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walls, whatever they might enclose. As he was explaining these things to those who understood, a certain man of distinction appeared, who was numbered among the first in birth, wealth, and other power; the man's name was Musonius. When he saw many eagerly striving for the same thing, how they might receive the man into their own homes, anticipating the others, he snatched the favor, inviting the great man to be his guest, and to honor his house with his entrance; so that it might become more venerable and renowned for the rest of its existence, as time passed on the memory of such an honor to those who came after.
But since many others also ran up and pleaded for the same things, judging it right to give the favor to the one who had begun, and having put off the others with kind words and honored them in return, he lodged with the one who had anticipated them. And if the history of the accounts concerning him is somewhat narrative and unadorned, our account having willingly omitted the embellishments devised by some artifice for the events; this would itself be no small testimony to those who judge matters correctly, that the wonders of the one being remembered are in no way enhanced by contrivance, but that the memory of the events concerning him is sufficient for the most perfect praise; like some natural beauty on a face, not adorned by any artifice of the cosmetic art. And while those who were first instructed in the word were few in number, before the day had passed, and the sun had set, so many were added as a result of the encounter, that the multitude of those who had believed was sufficient to form a congregation of people. At dawn, the people were again at the doors, men themselves and women and children, and the aged, and those who had some misfortune in their body from demons, or from some other affliction; and he in their midst, apportioning himself suitably to the need of each of the assembled by the 46.924 power of the Spirit, preaching, examining, admonishing, teaching, healing.
For by this indeed he especially attracted the multitudes to his preaching, that sight coincided with hearing, and through both the signs of the divine power shone upon him. For the word astonished the hearing, and the wonders concerning the sick astonished the sight. The mourner was comforted; the young man was made temperate; the old man was ministered to with suitable words. Slaves to be well-disposed toward their masters, rulers to be humane to their subjects, the poor man was taught that virtue is the one wealth, the possession of which is available to all by choice, the one boasting in his wealth was suitably admonished, being taught to be a steward of his possessions, not a master. Apportioning to women what was suitable, to children what was appropriate, to fathers what was fitting, and having become all things to all men, he presented to himself so great a people at once through the cooperation of the Spirit, that he hastened to the building of a church, with everyone contributing to the effort with both their money and their bodies. This is the church, of which he laid the foundations for its construction; and one of those after him embellished it, worthily of him; the one shown to the present day, which that great man, immediately upon his arrival, deposited in the most illustrious part of the city as a kind of foundation and base for his own priesthood, having completed the work by a certain divine power, as is testified by the time that followed. For when a most severe earthquake occurred in the city in our own times, and almost everything was utterly destroyed, with all the public and private buildings having been ruined and deserted, that church alone remained unbroken and unshaken, so that through this it was also manifest, with what power that great man undertook the affairs concerning him. But these things were demonstrated many years later by the divine power as a testimony to the great man's faith. But at that time, with everyone in both the city and the surrounding region astonished by the apostolic wonders, and everything from him
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τοῖχοι, ὅ τι περικαλύψωσιν. Ταῦτα δὲ πρὸς τοὺς συνέντας διεξιόντος, ἐπιστάς τις τῶν ἐπισήμων ἀνὴρ, γένει καὶ πλούτῳ, καὶ τῇ λοιπῇ δυναστείᾳ τοῖς πρώτοις ἐναρίθμιος ὤν· Μουσώνιος ὄνομα τῷ ἀνδρί· ὡς εἶδεν πολλοὺς περὶ τὴν αὐτὴν σπουδὴν προθυμουμένους, ὅπως ἂν τοῖς ἰδίοις οἴκοις τὸν ἄνδρα δέξοιντο, φθάσας τοὺς ἄλλους, ὑφαρπάζει τὴν χάριν, ἑαυτῷ παρακαλῶν ἐπιξενωθῆναι τὸν μέ γαν, καὶ τιμῆσαι τῇ εἰσόδῳ τὸν οἶκον· ὡς ἂν σεμνό τερός τε καὶ ἀοίδιμος τῷ μετὰ ταῦτα γένοιτο βίῳ, τοῦ χρόνου καὶ τοῖς ἐφεξῆς τὴν μνήμην τῆς τοιαύ της τιμῆς παραπέμποντος.
Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ἄλλοι πολλοὶ συνδραμόντες περὶ τῶν ὁμοίων ἱκέτευον, δίκαιον εἶναι κρίνας δοῦναι τὴν χάριν τῷ προκατάρξαντι, τοὺς ἄλλους διὰ τῆς τῶν λόγων φιλοφροσύνης διασπασάμενός τε καὶ ἀντιτι μήσας, παρὰ τῷ προλαβόντι κατάγεται. Εἰ δὲ δι ηγηματική τίς ἐστι καὶ ἀκατάσκευος τῶν περὶ αὐ τοῦ λόγων ἡ ἱστορία, τὰς ἐκ περινοίας τινὸς ἐφ ευρισκομένας τοῖς πράγμασιν ἐπαυξήσεις ἑκουσίως τοῦ ἡμετέρου παραλιπόντος λόγου· γένοιτο ἂν καὶ αὐτὴ τοῖς ὀρθῶς τὰ πράγματα κρίνουσιν οὐ μικρὰ μαρτυρία, τοῦ μηδὲν δι' ἐπινοίας ἐπαύξεσθαι τῷ μνημονευομένῳ τὰ θαύματα, ἀλλ' ἀρκεῖν τὴν μνή μην τῶν κατ' αὐτὸν πραγμάτων πρὸς τελειότατον ἔπαινον· οἷόν τι κάλλος αὐτοφυὲς ἐπὶ προσώπου, οὐδεμιᾷ περιεργίᾳ κομμωτικῆς τέχνης ἐπανθιζόμε νον. Ὄντων δὲ τῶν προκατηχουμένων τὸν λόγον ἐν ὀλίγῳ τῷ ἀριθμῷ, πρὶν παρελθεῖν τὴν ἡμέραν, καὶ ἐν δυσμαῖς γενέσθαι τὸν ἥλιον, τοσοῦτοι παρὰ τὴν συντυχίαν προσέθεντο, ὥστε πρὸς σύστημα λαοῦ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν πεπιστευκότων ἱκανῶς ἔχειν. Ὄρθρος, καὶ πάλιν ἐπὶ θύραις ὁ δῆμος, αὐτοί τε καὶ γυναῖκες καὶ παῖδες, καὶ τὸ γηραιὸν τῆς ἡλικίας, καὶ οἷς τισιν ἦν ἐκ δαιμόνων, ἢ ἐξ ἄλλης τινὸς ἐπηρείας, ἡ συμ φορὰ περὶ τὸ σῶμα· καὶ ἐν μέσοις ἐκεῖνος πρὸς τὴν ἑκάστου τῶν συνειλεγμένων χρείαν ἁρμοδίως τῇ 46.924 δυνάμει τοῦ Πνεύματος μεριζόμενος, κηρύσσων, συν εξετάζων, νουθετῶν, διδάσκων, ἰώμενος.
Τούτῳ γὰρ δὴ μάλιστα προσήγετο τοὺς πολλοὺς τῷ κηρύγματι, ὅτι συνέβαινεν ἡ ὄψις τῇ ἀκοῇ, καὶ δι' ἀμφοτέρων τῆς θείας δυνάμεως ἐπέλαμπεν αὐτῷ τὰ γνωρίσματα. Τὴν μὲν γὰρ ἀκοὴν ὁ λόγος, τὰς δὲ ὄψεις τὰ περὶ τοὺς ἀσθενοῦντας ἐξέπληττε θαύματα. Ὁ πενθῶν παρεκαλεῖτο· ὁ νέος ἐσωφρονίζετο· ὁ γηραιὸς τοῖς καθήκουσι λόγοις ἐθεραπεύετο. ∆οῦλοι πρὸς δεσπό τας οἰκείως ἔχειν, οἱ κρατοῦντες τοῖς ὑποχειρίοις φιλανθρωπεύεσθαι, ὁ πενόμενος ἕνα πλοῦτον εἶναι τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐδιδάσκετο, ἥτις πᾶσι πρόκειται κατ' ἐξουσίαν ἡ κτῆσις, ὁ τῷ πλούτῳ κομῶν καταλλήλως ἐνουθετεῖτο, οἰκονόμος εἶναι τῶν προσόντων, οὐ κύ ριος διδασκόμενος. Γυναιξὶ τὰ πρόσφορα, παισὶ τὰ σύμμετρα, πατράσι τὰ πρέποντα νέμων, καὶ πάντα πᾶσι γενόμενος, τοσοῦτον ἑαυτῷ λαὸν ἀθρόως τῇ συνεργίᾳ τοῦ Πνεύματος παρεστήσατο, ὥστε πρὸς ναοῦ κατασκευὴν ὁρμῆσαι, πάντων χρήμασί τε καὶ σώμασι πρὸς τὴν σπουδὴν ὑπουργούντων. Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ναὸς, οὗ τὰς ἀρχὰς ἐκεῖνος τῆς κατασκευῆς κατ εβάλετο· ἐπεκαλλώπισε δέ τις τῶν μετ' ἐκεῖνον, ἐκείνου ἀξίως· ὁ μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος δεικνύμενος, ὃν ὁ μέγας ἐκεῖνος εὐθὺς ἐπιστὰς, οἷόν τινα θεμέλιον καὶ κρηπῖδα τῆς ἰδίας ἱερωσύνης τῷ περιφανεστάτῳ τῆς πόλεως ἐναπέθετο, θείᾳ τινὶ δυνάμει τελειώσας τὸ ἔργον, ὡς τῷ μετὰ ταῦτα μαρτυρεῖται χρόνῳ. Σεισμοῦ γάρ ποτε βαρυτάτου τῇ πόλει ἐν τοῖς καθ' ἡμᾶς χρόνοις γεγενημένου, καὶ πάντων μικροῦ δεῖν ἄρδην ἀπολωλότων, τῶν τε δημοσίων καὶ τῶν ἰδιωτι κῶν οἰκοδομημάτων ἁπάντων ἐρειπιωθέντων καὶ ἐρη μωθέντων, μόνος ἔμεινεν ὁ ναὸς ἐκεῖνος ἀῤῥαγής τε καὶ ἄσειστος, ὡς καὶ διὰ τούτου φανερὸν εἶναι, καὶ μεθ' οἵας δυνάμεως ὁ μέγας ἐκεῖνος τῶν κατ' αὐτὸν πραγμάτων ἀντελαμβάνετο. Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν πολλοῖς ὕστερον χρόνοις εἰς μαρ τυρίαν τῆς τοῦ μεγάλου πίστεως παρὰ τῆς θείας ἀπεδείχθη δυνάμεως. Τότε δὲ τοῖς ἀποστολικοῖς θαύ μασι τῶν τε κατὰ τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὴν περίοικον ἁπάν των ἐκπεπληγμένων, καὶ πᾶν τὸ παρ' αὐτοῦ