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to acquire by choice. For as many as received him, says the divine voice, to them he gave power to become children of God. And what could be more venerable than such nobility? But for all others, their fatherlands are myths and fabrications, and deceptions of demons intermingled with mythical tales; but our fatherland has no need of those who narrate. For if one looks to heaven, and the beauties in it, and comprehends all creation with the eye of the soul, whatever wonders he is able to grasp in these, these he will find to be the tales of our fatherland; or rather, not of the fatherland itself, but of the colony, which we have occupied as the present world, having been sent as colonists from the higher life. If the colony is such, one must consider what is the metropolis of the colony, what is the beauty in it, what are the palaces in it, what is the blessedness of those who have obtained that dwelling. For if the things seen in creation are such as to be beyond praise, what must one consider that which is beyond this, which it is not possible for the eye to see, nor the ear to hear, nor the mind to conceive? Through this spiritual acclaim of those being eulogized, the divine praise of the eulogies sets apart the foolishness below, judging it shameful for those known from such things to be venerated for earthly honors. 46.897 For let a worldly man, looking toward material happiness, gather praise for men from such things: if someone's fatherland has been fruitful for livestock, if the neighboring sea abounds by itself with goods for the gluttonous, if successive placements of stones beautify the structures. But he who looks to the life above, for whom beauty is purity of soul, wealth is possession of nothing, fatherland is virtue, and city is the very kingdom of God, will make a reproach of the ambition for earthly things. Therefore, we too, abstaining from such praises, will neither add his fatherland to the praises of Gregory the Great, nor will we take up his ancestors as an ally for our encomiums, knowing that no praise is true which is not the own possession of the one being praised. And we say "own possession" is that which remains always, perpetually, inalienable.

Since, therefore, when we are separated from all things—wealth, eminence, glory, honor, luxury, enjoyment, kinsmen, friends—we remain inseparable only from our disposition toward vice or virtue, we judge only the virtuous to be blessed. And let no one think that because I have nothing venerable to narrate about the man's fatherland or ancestors, I am, under the pretense of seeming to disdain such things, concealing a disgrace. For who does not know the epithet of the Pontus, bestowed upon the nation by all men in a special way, by which the virtue of those who from the beginning have possessed the region is attested? For alone of all land and sea, this sea is called Euxine, whether because the name attests to their kindness toward visiting strangers, or because the region is such that it generously provides the necessities for life, not only to the natives and indigenous people, but also to those who flock to it from everywhere. For such is the nature of the land, that it is all-bearing of all things necessary for life, and lacks none of the good things found among others, as the sea also makes all things from everywhere its own for them. And since the entire nation is such that whatever part of it one might consider by itself, one would think it excels the others; nonetheless, in the common judgment of the nation, like some summit of the entire surrounding region above the others, is the city of the great Gregory, which a certain renowned king of those who strengthened the rule for the Romans, Caesar by name, seized by love and longing for the land, deemed that the city should be called Neocaesarea after his own name. But these things are nothing to our purpose, so as to think to prove that great one among the saints more venerable through these things, if the land is laden with fruits, if the city is beautified with structures,

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προαιρέσεως κτήσασθαι. Ὅσοι γὰρ ἔλαβον αὐτὸν, φησὶν ἡ θεία φωνὴ, ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τέκνα Θεοῦ γενέσθαι. Τῆς δὲ τοιαύτης εὐγενείας τί ἂν σεμνότερον γένοιτο; Πάτρια δὲ τοῖς μὲν ἄλλοις ἅπασι, μῦθοι καὶ πλάσματα, καὶ δαιμόνων ἀπάται συνανα μεμιγμέναι τοῖς μυθικοῖς διηγήμασιν· τὰ δὲ ἡμέτερα πάτρια, τῶν διηγουμένων οὐκ ἐπιδέεται. Εἰς γὰρ τὸν οὐρανόν τις ἰδὼν, καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ κάλλη, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν κτίσιν τῷ τῆς ψυχῆς ὀφθαλμῷ κατανοήσας, ὅσα περ ἂν ἐν τούτοις θαύματα καταλαβεῖν ἐξισχύσῃ, ταῦτα τῆς ἡμετέρας πατρίδος εὑρήσει τὰ διηγήματα· μᾶλλον δὲ οὐκ αὐτῆς τῆς πατρίδος, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἀποι κίας, ἣν ἀπὸ τῆς ὑψηλοτέρας ζωῆς ἀποικισθέντες τὸν παρόντα κατειλήφαμεν κόσμον. Εἰ δὲ ἡ ἀποικία τοιαύ τη, λογίσασθαι χρὴ τίς ἡ τῆς ἀποικίας μητρόπολις, τί τὸ ἐν ἐκείνῃ κάλλος, οἷα ἐν αὐτῇ τὰ βασίλεια, τίς ἡ μακαριότης τῶν ἐκείνην εἰληφότων τὴν οἴκησιν. Εἰ γὰρ τὰ φαινόμενα κατὰ τὴν κτίσιν τοιαῦτα, ὡς ὑπὲρ ἔπαινον εἶναι· τί χρὴ τὸ ὑπὲρ τοῦτο λογίσασθαι, ὃ μήτε ὀφθαλμῷ λαβεῖν δυνατόν ἐστι, μήτε χωρῆσαι τῇ ἀκοῇ, μήτε διανοίᾳ στοχάσασθαι; ∆ιὰ ταύτης τῆς πνευματικῆς εὐφημίας τῶν ἐγκωμιαζομένων ἀπο κρίνει τοὺς κάτω λήρους ὁ θεῖος τῶν ἐγκωμίων ἔπαι νος, αἰσχρὸν εἶναι κρίνων τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν τοιούτων ἐγνωσμένους διὰ τῶν κατὰ τὴν γῆν τιμίων σεμνύνε 46.897 σθαι. Κοσμικὸς μὲν γάρ τις ἀνὴρ πρὸς τὴν ὑλικὴν εὐδαιμονίαν ἀποβλέπων, ἐκ τῶν τοιούτων τοῖς ἀνθρώ ποις ἐρανιζέτω τὸν ἔπαινον, εἰ πατρίς τινι γέγονεν εὔφορος βοσκημάτων, εἰ γειτνιῶσα θάλασσα πλεονάζει δι' ἑαυτῆς τοῖς λαιμαργοῦσι τὰς ὕλας, εἰ λίθων ἐπάλ ληλοι θέσεις τὰς κατασκευὰς καλλωπίζουσιν. Ὁ δὲ πρὸς τὸν ἄνω βίον βλέπων, ᾧ κάλλος μέν ἐστιν ἡ τῆς ψυ χῆς καθαρότης· πλοῦτος δὲ, ἡ ἀκτημοσύνη· πατρὶς δὲ, ἡ ἀρετή· πόλις δὲ, αὐτὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ βασίλεια· ὄνειδος τὴν ἐν τοῖς γηΐνοις φιλοτιμίαν ποιήσεται. Οὐκοῦν ἀποστάντες καὶ ἡμεῖς τῶν τοιούτων ἐπαί νων, οὔτε τὴν πατρίδα τοῖς ἐπαίνοις τοῦ Μεγάλου Γρηγορίου προσθήσομεν, οὔτε προγόνους εἰς συμμα χίαν τῶν ἐγκωμίων παραληψόμεθα, εἰδότες ὅτι οὐδεὶς ἀληθής ἐστιν ἔπαινος, ὃς ἂν μὴ τῶν ἐπαινουμένων ἴδιος ᾖ. Ἴδιον δέ φαμεν, ὃ διαμένει πάντως εἰς τὸ δι ηνεκὲς ἀναφαίρετον.

Ἐπεὶ οὖν πάντων χωριζόμενοι, πλούτου, περιφανείας, δόξης, τιμῆς, τρυφῆς, ἀπολαύσεως, συγγενῶν, φίλων, μόνης τῆς κατὰ κακίαν ἢ ἀρετὴν διαθέσεως ἀχώριστοι μένομεν· μόνον κρίνομεν μακαριστὸν τὸν ἐνάρετον. Καί με μηδεὶς οἰέσθω τῷ μηδὲν ἔχειν σεμνὸν περὶ τῆς πατρίδος, ἢ τῶν προγόνων τοῦ ἀν δρὸς διηγήσασθαι, ἐν σχήματι τοῦ δοκεῖν περιορᾷν τῶν τοιούτων ὑπεκκλέπτειν τὸ ὄνειδος. Τίς γὰρ οὐκ οἶδε τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν τοῦ πόντου τὴν παρὰ πάντων ἀνθρώπων κατ' ἐξαίρετον ἀνατεθεῖσαν τῷ ἔθνει, δι' ἧς τῶν ἐξ ἀρχῆς εἰληχότων τὸν χῶρον ἡ ἀρετὴ μαρ τυρεῖται; Μόνος γὰρ ἐξ ἁπάσης γῆς τε καὶ θαλάσσης οὗτος ὁ πόντος Εὔξεινος ὀνομάζεται, εἴτε τὴν πρὸς τοὺς ἐπιδημοῦντας τῶν ξένων φιλοφροσύνην μαρτυ ροῦντος αὐτοῖς τοῦ ὀνόματος, εἴτε καὶ ὅτι τοιοῦτος ὁ χῶρός ἐστιν, ὡς μὴ μόνον τοῖς ἐγχωρίοις τε καὶ αὐτόχθοσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἁπανταχόθεν εἰς αὐτὸν φοιτῶσιν, τὰς πρὸς τὸ ζῇν παρασκευὰς ἀφθόνως χαρίζεσθαι. Τοιαύτη γὰρ ἡ φύσις τῆς χώρας, ὡς πάν των τῶν πρὸς τὴν ζωὴν ἀναγκαίων πάμφορος εἶναι, καὶ μηδὲν τῶν παρ' ἑτέροις ἀγαθῶν ἀμοιρεῖν, ὡς καὶ τῆς θαλάσσης αὐτοῖς ἴδια τὰ πανταχόθεν ποιούσης. Τοιούτου δὲ ὄντος τοῦ ἔθνους παντὸς, ὡς ὅπερ ἄν τις αὐτοῦ μέρος ἐφ' ἑαυτοῦ κατασκέψηται, τῶν ἄλλων προτερεύειν οἴεσθαι· οὐδὲν δὲ ἧττον τῇ κοινῇ κρίσει τοῦ ἔθνους, οἷόν τις κορυφὴ πάσης τῆς περιοικίδος τῶν ἄλλων, ἡ τοῦ μεγάλου Γρηγορίου πόλις ἐστὶν, ἣν βασιλεύς τις ἐπίσημος τῶν τὴν ἀρχὴν τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις κρατυνομένων, Καῖσαρ τὸ ὄνομα, ἔρωτι καὶ πόθῳ τῆς χώρας ἁλοὺς, ἐπὶ τῷ ἰδίῳ ὀνόματι Νεοκαισά ρειαν καλεῖσθαι τὴν πόλιν ἠξίωσεν. Ἀλλ' οὐδὲν ταῦτα πρὸς τὸν σκοπὸν τὸν ἡμέτερον, ὥστε διὰ τούτων οἴεσθαι σεμνότερον ἀποδεικνύειν τὸν μέγαν ἐν ἁγίοις ἐκεῖνον, εἰ καρποῖς βρίθει ἡ χώρα, εἰ ἡ πόλις κατα σκευαῖς κεκαλλώπισται,