Phileas

“ And thou wert not persuaded to delay such procedure or restrain thy purpose readily even by the word of the Apostle Paul, the most blessed seer, [10] and the man who put on Christ, who is the Christ of all of us no less; for he, in writing to his dearly-beloved son Timothy, says: “Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins.” [11] And thus he at once shows his own anxious consideration for him, [12] and gives him his example and exhibits the law according to which, with all carefulness and caution, parties are to be chosen for the honour of ordination. ”

“ It is impossible to accept modern theories of the inconsiderable number of the primitive martyrs, in view of the abounding evidences of a chronic and continuous persecution always evidenced by even these fragments of authentic history. ”

“ And there was also a certain Arius, who wore the habit of piety, and was in like manner possessed with the ambition to be a teacher. And when they discovered the object of Meletius’s passion [1] and what it was that he sought, hastening to him, and looking with an evil eye on the episcopal authority of the blessed Peter, that the aim and desire of Meletius might be made patent, [2] they discovered to Meletius certain presbyters, then in hiding, to whom the blessed Peter had given power to act as parish-visitors. ”

“ But thou, neither making any account of these things, nor regarding the future, nor considering the law of our sainted fathers and those who have been taken to Christ time after time, nor the honour of our great bishop and father, [5] Peter, [6] on whom we all depend in the hope which we have in the Lord Jesus Christ, nor softened by our imprisonments and trials, and daily and multiplied reproach, hast ventured on subverting all things at once. ”

“ And others being thrown upon the ground lay prostrated there by the excessively frequent application of the tortures; in which condition they exhibited to the onlookers a still more dreadful spectacle than they did when actually undergoing their torments, bearing, as they did, on their bodies the varied and manifold tokens of the cruel ingenuity of their tortures. While this state of matters went on, some died under their tortures, putting the adversary to shame by their constancy. ”

“ For every one shall have enough to do in managing his own parish, and in finding with great care and many anxieties suitable subordinates among these with whom he has passed his whole life, and who have been trained under his hands. ”

“ By them it has been established and settled that it is not lawful for any bishop to celebrate ordinations in other parishes [3] than his own; a law which is exceedingly important [4] and wisely devised. For, in the first place, it is but right that the conversation and life of those who are ordained should be examined with great care ”

“ Then after all this the torturers, according to their orders, lacerated with the sharp iron claws [3] the whole body, not merely, as in the case of murderers, the sides only, but also the stomach and the knees and the cheeks. ”