George

ON ST. GEORGE, BISHOP OF AMASTRIS IN PAPHLAGONIA

BEGINNING OF THE NINTH CENTURY.

Preliminary Commentary.

George, Bishop of Amastris in Paphlagonia (St.)

I. B.

[1] Amastris is ^a city of Paphlagonia on the Black Sea, whose location and origin, in order that what is to be said hereafter may be more easily understood, it seemed right to explain from Strabo. He writes thus in book 12 of his Geography: "After the river Parthenius comes Amastris, Amastris, ^a city of Paphlagonia, ^a city bearing the same name as the woman who founded it. It is situated on ^a peninsula whose isthmus has ^a port on either side. Amastris was the wife of Dionysius, the tyrant of Heraclea, and daughter of Oxyathres, founded by the daughter of Darius's brother, who was the brother of the Darius whom Alexander conquered." Claude Saumaise, in his Exercitationes Plinianae, page 889, read Strabo too hastily, writing: "Strabo says that the city of Amastris was composed of four villages, by Amastris, wife of the tyrant Dionysius of Heraclea, Darius's sister, whom Alexander conquered." Strabo does not make her Darius's sister but his brother's daughter. Strabo continues: "She, then, composed the city from four settlements: Sesamus, Cytorus, Cromna (which Homer also mentions in his Paphlagonion catalogue), and the fourth, Teius; but this one quickly withdrew from the association, with some towns subordinated to it, while the others remained united." Xylander translates: "She composed the city from four towns: Sesamus, Cytorus, Cromna (which Homer mentions in the enumeration of the Paphlagonians), and Teius; but this last soon defected from the society, the rest remaining in one body."

I fear that those who read these things, being half-educated, may suppose that four villages were enclosed within ^a single wall to form one city, or certainly that the inhabitants of four towns were removed from their own settlements and ordered to take up residence within the walls of ^a single city. That does not seem to be the writer's meaning; rather, that four towns, or colonies previously settled there, or villages -- that is, ^a definite multitude of people inhabiting ^a certain region, bound together by mutual association and the same institutions (which among Caesar, Tacitus, and others is the meaning of pagi) -- afterward formed one city, whose capital was Amastris. Thus Livy seems to explain the word "City" in decade 3, book 6, speaking of Capua: "Moreover, it was decided that Capua should only be inhabited and frequented as ^a city: that there should be no body of citizenry, no senate, no assembly of the people, no magistrates: that ^a multitude without public counsel, without government, sharing nothing among themselves, would be incapable of any agreement: and that ^a prefect would be sent annually from Rome to administer justice." Such ^a city, then, the Queen constituted from those four towns, whose citadel, or capital, or, as the same Strabo writes, acropolis, was Sesamus, which assumed the name of Amastris. For Pliny in book 6, chapter 2 writes thus: "The town of Sesamus, which is now Amastris." Strabo says that Cytorus had formerly been an emporium of the Sinopeans; Pliny says it was 64 miles from Tius. They are listed by Ptolemy in this order: Tium, the mouth of the river Parthenius, Amastris, Cromna, Cytorus. But Stephanus says that Amastris was formerly called Cromna: yet it is established that in the eighth century of the Christian era, Cromna was ^a town near the most celebrated city of Amastris, as is said below in chapter 2 of the Life, number 3. Tium, as Ptolemy calls it, or Tios, as Stephanus has it, or Teion, as Strabo writes, in his time was ^a small town having nothing worthy of mention (polichion, he says, ouden echon mnemes axion). A little before he had said that the Caucones, who inhabit the seacoast from the Mariandyni to the river Parthenius, have as their city Teion (polin echein to Teion). And indeed that city was adorned with an episcopal see as early as the beginning of the fifth century after Christ, under the metropolis of Claudiopolis in Honorias.

[2] Amastris itself also had ^a Bishop in the third century. For Eusebius, in book 4, chapter 22, speaks thus of St. Dionysius, Bishop of the Corinthians: "Writing also to the Church sojourning in Amastris, together with the churches of Pontus, he mentions Bacchylides and Elpistus, as those who had urged him to write, sets forth explanations of the divine Scriptures, it had Bishop Palmas in the 3rd century, and designates their Bishop by name as Palmas." Rufinus translates this, book 4, chapter 23: "He writes another letter to the Church of the Amastreni and the other churches of Pontus with it; in which he mentions Bacchylides and Helpistus as those who encouraged him to write: and he explains many things from the divine Scriptures, and at the same time mentions their Bishop, named Palmea." This Bishop is generally known as Palmas; so that an error seems to have crept into the Greek text of Eusebius as edited by Christopherson, from the similarity of the two letters Pi and Gamma. Nicephorus Callistus in book 4, chapter 8 writes: "Writing to Amastris and the churches of Pontus, he mentions Bacchylides and Elpistus as those who urged him to write, and indicates Palmas as Bishop to them." From these testimonies it is clear, as Stephanus also wrote, that from Amastris the genitive case is Amastridos, although Strabo forms Amastreos: "Sesamus, the acropolis of Amastris (tes Amastreos)." The same Stephanus forms the ethnic Amastrianos. "The most abundant and finest boxwood grows in the Amastrian region, and especially around Cytorus." That Amastrenos was also in use is evident from Rufinus, who translates "Amastrenum." Nor is it surprising, since the city itself is called Amastre by many Greek writers of the middle ages. Moreover, it is also called Amastrion in the civil disposition of provinces and cities of the eastern empire, which Charles de Saint-Paul published from ^a Vatican manuscript in his Parergo to the Sacred Geography. St. Jerome in his book on Ecclesiastical Writers, chapter 27, records that St. Dionysius, Bishop of the Corinthians, wrote to the Church of Amastria.

[3] There, moreover, at the end of the eighth century and the beginning of the ninth, St. George was Bishop: who, among many other very great benefits which he conferred upon that city, St. George in the 8th century, obtained that its Church should not be under the power of the Metropolitan of Gangra. Charles de Saint-Paul published from ^a Vatican manuscript the Notitia of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, made autocephalous through him: in which 46 autocephalous Archbishops are listed; the 39th is "the Bishop of Amastris in the province of Paphlagonia." Another Notitia published by the same, or the Order of Precedence of Patriarchs, Metropolitans, etc., in which the 37th is "the Bishop of Amastris, province of Paphlagonia." Both Notitiae were compiled after the year 800, since around that time the Church of Amastris first obtained that distinction, as is related in chapter 6 of the Life of St. George.

[4] This Life was composed by an anonymous author, at the instigation of ^a certain John, ^a distinguished and virtue-loving man, that Life written toward the end of the 9th century, as he states in chapter 9, number 48, and in the exordium he shows that he undertook to write it at another's urging. It is, moreover, not devoid of rhetorical ornament, but sometimes more verbose than necessary, and exaggerated with excessive amplifications. I conjecture it was written around the times of Basil the Macedonian perhaps, or Leo the Wise. It certainly mentions the incursion of the Russians, who are recorded to have harassed the borders of the Roman Empire in the times of Michael III and Bardas his uncle. Paul Petau had formerly had that Life copied from ^a Greek codex of the library of the Most Christian King, here published from the Greek: and gave it to our Fronton Du Duc, together with the first two chapters which he had translated into Latin. Fronton sent it to Herbert Rosweyde, who had also obtained another copy, but mutilated: whether from the same codex I am uncertain, since there is ^a discrepancy in some words, but ^a slight one. We have translated it in full from the Greek.

[5] The age of this Saint is clearly indicated, since he was raised to the episcopal throne by the authority of St. Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople: and Tarasius became Patriarch in the year of Christ 784, St. George lived under the Emperors Irene and Constantine, and died in 806. Furthermore, St. George is said to have been ^a familiar of the Empress Irene, her son Constantine, and Nicephorus the Logothete, later Emperor. As is established from Theophanes, on the 6th of the Ides of September, in the 4th Indiction, in the year of Christ 780, "the most pious Irene together with her son Constantine received the empire from God with glory." In the year 790 Constantine began to reign alone, having removed his mother: in the year 797 his eyes were put out and the empire was restored to his mother; which in the year 802, Indiction 11, on the day before the Kalends of November, Nicephorus the General Logothete seized, Irene being banished. He was killed in the year 811 by Krum, King of the Bulgarians, and his son Stauratius, crowned Emperor in the year 803 by St. Tarasius at his father's will, having received wounds in the same battle in which Nicephorus perished, himself also died not much later.

[6] The year in which St. George died is not indicated. That he lived to the reign of Nicephorus is clear from chapter 8, number 35, since he predicted it to him, though obscurely: and under Nicephorus, "For the Saint declared that he would shortly become the heir of ^a certain widow who possessed very large houses." Which he said concerning the Empress Irene, after Nicephorus had seized the reins of government. What then? "Having obtained the empire, he honored the same Bishop, still alive, with the highest regard. For he did not value the royal diadem, nor the entire rule of the Romans, as much as the ability to converse, remain, and live with that man." he died under him, What follows perhaps occurred after the holy man's death, when the same Emperor is said to have been accustomed "secretly to put on his tunic and worn cloak, and to consider this the protection and strength of his empire." These relics of the holy Bishop, perhaps, when the people of Amastris announced his death, he wished to have brought to himself, whether out of sincere piety and confidence in obtaining heavenly aid through him, or to court ^a reputation for religion by that deed -- he being ^a crafty master of dissimulation, as Theophanes writes.

[7] Nowhere thus far have we found the name of this St. George in the calendars of the Latins. venerated on February 21. The Greeks venerate him on this day, as is established from the Menaea, where ^a splendid eulogy of his is also read, containing ^a rough epitome of his Life, which is also found in Maximus of Cythera.

LIFE

or discourse on his deeds, by an anonymous author, from ^a Greek MS. of the Most Christian King.

George, Bishop of Amastris in Paphlagonia (St.)

By an anonymous author, from ^a Greek MS.

CHAPTER I

The Author's Exordium, Proposition.

[1] Those who present themselves for gymnastic contests in the stadium are not admitted by the judges to the registration of their names until they have demonstrated by some trial that they possess ^a natural aptitude for those contests. We, however, The author, commanded to praise George, although we have not yet been tested by experience, nor have ourselves achieved anything worthy of the present contest, are nevertheless driven by our spiritual judges and presidents of the contests into the very arena and field of eloquence: so that any delay or evasion on my part cannot escape some reproach. For it is dangerous to gratify those who urge me to these things, and no lesser punishment seems to be proposed for silence and taciturnity. The former has ^a certain appearance of rashness, since whatever we dare beyond what is fitting is full of temerity; in the latter there is some suspicion of negligence. But since our discourse has clearly shown these things to be as they truly are, and since from the things to be avoided, that which has less evil should be chosen; he prefers to seem rash than negligent: and since rashness seems to involve less danger than negligence (for the former is sometimes produced by ^a certain generous ardor and an inflamed impulse of spirit; but negligence belongs to ^a supine and abject mind, one close to despair) -- since, I say, these things are so, we, judging one of the two alternatives, namely the task of speaking, to be more desirable, are eager to proceed to the arena and contest of oratory. Yet in such ^a way that at the very beginning of speaking, we implore God that our undertaking may not fall far short of our willingness and desire.

[2] But lest, while we diligently strive to justify ourselves, the prolixity of the preface bring tedium and annoyance to the audience, who desire to hear the narrative itself as soon as possible, let us, as if opening the barriers, bring forth into the open the subject whose anticipation holds them; and, having briefly touched upon the excellent deeds of the holy man, let us institute ^a pleasant narrative for those present, and render them more prompt and eager for the remaining discourse. But who does not know that great and truly heavenly agriculture? I mean the divine George, the branch and shoot of the true vine, whose glory has resounded to the ends of the earth. he briefly sets forth his deeds and miracles. Very many indeed are his miracles, but far more are his excellent and praiseworthy deeds. Him, I say, whom Emperors honored for his gift of prophecy: whom governors revered and worshipped for his extraordinary power of performing prodigies: who among Patriarchs was, before his priesthood, illustrious and distinguished for the splendor of his virtue, and before any trial, dear to all and venerable. I speak of that model of ascetics, ornament of priests, the protection of those who lead the common and ordinary life, terrible to enemies, desirable to his own people, the aid of those in peril, the consolation of the afflicted, the physician and remedy of the sick in whatever illness oppressed them, the conversion of sinners, the exemplar of temperance, the balance of justice; in short, all things to all men, that he might gain all, or at least very many, and by his exhortations lead them to the best path of virtue, according to the magnificent saying of Paul. 1 Cor. 9:22 But since with these few words I have fulfilled my promise, giving you the power to conjecture the texture of the whole garment from its fringes, I now undertake the narrative itself, relying on divine aid.

CHAPTER II

The birth of St. George from barren parents. Predictions of his holiness and priesthood.

[3] The parents of this Saint were of the highest nobility and most distinguished rank, who lived more for God than for the care of the flesh. The father was called Theodosius, the mother Megetho, The father of St. George was Theodosius, so that either she was called before what she was to become afterward, or she became what she had been called before -- she who was without doubt the greatest temple of virtues. But indeed it is fitting not to pass over even the names themselves without inquiry. the mother Megetho, For nothing (if one considers rightly) befell these venerable parents, or their extraordinary offspring, by chance -- not the name itself, nor any deed, nor any pursuit: but all things were foreknown and determined by divine providence. "For whom He foreknew," says the divine Apostle, "He also predestined." Rom. 8:29 Therefore they too obtained ^a name consonant with the realities themselves. And with the greatness of grace, the divine gift, being appropriate, brought forth ^a fruit: whom else should I call than one worthy of that divine gift? They, then, they, I say, dwelling at Cromna, were inhabitants of the town of Cromna, which is near the most celebrated city of Amastris, rendered more famous through them than through any abundance of wealth or power of government. living holily: Daily they offered to God the fruit of their virtues, maintaining justice and temperance in their whole life.

[4] But since they had long been without children, they continually pressed God with fasting and prayers to grant them some offspring for the continuation of their line. But as long as some admixture of base and earthly feeling was mingled with that incense of prayer, God, who governs all things for our benefit, long without children, delayed granting what was asked. When those souls, like Abraham's, had seen that just sentence long denying what they sought, and that they had accomplished nothing by their prayers, did they then think anything base and abject? Or did they say something unworthy of their virtue? Or did they imagine in their mind that what they justly asked had been unjustly denied and not brought to fulfillment? they bear it patiently: Or did they suspect that these lower things are governed by no providence? Or perhaps did they entertain some other thought, of the kind that the evil spirit is accustomed to insert into weaker minds? Not at all: but they rather transferred the cause of this delay to themselves. For those who live according to God's will are accustomed to weigh divine judgments by the measure and balance of reason, and if they have erred in anything, to correct it with great speed. Therefore the one kept before his eyes the example of Abraham, how he became ^a father in his old age; the other contemplated Sarah and Hannah; how in the case of Sarah, because of Abraham's hospitality to strangers, after the passage of ^a very long time of life, in extreme old age, divine providence restored the power of generation and, as it were, renewed nature; and how ^a just supplication freed Hannah from the long-lasting bonds of sterility: when they vowed to offer their son to God, and how both, from barren, became fruitful, the one bearing ^a figure of the truth, the other ^a Priest and Prophet. Then, looking to those examples with religious thought, as if by mutual consent they changed the formula of their petition: and no longer did they seek to obtain ^a successor to their family, or an heir to their goods, or ^a staff for their old age; but if ^a son should be granted to them, they pledged to offer him before the face of the Lord, and to repay him to God the giver as ^a kind of sacred offering. When the prayer had thus been duly and properly composed, God, who fulfills the will of those who fear Him the mother conceives: and lends ear to their petition, by ^a divine act broke the bonds of sterility: and she who was barren conceived in her womb an offspring, and her hope was not disappointed. For when, after the extinction of sterility, she who was called Sarah became ^a mother through the power of generation, Abraham himself was not disappointed in his prayers.

[5] But neither should those prodigies be passed over which preceded the nativity of our Saint: namely, in what manner he was chosen by God, and how, obtaining his vocation not from men nor through men, but before he came forth from his mother's womb, he was named, anointed, and designated as ^a Priest. she frequents the temple: For when his holy mother, pregnant, was carrying him in her womb -- herself like Elizabeth, carrying him who was to imitate the divine Precursor in the ordering of his life -- and she went regularly to the temple and devoted herself to prayer, as she had been accustomed from her earliest years, it happened that this was made manifest to certain leading citizens of that city who were sitting in the vestibule of the temple. certain persons terrified in their sleep They caught sight of her and honored her only as ^a woman, nothing more. She quickly entered the temple and offered her customary prayers to God. They, having returned home toward evening, what they endured through ^a nocturnal vision the discourse will now declare. Each one of them saw certain terrible men, who, with clubs arming their right hands and casting ^a fierce and menacing glance from their eyes, threatened to spare them none of the most atrocious punishments. When they were struck with horror and stunned by that dreadful threatening, utterly prostrated (for if anything unusual happens in dreams, the fear tends to be more violent, as those know who have experienced the terrors of sleep), and desired to know for what reason they should suffer these things; "Because," said those men, "you did not show due honor to your Bishop, these evils must befall you." because they had not honored the Bishop she was carrying in her womb, But they, not understanding this at all, swore that they knew of no such thing done by them. But when the others pressed their threats more vehemently, and they more earnestly entreated, at length, reluctantly moved by their prayers, they revealed the cause and declared the whole matter. They said that the woman who had passed through their midst the day before was carrying ^a holy infant in her womb. And so, when everything had been explained in order, they beg pardon of her: the figures vanished from their sight. They, rising at daybreak, as if by prearrangement, each impelled by the fear of what they had seen, diligently sought out the woman, and, prostrating themselves at her feet, begged pardon and confessed their sin with tears: and when she asked the reason why they were doing this, they explained everything that had happened to them. And it came to pass that for them the narration of what had occurred brought joy and pleasure, because those threats had not brought them harm and ruin while they were awake, and because such ^a great gift was being bestowed by divine providence upon their fatherland; but for her, it brought wonder together with joy.

[6] Rising then, that noble woman went to ^a certain holy man who learns from ^a holy man what her future son will be like. to whom, on account of his supreme integrity and purity of life, it had been divinely given to foreknow the future. To him she explained what had happened, and received from him what was to come as if it were already present: namely the boy's name, his reception of the priesthood, his illustrious progress in virtue, and with what great gifts of divine grace he would be laden. In this one may behold the inscrutable judgments of divine providence. For whenever an offspring arises from ^a barren woman, it brings great opportunities and benefits to human life. Call now to your memory Isaac, Samuel, John: how the first was ^a figure of the Lord and the fulfillment of the things promised by God; the second ^a Prophet and Priest, anointing Kings; Those born of barren women are always illustrious. the last ^a lamp of the Sun, ^a precursor of grace, the beginning of repentance. But what occurs to me here it will perhaps not be amiss to say: namely that not all who are born of ^a mother who was not barren have been illustrious; but one in this way, another in that, each, as we know, according to his growth in virtue, has attracted the divine splendor into himself; but of those who have sprung from ^a barren mother, there has been none who did not attain some distinguished name and fame. Why so? Because of the barrenness? Not at all. But He who knows all things before they happen, whenever He has decreed that something of this kind should appear in the world, brings forth, as if affixed to the chains of barrenness, ^a prayer, so that it may appear that the gift was not obtained carelessly or by chance, but by prayer. And I have said these things not to add anything further to his glory and celebrity (for no one can make the torch and splendor of the sun brighter, nor add anything by thought to the magnitude of the sky, the arrangement of the stars, or any other of those things that are astounding to behold and much more terrifying to contemplate) but so that you may recognize how, before he came into the light, he was chosen by God, and with what great ornaments he was enriched by divine grace.

CHAPTER III

The education of St. George, his studies, his ordination to the sacred order.

[7] But lest the discourse seem to wander from its subject, let us return to its very theme. The fetus, therefore, is formed, grows, and is brought into the light: who, though he appeared an infant, was yet full of divine grace, nourished by it more than by milk, and confirmed and grew by the Spirit rather than by the flesh. But observe, Envy of the demon, you who from the beginning was ^a murderer, the snares of the enemy. He watched everything carefully and could not rest. He considered the fact that his birth had been obtained by prayers; he remembered the prodigies that had occurred concerning the infant through the dream. He was tormented by all these things; he considered everything. For by his own wickedness he is most keen at foreseeing and conjecturing, and prone to envying all good people and persecuting honesty. He remembered all those who, born of barren mothers, had trampled upon his power and might. He turned his thoughts back to Isaac, passed on to Samuel, recalled John: revolving them in his thought, he was afflicted and tortured. And before the boy had become ^a perfect soldier, he was stringing his bows, drawing up his battle line, preparing his javelins: before he saw him clad in armor, he tried to wound him, or rather attempted to kill him. By God's permission, And he indeed acted thus, nor did he cease from his wickedness. But since the discourse has reached this point, it occurs to me to exclaim with Paul: "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! Rom. 11:33 How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" How does He allow the enemy to exercise his malice against an infant? How does He who has not yet armed His soldier, who is not yet fit, because of the weakness of his age, to take up shield and weapons, suffer him to be harmed by the enemy? But these matters require investigation, to the point of wonder. The enemy is permitted to employ his customary devices against the boy. George at the age of three falls into the fire, Finding him alone, at the age of three, the devil pushes him into the fire and burns both his hands and one foot. Nor do I think this was done without purpose. That fierce dragon foresaw that his head would one day be crushed by him, and therefore laid snares for his feet: and burns his hands and ^a foot: he sensed that his works would be dissolved by him, and was preparing to mutilate his hands with fire. And he indeed, thinking thus to himself, contrived these things. But God perhaps permitted His soldier to be wounded so that, given an occasion for combat, he might fight more valiantly, and carrying the scars of wounds inflicted upon him by the treachery of the enemy, he might fight more nobly, and direct all his wrath against this serpent alone.

[8] But the boy, snatched from the fire and treated with suitable remedies, grew more in the keenness of his intellect than in age. And when he was old enough to learn letters, he was entrusted to teachers and was perfectly instructed in every branch of knowledge, both native and foreign, sacred and profane; choosing from the latter what was most useful, drawing all its arguments to the service of Christ; he makes excellent progress in learning dispelling by his pure and sound mind the counterfeit adulteration of the other, he gathered the most abundant fruits. And one could see, by ^a certain natural felicity and acuteness of mind, that in ^a short time things were admirably accomplished by him which even the longest span of time would not bring about for others. For those in whom there is indeed ^a readiness to learn the disciplines, but whose carnal appetites seem to need no effort to be restrained -- for them, all efforts of talent are certainly unfruitful and useless, since they are immediately cut short by the intemperance of carnal desires. But for those in whom the restraint of carnal appetites is joined to that disposition for absorbing learning, and in character, what progress results from this, speech is utterly unable to encompass. Such was this Joseph from his earliest age, ^a standard of chastity, free from every childish way of living, free from the unbridled desires of the soul, shunning vices avoiding youthful allurements, alien from empty blandishments, playful entertainments, and all malice, as is proper; and in the first flower of his youth he displayed the ways and gravity of elders. In that weak age, when nature is not at all inclined toward what is honest and solid, but rather tends toward evil, he himself, choosing and seeking the good, fled far from youthful pleasures, and by ^a certain proportion declared the progress of virtue by the growth of the body, adorning each most fittingly by the other. and all levity: He abhorred whatever savored of softness and luxury: he did not attend to the elegance of complexion in bodies or the symmetry of limbs. He could not bear to hear conversations about human affairs, since he considered silence and tranquility to be the beginning of the purity of souls. Songs made for pleasure, or the words of witty and ridiculous men, by which the strength of the soul is most apt to be dissolved, he would not even suffer to approach his ears. Wherefore he did not allow his soul to be disturbed by those impurities, nor to be distracted outward through the senses: rather, he strove to turn his soul back upon itself, that it might arrive at the knowledge of God, and, illuminated by His splendor, be daily transformed by the most beautiful change.

[9] And these were his achievements while he was still ^a youth. But when he had grown to manhood and had made no small progress in active philosophy, he is enrolled in the order of the clergy. he was summoned by him who at that time occupied the priestly throne in his homeland, to be enrolled in the lot of the clergy and consecrated for sacred duties. Thenceforth he was dear to God and far dearer to the entire congregation of that Church, dear to all and venerable drawing some to better things by his words, others by his character. Even before his priesthood he was ^a Priest, and before he received the grace of the order, he was regarded as ^a Bishop from his boyhood. For many things were present in him which won that honor for him: composure of character, gentleness, taciturnity, sweetness of disposition, firmness of soul, kindness of speech, magnificence of works. for his virtues: In addition, he had made fasting familiar to himself; he possessed temperance as if innate; humility uniquely joined to him; charity as his companion: through which he restrained the impulses of anger, and armed himself against sin alone, despised transient things, and roused every desire toward true and solid goods. And utterly casting aside every appetite common to beasts and every sense of earthly things, raising himself to the heights, he prepared himself as ^a temple for the divine Spirit.

CHAPTER IV

The anchoretic and monastic life of St. George.

[10] But the ardor of the generous soldier could not rest even with these things: he turned his thought to the solitary life, desiring to live apart from the crowds, he aspires to the solitary life: and praying daily for this, that he might be granted to converse with God with ^a calm and undisturbed mind. He was constantly mindful of Elijah, Moses, the Precursor; how the first was deemed worthy of the divine apparition at Horeb; the second received on Mount Sinai the tablets inscribed by the finger of God; the last baptized Him who takes away the sins of the world. For the mind delights to dwell in the recollection of such histories, and, kindled with divine love, to find more examples. Then he secretly departs from his homeland, he secretly departs from his homeland, not at all anxious about provisions for the journey; carrying neither wallet, nor staff, nor money in his belt, not ^a multitude of servants, nor anything else suited to ^a journey. But ^a single servant and ^a single beast of burden sufficed for his journey. The care of his parents' advanced age did not trouble him: leaving behind his own, which is ^a most frequent and indeed reasonable impediment to ^a better way. For men are torn from the affairs of this world with difficulty. Most are unable, out of compassion for parents, brothers, or indeed kinsmen, neglecting their own salvation, to be moved toward the pursuit of what is honorable. None of these things did this man, inflamed with ^a vehement desire for virtue, take into account. He was not ignorant that the necessities for sustaining his parents' old age would be supplied by Him who created them: that their Maker would also care for his kinsmen. Following the example of Elijah and John, he embraces the wilderness, so that, guarding his soul's fortress undisturbed by any tumult, he might more fully receive the rays of the Spirit.

[11] When he had reached the foot of the mountain (Agrioserica was the mountain's name), he sent the servant back home with the beast of burden. he retires to Agrioserica, an inaccessible mountain: Completely separated from all earthly society, with purity of soul and the utmost tranquility, he drew closer to God in greater familiarity, and was led into the interior of the mountain. The forest that had grown up around that mountain, of trees of every kind, is almost like ^a wall, for on all other sides it is surrounded by utterly inaccessible cliffs. The mountain is not only remote from all urban noise, but does not even admit ^a single traveler. When he had reached the summit of the mountain, he found ^a cave, ^a true workshop of virtue. In this, ^a certain man, having cast off all worldly vanity, was enjoying familiar communion with God through the utmost integrity of life, there he finds ^a holy hermit, and had made such progress in virtue that he was also gifted with the grace of prophecy and, from his intimate union with God, foretold the future course of events. To this man, resembling Moses or Elijah in character, came one who was no less comparable to Aaron and Elisha. For God (as the saying goes) joins like to like. He was received by him with great joy of spirit. And why not, since the young man was already known to the old man because of his virtue? He adopted the same manner of living with him: he places himself under his instruction: and since he had already made some progress in the pursuit of virtue, he learned the remainder from him. For he did not consider the flight from the world to consist merely in the bodily withdrawal from it, but in the severing of the soul's inclination toward the body, so that ^a man becomes without city, without home, without any property, without friendship, without the conduct of business, without knowledge of human sciences, and thus prepared, he might readily receive in his soul the impressions from divine teaching. Being such and so great in the pursuit of virtue, he was tonsured by the venerable old man and clothed in the monastic habit, becoming ^a law and rule of equity unto himself, and, as one who is ^a pilgrim from the Lord, he became familiar with the Angels.

[12] Not long afterward, the heavenly choirs summoned the old man, and the hour of his departure was already at hand: when that divine soul, aware of his approaching death, summoned this noble champion, commanded by the dying man to migrate to the monastery of Bonyssa, roused him with pious exhortations, foretold what was to happen, and commanded him to go to ^a certain monastery which the inhabitants call Bonyssa, where he would be kindly received without delay. That place was widely celebrated for its reputation of holiness, where ^a company of monks, living the life of Angels on earth, was free from all earthly commerce. The old man, using the end of his life as ^a chariot, like Elijah, ascended to his Beloved, having imparted to his disciple ^a double grace through his exhortation, as Elijah did to Elisha through his mantle. And this man, strengthened by his master's prayers, withdrew from that extreme solitude and made his way most quickly to the monastery, and was received, though unknown, as if he had long been known, ^a stranger as if he had always lived there. where he is immediately admitted: For virtue has this property: that it both remains entire in the one who possesses it, and sends forth its radiance to those nearby; it adds to its possessor ^a certain invisible adornment, yet it does not escape those who wish to perceive simply and without guile; and before any trial it makes venerable the one who is endowed with it, so that he can be recognized by his very appearance alone. For as ^a farmer recognizes ^a farmer, and ^a soldier ^a soldier, if he wishes, by his face; so it is accustomed to happen with spiritual men. They conjectured, therefore, from the cheerfulness that shone in his countenance what was the interior disposition of his soul, and had nothing further to inquire about, except to admit him readily, so that he might become the illustrious ornament of that company of Fathers, and, like ^a certain sun, illuminate the firmament of the congregation.

[13] Here at last that admirable man becomes ^a participant in that stupendous manner of life which strives in the body to emulate the incorporeal order, and he undertakes the contests of this exercise, and, repelling far away every occasion accommodated to ^a corrupt and earthly life, there he lives most holily: and not allowing his soul to be distracted by any thought of earthly things, however necessary, he transfers all his effort to acquiring eternal goods. But in what manner he acquired justice and temperance for himself, how he fulfilled the demands of prudence and fortitude, and of the other virtues which can be fitly subdivided under these general headings into their proper species! He was constantly engaged in the meditation of the divine Scriptures, so that he might draw from them instructions for action and the Lives of holy men, described and handed down to posterity, he gathers from the Scriptures examples to imitate: the continence of Joseph, as certain living images of divine instruction, for the imitation of good works. Constantly revolving the history of Joseph and learning and drawing from him examples of continence -- one who not only bravely resisted pleasures but also attained the habitual practice of virtue. The fruits he had gathered from this, he was carried toward emulating: he stirred up in his soul the desire to equal them, and conformed his character according to their standard. If he came upon the struggles of Job, the patience of Job, he learned from him not only strength and constancy, should any adversity befall him, so that if he should fall from riches into want, or if one who had abounded in children should suddenly find himself bereft; but he was taught also to bear patiently the reproaches of neighbors, should any such occur, setting before himself the same model for imitation -- one who, while sitting on the dunghill covered with ulcers, with friends insulting and frequently reproving him, was not disturbed, nor uttered any word that might signify ^a commotion of soul. And thus from each he gathered what was useful: from David, the faith of Abraham, etc. gentleness; from Solomon, justice and prudence; at other times he returned to Abraham and took examples from him, and firmly adhered to his faith in God.

[14] In short, to sum up, such was the tenor of his life, such the sublimity of his mystical exercise, such the integrity of his conduct in every action by day and night, that it could not be sufficiently explained by speech or writing. devoted to the most perfect mortification: For just as souls are so freed from bodies through death that they are at the same time released from all the cares of life; so was his mind separated and, as it were, had emigrated from all care of life, so as to seem composed for the imitation of the angelic state. So much so that in him, as in them, neither anger, nor envy, nor hatred, nor suspicion, nor any other such thing was visible. But the desire for perishable things -- honor, glory, arrogance, display, and the like -- he had utterly expelled from his soul. His delight was temperance; his glory, to be unknown to men; his riches, to be in want and to have shaken off all abundance of earthly things like dust. What human eloquence, therefore, could sufficiently set before the eyes this manner of life? In these things, certainly, his life was as if midway between human and incorporeal nature.

CHAPTER V

St. George elected Bishop of Amastris, forcibly taken from the monastery, consecrated by St. Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople.

[15] Having spent no small time there, he accumulated ever greater benefactions day by day, ascending by the steps of virtues. And since he was thus exalted, he could by no means remain hidden. For who would hide ^a lamp placed on ^a mountain? Nor can the luster inherent in ^a pearl be concealed. His fame spread far and wide; his splendor burst forth by ^a secret decree of divine providence. His reputation reached his homeland, he is sought by his fellow citizens as Bishop, and wiped away all sadness, and changed their former grief into the greatest cheerfulness of spirit, and utterly removed the remnants of despair. And since the Bishop of that Church had already departed this life, the citizens, inspired by divine impulse, formed ^a plan both religious and most suited to the time: that he should be elected Bishop who before his birth had already been designated as ^a Priest. envoys are sent to him, A delegation is decreed to beg him to consent and assume the highest priesthood. The leading men from both the ecclesiastical order and the civic magistrates were chosen for this task.

[16] When they came to him, they spoke in approximately these terms: "The city which nourished you and the Church which suckled you now hope for ample recompense from you: the former, that as the reward for your upbringing it may become famous through you and be celebrated above other cities with illustrious glory; the latter, that it may be excellently governed and that nothing of its sacred institutions may be neglected. Both, because they are still disappointed in their hope, mourn and lament. they try to persuade him to consent, Now therefore gird yourself for the journey, and pay your debt, and render to your nurses the reward of your upbringing, doing what is just. Let your homeland receive dignity by your return, the Church honor by your consecration, and both joy by your very entrance. Imitate the ways of the most ancient Saints from all past memory, whose life you have emulated. Imitate those who lived before grace and those who lived after Christ: so that from all your works may come the proclamation of God's mighty deeds and the conversion of sinners. For the perfection of virtue does not consist in saving only yourself. But in providing for the salvation of many, the sublimity of every Saint's purpose is perceived. also by the example of Christ and the Saints. That is why Paul ran from Jerusalem to Illyricum; that is why he endured so many persecutions, and faced so many dangers by land and sea. For the same reason, one set of chains after another awaited Peter, along with afflictions and six hundred other things of the kind -- not to mention each individually. For this same reason Christ put on the form of ^a servant, accepted slaps, spitting, blows, the cross itself and death, and the descent into hell."

[17] When the envoys had spoken these and other things to the same effect, that great man, and truly ^a disciple of the Peacemaker, replied to them in ^a gentle voice: "To me, O men, the world has been crucified, refusing and the things that are in the world. The governance of the people and the administration of sacred things I willingly leave to those who desire them, whom especially heavenly providence favors." O sublime spirit! O truly free mind, whose better part has in no way been wounded by the worse, but has remained utterly unconquered and free from all admixture with the inferior, and has stood firm through the intention of what is honorable, and was touched by no desire for anything except to walk in the way that leads to the highest good, and regarded absolutely nothing else. But when the envoys perceived that he could in no way be moved from his purpose -- O miracle! -- they undertake ^a rash deed (if it is right so to call it, and not rather to surmise the operation of ^a certain divine impulse): they form ^a plan full of piety and boldness at once. they carry him off by force, They carry the holy man away by force, however much he resisted. For an inflamed ardor of spirit, having found its opportunity, is accustomed to dare and contrive anything. Yet this boldness seems to me to be free from reproach and to be joined with reverence.

[18] And he indeed was suffering this noble tyranny; they, however, as the first results had corresponded to their hope, hastening swiftly to Constantinople: were hurrying toward the imperial city as fast as they could, the cheerfulness of their spirits diminishing the length of the journey, hope alleviating the toil of travel, and faith ensuring that nothing burdensome or troublesome should occur, but that all things should be easy. And one could see that everything was suited to the occasion and wonderfully accommodated to the proposed goal, including ^a recommendation from the Patriarch (his name was Tarasius), where St. Tarasius the Patriarch, most consonant with what they had already decreed by their own votes: for he recognized George at the very first meeting. The prior acquaintance had been formed in this way. Before the great Tarasius ascended the pontifical throne, when he had been enrolled in that class of men who discharge the secret functions of the Emperors (they are called by the Latin word ^a Secretis, "of the Secretariat"), and had instituted ^a nocturnal psalmody, hiring people for the purpose; having formerly admired the boy's virtue. it happened that the great George, still ^a boy, as he was always accustomed to visit the churches, was also present and became ^a part of those singing the sacred psalmody. When the singing was over and the wages were due to those who had sung, and each one was being paid the appointed price, when they came to him, he refused to accept anything, saying it was better to receive one's reward in the future life. And so he indeed conducted himself at that time. But Tarasius, having contemplated what had occurred and marveled at the boy's virtue, lodged it in his soul as if in ^a kind of tinder, and the memory, nourished over time, blazed forth anew. For any outstanding action, perceived by the spiritual eyes through the bodily ones, is accustomed to imprint an indelible and inextinguishable memory of itself. The man having been examined openly on these matters, he recognized him, Tarasius accepted this as ^a work of divine providence and will, and so judged, as if confirmed by ^a heavenly testimony, that he should be declared ^a Priest, and ratified the election, and that what the envoys had so long sought should be granted.

[19] However, either an imperial nomination or rather ^a certain assault of envy seemed to have slightly checked the Patriarch's favorable inclination. For another person had been designated for the same Episcopal See by the Emperor's vote. and another being proposed by the Emperor, But the imperial command could by no means persuade the divine Bishop to prefer falsehood to truth, or to be moved by reverence for the imperial countenance, or to fear ^a tyrannical hand, or to be won over by blandishments: nor did the sincere observance of divine precepts permit it. Therefore, having convened an ecclesiastical assembly, he produced both candidates, as it were ^a Matthias and ^a Nicanor, and by careful consideration and comparison of dissimilar qualities, by careful judgment of the Clergy, both in other matters and especially in those pertaining to the observance of ecclesiastical discipline, the outcome was such that, just as gold compared to lead appears far more splendid and precious, the former is preferred, so the virtue of the former shone out far more illustriously. Therefore the consensus and common vote of all the Priests and Clergy fell upon George, as formerly upon Matthias. he is consecrated Bishop, Then he is inaugurated with the pontifical unction and sent back to his homeland. Returning from solitude to the imperial city, in ^a short time he became known to all, to the applause of the Constantinopolitans, so that he became desirable and reverend to the Emperors themselves, to the governors, to the people, to the powerful as well as to the lowly; yet at the same time, no sooner was he known than he was torn away, so that ^a vehement desire for the man did not seize their hearts, except insofar as they testified to it in ^a perfunctory manner. And so much for Byzantium. The citizens, having obtained what they desired and not disappointed in their hope, departed, taking with them the one they had long sought.

[20] But like ^a horse that has cast off its reins, the discourse wanders astray and extends itself beyond what has been permitted: and it desires to bring forth certain secrets and to express in words, as if it had witnessed hidden things firsthand: namely that ^a celebration and praise in heaven greeted this noble event, and ^a joyful acclamation from the inhabitants of that heavenly city, and indeed great joy arose for the entire celestial choir. also to the Angels and the holy souls. And rightly so: for what had been accomplished pertained to the salvation of many, as we shall afterward relate. For many excellent deeds were performed by him, calamities that also endangered souls were averted, souls were purified, and other benefactions of this kind were innumerable. Moreover, Angels rejoice in the salvation of men, since they are appointed as guardians of each individual. Rightly, therefore, they rejoice and exult with mortals in such ^a celebration. Now if the souls of the Saints are in the hand of God, and God rejoices in the conversion and salvation of sinners, it is fitting that they too should exult, seeing the salvation of their own kind to be promoted by the virtue and prudence of so great ^a man. But enough of this.

CHAPTER VI

The Church of Amastris made autocephalous, and excellently administered by St. George. Saracens driven off by his prayers.

[21] That great treasure was being led to his homeland, destined shortly to make it conspicuous and famous: who, among the other benefits he conferred upon it, obtained that its Church should not be subject to any Archbishop, using ^a remarkable freedom of access to the Emperor. For he who at that time governed the metropolis of the Gangrenians was puffing himself up with pride and arrogance to an extraordinary degree, [He afterward obtained that the Church of Amastris should not be subject to the Metropolitan of Gangra:] or rather was exercising inhumanity, and making no allowance for the grace of this divine Father. For the sinner (as the proverb says) abhors piety. For virtue is accustomed to be praised and honored, as is right, by him who is endowed with virtue; but to be opposed and openly resisted by what is of ^a different character. That Metropolitan once repelled the great man, who was the Metropolitan of the heavenly Jerusalem, when he came to visit him out of ^a spirit of respect. This was perhaps the work of the providence that orders all things well, on account of the hardness of his spirit: lest the better should be subordinate to the worse. And it turned out admirably. For from that time onward the See of that city was never again made subject to any other, rightly so, when, at the holy man's petition, ^a decree of the imperial hand was added. And I have not said these things as if they were chronologically first, and happened at the very beginning of his episcopate; on the contrary, they were done much later; but because the discourse fell upon them and, as it were, refused to recount the same things ^a second time.

[22] But let the discourse now be recalled to the subject at hand and commemorate his entrance. That sacred ornament, that vessel of election, ^a second Paul, ^a model of simplicity and innocence, blameless in life, affable in speech, sound in character, was being conveyed to his homeland. His arrival is announced to the city. amid ^a great gathering and joy of the citizens One could see the universal throng and ^a spectacle full of wonder: old men, forgetting their feebleness, as if the vigor of youth were in them, rushing to meet him; the infirm putting on strength and, out of desire, shaking off the debility that arose from their illness; women too, as if renouncing the tenderness of their nature, assuming manly spirits; boys burning with ^a desire equal to that of the old; and all, like thirsting deer hastening to the springs, so running to the presence of the holy man, and each seeking to outstrip the other. The public roads were full, the crossroads were packed: it was ^a general holiday. he is introduced into his Church: But why recount in detail everything that was done then, when the theme can be summed up briefly? The Saint is introduced into the mother church: he receives the keys, like Peter the chief of the Apostles, by divine authority; the skilled helmsman takes the rudder, knowing how to cross the sea of this life without any peril.

[23] Such, therefore, was the affection of his homeland toward him. Was perhaps this generous man's zeal for rightly performing his office less than the affection of his citizens? Or if there was equal zeal and effort for establishing the affairs of the Church, was his learning nevertheless perhaps insufficient? whose charge he administers most zealously, Or was he excellently instructed in doctrines, yet did not fully attend to what the standard of propriety required? Or did he indeed so abundantly excel in all these things that it cannot be expressed in words, yet did there remain in him some sign of ^a base and pusillanimous spirit? Not at all. All things at once were carefully attended to and perfected by him with the utmost zeal: sacred constitutions, the adornment and order of the altar, the regulation of the clergy. For gazing upon him as upon ^a picture painted with the most exquisite art, they most elegantly copied the forms of the virtues: giving to all examples of virtues: and, taught by his deeds rather than by his words, they inscribed indelible images of what is honorable upon their souls. From him was learned faith, hope, charity; from him justice, temperance, and the remaining array of virtues; from him moderation, gentleness, humility of spirit; from him the patronage of orphans and widows, the reception of beggars, the abolition of usury, the forgiveness of debts, compassion for neighbors, especially the needy; and finally, what is chief, piety toward God, contempt for perishable things, zeal for the things to come, and progress in every kind of virtue.

[24] Of the care and patronage which he bestowed upon his homeland, many other proofs exist: approaches to the Emperors, freedom of speech toward governors, both others and those who administered public affairs, the abrogation of taxes, he benefits his citizens in various ways: the prevention of injuries, the aid of the poor, most often spiritual but frequently also material, and other benefactions which this excellent and God-directed man conferred upon the people. But one was the greatest and most celebrated. An invasion of enemies had been made, far more ferocious than any in the memory of mankind. All persons of every condition and age, if they seemed fit for battle, were snatched away by the hands of the impious into servitude; but the old and the children were killed by the sword: the former were thus carried off, lest they might perhaps undertake something brave and vigorous; the latter were slaughtered because they were useless and fit for no profit, the Saracens devastating that region most cruelly, either already broken by old age or impeded by the weakness of their tender years. The rest, unfit for fighting but not useless for service, were assigned to ignoble servitude and distributed. The land overflowed with blood; the villages resounded with wailing; everything was full of lamentations that resembled those of the Jews when they were carried off by the Persians into servitude. For the race of the Agarenes exercises violence no less than Persian cruelty: indeed even greater and much more savage, because they are far inferior to them in strength. For the less strength there is, the greater the display of ferocity, if ever victory should fall their way: just as in proportion to strength, there is more abundant compassion. In the arms of their mothers, dear children awaited the untimely death to be inflicted upon them by the sword: and the mothers offered their necks to the blade, lest they should see with their own eyes their wretched offspring torn apart by the enemy's hand. Who could worthily bewail the manifold calamity? The savagery of the enemy, their cruelty, their bestial rage? How an infant clinging to its mother's breasts received ^a lethal wound through her body? How an unhappy mother, offering her breast to her infant's mouth, caught his blood in her lap? Often also the enemy, with ^a violent hand, pierced both mother and child at once with ^a single stroke of the sword. Who could describe the complaints of the fathers, their mourning, and the final embraces of their children? Children violently torn from their parents' hands created ^a pitiful tragedy for them.

[25] In those and similar circumstances, the passion of fear by no means divided the soul of the holy man in different directions: nor did he consider how he himself might escape captivity; nothing base and abject did he either revolve in his mind or do. he runs through the villages, But raising his head high, armed with the trophy of the Cross, he ran through the neighboring villages, gathered all together against the incursions of enemies like wolves; and having safely placed them in the city, as in ^a fold, he himself ran about outside, and drives the people into the city: alone, unarmed, facing danger for his homeland, laying down his life for the sheep, following the example of the Pastor, the Lord and supreme Priest. But what did the Lord of wonders do, who is accustomed to equip one man to put ^a thousand to flight, and two to rout many thousands? Who by the circuit of seven Priests and the blowing of an equal number of trumpets prostrated the walls of Jericho, higher than any siege engines; He now, by the circuit of ^a single Priest, saved ^a populous city, he puts the enemy to flight by divine power, repelled ^a nation full of fury and bent on destroying the entire heritage of Christ, struck and routed them by his prayers as by weapons, and put them to flight with disgrace back to their homeland. Truly, as it is said, the enemy reveres ^a man's virtue, if not willingly, at least against his will. For one could then see them fleeing with no one pursuing, falling with no one striking.

[26] What can be imagined more unexpected against the very truth? What narrative could be more admirable? Of old, Moses put the Amalekites to flight by God's decree, with hands raised on high, foreshadowing the image and prefiguration of ^a greater mystery. in this he was greater than Moses and Joshua: But he did not erect his trophy without sorrow and bloodshed. He needed many squadrons of men armed with iron: he needed the help of those supporting his hands, when the battle was prolonged. Joshua also stopped the sun against Gibeon and the moon against the valley: but this man neither sent an armed army against the drawn-up line of the enemy, nor horsemen, nor javelin-throwers; nor did he need any other thing suitable for battle; he did not need the service of those supporting his hands extended to God; nor the prolongation of the day; nor anything else of those things that have been enumerated and are related in history. But alone, unarmed, stretching his hands to God, he raised the standard, saved his homeland, showed that virtue is unconquerable: and he persuaded the enemies never again to hope to carry off the insignia of victory over the flock of Christ, but to know that what had befallen them was the work of divine providence, which kills and restores to life, strikes and heals: but strikes in order to work something great, in order to procure the salvation of souls through chastisement, just as He once allowed the Israelites to be reduced to captivity and led into servitude, so that they would no longer worship foreign gods but would be converted to the truth.

CHAPTER VII

Miracles performed by St. George at Trebizond: captives freed.

[27] Are not these things great? Are they not full of wonder? No such stratagem do the histories of the Greeks produce. What Ulysses erected such ^a trophy? What Heraclids or Pelopids, whose deeds contain nothing more than what appears full of shame and disgrace? Far more admirable than these and such things are what followed. These the discourse will now declare. Certain merchants of his city were once captured at Trebizond, when Amastrian merchants were captured at Trebizond, falsely accused of public crimes through calumny. A very serious crime indeed is calumny, the offspring of envy: and the end of both is slaughter. Those men were therefore captured and delivered by the Governor to the public prison, and they expected death by the sword to be inflicted upon them. One could see the changed faces of the men, like malefactors already awaiting their execution, their fallen countenance, all their appearance darkened, their natural strength exhausted, and as if deprived of the power to endure, their hearts broken, their knees trembling, their voices interrupted by sobs and signifying nothing clearly, their eyes flooded with tears and bereft of the power of sight: one could hear the voices of those mourning the loss of their children and kinsmen, and when they invoked him in the certain peril of death. calling upon God, invoking the Saint: and as if they were addressing one who could hear, they cried: "Hasten to bring us aid, snatch us from an unjust death, free us from the anguish that oppresses us; do not allow us to be put to the punishments owed to criminals. Let not envy rage with its customary slaughter against us: let not our blood shed on foreign soil be ^a disgrace to our homeland: do not allow us to be crushed by calumny."

[28] As they cried out these and similar things with sorrowful heart, he knows of it by divine revelation, tearing their clothes and sprinkling ashes on their heads, the Lord had mercy and revealed the whole matter to His servant, so that by compassion for his neighbors he might weave for himself more splendid crowns of virtue. What then? He sets out from his homeland, not deterred by the distance of the journey, not requiring much for travel, not excusing bodily illness, not winter weather, not navigation made perilous by storms, not any other thing of the kind by which the faint-hearted are usually delayed. But as soon as he heard, he voluntarily undertook the journey: and hastens swiftly toward it, as soon as this noble shepherd and imitator of the great Prince of shepherds learned that destruction was imminent for his sheep, he rushed to their defense; and boarding ^a ship, he sailed as quickly as possible to bring aid to the unjustly oppressed. Everything seemed to comply with his purpose: enjoying ^a favorable voyage: the navigation was favorable, the sea calm, the impulse of the waves gently driving the ship forward, and all but uttering ^a voice, certainly exulting in the service of the Righteous. Nor will anyone disbelieve what is said, if he first recollects the first man and his dignity before the fall; how this entire visible world was prepared for his service, and he himself was established as lord of all things under the Creator, and like ^a householder gave to all things names consonant with the nature of each: and since things were thus, by his disobedience he lost his own dignity. If he had obeyed the command, he would certainly have retained it, and the sea too would have obeyed him. The prodigies of the Prophets and the admirable works of the Apostles and Martyrs bear witness to this -- not to enumerate each one individually. And he, finding by divine will all things obedient to his purpose, made the crossing, to bring help to those whom the final sentence already awaited.

[29] But the adversary of truth, the enemy of the just, always persecuting the honorable with hatred, sowing evil, and devising every kind of wickedness, ran ahead and prepared the way for evil, and enlisted as his helper the Duke's attendant, the Deputy of the court (as he is called in the Latin language): a certain centurion pressing for the death of the innocent, who, as soon as he understood for what reason the holy man had arrived there, began to whet his tongue like ^a razor sharpened against those captives, renewing the calumny and exaggerating the crimes, and fostering the malicious accusation with wicked words, and striving with dishonest arguments to demonstrate that the men deserved not one death only, being bound by the greatest crimes; crying out that the laws were being overturned, morals corrupted, if they did not pay the penalties for their criminal acts; and pressing other points of the kind that ^a perverse mind suggests and ^a deceitful tongue spews forth. and the Duke agreeing with him, And he indeed bore down upon the wretched men in this manner. The Duke also was being led to the same opinion, partly willingly, using foolish reasoning, partly unwillingly, but acquiescing in that wicked counselor. For the roughness of the human mind is intractable when it comes to being turned toward virtue, and one which most reluctantly allows itself to be persuaded of better things, is most flexible toward worse ones.

[30] What then did He who destroyed the firstborn of Pharaoh and struck Egypt with many signs? He blinded the eyes of the Duke's wife, his wife is struck with blindness: who refused to believe the servant of God, to soften his hard heart, to bend his stiff will, to tame his unruly spirit and check the rush of envy, to overturn the arms of treachery by abolishing the slaughter, and to grant freedom of speech to the truth. When he heard what had happened, the Duke himself, now pitiable, beseeches, supplicates, weeps, the Saint, when the husband begs pardon, laments, confesses his fault, promises amendment, now as disposed to benevolence and grace as he had previously been to hardness of heart. For those who were insolently puffed up in abundant prosperity are accustomed, when things have changed to the contrary, to be more heavily cast down, and to consider the falls that have befallen them intolerable -- being ill disposed by ^a spirit of faintheartedness to either extreme. But this man, ^a disciple of Him who commanded that sins committed against us should be forgiven seventy times seven times, truly an ocean of compassion, ^a fountain of charity, ^a model of humility, when he saw the man's obstinacy changed to humility, when he saw the proud now repentant and suppliant, by his prayers he restores her sight, he needed not many words: immediately, pouring out prayers to God, he dispelled the blindness. Matt. 18:22 And when they had received the proof of such miracles and recovers the captives free. with eyes that did not err and with hearing that did not doubt, seized with fear and trembling at the signs they had witnessed, they presented the men to the Saint and begged pardon for their crime.

[31] A certain woman, moreover, inflamed with divine love, ^a pious woman, demonstrating her piety by its very fruits, asked the Saint to offer the sacred liturgy in her domestic chapel. And behold ^a miracle, equal to any miracles that have ever occurred! Where there is the faith of women, there divine miracles are celebrated; Where there is the faith of women, there are miracles, but where there is anger, malice always breaks forth. Both are demonstrated in ^a single Prophet. When Jezebel was pursuing Elijah, he dwelt in the wilderness -- that terrible Prophet who by ^a single word drew fire from heaven and burned the infamous priests, who shut up heaven and chastised the whole world with drought. The same Elijah, received as ^a guest by the widow of Zarephath, as is evident in the woman of Zarephath, multiplied the handful of flour and increased the oil in the jug, and recalled her dead son to life and restored him to his mother. Elisha likewise stayed with the Shunammite the Shunammite, and performed ^a similar miracle. Rahab the harlot received the spies as guests and was saved. And, lest the discourse become tedious if I recount everything, the sinful woman brought forth precious ointment and anointed Jesus, who was Himself the true ointment, God and man alike: and she herself was freed from the evil-smelling deeds. Mary also, the Magdalene, the sister of Lazarus, sat at the feet of Jesus, applying her mind to His saving teaching. Truly admirable was the admirable zeal of that woman! She receives her friend as ^a guest, and does not busy herself with hospitality; but instead of humble service she raises her mind to the contemplation of sublime things. For she knew that He who rained manna in the wilderness and drew water from the rock and fed five thousand with five loaves was oppressed by no lack of material things, although from time to time, according to the laws of the body, for the cure and dispensation of our salvation, He hungered, thirsted, and was weary. The same woman, accused by her sister, heard from the Word Himself that she had chosen the good part, which would endure forever.

[32] This admirable woman seems to me to have imitated her, or even surpassed her. the woman of Trebizond, For having received the Saint into her house, she not only neglected what pertained to bodily necessity, but even those things that were necessary for the divine liturgy -- bread, I mean, and wine -- and transferred herself entirely to the teaching of the holy Bishop, forgetful of all earthly things. who, intent upon George's exhortation, Wherefore the miracle that then befell her seems to proclaim that ^a good part was chosen for her, which would not be taken from her. For when the exhortation was finished, which had transported the minds of the listeners from earthly cares to heavenly things, and had persuaded them that present things, being transient and perishable, ought to be despised, and all care directed to eternal things, which endure and admit of no change; neglected the necessaries for the sacrifice, and now it only remained for the mystical sacrifice to be performed, but the things necessary for the offering were not yet at hand, as we have said, ^a miracle was wrought by the Saint, or rather through him by God, who fed the Prophet in the pit by the ministry of another Prophet, as the raven fed Elijah, and who of His own accord prepared that divine meal for the disciples and they were divinely supplied. when, by His third appearance, He declared His resurrection -- from His immortal storehouse, which He the Giver alone knew, He produced bread and wine, as ^a figure of that divine body and precious blood, both to honor His servant and to make manifest to all the devout zeal of that faithful woman.

[33] More clearly than any tongue, however sonorous, let it be confirmed abundantly, not only for those who then witnessed or heard these things, but for all posterity, that He is the one who said that no care should be had for any of the things pertaining to the needs of life, except only the kingdom of heaven, and then the rest would be added of their own accord. Matt. 6:33 Those who care only for divine things have the rest added to them. For she who, out of vehement attentiveness to absorbing the heavenly teaching, neglected such and so important ^a thing, was not only not guilty of any fault, but was even worthy of praise, as was demonstrated by that great miracle; how much more shall we consider that men are to be rescued from many evils and heaped with blessings, if they will cast their care upon the Lord? Would that the negotiations by land and sea had never been begun, the untimely cares, the protracted labors, the fatigues, the vigils, which are the most bitter offspring of avarice, from which come envy, slaughter, shipwrecks; from which come robbers, thieves, plunderers; from which come lies, oaths, perjuries, and other innumerable multitudes of evils! Would that they had cast all their thought upon the Lord, who feeds the birds of the sky, which neither sow nor reap; who from the beginning adorned the first parent of the human race with that blessed and immortal state of life, although through the fall of disobedience he was condemned to cultivate the earth bristling with thorns and to eat bread in the sweat of his brow.

CHAPTER VIII.

Other miracles, predictions, and benefactions of St. George.

[34] But lest the discourse wander from its aim, let it be recalled to the subject at hand. After Trebizond had received the fruit of such miracles, the Saint returned to his homeland, bringing back with him those he had saved, as ^a singular gift. But then he was obliged to set out for the imperial city: for he was so dear to the Empress Irene and her son Constantine St. George is summoned to the court, that they seemed unable to bear the absence of his presence for long, but plainly to insist that he should always be with them and share in the public cares and excellently guide the reins of the Empire. But because, out of humility of spirit, most dear to the Emperors: he regarded it almost as ^a disgrace to prolong his stays in palaces and deal familiarly with Emperors, he departed from there.

[35] When, therefore, as has been said, he arrived at Byzantium, something remarkable occurred, from which, among other things, it appeared that he was filled with the prophetic Spirit, ^a most perfect model of the administration of the commonwealth, ^a most accurate rule for those who, moved by the divine Spirit, foretell things to come: so that they may both signify and simultaneously wrap the outcome of future events in obscure indications, and temper the disposition of those who are faint-hearted and of those who are bold and rash, lest any prediction become the cause of ^a sudden calamity, but its interpretation may remain obscure, and after the event has occurred, it may both be recognized that it was truly foretold and thanks may be given to God, who knows all things before they happen. At that time, then, there was ^a certain Logothete, ^a man in charge of public revenues, he predicts the empire to Nicephorus the Logothete, named Nicephorus, one of the holy man's particular friends and intimates, who had adopted him not only in matters pertaining to the soul but also in the remaining conduct of his life as his guide and master, so that by his counsel he might regulate his life, words, and all his actions. When this man wished to buy ^a certain house, he communicated this to the man who was the guide and moderator of all his affairs, and immediately felt his headlong impulse toward the purchase being checked, but obscurely, and at the same time received an indication of obtaining the empire: and nearly the same thing happened to him as to Saul, inasmuch as each seems to have gained an accession beyond the principal matter he was pursuing. For the Saint declared to him that he would shortly become the heir of ^a certain widow who possessed very large houses. But he was speaking of the Empress Irene, after Nicephorus had assumed the government of the empire. Meanwhile, however, that man did not at all grasp the truth of the thing obscurely foretold. But after what had been predicted came to pass, who afterward held him and his relics in the highest esteem. and he recognized the gift of prophecy with which the Saint was endowed, he did not value the royal diadem, nor the Roman Empire itself, as much as the ability to converse, remain, and live with that man: to such ^a degree that he even despised the purple itself and secretly put on his tunic and worn cloak, and considered this to be the protection and strength of his empire; even to the point of scorning beds, throwing himself upon the pavement, and becoming ^a participant in that lofty practice of sleeping on the ground and keeping vigils.

[36] And so these things were. One more thing from many will yet be commemorated, and then I shall approach the end of the discourse. On one occasion he was sailing across the Black Sea: and when he had come to the place where the bed of the river Sangarius, flowing through Galatia, pours into the sea, and he put in at the very mouth, ^a kind of struggle arose there between the river water and the surging of the sea; both the one descending with great force and the sea, growing rough, throwing its waves onto the land. In addition, ^a wind began to blow from the land and struck the sailors with no slight fear, by his prayers he calms the storm, as it seemed about to plunge them with their ship into the deep, since at that time, by the impulse of some malicious demon, it blew more violently, so that it tore apart the waves and, as if laughing, stirred up ^a noise like that of boiling surging. But shortly afterward the ship was brought to land by rowing, from which the holy man disembarked and, standing on the embankment of the shore, raised his hands to heaven and permanently bars violent winds from ^a certain place, and rebuked the wind and calmed the storm: nor did violent gusts of that kind ever again trouble that place, restrained by the Saint's command as by some inescapable bond. which was ^a very great miracle: What miracles already performed for our salvation in past times does this not far exceed in greatness? What prodigies does it not surpass? For to put demons to flight, to heal diseases, and to perform other innumerable miracles -- with which all history and poetry are filled -- is not difficult for Saints who have preserved undefiled within themselves the image of the divinity and have obtained the grace of performing such miracles through their compassion for their neighbor. But to steady the very elements, to command the assaults of the winds, to rebuke the storms of the sea and impose upon them as it were ^a most firm bridle and prescribe ^a limit which they may not transgress -- this is truly the work of the divine nature, which stretches out the heaven like ^a curtain, established the earth upon the waters, and restrained the sea with sand.

[37] To this divine nature, as far as can be conjectured, by an extraordinary freedom from human passions and purity of soul, George was so richly endowed with the grace of performing miracles of this kind that no one failed to partake of them. he benefits all, For those who had already drawn the breath of life were then given the opportunity to enjoy his illustrious miracles abundantly. But for those not yet born, present and future, who were to be received in the future, the abundance of his beneficence was stored up for the future, as if in ^a storehouse, until it should be drawn forth. One might also perhaps dare to say that even upon the Saints who had long since departed this life, some share of his benefactions was bestowed. and even the ancient Saints, For by imitating their manner of life, and daily, as David says, disposing ascents in his heart, and by ^a certain admirable method daily changing his character for the better, he competed with some of them, surpassed others, and, as it were composing ^a single form from the excellent deeds of all, expressed it in himself most accurately: Ps. 83:6 so that for them indeed it was ^a great thing to look upon such examples, but for them it was ^a greater thing by honoring them through imitation, to have found such an imitator. For both an excellent painter and ^a soldier striving to imitate in the field the prowess of his Emperor are accustomed to reflect glory upon the original model.

[38] For indeed, splendidly equipped with every armament of words and deeds, and fortified as with other native camps for piety, like another Lot he preserved his flock unharmed by any wound; especially Abraham, both retaining ^a most ready willingness to obey God the Father of all even unto blood, and most clearly teaching this by deed, and daily performing the sacred rite of his own free will, and truly declaring himself ^a mystic priest of the unbloody sacrifice; he wisely generated sons and heirs of God from the Church, ordered by him according to the divine standard, as from another Rebecca; Isaac, and multiplying his flock, Jacob, he was blessed not with unmarked but with marked and rational sheep (which is altogether proven from the art of shepherding): which were the riches of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Gen. 14:14 Exercising temperance with the utmost care, Joseph, he easily put to flight crafty wickedness, like another Egyptian woman, by despoiling himself of earthly things. And designated as the spiritual leader of ^a new Israel, having drawn it from the dark Egypt of sin, he led it into the mystical promised land, washing away by the bitter teaching, like the salt water of the Red Sea, whatever Egyptian and foreign element still clung to it. Having obtained that venerable priesthood, he did not have ^a Moses to expound the things pertaining to God, Moses, but himself directly conversing with God and daily offering sacrifices for the ignorance and sins of the people, Aaron. he exactly imitated Joseph, Moses, Aaron. He nobly strove to follow the zeal of Phinehas, Phinehas, cutting out with the sword of freedom avarice and falsehood, mixed together for great destruction, and the envy that is deceitfully born from them, piercing the most shameful belly and revealing the foul abortion before it could be completed. He also excellently emulated the strength of David in pastoral work David, before he was anointed, powerfully suffocating the bearish rage and leonine impulses of the passions by the force of reason, and arming his governing mind with purity, he laid low with ^a sling the invisible Goliath who engaged him in combat. Loving solitude after the example of Elijah and John, Elijah, John, the Apostles, he reproved impiety even more than they. He imitated the ardor of Peter and Paul in disseminating the faith and their magnanimity: and indeed the most painstaking diligence of the other disciples of the Word in discharging the function of the Apostolic office he also reproduced in himself, opening to all the oracles of their secret and mystical teaching, both those pertaining to the conduct of life and those instituted by God. Martyrs: He declared in his conscience the zeal of the Martyrs for truth even unto death, powerfully overturning every form of wickedness.

[39] He far surpassed the ancient Fathers who were celebrated in the pastoral office. also the ancient fathers who practised the pastoral art, For who ever so gathered the scattered sheep, sought the lost, supported the lame, cured the sick? The unharmed he guarded by means suited to their preservation, the sound he protected with remedies suited to purification, training his people in every virtue. by no means using the rod in his speech, correcting most people by his character rather than by his word. How he rejected hateful harshness and introduced kindness with sublime humility, banishing at the same time with avarice its advantages, and introducing poverty and mercy, he bound all to justice, and took care that they should be adorned with temperance, and taught them nobly for fortitude, accustoming them to fight generously against invisible enemies! For nothing has such great power for the acquisition of virtues as diligently applying the hand to the practice of the institutions of one's ancestors.

CHAPTER IX

The death of St. George, his burial, miracles at his tomb. The author's peroration.

[40] But since, being ^a man, he had to undergo those things which belong to nature, and, shaking off the material accretion, pass to ^a better lot, and, perfectly adhering to God, be crowned with the crown of piety; when he had fallen into his final illness, he recognized that the end was at hand and received it joyfully, giving thanks to God, who had created him and now wished to deliver him through dissolution from corruption, he dies: intending to reassemble him again more sublimely according to whatever judgments He should see fit. He departed from his tabernacle on the eighth day of the month of Dystrus, and his soul, full of God, passed to God, having obtained through death the highest object of desire. One could see he is buried amid the great grief of all: the gathering of weeping Emperors and Bishops: the inconsolable grief of magistrates and subjects: the former lamented that ^a model of right governance had been snatched from them, the latter that ^a standard of excellent obedience had been taken away. He is piously and reverently buried by the hands of priests: an Archbishop is laid beside Archbishops, ^a Disciple beside Apostles, one accustomed to foresee the future beside Prophets; beside Martyrs, one who daily died to himself for Christ.

[41] And he was indeed laid in ^a tomb after the manner of men; yet his name was by no means buried in oblivion (nor would it have been fitting for ^a Saint), but shines with ^a certain divine light of miracles. innumerable miracles occur at his tomb. Of these we shall select ^a very few from many: for if we wished to encompass in our discourse all the instances of how many, vexed by unclean spirits, were freed by the mere touch of his tomb; how many, brought there with broken limbs, returned home healed and on their own feet; how many, deprived of the light of their eyes and led by others, escaped profound darkness once they received their sight -- this would be like attempting to measure the ocean with ^a tiny cup, or to count the grains of sand on the seashore, or to determine the distance that stretches from earth to heaven. But, as the proverb says, we shall describe the lion from his claws: and we shall make manifest by the deed itself his grace and familiarity with God even after he had departed this life, and, having brought forward one or two of his miracles, we shall put an end to the discourse.

[42] At one time such ^a quantity of rain fell that it nearly overwhelmed the people with the abundance of water, and it seemed like ^a second deluge, with mountains widely eroded and fields standing under water: houses and churches were full of water, partly from what flowed down from the roof above, partly from what burst in through the doors below and filled everything. waters flooding the entire city. The whole city, shaken and tossed about on all sides by the rushing waters, as if in the middle of the sea, threatened to collapse: had not heavenly providence, which directs all things for the benefit of mortals -- brandishing indeed the sword of vengeance but not inflicting the blow, rather opening for us the way of repentance -- checked the flow of the waters and granted salvation through the intercession of the holy man, as was demonstrated by ^a miracle performed at his tomb. For when the church was overflowing with the abundance of water, it in no way touched his tomb: they surround his tomb but do not touch it: but He who of old divided the Red Sea and held back the Jordan, the same here also through His servant displayed ^a similar prodigy. One could see the soft and liquid nature being changed to hardness, standing apart from the tomb on either side like ^a firm and immovable wall, and not sprinkling upon it any moisture. Truly wonderful is God in His Saints, performing prodigies and wonders beyond all speech and power.

[43] And so that event occurred. No less astounding were the things that happened afterward. An incursion of barbarians was made, namely the Russians, ^a people (as all know) savage and fierce, in whom nothing of humanity seems to remain. The Russians, barbarians, devastating the provinces of Asia on the Black Sea. For they are of savage customs, utterly alien from all civilized culture, composed in their very aspect and appearance of face for ferocity and cruelty, and seem to take pleasure in nothing that other mortals enjoy, but feed only upon slaughter. Those fierce enemies, therefore, and by their very name, not merely in deed, destructive, having begun their devastation from the Propontis, and having consumed the entire maritime coast, and the city of Amastris itself, at length approached the homeland of this Saint, everywhere slaughtering all sexes and ages, with no pity for the old or for infants, but arming their bloodstained hand indiscriminately against all, they strove to inflict destruction as quickly as possible. Temples were destroyed by them, sacred things profaned, altars overthrown, and in their place impious libations and sacrifices offered. That ancient Tauric slaughter of guests was renewed by these people: the slaughter of virgins, of men and women. There was no one to bring help, no one to oppose the enemy, no one. The meadows, the trees, the springs stood aghast. Heavenly providence itself seemed to look the other way, perhaps so that their wickedness might be filled up: as we learn from Scripture often happened to the Israelites.

[44] This excellent Pastor, though absent in body, was yet present in spirit to God, and having the incomprehensible judgments of God as if before his eyes, and penetrating them intimately, he neither brought aid to his people nor offered prayers to God on their behalf. certain men wishing to demolish his tomb, At length, however, he could no longer dissemble. He therefore performed ^a miracle in no way inferior to the others accomplished there. For the barbarians, entering the temple and catching sight of the tomb, suspected it contained ^a treasure (and indeed it was ^a treasure), and when they attempted to dig it up, they become immobilized, they appeared with their hands and feet unstrung, and bound by invisible chains, they stood immobilized, wretched, struck with stupor and fear, able to do nothing but speak.

[45] Their leader, when he saw this prodigy, himself also seized with fear and dread, summoned ^a certain captive and asked him what that event meant, the leader learns the cause from ^a captive, or by whose divine power it was being done, or what indeed was buried there, and in what manner and by what means those soldiers were suffering thus. "It is the power of God," said the captive, "who created all things from nothing, who does whatever He wills, whom no one can contradict -- not ^a King, not ^a tyrant, not ^a Governor, not ^a barbarian, nor whatever you might name, not an entire nation. For by Him kings reign, and tyrants rule the earth. What then?" said the barbarian. "Do we not also offer sacrifices daily to the gods, setting up altars and performing libations?" "By no means," said the other, "are those true gods to whom you sacrifice; nor do such victims please our God. For He needs nothing, since He is Lord of all." "Is there then another kind of sacrifice," he asked, "in which your God delights? And how does He need nothing, if He at least needs that sacrifice?" "He needs nothing," said the captive, "but since He is good, He accepts good actions offered from ^a pure conscience. And whoever appears pure in His sight through good works, he is honored by Him with the greatest distinction, both living and dead." "What then," he asked, "is this honor?" "Whatever they wish," said the captive, "to do in His name, and to bestow benefits on those who show honor to them, and to avenge those who bring them disgrace. and the remedy: And for this reason, since your soldiers here, as you see, dared to break open his tomb -- because it is an injury to him who lies there to be disturbed by the profane hands of barbarians -- by the grace he holds with God, he has thus bound their feet and hands. But if you wish to test the truth of my words, come, bring forth offerings, and through us Christians appease him; and immediately these men will be freed from the distress that holds them." The other asks what offerings delight him and what kind of gifts he accepts. "Oil," he replied, "and wax: for these are what Christians customarily offer. He also wishes captives to be restored to freedom and reverence to be shown to churches. If you are willing to do and observe all these things, you will see your soldiers as well as before."

[46] Astonished by these words, the barbarian promises to do everything as soon as possible; when the Christians pray to God and the Saint, and having restored those Christians to full liberty, he commits to them the care of praying to God and to the Saint. Immediately, most brilliantly, lights are kindled, ^a vigil and the singing of psalms is instituted throughout the whole night: the soldiers are freed, the barbarians are released from the divinely inflicted punishment. Then ^a reconciliation of grace is made and ^a treaty with the Christians: peace is made, and thereafter those men did no injury to sacred things: they did not dig up divine altars, they did not plunder religious treasuries with sacrilegious hands, they did not contaminate churches with blood. Thus ^a single tomb confuted the madness of the barbarians, the crimes cease. checked many slaughters, changed the most savage wolves into the meekness of lambs, and taught those who had formerly worshipped meadows and groves to revere and honor divine temples.

[47] You have seen the power of the tomb, by which the might of an entire nation was laid low. Great is the honor of that tomb: You have seen the power of the tomb, which caused the wolf to feed with the lamb, according to the prophecy of Isaiah, and the leopard to lie down with the kid. You have seen the glory of the tomb, spreading miracles like rays of the sun. Isa. 11:6 You have seen dust more powerful than many javelins and spears. You have seen the hardness of ^a rebellious heart softened by the virtue of relics. O tomb that appears, but is ^a mystical treasure! O tomb that despoils other tombs and bestows the gift of life upon many! O sepulcher whose glory extends to the very limits of the ocean! great is the power of the sacred relics. O dust that scatters barbarians and shatters their swords and the rest of their weapons and camps! O hidden relics, more precious than gold, brighter than exquisite gems, more splendid than fine linen and purple, more powerful than kings, the strength and glory of Christians! O divine harvest (for the Greeks call ^a georgion ^a field or crop), sown indeed in the earth by the agriculture of the Spirit, but grown up even to heaven, reaped in due season, and stored in heavenly barns, and distributed abundantly in its time, yet not exhausted; ground, yet not made less valuable; spent, yet not emptied; consumed, and multiplied! O lofty tree, planted by the streams of spiritual waters, and bringing forth wonderful fruits in its season, whose grace, beauty, and abundance of leaves will never fall away...

[48] O citizen of the heavenly Jerusalem! O Priest of the true tabernacle and contemplator of that inexplicable beauty, look down upon us from on high, The author invokes St. George, and protect the heralds of your praises: free us from sins and falls: deliver us from affliction, calamities, necessities, dangers, and from every kind of harm. From your miracles we have clear proofs of your intimacy with God. The grace is not doubtful, the intercession not to be ashamed of. Pardon my boldness in having undertaken your encomia: accept this purpose of mine, since it is also acceptable to God. For this is not the impulse of rashness, but the zeal of an inflamed faith and the effort of that friendship which urges it -- he professes that he wrote these things at the impulse of ^a certain John, that of the illustrious John, the lover of virtue: at whose urging, lest I incur the guilt of disobedience, I have plunged myself into this sea of your praises: and I rejoice as much in being unequal to these things as if I bore the palm in others. For when the discourse is inferior to the things to be proclaimed, and again excuses his own inadequacy. it demonstrates by the very fact the greatness of those things, and at once shows both the sublimity of his virtue and the confidence of one who stands nearest to God. Be therefore our patron, champion, defender: give us ampler matter for your praises, by ^a new addition of miracles, which you may obtain by your intimacy with God. Defend your city, preserve your flock, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory for infinite ages of ages, Amen.

February III: 22. February

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