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buffet me. For this I besought the Lord three times, and He said to me: My grace is sufficient for you; for My power is made perfect in weakness.

And I know that some think it is a bodily weakness; but it is not this, it is not; but he calls the opposing men an angel of Satan; for this "Satan" is a Hebrew word; and Satan means the adversary. So he calls the instruments of the devil, and the men who serve him, his angels. Why then, he says, is it 'in the flesh'? Because the flesh was scourged, but the soul was lightened, lifted up by the hope of things to come; for it did not touch the soul, nor did it trip up the inner reasonings, but the machinations and the war stopped at the flesh, being unable to pass within. Since, then, this was cut, this was scourged, this was bound (for it was impossible to bind the soul), for this reason he says, 'There was given me a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me,' alluding to the temptations, the tribulations, the persecutions. Then what? 'For this I besought the Lord three times,' he says; that is, 'I prayed many times,' he says, 'to have a little respite from the temptations.' But you remember the reason I gave, that for this cause God allows His servants to be scourged, to be persecuted, to suffer countless terrible things, in order to show His own power. For behold, here too, having prayed that the countless terrible things and the adversaries might depart from him, he did not obtain his request; and he gives the reason for which he did not obtain his request. What then is the reason? for nothing prevents us from mentioning it again; 'My grace is sufficient for you,' He says, 'for My power is made perfect in weakness.' 4. Do you see that for this reason God allows the angels of Satan to press upon His servants, and to cause them countless troubles, so that His power may be shown forth? For truly, whether we are speaking to Greeks or to the wretched Jews, this is sufficient for us as a proof of the divine power, that the faith, having been introduced through countless wars, prevailed, and with the entire inhabited world opposing it, and 50.604 with all people pushing away with great vehemence those twelve men, I mean the apostles, they were able in a short time, being scourged, being persecuted, suffering countless terrible things, to overcome with all excess those who did these things.

For these reasons God also allowed the blessed Eustathius to be carried off into exile, that He might show us more greatly both the power of the truth and the weakness of the heretics. When he was about to depart on his journey, then, he left the city, but he did not leave your love; nor, because he was cast out of the Church, did he consider himself a stranger to the leadership and the care for you, but he cared and was concerned even more then; and having called everyone, he urged them not to give way, nor to yield to the wolves, nor to betray the flock to them, but to remain within, silencing and refuting them, and securing the more simple of the brethren. And that he commanded well, the outcome showed; for if you had not remained in the Church then, the greater part of the city would have been corrupted, with the wolves devouring the sheep in a desolate place; but his word prevented them from displaying their own wickedness with impunity. But not only the outcome showed it, but also the words of Paul; for he too, having been taught by him, advised these things. What then does Paul say? When he was about to be led away to Rome on his final journey, after which he would no longer see his disciples; 'For I will see you no more,' he says; and he said this, not wanting to grieve them, but to secure them; so when he was about to depart from there, he secured them in this way, saying: 'I know that after my departure grievous wolves will enter in among you,' 'and from among your own selves will arise men speaking perverse things.' The war is threefold: the nature of the beasts, the harshness of the war, the fact that the combatants are not strangers, but one's own people; for

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κολαφίζῃ· ὑπὲρ τούτου τρὶς τὸν Κύριον παρε κάλεσα, καὶ εἴρηκέ μοι· Ἀρκεῖ σοι ἡ χάρις μου· ἡ γὰρ δύναμίς μου ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ τελειοῦται.

Καὶ οἶδα μὲν ὅτι τινὲς ἀσθένειαν εἶναι νομίζουσι σωμα τικήν· οὐκ ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο, οὐκ ἔστιν· ἀλλ' ἄγγελον Σατᾶν τοὺς ἀντικειμένους ἀνθρώπους καλεῖ· τὸ γὰρ Σατᾶν τοῦτο Ἑβραϊκὴ λέξις ἐστί· Σατᾶν δὲ ὁ ἀντικείμενος λέγεται. Τὰ οὖν σκεύη τοῦ διαβόλου, καὶ τοὺς ἐκείνῳ διακονουμένους ἀνθρώπους ἀγγέλους αὐ τοῦ καλεῖ. ∆ιὰ τί οὖν, φησὶ, πρόσκειται τῇ σαρκί; Ὅτι ἡ σὰρξ ἐμαστίζετο, ἡ δὲ ψυχὴ ἐκουφίζετο τῇ ἐλπίδι τῶν μελλόντων ἐπαιρομένη· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἥπτετο τῆς ψυχῆς, οὐδὲ ὑπεσκέλιζε τοὺς ἔνδον λογισμοὺς, ἀλλὰ μέχρι τῆς σαρκὸς εἱστήκει τὰ μηχανήματα καὶ ὁ πόλεμος, εἴσω διαβῆναι μὴ δυνάμενος. Ἐπεὶ οὖν αὕτη ἐτέμνετο, αὕτη ἐμαστίζετο, αὕτη ἐδεσμεῖτο (ψυχὴν γὰρ δῆσαι ἀδύνατον ἦν), διὰ τοῦτο λέγει, Ἐδόθη μοι σκόλοψ τῇ σαρκὶ ἄγγελος Σατᾶν, ἵνα με κολαφίζῃ, τοὺς πειρασμοὺς, τὰς θλίψεις, τοὺς διωγμοὺς αἰνιττόμενος. Εἶτα τί; Ὑπὲρ τούτου τρὶς, φησὶ, τὸν Κύριον παρεκάλεσα· τοῦτ' ἔστι, Πολλάκις ἐδεήθην, φησὶν, ὥστε ἀναπνεῦσαι μικρὸν ἐκ τῶν πειρασμῶν. Ὑμεῖς δὲ μέμνησθε τῆς αἰτίας ἧς εἶπον, ὅτι διὰ τοῦτο συγχωρεῖ ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ δούλους μαστίζεσθαι, ἐλαύνεσθαι, μυρία πάσχειν δεινὰ, ἵνα τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δείξῃ δύναμιν. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ καὶ ἐνταῦθα δεηθεὶς, ὥστε ἀποστῆναι αὐτοῦ τὰ μυρία δεινὰ καὶ τοὺς ἀντικει μένους, οὐκ ἐπέτυχε τῆς αἰτήσεως· καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν τίθησι, δι' ἣν οὐκ ἐπέτυχε τῆς αἰτήσεως. Τίς οὖν ἐστιν ἡ αἰτία; οὐδὲν γὰρ κωλύει πάλιν αὐτῆς ἐπι μνησθῆναι· Ἀρκεῖ σοι, φησὶν, ἡ χάρις μου· ἡ γὰρ δύναμις μου ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ τελειοῦται. δʹ. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι διὰ τοῦτο συγχωρεῖ ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς ἀγγέλους τοῦ Σατανᾶ τοῖς αὐτοῦ δούλοις ἐπικεῖσθαι, καὶ μυρία παρέχειν πράγματα, ἵνα ἡ δύναμις αὐτοῦ διαφαίνη ται; Ὄντως γὰρ κἂν πρὸς Ἕλληνας, κἂν πρὸς τοὺς ἀθλίους Ἰουδαίους διαλεγώμεθα, ἀρκεῖ τοῦτο ἡμῖν εἰς ἀπόδειξιν τῆς θείας δυνάμεως, τὸ διὰ μυρίων πολέμων τὴν πίστιν εἰσενεχθεῖσαν κρατῆσαι, καὶ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἁπάσης ἀντιπραττούσης, καὶ 50.604 μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς σφοδρότητος ἀπωθουμένων ἁπάντων τοὺς δώδεκα ἀνθρώπους ἐκείνους, τοὺς ἀποστόλους λέγω, δυνηθῆναι ἐν βραχεῖ καιρῷ μαστιζομένους, ἐλαυνομένους, μυρία πάσχοντας δεινὰ, τῶν ταῦτα ποιούντων κρατῆσαι μεθ' ὑπερβολῆς ἁπάσης.

∆ιὰ ταῦτα καὶ τὸν μακάριον Εὐστάθιον ἀφῆκε πρὸς τὴν ὑπερορίαν ὁ Θεὸς ἀπενεχθῆναι, ἵνα μειζόνως ἡμῖν δείξῃ καὶ τὴν δύναμιν τῆς ἀληθείας, καὶ τῶν αἱρε τικῶν τὴν ἀσθένειαν. Μέλλων τοίνυν πρὸς τὴν ἀπο δημίαν ἀπιέναι, τὴν μὲν πόλιν ἠφίει, τὴν δὲ ἀγάπην ὑμῶν οὐκ ἠφίει· οὐδὲ ἐπειδὴ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐξεβάλ λετο, καὶ τῆς προστασίας καὶ τῆς ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν κηδε μονίας ἀλλότριον ἑαυτὸν εἶναι ἐνόμιζεν, ἀλλὰ μειζό νως τότε ἐκήδετο, καὶ ἐφρόντιζε· καὶ καλέσας ἅπαν τας παρεκάλεσε μὴ παραχωρῆσαι, μηδὲ ἐνδοῦναι τοῖς λύκοις, μηδὲ προδοῦναι τὴν ποίμνην αὐτοῖς, ἀλλὰ μένειν ἔνδον ἐπιστομίζοντας μὲν αὐτοὺς καὶ διελέγχοντας, τοὺς ἀκεραιοτέρους δὲ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἀσφαλι ζομένους. Καὶ ὅτι καλῶς ἐκέλευσε, τὸ τέλος ἔδειξεν· εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἐμείνατε ἐν τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ τότε, τὸ πλέον τῆς πόλεως ἦν διεφθαρμένον, ἐπ' ἐρημίας τῶν λύκων τὰ πρόβατα ἐσθιόντων· ἀλλ' ἐκείνου τὸ ῥῆμα ἐκώλυσε μετὰ ἀδείας αὐτοὺς τὴν οἰκείαν ἐπιδείξασθαι πονη ρίαν. Οὐ τὸ τέλος δὲ ἔδειξε μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ Παύ λου ῥήματα· καὶ γὰρ οὗτος παρ' ἐκείνου παιδευθεὶς ταῦτα παρῄνει. Τί οὖν ὁ Παῦλός φησι; Μέλλων ἀπ άγεσθαί ποτε εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην τὴν ἐσχάτην ἀποδημίαν, μεθ' ἣν οὐκ ἔτι ἔμελλεν ὄψεσθαι τοὺς μαθητάς· Οὐκ ἔτι γὰρ ὑμᾶς ὄψομαι, φησί· τοῦτο δὲ ἔλεγεν, οὐχὶ λυπῆσαι, ἀλλ' ἀσφαλίσασθαι βουλόμενος· μέλλων τοίνυν ἀποδημεῖν ἐκεῖθεν, οὕτω πως αὐτοὺς ἠσφαλίζετο λέγων· Οἶδα ὅτι μετὰ τὴν ἄφιξίν μου εἰσ ελεύσονται πρὸς ὑμᾶς λύκοι βαρεῖς, καὶ ἐξ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν ἀναστήσονται ἄνδρες λαλοῦντες διε στραμμένα. Τριπλοῦς ὁ πόλεμος, ἡ φύσις τῶν θηρίων, ἡ χαλεπότης τοῦ πολέμου, τὸ μὴ ἀλλοτρίους, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἰκείους εἶναι τοὺς πολεμοῦντας· διὰ