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should manage all his own affairs with such exactness. Therefore I would confidently say, that the blessed Ignatius copied all of it with exactness in his own soul, and he was blameless and irreproachable, and neither self-willed, nor quick-tempered, nor a brawler, nor a striker, but gentle, not a lover of money, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, sober, prudent, orderly, and all the other things which Paul required. And what is the proof of these things? he says. The very ones who said these things ordained him, and those who with such exactness advised others to make an examination of those who were about to ascend to the throne of this office, would not themselves have done this carelessly; but if they had not seen all this virtue planted in the soul of this martyr, they would not have entrusted this office to him. For they knew precisely how much danger is laid up for those who perform such ordinations simply and as it may happen.

And showing this very thing again, Paul, writing to the same Timothy, said: Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins. What do you say? Another has sinned, and I am a partaker of the accusations and the punishment? Yes, he says, the one who gave authority to wickedness. And just as one who puts a sharpened sword into the hands of a madman and a raving person, whatever murder the madman may commit, the one who gave the sword bears the blame, so also one who gives the authority from this office to a man living with wickedness, draws upon his own head all the fire of that man's sins and daring deeds; for he who provided the root is everywhere the cause of what grows from it. Have you seen how a double crown of the episcopate has appeared to us thus far, and how the dignity of those who ordained him made the office more glorious, testifying to him every proof of virtue?

3. Do you wish that I should also reveal to you another crown from this very thing

sprouting? Let us consider the time 50.590 at which this office was entrusted to him. For it is not the same thing to manage the Church now, and then, just as it is not the same to travel a well-worn road, and one well-prepared, after many travelers, and one about to be cut for the first time now, having ravines and stones, and full of wild beasts, and having not yet received any traveler. For now by the grace of God there is no danger for the bishops, but profound peace on all sides, and we all enjoy calm, as the word of piety has been extended to the ends of the world, and our rulers preserve the faith with exactness. But then there was none of these things, but wherever one looked, there were precipices, and chasms, and wars, and battles, and dangers, and rulers, and kings, and peoples, and cities, and nations, and relatives, and strangers were plotting against the faithful. And not only was this terrible, but that also many of the believers themselves, since they were now for the first time tasting strange doctrines, needed much condescension, and were still rather weak, and were often tripped up; and this was what grieved the teachers no less than the wars from without, but rather even much more; for the battles and plots from without afforded them much pleasure because of the hope of the rewards laid up.

For this reason also the apostles returned from the presence of the council rejoicing that they had been scourged, and Paul cries out, saying: I rejoice in my sufferings, and he glories in his tribulations everywhere; but the wounds of their own people and the falls of the brethren did not even allow them to breathe, but like a very heavy burden it pressed upon the neck of their soul and pulled it down continually. Hear, then, how Paul, who so rejoiced in his sufferings, is bitterly pained over these things. For who, he says, is weak, and I am not weak? who is made to stumble, and I do not burn? And

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τοσαύτης ἀκριβείας τὰ καθ' ἑαυτὸν ἅπαντα οἰκονομῇ. Θαῤῥῶν τοίνυν εἴποιμι ἂν, ὅτι πᾶσαν αὐτὴν μετὰ ἀκριβείας ὁ μακάριος Ἰγνάτιος ἀπε μάξατο ἐν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ψυχῇ, καὶ ἀνεπίληπτος ἦν καὶ ἀνέγκλητος, καὶ οὔτε αὐθάδης, οὔτε ὀργίλος, οὔτε πάρ οινος, οὔτε πλήκτης, ἀλλ' ἄμαχος, ἀφιλάργυρος, δίκαιος, ὅσιος, ἐγκρατὴς, ἀντεχόμενος τοῦ κατὰ τὴν διδαχὴν πι στοῦ λόγου, νηφάλιος, σώφρων, κόσμιος, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἅπερ ὁ Παῦλος ἀπῄτησε. Καὶ τίς τούτων ἀπόδειξις; φησίν· Αὐτοὶ οἱ ταῦτα εἰρηκότες αὐτὸν ἐχειροτόνησαν, καὶ οὐκ ἂν οἱ μετὰ τοσαύτης ἀκριβείας παραινοῦντες ἑτέροις τὴν δοκιμασίαν ποιεῖσθαι τῶν μελλόντων ἐπὶ τὸν θρόνον τῆς ἀρχῆς ἀναβαίνειν ταύτης, αὐτοὶ παρέργως τοῦτο ἐποίησαν ἄν· ἀλλ' εἰ μὴ πᾶσαν εἶδον τὴν ἀρετὴν ταύτην ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ τοῦ μάρτυρος τούτου πεφυτευμένην, οὐκ ἂν αὐτῷ ταύτην ἐνεχείρισαν τὴν ἀρχήν. Καὶ γὰρ ᾔδεισαν ἀκριβῶς ὅσος κίνδυνος κεῖται τοῖς ἁπλῶς καὶ ὡς ἔτυχε τὰς τοιαύτας ποιουμένοις χειροτονίας.

Καὶ τοῦτο αὐτὸ πάλιν ἐμφαίνων ὁ Παῦλος τῷ αὐτῷ Τιμοθέῳ γρά φων ἔλεγε· Χεῖρας ταχέως μηδενὶ ἐπιτίθει, μηδὲ κοινώνει ἁμαρτίαις ἀλλοτρίαις. Τί λέγεις; ἄλλος ἥμαρτε, κἀγὼ κοινωνῶ τῶν ἐγκλημάτων καὶ τῆς τιμω ρίας; Ναὶ, φησὶν, ὁ τῇ πονηρίᾳ τὴν ἐξουσίαν παρασχών. Καὶ καθάπερ τις μαινομένῳ καὶ παραπαίοντι ξίφος ἐγχειρίσας ἠκονημένον, ὃν ἂν ἐργάσηται φόνον ὁ μεμη νὼς, ἐκεῖνος ὑφίσταται τὴν αἰτίαν ὁ τὸ ξίφος δεδωκὼς, οὕτω καὶ ἀνθρώπῳ τις πονηρίᾳ συζῶντι τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς ταύτης ἐξουσίαν παρασχὼν, τὸ πῦρ ἅπαν τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἐκείνου καὶ τῶν τολμημάτων ἐπὶ τὴν οἰ κείαν ἕλκει κεφαλήν· ὁ γὰρ τὴν ῥίζαν παρασχὼν, παν ταχοῦ οὗτος τῶν ἐξ αὐτῆς φυομένων ἐστὶν αἴτιος. Εἶδες πῶς διπλοῦς ἡμῖν ὁ στέφανος ἐφάνη τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς τέως, καὶ λαμπροτέραν ἐποίησε τὴν ἀρχὴν τὸ τῶν χειροτονη σάντων αὐτὸν ἀξίωμα, πᾶσαν ἀπόδειξιν ἀρετῆς αὐτῷ μαρτυρῆσαν;

γʹ. Βούλεσθε καὶ ἕτερον ὑμῖν ἐκκαλύψω στέφανον ἀπ' αὐτοῦ τούτου

βλαστάνοντα; Ἀναλογισώμεθα τὸν καιρὸν 50.590 καθ' ὃν τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐνεχειρίσθη ταύτην. Οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἴσον Ἐκκλησίαν οἰκονομῆσαι νῦν, καὶ τότε, ὥσπερ οὐκ ἔστιν ἴσον τετριμμένην ὁδὸν, καὶ κατεσκευασμένην κα λῶς, μετὰ πολλοὺς ὁδοιπόρους ὁδεύειν, καὶ νῦν πρώτως τέμνεσθαι μέλλουσαν, καὶ φάραγγας καὶ λίθους ἔχουσαν, καὶ θηρίων γέμουσαν, καὶ μηδέπω μηδένα δεξαμένην ὁδοιπόρον. Νῦν μὲν γὰρ τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ χάριτι κίνδυνος οὐδεὶς τοῖς ἐπισκόποις, ἀλλ' εἰρήνη πανταχόθεν βαθεῖα, καὶ γαλήνης ἀπολαύομεν ἅπαντες, τοῦ λόγου τῆς εὐσε βείας ἐκτεταμένου πρὸς τὰ πέρατα τῆς οἰκουμένης, καὶ τῶν βασιλευόντων ἡμῖν τὴν πίστιν συντηρούντων μετὰ ἀκριβείας. Τότε δὲ οὐδὲν τούτων ἦν, ἀλλ' ὅπουπερ ἄν τις εἶδε, κρημνοὶ, καὶ βάραθρα, καὶ πόλεμοι, καὶ μάχαι, καὶ κίνδυνοι, καὶ ἄρχοντες, καὶ βασιλεῖς, καὶ δῆμοι, καὶ πόλεις, καὶ ἔθνη, καὶ οἰκεῖοι, καὶ ἀλλότριοι τοῖς πι στεύουσιν ἐπεβούλευον. Καὶ οὐ τοῦτο μόνον ἦν τὸ δεινὸν, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν πιστευσάντων πολλοὶ, ἅτε νῦν πρώτως δογμάτων γευσάμενοι ξένων, πολλῆς ἐδέοντο τῆς συγκαταβάσεως, καὶ ἀσθενέστερον ἔτι διέκειντο, καὶ πολλάκις ὑπεσκελίζοντο· καὶ τοῦτο ἦν ὃ τῶν ἔξωθεν πο λέμων οὐκ ἔλαττον ἐλύπει τοὺς διδασκάλους, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ πολλῷ πλέον· αἱ μὲν γὰρ ἔξωθεν μάχαι, καὶ ἐπι βουλαὶ, καὶ ἡδονὴν παρεῖχον αὐτοῖς πολλὴν διὰ τὴν ἐλ πίδα τῶν ἀποκειμένων μισθῶν.

∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι ὑπέστρεφον ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ συνεδρίου χαίροντες ὅτι ἐμαστιγώθησαν, καὶ Παῦλος βοᾷ λέγων· Χαίρω ἐν τοῖς παθήμασί μου, καὶ καυχᾶται ἐν ταῖς θλίψεσι παν ταχοῦ· τὰ δὲ τῶν οἰκείων τραύματα καὶ τὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν πτώματα οὐδὲ ἀναπνεῖν αὐτοὺς ἠφίει, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ τις κύφων βαρύτατος τὸν αὐχένα τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτῶν ἐπίεζε καὶ κατέσπα διηνεκῶς. Ἄκουσον γοῦν, ὁ Παῦλος ὁ οὕτω χαίρων ἐν τοῖς παθήμασι πῶς ὑπὲρ τούτων πικρῶς ὀδυνᾶται. Τίς γὰρ, φησὶν, ἀσθενεῖ, καὶ οὐκ ἀσθενῶ; τίς σκανδαλίζεται, καὶ οὐκ ἐγὼ πυροῦμαι; Καὶ