Dialogus de vita Joannis Chrysostomi
honor, but he who is called by God. Thus 5 also Aaron, he says, did not glorify himself to become high priest. For although there were six hundred
the flight of concord, most of us who are active and eager for it have become fugitives from the country, being unable to live safely and without trou
he met with us, he did not share in words, nor in prayer, nor in communion but disembarking from the ship and running past the doors of the church, h
to share in the suffering and to do everything, so as to stop these evils. For he put a stop to none of their lawlessness here, but even after this he
and lamentations and fountains of tears in the marketplaces and the houses and in the desolate places and the whole part of the city was filled with
you are exhorted to contribute zeal from yourselves. For thus you will gratify not only us, 16 but also the community of the churches, and you will re
had fled on account of the threat contained in the imperial decree, that If anyone is not in communion with Theophilus and Arsakius and Porphyry, let
of Bishop John of the Constantinopolitans and, as it seems, it has not been accomplished. Therefore, I wrote again through the bishops and presbyters
savagery. This also the Savior God did, illuminating them with various revelations, so that also to Paul, the deacon of Saint Emilius, a most gentle
He who speaks a lie is not of God, and again from David, Because the mouth of those who speak unjust things was stopped. For he who lies truly wro
by his own choice, he was trained in the discourses for the ministry of the divine oracles. From there, being in the eighteenth year of his physical a
of those who have believed in him will be bound. {THE DEACON} But where did they recognize the presence of the Savior? {THE BISHOP} When they cried ou
of the rich, cutting away the abscesses of the soul, teaching them humility, to be of a humble mind towards other people, obeying the apostolic word,
she gives one thousand gold pieces, having made him swear by the table of the Savior that he would buy clothes and clothe the poorer women of the Alex
with his own hands on his neck, and after inflicting blows on his jaws, with clenched fingers he bloodied his nostrils, shouting 38 with a loud voice:
by an excess of conceit. But those men, driven by great necessity because they were changing places from place to place, arrive at the camp, where Bis
of the church, Dioscorus the bishop, who had grown old in the church but to the bishop John he writes: I think you are not ignorant of the decree of
of John for unlawful offenses, he took advantage of their fickleness and persuades them to submit bills of accusation against John, promising them to
Elijah was taken up did not Elisha prophesy? Paul was beheaded did he not leave behind Timothy, Titus, Apollos and ten thousand others? After these
these of the council but if as accusers, set them up for the trial, so that I may know how I should contend, whether as against adversaries or as jud
(for he is impetuous by nature, and rash and bold and exceedingly contentious—for there is nothing that appears to him by sight, <towards> which he do
brother Acacius and Antiochus whom they put forward as canons of the orthodox, because We are of the faith of those who set them forth, and our doub
reading the oracles, and others baptizing the catechumens, as was fitting because of Easter. These very things the corruptors of minds and deceivers o
a proof of the diligence of teachers, unceasingly setting right the unconquerable quality of their resolve. Theodore said: {THE DEACON} You have spoke
near him to the west), but in the western part, where the gate of the church is, the mule-team, on which he was accustomed to sit, having ordered it t
of a hierophant, a man more silent than a fish and more idle than a frog (for there are times when even action speaks, especially when the good is don
terrifying, just as bogeymen do children? Alas! Those who are clothed in worldly powers and ecclesiastical wealth with authority, with command even of
on the one hand, that he ate alone but I did not wish you, most harmonious Theodore, to ask about the things of gluttonous infants. For being a man,
he says, urging us to imitation Do not forget hospitality, he says, for by this some have entertained angels unawares. But the host must have the
fell from blessing? was it not when he served his belly, deceived by the food? When did Saul fall from the kingdom? was it not when he ate the best of
to eat bread and to put on a garment, all that you give me, I will tithe a tenth of it to you -he did not say, I will consume it at tables. That sp
to give glory to God <in> persecutions. in the refutations of error, is there any mention of a table? But again to Titus, the bishop of Crete, let us
they were seeking luxury. It was absurd to squander the food of the sick or the poor on the intemperance of the healthy. And what sort of law is this,
from seeing evil. For many of the so-called bishops, wishing to cut off the reasonable hatred directed at them on account of their own ways and their
First, that having melted down treasures he fashioned a silver object in the name of his son second, that having taken marbles from the entrance of t
love of money is a source of evils. For he who took bribes against the innocent and thought to sell the distribution of the Holy Spirit for silver,
Antoninus dies, with whom Eusebius had the lawsuit. Again a decree comes from Asia, this one from the clergy of the church of the Ephesians, and this
to buy the priesthood. They say that the ravager and falsely-named patriarch of the Jews changes the rulers of the synagogue every year, or even more
of those who deposed him and concluded the trial. <CHAPTER 19> {THE DEACON.} Forgive me, father, such things surpass drunkenness and madness and sport
ambidextrous (for even his so-called left hand was better than the right hand of others) who at first, having served in letters, was found blameles
slandering their life, waiting to have help from God. To these things Theodore, being astonished, said: {Ο ∆ΙΑΚ.} I see the facts as contrary to the n
Or is it proper at all to cast out any disciple, much less a monk? 100 {THE DEACON} Because they provoked him or spoke ill of him. {THE BISHOP} And ou
having led them back from vice to virtue, it will be clear that their persecutor deserves not to be persecuted, but to be pitied, as one who always ab
having provoked the physician and enchanter of souls and removed his interpreter from the workshop of salvation, 105 they were handed over to the phys
imitating him who, having found the one crushed by robbers, half-dead, on the way down to Jericho, placed him on his own beast of burden, having broug
did he give? And when Optimus died in Constantinople, he closed his eyes with his own hands. In addition to these things, he also refreshed in no smal
desiring to chasten the herd of men for their various desires towards the more austere part of life, he became his own judge and lawgiver, being stren
toward the north, and each man's axe in his hand and one man in the midst of them, clothed in a full-length robe, and a sapphire belt on his loins a
in many ways Who will boast that he has a pure heart? Or who will boldly claim to be pure from sin? but yet the blessed John did not know how to us
happen to us anonymously and beneficially? sifting the reasons, not obeying him who said: Eat whatever is sold in the meat-market, asking no question
two? {THE BISHOP} Especially if it is an unprofitable and charlatan crowd such as the one who said to Jesus: Teacher, I will follow you wherever you
an intemperate old man, and an old man who loves learning above an unlearned younger man, and a poor layman above an educated lover of money, and a vi
enjoying his disease nor raging with the same desires. For this is a fitting way of life for a teacher, not to linger with the crowds, but in quiet an
having subjected his body to shameful tortures by the cruelty of judges, to the point of knocking out his teeth, as the story goes, 127 they confined
knocking, they made the two-day journey into one, arriving late in the evening and departing in the dark of dawn, so that the stomach could not even k
and that these things are done and are prolonged and are strong, and that the good are afflicted and plundered, brings me to shudder at his approachin
Why shall I not be angry? looking upon me, marvel, and lay your hand upon your jaw. For if I remember, I am troubled, and pains take hold of my flesh.
when reviled, we bless when persecuted, we endure when slandered, we entreat we have become as the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all thi
sleepless or troubled in sleep, he suspects plots even from his own family, not trusting even himself, distrusting everyone as liars. Being such a per
each other, for which it was also fitting, having learned something, did you not decide to be quiet and remain still by yourselves even for the future
to his father and to his mother, I have not seen you, and his brothers he did not acknowledge he guarded your oracles, and kept your covenant. He d
foot-soldiers' machinations for the hindering of those who travel for the truth). How then do they dare to say: By God's economy John has been cast o
having provoked the physician and enchanter of souls and removed his interpreter from the workshop of salvation, 105 they were handed over to the physicians of bodies for torment, who provided pain with their supposed remedies, but did not effect salvation. For who will heal the one being punished by God? —as the prophet says; "Shall physicians raise them up, that they may give praise to you?" Thus all those who worked against the peace of your church, O Lord, were perishing). And it is said that the tomb of the monk Ammonius drives away diseases of shivering; and he is buried in the martyrium of the Apostles across the sea. But the bishop Dioscorus—as they say—having prayed earnestly either to see the peace of the churches or his own end, was deemed worthy of the end, since the world was not worthy of peace, being buried in the martyrium before the gate, so that most of the women, having abandoned the oaths of the martyr, swear by the prayers of Dioscorus. Concerning the other ascetics, much discourse is spent by me in narrating, perhaps as you are in a hurry, O man of your name. {THE DEACON.} And who is so thrice-wretched as to not make room for the narratives of virtue? Speak therefore, I beseech you, and with any reasonable discourse lead my mind away from worldly thoughts. {THE BISHOP.} There is then another, Hierax, called by a Greek name, but adorned with spiritual ways; who at first, having withdrawn alone outside of all Egypt and the Thebaid to the Porphyrite mountain, without human breath, endured for four years, content with virtues alone for consolation; and then in the desert of Nitria for twenty-five years along with the aforementioned fathers. To this man "demons" appeared (as he himself related to us), suggesting a long life, and they strove to shake him from "the hope set before him," "transformed into angels of light"; "Fifty years," they said, 106 "you have to live. How will you endure in the desert?" But he with prudence through faith replied, saying; "You have grieved me, by stating a time shorter than my intention; for I have made preparation for two hundred years in the desert." And they, upon hearing this, went away howling. And this man of such quality, whom the demons did not shake, though they assailed him with accidie for a long time, Pope Theophilus by an order transferred him and brought him into such necessity as to even join an army; who now after the death of Ammonius has again taken to the complete desert, fearing the parable of the plough. Another, again, a presbyter named Isaac, a disciple of Macarius the disciple of Antony, an extreme lover of the desert, in his fiftieth year, holding the entire Scripture in his mind, carrying horned serpents in his hands without danger, a virgin from the womb, having taken to the desert at the age of seven, after forty years along with the aforementioned men was sifted by Pope Theophilus. Another Isaac, a presbyter, and he too a disciple and successor of Cronius the presbyter, who was himself a disciple of Antony, he too exceedingly knowledgeable in the Scriptures, hospitable if any other, so that out of an excess of philanthropy he established a guest-house in the complete desert for the refreshment both of sick monks and of local strangers who came for the sight of the blessed fathers— (and they say) a stranger to anger, in his thirtieth year in the solitary life, was mistreated along with these men. Of these, the first Isaac had one hundred and fifty ascetics under him; of whose disciples Theophilus also appointed as many as seven or eight as bishops, when Theophilus was bishop; the other, two hundred and ten, of whose disciples many were also numbered among the bishops. These are they of whom we related on the third day, that they were driven out by Pope Theophilus for the sake of Isidore the 107 presbyter of the desert. These are they whom priests and Levites passed by, and to the shame of men a courageous woman received them, and for the judgment of bishops a female deacon showed them hospitality, whose praise is current in the churches for many reasons, that Samaritan, whoever he is,
τὸν τῶν ψυχῶν ἰατρὸν καὶ ἐπαοιδὸν παροξύναντες καὶ μεταστήσαντες τοῦ τῆς σωτηρίας ἐργαστηρίου 105 τὸν ὑποφήτην τούτου, τοῖς
τῶν σωμάτων ἰατροῖς εἰς αἰκισμὸν παρεδίδοντο, ὀδύνην μὲν ἐπιχορηγούντων τοῖς νομιζομένοις φαρ μάκοις, σωτηρίαν δ' οὐκ ἐμποιούντων.
τίς γὰρ ἰάσεται τὸν ὑπὸ Θεοῦ τιμωρούμενον; -ὡς ὁ προφήτης λέγει· "Μὴ ἰατροὶ ἀνα στήσουσι καὶ ἐξομολογήσονταί σοι;" οὕτως ἀπώλλυντο
πάντες οἱ ἀντιπράττοντες τῇ εἰρήνῃ τῆς ἐκκλησίας σου, Κύριε). λέγεται δὲ τὸ μνῆμα τοῦ μονάζοντος Ἀμμωνίου νόσους τὰς περὶ
ῥῖγος ἐλαύνειν· τέθαπται δὲ ἐν τῷ μαρτυρίῳ τῶν Ἀποστόλων πέραν θαλάσσης. ὁ δὲ ἐπίσκοπος ∆ιόσκορος-ὥς φασιν-εὐξάμενος πλεῖστα
ἢ εἰρήνην ἰδεῖν τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ἢ τέλος τὸ ἑαυτοῦ, κατηξιώθη τοῦ τέλους, ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἦν ἄξιος ὁ κόσμος τῆς εἰρήνης, ταφεὶς ἐν
τῷ πρὸ τῆς πύλης μαρτυρίῳ, ὡς τὰς πλείστας τῶν γυναικῶν καταλειψάσας τῆς μάρτυρος τοὺς ὅρκους, κατὰ τῶν εὐχῶν ∆ιοσκόρου ὀμνύειν.
περὶ δὲ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀσκητῶν πολύς μοι λόγος καταναλίσκεται εἰς τὸ διηγήσασθαι, ἴσως ἐπειγομένου σου, φερώνυμε ἄνθρωπε. {Ο ∆ΙΑΚ.}
Καὶ τίς οὕτω τρισάθλιος τοῖς τῆς ἀρετῆς διηγήμασι μὴ διδοὺς χώραν; λέγε τοίνυν, παρακαλῶ, καὶ οἱῳδήποτε λόγῳ εὐλόγῳ ἀπάγαγέ
μου τὸν νοῦν τῶν βιωτικῶν νοημάτων. {Ο ΕΠΙΣΚ.} Ἔστι τοίνυν ἕτερος Ἱέραξ, Ἑλληνικῷ μὲν καλούμενος ὀνόματι, πνευματικοῖς δὲ
κεκοσμημένος τρόποις· ὃς τὰ μὲν πρῶτα ἔξω πάσης Αἰγύπτου καὶ Θηβαΐδος ἐν τῷ Πορφυρίτῃ ὄρει μόνος ἀναχωρήσας, ἄνευ πνοῆς ἀνθρωπίνης,
τέσσαρα ἐκαρ τέρησεν ἔτη, μόναις ταῖς ἀρεταῖς ἀρκούμενος εἰς παράκλησιν· ἔπειτα δὲ τῇ τῆς Νιτρίας ἐρήμῳ εἴκοσι πέντε ἔτη ἅμα
τοῖς προειρημένοις πατράσιν. τούτῳ "δαίμονες" ἐπιστάντες (ὡς αὐτὸς ἡμῖν διηγήσατο), πολυχρόνιον ζωὴν ὑποβάλλοντες, ἀπὸ "τῆς
προκειμένης ἐλπίδος" σαλεύειν ἐσπούδαζον, "μετασχημα τισθέντες εἰς ἀγγέλους φωτός"· "Πεντήκοντα ἔτη," λέγοντες, 106 "ἔχεις
ζῆσαι. πῶς καρτερήσεις ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ;" ὁ δὲ τῇ συνέσει διὰ τῆς πίστεως ἀνθυποφέρει, φήσας· "Ἐλυπήσατέ με, ἐλάτ τονα τῆς προθέσεως
τὸν χρόνον εἰπόντες· διακοσίων γὰρ ἐτῶν παρασκευὴν ἐποιησάμην ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ." οἱ δὲ ἀκούσαντες ᾤχοντο ὀλολύζοντες. καὶ τοῦτον
τὸν τοιοῦτον, ὃν οἱ δαίμονες οὐκ ἐσά λευσαν, πολυμήκη χρόνον εἰς ἀκηδίαν σοφισάμενοι, ὁ πάπας Θεόφιλος διὰ προστάγματος αὐτὸν
μετανέστησεν καὶ εἰς τοσ αύτην περιέστησεν ἀνάγκην, ὡς καὶ στρατόπεδον καταλαβεῖν· ὃς νῦν μετὰ τὴν κοίμησιν Ἀμμωνίου τὴν πανέρημον
πάλιν κατεί ληφεν, τὴν τοῦ ἀρότρου παραβολὴν φοβηθείς. ἄλλος πάλιν πρεσβύτερος Ἰσαὰκ λεγόμενος, μαθητὴς Μακαρίου τοῦ μαθη
τοῦ Ἀντωνίου, φιλέρημος εἰσάγαν, πεντηκοστὸν ἔτος ἄγων κατὰ διάνοιαν σώζων τὴν πᾶσαν Γραφήν, κεράστας ὄφεις ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν
ἀκινδύνως βαστάζων, παρθένος ἐκ μήτρας, ἑπταετὴς καταλαβὼν τὴν ἔρημον, μετὰ τεσσαράκοντα ἔτη σὺν τοῖς προει ρημένοις παρὰ
τοῦ πάπα Θεοφίλου ἐσινιάζετο. ἕτερος Ἰσαὰκ πρεσβύτερος καὶ αὐτὸς μαθητὴς καὶ διάδοχος Κρονίου τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου, μαθητοῦ καὶ
αὐτοῦ Ἀντωνίου, γνωστικὸς καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν Γραφαῖς ὑπερβαλλόντως, φιλόξενος εἰ καί τις ἄλλος, ὡς δι' ὑπερβολὴν φιλανθρωπίας ξενοδοχεῖον
κατασκευάσαι ἐν τῇ πανερήμῳ εἰς ἀνάψυξιν καὶ τῶν ἀῤῥωστούντων μοναχῶν καὶ τῶν ἐπιχωριαζόντων ξένων θέας ἕνεκεν τῶν μακαρίων
πατέρων- (φασὶ δέ) ὀργῆς ἀλλότριος, τριακοστὸν ἔτος ἄγων ἐν τῇ ἀναχωρήσει, σὺν τούτοις ἐκακουχεῖτο. τούτων ὁ μὲν πρό τερος
Ἰσαὰκ ἑκατὸν πεντήκοντα εἶχεν ὑφ' ἑαυτὸν ἀσκητάς· οὗ καὶ μαθητὰς ἐπισκόπους κατέστησεν ὁ Θεόφιλος ἕως ἑπτὰ ἢ ὀκτώ, ἡνίκα Θεόφιλος
ἦν· ὁ δ' ἕτερος διακοσίους δέκα, οὗ καὶ αὐτοῦ πολλοὶ ἐν ἐπισκόποις μαθηταὶ κατηριθμήθησαν. οὗτοί εἰσι, περὶ ὧν τρίτην ἡμέραν
διηγησάμεθα, Ἰσιδώρου χάριν τοῦ 107 πρεσβυτέρου τῆς ἐρήμου ἠλάσθαι παρὰ Θεοφίλου τοῦ πάπα. οὗτοί εἰσιν, οὓς παρεῖδον ἱερεῖς
καὶ Λευῗται, καὶ εἰς αἰσχύνην ἀνδρῶν ἀνδρεία γυνὴ ὑπεδέξατο καὶ εἰς κρῖμα ἐπισκόπων διά κονος θήλεια ἐξένισεν, ἧς ὁ ἔπαινος
ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις ἐμπολι τεύεται πολλῶν ἕνεκεν, τὸν Σαμαρείτην ἐκεῖνον, ὅστις ποτέ ἐστι,
