John Chrysostom, On the Letter to the Colossians

of loving intensely; he showed the strength of words, you through your works cast down envy, you trod upon malice. So that you would rightly be crowned more than he; your contest is more brilliant; you not only trod upon malice, but you have also done something else. He has only one crown, but you have two, and the two are more brilliant than the one. Which ones are these? One which you won against envy, a second which you put on from love. For to rejoice with another is a proof not only of being pure from envy, but also of having a deeply rooted love. Often some human passion, such as vainglory, troubles him; but you are pure from every passion; for you do not rejoice in another's good things out of vainglory. Did he build up the church, tell me? Did he increase the congregation? Praise him again; you have double crowns; you cast down envy, you put on love. Yes, I beg you, and I beseech you. Do you wish to hear of a third crown? This one men below applaud, but you, the angels above. For it is not the same to display eloquence and to master passions. This praise is temporary, that one is eternal; this one is from men, that one is from God; this one appears to be crowned, but you are crowned in secret, where your Father sees. If it were possible to see each person's soul, having separated it from the body, I would have shown you this one more venerable than that one, shining more brightly. Let us tread on the goads of malice, from this we benefit ourselves, beloved, we ourselves shall put on the crown. The one who is malicious, fights with God, not with that man; for when he sees someone who has grace, and is pained, and wishes the Church to be torn down, he does not fight with that man, 62.380 but with God. For tell me, if someone were adorning the king's daughter, and was successful in adorning her and making her venerable, and another wished for her to be disfigured, and for him to be unable to adorn her, against whom would he have plotted, this man or her and her father? So also now you who are malicious fight against the Church, you war against God. For since the benefit of the Church is intertwined with the success of a brother, it is necessary, if this is destroyed, for that to be destroyed also; so that in this, you do a satanic work, plotting against the body of Christ. You are pained at this one who has done no wrong. but much more at Christ. How has he wronged you, that you do not allow his body to be adorned with beauty? that you do not allow the bride to be decorated? But see the punishment, how great it is: You delight your enemies, and that very man who is successful, whom you wish to grieve out of envy, you delight him the more, you show the more that he was successful by being malicious; for you would not have been malicious, you show the more that you are being punished. I am ashamed, therefore, to exhort you from these things; but since we are so weakly disposed, let us, being instructed by these things also, be delivered from this destructive passion. Are you pained that he was successful? Why then do you exalt his success by envying? Do you wish to punish him? Why then do you show that you are pained? why do you exact punishment upon yourself in front of this man, whom you wish not to be successful? The pleasure will then be double for him and the punishment for you, not only because you show him to be great, but because you also produce another pleasure for him by punishing yourself; and again, over the things for which you are pained, he is pleased, because you are envious. See how we give grievous blows to ourselves, and do not perceive it. But he is an enemy. And yet, why an enemy? What wrong has he done? But nevertheless we make the enemy more brilliant, and we punish ourselves more by this. Again we punish ourselves, if we perceive that he has noticed. For perhaps he is not pleased; but we, thinking that he is pleased, are again pained because of this. Therefore, cease from envying; why do you inflict wounds upon yourself? Let us consider these things, beloved, the double crowns of those who do not envy, the praises from men, those from God, the evils that come from malice; and

τοῦ σφόδρα φιλεῖν· ἐκεῖνος ἐπεδείξατο ῥημάτων ἰσχὺν, σὺ διὰ τῶν ἔργων τὸν φθόνον κατέβαλες, ἐπάτησας τὴν βασκανίαν. Ὥστε εἰκότως ἂν μᾶλλον ἐκείνου στεφανωθείης· λαμπρότερος ὁ σὸς ἀγών· οὐκ ἐπάτησας μόνον τὴν βασκανίαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἕτερον τι πεποίηκας. Ἐκεῖνος ἕνα ἔχει στέφανον μόνον, σὺ δὲ δύο, καὶ τοὺς δύο τοῦ ἑνὸς λαμπροτέρους. Ποίους τούτους; Ἕνα μὲν ὃν ἀνείλου κατὰ τοῦ φθόνου, δεύτερον δὲ ὃν ἀνεδήσω ἐκ τῆς ἀγάπης. Οὐ γὰρ τοῦ καθαρὸν εἶναι φθόνου τεκμήριον μόνον τὸ συνήδεσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ ἀγάπην ἔχειν ἐῤῥιζωμένην. Ἐκείνῳ πολλάκις καὶ ἀνθρώπινόν τι διενοχλεῖ πάθος, οἷον ἡ κενοδοξία· σὺ δὲ παντὸς εἶ πάθους καθαρός· οὐ γὰρ δὴ κενοδοξῶν χαίρεις ἐπὶ τοῖς ἑτέρου καλοῖς. Ὤρθωσε τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἐκεῖνος, εἰπέ μοι; ηὔξησε τὸν σύλλογον; ἐπαίνεσον πάλιν· ἔχεις διπλοῦς τοὺς στεφάνους· τὸν φθόνον κατέβαλες, τὴν ἀγάπην ἀνεδήσω. Ναὶ δέομαι, καὶ ἀντιβολῶ. Βούλει καὶ τρίτον ἀκοῦσαι στέφανον; τοῦτον οἱ κάτω κροτοῦσιν ἄνθρωποι, σὲ οἱ ἄνω ἄγγελοι. Οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἴσον εὐέπειαν ἐπιδείκνυσθαι, καὶ παθῶν κρατεῖν. Οὗτος ὁ ἔπαινος πρόσκαιρος, ἐκεῖνος αἰώνιος· οὗτος ἐξ ἀνθρώπων, ἐκεῖνος ἐκ Θεοῦ· οὗτος φαίνεται ἐστεφανωμένος, σὺ δὲ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ στεφανοῦσαι, ὅπου ὁ Πατήρ σου ὁρᾷ. Εἰ τὸ σῶμα ἀποσχίσαντα τὴν ἑκάστου ψυχὴν ἦν ἰδεῖν, ἔδειξα ἄν σοι τοῦτον ἐκείνου σεμνότερον, μᾶλλον ἀποστίλβοντα. Πατήσωμεν τὰ κέντρα τῆς βασκανίας, ἑαυτοὺς ἐντεῦθεν ὠφελοῦμεν ἀγαπητοὶ, αὐτοὶ ἀναδησόμεθα τὸν στέφανον. Ὁ βασκαίνων, τῷ Θεῷ μάχεται, οὐκ ἐκείνῳ· ὅταν γὰρ ἴδῃ χάριν ἔχοντα, καὶ ἀλγῇ, καὶ βούληται καθαιρεῖσθαι τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, οὐκ ἐκείνῳ μάχεται, 62.380 ἀλλὰ τῷ Θεῷ. Εἰπὲ γάρ μοι, εἴ τις κόρην ἐκαλλώπιζε βασιλέως, καὶ εὐδοκίμει καλλωπίζων αὐτὴν καὶ σεμνὴν ἐργαζόμενος, ἕτερος δέ τις ἐβούλετο ταύτην ἀσχημονῆσαι, καὶ μὴ δυνηθῆναι καλλωπίσαι, τίνι ἂν ἐπεβούλευσε, τούτῳ ἢ ἐκείνῃ καὶ τῷ ταύτης πατρί; Οὕτω καὶ νῦν σὺ ὁ βασκαίνων μάχῃ τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ, τῷ Θεῷ πολεμεῖς. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τῇ εὐδοκιμήσει τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ συμπέπλεκται καὶ ἡ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ὠφέλεια, ἀνάγκη, ταύτης καταλυομένης, κἀκείνην καταλύεσθαι· ὥστε κατὰ τοῦτο, ἔργον σατανικὸν ποιεῖς, ἐπιβουλεύων τῷ σώματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Πρὸς τοῦτον ἀλγεῖς τὸν οὐδὲν ἠδικηκότα. πολλῷ δὲ μᾶλλον πρὸς τὸν Χριστόν. Τί σε ἠδίκησεν, ὅτι οὐκ ἀφίης τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ καλλωπισθῆναι τῷ κάλλει; ὅτι οὐκ ἀφίης τὴν νύμφην κοσμηθῆναι; Θέα δέ μοι τὴν τιμωρίαν, ὅση· Τοὺς ἐχθροὺς εὐφραίνεις τοὺς σοὺς, καὶ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον τὸ εὐδοκιμοῦντα, ὃν βούλει λυπῆσαι φθονῶν, μᾶλλον αὐτὸν εὐφραίνεις, μᾶλλον δεικνύεις, ὅτι ηὐδοκίμησε βασκαίνων· οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἐβάσκηνας μᾶλλον δεικνύεις ὅτι τιμωρῇ. Αἰσχύνομαι μὲν οὖν ἀπὸ τούτων προτρέπων· πλὴν ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ οὕτως ἀσθενῶς διακείμεθα, καὶ ἀπὸ τούτων παιδευθέντες τοῦ ὀλεθρίου τούτου πάθους ἀπαλλαγῶμεν. Ἀλγεῖς ὅτι ηὐδοκίμησε; τί οὖν τὴν εὐδοκίμησιν αὐτοῦ ἐπαίρεις φθονῶν; Βούλει αὐτὸν τιμωρήσασθαι; Τί οὖν δεικνύεις ὅτι ἀλγεῖς; τί τιμωρίαν σαυτὸν ἀπαιτεῖς ἔμπροσθεν τούτου, ὃν βούλει μὴ εὐδοκιμεῖν; ∆ιπλῆ λοιπὸν ἔσται ἡ ἡδονὴ τούτῳ καὶ σοὶ ἡ τιμωρία, οὐ μόνον ὅτι μέγαν δεικνύεις αὐτὸν, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ ἑτέραν αὐτῷ ἐντίκτεις ἡδονὴν τιμωρούμενος σαυτόν· καὶ πάλιν ὑπὲρ ὧν ἀλγεῖς, ἐκεῖνος ἥδεται, σοῦ φθονοῦντος. Ὅρα πῶς πληγὰς χαλεπὰς ἑαυτοῖς διδόαμεν, καὶ οὐκ αἰσθανόμεθα. Ἀλλ' ἐχθρός ἐστι. Καίτοι γε διὰ τί ἐχθρός; Τί ἠδίκησεν; Ἀλλ' ὅμως τὸν ἐχθρὸν λαμπρότερον ποιοῦμεν, καὶ ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς πλέον κολάζομεν τούτῳ. Πάλιν ἑαυτοὺς τιμωρούμεθα, ἂν αἰσθώμεθα ὅτι ἔγνω ἐκεῖνος. Ἴσως μὲν γὰρ ἐκεῖνος οὐχ ἥδεται· ἡμεῖς δὲ νομίζοντες ὅτι ἥδεται, πάλιν διὰ τοῦτο ἀλγοῦμεν. Οὐκοῦν παῦσαι φθονῶν· τί τραύματα ἑαυτῷ παρέχεις; Ταῦτα ἐννοήσωμεν, ἀγαπητοὶ, τοὺς στεφάνους τοὺς διπλοῦς τῶν μὴ φθονούντων, τοὺς ἐπαίνους τοὺς παρὰ ἀνθρώπων, τοὺς παρὰ Θεοῦ, τὰ κακὰ τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς βασκανίας· καὶ