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| To Eusebius, Bishop of Persian Armenia.
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LXXVIII. To Eusebius,
Bishop of Persian Armenia.
Whenever anything happens to the
helmsman, either the officer in command at the bows, or the seaman of
highest rank, takes his place, not because he becomes a self-appointed
helmsman, but because he looks out for the safety of the ship. So again
in war, when the commander falls, the chief tribune assumes the
command, not in the attempt to lay violent hands on the place of power,
but because he cares for his men. So too the thrice blessed Timothy
when sent by the divine Paul took his place.1739
It is therefore becoming to your piety
to accept the responsibilities of helmsman, of captain, of shepherd,
gladly to run all risk for the sake of the sheep of Christ, and not to
leave His creatures abandoned and alone. It is rather yours to bind up
the broken, to raise up the fallen, to turn the wanderer from his
error, and keep the whole in health, and to follow the good shepherds
who stand before the folds and wage war against the wolves. Let us
remember too the words of the patriarch Jacob; “In the day the
drought consumed me and the frost by night and my sleep departed from
my eyes. The rams of thy flock I have not eaten. That which was born of
beasts I brought not unto thee. I bare the loss of it. Of my hand didst
thou require it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.”1740
| 1740 Gen. xxxi. 40, 38,
39 | These are the marks of the shepherd; these
are the laws of the tending of the sheep. And if of brute cattle the
illustrious patriarch had such care, and offered this defence to him
who trusted them to his charge, what ought not we to do who are
entrusted with the charge of reasonable sheep, and who have received
this trust from the God of all, when we remember that the Lord for them
gave up His life? Who does not fear and tremble when he hears the word
of God spoken through Ezekiel? “I judge between shepherd and
sheep because ye eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool and ye
feed not the flocks.”1741
And again,
“I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; when thou
speakest not to warn the wicked from his wicked way, the same wicked
man shall die in his iniquity but his blood shall I require at thine
hand.”1742
With this agree the words spoken
in parables by the Lord. “Thou wicked and slothful
servant…Thou oughtest to have put my money to the exchangers, and
then at my coming I should have received the same with usury.”1743
Up then, I beseech you, let us fight
for the Lord’s sheep. Their Lord is near. He will certainly
appear and scatter the wolves and glorify the shepherds. “The
Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh
Him.”1744
Let us not murmur at the storm
that has arisen for the Lord of all knoweth what is good for us.
Wherefore also when the Apostle asked for release from his trials He
would not grant his supplication but said, “My grace is
sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in
weakness.”1745
Let us then
bravely bear the evils that befall us; it is in war that heroes are
discerned; in conflicts that athletes are crowned; in the surge of the
sea that the art of the helmsman is shewn; in the fire that the gold is
tried. And let us not, I beseech you, heed only ourselves, let us
rather have forethought for the rest, and that much more for the sick
than for the whole, for it is an apostolic precept which exclaims
“Comfort the feeble minded, support the weak.”1746
Let us then stretch out our hands to
them that lie low, let us tend their wounds and set them at their post
to fight the devil. Nothing will so vex him as to see them fighting and
smiting again. Our Lord is full of loving-kindness. He receives the repentance of
sinners. Let us hear His own words: “As I live saith the Lord I
have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn
from his way and live.”1747
So He prefaced
His words with an oath, and He who forbids oaths to others swore
Himself to convince us how He desires our repentance and salvation. Of
this teaching the divine books, both the old and the new, are full, and
the precepts of the holy Fathers teach the same.
But not as though you were
ignorant have I written to you; rather have I reminded you of what you
know, like those who standing safe upon the shore succour them that are
tossed by the storm, and shew them a rock, or give warning of a hidden
shallow, or catch and haul in a rope that has been thrown. “And
the God of peace shall bring Satan under your feet shortly”1748
and shall gladden our ears with news
that you have passed from storm to calm, at His word to the waves
“Peace be still.”1749
And do you too offer prayers for
us, for you who have undergone peril for His sake can speak with
greater boldness.1750
| 1750 These letters on the Persian persecution might be placed anywhere
while it lasted c. 420–450. Garnerius suggests 443. Eulalius and
Eusebius are unknown. | E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
|
