1

De regressu

Of the same, John Chrysostom, when he came from Asia

1 Moses the great, the servant of God, the chief of the prophets, the wayfarer of the sea, the charioteer of the air, the table-setter of manna, the one cast out by she who bore him and saved by the enemy (for his mother exposed him, but the Egyptian woman took him up and nourished him), the one nourished in Egypt and living as a citizen in heaven, the one who set up such and so great a trophy against the Egyptians, the one who solidified the sea and broke open the rock and conversed as a friend with God;

2 He, being so great and of such stature, when he left his own people for only forty days, found them in rebellion and transgressing the law. But I, for not forty days, but fifty and a hundred and more, found you both assembled and displaying philosophy and greater piety; but it is because this people is more sound-minded than that one.

3 For this very reason, when he came down, he wove accusations against Aaron; but I, having arrived, weave praises and compose crowns; For where there is transgression, there are charges, but where there are right actions, there are praises and crowns. For this reason, even though I spent a long time away, nevertheless I was confident in your judgment, in your love, in your faith, in your good will, because I knew my betrothed wife to be sound-minded.

4 So it is also in worldly matters; for when a man has an undisciplined wife, he does not permit her even to look out from the house; and if (f. 389) ever he is compelled to go abroad, he hastens to return quickly, as if pricked by suspicion as by some goad. But he who has a sound-minded wife, spends his time away, having left behind the character of his wife as a sufficient guardian of her security.

5 This is what Moses and I experienced; for he, since he left behind an undisciplined wife, the synagogue, God urged him on: "Arise, go down, for the people have transgressed." But I received no such command, but with freedom I was healing the sick; "For those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick."

6 But even if I was absent from you, it was not through contempt, but because of your wealth. For the things accomplished through me, or rather through grace, become your crown. And for this reason I rejoice and leap and fly for pleasure. I do rejoice, but I am not able to interpret the magnitude of my joy. What then is to be done, how may you learn the magnitude of my joy? I call your conscience to witness; for from what you feel when you see me, you know what our feelings are like, being persuaded from the experience of sight.

7 For if the presence of me, one man, has filled so great a people with so much pleasure, what pleasure would the sight of so many desired men not have worked in my soul? And Jacob, seeing one son, Joseph, rejoiced and the old man was rekindled, but I see not one like him, but myriads, and an entire people.

8 For these reasons I rejoice that I have received my paradise, a paradise better than that paradise. For there was a serpent plotting, but here is Christ initiating into the mysteries; there Eve deceiving, here the church crowning; there Adam being deceived, here a people being proclaimed; there different trees, here various and spiritual gifts. In paradise, withering trees, in the

1

De regressu

Τοῦ αὐτοῦ, Ιωάννου τοῦ Χρυσοστόμου ὅτε ἦλθεν ἀπὸ Ἀσίας

1 Μωϋσῆς ὁ μέγας, ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ θεράπων, τὸ κεφάλαιον τῶν προφητῶν, ὁ τῆς θαλάσσης ὁδοιπόρος, ὁ τοῦ ἀέρος ἡνίοχος, ὁ τοῦ μάννα τραπεζοποιός, ὁ ῥιφεὶς παρὰ τῆς τεκούσης καὶ σωθεὶς παρὰ τῆς πολεμούσης (ἐξέθηκεν μὲν γὰρ αὐτὸν ἡ μήτηρ, ἀνείλατο δὲ αὐτὸν ἡ Αἰγυπτία καὶ ἔθρεψεν), ὁ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ τρεφόμενος καὶ ἐν οὐρανῷ πολιτευόμενος, ὁ τοιοῦτον καὶ τηλικοῦτον κατὰ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων τρόπαιον στήσας, ὁ θάλασσαν πήξας καὶ πέτραν διαρρήξας καὶ ὡς φίλος διαλεγόμενος τῷ Θεῷ·

2 Ὁ τοσοῦτος καὶ τηλικοῦτος, ἵνα τεσσαράκοντα μόνον ἡμέρας καταλίπῃ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ λαόν, εὗρεν αὐτοὺς στασιάζοντας καὶ παρανομοῦντας. Ἐγὼ δέ, οὔτε τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας, ἀλλὰ καὶ πεντήκοντα καὶ ἑκατὸν καὶ πλείους, εὗρον ὑμᾶς καὶ συγκεκροτημένους καὶ φιλοσοφίαν καὶ μείζονα τὴν εὐσέβειαν ἐπιδεικνυμένους· ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ λαὸς οὗτος ἐκείνου σωφρονέστερος.

3 ∆ιὰ δὴ τοῦτο ἐκεῖνος κατελθὼν κατηγορίας ἔπλεκεν πρὸς τὸν Ἀαρών· ἐγὼ δὲ παραγενόμενος ἐγκώμια ὑφαίνω καὶ στεφάνους συντίθημι· Ὅπου γὰρ παράβασις ἐγκλήματα, ὅπου δὲ κατορθώματα ἔπαινοι καὶ στέφανοι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο εἰ καὶ πολὺν ἐποίησα χρόνον ἔξω, ἀλλ' ὅμως ἐθάρρουν ὑμῶν τῇ γνώμῃ, τῇ ἀγάπῃ, τῇ πίστει, τῇ εὐνοίᾳ, ὅτι ᾔδειν τὴν γυναῖκά μου τὴν ὡρμασμένην σωφρονοῦσαν.

4 Οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἔξωθεν γίνεται πραγμάτων· καὶ γὰρ ἀνήρ, ὅταν μὲν ἀκόλαστον ἔχῃ γυναῖκα, οὐδὲ προκύπτειν αὐτὴν τῆς οἰκίας συγχωρεῖ· εἰ δέ (f. 389) ποτε καὶ ἀναγκασθῇ ἀποδημῆσαι, ἐπείγεται ταχέως ἐπανελθεῖν, καθάπερ κέντρῳ τινὶ τῇ ὑποψίᾳ νυττόμενος. Ὁ δὲ σώφρονα ἔχων, ἔξω διάγει, ἀρκοῦντα ἐπίτροπον ἀσφαλείας τὸν τρόπον καταλιπὼν τῆς γυναικός.

5 Τοῦτο ἐγὼ καὶ Μωϋσῆς ἐπάθομεν· ἐκεῖνος μὲν γάρ, ἐπειδὴ ἀκόλαστον γυναῖκα τὴν συναγωγὴν κατέλιπεν, κατεπείγει αὐτὸν ὁ Θεός· «Ἀνάστα, κατάβα, ἠνόμησεν γὰρ ὁ λαός». Ἐγὼ δὲ οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον ἐπίταγμα ἐδεξάμην, ἀλλὰ μετὰ ἀδείας τὰ ἠσθενηκότα ἐθεράπευον· «Οὐ γὰρ χρείαν ἔχουσιν οἱ ὑγιαίνοντες ἰατροῦ, ἀλλ' οἱ κακῶς ἔχοντες».

6 Ἀλλ' εἰ καὶ ἀπελείφθην ὑμῶν, οὐ διὰ ὑπεροψίαν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸν ὑμέτερον πλοῦτον. Τὰ γὰρ δι' ἐμοῦ, μᾶλλον δὲ διὰ τῆς χάριτος κατορθωθέντα ὑμέτερος στέφανος γίνεται. Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο χαίρω καὶ σκιρτῶ καὶ πέτομαι ὑπὸ τῆς ἡδονῆς. Χαίρω μέν, ἑρμηνεῦσαι δὲ τὸ μέγεθος τῆς χαρᾶς οὐ δύναμαι. Τί οὖν ἵνα γένηται, πῶς ἵνα μάθητε τὸ μέγεθος τῆς χαρᾶς; Τὸ συνειδὸς ὑμῶν εἰς μαρτυρίαν καλῶ· ἀφ' ὧν γὰρ ὑμεῖς πάσχετε ἐμὲ θεώμενοι, οἴδατε τὰ ἡμέτερα οἷά ἐστιν, ἀπὸ τῆς θεωρίας τῆς ὄψεως πειθόμενοι.

7 Εἰ γὰρ ἐμοῦ τοῦ ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς παρουσία τοσοῦτον δῆμον τοσαύτης ἡδονῆς ἐνέπλησεν, τοσούτων ἀνδρῶν ὄψις ποθουμένων ποίαν ἡδονὴν οὐκ ἀνεργάσηται ψυχῇ τῇ ἐμῇ; Καὶ ὁ μὲν Ἰακὼβ ἕνα υἱὸν θεασάμενος τὸν Ἰωσὴφ ἔχαιρε καὶ ἀνεζωπυρήθη ὁ γέρων, ἐγὼ δὲ οὐχ ἕνα ἀλλὰ μυριάδας κατ' ἐκεῖνον ὁρῶν καὶ δῆμον ὁλόκληρον.

8 ∆ιὰ ταῦτα χαίρω ὅτι ἀπέλαβον τὸν παράδεισον τὸν ἐμόν, παράδεισον ἐκείνου τοῦ παραδείσου βελτίονα. Ἐκεῖ γὰρ ὄφις ἦν ἐπιβουλεύων, ἐνταῦθα δὲ Χριστὸς μυσθαγωγῶν· ἐκεῖ Εὔα ἀπατῶσα, ἐνταῦθα ἡ ἐκκλησία στεφανοῦσα· ἐκεῖ Ἀδὰμ ἀπατώμενος, ἐνταῦθα δῆμος ἀνακηρυττόμενος· ἐκεῖ δένδρα διάφορα, ἐνταῦθα χαρίσματα ποικίλα καὶ πνευματικά. Ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ δένδρα μαραινόμενα, ἐν τῇ