THE LIFE OF ST. GREGORY, BISHOP OF NAZIANZUS, FATHER OF ST. GREGORY THE THEOLOGIAN.
About the year of Christ 373.
PrefaceGregory, Bishop of Nazianzus, father of St. Gregory the Theologian (St.)
The Greeks venerate St. Gregory, Bishop of Nazianzus, parent of St. Gregory the Theologian, on this day, as is evident from the Menaea; in which the following is found: "On the same day, St. Gregory, father of St. Gregory the Theologian, rests in peace." St. Gregory, father of St. Gregory of Nazianzus or the Theologian. His son Gregory praises him in a poem he composed about himself, and elsewhere; but most extensively in an oration delivered at his funeral in the presence of St. Basil, on which there exist commentaries by Elias of Crete and scholia by Jacques de Billy, from whose translation we give it here.
ORATION OF ST. GREGORY THE THEOLOGIAN IN PRAISE OF HIS FATHER GREGORY.
TRANSLATED BY JACQUES DE BILLY.
Gregory, Bishop of Nazianzus, father of St. Gregory the Theologian (St.) By Gregory his son.
[1] Honorable address to St. Basil. Man of God, faithful servant, and steward of the mysteries of God, and man of spiritual desires: for Scripture calls sublime and exalted men, placed above the things seen by the eyes, by this name. Indeed I also call you a God to Pharaoh, that is, to every Egyptian and hostile power, and a pillar and foundation of the Church, and the Lord's will, and a luminary in the world holding forth the word of life, and a bulwark of the faith, and a dwelling-place of the Spirit. And why should I go on recounting all those names which your virtue has earned for you, one thing procuring and offering you another? But tell me, I pray: whence do we have you, what is your work, and what have you come to bring us? Since I know that in all things you are moved by God's help and God's inspiration, and for the benefit of those who receive you. The reasons why Basil came to this funeral. Have you come here to visit us? Or to seek a pastor? Or to visit the flock? Us, who are now as nothing, and for the most part have died together with him, grievously bearing this place of affliction, especially at this time when we have lost our skilled helmsman and the torch of our life, which we saw displayed as a beacon of salvation from on high and by which we steered our course aright: him, snatched from us by death together with all his virtue and pastoral discipline, which he had gathered over a long time, full of days and prudence, and (to use Solomon's words) crowned with the glory of old age (Prov. 16:31): the flock, anxious and dejected, and overwhelmed with the utmost grief and sadness as you see, no longer resting in a green place, nor nourished with refreshing water, but seeking precipices and wildernesses and chasms into which it may be scattered and perish, doubting whether it will ever obtain another equally diligent and prudent pastor; fully persuaded of this at least, that it will never have another equal to him in virtue, and thinking it will be well for it if it obtains one not much inferior.
[2] Since, then, these three things, as I have said, equally brought you the necessity of coming here, namely ourselves, the flock, and the pastor; come, according to that spirit of healing with which you are endowed, apply appropriate medicine to each, and dispense your discourse with judgment, Gregory invites Basil to praise the deceased and console the survivors. that we may the more admire your wisdom. In what manner will you dispense it? First, if you praise him as his virtue deserves, not only to offer a pure oration to a pure man as a kind of funeral gift; but also to set forth his life and manner of living to others as a kind of model for imitation. Then, if you deliver a brief discourse to us about life and death, about the conjunction and separation of soul and body, about the two worlds, namely this present, fleeting, and fragile one, and that which is perceived by mind and reason and never passes away; and persuade us to scorn the impostures and disturbance and inconstancy of this one, and its tossing up and down as if on waves; but to devote ourselves wholly to the other, which is firm and stable, divine, always maintaining itself in the same way, and free from all turbulence and confusion: for thus it will come about that we shall be less tormented by the death of those who have departed before us, and will even rejoice: if you carry us away by your oration from the present distress and hide it in the future age, and assure us that we too are hastening at a swift pace toward the good Lord, and that what a harbor is to sailors, a departure to the other life is for those who are tossed by the storms of this one: or even just as those who have completed a long journey first are in a better condition than those still wearied by the labors of the road; so the condition of those who have already arrived at that heavenly lodging is more tolerable and better than that of those still traversing the winding and steep road of this life. Thus will you console us.
[3] And by what means will you lessen the grief of the flock? First, if you promise that you yourself, under whose wings it is honorable and desirable for all to find rest, and whose voice we thirst for more ardently than those gripped by thirst desire the purest springs, will not fail them as leader and Bishop. Then, if you bring us to believe that even now we are not abandoned by that good Pastor who lays down his life for the sheep: but rather that he is both present and feeds and leads the way and knows his sheep, and is in turn known by his own, not in body but in spirit dwelling with us and waging war for the flock's salvation against the wolves, and not permitting anyone to leap the fold like a robber and by a foreign voice to scatter and secretly seize souls rightly instructed in the doctrine of truth. I do not doubt that he now does this all the more by his intercession, The deceased St. Gregory prays for his own. since, freed from bodily fetters and that dross which disturbs the purity of mind, he now draws nearer to God, and naked addresses the first pure Mind naked, and is endowed (if I may speak so boldly) with the rank and liberty of the Angels. But these things, according to your gift of speaking and power of spirit, you will philosophize and establish better by yourself than I could suggest to you.
[4] However, lest through ignorance of his virtues your oration should fall far below the dignity of the subject, I shall lightly sketch a few praises from those I have observed in him, and outline them with the first strokes, and then hand the work over to you as an excellent painter of these matters, to polish more finely the beauty of his virtue and commit it to the everlasting memory of men. He therefore, to pass over his fatherland, lineage, bodily endowments, external splendor, and other things in which mortals are wont to glory, referring them to the laws of encomia, and to begin my speech from those things which are for us of first and most proper importance, was a shoot of a root by no means excellent, nor favorably disposed toward piety, nor planted in the house of God (for I am not ashamed of the former things in confidence of the latter), but rather of one exceedingly perverse and monstrous, composed of two very contrary things, The sect of the Hypsistarians, midway between pagans and Jews: namely Gentile error and legal vanity: which, fleeing certain elements of both, was constituted and assembled from certain other elements of each. For those who are in that heresy reject images and sacrifices from the Gentile religion, yet retain the worship of fire and lamps; from Judaism they observe the Sabbath and sordidly abstain from certain foods, yet reject Circumcision. And these lowly and abject people arrogate to themselves the name of Hypsistarians, In this sect St. Gregory lived for some time. and venerate only the Almighty. Having been thus twofold in impiety, into what kind of man was he changed? I cannot determine whether I should praise more the grace by which he was called, or his own spirit and will. However that may be, he was so thoroughly purged of that dimness which clung to the eyes of his mind, He is converted to Christ. and hastened with such speed to the truth of Christian doctrine, that his willingness to be deprived for a time of mother, home, and goods for the sake of the heavenly Father and the true inheritance, He endures loss of goods. and his bearing of this disgrace with more equanimity than others bear the highest honors, is less a matter of wonder to me, though in itself eminently worthy of admiration. Why so? Because this glory is common to him with many others, and all must be enclosed in that great net of God and caught by the teaching of the Fishermen: although some are caught sooner, others later, by the Gospel.
[5] Even before his conversion he lived blamelessly. What, however, especially excites my admiration in his life, I must necessarily mention. Even before he had come to our fold, he was ours. For the uprightness of his character claimed him for us. For just as many of our own are not with us, whom a disgraceful manner of life separates from the common body; so conversely many of those outside are on our side, all who anticipate the faith by their character and lack only the Christian name while possessing the reality. Among these was my father too, an alien branch indeed, but leaning toward us through the honesty of his character. And in the praise of temperance he so excelled Of exemplary temperance and justice in public offices. that he was at the same time both most lovable and most moderate: qualities which do not easily concur. And what greater or more illustrious proof of his justice can be brought forward than that, though engaged in great public offices and administrations, he did not increase his fortune by so much as a penny: and that while he saw others laying the hands of Briareus, as the saying goes, upon public goods and swelling with wicked gain? For thus I call riches collected by unjust means.
[6] Although these are no small proofs of his prudence, yet more will be revealed as the narrative advances further. For these things, he received also faith, unless I am mistaken, as a reward. But in what manner this came about (for so great a matter must not be passed over in silence) we shall make clear. "Who shall find a valiant woman?" Prov. 31:10; cf. 19:14 says sacred Scripture, and likewise testifies that a good marriage is arranged by no other means than as a gift and benefit of God. In which opinion the profane writers also concurred. Hesiod. For the following is their saying: that no better possession can come to a man than a good wife, and conversely none more ruinous than a bad one. If this is so, who can be named more fortunate than he in this regard? He marries an excellent wife. For I believe that if anyone had sought to arrange the most excellent marriage from the uttermost ends of the earth and from the entire human race, no marriage anywhere could have been found more excellent or more fitting than this. For the best and most illustrious qualities of men and women had so flowed together into one, that this marriage was a union no less of virtue than of bodies. For though they surpassed others, they could not surpass each other, on account of the equality and balance of their virtue. And indeed she who had been given as a helper to Adam (for it was not good for man to be alone) showed herself not an ally but an enemy, not a wife but an adversary: inasmuch as she led her husband into ruin by the enticement of pleasure, and through the tree of knowledge drove him from the tree of life Gen. 2. But for this man, the woman granted by God's gift was not merely a helper (for that would have carried less praise and admiration) but also a guide and standard-bearer, leading him by her life and speech to the best things by her own example.
[7] A most obedient wife, she becomes his teacher of piety. She who in other matters judged it best to obey her husband, as the laws of marriage require, did not shrink from professing herself a teacher of faith and piety. This deed of hers, though worthy of wonderful praise, is surpassed by the even more admirable praise of her husband, who willingly yielded. For she is the one who, while other women are accustomed to glory and be puffed up on account of their beauty, whether natural or artificial and assumed, The beauty of the soul is to be preferred to that of the body. recognized on the contrary this one beauty alone: that which consists in guarding the soul and the divine image, or in purifying it as far as possible; and relegated painted and artfully contrived adornment to women who delight in theaters. True nobility. She likewise held that true nobility lies in piety, and in understanding whence we have come and where at last we shall arrive. She considered these alone to be safe and inviolable riches: namely, to pour out wealth upon God and the poor, Safe riches. and especially upon kinsmen who had fallen from their means. Poor kinsmen are especially to be helped. For she thought that merely giving the necessities to such persons was the kind of thing that seemed to revive the memory of their misfortune rather than to relieve it: but to embrace them with more abundant kindness and generosity — that was a thing of sure honor and full consolation.
[8] Now, while some women excel in managing the household and others in the glory of piety (for it is difficult to achieve both), she surpassed all women in both respects: [The mother of St. Gregory of Nazianzus was at once pious and a manager of her household.] both because she performed each most excellently, and because she alone combined the two. For she so increased the family estate by her industry and skill, according to the laws prescribed by Solomon for the virtuous woman, as though she knew nothing of cultivating piety: and again, she so devoted herself entirely to God and divine things, as though she were far removed from the management of domestic affairs: nor was she hindered in either by the other, but rather supported and strengthened each by the other's aid Prov. 31. What time or place of prayer ever escaped her? (for there was nothing she did earlier in the whole day). Indeed, what woman ever had such certain hope that whatever she asked in prayer she would immediately receive? Honoring priests. What woman ever so reverenced the hand and face of priests, or honored every kind of Christian wisdom? What woman ever more wasted her flesh with fasting and vigils, Devoted to fasting and vigils. or fastened herself to the singing of Psalms day and night? What woman ever more revered virginity, though herself enduring the bonds of marriage? A married woman who reverences virginity. What woman was a greater protector to orphans and widows? What woman ever so relieved the calamities of the mourning?
[9] And these further things besides, which although they seem small and perhaps contemptible to some, because they are not easily accessible to just anyone (for it usually happens that what we cannot attain we deem incredible, such is the envy of our minds), are yet very highly valued by me: because they flowed from faith and a certain spiritual fervor. Among such things is the fact that her voice was never heard in assemblies and sacred places: In the temples she speaks nothing beyond her prayers. I except only those necessary and mystical utterances. For if it was formerly a great and glorious thing for the altar that neither axe had ascended upon it, nor adze been seen or heard (whereby something higher was signified, namely that whatever is consecrated to God ought to be natural and simple and free from art), why should it not also be glorious for her praise that she honored the holy places with the honor of silence, that she never turned her back upon the venerable Table, and never defiled the divine floor by spitting; She shows reverence to the altar. that a woman otherwise most easy and agreeable never clasped hands with Gentiles nor mingled lips with lips, and could not, I will not say be persuaded, She does not associate with pagans. but not even be compelled or forced, to share salt with those who were partakers of an impure and profane table, nor to pass by or look upon a wicked house contrary to the dictate of her conscience, nor to allow her ear and tongue — the one receiving and the other pronouncing divine things — to be polluted by pagan narratives and theatrical songs (for she thought that nothing profane befits persons consecrated to God), nor, what ought to be a matter of greater admiration, ever to indulge so far in bodily grief, though she was otherwise most deeply moved even by the calamities of strangers, that a cry of mourning should burst forth before thanksgiving, In adversity she gives thanks to God. or that tears should flow from her mystically sealed eyelids, or that a sad appearance of the body should remain on a bright day: even though many bitter reverses often befell her. For she held it the part of a pious and devout soul to submit all human things to divine Deut. 27.
[10] And I pass over in silence those more hidden things, of which God is witness, and the faithful handmaids to whom she entrusted such matters. For that which concerns me She promises her son to God before he is born. is perhaps not even worthy of mention, since I have by no means adequately responded to her hope. Although her deed was illustrious, in that she promised us to God even before we were born, in no way frightened by fear of the future outcome, and consecrated us as soon as we entered the light of life. It was God's kindness that she did not entirely fall short of the hope of her vow, and that the offering she had made was not rejected. These virtues were partly already present in her, partly approaching, growing by small increments little by little. And just as the Sun most gently diffuses its morning rays, yet at midday shines more keenly and delightfully; so she, though in the beginnings of her life she had shown many works of piety somewhat obscurely, shone more brilliantly and abundantly toward the end.
[11] Born of Christian parents. At that time, then, she had a most keen spur toward embracing piety at home in the person of the man who had joined her to himself in marriage, inasmuch as she had not, like him, been grafted from the wild olive into the olive, but had long since from her ancestors been aflame with love for God and Christ, and had received the patrimony of virtue from her parents, and could not, on account of her outstanding faith, tolerate a husband of a different religion, nor — although she was otherwise a most patient woman endowed with singular greatness of soul — bear this one thing with an even and calm spirit: that she should be joined to God only by half of herself, on account of the aversion of the other half, and that the union of spirits should not accompany the conjunction of bodies Rom. 11. Therefore, prostrate day and night upon the ground, she begged God for the salvation of her spouse with many fasts and tears, She prays to God for her husband's conversion. and also diligently pressed her husband, and strove to win him by various means — reproaches, admonitions, attentions, quarrels, and what was greatest, She ceaselessly exhorts him to embrace the faith. the uprightness of her own conduct and her fervent devotion toward piety, by which above all the heart is swayed and, compelled of its own accord, is softened toward virtue. Nor could it happen otherwise than that by persistent blows the drop would at length hollow out the stone, and that with the passage of time she would accomplish what she strove for with such zeal, as will clearly appear from what follows.
[12] This, then, is what she was seeking and hoped for, as one whose faith was more fervent than her youthful age: for no one trusts present things and those placed before their eyes as much as she trusted things she had conceived in hope: and no wonder, since she had already made trial of divine generosity. Moreover, for her husband's attainment of salvation, there was assistance both in reason itself, gradually admitting a cure, and also in a vision of dreams, by which God usually blesses a soul worthy of salvation Her husband is impelled to conversion by a nocturnal vision.. But what, then, was that vision? For nothing in the entire narrative seems to me equally delightful. He dreamed that he was singing (which he had never done before, although his wife was frequent in prayer) that part of David's Psalms: "I was glad when they said to me: we shall go into the house of the Lord" Ps. 122:1. The song was new and unaccustomed: and together with the song, desire entered in.
[13] When his wife understood this, now having obtained her wish, she seized the occasion offered, interpreting the vision in the most joyful sense, declaring the magnitude of the benefit by the gladness of her soul, and pressing toward salvation, lest anything should intervene to obstruct the calling and break off the enterprise upon which she was bent with such zeal. And accordingly, since circumstances were such that many Bishops were hastening to Nicaea to overthrow the recently arisen mad doctrine of Arius, by which the Godhead was being rent asunder, He seeks baptism in the presence of St. Leontius, on whom see January 13. he delivered himself to God and the heralds of truth, and confessed his desire, and sought from them the aid of common salvation, among whom the illustrious Leontius was also present, who at that time governed our Metropolis. If I were to pass over the miracle which divine grace also produced here, I might rightly seem to deserve ill of that grace itself. [Contrary to custom he kneels, and is prepared for baptism; and the catechist, by mistake, recites the prayer customarily preceding ordination to the priesthood, not the catechetical instruction.] Of this, moreover, there are not a few witnesses. The masters of exact discipline commit a certain spiritual error, and the heavenly grace foretokens what was to come, and the form of the priesthood is mingled with Christian initiation. O initiation by no means voluntary! For he was instructed in the elements of faith while kneeling: so that many, not only the more perceptive but even those endowed with less keenness of intellect, confirmed by no obscure signs, predicted what later came to pass.
[14] Not much time had elapsed before another miracle was added to this one. I commend this account to pious ears: for no illustrious thing can find credence among profane souls. He approaches that regeneration by which we are reborn through water and the Spirit, through which we profess the creation and consecration of the Christian name, and the transformation and passage from the earthly to the spiritual: and indeed he approaches with ardent desire and bright hope, having been purified beforehand as far as possible, and prepared with far greater care and diligence both of soul and body than those who once received the tablets from Moses Exod. 19. For the purification of those did not extend beyond their garments and a slight compression of the stomach and a brief and extemporary bodily chastity: but for him, his entire intervening life was a preparation for the divine illumination, and a purification preceding purification, bringing security to the heavenly gift: so that Baptism might be safely entrusted to purity of life, and that good gift might not be imperiled by a disposition of soul bold against grace. When baptized he is surrounded by divine light. As he emerged from the water, a light and glory worthy of the disposition of soul with which he had approached the gift of faith shone around him, perceptible indeed to some others as well (who at that time kept the miracle to themselves, His baptizer predicts that he will be his successor. not daring to make it public because each thought the vision had appeared to himself alone, but a little later they spread it among themselves), yet so clear and visible to the one who was performing the office of baptizer and initiator that he could not even keep the mystery enclosed in his heart, but openly and publicly proclaimed that the one he was anointing would succeed him in the Episcopate.
[15] Nor is there reason for anyone to think this incredible, who knows how Moses, when in common opinion he was still insignificant and deemed worthy of no honor, was called from the bush that blazed but did not feel the force of fire Similar portents in other Saints. — or rather, by him who somehow showed himself to be seen in the bush — and by that first miracle obtained credence and authority; Moses, I say, for whom the sea is split, bread rains down, the rock pours water like a spring, pillars of fire and cloud alternately show the way, the extension of his hands, prefiguring the Cross, sets up a trophy over many thousands of enemies routed Exod. 3; 13; 14; 16; 17. The same happened to that Isaiah who beheld glory and the Seraphim: the same afterwards to Jeremiah, who received great power against nations and kingdoms Isa. 6; Jer. 1. Of whom the one hears the divine voice, and is purified by a coal before he undertakes the office of prophecy: the other is known before he is created, and endowed with holiness before he comes to light. Indeed even Paul, that excellent herald of truth and teacher of the Gentiles in faith, while he was still ravaging the Church with hostile intent, is illuminated with light, and recognizes him whom he was persecuting, and undertakes the office of a great ministry, and fills all ears and minds with the proclamation of the Gospel Acts 9. But what is the need to enumerate all those who have been called by God, and won over by such miracles as those by which my father too was confirmed in the piety of faith?
[16] Nor may anyone say that the beginnings were indeed such, and so admirable and almost beyond belief; but that what followed afterwards branded the former virtues with some mark of disgrace: as is wont to happen to those who are very quickly sated with the pursuit of honorable things and do not care to advance further, or even relapse entirely into vice. No, I say, no one may say this; but he both persisted in his own course and closely followed the footsteps of his earlier life: so that the two periods harmonized beautifully together, both those things which preceded the priesthood with those which he rightly and honorably did in the priesthood; and those things which he did after obtaining the Episcopate with those virtues which he had before that dignity: nor would it be fitting to begin otherwise than in the manner in which he ended, nor to advance to any other end than as he had begun. He becomes first a Priest and then a Bishop. For indeed the office of sacred governance was not committed to him lightly and rashly, as is now the accepted custom, but after some interval of time had been allowed: so that he might add to his own purification the ability and skill to purify others as well, as the law of the spiritual order requires.
[17] After he was made Bishop, his grace was more abundantly celebrated, as truly the grace of God and not of men, and not, as the Preacher says, a sort of licentious impulse and purposed ordering of the spirit. For since he had received a Church that was wild and uncultivated, not long accustomed to being governed by Bishops, but which had been adorned by only one of his predecessors, a man endowed with excellent and angelic character, yet simpler than those who in our time preside over the people, and one moreover quickly removed from human affairs — a Church long neglected, and because it was tended by no Bishop's care, He cultivates his people by word and example. left desolate and overgrown with thorns: since, I say, he had received it in such a state, first he tamed the wild manners of the people without great difficulty, both by the discourses of pastoral art and also by setting himself forth as a kind of spiritual statue polished to the beauty of every most excellent action, for imitation.
[18] Outstandingly learned. Then, engaged in the meditation of the sacred Scriptures with the utmost mental concentration, although he had turned to such studies rather late, he gathered so much learning in a short time that he was inferior to none of those who had expended the greatest labor for the sake of Theology in any respect; and beyond this, he received this singular benefit from God: that he should be a father and teacher of the orthodox faith, not bending variously according to the circumstances of the times, as is the custom of the wise men of our age; nor undertaking the defense of our faith and doctrine ambiguously and craftily, as those are wont to do who have laid down less firm roots of faith, or who adulterate the truth in the manner of tavern-keepers: but rather surpassing the learned in piety and the pious in the glory of learning, or, to speak more correctly, yielding second place in doctrine so as to hold first place in piety. For he believed that one God is to be worshipped in the Trinity, Always holding correct views on faith. and that three Persons gathered into one Divinity are to be believed: neither by asserting the unity fostering the doctrine of Sabellius, nor by professing the three defending the party of Arius — that is, neither impiously contracting and dissolving the Divinity, nor rending it by diversity of magnitude or nature. For where each thing is more sublime than can be grasped by our intellect and thought, how at last can that which excels be either perceived by the mind or taught? And what, furthermore, will be the method of measuring an immeasurable thing, so that what applies to finite things should also befall the Divinity, and be defined by higher and lower degrees? He resists the heretics. Pondering these things in his mind, that great man of God, and truly a Theologian, prompted and impelled in these matters by the Holy Spirit, achieved this (for what else can one say?): that this Church was called a new Jerusalem, and a second Ark borne upon the waters, like that of the great Noah, the second parent of the world: inasmuch as in that deluge of souls which then overwhelmed everything everywhere, and amid the fierce assaults of the heretics, it floated sublime and unharmed, and the more it yielded to others in numbers, the more it surpassed them in splendor and glory; and the same thing happened to it that we see happened to Bethlehem, which nothing prevented from being both a small city and the metropolis of the whole earth, as being the parent and nurse of Christ, the founder and conqueror of the world Gen. 6; Mic. 5; Matt. 2. This may be easily gathered from the following inference.
[19] For at the time when a sedition was raised against us by the more fervent party of the Church, on the ground that we had been surreptitiously drawn into an evil alliance by certain letters and crafty words, he alone was believed to have kept his heart undefiled and not to have stained and blackened his soul together with the ink, even though he had been carried away through simplicity of soul, and being a man free from guile, had not avoided the trap. Moreover, he alone, or at least first among all, reconciled those who were at odds with us on account of their zeal for piety, both to himself and to the rest — the last to have separated from us and the first to return, both out of reverence for him and on account of the purity of his doctrine. He resolves the dissensions of the Churches. Thus the grave tossing and tempest of the Churches was calmed, and the storm was broken and removed by his prayers and counsels (if I may speak boldly), while we meanwhile were both partners in his piety and in his action. And while we assisted him in every honorable undertaking and, as it were, followed close upon his steps, here too by God's grace we spent by far the greatest part of our labor and zeal.
[29] While the people prayed, he miraculously recovered from a desperate illness. The time of the Mystery was at hand, and the reverent and venerable station, with the multitude arranged in good order, was acquiescing in silence to the sacred rites being performed, when he was roused by Him who recalls the dead to life, and by that most holy night. At first he moved with difficulty and slightly, then more firmly; soon in a very faint and low voice he called by name a certain servant from among those who had remained at home, and bade him come at once and extend a garment and his right hand. When this servant promptly and with astonishment complied, he himself, leaning on his hand as if on a staff, imitated that Moses praying on the mountain, and with his languid hands composed for prayer, he celebrated the mysteries either with the people or before the people, in few and feeble words such as he could manage -- but with a mind, as it seems to me, entirely sound. (A wondrous thing!) Without a sanctuary he was in the sanctuary, without an altar he was a sacrificer, a Priest removed far from the mysteries. Exod. 17. And these things happened to him by the gift of the Holy Spirit, known indeed to him, but by no means observed by those present. Afterward he added a grateful prayer to God for His benefits bestowed upon mankind, as is customary, and having blessed the people, he threw himself back upon his bed; and having taken a little food and given himself to sleep, he was refreshed in spirit. His health increasing gradually, when that new day of the feast (for so we call the Lord's Day that first follows the Lord's Day of the Resurrection) had arrived, he betook himself to the church, and with all the forces of the Church he celebrated the dedication-feast of salvation, and offered a sacrifice of thanksgiving for his restored health. This event, in my judgment at least, ought to be considered in no way inferior to the miracle performed in the case of Hezekiah, whom God honored with an extension and increase of life when he had fallen ill and prayed. And He indicated this through the shadow of the dial retreating backward (as the very man who received his health had entreated in his prayers), adorning the King simultaneously with grace and miracle, and confirming the increase of days by the increase of the day. 4 Kings 20.
[30] The same miracle occurred with his mother a short time afterward, The mother of Saint Nazianzen recovers from a dangerous illness. which is likewise worth commemorating, both to honor her -- if any woman ever deserved honor -- and to please his father by this shared narration. She too was struck by illness, a woman otherwise strong and noble, who had enjoyed good health throughout her entire life. Among her many pains, not to prolong the account, nothing tormented her so much as the inability to eat, by which she had been dangerously afflicted for many days already, nor could she find any remedy for this malady. In what manner, then, did God nourish her? Not by raining manna, as once upon Israel; nor by breaking a rock, to open a spring for the thirsty people; nor by feeding her through ravens, as He did that Elijah; nor by satiating her through a Prophet snatched up on high, as He did Daniel formerly, when he was vexed with hunger in the den. How then? It seemed to her that I, whom she held most dear (for she never preferred any other of us, not even in her dreams), suddenly came by night with a basket and the whitest loaves, blessed and signed after my custom, and nourished her, Nazianzen was dearer to his mother than the rest. and thus she recovered and regained her strength. And the reality corresponded to the nocturnal vision. For from that time she came to herself and conceived better hope, as was demonstrated by a clear and evident proof. For when on the following day I entered her room in the morning and first saw her more cheerful than usual, and then asked the customary questions -- how she had fared during the night, whether she needed anything -- she answered quite readily and with a calm countenance: "You, my son, nourished me, and now you ask how I am?" At the same time her attendants signaled to me by gesture not to contradict her, but to accept this response readily, lest she be crushed with grief if the truth of the matter were revealed.
[31] I shall append one further event common to both of them. When I was sailing from Alexandria through the Parthenian Sea to Greece (and I was sailing at a quite unseasonable time of year, my mind so urging me, By the prayers of his parents, Nazianzen, not yet baptized, escaped shipwreck. in an Aeginetan ship -- for what chiefly impelled me was that I had fallen in with sailors who were friends of mine) -- when, I say, I was sailing, and we had proceeded a little way, so fierce a tempest arose that those who were being carried with me did not recall many its equal. While all were struck with the fear of death, I feared the death of the soul more gravely. For I, wretch, had come into danger of departing from life without having been initiated in baptism, longing for the spiritual water amid deadly and fatal waves. And so I cried out, I besought, I begged for some space of time; those who were sailing with me likewise cried out, even amid the common peril of life, and indeed more urgently than some of my own friends and intimates -- kind hosts and men of goodwill, who had learned from dangers this lesson: to be moved by the calamity of others. In this dire situation, my parents too were sharing, coming through a vision of the night into a part of the danger, and from the land they were bringing aid, as it were enchanting the force of the waves with their prayers -- as we afterward learned upon returning home, when we computed the time. This a saving dream also indicated to us, when we finally managed to get some sleep as the storm somewhat abated. I seemed to grasp a Fury, His mother appears in a dream to a sailor, dragging the ship to shore. gazing upon something grim and threatening danger; for the night clearly depicted this figure before us. Another of the passengers (a boy most devoted and loving toward me, and deeply anxious on my account), while I was in that state, seemed to see my mother, who had entered the sea and seized the ship and without great labor dragged it to shore. And this vision proved trustworthy, for the sea grew calm. In his peril, Nazianzen vowed himself to God. Immediately, without much further difficulty, we put in at Rhodes. We ourselves were the offering of this peril. For as we had vowed ourselves to God if we should escape the danger, so having come through the peril we offered ourselves.
[32] Concerning those things that are common to both, let this much suffice. But I believe that some of those who knew his life well and intimately have long been wondering why, having dwelt so long on these matters as if they were the only topics of praise, we have deferred mention of the turbulent times in which he is known to have opposed himself as with an army drawn up in battle -- as if we either did not know about them or did not consider them so great and splendid. Come then, let us add these things too to the foregoing. Julian the Apostate persecutes the Christians. Our age produced a first, and, I believe, last evil Emperor, a deserter of God and of reason. This man, thinking it a small thing to subject the Persians to his empire, but a great and glorious thing to bring the Christians under his power, and at the same time the demons by whom he was led so urging, omitted no form of impiety: now enticing, now threatening, now deceiving, and drawing men to himself not only by cunning arts but also by force. Yet his designs could not be so hidden that all did not sufficiently perceive that he was concealing persecution under crafty counsels; nor, on the other hand, did he resort to open violence, so that we might be captured by one means or the other -- either circumvented by fraud or vanquished by force. Who, then, will ever be found who despised or withstood him more? Gregory the father resisted his soldiers with great boldness. As for his contempt, many other proofs could be adduced, but as evidence there can also serve those archers and their commander, whom he had sent against our churches either to win them over willingly or to subdue them by arms. For when, having attacked many others, he had come here too with the same ferocity of spirit, and with imperial authority had commanded the temple to be surrendered to him, so far was he from accomplishing anything of what he desired that, had he not immediately yielded to my father, either of his own counsel or at someone's warning, he would have departed beaten even with kicks. So fiercely did the Priest burn with zeal and fury for the temple. And in what way might anyone be thought to have more inflicted destruction and ruin upon him than both publicly, with the united prayers and supplications of the whole people, pouring forth and routing the impious one, and not even fearing the storm of the times, and privately, opposing a nocturnal battle-line against him -- that is, by lying on the ground, wearing out his aged and dew-drenched body, He undertakes prayers and penances against him. and washing the pavement with a fountain of tears, for almost an entire year, and doing this with only Him as witness to whom hidden things are known; and because of a piety free from ostentation, as we have already said, striving diligently that this matter should escape our notice? And indeed it would have entirely escaped notice, had I not once entered his chamber unexpectedly and observed the signs of his humble reclining, and upon inquiring from a certain servant of his what this meant, learned the secret of the night.
[33] Hear now another account of the same time and the same fortitude. Caesarea was prone to tumults. The citizens of Caesarea were contending factiously among themselves over the creation of an Archbishop (for one had secretly withdrawn, another was being sought), and the sedition was fierce and by no means easy to suppress or remove. For besides the fact that in this matter, especially on account of the fervor of the faith, that city is by nature prone to stirring up tumults, the splendor and glory of that see furnished the cause of a sharper contest. Such was the state of affairs, and some Bishops were present to elect an Archbishop. But since the popular multitude was drawn into many opinions, with some proposing one candidate and others another (as usually happens in such matters, according as each was moved either by goodwill toward someone or by devotion to God), at length the entire populace with one consent, seizing a man of the first rank, one endowed with an excellent probity of life but not yet signed with divine Baptism, Eusebius, not yet baptized, is elected Bishop of Caesarea against his will. unwilling and resisting, and with the military forces that had then come into the city lending their aid, placed him on the exalted Seat and presented him to the Bishops, and pressed them to wash him in the saving water and to name him Archbishop, mixing persuasion with force meanwhile -- not indeed very gravely and moderately, yet very devoutly and ardently. For no one's virtue or piety shone more brightly when the occasion presented itself. But what happened then, and how far did the tumult proceed? The Bishops were compelled; they poured the purifying dew upon the man, pronounced him Bishop, and placed him on the throne -- yet rather with their hands than with sincere willingness and affection, as was afterward made clear. For when they departed willingly and freely and were able to decide freely what they wished, they entered into a consultation among themselves -- I know not whether spiritual, but they entered into it nonetheless -- The Bishops reconsider the election. and resolved to annul everything that had been done, and to regard that institution as invalid, as having been illegitimately performed; charging him with violence, though no less violence had been done to him, and pressing certain remarks that had been uttered at that time more insolently than wisely. But our great Bishop and fair judge of affairs was neither carried away with those who entered into such a council nor did he approve their opinion; rather he remained steadfast and unconquered, no less than if he had suffered no violence at all. Gregory opposes them. For since violence had been done to both parties, he said that either they too must be charged if they charged him, or they must be acquitted if they acquitted him; or, what was more just, they ought not even to be acquitted, even if he were freed from blame. For if pardon were owed to them, then surely to him as well; but if he were by no means to be spared, far less should they hope for forgiveness of the offense. For it would have been far more honorable for them at that time to have faced the danger and resisted by every means, than to plot intrigues afterward -- especially at a time when old enmities ought rather to have been laid aside than new ones devised. For this was the state of affairs: Julian opposes the one elected. the Emperor was at hand, raging against the Christians and bearing this election with an angry and hostile spirit; grave threats were being hurled against him who had been instituted Archbishop, and the affairs of the city stood on a razor's edge, whether it would cease to exist from that day or be preserved and obtain something of clemency and humanity. For to the grief he felt over the temple of Fortune that had been destroyed and overturned in a time of better fortune, there was added this new and unprecedented election of a Bishop, which he interpreted as a subversion and oppression of the public order. Indeed the provincial Prefect himself was also seeking reasons The provincial Prefect wishes to annul the election. by which he might comply with the severity of the times and punish him with some evil -- being by no means well or kindly disposed toward him, but hostile and malicious, because he supported the opposite party in the State. Wherefore he was summoning by letter those who had elected him, as though they would be his accusers, no longer gently and mildly, but with certain threats added, as though the Emperor demanded this.
[34] Gregory writes back with great freedom that this does not pertain to laymen. When therefore my father received a letter concerning this matter, without any fear or any hesitation he gave a reply of this kind, from which one may perceive what freedom of spirit was in him and by what spirit he was driven. "We," he said, "most excellent Prefect, have one censor and King of all things that are done, who is now assailed by arms. He will also weigh the present election, which we have made duly and legitimately and according to His will. But although it is easy for you to use force, if you are so inclined, yet you will never wring from us this much: that we will not defend what has been done as rightly and justly done, by our advocacy -- unless you wish to promulgate this law for yourselves, who are not permitted even to look at our affairs with sidelong glances." The Prefect himself, although he was irritated for a short time, greatly admired this letter, as was understood from many who had most intimate knowledge of his affairs. The Emperor and Prefect are restrained. And this both restrained the Emperor's attack and freed the city from danger, and indeed freed us from disgrace and infamy. This is what the Bishop of a small city and a rather lowly see accomplished. Is it not far better and more glorious to hold primacy in this way than to declaim from loftier thrones, and to be superior in reality rather than in name?
[35] Now as for what was last in the order of his deeds, yet first and greatest in force and efficacy -- who is so remote from our world as not to know of it? The same city was again suffering sedition for the same cause, since he who had been drawn to the Episcopate by a noble and excellent exercise of force Eusebius dies. had been snatched away by a swift death and had gone to God, for whose sake he had fought bravely and vigorously in the persecutions. And this sedition was as much more fierce and fervent as it was also more foolish and absurd. For it was not obscure who excelled (just as the preeminence of the Sun among the stars is not unknown), but quite clear and evident, both to all others and especially to the excellent and purest part of the people -- that is, both the sacred ministers and our Nazarites, to whom alone, or principally to them, such elections ought to have been entrusted (for thus it would never go ill with the Churches) -- and not to those who flourish in wealth and power, or to the foolish and reckless mob, and indeed to the vilest and most contemptible of the very mob. As things now stand, I almost believe that civil magistrates are governed by a better order and discipline than ours, who are ascribed to divine grace; and that such matters are better administered by fear than by reason. For were it not so, who of sound and whole mind would have passed you by and turned to another, O divine and most sacred man -- you, I say, The contest over the election of Basil. who are depicted in the hands of the Lord, without marriage, possessing nothing, almost devoid of flesh and blood -- you, I say, wise in learning and words after the Word among philosophers, celestial among the worldly, my companion, I say, and partner, and (I say this more boldly) the other half of my soul, joined with me in the fellowship of both life and learning? I wish I could describe you to others with free speech, and that these things were not weighed in your presence, lest I be compelled to praise very much with restraint, for fear of falling under suspicion of flattery. But to return to the point whence the discourse digressed: the Spirit indeed knew his own man (for how could He not know?), but envy stood in the way; and whose envy -- I am ashamed to say, and I wish that not even from the speech of others, who diligently assail our affairs with comic mockery, were it permitted to hear their names.
[36] But let us pass these things by, as rivers pass the rocks they encounter in mid-stream, and let us cover what is worthy of oblivion with silence, and proceed to what follows next. The spiritual man knew well the things of the Spirit; and for this reason he judged that all base and lowly passions must be removed, and that one must not contend with factions and preconceived opinions, nor give more to favor than to God; Gregory strongly advocates for it. but that the one utility of the Church and the common salvation of all must be set before the eyes. And accordingly he wrote letters, admonished, reconciled the people, adjured the Priests -- both others and those who were discharging the sacred office -- decided, and even while absent cast his vote, relying on his gray hairs to use authority in others' affairs as in his own. Finally, since the election needed to be legitimate and regular, and one from the number of those who were to nominate the Bishop was lacking, he tore himself from his bed, Though sick, he hastens to him. a man now broken by both old age and illness, and pressed on to the city with youthful vigor of spirit, or rather was carried thither, his body half dead and scarcely breathing, persuading himself that this diligence would serve him as a magnificent funeral rite, even if anything should happen to him. He recovers. And here too a miracle occurred, making the proof by no means doubtful. He was strengthened by the labor, invigorated by his eagerness; he administered the business, prepared himself for the contest, placed the Archbishop on the throne, and was at last brought home -- using his vehicle no longer as a sepulcher, but as a divine ark.
[37] In this duty too, he produced a more brilliant proof of that gentleness whose praise I recently ceased to discuss. For when his colleagues bore most grievously the disgrace of the contest in which they had been defeated, and the old man's authority and primacy in all matters, and on that account were hostile to him and assailed him with abuse, he overcame and broke them too by his forbearance, finding his greatest aid in the facility and humanity of his spirit, and in the fact that when reviled he did not return reviling. By gentleness he mollifies and wins over those who were angry. For what would it matter if, having been superior in deeds, he allowed himself to be defeated in words? Therefore he so won their hearts by his gentleness, having enlisted time especially as an ally of his judgment, that their anger was converted into admiration, and they came to him to make their excuses, threw themselves at his knees, blushed with shame for what they had done before, and laying aside their hatred, used him as Patriarch, Lawgiver, and Judge.
[38] Of no lesser zeal was the contest by which he opposed the heretics, He opposes the heretics. when the impious, supported by the Emperor's forces, undertook an expedition against us, intending to bring us too under their power and join us to the rest, since nearly all had already been reduced to servitude. For here too he was of no small assistance to us, both by himself and also perhaps through us, whom he sent against them like no ignoble or degenerate pups against the most savage beasts, training us, that is, in piety. I have one complaint against both of them (and I beg you not to bear my frankness of speech ill or with displeasure; He appoints his son to the Church of Sasima. for I shall express the grief of my heart, even if this speech will be hard to hear): that you thrust me, offended as I was by the evils of this life and loving solitude as perhaps no one of our age, and striving with all my might to flee the common whirlwind and dust with all speed and to place my salvation in safety, somehow into this most troublesome and treacherous marketplace of souls under the specious name of the Priesthood. From which I have partly already endured many calamities, and partly expect them still. For he who has already suffered some evil can scarcely be induced to hope that things will someday be better for him, even if reason suggests otherwise and counsels better things.
[39] Nor should I pass over the fact that, although he had shown a brave and patient spirit, one higher than that it should yield to the covering of the body, in all matters, yet in his final illness, which attacked him together with old age, During the time of sacred ministry, he did not feel the pains of his illness. and that a prolonged and dangerous one, he had this in common with other men, that he was sick; but this was not so common, but quite peculiar and consonant with his other miracles. For though he was seized by pain daily and frequently even several times a day, and sometimes even hourly, he was strengthened during the time of the sacred ministry alone, and the pain would retreat, as if banished by command and authority.
[40] When he had lived nearly one hundred years, having assuredly passed beyond the limits of our time set by David, and of those had spent forty-five in the Episcopate, He dies at nearly 100 years of age, after 45 as Bishop. which is nearly the span of a human life, he at last closed his final day in a good old age. Ps. 89:10. In what manner? With the words and gestures of prayer, leaving behind no trace of vice and very many examples of virtue. And on that account, his veneration is on the lips and in the minds of all, greater than the condition of man would seem to permit; nor will anyone easily be found who, recalling his memory in his heart, does not also, having placed -- as Scripture says -- his hand to his mouth, embrace the very image of him. Job 29:9. This was the course of his life; this was the end of his life.
[41] He had built a magnificent temple at Sasima. And since a monument of his generosity and munificence ought to be left to posterity, what other could be more fitting than this temple, which he built for God and for us (aided somewhat by the generosity of the people, but spending the far greater part of the costs from his own means) -- a work truly memorable and praiseworthy, surpassing very many in size and nearly all in beauty? Description of the temple. For it rises on eight equal sides meeting in straight lines; and it ascends to a great height through the elegance of its columns and porticoes, through paneled ceilings, adorned moreover with paintings such as do not yield even to nature itself. What is more, it is illuminated with the splendor of heaven above and shines upon the eyes of spectators with the most abundant fountains of light, so that it seems a dwelling-place of the true light. Furthermore, it is enclosed on either side by spaces of excellent material set at equal angles and containing a great deal of intervening space; and it also excels in the beauty of its doors and courts, and from afar invites those approaching. I do not yet speak of the external adornment, of the beauty and size of the squared stones fitted into a triple bonding -- some of which are marble, namely those placed in the bases and capitals by which the corners are separated, and others native, though not inferior to exotic ones. I do not yet speak of the varied and manifold moldings, extending from the foundations to the summit and interwoven, the height of which is such as to dazzle the spectator, bounding the view. How could I set before the eyes in so brief a speech the work of so long a time and so much labor and industry? Would it perhaps suffice to have said this: that while other cities are adorned with many public and private buildings, this alone could illustrate the fame of our name among many? And such is the temple. Since, moreover, a Priest was also needed, he also offered one received at home -- whether worthy of the magnificence of the temple I cannot say, but he offered him nonetheless. And since victims were also required, he added these as well: namely, the afflictions of his son and his patience in adversity, that God might have from him a rational holocaust, and instead of the legal victim, a spiritual sacrifice excellently consumed.
[42] What do you say, father? Are these things sufficient, and do you accept this funeral oration -- whether an accompanying or a funerary speech -- as if you had received the fruit of the labors you undertook in aiding and advancing my studies, and after your ancient custom do you grant peace to the oration and impose an end upon it, lest it exceed measure and breed tedium? Or do you desire some addition and supplement? But you doubtless impose an end, for we have delivered a sufficiently long oration. But allow me to add this, by your kind permission: Let us know what your glory is, what light surrounds you; and your wife shortly after, Nazianzen now invokes his deceased father. and the children whom you buried while still alive, and me too, no longer struggling -- or at any rate for a very short time more -- with the miseries of this life, receive before those tabernacles in this sweet tomb, which you built for us both, honoring your Priest here too, your namesake. And grant pardon, whether we have omitted anything in speaking, or have treated less fittingly what we undertook for your sake; and finally, govern both the whole flock and all the Bishops, whose father you were called, and especially me, paternally and spiritually compelled by you, so that I may not perpetually complain of your forcefulness.
[43] But you, what do you think, He again invites Basil to speak. O judge of my words and deeds? If we have discussed these matters copiously enough and have satisfied your desire, cast your vote, and we shall accept it (for indeed we interpret your vote as the vote of God). But if we have delivered an oration far inferior both to his glory and to your expectation, there is one at hand who can bring reinforcement. Pour forth your voice in his praises, like a seasonable rain long awaited. And indeed he is indebted to you by the greatest titles, both as a shepherd to a shepherd and as a father to a son, as far as grace is concerned. And what wonder, if he who has thundered through the world through you should now also receive some fruit from your voice?
[44] It remains now for us to deliver a funeral oration together with our spiritual Sarah, the consort and equal of our illustrious father Abraham. It is not the same, mother, the nature of God and of men, or, to speak generally, of the Higher Beings and of those who dwell on earth. For with them, both that very thing which they are and all things that pertain to it are constant and immortal. For that which springs from firm and certain things must itself also be firm and solid. But how do human affairs stand? They slip away and perish, and undergo one change after another. Life and death, although they seem to differ very greatly from each other, nevertheless pass into each other and succeed each other in turn. For life, drawing its beginning from corruption our parent, and making its journey through corruption -- that is, through the perpetual departure of what is present -- ends at last in corruption, namely in the end of this life. Death, on the other hand, which not only delivers us from present evils but also often leads us to the life above, I am not sure can properly be called death, being more fearful in name than in reality. And we seem absurdly and perversely affected, who dread what is not fearful, yet embrace as better and more desirable what is truly to be feared. The one life is to have one's eyes fixed on true life. The one death is sin, for it is the destruction of the soul. All other things in which some exult too insolently are but nocturnal visions, making an imposture upon true realities, and deceptive phantoms of the soul. If we are of this mind, mother, we shall neither greatly exalt ourselves on account of life nor be excessively troubled by death. Or has anything evil befallen us if we have migrated hence to true life, if, freed from changes, vicissitudes, satiety, and that base necessity of paying tribute, we shall be with certain and imperishable things, little lights dancing around that great Light?
[45] He consoles his widowed mother. But you are tortured at being separated from him? Let hope comfort you. Is widowhood a bitter thing? I hear so, but not bitter to him. Where, moreover, will the good of charity be, if we assign easier things to ourselves and harder things to our neighbor? Indeed, what is there at all that ought to seem bitter to you, who are about to die yourself? The fatal day is at hand; this grief will not be long-lasting. Let us not burden the lightest things with ignoble thoughts. We have been deprived of great things -- but we had also obtained them. And yet to be deprived is the lot of all, but to obtain, of few. Wherefore let not the former cast down our mind, but rather let the latter console us. For it is right that better things should prevail over worse. You bore the death of your children while they were still flourishing and fit for life most bravely and wisely; see to it that you also bear the casting off of an aged body, already worn out by life (although the vigor of his soul preserved his senses entirely intact). But you lack someone to care for you? Is not your Isaac here at hand, whom he left you in place of all? Ask small things of him: that he support you with his hand, that he perform servile duties. Repay with greater things: your maternal blessing, Maternal blessing. your prayers, and the freedom of the other life. Are you grieved at being admonished? I indeed praise this, for you yourself have admonished many: namely, all those who in so long a course of life have had recourse to your wisdom. Wherefore this speech does not pertain to you, a woman of surpassing wisdom; but let it be a common medicine of consolation for the afflicted and mourning, that they may understand that mortals attend upon mortals.