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he neither said, nor 51.50 thought, but with gentleness; "Yes, Lord," he says. But if after thirty-eight years he was so meek, so gentle, when all his vigor and the power of his reasonings had been cast down, consider what he was likely to have been in the early stages of his afflictions. For you all know, surely, that the sick are not equally ill-tempered at the beginning of their illness and when much time has passed; for the sick become most difficult then, when the sickness extends for a long time, then they are unbearable to all. But he, being so philosophical after so many years, answering so patiently, it is very clear that in the time before also he bore that misfortune with much thanksgiving. Therefore, let us too, considering these things, imitate the patience of our fellow-servant; for his paralysis is sufficient to strengthen our souls; for no one is so sluggish and faint-hearted, that having considered the magnitude of that man’s misfortune, would not bear nobly all the terrible things that befall him, even if they be the most unbearable of all. For not only his health, but also his sickness has become a cause of the greatest benefit to us; for his healing roused the souls of the hearers to the glorification of the Master; and his sickness and infirmity anointed you for patience, and exhorted you to equal zeal; or rather, it even demonstrated the very loving-kindness of God. For the very act of handing him over to such a sickness, and extending the illness for so long a time, is a sign of the greatest care. For just as a goldsmith, having cast gold into a crucible, allows it to be tested by fire until he sees it become purer; so indeed God also allows the souls of men to be tried in afflictions until they become pure and transparent, and have reaped much benefit from this testing; so that this too is the greatest kind of benefaction.

2. Let us not, then, be troubled, nor be distressed, when temptations befall us. For if the goldsmith knows how long he must leave the gold in the furnace, and when to pull it out, and does not permit it to remain in the fire until it is ruined and burnt up; much more does God know this, and when He sees that we have become purer, He releases us from the temptations, so that we may not be tripped up and fall by the excess of evils. Let us not, then, be discontented, nor be fainthearted, whenever something unexpected befalls us; but let us yield to the One who knows these things with precision, to purify our mind for as long as He wishes; for He does this for the benefit and gain of those who are tempted. For this reason a certain wise man exhorts, saying: 'My son, if you come to serve God, prepare your soul for temptation, set your heart aright, and be patient, and do not be hasty in time of trial.' Yield all things to Him, he says; for He knows precisely when we must be taken up from the furnace of evils. It is necessary, therefore, to yield to Him in all things, and to give thanks always, and to bear all things with good grace, whether He does good, or whether He chastises, 51.51 since this too is a form of benefaction. For a physician is a physician not only when he bathes, and feeds, and takes the sick person out into gardens, but also when he cauterizes, and cuts; and a father is a father not only when he serves his son, but also when he casts him out of the house, and when he rebukes, and scourges him, and no less than when he praises him. Knowing, therefore, that God is more loving than all physicians, do not be meddlesome, nor demand from Him an account of His treatment, but whether He wishes to give relief, or whether He chastises, let us yield ourselves alike to either; for through both He leads us back to health, and to intimacy with Himself, and He knows what each of us needs, and what is profitable for each, and how and in what way we must be saved, and He leads us by this road. Let us therefore follow wherever He commands, and let us not scrutinize anything, whether He bids us to walk by an easy and smooth road, or by a difficult and rougher one; just as, then, also this paralytic. One thing indeed

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οὐδὲ εἶπεν, οὐδὲ ἐν 51.50 ενόησεν, ἀλλὰ μετ' ἐπιεικείας· Ναὶ, Κύριε, φησίν. Εἰ δὲ μετὰ τριάκοντα ὀκτὼ ἔτη οὕτω πρᾶος ἦν, οὕτως ἐπιεικὴς, τῆς εὐτονίας αὐτῷ καταβληθείσης ἁπάσης καὶ τῆς δυνάμεως τῶν λογισμῶν, ἐννόησον ὁποῖον εἰκὸς εἶναι τοῦτον ἐν τοῖς προοιμίοις τῶν δεινῶν. Ἴστε γὰρ δήπου πάντες, ὅτι οὐχ ὁμοίως εἰσὶ δυσάρεστοι οἱ νοσοῦντες ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς ἀῤῥωστίας καὶ πολλοῦ προϊόντος τοῦ χρόνου· τότε γὰρ μάλιστα δυσχερεῖς γίνονται οἱ νοσοῦντες, ὅταν εἰς μῆκος ἐπιδῷ τὸ νόσημα, τότε πᾶσιν ἀφόρητοι. Ὁ δὲ μετὰ τοσαῦτα ἔτη οὕτω φιλοσοφῶν, οὕτως ἀνεξικάκως ἀποκρινόμενος, εὔδηλον ὅτι καὶ τὸν ἔμπροσθεν χρόνον μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς εὐχαριστίας τὴν συμφορὰν ἔφερεν ἐκείνην. Ταῦτα οὖν καὶ ἡμεῖς λογιζόμενοι μιμώμεθα τὴν ὑπομονὴν τοῦ συνδούλου· ἱκανὴ γὰρ ἡ παράλυσις ἐκείνου τὰς ἡμετέρας ἐπισφίγξαι ψυχάς· οὐδεὶς γὰρ οὕτω νωθρὸς καὶ παρειμένος, ὡς τὸ μέγεθος τῆς συμφορᾶς ἐννοήσας ἐκείνης, μὴ πάντα γενναίως ἐνεγκεῖν τὰ προσπίπτοντα δεινὰ, κἂν ἁπάντων ἀφορητότερα ᾖ. Οὔτε γὰρ ἡ ὑγίεια αὐτοῦ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ νόσος μεγίστης ἡμῖν ὠφελείας γέγονεν αἰτία· ἥ τε γὰρ θεραπεία πρὸς δοξολογίαν τοῦ ∆εσπότου καὶ τὰς τῶν ἀκουόντων ἤγειρε ψυχάς· ἥ τε νόσος καὶ ἡ ἀῤῥωστία πρὸς ὑπομονὴν ὑμᾶς ἤλειψε, καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἴσον παρεκάλεσε ζῆλον· μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ αὐτὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν ἐνεδείξατο. Καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸ τὸ παραδοῦναι τοιούτῳ νοσήματι, καὶ τὸν χρόνον ἐκτεῖναι τοσοῦτον τὴν ἀῤῥωστίαν, μεγίστης κηδεμονίας ἐστί. Καθάπερ γὰρ χρυσοχόος εἰς χωνευτήριον ἐμβαλὼν χρυσίον μέχρι τοσούτου ἐπιτρέπει βασανίζεσθαι τῷ πυρὶ, ἕως ἂν ἴδῃ γενόμενον καθαρώτερον· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ὁ Θεὸς μέχρι τοσούτου τὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ψυχὰς ἀφίησιν ἐξετάζεσθαι ἐν δεινοῖς, ἕως ἂν γένωνται καθαραὶ καὶ διειδεῖς, καὶ πολλὴν ἀπὸ τῆς βασάνου ταύτης τὴν ὠφέλειαν καρπωσάμεναι· ὥστε καὶ τοῦτο εὐεργεσίας εἶδός ἐστι τὸ μέγιστον.

βʹ. Μὴ τοίνυν θορυβώμεθα, μηδὲ ἀλύωμεν, πειρασμῶν ἐμπιπτόντων ἡμῖν. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ χρυσοχόος εἶδε πόσον μὲν ἀφιέναι ἐν τῇ καμίνῳ χρόνον δεῖ τὸ χρυσίον, πότε δὲ ἀνασπάσαι, καὶ οὐκ ἀφίησι μέχρι τοῦ διαφθαρῆναι καὶ κατακαυθῆναι μένειν ἐν τῷ πυρί· πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὁ Θεὸς τοῦτο ἐπίσταται, καὶ ὅταν ἴδῃ καθαρωτέρους γενομένους, ἀφίησι τῶν πειρασμῶν, ὥστε μὴ τῷ πλεονασμῷ τῶν κακῶν ὑποσκελισθῆναι καὶ καταπεσεῖν, Μὴ τοίνυν δυσχεραίνωμεν, μηδὲ μικροψυχῶμεν, ἐπειδάν τι τῶν ἀδοκήτων ἐμπέσῃ· ἀλλὰ παραχωρῶμεν τῷ ταῦτα μετὰ ἀκριβείας εἰδότι, ἕως ἂν βούλοιτο, πυροῦν τὴν διάνοιαν τὴν ἡμετέραν· συμφερόντως γὰρ τοῦτο ποιεῖ καὶ ἐπὶ κέρδει τῶν πειραζομένων. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο σοφός τις παραινεῖ λέγων· Τέκνον, εἰ προσέρχῃ δουλεύειν τῷ Θεῷ, ἑτοίμασον τὴν ψυχήν σου εἰς πειρασμὸν, εὔθυνον τὴν καρδίαν σου, καὶ καρτέρησον, καὶ μὴ σπεύσῃς ἐν καιρῷ ἐπαγωγῆς. Αὐτῷ παραχώρησον, φησὶν, ἁπάντων· οἶδε γὰρ ἀκριβῶς πότε ἡμᾶς ἀνελέσθαι ἐκ τῆς καμίνου δεῖ τῶν κακῶν. Χρὴ τοίνυν αὐτῷ πανταχοῦ παραχωρεῖν, καὶ διὰ παντὸς εὐχαριστεῖν, καὶ πάντα φέρειν εὐγνωμόνως, κἂν εὐεργετῇ, κἂν κολάζῃ, 51.51 ἐπεὶ καὶ τοῦτο εὐεργεσίας ἐστὶν εἶδος. Καὶ γὰρ ἰατρὸς οὐχ ὅταν λούῃ, καὶ τρέφῃ, καὶ εἰς παραδείσους ἐξάγῃ τὸν κάμνοντα μόνον, ἀλλ' ὅταν καὶ καίῃ, καὶ τέμνῃ, ὁμοίως ἐστὶν ἰατρός· καὶ πατὴρ οὐχ ὅταν θεραπεύῃ τὸν υἱὸν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅταν ἐκβάλλῃ τῆς οἰκίας, καὶ ὅταν ἐπιτιμᾷ, καὶ μαστίζῃ, ὁμοίως ἐστὶ πατὴρ, καὶ οὐχ ἧττον, ἢ ὅταν ἐπαινῇ. Εἰδὼς τοίνυν ὅτι καὶ ἰατρῶν ἁπάντων φιλοστοργότερος ὁ Θεὸς, μὴ περιεργάζου, μηδὲ ἀπαίτει τὰς εὐθύνας αὐτὸν τῆς ἰατρείας, ἀλλ' ἄν τε ἀνεῖναι βούληται, ἄν τε κολάζῃ, πρὸς ἑκάτερα ὁμοίως παρέχωμεν ἑαυτούς· δι' ἑκατέρων γὰρ πρὸς ὑγείαν ἡμᾶς ἐπανάγει, καὶ πρὸς τὴν οἰκείωσιν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ οἶδεν ὧν ἕκαστος χρείαν ἔχομεν, καὶ τί συμφέρον ἑκάστῳ, καὶ πῶς καὶ τίνι τρόπῳ σωθῆναι δεῖ, καὶ ταύτην ἡμᾶς ἄγει τὴν ὁδόν, Ἑπώμεθα τοίνυν οἷπερ ἂν αὐτὸς κελεύῃ, καὶ μηδὲν ἀκριβολογώμεθα, εἴτε διὰ ῥᾳδίας καὶ εὐκόλου, εἴτε διὰ χαλεπῆς καὶ τραχυτέρας ὁδοῦ βαδίζειν κελεύοι· ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ τὸν παράλυτον τοῦτον. Ἓν μὲν