De gloria in tribulationibus

On the apostolic saying, "Not only this, but we even boast in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces endurance," and so forth. 1. It is laborious for a farmer to yoke oxen, to draw the plow, to cut a furrow, to cast seeds, to endure winter, to bear frost, to drive a ditch around, to repel the excess of water coming upon the seeds, to make the banks of rivers higher, and to cut deeper furrows through the middle of the field; but these toilsome things, which involve effort, become light and very easy when the farmer sees the crops flourishing with hope, the sickle sharpened, the threshing floor filled with sheaves, and the ripe fruit brought home with great joy. So also a pilot dares to face wild waves, and winter, and often despises a raging sea, and unstable winds, and knows how to bear sea-crossing swells and long voyages, when he reckons the cargo, and the harbors of trade, and sees the boundless wealth born from these. So also a soldier bears wounds, receives clouds of arrows, endures hunger, and frost, and long journeys, and the dangers of the battle line, reckoning from these the trophies, the victories, and the crowns. But why have I mentioned these things? Or what do these examples intend for me? I wish to introduce encouragement for you from these toward the hearing, and consolation for the labors on behalf of virtue.

For if each of those mentioned considers the toil light because of the hope of future things—and these things, even if someone were able to attain them, are dissolved together with the present life—much more must you endure the hearing of spiritual teaching and bear nobly the struggle and the sweat for the sake of eternal life. For in the case of the former, the objects of temporal hope are uncertain, and often, having been only in expectation of good things, they have ended their life in this way, having enjoyed the hopes but not having approached the actual deeds, and indeed having undergone the more severe hardships for these things. I mean something like this: After those many labors and sweats, the farmer sometimes, at the very moment of sharpening the sickle and preparing for the harvest, when rust has fallen, or a multitude of locusts, or an immoderate rainfall has occurred, or some other blow has been inflicted from the irregularity of the airs, has gone home with empty hands, having endured all the toil but fallen from the fruit of hope. And the helmsman likewise, rejoicing in the abundance of cargo, and having spread the sails with great pleasure, and having crossed a great sea, often at the very mouth of the harbor, when a reef has been encountered, or he has dashed against a sunken rock and a crag, or been struck by some other such unexpected circumstance, has lost all the freight and barely saved his own naked body after those countless dangers.

Thus also the soldier, having often arrayed himself in countless wars, repelled the enemy, prevailed over his foes, and while in the very expectation of victory, departed this life, having enjoyed none of the good from his labors and dangers. But our circumstances are not such: for our hopes are eternal, unshaken and secure, and not dissolved together with this temporary life, but directed toward that pure, blessed, and everlasting life, and are not only unassailed by the irregularity of the air or the circumstance of unexpected events, but are not even dissolved by death itself. From these hopes themselves, one could see their fruit shining even in ordinary circumstances, and the reward being great and abundant. For this reason, the blessed Paul cried out, saying: "Not only this, but we even boast in tribulations." I urge us not to pass over what has been said lightly; but since, I know not how, our discourse has again brought us into the harbor of the good helmsman Paul, let us take delight in the text, which, though brief, teaches us much philosophy. What then is the meaning of what was said, and what did he hint to us by saying, "Not only this, but we even boast in tribulations"? Let us, if you please, lead the discourse of teaching a little higher, and we shall see great clarity and the power of the thoughts born from that. But let no one be softened in body; rather, let the desire for spiritual hearing become like dew.

For our discourse is concerning tribulation, and the desire for eternal goods, and endurance, and the reward that comes from these to those who have not collapsed. What then is the meaning of "Not only"? For the one who said this shows us that many other goods have already been accomplished beforehand; and along with those, he adds this one, that which comes from tribulation; wherefore the same one also said: "Not only, but we even boast in tribulations." So that what has been said may become clearer, bear with me for a short while, as we make our teaching more extended in discourse. For when the divine proclamation was announced by the apostles, and they went about everywhere throughout the inhabited world, sowing the word of piety, and tearing up error by the roots, and overthrowing the ancestral laws of the impious, and driving out all lawlessness, and cleansing the earth, and commanding to break away from idols and temples and altars and the festivals and rites that came from them, and to recognize the one and only God of all, and to await the hopes to come, and they discoursed concerning Father and Son and Holy Spirit, and philosophized about resurrection, and discoursed about the kingdom of heaven—for these reasons a grievous war was kindled, the most tyrannical of all wars, and everything was filled with uproar and turmoil and sedition, and all cities, and every populace, and every house, both the inhabited and the uninhabited world, since the ancient customs were being shaken, and the prejudice that had prevailed for so long was being disturbed, while new doctrines were being introduced, such as no one had ever heard before.

Against these things kings grew savage, and rulers became indignant, and private citizens were thrown into confusion, and marketplaces were in uproar, and courts of law were enraged, and swords were drawn, and arms were prepared, and laws were resentful. From that source punishments and chastisements and threats and everything that seems terrible among men were set in motion. Just as when a raging sea gives birth to grievous shipwrecks, the state of the inhabited world was no better: a father then disowning his son on account of piety, and a bride being separated from her mother-in-law, and brothers being divided, and masters being angry against their servants, and nature almost in revolt against itself, and not only civil but also familial war passing through every household. For the word, entering like a sword and cutting the sick from the healthy, caused great dissension and strife everywhere, and prepared countless burdens and battles to be raised from all sides against the faithful. From this, some were led away to prisons, others to courts of law, others to the road leading to death; and the property of some was confiscated, while others were often cast out both from their fatherland and from life itself, and from all sides more thickly than snowflakes

surrounded by evils: within, battles; without, terrors; from friends, from strangers, from those bound to one another by nature itself. Seeing these things, then, the blessed Paul, the trainer of the whole world, the teacher of heavenly doctrines—since the terrors were at hand and enacted before their eyes, while the good things were only in hopes and promises—I speak of the kingdom of heaven, and resurrection, and the allotment of those goods that surpass every mind and reason—while furnaces and frying-pans and swords and punishments and torments of every kind and deaths were not in hopes but in experience; and those who were about to contend against these things had only recently been brought into the faith from altars and idols and luxury and licentiousness and drunkenness, having as yet meditated on nothing lofty concerning eternal life, but rather clinging to present things; and it was likely that many of them would become faint-hearted and slack, and fall back each day under siege—see what the sharer of the mysteries does, and attend to Paul's wisdom. He continually speaks to them about the future, and brings the prizes before their eyes, and shows the crowns, anointing them and comforting them with the hopes of eternal goods. And what does he say? "For we consider that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy compared to the glory that is to be revealed to us." For what do you tell me, he says, of wounds and altars and executioners and punishments and famines and confiscations and poverty and bonds and chains?

Set down all the things you consider terrible among men, and you name nothing worthy of those prizes and crowns and rewards. For the latter are dissolved together with the present life, while the former have no end in the infinite age; and the latter pass by, being temporary, while the former remain perpetually, ageless, coexisting. This same thing he also indicated elsewhere, saying: "For the immediate lightness of the tribulation," cutting short the quality by the quantity, and alleviating the burden by time. For since the things then happening were by nature heavy and burdensome, the burden of them is cut short by the temporary, as he says: "For the immediate lightness of our tribulation produces for us, to an extraordinary degree, an eternal weight of glory," when we look not at the visible things, but at the invisible. For the visible things are temporary; the invisible, eternal. And again, leading them to an understanding of the magnitude of the goods then, he introduces creation itself as grieving and groaning together over the present evils, and greatly desiring the future things, as being entirely good, speaking thus: "For creation groans together and travails together up to now." Why does it groan? Why does it travail? Expecting those future goods and desiring the change for the better. For, he says, creation itself will be freed from the slavery of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. But when you hear that it groans and travails, do not think it is rational, but learn the form of Scripture.

For when God wishes to announce something great and good to men through the prophets, He makes even inanimate things perceive the magnitude of the wonders that occur—not because we claim that creation perceives, but so that the magnitude of the wonders may be represented from what happens to men. This is also our custom to say, when something unexpected occurs, [that the city itself grew gloomy, the very ground became sullen;] and concerning fearsome men who have a beast-like temper, one might say this very thing: that the foundations themselves shook, the very stones trembled at him—not because the stones actually trembled at him, but so that they might be able to represent the excess of his beast-like heart and temper. For this reason, then, the marvelous prophet David, when announcing the good things that befell the Jews and the pleasure arising from their freedom from Egypt, said: "At the exodus of Israel from Egypt, of the house of Jacob from a barbarian people, Judea became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion; the sea saw and fled, the Jordan turned back; the mountains leaped like rams, and the hills like lambs of sheep, before the face of the Lord." And no one has ever heard of this happening anywhere. For the sea and the Jordan were turned back by God's command; but the mountains and the hills did not leap. Rather, as I said earlier, wishing to represent the excess of their pleasure and the relief that came to them from the affliction of the Egyptians, he said that even inanimate things leaped and bounded at the good things that had befallen them.

Just as when He wishes to announce something painful that arises from our sin, He says: "The wine will mourn, and the vine will mourn"; and elsewhere: "The roads of Zion mourn"; and He even speaks of inanimate things weeping: "The wall of the daughter of Zion, let it shed tears," He says; and He says that the earth itself and Judea mourn and are drunk with grief—not because the elements perceive these things, but, as I said earlier, because each of the prophets, wishing to represent the excess of the goods supplied to us from God and the punishments brought upon us from our own wickedness, does so. For this reason, the blessed Paul himself also introduces creation groaning and in pain, so that he might be able to represent the magnitude of the gifts of God that will succeed us thereafter. 3. "But all these things," he says, "are in hopes"; but the faint-hearted and wretched man, now freed from idolatry and not knowing how to philosophize about the future, is not greatly corrected by these words, but seeks to find some consolation also in the present time. For this reason, this wise teacher, knowing all things, not only consoles from future goods, but also anoints with present comforts.

And first he foretells to the world the good things that have already come to pass, not those in hope and expectation, but those that have been realized in experience and enjoyment—which are the greatest and clearest proof of future and hoped-for things. And after having extended his discourse at length concerning faith, and having mentioned the patriarch Abraham, and how, when nature forbade that he should become a father, he hoped and expected and was persuaded that it would happen, and therefore it did happen, and from that he leads to the point that one must never fall into the weakness of reasonings, but be straightened and roused and think lofty thoughts by the greatness of faith—after this he also speaks of the magnitude of what has already been accomplished. And what is this?

That he gave the Son, he says, the only-begotten, the genuine, the beloved—this one God gave for us ungrateful servants, burdened with countless sins and pressed down by so many loads of transgressions. He not only freed us from our sins, but also made us righteous, imposing nothing burdensome, nothing painful, nothing oppressive, but only asking faith from us. And he made us righteous, constituted us holy, declared us sons of God, appointed us heirs of a kingdom, and rendered us co-heirs of the Only-Begotten. He promised resurrection, incorruption of bodies, a station among angels surpassing every word and thought, sojourn in the heavens, and communion with him. He poured forth from here already the grace of the Holy Spirit, freed us from the possession of the devil, delivered us from demons, destroyed sin, obliterated the curse, shattered the gates of Hades, opened paradise. He sent not an angel, not an archangel, but the Only-Begotten himself for our salvation, so that

He says through the prophet: "Not an elder, nor an angel, but the Lord himself saved us." Are these things not more splendid than countless crowns? That we were sanctified? That we were justified? That it was through faith? That the only-begotten Son of God came down from heaven for us? That the Father gave his beloved for us? That we received the Holy Spirit? That it was with all ease? That we enjoyed an ineffable grace and gift? Having said these things, then, and having revealed everything through small words, he again concluded the discourse with hope. For having said, "Having been justified, then, through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also gained access by faith to this grace in which we stand," he added: "And we boast in the hope of the glory of God." Since, then, he spoke of some things as having happened and others as future—for being justified, and the Son being slaughtered for us, and being brought through him to the Father, and enjoying grace and gift, and being freed from sins, and having peace with God, and partaking of the Holy Spirit—these are of things that have happened; but the future things were that ineffable glory, which he himself also added, saying: "In which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God." But hope, as I said before, is not sufficiently able to correct and raise up the faint-hearted hearer. See what he does again, and behold the vigor of Paul and his philosophical mind.

From those very things that seem to grieve and disturb and trouble the hearer, from these very things he weaves the crowns of consolation and of boasting. For after he has enumerated all these things, he then adds, saying: "I do not only say these things which I have spoken," he says, "such as that we were sanctified, that we were justified, that it was through the Only-Begotten, that we enjoyed grace, that we enjoyed peace, that we enjoyed gift, that we enjoyed remission of sins, that we enjoyed communion of the Holy Spirit, that it was with all ease, that it was without labors and without sweats, that it was by faith alone, that he sent the Son, the only-begotten, that he gave one thing and promised another—ineffable glory, incorruption, resurrection of bodies, angelic station, the way of life with Christ, the sojourn in the heavens." For he presented all these things in saying, "And we boast in hope of the glory of God." Therefore he does not speak only of these things that have happened and that will happen, but also of those very things that seem to be grievous among men—I mean the tribunals, the arrests, the deaths, the threats, the famines, the tortures, the frying-pans, the furnaces, the plundering, the wars, the sieges, the battles, the factions, the contentions—and he places these also in the order of gift and of achievements. For it is necessary not only to rejoice and be glad over those things that have been mentioned, but also to boast in these things, as when he says: "Now I rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf, and I fill up the deficiencies of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh.

Do you see a soul that is vigorous, a mind that is lofty, and a resolve that is unshaken, not only taking pride in the crowns, but also delighting in the contests themselves? Not rejoicing in the rewards, but exulting in the struggles? Not being gladdened by the recompenses, but boasting even in the very pankration? Do not speak to me of the kingdom of heaven, nor of those immaculate crowns, nor of the prizes, but bring forward these very present things, those that involve affliction and toil and much hardship; bring these into the midst, and I will be able to show that one ought to boast in these even more greatly. For in external contests, the struggles involve the labor, while the crown brings the pleasure; but here it is not so, for even before the crowns, the struggles themselves bear much boast. And so that you may learn that these things are of this nature, consider each of the saints of each generation, as he says: Take an example, brothers, of endurance and patience, the prophets who spoke the word in the name of the Lord. But indeed, this one who has now set forth this contest for us and assembled this present spiritual theater—I mean Paul—after he has enumerated those countless hardships of each of the saints, which it is not even easy now to recount in order, he adds, saying: They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, lacking, afflicted, ill-treated, of whom the world was not worthy, and over all these things they rejoiced. And this very thing one might see when, after imprisonment and insults, having been scourged, they were driven away; what does he say?

So they went forth rejoicing from the face of the council, because they had been deemed worthy to be dishonored for the name of Christ. 4. But indeed these things have also happened in our own time; and if anyone wishes, let him consider what I say, what used to occur in the time of the persecutions. A tender virgin, inexperienced in marriage, would enter, having a body softer than wax; then, nailed to the wood from all sides, her sides were torn open as she was lacerated, and she flowed with blood, and as if she were being wed rather and sitting in a bridal chamber, so with goodwill she bore what was happening for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, being crowned in the contests themselves. Consider how great a sight it was to see a tyrant with armies and sharpened swords and so many weapons being defeated by a single girl. Do you see that tribulation itself has the greatest boast? And you bear witness to what is said. For not yet have the martyrs received their rewards, nor the prizes and crowns, but having been dissolved into dust and ashes, we run together with all eagerness to their honors, and we assemble a spiritual theater, and we proclaim them, and we crown them for their wounds and blood, for their tortures and blows, for those tribulations and distresses; thus even the tribulations themselves have a boast even before the reward. Consider how great Paul was then, dwelling in prisons and being brought into courts, how conspicuous, how brilliant, and how renowned he appeared to all, especially to those by whom he was warred against and plotted against.

And why do I speak of being admired by men, when even to the demons he was more fearsome then, when he was being scourged? When he was bound, when he was shipwrecked, then he worked the greatest signs, then he prevailed more mightily over the opposing powers. Knowing well, therefore, the profit that accrues to the soul from these tribulations, he said: "When I am weak, then I am strong." Then he adds: "Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in insults, in constraints, in persecutions, in sufferings, that the power of Christ may encamp upon me." For this reason, also, when addressing some who were spending time in Corinth, and who were magnifying themselves while condemning the rest, in writing the character of the Epistle, he was compelled from this to compose for us the image of his own achievements, and this not from signs, not from wonders, not from honor, not from ease, but from prisons, and courts, and hunger, and cold, and wars, and plots, speaking to them thus: "They are ministers of Christ; I speak as a madman, beyond myself." And showing the "beyond" and the superiority, he says: "In labors more abundantly, in blows surpassingly, in imprisonments more abundantly, in deaths often," and so forth: "If I must boast, I will boast of my weaknesses." Do you see him boasting more greatly in these things than if he were priding himself on splendid crowns, and for this reason saying: "Not only this, but we also boast in tribulations"? What is the meaning of "Not only"? "Not only," he says, "do we not lose heart when afflicted and

we suffer hardships, but as advancing to greater honor and glory, we boast more in the grievous things that befall us. Then, since he said that it is the greatest glory and boast and adornment from tribulations—and glory clearly also involves pleasure, for where there is pleasure, there is certainly also glory, and where there is such glory, there is certainly also pleasure—since, therefore, he showed that being afflicted is splendid and conspicuous and causes one to be adorned, he mentions another of its greatest achievements, and some greatest and extraordinary fruit. What this is, let us see. Knowing, then, he says, that tribulation produces endurance, endurance produces testing, testing produces hope, and hope does not disappoint. What does this mean: "Knowing that tribulation produces endurance"? This has the greatest fruit; it makes the afflicted person stronger. For just as trees, those that are shade-grown and stand in windless places, though flourishing in appearance, become softer and more porous, quickly damaged by every gust of wind, while those standing on higher mountain peaks, fanned by many great winds, enduring constant changes of air, shaken by the fiercest storm, and pelted with heavy snow, become stronger than any iron; and likewise bodies, those that are turned by many and varied pleasures, adorned with soft garments, using constant baths and perfumes, and indulging in manifold foods beyond need, become utterly useless for the sweat and toil of piety, being liable to the greatest punishment.

Just as souls that pursue a life free from hardship, full of ease, and prefer a pleasant disposition toward present circumstances and a painless existence over being afflicted for the sake of the kingdom according to all the saints become softer and weaker than any wax, and lie as prey for eternal fire, so souls that devote themselves to the dangers, labors, and hardships of affliction for God’s sake, and are compacted within them, are harder and more noble than iron or adamant from continually suffering evil, becoming unconquerable by onslaughts, and acquiring an invincible habit of endurance and courage. And just as those who first board a ship become seasick and dizzy, troubled and disturbed, seized by distress and vertigo, while those who have crossed many and vast seas, braved countless waves, and endured repeated shipwrecks, undertake such a voyage with confidence, so too the soul that has endured many trials and borne great afflictions is established in a practice of labors and a habit of steadfastness, no longer being timid, easily frightened, or disturbed by painful events, but from continuous exercise in what befalls and frequent practice in what occurs, it bears all impending terrors with great ease. This, then, the wise architect of the heavenly polity made clear when he said: Not only this, but we also boast in our tribulations.

that even before the kingdom and the heavenly crowns, we reap the greatest reward from this very place, from being continually afflicted, as our soul becomes more enduring and our reasoning is strengthened. Knowing all this, therefore, beloved, let us bear the sorrowful events that befall us with nobility, both because it is pleasing to God and for our own benefit, and let us not be distressed nor collapse under the onset of trials, but standing with all courage, let us continually give thanks to God for all the benefactions performed for us, so that we may both enjoy the present goods and attain the future gifts, by the grace, mercy, and philanthropy of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father belongs glory and power, together with the holy and life-giving Spirit, now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.