176

with one body comprehending the inhabited world, and with one tongue converting all. The many trumpets did not fall upon the stones of the city of Jericho and destroy them in the way that Paul's resounding voice cast the devil's strongholds to the ground, and brought his opponents over to his side. And he was let down from the wall through a window, that from below he might send up those who had been cast down to the ground. Therefore, the hunger, and the thirst, and the nakedness, and the shipwrecks, and the fears, and the plots, and the prisons, and the beatings, and all the other things that the blessed Paul endured for the sake of the preaching, I think it needless to mention, each of which was sufficient to trouble him vehemently 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 am not indignant? this is what above all else caused him continual and unbearable despondency. For if for each of those who were made to stumble he himself was indignant, it was not possible for this indignation to be extinguished from his soul; for those who were made to stumble did not cease, providing fuel for the fire. And seeing the Jews disbelieving, how could he have even a small respite from despondency and pain? 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 were more desirable for me to fall into Gehenna than to see the Israelites disbelieving. And 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. O the fiery passion of love! Paul who dares fire, the man of adamant, the firm, the unbending, the unyielding, who says, Who shall separate us from Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? He who dares land and sea, who scoffs at the adamantine gates of death; this man, when he saw the tears of some beloved people, was so broken and crushed, that he did not even hide his feeling, but said at once, What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? O the wonder! An abyss of waters did not crush him, yet a few tears crushed and broke him. What are you doing, weeping and breaking my 63.792 heart? What are you saying, tell me? Did a tear have the strength to break that adamantine soul? Yes, he says. For great is the strength of love; it overcomes me and has power over me; for I withstand all things, except for love. Hear, all you who do not despise even money for Christ's sake, or rather for your own sakes, and shudder as you consider in your mind Paul's love for Christ; for he did not love Christ for Christ's gifts, but for His own sake he loved His gifts, and he feared one thing only, lest he should fall away from the love of Him; for this was to him more terrible than Gehenna, just as to abide in it was more desirable than a kingdom. When, therefore, he, for the sake of his love for Christ, is content to fall into Gehenna and to be cast out of the kingdom, if both were set before him, but we do not even despise the present life; are we then worthy even of his sandals, being so far removed from him in greatness of mind? For if someone providing for one house, and having servants and overseers and stewards, often cannot even catch his breath for his cares, when there is no one to trouble him; consider what he endured, who had the care not of one house, but of cities and peoples and nations and the whole inhabited world, and on behalf of such great matters, and with so many persecutors, and being alone, and suffering so many things, and caring for them in such a way as not even a father for his children. If anyone wishes to love genuinely, and to know the power of love, let him run to its nursling, the blessed Paul, and he will teach him what a great struggle it is to bear separation from a loved one, and what a great soul it requires. For this man, this man who put off the flesh and the body

176

ἑνὶ σώματι καταλαμβάνων τὴν οἰκουμένην, καὶ μιᾷ γλώττῃ πάντας τροπούμενος. Οὐχ οὕτως αἱ πολλαὶ σάλπιγγες ἐνέπιπτον τοῖς λίθοις τῆς Ἱεριχουντείων πόλεως, καὶ καθῄρουν αὐτοὺς, ὡς ἡ Παύλου φωνὴ ἠχοῦσα, τὰ ὀχυρώματα τὰ διαβολικὰ χαμαὶ ἔῤῥιπτε, καὶ πρὸς ἑαυτὸν τοὺς ἐναντίους μεθίστη. Καὶ διὰ θυρίδος ἀπὸ τοῦ τείχους ἐχαλάσθη, ἵνα κάτωθεν ἄνω διαπέμψῃ τοὺς ἐῤῥιμμένους χαμαί. Τὸν μὲν οὖν 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, ὧν ἕκαστον ἱκανὸν 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 πάντων μάλιστα διηνεκῆ καὶ ἀφόρητον παρεῖχε τὴν ἀθυμίαν αὐτῷ. Εἰ γὰρ καθ' ἕκαστον τῶν σκανδαλιζομένων αὐτὸς ἐπυροῦτο, 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 Χριστοῦ, ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου τῶν συγγενῶν μου τῶν κατὰ σάρκα, οἵτινές εἰσιν Ἰσραηλῖται. Ὃ δὲ λέγει, τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν· Ποθεινότερον ἦν μοι εἰς γέενναν ἐμπεσεῖν, ἢ τοὺς Ἰσραηλίτας ἀπιστοῦντας ὁρᾷν. Ὁ δὲ τὴν ἐν τῇ γεέννῃ κόλασιν ἑλόμενος ὑπὲρ τοῦ δυνηθῆναι προσαγαγέσθαι τοὺς Ἰουδαίους ἅπαντας, εὔδηλον ὅτι τούτου μὴ τυχὼν, τῶν ἐν τῇ γεέννῃ κολαζομένων διῆγε βαρύτερον. Βαβαὶ τοῦ διαπύρου ἔρωτος τῆς ἀγάπης· ὁ πυρὸς κατατολμῶν Παῦλος, ὁ ἀδαμάντινος, ὁ στεῤῥὸς, ὁ ἀκλινὴς, ὁ ἀκαμπὴς, ὁ λέγων, Τίς ἡμᾶς χωρίσει ἀπὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ; θλῖψις, ἢ στενοχωρία, ἢ διωγμὸς, ἢ λιμὸς, ἢ γυμνότης, ἢ κίνδυνος, ἢ μάχαιρα; ὁ γῆς καὶ θαλάττης κατατολμῶν, ὁ τῶν ἀδαμαντίνων τοῦ θανάτου πυλῶν καταγελῶν· οὗτος, ἐπειδή τινων ἀγαπητῶν εἶδε δάκρυα, οὕτω κατεκλάσθη καὶ συνετρίβη, ὡς μηδὲ κρύψαι τὸ πάθος, ἀλλ' εἰπεῖν εὐθέως· Τί ποιεῖτε κλαίοντες καὶ συνθρύπτοντές μου τὴν καρδίαν; Ὢ τοῦ θαύματος! ἄβυσσος αὐτὸν οὐ συνέτριψεν ὑδάτων, καὶ μικρὰ δάκρυα συνέτριψε καὶ κατέκλασε. Τί ποιεῖτε κλαίοντες καὶ συνθρύπτοντές μου τὴν 63.792 καρδίαν; Τί λέγεις, εἰπέ μοι; ἐκείνην τὴν ἀδαμαντίνην ψυχὴν συντρίψαι δάκρυον ἴσχυσε; Ναὶ, φησί· πολλὴ γὰρ ἡ τῆς ἀγάπης ἰσχύς· αὕτη μου περιγίνεται καὶ κρατεῖ· πρὸς πάντα γὰρ ἀντέχω, πλὴν τῆς ἀγάπης. Ἀκούσατε ὅσοι μηδὲ χρημάτων διὰ τὸν Χριστὸν καταφρονεῖτε, μᾶλλον δὲ δι' ἑαυτοὺς, καὶ φρίξατε τὸ περὶ τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ Παύλου φίλτρον ἐν διανοίᾳ λαμβάνοντες· οὐδὲ γὰρ τὸν Χριστὸν οὗτος ἐφίλει διὰ τὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἀλλὰ δι' αὐτὸν τὰ ἐκείνου, καὶ ἓν ἐδεδοίκει μόνον, τὸ μὴ τῆς ἀγάπης ἐκπεσεῖν τῆς πρὸς ἐκεῖνον· τοῦτο γὰρ αὐτῷ καὶ γεέννης φοβερώτερον ἦν, ὥσπερ καὶ τὸ μένειν ἐν αὐτῇ βασιλείας ποθεινότερον. Ὅταν οὖν ἐκεῖνος μὲν διὰ τὸν τοῦ Χριστοῦ πόθον καὶ εἰς γέενναν καταδέχεται ἐμπεσεῖν, καὶ βασιλείας ἐκπεσεῖν, εἴ γε ἀμφότερα ταῦτα προύκειτο, ἡμεῖς δὲ μηδὲ τοῦ παρόντος καταφρονῶμεν βίου· ἆρα ἄξιοι τῶν γοῦν ὑποδημάτων αὐτοῦ ἐσμεν λοιπὸν, τοσοῦτον ἀφεστηκότες αὐτοῦ τῇ μεγαλονοίᾳ; Εἰ γὰρ οἰκίας τις μιᾶς προνοούμενος, καὶ οἰκέτας ἔχων καὶ ἐπιτρόπους καὶ οἰκονόμους, οὐδὲ ἀναπνεῖ πολλάκις ὑπὸ τῶν φροντίδων, οὐδενὸς ὄντος τοῦ ἐνοχλοῦντος· ὁ οὐκ οἰκίας μιᾶς, ἀλλὰ καὶ πόλεων καὶ δήμων καὶ ἐθνῶν καὶ ὁλοκλήρου τῆς οἰκουμένης τὴν φροντίδα ἔχων, καὶ ὑπὲρ τηλικούτων πραγμάτων, καὶ τοσούτων ὄντων τῶν ἐπηρεαζόντων, καὶ μόνος ὢν, καὶ τοσαῦτα πάσχων, καὶ οὕτω κηδόμενος, ὡς οὐδὲ πατὴρ παίδων, ἐννόησον τί ὑπέμεινεν. Εἴ τις φιλεῖν ἐθέλει γνησίως, καὶ δύναμιν ἀγάπης ἐπίστασθαι, ἐπὶ τὸν ταύτης τρόφιμον τὸν μακάριον Παῦλον δραμέτω, κἀκεῖνος αὐτὸν διδάξει, ἡλίκος ἐστὶν ἆθλος ἐνεγκεῖν χωρισμὸν φιλουμένου, καὶ ἡλίκης δεόμενος ψυχῆς. Οὗτος γὰρ, οὗτος ὁ τὴν σάρκα ἀποδυσάμενος καὶ τὸ σῶμα