38. Another of his excellences I must not
leave unnoticed. In general, he was a man of great endurance, and
superior to his robe of flesh: but during the pain of his last
sickness, a serious addition to the risks and burdens of old age, his
weakness was common to him and all other men; but this fitting sequel
to the other marvels, so far from being common, was peculiarly his
own. He was at no time free from the anguish of pain, but often
in the day, sometimes in the hour, his only relief was the liturgy, to
which the pain yielded, as if to an edict of banishment. At last,
after a life of almost a hundred years, exceeding David’s limit
of our age, Ps. xc. 10. forty-five of
these, the average life of man, having been spent in the priesthood, he
brought it to a close in a good old age. And in what
manner? With the words and forms of prayer, leaving behind no
trace of vice, and many recollections of virtue. The reverence
felt for him was thus greater than falls to the lot of man, both on the
lips and in the hearts of all. Nor is it easy to find anyone who
recollects him, and does not, as the Scripture says, lay his hand upon
his mouth Job xl. 4. and salute his
memory. Such was his life, and such its completion and
perfection.