Homilies on the Statues

^4. Let us not then be out of heart for the present evils; for if you have any sins remaining, they will disappear, and easily be burnt up by the tribulation; but if you possess virtue, you will become thereby more illustrious and distinguished; for if you are continually vigilant and sober, you will be superior to all injury. For it is not the nature of the trials, but the listlessness of those who are tried, that is apt to cause their overthrow. So that if you desire to rejoice, and to enjoy ease and pleasure, seek neither for pleasure nor ease, but seek for a soul full of patience, and one that is able to manifest fortitude; since if you have not this, not only will trial put you to shame, but repose will destroy and overthrow you yet more signally. For to prove that it is not the attack of evils, but the listlessness of the mind which subverts our salvation, hear what Christ says: “Whosoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.” And again: “Every one who hears these sayings of mine, and does them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” Do you perceive that it was not the attack of these trials that produced the overthrow, but the folly of the builders? For there was rain there, and there was rain here; there were floods there, and there were floods here; here the beating of winds, and there again the same. The one man built a house, and the other built a house. The building was the same; the trials were the same; but the end was not the same; because there was not the same foundation. For the folly of the builder, not the nature of the trials, caused the fall of the building; otherwise the house that was founded upon the rock should have fallen, whereas nothing of that kind befell it. But do not suppose that these things were spoken merely of a house; for the discourse relates to a soul, giving proof by its works that it hears the divine word, or rejects it. Thus Job built up his soul. The rain descended—for the fire fell from heaven and devoured all his flocks; the floods came—the frequent—the constant—the successive messengers of his calamities, telling him of the destruction of his herds— of his camels— of his children. The winds blew—the bitter words of his wife:— “Curse God,” she said, “and die.” Yet the house fell not: the soul was not supplanted: the just man did not blaspheme; but even gave thanks thus, saying, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. As it pleased the Lord, so is it come to pass.” Do you see that not the nature of the trials, but the negligence of the indolent, is wont to cause the overthrow? Since tribulation makes the strong man stronger. Who says this? It is the man who lived in tribulation, the blessed Paul; he speaks thus: “Tribulation works patience, and patience probation, and probation hope.” And even as the violence of the wind, when it rushes upon strong trees, and sways them in all directions, does not root them up, but renders them still firmer and stronger by these attacks; so the soul that is holy, and lives in a religious state, is not supplanted by the inroads of trial and tribulation, but stimulated thereby to more patience; even as the blessed Job, whom they made more illustrious and honourable.