In sanctum Lucianum martyrem

A Panegyric Homily. On the Holy Martyr Lucian. 1. What I feared yesterday has come to pass, and has now reached its conclusion: the feast having departed, the multitude has also departed with us, and our assembly has become smaller. I knew that this would certainly happen; nevertheless, I did not desist from my exhortation. For even if not all who heard yesterday were persuaded, neither did all disobey; and this is no small thing for us by way of consolation. Therefore, I will not desist from this counsel even today. For even if not through us, yet through you they will certainly hear what is said. For who could bear to keep silent about such great indifference on their part, or grant them pardon and excuse, who, after seeing their mother for such a long time and enjoying the good things within her, withdrew and did not deign to return a second time, but imitated not Noah's dove but the raven, and this while the storm still rages, and that tempest continues, and a more severe gale arises each day, and this holy ark lies in their midst, calling all, drawing them to itself, and providing great security to those who take refuge in it? For it repels not the onslaughts of waters and waves, but the continuous uprisings of the most irrational passions, and it destroys envy, and quells despair.

For neither will the rich man be able to overlook the poor man here, hearing from the divine Scriptures that "All flesh is grass, and all human glory is like the flower of grass"; nor will the poor man, seeing another who is wealthy, be seized by envy, hearing also himself from another prophet who says: "Do not fear when a man becomes rich, or when the glory of his house is multiplied; for when he dies he will not take everything, nor will his glory descend with him." For such is the nature of this prosperity: it does not move with those who have it, it does not travel with those who possess it, it does not stand by them when they are judged there and held to account, but it is utterly cut off by death; and many it abandons even before death. Its use is untrustworthy, its enjoyment uncertain, its possession perilous. But not so the things of virtue and of almsgiving; rather, this treasure is inviolable. Whence is this clear? The one who philosophized about this wealth and said that "his glory will not descend with him behind him," this same one also instructed us concerning the treasures of almsgiving, which remain always and are never plundered, speaking thus: "He scattered, he gave to the poor; his righteousness remains forever." What could be more paradoxical than this? What is gathered together is lost, and what is scattered remains, and quite reasonably so. For the one is received by God, and from the hand of God no one can snatch it away; the other is deposited in human treasuries, where it is subject to many plots, where there is much envy and malice. Do not, therefore, neglect, beloved, this sojourn here.

If any despondency troubles you, it is banished here; if worldly cares, they flee; if irrational passions, they are quenched. But from the marketplace, and the theaters, and the other gatherings outside, we drag back many cares, and despondencies, and sicknesses of the soul, and withdraw homeward. If you spend time here continuously, you will certainly lay aside the evils you have acquired outside; but if you leap away and flee, you will certainly lose the goods you have gained from the divine Scriptures, your wealth being gradually siphoned off by the external assemblies and discussions. And that these things are true, when you depart from here, hasten to see those who have stayed away today, and you will see how great is the distance between your cheerfulness and their despondency. A bride is not so beautiful and charming sitting in the bridal chamber as is a soul wondrous and glorious appearing in Church, breathing spiritual perfumes. For he who comes here with faith and zeal departs having received countless treasures; even if he only opens his mouth, he immediately fills those who associate with him with all fragrance and spiritual wealth; even if countless terrors befall him, he will bear them all easily, having taken from here a sufficient foundation of endurance and philosophy from the divine Scriptures. And just as he who stands continually on a rock laughs at the waves, so he who enjoys constant assembly and is watered by the divine words, having stationed himself on the rock of right judgment of things, will be captured by none of human affairs, having set himself above the assault of worldly matters.

Not only from counsel, but also from prayer, and from a fatherly blessing, and from a common gathering, and from the love of the brethren, and from countless other sources, having reaped great benefit and delight, he departed in this way, bearing countless goods homeward. See, therefore, how great a blessing you will enjoy today, and how great a loss they will suffer. For you will go away receiving the reward of martyrs; but they, besides being deprived of this gain, will also suffer another loss, dragging along a great heap of cares from their useless pastimes. For just as one who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and one who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward, so one who receives a martyr in the name of a martyr will receive a martyr's reward. And the reception of a martyr is to come together for his memory, to share in the narration of his contests, to marvel at what happened, to emulate his virtue, to carry his brave deeds to others. These are the gifts of the martyrs. In this way one receives these saints, just as you have done today.

2. Yesterday our Lord was baptized in water; today the servant is baptized in blood. Yesterday the gates of heaven were opened; today the gates of Hades have been trampled underfoot. Do not be surprised that I have called martyrdom a baptism; for here too the Spirit hovers with great abundance, and there is a removal of sins and a purification of the soul, wondrous and extraordinary. And just as those who are baptized are washed in water, so those who are martyred are washed in their own blood—which indeed has happened in this case. But before the slaughter, it is necessary to speak of the devil’s cunning. For seeing that the saint had laughed at every form of punishment and torment—having neither kindled a furnace, nor dug a pit, nor prepared a wheel, nor hung him on a tree, nor cast him over cliffs, nor thrown him to the teeth of wild beasts—he was unable to overcome the saint’s philosophy. So he devised another, more grievous method, and went about seeking a punishment that would be at once both most severe and most prolonged. For since some torments, being unbearable, provide a very swift release, while others, being more protracted, diminish the pain, he strove to find a punishment that combined both—length and an incurable excess of pain—so that by both its intensity and its duration he might overthrow the steadfastness of the saint’s mind. And what does he do? He hands the saint over to starvation. But when you hear “starvation,” do not simply pass over what is said; for of all deaths, this is the most grievous. And let those who have experienced it bear witness—though may we never experience it!

We have been well taught to pray not to enter into temptation. For just as some executioner sitting within the entrails shreds all the limbs, devouring the body from all sides more fiercely than any fire or wild beast, providing a continuous and unspeakable pain. And that you may learn how great hunger is, mothers have often tasted their own children, unable to bear the violence of this evil; and the prophet, lamenting this calamity, said: "The hands of compassionate women boiled their own children." Mothers devoured those whom they had borne, and the womb that gave birth became the tomb of the children born, and hunger overcame nature; or rather, not only nature, but also free choice; but it did not overcome the nobility of this saint. Who would not be amazed hearing these things? Yet what is more powerful than nature? What is more impetuous than free choice? But that you may learn that nothing is stronger than the fear of God, free choice proved more vigorous than nature, and it convicted mothers and made them forget their birth pangs, but it could not trip up this saint, nor did punishment overcome his philosophy, nor did retribution prevail over his courage; but he remained stronger than any adamant, delighting in good hopes and exulting in the subject of his contests, having the occasion of his struggles as sufficient consolation, especially hearing Paul say daily: "In hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness"; and again: "Until this very hour we hunger and thirst, and go naked, and are buffeted.

For he knew, he knew clearly, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds through the mouth of God. But when the foul demon saw that he did not yield even under such great compulsion of the matter, he made the torture even more severe. For he took meat offered to idols, filled the table with these, and had them placed before his eyes, so that the readiness of his authority might dissolve the vigor of his zeal. For we are not so much caught when the tempting things are not visible, as when they lie before our eyes; since one could more easily restrain desire for women by not looking at a beautiful woman than by gazing at her continually. Yet the righteous man overcame even this snare, and what the devil thought would dissolve his courage, this very thing anointed him for the contests; for not only did he suffer nothing from the sight of the idol-offerings, but he rather turned away from them and hated them; and just as we experience with enemies—the more we look at them, the more we hate and turn away from them—so too did he then experience with that foul sacrifice; for seeing it, he rather abhorred it and recoiled, and the constant sight cast him all the more into hatred and aversion for what lay before him; and while hunger cried out loudly within, and what lay before him commanded him to partake, the fear of God restrained his hands and made him forget even nature itself.

And seeing the table polluted and abominable, he remembered another table, the awe-inspiring one filled with the Spirit, and he was so inflamed that he chose to endure and suffer everything rather than taste those defiled foods. He also recalled that table of the three youths, who, taken captive while young, and being deprived of all protection, in a foreign land and barbarous country displayed such philosophy that their courage is sung even to this day. And the Jews, though possessing their own land, were impious, and while frequenting the temple they worshipped idols; but those youths, carried off to a barbarous land, where idols and every pretext of impiety abounded, continued to preserve their ancestral way of life. If, then, captives, slaves, and youths before the grace of Christ displayed such philosophy, he said, what pardon would we deserve, if we were unable to attain even the same virtue as they? 3. Considering all these things, he laughed at the devil's wickedness, despised his malice, and yielded to none of the things he saw. When that abominable one saw that nothing more had been gained from him, he brought him again to the court, and while torturing him, he plied him with continuous questions. To each question he answered only, "I am a Christian." And when the executioner said, "What is your country?" he said, "I am a Christian." "What is your occupation?" "I am a Christian." "Who are your ancestors?" To all he said, "I am a Christian." With this one single word he struck the devil's head, inflicting continuous and successive wounds upon him.

Although he also partook of external education, he knew clearly that in such contests there is no need of rhetoric, but of faith; not of cleverness of speech, but of a soul loving God. One single word, he says, is enough to turn back the entire phalanx of the devil. And to those who do not examine carefully, the response seems inconsistent; but if one applies his mind, he will see from this the wisdom of the martyr. For the one who said, "I am a Christian," revealed both his homeland, his lineage, his occupation, and everything. How, I say? The Christian has no city on earth, but the heavenly Jerusalem. For the heavenly Jerusalem, he says, is free, which is our mother. The Christian has no earthly occupation, but belongs to the heavenly commonwealth. For our citizenship, he says, is in the heavens. The Christian has as relatives all the saints and fellow citizens. For we are fellow citizens of the saints, he says, and household members of God. Thus with one word he taught with precision both who he was, whence he came, of whom he was, and what he was doing. And with this utterance he ended his life, bearing the deposit safe to Christ, and by what he suffered exhorting those after him to stand firm, and to fear nothing but sin and denial alone. Knowing these things, therefore, let us also in time of peace practice the things of war, so that when war comes, we too may set up a glorious trophy.

He despised hunger; let us also despise luxury, and let us overthrow the tyranny of the belly, so that if a time should come demanding such great courage from us, having trained beforehand in lesser matters, we may appear brilliant on the contest grounds. He spoke with boldness before rulers and kings; let us do this now as well: even when we sit in assemblies of wealthy and distinguished Greeks, let us confess the faith with boldness; let us laugh at their error. And if they attempt to exalt their own things and to tear down ours, let us not be silent, nor bear it meekly, but, exposing their shamefulness, let us with great wisdom and boldness extol all the things of Christians; and just as the king wears the diadem on his head, so let us carry the confession of the faith everywhere. For the crown does not adorn him as much as the faith and its confession are accustomed to adorn us. Let us do this not only through words, but also through deeds themselves, displaying a life worthy of the confession in all things, so that we may not disgrace the doctrines by the baseness of our actions, but, glorifying our Master in all things, may we enjoy both the honor here and the honor there. May it be that we all attain this, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom are glory, power, and honor to the Father, together with the holy and life-giving Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.