Phocas as table-companion of sailors and honored by barbarians
Asterius is closing the homily by describing the sailors' custom of setting aside a share for Phocas and the veneration of barbarian peoples, before ending with praise to God.
From this a custom arose among sailors: to have Phocas as their table-companion. And since it is impossible for him, now bodiless, to share their food and table, learn how God-loving reasoning found a way around the impossibility. Each day they allot by lot to the martyr a portion of the food, equal to the share of those who eat. One of the banqueters buys up that portion and deposits the money; the next day another does so, and at another time yet another. And this lot of purchase goes around among them all, giving each day a buyer for the portion. When a harbor receives them and they come to land, the money is divided among the hungry. This is Phocas's portion: a benefit to the poor.
Kings too have marveled at this most steadfast and God-loving man, and they adorn the church of this celebrated poor man with costly treasures. Those who come after strive to surpass their elders. And it is no wonder if men of the Roman empire, who love God and have been raised with its laws and customs, show such reverence for the servant of Christ, when the wonder has reached even barbarians. All the most savage Scythians—those who inhabit the mainland across the Black Sea, neighbors of the Sea of Azov and the Don River, and those who dwell along the Bosporus and stretch as far as the Phasis River—all these serve as bodyguards to the gardener. Though they differ from us in every custom and way of life, in this alone they become of one mind with us, their wildness of character tamed by the truth.
One ruler and king from that region, for example, took off the crown from his head, gleaming with gold and flowers of precious stones, and stripped off his war breastplate, which had materials of wealth—for boastful and delicate is the full armor of barbarians—and sent both as offerings through the martyr to God, consecrating the sources of his power and dignity. For it is clear that the crown was a thank-offering for his kingship, and the breastplate for his strength in wars.
As for the benefits that continually follow upon these—through visions in dreams and through the healings that the sick enjoy—how could anyone describe them, when it is impossible to apply words to each individual working? We, then, ending here, will offer glory to God the Savior, whose faithful servants were counted worthy of such grace that they benefit their fellow servants in every need and circumstance according to the gift given them. And this after their departure from here and the separation of the body. Their memory, together with their work, runs daily through cities and villages, everywhere proclaiming the benefactor Lord, to whom belongs all honor and power, greatness and majesty, now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Greek
Ὅθεν καὶ
νόμος ἐγένετο ναύταις Φωκᾶν ἔχειν συνεστιάτορα. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ τὸν νῦν ἀσώματον σύσσιτον εἶναι καὶ κοινωνὸν τραπέζης ἀμήχανον, μάθετε πῶς ἄρα φιλευσεβὴς λογισμὸς ἐσοφίσατο τὸ ἀδύνατον. Καθ' ἑκάστην γὰρ τὴν ἡμέραν τὴν τῶν ὄψων μερίδα πρὸς ἰσομοιρίαν τῶν ἐσθιόντων ἀποκληροῦσι τῷ μάρτυρι. Ταύτην δὲ εἷς τῶν δαιτυμόνων ἐξωνούμενος τὸ ἀργύριον κατατίθεται, καὶ τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ ἄλλος καὶ ἄλλοτε ἕτερος· καὶ οὗτος ὁ κλῆρος τῆς ἀγορασίας περιϊὼν ἅπαντας δίδωσι καθ' ἡμέραν τῆς μερίδος τὸν ὠνητήν. Ἐπειδὰν δὲ ὅρμος αὐτοὺς ὑποδέξηται καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀφίκωνται, μερίζεται τὸ ἀργύριον τοῖς πεινῶσι· καὶ τοῦτο ἡ μερὶς τοῦ Φωκᾶ, πενήτων εὐεργεσία. Τεθήπασι τοῦτον καὶ βασιλεῖς τὸν καρτερικώτατον καὶ φιλόθεον καὶ φιλοτίμοις κειμηλίοις κατακοσμοῦσι τοῦ περιβλέπτου πένητος τὸν ναόν. Φιλονεικοῦσι δὲ οἱ ἐπιγινόμενοι τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους ὑπερβαλέσθαι. Καὶ οὔπω θαυμαστόν, εἰ τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἡγεμονίας ἄνδρες φιλευσεβεῖς, θεσμοῖς καὶ νόμοις σύντροφοι, οὕτως εὐλαβῶς ἔχουσι περὶ τὸν θεράποντα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁπότε καὶ εἰς βαρβάρους ἔφθη τὸ θαῦμα· καὶ πάντες οἱ ἀγριώτατοι Σκύθαι, ὅσοι δὴ τὴν ἀντιπέρας τοῦ Εὐξείνου πόντου ἤπειρον νέμονται, Μαιώτιδος λίμνης καὶ ποταμοῦ Τανάϊδος πρόσοικοι, ὅσοι τε τὸν Βόσπορον οἰκοῦσι καὶ ἄχρι Φάσιδος ποταμοῦ παρατείνονται, πάντες οὗτοι δορυφοροῦσι τῷ κηπουρῷ· τοῖς δὲ πᾶσιν ἔθεσι καὶ ἐπιτηδεύμασι διεστῶτες ἡμῶν εἰς τοῦτο μόνον ὁμογνώμονες γίνονται τὴν ἀγριότητα τῶν τρόπων ‹9.126› ὑπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐξημερούμενοι. Εἷς γοῦν ἄρχων ἐκεῖθεν καὶ βασιλεὺς τὸν στέφανον τῆς κεφαλῆς ἀποθέμενος, χρυσῷ καὶ ἄνθεσι λίθων περιλαμπόμενον, καὶ τὸν θώρακα τὸν πολεμικὸν ἀποδύς, ὕλας ἔχοντα πλούτου ἀλαζονικὴ γὰρ καὶ θρυπτομένη τῶν βαρβάρων ἡ πανοπλία ἔπεμψεν ἀμφότερα ἀναθήματα διὰ τοῦ μάρτυρος τῷ Θεῷ καὶ δυνάμεως καὶ ἀξιώματος καθιερώσας τὰς ἀφορμάς. Πρόδηλον γάρ, ὡς ὁ μὲν στέφανος τῆς βασιλείας ἦν χαριστήριον, ὁ δὲ θώραξ τῆς κατὰ πολέμους ἰσχύος. Τὰς δὲ συνεχῶς ἐπὶ τούτοις συμβαινούσας εὐεργεσίας διὰ τῶν ἐν ὀνείρασιν ὄψεων καὶ διὰ τῶν θεραπειῶν, ὧν οἱ κάμνοντες ἀπολαύουσι, πῶς ἄν τις καὶ διηγήσαιτο ἀδυνάτου καθεστῶτος ταῖς καθ' ἕκαστον ἐνεργείαις ἐπαφεῖναι τὸν λόγον; Ἡμεῖς τοίνυν ἐνταῦθα λήξαντες δόξαν τῷ Σωτῆρι Θεῷ προσοίσομεν, οὗ δοῦλοι πιστοὶ τοσαύτης ἠξιώθησαν χάριτος, ὥστε πρὸς πᾶσαν χρείαν καὶ περίστασιν κατὰ τὴν δοθεῖσαν αὐτοῖς δωρεὰν τοὺς ὁμοδούλους εὐεργετεῖν. Καὶ ταῦτα μετὰ τὴν ἐνθένδε ἄφιξιν καὶ τὸν τοῦ σώματος χωρισμόν· ὧν ἡ μνήμη μετὰ τοῦ ἔργου καθ' 3 ἡμέραν διατρέχει πόλεις καὶ κώμας πανταχοῦ τὸν εὐεργέτην κηρύσσουσα Κύριον, ᾧ πρέπει πᾶσα τιμὴ καὶ κράτος, μεγαλοσύνη τε καὶ μεγαλοπρέπεια, νῦν καὶ ἀεί, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. 4