Слово 35

In memory of the martyrs and against the Arians Is it possible to express in words what appears to the eye? What kind of speech will correspond to the benefits that open before us? An incredible sight awaits our eyes! Although we have repeatedly desired to see this, it is nevertheless higher than what our desires extended to. Again here are the honoring of the martyrs, who had been neglected for quite some time, again a gathering of God's priests, again a celebratory celebration and spiritual celebrations, again a crowded meeting of those wishing to celebrate and not fight! Oh miracle! weapons were thrown out of their hands, the militias scattered, they forgot about warfare, the voices of those calling for battle are no longer heard, and instead of them celebration, fun, hearts opened to the world rejoice in the whole city, which in ancient times was the mother of Martyrs, and in the times that followed and continued a lot, did not participate in the honoring of its children. Now we have “received” everything and “abundantly,” as the Apostle says (Phil. 4:18). Praise be to you, Martyrs! And this feat belongs to you: you have finished this great war victoriously; I know well that these are the good consequences of your labors alone, you erected a victorious sign of peace, you attracted the priests of God to yourself, you gave this assembly leaders guided by the Holy Spirit. Oh, how much those whose lives did not last until this spectacle lost, so that they too, after being satiated with sorrows, could enjoy the blessings of the world! The heretical deception, like a fog, passed and disappeared, dissipated by the Holy Spirit; the pure goodness of the world shone, and among it the stars of this city appeared, shining in the clear light of truth; and they were not given to the night, nor to darkness, but were all visible during the day, shining with the true light of truth. And since, according to the words of the Apostle, “the night is past” (Rom. 13:12), or rather, it has completely disappeared, and everything is illuminated by the light of day, then the animals running away, seeking food for themselves at night, and gather in forests and caves, heretical bats run noisily, deprived of sight in the light of truth, and holding each other, they hide their heads in stone crevices. With the advent of this day, the gatherings of sensualists and wine drinkers stopped, roadside robbers, house robbers and thieves disappeared; whatever deeds of the night there were, they all disappeared with the shining light of the world. And while that night was over, everything was darkened by the darkness of deception, what deeds were done then? - worthy of oblivion and deep silence, so that the pleasantness of the present is not desecrated by the memory of the hated. And how can one describe the disasters of this night? How can we keep silent about them? In what sad event can there be so much touching? What fiction can reproduce so many misfortunes? What poet glorified such suffering with a theater performance? And disasters are beyond words, and suffering is beyond the strength of the narrator! – The devil’s loophole was the place of this face; Here he encamped and placed his armor-bearers in it; here were an army of lies, defenders of deception, demonic hordes, legions of unclean spirits. And if you need to use pagan names - here the evil army of demons - Erinyes - attacked the Church; for this is what I am forced to call those wives who turned out to be unnaturally courageous for evil. There was one Jezebel in the days of Elijah, who thirsted for the blood of the Prophets of the Lord; and the divinely inspired account of life exposes her to shame so that, I think, in the remembrance of the unbridled woman, all who live after Jezebel will find a lesson for life. And now many Jezebels have suddenly emerged from the earth, like a harmful potion, and their excess of malice has surpassed that mentioned in Scripture. If you don’t believe the word, look at history. She delivered Naboth’s vineyard to the pampered Achaab to make it into a garden, a place of entertainment, a woman’s pastime; and these tried to completely destroy the living vineyard of God, I mean the Church, and they themselves carried out the evil deed. What example can I find for the word? What image can I come up with for this evil spirit? I saw a similar picture on a whitewashed wall; support my chest, heaving at the memory of disasters, or, better to say, grieve with me about the misfortunes suffered, because I am recounting not other people’s, but our own misfortunes! What kind of picture is this that I liken to the event being described? – She represented an ugly dance of women, each of whom had her own twisted position (in mythology such women are called maenads). Hair fluttered in the wind, their eyes expressed fury, there were torches in their hands, and from their movement the whole body seemed to be on fire, the decency of clothing only constrained the breathing in the chests, the legs barely touched the ground and seemed to hang in the air, not a single movement expressed decent modesty. Among the dancing crowd there was an image of a man, but at the same time it was something feminine, in appearance indeterminate in terms of gender, an example of effeminacy, something between a man and a woman. The person presented was in a state of relaxation, as if in a state of sleep or in rapture, lay casually on a luxurious chariot, which was driven by animals in a round dance of maenads, and wine poured abundantly onto him from a bowl. This image was surrounded by some incessant monsters with shaggy faces, who galloped around it on goat legs. The same must be said about this night. Women, known only for having dishonored their family, to the general humiliation of the sex, had desecrated the usual decorum of wives - now solemnly walked throughout the city, displaying disfigured nature in their faces, armed their hands with stones instead of shields, looking for murder, striking with their shameless gaze. And when they entered God's enclosure, they elevated their Corybantus to the sacred pulpit. Then drunkenness began, wine began to flow, and Pans appeared even from the deserts. Imagine night, mixed society and everything that the Apostle forbids even talking about, saying: “For what they do in secret is shameful to even talk about” (Eph. 5:12). For who will describe in detail the fire, stones, murders, wounds? Who will depict the efforts with which they tried to eradicate the servants of the holy houses? Who will describe how in the middle of the city one zealot of truth was beaten to death with sticks, and only the supposed commission of a murder stopped the actual murder? But I don’t know how my word, lingering on earthly narratives, moved away from the pleasure appropriate to the circumstances. Therefore, we must return to where we started, in order to wash our salty ears with a sweet, easy-to-drink word. For it is said: in days of joy there is “forgetfulness of misfortune” (Sir.11:25). So, I come back to the same word again. This night and darkness have disappeared; with pure good fortune, the rays of the world illuminate with the light of truth. Therefore, everything stinking and vile was torn out from the walls of God, and in its place joy entered into the houses of the pious. And there is nothing lacking for joy, neither in those who feast, nor in those who offer the feast, the meal is filled with good dishes. You might be interested in: