John Chrysostom, To the People of Antioch

49.60 yes the guard, with more ease we shall come also to the remaining ones, and having come to the very summit of philosophy, we shall both enjoy the present life with good hope, and in the future we shall stand before Christ with great confidence, and we shall enjoy the ineffable good things; of which may we all be deemed worthy, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father be glory, together with the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen.

49.59 An exhortation to the people concerning endurance and patience from the examples of both Job and the three young men; and concerning the

refraining from oaths. Homily 4.

Blessed is God, who has comforted your grieving souls, who has strengthened

your shaken minds; For that you have received sufficient comfort, you have shown by this earnestness, and by your eagerness for the hearing. For it is not possible for a soul that is grieving and possessed by a cloud of despondency to be able to hear anything that is said with eagerness; but I see you attending to us with much good will and intense earnestness, having shaken off all sorrows, and having pushed aside the impending pain with your love of hearing. For this reason I give thanks to God with you, that the calamity has not put your philosophy to shame, nor has fear loosened your resolve, nor has affliction extinguished your eagerness, nor has danger withered your zeal, nor has the fear of men overcome your longing for God, nor has the difficulty of the time cast down your earnestness; and not only did it not cast it down, but it also strengthened it; not only did it not loosen it, but it also intensified it; not only did it not extinguish it, but it also kindled it more. The marketplace is emptied, but the church is filled; that one is a subject for tragedy, this one an occasion for joy and spiritual gladness. Therefore, when you enter the marketplace, beloved, and groan when you see the desolation, take refuge with your mother, and she will immediately comfort you with the multitude of her own children, and will show you the complete choir of the brethren, and will drive away all your despondency. For in the city we desire to see men, just like those who inhabit the deserts; but taking refuge in the church, we are crowded by the multitude; and just as when the sea is in uproar and rages with a great storm, fear from without compels all to take refuge in the harbor; so also now the waves of the marketplace, and the storm of the city, drive all from every side into the church, and bind the members together with the bond of love. Let us therefore give thanks to God for these things also, that we have reaped so much profit from the affliction, that we have received such great benefit from the temptation. If there is no temptation, there is no crown; if no wrestling matches, no prizes; if no wrestling-grounds, no honors; if no affliction, no relief; if no winter, no summer; and this one may see not only in the case of men, but also in the case of the seeds themselves. For there too much rain, and a great gathering of clouds, and much frost must occur, if the ear of corn is to rise up flourishing; for where there is a time for sowing, there is also a time for rain. 49.60 Since, then, a winter is now upon us, a winter of souls, not of the air, let us also sow in this winter that we may reap in the summer; let us sow tears, that we may reap exultation. This saying is not mine; the command is prophetic: Those who sow in tears, it says, will reap in exultation. The rain that falls does not so make the seeds to flourish and grow, as it raises up and prepares the seed of piety

49.60 ναι τὴν φυλακὴν, μετὰ πλείονος τῆς εὐκολίας καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς λοιπὰς ἥξομεν, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὴν ἐλθόντες τῆς φιλοσοφίας τὴν κορυφὴν, καὶ τὸν παρόντα βίον μετὰ χρηστῆς τῆς ἐλπίδος καρπωσόμεθα, καὶ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι μετὰ πολλῆς παραστησόμεθα παῤῥησίας τῷ Χριστῷ, καὶ τῶν ἀποῤῥήτων ἀπολαύσομεν ἀγαθῶν· ὧν γένοιτο πάντας ἡμᾶς ἀξιωθῆναι, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, μεθ' οὗ τῷ Πατρὶ ἡ δόξα, ἅμα τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

49.59 Παράκλησις πρὸς τὸν λαὸν περὶ καρτερίας καὶ ὑπομονῆς ἐκ παραδειγμάτων τοῦ τε Ἰὼβ καὶ τῶν τριῶν παίδων· καὶ περὶ τῆς τῶν

ὅρκων ἀποχῆς. Ὁμιλία δʹ.

Εὐλογητὸς ὁ Θεὸς, ὁ παρακαλέσας τὰς ὀδυνωμένας ὑμῶν ψυχὰς, ὁ στηρίξας

δονουμένας ὑμῶν τὰς διανοίας· ὅτι γὰρ ἱκανὴν ἐδέξασθε παράκλησιν, διὰ τῆς σπουδῆς ταύτης ἐδείξατε, καὶ διὰ τῆς περὶ τὴν ἀκρόασιν προθυμίας. Οὐ γὰρ ἔστι ψυχὴν ὀδυνωμένην καὶ νέφει κατεχομένην ἀθυμίας δυνηθῆναι μετὰ προθυμίας ἀκοῦσαί τι τῶν λεγομένων· ὑμᾶς δὲ ὁρῶ μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς εὐνοίας καὶ σφοδρᾶς τῆς σπουδῆς ἡμῖν προσέχοντας, καὶ πάντα ἀποτιναξαμένους τὰ λυπηρὰ, καὶ τῷ τῆς ἀκροάσεως ἔρωτι παρωσαμένους τὴν ἐπικειμένην ὀδύνην. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο εὐχαριστῶ τῷ Θεῷ μεθ' ὑμῶν, ὅτι οὐκ ἤλεγξεν ὑμῶν τὴν φιλοσοφίαν ἡ συμφορὰ, οὐδὲ ἐξέλυσεν ὑμῶν τὸν τόνον ὁ φόβος, οὐδὲ ἔσβεσεν ὑμῶν τὴν προθυμίαν ἡ θλῖψις, οὐδὲ ἐμάρανεν ὑμῶν τὸν ζῆλον ὁ κίνδυνος, οὐδὲ ἐνίκησε τὸν περὶ Θεὸν πόθον ὁ τῶν ἀνθρώπων φόβος, οὐδὲ κατέβαλεν ὑμῶν τὴν σπουδὴν ἡ τοῦ καιροῦ δυσκολία· καὶ οὐ μόνον οὐ κατέβαλεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπέῤῥωσεν· οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἐξέλυσεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπέτεινεν· οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἔσβεσεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνῆψε πλέον. Κεκένωται μὲν ἡ ἀγορὰ, ἡ δὲ ἐκκλησία πεπλήρωται· ἐκείνη τραγῳδίας ὑπόθεσις, αὕτη χαρᾶς καὶ εὐφροσύνης πνευματικῆς ἀφορμή. Ὅταν οὖν ἐμβάλῃς εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν, ἀγαπητὲ, καὶ τὴν ἐρημίαν θεασάμενος στενάξῃς, κατάφυγε πρὸς τὴν μητέρα, καὶ παραμυθήσεταί σε εὐθέως τῷ πλήθει τῶν οἰκείων τέκνων, καὶ δείξει σοι τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἀπηρτισμένον τὸν χορὸν, καὶ πᾶσαν ἀποκρούσεταί σου τὴν ἀθυμίαν. Ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τῆς πόλεως ἐπιθυμοῦμεν ἄνδρας ἰδεῖν, καθάπερ οἱ τὰς ἐρήμους οἰκοῦντες· εἰς δὲ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν καταφεύγοντες, ὑπὸ τοῦ πλήθους στενοχωρούμεθα· καὶ καθάπερ τῆς θαλάττης στασιαζούσης καὶ πολλῷ τῷ χειμῶνι μαινομένης, εἰς τὸν λιμένα καταφεύγειν ἀναγκάζει ὁ φόβος ἔξωθεν ἅπαντας· οὕτω καὶ νῦν τὰ τῆς ἀγορᾶς κύματα, καὶ ὁ τῆς πόλεως χειμὼν, πάντας εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν συνελαύνει πάντοθεν, καὶ τῷ συνδέσμῳ τῆς ἀγάπης σφίγγει μετ' ἀλλήλων τὰ μέλη. Εὐχαριστῶμεν τοίνυν καὶ διὰ ταῦτα τῷ Θεῷ, ὅτι τοσοῦτον ἀπὸ τῆς θλίψεως ἐκαρπωσάμεθα κέρδος, ὅτι τοσαύτην ἀπὸ τοῦ πειρασμοῦ τὴν ὠφέλειαν ἐλάβομεν. Ἐὰν μὴ πειρασμὸς, οὐδὲ στέφανος· ἐὰν μὴ παλαίσματα, οὐδὲ βραβεῖα· ἐὰν μὴ σκάμματα, οὐδὲ τιμαί· ἐὰν μὴ θλῖψις, οὐδὲ ἄνεσις· ἐὰν μὴ χειμὼν, οὐδὲ θέρος· καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐπ' ἀνθρώπων μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπ' αὐτῶν τῶν σπερμάτων ἔστιν ἰδεῖν. Καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖ πολὺν μὲν τὸν ὑετὸν, πολλὴν δὲ τῶν νεφῶν τὴν συνδρομὴν, πολὺν δὲ γενέσθαι δεῖ τὸν κρυμὸν, εἰ μέλλοι κομῶν ὁ στάχυς ἀνίστασθαι· ὅπου δὲ σπόρου καιρὸς, καὶ ὑετοῦ καιρός. 49.60 Ἐπεὶ οὖν καὶ νῦν ἐφέστηκε χειμὼν, χειμὼν ψυχῶν, οὐκ ἀέρος, σπείρωμεν καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐν τῷ χειμῶνι τούτῳ ἵνα ἐν τῷ θέρει θερίσωμεν· σπείρωμεν δάκρυα, ἵνα θερίσωμεν ἀγαλλίασιν. Οὐκ ἐμὸς οὗτος ὁ λόγος· προφητικόν ἐστι τὸ παράγγελμα· Οἱ σπείροντες ἐν δάκρυσι, φησὶ, ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει θεριοῦσιν. Οὐχ οὕτω τὰ σπέρματα καταφερόμενος ὑετὸς θάλλειν ποιεῖ καὶ αὔξεσθαι, ὡς τὸν τῆς εὐσεβείας σπόρον ἀνίστησι καὶ παρασκευάζει