A MEMORABLE STORY TO FACILITATE A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THE POWER AND EXCELLENCE OF HOLY LOVE CONSIST IN
O my dear Theotimus, the power of this love of God above all things should surely have a great extent. It must surpass all affections, conquer all difficulties and prefer the honour of God’s good will before all things. Yes, I say, before all things absolutely, without exception or reservation of any sort. I speak thus with such great distinctness because there are persons who would courageously forsake goods, honour and their own life for our Lord, who yet will not leave for his sake something of much less consideration.
In the days of the emperors Valerianus and Gallus, there lived at Antioch a priest called Sapricius and a layman called Nicephorus. They were regarded as brothers on account of their long, close friendship. However, it happened that eventually this friendship broke down, for some unknown reason and, as is usual, was followed by hatred even more intense which lasted for some time between them. Then Nicephorus admitted that he was to blame and made three separate attempts to be reconciled with Sapricius. Now by some and now by others of their common friends, he sent Sapricius all the messages of apology and submission that anyone could have wanted. But Sapricius was unmoved by his appeals and always refused reconciliation with as great a pride as the humility with which Nicephorus asked for it. Finally, poor Nicephorus thought that Sapricius would be more deeply touched if he saw Nicephorus lying prostrate before him and begging his pardon. So he went to him and, throwing himself courageously at his feet, said, “My Father, pardon me, I beg of you out of love for our Lord." But such humility was despised and rejected like the previous efforts.
Meanwhile a cruel persecution arose against the Christians. Sapricius, among others, was arrested and did wonders in suffering a million torments in confession of the faith, without ever losing his constancy, especially when he was most roughly rolled and shaken in an instrument made for that purpose in the form of a wine-press. At this the governor of Antioch became extremely irritated and condemned him to death. Hence he was publicly led out of prison to the place where he was to receive the glorious crown of martyrdom. As soon as Nicephorus saw this, he immediately ran and meeting Sapricius threw himself on the ground and cried out in a loud voice, “Alas, O martyr of Jesus Christ, forgive me for I have offended you." Sapricius took no notice of this. Poor Nicephorus getting quickly before him by a shorter route, met him with same humility and implored him to grant pardon saying, “O martyr of Jesus Christ, pardon the offence that I have committed against you since I am but a man and subject to faults. Already a crown is given to you by our Lord whom you have not denied but whose holy name you have confessed before many witnesses.'' But Sapricius continued in his pride and did not give him a single word in answer. The executioners wondered at the perseverance of Nicephorus and said to him, “We have never seen such a great fool. This man will soon be dead. Why do you need his pardon?" To this Nicephorus answered, “You do not know what I ask of this confessor of Jesus Christ but God knows. Sapricius arrived meanwhile at the place of execution. There Nicephorus once again threw himself on the ground before him and said, “I beg of you, O martyr of Jesus Christ, to please pardon me, for it is written, Ask and it will be given you (Mt 7:7). These words did not touch the disloyal and rebel heart of the wretched Sapricius. Obstinately refusing to show mercy to his neighbour, he was deprived by the just judgment of God of the most glorious palm of martyrdom. When the executioners ordered him to kneel so that they could cut off his head, he began to lose courage and to bargain with them. In the end he made this disgraceful and shameful submission, “Oh, please do not cut off my head. I will do what the Emperors order and sacrifice to idols." When poor, good Nicephorus heard this, he began to cry out with tears in his eyes, “Ah! my dear brother, do not, I beg of you, do not transgress the law and deny Jesus Christ. Do not forsake him, I beg of you. Do not lose the heavenly crown which you have won by so many labours and torments."
Alas, this miserable priest coming to the altar of martyrdom to consecrate on it his life to the eternal God, had not kept in mind what the Prince of Martyrs had said: When you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister and then come and offer your gift. (Mt 5:23-24). That is why God rejected his offering, and withdrawing his mercy from him permitted him not only to lose the supreme happiness of martyrdom but even to fall into the misery of idolatry. When the humble and gentle Nicephorus saw the martyr’s crown untaken, due to the apostasy of the stubborn Sapricius he was touched by an excellent and extraordinary inspiration to take it. He boldly pressed forward saying to the officers and executioners, “My friends, I am a Christian, I am truly a Christian. I believe in Jesus Christ whom this man has denied. I beg of you, put me in his place and cut off my head." The officers were extremely surprised and carried the news to the governor. He gave orders that Sapricius should be set free and Nicephorus put to death. This happened on 9th February, about the year 260 of our salvation, as related by Metaphrastes and Surius.
A terrible story and worthy of the most serious consideration in relation to the subject of which we speak. Have you taken note, my dear Theotimus, of how this courageous Sapricius was bold and ardent in defence of the faith? How he suffered a thousand torments, how constant and immovable he was in confessing the Saviour’s name while being rolled and crushed in the special instrument of torture, how ready he was to receive the death blow to fulfil the highest degree of the divine law, preferring God’s honour to his own life? And yet he prefers to the divine will the satisfaction which his cruel stubbornness takes in hating Nicephorus. So he stops short in his course. When he is on the point of attaining and gaining the reward of glory by martyrdom, he falls miserably and breaks his neck and is thrown headlong into idolatry.
Hence it is true, my Theotimus, that it is not enough for us to love God more than our own life, unless we love him universally, absolutely and without any exception whatever, more than all we love or can love. But you will say to me, did not our Lord mark the highest degree of the love we can have for him when he said that no one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (Jn 15:13). It is indeed true, Theotimus, that among particular acts and proofs of divine love there is none so great as to suffer death for God’s glory. Yet it is also true that this is but a single act and a single proof. It is truly the masterpiece of charity. But besides it there are many other things that charity demands from us, and demands them all the more insistently and firmly as they are acts more easy, more common and ordinary with all lovers, and more generally needed for the preservation of sacred love.
O miserable Sapricius! Would you really dare to say that you loved God as God should be loved since you did not prefer his will to the passion of hatred and rancour that you had against poor Nicephorus? To be willing to die for God is the greatest but certainly not the only act of love we owe to God. To will this act only, excluding the others, is not charity; it is vanity. Charity is not folly, but it would be such in the highest degree if willing to please the Beloved in the most difficult things it permitted that he be displeased in easier matters. How can a person be willing to die for God who is not willing to live according to God’s will?
A person of sound mind who is ready to suffer death for a friend, would also without doubt suffer all other things, since a person who despises death ought to despise everything else. But the human mind is weak, inconstant and frivolous. That is why people sometimes choose rather to die than to suffer far lighter pains. And they willingly give their life to satisfy extremely foolish, childish and vain desires. When Agrippina came to know that the child she was going to bear [Nero] would surely become emperor, but that after that he would put her to death, she said, “Let him kill me, provided he becomes emperor." Note, I ask you, the disorder of this heart so foolishly maternal. She prefers her son’s dignity to her own life. Cato and Cleopatra preferred to suffer death than to see the joy and glory of their enemies at their capture. Lucretia chose to put herself cruelly to death rather than bear unjustly the shame of a deed for which, it would seem, she had no guilt. How many people are there who would willingly die for their friends? Yet they will be unwilling to live as their servants and obey their other desires. One will risk his life who would not risk his purse. Many people may be found who risk their lives in defence of a friend. There is found scarcely one in a century who would risk his freedom or lose an ounce of the world’s emptiest and most useless reputation or renown for anyone at all.