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having borne it nobly? Therefore let us always discuss these things with one another, beloved, and through these words let us comfort ourselves. For you are witnesses, and your own conscience, how much gain we have had from this temptation; the licentious has now become temperate, the rash more gentle, the indolent earnest, those who have never seen a church, but were constant attendants at the theaters, now spend their days in church. Are you grieved for these things, then, tell me, because God has made you earnest through fear? because through affliction He has brought you to a sense of your own salvation? But does your conscience 49.63 ache? but is your mind wounded each day, expecting death and the greatest threat? But from this also there will be great progress for us toward virtue, as our reverence is intensified through the struggle. For God is able to resolve all these terrible things today; but until He sees that we have been purified, until He sees that a conversion has taken place, and a firm and unshakable repentance, He does not end the affliction. For the goldsmith, until he sees the gold well-refined, does not pull it from the crucible; so also God does not remove this cloud until He has disciplined us well. For He who permitted the temptation, Himself also knows the time for the temptation's release. So also the lyre-player neither tightens the string too much, lest he break it, nor loosens it beyond measure, lest he ruin the symphony of the harmony; so also does God, establishing our soul neither in continuous ease nor in long affliction, doing both these things according to His own wisdom. For He does not allow us to enjoy continuous ease, lest we become more indolent; nor again does He allow us to be in constant affliction, lest we collapse and give up.

3. Let us therefore yield to Him the time for deliverance from these terrible things, and let us only pray, let us live in piety. For it is our work to turn to virtue, but it is God's work to resolve the terrible things; for even more than you who are being tempted, He Himself wishes to extinguish this fire, but He awaits your salvation. Just as therefore affliction came from ease, so also from affliction one must expect ease. For it is not always winter nor always summer, not always waves nor always calm, not always night nor always day; so it is not always affliction, but there will be ease also, only if in the affliction we constantly give thanks to God. For the three children were thrown into a furnace, and not even so did they forget their piety, nor did the flame frighten them, but being encircled by the fire, more earnestly than those sitting in a chamber and suffering no harm, they sent up those sacred prayers. For this reason the fire became a wall for them, and the flame a robe, and the furnace a spring, and receiving them bound it gave them back unbound; it received mortal bodies, and it refrained from them as if immortal; it did not recognize their nature, but it respected their piety; the tyrant bound their feet, and their feet bound the energy of the fire. O paradoxical thing! the flame unbound the bound, and it itself in turn was bound by the bound; for the piety of the youths changed the nature of things, or rather, it did not change their nature, but what was much more wonderful, with the nature remaining, it halted its activity. For it did not extinguish the fire, but made it inactive while it was burning; and the wonderful and paradoxical thing is, this happened not only to the bodies of the saints, but also to their garments, and to their shoes; and just as in the case of the apostles, the garments of Paul drove out sicknesses and demons, and the shadows of Peter put death to flight; so also here the shoes of these children extinguished the power of the fire. I do not know how to say it; for the miracle surpasses all verbal narration. For its activity was extinguished, and it was not extinguished; for when it was in contact with the bodies of those saints, it was extinguished; but when it had to break their bonds, it was not extinguished; it indeed broke the bonds, and did not touch their ankles. 49.64 Do you see how great the proximity was?

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ἐνεγκόντος γενναίως; Ταῦτα οὖν ἀεὶ διαλεγώμεθα, ἀγαπητοὶ, πρὸς ἀλλήλους, καὶ διὰ τούτων ἑαυτοὺς παρακαλῶμεν τῶν λόγων· Καὶ γὰρ ὑμεῖς μάρτυρες, καὶ τὸ συνειδὸς τὸ ὑμέτερον, ὅσον ἀπὸ τοῦ πειρασμοῦ τούτου τὸ κέρδος ἐσχήκαμεν· ὁ ἀκόλαστος σώφρων ἐγένετο νῦν, ὁ θρασὺς ἐπιεικέστερος, ὁ ῥᾴθυμος σπουδαῖος, οἱ μηδέποτε ἐκκλησίαν ἰδόντες, ἀλλ' ἐν θεάτροις προσεδρεύοντες, ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ διημερεύουσι νῦν. ∆ιὰ ταῦτα οὖν ἀλγεῖς, εἰπέ μοι, ὅτι σε σπουδαῖον τῷ φόβῳ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεός; ὅτι σε τῇ θλίψει πρὸς αἴσθησιν τῆς σεαυτοῦ σωτηρίας ἤγαγεν; Ἀλλ' ὀδυνᾶταί 49.63 σου τὸ συνειδός; ἀλλὰ τιτρώσκεταί σου καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἡ διάνοια θάνατον προσδοκῶσα, καὶ ἀπειλὴν μεγίστην; Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐντεῦθεν ἡμῖν πολλὴ πρὸς ἀρετὴν ἐπίδοσις ἔσται, ἐπιτεινομένης ἡμῖν τῆς εὐλαβείας διὰ τῆς ἀγωνίας. ∆υνατὸς μὲν γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς ἅπαντα λῦσαι σήμερον τὰ δεινά· ἀλλ' ἕως ἂν ἴδῃ καθαρθέντας ἡμᾶς, ἕως ἂν ἴδῃ γενομένην ἐπιστροφὴν, καὶ μετάνοιαν παγίαν καὶ ἄσειστον, οὐ καταλύει τὴν θλῖψιν. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ χρυσοχόος, ἕως ἂν ἴδῃ τὸ χρυσίον καλῶς ἐκκαθαρθὲν, οὐκ ἀνασπᾷ τοῦ χωνευτηρίου· οὕτω καὶ ὁ Θεὸς οὐ παράγει τοῦτο τὸ νέφος, ἕως ἂν ἡμᾶς σωφρονίσῃ καλῶς. Ὁ γὰρ συγχωρήσας τὸν πειρασμὸν, αὐτὸς οἶδε καὶ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς λύσεως τοῦ πειρασμοῦ. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ κιθαρῳδὸς οὔτε ἐπιτείνει τὴν νευρὰν, ἵνα μὴ διαῤῥήξῃ, οὔτε χαλᾷ πέρα τοῦ μέτρου, ἵνα μὴ λυμήνηται τὴν συμφωνίαν τῆς ἁρμονίας· οὕτω καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ποιεῖ, οὔτε ἐν ἀνέσει διηνεκεῖ, οὔτε ἐν θλίψει μακρᾷ τὴν ἡμετέραν καθίστησι ψυχὴν, κατὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ σύνεσιν ἀμφότερα ταῦτα ποιῶν. Οὐκ ἀφίησι μὲν γὰρ διηνεκοῦς ἀνέσεως ἀπολαύειν, ἵνα μὴ γενώμεθα ῥᾳθυμότεροι· οὐκ ἀφίησι δὲ ἐν θλίψει συνεχεῖ εἶναι πάλιν, ἵνα μὴ καταπέσωμεν μηδὲ ἀπαγορεύσωμεν.

γʹ. Αὐτῷ τοίνυν παραχωρῶμεν τὸν καιρὸν τῆς ἀπαλλαγῆς τῶν δεινῶν, ἡμεῖς δὲ εὐχώμεθα μόνον, ἡμεῖς ἐν εὐλαβείᾳ ζήσωμεν. Ἡμῶν μὲν γὰρ ἔργον τὸ μεταβαλέσθαι πρὸς ἀρετὴν, τοῦ Θεοῦ δὲ ἔργον τὸ λῦσαι τὰ δεινά· καὶ γὰρ σοῦ τοῦ πειραζομένου μᾶλλον αὐτὸς βούλεται σβέσαι τὴν πυρὰν ταύτην, ἀλλ' ἀναμένει σου τὴν σωτηρίαν Ὥσπερ οὖν ἐξ ἀνέσεως ἐγένετο θλῖψις, οὕτω καὶ ἀπὸ θλίψεως ἄνεσιν χρὴ προσδοκᾷν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀεὶ χειμὼν οὐδὲ ἀεὶ θέρος, οὐκ ἀεὶ κύματα οὐδὲ ἀεὶ γαλήνη, οὐκ ἀεὶ νὺξ οὐδὲ ἀεὶ ἡμέρα· οὕτως οὐδὲ ἀεὶ θλῖψις, ἀλλ' ἔσται καὶ ἄνεσις, μόνον ἐὰν ἐν τῇ θλίψει διαπαντὸς εὐχαριστῶμεν τῷ Θεῷ Καὶ γὰρ οἱ τρεῖς παῖδες εἰς κάμινον ἐνεβλήθησαν, καὶ οὐδὲ οὕτως ἐπελάθοντο τῆς εὐλαβείας, οὐδὲ ἐφόβησεν αὐτοὺς ἡ φλὸξ, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἐν θαλάμῳ καθημένων, καὶ μηδὲν πασχόντων δεινὸν, σπουδαιότερον τῷ πυρὶ κυκλούμενοι, τὰς ἱερὰς ἐκείνας ἀνέπεμπον εὐχάς. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο τεῖχος αὐτοῖς ἐγένετο τὸ πῦρ, καὶ στολὴ ἡ φλὸξ, καὶ πηγὴ ἡ κάμινος, καὶ δεδεμένους λαβοῦσα λελυμένους ἀπέδωκεν· ἔλαβε θνητὰ σώματα, καὶ ὡς ἀθανάτων ἀπέσχετο· οὐκ ἔγνω τὴν φύσιν, ἀλλ' ᾐδέσθη τὴν εὐλάβειαν· ἔδησε τοὺς πόδας ὁ τύραννος, καὶ ἔδησαν οἱ πόδες τοῦ πυρὸς τὴν ἐνέργειαν. Ὢ παραδόξου πράγματος! τοὺς δεδεμένους ἔλυσεν ἡ φλὸξ, καὶ αὐτὴ λοιπὸν ὑπὸ τῶν δεδεμένων ἐδέδετο· μετέβαλε γὰρ τῶν πραγμάτων τὴν φύσιν τῶν νεανίσκων ἡ εὐλάβεια, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐ τὴν φύσιν μετέβαλεν, ἀλλ' ὃ πολλῷ θαυμαστότερον ἦν, μενούσης τῆς φύσεως τὴν ἐνέργειαν ἔστησεν. Οὐ γὰρ ἔσβεσε τὸ πῦρ, ἀλλὰ καιόμενον ἀργὸν ἐποίησε· καὶ τὸ δὴ θαυμαστὸν καὶ παράδοξον, οὐκ ἐπὶ τῶν σωμάτων τοῦτο τῶν ἁγίων ἐγένετο μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἱματίων αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ὑποδημάτων· καὶ καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων, τὰ ἱμάτια Παύλου νοσήματα καὶ δαίμονας ἤλαυνε, καὶ αἱ σκιαὶ Πέτρου θάνατον ἐφυγάδευον· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἐνταῦθα τῶν παίδων τούτων τὰ ὑποδήματα τὴν τοῦ πυρὸς δύναμιν ἔσβεσεν. Οὐκ οἶδα πῶς εἴπω· τὸ γὰρ θαῦμα πᾶσαν ὑπερβαίνει λόγου διήγησιν. Καὶ γὰρ ἔσβεστο ἡ ἐνέργεια, καὶ οὐκ ἔσβεστο· ὅτε μὲν γὰρ τοῖς σώμασιν ὡμίλει τῶν ἁγίων ἐκείνων, ἔσβεστο· ὅτε δὲ τὰ δεσμὰ διαῤῥῆξαι ἔδει, οὐκ ἔσβεστο· τὰ γοῦν δεσμὰ διέῤῥηξε, καὶ τῶν ἀστραγάλων οὐχ ἥψατο. 49.64 Εἶδες πόση ἡ ἐγγύτης;