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for it passes away; but ours remain. I desire one gift, the crown of righteousness; for one glory I am eager, that in the kingdom of the heavens. I am ambitious for the honor from above; I fear the punishment in Gehenna. That fire is fearsome to me; but that threatened by you is a fellow servant. It knows how to respect those who despise idols. I consider your blows the darts of infants. For you strike the body; which, if it endures for longer, is crowned more brightly, but if it gives out sooner, it departs, freed from such violent judges, you who, having received charge over bodies, still strive to rule over souls also; you who, if you are not preferred even to our God, as though extremely insulted by us, grow angry, and you threaten these terrible punishments, bringing piety as an accusation against us. But indeed you will not encounter cowards, nor lovers of life, nor men easily terrified, for the sake of love for God. Here we are, ready to be racked on the wheel, and to be tortured, and to be burned, and to accept every kind of torment. But when that arrogant and barbarous man heard these things, unable to bear the men's boldness, boiling over with rage, he considered what device he might find, so as to contrive for them a death both long and bitter. He found an idea, then, and consider how harsh. For having considered the nature of the region, that it was frosty, and the season of the year, that it was winter, waiting for a night in which the 31.516 terror is most intense, and also because at that time a north wind was blowing upon it, he commanded everyone, stripped naked, to die freezing in the open air in the middle of the city.

And surely you know, those experienced in winter, how unbearable is this form of torture. For it is not possible to demonstrate it to others than to those who have examples of what is said already laid up from experience itself. For a body falling into cold is at first entirely livid, as the blood congeals; then it is shaken and shivers, with teeth chattering, and sinews spasming, and the whole bulk involuntarily contracting. And a certain sharp pain, and unspeakable suffering reaching their very marrow, makes the sensation most intolerable for those who are freezing. Then it is mutilated, as if by fire, with the extremities being burned. For the heat, being driven away from the ends of the body and fleeing together into the core, leaves dead the parts from which it departed, and gives over to pains the parts to which it is pushed, as death slowly approaches through the freezing. At that time, therefore, they were condemned to spend the night in the open air, when the lake, around which the city is built, in which the saints were contending, was like a field for driving horses, the ice having transformed it; and having become land by the cold, it safely allowed the inhabitants to walk on its back; and ever-flowing rivers, bound by the ice, stood still from their currents; and the soft nature of water was changed to the hardness of stones; and sharp blasts of the north wind were hastening every living thing toward death. At that time, therefore, hearing the command (and mark for me here the invincibility of the men), each one with joy cast off even his last tunic, and they went toward death by cold, as if encouraging one another in the plundering of spoils. 31.517 For let us not, he says, take off a garment, but let us put off the old man, who is corrupted according to the desires of deceit. We thank you, Lord, that with this garment we cast off sin as well. Since we were clothed because of the serpent, let us be unclothed for the sake of Christ. Let us not cling to garments because of the paradise that we lost.

What shall we render to the Lord? Our Lord was also stripped. What great thing is it for a slave to suffer the things of the Master? Rather, we are the ones who stripped the Lord himself. For that was the soldiers' bold deed; they stripped and divided the garments.

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γὰρ παρέρχεται· τὰ δὲ ἡμέτερα μένει. Μιᾶς ἐπι θυμῶ δωρεᾶς, τοῦ στεφάνου τῆς δικαιοσύνης· περὶ μίαν δόξαν ἐπτόημαι, τὴν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρα νῶν. Φιλότιμός εἰμι πρὸς τὴν ἄνω τιμήν· κόλασιν δέδοικα τὴν ἐν τῇ γεέννῃ. Πῦρ ἐκεῖνό μοι φοβερόν· τὸ δὲ παρ' ὑμῶν ἀπειλούμενον ὁμόδουλόν ἐστιν. Οἶδεν αἰδεῖσθαι τοὺς εἰδώλων καταφρονοῦντας. Βέλη νη πίων λογίζομαι τὰς πληγὰς ὑμῶν. Σῶμα γὰρ τύπτεις· ὅπερ, ἐὰν μὲν ἐπὶ πλεῖον ἀντίσχῃ, λαμπρότερον στεφανοῦται, ἐὰν δὲ θᾶττον ἀπαγορεύση, οἴχεται ἀπαλλαγὲν δικαστῶν οὕτω βιαίων, οἳ, σωμάτων ὑπηρεσίαν παραλαβόντες, ἔτι καὶ τῶν ψυχῶν κατ άρχειν φιλονεικεῖτε· οἵ γε, εἰ μὴ καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν προτιμηθείητε, ὡς τὰ ἔσχατα ὑβρισμένοι παρ' ἡμῶν, χαλεπαίνετε, καὶ τὰς φοβερὰς ταύτας κολάσεις ἐπ ανατείνεσθε, ἔγκλημα ἡμῖν ἐπάγοντες τὴν εὐσέβειαν. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὐ δειλοῖς, οὐδὲ φιλοζώοις, οὐδ' εὐκατα πλήκτοις ἐντεύξεσθε, ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰς Θεὸν ἀγάπης. Οἵδε ἡμεῖς καὶ τροχίζεσθαι, καὶ στρεβλοῦσθαι, καὶ καταπίμπρασθαι, καὶ πᾶν εἶδος βασανιστηρίων ἕτοιμοι καταδέχεσθαι. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τούτων ἤκουσεν ὁ ἀλαζὼν ἐκεῖνος καὶ βάρβαρος, οὐκ ἐνεγκὼν τῶν ἀνδρῶν τὴν παῤῥησίαν, ὑπερζέσας τῷ θυμῷ, ἐσκόπει τίνα ἂν ἐξεύροι μηχα νὴν, ὥστε μακρόν τε αὐτοῖς καὶ πικρὸν ὁμοῦ κατα σκευάσαι τὸν θάνατον. Εὗρε δὴ οὖν ἐπίνοιαν, καὶ σκοπεῖτε ὡς χαλεπήν. Περισκεψάμενος γὰρ τὴν φύσιν τῆς χώρας, ὅτι κρυμώδης, καὶ τὴν ὥραν τοῦ ἔτους, ὅτι χειμέριος, νύκτα ἐπιτηρήσας ἐν ᾗ μάλιστα τὸ 31.516 δεινὸν ἐπιτείνεται, ἄλλως δὲ καὶ τότε βορέου αὐτὴν ἐπιπνέοντος, ἐκέλευσε πάντας γυμνωθέντας ὑπὸ τὸ αἴθριον ἐν μέσῃ τῇ πόλει πηγνυμένους ἀπο θανεῖν.

Πάντως δὲ ἴστε, οἱ πεπειραμένοι χει μῶνος, ὡς ἀφόρητόν ἐστι τῆς βασάνου τὸ εἶδος. Οὐδὲ γὰρ δυνατὸν ἄλλοις ἐνδείξασθαι ἢ τοῖς προαποκεί μενα ἔχουσιν ἐκ τῆς πείρας αὐτῆς τῶν λεγομένων τὰ ὑποδείγματα. Σῶμα γὰρ κρύει παραπεσὸν πρῶτον μὲν ὅλον ἐστὶ πελιδνὸν, πηγνυμένου τοῦ αἵματος· ἔπειτα κλονεῖται καὶ ἀναβράσσεται, ὀδόντων ἀρασ σομένων, σπωμένων δὲ τῶν ἰνῶν, καὶ παντὸς τοῦ ὄγκου ἀπροαιρέτως συνελκομένου. Ὀδύνη δέ τις δρι μεῖα, καὶ πόνος ἄῤῥητος αὐτῶν καθικνούμενος τῶν μυελῶν, δυσφορωτάτην ποιεῖται τοῖς πηγνυμένοις τὴν αἴσθησιν. Ἔπειτα ἀκρωτηριάζεται, ὥσπερ ἀπὸ πυρὸς, καιομένων τῶν ἄκρων. Ἀποδιωκόμενον γὰρ τὸ θερμὸν ἀπὸ τῶν περάτων τοῦ σώματος, καὶ συμφεῦγον ἐπὶ τὸ βάθος, τὰ μὲν, ὅθεν ἀπέστη, νεκρὰ καταλείπει, τὰ δὲ, ἐφ' ἃ συνωθεῖται, ὀδύναις δί δωσι, κατὰ μικρὸν τοῦ θανάτου διὰ τῆς πήξεως προσιόντος. Τότε τοίνυν αἴθριοι διανυκτερεύειν κατεδικάσθησαν, ὅτε λίμνη μὲν, περὶ ἣν ἡ πόλις κατῴκισται, ἐν ᾗ ταῦτα διήθλουν οἱ ἅγιοι, οἷόν τι πεδίον ἱππήλατον ἦν, μεταποιήσαντος αὐτὴν τοῦ κρυστάλλου· καὶ ἠπειρωθεῖσα τῷ κρύει, ἀσφαλῶς ὑπὲρ νῶτον πεζεύειν παρείχετο τοῖς περιοίκοις· ποταμοὶ δὲ ἀένναα ῥέοντες, τῷ κρυστάλλῳ δεθέντες, τῶν ῥείθρων ἔστησαν· ἥ τε ἁπαλὴ τοῦ ὕδατος φύσις πρὸς τὴν τῶν λίθων ἀντιτυπίαν μετεποιήθη· βορέου δὲ δριμεῖαι πνοαὶ τὸ ἔμψυχον ἅπαν ἐπὶ τὸν θάνατον ἤπειγον. Τότε τοίνυν ἀκούσαντες τοῦ προστάγματος (καὶ σκόπει μοι ἐνταῦθα τῶν ἀνδρῶν τὸ ἀήττητον), με τὰ χαρᾶς ἀποῤῥίψαντες ἕκαστος καὶ τὸν τελευταῖον χιτῶνα, πρὸς τὸν διὰ τοῦ κρύους ἐχώρουν θάνατον, ὥσπερ ἐν σκύλων διαρπαγῇ ἀλλήλοις ἐγκελευόμενοι. 31.517 Μὴ γὰρ ἱμάτιον, φησὶν, ἀποδυόμεθα, ἀλλὰ τὸν πα λαιὸν ἄνθρωπον ἀποτιθέμεθα, τὸν φθειρόμενον κατὰ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ἀπάτης. Εὐχαριστοῦμέν σοι, Κύριε, τῷ ἱματίῳ τούτῳ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν συναποβάλ λοντες. Ἐπειδὴ διὰ τὸν ὄφιν ἐνεδυσάμεθα, διὰ τὸν Χριστὸν ἐκδυσώμεθα. Μὴ ἀντισχώμεθα ἱματίων διὰ τὸν παράδεισον ὃν ἀπωλέσαμεν.

Τί ἀνταποδῶμεν τῷ Κυρίῳ; Ἐξεδύθη ἡμῶν καὶ ὁ Κύριος. Τί μέγα δούλῳ τὰ τοῦ ∆εσπότου παθεῖν; Μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν Κύριον ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν οἱ ἐκδύσαντες. Στρατιωτῶν γὰρ ἐκεῖνο τὸ τόλμημα, ἐκεῖνοι ἐξέδυσαν καὶ διεμερίσαντο τὰ ἱμάτια.