Basil of Caesarea, On Forty Martyrs of Sebastia

He saw the heavenly wonders, he recognized the 31.521 truth, he fled to the Master, he was numbered with the martyrs. He renewed the deeds of the disciples. Judas departed, and Matthias was brought in his place. He became an imitator of Paul, yesterday a persecutor, today a preacher of the gospel. He also had his calling from above, Not from men, nor through man. He believed in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; he was baptized into him, not by another, but by his own faith; not in water, but in his own blood. And so, at the beginning of the day, while still breathing, they were delivered to the fire, and the remains of the fire were cast into the river; so that the contest of the blessed ones passed through all of creation. On the earth they struggled, in the air they persevered, to the fire they were delivered, the water received them. Theirs is the voice: We went through fire and water, and you brought us out to a place of refreshment. These are they who have taken possession of our country, like continuous towers, providing security from the attack of enemies, not confining themselves to one place, but having already sojourned in many regions, and having adorned many homelands. And the paradox is that they do not visit those who receive them divided one by one; but mixed with one another, they dance in unison.

O, the wonder! Neither are they lacking in number, nor do they admit of addition. If you divide them into a hundred, they do not exceed their own number; if you gather them into one, they still remain forty, according to the nature of fire. For fire both passes to the one who kindles it, and remains whole with the one who has it; and the forty are both all together, and all are with each one. The ungrudging beneficence, the unspent grace; a ready help for Christians, an assembly of martyrs, an army of trophy-bearers, a choir of those who give glory. What would you not do, to find one somewhere to entreat 31.524 the Lord for you? There are forty, sending up a harmonious prayer. Where two or three are gathered in the name of the Lord, there he is in their midst. But where there are forty, who doubts the presence of God? The one who is afflicted takes refuge in the forty, the one who rejoices runs to them; the one, to find release from difficulties; the other, that his better things might be preserved for him. Here a pious woman is found praying for her children, asking for the return of her husband who is abroad, for the salvation of one who is sick. May your requests be with the martyrs. Let the young men imitate their peers; let the fathers pray to be fathers of such children; let the mothers be taught the story of a good mother. The mother of one of those blessed ones, seeing that the others had already been perfected by the cold, but that her own son was still breathing due to his strength and endurance against the terrible things, and that the executioners were leaving him behind as one who might yet change his mind, she herself, taking him up in her own hands, placed him on the cart, on which the rest were laid together and being led to the pyre, truly the mother of a martyr.

For she did not let fall an ignoble tear; nor did she utter anything base and unworthy of the occasion; but, "Go," she says, "O child, on the good journey with your peers, with your companions; do not be left behind from the chorus; do not appear second to the others before the Master." Truly a good shoot from a good root. The noble mother showed that she had nourished him with the doctrines of piety rather than with milk. And so he who was thus nourished was thus sent forth by a pious mother; but the devil departed in shame. For having moved all of creation against them, he found everything defeated by the virtue of the men: a stormy night, a wintery land, the time of the year, the nakedness of their bodies. O holy chorus! O sacred company! O unbreakable shield-wall! O common guardians of the human race! Good sharers of our cares, helpers in prayer, most powerful intercessors, stars of the world, flowers of the

Εἶδε τὰ οὐράνια θαύματα, ἐπέγνω τὴν 31.521 ἀλήθειαν, προσέφυγε τῷ ∆εσπότῃ, συνηριθμήθη τοῖς μάρτυσι. Τὰ τῶν μαθητῶν ἀνενεώσατο. Ἀπῆλθεν Ἰούδας, καὶ ἀντεισήχθη Ματθίας. Μιμητὴς ἐγένετο Παύλου, ὁ χθὲς διώκτης, σήμερον εὐαγγελιζόμενος. Ἄνωθεν ἔσχε καὶ αὐτὸς τὴν κλῆσιν, Οὐκ ἀπ' ἀν θρώπων, οὐδὲ δι' ἀνθρώπου. Ἐπίστευσεν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ· ἐβαπτίσθη εἰς αὐτὸν, οὐχ ὑπὸ ἄλλου, ἀλλ' ὑπὸ τῆς οἰκείας πί στεως· οὐκ ἐν ὕδατι, ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ αἵματι. Καὶ οὕτως, ἡμέρας ἀρχομένης, ἔτι ἐμπνέοντες τῷ πυρὶ παρεδόθησαν, καὶ τὰ τοῦ πυρὸς λεί ψανα ἐπὶ τὸν ποταμὸν ἀπεῤῥίφη· ὥστε διὰ πάσης τῆς κτίσεως διεξελθεῖν τῶν μακαρίων τὴν ἄθλησιν. Ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἠγωνίσαντο, τῷ ἀέρι ἐνεκαρτέρησαν, τῷ πυρὶ παρεδόθησαν, τὸ ὕδωρ αὐτοὺς ὑπεδέξατο. Ἐκείνων ἐστὶν ἡ φωνή· ∆ιήλθομεν διὰ πυρὸς καὶ ὕδατος, καὶ ἐξήγαγες ἡμᾶς εἰς ἀναψυχήν. Οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ τὴν καθ' ἡμᾶς χώραν διαλαβόντες, οἱονεὶ πύργοι τινὲς συνεχεῖς, ἀσφάλειαν ἐκ τῆς τῶν ἐναν τίων καταδρομῆς παρεχόμενοι, οὐχ ἑνὶ τόπῳ ἑαυ τοὺς κατακλείσαντες, ἀλλὰ πολλοῖς ἤδη ἐπιξε νωθέντες χωρίοις, καὶ πολλὰς πατρίδας κατακοσμή σαντες. Καὶ τὸ παράδοξον, οὐ καθ' ἕνα διαμερισθέν τες τοῖς δεχομένοις ἐπιφοιτῶσιν· ἀλλ' ἀναμι χθέντες ἀλλήλοις, ἡνωμένως χορεύουσιν.

Ὢ τοῦ θαύ ματος! Οὔτε ἐλλείπουσι τῷ ἀριθμῷ, οὔτε πλεονα σμὸν ἐπιδέχονται. Ἐὰν εἰς ἑκατὸν αὐτοὺς διέλῃς, τὸν οἰκεῖον ἀριθμὸν οὐκ ἐκβαίνουσιν· ἐὰν εἰς ἓν συν αγάγῃς, τεσσαράκοντα καὶ οὕτω μένουσι, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ πυρὸς φύσιν. Καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνο καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἐξ άπτοντα μεταβαίνει, καὶ ὅλον ἐστὶ παρὰ τῷ ἔχοντι· καὶ οἱ τεσσαράκοντα καὶ πάντες εἰσὶν ὁμοῦ, καὶ πάντες εἰσὶ παρ' ἑκάστῳ. Ἡ ἄφθονος εὐεργεσία, ἡ μὴ δαπανωμένη χάρις· ἑτοίμη βοήθεια Χριστιανοῖς, ἐκκλησία μαρτύρων, στρατὸς τροπαιοφόρων, χορὸς δοξολογούντων. Πόσα ἂν ἔκαμες, ἵνα ἕνα που εὕ 31.524 ρῃς ὑπὲρ σοῦ δυσωποῦντα τὸν Κύριον; Τεσσαράκοντά εἰσι, σύμφωνον ἀναπέμποντες προσευχήν. Ὅπου δύο ἢ τρεῖς εἰσι συνηγμένοι ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Κυρίου, ἐκεῖ ἐστιν ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν. Ὅπου δὲ τεσσαράκοντα, τίς ἀμφιβάλλει Θεοῦ παρουσίαν; Ὁ θλιβόμενος ἐπὶ τοὺς τεσσαράκοντα καταφεύγει, ὁ εὐφραινόμενος ἐπ' αὐτοὺς ἀποτρέχει· ὁ μὲν, ἵνα λύσιν εὕρῃ τῶν δυσχερῶν· ὁ δὲ, ἵνα φυλαχθῇ αὐτῷ τὰ χρηστότερα. Ἐνταῦθα γυνὴ εὐσεβὴς ὑπὲρ τέκνων εὐχομένη κα ταλαμβάνεται, ἀποδημοῦντι ἀνδρὶ τὴν ἐπάνοδον αἰ τουμένη, ἀῤῥωστοῦντι τὴν σωτηρίαν. Μετὰ μαρτύ ρων γενέσθω τὰ αἰτήματα ὑμῶν. Οἱ νεανίσκοι τοὺς ἡλικιώτας μιμείσθωσαν· οἱ πατέρες, τοιούτων εἶναι παίδων πατέρες εὐχέσθωσαν· αἱ μητέρες, καλῆς μητρὸς διήγημα διδαχθήτωσαν. Μήτηρ ἑνὸς τῶν μακαρίων ἐκείνων, θεασαμένη τοὺς ἄλλους ἤδη τῷ κρύει τελειωθέντας, τὸν δὲ ἑαυτῆς υἱὸν ἔτι ἐμπνέοντα ὑπό τε ῥώμης καὶ τῆς πρὸς τὰ δεινὰ καρ τερίας, καταλιμπανόντων αὐτὸν τῶν δημίων ὡς δυ νάμενόν γε μεταβουλεύσασθαι, αὐτὴ ταῖς οἰκείαις χερσὶν ἀραμένη, ἐπέθηκε τῇ ἁμάξῃ, ἐφ' ἧς οἱ λοιποὶ συγκείμενοι πρὸς τὴν πυρὰν ἤγοντο, μάρτυρος ὄντως μήτηρ.

Οὐ γὰρ δάκρυον ἀφῆκεν ἀγεννές· οὐδ' ἐφθέγξατο ταπεινόν τι καὶ ἀνάξιον τοῦ καιροῦ· ἀλλ', Ἄπιθι, φησὶν, ὦ παῖ, τὴν ἀγαθὴν πορείαν μετὰ τῶν ἡλικιωτῶν, μετὰ τῶν συσκήνων· μὴ ἀπολειφθῇς τῆς χορείας· μὴ δεύτερος τῶν ἄλλων ἐμφανισθῇς τῷ ∆εσπότῃ. Ὄντως ἀγαθῆς ῥίζης ἀγαθὸν βλάστημα. Ἔδειξεν ἡ γενναία μήτηρ, ὅτι δόγμασιν εὐσεβείας ἐξέθρεψεν αὐτὸν μᾶλλον ἢ γάλακτι. Καὶ ὁ μὲν οὕτω τραφεὶς οὕτω προεπ έμφθη παρὰ μητρὸς εὐσεβοῦς· ὁ δὲ διάβολος ἀπῆλθε κατ ησχυμμένος. Ἅπασαν γὰρ ἐπ' αὐτοὺς κινήσας τὴν κτίσιν, πάντα εὗρεν ἡττώμενα τῆς τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἀρε τῆς, νύκτα δυσήνεμον, πατρίδα χειμέριον, τὴν ὥραν τοῦ ἔτους, τῶν σωμάτων τὴν γύμνωσιν. Ὢ χορὸς ἅγιος! ὢ σύνταγμα ἱερόν! ὢ συνασπισμὸς ἀῤ ῥαγής! ὢ κοινοὶ φύλακες τοῦ γένους τῶν ἀνθρώ πων! ἀγαθοὶ κοινωνοὶ φροντίδων, δεήσεως συνερ γοὶ, πρεσβευταὶ δυνατώτατοι, ἀστέρες τῆς οἰκουμέ νης, ἄνθη τῶν