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Homily 9

Of Asterius, bishop of Amaseia, on the holy martyr of Christ, Phocas

9.116 Sacred and divine is the entire catalogue of noble martyrs, who through suffering gave thanks for him who suffered for them, and with their blood paid their due to the Savior of all for his blood. Yet even among these, the glory of all is not one, nor are the rewards allotted equally to all by one measure, but even the catalogue of the saints does not escape having a first and a second. And the cause of this, I think, is the extreme exactitude and impartiality of the judge. For he observes both the greatness of the punishments and the instances of endurance, and by scrutinizing the contest, he distributes to the athletes rewards according to their merit. And it is not at all strange if what is just is so honored by God, when even among us generals and arbiters of contests are not equal to the champions or the contestants, but to each they vote for gifts in proportion to the measure of his achievement. I have gone through these things in order to show that he who today has provided us the occasion for this assembly is more illustrious than his companions and fellow contestants. For the others are not all known by all, nor do they have a celebrated valor; but there is no one who does not know Phocas. But just as the ray of the sun has spread to all eyes, so also the fame of this martyr has resounded in every ear; for as soon as I am in his precious shrine and touching the sacred reliquary of his body, I am filled by the place with the memory of all the stories told about him at once; I see the gardener by trade, the artlessness of his 9.118 soul, his love of strangers, the special one of the coast, the benefactor of the inland, and I become a disciple of a martyr, learning to keep piety until the utmost dangers. But indeed, if you please, leaving aside what is common and known to many, I will recount to you, who love the martyrs, the exceptional stories of the martyr. This holy man, the great benefit of Christians, was brought forth by neighboring Sinope, an ancient and famous city, rich in noble and philosophic men. And his occupation in life was the cultivation and care of a garden, which he possessed somewhere before the gate of the city at the mouth of the Isthmus, and which he worked diligently, for himself and for those in need, as a comfort of life. And he opened his small and poor hearth very readily to strangers. And living by the public road he set forth what he had in common for visitors; and being a new Lot, not of Sodomites, but of Sinopeans. As time went on he found the commandment not unrewarded; for from his hospitality he gained the occasion for life-giving death; from where and how, listen, as I briefly resume. When the word of our piety had been proclaimed and the wondrous preaching had gone out to every ear, making known Christ and the mysteries from him, the nations raged, according to the psalmist, and the kings and the rulers were gathered together; and the peoples of error were angered that Jesus reigned. And every Christian was sought as an evildoer, and the one nearby was punished and the one far off was tracked down. Therefore, neither the humbleness of his trade nor his being a gardener hid Phocas, but he too was informed against as a genuine initiate of Christ. And indeed there came to him those of this miserable and fleeting life, ordered to lead him away untried, undefended. For the crime was piety, a crime which the perpetrator confessed with a clear voice; and when no one asked, he showed it by his deeds, and when asked, he joyfully cried it out. Coming, therefore, those of the

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Homilia 9

Ἀστερίου ἐπισκόπου Ἀμασείας εἰς τὸν ἅγιον τοῦ Χριστοῦ μάρτυρα Φωκᾶν

9.116 Ἱερὸς μὲν καὶ θεσπεσίος ἅπας ὁ τῶν γενναίων μαρτύρων κατάλογος, πάθει τὴν ὑπὲρ πάθους ἀποδοὺς χάριν, αἵματι δὲ τὴν ὑπὲρ αἵματος τῷ Σωτῆρι τῶν ὅλων ἀμοιβὴν ἐκπληρώσας. Πλὴν ἐν αὐτοῖς τούτοις οὐ μία τῶν πάντων ἡ δόξα, οὐδὲ πρὸς ἓν μέτρον ἴσα τὰ γέρα τοῖς ὅλοις ἀπο κεκλήρωται, ἀλλὰ τὸ πρῶτον καὶ δεύτερον οὐδὲ ὁ τῶν ἁγίων ἐκφεύγει κατάλογος. Αἴτιον δὲ οἶμαι τούτου τὸ λίαν ἀπηκριβώμενον τοῦ κριτοῦ καὶ ἀπρόσκλιτον. Ἐφορᾷ γὰρ καὶ τιμωριῶν μεγέθη καὶ καρτερίας ἐνστάσεις, καὶ βασανίζων τὸ ἀγώνισμα τὰς πρὸς ἀξίαν ἀμοιβὰς διανέμει τοῖς ἀθληταῖς. Καὶ παράδοξον οὐδαμῶς εἰ παρὰ Θεοῦ οὕτως τιμᾶται τὸ δίκαιον, ὁπότε καὶ παρ' ἡμῖν στρατηγοὶ καὶ ἀγωνοθέται οὐκ ἴσοι γίνονται τοῖς ἀριστεῦσιν ἢ τοῖς ἀγωνισταῖς, ἀλλὰ δὴ ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὸ μέτρον τοῦ κατορθώματος τὰς δωρεὰς ἀναλογούσας ἐπιψηφίζουσιν. Ταῦτα δὲ διῆλθον, ἵνα δείξω ὡς ὁ σήμερον ἡμῖν παρασχὼν τοῦ συλ λόγου τὴν ἀφορμὴν τῶν ἑταίρων καὶ συναγωνιστῶν ἐστι περιφανέστερος. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλοι οὔτε πάντες παρὰ πᾶσι γνωρίζονται, οὔτε βεβοημένην ἔχουσι τὴν ἀνδραγαθίαν· Φωκᾶν δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν ὃς ἀγνοεῖ· ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἡ ἀκτὶς τοῦ ἡλίου πᾶσιν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἐφήπλωται, οὕτω καὶ ἡ τοῦ μάρτυρος τούτου φήμη πᾶσαν ἀκοὴν περιήχησεν· εὐθὺς γὰρ ἐν τῷ τιμίῳ τούτου σήκῳ γενόμενος καὶ τῇ ἱερᾷ θήκῃ τοῦ σώματος προσψαύων ἐκ τοῦ τόπου πληροῦμαι τῆς μνήμης πάντων ὁμοῦ τῶν ἐπ' αὐτῷ λεγομένων διηγημάτων· βλέπω τὸν κηπουρὸν τὸ ἐπιτήδευμα, τὸ ἄπλαστον τῆς 9.118 ψυχῆς, τὸ φιλόξενον, τὸν τῆς παραλίας ἐξαίρετον, τὸν τῆς μεσογείας εὐεργέτην, καὶ μαθητὴς μάρτυρος γίνομαι μανθάνων ἄχρι τῶν ἐσχάτων κινδύνων φυλάττειν τὴν εὐσέβειαν. Ἀλλὰ γάρ, εἰ δοκεῖ, τῶν κοινῶν καὶ πολλοῖς γνωρίμων ἀφέμενος τὰ ἐξαίρετα τοῦ μάρτυρος διηγήματα ὑμῖν τοῖς φιλομάρτυσι διηγήσομαι. Ἤνεγκε τὸν ἅγιον ἄνδρα τοῦτον, τὸ μέγα χριστιανῶν ὄφελος, ἡ γείτων Σινώπη, πόλις ἀρχαία καὶ γνώριμος, εὔπορος γενναίων καὶ φιλοσόφων ἀνδρῶν. Ἐπιτήδευμα δὲ αὐτῷ τοῦ βίου κήπου γεωργία καὶ ἐπιμέλεια, ὅνπερ αὐτοῦ που πρὸ τῆς πύλης τοῦ ἄστεος ἐπὶ τοῦ στόματος τοῦ Ἰσθμοῦ κεκτημένος ἤσκει φιλοπόνως, ἑαυτῷ καὶ τοῖς δεομένοις παραμυθίαν τοῦ βίου. Ἤνοιγε δὲ καὶ τοῖς ξένοις μάλα προθύμως τὴν μικρὰν καὶ πενο μένην ἑστίαν. Ἐποικῶν δὲ τῇ λεωφόρῳ κοινὰ τοῖς ἐπιδημοῦσι προετίθει τὰ ὄντα· καὶ νέος ὢν Λώτ, οὐ Σοδομιτῶν, ἀλλὰ Σινωπέων. Τοῦ χρόνου προελθόντος τὴν ἐντολὴν εὗρεν οὐκ ἄμισθον· ἀπὸ γὰρ τῆς φιλοξενίας ἐκέρδανε τοῦ ζωοποιοῦ θανάτου τὴν πρόφασιν· ὅθεν δὲ καὶ ὅπως μικρὸν ἀναλαβόντος ἀκούσατε. Τοῦ λόγου τῆς εὐσεβείας ἡμῶν καταγγελθέντος καὶ τοῦ θαυμασίου κηρύγματος πρὸς πᾶσαν ἀκοὴν ἐξελθόντος, γνωρίζοντος δὲ τὸν Χριστὸν καὶ τὰ ἀπ' ἐκείνου μυστήρια, ἐφρυάξαντο ἔθνη, κατὰ τὸν ψαλμῳδόν, καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες συνήγοντο ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό· καὶ οἱ τῆς πλάνης λαοὶ ὠργίζοντο τοῦ Ἰησοῦ βασιλεύσαντος. Ἐζητεῖτο δὲ πᾶς χριστιανὸς ὡς κακοῦργος καὶ ὁ ἐγγὺς ἐκολάζετο καὶ ὁ μακρὰν ἀνιχνεύετο. ∆ιὸ καὶ Φωκᾶν οὔτε ἡ εὐτέλεια τοῦ ἐπιτηδεύματος καὶ ὁ κηπουρὸς ἔκρυψεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ οὗτος ὡς γνήσιος τοῦ Χριστοῦ μύστης ἐμηνύθη. Καὶ δὴ καὶ ἦλθον ἐπ' αὐτὸν οἱ τοῦ δυστήνου τοῦδε βίου καὶ ῥέοντος κελευσθέντες ἀπαγαγεῖν αὐτὸν ἄκριτον, ἀναπολόγητον. Καὶ γὰρ ἦν τὸ ἔγκλημα θεοσέβεια, ἔγκλημα ὃ λαμπρᾷ τῇ φωνῇ ὁ δράσας καθωμολόγει· καὶ μηδενὸς μὲν ἐρωτῶντος τοῖς ἔργοις ἐδείκνυε, πυνθανο μένου δὲ περιχαρῶς ἐβόα. Ἐλθόντες οὖν οἱ τῆς