ON SAINT ANTONY CAULEAS: THE ORATION OF NICEPHORUS THE PHILOSOPHER,
published by Lipomanus and Surius.
Antony Cauleas, Patriarch of Constantinople (Saint)
By Nicephorus.
EXORDIUM AND PROPOSITION.
[1] It was therefore impossible that the time of those who previously excelled in the faith, even if it seemed to have grown old, should not again bring forth similar offspring; Good men do not cease to exist. and by its last birth should confirm, through the things themselves and through deeds, the admirableness of the preceding fruits. For when the Creator had from the beginning fashioned human nature and implanted in it the material of good seeds, he did not allow it to grow old with time, but to flourish anew day by day and bring forth offspring akin to those that preceded, bearing in themselves the unadulterated nobility of their heavenly kinship. For virtue does not receive its measure from that which is later or earlier in time, but from the pure and uncorrupted mind of those who conduct themselves rightly -- as he who is now set forth to be praised in this oration, who by daily advances ascended all the steps of virtue and reached the summit.
[2] But it behooves those who throughout their whole life have devoted their study to the faculty of speaking -- men who are good and powerful in tongue -- The author excuses his own slenderness, unequal to the subject: to weave the crown for this man who exercised himself in virtue throughout his whole life, and to admire the things nobly and rightly accomplished by him; and for me to shut my mouth with a long silence and to hold my tongue with a bond, and while others discharge the office of orator, to be counted among the number of listeners; and to revolve the memory of those things of which inspection and experience, from no distant time, could be the teacher, so that I might be able to bear true and firm testimony to the truth; and to receive through the narrative of the oration the knowledge of those things that are unknown -- but not with an untrained tongue and a mind confused by the cloud of sickness of soul to undertake the magnitude of so great a matter, fearing the danger that threatens those who take upon themselves tasks beyond their powers. For it is so constituted by nature that words cannot attain to realities. But here now, where the longest time has measured virtue, and right deeds imitate the most flourishing meadow, since they can in no way treat all things, they rightly shrink back. For neither are they ignorant of their own talent, nor of the magnitude of the things, yet hoping that they will rather receive something than give it, they consider that they will hide their own weakness behind the magnitude of the virtues -- for no one judges their orations, stunned as they are by the wonder of the things. Wherefore they hope that they will both escape notice and be praised, he determines nevertheless to pay the Father his due. since on account of this connection they are held in admiration. But since the decision of the mind, which holds the primacy among all, prevails -- which judges that after the funeral rites the Father must be paid his due --
committing everything to his grace in speaking (which, even if it must needs fall short, will entirely supply what is lacking, or rather will provide a complete correction to the oration), we approach the narration, laying down as a sort of foundation, in the first place, his fatherland.
AnnotationCHAPTER I
The birth of Saint Antony, his education, his monastic life.
[3] But I should not wish to make mention of the fatherland of his ancestors, since we know that nothing pertaining to the flesh was proper Antony's ancestors from Phrygia on one side, to that heavenly man, almost devoid of flesh, who knew as his only fatherland the supernal city, into which those who are workers of virtue are enrolled as citizens. But since we see that he who for our sake, by the assumption of our nature, was made like us -- the Maker and Lord of all -- admitted a fatherland and ancestors, and that the greatness of humble Bethlehem is proclaimed by every tongue, it is not right to resolve to pass over these things even in the holy Pontiff, but rather to dwell upon them pleasantly, rendering as it were a debt of gratitude for his nurture. But in others, perhaps, fatherland and lineage, when set forth, bring praise from art; in this man, however, of whom we now speak, his birth rather bestows immortal glory upon those from whom he sprang, sending back the splendor from below in the same manner as the reflections of solar rays. One fatherland, therefore, cannot be found. For Asia and Europe divide the glory between them: from Thrace on the other, the latter on account of Thrace, the former on account of Phrygia, each claiming his birth for itself. Since the matter is controverted between them, a third fatherland appears, namely the queen of cities, which also nurtured him, embracing him in her arms from almost the time when he was released from his infant swaddling clothes, as one who was to be her future glory and ornament. And she indeed, as the capital, readily and willingly yields to him, hoping to enjoy the glory. Asia, on the other hand, bears it ill indeed, but does not carry the contention to an immoderate degree; submitting herself to the queen and content with the glory of his ancestors, from whom this man has the springs of his generation: both illustrious, those who, tracing their lineage from Phrygia, on account of the imperial offices which they held in the army of the Emperor, the queen of cities had as inhabitants -- brave in spirit and brave in body, and previously depicting in themselves the fortitude and constancy against vices of him who was to be born from them.
[4] From these was born his father, who from his very parents was from his earliest age dedicated to the lot of God, both in habit and in reality, as Samuel: pious parents and for the succession of his lineage was joined by the law of marriage to a woman, honorable in spirit, honorable in all her morals, and whose bodily beauty brought no dishonor to the nobility of her soul; and who, to say it in a word, in the endowments of both mind and body was in no way inferior to her husband, who was distinguished in both. A remarkable pair, a venerable pair, a pair that was deemed blessed: a marriage that turned the eyes of many to admiration; living little for the flesh but much for God, and for those things which truly lead to God -- deeds and righteous actions. For which and through which, as a kind of reward for their virtue, he is born near Constantinople: they were deemed worthy to produce a sacred fruit. He, in a certain maternal estate not far from the city in which they dwelt, while they were avoiding the urban tumults and the madness of the Iconoclasts, which then prevailed, was brought into the light, nourished more by piety than by milk. When he had begun to stammer, he exhibited to his parents a delightful wonder. from infancy he babbles sacred words: For to his stammering tongue he gave scarcely anything else to speak except whatever pertained to our mystic worship, as much as can be expressed and proceed from the lips of the soft and tender nature of a child; and this, gradually growing with the growth of his body, had at the same time an ever-increasing wonder; and whoever saw it was a prophet of the future.
[5] When he had reached his fifth year, having been taught the shapes of letters by the Holy Spirit (for he did not bring himself to go to a schoolmaster, divinely taught his letters, avoiding the mockery of boys and other childish follies), he ingeniously recited from memory all the sacred prayers, especially those which, not being mystic and said in secret, reach the ears of those who are being initiated by the voice of the Priest. Moreover he also imitated and represented the sacred rites themselves, at five years old he imitates sacred rites: setting forth bread and holding the thurible in his hand -- as though his sacred soul could not endure not to perform divine things even in his imperfect age, and before the time of perfection to begin those things which pertain to perfection. And for the sacred boy, in place of any game, there was this work and study, accompanying his mother only a little, his mother having died, he quickly grows up: but for the most part occupied in these things by himself. After she had migrated to the blessed and ever-youthful inheritance, he lived with his father, exercising himself in learning the sacred psalms. By the felicity of his genius, he displayed an understanding greater than his age, a stature of body more mature than the time of his age, and a mind more capable of what is good and honorable than was consistent with either admitting the measurement of time.
[6] Hence, when he had reached his twelfth year, applying himself to considering things more carefully (O steadfast mind! O good purpose! At twelve he wishes to become a monk:) he distinguished and chose a manner of life. Rejecting the others, looking toward the monastic life, he burned with desire. For the beginnings of things, judged by their end, provide a safe choice of what is better. For the judgment he had, proceeding forward, did not correspond in proportion to his age, but in a youthful body he showed a gray-haired understanding, indicating by his deeds his union with what is good and honorable; and by those things toward which he stretched himself, he signified the stability of an uncorrupted mind. Despising glory and rejecting whatever does not lead to God, he chose the way that leads to him -- rough indeed, but profitable, and which alone can transmit good merchants to that truly precious pearl. For he knew that a soul first captivated by divine love strives wholly toward that alone which is desired, and counts all things as nothing that contribute nothing to what is sought. For what is chosen with the whole heart for acquisition is firm and stable; and what is firmly acquired is readily preserved. For he who had once been spurred toward what is honorable, as if from some starting gate, was carried by a perpetual impulse by virtue, seeking God and striving toward him.
[7] Thereupon he is led to a holy man who presided over a sacred monastery and was distinguished in virtue, for whom action and contemplation, admitted to a monastery, which divided the motions of body and soul, acquired great glory. Who, having at once joined him to himself and foreseeing the virtue that can exist in a youth, brought him over to his own habit and garb -- setting before him his own virtues as upon a tablet, and forming him by his own example, he was his teacher of good learning more by deed than by word. Exercised by him in the circle of learning, he drew in the sweet stream of the divine Scriptures, repelling the nausea of worldly intoxication by that instructor; and thereafter, never turning back, he sets his hand to the plough of exercise, Imitating his Abbot, he prays at night and ministers to others by day, cutting deep furrows of virtue and rightly preparing for the bearing of fruit. And nights had a tongue occupied with prayers and hymns and the meditation of divine things, while days had hands intensely serving those who were exercised together with him.
For he clearly knew that other labors provide a great gain indeed (why would they not?), but not so much; whereas those which are devoted to the service of one's neighbor, bearing manifold fruit, multiply the talent which God has given to each -- the sum of which is charity, the fount of good things: from which the stream flowing forth to cleanse stains presents to God those who are made splendid, splendidly, depicting through compassion what is indelible in the image of God through divine imitation. For dividing most excellently and wisely within himself, he employed this charity as a companion throughout his whole life, through which the soul, flying from sensible things, returns to its original dignity.
[8] He laid this firm foundation. Upon it he cast the stable and firm foundation of the house of virtue. free from vainglory, wrath, and desire, Through it he admitted no trace of vainglory. For self-love is accustomed to follow this vice. For what is held by self-love is altogether held also by the desire for glory; but self-love does not hold the one who loves his brethren. Therefore that which serves through charity is superior to the vice, and it brings into servitude the wild beasts that are within -- the furious impulses, I say, of the soul's disturbances. Nor did he give any access to anger, as one who would repel it as with a bridle and be beautifully borne and carried to virtue. Nor did he indulge cupidity at all, being led from the love of neighbor and of created things to the Creator -- which indeed is the ultimate of things to be desired and the first of things to be longed for. Through this he preserved an unadulterated liberality, repelling from his earliest age the contrary affection; and having acquired compassion reconciled to him and dwelling with him through it, he was wholly God's. So conducting himself rightly from his earliest age, he was on the lips of all and turned the eyes of all toward himself.
[9] Now, with the down blooming on his cheeks and crowning a face full of grace, adorned with charity and other virtues, the meadow of practical philosophy was beautifully flourishing in him, and disposing ascents in his heart, by a more perfect counsel he undertook more perfect works. He took counsel, not using the divine Muse or the vehemence of Demosthenes, but with a certain divine prudence he surpassed man, and everywhere found a great possession -- namely, the divine thing, that is, charity which makes men gods -- or rather, bringing forth what he had, he was borne toward his aim, needing nothing of the mercantile art of Hermogenes. Through this he possessed mildness and moderation of manners, gravity, gentleness, simplicity, restraining the senses, pleasantness, the prudence of the serpent tempered with the sincerity of the dove. Hence it came about that he knew the measure of speech and of silence, the motion of the hand and the step of the foot, the bit of taste and the boundary of sight, the plumb line of smell and the caution of hearing -- so that the soul might remain in its pure and natural mirror, and not death, namely he who uses his own will, might secretly ascend through the windows to it, as the proverb has it. Jeremiah 9:21 And for the rest, his one study was to make the flesh serve the spirit, to hunt the wild beasts of thoughts, and to cleanse the dens by the investigating notions of the mind -- by sober and vigilant movements, as if by dogs, swift toward better things.
[10] Wherefore he considered nothing great of those things which tend toward destruction and whose nature it is to dissolve with time -- not glory, not riches, not even he despises human things, even knowledge, the wisdom that consists in speaking; but he possessed as his sole riches virtue and true knowledge, which only philosophy is accustomed to acquire in deed. For he knew that even if philosophy is the knowledge of things that are, yet action is the ascent to true contemplation. And from the contemplation of things that are comes exquisite consideration. By action, therefore, he appears to acquire true philosophy. Such was the new Joseph, a rule of temperance, who raised bright trophies against vices and demons: he himself was indeed illustrious, but made many more illustrious by his example. What are to me the Socratic admonitions compared to these, or the laws of Plato, or the entire virtue of the Gentiles, which is exercised under a false appearance? What Solon, by the decrees of his laws, as this man by the precepts of practical philosophy which speak through deeds and facts, led men to better pursuits? What Epimenides was so wise in divine matters as to be for many the occasion of a divine life? yet he draws many to virtue. Through whom vices were indeed put to death, the soul and body were purified, and a quiet and retired life shone forth: in whom both a curb for anger and a bridle for the tongue were fashioned, and the harmony of the parts of the soul was exercised. From which and through which one kind was beautifully made, which emitted the divine splendors of the ancient beauty.
AnnotationsCHAPTER II
The priesthood of Saint Antony: his governorship of the monastery: his outstanding virtues in this office: the monasticism of his father.
[11] When, with the passage of time, he had reached manhood, he becomes a Priest and was exercising practical philosophy more vigorously, his instructor, gladdened on account of the incorporeal life in the man's body and glorying as if in his own achievement, he is made Abbot: brought him to the one who then held the pontifical helm of the royal city, to be initiated with the chrism of the Presbyterate. Who not only led him through the intermediate grades to the vestment of the Priesthood, but on the testimony of the former also ordained him to preside over the monastery. And henceforth the governance of the people is entrusted to a new Moses, so that from a small philosophy he might gather much skill in shepherding well. For he held the perfection of virtue to consist not only in conducting himself rightly, but also in being, from a certain overflowing, a rule for all. For the trumpets are not so loud at the time when the battle line stands arrayed, to rouse the soldiers to fight, as the toils of virtue rouse those who are subject to fight in battle against the enemies he shines as an example to his own: who are perceived by the understanding. And just as a general moves his whole army against the enemy when he himself has begun the fight, rousing his men to valor by his deeds, so also those who are the leaders of the army against vices, when they have been crowned with illustrious crowns of victory, become for all an effective admonition.
[12] Hence there was for him an almost perpetual fasting and watchfulness and prayer that was never intermitted: from which and through which there was a mortification of the body, he excels in abstinence, and in the flesh a life devoid of flesh, and a tranquillity of thoughts. Hence there was a sincere examination and judgment of what was fitting, and a contempt for all pleasures together, and the covering of his body with a single tunic in winter and summer alike, lying on the ground, in austerity of life, and a table prepared without any display, as one that would receive the practitioner with bread and vegetables: not, as with many, for a few years, in sweetness, but from his tenderest years, from the first beginning of life, continued all the way to the last and aged period. Hence there was austerity tempered with sweetness, and harshness with mildness -- so that neither was reproof useless on account of austerity, nor was the approach to discipline closed on account of harshness: in contemplation, so that there was a kind of admirable harmony of good things throughout. And it was possible
to see (for there my thought lingers) at the time of the divine mystery, the Priest standing before the monastic order, not otherwise than as the oration describes that Samuel, wholly fixed upon God and the tribunal, conversing with God by the immaculate applications of the mind and rendered wholly divine by divine contemplations, and changed by a beautiful alteration. Sirach 46. To me it seems that the divine powers also surround him and minister to him. O divine sacrifice! O mystery that makes perfect! O life that was led by him who in the body was as though incorporeal.
[13] His father according to the flesh, seeing these things, desired to change the habit of his life and to put on the monastic garment. he tonsures his own father as a monk, For as far as the account of virtue was concerned, scarcely anything was lacking to him, since his whole life depended on the best instruction. And he desired to receive this grace not through another's hand, but through that sacred hand whose farmer he himself had been. For all his nurture he asked to be initiated by his son's hand and to change his manner of living. Therefore the one who was begotten regenerates the one who begot him; and to him who had provided the source of bodily birth, the son of his soul effects a pure regeneration. he buries him piously when he dies: And after he had bravely drawn the monastic yoke for some years, full of days, full of virtues, full of graces, like some ripe fruit, he transmits him to the heavenly granaries when the time had come, with good hope, to receive crowns worthy of his labors. And thus indeed his affairs stood admirably. For it is not possible for an oration to describe all things.
[14] Taking the time afforded him as a gain, he opened the fountains of his merciful spirit, which he had long since conceived, and sent forth streams of mercy, washing away the squalor of the poor: dispensing whatever was surplus he himself is generous to the poor. for their use, and dispensing also much even from what was necessary. For not in sharing what is surplus, but even in sharing what is lacking, did he place true mercy. And a common benefit was proposed at the same time to rich and poor: for the latter, indeed, relieving their want; for the former, rescuing them from the envy that is laid up for those who are moved by no mercy. A common benefactor, a common healer, to magistrates and private citizens, transforming the minds of all by his example and composing them to better things; provoking to virtue little indeed by words but very much by deeds. Whence he was also revered by magistrates, revered by those in positions of dignity, humble in concealing miracles, and even by the Emperors themselves. And rightly the whole work of his administration proceeded well for him, with no one opposing. From these things it was not incredible that God, for the common benefit, also worked many admirable things through him, even though as much as he was able by virtue to work miracles, so much he sought to conceal and cover them, sometimes after performing them pursuing them with riddles and shadows. But what has come to the knowledge of many and is believed to have been done, the oration will attempt to pursue.
[15] He did not wish his compassion to be circumscribed by one city, even one so great: beneficent even to those afar, but he strove to extend it as far as the Sun looks. Hence Scythians and Thracians, and among others the Mysians in Asia, were partakers of his overflowing mercy. Moreover, when he had once crossed over to those who were exercised on Mount Olympus, whose study it was to conduct themselves bravely against vices and demons, and had spent whatever gold he had in his hands for their needs, he returned to the city, pondering within himself and considering from every side whence he might again procure revenue for the poor. But God did not allow him to be long anxious in spirit. He makes the matter, as is his wont, admirable, and frees him from solicitude. For a certain unknown man, as soon as he had entered the city, he receives money divinely sent, whether a man or an Angel who had assumed the form of a man, approaching him as he was passing through a portico from a certain alley, handed him a handful of gold; and when he had said, "Accept this, to spend on the needs of those in your care," he vanished and departed more swiftly than words can say. And his hand indeed held the gold, but his eyes could not follow the one who had given it. This is no slight sign of his union with God; this is no slight indication of that great and lofty spirit. This had the multiplication of Abraham's blessing, which was like a sowing for the hospitable right hand. On account of these good deeds the great Antony conducted himself rightly. This was for his hand, which loved the poor, an occasion that it might not want for means of giving. With which neither the felicity of that Croesus the Lydian and his golden bricks, nor the fable of Midas, can be compared.
AnnotationCHAPTER III
The Patriarchate of Saint Antony; his labors therein. The Emperor Leo praised.
[16] The city, while he was engaged in these things, was watching him, and was not hiding the magnitude of his virtues; nor was it burying
his outstanding deeds in the earth; but fame was receiving them, and even though he was not present, was displaying him to all by his very deeds, the fame of his virtues celebrated everywhere. and, as it were, responses falling from the mouth of all were proclaiming what was to come as though present. These things were sung in many cities, sung in the fields, spoken of in mountains, in caves, among the nations. For the wonder pervaded all, and was a common narrative of the whole world. These things moved the love of the Church, the bride of Christ, and she burned, thirsting for him whom she loved, and sought the time of union, and foreseeing the time of betrothal, was sweetly led by pleasant hope. by the votes of all he is made Patriarch, For she knew that she would not be widowed of the dignity of her preceding spouse; but that when she had transmitted the sacred man who from infancy was called by God -- him, I say, who was named from the crown, Stephen -- she would be joined in sacred union to him who from swaddling clothes was sacred, who by his loss of the former would dissolve the grief she had received. When therefore the time had come for these things to be done, the votes of the entire assembly of Pontiffs and Priests, and of those who led the monastic life, and even of the Senate itself, were carried toward a spouse worthy of the bride of Christ, the Church. with the approval of the Emperor Leo VI. The great Emperor also, seeing this, turning the eyes of his thought in every direction, always taking care for the pressing matter, as one who knew well how to measure the past and consider the present, and through both to make a sure conjecture about the future, confirmed the election -- or rather, God through him sealed the whole: and, as one sending to Olympia an athlete who had won the victory, he raised him to the Pontifical See, to have greater contests and more illustrious crowns.
[17] And henceforth the bride of Christ had him who rightly maintained the laws of the priesthood, he rightly performs his office and lived as the hope of those in need, and poured out mercy abundantly, and was set before the hands of the poor: who in divine matters initiated, and showed to those being initiated the exemplar of virtue, the image of fortitude, the model of temperance, and the rule of justice: who brought forth his life rather than his tongue as teacher. But he was not content with what preceded: he did not look toward relaxations, like some other person; nor did he spare his old age: but labors succeeded labors, and toils succeeded toils, and to holy cares succeeded cares more holy. And, as if winged by the virtue of the Holy Spirit, in his aged body he assumed a vigorous alacrity of spirit, and visiting all the Churches of Christ -- now placating God by prayers, now restoring as far as he could those Churches which had suffered with time and were in poor condition; he supports the Churches: and to those who had fallen from the pulpit into want, he came to their aid with generous provisions, and from daily revenues he distributed
alms to innumerable poor. Wherefore he who labored in want kept a joyful day, and the stranger forgot his fatherland, and the orphan did not weep, and the widow extinguished the iron furnace of widowhood. Who had so great a care for justice? Who was more salutary to those wronged? Who so repelled the assaults of those who inflict injury? Who composed disputes? Who brought down the overly raised eyebrow? Who brought a proud and arrogant spirit to moderation? he succors all the afflicted: All things and through all things he himself smoothed by his own example, becoming a saving remedy for the diseases of the soul. But what poor man, having sprinkled the judicial forum with tears in order to obtain his right, departed with his poverty, bewailing that he could not attain his right? What widow, what orphan, if they had come into his presence, either afterward bewailed her very bereavement, or was not relieved from his calamity? He was present to all by his providence, removing by his benefactions the evil that brought distress to each one, consoling with words, bringing aid with gold, covering with garments. They also saw certain things in him beyond reason that coincide which by nature do not coincide: austerity and sweetness, humility and gravity, severity and mildness. Some of which he applied to those who were suffering violence, and others to those who were inflicting violence: some were remedies that brought down the pride and arrogance of those who raised their eyebrow against their neighbor; others restored what was afflicted.
[18] By these means the congregation of the Church was brought to better things, and God was propitious, he works together with the Emperor for the peace of the Church: and the great Emperor, rejoicing, was delighted. Seeing the judgment of an uncorrupted mind in the vote, which could not be deceived in the facts themselves, when through him he had resolved to bring the old wound, or schism, of the Church to a healing, he brings together the Eastern and Western elements. And having tempered the flower of philosophy with the art of eloquence, he brings forth a salutary tongue, and with just persuasion, with a cheerful face and smiling eyes, he dissolves the offenses, and shows in fact how great a difference there is between a King educated in learning and power that is not a partaker of it. Then especially tempering the living cup of the Church in the Pontiff, who had set forth a table rich and full of the good things of practical philosophy, it was fitting that this great and admirable work and study should be that of both the Philosopher Emperor and the industrious Pontiff -- through which there is incorrupt judgment and a tribunal unpolluted by gifts, and a wise devising of continuous judgments: through which justice both speaks freely and acts, and the adversary finds no place; both restore the state to a better condition, through which the tears of orphans could be checked and the groans of widows, and all the knots of malignant and deceitful machination dissolved, and the commander of the army could receive the command -- the reward of virtue; and from shameful profit one could present a clean hand to the public and common good; and the rich man need not endure the confiscation of his goods, and the poor man suffer no insult; and the farmer could joyfully cut his furrows, not fearing the exaction of taxes on a field whose fruits he did not reap. Their hands stretched out to heaven and streams of tears sent forth from their eyes had long since placated God, and the just wrath which those subject to them had provoked against themselves by their sins, they changed and calmed by the streams of their tears (O benign and clement mind!), and they checked the tears of all by shedding tears of mercy, and by their compassion toward those who were of the same kind, they drew down from above divine mercy, and they compelled the divine compassions to renew the face of the earth, which was perishing from drought and dryness.
[19] These are the illustrious deeds of a philosophical mind, which are akin to the deeds of Moses and Aaron, to be compared with the deeds of Elijah and Elisha, similar to the deeds of David and Samuel. both rightly praised. A great indication of his virtue is that he then sustained the Pontifical care when the Emperor, sumptuously nourished from boyhood in justice, not giving himself to pleasures, not refusing labors whose fruits bring sincere pleasure, but dedicating himself to learning and eloquence, judging philosophy more worthy of choice than other goods, as things that are bestowed for its sake, moved his speaking tongue, which poured forth words sweeter than honey, similar to the words of Solomon, comparable with those of David. At which time he set forth the table of words rather than of foods, and copiously sent forth, as from a fountain, the streams of doctrines, and the hidden meaning of the depth of Scripture was investigated by him without offense, and the entire chorus of good men could speak freely.
[20] While the man of God was engaged in these things, and beheld the flourishing learning together with the virtues in the soul of the Emperor, the Patriarch rejoices in such an Emperor, who was using a youthful body, and the vestiges of the ancient felicity, and the entire consequent civil and domestic order, and whatsoever the discourse had bestowed on the discipline of morals from its judgment of affairs, he was wholly diffused with joy and praised God, deeming this to be an occasion of thanksgiving, and saying that he was willingly surpassed by the Emperor -- who, though overwhelmed by worldly cares, yet more accurately grasps things than those who have grown old in spiritual affairs, both by the felicity of his genius and by his faculty of speech; and who, together with other things, also knows exceedingly well those matters which pertain to the soul, as one who rules not only bodies but also souls by the keenness of his genius and the acuteness of his mind.
[21] Whence that admirable man, as if affected by shame at himself, animated by his example to constancy in labors, he suffers raptures: despised all care of himself in that aged period, utterly neglecting his body, and those things by which he knew it to be refreshed, and which would bring aid to the soul in the contests of virtue without harming the body. Wherefore in long fasting and overcoming the pains of the body he undertook labors that surpassed the powers of the body -- which indeed is hostile to nature and which the art of medicine abhors. Although his body was warmer in temperament and indicated that what was lacking was not suitable for him, lest he should seem to be removed from the nature of men, what happens? The soul sometimes, as if contracted into itself and departing to God, by the force of nature, as if purposely procuring relaxation for the body, would slightly relax the perpetual tenor of his labors. This, to those who did not wish to look rightly, seemed to be ostentation; but to those who were right of heart and not slow to behold the ancient examples of the Fathers, it was virtue and the summit of virtues, and truly a departure and emigration to God. Such was his course, such his life, such his right deeds. In necessities, endurance; in the blows of fortune, a great and lofty spirit; in labors, perpetual constancy; in hardships, fortitude; in labors for virtue, alacrity of soul; in weaknesses, strength; in sicknesses, by no means at all to yield and be consumed.
AnnotationsCHAPTER IV
The death, burial, and miracles of Saint Antony.
[22] But the final illness came and the departure was at hand, and the things that pertain to departure: he falls ill: and human weakness was shown, as the fever penetrated within and consumed the natural humor and dissolved those adamantine powers. He, however, with a benign countenance, accompanying all with blessings, he dies: gave his last greeting. And when his tongue was powerless, his sacred hand sealed those blessings that could not be spoken. And God was calling him to the heavenly tabernacle, and the chorus of Angels was seeking him who had rightly imitated them on earth. And from his venerable and sacred body the divine soul, separated in the evening when the lamps are lit, was taken up to the great light with the lamp of virginity full of oil.
[23] Night then followed, and a miracle occurred that can be compared with any miracle that has ever been, which declared his genuine confidence in God and openly described the magnitude of his virtue. For when the customary signal from on high had signified the Patriarch's death poor women, afflicted by his death, to the city around the great church, a poor woman, who through the hand that bestowed benefits used to prepare her daily food, having a broken leg from a violent fall, lying immobile in a hut made of hay and straw, hearing the cause of what was signified by the sad tidings, suddenly deprived of voice, was tending toward apoplexy and paralysis. When she had breathed a little and come to herself, she wept and wailed miserably, and beginning to lament, tragically deplored her calamity, calling him benefactor, savior, the nourishment of the hungry, the covering of the naked, the riches of the needy, saying: O harsh and cruel night, in which the benign light of the poor was extinguished! O sorrowful night, which cast dark shadows over the eyes of the poor! O Eve, first mother, and disobedience, and envy, and the serpent, and death -- the inescapable penalties of human nature! O poverty, nurtured together with me, who sit perpetually beside me and bitterly assail me, you no longer have the venerable and sacred hand that would expel your deformed savagery from us! Henceforth attack without fear, trample upon those who lie prostrate: with the breaking of the body, the hope of life is also broken; the provisions of the poor have perished. O what Fury has mutilated the soles of my feet, so that I cannot even follow the funeral procession of him who rescued many from the sepulchre of afflictions? While she was saying these and many other things, he appears in her sleep and heals her broken leg: as is likely, weeping, and was bathed in bitter tears, and her strength had failed from distress and pains, she is overcome by sleep, and in a sweet dream sees the Patriarch approaching, forming the sign of the Cross with his hand on her fracture, and saying: You are now healed, and you may walk without impediment -- and he vanished forthwith from her eyes. The dream, however, was the reality itself, and what was a vision in sleep is truth. For when she had awakened from sleep, although the pains no longer caused her any distress, the woman could not believe a thing so admirable and so beyond expectation, but thought she was still being nourished by a dream. But when, more perfectly aroused, she had put aside her doubt, she leapt up joyfully, narrating the miracle with voices of thanksgiving, and publicly celebrating the health given to her.
[24] Another woman also, who was suffering from a long-standing affliction of a hidden disease, not unlike that woman who suffered from a flow of blood, by touching the coffin stole health, and found liberation from a long torment in a brief moment of time. Matthew 9. another healed by touching the bier, What Aesculapius, what Chiron compounded such a remedy? By what discipline of healing can such a kind of cure be found?
[25] heals: But the venerable and sacred body, when it had barely escaped the hands of many, some hastening from one direction and others from another to seize some part (for a multitude flowed together from everywhere, of every kind and every age, since as the funeral rites drew near, many of the infirm with violent impulse strove to snatch some part and carry off some provision for the salvation of their soul) -- he is buried, with many wishing to seize relics: yet by the strength and zeal of those upon whom it had been wisely imposed to restrain these, after it was committed to the sepulchre, and nature paid its debt to the earth, and clay was given to dust, not even so did the Potter allow the clay to be unhonored, but even when placed in the sepulchre, he honors it with a miracle.
[26] For a certain man among those who presided over the weaving of the imperial silk, seized by a disease of the side, when he had seen all hope of health cut off from him, and the physician counting the days and observing the hours and curiously inquiring into the time and wasting time with these things, and his wife and children sprinkling him with their last tears and making his grief heavier with their lamentations -- when therefore he had seen these things, and the disease more powerful than all human aid, he took refuge in his divine servant Antony: pleurisy driven away by the oil of his tomb: and when he had anointed himself with the oil that fed the lamp at the coffin (for being faithful, he had a small amount which he had received), he forthwith puts the disease to flight and enjoys his cure, and beyond all hope approaches the coffin, confessing and proclaiming the benefit in a clear voice.
[27] When the casket of the Pontiff was changed on the eighth day after the funeral rites, since it did not seem to be in a proper state, a sweet odor from the relics: into a better one, a certain new and remarkable odor of most sacred ointment filled the sense of those present, silently honoring him who lay there and describing the union and familiarity that existed between him and God. For he who in this mortal flesh had magnified Christ, and a certain mystic good odor had been shown to him, as is first described in the Apostolic words, deservedly is also honored with a grace that breathes forth ointment, by its virtue proclaiming an immortal operation. 2 Corinthians 2:15.
[28] The ninth day, moreover, more magnificently provided a miracle for the benefit of the poor who were customarily fed by him -- or rather by God through him, who also through Moses in the desert rained down admirable food: Exodus 16 and for the widow of Zarephath, by the arrival of the Prophet, multiplied her small provision: 3 Kings 17 and with five loaves fed five thousand, and again with seven fed four thousand, and provided baskets as certain witnesses of the leftovers that remained after satiety. Matthew 15 The miracle here, too, was an addition to the food distributed to the poor. the grain customarily given by him to the poor multiplied: This was bread and cooked grain, not indeed in an unlimited number, but as much as, distributed in a fixed measure, was accustomed to suffice for a thousand souls. Moreover, all the measures were the same as usual, the same baskets that had received, the same hands of those who ministered. And the number of those bearing tickets in their hands was indeed used up (for these having been distributed beforehand, the multitude of a thousand persons was counted), but three baskets remained, which sufficed for the poor who came without tickets.
[29] But what manner of miracle was that which was performed upon Leo the Patrician, he appears to an asthmatic and heals him: who presided over the military companies -- let it be told by us. That man was suffering from difficulty of breathing, because the passages had been blocked by causes that had flowed together, and his breathing did not have a free course. While he was so severely besieged by these things and uttered a thin and feeble voice, those who were related to him by blood were present, wailing exceedingly (for those who are distinguished in glory are more afflicted by death). But for him there was no solution to the disease anywhere except from the divine Pastor alone. For he approaches him while he sleeps, and having roused him from his bed, he asked how the disease was progressing. Who, touching his head and the member that was in pain, applies not the remedy of Paean nor the medicines of Chiron to his hands
(for neither is there from such things a cure for others), but having offered prayers suited to the disease and having invoked Christ, the incomparable healer of our ills, that man is freed from the grave disease. And the outcome of the prayers was true: for he forthwith recovered, revealing the miracle without impediment, and celebrating his healing throughout the whole house. These are the deeds of the Pontiff at the time of his dormition. Those miracles, however, which were performed in his youthful age and have been omitted by me in the oration -- these I shall narrate, going back.
[30] When once he was young in age and was striking the Davidic harp in the temple of the holy Martyr Theodore, which was situated upon a certain cemetery he puts demons to flight by his mere presence: into which the corpses of the condemned were cast, he saw two figures, deformed in appearance (for such beings are accustomed very often to appear as they truly are), saying angrily to each other: Let us go hence. For in the presence of this youth we cannot endure to remain here. They indeed, fleeing suddenly, vanished together with this word. This showed the power that had previously been given to the Saint over them.
[31] Let this too be recorded as a second, which was equal in time to the preceding. A noble woman, crossing on horseback through the monastery with feminine finery, nearly fell broken to the ground. For when the divine Antony was then among the young men, he foretells to a woman many years before that she will become a nun: and had gone out from the gate unexpectedly, it happened that the carriage was suddenly disturbed, which would have hurled her down from on high, had not those who were walking with her saved her. She, disturbed by what had happened, was mocking the venerable habit, as is usual in such matters among those who are of a small and base spirit. To whom he who was perfect in youth said: Woman, do not revile it with curses: for by my hands you shall come to this habit. The Saint said these things, and when many years had passed, the prediction came to fulfillment, when the Blessed one himself had forgotten these things, but the woman recalled them to his memory and revealed that he was the one who had then proclaimed these things to her.
CHAPTER V
Saint Antony compared with the ancient Saints. Invoked by the author.
[32] These things the God of Saints, who makes and transforms all things, who gives food to all flesh, who opens his hand and fills every animal with blessing, who glorifies those who glorify him and is wonderful in his Saints. But since in the brief cup of this oration, as if from a great sea, we have drawn the small life of the admirable Antony, great among Patriarchs, come, let us learn of the disciple by comparison with the Doctors. Adam is held in admiration he is compared with the ancient Patriarchs; as the beginning and root of the race. But this man too was the prince and author of many who were not born from the union of bodies but were multiplied by spiritual union -- upon whom did not fall the punishments of the paternal condemnation, but who rather acquired for themselves the inheritance of gifts, namely eternal life, not death: through which the true and genuine paternal kinship is expressed. And to that one, indeed, the nature of beasts yielded; but not of those that were within and cohabited. Hence the serpent and envy and deceit fashioned death. Adam, But this man, having rendered obedient by the rule of reason whatever was wild and savage, left the enemy no instrument suited for fraud. Abel, Abel was the first performer of God-pleasing sacrifices -- but of bloody ones, and of the part that lacks reason. But this man was the sacrificer of the unbloody sacrifice, of which those were the type and shadow, sacrificing with reason and spirit, and daily immolating himself by the mortification of the passions of the soul that are alien to reason. He was superior to envy and its offspring: deceit and murder, and indeed every similar chain. Great was Seth; Seth, but he had grandchildren from the union of kinship which had killed a brother -- who by the greatness of their bodies described the greatness of their delights. This man, however, surpassed his virtue; and to those who had been born spiritually from him, he gave by his good precepts and admonitions scarcely any access to be partakers of vice. Enoch and Noah: Enoch, Noah the former is deemed blessed on account of his translation; the latter because he preserved every kind of living creature in the flood. Our man here too is not inferior in examples; he is superior in character. And the translation has no joy that may be interrupted by the hope of death, but the succession of eternal life receives a pure pleasure. And he preserves an ark, not filled with irrational animals, but the Church, of which those are images, filled with every kind and age of beings endowed with reason.
[33] With Abraham, being called by him who called him from his father's house, he obeyed as a stranger, emigrating even unto death. But that man indeed, fleeing the error of demon-worship -- Abraham, which even nature itself and the mind, which has not altogether lost under the domination of the worse part the power of judging, teaches one to flee -- exchanged darkness and death for light, and impiety for piety, which are things desirable in themselves by the whole nature that is a partaker of reason. But this man, nourished from childhood on the milk of piety and living in those things that were desirable (for he had never admitted even a trace of anything to be shunned), with a more perfect judgment sought a more pious state and one more to be chosen -- life for life, light for light, and, to say it in a word, exchanging what was to be chosen for what was more to be chosen. As great as is the difference between things to be chosen and those more to be chosen, so great is the difference between those who choose. But Abraham, receiving as guests those who were passing through Mamre, once unwittingly received Angels. This man, perpetually receiving the poor of the whole world, was receiving Christ throughout his whole life, who by ineffable goodness attributes their affairs to himself: through which not in the guise of Angels but in very truth, he admitted into his soul the Trinity, the maker of all, and had not the promise of one son who was to be born by a carnal union beyond hope, but rather the promise that he should be called the father of many sons by the marriage of practical philosophy in the spirit, and beyond hope he saw a multiplication worthy of the promise -- so that not by the assault of three hundred servants he repressed the attack of many Kings, but by the manly assault of the tripartite soul he overthrew the whole army of those who were invading and tyrannically reducing what is kindred to captivity through pleasure, under the false appearance of a kingdom.
[34] With Isaac he ascended, following the heavenly father who commanded, not to some mound, Isaac, but to the mountain of virtues, laden with the wood of continence -- through which, kindling on the altar of the heart the fire of desire for God, he presented himself as an acceptable victim. Jacob. I find, moreover, that he greatly imitated Jacob, not only in that he did not arrange his life with feigned manners in various ways, but also in that he departed from his fatherland and resolved to dwell in a foreign land: but not for the sake of cohabitation with women who were sisters, but for the sake of the desire of virtues that are sisters -- contemplation, I say, and action; so that by action he might be a partaker of contemplation, and both indeed are referred and elevated to one source, namely the first good. Through these, by a multiplication of illustrious ones -- not of irrational cattle but of rational beings -- he became illustrious among the Patriarchs.
[35] Aaron was the first Pontiff, but of the typical and shadowy tabernacle. This man, however, of the true one, Aaron, of which that was the figure. With Moses he was the Leader of the new Israel. Moses, Samuel, With Samuel he was sacred from infancy and serving God even to old age. He imitated the meekness of David, and, if you will, also his fortitude: not one who conducted himself well against Goliath -- some man glorying in the greatness of his body -- but against the Goliath who is perceived by the understanding, the malignant, I say, David, and incorporeal demon. He went forth with the rod of continence and the rod of faith, Elijah, and raised a famous trophy. Elijah escaped the snares of Jezebel. This man, the snares of shameless sin. Elisha, He had with Elisha a double grace of the Spirit, as one adorned with monastic and sacerdotal gifts. And to pass over those who come between, on account of their multitude: John, of John, not leading a solitary life, in the midst of the city he imitated the philosophy. This man too, as far as he was concerned, had a table without any display, and this man covered his body with a garment woven from hair, and, as with a certain leather girdle, namely the mortification of the disturbances of the soul, he girded his loins. And to him flocked not one city, nor one nation, but very many crowds of the populous city, gathered from every kind of nations and cities, both Eastern and Western -- not to be dipped in water, but to be purified by the spiritual mystery, which was performed by the divine instruments of his hand and tongue, and he initiated those who were deemed worthy of the communion of the deifying participation.
[36] Apostles and other Saints. Following the doctrines and traditions of the Apostles, and always conforming his life to theirs, he confirmed by his deeds a genuine martyrdom, in that he had the zeal of the Martyrs for piety, and daily died in his own conscience by the long and bitter endurance of monastic labors -- which is in no way inferior to the virtue of martyrdom. Of all the Saints and the Just, therefore, he is invoked to be present to the Emperor and the Church. he imitated the character of some, the course of others, the action of still others, and of all together the most vehement and most constant desire toward the first good. Now, openly enjoying this, may you protect and defend, O divine and sacred head, the sacred flock, and by your prayers strengthen the scepters of piety, and extend your hand to pious power, sharing the cares of the world with him. And intercede before God, standing without ceasing, for that which you prayed when you were with him and were present in his life. And preserve his worldly ship in the safe harbor of divine tranquillity, calming all the storms and tempests of the wicked, and overwhelming the assaults of enemies, both those that fall under the eyes and those that do not, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.