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In Joannem theologum

A discourse of the same author on Saint John the Theologian.

59.609 αʹ. John in Ephesus of Asia, John the boast of Asia, or rather the pillar of the world, John the beloved disciple of Christ, and the trumpet of the Word of God, the glory of the Ephesians, and the herald of the ends of the earth, the lyre of theology, worthily called the Theologian; the Cherubic mouth, and the Seraphic initiation, or I will not shrink from saying even more than these. For whom the heavenly powers of angels glorify with trembling, John with a great voice proclaimed with boldness: In the beginning was the Word. Blessed are you, city of the Ephesians, because in you first sounded such a God-spoken thunder; blessed are you, city of the Ephesians, because in you such a document was composed; blessed are you, because in you is such a John. For there are other Johns in the whole world and in you, but no such John, neither in you, nor in the whole world. Wherefore he who knows the mind of men, and knows the secrets of the heart, finding him to be such, holy and undefiled, lofty in life, pure in heart, adorned with chastity, perfected in love. to this one, as faithful in all things, he entrusted his own mother, delivering her, the undefiled dove, the spotless lamb, the unblemished heifer, the incomparable among men, the one higher than all the creations of God; which no other of the saints has been entrusted with.

Blessed are you, city of the Ephesians, because the feet of such a man have trodden upon you, whose pure conduct and footsteps the angels admired; blessed are you, city of the Ephesians, because first among all cities you were shown to be higher, through John the beloved; blessed are you, because all the Churches of the world happen to be your disciples, taught by you to theologize, In the beginning was the Word. For just as if there is a lamp burning in some place, and many running from all directions, each one having lit it from there, then proceeds with courage, in no way stumbling, nor wandering; so also it has happened in Ephesus. Having first lit the lamp of theology, all the Churches of the ends of the earth, running to you, each lit her own lamp, theology, and returned rejoicing. In the beginning was the Word. And in Ephesus the proper light of theology was not diminished, and the world, holding the same lights, proclaims, In the beginning was the Word. 59.610 And it is necessary to bring his struggles into the midst, as much as is possible for us, a few things from the many; for all time would not suffice for the narration of all his achievements. For we have heard most of them from the book of the Acts, as many things as he, being with the apostles, nobly contended for. Later he becomes an exile under Domitian the king of the Romans to the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the preaching of piety, and he writes down the Church which God showed him, and the Apocalypse of ineffable and fearful mysteries, then also his three holy Epistles.

But consider the ineffable goodness of God, who everywhere is a fellow sojourner with those who love him; whether they are held in prison, or happen to be in exile, whether in the depth of the sea, or shut up in a pit, or wherever they might be cast aside, he is not separated from them, fighting alongside and strengthening them, and lightening their labors. Then, having returned from exile, he reaches Ephesus, and staying there he composes the Gospel, being one hundred years old, having lived until one hundred and twenty in all. Dwelling there he writes the theology, or rather in the heavens, from whence he received it; for the citizenship of such men is in heaven. Dwelling in Ephesus, in the flesh, to the

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In Joannem theologum

Τοῦ αὐτοῦ λόγος εἰς τὸν ἅγιον Ἰωάννην τὸν Θεολόγον.

59.609 αʹ. Ἰωάννης ἐν Ἐφέσῳ τῆς Ἀσίας, Ἰωάννης τῆς Ἀσίτὸ καύχημα, μᾶλλον δὲ

τῆς οἰκουμένης ὁ στῦλος, Ἰωάννης ὁ ἀγαπητὸς τοῦ Χριστοῦ μαθητὴς, καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου σάλπιγξ, τῶν Ἐφεσίων τὸ κλέος, καὶ τῶν περάτων ὁ κήρυξ, ἡ κιθάρα τῆς θεολογίας, Θεολόγος ἀξίως καλούμενος· τὸ Χερουβικὸν στόμα, καὶ τὸ Σεραφικὸν μυσταγώγημα, ἢ καὶ ὑπὲρ ταῦτα εἰπεῖν οὐ παραιτήσομαι. Ὃν γὰρ αἱ ἄνω δυνάμεις ἀγγέλων τρόμῳ δοξάζουσιν, Ἰωάννης μεγάλῃ τῇ φωνῇ παῤῥησίᾳ ἐκήρυξεν· Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος. Μακαρία εἶ, πόλις Ἐφεσίων, ὅτι ἐν σοὶ πρῶτον ἤχησεν ἡ τοιαύτη θεόλεκτος βροντή· μακαρία εἶ, πόλις Ἐφεσίων, ὅτι ἐν σοὶ συνετάγη τὸ τοιοῦτον γραμματεῖον· μακαρία εἶ, ὅτι ἐν σοὶ ὁ τοιοῦτος Ἰωάννης. Καὶ ἄλλοι μὲν γὰρ Ἰωάνναι ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ οἰκουμένῃ καὶ ἐν σοὶ, ἀλλ' οὐδεὶς τοιοῦτος Ἰωάννης, οὔτε ἐν σοὶ, οὔτ' ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ οἰκουμένῃ. Ὅθεν ὁ ἐπιστάμενος τὸν νοῦν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ γινώσκων τὰ κρύφια τῆς καρδίας, εὑρὼν αὐτὸν τοιοῦτον, ἅγιον καὶ ἀμίαντον, ὑψηλὸν τὸν βίον, καθαρὸν τῇ καρδίᾳ, κεκοσμημένον τῇ ἀγνείᾳ, τετελειωμένον ἐν ἀγάπῃ. τοῦτον ὡς πιστὸν ἐν πᾶσι πιστεύειν τὴν ἰδίαν μητέρα παραδοὺς, τὴν ἀμίαντον περιστερὰν, τὴν ἄσπιλον ἀμνάδα, τὴν ἀκηλίδωτον δάμαλιν, τὴν ἀσύγκριτον ἐν ἀνθρώποις, τὴν πάντων τῶν ποιημάτων Θεοῦ ἀνωτέραν· ὅπερ οὐδεὶς ἄλλος τῶν ἁγίων πεπίστευται.

Μακαρία εἶ, πόλις Ἐφεσίων, ὅτι τοιούτου σε ἀνδρὸς πόδες ἐπάτησαν, οὗ τὴν καθαρὰν διαγωγὴν καὶ τὰ ἴχνη ἄγγελοι ἐθαύμασαν· μακαρία εἶ, πόλις Ἐφεσίων, ὅτι πρώτη πάσης πόλεως ὑψηλοτέρα ἀνεδείχθης, διὰ Ἰωάννην τὸν ἠγαπημένον· μακαρία εἶ, ὅτι πᾶσαι τῆς οἰκουμένης αἱ Ἐκκλησίαι σου μαθήτριαι τυγχάνουσι, παρὰ σοῦ διδαχθεῖσαι θεολογεῖν, Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐὰν ᾖ λύχνος ἔν τινι τόπῳ καιόμενος, καὶ πανταχόθεν πολλοὶ προστρέχοντες, ἐκεῖθεν ἕκαστος ἀνάψας θαῤῥῶν λοιπὸν πορεύεται, μηδαμῶς προσκόπτων, μηδὲ πλανώμενος· οὕτω καὶ ἐν Ἐφέσῳ γέγονε. Πρώτη ἀνάψασα τὸν τῆς θεολογίας λύχνον, πᾶσαι τῶν περάτων αἱ Ἐκκλησίαι πρὸς σὲ δραμοῦσαι, ἑκάστη τὴν ἑαυτῆς λαμπάδα τὴν θεολογίαν ἀνῆψε, καὶ ὑπέστρεψε χαίρουσα. Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος. Καὶ ἐν Ἐφέσῳ τοῦ ἰδίου φωτὸς τῆς θεολογίας οὐκ ἠλαττώθη, καὶ ἡ οἰκουμένη τὰ ἴσα φῶτα κατέχουσα κηρύττει τὸ, Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος. 59.610 Ἀναγκαῖόν τε καὶ τοὺς ἀγῶνας αὐτοῦ εἰς μέσον ἀγαγεῖν, ὅσον ἡμῖν δυνατὸν, ἐκ τῶν πολλῶν ὀλίγα· πάντα γὰρ αὐτοῦ τὰ κατορθώματα οὐκ ἐξαρκέσαι πᾶς ὁ καιρὸς πρὸς διήγησιν. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ πλεῖστα ἠκούσαμεν ἐκ τῆς βίβλου τῶν Πράξεων, ὅσα συνὼν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις καλῶς ἠγωνίσατο. Ὕστερον ἐξόριστος ὑπὸ ∆ομετιανοῦ τοῦ τῶν Ῥωμαίων βασιλέως εἰς τὴν νῆσον τὴν καλουμένην Πάτμον γίνεται διὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τὸ κήρυγμα τῆς εὐσεβείας, καὶ Ἐκκλησίαν συγγράφει, ἣν ἔδειξεν αὐτῷ ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ Ἀποκάλυψιν μυστηρίων ἀῤῥήτων καὶ φοβερῶν, ἔπειτα καὶ τὰς ἁγίας αὐτοῦ τρεῖς Ἐπιστολάς.

Σκόπει δὲ τὴν ἄφατον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀγαθότητα, πανταχοῦ συγξενιτεύοντος τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν· κἂν ἐν φυλακῇ κατέχωνται, κἂν ἐν ἐξορίαις τυγχάνωσιν, εἴτε ἐν βυθῷ θαλάσσης, εἴτε ἐν λάκκῳ κατακλεισθῶσιν, κἂν ὅπου δ' ἂν παραῤῥιφῶσιν, οὐ χωρίζεται τούτων, συμμαχῶν καὶ ἐνισχύων, καὶ τῶν πόνων ἐπικουφίζων. Εἶτα ἐπανελθὼν τῆς ἐξορίας, καταλαμβάνει τὴν Ἔφεσον, κἀκεῖσε διατρίβων συντάττει τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον ὢν ἐτῶν ἑκατὸν, διαρκέσας ἕως ὅλων ἑκατὸν εἴκοσιν. Ἐκεῖσε διάγων συγγράφεται τὴν θεολογίαν, μᾶλλον δὲ ἐν οὐρανοῖς, ὅθεν αὐτὴν ἐκομίσατο· τῶν γὰρ τοιούτων ἐν οὐρανοῖς διάγει τὸ πολίτευμα. Ἐν Ἐφέσῳ διάγων, ἐν σαρκὶ, εἰς τὰ