Слово о блаженном Вавиле, а также против Юлиана, и к язычникам *15

The Lord's prediction about the performance of miracles by His followers, impossible in paganism. The sacrifice of people exposes the origin of paganism from demons. The boundless goodness of the Savior. The Acts of the Apostles testify to the fulfillment of the Lord's prophecy, and the truth of their narrative is confirmed both by the modern state of Christianity and paganism, and by the initial success of the preaching of the Apostles. The heinous murder by the Roman king of the king's son taken hostage by the world. God does not immediately punish sinners, giving time and opportunity for repentance. St. Babyla does not allow this king to enter the church. The legitimacy of this feat is compared with the obsequiousness of pagan priests and the boastful but empty courage of other philosophers. The need to protect the laws of God even with the probable failure of this protection. The development of sin in the soul with inattention to it. Conclusion of St. Babylon into prison, his grief over the death of the wicked king, his death and testament to be placed in a coffin and bonds as evidence that reproach for Christ is true glory. It is possible for a martyr to perform exploits even after death, for God leaves the relics of saints on earth to incite the living to virtue. The transfer of the relics to Daphne, a suburb that, according to the very myth of Daphne, was a usual place of revelry, stops this revelry by the power of the martyr and forces the oracle of Apollo, who was here, to silence. The reign of Julian, his pagan lifestyle; his order, at the request of the oracle, to remove the tomb of the martyr from Daphne exposes the fear of the martyr both of the demon and of Julian. Examples of God punishing persecutors. Lightning burns the church of Apollo at Daphne under circumstances that make it certain that it was a punishment from God. Livaniya's speech on this event and its analysis. The wisdom of God was manifested in preserving the remains of the church for the edification of descendants, and goodness in the fact that the blow was not directed directly at the king, who was given other signs to convert him to the truth. Julian's unsuccessful attempt to restore the Temple of Jerusalem, efforts to cause internal strife in Christianity, the disasters of the Persian campaign and the death of Julian. The goodness and wisdom of God was manifested in the fact that extreme disasters befell Julian only at the end, when he stubbornly remained incorrigible, although God foresaw this incorrigibility, and in the fact that these disasters, useless for himself, provide a lesson to all other people. 1. Our Lord Jesus Christ, already preparing to go into suffering and die a life-giving death, on the very last night, calling His disciples especially, talked about many things and other things, instructing them, and among other things said to them the following: “He who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will also do, and greater works than these will he do” (John 14:12). There were many other teachers, and they had disciples, and miracles showed how the pagans boasted, but not one of them ever took anything like that into his head, or dared to say it. And none of the pagans, no matter how shameless they are in everything, could prove that they have such a prediction or saying. Although many talk about their various miracle workers, who allegedly showed the ghosts of the dead and the images of some of the dead, and they say that others heard some voices from the tombs; but for any of the people who lived and were revered by them, or of those whom they recognized as gods after death, to tell their disciples something like that, none of them would ever assert this. If you want, I will also tell you the reason why they, who lied about everything else without blushing and with an open head, never dared to invent anything like that. It was not simply and not without reason that they refrained from such an invention, but these destroyers villainously realized that those who intend to seduce must create something probable, full of all sorts of embellishments and, in order not to be exposed, difficult to recognize. Experienced fishermen and bird-catchers usually do not lay bare nets, but carefully cover them on all sides with bait and thus each of them takes possession of both prey; and if they, having opened the nets, leave them visible to those whom they want to catch, then neither fish nor birds will ever fall into these nets, and will not even approach them, so that the fisherman and hunter will each go home empty-handed. Since the pagan teachers also wanted to catch people, they did not throw naked deception into the sea of ​​life, but having invented and composed something that could catch the more unreasonable, they were careful not to go far in lies, fearing exaggeration and fearing that the excess of the second would destroy the first. If they had said that someone among them had proclaimed something that our Savior said to His disciples, then those deceived by them would begin to laugh at them, as at people who could not even lie with probability, because it is truly characteristic of His blessed power alone to predict and fulfill such things. If demons were once able to somewhat seduce those deceived by them, then this was when the source of light was not yet known to the majority. But even then it was obvious, both during the other deceptions and during the sacrifices themselves, that what was happening was the work of demons. To order that their altars be stained with human blood, and to demand that such sacrifices be made to them by their parents - does this not exceed the greatest madness? Never being satisfied with our misfortunes and not knowing any limit and end to the struggle with us, but always raging, they, as if it was not enough for them to satiate their rage by the fact that instead of sheep and oxen, women and children were slaughtered on their altars, they came up with the extraordinary crime of murder and introduced a new kind of wickedness. Those who should have mourned the murder of those who were being destroyed, they convinced the very same ones to bring them to this unfortunate murder. And so that not only the laws established by people were humiliated, they perverted even the laws of nature at their very foundation, inciting it to fury against itself and introducing into human life the most criminal of all murders. Finally, everyone was not so afraid of any enemies as they were of their parents; and in whom the most hope was to be had, these were the ones most suspected and disgusted. So these punishers, through those very ones through whom God brought (children) to the contemplation of this world, through the same ones tried to deprive them of this gift, making the culprits of death those who served in life, as if wanting to show that they had no other benefit from the goodness of God: they will not need other killers except those who gave birth to them. This would be the case if some great miracle were to occur (and from what has been said it is clear that everything here is unimportant, unworthy of any attention and full of great deception), but also if something great happened, and then what I have said is enough to prove to those who are not completely devoid of intelligence what kind of people they were who did this, how full of filth they are, and how they arranged everything to pervert both our life and condition. 2. Our Lord Jesus did not command us anything like this, but being marvelous in His miracles, and no less miracles in His commandments, He is rightly honored by all with worship and faith in His deity. He came to transform this lawlessness and, what is more surprising, delivered from this ferocious and cruel violence not only us who worship Him, but also those who slander Him, since none of the pagans is anymore forced to make such sacrifices to their demons. With such love for mankind He always treats our race; and God did more good to His enemies than the demons did evil to their friends. Demons forced their servants and admirers to become murderers of their own children; and Christ delivered those who turned away from Him from these orders and freedom from this brutal service and did not limit this wondrous world to His own alone, but introduced them among strangers, showing that they were tormentors, enemies and destroyers of our kind, and therefore treated those devoted to them as strangers, and they were alien to each other, He was the King, Organizer and Savior of the entire human race, which is why those who were alienated from Him He spared them as if they were His own. And all human nature is His creation, as His disciple says: “He came to his own, and his own did not receive Him” (John 1:11). But it is inappropriate to describe all His love for mankind at the present time; and even if someone began to talk about Him for entire centuries, and had as much power as befits incorporeal forces, then even then he would not touch His dignity. How good He is, only He knows, because He alone is good. Look what He says to the disciples: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do will he also do, and greater works than these will he do” (John 14:12). He would not have given them such a great honor if He had not been very and infinitely good. If anyone doubtfully asks us when this prediction was fulfilled, then picking up the book called the Acts of the Apostles - it does not contain all the acts and not all of them, but only one or two, and not many at that - he will see that the sick, lying on their beds, received health as soon as only the shadow of these blessed ones reached them, and many of the possessed did not need anything other than Paul's clothes for deliverance them from the demon who tormented them. If anyone begins to call this boasting and telling incredible fictions, then what is visible now is enough to block and shame blasphemous lips and stop the unbridled tongue. There is no country, no people, no city in our universe where these miracles are not sung, which would never arouse surprise if they were fiction. You yourself can testify to this; and we don’t even need to take certificates from others for these words when you, our enemies, deliver it to us. Tell me why the majority do not know Zoroaster and Zamolxis by name, or rather, no one knows except a few? Is it because everything told about them was fiction? And yet, both they and those who composed the story about them were, they say, capable - the former of inventing and performing sorcery, the latter - of covering up lies with the probability of the story. But everything is in vain and futile when the subject of the story is rotten and false; just as, when it is strong and true, everything invented by enemies to refute it is again vain and futile, because the power of truth does not need any help, and, even if thousands extinguish it, it not only does not disappear, but through those very ones who try to harm it, it appears more brilliant and sublime, laughing at those who are furious and vainly exhausting themselves. Our events, which you call fiction, were tried to refute by tyrants, and kings, and sophists invincible in words, even philosophers, and sorcerers, and magicians, and demons - “and their tongue weakened, - according to the prophetic word, and their wounds were (the same as) the arrows of infants" (Ps. 63: 8-9). The kings received only that benefit from the intrigues against us, who acquired a reputation for ferocity among all; in their rage against the martyrs, carried away to the point of unnatural cruelty, they unconsciously subjected themselves to countless censures. And the philosophers and skilled rhetoricians, who enjoyed great fame among the majority, some for (their) respect, and others for their eloquence, after fighting with us, they began to be considered no better than the simply chattering children Of so many tribes and peoples, they could not convince. neither wise nor foolish, neither man, nor woman, nor even a small child, and what they wrote is so funny that their very books were destroyed long ago, and most of them, as soon as they appeared, have already disappeared. If anywhere there is anything preserved, then they find it preserved among Christians - so far are we from fearing any harm from their machinations, so we laugh at the great sophistication of their tricks! Just as we would not be afraid - indeed, we showed this - if we had adamantine and incorruptible bodies, to take scorpions, snakes and fire with our hands, so now, when Christ has so attuned our souls and faith, we are not afraid to have the poisons of our enemies with us. And if we are commanded to trample underfoot snakes, scorpions and all tyranny of the devil, then much more worms and beetles, and such is the difference between the harm from them and the machinations of the evil demon. 3. Such are our affairs; and as for yours, no one has ever fought against them, since it is not permissible for Christians to overthrow error by coercion and violence, but (commanded) to accomplish the salvation of people through conviction, word and meekness. Therefore, not a single king of those who accepted the teaching of Christ issued such decrees against you as those who served the teaching of the demons invented against us. However, enjoying such peace and never being disturbed by anyone, the delusion of pagan superstition faded away and disintegrated of its own accord, just as bodies that have undergone prolonged consumption, without experiencing harm from anyone, smolder by themselves and, decomposing, are little by little destroyed. So, although this satanic laughter has not yet been completely destroyed from the earth, what has already happened is enough to assure you about the future. When most of it has already been destroyed in such a short time, no one will raise a dispute about the rest. When the city is taken, and the walls are destroyed, and the places of meetings, spectacles and festivities are burned, and all the adults are killed, then no one, seeing the half-burnt porticoes and the parts of the few buildings still standing, with old women and small children, will argue with the winner, who has overcome more, that he cannot do the rest. But the affairs of the fishermen are not like that, but they are flourishing every day, although they reached our time not in freedom and in peace, but amidst sorrow, persecution and struggle. Paganism, widespread throughout the entire earth and possessing the souls of all people, after such strength and growth, is finally destroyed by the power of Christ; and our preaching did not begin to have enemies when it spread and became established everywhere, but before it became stronger and took root in the souls of the listeners, from the very beginning it had to confront the entire universe, “against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spirits of wickedness” (Eph. 6:12), because, when the spark of faith had not yet flared up well, rivers and abysses flowed towards it from all sides. Do you know that it makes no difference whether you pull out a plant that has been rooted for many years, or one that has just been planted in the ground. But even in this state of affairs, although, as I said, this still small spark of piety was drowned by the sea of ​​​​enemies, it not only did not go out from him, but, becoming larger and brighter, soon penetrated everywhere, easily destroying and destroying the works of the enemies, and elevating and raising the affairs of its own to an indescribable height, despite the fact that it was served by insignificant and unknown people. The reason for this was not the speeches and miracles of those fishermen, but the power of Christ acting in them. Among those who did this, one was the monk - Pavel, and Peter - the fisherman; Such simple and humiliated people would never have dreamed of inventing something like that, unless someone would say that they were crazy and crazy. But that they were not mad is clear both from what they did with words and from the fact that they still believe them. They never lied like that or boasted like that. And, as I said at the beginning, whoever wants to deceive, of course lies, but does not lie in such a way that it is obvious to everyone. If, after the events have taken place, when so many testify to the achievement of the goal, partly believing in those days, partly in subsequent times glorifying it everywhere, not only among us, but also among barbarians, and among even more savage people, there are still others who, after so much evidence and after, so to speak, the evidence of the entire universe, do not believe these events, and, moreover, many without any testing and research - then who at the beginning, without seeing such things and not having reliable information about their evidence, would you accept this faith with your soul? What would have prompted the apostles to invent and compose something like that? They did not rely either on the power of speech (how could they rely if one of them did not even know how to read and write?), nor on the abundance of wealth, since they barely had the necessary food and both lived by the labor of their hands. It was not appropriate for them to be arrogant about the celebrity of the family, since about the father of one of them we do not even know who he was - before that he was ignorant and unknown, and Peter’s father, although known, has only the advantage over the other that Scripture has only made his name known to us, and then for the sake of his son. If anyone wants to know the country and the people, he will find that one is a Cilician, and the other a citizen of an unnoble city, or better not a city, but the last village - Bethsaida; this is the name of the place in Galilee from which this blessed one came. And who will hear about their crafts? then he will see that there was nothing great or important in them either, since although the skin-maker is more honorable than the fisherman, he is lower than other artisans. Where, tell me, where did they get the courage to play such a scene? What hopes inspired them? What did you rely on? Is it not a fishing rod and a hook, or a knife and an awl? Won't you hang yourself somewhere far away, or throw yourself into an abyss, incurring the reproach of such madness? 4. But, if you want, let’s assume in your opinion that this impossibility also became possible, that one, coming from the lake, says: the shadow of my body raises the dead; and the other, having escaped from the skins of the skin-creating trash, boasts of the same thing about his clothes: who among those listening to this would be so crazy as to believe naked words in such matters? Why did none of the artists of that time ever say anything like that about themselves, or anyone else about him? And if our miracles were fiction, then it would be natural to expect that those who lived after the apostles would more easily begin to lie in the same way. They did not have the example of others to hope for the success of their invention; and those who lived after them, looking at them, would rather decide to make up an invention, when the example of the first would encourage the second to act boldly, as if there was no one on earth who had intelligence, but frenzy and madness had come to everyone, and as if everyone who wanted could say anything about themselves and find faith in it. Such speeches are empty, ridiculous and characteristic of pagan stupidity. Just as if someone decided to shoot into the sky to cut it with his arrows, or to scoop up the ocean to empty it with his own hands, then each of the educated would laugh at him, and the more sedate would mourn him with copious tears; so exactly, when the pagans object to us, we can both laugh and cry at them, because they take on matters much more difficult than the one who hopes to wound the sky and exhaust the abyss. Light will never be darkness as long as it is light; and the truth of our deeds will not be refuted, because it is the truth, and there is nothing stronger than it. So, everyone who has not gone mad and is not insane will agree that the ancient things known to us by ear are no less reliable than the present and visible to us; and in order to further enhance our victory, I want to talk about one wondrous event that happened during our generation. But do not be embarrassed if, promising to tell about a miracle that happened to us, I begin the story with a narrative from ancient history, because I will not dwell on it only one and will not talk about such an ancient one, which is alien to the newest event: both of them are related to each other and it is impossible to break their sequence, as you yourself will know well after listening to the events themselves. 5. Under our ancestors there was one king; I cannot say what this king was like in other respects, but when you hear about the atrocity he dared to commit, you will understand how cruel his temper was in other respects. What kind of crime was this? One people, who were at war with this king, decided to stop the war, so as not to kill others and no longer be killed by others, to free themselves from troubles, dangers and fear, to be content with their condition and not to seek anything more, since it is better to enjoy moderate things without fear than to strive for more, to be always in fear and trembling, to do evil to others all their lives and to receive (the same) from others. So, having decided to stop the war and live in peace, they decided to seal this blessing with a firm agreement and reliable conditions. And having concluded an agreement and exchanged oaths, they tried, moreover, to convince their king that if he gave his son, just a child, as a reliable guarantee of peace, he would instill confidence in his former enemies and provide them with proof of his own mood - that he was sincerely making peace with them. With such speeches they convinced him and the king gave his son, as he thought, to friends and allies, but, as the end showed, to the most ferocious beast of all. Having taken this royal child according to the law of friendship and treaty, the enemy trampled and overthrew everything at once - oaths, conditions, shame before people, reverence for God, and pity for age; neither the youth of the youth softened this beast, nor the trial that followed such crimes did not frighten this savage, nor did the words of the father who gave his son influence him, with which he, handing over his son, probably asked him, begging him to support him with great care, calling him the father of the child and urging him to raise and support him as if he himself had given birth to him, and to make him worthy of the nobility of his ancestors, and with these words placing his son's right hand into the killer's right hand, and then parted with tears. This villain did not think about anything afterwards, but suddenly, having thrown everything out of his soul, he commits a murder, the most criminal of all murders. Truly, such an atrocity is worse than infanticide; you yourself are witnesses, who - if only from my feelings one can conclude about yours - would not have grieved so much if they had heard that he killed his own son, since then it would seem that the laws of nature had been overthrown along with social laws, and here many things came together that, with their multitude, overcome natural attraction. When I imagine a boy who did not do any harm to another, given by his father, torn away from his ancestral kingdom, who exchanged his own luxury, glory and honor for life in a foreign country, so that the villain could be confident in the firmness of the contract, and then subjected to bad treatment from him, deprived of home pleasures for him and finally killed by him, then I experience the opposite feelings, mental anguish and annoyance, of which one comes from anger, and the other from grief. And when I imagine how this villain arms himself, raises his sword, takes the young man by the neck, and with the very hand with which he accepted the pledge, plunges the sword into it, then I break down and choke with anger. Again, when I look at the young man, frightened and trembling, emitting his last cries, calling on his father and calling him the culprit of this, attributing the murder not to the one who plunges the sword into his throat, but to his parent, having no opportunity either to escape or to avenge himself, but in vain reproaching his father, and finally receiving a blow from which he shudders, beats on the floor and stains the ground with streams of blood, then my insides are tormented, my mind is darkened, and some kind of thick haze of sorrow fills my eyes. But this beast did not feel anything like that, and as if he intended to slaughter a lamb or a calf, this is how he treated this vile murder. And when the boy, having received a blow, lay dead, the killer, after the crime, begins the fight again, trying to conceal the previous one. Maybe someone will think that I will say about the burial, or that after the murder he did not give the murdered man even a piece of land; no, I’ll tell you about something else, even more daring. Having stained his lawless hands with such blood and having committed this new tragedy, this shameless man, crueler than the very stones, as if he had not committed any insolence at all, went to the Church of God. Perhaps some are surprised how such a daring one was not struck by a blow from God, how God did not send thunder at him from above, and did not burn his shameless face with lightning before the entrance. But if some people think so, then I praise them and am surprised at their ardor, but I say that in this surprise and praise they have no small drawback. They were rightly indignant at the lawless murder of the youth and at such a daring insult to the divine commandments; but seething with anger, they didn’t look at it so much as they needed to see it. There is another law in heaven, much higher than this justice. What kind of law is this? The one is not to immediately send punishment to sinners, but to give the criminal time and time to cleanse himself of sins and, through repentance, to become equal to those who have not committed any evil, which is exactly what God showed with this villain, although he did not receive any benefit, but remained incorrigible. The humane Lord, who foresaw this, still did not despise him, did not leave him to do his work, but Himself visited the sick man and did what was necessary for his recovery; but he did not want to take the medicine, and killed the doctor sent to him. The medicine and method of treatment were as follows. 6. At the time when this inhuman and pitiful drama was boldly committed, it happened that our flock was governed by one great and wondrous man, if one must call him a man; his name was Vavila. This is the person who is entrusted with. was then the local Church of Christ, by the grace of the Spirit, I will not say - he surpassed Elijah and his imitator John, not to say too much, but he achieved the point that he was in no way inferior in boldness to these valiant men. Not the tetrarch of a few cities, not the king of one people, but the one who owned most of the entire universe, this same murderer, who owned many nations, many cities and countless troops, and was terrible everywhere both in the greatness of his power and in the insolence of his character, he excommunicated from the church as a low and unworthy slave at all, with such firmness and with such fearlessness with which a shepherd would separate a lousy and sick sheep, preventing the disease from spreading from the sick sheep to others. He did this, confirming in practice the word of the Savior that a slave is only one who commits sin, even if he had thousands of crowns on his head, even if he seemed to be the ruler of all people on earth; and whoever does not recognize anything bad in himself, at least he was considered among his subjects, more royal than all kings. Thus, the subordinate ordered the boss, and the subordinate judged the one who owned everything and pronounced a sentence condemning him. And when you hear this, do not ignore what has been said: this news that the king was expelled from the threshold of the church by someone subordinate to his power is in itself enough to excite and amaze the soul of the listeners. If you want to accurately understand this whole wondrous event, then do not listen to the bare words, but imagine the spearmen, shield-bearers, military leaders, nobles living in the royal palaces and placed over the cities, the splendor of those who preceded them, the many accompanying people, the walkers, and the rest of the retinue; then among them (the king) himself, walking with great arrogance and seeming even more majestic from the clothes, purple and precious stones covering the entire right side and the clasp of the mantle and shining from the diadem on the head itself. But do not stop your picture there, but further imagine the servant of God, blessed Babyla, his humble appearance, simple clothes, contrite soul and mind alien to insolence. And then, having drawn and contrasted both of them, you will understand this wondrous event well, or - better said - and then you will not perceive it in all accuracy: no word or sight can represent this boldness, but only experience and its application. The firmness of this valiant soul can be well understood only by those who themselves can reach the same height of boldness. How did the old man approach? How did he push aside the spearmen? How did you open your mouth? What did you say? How did you reprove? How did he put his right hand on his chest, which was still burning with anger and breathing murder? How did you excommunicate a murderer? Nothing that happened then frightened him or deterred him from his intention. Oh, unyielding soul and high mind! Oh, heavenly thoughts and angelic firmness! It was as if he saw all that splendor only written on the wall - so calmly did the valiant husband do all this! He was instructed by the divine teaching that all objects in the world are shadows and dreams, and even more insignificant than them. Therefore, nothing like this frightened him, but encouraged him even more; that sight of the visible carried his soul to the highest King, sitting on the cherubim and seeing the abysses, to the glorious and high throne, to the heavenly army, to myriads of angels, to thousands of archangels, to the terrible seat, to the impartial judgment seat, to the river of fire, to the Judge himself. Therefore, having transferred all of himself from earth to heaven, as if standing before that Judge and hearing His command to expel the criminal and villain from the sacred flock, he expelled him and excommunicated him from the other sheep and did not pay attention to anything visible and seemingly terrible, but, having excommunicated him very courageously and nobly, defended the laws of God that he offended. What kind of courage should one expect in his attitude towards the others? The one who treated the king with such power, which of the others would he be afraid of? I assume, or - better - I do not assume, but am sure that this husband never did or said anything to please or out of enmity, but in relation to fear, and in relation to the stronger one - to flattery, and in relation to everything like that, which is a lot among people, remained valiant and courageous, and never violated the law in the least. And if “a person’s clothing and grinning teeth and gait show his quality” (Sir. 19:27), then much more similar feats can sufficiently show us all the virtue of the rest of life; and one must be surprised not only at his courage, but also at the fact that he stretched courage to such an extent, and at the fact that, on the other hand, he did not at all bring it to excess. 7. This is the wisdom of Christ: it does not allow one to fight too little or too much, but maintains proportionality in everything. Meanwhile, St. Vavila could, if he wanted, go further. Anyone who renounced life (and he would not have started a business if he had not armed himself with such thoughts) could freely do everything, and shower the king with insults, and rip off the diadem from his head, and strike him in the face when he had already put his hand on his chest. But he did nothing of the kind: his soul was imbued with spiritual salt, which is why he did not do anything in vain and in vain, but all with correct rational judgment and sound disposition, not like the pagan sages, who are never daring in moderation, but always, so to speak, either more or less than appropriate, so that one can never attribute to them courage, but always unreasonable passions: either timidity, when they are not brave enough, or, when They exceed the limit, then everyone notices arrogance and vanity in them. But this blessed one was not like that: he did not just do what came to mind, but, having carefully analyzed everything and aligned his thoughts with the divine laws, he then carried them out. Therefore, he did not only make an incision on the surface, so that most of the diseased part would not remain, but also not deeper than the proper one, so that the excess of the incision would not again damage health, but, matching the incision with the disease, he performed excellent healing. Therefore, I can safely say that he was free from anger, timidity, pride, vanity, enmity, fear, and flattery. And if I have to say something strange, then I am surprised at this blessed one, not so much because he decided to resist the rage of the ruler, but because he understood to what extent it was necessary to do this, and neither did nor said anything unnecessary. That the latter is more amazing than the former can be seen from the fact that many achieved the former, but could not do the latter, since simply being daring is often characteristic of ordinary people, but in order to show oneself as much as one should, at the appropriate time, with decent proportionality and with prudence, this requires a very great and wondrous soul. So Shimei very strongly reproached blessed David and called him a murderer (2 Sam. 16:7); but I cannot call this daring, but intemperance of the tongue, daring of the mind, unbridledness, unreasonableness, everything rather than daring. I think that anyone who wants to be an accuser must turn his soul away from insolence and pride as far as possible and show his strength only in the essence of words and deeds. Likewise, the doctors’ pupils, when they need to cut open festering limbs or stop inflammation in them, begin to heal without first bringing themselves into anger, but on the contrary, then they especially try to keep their minds in proper calm, so that its embarrassment does not harm their art. If the one who wants to heal the body needs such tranquility, then tell me, what state will we put the one who heals the soul in and what kind of wisdom will we demand from him? Obviously, much more, such as this valiant martyr showed. He, as if laying down for us some rules and laws, so that from them we could borrow proportionate instructions for the rest, so rejected that unfortunate man from the sacred fence. And apparently, one feat was accomplished; but if someone delves into it and carefully examines it from all sides, he will find in it another and a third good deed and a great treasure of benefit. Although the exile was alone then, many benefited through him. In the region subject to the tyrant (and this was most of the universe), all unbelievers were amazed and surprised to learn what boldness Christ imparted to His servants, they ridiculed their servility, bondage and humiliation, and saw how much difference there was between the nobility of Christians and the shameful state of the pagans. Among them, those who are entrusted with the care of the churches serve the kings more than the gods and idols, and out of fear of them they sit with their idols, so that the evil demons owe the kings gratitude for the honor shown to them. As soon as someone who does not share their way of thinking happens to achieve this power, then everyone entering idol churches will see spiders stretched out on the walls everywhere and dust lying on the idol in such quantities that neither the nose, nor the eye, nor any other part of the face is visible; and of the altars, only remnants remain of some, while most are destroyed, while others are surrounded on all sides by such tall grass that an ignorant person can mistake what he sees for a heap of rubbish. The reason is that before they could steal as much as they wanted and feed themselves by serving idols, but now why will they torture themselves? Sitting with idols and being exhausted, they do not expect any reward from them, because it is wood and stones, but the incentive to render feigned service to idols, that is, honor from the rulers, was destroyed when the kings became prudent and began to worship the Son of God. 8. This is not how it happens with us, but quite the opposite. When someone who agrees with us in confessing God ascends to the royal throne, then Christians are more indifferent to their affairs: they are so far from being strengthened by human honors; and when the wicked man gains power, pursuing us everywhere and subjecting us to countless disasters, then our position becomes excellent and more brilliant, then the time of valor and trophies, then the opportunity to achieve crowns, praises and all distinctions. If someone says that even now there are cities that display the same superstition in the insane veneration of idols, then first of all he will count only a few and small ones, and besides, this will not weaken our words. The subject is the same, only instead of the king, the inhabitants of the city give them the same honor; and the reason for the service is feasts, drinking bouts all day and all night, flutes and timbrels, shameful speeches without any shame, and even more shameful deeds, bursting from gluttony, frenzy from drunkenness and falling into the most shameful rage; These shameful costs also support and preserve the falling delusion. The richest, gathering people who suffer from hunger due to idleness, keep them in the form of parasites and table-fed dogs, fill their shameless belly with the remains of their lawless feasts, and use them as they want. And we, having once and for all hated your madness and lawlessness, do not feed people who live in idleness and therefore necessarily suffer from hunger, but we convince them through their labors to provide support for themselves and others; We allow those who are crippled in body to enjoy only necessary food from sufficient people; and feasting, drinking, and all other madness and shamelessness have been banished from us, and instead, “whatever is honorable, whatever is pure, whatever is just, whatever is worthy of praise, whatever is worthy of praise” (Phil. 4:8). And everything else that is boastfully told about the philosophers who were with them proves their vanity, insolence and the properties of a childish mind. With us, no one imprisoned himself in a barrel and walked around the square wearing rags. Such actions, although they seem amazing and involve great labor and extreme suffering, do not deserve any praise. This is the evil of the devil: he betrays those who serve him to such labors that torment the deceived and make them ridiculous more than anyone else, since labor that does not bring any benefit does not deserve any praise. And now there are people who are spoiled and filled with countless vices, who show much more than that philosopher: some of them swallow sharp sharpened nails, others chew and swallow soles, others decide to do things even worse than these; but although this is much more amazing than a barrel and rags, we do not approve of this, just as we do not approve of that, and just like that philosopher we condemn and mourn both them and everyone who in vain commits such deceptions. But he showed great boldness before the king? Let's see if this great boldness is not emptyer than deception with a barrel. What kind of boldness? When the Macedonian went against the Persians and stood in front of him, urging him to declare whether he needed anything, he answered: nothing, except that the king should not shade him, since the philosopher was then basking in the sun. Aren't you ashamed? Are you not closing? Don't you go bury yourself somewhere in the ground, arrogant about something you should be ashamed of? Wouldn’t it be much better, having put on the clothes of an adult, to be active and then ask the king for something useful, rather than sit in rags and warm yourself, like small infants, whom their mothers, having washed and anointed, lay them down for the same purpose for which the philosopher sat then, asking for the mercy that a pitiful old woman could ask for? But perhaps his boldness is surprising? On the contrary, there is nothing stranger than him. A good person should do everything for the common good and to improve the lives of others; and the request that the sun not be blocked, has saved what city, what house, what man, what woman? Show the benefit of this boldness, as we showed it in relation to the martyr and in the future we will show it even more clearly. 9. Meanwhile (St. Babyla) punished the lawless man - as much as a priest can be punished - curbed the arrogance of those in charge, protected the laws of God from wavering, took revenge for the wickedly killed young man, the heaviest vengeance of all for those who have intelligence. You, of course, remember how at the time when I spoke about the murder, each of the listeners became inflamed and wanted to take the villain into their own hands. and prayed that an avenger of the murder would come from somewhere. This is what the blessed one did and imposed on him a punishment decent and sufficient to admonish him, if he were not completely insensitive; He did not ask the king to retreat and not to obscure the sun that warmed him, but he shamelessly intruded into the sacred fence and caused everything to be in confusion from the courts of the Lord, like some kind of obscene dog and slave. Do you see that I spoke without boasting, proving that the wondrous deeds of your philosophers - he denounced them as the deeds of a child’s mind? But, you will say, that Sinopian (Diogenes) was also chaste, and spent his life in abstinence, and did not even enter into legal marriage. Add: how and in what way? But you will not add this, but would rather deprive him of praise for his chastity than tell him what his chastity was like: it was so vile and full of great shame. I could point out the chatter of others, their empty and shameful deeds; In what respect is it useful, tell me, to feed on human seed, as the stagirite (Aristotle) ​​did? What is the use of mixing with mothers and sisters, as the leader of Stoic philosophy (Zeno) established? And about the head of the academy and his teacher and about others who are even more revered, I would prove that they are more shameful than these, and pederasty, which they consider something respectable and related to philosophy, I would have revealed, removing all allegories, if our word had not turned out to be too long, and had not rushed to another subject, and if the ridiculous sides of all of them had not been sufficiently exposed one by one. In fact, when the chief of them, whom philosophy was apparently stricter both in freedom of speech and in abstinence, is so shameful, absurd and immoderate (he said that eating human flesh is an indifferent matter), then what other conversations will we have with the others, if the one who stood at the head of this activity and shone more than others turned out to be so ridiculous, immature and unreasonable for everyone? Let us therefore return to what we departed from by talking about this. The blessed one thus curbed the infidels, and made the faithful more reverent, not only private people, but also soldiers, and military leaders, and city governors, showing that both the king and the last of all among Christians are only one name, and that the one who wears the diadem will be no better than the very last, when he must be exposed and punished. In addition, he stopped the mouths of all those shameless people who say that we are all boastful inventions, showing in practice apostolic boldness and teaching that in ancient times, without a doubt, there were the same men, when the manifestation of signs gave them even greater power. There is also a third important feat: among those who subsequently serve as priests and kings, he humbled the minds of the latter, and elevated them in the former, showing that the one who has received the priesthood is a more powerful guardian over the earth and over what happens on earth than one who wears the scarlet robe, and that it is necessary not to reduce the greatness of this power, but rather to renounce life rather than the rights that God from above has assigned as the lot for this power. A person who died in this way could benefit everyone after death, but someone who leaves his post not only does not benefit anyone after death, but during his lifetime makes most of those under his control weaker, and becomes an object of contempt and ridicule among outsiders. Having departed from here, he will appear before the throne of Christ with great shame and humiliation, and from there the forces assigned to him will again drag him into the oven. Therefore, a certain wise word exhorts: “Do not show partiality against your soul” (Sir.4:26). If it is not safe to be a hypocrite when a person is offended, then what punishment will not be worthy of the one who was silent and did not pay attention when the divine laws were insulted? At the same time, he taught another good lesson, no less than those - that everyone should do their job, even if no one benefits from it. And he himself did not bring any benefit to the king with his boldness, but he fulfilled all his work and did not omit anything. But the patient, through his own madness, ruined the doctor’s art, with great anger taking away the medicine for the wound. As if for wickedness it was not enough to kill and shamelessly invade the church of God - he added another murder to the murder, as if trying to surpass the first with the second and together overshadow the previous sufferings with the excessiveness of the subsequent ones (such is the fury of the devil - that he combines the opposite), and through this he gave both of these murders the peculiarity that there is some correspondence between them. The first murder, that is, of a youth, is more pitiful than the second; and the second, that is, blessed Babyla, is more criminal than the first. The soul, having once tasted sin and fallen into an insensible state, increases its illness more and more. Just as a spark that falls into a huge forest immediately ignites what it comes across, but does not stop at that one thing, but spreads to everything else, and the more it embraces with its flame, the greater the power it acquires to destroy the rest, so that many trees engulfed in fire become, as it were, an ambush for those who are embraced, because the flame in what is engulfed always finds a weapon against what is still remaining, such is the nature of sin: when it occupies the thoughts of someone's soul and there is no one who would stop this evil, then, extending further, it becomes more severe and difficult to eradicate; That is why subsequent sins are often more persistent than the previous ones, since the soul, from the addition of subsequent ones, becomes more and more puffed up with pride and contempt, and through this it weakens its own strength, and nourishes the strength of sin. So many, without noticing it themselves, fell into sins of all kinds, because they did not extinguish the beginning of the flame. So this unfortunate man added other, more serious sins to his previous sins. After he had killed that young man, he rushed from murder to insult the church, and from here again going further this way, he armed himself madly against the priesthood, and having bound the saint with iron bonds and throwing him into prison, thus took revenge on him, subjecting him to punishment for his good deed, and for which he should have been glorified, crowned and honored more than his parents, for which he forced him to endure the bonds of evildoers, subjecting him to suffering from these bonds. 10. Thus, as I said, sin, having begun and having no one to prevent it from going further, becomes indomitable and uncontrollable, like mad horses, which, having thrown the bit out of their mouths and throwing the rider backwards from their ridge, are uncontrollable for those they meet, and when no one stops them, in a disorderly rush they rush into the abyss. The enemy of our salvation drives such souls into a frenzy so that, having captured them in the absence of doctors, he can destroy them and subject them to countless disasters. Likewise, those who are sick in body, as long as they allow doctors to come to them, have much hope for recovery; but when, having fallen into madness, they begin to beat and bite those who want to cure them of the disease, then they become incurably sick, not due to the nature of the disease, but due to the absence of those who could save them from rabies. This (king) also brought himself into such a state: having met a doctor who wanted to heal his wound, he immediately drove him away and took him as far as possible from his home. Here it was possible not only to recognize the event with Herod by hearing, but also to see with the eyes to a greater extent, since the devil again brought him to the spectacle of life, only with greater solemnity and atmosphere, putting the king in the place of the tetrarch and instead of one guilt, giving the case a double content, much more vile, in comparison with the first, so that not only in the number, but also in the very nature of the actions, this tragedy became more brilliant. It was not the marriage that was insulted here, as it was there, and it was not out of lawless confusion that the evil one weaved this incident, but out of the most criminal desecration of infanticide, out of the cruelest violence and out of lawlessness, not in relation to the wife, but to the shrine itself. Thus thrown into prison, the blessed one rejoiced in his bonds, but grieved over the death of the one who bound him. Neither the father nor the teacher, when they acquire fame as a result of vices and failures - the first is his son, and the second is his student - does not experience pleasure from this fame that is alien to sadness. Therefore, Blessed Paul said to the Corinthians: “We pray to God that you do no evil, not in order to appear to us as what you ought to be; but that you may do good, even though we seem not to be what we ought to be” (2 Cor. 13:7). So for this wondrous man, what was more desirable than rewards for bonds was then the salvation of the student and that the student, having come to his senses, would deprive him of these praises, or better, that he would not fall into such depravity at all. The saints do not want their crowns to be woven from the misfortunes of others; if they don’t want it from strangers, then even more so from the misfortunes that happen to their own. That is why blessed David, after trophies and victory, lamented and cried, since this victory was connected with the misfortune of his son; and he commanded the departing military leaders many things in defense of this rebel; he restrained those who wanted to kill him, saying: “Save the youth Absalom” (2 Sam. 18:5), and when he fell, he mourned him and called on his enemy with groans and bitter tears. If a carnal father is so loving towards his children, then even more so is a spiritual father. And that spiritual fathers are more caring than carnal fathers, listen to Paul, who says: “Who is faint, with whom would I not faint? Who is tempted, for whom would I not be enflamed” (2 Cor. 11:29)? However, here equality appears to us; although (carnal) fathers can hardly utter such words, let us assume that they achieve even before this - and we need to prove something more. How can we prove this? With the same heart and words of the lawgiver (Moses). What did he say? “Forgive them their sin, and if not, then blot me out of Your book in which You wrote” (Ex. 32:32). No father, who can enjoy countless blessings, would wish to be punished along with his children; but the apostle, as one who lived under grace, even strengthens such love for the sake of Christ. He did not want to be punished with others like him, but prayed for his own destruction so that others could be saved, saying: “I myself would like to be excommunicated from Christ for my brothers who are related to me according to the flesh” (Rom. 9:3). Such is the mercy and compassion in the souls of saints! That's why St. Vavila was more and more tormented in his heart, seeing that the king was going further and further to destruction. And what he did, he did not only suffering for the church, but also out of a feeling of love for the king, because whoever insults the service of God does not harm him at all, but incurs countless disasters on himself. 11. Therefore, this child-loving father, seeing that the impudent man was rushing into the abyss in rage, tried to restrain his insane desire, like some unbridled horse, hastening to push him back with reproach. But that unfortunate man did not allow this; and, biting the bit and resisting, indulging in anger and rage instead of right thoughts, he threw himself into the abyss of extreme destruction; Having brought the saint out of prison, he ordered him to be taken bound to death. What actually happened was the opposite of what was visible. The bound one was freed at once from all the bonds, both iron and those that are even stronger, that is, from worries and labors, and from everything else that surrounds us in this perishable life; and the one who seemed free from iron and steel was subject to other heavier bonds, bound by the chains of sins. So, preparing to be killed, the blessed one bequeathed that his body should be buried along with iron shackles, indicating that even what seems shameful, when it is for the sake of Christ, is honorable and glorious, and that the one experiencing this not only does not need to hide, but also needs to boast about it. And in this he imitated blessed Paul, who showed his wounds, bonds, and chain on all sides, boasting and magnifying himself in what others were ashamed of. And that they were ashamed, he himself made clear to us with his defensive speech before Agrippa. When he said: “For a little while you are trying to make me a Christian,” Paul answered: “I prayed to God, both a little and a lot, not just you, but also everyone standing around, to be Christians, except in these bonds” (Acts 26:28-29); He would not have added this if this thing did not seem shameful to many. And the saints, loving the Lord, with great zeal accepted suffering for the Lord and became more joyful from it. So one says: “I rejoice in my sufferings” (Col. 1:24); and Luke says the same about the rest of the choir of the apostles: after many scourgings, they left, he says, “rejoicing, because they were deemed worthy to receive dishonor for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 5:41). So, so that any of the infidels would not think that his exploits were the result of necessity and humiliation, he orders the very signs of these exploits to be buried with the body, expressing that they are very pleasant and kind to him, due to his strong attachment to the love of Christ. And now these bonds lie along with his ashes, instilling in all the leaders of the churches that even if they had to be bound, or killed, or suffer whatever it was, they should endure everything willingly and with great pleasure, so as not to betray or shame the power entrusted to us in the slightest part. This blessed one ended his life so brilliantly! Maybe someone will think that here we will end the word - because at the end of life there are no reasons for exploits and courage, just as it is impossible to weave wreaths for wrestlers when the competition is over. But it is natural for pagans to think this way, who have limited their hope to this life; and we, for whom death here is the beginning of another most joyful life, are far from such an opinion and assumption. And that this is true, we will prove more clearly in another word; in the meantime, the deeds committed by the valiant Babyla after death are sufficient to give a lot of faith to our word. After he fought for the truth until death, and fought against sin until he bled, and in order not to leave the place that the great King had assigned to him, he gave his soul and died more brilliantly than any hero, heaven accepted him, and the body that served him in the struggle was accepted by the earth, and thus creation divided the ascetic. He might have been converted, like Enoch, or raptured, like Elijah, whom he imitated; but God, who loves mankind and gives us countless opportunities for salvation, along with other paths, laid out for us this one, sufficiently calling us to virtue, leaving for now the relics of the saints with us. And truly, after the power of words, the second place is occupied by the tombs of saints in arousing the souls looking at them to the same jealousy; and when someone appears somewhere before such a tomb, he immediately begins to clearly feel its effect. The sight of the tomb, penetrating the soul, amazes it, excites it, and brings it into such a state, as if the one lying in it praying together is standing in front of us and we see him; and thus the person who experiences this is filled with great jealousy and leaves from here, becoming a different person. Anyone can be convinced that the idea of ​​the dead is aroused in the souls of the living by the very places (their burials), if he brings to mind people crying, who, as soon as they approach the tombs of the dead, as if seeing those standing in the coffin instead of the coffin, immediately from the entrance they begin to call for them. And many of those possessed by unbearable sadness settled forever at the tombs of the dead, which they, of course, would not have done if they had not received some consolation from the contemplation of the places themselves. But what am I saying about the place and the tomb? Often one look at the clothes of the dead and one word from them that comes to mind excites the soul and restores the weakening memory of them. That is why God left us the relics of the saints. 12. And that I now say this without boasting at all, but did it for our benefit, is sufficiently confirmed by both the miracles performed daily by the martyrs, and the multitude of people flocking to them, no less so by the valiant deeds of this blessed one, performed after death. After he was buried, as he himself bequeathed, and a long time had passed after his burial, so that only bones and ashes remained in the tomb, one of the subsequent kings was pleased to move the tomb to this suburb - Daphne; it was pleasing because God moved the king’s soul to do so. He, seeing that this place had fallen into the hands of dissolute youths and was in danger of becoming inaccessible to more respectable people who wanted to live modestly, regretted his plight and sent him a protector from insults. God made this place beautiful and attractive both in terms of the abundance of waters, and in the beauty, and in the properties of the earth, and in the goodness of the air, so that we would not only rest here, but also glorify the excellent Artist for this; and the enemy of our salvation, who always cunningly turns the gifts of God into evil, having first occupied this place with a crowd of depraved youths and the dwellings of demons, also divulged a certain shameful fable about it, so that through it a pleasant suburb was dedicated to the demon. And the fable was the following. Daphne, they say, was a maiden, daughter of the river Ladon; imagining rivers as giving birth and transforming beings that are born into insensible things and inventing many such fables is always characteristic of those who are mistaken. This beautiful maiden, they say, was once seen by Apollo, and having seen it, he felt passion for her and in passion he chased after her to grab her, and she ran and, having reached this suburb, stopped; her mother protected her from such an insult, immediately opened her arms and accepted the girl, and in her place produced a plant of the same name; the rash lover, having lost the object of his love, began to hug the tree, appropriated both the plant and the place for himself, then sat constantly in this area and fell in love with it and became addicted to it more than any other place on earth; and then the then king ordered a church and an altar to be built for him, so that the demon could console his fury with this place. This is a fable; but the harm that came from the fable was no longer a fable. Since the depraved youths had already, as I said, desecrated the beauty of the suburb, spending time there in feasts and drinking bouts, then, wanting to strengthen such evil, the devil invented this fable and installed a demon, so that such a story would further inflame their debauchery and wickedness. To eliminate such evils, our king found the wisest remedy - to relocate the saint and send a doctor to the sick. If, by the command and authority of the king, the path to the outskirts of the inhabitants of the city was blocked, it would seem to be a matter of violence, or - better - cruelty and great rudeness; and if it were added that more modest and temperate people should come here, and the incontinent and dissolute would not be allowed in, then this command would be impossible to fulfill, since it would be necessary to conduct a trial every day, sorting out everyone’s life; the presence of the blessed one turned out to be the only excellent way out of these difficulties; (the king considered) the martyr strong enough to destroy the power of the devil and correct the depravity of the young men - and was not deceived in his hope. As soon as someone comes to Daphne and on the threshold of the suburb sees the church of the martyr, he immediately becomes more restrained, like some young man who at a feast saw his mentor standing nearby and with his gaze ordering with proper decorum to drink, and eat, and speak, and laugh, being careful not to disgrace his honor by transgressing the limit; and having become more reverent from this contemplation, and imagining the blessed one, he immediately hurries to the tomb, and having arrived there, he is imbued with even greater fear and, rejecting all frivolity, takes wings, and thus leaves. Those who are coming from the city, the martyr, meeting on the way, sends with such chastity to rest in Daphne, just not exclaiming to them with these words: “Rejoice in the Lord with trembling” (Ps. 2:11), and adding the apostolic word: “So, whether you eat, drink, or whatever you do, do everything to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). And those who, after eating food, return to the city, if they happen to absent-mindedly throw off the bridle and fall into intoxication or inappropriate intemperance, he, having received them again into his refuge drunk, does not allow them to go home with the harm of intoxication, but, having brought them to their senses with fear, returns them to the state of sobriety that they observed before falling into intoxication. Truly, it is as if a light breeze blows from everywhere on those present in the martyr’s church, a breeze that is not sensual and strengthens the body, but can penetrate into the very soul, improving it in all respects and casting away from it every earthly burden; he revives her, burdened and falling, and makes her lighter. 13. Daphne’s beauty attracts even the lazier; and the martyr, as if sitting on a trap and lying in wait for those entering, holds them for some time, and, having first put them in order, releases them so that afterward they no longer dissolutely, but honestly use their favorite place. Since some people, due to negligence, and others due to everyday worries, do not want to come to the tombs of the martyrs, God arranged for them to be caught in this way and receive spiritual healing; and it happens as if someone outwitted a sick person who was not taking useful medicines by mixing some kind of sweetness into the medicine. Thus, over time, those being treated come to such a state that not only pleasure, but also love for the holy becomes an incentive for many to travel to this suburb; or - better said - the more modest come here only for this one impulse, the less modest for both, and even more imperfect come here only for pleasure alone; but when they arrive, the martyr who called them and treated them with his blessings, having armed them well, does not allow them to feel anything bad. And the admonition of distracted and careless people accomplished here and, as it were, their removal from the midst of fury, is equally amazing, as if someone, having fallen into an oven, suffered nothing from the fire. When youth and reckless courage, wine and satiety engulf thoughts stronger than the flame, then the dew from the blessed, descending through the eyes into the soul of those who look, extinguishes the flame, stops the fire and irrigates the mind with great reverence. Thus the blessed one crushed the violence of debauchery; how did he extinguish the demon's power? By this, he first of all made both his presence and the harm from the fable ineffective, and then expelled the demon himself. But before talking about the method of expulsion, I ask you to notice that he did not expel him immediately upon his arrival, but made the one who remained inactive, blocked his mouth and showed him more mute than stones; to overcome what remained of him was no less important than to expel him. He who had deceived everyone everywhere before did not even dare to look at the ashes of blessed Babyla; such is the power of the saints: during their lives neither their shadows nor their clothes can be endured, but after death even their tombs tremble! And if anyone does not believe the deeds accomplished by the apostles, seeing the present, let him stop his shamelessness. The one who from time immemorial conquered everything among the pagans, having received a prohibition from the martyr as from a ruler, stopped his barking and did not make a sound. At first, of course, it seemed that he was doing this because he did not receive sacrifices and other services. This is precisely the property of demons that when they are served with the stench of victims, smoke and blood, they come to lap up like bloodthirsty and voracious dogs; and when no one delivers this to them, it is as if they are dying by some kind of hunger. When sacrifices and shameful initiations into the sacraments are performed - and their sacraments are nothing more than obscene love affairs, child molestation, violation of marriages, destruction of families, not to mention this time about criminal methods of murder and more murders and lawless suppers - when this is done, then they are present and rejoice, even if those who commit it were villains, or deceivers, or the plague (itself); or better yet, no one else performs this service. A prudent, meek and honest person will not tolerate disorderly conduct and drunkenness, and will neither speak shameful words himself nor listen to any other such shameless person. In fact, if the devil cared about human virtue and, although he paid little attention to the well-being of those who cling to him, then, of course, he would not seek anything other than a good life and purity of morals, and would abandon all shameful feasts; but since for demons there is nothing dearer than human destruction, it is understandable that they both delight in and are revered by the fact that they usually pervert our lives and destroy everything that is good from the very foundation. 14. So at first it seemed that this (demon) was silent for the same reason, but later he was convicted that he was bound by strong necessity. The strong fear that attacked him, like some kind of rein, prevented him from using ordinary seduction against people. How is this known? Don't be embarrassed; I proceed to the proof itself, after which it will be impossible for those accustomed to shamelessness to reject with the same shamelessness either the ancient miracles, or the strength of the martyr, or the weakness of the demon. I have no need to explain this with any assumptions and probable arguments, but I will present evidence of this from the demon himself. He himself dealt you a mortal blow and stopped all your insolence in speeches. But don't be angry with him; He did not destroy his affairs voluntarily, but was forced to do so by a higher power. How did this happen and in what way? When the king who suffered the martyr died, then his brother was declared the successor to this power by the one who had previously given this honor to the first; however, this one also receives royal power without a diadem, because the same degree of power belonged to the deceased brother. Being a deceiver and a wicked man, he 12 at first pretended to think in a Christian way for the sake of him who gave him power; and when this one ended his life, then, finally throwing off the mask, with an open head he declared and made known to everyone the superstition that he had secretly held for a long time, and sent orders throughout the entire universe to renew churches of idols, restore altars, give ancient honors to demons and bring them great incomes from many places. Therefore, wise men, sorcerers, fortune-tellers, observers of the flight of birds and monthly changes, and producers of all kinds of magic flocked from everywhere in the universe, and one could see the royal palaces filled with dishonest and fugitive people. And those who had long languished with hunger, and those who were caught in the preparation of poisons and in atrocities, and those who lived in dungeons, and those who worked in mines, and others who could barely live by shameful trades, suddenly finding themselves as priests and hierophants, were in great honor. The king removed and disparaged military leaders and rulers, and took depraved men and prodigal women out of the houses where they had previously lived and took them with him throughout the city and alleys. The imperial horse and all the squires followed behind at a great distance; and the keepers of harlots and procurers, and the whole dance of libertines, surrounding the king who was among them, walked around the market, uttering such words and laughing as is typical for people of this craft. We know that our descendants will find this incredible in its excessiveness and inappropriateness: after all, even a private person from people leading a low and shameful life would not want to commit such outrage in public. But to those who are still living, I don’t need to say anything; they were present and saw these events, and they are now listening to this story. That is why I am describing this in front of living witnesses, so that no one would think that I am lying with great boldness, talking about ancient things in front of those who have not seen it. Of those who saw this, both old men and young men are still alive; I ask them all, if anything has been added by me, to come up and reprove me. But they can’t accuse me of additions, but only of omissions, because it is impossible to convey in words all the excessiveness of its ugliness. To those who will not believe after this, I would say that your demon, whom you call Aphrodite, is not ashamed to have such servants; Therefore, it is not at all surprising that this unfortunate man, having once given himself up to the ridicule of the demons, did not hide the fact that the gods he revered boasted about. What about calling the dead and killing children? These sacrifices, which they dared to make before the coming of Christ, and after His appearance ceased, (the pagans) again had the audacity to offer, although not openly, since, although he was a king and did everything with his authority, the excessive criminality of these actions exceeded the greatness of his power; however, they dared to do this. 15. This king, who constantly went to Daphne with many gifts and many sacrifices and shed streams of blood from killing animals, pressed hard on the demon, demanding a prediction and asking him to say what was on his mind. But that sage, who, as they say, knows the number of sand and the volume of the sea, understands the dumb and hears the one who does not speak, declined to say directly and openly (on the grounds) that he could not speak, since his mouth was blocked by Saint Babyla and the power emanating from his neighbors; fearing to become ridiculous to his admirers, but wanting to cover up his defeat, he offered such an excuse for silence, which made him funny more than the silence itself. By doing so, he would only have revealed his weakness, but now he showed weakness, vileness, and shamelessness, trying to obscure what cannot be obscured. What is this excuse? Daphne's place, he said, is filled with the dead, and this prevents divination. How much better would it be, O unfortunate one, to confess the strength of a martyr, rather than to make excuses so shamelessly? This is what the demon did; and the reckless king, as if amusing himself on stage and performing a performance, immediately rushed towards blessed Babyla. But, vile and despicable ones, did you not deliberately deceive each other and pretend to the destruction of others? Why do you (the demon) speak namelessly and vaguely about the dead, and you (the emperor), as if having heard a specific instruction by name, leaving the others, bother only the saint? According to the demon’s saying, all the coffins located in Daphne should be dug up and this monster should be sent as far as possible from the gaze of the gods. - “But he wasn’t talking about all the dead.” - So why didn’t you express this directly? He probably asked this riddle to you, who is putting on a deceptive show. I, he said, am talking about the dead so that my defeat does not become obvious, and besides, I am afraid to call the saint by name; but you understand what has been said, and instead of everyone, bring up a martyr, because he blocked our mouths. He knew that the madness of his admirers was so great that they could not understand such an obvious deception; if everyone went into a frenzy, if they went crazy, and in that case this defeat would not remain incomprehensible: it is so clear and obvious to everyone! If the dead bodies of people, as you say, are some kind of filth and abomination, then even more so the corpses of animals, how much more despicable is this race than the human race; and near the church were buried the bones of many dogs, monkeys, and donkeys; they needed to be moved more, unless you consider people more despicable than monkeys. Where are those now who insult the beautiful creation of God - the sun, created to serve us, attributing this luminary to a demon and even calling him a demon? The sun pours its light throughout the universe, although countless dead lie in the ground, and nowhere does it hide either its rays or their power due to desecration; but your god does not turn away and does not hate shameful life, sorcery and murder, on the contrary, he loves them, and rejoices, and is well pleased about them, but he turns away from our bodies, while every kind of evil to those who commit it seems worthy of endless condemnation, and a dead and motionless body is not subject to any reproach or guilt. But such is the mood of your demons that they abhor that which is not vile, but honor and approve that which is worthy of all hatred and disgust. A good person will not encounter obstacles from a dead body, either from wanting something useful or from doing anything that should be done, but if he is sound in soul, then, living near the graves, he will show chastity, justice, and all virtue. And every artist will freely do everything that relates to his art and offer it to those in need, not only sitting near the dead, but even if he had to build the very tombs for the dead; also the painter, and the mason, and the carpenter, and the coppersmith, and all perform their work; Only Apollo of all says that the dead prevent him from seeing the future. And we had great and wondrous men, who predicted the future four hundred and thousands of years in advance, and while predicting, they did not demand anything of this, did not condemn, did not order to tear open the coffins of the dead and throw out the lying ones, did not invent a strange and shameless method of digging up tombs; but some of them, living among godless and wicked peoples, and others being among the barbarians, where everything truly worthy of disgust and disgust was done, truly predicted everything, and the uncleanness of others did not in the least hinder them in their prediction. Why is this? Because if they said anything, they spoke according to the action of truly divine power; and the demon, as not involved in this action and deprived of it, could not predict anything; but in order not to appear helpless, he necessarily presents only probable, albeit ridiculous, pretexts. In fact, tell me, why did he never say or proclaim anything like that in the past? Because then he had the excuse that he was not revered; and when his excuse was taken away, he resorted to the dead, fearing that he might suffer something. He did not want to be put to shame, but you forced him to do so, taking away his justification through many services and leaving him no opportunity to hide behind the lack of sacrifices. 16. Hearing this, the hypocrite (Julian) ordered the tomb to be taken away so that the defeat would become clear and known to everyone. If he had said: because of the sacred, I cannot speak, but do not touch anything or disturb anything anymore, then this would only be known to his followers, who would be ashamed to convey it to others; and now, as if trying to expose his weakness, he forced them to do everything after which it was impossible for anyone to cover up what had happened. It was no longer possible to maintain the deception, because none of the other dead, but only one martyr, were transferred from there. And not only the inhabitants of this city, suburbs and villages, but also those who were far from these places, not seeing the standing tomb and then asking about the reason, immediately learned that the demon, asked by the king to give a prediction, answered that he could not do this until someone removed blessed Babyla from him. Meanwhile, you, worthy of ridicule, could have resorted to other tricks, which you often do, always inventing many tricks in difficult cases: so, you told the Lydian (Croesus) that by crossing the Alys River he would destroy the great state - and showed him at the stake; and on the eve of Salamis you used the same trick, and made a funny addition, because the saying: you will destroy the children of your wives was similar to the saying for the Lydian; and the addition: either when sowing Dimitra or when collecting it is very funny and similar to what jesters say at crossroads. But you didn't want it. It was possible to cover the word with ambiguity, because this is always characteristic of your art; but again everyone would insist, not understanding and demanding permission. You could also resort to the stars; and you do this often and are not ashamed and do not blush, since your speech is not to men with intelligence, but to brutes and even the craziest brutes; they were no wiser than the Hellenes, who listened to such sayings and did not escape deception. - “But they would understand the lie.” “In that case, you should have told the truth only to the priest, and he would have been better able to cover up the defeat than you; and now who convinced you, unfortunate one, to plunge yourself into such obvious shamelessness? But perhaps you are not at all to blame, but the king misinterpreted it, because, having heard vaguely about the dead, he focused on only the saint. Yes, he exposed you and discovered the deception, but of course not intentionally, since it was impossible for one and the same person to honor you with such sacrifices and, on the other hand, to insult the same person. No, all of you together were darkened by the power of the martyr and did not allow you to understand what was happening; and although everything was done as if against Christians, the ridicule was directed not at those suffering ridicule, but at the scoffers themselves. Just as crazy people always imagine that they are taking revenge on their neighbors, striking the walls and threatening those present with possible and impossible disasters, but by their actions they are disgracing not them, but themselves - this was certainly the case then. The tomb was drawn all the way, and the martyr, like some athlete, returned with the second crown to his city, in which he was crowned with the first. Thus, if anyone does not allow the resurrection (of the dead), then let him finally be ashamed, looking at the brilliant deeds of this martyr after his death. He, like some kind of hero, added trophies to trophies, great ones and amazing ones. In fact, then he fought with only the king, and now with both the king and the demon; then he drove the ruler away from the sacred fence, and now he drove the destroyer away from the entire area of ​​​​Daphne, not using his hand as before, but defeating the invisible with invisible force. During his life, the murderer could not bear his boldness, and after his death neither the king nor the demon who urged the king to do this could bear his ashes. And that he struck these latter with greater fear than the former is evident from the following: he took him, tied him up and killed him, and these only carried him (his body). Why didn’t he command, nor did he want to drown the tomb? Why didn’t he crush it and burn it? Why didn’t he order her to be taken to the desert and uninhabited place? If it was an abomination and filth, and if out of disgust, and not out of fear, he moved it from there, then this abomination should not have been brought into the city, but removed to the mountains and forests. 17. But this unfortunate man, no worse than Apollo himself, knew the strength of the blessed one and his boldness before God, and was afraid that, by doing this, he would incur lightning or some other disaster. He had many proofs of the power of Christ, manifested both on those who reigned before him and on those who then ruled his state with him. Of those who reigned before, those who dared to do this, after many unbearable misfortunes, ended their lives shamefully and pitifully; for example, while still alive, the pupils of one’s eyes popped out of their own accord - this was Maximin; another went crazy; the third suffered another similar misfortune, and thus died. And of those who lived with him at that time, his paternal uncle, who more frivolously raged against us and dared to touch the sacred vessels with unclean hands, and, not content with this, went even further in desecration (he turned them over, placed them on the floor and spread them out, and sat down on them) - was immediately punished for this criminal sitting. Worms arose in his rotten private members - and so it was obvious that this disease was sent down from God; doctors, slaughtering fat and foreign birds and applying them to infected members, caused worms; but the worms did not leave, but stubbornly remained in the rotten members, and thus, exhausting him for many days, they cruelly destroyed him. And another person, appointed guardian of the royal treasures, before crossing the threshold of the royal palaces, suddenly burst in the middle, suffering punishment for some other similar crime. Imagining all this and more (now is not the time to list everything) in his mind, the wicked man was afraid to extend his insolence further. And that I am not saying this now on my own behalf will be obvious to us from what he did after that; but for now we will stick to the order of events. What happened next? This is an amazing thing, showing not only the power, but also the ineffable love of God. The holy martyr was inside the sacred enclosure, in which he had been before coming to Daphne, and the crafty demon immediately realized that he was in vain inventing seductions and that he was fighting not with the dead, but with the living and active, with the one who is stronger not only than him, but also all demons (the martyr). Having begged God to send fire to the church, they burned the entire roof together, and having destroyed the idol down to the ends of its legs and showing that it was ashes and dust, they left the walls standing intact. And if someone came to that place now, he would not say that this incident was the work of fire; the fire was not random and definitely did not come from a soulless substance, but as if some hand was guiding the fire and indicating what should be spared and what should be destroyed - so harmoniously and skillfully the church was opened, and it became like not just burned buildings, but those whose fences were in proper shape, and only the roof was missing. Everything else, and the columns, both supporting the roof and the vestibule, all stood, except one at the rear of the building; but this one was not just given over to destruction then, but for a reason that we will talk about later. When this happened, they immediately took the priest of this demon to the court and forced him to name the culprit; but since he could not, they tortured him and gave him many blows; and then, lifting him into the air, they scraped his sides, but they did not find out anything more, but what happened was similar to what happened at the resurrection of Christ. And then soldiers were appointed to guard the body of Jesus, so that, as they said, the disciples would not be able to steal; but things turned out in such a way that there was not even a shameless excuse left for those who wanted to damage faith in the resurrection. And here the priest was brought in to testify that the incident was not a matter of the wrath of God, but of human malice; but, amid torture and torment, unable to betray anyone, he testified that the fire was sent from God, so that there was no longer any reason left for those who wanted to be shameless. But now is the time to say what I wanted to say now, but put it off. What exactly? The fact that the martyr struck the king's soul with fear, so that he did not dare to reach out further. Probably he would not have subjected the priest, to whom he had previously shown such honor, such suffering for the sake of the roof and would not have torn him to pieces worse than a bloodthirsty beast - and he, perhaps, would have eaten his flesh, if only this had not seemed vile to everyone - but the saint who blocked the very mouth of the demon would not again be transferred to the city, so that he would be more honored. If not before, when the demon admitted his defeat, then after the fire he would have overthrown and destroyed everything, would have burned the tomb and both churches of the martyr, both the one in Daphne and the one in the city, if the fear had not been greater than the anger, and the horror had not exceeded the annoyance. After all, it is common for most people, when they are overcome by anger and sadness, and if they do not catch the perpetrators of suffering, to simply pour out their anger on those who come across them and are suspicious. And the martyr was not far from this suspicion, because at the same time he arrived in the city, fire descended on the church. But, as I said, passion fought with passion and fear exceeded anger. Imagine the state in which this good fellow was, entering the suburb, and seeing the church of the martyr standing, and the church burned, and the idol destroyed, and the sacrifices destroyed, and every memory of his own generosity and satanic pomp blotted out. Probably, even if at the sight of this neither anger nor vexation had seized him, he still would not have endured shame and great ridicule, but would have stretched out his lawless hands to the church of the blessed martyr, if what I said had not restrained him. Truly, the event was not unimportant, but it stopped all the insolence of the pagans, extinguished all their joy and brought upon them such darkness of despondency, as if all the temples had perished. 18. And that I am not saying this boastfully, I will cite as proof the very words of lamentation and the speech that the city sophist (Livanius) then composed about this demon. The beginning of the lament is as follows: “men, whose eyes, like mine, are covered with darkness, let us no longer call this city either beautiful or great.” Then, having mentioned and said something about the fable regarding Daphne (this is not the time to offer the whole speech, so as not to make the conversation too lengthy), he says that once the Persian king, having taken the city, spared the church; These are the words: “who led the army against us considered it best for himself to preserve the church, and the beauty of the statue prevailed over the rage of the barbarian; and now, oh, sun and earth, who or where is this enemy from, who, without heavily armed, and without horsemen, and without light troops, destroyed everything with a small spark? Then, showing that the blessed one (Bavila) defeated him when the affairs of the pagans especially flourished with sacrifices and rituals, he says: “Even that great flood did not destroy our temple, but in clear weather, when the cloud had already passed, it was overthrown,” calling the time of the former king a cloud and a flood. And again, a little further, he mourns the same thing even more sadly, saying: “later, when your altars thirsted for blood, you, Apollo, and neglected, remained the faithful guardian of Daphne; and sometimes being insulted and deprived of external adornment, you endured this; now, after many sheep and many oxen, having taken the sacred mouth of the king at your feet, having seen the one about whom you predicted, contemplated by this foretold, having gotten rid of the evil neighborhood of one dead man who was bothering you nearby, in the midst of very veneration you quickly departed; what else will we boast to people who remember your sacred rites and statues? What are you saying, lamentable singer? Subjected to dishonor and insults, he remained steadfastly guardian of Daphne; and, accepting honors and service, did not have the strength to preserve his own church, and, moreover, knowing that after its fall he would be subjected to even greater dishonor than before? Who, sophist, is the dead man who troubled your god? What kind of evil neighborhood is this? Here he, having reached the exploits of blessed Babyla and not being able to keep silent about his shame, simply closed himself and ran past. He said that the demon felt anxiety and embarrassment from the martyr, but did not add how the demon, trying to cover up his defeat, revealed it even more - that’s why he says simply: “having gotten rid of the evil neighborhood.” Why don’t you, idle talker, talk about the dead man, who he was, why he alone bothered your god and why he alone was transferred? And why, tell me, do you call it an evil neighborhood? Is it because he exposed the demon's deception? But this is not the work of some evil neighbor, nor is it not a dead one, but a living, active, kind, patronizing, caring and taking all measures for your salvation, if only you wanted. And so that it would no longer be possible for you to deceive yourselves and say that the demon, angry and complaining about the lack of victims and remaining dissatisfied with the other service, withdrew voluntarily, for this purpose the martyr drove him out of this entire place, which was most kind to him and which he so much preferred to the others that he sat in it, being dishonored. You yourself warned about this, saying: “and at such a time when the king slaughtered many sheep and many oxen for him,” so from all sides it becomes clear that he left Daphne, forced and driven by a greater force. It was possible to drive him away and leave the idol intact, but you would not believe it, just as you did not believe it before, when he was bound as a martyr, stubbornly continuing to serve. Therefore St. The martyr, having first left the idol standing, then overthrew it when the flame of wickedness rose high, showing by this that the winner needs to win in this way, not by overcoming enemies who are subdued, but by those who are arrogant and rejoicing. Why didn’t he himself then command the king, who was leading him into Daphne, to destroy the church and move the idol, as they moved his tomb? Because he did not suffer harm from him, did not have any need for bodily help, but both then and now he overthrew him without a human hand. He did not reveal his first victory to us, but only stopped (Apollo’s) mouth and calmed down. Such are the saints: they only want to fulfill what is necessary for the salvation of people, and not yet announce themselves to the people that these are their exploits, unless some necessity forces them; I again call care for those being saved a necessity, as it was then. Since the evil of seduction intensified, victory is finally revealed to us, but it is revealed not by the winner, but by the vanquished themselves. So this testimony became undoubted for the enemies, when the saint, even when the need arose, avoided talking about himself; and since the error did not stop in this way, but the most insensitive stones still stubbornly continued to call on the vanquished and remained blind to such an obvious truth, then, of necessity, fire was sent down on the idol, in order through this fire to extinguish another fire - idolatry. 19. So, why do you reproach the demon, saying: “in the midst of veneration, you quickly left”? He did not leave voluntarily, but was driven out and ejected against his will and under duress when he especially wanted to stay both for the sake of smoke and for the sake of victims. Indeed, the then ruler, as if he reigned for this purpose, was to exterminate the animals of the entire universe, so mercilessly slaughtered sheep and oxen at the altars and reached such a frenzy that many of their revered philosophers called him a cook, a butcher, and similar names. From such a rich meal, and the stench of the victims, and the smoke, and the streams of blood, the demon would not have left voluntarily, who, even without this, as you say, remained there out of mad passion for his beloved. However, stopping our speech for now, let us then listen to the sophist’s lament. Leaving Apollo, he again turns to Zeus with cries, saying: “Why, oh Zeus, have we lost a refuge for a suffering soul; how free is the area of ​​Daphne from noise, and even freer is the church, like a pier within a pier, built by nature itself; both of them are free from worries, but the second one brings even more peace; who did not get rid of illness there, who did not get rid of fear, who did not get rid of sorrow, who would wish for the islands of the blessed”? What refuge have we lost, O wicked one? Is this church more free from noise and what kind of undisturbed pier is there where there are flutes, tympanums, riots, feasts and drinking bouts? Who hasn’t gotten rid of a disease there, he says? But who among those who were loyal to you did not receive illness there, although he was previously healthy, and, moreover, the most severe illness of all? Whoever worships the demon and listens to the fable of Daphne and sees such fury of God that even after the disappearance of his beloved he still sits in that place and by the same tree, what flame of fury, what storm, what confusion, what illness, what passion will not receive from here? Is this what you call a refuge for the soul and an untroubled haven? Is this a way to get rid of diseases? And is it surprising that you add contradictions to contradictions? After all, those who are in a frenzy do not understand the properties of any of the objects as they are, but pronounce judgments that are contrary to reality. “The Olympic Games are not very far away,” I will again turn to his lament, in order to show what a blow all the pagans living in the city received at that time, and how the king would not have endured this with meekness, but would have poured out all his anger on the tomb of the martyr, if a stronger fear had not held him back. What does he say? “The Olympics are not very far away; this festival will convene the cities, which will come bringing oxen as sacrifices to Apollo. What are we going to do? Where shall we hide? Which god will open the earth for us? What herald, what trumpet will not cause tears? Who will call these Olympic Games a holiday when recently such a misfortune has struck (us) with grief? Give me onions and bread for the day, says tragedy; and I say: and a little insight, so that some will catch, and others will shoot the one who did this. O impious insolence! O unclean soul! Oh, impudent hand! This is some other Tityus, or Idas, the brother of Lynceus, but not great like that one, and not an archer like this one, but knowing only one thing - to be mad against the gods. You restrained the sons of Aloi, who were still plotting against the gods, by death, Apollo; but this one, carrying fire from afar, was not met by an arrow, hitting him in the very heart. O fierce right hand! Oh, unjust fire! Where did he fall first? What was the beginning of evil? Having started with the roof, did he move on to the rest, to that head, to the face, to the cup, to the diadem, to the robe that extended to the toes? Ifestus, the keeper of fire, did not threaten the destroying fire, although he should have thanked this god for the ancient instruction; but Zeus, who controls the rains, did not send water to the flames, although he once extinguished the fire for the king of the Lydians, who was in misfortune. What was the first thing the person who undertook this war said to himself? Where does such audacity come from? How did he maintain his excitement? How did you not abandon your intention, being ashamed of the beauty of God? How long will you, unfortunate and pitiful, not see the essence, calling this the work of a human hand and, like crazy people, contradicting and opposing yourself? If the king of Persia, who led a huge army, took the city, burned other churches, held a torch in his hands and was already planning to bring it to this church, the demon changed his intention (after all, you said this at the beginning of your lamentable speech, saying this: “the king of Persia, the ancestor of the one who is fighting with us, who took the city by treachery and burned it, who arrived in Daphne to do the same, this god changed intention, and he, throwing the torch, bowed to Apollo; so he tamed him and changed his appearance") - if he overcame the barbarian fury and such an army, as you say, and was then able to avoid danger (and you also say that he restrained the sons of Aloi, who were plotting intrigues against the gods, by death), - how did he, who had so much strength, not do anything like that now? Meanwhile, if no one else, then the priest, who was tormented unjustly, should have taken pity and revealed the culprit. And if then he escaped during the fire, then when that unfortunate man was hanging and suffering the scraping of his sides and being interrogated about who did it, he could not say, then it was necessary to present and hand over the culprit, or at least only indicate if there was no longer the power to hand him over; and now he, ungrateful and unreasonable, neglects his servant, unjustly tormented, and ignores the king, exposed to ridicule after so many sacrifices. Truly, everyone laughed at him as if he were mad and mad when he poured out his anger on that unfortunate man. How is it that the one who predicted the arrival of the king, who was still far away (and you said this above in your lament), did not see him standing close and burning him? You say that he is a soothsayer, dividing other arts among your other gods, just as between people; to this you have attributed the art of divination, and yet you do not ask him to give you this art. How did he not recognize his own misfortunes, although this would not have been hidden from a person? Was he asleep when the fire was lit? But there is no one so insensitive as not to immediately stand up when a flame is brought to him, and not to delay the offerer. Truly, the Hellenes are always children, but the Hellenes do not have a single elder. It would be appropriate to mourn your own madness, namely, that even when the very deeds cry out for the deception of demons, you do not lag behind, but, betraying yourself to destruction and losing your salvation, strive like animals, where you are ordered to strive, and sit, mourning the destruction of idols; and you still demand a bow, no different from the one who says this in the tragedy. Is it not clear and obvious madness to expect any success from a weapon that did not bring any benefit to those who had it? If you yourself say that you have more art and experience than the demon, then you should not honor him as less knowledgeable and weaker in what you consider him to be the strongest in. And if you concede primacy to him both in shooting and in prediction, then how could you hope to do with a piece of knowledge what someone with the whole knowledge could not? 20. This is funny and nonsense. He did not have the gift of prediction at all, and even if he had, he would not have succeeded. It was not man, not man, who did this, but some divine power. I will tell you the reason later; in the meantime, it is useful to find out why he accuses Ifestus of ingratitude, in these words: “Ifestus, the keeper of fire, did not threaten the destroying fire, although he had to give thanks to this god for the ancient instruction.” What gratitude? What ancient instruction? Tell. Why do you hide the venerable deeds of your gods? After all, if you had even spoken about the service itself, you would have shown Iphaestus’ ingratitude even more. But you are ashamed and blushing - so we can boldly say for you. What kind of service is this? They say that Ares once fell in love with Aphrodite, but fearing Iphaestus (who was her husband), ambushed his absence and came to her. Apollo, seeing them copulating, went to Iphaestus and reported about adultery, and this one, coming and finding both of them on the bed, tied them up as they were, and called the gods to a shameful spectacle, and thus punished them for adultery. Being grateful for this, he says, Iphaestus did not give thanks when circumstances required. What about Zeus, a wonderful man? And you also accuse him of cruelty. “And Zeus, who controls the rains,” you say, “did not send water to the flames, although he once extinguished the fire for the king of the Lydians, who was in misfortune.” You did well in reminding us of the Lydian, since this unclean demon deceived him too, arousing pride with empty hopes and plunging him into obvious destruction. And if Cyrus had not been philanthropic, then Zeus would not have helped that king at all, so in vain you accuse Zeus of preferring the Lydian to his son; he could not help himself either, being struck by lightning where he was revered more than all the cities, that is, in the city of Romulus. But let us listen to the rest of the words of lamentation: in this way we will well know the sorrow that gripped their souls. “Men, my soul is drawn to the image of God, and my thought presents to my eyes his image, the softness of his appearance, the tenderness of his skin, and, moreover, in stone, a belt that tightens the golden robe near the chest, so that some parts of it are hidden, while others are exposed. Whose whole appearance did not quell his seething anger? He was likened to someone singing a harmonious song, and someone heard him, as they say, playing the zither at noon. Happy ears! And this song, perhaps, was praise to the earth, to which, it seems to me, he also made a libation from a golden cup because it hid the maiden, opening and closing again.” Then, after grieving a little about the fire, he says: “the traveler cried out at the sight of the rising flame; the priestess of God living in Daphne’s grove was confused; blows to the chest and a piercing scream, strong and terrible, passing through a wooded area, reaches the city; the eyes of the ruler, having just tasted sleep, rose from their bed at the sorrowful word. He drove furiously, demanding the wings of Hermias, and he himself went to look for the root of evil, blazing inside no less than the church; meanwhile, the beams from the ceiling flew down, taking with them the fire, destroying everything they approached, Apollo immediately, as he stood not far from the roof, and then other decorations, statues of the Muses who were there, shiny stones, beautiful columns. The crowd stood around, screaming, but unable to help, as happens with those who see a shipwreck from the ground, from whom help is mourning what happened. The great cry, of course, was raised by the nymphs who came out of the springs, the great (cry) - and Zeus, who was nearby, as it should have been when the signs of veneration of his son were destroyed, the great (cry) - and the crowd of countless demons. living in the grove, Calliope raised no less a cry among the city when the director of the choir of the Muses suffered from the fire.” Then, towards the end, he says: “Be now, Apollo, as Chryses made you, who cursed the Achaeans, full of anger and like the night, because when we returned your jewelry and restored everything that had been taken away, then it was anticipated that we revered, as if some groom had left when the wreaths were already woven.” 21. This is the cry, or - better - a few parts of this cry. And surprise arises in me, how he thinks to exalt God with something that should be ashamed, imagining him at noon playing the zither no better than an intemperate and depraved youth, saying that the subject of the song was his beloved, and calling happy the ears that listened to the shameful song. That some of the inhabitants of Daphne and their neighbors cried, and the leader of the city became inflamed and did nothing more crying, this is not at all surprising; and that the gods themselves were in the same helplessness and only cried like them, and neither Zeus, nor Calliope, nor the great crowd of demons, nor the nymphs themselves could do anything about the fire, but everyone only raised screams and groans - this is very funny. So, what has been said sufficiently proves that they received a great blow, because in the midst of a lamentable speech he directly admitted that they were thus mortally struck. Therefore, the king would not have endured this with meekness if he had not been held back by stronger fear and trembling. Now is the time to point out the reason why God poured out his anger not on the king, but on the demon, and why the fire did not destroy the entire church, but, having destroyed the roof, destroyed the idol along with it. This was not done simply and not without reason, but everything was accomplished by God’s love for those who are in error. He, who knew everything before his existence, among other things, knew that if lightning had rushed towards the king, those present and those who saw the strike would have been afraid for a while, and after the second and third years had passed, the memory of the event would have passed and many would not have believed the miracle. And if the church is captured by fire, then it will clearly proclaim the wrath of God more clearly than any herald, not only to those who lived then, but also to everyone who follows, so that even those who want to be shameless and hide this event will be taken away from any pretext. Everyone who arrives at this place gets the impression as if the fire had happened recently, and some kind of horror comes over him, and, looking up at the sky, he immediately glorifies the power of the One who did it. Just as if someone, having destroyed a cave and the refuge of some leader of robbers, brings out bound the one who lived there, and, taking all his property, leaves that place as a refuge for wild animals and crows, then each of those who approach this refuge, looking at the place, imagines and imagines the raids and robberies, and the appearance of the one who previously lived in it - so it happens here. Seeing the columns from a distance, then approaching and crossing the threshold, they imagine the disgustingness of the demon, his seduction and intrigues, and they walk away, amazed at the wrath and power of God - so that the former home of error and blasphemy now becomes a reason for glorification: so wise is our God! And He performs such wondrous miracles not for the first time now, but from ancient times and from the first birth. Now is not the time to count everything, but I will remind you of what seems quite similar to this. During a war that once arose in Palestine between the Jews and some foreigners, the enemies, remaining victorious and taking the ark of God as spoils of war and the best part of it, dedicated it to one of the native idols - its name was Dagon. When the ark was brought in, the idol first fell and lay face down; but since they did not understand the power of the power of God from this fall, but having raised it again, they placed the idol in its place, then, coming the next day in the morning, they saw it not only having fallen, but completely broken. His hands, torn from his shoulders, were thrown onto the threshold of the church along with his feet, and the rest of the torn image was scattered elsewhere (1 Samuel 5). Also among the Sodomites - if you can compare the small with the great - for this purpose, together with the inhabitants, the land burned by fire perished and became barren, so that not only those who lived then, but also everyone after them, would be admonished by those places (Gen. 19). If the punishment were limited to people, then later they would not believe the event; therefore, a place is also hit, which can exist for a long time and reminds each of the coming generations that those who commit such deeds are required by law to endure such disasters, even if they do not immediately suffer punishment. This is already the twentieth year since that time, and nothing else from the building spared by the fire has perished, but the parts of it that escaped the fire stand firmly and firmly, and they are so strong that they will withstand a hundred years, and twice as much, and even much longer than that. And is it surprising that not one of the columns, separated from the other, fell to the ground? One of the columns, at the back side of the building, was only broken then, and it did not fall, but moved from its place and leaned against the wall, and remained there; and one part of it, from the base to the break, rested obliquely on the wall, and the other, from the break to the top, stood level, supported by the lower part. Although the winds often blew strongly at this place and there were earthquakes and the earth shook, the remnants of the flame did not shake, but stood firm, just not shouting that they were preserved for the admonition of future generations. 22. This, one might say, was the reason why not the entire church was destroyed by fire; and why lightning did not strike the king, the investigator can find another reason for this, coming from the same source, that is, from the goodness and love of Christ. Therefore, He turned the fire away from the king’s head and cast it onto the roof, so that the king, taught by the misfortunes of others, would escape the punishment assigned to him, changing and freeing himself from error. Not only this and not the first sign of His power did Christ give him, but in addition he gave him many others no less than this. So, both his uncle and the keeper of the treasures both lost their lives, and famine happened in the city immediately with him, and a lack of water, which had never happened before he began to make sacrifices at the springs, and much more besides this, which happened both in the army and in the cities, was enough to soften the stony soul, not only by its multitude and the fact that everything happened together and one after another and after insolence, as once under the king of Egypt, but also on their own. The miracles shown were such that one did not need the other to convert those who saw, but each of them in itself was able to produce this. Not to mention others, which of the people, not too insensitive, would not be struck by the sign shown on the foundations of the ancient temple of Jerusalem? What was it? This tyrant, seeing that the faith of Christ had spread throughout the entire region under his control, had already reached the Persians and other further barbarians, was again making progress further within them and occupied, so to speak, the entire sunflower, was tormented and annoyed and was preparing for war against the churches; but the unfortunate man did not understand that he was going against the grain. And firstly, he tried to restore the temple in Jerusalem, which the power of Christ had destroyed to the ground; the pagan served the cause of the Jews, wanting to experience the power of Christ through this. He called some of the Jews and ordered them to make sacrifices. because their ancestors, he said, performed divine services in this way; but since they resorted to the excuse that after the fall of the church it was not permissible for them to do this outside the ancient capital, he ordered them, taking money from the royal treasury and everything else that needed to be delivered for construction, to go and restore the church and return to the ancient custom of sacrifices. Those madmen, deluded from birth and in need of teaching until old age, went to assist the king; but as soon as they began to dig out the ground, fire burst out from the foundations and immediately destroyed them all. When this was reported to the king, he did not dare to extend his insolence further, because fear held him back; but he did not want to lag behind the delusion of the demons, having once submitted to them - however, he calmed down for now. When a little time had passed, he began the same futile work, no longer daring to build a church, but throwing arrows at us from other sides; For now, he hesitated to go into war openly, firstly and most of all out of the conviction that he would be taking on the obviously impossible, and secondly because he did not want to give us any reason to be crowned with the crown of martyrdom. Truly, it was unbearable for him and worse than any misfortune; if someone, brought out publicly, suffered torment for the truth to death; He showed such spiritual hostility towards us. He knew, truly knew, that if he had dared to do this, everyone would have given their souls for Christ; but, being evil and insidious, he everywhere released everyone who had been punished by the heads of the churches for some offenses and deprived of power, thus giving power to the most wicked people, subverting church laws and arming everyone against each other, since he hoped that it would be easy to finally catch them if they exhausted themselves in advance by war with each other. So one, deprived of church power both for the perversion of teaching and for a vicious life (his name was Stephen), he orders the teacher to be elevated to the throne again; and he tried to destroy the name of the Lord, as much as it depended on him, calling Galileans instead of Christians and himself in his decrees and commanding his superiors to do the same. Among those signs that I spoke about, revealed in famine and drought, he remained with the same shamelessness and hardness of heart. Then, undertaking a campaign against the Persians and speaking with such pride as if he would destroy the entire barbarian people, he threatened us with countless threats, saying that upon returning from there he would completely destroy everyone. The war with us, he thought, is harder than the Persian one, and we must finish that smaller one first, and then begin this larger one. This was told to us by those who participated in his intention. However, seething with anger against us and every day indulging in greater fury, he never stopped at the same thought, but, postponing his previous intention, again began to threaten us with persecution. But God, wanting to restrain and pacify his ardent enthusiasm, again showed a sign by sending fire to the church in Daphne. 23. Even so, he did not subdue his rage. but, tormented by the desire for our destruction, he did not even wait for the time he threatened, but, preparing to cross the Euphrates, began to experiment on the soldiers and, having seduced some few with flattery, he did not release those who resisted from the army, fearing that by releasing them he would weaken the troops against the Persians. Who will tell us what followed, much more terrible than everything that happened in the desert, and on the sea, and in Egypt, when the insensitive Pharaoh was punished and all (the Egyptians) drowned? Just as then the Egyptian, because he did not want to submit and become better in the face of any of these disasters, finally perished along with the army itself, so now, when the king stood shamelessly before all the wondrous works of God and did not want to take advantage of them, but remained incorrigible, God finally surrounded him with extreme disasters, so that if he did not want to come to his senses with the disasters of others, then others would become better from his sufferings. Having taken with him as many tens of thousands of warriors as any king had ever led, and hoping to take all of Persia in one raid and without difficulty, he acted as miserably pitifully as if he had with him an army of more women and small children, and not of husbands. And firstly, through his own imprudence, he brought them into such need that they ate horse meat and died, some dying from hunger, others from thirst. As if leading the Persians and trying not to capture them, but to betray his own to them, he imprisoned these latter in impassable places and, having just not tied them up, handed them over to the enemies. However, none of those who saw and experienced them can retell all the disasters that happened there: they exceed all probability. To put it briefly: when he fell in a shameful and pitiful manner - some say that he died, shot by one of the baggage servants, who was indignant at the state of affairs, and others say that they do not know his killer, but that he was wounded and asked to be buried in the land of Cilicia, where he lies now - when he fell in a shameful manner, the soldiers, seeing themselves in an extreme situation, turned to their enemies and, giving them oath - to cleanse the strongest fortress of all, which was like an indestructible wall of our entire country - thanks to the philanthropy of the barbarians, they thus escaped and returned from many, a few, and, moreover, exhausted in body, ashamed of the agreement they had concluded, but forced by the oath to retreat from their paternal property. And one could see a sight more deplorable than any captivity: the inhabitants of that city from those very ones from whom they hoped to receive gratitude for the fact that, like a fence, they provided security to everyone living inside (the state) and for everyone they themselves were constantly exposed to all dangers - from them they suffered hostile actions, being resettled in a foreign land, leaving their houses and fields and losing all their ancestral property, and suffering all this from their own. We received such benefits from the valiant king! This is said not without reason, but to resolve the bewilderment of those who ask why God did not punish the king from the very beginning? Because he wanted to keep him, who often went berserk, from further infatuation, and correct him through the misfortunes of others; but since he resisted, he gave him over to extreme disasters, leaving the true reward for his insolence until the great day, but with the present punishment rousing the laziest and making them more prudent. Such is God’s forbearance: it finally subjects those who do not use it properly to the most severe punishment, and just as it is useful for those who repent, so for the disobedient and stubborn it is a reason for greater punishments. If someone says: well, didn’t God foresee that this tyrant would be incorrigible? - then we will say that He foresaw, but He never ceases, out of the foreknowledge of our malice, to do His work, and, even though we do not accept the suggestions, He shows His own love for mankind. And if we indulge in greater evil; then this is no longer from Him, Who suffered long, not so that we might perish, but that we might be saved, but from us, who were proud against His inexpressible long-suffering. This is how the infinity of His love for mankind appears. When we ourselves do not want to take advantage of His great long-suffering, then He turns it to the benefit of others, everywhere showing both love for mankind and wisdom, as He did then. The tyrant thus ended his life, and the church and the church of the martyr stand as monuments to his fury and the strength of blessed Babyla, the first in desolation, and the latter with the same strength that it had before. The cancer of the martyr is again not transferred according to God’s dispensation, and in this case, so that those who come may be more clearly aware of the glorious deeds of the saint. Each of those coming from a foreign direction, approaching this place and looking for the martyr, and then not seeing him there, immediately goes to ask about the reason, and having thus heard the whole story, leaves, having received more benefit than before; Thus, by coming to Daphne and leaving her again, he makes the greatest acquisition. Such is the power of the martyrs, living and dead, both those who remain in places and those who leave them again. Truly, from beginning to end, the glorious deeds of this martyr followed in uninterrupted connection. Look, he stood up for the offended laws of God, and punished the murdered man as he should have; showed the difference between the priesthood and royal power, tamed all worldly pride and trampled upon everyday vanity, taught kings not to extend their power beyond the measure given to them by God, and showed the sacred persons how they should use their power. This and more he did when he was in the flesh; and when he reposed and departed, he destroyed the power of the demon, exposed the delusion of the pagans, revealed the idle talk of fortune-telling, crushed his mask and showed in nakedness all his hypocrisy, blocking the lips of the one who was apparently dominant in this matter and capturing him with great power. And now the walls of the church stand, proclaiming to everyone the shame, ridicule and powerlessness of the demon, the crowns, victory and strength of the martyr. Such is the power of the saints; it is so invincible and terrible - both for kings, and for demons, and for the leader of the demons himself. The time when the word was composed (apparently intended for reading, not pronunciation) is not known exactly; it can only be approximately assumed that it was in the year 382. Those. Julian the Apostate. You might be interested in: