Second Homily on Eutropius (After His Captivity)

¹ Delectable indeed are the meadow, and the garden, but far more delectable the study of the divine writings. For there indeed are flowers which fade, but here are thoughts which abide in full bloom; there is the breeze of the zephyr, but here the breath of the Spirit: there is the hedge of thorns, but here is the guarding providence of God; there is the song of cicadæ, but here the melody of the prophets: there is the pleasure which comes from sight, but here the profit which comes from study. The garden is confined to one place, but the Scriptures are in all parts of the world; the garden is subject to the necessities of the seasons, but the Scriptures are rich in foliage, and laden with fruit alike in winter and in summer. Let us then give diligent heed to the study of the Scriptures: for if you do this the Scripture will expel your despondency, and engender pleasure, extirpate vice, and make virtue take root, and in the tumult of life it will save you from suffering like those who are tossed by troubled waves. The sea rages but you sail on with calm weather; for you have the study of the Scriptures for your pilot; for this is the cable which the trials of life do not break asunder. Now that I lie not events themselves bear witness. A few days ago the Church was besieged: an army came, and fire issued from their eyes, yet it did not scorch the olive tree; swords were unsheathed, yet no one received a wound; the imperial gates were in distress, but the Church was in security. And yet the tide of war flowed hither; for here the refugee was sought, and we withstood them, not fearing their rage. And wherefore prithee? Because we held as a sure pledge the saying “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church: and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” And when I say the Church I mean not only a place but also a plan of life: I mean not the walls of the Church but the laws of the Church. When you take refuge in a Church, do not seek shelter merely in the place but in the spirit of the place. For the Church is not wall and roof but faith and life.

Do not tell me that the man having been surrendered was surrendered by the Church; if he had not abandoned the Church he would not have been surrendered. Do not say that he fled here for refuge and then was given up: the Church did not abandon him but he abandoned the Church. He was not surrendered from within the Church but outside its walls. Wherefore did he forsake the Church? Did you desire to save yourself? Thou should have held fast to the altar. There were no walls here, but there was the guarding providence of God. Were you a sinner? God does not reject you: for “He came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” The harlot was saved when she clung to His feet. Have ye heard the passage read today? Now I say these things that you may not hesitate to take refuge in the Church. Abide with the Church, and the Church does not hand you over to the enemy: but if you fly from the Church, the Church is not the cause of your capture. For if you are inside the fold the wolf does not enter: but if you go outside, you are liable to be the wild beast's prey: yet this is not the fault of the fold, but of your own pusillanimity. The Church has no feet. Talk not to me of walls and arms: for walls wax old with time, but the Church has no old age. Walls are shattered by barbarians, but over the Church even demons do not prevail. And that my words are no mere vaunt there is the evidence of facts. How many have assailed the Church, and yet the assailants have perished while the Church herself has soared beyond the sky? Such might has the Church: when she is assailed she conquers: when snares are laid for her she prevails: when she is insulted her prosperity increases: she is wounded yet sinks not under her wounds; tossed by waves yet not submerged; vexed by storms yet suffers no shipwreck; she wrestles and is not worsted, fights but is not vanquished. Wherefore then did she suffer this war to be? That she might make more manifest the splendour of her triumph. You were present on that day, and you saw what weapons were set in motion against her, and how the rage of the soldiers burned more fiercely than fire, and I was hurried away to the imperial palace. But what of that? By the grace of God none of those things dismayed me.