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making them superior to all, and to rejoice in the midst of sorrows, this is the paradox. For does not death seem to be the most unbearable of all things? But the expectation of it not only does not grieve them, but even makes them rejoice the more. For they know that the presence of death is a release from labors, and that it is the custom of the philanthropic God to honor His servants, and to grant them often even the salvation of others; just as He has also done in the case of the holy Paul, the teacher of the world, who everywhere sent forth the rays of his own teaching. For when he was sailing to Rome, as a great storm arose at sea, and all on the ship feared for their very salvation, and had no good hope 63.689 on account of the greatness of the surge, calling them all he says: Be of good cheer, men; for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, saying: Do not be afraid, Paul; for God has granted you all those who sail with you. Let us continually remember this. For nothing benefits us so much as to continually remember the benefactions of God, both those in common and those in private. For if, when we remember the benefactions of a friend, or hear a kind word or deed, we are warmed; much more, when we see how many dangers we have fallen into, and from all of them God has delivered us, we will be more eager for virtue; just as Paul also; whose hunger and thirst, and nakedness, and shipwrecks, and fears, and plots, and prisons, and beatings, and all the other things which the blessed Paul endured for the sake of the preaching, I think there is no need to mention. For even each of these things was sufficient to disturb violently and to break that holy soul; but when he says, Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn? this is what most of all provided him with continual and unbearable despondency. For if for each one of those who were scandalized he himself burned, it was not possible for this burning to be extinguished from his soul; for those who were scandalized did not cease, providing the fuel for the fire. And seeing the Jews disbelieving, what small respite from despondency and pain could he have? For I could wish, he says, that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites. What he says is this: It was more desirable for me to fall into Gehenna than to see the Israelites disbelieving. But he who chose the punishment in Gehenna for the sake of being able to bring all the Jews to God, it is clear that, not obtaining this, he lived more grievously than those punished in Gehenna. To whom it was also said, My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is made perfect in weakness; that is, It is sufficient for you that you raise the dead, that you heal the blind, that you cleanse lepers, 63.690 that you work the other miracles; do not seek also to preach without danger and without fear and without troubles. But you are in pain and despondent? do not think this to be a weakness of mine, that there are many who plot against you and flay you and persecute you and scourge you; this very thing, then, shows my power (For my power, he says, is made perfect in weakness), when, being persecuted, you overcome your persecutors, when, being driven out, you prevail over those who drive you out, when, being bound, you turn to flight those who bind you. But it is a terrible thing to be spoken ill of by anyone; but when the one doing this is one of those who have been benefited, and he reproaches and brings up the benefits done to him, then indeed, then the insult becomes unbearable, and it brings on so much anger along with the despondency, as to be able to choke the one being insulted. Or he who has suffered ill at the hands of someone great has no small consolation in the superiority of the one who did it; but he who suffers at the hands of a lowly and rejected person has greater vexation, and considers the affliction unendurable. But do not consider this, if they mock us

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ἐμβαλλόντων ἀνωτέρους ἁπάντων εἶναι, καὶ ἐν μέσοις τοῖς λυπηροῖς εὐφραίνεσθαι, τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ παράδοξον. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ θάνατος οὐ πάντων ἀφορητότερος εἶναι δοκεῖ; ἀλλ' ἡ τούτου προσδοκία οὐ μόνον αὐτοὺς οὐ λυπεῖ, ἀλλὰ καὶ μειζόνως εὐφραίνει. Οἴδασι γὰρ ὅτι ἡ τοῦ θανάτου παρουσία πόνων ἐστὶν ἀπαλλαγὴ, καὶ ὅτι ἔθος τῷ φιλανθρώπῳ Θεῷ τιμᾷν τοὺς αὐτοῦ δούλους, καὶ χαρίζεσθαι αὐτοῖς πολλάκις καὶ τὴν ἑτέρων σωτηρίαν· ὥσπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Παύλου πεποίηκε, τοῦ διδασκάλου τῆς οἰκουμένης, τοῦ πανταχοῦ τὰς ἀκτῖνας τῆς οἰκείας διδασκαλίας ἀφιέντος. Ἡνίκα γὰρ οὗτος ἐπὶ τὴν Ῥώμην ἀνήγετο. χειμῶνος κατὰ τὴν θάλασσαν πολλοῦ γενομένου, καὶ πάντων τῶν ἐν πλοίῳ περὶ αὐτῆς τῆς σωτηρίας δεδοικότων, καὶ οὐδεμίαν ἐλπίδα χρηστὴν ἐχόντων 63.689 διὰ τὸ τοῦ κλυδωνίου μέγεθος, καλέσας ἅπαντάς φησιν· Εὐθυμεῖτε, ἄνδρες· ἀποβολὴ γὰρ ψυχῆς οὐδεμία ἔσται ἐξ ὑμῶν, πλὴν τοῦ πλοίου. Παρέστη γάρ μοι ταύτῃ τῇ νυκτὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὗ εἰμὶ καὶ λατρεύω, ἄγγελος λέγων· Μὴ φοβοῦ, Παῦλε· κεχάρισται γάρ σοι ὁ Θεὸς πάντας τοὺς πλέοντας μετὰ σοῦ. Τούτου συνεχῶς μνημονεύωμεν. Οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτως ἡμᾶς ὠφελεῖ, ὡς τὸ συνεχῶς μεμνῆσθαι τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τῶν κοινῇ καὶ τῶν ἰδίᾳ. Εἰ γὰρ φίλου εὐεργεσιῶν ἀναμνησθέντες, ἢ ῥῆμα προσηνὲς ἀκούσαντες ἢ πρᾶγμα, διαθερμαινόμεθα· πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὅταν ἴδωμεν πόσοις κινδύνοις περιεπέσομεν, καὶ ἀπὸ πάντων ἡμᾶς ἐξείλετο ὁ Θεὸς, προθυμότεροι περὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐσόμεθα· ὡσπεροῦν καὶ ὁ Παῦλος· οὗ τὸν μὲν λιμὸν καὶ τὸ δίψος, καὶ τὴν γύμνωσιν, καὶ τὰ ναυάγια, καὶ τοὺς φόβους, καὶ τὰς ἐπιβουλὰς, καὶ τὰ δεσμωτήρια, καὶ τὰς πληγὰς, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα ὅσα τοῦ κηρύγματος ἕνεκεν ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος ὑπέμεινεν, οὐδὲν οἶμαι δεῖν λέγειν. Ἱκανὸν γὰρ καὶ τούτων ἕκαστον συνταράξαι σφοδρῶς καὶ κατακλάσαι τὴν ἁγίαν ἐκείνην ψυχήν· ὅταν δὲ λέγῃ, Τίς ἀσθενεῖ καὶ οὐκ ἀσθενῶ; τίς σκανδαλίζεται καὶ οὐκ ἐγὼ πυροῦμαι; τοῦτό ἐστιν ὃ μάλιστα πάντων αὐτῷ διηνεκῆ καὶ ἀφόρητον παρεῖχε τὴν ἀθυμίαν. Εἰ γὰρ καθ' ἕκαστον τῶν σκανδαλιζομένων ἐπυροῦτο αὐτὸς, οὐκ ἐνῆν σβεσθῆναι τὴν πύρωσιν ταύτην ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκείνου ψυχῆς· οὐ γὰρ διελίμπανον οἱ σκανδαλιζόμενοι, καὶ τὴν ὑπόθεσιν παρέχοντες τῷ πυρί. Τὸ δὲ καὶ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους ἀπιστοῦντας ὁρᾷν, τίνα ἂν ἀθυμίας καὶ ὀδύνης μικρὰν γοῦν ἀνακωχὴν ἔχειν ἠδύνατο; Ηὐχόμην γὰρ, φησὶν, ἀνάθεμα εἶναι ἀπὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου τῶν συγγενῶν μου κατὰ σάρκα, οἵτινές εἰσιν Ἰσραηλῖται. Ὃ δὲ λέγει, τοιοῦτόν ἐστι· Ποθεινότερον ἦν μοι εἰς γέενναν ἐμπεσεῖν, ἢ τοὺς Ἰσραηλίτας ἀπιστοῦντας ὁρᾷν. Ὁ δὲ τὴν ἐν γεέννῃ κόλασιν ἑλόμενος ὑπὲρ τοῦ δυνηθῆναι προσαγαγέσθαι τοὺς Ἰουδαίους ἅπαντας, εὔδηλον ὅτι τούτου μὴ τυχὼν, τῶν ἐν τῇ γεέννῃ κολαζομένων διῆγε βαρύτερον. Πρὸς ὃν εἴρηται καὶ τὸ, Ἀρκεῖ σοι ἡ χάρις μου· ἡ γὰρ δύναμίς μου ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ τελειοῦται· τουτέστιν, Ἀρκεῖ σοι ὅτι νεκροὺς ἐγείρεις, ὅτι τυφλοὺς θεραπεύεις, ὅτι λεπροὺς καθαί 63.690 ρεις, ὅτι τὰ ἄλλα θαυματουργεῖς· μὴ ζήτει καὶ τὸ ἀκίνδυνον καὶ ἀδεὲς καὶ τὸ χωρὶς πραγμάτων κηρύττειν. Ἀλλὰ ἀλγεῖς καὶ ἀθυμεῖς; μὴ δόξῃς τοῦτο ἀσθενείας εἶναι ἐμῆς, τὸ πολλοὺς εἶναι τοὺς ἐπιβουλεύοντας καὶ δέροντάς σε καὶ ἐλαύνοντας καὶ μαστίζοντας· τοῦτο μὲν οὖν αὐτὸ δείκνυσί μου τὴν δύναμιν (Ἡ γὰρ δύναμίς μου, φησὶν, ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ τελειοῦται), ὅταν διωκόμενοι τῶν διωκόντων περιγένησθε, ὅταν ἐλαυνόμενοι τῶν ἐλαυνόντων κρατῆτε, ὅταν δεσμούμενοι τοὺς δεσμοῦντας τρέπητε. Ἀλλὰ δεινὸν μὲν καὶ τὸ ὑφ' ὁτουοῦν ἀκούειν κακῶς· ὅταν δὲ καὶ τῶν εὐεργετηθέντων τις ὁ τοῦτο ποιῶν ᾖ, καὶ τὰς εἰς αὐτὸν εὐεργεσίας ὀνειδίζῃ καὶ προφέρῃ, τότε δὴ, τότε ἡ ὕβρις ἀφόρητος γίνεται, καὶ τοσοῦτον μετὰ τῆς ἀθυμίας ἐπάγει καὶ τὸν θυμὸν, ὡς καὶ ἀποπνίξαι τὸν ὑβριζόμενον δύνασθαι. Ἦ ὁ μὲν ὑπό τινος μεγάλου παθὼν κακῶς, ἔχει φιλοτιμίαν οὐ μικρὰν, τὴν τοῦ ποιοῦντος ὑπεροχήν· ὁ δὲ ὑπὸ εὐτελοῦς καὶ ἀπεῤῥιμμένου, μείζονα ἔχει τὴν ἀνίαν, καὶ ἀνυπομόνητον τὴν θλῖψιν λογίζεται. Ἀλλὰ μὴ τοῦτο σκόπει, εἰ σκώπτουσιν ἡμᾶς