# Funeral Oration on Flacilla

- Author: [Gregory of Nyssa](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/gregory-of-nyssa/)
- Latin title: *In Flaccillam imperatricem*
- Date: 386 (probable)
- Source: J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae cursus completus, Series Graeca 46 (Paris: Migne, 1863), cols. 877-892 (OCR by the Bavarian State Library / Google Books; lines extracted for this site)

- Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator
- Editions and translations: Gregorii Nysseni Sermones, Gregorii Nysseni Opera 9-10 (Leiden: Brill) (volume and editors not yet checked; cited only; not reproduced)
- Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-funebris-flacillam/
- Passages: 8

## Funeral Oration on Flacilla, Migne cols. 877–878

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-funebris-flacillam/877/#p-877
- Source: PG 46:877–878
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: Gregory begins by noting that his bishop, who had rightly kept silence in the first grief, now asks for a sermon, though silence suits mourners best.

### Greek text

Ὁ πιστὸς καὶ φρόνιμος οἰκονόμος (ἐκ γὰρ τῶν ἀνεγνωσμένων ἀπὸ τοῦ θείου Εὐαγγελίου προοιμιάζομαι), ἂν κατέστησεν ὁ Κύριος ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας ταύτης, τοῦ διδόναι ἐν καιρῷ τοῖς οἰκονομουμένοις τὸ σιτομέτριον, καλῶς ἐν τῷ πρὸ τούτου χρόνῳ καταδικάσας τὴν ἀφωνίαν τῷ λόγῳ, ὁ καλῶς τοῦ μεγέθους τῆς συμφορᾶς ἐπαισθόμενος, καὶ τιμήσας τῇ ἡσυχίᾳ τὸ πένθος, οὐκ οἶδ᾽ ὅπως ἐν τῷ παρόντι συλλόγῳ πάλιν ἐπανάγει τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ τὸν λόγον, αὐτὸς ἀναλύων τὴν ἰδίαν κατὰ τοῦ λόγου ψῆφον· καίτοι γε σφόδρα θαυμάζων τῆς συνέσεως ἐν πολλοῖς τὸν διδάσκαλον, ἐν τούτῳ μάλιστα πλέον ὑπερεθαύμασα, ὡς καλῶς ἐν τῇ συμφορᾷ τὸν λόγον κατασιγάσαντα. Προσφυὲς γάρ μοι δοκεῖ καὶ κατάλληλον εἶναι τοῖς πενθοῦσι φάρμακον ἡ σιγή, τὸ διοιδοῦν τῆς ψυχῆς χρόνῳ καὶ κατηφείᾳ δι' ἡσυχίας ἐκπέπτουσα. Ὡς εἴ γέ τις ἔτι τὴν

### English translation (Claude)

The faithful and wise steward (for I take my opening from the reading of the divine Gospel), whom the Lord has set over this household to give those in his charge their portion of food at the proper time, who in the time before this rightly sentenced speech to silence, who rightly perceived the greatness of the calamity and honored the mourning with quiet, now, I know not how, brings speech back to the church in this assembly, himself annulling his own sentence against it. And though I greatly admire the teacher’s understanding in many things, in this I admired him above all, that he rightly silenced speech in the calamity. For silence seems to me a fitting and suitable remedy for mourners, easing the swelling of the soul through quiet with time and downcast stillness. For if, while

### Scripture references

- Luke 12:42: quotation, high confidence
- Matt 24:45: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- The opening phrase is Luke 12:42 (cf. Matt 24:45), read in the service; the “steward” and “teacher” is the bishop of Constantinople, Nectarius (not named). The oration mourns the empress Aelia Flacilla, wife of Theodosius I, who died in Thrace in 386. The word ἐκπέπτουσα is probably a slip for ἐκπέττουσα (“softening, easing”); translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, Flacc. 877 (PG 46:877–878; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-funebris-flacillam/877).

## Funeral Oration on Flacilla, Migne cols. 879–880

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-funebris-flacillam/877/#p-879
- Source: PG 46:879–880
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: Gregory would have preferred silence while grief is fresh, but obeys, citing Ecclesiastes and Proverbs on a time to weep, and says the present loss is greater than any evil recorded before.

### Greek text

ψυχὴν τοῦ πάθους ὑποθερμαίνοντος ανακινοίη τὸν λόγον, δυσαλθέστερον τὸ τῆς λύπης τραῦμα γενήσεται, τῇ μνήμῃ τῶν ἀλγεινῶν οἷόν τισιν ἀκάνθαις ἐπιξαινόμενον. Εἰ δὲ μὴ λίαν ἐστὶ τολμηρὸν κἀμέ τι τῶν τοῦ διδασκάλου προσδιορθώσασθαι, τάχα καλῶς ἔσχεν μέχρι τοῦ νῦν κατακρατεῖν ἡμῶν τὴν ἡσυχίαν, ὡς ἂν μὴ πρὸς τὸ πάθος ὁ λόγος καθελκυσθεὶς, τὴν ἀκοὴν ἀνιάσειεν. Οὕπω γὰρ τοσοῦτος ὁ ἐν τῷ μέσῳ χρόνος, ὥστε προσεθίσαι τῷ καλῷ τὴν διάνοιαν. Ἔτι νέον ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ τὸ πάθος, τάχα δὲ καὶ ἀεὶ νέον ἔσται τῷ βίῳ τὸ ἄλγημα· ἔτι ταράσσεται ἡμῶν ἡ καρδία, καὶ καθάπερ τις θάλασσα κυματουμένη τῇ λαίλαπι τῆς συμφορᾶς ἐκ βυθῶν ἀναστρέφεται· ἔτι διοιδοῦσιν οἱ λογισμοί, πρὸς τὴν μνήμην τῶν κακῶν ἀναζέοντες. Αστατούσης οὖν τῷ τοιούτῳ κλύδωνι τῆς ψυχῆς, πῶς ἔστι προαγαγεῖν ἐπ᾿ εὐθείας τὸν λόγον, οἷόν τινι καταιγίδι τῷ πάθει τῆς λύπης ἐγχειμαζόμενον; ᾿Αλλ' ἐπειδὴ χρὴ κελεύοντι πείθεσθαι, οὐκ οἶδα ὅπως τῷ λόγῳ χρήσομαι. Οὐ γὰρ εὑρίσκω τῆς διανοίας τοῦ διδασκάλου καταστοχάσασθαι. Η τάχα βούλεταί τι καὶ τῷ πάθει χαρίσασθαι, καὶ τοῖς ἐμπαθεστέροις τῶν λόγων ἀνακινῆσαι τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τὸ δάκρυον; Καὶ εἰ ταῦτα διανοεῖται, ὀρθῶς, κατά γε τὴν ἐμὴν κρίσιν, καὶ τοῦτο ποιεῖ· δεῖ γὰρ πάντως, ὥσπερ τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν τῶν ἀγαθῶν προθυμούμεθα, οὕτω καὶ πρὸς τὰ λυπηρὰ τῶν συμπιπτόντων οἰκείως ἔχειν. Τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ὁ Ἐκκλησιαστής συμβουλεύει. Καιρός, φησί, τοῦ γελάσαι, καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ κλαῦσαι. Μανθάνομεν γὰρ διὰ τούτων, ὅτι δεῖ καταλλήλως τῷ ὑποκειμένῳ καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν διατίθεσθαι. Κατὰ ῥοῦν τὰ πράγματα φέρεται; εὔκαιρον τὸ εὐφραίνεσθαι· μετέπεσε τὸ φαιδρὸν εἰς κατήφειαν; μεταβάλλειν προσήκει καὶ τὴν εὐθυμίαν εἰς δάκρυον. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ γέλως σημεῖον τῆς ἔνδον φαιδρότητος γίνεται, οὕτω καὶ ὁ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ πόνος ὑπὸ τῶν θρήνων διερμηνεύεται, καὶ γίνεται τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς τραυμάτων ὥσπερ αἷμα τὸ δάκρυον. Τοῦτο καὶ ἡ Παροιμία* Σολομῶντός φησιν, ὅτι Καρδίας εὐφραινομένης, πρόσωπον θάλλει· τῆς ψυχῆς δὲ ἐν λύπαις οὔσης, σκυθρωπάζει. Οὐκοῦν ἀνάγκη πᾶσα τῇ διαθέσει τῆς καρδίας συσκυθρωπάσαι τὸν λόγον. Καὶ εἴθε δυνατὸν ἦν τοιούτους ἐξευρεῖν τινας λόγους, οἴους ὁ μέγας Ἱερεμίας τῇ συμφορᾷ ποτε τῶν Ἰσραηλιτῶν ἐπεθρήνησεν. Ἐκείνων γὰρ ἄξια τὰ παρόντα μᾶλλον, ἢ εἴ τι τῶν ἀρχαίων ἐν σκυθρωποῖς μνημονεύεται. Χαλεπὰ τὰ τοῦ Ἰὼβ διηγήματα. Ἀλλὰ τί χρὴ πρὸς τοῦτο κακὸν ἀντεξαγαγεῖν μιᾶς οἰκίας εὐαρίθμητα πάθη; Κἂν τὰ μεγάλα καὶ κοινότερα τῶν κακῶν διεξέλθης, σεισμοὺς, καὶ πολέμους, καὶ ἐπικλύσεις, καὶ χάσματα, μικρὰ καὶ ταῦτα, εἰ πρὸς τὰ παρόντα κρίνοιτο. Διὰ τί; Ὅτι οὐ πάσης ἀθρόως τῆς οἰκουμένης ἡ κατὰ πόλεμον ἅπτεται συμφορά· ἀλλὰ τὸ μέν τι πολεμεῖται αὐτῆς, τὸ δὲ εἰρηνεύεται μέρος. Τί πάλιν; Ἢ σκηπτὸς ἐπέφλεξεν, ἢ τὸ ὕδωρ ἐπέκλυσεν,

### English translation (Claude)

grief still keeps the soul heated, someone stirs up speech, the wound of sorrow will become harder to heal, scraped by the memory of painful things as if by thorns. If it is not too bold for me to add a correction to my teacher’s judgment, perhaps it would have been well for quiet to keep its hold on us until now, so that speech, dragged toward grief, might not pain your hearing. For the time that has passed is not yet so long that the mind has grown used to the evil. The grief is still new in our soul; and perhaps the pain will always be new in our life. Our heart is still troubled, and like a sea whipped into waves it is churned up from the depths by the storm of the calamity; our thoughts still swell, boiling up at the memory of the evils. Since, then, the soul is unsteady in such a surge, how can one steer speech on a straight course when it is storm-tossed by the grief of sorrow as by a hurricane? But since one must obey the one who commands, I do not know how I am to use my speech. For I cannot guess my teacher’s intention. Or perhaps he wishes to give something to grief as well, and by more moving words to stir tears in the church? If that is his intention, he does this too rightly, in my judgment; for just as we are eager to enjoy good things, so we must also be properly disposed toward the sad things that befall us. This is what the Preacher also advises: “A time to laugh,” he says, “and a time to weep.” For we learn from this that we must dispose the soul in keeping with what is before us. Do things go with the current? It is the season to be glad. Has brightness turned to gloom? Then good cheer too must change to tears. For as laughter is a sign of brightness within, so the pain in the heart is expressed by laments, and tears become like the blood of the soul’s wounds. The Proverb of Solomon also says this: “When the heart is glad, the face flourishes; but when the soul is in sorrow, it is gloomy.” It is wholly necessary, then, that speech share the gloom of the heart’s condition. Would that it were possible to find such words as the great Jeremiah once lamented over the calamity of the Israelites! For the present events deserve those words more than anything recorded among the sad events of old. The stories of Job are grievous. But why set the countable sufferings of a single house against this evil? Even if you go through the great and more widespread evils, earthquakes, wars, floods and chasms, these too are small compared with the present ones. Why? Because the calamity of war does not touch the whole world at once; one part of it is at war while another is at peace. What then? Either a thunderbolt burned something, or water

### Scripture references

- Eccl 3:4: quotation, high confidence
- Prov 15:13: quotation, high confidence

### Translation notes

- “A time to laugh …”: Eccl 3:4. “When the heart is glad …”: Prov 15:13. Two lines are interchanged in the digitized text; they are restored to their places by logged corrections.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, Flacc. 879 (PG 46:879–880; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-funebris-flacillam/879).

## Funeral Oration on Flacilla, Migne cols. 881–882

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-funebris-flacillam/877/#p-881
- Source: PG 46:881–882
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: Gregory calls the whole empire to lament the empress, a woman in whom every virtue met, raised to the throne as the emperor's helper and his equal in kindness, piety and justice.

### Greek text

ἢ κατεπόθη τῷ χάσματι. Τὸ δὲ παρὸν κακὸν πάσης ἀθρόως τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐστὶ πληγή. Οὐκ ἔστιν ἔθνος ἓν ἢ πόλιν μίαν ἀπολοφύρασθαι· ἀλλ᾽ ἀρμόζει τάχα τὴν τοῦ Ναβουχοδονόσορ προΐεσθαι φωνὴν, ἣν πρὸς τοὺς ὑποχειρίους πεποίηται· Ὑμῖν λέγω, λαὺς, φυλαὶ, γλῶσσαι. Μᾶλλον δὲ συγχωρήσατέ μοι, προσθεῖναί τι τῷ ᾿Ασσυρίῳ κηρύγματι, μεγαλοφωνότερον ἀνακηρύξαι τὴν συμφορὰν καὶ εἰπεῖν, ὡς ἄν τις ἐπὶ σκηνῆς ἀναβοήσας εἴποι· Ὦ πόλεις καὶ δῆμοι, καὶ ἔθνη καὶ σύμπασα γῆ, καὶ τῆς θαλάσσης ὅσον τε πλώϊμον καὶ ὅσον οἰκούμενον· πάσης τῆς καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς οἰκουμένης ὅσον τῷ σκήπτρῳ τῆς βασιλείας εὐθύνεται, ὦ πάντες οἱ πανταχόθεν ἄνθρωποι, κοινῇ τῷ πάθει ἐπιστενάξατε, κοινῇ τοῦ θρήνου τὴν συνῳδίαν στήσασθε, κοινῇ τὴν πάντων ζημίαν ἀπολοφύρασθε. Η βούλεσθε, καθὼς ἂν οἷός τε ὦ, καὶ τὴν ζημίαν ὑμῖν διηγήσωμαι; Ἤνεγκεν ἐν τῇ καθ' ἡμᾶς γενεᾷ ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις ἐκβᾶσα τοὺς ἰδίους ὅρους, καὶ τὰ συνήθη μέτρα νικήσασα, ἡ φύσις, μᾶλλον δὲ ὁ τῆς φύσεως Κύριος, ἀνθρωπίνην ψυχὴν ἐν γυναικείῳ τῷ σώματι, ὑπὲρ πάντα σχεδόν τὰ προλαβόντα τῆς ἀρετῆς ὑποδείγματα, ἐν ᾗ πᾶσα μὲν σώματος, πᾶσα δὲ ψυχῆς ἀρετὴ συνδραμοῦσα, θαῦμα ἄπιστον ἔδειξε τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ ζωῇ, πόσων ἀγαθῶν συνδρομὴν μιᾷ ψυχῇ ἐν ἑνὶ ἐχώρησε σώματι; Καὶ ὡς ἂν μάλιστα καταφανές ἅπασι γένοιτο τῆς γενεᾶς τὸ εὐτύχημα, ἐπὶ τὸν ὑψηλὸν θρόνον τῆς βασιλείας ἀνάγεται, ὅπως ἡλίου δίκην ἐκ τοῦ ὑψηλοῦ ἀξιώματος πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην ταῖς ἀκτῖσι τῶν ἀρετῶν καταλάμψειεν, καὶ τῷ κατὰ θείαν ψῆφον τῆς οἰκουμένης ἁπάσης προτεταγμένῳ εἰς βίου τε καὶ βασιλείας κοινωνίαν συναρμοσθεῖσα, μακαριστὸν ἐποίει δι' ἑαυτῆς τὸ ὑπήκοον, ὄντως, καθώς φησιν ἡ Γραφή, βοηθὸς αὐτῷ πρὸς πᾶν ἀγαθὸν γινομένη. Εἰ φιλανθρωπίας ἦν ὁ καιρὸς, ἢ συνέτρεχεν αὐτῷ πρὸς τὸ ἀγαθὸν τοῦτο, ἢ καὶ προέτρεχεν· ἴσος ἦν ὁ ζυγὸς ἑκατέρωθεν τῇ τῆς φιλανθρωπίας ῥοπῇ. Μαρτυρεῖ δὲ τῷ λόγῳ τὰ τε πρότερον ἀριθμὸν νικῶντα, καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος κηρύγματα, ἃ νῦν παρὰ τοῦ κήρυκος τῆς ἀληθείας ἠκούσαμεν. Εἰ τὸ εὐσεβὲς ἐπιζητεῖς, κοινὸς ἦν ἀμφοτέρων ὁ πρὸς εὐσέβειαν δρόμος. Εἰ τὸ προνοητικὸν, εἰ τὸ δίκαιον, εἰ ἄλλο τι τῶν πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον σπουδαζομένων· πάντα ἐν ἁμίλλῃ ἦν ἀλλήλους νικᾶν ἐν ταῖς εὐποιίαις φιλονεικούντων, καὶ οὐκ ἦν ὁ ἡττώμενος. Ἴση τις ἀμφοτέρων ἡ ἐπ᾿ ἀλλήλοις χάρις, ἡ μὲν ἀρετῆς ἄθλον εἶχεν τὸν τῆς οἰκουμένης προτεταγμένον, ὁ δὲ μικρὰν ἡγεῖτο γῆς τε καὶ θαλάττης τὴν ἐξουσίαν συγκρίσει τοῦ κατ᾿ αὐτὴν εὐτυχήματος ἴσας ἀλλήλοις ἀντιπαρείχον τὰς εὐφροσύνας, ἀλλήλους τε βλέποντες καὶ ὑπ᾿ ἀλλήλων ὀρώμενοι· ὁ μὲν τοιοῦτος ὢν οἷός ἐστι (ποῖον γάρ τις κάλλος ὑπὲρ τὸ φαινόμενον δείξειεν; καὶ εἴη γε διαρκέσαι καὶ εἰς ἐκγόνων ζωὴν τὸ ὁρώμενον), τὴν δὲ, οἷα τις ἦν, οὐκ ἔστιν ὑποδεῖξαι τῷ λόγῳ· οὐ γὰρ περιλέλειπταί τι αὐτῆς δι' ἀκριβείας παρὰ τῆς τέχνης ὁμοίωμα· ἀλλ᾽ εἰ καί τι γέγονεν ἐν γραφαῖς ἢ ἐν πλάσμασι, πάντα τῆς ἀληθείας ἐστὶν ἐνδεέστερα.

### English translation (Claude)

flooded something, or something was swallowed up by a chasm. But the present evil is a blow to the whole world at once. It is not one nation or one city that must be lamented; perhaps it is fitting to utter the cry of Nebuchadnezzar that he made to his subjects: “To you I say, peoples, tribes, tongues.” Or rather, allow me to add something to the Assyrian’s proclamation, to proclaim the calamity more loudly, and to say, as one would cry aloud on a stage: O cities and peoples and nations and the whole earth, and all of the sea that is sailed and all that is inhabited, all of the world in our time that is governed by the scepter of this empire, O all people everywhere, groan together over the grief, raise together the chorus of lament, lament together the loss of all! Or do you wish me to tell you, as best I can, what the loss is? In our generation human nature, going beyond its own bounds and surpassing its usual measures (nature, or rather the Lord of nature), brought forth a human soul in a woman’s body beyond almost all the examples of virtue before her, in whom every virtue of body and every virtue of soul met together, and she showed human life an incredible wonder: how great a concurrence of good things one soul contained in one body. And so that the good fortune of the generation might be most evident to all, she was raised to the lofty throne of the empire, so that like the sun she might shine on the whole world from her high rank with the rays of her virtues. Joined in partnership of life and rule with him who by divine decree stands at the head of the whole world, she made the subjects most blessed through herself, truly becoming, as Scripture says, a helper to him for every good thing. If it was the time for kindness to people, she either ran with him toward this good or even ran ahead; the scale was equal on both sides in the weight of kindness. The proclamations made before, past numbering, bear witness to my words, and so do those of the present, which we have just heard from the herald of truth. If you look for piety, the course of both toward piety was the same. If foresight, if justice, if any other of the things pursued for the better, all was in rivalry, as they strove to outdo each other in good deeds, and there was no loser. The delight of each in the other was equal: she had as the prize of her virtue the ruler of the world, and he thought the power over land and sea small compared with his good fortune in her. They gave each other equal joys, seeing each other and being seen by each other: he being such as he is (for what beauty could anyone point to beyond what is seen? and may what is seen last even into the life of his descendants), while what she was cannot be shown by speech; for no likeness of her made with exactness by art has survived, and even if something has been made in paintings or sculptures, all fall short of the truth.

### Scripture references

- Dan 3:4: quotation, high confidence
- Gen 2:18: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- “To you I say, peoples, tribes, tongues”: Dan 3:4 (the herald of Nebuchadnezzar), called here “the Assyrian”. “A helper to him”: Gen 2:18. The emperor is Theodosius I. The “herald of truth” is the preacher before Gregory, probably the bishop (not named).

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, Flacc. 881 (PG 46:881–882; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-funebris-flacillam/881).

## Funeral Oration on Flacilla, Migne cols. 883–884

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-funebris-flacillam/877/#p-883
- Source: PG 46:883–884
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: Gregory laments that the empress died at Skotoumis in Thrace, lists the virtues lost with her, and asks whether this blow so soon after the death of her daughter is a punishment for the growth of heresy.

### Greek text

Τοιαῦτα καὶ μέχρι τούτου τὰ διηγήματα· τὰ δὲ ἐπὶ τούτοις οἷα; Πάλιν βοᾷν ἀναγκάζομαι. Καί μοι σύγγνωτε ὑπερβοῶντι τὸ πάθος. Ὦ Θράκη, τὸ φευκτὸν ὄνομα! Ὦ δυστυχὲς χωρίον, ἔθνος ἐκ συμφορῶν γνωριζόμενον! Ω πρότερον μὲν πολεμίῳ πυρὶ ταῖς τῶν βαρβάρων ἐπιδρομαῖς δῃωθεῖσα, νῦν δὲ τὸ κεφάλαιον τῆς κοινῆς συμφορᾶς ἐν ἑαυτῇ δεξαμένη· ἐκεῖθεν τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἀναρπάζεται, ἐκεῖ ὁ φθόνος κατὰ τῆς βασιλείας ἐκώμασεν, ἐκεῖ γέγονεν τὸ τῆς οἰκουμένης ναυάγιον, ἐκεῖ καθάπερ ἐν κλύδωνι τῷ προβόλῳ προσπταίσαντες, τῷ τῆς λύπης βυθῷ κατεδύημεν! Ὦ πονηρᾶς ἐκδημίας ἐκείνης, ἢ τὴν ὑποστροφὴν οὐκ ἀπέδωκεν! Ὢ πικρῶν ὑδάτων, ὧν τὰς πηγὰς ἐπεπόθησεν, ὡς οὐκ ὤφειλεν! Ὦ χωρίον, ἐν ᾧ τὸ πάθος ἐγένετο, διὰ τὸ πάθος τῇ σκοτομήνῃ ἐπώνυμον. ᾿Ακούω γὰρ κατὰ τὴν πάτριον αὐτῶν γλῶσσαν Σκότουμιν τὸν τόπον ἐπονομάζεσθαι· ἐκεῖ ἐσκοτίσθη ὁ λύχνος, ἐκεῖ κατεσβέσθη τὸ φέγγος, ἐκεῖ αἱ ἀκτῖνες τῶν ἀρετῶν ἡμαυρώθησαν, οἴχεται τῆς βασιλείας τὸ ἐγκαλλώπισμα, τὸ τῆς δικαιοσύνης πηδάλιον, ἡ τῆς φιλανθρωπίας εἰκὼν, μᾶλλον δὲ αὐτὸ τὸ ἀρχέτυπον ἀφῃρέθη τῆς φιλανδρίας ὁ τύπος, τὸ ἁγνὸν τῆς σωφροσύνης ἀνάθημα, ἡ εὐπρόσιτος σεμνότης, ἡ ἀκαταφρόνητος ἡμερότης, ἡ ὑψηλὴ ταπεινοφροσύνη, ἡ πεπαῤῥησιασμένη αἰδὼς, ἡ σύμμικτος τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἁρμονία· οἴχεται ὁ τῆς πίστεως ζῆλος, ὁ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας στύλος, ὁ τῶν θυσιαστηρίων κόσμος, ὁ τῶν πενομένων πλοῦτος, ἡ πολυαρκὴς δεξιὰ, ὁ κοινὸς τῶν καταπονουμένων λιμήν. Πενθείτω ἡ παρθενία, θρηνείτω ἡ χηρεία, ὀδυρέσθω ἡ ὀρφανία, γνώτωσαν τί εἶχον ὅτε οὐκ ἔχουσιν. Μᾶλλον δὲ τί χρή με κατὰ μέρη καὶ τάξεις διαιρεῖν τὸν θρῆνον; Στεναζέτω πᾶσα ἡ γενεὰ, βύθιον ἐκ μέσης καρδίας τὸν στεναγμὸν ἀναπέμπουσα· συμπενθείτω καὶ ἡ ἱερωσύνη αὐτὴ, τὸν κοινὸν κόσμον τοῦ φθόνου ἀποσυλήσαντος. Αρα μὴ τολμηρὸν τὸ τοῦ Προφήτου εἰπεῖν, τὸ, Ἵνα τί ἀπώσω, ὁ Θεὸς, εἰς τέλος, καὶ διωργίσθη ὁ θυμός σου ἐπὶ πρόβατα νομῆς σου; Ποίων ἁμαρτημάτων τὰς δίκας ἐκτιννύομεν; Ὑπὲρ τίνος ταῖς ἐπαλλήλοις τῶν συμφορῶν μαστιζόμεθα; Ἢ τάχα διὰ τὸ πλεονάσαι τὴν ἀσέβειαν τῶν ποικίλων αἱρέσεων, αὐτὴ καθ' ἡμῶν ἡ ψῆφος ἐκράτησεν; Ὁρᾶτε γὰρ οἴοις κακοῖς ἐν βραχεῖ συνηνέχθημεν χρόνῳ. Οὔπω ἐπὶ τῇ προτέρᾳ πληγῇ ἀναπνεύσαντες, οὔπω τὸ δάκρυον τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἀποψήσαντες, πάλιν ἐν τοσαύτῃ γεγόναμεν συμφορᾷ. Τότε τὸ νεοθαλὲς ἄνθος ἀπωδυράμεθα, νῦν αὐτὸ τὸ ἔρνος, ἀφ᾿ οὗ τὸ ἄνθος ἐβλάσθησεν· τότε τὴν ἐλπισθεῖσαν ὥραν, νῦν τὴν ἀκμάσασαν· τότε τὸ προσδοκώμενον ἀγαθὸν, νῦν τὸ ἐν πείρᾳ γενόμενον. ῎Αρά μοι συγγνώσεσθε, ἀδελφοὶ, εἴ τι διὰ τὸ πάθος παραληρήσαιμι Τάχα, καθώς φησιν ὁ ᾿Απόστολος, καὶ αὐτὴ ἡ κτίσις τῷ ἡμετέρῳ κακῷ συνεστέναξεν. Ὑπομνήσω δὲ τῶν γεγονότων ὑμᾶς, καὶ οἶμαι τοὺς πολλοὺς τοῖς λεγομένοις συνθήσεσθαι· Ὅτε χρυσῷ καὶ πορφυρίδι κεκαλυμμένη ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν ἡ βασιλὶς

### English translation (Claude)

Such is the story up to this point; but what came next? Again I am forced to cry out; forgive me for crying out the grief beyond measure. O Thrace, name to be shunned! O unhappy land, a people known for calamities! You who were once ravaged with enemy fire by the raids of the barbarians, and now have received in yourself the sum of the common calamity! From there our good was snatched away, there envy rioted against the empire, there the world suffered shipwreck, there, as if striking a reef in a heavy sea, we sank into the depth of sorrow. O wicked journey, which did not grant a return! O bitter waters, whose springs she drank, as she should not have! O place in which the misfortune happened, named after darkness because of the misfortune! For I hear that in the language of the country the place is called Skotoumis. There the lamp was darkened, there the light was quenched, there the rays of the virtues were dimmed. Gone is the ornament of the empire, the rudder of justice, the image of kindness, or rather its very original; taken away is the model of love for one’s husband, the pure offering of chastity, approachable dignity, gentleness that no one despised, lofty humility, modesty with freedom of speech, the harmonious blend of good things. Gone is the zeal for the faith, the pillar of the church, the adornment of the altars, the wealth of the poor, the right hand that supplied many, the common harbor of the afflicted. Let virginity mourn, let widowhood lament, let orphanhood wail; let them know what they had now that they have it not. But why should I divide the lament into parts and ranks? Let the whole generation groan, sending up its groan deep from the middle of the heart; let the priesthood itself mourn too, since envy has stripped away the common adornment. Is it bold to say the words of the Prophet: “Why, O God, have you rejected us forever, and why has your anger been kindled against the sheep of your pasture?” For what sins are we paying the penalty? For what are we scourged with calamity upon calamity? Or perhaps because the impiety of the various heresies has increased, that very sentence has prevailed against us? For you see what evils we have met in a short time. We had not yet breathed again after the earlier blow, we had not yet wiped the tear from our eyes, and again we are in so great a calamity. Then we lamented the newly opened flower, now the very stem from which the flower sprang; then the beauty that was hoped for, now the beauty in its prime; then the good that was expected, now the good that was known by experience. Will you forgive me, brothers, if in grief I speak wildly? Perhaps, as the Apostle says, creation itself has groaned with our evil. Let me remind you of what happened, and I think most of you will agree with what I say. When the empress, covered with gold and purple, was being carried into the city

### Scripture references

- Ps 74:1 (73:1 LXX): quotation, high confidence
- Rom 8:22: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The place-name Skotoumis is explained by Gregory from σκοτομήνη, “moonless darkness”. The bitter waters: apparently the waters of a spring there, taken for her health (the text does not say more). Thrace had been ravaged by the Goths after the battle of Adrianople (378). “Why, O God …”: Ps 74:1 (LXX 73:1). The “earlier blow” is the death of her daughter Pulcheria (see the previous oration). “Creation itself has groaned”: Rom 8:22.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, Flacc. 883 (PG 46:883–884; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-funebris-flacillam/883).

## Funeral Oration on Flacilla, Migne cols. 885–886

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-funebris-flacillam/877/#p-885
- Source: PG 46:885–886
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: Gregory recalls the empress's body entering Constantinople amid crowds, cloud and tears, then turns from lament to consolation: the good they seek has not perished but lives in the palace above.

### Greek text

ἐκομίζετο (κλίνη δὲ ἦν ἡ κομίζουσα), καὶ πᾶσα ἀξία, καὶ ἡλικία πᾶσα προχεθεῖσα τοῦ ἄστεος, ἀπεστενοχώρει διὰ τοῦ πλήθους τὸ ὕπαιθρον· πάντων ἐκ ποδῶν, καὶ τῶν ὑπερεχόντων τοῖς ἀξιώμασιν, προπομπευόντων τοῦ πάθους· μέμνησθε πάντως ὅπως ὁ ἥλιος ταῖς νεφέλαις τὰς ἀκτῖνας ἑαυτοῦ συνεκάλυψεν, ὡς ἂν μὴ ἴδοι τάχα καθαρῷ τῷ φωτὶ μετὰ τοιούτου σχήματος εἰσελαύνουσαν τὴν βασιλίδα τῇ πόλει, οὐκ ἐπὶ ἅρματός τινος, ἢ χρυσοδέτου ἀπήνης, κατὰ τὸν βασίλειον κόσμον, τοῖς δορυφόροις ἀγαλλομένην, ἀλλ' ἐν σορῷ κεκαλυμμένην, ἐπικρυπτομένην τὸ εἶδος ἐκεῖνο τῷ σκυθρωπῷ προκαλύμματι· θέαμα δεινόν τε καὶ ἐλεεινὸν, δακρύων ἀφορμὴ προκειμένη τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσιν ἣν ἅπας τῶν συνειλεγμένων, ὁ ἔπηλύς τε καὶ ὁ ἐγχώριος, οὐκ εὐφημίαις, ἀλλὰ θρήνοις εἰσιοῦσαν ἐδέχετο. Τότε καὶ ὁ ἀὴρ πενθικῶς ἐσχυθρώπασεν, οἷον ἱμάτιόν τι πενθικὸν τὸν ζόφον περιβαλλόμενος. ᾿Αλλὰ καὶ αἱ νεφέλαι, καθὼς δυνατὸν αὐταῖς ἦν, ἐπεδάκρυον, ἁπαλὰς ψεκάδας ἀντὶ δακρύων ἐπαφιεῖσαι τῷ πάθει. Ἡ ταῦτα μὲν ὄντως λῆρός ἐστι, καὶ οὐδὲ λέγειν ἄξιον; Εἰ γάρ τι καὶ γέγονεν ἐν τῇ κτίσει τοιοῦτον, οἷον ἐπισημῆναι τὴν συμφοράν, οὐ παρὰ τῆς κτίσεως γέγονε πάντως, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τοῦ Δεσπότου τῆς κτίσεως, τιμῶντος δι' ὧν ἐποίει τῆς ὁσίας τὸν θάνατον. Τίμιος γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐναντίον Κυρίου ὁ θάνατος τῶν ὁσίων αὐτοῦ. Εἶδον δὲ ἐγὼ τότε ἕτερον θέαμα τῶν εἰρημένων παραδοξότερον. Εἶδον διπλοῦν ὄμβρον, τὸν μὲν ἐκ τοῦ ἀέρος, τὸν δὲ ἐκ τῶν δακρύων ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν καταῤῥέοντα, καὶ οὐκ ἦν ὁ ἐξ ὀφθαλμῶν ὑετὸς τοῦ ἐκ τῶν νεφῶν ἐνδεέστερος. Ἐν γὰρ τοσαύταις μυριάσιν τῶν συμπαρόντων, οὐκ ἦν ὀφθαλμὸς ὁ μὴ καταβρέχων τὴν γῆν ταῖς τῶν δακρύων σταγόσιν. ᾿Αλλ᾽ οὐ καλῶς τάχα τῆς τοῦ διδασκάλου γνώμης ἐστοχασάμεθα, πλέον ἢ ἔδει τοῖς σκυθρωποῖς ἐμβαθύναντες. Ἴσως γὰρ βούλεται θεραπεῦσαι μᾶλλον ἢ ἀνιᾶσαι τὴν ἀκοήν· ἡμεῖς δὲ τὸ ἐναντίον νῦν πεποιήκαμεν. Ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις ἰατρὸς τραυματίαν λαβὼν, μὴ μόνον ἀμελοίη τῆς θεραπείας, ἀλλὰ καὶ βρωτικοῖς τισι φαρμάκοις προσεπιτρίβοι τὸν ὀδυνώμενον. Οὐκοῦν ἐπαντλητέον τὸν ἐλαιώδη λόγον τῇ διοιδούσῃ πληγῇ. Οἶδεν γὰρ καὶ ἡ εὐαγγελικὴ ἰατρεία τῇ στύψει τοῦ οἴνου καταμιγνύειν τὸ ἔλαιον. Ἐπικλίνωμεν οὖν ὑμῖν, παρὰ τῆς Γραφῆς λαβόντες τὸν τοῦ ἐλαίου καμψάκην, ὡς ἔστι δυνατὸν, τὸ σκυθρωπὸν τῶν εἰρημένων εἰς παραμυθίαν παλινῳδήσαντες. ᾿Αλλά μοι μηδεὶς ἀπιστείτω τῷ λεγομένω, κἂν παράδοξον ᾖ· Ἔστιν, ἀδελφοὶ, τὸ ἀγαθὸν, ὃ ζητοῦμεν, ἔστι, καὶ οὐκ ἀπόλωλεν. Μᾶλλον δὲ μικρότερον εἶπον τῆς ἀληθείας. Οὐ μόνον γὰρ ἔστι τὸ ἀγαθὸν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν ὑψηλοτέροις ἢ πρότερον. Τὴν βασιλίδα ζητεῖς, Ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις τὴν διαγωγὴν ἔχει. Ἀλλ᾿ ὀφθαλμῷ

### English translation (Claude)

(and it was a bier that carried her), and every rank and every age poured out of the town, the open air was cramped by the crowd; everyone, even those highest in rank, were out of the way, going before the funeral procession. You surely remember how the sun covered its rays with clouds, so as not to see with pure light, perhaps, the empress entering the city in such a state: not on a chariot or a gold-mounted carriage in imperial splendor, proud of her guards, but covered in a coffin, her beauty hidden under a gloomy veil; a dreadful and pitiable sight, set before those who met it as an occasion for tears. Everyone gathered there, stranger and native alike, received her as she entered, not with acclamations but with laments. Then the air too was gloomy as if in mourning, throwing darkness around itself like a mourning garment. And the clouds too wept as far as they could, shedding soft drizzle in place of tears over the grief. Or are these things really nonsense, not even worth saying? For if anything of the kind happened in creation that marked the calamity, it surely did not come from creation but from the Master of creation, who by what he did honored the death of the holy woman. For “precious in the sight of the Lord,” it says, “is the death of his holy ones.” But then I saw another sight more marvelous than what I have described. I saw a double rain, one falling to the earth from the air, the other from tears, and the rain from the eyes was no less than that from the clouds. For among so many tens of thousands of those present there was no eye that did not wet the ground with drops of tears. But perhaps we have not rightly guessed our teacher’s intention, dwelling more than we ought on gloomy things. For perhaps he wishes to heal the hearing rather than to pain it; and we have now done the opposite, as if a physician who had taken on a wounded man not only neglected his treatment but even rubbed in some corrosive drugs on top of his pain. We must, then, pour the oil of speech on the swollen wound. For the healing of the Gospel too knows how to mix oil with the sting of wine. Let us tip toward you the flask of oil, taking it from Scripture, as far as we can, turning what was gloomy in what we said into consolation, as if singing a recantation. And let no one disbelieve what I say, however strange it is: the good we seek, brothers, exists; it exists and has not perished. Or rather, I have said less than the truth. For not only does the good exist, it is in a higher place than before. Are you looking for the empress? She lives in the palace. But do you long to know this with your eye?

### Scripture references

- Ps 116:15 (115:6 LXX): quotation, high confidence
- Luke 10:34: allusion, high confidence
- 1 Kgs 17:12: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- “Precious in the sight of the Lord …”: Ps 116:15 (LXX 115:6). Oil and wine: Luke 10:34 (the Samaritan). The “flask of oil” (καμψάκης) is that of the widow of Zarephath, 1 Kgs 17:12–16 LXX (allusion, uncertain).

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, Flacc. 885 (PG 46:885–886; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-funebris-flacillam/885).

## Funeral Oration on Flacilla, Migne cols. 887–888

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-funebris-flacillam/877/#p-887
- Source: PG 46:887–888
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: The empress now dwells in the hidden palace of heaven; the saints longed to leave the flesh, and life in the body is a round of bodily needs like a mill, which Solomon calls a leaking jar and a house not our own.

### Greek text

γνῶναι τοῦτο ποθεῖς; Οὐκ ἔξεστί σοι βασιλίδος θέαν περιεργάζεσθαι. Φοβερὰ περὶ αὐτὴν ἡ τῶν δορυφόρων φρουρά· οὐ τούτων λέγω τῶν δορυφόρων, οἷς σίδηρος τὸ ὅπλον ἐστὶν, ἀλλὰ τῶν τῇ φλογίνῃ ῥομφαίᾳ καθωπλισμένων, ὧν τὸ εἶδος ἀνθρώπων ὄψεις οὐχ ὑποδέχεται. Ἐν οἷς ἀποῤῥήτοις τῆς βασιλείας ἡ οἴκησις, τότε ὄψει, ὅταν καὶ σὺ προκύψῃς τοῦ σώματος· οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἄλλως ἐντὸς τῶν ἀδύτων τῆς βασιλείας γενέσθαι, μὴ διασχόντα τὸ τῆς σαρκὸς παραπέτασμα. Οὐκοῦν παιδευσάτω σε ὁ θεῖος Απόστολος, ὁ τῶν ἀῤῥήτων τοῦ παραδείσου μετεσχηκὼς μυστηρίων. Τί λέγει περὶ τῆς ὧδε ζωῆς, τάχα ἐκ τοῦ κοινοῦ τῶν ἀνθρώπων φθεγγόμενος; Ταλαίπωρος ἐγὼ ἄνθρωπος! Τίς με ῥύσεται ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ θανάτου τούτου; Διὰ τί τοῦτο λέγει; Ὅτι τὸ ἀναλῦσαι, καὶ σὺν Χριστῷ εἶναι, πολλῷ κρεῖττόν φησιν. Τί δὲ ὁ μέγας Δαβίδ, ὁ τοσαύτῃ δυναστείᾳ κομῶν, ὁ πάντα πρὸς ἡδονὴν καὶ κατ᾿ ἐξουσίαν εἰς ἀπόλαυσιν ἔχων; Οὐ στενοχωρεῖται τῷ βίῳ; Οὐ φυλακὴν ὀνομάζει τὴν ὧδε ζωήν; Οὐ βοᾷ πρὸς τὸν Κύριον· Ἐξάγαγε ἐκ φυλακῆς τὴν ψυχήν μου; Οὐ πρὸς τὴν παράτασιν τῆς ζωῆς δυσχεραίνει, Οἴμοι, λέγων, ὅτι ἡ παροικία μου ἐμακρύνθη! Η οὐκ ᾔδεισαν διακρίναι οἱ ἅγιοι τὸ καλὸν ἐκ τοῦ χείρονος, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο προτιμοτέραν ᾤοντο τῇ ψυχῇ τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος ἔξοδον; Ἢ κρεῖττον οἴει τὸ διὰ σαρκὸς μετέχειν τοῦ βίου; Σὺ δὲ, τί καλὸν, εἰπέ μοι, παρὰ τὸν βίον ὁρᾷς; Κατανόησον ἐν τίσιν ἡ ζωὴ θεωρεῖται. Οὐ λέγω σοι τὴν τοῦ προφήτου φωνὴν, ὅτι Πᾶσα σάρξ χόρτος. Σεμνύνει γὰρ ἐκεῖνος μᾶλλον τῷ ὑποδείγματι τὴν τῆς φύσεως ἀθλιότητα. Τάχα γὰρ κρεῖττον ἦν χόρτον εἶναι μᾶλλον, ἢ ὅπερ ἐστί. Διὰ τί; Ὅτι οὐδεμίαν ὁ χόρτος ἐκ φύσεως ἀηδίαν ἔχει· ἡ δὲ σάρξ ἡμῶν, ὀσμῆς ἐστιν ἐργαστήριον, ἅπαν τὸ ληφθὲν εἰς διαφθορὰν ἀχρειοῦσα. Τὸ δὲ τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον ὑποκεῖσθαι τῇ τῆς γαστρὸς λειτουργία, ποίας τιμωρίας οὐκ ἔστιν ἀνιαρώτερον; Ὁρᾶτε γὰρ τοῦτον τὸν διηνεκή φορολόγον, τὴν γαστέρα λέγω, ὅσην ἐπάγει καθ' ἡμέραν τὴν ἀνάγκην τῆς ἀπαιτήσεως; Ὁ καν ποτε πλέον τοῦ τεταγμένου προκαταβάλωμεν, οὐδὲν τοῦ ἐφεξῆς χρέους προεξετίσαμεν· καθ' ὁμοιότητα τῶν ἐν τῷ μύλωνι ταλαιπωρούντων ζώων κεκαλυμμένοις τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς, τὴν τοῦ βίου μύλην περιερχόμεθα, ἀεὶ διὰ τῶν ὁμοίων περιχωροῦντες, καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ αὐτὰ ἀναστρέφοντες. Είπω σοι τὴν κυκλικήν ταύτην περίοδον, ὄρεξις, κόρος, ὕπνος, ἐγρήγορσις, κένωσις, πλήρωσις. ᾿Αεὶ ἀπ᾿ ἐκείνων ταῦτα, καὶ ἀπὸ τούτων ἐκεῖνα καὶ πάλιν ταῦτα, καὶ οὐδέποτε κύκλοῳ περιιόντες παυόμεθα, ἕως ἂν ἔξω τοῦ μύλωνος γενώμεθα. Καλῶς ὁ Σολομὼν πίθον τετρημένον καὶ οἶκον ἀλλότριον ὀνομάζει τὸν ὧδε βίον. Ὄντως γὰρ ἀλλότριος οἶκος, καὶ οὐχ ἡμέτερος, ὅτι οὐκ ἐφ' ἡμῖν

### English translation (Claude)

You are not allowed to busy yourself with the sight of an empress. Fearful is the guard of the bodyguards around her; I do not mean these bodyguards whose weapon is iron, but those armed with the flaming sword, whose form human eyes cannot receive. You will see in which secret places of the kingdom her dwelling is when you too have leaned out of the body; for one cannot otherwise come within the inner sanctuary of the kingdom without parting the curtain of the flesh. Let the divine Apostle teach you, then, who shared in the unspeakable mysteries of paradise. What does he say about life here, speaking perhaps on behalf of all people? “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from the body of this death?” Why does he say this? Because, he says, to depart and be with Christ is far better. And what of the great David, who was proud of such power and had everything for pleasure and in his power for enjoyment? Is he not hemmed in by life? Does he not call life here a prison? Does he not cry to the Lord, “Bring my soul out of prison”? Is he not vexed at the length of life, saying, “Woe is me, that my sojourning has been prolonged!” Or did the saints not know how to tell the good from the worse, and was it for this that they thought departure from the body preferable for the soul? Or do you think it better to share in life through the flesh? Tell me, what good do you see in life? Consider what life consists of. I do not quote you the prophet’s saying, “All flesh is grass”; for he rather dignifies the wretchedness of our nature by the comparison. Perhaps it would be better to be grass than what it is. Why? Because grass by nature has nothing disgusting, but our flesh is a workshop of foul smell, turning everything it takes in to corruption and uselessness. And to be subject all the time to the service of the belly, what punishment is not less painful than that? For you see this unending tax collector, I mean the belly, how great a necessity of demand it imposes each day. Even if we sometimes pay down more than the fixed sum, we have paid off none of the next debt in advance; like the animals toiling in the mill with their eyes covered, we go round the mill of life, always moving through the same things and returning to the same. Let me tell you this circular round: appetite, fullness, sleep, waking, emptying, filling. Always these after those and those after these and again these, and we never stop going round in a circle until we are outside the mill. Solomon rightly calls life here a pierced jar and another’s house. For it is truly another’s house and not ours, because it is not up to us

### Scripture references

- Gen 3:24: allusion, high confidence
- Heb 10:20: echo, low confidence
- 2 Cor 12:4: allusion, high confidence
- Rom 7:24: quotation, high confidence
- Phil 1:23: quotation, high confidence
- Ps 142:7 (141:8 LXX): quotation, high confidence
- Ps 120:5 (119:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence
- Isa 40:6: quotation, high confidence
- Prov 5:10: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- The guards with the flaming sword: Gen 3:24. Paul and the mysteries of paradise: 2 Cor 12:4. “Wretched man that I am …”: Rom 7:24. “To depart and be with Christ”: Phil 1:23. “Bring my soul out of prison”: Ps 142:7 (LXX 141:8). “Woe is me, that my sojourning has been prolonged”: Ps 120:5 (LXX 119:5); the digitized text reads παροιμία (“proverb”) for παροικία (“sojourning”), corrected. “All flesh is grass”: Isa 40:6. The pierced jar is not in Solomon's books (it is a proverbial image, cf. the Danaids); the “house of another” may echo Prov 5:10 or Wisdom (uncertain). The sentence “Or do you think it better …” stands out of place in the digitized text and is restored to the position the sense requires (the placement is a judgment).

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, Flacc. 887 (PG 46:887–888; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-funebris-flacillam/887).

## Funeral Oration on Flacilla, Migne cols. 889–890

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-funebris-flacillam/877/#p-889
- Source: PG 46:889–890
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: Life's desires are a leaking jar; the empress has exchanged an earthly kingdom for the heavenly one, which Christ promises to those who feed, clothe and visit the needy, as she did and more, freeing prisoners.

### Greek text

ἐστιν ἢ ὅτε βουλόμεθα, ἢ ἐφ᾿ ὅσον ἐπιποθοῦμεν ἐν αὐτῷ εἶναι· ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰσαγόμεθα ὡς οὐκ οἴδαμεν, καὶ ἐξοικιζόμεθα ὅτε οὐκ οἴδαμεν. Τὸ δὲ τοῦ πίθου αίνιγμα νοήσεις, ἐὰν εἰς τὸ ἀπλήρωτον τῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν ἀποβλέψῃς. Ὁρᾶς πῶς ἐπαντλοῦσιν ἑαυτοῖς οἱ ἄνθρωποι τὰς τιμὰς, τὰς δύναστείας, τὰς δόξας, καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα; ἀλλ᾽ ὑποῤῥεῖ τὸ βαλλόμενον, καὶ οὐ παραμένει τῷ ἔχοντι· ἡ μὲν γὰρ περὶ τὴν δόξαν, καὶ τὴν δυναστείαν καὶ τὴν τιμὴν σπουδὴ πάντοτε ἐνεργεῖται· ὁ δὲ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας πίθος μένει ἀπλήρωτος. Τί δὲ ἡ φιλοχρηματία; οὐκ ἀληθῶς πίθος τετρημένος ἐστὶν, ὅλῳ τῷ πυθμένι ῥέων, ᾧ κἂν πᾶσαν ἐπαντλήσῃς τὴν θάλασσαν, πληρωθῆναι φύσιν οὐκ ἔχει; Τί οὖν λυπηρὸν, εἰ τῶν τοῦ βίου κακῶν ἡ μακαρία κεχώρισται, καὶ ὥσπερ τινὰ λήμην τὸν τοῦ σώματος ῥύπον ἀποβαλοῦσα, καθαρᾷ τῇ ψυχῇ πρὸς τὴν ἀκήρατον ζωὴν μετανίσταται, ἐν ᾗ ἀπάτη οὐ πολιτεύεται, διαβολὴ οὐ πιστεύεται, κολακεία χώραν οὐκ ἔχει, ψεῦδος οὐ καταμίγνυται, ἡδονή τε καὶ λύπη, καὶ φόβος καὶ θάρσος, καὶ πενία καὶ πλοῦτος, καὶ δουλεία καὶ κυριότης, καὶ πᾶσα ἡ τοιαύτη τοῦ βίου ἀνωμαλία ὡς ποῤῥωτάτω τῆς ζωῆς ἐκείνης ἐξώρισται; ᾿Απέδρα ἐκεῖθεν, καθώς φησιν ὁ προφήτης, ὀδύνη, καὶ λύπη, καὶ στεναγμός. ᾿Αντὶ δὲ τούτων τί; Απάθεια, μακαριότης, κακοῦ παντὸς ἀλλοτρίωσις, ἀγγέλων όμιλία, τῶν ἀοράτων θεωρία, Θεοῦ μετουσία, εὐφροσύνη τέλος οὐκ ἔχουσα. Ἆρ οὖν λυπεῖσθαι προσήκει περὶ τῆς βασιλίδος, μαθόντας οἷα ἀνθ᾽ οἴων ἠλλάξατο; Κατέλιπε βασιλείαν γηΐνην, ἀλλὰ τὴν οὐράνιον κατέλαβεν· ἀπέθετο τὸν ἐκ λίθων στέφανον, ἀλλὰ τὸν τῆς δόξης περιεθήκατο· ἀπεδύσατο τὴν πορφυρίδα, ἀλλὰ Χριστὸν ἐνεδύσατο. Τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ βασιλικὸν ὄντως καὶ τίμιον ἔνδυμα. Τὴν ὧδε πορφύραν ἀκούω αἵματι κόχλου τινὸς θαλασσίας φοινίσσεσθαι· τὴν δὲ ἄνω πορφύραν, τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αἷμα λάμπειν ποιεῖ. Εἶδες ὅσον ἐν τῷ ἐνδύματι τὸ διάφορον. Βούλει πεισθῆναι ὅτι ἐν ἐκείνοις ἐστίν; Ανάγνωθι τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον· Δεῦτε, οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ Πατρός μου (φησὶν ταῦτα πρὸς τοὺς δεξιοὺς ὁ κριτής), κληρονομήσατε τὴν ήτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν· τὴν παρὰ τίνος ἡτοιμασμένην; ὧν ἑαυτοῖς, φησὶ, διὰ τῶν ἔργων προητοιμάσατε. Πῶς; Ἐπείνων, ἐδίψων, ξένος ἤμην, γυμνὸς, ἀσθενὴς, ἐν φυλακῇ. Ἐφ' ὅσον ἐποιήσατε ἑνὶ τούτων τῶν ἐλαχίστων, ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε. Εἰ οὖν ἡ περὶ ταῦτα σπουδὴ βασιλείας πρόξενος γίνεται, ἀριθμήσατε, εἴπερ δυνατόν ἐστιν ἐξαριθμήσασθαι, πόσοι τοῖς ἐνδύμασι τοῖς παρ᾿ αὐτῆς ἐσκεπάθησαν! πόσοι τῇ μεγάλῃ ἐκείνῃ δεξιᾷ διετράφησαν! πόσοι τῶν κατακλείστων οὐκ ἐπισκέψεως μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ παντελοῦς ἀφέσεως ἠξιώθησαν! Εἰ δὲ τὸ ἐπισκέψασθαι τὸν κατάκλειστον, προξενεῖ βασιλείαν· τὸ ἐλευθερῶσαι τῆς τιμωρίας δηλαδή πλείονος τιμῆς ἄξιον, εἴπερ τι βασιλείας ἐστὶν ἀνώτερον. Αλλ' οὐ μέχρι τούτων ἐστὶν ἐκείνης ὁ ἔπαινος. Παρέρχεται γὰρ καὶ τὰ προστεταγμένα τοῖς κατορθώμασιν. Πόσοι δι' ἐκείνην τὴν

### English translation (Claude)

to be in it either when we wish or as long as we long to; we are brought in without knowing how, and turned out without knowing when. You will understand the riddle of the jar if you look at the insatiability of desires. Do you see how people pour honors, powers, glories and all such things into themselves? But what is poured in leaks away and does not stay with the one who has it; the pursuit of glory and power and honor is always at work, while the jar of desire remains unfilled. And love of money? Is it not truly a pierced jar, leaking through its whole bottom, which, even if you pour the whole sea into it, has no power to be filled? What is there to grieve over, then, if the blessed woman has been separated from the evils of life, and, casting off the filth of the body like some rheum from the eye, has moved with a pure soul to the undefiled life, in which deceit has no citizenship, slander is not believed, flattery has no place, falsehood is not mixed in, and pleasure and pain, fear and boldness, poverty and wealth, slavery and lordship, and all such unevenness of life are banished as far as possible from that life? “Pain and sorrow and sighing have fled away” from there, as the prophet says. And in their place, what? Freedom from passion, blessedness, estrangement from every evil, the company of angels, the contemplation of things unseen, participation in God, gladness that has no end. Is it right, then, to grieve for the empress when we have learned what she has received in exchange for what? She has left an earthly kingdom but gained the heavenly one; she has laid aside the crown of jewels but put on the crown of glory; she has put off the purple but put on Christ. This is the truly royal and precious garment. I hear that the purple here is dyed red with the blood of a sea snail; but the purple above is made to shine by the blood of Christ. You see how great is the difference in the garment. Do you want to be persuaded that she is among those things? Read the Gospel: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father” (the judge says this to those on his right), “inherit the kingdom prepared for you.” Prepared by whom? By what you prepared for yourselves beforehand, he says, through your works. How? “I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was a stranger, naked, sick, in prison. As much as you did it to one of these least, you did it to me.” If, then, zeal for these things wins the kingdom, count, if it is possible to count, how many were covered with the clothes she gave! How many were fed by that great right hand! How many of those shut up in prison were granted not only a visit but complete release! And if visiting one in prison wins the kingdom, setting him free from punishment is clearly worthy of a greater honor, if there is anything higher than the kingdom. But her praise does not stop at these things. For she goes beyond even what is commanded for righteous deeds. How many through her

### Scripture references

- Isa 35:10: quotation, high confidence
- 1 Pet 5:4: echo, low confidence
- Gal 3:27: allusion, medium confidence
- Matt 25:34: quotation, high confidence
- Matt 25:35: quotation, high confidence
- Matt 25:36: quotation, high confidence
- Matt 25:40: quotation, high confidence

### Translation notes

- “Pain and sorrow and sighing have fled away”: Isa 35:10 (cf. 51:11). Putting on Christ: Gal 3:27; Rom 13:14. The judgment scene: Matt 25:34–40, quoted freely. The end of the page joins a line that the digitized text misplaced into the next page.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, Flacc. 889 (PG 46:889–890; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-funebris-flacillam/889).

## Funeral Oration on Flacilla, Migne cols. 891–892

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-funebris-flacillam/877/#p-891
- Source: PG 46:891–892
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-11-12

Summary: Through the empress's intercession condemned men were spared; Gregory praises her humility and her love for her husband, and her rejection of Arianism as idolatry of a creature, in the faith of the one Godhead of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

### Greek text

τῆς ἀναστάσεως χάριν ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτῶν ἐγνώρισαν, οἱ τοῖς νόμοις ἀποθανόντες, καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ ψῆφον δεξάμενοι, πάλιν δι' αὐτῆς εἰς τὴν ζωὴν ἀνεκλήθησαν Ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς, τῶν εἰρημένων ἡ μαρτυρία. Εἶδες παρὰ τὸ θυσιαστήριον ἀπογνόντα τὴν σωτηρίαν μειράκιον. Εἶδες γύναιον ἐπὶ κατακρίσει ἀδελφοῦ ὀδυρόμενον, τοῦ τὰ ἀγαθὰ τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ κηρύσσοντος, ὅπως τῇ μνήμῃ τῆς βασιλίδος ἡ σκυθρωπὴ τοῦ θανάτου ψῆφος εἰς ζωὴν ἀναλύεται. ῾Ἆρα καὶ μόνον ταῦτα; τὴν δὲ ταπεινοφροσύνην ποῦ θήσομεν, ἣν προτιμοτέραν ἡ Γραφὴ ποιεῖται παντὸς τοῦ κατ᾿ ἀρετὴν κατορθώματος; Ἥτις συνηνιοχοῦσα τῷ μεγάλῳ βασιλεῖ τὴν τοσαύτην ἀρχὴν, πάσης δυναστείας ὑποκυπτούσης, τοιούτων ἐθνῶν ὑποτελούντων, γῆς τε καὶ θαλάττης ἐκ τῶν οἰκείων ἑκατέρας δορυφορούσης, οὐκ ἔδωκε καθ' ἑαυτῆς τῷ τύφῳ ἀεὶ πρὸς ἑαυτὴν, οὐκ εἰς τὰ ἔξω ἑαυτῆς ἀποβλέπουσα· διὰ τοῦτο τοῦ μακαρισμοῦ γίνεται κληρονόμος, διὰ τῆς προσκαίρου ταπεινοφροσύνης τὸ ἀληθινὸν ὕψος ἐμπορευσαμένη. Εἴπω τι καὶ τῆς φιλανδρίας τεκμήριον· Ἔδει πάντως, διαλυομένης τῆς σωματικῆς συζυγίας, καὶ τὰ τίμια τῶν προσόντων αὐτῆς ἀγαθῶν ἐλθεῖν εἰς διαίρεσιν. Πῶς οὖν ἐποιήσατο τὴν διανομήν; Τριῶν ὄντων τέκνων (ταῦτα γὰρ τῶν ἀγαθῶν τὰ κεφάλαια), τοὺς ἄῤῥενας τῷ πατρὶ προσκατέλιπεν, ὥστε εἶναι αὐτοῦ τῆς βασιλείας ἐρείσματα· τῆς δὲ ἰδίας μερίδος μόνην τὴν θυγατέρα ἀποπεποίηται. Ὁρᾶς πῶς εὐγνώμων τε καὶ φιλόστοργος, ἐν τοῖς τιμίοις τὸ πλέον τῷ ἀνδρὶ συγχωρήσασα; ᾿Αλλ' ὁ μάλιστα παρ' ἡμῶν λέγεσθαι χρὴ, τοῦτο προσθεὶς καταπαύσω τὸν λόγον Τὸ τῶν εἰδώλων μίσος κοινὸν πάντων ἐστὶ τῶν μετεχόντων τῆς πίστεως· ἀλλ᾽ ἐκείνης ἐξαίρετον, τὸ τὴν ᾿Αρειανὴν ἀπιστίαν ὁμοίως τῇ εἰδωλολατρείᾳ βδελύττεσθαι. Τοὺς γὰρ ἐν τῇ κτίσει τὸ Θεῖον εἶναι νομίζοντας, οὐδὲν ἐλάττονα σέβειν ᾤετο τῶν εἰδωλοποιούντων τὰς ὕλας, καλῶς καὶ εὐσεβῶς τοῦτο κρίνουσα. Ὁ γὰρ τὸ κτίσμα προσκυνῶν, κἂν ἐπ᾿ ὀνόματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦτο ποιεῖ, εἰδωλολάτρης ἐστὶ, Χριστοῦ ὄνομα τῷ εἰδώλῳ θέμενος. Διὰ τοῦτο μαθοῦσα, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι Θεὸς πρόσφατος, μίαν προσεκύνει θεότητα, τὴν ἐν Πατρὶ καὶ Υἱῷ καὶ Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ δοξαζομένην. Ταύτῃ ἐνηυξήθη τῇ πίστει, ταύτῃ ἐνήκμασε, ταύτῃ τὸ πνεῦμα παρακατέθετο, ὑπὸ ταύτης προσήχθη τῷ κόλπῳ τοῦ πατρὸς τῆς πίστεως ᾿Ἀβραὰμ παρὰ τὴν τοῦ παραδείσου πηγὴν (ἧς ἡ ῥανὶς ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀπίστους οὐκ ἔρχεται), ὑπὸ τὴν σκιὰν τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ πεφυτευμένου παρὰ τὰς διεξόδους τῶν ὑδάτων, ὧν καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀξιωθείημεν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν· ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας.

### English translation (Claude)

came to know in themselves the grace of the resurrection: those who had died by the laws and received the sentence of death were called back to life again through her. The testimony to what I say is before your eyes. You saw a youth by the altar who had despaired of being saved. You saw a poor woman lamenting the condemnation of her brother, how, through the remembrance of the empress, the gloomy sentence of death is dissolved into life by the one who proclaims good news to the church. Is this all? Where shall we put her humility, which Scripture prefers to every virtuous accomplishment? She, who drove the great empire together with the great emperor, when every power bowed down, when such nations paid tribute, when land and sea escorted her each with its own goods, did not give [room] against herself to pride, always looking to herself and not to things outside herself; for this reason she becomes heir of the beatitude, having purchased true height through temporary humility. Let me also give a proof of her love for her husband. When the bodily union was dissolved, the precious goods that belonged to her had of course to be divided. How, then, did she make the division? There were three children (for these are the chief of good things): she left the sons to their father, to be the supports of his empire, and of her own share she took only the daughter. Do you see how considerate and loving she was, yielding the greater part of what was precious to her husband? But I will add what most needs to be said by us, and then end my speech. Hatred of idols is common to all who share in the faith; but what was special to her was that she loathed the Arian unbelief as much as idolatry. For she thought that those who suppose the Divine to be in the creation worship no less than those who make idols of matter, and she judged this rightly and piously. For he who worships the creature, even if he does it in the name of Christ, is an idolater, having given the name of Christ to an idol. Having learned this, that there is no new God, she worshiped one Godhead, glorified in Father and Son and Holy Spirit. In this faith she grew, in this she flourished, to this she committed her spirit, by this she was brought into the bosom of Abraham, father of the faith, beside the spring of paradise (whose drop does not come to unbelievers), under the shade of the tree of life planted by the streams of waters. May we too be counted worthy of these things in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory to the ages.

### Scripture references

- Jas 4:6: echo, low confidence
- Matt 5:3: echo, low confidence
- Rom 1:25: allusion, medium confidence
- Ps 81:9 (80:10 LXX): allusion, high confidence
- Luke 23:46: echo, medium confidence
- Luke 16:22: allusion, high confidence
- Luke 16:24: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 2:9: allusion, medium confidence
- Ps 1:3: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The pardons: on the occasion of her funeral, condemned persons were apparently released in her memory; “the one who proclaims good news to the church” is perhaps the bishop or the emperor's herald (uncertain). The children: Arcadius and Honorius, and the daughter Pulcheria, who had died before her (see the previous oration). The anti-Arian argument (worship of a created Son is idolatry) is Gregory's own polemic, translated as written. “There is no new God”: Ps 81:9 (LXX 80:10). The bosom of Abraham and the drop of water: Luke 16:22–24; the tree by the streams: Ps 1:3. In the clause “did not give [room] to pride” a word seems lost in the digitized text and is supplied by sense. Several lines misplaced in the digitized page are restored by logged corrections.

### Citation (SBL)

Gregory of Nyssa, Flacc. 891 (PG 46:891–892; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-funebris-flacillam/891).