Gregory of Nyssa, Funeral Oration on Empress Flacilla

Oratio funebris in Flacillam imperatricem

OF GREGORY BISHOP OF NYSSA, FUNERAL ORATION FOR PLACILLA

THE EMPRESS

The faithful and wise steward (for I begin from what was read from the holy gospel), whom the lord set over this household to give in due season the measure of wheat to those under his stewardship, having rightly in the time before this condemned the silence of speech, having rightly perceived the magnitude of the calamity and honored the grief with silence, I know not how in the present assembly he again brings back his speech to the church, himself annulling his own vote against speaking; and yet, though I greatly admire the teacher for his wisdom in many things, in this matter especially I admired him all the more for having so well silenced his speech in the midst of calamity. For silence seems to me to be a fitting and suitable remedy for those who mourn, maturing through time and dejection the swelling of the soul by means of quiet. For if anyone should stir up speech while the soul is still feverish with suffering, 9.476 the wound of grief will become more difficult to heal, being carded, as it were, by the memory of painful things as by thorns.

But if it is not too bold for me also to make some correction to the teacher's words, perhaps it was well that silence held sway over us until now, lest speech, being drawn down to the suffering, should distress the hearing. For not so much time has passed as to accustom the mind to the evil; the suffering is still new in the soul (and perhaps the pain will always be new in this life), our heart is still troubled and like a sea tossed by the storm of the calamity is churned up from its depths, our thoughts still swell, boiling up at the memory of our misfortunes. Since the soul, then, is tossed by such a flood, how is it possible to bring forth speech in a straight course, when it is winter-bound by the suffering of grief as by a tempest? But since one must obey a command, I do not know how I shall use speech; for I cannot guess the mind of the teacher. Or perhaps he wishes to grant something to suffering and by more emotional words to stir up tears in the church? And if this is what he intends, he does this rightly, at least in my judgment; for it is altogether necessary that, just as we eagerly desire the enjoyment of good things, so also we should be disposed appropriately to the painful things that befall us; for this is what Ecclesiastes also advises: A time, he says, to laugh, and a time to weep. For through these words we learn that we must dispose the soul appropriately to the subject at hand; are affairs flowing smoothly? It is a good time to rejoice. Has cheerfulness changed to dejection? It is fitting 9.477 to change cheerfulness to tears. For just as laughter becomes a sign of inward cheerfulness, so also the pain in the heart is expressed by lamentations, and tears become like the blood of the soul's wounds. This the Proverb of Solomon also says, that when the heart is merry, the countenance blooms, but when the soul is in sorrows, it is gloomy. Therefore, it is altogether necessary for speech to share the gloom of the heart's disposition. And would that it were possible to find such words as the great Jeremiah once lamented over the calamity of the Israelites. For the present circumstances are more worthy of such laments than anything of ancient times that is remembered in gloom. The stories of Job are grievous; but what need is there to bring forth in comparison to so great an evil the easily-counted sufferings of a single house? And if you should recount the great and more common evils, earthquakes and wars and floods and

Oratio funebris in Flacillam imperatricem

ΓΡΗΓΟΡΙΟΥ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΥ ΝΥΣΣΗΣ ΕΠΙΤΦΙΟΣ ΕΙΣ ΠΛΑΚΙΛΛΑΝ

ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΑΝ

Ὁ πιστὸς καὶ φρόνιμος οἰκονόμος (ἐκ γὰρ τῶν ἀνεγνωσ μένων ἀπὸ τοῦ θείου εὐαγγελίου προοιμιάζομαι), ὃν κατέστη σεν ὁ κύριος ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκετίας ταύτης τοῦ διδόναι ἐν καιρῷ τοῖς οἰκονομουμένοις τὸ σιτομέτριον, καλῶς ἐν τῷ πρὸ τούτου χρόνῳ καταδικάσας τὴν ἀφωνίαν τοῦ λόγου, καλῶς τοῦ μεγέθους τῆς συμφορᾶς ἐπαισθόμενος καὶ τιμήσας τῇ ἡσυχίᾳ τὸ πένθος, οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως ἐν τῷ παρόντι συλλόγῳ πάλιν ἐπανάγει τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τὸν λόγον αὐτὸς ἀναλύων τὴν ἰδίαν κατὰ τοῦ λόγου ψῆφον· καίτοι γε σφόδρα θαυμάζων τῆς συνέσεως ἐν πολλοῖς τὸν διδάσκαλον ἐν τούτῳ μάλιστα πλέον ὑπερεθαύμασα ὡς καλῶς ἐν τῇ συμφορᾷ τὸν λόγον κατασιγά σαντα. προσφυὲς γάρ μοι δοκεῖ καὶ κατάλληλον εἶναι τοῖς πενθοῦσι φάρμακον ἡ σιγὴ τὸ διοιδοῦν τῆς ψυχῆς χρόνῳ καὶ κατηφείᾳ δι' ἡσυχίας ἐκπέττουσα. ὡς εἴ γέ τις ἔτι τὴν ψυχὴν τοῦ πάθους ὑποθερμαίνοντος ἀνακινοίη τὸν λόγον, 9.476 δυσαλθέστερον τὸ τῆς λύπης τραῦμα γενήσεται τῇ μνήμῃ τῶν ἀλγεινῶν οἷόν τίσιν ἀκάνθαις ἐπιξαινόμενον.

Εἰ δὲ μὴ λίαν ἐστὶ τολμηρὸν κἀμέ τι τῶν τοῦ διδασκάλου προσδιορθώ σασθαι, τάχα καλῶς ἔσχε μέχρι τοῦ νῦν κατακρατεῖν ἡμῶν τὴν ἡσυχίαν, ὡς ἂν μὴ πρὸς τὸ πάθος ὁ λόγος καθελκυσθεὶς τὴν ἀκοὴν ἀνιάσειεν. οὔπω γὰρ τοσοῦτος ὁ ἐν τῷ μέσῳ χρόνος ὥστε προσεθίσαι τῷ κακῷ τὴν διάνοιαν· ἔτι νέον ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ τὸ πάθος (τάχα δὲ καὶ ἀεὶ νέον ἔσται τῷ βίῳ τὸ ἄλγημα), ἔτι ταράσσεται ἡμῶν ἡ καρδία καὶ καθάπερ τις θάλασσα κυματουμένη τῇ λαίλαπι τῆς συμφορᾶς ἐκ βυθῶν ἀναστρέφεται, ἔτι διοιδοῦσιν οἱ λογισμοὶ πρὸς τὴν μνήμην τῶν κακῶν ἀναζέοντες. ἀστατούσης οὖν τῷ τοιούτῳ κλύδωνι τῆς ψυχῆς πῶς ἔστι προαγαγεῖν ἐπ' εὐθείας τὸν λόγον οἷόν τινι καταιγίδι τῷ πάθει τῆς λύπης ἐγχειμαζόμενον; ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ χρὴ κελεύοντι πείθεσθαι, οὐκ οἶδα ὅπως τῷ λόγῳ χρήσομαι· οὐ γὰρ εὑρίσκω τῆς διανοίας τοῦ διδασκάλου καταστοχάσασθαι. ἢ τάχα βούλεταί τι καὶ τῷ πάθει χαρίσα σθαι καὶ τοῖς ἐμπαθεστέροις τῶν λόγων ἀνακινῆσαι τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τὸ δάκρυον; καὶ εἰ ταῦτα διανοεῖται, ὀρθῶς κατά γε τὴν ἐμὴν κρίσιν καὶ τοῦτο ποιεῖ· δεῖ γὰρ πάντως, ὥσπερ τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν τῶν ἀγαθῶν προθυμούμεθα, οὕτω καὶ πρὸς τὰ λυπηρὰ τῶν συμπιπτόντων οἰκείως ἔχειν· τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ὁ Ἐκκλησιαστὴς συμβουλεύει· Καιρός, φησί, τοῦ γελάσαι καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ κλαῦσαι. μανθάνομεν γὰρ διὰ τούτων ὅτι δεῖ καταλλήλως τῷ ὑποκειμένῳ καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν διατίθεσθαι· κατὰ ῥοῦν τὰ πράγματα φέρεται; εὔκαιρον τὸ εὐφραίνεσθαι· μετέπεσε τὸ φαιδρὸν εἰς κατήφειαν; μεταβάλλειν προσήκει 9.477 καὶ τὴν εὐθυμίαν εἰς δάκρυον. ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ γέλως σημεῖον τῆς ἔνδον φαιδρότητος γίνεται, οὕτω καὶ ὁ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ πόνος ὑπὸ τῶν θρήνων διερμηνεύεται καὶ γίνεται τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς τραυμάτων ὥσπερ αἷμα τὸ δάκρυον. τοῦτο καὶ ἡ Παροιμία Σολομῶντός φησιν ὅτι Καρδίας εὐφραινομένης πρόσωπον θάλλει, τῆς ψυχῆς δὲ ἐν λύπαις οὔσης σκυθρωπάζει. οὐκοῦν ἀνάγκη πᾶσα τῇ διαθέσει τῆς καρδίας συσκυθρωπάσαι τὸν λόγον. καὶ εἴθε δυνατὸν ἦν τοιούτους ἐξευρεῖν τινας λόγους, οἵους ὁ μέγας Ἰερεμίας τῇ συμφορᾷ ποτε τῶν Ἰσραηλιτῶν ἐπεθρήνησεν. ἐκείνων γὰρ ἄξια τὰ παρόντα μᾶλλον ἢ εἴ τι τῶν ἀρχαίων ἐν σκυθρωποῖς μνημονεύεται. χαλεπὰ τὰ τοῦ Ἰὼβ διηγήματα· ἀλλὰ τί χρὴ πρὸς τοσοῦτον κακὸν ἀντεξαγαγεῖν μιᾶς οἰκίας εὐαρίθμητα πάθη; κἂν τὰ μεγάλα καὶ κοινότερα τῶν κακῶν διεξέλθῃς, σεισμοὺς καὶ πολέμους καὶ ἐπικλύσεις καὶ