John Chrysostom, On Glory in Tribulations

De gloria in tribulationibus

On the apostolic saying which says, "Not only so, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces patience," and what follows.

51.155 1. It is indeed laborious for a farmer to yoke oxen, and to drag a plow, and to cut a furrow, and to cast seeds, and to endure winter, and to bear the frost, and to dig a trench around, and to ward off the excess of water coming upon the seeds, and to make the banks of rivers higher, and to cut deeper furrows through the middle of the field; but these laborious things, involving toil, become light and very easy, when in his hopes the farmer sees the cornfields flourishing, and the sickle sharpened, and the threshing floor filled with sheaves, and the ripe fruit being brought home with much gladness. So too a pilot dares wild waves, and often scorns winter, and the raging sea, and unsteady winds, and knows how to bear sea-crossing surges and long voyages, when he considers the cargo, and the harbors of trade, and sees the infinite wealth produced from these. So too a soldier bears wounds, and receives clouds of arrows, and endures famine, and frost, and long campaigns, and the dangers on the battle line, when he considers from these things the trophies and the victories and the crowns. But for what reason have I mentioned these things? Or what do these examples mean to me? I wish to introduce to you from this an exhortation to listening, and a comfort for the toils for virtue. For if each of the aforementioned51.156 considers the labor light because of the hope of things to come, and these things, even if any of them should be able to obtain them, are dissolved along with the present life, how much more must you endure listening for the sake of spiritual teaching, and bear nobly the battle line and the toils for eternal life. For to them the outcomes of their temporary hope are uncertain, and often being only in expectation of good things, they have thus ended their life, delighting in their hopes, but not coming near to the actual deeds, and indeed for this reason enduring the harder things. This is what I mean: Often, after those many labors and toils, the farmer sometimes, in the very act of sharpening his sickle and preparing for the harvest, when blight has come down, or a multitude of locusts, or when the rainfall has been beyond measure, or some other plague has been brought on by the irregularity of the weather, went home with empty hands, having endured all the labor, but having fallen short of the fruit of his hope. And the pilot likewise, rejoicing in the quantity of his cargo, and having spread the sails with great pleasure, and having crossed a great sea, often in the very mouth of the harbor, either by a storm squall striking, or by dashing against some submerged reef or rock, or being struck by some other such unexpected circumstance, lost all his cargo, and barely saved his own naked body after those myriad dangers 51.157. So too the soldier, having often fought in myriad wars, and having repelled his adversaries, and having overcome his enemies, and being in the very expectation of victory, departed, changing his life, having enjoyed no good thing at all from his toils and dangers. But our affairs are not such; for our hopes are eternal, both unshakeable and firm, and not dissolved along with this temporary life, but for the undefiled and blessed

De gloria in tribulationibus

Εἰς τὸ ἀποστολικὸν ῥητὸν τὸ λέγον, "Οὐ μόνον δὲ, ἀλλὰ καὶ καυχώμεθα ἐν ταῖς θλίψεσιν, εἰδότες ὅτι ἡ θλῖψις ὑπομονὴν κατεργάζεται," καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς.

51.155 αʹ. Ἐπίπονον μὲν γηπόνῳ τὸ ζεῦξαι βόας, καὶ ἄροτρον ἑλκύσαι, καὶ αὔλακα ἀνατεμεῖν, καὶ σπέρματα καταβαλεῖν, καὶ ἀνασχέσθαι χειμῶνος, καὶ κρυμὸν ἐνεγκεῖν, καὶ περιελάσαι τάφρον, καὶ πλεονεξίαν ὑδάτων ἐπιοῦσαν τοῖς σπέρμασιν ἀποκρούσασθαι, καὶ ὄχθας ποταμῶν ὑψηλοτέρας ἐργάσασθαι, καὶ διὰ μέσης τῆς ἀρούρας βαθυτέρας αὔλακας ἀνατεμεῖν· ἀλλὰ τὰ ἐπίπονα ταῦτα, καὶ μόχθον ἔχοντα, κοῦφα γίνεται καὶ ῥᾷστα, ὅταν ταῖς ἐλπίσιν ὁ γεωργὸς ἴδῃ κομῶντα τὰ λήϊα, καὶ τὴν δρεπάνην ἠκονημένην, καὶ τὴν ἅλωνα τῶν δραγμάτων ἐμπεπλησμένην, καὶ τὸν καρπὸν ὥριμον μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς εὐφροσύνης οἴκαδε εἰσκομιζόμενον. Οὕτω καὶ κυβερνήτης ἀγρίων κυμάτων κατατολμᾷ, καὶ χειμῶνος, καὶ μαινομένης θαλάττης πολλάκις καταφρονεῖ, καὶ πνευμάτων ἀστάτων, καὶ διαποντίους κλύδωνας καὶ μακρὰς οἶδε φέρειν ἀποδημίας, ὅταν τὰ φορτία ἀναλογίζηται, καὶ τοὺς τῆς ἐμπορίας λιμένας, καὶ τὸν ἐκ τούτων ἄπειρον πλοῦτον τικτόμενον ἴδῃ. Οὕτω καὶ στρατιώτης τραύματα φέρει, καὶ νέφη βελῶν ἀποδέχεται, καὶ λιμὸν ὑποφέρει, καὶ κρυμὸν, καὶ τὰς μακρὰς ἀποδημίας, καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ τῆς παρατάξεως κινδύνους, ἐντεῦθεν τὰ τρόπαια καὶ τὰς νίκας καὶ τοὺς στεφάνους ἀναλογιζόμενος. Ἀλλὰ τίνος ἕνεκεν τούτων ἐμνήσθην; ἢ τί μοι βούλεται ταῦτα τὰ παραδείγματα; Παράκλησιν ὑμῖν ἐντεῦθεν πρὸς τὴν ἀκρόασιν εἰσαγαγεῖν βούλομαι, καὶ παραμυθίαν πρὸς τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἱδρῶτας. Εἰ γὰρ τῶν εἰρη51.156 μένων ἕκαστος τὸ ἐπίπονον κοῦφον ἡγεῖται διὰ τὴν τῶν μελλόντων ἐλπίδα, καὶ ταῦτα, εἰ καί τις αὐτῶν ἐπιτυχεῖν δυνηθείη, τῷ παρόντι συγκαταλυόμενα βίῳ, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὑμᾶς τὴν ὑπὲρ τῆς πνευματικῆς διδασκαλίας ἀκρόασιν ἀνέχεσθαι χρὴ, καὶ τὴν ὑπὲρ τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς παράταξίν τε καὶ τοὺς ἱδρῶτας γενναίως φέρειν. Τοῖς μὲν γὰρ ἄδηλα τὰ τῆς προσκαίρου ἐλπίδος ἐστὶ, καὶ ἐν προσδοκίᾳ μόνῃ τῶν χρηστῶν πολλάκις γενόμενοι, τὸν βίον οὕτω κατέλυσαν, ἐντρυφήσαντες μὲν ταῖς ἐλπίσιν, ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν ἔργων αὐτῶν οὐκ ἐγγίσαντες, καὶ δὴ διὰ ταῦτα τὰ χαλεπώτερα ὑπομείναντες. Οἷόν τι λέγω· Μετὰ τοὺς πολλοὺς ἐκείνους πολλάκις πόνους τε καὶ ἱδρῶτας ὁ γηπόνος ἐνίοτε ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ τὴν δρεπάνην ἀκονᾷν, καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἄμητον παρασκευάζεσθαι, ἐρυσίβης κατενεχθείσης, ἢ πλήθους ἀκρίδων, ἢ πέρα τοῦ μέτρου τῆς ἐπομβρίας γενομένης, ἢ ἑτέρας τινὸς πληγῆς ἐπενεχθείσης ἐκ τῆς τῶν ἀέρων ἀνωμαλίας, ἀπῆλθε κεναῖς οἴκαδε χερσὶ, τὸν μὲν πόνον ἅπαντα ὑπομείνας, τοῦ δὲ καρποῦ τῆς ἐλπίδος ἐκπεσών. Καὶ ὁ κυβερνήτης δὲ ὁμοίως χαίρων τῷ πλήθει τῶν φορτίων, καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς ἡδονῆς τὰ ἱστία πετάσας, καὶ περάσας πολὺ πέλαγος, ἐν αὐτῷ πολλάκις τῷ στόματι τοῦ λιμένος, ἢ σπιλάδος ἐμπεσούσης, ἢ ὑφάλῳ καὶ σκοπέλῳ τινὶ προσαράξας, ἢ ἄλλῃ τινὶ τοιαύτῃ ἀδοκήτῳ περιστάσει πληγεὶς, πάντα τὸν φόρτον ἀπώλεσε, καὶ μόλις τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σῶμα γυμνὸν διέσωσε μετὰ τοὺς μυρίους κινδύνους 51.157 ἐκείνους. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ στρατιώτης μυρίοις πολλάκις παραταξάμενος πολέμοις, καὶ ἀποκρουσάμενος τοὺς ἐναντίους, καὶ τῶν ἐχθρῶν περιγενόμενος, καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ ὢν τῇ προσδοκίᾳ τῆς νίκης, τὴν ζωὴν μεταλλάξας ἀπῆλθεν, οὐδενὸς ὅλως ἐκ τῶν μόχθων καὶ τῶν κινδύνων ἀπολαύσας χρηστοῦ. Τὰ δὲ ἡμέτερα οὐ τοιαῦτα· τάς τε γὰρ ἐλπίδας αἰωνίους ἔχει ἀκινήτους τε καὶ βεβαίας, καὶ οὐ τῷ προσκαίρῳ τούτῳ συγκαταλυομένας βίῳ, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὴν ἀκήρατον καὶ μακαρίαν