Conversations about the Saints Maccabees

“Conversations about the Saints Maccabees” (3 conversations) delivered by St. John Chrysostom, presumably in Antioch on the day of remembrance of saints, August 1-2. 386-388 The saint calls on Christian women to imitate the example of the mother of the holy youths of Maccabees and instruct their children in good rules. He also condemns the cowardice of some men who lack courage and perseverance in times of trial and persecution. The youngest of the brothers St. John compares with Isaac. The latter “being bound and laid down by his father, did not jump off the altar and did not run away, seeing the knife raised on him,” and the first “was not bound, did not even need bonds and did not wait for the hands of the executioners, but for himself he was both a victim, a priest, and an altar.” At the end of the conversations, the saint praises the firmness of faith and the greatness of the soul of the mother, who “brought seven young sons to the Lord - and was not embarrassed by sacrificing her womb; and many of us sometimes regret bringing a few small coins.” *The title of the work in Greek is Εἰς τοῦς ἁϒίους Μακκαβαῖους. *The title of the work in Latin is De Macabeis, hom. 1-3. The first conversation about the Saints Maccabees and their mother The relics of saints frighten demons. – Grace gives courage to martyrs. – The power of the soul of the mother of the Maccabees. – Christian mothers should imitate her example and instruct their children in good rules. “The steadfastness of this holy woman gives no excuse to those old or young men who lack courage in the face of the trials of persecution. 1. How brilliant and joyful our city is! Today is the brightest day of the entire year, not because the sun today cast brighter rays on the earth than usual, but because the light of the holy martyrs illuminated our city more brilliantly than any lightning. Truly, they are brighter than a thousand suns and more brilliant than the great luminaries; from them the earth today is more magnificent than the sky. Do not talk to me about dust, do not imagine ashes and their bones that have decayed over time, but open the eyes of faith and look at the power of God inherent in them, at the grace of the Spirit that has clothed them, at the glory of heavenly light surrounding them. It is not such rays that fall to the earth from the circle of the sun as the radiance and brilliance that emanates from these bodies, blinding even the eyes of the devil. Just as the leaders of the robbers and tomb robbers, seeing the royal weapon lying somewhere: armor, shield and helmet, all shining with gold, immediately jump away, and do not dare to approach or touch them, bearing in mind the great danger if they dare to do something like that - so the demons, these true leaders of the robbers, where they see the bodies of the martyrs lying, immediately jump away and take flight. They look not at their mortal nature, but at the ineffable greatness of Christ who worked in them. Truly, it was not an Angel, not an Archangel, or any other created force who put on these weapons, but the Lord of the Angels himself. And just as Paul exclaimed: “Are you seeking proof that Christ speaks in me” (2 Cor. 13:3), so they too can exclaim and say: Or are you seeking proof that Christ labored in us? These bodies are precious because they received stripes for their Lord, because they bear stripes for Christ. And just as a royal crown, decorated on all sides with various stones, produces a varied shine, so the bodies of the holy martyrs, strewn with wounds for Christ, as if with expensive stones, are more precious and more magnificent than any royal diadem. The worldly organizers of battles, having appointed a fight, consider it to be the greatest glory when they bring young and strong fighters into the field and into exploits, who, before distinguishing themselves in battle, would arouse amazement in the spectators by the improvement of their members; but this is not the case here, but quite the opposite. Christ, having discovered a battle not like those, but terrible and terrible, because here is not a battle between people and people, but a struggle between people and demons, - having opened such a struggle to us, he brought to exploits not young and strong fighters, but young boys and with them the elder Eleazar, and in addition an elderly wife, the mother of these youths. What does this mean, Lord? Do you bring such an incapable age into the field of warfare? Who has ever heard of a woman so old ever going out to fight? Nobody heard this; but I, He says, will justify this wondrous, new and never-heard-of event by my very deeds; I am not such a manager of battles as to leave everything to the strength of the warriors, but I myself am with My ascetics, helping them and giving them a hand, and most of their actions come from My help. So, when you see that a decrepit, elderly woman, in need of a staff, comes out to fight, overthrows the fury of the tyrant, surpasses ethereal forces, easily defeats the devil, and with great power crushes his fortress, then marvel at the grace of the Master of the struggle, be amazed at the power of Christ. These warriors are not strong in body, but strong in faith; their nature is weak, but the grace that anoints them is powerful; Their bodies were weakened by old age, but their minds were strengthened by the love of piety. This is not a sensual struggle; Therefore, look at these ascetics not by their appearance, but penetrate with your thoughts into the well-being of their souls, know the strength of their faith, in order to be convinced that the one who fights with demons does not need either a strong physical constitution or a flourishing age, but, even if he were very young or reached extreme old age, and had a valiant and strong soul, age does not suffer any harm in his exploits. 2. What can we say about the old man and the young man, when women also went out to these feats and received bright crowns? Neither slaves, nor women, nor old people, nor children are allowed to participate in worldly battles, which require a certain age, gender, and rank; and here the field is open with all freedom to every rank, to every age and to every sex, so that you may know the generosity and ineffable power of the Founder of this feat and see in fact the confirmation of the apostolic saying: “His power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9), because when children and elders exert supernatural power, the grace of God working in them is completely clearly visible. And so that you can be convinced that this external (bodily) weakness of the ascetics makes them even more glorious crown bearers, we now, leaving the elder and youths, will present their weakest, an elderly woman, the mother of seven children, because birth illnesses also serve as a considerable obstacle to such feats. What is most surprising about her? Is it the weakness of sex, or old age, or the irritability of (maternal) sympathy? And all of these are great obstacles to a feat that requires such patience. But I can say something else, more important than this, from which we will see both the courage of the wife and all the cunning of the devil. What is this? Look at the malice of the unclean demon: he did not bring it out first in the field, but after the children he brought it to exploits. For what? So that, having previously clouded her mind with the torment of seven children and crushed the strength of her soul, after her strength was exhausted from the spectacle of her son’s suffering, then it would be easy to defeat her, already exhausted. Do not look at the fact that they suffered torment, but note that with each of them she felt the most severe suffering and with each of them was exposed to death. What I say is well known to those women who have experienced the illnesses of childbirth and become mothers. Often a mother, seeing her child suffering from a fever, is ready to endure everything, and even transfer the flame of illness from his body to herself: this is how mothers consider the suffering of their children more unbearable than their own misfortunes. If this is true, as it really is true, then this mother was tormented by the suffering of her children more than the children themselves, and the mother suffered more martyrdom than the children. In fact, if the mere rumor of the illness of one child tears apart a mother’s womb, then what could she not endure when not just one son, but such a host of children was killed, and when she did not learn about their suffering through hearing, but saw with her own eyes what happened? How did she not lose her mind, seeing how each of them was slowly killed by various and terrible torments? How was her soul not torn out of her body? How did she not throw herself on the fire at first sight in order to get rid of the spectacle of subsequent torment? Although she was a wise wife, she was also a mother; although loving of God, she is clothed in flesh; although devoted (to faith), she is involved in feminine nature; although flaming with zeal for piety, she was bound by the bonds of childbirth diseases. If we men, seeing a criminal being led through the marketplace with a rope around his lips and dragged to the place of execution, are often distressed by this one spectacle, having no reason to love him, and even having sufficient motivation to refrain from such a feeling of compassion in the atrocities of the condemned - what she had to endure, seeing not just any one criminal led to execution, but her seven sons, not all killed together on the same day. imminent death, but various tortures? Truly, if this were a woman of stone, if her insides were made of adamant, and then wouldn’t she be indignant, wouldn’t she feel something that is typical for a woman and a mother to feel? Remember how we are amazed at the forefather Abraham that, when sacrificing his son, he tied him up and laid him on the altar, and then you will well understand what the courage of this wife is. Oh, the most sad and at the same time the most pleasant sight: the most sad in the nature of what was happening; the most pleasant disposition of the one who was a spectator! She did not look at the flowing blood, but looked at the woven crowns of truth; she did not look at the sides being planed, but looked at the eternal abodes being prepared; she did not look at the executioners standing around, but looked at the Angels surrounding her (with her children); she forgot about the illnesses of birth, despised nature, did not look at age, despised nature, which acts so tyrannically, nature, which usually rules over animals. Thus, many of the animals, which are difficult to catch, are caught when, out of affection for children, they forget about their own salvation, and through neglect of themselves they fall into the hands of hunters; and there is not a single animal so weak that it does not protect its children, or so meek that it does not get irritated when its children are killed. And this wife overcame the power of nature, which extends both to rational people and dumb animals, and not only did not throw herself on the tyrant’s head and scratch his face, seeing her children being tormented, but she showed such extraordinary wisdom that she even prepared an inhuman feast for him, and while the first children were still tormented, she strengthened the others to endure the same suffering. 3. Let mothers listen to this, let them imitate the courage of this wife and her love for her children, let them raise their children this way. Not only giving birth is the mother’s business: it depends on nature, but raising is the mother’s business, because it depends on the will. And so that you may be convinced that it is not birth that makes a mother, but their good upbringing, listen to Paul, who honors a widow with a crown not for giving birth, but for raising children. Having said: “A widow should be elected no less than a sixty-year-old... known for good deeds,” he then pointed to the main thing of good deeds. Which one exactly? “If she raised children,” he says; did not say: if she gave birth to children, but: “if she raised children” (1 Tim. 5:9-10). Let us imagine what this wife must have endured - if we should call her a wife - who saw; how the fingers (of her son) trembled on the hot coals, the head fell off, an iron hand lay on the head of another son and tore off the skin from it, and meanwhile the sufferer still stood and talked. How could she open her mouth? How could you move your tongue? How did her soul not fly out of her body? How? - I'll explain it. She did not look at the earth, but prepared only for the future; She was afraid of only one thing, so that the tyrant would not show mercy and stop the fight earlier, so that the host of her children would not be dissolved, so that some of them would not remain uncrowned. And that she was afraid of this is clear from the fact that she almost took her last son with her own hands and put him on the brazier, using instead of hands verbal admonition and instruction to him. We cannot hear about other people’s misfortunes without sorrow, but she looked at her own without sorrow. Let us not just listen about this, but let each of the listeners transfer all these sad events to his own children; let him imagine their kind faces and, imagining his beloved ones before him, let him attribute these sufferings to them - then he will understand well the power of what was said; or better - and then he will not fully understand, because no word can depict his own suffering, but only experience gives an idea about it. Now, after the crowning of seven sons, it is appropriate to say the following prophetic saying about her: you are “like a green olive tree in the house of God” (Ps. 51:10). At the Olympic Games, where thousands of fighters often compete, the crown is awarded to only one; and here from seven warriors there became seven crowned ones. What kind of field can you show me so fertile, what womb so fruitful, what kind of childbirth is like this? The mother of the sons of Zebedee became the mother of the apostles, but only two, and for one womb to produce seven martyrs, I do not know; Moreover, she added herself to them, adding not only one martyr, but a much larger number. Of the seven sons, only seven became martyrs; and the body of the mother, who gave herself to them, although there was one, replaced with itself twice the seven martyrs, both because she suffered with each of them, and because she also made them like that, giving birth to us a whole church of martyrs. She gave birth to seven sons, and not one for the earth, but all for heaven, or better yet, she gave birth to all of them for the Heavenly King, into the future life. So, the devil brought her to the battle last for the reason that I said above, i.e., so that, having previously been exhausted in strength by the spectacle of torment (of her sons), she would become more easily defeated, coming out last against the enemy. If people, seeing flowing blood, often fall into exhaustion, and a lot of help is needed to return the life that leaves them and the soul that flies away from the body, then this wife, seeing such streams of blood flowing not from someone else’s, but from her son’s body, what could she not endure, what embarrassment did she not experience in her soul? So the devil, as I said above, attracted her to the exploits after the children so that she would become weaker, but the opposite happened: she went on to the exploits with even greater vigor. Why and why? Because she was no longer afraid or worried about any of the children who remained with her, lest they, somehow weakened in spirit, lose their crowns; but, as if putting them all into a safe depository - to heaven, escorting them to heavenly crowns and unchangeable blessings, she boldly went out to fight with great joy; and she herself, attaching her own body to the host of children, like the most precious stone to some crown, went to her beloved Jesus, leaving us with the greatest consolation and admonition, admonition by our deeds - to accept all disasters with a strong soul and an exalted mind. Indeed, what husband, what wife, what old man, what young man can receive an apology or be justified if he fears the dangers threatening him for Christ, after an elderly wife, the mother of so many children, who struggled before grace, when the gates of death were still closed, sin had not yet been destroyed and death had not been defeated, with such zeal and courage endured such torments for God? Thinking about all this, wives and husbands, youths and elders, having inscribed on our hearts, as if on some board, the exploits and struggles of this woman, let us preserve her patience in our souls, as a constant instruction to despise adversity, so that we, being here imitators of the virtues of these saints, may also be sharers of their crowns there. What kind of wisdom they showed in danger, we will also show patience in curbing insane passions - anger, greed, voluptuousness, vanity and everything else like that. If we overcome the flame of these passions, as they overcome the fire, then we will have the opportunity to stand close to them and have the same boldness as them, which may we all be worthy of, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. Second Discourse on the Saints Maccabees We cannot properly praise the martyrs. – But we must try about it. - Praise to the youngest of St. Martyrs of the Maccabees. Comparing him to Isaac. – The greatness of the soul of the mother of the Maccabees. An exhortation to Christians to imitate her. 1. It is impossible to praise all the holy martyrs in one language, and even if we had thousands of lips and as many tongues, we would not be enough for these praises. Looking at the exploits of the seven martyrs, I am in the same state as if a money-loving man, standing at a spring flowing with gold and having seven mouths, wanted to exhaust everything from it, but after a long and inexpressible labor, having left most of it, he was forced to leave, because no matter how much you draw from the source, even more remains in it. What then? If we cannot give what we deserve, then should we remain silent? No, because those who receive these gifts are martyrs who imitate their Master in the judgment of such offerings. And what does He do? When someone brings gifts to Him, He proportions the reward not to the amount of what was brought, but to the diligence of the one who brought it. This is what He did with a famous widow: this wife put in two mites, and was preferred to those who put in a lot (Luke 21:2-4), because God does not look at the smallness of money, but at the preciousness of disposition; money is two mites, but favor is worth more than a thousand talents of gold. Therefore, let us boldly begin to praise, and what we did yesterday, let it be the same, if you wish, today. Yesterday, having taken one mother, we talked all about her - we did this not in order to separate her from the host of children, but so that this wealth would be safer for us; Let us do exactly the same thing now: taking one of the sons separately, we will say a little about him, because we must be careful lest the praises of the seven martyrs, uniting together, like seven rivers, drown our speech. So, let us take one of the young men, not in order to separate him from the host of brothers, but to make the burden light for ourselves; and when one is praised, the crown will be common to the others, since they all participated in the same exploits. However, even today the mother will certainly enter into our speech, although we do not touch on her, because the very consistency of the speech will certainly attract her and will not allow her to leave the children: if she does not lag behind her children in exploits, then she will not separate from them in praise. Who should we take from the seven ascetics? Is it the first, or the second, or the third, or the last? It’s better to say that there is no one last among them, because this is a host, and in a host there is neither a beginning nor an end; but in order to make the one being praised more famous, we will talk about the last one in terms of age. Their exploits are fraternal, and their deeds are related; and where there is similarity of cases, there is no first and second. Let us take the last one in age and equal in spirit, equal in age not only to the brothers, but also to the elder himself (Eleazar). He, one of the brothers, was led to torture unbound, because he did not wait for the hands of the executioners, but with his own jealousy he forestalled their cruelty, and was led away unbound. Not one of the brothers was a spectator, because they had all already died; but he had spectators more honorable than his brothers—the eyes of his mother. Didn’t I tell you that even without our effort the mother will certainly enter (into our speech)? Here is the sequence of her speech. This spectacle was so honorable and great that the very army of Angels, as well as the brothers, looked at it - no longer from the earth, but from heaven, because they sat crowned, like judges at the Olympic Games, not pronouncing an opinion about the fight, but ready to receive the crowned winner. So, he stood unbound and uttered words filled with wisdom; he wanted to convert the tyrant to his own piety, but since he could not, he finally did his job - he gave himself up to torture. This one regretted his youth, and this one mourned his wickedness; The tyrant and the martyr did not look at the same thing - they both had the same carnal eyes, but the eyes of faith were not the same: the one looked at the present life, and the other looked at the future, to which he had to fly; the tyrant saw the frying pans, and the martyr saw Gehenna, into which the tyrant had to plunge himself. If we are surprised at Isaac that he, being bound and laid down by his father, did not jump off the altar and did not run away, seeing the knife raised at him, then it is much more necessary to be surprised at this martyr that he was not bound, did not even need bonds and did not wait for the hands of the executioners, but was for himself a victim, a priest, and an altar. Looking around and not seeing any of the brothers, he became confused and decided to hurry and ensure that he would not be separated from this beautiful host. That is why he did not wait for the hands of the executioners; he was afraid of the compassion of the tyrant, lest this one, taking pity on him, would tear him away from the society of his brothers, so he first freed himself from inhuman love for mankind. And many things could touch the tyrant: the youth of his age, the torment of so many brothers, with which even a wild beast could be satiated (although he was not satisfied), the old age of his mother and the fact that for him there was no benefit from the execution of those who preceded him. 2. Having imagined all this, the young man surrendered himself to torment, which should not have been avoided, and threw himself onto the brazier, as if into a source of cool waters, considering it a Divine bath and baptism. How people, scorched by heat, throw themselves into streams of cold water; so he, flaming with love for his brothers, rushed to this execution. Moreover, the mother added an admonition, not because he needed admonition, but so that you would again recognize the firmness of this wife. She did not show maternal grief with any of her seven sons, or better yet, with each of them she experienced maternal grief; I didn’t say to myself: what is this? - a host of children were stolen from me; this one remained; after him I am threatened with despair; who will feed me in my old age if this one dies? - Wouldn’t it be enough for me to give half, and if not half, then two parts (of my sons)? - Will I really give this one, which is the only one left for me to console me in my old age? She did not say or think anything like that, but with a verbal exhortation, as if with her hands, she lifted her son onto the brazier, glorifying God for the fact that He accepted all the fruit of her womb and did not reject anyone, but gathered all the fruits from the tree. So, I can safely say that she endured more than the children, because their very exhaustion reduced a lot of pain, and she, with an unconfused mind and a bright consciousness, naturally perceived the clearest sense of what was happening. And it was necessary to see a threefold fire: one - kindled by the tyrant, the other - kindled by nature, the third - kindled by the Holy Spirit. The Babylonian tyrant did not light the furnace in the same way as this tyrant lit the furnace for his mother; there the fire food was oil, tar, flakes and brushwood; and here - nature, diseases of childbirth, love of children, consent of children. They were not tormented as much while lying on the fire as she was tormented by her love for the children; and yet she prevailed by the power of piety; nature fought with grace, and victory remained on the side of grace; piety overcame the diseases of childbirth, and fire triumphed over fire - spiritual over natural, kindled by the cruelty of the tyrant. Just as a sea rock, receiving the blows of the waves, itself remains motionless, and breaks the waves into foam and easily destroys, so the heart of this wife, receiving the blows of sorrows, like a rock in the sea - the waves, itself remained unshakable, and crushed these blows with a strong thought and filled with wisdom. She tried to prove to the tyrant that she was their true mother, and they were her true children, not by affinity of nature, but by communication in virtue; in the fire she thought she saw not an execution, but a wedding lamp. A mother does not rejoice as much when she decorates her children for marriage as she rejoiced when she saw them executed; and as if putting on a wedding robe on one, weaving wreaths on another, preparing a bridal chamber for a third, she rejoiced as she saw one going to the brazier, another running to the frying pan, and a third being deprived of his head. Everything was full of smoke and stench, and with all her senses she felt the children - seeing with her eyes, hearing with her ears the kindest words, with her very nostrils taking in the smoke from their bodies, pleasant and unpleasant, unpleasant for the infidels, but for God and for her the most pleasant, that smoke that infected the air, but did not infect the heart of the wife, because she stood firm and unshakable, patiently enduring everything that happened. However, it is time to stop the conversation so that they can be given great praise from our common teacher 1 . Let fathers imitate this wife, let mothers and wives and husbands compete, and those living in virginity, and dressed in rags, and clothed in gold chains - because no matter how much we reach the degree of severity in life and wisdom, the wisdom of this wife goes ahead of our patience. Therefore, let no one who has achieved a high degree of courage and patience consider it unworthy to have this elderly wife as his teacher; but everyone in general, both those who live in cities, and those who live in deserts, and those who maintain virginity, and those who remain honorably in an immaculate marriage, and those who despise everything present, and those who have crucified the body, let us pray that, having accomplished the same feat as her, we will be worthy of the same boldness as her and become close to her on that day; through the prayers of this saint and her children and Eleazar, who complements their host, a great, valiant elder who showed an adamantine soul in adversity. And we can be worthy of this if, with their holy prayers, we do everything that depends on ourselves, before the struggle and disasters during the world, overcoming our passions, taming the disorderly movements of the flesh, exhausting and enslaving the body. If we live like this during peace, we will receive bright crowns for our preparatory deeds; and if it pleases the philanthropic God to lead us into the same struggle, then we will go out ready for battle and receive heavenly blessings, of which may we all be worthy, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, be glory, honor and power forever and ever. Amen. Discourse three on the Saints Maccabees Praise to Elder Eleazar, the seven martyred brothers and their mother. – The contrast between the unheard-of sacrifice of this holy woman and the cowardice of some Christians, who sometimes regret donating even a little silver. Bearing in mind, on the one hand, the praise due to the martyrs for their deeds, and on the other, looking at the close crowd of those gathered, I am perplexed. Therefore, if you like, let us put aside instruction for the present and try to imitate the firmness of the martyrs. So, let the elder Eleazar appear before us first, the beginning of exploits, the foundation of martyrdom, the entry into the struggle, the leader of courage, the forerunner of patience, young old age, the first martyr of the Old Testament, the likeness of the supreme of the apostles Peter. The enemy grew tired, using caresses and torments, but the tormented one did not stop making his speech; stood an old man, trembling with age, and sat a tyrant, breathing threat and murder; but the trembling one went away triumphant, and the arrogant one went away defeated; decrepitude stood, subjected to torment, and youth, proudly raging, carried out judgment, but victory remained on the side of decrepitude. Oh, a new kind of victory! The entire army of those throwing arrows was put to flight by one old man, who was subjected to blows. The wondrous exploits of the old man do not allow me to pass on to the courage of the young men; however, we need to turn to them, who showed their strength over the tyrant; and they won a glorious victory over him, because it was not fitting for youth to be less fearless than old age. So, one after another, seven valiant youths were crowned, children of one womb, who went out to one battle. However, if you like, I will not talk about them (to you), zealous admirers of the steadfast martyrs. Then, as I said, seven valiant youths were crowned, children of the same womb, who went out to the same battle, adorned with brotherhood by birth and the same morals, betraying themselves one after another to exploits. Now I need to repeat before you, generous listeners, this gospel saying: “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that fed you” (Luke 11:27). Having mentioned the breasts and the womb, I will now move on to the mother of these valiant ascetics, who in her body alone died repeatedly, or better yet, was killed repeatedly, and never gave herself up to lamentation - invulnerable and at the same time much wounded. She was not so much embarrassed by the first of her sons, who was being dragged to death, as she was frightened by the second, who had not yet taken up his exploits; It was not so much the death of her second that later upset her as it was the life of her third son, whose end was still unknown, that frightened her; she was little concerned about the third and fourth sons, who were put to death while the fifth was not yet killed; and the fall of the sixth did not defeat her wisdom; Finally, the seventh remained last for the exploits, completing the seven-ton zither of the martyrs. What then? Was she embarrassed by the immaturity of his age, did she begin to grieve at the sight of the remnant of her nature being taken away? On the contrary, she herself dragged the child to death, if not with her hands, then with advice. “Do not dissolve, my son,” she said, “the number of crowns; be a fellow brother of brothers, both in birth and in exploits; imitate the affinity of nature with affinity in deeds; show yourself in the fight as the brother of the slain; You were born to me the seventh son by nature, the seventh martyr to me by will; Do not allow, my son, that I be called the mother of seven sons, but of six martyrs.” Where are those now who do not want to make offerings to God even from their property? Now the mother brought seven young sons to the Lord - and was not embarrassed by sacrificing her womb; and many of us sometimes regret bringing a few small coins. Let us sacrifice souls, property, and bodies to God, glorifying Christ in everything, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Imprints of royal images can not only be found shining on gold, silver and precious objects, but the same image can also be seen inscribed on copper. And the difference in materials does not deprive the image of its dignity: images made from precious materials do not lose any of their honor when the same images are reproduced on materials of inferior quality, because they are all given the same dignity by the royal image, which, without degrading itself in the least by the type of materials, makes the one who accepts it more honorable. From op. St. John of Damascus "On Icons". This passage is not in any of the three conversations, perhaps because one of them, most likely the third, did not reach us in its entirety. All three conversations about St. The Maccabees were spoken in Antioch, in what year is unknown. You might be interested in: