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In Defence of His Flight to Pontus
St. Gregory the Theologian · image, Copyrighted free use
St. Gregory's father ordained him a priest against his will, and he fled to St. Basil's retreat in Pontus. When he came back he explained himself in this sermon: the priest is a physician of souls, and he was afraid.
St. John Chrysostom drew on it for On the Priesthood, and St. Gregory the Dialogist for his Pastoral Rule.
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About this edition
Translated by Charles Gordon Browne and James Edward Swallow, in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series, vol. 7 (1894), edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace.
This translation is in the public domain. We took the text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library and left out the editors’ footnotes.
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