By St. John Chrysostom,
Archbishop of Constantinople
Note: this is the only Patristic source I have come across which praises those who fight heresy
within the heretical flock (see paragraph 9). The context of this instance was
an attempt by St. John Chrysostomos at healing the ongoing "Antiochian
schism" between the Eustathians (the Orthodox supporters of the exiled St. Eustathius
who remained in Antioch and severed communion with the "Official"
Antiochian Church, which was compromised by Semi-Arianism) and the Meletians (the
Orthodox supporters of St. Meletios of Antioch, who was consecrated by unjudged
Arians but confessed Orthodoxy and went on to become the first president of the
Second Ecumenical Synod).
1. A certain wise man, knowledgeable in philosophy, who
had thoroughly and accurately learnt the nature of human affairs, and
recognized their feebleness, and how they contain nothing trustworthy or
secure, advises all people alike not to consider anything blessed before death
[cf. Sir 11:28]. For this reason, since blessed Eustathius is dead, we can at
this point sing his praises with complete security. I mean, if one shouldn’t
consider anyone blessed before death, bestowing blessings on those who deserve it
after their death would be innocent of blame. For certainly he has gone past
the strait of worldly affairs, he has been freed from the turmoil of the waves,
he has sailed toward the calm and tranquil harbor, he is not subject to
uncertainty about the future, and is not liable to fall; instead, as if he is
now standing on some rock or elevated crag, he scorns all the waves. For this
reason, blessing [him] is safe, praising [him] blameless. For he has no fear of
reversal, is not suspicious of change. My point is that we who are still alive,
like people tossing in the middle of the sea, are subject to many reversals.
And, just as the latter are at one moment lifted up high, when the waves are at
their peak, at another carried down to the very depths, yet neither is being up
high safe, nor being down low stable—for both these things result from water
flowing and not staying still—so, too, in the case of human affairs nothing is
secure and fixed, but reversals come thick and fast one after the other. While one
person is carried up on high by happy circumstances, another is dragged down to
a great depth by bad luck. But let neither the first get swell headed, nor the
second discouraged. For with utter swiftness each will receive reversal. But
not [Eustathius], who has been translated to heaven, who has gone away to the
Jesus whom he desires, who has gone to a place free of confusion, where grief
and pain and groaning have run away. There is no semblance of reversal there,
there is no shadow cast by change; rather, everything is fixed and immovable,
everything is secure and firmly set, everything is imperishable and immortal,
everything is untouched and endures eternally. It’s for this reason [Scripture]
says: “Call no one blessed before their death” [Sir 11:28]. On what basis? The
future is unclear and nature is weak. The will is lazy, sin is hovering, and
the snares are many. “Know,” it says, “that you walk in the midst of snares”
[Sir 9:13]. Temptations come one after another, the crowd of affairs is large,
and the war [waged] by demons unceasing, and the rebellion of the passions
unrelenting. It’s for these reasons scripture says: “Call no one blessed before
their death.” That’s why it’s safe to bless the deserving person after death.
Rather, not simply after death, but a death of this kind: when a person has
lost their life with a crown, when [they have lost it] with confession and
unfeigned faith. For if a certain person called those who have simply died
blessed, how much more those who died in this fashion?
2. “And who called those who have simply died blessed?”,
you ask. Solomon, Solomon that utterly wise man. Don’t simply pass over the
man, but consider who he was and how he lived and with how much freedom from
anxiety and indulgence he lived the soft and painless life. For he conceived of
every type of luxury and came up with all sorts of paths of spiritual guidance
and discovered diverse and versatile kinds of pleasures, and detailing these he
said: “I have built myself houses, planted myself vineyards, made myself
orchards and gardens, made myself pools of water; I have acquired male slaves
and young female slaves, and have slaves born at home; I have acquired herds
and flocks; I have gathered silver and gold the equivalent of sand; I have
created for myself male and female singers, male and female wine-pourers” [Eccl
2:4–8]. What then did this self-same man [say] after such great wealth of
money, of possessions, of luxury, of indulgence? He said: “I have called the
dead blessed as opposed to the living, and the person who does not yet exist,
good as opposed to them” [cf. Eccl 4:2–3]. This man, who cast such a vote
against luxury, is a truly trustworthy critic of it. For if one of those who
had lived in poverty and on the skids had produced this vote against luxury, it
would have appeared that he wasn’t condemning these things in truth, but
through lack of experience. But when this man who had traveled it and traversed
every path of it dishonored it, his condemnation was immediately beyond
suspicion. Perhaps you think that our sermon has fallen off the current topic.
But if we just pay attention, we’ll find that what I’ve said keeps to it in
particular. For on martyrs’ commemorations, it is essential and logical to
discuss philosophy too. Indeed, we say these things not in condemnation of the
present life—heaven forbid!—but from casting a slur on luxury. For it is not to
live that is bad, but to live in a pointless and random fashion.
3. Thus if a person were to live the present life with a
view to good works and in expectation of the blessings to come, they would be
able to say like Paul: “It is far better to live in the flesh. For [my] work is
fruitful” [Phil 1:22]. Just so, then, was it the case too with blessed
Eustathius, who conducted himself properly in both life and death. For he
endured [death] for Christ’s sake not in his own land, but in a foreign place.
This was the achievement of his enemies. For while they drove him out of his
home territory with the intent of dishonoring [him], he instead became more
brilliant and famous through his migration into exile, as the outcome of events
indeed showed. For his fame became so great that, although his body is buried
in Thrace, his memory flowers among us day after day and, while his tomb is in
that barbarian region, after so long a time the desire [for him] among us, who
are separated from him by so great a distance, grows day after day. Rather, if
one must tell the truth, even his tomb is among us, not just in Thrace. For
saints’ memorials are not urns or coffins or columns or inscriptions, but good
works and a zeal for faith and a healthy conscience towards God. My point is
that truly this church has risen up more brilliant than any column over the
martyr, carrying inscriptions that are not voiceless but that through events
themselves cry out his memory and brilliance louder than a trumpet, and each of
you who are present is that saint’s tomb, a tomb that has life and soul. For,
if I were to open up the conscience of each of you who are present, I would
find this saint dwelling inside your mind.
4. Do you see how his enemies made no further gain? How they
didn’t extinguish his glory, but raised it higher and made it more brilliant,
creating so many tombs instead of one—tombs with life, tombs that give voice,
tombs prepared for the same enthusiasm? For this reason, I call the saints’
bodies springs and roots and spiritual perfumes. On what basis? That each of
the items mentioned doesn’t just keep its own virtue to itself, but also
transmits it all over the place to a considerable distance. For instance,
springs bubble up lots of water; even so, they don’t keep this contained within
their own basins. Rather, by giving birth to lengthy rivers, they mingle with
the sea, and, as if by stretching out a hand, through their length reach the
ocean’s waters. Again, the root of plants is hidden in the bowels of the earth,
but doesn’t keep all its virtue contained below, and this is the nature of
tree-climbing vines in particular. For when they extend their branches to the
high up twigs, they advance their shoots to a considerable distance by creeping
through those stalks, creating a broad canopy with the density of their leaves.
Such too is the nature of perfumes. For while often they are stored in a little
house, their sweet smell tumbles out through the windows into streets and
alleyways and marketplaces and teaches those walking outside the virtue of the
spices stored inside. If a spring or a root or a plants’ or spices’ nature has
so much strength, much more so do the saints’ bodies. And that what I’ve said isn’t
false, you are witnesses. For although the martyr’s body lies in Thrace, you’re
not spending time in Thrace; instead, far removed from that region, you share
his sweet smell at so great a distance and have come together because of it—the
length of the road hasn’t put you off, nor has the abundance of time
extinguished [your enthusiasm]. The nature of spiritual achievements is like
that. They aren’t cut off by any physical impediment, but flower and grow day
after day, and neither does the abundance of time wither them, nor a road’s
length wall them off.
5. Don’t be astonished if, when I began the sermon and
praises, I called the saint a martyr. For in fact, his life came to a natural
end. How, then, is he a martyr? In response to your love, I’ve often said that
it’s not just the death that creates a martyr, but also the disposition. For
often the martyr’s crown is woven not just from the way out, but also from the
will. Indeed, it’s not I, but Paul who gives this definition of martyrdom when
he speaks in this way: “I die every day” [1 Cor 15:31]. How do you die every
day? How can a single mortal body possibly undergo countless deaths? “Through
one’s disposition,” he says, “and through being prepared for death.” This too
is the way God revealed. For truly Abraham didn’t bloody the knife, didn’t
redden the altar, didn’t sacrifice Isaac, yet completed the sacrifice
nonetheless. Who says this? The very one who received the sacrifice. “Because
of me,” he said, “you didn’t spare your beloved son” [Gen 22:12]. And yet, he
[sc. Abraham] took him alive and brought him back healthy. How, then, didn’t he
spare [him]? “In that I judge such sacrifices not from the outcome of events,
but from the disposition of those making the choice,” says [God]. “His hand
didn’t kill, but his will did. He didn’t bathe his sword in his child’s neck,
he didn’t slit his throat, yet even without blood it’s a sacrifice.” The
initiated know what I’m saying. On this basis, that sacrifice also took place
without blood, since it was destined to be a type of this one. Do you see its
image outlined in advance in the Old Testament? Don’t doubt the truth!
6. Now, this martyr (for the argument has shown us that
he is a martyr), prepared himself for countless deaths and endured them all
with his will and eagerness. He endured many of the dangers that attacked him
too by way of actual experience. For in fact, they drove him out of his country
and translocated him into exile, and at that time set in motion many other
[assaults] against that blessed man, although they had no legal grounds on
which to prosecute, on the basis that, when he heard Paul say: “They worshipped
and served the creation rather than the creator” [Rom 1:25], he fled the
sacrilege and was alarmed at the lawlessness. But this [action] deserved
crowns, not condemnation. Consider, if you please, the Devil’s wickedness. For
when the pagan war had newly ended, and all the Churches had just recovered
from the cruel and successive persecutions, and it wasn’t much time since every
temple had been locked up, altars extinguished, and all the raging of the
demons quelled, and these things grieved the wicked demon and he couldn’t
mildly bear the Church’s peace, what then did he do? He introduced a second
cruel war. For while the first had an external origin, this was factional. Such
wars are rather difficult to guard against, and readily overpower those involved.
7. Now, at that time this blessed man had command of the
Church in our community, and although the sickness arose like some cruel plague
from the Egyptian regions, then next traveled through the cities in between in
a hurry to attack our city, he, being alert and sober and foreseeing everything
that would happen from afar, beat off the approaching war. Indeed, before the
sickness attacked our city, from his base here he prepared medications like a
wise doctor and steered this holy ship with a great deal of safety, running
around everywhere, training the sailors, the marines, all those sailing [on
her], preparing [them] to be sober, to be alert, on the basis that pirates were
attacking and attempting to steal away the treasure of faith. But he didn’t
employ this forethought just here, but also sent throughout all regions people
who instructed, encouraged, discoursed, who blocked the enemies’ attack in
advance. Truly he was well trained by the Spirit’s grace that a church’s leader
should not just be concerned for the church entrusted to him by the Spirit, but
also for the entire Church situated throughout the world. Indeed, he learnt
this from the holy prayers. “For if one is obliged to offer prayers,” he said,
“for the universal Church from one end of the world to the other, one should
show far more forethought, too, for it all, and similarly be concerned for them
all and care for all of them.” Indeed, what happened in the case of Stephen
eventuated in his case too. For just as the Jews, powerless to resist Stephen’s
wisdom, stoned that saint, so too these men, powerless to resist his wisdom and
seeing the fortresses secured, at that point expelled the herald from the city.
But his voice was not silent. Rather, while the person was expelled, the word
of his teaching was not expelled. After all, Paul was bound, yet the word of
God was not bound [cf. 2 Tim 2:9]. And this man was in another country and yet
his teaching was among us. So then, after expelling [him] they attacked in a
tight pack, just like a forceful torrent. But they neither carried away the
plants, nor buried the seeds, nor damaged the cultivation. So well and
skillfully were they rooted, since they had been cultivated by his wisdom. But
it is appropriate that I mention the reason why God allowed him to be driven
away from here. The Church was only just recovering. It had as no ordinary
comfort that man’s command. He blockaded it on all sides and beat off the
assaults of its enemies.
8. For what reason, then, was he expelled, and did God
agree to their leading him away? For what reason? Whatever you do, don’t think
that what I say is the solution to just this question. Rather, whether you
happen to argue about such matters with Greeks or other heretics, what I am
about to say is enough to solve every question. Whereas God agrees to his true
and apostolic faith being warred against in many ways, he allows the heresies
and Greco-Roman religions to enjoy indemnity. What on earth for? So that, on
the one hand, you might learn the latter’s feebleness, since without being
harassed they fold of their own accord; while, on the other, you may recognize
the faith’s strength, in that despite being embattled it grows even by means of
the people blocking it. And that this is not a conjecture of mine, but a divine
oracle sent from above, let’s hear what Paul says about these things. For truly
whatever he too suffered was human. For if Paul actually existed, then he
shared our nature. What did he suffer? He was driven out, embattled, whipped,
plotted against in countless ways, externally, internally, by those who
appeared to be of his own party, by outsiders. And what can one say about the
many afflictions he endured? Well, when he was worn out and no longer coping
with the assaults of his enemies, who were always cutting off his teaching and
opposing his argument, he fell down before the Master and entreated him, and
said: “Satan’s angel was given to me as a thorn in the flesh, in order to
discipline me. On this subject I have entreated the Lord three times and he
said to me: ‘My grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in
weakness.’” [2 Cor 12:7–9]. And while I know that some think that it was a
physical weakness, this is not the case, not at all. On the contrary, Satan’s
angel is what he [sc. Paul] calls the people who opposed him. For “Satan” is a
Hebrew word. An adversary is labeled “Satan.” And so, he calls the Devil’s
instruments and those people who serve him his “angels.” “Why, then,” you ask,
“did it apply to the flesh?” Because while the flesh was whipped, the soul was
lightened, lifted up by the hope of things to come. For he [sc. the Devil]
didn’t get hold of the soul, nor trip up the thoughts within; instead, his
machinations and war stopped at the flesh, unable to enter within. Since, then,
it was the flesh that was cut, the flesh that was whipped, the flesh that was
bound (for it’s impossible to bind the soul), it’s for this reason that he
said: “Satan’s angel was given to me as a thorn in the flesh, in order to
discipline me,” hinting at the trials, the afflictions, the persecutions. Then
what? “On this subject I have entreated the Lord three times.” That is, he
says, “I often asked to be given a little respite from my trials.” You remember
the reason I mentioned: that God allowed his servants to be whipped, driven
away, to suffer countless tortures, so that he might show his own power. Well,
look, here truly is a person who asked to be distanced from his countless
tortures and adversaries, but who didn’t attain what he asked for. Who, then,
is responsible? After all, nothing prevents us from recalling it again: “My
grace,” he says, “is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in
weakness.”
9. Do you see that it’s for this reason that God allowed
Satan’s angels to keep up their assault on his servants and to provide
countless opportunities, so that his power might be obvious? For truly, whether
we dispute with Greeks or with the miserable Jews, this suffices for us as a
proof of the divine power, that, once introduced, the faith prevailed through
countless wars, and although the whole world was doing the opposite and
everyone was quite vehemently rejecting those twelve men (I mean, the apostles),
people who were being whipped, driven away, suffering countless tortures were
in a short period able to prevail to an incredible extent over those who were
doing these things. It’s for these reasons that God allowed blessed Eustathius
too to be escorted off into exile, so that he might show us in a major way both
the power of truth and the heretics’ feebleness. So then, when he was about to
depart for the journey abroad, he let go of the city, but he didn’t let go of
his love for you. Nor, when he was expelled from the Church, did he think that
he was alienated either from the leadership or from caring for you; rather, it
was then that he expressed care and concern in a major way. Indeed, he summoned
everyone and entreated them not to yield, nor to give in to the wolves, nor to
betray the flock to them, but to remain inside curbing them and disputing,
while securing the less corrupted of the brothers and sisters. And that he gave
good orders, the outcome proved. For if you hadn’t remained in the Church then,
the majority of the city would have been corrupted, while the wolves ate the
sheep in a deserted place. But his word prevented them from displaying their
own wickedness with impunity. It’s not just the outcome that proved it, but
also Paul’s comments. For in fact he [sc. Eustathius] gave this advice based on
instruction from him. What, then, did Paul say? Once when he was about to be
led off to Rome on his final journey, after which he wouldn’t see the disciples
again, he said: “I won’t see you again” [cf. Acts 20:25]. He said this not out
of a desire to cause grief but to provide security. And so, when he was about
to journey away from there, he more or less secured them in this way, saying:
“I know that after I leave, savage wolves will enter among you, and men from
right among you will rise up and say distorted things” [Acts 20:29, 30]. The
war was threefold: the nature of the wild animals; the severity of the war;
that those doing the warring were not foreign but actually his own people. For
this reason, it was more severe. With reason. For if someone from outside was
to assault me and war against me, I would be able to subvert that person
easily. But if the ulcer arises from the body internally, the evil is difficult
to cure. This is in fact what happened then. Which is why he gave advice,
saying: “Pay attention to yourselves and to the whole flock” [Acts 20:28]. He
did not say: “Abandon the sheep and flee outside.”
10. It was on the basis, too, of this training that blessed
Eustathius gave advice to his own disciples. So, when this wise and noble
teacher heard this advice, he brought the theory to fruition in practice. At
any rate, when they invaded, he didn’t abandon the sheep, even though he hadn’t
ascended to the throne of office. But this was nothing for that noble and
philosophical soul. My point is, while he gave up the honors officials enjoy to
others, he himself undertook the officials’ duties, circulating inside among
the wolves. For the wild animal’s teeth didn’t harm him at all, so much
stronger was the faith he possessed than their bites. And so, by circulating
inside and occupying them all with the war being conducted against him, he
prepared considerable security for the sheep. He didn’t just do this by
blocking up their mouths, stopping short their blasphemies, but he also went
around the lambs themselves and got to know whether anyone had taken a hit,
whether anyone had received a severe wound, and immediately applied the
medication. Truly, by doing these things he fermented everyone into the true
faith, and he didn’t give up until God provided blessed Meletius to come and
take the whole dough. The former sowed the seed, the latter came and harvested
it. So too did it happen in the case of Moses and Aaron. For truly they too, by
circulating like a yeast in the midst of the Egyptians, made many people
enthusiasts of their own piety. And Moses is a witness to this when he says
that a very mixed group of people went up in the company of the Israelites [cf.
Ex 12:38]. Copying Moses, this man too performed the tasks attached to the
office before [he possessed] the office. For truly he (sc. Moses), though not
yet entrusted with the leadership of the people, punished the wrongdoers very
vigorously and nobly, defended those wronged, and abandoning a royal table and
honors and high status, ran off to the mud and brick-making, in the belief that
caring for his own people was of greater honor than any luxury and leisure and
honor. With his eyes on [Moses] he [sc. Flavian] too at that time reproved all
officials with his care for the people and before leisure put hard work and
constantly being driven out of every place, while attracting hostility day
after day. But for him everything was easy to bear. For the pretext for the
events provided him with sufficient comfort for what occurred. Let’s give
thanks to God for all these blessings and become enthusiasts of the virtues of
these saints, so that we too may share their crowns with them, through the
grace and loving kindness of our Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom
to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, honor, and power
forever and ever. Amen.
Original source: Patrologia
Graeca, Vol. 50, c. 597–606.
English translation: The
Cult of the Saints: Select Homilies and Letters / St. John Chrysostom,
(Crestwood, NY: SVS Press, 2006), pp. 51-62.
