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Laudatio sanctae Barbarae

12. Of our father among the saints, John the Presbyter of Damascus, an encomium on the holy and glorious martyr of Christ, Barbara.

96.781 1. The glory, and grace, and good repute of the saints and the beautifully-victorious martyrs of piety, confessedly surpasses every compo 96.784 sition of encomia, and is established above the artifice that is collected from rhetorical speeches and the clamorings of sophistic art. And they would be astonished, I think, and would be at a loss before the magnitude of the subject, even those who are extremely skilled in such sciences, and who have devoted and spent their whole life on such pursuits and studies; let alone we who are unlearned and inexperienced, and who have not even tasted, as they say, with the tip of a finger, of this experience and skill and prose composition. But not for this reason, having become somewhat dizzy, as it were, at the undertaking of the discourse, and held back by cowardice, and having hesitated, should we leave ourselves, and the present eager audience, entirely deprived of the benefit that would likely accrue from the adventure of such great contests. Come then, having invoked the influence from above from the overseer and prize-giver of such contests, Christ, to be gracious and our helper, let us describe in speech, and as much as possible set before your eyes, her who is now rightly praised by us; and of whom, the beautifully-victorious martyr Barbara, we today celebrate the public festival, let us set forth in brief the subject of her whole struggle, so that, by understanding the divine power that invisibly strengthens and invigorates the martyrs, we may procure for our soul no ordinary profit and improvement; not by trying to exalt the contests with the sounds and words of eloquence. For they do not need the help of words; but simply by recounting the deeds themselves in plain language. 2. But arise for me now, O Christ-loving and martyr-loving assembly, and folding up and drawing in the mind from its wandering on external things, listen attentively to what is said. For it is strange to run together eagerly to worldly spectacles, I mean horse races or wrestling matches, or some such athletic contests, and to wish to see eagerly the rivalry of the contest and the grappling of the opponents, and not to depart before, even if a thousand things distract, one has watched the end, and the one who carried off the victory, who took the prize, and who was bound with the crown, even though they bring themselves no benefit from it. But here where a soul-profiting and spiritual theater is set before us, having as its judge of the contest, not one of the kings on earth, but the one who rules over all things visible and invisible, the universal king Christ our God, and as spectators, the thousands and myriads of the heavenly hosts and powers, and competing, Barbara the renowned and all-desired crowned martyr of Christ, and as opponents, not one or a second, but first, as the Apostle says? For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers 96.785 of darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places, that is, for the sake of heavenly things. And in addition to these, also her own spirit according to the flesh, and the worldly governors and rulers, whom the all-holy lamb of Christ, Barbara, had as wrestlers, from

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Laudatio sanctae Barbarae

ΙΒʹ. Τοῦ ἐν ἁγίοις πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἰωάννου πρεσβυτέρου τοῦ ∆αμασκηνοῦ, ἐγκώμιον εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν καὶ ἔνδοξον τοῦ Χριστοῦ μάρτυρα Βαρβάραν.

96.781 αʹ. Ὑπέρκειται μὲν ὁμολογουμένως ἅπασαν ἐγκω 96.784 μίων σύνθεσιν, τῶν ἁγίων, καὶ τῆς εὐσεβείας καλλινίκων μαρτύρων ἡ δόξα, καὶ χάρις, καὶ εὔκλεια, καὶ τῆς ἐκ ῥητορικῶν λόγων, καὶ σοφιστικῆς τέχνης λαρυγγισμάτων ἐρανιζομένης ὑπερίδρυται πλάσεως. Καὶ καταπλαγείησαν, οἶμαι, καὶ ἀποροίησαν ἂν πρὸς τὸ τῆς ὑποθέσεως μέγεθος, καὶ οἱ λίαν περὶ τὰς τοιαύτας ἐπιστήμας δεινοὶ, καὶ τὸν ὅλον ἑαυτῶν βίαν περὶ τὰς τοιάσδε τριβὰς, καὶ μελέτας ἐσχολακότες, καὶ κατανηλωκότες· μὴ ὅτι γε οἱ καθ' ἡμᾶς ἀμαθεῖς τε καὶ ἄπειροι, καὶ μηδ' ἄκρῳ δακτύλῳ, τὸ δὴ λεγόμενον, ταύτης γεγευσμένοι τῆς ἐμπειρίας τε καὶ εὐτεχνίας, καὶ λογογραφικῆς σκέψεως. Ἀλλ' οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο πάντη πρὸς τὴν τοῦ λόγου ἐγχείρησιν οἱονεί πως ἰλιγγιάσαντες, καὶ δειλίᾳ συσχεθέντες, καὶ κατοκνήσαντες, ἡμᾶς γε αὐτοὺς, καὶ τὸ παρὸν φιλήκοον ἀκροατήριον, ἀμοίρους τῆς ἐκ τηλικούτων ἀγώνων περιπετείας, ὡς εἰκὸς, προσγενομένης ὠφελείας παντελῶς καταλείψωμεν. Φέρε δὴ οὖν, τὴν ἄνωθεν ῥοπὴν παρὰ τοῦ τῶν τοιούτων ἀγωνισμάτων ἐπόπτου καὶ ἀθλοθέτου Χριστοῦ, ἵλεω καὶ ἐπίκουρον ἐπικαλεσάμενοι, διαγράψωμεν τῷ λόγῳ, καὶ ὡς οἷόν τε ὑπ' ὄψιν παραστήσωμεν, τὴν παρ' ἡμῶν νῦν εἰκότως εὐφημουμένην· καὶ ἧς, τὴν πανήγυριν πάνδημον σήμερον ἄγομεν καλλινίκου μάρτυρος Βαρβάρας, τῆς ὅλης ἀθλήσεως, ὡς ἐν βραχεῖ τὴν ὑπόθεσιν ἐνστησώμεθα, ἵνα τὴν ἀοράτως συνεπισχύουσαν, καὶ νευροῦσαν τοὺς μάρτυρας θείαν κατανοήσαντες δύναμιν, οὐ τὴν τυχοῦσαν τῇ ψυχῇ προσπορισώμεθα ὄνησιν, καὶ βελτίωσιν· οὐκ εὐγλωττίας ἤχοις, καὶ ῥήμασιν τοὺς ἀγῶνας ἐπαίρειν πειρώμενοι. Οὐδὲ γὰρ τῆς ἐκ τῶν λόγων οὗτοι βοηθείας προσδέονται· αὐτὰ δὲ δή που τὰ πράγματα ψιλῇ τῇ φράσει διεξερχόμενοι. βʹ. Ἀλλὰ διανάστητέ μοι λοιπὸν, ὦ φιλόχριστον καὶ φιλόμαρτυς σύστημα, καὶ τὸν νοῦν τῆς ἐπὶ τὰ ἔξω περιπλανήσεως περιπτύξαντες καὶ συστείλαντες, προσεχῶς τῶν λεγομένων ἀκούσατε. Καὶ γὰρ ἄτοπον, ἐπὶ μὲν τὰ κοσμικὰ θέατρα, ἱπποδρομίας ἢ παλαίστρας φημὶ, ἤ τινος τῶν τοιούτων γυμνικῶν ἀγώνων προθύμως συνδραμεῖν, καὶ τὴν ἅμιλλαν τῆς ἀγωνίας, καὶ τὴν τῶν ἀντιπάλων συμπλοκὴν ὑπηγμένως ἐθέλειν ἰδεῖν, καὶ μὴ πρότερον ἀποστῆναι, κἂν μυρία περισπῶνται, πρὶν τὸ τέλος, καὶ τὸν νίκην ἀπενεγκάμενον ἐποπτεῦσαι, τὸ βραβεῖον τε ἀράμενον, καὶ τὸ στέφος ἀναδησάμενον, καίτοι μηδὲν ἑαυτοῖς ἐκεῖθεν ἐπιφερομένους τὸ ὄφελος. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ ἔνθα ψυχωφελὲς, καὶ πνευματικὸν ἡμῖν πρόκειται θέατρον, ἀγωνοθέτην μὲν κεκτημένον, οὐχ ἕνα τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς βασιλέων, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἁπάντων ὁρατῶν καὶ ἀοράτων ἡγεμονεύοντα παντάνακτα Χριστὸν τὸν Θεὸν ἡμῶν, θεατὰς δὲ, τὰς χιλιάδας, καὶ μυριάδας τῶν ἐπουρανίων στρατιῶν καὶ δυνάμεων, ἀγωνιουμένην δὲ, Βαρβάραν τὴν ἀοίδιμον, καὶ παμπόθητον τοῦ Χριστοῦ στεφανίτιν καὶ μάρτυρα, ἀντιπάλους δὲ, οὐχ ἕνα που, ἢ δεύτερον, ἀλλὰ πρῶτον μὲν, καθώς φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος; Οὐ γὰρ ἔχομεν τὴν πάλην πρὸς αἷμα, καὶ σάρκα, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰς ἀρχὰς, πρὸς τὰς ἐξουσίας, πρὸς τοὺς κοσμοκράτορας 96.785 τοῦ σκότους, πρὸς τὰ πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις, τουτέστιν, διὰ τὰ ἐπουράνια. Πρὸς τούτοις δὲ, καὶ τὸν ἴδιον κατὰ σάρκα πνεῦμα, καὶ τοὺς κοσμικοὺς ἡγεμόνας, καὶ ἄρχοντας, οὓς ἡ πάναγνος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀμνὰς Βαρβάρα παλαιστρίτας ἐκέκτητο, ἐξ