Похвала египетским мученикам *7

In God-fighting Egypt there is an abundance of martyrs, so that he endows other countries with them. The relics of saints are better than weapons at protecting the city from visible enemies and can bend the angry God Himself to mercy. The severity of the torment. The torturers, with all their fury, not only did not steal the spiritual treasures of the martyrs, but even multiplied them. The devil multiplied the torment in order to overcome the ascetics, but God allowed this to glorify them more. The suffering of the martyrs in the mines, the most difficult in essence, is easy for them in their spiritual mood. The admonition is, looking at the martyrs, not to seek pleasures in this life, but through labors and sorrows to gain eternal blessings. 1. Blessed be God: from Egypt - martyrs, from God-fighting and most insane Egypt, from where - godless lips, from where - blasphemous tongues, from Egypt - martyrs, and not only in Egypt, and not in the nearest and neighboring country, but everywhere in the universe! Just as when the harvest of earthly products occurs, the inhabitants of cities, seeing that the fertility exceeds the needs of the inhabitants, send them to foreign cities in order to show their own friendliness and, together with the abundance of this, it is easier to acquire from them what they themselves need, so did the Egyptians with the ascetics of piety. Seeing that they, by the grace of God, had great abundance, they did not contain this great gift of God in their city, but spread their good treasures throughout the entire earth, showing their brotherly love, glorifying the common Lord of all, exalting their city before everyone and presenting it as the metropolis of the entire universe. Indeed, if empty and unimportant cases and services, useful to us only for this life, could bring such honor to many cities, then is it not most just that that city should achieve this advantage over all that has endowed others not with anything of this temporary and perishable, but with men who, even after death, bring great security to the cities that became their lot? Truly, the bodies of these saints protect our city more firmly than any adamantine and indestructible wall, and, like high rocks located on all sides, they not only repel the attacks of these sensory and visible enemies, but also the machinations of invisible demons, and all the cunning of the devil, they overthrow and destroy with such ease as a strong man overthrows and throws down children’s toys. The rest of the means used by people, such as walls, ditches, weapons, troops, and everything that is invented for the safety of the inhabitants, can be recaptured by enemies with the help of other, larger and stronger means that they have; but when a city is fenced with the bodies of saints, then the enemies, even if they have depleted countless riches, will not be able to oppose the cities that have these bodies with any such weapon. And not only against the machinations of people and against the cunning of demons is this treasure useful to us, beloved, but if our common Master were also angry with us for our many sins, then by offering these bodies in defense of ourselves, we would soon be able to bend Him to the mercy of the city. If those who accomplished great feats under our forefathers, offering in defense the names of holy men and resorting to the names of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, received some consolation, and from the remembrance of these names received great benefit, then much more we, offering in defense not only the names, but also the very bodies of those who labored, will be able to incline God to mercy, condescension and favor. And many of the local residents and newcomers from other places know that our words are not boasting; (they know) what the power of these saints is and will confirm what has been said, having experienced their boldness before God from their own experience; and very justly, because they did not just happen to fight for the truth, but so courageously and strongly resisted the swift and unbearable violence of the devil, as if they were fighting in stone and iron, and not in corruptible and mortal bodies, as if they had already been transferred to a passionless and immortal nature, not subject to bitter and regrettable bodily disasters. The executioners, like some wild, fierce and ferocious beasts, surrounded the bodies of the martyrs on all sides, dug through the ribs, tormented the flesh, opened and exposed the bones, and nothing stops them from cruelty and inhumanity; but even after touching the spine and entrails, and penetrating to the innermost parts, they did not go so far as to take away the treasure of faith hidden in them, and experienced the same as if some enemies, having besieged a royal city filled with great wealth and containing enough treasures, destroyed its walls and approached the very treasuries, broke down the doors, destroyed the locks, dug up the floor and, having searched everything, were unable to rob and carry away his wealth. These are the treasures of the soul: they are not betrayed during bodily suffering, when the soul firmly guards them, but even if someone tore the very chest and, grabbing the heart, tore it little by little, then it will not give up the treasure once entrusted to it by faith. This is the work of the all-arranging grace of God, which can accomplish wondrous things even in weak bodies. But here’s what’s even more surprising: those who went on a rampage not only did not steal any of the treasures hidden by the martyrs, but also encouraged the martyrs to keep them with greater firmness and made them themselves more famous and rich. Not only their soul, but their very body became a participant in greater grace, and not only did not lose, after frequent torment and cutting, the strength that it had, but also acquired greater and higher strength. What could be more amazing than this victory, when (the enemies) were unable to defeat those whom they held and had in their hands, and, having tied them up, tormented them at will, but on the contrary, they themselves were defeated by them in a pitiful and unfortunate way? They did not fight against them, but against the God who dwells in them; and everyone knows that it is quite necessary for someone who is at war with God to suffer extreme defeat, suffering punishment for just one undertaking. 2. Such are the victories of the saints. If their competitions and exploits are so amazing and extraordinary, then what can we say about the rewards and crowns prepared for them for their patience? They did not stop just before these torments and did not stop their course here, but their field extended even further: the evil demon expected that he would overthrow the ascetics with an increase in torment, but the man-loving God allowed and did not interfere, so as to show the fury of the unbelievers to everyone more clearly, and to weave the brightest and most numerous crowns for the ascetics. And as it happened with Job, that the evil demon asked God for great torment against him, hoping by increasing disasters to overcome the valiant ascetic of piety, and God allowed and deigned to these evil requests, making his ascetic even more glorious - so it was exactly here. After the (demon) more ferociously than any beast tore their body from all sides and stained his tongue and lips, if not with the blood of the saints, then with his inhuman and cruel sentences, he walked away, defeated by their patience, having been sufficiently satiated and satiated with this inhuman feast. Look at the patience of the saints, which satisfied such rage with their suffering. But he attacked again, furiously resuming the fight and trying to surpass all the animals with a different kind of cruelty. Animals, by natural attraction, rush to such a feast, and when they are satisfied, they leave, and then, even though they have seen thousands of bodies, they do not touch any of them; and this one rushed to such food out of the wickedness of his will, and, having had his fill of their flesh, weaved other intrigues against them, betraying the saints to the longest and most painful death: he ordered them to constantly work in the mines. Oh madness! Having received such clear proof of their courage and patience, he hoped in this way to overcome them. So, the saints, cohabitants of the angels, citizens of heaven, already inscribed in the highest Jerusalem, settled with the beasts, and the desert finally became more sacred than any city. In the cities, these lawless and cruel commands were boldly carried out every day, and the desert was free from this inhuman duty; the courts were filled with wicked actions and criminal orders, and the deserts had as citizens the most righteous of all people, who became angels from people, and the desert competed with heaven in the virtue of the citizens who lived in it. The torment in its nature was the most cruel, but according to the spiritual disposition of the ascetics, it became not difficult, easy and comfortable. It seemed to them then that they were seeing many times greater light, about which the prophet said that “the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter” (Is. 30:26); It seemed to them that they were already using this light, since no, there is nothing brighter than a soul that has been honored to endure for Christ something that seems terrible and unbearable to us. They thought that they had already moved to heaven and were rejoicing with the angels. And did they need heaven and angels anymore when the Lord of the angels, Jesus, was with them in the desert? If “where there are two or three congregations in His name, I am in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20), then much more He was in the midst of them, as not only those gathered then in the name, but also those constantly tormented for the name. You know, you know well, that there is no other punishment more cruel than this, and that those condemned to this punishment would prefer to suffer thousands of other deaths rather than endure the torment there. They were condemned to the mines, where they had to dig up copper, which was itself often more precious than gold and consisted of immaterial gold, dug not by the hands of the condemned, but found by the jealousy of faithful men; those who were filled with countless treasures worked in the mines. They saw something even more regrettable than such a life and the fulfillment on themselves of those stories about great men that Paul sets out when speaking about the saints: “they wandered about in mantles and goatskins, enduring shortcomings, sorrows, and bitterness; those of whom the whole world was not worthy wandered in deserts and mountains, in caves and caves of the earth” (Heb. 11:37-38). The same thing happened with our generation. So, beloved, knowing that both now and in ancient times, from the beginning of the human race, all the friends of God have inherited a life that is sad, difficult and filled with countless disasters, let us not strive for a life that is pampered, distracted and full of pleasures, but for a life that is regrettable, difficult and filled with sorrows and misfortunes. Just as a fighter cannot achieve crowns through sleep, laziness and pleasure, nor a warrior - trophies, nor a helmsman - a pier, nor a farmer - a full threshing floor - so a believer cannot receive the promised benefits by spending his life in carelessness. And wouldn’t it be unreasonable - in all everyday affairs to put labor before pleasure and danger before safety, and, moreover, when little and unimportant things are expected from these labors, and when heaven, angelic honors, endless life, being with the angels and blessings that cannot be imagined with the mind or expressed in words, hope for receiving them through carelessness, idleness and mental absent-mindedness, without even deigning them with the same care as the blessings of everyday life? No, I exhort you, let us not take such bad care of ourselves and our salvation, but, looking at these saints, valiant and patient ascetics, who have been given to us instead of luminaries, let us begin to conform our lives to their courage and patience, so that, upon relocation from here, through their prayers we can see them and welcome them, and be placed in their heavenly abodes, which may we all be worthy of by the grace and love of mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen. This word was probably pronounced in Constantinople, because the transfer of relics from Egypt, which gave rise to its pronunciation, could more likely have taken place in Constantinople than in Antioch. You might be interested in: