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Funeral Oration for his Father

ORATION 18.

A funeral oration for his father, in the presence of Basil. Αʹ. O man of God, and faithful servant, and steward of the mysteries of God, and man of the Spirit's desires; for so Scripture calls those who have passed over and are lofty, and above the things that are seen. I call you also a god to Pharaoh of all the Egyptian and opposing power, and a pillar and foundation of the Church, and the will of the Lord, and a light in the world holding forth the word of life, and a support of faith, and a lodging of the Spirit. And why should I enumerate all the titles which your virtue has created for you, making each one its own and adding it to the others?

Βʹ. But tell me: from where do you come? And what is your work? And what favor have you come to show us? Since I know that you are moved in all things with God and by God, and for the benefit of those who receive you. Have you come to watch over us, or to seek the shepherd, or to look upon the flock? Us, who are no more, but for the 35.988 most part have departed, and are distressed by the place of affliction; and now especially, when we have lost the skillful pilot, or the lamp of our life, to whom we looked for guidance, signaling salvation to us from above; he who has departed with all that is good, and with all the good order of a shepherd, which he gathered over a long time, full of days and of wisdom together, and crowned, if I may use Solomon’s words, with the old age of boasting. A flock bewildered, and cast down, and you see how full of despair and dejection; no longer resting in a place of green pasture, nor nourished by the water of repose; seeking cliffs, and deserts, and chasms, where it will be scattered and destroyed; doubting if it will ever find another wise shepherd, though fully convinced it will not be such a one, yet it would be content even if not a much worse one.

Γʹ. Since there are three things, as I said, which make your presence necessary, and all equally so—ourselves, the shepherd, the flock; come, according to the spirit of healing in you, render to each what is fitting, and manage your discourse with judgment, that we may admire your wisdom even more. And how will you manage it? By praising him for his virtue as is fitting, not only that you may bestow a pure eulogy as a funeral gift for the pure, but also that you may set forth his life and counsel as a model of piety for others. And to us, by philosophizing briefly on life and death, and on the union and separation of body and soul, and on the two worlds, the present one which is not stable, and the intelligible one which abides; and by persuading us to despise the one which is deceptive, and disordered, and uneven, and, as if in waves, carrying and being carried up and down; and to cleave to the one that is firm, and stable, and godlike, and always the same, and free from all turmoil and confusion. For thus those who have departed before us would grieve us less; but they would even rejoice, if your discourse, leading us away from here, would set us on high, and hide the present unpleasantness in the future, and persuade us that we ourselves also are hastening to a good Master, and that the dwelling-place is better than the sojourning; and that what a calm harbor is to sailors, this the removal and translation to that place is to those who are tempest-tossed here; or as those who have finished a long journey beforehand are more at ease and less weary than those who are still journeying and toiling; 35.989 so those who

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Funebris oratio in patrem

ΛΟΓΟΣ ΙΗʹ.

̓Επιτάφιος εἰς τὸν πατέρα, παρόντος Βασιλείου. Αʹ. Ἄνθρωπε τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ πιστὲ θεράπον, καὶ οἰκονόμε τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ μυστηρίων, καὶ ἄνερ ἐπιθυμιῶν τῶν τοῦ Πνεύματος· οὕτω γὰρ ἡ Γραφὴ καλεῖ τοὺς διαβεβηκότας καὶ ὑψηλοὺς, καὶ ὑπεράνω τῶν ὁρωμένων. Καλῶ δέ σε καὶ Θεὸν Φαραὼ πάσης Αἰ γυπτιακῆς καὶ ἀντικειμένης δυνάμεως, καὶ στύλον, καὶ ἑδραίωμα τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, καὶ θέλημα Κυρίου, καὶ φωστῆρα ἐν κόσμῳ λόγον ζωῆς ἐπέχοντα, καὶ πίστεως ἔρεισμα, καὶ Πνεύματος καταγώγιον. Καὶ τί ἂν πάσας ἀπαριθμοίμην τὰς προσηγορίας, ὅσας ἡ ἀρετή σοι πεποίηκεν, ἄλλη τις ἄλλην οἰκειοῦσά τε καὶ προσάγουσα;

Βʹ. Πλὴν εἰπέ· πόθεν πάρει; καὶ τίς σου ἡ ἐργασία; καὶ τί χαριούμενος ἥκεις ἡμῖν; Ἐπειδὴ πάντα σε σὺν Θεῷ, καὶ παρὰ Θεοῦ κινούμενον ἔγνων, καὶ ἐπ' εὐεργεσίᾳ τῶν δεχομένων. Ἥκεις ἡμᾶς ἐποπτεύ σων, ἢ τὸν ποιμένα ζητήσων, ἢ τὸ ποίμνιον ἐποψόμενος; Ἡμᾶς μὲν οὐκ ἔτι ὄντας, ἀλλὰ τῷ 35.988 πλείστῳ μέρει συναπελθόντας, καὶ τῷ τόπῳ τῆς κακώσεως δυσχεραίνοντας· καὶ νῦν μάλιστα, ἡνίκα τὸν ἐπιστήμονα κυβερνήτην, ἢ τὸν λαμπτῆρα τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν ἀποβεβλήκαμεν, πρὸς ὃν ἀπηυθυνό μεθα βλέποντες, ἄνωθεν ἡμῖν τὴν σωτηρίαν πυρσεύοντα· ἐκεῖνον μετὰ τοῦ καλοῦ παντὸς ἐκδημήσαντα, καὶ πάσης τῆς ποιμαντικῆς εὐταξίας, ἣν χρόνῳ μακρῷ συνελέξατο, πλήρης ἡμερῶν τε ὁμοῦ καὶ φρονήσεως, καὶ τῷ τῆς καυχήσεως γήρᾳ, εἰ δεῖ τὸ τοῦ Σολομῶντος εἰπεῖν, στεφανούμενος. Ποί μνιον ἠπορημένον, καὶ καταβεβλημένον, καὶ ὁρᾷς ὅσης γέμον ἀθυμίας καὶ κατηφείας· οὐκ ἔτι τόπῳ χλόης ἐναναπαυόμενον, οὐδὲ ὕδατι ἀναπαύσεως ἐκτρεφόμενον· ζητοῦν κρημνοὺς, καὶ ἐρημίας, καὶ βάραθρα, καθ' ὧν σπαρήσεται, καὶ διαφθαρήσεται· ἀπιστοῦν εἴ ποτε καὶ ἄλλου ποιμένος συνετοῦ ἐπιτεύξεται, ὅτι μὲν οὐ τοιούτου, καὶ λίαν πεπεισμένον, ἀγαπῶν δ' ἂν, καὶ εἰ μὴ παραπολὺ χεί ρονος.

Γʹ. Τριῶν δὲ ὄντων, ὅπερ ἔφην, ἅ σοι τὴν παρουσίαν ἀναγκαίαν ποιεῖ, καὶ πάντων ἐξ ἴσης, ἡμῶν, τοῦ ποιμένος, τῆς ποίμνης· φέρε, κατὰ τὸ ἐν σοὶ πνεῦμα τῆς θεραπείας, ἀπόδος ἑκάστῳ τὸ πρόσφορον, καὶ οἰκονόμησον ἐν κρίσει τὸν λόγον, ἵνα σε καὶ μᾶλλον τῆς σοφίας θαυμάσωμεν. Οἰκονομήσεις δὲ πῶς; Τὸν μὲν ἐπαινέσας τῆς ἀρετῆς τὰ εἰκότα, οὐ μόνον ἵν' ἐντάφιον τῷ καθαρῷ καθαρὸν ἐπιβάλῃς τὸν λόγον, ἀλλ' ἵνα καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις εὐσεβείας χαρα κτῆρα, τὴν ἐκείνου προθείης πολιτείαν τε καὶ παρ αίνεσιν. Ἡμῖν δὲ περὶ ζωῆς καὶ θανάτου βρα χέα φιλοσοφήσας, καὶ τῆς κατὰ σῶμα καὶ ψυχὴν συζυγίας καὶ διαζεύξεως, καὶ τῶν δύο κόσμων, τοῦ τε παρόντος καὶ οὐχ ἑστῶτος, καὶ τοῦ νοουμένου καὶ μένοντος· καὶ πείσας, τοῦ μὲν περιφρονεῖν τὸ ἀπατηλὸν, καὶ ἄτακτον, καὶ ἀνώμαλον, καὶ, ὥσπερ ἐν κύμασιν, ἄνω καὶ κάτω φέρον τε καὶ φερόμε νον· τοῦ δὲ προστίθεσθαι τῷ παγίῳ, καὶ στα θερῷ, καὶ θεοειδεῖ, καὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχοντι, καὶ πάσης ἐλευθέρῳ ταραχῆς καὶ συγχύσεως. Οὕτω γὰρ ἂν ἧττον ἀνιῷεν ἡμᾶς οἱ προεκδημήσαντες· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἥδοιεν, εἰ ἐνθένδε ἀπάγων ἡμᾶς ὁ λόγος, ἄνω τιθείη, καὶ τὸ παρὸν ἀηδὲς ἐναποκρύπτοι τῷ μέλλοντι, καὶ πείθοι, ὅτι καὶ αὐτοὶ παρὰ ∆εσπότην ἀγαθὸν ἐπειγόμεθα, καὶ βελτίων ἡ κατοικία τῆς παροικίας· καὶ ὅπερ ἐστὶ τοῖς πλέουσι λιμὴν εὔδιος, τοῦτο τοῖς ἐνταῦθα χειμαζομένοις ἡ ἐκεῖσε μετά στασις καὶ μετάθεσις· ἢ ὥσπερ οἱ μακρὰν ὁδὸν προκαταλύσαντες, τῶν ὁδοιπορούντων καὶ μοχθούν 35.989 των ἔτι ῥᾴους καὶ ἀπονώτεροι· οὕτως οἱ ἐπι