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He demonstrated this through his works. For having heard Christ say, "The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep," with all courage he gave it for the sheep. He associated genuinely with the apostles and enjoyed the spiritual streams. What sort of man, then, is it likely for him to be, who was brought up with them, and was with them everywhere, and shared with them in things spoken and unspoken, and was judged by them to be worthy of so great an office? Again a time came that sought courage and a soul that despised all present things, and that burned with divine love, and preferred things not seen to things seen; and with such ease he put off the flesh as one might take off a garment. What then shall we say first? The teaching of the apostles, which he demonstrated through all things, or his contempt for the present life, or the exactness of his virtue, with which he administered the leadership of the Church? Whom shall we praise first? The martyr, or the bishop, or the apostle? For the grace of the Spirit, having woven a triple crown, thus bound that holy head; or rather, a manifold one. For if one were to unfold each of the crowns with exactness, he will find other crowns sprouting forth for us.

2. And if you wish, let us first come to the praise of his episcopacy; does

this not seem to be one crown alone? Come then, let us unfold it in our discourse, and you will see two, and three, and more being born for us from it. For not only because he was deemed worthy of so great an office do I admire the man, but also because he was entrusted with this office by those holy men, and the hands of the blessed apostles touched his sacred head. For this is no small matter for a word of praise; not because he drew down more grace from above, nor only that they caused a more abundant energy of the Spirit to come upon him; but also because they bore witness to his every virtue among men; and how, I will tell you. Paul, once writing to Titus; and when I say Paul, I do not mean him alone, but also Peter, and James, and John, and their entire choir.

For just as on one lyre the strings are different, but the harmony is one; so also in the choir of the apostles the persons are different, but the teaching is one, since the craftsman was also one, the Holy Spirit who moved their souls. And indicating this, Paul said: "Whether then it was they or I, so we preach." This man, therefore, writing to Titus, and showing what sort of man a bishop must be, 50.589 says: "For a bishop must be blameless, as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not a drunkard, not a brawler, not greedy for dishonest gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, disciplined, holding fast to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able both to give instruction in sound doctrine and to rebuke those who contradict it." And again, writing to Timothy concerning this subject, he says something like this: "If anyone aspires to the office of bishop, he desires a noble task. Therefore a bishop must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a brawler, not a drunkard, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money." Do you see how much precision of virtue he requires of a bishop? For just as some excellent painter, having mixed various colors, when he is about to create a prototype image of a royal form, works with all precision, so that all who imitate it and paint from it may have an accurate image; so indeed also the blessed Paul, painting as it were a certain royal image, and constructing its archetype, having mixed the various colors of virtue, sketched out for us the perfected features of the episcopacy, so that each of those who ascend to this office, looking to that, with

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τοῦτον οὗτος διὰ τῶν ἔργων ἐπεδείξατο. Καὶ γὰρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ λέγον τος ἀκούσας, ὅτι Ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλὸς τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ τίθησιν ὑπὲρ τῶν προβάτων, μετὰ πάσης ἀνδρείας αὐτὴν ἐπέδωκεν ὑπὲρ τῶν προβάτων. Συνεγένετο τοῖς ἀποστόλοις γνησίως, καὶ τῶν πνευ ματικῶν ναμάτων ἀπήλαυσεν. Ὁποῖον οὖν εἶναι εἰκὸς τὸν συντραφέντα ἐκείνοις, καὶ πανταχοῦ συγγενόμε νον, καὶ ῥητῶν καὶ ἀποῤῥήτων αὐτοῖς κοινωνήσαντα, καὶ τοσαύτης εἶναι δόξαντα αὐτοῖς ἀρχῆς ἄξιον; Ἐπέστη πάλιν καιρὸς ἀνδρείαν ἐπιζητῶν καὶ ψυχὴν τῶν παρόν των ὑπερορῶσαν ἁπάντων, καὶ τῷ θείῳ ζέουσαν ἔρωτι, καὶ τὰ μὴ βλεπόμενα τῶν ὁρωμένων προτιμῶσαν· καὶ μετὰ τοσαύτης εὐκολίας τὴν σάρκα ἀπέθετο, μεθ' ὅσης ἄν τις ἱμάτιον ἀποδύσαιτο. Τί οὖν πρότερον εἴπωμεν; τῶν ἀποστόλων τὴν διδασκαλίαν, ἢν ἐπεδείξατο διὰ πάντων, ἢ τῆς παρούσης ζωῆς τὴν ὑπεροψίαν, ἢ τὴν ἀκρίβειαν τῆς ἀρετῆς, μεθ' ἧς τὴν προστασίαν τῆς Ἐκ κλησίας ᾠκονόμησε; Τίνα πρότερον ἀνυμνήσομεν; τὸν μάρτυρα, ἢ τὸν ἐπίσκοπον, ἢ τὸν ἀπόστολον; Τριπλοῦν γὰρ στέφανον ἡ τοῦ Πνεύματος πλέξασα χάρις, οὕτω τὴν ἁγίαν ἐκείνην ἀνέδησε κεφαλήν· μᾶλλον δὲ πολλα πλοῦν. Τῶν γὰρ στεφάνων ἕκαστον, εἴ τις αὐτοὺς μετὰ ἀκριβείας ἀναπτύξειεν, εὑρήσει καὶ ἑτέρους ἡμῖν βλα στάνοντας στεφάνους.

βʹ. Καὶ εἰ βούλεσθε, πρότερον ἐπὶ τὸν τῆς ἐπισκο πῆς ἔπαινον ἔλθωμεν· οὐ

δοκεῖ εἷς οὗτος εἶναι στέφανος μόνος; Φέρε οὖν αὐτὸν ἀναπτύξωμεν τῷ λόγῳ, καὶ ὄψεσθε καὶ δύο, καὶ τρεῖς, καὶ πλείους ἐξ αὐτοῦ τικτο μένους ἡμῖν. Οὐ γὰρ μόνον ὅτι τοσαύτης ἀρχῆς ἄξιος εἶναι ἔδοξε, θαυμάζω τὸν ἄνδρα ἐγὼ, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ παρὰ τῶν ἁγίων ἐκείνων τὴν ἀρχὴν ταύτην ἐνεχειρίσθη, καὶ αἱ τῶν μακαρίων ἀποστόλων χεῖρες τῆς ἱερᾶς ἥψαντο κεφαλῆς. Οὐδὲ γὰρ μικρὸν τοῦτο εἰς ἐγκωμίου λόγον· οὐκ ἐπειδὴ πλείω τὴν ἄνωθεν ἐπεσπάσατο χάριν, οὐδ' ὅτι δαψιλεστέραν ἐπ' αὐτὸν ἐποίησαν ἐλθεῖν τὴν τοῦ Πνεύ ματος ἐνέργειαν μόνον· ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ πᾶσαν αὐτῷ τὴν ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἐμαρτύρησαν ἀρετήν· τὸ δὲ πῶς ἐγὼ λέγω. Τίτῳ γράφων ὁ Παῦλος ποτέ· ὅταν δὲ Παῦλον εἴπω, οὐ τοῦτον μόνον λέγω, ἀλλὰ καὶ Πέτρον, καὶ Ἰάκωβον, καὶ Ἰωάννην, καὶ πάντα αὐτῶν τὸν χορόν.

Καθάπερ γὰρ ἐν λύρᾳ μιᾷ διάφοροι μὲν αἱ νευραὶ, μία δὲ ἡ συμφωνία· οὕτω καὶ ἐν τῷ χορῷ τῶν ἀποστόλων διάφορα μὲν τὰ πρόσ ωπα, μία δὲ ἡ διδασκαλία, ἐπειδὴ καὶ εἷς ὁ τεχνίτης ἦν, τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον τὸ κινοῦν τὰς ἐκείνων ψυχάς. Καὶ τοῦτο ἐμφαίνων ὁ Παῦλος ἔλεγεν· Εἴτε οὖν ἐκεῖνοι, εἴτε ἐγὼ, οὕτω κηρύσσομεν. Γράφων τοίνυν οὗτος τῷ Τίτῳ, καὶ δεικνὺς ὁποῖόν τινα τὸν ἐπίσκοπον εἶναι χρὴ, 50.589 φησί· ∆εῖ γὰρ τὸν ἐπίσκοπον ἀνέγκλητον εἶναι, ὡς Θεοῦ οἰκονόμον, μὴ αὐθάδη, μὴ ὀργίλον, μὴ πάρ οινον, μὴ πλήκτην, μὴ αἰσχροκερδῆ, ἀλλὰ φιλόξε νον, φιλάγαθον, σώφρονα, δίκαιον, ὅσιον, ἐγκρατῆ, ἀντεχόμενον τοῦ κατὰ τὴν διδαχὴν πιστοῦ λόγου, ἵνα δυνατὸς ᾖ καὶ ἑτέρους παρακαλεῖν ἐν τῇ διδα σκαλίᾳ τῇ ὑγιαινούσῃ, καὶ τοὺς ἀντιλέγοντας ἐλέγ χειν. Καὶ Τιμοθέῳ πάλιν περὶ τῆς ὑποθέσεως ταύτης ἐπιστέλλων, οὕτω πώς φησιν· Εἴ τις ἐπισκοπῆς ὀρέγε ται, καλοῦ ἔργου ἐπιθυμεῖ· δεῖ οὖν τὸν ἐπίσκοπον ἀνεπίληπτον εἶναι, μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἄνδρα, νηφάλιον, σώφρονα, κόσμιον, φιλόξενον, διδακτικὸν, μὴ πλή κτην, μὴ πάροινον, ἀλλ' ἐπιεικῆ, ἄμαχον, ἀφιλάρ γυρον. Εἶδες πόσην ἀκρίβειαν ἀρετῆς ἀπαιτεῖ τὸν ἐπί σκοπον; Καθάπερ γάρ τις ζωγράφος ἄριστος ποικίλα κεράσας χρώματα, ἣν ἂν μέλλῃ βασιλικῆς μορφῆς πρω τότυπον κατασκευάζειν εἰκόνα, μετὰ πάσης ἐργάζεται τῆς ἀκριβείας, ὥστε τοὺς μιμουμένους αὐτὴν ἅπαντας καὶ γράφοντας ἐξ αὐτῆς διηκριβωμένην ἔχειν εἰκόνα· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος καθάπερ τινὰ εἰκόνα βασιλικὴν γράφων, καὶ τὸ ἀρχέτυπον αὐτῆς κατασκευά ζων, τὰ ποικίλα τῆς ἀρετῆς κεράσας χρώματα, ἀπηρτι σμένους ἡμῖν τοὺς χαρακτῆρας ὑπέγραψε τῆς ἐπισκο πῆς, ἵν' ἕκαστος τῶν εἰς τὴν ἀρχὴν ταύτην ἀναβαινόν των, εἰς ἐκείνην ὁρῶν, μετὰ