Homily on the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste · §1 · Basil of Caesarea

The Forty as one soul and a common city

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Basil opens his homily by asking why the memory of martyrs can never satisfy a lover of martyrs, and he introduces the Forty as one soul in many bodies whose praise is beyond human speech.

What satiety could there ever be in remembering the martyrs for someone who loves martyrs? For the honor we give to good fellow-servants proves our goodwill toward the common Master. It is clear that the one who welcomes brave men will not be left behind in imitating them when similar times come. Bless the martyr sincerely, and you become a martyr by choice: you depart this life without persecution, without fire, without scourges, and are counted worthy of the same rewards as they are.

For us, though, it is not one man set before us to admire, nor only two, nor does the number of the blessed reach only as far as ten. Forty men, holding one soul in divided bodies, displayed one shared breath and one concord of faith, one endurance in the face of dangers, and one resistance on behalf of the truth. All were alike to one another, equal in resolve, equal in contest. Therefore they were counted worthy of crowns of equal honor and glory.

What speech, then, could reach the worth of these men? Not even forty tongues would have been enough to hymn the virtue of so many men. And yet, even if only one were being admired, he would have been enough to overpower the strength of our words—let alone such a multitude, a military phalanx, a company hard to overcome, alike unconquered in wars and unapproachable in praises.

Come then, let us bring them into our midst through remembrance and make their benefit common to all who are present, displaying the men's brave deeds to everyone as if in a painting. For historians often mark out brave deeds in wars, and painters do as well—the one adorning them with words, the others engraving them on tablets—and both have stirred many toward courage. What the word of history presents through hearing, painting shows in silence through imitation.

So let us also remind those present of the virtue of these men, and, as it were, bring their actions before their eyes, and move the more noble and those close to them in resolve toward imitation. For this is the praise of martyrs: the call to virtue for those who have gathered. Words about the saints do not consent to be enslaved to the rules of encomium. For those who speak praises take the starting points of their praises from the world's resources; but for those to whom the world has been crucified, how can anything in it provide a starting point for renown?

The saints did not have one fatherland; each had set out from a different place. What then? Should we call them cityless, or citizens of the whole world? For just as in contributions to a common feast what each one puts in becomes common to all who contributed, so also for these blessed ones each one's fatherland is common to all, and all of them give their native lands to one another in exchange from every direction.

But why should we search out the lands that lie on the ground, when it is possible to consider their present city, which is what it is? The city of the martyrs, then, is the city of God. Its craftsman and builder is God: the Jerusalem above, the free one, the mother of Paul and of those like him. Their human lineage, one different from another; but their spiritual lineage is one for all.

Greek

ΟΜΙΛΙΑ ΙΘʹ. Εἰς τοὺς ἁγίους τεσσαράκοντα μάρτυρας. Μαρτύρων μνήμης τίς ἂν γένοιτο κόρος τῷ φιλομάρτυρι; διότι ἡ πρὸς τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς τῶν ὁμοδούλων τιμὴ ἀπόδειξιν ἔχει τῆς πρὸς τὸν κοινὸν Δεσπό την εὐνοίας. Δῆλον γὰρ, ὅτι ὁ τοὺς γενναίους ἄνδρας ἀποδεχόμενος ἐν τοῖς ὁμοίοις καιροῖς οὐκ ἀπολειφθήσεται τῆς μιμήσεως. Μακάρισον γνησίως τὸν μαρτυρήσαντα, ἵνα γένῃ μάρτυς τῇ προαιρέσει, καὶ ἐκβῇς χωρὶς διωγμοῦ, χωρὶς πυρὸς, χωρὶς μα στίγων, τῶν αὐτῶν ἐκείνοις μισθῶν ἠξιωμένος. Ἡμῖν δὲ οὐχ ἕνα πρόκειται θαυμάζειν, οὐδὲ δύο μόνους, οὐδὲ μέχρι δεκάδος ὁ ἀριθμὸς πρόεισι τῶν μακαρι ζομένων· ἀλλὰ τεσσαράκοντα ἄνδρες, ὡς μίαν ψυχὴν ἐν διῃρημένοις σώμασιν ἔχοντες, ἐν μιᾷ συμπνοίᾳ καὶ ὁμονοίᾳ τῆς πίστεως, μίαν καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὰ δεινὰ καρτερίαν, καὶ τὴν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀληθείας ἔν στασιν ἐπεδείξαντο. Πάντες παραπλήσιοι ἀλλή λοις, ἴσοι τὴν γνώμην, ἴσοι τὴν ἄθλησιν. Διὸ καὶ ὁμοτίμων τῶν στεφάνων τῆς δόξης κατηξιώθησαν. Τίς ἂν οὖν ἐφίκοιτο λόγος τῆς τούτων ἀξίας; Οὐδὲ τεσσαράκοντα γλῶσσαι ἐξήρκεσαν ἂν τοσούτων ἀνδρῶν ἀρετὴν ἀνυμνῆσαι. Καίτοι, εἰ καὶ εἷς ἦν ὁ θαυμαζόμενος, τήν γε τῶν ἡμετέρων λόγων δύναμιν ἐξήρκει καταπαλαῖσαι, μὴ ὅτι πλῆθος τοσοῦτον, φάλαγξ στρατιωτικὴ, σύστημα δυσκαταγώνιστον, ὁμοίως ἔν τε πολέμοις ἀήττητον καὶ ἐν ἐπαίνοις ἀπρόσιτον. Δεῦρο δὴ οὖν, εἰς μέσον αὐτοὺς ἀγαγόντες διὰ τῆς ὑπομνήσεως, κοινὴν τὴν ἀπ' αὐτῶν ὠφέλειαν τοῖς παροῦσι καταστησώμεθα, προδείξαντες πᾶσιν, ὥσπερ ἐν γραφῇ, τὰς τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἀριστείας. Ἐπεὶ καὶ πολέμων ἀνδραγαθήματα καὶ λογογράφοι πολλάκις, καὶ ζωγράφοι διασημαίνουσιν, οἱ μὲν τῷ λόγῳ διακοσμοῦντες, οἱ δὲ τοῖς πίναξιν ἐγχαράττοντες, καὶ πολλοὺς ἐπήγειραν πρὸς ἀνδρίαν ἑκάτε ροι. Ἃ γὰρ ὁ λόγος τῆς ἱστορίας διὰ τῆς ἀκοῆς παρ ίστησι, ταῦτα γραφικὴ σιωπῶσα διὰ μιμήσεως δεί κνυσιν. Οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀναμνήσωμεν τῆς ἀρετῆς τῶν ἀνδρῶν τοὺς παρόντας, καὶ οἱονεὶ ὑπ' ὄψιν αὐτῶν ἀγαγόντες τὰς πράξεις, κινήσωμεν πρὸς τὴν μίμησιν τοὺς γενναιοτέρους καὶ οἰκειοτέρους αὐτοῖς τὴν προαίρεσιν. Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι μαρτύρων ἐγκώμιον, ἡ πρὸς ἀρετὴν παράκλησις τῶν συνειλεγμένων. Οὐδὲ γὰρ καταδέχονται νόμοις ἐγκωμίων δουλεύειν οἱ περὶ τῶν ἁγίων λόγοι. Διότι οἱ εὐφημοῦντες ἐκ τῶν τοῦ κόσμου ἀφορμῶν τὰς ἀρχὰς τῶν εὐφημιῶν λαμβάνουσιν· οἷς δὲ ὁ κόσμος ἐσταύρωται, πῶς δύναταί τι τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ ἀφορμὴν παρ έχειν εἰς περιφάνειαν; Οὐκ ἦν μία πατρὶς τοῖς ἁγίοις· ἄλλος γὰρ ἀλλαχόθεν ὥρμητο. Τί οὖν; ἀπόλιδας αὐτοὺς εἴπωμεν, ἢ τῆς οἰκουμένης πολίτας, Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐν ταῖς τῶν ἐράνων συνεισφοραῖς τὰ παρ' ἑκάστου καταβληθέντα κοινὰ τῶν εἰσενεγκάντων γίνεται· οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν μακαρίων τούτων ἡ ἑκάστου πατρὶς κοινὴ πάντων ἐστί· καὶ πάντες εἰσὶ πανταχόθεν ἀντιδιδόντες ἀλλήλοις τὰς ἐνεγκού σας. Μᾶλλον δὲ τί δεῖ τὰς χαμαὶ κειμένας περιζη τεῖν, ἐξὸν τὴν νῦν αὐτῶν πόλιν, ἥτις ἐστὶν, ἐννοεῖν Πόλις τοίνυν μαρτύρων ἡ πόλις ἐστὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ· ᾗ. τεχνίτης καὶ δημιουργὸς ὁ Θεὸς, ἡ ἄνω Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἡ ἐλευθέρα, ἡ μήτηρ Παύλου, καὶ τῶν ἐκείνῳ παραπλησίων. Γένος δὲ τὸ μὲν ἀνθρώπινον ἄλλο ἄλλου· τὸ δὲ πνευματικὸν ἓν ἁπάντων.

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About this text

Basil of Caesarea (c. 330–379) delivered this homily to the congregation assembled for the martyrs' feast on the commemoration of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste to honor their witness and move the gathered faithful to imitate their endurance.

Basil argues that honoring martyrs proves love for God and prepares the hearer for imitation. He presents the Forty as one soul in many bodies, soldiers of Christ who confessed boldly under threat, and narrates their trial by freezing in a lake, their mutual encouragement, the desertion of one man for the warm bath, and his replacement by the guard who saw heavenly rewards and confessed Christ. He closes by urging the congregation to seek the Forty as intercessors and models. The reader will meet the Forty, the hostile ruler who condemns them, the deserter, the guard, and the mother who placed her still living son on the cart to the pyre. The speech of the Forty and the speech of the mother are quoted directly, while the tempting words of the ruler are reported indirectly and met by the confession of the Forty.

Here contest means the struggle of martyrdom, crown means the victor reward, confession means public confession of Christian faith, boldness means freedom of speech, company means the united band, and endurance means endurance under suffering. Whole burnt offering means total self offering, while devotion names the devotion for which the martyrs died. Basil uses Septuagint book names and Psalm numbering, so Psalm numbers differ from modern Hebrew numbering, while New Testament citations follow standard modern forms.

No published English used as wording.

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Translated from Migne PG text (Aegean University Digital Patrology, via (Greek)
Also checked Migne PG 31, archive.org scan patrologiae_cursus_completus_gr_vol_031 (Greek machine-read text) (Greek · check (same print; machine-read text compared word by word))

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