De sancto Meletio Antiocheno

An Encomiastic Homily on Our Father among the Saints Meletius, Archbishop of Great Antioch, and on the Zeal of Those Who Have Assembled. 1. As I cast my eyes over this entire sacred flock and see the whole city present here, I know not whom to bless first: the holy Meletius, that he enjoys such honor even after death, or your love, that you display such goodwill toward your shepherds even after their passing. For blessed is he, that he was able to leave such a bond of affection with you all, and blessed are you, that having received the deposit of love, you have kept it intact for the one who deposited it until now. For already the fifth year has passed since he departed to the longed-for Jesus, and as if you had seen him only yesterday or the day before, you have come today with your affection still burning for him. For this reason he is enviable, that he begot such sons; and you are enviable, that you were allotted such a father. The root is noble and marvelous, but the fruits of the root are worthy of it. For just as a marvelous root, hidden in the bosom of the earth, is itself not visible, but through its fruits displays the power of its own virtue, so too the blessed Meletius, hidden in this coffin, is not visible to our bodily eyes, but through you, the fruits of his own grace, he displays his power.

Even if we were to remain silent, the feast itself and the warmth of your zeal would suffice to proclaim the love of Saint Meletius for his children more brilliantly than a trumpet; for he has so inflamed your mind with love for him that you grow warm even at his mere name, and are stirred up at the very mention of it. For this reason I now insert that name not casually, but deliberately and with constant zeal into my own words. And just as one weaving a golden crown, then setting pearls into the density of the stones, makes the diadem more brilliant, so too I, weaving the crown of encomia for the blessed head today, interweave the continuity of his name like the density of some pearls into my discourse, expecting to make it more desirable and more brilliant thereby. For this is the law of those who love, and such is their custom, that they embrace even the bare names of their beloved, and grow warm at the very appellations; which is precisely what you have experienced with regard to this blessed man.

For when he first entered the city, you received him, and each of you called your own child by his name, thinking that through the name you were bringing the saint into your own home; and mothers, bypassing fathers, grandfathers, and ancestors, bestowed the name of the blessed Meletius upon the children born to them. For the desire for reverence conquered nature, and thereafter the offspring were dear to their parents not only from natural affection, but also from their disposition toward that name. For they considered the name itself to be an ornament of kinship, a security for the household, salvation for those called by it, and a consolation for their longing; and just as some people sitting in darkness, when a single lamp is lit, light many lamps and each brings one into his own house, so too, when that name fell upon the city like a light, each, as if lighting a lamp, brought the name of that blessed man into his own home, drawing down, as it were, a treasure of countless goods through the appellation; and what occurred was a lesson in reverence. For being constantly compelled to remember that name, and to keep that saint in their soul, they had the name as a refuge from every irrational passion and thought; and this became so widespread that everywhere—in the streets, in the marketplace, in the fields, on the roads—they were resounding on all sides with this name. And you were affected not only by the name to such an extent, but also by the very form of his body.

What you did with names, you also did with his image. For many engraved that holy image on bezels of rings, on embossed works, on bowls, on the walls of chambers, and everywhere, so that they might not only hear that holy appellation, but also see his bodily form everywhere, and have a twofold consolation for his absence. For immediately upon entering, he was cast out of the city, the enemies of truth driving him away. But God permitted this, wishing to show both his virtue and your courage. For when he entered, just as Moses into Egypt, he freed the city from heretical error, and having cut off the gangrenous and incurably diseased members from the rest of the body, he restored sound health to the multitude of the Church. The enemies of truth, unable to bear the correction, stirred up the then-reigning emperor and cast him out of the city, expecting by this to prevail over the truth and to overturn the correction that had been made. But the opposite of what they expected happened, and rather both your zeal was displayed and his proof of teaching skill shone forth: his, because in not even thirty full days he was able to so ground you in zeal for the faith that, when countless winds afterwards assailed, that teaching remained unshaken.

But your fervor was shown, in that within not even thirty days you received with such precision the seeds cast by him, so as to transmit the shoots to the depth of understanding, and to yield to none of the temptations subsequently brought against you. 2. It is also fitting not to pass over what happened concerning that persecution itself. For when the ruler of the city, driving his chariot, went out through the middle of the marketplace, having seated that holy man beside him, showers of stones were borne from all sides upon the ruler's head, the city not enduring the separation, but choosing even to fall from present life rather than to see that holy man torn away. What then did that blessed one do at that time? Seeing the volleys of stones, he covered the ruler's head with his own garments, hiding it, at once shaming the enemies by the excess of his gentleness, and teaching his own disciples how much forbearance toward wrongdoers it is necessary to display, and that not only should they do nothing terrible to them, but if danger should come upon them from others, they should repel even that with all zeal. Who did not shudder then, seeing both the mad love of the city and, struck with awe at the teacher's extreme philosophy, his gentleness, and his meekness? For the events then happening were extraordinary. The shepherd was being driven away, and the sheep were not scattered; the helmsman was being cast out, and the ship was not submerged; the farmer was being persecuted, and the vine was bearing fruit even more.

For you were bound together by the bond of love for one another, so that no assaults of temptations, no uprisings of dangers, no length of journey, no expanse of time, nor anything else was able to separate you from the company of the blessed shepherd. But he was expelled, so as to be far from his children, yet the opposite occurred. For he was all the more tightly bound to you by the bonds of love; and taking the whole city with him, he departed for Armenia. For his body was fixed in his homeland, but his reason and mind, as if lifted by some wings of the grace of the Spirit, were constantly present with you, and he carried this entire people within his own bowels—which indeed you also experienced. For sitting here and confined to the city, you were flying in spirit to Armenia every day by the power of love, beholding his holy face and hearing his most sweet and blessed voice, and then you would return again. And for this reason God permitted him to be immediately driven from the city, so that, as I said earlier, he might display to your enemies both the steadfastness of your faith and his own experience in teaching. And this is clear from what follows. For after the first exile, upon his return, he spent not only thirty days but months and a year, and one, and two, and more here. For since you had given sufficient proof of your steadfastness in faith, he allowed you to enjoy your father again without fear. For it was the greatest delight to enjoy that holy face.

For he was not only capable of teaching and speaking, but even simply being seen was enough to introduce the entire instruction of virtue into the soul of the beholders. When, indeed, he was entering your city, and the whole city was moving to the road, some came near and touched his feet, and kissed his hands, and heard his voice; while others, prevented by the crowd and seeing him only from afar, as if having received sufficient blessing from the sight alone, and having obtained nothing less than those who were near, departed with full assurance; and what happened in the case of the apostles also occurred in his case. For just as in the case of the apostles, those who were unable to approach and come near, as their shadow was extended and touched those far off, drew the same grace and departed healed in like manner; so also now, those who were unable to approach, perceiving as it were some spiritual radiance emanating from that holy head and reaching even the farthest, all departed filled with every blessing from the mere contemplation. 3. But when it seemed good to the common God of all to call him hence from the present life and to place him in the choir of angels, this too did not happen simply; rather, letters of the emperor summon him, with God having moved the emperor; and they summon him not somewhere near or close, but to Thrace itself, so that Galatians, Bithynians, Cilicians, Cappadocians, and all those dwelling near Thrace might learn of our blessings.

so that the bishops from every part of the earth, seeing his holiness as an archetypal image, and taking from him a clear example of this ministry according to this office, might have a secure and most evident rule according to which they must manage and govern the Churches. For both because of the size of the city and because of the presence of the emperor, many from many places of the inhabited world were then flocking there; and the bishops of the Churches, because the Churches, after recovering from a long war and storm, were beginning to receive peace and calm, were all summoned there by imperial letters. So then this man also arrived there. And just as in the case of the three youths, when they were about to be proclaimed and crowned, having quenched the power of the fire, having trampled upon the arrogance of the tyrant, having refuted every form of impiety, the theater of the whole inhabited world was seated for them—for the satraps, and consuls, and toparchs from every part of the earth were summoned for another reason, but became spectators of those athletes—so also it happened then, that a splendid theater was provided for the blessed one: the bishops governing the Churches of every part of the earth, summoned for another reason, were present and beheld that holy man. And when they beheld him, and thoroughly learned his reverence, his wisdom, his zeal for the faith, every priestly virtue perfected in him, then God called him to himself. This also happened out of consideration for our city.

For if he had given up his soul here, the unbearable weight of the calamity would have been overwhelming. For who could have endured seeing that blessed one breathing his last breaths? Who could have endured seeing those eyelids of his eyes closed, and his mouth shut, uttering his final words? Who, beholding these things, would not have been beside himself at the magnitude of the calamity? So that this might not happen, God arranged for him to give up his soul in a foreign land, so that in the intervening time, having premeditated the calamity, when we saw the corpse brought in, we might not be struck in our soul, our mind having been habituated to mourning—which indeed came to pass. For when the city received that holy body, it mourned even so and lamented greatly; but it quickly dissolved the mourning, both from the aforementioned cause and from what will be said. For the compassionate God, taking pity on our pain, quickly revealed to us another shepherd, who with great precision preserved that man's characteristics and maintained the image of his entire virtue; who, upon ascending the throne, immediately stripped us of our mourning garment and quenched the pain, while rather renewing the memory of the blessed one. And the grief withered, but love was kindled more fiercely, and despondency was utterly abolished—though in the loss of loved ones, this is not how things usually happen; rather, when someone loses a beloved son, or a woman loses a revered husband, as long as he keeps his memory fresh, mourning is nurtured more intensely in the soul.

But when time intervenes and softens the grief, the intensity of the memory is extinguished along with the vehemence of the pain. In the case of this blessed one, the opposite occurred: the despondency was entirely cast out, but the memory did not depart with the sorrow; rather, it grew more strongly. And you are witnesses, who after so much time, like bees fluttering around a honeycomb, hover around the body of the blessed Meletius. The cause of this affection for him was not a matter of nature, but of right reason. For this reason it was not extinguished by death, nor dimmed by time; but it increases and advances to something greater—not only among you who have seen him, but also among those who have not known him. For this is the remarkable thing: that even those who were born after his life are themselves kindled with the same longing. You elders, then, have an advantage over those who have not seen him in this very thing—in having associated with him and enjoyed his holy company. But those who have not seen him have an advantage over you, in that, without having beheld the man, they display no less longing for him than you who have seen him. Let us all pray together, rulers and ruled, women and men, elders and youth, slaves and free, taking the blessed Meletius himself as a partner in this prayer. For he now has greater freedom of speech and a warmer affection toward us, that this love may be increased for us, and that we may all be deemed worthy, just as we are here near this reliquary, so also to be able to be there near his eternal dwelling, and to obtain the good things that are stored up.

May it be that we all attain this by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, glory and power are to the ages of ages. Amen.