In Praise of the Holy Martyrs · §1 · Hesychius of Jerusalem

Enter the Spirit's garden and gather all virtues

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The preacher opens his encomium by calling the congregation to enter the Spirit's garden and gather every virtue, not just one.

So then, brothers and fathers, enter the Spirit's many-flowered garden and eagerly gather the virtues from it—not one, but many; or rather, not many, but all of them. For virtue needs virtue, just as wing needs wing, wheel needs wheel, step needs step, oar needs oar, and rudder needs rudder. If you do not join stone to stone, the tower will not rise to a height. In the same way, if we do not set commandment upon commandment, we will not reach heaven; if you do not join commandment to commandment, the course is incomplete.

Greek

̔Ησυχίου, ἀπὸ ἐγκωμίων εἰς μάρτυρας.

1 Ὑμεῖς οὖν, ἄνδρες ἀδελφοὶ καὶ πατέρες, τὸν πολυανθῆ κῆπον εἰσελθόντες

τοῦ Πνεύματος προθύμως ἐκεῖθεν τὰς ἀρετὰς τρυγήσατε, μὴ μίαν ἀλλὰ πολλάς,

μᾶλλον δὲ μὴ πολλὰς ἀλλὰ πάσας· ἀρετὴ γὰρ ἀρετῆς χρῄζει, ἐπειδὴ καὶ πτεροῦ

πτερὸν καὶ τροχοῦ τροχὸς καὶ βαθμὸς βαθμίδος καὶ κώπη κώπης καὶ πηδαλίου

πηδάλιον. Ἐὰν μὴ ζεύξῃς λίθῳ λίθον, ὁ πύργος εἰς ὕψος οὐκ ἐγήγερται· τὸν αὐτὸν δὴ

τρόπον, ἐὰν μὴ νόμον ἐπὶ νόμον κατορθώσωμεν, τὸν οὐρανὸν οὐ φθάνομεν· ἐὰν μὴ

συνάψῃς ἐντολὴν ἐντολῇ, ἀτελὴς ὁ δρόμος.

About this text

A short sermon urging hearers to gather every virtue, not one, since fasting needs prayer, prayer needs almsgiving, and faith needs love.

This homily is attributed to Hesychius of Jerusalem (fl. c. 412–450), a priest and preacher known for his biblical commentaries and festal addresses. The text as it survives is a fragment, and the attribution is not certain, but it fits the kind of encomium on martyrs that Hesychius was known to deliver. It is addressed to a congregation as brothers and fathers, and its purpose is to urge them toward a complete life of virtue rather than a partial one.

The speaker calls the hearers into the Spirit's garden and tells them to gather not one virtue but all of them, because virtues depend on one another like stones in a tower or steps in a ladder. He argues that each virtue is incomplete without another: fasting needs prayer, prayer needs almsgiving, almsgiving needs faith, gentleness needs humility, and faith needs love.

A reader will meet Cornelius, whose prayers and alms were remembered before God, and will hear words from Jesus and from an angel speaking to Cornelius, as well as from an unnamed scriptural speaker. The key terms are virtue, fasting, prayer, almsgiving, faith, gentleness, humility, love, crown, and kingdom of heaven.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 93 (Greek)

This work has passed this project's source check. This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.