Nicholas the Confessor

ON SAINT NICHOLAS THE CONFESSOR, ARCHIMANDRITE OF THE STUDITES,

of the Order of the Acoemetae at Constantinople,

In the Year 868.

Preliminary Commentary.

Nicholas the Confessor, Archimandrite of the Studites (Saint)

By G. H.

[1] We have given the Founder of the Order of the Acoemetae, once most celebrated in the Eastern Church, on January 15, namely Saint Alexander: who, after he had presided over three hundred monks at Constantinople near the church of Saint Mennas the Martyr, From the monastery of the Acoemetae was driven out thence, and having died around the year of Christ 430 in the venerable monastery he had established at the mouth of the Pontus, left as his successor John. The latter transferred the monastery to Bithynia, to the straits of the Bosporus, sixty stadia distant from Constantinople, to ^a place called Gomona, which they named Eirenaion, because the monks seemed to have found peace and quiet there. After John departed from this life, Saint Marcellus, his successor, built ^a monastery there, whose Life is to be given on December 29. In his time ^a certain distinguished man named Studius, as Nicephorus says in book 15, chapter 23, whence the first Studites originated came from Rome to Constantinople and erected ^a temple to the Holy Precursor: into which he brought monks from the monastery of the Acoemetae, which the most divine Marcellus had built, in which perpetual hymns might be sung, the community of monks being divided into three groups. Michael, in the Life of Saint Theodore (of both we shall treat below), as cited by Baronius at the year of Christ 798, number 2, after having discussed Studius the Founder, adds that there was never any time when there were not those who, living the common life in that monastery, gave illustrious proofs of their virtue and religious devotion; until Constantinus Copronymus, hateful to God, having declared war against the monks, expelled drove these out along with all the rest. After, however, the affairs of the Church had returned to their former state, and the persecution of the schism had ceased, monks again inhabited the same place, restored but very few, and no more, as they say, than twelve in number. So says Michael. The times of Constantine ruling with his mother Irene are indicated, when in the year 787 at the Second Council of Nicaea, the heresy of the Iconoclasts having been condemned, the veneration of sacred images was restored. To the Fourth Session of this Council, after the Bishops, the first to subscribe was Sabbas, Archimandrite and Hegumenus, that is, Prefect, of the monastery of the Studites. After Sabbas subscribed Plato, Hegumenus and Archimandrite of Saccudion. The name of each is found subscribed more than once to the same Council.

[2] Saint Theodore, nephew of this Saint Plato through his sister, was taken from that monastery of Saccudion and assumed the government of the Studites, Saint Nicholas ^a monk before Saint Nicholas, at the age of ten, around the year of Christ 803, was sent from Crete to Constantinople and was applied by him to the study of letters. Nicholas, then made ^a monk and ordained ^a priest, companion of Saint Theodore remained an inseparable companion to the same Theodore until his death, in exiles, prisons, and torments. Saint Theodore died on November 11, ^a Sunday, in the fifth Indiction, in the year from the origin of the world 6335, died in the year 826 which, beginning from September in the Greek manner with its Indiction, falls in the year of Christ 826, cycle of the Sun 23, dominical letter G. Michael his disciple should be read in Baronius at the said year 826, numbers 47 and 48. Adding forty-one years to that number, the year of the world 6376 results, observed below at number 58 with the first Indiction, and corresponds to the year of Christ 867 and the following, as the Greeks reckon from September: died in the year 868 and thus Saint Nicholas departed from this life on February 4 in the year 868.

[3] We had prepared for the press the Greek Life of Saint Nicholas, rendered into Latin from the manuscript Medicean codex of the King of France, The Acts of this saint were written in Greek though mutilated for the greater part; when we found the same published in its entirety from another likewise Royal codex by Franciscus Combefisius, in volume 2 of the New Supplement to the Greek-Latin Library of the Fathers, which we give here, preserving nearly his Latin translation. Its inscription in his edition is: "The Life of our holy Father and Confessor Nicholas, Superior of the most venerable monastery of Studius." In our copy the text read somewhat differently: "The Life and Conduct of our holy and celebrated Father Nicholas," etc. The author of this Life, as Combefisius also attests, ^a learned and not inelegant man, was ^a Studite; thus at number 27 he relates that he, unworthy, was tonsured as ^a monk by the Superior Anatolius, a Studite monk and that the monastery had been governed by him for many years: at whose command he inserts the illustrious example of chastity, which he had formerly learned from Cyprian, ^a disciple of Saint Nicholas. Perhaps Anatolius was created the third Hegumenus or Archimandrite of the Studites after the death of Saint Nicholas. The first, the illustrious man Clement, at numbers 56 and 58, served long enough as Prefect of the monastery, and had as his successor Hilarion, contemporary with the disciples of Saint Nicholas under whom the monk Antonius, ^a disciple of Saint Nicholas, was freed from ^a flow of blood by his appearing, and forty years having then elapsed, was still surviving when the author was writing this Life -- nearly equal in age to Saint Nicholas and contemporary with his disciples. The same period of the writer is indicated by the remaining details, both what he writes at number 3 about Crete not yet wrested from the Saracens and restored to Roman rule, which was accomplished in the year 961, in the fourth Indiction, by Nicephorus Phocas: and what he declaims at the end, number 59, touching upon the sad state of the Eastern Church at that time, when sacred edifices were being burned by Bulgarians and Saracens, and the land was drenched with the blood of Christians.

[4] He imitated certain sacred Doctors of the Church, as he calls them at number 32, His memory is recalled by the writers of the Life of Saint Theodore who depicted the illustrious deeds of Saint Theodore for perpetual memory, as ^a kind of gift, for the common benefit of the Christian commonwealth. These are his disciples Naucratius and Michael; of whom the former, an illustrious Confessor on account of the various imprisonments and torments he endured, successor of Saint Theodore and predecessor of Saint Nicholas, Hegumenus of the Studites, issued an encyclical letter on the death of Saint Theodore to the Fathers and spiritual Brothers dispersed everywhere and sustaining persecution for the Lord. That letter in Greek and Latin was published by the same Franciscus Combefisius in volume 2 of the Supplement to the Greek-Latin Library of the Fathers. Michael, however, wrote the entire Life of Saint Theodore with great care, which Baronius incorporated into the Ecclesiastical Annals from the translation of Jacobus Sirmondus of the Society of Jesus, ^a most learned man, and in the Letters of Saint Theodore together with very many letters of the same Saint Theodore: from which we also illustrate this Life of Saint Nicholas below in the Annotations.

[5] Saint Nicholas I, the Roman Pontiff, consecrates the memory of this Saint Nicholas, when he requests from the Emperor Michael, son of Theophilus, and Pope Saint Nicholas that together with the principal Archbishops and Hegumeni, he himself be sent to Rome on behalf of Saint Ignatius, Patriarch of Constantinople, against the invader Photius, concerning which matters are treated below in the Acts, chapter 8. It is the eighth letter of Pope Saint Nicholas in the Councils of Binius, in which the following is read: "Moreover, if they -- Ignatius and Photius -- cannot come in person, let them first indicate to us through letters of satisfaction the reason why they are unable to come; then let there be sent on behalf of Ignatius the Archbishops Antonius of Cyzicus, Basilius of Thessalonica, Constantinus of Larissa, Theodorus of Syracuse, Metrophanes of Smyrna, and Paulus, Bishop of Heraclea of Pontus; and the Hegumeni Nicetas of Chrysopolis, Nicholas of Studius, Dositheus of Hosios Dios, and Lazarus the Priest and monk, who is called Cazaris. Unless these are sent, you will render yourselves suspect, because you are studiously taking care to withdraw from our sight those by whom we might be certified. And therefore we shall admit no one from the other parties, unless we can truly know them to have been sent from your side." So it reads there, which Baronius refers to the year 865, number 93, at which time it is established from the Acts below that Saint Nicholas was confined in prison. Of the aforementioned Archbishops, only Metrophanes of Smyrna was present at the Eighth Ecumenical Council held at Constantinople in the year 869, in favor of Saint Ignatius against Photius. The successors of the others, who had by then mostly died, are recorded as having been present: Barnabas of Cyzicus, Theodorus of Thessalonica, and Euthymius of Larissa, Metropolitans.

[6] The Greeks celebrate his renowned memory on February 4 in the Menaea, His name in the Greek Menaea and bring forward an illustrious encomium taken from his Acts, which we give here, also reported by Maximus, Bishop of Cythera; and it is as follows:

This Saint, born on the island of Crete, wishing to see his kinsman Theophanes, and an epitome of his Life came to Constantinople, and finding him numbered among the Brothers of the Studium, himself also embraced the monastic life. Having advanced through every stage of training, and having been most carefully instructed in the norm of monastic education, he was initiated into the priesthood. For he had attained the highest degree of virtue. What then followed? Together with Theodore, the Superior of the monastery, the divine Nicholas was punished with exile. Recalled thence, by Leo -- who rightly obtained ^a bestial name -- an enemy of Christ, because they were venerators of sacred images, they were beaten with ox-hide whips. Then they were confined in prison: and being examined again, they were scourged, and bound, they were thrust back into prison. Having been detained for three years in that prison, and afflicted with hunger, thirst, and nakedness, they were sent away to Smyrna: and there, beaten with rods, with their feet inserted into stocks, they were cast into prison. After twenty months had elapsed, Leo died and was sent to the tribunals of the other life. Then the blessed Confessors of Christ, released, made their way to Chalcedon: and after saluting the thrice-blessed Nicephorus, both dwelt there. But shortly afterward, under the Emperor Michael Caesar, they were sent away to Prasenae, then to Acritas, where Theodore, proven by many contests, departed to the Lord. But when the Caesar departed this life, and his son Theophilus succeeded to the empire, the war against the Saints was rekindled. But when Theophilus himself also departed from life, and the most devout Theodora and her son assumed the empire, and ^a lasting peace was established, after Basil the Macedonian received the empire, he appointed this holy Nicholas, victorious in many contests, with many entreaties, as Superior of the Studites. When, therefore, this most holy Nicholas had completed such and so many contests, worn out by many afflictions, he rested in peace in the seventy-fifth year of his life.

LIFE

by ^a Studite monk, translated by Franciscus Combefisius, collated with the Greek manuscript.

Nicholas the Confessor, Archimandrite of the Studites (Saint)

By ^a Studite Monk, from Greek Manuscripts.

PROLOGUE

[1] Those for whom the Olympian contests have been proposed as ^a theme of praise, and who desire from these to add honors nearly divine to their clients, History should not be wrapped in the lofty words of orators extolling their panegyric with words artfully composed from rhetoric, yield the substance of the matter to the effectiveness and sweet eloquence of their discourses: so that it is the art, rather than the true law of things, that is precisely praised. For it is so constituted by nature that whatever is held in desire strives to be borne above all else. But those who, marveling at the illustrious deeds of great men, wish to adorn them from those deeds, by no means prove the supreme victory of their fortitude by rhetorical persuasions or philosophical subtleties: rather, by the simple exposition of truth alone, but should be adorned by truth alone and that exhibiting the deeds in ^a cursory manner, they excellently describe virtue and openly bear witness to the greatness of the contests.

[2] Come then, let us also, since the discourse we have undertaken brings forth into public view that great light of piety and our common Father Nicholas, by the force of our speech, describe certain small matters of his deeds, as far as our ability permits, to serve as ^a certain nourishment of memory, whereby the profit of readers may be served; this account of Saint Nicholas incites to virtue and drawing forth what has long been covered in silence and obscured in the depths of oblivion, according to the measure of our duty, let us, though somewhat roughly, yet with devotion to truth, declare them to posterity. For no just advantage will accrue therefrom, even though his panegyric, composed in splendid narrative, should resound among many: but the people will have joy, conveying from the ear to the mind what is profitable. For in the memory of the Just shall many peoples rejoice: and we above all, the people of Christ, the holy flock, who are lovers both of the Father and equally of God, and who daily partake of the sweetness of this banquet, assiduous at the tombs, and in the handling of sacred and spiritual images, by which even this alone suffices to glory in the image of virtue above others. composed under the auspices of Christ But may Christ our God be our guide, and the Word of the Father, and the Wisdom and Power of God, correcting the sluggishness and torpor of our afflicted mind, and may He extend speech in the opening of our mouth, and moving our hand to write the narrative of the Father's deeds, may He, as the Word Himself, undertake the care of moderating the discourse in every way.

CHAPTER 1

The homeland, education, and studies of Saint Nicholas.

[3] This man (to pause briefly on the homeland that nurtured him) was indeed ^a native of Crete, that most illustrious island, then sustained by the liberty of Christ, and thereafter glorying in its strength and the grandeur of its buildings: Saint Nicholas ^a native of Crete although in it now, the once execrable offspring of Hagar, the worst race of Ishmael the son of the handmaid, using our sins as weapons against us -- the slave, (afterward subdued by the Saracens) I say, the progeny of the scourger -- against the flock of the new election sprung from Isaac in the figure of Christ, has reduced it to captivity. For by the violation of the commandments of God, repelling heavenly aid from ourselves, and by admixture of pleasures, changing the nobility of our soul, we have been delivered, to use the words of Scripture, to ^a foolish nation, broken and subdued by mutual shedding of blood. Deuteronomy 32:21; Romans 10:19 But so that the narrative, proceeding in ^a certain order, may have its advantage, let him be brought forward who first undertook the helm of piety on that island, (formerly converted to Christ through Saint Titus) namely the great Apostle Titus, and let him show what the Vessel of Election declares concerning its inhabitants, designating by the word of the Spirit the law. For because he saw them raging obstinately in every vice through intemperance, he thus says to him: "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy bellies": not at all indicating by the force of the expression every pious race of Cretans; but on the contrary, this speech marks out those who, by license of living, and as it were having the manner of brute animals, would disgrace the purity of soul by the contrary baseness of the belly, from the vices of the Cretans with their affections depressed toward earthly things. Titus 1:12 For it is the custom of Scripture, on account of the hidden and invisible nature of the soul, to call it sometimes "belly," sometimes "womb" figuratively, as that which has the capacity to receive and then to digest the food of discourse: although here, the flabbiness of sloth is taken in ^a different sense. For truly, the souls of such persons are called "lazy bellies" and "evil beasts" by the Apostle, who burst forth more into luxury than receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. By no means, therefore, was the Great Nicholas one of those so designated: rather, being far distant from those morals, he obtained the highest parts of honor as the glory of his homeland. he was free from them For as darkness is to light and death to life, so also are virtues opposed to profane souls, and conversely. It is clear, moreover, that this proverb is not the Apostle's but that of the Cretan poet Epimenides. Having narrated these things only in passing, let us now turn our pen to him, God granting speech in the opening of our mouth.

[4] His homeland, then, as we have already said, was the soil of Crete, his own city called Cydonia, whose glory of name known of Cydonia is accompanied by an overflowing fountain of good things. For watered on every side by pure and limpid streams, it produces grain, wine, and other fruits more abundantly than the rest. Indeed, the illustrious Martyr Basilides, renowned in splendid glory, was ^a native of that city, from that venerable decade of Martyrs; in which also the parents of our athlete had their home, and were celebrated on the lips of all, not only for the distinction of their lineage, but also on account of their piety. For in the way that iron attracts ^a magnet, so praise is accustomed to follow those endowed with virtue among all. Moreover, having nobly merited the gift of happy offspring by their piety toward God, they begot this Great one: and as ^a little child in Christ, piously educated by his parents together with his other most distinguished brothers, raising his bodily age toward worship in the spirit, they taught him. For the tender and pliant nature of ^a child does not at all resist more stubbornly, toward whatever the guide may wish. Therefore it is ^a work of much sobriety, to guide toward better things; and of still greater diligence and solicitude, lest the pupil be advanced and instructed otherwise than is fitting. Moreover, they took care that he be led through the Church as its nursling, instructing him in letters and the precepts of piety. Thus, therefore, from the beginning he is excellently trained by his parents with the best and purest formation, which the admirable David calls "morning," and opposed to "night." Psalm 139:16

[5] When, however, the bloom of his age had numbered its first decade of years, and the elements he had absorbed had sufficiently formed the young man's mind for undertaking higher studies; sent to Constantinople at age ten when he was first again to ascend the first step of the beatitudes, called from heaven by the Father of Lights, and to become poor in spirit and likewise humbled in body, he enters Byzantium, the chief of all cities, and to the illustrious and most celebrated gymnasium of virtue, to his uncle Theophanes the Studite the great monastery of the Studites, he is sent by his parents to his uncle, named Theophanes, ostensibly for the purpose of visiting him. For he was there serving as ^a trainer in the ascetic arena, since recently the most radiant luminary and the great defender and herald of truth, Theodore, had undertaken the direction of that spiritual ship of the Brothers, and was illuminating the whole world with the splendor of pious doctrines.

[6] Theophanes, therefore, who had obtained his name from ^a divine apparition, lovingly received and kissed his nephew, blessed by Saint Theodore, Superior of the Studites and offered the boy as ^a gift of the Church to him whose name signified God's gift, namely Theodore, to be graced with his blessing. He, ^a spark emitting fiery flashes of piety, observing with ^a provident eye the boy's urbane manners and his mind apt for the reception of virtue, blessed him, and because he was of ^a rather immature age, ordered that he should for the time being dwell in the boys' quarters, not far from the monastery, to be taught letters together with boys of his own age. For boys lived separately under that great man, in ^a certain house near the monastery, in continuous fellowship, he so providing, as the excellent moderator of souls, lest any annoyance to the monks should arise therefrom. He advanced, therefore, in wisdom, age, and grace, applied to studies utterly shunning the games of his equals: for from boyhood he was remarkably adroit and sober in disposition. For the heavenly providence, which has pleased to crown mortals with diverse gifts, has implanted in each ^a character nearly innate, so that those who see may discern: since, as ^a certain Wise Man says, "The clothing, the gait, and the laughter of ^a man declare what he is." Sirach 19:27 And because, advancing according to the measure of his age, he had nobly and studiously learned the preliminary disciplines by which the approach to greater things is constructed, and since it was now necessary to acquire the science of drawing by which one writes correctly, he nevertheless added this abundantly, becoming ^a most useful scribe, swift by the natural rapidity with which many are especially gifted to perform such ^a task with distinction.

Wherefore, giving to not ^a few in ^a short time proof of his way of life in Christ, with learning he imbibed virtue he was held in admiration by all, and as the common Superior daily plowed and cultivated the furrow of his soul with the plow of the commandments, he brought forth the fruits of manifold virtue. First of the entire company of his equals, he would enter the divine temple of God in which they had their station, and last of all would he depart from it: and attentively inclining his ear to the sacred narratives of the Fathers, and studying their Lives daily, advancing to the knowledge of better things, he was thereafter illuminated. For just as irrigation makes ^a tree, and abundant material makes ^a fire, stand firm; so assuredly (by whatever reason this may come about) the care of those who govern is the source of increase for those who follow.

CHAPTER 2

The monastic life and priesthood of Saint Nicholas.

[7] Now, having grown from ^a beardless youth into ^a man, and having passed from an imperfect age to ^a perfect one, hastening to destroy the carnal sense warring against the law of the Spirit, he there put on the garment of salvation, being tonsured, as the holy Father and Confessor Theodore adorned him with his own hands with the angelic habit of monks. He receives the monastic habit from Saint Theodore For it was entirely fitting that, since both were to accomplish many things for the sake of the zealous and living likeness of the immaculate Christ our God, this champion should be regenerated as ^a certain other Timothy, admirable through the work of Paul: so that through them, as through the aforesaid, our Gospel might run its course. For this Blessed one, surrendering himself entirely to his will, was as ^a man without will, as far as it pertained to himself, far and most distantly removed from his own will. Nor indeed to him only, but also thereafter to others, both small and great, outstanding in obedience he admirably displayed the same obedience with ^a gentle spirit and contracted understanding, as ^a certain inanimate statue toward all, fixed by divine fear, and inert toward everything that might appear as insolence or zeal or fury or anger or hatred: so that he astonished his fellow monks, who, by his own open works, perceived in him ^a great example of the hidden man within.

[8] For the love of piety permits no satiety of desire, so that the captivated soul may not be borne toward it: rather, adding fire to fire and desire to desire, it inflames the lover, and in other virtues and renders him unconquerable in any matter. For who embraced virtue before him, possessing the riches of humility in an exalted understanding, and ^a lowly understanding in sublime humility? Who so well trained the senses, making them philosophize from sensible things about those things that surpass the senses? Who, so excellently conjoining prudence with fortitude, as friendly powers, made his course in ^a Lydian chariot, to speak with the words of the Poet? Of Simonides the Lyric poet Truly, as ^a prudent steward, or also ^a faithful servant, he divided with ^a just balance what was beneficial to both, both to the flesh and to the spirit. Moreover, the quality of his continence, the assiduity of his vigils, the most profound manner of his prayers, the illumination of his tears -- who could match even one of these many things, as he alone alternated them all? And by continence indeed he obtained sobriety of mind, by vigils contemplation, by prayers compunction, by tears the sanctification of chastity. Ecclesiastes 2:2 Wherefore, according to Solomon, he reckoned laughter an error; and the remaining pleasure of the body he called mourning, delighting in none of those things that seem sweet in this age. For as with enclosures, by the fear of God, through freedom from the passions, girding well the threefold soul, he did not allow desires joined with perturbation to plunder the riches of the spirit by the rapine of the senses. Wherefore he remained unmoved, thenceforth depending on the truly desirable. And, to say it in ^a word, there is absolutely nothing among all things, as ^a certain wise man says, in which he did not surpass all others.

[9] Wherefore it was fitting that he who was such, and had accomplished things above nature in nature, and who in our age would be called ^a perfect man, should be advanced to ^a more perfect degree, and receiving that great summit of the virtues, the priesthood, as the reward of his labors, should be set upon the candlestick. he is ordained Priest Indeed he was advanced according to the measure of his merit, not, as some, rushing forward of himself or purchasing the office with ^a gift; but by the sole command of the Father and the entreaty of the common assembly of the Brothers. For the care of many was sufficient persuasion for him to undertake things greater than his strength. Nor did the lover of obedience ever shrink from danger, devoted by his own judgment to the Superior in all things. But who could set forth how many contests he underwent from the beginning of his priesthood? Hebrews 4:14 The great Paul once described them, when he depicted and designated in words the great High Priest who penetrated the heavens; whom he assuredly expressed by imitation, as far as is granted through human frailty. Nor is this ^a wonder: for he had been made ^a god by adoption, and ^a son of the Most High through grace.

[10] Moreover, to the accumulation of his moral conduct and studious life, he did not lack even the fellowship of work with the Brothers: rather, he labored with his hands, and most excellently, like anyone else, writing books with well-formed letters, he writes books endowed, I think, with no less speed of hand than that Asahel was of foot. The proof of this is both the books he transcribed and his other works. 2 Samuel 2:18

[11] Finally, when he was thus richly endowed with the graces of the Spirit, there came to him Titus, his brother according to the flesh, ^a wandering man, announcing that their homeland had been captured and their parents detained there; he receives his brother, an exile from captured Crete and narrating the tragedy, full of mourning, of the slaughter wrought by the wild boars, namely the impious Ishmaelites, against men created in the image of God, with many tears. Wherefore there then at last came to fulfillment what had long before been proclaimed by the Prophet Zephaniah with foreseeing eyes concerning it: "Woe," he says, "to you who dwell by the coast of the sea, you strangers of the Cretans. Zephaniah 2:5 The word of the Lord is upon you, and I will destroy you from your habitation. And Crete shall be ^a pasture for flocks and ^a sheepfold for sheep." Indeed, the sword is brandished in the storms of temptations, and in many ways the bow of correction is bent against us, by which conversion from sin may be proposed. But if we are made no better thereby and become worse, then at last the things mercifully sent work grievous death upon us in place of benefit: for the cup of the Lord he leads him to the monastic life is full of unmixed wine. Psalm 75:9 Moreover, this great man, receiving his brother and persuading him with good counsel to be tonsured as ^a monk, caused him to enter upon the same course with himself, and showed him to be his brother in morals as well.

[12] Our common Father and servant of God, Nicholas, had indeed his very life as ^a kind of silent exhortation: he had also his brother, as ^a certain accurate image of his virtues: indeed all

at last had, as another kind of sun in their midst, shining with the rays of virtues, that gift given by God, profitable to souls and ^a splendid companion, the Great Theodore: and it was truly ^a school of virtue, ^a new kind of paradise blooming with ^a manifold variety of flowers. For to these were added also Joseph, brother of our most wise Father, distinguished companions of the monastic life obtained who afterward became the celebrated Archbishop of the city of Thessalonica: and also Timothy, Athanasius, and Naucratius, and many others whom I omit for the sake of brevity, who dwelt in that earthly heaven. For those whom morals unite, place also gathers together into one: but those whom morals divide, every place also separates. For place is praised in morals, and conversely morals held dear have praise in place. For it is not infrequently the case that being frustrated of one's accustomed place, and separated from one's fellow-pillars, produces much laxity in the practice of virtue.

CHAPTER 3

The Persecution under Leo the Armenian, Iconoclast. The Exile of Saint Nicholas.

[13] Indeed, when the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts was thus beautifully luxuriating with its branches and laden with fruit, and was covering the mountains of worldly affection -- that is, the viciousness and loftiness of the movements of the mind -- under its shade, and was sending, as it were by certain shoots, diverse and various ornaments of the virtues to the ends of the world, and when the Church of Christ, increased in all beauty, degree, and order, was safe by faith in the serenity of right doctrines; suddenly, like ^a certain cloud arising unforeseen and unexpected from the parts of the East, it filled everything with dark night: Leo the Armenian, ^a most wicked man namely ^a certain Leo, sprung from the stock of the Armenians, ^a man truly harmful and most wicked, holding the Sacrament of piety in name only, not in reality: whom many clearly knew to be ^a recently equipped Satan, and he was and was called such, while Michael was then piously governing the scepters of the Roman Empire, and when the Huns were already devastating the regions of Liba. The Emperor first creates this wretched man the General of the army, General of the army and sends him, attended by many, against the aforesaid nation to bring aid to the Empire. He, moreover, just as his name, so also bringing ^a bestial will, and pressing down within himself the counsel lurking in his soul, and holding the heresy of his father Constantinus Copronymus, who was himself also Leo, and of his son the little Leo, the wretched man rises up against the beneficent God, the King of all, and His kingdom. by evil arts Indeed, when the foolish man had deceived the troops serving under him by ^a great lavishing of gifts, coming to the parts of Thrace outside the city, the impiously wicked man is proclaimed Emperor he seizes the Empire: Iconoclast against the pious Christians; and, openly declared an Iconoclast, enters the palace.

[14] When, however, he had remained silent for ^a short time, and that craftily, so that he might safely secure the Empire for himself, he soon opened his mouth against heaven, belching forth blasphemy against Christ the God of all, he abolishes the veneration of sacred images denying that the sacred figures of images should be erected, as being simulacra of idols. O madness! For the statue of turpitude did not understand that those things whose originals clearly have ^a contrary character also clearly have likenesses derived from them. For things that are contrarily related to one another also necessarily bring about ^a mutual communion that is contrary. For the contrary character of the one to the other -- of an idol, I say, and of an image -- as of Christ and Belial, is clear from both. For an idol is so named as something that falsely claims to be, and even feigns, ^a likeness of the original; but an image is so properly named as being truly similar, in distinction from the idol. But the wretched man, having ^a name derived from ^a beast, was unwilling to understand anything of this kind: rather, raging in the manner of the Corybantes, so to speak, and raving with fury against Christ and His most immaculate image, when he found certain men truly corrupt in mind and assenting in all things to his wicked counsels, he thought that through them he would reduce the Sacrament of Christian piety to ^a fable. Yet he was unable to accomplish this, and although he struck with the violence of an arrow, impinging more powerfully against the champions of the Church, he was blunted.

[15] For when in ^a certain sacred chapel of the palace, he had assembled ^a crowd of Priests and our Fathers, he drives the Priests who oppose him into exile with soldiers surrounding him on every side, he himself presiding in the midst, with an arrogant and raging spirit, declaimed as if in ^a public address against the great Patriarch and his associates, on the grounds that they had consented in error to the restoration of the venerable images. And then, seeing that they variously cut through the middle of the prattle of his nonsense with the sword of the Spirit (although he was stupefied by the boldness of none as much as by that of the Hero and great Father Theodore), driven to fury by this, he expelled them all to ^a man from the palace, boiling with great anger, and forthwith assigned to each ^a place of exile.

[16] Wherefore the Patriarch, whose name derives from victory, is deported; the Patriarch Nicephorus is banished and all are banished, as many as venerated the image of Christ with ^a certain disposition toward the original. But above all are banished, to pass over very many others, that common and most luminous name, and with Saint Theodore, Saint Nicholas I say that delight given by the gift of God, together with his disciple and the valiant champion and Confessor of the faith, Father Nicholas. For the latter, extending ^a hand of compassion from his weakness, attached to himself the former, whose wandering discourse was straying here and there: although the author, not embracing any particular argument, rather follows in the weaving of this history the contests common to both Masters. his perpetual companion in confession and sufferings Let no one, however, blame us in this regard. For we have taken care to adorn his deeds not with artificially composed persuasions, but rather with truth alone. Moreover, ^a greater encomium will hereafter accrue to him from the Father, provided that the cursory narrative alone does not, through unskilfulness, depressing the proven praise of his works, make it appear unworthy. For besides the punishment of exile, and the implacable war that the valiant champion thence endured from the impious, he also continued to serve and adhere to the Father, bearing the want of bodily necessities with the greatest constancy, and showing himself in all things ^a good counselor, dutiful attendant, and helper to him. But let it be the part of the most celebrated Father Theodore to set these things forth, who variously wove for him the crown of fortitude through his letters. Let us, meanwhile, pursue what belongs to our purpose.

[17] Since, therefore, the condemned Emperor had passed sentence in impotent rage against uncondemned and blessed men; in prison he animates others to the contest of faith and they, as exiles, had spent an entire year detained in prison in ^a certain fortress near the lake of Apollonias, called Metopa; and as their fame spread everywhere, and disciples and many others secretly came to them, and nearly all, having taken heart again, were being animated to renew the orthodox contest of the faith; the matter having been discovered, I know not by what means, the new Amalekite, the Emperor unworthy of the purple, immediately sends and transfers them to another fortress in the Eastern theme, named Bonita, ordering that they should see absolutely no one and should hold no conversation concerning the faith. he is separated from them

p. Michael in the Life of Saint Theodore at the year 814, number 42. Whom ^a nearby place at Apollonia soon received, committed to custody in ^a fortress called Mesopa from the region of the marsh. Lake of Apollonias Now according to Ptolemy, book 5 of the Geography, Apollonia is at the river Rhyndacus, which flows through Mysia, ^a region of Asia, into the Propontis. Strabo in book 12 also joins the lake of Apollonias and the river Rhyndacus. Suidas relates that King Attalus of Asia gave this lake its name from his mother, who was buried at Pergamum in the same Mysia. The fortress of Metopa There, therefore, was the fortress of Mesopa, or rather Metopa, so called as if it were the front facing that lake. Thus the village of Metropa is mentioned on January 20 in the Life of Saint Euthymius the Abbot, number 14, but situated between Jerusalem and the Jordan. Metopon, ^a promontory, is also shown by Ortelius in the Tables of ancient Thrace, at the Thracian Bosporus and the Black Sea.

q. Michael at the year 815, number 20, says that he was taken far away to Bonita and there so confined that he could see no one, speak to no one, neither few nor many, and finally do nothing else freely. Saint Theodore, writing from Smyrna, calls this eastern region, and Smyrna the Thracian, so that they had been sent far away: The fortress of Bonita and Michael describes ^a rather long journey between the two places at the year 819, number 21, where at number 22 that letter of Theodore is cited.

CHAPTER 4

Tortures and Beatings Inflicted upon Saint Nicholas.

[18] Lest, however, we seem to be carried beyond our purpose, drawing out the discourse more than is just, come, let us describe the violence of the immense storm, as the many waves beat upon the stern. For when the great Theodore was drawing back to the path of piety through his letters, not only those nearby but also those separated by great distances of place, who had consented to be led astray after the impious heresy; On account of letters sent one of these letters, by uncertain chance and unforeseen, falling into the hands of the man with the fierce and leonine breast, which he had written to the Confessors of Christ, describing the adoration of sacred images from the beginning and denouncing the madness of that dogma, full of contention and novelty; inflamed with fury, and in keeping with his name, roaring like ^a wicked lion, he sends with all speed an officer to inflict beatings. Coming with threats and menaces, together with Saint Theodore, with savage beatings he brought the Saints out of custody, and unjustly -- more unjust than the unjust and wicked Emperor -- driven by insane fury, he beat the great Nicholas with ^a hundred blows of ox-hide whips before the eyes of Theodore. And he beat Theodore in turn with the same number of blows, and then, the blessed men having almost lost their voices in equal combat, he placed them in custody, and blocking the door and ordering them to be starved to death, left them.

[19] But who, recounting those great contests and the violence thereby inflicted upon the Saints, could adequately comprehend them? Who could depict the treacheries they suffered from their guards, the savage fury, and the necessity of deprivation? For to impious men neither was the venerable old age worthy of compassion, nor was the sobriety of youth taken into account: rather, hating them day and night, barking at them like dogs in their wretchedness, and tortured by hunger the execrable men deprived them even of necessary food, for alternate periods of four days, sometimes for an entire week, scarcely throwing them some small morsel of bread; indeed, the wicked men even denied them water itself. And truly the immense violence inflicted is greater than can be expressed in words. Did they then, on account of that harassment, lose their combative constancy of doctrine? Were they seen, unequal to the contests, to diminish anything of the liberty of speaking? By no means. For behold, ^a greater fortitude proceeding from this, and ^a louder sound of preaching.

[25] Then indeed those great pillars of piety, Theodore and Nicholas, departing from Smyrna, Saint Nicholas with Saint Theodore relying only upon ^a staff, changing place by traveling on foot from one location to another, came to the region of Prusa; and thence at last making their way to Chalcedon, and then refreshed by the sight of the Patriarch named from victory, they dwelt with him joyfully for ^a considerable time. Then that common Pastor, seeing them bearing about in their whole body the marks of Jesus, received with the highest honor by Saint Nicephorus honored them and held them in veneration, and in the sight of all, as occasion offered, adorned them by the joining of mutual discourses. Let the envy stirred up against these men depart, and let the demented put their hand upon their mouth, who by their own wickedness, with unbridled tongue, slander those luminaries of the world as being opposed to one another.

[26] Moreover, the Patriarch, taking their good counsel, and together with him the principal Metropolitans, deemed it worthwhile with them he approaches the Emperor to go before the Emperor in person: hoping that they might cast down the scandals that had crept into the Church and the wicked heretics. And indeed, employing as an intermediary ^a certain man placed in high dignity, they went in to the Emperor, and all gave him thanks as each was able. When Theodore had now proposed ^a discourse concerning the sound doctrines of the Church (for the Patriarch Nicephorus, named from victory, had ordered that he should set forth the faith), the Emperor, struck by his words and unwilling, to state the matter plainly, to grant release to the Church; rejecting the admonitions of the faith since, like ^a standard-bearer of the Iconoclasts, he was of the same opinion as they; he said to the divine Theodore: "You have ^a habit of resisting the scepters": as if reproaching him for that frank rebuke, full of freedom, which that common torch of the Church had made, like ^a zealous Phinehas, under two Emperors, Constantine and Nicephorus. For indeed he had before his mind's eye how he had predicted by the prophetic spirit the pitiable death that was to be inflicted upon the Emperor Nicephorus by the Bulgars, on account of the adulterous marriage he had defended against reason and with contentiousness: and struck with fear, "Since," he said, "even enemies reverence the virtue of ^a man," he obtains his freedom with these words he modestly repelled him. Finally, when the Emperor had most willingly confirmed the sacred senate of the Fathers with ^a pledge of security, he ordered them to depart from the Palace, empty of all satisfaction as regards right doctrines.

CHAPTER 6

An Illustrious Example of Chastity.

[27] Fittingly, since we have arrived at this point in our discourse, I thought something conducive to the salvation of souls should be added to the present work. Inserted at the command of the Superior Anatolius The deed occurred at that time in Bulgaria under the Emperor Nicephorus, as I have already said above; and it was he who now ordered it to be described, who tonsured me, unworthy, as ^a monk, and who for many years, as the common teacher of virtue, has governed and ruled our monastery; and who comes to increase the encomium for us in monastic deeds. I know that you all know our Pastor, Anatolius. Setting forth ^a table for the nourishment of the soul, he began the joy of ^a spiritual banquet in more or less this manner. A certain disciple of this our holy Father Nicholas, a disciple of Saint Nicholas narrated it named Cyprian, had it as his custom to visit annually ^a certain old man who had his dwelling on account of exile, and who displayed ^a life worthy of his old age, resembling that of the Angels, as the discourse will conveniently teach as it proceeds. The old man, seeing and admiring Cyprian's longstanding affection toward him from boyhood, as if ^a possession held by hereditary right, left to the young man this narrative of the contest he had waged; communicating through him to all what was useful therein.

[28] For he said: While still of youthful age, I was enrolled in the company of the Scholarii. And when the Emperor Nicephorus, accompanied by his entire army, had marched against the Scythians, it happened by ^a certain chance, A youth having followed the army such as is wont to befall human affairs, that I was left entirely alone, and went following after the army. Now at ^a certain place around the parts of Thrace, when evening had overtaken me, wishing to spend the night there, I was received by ^a very wealthy woman who, as I suppose, was accustomed to receive travelers in hospitality. She, setting out ^a sumptuous table and offering supper with great cheerfulness of spirit, displayed toward me an insatiable kind of benevolence. Whence also, after supper and the feast, at ^a lodging causing me to sleep on an elevated couch and dissolving all the weariness of the journey, she indulged me with much rest. But the devil, who always

envies, did not permit even this good to proceed without fault: rather, foolishly injecting the woman's wicked desire, he urged her to unite with me in shameful intercourse. Rising from the bed on which she slept, she then approached mine as I slept, and endeavored by the turpitude of her words to draw me to illicit union. But I, repelling her as much as I could, provoked to lust by his hostess, he repeatedly repels her said with just reason: "Woman, even if war were not set upon the barbarians' razor's edge, one ought to keep inviolate the chastity commanded by the Divine Laws. But if the armor of war is justice, and if, wounded by the sword of pleasure, I, wretched man, should slay my own soul, how could I set out to join battle with the enemy, when I myself should be dead before the battle?" She, hearing such words, when she had withdrawn ^a little, came to me again, enticing me to love with the same words. I nevertheless watered her repulse ^a second time also with words urging chastity. But when I saw her pressing ^a third time as well, and desiring to drag me down to the depths of hell, then more vehemently crying out, and threatening her with death, he flees and threatening her with death by my own sword at that very hour, I rose up from there, and mounting my horse, proceeded on my intended journey at full speed. Then she, suspecting that the story would be spread abroad by me, seeking my death, sent her servants after me, ordering me to be killed outright. divinely snatched from death Yet the immense clemency of God freed His client from those who would inflict death, just as from her who would inflict ^a mortal wound upon his soul: and by ^a certain wonderful means, caused him to go directly by another road.

[29] When, however, I had not long since reached the borders of Bulgaria, and was traveling within them entirely alone with no other companion on the journey, and had drawn nearer to ^a certain mountain, my mind being stretched with thoughts (for truly at that very hour I was in reality, entirely bathed in tears, reflecting within myself on the Divine oversight and the calamity that had befallen me), I heard ^a certain voice in ^a vision of ^a giant old man appearing calling me from the summit of the mountain. Struck with fear, because I was utterly alone, and scarcely drawing breath and trembling, I turned my face to him who called: and fixing my eyes, I perceived ^a new spectacle surpassing nature: namely, an old man of gigantic stature, clothed in white, whose garments shone like the sun. He, extending his hand, commanded me to ascend quickly to him. And I, the burden of timidity being immediately cast off, and mingled with joy, ascended to him, and finding him seated on the ground, I prostrated myself and adored him. Then he, graciously invoking ^a blessing, commanded me to rise and stand upright at his right hand. Moreover, he had his feet by the alternate movement of his feet spread out in ^a certain manner upon the ground; and with his hand he pointed to the plain below the mountain, filled with bodies, to be seen, and the troops of the armies standing in it together with the Emperor: and he inquired whether I could distinguish between the foreign and our own camps separately. When I had openly confessed this; "Look," he understands the mutual slaughter of both armies he said to me, "fearing nothing." Now while they were drawing up their arms, each seeking to avenge his own battle line, this one, raising his right foot, placed it upon his left: then I saw our battle line attacking the enemy's line with great force and breaking through it entirely. And when the Scythians were utterly perishing and were about to turn their backs to those killing them; behold, he again raised his left foot and placed it above his right; and then the barbarians, rising up, were pressing forward, miserably slaying our men. And I, as if stupefied and astonished by this new and wonderful spectacle, stood gazing at what was happening: namely, both that commutation of his feet and the alternate riding forward in turn, and the bitter and most cruel slaughter of those being cut down by the sword. And when thus until sunset, by this posture of body and commutation of feet, he had determined victory for each side, and arranging them, had composed them in an equal position, just as the rest of the body; they too, putting an end to their mutual combat, dissolved that terrible war.

[30] Then he, rising and standing upright, asked of me whether I could calculate the sum of those who had fallen, [and learns that he was snatched from the slaughter because of his preserved chastity] and whether any place had been left vacant, devoid of ^a dead body? And when I pleaded inability, and openly confessed that I could perceive no such place; but thought, however, that some small piece of ground stood out, about enough as would seem sufficient for the body of an ox laid out, in the midst of the slain, and pointing my finger at it, he replied: "Do you see that space, devoid of ^a dead body, left there? It was assuredly yours, and no one else's. For you were to die in that place and be given with the others as food for the birds of the sky. But because you kept your body incorrupt and did not pollute your soul with shameful passion, therefore God has mercifully freed you from that terrible and dreadful necessity and from bitter death." And when he had said these things, he vanished from my sight.

[31] Then I, bowing my head ^a little with much dread and amazement, shaken with fear, he becomes ^a monk and adoring the holy ground on which his feet had stood, descended from the mountain, and traveling back the whole night, arrived here in ^a few days, having resolved in my mind that I, humble and unworthy, should serve God who had saved me, by taking this habit. "You therefore also, son Cyprian, when temptations come upon you, do not be sad: rather, bearing them manfully, he counsels chastity and always embracing and seeking the good of chastity, you shall have God as your helper, who does not despise those who hope in Him." Now let us here, ending this kind of narrative, even though it has been more extended by digression, yet useful nonetheless, turn our pen to the history of our common Fathers.

CHAPTER 7

The Retirement and Solitude of Saint Nicholas under Michael Balbus and Theophilus. The Death of Saint Theodore the Studite.

[32] When, therefore, the Caesar Michael, as has already been said above, although we have digressed somewhat from our purpose, had refused to have the strength of the faith as his aid, and therefore, by the supreme foolishness of his boorish mind, On account of the persecution, Nicholas departs with Saint Theodore had decreed that each should think as he pleased; but had entirely forbidden the venerators of the venerable images to dwell within the city; our holy Fathers Theodore and Nicholas, bidding farewell to the most holy Patriarch and all who were with him, departed to the above-designated place adjoining the gulf of Prusa, and there they remained. Indeed, when the seducer of the people, Thomas, was exercising his fury upon the Roman world, at the command of the Emperor, they returned, even unwillingly, to the royal city. And departing thence shortly after, they sought the peninsula adjacent to the promontory of Acritas, called by the name of the great Martyr Tryphon,

where at last the common end of life overtook the Father glorious in many contests and the most blessed Theodore. he is present at his death He departed, moreover, with the greatest celebrity of his name, on the eleventh day of the month of November: and his blessed tabernacle, translated thence to ^a neighboring island named Prinkipo, was committed to glorious and holy burial. and near his tomb But concerning him certain sacred Doctors of the Church have written, as ^a certain Dorian gift, depicting his illustrious deeds for perpetual memory, for the common benefit of the Christian commonwealth.

[33] But that shining pillar of the Church, Nicholas, bereft of his spiritual Father, he remains constantly clung to the tomb, adding contests to contests and labors of monastic exercise to labors, and daily mourning the loss of the Father as is the custom of this world: and many of the Byzantines, especially of the senatorial order, those who approach him he instructs as well as many from neighboring regions, flocked to him in that place; for they knew him to be ^a mirror of compassion, adorned with the varied splendor of virtues. He, with the uprightness of heart that was his, receiving them and embracing them with fatherly affection, applied to each member the fitting remedy, held in admiration by all as ^a good healer of the words of the soul, and in veneration as ^a Confessor of Christ.

[34] However, when Michael had departed from this life and his son Theophilus had obtained the scepters of the Empire, war was again renewed against the pious, the Emperor Theophilus and savage beatings were inflicted upon them. At which time also those two luminaries, risen for us from the land of Moab, and illuminating the Church of Christ with the brilliance of sound doctrine, [he defaces and tortures the faces of Saints Theodore and Theophanes with inscribed verses] whom our divinely inspired and divine Fathers call Theodore and Theophanes, brothers by nature (since they were also brothers in faith), he who by his works denied that he loved God (although from this he was only nominally called Theophilus), because they venerated Christ in images and reverenced Him, holding them, after many torments, impiously inscribing their faces, exhibited them as ^a new and unprecedented spectacle common to all men.

[35] Then also, when ^a certain pious woman saw that our Father Nicholas was being badly worn out by frequent changes of place on account of the prevailing dark night of the wicked heresy, Saint Nicholas lies hidden in ^a suburb and wished, like another Shunammite in the manner of the great Elisha, to receive him in hospitality; having ^a suburban estate not far from the city toward the parts of Thrace, quite removed from the crowds, she offered it to the servant of Christ, rightly accommodating the matter to the name, full of mercy, ^a gift how great -- namely peace, as she, named Irene from peace, provided it together with the property. There, therefore, he remained, fearing the plots of the heretics. Afterward, however, he added it by ^a confirmed donation to his monastery, which has the name Phirmopolis.

[36] When, then, Theophilus had now departed this life, and the heresy together with him had, as I think, under the Catholic Emperor Michael been deservedly buried in one wretched tomb, and his Christ-loving wife Theodora with her son Michael, still quite young, had assumed the citadel of the Roman Empire, and the impious John, as by ^a prelude of eternal retribution, had also here received deposition from sacred things; and the great Methodius as Patriarch held the helm of the Church, and the Patriarch Saint Methodius with the divinely inspired Fathers assembling together, the celebration of Orthodoxy had its beginning; since the ends of the world now had serenity, and the Confessors of Christ, like certain stars,

more illustriously adorned the entire firmament of the Church. Then indeed also our common Father and servant of Christ, Naucratius, returning from exile, came to Byzantium, Naucratius is placed over the Studites and for the merit of his contests, received by the illustrious man with much honor by the Empress and the Patriarch himself, at their request he assumed the prefecture of the sacred brotherhood then assembled together in the most venerable monastery of Studius: which indeed the great Theodore had recently nurtured and increased by many labors, advancing it to nearly ^a thousand in number. And that flock of Christ was again vigorous with new strength, like ^a certain Paradise, presenting to those wishing to behold them many roses of virtues and the sweet fragrance of the spirit.

[37] But Father Nicholas, having hunted from every quarter for the friendly rest from the contests that he loved so well in prison, Saint Nicholas loves solitude and daily compunct therein, although he very much wished by right of friendship to dwell together with the Brothers; yet he was not permitted by his better pursuit, desiring to labor continually in his beloved solitude. Wherefore, spending much time in the aforesaid lodging, he less frequently betook himself hither to the company of the Fathers. During this time there also occurred the illustrious and joyful Translation of the Confessor and our holy Father Theodore the relics of Saint Theodore the Studite are translated from the island of Prinkipo to our monastery, under the provision of the most pious Empress and the great Patriarch, with the entire assembly of the Church concurring: and he was gloriously deposited on the twenty-sixth of January, beside his illustrious and divinely inspired uncle Plato, together with his brother and Bishop Joseph, at the right side toward the eastern part of the shrine of the holy Precursor: in which place also the sacred relics of the victorious Martyrs have been laid.

These things Saint Theodore describes in ^a letter sent to John, Bishop of Cyzicus, which is inserted in their Acts. Cedrenus reports twelve verses inscribed on the forehead, and Saint Methodius, writing to them while himself enclosed in ^a tomb, alludes to them thus:

Those whose names are written in the heavenly books, And whose pious brows are pricked with marks: He who was buried before his own funeral Greets the bound, himself weighed down with chains.

Saint Theophanes, after the peace of the Church was restored, was made Bishop of Nicaea.

p. Saint Methodius is venerated on June 14. We shall treat of him on February 5 in the Prolegomena to the Acts of Saint Agatha.

q. Orthodoxy is the name of the feast day on which the restoration of sacred images is celebrated annually on the first Sunday of Lent.

r. Orthodoxy Perhaps the hymn that is published under the name of Theodore the Studite and sung at the erection of sacred images belongs to this Naucratius, and is cited in Greek and Latin by Baronius at the year 842.

s. Michael, in Baronius at the year 844, number 26, eighteen years after his death.

t. Therefore in the year 845, if the eighteen years were complete.

u. Michael: "In which the rich ark of the great Plato and also of the blessed Joseph is likewise preserved." That Saint Plato was the uncle of Saint Theodore is attested here in the funeral oration, where he assigns to him two older sisters, from one of whom he himself was born. Combefisius had translated "grandfather on the mother's side." In Greek: "his maternal uncle." Plato is venerated on April 4, Joseph on July 14.

x. Victorious Martyrs The monastery of Studius was built in honor of Saint John the Baptist.

y. In Greek: "the sacred relics of the victorious Martyrs." The Emperor John Tzimisces was accustomed to invoke the holy victorious Martyrs in his military expeditions, whom Cedrenus calls "the victorious Martyrs. The Emperor used to employ these as champions and standard-bearers against the enemy"; and adds that two of these bore the name Theodore: of whom one, the General of Heraclea in Pontus, is venerated on February 7, where we also treat of the other Theodore Tiro, whose sacred day is November 9: and in section 4 we describe this Emperor's piety toward them.

CHAPTER 8

The Prefecture of the Studites. Departure on Account of Photius, Intruded into the See of Saint Ignatius.

[38] When Methodius, that defender and herald of piety, had departed to that blessed lot, and Ignatius had assumed the helm of the pontifical office, under the Patriarch Saint Ignatius that admirable man, truly illustrious for his many crowns of contest, Naucratius, fell asleep on the eighteenth of April, and slumbered into death, leaving as his successor the blessed Confessor and much-suffering Father, our Nicholas. Saint Nicholas becomes Superior of the Studites He, however, reflecting in his mind on the magnitude of the dignity and its burden, and always carrying with him, as his companion and domestic citadel of virtues, humility, mourned and was distressed at this matter. Yielding, nevertheless, to the many entreaties of the Fathers, he accepted that appointment: for he properly understood humility to mean that one should hold what seems right to many as more important than what he himself approves by his own will.

[39] When, however, for the space of three years he had most honorably directed that noble ship of the Brothers toward the gains of the virtues, after three years the prefecture was transferred with the breezes of the divine Spirit blowing; since, as the discourse has clearly shown, he was ^a lover of quiet like few others, and being more vehemently inflamed by that desire, could no longer bear the shaking darts of his thoughts; when he had set forth ^a few things on the matter in an address delivered before the Fathers; he finally proposed one who should bear the prefecture in his place, to Sophronius ^a man named Sophronius, distinguished by the dignity of the presbyterate, who nonetheless confirmed in reality the grace of his name by the growth of his temperance. For they say, as is not infrequently reported, that the blessed man sometimes said of himself with ^a certain simplicity and candor, for the profit of his hearers: a sober man "Never, from the time he had put on the monastic habit, had he consumed such ^a quantity of bread, or wine, or any other food that could fatten, as would suffice to fill the belly."

[40] To this man, therefore, leaving the flock in the presence of the Patriarch, the most holy man went out and settled in the aforesaid lodging of Phirmopolis. he withdraws into solitude: after four years For the delight of the place held him, though he rather strove to attain the morals for the sake of which the place was cherished. However, when the illustrious Sophronius had excellently increased the monastery for four years and had obtained as the reward of his diligence the riches of good works, and had departed to the Lord on the third day of November, he resumes the government the monks, lovers of the Father, being unable any longer to bear the absence of the Saint, came to his own lodging of rest and, again compelling him as ^a father who loves his children to undertake the prefecture, brought him to the monastery: and he meanwhile rejoiced daily in his children with fatherly piety.

[41] When, therefore, in keeping with the meaning of her name, that gift of Christ granted to the Church -- I mean the Christ-loving and most devout Empress -- had been cast out of the court by her son Michael, when he had now put off the stammering of infancy; since the new Emperor had taken to himself as his evil counselor Bardas, the brother of Theodora, Bardas created Caesar by the Emperor and both had so divided the Commonwealth between them that one claimed the Empire and the other the honor of Caesar for himself; they thereby brought upon the subject people no small confusion of wills in one another, in ^a manner they did not expect, violating the Divine laws against themselves. For the one lifted up his brow against his mother; the other, moreover, sinned against nature itself, rashly usurping the action of nature contrary to nature. For see what was happening. Namely, on account of incestuous crimes the wretched Caesar Bardas, wickedly raging against his son's marriage bed, was known as an alien husband with his own daughter-in-law, disturbing the yoke of another, similar to and yet of his son. The Patriarch of God, therefore, bearing the name of the great Ignatius the Theophorus, striving to correct this crime as far as possible, constant according to the prescription of the Divine law, continually admonished, entreated, and rebuked, hoping that by this means the crime would be entirely cut out. 2 Timothy 4:2 But the love of the unlawful union would not allow the wretch to return to any better course. excommunicated However, when the holy Patriarch saw the man to be obstinate and ^a servant of sin to the furthest extent, he thenceforth barred him from the sacred precincts of the church, providing him this occasion for amendment. But he, transfixed equally by anger and unreasonable lust, turned his power into tyranny by his arrogance: and accompanied by the entire people, raging and with haughty spirit, entering the temple and penetrating within the sacred sanctuary, he demanded to be admitted to the dread mysteries by the Patriarch.

[42] But that zealot, with the iron lance of his words, publicly holding forth before him the rebuke of his crime, gravely pierced him to the very core, and cast him out of the church, empty and confounded. He, however, driven by fury with all his heart, at last persuaded the Emperor he expels Saint Ignatius from his See to dethrone the Great Ignatius from his See, which indeed happened not long after. Then what? When Ignatius had been expelled by tyranny, they chose ^a certain man named Photius, then discharging the office of first secretary, he substitutes Photius ^a man of great reputation for learning and knowledge: whom, immediately ordering to be tonsured, they elevated to the pontifical dignity. But what need is there to recount the individual tares that sprang up on that occasion, since all the children of the Church have them clearly before them? However, the argument must be fitted to our Pastor Nicholas.

[43] He, therefore, who had devoted himself utterly to Christ and God and had composed himself in every part according to the norm of His commandments; who in the first bloom of youth, leaving his homeland, had become ^a stranger, Saint Nicholas avoids communion with Photius and who, in apostolic fashion, wished to be ^a companion of the Brothers in their infirmities and to be afflicted together with them everywhere, keeping the likeness and the image as well as the communion inviolate, breaking himself away from the unjust conscience of the disordered, and departing from the monastery together with his brother, lived in the lodging of the same, he departs which is situated at Prenetum. When the fame of this had spread and the rumor had grown throughout the entire people and gained full credence; the Caesar, having long known the man's exalted virtue and knowing that he was celebrated on the lips of all, and astonished at how much the holy man's departure would increase the rebuke of his madness, brought the forces of the empire to bear to uncover it. When he had learned the location of his lodging, the Emperor and Bardas trying to win him over the morose man immediately endeavored by the persuasive words of his discourses to entice the Father to his opinion: and taking along his companion, the Emperor Michael, in the baths of Pythia, quickly embarking on ^a ship, they found the holy man at Praenestus, and throwing out flattering words like javelins (for their tyranny was grievous and such as could easily change the minds even of manly virtue), they thought to recall the Saint from his resolve. Then that Great one addressed them in ^a rather familiar discourse: he rebukes them "It was fitting that you who have sinned against God and His Divine laws should apprehend His discipline and not draw His wrath in fury upon yourselves. For severe judgment shall be upon those who rule. Wisdom 6:6 Since, however,

you refuse to let the physicians of repentance heal your festering ulcers, the Holy Spirit says this: 'Things will go badly for you in the end.'"

c. In the year 848.

d. In the year 851.

e. In the year 855.

p. Nicetas Choniates, book 3 of his account of Alexius Angelus, says that he encamped at Pythia in order to bathe in the hot springs. Procopius also mentions the same in book 5 of the Buildings of Justinian: Pythia it is ^a place in Bithynia.

q. Rather, we think it should be read as Prenetum (of which we have already treated).

CHAPTER 9

The Exile and Imprisonments of Saint Nicholas. The Government of the Monastery Resumed.

[44] Having been exasperated by these words, they departed empty-handed, reserving their hopes for another opportune time. Achillas placed over the Studites Sending someone after them to the Saint, they signified that he should not dwell in any lodging of his monastery. And as if in revenge, they immediately appointed in his place ^a man named Achillas, ^a man of upright morals on every side, as Superior. They themselves, as the proverb has it, left no rope unmoved to capture the Saint. But the servant of God, Nicholas, thus driven from his own, he is driven out and forbidden to approach them more closely, changed his place from one location to another, consumed both by poverty and old age. Then ^a certain man, seeing him so harassed, who had obtained the same illustrious name as the Prophet Samuel, and who sought fellowship with the Saint's name as well as with his works and truth, and who liberally shared his riches with the needy as the price of the redemption of the soul, purchased ^a secluded and quiet place he obtains ^a quiet place in the city toward the parts of Liba, and with ^a most upright intention offered it to the holy man, by that generosity providing comfort for the lover of quiet: which place by the grace of God he eventually made into an illustrious monastery, laying in it from the beginning the best foundation. For afterwards, when he had summoned one of his disciples, Evarestus by name, not only did that one show himself in the contests of the ascetic arena to be Evarestus -- that is, pleasing and agreeable -- in reality; but he also made the very place, through those who pleased God in it and devoutly served, well-pleasing, which even now excellently abounds in his efficacious intercessions and illustrious merits, and is held in veneration by nearly the entire world; although it was formerly called the place of Cocorobion. Finally, while the holy man was dwelling in peace in that venerable place, thence he migrates on account of the plots of Photius Photius the Patriarch, with the help of the Emperors, was contriving by every means to draw him to himself and was trying to induce him to come. For he was seeking his glory above that of all others. When the admirable man perceived this, wishing to avoid their snares, he fled precipitately to Proconnesus, and thence went to Mytilene: where, after he had remained for ^a sufficiently long time, he was at last brought back together with his own brother to the Chersonese, to dwell at Xamclium.

[45] Moreover, the aforesaid Achillas, after governing the flock in the Saint's monastery for five years, was created Archbishop of Nacolia in the parts of the East: from whom Theodosius, undertaking the prefecture and himself also having presided for one year, after Theodosius, Eugenius, and Theodore was removed from the living and had Eugenius as his successor. But when he himself had held the prefecture for four months, Theodore, ^a native of Santabaris and therefore called Santabarenus by some, was substituted as successor: to whom at last, after he had discharged the role of Superior for one year, Sabas succeeded, ordained by Callistratus, his disciple, who was then acting as Patriarch. When the great Father Nicholas had spent seven years in the aforesaid place, worn out both by the necessities of nature under Sabas, Superior of the Studites, he is wasted in prison and by old age itself, he was brought thence in chains back to his own monastery, handed over to the aforesaid Sabas, and held in prison for ^a period of two years with the greatest neglect of his body and very strict custody.

[46] Because, nonetheless, the ways of sinners are dark, and they do not know how they stumble; the end foretold by the Saint against the two Caesars was then first to overtake them, and the Emperor Michael and the Caesar, joining their forces, led out an army to Crete against the Ishmaelites. Proverbs 4:19 Then, Michael and Bardas slain their fury having been mutually excited against one another on the way, the Caesar, assailed by treachery, was wretchedly slain, cut to pieces by the sword. And when the other had returned, he too shortly drank the same cup of wrath, meeting one and the same end, just as the just man had pronounced. Soon afterward, Basil the Caesar assumed the scepters of the Roman Empire to govern them: and ordering ^a sacred Synod to be held, after the pontifical See had been restored to Ignatius, seeking our common Father and light of the Church, Nicholas, he entreated him under the Emperor Basil he resumes the government to take back the care of his monastery, bringing along with himself ^a Bishop as an intercessor in his entreaty. But he, declining the office entrusted to him, pleaded both the weakness of his advanced old age and the labors and troubles endured by those who had held the prefecture there: "You have," he said, "Emperor, one devoted to your will in all things you command with great readiness: but I ask this one thing of you, that you not impede my freedom and release; to which let it accrue as ^a great gain that I be made known and protected by your holiness." Finally, the Emperor, graciously receiving the blessed man and persuading him to discharge even now the office of his former prefecture, dismissed him from the court with great pleasure of soul: although he also frequently summoned him to himself, being greatly delighted by his simplicity.

n. Until the year 867.

p. In Asia, not far from Ephesus, where the river Meander, says Curopalates, flows into the sea, and there is ^a maritime place called the Gardens.

q. The first day was then April 1 of the fourteenth Indiction. The Emperor Michael, returning to Byzantium, adopted Basil as his son and arranged for him to be decorated with the sacred anointing of the Empire on the feast of Pentecost, May 26, the fourteenth Indiction. The death of Bardas So Curopalates; which corresponds to the year 866, dominical letter F, solar cycle 7, lunar cycle 12, Easter celebrated on April 7: so that it is surprising that Baronius refers it to the following year 867.

r. In the following year 867, at the beginning of the first Indiction, the twelfth day before the Kalends of October, as Nicetas relates.

s. He is proclaimed Emperor after seizing the palace. Nicetas.

t. On Sunday, November 23, according to Nicetas, in the same year 867, dominical letter E, solar cycle 8. The Ecumenical Council was held in the year 869.

CHAPTER 10

Miracles of Saint Nicholas during His Life. Comparison with Other Saints.

[47] Hence I have thought it worthwhile to append also the resulting fruits to the labors of the blessed man, in ^a brief narrative, and to indicate ^a few of his miracles to readers, He shines with miracles so that the usefulness of the narrative may stand complete. For although signs are for unbelievers, according to what Scripture says, yet the Lord, for the greater glory of His servants, distributes their gifts, by which nature is benefited, among the faithful. 1 Corinthians 14:22 Let us, therefore, joyfully declare the divine miracles of the Spirit.

[48] For Eudocia, wife of the Christ-loving Emperor, fell gravely ill during these days, and when the disease was declining toward death, she had already been abandoned by all the help of physicians. [he heals ^a woman at the point of death, the Empress Eudocia, appearing in ^a vision] When the Emperor, sorrowful at this, was crying out bitterly and was distressed in spirit, ^a vision that intervened in the meantime made his heart glad. For she seemed, when she had tasted ^a little sleep, to see ^a certain old man, ^a monk by habit, whom much glory adorned, addressing her in these words: "Take heart," he said, "for you shall by no means die now: rather, from this time forward you shall experience the blessings of the health you desire." Then she, released from sleep, immediately communicated the matter to her husband, and by imperial decree she ordered all men in the city who excelled in the praise of holiness to come up to her, as if to visit. Wherefore our Father also, coming to the palace with the choir of the Fathers, his face glorified like that of Moses, clearly made himself known to the Empress as the very one who had pledged his words in the vision. And so, with ^a loud voice, pouring forth thanksgiving and making it public, she proclaimed the glorious wonders of God toward her through him. The Emperor, moreover, and all the attendant throng, admiring the man, honored him with fitting marks of respect. Symbolically, I think, the servant of Christ wrought ^a miracle similar in portent like Saint Nicholas of Myra to that which his namesake patron Nicholas had once performed; when, appearing to the Emperor in ^a vision, he freed men from an unjust death. Indeed, attaching miracles to miracles, let us learn the Father's virtue.

[49] For Helena, formerly the wife of the Patrician Manuel, when she, like the Empress, had drawn nearer to the gates of hell by the force of disease, and Helena the Patrician's wife, by the sign of the Cross and when her family had already prepared themselves for the last offices on behalf of the dying; that Great one, approaching and touching the head of the sick woman with his hand, and tracing the sign of the Cross above in the air, and signing her body, revived her from the retreat of death. For immediately upon recovering her health, she was freed from the dire pain by which she was held.

[50] But this also is recorded to have happened to her aforesaid husband. Namely, when he was lying prostrate on ^a bed on the ground, he predicts various offices for ^a man given up by physicians and had already received the final sentence of death from the physicians, he asked the holy man to be present, crying out and entreating that he adorn him with the angelic habit of monks. To whom the Saint replied: "By no means. For, son, it would not be fitting, since you, shortly leaving behind the signs of this infirmity, are by the gift of God to administer the prefectures of magistracies. When this has come to pass, and the manner of his death I shall thereafter, when you have laid aside your hair, take you up, filled with good works, to that blessed lot." The prediction had its fulfillment, and the event followed the prophecy. For he, leaving both his bed and his illness, and having discharged those various magistracies, when at last he had fallen slightly ill, in accordance with the judgment of the just man, laying aside his hair, he departed to the Lord.

[51] Moreover, Theophilus, who was likewise called Melissenus, was called Lydiates: for the man was their son-in-law, and the appellation imposed upon them by their family, parents he himself also bore by reasonable extension. For he was also adorned with the dignity of Protospatharius. Now the children born to him mourning over their dying infants immediately exchanged life for death, and both parents were deprived of their most delightful joy and life. For truly, the stammering utterances that infants most charmingly pronounce with untrained tongue are endearing. With good counsel, therefore, both spouses, approaching this great luminary, threw themselves at his feet and with many tears set forth the grief they felt from the loss of their offspring. And indeed, as with ^a certain shield, fortifying themselves against that unforeseen violence of the death of their infants, they entreated this great man himself to deign to undertake the office of godfather at the regeneration of divine baptism. Yet he did not assent to their request. Nonetheless, holding the head of the surviving infant with his left hand and raising his right hand above, and praying abundantly, he said: "Go home. he predicts ^a long life for the daughter and ^a progeny of grandchildren For the Holy Spirit says this: 'This girl shall live' (for she was female) 'and you yourselves with your own eyes shall see the children of her children, and thus you also shall depart from this world with joy.'" And here too the outcome of events followed the words of the Father: and those who were childless became parents of many children through the fruitfulness of their daughter, who before had been bereft of children.

[52] But why should I pursue each individual thing? It was indeed proved that this great man was entirely adorned with the prophetic mode and the telescope of miracles: although the long passage of time has swallowed most of them in the abyss of oblivion. he is compared with illustrious men Since the discourse, instituted somewhat obscurely on account of its own weakness, has designated his illustrious deeds; come, let us now, joining his deeds with the deeds of the ancients, from this also declare the man's excellence. For the gifts of the Spirit are not partial, nor bound to places and persons, although their power is diverse. For we alone, who are partial, partially divide and distribute among one another the things that are indivisible, revealing the affection we have toward some. Let us, then, consider thus. You admire the upright heart of Abel, Abel, Enos, Enoch and the new firstfruits of his offerings, when they merited praise from God: also the hope of Enos and the translation of Enoch. But you may, if you wish, also admire in this man from infancy itself the new transformation of the mind's understanding toward God, and the firstfruits of all his ages -- namely, of the rational sacrifice from ^a contrite spirit, ^a more precious offering of gifts -- and what hope arises therefrom, and the daily translation of the mind to those things that surpass understanding; by how much greater, from the surrounding and external substance in the one case, but from his very own in this man's case, the offering is consummated. But if you bring forward against our Father the formation of the First Man in the hand of God, Adam his dwelling in Paradise, and the law first given; you will find ^a greater rather than ^a lesser encomium of virtue, receiving therefrom the complete abrogation of the commandment, and about to receive the delight of Paradise with the just: since, according to the judgment of the great Paul, it is impossible for anyone to be made perfect. Hebrews 11:40

[53] You praise Noah because he escaped the waters of the flood in justice, Noah, Abraham and because he contained brute animals within the compass of the wooden ark: likewise the hospitality of Abraham, and his offering of his only-begotten son as ^a new sacrifice to God -- that is, immolating the one received by promise. But praise also in this man his refuge with God from the heretical deluge, and that he saved many kinds of rational beings: likewise the purification of his soul, and the hospitable table that he prepared by right of the priesthood for Christ Himself and God: for he also made himself entirely ^a sacred table and ^a spiritual holocaust. Wonderful indeed is the promise of Isaac even before his birth: but this man himself immediately promised of his own accord even after his birth. Jacob Wonderful also is the ladder of Jacob, as the designation of ^a certain new and admirable sacrament, and the man's skill concerning flocks, and that great happiness from the propagation of twelve offspring from his loins. But wonderful also in this man is the ladder erected by moral conduct of the virtues, and his skill in feeding those entrusted to him, and finally the abundant spiritual begetting of sons from his loins.

[54] The most blessed Job, set upon the dung-heap and with that great endurance in evils, [Job] is celebrated on the lips of all. But this man, wearing that fortitude from the contests he had labored through and the scars of his wounds, and enduring the long confinement of prisons in one place after another like ^a dung-heap, cultivated patience no less than he. Moses The great Moses, as one who was ^a god to Pharaoh and ^a wonderful leader of the people and ^a gentle lawgiver, was as few others were. But this man was likewise, just as he, ^a god by adoption and ^a most gentle lawgiver, admonishing and exhorting all to abstain from evil deeds, and with the rod of ^a soul purified and free from passions, working various miracles. He imitated that unconquerable strength of David in wars, David putting to flight the phalanxes of heretics with invincible fortitude. I pass over the zeal of Phinehas and the Carmel of Elijah, and the power of the spirit granted to Elisha in ^a double gift in the mantle: in which this great man, by the excellence of his virtue, Phinehas, Elijah, Elisha expressed them on both sides as far as is possible.

CHAPTER 11

The Death, Burial, and Miracles of Saint Nicholas.

[55] But if you also seek the distribution of grain by Joseph in Egypt, proceed, and you shall see greater things than those you have asked about. For since, according to what the great Apostle says, after he had well fought the contest of the athletic arena, about at last to pay the common debt of nature, held by disease, Sick he lay on ^a humble bed, with his sons now standing around in troops and mourning the departure of death with sad grief, he consoles his own the blessed man is reported to have asked whether they lacked any of the necessities, pledging, I think, their sorrowful soul by that means. 2 Timothy 4:7 But they, troubled by this new and unusual question of the Father, set forth the scarcity of necessary provisions that had recently occurred. Then the great man, drawing ^a deep sigh from his breast and as if inspired by the Deity, said: "Indeed, I am departing and migrating to my Fathers. he predicts an abundance of grain For this I know to be laid up for me at present: but for you, He who once abundantly supplied manna to Israel in the desert and water from the rock, He Himself will provide for you ^a generous supply of provisions within three days of my departure."

[56] When he had then ordered ^a signal to be given to the Brothers by the striking of ^a wooden board, with ^a humble intimation of voice, seeing the sacred assembly of monks now gathered together, by their common counsel he chose the one who was to succeed him in the prefecture of the monastery. He appoints Clement as his successor This was that admirable Clement, ^a man truly bearing, in keeping with the meaning of his name, green clusters of virtues always, like ^a fruitful branch, and then discharging the office of Oeconomus. He, moreover, somewhat more worn out by the disease, entirely departing in the translation of his mind from human things before that migration, and going out of himself, extending his feet and composing his hands in the form of the Cross, he dies ^a holy death with great confidence he surrendered his soul as it was led away by the holy Angels, in the seventy-fifth year of his life, the six thousand three hundred and seventy-sixth year from the creation of the world, on the fourth day of the odd-numbered month, the first Indiction, which is February.

[57] Moreover, his tabernacle, compunct with many sorrows and illustrious with the greatest glory of contests, he is buried was laid to rest together with Blessed Naucratius, at the right side, in the most glorious and sacred chapel of the Martyrs, which is situated to the right of the shrine of the Precursor: in which place likewise the most illustrious and most venerable honored coffin of our holy Father Theodore has been placed. But what then? Was it the case that when he had departed, he forgot what he had foretold in prophecy? Or did he cause it to happen otherwise than it should, or at ^a later term than the promise contained? By no means. he sends ^a supply of grain For three days after his glorious departure, he sent one ship, among the largest belonging to the Christ-loving Emperor Basil, full of grain, and filled the granaries of the monastery: so that Blessed Clement, struck with great astonishment, pronounced these words: "Behold, Fathers, our common Father after three days, just as he had promised, has fulfilled the debt of his affection toward us, giving us ^a new proof of his confidence before God."

[58] You have the resolution of what you sought, the provision of grain observed in Joseph in Egypt: although here the miracle far surpasses that miracle. Under Hilarion, Superior of the Studites Moreover, I turn my discourse to another wonder. For when the illustrious man Clement had served as Prefect of the monastery for ^a sufficiently long time and had departed to the Lord on the fifteenth day of July, and when Hilarion, having ^a cheerfulness of manner entirely suited to his name, was now bearing the prefecture; ^a disciple of our holy Father Nicholas, named Antonius, called Maurus by some on account of his dark complexion, had for many years been drained by ^a disease of hemorrhage, Antonius his disciple, lying in his cell with such violence of sickness that all hope of restoring his health had failed the physicians. To him at last the aforesaid Father Hilarion permitted to lie in the cell in which the servant of Christ

Nicholas had once been confined, and to await the dissolution of the body. While, therefore, he dwelt there with great joy, the holy man appeared to him in his sleep and addressed him with these words: "Humble Antonius, what disease is troubling you?" And when, he says, he explained the disease and disclosed its force as greater than remedies could address, the great man said: he heals the flow of blood "Fear no more: for from this time on, this disease causing no further trouble, you shall be well." And then returning to myself, no longer in sleep but with my very eyes I beheld the back of him as he departed from the cell. Wherefore the flow of blood was immediately stopped, and ^a great fragrance of sweet odor pervading the cell on every side filled my humble heart with immense joy. Already then forty years had elapsed, and he, suffering no trouble from that disease, lived by the grace of God. And let this suffice for what has been said. For very many things must be passed over in silence, so that we may observe the rule of brevity: since in any case the discourse is too feeble to be able to narrate the force of the miracles; in this regard looking to the profit of the ear that is harder to believe.

[59] We indeed, blessed man, extending our faulty and worn pen toward those things that had remained buried in the depth of silence over the long passage of time, out of the desire that our humble soul has toward you, offering and dedicating this little nourishment of memory, as it were from the ocean of the things illustriously accomplished by you, or even this humble provision, this discourse, to your illustrious and holy memory. The author implores his patronage Do you, however, look down upon us propitiously from heaven, and daily lighten the war of the flesh that is constantly present as ^a companion, and prosperously direct the smallness of our wretched life, so that no unexpected disasters may overtake it; for himself and far from the savage storm of perturbations, may you steer and govern the ship of our soul, and obtain peace for the assembly of the Church from God. For you see how great, and how immovably concealing the day, He displays His wrath: and may you destroy the bold assault of untamed nations and the pride of their insolent spirit. For see what things are now being attempted: churches are burned, and for the peace of the Church and the land is drenched with the blood of Christians: and may you persuade by your intercessions that they either return by the right faith to the ancient nobility of glory, or be utterly dashed to pieces, as nations that desire war. Thus I pray that you may bring it about that, with our morals rightly ordered in good hope in God, we may glory, submitting glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, to the one undivided substance and Divinity, now and always, and unto the ages of ages, Amen.