Festal Letters 1-12

Festal Letter Eleven

195 FESTAL LETTER ELEVEn A.D. 423 OME, THEN, COME now, let us exult in the Lord,”1 and through the all-holy fast, “come, let us worship and fall down before him,”2 and in complete submission let us honor the King of heaven and earth, knowing what is written: “it is good for a man when he bears a yoke in his youth.”3 For who would not be overjoyed to be yoked under the Law, and to be reared in the precepts which come through Christ, counting it among the highest marks of honor? For virtue, dearly beloved , is something precious and valuable, and among all the things held in admiration in this life, it would, i think, be preferred by those who are in the habit of viewing matters rightly. One would with very good reason commend the good and honest man who would be willing to undergo countless labors for it with enormous diligence, filled with that best sort of zeal. i for my part say to those who have achieved such exceptional glory , if any of them should need a purpose, that they must never slacken, but must accustom themselves to fight manfully against hesitancy and cowardice, and all laziness, so as to consider no path as steep or hard to travel, but regard even what is rough as quite well-trodden, and even what is hard to put into practice as quite easy to accomplish. For it would really be a shame to see those who typically vaunt their bodily strength, and who polish a skill which is prized in the wrestling ring and suits the gymnastic exercises in the cities, or which displays itself in combat and is invincible against attack , showing such eagerness to crown their own heads with preeminent glory, while we ourselves, upon whom God the Word 1. Ps 95.1. 2. Ps 95.6. 3. Lam 3.27. “ 196 ST. CYRiL OF ALEXAnDRiA has shone, and who are keen to acquire not a worldly happiness, nor joy that is measured in time, but, as the all-wise Paul has said, are receiving a kingdom of heaven4 that cannot be shaken, look askance at the brief labors in this life, and do not seek the relief that comes at the proper time, even though Paul cries out most clearly and plainly, “The sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory to be revealed in us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the glory of the children of God.”5 That the life which is most law-abiding reaches at last the goal of a most glorious hope is something of which we are assured by the divine words: “For glorious is the fruit of good labors.”6 But what surprises me is the following. if one of our enemies were caught trying to take from us this glory so radiant, we would understandably consider it no minor injury and an intolerable affront , thinking ourselves deprived of what is best of all. But since there is nothing to keep us from appearing radiant, it can only be quite ridiculous to find it unbearable when we suffer from the evil ways of others, and to show ourselves oppressed by their cruel slanders, and yet to draw down upon our own heads the loss of these good things, and to contend against our own lives by the attitude we adopt. it is, therefore, the time for reflection, dearly beloved, for sobriety and self-control, and for the all-holy fast; the season brings it around to us, and leads us now to its doors. Following the prescriptions of the law, accordingly, and all but lifting up the trumpet which so perfectly suits those with the priestly office,7 we have hastened to make the proclamation resound loudly and piercingly, as a sound most conspicuous, announcing to those everywhere that “it is time to act for the Lord,”8 as is written, a time of contests and labors and victory over the passions of body and soul. 2. We are incited to this proclamation by the divine and sacred Scripture which runs as follows: “if you go forth to war in 4. Cf. Heb 12.28. 5. Rom 8.18–19. 6. Wis 3.15. 7. Cf. nm 10.8. 8. Ps 119.126. FESTAL LETTER ELEVEn 197 your land...