John Chrysostom, On Priesthood

to bear nobly their bitter envy; for this accursed hatred, which they gather rashly without being able to conceal it, they both revile and find fault and slander secretly and act maliciously openly. But a soul that begins to be pained and provoked by each of these things would quickly be destroyed by grief; for not only do they attack him by themselves, but they also attempt to do this through others, and often, having selected someone who can say nothing, they puff him up with praises and admire him beyond his worth, some doing this out of madness, others out of ignorance and envy, in order to pull down his reputation, not to show as wonderful someone who is not so. But the contest for that noble man is not only against these, but often also against the inexperience of the whole congregation; for since it is not possible for all who gather to be composed of learned men, but it happens that the greater part of the Church is assembled from unlearned people, and that the rest, although they are more intelligent than those, fall much shorter of being able to judge discourses than all the others fall short of them, and that only one or two who possess this excellence are sitting there, it is necessary for the one who has spoken better to carry away less applause, and sometimes to depart without even being praised. And he must be nobly prepared for these irregularities, and forgive those who do these things through ignorance, and weep for those who endure this through envy as being wretched and pitiable; and not to consider that his own ability has been diminished by either of these things. For neither, if an excellent painter, surpassing all in his art, saw the image painted with much precision being mocked by those unskilled in the art, should he be downcast and consider the painting to be poor because of the judgment of those who do not know, just as he should not consider a truly poor one to be wonderful and lovely because of the astonishment of the unskilled. 5.7 7. That discourses should be ordered only to please God For let the best craftsman himself be also the judge of his own works, and let his products be considered good or bad on this basis, when the mind that crafted them casts these votes, but let him never even take into his mind the opinion of outsiders, which is misguided and unskilled. Therefore let not the one who has undertaken the contest of teaching pay attention to the acclamations of outsiders, nor from these let him cast down his own soul, but working on his discourses so as to please God—for let this alone be his rule and standard for the best crafting of them, not applause, nor acclamations—if he should be praised also by men, let him not reject the praises, but if the listeners do not offer them, let him not seek them, nor be grieved; for a sufficient comfort for his labors, and greater than all, is when he can be conscious in himself that he is composing and ordering his teaching to please God. 5.8 8. That he who does not despise praise will suffer many terrible things For if he should be caught by the desire for irrational praise, he has no benefit from his many labors, nor from his power in speaking; for the soul, being unable to bear the foolish condemnations of the multitude, is enfeebled and casts away its diligence in speaking. For this reason, it is necessary above all things to have been trained to look down upon praise; for it is not enough to know how to speak for the preservation of this power, unless this is also added. But if someone should wish to examine accurately also the one who is in want of this virtue, he will find him needing to despise praise no less than this one. For he will be compelled to sin in many ways, being overcome by the opinion of the multitude; for being too weak to be equal to those who are well-regarded for their excellence in speaking, he plots against them and is consumed with envy for them and

γενναίως φέρειν τὴν πικρὰν τούτων βασκανίαν· τὸ γὰρ ἐπάρατον τοῦτο μῖσος ὅπερ εἰκῇ συλλέγουσιν οὐ στέγοντες κρύπτειν, καὶ λοιδοροῦνται καὶ μέμφονται καὶ διαβάλλουσι λάθρᾳ καὶ πονηρεύονται φανερῶς. Ψυχὴ δὲ ἀρξαμένη καθ' ἕκαστον τούτων ἀλγεῖν καὶ παροξύνεσθαι οὐκ ἂν φθάσειε διαφθαρεῖσα τῇ λύπῃ· καὶ γὰρ οὐ δι' ἑαυτῶν αὐτὸν ἀμύνονται μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ δι' ἑτέρων τοῦτο ποιεῖν ἐπιχειροῦσι καὶ πολλάκις τινὰ τῶν οὐδὲν δυναμένων εἰπεῖν ἐκλεξάμενοι, τοῖς ἐπαίνοις ἐπαίρουσι καὶ θαυμάζουσιν ὑπὲρ τὴν ἀξίαν, οἱ μὲν μανίᾳ, οἱ δὲ καὶ ἀμαθίᾳ καὶ φθόνῳ τοῦτο ποιοῦντες, ἵνα τὴν δόξαν τούτου καθέλωσιν, οὐχ ἵνα δείξωσι θαυμαστὸν τὸν οὐκ ὄντα τοιοῦτον. Οὐ πρὸς τούτους δὲ μόνους ἐκείνῳ τῷ γενναίῳ ὁ ἀγών, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς ἀπειρίαν ὅλου δήμου πολλάκις· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὐκ ἔνεστιν ἐξ ἐλλογίμων ἀνδρῶν συλλέγεσθαι τοὺς συνερχομένους ἅπαντας, ἀλλὰ τὸ πλέον τῆς Ἐκκλησίας μέρος ἐξ ἰδιωτῶν συνῆχθαι συμβαίνει, τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς καὶ αὐτοὺς ἐκείνων μὲν εἶναι συνετωτέρους, τῶν δὲ λόγους κρῖναι δυναμένων λείπεσθαι πολλῷ πλέον ἢ ὅσον ἐκείνων οἱ λοιποὶ πάντες, ἕνα δὲ μόνον ἢ δεύτερον καθῆσθαι τὸν ταύτην κεκτημένον τὴν ἀρετήν, ἀνάγκη τὸν ἄμεινον εἰπόντα ἐλάττονας ἀπενέγκασθαι κρότους, ἔστι δὲ ὅτε μηδὲ ἐπαινεθέντα ἀπελθεῖν. Καὶ δεῖ πρὸς ταύτας γενναίως παρεσκευάσθαι τὰς ἀνωμαλίας, καὶ τοῖς μὲν δι' ἀμαθίαν ταῦτα πάσχουσι συγγινώσκειν, τοὺς δὲ διὰ φθόνον τοῦτο ὑπομένοντας δακρύειν ὡς ἀθλίους ὄντας καὶ ἐλεεινούς· μηδ' ἑτέρῳ δὲ τούτων ἐλάττω τὴν αὐτοῦ νομίζειν γεγενῆσθαι δύναμιν. Οὐδὲ γάρ, εἰ ζωγράφος ὢν ἄριστος καὶ πάντων κατὰ τὴν τέχνην κρατῶν, τὴν μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς ἀκριβείας ἀναγεγραμμένην εἰκόνα ὑπὸ τῶν τῆς τέχνης ἀπείρων σκωπτομένην ἑώρα, ἔδει καταπεσεῖν καὶ τῇ κρίσει τῶν οὐκ εἰδότων φαύλην ἡγεῖσθαι τὴν γραφήν, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ τὴν ὄντως φαύλην θαυμαστήν τινα καὶ ἐπέραστον ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν ἀτέχνων ἐκπλήξεως. 5.7 ζʹ. Ὅτι πρὸς τὸ τῷ Θεῷ ἀρέσκον μόνον δεῖ τοὺς λόγους ῥυθμίζειν Ὁ γὰρ ἄριστος δημιουργὸς αὐτὸς ἔστω καὶ κριτὴς τῶν αὐτοῦ τεχνημάτων καὶ καλὰ καὶ φαῦλα ταύτῃ τιθέσθω τὰ γινόμενα, ὅταν ὁ τεχνησάμενος αὐτὰ νοῦς ταύτας φέρῃ τὰς ψήφους, τὴν δὲ τῶν ἔξωθεν δόξαν, τὴν πεπλανημένην καὶ ἄτεχνον μηδὲ εἰς νοῦν βαλέσθω ποτέ. Μὴ τοίνυν μήτε ὁ τῆς διδασκαλίας ἀναδεξάμενος τὸν ἀγῶνα ταῖς τῶν ἔξωθεν εὐφημίαις προσεχέτω, μηδὲ ἀπὸ τούτων τὴν ἑαυτοῦ καταβαλλέτω ψυχήν, ἀλλ' ἐργαζόμενος τοὺς λόγους ὡς ἂν ἀρέσειε τῷ Θεῷ-οὗτος γὰρ αὐτῷ κανὼν καὶ ὅρος ἔστω μόνος τῆς ἀρίστης δημιουργίας ἐκείνων, μὴ κρότοι, μηδὲ εὐφημίαι-, εἰ μὲν ἐπαινοῖτο καὶ παρὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, μὴ διακρουέσθω τὰ ἐγκώμια, μὴ παρεχόντων δὲ αὐτὰ τῶν ἀκροατῶν, μὴ ζητείτω, μηδὲ ἀλγείτω· ἱκανὴ γὰρ αὐτῷ παραμυθία τῶν πόνων καὶ πάντων μείζων, ὅταν ἑαυτῷ συνειδέναι δύνηται πρὸς ἀρέσκειαν τοῦ Θεοῦ συντιθεὶς καὶ ῥυθμίζων τὴν διδασκαλίαν. 5.8 ηʹ. Ὅτι ὁ μὴ καταφρονῶν ἐπαίνων πολλὰ ὑποστήσεται δεινά Καὶ γὰρ ἂν φθάσῃ τῇ τῶν ἀλόγων ἐπαίνων ἐπιθυμίᾳ ἁλῶναι, οὐδὲν αὐτῷ τῶν πολλῶν πόνων ὄφελος, οὐδὲ τῆς ἐν τῷ λέγειν δυνάμεως· τὰς γὰρ ἀνοήτους τῶν πολλῶν καταγνώσεις μὴ δυναμένη φέρειν ψυχὴ ἐκλύεται καὶ τὴν περὶ τὸ λέγειν ῥίπτει σπουδήν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο χρὴ μάλιστα πάντων πεπαιδεῦσθαι ἐπαίνων ὑπερορᾶν· οὐ γὰρ ἀρκεῖ τὸ λέγειν εἰδέναι πρὸς τὴν ταύτης τῆς δυνάμεως φυλακήν, ἂν μὴ καὶ τοῦτο προσῇ. Εἰ δέ τις ἀκριβῶς ἐξετάζειν ἐθέλοι καὶ τὸν ἐν ἐνδείᾳ καθεστῶτα ταύτης τῆς ἀρετῆς, εὑρήσει δεόμενον τοῦ τῶν ἐπαίνων καταφρονεῖν οὐχ ἧττον ἢ τοῦτον. Καὶ γὰρ πολλὰ ἁμαρτάνειν ἀναγκασθήσεται, τῆς τῶν πολλῶν δόξης ἥττων γενόμενος· ἀτονῶν γὰρ ἐξισωθῆναι τοῖς εὐδοκιμοῦσι κατὰ τὴν τοῦ λέγειν ἀρετήν, ἐπιβουλεύειν τε καὶ διαφθονεῖσθαι αὐτοῖς καὶ