I have adduced these instances not as though anointing your piety for endurance and courage by the example of brute beasts, but to console myself in my despondency, and to be assured that you will not leave Christ's flock without a shepherd when wolves make their attack, but will invoke the Lord of the flock to help you and will heartily do battle in its behalf. A crisis like this proves who is a shepherd and who a hireling; who diligently feeds the flock and who on the other hand feeds on the milk and thinks little of the safety of the sheep. "But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it." [1732] But one thing I do beseech your reverence, and that is to have greater heed of the unsound; and not only to strengthen the unstable but also to raise the fallen, for shepherds by no means neglect those of their flock who have fallen sick, but keep them apart from the rest, and try in every possible way to restore them, and so must we do. We must make them that are slipping stand up, and give them a helping hand and a word of encouragement. When they are bitten we must heal them; we must not give up the attempt to save them nor leave them in the devil's maw. Thus ever acted the divine Apostle Paul; and when the Galatians, after receiving the baptism of salvation, and the gift of the divine Spirit, fell away into the sickness of Judaism, and received circumcision, he wailed and lamented more exceedingly than the most affectionate mother, and tended them and freed them from that infirmity. We can hear him exclaiming, "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you." [1733] So too the teacher of the Corinthians, who had committed that abominable fornication, he both chastised as might a father, and very skilfully treated, and after cutting him off in the first Epistle, readmitted him in the second and says, "So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him and comfort him lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow." [1734] And again, "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us for we are not ignorant of his devices." [1735] In the same manner too those who partook of things offered to idols he properly rebuked, suitably exhorted, and freed from their grievous error.
Wherefore our Lord Jesus Christ permitted the first of the apostles, whose confession He had fixed as a kind of groundwork and foundation of the Church, to waver to and fro, and to deny Him, and then raised Him up again. And thus He gave us two lessons: not to be confident in our own strength, and to strengthen the unstable. Reach out, therefore, I beseech you, a hand to them that are fallen, "draw them out of the horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set their feet upon a rock," and "put a new song into their mouth, even praise unto our God," [1736] that their example of life may become an example of salvation, that "many shall see it and fear and shall trust in the Lord." [1737] Let them be prevented from participating in the holy mysteries, but let them not be kept from the prayer of the catechumens, nor from hearing the divine Scriptures and the exhortation of teachers, [1738] and let them be prohibited from partaking of the sacred mysteries, not till death, but during a given time, till they recognise their ailment, covet health, and are properly contrite for having abandoned their true Prince and deserted to a tyrant, and for having left their benefactor and gone over to their foe.
The same lessons are given us by the precepts of the holy and blessed Fathers. I write as I do, not to teach you piety, but to remind you as a brother might, knowing well that even the best of pilots in the moment of the storm needs monition even from his men. So the great and famous Moses, renowned throughout the world, who did those mighty works of wonder, did not refuse the counsel of Jethro, a man still sunk in idolatrous error; for he did not regard his impiety, but acknowledged the soundness of his advice. Moreover I implore your piety to offer earnest prayer to God in my behalf that for the remaining days of my life I may live in accordance with His laws.
Thus have I written by the most honourable and religious presbyter Stephanus, whom on account of the goodness of his character I have seen with great pleasure.
[1725] On the persecution in Persia see page 157.
[1726] Luke xxii. 31
[1727] 1 Cor. xii. 26
[1728] Eph. iv. 25
[1729] Col. i. 18
[1730] John x. 12, 13, 11
[1731] Heb. xi. 37, 38
[1732] 1 Cor. x. 13
[1733] Gal. iv. 19
[1734] 2 Cor. ii. 7
[1735] 2 Cor. ii. 11
[1736] Psalm xl. 2 and 3
[1737] Ps. xl. 3
[1738] "It is noticeable that with systematic discipline as to the persons taught, there was no order of teachers. It was part of the pastoral office to watch over the souls of those who were seeking admission to the Church, as well as those who were in it, and thus bishops, priests, deacons, or readers might all of them be found, when occasion required, doing the work of a Catechist. The Doctor Audientium of whom Cyprian speaks, was a Lector in the Church of Carthage. Augustine's Treatise de Catechizandis Rudibus, was addressed to Deogratias as a deacon; the Catecheses of Cyril of Jerusalem were delivered by him partly as a deacon, partly as a presbyter. The word catechist implies accordingly a function, not a class." Dean Plumptre in Dict. Christ. Ant. i. 319.
LXXVIII. To Eusebius, Bishop of Persian Armenia.
Whenever anything happens to the helmsman, either the officer in command at the bows, or the seaman of highest rank, takes his place, not because he becomes a self-appointed helmsman, but because he looks out for the safety of the ship. So again in war, when the commander falls, the chief tribune assumes the command, not in the attempt to lay violent hands on the place of power, but because he cares for his men. So too the thrice blessed Timothy when sent by the divine Paul took his place. [1739] It is therefore becoming to your piety to accept the responsibilities of helmsman, of captain, of shepherd, gladly to run all risk for the sake of the sheep of Christ, and not to leave His creatures abandoned and alone. It is rather yours to bind up the broken, to raise up the fallen, to turn the wanderer from his error, and keep the whole in health, and to follow the good shepherds who stand before the folds and wage war against the wolves. Let us remember too the words of the patriarch Jacob; "In the day the drought consumed me and the frost by night and my sleep departed from my eyes. The rams of thy flock I have not eaten. That which was born of beasts I brought not unto thee. I bare the loss of it. Of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night." [1740] These are the marks of the shepherd; these are the laws of the tending of the sheep. And if of brute cattle the illustrious patriarch had such care, and offered this defence to him who trusted them to his charge, what ought not we to do who are entrusted with the charge of reasonable sheep, and who have received this trust from the God of all, when we remember that the Lord for them gave up His life? Who does not fear and tremble when he hears the word of God spoken through Ezekiel? "I judge between shepherd and sheep because ye eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool and ye feed not the flocks." [1741] And again, "I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; when thou speakest not to warn the wicked from his wicked way, the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity but his blood shall I require at thine hand." [1742] With this agree the words spoken in parables by the Lord. "Thou wicked and slothful servant...Thou oughtest to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received the same with usury." [1743] Up then, I beseech you, let us fight for the Lord's sheep. Their Lord is near. He will certainly appear and scatter the wolves and glorify the shepherds. "The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him." [1744] Let us not murmur at the storm that has arisen for the Lord of all knoweth what is good for us. Wherefore also when the Apostle asked for release from his trials He would not grant his supplication but said, "My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness." [1745] Let us then bravely bear the evils that befall us; it is in war that heroes are discerned; in conflicts that athletes are crowned; in the surge of the sea that the art of the helmsman is shewn; in the fire that the gold is tried. And let us not, I beseech you, heed only ourselves, let us rather have forethought for the rest, and that much more for the sick than for the whole, for it is an apostolic precept which exclaims "Comfort the feeble minded, support the weak." [1746] Let us then stretch out our hands to them that lie low, let us tend their wounds and set them at their post to fight the devil. Nothing will so vex him as to see them fighting and smiting again. Our Lord is full of loving-kindness. He receives the repentance of sinners. Let us hear His own words: "As I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live." [1747] So He prefaced His words with an oath, and He who forbids oaths to others swore Himself to convince us how He desires our repentance and salvation. Of this teaching the divine books, both the old and the new, are full, and the precepts of the holy Fathers teach the same.
But not as though you were ignorant have I written to you; rather have I reminded you of what you know, like those who standing safe upon the shore succour them that are tossed by the storm, and shew them a rock, or give warning of a hidden shallow, or catch and haul in a rope that has been thrown. "And the God of peace shall bring Satan under your feet shortly" [1748] and shall gladden our ears with news that you have passed from storm to calm, at His word to the waves "Peace be still."
And do you too offer prayers for us, for you who have undergone peril for His sake can speak with greater boldness. [1750]
[1739] Cf. 1 Cor. iv. 17 and 1 Thess. iii. 2
[1740] Gen. xxxi. 40, 38, 39
[1741] Ezekiel xxxiv. 2, and cf. 17
[1742] Cf. Ezekiel iii. 17, 18. Quotations are apparently from memory.
[1743] Matt. xxv. 26, 27
[1744] Lamentations iii. 25
[1745] 2 Cor. xii. 9
[1746] 1 Thess. v. 14
[1747] Ezekiel xxxiii. 1
[1748] Rom. xvi. 20
[1749] Mark iv. 39
[1750] These letters on the Persian persecution might be placed anywhere while it lasted c. 420-450. Garnerius suggests 443. Eulalius and Eusebius are unknown.
LXXIX. To Anatolius the Patrician. [1751]
The Lord God has given your excellency to us to be at the present time a source of very great comfort, and has afforded us a meet haven for the storm. We have therefore confidence in informing your lordship of our distress. Not long ago we acquainted your excellency that the right honourable Count Rufus had shewn us an order written in the imperial handwriting commanding the gallant general to provide with prudence and diligence for our residence at Cyrus, and not to suffer us to depart to another city, on the ground that we are endeavouring to summon synods to Antioch, and are disturbing the orthodox. [1752] Now I make known to you that in obedience to the imperial letter I have come to Cyrus. After an interval of six or seven days they sent the devoted Euphronius, the commander, with a letter begging me to acknowledge in writing that the imperial order had been shown me. I therefore promised to remain in Cyrus and its adjacent district, and to tend the sheep entrusted to my care. I therefore beseech your excellency to make exact enquiry, both whether these orders had really been issued, and for what reason. I am indeed conscious of many other sins, but I do not know that I have erred either against the Church of God, or against public order. And I write as I do, not because I take it ill to have to live at Cyrus, for in truth she is dearer to me than any of the most famous cities, because my office in her has been given me by God. But the fact of my being bound to her not by preference but by compulsion does seem somewhat grievous, and besides it does give a handle to the wicked to grow bold and to refuse to obey our exhortations.