E01298: Gregory of Nyssa, on 9 March 379, delivers his Second Encomium on the *Forty Martyrs (martyrs of Sebasteia/Sebaste, E00103), recounting their martyrdom and miracles. Composed and delivered in Greek at Kaisareia/Caesarea of Cappadocia (central Asia Minor).
Creators: name: Erizos
Publisher: name: University of Oxford
Year: 2016
Subjects: History

description: Gregory of Nyssa, On the Forty Martyrs II (CPG 3189, BHG 1208), p. 159<br><br>(ed. Lendle 1990, p. 159.1-17)<br><br>ΕΙΣ ΤΟΥΣ ΤΕΣΣΑΡΑΚΟΝΤΑ ΜΑΡΤΥΡΑΣ ΛΟΓΟΣ ΕΓΚΩΜΙΑΣΤΙΚΟΣ ΡΗΘΕΙΣ ΕΝ Τῼ ΜΑΡΤΥΡΙῼ.<br><br>Οἱ μὲν ὁπλῖται Ῥωμαίων κατὰ νόμον πάτριον, καὶ συνήθειαν παλαιὰν, ἣν παῖδες παρὰ προγόνων διαδεξάμενοι, καὶ μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος φυλάττουσιν, ἐν τῇ ἀρχῇ τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος μηνὸς τὴν πανοπλίαν ἐνσκευαζόμενοι, καὶ χωροῦντες ἐπί τι πεδίον ἡπλωμένον ἱκανῶς καὶ ὕπτιον, ἔνθαπερ ἔξεστι καὶ δρόμον ἵππων ἐκτεῖναι, καὶ μελετῆσαι τὰ τακτικὰ, καὶ πᾶσαν γυμνασθῆναι τὴν ἐνόπλιον ἄσκησιν, ἀνάμνησίν τε τοῦ ἔτους ποιοῦνται, καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν ἐπίσημον ἄγουσιν. Ἐγὼ δὲ μνήμην μαρτύρων τελῶν, καὶ ταύτην τῇ προτεραίᾳ κηρύξας ὑμῖν, τοὺς τοῦ Χριστοῦ στρατιώτας τοὺς μʹ, τοὺς πᾶσαν προθυμίαν ὑπερβαλομένους, ἐν τοῖς ἀγῶσιν ὁπλίσας διὰ τῆς μνήμης σήμερον θαυμαστοὺς τοῖς δυναμένοις βλέπειν προΐστημι· κόσμον τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, καὶ λαῶν εὐφροσύνην, καὶ Θεοῦ δόξαν τοῦ ἐνισχύσαντος. Ἄριστον δὲ πάντως, καὶ ἄγαν λυσιτελὲς τοῖς τῆς ἀρετῆς διηγήμασι, τούς τε νέους ἐντρέφεσθαι, καὶ συνακμάζειν τοὺς ἄνδρας (……).<br><br>Encomiastic Oration on the Forty Martyrs, delivered at the martyrium<br><br>‘The soldiers of the Romans have an ancestral tradition and ancient custom, which they receive as children from their ancestors and keep it until the present time: at the beginning of this month, they prepare their armour, go to a sufficiently spacious and flat plain, where it is possible to ride horses, study tactics, and train in every military drill, and they celebrate the memory of the year and keep this day as a feast. As for myself, I keep the memory of the martyrs, which I announced to you the other day: by this commemoration, today I am arming for combat the forty soldiers of Christ, who excelled in all zeal, and am setting them up to be admired by those who can see. These are the pride of the Church, the joy of the people, and the glory of God who gave them strength. It is indeed an excellent and extremely beneficial thing that the young may be nourished and that men may keep their vigour by accounts of bravery (……).’<br><br>The speaker has a double challenge: to speak in a way commensurate with the importance of the story, and not to fall too much short of the quality of a sermon on the same subject by the late Basil of Caesarea whose wisdom and holiness is universally respected. <br><br>Gregory recounts the story of the martyrs who were forty Christians serving in the Roman army. A law demands Christians to sacrifice on the threat of death, but they declare their willingness to die. Their persecutor seeks for a torment to frighten these men who, trained in arms, would not be afraid of the sword or the fire. It is winter, the land is the neighbouring province of Armenia, famous for its cold climate, and the martyrs are condemned to be exposed naked to the cold, a torment as painful as fire, but causing a much slower death. They are left out in the cold, while a bathhouse nearby is heated and prepared for those that will apostatise. One of the martyrs is turned, and enters the bath, hoping to save his life, but he dies immediately. One of the guards watching over them has a vision of the angels coming for the martyrs, takes off his clothes, and joins them in their martyrdom, replacing the apostate. The dead bodies of the martyrs are burned and their ashes are shared by the Christians becoming a blessing for the entire world. Gregory himself possesses a quantity of it (at the shrine of his family estate), and he has buried the bodies of his parents next to it, so that they may rise among righteous men on the day of resurrection. Gregory once met a soldier who was miraculously healed from a disability in his leg by the martyrs, after praying at that shrine. He also remembers attending as a young man the consecration of the shrine, which was organised by his mother. Gregory was summoned to the festival by his mother against his will, but his feelings changed, after he had a dream vision of the martyrs as soldiers preventing him from entering the garden of the shrine (see $E01299). He recounts these stories in order to show that the martyrs are not dead, but real and living. Their memory makes Lent brighter. The winter is no more burdensome, since it became the means of the saints’ martyrdom. The intercession of the saints is particularly strong and efficient, because they are a large group offering their prayer together.<br><br>Text: Lendle 1990.<br>Translation and Summary: E. Rizos