Thanksgiving Address to Origen · §5.3 · Gregory Thaumaturgus

The soldier, the journey, and the angel's handing over

A soldier sent to escort his sister brings Gregory to Caesarea, where his guardian angel hands him over to Origen.

How, then, was this too provided? My brother-in-law, my sister's husband, was taken up suddenly by the man who was then governor of Palestine and brought here against his will, parted from his wife and alone, to help him and share the labors of governing the province. For he was a lawyer, and perhaps still is. Having come with the governor, he meant before long to send for his wife and have her with him again, since he was parted from her unwillingly and with distress, and to draw us along with her. Then suddenly, I do not know how, while we were planning to travel, though to some other place rather than here, a soldier appeared with orders to escort our sister and see her safely to her husband, and to bring us too as her fellow travelers. We would be doing a kindness to our brother-in-law, and most of all to our sister, so that she would not make the journey in any unseemly way or with greater reluctance; and to our household and kin as well, who valued the plan and held that no small further gain would come of it if we went to the city of Berytus to work through our study of law there.

So everything moved us: what was fitting toward our sister, our own studies, and besides these the soldier as well (for he too must be mentioned), who carried authority to use a larger number of the public carriages, and passes for more people, for our sake rather than for our sister's alone. These were the visible reasons. But the hidden and truer ones were these: fellowship with this man, the true teaching of the Word that would come through him, the good of our souls. These were leading us toward salvation, while we were then still blind and unknowing, yet in a way that would save us.

So it was not the soldier, but a divine fellow traveler, a good escort and guardian, who keeps us safe through the whole of this life, as on a long journey. He passed by other places, and Berytus too, where we had thought we were chiefly heading, and brought us here and settled us, doing everything and setting everything in motion, until by every means he had bound us to this man, the cause of so many blessings for us. And so this divine angel, having come through so much and handing over his charge to this man, perhaps rested here, not from any weariness or toil (for the race of divine ministers never tires), but because he had handed it over to a man who would supply, as far as that was possible, all forethought and care.

Greek

Πῶς οὖν καὶ τοῦτο ἐξεπορίσθη; κηδεστὴν μου ἄνδρα ἀδελφῆς ἐμῆς, ὁ τότε ἄρχων τῶν Παλαιστινῶν, τοῦτον παραλαβὼν ἐξαίφνης ἄκοντα μόνον κεχωρισμένον τῆς ὁμοζύγου, ἦγεν ἐνταῦθα, συνεπιβοηθήσοντα καὶ κοινωνήσοντα τῶν τοῦ ἔθνους ἀρχικῶν πόνων. νομικὸς γάρ τις ἦν, καὶ ἔστιν ἴσως ἔτι. ὃς δὴ ἐλθὼν ἅμα αὐτῷ, ἔμελλε μὲν οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν μεταπεμψάμενος ἀπολήψεσθαι τὴν γυναῖκα, ἐπαχθῶς αὐτῆς καὶ ἄκων κεχωρισμένος, καὶ ἡμᾶς δὲ ἅμα αὐτῇ συνεπισπώμενος. ἐξαίφνης γοῦν, οὐκ οἶδ᾽ ὅπως ἀποδημεῖν μὲν, ἀλλ᾽ ἑτέρωθί ποι μᾶλλον ἀποδημεῖν ἢ ἐνταῦθα διανοουμένοις ἡμῖν, ἐπέστη στρατιώτης φέρων ἐντολὴν, παραπέμπειν μὲν καὶ διασώζεσθαι τὴν ἀδελφὴν ἡμῶν καταλαμβάνουσαν τὸν ἄνδρα, ἄγειν δὲ καὶ ἡμᾶς συνοδοιπόρους ἅμ᾽ αὐτῇ. χαριουμένους μὲν καὶ τῷ κηδεστῇ, καὶ μάλιστα τῇ ἀδελφῇ· ὅπως μὴ οὐκ εὐσχήμων τι ἢ ὀκνηροτέρα πρὸς τὴν ὁδοιπορίαν, ἢ, οἰκέταις αὖθις καὶ τοῖς συγγενέσι τιμήσασι, καὶ οὐ μικρόν τι ἕτερον τῶν προὔργου διαπραξαμένοις, εἰ ἐπὶ τὴν Βηρυτίων ἔλθοιμεν πόλιν, ἐκεῖ τὸ τῶν νόμων μάθημα ἐκπονήσοντες. πάντα τοιγαροῦν ἐκίνει ἡμᾶς τὸ πρὸς τὴν ἀδελφὴν εὔλογον, τὸ ἡμέτερον αὐτῶν μάθημα· πρὸς δὲ, καὶ ὁ στρατιώτης, ἐπεὶ καὶ τούτου μνημονεῦσαι δεῖ, φέρων ἐξουσίαν πλειόνων τῶν δημοσίων ὀχημάτων τῆς χρήσεως, καὶ σύμβολα πλείονος ἀριθμοῦ ἡμῶν μᾶλλον, ἢ τῆς ἀδελφῆς μόνης ἕνεκα. φαινόμενα μὲν ταῦτα, τὰ δὲ μὴ φαινόμενα μὲν, ἀληθέστερα δὲ, ἡ πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα τόνδε κοινωνία, ἡ ἀληθὴς δι᾽ αὐτοῦ περὶ τὰ τοῦ λόγου μαθήματα, ἡ τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν ὠφέλεια, εἰς σωτηρίαν ἦγεν ἡμᾶς, ἔπειτα δὲ τυφλώττοντας μὲν καὶ οὐκ εἰδότας, σωτηριωδῶς δὲ ἡμῖν. τοιγαροῦν οὐχ ὁ στρατιώτης, θεῖος δέ τις συνοδοιπόρος καὶ πομπὸς ἀγαθὸς καὶ φύλαξ, ὁ διὰ παντὸς τοῦ βίου τούτου, ὥσπερ μακρᾶς ὁδοιπορίας διασώζων ἡμᾶς, παραμειψάμενος τά τε ἄλλα, καὶ τὴν Βηρυτὸν, ἧς μάλιστα ὁρμᾶν ἐνταῦθα ᾠήθημεν, ἐνταῦθα φέρων κατέστησε, πάντα ποιῶν καὶ κινῶν, ἕως πάσῃ μηχανῇ τῷ τῶν πολλῶν ἡμῖν ἀγαθῶν αἰτίῳ τούτῳ συνδήσειε. καὶ ὁ μὲν, διὰ τοσούτων ἐλθὼν τὴν οἰκονομίαν παραδιδοὺς τούτῳ ὁ θεῖος ἄγγελος, ἐνταῦθά που καὶ ἴσως ἀνεπαύσατο, οὐχ ὑπὸ καμάτου τινὸς ἢ μόχθου. (ἀκάματον γὰρ τὸ τῶν θείων λειτουργῶν γένος.) ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι παρέδωκεν ἀνθρώπῳ, πᾶσαν, εἰ δυνατὸν, πρόνοιαν καὶ ἐπιμέλειαν ἀποπληρώσοντι.

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About this text

Gregory's farewell speech to his teacher Origen: how a pagan boy bound for law school in Berytus was led to Caesarea, how Origen taught him logic, natural science, ethics and the reading of Scripture, and his grief at leaving. A fresh English translation of the whole address.

Gregory Thaumaturgus (c. 213–c. 270) wrote this address to his teacher Origen. The speech is an expression of thanks and praise, though Gregory feels inadequate to the task of honoring his teacher.

The occasion is Gregory's farewell to Origen's school at Caesarea. He begins by explaining that he has neither spoken nor written for eight years, and has only listened to philosophers who value accurate investigation over polished speech. He then tells how a guardian angel led him, a pagan boy bound for law studies in Berytus, to Origen, and how Origen trained him in logic, natural science, ethics and the reading of Scripture. He ends by lamenting his departure and asking Origen to pray for him.

A reader will meet Gregory himself as the speaker, and Origen as the subject of the speech. Origen is described as a man who appears human, but to those who can perceive the greatness of his character and habits, seems endowed with greater and nearly divine ornaments.

The opening section (to the point where Gregory turns to his subject) was translated from the Latin column of the Opera omnia print (Paris, 1622). Everything after it, to the closing prayer, was translated from that print's Greek column, read from the page images; the facing Latin was used to settle damaged or abbreviated words. Where the print is hard to construe, a few readings follow Koetschau's edition (1894); each one is named in the translator notes. The older Ante-Nicene Fathers English was used only as a sense check for the opening section.

Printed text used

Translated from Opera omnia, Greek and Latin (Paris: Sonnius, Morel and Cramoisy, 1622), page images (Greek and Latin · Whole address: Latin column for section 1, Greek column for sections 2.1-19)
Translated from Latin of the opening section (Latin · Section 1)
Also checked DjVu text of the same print (Latin and Greek (machine-read text) · Opening)

Where the prints differ

Section 1 — Translated from the Latin column; the Greek of this opening was not used. Long-s and column joins expanded (ductu; nec aut scripsi; historiamve; arte nostra); the editor's argument and notes left out.
Sections 5.1, 5.3 and 6.2 — Abbreviated words read from the page images and the facing Latin: 'father' (πατρός), 'toward our sister' (πρὸς τὴν ἀδελφήν), 'through the whole of this life' (διὰ παντός), 'handing over his charge' (τὴν οἰκονομίαν παραδιδούς), 'with difficulty' (δυσχερῶς).
Section 6.3 — The print's doubtful participle (βλέψαν) is rendered with Koetschau's reading βλάψαν ('without doing it any harm').
Sections 7.2 and 8 — The print runs one sentence across the break; it is translated once, at the start of section 8, where Koetschau begins chapter 8.

We have not yet re-checked this work against its source. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Greek on any section to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

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