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Standing in the common theater of the world, that blessed and noble man, through the sufferings that befell him, speaks to all, to bear all that happens nobly, and to yield to none of the approaching terrors. For there is not, there is not any human suffering which cannot receive consolation from him; for the sufferings that are scattered throughout the whole world, these came together at once and fell upon his one body. What excuse then will there be for one who is not able to bear with thanksgiving some part of the terrible things brought upon that man, who seems to bear not just a part, but the entire evils of all men? And lest you should condemn the exaggeration of the statement, come, let us take up each of the things that came upon him and bring forward this promise. And, if you wish, let us first bring into the midst that which seems to be the most unbearable of all, I mean poverty, and the pain from it; for this all men everywhere lament. What then has become poorer than Job, who was poorer even than those cast out at the baths, and those who sleep in the furnace ashes, and simply all men? For these have at least a rag- 49.271 -ged cloak, but he sat naked, and the only garment he had from nature, the covering of his flesh, the devil destroyed this also from every side with a grievous sore. Again, these poor men are at least under the roof of the porches at the baths, or are covered by a hut; but he passed his time always spending the night in the open air, not even having the consolation of a bare roof; and what is greater, is that these are conscious of many terrible things in themselves, but he was conscious of nothing in himself. For this, observed in each of the things that happened to him, is what made his pain greater and worked more perplexity: that he did not even know the cause of what was happening. For these then, as I said, would have many things for which to blame themselves; and it is no small consolation for misfortune, to be conscious that one is being justly punished; but he was deprived of this consolation too, and after exhibiting a life full of virtue, he endured the things of those who have dared the utmost evils. And these poor among us have been practiced in misfortune from of old and from the beginning; but he endured an unpracticed poverty, receiving the change from wealth suddenly. Therefore, just as knowing the cause of what is happening is the greatest consolation, so it is no less than that, to have practiced poverty from the beginning and thus to live in poverty; of both of which that just man was deprived, and even so he did not fall. Have you seen him come to the uttermost poverty, beyond which it is not possible to find another? for what could be poorer than one who is naked and does not even have a roof? Rather, he was not even master enough to enjoy the ground; for he sat not on the earth, but on a dunghill. Therefore, whenever you see yourself in poverty, think of the suffering of the just man, and you will immediately rise up and beat back every thought of despondency. This one misfortune, then, seems to men to be the basis of all terrible things together; but a second after that one, or rather before that one, is the affliction of the body. Who then ever fell so ill? who endured such a disease? who received so great an affliction, or saw another receive one? There is no one. Little by little his body was consumed, and a fountain of worms gushed forth from all sides from his limbs, and this flow was continuous, and the stench from all sides was great, and his body being destroyed little by little and wasting away with such a putrefaction made food unpleasant, and he had a strange and paradoxical hunger; for he was not able to enjoy food even when it was given; For I see my food as filth, he says. Therefore, whenever you fall into sickness, O man, remember that body, and that holy flesh; for it was holy and pure, and yet had such wounds. And if someone is in military service, and then unjustly and without

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ἐν κοινῷ θεάτρῳ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἑστὼς ὁ μακάριος καὶ γενναῖος ἐκεῖνος, ἅπασι διὰ τῶν συμβεβηκότων αὐτῷ παθῶν διαλέγεται πάντα φέρειν τὰ συμπίπτοντα γενναίως, καὶ πρὸς μηδὲν ἐνδιδόναι τῶν ἐπιόντων δεινῶν. Οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν, οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲν ἀνθρώπινον πάθος, ὃ μὴ δύναται παραμυθίαν ἐκεῖθεν δέξασθαι· ἃ γὰρ ἐν πάσῃ τῇ οἰκουμένῃ διέσπαρται πάθη, ταῦτα ὁμοῦ συνελθόντα εἰς ἓν σῶμα κατέσκηψε τὸ ἐκείνου. Τίς οὖν ἔσται συγγνώμη τῷ μὴ δυναμένῳ τι μέρος τῶν ἐπαχθέντων ἐκείνῳ δεινῶν μετ' εὐχαριστίας ἐνεγκεῖν, ὃς μὴ μέρος μόνον, ἀλλ' ὁλόκληρα φαίνεται τὰ πάντων ἀνθρώπων φέρων κακά; Καὶ ἵνα μὴ καταγνῷς ὑπερβολὴν τοῦ λόγου, φέρε καθ' ἕκαστον προχειρισάμενοι τῶν ἐπελθόντων αὐτῷ, τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν ταύτην ἐπάγωμεν. Καὶ, εἰ βούλει, τὸ πάντων ἀφορητότερον εἶναι δοκοῦν, πρῶτον εἰς μέσον ἀγάγωμεν, τὴν πενίαν λέγω, καὶ τὴν ἐκ ταύτης ὀδύνην· τοῦτο γὰρ πανταχοῦ πάντες ἄνθρωποι θρηνοῦσι. Τί οὖν τοῦ Ἰὼβ πενέστερον γέγονεν, ὃς καὶ τῶν ἐν βαλανείοις ἐῤῥιμμένων, καὶ τῶν ἐν τῇ καμιναίᾳ τέφρᾳ καθευδόντων, καὶ πάντων ἁπλῶς ἀνθρώπων πενέστερος ἦν; Οὗτοι μὲν γὰρ κἂν ἱμάτιον ἔχουσι διεῤ 49.271 ῥωγὸς, ἐκεῖνος δὲ γυμνὸς ἐκάθητο, καὶ ὃ μόνον ἱμάτιον εἶχε παρὰ τῆς φύσεως, τῆς σαρκὸς τὴν περιβολὴν, χαλεπῇ σηπεδόνι καὶ τοῦτο πανταχόθεν διέφθειρεν ὁ διάβολος. Πάλιν οὗτοι οἱ πένητες κἂν ὑπὸ στέγην εἰσὶ προπυλαίων τῶν ἐν τοῖς βαλανείοις, κἂν καλύβῃ καλύπτονται· ἐκεῖνος δὲ αἴθριος διανυκτερεύων ἀεὶ διετέλει, οὐδὲ τὴν ἀπὸ ψιλῆς στέγης παραμυθίαν ἔχων· καὶ τὸ δὴ μεῖζον, ὅτι οὗτοι μὲν πολλὰ ἑαυτοῖς συνίσασι τὰ δεινὰ, ἐκεῖνος δὲ οὐδὲν ἑαυτῷ συνῄδει. Τοῦτο γὰρ καθ' ἕκαστον τῶν συμβεβηκότων αὐτῷ παρατηρούμενον, ὃ μείζονα αὐτοῦ τὴν ὀδύνην ἐποίει, καὶ πλείονα τὴν ἀπορίαν εἰργάζετο, τὸ μηδὲ τὴν αἰτίαν τῶν γινομένων εἰδέναι. Οὗτοι μὲν οὖν, ὅπερ ἔφην, πολλὰ ἂν ἔχοιεν ἑαυτοὺς αἰτιᾶσθαι· οὐ μικρὸν δὲ τοῦτο εἰς παραμυθίαν συμφορᾶς, τὸ συνειδέναι ἑαυτῷ δικαίως τιμωρουμένῳ· ἐκεῖνος δὲ καὶ ταύτης ἀπεστέρητο τῆς παραμυθίας, καὶ πολιτείαν ἐπιδειξάμενος ἀρετῆς γέμουσαν, τὰ τῶν ἔσχατα τετολμηκότων ὑπέμεινε. Καὶ οὗτοι μὲν οἱ παρ' ἡμῖν πένητες ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐνεμελέτησαν τῇ συμφορᾷ· ἐκεῖνος δὲ ἀμελέτητον ὑπέμεινε πενίαν, ἀθρόον δεξάμενος τὴν ἐκ τοῦ πλούτου μεταβολήν. Ὥσπερ οὖν τὸ τὴν αἰτίαν εἰδέναι τῶν γινομένων, μέγιστον εἰς παραμυθίαν, οὕτως οὐκ ἔλαττον ἐκείνου, τὸ μελετήσαντα πενίαν ἐξ ἀρχῆς, οὕτως ἐν πενίᾳ διάγειν· ὧν ἀμφοτέρων ὁ δίκαιος ἐκεῖνος ἐστέρητο, καὶ οὐδὲ οὕτω κατέπιπτεν. Εἶδες αὐτὸν καὶ πρὸς ἐσχάτην ἐλθόντα πενίαν, καὶ μεθ' ἣν ἑτέραν οὐκ ἔστιν εὑρεῖν; τί γὰρ ἂν τοῦ γυμνοῦ, καὶ μηδὲ στέγην ἔχοντος πενέστερον γένοιτ' ἄν; Μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ ἐδάφους πάντως ἀπολαύειν κύριος ἦν· οὐ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῆς κοπρίας ἐκάθητο. Οὐκοῦν ὅταν ἴδῃς σαυτὸν ἐν πενίᾳ γενόμενον, ἐννόησον τοῦ δικαίου τὸ πάθος, καὶ εὐθέως ἀναστήσῃ, καὶ πάντα ἀποκρούσῃ λογισμὸν ἀθυμίας. Μία μὲν οὖν αὕτη συμφορὰ πάντων ὁμοῦ τῶν δεινῶν ὑπόθεσις εἶναι δοκεῖ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις· δευτέρα δὲ μετ' ἐκείνην, μᾶλλον δὲ πρὸ ἐκείνης, ἡ τοῦ σώματος πληγή. Τίς οὖν οὕτως ἠῤῥώστησέ ποτε; τίς τοιαύτην νόσον ὑπέμεινε; τίς τοσαύτην πληγὴν ἐδέξατο, ἢ ἕτερον δεξάμενον εἶδεν; Οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδείς. Κατὰ μικρὸν αὐτῷ τὸ σῶμα ἐδαπανᾶτο, καὶ πηγὴ σκωλήκων αὐτῷ πάντοθεν ἔβρυεν ἀπὸ τῶν μελῶν, καὶ διηνεκὴς ἦν αὕτη ἡ ἐπιῤῥοὴ, καὶ πολλὴ πανταχόθεν ἡ δυσωδία, καὶ τὸ σῶμα κατὰ μικρὸν ἀναιρούμενον καὶ τοιαύτῃ σηπεδόνι τηκόμενον ἀηδῆ τὰ σιτία ἐποίει, καὶ λιμὸς ἦν αὐτῷ ξένος καὶ παράδοξος· οὐδὲ γὰρ δεδομένης ἠδύνατο τῆς τροφῆς ἀπολαύειν· Βρόμον γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁρῶ τὰ σιτία μου. Ὅταν οὖν ἀῤῥωστίᾳ περιπέσῃς, ἄνθρωπε, ἀναμνήσθητι τοῦ σώματος ἐκείνου, καὶ τῆς σαρκὸς τῆς ἁγίας· ἁγία γὰρ ἦν καὶ καθαρὰ, καὶ τοιαῦτα ἔχουσα τραύματα. Κἂν ἐν στρατείᾳ δέ τις τελῇ, εἶτα ἀδίκως καὶ χωρὶς