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that the man was not found then in his house; for they were eager to dispatch him, with some shouting one thing and others another. For their wickedness was very great and mighty before God and their envy immeasurable, driven by which they had come together for this purpose, thinking they had found an opportunity to create a sedition and to insult the holy man as he had often refuted the evil faith and error of the Hellenizers among them. Since, therefore, they could not bear such madness, they permitted one of the soldiers to go up on the steps and cast down the icon. And he went up, and stretching out his hands to do what was commanded, immediately he was dashed down from above, falling to the ground, and a great tumult arose in the crowd. And inflamed, they proceeded to bring up another, and he too, stretching out his hands to drag it down, was likewise dashed to the ground. And when this happened, all were afraid and began to sign themselves with the seal of the cross. But those unbelievers, being even more enraged, proceeded also to bring up a third for this task, and as he also stretched out his hands to cast down the icon, he too was likewise dashed to the ground. Then great fear came upon all the faithful standing around, who, astonished at the hardness of heart and audacity of those unbelieving and unholy men, venerated the icon with prayer and departed. From Saint John Chrysostom, from the sermon "To recognize that you walk in the midst of snares": Let us not then grieve, beloved, nor be cast down by the present affliction, but let us marvel at the resourcefulness of the wisdom of God; for by the very means through which the devil expected to cast down our city, through these God has raised it up and set it right. For the devil inspired certain lawless men and they insulted the statues of the emperors, so that he might destroy the very foundation of the city. From the same: But since the audacious acts took place and certain defiled and utterly defiled men, trampling upon the laws, cast down the statues and hung over everyone the danger of the ultimate penalties, and now we fear for our very life, having provoked the emperor, the loss of money no longer stings, but I hear them saying other things instead of all that: "Let the emperor take our property, we will gladly withdraw from the markets and our homes; only let someone promise to save our bare body for us." Just as here, therefore, before the fear of death came upon us, the loss of money stung, but when the lawless acts were dared, it came in and pushed away the pain of the loss <...> From the same: Do you not know that, even if someone does not commit robbery, but is seen in the robbers' cave, he pays the same penalty as they? And why do I speak of robbers? You all know, of course, and remember, that certain defiled men and sorcerers cast down the statues among us, but as many as were simply present when it happened were seized and brought to court and, being punished along with them, paid the ultimate penalty. From Theodoret, bishop of Cyrrhus, from the Philotheus Historia concerning Macedonius Asianites: And at another time, when the city was driven to a Bacchic frenzy by some wicked demon, as if to drive out a disease by their madness, they senselessly attacked the imperial columns <...> From the Ecclesiastical History of Theodore Lector of Constantinople concerning a certain heretic Palladius: But Palladius, the bishop of Antioch, acting to please the emperor, detested those who followed the holy dogmas of Chalcedon and cast down the icons of the holy fathers. From the Life of Saint Constantine, the third book, fourth chapter: Thus things agreeable to him were being accomplished, but the workings of envy's malice were terribly disturbing the churches in Alexandria and were causing the schisms of the Thebans and Egyptians and other evils not small, of those very ones

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τὸν ἄνδρα μὴ εὑρεθῆναι τότε ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ αὐτοῦ· προεθυμοῦντο γὰρ διαχειρίσασθαι αὐτὸν ἄλλων ἄλλα κραζόντων. Ἡ γὰρ κακία αὐτῶν πολλὴ καὶ μεγάλη ἦν ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ σφόδρα καὶ ὁ φθόνος ἄμετρος, ὑφ' οὗ καὶ ἐνεργούμενοι εἰς τοῦτο συνεληλύθεισαν καιρὸν νομίσαντες εὑρεῖν καταστασιάσαι καὶ καθυβρίσαι τὸν ἅγιον ὡς πολλάκις ἐλέγξαντα τὴν κακοπιστίαν καὶ πλάνην τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἑλληνιζόντων. Ὡς οὖν οὐκ ἠδύναντο φέρειν τὴν τοσαύτην μανίαν, ἐπέτρεψαν ἑνὶ τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἀνελθεῖν ἐν ἀναβαθμοῖς καὶ ῥῖψαι τὴν εἰκόνα. Ἀνελθὼν δὲ ἐκεῖνος καὶ ἐκτείνας τὰς χεῖρας τοῦ ποιῆσαι τὸ προσταχθὲν εὐθέως ἀπερράγη ἄνωθεν κάτω καταπεσὼν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, καὶ ἐγένετο θόρυβος μέγας εἰς τὸν ὄχλον. Καὶ προσέθεντο ἐξαφθέντες ἄλλον ἀναγαγεῖν, καὶ ἐκτείνας κἀκεῖνος τὰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ κατασῦραι αὐτὴν ὡσαύτως ἀπερράγη ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν. Καὶ τούτου γενομένου φοβηθέντες πάντες ἤρξαντο τὴν σφραγῖδα τοῦ σταυροῦ περιάπτειν ἑαυτοῖς. Ἐπὶ πλέον δὲ μεμηνότες οἱ ἄπιστοι ἐκεῖνοι προσέθεντο καὶ τρίτον ἀνενέγκαι ἐπὶ τούτῳ, καὶ ὡς ἐξέτεινε καὶ αὐτὸς τὰς χεῖρας τοῦ ῥῖψαι τὴν εἰκόνα, ὁμοίως καὶ αὐτὸς κατερράγη ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν. Τότε φόβος μέγας ἐπῆλθεν ἐπὶ πάντας τοὺς περιεστῶτας πιστούς, οἳ καὶ ἐκπληττόμενοι ἐπὶ τῇ πωρώσει καὶ τόλμῃ τῶν ἀπίστων καὶ ἀνοσίων ἐκείνων ἀνδρῶν προσκυνοῦντες μετὰ προσευχῆς τῇ εἰκόνι ἀνεχώρουν. Τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰωάννου τοῦ Χρυσοστόμου ἐκ τοῦ λόγου τοῦ «Ἐπιγνῶναι, ὅτι ἐν μέσῳ παγίδων διαβαίνεις»· Μὴ τοίνυν ἀλγῶμεν, ἀγαπητοί, μηδὲ καταπίπτωμεν ἐπὶ τῇ παρούσῃ θλίψει, ἀλλὰ θαυμάσωμεν τὸ εὐμήχανον τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ σοφίας· δι' ὧν γὰρ προσεδόκησεν ὁ διάβολος τὴν πόλιν ἡμῶν καταβᾶλαι, διὰ τούτων αὐτὴν ὁ θεὸς ἀνέστησε καὶ ἀνώρθωσεν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ διάβολος ἐνέπνευσέ τισι παρανόμοις ἀνθρώποις καὶ τοὺς τῶν βασιλέων ὕβρισαν ἀνδριάντας, ἵνα καὶ αὐτὸ τῆς πόλεως ἀφανίσῃ τὸ ἔδαφος. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ· Ἐπειδὴ δὲ συνέβη τὰ τολμηθέντα καί τινες μιαροὶ καὶ παμμίαροι τοὺς νόμους καταπατήσαντες τοὺς ἀνδριάντας καθεῖλον καὶ τὸν περὶ τῶν ἐσχάτων πᾶσιν ἐπεκρέμασαν κίνδυνον καὶ νῦν ὑπὲρ τῆς ζωῆς αὐτῆς δεδοίκαμεν παροξύναντες βασιλέα, οὐκέτι λοιπὸν ἡ τῶν χρημάτων δάκνει ζημία, ἀλλ' ἕτερα ἀντ' ἐκείνων πάντων ἀκούω λεγόντων· «Λαβέτω τὴν οὐσίαν ὁ βασιλεύς, ἀποστησόμεθα τῶν ἀγορῶν καὶ τῶν οἰκιῶν ἀγαπητῶς· μόνον τὸ σῶμά τις ἡμῖν γυμνὸν ὑπόσχηται διασῴζειν.» Ὥσπερ οὖν ἐνταῦθα, πρὶν ἢ τὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ θανάτου φόβον ἡμῖν ἐπιστῆναι, ἔδακεν ἡ ζημία τῶν χρημάτων, ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐτολμήθη τὰ παράνομα, ἐπεισελθὼν τὴν ὀδύνην τῆς ζημίας ἀπώθησεν <...> Τοῦ αὐτοῦ· Οὐκ οἶδας, κἂν μὴ λῃστεύῃ τις, ἐν δὲ τῷ τῶν λῃστῶν σπηλαίῳ φανῇ, τὴν αὐτὴν ἐκείνοις δίδωσι δίκην; Καὶ τί λέγω τὰ τῶν λῃστῶν; Ἴστε δήπου πάντες καὶ μέμνησθε, ὅτι τοὺς ἀνδριάντας καθεῖλον παρ' ἡμῖν μιαροί τινες ἄνθρωποι καὶ γόητες, ἀλλ', ὅσοι παρόντες ἁπλῶς τοῖς γινομένοις ἐφάνησαν, εἰς δικαστήριον ἁρπασθέντες καὶ συνανασχεθέντες ἐκείνοις τὴν ἐσχάτην ἔδωκαν δίκην. Θεοδωρήτου, ἐπισκόπου Κύρρου, ἐκ τῆς Φιλοθέου ἱστορίας περὶ Μακεδονίου Ἀσιανίτου· Ἄλλοτε δὲ τῆς πόλεως ἀπό τινος πονηροῦ δαίμονος βακχευθείσης, ὡς δῆθεν νόσον ἀποδιῶξαι τῇ μανίᾳ κατὰ τῶν βασιλικῶν ἐχρήσαντο στηλῶν ἀνοήτως <...> Ἐκ τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς ἱστορίας Θεοδώρου ἀναγνώστου Κωνσταντινουπόλεως περί τινος αἱρετικοῦ Παλλαδίου· Ὁ δὲ τῆς Ἀντιοχείας ἐπίσκοπος Παλλάδιος πρὸς χάριν βασιλέως διαπραττόμενος τοὺς τοῖς ἐν Χαλκηδόνι ἁγίοις δόγμασιν ἑπομένους ἐμυσάττετο καὶ τὰς τῶν ἁγίων πατέρων εἰκόνας καθεῖλεν. Ἐκ τοῦ βίου τοῦ ἁγίου Κωνσταντίνου, τοῦ τρίτου βιβλίου, κεφαλαίου τετάρτου· Τὰ μὲν οὖν αὐτῷ καταθύμια συνετελεῖτο, τὰ δὲ τῆς τοῦ φθόνου βασκανίας δεινῶς τὰς κατὰ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν ἐκκλησίας ἐκταράττοντα καὶ τὰ Θηβαίων τε καὶ Αἰγυπτίων σχίσματα ἐποίουν καὶ ἄλλα κακὰ οὐ σμικρά, αὐτῶν ἐκείνων