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it proceeds for a distance, making a long roof by the density of its leaves. Such also is the nature of ointments; for they themselves often lie in a small chamber, but their fragrance, escaping through the windows into the streets and alleys and marketplaces, teaches those walking outside the 50.601 excellence of the perfumes lying within. If, then, a spring, and a root, and the nature of plants and perfumes have such strength, much more so do the bodies of the saints; and that what is said is not false, you are witnesses. For the body of the martyr lies in Thrace, but you, not living in Thrace, but being very far from that country, perceive the fragrance from such a distance, and for this reason you have come together, and the length of the journey did not hinder you, nor did the passage of time extinguish it. For such is the nature of spiritual achievements; it is not interrupted by any bodily hindrance, but it flourishes and grows each day, and neither does the passage of time cause it to wither, nor does the length of a journey wall it off.

Do not be surprised if, beginning my discourse and encomiums, I called the saint a martyr; for he ended his life by a natural death. How then is he a martyr? I have often said to your love, that it is not death alone that makes a martyr, but also intention. For the crown of martyrdom is often woven not only from the outcome, but also from the will. And it is not I, but Paul who gives this definition of martyrdom, saying thus, I die daily. How do you die daily? How is it possible for one mortal body to receive ten thousand deaths? By intention, he says, and by being prepared for death. Thus also does God declare; for Abraham did not bloody the knife, did not stain the altar red, did not sacrifice Isaac, but nevertheless he completed the sacrifice. Who says these things? He Himself who received the sacrifice: For you have not spared, He says, your beloved son for My sake. And yet he received him alive, and brought him down unharmed; how then did he not spare him? Because it is not from the outcome of the deeds, but from the intention of those who chose them, that I judge such sacrifices, He says. The hand did not slay, but the will slew; the sword did not plunge into the neck of the child, it did not cut the throat, but there is a sacrifice even without blood. The initiated know what is said; and for this reason that sacrifice also took place without blood, since it was to be a type of this one. Do you see the image prefigured in the Old Testament? Do not disbelieve the truth.

3. This martyr, then (for our discourse has shown him to us as a martyr), for

ten thousand deaths he prepared himself, and endured them all in his will and eagerness; and of the dangers that were brought upon him, he bore many through actual experience. For they both drove him from his homeland and removed him to exile, and they stirred up many other things against that blessed man at that time, having nothing just to charge him with, except that having heard Paul saying, They worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, he fled impiety, and feared transgression; but this is worthy of crowns, not accusation. But consider for me the wickedness of the devil. For since the Hellenic war had recently been brought to an end, and all the Churches had just caught their breath from the harsh and successive persecutions, and it had not been a long time since all peoples were shut out, altars were extinguished, and all the 50.602 madness of the demons had been brought to an end, and these things grieved the evil demon, and he could not bear the peace of the Church calmly, what then does he do? He brings in another, harsh war. For the one was foreign, but this one was civil; and such wars are more difficult to guard against, and they easily overcome those who fall into them.

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πρόεισι διαστήματος, μακράν τινα ὀροφὴν τῇ τῶν φύλλων ποιοῦντα πυκνότητι. Τοιαύτη καὶ τῶν μύρων ἡ φύσις· αὐτὰ μὲν γὰρ κεῖται ἐν οἰκίσκῳ πολλάκις, διὰ δὲ τῶν θυρίδων ὑπερεκπί πτουσα αὐτῶν ἡ εὐωδία εἰς ἄμφοδα καὶ στενωποὺς καὶ ἀγορὰς, καὶ τοὺς ἔξω βαδίζοντας διδάσκει τὴν 50.601 ἔνδον κειμένην τῶν ἀρωμάτων ἀρετήν. Εἰ δὲ πηγὴ, καὶ ῥίζα, καὶ φυτῶν καὶ ἀρωμάτων φύσις τοσαύ την ἔχουσι τὴν ἰσχὺν, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τῶν ἁγίων τὰ σώματα· καὶ ὅτι οὐ ψευδῆ τὰ λεγόμενα, μάρτυρες ὑμεῖς. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ σῶμα τοῦ μάρτυρος κεῖται ἐν Θρᾴκῃ, ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐκ ἐν Θρᾴκῃ διατρίβοντες, ἀλλὰ πολὺ τῆς χώρας ἐκείνης ἀφεστηκότες ἀντιλαμβά νεσθε τῆς εὐωδίας ἐκ τοσούτου διαστήματος, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο συνεληλύθατε, καὶ οὐ διεκώλυσε τῆς ὁδοῦ τὸ μῆκος, οὐκ ἔσβεσε τοῦ χρόνου τὸ πλῆθος. Τοιαύτη γὰρ τῶν πνευματικῶν κατορθωμάτων ἡ φύσις· οὐδενὶ σωματικῷ διακόπτεται κωλύματι, ἀλλ' ἀνθεῖ καὶ αὔξεται καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν, καὶ οὔτε χρόνου μαραίνει τὸ πλῆθος αὐτὴν, οὐχ ὁδοῦ διατειχίζει μῆκος.

Μὴ θαυμάσητε δὲ εἰ τοῦ λόγου καὶ τῶν ἐγκωμίων ἀρχόμενος μάρτυρα τὸν ἅγιον ἐκάλεσα· καὶ γὰρ οἰ κείῳ τέλει τὴν ζωὴν κατέλυσε· πῶς οὖν ἐστι μάρτυς; Εἶπον πολλάκις πρὸς τὴν ὑμετέραν ἀγάπην, ὅτι μάρ τυρα οὐχὶ ὁ θάνατος ποιεῖ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ πρό θεσις. Οὐ γὰρ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκβάσεως μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς γνώμης πλέκεται πολλάκις ὁ τοῦ μαρτυρίου στέφανος. Καὶ τοῦτον οὐκ ἐγὼ, ἀλλὰ Παῦλος δίδωσι τοῦ μαρτυρίου τὸν ὅρον οὑτωσὶ λέγων, Καθ' ἡμέραν ἀποθνήσκω. Πῶς ἀποθνήσκεις καθ' ἡμέραν; πῶς δυνατὸν ἑνὶ σώματι θνητῷ μυρίους δέξασθαι θανά τους; Τῇ προθέσει, φησὶ, καὶ τῷ παρεσκευάσθαι πρὸς τελευτήν. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ἀποφαίνεται· καὶ γὰρ ὁ Ἀβραὰμ οὐχ ᾕμαξε τὴν μάχαιραν, οὐκ ἐφοίνιξε τὸν βωμὸν, οὐκ ἔθυσε τὸν Ἰσαὰκ, ἀλλ' ὅμως ἀπήρτισε τὴν θυσίαν. Τίς ταῦτά φησιν; Αὐτὸς ὁ τὴν θυσίαν δεξάμενος· Οὐκ ἐφείσω γὰρ, φησὶ, τοῦ υἱοῦ σου τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ δι' ἐμέ. Καὶ μὴν ζῶντα ἔλαβε, καὶ ὑγιῆ κατήγαγε· πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἐφείσατο; Ὅτι οὐκ ἀπὸ τοῦ τέλους τῶν πραγμάτων, ἀλλ' ἀπὸ τῆς προ θέσεως τῶν προελομένων, τὰς τοιαύτας κρίνω θυσίας ἐγὼ, φησίν. Οὐκ ἔσφαξεν ἡ χεὶρ, ἀλλ' ἔσφαξεν ἡ προαίρεσις· οὐκ ἐβάπτισε τὸ ξίφος εἰς τὸν λαιμὸν τοῦ παιδὸς, οὐ διέτεμε τὴν δέρην, ἀλλ' ἔστι θυσία καὶ χωρὶς αἵματος. Ἴσασιν οἱ μεμυημένοι τὸ λεγόμενον· διὰ τοῦτο δὲ κἀκείνη ἡ θυσία χωρὶς αἵματος ἐγένετο, ἐπειδὴ ταύτης ἔμελλεν ἔσεσθαι τύπος. Ὁρᾷς ἐν τῇ Παλαιᾷ προδιαγραφομένην τὴν εἰκόνα; Μὴ ἀπιστή σῃς τῇ ἀληθείᾳ.

γʹ. Οὗτος τοίνυν ὁ μάρτυς (μάρτυρα γὰρ ἡμῖν αὐτὸν ὁ λόγος ἀπέδειξε) πρὸς

μυρίους παρεσκευάσατο θα νάτους, καὶ πάντας αὐτοὺς ὑπέμεινε τῇ γνώμῃ καὶ τῇ προθυμίᾳ· τῶν δὲ ἐπενεχθέντων κινδύνων πολλοὺς καὶ δι' αὐτῆς τῆς πείρας ἠνέσχετο. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ τῆς πατρίδος αὐτὸν ἐξήλασαν, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ὑπερορίαν μετέστησαν, καὶ πολλὰ ἕτερα κατὰ τοῦ μακαρίου ἐκίνησαν τότε ἐκείνου, δίκαιον μὲν οὐδὲν ἔχοντες ἐγκαλεῖν, ὅτι δὲ ἀκούσας τοῦ Παύλου λέγοντος, Ἐσε βάσθησαν καὶ ἐλάτρευσαν τῇ κτίσει παρὰ τὸν κτίσαντα, ἔφυγε τὸ ἀσέβημα, καὶ τὴν παρανομίαν ἔδεισεν· ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν στεφάνων, οὐ κατηγορίας ἄξιον. Σὺ δέ μοι σκόπει τοῦ διαβόλου τὴν πονηρίαν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ προσφάτως ἦν ὁ Ἑλληνικὸς πόλεμος καταλυθεὶς, καὶ ἄρτι τῶν χαλεπῶν καὶ ἐπαλλήλων διωγμῶν ἀνεπεπνεύκεισαν αἱ Ἐκκλησίαι πᾶσαι, καὶ οὐκ ἦν πολὺς ὁ χρόνος, ἐξ οὗ λαοὶ μὲν ἀπεκλείσθησαν ἅπαντες, βωμοὶ δὲ ἐσβέσθησαν, πᾶσα δὲ τῶν δαι 50.602 μόνων ἡ μανία καταλέλυτο, καὶ ταῦτα ἐλύπει τὸν πονηρὸν δαίμονα, καὶ οὐκ ἠδύνατο πράως φέρειν τὴν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας εἰρήνην, τί οὖν ποιεῖ; Ἕτερον ἐπεισ-άγει πόλεμον χαλεπόν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἐξωτικὸς, οὗτος δὲ ἐμφύλιος ἦν· οἱ δὲ τοιοῦτοι δυσφύλακτοι μᾶλλόν εἰσι, καὶ ῥᾳδίως χειροῦνται τοὺς ἐμπίπτοντας.