Homilia dicta postquam reliquiae martyrum

Homily 2. When the empress came to the great church at midnight, and from there took up the relics of the martyrs, and escorted them through the whole marketplace as far as Drypia, the martyrium being nine miles distant from the city, the address was delivered in the martyrium, in the presence of her and the whole city and the magistrates. 1. What shall I say and what shall I speak? I leap and I am mad with a madness better than sobriety; I fly and I dance and I am borne aloft and I am drunk with this spiritual pleasure. What shall I say and what shall I speak? The strength of the martyrs? The zeal of the city? The fervor of the empress? The concurrence of the magistrates? The shame of the devil? The defeat of the demons? The nobility of the Church? The power of the cross? The miracles of the crucified one? The glory of the Father? The grace of the Spirit? The delight of the whole people? The exultations of the city? The assemblies of the monks? The choirs of the virgins? The orders of the priests? The vigor of the laymen, of the slaves, of the free, of the magistrates, of the subjects, of the poor, of the rich, of the strangers, of the citizens? It is fitting to say over all: Who will proclaim your mighty deeds, O Lord? Who will make all your praises heard? Women who were confined to their chambers and softer than wax, leaving their roofed dwellings, vied in zeal with the strongest of men, completing such a distance on foot; not only young women, but also elderly ones.

Neither the weakness of nature, nor the delicacy of their way of life, nor the pride of their high station proved any hindrance to their zeal. Again, the magistrates themselves left behind their carriages, their lictors, and their bodyguards, and mingled with the common people. And what need is there to speak of women or magistrates, when even she who wears the diadem and is clothed in the purple could not bear to keep even a small distance from the relics along the whole road, but like a handmaid followed the saints, touching the reliquary and the linen that lay upon it, trampling underfoot all human pride, and appearing in the midst of so great a theatre of people, she whom it is not lawful for all the eunuchs who frequent the imperial courts even to see? But the longing for the martyrs, the tyranny, and the flame of love persuaded her to cast aside all these masks and to display with naked zeal her devotion to the holy martyrs. For she remembered the blessed David, who, though clothed in purple and wearing the diadem and holding the scepters of the people of the Hebrews, when he brought up the ark, left aside all that pomp, and leaped and danced and bounded about, playing and dancing, and through his leaps displaying the pleasure he felt at what was being accomplished. If in the shadow and the type it was necessary to display such warmth, how much more so in the grace and the truth, since she also was bringing up an ark far superior to that of David.

For they have not stone tablets, but spiritual tablets, with a blooming grace and a gleaming gift, and their bones shine back in rivalry with the rays; rather, they emit a more brilliant lightning. For when demons see the sun's ray, they suffer nothing; but unable to bear the radiance that springs forth from here, they are blinded and flee, and take flight from a great distance. Such is the power even of the saints' ashes, not only dwelling within the relics, but also extending further and driving away unclean powers, and sanctifying those who approach with faith with great abundance. For this reason, this Christ-loving woman accompanied the relics, constantly touching them, drawing down the blessing, and becoming a teacher to all others of this good and spiritual commerce, teaching everyone to draw from this spring which, though ever drawn from, is never emptied. For just as the waters of springs, when they gush forth, are not confined within their own basins but overflow and spill over, so too the grace of the Spirit, which resides with the bones and dwells with the saints, also passes on to others who follow it with faith, and runs from souls to bodies, from bodies to garments, from garments to sandals, and from sandals to shadows. For this reason, not only the bodies of the holy apostles were effective, but also their sudaria and their simikinthia; and not only the sudaria and the simikinthia, but even the shadows of Peter worked more powerfully than the living.

Already once a sheepskin brought down upon the body of Elisha brought him a double grace; for not only the body of Elisha, but also that garment was filled with grace. For this reason also in the case of the three children: not only did the nature of the flame respect their bodies, but also their very sandals; and in the case of Elisha, even after his death, death was thus undone, when another corpse was cast into the prophet’s tomb. So too has it happened today; for as the relics were carried, conflagrations of demons, wailings and lamentations arose from all sides, as the ray of the bones leaped forth and burned up the phalanx of opposing powers. 2. For these reasons I leap and fly with pleasure, because you have made the city a desert, emptying the city; because you have shown us the wealth of the Church today. Behold how many sheep, and nowhere a wolf; how many vines, and nowhere a thorn; how many ears of grain, and nowhere tares. A sea has been stretched from the city to the present place, a sea free from waves, having no shipwreck, freed from rocks; a sea sweeter than any honey, more drinkable than fresh waters. One would not err in calling this sea also a river of fire; so the torches, dense and continuous throughout the night, stretched all the way to this martyrion, presented the appearance of a fiery river to the beholders. And these things were at night; when day appeared, other torches were again visible.

For in that case the sun, as it rose, would hide and dim those lights, but it showed the ones in each person’s mind to be brighter; for that visible fire was less hot than the zeal of your company. And each person bore a double torch: the fire’s torch by night, and the torch of zeal both by night and by day. Rather, I no longer call that night; for it vied with the day, carrying you about as sons of light, and revealing you as brighter than countless stars and the morning star. For just as drunkards turn day into night, so those who keep all-night vigils and stay awake turn night into day. For this reason, throughout that whole night they sang that prophetic verse: “Night is illumination in my delight,” and “Darkness will not be darkened by you,” and “Night will be illuminated as day,” so that its darkness and its light are alike. For what day has not been outshone by this night, when all were leaping with such an excess of joy, possessing spiritual joy, when so many crowds poured forth and flooded the road and the marketplace? Not even

ground bare, but covering the entire road with human bodies, you displayed a single golden and continuous chain, and one river borne with great rush through the whole journey. And looking up to the sky, we saw the moon and stars in the midst, while below, the multitude of the faithful, and more brilliant than the moon, the empress borne in their midst. For just as the stars below are better than those above, so she is far more radiant than that one. For what? Is the moon as great as a soul adorned with such faith in such a dignity? What could one admire first in her: the zeal hotter than fire, the faith harder than adamant, the humility and contrition of mind through which she concealed all, casting aside with great abundance the kingdom, the diadems, and all the pride from that source, and putting on the garment of humility instead of the purple, and through this shining more greatly? For many empresses have often existed, who shared only her garment and diadems and royal glory; but this unique adornment became hers alone, and this trophy belongs to her alone. For she alone among empresses escorted the martyrs with such honor, with such zeal and reverence, mingling with the crowd, cutting off all her retinue, and driving away almost all the unevenness of life with great excess.

Therefore, she benefited the people no less than the martyrs themselves. For just as everyone gazed at the relics, so too they gaped at her devotion, both rich and poor, seeing her clinging to the bones throughout such a long journey, neither growing weary nor giving up, but hanging upon the reliquary. For these reasons we never cease blessing you, and not only we, but also all the generations after us. 3. For what has happened here will be heard at the ends of the earth, and throughout all the land that the sun beholds; those after us will hear of it, and those after them, and no time will consign this event to oblivion, since God everywhere in the world and among all subsequent generations will proclaim it with great splendor. For if the deed of a harlot woman was made to reach the ends of the earth and was rendered immortal in memory, much more will the work of a modest, chaste, and temperate woman, who displayed such piety in the imperial court, not be allowed to escape notice; rather, all will bless you, the host of the saints, the patroness of the churches, the rival of the apostles. For although you received a woman's nature, yet it is possible for you to contend even with apostolic achievements. For even that Phoebe of old, who received the teacher of the world and became his patroness, was a woman and shared the same nature as you; yet she shone so brightly that that holy man, worthy of the heavens and greater than all the apostles, proclaimed her and said that she became a patroness of many, and of me myself.

And Priscilla, too, had received a woman's nature; but this was no obstacle for her to be proclaimed and for her memory to become immortal. And there was also a great chorus of other women at that time who had taken up an apostolic life. Therefore, even we, now counting you among them, will not err, since you are a harbor of all the Churches, and you have used the present kingdom for the acquisition of the coming kingdom, setting Churches straight, honoring priests, destroying the error of heretics, receiving martyrs, not with a table but with purpose, not with a tent but with choice—or rather, with both tent and choice. Once, Mary also led the people, carrying the bones of Joseph, and she sang a song; but she did so when the Egyptians were drowned, while you do so when demons are choked; she when Pharaoh was drowned, you when the devil is cast down; she had cymbals, you have mind and soul sounding louder than a trumpet; she when the Jews were freed, you when the Church is crowned; she leading out one people of the same tongue, you leading out countless peoples of different tongues. For you have led out for us countless choruses, some chanting the songs of David in the Roman tongue, some in the Syrian, some in the barbarian, some in the Greek; and one could see different nations and different choruses all having one lyre, that of David, and crowning you with their prayers. This festal joy also sought out the most God-beloved emperor who draws the plow of piety together with you.

But this too was a mark of your wisdom, that you kept him at home today and promised his presence for tomorrow. For so that the crowd of horsemen and the uproar of armed soldiers might not disturb the virgins, the elderly women, and the aged men, and disrupt the feast, she acted worthily of her own wisdom and divided the festival. For if both had come today, the feast would have ended today; but in order to create quiet for the present day and to enhance the joy by the addition of tomorrow, she divided the service with him, and having come herself today, she promised us his presence tomorrow. For just as she shares the empire with him, so too she shares piety, and she does not leave him without a share in the achievements, but everywhere takes him as a partner. Since, then, we must extend the spiritual festival into the coming day, let us again display the same zeal, so that just as today we have seen this Christ-loving woman with the city, so tomorrow we may see the God-beloved emperor with the army arriving, and offering to God the same sacrifice—that from reverence, that from zeal, that from faith—and taking the holy martyrs as partners in our prayers, let us pray to them for length of life, a ripe old age, children and children’s children, and above all these, that this zeal be intensified, that reverence increase, and that we complete this present life in such a way as to reign together with the only-begotten Son of God in the undefiled ages.

For if we endure, he says, we shall also reign together; and we shall obtain the eternal goods. May it be that we all are deemed worthy of these, by the grace and love for humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom glory is to the Father together with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.