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In laudem Cypriani

SERMON 24.

To the holy hieromartyr Cyprian, upon returning from the country one day after his commemoration.

I. Cyprian almost escaped us; O, the loss! 35.1172 and you bore it, you who of all people most admire the man, and who honor him with yearly honors and festivals; Cyprian, whom it is necessary to remember, even for those forgetful of other things; if indeed the best things are most to be remembered, and those things of which the memory is both holy and beneficial, But let us pay the debt with interest, if we should appear so well-provided, and not be in all things needy and poor. But if we are too poor, I know that he will forgive us both for the delay and for the poverty, since the man is in all things magnanimous and a philosopher; if only we give thanks that he did not escape us. Let us give thanks indeed; for it is worthy. We must begin thus, that for a good purpose we have returned to you, and by the good measures of God, who defines and directs all things by weight and measure, from tranquility to the discourse, from love of the martyrs to the martyrs, from bodily repose to the spiritual feast.

II. We longed for you, O children, and were longed for in equal measure; for I am persuaded. Behold a father's gratitude; I both speak for myself, and I bear witness for you, and having been separated from each other just long enough to recognize and test our longing by the distance, just as painters do their pictures, we have come together again. How great a spark for memory is even a brief association with friends, for those who are loving in their manner, and who imitate the philanthropy of God! And how should we not, we who are disciples of Christ, who for our sakes emptied himself even to the form of a slave, and who gathered to himself those who were strangers to the heavenly things, hold fast to and embrace one another, and keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, which is the mystery, or rather the summary, of the Law and the Prophets?

III. This indeed is the first and one benefit, to have run to one another and embraced as quickly as possible. For zeal does not bear delay; and a whole lifetime is a single day for those who suffer with longing. And a second, which is also 35.1173 the greatest, not to have run after the feast was over, nor to have been left out of the mystagogy of the martyrs, and of the delight and refreshment that comes to us from it. For I confess that in other things I am slower than anyone; and I have shaken off every desire, since I enlisted with Christ, and I choose none of the things that are pleasant to others and sought after; not wealth that is dragged down and turned about, not the pleasures of the belly, and satiety the father of insolence, not soft and flowing raiment, not the transparency and graces of stones, not hearing that bewitches, not smell that effeminates, not applause of crowds and theaters that drives one mad, which we long ago yielded to those who want them; not such things as are offspring of our first tasting, from which we were lost; but I even condemn the great foolishness of those who allow themselves to be overcome by these things, and who corrupt the nobility of the soul by pettiness concerning them, and who attach themselves to fleeting things as if they were permanent. But of that one thing I am exceedingly insatiable and I embrace it, and I approve of this passion in myself: I delight in the honors of martyrs, and I exult in the blood of athletes; and while the contests of others indeed and

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In laudem Cypriani

ΛΟΓΟΣ Κ∆ʹ.

Εἰς τὸν ἅγιον ἱερομάρτυρα Κυπριανὸν, ἐξ ἀγροῦ μετὰ μίαν τῆς μνείας ἡμέραν ἐπανήκοντος.

Αʹ. Μικροῦ Κυπριανὸς διέφυγεν ἡμᾶς· ὢ τῆς ζη 35.1172 μίας! καὶ ὑμεῖς ἠνέσχεσθε, οἱ πάντων μᾶλλον τὸν ἄνδρα θαυμάζοντες, καὶ ταῖς δι' ἔτους τιμῶντες ἐκεῖνον τιμαῖς τε καὶ πανηγύρεσι· Κυπριανὸς, οὗ, καὶ τοῖς τἄλλα ἐπιλήσμοσι, μεμνῆσθαι τῶν ἀναγκαίων· εἴπερ τῶν ἀρίστων μάλιστα μνημονευτέον, καὶ ὧν τὸ μεμνῆσθαι ὅσιόν τε ὁμοῦ καὶ ὠφέλιμον, Ἀλλ' ἀποδῶμεν σὺν τόκῳ τὸ χρέος, ἂν ἄρα τοσοῦτον εὐποροῦντες φανῶμεν, ἀλλὰ μὴ πάντα ὦμεν ἐν δεεῖς τε καὶ πένητες. Ἂν δὲ καὶ λίαν πένητες, οἶδ' ὅτι συγγνώσεται ἡμῖν καὶ τῆς ὑπερημερίας, καὶ τῆς πενίας, ἐπεὶ καὶ πάντα μεγαλόψυχος ὁ ἀνὴρ καὶ φιλόσοφος· μόνον ἂν, ὅτι μὴ διέφυγεν ἡμᾶς, εὐχαρι στήσωμεν. Εὐχαριστήσωμεν δέ· καὶ γὰρ ἄξιον. Ἀρκτέον δὲ οὕτως, ὡς εἰς καλὸν ὑμῖν ἐπανήκομεν, καὶ καλοῖς μέτροις Θεοῦ, τοῦ πάντα ἐν σταθμῷ καὶ μέτρῳ διορίζοντός τε καὶ διευθύνοντος, ἐκ τῆς ἡσυ χίας ἐπὶ τὸν λόγον, ἐκ τῆς φιλομάρτυρος ἐπὶ μάρτυρας, ἐκ τῆς σωματικῆς ἀνέσεως ἐπὶ τὴν πνευματικὴν ἑστίασιν.

Βʹ. Ἐποθοῦμεν ὑμᾶς, ὦ τέκνα, καὶ ἀντεποθούμε θα τοῖς ἴσοις μέτροις· πείθομαι γάρ. Ὁρᾶτε πατρὸς εὐγνωμοσύνην· καὶ τὸ ἐμαυτοῦ λέγω, καὶ τὸ ὑμέτερον μαρτυρῶ, καὶ τοσοῦτον διαζευχθέντες ἀλλή λων, ὅσον τὸν πόθον γνωρίσαι καὶ δοκιμάσαι τῇ ἀπο στάσει, καθάπερ οἱ ζωγράφοι τοὺς πίνακας, πάλιν συνήλθομεν. Ὡς μέγα μνήμης ἐμπύρευμα, καὶ βραχεῖα συνήθεια φίλων, τοῖς τε ἀγαπητικοῖς τὸν τρόπον, καὶ Θεοῦ μιμουμένοις φιλανθρωπίαν! Πῶς δὲ οὐκ ἐμέλλομεν, οἱ Χριστοῦ μαθηταὶ, τοῦ κενωθέντος δι' ἡμᾶς μέχρι δούλου μορφῆς, καὶ ξένους ὄντας τῶν οὐρανίων πρὸς ἑαυτὸν συναγαγόντος, ἀνθ έξεσθαί τε καὶ περιέξεσθαι ἀλλήλων, καὶ τηρήσειν τὴν ἑνότητα τοῦ πνεύματος ἐν τῷ συνδεσμῷ τῆς εἰρήνης, ἣ νόμου καὶ προφητῶν ἐστι μυστήριον, εἴτ' οὖν κεφάλαιον;

Γʹ. Ἓν μὲν δὴ τοῦτο τῆς εὐεργεσίας καὶ πρῶτον, τὸ ὡς τάχιστα προσδραμεῖν ἀλλήλοις καὶ περιπτύξα σθαι. Οὐδὲ γὰρ φέρει τὴν ἀναβολὴν ὁ ζῆλος· καὶ βίος ὅλος ἡμέρα μία τοῖς πόθῳ κάμνουσιν. ∆εύτερον δὲ, ὃ 35.1173 καὶ μέγιστον, τὸ μὴ κατόπιν ἑορτῆς δραμεῖν, μηδὲ μαρτύρων μυσταγωγίας ἀπολειφθῆναι, καὶ τῆς ἐν τεῦθεν ἐγγινομένης ἡμῖν τρυφῆς τε καὶ ἀναψύξεως. Ἐγὼ γὰρ τἄλλα μὲν ὁμολογῶ παντὸς εἶναι νωθέστερος· καὶ πάντα πόθον ἀπεσεισάμην, ἀφ' οὗ Χριστῷ συνεταξάμην, καὶ οὐδὲν αἱρεῖμε τῶν ὅσα τερπνὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις καὶ περισπούδαστα· οὐ πλοῦτος ὁ κάτω συρόμενος καὶ περιτρεπόμενος, οὐ γαστρὸς ἡδοναὶ, καὶ κόρος πατὴρ ὕβρεως, οὐκ ἐσθὴς μαλακή τε καὶ περιῤῥέουσα, οὐ λίθων διαύγειαι καὶ χάριτες, οὐκ ἀκοὴ γοητεύουσα, οὐκ ὄσφρησις ἐκθηλύνουσα, οὐ κρότοι δήμων καὶ θεάτρων ἐκμαίνοντες, ὧν πάλαι τοῖς βουλομένοις παρεχωρήσαμεν· οὐχ ὅσα τῆς πρώτης γεύσεως ἡμῶν, ἐξ ἧς ἀπολώλαμεν, ἔκγονα· ἀλλὰ καὶ πολλὴν εὐήθειαν καταγινώσκω τῶν κρατεῖσθαι τούτοις ἀνεχομένων, καὶ τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς εὐγενὲς δια φθείρειν τῇ περὶ ταῦτα μικροπρεπείᾳ, καὶ ὡς ἑστῶσι προστιθεμένων τοῖς φεύγουσιν. Ἐκείνου δὲ λίαν ἀπλήστως ἔχω καὶ περιέχομαι, καὶ τοῦ πάθους ἐμαυ τὸν ἀποδέχομαι· μαρτύρων τιμαῖς ἐπιτέρπομαι, καὶ ἀθλητῶν αἵμασιν ἐπαγάλλομαι· καὶ ἄλλων μὲν οἱ ἆθλοι καὶ