Thanksgiving Address to Origen · §17 · Gregory Thaumaturgus

Comfort: the Savior keeps watch, and the seed goes with us

Gregory takes comfort: the Savior of all keeps watch, and the seeds Origen sowed go with him.

But why do I lament like this? There is the Savior of all, the guardian and physician of all who are half dead and all who have been robbed (Luke 10:30–34): the Word who never sleeps, the keeper of all people. We have seeds too: those you showed us we already had, and those we have received from you, your good counsels; with these we go. We go weeping, as people setting out on a journey, yet carrying these seeds with us all the same (Psalm 126:6). Perhaps, then, the Keeper will stand over us and bring us safely through; and perhaps we shall return to you again, bringing from the seeds both the fruits and the sheaves (Psalm 126:6). They will not be perfect; how could they be? They will be such as we are able to bring from the business of public life: spoiled, it is true, by some power that is barren or bears bad fruit, yet a power that, if God consents, will not be ruined further along with us.

Greek

ἀλλὰ τί ταῦτα θρηνῶ; ἔστιν ὁ σωτὴρ πάντων, καὶ τῶν ἡμιθανῶν καὶ τῶν λελῃστευμένων πάντων κηδεμὼν καὶ ἰατρός, λόγος ὁ ἄγρυπνος, φύλαξ πάντων ἀνθρώπων. ἔστιν ἡμῖν καὶ σπέρματα ἅ τε ἔχοντας ἡμᾶς ἀνέδειξας, καὶ ὅσα παρὰ σοῦ εἰλήφαμεν, τὰς καλὰς ὑποθήκας, σὺν οἷς ἄπιμεν. κλαίοντες μέν, ὡς πορευόμενοι, φέροντες δὲ σὺν αὐτοῖς ὅμως τὰ σπέρματα ταῦτα. ἴσως μὲν οὖν διασώσει ἡμᾶς ὁ φύλαξ ἐπιστάς· ἴσως δὲ ὑποστρέψομεν πρὸς σὲ πάλιν, φέροντες ἐκ τῶν σπερμάτων καὶ τοὺς καρποὺς καὶ τὰς δραγμίδας, τελείας μὲν οὐχί. πῶς γάρ; οἵας δὲ δυνατὸν ἡμῖν ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν πολιτείᾳ πράξεων, διεφθαρμένας μὲν τῇ δυνάμει, ἢ ἀκάρπῳ ἢ κακοκάρπῳ τινί, μὴ καὶ προσδιαφθαρησομένῃ δὲ μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν, εἰ ὁ Θεὸς ἐπινεύοι.

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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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