HOMILY XL] HOMILIES ON COLOSSIANS. 313 wouldest become equally illustrious with him. Thou hast not gained reputation by speaking ; but by sharing in his joy thou hast gained more renown than he. For if love be a great thing, and the sum of all, thou hast received the crown this gives ; he, that for oratory, thou, that for ex ceeding love ; he displayed force of words, but thou by deeds hast cast down envy, hast trodden under foot the evil eye. So that in reason thou oughtest rather to be crowned than he, thy con test is the more brilliant ; thou hast not only trodden under foot envy, but thou hast even done somewhat else. He hath one crown only, but thou two, and those both brighter than his one. What are these ? One, that which thou wonnest against envy, another, which thou art encircled with by love. For the sharing in his joy is a proof not only of thy being free from envy, but also of being rooted in love. Him ofttimes some human passion sorely disquieteth, vainglory for instance ; but thou art free from every passion, for it is not of vainglory that thou rejoicest at another s good. Hath he righted up the Church, tell me ? hath he increased the con gregation ? Praise him ; again thou hast a two fold crown ; thou hast struck down envy ; thou hast enwreathed thee with love. Yea, I implore and beseech thee. Wilt thou hear of a third crown even? Him, men below applaud, thee, the Angels above. For it is not the same thing, to make a display of eloquence, and to rule the passions. This praise is for a season, that for ever ; this, of men, that, of God ; this man is crowned openly ; but thou art crowned in secret, where thy Father seeth. If it were possible to have peeled off the body and seen the soul of each, I would have shown thee that this is more dignified than the other, more resplendent. Tread we under foot the goads of envy, we advantage ourselves, beloved, ourselves shall we emvreath with the crown. He that envieth an other fighteth with God, not with him ; for when he seeth him to have grace, and is grieved, and wisheth the Church pulled down, he fighteth not with him, but with God. For tell me, if one should adorn a king s daughter, and by his adorning and gracing her, gain for himself re nown ; and another person should wish her to be ill attired, and him to be unable to adorn her ; against whom would he have been plotting mis chief? Against the other? or against her and her father? So too now, thou that enviest, fightest with the Church, thou warrest with God. For, since with the good repute of thy brother is interwoven also the Church s profit, need is, that if the one be undone, the other shall be undone also. So that, in this regard also, thou doest a deed of Satan, seeing thou plottest mis chief against the body of Christ. Art thou pained at this man? Wrongly, when he hath in nothing wronged thee ; yea, much rather, thou art pained at Christ. Wherein hath He wronged thee, that thou wilt not suffer His body to be decked with beauty? that thou wilt not suffer His bride to be adorned? Consider, I pray thee, the punishment, how sore. Thou gladden- est thine enemies ; and him too himself, the man in good esteem, whom through thy envy thou wishest to grieve, thou dost the rather glad den; thou dost by thine envy the rather show that he is in good esteem, for otherwise thou wouldest not have envied him. Thou showest the rather that thou art in punishment. I am ashamed indeed to exhort you from such motives, but seeing our weakness is so great, let us be instructed even from these, and free our selves from this destructive passion. Grievest thou that he is in good esteem ? then why swell- est thou that esteem by envying? Wishest thou to punish him ? Why then showest thou that thou art pained? Why punish thyself before him, whom thou wouldest not have well esteemed? Thereafter double will be his pleasure, and thy punishment ; not only because thou provest him to be great ; but because thou begettest in him yet another pleasure, by punishing thyself; and again, at what thou art pained, he is pleased, whilst thou enviest. See how we deal ourselves heavy blows without perceiving it ! He is an enemy. And yet, why an enemy? What wrong hath he done? Still, however, by this we make our enemy the more illustrious, and thereby pun ish ourselves the more. And herein again we punish ourselves, if we have discovered that he knows it. For perhaps he is not pleased, 1 but we thinking him to be so, are again pained on that account. Cease then your envying. Why inflictest thou wounds upon thyself? Think we of these things, beloved ; of those two crowns for them that envy not ; of those praises from men, of those from God ; of the evils that come of envying ; and so shall we be able to quell the brute, and to be in good esteem before God, and to obtain the same things with those who are of good esteem. For perhaps we shall obtain them, and if we obtain them not, it will be for our advantage ; still, even so, we shall be able, if we have lived to the glory of God, to obtain the good things promised to them that love Him, through the grace and love toward man of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom, &c. 1 The Empress Eudoxia is thought to have been reflected on in some of the passages against extravagance. This whole passage probably alludes to the enmity which prevailed at court in conse quence, and these words were probably meant to hint at the real love of St. Chrysostom for his bitterest enemies.