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again: I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not; and after a little: Lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed. And you see him continually in tears and lamentations for his own, and fearing, and always trembling for those who had believed. Just as, then, we admire a pilot not when he is able to save the sailors when the sea is calm and the ship is carried by favorable winds, but when the sea is raging, the waves are rising, the passengers within are quarreling, and a great storm from within and without is besetting the sailors, he is able to steer the vessel with all safety; so also we should be astonished and admire those who were then entrusted with the Church far more than those who manage it now, when there was much war from without and from within, when the plant of faith was still more tender and in need of much care, when, like a newborn infant, the multitude of the Church required much providence and a most wise soul to nurse it. And that you may learn more clearly of what great crowns those were worthy who were then entrusted with the 50.591 Church, and how much labor and danger it is to undertake a matter in its preludes and beginning, and to be the first to approach it, I bring you the testimony of Christ, who decrees these things and confirms the opinion we have expressed. For seeing many coming to him, and wishing to show the apostles that the prophets had labored more than they, he says: Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.

And yet the apostles labored much more than the prophets; but because they first laid down the word of piety, and drew to the truth the souls of men who were untaught, to them is the greater part of the labor reckoned. For it is not the same, it is not, to come and teach after many other teachers, and to be the first to sow the seeds. For that which has already been studied, and has become the custom of many, would easily be well-received; but that which is now heard for the first time disturbs the mind of the listeners, and causes much trouble for the teachers. This, at any rate, also disturbed the listeners in Athens, and for this reason they turned away from Paul, accusing him, saying, Thou bringest certain strange things to our ears. For if now the leadership of the Church provides much toil and labor to those who govern it, consider how double, and triple, and many times more was the labor then, when there were dangers, and battles, and plots, and continuous fear. It is not possible, it is not, to represent in word the difficulty which those saints then endured; but only he will know it who has come through the experience of it.

d. Let me speak also of a fourth crown that arises for us from this episcopate. What

then is this one? That our own native city was entrusted to him. For it is laborious to preside over even one hundred and fifty men alone; but to be entrusted with so great a city, and a people extending to twenty myriads, of how much virtue and wisdom do you think it is a proof? For just as in armies the more royal and populous phalanxes are entrusted to the wiser of the generals; so indeed in cities, the larger and more populous are entrusted to the most approved of rulers. And in other ways, God had great regard for this city, as He showed also through their deeds; at any rate, Peter, the ruler of the whole world, to whom He entrusted the keys of heaven, to whom He permitted to manage and control everything, He commanded to spend a long time here; so for Him our city was a counterbalance to the whole world. And since I have mentioned Peter, I have also seen a fifth crown woven from him; and this is that this man succeeded him as

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πάλιν· Φοβοῦμαι μή πως ἐλθὼν οὐχ οἵους θέλω εὕρω ὑμᾶς, κἀγὼ εὑρεθῶ ὑμῖν οἷον οὐ θέλετε· καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Μὴ πάλιν ἐλθόντα με πρὸς ὑμᾶς ταπεινώσῃ ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ πενθήσω πολλοὺς τῶν προημαρτηκότων, καὶ μὴ μετανοησάντων ἐπὶ τῇ ἀκαθαρσίᾳ, καὶ ἀσελγείᾳ, καὶ πορνείᾳ ᾗ ἔπραξαν. Καὶ διὰ παντὸς ὁρᾷς ἐν δάκρυσιν αὐτὸν ὄντα καὶ θρήνοις διὰ τοὺς οἰκείους, καὶ δεδοικότα, καὶ τρέμοντα ὑπὲρ τῶν πεπιστευκότων ἀεί. Ὥσπερ οὖν κυβερνήτην θαυμάζομεν οὐχ ὅταν ἡσυχαζούσης τῆς θα λάττης καὶ ἐξ οὐρίων τῆς νηὸς φερομένης δυνηθῇ τοὺς ἐμπλέοντας διασῶσαι, ἀλλ' ὅταν μαινομένου τοῦ πελά γους, διανισταμένων τῶν κυμάτων, αὐτῶν τῶν ἔνδον ἐπι βατῶν στασιαζόντων, πολλοῦ χειμῶνος ἔσωθεν ἔξωθεν τοὺς ἐμπλέοντας πολιορκοῦντος, δυνηθῇ κατευθῦναι τὸ σκάφος μετὰ ἀσφαλείας ἁπάσης· οὕτω καὶ τοὺς τότε τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν ἐγχειρισθέντας ἐκπλήττεσθαι χρὴ καὶ θαυ μάζειν πολλῷ πλέον τῶν νῦν οἰκονομούντων αὐτὴν, ὅτε πολὺς ὁ πόλεμος ἔξωθεν ἔσωθεν, ὅτε ἁπαλώτερον ἔτι τὸ φυτὸν τῆς πίστεως ἦν, καὶ πολλῆς δεόμενον ἐπιμελείας, ὅτε καθάπερ ἀρτίτοκον βρέφος τὸ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας πλῆθος πολλῆς ἔχρῃζε τῆς προνοίας, καὶ σοφωτάτης τινὸς τῆς μελλούσης αὐτὸ τιθηνεῖσθαι ψυχῆς. Καὶ ἵνα σαφέ στερον μάθητε, ὅσων ἦσαν ἄξιοι στεφάνων οἱ τότε τὴν 50.591 Ἐκκλησίαν ἐμπιστευθέντες, καὶ ὅσος πόνος καὶ κίνδυνος ἐν προοιμίοις καὶ ἀρχῇ πρᾶγμα ἀναδέξασθαι, καὶ πρώ τως ἐλθεῖν ἐπ' αὐτῷ, τοῦ Χριστοῦ παράγω μαρτυρίαν ὑμῖν ψηφιζομένου ταῦτα καὶ τὴν ὑφ' ἡμῶν εἰρημένην κυροῦντος γνώμην. Ἰδὼν γὰρ πολλοὺς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐρχο μένους, καὶ βουλόμενος δεῖξαι τοῖς ἀποστόλοις, ὅτι πλέον αὐτῶν ἔκαμον οἱ προφῆται, φησίν· Ἄλλοι κεκοπιάκα σι, καὶ ὑμεῖς εἰς τὸν κόπον αὐτῶν εἰσεληλύθατε.

Καίτοι πολλῷ πλείονα τῶν προφητῶν ἔκαμνον οἱ ἀπό στολοι· ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ πρότεροι ἐκεῖνοι τὸν λόγον τῆς εὐ σεβείας κατέβαλον, καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀδι δάκτους οὔσας πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐπεσπάσαντο, ἐκείνοις τὸ πλέον τοῦ πόνου ψηφίζεται. Οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἴσον, οὐκ ἔστι, μετὰ πολλοὺς ἑτέρους διδασκάλους ἐλθόντα διδάσκειν, καὶ πρῶτον αὐτὸν κατα βάλλειν τὰ σπέρματα. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἤδη μελετηθὲν, καὶ ἐν συνηθείᾳ γενόμενον πολλῶν, εὐπαράδεκτον ἂν ῥᾳδίως γένοιτο· τὸ δὲ νῦν πρῶτον ἀκουόμενον θορυβεῖ τὴν διά νοιαν τῶν ἀκροατῶν, καὶ πολλὰ τοῖς διδάσκουσι παρέχει πράγματα. Τοῦτο γοῦν καὶ ἐν Ἀθήναις ἐθορύβει τοὺς ἀκούοντας, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀπεστρέφοντο τὸν Παῦλον, ἐγ καλοῦντες, ὅτι Ξενίζοντά τινα εἰσφέρεις εἰς τὰς ἀκοὰς ἡμῶν. Εἰ γὰρ νῦν κάματον καὶ πόνον πολὺν Ἐκκλησίας προστασία παρέχει τοῖς κυβερνῶσιν αὐτὴν, ἐννόησον πῶς διπλοῦς, καὶ τριπλοῦς, καὶ πολλαπλασίων ἦν τότε ὁ πόνος, ὅτε κίνδυνοι, καὶ μάχαι, καὶ ἐπιβουλαὶ, καὶ φό βος διηνεκής. Οὐκ ἔστιν, οὐκ ἔστι, παραστῆσαι τῷ λόγῳ τὴν δυσκολίαν, ἢν ὑπέμενον οἱ ἅγιοι τότε ἐκεῖνοι· ἀλλ' οὗτος αὐτὴν εἴσεται μόνος ὁ διὰ τῆς πείρας αὐτῆς ἐλθών.

δʹ. Εἴπω καὶ τέταρτον στέφανον ἐκ τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς ἡμῖν ἀνίσχοντα ταύτης. Τίς

οὖν ἐστιν οὗτος; Τὸ τὴν πατρίδα αὐτὸν ἐπιτραπῆναι τὴν ἡμετέραν. Ἐπίπονον μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἑκατὸν ἀνδρῶν καὶ πεντήκοντα προστῆναι μόνον· τὸ δὲ πόλιν ἐγχειρισθῆναι τοσαύτην, καὶ δῆμον εἰς εἴκοσιν ἐκτεινόμενον μυριάδας, πόσης ἀρετῆς οἴει καὶ σοφίας ἀπόδειξιν εἶναι; Καὶ γὰρ ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῶν στρατοπέδων τὰς βασιλικωτέρας φάλαγγας καὶ πληθυούσας μᾶλλον οἱ σοφώτεροι τῶν στρατηγῶν ἐγχειρίζονται· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν πόλεων, τὰς μείζους καὶ πολυανθρώπους οἱ δο κιμώτεροι τῶν ἀρχόντων ἐμπιστεύονται. Καὶ ἄλλως δὲ πολὺς ἦν τῆς πόλεως ταύτης τῷ Θεῷ λόγος, ὡς καὶ διὰ τῶν ἔργων αὐτῶν ἐδήλωσε· τὸν γοῦν τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐπιστάτην ἁπάσης Πέτρον, ᾧ τὰς κλεῖς ἐνεχείρισε τῶν οὐρανῶν, ᾧ πάντα ἄγειν καὶ φέρειν ἐπέτρεψε, πολὺν ἐν ταῦθα χρόνον ἐνδιατρίψαι ἐκέλευσεν· οὕτως αὐτῷ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἁπάσης ἡ πόλις ἀντίῤῥοπος ἡ ἡμετέρα. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐμνήσθην Πέτρου, καὶ πέμπτον ἐξ αὐτοῦ στέφανον εἶδον πλεκόμενον· οὗτος δέ ἐστι τὸ μετ' ἐκεῖ νον τοῦτον διαδέξασθαι τὴν