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perplexed by the helplessness of the storm, not seeing the sky, nor the sea, nor the dry land, but lying on their beds and wailing and weeping. And these things indeed happen thus at sea. But now on our sea the tumult is worse and the waves are more numerous. But call upon our Lord Christ, who overcomes the storm not by art, but by a nod he calms the tempest. But, if you have called upon him many times and have not been heard, do not despair; for such is the custom of the philanthropic God. For was he not able to deliver those three children, so that they might not fall into the furnace of fire? But, when they were taken captive, when they were cast into a barbarian land and fell from their paternal inheritance and were despaired of by all and nothing else was left, then Christ the true God suddenly worked a miracle and scattered the fire. For the fire, not bearing the virtue of the just, leaped out and burned those of the Chaldeans whom it found around the furnace. And thereafter the furnace was a Church to them, and they summoned all creation, both visible and invisible, angels and powers, and so taking all things together they said: Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord.

Do you see how the patience of the saints both changed the fire into dew and shamed the tyrant? And he sends letters throughout the whole world. Great is the God, he says, of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. And see what a severe sentence he set: if anyone should speak a word against them, his house would be confiscated and his possessions plundered. Therefore do not be disheartened, nor despair. For even I, when I was driven from the city, I paid no mind to any of these things, but said to myself: if the queen wishes to exile me, she will exile me; the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. If she wishes to saw me, she will saw me; I have Isaiah as an example. If she wants to cast me into the sea, I remember Jonah. If she wants to throw me into a furnace, I have the three children who suffered this. If she wants to throw me to the beasts, I have Daniel who was thrown to the lions. If she wants to stone me, let her stone me; I have Stephen the protomartyr. If she wants to take my head, let her take it; I have John. If she wants to take my possessions, let her take them; naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall depart. The Apostle exhorts me: God does not show partiality to man and, if I were still pleasing men, I would not be a servant of Christ. And David arms me: I spoke before kings and was not ashamed. They have contrived many things against me and they say that I gave communion to some after they had eaten. If indeed I did this, may my name be erased from the book of bishops and not be written in the book of the orthodox faith, because I did no such thing, and may Christ cast me out of his kingdom. But if they once say this to me and are contentious, let them depose Paul, who after supper baptized a whole household.

Let them depose also the Lord himself, who after supper gave communion to the apostles. They say that I slept with a woman; strip my body and you will find the deadness of my members. But all these things they did out of envy. But it is grievous in every way, brother Cyriacus, that those who exiled us speak freely in the marketplace and a crowd of bodyguards follows. But again, remember the rich man and Lazarus. Which one was afflicted in this present age? And which one enjoyed himself? How did poverty harm that man? Was he not carried as an athlete and victor into the bosom of Abraham? And what did wealth profit that man who rested in purple and fine linen? Where are the lictors? Where are the bodyguards? Where are the gold-bridled horses? Where are the

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τὴν ἀμηχανίαν τοῦ χειμῶνος ἀπορηθέντας, οὐκ οὐρανὸν βλέποντας, οὐ πέλαγος, οὐ ξηράν, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῶν στρωμάτων κειμένους καὶ ὀλοφυρομένους καὶ κλαίοντας. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης οὕτω συμβαίνει. Νῦν δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς ἡμετέρας θαλάσσης χείρων ὁ θόρυβος καὶ πλείονα τὰ κύματα. Ἀλλὰ παρακάλει τὸν δεσπότην ἡμῶν Χριστόν, ὃς οὐ τέχνῃ περιγίνεται τοῦ χειμῶνος, ἀλλὰ νεύματι λύει τὴν ζάλην. Ἀλλ', εἰ καὶ πολλάκις παρεκάλεσας καὶ οὐκ εἰσηκούσθης, μὴ ὀλιγωρήσῃς· τοιοῦτον γὰρ ἔθος ἔχει ὁ φιλάνθρωπος Θεός. Μὴ γὰρ οὐκ ἠδύνατο ἐκείνους τοὺς τρεῖς παῖδας λυτρώσασθαι, ἵνα μὴ εἰς τὴν κάμινον τοῦ πυρὸς ἐμπέσωσιν; Ἀλλ', ὅτε ᾐχμαλωτεύθησαν, ὅτε εἰς βαρβάρων χώραν ἀπερρίφησαν καὶ τῆς πατρῴας κληρονομίας ἐξέπεσον καὶ παρὰ πάντων ἀπεγνώσθησαν καὶ οὐδὲν λοιπὸν οὐκ ἀπελείπετο, τότε Χριστὸς ὁ ἀληθινὸς Θεὸς ἄφνω τὴν θαυματοποιίαν εἰργάσατο καὶ διεσκόρπισε τὸ πῦρ. Μὴ γὰρ φέρον τὴν ἀρετὴν τῶν δικαίων τὸ πῦρ ἐξεπήδησεν ἔξω καὶ ἐνεπύρισεν οὓς εὗρε περὶ τὴν κάμινον τῶν Χαλδαίων. Καὶ λοιπὸν Ἐκκλησία ἦν αὐτοῖς ἡ κάμινος καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν κτίσιν προσεκαλοῦντο, τά τε ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα, ἀγγέλους καὶ δυνάμεις καὶ οὕτω πάντα συλλαβόμενοι ἔλεγον· εὐλογεῖτε πάντα τὰ ἔργα Κυρίου τὸν Κύριον.

Ὁρᾷς πῶς ἡ ὑπομονὴ τῶν ἁγίων καὶ τὸ πῦρ εἰς δρόσον μετέβαλε καὶ τὸν τύραννον ἐδυσώπησε; Καὶ κατὰ πάσης τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐκπέμπει γράμματα. Μέγας ὁ Θεός, φησί, Σεδράχ, Μισὰχ καὶ Ἀβδεναγώ. Καὶ ἴδε πόσην ἀποτομίαν ἔθηκεν· εἴ τις λόγον εἴποι κατ' αὐτῶν, τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ ταμιεύεσθαι καὶ τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αὐτοῦ διαρπάζεσθαι. Μὴ οὖν ἀθυμήσῃς, μηδὲ ὀλιγωρήσῃς. Καὶ γὰρ ἐγώ, ὅτε ἐξελαυνόμην ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως, οὐδὲν τούτων ἐφρόντιζον, ἀλλ' ἔλεγον πρὸς ἐμαυτόν· εἴ με βούλεται ἡ βασίλισσα ἐξορίσαι, ἐξορίσει με· τοῦ Κυρίου ἡ γῆ καὶ τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῆς. Εἴ με βούλεται πρίσαι, πρίσει με· τὸν Ἠσαΐαν ἔχω ὑπογραμμόν. Εἴ με θέλει εἰς τὸ πέλαγος ἀκοντίσαι, τὸν Ἰωνᾶν ὑπομιμνῄσκομαι. Εἴ με θέλει εἰς κάμινον ἐμβαλεῖν, τοὺς τρεῖς παῖδας ἔχω τοῦτο πεπονθότας. Εἴ με θέλει τοῖς θηρίοις βαλεῖν, ἔχω τὸν ∆ανιὴλ ἐν τοῖς λέουσι βεβλημένον. Εἰ θέλει με λιθάσαι, λιθάσῃ με· Στέφανον ἔχω τὸν πρωτομάρτυρα. Εἰ θέλει τὴν κεφαλήν μου λαβεῖν, λάβῃ· ἔχω τὸν Ἰωάννην. Εἰ θέλει τὰ ὑπάρχοντά μου λαβεῖν, λάβῃ αὐτά· γυμνὸς ἐξῆλθον ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός μου, γυμνὸς καὶ ἀπελεύσομαι. Ἐμοὶ παραινεῖ ὁ Ἀπόστολος· πρόσωπον Θεὸς ἀνθρώπου οὐ λαμβάνει καί, εἰ ἔτι ἀνθρώποις ἤρεσκον, Χριστοῦ δοῦλος οὐκ ἂν ἤμην. Καὶ ὁ ∆αβὶδ καθοπλίζει με· ἐλάλουν ἐναντίον βασιλέων καὶ οὐκ ᾐσχυνόμην. Πολλὰ κατ' ἐμοῦ ἐσκευάσαντο καὶ λέγουσιν ὅτι τινὰς ἐκοι νώνησα μετὰ τὸ φαγεῖν αὐτούς. Εἰ μὲν τοῦτο ἐποίησα, ἐξαλειφθείη τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐκ τῆς βίβλου τῶν ἐπισκόπων καὶ μὴ ἐγγραφείη ἐν τῇ βίβλῳ τῆς ὀρθοδόξου πίστεως, ὅτι οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον ἐγὼ ἔπραξα, καὶ ἀποβάλοι με Χριστὸς ἐκ τῆς βασιλείας αὑτοῦ. Εἰ δὲ ἅπαξ τοῦτό μοι λέγουσι καὶ φιλονεικοῦσι, καθελέτωσαν τὸν Παῦλον, ὃς μετὰ τὸ δειπνῆσαι ὁλόκληρον τὸν οἶκον ἐβάπτισε.

Καθελέτωσαν καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν Κύριον, ὃς μετὰ τὸ δειπνῆσαι τοῖς ἀποστόλοις τὴν κοινωνίαν ἔδωκε. Λέγουσιν ὅτι μετὰ γυναικὸς ἐκοιμήθην· ἀποδύσατέ μου τὸ σῶμα καὶ εὑρήσετε τὴν νέκρωσιν τῶν μελῶν μου. Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα πάντα διὰ φθόνον ἐποίησαν. Ἀλλὰ πάντως λυπεῖ, ἀδελφὲ Κυριακέ, ὅτι ἐκεῖνοι οἱ ἡμᾶς ἐξορίσαντες ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς παρρησιάζονται καὶ πλῆθος ἀκολουθεῖ δορυφόρων. Ἀλλὰ πάλιν ὑπομνήσθητι τὸν πλούσιον καὶ τὸν Λά ζαρον. Ποῖος μὲν ἐν τῷ νῦν αἰῶνι ἐθλίβη; Ποῖος δὲ ἀπήλαυσε; Τί ἔβλαψεν ἐκεῖνον ἡ πενία; Οὐχὶ ὡς ἀθλητὴς καὶ νικητὴς εἰς τοὺς κόλπους Ἀβραὰμ ἀπηνέχθη; Τί δὲ ὠφέλησεν ἐκεῖνον ὁ πλοῦτος τὸν ἐν πορφύρᾳ καὶ βύσσῳ ἀναπαυόμενον; Ποῦ οἱ ῥαβδοῦχοι; Ποῦ οἱ δορυφόροι; Ποῦ οἱ χρυσοχάλινοι ἵπποι; Ποῦ οἱ