Fragment on 'Rejoice in that day' · §1 · Olympiodorus of Alexandria

Health and the pleasure of suffering for truth

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Olympiodorus opens by comparing bodily health to spiritual health, then introduces Paul rejoicing in his sufferings.

Just as in the body, a person who is healthy and of good body takes pleasure even before luxury, having pleasure allotted together with health; and neither irregularities of the air, nor drought, nor cold, nor a cheap table, nor anything else of that kind could grieve such a person, since health is enough to beat away the harm from these things—so the same thing is accustomed to happen in the soul. For this reason Paul, though suffering countless terrible things, rejoiced, saying, "I rejoice in my sufferings for you..." the quotation breaks off—not only in the kingdom of heaven, in which a prize is set for virtue, but also in the very suffering, since this too is the greatest prize: to suffer something for the truth... fragment breaks off

Greek

‹93.780› Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐν τῷ σώματι ὁ ὑγιαίνων καὶ εὐσωματῶν, καὶ πρὸ τῆς τρυφῆς αὐτῷ τούτῳ τρυφᾷ, συγκεκληρωμένην ἔχων τῇ ὑγείᾳ τὴν ἡδονὴν, καὶ οὔτε ἀέρων αὐτὸν ἀνωμαλίαι, οὔτε αὐχμὸς οὔτε κρυμὸς, οὕτε εὐτέλεια τραπέζης, οὐκ ἄλλο τι τῶν τοιούτων λυπῆσαι δύναιτ' ἂν, ἀρκούσης τῆς ὑγιείας τὴν ἐκ τούτων διακρούσασθαι βλάβην, οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ψυχῆς συμβαίνειν εἴωθε· διὰ τοῦτο καὶ Παῦλος μυρία πάσχων δεινὰ, ἔχαιρεν οὕτω λέγων· Χαίρω ἐν τοῖς παθήμασί μου ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν οὐ μόνον ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν, ᾗ ἔπαθλον κεῖται τῆς ἀρετῆς, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ πάσχειν, ἐπεὶ καὶ τοῦτο μέγιστον ἔπαθλον, τὸ ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας τι

About this text

Olympiodorus on rejoicing in suffering: as health makes hardship easy, so suffering for the truth, like Paul's and the apostles', is itself a prize.

Olympiodorus of Alexandria, the deacon, is the name on this file. It is the short fragment on the line "Rejoice in that day," not his commentary on Job, Jeremiah, or Ecclesiastes, and not the pagan philosopher of the same name.

A healthy person takes pleasure even without luxury, because health itself wards off bad weather and meager fare. The same is said of the soul. Paul, in the midst of terrible things, rejoiced in his sufferings, not only for the kingdom of heaven, but because the suffering itself is a prize: to suffer something for the truth.

The apostles left the council of the Jews rejoicing, not only for the kingdom of heaven, but because they had been counted worthy to be dishonored for the name of Jesus. Solomon's words in Ecclesiastes are set beside the tears of the slandered. Christ tells those in this contest to rejoice and leap for joy.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 93 (Greek)

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