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multitude, nothing else had the power to separate you from the company of the blessed shepherd; but he was cast out, so as to be far from his children, but the opposite happened. For he was bound more tightly to you by the bonds of love; and taking the whole city with him, he departed to Armenia. For his body was established in his native land; but his reason and his mind, as if lightened by some wings of the grace of the Spirit, and always dwelling among you, carried all this people in his bowels, which indeed you also experienced. For sitting here and confined to the city, flying to Armenia each day in the spirit of love, and seeing his holy face, and hearing his most sweet and blessed voice, you thus returned again. And for this reason God allowed him to be immediately driven from the city, so that He might show both the steadfastness of your faith, as I have already said, to the enemies who war against you, and his experience in teaching. And this is clear from that. For after returning from the first persecution, he spent not only thirty days here, but also months, and a year, and one, and two, and more. For since you had given sufficient proof of the steadfastness of your faith, He gave you leave to delight in your father again. For it was the greatest delight to enjoy that holy face. For not only when teaching, nor when speaking, but even just being seen, he was able to bring all teaching of virtue into the soul of those who saw him. So when he entered in to you, and the whole city moved to the road, some came near, and touched his feet, and kissed his hands, and heard his voice; but those who were hindered by the crowd and only saw him from afar, as if they had received a sufficient blessing from the sight, and having received no less than those who came near, thus departed with all 50.518 assurance; and what happened in the case of the apostles, this also happened in his case.

For just as in the case of the apostles, as many as were not able to approach and come near, when their shadow was stretched out and touched those far off, they drew the same grace to themselves, and departed equally healed; so indeed now as many as were not able to approach, perceiving as it were a certain spiritual glory being sent forth from that holy head and reaching to those farthest away, all departed filled with every blessing from the sight alone.

c. But when it seemed good to the common God of all to call him at last from the

present life, and to enroll him in the choir of angels; not even this happened simply, but letters of the emperor call him, God having moved the emperor; and they call him not somewhere near nor close by, but into Thrace itself, so that Galatians, and Bithynians, and Cilicians, and Cappadocians, and all who dwell near Thrace might learn of our good things; so that the bishops everywhere on earth, seeing his holiness as if in an archetypal image, and taking from him a clear example of service according to this office, might have a safe and most clear rule, according to which it is necessary to manage and govern the Churches. For both because of the size of the city and because of the emperor's residence, many from many parts of the world were then flocking there; and the bishops of the Churches, because the Churches, having recovered from a long war and winter, were beginning to receive peace and calm, were all summoned there by imperial letters. Then, therefore, he also arrives there. And just as in the case of the three youths, when they were about to be proclaimed and crowned, having extinguished the power of the fire, having trampled on the pride of the tyrant, having refuted every form of impiety, the theater for them was set up from the whole world for those everywhere

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πλῆθος, οὐκ ἄλλο οὐδὲν ἴσχυσεν ὑμᾶς διαστῆσαι τῆς συνουσίας τοῦ μακαρίου ποιμένος· ἀλλ' ἐξεβάλλετο μὲν, ὥστε μακρὰν γενέσθαι τῶν τέκνων, συνέβαινε δὲ τοὐναντίον. Μᾶλλον γὰρ ὑμῖν συνεσφίγγετο τοῖς τῆς ἀγάπης δεσμοῖς· καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν πόλιν μεθ' ἑαυτοῦ λαβὼν εἰς Ἀρμενίαν ἀπῄει. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ σῶμα ἐπὶ τῆς πατρίδος ἵδρυτο· ὁ λογισμὸς δὲ καὶ ὁ νοῦς ὥσπερ ὑπό τινων πτερῶν κουφιζόμενος τῆς τοῦ Πνεύματος χάριτος, καὶ διὰ παντὸς ὑμῖν ἐπιχωριάζων, ἅπαντα τοῦτον τὸν δῆμον ἐν τοῖς ἐκείνου περιέφερε σπλάγχνοις, ὃ δὴ καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐπάσχετε. Καθήμενοι γὰρ ἐνταῦθα καὶ τῇ πόλει περιγραφόμενοι, τῷ πνεύματι τῆς ἀγάπης εἰς Ἀρμενίαν καθ' ἑκάστην ἱπτάμενοι τὴν ἡμέραν, καὶ τὴν ἁγίαν ὄψιν ὁρῶντες, καὶ τῆς ἡδίστης καὶ μακαρίας φωνῆς ἀκούοντες οὕτως ἐπανῄειτε πάλιν. Καὶ διὰ ταύτην συνεχώρησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὴν αἰτίαν εὐθέως αὐτὸν ἀπελαθῆναι τῆς πόλεως, ἵνα καὶ ὑμῶν, ὥσπερ ἔφθην εἰπὼν, τὸ στεῤῥὸν τῆς πίστεως ἐπιδείξῃ τοῖς ὑμᾶς πολεμοῦσιν ἐχθροῖς, κἀκείνου τὸ περὶ τὴν διδασκαλίαν ἔμπειρον. Καὶ δῆλον ἐκεῖθεν. Μετὰ γὰρ τὴν πρώτην δίωξιν ἐπανελθὼν οὐχὶ τριάκοντα ἡμέρας μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ μῆνας, καὶ ἐνιαυτὸν, καὶ ἕνα, καὶ δύο, καὶ πλείους ἐνταῦθα διέτριψεν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἱκανὴν ἐδώκατε τῆς περὶ τὴν πίστιν στεῤῥότητος ἀπόδειξιν, ἔδωκεν ὑμῖν μετὰ ἀδείας ἐντρυφῆσαι τῷ πατρὶ πάλιν. Καὶ γὰρ τρυφὴ ἦν μεγίστη τὸ τῆς ἁγίας ὄψεως ἀπολαύειν ἐκείνης. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ διδάσκων μόνον, οὐδὲ φθεγγόμενος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁρώμενος ἁπλῶς, ἱκανὸς ἦν ἅπασαν ἀρετῆς διδασκαλίαν εἰς τὴν τῶν ὁρώντων ψυχὴν εἰσαγαγεῖν. Ὅτε γοῦν πρὸς ὑμᾶς εἰσήλαυνε, καὶ πᾶσα ἡ πόλις πρὸς τὴν ὁδὸν μεθωρμίζετο, οἱ μὲν πλησίον ἤρχοντο, καὶ ποδῶν ἥπτοντο, καὶ χεῖρας κατεφίλουν, καὶ φωνῆς ἤκουον· οἱ δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ πλήθους κωλυόμενοι καὶ πόῤῥωθεν αὐτὸν ὁρῶντες μόνον, ὥσπερ ἱκανὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ὄψεως δεξάμενοι τὴν εὐλογίαν, καὶ οὐδὲν ἔλαττον τῶν ἐγγὺς γενομένων ἐσχηκότες, οὕτω μετὰ πληροφορίας 50.518 ἁπάσης ἀπῄεσαν· καὶ ὅπερ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐγίγνετο, τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τούτου συνέβαινε.

Καθάπερ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων ὅσοι προσελθεῖν καὶ ἐγγὺς γενέσθαι οὐκ ἴσχυον, τῆς σκιᾶς αὐτῶν ἐκτεινομένης, καὶ τῶν πόῤῥωθεν ἁπτομένης, τὴν αὐτὴν ἐπεσπῶντο χάριν, καὶ ὁμοίως ὑγιαίνοντες ἀπῄεσαν· οὕτω δὴ καὶ νῦν ὅσοι προσελθεῖν οὐκ ἴσχυον, ὥσπερ τινὸς δόξης πνευματικῆς ἀπὸ τῆς ἁγίας ἐκείνης κεφαλῆς ἐκπεμπομένης, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ποῤῥωτάτω διικνουμένης αἰσθανόμενοι, πάσης εὐλογίας ἀπὸ τῆς θεωρίας μόνης πληρούμενοι πάντες ἀπῄεσαν.

γʹ. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἔδοξε τῷ κοινῷ τῶν ὅλων Θεῷ καλέσαι λοιπὸν αὐτὸν ἐκ τῆς

παρούσης ζωῆς, καὶ εἰς τὸν τῶν ἀγγέλων κατατάξαι χορόν· οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἁπλῶς ἐγίνετο, ἀλλὰ καλεῖ μὲν αὐτὸν βασιλέως γράμματα, τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν βασιλέα κινήσαντος· καλεῖ δὲ αὐτὸν οὐκ ἐγγύς που οὐδὲ πλησίον, ἀλλ' εἰς τὴν Θρᾴκην αὐτὴν, ἵνα καὶ Γαλάται, καὶ Βιθυνοὶ, καὶ Κίλικες, καὶ Καππαδόκαι, καὶ οἱ τὴν Θρᾴκην προσοικοῦντες ἅπαντες τὰ ἡμέτερα μάθωσιν ἀγαθά· ἵνα οἱ πανταχοῦ τῆς γῆς ἐπίσκοποι ὥσπερ εἰς ἀρχέτυπον εἰκόνα τὴν ἁγιωσύνην ἰδόντες τὴν ἐκείνου, καὶ παράδειγμα σαφὲς τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν ταύτην διακονίας ἐξ ἐκείνου λαβόντες, κανόνα τινὰ, καθ' ὃν δεῖ τὰς Ἐκκλησίας οἰκονομεῖν καὶ κυβερνᾷν, ἔχωσιν ἀσφαλῇ καὶ σαφέστατον. Καὶ γὰρ διὰ τὸ τῆς πόλεως μέγεθος καὶ διὰ τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως προσεδρίαν πολλοὶ πολλαχόθεν τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐκεῖ συνέῤῥεον τότε· οἱ δὲ τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν ἐπίσκοποι διὰ τὸ τὰς Ἐκκλησίας ἐκ μακροῦ πολέμου καὶ χειμῶνος ἀνενεγκούσας ἀρχὴν εἰρήνης καὶ γαλήνης λαμβάνειν, βασιλικοῖς ἐκεῖ γράμμασιν ἐκαλοῦντο πάντες. Τότε τοίνυν καὶ οὗτος ἐκεῖ παραγίνεται. Καὶ καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν τριῶν παίδων, ἡνίκα ἀνακηρύττεσθαι ἔμελλον, καὶ στεφανοῦσθαι, σβέσαντες τὴν τοῦ πυρὸς δύναμιν, καταπατήσαντες τοῦ τυράννου τὸν τῦφον, ἅπαν ἀσεβείας εἶδος ἐλέγξαντες, ἐκ τῆς οἰκουμένης αὐτοῖς τὸ θέατρον ἐκάθητο πάσης οἱ γὰρ πανταχοῦ