Книга 5

On the piety of King Gratian 179. The deeds and fate of Valens definitely showed how long the Lord God tolerates those who rage against Him and how He punishes those who do not properly use His long-suffering. The philanthropic God controls his mercy and justice, as if with scales and reins: when He sees that someone with iniquities exceeds the measure of philanthropy, then with just punishment he hinders the rapidity of evil. After the death of Valens, Gratian, his nephew, the son of Valentinian, received supreme power over the entire Roman Empire. He had ruled Europe for a long time, since the death of his father, since during his life he was a co-ruler, and now, when Valens died childless, he received both Asia and the rest of Libya into his power. Having ascended the throne, Gratian immediately revealed even more clearly all the piety that was in him, and he brought the beginnings of his reign to the King of all. He issued a decree which commanded him to summon the expelled shepherds, return them to their flocks, and give up the holy churches to those who agreed to have communion with Damasus. And Damasus was a Roman bishop, adorned with a praiseworthy life and trying to say and do everything in accordance with the apostolic teaching: he took charge of the church after Liberius. Along with the decree, the king also sent the then famous military leader Sapor, so that he would expel the preachers of Aryan blasphemy, like wild animals, from the holy churches and hand them over to valiant shepherds and pious flocks. This command of Gratian in all other areas was accepted unquestioningly, but in the main city of the east, Antioch, on this occasion the following discord occurred. About the dispute of Peacock and the innovation of Apollinaris of Laodicea; also about the wisdom of Meletius about the godliness. The defenders of the apostolic dogmas, as we said before, were divided into two parties: one, immediately after the intrigue directed against the great Eustathius, disgusted by the Arian shamelessness and gathering on their own, had Paulinus as their leader, and the other, following the ordination of Euzoes, separated from the wicked forces by their former bishop Meletius and, having suffered the above-mentioned disasters, were governed by wise teaching Meletiev. In addition, Apollinaris of Laodicea appeared as the head of a new sect. Hiding at first under the guise of piety and pretending to defend the apostolic dogmas, he soon later turned out to be their obvious enemy, because he spoke uncleanly about God’s nature, inventing some degrees of merit, and dared to assert that the mystery of the economy is imperfect, and that the rational soul, to which the governance of the body is entrusted, is deprived of its former salvation. According to his teaching, God the Word did not accept this soul, and therefore did not deign to heal it and did not grant it honor. As for the body, this earthly being is worshiped by invisible forces, but the soul, created in the image of God, carries within itself the dishonor of sin, and is left behind. His lost and blind mind said many other things besides this. Thus, Apollinaris sometimes agreed that Christ received flesh from the Holy Virgin, sometimes he asserted that the flesh together with God the Word came from heaven, and sometimes that God the Word did not accept anything from us, but himself gave birth to flesh. He added many other fables and idle talk to the divine promises, but I consider it unnecessary to talk about them now. By preaching this, Apollinaris corrupted not only his followers, but also brought the plague to some of ours. Over time, his followers, seeing their insignificance and the glory of the church, all but a few joined it, and were awarded church communion, but not only did not leave their previous illness, but, on the contrary, infected many who were previously healthy with it. From this root arose in the churches the opinion about the one nature of the flesh and the Divinity and that suffering affected the very Divinity of the Only Begotten, and other thoughts that gave rise to a dispute between some churches and priests. But this happened later. So, when the military leader Sapor arrived (in Antioch) and announced the royal decree, Peacock began to claim that he was on the side of Damasus, and Apollinaris claimed the same, hiding his illness. Saint Meletios, meanwhile, remained silent and endured their dispute. But the wisest Flavius, already numbered among the host of presbyters, first turned to Paulinus and in the presence of the military leader said: “If you, my dear, value the communication of Damasus, then clearly show us the affinity of the dogmas. Damasus, confessing the one being of the Trinity, directly preaches about three hypostases, but you, on the contrary, reject the trinity of hypostases. Show us the agreement of dogmas and, by decree, take the churches.” Having silenced Peacock with such an accusation, Flavian then said to Appolinarius: “I am surprised at you, friend, how you fight against the truth with such shamelessness. Clearly knowing the conviction of Damasus that God the Word took on our entire nature, you always assert the opposite, because you deprive our mind of salvation. If we tell a lie, accusing you of this, then now reject the innovation you invented, accept with love the teaching of Damasus and take the sacred churches.” With these true words the wisest Flavian limited the talkativeness of both. After this, the meekest of all people, Meletios, friendly and calmly said to Peacock: “Since from the very time when the Lord of the sheep entrusted me with the care of certain sheep, you have taken upon yourself the care of others, and our flocks have the fellowship of piety, let us unite them, my friend, and, leaving the dispute about primacy, we will tend the sheep together and take care of them together. If the pulpit standing in the middle presents you with a reason for argument, then I will try to remove it, namely, I will put the Holy Gospel on it, and we will sit on the sides of it. If I have to end my life first, you, friend, at that time alone manage the flock, and when God tells you to experience this before me, I will again, as much as I can, take care of the sheep.” The Divine Meletius expressed this in a friendly manner, but Peacock did not agree with him. Then the general, having discussed what had been said, gave the church to the great Meletius, and Peacock continued to manage those sheep that had been separated from the flock from the very beginning. About Eusebius, Bishop of Samosata. Not having achieved power over the churches, Apollinaris began to openly preach the doctrine he had invented and declared himself the leader of the heresy. He himself lived mostly in Laodicea, and even earlier he ordained Vitaly, a man of wonderful life, brought up in apostolic dogmas, but subsequently infected with the disease of Apollinarianism, to Antioch. Meanwhile, that Diodorus, whom I mentioned before and who during a severe storm saved the ship of the church from sinking, the divine Meletius made Tarsus the shepherd and entrusted the Cilician church to him, and entrusted the hierarchal care of Apamea to John 180, who came from a noble family, but was more famous for his own valor than for the merits of his ancestors. John was equally adorned in word and life, and in turbulent times he ruled the society of fellow believers, in which the illustrious Stephen helped him. Now the divine Meletius placed this same Stefan in a different field. Having learned that Germanicia was infected with the disastrous teaching of Eudoxius, he sent that husband to Germanicia as a doctor-healer; he sent him because he had gone through all the Greek wisdom and was raised in divine teaching. And Meletius was not deceived in his hope: with his spiritual teaching, Stephen turned wolves into sheep. The great Eusebius also returned from exile, and installed Akakios, who was then famous, as bishop in Beroe, Theodotus, whose ascetic life is still praised by everyone, in Hieropolis, Eusebius in Colchis, and Isidore in our Cyrus. Both of the latter were wonderful men, adorned with divine jealousy. They say that he also ordained Eulogius, who labored for the apostolic dogmas and, together with Protogen, was exiled to Antinous, as a shepherd of Edessa, since the saint of God Virsa had already died at that time. Eulogius drew attention to the companion of his exploits, Protogen, and in his person presented a doctor-healer to the then sick city of Carram 181. Of the bishops ordained by the divine Eusebius, the last was Maris, who was installed in Doliha, and Doliha was a sparsely populated and small place, at that time suffering from the disease of Arianism. In order to establish this praiseworthy Maris, who shone with many types of virtues, on the holy throne, Eusebius himself went to Dolikha. But while he was driving, one woman, suffering from the disease of Arianism, threw a tile at him from the roof of the house and crushed his head with it, from which he soon moved on to a better life. Dying, Eusebius swore an oath to all those present with him not to subject the guilty person to any punishment, because he imitated his Lord, who prayed for the crucifixors, saying: “Father, let them go, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23.34), and to his co-servant Stephen, who, having been showered with a cloud of stones, cried out: “Lord, do not put them of this sin" (Acts 7.60). With such and such a death, the great Eusebius concluded a series of his various exploits 182. And having fled from the Thracian barbarians, he did not escape from the hands of wicked heretics, but it was from them that he received the crown of martyrdom. All this happened upon the return of the bishops. Meanwhile, Gratian learned that the barbarians who burned Valens were devastating Thrace, and therefore, leaving Italy, he moved to Pannonia. Theodosius lived around that time and was famous both for the celebrity of his ancestors and for his own courage. Because of these merits, persecuted by the envy of people who stood at the same level of honor, he had his residence in Spain, where he was born and educated. In the circumstances at that time, the king did not know what to do with the barbarians, who, proud of the victory they had won, did not concede in any way and considered themselves victors. In order to finally stop this evil, he decided to entrust the command of the army to Theodosius and therefore, immediately summoning this man from Spain, proclaimed him military leader and sent him with the army gathered at that time against the barbarians. Protected by faith, Theodosius cheerfully set out on a campaign and, upon arriving in Thrace, noticing that the barbarians were converging on one point, he put his army in battle formation. At the very first meeting, they, unable to withstand the onslaught, mixed up, showed their rear, took to flight and were fiercely pursued. Many of them were then killed, because they were killed not only by the Romans, but also by each other. When in this way most of the barbarians lay down on the spot, and the smaller one, having crossed the Ister, managed to hide, this excellent military leader, having stationed his army in nearby cities, himself, with all possible haste, went to King Gratian to tell him about his trophies. But such an event astonished the king too much, so that Theodosius’s word seemed even incredible to him. Moreover, the envious people continued to shoot their arrows and said that Theodosius himself ran away and destroyed the army. Then the winner asked to send his opponents themselves to the battlefield; let them see many beaten barbarians. “However, the number of the latter,” he said, “is not difficult to find out from the production.” Yielding to these words, the king sent to see the matter on the spot and bring it to his attention. About the accession of Theodosius and the dreams he saw. This excellent military leader, remaining with the king, saw a wondrous dream, which was sent to him, obviously, by the God of all things. He imagined in a dream that the primate of the Antiochian church, the divine Meletius, placed the royal purple on him and adorned his head with a royal crown. Having seen this at night, Theodosius told one of his close associates about it in the morning. The dream is clear, the latter noted, there is nothing mysterious or ambiguous in it. Meanwhile, after a very few days, the heirs of Theodosius’s cause returned and said that many tens of thousands of barbarians had been killed. Then the king saw how well he had done by choosing Theodosius as a military leader, and therefore, having elevated him to royal dignity, he gave him the power of the Valens regions. After this, Gratian went to Italy and sent Theodosius to that part of the empire that was entrusted to him. As soon as he accepted the kingdom, he immediately and first of all took care to found it with the consent of the churches and ordered that the bishops of the empire subject to him gather in Constantinople, for this was only part of it suffering from the Arian infection, and the West remained free from this disease: there the children of Constantine, the elder Constantine and the younger Constance, kept the faith of their father intact, and even after them again the Western king Valentinian maintained purity piety. About some significant representatives of the Arian sect. The eastern part of the empire received this infection in many places. Arius, who was a presbyter in Alexandria in Egypt, gave birth to his blasphemous teaching there. And Eusebius, Patrophilus and Aetius - Palestinian, Peacock and Gregory - Phoenician, Theodotus and after him George - Laodicean, after which Athanasius and Narcis - Cilician tried to nourish these vegetated seeds of evil. Likewise, Eusebius and Theognis are Bithynian. Minophant of Ephesus, Theodore of Perinth, Maris of Chalcedon and some others from Thrace, who became famous only for their malice, spent a long time scattering, watering and warming these tares. The aforementioned evil workers also benefited greatly from the weakness of Constantius and the wickedness of Valens. That is why Theodosius ordered the bishops of one of his empires to gather in Constantinople. When they had gathered to the number of one hundred and fifty, Theodosius declared that they should not tell him who Meletius was among them: he himself, recalling his dream, wanted to recognize this man. And indeed, as soon as the entire host of bishops entered the royal chambers, Theodosius, leaving everyone else, went straight up to the great Meletius and, like a son who loves his father, first enjoyed seeing him for a long time, then embraced him and began to kiss his eyes, lips, chest, head and right hand that crowned him. At the same time, the king told him his dream. He also treated all the others kindly and asked them, as Fathers, to judge the proposed matters. About the council that was in Constantinople 183. At this time, Gregory 184 was also in Constantinople, who then ruled the flock of Nazianza and fought against Arian blasphemy. By feeding God's people with the gospel teaching, catching the sheep that had gone astray and wandering outside the flock and delivering them from the destructive pasture, he thus made that flock great from a small one. Seeing him and knowing well the purpose of the rule by which it was forbidden to move bishops, that is, to eliminate the reason for the calculations of ambition, the divine Meletius entrusted His Holiness Gregory with the primacy in Constantinople. After a short time, the divine Meletius passed away into a carefree life and was greeted with funeral praises from everyone who possessed the gift of speech. Meanwhile, the Alexandrian bishop Timothy, the successor of Peter, who accepted the lot of primacy after Athanasius, instead of the wondrous Gregory ordained a certain Maximus Cynic, whose cynic hair was immediately cut off. And this Maxim was infected with the idle talk of Apollinaris. However, the bishops gathered at that time did not tolerate this strange act. Among the fathers of the council there were worthy men, filled with wisdom and holy zeal, namely: the successor of Basil the Great, Helladius, Gregory and Peter, who was born with Basil from the same parents, Amphilochius of Lycaon, Optimus of Pisidia and Diodorus of Cilicia. Also present there were: Pelagius of Laodicea, Eulogius of Edessa, Acacius and our Isidore, Cyril of Jerusalem and Gelasius of Caesarea in Palestine, who was adorned in word and life, and many other devotees of virtue. All of them then separated from the bishops of Egypt and, together with the great Gregory, formed special solemn meetings. In this case, the divine Gregory convinced them that, having gathered to confirm agreement, they would prefer mutual unanimity to the injustice of one person, “for through this I, having got rid of many worries,” he said, “will enjoy the silence that is pleasant for me, and you, after that long and difficult struggle, will taste the longed-for peace. After all, it is extremely absurd, having just avoided the enemy’s arrows, to attack each other and thereby weaken your own strength. In this case, we will turn out to be very funny for our enemies. So, look for a praiseworthy and wise man who could take on many worries and diligently fulfill them, and make him a bishop.” Convinced by these councils, the good shepherds elected Nektarios, a noble man, adorned with the celebrity of his family and shining with his own virtues, as bishop of that great city. As for Maximus, he, as a man infected with the madness of Apollinaris, was declared deprived of episcopal dignity 185. After this, the fathers of the council, having decreed rules regarding church deanery and affirmed the immutability of the Nicene Symbol, returned to their dioceses. But with the onset of summer 186, many of them again arrived in that city and were prompted to do so by church needs. Here they received a conciliar message from the Western bishops, which invited them to Rome on the occasion of the great council being held there, but they refused this trip, as useless, and only responded to the message, letting the Western bishops know about their church concerns and slightly hinting at their indifference in this regard. In the same reply letter, they briefly outlined their apostolic teaching. However, the courage and wisdom of the Fathers who wrote this message will be revealed more clearly from the message itself. Message from the Council of Constantinople. “To the most venerable gentlemen and most favored brothers and concelebrants Damasus, Ambrose, Britton, Valerian, Ascholius, Anemia, Basil and others, gathered in the great city of Rome, the holy bishops - the holy council of Orthodox bishops, gathered in the great city of Constantinople, wishes health in the Lord. Perhaps it would be superfluous to proclaim and tell your good will - as if it did not know it - about the many disasters that we have suffered as a result of the predominance of the Arians. It does not seem to us that what is happening with us seems so irrelevant to your piety that we must still announce to you something about which you should already sympathize. Moreover, the storms that raged in our country were not just any, so that due to their unimportance they could remain unknown. The recent time of persecution still resonates in the memory of not only the victims, but also those who, out of love, internalize their suffering. As if only yesterday or the day before, some, having freed themselves from the bonds of exile, returned to their churches through thousands of sorrows, others, who had died in exile, were transported in their remains, others, then upon returning from captivity, falling under the still raging fury of the heretics here at home, experienced disasters more severe than those from which they suffered in a foreign land, and, like blessed Stephen, died under the blows of stones thrown by the heretics, some, torn to pieces by many different instruments of torture, and to this day they still bear on their bodies the wounds and traces of the wounds of Christ. And who can count monetary penalties, city taxes and confiscations of property belonging to certain cities, intrigues, reproaches, imprisonments? In fact, our sorrows multiplied without number and all struck us. Perhaps we were punished by them for our sins, or perhaps the humane God tested us with many sufferings. We thank God that He admonished His servants through great sorrows and, out of the abundance of His mercy, again granted us rest. But in order to restore the churches, a lot of work and work is required from us, so that through our care the body of the church, which has been exhausted for so long, little by little saves it from illness and restores it to the health of its former piety. Although we now seem to be completely free from cruel persecution and have completely returned to the churches that were so long in the power of heretics, the wolves are nevertheless hostile to us. Having been expelled from the fence, they plunder the flocks in the pastures, dare to hold special meetings, stir up unrest among the people and do not miss anything to the detriment of the churches. Because, as we said, we need long-term knowledge. Now, by the will of God, having formed a council in Rome and showing us your brotherly love, you, through the letters of the most God-loving king, call on us as your members, so that you do not reign without us, and so that alone, once condemned to sorrow, at the present time, with the agreement of the autocrats regarding piety, we, according to the word of the apostle, may reign with you. Upon receiving this calling, we would like, if only possible, to all leave our churches altogether and follow the call of love or need. In fact, “who will give us wings like doves, and we will fly and rest with you” (Ps 54.7)? But this would completely expose the churches that had just begun to be renewed, and therefore a trip to Rome is absolutely impossible for many bishops. After all, we gathered in Constantinople only on the occasion of last year’s letter, which your honor, after the Council of Aquileia, sent to the most God-loving king Feodosia. It was only for this trip to Constantinople that we prepared and only for the drawing up of this council did we ask for the consent of the bishops remaining in their dioceses, and we did not anticipate the need for a further trip, even before arriving in Constantinople we had not heard about it at all. Moreover, the shortness of the urgent time does not provide us with the opportunity either to prepare for the further journey, or to notify the bishops of the same faith in our dioceses and obtain consent from them. Since all this and more, in addition, served as an obstacle to departure for many, then for the organization of church affairs and to thank you for your love for us, we chose the second means: we convinced our most respected and most respected brethren and co-servants, the bishops Cyriacus, Eusebius and Priscion, to quickly go to you. Through them we declare to you our peaceful intentions, the goal of which is unity, through them we testify to our zeal for the holy faith, because we endured persecution, sorrow, threats, the cruelty of judges, and any other temptation from the heretics precisely for the gospel faith, confirmed by the saints and God-bearing three hundred and eighteen fathers in Nicaea in Bithynia. This very faith should be accepted by you, and by us, and by everyone who has not perverted the words of the true faith. It, once preserved with difficulty by us, is ancient, corresponds to baptism and teaches us to believe in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy. Spirit, that is, to believe in the Divinity, the power and being of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, to believe in the equal dignity and co-eternal reign of three perfect Hypostases, or three perfect Persons, to believe in such a way that neither the illness of Sabellius, who confuses the Hypostases and rejects personal properties, nor the blasphemy of the Eunomians, Arians and Doukhobors, who dissect the essence, and nature, and Deities who introduce into the uncreated consubstantial and co-eternal Trinity some kind of nature, either post-born, or created, or other-essential. And regarding the incarnation of the Lord, we preserve the teaching that has not been returned: we accept the economy of the flesh and not without a soul, and not without a mind, and not imperfect, but we admit integrity, that is, that the Word of God, perfect before the ages, in the last days for our salvation became perfect man. This is the main outline of the faith we sincerely preach! Moreover, in relation to it, you can recognize our souls if you deign to read it in the scroll that was written by the council that was held in Antioch, or in the one that was published last year by the ecumenical council of Constantinople. In them we professed our faith more extensively and anathematized in writing the heresies that had recently arisen. As for the private rules of church life, you know that we have in force an ancient custom, approved by the decree of the holy Nicene Fathers, that for every diocese ordinations should be performed by diocesan celebrants - either alone, or, when they want and consider it most useful, together with the primates of the neighboring dioceses. In accordance with this, you should know that other churches are also governed in our country, and priests have been elected for the most famous churches. Thus, as a bishop, one might say, of the young Church of Constantinople, which recently, by the grace of God, was plucked from the blasphemy of the heretics, as if from the jaws of a lion, we at an ecumenical council, with general consent, in the face of the most God-loving King Theodosius, in the presence of the entire clergy and with the approval of the whole city, ordained the most reverent and God-loving Nektarios. In the same way, for the oldest, truly apostolic church in Syrian Antioch, in which the precious name of Christians was the first to sound, the bishops gathered both from that same diocese and from the eastern dioceses lawfully ordained as bishop the most reverent and most God-loving Flavian, a man honored, as if by the unanimous choice of the entire church, - and this legal ordination was accepted by the general council. We inform you that the once most reverent and God-loving Bishop Kirill, who so many times and in different places labored against the Arians, was also canonically ordained into the Church of Jerusalem - the mother of all churches. With these legally and canonically appointed bishops among us, we ask your favor to exchange greetings, to have communion of spiritual love and fear of God, putting aside all human partiality, and preferring the improvement of churches to favor or personal love, for when in this way the words of our faith come into agreement and Christian love is established between us, we will stop saying what the Apostle condemns: “for I am Paul, Apollosov, aka Cephas" (1 Cor 1.12). Then we will all belong to Christ, who is not divided in us; then, according to the will of God, we will all keep the body of the church undivided and boldly stand before the throne of the Lord.” The Fathers wrote this against the madness of Ariev, Aetius and Eunomius, also against Sabellius, Photinus, Marcellus, Paul of Samosata and Macedonius; in the same way, they clearly rejected the innovation of Apollinaris when they said: “and regarding the Incarnation of the Lord, we retain a correct teaching: we accept the dispensation of the flesh not without a soul, not without mind and not imperfect” 187. The all-praising Damasus, having learned about the origin of this heresy, deposed and removed not only Apollinaris himself, but also his disciple Timothy, and through a letter notified the bishops who ruled the East about this. I consider it useful to place this message from him in my present essay. Conciliar letter of the Roman Bishop of Damasus, written against Apollinaris and Timothy. “That you, dear children, out of your love give due respect to the apostolic see - by this you attribute a lot to us. It is true that especially in that holy church St. taught. Apostle, how it is necessary to manage the helm that we have accepted, in which he himself sat, however, we recognize ourselves below this honor, and only for this reason we are trying in every possible way, is it possible for us to somehow achieve the glory of his blessedness. Know that we have long ago excommunicated the vile disciple of the heretic Apollinaris, Timothy, with his wicked teaching, and we hope that his remnants will then have no power. And if that old serpent, struck once or twice, comes to life again for his execution, if, even while outside the church, he still does not cease with his deadly poison to drag some unbelievers to fall, then avoid him as if from any kind of death. Remembering the Apostolic Faith, especially as it was set forth in writing by the Fathers at Nicaea, stand strong in it with a firm foot and do not move. From now on, forbid both clergy and laity from listening to frivolous and dark research. We have already given you once an example that everyone who recognizes himself as a Christian must observe what was conveyed to us by the Father of the Apostles in the words of St. Paul: “If anyone preaches more good news to you than he who brings good news to you, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1.9). Christ, the Son of God, our Lord, through his sufferings, bestowed the most perfect salvation on the human race, so that all sin-possessed people could be freed from all sin. And whoever says that Christ has a diminished either Divinity or humanity, he, filled with the spirit of the devil, shows himself to be a son of Gehenna. So, why do you again demand that I excommunicate Timothy? Here too, by the court of the apostolic see, in the presence of the bishop of Alexandria, he was excommunicated together with his co-teacher Apollinaris, and on the day of judgment (of the Lord) he will accept due torture and execution. If he still convinces some frivolous people, as if he who had replaced the true hope in Christ with his own confession had some hope, then know that along with him will perish everyone who wanted to resist the decree of the church. May God preserve your health, trembling children.” Those gathered in great Rome also wrote another epistle against various heresies, and I considered it necessary to include it in my work. Another conciliar message of the same Damasus against various heresies. Confession of the Catholic Faith sent by Pope Damasus to Paulinus, Bishop of Macedon, while he was in Thessalonica. “Since after the Council of Nicea such an important error arose that some with bad lips dared to say that the Holy Spirit was born through the Son, we anathematize everyone who does not preach with perfect freedom that the Holy Spirit is of the same essence and power with the Father and the Son. We equally anathematize those who, following the error of Sabellius, say that the Father and the Son are one. We also anathematize Arius and Eunomius, who, with the same wickedness, but in different words, assert that the Son and the Holy Spirit are creatures. We also anathematize the Macedonians, who, being born from an Arian root, changed not their wickedness, but only their name. We also anathematize Photinus, who, having renewed the heresy of Ebion, (recognizes) the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ only from Mary 188. We also anathematize those who claim that there are two Sons, one before the ages, and the other after taking flesh from Mary. We also anathematize those who prove that instead of a rational soul, the Word of God dwelt in human flesh, for this very Word of God did not replace a rational and thinking soul in its body, but received and saved precisely ours, that is, a rational and thinking soul without sin. We also anathematize those who say that the Word of God was separated from the Father by extension and diminution, and blaspheme that It is not hypostatic and will have an end. And we consider those who have moved from churches to other churches to be alien to our fellowship until they return to the cities where they were first ordained. Whoever, after moving someone from place to place, receives ordination and replaces the living, he, having left his city, is considered to be deprived of priestly dignity until the one who succeeded him rests in the Lord. Likewise, whoever does not say that the Father is always the Father, the Son is always the Son and the Holy Spirit is always the Holy Spirit - let him be anathema. So, whoever does not recognize the Son as begotten of the Father, that is, from the essence of his Divinity, let him be anathema. Whoever does not confess that the Son of God is true God, just as His Father is True God, that He can do everything, knows everything and is equal to the Father, let him be anathema. Whoever says that, while dwelling in the flesh and living on earth, the Son of God was not with the Father in heaven 189, let him be anathema. Whoever says that in the suffering of the cross the Son of God suffered with the Divinity, and not with the flesh and rational soul, which, as Holy Scripture says, He took on in the form of a slave 190, let him be anathema. Whoever does not admit that God the Word suffered carnally, was crucified carnally, tasted death carnally and became the firstborn from the dead, 191 since He, as God, is alive and the life-giving Word, will be anathema. Whoever does not say that in the flesh which He assumed, and in which He will come to judge the living and the dead, He sits at the right hand of the Father, let him be anathema. Whoever does not say that the Holy Spirit is truly and truly from the Father, just as the Son is from the divine essence, and is God, as is the word of God, let him be anathema. Whoever does not say that the Holy Spirit can do everything and knows everything, is present everywhere, like the Son and the Father, let him be anathema. If anyone were to say that the Holy Spirit is a creation, or that he was born through the Son, let him be anathema. Whoever does not recognize that through the Son incarnate and the Holy Spirit the Father created everything visible and invisible - let him be anathema. Whoever does not confess one Divinity, one power and strength, one glory and dominion, one kingdom, one will and truth, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit - let him be anathema. Whoever does not call the three Persons - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - true, living forever, containing everything visible and invisible, omnipotent, judging everything, life-giving everything, organizing everything, saving everything - let him be anathema. Whoever does not confess that the Holy Spirit is the object of worship of all creation, like the Son and the Father, let him be anathema. Whoever thinks well about the Father and the Son, but adheres to the teachings of the wrong about the Holy Spirit, is a heretic, because everyone who philosophizes about the Son of God and the Holy Spirit, heretics, is convicted of the unbelief of Jews and pagans. Whoever divides the Divinity, calling separately the Father God, and the Son God, and the Holy Spirit God, and stubbornly calls Gods, and not God, who has one Divinity and sovereignty, in which we believe and which, ascribing to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we confess one God in three Persons, or, again, who, excluding the Son and the Holy Spirit, thinks to call only the Father God, or not to believe in one God - let him be anathema: for the name of the gods is given by God to both the angels and all the saints. But the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, because of the one and equal Divinity, are shown to us and signified not by the names of gods, but by the name of God, so that we may believe that we are baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and not in the names of archangels or angels, as heretics, Jews or pagans madly claim. So that when we believe in the Trinity, that is, in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and when we are baptized, we believe in it as the same one Deity, and dominion, and divinity, and essence.” On the death of Gratian and the tyranny of Maximus. But this was during Gratian’s lifetime. When Gratian, distinguished by his courage in war, who ruled the cities prudently and truthfully, died from treachery 192 and left no children, heirs to the kingdom, except for one, too young brother 193, the same name as his father, then a certain Maximus 194, despising the youth of Valentinian, seized power over the West. About Justina, the wife of Valentinian and about the intent against Ambrose. At this time, Justina, the wife of Valentinian the Great and the mother of the younger, who had once accepted the seeds of the Arian teachings, discovered them in front of her son. Knowing her husband’s jealousy for the faith, she tried to hide all the time, and now, seeing the instability and ease of movement of the child’s thoughts, she dared to instill her delusion in him - and the child accepted her mother’s suggestions as useful, for, submitting to the attraction of nature, she did not see the deadly sting 195 . Valentinian first conveyed this idea to Ambrose, thinking that if he was convinced, it would be easy to persuade others. But Ambrose reminded him of his father’s piety, and urged him to keep the lot he had accepted inviolable; He explained to Valentinian the difference between dogmas, how some agree with the teaching of the Lord and with the preaching of the Apostles, and how others, on the contrary, are contrary and hostile to the spiritual law. However, the young man, just like a young man incited by his lost mother, not only did not accept what was said, but was also filled with anger and surrounded the church fences with the spears of heavily armed warriors and shield bearers. When none of his deeds frightened that greatest warrior, for Ambrose considered them toys that are brought to small children, then Valentinian, in a frenzy, clearly ordered him to leave the sacred refuge. To which, however, he replied: “I will not do this voluntarily, I will not hand over the fence of sheep to the regiments, I will not give up the church to those who blaspheme the Divine. If you want to kill me, thrust a sword or spear into me here inside, I will willingly accept such a slaughter” 196. What was announced by the tyrant Maximus Valentinian the Younger. After a long time, 197 Maxim learned what they had decided to do against the loud preacher of truth, and sent a letter to Valentinian, urging him to stop the war against piety and exhorting him not to betray his father’s faith. At the same time, he threatened war if Valentinian did not listen, and added the deed itself to the words, for, having gathered an army, he rushed to Mediolan, his place of residence. The latter, having learned of Maximus’s advance, hastened to flee to Illyria and learned by experience how much benefit he received from his mother’s advice 198 . About what Tsar Theodosius wrote on this occasion. The all-praising king of Theodosius, having learned about the actions of the king (Valentinian the Younger) and what the tyrant wrote to him, said in his letter to the runaway youth that he should not be surprised if the king was overcome by fear, and the tyrant gained strength, for the first rebelled in piety, and the latter gave him help - and now the one who betrayed him runs naked, and the one armed for him overcomes the naked one, since The Lawgiver of piety is always in union with piety. He wrote this to Valentinian while still far from him, and when he learned of his flight, he came to his aid and personally saw the one who, having left his own kingdom, hid within the borders of someone else’s kingdom. Here he first began to heal his soul, drove out the incipient disease of wickedness from him and returned him to fatherly piety. Then he instilled courage in him and, armed against Maxim, although not without shedding blood, returned the kingdom to the young man and killed the tyrant, for he believed that he would act unfairly and break the treaty with Gratian if he did not execute the murderer for his murder 199. About Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium. Upon his return from there, the wondrous Amphilochius, who was often mentioned, came to him and petitioned that the Arian gatherings be expelled from the city. The king considered this request rather cruel and did not accept it. But the wisest Amphilochius, without saying a word then, later invented a memorable trick. Having been again in the royal chambers and seeing that his son Arkady, who had recently been also proclaimed king, was standing next to the king, according to the custom of the king himself, he greeted the king, but did not perform decent forms of respect for his son. The king, thinking that Amphilochius had forgotten, ordered him to come up and greet Arkady. But he replied that the honor expressed to himself was enough. When Theodosia, annoyed by this, called the dishonor of his son an insult to himself, the wisest Amphilochia finally revealed the purpose of his act and publicly said: “You see, Sovereign, how unbearable for you the dishonor of your son is, how much you are angry at those who insult him: believe that the God of all turns away from those who blaspheme His only begotten Son, and hates people who turn out to be ungrateful to Savior and Benefactor." Then the king understood everything and, marveling at the deed and words of Amphilochius, immediately wrote a decree that forbade heretics to hold meetings 200. But it is not easy to escape all the snares of the common human enemy, for it often happens that someone, having escaped carnal passion, becomes entangled in the noose of covetousness, and whoever turns out to be above even this, another time falls into the abyss of envy. If he jumped out from here, he would not escape the nets of rage spread out before him. The devil places countless other snares under people’s feet when he snares them into destruction. His means of killing the soul are also facilitated by bodily passions. The waking mind alone, through its striving for the divine, destroys the power of these intrigues and becomes above them. So, having a human nature, this wondrous king was not without passions, and one day, unable to keep his just anger within the limits of moderation, he committed a cruel and unjust act. For the benefit of the reader, I will also tell you about this, for this work of the wondrous king deserves not only condemnation, but also commemorative praise. About the murders in Thessalonica. Thessalonica is the greatest and most populous city; it is located even in Macedonia, but is considered the main city of Thessaly, Achaia, and many other regions under the command of the Illyrian prefect. One day there was a riot in this city, during which some government officials were killed and dragged through the streets 201 . At the news of this, inflamed with anger, the king could not bear his impetuosity and did not restrain his thoughts with a rein, but allowed him to pronounce the sentence of execution. Having received such power, the royal wrath, like an autocratic tyrant, breaking the bonds and overthrowing the yoke of reason, unjustly drew a sword on everyone and, along with the guilty, killed the innocent, for seven thousand people were killed, they say, without any trial and without evidence of a crime: they were cut off all together, like ears of corn in the harvest. About the boldness of Bishop Ambrose and the piety of the Tsar. Ambrose, whom I often mentioned, also learned about this lamentable event, when the king, having arrived in Mediolan, wanted to enter the church of God as usual, met him in the vestibule and forbade him to enter the sacred vestibule, saying: “You, it seems, do not know, Sovereign, the greatness of the murder committed. Even after calming your anger, your mind did not think about this: the height of his rank, perhaps, did not allow him to recognize the sin of power; on the contrary, it may have darkened the power of reason. But you must know nature, its mortality and perishability, you must also know the ancestral dust from which we are created and into which we are converted, and, without being deceived by the shine of porphyry, know the weakness of the body covered with it. You rule, Sovereign, over your fellow tribesmen, even over your fellow slaves, for one is the Lord and King of all, the Creator of all things. With what eyes will you behold the church of the common Lord? With what groans will you trample this holy platform? How can you stretch out your hands, from which the blood of the innocent murdered is still dripping? How will you receive the all-holy body of the Lord with these hands? How can you bring honest blood to these lips, when the word of anger that descended from them unjustly shed so much blood? Go away and do not try to increase the previous lawlessness with others; accept knitting, which God, the Lord of all, affirms in grief: it is healing and brings health.” Yielding to these words, the king, brought up in the word of God and clearly understanding what belongs to the priests and what belongs to the kings, returned to his palace with groaning and tears. After a long time had passed, for eight months had already passed, the Christmas holiday of our Savior arrived, and the king was still sitting in the palace, lamenting and shedding streams of tears. Seeing this, Rufinus, the then minister, who enjoyed special boldness in the face of the king, since he was very close to him, entered and asked about the reason for the tears. And the king, sighing bitterly and shedding even more tears, said: “You are still joking, Rufinus, for you do not feel my misfortunes; on the contrary, I groan and grieve because I think about my misfortune. Now God’s church is opened to the servants and the beggars - and they enter into it without restraint and beg their Lord, but for me the church is inaccessible, and moreover, heaven is closed, for I remember the voice of the Lord, which clearly said: “If you bind him on earth, he will be bound in heaven” (Matthew 18.18). “Then I will run, if you wish,” said Rufinus, “and I will persistently convince the bishop to release your bonds.” “You can’t convince me,” said the king, “after all, I understand the justice of Ambrose’s sentence: and reverence for the royal power did not allow the bishop to violate the Divine law.” When Rufinus, after long persuasion, actually promised to bow Ambrose, the king ordered him to go quickly, and he himself, deluded by hope and believing Rufinus’ promise, followed him after a while. But the divine Ambrose, seeing Rufinus, suddenly said: “You, Rufinus, imitate the shamelessness of dogs, for by advising such a murder, you erase shame from your brow. You rage so much over the image of God, you don’t even blush or tremble.” When Rufinus began to beg and said that the king would come, inflamed with divine jealousy, the wondrous Ambrose continued: “I tell you in advance, Rufinus, that I will not allow him to enter the sacred vestibule. And if he turns royal power into tyranny, then I myself will gladly accept slaughter.” Hearing this, Rufinus, through someone, let the king know about the bishop's intentions and persuaded him to remain in his palace. But the king, having learned about this already in the middle of the square, said: “I will go and accept worthy humiliation.” When he reached the holy fence, he did not enter God’s church, but went to the bishop, who was then in the welcoming house, and begged him to free himself from his bonds. Ambrose called this parish tyrant and said that Theodosius was rebelling against God and trampling on his laws. And the king said: “I do not rebel against the established laws and do not attempt to unlawfully enter the sacred vestibule, but I want you to release me from my bonds and, reflecting on the philanthropy of the common Master, do not close for me the door that the Lord opened to all who repent.” “What kind of repentance have you brought after such lawlessness? – asked the bishop. “What medicines did you use to heal incurable wounds?” “Your business,” the king answered, “is to indicate and dissolve medicines and heal the incurable, but mine is to accept what is offered.” Then the divine Ambrose said to the king: “Since you allow anger to judge, and your sentences are pronounced not by reason, but by anger, then write a law by which the definitions of anger would be abolished and repealed, and let court sentences for the deprivation of life or property remain in the records for thirty days, waiting for reason to discuss them. After this time has passed, let the people who carried out the investigation show you their opinions - and then, after the anger has calmed, reason will judge on its own and, considering the case, will see whether those sentences are fair or unfair. If he finds them unfair, then, of course, he will tear up what was written, and when he finds them fair, he will confirm them, and such a number of days will not harm the veracity of the investigation.” Having accepted this advice and finding it excellent, the king immediately ordered the law to be written and approved it with his own signature. When this was done, the divine Ambrose released him from his bonds. After this, the most faithful king already dared to enter God’s church and prayed to the Lord, not even on his knees, but with his head to the floor and repeating the words of David: “My soul clings to the earth: live me according to your word” (Ps. 119:25). He begged for forgiveness, tearing his hair with his hands, hitting his forehead and pouring streams of tears onto the platform. Then, when the time called for the offering of wafers to the sacred meal, he stood up and, with no less tears, approached the altar, having made the offering, he stood, as was his custom, inside behind bars. But the great Ambrose did not remain silent here again and made him understand the difference in places. He first asked: “What does he need?” Then, in response to the king’s response that he expected to receive the divine mysteries, he announced to him through the serving senior deacon that “the internal, Sovereign, is accessible only to priests, and is inaccessible and inviolable for everyone else, and therefore come out and partake, standing with others, for purple makes people kings, not priests.” The most orthodox king accepted this suggestion with meekness, saying in response that he remained behind bars not out of insolence, but according to the custom that exists, as is known, in Constantinople. “However, I must be grateful for this healing,” he added. Both the bishops and the tsar shone with such great valor. I am surprised at both - the boldness of one and the humility of the other, I am surprised at the warmth of zeal in the first, and the purity of faith in the latter. The king retained these very rules of piety, accepted from the great bishop, upon his return to Constantinople, for when one divine holiday called him to the church, having brought gifts to the sacred meal, he immediately left. And when the head of the church (and Nektary was the head at that time) asked: “Why didn’t you stay inside?” - He sighed and said: “As soon as I finally learned the difference between a king and a priest, I barely found a teacher of truth. I understand now that Ambrose alone is worthily called a bishop.” How useful is the reproof pronounced by a man shining with virtue! The king also had another motivation for edification, for the wife, who united with him by marriage, having first carefully studied the divine laws herself, constantly reminded her husband of them. The royal dignity did not overpower her, but inflamed her love for God even more, for the greatness of the good deed only increased her attraction to the Lord. She, without hesitation at all, cared in various ways for both the crippled and those paralyzed by all members, and for this she did not use the assistance of either servants or bodyguards, but she herself worked and, coming to their shelters, satisfied the needs of everyone. In the same way, she went around the church hospice houses and there she herself looked after the sick who were lying on their beds, she herself took up the pot and, having bitten off the stew, served the plate, she herself broke the bread and brought the pieces, she herself washed the cup and did everything that is considered the work of slaves and employees. And whoever tried to dissuade her from this arbitrary labor, she said to him: “It is fitting for royal dignity to distribute gold. For this very royal dignity, I offer my arbitrary labor to the Giver.” And she used to constantly say to her husband: “You need, husband, to always reflect on what you were before and what you have become now, for, constantly having this in your heart, you will not be ungrateful to the Benefactor, but you will begin to rule the kingdom you have accepted legally and thereby honor the Giver.” These everlasting words of Plaquilla were like beautiful and fruitful moisture, watering, as if with seeds, the virtues of her husband. However, she died before Theodosia. And some time after her death something happened that revealed how much the king loved her. On the disturbance in Antioch 203. Forced by frequent wars, the king imposed some kind of emergency tax on the cities. But the city of Antioch did not bear this new tax. Seeing that those who had not paid were hanging on instruments of torture, the people began to do their own thing, which the mob usually does when they quickly find a reason for disorder: they overthrew the copper statue of the all-praised Plaquilla (that was the name of the queen) and dragged it through many parts of the city 204 . Having learned about this and, in all likelihood, being angry, the king took away the advantage from the city, and gave the eldership to the neighboring city - in the thought that this measure would especially affect the Antiochians, because Antioch had long been in competition with Laodicea 205 . After that, he even threatened to burn, destroy and turn the city into a village. And the city leaders, having seized some for the crime itself, had already executed them before the king knew about this sad event. All this was done, although at the command of the king, but was not carried out, because the law issued on the conviction of the great Ambrose 206 prevented it. When the persons who carried with them the king’s threats arrived in Antioch, namely, the then governor Elevichius and the head of the royal palace Caesarius, whom the Romans, according to the significance of this power, called the master, then everyone fell into fear and trembled at the threats. But the devotees of virtue, who lived in the part of the foothills, where at that time there were many excellent men, gave those people many admonitions and greatly consoled them. Saint Macedonia, who was ignorant of anything related to earthly life, and did not even know divine sayings at all, but labored on the tops of the mountains, where day and night he offered up pure prayer to the Savior of all, this Macedonia, not afraid of the royal wrath and not paying attention to the power of the sent nobles, once in the middle of the city grabbed one of them by the cap and ordered them both to get off their horses. These, seeing before them a small old man dressed in poor rags, were at first angry, but then, when some elders told them about the valor of this man, they jumped off their horses and, hugging his knees, asked for forgiveness. And he, filled with divine wisdom, addressed them with the following words: “Tell the king, dear men: you are not only a king, but also a man, and therefore keep in mind not only the royal dignity, but also think about nature, for, being a man, you reign over creatures of the same nature as you. Human nature is created in the image and likeness of God; Do not order so cruelly and ferociously to kill the image of God, for by executing it, you irritate the Creator. Look, you too are so angry only because of the copper image; but for everyone in whom there is intelligence, it is obvious how much more superior the animate, living and rational are than the soulless. Let him also think about the fact that it is easy for us to make many copper images instead of one, but for him it is completely impossible to create even one hair of people killed.” Having heard this, those wonderful men conveyed the words of the elder to the king and with them they extinguished the flame of his anger. Instead of the previous threats, he wrote a letter of acquittal to the Antiochians and explained the reason for his irritation. “For my guilt,” he said, “my wife, most worthy of all praise, should not have been subjected to such great reproach after her death. Those who are indignant should better arm themselves with their anger against me.” To this the king added how he grieves and suffers after learning about the killing of some of the leaders. I told this part because I considered it unfair to consign to oblivion the boldness of the all-validated monk, and partly because I wanted to show the benefit of the law issued at the inspiration of the great Ambrose. About the widespread destruction of idolatry churches. The pious king directed his zeal against Hellenic error and issued a law that commanded the destruction of the churches of idols. Worthy of all praise, the great Constantine, the first to adorn the royal power with piety, seeing his state still in madness, although he resolutely forbade making sacrifices to demons, did not destroy their churches, but only ordered them to be locked up. The children also followed in the footsteps of their father. But Julian renewed his impiety and kindled the flames of ancient error. And Jovian, having received the kingdom, again forbade the service of idols. The great Valentinian ruled Europe according to the same laws. Valens allowed everyone else to show divine honor and serve whoever they wanted, but he did not stop fighting against the ascetics for the apostolic dogmas. Therefore, during the entire time of his reign, the sacrificial fire burned, and sacrifices were made to idols, and popular feasts were held in the squares, and Dionysian orgies were held, in which the pagans ran with shields, tore dogs, went on a rampage, rioted, and did many other things that distinguished the celebrations of their teacher. The most noble Tsar Theodosius found all this and completely destroyed it and consigned it to oblivion. The first of all, the excellent bishop Marcellus 207, having been authorized by decree, destroyed the church in the city entrusted to him, and for this he used more boldness according to God than many hands. I will also tell you about this as a very memorable event. The Apamean bishop John, whom I mentioned before, died, and in his place was placed the divine Marcellus, who was ardent in spirit according to the apostolic law. Meanwhile, the prefect of the East 208 arrived in Apamea and brought with him two thousand commanders and their subordinates. While, fearing the soldiers, the people remained in peace, the prefect tried to destroy the church of Jupiter, the greatest building decorated with various decorations, but, seeing the strength and solidity of the building, he realized that it was impossible for people to break the connection of the stones, for they were enormous in size and tightly fitted to one another, and even bound with iron and lead. Noticing the prefect's hesitation, the divine Marcellus sent him to other cities, and he himself began to pray to God to send aid for destruction. And then the next morning someone came to him of his own accord - neither a builder, nor a stonecutter, nor an expert in any other art, but simply a man accustomed to carrying stones and trees on his shoulders. Coming to Marcellus, he promised to easily destroy the church and only asked for payment to two workers. When the blessed bishop promised to give it, that man came up with the following: the church, located at a height, was surrounded on four sides by a portico attached to it. Its columns were huge and the same height as the church; each had a circumference of sixteen cubits, and the stones in them, by their properties retaining some special hardness, were not easily inferior to the tools of stonemasons. That man began to undermine them all around and propped them up with olive trees and, having undermined one, immediately moved on to the other. Having undermined three columns in this way, he placed a fire under the trees. But some kind of black demon prevented them from burning in the natural order and interfered with the action of the fire. When the people, having done this several times, finally saw their effort as useless, they reported it to the shepherd who was resting in the afternoon. Markell immediately ran to the holy church and, having ordered water to be brought in a vessel, placed it under the divine altar, and he himself, throwing his forehead on the floor, begged the humane Lord not to give in to the tyranny of the demon any longer, but to expose his weakness and his strength, so that from here no reason for greater harm would arise for the infidels. Having said this and similar things and placing the sign of the cross over the water, he ordered a certain Ekitius, awarded the diaconate and protected by faith and zeal, to take the water and hasten to the church, sprinkle the wood with faith and add fire. When this was done, the demon could not bear the influence of the water and ran away, and the fire, feeding on hostile water as if it were oil, engulfed the trees and in one minute devoured them. The columns, when there were no supports, fell themselves and carried away twelve others. And the wall of the church connected to them was carried away by their force and fell down. The crash that spread throughout the city was so strong that it gathered everyone to the spectacle. Meanwhile, as soon as the flight of the enemy of the devil became known, everyone’s tongue moved to sing songs to the God of all. So this blessed bishop destroyed other churches. I could tell many more very surprising things about this man, for he himself wrote to the victorious martyrs, and received answers from them, and finally was personally adorned with the crown of martyrdom; but now I refrain from telling the story, so as not to bore the readers of this story with the vastness of the story, I move on to another story. About the Alexandrian Bishop Theophilos and what happened in Alexandria during the destruction of the church. That much-glorified Athanasius was succeeded by the wondrous Peter, Peter by Timothy, and Timothy by Theophilus, a man strong in mind and courageous in spirit. It was he who freed the city of Alexandria from the delusion of idols, for he not only destroyed the idolatrous churches to the ground, but also revealed to the seduced the tricks of the deceiving priests. Making statues of copper and wood that were empty inside and attaching their backs to the walls, they made secret passages in the walls. Then, penetrating through inaccessible places and hiding inside the statues, they ordered through them whatever they wanted, and those who listened, falling into deception, carried out the orders. The wisest bishop, during the destruction of the churches, revealed this to the deluded people. Entering the church of Serapis, and this was, according to some, the largest and most beautiful church on the whole earth, Theophilus saw a statue of extraordinary size, which frightened the inhabitants with its size. And besides its size, there was a false rumor that if anyone approached this statue, the earth would immediately shake and everything would be completely destroyed. But, considering such stories to be the ravings of drunken old women and despising the enormity of the statue as a soulless body, Theophilus ordered one holding an ax to quickly chop down Serapis. When he hit, everyone screamed, frightened by the rumor known to everyone. But Serapis, having taken the blow, did not feel the pain, because he was made of wood, and did not even let out a voice, like a soulless body. As soon as his head was cut off, a whole herd of mice ran out from inside him: this means that the god of the Egyptians was the home of these animals. Finally, having cut his small parts, they set them on fire, and dragged his head throughout the city. The worshipers of Serapis looked on and laughed at the weakness of the one they had previously worshiped. In this way, demonic churches were destroyed throughout the earth and seas. About the Antiochian bishop Flavian and the confusion that occurred among the Westerners because of Peacock. In Antioch, the presidency after the great Meletius was given to Flavian, who with Diodorus accomplished so many feats to save his flock. And Peacock wanted to rule the church, but a host of priests opposed this, saying that whoever did not accept the advice of Meletius should not join his department after his death; on the contrary, the shepherd should be one who has become famous for his many labors and has gone into danger many times for the sake of the sheep. This produced a very long discord, on the one hand, between the Roman and Egyptian, on the other, between the eastern bishops, for the enmity did not end even with the death of Paulinus, but in relation to the great Flavian remained even after him, when the Antiochian see was already occupied by Evagrius - despite the fact that the latter received this place contrary to church law, since it was appointed by Paulinus alone, thus violating many rules that do not allow a dying person to ordain someone in his place, but they command to gather all the bishops of that diocese, and they forbid less than two bishops to perform episcopal consecration. Not wanting, however, to know anything like that, (the Western bishops) willingly accepted Evagrius into communion, and they slandered Flavian to the king. Having become bored with their frequent slander, the king summoned him to Constantinople and ordered him to go to Rome. But Flavian replied that it was now winter, and, promising to fulfill the order with the onset of spring, he returned to his fatherland. When the Roman bishops, not only the wondrous Damasus, but also after him Siricius, and Siricius’ successor Anastasius 209, strongly affected the pious king, saying that he destroys his own tyrants, and leaves those who dare to be autocratic regarding Christ’s laws alone. Then the king summoned him again and forced him to go to Rome. But in this case, the wise Flavian answered with commendable boldness: “If they reproach me for my faith, Sovereign, as if it were wrong, or consider my life unworthy of the priesthood, then I am ready to submit my case to the judge of the accusers themselves and accept the verdict they pronounce. And when the dispute is about the department and primacy, I will neither sue nor fight against those who want to take it - I will give in and refuse the primacy. So, give, Sovereign, to whomever you want, the See of Antioch.” Marveling at such firmness and wisdom of Flavian, the king ordered him to return to his fatherland and shepherd the entrusted church. After a long time, having arrived again in Rome, the king again had to listen to the same reproaches from the bishops - why did he not destroy the tyranny of Flavian, but then he ordered himself to explain what kind of tyranny this was, and said that he himself was Flavian and that he would be his lawyer. When they answered that they could not sue the king, he began convincingly to persuade them to unite the churches with bonds of like-mindedness, to destroy hostility and extinguish the useless dispute, for Paulinus had long since died, and Evagrius had been installed illegally, while the eastern churches stood for the primacy of Flavian. And besides the East, Flavian is in communion and union with the entire Asian, Pontic and even Phrygian church. Even the entire Illyrian country recognizes him as the main one among the eastern bishops. Yielding to such convictions, the bishops of the West promised to destroy hostilities and accept the ambassadors who would be sent to them. Having learned of this, the divine Flavian sent several praiseworthy bishops to Rome, accompanied by some Antiochian presbyters and deacons. At the head of all was Akaki, who had his flock in the Syrian city of Beroe and was famous everywhere - on land and at sea. Arriving with others in Rome, he put an end to the seventeen-year long feud and established peace in the churches. Having learned about this, the Egyptians also extinguished their discord and entered into agreement with Antioch. The Roman Church at that time was ruled by Anastasius' successor, Innocent, a man adorned with fortitude and prudence, and the Alexandrian Church was ruled by Theophilus, whom I mentioned before. In this way the blessed king established peace between the churches. But even before the establishment of this peace, having learned about the death of Valentinian 211 and the tyranny of Eugene, he had to march with an army to Europe. At that time, there lived in Egypt a certain John, who loved the activities of ascetics. Having received a spiritual gift, he predicted many things to those who asked about the future. The Christ-loving king sent to him and tried to find out whether he should go to war with the tyrant? On the occasion of the previous war, John predicted a victory for him without shedding blood, and now regarding the second, he predicted that the king would win after a great massacre. Having gone to war with such hope, the king destroyed many of his enemies in battle, and drove out many of the barbarians who were helping them. When the military leaders began to tell him that he had few companions, and advised him to stop the war for a while, so that with the onset of spring, having gathered an army, he could defeat the enemies in large numbers, the blessed king did not accept this suggestion. “We should not,” he said, “accuse the saving cross of such weakness, and ascribe such strength to the image of Hercules, for this army will receive the cross, and the enemy will receive that image.” Having said this with such faith and seeing that his remaining army was small in number and greatly depressed, he found a prayer house on the top of the tora, which served as a camp site, and spent the whole night in prayer to the Lord of all. But around the crow of the roosters, sleep overcame the strength of his feelings. Lying on the floor, he sees in a dream some two men, dressed in white clothes and sitting on white horses: they ordered him to take heart, drive away fear and at dawn to arm and put the army in battle order. We have been sent to be your helpers and champions, they said: one said about himself that he was the Evangelist John, and the other that he was the Apostle Philip. Having seen this vision, the king did not give up prayer, but began to offer it with even greater zeal. One warrior saw the same thing, and he told his dream to the centurion, who took him to the commander of a thousand, and the commander of a thousand to the military commander. The military commander, thinking that his report would be something new, informed the king about it. But the king said: “This vision was not for my sake, because I already believe those who promised me victory, but so that no one would think that, while planning the battle, I myself invented it. The Patron of my reign revealed this to this warrior, choosing him as a reliable witness to my story, for the common Lord showed that vision to me first. So, having driven away fear, let us follow these champions and military leaders, and let no one determine victory by the number of those fighting, but let everyone conclude about it by the strength of the leaders.” Having said the same thing to the soldiers and with such (speech) inspiring courage in everyone, the king moved from the top of the mountain. Meanwhile, the tyrant, seeing from afar the preparations of Theodosian troops for battle, armed and (his) and put him in formation. He himself, remaining on one hill, said that the king was entering the battle, seeking death for himself and wanting to get rid of this life, and ordered the commanders to bring him alive and bound. When the phalanxes stopped one against the other, it turned out that the number of enemies was very complex, and there were too few who fought on the side of the king. But how soon both of them began to throw arrows - the champions, apparently, began to fulfill their promises, for a strong wind, blowing right in the face of the enemies, turned away their arrows, spears, and darts so that no weapon brought them any benefit, neither the heavily armed one, nor the archer, nor the spear thrower harmed the king’s army. In addition, the most terrible dust rushed into the faces of the enemies and forced them to close their eyelashes and protect their eyes. Meanwhile, the king’s soldiers, not suffering the slightest harm from this storm, boldly defeated the enemies. Then the latter, seeing this and recognizing God’s help, threw down their weapons and began to beg the king for mercy. The king yielded to their pleas and granted them forgiveness, only ordering them to bring the tyrant to him as soon as possible. They ran and climbed the hill, where being (the tyrant) did not know about the incident. Seeing them out of breath and shortness of breath, testifying to the haste of their procession, he mistook them for the messengers of victory and asked: did they bring Theodosius bound with them, as they were ordered? “No, not him,” they said, “we brought you to you, but we will lead you to him, for the Ruler of all has commanded so.” Saying this, they took him off the chariot and, putting bonds on him, led him away bound. Thus, not long before, the exalted one suddenly appeared as a prisoner. The king reminded him of his crimes in relation to Valentinian, of his lawless tyranny, of wars against legitimate authority, he also laughed at the image of Hercules and at the vanity, in hopes of him, insolence, and then pronounced a fair and legal sentence of execution. Such was this king: both in the midst of peace and during war, he always asked for help from God and always received it. After this victory, the king fell ill and divided his kingdom between his sons: he gave the eldest his own region, and the younger the scepter of Europe, and urged both to maintain perfect piety, “for through piety,” he said, “peace is maintained, and war is stopped, and enemies are put to flight, and trophies are erected, and victory is acquired.” Having given such instructions to his children, he died and left behind an ever-memorable glory. 213 About King Honorius and the monk Telemachus. The successors of his kingdom were also the heirs of his piety, for Honorius, who reigned over Europe, abolished the fights that had long been carried out in Rome and did this for the following reason. There was then a certain Telemachus, who loved the ascetic life. Having retired from the east and, with a certain purpose, arriving in Rome precisely at the time when that hated spectacle was taking place, he himself entered the field and, going down, attempted to stop the fighters who were using weapons against each other. But the spectators of the bloodshed were irritated by this and, inflamed by the fury of a demon who delights in human blood, they stoned the champion of peace. Having learned this, the wondrous king Telemachus was numbered among the victorious martyrs, and the wicked spectacle was canceled. About the piety of Tsar Arcadius and the ordination of John Chrysostom. In Constantinople, after the death of the shepherd of this church Nectarius, Arcadius, having received control of the eastern kingdom and having learned that the great luminary of the universe, John was introduced into the host of Antiochian presbyters, summoned him and, having gathered bishops, commanded them to bring down divine grace on him and proclaim him bishop of that great city 214. And this is already enough to show the king’s zeal for divine affairs. At that time, Antioch was ruled by Saint Flavian, and Laodicea by Elpidius, 215 who lived with the great Meletius and imprinted his way of life even more than wax imprints the image of a ring. He was the successor of the great Pelagius, and the blessed Marcellus was followed by the all-praised Agapit, who even in the turbulent times of heresy was distinguished, as has already been said, by his experiences in asceticism. Meanwhile, in Seleucia, which is near Taurus, a former fellow student of John, Maximus, was bishop, and Theodore, in Mopsuete, both gained fame as teachers. The then primate of Beroe, the divine Acacius, also shone with reason and life, and the shepherd of the Galatian people, Leontius, was illuminated with many types of virtue. About the boldness of this bishop according to God. Having accepted the helm of the church, the great John boldly exposed the untruths committed by some, boldly instilled useful things in the king and queen, and disposed the priests established by the law to obedience, and whoever dared to violate them, forbade them to enter the altar, saying that it was not proper for him to enjoy the honor of a priest who was not zealous for the truly priestly life. And he had such care not only for his city, but also for the whole of Thrace, which was divided into six dioceses, even for the whole of Asia, ruled by eleven leaders, and he adorned the entire Pontic region with the same laws, although there were as many dioceses in it as in Asia 216. About the idolatrous churches he destroyed in Phenicia. Having learned that there were still madmen in Phenicia serving demons, he gathered ascetics who were flaming with divine jealousy and, empowering them by imperial decrees, sent them to destroy the idolatrous churches. And he took and lavished the money for the expenses of the artisans and demolition workers not from the imperial treasury, but from women who were abundant in wealth and shining with faith, convincing them of this generosity and proving that blessings were acquired with these donations. Thus, he destroyed the remaining idolatrous churches to the ground 217. Seeing that the Scythian people were also entangled in the net of Arianism, John used cunning against cunning and himself devised a means to catch the prey. Having appointed elders, deacons and readers of the Holy Scriptures of his kindred, he gave them one church 218 and through them he caught many who were lost, for he himself very often went there to talk, using an interpreter who understood both languages, and encouraged those who knew how to speak Gothic to do the same. While doing all this inside the city, he caught many who were deceived and showed them the truth of the apostolic preaching. His care for the Scythians and jealousy against the Marcionites. Having learned that some hungry Scythians, who were then camped near Istra, thirsted for salvation, but had no one to bring them water, John found men with zeal for the apostolic labors and sent them to the Scythians. I also read the message he wrote to the Ancyra bishop Leontius, in which he informs him about the conversion of the Scythians and asks him to send people capable of leading them. Having also learned that Marcion’s illness had arisen in some villages of our country, he wrote to our then shepherd and, urging him to expel the disease, authorized him to do so by royal decree. And from this it is already sufficiently clear what kind of concern, according to the divine Apostle, he carried in his soul for the churches 220. About the demand of Gaina and the resistance of John Chrysostom. You can learn about his boldness from other cases. A certain Gaina, a Scythian by origin, and a barbarian by heart, with tyrannical intentions, was at that time a military leader and, having his fellow tribesmen under his authority, also led the cavalry and infantry of the Romans. He was feared not only by everyone else, but also by the king himself, who noticed in him a desire for tyranny. Having become infected with Arianism, he reported to the king about the cession of one of God’s churches to him. The king promised to consider and satisfy his desire. Calling the divine John to himself, he announced to him Gaina’s request, reminded him of his strength, hinted at the tyranny he was planning and convinced the bishop to curb the barbarian’s pride with a concession. But this noble man said: “Do not make such a promise, Sovereign, do not order the holy things to be given to dogs (Matthew 7.6). I will not allow those who profess and glorify God the Word to be taken out of the divine church and handed it over to the blasphemers of Christ. Do not be afraid of this barbarian, Sovereign, but, having called both of us - me and him, calmly listen to what will be said. I will curb his tongue and make him not demand what should not be given.” After hearing this, the king rejoiced and the next day he summoned them both. Gaina sought what was promised. But the great John objected that the king, who had chosen piety, should not offend the shrine. When he said that he, too, needed to have a house of prayer, the great John replied: “Every divine church is open to you, and if you want to pray, no one stops you.” “But I,” Gaina objected, “belong to another society and with my accomplices I demand one church of God, I demand it very fairly, because I performed many military feats for the Romans.” “And the rewards you have received,” said John, “are even greater than your labors, for you are both a military leader and awarded the consular vestment. You should look at what you were before and what you are now, what poverty there was before and what abundance now, what clothes you wore before you crossed the Ister, and what you wear now. So consider how small your labors are and how great your honors are, and do not be ungrateful to those who have honored you.” With such speeches, the universal teacher tied Gaina’s lips and forced him to remain silent. After some time, this barbarian discovered the long-planned indignation and, gathering an army in Thrace, carried out a lot of robberies and devastation. Having learned about this, everyone lost heart - both superiors and subordinates, so that no one wanted to go to war against him, or fearlessly go to him as an envoy: for everyone guessed the barbarian’s intentions. About Chrysostom's embassy to him. Then, leaving all the timid, they began to convince this great warrior to take over the embassy - and John, not paying attention to either the former opposition or the enmity that arose from it, willingly went to Thrace. Gaina, having learned about the messenger and remembering his boldness in defense of piety, diligently met him from afar, put his hand to his eyes, and bent his children to his sacred knees. This is how virtue usually instills respect and fear in people who are hostile 221. About what happened regarding him. However, envy could not bear the brilliance of his wisdom, but, using its characteristic means, deprived the reigning city, or, better, the entire universe, of his words and thoughts. Having reached this part of the story, I myself don’t know what I feel, for, intending to talk about the insult caused to John, I am ashamed of the other valor of the offenders and therefore I will try to hide their names 222. Driven by various hostile motives, these people did not want to look at the lightning-fast virtue of their husband. They found some pathetic accusers and, seeing their slander obvious, held a meeting far from the city and pronounced a verdict 223. And the king, believing them as priests, ordered John to leave the city. Therefore, John did not hear the accusations, and without uttering an excuse, since he would have really been convicted of what he was accused of, he was forced to leave the city and moved to Hieron, which lay at the mouth of the Pontus. That's what this port town is called. But that night there was a great earthquake, and the queen, stricken with fear, sent envoys to the exile just before dawn, asking him to return to the capital as soon as possible and save the city from danger. Then others were sent after these ambassadors, and after these others again, so that the ambassadors were scattered throughout the Bosporus. When the Orthodox people learned about this, they completely covered the mouth of the Propontis with ships, for everyone came out to meet the bishop with lit wax lamps. So, this time the crowd of John’s enemies scattered. But after a few months, they gathered again and again pronounced condemnation - not on the basis of those previous false denunciations, but for his participation in the liturgy after the overthrow. John responded to this that he was not judged, and did not hear accusations, and did not bring justification, and was not personally condemned, but that the king expelled him and the king returned him again. Thus, having convened a second council, the enemies did not find the need for a trial, but, having convinced the king that the decision over John was legal and righteous, they not only expelled him from that city, but also exiled him to one small and deserted town in Armenia, whose name is Kukuz 224, and from there they wanted to transfer him to Pitiunt, to the borders of Pontus and the Roman Empire, to the border with the most savage barbarians. But the humane Lord did not allow the victorious ascetic to move into that crowd, for, upon his arrival in Comana, he resettled him into an ageless and carefree life. His body, which had labored well, was laid near the tomb of the martyr Basilisk, in accordance with the command that this martyr himself gave through a dream 225. And how many bishops were expelled from the church for John’s sake and deported to the very end of the empire, how many people who loved ascetic wisdom were subjected to the same disaster - I consider it unnecessary to talk about this and drag out the essay with tales. Moreover, sad events, in my opinion, need to be described briefly and cover up the errors of fellow believers. Of those who acted unjustly, many suffered punishment and, considering the reasons for their suffering, brought benefit to others. The European bishops were especially indignant at the injustice regarding John, so much so that they even separated from communication with the perpetrators of it. All the Illyrian bishops also joined the same side; Very many of the cities lying towards the rising of the sun avoided communication with untruth, although they did not separate the bodies of the church. After the death of the great ecumenical teacher, the Western bishops did not come into communion with the bishops of Egypt, the East, Bosporus and Thrace until they added the name of this godly man to the names of the other deceased bishops. Arzakiy, who was after him, was not honored with commemoration, but was only accepted by Arzakiyev’s successor, Atticus, who was often an ambassador and often brought peace, and then they accepted him a little later, when he wrote the name of Chrysostom in the diptych 226. About Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria and Alexander, Bishop of Antioch At this time, the bishop of Alexandria was Cyril, Theophilus’s own nephew, who received his uncle’s see. And the cathedra of the Jerusalem church was occupied by John, a wondrous man who succeeded Cyril, whom I mentioned before 227. Alexander 228 shepherded the Church of Antioch and shared the same way of life with the champion of his bishopric, for before becoming a bishop he spent time in the field of asceticism and, having practiced this for a very long time, became a courageous champion, because, teaching in word, he confirmed his instructions with life. He was the successor of Porphyry 229, who, having taken over this helm after Flavian, left many monuments of philanthropy, and was also famous for his strength of spirit. The divine Alexander was rich in exploits, philosophy and non-covetousness of life, fluidity of speech and other countless gifts. He and the party of the great Eustathius, which was not allowed to communicate first by Peacock, then by Evagrius, with his conviction and exhortation joined the rest of the body of the church and organized such a holiday, the like of which no one had ever seen, for, having called all the same believers, both clergy and others, he came to their meeting and, taking the singers, arranged one consonant hymn and through this, from the enemies facing the west, to the greatest church he filled the entire square by the people, as if by a verbal river, in the likeness of the river flowing around the city. Looking at this, both the Jews and the people infected with Arianism, and the small remnant of the pagans, groaned and mourned, for they saw that other streams were pouring into the sea of ​​the church. He was the first to include the name of John in church diptychs. About the subsequent repentance of those who were hostile against Bishop John, and about the transfer of his remains. Subsequently, however, the very remains of the great teacher were transferred to the reigning city. And the Orthodox people, through ships, making their sea like dry land, covered the mouth of the Bosporus near the Propontis with lamps. This treasure was delivered to that city by the current king, who bears the name of his grandfather and preserves his piety intact 230. Bowing his eyes and forehead to the saint’s coffin, he offered a prayer for his parents and asked them to forgive the offense caused out of ignorance, for his parents had long since died, leaving him an orphan at a very young age. But the God of the fathers and forefathers did not allow him to experience orphanhood, for he arranged it so that he received a pious upbringing, kept the kingdom serene and curbed the plans of tyranny. Remembering all these good deeds, he honors the Benefactor with hymns and congregations in the doxology of the sisters 231, who, striving in the virgin life, find the highest pleasure in engaging in the word of God, and consider it an indestructible treasure to give to the poor. The king himself, in addition, was adorned with many other qualities, and especially with love of mankind and meekness, a peace of soul alien to worries, and an impeccable and tested faith. And I will present clear evidence of this belief. About the faith of Theodosius the Younger and his sisters. One man, who led an ascetic life, but in his soul harbored rather daring feelings, came to the king with some kind of request. When, having done this several times, he did not receive what he asked, he excommunicated the king from church communion and, tying him with these bonds, left. After this, the noble king, having arrived at the palace, while time was already calling for the table and the persons who had to share his meal had gathered, said that he would not taste food until he was allowed from the prohibition. Therefore, he sent one of the people closest to him to the bishop and asked him to order the one who tied him to release himself. The bishop replied that one should not accept a prohibition from anyone, and announced that he himself allowed it; however, the king did not accept permission until the one who tied him was found with great difficulty and returned to him communication. This is how Theodosius believed in divine laws! Therefore, he ordered that the very remains of the idolatrous churches be excavated to the ground, so that our descendants would not see even traces of the previous error. He introduced this very thought into the decree on this subject, and from such good seeds he constantly reaps the fruits, for he has a patron in the Lord of all. So, when the leader of the nomadic Scythians, Roilus 232, with a large army crossed the Istra, devastated and plundered Thrace with the threat that he would besiege the royal city and, at the first attack, take it and destroy it, God threw thunder and lightning from the sky and with them destroyed both himself and his entire army. The Lord did something similar during the Persian War. For when the Persians, having learned the predicament of the Romans, violated the peace treaty and began to fight the border cities, while those under attack did not receive help from anywhere, because, hoping for peace, the king and generals and army sent to other wars - then the Lord sent down an all-enveloping rain and the greatest hail and, thereby preventing the horses from running, so that in twenty days they could not travel twenty stages, stopped the further march of the enemies. Meanwhile, the military leaders arrived there and the army gathered. And in the previous war, the same enemies, besieging the city named after the king 233, by the grace of God, turned out to be worthy of laughter, for Gororan 234, while he besieged the above-mentioned city for more than thirty days, moving towards it many siege engines, using countless tricks, and, having erected high loopholes from the outside, one divine bishop named Eunomius opposed and destroyed the force all the tricks used against the city. While our military leaders avoided fighting the enemies and did not dare to give aid to the besieged, he saved the city from destruction by his opposition. Hearing that one of the barbarian princes subject to the Persians dared to commit ordinary blasphemies, boasted about Rapsaces and Sennacherib and furiously threatened to burn down the church of God, this divine man could not bear such fury and, having ordered a stone-throwing machine named after the Apostle Thomas to be placed on the wall battlement, he ordered a large stone placed in it to be launched in the name of the one who endured the blasphemy. The stone immediately fell at the said wicked prince and, touching his nasty lips, disfigured his face, crushed his entire head and scattered his brain on the ground. Seeing this, he who controlled the enemy army and hoped to take the city, hastily retreated and in fact admitted his defeat, and then, fearful, accepted peace. Thus, the Supreme King of all patronizes the blessed king, for he too confesses his slavery and brings appropriate service to the Lord. He also returned the remains of this great universal lamp to the city that ardently desired it. But this happened after 235. About the Antiochian Bishop Theodosius. That excellent bishop of Rome, Innocent, was succeeded by Bonifatius, Bonifatius by Zosima, and Zosima by Celestine 236. In Jerusalem, after the wondrous John, the care of the church was entrusted to Prailius, a man truly worthy of his name. And in Antioch, after the divine Alexander, Theodotus, a pearl of humility, a man distinguished by meekness and adorned with the severity of life, received the leadership of the church. He joined the other sheep with the sect of Apollinaris, who asked him for communion with the flock of Christ. However, many of the Apollinarians continued to bear signs of the previous infection 237. About the persecution in Persia and the martyrs there. At this time, the Persian king Isdigerd 238 raised a battle against the churches, and the reason for this was the following circumstance. There was a certain bishop of Avda 239, adorned with many types of virtue. Carried away by unreasonable jealousy, he destroyed Piraeus: and the Persians call fire churches Piraeus; fire in Persia is revered by God. Having learned about this from the magicians, the king sent for Avda and, for the first time, meekly reproaching him for this act, ordered only to build a pyreus. But when Avda began to contradict and said that he would not fulfill this command in any way, he threatened to destroy all the churches and then justified his threat by deed, for, having first ordered that divine man to be killed, he ordered the destruction of the churches. In my opinion, the destruction of Piraeus was done at the wrong time, because the Divine Apostle, having come to Athens and seeing the city filled with idols, did not destroy any of the churches revered there, but denounced ignorance and revealed the truth with words. And that the one who destroyed did not build the church, but decided to accept death rather than do this - I am very surprised at this, as an act worthy of crowns, for to erect a church, it seems to me, is the same as worshiping fire. So it was from here that the storm arose and raised furious and ferocious waves against the children of piety. This excitement, excited by the magicians, as if by some whirlwinds, did not subside even after thirty years. And the Persians call those who worship the elements 240 magicians. We revealed their mythology in another essay, where we proposed a solution to their questions. After the death of Isdigerd, his son Gororan, along with the kingdom, inherited from his father and his war against piety, and when he himself died, he also left the latter with the first to his son again 241 . The kinds of intrigues and inventions of torment to which the pious were subjected are not easy to recount. The torturers tore off the skin from some of the hands, from others from the ridges, from others they stripped the skin from the head, starting from the forehead to the chin, and some were covered with reeds cut in the middle and the cuts were fitted to the body, and then, having made strong bonds from head to toe, they forcibly removed each reed so that, tearing it apart a nearby area of ​​the skin, inflicting cruel suffering. They also dug holes and, having carefully coated them, imprisoned herds of rats in them; they brought devotees of piety with their hands and feet tied for food, so that they could not drive these animals away from them. Tormented by hunger, the rats little by little devoured the flesh of the saints and thereby caused them prolonged and unbearable suffering. At the suggestion of the destroyer of nature and the enemy of truth, they also invented other even more cruel torments, but did not shake the courage of the ascetics, for they flocked at will, wanting to receive death, which would bring them closer to incorruptible life. I will now mention two or three in order to show the courage of the others through them. There was a certain Ormizd, a very famous man among the Persians, who came from the Achaemenid family and was born on behalf of the government. When the king found out that he was a Christian, he called him and ordered him to renounce God the Savior. But the latter said that “the king’s order is unjust and indecent, for whoever learns to easily despise God of all and renounce Him, it will be even easier for him to neglect the will of the king, since the king is a man and inherited mortal nature. If anyone who renounces your power, Sovereign, is worthy of extreme punishment, then what kind of executions does he not deserve who renounces the Creator of all things?” The king, who must have marveled at the wisdom of these words, deprived the valiant ascetic of both wealth and honors, and ordered him, naked and only girded, to lead the camels available to the army. After many days, looking out of the room, he saw this excellent man burned by the rays of the sun and covered with dust, and, remembering the fame of his father, he called him and ordered him to put on a small tunic made of linen. Then, thinking that the labor he had endured and the love shown to him had softened his thoughts, he said: “At least now finally give up your stubbornness and renounce the Carpenter’s Son.” But he, filled with Divine jealousy, tore his tunic and threw it away, adding: “If by this you think to turn me away from piety, then take your gift and keep it along with your wickedness.” Seeing his firmness, the king expelled him naked from the kingdom. And when he began to contradict him and did not agree to renounce the Creator Sunka, the master of a thousand slaves, he asked: “Which of his slaves is the worst,” and to him he transferred dominance over the others, so that the master himself had to serve him. Yes, he also gave the mistress, the master’s wife, to the same slave, on the assumption that she would persuade the champion of the truth. However, his hope was deceived, for his house was founded on a stone 242. The king also took one deacon, Benjamin, and put him in prison. Two years after this, a Roman ambassador arrived in Persia on other business and, having learned about the deacon, asked the king to release him. The king ordered Benjamin to make a promise that he would not offer Christian teachings to any of the magicians, and the ambassador himself advised him to carry out the order. But Benjamin listened to the ambassador’s conviction and said: “It is impossible for me not to convey the light I have received, for the history of the sacred gospels shows what kind of punishment hiding talent is worthy of.”243 However, the king at that time did not know any of this and ordered him to be released from his bonds, and he, following his custom, continued to catch those possessed by the darkness of ignorance and lead them to mental light. A year later, his affairs were brought to the attention of the king, and the king, calling him, ordered him to renounce the One whom he worshiped. And he asked the king: “What does a person deserve who leaves his kingdom and prefers another?” When he said: “Death and the greatest execution,” this wise man continued: “And what should not a person deservedly suffer when he leaves the Creator and Creator, and idolizes one of his fellow servants, and erects honor due to Him?” Irritated by such words, the king sharpened twenty reeds and stuck them behind Benjamin’s hand and foot nails. When he saw that he was taking this execution for a joke, then, sharpening the reed further, he stuck it into the childbearing oud and, constantly taking it out and sticking it in again, caused untold torment. After such an execution, the wicked and brutal torturer ordered a thick stick, knotted on all sides, to be driven into the anus, from which this valiant ascetic gave up the ghost. There are countless similar tortures committed by the wicked. And it should not be surprising that the Lord of all endured such brutality and wickedness: after all, even before the reign of Constantine the Great, no matter how many Roman kings there were, they all raged against the followers of the truth. Diocletian, on the day of the Savior's suffering, destroyed churches in the entire Roman Empire 244. But after nine years they flourished again and received many-sided greatness and beauty; and the persecutor died out along with his wickedness. These battles and the invincibility of the church were predicted by the Lord himself. And circumstances teach us that warfare brings us more benefit than peace, for the latter makes us careless, relaxed and timid, while the former refines our thoughts and helps us despise the present as if it were momentary. However, this was often discussed in other works. About the Mopsuetian Bishop Theodore. While the divine Theodotus ruled the Antiochian church, the teacher of the entire church, the Mopsuetian bishop Theodore, who fought victoriously against the entire heretical phalanx, reached the end of his life. He enjoyed the teaching of the former Diodorus and was a companion and collaborator of the divine John, for they together drew from the spiritual sources of Diodorus. Theodore spent thirty-six years at his see and during all this time he fought with the hordes of Arius and Eunomius, defeated the bandit gang of Apollinaris and provided the holy sheep with excellent pasture. And his brother Polychronius also wonderfully shepherded the Apamean church, being rich both in the gift of speech and the brilliance of life 245. Concluding my essay with this, I beg future readers to reward my work with prayers. My story spans one hundred and five years of time, beginning with the madness of Arius and ending with the death of the praiseworthy men Theodore and Theodotus 246. In conclusion, I will list in order the bishops who ruled the great cities after the persecution. List of bishops who ruled great cities “Bishops of Rome”: Miltiades, Sylvester, Julius, Liberius, Damasus, Siricius, Anastasius, Innocent, Bonifatius, Zosima, Celestine. “Antiochian”: Vitaly, Philogonius, Eustathius - these are Orthodox. Then the Arians: Eulalius, Euphronius, Placitus, Stefan, Leontius, Eudoxius. After them again the Orthodox: Melentius, Flavian, Porphyry, Alexander, Theodotus, to whom we must add the Eustathians - Paulinus and Evagrius. “Alexandrian”: Peter, Achilles, Alexander, Athanasius, Gregory the Arian, then again Athanasius, George the heretics, then again Athanasius, Peter - a student of Athanasius, then Lucius the Arian, then again Peter, Timothy, Theophilus and Theophilus’ nephew Cyril. “Jerusalem”: Macarius, Maximus, Cyril, John, Prailius, Juvenaly. “Constantinople”: Alexander, Eusebius the Arian, displaced from Nicomedia, after him Paul the confessor, Macedonian the Doukhobor, after whose expulsion the wicked Eudoxius ruled the church, Demophilus from Beroe of Thracia - the heretic, Gregory of Nazianza, Nektarios, John Chrysostom, Arzakios, Atik and Sisinius. Gratian was proclaimed Augustus by Valentinian in 367. Became emperor on November 17, 375. Valens received the “inheritance” on August 9, 378. John served as prefect of Constantinople in 381. For these people, see “The History of the God-Lovers” by Theodoret. In the Orthodox Church, the memory of Eusebius is celebrated on June 22, and in the Catholic Church a day earlier. Second Ecumenical Council in May 381 Gregory arrived in Constantinople in 379. At this time there was only one church in the city for supporters of the Nicene faith, the rest belonged to the Arians, since the bishop of Constantinople was Demophilus, an Arian, former bishop of Beroe in Thracia. Maxim Kinik was forced to flee to Thessalonica. Theodoret is mistaken: it was a year later, in the summer of 382. This message was not only directed against heresies. The Eastern bishops simultaneously called (without saying it directly) and the Bishop of Rome to preserve a single universal church, in which there would not be any one bishop leading all the churches of the world (since the Bishop of Rome also sought to unite the entire church, but under his leadership). Photinus, a student of Marcellus of Ancyra, was condemned at the Council of Sirmium in 349. For his heresy, see: Sulpitz. North II.52. Wed. In. 3.13: “No one ascended into heaven except the Son of Man, who is in heaven, who came down from heaven.” Wed. Phil 2.7: “But he made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant...” Wed. Col 1.18: “He is the firstfruits, the firstborn from the dead...” Gratian was killed in Lyon on August 25, 383, where he fled after being defeated in the battle of Paris with the rebel legions. Valentinian II, son of Valentinian I and Justina, was born in 371. Maximus, a Spaniard by birth, reigned from 383 to 388. Justina's first clash with Ambrose, bishop of Mediolan, dates back to 381. Later, on Easter 385, she again began her attacks on him, demanding that the Arians be given one church for worship. All these events are described by Ambrose in letters to Valentinian and his sister Marcellina (Epistola, 20, 21). Valentinian and his mother fled to Thessalonica. Theodosius and his troops defeated Maximus in two battles in the Sava Valley, entered Emona and from there headed to Aquileia, behind whose walls the usurper was hiding. Theodosius' soldiers took the city quickly enough, because the residents themselves opened the gates for them. After a short trial, Maxim was executed. Arcadius was proclaimed Augustus at the beginning of 383. Theodosius issued an edict against heretics in September of the same year. Theodoret talks about the events of 390, when the military leader Boterich, a Goth by birth, imprisoned several famous charioteers. At the next races, a crowd of local residents demanded their release, and when Boterich refused, they killed him and several other members of the magistrate. Elia Flakkila Augusta, empress and saint (for Greek historians - Plakilla, for Philostorgius - Placidia). She died on September 14, 385 in Skotumis, Thrace. Theodorite again violates the sequence of events: after those described in Chapter 17. speeches in Thessalonica in 390, he tells of Flacchilus (d. 385) and the riots in Antioch of 387. The crowd also dragged the statue of Theodosius through the streets. Laodicea, located on the Syrian coast, was named after the mother of Seleucus Nicator. Nowadays it is Latakia. Again an anchronism: Theodoret refers to a law given by the emperor at the request of Ambrose three years after the events described. It was probably Sinegai, prefect of the East. Siricius, bishop Roman (384–399). Continuer of the Damasian policy. During his reign, the wording “apostolic capital” (i.e. Rome) first appears in documents. Anastasius I, bishop Roman (399–401). He became famous for his piety and his opposition to Origenism. Innocent I, bishop Roman in 401–417 In his letters he pursued the idea of ​​centralizing church power in the hands of the Roman bishop, both in the sphere of administration and in the sphere of Christian cult. Valentinian II died on May 15, 392. His equerry, Frank Arbogast, appointed him to succeed the pagan Eugenius. Theodosius did not act against his brother's murderers until July 394. The battle took place halfway between Emona and Aquileia. Theodosius was helped by 20,000 federates, but his troops suffered huge losses - on the first day almost half of his federates remained on the battlefield. Theodosius died on January 17, 395 in Milan. At that time, Arkady was 18 years old, Honorius was 11. Honorius’s residence was first in Milan, and when the Goths, led by Alaric, advanced in that direction, he moved to Ravenna. Nektarios died in September 397, and John Chrysostom became the capital's bishop on February 26, 398. See: Soz. USH. 2; Abbr. U1. 2. Elpidius was a friend and lawyer of John Chrysostom. In 406 he was removed from his post and sent to prison for three years. Restored to his post in 414. The powers and activities of John Chrysostom in this chapter are somewhat distorted and exaggerated. The fact is that before the Council of Chalcedon in 451, the Church of Constantinople was subordinate to the Bishop of Heraclea of ​​Thracia, who was the metropolitan of the Thracian church diocese. Despite his “metropolitan” position, John Chrysostom did not establish rules in the Thracian churches, but recommended observing the decisions of the I and II Ecumenical Councils there, and also gave numerous sermons, including to the Goths in the province of M. Scythia. See below. The imperial edict for the destruction of the churches in Phenicia was issued in 399. Wed. 2 Cor 11.28: “I have a daily gathering of people, caring for all the churches.” It is unclear where the meeting between John Chrysostom and Gaina took place. As a result, the Goths were driven away from Constantinople, and Gaina was killed in January 401. Theodoret implies the following enemies of John Chrysostom: a) Empress Eudoxia, b) court ladies and wives of the rich men of Constantinople, c) some bishops, for example, Acacius of Beroe, Theophilus of Alexandria, Gerontius of Nicomedia. This meeting took place on the outskirts of Chalcedon. John was accused, in particular, of calling the empress Jezebel. The edict on the expulsion of John Chrysostom to Kukuz was signed on June 5, 404. He returned back at the beginning of 406. And although Eudoxia had already died (October 4, 404), her supporters achieved the second sending of John into exile, to Pitiunt, but he could not bear all the hardships of the journey and died on September 14, 407, 8 km from Koman (Pontus). Bishop Basiliscus was martyred in 312. Atticus served as bishop of Constantinople from 405 to 426. Cyril was Bishop of Alexandria from 412 to 444. As for the Bishop of Jerusalem, this refers to John, who held this post from 386 to 417. He became famous for his harsh criticism of Blessed Jerome. Since Alexander headed the See of Antioch from 413 to 421, the phrase “at this time” means at least 413. Palladium in the “Dialogues” (143 et al.) gives the exact opposite characterization of Porphyry, noting his unbridledness, etc. Theodosius II ascended the throne on May 1, 408, when he was only eight years old. Died in 450. The transfer of the relics of John Chrysostom took place in 438. Theodosius II had four sisters - Flakkila, Pulcheria, Arcadia and Marina. Pulcheria, being only two years older than her brother, was declared Augusta and Empress on July 14, 414, and from then on took an active part in governing the country. On her initiative, in 446 the remains of the Sebastian martyrs were also reburied, see Soz. 1X. 2. Roil is identified with Rogas (Rugilas), who, according to Priscus of Panius, led the Hun army before Attila came to power. This refers to Theodosiopolis in Ozroen, now Erzurum. Gororan (more correctly Vararan), son of Isdigerd I, reigned from 420 to 440. We are talking about the transfer of the remains of John Chrysostom in 438. Innocent I, bishop Roman (401–417); Zosima, bishop Roman (417–418), Greek by nationality. In the twelfth (out of 18 surviving) letters he spoke about the immutability of papal decisions. Boniface I was Bishop of Rome after Zosimus (418–422), and not before him, as Theodoret writes. For four months after his death, the episcopal throne was occupied by Eulalia, the antipope. Celestine, bishop Roman from 422 to 432. Under him, the Christianization of Ireland began. The sect continued to exist for a long time after the condemnation of Apollinaris in 381 in Constantinople. Isdigerd 1 (399–420), son of Shapur III. Abda was the bishop of Susa. Not a completely accurate translation: it would be better to translate “worshippers of the elements” or replace “elements” with the moon and the sun, since fire was already discussed. That is, Isdigerd II, who ruled from 440 to 457. Wed. Matthew 7.24: “I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock.” This edict of Diocletian was issued on February 23, 303. Theodore was born in Antioch in 350, became a bishop in 392, and died in 428 in Cilicia. Theodotus died in 429. It is this date that can indicate the time limit of Theodoret’s narrative, although the most recent event dates back to 440 (the accession of Isdigerd II). Probably, these fragments were inserted by the author after the end of the main text of the History. You might be interested in: