Gregory of Nyssa, On the Words "As You Did It to One of These, You Did It to Me"

In illud: Quatenus uni ex his fecistis mihi fecistis

GREGORY BISHOP OF NYSSA ON "INASMUCH AS YOU HAVE DONE IT TO ONE OF THESE, YOU HAVE DONE IT TO ME"

I am still at the spectacle of the terrible epiphany of the King, which the Gospel describes; my soul still cowers at the fear of the things that were said, gazing as if seeing in a certain manner the heavenly King himself, as the Word says, seated terribly enthroned upon the throne of glory; and that magnificent throne, whatever that throne may be, which holds in itself the uncontainable one; and those infinite myriads of angels standing in a circle around the King; and the great and terrible King himself from his ineffable glory stooping down to human nature and gathering to himself the whole race of men who have been found from when men came to be until that terrible appearance, and bringing judgment upon each one according to the worth of their 9.112 lives, bestowing on those who have lived with a right choice the things on the right, as has been said, but to the perverse and rejected assigning the sentence fitting to their lives, saying to each group, to the one that sweet and good voice, "Come, you who are blessed," but to the other the horrifying and terrible threat, "Go, you who are cursed."

And my soul being so disposed to the fear of what was read, that it seems to be in the midst of the events themselves and to perceive none of the present things, the mind has no leisure to look at anything else of the things set forth for examination and contemplation in the discourse; and yet these are not small matters nor worthy of little inquiry, to know how he who is always present comes. For "Behold," he says, "I am with you all the days;" and if he is believed to be with us now, how does he promise that he will come, as if he were not present? For if "In him we live and move and have our being," as the Apostle says, no device will locally separate those held in him who holds all things, so that one should expect either that he is not now present to those contained within him, or that he will one day be present in later times. And what is the seat of the incorporeal one and the description of the uncontainable one on the throne and all such things, as being too great for the present occasion, I will set aside. But so that we might not be pushed away into the rank of the rejected, for this purpose, 9.113 as I am able, I will turn my discourse to the common good. For greatly, brothers, greatly have I been terrified by the threat, and I do not deny the passion of my soul. And I would wish that you also not be contemptuous of these fears; for "Blessed is he who fears all things through reverence." "But he who despises a matter will be despised by it," says the word of wisdom somewhere. Therefore, before the hour of evils, let us take care not to come into the experience of sorrows. And what is the deliverance from the terrible things? To choose this way of life, which the Word has now shown us, which is truly new and living. And what is the way? "I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was a stranger and naked and sick and in prison;" "inasmuch as you did it to one of these, you did it to me." And for this reason he says, "Come, you blessed of my Father." What do we learn through these things? That blessing is the care for the commandments, but a curse is negligence toward the commandments. Let us love the blessing and flee the curse. For it is up to us to choose or not to choose each one by our authority; for to whatever we incline with eagerness, in that we will be. Therefore let us make our own the Lord of blessing, who reckons to himself the zeal for those in need; and especially now, when he has much in the present life

In illud: Quatenus uni ex his fecistis mihi fecistis

ΓΡΗΓΟΡΙΟΥ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΥ ΝΥΣΣΗΣ ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΕΦ' ΟΣΟΝ ΕΝΙ ΤΟΥΤΩΝ ΕΠΟΙΗΣΑΤΕ ΕΜΟΙ ΕΠΟΙΗΣΑΤΕ

Ἔτι πρὸς τῷ θεάματι τῆς φοβερᾶς τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπιφανείας εἰμί, ἣν

ὑπογράφει τὸ εὐαγγέλιον· ἔτι κατέπτηχεν ἡ ψυχὴ πρὸς τὸν φόβον τῶν εἰρημένων ἐνατενίζουσα ὡς καθορῶσα τρόπον τινὰ αὐτόν τε τὸν οὐράνιον βασιλέα, καθώς φησιν ὁ λόγος, ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου τῆς δόξης φοβερῶς προκαθήμενον· καὶ τὸν μεγαλοπρεπῆ θρόνον ἐκεῖνον, ὅστις ποτὲ καὶ ὁ θρόνος ἐστὶν ὁ χωρῶν ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὸν ἀχώρητον· τάς τε ἀπείρους τῶν ἀγγέλων μυριάδας ἐκείνας ἐν κύκλῳ τὸν βασιλέα περιεστώσας· αὐτόν τε τὸν μέγαν καὶ φοβερὸν βασιλέα ἐκ τῆς ἀφράστου δόξης ἐπὶ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην κατακύ πτοντα φύσιν καὶ πᾶν γένος ἀνθρώπων τῶν ἀφ' οὗ γεγόνασιν ἄνθρωποι καὶ μέχρι τῆς φοβερᾶς ἐμφανείας ἐκείνης εὑρισκο μένων ἀθροίζοντά τε πρὸς ἑαυτὸν καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἀξίαν τῶν 9.112 βεβιωμένων ἑκάστῳ τὴν κρίσιν ἐπάγοντα, τοῖς μὲν δεξιᾷ τῇ προαιρέσει συζήσασι τὰ δεξιά, καθὼς εἴρηται, χαριζόμενον, τοῖς δὲ σκαιοῖς τε καὶ ἀποβλήτοις τὴν κατάλληλον τοῖς βεβιωμένοις ἀποκληροῦντα ψῆφον, ἐπιλέγοντα ἑκατέροις, τοῖς μὲν τὴν γλυκεῖαν καὶ ἀγαθὴν ἐκείνην φωνὴν ὅτι ∆εῦτε οἱ εὐλογημένοι, τοῖς δὲ τὴν φρικώδη καὶ φοβερὰν ἀπειλὴν ὅτι Πορεύεσθε οἱ κατηραμένοι.

Οὕτω δέ μοι τῆς ψυχῆς πρὸς τὸν τῶν ἀνεγνωσμένων φόβον διατεθείσης, ὡς πρὸς αὐτοῖς δοκεῖν εἶναι τοῖς πράγμασι καὶ τῶν παρόντων ἐπαισθάνεσθαι μηδενός, οὐδεμίαν ὁ νοῦς ἄγει σχολὴν πρὸς ἄλλο τι βλέπειν τῶν προκειμένων εἰς ἐξέτασίν τε καὶ θεωρίαν τῷ λόγῳ· καίτοι γε οὐ μικρὰ ταῦτά ἐστιν οὐδὲ ὀλίγης ζητήσεως ἄξια, τὸ γνῶναι πῶς ἔρχεται ὁ ἀεὶ παρών. Ἰδοὺ γάρ, φησί, μεθ' ὑμῶν εἰμι πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας· καὶ εἰ μεθ' ἡμῶν νῦν εἶναι πεπίστευται, πῶς ἥξειν ὡς οὐ παρὼν ἐπαγγέλλεται; εἰ γὰρ Ἐν αὐτῷ ζῶμέν τε καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν, καθώς φησιν ὁ ἀπόστολος, οὐδεμία μηχανὴ τοῦ περιδεδραγμένου τῶν πάντων τοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ κατεχομένους τοπικῶς ἀποστήσει, ὥστε ἢ νῦν μὴ παρεῖναι τοῖς ἐμπεριεχομένοις ἢ χρόνοις ὕστερον παρέσεσθαί ποτε προσδοκῆσαι. τίς δὲ καὶ ἡ τοῦ ἀσωμάτου καθέδρα καὶ ἡ τοῦ ἀχωρήτου ἐν τῷ θρόνῳ περιγραφὴ καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα, ὡς μείζονα ἢ κατὰ τὸν παρόντα καιρόν, ὑπερθήσομαι. ὅπως δ' ἂν μὴ εἰς τὴν τῶν ἀποβλήτων ἀπωσθείημεν τάξιν, πρὸς 9.113 τοῦτο, καθὼς ἂν οἷός τε ὦ, πρὸς τὸ κοινὸν κέρδος τρέψω τὸν λόγον. Σφόδρα γάρ, ἀδελφοί, σφόδρα πρὸς τὴν ἀπειλὴν κατεπτόη μαι καὶ οὐκ ἀρνοῦμαι τῆς ψυχῆς μου τὸ πάθος. ἐβουλόμην δ' ἂν καὶ ὑμᾶς μὴ καταφρονητικῶς ἔχειν τῶν φόβων· Μακάριος γὰρ ὃς καταπτήσσει πάντα δι' εὐλάβειαν. ὁ δὲ καταφρονῶν πράγματος καταφρονηθήσεται ὑπ' αὐτοῦ, φησί που τῆς σοφίας ὁ λόγος. οὐκοῦν πρὸ τῆς ὥρας τῶν κακῶν τὸ μὴ ἐν πείρᾳ τῶν σκυθρωπῶν γενέσθαι φροντίσωμεν. Τίς δὲ ἡ ἀπαλλαγὴ τῶν φοβερῶν; τὸ ταύτην τοῦ βίου τὴν ὁδὸν ἑλέσθαι, ἣν νῦν ὑπέδειξεν ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος, τὴν πρόσφα τον ὄντως καὶ ζῶσαν. τίς δὲ ἡ ὁδός; Ἐπείνων, ἐδίψων, ξένος ἤμην καὶ γυμνὸς καὶ ἀσθενὴς καὶ ἐν φυλακῇ· ἐφ' ὅσον ἐποιήσατε ἑνὶ τούτων, ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο φησὶ ∆εῦτε οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ πατρός μου. τί διὰ τούτων μανθάνομεν; ὅτι εὐλογία μέν ἐστιν ἡ τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐπιμέλεια, κατάρα δὲ ἡ πρὸς τὰς ἐντολὰς ῥᾳθυμία. ἀγαπήσωμεν τὴν εὐλογίαν καὶ φύγωμεν τὴν κατάραν. ἐφ' ἡμῖν γάρ ἐστιν ἑλέσθαι ἢ μὴ ἑλέσθαι κατ' ἐξουσίαν ἑκάτερον· πρὸς ὅτι γὰρ ἂν τῇ προθυμίᾳ ῥέψωμεν, ἐν ἐκείνῳ ἐσόμεθα. οὐκοῦν οἰκειωσώ μεθα τὸν τῆς εὐλογίας κύριον τὸν ἑαυτῷ τὴν περὶ τοὺς δεομένους σπουδὴν λογιζόμενον· καὶ μάλιστα νῦν, ὅτε πολλὴν ἔχει κατὰ τὸν παρόντα βίον