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to shorten the length of what is said. Therefore, whenever I see you are constrained, I drive my discourse toward silence; 51.124 but when I see you constrained, yet not departing, but hanging on for a longer course, I desire to stir up my tongue. I am hemmed in on all sides. What am I to do? For one who serves a single master, and is compelled to minister to a single will, is able with ease to please his lord, and not to fail; but I have many masters, being compelled to serve so great a people, having a diverse will. I have said these things not being displeased with this servitude, far from it, nor fleeing from your lordship. For nothing is more venerable to me than this servitude. A king does not think so highly of his diadem and purple robe as I now glory in the servitude of your love. For death succeeds that kingdom; but this servitude, if it be well completed, the kingdom of heaven awaits. For blessed is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord has set to give the portion of food to his fellow-servants. Amen I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. Have you seen how great is the gain of this servitude, when it is performed with zeal? He is set over all the possessions of his master. I do not flee this servitude, therefore; for I serve with Paul. For he says, For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. And why do I say Paul? If he who existed in the form of God emptied himself, taking the form of a servant for the sake of servants, what great thing is it if I, a servant, became a servant to my fellow-servants for my own sake? Therefore, I did not say these things as one fleeing from your lordship, but asking to receive pardon, if to the wills of all 51.125 I should not set a suitable table. Rather, do this which I now say. You who can never be filled, but hunger and thirst for righteousness, and desire long discourses, for the sake of the weakness of your brothers, endure the customary measure of the discourses being cut short. Again, you who love brevity and are more weakly disposed, for the sake of your insatiable brothers, endure a little toil, bearing one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Do you not see the Olympic athletes standing in the middle of the theater, in the middle of midday as in a furnace in the pit and with naked body receiving the sun’s ray, like some bronze statues, fighting against sun and dust and suffocating heat, so that they might crown with laurel leaves the head that has suffered so much? But for you, not a crown of laurel, but a crown of righteousness is set forth as the reward for listening, and we do not even keep you until midday, but from the very beginning, on account of your weakness, we let you go, while the air is still cooler, and not heated by the casting of the rays, not commanding you to receive the ray on a bare head, but we lead you under this marvelous roof, and we provide the comfort from the ceiling, devising in every way relaxation for you, so that your hearing of what is said might be steadfast. Let us not then become softer than our children who go to school; they do not dare to go home before midday, but, having just been weaned from milk, just departed from the breast, not yet even five years of age, in a young and tender body they show all endurance; and if suffocating heat, or thirst, or anything else should trouble them, they persevere until midday, and they suffer hardship sitting in the school. If, therefore, no one else, let us men who have reached the measure of age imitate those children. For if we do not endure to hear the words concerning virtue, who will be able to believe us, that the

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συστέλλειν τὸ μῆκος τῶν λεγομένων. Ὅταν μὲν οὖν στενοχωρουμένους ὑμᾶς ἴδω, πρὸς σιγὴν συνελαύνω τὸν λόγον· 51.124 ὅταν δὲ στενοχωρουμένους, καὶ οὐκ ἀφισταμένους, ἀλλ' ἐκκρεμαμένους πρὸς πλείονα δρόμον, τὴν γλῶτταν διεγείρειν ἐπιθυμῶ. Στενά μοι πάντοθεν. Τί πάθω; Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἑνὶ δουλεύων κυρίῳ, καὶ μιᾷ γνώμῃ ὑπηρετεῖν ἀναγκαζόμενος, μετ' εὐκολίας ἀρέσκειν δύναται τῷ δεσπότῃ, καὶ μὴ διαμαρτάνειν· ἐγὼ δὲ πολλοὺς ἔχω δεσπότας, δήμῳ τοσούτῳ δουλεύειν ἀναγκαζόμενος διάφορον ἔχοντι γνώμην. Ταῦτα δὲ εἶπον οὐ δυσχεραίνων τὴν δουλείαν, μὴ γένοιτο, οὐδὲ δραπετεύων τὴν δεσποτείαν ὑμῶν. Οὐδὲν γάρ μοι τῆς δουλείας ταύτης σεμνότερον. Οὐχ οὕτω βασιλεὺς ἐπὶ τῷ διαδήματι καὶ τῇ πορφυρίδι μέγα φρονεῖ, ὡς ἐγὼ νῦν ἐπὶ τῇ δουλείᾳ τῆς ὑμετέρας ἀγάπης ἐγκαλλωπίζομαι. Ἐκείνην μὲν γὰρ τὴν βασιλείαν θάνατος διαδέχεται· ταύτην δὲ τὴν δουλείαν, ἂν ἀπαρτισθῇ καλῶς, βασιλεία οὐρανῶν ἀναμένει. Μακάριος γὰρ ὁ πιστὸς δοῦλος καὶ φρόνιμος, ὃν κατέστησεν ὁ κύριος αὐτοῦ διδόναι τὸ σιτομέτριον τοῖς συνδούλοις αὐτοῦ. Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐπὶ πᾶσι τοῖς ὑπάρχουσιν αὐτοῦ καταστήσει αὐτόν. Εἶδες πόσον τὸ κέρδος τῆς δουλείας ταύτης, ὅταν σπουδαίως γένηται; Ἐπὶ πᾶσι τοῖς ὑπάρχουσι τοῦ δεσπότου καθίσταται. Οὐ φεύγω τοίνυν τὴν δουλείαν· μετὰ γὰρ Παύλου δουλεύω. Καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνός φησιν, ὅτι Οὐχ ἑαυτοὺς κηρύττομεν, ἀλλὰ Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν Κύριον, ἑαυτοὺς δὲ δούλους ὑμῶν διὰ Ἰησοῦν. Καὶ τί λέγω Παῦλον; Εἰ ὁ ἐν μορφῇ Θεοῦ ὑπάρχων ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσε μορφὴν δούλου λαβὼν διὰ τοὺς δούλους, τί μέγα εἰ ὁ δοῦλος ἐγὼ δοῦλος ἐγενόμην τοῖς συνδούλοις δι' ἐμαυτόν; Οὐ τοίνυν δραπετεύων ὑμῶν τὴν δεσποτείαν ταῦτα εἶπον, ἀλλ' ἀξιῶν συγγνώμης τυχεῖν, ἐὰν μὴ ταῖς ἁπάντων γνώμαις 51.125 κατάλληλον παραθῶμαι τὴν τράπεζαν. Μᾶλλον δὲ τοῦτο ποιήσατε ὃ λέγω νῦν. Ὑμεῖς οἱ μὴ δυνάμενοι ἐμπλησθῆναί ποτε, ἀλλὰ πεινῶντες καὶ διψῶντες τὴν δικαιοσύνην, καὶ μακρῶν ἐπιθυμοῦντες λόγων, διὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν τῶν ὑμετέρων ἀδελφῶν ἀνάσχεσθε τοῦ συνήθους περικοπτομένου μέτρου τῶν λόγων. Πάλιν ὑμεῖς οἱ βραχυλογίας ἐρῶντες καὶ ἀσθενέστερον διακείμενοι, διὰ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς τοὺς ὑμετέρους τοὺς ἀκορέστους μικρὸν καρτερήσατε πόνον, ἀλλήλων τὰ βάρη βαστάζοντες, καὶ οὕτως ἀναπληρώσατε τὸν νόμον τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Οὐχ ὁρᾶτε τοὺς Ὀλυμπιακοὺς ἀθλητὰς εἰς μέσον τοῦ θεάτρου ἑστῶτας, ἐν μεσημβρίᾳ μέσῃ καθάπερ ἐν καμίνῳ τῷ σκάμματι καὶ γυμνῷ τῷ σώματι τὴν ἀκτῖνα δεχομένους, ὥσπερ τινὰς ἀνδριάντας χαλκοῦς καὶ ἡλίῳ καὶ κονιορτῷ καὶ πνίγει μαχομένους, ἵνα τὴν τοσαῦτα ταλαιπωρήσασαν κεφαλὴν φύλλοις δάφνης ἀναδήσωνται; Ὑμῖν δὲ οὐ στέφανος δάφνης, ἀλλὰ στέφανος δικαιοσύνης πρόκειται τῆς ἀκροάσεως ὁ μισθὸς, καὶ οὐδὲ μέχρι μεσημβρίας μέσης ὑμᾶς κατέχομεν, ἀλλ' ἀπ' αὐτῶν τῶν προοιμίων τῆς ὑμετέρας ἕνεκα ὀλιγωρίας διαφίεμεν, ἔτι τοῦ ἀέρος ὄντος ψυχροτέρου, καὶ οὐ διαθερμαινομένου ταῖς ἀπὸ τῶν ἀκτίνων βολαῖς, οὐ γυμνῇ τῇ κεφαλῇ κελεύοντες ὑμᾶς τὴν ἀκτῖνα δέχεσθαι, ἀλλ' ὑπὸ τὸν θαυμαστὸν τοῦτον ἄγομεν ὄροφον, καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς στέγης παρέχομεν παραμυθίαν παντὶ τρόπῳ ἐπινοοῦντες ὑμῖν ἄνεσιν, ὥστε γενέσθαι τῶν λεγομένων μόνιμον τὴν ἀκρόασιν. Μὴ δὴ γενώμεθα μαλακώτεροι τῶν παιδίων τῶν ἡμετέρων τῶν εἰς διδασκαλεῖα βαδιζόντων· ἐκεῖνα πρὸ τῆς μεσημβρίας οὐ τολμᾷ ἀναχωρῆσαι οἴκαδε, ἀλλ' ἄρτι τοῦ γάλακτος ἀποσπασθέντα, ἄρτι τῆς θηλῆς ἀποστάντα, οὐδέπω οὐδὲ πέντε ἐτῶν ἡλικίαν ἄγοντα, ἐν νεαρῷ καὶ ἁπαλῷ σώματι πᾶσαν καρτερίαν ἐπιδείκνυται· κἂν πνῖγος, κἂν δίψος, κἂν ἄλλο ὁτιοῦν παρενοχλῇ, πρὸς μεσημβρίαν μέσην διακαρτερεῖ, καὶ ταλαιπωρεῖται ἐν τῷ διδασκαλείῳ καθήμενα. Εἰ καὶ μηδένα οὖν ἕτερον, ἐκεῖνα μιμησώμεθα τὰ παιδία ἡμεῖς οἱ ἄνδρες οἱ φθάσαντες εἰς μέτρον ἡλικίας. Εἰ γὰρ τοὺς λόγους τοὺς περὶ ἀρετῆς μὴ ἀνεχόμεθα ἀκούειν, τίς ἡμῖν πιστεῦσαι δυνήσεται, ὅτι τοὺς