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to change hardship into good fortune; and to praise the benevolent Master, because he disciplines us by the sufferings of others, and has not sent us to the houses of others, but has brought others to our doors; and to those who practice benevolence he promises to give things which neither word can tell, nor mind is able to conceive. 31 TO DOMNUS, BISHOP OF ANTIOCH. For the most admirable and most magnificent Celestiacus, his homeland is the much-renowned Carthage, and his family born there is illustrious. But now, driven from there, he wanders in a foreign land, and seeks out the hands of the lovers of God. He also has a burden, a necessary one, yet one that increases his care; I mean his wife, and his children, and his household, for whom he requires greater expenditures. But I have admired his resolve. For as if carried by fair winds, so he praises the Helmsman, and has taken no thought of the harsh wave; for he has reaped piety from his misfortune, and hardship has brought him this thrice-blessed fruit. For when he enjoyed prosperity, he did not accept such words; but being stripped of it, he cast off impiety, and now he has the wealth of faith; for the sake of which he despises that adversity. I entreat your Holiness, therefore, to make the foreign land a home for him, and to urge those who pride themselves on their wealth to comfort one who has become of the same company, and to dispel the cloud of misfortune. For it is fitting for those who share the same nature, and who sin in like manner but have escaped punishment, to offer comfort to those who have fallen into misfortune, and by sympathy for them to propitiate God. 32 TO THEOCTISTUS THE BISHOP. If the God of all brought punishments immediately upon all who sin, he would have utterly destroyed everyone. But since he judges with forbearance and benevolence, he punishes some, and to others he offers their punishments as instruction. This the benevolent one has also done in our case. For he brings those from what was formerly called Libya, but now Africa, to our doors, and by showing their sufferings, he prepares us to fear and by fear stirs us to compassion; and from this he accomplishes two things at the same time; for he both benefits us from their lesson, and through us offers them consolation. I entreat your godliness to extend this to the most admirable and most magnificent Celestiacus; for having once adorned their metropolis, he now has no city, no hearth, nor the necessaries of life. It is fitting, therefore, for those entrusted to shepherd souls according to your holiness to introduce to the citizens what is beneficial; for they are in need of such teaching. For which reason the divine Apostle, writing to the blessed Titus, also added this: *And let our people also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses*. For if our city, being desolate and having few inhabitants, and those poor, comforts those who arrive, much more is it fitting for Beroea, which has been nurtured in piety, to do this; especially with your holiness leading. 33 TO STASIMUS, COUNT AND PRIMATE. The sufferings of the most magnificent and most glorious Celestiacus required a tragic tongue. For they adequately [describe] human misfortunes

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δυσκληρίαν εἰς εὐκληρίαν μεταβαλεῖν· καὶ τὸν φιλάνθρω πον ὑμνῆσαι ∆εσπότην, ὅτι τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις ἡμᾶς σωφρονίζει παθήμασι, καὶ οὐχ ἡμᾶς εἰς ἑτέρων παρέπεμψεν οἰκιάς, ἀλλ' εἰς τὰς ἡμετέρας ἄλλους ἤγαγε θύρας· καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ χρω μένοις ὑπισχνεῖται δώσειν ἃ μήτε λόγος εἰπεῖν, μήτε νοῦς ἰσχύει λογίσασθαι. 31 ∆ΟΜΝΩ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΩ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΕΙΑΣ. Τῷ θαυμασιωτάτῳ καὶ μεγαλοπρεπεστάτῳ Κελεστιακῷ πα τρὶς μὲν ἡ πολυθρύλητος Καρχηδών, γένος δὲ τὸ ἐν ἐκείνῃ γεγενημένον περίβλεπτον. Ἀλλὰ νῦν ἐξ ἐκείνης ἐληλαμένος, τὴν ξένην περινοστεῖ, καὶ τῶν φιλοθέων τὰς χεῖρας περισκο πεῖ. Ἔχει δὲ καὶ φορτίον, ἀναγκαῖον μέν, ἐπιτεῖνον δὲ τὴν φροντίδα· τὴν γαμετὴν λέγω, καὶ τὰ παιδία, καὶ τοὺς οἰκείους, ὧν ἕνεκα πλειόνων δεῖται δαπανημάτων. Ἐγὼ δὲ αὐτοῦ τὴν γνώμην τεθαύμακα. Ὡς ἐξ οὐρίων γὰρ φερόμενος, οὕτω τὸν Κυβερνήτην ὑμνεῖ, καὶ τοῦ χαλεποῦ κλύδωνος οὐ πεφρόντικεν· τὴν γὰρ εὐσέβειαν ἐκ τῆς συμφορᾶς ἐκαρπώσατο, καὶ τὸν τρισμακάριον αὐτῷ τοῦτον καρπὸν ἡ δυσκληρία προσήνεγκεν. Ἡνίκα γὰρ τῆς εὐπραξίας ἀπέλαυεν, τοὺς τοιούτους οὐ προσίετο λόγους· ἐκείνης δὲ γυμνωθείς, συναπέβαλε τὴν ἀσέ βειαν, καὶ νῦν ἔχει τὸν πλοῦτον τῆς πίστεως· οὗ δὴ χάριν τῆς δυσπραξίας ἐκείνης καταφρονεῖ. Παρακαλῶ τοίνυν τὴν σὴν ἁγιωσύνην, ἀποφῆναι αὐτῷ πατρίδα τὴν ξένην, καὶ προτρέψαι τοὺς πλούτῳ κομῶντας ψυχαγωγῆσαι τὸν τῆς αὐτῆς γεγενη μένον συμμορίας, καὶ τῆς συμφορᾶς διαλῦσαι τὸ νέφος. Προσ ήκει γὰρ τοὺς τὴν αὐτὴν φύσιν λαχόντας, καὶ ὁμοίως μὲν πλημμελοῦντας, τὴν δὲ τιμωρίαν διαφυγόντας, τοῖς δυσημερίᾳ περιπεσοῦσι ψυχαγωγίαν προσφέρειν, καὶ τῇ περὶ τούτους συμπαθείᾳ τὸν Θεὸν ἱλεοῦσθαι. 32 ΘΕΟΚΤΙΣΤΩ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΩ. Εἰ πᾶσι τοῖς πλημμελοῦσιν ἐπέφερε παραυτίκα τὰς τιμω ρίας ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεός, πάντας ἂν ἄρδην ἀπώλεσαν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ φειδοῖ καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ δικάζει, τοὺς μὲν κολάζει, τοῖς δὲ τὰς τούτων τιμωρίας ἀντὶ διδασκαλίας προσφέρει. Τοῦτο καὶ ἐφ' ἡμῶν πεποίηκεν ὁ φιλάνθρωπος. Τοὺς γὰρ ἀπὸ τῆς πάλαι μὲν Λιβύης, νῦν δὲ Ἀφρικῆς καλουμένης, ταῖς ἡμετέραις προσάγει θύραις, καὶ τὰ τούτων ἐπιδεικνὺς παθήματα, δειμαί νειν παρασκευάζει καὶ τῷ δέει πρὸς συμπάθειαν διεγείρει· καὶ δύο κατὰ ταὐτὸν ἐντεῦθεν κατασκευάζει· ἡμᾶς τε γὰρ ἐκ τῆς ἐκείνων παιδείας ὀνίνησιν, καὶ ἐκείνοις δι' ἡμῶν προσφέρει παραψυχήν. Ταύτην παρακαλῶ σου τὴν θεοσέβειαν ὀρέξαι τῷ θαυμασιωτάτῳ καὶ μεγαλοπρεπεστάτῳ Κελεστιακῷ· τὴν γὰρ ἐκείνων μητρόπολιν πάλαι κοσμήσας, νῦν οὐ πόλιν, οὐχ ἑστίαν ἔχει, οὐ τῶν ἀναγκαίων τὴν χρείαν. Προσήκει τοίνυν τοὺς κατὰ τὴν σὴν ὁσιότητα ψυχὰς ποιμαίνειν πεπιστευμέ νους εἰσηγεῖσθαι τοῖς πολίταις τὰ σύμφορα· δέονται γὰρ τῆς τοιαύτης διδασκαλίας. Οὗ δὴ χάριν ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος τῷ μακαρίῳ Τίτῳ γράφων καὶ ταῦτα προστέθεικεν. Μανθανέ τωσαν δὲ οἱ ἡμέτεροι, καλῶν ἔργων προΐστασθαι εἰς τὰς ἀναγκαίας χρείας . Εἰ γὰρ ἡ ἡμετέρα πόλις, ἔρημος οὖσα καὶ ὀλίγους οἰκήτορας ἔχουσα, καὶ τούτους πτωχούς, ψυχαγωγεῖ τοὺς ἀφικνουμένους, πολλῷ μᾶλλον προσήκει τὴν Βέροιαν εὐσεβείᾳ συντεθραμμένην τοῦτο ποιεῖν· μάλιστα τῆς σῆς ὁσιότητος ἡγουμένης. 33 ΣΤΑΣΙΜΩ ΚΟΜΗΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΠΡΩΤΕΥΟΝΤΙ. Τραγικῆς ἐδεῖτο γλώττης τοῦ μεγαλοπρεπεστάτου καὶ ἐνδο ξοτάτου Κελεστιακοῦ τὰ πάθη. Ἐκεῖνοι γὰρ τὰς ἀνθρωπείας ἀποχρώντως συμφορὰς