Basil of Caesarea, on Acts 14:22

“And when they had ordained to them priests in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, in whom they believed.”

“"And he snatched me from all my tribulations." The just person's entire life is tribulation, "both straight and narrow the way," and "many are the tribulations of the just ones." Therefore the apostle elsewhere says that he has been "afflicted in every way," and here, that "we must enter the kingdom of God through many afflictions." God does rescue the holy from affliction, but he does so not by rendering them untested but by blessing them with endurance. For if "affliction brings about endurance, then endurance brings about an approved character." Whoever rejects affliction deprives himself of approval. Just as none is crowned who has no rival, so none can be pronounced worthy except through tribulations. Therefore, "he snatched me from all my tribulations," not by allowing me not to be afflicted but by granting with the test a way out, in order to be able to endure.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.