De sanctis martyribus

After the bishop had departed to celebrate a feast of martyrs in the countryside, this homily was delivered in the city concerning martyrs, and also concerning compunction and almsgiving. 1. Yesterday was a day of martyrs, and today is also a day of martyrs; would that we might always celebrate a day of martyrs. For if those who are mad about the theaters and gape at the horse races never tire of those unseemly spectacles, much more must we be insatiable concerning the feasts of the saints. There is a diabolical procession, here a Christian festival; there demons leap about, here angels dance; there is destruction of souls, here salvation for all who assemble. But do those things have some pleasure? Not so much as these have. For what pleasure is there in seeing horses running aimlessly and at random? Here you see not a pair of irrational animals, but the countless chariots of martyrs, and God standing upon these chariots, driving the road to heaven. For that the souls of the saints are chariots of God, hear the prophet saying: "The chariot of God is manifold, thousands of the prosperous." For what He granted to the powers above, He also bestowed upon our nature. He sits upon the Cherubim, as the Psalm also says: "He mounted upon the Cherubim and flew"; and again, "He who sits upon the Cherubim and sees the abysses." This He has also given to us: He sits upon them, He dwells in us: "For I will dwell and walk about in you." They have become a chariot; let us become a temple. Do you see the kinship of the honor? Do you see how He has made peace between the things above and the things below?

Therefore we are in no way different from the angels, if we wish. But as I said at the beginning, yesterday was a day of martyrs, and today is a day of martyrs—not of those among us, but of those in the countryside; or rather, those also are among us. For city and countryside are separated from each other in worldly affairs, but in the matter of piety they share and are united. Do not look at their barbarian speech, but at their philosophizing mind. What benefit is likeness of speech to me, when matters of opinion are divided? What harm is difference of speech to me, when matters of faith are united? By this reasoning, the countryside is in no way inferior to the city; for in the chief of goods they have equal honor. For this reason our Lord Jesus Christ did not dwell in cities while leaving the countryside empty and deserted, but he traveled through cities and villages, proclaiming the gospel and healing every disease and every weakness. Our common shepherd and teacher, imitating him, left us and hastened to them—or rather, he did not leave us by going to them, for he went to our brothers. And just as when the feast of the Maccabees is celebrated, the whole countryside pours into the city, so when the feast of the martyrs there is held, the whole city ought now to have moved to them. For God planted martyrs not only in cities, but also in the countryside itself, so that from the occasion of the feasts we might have a necessary pretext for mutual intercourse, and more martyrs in the countryside than in the city.

For to the part that is lacking, God has given the greater honor; for that part is weaker, and therefore it has enjoyed more care. Those who dwell in cities enjoy continuous teaching, while those living in the countryside do not partake of such abundance. So God, consoling the poverty of teachers by the abundance of martyrs, arranged that more martyrs should be buried among them. Those country folk do not constantly hear the voice of teachers, but they hear the voice of martyrs speaking from the tomb, which has greater power. And so that you may learn that martyrs, even when silent, have greater power than we who speak—many have often discoursed with many about virtue and accomplished nothing, while others, silent, have achieved the greatest things through the splendor of their life—so much the more have the martyrs accomplished this: they do not send forth a voice through the tongue, but through their very deeds they send forth a voice far loftier than that from the mouth, through which they speak to the whole nature of mankind, uttering these words: "Look at us, and see what terrible things we suffered. For what did we suffer, condemned to death, yet finding everlasting life? We were deemed worthy to lay aside our bodies for Christ’s sake; and if we had not now been permitted to do so for Christ’s sake, a little later we would, even unwillingly, have departed from this temporary life. Even if past martyrdom had not taken us, the common death of nature would have come and dissolved them.

For this reason we do not cease giving thanks to God, that he has deemed us worthy to use the death that is inevitably owed for the salvation of our souls, and he has received from us what is owed by necessity as a gift, and with the greatest honor. But the tortures are burdensome and oppressive. Yet they last but a brief moment, while the relief from them endures through eternal ages; rather, the tortures are not even burdensome for a brief moment to those who look to the future and gaze upon the contest-giver. For even the blessed Stephen, because he saw Christ with the eyes of faith, did not see the showers of stones, but instead counted the prizes and crowns. Do you therefore also turn your eye from the present to the future, and you will not even have a brief perception of the terrors. 2. These things and more than these the martyrs say, and they persuade much more than we do. For if I say that torture has nothing burdensome, I am not credible saying these things; for to philosophize about such matters in words is not difficult. But the martyr, uttering a voice through deeds, has no one to contradict him. And just as happens in the baths, when the pool of hot water boils and no one dares to descend, as long as those sitting on the edge encourage one another with words, they persuade no one; but when one of them either lowers his hand, or lets down his foot and with confidence plunges his whole body in, he, silent, would more persuade those sitting above to dare the pool than those who speak many words.

Thus it is also with the martyrs: for here, instead of the font of waters, the pyre is set before them. Now those standing around outside, even if they exhort with countless words, do not strongly persuade; but when one of the martyrs lets down not only his foot or his hand, but offers his whole body, providing a proof through deeds more powerful than any exhortation and counsel, he casts out the anguish of those standing around. Do you see how the voice of the martyrs, even when they are silent, is more powerful? For this reason God has left us their bodies; for this reason, though they conquered long ago, they have not yet risen, but they endured their contests so long ago, and have not yet attained their resurrection, not yet, for your sake and your benefit, so that you, contemplating that athlete, may be roused to the same course. For no harm comes to them from the delay, but the greatest benefit arises for you from this arrangement. For they will receive their reward afterward, even if they do not receive it now; but if he had snatched them from our midst now, he would have taken away from us much consolation and comfort; for truly the greatest consolation and comfort comes to all people from the tombs of these saints. And you are witnesses of what is said. For often, when we threaten, flatter, frighten, or exhort, you have not received such eagerness for prayer, nor have you been roused; but going to a martyr’s shrine, with no one advising you, merely seeing the tomb, you have poured forth many streams of tears from the saints, and have grown warm in your prayers. And yet the martyr lies speechless in great silence.

What then is it that pricks the conscience and makes the streams of tears gush forth as from a spring? It is the very image of the martyr and the memory of all that has been accomplished. For just as the poor, when they see others who are wealthy, holding offices, attended by bodyguards, enjoying great honor from the king, learn their own poverty more precisely through the prosperity of others and lament, so also we, when we recall the boldness which the martyrs have before the king of all, God, and their splendor and glory, and recall our own sins, seeing our own poverty more precisely through their abundance, we grieve and are pained, learning how far we fall short of them. And this is what produces the tears. For this reason God has left us the bodies here, so that when the throng of affairs and the multitude of worldly cares cast a great darkness over our mind, whether from private or public matters—and there are many such—leaving home, going out of the city, bidding farewell to these tumults, we may withdraw to a martyrion, enjoy that spiritual breeze, forget the great busyness, take delight in quiet, consort with the saints, entreat their contest-director for our salvation, pour forth many supplications, and through all this, setting aside the burden of conscience, return home again with great refreshment of soul.

The tombs of the martyrs are nothing else but safe harbors, and springs of spiritual streams, and inexhaustible treasuries of abundance, never found wanting. And just as harbors, receiving ships that have been tossed by many waves, set them in safety, so too the tombs of the martyrs, receiving our souls that are tossed by worldly affairs, set them in great calm and safety. And just as the springs of cool waters restore bodies that are weary and inflamed, so too these cool the souls that have been burned by improper passions, and they quench improper desire, and consuming envy, and boiling anger, and anything else of that sort that might cause distress, merely by the sight of them. And they are better than treasuries of great abundance. For treasuries of money bring many dangers to those who find them, and when divided into many parts, they become smaller by the distribution. But here there is nothing of the sort: the finding is without danger, the division is without diminution, contrary to perceptible treasuries. For those, as I said before, when broken up become smaller; but these, when divided among many, then rather show their own

abundance. For such is the nature of spiritual things: they increase by distribution and become greater by division. Meadows are not so delightful, offering roses and violets to those who behold them, as are the tombs of the martyrs, providing to the souls of those who behold them a certain unfading and indestructible pleasure. 3. Let us therefore touch those reliquaries with faith, let us warm our minds, let us stir up lamentations. Many and great sins have been committed by us; for this reason we have need of much healing, of vehement confession. The holy martyrs shed blood; let your eyes shed tears; tears too can extinguish the fire of sins. Their sides were scraped, they saw executioners standing around; do this also with your conscience: seat your reason as judge upon the throne of impartial thought, bring forward all your sins into the midst, set fearful reasonings against your transgressions, punish your improper thoughts from which the sins have arisen, and let them be scraped with great vehemence. If we thus practice judging ourselves, we shall flee from that terrible tribunal. For that he who now judges himself and exacts from himself strict accounts of his sins will not pay the penalty in the future, hear Paul saying: "For if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged by the Lord." For, accusing those who partake of the mysteries unworthily, he spoke thus: "He who eats and drinks unworthily will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord." And what he says is this:

just as those who crucified Jesus, he says, will pay the penalty, so also will those who partake of the mysteries unworthily. And let no one condemn the statement as excessive. The Lord's body is a royal garment; and the one who tears the royal purple and the one who defiles it with unclean hands have alike committed outrage; therefore they are punished alike. So also it is with the body of Christ. The Jews tore it with nails on the cross, but you, living in sins, with unclean tongue and mind. For this reason Paul has suspended the same penalty over you, and adds, saying: For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a considerable number are laid to rest. Then, showing that those who exact from themselves the penalties for their sins, judging their own transgressions and no longer falling into the same errors, will be able to snatch themselves from that future and terrible and inexorable judgment, he added, saying: For if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged; but as it is, being judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned along with the world. Let us therefore scour our mind, severely rebuking the licentious thoughts; let us wipe away our stains with tears; great is the fruit of these lamentations, great the consolation and comfort. For just as the punishment for laughter and dissipation is great, so also continuous lamentation produces consolation. For blessed, he says, are those who mourn, because they will be comforted. Woe to those who laugh, because they themselves will weep.

That is why Paul, although he was conscious of no sin in himself, spent his whole time in tears and lamentations. Who says this? That blessed man himself: "For three years, night and day," he says, "I did not cease, with tears, admonishing each one of you." He for three years, we not even for one month; he by night and day, he for the sins of others, we not even for our own faults; he conscious of nothing in himself, we not even because of our heavy conscience. And why does he weep? Why does he not only teach and exhort, but also add tears? Just as a loving father, having an only son who has fallen into an incurable illness and does not accept the physicians' remedies but rejects them, sits beside him, flatters, kisses, embraces him, wishing by the excess of his care to draw him in and persuade him to accept the correction that comes from the treatment—so also Paul, loving the faithful everywhere in the world as an only son, and seeing many fallen into wickedness and incurable sicknesses of the soul, and then not readily accepting reproof nor the correction that comes from rebuke, but shrinking away, held them back with tears, so that seeing him grieving and lamenting, and being softened by the very sight, they might endure the healing, and putting aside their sickness, return again to health. For this reason he always wept while admonishing. If Paul has used such great concern for the sins of others, with how great eagerness must we use concern for the correction of our own?

For the power of grief according to God is great in terms of benefit, and concerning this, Isaiah spoke thus—or rather, God through Isaiah: "For a sin I grieved him a little." He says, "I did not impose a punishment worthy of the offense." For in the case of good deeds, God exceeds the measures in his rewards, but in the case of sins, because of his love for humanity, often rebuking, he imposes a punishment brief in relation to the transgressions. So, hinting at this here, he said: "For a sin I grieved him a little, and I saw that he was grieved, and he went away gloomy, and I healed his ways." 4. Do you see how swift and great the benefit of repentance is? Having punished him a little for his sins, he says, since I saw him become downcast and gloomy, I remitted even that small penalty. Thus God is ready for our reconciliations, and seeks only a slight pretext. Let us therefore provide him with the occasions for friendship with us, and let us try to keep ourselves pure of sins, and if ever we are tripped up, let us quickly rise up, mourning our transgressions with great precision, so that we may attain joy according to God. For if, because he was grieved and went away gloomy, he reconciled God, what will not be accomplished by one who adds tears and calls upon him with great earnestness? I know that your mind has now been warmed, but let us ensure that we do not cool this warmth when we go outside, but keep it within ourselves.

The land of your mind is fertile, it receives the seeds and immediately gives forth the ears of grain; it needs no delay, nor time. But I fear your enemy. Outside the church stands the devil; for he does not dare to enter this sacred fold. For where the flock of Christ is, no wolf appears, but he stands outside, fearing the shepherd. If we go out from here, let us not immediately give ourselves over to untimely gatherings, or to useless talk and profitless pastimes, but, as we hold what has been said in memory, let us run home, and each one, sitting with his wife and with his children, let him rehearse with precision what has been said. But if you do not wish to withdraw home, gather together friends who share in the hearing, hold private sessions, and each one bringing from himself what he has been able to preserve, make the teaching complete a second time, so that you do not assemble here in vain. For the commandments of God are a lamp; for the commandment of the law is a lamp, and light, and life, and reproof, and discipline. And he who lights the lamp does not stand in the marketplace, but runs home, so as not to extinguish the fire by the assault of winds, nor to consume the flame by long delay. Thus

Let us also do this. The Holy Spirit has kindled for us his own teaching. When we leave, then, full of what we have heard, if we see a friend, a relative, a household member, or anyone else we meet, let us pass them by, so that while we converse with them to no purpose and idly, the fire of the teaching may not be extinguished in the meantime, but may blaze as in a house within our mind, and burning on the high place of our reason as on a lampstand, may illuminate everything within. For it is absurd to never tolerate seeing the house in the evening without a lamp and light, yet to see the soul bereft of teaching. From this arise most of our sins, because we do not quickly kindle a lamp for the soul; from this we stumble every day; from this many things lie in our mind carelessly and at random, because when we receive the hearing of the divine words, before we have crossed the threshold of the church, we immediately cast it away, and having extinguished the light, we walk in deep darkness. But if this happened before, let it no longer happen henceforth; rather, let us keep the lamp perpetually burning in our mind, and adorn the soul before the house. For the house remains here, but we take the soul with us when we depart; therefore it is necessary to deem it worthy of greater care. But now there are some so wretchedly disposed that they adorn the houses here with gilded ceilings, with mosaic floors, with the flowers of paintings, with the splendor of columns, and with all other things.

and they regard the mind as more contemptible than any deserted inn, full of filth, smoke, and much stench, of unspeakable desolation. The cause of all this is that the lamp of teaching is not constantly lit for us; therefore, necessary things are neglected, while things worthy of no zeal receive much attention. I have said these things not only to the rich, but also to the poor. For they too, often adorning their house according to their means, overlook the mind neglected. Therefore, I make the teaching common to both, exhorting and advising that we make little account of things in the present life, and pour all our zeal into the care of spiritual and necessary matters. Let the poor man look at the widow who gave away two obols, and not think that poverty is an obstacle to the practice of almsgiving and philanthropy; let the rich man consider Job, and just as he possessed all his goods not for himself, but for the poor, so also let this man. For he bore their removal nobly because even before the devil's test he had practiced their alienation. And you, therefore, despise your wealth while it is present, so that if it ever departs, you may not grieve. Spend it properly when you have it, so that when you are deprived, you may have a double gain: the reward stored up for you from the best expenditure, and the philosophy arising from contempt, which serves you in the time of their absence. For money is so called that we may use it properly, not that we may bury it.

They are called possessions for this reason, that we may possess them, and not become their possessions. You are lord of many riches; do not, therefore, be a slave to those things over which God made you master. You are not a slave when you spend them as you ought, but when you bury them. Nothing is so easily overturned as wealth; nothing is so changeable as prosperity. Since, then, their possession is unstable, and often flies away from us faster than any bird, and leaps away more ungratefully than any runaway, let us use them as we ought during the time we are masters, so that from unstable riches we may establish stable goods, and inherit the treasure stored up in heaven. May it be that we all attain it, by the grace and love for humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom glory is to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.