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| Homily I. When He Had Taken Refuge in the Church.
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eutropius,
patrician and consul.
————————————
Homily I.
On Eutropius, the eunuch, Patrician and Consul.
1. “Vanity of
vanities, all is vanity”—it is always seasonable to utter this
but more especially at the present time. Where are now the
brilliant surroundings of thy consulship? where are the gleaming
torches? Where is the dancing, and the noise of dancers’ feet,
and the banquets and the festivals? where are the garlands and the
curtains of the theatre? where is the applause which greeted thee
in the city, where the acclamation in the hippodrome and the
flatteries of spectators? They are gone—all gone: a wind has
blown upon the tree shattering down all its leaves, and showing it
to us quite bare, and shaken from its very root; for so great has
been the violence of the blast, that it has given a shock to all
these fibres of the tree and threatens to tear it up from the
roots. Where now are your feigned friends? where are your drinking
parties, and your suppers? where is the swarm of parasites, and the
wine which used to be poured forth all day long, and the manifold
dainties invented by your cooks? where are they who courted your
power and did and said everything to win your favour? They were all
mere visions of the night, and dreams which have vanished with the
dawn of day: they were spring flowers, and when the spring was over
they all withered: they were a shadow which has passed away—they
were a smoke which has dispersed, bubbles which have burst, cobwebs
which have been rent in pieces. Therefore we chant continually this
spiritual song—“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” For this
saying ought to be continually written on our walls, and garments,
in the market place, and in the house, on the streets, and on the
doors and entrances, and above all on the conscience of each one,
and to be a perpetual theme for meditation. And inasmuch as
deceitful things, and maskings and pretence seem to many to be
realities it behoves each one every day both at supper and at
breakfast, and in social assemblies to say to his neighbour and to
hear his neighbour say in return “vanity of vanities, all is
vanity.” Was I not continually telling thee that wealth was a
runaway? But you would not heed me. Did I not tell thee that it was
an unthankful servant? But you would not be persuaded. Behold
actual experience has now proved that it is not only a runaway, and
ungrateful servant, but also a murderous one, for it is this which
has caused thee now to fear and tremble. Did I not say to thee when
you continually rebuked me for speaking the truth, “I love thee
better than they do who flatter thee?” “I who reprove thee care
more for thee than they who pay thee court?” Did I not add to
these words by saying that the wounds of friends were more to be
relied upon than the voluntary kisses of enemies.805
If you had submitted to my wounds
their kisses would not have wrought thee this destruction: for my
wounds work health, but their kisses have produced an incurable
disease. Where are now thy cup-bearers, where are they who cleared
the way for thee in the market place, and sounded thy praises
endlessly in the ears of all? They have fled, they have disowned
thy friendship, they are providing for their own safety by means of
thy distress. But I do not act thus, nay in thy misfortune I do not
abandon thee, and now when thou art fallen I protect and tend thee.
And the Church which you
treated as an enemy has opened her bosom and received thee into it;
whereas the theatres which you courted, and about which you were
oftentimes indignant with me have betrayed and ruined thee. And yet
I never ceased saying to thee “why doest thou these things?”
“thou art exasperating the Church, and casting thyself down
headlong,” yet thou didst hurry away from all my warnings. And
now the hippodromes, having exhausted thy wealth, have whetted the
sword against thee, but the Church which experienced thy untimely
wrath is hurrying in every direction, in her desire to pluck thee
out of the net.
2. And I say these things now not as trampling
upon one who is prostrate, but from a desire to make those who are
still standing more secure; not by way of irritating the sores of
one who has been wounded, but rather to preserve those who have not
yet been wounded in sound health; not by way of sinking one who is
tossed by the waves, but as instructing those who are sailing with
a favourable breeze, so that they may not become overwhelmed. And
how may this be effected? by observing the vicissitudes of human
affairs. For even this man had he stood in fear of vicissitude
would not have experienced it; but whereas neither his own
conscience, nor the counsels of others wrought any improvement in
him, do ye at least who plume yourselves on your riches profit by
his calamity: for nothing is weaker than human affairs. Whatever
term therefore one may employ to express their insignificance it
will fall short of the reality; whether he calls them smoke, or
grass, or a dream or spring flowers, or by any other name; so
perishable are they, and more naught than nonentities;806
| 806 τῶν οὐδεν ὀντων
οὐδαμινώτερα. | but that
together with their nothingness they have also a very perilous
element we have a proof before us. For who was more exalted than
this man? Did he not surpass the whole world in wealth? had he not
climbed to the very pinnacle of distinction? did not all tremble
and fear before him? Yet lo! he has become more wretched than the
prisoner, more pitiable than the menial slave, more indigent than
the beggar wasting away with hunger, having every day a vision of
sharpened swords and of the criminal’s grave, and the public
executioner leading him out to his death; and he does not even know
if he once enjoyed past pleasure, nor is he sensible even of the
sun’s ray, but at mid day his sight is dimmed as if he were
encompassed by the densest gloom. But even let me try my best I
shall not be able to present to you in language the suffering which
he must naturally undergo, in the hourly expectation of death. But
indeed what need is there of any words from me, when he himself has
clearly depicted this for us as in a visible image? For yesterday
when they came to him from the royal court intending to drag him
away by force, and he ran for refuge to the holy furniture,807
| 807 Holy vessels would be the literal
rendering of the word (σκ™υεσι), but it is clear from what follows
that the altar is intended. | his face was
then, as it is now, no better than the countenance of one dead: and
the chattering of his teeth, and the quaking and quivering of his
whole body, and his faltering voice, and stammering tongue, and in
fact his whole general appearance were suggestive of one whose soul
was petrified.
3. Now I say these things not by way of reproaching
him, or insulting his misfortune, but from a desire to soften your
minds towards him, and to induce you to compassion, and to persuade
you to be contented with the punishment which has already been
inflicted. For since there are many inhuman persons amongst us who
are inclined, perhaps, to find fault with me for having admitted
him to the sanctuary, I parade his sufferings from a desire to
soften their hardheartedness by my narrative.
For tell me, beloved brother, wherefore art
thou indignant with me? You say it is because he who continually
made war upon the Church has taken refuge within it. Yet surely we
ought in the highest degree to glorify God, for permitting him to
be placed in such a great strait as to experience both the power
and the lovingkindness of the Church:—her power in that he has
suffered this great vicissitude in consequence of the attacks which
he made upon her: her lovingkindness in that she whom he attacked
now casts her shield in front of him and has received him under her
wings, and placed him in all security not resenting any of her
former injuries, but most lovingly opening her bosom to him. For
this is more glorious than any kind of trophy, this is a brilliant
victory, this puts both Gentiles and Jews to shame, this displays
the bright aspect of the Church: in that having received her enemy
as a captive, she spares him, and when all have despised him in his
desolation, she alone like an affectionate mother has concealed him
under her cloak,808
| 808 Possibly an allusion to the curtain which in
Eastern Churches, was drawn in front of the altar. | opposing
both the wrath of the king, and the rage of the people, and their
overwhelming hatred. This is an ornament for the altar. A strange
kind of ornament, you say, when the accused sinner, the
extortioner, the robber is permitted to lay hold of the altar. Nay!
say not so: for even the harlot took hold of the feet of Jesus, she
who was stained with the most accursed and unclean sin: yet her
deed was no reproach to
Jesus, but rather redounded to His
admiration and praise: for the impure woman did no injury to Him
who was pure, but rather was the vile harlot rendered pure by the
touch of Him who was the pure and spotless one. Grudge not then, O
man. We are the servants of the crucified one who said “Forgive
them for they know not what they do.”809
But, you say, he cut off the right
of refuge here by his ordinances and divers kinds of laws. Yes! yet
now he has learned by experience what it was he did, and he himself
by his own deeds has been the first to break the law, and has
become a spectacle to the whole world, and silent though he is, he
utters from thence a warning voice to all, saying “do not such
things as I have done, that ye suffer not such things as I
suffer.” He appears as a teacher by means of his calamity, and
the altar emits great lustre, inspiring now the greatest awe from
the fact that it holds the lion in bondage; for any figure of
royalty might be very much set off if the king were not only to be
seen seated on his throne arrayed in purple and wearing his crown,
but if also prostrate at the feet of the king barbarians with their
hands bound behind their backs were bending low their heads. And
that no persuasive arguments have been used, ye yourselves are
witnesses of the enthusiasm, and the concourse of the people. For
brilliant indeed is the scene before us to day, and magnificent the
assembly, and I see as large a gathering here to-day as at the Holy
Paschal Feast. Thus the man has summoned you here without speaking
and yet uttering a voice through his actions clearer than the sound
of a trumpet: and ye have all thronged hither to-day, maidens
deserting their boudoirs, and matrons the women’s chambers, and
men the market place that ye may see human nature convicted, and
the instability of worldly affairs exposed, and the harlot-face
which a few days ago was radiant (such is the prosperity derived
from extortion) looking uglier than any wrinkled old woman, this
face I say you may see denuded of its enamel and pigments by the
action of adversity as by a sponge.
4. Such is the force of this calamity: it has
made one who was illustrious and conspicuous appear the most
insignificant of men. And if a rich man should enter the assembly
he derives much profit from the sight: for when he beholds the man
who was shaking the whole world, now dragged down from so high a
pinnacle of power, cowering with fright, more terrified than a hare
or a frog, nailed fast to yonder pillar, without bonds, his fear
serving instead of a chain, panic-stricken and trembling, he abates
his haughtiness, he puts down his pride, and having acquired the
kind of wisdom concerning human affairs which it concerns him to
have he departs instructed by example in the lesson which Holy
Scripture teaches by precept:—“All flesh is grass and all the
glory of man as the flower of grass: the grass withereth and the
flower faileth”810
or “They
shall wither away quickly as the grass, and as the green herb shall
they quickly fail”811
or “like smoke are his days,”812
and all
passages of that kind. Again the poor man when he has entered and
gazed at this spectacle does not think meanly of himself, nor
bewail himself on account of his poverty, but feels grateful to his
poverty, because it is a place of refuge to him, and a calm haven,
and secure bulwark; and when he sees these things he would many
times rather remain where he is, than enjoy the possession of all
men for a little time and afterwards be in jeopardy of his own
life. Seest thou how the rich and poor, high and low, bond and free
have derived no small profit from this man’s taking refuge here?
Seest thou how each man will depart hence with a remedy, being
cured merely by this sight? Well! have I softened your passion, and
expelled your wrath? have I extinguished your cruelty? have I
induced you to be pitiful? Indeed I think I have; and your
countenances and the streams of tears you shed are proofs of it.
Since then your hard rock has turned into deep and fertile soil let
us hasten to produce some fruit of mercy, and to display a
luxuriant crop of pity by falling down before the Emperor or rather
by imploring the merciful God so to soften the rage of the Emperor,
and make his heart tender that he may grant the whole of the favour
which we ask. For indeed already since that day when this man fled
here for refuge no slight change has taken place; for as soon as
the Emperor knew that he had hurried to this asylum, although the
army was present, and incensed on account of his misdeeds, and
demanded him to be given up for execution, the Emperor made a long
speech endeavouring to allay the rage of the soldiers, maintaining
that not only his offences, but any good deed which he might have
done ought to be taken into account, declaring that he felt
gratitude for the latter, and was prepared to forgive him as a
fellow creature for deeds which were otherwise. And when they again
urged him to avenge the insult done to the imperial majesty,
shouting, leaping, and brandishing their spears, he shed streams of
tears from his gentle eyes, and having reminded them of the Holy
Table to which the man
had fled for refuge he succeeded at last in appeasing their
wrath.
5. Moreover let me add some arguments which
concern ourselves. For what pardon could you deserve, if the
Emperor bears no resentment when he has been insulted, but ye who
have experienced nothing of this kind display so much wrath? and
how after this assembly has been dissolved will ye handle the holy
mysteries, and repeat that prayer by which we are commanded to say
“forgive us as we also forgive our debtors”813
when ye are demanding vengeance
upon your debtor? Has he inflicted great wrongs and insults on you?
I will not deny it. Yet this is the season not for judgment but for
mercy; not for requiring an account, but for showing loving
kindness: not for investigating claims but for conceding them; not
for verdicts and vengeance, but for mercy and favour. Let no one
then be irritated or vexed, but let us rather beseech the merciful
God to grant him a respite from death, and to rescue him from this
impending destruction, so that he may put off his transgression,
and let us unite to approach the merciful Emperor beseeching him
for the sake of the Church, for the sake of the altar, to concede
the life of one man as an offering to the Holy Table. If we do this
the Emperor himself will accept us, and even before his praise we
shall have the approval of God, who will bestow a large recompense
upon us for our mercy. For as he rejects and hates the cruel and
inhuman, so does He welcome and love the merciful and humane man;
and if such a man be righteous, all the more glorious is the crown
which is wreathed for him: and if he be a sinner, He passes over
his sins granting this as the reward of compassion shown to his
fellow-servant. “For” He saith “I will have mercy and not
sacrifice,”814
and
throughout the Scriptures you find Him always enquiring after this,
and declaring it to be the means of release from sin. Thus then we
shall dispose Him to be propitious to us, thus we shall release
ourselves from our sins, thus we shall adorn the Church, thus also
our merciful Emperor, as I have already said, will commend us, and
all the people will applaud us, and the ends of the earth will
admire the humanity and gentleness of our city, and all who hear of
these deeds throughout the world will extol us. That we then may
enjoy these good things, let us fall down in prayer and
supplication, let us rescue the captive, the fugitive, the
suppliant from danger that we ourselves may obtain the future
blessings by the favour and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom
be glory and power, now and for ever, world without end.
Amen.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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