Conversation after the earthquake

The preacher's love for his flock. - The piety of the inhabitants of Antioch. - The fruits of enduring adversity. - How much better the believers became under the influence of repentance to which the earthquake prompted them. - Calming the wrath of God. “The vices of the rich brought this punishment, the virtues of the poor saved the city.” Although illness prevented us from participating with you in the spiritual celebration, the weight of the journey did not relax you. Although you came here with difficulty, tired and completely drenched in sweat, the verbal teaching turned my illness into health and made your work easier with chants. Therefore, I, myself suffering from illness, do not bind my tongue in silence, and you, tired, do not refuse to listen; but as soon as the word appeared, the labor departed, and as soon as the teaching was revealed, fatigue took flight. Illness and labor belong to the body, and teaching is the work and medicine of the soul; but as much as the soul is higher than the body, its deeds are preferable. Therefore, not only when illness interfered, but also when many other obstacles were encountered, I did not cease to be in unity with your love, and did not refuse to be at this wonderful holiday today. Hitherto we were nailed to the bed (of illness), but God did not allow us to become completely exhausted from hunger. Indeed, just as for you hunger is not to listen, so for me hunger is not to speak. Likewise, a sick mother often agrees to allow her child to be fed at her breast rather than see him languishing with hunger; let my (sick) body also be brought into tension. Who would not willingly shed his very blood for you, men who are flaming with such piety, such love of listening, and who show such repentance in a short moment of time? You do not know day and night, but you turn both times into day, not changing the air, but enlightening the nights with all-night vigils; you have sleepless nights, and the power of sleep has been transformed, since love for Christ has overcome the weakness of nature. You have freed yourself from the conditions of human bodily existence, imitating the (incorporeal) forces, demonstrating vigilant vigilance, constant fasting, such hard work of travel, hard work by nature, but rest by choice. Such is the fruit of fear, such is the profit from the earthquake, profit that is never lost, profit that makes the poor rich and enriches the rich even more; she does not know poverty, she does not know wealth. An earthquake occurred and removed the inequalities in life. Where are those who dress in silk now? Where's the gold? All this disappeared, dissipated easier than a cobweb and turned out to be more fleeting than spring flowers. But since I see your soul prepared, I want to offer you a hearty meal. I see that your bodies are tired, but your soul is blooming with youth. Your sweat flows profusely, but it clears your conscience. If fighters even shed their blood for laurel leaves, which are given today and wither tomorrow, then much more should you, who have entered the field of exploits, not shy away from the labors of virtue and not weaken. Your meeting is a crown for me, and one listener of you is equivalent to an entire city for me. Some filled the cups to the top, others instituted satanic feasts, others prepared a rich meal; and you performed such an all-night vigil and cleansed the entire city with the procession of your holy feet, re-pacing the square with your steps and making the very air holy. And the air becomes holy from the singing, as you heard today from God, who said to Moses: “For the place where you stand is holy ground” (Ex. 3:5). You consecrated the land and the square, and made the city a church for us. Just as a stormy stream, flowing and rushing with great swiftness, overthrows everything, so the spiritual stream, “the river of God, making glad the city of God” (Ps. 45:5, 65:10), was filled with waters and cleansed the filth of wickedness. There is not a single depraved person, or - better - if there is any depraved person, then he is corrected. He hears a voice, and his soul is transformed; singing begins, and wickedness is removed, the passions of greed are put to flight; if they do not take flight, then just as wild animals hide in their caves in winter, so the incontinent soul hides inside, and just as snakes, from the cold that binds their bodies, go into the deepest shelters, so these passions, ignoble and slavish, hide, as it were, in some depth. Without a doubt, those who carry these passions within themselves are ashamed of them: although they carry them, they are already dead. Instead of winter, our chants serve for them. This voice reaches the ears of a covetous person - and if it does not destroy passion, then it mortifies this passion; reaches the ears of a depraved and proud person - and if he does not kill voluptuousness and pride, then he hides this voluptuousness and pride. And it is no small matter if the vice does not manifest itself openly. I said yesterday that the fruits of the earthquake are great. Do you see the love of the Lord, shaking the city and strengthening the soul, shaking the foundation and strengthening the mind, showing the fragility of the city and making the will strong? Pay attention to His love for mankind: He shook for a short time - and established forever; an earthquake - for two days, but piety should remain for the entire time; You were not saddened for long, but were rooted forever. I know well that your piety took root from the fear of God; and if there is relief from the calamity, the fruit will remain. There will be no more thorns to overwhelm it, and no more heavy rain will drown it; Fear has cultivated you well, serving as my ally in words. I will remain silent, but the reasons speak; I will remain silent, but the earthquake, louder than a trumpet, raises its voice, saying: “The Lord is generous and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in mercy” (Ps. 102:8); - I came not to bury you under the ruins, but to strengthen you. This is what the earthquake says and exclaims: I have frightened you, but not to upset you, but to make you more attentive to yourself. Listen with attention to these words: since the conversation became powerless, punishment was announced; Since the teaching was weakening, fear came to the rescue. I came to tell you this briefly, and I am doing my job: when I bring you into contrition, then I will teach you a teaching, so that this teaching will not be powerless; Having found stones and growing thorns, I clear the field so that I can then scatter the seeds of teaching with a generous hand. Have you suffered any harm by being sad for a short time? You became angels from people, moved to heaven - not by place, but by morals. And that I do not flatter you when I say this, deeds testify. What do you lack for repentance? You rejected hatred, removed base passions, planted virtues, had the strength to spend the whole night in sacred vigil with great love and elevated spirits. No one remembers profits, no one talks about covetousness, and not only are the hands clean from sins, but also the tongue is free from lawlessness and slander; no one insults his neighbor, no one goes to satanic feasts; the houses are clean, the square is washed from uncleanness, evening comes, and nowhere are hosts of young men singing theatrical songs. Hosts gather, not for debauchery, but for good deeds; and in the square one can hear chants, and in houses they sit, some chanting psalms, and others sacred hymns; night falls, and everyone goes to church, this serene pier, a quiet refuge, free from waves. I thought that after the first and second day, insomnia would wear out your bodies; but now, the longer your sleepless vigil continues, the more your zeal increases. Your singers are tired, but you show youthful vigor; those who sing among you are weakened, and you are strengthened even more. Where are the rich now, tell me? Let them know the wisdom of the poor. They sleep, but the poor on earth do not sleep, but kneel, imitating Paul and Silas (Acts 16:25). They sang and shook the prison, but you sing and brought the shaking city to a motionless state. The endings of the actions are opposite, but both are for the glory of God. He (Paul) shook the prison to shake the soul of the unbelievers, to loose the jailer, to proclaim the word of God; But you brought the city to a standstill in order to stop the wrath of God; Both this and that are arranged in different ways, but I rejoice, not that the city came to a motionless state, but that it acquired this motionlessness with the help of your prayers, that your chants served as the foundation for it. There is anger from above, and your voice from below; the descending anger from above is restrained by a voice rising from below. The heavens opened, and a sentence was pronounced - a sophisticated sword; the city was to be leveled with the surface of the earth from the inevitable wrath. And we didn’t need anything except repentance, except tears and lamentations, and everything was stopped; God pronounced judgment, and we stopped His anger. It would not be a mistake to call you the defenders and saviors of the city. Where are the bosses? Where are the great guardians? Truly you are a fortress, a wall, and a guard for the city. They shook the city with their wickedness, but you strengthened the city with your virtue. If someone asked why the city shook, then, although no one would answer, there is no doubt that it was because of sins, for greed, for injustice, for lawlessness, for pride, for lusts, for lies. Who? Rich. Also, if someone were to ask why he received his immobility again, then there is no doubt that it was for chants, for prayers, for all-night vigils. Who is this? Poor. It is their business to shake the city, but to restore it to immobility is yours, so you have become its saviors and protectors. But here we will end the word, continuing all-night vigils and hymns and sending up glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. The conversation was delivered, one must think, in Antioch, which was often subject to earthquakes, especially during Chrysostom. When the earthquake mentioned in the conversation happened, Chrysostom was lying sick on his bed; but, burning with the zeal of teaching, he rose from his sick bed and delivered this conversation in one of the country churches. The year of utterance is unknown. You might be interested in: