to
those who tend the flock which :e urchased, not for money or any such thing, !ut !y :is own
death when :e gave :is !lood for :is flocks ransom& .herefore, when the discile said, @.hou
knowest, Dord, that 3 love .hee,A and invoked the !eloved one :imself as a witness of his love,
the Savior did not sto there !ut went on to descri!e the roof of love& :e did not want to rove
how much Peter loved :im, !ut how :e loved :is own Church& :e desired to teach Peter and all
of us that we also should !estow much Heal uon the same&
;hy did (od not sare :is onlyF!egotten Son !ut instead surrendered :imB 3t was to
reconcile to :imself those who were :is enemies and make them :is chosen eole&
"
;hy did
:e shed :is !loodB 3t was that :e might win these shee which :e entrusted to Peter and his
successors& .hose words of Christ, then, were natural when :e said: @;ho is the faithful and
wise servant whom his Dord shall set over :is householdBA
?
/gain, the words are those of one
who is in dou!t, yet the seaker did not utter them in dou!t& 4n the contrary, <ust as :e asked
Peter whether he loved :im, not from any need to learn the affection of the discile, !ut from a
desire to show the exceeding deth of :is own love& Now, also when :e says, @;ho then is the
faithful and wise servant whom his Dord shall make ruler over his householdB :e seaks not out
of ignorance for the faithful and wise, !ut as desiring to set forth the rarity of such a character
"?
and the greatness of this office& 4!serve at any rate how great the reward is: @:e will set him
over all that he hath&A
5
;ill you, then, still contend that you were not rightly deceived when you are a!out to
suerintend the things which !elong to (od, and are doing what the Dord said to Peter so that he
would surass the rest of (ods aostlesB >or he said, @Dovest thou me, Peter, more than theseB
.end my shee&A :e might have said to him, @3f thou lovest me, ractice fasting, sleeing on the
!are ground, and rolonged vigils= chamion the wronged, !e as a father to the fatherless and as
a hus!and to their mother&A
%
3n fact, setting aside all these things, what does :e sayB @.end my
shee&A
0any women or men under authority might easily erform the other things 3 have
mentioned& But when someone is re)uired to reside over the Church and is entrusted with the
care of so many souls, then let womankind give way !efore the magnitude of the task, and
indeed most men also& Bring !efore us those who far excel all others and who surass the rest in
siritual stature, as Saul was in !odily stature a!ove the :e!rew nation, or rather far moreP Det
us not look only @from the shoulder and uwardA
C
!e the standard of in)uiry, !ut let the
distinction !etween sheherd and his shee !e as great as that !etween rational man and
irrational creatures, not to say even greater, since matters of much greater imortance are at
stake&
:e who loses shee, either through the ravages of wolves or the attacks of ro!!ers, or
through murrain or some other accident, might erhas o!tain some indulgence from the owner
of the flock& Even if he were called uon to ay comensation from the owner of the flock, the
enalty would !e only a matter of money& :owever, he who has human !eings entrusted to him,
the rational flock of Christ, incurs a enalty for the loss of the shee which goes !eyond material
things, and risks not money !ut of his own soul& 0oreover, he has a far greater and difficult
struggle& :is fight is neither with wolves, nor his fear with ro!!ers, nor to consider how he may
rotect the flock from estilence& ;ith whom then has he to fightB ;ith whom has he to wrestleB
Disten to the words of St& Paul, @4ur wrestling is not against flesh and !lood, !ut against the
rincialities, against owers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, and against the
siritual hosts of wickedness in high laces&A
$
Go you see the terri!le multitude of enemies and
their fierce legions, not armed with steel, !ut endued with a nature which is e)uivalent to a suit
of armorB
;ould you like to !e shown another cruel and savage army lying in wait for his flockB
.his also you can !ehold from the same ost of o!servation& >or he who has discoursed to us
concerning the others also oints out these enemies to us seaking in such a manner as this:
@.hese are the works of the flesh which are manifest: fornication, adultery, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulation, wrath, strife, !ackF!iting,
whisering, swellings, tumults,A
2
and more !esides these& >or he did not list them all, !ut left us
to understand the rest from these examles&
0oreover, in the case of the sheherds of irrational creatures, those who want to destroy
the flock when they see the guardian take flight, cease making war with him and are content to
seiHe his animals& Even in this case, if they should cature the whole flock, they do not leave the
sheherd unmolested !ut attack him all the more and with more daring, until they have either
overthrown him or are !eaten themselves& /gain, the afflictions of the shee are manifest, either
!y famine or estilence, wounds or anything else that might distress them& .his might !e a great
hel towards the relief of those who are oressed in these ways&
"5
/nd there is yet another fact greater than this which facilitates release from this kind of
infirmity& ;hat is itB .hose sheherds with great authority comel the shee to accet the
remedy even if they do not willingly su!mit to it& 3t is easy to !ind them when cautery or cutting
is re)uired, and to kee them inside the fold for a long time whenever it is exedient, and to
!ring them one kind of food instead of another, and to cut them off from their suly of water&
.he sheherds may decide with erfect ease other remedies conducive to the health of their
shee&
3n the case of human infirmities, it is not easy in the first lace for a man to discern them,
for no man @knoweth the things of a man, save the sirit of man which is in him&A
*
:ow, then,
can anyone aly the remedy for the disease if he does not know its character and often is una!le
to understand it, even if he should haen to !e sick with it himselfB ;hen it !ecomes aarent,
it causes him yet more trou!le, for it is not ossi!le to treat all men with the same authority with
which the sheherd treats his shee& :ere too, it is ossi!le to !ind and to restrain from food and
to use cautery or the knife, !ut the decision to receive treatment deends on the will of the
atient, and does no lie with the man who administers the medicine& .his was also erceived !y
that wonderful man, St& Paul, when he said to the Corinthians, @Not that we have dominion over
your faith, !ut are helers of your <oy&A
#
>or Christians a!ove all men are not ermitted forci!ly
to correct the failings of those who sin& ;hen secular <udges have catured wrongdoers under the
law, they show their great authority !y reventing men from following their own devices& But in
our case however, the wrongdoer must !e made !etter !y ersuasion and not !y force& .he
authority to restrain sinners has not !een given us !y law, and even if it were, we could not
exercise our ower since (od rewards those who a!stain from evil !y choice and not !y force&
>or this reason, much tact is needed so that our atients may !e induced to su!mit willingly to
the treatment rescri!ed !y the riests, and also that they !e grateful to them for the cure& 3f a
man !ecomes restive when he is !ound, as it is in his ower to do so, he makes his sufferings
worse& 3f he should ay no heed to the words which cut like steel, he inflicts another wound !y
his contemt, and the intention to heal !ecomes the occasion of a more serious disease& >or it is
not ossi!le for anyone to cure a man !y comulsion against his will&
;hat, then, should one doB 3f you deal too leniently with one who needs dee surgery,
and do not make a dee incision in the one who re)uires it, you remove one dart of the sore !ut
leave the other& 3f, on the other hand, you make the re)uired incision unsaringly, often the
atient, in desair at his sufferings, will throw aside !oth remedy and !andage at once, and
romtly throw himself down headlong, @!reaking the yoke and !ursting the !ond&A
"1
3 could tell
you of many who have run into extreme evils !ecause the due enalty of their sins was exacted&
3n alying unishment, it is not right to exact a enalty !y roortioning it to the scale
of the offence& 3t is !etter to kee in mind the disosition of the sinner, for fear that !y wishing to
mend what is torn, you make the tear worse, and in your eagerness to restore what is fallen, you
could cause a worse fall& .hose who are weak and careless and generally addicted to the
leasures of the world, and who take ride on their !irth and rank, may, if gently and gradually
!rought to reent their errors, !e at least artially delivered from the evils that ossess them& >or
if anyone where to inflict the disciline all at once, he would derive them of this slight chance
of amendment& 4nce the soul has !een forced to disel shame, it !ecomes callous and neither
yields to kindly words nor !ends to threats& No longer susceti!le to gratitude, it !ecomes far
worse than that the city which the rohet reroached saying, @.hou hadst the face of a harlot=
thou refusedst to !e ashamed !efore all&
""
"%
So the astor needs much discretion, and a myriad of eyes to o!serve on every side the
ha!it of the soul& >or many are ulifted to ride, then sink into desair of their salvation, from
their ina!ility to endure !itter remedies, while others, who !ecause they do not ay a enalty
e)uivalent to their sins, fall into negligence and !ecome far worse, and are led to commit greater
sins& 3t is roer therefore for the riest to leave none of these things unexamined, and after a
thorough in)uiry into all of them, he must aly such remedies as he has considered aroriate
to each case lest his Heal rove to !e in vain& 4ne can see that he has much to do, not in this
matter only, !ut also in the work of knitting together the severed mem!ers of the Church&
.he astor of shee has his flock following him wherever he may lead them& 3f any
should stray off the straight ath, and deserting the good asture feed in unroductive or rugged
laces, a loud shout is enough to collect them and !ring !ack to the fold those who have !een
arted from it& But if a man wanders away from the right ath, great exertion, erseverance and
atience are re)uired& :e cannot !e dragged !ack !y force, nor can he !e constrained !y fear, !ut
he must !e led !ack !y ersuasion to the truth from which he originally swerved& .he astor
ought to !e of a no!le sirit so as not to desond or desair of the salvation of those who wander
from the fold& :e must continually reason with himself and say: @Peradventure (od will give
them the knowledge of the truth and they may !e freed from the snare of the devil&A
"?
.hat is why the Dord, seaking to the disciles, said:
@;ho, then, is the faithful and wise servantBA :e who discilines himself comasses only his
own advantage& :owever, the !enefit of the astoral function extends to the whole eole& .he
man who disenses money to the needy, or otherwise succors the oressed, !enefits his
neigh!ors to some extent, !ut less than the riest, as the !ody is inferior to the soul& 3t is not
surrising therefore when the Dord said that Heal for the flock was a token of love for :imself&
"& .itus ?&"%& ?& 0att& ?%&%C& 5& 0att& ?%&%2& %& Ecclus& %&"1& C& " Sam& #&?& $& Eh $&"?
2& Cf& (al& C&"#F?" K Cor& "?&?1& *& Cf& "Cor& ?&""& #& ?Cor& "&?%& "1& Cf& Jer& C&C&
""& Jer& 5&5& "?& Cf& ?.im& ?&?CF?$&
$. %o&e ' "he Chie# "hin(.
Basil: But youNdo you not love ChristBA
John: -es, 3 love :im, and shall never cease loving :im= !ut 3 fear lest 3 should rovoke
:im whom 3 love&
Basil: Could any aradox !e more o!scureB Christ commanded him who loves :im to
tend :is shee, and yet you say that you decline to tend them !ecause you love :im who gave
this commandP
John: ;hat 3 said is no aradox, !ut is very clear and simle& 3f 3 were well )ualified to
administer this office as Christ desired it, and then shunned it, my remark might !e oen to
dou!t& Since the infirmity of my sirit renders me useless for this ministry, why does what 3 say
deserve to !e called in )uestionB 3 fear that if 3 took the flock in hand when it was in good
condition and well nourished, and then wasted it through my inetitude, 3 may rovoke against
me (od who so loved the flock that :e gave :imself u for its salvation and redemtion&
Basil: -ou seak in <est& >or if you were in earnest, 3 know otherwise !y means of these
very words, where!y you have endeavored to disel my desondency& 3 knew already that you
had deceived and !etrayed me, !ut now that you are trying to clear yourself of my accusations, 3
"C
understand and realiHe more fully the extent of the evils into which you have led me& 3f you
withdrew yourself from this ministry !ecause you were conscious that your sirit was not e)ual
to the !urden of the task, you should have rescued me from it first, even if 3 had !een full of
eagerness for it, to say nothing of having confided to you the entire decision of these matters& /s
it is, you have looked solely to your own interest and neglected mine& 3f you had indeed entirely
neglected them, then 3 should have !een content, !ut you lotted to facilitate my cature !y those
who wished to seiHe me&
-ou cannot even take shelter in the argument that u!lic oinion deceived you and
induced you to imagine great and wonderful things concerning me& >or 3 am not one of your
famous and distinguished men, and even if this had !een the case, you ought not to have
referred u!lic oinion to the truth& 3f 3 had never ermitted you to en<oy my comany you
might have seemed to have a reasona!le retext for !eing guided in your vote !y u!lic reort&
But since no one has such thorough knowledge of my affairs as you, and if you are ac)uainted
with my character !etter than my arents and those who !rought me u, what argument can you
use which will !e convincing enough to ersuade those who hear you that you did not
deli!erately ush me into this dangerB .ell me, what answer shall 3 make to your accusersB
John: No, 3 will not roceed to those )uestions until 3 have resolved that which concerns
you alone, even if you were to ask me ten thousand times to disose of these charges&
-ou said that ignorance would have !rought me forgiveness and freed me from all
accusation if 3 had !rought you into your resent osition without knowing anything a!out you&
:owever, as 3 did not !etray you in ignorance !ut was intimately ac)uainted with your affairs, 3
was derived of all reasona!le retext and excuse& But 3 say recisely the reverse !ecause in such
matters careful scrutiny in needed& :e who is going to resent anyone as )ualified for the
riesthood must not !e content with u!lic reort only !ut a!ove all and !efore all, he should
investigate the mans character&
>or when !lessed Paul said, @0oreover he must have good testimony from them that are
without,A
"
he does not assign recedence to such testimony over the scrutiny re)uired in such
cases& >or after much revious discourse, he mentioned this additional testimony to rove that
one must not !e content with this alone for elections of this kind, !ut must take it into
consideration along with the rest& >or it often haens that u!lic reort is false, !ut when careful
investigation roceeds, no further danger need !e anticiated from it& >or he did not simly say,
@he must have a good reort,A !ut added the words, @from them which are without,A there!y
wishing to show that !efore the reort of those without, he must carefully examine the man
himself& Since then, as 3 myself knew your affairs !etter than your arents, as you yourself also
acknowledged, 3 might deserve to !e released from all !lame&
Basil: .hat is the very reason why you should not escae unishment if any one decides
to indite you& Go you not remem!er hearing from me, and often learning from my conduct, the
weakness of my characterB ;ere you not eretually taunting me for my faint heartedness
!ecause 3 was so easily de<ected !y ordinary caresB
John: 3 dont deny that 3 remem!er often hearing such things from you, !ut if 3 ever
taunted you, 3 did it in sort and not in earnest& :owever, 3 will not argue a!out these matters,
and 3 claim the same degree of for!earance from you while 3 wish to mention some of the good
)ualities you ossess& 3f you attemt to convict me of saying what is untrue, 3 shall not sare you,
!ut will show that you say these things in selfFdereciation rather than with a view the truth& 3
will emloy no evidence !ut your own deeds to demonstrate the truth of my assertion&
"$
.he first )uestion 3 wish to ask of you is this: do you know how great is the ower of
loveB By omitting all the miracles which were to !e erformed !y the aostles, Christ said,
@:ere!y shall men know that ye are my disciles if ye love one another&A
?
/nd Paul said that
love is the fulfillment of the law,
5
and that without it, no siritual gift has any rofit&
%
.his is the
distinguishing mark of Christs disciles, the highest of all siritual gifts, and 3 saw that this was
deely imlanted in your soul and teeming with fruit&
Basil: 3 acknowledge indeed that the matter is one of dee concern to me, and 3 earnestly
endeavor to kee this commandment& But 3 have not even half fulfilled it, as even you yourself
can !ear witness if you would a!andon artiality and simly resect the truth&
John: ;ell, then, 3 shall turn to the evidence and shall now do what 3 threatened,
roviding that you wish to disarage yourself rather than to seak the truth& 3 will mention a fact
that has <ust occurred in order to revent anyone of susecting me of attemting to o!scure the
truth& Because of the great lase of time in relating long ast events, o!livion might then revent
any o!<ection !eing made to the things which 3 might say with a view to gratification&
>or when one of our intimate friends was in extreme eril, having !een falsely accused of
insult and folly, you then flung yourself into the midst of the danger without having !een
summoned !y any one or aealed to !y the erson who was a!out to !e involved in danger&
Such was the fact& But, to convict you from your own words as well, 3 will remind you of the
words you uttered when some did not arove of this Heal while others commended and admired
it& @>or 3 do not know otherwise to love than !y giving u my life when it is necessary to save
any of my friends who is in danger&A .his reeats in different words, !ut with the same meaning,
what Christ said to his disciles when he laid down the definition of erfect love and said:
@(reater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends&A
C
3f, then, it is
imossi!le to find greater love than this, you have attained its limit& Both you, and your deeds
and words, have crowned the summit& .hat is why 3 !etrayed you& .hat is why 3 contrived that
lot& Go 3 now convince you that it was not from malicious intent nor from any desire to thrust
you into danger, !ut from a ersuasion of your future usefulness that 3 dragged you into this
courseB
Basil: Go you then suose that the ower of love is sufficient to correct ones
fellowmenB
John: Certainly it goes a long way towards it& But if you want me to give examles of
your wisdom as well, 3 will roceed to do so and will rove that your understanding exceeds
your lovingFkindness&
Basil: 7/t these remarks Basil !lushed scarlet and said:9 @Det my character !e now
dismissed for it was not a!out this that 3 originally demanded an exlanation& But if you have any
<ust answer to make to outsiders, 3 would gladly hear what you have to say& ;herefore,
a!andoning this vain contest, tell me what defense 3 shall make, !oth to those who have honored
us and to those who are distressed on their account, considering themselves to have !een
insulted&
"& ".im& 5&2& ?& Cf& John "5&5C& 5& Eom& "5&"1& %& "Cor& "5&5& C& John "C&"5&
). John Continues his *polo(ia.
"2
John: .his is the oint that 3 am finally anxious to come to& Now that my exlanation to you has
!een comleted, 3 shall easily turn to this art of my defense& ;hat, then, is the accusation made
!y these ersons, and what are their chargesB
Basil: .hey say that they have !een insulted and grievously wronged !y us !ecause we
have not acceted the honor which they wished to confer uon us&
John: 3n the first lace, 3 say that no account should !e taken of the insult shown to men,
seeing that, !y aying honor to them, we should !e comelled to offend (od& 3 should also say to
those who are disleased, that it is not safe to take offence at these things as it does them a great
deal of harm& >or 3 think that those who live in (od and look to :im alone, ought to !e so
siritually disosed as to not consider such a thing an insult even if they were dishonored a
thousand times&
.hat 3 have not gone so far as even to think of daring anything of this kind is manifest
from what 3 am a!out to say& >or, if indeed, 3 had !een induced !y arrogance and vainglory to
assent to my accusers, as you have often said some eole slanderously affirm, 3 should have
!een one of the most ini)uitous of mankind having treated my great and excellent !enefactors
with contemt& >or if we deserve to !e unished for wronging those who have never wronged us,
how should we honor those who have sontaneously referred to honor usB >or no one could
ossi!ly say that they were re)uiting me for any !enefits, small or great, which they had received
at my hands& :ow great a unishment then would one deserve if one re)uited them in the
contrary manner& But if such things never entered my mind, and 3 declined the heavy !urden with
)uite a different intention, why do they refuse to forgive me, even if they do not arove, !ut
accuse me of having selfishly sared my own soulB So, far from having insulted the men in
)uestion, 3 can say that 3 have even honored them !y my refusal& Go not !e surrised at the
aradoxical nature of my remark for 3 shall suly a seedy solution to it&
3f 3 had acceted the office, those men who take leasure in seaking evil might have
susected and said many things concerning my election and a!out those who aointed me& >or
instance, they could have said that they regarded wealth and admired slendor of rank, or had
!een induced !y flattery to romote me to this honor& 3ndeed, 3 cannot say whether someone
might not have susected that they had !een !ri!ed& 0oreover, they would have said, @Christ
called fishermen, tentmakers, and u!licans to this dignity, whereas these men re<ect those who
suort themselves !y daily la!or, !ut if there is anyone who devotes himself to secular learning,
and is !rought u in idleness, they receive and admire him& ;hy have they assed over those
who have undergone much toil in the service of the Church, and suddenly drag into this dignity
one who has never exerienced any la!ors of this kind, !ut has sent all his youth in the vain
study of secular learningBA
.hese things and more they might have said if 3 had acceted the office, !ut they no
longer can& Every retext for slander has !een removed& .hey can neither accuse me of flattery,
nor can they accuse the others of receiving !ri!es, unless some of them choose to act like
madmen& >or how could one who used flattery and exended money in order to gain the dignity
have a!andoned it to others when he might have o!tained itB >or this would !e like a man who
had !estowed much la!or on his land in order that the cornfield might !e laden with a!undant
cros and that his resses overflow with wine, and after innumera!le toil and great exense of
money, were to surrender the fruits to others <ust when it was time to rea his corn and gather in
his vintage& Go you see that although what was said might !e far from the truth, nevertheless,
those who wished to calumniate the electors would then have had a retext for alleging that the
choice was made without fair <udgment and consideration& But as it is, 3 have revented them
"*
from uttering a single word on the su!<ect& Such then, and more, would have !een their remarks
at the outset&
/fter undertaking the ministry, 3 would not have !een a!le to defend myself daily against
accusers, even if 3 had done everything faultlessly, to say nothing of the many mistakes which 3
inevita!ly would have made owing to my youth and inexerience& But now, 3 have saved the
electors from this kind of accusation also, whereas in the other case, 3 should have involved them
in innumera!le reroaches& >or what would eole not have saidB @.hey have committed affairs
of such vast interest and imortance to thoughtless youths& .hey have defiled the flock of (od
and Christian affairs have !ecome a <oke and a laughing stock&A But now, @all ini)uity shall sto
her mouth&A
"
>or although they may say these things on your account, you will seedily teach
them !y your acts that understanding is not to !e estimated !y age, and gray hair is not the test of
an elder, and that the young man should not !e a!solutely excluded from the ministry !ut only
the novice, and the difference !etween the two is great&
Such then is the rely 3 should give in answer to the charge of insulting those who would
have honored me& ;hat 3 have already said might !e sufficient to rove that in refusing this
office, 3 had no desire to ut them to shame& 3 will now endeavor to make it evident, to the !est
of my a!ility, to rove to you that 3 was not uffed u !y arrogance&
3f the offer of a generalshi or a kingdom had !een made to me, and if 3 had made the
same decision, anyone might naturally have susected me of this fault& 3 would have !een found
guilty !y all men, not of arrogance !ut of senseless folly& But when the riesthood is offered to
me, which exceeds a kingdom as much as the sirit differs from the flesh, will anyone dare to
accuse me of disdainB 3s it not reosterous to charge with folly those who re<ect small things,
!ut when they do the same in matters of reFeminent imortance, they dro the charge of
madness and su!stitute accusations of rideB 3t is like accusing a man of insanity and not of ride
!ecause he looked with contemt on a herd of oxen and refused to !e the herdsman& -et would
they say that a man who declined the emire of the world, and the command of all armies of the
earth, was not mad !ut inflated with ride&
.his assuredly is not the case, and those who say such things in<ure themselves more than
me& 0erely to imagine that it is ossi!le for human nature to desise this dignity shows the
oinion of the office held !y those who !ring this charge& .hey did not consider it to !e
something of no great account, as such a susicion would never have occurred to them& >or why
is it that no one has ever dared to entertain such a susicion with reference to the dignity of the
angels, and to say that arrogance is the reason why human nature would not asire to the angelic
rankB 3t is !ecause we imagine great things concerning those owers, and this revents us from
!elieving that a man can conceive anything greater than that honor& ;herefore, it might !e more
<ust to accuse with arrogance those who have accused me of it& >or they would never have
susected this of others if they had not reviously dereciated the matter as !eing insignificant&
3f they say that 3 have done this with a view to glory, they will !e convicted of fighting
oenly against themselves and falling into their own snare& >or 3 do not know what kind of
arguments they could have sought in reference to these if they had wished to release me of the
charge of vainglory& >or if this desire had ever entered my mind, 3 should have acceted the
office rather than decline it& ;hyB Simly !ecause it would have !rought me much glory& ;ould
not all men !e ersuaded to anticiate great and marvelous things of me if such a young erson
as myself, having only <ust a!andoned secular ursuits, should suddenly !e deemed !y all worthy
of admiration !y !eing advanced to such an honor !y receiving more votes than those who have
sent all their life in la!ors of this kindP But as it is, the greater art of the Church does not know
"#
me even !y name& Even my refusal of the office will not !e manifest to all !ut only to a few& 3 am
not even sure that all of these know it for certain, !ut ro!a!ly many of them either imagine that
3 was not elected at all, or that 3 was re<ected after the election as !eing unsuita!le, and not that 3
avoided the office of my own accord&
Basil: But those who know the truth will !e surrised and admire your action&
John: /nd yet according to you, these are the eole who falsely accuse me of vainglory
and ride& >rom whom then can 3 exect raiseB >rom the manyB But they do not know the
actual fact& ;ell then, from the fewB :ere again, the matter is misconstrued to my disadvantage&
>or the only reason you have come here now is to learn what answer you should give them& ;hat
shall 3 now say on account of these thingsB ;ait a moment, and you will clearly erceive that
even if all know the truth, they need not have convicted me of ride and love of glory& 3n
addition to this, there is another consideration that there is great danger involved, not only for
those who dare to take this attitude, !ut also in susecting it in others&
"& Ps& "12&%?&
+. "he ,lory o# the Priesthood.
.he riestly office is discharged on earth, !ut it is ranked amongst the heavenly ordinances& /nd
naturally so, for neither man, nor angel, nor archangel, nor any other created ower !ut the
Paraclete :imself instituted this vocation, and ersuaded men, while still a!iding in the flesh, to
reresent the ministry of angels& .he consecrated riest, therefore, must !e as ure as if he were
standing in heaven itself, in the midst of those owers&
.he sym!ols which existed !efore the ministry of grace were fearful and of great
conse)uence such as the !ells, the omegranates, the stones on the !reastlate and on the ehod,
the girdle, the miter, the long ro!e, the late of gold, the :oly or :olies, and the dee silence
within& But if anyone should examine the sym!ols that !elong to the disensation of grace, he
will find that, as small as they are, they are fearful and aweFinsiring& .he statement concerning
the Daw is true here also: @.he slendor that once was is now no slendor at all= it is outshone !y
a slendor greater still&A
"
>or when you see the Dord sacrificed, and laid uon the altar, and the
riest, standing and raying over the sacrifice, and all the worshiers !eing tinged with that
recious !lood, can you then think that you are still amongst men and standing uon the earthB
4n the contrary, are you not at once transorted to :eaven, and casting out every carnal thought
from your soul, are you not then, in sirit and with ure reason, a!le to contemlate the things
which are in :eavenB 4h, the wonder of itP 4h, the lovingFkindness of (od to menP :e who sits
on high with the >ather is, at that hour, held in the hands of all, and gives :imself to those who
are willing to em!race and gras :im& /ll this is done with the eyes of faithP Go you think these
things could !e desised, or do they make it ossi!le for anyone to !e suerior to themB
;ould you like to !e shown the exceeding sanctity of this officeB Picture Eli<ah and the
vast multitude standing around :im, and the sacrifice laid uon the stone altar, and all the rest of
the eole hushed into dee silence while the rohet alone offers u rayer& Suddenly, the rush
of fire falls from :eaven uon the sacrifice& .hese are marvelous things, charged with terror&
.urn, then, from this scene to the rites which are cele!rated today& .hey are not only marvelous
to !ehold !ut transcend terror& .here stands the riest, not !ringing down fire from :eaven, !ut
?1
the :oly Sirit& :e makes rolonged sulication, not that some flame from on high may
consume the offerings, !ut that grace descending on the sacrifice may there!y enlighten the souls
of all, and render them more refulgent than silver urified !y fire& ;ho can desise this most awe
insiring mystery unless he is mad and senselessB Go you not know that no human soul could
ever have endured that fire in the sacrifice, !ut all would have !een utterly consumed excet for
the owerful hel of (ods graceB
Can anyone consider how great a thing it is for a man of flesh and !lood to !e a!le to
aroach that !lessed and ure nature& :e will then clearly see what great honor the grace of the
Sirit !estows to riests& 3t is through them that these rites are cele!rated and other rites no less
inferior to these, !oth in resect to our dignity and our salvation&
>or those who inha!it the earth and make their a!ode, they are entrusted with the
administration of heavenly things and have received an authority which (od has not given to
angels or archangels& >or has it not !een said to them, @;hat things soever ye shall !ind on earth
shall !e !ound also in heaven= and what things soever ye shall loose, shall !e loosedA? .hey who
rule on earth have authority to !ind only the !ody, whereas this !inding lays hold of the soul and
enetrates the heavens& ;hat riests do on earth (od ratifies a!ove and the 0aster confirms the
sentence of his servants& (od has given them all manner of authority for :e says, @;hose soever
sins ye forgive, they are forgiven, and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained&A
5
;hat
authority could !e greater than thisB @.he >ather hath given all <udgement unto the Son&A
%
But 3
see that the Son has laced it all in their hands for they have !een raised to this dignity as if they
were already translated to :eaven, and had transcended human nature, and freed from the
assions to which we are lia!le&
0oreover, if a king should !estow this honor uon any of his su!<ects, authoriHing him to
cast into rison whom he leased, and then release him at will, he !ecomes the admiration and
envy of all& But although the riest has received from (od a greater authority, as :eaven is more
recious than earth, and souls more recious than !odies, it aears to some to have received so
slight an honor, that they imagine that someone entrusted with this gift will desise it& /way with
such madnessP 3t is sheer madness to desise such a dignity without which we cannot attain
salvation or (ods good romises&
>or if a man @cannot enter into the kingdom of :eaven excet he !e !orn again of water
and the Sirit,A
C
and if he that eateth not the Dords flesh and drinketh not :is !lood is cast out of
everlasting life,
$
as all these things can !e accomlished only !y means of the !lessed hands of
the riest, how can anyone, without their hel, escae the fire of (ehenna or win those crowns
which are reserved for the victoriousB .hey are the only ones entrusted with siritual travail and
the !irth which comes through !atism& .hrough them, we ut on Christ and are united with the
Son of (od, and !ecome mem!ers of that !lessed :ead& ;herefore, they might not only !e more
<ustly feared !y us than rulers and kings, !ut also !e more honored than arents, since these
!egot us @of !lood and the will of the flesh&A .he riests are the authors of our !irth from (od,
that !lessed regeneration which is the true freedom and the adotion according to grace&
.he Jewish riests had authority to release the !ody from lerosy, or to not release it, !ut
only to examine those who were already released& /nd you know how much the office of riest
was contended for at that time& But our riests have received authority to deal not only with
!odily lerosy, !ut siritual uncleanness, and not <ust to certify its cure !ut to actually cure it&
.hose who look down uon these riests are far more accursed than Gathan and his comany,
and deserve severe unishment& >or the later, although they claimed to the dignity which did not
!elong to them, nevertheless had an excellent oinion concerning it, shown !y the eagerness with
?"
which they ursued it& But the eole we are considering have done <ust the oosite, at a time
when the riesthood has !een !etter regulated and enhanced& .hey have dislayed an audacity
which exceeds that of the others, although manifested in a contrary way& >or there is not an e)ual
amount of contemt involved in coveting an honor which does not ertain to one, and making
light of it, !ut the latter exceeds the former as much as scorn differs from admiration& ;hat soul
then is so sordid as to desise such great advantagesB No one, 3 should say, excet the victim of
some demonic imulse&
.o return to the toic from which 3 digressed, (od has !estowed a ower on riests
greater than that of our natural arents& .he difference !etween the two differs as much as the
resent and the future life& 4ur natural arents !ring us into this life only, !ut riests into the life
to come& Natural arents cannot avert death from their offsring, or reel disease& But riests
have often saved a sick soul, or one which was on the oint of erishing, !y making the
unishment milder for some, and reventing others from ever incurring it, not only !y instruction
and admonition !ut also through heling them !y rayer& .hey have the authority to remit sins,
not only at the time of regeneration, !ut afterwards too& @3s any among you sickB Det him call for
the elders of the Church, and let them ray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the
Dord& /nd the rayer of faith shall save him that is sick, and the Dord shall raise him u, and if he
have committed sins, they shall !e forgiven him&A
2
/gain, our natural arents are una!le to hel
their children if they come into conflict with the rominent and owerful in the world, !ut riests
have often reconciled, not rulers and kings, !ut (od :imself when :is wrath has often !een
rovoked against them&
;ill anyone after this still dare to condemn me for arroganceB 3 think that after what 3
have said, such reverence will fill the souls of the hearers that they will no longer condemn those
who avoid the office of arrogance and fear, !ut only those who seek it of their own accord and
are determined to o!tain this dignity for themselves&
"& ?Cor& 5&"1 7N&E&B&9 ?& Cf& 0att& "*&"*& 5& John ?1&?5& %& John C&??& C& John 5&C& $& Cf& John $&C5& 2 Jas& C:"%F"C
-. "he Di##iculty o# the Priesthood.
If it is true that those who are entrusted with civic government have sometimes destroyed cities,
and also ruined themselves through lack of discretion and vigilance, then how much strength and
ower from a!ove must a man need to avoid sin, whose task is to adorn the Bride of ChristB
No man loved Christ more than Paul= no man exhi!ited greater Heal than he= and no man
was endowed with more grace& Nevertheless, after all these great advantages, it is with fear and
trem!ling for his authority that he governs those entrusted to him& :e says, @3 fear, lest as the
serent !eguiled Eve, so your thoughts should !e corruted from the simlicity which is towards
Christ&A
"
/nd again, @3 was with you in fear and in much trem!ling&
?
-et he was a man who had
!een @caught u to the third :eavenA
5
and made @artaker of the unseaka!le mysteries of
(od,
%
and endured as many @deathsA
C
as he had lived days after he !ecame a !eliever& :e was a
man who did not want to use the authority given him !y Christ in case any of his converts should
!e offended&
$
3f, then, he who went !eyond the ordinances of (od, and nowhere sought advantage for
himself !ut only for those under him, and was always so full of fear when he considered the
magnitude of his resonsi!ility, what will !ecome of those who seek their own advantage, and
??
fail to go !eyond the commandments of Christ and for the most art, transgress themB @;ho is
weak,A he says, @and 3 am not weakB ;ho is offended and 3 !urn notBA
2
.hat is what a riest
ought to !e like, or rather, not <ust like that, for these are small things, and really nothing in
comarison with what 3 am going to say&
/nd what is thatB @3 could wish,A he says, @that 3 were anathema from Christ for my
!rethrens sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh&A
*
3f anyone can utter such a seech, if anyone
has the soul caa!le of such a rayer, he might <ustly !e !lamed if he evaded the riesthood& But
if anyone falls as short of that standard as much as 3 do, he deserves to !e hated for acceting the
office, and not for having avoided it&
3f those who had the right of conferring a military honor were to drag forward a
coersmith, or a shoemaker, or some such artisan for election to a generalshi, and entrust the
army to his hands, 3 should not raise the wretched man if he did not flee, and do all in his ower
to avoid lunging himself into such a disaster&
3f, indeed, it is sufficient to !ear the name of astor, and to undertake hahaHardly the
work in hand without risk, then !lame me of vainglory if you like& 3f on the contrary, the man
who accets this resonsi!ility needs great understanding, and !efore that, the great grace of
(od, an uright character and urity of life, and more than human goodness, then do not derive
me of forgiveness if 3 am unwilling to erish in vain without a cause&
0oreover, if anyone in charge of a fullFsiHed merchant shi, fully e)uied with rowers,
and laden with valua!le freight, were to station me at the helm and !id me to cross the /egean or
the .yrrhenian Sea, 3 should recoil from the roosal at once& 3f anyone asked me why, 3 should
say, @.o save sinking the shiPA ;hen the loss concerns material wealth, and the danger extends
only to !odily death, no one will !lame those who exercise great rudence& ;here the fate of the
shiwrecked is to fall, not into the ocean !ut into the a!yss of fire, and what awaits them is not
that which severs the soul from the !ody !ut it is the death which consigns !oth together to
eternal unishment, shall 3 incur your wrath and hate !ecause 3 did not lunge headlong into so
great an evilB 3 ray and !eseech you not to& 3 know how weak and uny my soul is& 3 know the
magnitude of this ministry and the great difficulty of the work& 0ore stormy !illows vex the soul
of the riest than the gales that trou!le the sea&
>irst of all, there is the dreadful rock of vainglory, more dangerous than the Sirens rock
of which the fa!leFmongers tell such marvelous tales& 0any were a!le to sail ast that and escae
unscathed& But to me, this is so dangerous that even now, when no necessity of any kind imels
me into that a!yss, 3 am una!le to stay clear of the snare& 3f anyone entrusted this charge to me, it
would !e the same as if he tied my hands !ehind my !ack, and delivered me to the wild !easts
dwelling on that rock to rend me in ieces day !y day& /nd what are those !eastsB .hey are
wrath, desondency, envy, strife, slanders, accusations, lying, hyocrisy, intrigue, anger against
those who have done no harm, leasure at the indecorous acts of fellow riests, sorrow at their
roserity, love of raise, desire of honor which drives the human soul headlong to erdition,
doctrines devised to lease, servile flatteries, igno!le flattery, contemt of the oor, aying court
to the rich, senseless and mischievous honors, and harmful favors which endanger giver and
receiver alike, sordid fear fit only for the !asest of slaves, the a!olition of lain seaking, much
affectation of humility, !anishment of truth, the suression of convictions and reroofs, or
rather the excessive use of them against the oor, while no one dares so much as to oen his lis
against those who yield ower& >or all these wise !easts and more are !red uon that rock of
which 3 have soken& /nd those eole whom they have once catured are inevita!ly dragged
?5
down into such a deth of servitude, that even to lease women, they often do many things
which it is !etter not to mention&
.he divine law has excluded women from the ministry, !ut they endeavor to thrust
themselves into it, and since they can effect nothing for themselves, they do all through the
agency of others& .hey have !ecome invested with so much ower that they can aoint or e<ect
riests at their will& 3n fact, things are turned uside down, and the rover!ial saying may !e seen
realiHed, @the ruled lead the rulers&A 3t is !ad enough if they were men !ut they are women who
have not received a commission to teach& ;hy do 3 say teachB St& Paul did not even allow them
to seak in Church&
#
But 3 have heard someone say that they have o!tained such freedom of
seech, that they even re!uke the relates of the Churches, and censure them more severely than
masters would their slaves&
But let not any one suose that 3 su!<ect all to these charges, for there are many who are
suerior to these entanglements and exceed in num!er those who have !een caught in them& Nor
would 3 indeed make the riesthood resonsi!le for these evils& (od for!id that 3 should !e such
a foolP ;ise men do not say that the sword is to !lame for murder, nor wine for drunkenness, nor
strength for outrage, nor courage for foolhardiness& No, they lay the !lame on those who make an
imroer use of the gifts which have !een !estowed uon them !y (od, and unish them
accordingly& .he riestly office might well accuse us of not handling it rightly& >or it is not itself
a cause of the evils already mentioned, !ut we, who as far as lies our ower, have defiled it with
so much ollution !y entrusting it to commonlace men who readily accet what is offered them
without having first ac)uired a knowledge of their own souls, or considered the gravity of the
office& /nd when they come to exercise they ministry, they are !linded !y inexerience, and they
overwhelm with innumera!le evils the eole who have !een committed to their care&
.his is the thing that nearly haened to me, had not (od seedily delivered me from
those dangers, mercifully saring his Church and my own soul& .ell me, where do you think such
great trou!les in the Churches originateB >or my art, 3 !elieve that their only source is the
inconsiderate and random way in which relates are chosen and aointed& >or the head ought to
!e the strongest art, in order to !e a!le to regulate and control the evil exhalations which arise
from the rest of the !ody as well& .o revent this coming to ass, (od ket me in the osition of
the @feetA which was the rank originally assigned to me&
"& ?Cor& ""&5 ?& "Cor& 5&5& &5& ?Cor& "?&?& %& Cf& ?Cor& "?&%& C& ?Cor& ""&?5& $& "Cor& #&l?&
2& ?Cor& ""&?#& *& Eom& #&5& #& "Cor& "%&5%&
.. "he Character and "emptations
o# a Bishop.
There are many other )ualities, Basil, !esides those already mentioned, which the riest ought
to have, !ut which 3 do not ossess& /!ove all, he must urify his soul of am!ition for the office&
>or if he haens to have a natural inclination for this dignity, a stronger flame is kindled as soon
as he attains it, and the man !eing taken comletely cative will endure innumera!le evils in
order to kee a secure hold uon it& :e will even resort to flattery, or su!mit to something !ase
and igno!le, or send large sums of money& 3 will not, at this time, seak of the murders with
?%
which some have filled the Churches with, or the desolation which they have !rought uon cities
in contending for the dignity, lest some ersons should think what 3 say is incredi!le&
3 !elieve that one ought to exercise so much caution in the matter as to shun the !urden of
the office, and when one has entered uon it, not to wait for the <udgement of others, should any
fault !e committed which warrants deosition, !ut anticiate it and deose yourself from the
dignity& 3n this way, a man may ro!a!ly gain (ods mercy& But if he clings to a osition for
which he is not fit, he derives himself of all forgiveness, and kindles the wrath of (od !y
adding a second error more offensive than the first& But no one will endure the strain, for it is a
terri!le temtation to covet this honor& 3n saying this, 3 do not contradict St& Paul, !ut entirely
agree with his words& >or he says: @3f any man seeketh the office of a !isho, he desireth a good
work&A
"
Now 3 have not said that it is a terri!le thing to desire the work, !ut only the authority
and ower&
3 think one ought to exel this desire from the soul with all ossi!le earnestness, not
ermitting it at the outset to !e ossessed !y such a feeling, so that he may always act with
freedom& >or he who does not desire to show that he is in ossession of this authority, does not
fear its loss either& Not fearing this, he will !e a!le to act with the freedom which !efits Christian
men& But those who fear and dread deosition from this office endure a !itter servitude, filled
with all kinds of evils, and are often comelled to offend !oth man and (od&
But the soul ought not to !e affected in this way& /s in warfare, we see no!leFsirited
soldiers fighting willingly and falling !ravely, so those who have attained to this stewardshi
should !e content to !e consecrated to the dignity or removed from it, as !efits Christian men,
knowing that such deosition earns a crown no less than the office itself&
>or when anyone suffers anything of this kind !ecause he will not su!mit to something
which is un!ecoming or unworthy of this dignity, he rocures a greater unishment for those
who wrongfully deose him and a greater reward for himself& @Blessed are ye,A says our Dord,
@when men shall reroach you and ersecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely
for my sake& Ee<oice and !e exceeding glad, for great is your reward in :eaven&A
?
.his is surely
the case when one is exelled !y those of his own rank, either through envy, or with a view to
lease others, or through hatred, or from any other wrong motive& But when he gets this
treatment from his enemies, 3 do not think any argument is needed to rove what great gain they
confer uon him !y their wickedness&
So we must !e thoroughly on our guard and make a careful search to revent any sark of
this desire to !e secretly smouldering somewhere& 3t is much to !e desired that those who are
originally free from this assion should also !e a!le to avoid it when they have lighted uon this
office& 3f anyone cherishes in himself this terri!le and savage monster !efore he o!tains the
honor, there is no telling into what a furnace he will fling himself into after he has attained it& >or
my own art, 3 ossess this desire to a high degree, and do not suose that 3 would ever tell you
what was untrue in selfFdisaragement& Com!ined with other reasons, this alarmed me and
imelled me to take flight& >or <ust as lovers of a human erson suffer more severe torment from
their assion as long as they are ermitted to !e near the o!<ects of their affection, they throw off
their frenHy when they are as far way as ossi!le from these o!<ects of desire& /lso, when those
who desire this dignity are near it, the evil !ecomes intolera!le, !ut when they cease to hoe for
it, the desire is extinguished together with the exectation&
.his single motive then is no slight one, and taken !y itself, it would have sufficed to
deter me from this dignity& /s it is, there is another motive no less than the former& ;hat is itB /
riest ought to !e so!er minded, and enetrating in discernment, and ossess a thousand eyes
?C
looking in every direction, for he lives not for himself alone !ut for a great multitude& But 3 am
sluggish and slack, and scarcely a!le to !ring a!out my own salvation, as even you should admit,
who, out of love for me, are eager to conceal my faults&
Go not seak to me now of fasting and vigils or sleeing on the ground and other hard
!odily disciline& -ou know how defective 3 am in these matters& But even if 3 had carefully
racticed them, they could not, with my resent sluggishness have !een of any service to me
with a view to this ost of authority& Such things might !e of great service to a man shut u in a
cell and concerned only a!out his own soul& But when a man is divided among so great a
multitude, and enters searately into the rivate cares of those who are under his direction, what
arecia!le hel can !e given to their imrovement unless he ossesses a ro!ust and vigorous
characterB
Go not !e surrised if, in addition to such endurance, 3 seek another test of fortitude in
the soul& .o !e indifferent to food and drink and a soft !ed is not a hard task to many, esecially
to those who have !een !rought u in this way from early youth, and to many others as well& >or
!odily disciline and custom softens the severity of these la!orious ractices& :owever, there are
not many, only a few here and there, who can !ear insult, and a!use, and coarse language and
gi!es from inferiors, soken wantonly or deli!erately, and re!ukes made at random, !oth !y
rulers and the ruled& -ou can see men who are valiant in ascetic ractices !ecome so comletely
uset !y these things as to !ecome more furious than the most savage !easts& ;e should
esecially exclude such men from the recincts of the riesthood& No harm would !e done to the
common interests of the Church if a relate did not loathe food, or go !arefoot, !ut a furious
temer causes great disasters !oth to him who ossesses it, and to his neigh!ors&
.here is no divine threat against those who fail to do the things referred to, !ut those who
are angry without a cause are threatened with hell and hell fire&
5
/s, then, the lover of vainglory
adds fresh fuel to the fire when he assumes direction of a whole multitude like some wild !east
(oaded 4n all sides !y countless tormentors& :e would never !e a!le to live in eace, and would
cause incalcula!le evil to those eole committed to his charge&
Nothing clouds the urity of the mind and the ersicuity of the mental vision as much as
undiscilined wrath that fluctuates violently& Scriture says, @.his destroys even the rudent&A
%
>or the souls eye is darkened as in a nocturnal !attle and cannot distinguish friend from foe, nor
the honora!le from the unworthy& 3t handles them all in turn the same way, even if some harm
must !e suffered, readily enduring everything in order to satisfy the leasure of the soul& >or a
fire of wrath is a kind of leasure and tyranniHes over the soul more harshly than leasure,
comletely usetting its healthy condition& 3t easily imels men to arrogance, to unseasona!le
enmities and unreasona!le hatred, and it continually makes them ready to commit wanton and
vain offences, and forces them to say and do many other things of that kind& .he soul is swet
along with the rush of assion, and has no !ase on which to fasten its strength and resist so
strong an imulse&
Basil: 3 will not endure this irony of yours any longer& ;ho knows !etter than 3 how far
removed you are from this infirmityB
John: ;hy then, my good friend, do you want to drag me near the yre and rovoke the
sleeing !eastB Go you not know that 3 have achieved this condition, not !y any innate virtue,
!ut !y my love of retirementB ;hen one who is so constituted remains contented !y himself, or
only associates with one or two friends, he is a!le to escae the fire which arises from his
assion& :owever, if he has lunged into the a!yss of all these cares, he drags not only himself,
!ut also many others with him to the !rink of destruction, and renders them more indifferent to
?$
all consideration for gentleness& >or the mass of eole under government are generally inclined
to regard the character of their rulers as a model tye, and to assimilate themselves to it& :ow
then could any one ut a sto to their out!ursts, if he is himself swelling with rageB ;ho
amongst the multitude would naturally desire to learn selfFcontrol when he sees that his ruler is
hotFtemeredB
.he riests shortcomings simly cannot !e concealed& 4n the contrary, even the most
trivial ones soon !ecome known& .he weakest athlete can conceal his weakness as long as he
remains at home and contends with no one= !ut when he stris for the contest, he is easily
detected& >or some who live this rivate and inactive life, their isolation serves as a veil to hide
their defects= !ut when they are !rought into u!lic life, they are comelled to divest themselves
of this mantle of seclusion, and to lay !are their souls to all through their visi!le movements& /s,
then, their right deeds rofit many !y challenging them to e)ual Heal, so their shortcomings make
men more indifferent to the ractice of virtue, and encourage them to indolence for the things
that matter& .herefore, his soul ought to gleam with !eauty on every side so that it may !e a!le to
gladden and to enlighten the souls of those who !ehold it&
.he faults of ordinary men, !eing committed as it were in the dark, ruin only those who
commit them& But the errors of a man in a consicuous osition, and known to many, inflict a
common in<ury uon all, rendering those who have fallen more suine in their efforts for good,
and driving to deseration those who wish to imrove& /art from this, the faults of insignificant
men, even if made u!lic, harm no one seriously& But they who occuy the highest seat of honor
are visi!le to all, and if they err in the smallest matters, these trifles seem great to others, since
everyone measures the sin, not !y the magnitude of the offence, !ut !y the rank of the offender&
.he riest must !e rotected on all sides !y steel armor, !y intense earnestness, and
eretual watchfulness concerning his manner of life, lest someone discovering an exosed and
neglected sot should inflict a deadly wound& >or all who surround him are ready to smite and
overthrow him, not only his enemies and foes, !ut many of those who retend to love him&
.herefore, the souls of men elected to the riesthood ought to !e endued with ower as
hardy as (ods grace once !estowed on the !odies of those saints cast in the Ba!ylonian
furnace&C BrushFwood and itch and tow are not the fuel of this fire, !ut something far more
dreadful& 3t is no material fire to which they are su!<ected, !ut the allFdevouring flame of envy
encomasses them, rising u on every side and assailing them, rising u all round, and assailing
them and searching their life more thoroughly than the fire did the !odies of those young men&
;hen it finds a slight trace of stu!!le, it seedily lays hold of it and entirely consumes this
unsound art, while all the rest of the fa!ric, even if it is !righter than the sun!eams, is scorched
and !lackened !y the smoke&
>or as long as the life of the riest is well regulated in every articular oint, their
intrigues cannot hurt him& But if he haens to overlook some trifle, as is natural in a human
!eing traversing the treacherous ocean of this life, none of his other good deeds are of any avail
in ena!ling him to escae the words of his accusers& .hat small offence casts a shadow over all
the rest of his life& Everyone is ready to ass <udgment on the riest, not as one clothed in flesh,
not as one who ossesses a human nature, !ut as an angel exemt from the frailty of others&
/ll men fear and flatter a tyrant as long as his ower lasts !ecause they cannot deose
him, !ut when they see his ower decline, those who were his friends a short time ago a!andon
their hyocritical resect, and suddenly !ecome his enemies and antagonists& :aving discovered
all his weaknesses, they set uon him, and deose him from ower& So it is with riests& .hose
who honored him and courted him when he was in ower, eagerly reare to disose him as soon
?2
as they have found some little handle, not only as a tyrant, !ut something far more dreadful than
that& /s the tyrant fears his !odyguards, also does the riest dread most of his neigh!ors and
fellowFministers& >or no others covet his dignity so much or know his affairs as well as these
men& Being close to him, they learn !efore others of any faults that may occur& 3f they slander
him, they easily command !elief, and !y magnifying trifles, they take their victim cative& >or
the aostolic saying is reversed: @/nd if one mem!er suffereth, all the mem!ers re<oice= and if
one mem!er is honored, all the mem!ers suffer,A
$
unless, !y his great discretion, a man should !e
a!le to survive it all&
/re you, then, sending me forth into so great a warfareB Gid you think that my soul was
e)ual to such a comlex and intricate !attleB ;here did you get the information, and from
whomB /nd if (od revealed this to you, show me the oracle and 3 will o!ey& But if you cannot do
so, and are making a <udgment from human oinion only, then deceive yourself no longer& >or in
what concerns my own affairs, it is fairer to trust me over others since @no man knoweth the
things of a man, save the sirit of the man which is in him&A
2
;ith these arguments, 3 think 3 must have now convinced you, if not !efore, that 3 should
have made !oth my electors and myself ridiculous !y having acceted this office, and should
have, with great loss, returned again to this condition of life in which 3 am now& >or it is no only
malice, !ut something far worse N the lust after this office N that is wont to arm many against
the one who ossesses it& Just as avaricious sons !egrudge their fathers a long life, so when some
of these men see the riestly office held !y anyone for a rolonged eriod, they hasten to deose
him as it would !e wicked to murder him& Being desirous to take his lace, everyone exects that
the office will fall to him&
"& ".im& 5&"& ?& 0att& C&""F"?& 5& Cf& 0att& C&??& %& Prov& "C&" 7DOO9&
C& Gan& 5&?2& $& Contrast "Cor& "?&?$& 2& Cf& "Cor& ?&""&
1/. Particular Duties and Pro0lems.
Promotions.
;ould you like me to show you yet another hase of this strife which is full of
innumera!le dangersB Come, then, and take a ee at the u!lic festivals when it is generally the
custom for elections to !e made to ecclesiastical dignities& -ou will then see the riest assailed
with accusations as numerous as the eole whom he rules& >or all who are )ualified to !estow
the honor are then slit into many arties, and one can never find the council of elders of one
mind with each other, nor with the one who has received the Eiscoal office& Each man stands
alone, one referring this man and another that& .he reason is that they do not all concentrate on
one thing N siritual worth N which ought to !e the only o!<ect ket in view& .here are other
)ualifications which influence aointment to this office& >or instance, one man says, @Det this
man !e chosen !ecause he !elongs to a distinguished familyA= another says, @Because he
ossesses a large fortune and would not need suorting out of the Churchs revenuesA= another,
@Because he is a convert from the other side&A 4ne man is anxious to give reference to a friend,
another to a relative, a third to a flatterer, !ut no one will look for the !estF)ualified man or make
a test of his character&
3 myself am so far from thinking these things trustworthy criteria of a mans fitness for
the riesthood& Even if anyone manifested great iety, which is no small hel in the discharge of
?*
that office, 3 should not venture to arove him on that account alone, unless he com!ined
considera!le intelligence with his iety& >or 3 know many men who have exercised eretual
restraint uon themselves, and exhausted themselves with fasting, and who, as long as they were
allowed to live alone and attend to their own needs, were acceta!le to (od, and every day made
great rogress in this kind of learning& -et, when they entered u!lic life, and were comelled to
correct the ignorance of the multitudes, some of them roved at the outset that they were
incometent for so great a task, and others, when forced to ersevere in it, a!andoned their
former strict standards, and inflicted great in<ury uon themselves and were not of the least use
to others&
/gain, if a man has sent all his life in the lower order of the ministry and has reached
extreme old age, 3 would not, merely out of reverence for his years, romote him to the higher
dignity& ;hat if, arriving at that time of life, he should still remain unfit for the officeB 3 do not
say this out of disresect for gray hairs, nor am 3 laying down a rule that we should a!solutely
exclude from this resonsi!ility those who come from the monastic !rotherhood& 3t has turned
out that many who have issued from that !ody have shed luster uon this office& .he oint which
3 am anxious to rove is, that if neither iety of itself nor advanced age alone are sufficient to
rove a man worthy of the riesthood, the reasons formerly alleged are hardly likely to do so&
.here are men who !ring forward other retexts which are stranger still& Some men are
enlisted in the ranks of the clergy to revent them from siding with the enemy, and others on
account of their evil disosition, in order to sto them from causing great mischief if they are
overlooked& Could anything !e more contrary to right rule than this N that corrut men, laden
with ini)uity, should !e courted for the very things for which they ought to !e unished, and
romoted to the riestly dignity for the very things for which they ought to !e for!idden from
crossing the threshold of the ChurchB
.ell me, then, do we need to look any further for the cause of (ods wrath when we exose such
sacred and aweFinsiring things to !e defiled !y wicked or worthless menB ;hen some men are
entrusted with the administration of things which are not at all suita!le to them, and others, with
the administration of things )uite !eyond their owers, they make the condition of the Church
like that of Eurius&
>ormerly, 3 used to deride secular rulers !ecause they distri!uted honors not on grounds
of moral excellence, !ut on wealth, and seniority, and worldly distinction& ;hen 3 heard that this
kind of folly had forced its way into our affairs also, 3 no longer regarded their conduct as so
atrocious& >or why should we !e surrised that worldly men, who love the raise of the
multitude, and do everything for the sake of gain, should commit these sins, when those who
claim to !e free from all these influences are no !etterB /lthough they are in a contest for
heavenly rewards, they act as if the )uestion su!mitted for decision was one which concerns
acres of land, or something else of the kind& .hey simly take commonlace men, and ut them
in charge of those things for which the onlyF!egotten Son of (od did not disdain to emty
:imself of :is glory, and to !ecome man, and to take the form of a servant, and to !e sat uon,
and !uffeted, and to die a death of reroach in the flesh&
Nor do they sto even here, !ut they add to these offences others still more monstrous&
Not only to they elect unworthy men, !ut they actually exel those who are well )ualified& /s if
it were necessary to undermine the safety of the Church in !oth ways, or as if the former
rovocation were not enough to kindle the wrath of (od, they have contrived another reason no
less serious& >or 3 consider it as !ad to kee out the useful as to !ring in the useless& .his in fact
takes lace so that the flock of Christ is una!le to find consolation in any direction or draw its
?#
!reath freely& Goes this not deserve to !e unished !y a hail of thunder!olts and hellFfire hotter
than that with which we are threatenedB -et these monstrous evils are !orne atiently !y :im
who does not desire the death of a sinner, !ut rather that he should !e converted and live& :ow
can we marvel at :is loving kindness for man, or !e amaHed at :is mercyB Christians destroy the
roerty of Christ more than enemies and adversaries, yet the good Dord still deals gently with
them and calls them to reentance&
(lory !e to .hee, 4 DordP (lory to .heeP :ow vast is the deth of .hy loving kindnessP
:ow great the riches of .hy for!earanceP 0en, who through .hy name have risen from
insignificance and o!scurity to ositions of honor and distinction, use the honor they en<oy
against :im who !estowed it, and commit deeds of outrageous audacity& .hey insult holy things,
re<ecting and exelling men of Heal, in order that the wicked may have erfect freedom and full
security to ruin everything at their leasure&
3f you want to know the causes of this dreadful evil, you will find that they are similar to
those 3 mentioned !efore& .hey have one root and so to seak one mother N envy, and this is
manifested in different forms& >or we are told that one is to !e struck out of the list of candidates
!ecause he is young= another, !ecause he does not know how to flatter= a third, !ecause he has
offended soFandFso= a fourth, in case soFandFso should !e hurt at seeing his nominee re<ected and
another man aointed= a fifth, !ecause he is kind and gentle= a sixth, !ecause sinners fear him= a
seventh, for some other similar reason& .hey are at no loss to find as many retexts as they want,
and can even make a mans wealth an o!<ection if they have no other& 3ndeed, they are caa!le of
discovering, gently and gradually, many other reasons why a man should not receive this honor&
But 3 should like to ask you now what the relate ought to do when he has to contend
with so many windsB :ow can he stand firm against such !illowsB :ow can he reel all these
assaultsB 3f he manages the !usiness uon uright rinciles, all men !ecome enemies and foes
to him and to those whom he has chosen& .hey will rovoke, with a view of contention, daily
strife, and hea scorn uon the candidates until they either strike them off the list, or introduce
their own men& 3t is like a catain having irates sailing with him on !oard shi, and continually
lotting hour !y hour against him and the sailors and crew& 3f, on the other hand, he favors such
men over his salvation !y acceting unworthy candidates, he will incur (ods enmity in lace of
theirs& /nd what could !e worse than thatB :is relations with them will !e more difficult than
!efore since they will all consire together, and there!y !ecome more owerful than !efore&
;hen fierce winds coming from oosite directions clash with one another, the sea, which
!efore was calm, suddenly rages and towers and destroys those who sail on it= so the calm sea of
the Church is filled with surf and wreckage when evil men are acceted&
Consider, then, what )ualities a man needs if he is to withstand such a temest, and deal
successfully with these o!stacles to the common good& :e ought to !e dignified yet modest,
imressive yet kind, masterful yet aroacha!le, imartial yet courteous, hum!le !ut not servile,
strong yet gentle, in order that he may successfully contend all these difficulties and romote
with authority a suita!le man for the office even though everyone should oose him& :e must
kee one aim only in view, the !uilding u of the Church& :e must do nothing out of hostility or
favor&
;ell, then, do you think 3 was unreasona!le in declining the ministry of this officeB But 3
have not yet gone through all my reasons with you for 3 still have some others to say& So do not
lose atience in listening to a friendly and sincere man who wishes to clear himself of your
accusations& >or what 3 say is not only of service to you in my defense, !ut will ro!a!ly afford
considera!le hel for the due administration of the office& >or anyone who is a!out to enter uon
51
this walk of life needs to investigate thoroughly !eforehand all matters !efore he sets undertakes
this ministry& /nd whyB Because one who knows all difficulties !eforehand will have the
advantage of not !eing taken !y surrise when they cro u&
1ido2s and the Sick
;ould you like me then to aroach the )uestion of the suerintendence of widows, or of
the care of virgins, or of the difficulty of the <udicial functionB >or in each of these cases, there is
a different kind of anxiety and the fear is greater than the anxiety&
3n the first lace, even though this ministry aears to !e easier than the rest, the charge
of widows seems to cause anxiety to those who take care of them so far as the exenditure of
money is concerned& But this is not so& 4n the contrary, here also close scrutiny is needed when
they are enrolled& Entering their names carelessly has led to untold trou!les& >or they have ruined
households, and severed marriages, and have often !een detected stealing and ilfering and
committing other disgraceful offences like these& .o suort women like that from the Churchs
funds rovokes unishment from (od, and extreme condemnation from men, and discourages
those who want to do good& >or who could ever choose to send the money which he was
commanded to give to Christ uon those who defame the name of ChristB >or these reasons a
long and recise scrutiny ought to !e made to revent those whom 3 have descri!ed, as well as
those who can rovide for themselves, from lundering the ta!le of those who cannot&
/fter this scrutiny, there follows another !it anxiety N to see that the means for their
suort should our in a!undantly, like water from a sring, and never fail& >or comulsory
overty is an insatia!le kind of evil, )uerulous and unthankful& (reat discretion and great Heal is
re)uired to take away all occasions for comlaint and sto their tongues from wagging& ;hen
eole see anyone suerior to avarice, they at once oint him out as suita!le for this stewardshi&
But 3 do not think that honesty !y itself is sufficient& /lthough it ought to !e ossessed rior to
all other )ualities, since without this a man will !e a destroyer rather than a rotector, a wolf
instead of a sheherd& But you must look for the ossession of another )uality as well, and that is
for!earance, the source of all human !lessings, which guides the soul into a serene heaven&
>or widows are a class who, !oth on account of their overty, their age and natural
disosition, indulge in unlimited freedom of seech N to call it no worseP .hey make
unseasona!le clamor and idle comlaints and lamentations a!out matters for which they ought to
!e grateful, and !ring accusations concerning things which they ought contentedly to accet&
Now the suerintendent should endure all these things in a generous sirit, and not !e rovoked
either !y their inoortune annoyance or their unreasona!le comlaints& >or ersons of this kind
deserve to !e itied, not insulted for their misfortunes& 3t would !e a mark of utter cruelty to take
advantage of their misfortunes, and add to the ain of overty the ain of insult&
.hat is why a very wise man, o!serving the avarice and ride of human nature, realiHed
the nature of overty and its terri!le ower to deress even the no!lest character, and often
teaches it to lose all shame on such matters& .o revent anyone !eing irritated when accused or
rovoked !y continual imortunity to !ecome an enemy when he ought to !ring aid, he instructs
him to !e gentle and accessi!le to the needy saying: @3ncline thine ear to a oor man without
grieving and answer him with eacea!le words in meekness&A
"
3n the case of one who rovokes a
man in distress N for what can you say to someone who is overcome N he addresses the man
who is a!le to !ear the others infirmity, urging him, !efore he !estows his gift, to correct the
suliant !y the gentleness of his countenance and the mildness of his words& 3f anyone, without
5"
having taken the roerty of these widows, loads them with innumera!le reroaches and insults
them and is exaserated against them, he not only fails through his gift to alleviate the
desondency of overty, !ut aggravates the distress !y his a!use& Even if they are comelled !y
sheer hunger to act shamelessly, they are still hurt !y this comulsion& ;hen they are forced to
!eg !ecause of the dread of famine, they are constrained to ut off shame and are insulted
!ecause of their !raHenness, and the ower of desondency, which attacks them, casts a dee
gloom over their soul&
;hoever is in charge of these ersons should !e so longFsuffering so that far from
increasing their desondency !y his fits of anger, he actually removes the greater art of it !y his
symathy& >or <ust as a rich man who has !een insulted forgets the !enefits of his wealth on
account of the !low of the insult, so on the other hand, the man who has !een addressed with
kindly words, and whose gift has !een accomanied with encouragement, exults and re<oices all
the more& .he gift !ecomes dou!led in value through the manner in which it was offered& 3 say
this, not of myself, !ut on the authority of the writer whose recet 3 have already )uoted& @0y
son, to thy good deeds add no !lemish, and no grief of words in any of thy giving& Shall not the
dew assuage the scorching heatB So is a word !etter than a gift& Do, a word is !etter than a gift=
and !oth are with a gracious man&A ?
.he guardian of these eole must not only !e gentle and for!earing, !ut also a good
steward& >or if this )uality is missing, the affairs of the oor are again exosed to loss& Not long
ago, someone was entrusted with this ministry, and having collected a large amount of money,
did not waste it on himself !ut, excet for a few, had not sent it on the needy either& :e had
!uried in the earth the greater art of it until a season of distress occurred, and then surrendered it
into the hands of the enemy& 0uch foresight, therefore, is needed to revent the resources of the
Church either iling u or running short& 3t is !etter to )uickly distri!ute all that is su!scri!ed
among the needy and lay u treasures for the Church stored in the hearts of those who are under
her rule&
0oreover, for the hositality of strangers and the care of the sick, consider how great an
exenditure of money is re)uired, and how much exactness and discernment is needed on the
art of those who reside over these matters& 3t is often necessary that this exenditure should !e
even larger than that of which 3 have <ust soken a!out& .he man who resides over it should
com!ine rudence and wisdom, with skill in the art of suly, so as to encourage the affluent to
emulate one another and to !e ungrudging in their gifts& :is o!<ect is to rovide for the relief of
the sick and not vex the souls of the contri!utors& Earnestness and Heal need to !e dislayed here
in a far higher degree, for the sick are difficult to lease, and are rone to languor& Mnless every
care and attention is lavished on them, the smallest neglect is enough to cause the atient great
distress&
3ir(ins.
/s for the care of virgins, the fear is all the greater in roortion as the treasure is more
recious, and this grou is of a no!ler character than the others& /lready, even into the !and of
these holy ones, great num!ers of women, full of innumera!le vices, have intruded into the ranks
of these holy ones& 3n this case, the grief is greater here& 3t is not the same thing for a virgin and a
widow to go astray as it is with a free!orn girl and her servant to fall into sin& ;ith widows, it
has !ecome common ractice to trifle and to rail at one another, to flatter or to !e imudent, to
aear everywhere in u!lic, and to loiter a!out the market lace& But the virgin has striven for
no!ler aims and devoted herself to the highest hilosohy& She rofesses to live on earth the life
5?
of angels, and while in the flesh, rooses to do deeds which !elong to the incororeal owers&
0oreover, she must not make numerous or unnecessary <ourneys, nor is it ermissi!le for her to
utter idle and random words without good reason& She should not even know the meaning of
a!use or flattery& 4n this account, she needs careful guardianshi and the greatest suort& >or
the enemy of holiness is always surrising them and lying in wait for them, ready to devour any
one of them if they should sli and fall& 0any men also lay snares for them, and !esides all these
things there is their own assionate natures& .he virgin must e)ui herself for a twofold war, one
launched from the outside and the other from within& >or these reasons, he who has the
guardianshi of virgins suffers great alarm and distress should any of the things occur which,
(od for!id, are contrary to his wishes&
>or if a daughter is @a secret cause of wakefulness to her father,A
5
and his care for her
makes him loose slee through his great anxiety that she may !e childless, or ass her rime
unmarried, or !e hated !y her hus!and, what more will a man feel whose anxiety is over none of
these dangers, !ut over others far greater than theseB >or in this case, it is not a man who is
re<ected !ut Christ :imself& /nd here, !arrenness is not merely the su!<ect of reroach, !ut the
evil end in the souls destruction& @>or every tree,A he says, @which !ringeth not forth good fruit
is hewn down and cast into the fire&
%
/nd if she has !een reudiated !y the Bridegroom, it is not
sufficient to receive a certificate of divorce and so deart, !ut she has to ay the enalty of
eternal torment&
/ natural father has many things that make is easy to watch over his daughter& >or a
mother and a nurse and many handmaids share in heling to kee the girl safe& She is not
allowed to !e eretually dashing into the marketFlace, and when she does go there, she is not
allowed to show herself to assersF!y since the dusk of the evening conceals her no less than the
walls of the house& /nd aart from this, she is relieved from every
cause which might otherwise comel her to meet the gaHe of men& She has no anxiety a!out the
necessities of life, nor the insults of wrongdoers, nor anything of that kind which reduces her to
this unfortunate necessity since her father reresents her in all matters& But she herself has one
care only, which is to avoid doing or saying anything unworthy of the modest conduct which
!ecomes her&
But in the case of a virgin, there are many circumstances which make it difficult, or rather
imossi!le for her siritual father to rotect her& :e cannot have her in his house since it would
not !e seemly or safe to live together& >or even if they themselves should suffer no harm, !ut
continue to reserve their innocence unsullied, they would have to answer for the souls they have
offended, <ust as much as if they haened to sin with one another& /s it is imossi!le for them to
live together, it is not easy to understand the movements of the character, and to suress the ill
regulated imulses, and train and imrove those which are !etter ordered and tuned& Nor is it
easy to interfere with her ha!its of going out, for her overty and indeendence does not ermit
him to !ecome a close investigator of the roriety of her conduct& /s she is comelled to
manage all her affairs, she has many retexts for going out, esecially if she is not inclined to !e
selfFcontrolled& Now, if someone orders her always to remain at home, he must take away these
retexts, rovide sufficient rovision for her daily needs, and give her a woman to attend to
them& :e must also kee her away from funerals and vigils, for that su!tle serent knows very
well how to sread his oison even !y means of good deeds& .he virgin must !e comletely
immured, and must leave her house only a few times each year when urgent necessity comels
her&
55
Should anyone say that it is not the !ishos <o! to attend to any of this, he must !ear in
mind that all articular anxieties and accusations are referred to him& 3t is much !etter for him to
manage everything himself, and so !e rid of the criticism which he must otherwise incur through
the faults of others, than to a!stain from the management and then have to dread !eing called to
account for what others have done& 0oreover, if he does everything himself, he gets through all
his !usiness with great ease& But if he is comelled to do it !y converting everyones oinion, the
relief he gets through freedom from ersonal la!or is not e)ual to the trou!le and !other he is
caused !y those who oose him and resist is decisions&
:owever, 3 could no enumerate all the anxieties concerned with the care of virgins& >or
when they have to !e enrolled on the list, they cause no small trou!le to the man who is entrusted
with this administration&
*r0itration43isitin(45xcommunication.
/gain, the <udicial function of the !ishos office involves innumera!le vexations, much
exenditure of time, and greater difficulties exceeding those exerienced !y those who sit to
<udge secular affairs& 3t is a ro!lem to find where <ustice lies, and it is hard not to destroy it
when found& Not only loss of time and difficulties are incurred, !ut there is also no little danger&
Before now, some of the weaker !rethren have lunged into disutes !ecause they have not
o!tained atronage, and have @made shiwreck concerning the faith&AC 0any of those who have
suffered wrong, no less than those who have inflicted wrong, hate those who do not assist them&
.hey will not take into account either the intricacy of the matters in )uestion, or the difficulty of
the times, or the limitation of ecclesiastical authority, or anything of the kind& .hey are merciless
<udges, who recogniHe only one kind of defense N release from the evils which oress them& 3f
he cannot offer them this, however many good reasons he gives, he will never avoid
condemnation&
.alking of atronage, let me disclose another retext for faultFfinding& 3f the !isho does
not ay a round of visits every day, even more than the idle men a!out town, unseaka!le
offence ensues& Not only the sick, !ut also the healthy want to !e visited !y the !isho, not so
much !ecause their iety romts them, !ut in most cases they lay claim to honor and
distinction& /nd if he haens to visit one of the richer and more influential men more fre)uently,
romted !y some secial need and for some common good of the Church, he wins at once the
reutation for fawning and flattery&
But why mention favoritism and visitingB .he mere way in which !ishos address eole
is enough to incur such a load of reroaches that they are often !urdened and overwhelmed !y
desondency& 3n fact, they have to undergo a scrutiny of the way in which they use their eyes, for
the u!lic rigorously criticiHes their simlest actions& .hey take note of the tone of their voice,
the cast of their countenance, and the fre)uency of their laughter& @:e laughed heartily at such a
man,A says one, @and soke to him with a !right face and hearty voice= whereas to me he
addressed only a slight and assing remark&A 3f he does not turn his eyes in every direction when
he is conversing to a large assem!ly, the ma<ority declares that his conduct is insulting&
;ho, then, unless he is exceedingly strong, could coe with so many accusers, and either
not !e indited !y them or escae indictmentB >or he must either !e without any accusers, or, if
this is imossi!le, urge himself of the accusations which are !rought against him& /nd, if this
again is not an easy matter, as some men delight in making vain and wanton charges, he must
make a !rave stand against the de<ection roduced !y these comlaints& / man who is <ustly
5%
accused may easily tolerate the accuser& >or since there is no accuser more !itter than our own
conscience, we have no difficulty in !earing the milder accusations of others& But he who has no
evil thing uon his conscience, is seedily excited to wrath when he is su!<ected to an emty
charge, and he easily sinks into de<ection unless he haens to have racticed !eforehand how to
ut u with the follies of the multitude& >or it is utterly imossi!le for one who is falsely accused
without cause and condemned, to avoid feeling some vexation and annoyance at such great
in<ustice& /nd how can one descri!e the grief !ishos feel when anyone has to !e
excommunicated from the !ody of the ChurchB 3f only the evil went no further than distressP But
in fact, it may lead to terri!le loss& >or if it is to !e feared that if a man is unished !eyond what
he deserves, he may do what St& Paul seaks of, and @!e swallowed u with overmuch sorrow&A
$
:ere, also, great care is needed to ensure that what was meant to hel does not !ecome the
occasion of greater loss& >or whatever sins he may commit after such a method of treatment, the
hysician who so unskillfully alies his knife to the wound shares the wrath caused !y each of
them&
;hat severe unishment, then, must a man exect, when he not only has to render
account for his own offences, !ut also stands in the utmost eril for the sins of othersB >or if we
shudder at undergoing <udgment for our own misdeeds, !elieving that we shall not !e a!le to
escae the fire of the other world, what must one exect to suffer who has to answer for so many
othersB .o rove that this is true, hear what St& Paul says, or rather, not Paul !ut Christ seaking
to him: @4!ey them that have the rule over you and su!mit to them= for they watch in !ehalf of
your souls, as they that shall give account&A
2
3s the fear of this threat trivialB ;e dare not say it is&
Surely, all this is enough to ersuade the most stu!!orn and o!stinate that my reason for
hiding was not ride or vainglory, !ut merely out of fear for my own safety, and consideration of
the gravity of the office&
"& Ecclus& %&&*& ?& Ecclus& "*&"CF"2& 5& Ecclus& %?&#& %& 0att& 5&"1& C& ".im& "&"#& $& ?Cor& ?&2& 2& :e!& "5&"2&
11. "he Penalty #or 6ailure.
Basil listened to this, and after a short ause he said:
3f you had !een ersonally am!itious to o!tain this office, your fear would have !een
reasona!le& /nyone who, !y his am!ition to o!tain it, confesses himself to !e )ualified for its
administration, and if he fails after it has !een entrusted to him, cannot take refuge in the lea of
inexerience& :e derived himself of that excuse in advance !y coming forward and gra!!ing
the ministry eagerly& /nd one who has voluntarily taken u the work of his own free will can no
longer say, @3 have sinned in this matter against my will,A or, @3 have ruined such and such a
soul&A >or :e who will one day <udge him will say to him: @Since you were conscious of your
great inexerience, and had not the a!ility to undertake this vocation without incurring reroach,
why were you so eager and resumtuous as to take in hand what was far !eyond your own
owersB ;ho comelled you to do itB Gid you shrink or try to escaeBA But you, at any rate, will
never hear this said to you& Nor will you have to condemn yourself for that kind of thing& 3t is
evident to all that you never showed the least am!ition for this honor as the accomlishment of
the matter was due to the action of others& ;hat derives the am!itious of ardon for their
mistakes rovides you with good grounds for excuse&
5C
John: 3n answer to this 3 shook my head and smiled a little, admiring the simlicity of the man
and relied:
3 could only wish it were as you say, my !est of friends, !ut not in order to ena!le me to
accet the office which 3 have <ust evaded& >or even if there were no unishment stored u for
me for taking charge of the flock of Christ without consideration and exerience, it would !e
worse than any unishment to !e entrusted with so great a charge and seem so !ase towards :im
who had entrusted me with it&
>or what reason, then, did 3 wish that your oinion were not mistakenB 3 do so for the
sake of those wretched, misera!le men 7for that is what 3 call those who have not found out how
to discharge the duties of this office, however often you tell me that they were forced into it, and
made their mistakes in ignorance9& 3 wish they could escae the un)uencha!le fire and the outer
darkness and this worm that never dies and the unishment of !eing cut asunder and erishing
together with the hyocritesP But what can 3 doB 3t cannot !e so&
3f you like, 3 will give you roof of what 3 say, !eginning with an argument from kingshi
which is not so highly esteemed !y (od as the riesthood& ;hen Saul, the son of 'ish, was made
king, he was not eager for the work& No, he set out to look for his asses and came to ask the
rohet a!out them= !ut Samuel soke to him a!out the kingshi& 3nstead, he hesitated and
excused himself saying, @;ho am 3, and what is my fathers houseBA" /nd what haenedB
;hen he had made a !ad use of the honor !estowed on him !y (od, did this lea suffice to save
him from the wrath of :im who had made him kingB /nd yet he might have answered Samuels
accusation !y saying, @Gid 3 greedily run and rush after the kingshi and sovereign owerB 3
wished to live the undistur!ed and eaceful life of ordinary men, !ut you forced me into this ost
of honor& 3f 3 had remained in my lowly life, 3 should easily have avoided these stum!ling !locks&
Surely, if 3 had !een one of the crowd, without secial distinction, 3 should never have !een sent
forth for this work, nor would (od have ut me in charge of the war against the /malekites& /nd
if 3 had not !een ut in charge of it, 3 should never have committed this sin&A
But all these excuses are fee!le, and not only fee!le !ut erilous inasmuch as they rouse
(ods anger even more& >or he who has !een romoted to great honor !y (od must not advance
the greatness of his honor as an excuse for his errors& :e should make (ods secial favor
towards him the motive for further imrovement& But he who thinks himself at li!erty to sin
!ecause he has !een so highly honored, is determined to rove that the cause of his sins is the
kindness of (od& .his is always the argument of those who lead godless and careless lives& ;e
must not !e on any account likeFminded or fall into the insane folly of such eole& Eather, we
should at all times, !e determined to lay our art to the !est of our a!ility, and to !e reverent
!oth in seech and thought&
/gain, to leave the kingshi and come now to the riesthood, which is our real su!<ect,
Eli was not am!itious to o!tain his high office& -et, what advantage was this to him when he
sinned thereinB /nd why do 3 say @o!tainAB :e could not have avoided it if he had wanted to
!ecause he was under a legal necessity to accet it& >or he was of the tri!e of Devi and was
!ound to accet that high office which descended to him from his forefathers& But even so, he
aid dearly for the drunken !ehavior of his sons&
.hen again, did not the first :igh Priest of the Jews, a!out whom (od soke so many
words to 0oses, all !ut erish when he was una!le to withstand alone the frenHy of so great a
multitude excet that the intercession of his !rother averted the wrath of (odB /nd since 3 have
mentioned 0oses, it will !e well to show the truth of my argument from what haened to him
too& >or this same saintly 0oses was so far from grasing at the leadershi of the Jews as to
5$
derecate the offer, and declined it when (od commanded him to take it, rovoking the wrath of
(od who aointed him& Not only then, !ut also afterwards, when he held the office, he would
gladly have died to have !een set free from it& @'ill me,A he said, @if .hou wilt thus deal with
me&A
?
;hat followedB ;hen he sinned at the waters of 0eri!ah, were his reeated refusals
enough to excuse him and to ersuade (od to ardon himB >or what else, then, was he derived
of the Promised DandB >or no other reason, as we all know, excet this sin, for which that
wondrous man was de!arred from en<oying the same !lessings which those over whom he ruled
o!tained& /fter many la!ors and sufferings, after that unseaka!le wandering, after so many
!attles fought and victories won, he died outside the land he had struggled so hard to reach&
.hough he weathered the storms of the sea, he failed to en<oy the !lessings of the haven&
Go you see, then, that it is not only those who gras at this office who are left without
excuse for the sins they commit, !ut also those who are led to it through the am!itious desires of
others& >or truly those ersons, who have !een chosen for this high office !y (od himself,
though they have never so often refused it, have aid such heavy enalties& 3f nothing has availed
to deliver any of them from this danger, neither /aron nor Eli, nor that holy man, the saint, who
soke as a friend with (od, the rohet, the wonder worker, the meek a!ove all men which were
uon the face of the earth, surely we, who fall so far short of his goodness, shall not !e a!le to
lead as our excuse the consciousness that we have never !een am!itious of this dignity,
esecially when many of todays ordinations do not roceed from the grace of (od, !ut from
human am!ition&
(od chose Judas and set him in that holy comany, and granted him the dignity of the
aostolic office along with the rest, and gave him !eyond the others, the stewardshi of their
money& /nd what haenedB ;hen he a!used !oth of these trusts, !etraying :im whom he was
commissioned to reach, and misalying the money which he should have laid out well, did he
escae unishmentB No, this was the very reason why he !rought uon himself a greater
unishment& /nd rightly so, for we must not misuse the high honors given to us !y (od so as to
offend :im, !ut to lease :im the more&
But a man who claims to !e exemt from the unishment he deserves !ecause he has
!een more highly honored than others, acts like one of the un!elieving Jews, who after hearing
Christ say, @3f 3 had not come and soken unto them, they had not had sin,A and, @3f 3 had not
done among them the works which none other did, they had not had sin&A
5
/nd when they would
have accused the Savior and Benefactor of mankind and said, @;hy then, did you come and
seakB ;hy did you work miracles, so that you might unish us more severelyBA Such words
would !e signs of madness and utter insanity& .he (reat Physician did not come to condemn you
!ut to heal you and to rid you comletely of your disease& But you withdrew yourself from :is
hands& Eeceive, then, heavier unishment& -ou would have !een rid of your former disease if you
had yielded to the treatment& But now that you have seen :im coming and avoided :im, you can
no longer wash off these stains& /nd since you are una!le, you will !e unished for them, and for
having frustrated (ods good solicitude&
So we who act like this are not su!<ected to the same test !efore we receive honor !y
(ods hands !ut we have much more severe torment after than !efore& 3f a kindly treatment has
not made a man good, he deserves !itter unishment& Since, then, this excuse has !een shown to
!e weak, and not only fails to save those who take refuge in it !ut exoses them to greater guilt,
we must rovide ourselves with some other means of safety&
Basil: ;hat is thatB >or now, 3 cannot control myself as your words have reduced me to
such a state of fear and trem!ling&
52
John: 3 !eseech and imlore you to not !e so downcast& >or while there is safety for us
who are weak, namely in not undertaking this office at all, there is safety for you too who are
strong& .his consists in making your hoes of salvation deend on (ods grace, and avoiding
every act unworthy of this gift and of (od who gave it&
0en who, after getting this dignity !y their own am!ition, should then through sloth, or
wickedness, or even inexerience, a!use the office deserve the greatest unishment& ;e are to
gather from this that there is ardon in store for those who have not !een so am!itious for office&
4n the contrary, they too are derived of all excuse& 3 think that if vast num!ers of men entreat
and urge you, a man should ay no attention to them& >irst of all, a man should search his own
heart and examine the whole matter carefully !efore yielding to their imortunities&
>or, after all, no one would venture to undertake the !uilding of a house if he were not an
architect, nor will anyone attemt to cure the sick if he is not a skilled hysician& Even though
many will urge him, he will !eg off and will not !e ashamed of his ignorance& Shall he then, who
is going to have the care of so many souls entrusted to him, not examine himself !eforehandB
;ill he accet this ministry desite his utter lack of exerience !ecause this man commends him,
or that man constrains him, or for fear of offending yet anotherB :ow can he fail to involve
himself, along with them into manifest miseryB Deft alone, he might save his own soul, !ut this
way he involved others in his own destruction& :ow can he o!tain ardonB ;ho will then
successfully intercede for usB .hey who now erhas urge us and comel us !y forceB But who
will save them at that hourB .ruly, they themselves need the hel of others if they are to escae
the fire&
3 do not say these things to frighten you, !ut as the truth of the matter& Disten to what St&
Paul says to his discile .imothy, his true and !eloved child: @Day hands hastily on no man,
neither !e artaker of other mens sins&A% Go you not see from what great !lame and unishment
3 have rescued, as far as 3 could, those who would have !rought me to thisB 3t is not sufficient
excuse for those who are chosen to say, @3 did not come forward of my own accord= 3 acceted
the office with my eyes shut&A E)ually, it will not hel those who aoint a man to say that they
did not know the man they aointed& .he fault is all the greater !ecause they !rought someone
forward they did not know& ;hat seems to !e an excuse actually increases their guilt& 3s it not
a!surd that when eole want to !uy a slave, they show him to hysicians, and demand
guarantors for the urchase, and make in)uiries of neigh!ors, and after all this they still lack
confidence and demand a long trial eriod& -et, when they are going to admit a man to so great
an office as this, they make a careless and random choice, without further investigation, if
someone sees fit to vouch for him or to avoid the disleasure of someone elseB
;ho shall then successfully intercede for us at the hour when they stand themselves in
need of defendersB :e who is going to ordain should make a diligent in)uiry, and much more he
who is going to !e ordained& >or though they who ordain him share his unishment for any sins
which he may commit in his office, still he is not himself exemt from vengeance, !ut will ay
even more dearly unless those who chose him acted from some worldly motive against their
!etter <udgement& >or if they should !e detected doing so, and knowingly chose him on some
unworthy retext or other, their unishment shall !e e)uivalent to his and erhas even greater&
>or if anyone gives authority to a man who wants to destroy the Church, he would !e certainly to
!lame for the outrages which that erson commits& But if he is innocent of all of this and leads
that he has !een misled !y the oinions of others, he shall not altogether remain ununished, !ut
!e will !e given a lighter enalty than the one who has !een ordained& /nd whyB Because it is
ossi!le that those who made the choice may have !een deceived !y a false reort& .hey can say
5*
that they did not know him, !ut the man who is elected cannot say he did not know himself&
Since, then, he is lia!le to a severer unishment than those who romoted him, he should make a
more careful scrutiny of his character than that which they made of him& 3f they !ring him
forward in ignorance, he ought to come forward and carefully exlain the reasons why he is
unworthy of the resonsi!ility of such a high office&
;hy is it that when a decision has to do with war, commerce, farming and other worldly
!usiness, a farmer will not undertake to navigate the shi, nor the soldier to lough, nor a skier
to lead an army even if he were under the ain of death& 3s not lainly !ecause each foresees the
danger of inexerienceB Shall we exercise such foresight and refuse to yield to the ressure of
comulsion, !ut where the unishment is eternal, as it is for those who know not how to handle
the Priesthood, shall we lightly and casually run into so great a dangerB Shall we then advance as
our excuse the ressing entreaties of othersB But :e, who one day will <udge us, will entertain no
such lea as this& >or we ought to show far more caution in siritual matters than in earthly
matters& 3n fact, however, we are discovered exercising even less&
.ell me, if we suosed that a man was a good craftsman when he is not so, and asked
him to do a <o! and he acceted= and then having set his hands on the material rovided for the
!uilding he ruined the wood and the stone, and !uilt the house in such a way that it immediately
collased, would it !e sufficient excuse for him to allege that he had !een urged !y others and
did not come of his own accordB Certainly not& 3t would not !e fair or <ust as he ought to have
refused the call of others& Shall, then, a man who only soils wood and stone have no refuge
from <ustice= and shall another who destroys souls, or !uilds them u carelessly, think that the
comulsion of others will rescue him from unishmentB 3s that not a!surdB 3 will not add the
argument that no one can comel another against his will& Det it !e granted that he has !een
su!<ected to excessive ressure and diverse artful devices, and so fell into a snare& ;ill that save
him from unishmentB 3 !eseech you, let us not deceive ourselves so comletelyP Go not let us
rely that we are ignorant of facts that are o!vious to a mere child& >or surely this retense of
ignorance will not !e a!le to hel us at the Gay of Judgement&
-ou said that you were not am!itious of receiving this high office, conscious as you were
of your own weakness& +ery well& -ou should, then, on this assumtion, have ket clear of it,
even though others were inviting you& ;ere you weak and unsuita!le when no one invited you,
and did you suddenly !ecome cometent when others found you ready to offer you this dignityB
.he idea is a!surd and ridiculous and deserves most severe unishment& >or this very reason, the
Dord !ids the man who wants to !uild a tower not to lay the foundation !efore he has calculated
his own a!ility to !uild into account, in order not to give assers !y endless oortunities of
mocking him& 3n his case, the enalty consists only of ridicule& But ours is fire un)uencha!le and
the worm that never dies, gnashing of teeth, outer darkness, !eing cast asunder and !eing
num!ered with the hyocrites& But our accusers are unwilling to consider any of these things, for
otherwise they would cease to !lame a erson who is unwilling to erish without cause&
"& Cf& "Sam& #&?"= ?Sam& 2&"*& ?& Num& ""&"C& John "C&??F?%& %& ".im& C&??&
?&
5#
12. "he 7inistry o# the 1ord.
6ur resent in)uiry is not the management of wheat and !arley, or oxen and shee, or any such
like matters& 3t is the very Body of Jesus& >or the Church of Christ is Christs own Body,
according to St& Paul,
"
and the man who is entrusted with it must train it to erfect health and
unseaka!le !eauty, and look everywhere lest any sot or wrinkle or other !lemishes of that sort
mar its vigor and comeliness& 3n short, he must make it worthy, as far as lies within human
ower, or that incorruti!le and ever !lessed :ead to which it is su!<ected&
Peole who are keen for athletic fitness need the hel of hysicians and trainers, and a
careful diet, and constant exercise, and any amount of other recautions& .he omission of the
merest detail usets and soils the whole scheme& :ow then shall they, whose vocation is not
against flesh and !lood !ut against owers unseen, !e a!le to kee it sound and healthy unless
they far surass ordinary human virtue, and are versed in all healing suita!le for the soulB Go
you not realiHe that the !ody is su!<ect to more diseases and attacks than this flesh of ours, and is
infected more )uickly and cured more slowly&
Physicians who treat the human !ody have discovered diverse medicines and various
designs of instruments and aroriate forms of diet for the sick& 4ften the condition of the
atmoshere is of itself enough for the recovery of a sick man& Sometimes a timely amount of
slee saves the hysician further la!or& But in this case, it is imossi!le to take any of these
things into consideration& ;hen all is said and done, there is only one means and only one
method of treatment availa!le, and that is !y alying the ;ord& .his is the one instrument, the
only diet, and the finest climate& 3t takes the lace of medicine, cauteriHation and surgery& 3f it is
necessary to cauteriHe or amutate, this is the means which we must use& ;ithout it, all else is
useless& By it, we rouse the soul when it slees and reduce it when it is inflamed, we cut off
excesses and fill u defects, and erform all manner of other oerations which are re)uired for
the souls health&
3n adoting the !est ossi!le way of life, it is true that someone elses examle may sur
us to emulation& :owever, when the soul is suffering from false doctrine, there is a great need of
the ;ord, not only for the safety of our own eole, !ut to meet the attacks of the enemy from
without& 3f, indeed, one had the sword of the sirit and the shield of faith so as to !e a!le to work
miracles, and !y means of these marvels to sto the mouths of imudent gainsayers, one would
have little need of the assistance of the ;ord& 3n the days of miracles, the ;ord was !y no means
useless !ut essentially necessary& >or St& Paul made use of it himself, although he aroused
wonder everywhere for the miracles he erformed& /nd another of the aostolic comany urges
us to ay attention to this ower saying, @Be ready to give answer to every man that asketh you a
reason concerning the hoe that is in you&A
?
0oreover, with one accord, they all committed the
care of the oor widows to Stehen for no other reason than that they might devote themselves to
the ministry of the word& .o this we ought e)ually to aly ourselves unless we are endued with
a ower or working miracles& But if there is not so much as a trace of that ower left while on
every side many enemies are constantly attacking us, it remains necessary for us to arm ourselves
with this defense in order to avoid !eing struck with the darts of the enemy and to strike them
with ours&
3t should !e our am!ition that the ;ord of Christ dwells in us richly& >or it is not for one
kind of !attle only that we have to !e reared& .his warfare is manifold and is engaged with a
great variety of enemies& .hey do not all use the same weaons nor do they ractice the same
method of attack& :e who has to <oin !attle with all must know the arts of all, and !e at once !oth
%1
archer and slinger, cavalry officer and infantry officer, rivate soldier and general, in the ranks
and in command, foot soldier and hussar, marine and engineer& 3n military warfare, each man
reels the enemy !y discharging the articular duty which he has undertaken& But in our warfare
this is not so& 3f anyone wishes to con)uer this !attle, he must understand every asect of the art
as the devil knows well how to introduce his own assailants at a single neglected sot and
lunder the flock& But not so where he erceives that the sheherd has mastered his whole
reertoire and thoroughly understands his tricks&
;e ought to !e well guarded at every oint& /s long as a city haens to !e surrounded
with a wall, it mocks its !esiegers and remains in erfect safety& But once a !reach, no larger than
a gate, is made in the wall, the rest of the circuit is of no use, although the rest of it stands safe&
So it is with the city of (od& /s long as the resence of mind and wisdom of the sheherd
encomass it like a wall all round, the enemys entire devices end in his own confusion and
ridicule, and the inha!itants remain unharmed& But when someone demolishes a single art, even
though he fails to destroy it all, ruin will enter through that !reach& .o what urose does a man
contend earnestly with the (reeks if at the same time he !ecomes a rey to the Jews, and if he
masters !oth of these, and then falls into the clutches of the 0anicheans, or if, after he has
roved himself suerior to !oth of them, the exonents of @GestinyA
5
slaughter the shee
standing inside the foldB Go 3 need to enumerate all the devils heresiesB 3t will !e enough to say
that unless the sheherd knows how to refuse every one of them effectively, the wolf can enter
!y a single one and devour most of the shee&
3n ordinary warfare, we must always exect that victory or defeat will deend on those
who stand on the field of !attle& But in siritual warfare the case is )uite different& 4ften the
!attle against others secures a victory for men who never engaged in !attle at all nor took any
trou!le, !ut were sitting still and doing nothing& :e who has not much exerience in such
occurrences will fall on his own sword and !ecome an o!<ect of ridicule to friends and foes alike&
3 shall try to exlain my meaning to you !y an examle& .hose who accet the wild
doctrines of +alentinus and 0arcion, and of all whose minds are similarly diseased, re<ect the
Daw given !y (od to 0oses from the canon of :oly Scriture& .he Jews, on the other hand, so
revere the Daw, that when the time has come which annuls it, they still contend for the
o!servance of all its contents, contrary to (ods will& But the Church of (od, avoiding !oth
extremes, steers a middle course and is neither induced to lace herself under its yoke, nor
ermits men to slander it !ut commends it, although it is a!rogated, !ecause it was servicea!le in
its time& So anyone who means to oose !oth these arties must understand this !alance& 3f he
wants to teach Jews that they are out of date and clinging to the old law, and !egins to find fault
with it unsaringly, he gives no little handle to those heretics who wish to tear it in ieces& But if,
in his determination to silence this grou, he extols the Daw immoderately and seaks of it with
admiration as though it was necessary in our resent age, he unseals the mouths of the Jews&
/gain, those who are afflicted with the madness of Sa!ellius or the ravings of /rius have
in !oth cases fallen away from a sound faith for want of o!serving a middle course& Both these
heretics !ear the name of Christian& But if you examine their doctrines, you will find the first
grou no !etter than the Jews, and differing from them only in name, and the other very nearly
holding the heresy of Paul of Samosata, and that !oth are very far from the truth& .here is great
danger in such cases and the way of orthodoxy is straight and narrow, with threatening crags on
either side& .here is every reason to fear that, while trying to aim at one enemy, we should !e
struck !y the other& >or if anyone asserts the unity of the (odhead, Sa!ellius distorts the
exression at once, to the advantage of his own madness& 3f, on the other hand, someone makes a
%"
distinction and says that the >ather in one, the Son another, and the :oly sirit a third, u gets
/rius twisting the distinction of Persons into a difference of Su!stance& ;e must shun and avoid
the imious confounding of the Persons !y the one arty and the senseless division of the
su!stance !y the other !y confessing that the (odhead of the >ather, and of the Son, and of the
:oly Sirit is one, then adding thereunto a .rinity of Persons& >or then, we shall !e a!le to
fortify ourselves against the attacks of !oth heretics&
3 could tell you of many other adversaries which would leave the field covered with
wounds unless you fight with courage and with care& ;hy should any one descri!e the idle
seculations of our own eoleB .hese are not less than the attacks uon us from outside and
they cause the teacher even more trou!le& Some eole, out of idle curiosity, are rashly !ent uon
!usying themselves a!out matters which are neither ossi!le for them to know, nor of any
advantage to them even if they understand them& 4thers demand from (od an account for :is
<udgement and force themselves to sound the deth of that a!yss which is unfathoma!le& >or the
Psalmist says: @.hy <udgements are a great dee&A
%
-ou will find that few are deely concerned
a!out faith and ractice, !ut the ma<ority go in for these ela!orate theories, and investigate
)uestions to which there is no answer, and whose very investigation rouses (ods anger& >or
when we make a determined effort to learn what :e does not wish us to know, we fail to succeed
N for how should we succeed against the will of (odB .here only remains for us the danger
arising form our in)uiry&
But for all that, when anyone uses authority to silence eole who ursue these enigmas,
he gets a reutation for ride and ignorance& /t such times, much tact is needed on the Bishos
art so that he may lead his eole away from the unrofita!le )uestions and escae the
criticisms 3 have mentioned& 3n short, to meet all these difficulties, there is no hel given !ut that
of seech, and if anyone is derived of this ower, the souls of those under him N 3 mean the
weaker and more meddlesome kind N are not !etter off than shis stormFtossed at sea& .he
riest should do all that lies in him to gain this ower&
Basil: ;hy then was not St& Paul eager to attain erfection in this artB :e makes no secret
of his overty of seech, !ut distinctly confesses himself to !e unskilled&
C
/nd he says this when
writing to the Corinthians who were admired for their elo)uence and rided themselves on it&
John: .his is the very excuse that has ruined most men and made them remiss in the
study of true doctrine& >or while they failed to fathom the deths of the /ostles mind, or to
understand the meaning of his words, they have assed all their time slum!ering and yawning,
and aying resect not to that ignorance which St& Paul acknowledged, !ut a form from which no
man under heaven was ever as free&
But let the statement stand for the moment& 3n the meantime, granting that St& Paul was in
this resect as unskilled as they would have him to !e, what has that to do with the resent
argumentB :e had a greater ower than seech, a ower which was a!le to effect greater results&
By his mere resence, and without a word, he terrified the devils& 3f the men of today were all to
<oin forces, they could not, with their infinite rayers and tears, do the wonders that once were
done !y the handkerchief of St& Paul& :e too, !y his rayers, raised the dead and wrought such
other miracles, that he was held to !e a god !y the heathen& Before he dearted this life, he was
thought worthy to !e caught u as far as the third heaven and to listen to such words which are
not lawful for mortal ears to hear& But as for the men of today, not that 3 would say anything
harsh or severe, for indeed 3 do not seak !y way of insult to them !ut only in wonder, how is it
that they do not shudder when they comare themselves with so great a manB >or if we ass over
the miracles and turn to the life of this !lessed saint, and examine his angelic conversation, it is
%?
in this, rather than in his miracles, that we will find this Christian athlete a con)ueror& :ow can
one descri!e his Heal and for!earance, his constant erils, his continual cares and incessant
anxiety for the Churches, his symathy with the weak, his many tri!ulations, his unexamled
ersecutions, and his daily deathsB ;hat lace in the world, which continent or sea remained
ignorant of the struggles of this righteous manB Even the desert knew him and often sheltered
him in time of danger& :e endured every form of attack, and achieved every kind of victory, and
there was never any end to his contests and his triumhs&
But 3 do not know how 3 let myself insult him& >or his achievements surass all
descrition, and !eyond mine in articular, <ust as the masters of elo)uence surass me&
Nevertheless, since that holy aostle will not <udge me !y my results !ut !y my intentions, 3 will
not sto until 3 have stated one more fact which surasses anything yet mentioned& /nd what is
thatB /fter so many exloits, after such a multitude of victories, he rayed that he might go into
hell and !e delivered to eternal unishment, to !ring it a!out that those Jews who had often
stoned him, and done what they could to murder him, might !e saved and come to Christ& ;ho
so longed for Christ as he did, if indeed we may call it longing and not as something no!lerB
Shall we, then, continue to comare ourselves with this saint after such great grace was imarted
on him from a!oveB ;hat could !e more resumtuous than thatP
Now, 3 will try to rove that he was not so unskilled as some men think& .he unskilled
erson in mens estimation, is not only one who is unracticed in the tricks of rofane oratory,
!ut also one who does not understand how to contend for the defense of the true faith& /nd they
are right& But St& Paul did not say that he was unskilled in !oth these )ualities !ut in one only& 3n
suort of this, he made a careful distinction saying that he was @inexert in seech !ut not in
knowledge&A Now, if 3 were demanding in any one !isho the olish of 3socrates and the
grandeur of Gemosthenes, the dignity of .hucydides and the su!limity of Plato, St& Paul would
!e strong evidence against me& But in fact, 3 ass !y all such matters and the suerfluous
em!ellishments of agan writers& 3 take no account of diction or style& Det a mans diction !e
oor and his comosition simle and unadorned, !ut let him not !e unskilled in the knowledge
and accurate statement of doctrine& Go not let him derive the saint in order to screen his own
sloth of the greatest of his gifts and the sum of his raises&
.ell me, how did he confound the Jews dwelling in Gamascus when he had not yet !egun
to work miraclesB :ow did he confute the (reciansB ;hy was he sent to .arsusB ;as it not
!ecause he was so mighty and victorious !y his words, that he routed his adversaries to such an
extent that they were not a!le to !ear their defeat, and were rovoked to kill himB /t that time,
he had not !egun to work miracles, and no one could say that the masses looked uon him with
astonishment !ecause of any glory !elonging to his mighty works, or that the eole who
oosed him were overowered !y his reutation& >or at that time he con)uered !y the ower of
argument only& :ow did he contend and successfully disute with those who tried to live like
Jews in /ntiochB
$
Gid not the /reoagite, inha!itants of /thens,
2
that most devoted al all cities
to the gods, follow him with his wife !ecause of his seech aloneB ;as it not owing to the
discourse which they heardB /nd when Eutychus came to fall from the window, was it not
!ecause he was engrossed until midnight in the word of his teachingB ;hat haened at
.hessalonica and Corinth, in Ehesus and in Eome itselfB Gid he not send whole days and
nights in interreting the ScrituresB Need we mention his disutes with the Eicureans and
StoicsB 3f 3 wanted to tell all, my account would stretch to an unreasona!le length& ;hen St& Paul
aears to have made much use of argument, !oth !efore working miracles and after, how can
anyone dare to ronounce him unskilled at seaking, the man whose sermons and disutations
%5
were exceedingly admired !y all who heard themB ;hy did the Dycaonians !elieve him to !e
:ermesB .he idea that he and Barna!as were gods was due to their miracles= !ut the idea that he
was :ermes was due not to his miracles !ut to his elo)uence&
3n what did St& Paul surass the rest of the /ostlesB /nd how does it come a!out that
throughout the whole world he is on everyones lisB :ow is it that not merely among ourselves,
!ut also among Jews and (reeks too, he is the wonder of wondersB 3s it not !ecause of the ower
of his EistlesB /s long as the human race remains, he will never sto heling the faithful as he
has always heled, not only from his own time !ut also to the end of times, those who shall
!elieve until the second coming of Christ& :is writings fortify the Churches all over the world
like a wall of steel& Even now he stands amongst us as a most no!le chamion, !ringing into
cativity every thought to the o!edience of Christ, casting down imaginations and every high
thing that is exalted against the knowledge of (od& /ll this he does !y those Eistles, full of
wonder and divine wisdom, which he has left for us&
:is writings are not only useful to us for the refutation of false doctrine and the
confirmation of the truth, !ut they hel us greatly towards living a good life& >or !y the use of
them, the !ishos of today educate and train the chaste virgin whom St& Paul himself esoused to
Christ and led her to the state of siritual !eauty& By them, they also ward off the diseases which
!eset her and reserve the good health she has o!tained& Such are the medicines and their
efficacy left to us !y this soFcalled unskilled man& .hose who constantly use them know their
ower&
>rom all this, it is evident that St& Paul had taken great diligence and Heal to the study of
which we have !een seaking& But hear also what he says to his discile in a letter: @(ive heed to
reading, to exhortation, to teaching&A
*
/nd he shows the usefulness of this !y adding: @>or in
doing this, thou shalt save !oth thyself and them that hear thee&A /gain he says: @.he Dords
servant must not strive, !ut !e gentle towards all, at to teach, for!earing&A
#
:e roceeds to say:
@But a!ide thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast !een assured of, knowing of
whom thou has learned them, and that from a !a!e thou hast known the sacred writings which
are a!le to make thee wise&A
"1
/nd again, @Every Scriture is insired of (od and is also
rofita!le for teaching, for reroof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness, that
the man of (od may !e comlete&A
""
:ear what he adds to his further to his directions to .itus
a!out the aointment of !ishos: @>or the !isho must !e holding to the faithful word which is
according to the teaching, that he may !e a!le to convict even the gainsayers&A
"?
But how shall
anyone who is as unskillful as these men retend, !e a!le to convict the gainsayers and to sto
their mouthsB /nd what need is there to give attention to reading and to the :oly Scritures if
such a lack of skill is to !e welcome among usB Such arguments are mere retence and excuse,
the marks of idleness and sloth&
Basil: But this charge is given to the riests&
John: ;ell, our argument <ust now is a!out riests& But to learn that he gives the same
charge to those under his authority, hear the advice he gives others in another eistle: @Det the
word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom,A
"
and again, @Det your seech !e always with
grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer each one&A
?
/nd the
command to !e ready to give and answer
5
was given to all alike& ;riting to the .hessalonians,
Paul says, @Build each other u even as also ye do&
%
But when he seaks of riests, he says, @Det
"
Col& 5&"$
?
Col& %&$F"C
5
"Pet& 5&"C
%
".hess& C&""
%%
the elders that rule well !e counted worthy of dou!le honor, esecially those who la!or in the
word and in teaching&A
C
.he ultimate aim of their teaching is to !ring their disciles, !y what
they do and say, to that !lessed state of life which Christ commanded& Examle alone is not
enough to instruct others& .his statement is not mine !ut our Saviors own word& >or he says,
@;hosoever shall do and teach, he shall !e called great&A
$
Now if doing were the same as
teaching, the second word would !e suerfluous& 3t would have !een enough to say, @whosoever
shall do&A But in fact, !y distinguishing the two, he shows that ractice is one thing and doctrine
another and that each re)uires the other to comlete edification&
Go you recall what the chosen vessel
2
of Christ said to the elders of EhesusB
@;herefore, watch ye, remem!ering that !y the sace of three years, 3 ceased not to admonish
everyone of you, night and day, with tears&A
*
;hat need was there for tears or for admonition
when the /ostles life shone so !rightB :is holy life might !e a great inducement to men to
kee the commandments, yet 3 dare not say that this alone could achieve everything& But when
conflict arises on matters of doctrine and all com!atants rely on the same scritures, what weight
will anyones life carry thenB ;hat then will !e the good of his many la!ors when after all his
exertions he falls into heresy through sheer inexerience and is cut off from the !ody of the
Church, as 3 know many have done& 4f what rofit then will his atience !e to himB None at all,
no more, in fact, than a sound faith couled with a corrut life& .hat is the chief reason why
anyone who has the resonsi!ility of teaching others must !e exerienced in these doctrinal
conflicts& >or though he himself stands secure and is not in<ured !y his oonents, yet, when the
multitude under his direction see their leader defeated and una!le to answer them, they will not
!e at to !lame his incaacity for the defeat !ut they will fault the doctrines themselves& So !y
reason of the inexerience of one, great num!ers are !rought to ruin& .hough they do not entirely
go over to the adversary, they are forced to dou!t matters in which formerly they firmly !elieved&
.hose whom they used to aroach with unswerving confidence, they can no longer attend to
with the same steadfastness& 3n conse)uence of their leaders defeat, so great a storm enters their
souls that the evil leads at last to shiwreck& ;hat dire destruction and what terri!le fire is
heaed on that wretched mans head for every soul that is lost, since you know it all erfectly
well&
3s it, then, due to ride, is it due to vainglory, if 3 refused to !e the cause of the
destruction of so many souls, and to earn for myself a greater unishment than that which now
awaits me in the world to comeB ;ho could say soB No one, unless he wanted to cast idle
asersions and seculate uon other mens misfortunes&
"& Col& "&?%& ?& "Pet& 5&"C& 5& .he Stoics, against whom John Chrysostom wrote six homilies&
%& Ps& 5$&$& C& ?Cor& ""&$& $& (al& ?&""ff& 2& /cts "2&5%& *& ".im& %&"5&
#& ?.im& ?&?%& "1& ?.im& 5&"%F"C& ""& ?.im& 5&"$F"2& "?& .itus "&2F#&
"5& Col& 5&"$& "%& Col& %&$& "C& "Pet& 5&"C& "$& ".hess& C&""&
"2& ".im& C&"2& "*& 0att& C&"#& "#& Cf& /cts #&"C&
?1& /cts& ?1&5"&
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".im& C&"2
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0att& C&"#
2
Cf& /cts #&"C
*
/cts ?1&5"
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1. "emptations o# the "eacher.
I have given sufficient roof of the exerience needed !y the teacher in contending for the truth&
3 have to mention however, one more matter which is a cause of untold dangers& .hough, for my
own art, 3 should rather say that the thing itself is not the cause so much as those who do not
know how to use it roerly& 4f itself, it is a hel to salvation and has many !enefits whenever
you find earnest and good men who know how to correctly handle it& /nd what then do 3 mean
!y thisB 3t is the exenditure of great la!or uon the rearation of sermons delivered to the
congregation&
.o !egin with, the ma<ority of those who are under the authority of the reachers refuse
to treat them as their teachers& .hey rise a!ove the status of disciles and assume that of
sectators sitting in <udgement on secular seech making& So in church they divide and !ecome
artisans, as some side with one reacher and others side with another, listening to their words
with favor or dislike& /nd this is not the only difficulty, !ut there is another no less serious& 3f it
haens to any reacher to weave into his sermons any art of other mens work, he is exosed
to greater disgrace than those who steal money& /nd often, when he has not !orrowed anything at
all, he suffers on !are susicion the fate of a thief& But why do 3 seak of the work of others
when he is not ermitted to use his own resources without varietyB >or most eole are
accustomed to listen for leasure and not for rofit, like ad<udicators of a lay or concert& .he
ower of elo)uence, which we re<ected <ust now, !ecomes more desira!le in a church than when
rofessors of rhetoric are made to contend against each otherP
:ere, too, a man should have loftiness of mind, far exceeding my own littleness of sirit,
if he is to correct this disorderly and unrofita!le leasure on the art of the multitude, and to
divert their attention to something more useful, so that his eole may follow and defer to him
and not that he will !e governed !y their desires& 3t is not ossi!le to ac)uire this ower excet
!y two means: contemt of raise and the force of elo)uence& 3f either of these is lacking, the
remaining one !ecomes useless owing to its divorce from the other& 3f a reacher is indifferent to
raise and yet cannot roduce the kind of teaching which is @with grace, seasoned with salt,A" he
is desised !y the multitude, and gets no advantage from his own no!ility of mind& 3f on the
other hand he is successful as a reacher and is overcome !y the thought of alause, harm is
e)ually done in turn !oth to himself and to the multitude& Because of his assion for raise, he
aims to seak more for the raise than for than the rofit of his listeners& .he man who neither
lets good oinion influence him, nor is skillful in seaking, does not yield to the leasure of the
multitude and is una!le to give them any real !enefit !ecause he has nothing to say& /nd e)ually,
the man who is carried away with desire for raise, though he is a!le to render the multitude
!etter service, chooses instead to rovide nothing !ut entertainment& .hat is the rice he ays for
thunders of alause&
.he !est kind of Bisho must then !e strong in !oth these oints so that neither may
sulant the other& ;hen he stands u in the congregation and seaks words calculated to make
the careless wince, the good of what he has soken is immediately wasted when he stum!les and
stos and is forced to !lush at his failure& >or they who are re!uked, !eing galled !y what he has
told them, and una!le to retaliate on him in any other way, taunt him for his lack of skill, there!y
thinking to screen their shame !y doing so& Dike a good charioteer, the reacher should have
come to an accurate <udgment a!out !oth these )ualities in order that he may !e a!le to deal with
them as need re)uires& >or when he is irreroacha!le in the eyes of all, he will !e a!le, with all
%$
the authority he desires !oth unish or ardon all those in his charge& But without this it will not
!e easy to do&
But this no!ility of soul must not only dislay indifference to raise, !ut should go
further in order that the !enefit is not in turn fruitless& ;hat else then must he !e indifferent toB
Slander and envy& .he right course is neither to show excessive fear and anxiety over illFdirected
a!use, as the !isho undergoes some groundless censure, nor should he simly ignore it&
;e should try to extinguish criticisms at once even if they are false and are leveled at us
!y the common eole& >or nothing will magnify a good or evil reort as much as an
undiscilined mo!& Being accustomed to hear and seak without stoing to make in)uiry, they
reeat at random everything which comes in their way without any regard for the truth&
.herefore, the Bisho must not disregard the multitude, !ut rather ni their evil susicions in the
!ud !y convincing his accusers, however unreasona!le they may !e& ;e must admit nothing
which is a!le to disel an illFfavored reort& But if, when we have done all this, they who !lame
us will not !e ersuaded, we must then resort to contemt& >or anyone who goes halfway to meet
humiliation !y things like this will never !e a!le to achieve anything fine or admira!le& >or
desondency and constant cares have a mighty ower to num! the soul and reduce it to utter
imotence&
.he riest should treat those whom he rules as a father treats very young children& .heir
insults, or !lows, or tears do not distur! us, nor do we think much of their laughter and aroval&
/nd so with these eole, we should not !e uffed u !y their raise nor cast down !y their
censure, when it comes form them out of season& .his is not easy, my friend, and 3 think it may
!e even imossi!le& >or 3 dont know whether any man ever succeeded in not en<oying raise& 3f
he en<oys it, he naturally wants to receive it& /nd if he wants to receive it, he cannot hel !eing
ained and distraught at losing it& >or eole who revel in !eing rich take it hard when they fall
into overty and those who are used to luxury cannot !ear to live sha!!ily& So, too, men who
long for alause, not only when they are !lamed without a cause, !ut when they fail to !e
constantly raised& .his is esecially so when they have !een !rought u on raise, or when they
hear others !eing raised&
:ow many annoyances and how many angs do you suose a man endures if he enters
the lists of reaching with this am!ition for alauseB 3t is no more ossi!le for the sea to !e
without waves than a man to !e without cares and grief& >or though the reacher may have great
a!ility, which is rarely found, not even in this case is he released form eretual toil& >or the art
of seaking does not come !y nature, !ut !y study, and even if a man reaches a high standard in
it, still it may forsake him unless he cultivates his ower !y constant alication and exercise& So
there is greater la!or for the gifted than for the unlearned& .here is not the same degree of loss
for !oth, !ut it varies in roortion to their attainments& No one would !lame the unskillful for
turning out nothing remarka!le& But gifted seakers are ursued !y fre)uent comlaints from all
unless they continually surass the exectations which everyone has of them& Besides this, the
unskillful meet with great raise for small erformances, while the efforts of the others, unless
they are wonderful and startling, not only fail to win alause !ut meet with many faultFfinders&
>or the congregation set themselves to !e critics, not so much in <udgement of what is
said as on the reutation of the reacher, so that whenever anyone excels all others in his
oratorical owers, he then needs a!ove all ainstaking care& >or this man is not allowed to avail
himself of the usual human lea that one cannot succeed in everything& 4n the contrary, if his
sermons do not corresond to the great exectations formed of him, he will go away without
having gained anything !ut countless <eers and censures& No one ever takes it into consideration
%2
that de<ection and ain, anxiety and often anger may ste in and dim the clearness of his thoughts
and revent his roductions from coming forth unalloyed& 4n the whole, !eing !ut a man, he
cannot invaria!ly reach the same standard, or always !e successful, !ut naturally, he must
sometimes fall short of the mark, and fall !elow the standard of his level of a!ility& Peole are
unwilling to allow for any of these factors, as 3 said, !ut charge him with faults as if they were
sitting in <udgement on an angel& 3n other cases to, a man is at to overlook the good
erformances of his neigh!ors successes, however many or great, and if a defect aears, even
if it is accidental and however long since it last occurred, it is )uickly erceived and never
forgotten& So small and trifling matters have often lessened the glory of many and great
achievements&
-ou see, my dear friend, that the man who is owerful in reaching has all the more need
than others of greater study& /nd !esides study, he also needs greater tolerance than any of those
3 have so far mentioned& >or lenty of eole are constantly sringing u against him in a vain
and senseless sirit& .hey hate him without having anything against him excet his general
oularity& :e must !ear their acrimonious envy with comosure for they are not a!le to hide
this cursed hatred which they entertain without reason& .hey revile, censure and slander him in
rivate and defame him in u!lic, and the mind, which has !egun to !e ained and exaserated
on every one of these occasions, will not escae !eing corruted !y grief& >or they will not only
revenge themselves !y their own acts, !ut will try to do so through others as well& .hey often
choose someone who has no seaking a!ility and extol him with their raises and admire him
!eyond his worth& Some do this through sheer ignorance, others through ignorance and envy, in
order to ruin the good reutation of the seaker as they do not want to win admiration for one
who does not deserve it&
/nd that no!leFminded man has not only to struggle against these, !ut often against the
ignorance of the whole multitude& >or it is imossi!le that all those who come together should
consist of learned men, !ut the chances are that the larger art of the congregation is comosed
of unlearned eole& Even the rest who are clearer headed than these, fall as far short of men of
critical a!ility, as the remainder again fall short of them& Scarcely one or two resent have
ac)uired real discrimination& So it is inevita!le that he who reaches !etter than other carries
away less alause and ossi!ly goes home without !eing raised at all& :e must !e reared to
meet such anomalies with a no!le sirit and forgive those who commit them in ignorance, and to
wee for those who ac)uiesce in them on account of envy as wretched and itia!le creatures, and
letting neither make him think the less of his owers& >or if a reFeminently good ainter,
suerior to all in his art, sees the ortrait which he has ainted with great care held u to ridicule,
he ought not to !e de<ected or to regard his ainting as oor !ecause of the <udgement of the
ignorant& Just as little, would he consider a really oor work to !e something wonderful and
charming !ecause of the astonishment of the unlearned who admired itB
Det the !est craftsman !e the <udge of his own handiwork, and let his roductions !e
<udged to !e good or oor according to the mind which designed them& But let him not even
consider the erroneous and inartistic oinion of the outside world& So too the man who has
acceted the task of teaching should ay no attention to the commendation of outsiders any more
than he should let them cause him de<ection& ;hen he has la!ored at his sermons so that he may
lease (od, as this alone should !e his rule and standard in reaching and not alause and
commendation, let him not reudiate their alause if he should !e aroved !y men& But if his
hearers do not accord it, let him not seek it or !e grieved !y it& 3t will !e sufficient
encouragement for his efforts, and one greater than anything else, if his conscience tells him that
%*
he is organiHing and regulating his teachings to lease (od& >or in fact if he has already !een
overtaken !y the desire for indiscriminate raise, neither will his great efforts nor his owers of
seech !e of any use& >or the soul, !eing una!le to !ear the senseless criticisms of the multitude
grows slack and casts aside all earnestness a!out reaching& So a reacher must train himself
a!ove all else to desise raise& >or without this, to know how to reach is not enough to ensure
the reservation of that ower&
/nd if anyone would examine accurately the man who lacks this gift of elo)uence, you
will find he needs to !e indifferent to raise no less than the other& >or he will inevita!ly make
many mistakes if he lets himself !e dominated !y oular oinion& >or not having the energy to
match the elo)uence of reuted reachers, he will refrain from forming ill designs against them,
from envying them, and from !laming them without reason, and from many such discredita!le
ractices& :e will venture anything, even if it costs him his soul, for the sake of !ringing down
their fame to the level of his own insignificance& Besides this, he will give u his exertions a!out
his work !ecause a kind of num!ness has taken over his sirit& >or much toil rewarded !y scanty
raise is sufficient to cast down a man who cannot desise raise and ut him into a dee
lethargy when he toils hard !ut earns all the less aro!ation& ;hen a farmer la!ors on oor land
and is forced to farm a rocky lot, he soon gives u his toil unless he is full of enthusiasm for his
work or is driven on !y fear of starvation&
3f those who are a!le to seak with considera!le ower need such constant ractice for
the reservation of their talent, what a!out someone who has a!solutely no materials at hand !ut
is forced in the midst of his efforts to meditateB ;hat difficulty and confusion, what trou!le will
he exerience in order that he may !e a!le, at great la!or, to collect a few ideasP /nd if any of his
colleagues of inferior rank who are under his authority can excel him in this articular work, he
really needs to !e divinely insired to avoid !eing seiHed with envy or thrown into de<ection& >or
if one who is laced in a osition of higher dignity is surassed !y his inferior in rank, it would
re)uire no ordinary character, and certainly not mine, to !ear this with dignity& 3f indeed the man
who outstris him in reutation is unassuming and very modest, the suffering is more easily
!orne& But if he is !old, and !oastful, and vainglorious, his suerior may well ray daily to die,
as his life will !e so em!ittered !y insulting him to his face, !y mocking him !ehind his !ack,
and !y detracting fre)uently form his authority, and aiming to !e everything himself& But in all
these circumstances, he who has fluency in reaching, and the earnest attention of the multitude,
and the affection of those under his charge, has the greatest security& Go you not know what a
assion for oratory has recently !urst in uon the minds of ChristiansB Go you not know that its
exonents are resected a!ove everyone else, not <ust !y outsiders !ut !y those of the household
of faithB :ow, then, could anyone endure the dee disgrace of having his sermon received with
!lank silence and feelings of !oredom, while they wait for the end of the sermon as a release
from work= whereas they listen to someone elses sermon, however long, with eagerness and are
annoyed when he is a!out to finish, and )uite exaserated when he decides to say no moreB
Perhas this seems to you a trifling, negligi!le matter, !ecause of your inexerience& -et
it is enough to )uench Heal, and to aralyse the owers of the mind unless a man withdraws
himself from all human assions and studies to attern himself after those incororeal owers
who are neither ursued !y envy, or longing for fame, nor !y any other mor!id feeling& 3f there is
anyone caa!le of su!duing this elusive, invinci!le wild !east so difficult to cature, so
uncon)uera!le and fierce N that is to say u!lic fame N and to cut off its many heads or rather
revent their growth, he will !e easily a!le to reel these many violent assaults and en<oy a )uiet
haven of rest& But he who has not freed himself from this monster, involves his soul in struggles
%#
of various kinds, in eretual agitation, and in the !urden of desondency and of other assions&
;hy should 3 detail the rest of these difficulties, which no one will !e a!le to descri!e or learn
unless he has had actual exerience of themB
"& Col& %&$&
1!. "he 8eed #or Purity.
6ur condition here then is such as you have heard& But how shall we fare in the world to come
when we are comelled to give account for each of those who have !een entrusted to usB >or our
enalty is not limited to shame !ut eternal unishment awaits us as well& /s for the assage:
@4!ey them that have the rule over you and su!mit to them, for they watch in !ehalf of your
souls as they that shall give account&
"
.he fear of this threat is continually agitating my soul& 3f he
causes <ust one only to stum!le, and even the least man of all, it is !etter for him that a millstone
should !e hanged a!out his neck and that he should !e sunk in the deth of the sea&
?
/nd if all
who wound the conscience of the !rethren sin against Christ :imself,
5
what then will !e the fate
and what kind of enalty with they ay who destroy not one, or two, or three, !ut great
multitudesB .hey cannot even lead inexerience, or take refuge in a lea of ignorance, or make
force and constraint their excuse& 3f ossi!le, it would !e more suita!le for someone under their
charge to use this excuse for his own sins, than for Bishos to use it in the case of the sins of
others& /nd whyB Because he who has !een aointed to rectify the ignorance of others, and to
warn them !eforehand of the aroaching conflict with the devil, will not !e a!le to make
ignorance his excuse or say, @3 did not hear the clarion,A or @3 did not foresee the conflict&A >or as
EHekiel says, he is aointed for this very urose to sound the alarm for others and give
warning of trou!le ahead&
%
Even though only one erishes, his chastisement is inevita!le& @>or if
the watchman sees the sword come, and !lows not the trumet nor warns the eole, and the
sword comes and takes any erson= he indeed is taken away for his ini)uity, !ut his !lood will 3
re)uire at the watchmans hand&A
C
Sto ushing me, then, towards such inevita!le unishment& >or we are not discussing an
army or a kingdom !ut an office which re)uires angelic virtue& >or the soul of the riest ought to
!e urer than the rays of the sun in order that the :oly Sirit may not leave him desolate, and
that he may !e a!le to say, @3 live= yet no longer 3, !ut Christ liveth in me&A
$
Even hermits living in the desert, far away from the city and the marketlace and the
tumult they cause, and who en<oy at all times a haven of rest and eace, are not willing to rely on
the security of that manner of life, !ut add innumera!le other safeguards, hedging themselves in
all around& .hey take care to seak and act with great circumsection, so that to the utmost extent
of human ower they may draw near to (od with assurance and with unstained urity& :ow
much ower and strength do you think the ordained riest needs to !e a!le to tear his soul away
from defilement and kee its siritual !eauty unsulliedB :e needs far greater urity than they do&
>or he who has the greater need is su!<ect to more temtations which can defile him, unless he
renders his soul inaccessi!le to them !y using constant selfFdenial and strict selfFdisciline& >or
!eauty of face, elegance of movement, an affected gait and lising voice, encilled eye!rows and
ainted cheeks, ela!orate !raiding and dyeing of hair, exensive clothes, a variety of golden
ornaments, and the glory of recious stones and the scent of erfumes, and all those other matters
to which womankind devote themselves, are enough to disorder the sirit unless it haens to !e
hardened against this through much austerity and selfFrestraint& 3t is not surrising that things like
C1
these should distract a man& But on the other hand, it is thoroughly strange and !ewildering that
the devil should !e a!le to hit and shoot down the souls of men !y the very oosite of theseP
Before now, some men who have escaed these snares have !een caught in others widely
differing from these& >or even a neglected aearance, unkemt hair, slovenly clothing, an
unainted face, simle !ehavior and homely language, an unstudied gait and unaffected voice, a
life of overty, and a desised, unrotected and lonely existence, have first drawn the !eholder to
ity, and next to utter ruin& 0any who have escaed the first kind of snare in the way of gold
ornaments and erfumes, and aarel and all the other things 3 mentioned, have !een easily
traed !y these widely differing things and have erished&
Both !y enury and wealth, !oth !y the adornment and the neglect of ersonal
aearance, !oth !y studied and unaffected manners, in short !y all those means which 3 have
enumerated, turmoil is aroused in the soul of the !eholder, and its artifices surround him on
every side& ;here will he get a resite with so many snares surrounding himB ;hat hiding lace
can he findB 3 do not say this <ust to avoid !eing forci!ly seiHed !y them, as this is not so
difficult, !ut to kee his own mind undistur!ed !y defiling thoughtsB
3 ass over honors which are the cause of countless evils& >or those which come from the
hands of women damage the vigor of selfFrestraint and often overthrow it when a man does not
know how to watch constantly against insidious temtations& /s for the honors !estowed !y men,
unless a man receives them with great dignity, he is seiHed with two contrary emotions, servile
flattery and senseless ride& .o those who atroniHe him, he is o!liged to cringe, and towards his
inferiors, he is uffed u on account of the honors !estowed !y his atrons and is thrust into the
it of arrogance&
3 have mentioned these matters, !ut no one could roerly learn how much harm they do
without actual exerience& >or not only these temtations, !ut also others far more numerous and
erilous than these, inevita!ly attack men who lead their lives in the world& /nyone who is
content with solitude has freedom from all this, and if at any time a strange thought creates a
reresentation of this kind, the image is faint and easily suressed, !ecause there is no fuel
added to the flame from without, arising from the external world& >or the monk has !ut himself
to fear for& Should he !e forced to have the care of others, they are very few, and if they are
many, they are still less than those in our Churches& .hey give him who is set over them, much
lighter anxiety a!out them, not only !ecause of their small num!ers, !ut also !ecause they are
free from worldly concerns& .hey have neither wife nor children, nor any such thing to care
a!out& .his makes them very o!edient to their rulers and ermits them to share the same a!ode
with them, so that someone can carefully watch and correct their failings& .he constant
suervision of a teacher contri!utes considera!ly to their virtue& But of those who are su!<ect to a
Priest, most of them are hamered with the cares of this life, and this makes them more sluggish
in the erformance of siritual duties& .herefore, the Priest must sow every day, so to seak, in
order through sheer reetition, the word of doctrine may !e grased !y those who hear& >or
excessive wealth, great ower, and indolence arising from luxury, as well as many other things,
chokes the seeds that are sown& 4ften too, the thick growth of thorns does not allow what is sown
to fall even uon the surface of the soil& /gain, the reverse haens !ecause of much distress, the
inch of overty, constant insults, and other trou!les take the mind away from concern a!out
things divine& Not even a fraction of their eoles sins can !ecome aarent to the riests& :ow
could it !e otherwise, they do not know the ma<ority even !y sightB
Such are the difficulties of their duties towards the eole& But if you in)uire a!out his
relations with (od, you will find these difficulties as nothing since these re)uire a greater and
C"
more thorough earnestness& ;hat sort of man ought someone to !e who acts as an am!assador,
not only on !ehalf of the whole city !ut of the whole world, and rays (od to !e merciful to the
sins of all men, not only the living !ut also the deartedB >or 3 think that even the !oldness of
seech of 0oses or Eli<ah is ade)uate for this great intercession& :e aroaches (od as if he
were the father of all men, resonsi!le for the whole world, !eseeching that wars may end
everywhere, that tumults cease, sulicating for eace and roserity, and a seedy deliverance
from all the ills, rivate of u!lic, that threaten man& :e must surass in every resect all those
for whom he intercedes, as one in authority ought to surass those under his charge& ;henever
he invokes the :oly Sirit, and offers the most dread sacrifice, and constantly handles the
common 0aster of all, tell me what rank should we give himB ;hat urity and what real iety
must we demand of himB Consider what manner of hands ought to minister in these things and
what kind of tongue utters such words& 4ught not the soul, which receives so great a sirit, !e
urer and holier than anything in the worldB /t such a time angels stand !y the Priest, and the
whole sanctuary and the sace a!out the altar is filled with the owers of heaven in honor of :im
who lies there&
>or the very rites which are !eing served at that moment is roof of this& 3 myself have
heard someone relate that an old, venera!le man, accustomed to see revelations, used to say that
he was unworthy of such visions& /t that very moment, as far as ossi!le, he saw a multitude of
angels, clothed in shining ro!es, encircle the altar and !ending down, as one might see soldiers in
the resence of their king& >or my art, 3 !elieve it& 0oreover, someone else told me, and not
from hearsay !ut as one who had !een <udged worthy to see and hear it, that if those who are
a!out to deart this earth haen to artake of the 0ysteries with a ure conscience, angels
escort them away when they !reathe their last !reath&
Go you not trem!le to introduce a soul into so sacred a mystery, and to advance to the
dignity of the Priesthood one ro!ed in filthy raiment whom Christ has shut out form the general
comany of guestsB
2
.he soul of the Priest should !laHe like a light !eaming over the whole
world& But my soul has such darkness enveloing it !ecause of my evil conscience that it is
always cast down and never a!le to look u with confidence to its Dord& Priests are the salt of the
earth& But who could readily tolerate my lack of understanding, my comlete inexerience,
excet you with your excessive regard for meB >or the Priest ought not only to !e !lameless as
!efits one chosen for so high a ministry, !ut also very discreet, and skilled in many matters& :e
must !e as well versed in the affairs of this life as they who are engaged in the world, and yet !e
more detached from them than the monks who have taken to the mountains&
Since he must mix with men who have married and are !ringing u children, who kee
servants and are surrounded with wealth, who take art in u!lic life and hold high office, he
must !e a many sided man& 3 say manyFsided, not a charlatan, a flatterer, or a hyocrite, !ut
a!solutely oen and assured, a!le to adat himself rofita!ly where the circumstances of the case
re)uires it, and to !e !oth kind or severe& 3t is not ossi!le to treat all those under his charge in
the same way, any more than hysicians can deal with all their atients alike, or a helmsman to
know only one way of !attling with the winds& >or, indeed, continual storms !eset this shi of
ours, and these storms do not only attack from the outside !ut are engendered within& (reat
condescension and circumsection are !oth needed& /nd all of these different matters have one
end in view, the glory of (od and the edification of the Church&
"& :e!& "5&"2& ?& 0att& "*&$& 5& " Cor& *&"?& %& EHek& 55&$&
C& Cf& EHek& 5&"2& $& (al& ?&?1& 2& 0att& ??&""&
C?
1$. "he Contrast Bet2een Bishop and 7onk.
The monks exertion is great and the strain severe, !ut if you comare their la!ors with the
riestly office, you will find the difference as great as !etween a king and a commoner& 3n their
case, although the task is hard, still the conflict is shared !etween soul and !ody, or rather the
greater art of it is accomlished !y the condition of the !ody& /nd if the !ody is not strong,
enthusiasm remains ent u and is una!le to come out into action& .he ha!it of rolonged
fasting, sleeing on the ground, vigils, a!stention from washing, great toil and all other means
which tend towards the mortification of the flesh are imossi!le if the intending ascetic is not
strong& But in the case we are considering, urity of soul is the !usiness in hand and no !odily
vigor is re)uired to show its excellence& :ow does !odily strength hel us not to !e selfFwilled,
or roud, or headstrong, !ut to !e so!er, rudent, and orderly and everything else with which St&
Paul filled out the icture of the erfect PriestB -et no one could say this of the virtues of the
recluse&
/s <ugglers need a lot of imlements N wheels, roes and daggers N the hilosoher has
his entire art stored in his mind and needs nothing from outside& So in our case, the monk
re)uires !oth a good !odily constitution, and a lace suita!le for his course of life, so that he may
not !e too far from human society and may still have )uiet and solitude, and may not miss the
most suita!le climate& >or nothing is so un!eara!le to a !ody worn with fasting than a climate
which is not e)ua!le& 3 need not mention what trou!le he is comelled to take in the rovision of
clothing and daily food since the aim is total selfFsufficiency& But the Priest will re)uire none of
these things for his own use& :e avoids needless difficulties, shares in all innocent occuations
while his skill is stored u in the treasure house of his soul&
3f anyone admires a solitary life and the avoidance of crowded society, 3 )uite admit that
such a life is a token of atience !ut not sufficient roof of comlete fortitude of soul& >or the
man who sits at the helm in the har!or does not yet give sure roof of his skill& But if one is a!le
to guide his shi safely in the midst of the sea, no one will deny him the title of a firstFclass
helmsman& ;e need not, then, give lavish or excessive admiration to the monk !ecause, !y
keeing to himself, he is undistur!ed and does not commit many serious sins& :e has nothing
which irritates and excites his soul& But if a man has devoted himself to the whole community,
and has !een comelled to !ear the sins of many, and still remains steadfast and firm, guiding his
soul in the temest as in a calm, he is the one who deserves alause and admiration from all, for
he has given sufficient roof of his own rowess&
.herefore, do not !e surrised that 3, who avoid the marketFlace and crowded society,
have not many accusers& 3 should have no claim to admiration if 3 did not commit sin !ecause 3
was sleeing, or did not fall !ecause 3 was not wrestling, nor was wounded only !ecause 3 was
not fightingP .ell me, who can seak against me and reveal my deravityB .his roofB .his little
cellB .hey cannot !reak into seech& ;ould my mother, who knows my character !est of allB
;ell, 3 am neither in communication with her, nor have we ever )uarreled& /nd even if this
haened, no mother is so heartless and lacking in affection for her child that she would, without
a comelling reason to constrain her, or any erson to urge her to such an act, revile and accuse
!efore all the son she has !red, and !orne, and !rought u& -et if were to examine my soul
carefully, he would discover much that is corrut, as you yourself know )uite well, though you
are in the ha!it of extolling me with raises !efore all&
C5
.o rove that 3 am not saying this out of mere modesty, remem!er how often 3 told you
when this su!<ect was !eing discussed !etween us, that if any one were to give me the choice of
where 3 would rather gain distinction, either in the government of the Church or in monastic life,
3 should go for the former every time& 3 have never ceased commending those who have !een
a!le to discharge this office well& No one will deny that 3 should never have run away from what
3 counted !lessed, if 3 had !een cometent to undertake it&
But what am 3 to doB .here is nothing so re<udicial to the oversight of the Church as this
inactivity and negligence of mine, which others think to !e a sort of selfFdisciline, !ut which 3
hold to !e a veil for my own worthlessness, covering my many defects, and keeing them from
!ecoming o!vious& ;hen a man is accustomed to en<oy such great freedom from !usiness and
living a life of leisure, even though he has a no!le nature, his inexerience confuses him, and he
looses a great deal of his natural a!ility& /nd when he is also a man of slow intellect, and
inexerienced in this kind of conflict as 3 am, he will carry on this ministry which he has
received no !etter than a statue&
;herefore, of those who have come to such great trial from that school, few have
distinguished themselves& 0ost of them fail under the test and endure !itter and hard trou!les&
/nd it is not surrising& >or the trials and disciline are not concerned with the same things&
/nyone who is contending is no different from an untrained man& :e who thus enters this arena
should desise glory, !e suerior to anger, and should !e full of discretion& /nyone who lives a
monastic life has no scoe to exercise these )ualities& :e has !ut few to rovoke him, so shat he
may ractice restraining the force of his anger, or to admire and alaud him, so that he may !e
trained to scorn the raises of the multitudes& .here is no taking account in their case of the
discretion which is re)uired in the Church& ;hen they enter these conflicts of which they have
never had ractical exerience, they are !ewildered, and daHed, and grow helless& .hey make
no rogress towards virtue and may often lose the good )ualities they had when they started&
Basil: ;hat thenP Shall we set the administration of the Church to those who move in
society and whose minds are set on mundane things, who are adets at strife and a!use, who are
full of countless tricks and accustomed to a life of luxuryB
John: :ush, my dear friendP .hese men must not even !e considered when the Priesthood
is under discussion, !ut only those who mix and associate with all sorts of eole and still kee
their urity undefiled, and their unworldliness, their holiness, constancy and so!riety unshaken,
and the other good )ualities that !elong to monks& :e who has many defects !ut is a!le to hide
them !y means of his seclusion, and to make them ineffectual !ecause he does not associate with
anyone, will achieve nothing when he returns to social life excet to !ecome a laughingFstock
and will run greater risks than that& .his very nearly haened to me, !ut (ods rovidence
rescued me from that haHard&
>or it is not ossi!le for someone who is so consicuously laced in this osition to
escae notice& Everything is detected, and as fire tests metals, so the touchstone of the ministry
distinguishes mens souls& 3f a man is assionate or mean, or conceited or !oastful, or anything
else of the kind, it unveils all his shortcomings and seedily lays them !are& Not only does it lay
them !are, !ut it actually makes them more tough and intracta!le& >or !odily wounds !ecome
harder to heal if they are chafed, and e)ually the diseases of the soul, if rovoked and irritate,
naturally grow more irksome and force their victims deeer into sin& .hey rouse a man, if he is
not on his guard, to the love of glory, to !oastfulness and avarice, and they lead him to on to
luxury, selfFindulgence, and indolence, and ste !y ste to worse faults than these that are their
natural offsring&
C%
0any of the circumstances in society have the ower to uset the !alance of the mind and
to hinder its straight course& >irst of all, there is the comany of women& >or it is not ossi!le for
the Bisho, who is concerned with the whole flock, to only care for the men and neglect the
women as they re)uire greater vigilance !ecause of their roensity to sins& 4n the contrary, the
man aointed to administer a Bishoric must give as much thought, if not more, to the siritual
wellF!eing of women& :e must visit them in sickness, comfort them in sorrow, rerove them
when indolent, and hel them when over!urdened& 3n such cases, the evil one will find many
oortunities of aroach if a man did not fortify himself with a strict guard& >or the eye, not
only of the unchaste !ut of the modest woman, can ierce and distur! the soul& >latteries unman
him and courtesies enslave him, and fervent love, which srings from all good, !ecomes the
cause of countless evils to those who misuse it&
3t has sometimes haened, too, that continual cares have dulled the keenness of the
intellect and made its wings heavier than lead, while anger has !urst in like smoke and taken
ossession of the inner man& ;hy mention the harm caused !y grief, insults, a!use, and criticism
from high and low, from the wise and foolishB .hose who are wanting in correct <udgment are
articularly fond of censuring and will not readily accet exlanations& But the wise relate
should not think lightly of these& :e should clear himself with all men of the charges which they
!ring against him, with great for!earance and meekness, ardoning their unreasona!le
faultfinding, rather than !eing indignant and angry a!out it&
>or if St& Paul feared that he might incur the susicion of theft among his disciles, and
so rocured others for the management of the money @in order that no man should !lame us in
the matter of this !ounty which is ministered !y us,A
"
must we not do everything we can to
remove evil susicions, however false, unreasona!le and foreign to our thought they may !eB ;e
are not so utterly removed from sin as St& Paul was of theft, and yet however far he was from this
evil ractice, he did not disregard the a!surd and insane susicions of the world& >or it certainly
was madness to have any such unreasona!le susicion a!out that !lessed and wonderful soul&
But in site of this, he swees away all ossi!le grounds for susicion, although it was so a!surd
and no one who was in his senses would have entertained it& :e did not disregard the folly of the
multitudes nor did he say: @;ho would ever think of susecting me of any such thing, since
everyone reveres and admires me, !oth for my miracles and for my virtuous lifeBA Luite the
contrary& :e foresaw and exected this !ase susicion and ulled it u !y the roots, or rather he
did not suffer it,A he said, @not only in the sight of the Dord, !ut also in the sigh of men&A
?
;e
must show <ust as much Heal as this, or even more, to uroot and revent evil reorts, and to
foresee their source and !e a!le to remove the retexts from which they sring, and not to wait
for them to !e esta!lished and !andied a!out on everyones lis& >or then, it is not easy to
destroy them, !ut very difficult and erhas imossi!le& Nor is it done without damage, !ecause
it haens after oular susicion has done its worst&
But how far shall 3 continue ursuing the unattaina!leB .o enumerate all the difficulties in
this direction is like trying to measure the ocean& Even if a man were a!solutely free form human
assion, which is imossi!le, he is forced to undergo countless trials to correct the failings of
others& /nd when his own frailties are added, look at the a!yss of his toils and anxieties, and all
that he must suffer he must endure if he wishes to su!due the evils in himself and in those around
him&
"& ?Cor& *&?1& ?& ?Cor& *&?"&
CC
1). "he Conclusion o# Johns *polo(ia.
Basil: Go you mean that now, since you live !y yourself, you have no need of toil and no
anxietiesB
John: 3 have them even now& :ow could a human !eing, living this trou!lesome life, !e
free from anxieties and conflictsB But it is not )uite the same thing for man to !e lunged into a
!oundless ocean and to cross a river& .he difference !etween the two kinds of anxiety is as great
as that& /t resent, if 3 should like to !ecome helful to others, if 3 could, and this is an o!<ect of
much rayer to me& But if 3 cannot !e of use to anyone else, 3 shall !e satisfied if 3 am at least
allowed to save my own soul and rescue it from the dee&
Basil: Go you seem to think that this is a great workB But do you suose you will !e
saved at all if you are never of any use to anyone elseB
John: .hat was well and no!ly soken& 3 cannot myself !elieve that it is ossi!le for
anyone to !e saved who has not la!ored for the salvation of his neigh!or& 3t did not rofit the
wretched man in the (osel that he had not diminished his talent= !ut the erished !ecause he
had not increased it and returned it dou!led to his master& Nevertheless, 3 think that my
unishment will !e milder when 3 am called to account for not saving others than it would !e for
destroying the souls of others, as well as my own, !y !ecoming far worse after so great an honor&
/t resent, 3 !elieve that my unishment will !e roortioned to the amount of my sins, !ut after
receiving this office, 3 fear it would not !e dou!le or trile, !ut many times as much, for having
caused many to stum!le and for acceting greater honor and then offending (od who !estowed it
on me&
>or this very reason, (od accused the 3sraelites more vehemently, and showed that they
deserved greater unishment !ecause they sinned after receiving so many honors which :e
!estowed on them& :e said, @-ou only have 3 known of all the families of the earth: therefore 3
will visit uon you your ini)uities,A
"
and again, @3 took of your sons for rohets and of your
young men for consecration&A
?
/nd !efore the time of the rohets, when he wanted to show that
sins received a much heavier enalty when they occur in the case of the riests than when they
are committed !y ordinary eole, he commanded as great a sacrifice to !e offered for the riests
than in the case of the laity&
5
.his exlicitly roves that the riests wounds re)uire greater hel,
indeed as much as those of all the eole together& .hey would not have re)uired greater hel if
they had not !een more serious, and their seriousness is not increased !y their nature, !ut through
the dignity of their riesthood&
But why seak of the men engaged in the ministryB >or the daughters of the Priests, who
have no art in the Priestly office, incur a far more severe enalty than others for the same sins
!ecause of their fathers riestly office& .he offence is the same, namely fornication in !oth
cases, when committed !y them and the daughters of ordinary eole, !ut their unishment is far
greater&
%
-ou see how thoroughly (od roves to you that :e demands much greater unishment
for the ruler than for the ruled& :e who for the sake of the Priest unishes the riests daughter
more severely than others, o!viously will not demand of the riest, to whom she owes the
increased enalty, <ust the same unishment as :e demands of others, !ut one far more severe&
.hat is only natural, for the damage does not merely involve him alone, !ut destroys the souls of
the weaker !rethren and of them who look u to him& .his was what EHekiel wanted to teach us,
when he distinguished the <udgement of the rams from that of the shee&
C
C$
Go you think my fears are well foundedB 3n addition to what has !een said, if at resent it
costs me hard la!or so that 3 should not !e comletely overwhelmed !y the assions of my soul,
3 endure the toil and do not shun the conflict& >or even now, 3 am overtaken !y vainglory, !ut 3
often recover and see that 3 have !een overcome, and sometimes 3 re!uke my soul for having
!een enslaved& +icious desires attack me even now, !ut they kindle only a languid flame as my
!odily eyes cannot o!tain fuel for the fire& 3 am utterly removed from seaking ill of others or
heaving evil soken since 3 have no one to talk with, and to !e sure, these walls cannot utter a
soundP But it is not so easy to avoid danger although there is no!ody to rovoke me& >or often
when the memory of outrageous men and what they have done comes uon me, it makes my
!lood !oil& But this does not last long, for 3 very soon restrain my temer and ersuade it to !e
calm !y saying that it is futile and utterly desica!le to ignore our own faults and meddle with
those of our neigh!ors& But if 3 come among the multitudes and am interceted !y innumera!le
distractions, 3 shall not !e a!le to have the !enefit from my own admonitions, nor hit uon the
thoughts that teach me sense& 0en, who are driven over a reciice !y a torrent or some other
force, can foresee the destruction which finally awaits them, !ut are una!le to contrive any
means to hel themselves& So when 3 have tum!led into the great tumult of my assions, 3 shall
!e a!le to
see at a glance my chastisement increasing daily& -et it will no longer !e as easy to master myself
as !efore and to re!uke diseases of this sort raging on every side& >or my soul is weak and uny,
and falls an easy victim, not only to these assions, !ut to envy which is the !itterest of all& 3t
does not know how to !ear insults and honors with moderation, !ut is inordinately exalted !y the
one and de<ected !y the other&
;hen savage !easts are vigorous and in good condition, they overcome all creatures that
fight against them, esecially those that are fee!le and unskilled, yet if you weaken them !y
starvation, you lull their sirits and )uench most of their vigor, so that an animal of no great
courage can undertake the conflict and !attle with them& So it is also with the assions of the
soul& 3f anyone weakens them, he makes them amena!le to right reason= !ut he who nourishes
them carefully, makes his !attle with them harder and renders them so formida!le that he lives
his life in !ondage and fear& ;hat then is the food of these wild !eastsB 4f vainglory, it is honor
and raise= of ride, excessive authority and ower= of envy, the reutation of ones neigh!ors= of
covetousness, the generosity of donors= of wantonness, luxury, and the constant society of
women= and other assions have other food& 3f 3 come into society, all these assions will attack
me, and will tear my soul to ieces, and will !e the more formida!le and make my !attle with
them harder& ;hereas if 3 stay here, !y the grace of (od they will !e su!dued, and they will !e
left with nothing than their snarl&
>or these reasons, 3 kee to this cell and am inaccessi!le, selfFcontained, and unsocia!le,
and 3 ut u with hearing a host of other comlaints like these& 3 would gladly silence them, and
feel vexed and grieved !ecause 3 cannot& >or it is not easy for me to !ecome socia!le and at the
same time to remain secure as 3 am now& .herefore, 3 !eseech you to ity rather than to disarage
the victim of such a erlexity&
:ave 3 not yet ersuaded youB .hen the time has now come to utter to you the only thing
which 3 have left unsoken& Perhas many eole will find it hard to !elieve, !ut even so, 3 shall
not !e ashamed to make it u!lic& /lthough what 3 say is roof of an evil conscience and of
many sins, yet since (od who is a!out to <udge us knows everything accurately, what advantage
can 3 get from mens ignoranceB /nd what is this secretB >rom the day on which you did imart
C2
to me the susicion of the !ishoric, my whole system has fre)uently !een in danger of
rostration N such was the terror and the !ewilderment that gried my sirit&
;hen 3 considered the glory of the Bride of Christ, her urity, her siritual !eauty, her
wisdom and her fair demeanor, and when 3 calculated my own faults, 3 did not sto grieving for
her and for myself, and in continual distress and erlexity, 3 argued with myself like this:
@;ho gave them this adviceB ;hy did the Church of (od make such a mistakeB :ow did
she so rovoke her 0aster as to !e handed over to me, the most worthless of men, and to endure
such terri!le disgraceBA
/s 3 turned this over in my mind again and again, and could not !ear the very thought of
so horri!le a thing, 3 lay mute, like an eiletic, una!le to see or hear& ;hen this condition of
utter hellessness left me, even though at times it would a!ate, tears and !ewilderment succeeded
it& /nd after 3 had wet my fill, the terror again returned, agitating and deranging and convulsing
my mind& .hat is the sort of distraction 3 have !een living in recently, and you did not know, and
thought 3 was sending my time in erfect calm& But now, 3 will try to disclose to you the
temest of my soul& Perhas when you hear it you will forgive me and forget my misdeeds& But
how, oh how shall 3 disclose itB 3f you wanted to truly see it, you could only do so !y laying !are
my heart& Since that cannot !e done, 3 will try to show you, !y some faint image, as far as 3 can,
the fog of !ewilderment 3 am in= and you must try to infer my !ewilderment from this image&
Suose the daughter of the king who rules the whole earth !eneath the sun is !etrothed
to someone& Suose this girl is so wonderfully !eautiful as to surass all humanity, and in this
excels !y far the whole of womankind& /nd suose she has so virtuous a character that she
leaves far !ehind all men who have even !een or ever shall !e, and the charm of her disosition
goes !eyond all ideals of hilosohy as the loveliness of her face eclises all !odily !eauty& :er
suitor is enamoured of the girl for these reasons, and )uite aart from them is deely in love with
her too, and !y his assion uts into the shade the most ardent lovers that ever were& .hen while
he is on fire with the sell she casts, he is told !y someone that the wonderful girl he loves is
a!out to !e married to some vile outcast of mongrel !irth, criled in !ody and in every way
utterly worthless& :ave 3 !rought !efore your mind some faint idea of my griefB ;ill it do if 3
end my simile at this ointB 3t is enough, 3 think, to descri!e my !ewilderment, and that was the
only oint of the comarison& But to show you the extent of my terror and dismay, let me go on
now with another illustration&
3magine an army comosed of infantry, cavalry, and marines& Dest the muster of its
triremes !lot out the sea, while the regiments of its infantry and cavalry smother the !road lains
and the very heights of the mountains& Det the !ronHe of its armor flash !ack at the sun, and the
glitter of the helmets and shields mirror the rays that stream down& Det the clash of sears and the
neighing of horses reach the very sky, and let neither sea nor land !e visi!le, !ut everywhere
!ronHe and steel& /gainst all this let the enemy !e arrayed, a wild and !ar!arous horde, and let
the hour of conflict !e at hand&
Suose someone suddenly seiHes a raw lad, !rought u in the fields, knowing nothing
excet the use of the sheherds ie and crook& :e invests him in !raHen mail, leads him round
the whole cam, and shows him comanies and catains, archers, slingers, officers, generals,
infantry, cavalry, searmen, shis and their catains, the soldiers crowded on the shis, and the
multitude of engines of war ready on !oard& :e also oints out the enemys full array, their
menacing faces, their strange tye of weaons and their vast num!ers, and the ravines, sheer
cliffs and mountain tracks& /gain he oints out on the enemys side horses flying !y magic,
infantry !orne through the air, and witchcraft of every ower and form& :e descri!es all the
C*
disasters of war too: the cloud of sears, the showers of arrows, the great mist and darkness, the
itchF!lack night caused !y the multitude of missiles !lotting out of the suns rays !y their sheer
density, the dust !linding the eyes no less than this darkness, the torrents of !lood, the groans of
those who fall, the !attleFcries of those who stand, the heas of the slain, chariot wheels !athed
in !lood, horses and riders thrown headlong !y the multitude of dead !odies, the ground a scene
of general confusion, !lood, and !ows and arrows, hoofs of horses and heads of men lying
together, a human arm and a chariot wheel, a helmet and a transfixed chest, swords sattered
with human !rains and the !roken head of an arrow with an eye transfixed uon it&
Det him descri!e too all the erils of the fleet: some shis a!laHe in midFsea and sinking
with their armed crews, the roar of the waves, the cries of the sailors, the shouts of the soldiers,
the foam of the waves mixed with !lood and dashing over into all the shis, the corses on the
decks, some sinking, some floating, some washed ashore, and others washed a!out !y the waves
and o!structing the assage of the shis& /nd when he has !een carefully instructed in all the
tragedies of war, let him go on to descri!e the horrors of cativity and slavery which is worse
than any kind of death& /nd when he has said all, let him give the lad the order to mount his
horse at once and take command of all that armament& Go you think that raw youth will !e
ade)uate for that commandB Go you not think he will faint at the first glanceB
Go not imagine that 3 have exaggerated the matter !y my account, nor suose that
!ecause we are shut u in this !ody, as in some rison house, we can see nothing of the invisi!le
world, and that what has !een said is overstated& -ou would have seen a much vaster and much
more terrifying conflict than this if you had !een a!le to see, with these material eyes, the devils
most gloomy !attle array and its furious onset& >or there is no !rass or iron there, no horses or
chariots or wheels, nor fire and darts& .hese are visi!le things, !ut there are other much more
fearful engines than these& 4ne does not need against these enemies !reastlate or shield, sword
and sear& -et only the sight of this accursed array is enough to aralyse the soul unless it
haens to !e very no!le, and en<oy to a high degree, the rovidential care of (od even more
than his own courage&
3f it were ossi!le to stri off this !ody or even to kee it, and see clearly and fearlessly
with the naked eye the whole of the devils !attle array and the warfare he wages against us, you
would not see torrents of !lood, nor dead !odies, !ut so many fallen souls, and such disastrous
wounds that the whole of that descrition of warfare which 3 have now descri!ed to you would
!e mere childs lay and sort rather than war& So many are smitten every day, and the wounds in
the two cases do not !ring a!out the same death& .he difference !etween the two corresonds
with the difference !etween soul from the !ody& ;hen the soul receives a !low and falls it does
not lie as a lifeless !ody, !ut the ravaging of an evil conscience immediately torments it, and
after its release from this world, it is delivered over to eternal unishment and the hour of
<udgement& /nd if anyone feels no ain at the devils !lows, his danger is increased !y his lack of
sensation& >or the man who does not smart at the first !low will readily receive a second, and
after that a third& ;henever the evil one finds a soul suine and indifferent to his revious
attacks, he never stos striking until that man !reathes his last&
3f you care to investigate this method of attack, you will find it is far more severe and
varied than it seems& No one else knows as many variations of trickery and deceit as that evil
one& .his is how he has gained his great ower& No one can feel such imlaca!le hatred for his
worst enemies as the evil one feels for the human race& /nd if you investigate the vehemence
with which he fights, here again it would !e ludicrous to comare men with him& But if any one
icked out the most ferocious and savage of !easts and comared tem with the devils frenHy, he
C#
will find them gentle and tame !y comarison, such rage does he !reathe out when he attacks our
souls& .hen again, the eriod of the !attle is short, and even in that short eriod there are many
resites& >or the aroach of the night and the weariness of slaughter, time taken for food, and
many other things naturally !ring the soldier to a standstill so that he can remove his armor and
!reather a little, refresh himself with food and drink, and recover his former strength& But in the
case of the evil one, you must never lay down your armour nor is it ossi!le to even take slee if
you want to remain forever unhurt& -ou must do one of two things: either take off your armor
and so fall or erish, or stand always armed and ever watchful& >or he always stands with his
forces marshaled, watching for our indolence, and la!oring more Healously for our destruction
than we do for our salvation& .he fact that he is unseen !y us, and that his attacks are very
sudden, are a source of countless evils to those who are not continually on guard, and roves that
this kind of warfare is far more difficult than the other&
Gid you then want me to lead Christs soldiersB .ruly that would have !een to act as the
devils general& >or whenever the man who ought to marshal and order others is the most
inexerienced and fee!le of all, he !etrays !y his inexerience the men who have !een entrusted
to his charge, and so acts the devils general rather than Christs&
But why are you sighing and weeingB >or my resent osition does not deserve
commiseration !ut gladness and <oy&
Basil: But not mineP 0y osition deserves countless lamentations& >or 3 am hardly a!le
yet to gras <ust how dee in misfortune you have !rought me& 3 came to you wanting to learn
what excuse 3 should make on my !ehalf to those who find fault with you, !ut instead you are
sending me !ack loaded with one care on to of another& 3 am no longer concerned a!out the
excuses 3 shall make to them for you !ut with the excuse 3 shall make to (od for myself and my
own sins& 3 !eg and imlore your hel, if you care for me at all, @if there is any comfort in Christ,
if any consolation of love, if any tender mercies and comassion&A
$
>or you know that it was you
yourself, more than anyone, who !rought me into this danger& (ive me a heling hand& Say or do
something to restore me and do not allow yourself to leave me alone for a moment, !ut now
more than ever !efore, share your life with me&
But 3 smiled and said: @;hat can 3 offerB :ow can 3 hel you to carry so heavy a !urdenB
/nd yet, since such is your desire, take courage, my dear friend, for whenever it roves ossi!le
for you to have a resite from the cares of your office, 3 will come to your side and encourage
you, and nothing shall !e left undone that lies within my ower&A
/t this he wet even more and rose to go& .hen having em!raced him and kissed his
head, 3 led him out urging him to !ear his lot !ravely& @>or 3 trust in Christ,A 3 said, @who has
called you and set you over :is own shee, that you will gain such assurance from this ministry
that when 3 stand in eril on the last Gay, you will receive me into your everlasting ha!itation&A
"& /mos 5&?& ?& /mos ?&"" 7DOO9& 5& Dev& %&5, "%& %& Dev& ?"&#&
%& Dev& ?"&#& C& EHek& 5%&"2& $& Phil& ?&"&
$1

Six Books On The Priesthood, St. John Chrysostom

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