In sanctum Eustathium Antiochenum

Encomium on Our Holy Father Eustathius, Archbishop of Great Antioch. 1. A certain wise man, skilled in philosophy, having accurately examined the nature of human affairs and recognized their fragility, and that nothing in them is trustworthy or stable, advises all men in common not to call anyone blessed before his death. Therefore, since the blessed Eustathius has died, we can now with complete freedom praise him; for if one ought not to call anyone blessed before death, after death the blessing of the worthy would be blameless. For he has passed beyond the Euripus of worldly affairs, has been freed from the turmoil of the waves, has sailed into a calm and untroubled harbor, is no longer subject to the uncertainty of the future, nor is he liable to downfall, but as if standing on some rock and high promontory, he now laughs at all the waves. Therefore, the blessing is secure, the encomium is irreproachable; for it fears no change, it suspects no reversal.

We who are still living, like those tossed about in the midst of the sea, are subject to many changes; and just as they are at one time raised to the height of the swelling waves, and at another borne down to the very depths, yet neither is the height secure nor the lowliness permanent, for both are of waters that flow and do not stand still. So too in human affairs nothing is firm and stable, but changes are frequent and swift. One is lifted to a height by good fortune, another is brought down to great depth by misfortune; but let not the one be puffed up, nor the other be dejected, for each will very quickly experience a change. But not so he who has departed to heaven, who has gone to the longed-for Jesus, who has come to a place free from turmoil, where pain and grief and groaning have fled. There is no image of change there, no shadow of alteration; all is fixed and immovable, all is secure and established, all is incorruptible and immortal, all is pure and abides forever. For this reason it is said, "Call no one happy before his death." Why? Because the future is uncertain, and nature is weak; the will is indolent, sin is easily besetting, the snares are many. For it is said, "Know that you walk in the midst of snares." The temptations are successive, the crowd of affairs is great, the war of the demons is unceasing, and the uprisings of the passions are continuous. For these reasons it is said, "Call no one happy before his death." Therefore, after death it is safe to call the worthy one blessed.

Rather, it is not simply after death, but after such a death—when someone has ended his life with a crown, when he has ended it with confession and unfeigned faith. For if one were to call blessed those who have simply died, how much more those who have died in this way? And who, it may be asked, called the simply dead blessed? Solomon, that all-wise Solomon—do not pass over the man lightly, but consider who he was, and how he had lived, and with how much license and ease he passed his soft and effortless life. For he went through every form of luxury, devised all manner of ways for the amusement of his soul, found varied and manifold kinds of pleasures, and while enjoying them he said: I built houses for myself, I planted vineyards for myself, I made gardens and parks for myself, I made pools of water for myself, I acquired male and female slaves, and they became my household; I acquired herds of cattle and flocks of sheep; I gathered silver and gold as abundant as sand; I procured for myself male and female singers, cupbearers and female cupbearers. What then did this same man, after such an abundance of wealth, possessions, luxury, and ease, say? I called the dead more blessed than the living, and better than these is he who has not yet been born. Truly this is a credible accuser of luxury, he who pronounced such a verdict concerning it. For if someone who had lived in poverty and beggary had brought this vote against luxury, he would have seemed to accuse it not from truth but from inexperience; but when he who has traversed every path of it and explored each of its ways, this man dishonors it, then the accusation is beyond suspicion.

Perhaps you think that our discourse has strayed from the present subject; but if we pay attention, we will find that what has been said pertains to it most of all. For in commemorations of martyrs it is necessary and fitting to also raise discussions concerning philosophy. And we say these things not to accuse the present life—far from it—but to censure luxury; for living is not evil, but living vainly and aimlessly is. 2. If someone lives the present life with virtuous deeds and with hope for future goods, he will be able to say, according to Paul, that living in the flesh is far better; for this is the fruit of labor. Just as also happened in the case of the blessed Eustathius, who used both his life and his death as was fitting. For he endured this not on his own land, but on foreign soil, for the sake of Christ; this is the achievement of his enemies. For they drove him from his homeland as if to dishonor him, but he became more illustrious and renowned by his removal to exile, as the outcome of events also demonstrated. For such was his renown that, although his body was buried in Thrace, his memory is celebrated among us every day, and while the tomb is in that barbaric place, the longing for him is among us, who are separated by so great a distance, and after so much time it increases day by day. Rather, if one must speak the truth, his tomb is also among us, not only in Thrace. For the memorials of saints are not coffins, chests, stelae, and inscriptions, but the achievements of deeds, zeal for faith, and a conscience sound before God.

For every monument, this Church has risen more brilliantly for the martyr, bearing letters that are not voiceless, but through the deeds themselves cry out more clearly than a trumpet his memory and splendor, and each of you who are present is a tomb of that saint, a living and spiritual tomb. For if I were to unfold the conscience of each of you present, I would find this saint dwelling within your mind. Do you see how nothing more was accomplished by the enemies? How they did not extinguish his glory, but rather raised it and made it more brilliant, creating so many tombs instead of one—living tombs, tombs that give voice, tombs prepared for the same zeal? For this reason I call the bodies of the saints both springs and roots and spiritual ointments. Why so? Because each of these mentioned things does not keep its own virtue only to itself, but also sends it forth over a great distance. I mean something like this: springs gush forth many streams, but they do not keep these within their own bosoms; rather, giving birth to long rivers, they join with the sea, and as if by the extension of a hand, they grasp the sea's waters by their length. Again, the root of plants is hidden in the bosom of the earth, but it does not keep all its virtue below, especially the nature of vines that grow on trees. For when they extend their branches on high reeds, the shoots creeping through those reeds reach far

it proceeds through a distance, making a kind of high roof by the density of its leaves. Such also is the nature of perfumes: they themselves often lie in a small room, but through the windows their fragrance bursts forth into alleys, narrow streets, and marketplaces, and teaches those walking outside the virtue of the spices lying within. If a spring, a root, and the nature of plants and perfumes have such great power, much more so do the bodies of the saints; and that what is said is not false, you are witnesses. For the body of the martyr lies in Thrace, but you, not dwelling in Thrace but far removed from that land, partake of the fragrance from such a distance, and for this reason you have gathered together, and neither the length of the journey nor the passage of time has hindered you. For such is the nature of spiritual achievements: they are cut off by no bodily obstacle, but bloom and increase day by day, and neither the abundance of time withers them, nor does the length of the road wall them off.

Do not be surprised that, beginning the discourse and the encomium, I called the saint a martyr; for he ended his life by a natural death. How then is he a martyr? I have often said to your love that it is not only death that makes a martyr, but also the intention. For the crown of martyrdom is often woven not only from the outcome, but also from the resolve. And this definition of martyrdom is given not by me, but by Paul, speaking thus: "I die every day." How do you die every day? How is it possible for one mortal body to undergo countless deaths? By intention, he says, and by being prepared for the end. So also God declares; for Abraham did not stain the knife, did not redden the altar, did not sacrifice Isaac, but nevertheless he completed the sacrifice. Who says this? The one who received the sacrifice himself: "You did not spare your beloved son for my sake," he says. And yet he received him alive and brought him down safe; how then did he not spare him? Because, he says, I judge such sacrifices not by the outcome of the deeds, but by the intention of those who choose them. The hand did not slay, but the choice slew; the sword did not plunge into the child's throat, did not cut the neck, but there is a sacrifice even without blood. The initiated know what is meant; and for this reason that sacrifice also was without blood, because it was to be a type of this one. Do you see the image prefigured in the Old Testament? Do not disbelieve the truth.

3. This martyr, then (for the discourse has shown him to be a martyr for us), prepared himself for countless deaths, and endured them all in resolve and readiness; and of the dangers brought against him, he also underwent many in actual experience. For they drove him from his homeland, and removed him into exile, and stirred up many other things against that blessed man at that time, having no just charge to bring, but because he heard Paul saying, "They reverenced and worshipped the creation rather than the Creator," he fled from impiety and feared lawlessness; but this is worthy of crowns, not of accusation. But consider for me the wickedness of the devil. For since the Hellenic war had recently been ended, and the Churches had just begun to breathe again after the severe and successive persecutions, and the time was not long since all peoples had been shut out, altars had been extinguished, and all the madness of the demons had been dissolved, and these things grieved the evil demon, and he could not bear the peace of the Church calmly; what then does he do? He introduces another grievous war. For the external one was this, but this was civil; and such wars are harder to guard against, and easily overcome those who fall into them.

At that time, then, this blessed man was commanding the Church among us, and the disease arose, like a terrible plague from the regions of Egypt, then, advancing through the intervening cities, hastened to strike our city. But he, watchful and sober, and foreseeing all that was to come from afar, repelled the approaching war; and like a wise physician, before the disease could enter the city, sitting there, he prepared the remedies, and steered this sacred ship with great safety, running about everywhere, gathering together sailors, passengers, all who sailed, preparing them to be sober, to be watchful, as if pirates were attacking and attempting to plunder the treasure of the faith. Nor did he employ this foresight only here, but he also sent out everywhere those who would teach, exhort, converse, and pre-fortify against the enemy's assault. For he had been well taught by the grace of the Spirit that the one set over a Church must care not only for that one entrusted to him by the Spirit, but also for every Church lying throughout the inhabited world; and he learned this from the sacred prayers. For if prayers must be made, he says, for the catholic Church from one end of the inhabited world to the other, much more must one show forethought for all of it, and care for all alike, and be concerned for all.

And what happened in the case of Stephen also occurred in his case. For just as the Jews, unable to withstand the wisdom of Stephen, stoned that holy man, so too these men, unable to withstand his wisdom and seeing the fortifications secured, cast the herald out of the city. But the voice was not silenced; the man was expelled, but the word of his teaching was not expelled. For Paul was bound, and the word of God was not bound; and this man was in a foreign land, yet his teaching remained with us. Therefore, having expelled him, they burst in, having conspired together, like a violent torrent; but they neither swept away the plants, nor buried the seeds, nor damaged the soil; so well and skillfully had they been rooted by his wisdom. But indeed, it is worth asking why God permitted him to be driven away from here. The Church had only recently begun to breathe again; it had no ordinary comfort in his oversight; he fortified it on all sides and repelled the attacks of the enemies. Why then was he expelled, and why did God permit those who led him away? Why? And do not think that what is said is a solution to this difficulty alone; but whether you are speaking to Greeks or to other heretics about such matters, what will be said is sufficient to resolve the entire difficulty. God allows his true and apostolic faith to be assailed in many cases, but he permits heresies and Hellenism to enjoy impunity. Why so?

So that you may learn the weakness of those men, who were not troubled and yet collapsed of their own accord, and recognize the strength of the faith, which, though warred upon, grows through the very things that hinder it. And that this is not my own conjecture but a divine oracle brought from above, let us hear what Paul says about these matters. For he too suffered something human. For even if he was Paul, he still partook of our nature. What was it that he suffered? He was driven out, warred against, scourged, plotted against in countless ways, from without, from within, by those who seemed to be his own, and by strangers. And why need I recount how many tribulations he endured? Growing weary, then, and no longer bearing the assaults of his enemies, who constantly interrupted his teaching and opposed his word, he falls before the Lord, entreats him, and says: "A thorn has been given to my flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me. Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times, and he said to me: 'My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is perfected in weakness.'" And I know that some think this refers to bodily weakness. But it is not that, it is not. Rather, he calls the opposing men an angel of Satan. For "Satan" is a Hebrew word; "Satan" means the adversary. So he calls the vessels of the devil and those who serve him "his angels." Why then, it is said, is it attached to the flesh? Because the flesh was scourged, while the soul was lifted up, raised by the hope of things to come.

For the attack did not touch the soul, nor did it trip up the inner thoughts, but the devices and the war stood only at the level of the flesh, unable to pass within. Since, then, it was the flesh that was cut, it was the flesh that was scourged, it was the flesh that was bound (for it was impossible to bind the soul), for this reason he says, "A splinter was given to my flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me," hinting at the temptations, the afflictions, the persecutions. Then what? "For this," he says, "I besought the Lord three times"; that is, "I prayed often," he says, "to have a little respite from the temptations." And you remember the cause I mentioned, that God allows his own servants to be scourged, driven, and to suffer countless evils for this reason: to show his own power. For behold, even here, having prayed that the countless evils and the adversaries depart from him, he did not obtain his request; and he sets forth the reason why he did not obtain his request. What, then, is the reason? For nothing prevents us from recalling it again: "My grace is sufficient for you," he says, "for my power is perfected in weakness." 4. Do you see that for this reason God allows the angels of Satan to press upon his own servants and to cause countless troubles, so that his power may be made manifest?

Indeed, whether we are debating with Greeks or with the wretched Jews, this suffices for us as a demonstration of divine power: that faith, introduced through countless wars, prevailed, and that, with the whole world opposing and all with great vehemence repelling those twelve men—I mean the apostles—they were able in a short time, while being scourged, driven out, and suffering countless horrors, to overcome those who did these things with surpassing success. For this reason also God allowed the blessed Eustathius to be carried off into exile, so that he might show us more fully both the power of the truth and the weakness of the heretics. When, then, he was about to depart for his exile, he was leaving the city, but he was not leaving your love; nor did he consider himself, because he was expelled from the Church, to be alien from the leadership and from the care for you, but he cared and was concerned even more then. And summoning everyone, he exhorted them not to yield, not to give in to the wolves, not to betray the flock to them, but to remain within, both muzzling and refuting them, and securing the more innocent of the brethren. And that he commanded well, the outcome showed; for if you had not remained in the Church then, the greater part of the city would have been corrupted, with the wolves devouring the sheep in the absence of shepherds; but his word prevented them from displaying their own wickedness with impunity. Not only did the outcome show this, but also the words of Paul; for he, having been taught by him, gave this advice. What, then, does Paul say?

When he was about to be taken away to Rome for his final journey, after which he would no longer see his disciples—"For I will not see you again," he said—he said this not to grieve them but wishing to secure them. So, when he was about to depart from there, he secured them in some such way, saying: "I know that after my arrival, fierce wolves will come in to you, and from among yourselves men will arise speaking perverse things." The war is threefold: the nature of the beasts, the harshness of the war, and the fact that those warring are not outsiders but also one's own; for this reason it is more severe, and rightly so. For if someone attacks and wars against me from outside, I will be able to overcome him easily; but if the sore grows from within the body, the evil becomes hard to heal—which indeed happened then. Therefore he also exhorted, saying: "Watch over yourselves and the whole flock." He did not say, "Abandon the sheep and flee outside." The blessed Eustathius, having been taught these things, exhorted his own disciples accordingly. So this wise and noble teacher, having heard this, fulfilled the word in deed. For when those men entered, he did not abandon the sheep, although he had not yet ascended to the throne of authority; but this was nothing for that noble and philosophical soul. For he yielded the honors of the rulers to others, but he himself endured the labors of the rulers, turning about among the wolves within. For the teeth of the beasts did not harm him at all, so much stronger was the faith he had than their bites.

Turning inward, then, and occupying them all with the battle against him, he provided great security for the sheep. He did not only do this, stopping their mouths and repelling blasphemies, but he also went around and examined the flock themselves, to see if any had received a dart, if any had taken a grievous wound, and immediately applied the remedy. And doing these things, he leavened everyone into the true faith, and did not desist until God prepared the blessed Meletius to come and take the whole leavened mass: this one sowed, that one came and reaped. So it was also in the case of Moses and Aaron. For they too, like leaven, turning about among the Egyptians, made many zealous for their own piety. And Moses testifies to this, saying that a great mixed multitude went up with the Israelites. Imitating this Moses, this man, even before his office, did the works of the office: for that one, not yet entrusted with the leadership of the people, punished wrongdoers vigorously and nobly, defended the wronged, and leaving aside the royal table, honors, and precedence, ran to the mud and brickmaking, considering the care of his own people more honorable than any luxury, ease, or honor. Looking to him, he then exhorted all rulers to care for the people, and preferred labors and being driven from all sides, enduring constant enmities day by day, over ease; but all was light to him, for the substance of what was happening provided him sufficient consolation for what befell him.

For all these things, then, having given thanks to God, let us emulate the virtues of these saints, so that we may also share in their crowns, by the grace and loving kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom, together with the Holy Spirit, glory, honor, and power are to the Father for ever and ever. Amen.