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brothers and sisters and wife and children, is not worthy of me"? If he who does not leave them is unworthy, it is clear that he who does leave them, and practices such strict perfection, was most worthy. 3.16 But in addition to these things, I also admire the precision of his divine doctrines. For he detested the madness of Arius, which was being fanned into flame at that time by the imperial power; he also abhorred the delusion of Apollinarius; and he fought nobly against those who held the opinions of Sabellius and who contract the three hypostases into one; and he completely turned away from those called Euchites, who, under the guise of monasticism, were sick with the doctrines of the Manicheans. 3.17 He had such a fervent zeal for the ecclesiastical doctrines that he undertook a just fight even against a man who was admirable and divine. There was a certain Abrahamas in that desert, an old man, a man having gray hair but a grayer mind, shining with every virtue and always gushing forth the tear of compunction. At first, this man, led astray by a certain simplicity, tolerated celebrating the Passover <ὡς> on the fourteenth, being ignorant, as is likely, of the things decreed concerning this by the fathers in Nicaea, but choosing to be a slave to ancient custom. And many others at that time were sick with this ignorance. But the great Marcian, having often used many arguments, tried to bring the old man Abrahamas—for so the locals called him—to the harmony of the church. But seeing that he was disobedient, he openly withdrew from communion with him. But after some time had passed, that divine man, having cast off the blame and having come to love the harmony of the divine festival, sang truthfully: "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord." And this too was an achievement of the great Marcian's teaching. 3.18 For him many everywhere built chapels, in Cyrrhus, his nephew Alypius, and a certain Zenobiane in Chalcis, who was illustrious in family, distinguished in virtue, and prided herself on an abundance of wealth. And not a few others were doing this very thing, contending to snatch away that victorious athlete. Knowing this, the man of God entreated that admirable Eusebius, offering him oaths full of every kind of dread, to lay his body in that place and for no one to know the tomb, except for two of his most intimate companions, until a great number of years should pass. And that admirable man fulfilled this oath. For when the end of the victor came and a choir of angels had transferred that sacred and divine soul to the mansions in heaven, he did not announce his death until, having dug the tomb with the two most familiar to him and having laid the body in it, he leveled the surface of the ground. And though fifty years and more have passed, and though ten thousand have run together and searched for the body, the tomb has remained unknown. But since each of the aforementioned chapels had received relics, one of apostles, the other of martyrs, the heirs of his dwelling and teaching, finally taking courage two years ago, having constructed a stone sarcophagus, transferred the relics of his honored body into it, after one man had pointed out the tomb; for this one alone out of the three survived. 3.19 Becoming an emulator of his virtue, the admirable Eusebius continued to wear down his body with more labors. For wearing one hundred and twenty pounds of iron, he put on himself also the fifty others of the most divine Agapetus, and he added also the eighty of the great Marcian. He also had an oratory and
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ἀδελφοὺς καὶ ἀδελφὰς καὶ γυναῖκα καὶ τέκνα οὐκ ἔστι μου ἄξιος"; Εἰ δὲ ὁ μὴ καταλιμπάνων ἀνάξιος, ὁ καταλιμπάνων, καὶ τοσαύτῃ χρώμενος ἀκριβεῖ τελειότητι, δῆλον ὡς ἀξιώτατος ἦν. 3.16 Ἐγὼ δὲ πρὸς τούτοις θαυμάζω καὶ τὴν τῶν θείων αὐτοῦ δογμάτων ἀκρίβειαν. Ἐβδελύττετο μὲν γὰρ τὴν Ἀρείου μανίαν ὑπὸ τῆς βασιλικῆς δυναστείας κατ' ἐκεῖνο τοῦ καιροῦ ἐξαπτομένην· ἐμυσάττετο δὲ καὶ τὴν Ἀπολιναρίου φρενοβλάβειαν· διεμάχετο δὲ γενναίως καὶ τοῖς τὰ Σαβελλίου φρονοῦσι καὶ τὰς τρεῖς ὑποστάσεις εἰς μίαν συνάγουσιν· ἀπεστρέφετο δὲ κομιδῆ καὶ τοὺς ὀνομαζομένους Εὐχίτας ἐν μοναχικῷ προσχήματι τὰ Μανιχαίων νοσοῦντας. 3.17 Οὕτω δὲ θερμὸν εἶχε τὸν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν δογμάτων ζῆλον ὡς καὶ πρὸς ἄνδρα θαυμάσιόν τε καὶ θεῖον δικαίαν ἀνεδέξατο μάχην. Ἀβραάμης τις ἦν κατὰ τὴν ἔρημον ἐκείνην πρεσβύτης, ἀνὴρ πολιὰν μὲν ἔχων τὴν τρίχα, πολιώτερον δὲ τὸ φρόνημα, ἀρετῇ πάσῃ λάμπων καὶ ἀναβλύζων ἀεὶ τὸ τῆς κατανύξεως δάκρυον. Οὗτος κατ' ἀρχὰς ὑπό τινος ἁπλότητος ὑπαχθεὶς <ὡς> τὸ πρῶτον ἐπιτελεῖν ἠνείχετο πάσχα, ἀγνοῶν μέν, ὡς εἰκός, τὰ περὶ τούτου τοῖς πατράσιν ἐν Νικαίᾳ νενομοθετημένα, ἔθει δὲ ἀρχαίῳ δουλεύειν αἱρούμενος. Πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ ἄλλοι κατ' ἐκεῖνο τοῦ καιροῦ ταύτην ἐνόσουν τὴν ἄγνοιαν. Ἀλλ' ὁ μέγας Μαρκιανὸς πολλοῖς μὲν πολλάκις χρησάμενος λόγοις ἐπειράθη τὸν πρεσβύτην Ἀβραάμην-οὕτω γὰρ αὐτὸν οἱ ἐγχώριοι προσηγόρευον- εἰς τὴν τῆς ἐκκλησίας μεταγαγεῖν συμφω νίαν. Ἀπειθοῦντα δὲ θεασάμενος τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν προφανῶς κοινωνίας ἀπέστη. Ἀλλὰ χρόνου διελθόντος, ὁ θεσπέσιος ἐκεῖνος ἀνὴρ ἀπορρίψας τὸν μῶμον καὶ τῆς θείας ἑορτῆς ἀγαπήσας τὴν συμφωνίαν, ἔψαλλεν ἀληθεύων· "Μακάριοι οἱ ἄμωμοι ἐν ὁδῷ, οἱ πορευόμενοι ἐν νόμῳ κυρίου." Καὶ τοῦτο δὲ τῆς τοῦ μεγάλου Μαρκιανοῦ διδασκαλίας κατόρ θωμα. 3.18 Τούτῳ πολλοὶ μὲν πανταχοῦ σηκοὺς εὐκτηρίους ἐδείμαντο, ἐν Κύρρῳ μὲν ὁ ἀδελφιδοῦς Ἀλύπιος, Ζηνοβιανὴ δέ τις ἐν Χαλκίδι καὶ γένει λάμπουσα καὶ ἀρετῇ διαπρέπουσα καὶ πλούτου περιουσίᾳ κομῶσα. Καὶ ἕτεροι δὲ οὐκ ὀλίγοι αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἔδρων, τὸν νικηφόρον ἐκεῖνον ἀθλητὴν ἁρπάσαι φιλονεικοῦντες. Τοῦτο γνούς, ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος παρακαλεῖ τὸν θαυμάσιον ἐκεῖνον Εὐσέβιον, ὅρκους αὐτῷ προσενεγκὼν δείματος παντὸς γέμοντας, ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ χωρίῳ καταθεῖναι τὸ σῶμα καὶ μηδένα διαγνῶναι τὸν τάφον, πλὴν δύο τῶν συνηθεστέρων συνοίκων, μέχρις ἂν διέλθῃ πολὺς ἐτῶν ἀριθμός. Καὶ τοῦτον τὸν ὅρκον ὁ θαυμάσιος ἐκεῖνος πεπλή ρωκεν ἄνθρωπος. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἧκε τοῦ νικηφόρου τὸ τέλος καὶ χορὸς ἀγγέλων τὴν ἱερὰν ἐκείνην καὶ θείαν ψυχὴν εἰς τὰς ἐν οὐρανῷ μονὰς μετατέθηκεν, οὐ πρότερον αὐτοῦ τὴν τελευτὴν κατεμήνυσεν ἕως, μετὰ τῶν δύο τῶν γνωριμωτέρων τὸν τάφον ὀρύξας καὶ τὸ σῶμα καταθείς, τῆς γῆς τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν ἐξωμάλισε. Καὶ πεντήκοντα διελθόντων ἐνιαυτῶν καὶ πλειόνων, μυρίων συνδεδραμηκότων καὶ διηρευνηκότων τὸ σῶμα, ἄδηλος ὁ τάφος μεμένηκεν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἕκαστος τῶν προειρημένων σηκῶν, ὁ μὲν ἀποστόλων, ὁ δὲ μαρτύρων ὑπεδέξατο λείψανα, θαρρήσαντες λοιπὸν οἱ τῆς ἐκείνου σκηνῆς καὶ διδαχῆς κληρονόμοι, πρὸ δύο τούτων ἐτῶν λάρνακα λιθίνην κατασκευάσαντες, ἐν ταύτῃ τὰ τοῦ τιμίου σώματος μετέθεσαν λείψανα, ἑνὸς τὸν τάφον ὑποδείξαντος· οὗτος γὰρ μόνος ἐκ τῶν τριῶν περιῆν. 3.19 Ζηλωτὴς δὲ γενόμενος τῆς ἐκείνου ἀρετῆς Εὐσέβιος ὁ θαυμάσιος πλείοσι διετέλεσε πόνοις κατατρύχων τὸ σῶμα. Εἴκοσι γὰρ καὶ ἑκατὸν σιδήρου περικείμενος λίτρας, ἐπέθηκε μὲν ἑαυτῷ καὶ τὰς τοῦ θειοτάτου Ἀγαπητοῦ ἄλλας πεντήκοντα, προσέθηκε δὲ καὶ τὰς τοῦ μεγάλου Μαρκιανοῦ ὀγδοήκοντα. Ἔσχε δὲ καὶ εὐκτήριον καὶ