John Chrysostom, On Anna I

but many and various, which Paul, outlining for us, spoke thus: They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny him; and again; But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever; and again; Flee from covetousness, 54.660 which is idolatry. Since, therefore, there are so many ways of denial, it is evident that there are also as many of confession, and many more; let us be eager to confess all of these, so that we too may enjoy the honor in the heavens, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom, and with whom be glory to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

HOMILY IV. To those who abandon the assemblies and go up to the theaters, and that the time spent in church is not only more useful than the entertainment in the theaters, but also more pleasant; and on the second utterance of the prayer of Hannah, and on the need to pray continuously, and in every

place, whether we are in the marketplace, or on the road, or on our bed. 1. I do not know what words I shall use today. For seeing the assemblies

diminishing, the prophets insulted, the apostles disregarded, the fathers despised, the insolence passing through the servants to the Master, I wish to bring an accusation, but I do not see those present who ought to hear the charge, but you who have no need of this exhortation and admonition. Nevertheless, not even so must we be silent; for we shall manage to vent a little of the pain on their account outwardly, expelling it through our words, and we shall make them feel ashamed and blush, by sending against them so many accusers, all of you who are listening. For if they had come here, they would have heard only us rebuking them; but now, fleeing the rebuke from us, they will hear all these things from you. This is what friends also do; when they do not find the responsible parties, they meet with their friends, so that they may go away and tell them what was said. This is what God also did; for letting go of those who had sinned against him, he pleads against the one who had done no wrong, Jeremiah, saying: Have you seen what the senseless daughter of Judah has done to me? For this reason, we too intercede with you against them, so that you may go and correct them. For who could bear such great negligence? Once a week we gather here, and not even on this day can they bear to disregard the cares of life; and if anyone should accuse them, they immediately put forward poverty, and necessary food, and pressing business, having contrived a defense more grievous than any accusation. For what could be worse than this accusation, than when something else seems to you more necessary and more pressing than the things of God? Indeed, therefore, even if this were true, the defense was an accusation, as I said. But that you may learn that these things are a pretext and an excuse and veils for laziness, without my saying anything, the day after tomorrow will convict all those who make such excuses, when the whole city moves to the hippodrome, and houses and marketplaces are emptied for that lawless spectacle. And here indeed one cannot see even the main space of the church filled; but there they occupy not only the hippodrome, but also upper rooms, and houses, and rooftops, and cliffs, and countless other places from above; 54.661 and neither poverty, nor business, nor weakness of body, nor infirmity of feet, nor anything else of that sort restrains their irrepressible madness; but old men run there more vehemently than vigorous youths,

ἀλλὰ πολλοὶ καὶ διάφοροι, οὓς ὁ Παῦλος ἡμῖν ὑπογράφων οὕτως ἔλεγε· Θεὸν ὁμολογοῦσιν εἰδέναι, τοῖς δὲ ἔργοις ἀρνοῦνται· καὶ πάλιν· Εἰ δέ τις τῶν ἰδίων, καὶ μάλιστα τῶν οἰκείων οὐ προνοεῖ, τὴν πίστιν ἤρνηται, καὶ ἔστιν ἀπίστου χείρων· καὶ πάλιν· Φεύγετε τὴν πλεον 54.660 εξίαν, ἥτις ἐστὶν εἰδωλολατρεία. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἀρνήσεως τοσοῦτοι τρόποι, εὔδηλον ὅτι καὶ ὁμολογίας τοσοῦτοι, καὶ πολλῷ πλείους· οὓς δὴ πάντας ὁμολογῆσαι σπουδάσωμεν, ἵνα καὶ αὐτοὶ τῆς ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς τιμῆς ἀπολαύσωμεν, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, δι' οὗ, καὶ μεθ' οὗ τῷ Πατρὶ ἡ δόξα, ἅμα τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

ΛΟΓΟΣ ∆ʹ. Πρὸς τοὺς τὰς συνάξεις καταλιμπάνοντας, καὶ εἰς τὰ θέατρα ἀναβαίνοντας, καὶ ὅτι οὐ μόνον χρησιμωτέρα τῆς ἐν θεάτροις διαγωγῆς ἡ ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ διατριβὴ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡδίων· καὶ εἴς τε τὴν δευτέραν ῥῆσιν τῆς εὐχῆς τῆς Ἄννης, καὶ εἰς τὸ δεῖν συνεχῶς εὔχεσθαι, καὶ ἐν παντὶ

τόπῳ, κἂν ἐν ἀγορᾷ ὦμεν, κἂν ἐν ὁδῷ, κἂν ἐπὶ κλίνης. αʹ. Οὐκ οἶδα ποίοις χρήσομαι λόγοις σήμερον. Καὶ γὰρ ὁρῶν τὰς συνάξεις

ἐλαττουμένας, προφήτας ὑβριζομένους, ἀποστόλους ὑπερορωμένους, πατέρας καταφρονουμένους, διὰ τῶν δούλων εἰς τὸν ∆εσπότην διαβαίνουσαν τὴν ὕβριν, βούλομαι μὲν ἐγκαλέσαι, τοὺς δὲ ὀφείλοντας ἀκοῦσαι τῆς κατηγορίας οὐχ ὁρῶ παρόντας, ἀλλ' ὑμᾶς τοὺς οὐδὲν δεομένους τῆς παραινέσεως ταύτης καὶ τῆς νουθεσίας. Πλὴν ἀλλ' οὐδὲ οὕτως σιγητέον ἡμῖν· τήν τε γὰρ ὀδύνην τὴν ἐπ' ἐκείνοις διαπνεῦσαι μικρὸν παρασκευάσομεν εἰς τὰ ἔξω, διὰ τῶν ῥημάτων ἐκβάλλοντες αὐτὴν, αὐτούς τε ἐκείνους αἰσχύνεσθαι καὶ ἐρυθριᾷν ποιήσομεν, τοσούτους αὐτοῖς ἐπαφέντες κατηγόρους, τοὺς ἀκούοντας ἅπαντας ὑμᾶς. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἐνταῦθα παρεγένοντο, ἡμῶν μόνον ἐπιτιμώντων ἤκουσαν ἄν· νῦν δὲ φεύγοντες τὴν παρ' ἡμῶν ἐπιτίμησιν, παρ' ὑμῶν ταῦτα ἀκούσονται πάντα. Οὕτω καὶ φίλοι ποιοῦσιν· ἐπειδὰν τοὺς ὑπευθύνους μὴ εὕρωσι, τοῖς ἐκείνων ἐντυγχάνουσι φίλοις, ὥστε ἀπελθόντας εἰπεῖν τὰ εἰρημένα. Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ἐποίησε· τοὺς γὰρ εἰς αὐτὸν ἡμαρτηκότας ἀφεὶς, τῷ μηδὲν ἠδικηκότι κατεντυγχάνει τῷ Ἱερεμίᾳ, λέγων· Εἶδες τί ἐποίησέ μοι ἡ ἀσύνετος θυγάτηρ Ἰούδα; ∆ιὰ δὴ τοῦτο καὶ ἡμεῖς ὑμῖν ὑπερεντυγχάνομεν κατ' ἐκείνων, ἵνα ἀπελθόντες διορθώσητε αὐτούς. Τίς γὰρ ἂν ἐνέγκῃ τὴν ὀλιγωρίαν τὴν τοσαύτην; Ἅπαξ τῆς ἑβδομάδος ἐνταῦθα συλλεγόμεθα, καὶ οὐδὲ ταύτην ἀνέχονται τὴν ἡμέραν τῶν βιωτικῶν ὑπερορᾷν φροντίδων· κἂν ἐγκαλῇ τις, εὐθέως πενίαν προβάλλονται, καὶ τὴν ἀναγκαίαν τροφὴν, καὶ ἀσχολίας κατεπειγούσας, ἀπολογίαν κατηγορίας ἁπάσης χαλεπωτέραν μελετήσαντες. Τί γὰρ ἂν ταύτης τῆς κατηγορίας γένοιτ' ἂν χεῖρον, ἀλλ' ἢ ὅταν τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ πραγμάτων ἕτερον ἀναγκαιότερον ὑμῖν τι φαίνηται καὶ κατεπεῖγον μᾶλλον; Μάλιστα μὲν οὖν εἰ καὶ τοῦτο ἦν ἀληθὲς, κατηγορία ἡ ἀπολογία ἦν, ὥσπερ ἔφην. Ἵνα δὲ μάθητε, ὅτι καὶ ταῦτα σκῆψις καὶ πρόφασις καὶ ῥᾳθυμίας ἐστὶ παραπετάσματα, οὐδὲν ἐμοῦ λέγοντος, ἡ μετὰ τὴν αὔριον αὐτοὺς ἐλέγξει πάντας ἡμέρα τοὺς τὰ τοιαῦτα προφασιζομένους, ὅταν πᾶσα ἡ πόλις πρὸς τὸν ἱππόδρομον μεταστῇ, καὶ οἰκίαι, καὶ ἀγοραὶ εἰς τὴν παράνομον θεωρίαν κενωθῶσιν ἐκείνην. Καὶ ἐνταῦθα μὲν οὐδὲ τὸν κύριον τῆς ἐκκλησίας τόπον πληρούμενον ἔστιν ἰδεῖν· ἐκεῖ δὲ οὐ τὸν ἱππόδρομον μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπερῷα, καὶ οἰκίας, καὶ δώματα, καὶ κρημνοὺς, καὶ μυρίους ἑτέρους ἄνωθεν καταλαμ 54.661 βάνουσι τόπους· καὶ οὔτε πενία, οὔτε ἀσχολία, οὔτε ἀσθένεια σώματος, οὐ ποδῶν ἀῤῥωστία, οὐκ ἄλλο οὐδὲν τῶν τοιούτων ἐπέχει τὴν ἀκάθεκτον μανίαν· ἀλλ' ἄνθρωποι γεγηρακότες νέων ἀκμαζόντων σφοδρότερον ἐκεῖ τρέχουσι,