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Let us therefore wipe away the accusation written against us with our own hands. The winter is harsh, but paradise is sweet; the freezing is painful, but the rest is pleasant. Let us wait a little, and the bosom of the patriarch will warm us. For one night let us exchange a whole eternity. Let the foot be burned, that it may dance forever with angels; let the hand fall off, that it may have boldness to be lifted up to the Lord. How many of our soldiers have fallen in the line of battle, keeping faith with a mortal king? And shall we not give up this life for the faith in the true King? How many have undergone the death of malefactors, having been caught in misdeeds? And shall we not undergo death for righteousness’ sake? Let us not turn aside, O fellow soldiers, let us not give our backs to the devil. This is flesh, let us not spare it; since it is necessary to die anyway, let us die that we may live. Let our sacrifice be before you, O Lord; and may we be accepted, as a living sacrifice, well-pleasing to you, being wholly burnt by this cold, a good offering, a new whole-burnt offering, consumed not by fire, but by cold.

Giving these exhortations to one another, and each encouraging the other, as if fulfilling a kind of vanguard duty in war, they passed the night, bearing the present circumstances nobly, rejoicing in what was hoped for, mocking the adversary. And there was one 31.520 prayer of all. Forty we have entered the stadium, may we the forty be crowned, O Lord. Let not even one be lacking from the number. Honorable is he, whom you honored with the fast of forty days, through whom legislation entered into the world. For forty days in fasting Elijah sought the Lord, and obtained the vision. And such was their prayer; but one of the number, shrinking from the horrors, deserted and went away, leaving unspeakable grief for the saints. But the Lord did not allow their prayers to be unfulfilled. For the one entrusted with the guard of the martyrs, keeping himself warm nearby in a certain gymnasium, was watching what would happen, ready to receive those of the soldiers who fled. For this too was devised, that a bath should be nearby, promising swift help to those who changed their minds. However, what was wickedly devised by the adversaries—to find such a place for the contest, in which the ready comfort was intended to weaken the resolve of the combatants—this showed the patience of the martyrs to be more brilliant. For he is not patient who lacks necessities, but he who perseveres in hardships while in abundance of enjoyment. And as they were contending, and he was watching what would come to pass, he saw a strange sight, certain powers descending from the heavens, and as if from a king distributing great gifts to the soldiers; who divided the gifts among all the others, but left only one unhonored, having judged him unworthy of the heavenly honors; who immediately, despairing at the pains, deserted to the adversaries. A pitiful sight for the righteous: the soldier a fugitive, the champion a captive, the sheep of Christ caught by a beast; and what is more pitiful, that he both missed eternal life, and did not even enjoy this one, his flesh immediately dissolving at the touch of the heat. And so the lover of life fell, having transgressed in vain; but the executioner, when he saw him turn away and run to the bath-house, put himself in the place of the deserter, and throwing off his clothes, mixed himself with the naked, crying out the same shout as the saints: 'I am a Christian.' And having astounded those present by the suddenness of the change, he both filled up the number, and consoled the grief over the one who had grown soft by his own addition, imitating those in the line of battle, who, when the man at the front shield falls, immediately fill up the phalanx, so that their shield-wall may not be broken by the one who is missing. Such a thing indeed he also did.

4

Ἀνάγραπτον οὖν ἡμῶν κατηγορίαν δι' ἑαυτῶν ἀπαλείψωμεν. ∆ριμὺς ὁ χειμὼν, ἀλλὰ γλυκὺς ὁ παράδεισος· ἀλγεινὴ ἡ πῆξις, ἀλλ' ἡδεῖα ἡ ἀνά παυσις. Μικρὸν ἀναμείνωμεν, καὶ ὁ κόλπος ἡμᾶς θάλψει τοῦ πατριάρχου. Μιᾶς νυκτὸς ὅλον αἰῶνα ἀνταλλαξώμεθα. Καυθήτω ὁ ποῦς, ἵνα διηνεκῶς μετ' ἀγγέλων χορεύῃ· ἀποῤῥυήτω ἡ χεὶρ, ἵνα ἔχῃ παῤῥησίαν πρὸς τὸν ∆εσπότην ἐπαίρεσθαι. Πόσοι τῶν στρατιωτῶν τῶν ἡμετέρων ἐπὶ παρατάξεως ἔπε σον, βασιλεῖ φθαρτῷ τὴν πίστιν φυλάττοντες; ἡμεῖς δὲ ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰς τὸν ἀληθινὸν βασιλέα πίστεως τὴν ζωὴν ταύτην οὐ προησόμεθα; Πόσοι τὸν τῶν κακούργων ὑπέστησαν θάνατον, ἁλόντες ἐπ' ἀδική μασιν; ἡμεῖς δὲ ὑπὲρ δικαιοσύνης τὸν θάνατον οὐχ ὑποίσομεν; Μὴ ἐκκλίνωμεν, ὦ συστρατιῶται, μὴ δῶμεν νῶτα τῷ διαβόλῳ. Σάρκες εἰσὶ, μὴ φει σώμεθα· ἐπειδὴ δεῖ πάντως ἀποθανεῖν, ἀποθάνωμεν ἵνα ζήσωμεν. Γενέσθω ἡ θυσία ἡμῶν ἐνώπιόν σου, Κύριε· καὶ προσδεχθείημεν, ὡς θυσία ζῶσα, εὐάρεστός σοι, τῷ κρύει τούτῳ ὁλοκαυτού μενοι, καλὴ ἡ προσφορὰ, καινὸν τὸ ὁλοκαύτωμα, οὐ διὰ πυρὸς, ἀλλὰ διὰ κρύους ὁλοκαρπούμενον.

Τούτους τοὺς παρακλητικοὺς ἐνδιδόντες ἀλλήλοις, καὶ ἄλλος ἄλλῳ ἐγκελευόμενοι, ὥσπερ τινὰ προφυλακὴν ἐν πο λέμῳ πληροῦντες, τὴν νύκτα παρέπεμπον, φέ ροντες τὰ παρόντα γενναίως, χαίροντες τοῖς ἐλπι ζομένοις, καταγελῶντες τοῦ ἀντιπάλου. Μία δὲ ἦν 31.520 πάντων εὐχή. Τεσσαράκοντα εἰσήλθομεν εἰς τὸ στά διον, οἱ τεσσαράκοντα στεφανωθείημεν, ∆έσποτα. Μὴ λείψῃ τῷ ἀριθμῷ μηδὲ εἷς. Τίμιός ἐστιν, ὃν ἐτίμησας τῇ νηστείᾳ τῶν τεσσαράκοντα ἡμερῶν, δι' οὗ νομο θεσία εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον. Τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέ ραις ἐν νηστείᾳ Ἠλίας ἐκζητήσας τὸν Κύριον, τῆς θέας ἔτυχεν. Καὶ ἡ μὲν ἐκείνων εὐχὴ τοιαύτη· εἷς δὲ τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ, ὀκλάσας πρὸς τὰ δεινὰ, λειπο τακτήσας ᾤχετο, πένθος ἀμύθητον τοῖς ἁγίοις κατα λιπών. Ἀλλ' οὐ γὰρ ἀφῆκεν αὐτῶν ἀτελεῖς γενέσθαι τὰς δεήσεις ὁ Κύριος. Ὁ γὰρ τὴν φυλακὴν τῶν μαρτύρων πεπιστευμένος, ἐγγύθεν ἀπό τινος γυ μνασίου διαθαλπόμενος, ἀπεσκόπει τὸ μέλλον, ἕτοιμος προσδέχεσθαι τῶν στρατιωτῶν τοὺς προσ φεύγοντας. Καὶ γὰρ αὖ καὶ τοῦτο, ἐγγύθεν εἶναι λουτρὸν, ἐπενοήθη, ὀξεῖαν τὴν βοήθειαν τοῖς μετα βαλλομένοις ἐπαγγελλόμενον. Ὅπερ μέντοι τοῖς ἐναντίοις κακούργως ἐπενοήθη, τοιοῦτον ἐξευρεῖν τῆς ἀθλήσεως τόπον, ἐν ᾧ τὸ ἕτοιμον τῆς παραμυ θίας ἐκλύειν ἔμελλε τῶν ἀγωνιζομένων τὴν ἔνστασιν· τοῦτο λαμπροτέραν ἐδείκνυε τὴν ὑπομονὴν τῶν μαρτύρων. Οὐ γὰρ ὁ ἀπορῶν τῶν ἀναγκαίων καρτερικὸς, ἀλλ' ὁ ἐν ἀφθονίᾳ τῆς ἀπολαύσεως ἐγκαρτερῶν τοῖς δεινοῖς. Ὡς δὲ οἱ μὲν ἠγωνίζοντο, ὁ δὲ ἐπετήρει τὸ ἐκβησόμενον, εἶδε θέαμα ξένον, δυνάμεις τινὰς ἐξ οὐρανῶν κατιούσας, καὶ οἷον παρὰ βασιλέως δωρεὰς μεγάλας διανεμούσας τοῖς στρατιώταις· αἳ τοῖς μὲν ἄλλοις πᾶσι διῄρουν τὰ δῶρα, ἕνα δὲ μόνον ἀφῆκαν ἀγέραστον, ἀνάξιον κρίνασαι τῶν οὐρανίων τιμῶν· ὃς εὐθὺς, πρὸς τοὺς πόνους ἀπαγορεύσας, πρὸς τοὺς ἐναντίους ἀπηυτομόλησεν. Ἐλεεινὸν θέαμα τοῖς δι καίοις ὁ στρατιώτης φυγὰς, ὁ ἀριστεὺς αἰχμάλωτος, τὸ Χριστοῦ πρόβατον θηριάλωτον· καὶ τό γε ἐλεεινό τερον, ὅτι καὶ τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς διήμαρτε, καὶ οὐδὲ ταύτης ἀπήλαυσεν, εὐθὺς αὐτῷ τῆς σαρκὸς ἐν τῇ προσβολῇ τῆς θέρμης διαλυθείσης. Καὶ ὁ μὲν φιλό ζωος ἔπεσεν ἀνομήσας διακενῆς· ὁ δὲ δήμιος, ὡς εἶδεν αὐτὸν ἐκκλίναντα, καὶ πρὸς τὸ βαλανεῖον ἀποδραμόντα, ἑαυτὸν εἰς τὴν τοῦ λειποτακτήσαντος χώραν ἀντικατέστησε, καὶ ῥίψας τὰ περιβόλαια, τοῖς γυμνοῖς ἑαυτὸν ἐγκατέμιξε, κράζων τὴν αὐτὴν βοὴν τοῖς ἁγίοις· Χριστιανός εἰμι. Καὶ τῷ ἀθρόῳ τῆς μεταβολῆς ἐκπλήξας τοὺς συμπαρόντας, τόν τε ἀριθμὸν ἀνεπλήρωσε, καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τῷ καταμαλακι σθέντι λύπην τῇ παρ' ἑαυτοῦ προσθήκῃ παρεμυθή σατο, μιμησάμενος τοὺς ἐπὶ παρατάξεως, οἳ, τοῦ κατὰ τὴν πρώτην ἀσπίδα πεσόντος, εὐθὺς ἀναπληροῦσι τὴν φάλαγγα, ὡς μὴ τὸν συνασπισμὸν αὐτοῖς διακοπῆναι τῷ λείποντι. Τοιοῦτον δή τι καὶ αὐτὸς ἐποίησεν.