In job (sermones 14) (olim sub auctore joanne chrysostomo)

 In ausitis, whose name was job. and that man was blameless, just, god-fearing, true, abstaining from every evil thing. such was adam also before he wa

 Rooted and founded, and secured up to the very arches of heaven. the first messenger came, and says to job: the yokes of oxen were plowing, and raider

 Your sons, he says, and your daughters were eating and drinking at the house of their eldest brother. see how the blessed job was filled with all unde

 In this job sinned not at all before the lord, but for all these things he offered a whole thanksgiving instead of a sacrifice to god, saying: blessed

 Having blossomed from the root, a judge of righteousness. that one warred against nature, and considered his brother a stranger this one considered e

 Those snatched away from polytheism, those gathered from wickedness, those assembled from fornication and adultery, he did not add the summit of virtu

 The sequence of theorems. and may it be granted to us to celebrate the feast genuinely, and having shared in the sufferings of the saints, to share al

 Rather in temporary wealth, but in that of piety. but some other wise man, taking the saying in a common sense, thinks that great works are vineyards

 Runners, called *cursores* in latin but when they drag some away in dishonor, do they send out other harsh and cruel soldiers? so also god sends mini

 Heaven because all earthly things have been trodden underfoot by him, because he has all men under his feet. having gone about, he said, the earth, an

 To the one who wronged you, why do you worship the one who consumes your possessions? fire fell from heaven. job heard, and again bore it nobly. for h

 A wife was left, not because the devil spared her, but because he kept the weapon for himself. for since he knew that through a woman he had overcome

 To contend peter was able to act bravely without a promise, the apostles were able to contend for virtue without receiving a promise of good things

 Of the one who knows all things. from where do you come? see the wisdom of god see the cunning of the devil. for god knew from where he had come, tha

 Job with a malignant sore from foot to head. he made his whole body one wound, one 56.578 bruise. for it was necessary for him, the combatant, to be c

 The magnitude, he insults inanimate things, and fulfills the full measure of his suffering, not daring against god, but accusing himself and the day

 He suffered also in the case of job. he destroyed martyrs, in order to extinguish the church, not knowing that after the martyrs the church would flou

 This not out of ambition, but out of guilelessness, when he says: i have not disregarded the judgment of my manservant, or of my maidservant, when the

 You were. did you, then, call to judgment the one more ancient than the ages, the creator of the creation? when i stretched a line upon the earth, whe

 Again on the day of the resurrection they will receive him from the tomb into the kingdom, and with one accord they will enjoy those ineffable and ete

the sequence of theorems. And may it be granted to us to celebrate the feast genuinely, and having shared in the sufferings of the saints, to share also in the passion of Christ. For truly, brethren, the sufferings of the saints rightly shone forth before the passion of Christ. For the sufferings of the righteous shone forth like lightning, so that after these things Christ might be revealed, as Paul says, who suffers with all and is glorified with all. Therefore, by the prayers and intercessions of the holy Fathers, and having conformed to what has been said, and anticipating what remains, let us send up glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen. On the righteous and blessed Job, Discourse 3. 1. Come, let us also take up the subject, and you the hearing; and let us all become part of the evening service of Job, and with faith present ourselves to the word of patience. For it is absurd that Job, sitting on a dunghill, did not grow numb to piety, while we, dancing in the church, hesitate towards the truth; and that he, being surrounded by countless lamentations for his own misfortune, was not broken in spirit; while we, surrounded by hymns and spiritual songs and divine Scriptures, betray our eagerness through sloth. Job, his body being devoured by worms, kept his soul unwounded for piety; worms did not conquer him, and shall sweat wrestle us down? Let us also become men, men according to the definition already given. For what characterizes a man is being blameless, righteous, true, God-fearing. And just as in common custom when someone sends his servant or son on some task, he exhorts him, saying: "As a man, undertake this task," and makes the common name a singular wonder, so even if all are called men, only he is a true man who preserves the image, and does not efface the original beauty. He called him a man, so that from his common nature you might praise his purpose. He said he was from the land of Uz, so that from a land abounding in impiety, you might hymn his fruit. He mentioned his possessions, so that you might marvel at his advantages. He mentioned his wealth, not so that you might praise his abundance, but so that you might marvel at him when stripped bare. For he was stripped of all things, but he was not stripped of his piety, but was like a besieged city, stripped of all things outside, but protected by its wall alone. 56.571 He was stripped of his children, and did not lose the fruits of his piety. For he had as children the ways of piety; he had as daughters the virtues. He had three daughters according to the flesh, and three virtues according to the spirit, as Paul says: "And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love." He was stripped of all things, and did not deny the creator of nature; for he knew that children are a comfort for succession, but God is the husbandman of the root. He was not distressed seeing the fruits being cast off; for he knew that the husbandman of the root remains forever. He was stripped of his sheep, and he himself was a sheep guarded by God; he was stripped of his oxen, and though the yokes of oxen were taken away, the yoke of his soul and body was not cut apart, but together his flesh and soul, in harmony for piety, pulled the plow. And in the manner of patience he received the fruits of virtue, so that he might increase the fruits of patience. So he had three thousand camels, five hundred she-asses. I think that what he possessed was little. For if he provided for every poor person, as he himself says, "I was an eye to the blind, and a foot to the lame," his substance would have been small for his purpose; the supply of his hospitality was greater than the abundance of his income. Job was poor, not having enough for his eagerness; and though he was rich in possessions, he was poor compared to the power of his will. And he had, it says, also great works on the earth. And what were these? Love for the poor and hospitality, extreme humility, unsurpassed almsgiving, and whatever contributes to virtue. But while he thus prided himself, not

θεωρημάτων τὴν ἀκολουθίαν. Καὶ γένοιτο ἡμᾶς γνησίως καὶ τὴν ἑορτὴν ἐπιτελέσαι, καὶ τοῖς παθήμασι τῶν ἁγίων κοινωνήσαντας, κοινωνῆσαι καὶ τῷ πάθει Χριστοῦ. Ἀληθῶς γὰρ, ἀδελφοὶ, δικαίως προέλαμψε τοῦ πάθους τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὰ πάθη τῶν ἁγίων. Προέλαμψαν γὰρ, ὥσπερ ἀστραπαὶ, τὰ πάθη τῶν δικαίων, ἵνα μετὰ ταῦτα φανῇ ὁ Χριστὸς, ὥς φησιν ὁ Παῦλος, ὁ πᾶσι συμπάσχων, καὶ πᾶσι συνδοξαζόμενος. Εὐχαῖς οὖν καὶ πρεσβείαις τῶν ἁγίων Πατέρων, καὶ τοῖς εἰρημένοις στοιχήσαντες, καὶ τὰ λειπόμενα προσδοκήσαντες, δόξαν ἀναπέμψωμεν τῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ τῷ Υἱῷ, καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. Εἰς τὸν δίκαιον καὶ μακάριον Ἰὼβ, Λόγος γʹ. αʹ Φέρε, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἁψώμεθα τῆς ὑποθέσεως, καὶ ὑμεῖς τῆς ἀκροάσεως· καὶ πάντες γινώμεθα τῆς ἑσπερινῆς ἀκολουθίας τοῦ Ἰὼβ, καὶ μετὰ πίστεως τῷ λόγῳ τῆς ὑπομονῆς ἑαυτοὺς παραστήσωμεν. Ἄτοπον γὰρ τὸν μὲν Ἰὼβ ἐπὶ κοπρίας καθήμενον μὴ ναρκῆσαι πρὸς τὴν εὐσέβειαν, ἡμᾶς δὲ ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ χορεύοντας, ὀκνεῖν πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν· καὶ τὸν μὲν μυρίοις ὀδυρμοῖς περιηχούμενον τῆς ἑαυτοῦ συμφορᾶς, μὴ κατακλασθῆναι τὴν ψυχήν· ἡμᾶς δὲ ὕμνοις καὶ ᾠδαῖς πνευματικαῖς καὶ θείαις Γραφαῖς περιᾳδομένους προδιδόναι ῥᾳθυμίᾳ τὴν προθυμίαν. Ἰὼβ ὑπὸ σκωλήκων διεσθιόμενος τὸ σῶμα, ἄτρωτον διεφύλαττε τὴν ψυχὴν πρὸς εὐσέβειαν· ἐκεῖνον σκώληκες οὐκ ἐνίκησαν, καὶ ἡμᾶς ἱδρῶτες καταπαλαίσουσι; Γενώμεθα καὶ ἡμεῖς ἄνθρωποι, ἄνθρωποι κατὰ τὸν ὅρον τὸν προαποδεδομένον. Τὸν γὰρ ἄνθρωπον χαρακτηρίζει τὸ ἄμεμπτον, τὸ δίκαιον, τὸ ἀληθινὸν, τὸ θεοσεβές. Καὶ ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῆς κοινῆς συνηθείας ἐπειδάν τις τὸν ἑαυτοῦ οἰκέτην ἢ τὸν υἱὸν ἐπὶ πρᾶξίν τινα ἀποστέλλῃ, παρακελεύεται, λέγων· Ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἅψαι τῆσδε τῆς πράξεως, καὶ τὸ κοινὸν ὄνομα ἴδιον ποιεῖται θαῦμα, οὕτω κἂν πάντες λέγωνται ἄνθρωποι, μόνος ἐκεῖνος ἀληθὴς ἄνθρωπος, ὁ τὴν εἰκόνα σώζων, καὶ τὸ πρωτότυπον κάλλος μὴ ἀφανίζων. Εἶπεν αὐτὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἵνα ἀπὸ τῆς κοινῆς φύσεως τὴν πρόθεσιν ἐπαινέσῃς. Εἶπεν αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τῆς χώρας τῆς Αὐσίτιδος, ἵνα ἀπὸ τῆς χώρας τῆς κομώσης τὴν ἀσέβειαν, τὸν καρπὸν ἀνυμνήσῃς. Εἶπεν αὐτοῦ τὰ κτήματα, ἵνα θαυμάσῃς τὰ πλεονεκτήματα. Εἶπεν αὐτοῦ τὸν πλοῦτον, οὐχ ἵνα τὴν περιουσίαν ἐπαινέσῃς, ἀλλ' ἵνα γεγυμνωμένον αὐτὸν θαυμάσῃς. Πάντων γὰρ ἀπεδύθη, καὶ τὴν εὐσέβειαν οὐκ ἀπεδύετο, ἀλλ' ἦν ὥσπερ τις πόλις πολιορκουμένη, πάντων μὲν τῶν ἔξωθεν γεγυμνωμένη, μόνῳ δὲ τῷ τείχει 56.571 φυλαττομένη. Ἐγυμνώθη τέκνων, καὶ τοὺς καρποὺς τῆς εὐσεβείας οὐκ ἀπώλεσεν. Εἶχε γὰρ τέκνα τοὺς τρόπους τῆς εὐσεβείας· εἶχε θυγατέρας τὰς ἀρετάς. Τρεῖς αὐτῷ θυγατέρες κατὰ σάρκα, καὶ τρεῖς αὐτῷ ἀρεταὶ κατὰ πνεῦμα, καθώς φησιν ὁ Παῦλος· Μένει δὲ τὰ τρία ταῦτα, πίστις, ἐλπὶς, ἀγάπη· μείζων δὲ τούτων ἡ ἀγάπη. Ἐγυμνώθη πάντων, καὶ τὸν δημιουργὸν τῆς φύσεως οὐκ ἠρνήσατο· ᾔδει γὰρ ὅτι τέκνα παραμυθία διαδοχῆς, ὁ δὲ Θεὸς γεωργὸς τῆς ῥίζης. Οὐκ ἐδυσχέραινε, τοὺς καρποὺς ὁρῶν ἀποβαλλομένους· ᾔδει γὰρ ὅτι μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ὁ γεωργὸς τῆς ῥίζης. Ἐγυμνώθη τῶν προβάτων, καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν πρόβατον ὑπὸ Θεοῦ φυλαττόμενον· ἐγυμνώθη τῶν βοῶν, καὶ τὰ μὲν ζεύγη τῶν βοῶν περιῃρεῖτο, τὸ δὲ ζεῦγος τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τοῦ σώματος οὐ διετέμνετο, ἀλλ' ὁμοῦ συμφωνήσασα ἡ σὰρξ καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ πρὸς εὐσέβειαν εἷλκε τὸ ἄροτρον. Τρόπον δὲ τῆς ὑπομονῆς ἐδέχετο τοὺς καρποὺς τῆς ἀρετῆς, ἵνα πλεονάσῃ τοὺς καρποὺς τῆς ὑπομονῆς. Ἦσαν οὖν αὐτῷ κάμηλοι τρισχίλιαι, ὄνοι νομάδες πεντακόσιαι. Ἐγὼ νομίζω, ὅτι μικρὰ ἐκέκτητο, ἅπερ ἐκέκτητο. Εἰ γὰρ ἑκάστῳ πτωχῷ ἐχορήγει, καθὼς αὐτὸς λέγει, Ὀφθαλμὸς ἤμην τυφλῶν, ποῦς δὲ χωλῶν, μικρὰ ἂν ἦν ἡ ὕπαρξις πρὸς τὴν πρόθεσιν· πλείων ἦν ἡ χορηγία τῆς φιλοξενίας παρὰ τὴν περιουσίαν τῆς εἰσόδου. Πτωχὸς ἦν Ἰὼβ, οὐκ ἐπαρκῶν τῇ προθυμίᾳ· καὶ πλούσιος μὲν ὑπῆρχε τῇ κτήσει, πτωχὸς δὲ πρὸς τὴν δύναμιν τῆς προαιρέσεως. Ἦν δὲ αὐτῷ, φησὶ, καὶ ἔργα μεγάλα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Ποῖα δὲ ταῦτα; Φιλοπτωχία καὶ φιλοξενία, ἄκρα ταπείνωσις, ἐλεημοσύνη ἀνυπέρβλητος, καὶ ὅσα εἰς ἀρετὴν συντελεῖ. Ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν οὕτως ἐκόμα, οὐ