Confess boldly and adorn the confession with a worthy life

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John Chrysostom is closing the homily, exhorting the congregation to answer opponents with bold confession and a life worthy of it, ending in a doxology.

And if they try to exalt their own ways while tearing down ours, let us not keep silent or bear it mildly. Instead, let us uncover their shamefulness and praise everything that belongs to Christians with great wisdom and boldness. Just as a king wears his diadem on his head, so let us carry the confession of the faith with us everywhere. For that crown does not adorn him as much as the faith and its confession are accustomed to adorn us. Let us do this not only through words but also through our very deeds, displaying in every way a life worthy of the confession, so that we do not put the doctrines to shame by the wickedness of our actions. Instead, glorifying our Master in all things, may we enjoy honor both here and there. May we all attain it, by the grace and love for humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom to the Father be glory, power, and honor, together with the Holy and life-giving Spirit, now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Greek

Κἂν ἐπιχειρῶσι τὰ μὲν αὑτῶν σεμνύνειν, τὰ δὲ ἡμέτερα καθαιρεῖν, μὴ σιγῶμεν, μηδὲ πράως φέρωμεν, ἀλλ' ἐκκαλύπτοντες αὐτῶν τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην, ἅπαντα μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς σοφίας καὶ τῆς παῤῥησίας τὰ τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἀνυμνῶμεν· καὶ καθάπερ ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸ διάδημα ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς, οὕτω καὶ ἡμεῖς τὴν ὁμολογίαν πανταχοῦ τῆς πίστεως περιφέρωμεν. Οὐ γὰρ οὕτως ἐκεῖνον ὁ στέφανος, ὡς ἡμᾶς ἡ πίστις καὶ ἡ ταύτης ὁμολογία καλλωπίζειν εἴωθε· μὴ διὰ ῥημάτων δὲ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τῶν πραγμάτων αὐτῶν τοῦτο ποιῶμεν, καὶ βίον ἄξιον τῆς ὁμολογίας διὰ πάντων ἐπιδεικνύμενοι, ἵνα μὴ καταισχύνωμεν τὰ δόγματα ἐν τῇ τῶν ἔργων φαυλότητι, ἀλλὰ διὰ πάντων τὸν Δεσπότην ἡμῶν δοξάζοντες ἀπολαύσωμεν καὶ τῆς ἐνταῦθα καὶ τῆς ἐκεῖ τιμῆς· ἧς γένοιτο πάντας ἡμᾶς ἐπιτυχεῖν, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, δι' οὗ καὶ μεθ' οὗ τῷ Πατρὶ δόξα, κράτος καὶ τιμὴ, ἅμα τῷ ἁγίῳ καὶ ζωοποιῷ Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

About this text

On the day after Epiphany, Chrysostom praises the martyr Lucian, whose death he calls a baptism in blood.

John Chrysostom (c. 349–407) preached this homily to the congregation assembled in church on the day after Epiphany. The feast of Christ's baptism had ended, and many worshippers had already gone home. Chrysostom speaks to those who remained, continuing his previous exhortation and honoring the martyr Lucian, whose death he presents as a baptism in blood on this day.

The homily opens with a lament that the crowd has departed after yesterday's feast. Chrysostom urges those still present to value the church as a spiritual ark that protects against worldly passions and the instability of wealth. He then turns to Lucian, describing how the devil first tried to break him by prolonged starvation, and when that failed, added the further trial of placing food offered to idols before his eyes. Lucian endured both, sustained by hope, the example of Paul, and the fear of God.

At his trial Lucian answered every question only with 'I am a Christian,' showing that this one confession contains his homeland, citizenship, family, and occupation. The homily closes with an exhortation to train in peace for the contests of war, to confess the faith boldly, and to adorn that confession with a worthy life.

No published English used as wording.

Printed text used

Translated from Migne PG text (Aegean University Digital Patrology, via (Greek)
Also checked Migne PG 50, archive.org scan patrologiae_cursus_completus_gr_vol_050 (Greek machine-read text) (Greek · check (same print; machine-read text compared word by word))

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