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care, so that he might expel from the city the teacher of piety and temperance. 8.33.4 And emulating Herod in his intent, he leads the apostles to prison, as he did John, and having, in a similar way, another Herodias, a licentious and pleasure-loving mind seeking the head of Peter and Paul, he bound them both with the crown of martyrdom; nailing the one to the wood, and cutting off the head of Paul, leaving to us and to the world the passion of the saints as a festival and the occasion for so great a celebration. 8.34.1 These things the annual law brought to you, O thrice-blessed ones, proclaiming you everywhere as the common athletes of the world, and improving the minds of men through your honor. For virtue, being honored, arouses many to zeal; in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be the glory and the power, now and forever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Of Asterius, bishop of Amaseia, an encomium on the holy hieromartyr

Phocas

9.1.1 Good and profitable for those who practice virtue is the memory of the saints. For it does not only teach by word those who desire virtue and piety, but it also sets forth the deeds of those who have lived rightly as clear teachers. Therefore also our Lord, giving the precepts of the best achievements, says: "Whoever does and teaches them, he will be called great"; and elsewhere: "Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven." 9.1.2 For verbal instruction is a lesser and weaker teacher than practical action; and just as we say sight is more accurate than hearing, so it is acknowledged that action prevails over word. Thus we learn the sciences; thus we are taught the arts, being first led to learning by word, then by hand and experience strengthening what is faint. 9.1.3 And the geometer, having toiled much over the book and having had his hearing filled by the teacher, will not otherwise comprehend the power of the various figures, unless he learns the points and the lines and the circles on the tablet. Nor indeed does the word alone teach what is studied to the one desiring astronomy, unless the teacher, having skillfully spun the sphere for him, delivers to his eyes the movement of the pole. And the physician, having toiled much with Hippocrates and the other masters, is an ignorant healer, until having gone to the many sick, he learns from the sick themselves how to heal. 9.1.4 So also we, the disciples of the martyrs, making the deeds of the steadfast men our teachers before their confession, learn to keep piety even to the utmost dangers, looking upon their sacred tombs as upon steles inscribed with letters and showing precisely the agony of their martyrdom. 9.2.1 And just as those who approach the oak of Mamre or the purchased cave, which Ephron the Hittite sold for the burial of Sarah, where indeed the patriarch himself with his sons lies, immediately upon seeing the places they renew the image in their thoughts and see in their mind the faithful patriarch, the first-fruit of piety, in him circumcision; and they consider also those who sprang from his root, Isaac, Jacob, and with the memory of the men they become spectators of the whole history concerning them; 9.2.2 so I too today the honored shrine of the thrice-blessed

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φροντίδα, ὅπως ἂν ἐκκόψειε ἐκ τῆς πόλεως τὸν τῆς εὐσεβείας καὶ σωφροσύνης διδάσκαλον. 8.33.4 Καὶ ζηλώσας τὸν Ἡρώδην τῆς γνώμης ἀπάγει τοὺς ἀποστόλους εἰς δεσμωτήριον, ὡς τὸν Ἰωάννην ἐκεῖνος, ἔχων δὲ καθ' ὁμοιότητα ἄλλην Ἡρωδιάδα τὴν ἀκόλαστον καὶ φιλήδονον γνώμην ζητοῦσαν Πέτρου καὶ Παύλου τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀμφοτέρους ἀνέδησε τῷ στεφάνῳ τοῦ μαρτυρίου· τὸν μὲν τῷ ξύλῳ προσηλώσας, τοῦ δὲ Παύλου τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐκτεμών, ἡμῖν δὲ καὶ τῷ κόσμῳ καταλιπὼν τὸ τῶν ἁγίων πάθος πανήγυριν καὶ τοσαύτης ἑορτῆς ἀφορμήν. 8.34.1 Ταῦτα ὑμῖν, ὦ τρισμακάριοι, ἤνεγκεν ὁ ἐτήσιος νόμος ὑμᾶς μὲν ἀνακηρύττων πανταχοῦ ὡς κοινοὺς τῆς οἰκουμένης ἀθλητάς, βελτιῶν δὲ τὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων γνώμας διὰ τῆς ὑμετέρας τιμῆς. Ἀρετὴ γὰρ τιμω μένη πολλοὺς ἐγείρει πρὸς ζῆλον· ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος, νῦν καὶ ἀεί, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. Ἀστερίου ἐπισκόπου Ἀμασείας ἐγκώμιον εἰς τὸν ἅγιον ἱερομάρτυρα

Φωκᾶν

9.1.1 Καλὴ καὶ συμφέρουσα τοῖς ἀσκουμένοις τὰ σπουδαῖα τῶν ἁγίων ἡ μνήμη. Οὐ γὰρ λόγῳ παιδεύει μόνον τοὺς ἐπιθυμοῦντας ἀρετῆς καὶ εὐσεβείας, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς πράξεις τῶν βεβιωκότων ὀρθῶς ἐναργεῖς διδασκάλους προτίθησιν. ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν τὰς τῶν ἀρίστων κατορθωμάτων ὑποθήκας διδοὺς φησίν· Ὃς δ' ἂν ποιήσῃ καὶ δι δάξῃ, οὗτος μέγας κληθήσεται· καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ· Λαμψάτω τὸ φῶς ὑμῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὅπως ἴδωσι τὰ καλὰ ἔργα καὶ δοξάσωσι τὸν πατέρα ὑμῶν τὸν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. 9.1.2 Ἡ γὰρ λογικὴ παίδευσις τῆς πρακτικῆς ἐνεργείας ἥττων καὶ ἀσθε νεστέρα διδάσκαλος· καὶ ὅσῳ τῆς ἀκοῆς τὴν ὄψιν ἀκριβεστέραν εἶναί φαμεν, τοσούτῳ διωμολόγηται τοῦ λόγου τὴν πρᾶξιν κρατεῖν. Οὕτως τὰς ἐπιστήμας μανθάνομεν· οὕτω τὰς τέχνας ἐκπαιδευόμεθα λόγῳ πρότερον πρὸς τὴν μάθησιν ἐναγόμενοι, εἶτα χειρὶ καὶ πείρᾳ τὴν ἀμυδρὰν κρατύνοντες. 9.1.3 Καὶ πολλὰ μὲν ὁ γεωμέτρης περὶ τὴν βίβλον καμὼν καὶ πληρωθεὶς παρὰ τοῦ διδασκάλου τὴν ἀκοὴν οὐκ ἄλλως καταλήψεται τῶν ποικίλων σχημάτων τὴν δύναμιν, ἂν μὴ καταμάθῃ τὰ κέντρα καὶ τὰς γραμμὰς καὶ τοὺς κύκλους ἐπὶ τοῦ πίνακος. Οὐ μέντοι οὐδὲ τὸν ἀστρο νομίας ἐπιθυμήσαντα ὁ λόγος μόνον παιδεύει τὸ σπουδαζόμενον, ἂν μὴ τὴν σφαῖραν αὐτῷ περιδινήσας ἐπιστημόνως ὁ παιδευτὴς τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς παραδῷ τοῦ πόλου τὴν κίνησιν. Καὶ ὁ ἰατρικὸς δὲ πολλὰ τῷ Ἱπποκράτει καμὼν καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις καθηγηταῖς ἀνεπιστήμων ἐστὶ θεραπευτής, πρὶν ἂν πρὸς τοὺς πολλοὺς βαδίσας ἀρρώστους παρ' αὐτῶν μάθῃτῶν νοσούντων τὸ θεραπεύειν. 9.1.4 Οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἡμεῖς οἱ μαθηταὶ τῶν μαρτύρων, τὰς πράξεις τῶν καρτερῶν ἀνδρῶν πρὸ τῆς ὁμολογίας διδασκάλους ποιούμενοι, μανθάνομεν ἄχρι τῶν ἐσχάτων κινδύνων φυλάττειν εὐσέ βειαν, αὐτὰς τὰς ἱερὰς θήκας αὐτῶν καθάπερ στήλας προσβλέποντες γράμμασι κεχαραγμένας καὶ δηλούσας ἀκριβῶς τοῦ μαρτυρίου τὴν ἀγωνίαν. 9.2.1 Ὥσπερ δὲ οἱ πλησιάζοντες τῇ δρυῒ τῇ Μαμβρῇ ἢ τῷ σπηλαίῳ τῷ ὠνητῷ, ὅπερ Ἐφραῒμ ὁ Χετταῖος εἰς ταφὴν τῆς Σάρρας ἀπέδοτο, ἔνθα δὴ καὶ αὐτὸς σὺν τοῖς παισὶν ὁ πατριάρχης ἀπόκειται, εὐθέως μετὰ τῆς θέας τῶν τόπων ἐν τοῖς λογισμοῖς ἀνανεοῦνται τὴν φαντασίαν καὶ βλέπουσι τῇ διανοίᾳ τὸν πιστὸν πατριάρχην, τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τῆς εὐσεβείας, τὴν ἐν ἐκείνῳ περιτομήν· λογίζονται δὲ καὶ τοὺς τῆς ἐκείνου ῥίζης ἀποβλαστήσαντας, τὸν Ἰσαάκ, τὸν Ἰακώβ, καὶ μετὰ τῆς μνήμης τῶν ἀνδρῶν ὅλης τῆς ἐπ' αὐτοὺς ἱστορίας γίνονται θεαταί· 9.2.2 οὕτως κἀγὼ σήμερον τὸν τίμιον σηκὸν τοῦ τρισμακαρίου