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the martyr for a short time unseen, and not long after holding the blood-stained spear. In the life of John Chrysostom it is written thus, verbatim: And the blessed John exceedingly loved the epistles of the most wise Paul. And after a little: And he also had the portrait of the same apostle Paul in an icon, where he rested for a short while because of the weakness of his body; for he was very wakeful beyond nature. And when he went through his epistles, he would gaze at it and as if he were alive, he thus attended to him, calling him blessed, and he held all his thought towards him, imagining and speaking with him through the vision. And after other things: And when Proclus stopped speaking, gazing at the icon of the apostle and seeing his likeness was similar to the one who had appeared to him, he made a prostration to John and said, pointing to the icon: Forgive me, father. The one I saw speaking to you is like this one; and as I suppose, he is the very one. In the life of the holy Eupraxia it is recorded by the one who presided over the flock that the Lord's image was shown to her. In the life of the holy Mary of Egypt it is written that she prayed to the icon of the Lady and asked her to be her guarantor and thus obtained entrance into the church. 2,60 From the discourse of Chrysostom, that of the Old and New there is one lawgiver, and on the garment of the priest: I also loved the wax-painted picture filled with piety; for I saw an angel in an icon driving out hordes of barbarians. I saw the tribes of barbarians being trampled and David speaking truth: "Lord, in your city you will despise their image." Of the same, from the interpretation of the parable of the sower: If you should insult a royal garment, do you not insult the one wearing it? Do you not know that if you should insult a king's icon, you bring the insult to the prototype of the dignity? Do you not know that if someone should drag down an icon of wood and a bronze statue, he is not judged as having dared against lifeless matter, but as [having used the insult] against the king? And an icon of a king altogether refers the insult it receives to the king. Of the same John Chrysostom, from the discourse on Meletius, bishop of Antioch and martyr, and on the zeal of those who assembled, the beginning of which is: Everywhere casting my eyes about this holy flock, and after a little: And what was happening was a teaching of piety; for being continually compelled to remember that name and to have that saint in their soul, they had the name as a means of escape from every irrational passion and thought, and this became so great, that everywhere, both in the street and in the marketplace and in the fields, this name echoed all around. And you felt so much longing not only for the name, but also for the very form of his body. What therefore you did with names, this you also did in the case of his icon. For indeed many carved that holy icon on the bezels of rings and on cups and on bowls and on the walls of rooms and everywhere, so as not only to hear that holy name, but also to see everywhere the form of his body and to have a kind of double consolation for his absence. Of the same, on the betrayal of Judas and on the Pascha and on the tradition of the mysteries and concerning not bearing grudges: For just as painters on the panel itself both contain the lines and do the shading and apply the truth of the colors, so also did Christ. Of Saint Ambrose, bishop of Milan, from the epistle to all Italy: And on the third night from fasting, with my body already exhausted, not sleeping, but being in an ecstasy, they appeared to me with a certain person, who resembled the blessed apostle Paul, as the very painting in icons clearly teaches his likeness. Of Maximus the philosopher and confessor from the works concerning
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βραχὺ ἀφανῆ τὸν μάρτυρα, μετ' οὐ πολὺ δὲ τὸ δόρυ ᾑμαγμένον κατέχοντα. Ἐν τῷ βίῳ Ἰωάννου τοῦ Χρυσοστόμου οὕτως αὐτολεξεὶ γέγραπται· Ἠγάπα δὲ ὁ μακάριος Ἰωάννης τὰς ἐπιστολὰς τοῦ σοφωτάτου Παύλου ἄγαν. Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Ἦν δὲ καὶ τὸ ἐκτύπωμα τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἀποστόλου Παύλου ἔχων ἐν εἰκόνι, ἔνθα ἀνεπαύετο διὰ τὴν τοῦ σώματος ἀσθένειαν βραχύ τι· ἦν γὰρ πολυάγρυπνος ὑπὲρ φύσιν. Καὶ ἡνίκα διήρχετο τὰς ἐπιστολὰς αὐτοῦ, ἐνητένιζεν αὐτῇ καὶ ὡς ἐπὶ ζῶντος αὐτοῦ οὕτω προσεῖχεν αὐτῷ μακαρίζων αὐτόν, καὶ ὅλον αὑτοῦ τὸν λογισμὸν πρὸς αὐτὸν εἶχε φανταζόμενος καὶ διὰ τῆς θεωρίας αὐτῷ ὁμιλῶν. Καὶ μεθ' ἕτερα· Ὡς δὲ ἐπαύσατο ὁ Πρόκλος λαλῶν, ἀτενίσας τῇ εἰκόνι τοῦ ἀποστόλου καὶ θεασάμενος τὸν χαρακτῆρα αὐτοῦ ὅμοιον τοῦ ὀφθέντος αὐτῷ, βαλὼν μετάνοιαν τῷ Ἰωάννῃ, εἶπε δακτυλοδεικτῶν τὴν εἰκόνα· Συγχώρησόν μοι, πάτερ. Ὃν εἶδον λαλοῦντά σοι, ὅμοιός ἐστι τούτῳ· ὡς δὲ ὑπολαμβάνω, ὅτι καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν. Ἐν τῷ τῆς ὁσίας Εὐπραξίας βίῳ τὸν δεσποτικὸν δεδεῖχθαι αὐτῇ χαρακτῆρα ἀναγέγραπται ὑπὸ τῆς προεστηκυίας τῆς ποίμνης. Ἐν τῷ τῆς ὁσίας Μαρίας βίῳ τῆς Αἰγυπτίας γέγραπται τῇ εἰκόνι τῆς δεσποίνης αὐτὴν εὔξασθαι καὶ ταύτην πρὸς ἐγγύην ἐξαιτήσασθαι καὶ οὕτω τυχεῖν τῆς εἰς τὸν ναὸν εἰσόδου. 2,60 Ἐκ τοῦ λόγου τοῦ Χρυσοστόμου, ὅτι παλαιᾶς καὶ καινῆς εἷς νομοθέτης, καὶ εἰς τὸ ἔνδυμα τοῦ ἱερέως· Ἐγὼ καὶ τὴν κηρόχυτον ἠγάπησα γραφὴν εὐσεβείας πεπληρωμένην· εἶδον γὰρ ἄγγελον ἐν εἰκόνι ἐλαύνοντα βαρβάρων στίφη. Εἶδον πατούμενα βαρβάρων φῦλα καὶ τὸν ∆αυὶδ ἀληθεύοντα· «Κύριε, ἐν τῇ πόλει σου τὴν εἰκόνα αὐτῶν ἐξουδενώσεις.» Τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῆς ἑρμηνείας τῆς παραβολῆς τοῦ σπόρου· Ἔνδυμα βασιλικὸν ἐὰν ὑβρίσῃς, οὐ τὸν ἐνδεδυμένον ὑβρίζεις; Οὐκ οἶδας, ὅτι, ἐὰν εἰκόνα βασιλέως ὑβρίσῃς, εἰς τὸ πρωτότυπον τῆς ἀξίας φέρεις τὴν ὕβριν; Οὐκ οἶδας, ὅτι, ἐάν τις εἰκόνα τὴν ἀπὸ ξύλου καὶ ἀνδριάντος χαλκοῦ κατασύρῃ, οὐχ ὡς εἰς ἄψυχον ὕλην τολμήσας κρίνεται, ἀλλ' ὡς κατὰ βασιλέως κεχ[ρημένος τῇ ὕβρει;] Εἰκόνα δὲ ὅλως βασιλέως φέρουσα τὴν ἑαυτῆς ὕβριν εἰς βασιλέα ἀνάγει. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ Ἰωάννου τοῦ Χρυσοστόμου ἐκ τοῦ εἰς Μελέτιον, ἐπίσκοπον Ἀντιοχείας καὶ μάρτυρα, λόγου καὶ εἰς τὴν σπουδὴν τῶν συνελθόντων, οὗ ἡ ἀρχή· Πανταχοῦ τῆς ἱερᾶς ταύτης ἀγέλης περιφέρων τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς, καὶ μετὰ βραχέα· Καὶ ἦν εὐσεβείας διδασκαλία τὸ γινόμενον· συνεχῶς γὰρ ἀναγκαζόμενοι τῆς προσηγορίας ἐκείνης μεμνῆσθαι καὶ τὸν ἅγιον ἐκεῖνον ἔχειν ἐπὶ ψυχῆς παντὸς ἀλόγου πάθους καὶ λογισμοῦ φυγαδευτήριον εἶχον τὸ ὄνομα, καὶ οὕτω πολὺ γέγονε τοῦτο, ὡς πανταχοῦ καὶ ἐν ἀμφόδῳ καὶ ἐν ἀγορᾷ καὶ ἐν ἀγροῖς τούτῳ πάντοθεν περιηχεῖσθαι τῷ ὀνόματι. Οὐ πρὸς τὸ ὄνομα δὲ τοσοῦτον ἐπάθετε πόθον μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν τοῦ σώματος τὸν τύπον. Ὅπερ οὖν ἐν ὀνόμασιν ἐποιήσατε, τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς εἰκόνος ἐπράξατε τῆς ἐκείνου. Καὶ γὰρ ἐν δακτυλίων σφενδόναις καὶ ἐκπώμασι καὶ φιάλαις καὶ ἐν θαλάμων τοίχοις καὶ πανταχοῦ τὴν εἰκόνα τὴν ἁγίαν ἐκείνην ἐχάραξαν πολλοί, ὡς μὴ μόνον ἀκούειν τῆς ἁγίας προσηγορίας ἐκείνης, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁρᾶν αὐτοῦ πανταχοῦ τοῦ σώματος τὸν τύπον καὶ διπλῆν τινα τῆς ἀποδημίας ἔχειν τὴν παραμυθίαν. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν προδοσίαν τοῦ Ἰούδα καὶ εἰς τὸ πάσχα καὶ εἰς παράδοσιν τῶν μυστηρίων καὶ περὶ τοῦ μὴ μνησικακεῖν· Καθάπερ γὰρ οἱ ζωγράφοι ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ πίνακι καὶ τὰς γραμμὰς περιέχουσι καὶ σκιογραφοῦσι καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν τῶν χρωμάτων ἐπιτιθέασιν, οὕτως καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἐποίησεν. Τοῦ ἁγίου Ἀμβροσίου, ἐπισκόπου Μεδιολάνων, ἐκ τῆς πρὸς πᾶσαν τὴν Ἰταλίαν ἐπιστολῆς· Τῇ νυκτὶ δὲ τῇ τρίτῃ ἐκ νηστείας μοι ἤδη καταπεπονημένου τοῦ σώματος οὐ καθεύδοντι, ἀλλ' ἐν ἐκστάσει ὄντι μετά τινος προσώπου μοι κατεφάνησαν, ὃ προσεῴκει τῷ μακαρίῳ Παύλῳ τῷ ἀποστόλῳ, αὐτῆς τῆς ἐν εἰκόσι γραφῆς τὸν αὐτοῦ χαρακτῆρα διδασκούσης σαφῶς. Μαξίμου τοῦ φιλοσόφου καὶ ὁμολογητοῦ ἐκ τῶν περὶ