De patientia sermo 2

On patience. Thirsty travelers picture in their mind a spring that is not present, and through longing for it they hasten with swift movement, so as to find the remedy for their thirst and cool the flame burning within them through the streams. In the same way, beloved, thirsting for the word of truth, you come with eagerness to the true spring, our Lord Jesus Christ. For it is he who says, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink"; and again he himself says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." Longing for this spring, the blessed David sang, saying, "As the deer longs for the springs of waters, so my soul longs for you, O God." But lest we seem to remain outside the Scriptures through these preliminaries, come now, let us touch upon the words; for in this way our discourse will be shown more brilliant, and the Church appears radiant to us. But let us return to the subject at hand. What then was it that we have just heard the blessed David saying, "I waited patiently for the Lord, and he gave heed to me and hearkened to my prayer"? A great trophy has been revealed to us in patience; for we find all the saints crowned with patience, and having this as a teacher within, we know the blessed Abraham, who reached a hundred years and had not yet fathered a child, but through his patience the fruit was already harvested before his eyes. The tree shed its leaves, and the root was weighed down; his flesh grew old, but his spirit flourished; yet through patience he reaped Isaac.

Behold for me the blessed Job, the contestant of the world, who wrestled and tore apart the power of the devil. How many struggles did the devil undertake, and yet he did not break the athlete? He emptied his quiver of arrows, brought up his engines, and did not shake the tower; he raised the waves, and did not sink the ship; he broke the branches, and did not uproot the root; he stirred up the stormy seas, and did not shake the rock. Did you see the patience of a righteous man? Did you see the contest of an athlete? Did you see a rock firmly fixed? Did you see the soldier drawn up in battle array? Did you see the tower standing? Did you see the righteous man glorified and the devil fleeing in shame? Behold for me, if you please, also the crown of his patience. For after the capture of the cattle, and the destruction of the sheep, and the collapse of the house, and the calamity of his children—for he saw them, born at different times, all together departing from life at the end—after such great consumption, then the wife also intervenes, saying: "How long will you endure, saying, 'I am waiting a little while, expecting the hope of my salvation'? For behold, your memorial has been obliterated from the earth; your sons and your daughters, the pangs and labors of my womb, for whom I toiled in vain with hardships; and you yourself sit on the rotting matter of worms, spending the night in the open air, and I wander as a fugitive and a servant, going from place to place and from house to house, waiting for the sun to set, so that I may rest from my toils and from the pains that now beset me.

Say one word against the Lord, and die." But she, looking at her, spoke that celebrated and universally sung saying: "If we received the good things from the hand of the Lord, shall we not bear the bad?" Do you see a sea of patience? Do you see an unerring teaching? The abundance of misfortunes that befell him did not weaken his patience, but though so many came upon him like successive waves, the vessel did not become submerged. Do you see the patience of a righteous man? Do you see a crown being woven for the righteous man through patience? Behold for me also the poor Lazarus—rather, more wealthy than the rich—how he too, through patience, rests in the bosom of Abraham. For this Lazarus sat at the gate of the rich man, wasting away with hunger. And that rich man, with various delicacies, filled his belly each day; but Lazarus had not even bread to satisfy his belly. This one fed parasites, and that one was licked by dogs. This one had garlanded wine bowls, and that one tended his wounds. This one had a house with a gilded roof, Lacedaemonian marble, and golden capitals, and Lazarus had not even a hut. This one was clothed in silks and rabbit-fur, and Lazarus had not even a rag. But behold for me the end of patience. So the rich man died—for the death of the rich man is death, for the death of sinners is evil—and Lazarus also died, or rather, he was translated. This one was dragged by angels, this one dwelt in heaven, and that one was burned in Gehenna. This one enjoyed the waters abundantly, and that one, burned in Gehenna, longed for a drop.

This one was resting in the bosom of Abraham, and that one was being stung by the sleepless worm. And see, if you will, the patience of the blessed Lazarus. He did not say to himself, "I, living in virtue, am poor, and this man, living in injustice, is rich; servants stood by this man offering unceasing service; this man was blessed by men, and that one was wretched; cooks served this man with varied skill, bakers, head bakers; baths in the city, and baths in the country, and gardens and parks. This man daily enjoyed honor to excess; the land unfailingly offered to him, and he did not share with the needy; the trees, weighed down with fruit, looked to the ground, and that man, weighed down by evils, did not look up to heaven; but Lazarus sat alone, thrusting away the storm of poverty by his patience." Have you seen the patience of a righteous man? Have you seen the cruelty of a rich man? Have you seen the endurance of a poor man? Have you seen the inhumanity of the rich man? Have you seen what reward patience blossomed? Look also for me at the three youths spending time in the furnace, trampling the furnace like a light breeze by their patience, how these young men dared such great torment, and did not consider the threat of the flame, nor all the bitter tortures that were about to come upon them; but they were so elevated in the spirit of their patience that they said, "And even if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not worship your gods, nor do we bow down to the golden image which you set up.

Yet they dared to endure those torments, and they walked about in the furnace and praised God as if in a meadow, a paradise, or some grassy place; and as one living in luxury, so they walked about, and said: "Blessed are you, Lord God of our fathers, and praised and glorified is your name forever." And see how patience, once it blossoms, next brings humility: "For you are just in all things that you have done to us." And yet, even if they had committed sins, the power of the flame had wiped all away; but still, through patience, they said: "For you are just in all things that you have done to us." Do you see the patience of the righteous? They did not consider that their bodies were about to meet fire, but they were found harder than adamant, and so courageous that they did not stand still in one place in the furnace. And as they walked about, they blessed God and glorified him. And not only they themselves, but they also called upon the whole creation with them—the sun and the moon, the stars of heaven, the sea and the rivers, the springs and the lakes, and the earth, the mountains, the hills, the glens, the

plains, the nights, the days. And observe the wonder: they hymned and glorified God in order. Read me the account of creation; you will find in it: In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. Then next he introduces the creation. So also the youths, knowing the law and recognizing God, spoke thus: Bless, O heavens, the Lord; stars of heaven, the Lord; all waters above the heaven, the Lord; sun and moon, the Lord. And observe the wonder, last of all: Bless, Ananias, Azarias, Misael, the Lord. For just as in the account of creation the lawgiver, writing history, said after the creation was completed, Let us make man according to our own image and likeness, so also these, having made the completion of their hymnody last of all, say next, Bless: Ananias, Azarias, Misael, the Lord. Have you seen the patience of the righteous? Have you seen the crown being woven? Have you seen the strength of the brave young men? Have you seen zeal more vehement than fire? Have you seen a mouth sharing the life of the angels? Have you seen a tongue co-serving with the angels? Have you seen the patience of athletes? They did not shrink from death, their face was not altered by the punishment about to befall them, but cheerful and radiant with bloom they said: Let it be known to you, O king, that we do not worship your gods, and we do not bow down to the golden image which you set up. Have you seen how everywhere patience becomes the means of the kingdom of heaven? Behold, if you please, also the blessed Daniel cast into the lions' den, and teaching the lions to fast.

For the beasts did not dare to taste of the prophet’s flesh, because he had been nurtured by patience. This blessed Daniel, then, having entered the den of lions, did not become timid, but prayed to God; by patience he too transformed wildness into gentleness, and the nature of savagery was changed into the gentleness of a sheep, and Daniel stood as a shepherd among lambs. Do you see a nature being changed? And the tyrant was put to shame, and one could see a strange and paradoxical thing: the lions became tamer than the king. For those beasts, having received food and being beset by such great hunger, did not dare to taste of the prophet’s flesh, and with the table and the dish set before them, they denied their own nature because of the prophet’s patience, and the assault of the wild beasts did him no harm, because he hoped in the Lord; for even the nature of wild beasts knows to reverence the image of God. Therefore David, knowing clearly that he who hopes in the Lord has nothing fearful before his eyes, says: And you will trample the lion and the dragon; and again the Lord: Behold, I have given you the power to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon the whole force of the Enemy; and again David: For even if I walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will not fear evils, because you are with me. Consider, if you will, also the blessed Elijah, who by his word closed the heaven for three years and six months, how he too remained in patience, eating no bread nor drinking water.

but he walked through the wilderness and went around the glades because of fear of Jezebel, and such a man was nourished by patience through a raven. He sat by the river Chorazein, persevering in patience, and was fed by a raven; yet the raven is legally unclean. Let the Jew stand forth. How was your prophet fed by an unclean creature? How is this, tell me? Moses said the raven was unclean; but your prophet received food from an unclean creature. Was there no other bird? Was there no turtledove, no dove in the land, that he was fed by a raven? Explain to me, O Jew, the inquiry about the bird. Did not Moses legislate concerning the raven, and place it among the unclean? How then does the prophet whom you expect to come, who mounted a fiery chariot and closed the sky for three years and six months, how does this one, who raised the dead through prayer, get fed by a raven? Could not the one who closed the sky bring down bread for himself? But it was to show you that the Old Testament overturned the laws. And this man lived as an athlete through long-suffering and patience, and we find all the saints as athletes through patience. Behold, if you will, also the blessed David, who became the last of men and of his brothers, but later reigned over his brothers; and such a one struck down his enemy with a stone, and destroyed his phalanx, and tore apart his power like a spider’s web; and this one, who so contended, was so warred upon by Saul.

And yet David was doing him a kindness, and when he played the harp, the demon fled, and often when Saul found David ready for slaughter, he nevertheless overlooked it again through patience; and when Saul often came upon him to put him to death, David again entrusted everything to God. Now consider for me also the blessed Joseph, the champion of chastity, how he too philosophized through endurance. First, he was plotted against by his brothers because of the dreams. And observe the malice of brothers. If the dreams were true, what device could prevent what was foreseen from coming to pass in every way? But if the visions of the dreams were false, why do you envy one who is mistaken? And observe the remarkable thing, beloved: He saw himself being worshipped by the sun, the moon, and eleven stars. His brothers heard this—or rather, the disciples of the devil, who were taught envy and murder by their father the devil, the lawlessnesses which are sisters, which Paul also yoked together, saying: "Full of envy, murder." They heard about the kingdom that was to succeed theirs, and they were stung to put him to death.

The blessed Joseph endured the contest, and when his brothers had gone to pasture sheep in Shechem, his father said, "Are not your brothers pasturing in Shechem? Come, I will send you, and see whether your brothers and the sheep are well, and report to me." As he was going, they saw him coming from afar and said to one another, "Look, that dreamer is coming; come, let us kill him, and see what his dreams will be." Do you see the counsel of those who wished to commit fratricide? Again the devil was their counselor, and they learned their lessons more quickly. The brother came to them, and they stripped off his tunic; but he was not stripped of patience. For even if he laid aside the covering of the flesh, he did not lay aside his chastity and his hope in God, which also brought up his case. They killed a goat, filled his tunic with blood, and brought it to the father, saying, "Recognize whose tunic this is." The father recognized his son's variegated tunic, began to mourn and lament, and said in his dirge, "A wild beast has devoured Joseph." For truly wild and evil were those who did this, indeed more savage than wild beasts, since they conspired to put their own brother to death and wished to commit fratricide. But nevertheless the blessed Joseph contended with patience; he was thrown into the pit, and this too he endured. Tell me, you polluted ones, why did you conceive such inhumanity toward your own brother? Was the stripping of the tunic not enough for you, but you also cast him into the pit?

Did you not consider that God in heaven sees all things? Did your body not shudder? Did your heart not tremble, daring to do this? Do you not know that the first commandment of the law is, "You shall not kill," and this you were especially eager to do, and to a brother? Then, after holding a council, they attempted to sell him into slavery. The Ishmaelites came down to Egypt; they saw them, and drew him up from the pit, and they sell their own king, as if never would a slave rule. They came down to Egypt. And see how trial succeeded trial. An Egyptian woman was added to him; with harmful speech she attempted to despoil the righteous man, saying, "Sleep with me, and I will provide you with honors and gifts; let my servants be under your hands; I will fill you with various riches, and I will place my entire house under your hands, and I myself will become your handmaid; only be persuaded by me, Joseph, yield to my wound, quench the flame burning within me, bedew my heart which is despondent with passion, yield to my wretched soul." He answered and said, "O woman, I have never been a slave; but through envy and malice I came down here into slavery. Do not defile my chastity, do not plunder my nobility, do not betray my spirit, do not cast myself into the mouth of death, do not destroy the worth of my kinsmen. I am a descendant of Abraham, who conversed with God with boldness, to whom God, conversing, said:

Truly, I will bless you with blessing, and multiply, I will multiply your seed, as the stars of the sky, and as the sand on the shore of the sea. Isaac is my grandfather, that one who willingly offered himself for sacrifice; Jacob is my father, who wrestled with an angel, that one who saw the heavenly ladder fixed from earth to heaven, and the angels of God ascending and descending. I am his son; I am not a runaway nor a cruel man; I was not condemned and sold here, but I am here through envy and malice." But when with such words he was unable to trip him up into adultery, nor to loosen his chastity with much talk, she seized him by his garment; but he, taking off his clothes, went out naked. Do you see endurance? The chaste athlete went out, saying, "Because of the serpent we put on clothes; for the sake of chastity we take them off; because of disobedience we received the covering; because of the commandment of God which says, 'You shall not commit adultery,' we put this aside." And he went out naked, or rather, clothed in Christ. Then the sea foamed, raged, wanting to raise up its high waves, to sink the ship with all hands, and it could not, but in such a storm he sailed as in a calm. How many things it stirred up, and did not harm him! It shook the ship, and did not take the cargo. How much it troubled, and did not plunder the treasure! Then, looking around and finding her desire nowhere, she begins to slander, and says to her own husband, "You have brought here a Hebrew boy to mock me.

He heard that, and was inflamed with anger, and put him in prison. For the lamp was fitting for those in darkness, and the grain-giver for those wasting away in famine. Now behold for me here another arena. For the deprivation of his father, and the plot of his brothers, and the alienation from his land were not enough for him, but also a woman's uprising, and the confinement of the prison. Now, beloved, he lay in prison. The chief cupbearer and the chief baker were thrown into his place. Both saw dreams, and their faces were gloomy. Joseph saw them and said to them: Why are your faces gloomy? They said: We saw a dream, and there is no one to interpret it. He says to them: Relate to me each of you what he saw. What are you saying, Joseph? Did you see a dream? Their outcome did not come to pass. You saw yourself worshipped by the sun and the moon, and behold you were sold as a slave; you saw the sheaves of your brothers turned around, and your sheaf being worshipped, and behold you are confined in prison.

Why do you ask about the misfortune of the brothers? Why are you so mad? "I am not mad," he says. "I know the crown of my endurance, I know the profit from these misfortunes, I know what kind of flower will appear. For no one is crowned unless he contends lawfully." And again the blessed David: "Having endured, I endured the Lord, and he paid attention to me." Have you seen the endurance of an athlete? Have you seen the perseverance? Have you seen the unbowed spirit? Have you seen the unyielding contender? Have you seen the crown of self-control? Have you seen the ship of chastity? Have you seen the rudder of the young? Have you seen the bridle of those in their prime? Have you seen the helmsman of pleasures? Have you seen his contest? Have you seen his struggle? Therefore, all you who are young, take up this reasoning, for nothing is stronger than endurance. For endurance is the root of all good things, the mother of piety, the branch of joy, the unfading fruit, the impregnable tower, the harbor without storms. Do you see what a good provision endurance is? Let us move on, if you wish, to the blessed Susanna. She too contended with endurance. And let us see in her, in a woman's body, the courage of soul and the self-control of a woman, whose memory remains immortal with victory. For this blessed Susanna also contended in the public theater, where God and angels and authorities and powers watched her struggle. For I wish to present her endurance in word. So this blessed Susanna entered the garden according to her custom to walk. The two lawless elders were hidden in the garden. She was like a lamb left alone and walking in the garden.

And the two elders, like wolves in sheep's clothing, how they might make her a prey to beasts. They found her alone, and rushed upon her; but she did not flinch, nor did their attack terrify her, but she stood unshaken in her chastity. And they said to her: "We desire you; obey us. We are the elders of the people, who seem to govern the people, making ourselves submerged. The law is subject to us; rather, the law has condemned you, saying, 'You shall not desire the wife of your neighbor.' But if you do not obey us, we will accuse you, that a young man was with you." When she heard the word, she groaned, saying: "Narrow ways for me from all sides. Death is preferable to me for chastity, rather than a disorderly marriage." Having failed in their hunt, they accused her before the people; but she was silent, seeing the profit of endurance. They condemned her for chastity, laid hands on her, and she went to die. The people saw the condemnation; but God, the foreknower of all, roused the Holy Spirit upon Daniel, and exposed hidden intentions: the licentiousness of the elders, and the chastity of Susanna. These were put to shame, and she was glorified; these in dishonor, and she in glory. You know what a reward endurance is. Therefore, all of you who have the image of endurance, emulate this desire. For he who endures to the end, this one will be saved in Christ Jesus our Lord; to whom is the glory and the power unto the ages of ages. Amen.