422017 The Real Threat to National Security Deadly Disease .docx

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The Real Threat to National Security: Deadly Disease - The Ne
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The Opinion Pages | OP-ED CONTRIBUTORS
The Real Threat to National Security:
Deadly Disease
By MICHAEL T. OSTERHOLM and MARK OLSHAKER
MARCH 24, 2017
While the Trump administration is proposing significantly incre
ased military
spending to enhance our national security, it seems to have lost
sight of the greatest
national security threat of all: our fight against infectious diseas
e.
We already spend far more on our military than any other countr
y in the world.
To help pay for the increases, President Trump wants to cut bac
k many federal
programs, including those that prepare us to wage war against m
icrobes, the greatest
and most lethal enemy we are ever likely to face. This is where
“defense spending”

needs to increase, significantly.
President Trump’s budget would cut funding for the National In
stitutes of
Health by 18 percent. It would cut the State Department and the
United States
Agency for International Development, a key vehicle for preven
ting and responding
to outbreaks before they reach our shores, by 28 percent. And th
e repeal of the
Affordable Care Act would kill the billion-dollar Prevention an
d Public Health Fund,
which provides funding for the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention to fight
outbreaks of infectious disease. (While the budget also calls for
the creation of an
emergency fund to respond to outbreaks, there is no indication t
hat it would offset
the other cuts, or where the money would come from.)
Those cuts will not protect American citizens. They will diminis
h research and
vaccine development and our ability to respond to the growing t
hreats of antibiotic
resistance and new infectious diseases.
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Those agencies are already falling short, as we saw last year, w
hen they couldn’t
effectively respond to the Zika threat. What will they do when
we face a real
pandemic? With 7.4 billion people, 20 billion chickens and 400
million pigs now
sharing the earth, we have created the ideal scenario for creatin
g and spreading
dangerous microbes. Trade and travel have connected most poin
ts on the globe in a
matter of hours. More and more people are living in the microbe
-rich megacity
slums of the developing world.
By some estimates, the 1918-19 “Spanish” influenza killed more
people than all
the wars of the 20th century combined. Today, an influenza pan
demic could be more
devastating than an atom bomb. We are already witnessing an o
utbreak of influenza
in birds — the H7N9 strain, in China —
that could be the source for the next human
pandemic. Since October, over 500 people have been infected;
more than 34 percent
have died. Most victims had contact with infected poultry, yet t
hree recent clusters
appear to be from person-to-person transmission. Will H7N9 mu
tate to become

easily transmitted between humans? We don’t know. But withou
t sufficient supplies
of a vaccine, we are not prepared to stop it.
The spread of antibiotic-resistant microbes also continues at an
ever faster rate.
Last year a comprehensive review predicted that, if left uncheck
ed, drug-resistant
infections will kill more people worldwide by 2050 than cancer
and diabetes
combined. Without a global effort led by the United States to ha
lt the spread of this
resistance and support for development of new antibiotics, we a
re in danger of
returning to a pre-antibiotic world in which a cut could prove de
adly and surgery
would not be worth the risk of infection.
Yellow fever, a mosquito-borne disease that can kill up to 50 pe
rcent of those
who get seriously sick, is on the cusp of a major outbreak in so
me of Brazil’s largest
cities, while MERS — Middle East Respiratory Syndrome —
continues to infect
people on the Arabian Peninsula. If an effective vaccine is not d
eveloped, it will
continue to be transmitted around the world and cause fatal outb
reaks like the one
that closed Samsung Medical Center in Seoul to new patients fo
r weeks. A similar
outbreak could occur at the Mayo Clinic or Johns Hopkins Hosp
ital.
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And three years after the 2014 Ebola crisis, we still have no lice
nsed vaccine or a
plan for how to deploy one to prevent future outbreaks.
Finally, there is the danger of diseases deliberately spread by te
rrorists. Bill
Gates, who has put much of his sizable financial resources as w
ell as his brainpower
into public health, wrote in the New England Journal of Medicin
e in 2015: “Of all the
things that could kill more than 10 million people around the wo
rld, the most likely
is an epidemic stemming from either natural causes or bioterrori
sm.” More recently,
at this year’s Munich Security Conference, on the possibility of
terrorist-engineered
viruses he noted: “They are probably the only thing that can kill
a billion.” For
example, the science exists to reconstruct the smallpox genome
from readily
available lab materials, with the added possibility of altering th
e virus just enough
that our existing vaccine would be ineffective.

The military has figured out how to convince congressional fun
ders that the
only way to maintain defense is to appropriate money before a c
risis. You don’t start
building the weapons and training all the soldiers after the first
shot has been fired.
The only way we can win the inevitable microbe wars is to do th
e same — to have
new vaccines and antibiotics and trained personnel ready before
the crisis hits. We
cannot rely on pharmaceutical companies to create drugs and va
ccines for markets
that do not yet exist. Only the government can do this. The addi
tional expenditures
would be truly economical in terms of lives saved.
We are talking about national security on the most existential le
vel.
Michael T. Osterholm is an epidemiologist and director of the C
enter for Infectious
Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. Ma
rk Olshaker is a
documentary filmmaker. They are the authors of “Deadliest Ene
my: Our War Against
Killer Germs.”
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A version of this op-ed appears in print on March 25, 2017, on
Page A21 of the New York edition with the
headline: The Microbe Wars.

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St. Cyprian of Carthage, 3rd century Bishop and Martyr
From Treatise 7, Mortality (De mortalitate)
Argument. —Having Pointed Out that Afflictions of This Kind
Had Been Foretold by Christ, He Tells Them
that the Mortality or Plague Was Not to Be Feared, in that It
Leads to Immortality…Nor is It Wonderful that
the Evils of This Life are Common to the Christians with the
Heathens, Since They Have to Suffer More Than

Others in the World, and Thence, After the Example of Job and
Tobias, There is Need of Patience Without
Murmuring. For Unless the Struggle Preceded, the Victory
Could Not Ensue; And How Much Soever Diseases
are Common to the Virtuous and Vicious, Yet that Death is Not
Common to Them, for that the Righteous are
Taken to Consolation, While the Unrighteous are Taken to
Punishment.
1. Although in very many of you, dearly beloved brethren, there
is a steadfast mind and a firm faith, and a
devoted spirit that is not disturbed at the frequency of this
present mortality, but, like a strong and stable rock,
rather shatters the turbulent onsets of the world and the raging
waves of time, while it is not itself shattered, and
is not overcome but tried by these temptations; yet because I
observe that among the people some, either
through weakness of mind, or through decay of faith, or through
the sweetness of this worldly life, or through
the softness of their sex, or what is of still greater account,
through error from the truth, are standing less
steadily, and are not exerting the divine and unvanquished
vigour of their heart, the matter may not be disguised
nor kept in silence, but as far as my feeble powers suffice with
my full strength, and with a discourse gathered

from the Lord's lessons, the slothfulness of a luxurious
disposition must be restrained, and he who has begun to
be already a man of God and of Christ, must be found worthy of
God and of Christ.
2. For he who wars for God, dearest brethren, ought to
acknowledge himself as one who, placed in
the heavenly camp, already hopes for divine things, so that we
may have no trembling at the storms and
whirlwinds of the world, and no disturbance, since the Lord had
foretold that these would come. With the
exhortation of His fore-seeing word, instructing, and teaching,
and preparing, and strengthening the people of
His Church for all endurance of things to come, He predicted
and said that wars, and famines, and earthquakes,
and pestilences would arise in each place; and lest an
unexpected and new dread of mischiefs should shake us,
He previously warned us that adversity would increase more and
more in the last times. Behold, the very things
occur which were spoken; and since those occur which were
foretold before, whatever things were
promised will also follow; as the Lord Himself promises,
saying, But when you see all these things come to
pass, know that the kingdom of God is at hand. Luke 21:31 The
kingdom of God, beloved brethren, is

beginning to be at hand; the reward of life, and the rejoicing of
eternal salvation, and the perpetual
gladness and possession lately lost of paradise, are now coming,
with the passing away of the world;
already heavenly things are taking the place of earthly, and
great things of small, and eternal things of things
that fade away. What room is there here for anxiety and
solicitude? Who, in the midst of these things, is
trembling and sad, except he who is without hope and faith? For
it is for him to fear death who is not willing to
go to Christ. It is for him to be unwilling to go to Christ who
does not believe that he is about to
reign with Christ.
3. For it is written that the just lives by faith. If you are just,
and live by faith, if you truly believe in Christ,
why, since you are about to be with Christ, and are secure of the
Lord's promise, do you not embrace the
assurance that you are called to Christ, and rejoice that you are
freed from the devil? Certainly Simeon,
that just man, who was truly just, who kept God's commands
with a full faith, when it had been pledged him
from heaven that he should not die before he had seen the
Christ, and Christ had come an infant into
the temple with His mother, acknowledged in spirit that Christ

was now born, concerning whom it had before
been foretold to him; and when he had seen Him, he knew that
he should soon die. Therefore, rejoicing
concerning his now approaching death, and secure of his
immediate summons, he received the child into his
arms, and blessing the Lord, he exclaimed, and said, Now let
Your servant depart in peace, according to Your
word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation; Luke 2:29
assuredly proving and bearing witness that the servants
of God then had peace, then free, then tranquil repose, when,
withdrawn from these whirlwinds of the world, we
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03712a.htm
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http://www.newadvent.org/bible/luk021.htm#verse31
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http://www.newadvent.org/bible/luk002.htm#verse29
attain the harbour of our home and eternal security, when
having accomplished death we come to immortality.
For that is our peace, that our faithful tranquility, that our
steadfast, and abiding, and perpetual security.
4. But for the rest, what else in the world than a battle against
the devil is daily carried on, than a struggle
against his darts and weapons in constant conflicts? Our warfare
is with avarice, with immodesty, with anger,
with ambition; our diligent and toilsome wrestle with carnal

vices, with enticements of the world. The mind of
man besieged, and in every quarter invested with onsets of the
devil, scarcely in each point meets the attack,
scarcely resists it. If avarice is prostrated, lust springs up. If
lust is overcome, ambition takes its place. If
ambition is despised, anger exasperates, pride puffs up, wine-
bibbing entices, envy breaks concord,
jealousy cuts friendship; you are constrained to curse, which
divine law forbids; you are compelled to swear,
which is not lawful.
5. So many persecutions the soul suffers daily, with so many
risks is the heart wearied, and yet it delights to
abide here long among the devil's weapons, although it should
rather be our craving and wish to hasten
to Christ by the aid of a quicker death; as He Himself instructs
us, and says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, That
you shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; and you
shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be
turned into joy. John 16:20 Who would not desire to be without
sadness? Who would not hasten to attain to joy?
But when our sadness shall be turned into joy, the Lord Himself
again declares, when He says, I will see you
again, and your heart shall rejoice; and your joy no man shall
take from you. John 16:22 Since, therefore, to

see Christ is to rejoice, and we cannot have joy unless when we
shall see Christ, what blindness of mind or what
folly is it to love the world's afflictions, and punishments, and
tears, and not rather to hasten to the joy which
can never be taken away!
6. But, beloved brethren, this is so, because faith is lacking,
because no one believes that the things
which God promises are true, although He is true, whose word
to believers is eternal and unchangeable. If a
grave and praiseworthy man should promise you anything, you
would assuredly have faith in the promiser, and
would not think that you should be cheated and deceived by him
whom you knew to be steadfast in his words
and his deeds. Now God is speaking with you; and do you
faithlessly waver in your unbelieving mind?
God promises to you, on your departure from this world,
immortality and eternity; and do you doubt? This is
not to know God at all; this is to offend Christ, the Teacher of
believers, with the sin of incredulity; this is for
one established in the Church not to have faith in the house of
faith.
7. How great is the advantage of going out of the world, Christ
Himself, the Teacher of our salvation and of

our good works, shows to us, who, when His disciples were
saddened that He said that He was soon to depart,
spoke to them, and said, If you loved me, you would surely
rejoice because I go to the Father; John
16:28 teaching thereby, and manifesting that when the dear ones
whom we love depart from the world, we
should rather rejoice than grieve. Remembering which truth, the
blessed Apostle Paul in his epistle lays it down,
saying, To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain; Philippians
1:21 counting it the greatest gain no longer to be
held by the snares of this world, no longer to be liable to the
sins and vices of the flesh, but taken away
from smarting troubles, and freed from the envenomed fangs of
the devil, to go at the call of Christ to
the joy of eternal salvation.
8. But nevertheless it disturbs some that the power of this
Disease attacks our people equally with the heathens,
as if the Christian believed for this purpose, that he might have
the enjoyment of the world and this life free
from the contact of ills; and not as one who undergoes all
adverse things here and is reserved for future joy. It
disturbs some that this mortality is common to us with others;
and yet what is there in this world which is not
common to us with others, so long as this flesh of ours still

remains, according to the law of our first birth,
common to us with them? So long as we are here in the world,
we are associated with the human race in fleshly
equality, but are separated in spirit. Therefore until this
corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal
receive immortality, and the Spirit lead us to God the Father,
whatsoever are the disadvantages of the flesh are
common to us with the human race. Thus, when the earth is
barren with an unproductive harvest, famine makes
no distinction; thus, when with the invasion of an enemy any
city is taken, captivity at once desolates all; and

http://www.newadvent.org/bible/joh016.htm#verse20

http://www.newadvent.org/bible/phi001.htm#verse21
when the serene clouds withhold the rain, the drought is alike to
all; and when the jagged rocks rend the ship,
the shipwreck is common without exception to all that sail in
her; and the disease of the eyes, and the attack of
fevers, and the feebleness of all the limbs is common to us with
others, so long as this common flesh of ours is
borne by us in the world.
9. Moreover, if the Christian know and keep fast under what
condition and what law he has believed, he will be
aware that he must suffer more than others in the world, since
he must struggle more with the attacks of

the devil. Holy Scripture teaches and forewarns, saying, My
son, when you come to the service of God, stand in
righteousness and fear, and prepare your soul for temptation.
And again: In pain endure, and in your humility
have patience; for gold and silver is tried in the fire, but
acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation. Sirach 2:5
10. Thus Job, after the loss of his wealth, after the death of his
children, grievously afflicted, moreover, with
sores and worms, was not overcome, but proved; since in his
very struggles and anguish, showing forth the
patience of a religious mind, he says, Naked came I out of my
mother's womb, naked also I shall go under the
earth: the Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it seemed fit
to the Lord, so it has been done. Blessed be the
name of the Lord. And when his wife also urged him, in his
impatience at the acuteness of his pain, to speak
something against God with a complaining and envious voice,
he answered and said, You speak as one of the
foolish women. If we have received good from the hand of the
Lord, why shall we not suffer evil? In all these
things which befell him, Job sinned not with his lips in the sight
of the Lord. Job 1:8 Therefore the Lord gives
him a testimony, saying, Have you considered my servant Job?
For there is none like him in all the earth, a man

without complaint, a true worshipper of God. Job 2:10 And
Tobias, after his excellent works, after the many
and glorious illustrations of his merciful spirit, having suffered
the loss of his sight, fearing and blessing God in
his adversity, by his very bodily affliction increased in praise;
and even him also his wife tried to pervert,
saying, Where are your righteousnesses? Behold what you
suffer. Tobit 2:14 But he, steadfast and firm in
respect of the fear of God, and armed by the faith of his religion
to all endurance of suffering, yielded not to
the temptation of his weak wife in his trouble, but rather
deserved better from God by his greater patience; and
afterwards Raphael the angel praises him, saying, It is
honourable to show forth and to confess the works
of God. For when you prayed, and Sara your daughter-in-law, I
did offer the remembrance of your prayer in the
presence of the glory of God. And when you buried the dead in
singleness of heart, and because you did not
delay to rise up and leave your dinner, and went and buried the
dead, I was sent to make proof of you.
And God again has sent me to heal you and Sara your daughter-
in-law. For I am Raphael, one of the
seven holy angels, who are present, and go in and out before the
glory of God. Tobit 12:11-15

11. Righteous men have ever possessed this endurance. The
apostles maintained this discipline from the law of
the Lord, not to murmur in adversity, but to accept bravely and
patiently whatever things happen in the world;
since the people of the Jews in this matter always offended, that
they constantly murmured against God, as
the Lord God bears witness in the book of Numbers, saying, Let
their murmuring cease from me, and they shall
not die. Numbers 17:10 We must not murmur in adversity,
beloved brethren, but we must bear with patience
and courage whatever happens, since it is written, The sacrifice
to God is a broken spirit; a contrite
and humbled heart God does not despise; since also in
Deuteronomy the Holy Spirit warns by Moses. and
says, The Lord your God will vex you, and will bring hunger
upon you; and it shall be known in your heart if
you have well kept His commandments or no. Deuteronomy 8:2
And again: The Lord your God proves you,
that He may know whether you love the Lord your God with all
your heart, and with all
your soul. Deuteronomy 13:3
12. Thus Abraham pleased God, who, that he might please God,
did not shrink even from losing his son, or
from doing an act of parricide. You, who cannot endure to lose

your son by the law and lot of mortality, what
would you do if you were bidden to slay your son? The fear and
faith of God ought to make you prepared for
everything, although it should be the loss of private estate,
although the constant and cruel harassment of your
limbs by agonizing disorders, although the deadly and mournful
wrench from wife, from children, from
departing dear ones; Let not these things be offenses to you, but
battles: nor let them weaken nor break
the Christian's faith, but rather show forth his strength in the
struggle, since all the injury inflicted by present
http://www.newadvent.org/bible/index.html
http://www.newadvent.org/bible/sir002.htm#verse5
http://www.newadvent.org/bible/job001.htm#verse8

http://www.newadvent.org/bible/job002.htm#verse10
http://www.newadvent.org/bible/tob002.htm#verse14
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01476d.htm
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http://www.newadvent.org/bible/tob012.htm#verse11
http://www.newadvent.org/bible/num017.htm#verse10
http://www.newadvent.org/bible/deu008.htm#verse2

http://www.newadvent.org/bible/deu013.htm#verse3
troubles is to be despised in the assurance of future blessings.
Unless the battle has preceded, there cannot be a
victory: when there shall have been, in the onset of battle, the
victory, then also the crown is given to the
victors. For the helmsman is recognised in the tempest; in the
warfare the soldier is proved. It is a wanton
display when there is no danger. Struggle in adversity is the
trial of the truth. The tree which is deeply founded
in its root is not moved by the onset of winds, and the ship
which is compacted of solid timbers is beaten by the
waves and is not shattered; and when the threshing-floor brings
out the grain, the strong and robust
grains despise the winds, while the empty chaff is carried away
by the blast that falls upon it.
13. Thus, moreover, the Apostle Paul, after shipwrecks, after
scourgings, after many and grievous tortures of the
flesh and body, says that he is not grieved, but benefited by his
adversity, in order that while he is sorely

afflicted he might more truly be proved. There was given to me,
he says, a thorn in the flesh, the messenger
of Satan to buffet me, that I should not be lifted up: for which
thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might
depart from me; and He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for
you, for strength is made perfect in weakness. 2
Corinthians 12:7-9 When, therefore, weakness and inefficiency
and any destruction seize us, then our strength is
made perfect; then our faith, if when tried it shall stand fast, is
crowned; as it is written, The furnace tries the
vessels of the potter, and the trial of tribulation just men. Sirach
27:5 This, in short, is the difference between us
and others who know not God, that in misfortune they complain
and murmur, while adversity does not call us
away from the truth of virtue and faith, but strengthens us by its
suffering.
14. This trial, that now the bowels, relaxed into a constant flux,
discharge the bodily strength; that a fire
originated in the marrow ferments into wounds of the fauces;
that the intestines are shaken with a continual
vomiting; that the eyes are on fire with the injected blood; that
in some cases the feet or some parts of the limbs
are taken off by the contagion of diseased putrefaction; that
from the weakness arising by the maiming and loss

of the body, either the gait is enfeebled, or the hearing is
obstructed, or the sight darkened—is profitable as
a proof of faith. What a grandeur of spirit it is to struggle with
all the powers of an unshaken mind against so
many onsets of devastation and death! What sublimity, to stand
erect amid the desolation of the human race,
and not to lie prostrate with those who have no hope in God; but
rather to rejoice, and to embrace the benefit of
the occasion; that in thus bravely showing forth our faith, and
by suffering endured, going forward to Christ by
the narrow way that Christ trod, we may receive the reward of
His life and faith according to His
own judgment! Assuredly he may fear to die, who, not being
regenerated of water and the Spirit, is delivered
over to the fires of Gehenna; he may fear to die who is not
enrolled in the cross and passion of Christ; he
may fear to die, who from this death shall pass over to a second
death; he may fear to die, whom on his
departure from this world eternal flame shall torment with
never-ending punishments; he may fear to die who
has this advantage in a lengthened delay, that in the meanwhile
groanings and anguish are being postponed.
15. Many of our people die in this mortality, that is, many of
our people are liberated from this world. This

mortality, as it is a plague to Jews and Gentiles, and enemies of
Christ, so it is a departure
to salvation to God's servants. The fact that, without any
difference made between one ant another, the righteous
die as well as the unrighteous, is no reason for you to suppose
that it is a common death for
the good and evil alike. The righteous are called to their place
of refreshing, the unrighteous are snatched away
to punishment; safety is the more speedily given to the faithful,
penalty to the unbelieving. We are thoughtless
and ungrateful, beloved brethren, for the divine benefits, and do
not acknowledge what is conferred upon us.
Lo, virgins depart in peace, safe with their glory, not fearing the
threats of the coming Antichrist, and his
corruptions and his brothels. Boys escape the peril of their
unstable age, and in happiness attain the reward
of continence and innocence. Now the delicate matron does not
fear the tortures; for she has escaped by a rapid
death the fear of persecution, and the hands and the torments of
the executioner. By the dread of the mortality
and of the time the lukewarm are inflamed, the slack are nerved
up, the slothful are stimulated, the deserters are
compelled to return, the heathens are constrained to believe, the
ancient congregation of the faithful is called to

rest, the new and abundant army is gathered to the battle with a
braver vigour, to fight without fear of death
when the battle shall come, because it comes to the warfare in
the time of the mortality.
http://www.newadvent.org/bible/2co012.htm#verse7
http://www.newadvent.org/bible/2co012.htm#verse7
http://www.newadvent.org/bible/sir027.htm#verse5

16. And further, beloved brethren, what is it, what a great thing
is it, how pertinent, how necessary, that
pestilence and plague which seems horrible and deadly,
searches out the righteousness of each one, and
examines the minds of the human race, to see whether they who
are in health tend the sick; whether relations
affectionately love their kindred; whether masters pity their
languishing servants; whether physicians do not
forsake the beseeching patients; whether the fierce suppress
their violence; whether the rapacious can quench
the ever insatiable ardour of their raging avarice even by the
fear of death; whether the haughty bend their neck;

whether the wicked soften their boldness; whether, when their
dear ones perish, the rich, even then bestow
anything, and give, when they are to die without heirs. Even
although this mortality conferred nothing else, it
has done this benefit to Christians and to God's servants that we
begin gladly to desire martyrdom as we learn
not to fear death. These are trainings for us, not deaths: they
give the mind the glory of fortitude; by contempt of
death they prepare for the crown.
17. But perchance someone may object, and say, It is this, then,
that saddens me in the present mortality, that I,
who had been prepared for confession, and had devoted myself
to the endurance of suffering with my whole
heart and with abundant courage, am deprived of martyrdom, in
that I am anticipated by death. In the first
place, martyrdom is not in your power, but in the condescension
of God; neither can you say that you have lost
what you do not know whether you would deserve to receive.
Then, besides, God the searcher of the reins and
heart, and the investigator and knower of secret things, sees
you, and praises and approves you; and He who
sees that your virtue was ready in you, will give you a reward
for your virtue. Had Cain, when

he offered his gift to God, already slain his brother? And yet
God, foreseeing the fratricide conceived in
his mind, anticipated its condemnation. As in that case the evil
thought and mischievous intention were
foreseen by a foreseeing God, so also in God's servants, among
whom confession is purposed and martyrdom
conceived in the mind, the intention dedicated to good is
crowned by God the judge. It is one thing for
the spirit to be wanting for martyrdom, and another for
martyrdom to have been wanting for the spirit. Such as
the Lord finds you when He calls you, such also He judges you;
since He Himself bears witness, and says, And
all the churches shall know that I am the searcher of the reins
and heart. Revelation 2:23 For God does not ask
for our blood, but for our faith. For neither Abraham, nor Isaac,
nor Jacob were slain; and yet, being
honoured by the deserts of faith and righteousness, they
deserved to be first among the patriarchs, to
whose feast is collected every one that is found faithful, and
righteous, and praiseworthy.
18. We ought to remember that we should do not our own will,
but God's, in accordance with what our Lord has
bidden us daily to pray. How preposterous and absurd it is, that
while we ask that the will of God should be

done, yet when God calls and summons us from this world, we
should not at once obey the command of
His will! We struggle and resist, and after the manner of
forward servants we are dragged to the presence of
the Lord with sadness and grief, departing hence under the
bondage of necessity, not with the obedience of free
will; and we wish to be honoured with heavenly rewards by Him
to whom we come unwillingly. Why, then, do
we pray and ask that the kingdom of heaven may come, if the
captivity of earth delights us? Why with
frequently repeated prayers do we entreat and beg that the day
of His kingdom may hasten, if our greater desires
and stronger wishes are to obey the devil here, rather than to
reign with Christ?
19. Besides, that the indications of the divine providence may
be more evidently manifest, proving that
the Lord, prescient of the future, takes counsel for the true
salvation of His people, when one of our colleagues
and fellow priests, wearied out with infirmity, and anxious
about the present approach of death, prayed for a
respite to himself; there stood by him as he prayed, and when he
was now at the point of death, a youth,
venerable in honour and majesty, lofty in stature and shining in
aspect, and on whom, as he stood by him,

the human glance could scarcely look with fleshly eyes, except
that he who was about to depart from the world
could already behold such a one. And he, not without a certain
indignation of mind and voice, rebuked him, and
said, You fear to suffer, you do not wish to depart; what shall t
do to you? It was the word of one rebuking and
warning, one who, when men are anxious about persecution, and
indifferent concerning their summons,
consents not to their present desire, but consults for the future.
Our dying brother and colleague heard what he
was to say to others. For he who heard when he was dying,
heard for the very purpose that he might tell it; he
heard not for himself, but for us. For what could he, who was
already on the eve of departure, learn for himself?

http://www.newadvent.org/bible/rev002.htm#verse23

Yea, doubtless, he learned it for us who remain, in order that,
when we find the priest who sought for delay
rebuked, we might acknowledge what is beneficial for all.
20. To myself also, the very least and last, how often has it been
revealed, how frequently and manifestly has it
been commanded by the condescension of God, that I should
diligently bear witness and publicly declare that
our brethren who are freed from this world by the Lord's
summons are not to be lamented, since we know that
they are not lost, but sent before; that, departing from us, they
precede us as travellers, as navigators are
accustomed to do; that they should be desired, but not bewailed;
that the black garments should not be taken
upon us here, when they have already taken upon them white
raiment there; that occasion should not be given to
the Gentiles for them deservedly and rightly to reprehend us,
that we mourn for those, who, we say, are alive
with God, as if they were extinct and lost; and that we do not
approve wills the testimony of the heart and breast

the faith which we express with speech and word. We are
prevaricators of our hope and faith: what we say
appears to be simulated, feigned, counterfeit. There is no
advantage in setting forth virtue by our words, and
destroying the truth by our deeds.
21. Finally, the Apostle Paul reproaches, and rebukes, and
blames any who are in sorrow at the departure of
their friends. I would not, says he, have you ignorant, brethren,
concerning them which are asleep, that you
sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we
believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them
which are asleep in Jesus Will God bring with Him. He says that
those have sorrow in the departure of their
friends who have no hope. But we who live in hope, and believe
in God, and trust that Christ suffered for us and
rose again, abiding in Christ, and through Him and in Him
rising again, why either are we ourselves unwilling
to depart hence from this life, or do we bewail and grieve for
our friends when they depart as if they were lost,
when Christ Himself, our Lord and God, encourages us and
says, I am the resurrection and the life: he
that believes in me, though he die, yet shall live; and whosoever
lives and believes in me shall not

die eternally? John 11:25 If we believe in Christ, let us have
faith in His words and promises; since we shall not
die eternally, let us come with glad security to Christ, with
whom we are both to conquer and to reign forever.
22. That in the meantime we die, we are passing over to
immortality by death; nor can eternal life follow, unless
it should befall us to depart from this life. That is not an
ending, but a transit, and, this journey of time being
traversed, a passage to eternity. Who would not hasten to better
things? Who would not crave to be changed
and renewed into the likeness of Christ, and to arrive more
quickly to the dignity of heavenly glory,
since Paul the apostle announces and says, For our conversation
is in heaven, from whence also we look for
the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change the body of our
humiliation, and conform it to the body of
His glory? Philippians 3:21Christ the Lord also promises that
we shall be such, when, that we may be with
Him, and that we may live with Him in eternal mansions, and
may rejoice in heavenly kingdoms, He prays the
Father for us, saying, Father, I will that they also whom You
have given me be with me where I am, and may
see the glory which You have given me before the world was
made. John 17:24 He who is to attain to the throne

of Christ, to the glory of the heavenly kingdoms, ought not to
mourn nor lament, but rather, in accordance with
the Lord's promise, in accordance with his faith in the truth, to
rejoice in this his departure and translation.
23. Thus, moreover, we find that Enoch also was translated,
who pleased God, as in Genesis the Holy
Scripture bears witness, and says, And Enoch pleased God; and
afterwards he was not found, because
God translated him. Genesis 5:24 To have been pleasing in the
sight of God was thus to have merited to be
translated from this contagion of the world. And moreover, also,
the Holy Spirit teaches by Solomon, that they
who please God are more early taken hence, and are more
quickly set free, lest while they are delaying longer in
this world they should be polluted with the contagions of the
world. He was taken away, says
he, lest wickedness should change his understanding. For his
soul was pleasing to God; wherefore hasted He to
take him away from the midst of wickedness. Wisdom 4:11 So
also in the Psalms, the soul that is devoted to
its God in spiritual faith hastens to the Lord, saying, How
amiable are your dwellings, O God of hosts!
My soul longs, and hastes unto the courts of God.

http://www.newadvent.org/bible/phi003.htm#verse21

http://www.newadvent.org/bible/gen005.htm#verse24
http://www.newadvent.org/bible/wis004.htm#verse11
24. It is for him to wish to remain long in the world whom the
world delights, whom this life, flattering
and deceiving, invites by the enticements of earthly pleasure.
Again, since the world hates the Christian, why do

you love that which hates you? And why do you not rather
follow Christ, who both redeemed you
and loves you? John in his epistle cries and says, exhorting that
we should not follow carnal desires and love the
world. Love not the world, says he, neither the things which are
in the world. If any man love the world,
the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world
is the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life, which is not of the Father, but of the lust
of the world. And the world shall pass away, and
the lust thereof; but he who does the will of God abides for
ever, even as God abides for ever. 1 John
2:15 Rather, beloved brethren, with a sound mind, with a firm
faith, with a robust virtue, let us be prepared for
the whole will of God: laying aside the fear of death, let us
think on the immortality which follows. By this let
us show ourselves to be what we believe, that we do not grieve
over the departure of those dear to us, and that
when the day of our summons shall arrive, we come without
delay and without resistance to the Lord when He
Himself calls us.
25. And this, as it ought always to be done by God's servants,
much more ought to be done now— now that the
world is collapsing and is oppressed with the tempests of

mischievous ills; in order that we who see that terrible
things have begun, and know that still more terrible things are
imminent, may regard it as the greatest advantage
to depart from it as quickly as possible. If in your dwelling the
walls were shaking with age, the roofs above you
were trembling, and the house, now worn out and wearied, were
threatening an immediate destruction to its
structure crumbling with age, would you not with all speed
depart? If, when you were on a voyage,
an angry and raging tempest, by the waves violently aroused,
foretold the coming shipwreck, would you not
quickly seek the harbour? Lo, the world is changing and passing
away, and witnesses to its ruin not now by its
age, but by the end of things. And do you not give God thanks,
do you not congratulate yourself, that by an
earlier departure you are taken away, and delivered from the
shipwrecks and disasters that are imminent?
26. We should consider, dearly beloved brethren— we should
now and always reflect that we have renounced
the world, and are in the meantime living here as guests and
strangers. Let us greet the day which assigns each
of us to his own home, which snatches us hence, and sets us free
from the snares of the world, and restores us
to paradise and the kingdom. Who that has been placed in

foreign lands would not hasten to return to his own
country? Who that is hastening to return to his friends would
not eagerly desire a prosperous gale, that he might
the sooner embrace those dear to him? We regard paradise as
our country— we already begin to consider
the patriarchs as our parents: why do we not hasten and run, that
we may behold our country, that we may greet
our parents? There a great number of our dear ones is awaiting
us, and a dense crowd of parents, brothers,
children, is longing for us, already assured of their own safety,
and still solicitous for our salvation. To attain to
their presence and their embrace, what a gladness both for them
and for us in common! What a pleasure is there
in the heavenly kingdom, without fear of death; and how lofty
and perpetual a happiness with eternity of living!
There the glorious company of the apostles — there the host of
the rejoicing prophets— there the innumerable
multitude of martyrs, crowned for the victory of their struggle
and passion— there the triumphant virgins, who
subdued the lust of the flesh and of the body by the strength of
their continency— there are
merciful men rewarded, who by feeding and helping the poor
have done the works of righteousness— who,
keeping the Lord'sprecepts, have transferred their earthly

patrimonies to the heavenly treasuries. To these,
beloved brethren, let us hasten with an eager desire; let us crave
quickly to be with them, and quickly to come
to Christ. May God behold this our eager desire; may the Lord
Christ look upon this purpose of
our mind and faith, He who will give the larger rewards of His
glory to those whose desires in respect of
Himself were greater!
About this page
Source. Translated by Robert Ernest Wallis. From Ante-Nicene
Fathers, Vol. 5. Edited by Alexander Roberts,
James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY:
Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886.) Revised
and edited for New Advent by Kevin
Knight.http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/050707.htm.

http://www.newadvent.org/bible/1jo002.htm#verse15
http://www.newadvent.org/bible/1jo002.htm#verse15
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/050707.htm

Procopius, History of the Wars, Book II.xxii-xxxiii:
From: Procopius, History of the Wars, 7 Vols., trans. H. B.
Dewing, Loeb Library of the Greek and Roman
Classics, (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1914),
Vol. I, pp. 451-473.
The Plag ue, 542
During these times there was a pestilence, by which the whole
human race came near to being annihilated. Now
in the case of all other scourges sent from heaven some
explanation of a cause might be given by daring men,
such as the many theories propounded by those who are clever
in these matters; for they love to conjure up
causes which are absolutely incomprehensible to man, and to
fabricate outlandish theories of natural philosophy
knowing well that they are saying nothing sound but
considering it sufficient for them, if they completely
deceive by their argument some of those whom they meet and
persuade them to their view. But for this calamity
it is quite impossible either to express in words or to conceive
in thought any explanation, except indeed to refer
it to God. For it did not come in a part of the world nor upon
certain men, nor did it confine itself to any season
of the year, so that from such circumstances it might be possible
to find subtle explanations of a cause, but it

embraced the entire world, and blighted the lives of all men,
though differing from one another in the most
marked degree, respecting neither sex nor age.
For much as men differ with regard to places in which they live,
or in the law of their daily life, or in natural
bent, or in active pursuits, or in whatever else man differs from
man, in the case of this disease alone the
difference availed naught. And it attacked some in the summer
season, others in the winter, and still others at
the other times of the year. Now let each one express his own
judgment concerning the matter, both sophist and
astrologer, but as for me, I shall proceed to tell where this
disease originated and the manner in which it
destroyed men.
It started from the Egyptians who dwell in Pelusium. Then it
divided and moved in one direction towards
Alexandria and the rest of Egypt, and in the other direction it
came to Palestine on the borders of Egypt; and
from there it spread over the whole world, always moving
forward and travelling at times favorable to it. For it
seemed to move by fixed arrangement, and to tarry for a
specified time in each country, casting its blight
slightingly upon none, but spreading in either direction right out

to the ends of the world, as if fearing lest some
corner of the earth might escape it. For it left neither island nor
cave nor mountain ridge which had human
inhabitants; and if it had passed by any land, either not
affecting the men there or touching them in indifferent
fashion, still at a later time it came back; then those who dwelt
round about this land, whom formerly it had
afflicted most sorely, it did not touch at all, but it did not
remove from the place in question until it had given up
its just and proper tale of dead, so as to correspond exactly to
the number destroyed at the earlier time among
those who dwelt round about. And this disease always took its
start from the coast, and from there went up to
the interior.
And in the second year it reached Byzantium in the middle of
spring, where it happened that I was staying at
that time. And it came as follows. Apparitions of supernatural
beings in human guise of every description were
seen by many persons, and those who encountered them thought
that they were struck by the man they had met
in this or that part of the body, as it havened, and immediately
upon seeing this apparition they were seized also
by the disease. Now at first those who met these creatures tried
to turn them aside by uttering the holiest of

names and exorcising them in other ways as well as each one
could, but they accomplished absolutely nothing,
for even in the sanctuaries where the most of them fled for
refuge they were dying constantly. But later on they
were unwilling even to give heed to their friends when they
called to them, and they shut themselves up in their
rooms and pretended that they did not hear, although their doors
were being beaten down, fearing, obviously,
that he who was calling was one of those demons. But in the
case of some the pestilence did not come on in this
way, but they saw a vision in a dream and seemed to suffer the
very same thing at the hands of the creature who
stood over them, or else to hear a voice foretelling to them that
they were written down in the number of those
who were to die. But with the majority it came about that they
were seized by the disease without becoming
aware of what was coming either through a waking vision or a
dream. And they were taken in the following
manner. They had a sudden fever, some when just roused from
sleep, others while walking about, and others
while otherwise engaged, without any regard to what they were
doing. And the body showed no change from its

previous color, nor was it hot as might be expected when
attacked by a fever, nor indeed did any inflammation
set in, but the fever was of such a languid sort from its
commencement and up till evening that neither to the
sick themselves nor to a physician who touched them would it
afford any suspicion of danger. It was natural,
therefore, that not one of those who had contracted the disease
expected to die from it. But on the same day in
some cases, in others on the following day, and in the rest not
many days later, a bubonic swelling developed;
and this took place not only in the particular part of the body
which is called boubon, that is, "below the
abdomen," but also inside the armpit, and in some cases also
beside the ears, and at different points on the
thighs.
Up to this point, then, everything went in about the same way
with all who had taken the disease. But from then
on very marked differences developed; and I am unable to say
whether the cause of this diversity of symptoms
was to be found in the difference in bodies, or in the fact that it
followed the wish of Him who brought the
disease into the world. For there ensued with some a deep coma,
with others a violent delirium, and in either
case they suffered the characteristic symptoms of the disease.

For those who were under the spell of the coma
forgot all those who were familiar to them and seemed to lie
sleeping constantly. And if anyone cared for them,
they would eat without waking, but some also were neglected,
and these would die directly through lack of
sustenance. But those who were seized with delirium suffered
from insomnia and were victims of a distorted
imagination; for they suspected that men were coming upon
them to destroy them, and they would become
excited and rush off in flight, crying out at the top of their
voices. And those who were attending them were in a
state of constant exhaustion and had a most difficult time of it
throughout. For this reason everybody pitied
them no less than the sufferers, not because they were
threatened by the pestilence in going near it (for neither
physicians nor other persons were found to contract this malady
through contact with the sick or with the dead,
for many who were constantly engaged either in burying or in
attending those in no way connected with them
held out in the performance of this service beyond all
expectation, while with many others the disease came on
without warning and they died straightway); but they pitied
them because of the great hardships which they
were undergoing. For when the patients fell from their beds and

lay rolling upon the floor, they kept putting
them back in place, and when they were struggling to rush
headlong out of their houses, they would force them
back by shoving and pulling against them. And when water
chanced to be near, they wished to fall into it, not so
much because of a desire for drink (for the most of them rushed
into the sea), but the cause was to be found
chiefly in the diseased state of their minds. They had also great
difficulty in the matter of eating, for they could
not easily take food. And many perished through lack of any
man to care for them, for they were either
overcome by hunger, or threw themselves down from a height.
And in those cases where neither coma nor
delirium came on, the bubonic swelling became mortified and
the sufferer, no longer able to endure the pain,
died. And one would suppose that in all cases the same thing
would have been true, but since they were not at
all in their senses, some were quite unable to feel the pain; for
owing to the troubled condition of their minds
they lost all sense of feeling.
Now some of the physicians who were at a loss because the
symptoms were not understood, supposing that the
disease centred in the bubonic swellings, decided to investigate
the bodies of the dead. And upon opening some

of the swellings, they found a strange sort of carbuncle that had
grown inside them. Death came in some cases
immediately, in others after many days; and with some the body
broke out with black pustules about as large as
a lentil and these did not survive even one day, but all
succumbed immediately. With many also a vomiting of
blood ensued without visible cause and straightway brought
death. Moreover I am able to declare this, that the
most illustrious physicians predicted that many would die, who
unexpectedly escaped entirely from suffering
shortly afterwards, and that they declared that many would be
saved, who were destined to be carried off almost
immediately. So it was that in this disease there was no cause
which came within the province of human
reasoning; for in all cases the issue tended to be something
unaccountable. For example, while some were
helped by battling, others were harmed in no less degree. And
of those who received no care many died, but
others, contrary to reason, were saved. And again, methods of
treatment showed different results with different
patients. Indeed the whole matter may be stated thus, that no
device was discovered by man to save himself, so

that either by taking precautions he should not suffer, or that
when the malady had assailed him he should get
the better of it; but suffering came without warning and
recovery was due to no external cause. And in the case
of women who were pregnant death could be certainly foreseen
if they were taken with the disease. For some
died through miscarriage, but others perished immediately at the
time of birth with the infants they bore.
However, they say that three women in confinement survived
though their children perished, and that one
woman died at the very time of childbirth but that the child was
born and survived.
Now in those cases where the swelling rose to an unusual size
and a discharge of pus had set in, it came about
that they escaped from the disease and survived, for clearly the
acute condition of the carbuncle had found relief
in this direction, and this proved to be in general an indication
of returning health; but in cases where the
swelling preserved its former appearance there ensued those
troubles which I have just mentioned. And with
some of them it came about that the thigh was withered, in
which case, though the swelling was there, it did not
develop the least suppuration. With others who survived the
tongue did not remain unaffected, and they lived on

either lisping or speaking incoherently and with difficulty.
Now the disease in Byzantium ran a course of four months, and
its greatest virulence lasted about three. And at
first the deaths were a little more than the normal, then the
mortality rose still higher, and afterwards the tale of
dead reached five thousand each day, and again it even came to
ten thousand and still more than that. Now in
the beginning each man attended to the burial of the dead of his
own house, and these they threw even into the
tombs of others, either escaping detection or using violence; but
afterwards confusion and disorder everywhere
became complete. For slaves remained destitute of masters, and
men who in former times were very prosperous
were deprived of the service of their domestics who were either
sick or dead, and many houses became
completely destitute of human inhabitants. For this reason it
came about that some of the notable men of the city
because of the universal destitution remained unburied for many
days.
And it fell to the lot of the emperor, as was natural, to make
provision for the trouble. He therefore detailed
soldiers from the palace and distributed money, commanding
Theodorus to take charge of this work; this man
held the position of announcer of imperial messages, always

announcing to the emperor the petitions of his
clients, and declaring to them in turn whatever his wish was. In
the Latin tongue the Romans designate this
office by the term Referendarius. So those who had not as yet
fallen into complete destitution in their domestic
affairs attended individually to the burial of those connected
with them. But Theodorus, by giving out the
emperor=s money and by making further expenditures from his
own purse, kept burying the bodies which were
not cared for. And when it came about that all the tombs which
had existed previously were filled with the dead,
then they dug up all the places about the city one after the
other, laid the dead there, each one as he could, and
departed; but later on those who were making these trenches, no
longer able to keep up with the number of the
dying, mounted the towers of the fortifications in Sycae
[Galata], and tearing off the roofs threw the bodies
there in complete disorder; and they piled them up just as each
one happened to fall, and filled practically all the
towers with corpses, and then covered them again with their
roofs. As a result of this an evil stench pervaded
the city and distressed the inhabitants still more, and especially
whenever the wind blew fresh from that quarter.
At that time all the customary rites of burial were overlooked.

For the dead were not carried out escorted by a
procession in the customary manner, nor were the usual chants
sung over them, but it was sufficient if one
carried on his shoulders the body of one of the dead to the parts
of the city which bordered on the sea and flung
him down; and there the corpses would be thrown upon skiffs in
a heap, to be conveyed wherever it might
chance. At that time, too, those of the population who had
formerly been members of the factions laid aside
their mutual enmity and in common they attended to the burial
rites of the dead, and they carried with their own
hands the bodies of those who were no connections of theirs and
buried them. Nay, more, those who in times
past used to take delight in devoting themselves to pursuits both
shameful and base, shook off the
unrighteousness of their daily lives and practiced the duties of
religion with diligence, not so much because they
had learned wisdom at last nor because they had become all of a
sudden lovers of virtue, as it were---for when
qualities have become fixed in men by nature or by the training
of a long period of time, it is impossible for
them to lay them aside thus lightly, except, indeed, some divine
influence for good has breathed upon them---
but then all, so to speak, being thoroughly terrified by the

things which were happening, and supposing that they
would die immediately, did, as was natural, learn respectability
for a season by sheer necessity. Therefore as
soon as they were rid of the disease and were saved, and already
supposed that they were in security, since the
curse had moved on to other peoples, then they turned sharply
about and reverted once more to their baseness of
hearts and now, more than before, they make a display of the
inconsistency of their conduct, altogether
surpassing themselves in villainy and in lawlessness of every
sort. For one could insist emphatically without
falsehood that this disease, whether by chance or by some
providence, chose out with exactitude the worst men
and let them go free. But these things were displayed to the
world in later times.
During that time it seemed no easy thing to see any man in the
streets of Byzantium, but all who had the good
fortune to he in health were sitting in their houses, either
attending the sick or mourning the dead. And if one
did succeed in meeting a man going out, he was carrying one of
the dead. And work of every description
ceased, and all the trades were abandoned by the artisans, and
all other work as well, such as each had in hand.

Indeed in a city which was simply abounding in all good things
starvation almost absolute was running riot.
Certainly it seemed a difficult and very notable thing to have a
sufficiency of bread or of anything else; so that
with some of the sick it appeared that the end of life came about
sooner than it should have come by reason of
the lack of the necessities of life.
And, to put all in a word, it was not possible to see a single man
in Byzantium clad in the chlamys, and
especially when the emperor became ill (for he too had a
swelling of the groin), but in a city which held
dominion over the whole Roman empire every man was wearing
clothes befitting private station and remaining
quietly at home. Such was the course of the pestilence in the
Roman empire at large as well as in Byzantium.
And it fell also upon the land of the Persians and visited all the
other barbarians besides.

422017 The Real Threat to National Security Deadly Disease .docx

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