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10.8 But that you may also learn from another source how great is the gain of sufferings, even if one does not suffer for God's sake—and let no one think this an exaggeration—but suffers nevertheless and bears it nobly and gently, glorifying God in all things, this man himself did not know that he was suffering these things for God; and yet for this reason he was crowned, because, not even knowing the cause, he endured nobly. And that Lazarus, having fallen into a weakness of nature—this was not, of course, to suffer for God—since he suffered completely and persevered and bore nobly the abandonment of those who could heal him, the despondency from his sores, that from hunger, that from the contempt of the rich man and his cruelty, you know what great crowns he enjoyed. And yet we find no good deed of his to speak of; not that he pitied the poor, not that he stood by the wronged, not that he worked any such good thing, but the lying at the gate of the rich man and the sickness and the tongues of the dogs and the contempt of the rich man shown toward him, all of which were things of suffering evil. But nevertheless, though he had done nothing noble, since he only bore nobly the despondency from this, he obtained the same lot as the patriarch who had achieved so much. Shall I say after this also another thing, which seems to be paradoxical, but is true; even if someone should do a great and noble good, but not with toil and danger and sufferings, he will not receive much of a reward; "For 'each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor,'" not according to the greatness of the achievement, but according to the mass of the suffering. For this reason also Paul, when boasting, boasts not only of having achieved and done something noble, but also of having suffered evil. For having said, "Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool, I am more," and weaving his superiority by comparison, he did not say, "I preached to so many and so many," but leaving aside what he had achieved, what evil he suffered, these things he enumerates, saying thus: "'in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths often. Five times I received from the Jews forty stripes save one, three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own countrymen, in perils by the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness, in toil, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst and nakedness; besides those things that are without, that which comes upon me daily.'" 10.9 Have you seen the string of sufferings and the grounds for boasting? Then he adds to these also the achievements, and in these again it is possible to see more of the suffering, not of the achievement. For having said, "that which comes upon me daily," speaking of the constant distractions, the tumults, the circumstances—for this is "that which comes upon me"—he added, "The care of all the churches." He did not say, "the correction," but "the care," which was more of a suffering than an achievement. And the following similarly: "Who is weak," he says, "and I am not weak?" He did not say, "I correct him," but "I am weak." And again, "Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn?" He did not say, "I delivered him from the stumbling block," but "I shared in the despondency." Then showing that these things especially have their rewards, he added, "If I must boast, I will boast of the things that concern my weakness." And again he adds another such thing, the flight through the window, through the basket, through the wall; and this was a matter of suffering evil. If, therefore, sufferings have great rewards, and of all sufferings despondency is the most difficult and painful, consider how great the compensations will be. For I will not cease continually singing this song to you, so that what I promised in the prologues I may now fulfill, weaving from despondency itself

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10.8 Ἵνα δὲ καὶ ἑτέρωθεν μάθῃς, ὅσον τῶν παθημάτων τὸ κέρδος, κἂν μὴ διὰ Θεόν τις πάθῃ-καὶ μηδεὶς ὑπερβολὴν τοῦτο νομιζέτω-, πάθῃ δὲ ὅμως καὶ γενναίως ἐνέγκῃ καὶ πρᾴως τὸν Θεὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι δοξάζων, αὐτὸς οὗτος οὐκ ᾔδει ὅτι διὰ τὸν Θεὸν ταῦτα ἔπασχεν· καὶ ὅμως διὰ τοῦτο ἐστεφανοῦτο, ὅτι οὐδὲ τὴν αἰτίαν ἐπιστάμενος ἐκαρτέρει γενναίως. Καὶ ὁ Λάζαρος ἐκεῖνος ἀσθενείᾳ φύσεως περιπεσών -τοῦτο δὲ οὐκ ἦν δήπου διὰ τὸν Θεὸν παθεῖν-, ἐπειδὴ ὅλως ἔπαθε καὶ ἐκαρτέρησε καὶ γενναίως ἤνεγκε τὴν ἐρημίαν τῶν θεραπευόντων, τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν ἑλκῶν ἀθυμίαν, τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ λιμοῦ, τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ὑπεροψίας τοῦ πλουσίου καὶ τῆς ὠμότητος, οἶσθα ἡλίκων ἀπέλαυσε στεφάνων. Καίτοι γε αὐτοῦ κατόρθωμα οὐδὲν εὕρομεν εἰπεῖν· οὐχ ὅτι πένητας ἐλέησεν, οὐχ ὅτι ἀδικουμένοις παρέστη, οὐχ ὅτι ἀγαθόν τι τοιοῦτον εἰργάσατο, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐν τῷ πυλῶνι τοῦ πλουσίου κατάκλισιν καὶ τὴν ἀρρωστίαν καὶ τῶν κυνῶν τὰς γλώσσας καὶ τὴν τοῦ πλουσίου κατ' αὐτοῦ γενομένην ὑπεροψίαν ἅπερ τοῦ πάσχειν κακῶς ἅπαντα ἦν. Ἀλλ' ὅμως καίτοι μηδὲν γενναῖον ποιήσας, ἐπειδὴ μόνον τὴν ἐκ τούτου ἀθυμίαν ἤνεγκε γενναίως, τῷ τοσαῦτα κατωρθωκότι πατριάρχῃ τῆς αὐτῆς ἔτυχε λήξεως. Εἴπω τι μετὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἕτερον παράδοξον μὲν εἶναι δοκοῦν, ἀληθὲς δέ· κἂν ἀγαθόν τις ἐργάσηται μέγα καὶ γενναῖον, μὴ μετὰ πόνου δὲ καὶ κινδύνου καὶ παθημάτων, οὐ πολύν τινα λήψεται μισθόν· «Ἕκαστος γὰρ τὸν ἴδιον μισθὸν λήψεται κατὰ τὸν ἴδιον κόπον», οὐ κατὰ τὸ μέγεθος τοῦ κατορθώματος, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸν ὄγκον τοῦ παθήματος. ∆ιά τοι τοῦτο καὶ Παῦλος καυχώμενος οὐκ ἐπὶ τῷ κατορθῶσαι μόνον καὶ γενναῖόν τι ποιῆσαι καυχᾶται, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ παθεῖν κακῶς. Εἰπὼν γάρ· «∆ιάκονοι Χριστοῦ εἰσι; παραφρονῶν λαλῶ, ὑπὲρ ἐγώ» καὶ τὴν κατὰ σύγκρισιν ὑπεροχὴν ὑφαίνων, οὐκ εἶπε. «Τόσοις καὶ τόσοις ἐκήρυξα», ἀλλ' ἀφεὶς ἅπερ κατώρθωσεν, ἅπερ ἔπαθε κακῶς, ταῦτα ἐξαριθμεῖται οὕτω λέγων· «Ἐν κόποις περισσοτέρως, ἐν πληγαῖς ὑπερβαλλόντως, ἐν φυλακαῖς περισσοτέρως, ἐν θανάτοις πολλάκις. Πεντάκις τεσσαράκοντα παρὰ μίαν ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων ἔλαβον, τρὶς ἐρραβδίσθην, ἅπαξ ἐλιθάσθην, τρὶς ἐναυάγησα, νυχθήμερον ἐν τῷ βυθῷ πεποίηκα· ὁδοιπορίαις πολλάκις, κινδύνοις ποταμῶν, κινδύνοις λῃστῶν, κινδύνοις ἐκ γένους, κινδύνοις ἐξ ἐθνῶν, κινδύνοις ἐν πόλει, κινδύνοις ἐν ἐρημίᾳ, κινδύνοις ἐν θαλάσσῃ, κινδύνοις ἐν ψευδαδέλφοις· ἐν κόπῳ, ἐν μόχθῳ, ἐν ἀγρυπνίαις πολλάκις, ἐν λιμῷ καὶ δίψει καὶ γυμνότητι· χωρὶς τῶν παρεκτός, ἡ ἐπισύστασίς μου ἡ καθ' ἡμέραν.» 10.9 Εἶδες παθημάτων ὁρμαθὸν καὶ καυχήσεως ἀφορμάς; Εἶτα ἐπάγει τούτοις καὶ τὰ κατορθώματα καὶ ἐν τούτοις πάλιν τὸ πλέον τοῦ παθήματος ἔστιν ἰδεῖν, οὐχὶ τοῦ κατορθώματος. Εἰπὼν γάρ· «Ἡ ἐπισύστασίς μου ἡ καθ' ἡμέραν», τὰς ἀπαγωγὰς λέγων τὰς συνεχεῖς, τοὺς θορύβους, τὰς περιστάσεις -τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν ἡ ἐπισύστασίς μου-, ἐπήγαγεν «Ἡ μέριμνα πασῶν τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν.» Οὐκ εἶπεν· ἡ διόρθωσις, ἀλλ' «ἡ μέριμνα», ὅπερ παθήματος πλέον ἦν ἢ κατορθώματος. Καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς ὁμοίως· «Τίς ἀσθενεῖ, φησί, καὶ οὐκ ἀσθενῶ;» Οὐκ εἶπε· διορθοῦμαι, ἀλλ' «ἀσθενῶ». Καὶ πάλιν· «Τίς σκανδαλίζεται καὶ οὐκ ἐγὼ πυροῦμαι;» Οὐκ εἶπεν· ἀπήλλαξα τοῦ σκανδάλου, ἀλλ' «ἐκοινώνησα τῆς ἀθυμίας». Εἶτα δεικνὺς ὅτι ταῦτα μάλιστα τὰς ἀμοιβὰς ἔχει, ἐπήγαγεν· «Εἰ καυχᾶσθαι δεῖ, τὰ τῆς ἀσθενείας μου καυχήσομαι.» Καὶ ἕτερον πάλιν τοιοῦτον ἐπάγει, τὴν φυγὴν τὴν διὰ τῆς θυρίδος, τὴν διὰ τῆς σαργάνης, τὴν διὰ τοῦ τείχους· τοῦτο δὲ τοῦ παθεῖν κακῶς ἦν. Εἰ τοίνυν τὰ παθήματα μεγάλας ἔχει τὰς ἀμοιβάς, τῶν δὲ παθημάτων πάντων χαλεπώτερον καὶ ὀδυνηρότερον ἡ ἀθυμία, ἐννόησον ὅσαι κείσονται αἱ ἀντιδόσεις. Οὐ γὰρ παύσομαι συνεχῶς ταύτην σοι ἐπᾴδων τὴν ᾠδήν, ἵνα ὅπερ ὑπεσχόμην ἐν προοιμίοις τοῦτο πληρώσω νῦν, ἀπὸ τῆς ἀθυμίας αὐτῆς ὑφαίνων