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sin; and what it is to die badly; and concerning fleeing oaths with all speed; and on the earthquake. Homily 5.

1. The story of the three children and the Babylonian furnace, it seems, greatly comforted your love yesterday; 49.68 and also the example concerning Job, and the dunghill more venerable than any royal throne. For from seeing a royal throne, there will be no gain for those who see it, but only a temporary delight, having no benefit; but from seeing the 49.69 dunghill of Job, one will receive every benefit, and much philosophy, and encouragement for the sake of endurance. For this reason many now undertake a long and overseas journey, running from the ends of the earth to Arabia, in order to see that dunghill, and having seen it, to kiss the ground that received the struggles of that crowned victor, and the blood more precious than any gold. For not even a royal purple is so bright as that body then glistened, baptized not in another's, but in its own blood. And those wounds were more precious than all stones. For the nature of pearls in no way benefits our life, nor does it fulfill any necessary need for those who possess them; but those wounds are a consolation for every despondency. And so that you may learn that this is true, if someone loses a legitimate and only-begotten son, show him ten thousand pearls, and you will not console his suffering, nor will you heal his pain; but by reminding him of the wounds of Job, you will be able to heal him easily, saying thus: Why do you mourn, O man? You have lost one child, but that blessed man, after the entire band of his children was taken away, received the blow in his very flesh, and sat naked upon the dunghill, with discharge flowing from him on all sides, his flesh being consumed little by little, he who was righteous, true, God-fearing, abstaining from every evil thing, who even had God as a witness to his virtue. For if you say these words, you will extinguish all the despondency of the mourner, and you will take away all his pain, and so the wounds of the righteous man become more useful than pearls. Picture for yourselves, then, you too, the athlete, and imagine you see that dunghill, and him sitting in the middle of the dunghill, the golden statue, the one studded with jewels, how I should speak of him, I do not know; for I cannot find a material so precious as to be able to compare it to that blood-stained body; so by a great margin was the nature of that flesh more precious than any most precious material, and the wounds brighter than the rays of the sun; for these illuminate the sight of the body, but those enlighten the eyes of our mind, those completely blinded the devil. For this reason, at any rate, after that blow he leaped away, and appeared no more. But you, beloved, learn from this how great is the gain of affliction. For when the righteous man was rich and enjoyed ease, he was able to slander him, falsely, it is true, but he was able, nonetheless, to say: Does Job fear you for nothing? But when he stripped him bare and made him poor, he no longer dared even to mutter; and when he was rich, he promised to wrestle with him, and threatened to trip him up; but when he had made him poor, and deprived him of everything, and cast him into extreme pain, then he leaped away; and when his body was healthy, he raised his hands against him, but when he had cut up his flesh, then he fled, defeated. Have you seen how much poverty is better and more useful than wealth, and sickness and disease than health, and temptation than ease, for those who are sober, and how it makes those who contend more glorious and more vigorous? Who has seen, who has heard of such wonderful wrestling matches? The boxers of the contests outside, 49.70 when they have cut up the heads of their opponents, then they are victorious and are crowned;

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ἁμαρτίαν· καὶ τί τὸ κακῶς ἀποθανεῖν· καὶ περὶ τοῦ μετὰ πάσης σπουδῆς φεύγειν τοὺς ὅρκους· καὶ εἰς τὸν σεισμόν. Ὁμιλία εʹ.

αʹ. Τῶν τριῶν παίδων καὶ τῆς Βαβυλωνίας καμίνου ἡ διήγησις οὐ μετρίως ὡς

ἔοικε παρεκάλεσεν ὑμῶν τὴν ἀγάπην χθές· ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὸ παράδειγμα τὸ κατὰ τὸν 49.68 Ἰὼβ, καὶ ἡ κοπρία ἡ παντὸς θρόνου βασιλικοῦ σεμνοτέρα. Ἀπὸ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ θρόνον ἰδεῖν βασιλικὸν οὐδὲν ἔσται τοῖς θεωμένοις τὸ κέρδος, ἀλλὰ πρόσκαιρος μόνον τέρψις, ὄνησιν οὐδεμίαν ἔχουσα· ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ τὴν 49.69 κοπρίαν ἰδεῖν τοῦ Ἰὼβ πᾶσάν τις δέξεται ὠφέλειαν, καὶ φιλοσοφίαν πολλὴν, καὶ παράκλησιν εἰς ὑπομονῆς λόγον. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο πολλοὶ νῦν μακράν τινα καὶ διαπόντιον ἀποδημίαν στέλλονται ἀπὸ τῶν περάτων τῆς γῆς εἰς τὴν Ἀραβίαν τρέχοντες, ἵνα τὴν κοπρίαν ἐκείνην ἴδωσι, καὶ θεασάμενοι καταφιλήσωσι τὴν γῆν τὴν τὰ σκάμματα τοῦ στεφανίτου δεξαμένην ἐκείνου, καὶ τὸ χρυσίου παντὸς τιμιώτερον αἷμα. Οὐδὲ γὰρ οὕτως ἐστὶν ἁλουργὶς λαμπρὰ, ὡς τὸ σῶμα ἐκεῖνο τότε ἀπέστιλβεν, οὐκ ἀλλοτρίῳ, ἀλλ' οἰκείῳ βαπτιζόμενον αἵματι. Καὶ τὰ τραύματα δὲ ἐκεῖνα ἁπάντων λίθων ἦν τιμιώτερα. Μαργαριτῶν μὲν γὰρ φύσις οὐδὲν τὸν βίον ὠφελεῖ τὸν ἡμέτερον, οὐδὲ χρείαν τινὰ πληροῖ τοῖς ἔχουσιν ἀναγκαίαν· τὰ δὲ τραύματα ἐκεῖνα πάσης ἀθυμίας ἐστὶ παράκλησις. Καὶ ἵνα μάθῃς, ὅτι τοῦτό ἐστιν ἀληθὲς, ἐὰν ἀποβάλῃ τις υἱὸν γνήσιον καὶ μονογενῆ, δεῖξον αὐτῷ μυρίους μαργαρίτας, καὶ οὐ παραμυθήσῃ τὸ πάθος, οὐδὲ θεραπεύσεις τὴν ὀδύνην· ἀναμνήσας δὲ αὐτὸν τῶν τραυμάτων τοῦ Ἰὼβ, ῥᾳδίως δυνήσῃ θεραπεῦσαι, οὕτω λέγων· Τί πενθεῖς, ἄνθρωπε; σὺ μὲν τέκνον ἀπέβαλες ἓν, ὁ δὲ μακάριος ἐκεῖνος μετὰ τὸ τῶν παίδων ὁλόκληρον ἀφαιρεθῆναι τὸν χορὸν καὶ αὐτῇ τῇ σαρκὶ τὴν πληγὴν ἐδέξατο, καὶ γυμνὸς ἐπὶ τῆς κοπρίας ἐκάθητο ἰχῶρι πάντοθεν καταῤῥεόμενος, κατὰ μικρὸν αὐτῷ τῆς σαρκὸς δαπανωμένης, ὁ δίκαιος, ὁ ἀληθινὸς, ὁ θεοσεβὴς, ὁ ἀπεχόμενος ἀπὸ παντὸς πονηροῦ πράγματος, ὁ καὶ Θεὸν μάρτυρα τῆς ἀρετῆς ἔχων. Ἂν γὰρ ταῦτα εἴπῃς τὰ ῥήματα, πᾶσαν ἔσβεσας τοῦ πενθοῦντος τὴν ἀθυμίαν, καὶ πᾶσαν ἀνεῖλες τὴν ὀδύνην, καὶ γίνεται οὕτω χρησιμώτερα μαργαριτῶν τὰ τραύματα τοῦ δικαίου. Ὑπογράψατε τοίνυν ἑαυτοῖς τὸν ἀθλητὴν καὶ ὑμεῖς, καὶ νομίζετε βλέπειν τὴν κοπρίαν ἐκείνην, καὶ αὐτὸν ἐν μέσῳ καθήμενον τῆς κοπρίας, τὸν ἀνδριάντα τὸν χρυσοῦν, τὸν διάλιθον, τὸν πῶς εἴπω οὐκ οἶδα· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔχω τιμίαν οὕτως ὕλην εὑρεῖν, ὡς δυνηθῆναι τὸ ᾑμαγμένον ἐκεῖνο σῶμα παραβαλεῖν· οὕτω καὶ πάσης ὕλης τιμαλφεστάτης ἐκ πολλοῦ τοῦ περιόντος τῆς σαρκὸς ἐκείνης ἡ φύσις ἦν τιμιωτέρα, καὶ τὰ τραύματα τῶν ἡλιακῶν ἀκτίνων φαιδρότερα· αὗται μὲν γὰρ τὰς τοῦ σώματος καταυγάζουσιν ὄψεις, ἐκεῖνα δὲ τῆς διανοίας ἡμῶν φωτίζει τὰ ὄμματα, ἐκεῖνα καθάπαξ τὸν διάβολον ἀπετύφλωσε. ∆ιὰ γοῦν τοῦτο, μετὰ τὴν πληγὴν ἐκείνην ἀπεπήδησε, καὶ οὐκ ἐφάνη λοιπόν. Σὺ δέ μοι κἀντεῦθεν, ἀγαπητὲ, μάνθανε τὸ τῆς θλίψεως κέρδος πόσον ἐστίν. Ἡνίκα μὲν γὰρ ἐπλούτει καὶ ἀνέσεως ἀπήλαυεν ὁ δίκαιος, διαβάλλειν ἔσχεν αὐτὸν, ψευδῶς μὲν, ἔσχε δ' οὖν ὅμως εἰπεῖν· Μὴ δωρεὰν σέβεταί σε ὁ Ἰώβ; Ἐπειδὴ δὲ αὐτὸν ἐγύμνωσε καὶ ἐποίησε πένητα, οὐδὲ γρῦξαι λοιπὸν ἐτόλμησε· καὶ ὅτε μὲν πλούσιος ἦν, ὑπισχνεῖτο παλαίειν αὐτῷ, καὶ ὑποσκελίζειν ἠπείλει· ἐπειδὴ δὲ πένητα εἰργάσατο, καὶ πάντων ἀπεστέρησε, καὶ εἰς ἐσχάτην ὀδύνην ἐνέβαλε, τότε ἀπεπήδησε· καὶ ὅτε μὲν ὑγιὲς αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα ἦν, τὰς χεῖρας ἀντῆρεν, ὅτε δὲ αὐτοῦ κατέκοψε τὴν σάρκα, τότε ἔφυγεν ἡττηθείς. Εἶδες πόσον πενία πλούτου, καὶ ἀῤῥωστία καὶ νόσος ὑγείας, καὶ πειρασμὸς ἀνέσεως βέλτιον τοῖς νήφουσίν ἐστι καὶ χρησιμώτερον, καὶ λαμπροτέρους καὶ εὐτονωτέρους τοὺς ἀθλοῦντας ποιεῖ; Τίς εἶδε, τίς ἤκουσεν οὕτω θαυμαστὰ παλαίσματα; Οἱ τῶν ἔξωθεν ἀγώνων πύκται, 49.70 ἐπειδὰν κατακόψωσι τὰς κεφαλὰς τῶν ἀντιπάλων, τότε νικῶσι καὶ στεφανοῦνται·