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49.127 Further, a thanksgiving to God concerning the forgiveness of those who sinned against the emperor; and a physical treatise concerning creation; and that God, having made man, implanted in him a natural law; and

concerning abstaining from oaths with all diligence. Homily 12.

1. Yesterday I said, Blessed be God, and today I will say this same thing again.

For even if the terrible things have passed, let the memory of the terrible things not pass away, not that we may grieve, but that we may give thanks. For if the memory of the terrible things remains, the experience of terrible things will never come upon us. For what need is there of the experience, when memory keeps us sober? Just as, therefore, God did not permit us to be overwhelmed when the sorrows were present, so let us not permit ourselves to become lax now that they have passed. He comforted us when we were despondent then, let us give thanks to Him rejoicing now; He consoled us when we were in pain and did not abandon us, so then let us not abandon ourselves when we are prosperous, turning aside to laziness; For, he says, 'Remember the time of famine in the day of plenty.' Let us therefore remember the time of trial in the day of relief; and let us do this same thing with regard to our sins. Even if you sin and God forgives you your sin, accept the forgiveness and give thanks, but do not forget the sin, not that you should torment yourself in your mind, but that you may discipline your soul not to leap up nor to fall into the same things again. Thus Paul also did; for having said, 'He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,' he added, 'who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and an insolent man.' 'Let the life of the servant be paraded,' he says, 'that the love for mankind of the Master may be revealed.' For though I received forgiveness for my sins, yet I do not cast out the memory of the sins. This not only showed the love for mankind of the Master, but it also made that man more glorious. For when you learn who he was before, then you will admire him more; and when you see from what he became what he is, then you will approve of him more greatly; and if you have sinned greatly, by changing you will from this have good hopes; for in addition to what has been said, this example also encourages those in despair and makes them rise up. This, then, will also be the case for our city; for all that has happened both shows your virtue, being able through repentance to avert so great a wrath, and proclaims the love for mankind of God, who from a little turning back has made so great a cloud pass by, and it raises up all those in despair, who have learned from our experience that it is not possible for one who looks upward and to the favor of God to be overwhelmed, even if ten thousand waves stand around him on every side. For who has seen, who has ever heard of our sufferings? Every day we expected our city to be torn up from its very foundations, along with its inhabitants; but when the devil hoped to sink the ship, then God made a clear calm. Therefore let us not forget the magnitude of the terrible things, that we may remember the magnitude of the benefits that have come from God; for he who does not know the nature of the disease, will not know 49.128 the skill of the physician. Let us say these things also to our children, and let us pass them on for ten thousand generations, so that all may learn how the devil hastened even to destroy the ground of the city, and how God had the strength to set it up again when it had fallen and was lying before our eyes, and not even to permit the slightest harm to occur, but He both removed the fear and averted the danger with great speed. For last week we all expected our property to be confiscated, and soldiers to be let loose upon us, and we were imagining ten thousand other terrible things; but behold, all those things have passed by, like a cloud and like a fleeting shadow, and

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49.127 Ἔτι εὐχαριστία πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν περὶ τῆς συγχωρήσεως τῶν ἡμαρτηκότων εἰς τὸν βασιλέα· καὶ φυσιολογία περὶ τῆς κτίσεως· καὶ ὅτι ποιήσας ὁ Θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον νόμον φυσικὸν ἐγκατέθηκεν αὐτῷ· καὶ

περὶ τοῦ πάσῃ σπουδῇ ἀπέχεσθαι τῶν ὅρκων. Ὁμιλία ιβʹ.

αʹ. Καὶ χθὲς εἶπον, Εὐλογητὸς ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ σήμερον τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο πάλιν ἐρῶ.

Εἰ γὰρ καὶ τὰ δεινὰ παρῆλθεν, ἀλλ' ἡ μνήμη τῶν δεινῶν μὴ παρερχέσθω, οὐχ ἵνα ἀλγῶμεν, ἀλλ' ἵνα εὐχαριστῶμεν. Ἐὰν γὰρ ἡ μνήμη τῶν δεινῶν μένῃ, ἡ πεῖρα τῶν δεινῶν οὐδέποτ' ἐπιστήσεται. Τί γὰρ δεῖ τῆς πείρας, τῆς μνήμης ἡμᾶς σωφρονιζούσης; Ὥσπερ οὖν οὐκ ἀφῆκεν ἡμᾶς ὁ Θεὸς καταποντισθῆναι παρόντων τῶν λυπηρῶν, οὕτω μὴ ἀφῶμεν ἑαυτοὺς ἐκλυθῆναι παρελθόντων ἐκείνων. Παρεκάλεσεν ἡμᾶς ἀθυμοῦντας τότε, εὐχαριστήσωμεν αὐτῷ χαίροντες νῦν· παρεμυθήσατο ὀδυνωμένους καὶ οὐ προέδωκε, μὴ τοίνυν μηδὲ ἡμεῖς ἑαυτοὺς εὐθηνουμένους προδῶμεν, εἰς ῥᾳθυμίαν ἐκκλίνοντες· Μνήσθητι γὰρ καιρὸν λιμοῦ, φησὶν, ἐν ἡμέρᾳ πλησμονῆς. Μνησθῶμεν οὖν καιρὸν πειρασμοῦ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἀνέσεως· καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων δὲ τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο ποιῶμεν. Κἂν ἁμάρτῃς καὶ συγχωρήσῃ σοι τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ὁ Θεὸς, τὴν μὲν συγχώρησιν δέξαι καὶ εὐχαρίστησον, τῆς δὲ ἁμαρτίας μὴ ἐπιλάθῃ, οὐχ ἵνα σαυτὸν κατατρύχῃς τῷ λογισμῷ, ἀλλ' ἵνα τὴν ψυχὴν παιδεύσῃς μὴ σκιρτᾷν μηδὲ περιπίπτειν πάλιν τοῖς αὐτοῖς. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ Παῦλος ἐποίησεν· εἰπὼν γὰρ ὅτι, Πιστόν με ἡγήσατο θέμενος εἰς διακονίαν, ἐπήγαγε, Τὸν πρότερον ὄντα βλάσφημον παὶ διώκτην καὶ ὑβριστήν. Ἐκπομπευέσθω, φησὶν, ὁ βίος τοῦ οἰκέτου, ἵνα φανῇ ἡ φιλανθρωπία τοῦ ∆εσπότου. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ συγχώρησιν ἔλαβον τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων, ἀλλὰ τὴν μνήμην οὐκ ἐκβάλλω τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων. Οὐ τοῦ ∆εσπότου δὲ τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν ἐδείκνυ τοῦτο μόνον, ἀλλὰ κἀκεῖνον λαμπρότερον ἐποίει. Ὅταν γὰρ μάθῃς τίς ἦν ἔμπροσθεν, τότε αὐτὸν θαυμάσεις πλέον· καὶ ὅταν ἴδῃς ἐκ τίνος τίς ἐγένετο, τότε αὐτὸν ἀποδέξῃ μειζόνως· κἂν μεγάλα ᾖς ἡμαρτηκὼς, χρηστὰς ἕξεις ἐντεῦθεν τὰς ἐλπίδας μεταβαλλόμενος· πρὸς γὰρ τοῖς εἰρημένοις, καὶ τοὺς ἐν ἀπογνώσει τὸ ὑπόδειγμα τοῦτο παρακαλεῖ καὶ ἀνίστασθαι ποιεῖ. Ὅπερ οὖν καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς πόλεως ἔσται τῆς ἡμετέρας· τὰ γὰρ συμβάντα ἅπαντα τήν τε ἀρετὴν ὑμῶν δείκνυσι, δυνηθέντων διὰ τῆς μετανοίας τοσαύτην ὀργὴν ἀποκρούσασθαι, τήν τε τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν κηρύττει, ἐξ ὀλίγης τῆς ἐπιστροφῆς τοσοῦτον παρενέγκαντος νέφος, τούς τε ἐν ἀπογνώσει πάντας ἀνίστησι μαθόντας ἐκ τῶν ἡμετέρων, ὅτι τὸν ἄνω καὶ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ βλέποντα ῥοπὴν, κἂν μυρία περιστῇ πανταχόθεν κύματα, καταποντισθῆναι οὐκ ἔνι. Τίς γὰρ εἶδε, τίς ἤκουσέ ποτε τὰ ἡμέτερα πάθη; ἐκ βάθρων αὐτῶν καθ' ἑκάστην προσεδοκῶμεν ἡμέραν ἀνασπασθήσεσθαι τὴν πόλιν ἡμῖν μετὰ τῶν ἐνοικούντων· ἀλλ' ὅτε ἤλπιζε καταποντίζειν τὸ σκάφος ὁ διάβολος, τότε καθαρὰν γαλήνην ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεός. Μὴ τοίνυν ἐπιλανθανώμεθα τοῦ μεγέθους τῶν δεινῶν, ἵνα μνημονεύωμεν τοῦ μεγέθους τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν τῶν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ γενομένων· καὶ γὰρ ὁ μὴ εἰδὼς τοῦ νοσήματος τὴν φύσιν, οὐκ εἴσεται 49.128 τοῦ ἰατροῦ τὴν τέχνην. Ταῦτα καὶ πρὸς τοὺς παῖδας λέγωμεν τοὺς ἡμετέρους, καὶ εἰς μυρίας παραπέμπωμεν γενεὰς, ἵνα μάθωσιν ἅπαντες πῶς ἐσπούδασεν ὁ διάβολος καὶ τὸ ἔδαφος ἀφανίσαι τῆς πόλεως, καὶ πῶς ἴσχυσεν ὁ Θεὸς πεπτωκυῖαν αὐτὴν καὶ κειμένην ἐπ' ὄψεσι στῆσαι πάλιν, καὶ μηδὲ τὴν τυχοῦσαν συγχωρῆσαι γενέσθαι βλάβην, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν φόβον ἀνεῖλε, καὶ τὸν κίνδυνον ἀπεκρούσατο μετὰ πολλοῦ τοῦ τάχους. Καὶ γὰρ τῇ παρελθούσῃ ἑβδομάδι τὰς οὐσίας δημεύεσθαι προσεδοκῶμεν ἅπαντες, καὶ στρατιώτας ἡμῖν ἐπαφίεσθαι, καὶ μυρία ἕτερα ὠνειροπολοῦμεν δεινά· ἀλλ' ἰδοὺ πάντα ἐκεῖνα παρῆλθεν, ὥσπερ νέφος καὶ ὥσπερ σκιὰ παρατρέχουσα, καὶ